NBA trade rumors and suggestions have clear biases

Bad teams tend to be afterthoughts in trade rumors. NBA reporters tend to have an overwhelmingly pro-winning team bias. Last season, and now repeated on Draft Express, is the rumor that the Wizards are going to trade Antawn Jameson to the Cavaliers. Ignoring the on-the-court implication of this deal, Ernie Grunfeld would never make this move. Wizards fans are still smarting over the first Cavaliers-Wizards series, where Lebron James’s uncalled traveling and distracting Gilbert at the free throw line are still wounds that have not healed. The last thing any Wizards fan wants is for Lebron “King” James to be coroneted via a trade for one of our top players. Ernie Grunfeld would lose all credibility with the Wizards fan base, which would make him vulnerable in the event the team struggles. These rumors don’t make any sense.
The truth is that NBA trade rumors tend to involve the lesser team as an afterthought. It can be seen in the trade scenarios between winning and losing teams, and between big market and small market teams. Despite the Knicks not being anywhere close to a championship team with Lebron, everybody writes about him ending up there. Even when the Raptors were playing well, NBA reporters were writing about Chris Bosh’s ultimate destination.
The major point is that when you read trade rumors, look at it from the perspective of the worst team in the trade first. Determine if it makes sense from that perspective, before you waste a lot of time pulling your hair out about it. Unless, of course, it involves the Clippers. Then just order a hair transplant in advance.