LeBron in Big D?

Oh where oh where will Lebron go? That is the million dollar question heading into the 2010 free agency period. A period in which the entire landscape of the NBA can be altered by the decisions of Lebron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others. But LBJ is the most coveted free agent and coming off another disappointing season of not meeting expectations, will he leave his hometown and head to greener pastures? 


Several rumours are circulating regarding where LBJ may end up. New York, Chicago, Miami, New Jersey, or staying in Cleveland. Each team has its own individual merits for being in the LBJ Sweepstakes conversation. But there is one team that may be able to offer more value to LBJ, from a basketball and economic standpoint, than any other team... the Dallas Mavericks. Laugh it up, snicker if you must but the Mavericks have all the assets that will benefit both Lebron and the Cavaliers and help him reach his goals on and off the court. 


The quality of the Mavericks roster: With the move made at this past trade deadline, the Mavericks have one of the most talented, deepest and versatile rosters in the NBA. They have a Top 10 talent in Dirk Nowitzki, a diversified backcourt in J-Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler, and JJ Barea, defensive toughness in the form of Shawn Marion and Brenden Haywood, up and coming prospect in Roddy Beaubois and on and on. When matched up against the rest of the NBA, Dallas can run with the best of them. 
Much has been said of the Mavs' recent playoff disappointment. Yes, they choked against the Spurs. Yes, they underachieved. Yes, it is very disappointing. Yes, I am still trying to get over it. But in their defence, the management staff made the usual critical error and that is, they make necessary moves 4 months too late. The trade forced the Mavs to turnover 40% of their starting 5 (Butler and Haywood) and leaving only two and half months to incorporated them into the game plan. Fatal mistake. If given a full season, can we all not agree that the Mavs would have advanced further in the playoffs? Throw Lebron into the mix, can we not all agree the Mavs would be title contenders?

Mark Cuban: There is a lot of noise being made about New Jersey's new Russian billionaire owner, Mikhail Prokorov, and his free-spending, bachelor/playboy lifestyle. But let's not forget the original "headline grabbing, free-spending, in-your-face, doesn't give a damn about David Stern" owner... Mark Cuban. Cuban will play a significant part in attracting LBJ to Dallas with his track record and resume. 1) Money is no object for Cuban. The trade with Washington added an additional $15 million to next years salary cap. Cuban will just have to devote a few minutes digging in his sofa cushions to pay this off. 2) Cuban is not afraid to pull the trade trigger. We have seen it over the last few years with the J-Kidd and Butler trade. Whether they were good moves is up for debate. But needless to say, Cuban will make the necessary transactions to give his team the best chance of winning every year. 3) Knowledge of the NBA. Prokorov is a rookie and will be learning on the fly about the ins and outs of the NBA. Cuban is a seasoned veteran. Not only does he understand the economical side of the business (ie. salary cap structure) but also the marketing side and what makes the NBA a global sport. 4) Business Knowledge. Cuban is an internet guru and owns his own HDTV cable network along with several other business ventures. In other words, he is a savvy business man. Can Lebron learn a thing or two from Cuban to help build his own global business empire? (YES!) Perhaps maybe a joint venture? (Okay, no.)


Sign and Trade Partner: Chris Bosh has gone on record to saying he will work out a sign and trade with Toronto if he chooses to leave. What this does is create a win-win situation for both parties - Bosh goes to the team he wants and gets a max deal that will pay him an extra $30mil and Cleveland gets something in return and not lose Bosh for nothing. The same scenario can be applied to LBJ and the other free agents. The questions is which teams have the assets to complete a sign and trade, give the Cavs quality players, and still keep a competitive roster surrounding Lebron? Do you see where I'm going with this?
Dallas can facilitate any sort of trade scenario that Cleveland may want. They have talented wing players that can fill in the vacant spot left by Lebron (Butler, Marion), young players with high potential (Beaubois), role players to fill out the trade (Terry, Barea) and of course cash! But the biggest bargaining chip is Erick Dampier's contract. Dampier has a one year, $13 million non-guaranteed contract that is based on performance measures. How does this benefit Cleveland? A trade scenario involving Dampier allows numbers to match up (in terms of salary cap) but in reality the Cavs do not have to pay his full salary if they choose not to (ie: not play Dampier so he does not meet performance measures). This provides the Cavs with huge financial flexibility to either go after free agents or rebuild and not completely implode as an organization. 

The Jerry-dome: The success of the 2010 Allstar Weekend was largely due to the venue - the brand new $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium. The House that Jerry Built seated over 108,000 spectators for the event and presented a stage that is unrivaled in the NBA. Needless to say, Lebron was in attendance. Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban have gone on record in saying they would be willing to host a few home games a year at the stadium. Can you imagine the marketing and exposure this presents for Lebron? Let's say they play 4 home games a year at the stadium, can you not target specific dates to increase television ratings... lets say games against Kobe, Wade, Spurs and Raptors (JUST KIDDING, how about Houston?). Also worth noting, Lebron's favorite NFL team is the Dallas Cowboys.


No State Income Tax: Imagine making $130 million and not having to pay a personal income tax on it. You won't have to worry about the IRS knocking on your mansion and harassing your maids and accountants. Out of all the teams in serious contention for Lebron's services, only two teams can offer this - Miami and Dallas.


Television Market: Dallas has the 5th largest US television market in the US which provides huge exposure that Cleveland cannot. The only relevant markets ahead of Dallas are New York and Chicago. 

2010 Playoffs - Final Thoughts

The 2009/2010 sports season has come to an end with championship hardware being handed out. Normally, sports fans are scrambling to pick up new hobbies to fill in the hours devoted to sports (Sorry baseball. You’re like a PB&J sandwich – it solves my hunger but it doesn’t hit the spot like a grilled-cheese), but thankfully this year we have the World Cup.

The young guns of Chicago won the Stanley Cup while the Lakers were able to get the best of their archrivals the Boston Celtics. The 2010 playoffs will go down as one of the most thrilling, climatic, entertaining and memorable post-seasons ever. After spending hours watching, debating and podcasting, I have come to some revelations about the NHL and NBA along with some random observations.

NBA:

The best player in the NBA is Kobe Bryant: And it’s not even a debate. No one is even close. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, to some degree, partially or completely, believed that Lebron has taken the throne as the best player in the league with an astounding statistical season backed by a second consecutive MVP trophy. He outplayed Kobe in two regular season games and helped the Cavs get the best record. Result? Second round exit by the hands of the Celtics. At this moment, Lebron is where Kobe was post-Shaq trade. He fills up the box scores but unable to win when it matters most. Yes, Lebron is less selfish than Kobe was however; he lacks the killer instinct that Kobe has had his whole career. Lebron has not proven to be a clutch performer on the same scale as Kobe nor has he developed an understanding of when to take over games when it matters most. Kobe is now a 5-time champion because he has finally found the balance between being the game-assassin and the superstar that elevates the play of this teammates. Until Lebron can find that balance, he will play second-banana to Kobe. At some point, Lebron will become the undisputed King of the NBA. How fast Lebron discovers that balance will be the deciding factor on whether Lebron takes that crown away from Kobe or whether Kobe hands it to him. Kobe's legacy is unquestionably legendary however...


The Kobe/MJ comparisons are still absurd: Kobe now has 5 championships and is one away from tying MJ. There is a good possibility that Kobe will surpass MJ considering his age (31) and playing level. But regardless if Kobe gets 6, 7 or more rings, he will not dethrone MJ as the Basketball God. If greatness was measured strictly by rings then Bill Russell's 11 rings should end all debate. In the past two seasons, Kobe, without a doubt, has propelled himself up the rankings on the greatest players list. He may have made the "Who is the Greatest Laker ever?" conversation a little more interesting. But when it comes down to how is the greatest, that title will remain with His Airness.

Ron Artest’s post-game interview will become a classic: After the interview happens, I messaged my buddy ASam and asked whether Artest’s interview is better than KG’s 2008 interview. He responds, “It’s not as iconic or as quotable as KG but unintentional comedy is off the charts.” How can you go against that statement when the guy thanks his psychiatrist and bear hugs a middle-aged white reporter? You can’t! It has “Top 10 (fill in the blank)” quality written all over it. FYI, Artest has a new single coming out this summer titled “Champion” that he recorded last June (you see, the comedy is literally of the charts).


Why is Magic Johnson an analyst? Yes, he is one of the greatest of all time and so forth. But Magic has nearly a 5% stake in the Lakers franchise and does that not restrict his analytical range when calling a game like this? How can an owner publicly go against his team? Hypothetically, if Magic felt the Celtics were going to win Game 7 during the pre-game show, would he even be allowed to be standing on the podium during the trophy ceremony? 

NHL:

Championship teams are built around a franchise center: Since the lockout, the 5 Stanley Cup champions had the following centerpieces: Chicago – Toews (C) and Kane (C), Pittsburgh – Crosby (C) and Malkin (C), Detroit – Lidstrom (D), Datsyuk (C), and Zetterberg (C), Anaheim – Neidermeyer (D) and Pronger (D), Carolina – Staal (C) and Brindamour (C). With the exception of Anaheim, all other champs revolved their team around franchise center(s) which may explain why teams with/had franchise wingers failed yearly (ie: Washington (Ovechkin), Columbus (Nash), Atlanta (Kolvachuk), and Calgary (Iginla)). Furthermore, the centre must play a solid two-way game. Each center listed has that attribute with maybe the exception of Kane (covered by Toews). Therefore, I think this argument may shed some light on the Taylor(LW) vs. Tyler(C) debate (although apparently Taylor claims his natural position is center and converted to LW only because they had too many centers on his junior team already… can’t wait till this debate ends).


To touch the conference trophy or not? I find players' superstitions so amusing. Whether it is putting on their left skate first or sleeping in the opponents jersey the night before the game, there is no real justification for these actions. The most interesting superstition of all is, of course, whether teams should touch the Conference Championship trophies upon winning them. This year the Blackhawks decided not to touch the Campbell Trophy while Mike Richards and the Flyers decided to lift the Wales Trophy, following in the footsteps of Sidney Crosby in hopes of breaking the superstition and winning it all. The hysterical part of this year is how the Flyers had an impromptu summit to quickly decide what to do with the trophy. Well, we all know who won this time. In the last two seasons, one team has elected to touch the conference trophy while the other team does not. The score is 1-1. So I must ask, do you touch the conference trophy or not?

NHL’s marketing team finally produced some good commercials: The NHL marketing team has done an atrocious job at developing a compelling advertisement campaign since the lockout. Nothing was worse than their “Is this the year?” campaign which involved players asking hypothetical questions to hype up the potential “unexpectedness” of the 2007 season. The NBA has capitalized on their “Where Amazing Happens” slogan and expanded it to the point where you can replace “Amazing” with any other relevant adjective(s) and corresponding footage to make it a hit. But this year, the NHL’s playoff commercials titled "History Will Be Made" have finally stroked a cord with its audience. They paid homage to the past while being able to exemplify athletic characteristics like inspiration, perseverance and greatness. Therefore, the NHL was able to answer my question: “Is this the year that the NHL actually realize how comical their commercials are and produce something good?”