Dan Kincaide, the WBA’s rolling stone
When a player joins the WBA, he knows he can be traded in any moment. It is a business, owners don’t have a heart inside their chests and players are traded as goods, we all know that. Some players have played for a lot of franchises, usually in a bench role that allows them to sign short contracts and choose their destination. That’s the story for most of the journeymen in the league. But when you are a heralded star player, you are expected to stay in a team for most of your career if not all of it. GMs don’t like trading superstars for a reason, they are hard to find, even harder to trade for them, but at times some desperate GM ends overpaying for them.
That’s not the case for Dan Kincaide. Still 29 years old, Dan Kincaide has already lived in Arkansas, Los Angeles, New York, Albacete, New York again, Brooklyn, Forth Worth, Albacete again and Sacramento. You can count eight times packing his luggage to play basketball.
MOVE 1. Arkansas Stingers draft Dan Kincaide in 2012 draft.
Well, nobody wants to call Arkansas home, right? But the life of a rookie is not in his hands, so you only can expect not being too miserable playing there. But he only played 9 minutes per game in his rookie season, so it was a really frustrating time. On the top of that Arkansas only won 26 games that season, making it harder to understand how a number 2 pick played such a low amount of time. The second season, the team did not play much better, but at least Kincaide was starting and playing a lot of minutes more. At the end of the 2013 season, Dan Kincaide received the best news an Arkansas pro player can hear…the team was moving to Los Angeles
MOVE 2. Arkansas Stingers become Los Angeles Gargoyles in summer of 2014
A fresh new start in a place where every young star would kill to live in. But the Gargoyles won just 26 games and you know its Los Angeles and you need a marketable star. And the New York Liberty knocked the door with Wayne Taylor. How can a team losing money and stablishing reject the services of Taylor? Of course, the Gargoyles didn’t. And you can’t say Dan Kincaide wasn’t happy about this move, he needed to start winning some games.
MOVE 3. Los Angeles Gargoyles trade Dan Kincaide to New York Liberty for Wayne Taylor and filler. (7/24/2015)
For the first time, Dan Kincaide is in a winning environment, and it pays off. He averages 18 and 6, the Liberty win 57 games and reach the Conference Finals to fall 4-1 against the Rage. For the always combative NYC media, Kincaide just doesn’t have what it takes to play a leading role in a contender, and Daron Lyons was the true leader of the team. In a press conference, Dan Kincaide calls a reporter out, and he asks to lead his own team. NY ownership start to look a new home for him
MOVE 4. The New York Liberty trade Dan Kincaide to the Albacete Burning Hell for William Curry, rights of pick number 2 and a future first round pick.
You have a disgruntled player asking for a new team, a team with just 10 wins the previous seasons with a lot of lottery picks and trying to win as soon as possible. And you have another team wanting a star player out, but sending a message about who is in the driving seat. Albacete, selecting top talent in Lonnie Jordan wanted someone to play a mentor role for him. That way, the learning process for Jordan would benefit (it really did). Kincaide delivered, averaging 22 points and 6 assists and being a really good teacher. Albacete won 40 games to be back in the playoffs. But Jordan was ready to start at the end of the season, so, Kincaide’s future with the team was not really sure.
MOVE 5. Albacete Burning Hell trade Dan Kincaide to the New York Liberty for Lazaro Hendricks, Ray Tango, Curtis Starman and Wu Dian Fan as a part of a 4-team trade (12/18/2017)
Albacete took his time to accommodate Kincaide until they could land the player they coveted in Lazaro Hendricks. Things weren’t going really well in New York and they needed a major overhaul. Daron Lyons was out of the team in that same trade, so Dan Kincaide could take his revenge. He led the team in scoring with 23.3 points per game and New York won 57 games, but they were upset in the first round of playoffs by the Wild. That was not going to end well.
MOVE 6. New York Firestorm trade Dan Kincaide to the Brooklyn Rage for Nicholas Evans, Chad Archer and Walter Walter (yes, his value had dropped a bit) 12/17/2018
The experiment hadn’t gone as expected, so Brooklyn came knocking Firestorm’s door. they offered 3 players, none of them a star, and NY’s GM, tired of Kincaide not meeting the expectations accepted the offer. In Brooklyn, Kincaide didn’t need to lead, not even be a second option. That is what happens when you have Jarius Miles and Mario Bailey in your team. Brooklyn win an astonishing number of games, 74, with Kincaide averaging 19 points in a very efficient way. In the playoffs, the Rage make a perfect 16-0 to win another championship. But the marriage can’t take for so long. Kincaide, Miles and Bailey end their contracts at the same time. Probably one of them should be traded and you can wonder who.
MOVE 7. Brooklyn Rage trade Dan Kincaid to the Forth Worth Sun Warriors for Trenton Adams and filler (7/23/2019)
Entering the last season of Miles, Bailey and Kincaide’s contracts and with Omar Jefferson´s massive salary out of the books, Rage’s GM starts to rebuild while they still contend. Trading Dan Kincaid for the great prospect Trenton Adams. For the Warriors, it is the opportunity to start winning games. Being one of the worst franchises in the last years was history. In three moves, the Warriors make a competitive team, stealing Darryl Whittaker in the free agency, getting Kincaide and trading for Trevor Tomlin. In 26 games, Kincaide averages 19 and 6, but declares that he wants to test free agency. Warriors management enters in panic mode and then an offer comes
MOVE 8. Fort worth Warriors trade Dan Kincaide to the Albacete Burning Hell for Claude Weidner and Polikarp Dragunas (12/20/2019)
That’s a good offer for a player you are going to lose. Weidner is not the same player that Kincaide but his younger and signed long term. Kincaide gives Albacete a winning now swagger under the lead of Jonnie Jordan. Albacete win 62 games, with Kincaide averaging 21 points and yes, 6 rebounds. He is 29 years old, and ready to get his big contract, but Albacete want to go young, there is an agreement to explore a sign and trade.
MOVE 9. Albacete Burning Hell sign and trade Dan Kincaide to the California Fighting Cocks for Sam White, Kelley Brandon, Victorino Pinelo (7/20/2020)
Albacete has his young team, and California becomes the favourite to dethrone Brooklyn…how much time before Kincaide is on the move again?