NBA Thoughts
I want to touch on four NBA storylines: Kevin Durant’s Twitter saga, Dwyane Wade signing with the Cavaliers, the revamped NBA lottery system, and Russell Westbrook signing an extension with the Thunder.
Kevin Durant: The reigning Finals MVP got busted last week for having an alternate Twitter account from which he would post comments praising himself and bashing all of his “haters”. I had a couple of thoughts cross my mind after hearing of this story. First, Kevin Durant is still unsure that he made the right decision leaving OKC. If he had total peace of mind, he would not even bother engaging with Twitter trolls. Yes, he won the ‘chip in his first season by the Bay, but even that couldn’t satiate Durant’s desire to be worshiped by all. This whole fiasco also made me respect LeBron James even more. The only player who knows the venom and vitriol that Durant faced this past year is LeBron, except the King’s was ten-fold. LeBron never scolded a reporter nor a fan, taking everything in stride and being an exemplary citizen through it all. I know this point began on Durant, but I am finishing it on LeBron; LeBron is arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, but the way in which he has handled his fame and success since being on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old is almost as remarkable.
Dwyane Wade to the Cavs: D-Wade and LeBron are best friends. That’s no secret. I think this move will pay dividends on and off the court. On it, Wade gives the Cavaliers a scoring threat that is desperately needed after trading Kyrie Irving. Also, Wade’s acquisition will limit the amount of time that Iman Shumpert sees the floor, so that is certainly a good thing for Cleveland. But perhaps even more importantly will be Wade’s impact off the court. Like I said, he and LeBron are best friends. Wade will bring a calming presence to the Cavaliers locker room that will be much needed considering that this is the final year of LeBron’s contract. We all know Flash isn’t a superb three-point shooter, and as a shooting guard that isn’t ideal in today’s NBA landscape, but with that said I think the reunion of LeBron and Wade will prove to be significant come June.
NBA Lottery Reform: On Thursday, the NBA announced that beginning in 2019, the odds for lottery teams will change. Essentially their objective was to eliminate, or at least mitigate, tanking. For instance, now rather than the team that finishes with the worst record having a 25% chance of securing the number one overall pick, they now have a 14% chance as now do the teams with the second and third worst teams respectively. The idea of revamping the lottery system to eliminate tanking is a good one, but their execution was far from ideal. I believe that this alteration will have many unintended consequences. The most glaring of which will be teams that could fight for the 8th seed, but instead choose to fall into the lottery because now instead of getting blasted in round one, they can forgo that ass-whooping, and instead have a 10% chance of securing the number one overall pick. Do you really want teams like Portland or Memphis - teams with established All-Stars - getting the top picks? Or instead have teams like Brooklyn or Orlando or Chicago – teams with no assets other than their draft capital – selecting atop the draft? To me the answer is clear. Yes, you do not want to reward tanking, but you must give these teams an avenue to improve. I think this applies: suppose we raise the tax on cigarettes because we think that by doing so people will be less inclined to smoke and thus we will all be healthier because of it. Well, guess what? The same people will still smoke, only they will be spending more money, and perhaps go broke, in the process. The same applies to the NBA tanking problem. With this draft reform, the same teams will continue to suck and the whole league will be worse off because of it.
Westbrook Extension: Russell Westbrook signed a 5 year/$205 million extension with the Thunder. Now this had been on the table for a couple of months so there had been growing speculation that perhaps Westbrook might bolt in a similar fashion to what KD did in darting to Golden State. Instead, Russ waited to sign his on extension on …… September 29, which just so happens to be Kevin Durant’s birthday. Coincidence? I DOUBT it. I love the pettiness that Russ showed. He will be in OKC for the next handful of years making nearly $500,000 a game. That’s wild! It is now his job to convince Paul George and Melo to stay with him. I have long wanted to see a Thunder-Warriors playoff series. I feel as though this contract assures us of just that.
