NBA's CBA Settled - What To Expect Now

Only a few days after petitioning "to avoid the NBA entirely" if they don't start playing by the New Year, I boringly awoke this morning to see the NBA and NBPA(Players Union) reaching a tentative settlement on the CBA.  I don't know what else to say other than... "giggidy gig!".  It looks like I was wrong about the season being an epic failure, let's just hope things don't freakishly break down since it's not set in stone yet.

We get to watch children open their presents in the corner of our eyes while a great NBA triple header starts off the season: the Celtics at Knicks, the Bulls at Lakers, and of course the epic rematch of Miami at Dallas.  While it will be opening day and the play won't be at the level of the finals, I'm thinking these teams and players will all surprise us with some solid play and extremely competitive games.  I mean most the players were so angry they're losing games, especially the veterans and younger stars in the leauge.  Kobe is a great example: an aging superstar that will continue to climb the ranks in all-time NBA stats, not just scoring either.  While I'm sure it helped getting some much needed rest, him and the Lakers are going to have to adapt to an entire new style of play under coach Mike Brown, and with a one week training camp most players will be coming out of that camp confused and frustrated (it's going to take a month or so for them to adapt, let alone get back that chemistry they lost entirely last playoffs).  

Overall I'd put my money on it that a 3-4 week span following the tipoff night will prove to be a little up and down in terms of play for the entire league as young and old teams just didn't have the time to prepare. Veteran teams would have the advantage with nearly identical rosters returning as well as coaches, like Doc Rivers and the Celtics, but with a 66 game schedule they are older and definitely going to have to go 10 deep, maybe more, to win their games as they get back into game shape.

This Christmas we are going to get our NBA basketball.  It's the opening day of the 2011-2012 NBA season, a season in which is trying to not be that of the 1999 post lockout season *(the sloppy and out of shape season that was only 50 games).  Instead we have a what appears to be a 66 game season, I like this idea much more, and we will likely see the playoffs pushed a 3-4 weeks back so teams aren't playing 4-5 games a week like that horrific 50 game season.  This should ultimately allow it to feel like a real NBA season, because we all know that 1999 season will always have an asterisk by it and ultimately be dismissed by many of the true fans of the game.

The training camps will start on December 9th, and are only going to be one week (good luck getting in shape Eddy Curry).  The Free Agency will also begin on the same day, something that will be quite interesting considering it's a solid FA class.  While there's no true great players, there's plenty of good players, like (SG/PG) Jamal Crawford, (PF) David West, and of course (C) Tyson Chandler, all good/great players that can truly impact a game in their own respective ways if they choose to sign with a a new team that fits them perfectly, or in Chandler's case remain with the Mavericks assuming Cuban continues to spend like he's always done.  

I'll be writing about the Free Agents in my next post.  As for now, what exactly is different in terms of the NBA's system and rules that the NBA and Players Union were working on reaching an agreement on.  This is all from NBA TV and ESPN.com meaning it's as official as it gets until they actually start to build and write the new CBA and sign it.

The main points that make up the new agreement and CBA:

-Owners dropped their insistence on what would have been known as the Carmelo Anthony rule, preventing teams from executing extend-and-trade deals similar to the one that sent Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks last season.  This means that if Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul want to leverage their way out of Orlando, New Jersey and New Orleans, they will still be eligible to sign four-year extensions with their current teams before being immediately traded elsewhere.

-Teams above the salary cap will be able to offer four-year mid-level exception contracts to free agents each season. Previously, owners were asking that teams be limited to offering a four-year deal one year, a three-year deal the next, then four, then three, etc.

-The rookie salary scale and veteran minimum salaries will stay the same as they were last season. Owners had been seeking 12 percent cuts.

-Qualifying offers to restricted free agents will become “significantly” improved. The sides had already agreed to reduce the time for a team to match an offer to a restricted free agent from 7 days to 3.

-A new $2.5 million exception will be available to teams that go below the salary cap, then use all of their cap room to sign free agents. Once they are back above the cap, they will be able to use the new exception instead of being limited to filling out their rosters with players on minimum contracts.

-The prohibition on luxury tax-paying teams from executing sign-and-trade deals was loosened, although the freedom to execute those types of deals will still be limited.

-Revenue sharing will be more robust than ever before. Big-market teams like the Knicks and Lakers will be expected to give more to smaller-market teams.

-Also, teams that dip into luxury-tax territory will face much harsher penalties. Instead of paying a dollar-for-dollar tax, penalties may go as high as three or four times that much. The James Dolans and Jim Busses of the world will certainly think twice before reaching into their pocketbooks.

-As a result of these changes, the spending gap should, in theory, shrink with owners also being forced to eventually spend 85-plus percent of the salary cap.

-The agreement on the table is supposed to last a decade, but both sides can opt out after six years. While we may very well go through this whole charade again in 2018, we at least have NBA games on the horizon.

I really love the newly implemented "owners forced to eventually spend 85+ percent of the salary cap" rule.  What will cheapass Clippers owner Sterling do now?  

Some Clipper speculation:  I don't think he's ever spent more than 70% of the cap in any given season, and that's being generous.  It's a great rule for them though, as they have a franchise player and reigning Rookie Of The Year and highlight sensation Blake Griffin, as well as a legit second option in young shooting-guard Eric Gordon who is an underrated star; most don't see him as a star... it's the "Clipper Curse".  I have a feeling Kaman will be their starting center to begin the season, possibly to showcase him as a great trade piece if they don't sign a free agent to fill the SF spot. Their future starting five, which small-forward fits the best? Their starting 4, with Kaman and DeAndre likely splitting minutes at Center, plus Kaman can actually play some PF next to DeAndre while Griffin get's his rest.

PG:SG:PF:C:

Future SF:

 ?

When you have a franchise stud, a legit second scoring option, as well as a one-time All-Star 20/10 center in Chris Kaman healthy now, as well as likely re-signing the young and upcoming center DeAndre Jordan, who's defensive mindset, great shot-blocking skills as well as amazing athletic ability for a 7 footer (was 3rd in the NBA in dunks behind his front-court mate Griffin who was just behind Dwight Howard).  You have a great core, and a nice point-guard that is used to playing next to and off of a star in Mo Williams.  It's time for them to sign a Small Forward and they should be playoff team for sure: with Grant Hill, Tayshaun Prince, and Shane Battier looking like plausible and unrestricted free-agents, Sterling not only should do this, he almost has to since he's not near the 85%+ cap space mark.  Sterling would usually just stick with the roster, and while there's nothing wrong with that, Aminu, the young SF that shows great potential appears to be a couple years away from being that SF that makes the Clipps the best they can be, needing a great defender to complement Griffin defensive weaknesses while also a guy (like Battier) that can shoot 3's at SF efficiently, especially catch-n-shoot 3's that will always be there because of Griffin's ability to draw doubles and kick it out to the open guy.

Alright, I'll stop for now.  I guess I'm actually excited for this upcoming season, it's starting to sink in they actually made an agreement.  I hope all you fans are willing to forgive them for taking so long to get this deal done, but they did it and salvaged themselves in my mind.  Thank God almighty! AMEN!

I'd like to say a sincere farewell to Mr. Yao Ming.  He deserves a full article to discuss what he's done for the game on a global scale.  Free Agent lists and discussion will soon be posted as I can finally start to ponder realistically on where some of the free-agents, restricted and unrestricted, end up signing. 

I'm back in my comfort zone.  So for you 5 avid readers, please feel free to comment and discuss what you think about the new rules and CBA; is it a step forward for parity in the league or does it seem like not much has changed?

-One Love

NBA's Blake Griffin a lot like Dwight Howard

No not their faces. For their eerily similar physical builds and freakish athleticism.

     Why don't we hear "All Dwight Howard does is dunk"? Well, in that defense, (no pun intended) Howard is the best defensive "big-man" in the game, period. Dwight is one of the top 2 rebounders in the league (Kevin Love competition) averaging 14.0 boards per game (compared to Griffin's 12.1 per game). This is what Howard can do and does best in the entire league: anchor's the defense and blocks/alters shots better than anyone in the entire NBA, thus his current third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award a portrait of his impact on the game defensively. Offensively speaking, in his 7th, hopefully (this year) to be 8th season in the NBA at age 26 he is far behind Griffin even in many aspects overall.  Both players, though, are Franchise Tag players, and will be leading teams to the Playoffs and more depending on whatever happens with the team that's put around them.

I am just curious why the internet's sports population aren't claiming "Howard only dunks"? Especially after 7 seasons averaging a consistently poor 60% or lower percentage from the free throw line, which ultimately allows the "hack a Shaq" style defense go to work.  Griffin also shot a poor 64% from line, though he slowly improved his percentage (gradually and minimally) as the season progressed. This is a large reason why Dwight and Griffin average a high amount of free throw attempts each game (14.0 Rpg Howard / 12.1 Rpg Griffin).  Though offensively Griffin is much more versatile and explosive offensively all around ( 3.9 assists per game for Griffin compared to Howard's 1.9 assists), Griffin is able to quickly make a move and finish while drawing the foul, leading to as many "and 1's" as anyone in the league, including Mr. Howard, who is one of the best big-men at doing this. 

Am I the only one that finds it eerily similar, no, not just their physical greatness with a mature outlook at young ages, just slightly eerie both guys are in the mid to lower 60 percentile from the line (64% Griffin / 59% Howard last season), and both guys shot some of the most free-throw attempts per game. After only his rookie campaign, I project Griffin becomes a 70 percentile shooter at the line next season.  It only seems the trent with the way his numbers, along with his work ethic, improved and increased each month during the season.  But all around physically these guys are very similar (6'10" 251lb Griffin / 6'11'' 250lb Howard). It's amazing how identical they are physically and yet the very different style of play each play has on the court.  Both in their efficient and impacting manner.  

Without a doubt, Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard could be twins physically, yet are polar opposites on the court, and while Howard has the definite edge right now Griffin has become a "Franchise Player", we just can't be sure exactly what Griffin becomes, or if he hovers around the same numbers, or even fluctuates in certain stats is very possibly.  Howard has for 4 seasons straight been a legit 20 Ppg and 13+Rpg with 2.5 blocks a game Center, carrying his team to the playoffs, and in 2009 they went to the NBA Finals, though the Lakers pretty much ate them up.  Howard has carried his teams for a few years now, with Gilbert Arenas being traded for Rashard Lewis and then Hedo Turkoglu coming back after his stint with the Magic and a big part of their 2009 Finals run.  Personally, I feel that they could have done better with their roster, considering their payrolls, though Shard's $20 million a year deal is tough to trade when he hasn't been the same player since his days with the Sonics.  The Magic will continue Playoff dominance as long as Dwight is there, but if they can add a piece, via trade or free-agency, they could make an impact.  Dwight, compared to say Shaq, has never had a Dwayne Wade or Kobe Bryant playing alongside himself.  Of course recent rumor of Dwight leaving stay possible, understanding he wants to have that "great scorer" next to him.

For now, Blake Griffin has Eric Gordon as his "Dwayne or Kobe".  Gordon is coming off a career year, though it was an injury riddle season, he managed to play 55 games and average 22.3 points (Averaged 25 Ppg before injury), and they did manage to finish the season at 31-36 (nearly .500) after starting the season 1-14 without All-Star Center Chris Kaman and while Clippers Point-Guard, Baron Davis, ended up being traded for Cleveland's Mo Williams.  I'd love to note that with "clipper'esque karma" the Clippers ended up trading their first round pick in the deal that got them a younger Point-Guard (much cheaper too ultimately) who fit's in pretty well.  But hey, as I like to say: "THEY GOT CLIPPED".  That 9th pick ended up being the 1st pick in the lottery.  They could of kept Baron, along with his gigantic contract, and drafted Kyrie Irving to be their starting Point-Guard... right?  But would "the NBA Lottery" have ended up the same had that trade never happened? 


Ironic? Or simply "clipper'esque karma".  As for Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin, I wouldn't be surprised if they met in the NBA finals sometime in the next 10 years.  Both will be top 5 type of players (assuming no major injuries occur), and both will be so similar, yet different, in their domination during games.


-Los Angeles Clippers: Their future looks bright.  With DeAndre Jordan also coming along just great playing at Center next to Blake Griffin (Power Forward) adds to what looks like a NBA Playoff bound team, possibly more considering Chris Kaman is back, a proven 18 Ppg/ 10 Rpg / 2 Bpg Center with the Clippers when healthy.  In 2009-2010 he was an All-Star who averaged 19+Ppg, 9+Rpg, 1.5 Bpg for the Clippers, and showed he complemented Blake Griffin well, along with DeAndre Jordan playing legit minutes at Center for them. Kaman can play the 11+Mpg next to Jordan as a Power Forward, seeing that Griffin plays the usual 37 minutes per game. Next season, whenever that is, Kaman could play a great starting Center for the Clippers, playing around 30 minutes a game allowing DeAndre Jordan to still play his impactful 24-30 minutes a game (it all works with Griffin's 37 minutes a game).  If Eric Gordon can stay healthy and continue doing what he did last season, they have a great chance... and who knows, Aminu could become a solid Small Forward (I'm thinking Trevor Ariza but more explosive), or Kaman could become a great trade piece for them to get that gaping hole at the SF spot.


LA Clipper Future Rotation:

PG: Mo Williams / Drew Bledsoe / Willie Warren
SG: Eric Gordon / Randy Foye
SF: Al-Farouq Aminu / Jamario Moon / Ryan Gomes
PF: Blake Griffin / Ike Diogu / Craig Smith / Brian Cook
C : Chris Kaman / DeAndre Jordan


LA Clipper Future season:  I'd say they're Playoff Bound as long as they stay healthy, and Kaman looks like a great complement C playing next to Griffin; though DeAndre Jordan does fit the bill and will also play great again this season leading the league in blocks and dunks (he's a great and explosive athlete and future great anchor to a team's defense) he does his thing in 24-30 minutes a game, allowing for a great big-man rotation with one Franchise player in Griffin and another All-Star Center in Kaman, and a growing defensive Center Jordan.  It also gives the Clipper's a great chance to use Kaman as a trade chip to get that much needed Small Forward (gaping hole at that position).  Imagine, he's actually an Unrestricted Free Agent: Shane Battier.  While he may have aged, he's that perfect savvy veteran Small Forward that fits the spot perfectly: he's still one of the top 5-10 perimeter defenders in the NBA, and he's a consistent 40%3ptFG, the perfect type of player that would make this Clipper team a serious player.



-Orlando Magic: They have a solid roster (and a very high roster payroll, thanks in part to Gilbert Arenas), and Dwight will continue getting them to the Playoffs, but he need's a sidekick come playoff time, unless he can increase his scoring output another 4+Ppg like he did last season.  Jameer Nelson is what I call a "Great 2nd Tier PG" as in he is a good 3pt shooter, a legit mid-range and layup/floater threat, but lacks the ability to see the court like the best Point-Guards in the NBA.  Gilbert Arenas was one of those Point-Guards that lead his team to the playoffs on 29+Ppg scoring (that was his prime of course, and now he's 30 years with the injuries that plagued him the past few years hopefully behind him). Hedo provides a veteran presence that can do a little of everything and help initiate the offense (I do mean "little"), though he is a great clutch time performer as well.  They have nice pieces, but Dwight definitely wants that "scorer" on his team soon, thus all the trade rumors (and possibility he leaves for the Knicks or Nets or Lakers, etc). 

Orlando Magic future Rotation:



PG: Jameer Nelson / Gilbert Arenas / Chris Duhon
SG: Jason Richardson / J.J. Reddick
SF: Hedo Turkoglu / Quentin Richardson / Earl Clark (China?)
PF: Brandon Bass / Ryan Anderson / Malik Allen
C : Dwight Howard / Daniel Orton


Orlando Magic Future Season: Definitely another Playoff Bound season... anymore will depend on likely trades or vast improvement by an individual player like Arenas. If they end up making a move and somehow getting that scorer I can see them easily becoming a "Contender".  Otherwise, I see another great season by Howard and company, a DPOY/MVP nominee at the least, and a playoff season where they go 1 or 2 series.  There's also that off chance Howard is traded, as speculated, as the Magic will want to get something in return for him, rather than lose him to the 2012 Free Agency, assuming a new CBA is met and a season goes on. 




Here's a nice mix of the two players done my someone on YouTube.... players are identical physically...

-----------------------------------------------------------------


I just want to say this to all the Twitter fans and ESPN.com fans:

"All Blake Griffin does is dunk".  

I've heard and read that statement nearly every other post sometimes.  

It's such a misinformed statement, and while it initially causes me to giggle at the stupidity of the poster, after seeing so many different people say the same basic thing, well, I realized that maybe people are just misinformed.  Many seem to be making judgments on Griffin simply by the youtube mixes and Sportscenter highlights he was steadily on during the season.  ESPN and Sportscenter have the top 10 plays daily, so of course Griffin's amazingly spectacular dunks that seemed so new and unique each time were consistently on the highlights.

If you say "Blake Griffin only dunks" you're simply proving a couple things: 

1- You are a homer that only watched highlights on sportscenter and youtube

2- You don't appreciate or understand that IN-GAME DUNKS are the highest percentage shots in the game. 

3- I wish you'd say "he sucks because all he does is not settle for bad, quick shots and instead he attacks the rim with his insane ability to do so, for easier, high percentage dunks and layups". 

                                                                  

                                                                                                            -Josh Farcone (aka JoshFarc)

I'm Back! Too bad the NBA isn't...

Goodbye HoopsHardcore.com.  You were a truly EPIC FAIL...

R.I.P.

     Trying to launch a basketball related site while the NBA goes into a lockout was the end of that.  Maybe I'll give it another shot, but for now I still feel the need to write, blog, rant, and have my voice heard by the 3 readers of this site!  As the NBA lockout continues I'll be writing about everything there is related to basketball.  This won't be a source for the constant "updates on the CBA talks and lockout updates", though I might have the occasional blog discussing it.

     Instead, as of now, I'll be writing about things of the past related to the NBA, things of the future, as well as how players are doing over in Europe (like American born Deron Williams playing in Turkey for team/franchise Besiktas as well as Russian born, previous Euroleague stud as a young-man turned NBA star Andrei Kirilenko playing back in the league he came from).  Watching NBA players try to adapt to the Euroleague, as well as the other leagues around the world, is quite an interesting concept most of us hardcore NBA fans never really imagined happening.

     Watching a top 5 NBA Point-Guard like Deron Williams put up 11 points and 5 assists in 23 minutes while he lead his team to a huge 30+point win seemed fitting considering the other team couldn't match the talent level of D-Will, let alone guard the gigantic PG (especially for Europe) at 6'4''+ in shoes as well as his big frame of 215 pounds.  Combine that with his deceiving athleticism and speed, his ability to shoot the ball consistently well out to 23-24 feet, but also his high IQ for the game, and I don't think Besiktas should lose a single game with him there. (I'll be writing about him more).

    Now that we know the first 2 weeks of the season have already been cancelled many of the "common fans" of the NBA are already so disinterested they no longer have the NBA in their thoughts.  Damn, I wish I didn't have this obsession for the game, but the CBA and lockout does have some interesting components.

     I mean come on, who doesn't love watching millionaire players/reps argue with the billionaire NBA owners and commissioner? That damn Stern wanting "parity" in the NBA. Damn him for wanting the league to be more fair in terms of giving the small market teams a better chance to compete in terms of signing Free Agents and trying to keep the NBA from turning into the MLB (with no hard cap or even luxury tax), allowing the NY Yankees to have a $160 billion dollar payroll these days and consistently signing most of the big-time free agents.  On the other side, of course, are the players who are the ones that truly "run the league".  They are the ones we go and watch, and they are sticking with that fact to an extreme it seems, barely budging in negotiations (though they have agreed to take a hit already and I'm not saying they are wrong or right in what they're doing).

     To be honest, none of us truly know what's happening in the lockout negotiations.  All we do is form our opinions about it based on what the owners and NBA upper's, along with Stern, say and what the players and player reps say.  All fed through media outlets. Seeing that we aren't stupid, it's easy to see that both sides are very extreme in what they say about the other side, and surprisingly (not at all actually) both sides are lying to the news and fans about what is actually going on.

If you aren't in the meetings you won't have an actual basis to discuss what's going on.  This is why I will not be blogging updates on the negotiations daily, nor will I be calling either the owners or players greedy or power hungry.  Wait a sec, strike that, right now I will call both the players and the owners power hungry... hah.

But in good faith let's just hope there is a season; even if it's 50 games.  For the sake of the fans and all the people losing jobs/money (talking to the lower/middle class citizens that work at arenas and restaurants and other businesses located closely to or around the 30 NBA team's arenas; businesses that depend on 41 home games a season for a partial (or even majority) part of their profits.  Then of course for the sake of the players and the league in general.

Let us hope for an NBA season this year!

For now, favorite this amazing blog so you can visit it daily and witness the miraculous phenomena known as "JoshFarc's Genius Blog".  And while I hope you realize I'm being extremely sarcastic (about the genius, not about bookmarking this site as a favorite...), if my writing doesn't make you want to come back, maybe this awesome video will...

     One love my people. Bookmark this site damnit! Also, I do all my forum discussion at HoopsHype Forum. So if you want to talk hoops in a pretty active forum (considering there is an NBA lockout and all basketball sites are taking a big hit), make your voice heard!  There's a link to the forum at the top of the page. I am also "JoshFarc" on the forum.

See all 3 of my loyal readers tomorrow!