I agree, which is why Atlanta made the right choice in staying as a 4/5 seed type team rather than starting from scratch and hoping. The Bulls and Knicks can blow things up easier because they have a much easier road for building through free agency. Look at the Knicks. They made terrible move after terrible move and now they may have three all stars simply because they happen to be in a desirable town.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

1.) By your logic Chicago also won the lorrery with MJ, as did the Lakers and C's with Magic/Bird. It would seem then, that winning the lottery is much more of an indicator of success than being in a big market.

Also Melo and KG didn't have no trade clauses. They could've been traded anywhere. They controlled that by asking for an extension, but again, the fact that Deron was traded(to a big market nonetheless) and refused an extension contradicts what youre saying.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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It's an option, but they are likely looking at a decrease in ticket sales and interest with less wiggle room to save themselves via free agency.

It may have been a bad choice but it's an understandable choice to make.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Melo and Amare are their only current all stars. Also, it took Donnie Walsh years to clean up Isiah's mess in order to be in a position to sign them.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I didn't say which was more important, but the number of championships won by big market teams vs. small market teams is pretty significant. Big markets also keep players much easier.
I think you may have not been following very closely on the Melo deal. He basically told every team that wasn't the Knicks that he wasn't interested.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

i'm confused now...seriously, correct me if I'm wrong but i thought earlier you made references to the Pacers and other teams as being in NBA Hell. that's pretty much what Atlanta has guaranteed themselves now. but now you're saying they made the right choice by solidifying themselves as a 4-5 teams? look yeah, i like the Hawks, but lets not kid ourselves here....they don't draw very well. i seriously doubt that retaining Joe Johnson sent the season ticket line phones ringing off the hook. maybe a few people would have been disgruntled had he left, but as far as box office draw he isn't one. It wasn't going to make much of a difference either way. as in pretty much every sport winning, period, is what drives ticket sales up

Please reference the "may" in my post. If they can somehow keep Billups I think it's fair to say he may be an all star.

Also, they will likely find a way into either Williams or Paul eventually.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

1.) I don't consider 12-8 a significant difference. 11-9 of you dont include Dallas as a big-market. It's a big market in terms of population but not in terms of historically attracting top NBA free agents.

2.) I think you know I followed the Melo trade closely. He still didn't get to choose what team he was dealt to. Deron didn't want to go to NJ and won't sign an extension so that defeats whatever point you were trying to make.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think Atlanta made the right choice for them. They chose to know they'll be good but not great. They are in NBA hell but I'd rather be in NBA hell than be Charlotte or Sacramento crossing my fingers at the draft lottery.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't think it's fair at all to say Chauncey will be an All Star going forward. I'm actually fairly sure that he won't be. Who is he beating between Deron, Rose, or Rondo?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

maybe he'll start taking steroids

It didn't help Rashard Lewis much.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think it made him worse.

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I think that arguing whether or not Melo decided where he was traded to, if Billups can be an all star, and if Dallas is a small market means that this conversation is over.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

you've lost another internet argument

I think we can all agree that Rashard Lewis is bad.

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i think that's a safe bet

If you think Billups can be an All Star in the future then yes, I agree, conversation over.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Lebron's girlfriend disagrees.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Small markets have historically done poorly in the NBA because for much of the NBA's history, the only two teams running competent basketball operations were the Celtics and the Lakers. Read Simmons's book for one account after another of how lazy dumbasses in Buffalo or Cincinnati or Baltimore virtually tripped over themselves to make Boston and LA better. Stuff like the Timberwolves trading Garnett for a crap sampler just follows a grand NBA tradition of bad teams gleefully empowering elite teams. The NBA is just really weird, I've learned.

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The KG trade is a very bad example. That wasn't really a one sided trade at all.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yeah you're right it's really ended up working out well for both si

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I can tell you are being sarcastic but I cant tell why. Can you tell me what better value Minnesota could have received for KG at the time or how their future would somehow be better off had they kept him?? I'm genuinely curious.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

i thought they got pretty good value for him but what amazes me is what happened to Jefferson....I suppose Love > Jefferson and they thought they couldn't play together, but they only got a couple draft picks for him...seems like they didn't get good value there

I heard Wade and Stern got in a shouting match this weekend during the nogotiations. Not sure what it is about.

I really think something could get done between both sides, but I just have no confidence that either side has people smart enough to make it happen. Last year was probably the most successful season since the Jordan era, they would be stupid to fuck that up. I think splitting the revenue 50-50 can happen just based on how the negotiations have gone so far. Some of the other points could come to a compromise I believe. First the owners have to agree to some better revenue sharing. It's the only true way to make the league more competitive for everyone.

The salary cap issue is probably the most difficult part for both sides to come to an agreement on. The owners have suggested that they should be able to cut 1 contract each year if they choose. Obviously the players won't go for that, but why not suggest that owners can cut 1 contract each year, but they must pay X (50% maybe) remaining of the balance. That's sort of an interesting suggestion to consider. That player could get a lump sum payout, and then is free to sign somewhere else. The players could offer that, in exchange for the soft cap remaining in place.

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I didnt hear what Stern said specifically but supposedly Wade felt Stern belittled him. I can easily envision that

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

PREFACE: NBA idiot

Solution - why not just end the cap for individual players? High end free agents won't only make their decision based on where the poon is, and ridiculous deals dry up for mid-level players. More balanced league, although at the expense of team stability.

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Fire Phil Emery

here we go: entire preseason cancelled, first two weeks of regular season likely to be

2 billion in revenues. Figure it out guys. Seems like these players are to emotional to sit at the table. It's obvious regular season games will be missed now, probably half the season will be toast and it's the regular people who will be hurt as is always the case in sports work stoppages. Damn shame.

The players have given a ton in concessions. This lockout is all on the owners now. Figure out some better revenue sharing system, and get a deal done.

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