Tag Archives: Mikhail Prokhorov

by | June 4, 2012 · 9:00 AM

Nets in pursuit of Ersan Ilyasova and Steve Nash

Brooklyn bound?

We don’t often cover the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets here at the Beef, because, well, they are the Nets, but two interesting bits of news popped up this morning concerning them.

Brooklyn (I will have to get used to that) has been rumored to be in the market for just about every available free agent in the world. They have been linked to Dwight Howard (roll eyes here) and trying to retain Deron Williams especially. However, to land those two it would likely have to be a package deal. You can’t have one without the other.

Despite possibly being out of the race for the two big names, the Nets are not looking to stand pat. According to Gery Woelfel, Brooklyn is the front-runner to land standout power forward Ersan Ilyasova as he becomes a free agent this summer.

Ilyasova had a breakout season this year for the Milwaukee Bucks posting 17 points and 11.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. Those gaudy numbers landed him on many Most Improved Player lists when the awards were being handed out at season’s end.

Having made just $2.5 with the Bucks in his final year under contract, it is assumed that Ilyasova will command an annual salary in the ballpark of $8 million whenever he inks a new deal. That is a sizable chunk of change but Mikhail Prokhorov has shown a willingness to spend in order to return the Nets to relevance.

The acquisition of Ilyasova, who was scouted heavily this season by the Nets, would be big for Brooklyn as they also look to retain Gerald Wallace. Those two players, though dramatically different stylistically, would help to bolster the team’s frontcourt along with a healthy Brook Lopez.

It will be interesting to see how, if they do land him, Ilyasova and Avery Johnson mesh. Johnson has only really found success with one power forward in his career as a head coach and he was named Dirk Nowitzki. The Nets brought in Troy Murphy, who was riding a high with the Pacers, but Murphy quickly fell out of the graces of Johnson and was relegated to the bench, eventually lost in obscurity only to later find himself on the Celtics’ bench. I bring up Murphy because, at his peak, his game and that of Ilyasova are very similar. Yes, this is a different scenario with Ilyasova entering his fifth year in the NBA and Murphy was a veteran player but the similarities cannot be denied.

If Williams does choose to relocate this summer the Nets have a plan B. They have joined a long list of teams that will be suitors for Steve Nash. Nash will be an unrestricted free agent and has a bevy of teams clawing for his services. Where ever Nash decides to play, it will likely be the last contract, probably a three-year deal, he signs. Brooklyn will be hard pressed to get Nash though, as the Phoenix Suns will make a hard push to retain their star. Portland and Toronto will also be pushing to sign him with other teams such as Dallas, Miami, New York, and Chicago waiting in the wings.

Of course, everything hinges on Williams and the likely out of reach Howard. From the looks of it though, when free agency begins in July, the Nets will be major players.

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by | September 26, 2011 · 1:40 PM

As the Lockout Continues, the Owners draw the Blame

Don't you believe me?

There is a rather large swing taking place in the matter of public opinion, as Henry Abbott pointed out earlier this month, where the NBA lockout is concerned. No longer are the players the ones who are chided for being greedy and wanting more than is feasibly necessary to earn for playing a game at a high level. It should be understood that the players, however, are also not seen as the victims. They are pieces in the grand scheme of the NBA hierarchy, but they are the pawns. Owners have the power, owners never get traded or benched. They have the money and are not content with what they have.

David Stern has been beating his war drum with the rallying cry that the NBA is no longer a lucrative or solvent endeavor for many of the owners. Namely those in small markets. This cry has deadened the ears of all that pay the slightest amount of attention to the NBA or sports in general. Even NPR has run stories about the lockout in the past week. It is affecting more than the basketball world.

What is at stake is terms surrounding a new collective bargaining agreement. If Stern is to be believed, the new agreement must mean that players should shoulder the burden and take all around cuts so that the owners, and their teams, can yet again become fiscally sound. On the surface that may appear as a reasonable agreement. Players make millions as it is, and if they were to agree to such a deal they would continue to make millions. Just not as many millions of dollars. Money is money, right? What would the owners give up though? What is their concession to help the league profit?

The CBA was structured, up until the lockout, with the players receiving 57 percent of Basketball Related Income from the teams. That is the money earned from the sales of merchandise, clothing, ticket sales, parking fees, television contracts, et cetera. Players, in an attempt to move forward in negotiations with the owners, have offered to lower their BRI to 53 or 54 percent. Honestly, it is quite a concession by the players and their union, but the owners do not seem to pleased. David Aldrigde reports:

A source says last week’s latest proposal from the owners to the players started at 50 percent of Basketball Related Income in year one of the (still) 10-year offer, and dropped into the mid-40s for most of the rest of the proposed deal. Is that better than the initial 61-39 owners’ split offer back in February? Yes. But it is still not anywhere close enough to get a deal with the players. Hard to imagine this isn’t exactly how the owners anticipated this would go, and that there won’t be anything of substance to report until the first game checks to players go unprinted in mid-November.

Owners must really be hurting if they are asking the players to take such large cuts to their salaries over such an extended amount of time. The economy must be especially rough for billionaires. It is so tough, that the owners also want a hard cap so that they cannot over-extend their budgets when it comes to acquiring players and subsequently paying them. Plus a hard cap should make the league more competitive. Right?

Essentially, a hard cap is a way for the owners to check themselves and not over pay on a bad investment. Billionaire business men know that there should be no risk in a high stakes deal so why should they front the burden for their own mistakes? That just does not seem like a fair deal. Owning an NBA franchise is a business, after all. That is what Stern has been saying all along. The owners just want to protect their product and their investors. None of them ever felt that their team was something more than that, something more than a business investment wherein profit was the ultimate goal. Especially not Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and one of the most hardline elements at the labor talks.

“To me, NBA franchises are like pieces of art. There are only 30 of them. They aren’t always on the market, especially a franchise that would have been such a natural fit. … If you just looked at the Cavaliers in terms of revenues, profits and balance sheets — and you paid this amount for it — people would say ‘You’re insane! You’re nuts.’ But if you look at all the tentacles, the impact on our other venues, it makes tremendous sense. We have now opened a Cleveland office [of Quicken Loans] and that’s tremendously successful. Our employees love it that we’re associated with the Cavs and can come to games — that helps us attract and keep better people. There are a lot of nonprofit things that can be done with pro sports. It brings an unbelievable amount of excitement.”

That is a quote by Gilbert. It seems that something must have soured his taste on the beauty and privilege of owning a masterpiece. It sure is a same that players have the freedom to chose what teams they can play for once their contracts expire and they become free agents.

Perhaps, though, Gilbert stumbled upon a novel idea, even if he does not buy into it anymore. Maybe the owners should run their teams like a non-profit. There has been a lot of talk about balanced budgets of late so it could behoove owners to balance their own books. However, it is clear that the task of estimating operational costs, gross income, salaries, and whether the team will be good enough to attract fans and sell merchandise to meet that budget is a hard task but these are professional business men. Plus, teams already do this. Obviously, the details will need to be worked out more but it is an option. One that might never be broached, but an option, nonetheless. Owners are savvy and shrewd, they could work something out.

A new outlook on how teams are ran could help the owners save money. Stern has cited on countless times that the small market teams are the ones that are suffering and has used Bruce Ratner’s sale of the New Jersey Nets, soon to become the Brooklyn Nets, to Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire, as a prime example of how the owners are hurting. Ratner sold the Nets due to the financial strains that the NBA is enduring even after acquiring (the term is used loosely here) land in Brooklyn, what is known as the Atlantic Yards project, to relocate the team in an attempt to make them more profitable. However, Malcolm Gladwell, who brought to light the Gilbert quote above, sees it differently:

Ratner has been vilified — both fairly and unfairly — by opponents of the Atlantic Yards project. But let’s be clear: What he did has nothing whatsoever to do with basketball. Ratner didn’t buy the Nets as a stand-alone commercial enterprise in the hopes that ticket sales and television revenue would exceed players’ salaries and administration costs. Ratner was buying eminent domain insurance. Basketball also had very little to do with Ratner’s sale of the Nets. Ratner got hit by the recession. Fighting the court challenges to his project took longer than he thought. He became dangerously overextended. His shareholders got restless. He realized had to dump the fancy Frank Gehry design for something more along the lines of a Kleenex box. Prokhorov helped Ratner out by buying a controlling interest in the Nets. But he also paid off some of Ratner’s debts, lent him $75 million, picked up some of his debt service, acquired a small stake in the arena, and bought an option on 20 percent of the entire Atlantic Yards project. This wasn’t a fire sale of a distressed basketball franchise. It was a general-purpose real estate bailout.

Did Ratner even care that he lost the Nets? Once he won his eminent domain case, the team had served its purpose. He’s not a basketball fan. He’s a real estate developer. The asset he wanted to hang on to was the arena, and with good reason. According to Ratner, the Barclays Center (the naming right of which, by the way, earned him a cool $400 million) is going to bring in somewhere around $120 million in revenue a year. Operating costs will be $30 million. The mortgage comes to $50 million. That leaves $35 million in profit on Ratner’s $350 million up-front investment, for an annual return of 10 percent.3 “That is pretty good out of the box,” Ratner said in a recent interview. “It will increase as time goes on.” Not to mention that the rental market in Brooklyn is heating up, the first of Ratner’s residential towers is about to break ground, and his company also happens to own two large retail properties directly adjacent to Atlantic Yards, which can only appreciate now that there’s a small city going up next door. When David Stern says that the “previous ownership” of the Nets lost “several million dollars” on the sale of the team, he is apparently not counting the profits on the arena, the eminent domain victory, the long-term value of that extra 14 acres, or the appreciation of Ratner’s adjoining properties. That is not a lie, exactly. It is an artful misrepresentation. It is like looking at a perfectly respectable kasha knish and pretending it is a ham sandwich.

*Please read the entire article, it is one of the most important ones to date concerning the lockout, NBA, and the owners.

As Gladwell points out, the men who buy NBA franchises are not looking to solely profit from the revenue that the teams create. The team is merely a small part in a grander scheme that can net millions of dollars for the owners separately from just the day-today of basketball operations. Some owners purchase teams in order to secure concession rights to exclusively sell products that they also own. Texas Rangers Ballpark in Arlington sells Nolan Ryan beef products (hotdogs, hamburgers, sausage on a stick) exclusively. Ryan is the owner of the Rangers. Mike Ilitch, who owns the Detroit Red Wings and the Tigers, founded Little Ceasars Pizza. It is not hard to imagine what the official pizza of those two teams is. The Cavaliers play in Quicken Loans Arena, it is no coincidence that Dan Gilbert is the chairman and founder of Quicken Loans.

Others, like Ratner are in it for the real estate. A new stadium generates a lot of potential growth for an area immediately surrounding it. With that growth comes na obscene amount of profit potential. Ross Perot Jr. purchased the majority interest in the Dallas Mavericks in order to develop the area surrounding the American Airlines Center into what is now Victory Park. Mark Cuban, who has had a nasty legal dispute with Perot Jr., is now the majority owner of the Mavericks, but Perot Jr. is still a minority stake in the team. It is clear why he gave up ownership of the team. It was the same reason Ratner sold the Nets. The teams had served their purpose. NBA franchises are not works of art. They are business collateral. The new arena that will be built in Sacramento to placate the Maloofs and the NBA in order to keep the Kings will be yet another prime example of this.

By demanding that the players take drastic cuts to their salaries, the owners are attempting to move their ownership of the teams from a prestigious business tool that can garner them more in the long run to a possible longer term business holding. Not only would their developments make them the money, but there would also be an added benefit of their teams making them more money than before. It would no longer mean that a successful team would make money, under the owner’s plans even the teams that drag along the bottom of the league would be financially sound because the players would be the ones taking the cuts.

As more and more information reaches the public on how the owners, not all of them, operate the more their opinions shift. It is not the players who are greedy, they just want their share. David Stern can beat his war drum all he likes, circle the owners’ wagons, and declare that the financial sky is falling. Why stop now? What he must realize is that many owners see the teams as an expendable building block. Why should the players be the ones to suffer most? Fans do not pay money to see the business operations of an NBA team on game night, they pay to see their favorite players perform in the highest professional level of the sport in the world. As the lockout wears on, it is the owners who will start to be the ones who take more of the blame. They have not only locked out the players but also all those people who work in the arenas and parking lots during the games. Beyond that, they have locked out the fans. They have locked out the NBA after one of its most successful seasons and keep demanding more. Patience has a limit, and patience with the owners  is wearing thin.

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by | February 23, 2011 · 10:40 AM

Deron Williams traded to New Jersey Nets

Newark, here I come

In what can be considered a stunning trade, the Utah Jazz have agreed to send All Star point guard Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! broke the story this morning via his Twitter account. This trade was kept very quite by both sides until the deal was announced today.

In exchange the Nets will send the Jazz both Devin Harris and Derrick Favors as well as two of the first round picks that New Jersey has been stockpiling recently. The Nets will also send $3 million to the Jazz in the deal.

The Golden State Warriors also found themselves among teams trading with the Nets today. They will receive Troy Murphy from the Nets while trading Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright to New Jersey. It has been widely speculated that if Murphy was traded to the Warriors they would buy out his contract allowing him to become a free agent. He would then likely move on to a title contender.

The Golden State deal is completely separate from the Utah one. However, that was not made entirely clear when the news was first released.

It seems that there was a legitimate rift in Utah between their star player and the organization. Jerry Sloan’s departure can now be squarely placed on his frustration with Williams.

The biggest loser in the whole Jazz Nets trade is Jordan Farmar. With all the speculation on where Harris would be traded (i.e. Dallas or Portland) he was set to finally take the reins of an NBA team, which is what he has always wanted. Now he will be forced to continue his backup role. Poor guy.

A big round of applause for Mikhail Prokhorov this morning. After losing the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes he turns around and gives up less for a younger star player. Well done, sir. Maybe this Russian is crafty like Vladimir Putin after all.

If Williams did not get along with Sloan and his coaching style, he is sure in for a treat with Avery Johnson. They do not call him the “Little General” for nothing.

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by | February 22, 2011 · 2:54 PM

Carmelo Anthony traded to the Knicks

It happened...finally

It is over. It is finally over. Last night ushered in a new era in the NBA. That era is the post Carmelo Anthony trade speculation era. Hopefully, this era will be the league’s Pax Romana. However, it may just serve to fuel more rumors about player power and movement for years to come.

After what seemed like a lifetime of rumors and trade deals not completed, Anthony became a member of the New York Knicks last night. It was widely believed that this is the team he wanted to join from the start when he decided that he would not sign an extension with the Denver Nuggets this season.

That widely held notion did not hamper the efforts of the New Jersey Nets and their new owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, however. The Nets had gone full-bore after Anthony for much of the season offering a myriad of different proposals, draft picks, and teams. At one point, when the Detroit Pistons were roped into the drama (which was created by a thirsty media culture) the proposed deal tallied a player swap in the teens. If Prokhorov really was a Russian Mark Cuban he would have seen results for his efforts. Instead, the Nets need to come to terms with the fact that almost the whole team has spent time on the trading block this year. Their chemistry must be through the roof right now.

So the Knicks won out. Yet, can you call the deal that they made a win? Anthony wanted to play there and was set to become a free agent this summer. He was likely full aware that the new CBA could hamper his potential earnings which is why he wanted a deal this season. However, if it was so widely believed that Anthony wanted to go to New York why would the Knicks even consider making a deal in which they lose a lot of talent off of their roster and lose financially in the long run because of the contract extension that Anthony will request now that he is a member of their team?

Donnie Walsh is a smart man. He is responsible for getting the Knicks below the salary cap. That is a concept that is still hard to grasp given the team’s bloated roster for the better part of the last decade. This is a completely different team now and last night it became even more different.

New York traded Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first round draft pick to the Nuggets for Anthony. Along with the man of the hour, the Knicks get Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Anthony Carter, and former Knick Renaldo Balkman. Somehow the Minnesota Timberwolves were roped into the deal and they will be acquiring the last of the bloated Isiah Thomas contracts in Eddy Curry as well as Anthony Randolph while they send Corey Brewer to New York. If you take Anthony out of the equation, this trade is a completely lopsided affair. Even with him in it the same can be said. Why would New York give up so much young talent for a player they could have gotten for free as a free agent?

Amidst all the rumors swirling around Anthony over the past week, one name, an infamous name in Knicks lore, reappeared. Isiah Thomas was reported to be the mastermind behind the Knick’s push for Anthony. He was similarly reported to be the one behind Amar’e Stoudemire‘s arrival on the team last summer. Yes, this is still the same Isiah Thomas that pushed the team into financial ruin and made it the laughingstock of the league. Clearly, if this is the case, the Knicks are nothing but mere soap opera fodder. Dysfunction is thy name. The Knicks, of course, have vehemently denied such rumors. If Walsh resigns in the near future consider it a confirmation that Thomas is pulling the strings once more.

Drama aside, if that is even possible, where does this trade put the Knicks? Are the Knicks better than they were? Yes, slightly. However, they do not have the complementary pieces necessary to grow as a power in the Eastern Conference. Those pieces are now in Denver. That leads to this question: Can the Knicks, with Anthony, compete for a title this year or in the next several years? No. Not a chance. This is a team that just became epically worse on the defensive end. Mike D’Antoni has never been one to preach defense. As presently constructed, New York will still be lucky to reach the second round. If every thing remains the same standing wise, it is doubtful that it will, the Knicks would face the Chicago Bulls in the first round. An aging Billups against Derrick Rose and a top ranked defense. The Knicks would not stand a chance.

The Knicks will be better than they were before the trade…maybe. If they finish the regular season ten games over .500 it will be an accomplishment. Yet, it is not foreseeable that they could muster more wins than that. New York essentially traded 53.4 points per game, 17.4 rebounds, and 12.8 assists for 50.9 points per game, 17.1 rebounds, and 10.9 assists. Felton averages nine assists per game. Do not forget the draft pick also. The Knicks may think themselves to be winners but they are far from it. They gave up their core for one player. Just one. There are no long-term prospects for Billups, Williams, Carter, and Balkman.

The Knicks bought the cow when they could have received the milk for free. There should be no celebration in Manhattan, even Wall Street knows that this was an expensive investment with little future gain. Even paired with Stoudemire, Anthony does not make this team a contender. They need more pieces. If Isiah is really back in control they will stop at nothing to add those pieces while inflating the salary and shipping off more talent which is necessary to make a team a contender. New York is far from finished making moves.

Bring on the Chis Paul to the Knicks rumors.

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by | July 15, 2010 · 2:12 PM

NBA Free Agency post “The Decision”

A not so long time ago, in an NBA galaxy close to home…

FREE AGENCY

Since the coup d’état and emergence of the Miami Thrice there have been a remarkable amount of moves, signings, and trades by teams. So many moves have occurred in fact that it is almost dizzying. Sure, the major names that have filled the 2010 Free Agency marquee banner for two years were quickly off the table but there are certainly a number of key players that are out there that will make a great addition to any franchise looking to improve. We, hear at the Beef have taken it upon ourselves to help keep you as up to date as possible with free agency. It is likely that within hours of this posting many more signings and trades will have occurred (the number of times this piece had to be updated while being written over a two day span is proof positive of that), making this piece slightly dated but, as always, keep apprised of all the movers and shakers in free agency with up to the minute information, or at least as soon as we are able to report it, by following the Kobe Beef on Twitter.

Miami Heat

When Miami attempted to buy itself a soul by acquiring both LeBron James and Chris Bosh they had just two players under contract with the team for the coming season. Those players were Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley. Since that time, the Heat have dealt Beasley, in what equates to a salary dump, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for two second round draft picks in 2011 and 2014. Ouch, he was the second overall pick in 2008. Relieving themselves of Beasley’s services allowed the Heat to free up enough to award the Miami Thrice (will this catch on?) close to maximum contracts. Both James and Bosh will receive six-year, $110 million contracts while Wade receives $107.5 million over the same period of time. Each player also has an early termination option after the 2013-14 season.

So the Heat, at that point, had just four players under contract for the coming season. That is certainly grounds for championship speculation. Since then the organization has been in overdrive recruiting and signing free agents to bolster their roster. Mike Miller looked like a lock to join the Heat after meeting with Pat Riley and other organization officials on July 1, but now the Miami Herald is reporting that Miller may be backing out of the deal. Miami has a qualifying offer out on Joel Anthony which would pull the reins even tighter on the money that they could offer Miller. Nothing about Miller’s situation with the Heat is certain yet. At least that was the latest news as of early Wednesday afternoon. As of today, Mike Miller is in Miami and has signed a five-year contract with the Heat.

Udonis Haslem, after being pursued by the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets (who have had a knack to engage in bidding wars this summer), has decided to resign with the Heat. Haslem’s deal is worth just over $20 million over four years. The Heat are also close to a minimum level deal with Juwan Howard.

In yet another blow to the city and fans of Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, for the second time this calendar year, is leaving. This time he is leaving on his own accord and not part of a multiplayer and multi-team deal to help entice a certain player to stay put. He is following James to Miami. Ilgauskas has played his entire career in Cleveland, he was traded to the Wizards but he never played a single game for them, let alone put on a Wizards’ jersey. The deal with the Heat is expected to be for two years with a player option for the second year. How many knives will Cleveland have to remove from their back when free agency is over?

Gordon Gekko…err, Pat Riley, has done an excellent job of using the Bud Foxes at his disposal as incentive for players to join the Heat. Ilgauskas’ close relationship with James was the deciding factor in his move to South Beach. Yet, the team still lacks a point guard. Miami lost out on its attempt to lure Derek Fisher away from the Lakers and the aura of Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant. Certainly, the combo of Jackson and Bryant is Sir Lawrence Wildman to Riley’s Gekko.

New York Knicks

New Yorkers and Knickerbockers alike should not feel all too bad about missing out on the Miami Thrice (I’m going to make this stick). They successfully procured Amar’e Stoudemire. That is a very solid consolation prize. It is better than what the soon to be cross town rivals got. New York should be happy that they convinced any player to join their team since they employed Isiah Thomas to help them recruit free agents. Isiah Thomas! This is the man who gave monster contracts to “superstars” like Eddy Curry (who is going into the final year of his contract and will be paid $11.3 million) and Jared Jeffries. He almost singlehandedly drove the organization into the ground. Well, Knicks owner, James Dolan, helped too. However, the acquisition of Stoudemire was not a bad one but it meant that fan favorite and perennial double-double (this is a statistic that STAT cannot claim on a regular basis), David Lee, would no longer be a part of the Knicks’ future.

Lee was dealt to the Golden State Warriors (the AND1 Mix Tape Tour’s only NBA equivalent) via sign-and-trade where mad scientist, Don Nelson, will undoubtedly have an insane number of offensive schemes already planned with him in mind. In return the Knicks received Anthony Randolph, who was the main chip New York wanted in return, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike. Randolph will make $1.96 million this coming season, Turiaf will make $4 million, and Azubuike, who is going into the final year of his contract, will make $3.3 million. Dorell Wright is also joining the Warriors. He became expendable when the Heat orchestrated a Gekko-esque takeover and cornered the market on top free agents. After that they needed to pay them and Wright would eat up more money that they needed for their new stars. Dwyane Wade is reported to have really like Wright as a teammate but money seems to have trumped friendship. Wright has agreed to a three-year deal worth $11.5 million.

The Knicks lost Chris Duhon in free agency to the Orlando Magic so for a time they were without a starting point guard. In a Mike D’Antoni coached offense, this is the most important position. New York quickly found a solution to their vacancy in Raymond Felton. They had been after Felton since last season but the Bobcats were in no mood to trade him. Felton was originally in talks with the Knicks to sign a three-year deal with the Knicks but the two parties reached an agreement on a two-year contract worth nearly $15 million.

In addition to these players the Knicks also signed Timofey Mozgov, a 7’1” center from Russia. He is expected to sign a three-year contract worth $9 million but not all the money will be guaranteed. The Knicks are buying him out of his contract with his former team, Khimki Moscow, and are reportedly paying them $500,000. Some reports have said that he is the best prospect in Europe. We at the Beef have not read that, in fact we know nothing about him. Honestly, we thought all the Russians were in New Jersey.

The Knicks have also shown interest in resigning Earl Barron, who played the last seven games of the season with New York last season. Yet, nothing has been made official. Even after all these signings the Knicks will still have about $2-3 million in cap space. With the expiring contracts of Curry and Azubuike at the end of the season, the team looks poised and ready for free agency next summer when Carmelo Anthony becomes available if he chooses not to sign an extension with the Denver Nuggets.

Minnesota Timberwolves

What the hell is general manager David Kahn doing? Does anybody know? In recent days it has been said that an avocado would do a better job than he would. As of right now (July 14, 2010 at 1:05 pm central standard time) the Timberwolves have just reached an agreement with point guard Luke Ridnour on a four-year $16 million deal. Minnesota now has four point guards; yes that is right, four. They have Jonny Flynn, Ramon Sessions, Ridnour, and Spaniard holdout, Ricky Rubio. If Kahn is trying to entice Rubio to leave the now perpetually drunk Spain, he sure is sending mixed signals. However, many see the signing of Ridnour as a possible prelude to the Wolves trading Sessions. Reports say that Minnesota has been in talks with Charlotte, who just lost Felton to the Knicks, about the possibility of a trade for Sessions. The Bobcats, however, have just extended an offer to free agent guard, Shaun Livingston, which likely means that all Sessions discussions are dead.

The acquisition of Ridnour comes just days after the Timberwolves traded away their best player, Al Jefferson, to the Utah Jazz. Minnesota, in return, gets two first round draft picks and center Kosta Koufos. Utah swooped in, seemingly at the last minute, to snag Jefferson as the Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks were in serious trade discussions. The Jazz had the advantage of having a trade exception, acquired when Carlos Boozer left for Chicago, and were willing to give up first round draft picks. Minnesota’s motive for moving Jefferson was based on his style of play, slow and post oriented, which they are trying to move away from. If there is any sense of style coming out of Minnesota it is a frenetic one, spearheaded by Kahn.

David Kaaahn!

Minnesota has finalized its contract with Darko Milicic making him one of the veterans on the team. Veterans, as a term, should be used lightly since Milicic has just seven years of NBA experience. The T-Wolves have also signed draft picks, Wesley Johnson and Lazar Hayward. Center Nikola Pekovic has also agreed to terms with the team. All of these moves, along with the addition of Beasley, have, as David Kahn hopes, bolstered the frontcourt and made the team sleeker and quicker on the court. Yet, it is still hard to discern what Kahn in actually doing other than trying to improve upon last year’s 15-67 record. His roster now has four centers, and a host of wing player. This is also now one of the youngest teams in the league and plays in a division where the four other teams won at least fifty games last season. Hell, Utah is a division rival and they just shipped their best player to them for virtually nothing other than “financial flexibility.” Kahn must be leaving his team’s fan base screaming his name in anger, much like Captain Kirk in Star Trek II, every time he makes any sort of move. Though they have become a player in free agency this summer none of their moves consolidate into a coherent plan, Kahn appears to be a madman, deranged by power, hunting his white whale. His whale, of course, is Ricky Rubio.

Chicago Bulls

Chicago has benefited from defectors from Utah. Both Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver have left the confines of the Great Salt Lake and head to the Windy City. No, neither of these players is named James, Bosh, or Wade but they are still major pickups for the Bulls. Korver should help the Bulls in their three-point shooting. As a team the Bulls shot 33 percent from downtown which ranked them 28th in the league. The Bulls are also looking to further strengthen their long-range shooting as they have signed J.J. Redick to a three-year, $20 million offer sheet. Redick is a restricted free agent so his current team, the Orlando Magic can match the Bulls offer and retain him. If history is any indication (matching the Mavericks offer to Marcin Gortat last summer) of their intentions, Orlando will likely match the offer. Yet, the Magic recently agreed to a deal with Quentin Richardson so maybe they are prepared to let Redick go.

Korver’s deal is worth an estimated $15 million over three years. Boozer agreed to a five-year deal worth roughly $75 million that became a sign-and-trade with Utah with the Bulls also receiving a future protected second-round draft pick. The trade exemption that the Jazz used to trade for Al Jefferson was part of the Boozer trade.

New head coach, Tom Thibodeau, should be very pleased with the work that general manager Gar Forman has done this offseason. Fans of the Bulls should also be quite pleased with the moves the team has made. They may have been slighted in their quest to land one of the Miami Thrice but they have found themselves in a formidable position heading into next season. The same cannot be said for all the teams who were in the rat race for the big three.

New Jersey Nets

Seriously, the Nets should change the name of their team to the New Jersey Nyets. Despite the fact that they were shot down by every major free agent this summer, they constantly thought themselves to be leading the pack to land each one. The team confidently suggested in the media that they had the upper hand in landing James. Why? What hallucinogen gave them this notion? It must be some pretty potent shit to make them have pipe dreams such as this. Everyone in the world seemed to know that James would not go to the Nets except for the Nets. This ordeal has seriously hurt the reputation of Jay-Z and his supposed ability to land James due to their friendship. Who listens to a minority owner anyway? Greatest rapper alive? Give me a break, Rakim is still alive. Mikhail Prokhorov said he had a hunch that James would not be coming to his team. What tipped him off? Everyone he talked to?

What have the Nets done then, other than move to the cesspool that is Newark? Well, they lost their general manager, Rod Thorn and replaced him with Billy King. Yawn. They have reached a contract agreement with Johan Petro worth $10 million over three years. He will back up Brook Lopez. The Nets need to lure a big free agent this summer to make up for their failures thus far and they may have found just the player. Two time NBA champion, former Lakers great, Jordan Farmar has agreed to a three-year, $12 million deal with the struggling franchise. Good job, Jay-Z. I doubted you earlier but you really came through with this one. It should prove to be a spectacular competition for starting point guard when training camp begins. Farmar stated that his desire to leave the Lakers was to be a starting point guard on a team. He has a good chance of doing just that in New Jersey. Oh, wait…Devin Harris still plays in New Jersey? Oh, I see. Is that common knowledge? Did anyone tell Farmar that? Sorry, Jordan, looks like you will simply be a backup on a bad team.

By far their biggest acquisitions are those of Travis Outlaw and Anthony Morrow. Outlaw agreed to a five-year, $35 million deal. New Jersey signed Morrow to an offer sheet worth $12 million over three years that the Golden State Warriors did not match. The teams eventually worked out a sign-and-trade where the Warriors receive the Nets’ second-round draft pick in 2011.

These moves, in the wake of not landing James, are…well, they are moves. Morrow and Outlaw have the potential to thrive alongside Harris and Lopez but it will all depend on how Avery Johnson chooses to utilize their talents on the court. As for right now, the Nets look to be at least three wins better than they were last season, maybe. At least in a few years the team will be in Brooklyn where they can overcharge hipsters for tickets and merchandise. Hipsters love ironic failures and chronic underachievers. Financially, the Nets will be winners then.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns have been one of the biggest movers in the Western Conference this summer. They had to be after losing Stoudemire to the Knicks. They recently welcomed back to the league, Josh Childress and his iconic Afro with a five-year contract. Phoenix acquired him via sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks, who still retained the rights to his contract. Atlanta will receive the Suns’ 2012 second-round draft pick.

Phoenix has also traded for scorned Raptor, Hedo Turkoglu for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones. Turkolgu thrives in offenses where he gets to control the ball so a pairing with Steve Nash seems a bit odd but any situation has to be better for Turkolgu than what he went through in Toronto.

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas’ attempts to land players named Al have been thwarted at every attempt this summer. First they were in position to land Al Jefferson. Then, out of nowhere, the Jazz swooped in and nabbed him so that they could fill the void left by Boozer’s departure. Next the Mavericks set their sights on Al Harrington. Talks were advancing nicely but then the Denver Nuggets struck. They offered Harrington a longer and more valuable contract (five-year, $34 million) than the Mavericks were willing to offer him.

The Mavericks have made some moves this summer, though they are not earth shaking; they are moves to build on for the future. Dallas’ second priority this summer, after resigning Dirk Nowitzki, was signing Brendan Haywood. They did just that as the team and Haywood agreed on a six-year deal worth $55 million. The way Haywood’s contract is structured he will make $7-8 million a season, and as the Mavericks are prone to do, the last year of his contract is not fully guaranteed.

For the Mavericks, the elephant in the room was Erick Dampier’s nonguaranteed $13 million contract and their ability to use it in an attempt to lure a max free agent to Dallas to team up with Nowitzki. Dallas missed out on the marquee names but was able to move Dampier’s contract. Dampier, along with Matt Carroll, Eduardo Najera, and cash were sent to the Charlotte Bobcats for Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca. It was not the blockbuster move that Mavs fans were hoping for and many are quite discontent at the moves their team has made this summer after being force-fed rumors and speculation about the possibility of landing a superstar. Honestly, this deal fits the Mavericks plan better than landing the likes of Jefferson who would have either been forced into a sixth man role or center. Neither of which would have been ideal for either party. Chandler gives the Mavericks and versatile shot blocker with the ability to run the floor. Running the floor is something that Chandler was accustomed to during his time with Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets and is something that he will get back to on the Mavericks with Jason Kidd and Rodrigue Beaubois. One thing is certain, the alley-oop dunk will return to prominence in Chandler’s offensive repertoire.

This deal also gives the Mavericks some financial breathing room as they have dumped Carroll’s bloated contract. It also gives the team added size and length in the frontcourt, something the team wanted so they could compete with the Lakers’ bigs. This deal came just in time too. It also acts as a counter to their in-state arch rival San Antonio Spurs’ addition of the great threat, Tiago Splitter. This nobody is making folks quake in their boots from the filthy, disease laden River Walk to the Alamo. Team front offices are whispering amongst themselves about the domination that Splitter could unleash on an unsuspecting league. Hold on, he is a South American seven footer? How many floppers do the Spurs need on their roster? The only threat he poses is to himself. It is a long way to the floor when flopping from seven feet up, concussions could become a problem.

Chandler is going into the last year of his contract which has led some to speculate that if a player became available during the season the Mavericks could use Chandler and Caron Butler, who is also entering the last year of his contract, as trade bait. However, the people who are the ones speculating this are the same ones who almost guaranteed Mavericks fans that they would land a superstar player this summer.

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz have acquired Raja Bell and thwarted Kobe Bryant’s attempts to get Bell to sign with the Lakers. Los Angeles had $1.8 million left of their mid-level exception to offer Bell while the Jazz offered him a three-year deal worth close to $10 million. (It is always about the money.) With the signing of Bell the Jazz chose to let Wesley Matthews sign with the Portland Trailblazers as they were unwilling to match the offer sheet that Matthews signed with the Blazers which was worth $32.7 million over five years.

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