Of Candies and Nuggets

It seems like the Blake-Boykins trade is working out well for the Thuggets. However, it took me until Friday night to truly understand why this move was made. A few different scenarios went through my head. First, and most likely, is that this was a move to clear room in the backcourt. With Iverson around, Boykins became expendable. Another likely scenario is that this could have helped to clear a little bit of cap room. With Melo, AI, and J.R. as their nucleus the Nugs have a chance to put together a decent team to challenge in the West. With the East being frighteningly bad, whoever wins the West has a strong to quite-strong chance of getting the title. However, the true reason for the Bloykins trade is candy; this occurred to me Friday evening at Walgreens.

I’ve always been curious as to why the Reese’s Pieces bag is significantly smaller than M&Ms. The candies are roughly the same size, but you get a way smaller bag when you purchase Reese’s Pieces and this cannot be adequately explained. Furthermore, M&Ms dominate Reese’s Pieces in every conceivable way, except one – movie theater concessions. Seriously, Reese’s Pieces is one of those bizarre foods that taste infinitely better in a theatre than not1. I am convinced that the deliciousness of in-theatre Reese’s Pieces is the reason for their continued success in the candy world. This parallels the Nuggets trading of Earl Boykins.

Boykins is a quick, little guard whose one true asset is his perimeter scoring. However, when the Nuggets acquired Iverson, they got the best little guard in the history of basketball. Iverson is better than Boykins in every facet of basketball. He scores, passes, and defends better not to mention that he is a better leader. Boykins could possibly have a better outside shot, but that is irrelevant in light of Iverson’s predilection for driving. Furthermore, it would be impossible to play Boykins and Iverson at the same time. This would be a defensive disaster. When it comes down to it, Iverson is just a far better player than Boykins. Sure Boykins could have a better outside shot, but really, who is going to choose Reese’s Pieces instead of M&Ms?

1. Sour Patch Kids, Junior Mints, Sno-Caps