6 NBA Teams That Should Be Blown Up; Plus: Drafting The Refugees
I have to agree with LeBron, at least with what he originally said about the possibility of contraction in the NBA.
The fact is, there is just not enough talent to support a 30 team league. While there are a lot of good players in the NBA their are few great players and even fewer transcendent franchise-altering players.
By getting rid of six teams the pool of great players would widen and salaries would start to match with players' talent level. In no way is Brendan Haywood worth the $55 million the Dallas Mavericks were forced to pay him in a thin free-agent market. Haywood is more of a $5 million per season guy (not 55 over six years).
The lack of talent in the NBA is one of the reasons many franchises are in trouble and we are in danger of a lockout. So let's get rid of some teams.
While the teams I list won't be the ones that are most likely to be removed, they are teams I think should be blown up.
6. Los Angeles Clippers
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I know Baron, playing for the Clippers hurts sometimes. It can cause major headaches, migraines, and I think even a few tumors have been traced back to being a Clipper fan.
This team needs to go. It is one of the least successful franchises not only in basketball, but in all of sports. They are perpetually cursed and have the worst owner, not only in basketball, but in all of sports. Seeing a trend here?
Their owner is so clueless that he heckles his own players while attending games. Yeah, because it's Baron Davis' fault that you overpaid for him, even at the time people knew you overpaid for him, and that you are so cheap you hired Vinny Del Negro to coach your team instead of going after a big name coach to take your very talented team to the next level.
Furthermore, L.A. doesn't need two teams. The Lakers will always be L.A.'s No. 1 team and people in L.A. just don't care enough about sports to support two teams.
New York can't really support two baseball teams, nor can Chicago—and you also have to take into consideration that New York and Chicago are much bigger sports towns then L.A. will ever be.
5. New Orleans Hornets
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This one hurts the most to admit. New Orleans has already been through so much that it seems incredibly cruel to hit them with one more piece of bad news and take away their basketball team. But the fact is, their city just can't support a basketball team right now. They can probably only support one sports team, and right now that should be The Saints.
New Orleans has a lot to do in order to recover from Katrina, and it would seem that sports would be a good distraction for that—it's just not working out that way for the Hornets.
They've been busy making trades to improve their team and taking on some more salary, but talks are it's because they are looking to move the team to Seattle and hope to make the team more lucrative by adding assets to it.
Their superstar talked about being traded this past summer and it seems inevitable that their franchise is out the door—whether contraction happens or not.
4. New Jersey Nets
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The Nets are moving to Brooklyn in two years and just like L.A., New York doesn't need two basketball teams, especially when there are so many other deserving cities out there. Further, even more will join that list should contraction actually happen this next summer.
Plus it would be awesome if David Stern announced that the Nets were no longer an NBA franchise, kicked Mikhail Prokorhov in the nuts and chanted "USA! USA! USA!" as he exited the podium.
3. Memphis Grizzlies
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They've been in the bottom third of the league in attendance the past 10 years. Granted they've probably also been in the bottom 10 of the league in performance, but that has a lot to do with the fact that no one really wants to play in Memphis. That's not a knock on Memphis, it's just that most NBA players must not be fans of the Blues.
Also, Memphis should no longer have a team for the Pau Gasol trade. Giving him away to the Lakers for Kwame Brown? I guess they also got Marc Gasol out of that who has turned out to be a pretty good player, but he's about half as good as his brother. They got 50 cents on the dollar for that trade. Potterized a la It's A Wonderful Life (which I just saw for the first time over Christmas...I know, it's pathetic....much like the Memphis Grizzlies).
Also, the contraction would allow Oklahoma City's move to the Southwest Division since both New Orleans and Memphis are goners.
2. Milwaukee Bucks
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Yes, "mill-e-wah-que." That is Algonquin for "the good land," just not for, "good attendance." The Bucks have such a hard time filling their seats with Bucks fans that Andrew Bogut, their starting center, had to rent out an entire section of seats and have auditions for enthusiastic fans to fill them out.
You'd think a team like the Detroit Pistons would be the ones to get booted from the Central Division. But actually, despite having a crap team last year, they were ninth in attendance, whereas the Bucks made the playoffs and were 24th.
1. Atlanta Hawks
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18 20 20 26 29
6 8 16 26 28
The top five numbers are where the Atlanta Hawks stand in attendance the past five years (the first number being 2010). The bottom five numbers are where the Hawks have been in the standings the past five years.
Even though the Hawks have been greatly improving over the past few years, their attendance has not. When the Hawks are really bad, their attendance is really bad, but even when the Hawks are really good, their attendance is really below average. That is unacceptable.
Wave goodbye to the Hawks Atlanta, maybe you'll take better care of the Falcons.
Oh and feel free to send that cheerleader over to the Bulls. Thanks.
The Sacramento Kings Become the Seattle Supersonics
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After the NBA screwed over Seattle, they owe city a team.
Sacramento had its glory days, and I don't think it's going to return. Their city will never be able to afford a new stadium so it's time to give the Sonics back to Seattle.
Drafting The Refugees
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Now it's time for the best part about contraction: Dividing up the remaining players. Reminder on how this works.
- It's a snake draft with the team holding the worst record after the 2010-2011 season having the first pick. So unlike the real NBA draft where the order gets reset to the beginning after each round, this one goes from top to bottom in the second round.
- Teams can opt-out at any time and don't have to draft anybody.
- Any player not drafted must be paid their full salary by their former owner. However, if that player should sign with another team for less money, then the difference is paid by their previous owner. This involves some strategy and is pretty fun because someone that is way overpaid like Baron Davis could end up not being drafted because of his salary, but then end up with a contender after the draft.
- Teams that draft a player will not have that player's salary count against their cap.
- Since the season isn't over yet, I'll be using John Hollinger's NBA Forecaster to figure out where teams fall in the draft. I'll also be going by projected best finish, because I'm a half-full kinda guy. In the event of a tie, I go by projected worse.
- I'll only be doing the first round, so let's get started.
With the first pick in the 2011 NBA Contraction Draft.....
1. The Cleveland Cavaliers Select...
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BLAKE GRIFFIN
It was a toss-up between him and Chris Paul, but I don't think Cleveland wants to go through another star player tearing out their heart and leaving them.
It seems like justice that Cleveland gets another star player. Griffin seems like he has a good head on his shoulders (that usually lies five feet above the rim), so hopefully he would stay in Cleveland for the long haul.
2. The Seattle Supersonics Select...
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CHRIS PAUL
Paul, Evans and Cousins? Sounds like a pretty good trio, though I don't know if it would be enough to convince Paul to stay in Sacramento/Seattle.
It would be interesting if Paul tells teams not to draft him because he wouldn't sign with them past the 2011-2012 season.
3. The Minnesota Timberwolves Select...
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RUDY GAY
Yet another great trio is formed with Love, Beasley and Gay.
Okay maybe not great, but they would be a much better team instead of a doormat for the league.
4. The Charlotte Bobcats Select...
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ANDREW BOGUT
Great big man. Great Defense.
Would've been Larry Brown's ideal big to fix their problems.
5. The Washington Wizards Select...
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ERIC GORDON
Wall needs a better running mate than Kirk Hinrich.
Wall driving down the lane and kicking it out to Gordon to stroke that sweet J of his would be a deadly combo for years to come.
6. The Toronto Raptors Select...
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MARC GASOL
Is he the best player available? No. But he fits their team because:
A) He is a solid defender and can push Andrea Bargnani to his natural position at the 4-spot, making him more Dirk-like; and
B) The Raptors need international players. They can't keep American players up in Toronto.
7. The Detroit Pistons Select
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ZACH RANDOLPH
Totally a Dumars player: Puts up big stats but doesn't really contribute to a winning team. Fills a need for Detroit at PF and is a low post presence.
8. The Phoenix Suns Select...
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JOSH SMITH
Would be a perfect fit in their uptempo style. After the big trade of Hedo and J-Richardson, they seem to be looking for someone to fill that PF spot that Amare use to dominate.
They'd be small, but extremely athletic. Smith might even be able to show the Suns how to play defense.
9. The Indiana Pacers Select...
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AL HORFORD
Pacers would really luck out if they could get Horford this far down the list. Truth is, Detroit would probably pick him up instead of taking Zach Randolph.
But then again, Joe Dumars did draft Darko—and then gave Charlie V and Ben Gordon a combined $95.7 million dollars.
So maybe this isn't too far of a stretch.
10. The Philadelphia 76ers Select...
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BROOK LOPEZ
Solid big man, but they would be super unathletic upfront with him and Brand. But Lopez is a huge upgrade over Spencer Hawes.
11. The Golden State Warriors Select...
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DERRICK FAVORS
He's a project but hopefully he would be able to start alongside David Lee in a year or two and, suddenly, the Warriors have a very promising future. Seems to be the consensus for most teams thanks to contraction.
But if 'Melo gets traded to New Jersey then everything would be messed up. In fact, that would be really amazing if 'Melo got traded to New Jeresey and then New Jersey got blown up and he got drafted by a crappy team.
12. The Houston Rockets Select...
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DAVID WEST
An undersized big man who is super efficient and very underrated. Seems like a perfect fit for the Rockets.
13. The Denver Nuggets Select...
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OJ MAYO
I think Denver will be drafting much higher than this once Carmelo Anthony is traded.
But for now, they get Mayo, a nice young player that can slide next to Lawson.
Aaron Afflalo is playing real well over there so Mayo may end up being another sixth man out in Denver, but I think that Mayo's ceiling is higher. So the Nuggets roll the dice here with no better options available.
14. The Portland Trailblazers Select...
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JOE JOHNSON
Trailblazer fans need a boost and their owner would be willing to take on Johnson's monster contract.
With Brandon Roy and Greg Oden being question marks for the future, Johnson can hopefully keep the Blazers competitive in the West.
15. The New York Knicks Select...
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DEVIN HARRIS
This was the toughest pick by far up until now as it could've gone in a few different directions.
The Knicks need another big so Chris Kaman or Emeka Okafor would've been good picks. In addition, Raymond Felton has been playing great for them and they want Chris Paul in 2011-2012.
But Devin Harris was the best available so I figure they take the best player and make a trade later.
16. The Utah Jazz Select...
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TREVOR ARIZA
A nice utility guy that can be another defensive stopper for them outside of Kirlenko, who would be a free agent at this time.
Have a feeling that a great coach like Jerry Sloan can give Ariza his confidence back.
17. The Oklahoma City Thunder Select...
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EMEKA OKAFOR
Thought about Chris Kaman here, but with his injury history I went with Okafor instead.
The Thunder need a presence in the middle, and while Serge Ibaka has been playing well for them, he is best suited as an energy guy off the bench and seems to struggle with starting bigs in the league.
18. The Los Angeles Lakers Select...
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BRANDON JENNINGS
He just feels like a Laker to me. Flashy. Cocky. Can fill it up. s an exciting player that Laker fans have been spoiled into expecting to see on a nightly basis.
Jennings takes care of their point guard position which has been a major problem for them the past few years—just not big enough to where it kept them from winning back-to-back titles.
Maybe he doesn't get past New York and would be a better option than Devin Harris, but I think Jennings is more a Laker then a Knick.
19. The Chicago Bulls Select...
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MARCUS THORNTON
Not in love with this pick, but he is a shooting guard that the Bulls desperately need.
Thornton can spread the floor for them and, just last year, was a player on the rise. For some reason this year his coach doesn't like to play him—maybe because he doesn't like to play defense.
20. The Orlando Magic Select...
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Xavier Henry
Cheap rookie that has a good shot. Orlando loves to surround Dwight Howard with shooters.
21. The Dallas Mavericks Select...
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MIKE CONLEY
Jason Kidd is going to break down at some point and they need a better option than JJ Barea.
I know Roddy B is a hometown favorite over there, but I think Conley would be better at setting up Dirk.
22. The Boston Celtics Select...
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JOHN SALMONS
They need another wing and Salmons is a low key, good locker room guy that would buy into the team philosophy that the Celtics have established.
23. The Miami Heat Select...
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CHRIS KAMAN
Heat get a legitimate big man. Scary.
24. The San Antonio Spurs Select...
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MARVIN WILLIAMS
The Spurs always seem to find the Diamond in the rough.
This time they find a rough diamond and try to polish it up to achieve its potential.
