Western Conference Power Rankings

First of all, I need to preface this by stating that Vince's post (see below) were truly brilliant, some of the best I have ever seen. Secondly, I'd like to make a prediction about the playoff teams in the west and see what you all think.

1. Lakers- Not a hard decisions at all. It will be very difficult for anyone to deals with this teams length + Kobe. The only hope for the rest of us is that Artest initiates a nuclear meltdown in the playoffs.

2. Spurs- The Spurs will be back near the top of their game with Duncan and Parker getting healthy again. The addition of Jefferson will not hurt at all, either. They will suffer with the loss of Bowen, however, and this lack of a perimeter defender will hurt them in the playoffs.

3. Blazers- I like what I saw last year and now that they have a real pg, I see no reason why they can't keep making progress on their breakout season of last year.

4. Jazz- With the trade rumors dying down, it looks as if Boozer will stay on for one more campaign. He may be a bad defender, but keep in mind that he is still one of the best 5 pfs in the league. He can do 20 and 12 any game, and does well offensively in the Sloan offense. This team was the third best team in 07-08 and I expect them to regain some of that swagger.

5. Nuggets- This team played well last year, but I still can't take them seriously for some reason. They fall a little next season.

6. Mavericks- This team is a bit of a wild card, but I am predicting that all of the random pieces that were bought up last year will somehow fall together into place. We shall see, though.

7. Hornets- Chandler is gone, the financial situation is terrible, and Chris Paul is only one man. I think Okafor is a good defender, but I can't see him elevating this team. I see this team as sinking, and inevitably CP3 bailing ship.

8. Thunder- With the Rockets losing Yao, T-Mac, and Artest, they won't make it this far. I'll give this young team a chance and predict that they slip in right past the Suns for the 8th and final spot. Good luck to them against the Lakers.

CELTICS - HELLS NO

THAT'S ALL FOLKS.

LAKERS REPEAT

WE ALL KNOW IT'S GONNA HAPPEN. 2010, BABY - THE DYNASTY RETURNS.


P.S. Kenyon Martin's lipstick tatttoo - TERRIBLE.

Terrible Ten (NBA General Managers)

Originally posted by Drew D of Sir Charles in Charge, here is a top ten list of the NBA's worst GMs.

10) Sam Presti - During the past two seasons, Presti has been in charge of a team that has an overall record of 43-121. This is a winning percentage of .262. Has a general manager ever received more accolades for accomplishing so little? The decision to hire P.J. Carlisimo was catastrophic and in year three of Presti’s reign, Oklahoma City will be hardpressed to win 40% of its games. Is this really one of the top GM’s in the NBA?

9) Joe Dumars - Pistons fans aren’t going to like this, but Dumars has made a lot of head scratching decisions recently (Chauncey Billups trade, Rip Hamilton extension, Ben Gordon contract and bringing Chris Wilcox in to presumably start at center to name four). Is Joe living on borrowed time in Detroit?

8) Danny Ferry - Danny deserves credit for trying to make the Cavs better. However, the pieces that he has added likely won’t be enough to get LeBron James a ring. The deal Anderson Varejao inked this summer was likely $10-12 million more than any other team in the league would have paid.

7) Jeff Bower - I’m somewhat reluctant to include Bower because he has made a number of solid acquisitions over the past couple of years. However, his failure to secure a suitable backcourt mate for Chris Paul is simply inexcusable.

6) Geoff Petrie - Last off-season it was Beno Udrih. This off-season it’s Sean May. Needless to say, Sacramento fans won’t have to worry about buying playoff tickets for a few more years.

5) Ed Stefanski -Throwing $80+ million at Elton Brand will plague the 76ers for years and letting Andre Miller leave without any compensation was questionable to say the least. Maybe Stefanski thinks that recent acquisition Primoz Brezec will lead the Sixers to the promised land. As far as I’m concerned, Brezec is just Dwayne Schintzius minus the mullet.

4) John Hammond - Hiring Sourpuss Scott Skiles, drafting Joe Alexander, dumping Richard Jefferson for eighteen cents on the dollar and failing to extend a qualifying offer to Charlie Villanueva are just four of the dubious decisions Hammonds has made as GM of the Bucks in a span of less than two years.

3) Mike Dunleavy - Yaroslav Korolev. I could expound for another five-hundred words, but I’ll just go ahead and rest my case.

2) David Kahn - Only Michael Jackson’s summer has been worse. The bottom line with Kahn is that he really needs Ricky Rubio to be wearing a Timberwolves jersey by October. Has any GM ever had a more disastrous first eight weeks on the job?

1) Chris Wallace - Just keeping the spot warm for David Kahn. Although Memphis Grizzlies fans won’t have much to cheer about again this season, at least Wallace will be able to take pride in his Lakers championship ring.

Ricky Rubio Coin Flip

The ongoing Ricky Rubio saga took an interesting turn this past week. Despite a daunting wall of European contract restrictions, the Minnesota Timberwolves are apparently still in the running for the electric young Spanish talent. At least according to a variety of sources, the Timberwolves now have a 50-50 chance of securing Rubio to an NBA contract. Keeping in mind that the draft lottery is designed to help rebuild the leauges worst teams, I feel it is worth taking a look at the issues that may allow a 24 win team to go without their top 5 lottery pick this year.

The Spaniard's current contract with DKV Joventut has 2 years left on it as well as an obscenely disproportionate $8.2 million buy-out clause. Compare this to the fact that Rubio didn't even make $100,000 playing basketball last year. To make matters more confusing, DKV Joventut offered Rubio's contract as collateral for a late tax payment to Spain's IRS, Hacienda. Though not actually sold, the contract is now further tied down by an unstable national economic climate, government beaurocracy, as well as DKV Joventut's desire for debt relief. This is of course in addition to Rubio's aversion to all things cold.

In accordance with the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, Minnesota can only contribute $500,000 to aid in the mammoth buyout. Despite beginning his professional career at only 14 and being the youngest player ever to participate in Spain's ACB leauge, it isn't difficult to see that a combination of personal and Minnesota buyout funds will still fall far short. It is also true that while Rubio went public with the fact that he would play for free if that's what it took to realize his dream of playing in the NBA, this was before he fell from the third spot that many thought he would be drafted in to the fifth.

When it looked like he was going to be drafted third by Oklahoma City, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that a buyout would send him to the States. However, the difference in rookie contract salary between the third and fifth lottery spots is significant. Instead of earning $10,761,200 over three years, he will earn $8,785,800. Subtract the buyout and you'll get what Rubio will have only after three years of playing at a severely reduced salary. Let's just say that's less than Uros Slokar (hint: see 'lowest paid players in NBA').

If Rubio delivers in the NBA, he will certainly recoup the buyout amount quickly through endorsements and other opportunities. Having already appeared in commercials with some of sports' highest profile figures (Tiger Woods/Derek Jeter/Roger Federer/etc), Rubio has massive marketing potential at only 18 years old. He'll fair better in the long term if he makes the transition to the NBA, but would have to sacrifice for now.

Even though it appears Rubio and his Spanish team will part ways regardless of his destination next year, this could be bad news for Minnesota. If money becomes a higher priority, the point guard can sign another European offer with a team like Regal FC Barcelona, Olympiacos, or Real Madrid which are interested and not beholden to the NBA buyout and rookie salary. Money doesn't appear to be the only concern however, as Spanish news reported that Rubio turned down the Real Madrid and Olympiacos offers last week which were both greater than Regal FC Barcelona's. As reported by ESPN in the video link above, a final option would be for Rubio to sit out a year of basketball and re-enter the NBA draft. In this unlikely, worst case scenario, Minnesota would lose their rights to the previously drafted player.

To complicate the issue even further, Minnesota is still without a coach after Kevin McHale's release. The team appears to be leaning toward Mark Jackson while also considering Kurt Rambis and Elston Turner. It has not been made public as to who Rubio would prefer but the decision may help determine where he will end up. Then there's always the issue of Timberwolves backcourt personell, having drafted Rubio and Jonny Flynn consecutively 5th and 6th. Despite David Kahn's stand that Flynn and Rubio could play together in Minnesota, the reality appears to point more in the direction that he simply took the best available talent and will look to make a move in the near future if both point guards do in fact show up. Finally, here is a upbeat look at Minnesota prospects even with all the snags that have cropped up.

In the end, it is bizarre how this can all culminate in the 5th pick of the NBA draft having the same chance of playing for the team that drafted him as the chance of flipping tails on your luckiest penny. I gave it a try myself this morning and determined that Rubio was headed to Minnesota twice, Barcelona once, and the NY Knicks ten times in a sign and trade for Darko Milicic... Get out your coins and send me your second opinions.


UPDATE:
Here is a recent article downgrading the chances of Rubio playing in Minnesota well below what was being proposed above. It also includes some interesting quotes from Timberwolves' president David Kahn regarding his vision of a Rubio/Flynn backcourt.

2009/2010 NBA Schedule

The 2009/2010 NBA schedule is set to debut this Tuesday, August 4th. I will of course be among the throngs of NBA enthusiasts frantically downloading it as soon as the clock strikes the 1pm release date. But for those of you who won't even be able to make it through the start of another workweek without at least a hint of what is to come (or who can't care less and just want a general overview), here is a small taste of what you can expect.

Like last year, the season will open with a Boston/Cleveland match-up when the Celtics visit Cleveland on October 27th. It will also be the fourth time in six years that a Shaq-Kobe duo have taken the Christmas Day spotlight. While this may be a testament to Shaq's surprising longevity, it is also an indicator of a greater financial agenda.

With their golden ticket player, the mighty Cavaliers will take both of these prime spots ahead of an Orlando team that actually made the finals last year. Understandably, the schedule's construction is a 6 month undertaking beginning in early February, so maybe Matt Winick is still living in the land of pre-Eastern Conference Championship Puppet Land. Or maybe David Stern's feelings about small markets are showing. (Let's be honest, Stern would no rather down a bottle of tobasco than play host to a Denver-Orlando finals, or San Antonio-New Jersey for that matter).

In the end, perhaps it only makes sense for Stern to tend to his own and favor more commercially palatable programming. As part of a larger trend, NBA ratings and profits have been in decline for some time now. This was highlighted in 2006 when a rained-out NASCAR telecast embarassed the NBA with higher ratings than an ABC broadcast of the Lakers-Caveliers/Kobe-Lebron faceoff. In any case, check out the schedule for yourself on Tuesday and let me know what you think. What do you think about the state of financial sense and programming decisions in the NBA?

*As a side note, here is an interesting article regarding the NBA small market dilemma.

This Week's Media Winners

In honor of the NBA summer media doldrums, here is an uplifting compilation of some choice gems.

Creepiest Off-Season Farewell (2009):
Ben Gordon parts ways with the Chicago Bulls this summer to the collective pounding of our techno hearts.


Most Creative Conspiracy Story (Everywhere, Soon):
The Chicago Bulls' logo is not what what it appears to be, but perhaps more frightening. Watch as a simple rotation reveals its true nature. No wonder resigning Gordon wasn't the first thing on their mind.






(Robot priest at high alter with text, preparing for human sacrifice...)

Best Media Mix (All-Time Award):
Steve Porter's "Press Hop" is truly among the sports world's elite montages.


Best Free Agent Negotiation Documentary (2009)
Jerry Buss discusses the subtleties of Lamar Odom's contract negotiations in this lucid look inside his Los Angeles empire.


Strangest Music Video (2009)
Toronto looks to welcome Hedo Turkoglu to its streets. Apparently they appreciate the cultural contribution that he (and his grandmother?) can offer their city.

(From Turkcell mobile, advertisement)