1. More on Monta: As we recently discussed, the Monta Ellis Saga a/k/a “Moped Gate” has sort of resolved itself. Previously, we noted that it was likely that the Warriors would recoup some money for Ellis getting injured in a prohibited activity and the only question is what was a fair number in light of how much Ellis was making and how much his value was diminished by the injury. It seems, however, that Warriors GM Chris Mullin had told Ellis that the injury was only an accident and should be forgiven. Team President Robert Rowell didn’t quite see it that way and suspended Ellis for 30 games (costing about $3 million). Rowell is quoted by Tim Kawakami in this nice FAQ about the Ellis situation thusly: “Chris Mullin made it perfectly clear to both [owner Chris] Cohan and myself that he didn’t think this was a big deal at the beginning. And we happen to think it’s a very big deal.”
Best Team In Franchise History: Pacific Division
Here we are at the end of another summer historical series. The NBA season is thankfully just around the corner but first we’ll finish up business by examining the best teams in franchise history for the Pacific Division, which has some particularly meaty issues to examine in Los Angeles and Phoenix. As always, our standard of review for this series of articles can be found here.
Best Team In Franchise History: Northwest Division
This is our fifth segment on the best teams in franchise history by division. As always, our standard of review for this series of articles can be found here. The Northwest is one of the few divisions without an original NBA team in its midst. Still, they have some teams with robust and fun histories, a few of which are particularly interesting.
Denver Nuggets
-Kyle’s Best Team: 1976-77 (50-32)
-Most Wins: 1987-88 (54-28)
-Best Playoff Run: 1984-85 (8-7)
Quick Thoughts
1. Marbury Happenings: One of the few subplots actively brewing in the NBA right now is the Knicks’ dealings with Stephon Marbury. Before this week, there were strong rumors that Marbury was going to be released and the Knicks were going to buyout the $22 million left on his deal for 2008-09. The situation is very interesting because there really are a myriad of options here. Granted, the Knicks won’t be very good and Marbury has been a complete headache the last few years but it is not necessarily clear that cutting Marbury is the right move at this point. So let’s go through the options:
-Keeping or Cutting?: Marbury has specifically asked the team to get it over with one way or another. The problem is that Marbury has some value, he’s certainly better than Chris Duhon and there are plenty of teams that would take a flier on him for a cheap contract (he’d probably get a midlevel exception money from someone). He seems to fit quite well for the Heat, who need some depth and took a flier on Tim Hardaway in a similar situation in 1996 (who was also viewed as a declining malcontent) only to find T-Hard inspired by Pat Riley. Other places where Marbury on the cheap makes sense includes some pretty good teams that need more guards like Cleveland, Houston, and San Antonio.
Best Team In Franchise History: Southwest Division
Having finished our Eastern Conference review of the best teams in franchise history, we now turn West. Our first Western division is the Southwest, which gives us the teams of Texas, all of which have fun histories, as well as the less ballyhooed recent expansion teams (and recently moved franchises) in Vancouver/Memphis and Charlotte/New Orleans. As always, our standard of review for this series of articles can be found here. Now let’s get to it…
Dallas Mavericks
-Kyle’s Best Team: 2002-03 (60-22)
-Most Wins: 2006-07 (67-15)
-Best Playoff Run: 2005-06 (14-9)
Transaction 7/17-9/11
Atlanta Hawks
7/29 Sign Maurice Evans
7/30 Sign Randolph Morris
8/8 Re-sign Josh Smith
8/11 Sign Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter
8/13 Sign Flip Murray
At the end of the day, the Hawks avoided the worst case scenario–that Smith would take a one-year qualifying offer in order to set up a run at unrestricted free agency in 2009. It seemed that Smith wanted to leave Atlanta pretty badly but not badly enough to risk injury or decline that could kill his market value in 2009. Smith is a young athletic leaper so I thought the risk wasn’t inordinate but $58 million is hard to turn down.