NBA Draft Conspiracies

Some of you may or may not know that I am a huge conspiracy theorist. I don’t live and die with it. I simply enjoy conjecture over what’s really going on. Something huge happen in the world? Let me hear what the alternative explanations are or could be. With that in mind, allow me to drop some knowledge. As always, I have no proof whatsoever, I’m just exercising my right to free speech.

The Minnesota Timberwolves selected 4 – count ‘em 4 – point guards in the draft Thursday night. I remember wondering what the hell they were doing when they took Johnny Flynn immediately after they drafted Ricky Rubio. Then they took Ty Lawson with the 18^th pick. And again they took Nick Calathes in the second round. Granted they traded Lawson during the draft, so they’re not burdened with too many guys at the one.

The morning after the draft, their GM explained their two lottery picks as such – you don’t take a complimentary guy with the 6^th pick just because, you have to get value for that high a pick. They feel Flynn is that dude. At the time, I thought it made sense. Later that same day, word leaked that Rubio doesn’t want to go to Minnesota and may stay in Espana for the foreseeable future.

Then I began to wonder the Wolves strategy. Number one I thought they were in great position because they could use Flynn right now then bring along Rubio next year or the year after. They’re covered and can figure out who to keep or who trade or even see if they can co-exist, though that didn’t work out so well did it Toronto?

Now I’m convinced this was a move made to save face. New management simply couldn’t pass up Rubio. He’s just too good. The fans would not buy the – we’re going with the best young talent to grow our franchise a la Portland – approach if they passed on him. So they took him with a strong notion that he’d never suit up for them.

All of which brings me to Johnny Flynn. Management can point to his season with the Orange and tell their fans, ‘we’re sorry the evil little boy from Espana wouldn’t come play with us, but we have a good alternative. Remember when he played over 50 minutes against UConn? He’ll give total effort for us!’ so they hedged their bets. They did exactly what they had to do. It was a great business decision for them.

They have kind of handcuffed themselves though. Because how do you get value for that Rubio selection? I put my money on the Knicks. Look at some of the recent big trades around the L. Shaq to Cleveland? Kerr and Ferry were teammates in San Antonio. Garnett to Boston? McHale and Ainge were teammates in Boston. Google the new Minnesota GM’s resume – I understand if you have to first Google the new Minnesota GM’s name – note that he worked for Donnie Walsh in Indiana.

You see how this is all coming together? I consider myself a smart man. I possess a simple engineering degree, but I still don’t fully understand the complexities of the NBA trade guidelines as it applies to drafted rookies. I don’t know exactly what would balance out Rubio’s salary.

Strictly from a talent standpoint, I’d think that Nate or Larry Hughes and someone like Joe Crawford might could fit the bill. I’m not saying that it’s fair to Minny, all I’m getting at is they traded both of their 2s and draft a shitload of 1s. So picking up Hughes could help on-court, though he’d be an off-court nightmare for a young team teetering on the brink. Ditto Nate.

I’m sure it won’t work out for a variety of reasons; money, talent, chemistry. So take it all with a grain of salt. But as a wholly biased knicks fan, I’m excited about the prospect of Ricky Rubio playing for Mike D’Antoni. More so than I am about Darko Milicic at least…

NBA Draft 2009

So my favorite sport has their draft tomorrow and I would be remiss if I didn’t weigh in with some insight and general thoughts. I’m not offering any of this up as fact. I have zero club house or front office sources. I’m merely throwing out some ideas and commenting on what happened or could be twenty four hours from now.

Admittedly I feel horrible for Blake Griffin. I admire him and his team for saying that they’re happy to go to LA. He’s happy to be part of a rebuilding phase. He can really put his stamp on the league if this team can turn it around. Bear in mind, he’s not going to the Lakers a year after Kobe blew out his Achilles and they stumbled ass backward into the number one pick and NCAA POY – a la San Antonio and Timmy D. he’s headed to the red, white and blue Los Angeles Clippers, whose most famous fan is Billy Crystal.

Is there any scenario under which he makes it through his first contract without a major knee or ankle injury? Maybe it’s a back injury and you can throw something at me three years from now. Regardless as to what it is, I’m skeptical that he can make it unscathed. I’m pulling for him because by all accounts he’s a great kid who busts his ass – as is much better than his older brother, like Malcolm. (Though when you’re measuring stick is a drunken wash-out, there’s not much to reach for.)

As far as rebuilding, it’s not like the cupboard is bare. Baron Davis, Al Thornton and their ’08 number one Eric Gordon. Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman are in the mix as of press time, but many pundits are sure one of them is moving – likely the former because there’s less of a market for the latter than Z-Bo. Ahhh, Zach Randolph…I’d move him and Ricky Davis before Griffin ever made it to the City of Angeles – like Cleveland did to Ricky before LeBron got there. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting either of them. Or that Mike Dunleavy would move either of them, because it would make too much sense. (Why did they get rid of Elgin when this was the alternative?)

Contrary to popular belief there are another 50 or selections in the draft. Everyone bemoans the talent – or lack thereof – this summer, but I beg to differ. There may not be ‘top tier’ talent, but I’m convinced there are more than a few role players. Picks 2 through 12 are horribly dreaded by the talking heads but I’m not so sure that’s the case.

The PGs are pretty strong and there’s a few solid back ups, with possible upgrade to someone who can grow into the position in the coming years. Ricky Rubio is more NBA-ready than anyone will admit and him falling to OKC is as sick as I can remember. I think he and Westbrook can play at the same time – Russ is bigger and a UCLA Ben Howland product, so he knows the right way to play.

I can’t wait for Thabeet to flop – I just believe it’s totally inevitable (Totes m’goats!) Tyreke Evans could be good, but he’s no Derrick Rose. I’m not sold on James Harden, but Steph Curry landing in Minny as well would be great for Jefferson. Minnesota is interesting, another conversation for this time actually…

I was speaking to Pops about them today and he remarked that he felt bad for the young guys landing there as they’ll never get more than one playoff run – like KG. I have to disagree with that on the ground of new management. I’m not saying it’s a certainty that they’ll be contending for the West every year starting in 2012. I’m saying that this is new management and if they are in a serious rebuilding plan, well kudos to them. They’ve now settled on a plan and can continue as such. I think if they actually follow through and tell fans (and players), we’re going to be young and there will be growing pains but these are the cards we’re playing the next half a decade, I’m happy for them.

It’s actually the plan that has begun to bear fruit in Portland. It seems to be the direction that OKC is heading in as well. A lot of good young talent who can grow together with little pressure on them, as everyone will label their struggles as ‘growing’ pains. Granted if we’re still having this conversation about Portland in 2 years and OKC in 4, it speaks to a much bigger problem.

This brings me to a great point that I heard today and will pass along, not as though it were my own but as an interesting nugget. Whereas OKC and Portland went young and intend to endure growth, Cleveland continuously goes older and tries to put chips around LeBron. This gets everyone thinking that the Cavs should be contending….NOW.

The reality is much grimmer in that the pieces in place might not ever be able to compete for a title. After hearing that, is Shaq really the answer for Danny Ferry? I’m not dumping on it because it does make sense on some level, but I wonder if LeBron will take a good hard look at the direction of the franchise and decide they do not know how to build a winner.

Consider the last two paragraphs one moot if they go out and get Hedo Turkoglu. Is there any other reason for him to opt out of his contract with Orlando this summer? Is there a shot in hell of Orlando sniffing the conference finals every spring? I think not. Cleveland will continue to be there, whether or not they get over the hump remains to be seen, Miami will be back in play because it’s South Beach, Dwyane Wade and there’s no state income tax in Florida, Boston has another year in them, Washington has poised themselves to return, Philly is only going to get better. Yet I digress…

Back to the draft. I’m not sold on Hill or Derozan. I’m only comfortable with Holliday because he’s a Howland guy AND how well Russell Westbrook fared in OKC last season. I think whoever ends up with Johnny Flynn will be happy. I’m not 100% that he’s ready to be the #1 #1 for a team, but he’s a good second unit point.

I’m going to rattle off a few names now and hope that the following makes sense…DeJuan Blair could excel in the right situation, IE I hope he falls to Chicago – I’d hate to see him relegated to Indiana for two reasons. 1 – I don’t think the future there is as bright as other late lottery teams. 2 – I don’t want to have to like the fucking Pacers. Ty Lawson is a crapshoot, if he came in and needed two years to grow or was able to run a team right now, neither would surprise me.

This is the part of the draft where past performance comes into play. Tyler Hansbrough and Sam Young are intriguing because they’re two full term guys. I’m not comparing Sam to an NCAA POY, but Sam is league ready. He can play this fall. I was never sold on Furious T, I thought he was undersized and under-athleticized for the L. He measured out to 6’ 8.5” in his feet and was impressive at the combine. Add those bullshit numbers to what he did on the court the last four years and I begrudgingly admit he could make a good pro. I don’t think he’ll ever be Tim Duncan. But he can be a more than serviceable big with an ASG weekend or two under his belt by the time he retires.

That’s all I have to say about the mid to late first round without this running 5,000 words. But I would like to weigh in on some other trade prospects. You may – or may not – have heard that the C’s were trying to deal Rajon Rondo. On the surface that seems insane and could only hurt team chemistry. Apparently behind the scenes he’s more of a dick than has been let on. Ray Ray is going to command a little more salary from the Cs that I don’t think they want to pay, but he’s why they got as far as they did this spring.

Tracy McGrady has been rumored to be on the block as well. I say good riddance to bad rubbish. I take back every nice thing I ever said about that mother fucker after what he did this February. In fact I can’t say enough bad things about him, except to just call him a cunt. That Houston team was better off without him. Though, another Yao foot injury does not bode well. I can’t wait for him to have a Walton-in-Boston turn for Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2013.

There is rumor that Minny is going to try and package the 5 and 18 to move up, maybe to 2. Memphis has apparently shot that down because Chris Wallace is gun shy after the Gasol trade. (Poor guy has a terrible owner and is told what to do and he’ll have that black mark on his resume for the rest of his career. I hope he goes the Charlie Casserly route on ESPN and says, ‘I never wanted to make that trade, I was forced into it as a salary dump. We actually had a better offer on the table from [not the goddamnmotherfucking Lakers!].’) OKC seems happy to stay put at 3 and take Rubio – if they pass on him it better for a good reason, like Ricardo has an advanced case of degenerative syphilis and he’s quietly going mad from mackin’ snitches on the Mediterranean but no one has brought it to light.

Wow – I hope you’re happy with over 1700 words on tomorrow night’s draft and some other potential summer moves in the NBA. I apologize for my lack of brevity, but as I outlined earlier, there is nothing other than baseball on my sports plate right now. And that is probably the worst case scenario for me. Until the NL approves the DH, that is. Maybe that should be my next posting…

Tiger Hatin'

You can get your torches and pitchforks ready. You can start throwing hideous verbiage in my direction. But please don’t totally hate me. I’m not making any accusations. I’m just asking questions. Questions I haven’t heard anyone ask, but everyone seems to have a potential – if unspoken – answer to.

You may – or may not – have heard of Rocco Mediate. He’s the guy who last year took an allegedly one-legged Tiger Woods to the brink before falling on the 91^st playoff hole at last year’s US Open. He became America’s darling in triumphant defeat. He stood up to the man who is The Man and almost beat him.

I say allegedly for all the wrong reasons and for the purposes of the thoughts and opinions contained herein. Tiger is huge – go to forbes.com and check the list for richest athletes if you don’t believe me. But for every hater, we have to ask another unfortunate question. Is the ‘hate’ because you want to root for the underdog (see: Rudy, Texas Western and Hoosiers [okay, bad example])? Or are you actually hating on Tiger?

I’m not going to compare golf to NASCAR (I’m surprised they don’t have whitewall tires…). But does Hootie really want a guy who looks like the help to be his champion when he opposes women joining his club? And I only bring this up because it seems to be the underlying reasoning for anyone I know who ‘hates’ on Eldrick. For the record, they’re all white people too. (Though admittedly, I don’t talk golf with black people. Usually NBA or NFL. Like I said people, torches and pitchforks.)

There is one particularly poignant moment about this year’s US Open Media coverage. They’ve given press to a letter that Rocco received in the mail last year. In short, John Ray, from Texas, lost his daughter – the baby of the family – the day before her HS graduation. This guy claims to not be a golf fan but found himself watching last year’s Open in the time following the funeral. He ‘became captivated’ and was ‘pulling for’ Rocco, even though he’d never heard of the Greensburg native (SWPa in the House! Wu-Wu!).

Here’s where I don my top hat and cynical handlebar mustache. Was Johnny Boy really captivated by Rocco’s demeanor and how he dealt with the loss? Or was he drawn in by some subconscious want to see the evil Tiger Woods lose? The man who stands for progress like never before. I’d like to finish by apologizing to Mr. Ray. Perhaps your motives were pure. I’m merely asking a question I haven’t heard anyone else ask. Probably for good reason.

Summer

We’ve officially entered the doldrums. The lull in the sports calendar. We’re some 6+ weeks away from NFL training camps opening. (We must be, there are rumors of a Brett Favre un-retirement.) The winter sports just wrapped their championship series, so they won’t be back anytime soon. What the hell am I going to think/write about???

I have to admit my complete disappointment in the Orlando Magic. I’m not going to call SVG the Master of Panic. I don’t blame him for their loss – minus the tampering of the lineup with Jameer Nelson. D-Ho didn’t make an appearance, with the possible exception of game 3. There was a lot that went wrong for the East Champs. Coach Jeremy was not the main issue.

I remember having conversations going back to March about the Cavs can’t beat the Magic who can’t beat the Lakers who can’t beat the C’s who can’t beat the Cavs. Amazing how it all worked out. Orlando beat Cleveland and Boston, but couldn’t handle LA. Basketball as they say is all about the matchups. This series totally was. And I have to admit I’m surprised that Pau Gasol performed as well as he did. Though it’s not like he had to go against anyone who showed any heart or gumption.

Now Hedo is about to exercise his opt-out clause. Am I the onliest one who thinks this is him going to Cleveland to Scottie to Bron’s Mike? It seems like a logical landing place for him. Bron needs what he does. He needs someone who he can trust explicitly when he utilizes the ‘penetrate and pitch’ offensive strategy. I for one wouldn’t blame the Turkish Michael Jordan in leaving Orlando for Cleveland.

Now that I got the horse puckey out of the way (can you tell that I’m highly upset with how the NBA season ended?) I gotta talk about the Stanley Cup Finals. Admittedly, I didn’t watch any hockey til the Eastern Conference finals. But I’m glad I got into it when I did.

Watching the ‘Guins in the finals was a thing of beauty. Watching a young squad learn how to win on the fly was amazing. The 5-0 loss was excruciating. Flower was damn near awful in that game. But he had a lot of help from a pitiful defensive unit.

It was an odd series. The back-to-back games to start really put the Pens behind the 8 ball. I said from jump (though not in writing and I’m not 100% sure anyone else was in the room) that whoever won game 1 was going to take a lot of moe into game 2 and likely go up 2-0. Sadly I was right and the hometown boys traveled back to the 412 half way to elimination.

Once at that point, Pops declared the goal to be simply getting to a game 7. It would be a definite long shot but it’s one game. The other 6 + 15 + 82 wouldn’t fucking matter. Just 60 minutes to skate your ass off and take the cup home. And that’s what the black-n-gold kids did.

Lord Stanley’s Cup is the best prize in sports. Watching the players celebrate with it. the ritual of taking the lap with it. passing it around the team throughout the summer. Everything that comes with the team’s winning of the cup. It’s better than all the other major sports and any every-4-years competition. I wish I was more a hockey fan. But I’m not for the same reasons that everyone hates my favorite league, the NBA. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to take the bandwagon for a wash, wax and tune up. ya know, on the off chance the Buccos get inspired this July and make a Rocktober-ish run. More likely, it’s going to sit until next May and the Pens next deep playoff run.