NBA Off-Season Thread

Btw, this point becomes even stronger when you consider the three guys left out:

Carlos Boozer jumped from Utah to Chicago since then, so it's actually 10 out of 12 guys now playing for big market teams.

The final two guys--Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince--were the last two guys and least marketable names on that roster, and have lost all their upper tier player status since then. If they still had the clout of the other 10 they might've jumped as well.

 

That's the same evil that has afflicted Major League Baseball for more than a decade. How do you sell your league to fans in mid-size markets if they can't be convinced their team has a chance to contend?

 

Is major league baseball struggling?

 

It is to fans in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Cleveland, Toronto and other cities.

Of course, so long as the Yankees are winning, no one in the New York offices cares much.

 

I don't think it's the worst thing in the world what these guys are doing, moving to big markets with their buddies to chase a ring. It's different with every player. Some hate LeBron for it, for example, because he had a chance to play for his hometown team and be a local legend, especially if he would have won a title in that city.

At the same time, I have tremendous respect for guys who play in one city their entire careers, like Cal Ripken, David Robinson, etc.

 

The small market-big market arguments are about 90% bullshit if you break it down.

Cleveland can't afford to keep Labron when a big market team like Miami wants him? Cleveland is market 18, Miami is market 16.

Fans in in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Cleveland, and Toronto know their small market teams can't compete?

The defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals are from market 21. Toronto is the 5th most populous city in North America. Oakland is market 6. Cleveland is market 18. Pittsburgh is market 23.

Kansas City is 31. Maybe they can gripe.

St. Louis has won two championships in 6 years, and St. Louis is smaller in market size than Sacramento.

 

I always thought it was bullshit.

The Warriors are in the sixth biggest market in the league and they suck every season.

Two of the better teams in the NBA in recent years, Memphis and OKC, are 48th and 45th in market size.

 

I hope so. Tired of hearing about rumors, rumors, rumors.

 

Thank goodness. Dorell started out as a decent SF defender and spot up 3 pt shooter, then became a lousy defender and lousy spot up shooter who could not create his own shot and was one of the worst finishers in the league. Great guy, great story (Heat drafted him out of HS), but a surprisingly unathletic SF.

 

Then again, multiple sources are saying they won't.

(I don't know if that's actually true, but I see this going through, oh, September).

 

I like the image of Prokhorov clapping his hands together, spreading his arms, pushing his chair back from the table, rising and walking out of the negotiating room while a lackey smirks back at the other parties.

Everyone else is then poisoned by the gas Prokhorov plans to use when he raids Fort Knox.

 

If he doesn't go to the Nets, this whole thing is gonna play out again next summer when he decides where to sign.