Big 12: Tuberville right & wrong
Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville said publicly what many in the Big 12 believe privately but won’t say. That this league is not long for the world.
“I don’t think this conference will last long because there is too much disparity between all the teams,” Tuberville told satellite radio host Bill King. “In the SEC, for instance, Vanderbilt makes as much money in the television contract as Florida. Everybody is good with it. Everybody is on the same page. Everyone gets the same votes.
This March 27, 2010, photo shows Texas Tech University head coach Tommy Tuberville watching his team during their first spring scrimmage, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Geoffrey McAllister)
“That doesn’t happen here in the Big 12. We have some teams that get a little bit more money and have a little bit more stroke than some of the other teams. And when that happens, you’re gonna have teams looking for better avenues to leave and reasons to leave.”
Tuberville is correct that the new Big 12 will breed massive discontent. You’ve got the five schools that almost got left behind — Kansas, Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor — plus schools like Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, which have competed at least equally with Texas A&M for most of a decade on the scoreboard and in revenue-producing television exposure, yet A&M is guaranteed several million more dollars per year because of politics.
Even A&M, which torpedoed Texas’ bid to put together a Big 12 South exodus to the Pac-10, might grow weary of the Big 12 and could re-introduce the concept of jumping to the SEC. Certainly Missouri will go to the Big Ten at first possible chance, which may or may not come. And Kansas could have options and knows it has to be on its toes.
But the Big 12 might last for awhile because most teams don’t have options. Certainly Tech and OSU are at the mercy of Texas and OU. Nobody of substance is interested in K-State or Iowa State.
The Big 12 could stay together for awhile out of necessity, not out of satisfaction.
Three weeks ago, I called the salvation of the Big 12 the Treaty of Versailles, because it surely would foster only hard feelings. Which Tuberville seems to back up.
“We have a 10-team league right now, but I just don’t know how long that’s gonna last, to be honest with you,” Tuberville said on the radio interview.
Tech might have been the most disappointed school in the breakdown of the Pac-16 plan. The Red Raiders have as much in common with Arizona State and Arizona as they do Iowa State and Missouri. The Pac-16 was a great idea to Tech. Most other schools were torn between the pros and cons of the move, though I think OU and OSU both thought overall going West was the best move.
But Tech was not torn. Its new football coach is brave enough to say it.
Found: College hoops scheduling clearinghouse
I wrote about college basketball scheduling earlier this week, and a reader sent me a link to a fascinating website, Basketball Travelers Inc.:
This is basically a clearinghouse for college basketball scheduling. A marketplace for schools needing to schedule games. Most major schools on here are trying to buy games against outmanned opponents, while mid-majors are on here trying to schedule home-and-home series.
The entries are placed chronologically, so the most recent post appears first. This one from St. Bonaventure was made early Wednesday morning and repeats most of the same information from a St. Bonnie post four weeks ago:
St. Bonaventure needs two H/H’s to complete our 2010-11 schedule. Need to start one at home between Nov. 14-16 and one on the road Nov. 30 or Dec. 1. Willing to do a four-year HAAH for anyone starting here Nov. 14-16 and open to a H/H same season or Triangle. We are losing two of our top three scorers and our starting PG
Some clarification is in order. H/H is home-and-home series. HAAH means home, away, away, home over a four-year period. Triangle is when three teams are involved in the scheduling, apparently A hosts B, B hosts C, C hosts A.
OSU's Ray Penn passes the ball around Prairie View A&M's Brandon Webb during the college basketball game between Oklahoma State University and Prairie View A&M at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Tuesday, November 24, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
And you’ve got to love the plug on how poor the Bonnies might be, losing two of their top three scorers and a starting point guard. Arkansas State lays it out thick: “Our leading scorer/Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the year just transferred!”
Schools handle the delicate topic of purchased victories in different ways. DePaul: “DePaul is looking to pay a competitive guarantee for a game here in Chicago Nov. 12 or 13.” San Diego State: “San Diego State is looking to buy two games in late December.” Michigan State: “Michigan State is looking for multiple guarantee games in East Lansing on Dec. 4, Dec. 18 and during conference play. We are willing to pay.”
And here’s what’s funny. Sometimes we feel sorry for the mid-majors and low majors who are chicken feed for the big boys. But we forget they’re just parts of the food chain, and they have their feasts, too. Southeast Missouri State: “Southeast Missouri State is looking for a Non-D1 to play in Cape Girardeau on Sunday Nov. 14th.” Wisconsin-Green Bay: “UWGB is looking to play a D2 game on opening weekend (Nov. 13).”
Oklahoma State is on the site: “Oklahoma State University is looking for a guarantee game on November 20-22, 2010. Last game to finish 2010-11 schedule. We will pay a very good guarantee with rooms if needed and possibly ground transportation.” I don’t know about you, but I’d say OSU tipped its hand. The rooms and the bus have to be in the deal.
Tulsa is on there, too: “Tulsa is looking for a guarantee game in Tulsa. December 2, 16, or 18 available.”
Missouri, Baylor, Iowa State and Colorado also are seeking games.
The whole thing makes me want to start up a scheduling business. A college basketball matchmaker. Forget TV games. Forget Texas-North Carolina or Kansas-Kentucky. Someone needs to coordinate the scheduling of North Dakota-Arkansas or Sam Houston State-Mississippi State.
So when the University of San Diego announces it is looking to play a road guarantee game with a BCS opponent (which means big payday) on Dec. 13 or Jan. 2, I start finding a foe that might work. There’s got to be money in it. From what I understand, some schools are willing to pay.
Cardinals seek Freedom medal for Stan Musial
The St. Louis Cardinals have begun a campaign for Stan Musial to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The medal is the highest civilian award in the U.S., along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It honors those who have made an “especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Stan Musial, Cardinal's slugging outfielder, receives silver bat from National League President Warren Giles in ceremony before the start of the Cards-Brooklyn game which was rained out, July 13, 1952. (AP Photo)
First, a disclaimer. I love Stan Musial. I first heard his name in a barber shop in Joplin, Mo., in 1966. I was five years old. The barber was quizzing me about baseball, which I had just discovered. You think Stan the Man is big now in the state of Missouri; think how big he was in 1966, three years after his retirement.
On my desk is a baseball signed by Musial and Whitey Ford, sent to me by a friend.
I met Musial once, on the streets of St. Louis, right after Bud Wilkinson’s funeral in February 1994. Musial attended the service at Christ Church Cathedral, and I caught up to him a block away, after the memorial. Gracious, lovely man.
Musial the baseball player was as good as it gets. The equal of Mays and DiMaggio and Aaron. Baseball historian Bill James gave Musial the highest compliment when he said Stan the Man “always left the batter’s box on a dead run.”
Anyone who wants to put Musial ahead of Ted Williams or Barry Bonds as the left fielder on their all-time time will get no argument from me.
But Musial doesn’t deserve the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Musial played from 1941 through 1963. He luckily avoided the draft after World War II broke out and didn’t enlist until 1944. Musial never saw combat and missed only one season, 1945.
Compare that to DiMaggio or Williams or Hank Greenberg or Bob Feller, then explain how Musial deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Musial has been a great American, but were a bunch of other ballplayers, some of whom missed more than one year in their prime.
You want to give someone a medal, how about Greenberg? The Detroit Tigers slugger was drafted in 1940 and drew some flak when he listed Detroit, and not his native New York, as his hometown, which produced a lower draft number. But Greenberg reported to the military in May 1941 — he got 67 at-bats in 1941 — then was honorably discharged on Dec. 5, 1941, when the military released men 28 years or older.
Two days later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. In January, Greenberg re-enlisted in the Army Air Force, hopefully putting an end to any talk about his patriotism. Greenberg eventually served in the Pacific theater, scouting locations for B-29 bomber bases.
Former St. Louis Cardinals Stan Musial holds up the ceremonial first pitch ball before the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Greenberg was 30 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. From 1937-40, Greenberg hit 172 home runs. That’s 43 a year. He was a three-time home run champ. A three-time RBI champ, each time knocking in at least 150 runs.
From 1941 through 1945, Greenberg got 337 at-bats, including 270 upon his return in 1945. In 1946, with baseball back at full strength, Greenberg was 35 years old, past his prime. He hit 44 home runs and drove in 127.
No ballplayer lost as much to World War II as did Greenberg, though when you factor in Ted Williams’ service during the Korean War, he moves to the top of the class.
Meanwhile, Musial thrived in the watered-down baseball during the war. He hit .357 in 1943, then .347 in 1944. Musial’s 3,630 career hits remain No. 4 on the all-time list, trailing only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb and Henry Aaron. Musial had 564 hits in the three years 1942-44.
Musial avoided being drafted because he was a father. As the war progressed and the need for men increased, eligibility requirements changed, and it became apparent Musial would have to serve. He joined the Navy in 1944 but was allowed to finish that baseball season.
No one is saying Musial was a slacker No one is saying he’s not a patriot. No one is saying he’s not a great American.
But if Obama is going to hand out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a great slugger from the ’40s, I hope it goes posthumously to Hank Greenberg, who died in 1986.
By the way, other athletes and coaches given the Presidential Medal of Freedom are Aaron, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Earl Blaik, Bear Bryant, Roberto Clemente, DiMaggio, Billie Jean King, Robert J.H. Kiphuth (Yale coach), Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens, Buck O’Neil, Arnold Palmer, Richard Petty, Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Williams and John Wooden.
Big 12: Hoop coaches seeking relief
Didn’t take long for some Big 12 basketball coaches to go pulling the covers over their head. The league appears headed for an 18-game conference schedule when the Big 12 is trimmed to 10 schools in 2011.
And some coaches already are decrying the inhumanity of it all. Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said Monday that 18 league games is a “grind … it’s hard on a basketball team. Non-conference scheduling may change.”
A&M played a decent non-conference schedule last season, if two road games (SMU and Washington) and four neutral-court games (Clemson, West Virginia and Minnesota, all in Anaheim, Calif., and New Mexico in Houston) can be considered decent. The Aggies also played home games against Angelo State, Samford, Prairie View, Akron, North Texas, the Citadel, Northwestern Louisiana and North Dakota.
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon looks on during an NCAA college basketball practice at the Big 12 Conference men's tournament in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)
Not to pick on the Aggies. Every school plays some opponents like that.
OSU played Seattle, Southern, North Texas, Prairie View, Texas-San Antonio, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Pacific and Coppin State. OU played Mount St. Mary’s, Louisiana-Monroe, Centenary, Northern Colorado and Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Coaches have come to believe they have a divine right to such schedules, which are done to pad win totals and athletic budgets
But I don’t understand why such games rise above exhibition level. Every march, when we discuss the portfolios of each squad for NCAA Tournament purposes, we just trot out their victory total: 19 wins, 26 wins, 23 wins. Whatever it might be.
And it’s bogus. A&M entered the NCAA Tournament 23-9. But wasn’t the Aggies’ record really 15-9? Games you can’t possibly lose, games scheduled to be automatic victories for a wealthier program, shouldn’t be counted. So OSU shouldn’t have been seeded based on a 22-10 season; the Cowboys should have been seeded based on a 14-10 season. Because that’s what OSU was. And OU, which suffered through a disastrous 13-18 season, actually was 8-18 in games that weren’t determined before they started.
An 18-game conference schedule is NOT a grind. It’s called competition. Sports do not exist so that coaches can pad their won-loss record. Sports exist so that athletes can engage in legitimate competition, and sports as entertainment thrive in that scenario.
The recent development of one-sided mismatches as sports/entertainment has been pushed upon fan bases that have deluded themselves. It was not always this way in collegiate athletics. It doesn’t have to stay this way. Particularly in college basketball, which doesn’t pay the freight anyway. College football shoulders the financial burden for most athletic programs.
The exhibition nature of much of college basketball’s November and December calendar is political. And if the NCAA basketball committee would recognize that fact and start judging teams accordingly, maybe we wouldn’t have to trumpet an 18-game Big 12 schedule.
OU-Texas: Expect 2:30 p.m. kickoff
ESPN hasn’t made an announcement and probably won’t until 12 days before kickoff, but expect the OU-Texas game to kick off at 2:30 p.m.
OU-Texas has been hit with a series of 11 a.m. kickoffs over the last 10 years, which pleases few in any camp other than perhaps the Dallas Police Department. A morning kickoff makes it difficult on late-night revelers in Dallas and on same-day commuters who drive in from Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Austin or Houston.
Texas' Jordan Shipley (8) and Oklahoma's Brian Jackson (2) fight for the ball during the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners ( OU) and the University of Texas Longhorns (UT) at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
OU and Texas have asked for some relief from the 11 a.m. kickoffs and expect to get it not just in 2010 but in the coming years.
The problem with the 2:30 p.m. window is that it is not a national telecast, because of ABC’s contract with the Pac-10. If ABC shows a Big 12, Big Ten or ACC game nationally, then it has no spot for a Pac-10 telecast that day. The 11 a.m. window offers a national telecast.
However, the relatively new concept of a reverse mirror has created new options. Reverse mirror is when ABC televises a game while at the same its sister company, ESPN, televises a different game, and those telecasts are reversed in various parts of the country. In other words, OU-Texas is on ABC in this part of America, with a Pac-10 game on ESPN (or ESPN2). But out West, ABC telecasts the Pac-10 game while OU-Texas is placed on ESPN or ESPN2.
That allows OU-Texas, for example, to be a national telecast, but at 2:30 p.m.
Much of this was discussed before the conference realignment uproar earlier this month. OU and Texas might have less influence now. ABC/ESPN has agreed to pay the Big 12 as much as always for an inferior product (no Nebraska). So don’t go make concrete Dallas plans just yet.
OU and Texas officials have long opposed requests to move the game to night. They figure that State Fair atmosphere would be combustible if allowded to percolate all day. Now the Sooners and Longhorns hope they’ve settled on a traditional kickoff time of 2:30 p.m.
And by the way, don’t expect OU-Texas to be under heavy discussion for moving to December at JerryWorld in Arlington. The game is contracted with the State Fair through 2015.
Some have suggested that game could be negotiated away from the Cotton Bowl and placed on the first Saturday in December, when most years it would blow away the competing titles games in other conferences. But both schools’ officials believe the game has too much history and tradition to be moved from its October date and State Fair of Texas home.
J.D. Morgan: UCLA partriarch an Oklahoman
UCLA plays South Carolina in the College World Series championship series beginning tonight in Omaha, Neb., and the Bruins have won a national-best 106 NCAA team championships.
Thirty of those NCAA titles came in the 16-year period during which J.D. Morgan was athletic director, 1963-79.
Morgan was an Oklahoman. He was born in Newcastle and went to high school in Cordell, where he played football, baseball, basketball and tennis. He was a tennis star and went to UCLA in the late 1930s on a scholarship. He was UCLA’s tennis captain in 1941.
After serving in World War II, Morgan returned to UCLA as assistant tennis coach, then became head coach in 1949. He coached the Bruins to eight NCAA titles, including one, 1965, after he became athletic director. Among Morgan’s recruits were Arthur Ashe.
During Morgan’s tenure as AD, UCLA won NCAA in men’s basketball (10), men’s volleyball (seven), men’s tennis (six), men’s track (four) and men’s water polo (three). The NCAA did not sponsor women’s championships until 1982. Thirty-five of UCLA’s 106 team titles have been won by women’s teams, which means UCLA has won 71 men’s championships. Thirty came in the 16 years Morgan directed UCLA athletics.
Jack Herron, a former Henry Iba player at Oklahoma A&M, befriended John Wooden in the 1970s. I wrote about the Herron/Wooden relationship earlier this month, upon the death of Wooden. Herron also became friends with Morgan.
“I sat next to him at a banquet one time and he made an effort to be friend me because he was from Oklahoma,” Herron said.
“He jump-started the UCLA athletic dynasty. He used to sit on the UCLA bench with Coach Wooden. Many pictures of the bench show J. D. right there with Mr. Wooden. He (Morgan) became known for being hard on basketball officials. Thus resulted a rule banning ADs from sitting on benches with teams.
“ Wooden’s success closely parallels Morgan’s return to UCLA after the war. Mr. Wooden’s 12-year run really took off after Morgan became AD. In private, at least to me, Mr. Wooden gave Morgan great credit. Morgan could tell great stories and was very proud of his Oklahoma roots.”
Herron is right about the timeline. Wooden coached UCLA for 15 years before his first NCAA basketball title, in 1964.
“Until Morgan came along, Oklahoma State because of the wrestling tradition was second only to USC in NCAA championships,” Herron said. “Morgan’s success along with Wooden and the entire UCLA program have pushed OSU down a few notches. It just took an Okie to do the job.”
Wimbledon marathon: Sad commentary for tennis
I’m like most everyone else. I couldn’t take my eyes off that Wimbledon marathon between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, which spanned three days and was won by Eisner 70-68 in the fifth set.
When the fifth set score reached the 30s, I started hearing about it and kept at least one eye on it the rest of the match, including the next morning. But while it was gripping theater and thrust tennis and Wimbledon back to center stage, it was not a great testament to the sport.
Those calling it one of the greatest matches ever are silly. In fact, it was the opposite. Few rallies. More than 200 aces, which sounds nice but is really like watching a dunk contest instead of a basketball game. No drama. Play, what, 183 games and have five match points?
The longer the match went, the less amazing the match became. Which doesn’t make sense. But the more you watched Isner and Mahut trade service points, the question became less how is this happening and more how will this ever end?
The technological trend of tennis toward machine-gun serves has tilted the sport. It’s harder than ever to break serve. It was darn near impossible in Isner-Mahut. They played 183 games and had two service breaks. Two.
Hardly ever was there a chance one would break the other. Neither had a prayer of consistently returning a save with any kind of hopeful positioning. It’s not a miracle the fifth set went to 70-68. It’s a miracle it ended at 70-68.
Some say this will never happen again. I’m not so sure. Sometimes, a sport’s circumstances are ripe for revolution. It’s just waiting on a leader. In 1919, no one ever thought a baseball player should swing for the fences. Then Babe Ruth did, and soon enough everyone was. The Babe didn’t do anything other players couldn’t do. He just did it first.
Isner and Mahut showed tennis players that there is no reason to gamble or give up or even try harder when the fifth set turns long in the tooth. Just keep serving strong and you’ll stay in the match until sundown or the next sundown.
The Isner-Mahut match did not display what’s great about tennis. It displayed what’s wrong with tennis.
NBA Draft: Thunder wheels & deals
After a short night’s sleep, some second-day thoughts on the NBA Draft.
* I’m on record for not being crazy about Cole Aldrich. But you’ve got to hand it to Thunder general manager Sam Presti. Slingin’ Sam had another wild night.
The Thunder started the week with picks 21, 26, 32 and 51. They parlayed those picks into Aldrich, Daequan Cook, Morris Peterson (though I doubt he ever sets foot in OKC), Germany’s Tibor Pleiss, Florida State’s Ryan Reid, D-leaguer Latavious Williams and a future Clippers No. 1 pick.
NBA commissioner David Stern, left, poses with Cole Aldrich who was selected 11th overall by the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 24, 2010, in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
When you look at it that way, that’s a heck of a draft night. Four picks that have limited value — no one really thinks they’re getting an impact player at No. 21; a rotation player can be a stretch — provided all kinds of possibilities.
* I would rate the Thunder commodities this way:
1. The Clippers’ pick. You’re getting a future Clippers’ first-round pick? The Clippers have been in the playoffs four times in the last 34 years. Sure, the pick is lottery-protected, but it’s not lottery-protected forever.
2. Aldrich. I’m skeptical that he can be a defensive enforcer, but others are not. And it’s not like the draft was littered with dominant big men. If you think of it this way, that the Thunder basically got Aldrich for the 21st pick, it’s a steal.
3. Cook. Consider it a no-risk purchase. Almost like a money-back guarantee. The Thunder gets to have Cook for a year, see if he’s a shooter or not, then decide what to do with him. Cook is entering his fourth season, which means the Boomers have all kinds of options. They can extend his contract by a year. They can make him a restricted free agent, meaning OKC could match any offer. They can cut him. Not a lot of gamble in that.
4. Pleiss. A 7-foot-1 German who can run and shoot and is only 20 years old? A player who doesn’t want to come to the U.S. yet? He sounds like a Bavarian Byron Mullens. Stash him, let him develop and see what you’ve got. If you’ve got a bust, you’ve lost virtually nothing.
5. Latavious Williams: I like this guy for one reason in particular. He had the good sense not to go to college when he had no desire to be there. Williams would have played at Memphis U. last season except he made the mature decision to spend the year in the D-League. It’s quite possible Williams would have been drafted higher; he’s a 6-8 forward who has some skills. But it’s clear Williams is a better player now than he would have been playing a year in college. College basketball impedes talent more than it develops talent.
6. Ryan Reid: I can’t tell you one thing about Ryan Reid.
In this April 9, 2010, photo, New Orleans Hornets guard Morris Peterson passes the ball against the Utah Jazz during an NBA basketball game in New Orleans. The Hornets have agreed to trade Cole Aldrich and veteran shooting guard Peterson to Oklahoma City for the Thunder's 21st and 26th picks in the first round. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
7. Morris Peterson: I can tell you a lot about Mo-Pete. But I can’t tell you I knew he still was in the league. He was a take-a-hefty-contract pickup for the Thunder. I think he gets bought out and never plays in OKC.
* ESPN kept saying — and wire services picked it up — that Ed Davis, taken No. 13 by Toronto — continued the streak of drafts that included players whose fathers played in the NBA.
Wrong. Davis did not extend the streak. Xavier Henry extended the streak. Henry went 12th, to Memphis. Carl Henry, Xavier’s dad, played 28 games for the Sacramento Kings in 1985-86. Among Carl’s other distinctions: he’s the only future NBA player I ever played hoops against. 1977 AAU tournament in northwest Oklahoma City.
* Biggest loser of the night was Kirk Hinrich. There was talk that the Bulls guard might get shipped to the Lakers, who need a solid (not spectacular) point guard. Hinrich would have been great in LA. Instead, Hinrich got shipped to Washington, which has an enigmatic point guard in Gilbert Arenas and drafted John Wall No. 1 overall.
* The Thunder was a big winner when the Kings drafted power forward DeMarcus Cousins of Kentucky. That means less playing time for Sac’s Carl Landry, who is the Kings’ best player, they just don’t know it. That will make the three or four games against the Kings much easier to deal with it.
* I love Edmond Santa Fe’s Ekpe Udoh, but I hate that he was drafted by Golden State. Talk about an abysmal NBA address. Bad team, bad culture, bad coaching. Udoh won’t learn a thing about winning NBA basketball with Don Nelson. He’ll just run up and down the court, get a bunch of baskets and rebounds, and nobody will care.
* I’m glad the Thunder’s rumored trade with Indiana for Eric Maynor didn’t go through. I know the Thunder rotation won’t stay together forever, but if OKC loses Maynor, it will have to find a backup point guard somewhere, and Maynor showed more than enough promise to believe he can a solid player on a really good team.
* Deputy commissioner Adam Silver might need to be relieved of his draft-announcement duties. Silver proclaimed the second-round picks, after David Stern did the first-round duties, and Silver botched Damion James’ name, calling him Damion Jones while announcing a trade.
* Villanova all-American Scotty Reynolds, who originally signed with OU, went undrafted. He’s the first undrafted AP all-American since the NBA/ABA merger of 1976.
Power Lunch Chat Recap: Berry Tramel
NBA draft: Never boring with Presti
One thing we have learned with Sam Presti as the Thunder general manager. Drafts never are boring. Even when they’re boring.
The Thunder, slated to pick 21st, 26th, 32nd and 51st in the NBA Draft, traded the 32nd pick to the Miami Heat for the No. 18 pick plus shooting guard Daequan Cook. You read that right.
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti speaks to the media during a season-ending press conference at the Thunder's practice facility in Oklahoma City, OK, Monday, May 3, 2010. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman
The NBA salary structure can lead to many strange situations, such as teams moving down in the draft not to get a player, but to get rid of one. Nothing against Cook, but Miami considered his empty salary slot much more valuable than Cook himself.
Not that Cook is making break-the-bank money, but Miami is pinching pennies to be able to offer LeBron James and the other free agents deluxe just as much loot as possible to join Dwyane Wade in south Florida — and Wade must be re-signed, too.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think this trade was just moving up in the draft for Presti. Oh, it’s that. He now has three first-round picks, including No. 18, which is getting into decent territory. Most people expect Presti to package those three first-round picks to move up even higher in the draft.
Could happen. But I wouldn’t put it past Presti to package those picks for a future pick. Teams on the verge of a draft are pretty stingy with letting loose of a high pick. But future high picks? Teams let those slide all the time. Wouldn’t surprise me if Presti traded with some rumdum team for a future first-round pick that very likely will be in the lottery and could be high.
But don’t forget Cook. He doesn’t strike me as a throw-in in this trade. This smacks of a guy Presti likes. Cook was a dud last season in Miami, but he’s only 23 years old. He’s played 179 NBA games (Ekpe Udoh is 23 and just about to get drafted). Cook is a career 35.8 percent shooter from 3-point range, but he was 38.7 percent in 2008-09, when he won the 3-point contest at the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Lots of people have been saying the Thunder’s biggest need is a shooter. Well, I would say trading for a guy who 17 months ago won the league’s premier shooting contest is at least a shot at filling that void.
I like Daequan Cook at $3 million a year a lot more than I like Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick at $6-7 million a year. And if Cook indeed has lost his shooting touch, well, all it really cost the Thunder is $3 million in salary they were going to have to pay someone anyway, plus a better draft pick.
I’d say that’s a heck of a trade. We’ll see how good it is, depending on how the trades go the next 24 hours and how Cook plays next season.
