Obligatory LeBron James Column

I need to write this column, but what angle can I take? We all know LeBron James was theoretically the savior of Cleveland if he stayed, but now he is the Anti-Christ. We know that he wants to win titles. He is the most selfish man ever, he's not going to be in the record books, he cant win by himself, old white owners hate him and write hastily written essays about how terrible a human being he is (which sadly, comes off more like a letter you would write to your girlfriend 3 seconds after she tells you she banged the entire roster of the Boston Celtics - including Brian Scalabrine.)All of these are currently running 24/7 on ESPN and major news outlets, so we know them to be true right?

Wrong. I really like LeBron James the person AND I love LeBron James the player. I have been to one LeBron game in person and I remember him being mediocre the entire game, I was not impressed. Then, at the end of the game, I look up at the scoreboard - LeBron's line: 25 Points, 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists. Not an amazing game for him by his standard, but that's the point. LeBron's 2nd worst game of the regular season (according to basketball-reference.com's "GameScore") still produced a great stat line. For comparison: Carmelo Anthony's 2010 season average was 28, 6, and 3 (yes, they play the same position and are the same age, and Anthony is a top 5 SF in the league).

Just think about that, LeBron is so far and away better than other top 5 players that his worst games are comparable to their SEASON averages.

It's a necessity that I bring personal experience into this because it proves (to me at least) how important and special of a player he is to the NBA and, on a greater scale, pop culture. The man is an economic force, in and of himself, and should be able to do whatever he wants, wherever he wants to do it. We should not punish him for giving 7 years of his life to his hometown, carrying a TERRIBLE team for 6 out of the 7 years and then deciding he wants to win championships, so he takes a pay cut.

Another writer of this site brought up Kevin Durant and how respectable it was for him to quietly sign an extension with his team through 2016 and dedicate himself to that city, and it was. But let's not forget LeBron re-upped with the Cavs in 2007, he gave that city another chance to win, and the Cavs still couldn't put pieces around him (no, the Ghost of Antwan Jamison and Shaq just playing the role of "Kazaam" all season doesn't count.)

I cannot believe some of the reactions to his leaving - this is the best athlete (certainly the most famous) in the entire world and he chose WINNING over Money. Any major star do that recently? Anyone? Bueller? Yes, of course he is still making between 15-20 million a year, but he left at least an extra $30 million on the table to WIN now. And EVERYONE I've talked to thus far feels that he is coping out or tarnishing his legacy because he is joining two other all stars. Would we do this for anyone else? Let's take the NFL for example - the best RB in the league is currently holding out from his team (with whom he signed a contract with in 2008) because the contract ONLY pays him 12 million over the 5 year period. JAMES FULFILLED HIS CONTRACT. TWICE.

People side with this RB (Chris Johnson), people say "oh yes, he's the best he deserves more, Tennessee needs to pay him. He outplayed his contract." In James, we have a player who is far and away the best young player in the league and he decides "no, I don't need the money, I want to win." Shame on anyone that can chastise that (no matter what the circumstances are.)

I believe that trumps everything. In sports, winning is everything, and when a superstar picks winning above all, that has to be acknowledged above everything else.

So let's touch on all the other elements of this saga:

The Decision - While many people kill James for his decision to televise the revolution, let's not over look the fact that he made over $6 million dollars to donate to the Boys and Girls club. Yes there is a ton of narcissism in this, being the first pro athlete to televise his decision, live in prime time, but he still was doing good (A LOT of good) for others. If nothing else, we get a seminal pop culture moment out of this. You will always remember where you were, when you heard that LeBron was going to Miami. This is the first of it's kind and I'm glad to be alive to witness it.

Cleveland Fans - Where do I begin. This is an athlete, a local, homegrown boy, that stuck around in your piece of shit city (I've heard their main export is crippling depression) while playing with a bunch of nobodies (he had 1 all star teammate in 7 years.) It's incredibly selfish of Cleveland fans to expect him to stay in a terrible city with a terrible team and waste away the best years of his career because they need something to keep their city afloat. He's only 25! I'm almost 25 and you know what I did yesterday? I mailed a letter. AT THE POST OFFICE. (And I almost passed out due to the pressure.) I can't even imagine trying to carry a city. You have the right to be sad, but your owner didn't do enough to keep him around and so he left. Burning jerseys, really? He didn't have sex with your mom (well some of your moms, probably, but they threw themselves at him.)

Cleveland Sports Writers - This completely boggles my mind. Maybe they are going to lose their jobs once James leaves and that's why they are angry. But they are sports writers, they are supposed to be a little objective in their reporting. I heard the beat writer from the Cleveland newspaper on ESPN today and it literally sounded like he was about to cry. When asked "Where does Cleveland go from here?" He sighed and said "I don't even know." You know why you don't know? BECAUSE THE CAVALIERS HAVE NO PLAN, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO OTHER PLAYERS. THIS IS YOUR OWNER'S FAULT. The rage and venom coming from the Cleveland sports writers is just bizarre and reeks of adolescence ("You don't want to hang out with me anymore? FINE I HATE YOU. ANDERSON VAREJO HAS BETTER HAIR PRODUCTS ANYWAY.")

Note: It was also weird because this sports writer also clearly blamed James for the economic crash about to happen. He said "All the businesses around Quicken Loans Arena are going to take a huge hit." Again, this is not James' fault, it's the Cavs fault for having no back up plan and having no other players that will possibly draw fans. It's weird that you can be mad at LeBron because the downtown Cleveland Quiznos wont have as many customers next November.

The Owner: Wow. That letter (a lot like this column) seemed to be written out of sheer passion (and hatred, a lot of hatred.) Gilbert comes off like a girl that begged for years to keep her boyfriend, but refused to give him blow jobs (yeah, you gotta try a LITTLE harder than that) and now he's going somewhere else and she is confused why. The man is the owner of an NBA franchise and someone allowed him to write and RELEASE this letter? Do the Cavs not pay for Public Relations people? How does he guarantee a championship when his starting lineup next year looks like this: C Anderson Varejao, PF Antwan Jamison, SF Jamario Moon, SG Delonte West, PG Mo Williams. That's not even a playoff team in the east! And who is going to want to come to Cleveland now that they know the owner is off the rails and doesn't get players to win (and don't forget, players need to voluntarily want to come to Cleveland.)

The Legend: This is the one that angers me the most. People that claim LeBron's legacy will be tarnished because he is now on "Wade's Team." No one knows how the experiment will shake out, no one knows who the alpha dog will be. It's completely ridiculous to say that he can't win on his own - Jordan did't win on his own, he had a top 50 ALL TIME PLAYER in Scottie Pippen. LeBron had (at best) a Horace Grant in Cleveland. Jordan isn't winning with just Horace Grant. The fact that LeBron can suck in his ego and play with 2 other all stars to try to win is admirable I think. His image has obviously already taken a hit, but what happens if this team rips off 4 championships in a row, unless Wade is MUCH MUCH better, James is still going to be the cover boy. He will have the best selling jersey in Miami (and possibly the world). He will still have the endorsement deal with Nike. He is still the biggest athlete in the world.

Note: Any of this nonsense about James not being Magic or Jordan now that he has Wade is garbage. A list of teams that had tons of stars:

the 87 Lakers (NBA Champs) had: Kareem, Magic and Worthy. The 83 Sixers had Moses Malone and Julius Erving. The 86 Celtics had Bird, McHale, Parish and Walton.

ALL of these players were on the NBA TOP 50 All Time team. No one discredits Bird for playing with 3 top 50 ALL TIME players. The argument is ridiculous.

So to sum up: Lebron (arguably the best player alive right now and definitely the most famous in the world) took less money to try to win. In the process, he created a media frenzy, revived Jim Gray's broadcasting career, transcended sports news to become CNN headline fodder, created a seminal pop culture moment in history with his "The Decision" TV special, earned $6 million for charity and will play on a team that will probably dominate the next decade, re-invigorate interest in Miami basketball and win at least 3 titles (yea, I said it). So, why is he a bad guy?

The NBA Was Almost Like College Basketball That One Time...

Chalk is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit in reference to the NCAA Basketball March Madness Big Dance 987 team tournament. Chalk means when everything goes according to what SHOULD happen. The higher seeds always beat the lower seeds, the number 1's all reach the final four and the overall number 1 wins it all. This doesn't happen a lot and of course never completely happens, but when it happens enough in one tournament fat ESPN analysts (and now, apparently me) like to say that the tournament went "chalk" (which I believe, is a reference to how you'd pick on a chalkboard (uh...not sure what that is, I'm younger than 60) and if you just pick all the high seeds, then that's set in chalk. Yea, it's stupid.)

Anyway, I bring this up, not because I love college basketball, but because I remember about 2 years ago that the NCAA tournament went about as chalk as it could go and it was BORING AS HELL. Up until 2 days ago, that's the way this NBA offseason was headed. Everyone takes max contracts and goes back to play with their original teams. I do not want this. You do not want this (unless you are a Cleveland fan, and then all you really want is for a 6' 8'' 280 pound black man, to tell you that he wants you, and that he loves your city just as much as you love him). David Stern DEFINITELY does not want this.

I had a crippling fear that after all of the hulaboo brought on us by ESPN regarding Mr. James, that he'd just end up back in Cleveland (and he still might, is there a better way to end his local summer camp? Other than burning effigies of Braylon Edwards, of course.) I had this gut feeling that the major free agents would all stay put (Wade, James, Joe Johnson, Dirk, Pierce) and that only a few would change teams (Amar'e, Bosh, Boozer).

This is no fun for anyone. I need a dynasty, I'm sick of hearing Bill Simmons rave on and on and on (and on and on some more) about the goddamn Celtics from 50's and 60's. We get it! Bill Russell won a shit ton of rings (and conveniently played against alot of white people with only 10-12 other teams in the league). I'm a Charlotte Bobcats fan (and now you have met your first Bobcats fan), but I just want to tell people about the Chicago Bulls of the 2010's! How they won 5 times in the span of 10 years, how they met Kobe's Lakers in 2011 and 2012 (before Kobe blew out both of his knees or kills a waitress after she looks at him too long) and then met up with Durant's Thunder 4 times in the next 8 years.

Imagine a team that STARTS 4 players in the top 3 of that position in the NBA (Bosh, Wade, James, Rose). I dream these things, but they will never happen, because NBA players are probably the greediest human beings alive (which is why we have no 2012 NBA season to look forward to!).

When I first had the idea for this article, no one had changed teams yet, Pierce, Dirk and Johnson all took big money to stay with their old teams (Johnson especially - since that Hawks team is going nowhere with him as the number 1 guy). Then in the last two days Bosh goes to the Heat and Amar'e joins the Knicks and I sort of get the feeling that maybe LeBron will go somewhere else just so that he has a shot at winning (come on Chicago!). Maybe NBA players will just go weird places to jazz the league up. So without further adieu - my predictions for the rest of free agency:

Lebron - Chicago Bulls - His best shot at a title year after year and a little bit of wishful thinking from me because I'm moving to Chicago in a month.

Carlos Boozer - New Jersey Nets - Boozer obviously hates white people, so he's not going back to Utah. New Jersey has a lot of money and Boozer's favorite color just happens to be green. Also, they traded Yi "the Chairman" Jianlian, so they have an open space for a PF that underachieves!

David Lee - Houston Rockets - David Lee is the face of the New York Knicks franchise right now, so obviously they de-value him and sign Amar'e Stoudamire instead. He seems like the safe/low cost-high reward player that Houston values.

Ray Allen - Chicago Bulls - Since they are getting Bosh and Wade, they'll have a ton of extra money to throw at a washed up veteran like Allen. How does 12 million a year sound Ray? Also, you will probably have to hit open 3's for LeBron in the playoffs or he will make you disappear (kind of like Boobie Gibson).

Shaq - Atlanta Hawks - I'm only saying this because apparently they are showing interest, but he should really really REALLY retire. Today he tweeted an ad for some workout program that costs $100/bottle and he said "this is how I stay slim." ...Do they know he's 400+ lbs?

Richard Jefferson - New York Knicks - Jefferson was a total bust in San Antonio and opted out of his huge contract this year, to make more long term. The Knicks are going to have extra money to burn, so why not bring in a washed up veteran that can't drive the lane or hit a 3. Yes please! I cant wait for the opening night lineup to be Eddy Curry, Stoudamire, Jefferson, Gallinari and.....

Raymond Felton - New York Knicks - Underachieving PG who can't hit a jumper, recklessly drives the lane in the 4th quarter and generally stops passing the ball when his team is down 4 (yes, I hate him). Plus now the Knicks can sell their fans on 3 top 25 free agents!

Josh Howard - Netherlands (or anywhere that doesn't require drug testing) - Does anyone care about this man? Hasn't been good in 4 years, coming off a knee injury and several off court issues. Boy would he sure be good for a european team!

And there you have it folks - let's hope some crazy mumbojumbo happens. Let's root for a really good Bulls team and a really awful Knicks team. (Also let's hope for a mediocre Celtics team so that we dont have to get columns regarding how awesome/bad the Celtics are in the same month from a certain sportswriter.) And above all, let's root for the 2012 lockout so that these NBA contracts stop getting out of control (because NBA players receive tens of millions of dollars in their career and still, somehow, end up like Antoine Walker - broke and with your ex-fiancee whining about you on Vh1).

American Football - I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional

LeBron makes event of his signing

By Jeff

This blog had a post a few weeks ago about how LeBron James is the biggest free agent in the history of sports. Never before has the sports world followed a free agent's every move in the offseason to see where he would sign. We certainly never had to read stories about how the athlete was dressed and what car he was driving when he went to his meeting.

LeBron changed all that, and he's not done yet.

According to ESPN.com , LeBron announced that he will make his decision during a 1-hour special Thursday night at 9 on ESPN.

That's right. A 1-hour special. Not just a press conference. Not a statement to the press or his website. LeBron is at such a different level, he can call up ESPN and say "Let's have a 1-hour special revolved around where I'm going," and they gladly complied.

Before I go into how ridiculous this is, it's only fair to point out LeBron suggested that all the sponsorships sold for the special would go to the Boys and Girls Club of America. That is great. The special will bring in huge ratings, which will demand higher ad rates. So not only will the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls or Cleveland Cavs win Thursday night, the Boys and Girls Club of America wins too. Tiger Woods' PR people might want to take a page out of LeBron's book the next time they have a major announcement.

Back to the actual event. What the heck is ESPN going to do for the full hour? Did LeBron just propose the idea and tell ESPN they had to fill the other 55 minutes of programming leading up to King James making his selection? Will it just be a 55-minute lovefest dedicated to the most recognizable athlete in the world not named Tiger?

While I love that the Boys and Girls Club of America is going to come away with a nice donation, I can't help but think it was added in there so LeBron doesn't look like a complete attention whore. He already refers to himself in the third person and calls himself King James, despite not having won a championship. Having a television special dedicated to him just appears like he is stroking his out of this world ego a little more. By proposing the sponsorship money go to a charity looks like he is trying to justify the spectacle. But how can you criticize or make fun of someone supporting a charity? Once again, it's a great job by the LeBron PR staff.

Now the big question. Where does LeBron sign? No one knows. ESPN analysts have been making predictions all year, providing percentages of what teams have the best chances, blah, blah, blah. But truth is, they don't have any better idea than you or me.

Mike and Mike actually made an interesting observation on ESPN radio this morning. They said if he has the event at his home or in Ohio, then he's probably staying. It makes sense. How can he hold a 1-hour special like this in his hometown, and then conclude it with leaving for another place?

But it's LeBron James! He's already shown he does or says whatever he wants. People of Cleveland and Ohio might cry as their city and state dies, but what are they going to do. By the end of LeBron's career he could probably buy Ohio and name it King James's Domain.

So once again, no one has a clue what he's going to do and we'll just have to tune in and find out. Exactly how LeBron and his team planned it.

BB King and Eric Clapton - Riding With The King

NBA Draft Week: Winners and Losers

By: RJ

Now that the NBA Draft has passed, and the LeBron, D Wade and Chris Bosh free agent party is about to begin, lets examine who I think were winners and losers during the NBA Draft week. On the bizarre front, Portland GM Kevin Pritchard had a solid draft after being relieved on his duties effective after the draft. If Portland didn’t fire him, they would have been on the winner list. Overall, it was a night full of boredom until the trades began to roll in towards the middle of the first round. Then, teams decided to reach on big men in the second round because everyone else was doing.  

Anyways, the winners on the night were:

Chicago

Cap room, cap room, cap room. Moving Kirk Hinrich to the Wizards, gets the Bulls far enough under the cap for two max deals. So for now they are winners, if the room fails to net them James and/or Bosh, then they have likely failed.

Miami

Cap room, cap room, cap room. Miami has nearly $45 million in cap room for Wade and potentially 2 more max deals.  The Heat wound up with three second-rounders; the most notable picks being Jarvis Varnado (the all-time NCAA shot blocker) and Da’Sean Butler (who if he can rehab his knee from that brutal Final Four injury will be a steal). It seems as though Wade re-signing is a formality, how they use the rest of their cap room will determine if they were winners tonight.

Milwaukee

The Bucks who were the surprise team in the playoff party this year, have added some nice pieces to a solid nucleus of Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut. They picked up Corey Maggette and Chris Douglas-Roberts for basically nothing, and those two should make up for the likely loss of John Salmons and bring much needed scoring on the perimeter.  I also loved the pick of Larry Sanders at 15 as they needed a defensive-minded, big body down low to play with Bogut. Tiny Gallon in the second round could be similar to “Big Baby” Davis and a solid rotation player. These additions should help Milwaukee return to the playoffs for the second straight year, despite the current uncertainty regarding the balance of power in the East.

San Antonio

Initially appeared like they needed some size, but word came out this week that 2007 first round pick Tiago Splitter is coming over from Europe, which should help ease the load on Tim Duncan. One of the best scorers in the draft fell to them in James Anderson.  Gives them tremendous backcourt depth with Tony Parker, Many Ginobili, George Hill and Anderson. I fully expect San Antonio to be better than they were this year and Anderson will be a piece that helps them not miss a bit if someone is out (Parker and Ginobili are usually good to miss 15 games apiece.)

New Orleans

Loved their deal for two back half first-rounders from Oklahoma City to add depth. Moving Cole Aldrich at 11 and Morris Peterson’s contract to get out of luxury tax was solid and getting two guys who can help off the bench was even better. Craig Brackins is a solid backup power forward who can effectively spell David West and Quincy Pondexter will be a nice running mate for Chris Paul and Darrin Collison. These additions help fortify a suspect bench (minus Collison) and will help New Orleans return to the playoffs under first-year head coach Monty Williams.

And the losers on this night were:

New Jersey

They are here because they lost the draft lottery even though they had the worst record in the NBA, and that because of the teams with cap room adding additional cap space, they are even less likely to get a free agent better than David Lee. Favors was not a bad pick but is a bit of a project, and will need time and patience, two things I am not sure new owner Mikhail Prokhorov has. Trading picks 27 and 31 for Damion James (a player I like) doesn’t seem smart for a team that needs a lot of help and not another non-shooter.

Oklahoma City

I have been a big fan of how Sam Presti has built this club around Kevin Durant, letting the pieces grow and mature with him, making it tough for him to leave as a free agent in a few years when the team should be at the top of the West. However, I was not a fan of the deal with New Orleans mainly because I think there were bigs available with more upside (Larry Sanders, Ed Davis) than Cole Aldrich, who was not worth giving up two picks for. They appeared to pick up a future first rounder from the Clippers, which was a nice move. Morris Peterson and Daequan Cook give Durant and Russell Westbrook more shooters to find but who is going to take the pressure off them in the paint?

New York

How does a team without a first round pick make the list? Well, when Miami and Chicago are creating cap space to skip past New York as the destination of choice for the Free Agent class of 2010, blowing their plan sky high, that’s how.  Miami is likely to retain Wade; Chicago has Rose, Deng and Noah, and what does New York have again? Spike Lee and Donald Trump don’t cut it on the court. They had two second-round choices and neither were particularly inspiring, although in the D’Antoni seven seconds or less system, Andy Rautins might be effective.

Washington

Yes, they got John Wall, but their other moves were puzzling. Frenchman Kevin Seraphin is a bit of an overseas project and is not ready to come over to the states. Adding Hinrich’s contract to a crowded backcourt with Wall, Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye and Nick Young makes no sense and was a heavy price to pay for the Chicago pick. And trading a high second and the last pick of the first round for the rights to Trevor Booker was very questionable, considering most believed he was a mid-second rounder.

Minnesota

I wanted David Kahn to be on this list and he didn’t disappoint me with his draft. Minnesota acquired three small forwards in Wes Johnson, Lazar Heyward and Martell Webster (in a trade from Portland). What is the obsession with loading up on a position? He did it last year with point guards and he did it again, as I correct stated in the mock draft, that he would. He turned the second round over to his foreign experts so only time will tell on those, maybe they will beat Ricky Rubio over to the States.

For those scoring at home, we went 9 out of 30 on the mock for a 30% score; in baseball that puts you in Hall of Fame; in academia, you get kicked out. You be the judge.

Even Flow-Pearl Jam

2010 NBA Mock Draft

By RJ

With about two weeks away from free agency insanity beginning, the NBA Draft is here. I told Jeff I would produce a column with a mock draft, although after the first couple picks this stuff becomes a crapshoot anyway and there will be plenty of trades. 

I fully expect the Thunder to package their picks to try and move up into the late lottery. I also expect the Nets to package their late first rounder and their pick at the top of the second, into the late teens, early 20’s. Memphis will almost definitely sell one of their picks for less than they sold Pau Gasol. Minnesota has three first-rounders, but who knows what they will do, after all they took point guard after point guard last year, so maybe this year’s strategy by David Kahn (who single handedly gives me and countless others confidence that they could run a franchise) will be to stockpile a new position. 

I will hopefully check back after the draft with my three to four winners and losers before the summer of LeBron, Wade, Bosh and company begins and Knicks fans ponder suicide if they fail to get James. Although I think the NBA has something on him in the blackmail department and he will head there with Amare Stoudamire. 

1.Washington Wizards-John Wall, PG, Kentucky

Like there is any doubt. The only question is how long they take to submit the pick; I’ll go with two minutes.

2. Philadelphia 76ers-Evan Turner, SG, Ohio State

I think Turner goes here no matter what, whether he remains a 76er is another thing altogether. I don’t see the 76ers finding a taker for Elton Brand’s albatross of a contract and I think that’s the only real way they would move the pick.

3. New Jersey Nets-Derrick Favors, PF Georgia Tech

The Nets will likely have some attractive trade offers here and I wouldn’t rule out the pick being dealt for an established star, if one is being shopped since they will have the room to absorb a contract if need be. Even with the free agent class having a lot of quality at power forward, Favors is too good to pass on for them. If Turner should slip, they will definitely stay at 3 and take him.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves-Wesley Johnson, F Syracuse

David Kahn shook his magic eight ball and it told him to load up on small forwards.

5. Sacramento Kings-Greg Monroe, PF Georgetown

This would be an extremely smart pick for the Kings. Monroe has a high basketball IQ, is a great passer, and good ball handler for a big and solid defender. Personally, if the Wolves didn’t have Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, he should go there. But for his sake I hope he doesn’t. Brief aside, the Wolves are the Kansas City Royals of the NBA. (I would have said Pirates, but many of the readers are Pittsburgh natives and they actually have a plan for the first time in years, where as the Royals really don’t –sorry fellas the outfield of Podsednik, Ankiel and Dejesus won’t get it done.)

6. Golden State Warriors-DeMarcus Cousins, C Kentucky

Everybody seems to agree Cousins is a talent, but the jury is out on his mental approach. From the games I watched, I think he has a 10-cent head and is not worth the trouble. Fortunately for him that means millions in the NBA and the chance to play Nelly-ball in Oakland.

7. Detroit Pistons-Cole Aldrich, C Kansas

How the mighty have fallen, oh so far in less than five years. Clutch Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson to create cap room that brought in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Sound move, Joe Dumars. Word is they are looking to move up for one of the better bigs in the draft, although the Warriors incompetence could allow for someone to slip to them. The Warriors usually draft well, but Don Nelson just doesn’t play the kids (see Anthony Randolph, Brendan Wright). Aldrich could bring some much needed grit and toughness to a team that has lost its way and went from Teflon tough to softer than a stick of butter, seemingly overnight.

8. Los Angeles Clippers-Al Farouq Aminu, SF Wake Forest

Clippers desperately need a small forward and despite what David Geffen may think, LeBron isn’t sharing a town with Kobe.

9. Utah Jazz-Ekpe Udoh, PF Baylor

The typical Utah Jazz player. A quiet, understated guy, who just goes about his business especially on the defensive end. Jazz need another big to replace Boozer in their rotation and to address some concerns about Okur’s health. Udoh is a freak on the defensive end, think a much more athletic version of Ben Wallace in his prime.

10. Indiana Pacers-Gordon Heyward, SF Butler

I don’t see the Pacers passing on the local product if they are indeed picking at 10. Although, I think this is too high a spot for him and the last thing Indiana needs to do is add to their collection of white college all-stars (Hansborough, Dunleavy, Murphy), the list continues.

11. New Orleans Hornets-Hassan Whiteside, C Marshall

Hornets can go in a lot of different directions here, but I think they will go big and reach a bit for a center if Aldrich is off the board. Whiteside has been a hit name among analysts and it will not be a shock for him to go late lottery to a team in need of size.

12. Memphis Grizzles-Paul George, SF Fresno State

I think Memphis will go best available with most of their picks, although if they can grab a solid small forward to potentially replace Rudy Gay, who could leave as a restricted free agent, they will do so quickly.

13. Toronto Raptors-Ed Davis, PF North Carolina

Raptors look likely to be completely overhauling this squad as soon as Bosh chooses a new home. Getting a frontcourt body that can run the floor would be a decent start.

14. Houston Rockets-Patrick Patterson, PF Kentucky

The under utilized Patterson would be a nice pick here for the Rockets, giving them size off the bench and a decent offensive game from their backup power forward.

15. Milwaukee Bucks-Xavier Henry, SG Kansas

If Henry falls this far, it’s a steal for the Bucks. They need a guard to replace John Salmons, who is likely to opt out of his deal following his great two-month stint in Milwaukee. A Jennings-Henry backcourt would give opponents headaches for years to come.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves-Luke Babbitt, SF Nevada

David Kahn sticks with the small forward strategy. It’s a really sound strategy, so sound in fact, that he will be out of a job in three years after the Timberwolves win less than 30 games for sixth straight year and Ricky Rubio is still in Spain.

17. Chicago Bulls-James Anderson, SG Oklahoma State

The Bulls never really replaced Ben Gordon’s offensive punch from the bench last year; Anderson would have given them one of the draft's best perimeter players. Really good value here and a great fit for the Bulls with Rose (and potentially LeBron). 

18. Miami Heat-Eric Bledsoe, PG Kentucky

The Heat will be active in free agency, I believe they will walk away with re-signing Wade, bringing in Bosh and adding Ray Allen, but they could use a point guard to help out Wade. Mario Chalmers is not the answer. Bledsoe didn’t play the point at Kentucky, but that is his NBA position.

19. Boston Celtics-Damion James, SF Texas

The Celtics have never truly replaced James Posey’s versatility off their bench from the 2008 title team. James can be the Posey clone of hitting the boards, taking the tough defensive assignments and knocking down the open three-ball off the bench.

20. San Antonio Spurs-Larry Sanders, C VCU

Spurs are desperately trying to move up and also are desperate for a big body up front that can take some of the blows off Duncan. At 20, grabbing the unheralded Sanders out of a small CAA school would be the typical, low on flash, high on production, Spurs move.

21. Oklahoma City Thunder-Daniel Orton, C Kentucky

All reports have the Thunder hot for big with Orton’s name mentioned most often and looking to move up a bit to grab him. I honestly don’t know what they see in him. This is a guy who rode the pine for much of the year with Kentucky. He’s very much a project, and that doesn’t make a ton of sense for a team that is looking to make the leap into the upper tier of the Western Conference. 

22. Portland Trail Blazers-Solomon Alabi, C Florida State

As the Blazers learned last year, you can never have enough bigs and can they really count on Greg Oden for more than one week?

23. Minnesota Timberwolves-Quincy Pondexter, SF Washington

This would be a good pick on its own as Pondexter was an underrated, jack of all trades player for the Washington Huskies, but given that Kahn will load up on the position, I feel bad for Quincy. 

24. Atlanta Hawks-Terrico White, SG Ole Miss

Atlanta needs to prepare for life without Joe Johnson. There is an outside shot they could gamble on Lance Stephenson from Cincinnati, but I think they will go with more of a sure thing and White can both handle the rock and play the off guard spot.

25. Memphis Grizzles-Avery Bradley, PG Texas

A lot of mocks have this guy in the lottery, and I don’t understand it. He doesn’t have that great of a jumper, decent defender, some have likened him to a poor man’s Rajon Rondo (perhaps that is why I don’t think much of him because unlike Bill Simmons I don’t think Rondo is this awesome point guard.) Anyways, if he can play the point, he gives Memphis someone who can push Mike Conley for minutes.

26. Oklahoma City Thunder-Craig Brackins, PF Iowa State

Brackins would give Oklahoma City a nice backup to Jeff Green, someone who can come in play solid minutes at the 4 and knock down the 15-foot, face up jumper as well as run the floor.

27. New Jersey Nets-Dominique James, SG South Florida

The Nets are going to be looking for some scoring punch at this spot and between James, Jordan Crawford and Lance Stephenson, they should find it. I think they will go with James who is the most disciplined of the group.

28. Memphis Grizzles-Kevin Seraphin, PF France

If Memphis holds all three first rounders, one will definitely be used on a guy they can stash overseas.

29. Orlando Magic-Armon Johnson, PG Nevada

Orlando needs an upgrade at backup point guard, as the Eastern Conference Finals showed. Johnson can provide that and energy off the bench.

30. Washington Wizards-Lance Stephenson, SG Cincinnati

I think the Wizards look for someone that they can take to grow with Wall, and Stephenson certainly fits the bill. The Wizards do have some guard depth in Randy Foye, Mike Miller and the gun toting Gilbert Arenas, but none of those are long-term backcourt mates for Wall. They could address the frontcourt but I think that will happen during free agency with their cap room.


Tom Petty - I Should Have Known It

Really Cleveland?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY1dQldCtOI

This video left me speechless. Just when you think Cleveland can't get any more pathetic, they go and make this video. Was Drew Carey too busy with the "Price is Right" to contribute his golden pipes?

Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently

LeBron biggest free agent ever?

I'm not going to pretend I am a pro when speaking about basketball. But can anyone remember a bigger free agent in sports than LeBron James this summer?

Look at the situation for a second; media and fans alike have been speculating for at least two years now where LeBron will go in the summer of 2010. That kind of talk has not happened since free agency began in any sport. There have been many times where superstars have been traded or bought by other teams, but it's rare they make it to free agency.

Alex Rodriguez kind of did this when he opted out of his contract during the 2007 World Series, but there was little doubt he was just going to sign a bigger deal with the New York Yankees. Less than a month passed before A-Rod resigned with the Bronx Bombers actually. LeBron opted out last summer and seems determined to see what the likes of New York, Chicago, Miami and New Jersey are going to offer him.

That is why he won't resign with the Cleveland Cavs. If LeBron wanted to play out his career in Cleveland, why didn't he resign quickly for a huge deal last summer? If he really thought he was going to come back to Cleveland, why hasn't he really said it when asked? He doesn't need any bargaining chips. He is going to get a max deal for a long time from someone. How could anyone offer anything less than the most they possibly could for a player of his caliber?

Also, what can Cleveland offer LeBron that other cities can't? They've made so many poor personnel decisions that they have serious salary cap issues. Who could they add under the cap that would entice James to stay?

Chicago would be the best fit, if they can land another big name like Chris Bosh. Just think of LeBron, Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh and Joakim Noah wearing the same uniform. I could be the fifth man and the Bulls would still be considered the favorites for the East and probably the championship.

With all that being said, who cares? It's just the NBA.

Phish - Bouncing Around the Room