7-75 and Justice

Here's a fun thing to keep track of during the NBA season: will the stolen team that used to be the Seattle Supersonics set the new league record for utter futility?

With a 2-21 start to the season and precious few good players -- you've got Kevin Durant as the new empty calorie scoring source who doesn't make anyone better, Jeff Green as the reputed defensive ace who really can't shoot enough to deserve minutes, and Russell Westbrook, who has NBA quicks but a breathtakingly bad 37% shooting percentage. And those are the promising young players.

So they don't shoot it well. They also don't have handle it, with 15+ giveaways a game. They give points back at the free throw line. Their shot blocking is among the league's worst, and the home court advantage they were supposed to have from a rapturous crowd hasn't materialized either; 1-11 there, 1-10 on the road. They've fired the first coach and gotten no bump from that, either.

Now, realistically, they probably will pick it up a bit later, and get the eight wins they need in their last 59 games to avoid historic ineptitude. They've played more games than most other teams, which means they've had less practice time and more back to backs. In the second half of the season, they'll play more games that are out of it, and probably catch a few wins where they simply want it more than their opponents.

But they really are quite bad, and given their patronage and ownership, I'm going to be rooting for them to lose every game, and for Durant to leave skid marks on his way out of town after Year Three of his rookie contract.

It is, after all, only what they deserve.

One Toke Over The Line

Big win tonight in the have-to-have Game 3 for the Mavs, who shook off Josh Howard's marijuana admissions to more or less handle the Hornets. New Orleans has never won in Dallas. While the Bugs don't have to for advancement, it'd help loads, especially seeing how the Spurs will be clearing things out any minute now in their series.

A quick word about Howard's wacky weed admission. I'm frankly more concerned about his level of judgment in admitting the use in public, rather than any effect from the drug. Robert Parish was pulled over with pot in his '40s. Did it really hurt his longevity? Of course not. But if Howard is dumb enough to talk about it on the freaking radio, he's dumb enough to do other things, really.

It'll also be highly curious as to see the length and timing of his eventual Stern-mandated suspension. You know, for distracting the sporting public from the glory of the playoffs. Unlike Stern's No Vaseline job on Seattle.

Getting back to the court... despite the level of comfort in the win -- seriously, when your best player is Jannero Pargo, it's really not your night -- I still like the Hornets' chances in this one. They got very little out of Chris Paul tonight, and not much more out of David West or Peja Stojakovic. And yet, they were still in it for crunch time, because while the Mavs do have a fully engaged Dirk Nowitzki, they really don't have much more than that.

The game was also notable for the only highlight that most people will see of it, which had Dallas center and big-time contract year hero Erick Dampier picking up a flagrant on Paul late. As hard fouls go, it really wasn't all that intense, but when a guy is a foot and 100 pounds heavier than the other guy, hard shoves do tend to get exaggerated.

And in a sure sign of the Apocalypse, I actually have to give it up to Stephen A. Smith for a line he had about the incident. Jalen Rose defended the play as saying "No layups!" Smith replied, "What about the rest of his career -- he's going to start enforcing that now?" Stephen, anyone who remember the Damp Era in the Bay Area is giving you the Nod of Approval right about now...

And the Association Sticks the Landing!

How can you tell when a sports league has jumped the shark?


It lands in Oklahoma City.

Epic Drop: Top 10 Suggestions for the New Okalama City Sonics Fans

I haven't really gotten into the full and obvious horror that is what the NBA has been doing to the city of Seattle, because it's really been the case of other writers, and saying "Ditto" out loud is boring.

But anyone who thinks that the NBA is better off with a team in OK City over Seattle is, well... living in OK City or out of their minds. And likely both.

Having been there on a week on business and a couple of occasions on pleasure, Seattle is one of the best cities in the US. It's distinctive without being rundown. It has actual history, along with breathtaking scenery that's quite close by. On a clear summer's day, it's almost New Zealand-esque in its ability to take your breath away. Even the hard industry (ports, mainly) looks interesting to the eye, and if you can't find something wonderful to eat, drink, wear and buy in Pike's Market, you may be dead.

It's also got a fine rivalry with the Blazers, a growing tragic history in big games, a natural gateway to the Pacific Rim and Asian markets... and yet, the NBA is willing to throw all of that away to placate a carpetbagger owner who just happens to be tight with the Commish for the length of his life.

The Sonics don't need a new arena. Seattle also doesn't need an NBA team to be major league and world class. Screw you, Stern and Bennett... and for the record, I've never been a Sonics fan.

Nice effort, Sonics

I don't usually point out single games from the Association, but when this comes over the wire...

Denver 168
Seattle 112

Well, boy and howdy. Have the Sonics already packed?

The Nuggets shot over 60% from the floor, were 30 more than the 138 they put up against Seattle 18 days ago, and the most that the team has ever put up in regulation. Even more remarkable, they did it without Carmelo Anthony or Allen Iverson going off. Instead, the visitors were giving away points to anyone who walked on the floor, with 8 Nuggets in double figures, Marcus Camby leading the way with a triple double.

It's the third straight blowout win for the Nuggets, with the other coming against Memphis and the Raptors. They're still a game and a half behind the Warriors for the 8 seed, but that's not the telling point. The telling point is that Seattle is now 16-51, 1-9 in its last 10 games, and a no-doubt choice as the worst team in the Association right now... and maybe I'm just reading too much into a year when the team is playing without any kind of home-court advantage given the franchise weirdness that's going on right now, but I can't help shake the idea that when you lose like this, you're well and truly screwed, regardless of your talent situation or cap deal.

Next year or two, when they've got a new arena and/or home situation, they'll still need to lose their coach (PJ Carlesimo, who's doing such a stellar job here). They'll still have a roster full of guys who, with the possible exception of rookie power forward Jeff Green, show no interest or inclination in playing defense. They'll still have three point guards on the roster that would all be better suited to being a change-of-pace guy off the bench, rather than getting starter's minutes. They'll still have no one on the roster who should play shooting guard. Their centers either rebound (Nick Collison) or block shots (Robert Swift and Johan Patro), but never both at the same time. Chris Wilcox provides the emptiest 13 and 7 in the Association.

Which leaves the Franchise, rookie small forward Kevin Durant. If the 41% from the floor and 28% from the three-point line doesn't scare you, how about the 4.1 boards in 33.6 minutes per game? On a team with no dominant rebounder (Collison leads with 8.8 per game), he's boarding at nearly the same rate as Earl Watson, who's 8 inches shorter, and well, a point guard. That pre-draft workout experience where he couldn't lift weight is starting to seem more relevant now, isn't it?

Oklahoma City, be careful what you wish for...

Compounding the Sin

I know, you've waited 48+ hours to get the FTT take on this and all, but here goes...

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired former defensive player of the year Ben Wallace and swingman Joe Smith from the Chicago Bulls in an 11-player, three-team blockbuster deal on Thursday.

Cleveland also got forward Wally Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West from the Seattle SuperSonics, general manager Danny Ferry announced Thursday.

In exchange, the Cavaliers sent Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown to the Bulls and Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall to Seattle.

Cleveland also received Chicago's 2009 second round draft selection and Seattle acquired Adrian Griffin from the Bulls.

In any Monster Deal, there's an awful lot of dross to sort through. The remarkable thing about this deal is that almost all of it left one team -- the Cavs.

When the dust settled, Cleveland now gets to start Wallace, Ilgauskas, Sczerbiak and West with LeBron, and bring Gibson, Varaejo and Smith off the bench. (And the starters may be wrong and all, but that's their top eight, and all will get time.)

Here's what that does for them. It means that they won't be wondering where Hughes and Gooden are when the chips are down. It means they won't have a 37% shooter who isn't a point guard... playing point guard. It should mean a whole lot less of Eric Snow, since with Wallace on the floor, you can only have one guy who absolutely can't score playing. It gives them a very good spot-up shooter in the Zerb, and a reasonable defensive presence in Wallace that can cover for the fact that Wally can't defend anyone. It also makes them, IMO, a much more dangerous team in the East, and might make them the favorites over the big three of Detroit, Boston and Orlando in a second-round playoff matchup... because it gives LeBron all of the proof he needs that his GM is watching the same games he's been playing in.

Now, that doesn't mean the Cavs are a shoo-in to make it back to the Finals as the Team That Should Lose, because they've only got 30 games to figure out how to play with each other, and that's probably not enough time. But it sure makes them a hell of a lot more interesting than they were on Wednesday, and for next year as well.

Seattle, on the other hand, cleared cap space from a guy that did them no good (Wally) and a reasonable guard that was in a logjam for minutes with Ridnour and Watson (West). It also probably gives them some nice wiggle room with expiring contracts, since no one in their right mind wants Donyell Marshall for the long run on their roster. The only problem with this plan is that freeing up cap space for a team that's moving to Oklahoma City is kind of like putting in a really nice wet bar in a bomb shelter; you're still not going to be attracting the really high-class snatch. But on principle at least, it's the right move, and it gives Seattle's front office personnel something nice to put on their resumes later, when they want to go to a real NBA franchise.

Now, what did Chicago get, other than clearing minutes for Ty Thomas and Yannick Noah? The previously mentioned 37% non-point point guard in Hughes. A power forward that has been part of every trade rumor for the past five years in the league -- I'm guessing there are reasons for that behind the boneheaded play on the court. (This assumes, of course, that they are actually going to play the guys they dealt for, rather than just bench them and completely poison the atmosphere around this team.)

How exactly does this fix the Bulls' problems -- which is to say, questionable low post presence and point guard play on offense, and worrisome team chemistry? Gooden and Hughes have been on a million teams in their time in the league. Those are the guys that you want to bring into a team of young and previously unselfish hustle players? I know that Big Ben wasn't working out for you, but was this really the price you had to pay to get rid of him?

For many years, the Bulls appeared to have A Plan. They were going to stockpile hustle guys, pressure teams into mistakes, and hope that one of their young players -- Deng or Gordon, primarily -- became the kind of guy that could carry them in crunch time in a playoff. It might not have been the most feasible way to a championship, but at least it made for entertaining ball, and made them the constant source of speculation whenever a team had a game-changing superstar that was thinking of forcing a trade.

Now? I have no idea what they are, or what they are trying to accomplish. And neither do they.

Two of three teams won this trade, and one of them did so by a lot. The last destroyed the team to rid themselves of one player and contract. But that's life in the NBA -- the bad signings destroy you.

Number Three With A Vengeance

On the off chance that the reader is led to think that the NBA might be ready to jostle MLB for the spot of Bestus Little Brother to the all-encompassing monster that is the NFL... read this little piece in the NYT about the Sonics and their probable last season in Seattle.

In it, coach/scapegoat PJ Carlesimo "shakes his head" when driving past the Mariners' Safeco Field and the Seahawks' Qwest Field, two of the best stadiums in the country, and wonders why his team has to suffer the indignities of Key Arena. To answer that question, the following points.

1) Why is it always about a new arena for sports team owners? Why can't local taxpayers just pay them the money directly, every year, in an interest-bearing account -- since there is no freaking difference, other than an efficiency in the transaction? Perhaps the team could just also send around large men to collect the money, for that personal touch. Call it Team Insurance. Bad things happen to teams and fans that don't have Insurance.

2) In recent court documents, the Sonics produced a survey that showed showed 66 percent of respondents said the team’s leaving (for Oklahoma City, where the team's new owners reside) would make "no difference in their lives."

Hey, since when is that admissible? The Sixers could probably get that number to 90. Knick Fans, so long as Isiah and the Dolans are involved, might break 100% by offering to help them pack. Many Clipper season ticket holders are still not sure why the Lakers are wearing those funny uniforms, and why the celebrity count isn't as high as it used to be at the games. This is a bad road for the NBA to take.

3) David Stern told reporters in November that Settle would not get another NBA franchise should the Sonics leave. One assumes this is a valid threat, since without a team, the city isn't going to go about building an arena.

Now, Stern has to say that to try to leverage the city, but I'm not exactly sure why the league is willing to throw away a relationship with a growing and vibrant Pacific Rim city, especially with the league's success in drawing talent and interest from China, in order to establish a bigger toehold in middle America.

Then again, maybe the league just thinks it's better off playing in cities like Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio. Orlando and Oakland (I keed, I keed.... kind of) that have no NFL or MLB franchise. That way, they ensure a more dedicated fan base. Unfortunately, that logic doesn't seem to be doing much to fill the seats in one-team towns like Memphis, New Orleans and Atlanta (oh, the keeding will not stop). It also means the league will go under as soon as the NFL wakes up and launches a domestic spring league, the way that the market for football absolutely demands.

But in the short run, please note that no NFL team is having issues like this one... and MLB, for all of its constant rogering of the small markets, doesn't have an issue of team owners buying in to just try to move a franchise at their earliest opportunity. Which makes the NBA the third major league, despite a salary cap that makes sense and allows small and large market teams to compete equally, and the largest talent base of any US league.

And finally, this -- when, oh when, will some league finally break down and pluck the low-hanging fruit that is Las Vegas?

NBA Potpourri

Just to show that this blog still covers more than the NFL, and the Patriots... here's where we are after two weeks in the NBA.

1) The Celtics own November. I kind of expected that the team would get off to a good start from the talent infusion, but they are also doing something that they have to do, given their short bench and star reliance -- they are blowing people out. With a point differential of 16.6 points per game, they're leading the NBA, and should be able to keep the heavy stress down... but note, please, that Pierce, Allen and Garnett are averaging over 39 minutes per game. Doc Rivers isn't, um, smart, and that's going to cost them in the long run.

2) Detroit's back with a vengeance. When we last saw the Pistons, they were looking old and spent in gagging up a playoff series to LeBron James and the Cavs. They've answered the bell with a 5-1 start and a 10-point differential. They are getting great production out of their second unit, with Hayes, Maxiell, and Murray giving them solid minutes and defense. Here's another positive: Sheed doesn't have a technical yet, but he does have 15 points a game, with efficient three-point shooting (44%). Plus, when your big man is doing that, it opens up lots of things for other players. (This is one of the reasons why the Mavs have won so many games with Dirk.)

3) The Southeast is horrible right now. With Washington and Miami combining to go 2-10, and the Hawks squandering big early wins en route to a 2-4 start, it's Orlando or nothing... and the Magic really aren't that good, either. With Boston, New Jersey and Toronto all looking competent or better, the torch of Worst Division in the NBA has clearly passed.

4) Kevin Durant will not win the Rookie of the Year. Simply because the voters will not pull the trigger for a low percentage gunner on a 20-win team that's going to spend the entire season doing the Lame Duck Wiggle, even if he's the only one with 20 points per game. There's some talent here, but with Durant shooting 39% from the forward position and the team dropping 5 points every game from no one getting to the free throw line, don't expect this to get better soon. Welcome back to the big boy seat, PJ Carlesimo!

5) Phoenix should be fine... but while I made fun of this idea in preseason, they really might miss Kurt Thomas, of all people. Boris Diaw has shown no signs of being the supremely useful player he was in 2005, Amare Stoudemire has been banged up, and Brian Skinner fits in here about as well as, well, he fits in anywhere. Any team that's giving Sean Marks minutes has issues with its big men, and it's all leading to too many minutes for Grant Hill... and we all know what happens next, right?

6) Houston (shh!) may be better than the Spurs. Not by the numbers (both teams are 5-1, and the Spurs have a higher point differential), but consider this -- the Rockets are doing this with a new coach (Rick Adelman, who is already making Yao Ming look like a good passing big man again), new frontcourt rotation (Luis Scola gives them quality minutes and a non-Dikembe option for when Yao sits), and a dramatically different situation at point guard, where Mikes James and Rafer Alston are giving them 17.5 points, 6.6 assists and nearly 3 three-pointers a game.

The ceiling might be higher here, assuming, of course, that McGrady and Ming finally stay healthy -- and if both teams are at full strength in a playoff, Gregg Popovich will get them past Adelman. I'm just not thinking the Spurs will be healthy.

7) Does Don Nelson does know that the year started and he hasn't retired? Last year's fun-time first-round playoff story, your Golden State Warriors, are 0-5 after a brutal stretch against the Jazz, Cavs and Mavs. They'll get back gun-toting captain Stephen Jackson soon, and they've been fighting flu and other maladies... but if they don't start winning soon, they could be out of this early, with a big long East Coast road trip coming up at the end of the month.

They give up 12 more rebounds than they get per game, shoot a lot worse than the opposition (.506 to .463), don't defend (um, see .506) and are giving up an incredible 46% on three-pointers. Andris Biedrins may be the only decent big man on the roster, which you kind of expect from Nellie Ball, but this is ridiculous. Also telling: they shoot 67% from the line, with nobody on the team over 76%. So if you're behind, foul 'em with impunity, really. Last year's playoff run could be fool's gold (en state), especially if Jackson decides to exercise his Second Amendment rights again...

Obsolete NBA Free Agent Reactions

> Bulls GM John Paxson vowed to match any free agent offer for Andres Nocioni, and then paid him $38 million for 5 years.

Independent of the merits of Nocioni, this, frankly, is part of what gets NBA teams into such terrible trouble on contracts -- the idea that if you don't spent what the market demands for your free agent, you're less than manly or letting the team down.

(As for Andres himself, he looks like the rich man's Victor "Bag of" Khryapa, or the poor man's Luol Deng. It amazes me how many similar player the Bulls stockpile -- it's like they're cloning people.)

Here's a thought -- figure out what the guy is actually worth, percentage-wise, to your team. Then, figure out what happens to your situation if/when you overpay him in a game of who has the bigger nuts.

Frankly, we're thinking that in a year or two, after Ty Thomas emerges as the much less regrettable option in the Noah/Wallace/Thomas logjam for energy defender, and Thabo Sefolosha pulls away in the Duhon/Gordon/Hinrich race of which guard can give up more points than he generates, that Paxson is really going to be wishing he hasn't shelled out so much for Andres.

> Grant Hill signs with the Suns.

Because what Phoenix was clearly missing in that Spurs loss was what... Grant Hill could give them?

Look, I *like* Hill -- 29 surgeries and all, he can play, and he makes his teammates better. And I suppose that, for the salary they got him for, it's fine.

But what does he do that Boris Diaw doesn't do, other than get hurt and be older? How does he help you when Stoudamire and Thomas, the weak points on your team defense and health-wise, break down? Isn't this just the second chapter of the Jalen Rose book that no one wanted to read?

> Jerry Stackhouse signs a 3-year deal to stay with the Mavs.

It's got to be hard to think about leaving the Cube Zone -- the creature comforts, hot and cold running coaches, limited minutes and your summers are more or less free. What's less sensible is why the Mavs were ready to for another three years of a 32-year-old guy and career 41% shooter. (OK, yes, he gets to the line, and last year was better, but 43% isn't exactly write home material.)

However, props to Stack for not moving on to team #5 in a career that was starting to resemble Jalen Rose for a while there. (What can we say, we're soft on Jalen.) The Mavs need to blow that team up something fierce, but at least it looks like Stack will be among the survivors.

> "Sonics' overhaul peaks with Carlesimo hiring" reads the AP headline. Shouldn't we change peaks to ends? This retread gets a lot of love among the white media that covers the NBA for getting the Spree Necklace, but what no one ever mentions is that Latrell's little act of attempted coachicide made PJ famous... famous enough to get another job as a retread. Not exactly the ramp-up situation that Kevin Durant needed here.

> The Pistons resigned Chauncey Billups to a 5 year, $60 million contract, because 31-year-old point guards that get taken apart by rookies in conference finals are clearly worth a long-term commitment.

Once again, we like Chaunce; he's a top 10 PG, and he seemed trustworthy right up until Game 3 of the Cavs series. But we're befuddled by the attraction that NBA GMs have to name brands. And in the big news...

> Orlando signed Rashard Lewis to a max deal (speaking of a guy with an instantly bad contract), which means... THEY ARE OUT OF THE DARKO RACE. Who will step up and get the guy who will never, no matter what people think, be a tenth of the player that Chris Bosh is, but will likely always get ten times the publicity?

This is one of those moments where you learn more about the team... because we're certain that Darko can be an NBA player with the right coach or team, just as we're certain that he's 2 years from being out of the league if the wrong team gets him. (Basically, what is Darko if not Andres Biedrins with better hands?)

For the sake of the legend's millions of ironic fans, here's hoping he chooses well. I'm rooting for him to come back and torture Joe Dumars some more. That's always fun.