You're fired, Employee #8 | naxself's random stuff

It wasn't really shocking for who was involved but for the timing. Pat Riley fired Employee #8. The Heat traded Antoine Walker and flotsem (ok, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien, and a future first round pick) to the Timberwolves for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. Now, my first reaction was, "Wow, Walker to the Wolves. That's not gonna end well." And that's still my latest reaction. But the funny part of this deal is the Heat: they dealt for two of the biggest headcases in the NBA.

Ricky Davis's history is well-known by now. He keeps his head on straight and then he goes off at some point. I was betting on just after New Year's, when he probably would've gone on a 3-day bender to celebrate the Wolves being 0 for the season at that point. But now it'll be when Wade and O'Neal get back and hog the ball. I read someone the other day who said that being the third option might be best for Davis. I agree with that. But does Davis agree with that? That's the key point here.

And what can I say about Blount? Dude doesn't try. Anyone who saw the Celtics a couple of years ago knows that.

Which brings me to the T-wolves. There are two pressing issues here: (a) what number will Walker wear? and (b) will he even play for the Wolves? I suppose if they buy him out, the first point becomes moot. But I don't see why they'd buy him out when they can wait and deal him in February to a contender or someone who thinks they're a contender (unless Bill Simmons's theory of the No Balls League is correct).

Far more interesting to me is the number issue. Walker's worn number 8 everywhere he's played and he appears to be really attached to it. The problem is that Gerald Green wears number 8 for the Wolves right now (he wore number 5 for the Celtics last year, so maybe he's willing to sell it to Walker). I guess the only option is for Walker to buy it from Green, provided the NBA allows that, which they may or may not do (side note: I recall a few years ago after Nash played for Canada, he wanted to change his number to 7 [his national team number] but the NBA nixed that because it was too close to the start of the season). So, for me, this is the most interesting part of the deal. Maybe it's just me, though.