NBA BOARD OF GOVERNORS & etc

 Today's The Athletic's article about the up coming NBA's board of governors laid out a number of unusual problems confronting this fall' meeting, the most sticky of which is the fall out over the Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's fiasco. I won't go into details, but simply stated, the Clippers and Kawhi tried to circumvent the NBA strict cap space rule, which allowed the Clippers more money to pay for mid-level tax players to fill out their roster while at the same time providing Kwahi the kind of contract he and his agents were seeking. Both sides benefited. When this was uncovered, the NBA commissioner Adam Silver was not a happy man, and rightly so. The Clips thought they could pull a fast one. The way I see it the principal villains this attempt to cheat were Kawhi's uncle, Dennis Robertson and the clipper's director of business operations, Gillian Zucker. Of course, all the rest of upper management, Clips GM  and assistant GM, and Kawhi himself, bear some responsibility. But there had to be a brain child, so I'm placing my bet the Uncle Dennis and Zucker. I could be wrong, but if they were characters in a game of CLUE , I'd have guessed they were the ones who committed the murders. The weapon they used was money, the room in which it happened was painted greedy green. 

That said, and villains not withstanding, punishing the team by taking away five consecutive years of first round draft choices will brutalize the Clippers ability to stay competitive in a powerful Western Conference. Awful for the poor Clipper fans. Why should the fans be punished? Okay, take awayu two years of of dirst drast choice. That's reasonable. And, Big time, hit  Ballmer harder in his pocket book. Hit Kawhi in his bocket book. Ban Clippers GM for a year instead of half a year. Bann Zucker for five years as tthey did Uncle Dannis. Don't harm the fans. They had nothinbg to do with this greedy cheaters. And just so I'm not accused of misssing something, the league ought to look into other teams and their players to see if there are other ways teams are finessing or trying to finesse the salary cap. 

As for the Toronto trade, now that the Fed is involved, it appears that''s not going to happen. Personally, I think that's good for the Raptors. Why give up two first round picks for an aging Kawahi. Kawhi may have been injury free last season, but I wouldn't count on two seasons in a row. 

The only "old guard" player I'd go after if I were a GM, would be Steph Curry. Note: LeBron will NOT help Philly. The 76ers are at the mercy of Joel Emids health. In Houston, Durant is not what the Rockets need to advance their young players. He should be on a veteran team, playing short minutes until the playoffs. Just thinking. KD is for good or bad a Rocket for the next to years and then it's probably retirement aft the LA Olympic Games that he recently said he wants to play in. Retirment at that time for most of the "Old Guard" don't you think? 

The new face of the NBA: Bien venue Monsieur Victor Wembanyama! 

I'm puzzled by the NBA's desire to create a European NBA. All the best Euro players come here to play. Will they just be creating a glorified Euro League. It dosen't compute, unless there is some huge financial updise for the NBA that I'm not aware of. 

The subject of expanision will be on the agenda. Yes, to expansion: Seattle and Las Vegas. The NBA owes Seattleafter the con job the OKC owner pulled on the Seattle fans when he purchased the team,, promising not to move the franchis, then doing exactly that. As for Las Vegas, the city is  a solid league marrket. By expanding, the NBA can create a true division of East and West by moving the TWolves and Grizzles to the East. And the timing is right. There arre lots of young players coming up through college and some very good marginal players in the G League to fill in until the expansion teams develop.  In borh Seatt;e amd Las Vegas,, the ownership groups seem to be financially solid. Let's get it done. 

Etc:

The Miami Heat could create some noise in the East with their recent signing of Tim Hardaway Jr. Now they have Klay Thompson and Hardaway as three point threats to spread the floor for Giannis to operate. 

As we approach the start of the NBA training camps, I'm still looking for the Warriors to do more than the have to help Steph Curry next season. So far, all I've seen are moves to improve their bench. Unless Yaxel Londegborg becomes an instant super star, the Warriors will have a difficult time competing this  season. Sigh1 There is, however, a long shot possiblily that Jimmy Butler will be fully ready by the All Star break, in shich case the Warriors could make things scary in the West. I have lots of faith in Coach Steve Kerr, but as good as he is, he needs one more scoring threat or there will be way too much pressure on Curry. And Step has been experiencing injuries the last few years, due in no small part to the fact that the weight of the team is entirely on his shoulders. 

As I've mementioned recently, I've found myself obsessed with the Japanese haiku poetry. Here's one about Step Cury and Klay Thompson:

Steph and Klay

Holding hands with a Haiku master

The Splash Brothers are born