Last season's big NBA trades showed us how great the league could be if they'd contract a few more teams.

When Garnett went to the Celtics, Gasol went to the Lakers and Shaq went to the Suns, pundits bickered furiously about fairness, balance of power, loyalty, contracts and other endless topics. People accused Jerry West and Kevin McHale of impropriety. Some anointed the Celtics or Lakers immediate champions.

For the fans like me, however, it made for better basketball and reminded me how watered down the league is and how exciting it would be if David Stern got rid of some more teams. Look more closely at what actually happened and how the fans benefited.

All three trades made better teams out of those who got the stars. Gasol filled a void in the Lakers left by Andrew Bynum's injury. Garnett gave a once proud Celtics franchise the chance to be relevant again. Shaq didn't help the Suns too much in the wins column, but at least he was on TV again quipping, quoting, rapping and doing everything necessary to annoy Kobe.

In short, the league was exciting and relevant. Everyone was talking about it and the fans were excited to see something rare, competitive basketball. What does this really say about the NBA? It says that only a few teams have more than a couple of exceptional players.

What does it say about your league, when only two or three of the eighteen guys on the team are really good. And most teams don't even have that many. Nobody cared about Minnesota or Memphis because those teams suck, they've never been interesting or relevant and probably never will. There aren't enough good players in the league to fill all the rosters, especially in cities where these guys don't want to live.

Fans outside of Minnesota, Miami and Memphis were delighted because now the Celtics would be worth watching. They finally had some great players. The East would be competitive because there was now another good team. In the West, the Lakers had a legit chance to dethrone San Antonio for the conference title. And everyone wanted to see Kobe and Shaq go at it in the playoffs. In a league with so many passionless players and predictable outcomes, the game became interesting again.

All of this was made possible by contracting non-competitive teams. Of course, those teams still actually exist on paper. They have players and local fans can get tickets to watch the occasional game when a great team comes to town, but to the rest of us, the teams are gone. Why not truly eliminate them so we don't have to endure another visit from one of these teams.

Let's get rid of the perennial losers like the Twolves, Clippers and Sonics and distribute those players to other teams. Imagine how exciting this league could be if more teams had a legit chance to actually win. People could actually say "I love this game again."

Here's my take on Kobe Bryant for MVP

It's not just about stats....

This is also available on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXMLLrodSWc