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“NBA Notebook–Teams & Troubles”

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This should be a big night, the NBA Draft, with all these college stars, but it seems to have been hijacked by what’s happening with free agency, and the aftermath of the NBA playoffs.

Take a tour around the NBA road map.

NEW ORLEANS….Zion Williamson, the Duke center, lands on Bourbon Street. Arriving with him will be 3-top young players from the Lakers , Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball and the Lakers 4th pick in the draft. See what happens in the next couple of hours, either the Pelicans keep the 4th pick and draft another big man, or deal it to another team for a veteran player. Otherwise maybe they wind up with Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech or DeAndre Hunter of Virginia. The Pelicans could be a really good team, correction, a really good college team.

LAKERS…This should be a time to celebrate the arrival of Anthony Davis in the 6-for-1 deal with the Pelicans, but LA has traded its entire future away, and now seems to have made a miscalculation in the salary cap, now learning they do not have the space for another max contract. Add to the fact they have to sign 10-players to put around Davis, LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. If they don’t deal away more, they won’t have 33M space to get Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, or another elite free agent.

CLIPPERS…They built a good team, but don’t have true stars. They have two max slots available for free agents, but with Kevin Durant hurt, and a great unknown in the emotion of Kawhi Leonard’s future decision, they might land both, maybe one, or possibly none in the free agent market. They traded away a lot to get to this point, but what if the marquee names go elsewhere?

GOLDEN STATE….A tremendous run might be ending, though Coach Steve Kerr does not agree. Klay Thompson possibly re-signs, though he doesn’t play till next April with that knee surgery. Durant could leave, but he’s likely out all year with the Achilles surgery. What if he stays too? The great unknown.

BOSTON…Danny Ainge has always collected assets,young players, draft picks, and has never been afraid to deal. But now he’s got a problem, despite owning 3-first round picks, all late in the first round. He’s losing C-Al Hereford, headed to a big payday somewhere. He did not get Anthony Davis in the New Orleans trade. Kyrie Irving has opted out. Suddenly it does not seem to be a destination point for free agents. How did they miss the boat?

TORONTO…The feel good season could be over shortly, if Leonard leaves shortly to free agency. He not only won an NBA ring for his team and the city, but also for the country. He is so unique, so private, maybe he stays. If he doesn’t, it’s been a great run.

NY KNICKS….They have two max free agent slots, it’s the Big Apple, playing games at the Garden-the Mecca, but that’s all there is. Ownership problems, a relentless critical media, and little talent on hand. Who would go play there? Will it ever get better?

BROOKLYN…A strange configuration, this franchise in the shadow of the Knicks. They have two max slots, and view themselves as player for Kyrie Irving, leaving Boston, but you look at the Nets and think the Clippers always playing second fiddle to the Lakers. Maybe Durant and Irving wind up there together. Maybe they don’t and the dreadful years continue.

HOUSTON…Such an explosive season and now they seem ready to implode. The bitter divorce of Chris Paul-vs-James Harden, the decision to shop a bunch of other key support people, not much interest from free agents to go there. Harden could be left by himself by the time the off season is over.,

MIAMI…Remember when Pat Riley controlled the world? The franchise has never been the same since LeBron James left, Dwayne Wade got old, and Chris Bosh suffered from blood clots.

MILWAUKEE…A great season for the Bucks, but now Kris Middleton is opting out of his contract, and they face an enormous challenge to keep the team together, knowing that superstar Giannis Antetokoumpo can be a free agent a year form now. Is it over before it ever got started?

OKLAHOMA CITY….Two stars, two big contracts, but they’re not good enough even with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. How do they make it better?

Going to be an interesting Thursday night at the draft, and an equally interesting week going towards July 1st free agency.

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“War of Words-Right-vs-Wrong”

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They are both wrong, and this is pretty ugly.

This being the weekend eruption-eject of Padres slugger Manny Machado from a game in Colorado, for his face to face confrontation with umpire Bill Welke.

This, also being what happened on Tuesday, the Umpires Association criticism of the 1-game suspension to Machado by the Commissioner’s office.

This whole thing is inappropriate, as MLB exec Joe Torre said in the aftermath of the Ump Union tweet criticizing the minimal suspension after the volatile incident in Colorado.

They’re all wrong.

Machado deserved more than a 1-game suspensions for the obscenity laced tantrum, the slight bump of the umpire in the beginning of the argument; the helmet throwing rage, and then hurling his bat into the wall behind home plate.

The umpire deserves criticism for his quick trigger finger ejection of the Padres star just as Machado was turning around to protest the off the corner pitch, that was called strike three.

Macado was caught using the “F” word as least 3-times in his tirade. Welk said something in response right at the beginning, though no one will say what was said.

Manager Andy Green got tossed later in the game, and did have an extended conversation about the Machado ejection.

But neither the player, nor the manager, wanted to talk to the media about specifics, Machado’s language, Welke’s response, or Green’s conversation.

You can give Welke the benefit of the doubt for blowing a call, but you cannot forgive him tor the heated instant ejection.

You probably need to critique his whole body of work in the game, where his strike calls were all over the zone, inside-outside, high and low. He was not consistent that day.

And to complicate it, the Umpires Union went after Torre for handing out just 1-game suspension…and Torre responded with his own criticism of the Union using its twitter account to mock the decision.

The Union took it a further step, by insinuating there was ‘workplace violence’ that was tolerated by Torre because of the bat throw…absurd.

Later in the evening, the Union continued its own tirade, adding more on Facebook, calling the 1-game ban a ‘disgrace to umpires’ and ‘disgrace to the game’. They said players should never have the right to touch someone in authority.

Padres pitcher Craig Stammen says both sides need to respect each other. Eric Hosmer said there was no accountability for the umpires actions. Ian Kindler says some umpires target players.

Umpiring has been hot and cold all year long. Everyone admits it’s a tough job, a subjective job, a job made harder by by the electric stuff, and the ball movement these pitchers now bring to their repertoire.

Each sport is different in its discipline over criticism of the officials..

The NFL will take a players game check for abuse of officials., if they hand out a suspension, though that is rare.

The NBA routinely hands out 25-to-50,000 fines for public criticism and abuse of officials, from players and coaches.

The NHL rarely disciplines players with fines, and sometimes will dock coaches some money. .

Oddly, baseball might hand out a base fine to Machado for the 1-game suspension, but they won’t dock him 1/162nd of his salary for the suspension.

Players who get ejected for arguing, and even managers, don’t get fined for the ejection.
Contact with an umpire is a different case. Excessive abuse can lead to a minimal fine, but what is 5,000 for a player making 30M a year like Manny Machado?

But now in this wild world of social media, new dimensions have taken over.

MLB baseball should hand out a fine to its own Umpires Association for breaching etiquette with the public rebuke via twitter.

Hard to believe going forward, this Welke-Machado issue will go away. Welk ejected Machado and Green earlier in the season, when Machado dropped his bat at the feet of a catcher, going for a foul pop.

Within the Padres clubhouse, veteran players said they needed to ‘respect’ the job the umps do, but also said, they want umps to respect the players right to talk about controversial calls.

Machado didn’t respect Welke with the way he acted. He deserves 3-games with the abuse. he spewed out. Welk deserves to be chastised for what he did, the instant ejection and to be reviewed for his overall poor job calling balls and strikes..

And the Union should be fined for violating protocol. That complaint should be delivered in private to the MLB league office, not globally via twitter.

There will be an appeal shortly. It will be via Skype, not in person. Then there will be a decision Machado should get docked, Welke should get critiqued, and the Union should pay a penalty.

They were all wrong.

Ugly, ugly, and surely not over

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“Gulls Coach Goes to the NHL”

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Dallas Eakins is leaving the San Diego Gulls after four successful years, to take over as head coach of the troubled Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Ducks GM-Bob Murray ended a methodical 3-month search for a head coach. Eakins showed exceptional patience waiting and wondering if he would get the offer. It worked out for both.

Both had lots to say at Monday’s NHL press conference.

Bob Murray-GM

..The experience I had working with Dallas over 4-years was the key.
..I saw Dallas as a player with the Chicago Wolves at the end of his career. He was teaching young players then
..He developed players while he was head coach of the Toronto Marlies.
..16 players he had with the Gulls have played a lot for us in Anaheim.
..His players always competed.
..He does not accept losing
..He likes to win

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Dallas Eakins

..I am humbled to get this position.
..We had a commitment to excellence in San Diego
..I say thank you to the fans
..San Diego fans set the bar high for the rest of the AHL
..210-players came thru out dressing room in 4-years in San Diego
..The Ducks have had incredible success on the ice and in the community in Anaheim.
..I am strong and I am fierce.
..This is different than when I was in Edmonton, where we started from scratch. I know these players here. We’re not starting over.
..We will work hard…hardness gets things done.
..Being in the playoffs with these young players makes them better
..I have a familiarness with lots of this roster
..The Ducks are headed to transition with talent-we will win
..I want a leadership group that will develop an identity
..I honor player’s work ethic. I want them to enjoy competing.
..I want them to ‘get to the rink’ to enjoy, not just ‘go to the rink’
..We want to play hard first. Be hard to play against too.
..I want relentless, skill, speed.
..We will play fast with the puck and play fast to get the puck back
..I want a group that will be inspired by competition
..We will be organized with the puck, when we get it back, when we attack.
..Edmonton-looking back..a challenging time..but I learned to put my head down and get better every day.
..I inherit a roster and that should speed up the process…these players know my expectations..my workouts..my values…how I want them to live their life.
..This is not my team….it’s our team..our organization.

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“Lakers-Dollars Overcome Dysfunction”

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Don’t you just love some aspects of the NBA.

It’s all about winning, even if you are incompetent, dishonest, disloyal. And dollars allow you to do anything you want, to anybody.

So today the Lakers feel good about themselves now, proving dollars can buy you most anything, even if your credibility is shot.

Six years of missing the playoffs…terrible missteps in family ownership, chaos in the front office, a distracted lockeroom, all has seemingly been washed away by the blockbuster NBA trade that brought them superstar Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers pull off a 6-for-1 trade to get Davis. A tremendous price to pay to get the 6’11 star from the Pelicans. It cost them 3-first round draft picks, and another wave of young players they developed over the last two years, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart.

Oddly those 3, plus this years 4th pick in the first round, will join ex-Laker Julius Randle already in New Orleans. The Pelicans will draft 1st and 4th, meaning they get Zion Williamson, another hot pick at the top of the board, and the 3-Lakers kids. That’s quite a team on the floor.

They give up a selfish star and rid themselves of troubling power broker agent Rich Paul, who engineered, and executed the end of Davis’ career with the Pelicans.

The deal gives the Lakers 3-quality players, the aging LeBron James, also repped by the same agent as Davis, plus young forward Kyle Kuzma.

The Lakers will still have 33M in cap space and could conceivably wind up with another near max-free agent. Or maybe they spread that money around and get 3-younger quality support players.

Jimmy Butler of the 76ers, Kemba Walker of Charlotte, DeAngelo Russell of Brooklyn, or Kyrie Irving of Boston could all be the last name acquisition. Then there’s Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, or veterans like Patrick Beverly or Ricky Rubio, or Bojan Bogdanovich, all who might be more affordable and provide ‘strength in numbers’.

Of course the Lakers have 10-roster spots to fill and hopefully they will do a better job this year than the group of misfits they brought ion last year. Maybe Rajon Rondo and Javale McGee will want to stay for minimum vets salaries to see if they can ride the coat-tails to the NBA finals with King James and AD.

So odd. For months upon months, my friends at the LA Times, lead columnists and voices of criticism, railed on Jeannie Buss and Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson, for the dysfunction they dragged the franchise into. Now Bill Plashke-Arash Markazi and Dylan Hernandez are standing at the front of the line with pom-poms in hand as they bang the keyboard, cheering on the new look Lakers.

That’s all okay, though there still are issues, Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins looking over the shoulder of the new coach. And whether the defensive demands of new head coach Frank Vogel, fall on the empty ears of the highest priced players in the world. And how long before Magic Johnson wants back in after screwing it all up. And whether Pelinka is as abrasive as people say he is and how that plays in the lockeroom.

I am not sure the dysfunction is in the distant past.

Up next surely will be my guy ‘Ice Cube’ with a new video promo to this next Lakers area.

It’s like the pennants atop Wrigley Field at home games in Chicago with the Cubs…blow one way-one day..the other way the next.

It’s quite a price for LA to pay to try and take a run to the top with an aging LeBron, and a Davis, carrying with him a history of injuries in his New Orleans baggage. There will be a short window for LA to make this happen before King James takes his talents to his post life career.

The Lakers are rid of young players I liked, but also rid of the whining parent LaVar Ball, whose taken his mouth to New Orleans. Think anyone will listen to his rhetoric on Bourbon Street? .So much for all things in the Ball Family. They are rid too of lead cheerleader Magic Johnson, great player, but a great failure in other things basketball.

So we now wait to see what transpires next in Lakerland.

I don’t know if the AD-trade can be equated to the acquisition of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back in the day, that came at quite a price too, in David Myers, Brian Winters and Junior Bridgdeman. Or equal to what the Lakers draft pick trade that netted them the right to draft Magic Johnson. It won’t be the steal they got when they traded for Wilt Chamberlain of the then Philadelphia Warriors why back in 1968.

The downside for LA is the age factor, the injury factor, and maybe the reality that the real GM in Los Angeles is Rich Paul, not Rob Pelinka, and the question, should an agent carry that kind of clout in any locker-room?

For 1-day the Lakers knocked the Toronto Raptors-NBA championship off the front page of the NBA headlines.

Now we see what the longterm impact of this deal is, not just for the Lakers, but also the Clippers, who have two max free agent slots to use, and Golden State, who could lost 2-quality free agents, or bring the whole band back together.

The Lakers fired the first shot in free agency. We shall see what the next 3-weeks bring as other deals take place.

The NBA, proves one thing. Dollars buy your way out of dysfunction.

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“NBA Champs-True North”

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It was a war of attrition.

When it was over the NBA Championship Trophy will have to cross the border to find its new home, Toronto.

The Raptors won the title, finding a way to stave off comeback after comeback from the battered Golden State Warriors.

It took a 48-point night effort from the Raptors two point guards, Kyle Lowry and Fred Van Vleet to fuel the Toronto win.

Van Vleet, undrafted and unwanted out of Wichita State, hit 3-straight 3-point shots and then drilled 3-free throws in a row to drive Toronto to the win.

There were big performances lots of other places. Serge Ibaka came off the bench to get 15-points. Pascal Siakam stepped up with a big game, 26-points worth of effort.

Kawhi Leonard wound up 22 and the final 3-free throws sealed the deal.

For Golden State, it was another night, another devastating injury. Klay Thompson had 30-points but went out with a hyper-extended knee landing awkwardly after making a jump shot. He was helped off, much like Kevin Durant was, the game before.

The Warriors could not survive the loss of 65-points in that lineup, without Durant and Thompson.

Steph Curry was choked off, going without a basket the final 6-minutes, miss the only 3-shots he took.

Golden State showed such heart in the face of all that adversity. What a night for the Warriors warrior, Draymond Green who wound up with 11P…19-rebounds…13-assists in a yeoman performance.

The Warriors were great champions over a 5-year run. But for the last two weeks, Toronto found the resolve to win. How impressive for them to win 3-games on Golden State’s floor.

And the true champions earned this one. That’s why the trophy is going to the True North.

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