This year marked the first year since 1996 that no Major League Baseball player was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 1996 class featured six future hall of famers' such as Ron Santo, Phil Niekro, Bruce Sutter, Tony Perez, Don Sutton and Jim Rice. This year some of baseball's most recognizable and notorious names were denied the chance to enter the Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio, a 3,000 hit machine, along with 250 game winner Jack Morris and two time world series champion and 6 time all-star Curt Schilling did not receive the 75% support needed to make the Hall. More notable than the denial of those three, was the lack of respect (and deserved) given to suspected steroid users Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mark McGwire. McGwire and Palmeiro had previously been on the ballots and their percentage received of 16.9 and 8.8 respectively, had been a drop. Bonds and Clemens each received less than 40% while Sosa won over only 12.5% of the writers. Bagwell and Piazza's names' have flirted with steroids for years now, but the evidence against them is not nearly as strong as it is for the other five mentioned. Because of this, Piazza, arguably the best hitting catcher of all-time and Bagwell, one of the best pure hitters of our generation eclipsed just under 60% of the vote.
What may be even more bizarre and confusing about this voting is the lack of respect that is given for non-steroid users. Seven of the twenty-five members of the 500-home run club, a benchmark that has been used as an automatic entry for Hall of Fame admission, are suspected or admitted steroid users. All of these members, barring A-Rod who is still playing, are not close to admittance. With this statistic, it is strange why first-baseman Fred McGriff received less than 20% of writers' approval. McGriff has 493 career home runs, was a 5-time all-star, a world series champion and in an era that reeked of steriods, no one has ever sniffed anything suspicious around McGriff. If the writers are going to dismiss all steroid users, why not give more credit to those that put up great numbers with out the usage of performance enhancing drugs. Unfortunately most of the players of this past generation that would have been first-ballot hall of famers, are linked to steroids. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Mike Piazza, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, and Roger Clemens are all linked to steroids and thus there hall of fame chances are slim.
So what does this mean about the other great hitters of our generation who are not linked to steroids. First, since Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, and Ken Griffey Jr.'s names' have not been linked to steroids, these home run legends will be Hall of Famers. Those are only three sure-fire hitting Hall of Famers in the next five voting years. Obviously pitchers such as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez and possibly John Smoltz and Mike Mussina will be admitted over the next five years. Still though, what will the writers' policy be of incredible hitters of our generation who were lost among the steroid users. Carlos Delgado has 473 career home runs, Jim Edmonds is an eight-time gold glove winner with 393 home runs and Vladimir Guerrero has 449 home runs, 8 all star selections and an MVP. Along with Fred McGriff, these are players of our generation who were not the sexy super stars like Bonds, A-Rod or Sosa, but their numbers are great and they were clean. Obviously you should not be awarded for cleanliness, but wouldn't have these players gotten more recognition if these other players weren't putting up great numbers while juicing.
The writers' voting habits over the last few years are incredibly perplexing. They have shown that they have no sympathy for steroid users, but they're also not going to give the benefit of the doubt to non-steroid users who are fringe- hall of famers. Craig Biggio is one of 28 players in MLB history with 3,000 hits and besides Pete Rose and Rafael Palmeiro he is the only retired 3,000 hit player not in the Hall of Fame. Furthermore, an overwhelming percentage of the 3,000 hit players were first ballot hall of famers. The dismissal of Biggio, but the high percentage that Bagwell and Piazza got, even with steroid rumors, shows that these writers want to get these former superstars in the hall, as long as there is not overwhelming evidence of them as steroid users. Biggio's numbers are more similar to hall of fame inductees than Piazza or Bagwell, without even the steroid rumors, so why is that their percentages were not far off? It seems that the writers still have a love-hate relationship with the past superstars of the steroid era.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
X Factor in Steroids: The MLB Players Union
As Major League Baseball enters the second half of its season, steroids are once again the front page story. Yesterday, Ryan Braun was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season for his performance enhancing drug use. For over a year, Braun has been linked to a biogenesis clinic in Florida that was selling performance enhancing drugs to players. After denying P.E.D. usage for over two years, Braun struck a deal with Major League Baseball, when the evidence surrounding his steroid-past was overwhelming. The fall of Braun is just the latest hiccup in what has become the largest scandal in Major League Baseball history. Major League Baseball was hoping steroids were finished following the demise of Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Mark Mcgwire. Since the testimony given by those four players back in 2005, steroids have not left the baseball scene. More and more players were reported in the Mitchell Report in 2007, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne. 2007 also featured the admission to steroid usage by Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Even after Rodriguez's monumental interview, steroids plagued Major League Baseball in 2009 and 2011 when left-fielder Manny Ramirez violated the league's substance abuse twice. Now we're in 2013 and another MVP left-fielder is going to be suspended for steroid usage.
The "steroid era" was thought to be over. Major League Baseball thought it could forget about the era which featured all-star games of Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Mcgwire, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Boone, Piazza, Magglio Ordonez, Glaus, Mo Vaugh, David Justice, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez and more. Some of these mentioned have not been confirmed users, but there is high suspicion. The Braun scandal though shows that steroids are still infiltrating the league. The only problem worse than the actual drugs, is the fact that the punishments are clearly not tough enough. Moreover, the punishments do not outweigh the benefits. With the contracts given out in baseball, such as A-Rod's 10 year 300 million dollar deal, or Ryan Braun's 8 year 51 million dollar deal after only a year and a half of playing, money does outweigh the punishments for getting caught, if you value finances over legacy. Unlike the NFL, contracts in baseball are guaranteed. Now, if you get suspended for steroid usage, you do not make money during your suspension, but when you come back you still receive your annual salary.
Thus, baseball needs to make a change; contracts given out need to have a clause that if you are found to be a steroid user, your contract can be void or you should lose a certain percentage of your salary. Obviously these ramifications need to be tinkered with, but the way to get steroids out of baseball is to take the money out of the players' pockets. If you do not pay your taxes, you get charged higher interest and you eventually will get arrested if the trend continues. These players are motivated primarily by money, whether that be through salary with their team or through endorsement money. These suspensions are clearly not enough to drive baseball players out of the steroid market. A large percentage of players are willing to risk the chance of being suspended for 50 games, in order to have an MVP-type year and receive a new contract and new endorsement deals.
What's worse is that steroids are working for the young players. In Jon Wertheim's book, "Scorecasting, The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won", it is revealed that minor league baseball players who took steroids had a 70% increase to making the major leagues over those who didn't. If you're just trying to get a shot in the league, why not take a boost.
The problem with this contract proposal is that the MLB players union would never agree to it. Unlike the NBA players union or the poor NFL players union, the MLB players union is a strong union. The players are paid an exorbitant amount (Angel Pagan 4years-40 million) and a lot of these teams have the extra money to spend due to the ridiculous TV deals that are given out and the absence of a salary cap. The one way to conquer the strong MLB players union, is by having the culture of the players change from within. Fortunately, we are seeing this shift today. Former and current MLB all-stars such as C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Bay, and Torii Hunter were interviewed about Braun's admission yesterday and were both disheartened and disgusted. The first step in getting steroids out of baseball, is changing the once prevalent steroid culture. This is important for two reasons: Number one and most importantly, if players look down on steroids than they will be more willing to allow a clause such as the one that was proposed earlier in this article. Secondly, if steroid users are looked down upon, they will be less likely to do it. No one wants to be Ryan Braun or Alex Rodriguez, completely hated and not given an ounce of respect.
Still, it is not a surprise though that steroids were prevalent in the late 1990's and early 2000's when you hear quotes from ex-steroid users such as John Rocker and Jose Canseco who have not apologized for their actions, but rather have said they believe it is better for the game. We will see how this new crop of MLB players reacts to steroid usage.
The "steroid era" was thought to be over. Major League Baseball thought it could forget about the era which featured all-star games of Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Mcgwire, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Boone, Piazza, Magglio Ordonez, Glaus, Mo Vaugh, David Justice, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez and more. Some of these mentioned have not been confirmed users, but there is high suspicion. The Braun scandal though shows that steroids are still infiltrating the league. The only problem worse than the actual drugs, is the fact that the punishments are clearly not tough enough. Moreover, the punishments do not outweigh the benefits. With the contracts given out in baseball, such as A-Rod's 10 year 300 million dollar deal, or Ryan Braun's 8 year 51 million dollar deal after only a year and a half of playing, money does outweigh the punishments for getting caught, if you value finances over legacy. Unlike the NFL, contracts in baseball are guaranteed. Now, if you get suspended for steroid usage, you do not make money during your suspension, but when you come back you still receive your annual salary.
Thus, baseball needs to make a change; contracts given out need to have a clause that if you are found to be a steroid user, your contract can be void or you should lose a certain percentage of your salary. Obviously these ramifications need to be tinkered with, but the way to get steroids out of baseball is to take the money out of the players' pockets. If you do not pay your taxes, you get charged higher interest and you eventually will get arrested if the trend continues. These players are motivated primarily by money, whether that be through salary with their team or through endorsement money. These suspensions are clearly not enough to drive baseball players out of the steroid market. A large percentage of players are willing to risk the chance of being suspended for 50 games, in order to have an MVP-type year and receive a new contract and new endorsement deals.
What's worse is that steroids are working for the young players. In Jon Wertheim's book, "Scorecasting, The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won", it is revealed that minor league baseball players who took steroids had a 70% increase to making the major leagues over those who didn't. If you're just trying to get a shot in the league, why not take a boost.
The problem with this contract proposal is that the MLB players union would never agree to it. Unlike the NBA players union or the poor NFL players union, the MLB players union is a strong union. The players are paid an exorbitant amount (Angel Pagan 4years-40 million) and a lot of these teams have the extra money to spend due to the ridiculous TV deals that are given out and the absence of a salary cap. The one way to conquer the strong MLB players union, is by having the culture of the players change from within. Fortunately, we are seeing this shift today. Former and current MLB all-stars such as C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Bay, and Torii Hunter were interviewed about Braun's admission yesterday and were both disheartened and disgusted. The first step in getting steroids out of baseball, is changing the once prevalent steroid culture. This is important for two reasons: Number one and most importantly, if players look down on steroids than they will be more willing to allow a clause such as the one that was proposed earlier in this article. Secondly, if steroid users are looked down upon, they will be less likely to do it. No one wants to be Ryan Braun or Alex Rodriguez, completely hated and not given an ounce of respect.
Still, it is not a surprise though that steroids were prevalent in the late 1990's and early 2000's when you hear quotes from ex-steroid users such as John Rocker and Jose Canseco who have not apologized for their actions, but rather have said they believe it is better for the game. We will see how this new crop of MLB players reacts to steroid usage.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Slimy? Sneaky? Corrupt? Maybe, but Mikhail Provorhov is the Ideal Owner
It's official! The Brooklyn Nets, formerly of New Jersey, will be adding future hall of fame players Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to their roster, as well as sharpshooter Jason Terry. Coupled with free agent signings that include Andray Blatche, Shaun Livingston, and most notably and most recently Andrei Kirilienko, the Nets may have had the NBA's best offseason. These transactions though did not come without a price; assuming that Kirilenko is added to the roster the Nets will have a salary of about 101 million dollars, the highest in the NBA. Due to recent changes in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) the Nets will also pay close to 83 million dollars in the luxury tax. The man who will be paying the bills for this team, is Russian billionaire Mikhail Provorhov.
When Prokorhov bought the Nets back in 2010, all we knew was that he was a Russian billionaire who stands at about 6'8'' and has a passion for women, basketball, and winning. To Prokorhov's dismay, the Nets were bad for the Provorhov's first two seasons. At the end of the 2011-2012 season, also Prokorhov's second full season as an owner, Prokorhov's young super star, Deron Williams faced a free agent dilemma, does he stay with the Nets or go to the hometown Dallas Mavericks. The Nets were on the verge of moving to Brooklyn while the Mavericks also had a strong owner in Mark Cuban and a seasoned superstar in Dirk Nowitzki. The two most important contributing factors to Williams' decision to stay with the Nets was the team's willingness to spend and it's arrival in the classic New York borough. Prior to Williams' decision, general manager Billy King traded for small forward Gerald Wallace of the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting guard Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. Both of these pricey players arrival were requested by Deron Williams. While the Dwight Howard saga was ending with his departure to the Lakers, the Nets also gave center Brook Lopez a multi year deal worth around 60 million dollars. King was told from day one as general manager from Prokorhov, do what you have to do to win. The move to Brooklyn and the spending spree led to an exciting year in Brooklyn and the Nets first playoff birth since 2007.
Unfortunately as the season progressed, one thing was clear; the Nets lacked heart. With a dismal playoff performance against a beat-up Chicago Bulls team, the Nets went into the Summer of 2013 wondering how they could improve their roster. They had few valuable assets, (Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks) and unappealing draft picks due to their presumed future playoff appearances. Furthermore they had little cap flexibility due to a payroll that was already top three in the association. All of these possible roadblocks did not stop Billy King or Prokorhov's consistent plan of doing what was necessary to win. By the draft, the Nets were already trying to figure out what they needed to do. Clearly Brooks and Humphries were not part of the future so who could you get for them, Andrea Bargnani, David Lee, Ryan Anderson? Suddenly, as the first round progressed, the Nets struck a monumental deal. They were able to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. The Nets lost picks and inconsequential role players, but received two hall of fame players, a 6th man, heart and toughness. The Nets picked up more salary and filled two positions that were lacking during the 2012-2013 season. One of the reasons why the Nets lost the series against the Chicago Bulls was because their starting lineup featured two ineffective offensive starters, in Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. The Bulls were basically able to play 5 on 3 during the series and double team both Johnson and Williams. Pierce and Garnett will be able to fill these positions perfectly. With this deal though, comes a rising tax bill. With additions also of Blatche, Livingston and Kirilenko the argument can be made that the Nets have the best roster in basketball as well as the most expensive. The truth is that none of this could have been done without their owner, Mikhail Prokorhov.
More owners need to be willing to spend the way that Prokorhov spends. With increasing ticket sales, jersey prices, and even food prices, fans should get what they pay for. Now, not all owners are going to be multi-billionaires, but if you are going to consider buying a team, you should do it the Steinbrenner way, the Prokorhov way. You don't need to be paying 80 million in the luxury tax, but more owners need to be spending. Sports are expensive for the fans, they should also be expensive for the owners. You gotta give the people what they want. There is nothing more fun, as a fan of the Nets to know that any move is possible, because financial restrictions are not an issue. Thankfully we are starting to see cheaper owners spend more and more money. Look at the Clippers; once deemed the cheapest owner in sports, Donald Sterling has multiple max players on his roster as well as the most expensive coach in the league. Sports are a growing industry and the owners and players should not be the only winners of this shift. The fans deserve to see a squad that is not made up of a bunch of scrubs. Obviously there will always be bad teams and good teams and believe it or not the common fan understands this. What they cannot bare, is to watch their teams not spend money when there are glaring needs in the roster. You can hate him or be disgusted by him, but Mikhail Prokorhov is the ideal owner.
When Prokorhov bought the Nets back in 2010, all we knew was that he was a Russian billionaire who stands at about 6'8'' and has a passion for women, basketball, and winning. To Prokorhov's dismay, the Nets were bad for the Provorhov's first two seasons. At the end of the 2011-2012 season, also Prokorhov's second full season as an owner, Prokorhov's young super star, Deron Williams faced a free agent dilemma, does he stay with the Nets or go to the hometown Dallas Mavericks. The Nets were on the verge of moving to Brooklyn while the Mavericks also had a strong owner in Mark Cuban and a seasoned superstar in Dirk Nowitzki. The two most important contributing factors to Williams' decision to stay with the Nets was the team's willingness to spend and it's arrival in the classic New York borough. Prior to Williams' decision, general manager Billy King traded for small forward Gerald Wallace of the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting guard Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. Both of these pricey players arrival were requested by Deron Williams. While the Dwight Howard saga was ending with his departure to the Lakers, the Nets also gave center Brook Lopez a multi year deal worth around 60 million dollars. King was told from day one as general manager from Prokorhov, do what you have to do to win. The move to Brooklyn and the spending spree led to an exciting year in Brooklyn and the Nets first playoff birth since 2007.
Unfortunately as the season progressed, one thing was clear; the Nets lacked heart. With a dismal playoff performance against a beat-up Chicago Bulls team, the Nets went into the Summer of 2013 wondering how they could improve their roster. They had few valuable assets, (Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks) and unappealing draft picks due to their presumed future playoff appearances. Furthermore they had little cap flexibility due to a payroll that was already top three in the association. All of these possible roadblocks did not stop Billy King or Prokorhov's consistent plan of doing what was necessary to win. By the draft, the Nets were already trying to figure out what they needed to do. Clearly Brooks and Humphries were not part of the future so who could you get for them, Andrea Bargnani, David Lee, Ryan Anderson? Suddenly, as the first round progressed, the Nets struck a monumental deal. They were able to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. The Nets lost picks and inconsequential role players, but received two hall of fame players, a 6th man, heart and toughness. The Nets picked up more salary and filled two positions that were lacking during the 2012-2013 season. One of the reasons why the Nets lost the series against the Chicago Bulls was because their starting lineup featured two ineffective offensive starters, in Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. The Bulls were basically able to play 5 on 3 during the series and double team both Johnson and Williams. Pierce and Garnett will be able to fill these positions perfectly. With this deal though, comes a rising tax bill. With additions also of Blatche, Livingston and Kirilenko the argument can be made that the Nets have the best roster in basketball as well as the most expensive. The truth is that none of this could have been done without their owner, Mikhail Prokorhov.
More owners need to be willing to spend the way that Prokorhov spends. With increasing ticket sales, jersey prices, and even food prices, fans should get what they pay for. Now, not all owners are going to be multi-billionaires, but if you are going to consider buying a team, you should do it the Steinbrenner way, the Prokorhov way. You don't need to be paying 80 million in the luxury tax, but more owners need to be spending. Sports are expensive for the fans, they should also be expensive for the owners. You gotta give the people what they want. There is nothing more fun, as a fan of the Nets to know that any move is possible, because financial restrictions are not an issue. Thankfully we are starting to see cheaper owners spend more and more money. Look at the Clippers; once deemed the cheapest owner in sports, Donald Sterling has multiple max players on his roster as well as the most expensive coach in the league. Sports are a growing industry and the owners and players should not be the only winners of this shift. The fans deserve to see a squad that is not made up of a bunch of scrubs. Obviously there will always be bad teams and good teams and believe it or not the common fan understands this. What they cannot bare, is to watch their teams not spend money when there are glaring needs in the roster. You can hate him or be disgusted by him, but Mikhail Prokorhov is the ideal owner.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
The Dwight Howard Story
So we are now nine months into the Dwight Howard saga and it is finally over. First reported by Yahoo Sports, the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers reached a deal sending the best center in the league, Mr. Superman to Lakerland. In the deal the Lakers will receive Dwight Howard, the Magic will get a first round (lottery protected!) pick from each of the other three teams as well as Nikola Vucevic, Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, and first round pick and St. Johns standout Moe Harkless. The Nuggets will receive small forward and USA basketball member Andre Iguodala, and the Philadelphia 76ers will receive Andrew Bynum as well as Jason Richardson. So, now that the deal is over everyone can finally breathe right? Wrong, this deal is a catastrophe for the Magic, but I guess that's what this whole process has been.
The Orlando Magic found themselves in quite a situation once the lockout was settled last December. Howard had made his first trade demand and listed three teams as possible suitors, the Lakers, the Nets, and the Mavericks. Howard had all the reason in the world to ask for a trade, the General Manager at the time, Otis Smith, had made multiple bad deals since the team lost to the Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals. They acquired terrible contracts such as Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, and they overpaid for players like Jason Richardson, J.J. Redick and Glen Davis. Howard also had reason to be upset with the team because the team never listened to any of his suggestions and they lied to him. For example, at the end of 2010-2011 season CEO of the Magic Alex Martins invited Howard to his mansion in Michigan and asked Howard what he wanted. Howard gave a list of players he wanted to play with which included Deron Williams, Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, and Stephen Jackson. Howard insisted on Jackson, specifically. Draft day rolled around and Howard was brought into the Magic draft headquarters where Martins and Smith told him that the Milwaukee Bucks were not willing to trade Jackson. Sure enough that night Jackson was traded. Howard was irate; it was another example of the Magic not listening to his suggestions. The Magic then also asked Howard to sign an extension and it was in that moment that Howard realized these guys don't value him, they just want his name on a paper so they can make money, they don't care about winning. This all brings us back to his trade demand request in December. The Magic were offered deals from the Nets and Lakers, but nothing was imminent.
The trade deadline finally rolled around and the Nets became Dwight's number one option. Since the Olympic games in Beijing, Dwight has wanted to play with Deron. Dwight had all the leverage at the time; if he wasn't traded he could just sign with the Nets in the summer as a free agent and he and Deron could team up. But Dwight was foolish and saw what happened to Lebron after "The Decision" and he truly cared about how people thought about him. So, when Alex Martins brought in Dwight's parents and told them how if Dwight went to a big city he would not be the same kid, Dwight's parents begged him to stay in Orlando. Dwight retaliated by doing the worst thing he could have done. He opted in to his last year in the deal, meaning that he still had no guarantees in the future and that this situation could just repeat again next year. In his press conference Howard said he was "too loyal" to leave.Nothing changed after that opt-in, in fact things got worse especially between Dwight and coach Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy called Dwight out in front of the media telling everyone that Dwight had been trying to get him fired. Before we all knew it, it was May and Van Gundy and Otis Smith had been fired and Howard had a bad back that would force him out of the whole playoffs. The Pacers would knock the Magic out in the first round.
So we move to the Summer and Howard has demanded a trade again, this time the Nets are the only team he has interest in. However, Dwight has now lost all leverage because he signed the opt-in. Furthermore the Nets had made deals for Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, so the only way they could acquire him was through a trade.The Magic first hired new general manager, Rob Hennigan, one of the assistant GM's in Oklahoma City where he learned from the man who created the Thunder, Sam Presti. The "Sam Presti Model" for building a championship team has three parts, you receive draft picks, good ones,you get rid of all bad contracts, and you try to add some young talent that has been in the league who are not cheap. The Nets were offering Brook Lopez, a center who missed all but three games this year because of a foot problem, but who was a 20 point per game scorer the year before. People have always deemed Lopez as "soft" which is fair, he is not a beast on the boards like a Howard or Bynum, but I think his "softness" is exaggerated. They were also going to include rookie shooting guard Marshon Brooks who had a very solid year. The Nets were also willing to give up four first round picks and take on four of Orlando's bad contracts, meaning Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon, and Earl Clark. Lopez was a restricted free agent and was about to get a big pay day, so that was unappealing to Hennigan. In addition, rebound machine Kris Humphries was going to be part of any deal, but he was most likely going to be sent to a third team. In this case, the Magic received picks, not great ones, but picks, they got rid of all their bad contracts besides Turkoglus and receieved young talent in Lopez and Brooks. It's not a great deal, don't get me wrong, but it solved a lot of the Magic's problems.
Then the Rockets became big players, they compiled three draft picks in the 2012 Draft and picked Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White, three mid round picks who have a lot of potential, but no star talent. The Rockets also traded their young point guard Kyle Lowry for an unprotected Raptor pick in next year's draft as well as they amnestied Luis Scola. So, the Rockets had young talent, picks, as well as room to take on Dwight Howard and a lot of bad contracts. Only problem, Howard was not willing to sign an extension with Houston, so Houston if they were to strike a deal with the Magic would have to try to convince Howard to stay, which they quickly realized was difficult. As the Rockets as a partner lost steam, the Nets also fell out of the running because no deal was reached with the Magic, so they had to sign restricted free agent Brook Lopez. Because Lopez was just signed he cannot be traded until January 15th, 2013.
So, the Rockets and Nets had lost steam as Howard's landing spot, but still hovering above water were the Lakers. Howard initially said he would not sign an extension with the Lakers, but he eventually added the Lakers officially as a team he would sign with. Howard had taken the Lakers off his list after he had a talk with Kobe about joining LA in March and Kobe told Howard he would be the third option on the team or the Tyson Chandler of the crew. Howard was hurt and felt disrespected by Kobe's comments. However, Kobe had a chat with Howard and modified his statement.
The Lakers have coveted center Andrew Bynum as well as forward/center Pau Gasol, who they were willing to trade. The Lakers immediately realized they couldn't work out a one-for-one deal with Orlando, because Bynum who is also scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season showed no interest in signing long term. The Magic, Lakers and Rockets began to work on a three way deal, with Bynum and Orlando junk going to Houston, all of Houston's assets going to Orlando, and Howard going to LA. However, this deal quickly hit a snag because with no guarantee from Bynum that we would sign long term the Rockets did not feel like giving up all their assets on a gamble. The Lakers and Magic also engaged in talks with Cleveland, but those also never had legs. Going into the Olympic games, it seemed Dwight Howard would be in a Magic uniform come training camp.
But yesterday, in typical Laker fashion, they did it again. The Lakers were able to acquire the best center in the league since Shaq and consequently Howard can follow in the footsteps of Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, and Mikan. My issue with this transaction is the Magic took the worst deal they were offered. Arron Afflalo has four years and 30 million dollars left and Al Harrington has three years and 21 million dollars left. Also neither of these players are young. Secondly, the only bad contract the Magic gave up was Jason Richardson. Third, they received three picks which were all lottery protected. Afflalo and Harrington valued as better than Brooks and Lopez is incredibly questionable? How is this the deal you get after months of saying no to deals, for the third best player in the NBA and the best defensive player in the NBA. Barring injury, Howard is a first ballot hall of famer and you receive two overpaid mediocre players, bad picks, two young players with little upside and almost no cap relief. Everyone involved in this deal lost besides the Magic. Let's take a look closer, the Lakers did Bynum and a pick for Howard, the Nuggets did Harrington and Afflalo for Iguodala, and the Sixers did Iguodala for Bynum and Jrich. Every team got a good deal, except the team that needed to get the best deal.
It honestly would have been smarter for the Magic to play out the whole thing and let him leave. Now the Magic are left with more bad contracts and mediocre picks. What's not talked about at all is that the Magic received more players who are good enough to win you some games, which will make their lottery chances worse. In the Nets or Rockets deal you were completely starting over. I understand that the Rockets wouldn't budge because the Magic were asking for so much with no guarantee from Dwight, but if Orlando took one less young player and kept one more bad contract it would have still been a better deal then the one they got tonight. I am still shocked that this deal is going to happen.
Why didn't the Magic just realize that the best deal was and can still be with the Nets, they just have to wait until January. The notion that the Magic couldn't go the next five months with Dwight Howard on the team is ludicrous. Sure it would be a circus again, but that's a short term problem. Having bad contracts or making a bad trade, that's a long term problem, that stays. The Magic could have made the same deal they would have made with the Nets in January. They would receive Lopez, Brooks, four picks, and they would give up Howard, Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark. There is no way the deal they got today was better. The Magic had already endured a circus for a 3/4 of a year, why not make it a little over a year. To be honest, it would have been bad publicity for the Magic, but I thought all publicity was good publicity. ESPN would have been around the team, the prices of tickets would remain the same and attendance would remain the same for a few months cause Howard would still be on the team. This new deal makes zero sense. The Magic were patient, patient, patient, and then caved. I am totally surprised this is what Rob Hennigan settled for. Orlando will go into the dark ages and the city of Los Angeles will turn as bright as it did during the Shaq-Kobe era.
The Orlando Magic found themselves in quite a situation once the lockout was settled last December. Howard had made his first trade demand and listed three teams as possible suitors, the Lakers, the Nets, and the Mavericks. Howard had all the reason in the world to ask for a trade, the General Manager at the time, Otis Smith, had made multiple bad deals since the team lost to the Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals. They acquired terrible contracts such as Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, and they overpaid for players like Jason Richardson, J.J. Redick and Glen Davis. Howard also had reason to be upset with the team because the team never listened to any of his suggestions and they lied to him. For example, at the end of 2010-2011 season CEO of the Magic Alex Martins invited Howard to his mansion in Michigan and asked Howard what he wanted. Howard gave a list of players he wanted to play with which included Deron Williams, Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, and Stephen Jackson. Howard insisted on Jackson, specifically. Draft day rolled around and Howard was brought into the Magic draft headquarters where Martins and Smith told him that the Milwaukee Bucks were not willing to trade Jackson. Sure enough that night Jackson was traded. Howard was irate; it was another example of the Magic not listening to his suggestions. The Magic then also asked Howard to sign an extension and it was in that moment that Howard realized these guys don't value him, they just want his name on a paper so they can make money, they don't care about winning. This all brings us back to his trade demand request in December. The Magic were offered deals from the Nets and Lakers, but nothing was imminent.
The trade deadline finally rolled around and the Nets became Dwight's number one option. Since the Olympic games in Beijing, Dwight has wanted to play with Deron. Dwight had all the leverage at the time; if he wasn't traded he could just sign with the Nets in the summer as a free agent and he and Deron could team up. But Dwight was foolish and saw what happened to Lebron after "The Decision" and he truly cared about how people thought about him. So, when Alex Martins brought in Dwight's parents and told them how if Dwight went to a big city he would not be the same kid, Dwight's parents begged him to stay in Orlando. Dwight retaliated by doing the worst thing he could have done. He opted in to his last year in the deal, meaning that he still had no guarantees in the future and that this situation could just repeat again next year. In his press conference Howard said he was "too loyal" to leave.Nothing changed after that opt-in, in fact things got worse especially between Dwight and coach Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy called Dwight out in front of the media telling everyone that Dwight had been trying to get him fired. Before we all knew it, it was May and Van Gundy and Otis Smith had been fired and Howard had a bad back that would force him out of the whole playoffs. The Pacers would knock the Magic out in the first round.
So we move to the Summer and Howard has demanded a trade again, this time the Nets are the only team he has interest in. However, Dwight has now lost all leverage because he signed the opt-in. Furthermore the Nets had made deals for Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, so the only way they could acquire him was through a trade.The Magic first hired new general manager, Rob Hennigan, one of the assistant GM's in Oklahoma City where he learned from the man who created the Thunder, Sam Presti. The "Sam Presti Model" for building a championship team has three parts, you receive draft picks, good ones,you get rid of all bad contracts, and you try to add some young talent that has been in the league who are not cheap. The Nets were offering Brook Lopez, a center who missed all but three games this year because of a foot problem, but who was a 20 point per game scorer the year before. People have always deemed Lopez as "soft" which is fair, he is not a beast on the boards like a Howard or Bynum, but I think his "softness" is exaggerated. They were also going to include rookie shooting guard Marshon Brooks who had a very solid year. The Nets were also willing to give up four first round picks and take on four of Orlando's bad contracts, meaning Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon, and Earl Clark. Lopez was a restricted free agent and was about to get a big pay day, so that was unappealing to Hennigan. In addition, rebound machine Kris Humphries was going to be part of any deal, but he was most likely going to be sent to a third team. In this case, the Magic received picks, not great ones, but picks, they got rid of all their bad contracts besides Turkoglus and receieved young talent in Lopez and Brooks. It's not a great deal, don't get me wrong, but it solved a lot of the Magic's problems.
Then the Rockets became big players, they compiled three draft picks in the 2012 Draft and picked Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White, three mid round picks who have a lot of potential, but no star talent. The Rockets also traded their young point guard Kyle Lowry for an unprotected Raptor pick in next year's draft as well as they amnestied Luis Scola. So, the Rockets had young talent, picks, as well as room to take on Dwight Howard and a lot of bad contracts. Only problem, Howard was not willing to sign an extension with Houston, so Houston if they were to strike a deal with the Magic would have to try to convince Howard to stay, which they quickly realized was difficult. As the Rockets as a partner lost steam, the Nets also fell out of the running because no deal was reached with the Magic, so they had to sign restricted free agent Brook Lopez. Because Lopez was just signed he cannot be traded until January 15th, 2013.
So, the Rockets and Nets had lost steam as Howard's landing spot, but still hovering above water were the Lakers. Howard initially said he would not sign an extension with the Lakers, but he eventually added the Lakers officially as a team he would sign with. Howard had taken the Lakers off his list after he had a talk with Kobe about joining LA in March and Kobe told Howard he would be the third option on the team or the Tyson Chandler of the crew. Howard was hurt and felt disrespected by Kobe's comments. However, Kobe had a chat with Howard and modified his statement.
The Lakers have coveted center Andrew Bynum as well as forward/center Pau Gasol, who they were willing to trade. The Lakers immediately realized they couldn't work out a one-for-one deal with Orlando, because Bynum who is also scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season showed no interest in signing long term. The Magic, Lakers and Rockets began to work on a three way deal, with Bynum and Orlando junk going to Houston, all of Houston's assets going to Orlando, and Howard going to LA. However, this deal quickly hit a snag because with no guarantee from Bynum that we would sign long term the Rockets did not feel like giving up all their assets on a gamble. The Lakers and Magic also engaged in talks with Cleveland, but those also never had legs. Going into the Olympic games, it seemed Dwight Howard would be in a Magic uniform come training camp.
But yesterday, in typical Laker fashion, they did it again. The Lakers were able to acquire the best center in the league since Shaq and consequently Howard can follow in the footsteps of Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, and Mikan. My issue with this transaction is the Magic took the worst deal they were offered. Arron Afflalo has four years and 30 million dollars left and Al Harrington has three years and 21 million dollars left. Also neither of these players are young. Secondly, the only bad contract the Magic gave up was Jason Richardson. Third, they received three picks which were all lottery protected. Afflalo and Harrington valued as better than Brooks and Lopez is incredibly questionable? How is this the deal you get after months of saying no to deals, for the third best player in the NBA and the best defensive player in the NBA. Barring injury, Howard is a first ballot hall of famer and you receive two overpaid mediocre players, bad picks, two young players with little upside and almost no cap relief. Everyone involved in this deal lost besides the Magic. Let's take a look closer, the Lakers did Bynum and a pick for Howard, the Nuggets did Harrington and Afflalo for Iguodala, and the Sixers did Iguodala for Bynum and Jrich. Every team got a good deal, except the team that needed to get the best deal.
It honestly would have been smarter for the Magic to play out the whole thing and let him leave. Now the Magic are left with more bad contracts and mediocre picks. What's not talked about at all is that the Magic received more players who are good enough to win you some games, which will make their lottery chances worse. In the Nets or Rockets deal you were completely starting over. I understand that the Rockets wouldn't budge because the Magic were asking for so much with no guarantee from Dwight, but if Orlando took one less young player and kept one more bad contract it would have still been a better deal then the one they got tonight. I am still shocked that this deal is going to happen.
Why didn't the Magic just realize that the best deal was and can still be with the Nets, they just have to wait until January. The notion that the Magic couldn't go the next five months with Dwight Howard on the team is ludicrous. Sure it would be a circus again, but that's a short term problem. Having bad contracts or making a bad trade, that's a long term problem, that stays. The Magic could have made the same deal they would have made with the Nets in January. They would receive Lopez, Brooks, four picks, and they would give up Howard, Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark. There is no way the deal they got today was better. The Magic had already endured a circus for a 3/4 of a year, why not make it a little over a year. To be honest, it would have been bad publicity for the Magic, but I thought all publicity was good publicity. ESPN would have been around the team, the prices of tickets would remain the same and attendance would remain the same for a few months cause Howard would still be on the team. This new deal makes zero sense. The Magic were patient, patient, patient, and then caved. I am totally surprised this is what Rob Hennigan settled for. Orlando will go into the dark ages and the city of Los Angeles will turn as bright as it did during the Shaq-Kobe era.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
In the 2012 Olympics Older is Better
We are now five days away from the conclusion of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and one thing that seems fairly evident, is the elder are preying on the young. We are seeing a lot of former gold medalists and champions winning again, and those were young and favored to win, disappointing. Let's first start with Ryan Lochte, the man was called the future of US Swimming and that this was his Olympic Games. Swimming writers wrote off Michael Phelps for his lack of focus and dedication and that his time as the king of the pool was over. This all seemed totally legitimate, in the past four years Phelps himself had even admitted that he was not as focused until about a year and a half ago. In addition, Phelps had lost to Mr. Lochte multiple times in the 2011 World Championships. Lochte beat Phelps in the 200M freestyle and the 200M medley and was named swimmer of the year by FINA Aquatics World Magazine. So, we head to London, with Lochte again having a more impressive US Swimming trial performance than Phelps, and Lochte annihilates Phelps in the 400M medley, where Phelps didn't even medal. But these games are more than just one race, and Lochte began to fade. Lochte ended up winning one more gold in the 4X200M free relay and two silvers in the 200M medley and 4X100M free relay, which the US should have won, but Lochte got beat on the last 100. Then Lochte placed third in the 200M backstroke, which everyone thought he was going to win. So, Lochte left the games with 5 medals, Phelps left with 6, four golds and two silvers. Phelps won the 200M medley and the 100M medley as well as two relays the 4X100M medley and the 4X200M free. He then got two silvers in the 200M butterfly and the relay he did with Lochte, that should have been a gold if it weren't for Lochte's mediocre final lap. Phelps proved not only that he was the greatest Olympian ever, but that he is the greatest US Swimmer right now.
Now let's take a look at track and field, Usain Bolt broke records in the 100M and 200M. However, starting about a year ago, people started to doubt Bolt's repeat chances when he false started at the World Championships and his Jamaican teammate, Yohan Blake, won the gold and stole the world from Bolt. Yohan Blake also finished with a better time than Bolt in the Jamaican track and field qualifiers in the 100M and 200M races. Usain Bolt heard all the chatter about his good friend Yohan and used it as motivation. Bolt easily won the 100M race only a few days ago, beating his partner Blake, who received the silver. Bolt wasn't finished, in fact the dude doesn't look close to being done, he was basically jogging in the 100M heats in order to get to the finals and he's been doing the same in the 200M heats, (final is Thursday). He's a freak of nature and he's not going anywhere.
Lastly, let's take a look at the dynamic duo in beach volleyball for the United States, Misty May-Treanor and Keri Walsh-Jennings. The combo won gold in beach volleyball in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008 and it appeared that after 2008 that they were not nearly as interested in the game anymore. May went on the show Dancing with the Stars where she ruptured her Achilles tendon. In fact, after 2008 the two technically split and they didn't come back together until 2011. They also suffered some suprising loses in tournaments along the way to fellow Americans Branagh and Youngs as well as Kessy and Ross. When the team came back together and they decided to go for a third Olympic gold, they were the number three ranked pair, a surprising title for the two time gold medalists. The road for them in these Olympics wasn't nearly as smooth, as they lost their first set ever in an Olympic competition, but they still won the gold, today in fact, against one of their big rivals, the American duo of Kessy and Ross.
I'm not saying that all the champions from Beijing in 2008 that came back to London in 2012 won gold again, but what I am saying, is these athletes are competitors and when they hear the doubt, it fuels them. You can never count out an Olympic gold medalist, trying to repeat again.
Now let's take a look at track and field, Usain Bolt broke records in the 100M and 200M. However, starting about a year ago, people started to doubt Bolt's repeat chances when he false started at the World Championships and his Jamaican teammate, Yohan Blake, won the gold and stole the world from Bolt. Yohan Blake also finished with a better time than Bolt in the Jamaican track and field qualifiers in the 100M and 200M races. Usain Bolt heard all the chatter about his good friend Yohan and used it as motivation. Bolt easily won the 100M race only a few days ago, beating his partner Blake, who received the silver. Bolt wasn't finished, in fact the dude doesn't look close to being done, he was basically jogging in the 100M heats in order to get to the finals and he's been doing the same in the 200M heats, (final is Thursday). He's a freak of nature and he's not going anywhere.
Lastly, let's take a look at the dynamic duo in beach volleyball for the United States, Misty May-Treanor and Keri Walsh-Jennings. The combo won gold in beach volleyball in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008 and it appeared that after 2008 that they were not nearly as interested in the game anymore. May went on the show Dancing with the Stars where she ruptured her Achilles tendon. In fact, after 2008 the two technically split and they didn't come back together until 2011. They also suffered some suprising loses in tournaments along the way to fellow Americans Branagh and Youngs as well as Kessy and Ross. When the team came back together and they decided to go for a third Olympic gold, they were the number three ranked pair, a surprising title for the two time gold medalists. The road for them in these Olympics wasn't nearly as smooth, as they lost their first set ever in an Olympic competition, but they still won the gold, today in fact, against one of their big rivals, the American duo of Kessy and Ross.
I'm not saying that all the champions from Beijing in 2008 that came back to London in 2012 won gold again, but what I am saying, is these athletes are competitors and when they hear the doubt, it fuels them. You can never count out an Olympic gold medalist, trying to repeat again.
The Problem in the NBA that won't go Away
We are getting closer to the one year anniversary of the 2011 NBA lockout and it seems that just about nothing was solved. The lockout, which was initiated by the owners of the National Basketball Association, had two main complaints; one the players were being paid too much (reasonable) and the second complaint came from small owners who were sick of watching their players leave to go to bigger markets. Thus, they wanted to add a clause that gave them a huge advantage in keeping their stars.
The first complaint was very understandable; NBA players are overpaid. Johan Petro, former Nets center, now Hawks center, gets a 4M a year salary for producing litte. Similarly Rashard Lewis has a salary of 24 million a year. Owners have no problem overpaying for superstars, because in the end fans come to the arenas and buy jerseys for the super stars, but the problem lied more in the overpaid mediocre players.
The second complaint however, became the main focus for many owners during the lockout, and it also led to a division amongst the owners. Owners including Dan Gilbert in Cleveland and GM David Kahn in Minnesota and many others ended up in disagreements with owners such as James Dolan in New York and Mickey Arison in Miami. Dolan and Arison don't want the smaller teams to have an advantage to keep their stars because they're in big markets where players will flock to, (James, Wade, Bosh-MIA, Melo, Stat, Chandler-NYK). In the end David Stern persuaded the big market owners to agree to rules that gave home teams a huge advantage over other teams. Super stars that enter free agency can get an extra year (5 year instead of 4) with their home team as well as more money per year. Stern needs owners to be content with being owners, or else they will sell and you'll have situations similar to New Orleans, where no one wanted to buy them for a long period of time. Future owners need to have incentives to be owners. These men are businessmen and understand that without superstars your team's chances of winning and selling out decrease dramatically.
Currently the "home team" can offer more money, but the question remains has that changed the culture of the league? The answer is no. Super stars still want to play with other super stars. The problem is with this dynamic is having multiple superstars is very expensive. The owners that are able to sign multiple super stars, will have to pay a luxury tax, and those owners are in big market cities. Sure you have teams like the Spurs and Thunder, but those teams are anomalies, they're incredibly rare. NBA players are the most demanding athletes because not only do they want to make money and win, but they want those two components in big flashy cities. They want to play in New York, Boston, Chicago Miami, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Who was on Deron Williams wish list, the Nets, now in Brooklyn, the Mavericks, and he said he would welcome a trade to the Lakers. Who does Dwight Howard want to play for, the Nets, the Lakers and the Mavericks. Chris Paul is happy in Los Angeles, but he also loves the Knicks.
My point is that the league can do whatever it wants to try to make stars stay with their small teams like the Jazz, the Bucks, or the Bobcats, but they're not staying. Unless you're a small market team and you are able to draft perfectly like the Spurs and the Thunder, your stars will leave. Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker, are different from the rest of the stars, don't get me wrong, but they weren't going to go to a better situation. They had a dynasty right in front of them, especially with a coach like Popovich. You're seeing the same thing with the Thunder. Durant and Westbrook could have become free agents, but they had a perfect situation right before their eyes. Stars like Carmelo, CP3, Lebron, and Dwight, are allowed to explore their options and they should, because the bigger market teams are the teams that give you the best chance to win. They don't guarantee victory, but they give you basically everything you could want.Those guys also weren't drafted into perfect situations, they had general managers who made huge blunders, thus they were obviously going to look around at other spots.
We are already seeing new stars becoming frustrated with their home teams a la Kevin Love. The double double machine called out his teammates and upper management when he said if this team doesn't improve he's out. What's so scary is that Kevin Love is one of the only super stars that is not locked up in a very long term deal. Deron and Joe Johnson in Brooklyn, Melo, Chandler, and Stat are in New York, Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are in Miami, Paul, Griffin, Kobe Bynum, and Pau in LA, Nowitzki in DAL, Rose in CHI, Pierce and Rondo in BOS and Durant and Westbrook in OKC. The only star I didn't mention is Dwight Howard and he will be on one of those teams I just mentioned within the year (I probably also forgot a few on the way).
Lebron said a few years ago that the league should consolidate, and I disagree with that, because I love how the NBA is everywhere across the US, but it's basically consolidating by itself. There are no stars in Detroit, Toronto, Goldenstate, Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, and the rest I didn't mention have great young talent who are going to have to decide in a few years, do I stay in a small city or do I go big. Let's see what Kyrie Irving, Brandon Jennings and even Anthony Davis do. By the way I totally recognize that Indiana has Roy Hibbert and Paul George who are very solidr and Portland has Lamarcus Aldridge who is fantastic, but I am generalizing.
The first complaint was very understandable; NBA players are overpaid. Johan Petro, former Nets center, now Hawks center, gets a 4M a year salary for producing litte. Similarly Rashard Lewis has a salary of 24 million a year. Owners have no problem overpaying for superstars, because in the end fans come to the arenas and buy jerseys for the super stars, but the problem lied more in the overpaid mediocre players.
The second complaint however, became the main focus for many owners during the lockout, and it also led to a division amongst the owners. Owners including Dan Gilbert in Cleveland and GM David Kahn in Minnesota and many others ended up in disagreements with owners such as James Dolan in New York and Mickey Arison in Miami. Dolan and Arison don't want the smaller teams to have an advantage to keep their stars because they're in big markets where players will flock to, (James, Wade, Bosh-MIA, Melo, Stat, Chandler-NYK). In the end David Stern persuaded the big market owners to agree to rules that gave home teams a huge advantage over other teams. Super stars that enter free agency can get an extra year (5 year instead of 4) with their home team as well as more money per year. Stern needs owners to be content with being owners, or else they will sell and you'll have situations similar to New Orleans, where no one wanted to buy them for a long period of time. Future owners need to have incentives to be owners. These men are businessmen and understand that without superstars your team's chances of winning and selling out decrease dramatically.
Currently the "home team" can offer more money, but the question remains has that changed the culture of the league? The answer is no. Super stars still want to play with other super stars. The problem is with this dynamic is having multiple superstars is very expensive. The owners that are able to sign multiple super stars, will have to pay a luxury tax, and those owners are in big market cities. Sure you have teams like the Spurs and Thunder, but those teams are anomalies, they're incredibly rare. NBA players are the most demanding athletes because not only do they want to make money and win, but they want those two components in big flashy cities. They want to play in New York, Boston, Chicago Miami, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Who was on Deron Williams wish list, the Nets, now in Brooklyn, the Mavericks, and he said he would welcome a trade to the Lakers. Who does Dwight Howard want to play for, the Nets, the Lakers and the Mavericks. Chris Paul is happy in Los Angeles, but he also loves the Knicks.
My point is that the league can do whatever it wants to try to make stars stay with their small teams like the Jazz, the Bucks, or the Bobcats, but they're not staying. Unless you're a small market team and you are able to draft perfectly like the Spurs and the Thunder, your stars will leave. Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker, are different from the rest of the stars, don't get me wrong, but they weren't going to go to a better situation. They had a dynasty right in front of them, especially with a coach like Popovich. You're seeing the same thing with the Thunder. Durant and Westbrook could have become free agents, but they had a perfect situation right before their eyes. Stars like Carmelo, CP3, Lebron, and Dwight, are allowed to explore their options and they should, because the bigger market teams are the teams that give you the best chance to win. They don't guarantee victory, but they give you basically everything you could want.Those guys also weren't drafted into perfect situations, they had general managers who made huge blunders, thus they were obviously going to look around at other spots.
We are already seeing new stars becoming frustrated with their home teams a la Kevin Love. The double double machine called out his teammates and upper management when he said if this team doesn't improve he's out. What's so scary is that Kevin Love is one of the only super stars that is not locked up in a very long term deal. Deron and Joe Johnson in Brooklyn, Melo, Chandler, and Stat are in New York, Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are in Miami, Paul, Griffin, Kobe Bynum, and Pau in LA, Nowitzki in DAL, Rose in CHI, Pierce and Rondo in BOS and Durant and Westbrook in OKC. The only star I didn't mention is Dwight Howard and he will be on one of those teams I just mentioned within the year (I probably also forgot a few on the way).
Lebron said a few years ago that the league should consolidate, and I disagree with that, because I love how the NBA is everywhere across the US, but it's basically consolidating by itself. There are no stars in Detroit, Toronto, Goldenstate, Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, and the rest I didn't mention have great young talent who are going to have to decide in a few years, do I stay in a small city or do I go big. Let's see what Kyrie Irving, Brandon Jennings and even Anthony Davis do. By the way I totally recognize that Indiana has Roy Hibbert and Paul George who are very solidr and Portland has Lamarcus Aldridge who is fantastic, but I am generalizing.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Will NBA Stars Team Up Again Following Olympics?
Let's go back to July 2010, when Lebron James declared that he was going to take his talents to South Beach to become a member of the Miami Heat with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. How did the idea of them coming together come about, well many close to the situation believe that the three of them talked about becoming teammates during their time at the Olympic Games in Beijing. They all decided to sign three year extensions at the same time so that they would all be free agents at the same time. Sure enough, Pat Riley and the Miami Heat were able to clear the most cap space out of any team and were miraculously able to acquire three of the top 15 players in the NBA, at a reduced cost. Besides the Heat's big 3, other stars have claimed that they talked about teaming up while playing together at the Olympics. Deron Williams and Dwight Howard have both said that they talked about teaming up (even though that failed twice as we all know... DWIGHTMARE). Additionally Carmelo Anthony who eventually became a Knick two years ago, and Chris Paul who has always been known as a lover for the New York area, became very close friends during the Olympics, and even talked about teaming up at Carmelo Anthony's wedding.
Now, let's move to the present. Here are the current contract situations for the current USA members.
Thus, after looking through all the major super stars in the league and their contracts it's clear that most big time super stars are signed for multiple years besides Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. It seems CP3 will stay in LA, and Howard will either be a Laker, Net, or Maverick by next year. It is evident that general managers have become more aggressive in signing their young talent and giving them max deals, because they saw in 2010 how quickly things can change. Clearly, Carmelo cannot say to Westbrook let's team up because they are both signed long term, Westbrook especially. It looks like the names to keep an eye on going forward are Kevin Love, who has publicly mentioned his lack of patience with the Timberwolves management and James Harden as well as Andre Iguodala. It doesn't appear that any of the friendships made on this Olympic run, between the ballers, will lead to any major shakeups in the NBA. Although keep an eye on Kevin Love. One dream scenario I can see for the Lakers is Love eventually coming to LA, Love played basketball at UCLA, once Gasol and Artest's contracts run out. Iguodala could easily team up on a future big 3, but he would most likely be the smallest of the 3. As for Harden, it looks like Sam Presti, Oklahoma City GM will have a choice to make between Ibaka and Harden. My gut tells me he will stick with Harden, and let Ibaka walk, just because there are so few great shooting guards in the league anymore. However, if OKC goes with Ibaka, and Harden is set free, I can see Harden going to Minnesota to play with Love and Rubio.
One last dream scenario for my friends in Chicago is if the Bulls amnesty Boozer and manage to trade Joakim Noah or Luol Deng, I could see James Harden or Kevin Love wanting to play with Derrick Rose in Chicago. Chicag seems destined for mediocrity in this upcoming season, so watch out for them to make some big moves in the upcoming year or two. Lastly, keep an eye on Andrew Bynum and Cleveland, Bynum and Kyrie are great friends and General Manager Dan Gilbert has already lost one superstar and he is not going to lose another. I think if Bynum is able to become a free agent, which he wants to be, the Cavaliers will offer him a max. The Cavs currently have the most cap space in the NBA.
Now, let's move to the present. Here are the current contract situations for the current USA members.
- Lebron James-- Signed until 2013/2014 with player option for 2014/2015 and 2015/2016
- Kobe Bryant-- Signed until 2013/2014
- Chris Paul-- Signed until 2012/2013
- Deron Williams-- Signed until 2014/2015 season with player option in 2015/2016 making 21M
- Kevin Durant--Signed until 2015/2016
- Russell Westbrook-- Signed until 2016/2017
- Carmelo Anthony -- Signed until 2013/2014, player option 2014/2015 making 23.5M
- Kevin Love-- Signed until 2014/2015, 2015/2016 player option making 17M
- James Harden-- Signed until 2012/2013, becomes restricted FA after this year-OKC can match
- Andre Iguodala-- Signed until 2012/2013 player option 2013/2014 making 16M
- Tyson Chandler-- Signed until 2014/2015
- Anthony Davis -- Signed until 2015/2015, Player option 2016/2017
Thus, after looking through all the major super stars in the league and their contracts it's clear that most big time super stars are signed for multiple years besides Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. It seems CP3 will stay in LA, and Howard will either be a Laker, Net, or Maverick by next year. It is evident that general managers have become more aggressive in signing their young talent and giving them max deals, because they saw in 2010 how quickly things can change. Clearly, Carmelo cannot say to Westbrook let's team up because they are both signed long term, Westbrook especially. It looks like the names to keep an eye on going forward are Kevin Love, who has publicly mentioned his lack of patience with the Timberwolves management and James Harden as well as Andre Iguodala. It doesn't appear that any of the friendships made on this Olympic run, between the ballers, will lead to any major shakeups in the NBA. Although keep an eye on Kevin Love. One dream scenario I can see for the Lakers is Love eventually coming to LA, Love played basketball at UCLA, once Gasol and Artest's contracts run out. Iguodala could easily team up on a future big 3, but he would most likely be the smallest of the 3. As for Harden, it looks like Sam Presti, Oklahoma City GM will have a choice to make between Ibaka and Harden. My gut tells me he will stick with Harden, and let Ibaka walk, just because there are so few great shooting guards in the league anymore. However, if OKC goes with Ibaka, and Harden is set free, I can see Harden going to Minnesota to play with Love and Rubio.
One last dream scenario for my friends in Chicago is if the Bulls amnesty Boozer and manage to trade Joakim Noah or Luol Deng, I could see James Harden or Kevin Love wanting to play with Derrick Rose in Chicago. Chicag seems destined for mediocrity in this upcoming season, so watch out for them to make some big moves in the upcoming year or two. Lastly, keep an eye on Andrew Bynum and Cleveland, Bynum and Kyrie are great friends and General Manager Dan Gilbert has already lost one superstar and he is not going to lose another. I think if Bynum is able to become a free agent, which he wants to be, the Cavaliers will offer him a max. The Cavs currently have the most cap space in the NBA.
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