The Mets are facing financial troubles. Again. According to a report in the New York Times, they took out a $40 million loan from Bank of America for working capital. Mets officials released a statement saying that sale of minority shares have been going well.
And so it goes for Met fans. A week after losing Jose Reyes because the price wasn’t right, information comes out that maybe no price would’ve been right. Look I’m not the biggest fan of the Wilpons. I think its ridiculous how they’ve run the franchise these last few years given what we now know about them and their link to Bernie Madoff. The Mets are a joke now in the NL East and much of it has to do with the board room workings of the first family of clowns that run that organization. They have damaged much of their reputation and short of repaying that loan from MLB of $25 million the Mets will need to do a huge salvage job and hope that Sandy Alderson and his basement bargain shopping can take the Mets out of the cellar.
I’m pretty confident that he won’t and so it goes. Bud Selig has long been in cahoots with the Wilpons because they have been huge proponents of the commissioner even getting him elected to the post initially. He owes them something and now they owe him something. He’s been repaid the favor. Expecting Bud Selig to do the right thing and end this tyranny would be like asking Snookie not to be annoying or the Kardashians to NOT preen for the camera. Ain’t gonna happen. So Met fans linger in this world of spite knowing that their owners don’t have money to spend and hope that we’re dumb enough to reload their coffers.
Unfortunately, all it takes is for the Mets to play well. But now, I feel as though the only way for the Mets to do well in the long term is for the coffers to stay empty and no one show up at the ball park. To further peril the bottom line of the Coupon family until they realize that they can no longer count on financial institutions to fund their game of baseball ownership and finally end this long twisting melodrama and give hope to Met fans who still like to hold on to their once famous slogan: Ya gotta believe.
No Chris Paul news to report other than to report that the deal set in place with the Clippers that seemed beyond fair is now also in the dirt with the Laker offer. Or is it? According to Yahoo sports, the NBA is trying to resuscitate talks with the Clippers because they remain the only team willing to discuss young players and draft picks, the kind of haul that David Stern is looking to recoup in a CP3 deal. BUT the Clippers say they are over it and moving on. For now. Nothing is forever in the NBA. Ken Berger of CBSSports said that this whole episode has been an exercise in folly. Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups is now a Clipper after being claimed through the amnesty auction and has been warned by the league according to David Aldridge of NBA.com to report to the team or be hit with some form of discipline. Mitch Kupchak said the Lakers are “pursuing big deals” and Chris Sheridan from Sheridanhoops.com wonders what the plural in that statement could mean. The Dwight Howard sweepstakes took an interesting turn when he came in front of the media and seemingly did a 180 and said he would like to stay in Orlando. Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel said the Magic’s franchise center is sucking the fan base into the vortex of his emotional relationship with the team. Speaking of franchises being hijacked, according to several media outlets the Nets majority owner, Mikhail Prokhorov will run against Vladimir Putin to become the next President of Russia. As always Peter Vecsey’s expertise is needed in this matter.
How much weirder and crazier can this sequence of events get for the NBA? Now, it seems as though the NBA is reversing course from its unusual practice of being like that guy in your fantasy football league, saying ok i’ll trade Tom Brady but I need Drew Brees AND Arian Foster. That kind of two for one spectacular isn’t getting it done and won’t in the end. The fact is, the NBA HAS created its own embarrassing storyline and generated enough negativity that its impossible not to envision David Stern as anything but the axis of evil. The Commissioner has now cancelled two trades that likely would’ve been accepted by every other General Manager in the League and is now purposely, it seems, pushing the carrot farther and farther from the mouths of those who crave the superstar PG.
Not only is he doing irreparable damage to his legacy he’s now becoming a farce and perhaps unaware of the public sentiment surrounding him. If in his bat cave he hasn’t gotten the signal from Gothamites that he’s now loathed and laughed at in multiple circles for hijacking NBA storylines and creating a sense of unenvying hatred from his employees it seems the only thing he can offer is but to one player: to teach Lebron how to be hated by all and still do your job undeterred.
The Chris Paul deal is dead and I don’t expect anyone, but the NBA on its hands and knees at Donald Sterling’s LA mansion, to come crawling asking for some version of the reported deal to be agreed upon. But that won’t happen, we all know this. David Stern is looking to sell off the Hornets and without a franchise PG in tow, he will not be able to get nearly the value he received from these other owners who overpaid for franchises who consistently see red. For any owner to go into an already shortened season and try to convince the star PG to resign with the team and get a handle of the vision it would take a gargantuan personality like Mark Cuban or Mikhail Prokhorov to pull off such a feat and those guys own teams already.
The sad part of this is, the NBA is making one of its league’s better ambassadors a sour puss the entire way. How can Chris Paul focus on his job if his job is constantly evolving? He’s a Laker one day then not. Then a Clipper and then not. This push and pull effect has to make him feel like a child going through multiple divorces.
Meanwhile this Dwight Howard thing has gotten silly. His reversal in stance is peculiar to say the least but not without any recourse. I believe he does love it in Orlando. I think he wants unparalleled power there to allow him to be part of the decision making process which would undermine the general manager who obviously handles those duties. Dwight is under the illusion that the Magic will somehow give him the team he craves and the Magic, I hope, are not drinking the same juice that Howard had before that press conference. Because, like Ken Berger wrote, if the Magic think that they can keep Dwight they are looking to get burned. I think he knows his trade options are slim and the Lakers won’t offer both Bynum and Gasol for him and so that deal is done. Who cares about a Mavs first round pick? Congratulations you got Andrew Bynum and his horrible knees and a first round pick in the 20’s where you’ll get another experimental piece. See ya in 15 years when you have your next franchise center that we’ll take.
No, I think the Magic’s best offer comes from the Nets who have all but stalled their operations waiting for the Magic to hear their offer and respond and I don’t think they will. The Nets will HAVE to get some kind of indication that they are being discussed as a real possibility or else they may jump into the Nene sweepstakes which essentially takes them out of the Howard bidding. The Lakers may be working on several big deals but its unclear where Mitch Kupchack is going. Maybe he’ll trade Pau Gasol for a commitment from David Beckham sitting in the front row at every home game and Tim Tebow giving motivational pep talks prior to Laker games. Atleast there’ll be more heart in that team.
The game of musical chairs continues and one chair that is taken is Chauncey and its with the Clippers who may have used this to signal that they are indeed officially out of the CP3 sweepstakes. By claiming Billups they have taken a huge chance that they are indeed contenders and won’t use Chauncey to mentor their young players. You know because the Clips are full of veteran players. But I like this move, if Chauncey has his head on straight. For Chauncey he gets to run the point for a very young explosive team and yes, I get that he will have to play the role he loathed but let’s face it, even if he started on the Heat, during crunch time who would you rather have bringing the ball up the court? Lebron or Chauncey? The best bet is to have Lebron run the point this season anyway and just try and get bigger. Obtaining size SHOULD have been the Heat’s number one goal. Riley should’ve given Kurt Thomas a call. They need a tough physical presence in the paint. No he can’t run but you don’t expect Thomas to be on the receiving end of any of Lebron’s alley oops. The Heat once again went into free agency without any real game plan except to try and get bodies.
But I digress, Chauncey’s addition is huge for the Clips who need a veteran presence to balance out the age and lack of experience they have. They are a team on the rise and yes, if they got CP3, they vault into that Thunder territory as that next team that will contend for years to come, but having Chauncey on the roster is the best thing for guys like Eric Gordon and Eric Bledsoe and co , guys who will have to grow around Blake Griffin. Let’s understand one thing: aside from his ability to throw down monstrous dunks and catch alley oops and make highlight reels, he hasn’t exhibited much else in the realm of winning. Everybody wants to play with Blake, but nobody’s won with Blake. Winning has to start this season. Chauncey is a good person to get that started.
Interim title notwithstanding, Glen Grunwald is handling the Knicks GM job as if he were actually running the show. Alan Hahn of Newsday and soon to be MSG, says that this is quite the first impression he’s making. Marc Berman of the New York Post believes that the new GM is making all the right moves even if he’s a lame duck.
Look, this is either headed for a storybook end or a horror movie finish with nobody making it out alive. Knick fans have been ever so patient over the last few years and were even willing to wait for Chris Paul to arrive, but now that the Knicks have virtually left themselves in no position to acquire the star PG, it becomes apparent that the time is now. The time has come for the Knicks to finally stop waiting and start doing. If this is the time, then great. I haven’t hid my love for this move as it finally means that the Knicks have given up their delusions of grandeur and proceeded to do business like regular folks. They have a core of in their prime players and now must build around them. Do they need an excellent point guard? No. In D’Antoni’s system they can do without. Even in Phil Jackson’s triangle offense, you wouldn’t require a great point guard, just one that can make the smart decisions. Phil had BJ Armstrong, Ron Harper, and Derek Fisher all these years running point on championship teams. Don’t feed me the garbage that he has to have an additional all star to coach this team.
Do I think Dolan goes after Phil? Yes but only if his buddy Isiah tells him to. It would behoove Knick fans to get off their crazy, hair brained idea for a restraining order which restricts Dolan and Isiah from being within 200 yards of one another and deal with the fact that if they want some kind of order restored the ONLY way to do that is by poisoning Isiah’s mind with reason. Or have Isiah poison CP3’s mind with dreams of riches in NY supplanting the Mid Level exception which would be all the Knicks would be able to afford to give to Chris Paul after this season.
Either way, this decision was not just needed but the decisiveness was welcome. Grunwald made a bold decision to go where no D’Antoni has gone before. Maybe Mike kept the D silent all these years in his name and now can pronounce it with Tyson in the fold.
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