BS and the Worldwide Leading Mouse

I’ve found Bill Simmons’ firing at ESPN a fascinating topic for a variety of reasons, so let’s talk about them here. 

First, a quick background for those who don’t know:  Bill Simmons is a sports columnist who was one of the first and arguably most successful of the modern bloggers in sports/pop culture media.  He started with a small blog on AOL back in the early 90’s, and ended up making around $5mil a year at the end of his 14 year career with ESPN that included becoming a cohost of NBA Countdown, and starting ESPN’s award winning 30 for 30 documentary series and spinoff Grantland.com, ESPN’s op-ed site for both sports and pop culture.  Both of those are by far the most successful ESPN programs (not including the actual games they show) the company has right now.  An extremely opinionated, extremely pro-Boston sports fan, the announcement that Simmons was being let go was not really a surprise—he’s had several public fights with ESPN in the last several years, culminating in a 3 week suspension last year.  What was a surprise was in the modern age of kiss ass, everybody-loves-everybody business world that we live in was how confrontational his dismissal was:  Simmons found out on twitter after ESPN informed the New York Times, and the phrasing of the dismissal from ESPN’s president was very aggressive (“I decided not to renew Bill’s contract” instead of “we’ve decided it is in the best interest of both parties…we wish him the best in his next endeavors” kind of thing). 

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that I’m a huge Simmons fan.  I love his work for the same reason I love Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, and I think they’re favorite tag line applies to Simmons as well:  “We’re just a bunch of guys you’d like to hang out and have a beer with.”  Even though I’m not a fan of any Boston teams, as a fan I respected Simmons’ love of those teams, and loved the passion with which he writes about them and his favorite leagues.  He was one of the first to view sports as part of the entertainment/pop culture whole, and his writing about TV and movies is just as good if not better than any of his sports work.  His willingness—that’s not even a strong enough word, it’s almost zeal—to not pull punches when friends/coworkers/league personal made bad decisions was refreshing in a media world that doesn’t want to rock anyone’s boat.  In short, whether you were talking about the Celtics latest trade, how the latest season of Mad Men was progressing, or a guide to a Guy’s Trip to Vegas, Simmons articles did come across as the same conversations you would have with your friends at Happy Hour, and it became increasingly refreshing to read in a world of Rick Reilly and Peter King-type reporting that never criticizes anyone or anything that they might want to work with. 

So why did it go so wrong that the notoriously conservative Disney-owned ESPN vindictively cut ties with arguably it’s most successful employee of the 2000’s?  Why do so many people have such incredibly strong—on both sides of the equation—reactions to this story?  Something really crazy must have happened to end this marriage, right? 

In the end, no.  I think this is a comedy of errors that we’ve seen before, and will see again. 
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Any large company—especially a large media company—is invariably going to run into the same problem:  when it’s a startup, it’s hungry, it’s edgy, and it pushes the envelope.  As it gets bigger and more successful, though, it’s going to get more conservative:  its success is going to breed closer partnerships with the people it’s reporting on, which in turn will lead to less edginess and willing to criticize those people, even when they deserve it.  So it becomes a delicate tightrope with which to walk:  how much can we criticize the leagues that we are paying to show their games?  We’re the media, so we’re supposed to be nonbiased…but if more and more money is coming to the company from these partnerships, obviously we are then biased to want them and the partnership to succeed. 

This isn’t a new thing for any large company, and it isn’t a new thing for ESPN.  The once plucky company has seen many of their original stars either leave—Dan Patrick and Keith Olberman are good examples—or seen them eventually become neutered shadows of their former selves—Chris Berman is a good example there.  The catch is, in today’s online media world, you need edge to be successful, so you eventually reach a point where you say, “You know what, we need to get edgier, and we have more money than anyone else.  Who’s the biggest name out there right now…let’s go get them!  Then we can say to the world we’re still edgy!”  That’s exactly what ESPN did when it launched Page 2 back in the late 90’s as the network became super successful:  it signed dynamic writers like Simmons, Hunter S Thompson (I still can hardly believe he wrote for ESPN, and the first Thompson pieces I ever read were on ESPN), and Ralph Wiley, among others.  Of the characters to write on Page 2, Simmons eventually became the most successful. 

His impact at ESPN can’t be understated.  It was he that led ESPN to become a force in pop culture and not just sports.  It was he that forced ESPN to open their Los Angeles studios, which helped to combat the very real issue at ESPN of their East Coast bias.  He helped introduce ESPN to podcasting, and founded one of their most successful and well respected programs in 30 for 30.  With Grantland.com, he not only established a separate site—and the separate is important for the main ESPN brand—that they could profit from, but he also brought in other outstanding and outspoken writers like Zach Lowe, Andrew Sharp, and Mark Lisanti that probably never would have felt like they could creatively work with the Bristol crew at ESPN.  Finally, Nate Silver also would have never partnered with ESPN when founding fivethirtyeight.com if he hadn’t seen the creative freedom and success that Simmons had been able to establish at ESPN. 

Many people like to claim that Simmons gets too much credit or hasn’t been as successful as some think while at ESPN, but look at that above list, and think about it:  other than showing games and SportsCenter—the first which just takes money and the Disney name, and the second has become a soulless, ad filled shadow of its former self—can you think of any other exceptional content that ESPN has provided outside of that list?  With the exception of PTI (another show where ESPN has had issues with censoring the hosts), I can’t.  If you try to name something like First Take, OTL, or Sportsnation…then I just pity you.  When it comes to reporting, ESPN has lagged far behind its competitors in breaking stories (Did Lebron announce he was returning to Cleveland on ESPN?  When was the last time you can remember an ESPN reporter coming up with a sensational story or correctly predicting where a player was going to go before someone else did?  Did ESPN break the Ray Rice story?).  When simply looking at the facts, Simmons truly has been the most successful person at ESPN for about a decade.  Any argument to that is really just jealousy. 

So if he’s been so successful…then why did it go wrong? 
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The answer is simple:  because in the end, no matter what they say, any big company wants its employees to toe the line. 

A large media conglomerate like ESPN wants a public reputation for being edgy…but it doesn’t really want to BE edgy.  If it is, its partnerships with the NFL, NBA, and other leagues might be jeopardized, and as successful as Simmons has been, that is where the real money is made.  In so many ways, the story of Bill Simmons and ESPN is the same as Howard Stern and NBC and so many other controversial artists before him:  the company hires them because of their reputation, but they don’t really want them to act that way once they get here!  They want you to bring your audience with you, and then they want you to learn to behave the insert corporate name here way. 

That’s why you see so many failed corporate marriages like this, and why you will continue to see this in the future.  Big companies will still need the respectability that new, outspoken talent can bring.  In the end, though, the most profitable parts of their business will continue to be the corporate partnerships that they have entered into—and an artist can’t stay edgy and outspoken without rocking boats like that once in a while.  It’s inevitable that eventually the artist will go too far, and the marriage will end.  Again, we’ve seen it before, and we’ll see it again. 

In some ways, the most impressive part of the Simmons/ESPN story is that it lasted as long as it did.  Say what you will about Simmons, he never sold out—he’s remained outspoken for his entire tenure at ESPN, even as he grew from a couple of times a week columnist to broadcasting host and running his own website.  For the two sides to last 14 years together with Simmons staying as vocal as he did is a testament not just to either party, but to how incredibly successful Simmons was, because in the end, it’s all about the bottom line.  As Jimmy Johnson once put it about disciplining a player that sleeps during team meetings:  “If it’s a 7^th round offensive lineman, I’d cut him.  If it’s Troy Aikman, I’d tell him to wake up.” 

As ironic as it sounds, I think in the end what ended the marriage was that ESPN made Simmons too public of a figure.  He should have never been on NBA Countdown or broadcasted games, for example.  As much as I love Simmons, that was not his best work, and it made him a public face of the company that leagues like the NFL could not ignore.  It’s one thing to know a columnist’s name—even one as successful as Simmons—but it’s another to SEE him actively involved with the biggest sports leagues on the planet on TV.  Once you’re there, you’re part of the machine, and you need to toe the line—something Simmons, I would say to his credit, was not willing to do. 

Thus, ESPN has decided that the juice is no longer worth the squeeze.  So…are they right? 
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One of the most fascinating parts of this story has been the public’s reaction to it.  As it has become so common in our culture, there’s very little middle ground:  people either think that a star got completely screwed, that ESPN is scum and shot themselves in the foot, and that this story is a huge deal, or that this was some overrated blowhard who got what was coming to him and that this isn’t a big deal. 

The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. 

Will Simmons leaving ESPN kill his career?  Hardly.  The beauty of being a web presence is that the web is everywhere; fans of Simmons simply have to start to type his name in Google and it will take them wherever he is, be it another major conglomerate or to his own multimedia home.  Like it or not, Simmons is a major player in the sports/pop culture community, and his fans will follow him—and he’ll continue to make money—wherever he goes.  As I mentioned earlier, he’s done a fantastic job of growing talent while at Grantland, so it will be easy for him to attract other writers to join him as A) he’s proven he can make money, B) he’s proven to care about giving them journalistic freedom, and C) he’s been more than willing to share the spotlight with his team.  Bill Simmons will continue to succeed, so yes, it’s always a story when a major player in any industry leaves their current home—especially under such acrimonious and thus entertaining circumstances. 

So that proves the “it’s not a big deal” faction wrong…but the” ESPN just screwed themselves and this is a HUGE story” crew also aren’t entirely correct.  ESPN is still far and away the major player in the sports world, and is a major part of arguably the most powerful company in the world, Disney.  They’ve still got partnerships with literally all of the major US sports and most of the sports in the world.  They still own the rights to 30 for 30, Grantland, all of the aforementioned Grantland writers who have helped make it a success—ironically, even though we are all calling this a firing for Simmons, he is still technically under contract for a few more months, meaning he still technically works for them until then (got to love the business world)—even the Simmons’ podcast that bears his name, the BS Report, belongs to ESPN.  So no, ESPN isn’t going to come crashing down over this.  Also, as I mentioned above, the ease with which you can find Simmons’ work online also makes it not that big of a deal.  He’ll continue to produce quality work, and you’ll just go to bs.com or foxsports.com instead of Grantland to get it.  So when the dust settles, the end results won’t have changed too much. 

To me, the biggest impact of this isn’t even to ESPN; it’s to Disney.  More and more, the supposedly family-friendly Mouse seems to be acting like the kind of corporate bully that Gordon Gecko—God I wish I could say that Wall Street was a Disney movie, but alas, it’s Fox—would approve of.  Not only do all of the Disney companies seem to want more and more absolute obedience from their employees—from not letting Disney Park employees wear their own underwear (yep, communal underwear; I couldn’t make that up), to jeopardizing the Marvel franchises by refusing to pay their stars, to clamping down on sports employees like Simmons and Tony Kornheiser—but they seem to be getting vindictive against those that they perceive to have wronged them.  Anyone who followed Simmons at all knew that most likely he was leaving ESPN; the writing was on the wall once he was suspended for three weeks, and anyone who had any doubt at all after that should have had that doubt answered when he did his “this is my career” BS Report on April 3rd that was a respectful but obvious goodbye to ESPN.  So while Simmons stayed professional and continued to do good work for ESPN publicly, ESPN and Disney has come out as both extremely petty and trying to rewrite history with their “I decided not to renew his contract” story and by releasing the story to the media before speaking to Simmons in person.  Again, Disney is one of the most powerful companies in the world, and they’re going to be fine.  But one of the few things the world can agree on is that no one likes a bully, and Disney’s behavior has become increasingly bully-ish the last few years.  A wise man—or mouse—would watch how they treat people (especially in public). 
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So where does that leave Simmons, and ESPN, and Disney, and most importantly, us?  In the end, we’ll all be fine.  Simmons is going to move on to newer and probably just as green pastures.  He won’t have quite the unparalled access of working for the Worldwide Leader, but he’ll have more creative control of his work which will lead to fewer headaches for him.  ESPN and Disney have lost one of their stars, but there are still plenty of talented people who would love to work for them, and though they’ve slightly damaged their reputations with how they’ve handled this, nothing major has gone wrong, and they’ll continue to print money.  As for us:  we’ve had a very entertaining story that’s not even done yet—remember, Simmons has yet to respond to any of this—and in the end, we’ll get several years of Simmons in FU Mode (to steal one of his favorite phrases) as he sets out proving ESPN wrong.  In the end, for us, it’s all just good, clean fun, because in our PC age you don’t see fights in public like this very often anymore.  We get to enjoy this without having to feel too guilty, because we know that in the end, both sides will still be on their feet when all is said and done. 

As I mentioned when I started this, I am a Bill Simmons fan.  So last but not least, what ESPN should have said to him:  thanks so much Bill for all of the great work you did at ESPN; you enriched our lives with what you did there.  I’m looking forward to what you do next, because I know you’ll continue your great work there as well. 

Good on you Billy!  

2015 NBA Trade Deadline

Jim Ross is starting to freak out right now as he recognizes the music.  That's right...we just had such an utterly insane Trade Deadline, it's time to bust open the doors and for PJ's Place to come out of retirement!  For one night only:  how the trade deadline has reshaped the Western Conference.  I'm going to rank the playoff teams as I see them right now:

1. Memphis Grizzlies:  It wasn't a trade deadline deal, but I still LOVE the Jeff Green acquisition.  The only whole they had was scoring punch at the wing, and they absolutely solved it with Green, who can actually play 2-4 depending on the matchups and is perfectly happy being the second or third banana.  Provided ZBo doesn't punch anyone, I think the Grizzlies finally make it to the NBA Finals.  
2. Portland Trailblazers:  I love Arron Afflalo.  Again, I think he's exactly what this team needed:  a wing defender who can score enough to keep teams honest, but isn't going to look for 15 shots a game.  He's a veteran who has played for crappy teams enough years that he will do anything now that he's on a playoff squad.  And while I hate Nic Batum as a starter, I like Batum as a bench guy that you can put in in a playoff game, see if he's got anything that game, and then sit his ass the rest of the game if he's having one of his crappy French games.  
3. OKC Thunder:  I hate to put them this high, especially in this "everything that can go wrong will go wrong" season, but I love the additions and the subtractions they've made.  First of all, even if they got nothing back for them, I think losing Jackson (because he was pouting about shots and the team was sick of him) and Perk (so Scott Brook's dumb ass would stop playing him, and everyone would stop talking about how stupid it is that they've kept him all these years) was addition by subtraction.  So just by them being gone, they get a +.
   
   However, they not only managed to get rid of two guys who should have had almost 0 value, they got good pieces back for them:  Kanter is a big who can't defend but can score, but he matches perfectly with Ibaka, a big who can defend and can't really score (yes, I know he has a good jumper, but that's not what the Thunder needed from him).  The Ibaka/Adams/Kanter triumvirate at 4 and 5 is now a great set for the playoffs.  And I know that people tend to write DJ Augustin off--and given his first few years in the league, it's totally understandable--but in his last couple of years he's actually morphed into a nice point guard.  Let's put it this way:  he's 1000x better than Derek Fischer.
   
   The biggest problem I have left with the Thunder is two things.  The first is momentum:  again, this is a season where anything that could go wrong has, and when that happens to teams it tends to keep happening to them.  So I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop there.  Second though is the team's attitude:  anyone who's watched the Thunder for five minutes this season can tell that something is wrong with this team; the attitude has just been bad all year.  I do think this is what they needed to fix that, which is why I have them up here; however, if I'm wrong, and they still aren't all on the same page, then they'll be out in the 1st round.  But for a team that really had very little to trade with, they've done an outstanding job.  
4. Golden State Warriors:  Yes, they're fun to watch, and yes, they're the best team in the league right now, but I still have trouble seeing this team make the Western Conference Finals, let alone the NBA Finals.  Sorry, I'm still just not a believer.  The did the right thing by standing pat though, they need to ride this out.  
5. LA Clippers:  Blake Griffin being out is either going to be fantastic for this team, or absolutely horrible for this team, and there's no middle ground, and for one reason:  DeAndre Jordan.  Jordan is either going to come out of the stretch with some much needed crunch time play and offensive touches, and it will help him grow into a much more effective threat that can lessen the burden on Griffin in the playoffs and make them a more devastating combo.  Or it could make him think, "Hey man, I should have been getting more touches all along!  I'm as good as he is!  And it's a contract year!  F that guy, I want the ball!" and it makes their already crappy team chemistry (they are slightly ahead of OKC as the "Good Team That Looks Like They're Sick of Playing With Each Other" award winner) even worse.  There's no middle ground, we'll just see how it goes.  
6. Houston Rockets:  Yes, picking up KJ McDaniels was another great asset for Dork Elvis to pick up.  However, that won't help at all with either getting into the playoffs or in the playoffs.  And don't make me laugh at you about Prigioni.  
7. San Antonio Spurs:  I'm sorry, but I've been saying this for years:  Kawahi Leonard is not a max guy.  He's a very good role player who is in the absolute most perfect position he could possibly be in...and as soon as Duncan, Manu, and Pop leave, he'll never be close to that perfect of a position again.  Everyone thinks the Spurs have some magic plan for waiting to sign Leonard to his extension, but I think it's really because they are panicing over the fact that they know he's not worth what he's going to end up getting.  
8. Dallas Mavericks:  I'm really, really, REALLY concerned.  They've looked awful lately, and while yes, Amare is an upgrade over everyone on our bench, that doesn't mean he's actually SOLVING any of our bench problems.  This team is starting to look like the older players are running on fumes and getting a little frustrated, and every day Rondo is not out there learning how to play with these guys is a huge loss of time because as good as Rondo can be, he takes a lot of getting used to.  Even though he's a head case, I think the Mavs need to make a run at Larry Sanders:  we've got to get a backup big who can rebound and block shots, and if he's really a completely nuts pothead I think the team would be fine just getting rid of him and moving on in that worst case scenario.  But they way they are now--even with a best case scenario with Amare--they aren't beating anyone in the first round.  
9. New Orleans Hornets:  Now that the Suns have thrown in the towel, this is the only team in the West that could really challenge for a playoff spot, and I think they've dug too deep of a hole to get in.  With the season Anthony Davis is having though, anything is possible, so consider them mentioned.  

A couple of quick thoughts from the crappy East:  

• I really hope Bosh is okay, because while I of course hate Miami, I do have to admit that if their new starting five could ever get on the court together it could be really interesting team in the East.  
• Can you imagine the last 48 hours of Dragic's life?  He went from:  F this team, I'm outta here...I wonder where I'll go...sweet, I went to a playoff team...wait, is it just me, or could this team actually go somewhere in the playoffs...crap, our best player might be out for the rest of the season, I might go back to being the 9th seed again?  Again, all of that was in the space of 48 hours.  Crazy.  
• Finally, on Reggie Jackson:  I think Reggie Jackson is crazy in his belief that "I can be an All Star starting scoring point guard on a playoff team".  He's not that good.  However, he is a good scorer who's delivered in the playoffs, and he will be great on this Detroit team trying to make the playoffs in one of the worst conference's in history.  The question will be long term:  his true role will be scoring guard off the bench on a championship contending team (or exactly what he was the past two years in OKC); will he ever accept that that's who he is, or will he be good stats on a bad team with a bloated contract guy?  It'll be interesting to find out, but he will be good for Detroit this year.  

I've missed you friends.  Thank God for the NBA...it's FAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!  

2012 Western Conference Preview

Western Conference preview. And sadly, I'm not using the first few weeks of the season to help my projections because I've barely had time to watch.  

The Bad 

15. New Orleans Hornets
The classic "bad but up and coming team". Count me among those who think The Unibrow is a future star. I think Austin Rivers will be a good scoring 6th man/borderline All Star someday, and Robin Lopez and Ryan Anderson are solid starters on a playoff team. There are two reasons I don't have this team higher: 1) they're not only young and dumb, but I don't think the Hornets even care about trying to win this year, they just want to see the players grow, so they will lose games they could win just to let the kids play, and 2) at what point do Eric Gordon's injury issues become a long term concern? I think he is a very good shooting guard and can become a couple of time All Star, but only if he's on the court. At some point that is an issue, right? But this season that won't really matter.  

The Ugly  

14. Sacramento Kings
Wow. WOW! This team is so horribly assembled it's actually amusing. This is classic train wreck/NASCAR crash syndrome. I know it's early, but let's pull out the BPL (bullet point list...how did I not go with that acronym years ago???) already:

! This team's guards are literally the pickup hoops guards from Hell. Tyreke Evans. Aaron Brooks. Jimmer Ferdette. Forget point guards; if you made a list of "guards who if they bring the ball up past half court, they are shooting it, no question" those three are the top three on the list! And they're all on the same team! That's your guard rotation! Well, except for Isiah Thomas, which leads me to my next point...
! Even I had two look up two--TWO!--of their starters. Who the f are Isiah Thomas and James Johnson? Seriously? They're starting for you? I've never heard of these guys! My first thought when I heard Isiah Thomas was, "I don't know which would be worse: a 50ish year old real Isiah Thomas coming back to the NBA, or some guy who shares the name with a famous basketball player that is so bad that I've never heard of him." And who knows, maybe he's a shoot first guard too! I have no idea!
! You know, I actually like the train wreck that is DeMarcus Cousins, and here's why: he's kind of the lone throwback to the Post-Jordan era stars that almost ruined the NBA, the Derick Coleman/Shawn Kemp/Allen Iverson/Stephon Marbury/Alonzo Mourning (it always amused me that he played so long in the NBA that everyone eventually forgot what a dick he was in his youth)/Larry Johnson (it pains me to say that) era, where all of the stars got too much money too soon and all acted like assholes. The modern NBA star might make occasional bad PR moves (see "The Decision") or we might be able to tell that he's really a dick and is just putting on a good show (see Dwayne Wade), but you really take for granted how professional and likeable the current young NBA star is (see Durant, Kevin). DeMarcus Cousins is like the reminder of the way things used to be, and helps you to appreciate how not certifiably crazy the NBA is right now.

Enjoy the ride, Kings fans. I can't wait for Tyreke Evans and Aaron Brooks to try to start stealing the ball from each other in the backcourt when they take it up on offense.  

13. Phoenix Suns
Phoenix is in the horrible position of having a roster full of players who are just good enough to think they should all be playing, but none of them are actually good enough to play. Here's the list of players who are good enough to get minutes on an NBA team: Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Michael Beasley, Luis Scola, Marcin Gortat, Shannon Brown, Wesley Johnson, Markieff Morris, and Channing Frye. Unfortunately, that's 9 players right there, and of that, 4 could only start on bad teams, 1 would be a nice 7th or 8th man on a playoff team, 2 are bench players on a bad team, and 2 only get to play on a bad team because they're young. Throw in Bassy Telfair and Jermaine O'Neal--two players who shouldn't be playing anywhere, but are delusional enough to think that they should--and you have 11 players who want minutes when none are even good enough to start for a playoff team. Uhhhhh...that's not good.  

The Fantasy Teams  

12. Golden State
Golden State is one of the teams--for what seems to be the 30th time in 10 years, which I know is impossible but still feels that way--that is getting, "Hey, these guys might actually be pretty good!" buzz. Let me set the record straight: they are not. Look pundits, I understand where you're coming from. This is a nice little fantasy team; it does look really good on paper, and not just for the talent, but in the, "if you squint hard enough, these guys can actually play together!". But you're reaching and not grabbing here, and I'll tell you why:

* Most of these guys are HORRIBLE defender. Curry and David Lee couldn't stop anyone even if they pretended to try, and Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, and Carl Landry aren't exactly known as defensive stoppers either. "But wait!" they say. "They've got Andrew Bogut now!" Uh huh. First of all, when did Andrew Bogut become the next Bill Russell? Bogut is a nice post defender, but I've never seen nor heard of him being a great help side defender, which is what the Warriors would need to have a chance in Hell of slowing anyone down. While Bogut is an improvement over what they had (which was essentially nothing), improvement in an area does not mean that the problem is solved. Sorry kids. Besides, how many games do we actually think Bogut is going to play this season? Which once again leads me into our next point...
* These guys are ALWAYS injured. How many times has Bogut played over 80 games in a season? Once...his rookie year. He's only played over 70 games twice. Curry? Also once, and he's coming off a 26 game season last year. David Lee has never made it to 75 games as a Warrior. Does anyone think Thompson or Barnes will actually get in 75 games this season? For a team with a very mediocre bench, this does not bode well. However, their biggest problems is that when you look at these names...
* These guys are actually OVERRATED. Look, I know everyone likes Curry because he's a nice guy, and he's got the short-slight-hardworker thing going for him that the average fan loves. But Stephon Curry will never be an All Star in this league as a starter. Everyone agreed that Harrison Barnes was one of the most overrated players in college; how is this going to translate well to the NBA? Andrew Bogut is a top five center in the NBA, it's true...and his career averages are 12.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks a game. Please see my earlier comments about how far the center position has fallen. David Lee is a nice offensive player, but is horrible defensively. Consider me very unconvinced that Klay Thompson is a rising star (to say the least). The fact is that every single one of these players has either significant warts in his game or is just flat out overrated. Period.

So again, I can see if you're looking for hope for this team you don't dive into the details and you can fool yourself into thinking, "Hey, this team might be good!" But it's not good, and it's not going to be good. Sorry people.  

11. Portland Trailblazers
So Golden State was the bad fantasy team; Portland is the good fantasy team. The starting five for Portland is actually pretty good. I'm not a Nicolaus Batum fan, and a rookie point guard is a rookie point guard, but Lamarcus Aldridge is a bona fide All Star, and I like Wes Mathews and JJ Hickson more than most people. So you're starting five isn't bad...and then you look at the bench. Good God. Jared Jeffries is your 6th man? Sasha Pavlovic will get good minutes? Ronnie Price? We all know these guy's names, but that doesn't mean that they're good. And when that is the core of your bench, well, then...crap.  

The "Too Bad We're Not In the East" Teams  

10. Utah Jazz
I could see the Jazz as a playoff team, and yes, we have entered into the "these teams would be a LOCK to make the playoffs in the East" territory. I've got them down here because in the end, I think several of their players are overrated. Mo Williams could only be a starting point guard on a playoff team when he was playing with the best player in the game. I'm going to go with Gordon Haywood as the Poor Man's Mike Dunlevey (uh) rather than as Jeff Hornacek 2.0, and for a starter, let's just say that's not good. Marvin Williams is who he is: a dime a dozen SF/SG in the NBA that won't kill you, but won't ever do anything for you. Millsap and Jefferson are both borderline All Stars, but I can't shake the feeling that in the end they really play the same position. The bench is solid but not noteworthy. This is a vintage Jazz team: they're tough, and they're going to compete every night. In the end though, they're better than the bad teams but not better than the good teams, and I think they will be close to the playoffs but not quite make it their in the end. If anyone slips, however, they'll be waiting.  

9. Minnesota Timberwolves
Count me among those who really like the Wolves roster. Obviously Rubio and Love are great; more doesn't need to be said of them. I really like the pickups of Brandon Roy and AK47; while neither of these guys are stars anymore, they are both improvements over what you had last year, and are solid professionals who will help teach the young players on this team how to play. The bench is filled with not only top notch bench players but guys who are fine coming off the bench and will play hard while doing so; Barea, Stiemsma, and Admundson are great bench players who play hard every night and bring great playoff experience to this team; Budinger and Ridnoir do the same just without the playoff experience. On paper, this isn't just a playoff team, this is an up and coming team that is will push a 2 or 3 seed to 6 or 7 games in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the dreaded I word will keep this team from doing that. This team just can't overcome missing at least 20 games each from Rubio and Love in the ultracompetitive West. Throw in the fact that Roy and AK47 will have fantastic seasons if they make it to 70 games and it's just too much for the Wolves to overcome in the end. The good news is I think the Wolves are smart enough to realize that about this season, and will make sure their young players come back healthy rather than rush them back (I know I'm giving KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!! a lot of credit there, but I get that sense from this team), and will enjoy competing for a playoff spot in the last week of the season.  

The Feel Good Story  

8. Houston Rockets
This is probably too high for this Rockets team. Looking at them on paper, it's definitely too high; the overall talent on this team is less than that of Minny and Utah. However, every season there's a team that just has it, and just plays better than they should, and rides that momentum though the season. I get that feeling from the Rockets this year. Do I think Harden and Lin are overrated? Yes, but I think they aren't as overrated as the media gave them credit for being, and both are in major F You mode and want to show the league that they are much better than given credit for being. I think Omer Asik is very underrated, and I think he was a great addition to this team. I think Daequon Cook and Toney Douglas are solid bench players, and I know he does this every time there's an international competition and it rarely amounts to much in the NBA...but man I thought Carlos Delfino looked FANTASTIC in the Olympics. If he carries just a bit of that to the Houston bench, then their guard rotation is in great shape. This team has warts: outside of Asik, their bigs are a joke. There isn't really a backup point guard on the roster; Toney Douglas is really more of a 2 than a point. And as much as they want to prove that they can carry a team every night, there is legitimate reason to question whether Harden and Lin can actually do so. But in the end, I think this team has the right combination of talent, "Nobody believed in us!", and momentum to carry them into the playoffs.  

The Unexpected  

7. Your Dallas Mavericks!
Don't believe what you've heard: the Mavs offseason was bad (don't believe Cuban when he tells you it wasn't), but not a complete disaster (don't believe the media when they tell you it was). Sure, you would be correct in making fun of this team as the 2006 All Stars (seriously, look it up), but the fact is that Marion, Carter, Brand, and Kaman do have something left in the tank. Collison and Mayo are not a great starting backcourt, but they are a solid one, and Roddy, Brandan Wright, and Jae Crowder coming off the bench is a solid bench. There are lots of reasons not to pick the Mavs to not reach the playoffs, and I wouldn't be shocked if they are hit by injuries if they slide all the way to 10th. But in the end, Dirk is still a top 10 player in the league. This team is still good enough that if Dirk is his usual healthy self when he comes back from his knee injury, this team will not slide out of the playoffs, which is a lot better than a lot of people thought they would be. In the end, trust in the savvy vets.  

6. LA Clippers
I've got a bad feeling about the Clippers this season. In a way, the Clippers remind me of the Suns, not in their talent but in the sense that way too many people are going to expect playing time on this team. Here's the list of guys who think they should be playing on this team: CP3, Willie Green (how is he still starting in the NBA?), Tough Juice, Blake Griffin (we need a nickname for him, and no, I'm not going with "The Ginger"), DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, Jamaal Crawford, Grant Hill, Lamar Odom, Ronny Turiaf, Matt Barnes, Chauncey Billups...Hell, even Ryan Hollins is thinking that he played playoff minutes for the Celtics last season. Ummmmmm...that's 13 people. The good news is, that yes, there is a lot of talent there. The bad news is, it's almost harder to have too many talented people to play than it is untalented people. To handle a situation like this and keep the team from imploding, you need a really good coach and a really strong organization that can establish a culture that says winning is more important than anything, and the culture needs to be respected and even a little feared by the players themselves. Unfortunately, their head coach is arguably the worst head coach in the NBA, and in spite of their success last season this is still one of the least respected organizations in all of sports, not just the NBA. Throw in the fact that CP3 still hasn't signed an extension--which thusfar people have ignored, and I really don't understand why--and if the going ever gets tough on this team, I think this can get really bad really quickly. I think this team is too talented to fall much past 6th, but I get the complete opposite vibe for the Clips that I get from the Rockets: I feel like Momentum is against them this year. In the end, it's going to be the usual wild ride for the Clips.  

5. Denver Nuggets
I like the idea behind the Nuggets. "Look, with the mountains in a game based on nonstop running, we have potentially the biggest homecourt advantage in sports. So let's just put a bunch of good but not great players out there, and run the shit out of the opposition." It's a sound theory, and thanks to the Nuggets pulling a Ewing Theory (tm Sports Guy) last season, everyone is on board with the nuggets. I have two problems with the Nuggets: 1) the Nuggets have tried the run them out of the mountains" before in the late 80's, and it didn't work then. Like I said, it's not a bad plan, and the players on the roster now are better than it they were back then, but as a long term playoff strategy I'm not a believer. 2) Everything broke right for the Nuggets last season. Everything. You know me if you read this blog, I believe in Yin and Yang, so if everything broke right for the Nuggets last season, some things are going to go wrong this season. And when you don't have an elite player to plug the holes, when things go wrong it can get bad quickly. Don't get me wrong; 5th place in the West is an impressive achievement. But some pundits are seeing the Nuggets as a dark horse title contender, and I think that's a little crazy.  

The Flawed  

4. Memphis Grizzlies
Griz are bringing back essentially the same team (the OJ Mayo loss will hurt some; a healthy ZBo will help some, so it all evens out in the end). I think they're about the same again: a tough second round out, but a second round out. This is a very good team that just doesn't have the backcourt to be a great team.  

3. LA Lakers
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yes. The Lakers. What an exciting season it's been already. So many things to note here:

1) I had the Lakers in third before the season started. Howard getting back into shape from back injury, mixing in the new players, the age of the team...even if things had gone incredibly smoothly, this team was not going to win the West.
2) The reason I had them in third was I figured Mike Brown would be fired. Especially as the preseason wore on, it became obvious that Mike Brown would not make the season. The Princeton offense for a team of offensive talent was insane. Combine that with the fact that A) Brown has at this point vehemently proven that he's not a good head coach, B) the Lakers were undoubtedly going to struggle since the media had forgotten that Howard was coming back from back surgery, this team was crazy old, Kobe might be the toughest player to adjust to in the league, and the bench still sucks, and C) the panic that was going to immediately ensue since the media can't pick on Lebron now that he has a title and for some reason they are choosing to ignore the fact that CP3 won't sign an extension, and D) Phil Jackson, the greatest front runner in coaching history was going to be waiting in the wings to come "save" them, and any hiccup in Lakerland was going to be met with Brown's dismissal. It was almost comical how predictable it was; the only surprise was the minor blip in going with D'Antoni instead of Jackson. 
3) See point B above; this team isn't nearly as good as they are being made out to be. Steve Nash is 39! Have you watched Kobe play lately? He still thinks he's the best player in the league! When was the last time that "back surgery" and "starting center" went well together? Has nobody seen these guys try to play defense? They're horrible! Do you realize that Jodie Meeks is probably the 6th best player on this team? And for the love of God, after all the changes, do you not realize that FRICKING RON RON IS STILL STARTING FOR THIS TEAM?!?!? And don't talk to me about how good of shape he's in; he looks more like a crack addict than he does a guy who got into really good basketball shape.

Again, obviously, this is all a matter of degrees. I think this team still fairly easily wraps up 3rd in the West, and if everyone is healthy, they have a good chance to make it to the Finals. But all this "hand the Western Conference to the Lakers" talk is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY premature.  

The Western Enigma  

2. OKC Thunder
So the Harden trade. I really don't know how I feel about that. The biggest problem is that I hate Harden probably more than any player in the NBA right now. I don't need to go into why, you've heard me rant about it before. The question is, how good is he? It's undeniable what a valuable X Factor he turned himself into in the last two seasons. He was fantastic off the bench in all of the Thunder's playoff series except one. He'd improved dramatically from his first couple of years in the league, and carved himself out as a valuable member of this team.

That being said, when the Thunder needed him most, he completely disappeared in The Finals against the Heat. His performance there was nothing short of embarrassing. That's okay, you thought. It was his first time there, maybe it was just jitters. But then on the Olympic team--an Olympic team that was missing several other guards that would have been there over him--Harden also looked awful. He was unquestionably the worst player on the team, and the one that made you say the most, "wow, he looks like he really doesn't belong with these guys" (and yes, that includes The Unibrow. Unibrow looked raw at times but played surprisingly well for a college player, and you could easily see the potential there. Harden just looked pathetic out there). So if you're trying to put together a team that can beat the Miami Heat--a team that has three players that truly belonged on that Olympic roster--how can you not watch those two performances and then come away thinking, "We can't pay this guy like he's one of them, because he most certainly is not."

In the end, I think they should have kept Harden, and deal with the fallout next year. This team was a favorite to compete for the title this season, and you don't miss that chance. You never know when a guy can land funny (see Rose, Derrick), and so if you've got the chance you go for it. That being said, the Thunder did a good job of getting something back for Harden. Kevin Martin has played for bad teams so long you forgot that he was recently a borderline All Star. If your young players (Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III, Reggie Jackson) give you anything, and if Eric Maynor can play well enough to be the 4th quarter point guard of a championship team (moving Westbrook to his real position of shooting guard), then this is still a team that can compete for a championship. I think we're so used to stars--using the term loosely for Harden--traded for little in return that that's what many assumed happened here. But I think OKC got at least $.75 on the dollar for Harden. If anyone else can step up, they can fill that void.

What makes this so fascinating though is that this was truly a What If trade. Time won't tell who was right on this one (unless OKC wins a title); there were no guarantees either way. If KD gets a title in his career, then it was the right move. If not, then we'll always wonder.  

The Old Faithful  

1. San Antonio Spurs
 I don't think I even need to say anything here, do I?

There's your regular season kids. The lesson, as always: the NBA.....it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!

2012 Eastern Conference Preview

It's that time kids.  Let's do this!!! 

My God these teams are awful.  Just awful.

15.  Orlando Magic
I can see half of this team being traded this season.  There isn't a team out there who won't need a pure shooter like Redick?  Think some playoff team needing a big body won't talk themselves into Big Baby?  You know Orlando can't WAIT to get rid of Nelson, Harington, and Hedo.  Not only will this team be tanking, but any veteran who starts playing halfway decent will be shipped out as soon as they can get something for him.  Good luck Orlando fans. 

14.  Washington Wizards
There are teams in the East with less talent than the Wizards, but I just get a bad vibe from this team.  Okafur is the new Pervis Ellision; he always seems to play on crappy teams.  John Wall continues to be a great athlete who seems like he can't figure out how to play basketball.  I'm among those not sold on Bradley Beal, and Trevor Ariza is one of those guys who are good on good teams and bad on bad teams.  This team still just feels like it's going nowhere. 

13.  Charlotte Bobcats
I like the younger players on this team.  Who doesn't like Kidd-Gilchrest?  I think Gerald Henderson is going to be a solid player, and Bismack Biyombo is exciting to watch if nothing else.  It's the vets on this team that are going to hold them back.  Ramon Sessions, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, and Brendan Haywood?  Uhhhh.  Seriously, if you were fielding a 12 man roster of overpaid and overhyped players who also have piss poor attitudes, Gordon, Thomas, and Haywood would be on it, right?  And you could make the case for Sessions?  Once again, I say uhhhhh. 

12.  Detroit Pistons
Every single one of these players is overrated.  Every single one!  It's unbelievable!  Look at this roster:  

Rodney Stuckey:  How much longer are we going to wait for this guy to be good?  This is his 6th year in the league! 
Brandon Knight:  Jury is still out here, but I think we can all agree that he is not ready to start this season. 
Tayshaun Prince:  Prince was a great player, but anyone who thinks he's got anything left in the tank is crae. 
Jason Maxiell:  Maxiell is not horrible, but let's stop pretending he's a poor man's Ben Wallace.  He is a homeless man's Ben Wallace. 
Greg Monroe:  It makes me sad that Monroe is a starting center in the NBA now.

And I could go on:  Charlie V!  Corey Maggette!  Some Swedish dude named Jonas Jerebko is getting good minutes!  And I'm sorry, but how did Andre Drummond go from "stereotypical big guy who is going to waste his talent" to "can't miss NBA rookie!" in 8 preseason games?  It's the preseason people.  Calm down. 

This team is getting some, "Hey, the Pistons might be surprisingly good!" buzz.  Don't buy it.  This team sucks.

Really bad, but they do have at least one thing going for them...

11. Cleveland Cavaliers
I hesitate to go this high with the Cavs (and yes it is sad that 11th in the East is considered "this high" for them)--I could see Detroit actually finishing ahead of them--because they are another "they could be suprising!" buzz team, but I buy into it for the Cavs.  I agree that Kyrie Irving could be ready to jump into the Top 30, and even though I think that Dion Waiters was overrated just like all Syracuse players are (this is a post in and of itself), I think he will play well next to Irving.  Varejao is the perfect hardworking veteran compliment to those guys, and Tyler Zeller and Tristan Thompson will play hard and fun enough to make this team entertaining.  Combine that with the fact that Cleveland fans give them a true home court advantage in that they will cheer any improvement since Lebron's departure, and you do sense that this team is on its way up. 

Two things make me nervous:  1) Duke players are cursed in the NBA, and Irving has already had a couple of weird injuries in his very young career.  If he goes down for long periods of time, this time is battling Orlando for the worst record.  2) The "nice young team that is fun to watch" makes lots of mistakes, and with the exception of Varaejao there are no vets that I really trust on this team.  I mean for God's sake, who the Hell is Alonzo Gee? 

But in the end, even though the record won't be great, I think the Cavs are fun and get better as the season goes on.  This is a squad on the way up. 

10.  Milwaukee Bucks 
The fact that I have the Bucks this close to the playoffs is more of an indictment on how bad the East is then it is an endorsement on how good the Bucks are.  This is one of those bad Isiah Thomas-style fantasy league teams where you look at the roster and go, "Wow, there are 10 okay NBA players on this roster...but none of them fit together well."  Fortunately (or unfortunately, since that leaves them on the bottom side of the middle) for the Bucks, they play in the East, so they won't get shellacked like they would in the West.  In the end, I think the Bucks have enough talent to finish above the worst, but not enough to do anything substantial with it. 

9.  Toronto Raptors 
The East should be ashamed of itself that the Raptors are finishing this high.  This is another team that was getting buzz for being better than expected, and my first thought was, "you've got to be kidding me.  This team sucks."  And while I still stand by that, what I underestimated was how bad the rest of the East was.  The East is the classic "someone has to finish in 7th place" (more on that later), so the fact that Toronto is in 9th doesn't mean that Toronto is necessarily moving in the right direction. 

The thing that I do think this team has going for it is it has a halfway decent second unit.  I think Kyle Lawry is overrated as a starter...but he's not awful, and Jose Caldron as a backup gives you a distinct advantage over the other team's backup.  Same thing for DeMar DeRozan and Landry Fields at shooting guard.  Ed Davis is a nice backup PF (just like his father was).  That makes this team a tough out, which gets you way too high in the East. 

Things are going to go horribly, horribly wrong for these teams...but you won't really notice, because they'll somehow make the playoffs.

8.  Philadelphia 76ers 
You now, I could talk a lot about the Sixers problems, but in the end the answer is this:  I am not an Andrew Bynum believer.  I'm just not.  I think he's a guy who is almost always going to be hurt, and when he's not happy--which is often--he's going to say he's hurt.  I think he's the kind of guy who whines about being the man because he wants the money and attention, but he really has no interest in putting the time, work, and effort into being the man.  And I think Philly has pretty much hitched their wagon to him being a star and taking them to the next level. 

That being said, there is talent on this team:  Jrue Holiday is a little overrated but he's not bad; I don't think Evan Turner will be a star, but I think he can be a 1-2 time All Star; Thaddeus Young is a good multi-tool player, I think Jason Richardson has some life left in him, and I think Dorell Wright is a very underrated player.  I just think the stink of Bynum is going to end up bringing this team down...but not out of the playoffs down. 

7.  New York Knicks 
Their guards are Fat Raymond Felton, Certifiably Insane JR Smith, and Coming off ACL Surgery Iman Shumpert.  Amare can barely even move anymore but he's still going to start, and Melo is refusing to play the 4 even though the only time he plays well is when he's playing there in the Olympics.  Mike Woodson, enjoy your last season as Knicks head coach. 

The Enigma

6.  Chicago Bulls 
This is one of those "I'm just putting this team here, but it could go one of several different ways and it's anyone's guess which way".  Here are the scenarios for Chicago:

* Rose comes back early--like January--and is his old dominant self.  Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli finally start playing to some of the promise they had as rookies and are affective bench players.  Joakhim Noah isn't a dominant scorer, but has figured out how to average 12-15 points a game and establishes himself as someone who must actually be guarded on offense.  This is the least likely scenario. 
* Rose comes back in February, but isn't the same player yet.  This is a guy who relies on pure athleticism more than anyone in the league right now except for Russell Westbrook, and a crippling knee injury is going to take some time for him to recover from.  He's okay, but not great.  The bench is not nearly as good as it has been: Gipson is still good, but Nate Robinson is just okay whereas CJ Watson was a fantastic backup point, and Marco Belinelli is still just some Italian guy playing basketball.  The East sucks so they finish around 6th, but they are a quick first round out and obviously Rose needs more time and the roster needs to improve. 
* The season is a complete disaster.  The bench is awful compared to last season:  the losses of Asik and Watson--especially Watson with Rose being out--kill the team.  There's no scoring without Rose.  Deng and Boozer have their usual injury stretches, but without Rose to cover for them it kills the team.  Rose is ready to come back in February, but the Bulls see that the season is over and know he isn't 100% ready, so they make him sit the entire season.  The Bulls take a page from the Spurs playbook, pack it in, and gun for a top 3 draft pick to team alongside Rose.

In the end, I think the middle scenario is what happens.  But I think the last scenario is the smart move.  The fact is is that Deng, Boozer, and Noah are all overrated players.  The reason this Bulls team was so good was Rose and a really good bench.  The Bulls now have neither of those. 

Solid squads

5. Brooklyn Nets
I think we all know how much it pains me to write this of this team.  But I have to admit, the Nets has a fantastic offseason, and not just for the reasons you thought they did:

* Is Joe Johnson overrated?  Yes, he is.  But if you don't really care about money--which Prokorov obviously doesn't--then he is still a top 10 shooting guard in the league.  Same for Gerald Wallace, except make that Top 20 small forward instead of Top 10.  These guys aren't great, but they're not bad either. 
* The Nets did the opposite of the Bulls:  they did a fantastic job rounding out their bench.  CJ Watson might be the best backup point guard in the league.  Reggie Evans can't score to save his life, but he is a fantastic rebounder and defender, a great teammate, and a guy who brings solid playoff experience to this team.  And as much as a joke as Andray Blatche might be, he is a good 9/10th man:  he's a big body to toss in there, and if he ever manages to put his talent together, it's great.  If he doesn't, who cares, he's your 10th man.  Add to that moving MarShon Brooks to the bench where he can contribute (a classic bad starter but good bench player kind of talent), and this bench makes up for the slightly overrated Johnson/Wallace/Humphries/Lopez starting 5. 
* I think most people have forgotten how good Deron Williams was before he came to New Jersey.  He was unquestionably a top 5 point guard in the league, and probably top three.  He took it easy the last two years because this was a crap team that was going nowhere.  But watching him play in the Olympics over the summer, where he was essentially the team's 6th man, and seeing how good he is with other good players around him made you remember that this guy is not done.  Now he's got a talented team and an exciting new arena, and one of his biggest competitors both in his conference and at his position is out.  He's going to have a fantastic season.

It's amazing what you can do when money ain't a thing, isn't it? 

4.  Atlanta Hawks 
A classic "addition by subtraction".  I'm fine with losing Johnson, Williams, and Crawford, who were all overrated, if that means more minutes for Teague and Harris.  Add in Lou Williams, who I've always liked in Philly, and Kyle Korver--who will hopefully be doing the three point shooting instead of Josh Smith--and they are perfectly capable replacements for those three.  Add in a healthy Al Horford and Josh Smith in a contract year, and even though on paper they look worse than last season, in the end I think the Hawks are still a solid team in the East. 

3.  Indiana Pacers 
The Pacers should be used to this spot:  a good team that is a step below the great teams above them.  Hell, they even have as their best player a SG/SF who thinks he's on the same level as the game's best player and couldn't be more wrong!  Wow!  Throw in a good but slightly overrated center...my God, I'm getting Deja Vu, I think I need to sit down...

The Elite

2.  Boston Celtics 
I love everything Boston did in the offseason.  As overrated as JET is, he's head and shoulders above Ray Allen's level last season and is a great fit for this team.  I love the addition of Courtney Lee, I like Jeff Green coming back as a solid bench guy, and I like Barbosa and Darko as your 9/10th guys.  I even like Jared Sullinger, I think he's going to end up being a 1-2 time All Star since he gets to study at KG's knee, and I think he brings some needed young legs to the team.  I think the Celtics did everything right, and the team looks great. 

1. Miami Heat 
But in the end, I think the first game of the season spoke for itself, and will really be the entire season in a nutshell.  With all the Celtics changes, and as well as they played, the Heat still won by 13. 

I can talk about Dwayne Wade and Bosh being healthy; that will help, and ignore the "Wade will want to be the man!" naysayers, that won't be a problem--obviously that will be great for the team.  I can talk about adding Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen; while yes, these players are shadows of their former selves, they are still an improvement to this team's bench.  But in the end, all that matters is that the Heat has the best player in the game by a wide margin who has figured out how to use all of his skills to their fullest.  This team is going to be awesome. 

Western Conference coming soon (and no, I wouldn't have had the Lakers in 1st even before all of their struggles). 

2012 NBA Free Agency Thoughts

Thoughts on NBA Free Agency so far, with my obvious bias as a Mavs fan showing:  

• So New Jersey—sorry, Brooklyn—wants DWill, Joe Johnson, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash (Stein is reporting that), and Dwight Howard?  And they are going to trade what for these players since they were about the second worst team in the league?  And they are going to fit this all under the salary cap how?  Maybe it’s the Mavs homer in me, but to me it sounds like a franchise screaming “We are going to act like a player and maybe they’ll think we are a player!” even when there is no way they can ever acquire/afford these players. 
• That being said, if Dwight Howard really did tell Orlando that he will only go to the Nets, there’s no way he’s saying that unless he’s talked to Darren Williams first and made sure he’s resigning there, right?  If he truly did throw that ultimatum for the Nets—and I have a sliver of hope in the fact that it’s being REPORTED that he wants the Nets, and he hasn’t said that it has to be the Nets—there’s no way the Mavs are getting Williams. 
• Why in the world would Steve Nash go to Toronto?  I mean come on.  That team is years away from truly competing, and there are several teams who have enough money who are competitors who Little Stevie Nash I’m sure would be much more interested in.  Why is Toronto wasting their time? 
• How terrified would you be as a Clipper fan that even with Blake Griffin signing an extension, CP3 said, “Nah, I’m going to play this out” and didn’t sign an extension, making him a free agent at the end of the year?  If Howard weren’t once again making such a splash that news would be getting MUCH more pub. 
• That being said, assuming that since he’s back in LA he will return to his Lakers-era form, how much of a steal was getting Lamar Odom for the Clips?  That team just needs to add a Ray Allen-type shooting guard (I can give you 12-15 a game by just knocking down open jumpers) and they are a threat to the Thunder in the West.  And yes, it kills me to write this about that lazy asshole. 
• I love Ray Allen, but did anyone watch him play at the end of the season?  Whoever signs him better hope that his ankles heal and it’s not just father time catching up with him. 
• Finally, as weird as it is to think this so soon…but has anyone ever handled free agency worse than Dwight Howard?  Now I know everyone will say “Yes, Lebron” but Lebron did more damage to his rep than anyone ever has, but other than “The Decision” he didn’t handle it this badly (say what you will, but even the ridiculous party they threw as soon as they signed isn’t so bad now that they’ve won a title in their second season to back it up).  Howard is now in about month 12 of killing his reputation by how he’s handling this.  It’s sadly fascinating to watch.  What an idiot. 

We’ll see how this all plays out.  Once again, we are seeing the NBA…….IT’S FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!