Don't be an NBA Wingman

You're all familiar with the concept of a wingman, right? He's the guy who goes with you to the bar to help you hook up with a girl, especially in a situation when said girl has a less-than-desirable friend who needs to be entertained so you can get some alone time with the hottie.

Asking your friend to be a wingman is one thing. Friends will do that. Asking a stranger or a rival to do it, though, has to be awkward and pretty close to impossible. That's what I feel some NBA teams are doing these days: they are finding a third team to be their wingman to help them make a big move.

I can't fathom why a team would want to be the "third team" in a trade that would help a franchise land a superstar like Dwight Howard. I'm just trying to imagine that phone conversation:

A player like Dwight Howard can instantly
make a team a contender. So, why help them?

"Hey, man, it's Billy King with the Nets! Look, we've got a great shot to get a franchise-altering player in Dwight Howard. We just need you to throw us a bone and help us make it happen. You in?"

"Um, what's in it for me?"

"You just need to take a couple players off our hands, maybe give up a draft pick or two, and hey, I'll even throw a little MarShon Brooks action your way to make it worth your time."

"Oh, well, heck yeah, I'm in! Good luck with Howard, buddy!"

I just don't get it. With all due respect to MarShon Brooks, who may be a pretty nice NBA player, he isn't a guy who instantly makes you relevant. 

You want me to help facilitate a trade for a superstar that will change the landscape in the Eastern Conference? No way, man. I'd respond with, "Hell, no. Figure it out your own dang self."

Being forced to trade a player that you can't re-sign is one thing. I get that. If a player is going to leave as a free agent, sometimes you have to make a deal to make sure your franchise isn't left empty-handed. I just don't get being the outside party who gets little out of the deal and just helps another team get significantly better.

The only reason I might possibly accept would be if the wingman team is in the superstar's conference now and wants to facilitate a trade to get him out of the conference. That might make a little sense, especially if it helps the wingman team in some significant way. That doesn't change the fact, though, that the wingman team is helping another team get to a championship level.

The NBA is clearly going in a direction where the formula for success is to acquire three superstars and then fill in the rest with role players. Why a team would help another acquire one of the game's elite stars is beyond me. I'm glad the Clippers or Timberwolves or whichever other teams were reportedly involved didn't let it happen (at least not yet). 

In a league where there is a big gap between the Haves and Have Nots, the Have Nots shouldn't be helping the Haves have more.

So to all those, "third" and "fourth" teams out there in the trade market, when someone calls asking you to be their wing man, just say "Bull----. You can be mine."