Welcome to Sleepless City Sports. This blog's goal is to be covering everything sports and more that takes place in "the city that never sleeps." Although this is our stated goal, we also are not afraid to veer from it from time to time and tackle topics off the beaten path.
Considering that tonight is eve of the start of the most anticipated Free Agency in sports history, and NBA GM's from around the league, and within the Tri-State area, will be getting very little sleep tonight and every night this week as they run up their frequent flyer miles, we decided why not kick this blog off with a little discussion of the NBA, and most specifically the New York Knicks and the New Jersey/Newark/Brooklyn (2012) Nets.
Ever since a slew of the NBA's youngest superstars decided to not sign Max deals for the maximum amount of years (six) and instead sign only four year extensions, GM's around the league took notice and started shifting their budgets, so that they could have a chance at signing one, if not two, of these young franchise players. Furthermore, when Danny Ainge helped the Celtics win a championship by pulling off the coup of acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and finding a group of cheap players to surround his new "Big Three," a belief around the league became that if you went for broke and got a couple of franchise players, you could just worry about fielding a full squad down the line. These GMs embraced the comical mantra my friend James likes to say when he is in a bind, "I'm going to let future James handle that."
This now popular approach to "building" a team is at the forefront of the NBA's Free Agency period. The New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls have all used this blueprint in preparing for Free Agency. (Note: The Clippers have apparently been employing this philosophy since 1981 when Donald Sterling bought the team. I'm assuming they simply haven't fallen in love with any free agents since then. Right?) The irony of this go-for-broke mentality is that these teams gut themselves of many of the resources that would make it attractive for a player like Lebron James to come to their team in the first place.
For instance, the Miami Heat, after making a few financially driven trades, now have only two players under contract for next season, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley, while the Knicks have a staggering FOUR players under contract, Wilson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Toney Douglas and Danilo Gallinari. (Note: Bill Walker’s contract is also guaranteed if the Knicks keep him after Aug. 1, as is expected.) Basically, Donnie Walsh is going to be coming to Lebron Thursday in Ohio and saying,
"Lebron, do me a solid here. I've basically got rid of anyone with talent on this team so that we could sign you and whoever you want. In fact, I will be stepping down as GM, so you or William Wesley or Maverick Carter or whoever you want can become the GM and decide who you want on your team. I'm begging you, Lebron! I can't return to New York and tell our fans our starting line up is going to be Wilson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Toney Douglas, Danilo Gallinari and Bill Walker. You got to help me out."Let's hope Donnie's husky voice with James Dolan playing the guitar in the background will make it sound more enticing than it reads.
Basically, in the end, the Knicks and its fans' hopes ride on one thing: has Lebron been lying this whole time in saying that his decision will be a "basketball decision?" If he hasn't been lying, sorry guys, we're screwed. Really, really screwed. If instead he does have a love affair with New York (not Newark), the Garden, and being New York City's first ever King, then get the confetti ready, the Canyon of Heroes is beckoning. Unfortunately, it's a much tougher sell than I think any of us would ever have predicted. In fact, if Donnie pulls this off, Obama should hire him to sell some of the new General Motors' cars. God knows, our economy could use it. However, if Donnie wants to have a shot, he might want to bring Larry Johnson with him.
Moving past the Knicks for a second--I know, how could I?--to the Nets, let's look at their approach to getting here and their plan of attack in Free Agency. (Note: First off, I have to admit that after the great Knick years in the 90s, right around the time Scott Layden handed over the cursed touch to Isaiah Thomas, I became a big Nets' fan when they made their two-year run in the NBA Finals. I've had a soft spot for them ever since. It didn't hurt either that Rod Thorn seemed to have a clue to what he was doing when the Knicks had none. Just had to get that out of the way.)
Unlike the Heat and the Knicks, the Nets actually have some players (more than four) on their roster that might inspire LeBron to think, these guys could be part of my "Big Three." While the Knicks have Danilo Galinari and the Heat have Michael Beasley, the Nets could offer only Brook Lopez and be able to whet the appetite of Lebron more than those players would. However, the Nets have more--both talent and number of players--in Devin Harris, No. 3 overall pick Derrick Favors, Courtney Lee, and last year's No. 1 pick, Terrence Williams. Although this group does not scream 2011 NBA CHAMPIONS NEW JERSEY NETS, they do form a strong young core that could complement a superstar talent or two admirably in creating a perennial Championship contender. Furthermore, unlike the Knicks, they have retained their first round draft picks in the coming years.
However, the Nets, like the Knicks, are banking on the same thing: LeBron's decison is not a basketball decision. If it is, the Nets can't really compete with the Bulls, Mavericks, or even Heat (assuming Dwayne Wade re-signs) on paper at this point. If, as they hope, LeBron's decisions is more than just a basketball one, in comes Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov. (Note: Avery Johnson does not matter one way or the other here, really.)
It's really a new era in sports now where owners and players can actually be friends and break through the employer-employee barrier. It's not like Reggie Jackson was ever going to spend a night out on the town with The Boss, but that scenario is more than a possibility if LeBron joined the Nets. You're telling me Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov could not put together one hell of a night? More importantly, though, if Lebron is looking to market himself and become a global icon, Prokhorov is a man to follow. With over $13 billion in his back pocket and the unbridled confidence to announce that "We are going to turn Knicks fans into Nets fans," you couldn't fault LeBron and his "team" for believing Prokhorov and the Nets to be their best bet to universal stardom.
It'll be interesting to see what happens, because no matter what transpires in this next week or so, we will finally learn on thing: what matters most to LeBron. All we can hope, as New Yorkers, is that it is something close to what either one of our teams can offer.
