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• D.J. Foster on ClipperBlog, giving Blake Griffin an "A" for effort: "It started on an individual level, and it started with Blake Griffin. Over the season, Griffin developed his own reputation throughout the league. He was a flopper and a villain, an entitled superstar who had little interest in anything else but dunking and scoring. That all may be rooted in some form of reality, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of any of that in Game 7 in Memphis. Griffin may have played the ugliest, prettiest game of his career. There is nothing glamorous about battling with Zach Randolph. At one point, Randolph quite literally saddled Griffin and rode him to the ground. He clocked him with an elbow. Battling for every inch of space is something that rarely earns you money, recognition or stats -- just respect. Griffin was willing to sacrifice everything for a win -- bum knee, pride, whatever -- by finally engaging in the little battles that he’s often declined to take part of. If there was a scrum in the paint, you could guarantee Griffin was in the middle of it."
• From the Clippers team plane: Chris Paul is a big baby. Related: Marc Gasol and Blake Griffin making hilariously dramatic faces during Game 7. (Via @jailblazin)
• Greg Monroe makes all us perfectly adequate children look terrible on Mother's Day.
• John Hollinger (Insider) doesn't like the Lakers chances against Oklahoma City: "At first glance, this series pits three Lakers stars versus three Thunder stars, and seems like it should be a pretty even fight. Glance closer and the advantages tilt the Thunder's way. For starters, Durant is a much better player than Bryant at this point in their respective careers. And looking deeper, Oklahoma City's fourth-best player, Ibaka, is dramatically better than anybody else on the Lakers, and most of their role players are a bit better than their counterparts on the Lakers."
• Kobe Bryant is better suited to defend the speedy Russell Westbrook than the crafty James Harden.
• Royce Young, on an ESPN 5-on-5, with an interesting take on the "rust versus rest" issue: "I don't necessarily think it'll be a rust issue for the Thunder, but more an overeagerness to play. These are guys that are starved to play basketball. They absolutely live for it. And waiting nine days to get at it again, especially with the way the last game against the Mavs went, has to make the Thunder a bit anxious to get on the floor. It probably won't affect anything other than maybe the first 15 minutes of Game 1, but that might be enough to get in an early hole."
• Hornets fans are dreaming of Anthony Davis in a Hornets hat on draft night. Here is that dream, true already, in a way.
• Jared Wade of Eight Points Nine Seconds investigates whether the Heat got the benefit of the whistle an undue amount in Game 1. He also brings this sharp analysis: "More than anything, however, the last sentence in Granger’s quote is what stood out to me: 'I’ve never been in a situation like that.' This reminded me of something Granger said after Game 4 of the Magic series, during which the Pacers lost a 19-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation before eventually beating a bad team in overtime. About the raucous crowd in the Amway Center, Danny said the following: 'It was a hostile environment -- one of the craziest environments I’ve played in.' Even though the 28-year-old Pacers’ captain is a seven-year NBA veteran, he has neither played in many hostile playoff environments nor played through foul trouble in the playoffs. This is revealing. And it’s not just him. Lest we forget, many of this team’s key players have very little playoff experience."
• Over at HoopSpeak, Ethan Sherwood Strauss explains, with helpful pictures, why today's defenses make it so much harder to be a high-scoring big man in 2011 than it was in 1998: "There is a reason why Rik Smits -- in his prime -- had a higher usage rate than even today’s best centers, and it’s not that we stopped producing tall people of notable skill. Speaking of Pacers and the 1990s, I believe Roy Hibbert would be an ever better All Star in that era. He’s certainly much larger than Robinson, Olajuwon and Ewing pretended to be. His post moves are refined and when given the chance, he drops ball-in-hoop like an automated arcade prize claw. But there is a problem, an obstruction to the plan that was salient on Sunday. It just wasn’t mentioned by the many who lamented how Indiana failed to press their frontcourt advantage in Game 1. Simply put, the Heat don’t want Hibbert to get the ball.
• Regret in Philadelphia after losing a golden opportunity to steal home court advantage against Boston. In Game 2, Brett Koremenos advises them to let Andre Iguodala direct things far more than he did on Saturday.
• With Chris Bosh sidelined due to injury, expect LeBron James to soak up a good portion of those power forward minutes. Can the Heat run away from the Pacers with this lineup and negate Indiana's size? Will the Pacers force James into foul trouble and limit his minutes? Will battling David West leave James too worn down to take over late, as he did in Game 1? It's a fascinating development.
• A Q & A with ESPN's Stephania Bell on Chris Bosh's abdominal strain reveals something you probably could have guessed on your own: you don't want any muscle tears near the pubic bone.
• Brandon Jennings is becoming just good enough to be a real headache in Milwaukee as the Bucks decide on his future with the team.
• How shot location data can serve as an accurate guide to the Spurs-Clippers series.
• The Spurs lit up the Clippers in two of three regular season matchups, but Aaron McGuire notes on 48 Minutes of Hell San Antonio didn't exactly shut them down on the other end: "While the Spurs were hardly a wonderful defensive team in the early going this season, the Clippers consistently picked apart the Spurs defense like few other teams did this season. They were overall relatively competitive in their three game gauntlet against the Silver and Black this year, losing by only 3 points on a fluke overtime-forcing miscue by Chris Paul in Los Angeles and serving the Spurs one of their five home losses."
• A Thunder fan and a Sonics fan exchange open letters about the complicated relationship between their respective fan bases.
• Hey Rajon Rondo, your swag is showing.

• J.A. Adande telling a great Kobe Bryant story.
• Al Horford played 41 minutes in just his second game since returning from shoulder surgery. In that time he grabbed 11 rebounds, made a game-saving defensive play on Rajon Rondo and, according to John Hollinger, really lubricated the sputtering Hawks offense: "The telltale sign: Open corner 3-pointers. They'd been as rare as chowder in these parts, but Atlanta got several Tuesday night and converted 7-of-16 from distance. Marvin Williams, instated as a starter to guard Boston's Paul Pierce, made three of them, tripling his total from the first four games."
• I love this: The Nuggets are using a laptop in the huddle at the end of games to help predict what plays the Lakers might run. Don't be surprised if in a few years, each assistant has a iPad-like tablet, instead of a clipboard, in hand.
• Kobe Bryant's sweaty, game-worn mask garnered $67,100 in a charity auction.
• Kevin Durant's top 10 plays, which remind you that he's a very under-appreciated dunker.
• Facebook's massive IPO might help bring a new arena to Seattle.
• Basketball Value with a data on how every five-man lineup has fared thus far in the postseason.
• It turns out the Dream Team did lose a game -- to a squad of collegiate players lead by Bobby Hurley and Chris Webber. That footage will be a part of a Dream Team documentary coming to NBA TV.
• The Celtics are still up 3-2 against the Hawks, but Brian Robb of Celtics Hub is worried about Paul Pierce. The hobbled vet didn't attempt a single free throw in Game 5.
• No reason for Jeremy Lin to play if that knee isn't 100 percent.
• This story (Insider) is about LeBron James's historic season and how it compares to Michael Jordan's best years. But I can't help noticing this other bit: The numbers say no great player turned it up in the playoffs like Hakeem Olajuwon.
• The Bulls needed some bailout shooting from Luol Deng to survive Game 5. On By the Horns, Matt McHale isn't exactly thrilled: "Deng’s threes were also a red flag. The Bulls needed all three of them in the fourth quarter. Lu repeatedly beating the buzzer with contested threes isn’t something the team can count on consistently, especially not on the road in Philadelphia on Thursday. When Philly’s defense turns up the pressure in the fourth quarter, the Bulls cannot seem to generate good looks. Or even average looks. You can check out the shot chart. Philly’s D is either forcing long jumpers or intimidating the Bulls at the rim. In the fourth quarter last night, Chicago went 1-for-6 in the paint."
• The Lakers want to exploit their advantage in the post, but the Nuggets are making it awfully crowded down on the low block. Forum Blue and Gold's Darius Soriano has sage advice: "The Lakers need to move the ball more, cut and screen more, and then look for quick duck ins from their big men where they can catch the ball on the move or sliding into position where they’re more of a threat to score. By incorporating more ball and player movement before post entries are made, it should also afford the Lakers that extra beat of time they need to make a quick move to try and get a basket. Cross screens can also be utilized both in “horns” actions and in more simple sets that don’t involve the double high post look to begin a possession."
• Apparently, playing defense in the playoffs requires some blatant shoving.
• Aaron McGuire, writing about the Spurs on 48 Minutes of Hell: "The Spurs have managed to win six games this season while shooting 40 percent or lower from the floor (meaning that we shot less than or equal to 40 percent in 11.1 percent of our wins). Last season, despite their insane record, the Spurs won only once while shooting that poorly from the floor. This isn’t a matter of luck. The Spurs’ defense this season has played significantly better than last season’s, and while they certainly had their periods of lesser performance akin to last season, the Spurs we’re watching in this year’s playoffs are currently playing better defense than anyone in the Western Conference."
• Shawn Kemp (on stage!) will bring you some beef, but only if you'll have it with mustard.
• If it was his last game with the Magic, Jameer Nelson went out with a bang.
• It's not your fault if you don't know how good the Indiana Pacers are. Jonathan Auping writes on 8 Points 9 Seconds: "The Indiana Pacers played a grand total of one game on national television this season. (Side note: I do not consider NBA TV to qualify as national TV. I am talking about games played on ABC, ESPN or TNT. There’s something about having either Kenny and Charles or Magic and Wilbon talking about your first-half performance that feels like validation). The only chance that the country had to watch the Pacers was a 111-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN back on March 14. The Charlotte Bobcats had exactly as many nationally televised games as the Pacers."

• LeBron James says he has not imagined himself as a Knick.
• A staggering percentage of the nation's young seven-foot men are in the NBA.
• A lot of how the NBA deals with misbehavior is along the lines of how schools do the same thing. Suspensions, for instance, are the main tool of both. Here's a case, from a school in Washington, suggesting suspensions don't work well at all, and a much better approach is heavy with patience and compassion.
• Kind of related: Our intelligence is not fixed, but changes, and believing that evidently makes it more so.
• Zach Lowe of SI.com: "Through two games, it’s clear Miami is reinvigorated on offense. Good news for the league: It has only been two games against an overmatched Knicks team whose best defender suffered a poorly timed case of the flu and whose second-best defender is out for the season with a torn ACL. Still, the early results are encouraging: Miami is leaning on some basic actions in which its star players work together on and off the ball, rather than having everyone stand around while James or Wade runs a high pick-and-roll."
• The video suggests Nick Collison can guard Dirk Nowitzki far better than Kendrick Perkins, but that's not how Scott Brooks sees it, evidently.
• You think the game is dangerous? Check out the timeouts.
• The last time the Knicks won a playoff game gas was $1.70 a gallon.
• Front-row Grizzlies fan vs. common decency and Marc Gasol.
• John Hollinger (Insider): "Here's an amazing stat: Derrick Favors has played 47 minutes in this series and is a plus-6. The other 49 minutes the Jazz are minus-52."
• Rajon Rondo is teasing an R&B album in which he's performing with an unnamed "female Drake."
• No Pacers have been hurt punching fire extinguishers, and that's not coincidence.
• Accepting the award for Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler thanks his teammates for making him look like a great defender. He also says that he thinks Tony Allen is the best on-ball defender in the league, with a nod to LeBron James.
• Former Sonics employee Jeremy Ripanich, on Deadspin, with an inside view of the Sonics' departure from Seattle: "Either [Clay] Bennett is an idiot who married into his fortune and lucked into the team, or he's a canny businessman who played the game shrewdly and won. I have to think he's the latter. I need only look at the organization he's put together to know he's running the club better than Schultz -- the media-ordained genius -- ever did. It was Bennett who brought in the architect of the club, Sam Presti, based on their mutual connections with the San Antonio Spurs. It was Bennett who allowed Presti to build slowly around Durant instead of demanding wins immediately. Sure, there was plenty of bad faith on Bennett's part during the sale, but at this point it's silly to expect anything else from a sports owner. Caveat emptor applies to us as much as it does to owners. They are running revenue-maximizing operations, and a fanbase is of use to them only to the extent that it makes them money. All we can hope for is that an owner cares enough about his product to give us something worth watching every year. By all evidence Clay Bennett cares about his product. Howard Schultz never did. Maybe that's the ultimate deception in the Sonics' story: A lot of us had the wrong villain all along."
• Ricky Rubio, from a chair, practicing his shooting touch.

• Tyson Chandler is your 2012 Defensive Player of the Year. Check out the rest of the results. For my money, Joakim Noah, who anchors the second-best defense in the NBA, is a way better defender than Serge Ibaka and too far down on this list.
• John Hollinger takes aim (Insider) at the assumption that a compressed regular season schedule is responsible for all these playoff injuries: "We say this every year in the first round of the playoffs, how we've never seen anything like all these injuries. Um, anyone remember a year ago? New York lost Chauncey Billups after Game 1 and had a skeleton crew by the end of Game 2. The Lakers' Steve Blake missed Game 1 with the chicken pox. Atlanta lost Kirk Hinrich for the playoffs in Game 6. Miami lost Mike Miller for the first round after Game 2; he played a total of six minutes in that series. The Hornets lost Aaron Gray to an ankle sprain in Game 1, although he managed to gimp through. These players weren't as famous as the ones hurt this week, perhaps, but injuries make no distinction based on Q-rating."
• Valley of the Suns blogger Michael Schwartz with a smart, sympathetic look at everything that's happened to Amare Stoudemire, and the Suns, since he left the desert.
• What is the Bulls offense without Derrick Rose? A lot of pin-down screens and snappy ball movement. In the regular season, that was reasonably effective. But the 76ers absolutely demolished these sets in the second half of last night's blowout victory. Zach Lowe has the video evidence.
• R.R. Magellan of Forum Blue and Gold was pleased with Jordan Hill's effort and output last night. Hill's brightest moments as a pro are coming just as things are taking a turn for the complicated off the court.
• Watch Kyle Weidie's brief movie about JaVale McGee titled, "Can't Say I Do"
• Along with everyone else on the Bulls, Derrick Rose looked like he was having a terrible time last night. In a related story, Jrue Holiday went nuts.
• HoopSpeak's Brett Koremenos with some praise for Big Baby Davis in his keys to tonight's games: "Hibbert, who relies on deep positioning for much of his success, has found himself unable to get that prime real estate near the paint when Davis defends him. It has seemed as if moving Davis is like moving a tree stump, if that tree stump also was chained to four sedan-sized boulders. Without getting to a more favorable operating area, Hibbert has shot just 31.3 percent from the field so far this series, a far cry from his 49.7 percent during the regular season."
• The Spurs have been running this play, called "Weak," for about a decade. It still gets them easy buckets.
• Before the Magic face the Pacers tonight, they need to find an answer to a simple question.
• Keith Smart is taking suggestions on how to become a better coach.
• Milwaukee plans to re-sign coach Scott Skiles. To Jeremy Schmidt, that's a sign that the Bucks won't be looking to rebuild any time soon.
• The NBA: where large feet happen.
• Jeremy Lin has inspired myriad puns and nicknames. The Communicated Stereotype takes a look at a few that reference his ethnicity, and analyzes whether they are endearing, or "problematic."
• Lots of good points in this post, but this is what Zach Harper has to say about Andre Miller's posterior: "It’s a big man’s rear-end on a point guard’s frame. It allows him to no longer have to worry about being slow. He can move mountains to the side by shifting from hip to hip. Sometimes it looks like he has one of those flatbed carts at Home Depot and he’s going up and down the aisles with piles of 2x4s and concrete slabs on it. And the weight is just too much to handle on the turns. It’s veering right when he’s trying to stay to the left, like an out of control semi-truck. He’s bumping into shopping carts and coming close to sideswiping people in the doorbell aisle. Take your eyes off him for a second and you’ll find yourself going from hearing melodious chimes at the push of a button to shin bruises a plenty."
• An invitation to Avery Bradley's Block Party. (Side note: Bradley and Jeff Teague both made a number of thrillingly athletic plays last night, which made it a perfect game for Kevin Calabro, the voice of the Payton-Kemp era Seattle Sonics, to call on NBA TV. For the uninitiated, here's three minutes of Calabro's classic calls from the Sonics' 1996 run to the NBA Finals.)
• Down 0-2, Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle is voicing his displeasure with the officiating. Daily Thunder's Royce Young just calls it whining.

• If the MVP debate is about individual production, the conversation is already over. That's PER, which has various relevant shortcomings: It doesn't really account for wins or defense. If it's LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant, though, James wins the defensive battle, and wins will be equal or close.
• The CEO of the Sixers is asking people on Twitter to tell him which players to keep, and which ones to trade. Point that is far too wide-ranging for bullets: No business would do that for a key executive, right? Indeed, I doubt it would be seen as acceptable for the Sixers to welcome public negative feedback of the general manager, coach or, indeed CEO. So, what makes it OK to talk that way about players? (By the way, this is right out of the Drew Carey playbook.)
• Steve Nash says he has earned the right to really dig into free agency. He made positive noises about the coach, fans and his teammates in Phoenix. (Missing from that list, possibly innocently: Front office.) But he also left the door wide open to leaving, talking about titles and the like. I'm sure everybody who was so bitter at LeBron James' decision to leave in the name of winning will react identically should Nash leave.
• Rockets are scrapping like crazy to squeak into the playoffs, and because of the the way the draft works, their most ardent fans can't even decide if they want the team to make the cut. This is messed up.
• The NBA is getting pretty serious about having logos on jerseys. There have been mock-ups of uniforms presented to owners. There is a national deal for the D-League in this year's playoffs. There is also acceptance that a lot of fans will think it's insane. What I'd say is that fans of sports that already have this seem far less bothered by it. Might be one of those things, like say, rain, that is worse in concept than in reality. For the record, to me it's just a question of price. If they can raise crazy money, by all means.
• Russell Westbrook was shooting really well this season, but recently he is back to his old percentages. Which is the real Westbrook? Super dramatic end to this bullet: A title could hang in the balance.
• Derrick Rose, who hurt his ankle against the Pistons, tells the Sun-Times he is trying not to think about injuries: "If you put things into the universe they come true. I'm just trying to stay focused, stay happy, stay positive, keeping my spirits up. Hopefully, I'll be healthy in the playoffs."
• Interesting times for those intent on bringing a team back to Seattle.
• Talk of Larry Brown coaching at SMU, where I know for a fact they have nice practice courts. Pretty sure I left my wireless card there during the NBA Finals in June. in fact. Larry, if you see it, would be great to have it back.
• Honestly, this is a delightful sports moment. Jordan Hill, on the Lakers bench, can't contain himself from clapping for Tony Parker's deadly crossover, against his own team. The best part is after a few claps he quickly realizes what happened, and tucked his hands away, all innocent. Somebody somewhere will get all bent out of shape about this, talking about And-One culture, team identity and the importance of winning. I hear all that. But if you don't appreciate a nice move, what's the point of watching hoops?
• A fine line between global domination and world peace.
• Mavericks offense is "in shambles."
• On Twitter I asked people for their thoughts about the news that a lot of athletes smoke marijuana. Check responses to @TrueHoop when you read this. By my count it's about 30 people saying, in various ways, that they don't care at all. Don't think there's one sincere response from anybody upset.
• Which West teams are most scared of other West teams? Grizzlies are scary, especially to Spurs, I'd think. Who wants the Lakers? Nobody ... Lakers would have a lot at stake, reputation-wise, if they faced the Clippers. I'm thinking the Nuggets could be very tough, too.
• Just in time for the playoffs: The Clippers can play defense.
• Wow. Kevin Love doing some crazy workout stuff.

Author Sherman Alexie has won most of the literary awards I've ever heard of, and is generally seen as a literary heavyweight. But that doesn't mean a huge chunk of his brain isn't dedicated to watching, playing and even reinventing basketball. We discuss why he's pessimistic about the NBA's imminent return to Seattle, why he gets physically ill watching Kevin Durant, whether or not he sometimes kicks his own teammates out of games, his HoopIdea, Jeremy Lin and more.

Sherman Alexie on NBA Today.

By their nature, sports attract people who like things that are visceral, quick and exciting. So things always feel weird when those same fans are asked to follow the slowly bouncing ball of public/private construction finance. So, what is happening in Seattle? Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus (who: disclaimer, has worked for the Sonics) helps to explain:

On an otherwise dreary February day, Seattle's NBA fans were extended an overdue ray of hope Thursday, when Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine held a joint press conference to announce their receipt of a proposal from a group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen to build a basketball and hockey arena in the Sodo area.

Really, the event at City Hall was as much a rally as it was a press conference. The public was invited to attend, and die-hard fans got their Sonics gear out of the closet and filled the room. They applauded the references to the 1979 championship team, to Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens and especially when McGinn declared that the deal "could mean that the Seattle SuperSonics will play once again in our city."

Within the Seattle sports community, there has been a buzz since the Seattle Times first broke word of the possibility of a new arena. It built steadily through the Times' reporting that Hansen's group had secured land in the area just south of Safeco Field and Century Link Field, and was negotiating with the Mayor's office. On Thursday, that buzz reached crescendo.

On the radio, DJs cut to break by asking listeners whether they were more excited about the prospect of the Sonics returning or getting an NHL team. At the University of Washington men's basketball team's win over Arizona State Thursday night, some of the loudest ovations were saved for when the big screen showed two girls in Sonics gear, as well as former Husky and Sonic Detlef Schrempf

The greatest myth of the Sonics' move to Oklahoma City was that it had anything to do with fan support in the Emerald City. The widespread success of the documentary Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team has helped correct that mistaken assumption. If there was any lingering question about what the Sonics meant to Seattle, it should be erased by the continued passion of fans nearly four years since the last NBA game at KeyArena.

Instead, the issue has always been about KeyArena's shortcomings as an NBA venue. It's been exactly a decade since then-owner Howard Schultz first began agitating for an upgrade, and in that span not one plan has enjoyed this kind of government support. In crafting terms of the proposal with Hansen, a Seattle native who now lives in the Bay Area, McGinn and Constantine have come to believe the deal will benefit the city and county. Now it's up to a 10-person Arena Advisory Panel with Wilkens as one of the co-chairs to vet the proposal and report back their findings within a month.

On the surface, it is evident that Hansen's offer dramatically supercedes past proposals to renovate KeyArena or build a new arena in the Seattle area. It calls for Hansen's group to invest $290 million in private money in the arena, which would be the third-largest private contribution of any arena in the NBA after Staples Center and Madison Square Garden. The remainder of the funds would come from taxes and rent generated by the arena and would not redirect any current government spending. The proposal meets both the rule and the spirit of I-91, the initiative Seattle voters passed requiring public funding of pro sports facilities to return the city profit on par with a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond.

Still, Constantine cautioned by way of analogy that the proposal was far from reaching Game Seven of the NBA finals. Instead, he argued, Thursday was more like game one of the preseason. The city and county must assuage concerns about traffic in the area and ensure that they are properly protected by provisions calling for the investment group to bear the cost of overruns.

There's also the matter of finding tenants, one that Constantine and McGinn said is solely the responsibility of Hansen's group. As part of the proposal, no shovel will hit the ground until a team is secured, keeping both sides from making a bad investment.

The inevitable process of relocating an NBA team would be bittersweet for Seattleites who understand the pain such a move can cause. If Sacramento is able to complete the process of funding its own new arena within the next few weeks, it's unclear how soon any other teams might consider relocation. Still, should a team reach the point where moving is the only option, Seattle's history of supporting the Sonics and the prospect of a sparkling new arena would make the city an attractive destination.

For now, such concerns lie in the future. No matter how restrained McGinn and Constantine were in their optimism, Thursday was a day for Seattle's NBA fans to dream of a new incarnation of the Sonics making memories and competing for championships. For the first time since the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City, those dreams have a chance to become reality.

• The Knicks had a big old-fashioned, drama free, wire-to-wire blowout win. That's something good teams do. It's not something the Knicks have done a lot of in recent years. Howard Beck of The New York Times: "On an otherwise-dull night at the Garden, fans entertained themselves by booing Isaiah Thomas, the Kings’ rookie guard, whose only apparent crime was sharing a name with the Knicks’ unpopular former coach and team president who spelled his first name Isiah." Also, Jeremy Lin is still living on his brother's couch, according to that same Beck report.
• Remember when the the New Jersey Nets traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee? One of the weirdest trades ever. The Magic had been to the Finals, and were giving up a young starter in Lee, while taking on a Vince Carter experiment. Looking back now, who won that trade? Both teams have taken their lumps since then. But one thing is clear: Ryan Anderson is a force.
• Top ten plays of Jeremy Lin's young career, including D-League, college and Warriors highlights. I really like number seven, especially because of the Iman Shumpert pass.
• Beer for lunch, with a side of wishing he were Dirk. Inside Jan Vesely's mind.
• Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, back together again. Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell: "This post is my reminder to you, and myself, to enjoy them while they’re here and still playing at a high level."
• Seattle NBA fans starting to get excited.
• Just an insane thing to even suggest, for various reasons. But if the Knicks wanted to trade for Dwight Howard before, and the Magic didn't want to go for it, would throwing in Jeremy Lin -- who is presumably worth a ton off the court to whoever employs him -- change anything?
• If you ever wanted to inspect Randy Wittman's teeth...
• Chandler Parsons did a decent job on Kevin Durant. Durant says, on the other hand, he got where he wanted to get and just missed.
• Chase Budinger, dunking. Paul George. Derrick Williams. Three long guys who can sky but have question marks for creativity. My money, in this year's dunk contest is on the wildly exciting Iman Shumpert. Plus, he'll have Jeremy Lin with him. Missing from the contest: All kinds of big names and JaVale McGee, who loves to dunk.
• The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference now has a schedule.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- It’s not that the Thunder should still be the SuperSonics, it’s that the Trail Blazers could be the Thunder.

It’s hard to forget the Thunder’s roots when they play a big Northwest Division game within driving distance of Seattle, just as with Kevin Durant in town, it’s hard not to imagine what the alternate course the Blazers could follow if they had picked him over Greg Oden with the first pick in the 2007 draft -- or if Oden and Brandon Roy could have functional knees to give Portland a duo to match Oklahoma City’s Durant and Russell Westbrook (with LaMarcus Aldridge in Rip City to boot).

In the alternate universe, the maturing Trail Blazers would be hitting their stride and possess the best record in the Western Conference, the way the Thunder (19-5) do now. Instead, the cold facts have the Blazers (14-11) in fourth place in what’s become the toughest division in the NBA, and one spot out of the playoffs after Monday's 111-107 overtime loss to Oklahoma City.

Even if Aldridge is fulfilling the best-case scenario projections for his talent, the Trail Blazers, as a team, aren’t maxing out. That’s because they aren’t taking care of the gritty parts of the NBA, such as winning on the road or, in this home game, boxing out on the defensive boards.

Fortune favors the most determined, and while the Blazers fans had every reason to be upset about a bad goaltending call on an apparent clean blocked shot by Aldridge on a Durant layup, they’d be remiss in ignoring what enabled the play to happen: a failure by the Blazers to grab the rebound on three consecutive missed shots by the Thunder.

That set up Durant’s drive to the hoop, and Aldridge’s block that quickly smacked off the backboard and back toward midcourt, only to be ruled a goaltend and tie the game at 103.

“I timed it,” Aldridge said. “I knew he was going to go to the basket, shoot with his right hand, so I timed it perfectly. I put it on the glass. It didn’t hit the glass first.”

The Blazers still had a last possession, still had enough time for Nicolas Batum to drive down a wide-open lane, only to veer away from the basket and have his layup swatted by Westbrook.

And let’s not forget the Blazers were at home for the overtime period, playing on a court where they’d lost only once in their first 12 home games. But the Thunder, cheered on by a small group of fans wearing old Sonics jerseys and calling them by their birth name, outscored the Blazers 8-4 in the extra period.

“Regardless of calls, we still had an opportunity to win that game if we do the things that are necessary: rebound the ball, offensively you execute, you attack, you put the ball in the basket,” Nate McMillan said. “Normally, the fourth quarter -- certainly in close games like that -- it’s going to come down to making plays. They made the plays.”

So now the Blazers are 14-11. Nine of their losses have come on the road, including in Detroit and Sacramento. If the Blazers are still struggling to grasp the basics of being a great NBA team (step one: win at least half of your road games), the Thunder are close to mastering it. They’re 10-4 on the road, and they just pulled out a victory in one of the league’s most challenging venues.

“We are not where we need to be,” Scott Brooks said. “And I think anytime you play i n a hostile crowd like Portland and play the game we played, it’s going to help. No matter how old or how young you are, you always need games like this.”

Truth is, the NBA needs more games like this -- at least the first 47 minutes, before the officiating came to the forefront, when it was just two young and fast teams going at it, producing 13 ties and 12 lead changes, plenty of full-court action, and the occasional back-and-forth between Aldridge (who finished with 39 points) and Durant (33). But Aldridge didn’t have a Westbrook riding shotgun, producing a stat line of 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Aldridge didn’t even have Ray Felton, who missed the game with a foot injury. (I know “foot injury” is a sensitive word combination in Portland.)

This would be a great playoff series if the Trail Blazers can grab the eighth seed. They’ll need a little more determination, some better late-game execution, a little more of the moxie displayed by the Seattle SuperSon—er, Oklahoma City Thunder.

• Robbie Levin of The Miami Herald: With Shane Battier going 0 of 4 from the field Sunday, his shooting percentage on the season dropped to 31.3 percent, the lowest of his career. Battier is heralded for his defensive prowess, but he hasn’t been able to contribute much recently on the other end of the court. Not only is Battier adjusting to a new offense, he is only averaging 23 minutes per game, also a career low. “I’m struggling with the age old question of when to pass and when to shoot,” Battier said. “That’s the basic philosophy on offense. The great Hubie Brown said, ‘Know when to pass, know when to shoot,’ and I’m finding a way to mess that up.” Coach Erik Spoelstra, however, is not concerned with Battier’s cold streak. “A lot of this is rhythm and timing and getting used to his minutes,” Spoelstra said. “[Battier] is doing a lot of other good things that we notice and that a lot of other people probably don’t notice.”
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: Sometimes no matter how hard you play, no matter how much you want it, you’re simply outgunned and that was the story for the Raptors on Super Bowl Sunday. Despite a solid effort for most of the 48 minutes, despite some of the most aggressive drives to the basket of DeMar DeRozan’s season and some solid success for Dwane Casey’s zone defence against the vaunted Miami Heat, in the end the talent gap was too wide as the Heat came away with a 95-89 win. The Raps were within four at the end of one quarter, five at the half and then opened the door just a crack with some poor decision-making and paid the price in the third quarter. It was in the third that the Heat held the Raps to just 14 points and opened up a 13-point lead heading into the final quarter, a gap they took a run at but could never close. The Raps fought back yet again and whittled the lead down to three with three minutes to play but could not get any closer.
• Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: Don’t call him Ray Allen, Mark Price or Reggie Miller. And whatever you do, don’t call him Brian Scalabrine. But Kevin Garnett wants to clear up a misconception. “I can shoot 3’s,” Garnett said after hitting a bomb yesterday for the third straight game during the Celtics’ 98-80 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. It marked the first time as a Celtic that Garnett has hit three 3-pointers in one season, let alone three straight games. But if he bristles a little bit that his downtown prowess would be questioned, consider in Minnesota he had three seasons of 20 or more 3-pointers — 1999-00 (30-of-81), 2001-02 (37-of-116) and 2002-03 (20-of-71). So yes, Garnett can shoot 3-pointers. But regardless of whether people like captain Paul Pierce and coach Doc Rivers are urging him to mine that deep range, forget about it. “Don’t get used to it, ya’ll,” said Garnett. “Listen. I can shoot 3’s. I’m 50 and I’m out here with one leg and a cane, some nights are better than others. I’m human and I mess up, but I can shoot 3’s. I don’t (do) 3’s because we have one of the all-time greatest 3-point shooters in Ray Allen. We have Paul Pierce, who has won the 3-point contest. We have other guys who can shoot 3’s. It’s not my role here. My job is to get those guys open, and if it’s thrown to me, dunk it or pass it, cool. But I can shoot 3’s.
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: O.J. Mayo again logged minutes as the backup point guard while rookies Jeremy Pargo and Josh Selby remained glued to the bench until garbage time. Mayo has been solid but the question now is if the Griz are in worse shape than last season? Greivis Vasquez was serviceable, and at times, clutch. Now he’s showing flashes of brilliance with New Orleans. Vasquez averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 assists while shooting 53 percent over his past five games. Last Wednesday, Vasquez became the first player in Hornets’ history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists off the bench in a game.
• Broderick Turner of of the Los Angeles Times: The smile on Kenyon Martin's face said a lot. Martin had just joined the Clippers for practice Sunday in Orlando — he didn't take part in the session, however — two days after he signed a contract to play for team. Both Martin and Coach Vinny Del Negro said there is no timetable for him to play in a game, but Martin said he'd like to be in uniform playing before the team finishes a six-game, 10-day trip that continues Monday night against the Orlando Magic. The Clippers won Martin's services over the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks. "The Clippers were a good makeup of a team before I got here," Martin said. "They were old and young. I'm about winning. I'm about winning basketball games. And I felt the best chance to help was here." Martin felt as if he could provide Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan with a veteran's knowledge of how to be a successful big man.
• Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune: The big talker out of Saturday's game came in the third quarter, when Kevin Love stepped on the face and chest of Luis Scola on his way up the court. Videos of the event were on the Internet before the game was over. Afterward Love apologized to Scola and said it was not intentional but was the result of his stumbling as he went to run up the court. Love should know shortly whether the NBA agrees. If Love is to be disciplined, the decision will be made before the Wolves' next game, which is Tuesday against Sacramento.
• Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Kobe Bryant will make his only local appearance of the year on Monday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Wells Fargo Center, making this a big event on the 76ers' calendar even though Bryant's team has been far from dominant this season. The Lakers are 14-10 after Saturday's 96-87 loss at Utah. If the playoffs were held today, they would be the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. And there are three teams not in the top eight that could vie for a postseason berth: Houston, Memphis, and Minnesota. That said, the Lakers are the NBA's No. 2 draw on the road, averaging 19,061. The only better road draw is the resurgent Los Angeles Clippers, who will make their only Wells Fargo Center stop on Friday. The Lakers' popularity is chiefly due to Bryant. At 33, the former Lower Merion High star is in his 16th NBA season and keeps producing at the highest of levels, averaging 29.4 points per game. When asked after Saturday's 98-87 win in Atlanta whether Bryant brings extra electricity to the building, forward Andre Iguodala didn't hesitate. "I think so," Iguodala said. "He's the best player in the game. Second-best player of all time, in my opinion." No. 1? "M.J., of course," Iguodala said, referring to Michael Jordan.
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: Players and coaches around the league are starting to recognize how special Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao is. But will it be enough to earn him a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team? The All-Star reserves will be announced on Thursday. Varejao had 17 points and 17 rebounds in the Cavs' 91-88 upset victory over Dallas on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena. He's making a late push to be an All-Star by averaging 16.3 points and 17.3 rebounds in his last three games. "He's an animal," Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "We knew that coming in, and he's just great. He's relentless. He's got a great nose for the ball and he just keeps coming. He's very active. I don't think we're the only team he's done it to." The 6-foot-11, 260-pound Varejao is leading the league in offensive rebounds at 4.7 per game. He's fourth in total rebounds at 11.9. The only three players ahead of him are Orlando's Dwight Howard (15.1), Minnesota's Kevin Love (13.7) and the Los Angeles Lakers' Andrew Bynum (12.0). All three players will likely be playing in the All-Star game in Orlando's Amway Center on Feb. 26.
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Luol Deng's return — and Derrick Rose's electric start — seemed to energize his teammates Saturday. Beyond his seamless return in posting 21 points and nine rebounds, Deng's presence impacted the team similarly to how he has set an example for Butler to follow. Kyle Korver called him a "safety net" when asked what the Bulls missed about Deng. ... This is why it's so critical for Deng to be able to play through the pain and avoid surgery. ... Deng's rookie season ended in March 2005 when he opted for surgery to repair the same torn ligament in his right wrist. He missed the Bulls' first-round playoff loss to the Wizards. The Bulls can't afford to play another postseason without him.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: After starting the season with relative calmness, the Orlando Magic are not keeping their composure. The team committed six individual technical fouls during its emotional, hard-fought win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, and the Magic are losing their cool far too often to suit Van Gundy. "We're gonna talk about it, because I don't like what I'm seeing," Van Gundy said after the win. "But, at the same time, as with all of us, part of that is fatigue and frustration, too." The Magic might be buckling under the influence of the compressed schedule and the frustration from their slump at the end of January. Monday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers will be their 10th game in 15 nights, and the team appears to be a bit frayed at its edges. To be sure, the Magic were swept up in an intense, physical game Saturday when they committed all those technical fouls against the Pacers. Three of Orlando's techs came during one minor fracas in which Quentin Richardson and Danny Granger shoved each other after Granger hit Richardson in the face with a seemingly inadvertent elbow and then exchanged words. Earl Clark and Tyler Hansbrough also pushed one another. But three other technicals occurred during the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter and could have cost Orlando the game.
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: During the past nine seasons, Spurs point guard Tony Parker has picked up a trick or two for keeping his wits on the team’s annual rodeo road trip. The secret to sanity, it turns out, begins with sticking close to coach Gregg Popovich. “Just go to nice restaurants with Pop and get tipsy sometimes,” Parker joked. “That’s the secret. Drink a lot of wine. It goes faster.” In the 18 days to come, Parker and the Spurs will have plenty of time for wining and dining out, in between a little road basketball. Tonight in Memphis, the Spurs tip off their 10th annual rodeo road trip, having again been ejected from the AT&T Center until after the All-Star break by the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Between now and Feb. 23, when the odyssey winds down in Denver, the Spurs will play nine games, equaling the longest road trip in team history, and cover 7,941 miles. Traditionally, the rodeo trip has been a time for the Spurs to come together, to foment chemistry, to steel themselves for the playoff stretch drive ahead. Yada, yada, yada. It is a meme that has grown in national popularity over the years. In time, the idea of the rodeo road trip as some sort of character-defining crucible has become a part of the Spurs’ mythology. Popovich practically rolls his eyes at the notion now. Asked recently if he was eager to take his team out for a prolonged road test, Popovich answered honestly. “No,” he said. “I want to play all home games.”
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Kevin Durant is averaging 30.8 points and 12.2 rebounds over the past five games. Perhaps just as impressive, Durant has shot 51.4 percent over that same span. With 10 double-doubles this season, Durant ranks 14th in the NBA and is on pace to set a personal best for double-doubles in a season, even in a lockout-shortened 66-game season. His career high for double-doubles in a season is 25 in 2009-10. As a rookie, Durant recorded only one, getting it in his final regular season game. In 2008-09, Durant had 15 double-doubles, and last season he finished with 14. Oddly enough, Durant's five-game streak of double-doubles last season came at nearly the exact same stretch of the season. He averaged 30.4 points and 10.6 rebounds from Jan. 30 through Feb. 8. “That's something that coach wants me to do,” said Durant about rebounding after grabbing a season-high on Jan. 21 at New Jersey. “He said I can get 10 a game, so I'm just going to try to go out there and get 10 and play as hard as I can on both ends of the floor. I think if I help the bigs out it'll make it much easier for us to push the ball and get easy points on the other end.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: There are people who marvel at how rookie forward Ivan Johnson has become a key player for the Hawks. Coach Larry Drew holds up Johnson's relentless energy as an example for the rest of the team. Teammate Josh Smith nominates Johnson to play in the rookie game on All-Star weekend. Johnson's long-shot personal story has been a hit on NBA Web sites and among Hawks fans on Twitter and blogs. The only one who doesn't seem impressed by what Johnson is doing is Johnson. For instance, tell Johnson that his tenacity impresses Drew and Johnson says it should be no surprise. “The first time I interviewed with [the Hawks] I told them that's what I bring every game,” Johnson said. “And that's what I keep doing.” Or consider Johnson's response to queries about how he's been able to effectively play center despite regularly giving up three or four inches to opponents. “It's not too much of a challenge,” Johnson said after posting 14 points and 13 rebounds against Philadelphia's big front line during Atlanta's 98-87 loss Saturday. “It's just another person. I think physically I'm strong enough to hold it down.” That's about as much insight as Johnson provides about his game. He prefers to quietly go about his business, which lately means pulling his weight while playing out of position with center Jason Collins (ankle) out because of injury.
• Steve Kelley of The Seattle Times: Almost since the day Seattle was robbed of its NBA team, a group of well-intentioned, well-heeled, basketball-savvy hoopaholics quietly has been working with both local government and league officials, attempting to get an arena built and a team returned to this city. Now, four seasons after the Sonics left Seattle and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, the possibility of the NBA returning feels more real than ever. What if the group that includes former Sonics president Wally Walker can accumulate enough property south of Safeco Field and gain a few concessions from the Seattle City Council (an increase in the hotel-motel tax, a surcharge on tickets) to build an arena that will be predominantly privately funded? Without fanfare, without news releases or news conferences, without any look-at-me showboating, people who want the league back in town have been trying to make it happen. Rapid recent progress has been made. Mayor Mike McGinn has been among those championing the idea. And once the plans for construction of a new arena near Safeco Field are finalized, I believe the NBA will return to Seattle. The financially strapped Sacramento Kings could become the Seattle Sonics as early as the 2012-2013 season. This is more than mere wishful thinking. And it could turn out to be more than the NBA.

The 30 NBA teams ranked by winning percentage with the current national rank of their TV markets:

1. Lakers (2)
2. Celtics (7)
3. Spurs (36)
4. Suns (13)
5. Jazz (33)
6. Blazers (22)
7. 76ers (4)
8. Thunder (44)
9. Bucks (34)
10. Magic (19)
11. Bulls (3)
12. Rockets (10)
13. Mavericks (5)
14. Pacers (26)
15. Knicks (1)
16. Nuggets (17)
17. Heat (16)
18. Pistons (11)
19. Hawks (9)
20. Hornets (52)
21. Kings (20)
22. Cavaliers (18)
23. Warriors (6)
24. Wizards (8)
25. Nets (1)
26. Raptors (5)
27. Timberwolves (15)
28. Bobcats (25)
29. Clippers (2)
30. Grizzlies (49)

This could scarcely be less scientific. Many of these teams have moved, cities have changed size through the years, the huge-market but second-tier Clippers and Nets skew things, and I shoehorned Toronto into U.S. rankings in non-sensical fashion (note: both Dallas and Toronto are listed as fifth-biggest). Not to mention, other people have done this analysis better elsewhere.

Turn a blind eye to all that and you'll see that through the entire history of the NBA the ten most successful teams come from, on average, smaller markets (average rank: 21.4) than the ten worst teams (average rank: 20.1).

Even if the analysis is very rough, it's almost undeniable that the Lakers and Celtics are powerhouses not merely because of market heft -- plenty of teams in huge markets have struggled to compete.

What's the point of this? I have heard from several fans who despair that their team has no chance because the NBA makes it impossible for small markets. The people in San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oklahoma City, Milwaukee and Orlando argue otherwise.

You might say those teams are outliers who found themselves with players like Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Kevin Durant, Bill Walton, Steve Nash and the like.

And I'd say that's a heck of a lot of outliers.

The bottom line is that if you can get your hands on special players, you have a chance, no matter where you are.

• Whoa, that Derrick Rose rule could mean Russell Westbrook will have a bigger salary than Kevin Durant. Two nice young men in a system that is just dying for them to be rivals.
• An argument the Spurs ought to use the amnesty clause on Richard Jefferson next offseason if at all.
• Is Chris Paul on rails to New York City?
• The new amnesty clause will lead to a whole mess of talented free agents, right? Wrong.
• To my way of thinking, the Heat's roster-construction error was an over-reliance on players who were once good but had lost all athleticism. Thanks to the three superstars, the Heat have amazing size, strength and quickness at key positions -- with the right teammates they could be one of the fastest most athletic teams ever. Far too few roster spots went to young, athletic guys who can play the defense they need or have potential to improve. (There's a reason Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers played so many minutes -- they can run and jump.) Looks like they intend to repeat that error.
• We won't feel it for years, but in the final analysis the repeater tax may well be the part of this deal that functions most like a hard cap. If the players opt out of this CBA in six years, it's a good bet that tax will be one of the main things they want to change.
• Just a few things left on the ol' lockout to-do list.
• Welcome back, Blake Griffin.
• Worth noting: The Raptors don't have a starting center. Or at least, not an obvious one.
• The people of Seattle should raise some money to get themselves one of those Howard Schultz meet-and-greets, or maybe a coaching clinic.
• Is it time for the Rockets to throw in the towel? Really?
• Does Barack Obama hoop in UnderArmour? Looks like it.
• A collection of films, each of which is just one second long. It's a crime there is not a hoops-themed entry.

The NBA season will happen after all, thanks to a handshake deal struck in New York between David Stern’s NBA and what remains of Billy Hunter’s players association.

As the dust settles after one of the NBA’s more cantankerous episodes, here’s an early peek at who wins and who loses in the upcoming new collective bargaining agreement.

WINNER: David Stern

A missed season would have mucked up his legacy profoundly and called into question his ability to control his owners. A deal, on the other hand, shows he still has the touch.

WINNER: Billy Hunter

He was under serious fire from agents. They have been concerned about his salary, how he runs the union and too many concessions to the owners. And yet, for the third time in as many attempts, he has delivered what matters most: a deal. The first two times, pundits said they were bad deals for players, but over the following years, the pundits were proved wrong -- the players have done very well under Hunter, who many say has negotiated his last CBA. And if the players are sharing in the league’s overseas and national TV revenues, this deal also could look great by the time it’s done.

WINNER: Adam Silver

Stern pointedly put his deputy in the spotlight through one of the choppier moments in NBA history, with the tall order to “reset” the way the league works in a fashion that favors owners. The ride was plenty bumpy, but mission more or less accomplished.

WINNER: Derek Fisher’s next career

For much of the lockout, Fisher became the public face of the union, and the private one; he said he thought he had talked to every single NBA player during the lockout, except for a few whose email addresses had changed. He proved he can speak extemporaneously, in stressful environments, without putting his foot in his mouth. That bodes well for whatever he wants to do next.

WINNERS: Player development experts

With luxury tax more punitive than ever, there will be a premium on those who can help a team round out a roster with incredibly cheap but productive players. The Spurs have had a habit of finding and developing those guys -- now every team will have to do so.

WINNERS: Stat geeks

Everyone is playing “Moneyball” now. If it can help you control player costs, it can help you win titles.

WINNERS: Incoming owners

In Detroit and Philadelphia, they set the purchase price in an environment of league-wide losses and labor uncertainty. Now they emerge with owner-friendly rules, high TV ratings, media-friendly young stars to drive future league-wide ratings, a better national TV deal on the horizon, promising overseas markets and the knowledge that it’ll be harder in the future for opponents to outspend them.

LOSER: Mark Cuban

The good news is he gets to have a season of glory and a chance to defend that title. The bad news is he is said to have wanted a system that would protect him from big losses even as he went all-out to field the most competitive possible team. A stiff luxury tax, however, does not get him there. Now, to protect his bottom line, he’ll have to develop a new skill: spending discipline.

WINNER: Jerry Buss

Revenue sharing is a bitter pill to swallow, but he still owns one of the most lucrative franchises in sports, he’ll always be able to attract amazing free agents and now fans will understand if he spends a little less on payroll.

LOSERS: Lakers fans

One nice thing about rooting for the Lakers has long been knowing that the team would spend whatever it would take to be competitive. Now that’ll be harder.

LOSERS: The big agents

They tested their influence among players against Hunter and Fisher. And ultimately, this deal was struck between Hunter and Stern. Worth noting: The Players Association regulates agents.

WINNERS: Players who signed long guaranteed deals in the past year

This is a big group, ranging from Paul Pierce to LeBron James. It’ll be tough to beat their old-CBA deals under the new CBA.

WINNERS: The Knicks

This is a deep-pocketed team looking to build a winner. The Knicks still need more players, and with a hard cap out of the picture, they continue to have some flexibility to keep spending if they have to.

LOSERS: The middle class

As owners and the league have spent a year obsessing about player costs, one clear factor has emerged: The poor-value contracts are the big deals for middling players. With or without stiff taxes, you can expect more teams to catch on to the idea of paying for stars and filling in the rest of the roster cheaply.

WINNER: The D-League

As more teams seek bargain players, more teams will invest effort in getting the most out of the NBA's little brother.

LOSERS: Superstars

They have long made far less than they are worth, and that’s not going to change now.

WINNERS: Strategic dealmakers

A wild and woolly free-agent miniseason likely will commence Dec. 9 under new operating rules. Front offices that know the players they want and what they’re worth in this brave new world could work wonders. Look for the usual candidates -- San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma City -- to be working the angles.

WINNER: Deron Williams

He gets to come home from Turkey without a major injury and having had likely the most lucrative offseason of any player. Mitigating factor: Now he’s seeking a big new deal in a more restrictive system.

WINNER: The New Orleans Hornets

These CBA talks long included talks of contracting the Hornets out of existence. Now that the talks are over, it has to feel good that that discussion never amounted to much. The next trick: Prove that under a new, more owner-friendly deal the team can be viable in the Big Easy.

WINNERS: Fans of the Spurs, Heat, Magic and Mavericks

It was a terrible thing to have your “win now” team sit now.

WINNER: Kobe Bryant

He’s now the NBA’s highest-paid player and a guy who made the right moves in the lockout, toying with various overseas backup plans while looking good back home by offering to lend money to NBA colleagues in need.

WINNERS: Timberwolves

Owner Glen Taylor gets to reduce the financial pain. President of basketball operations David Kahn keeps his job. New coach Rick Adelman breathes life into the proceedings. And the long list of talented young players grows further with Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio.

WINNERS: The Denver Nuggets

Remember when the Heat had all that cap room to sign free agents? The Nuggets are basically like that, only now all kinds of teams will be on a course to shed payroll. There’s not a system in the world in which you can’t parlay tiny roster commitments into potential.

WINNER: Player movement

You know you love the excitement of a trade. And there’s going to be more of that. The old CBA went to some trouble to keep teams united. The new one, not so much. The league noticed that LeBron James’ desertion of Cleveland spurred more interest in the NBA, not, as feared, less. It’s no accident the new system will inspire a lot of player movement.

Revenue sharing will be a factor here, too. While a lot of the CBA fight was about the rich teams adding free agents, the deal's biggest effect might be at the other end of the spending spectrum. The stingiest teams ought to be ready to join the bidding to add salaries here and there. That's a win for small markets and for free agents.

LOSERS: The Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers carry high salaries with a mediocre team, and we know for certain the GM has not spent the summer executing a new master plan. We know this because there is no GM. But common sense would suggest this team has to win a lot or change a lot, and one of its favorite tools of the past -- outspending rivals -- has grown trickier.

• Ben Swanson of Rufus on Fire writes that, given all we know about Michael Jordan's competitiveness, it's not surprising he'd be leading a charge of hard-line owners to secure as much revenue as possible.
• Kate Fagan covers the Sixers for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She also played basketball at the University of Colorado while the school was confronting a recruiting scandal and understands the complicated culture of big-time college sports: "Big-time athletic programs are not entirely unlike nation-states. Everyone wears the colors, says the pledge, and sings the school anthem. Everyone worships the logo, recites the fight song, and reports up the chain of command. Everyone's committed to defeating a common enemy: Ohio State or Nebraska or Michigan. This is what makes college athletics galvanizing and wonderful. And also, for anyone who has been inside it, it's what can make college athletics frightening. When you're inside, you're often a rah-rah believer. Blind acceptance exists that coaches and administrators, those who have established the institution's culture, possess absolute authority."
• On Friday night, the University of North Carolina will play Michigan State on the USS Carl Vinson, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that hauled the body of Osama bin Laden to his burial at sea. Tarheel alma mater Danny Nowell is excited for the game. At HoopSpeak U, Nowell explores many of the same contradictions and mixed feelings Fagan has about the fervor of college sports in places like Chapel Hill and State College.
• A French parody of MTV Cribs featuring a muppet Tony Parker, which concludes with some curious plant life.
• I've received a number of emails from Canadians who maintain the NBA lockout is illegal under Ontario law, even though the NBA has a labor exemption under antitrust law in the United States (which allows it to impose things like a salary cap which would be illegal in other commercial sectors). Law professor David Doorey of York University looks at Ontario's Labor Relations Act and asks some interesting questions.
• Noam Schiller of Hardwood Paroxysm has a memo for new Warriors head coach Mark Jackson: "According to BasketballValue.com, Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, Dorell Wright, David Lee, and Andris Biedrins played almost 687 minutes together last season. in that time, they were outscored 1553 to 1484, for a net efficiency rating of -4.60."
• ClipperBlog's Jovan Buha writes that Los Angeles native Tayshaun Prince could be an interesting fit for a Clippers team that's been looking for a solution at the small forward spot since the Taft Administration.
• Tom Haberstroh has a conversation about the lockout with the hilarious, insightful, sometimes goofy and always thought-provoking behavioral economist Dan Ariely.
• Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire occupy Sesame Street.
• Several weeks ago, Knickerblogger's Robert Silverman observed Chris Bosh's charity fashion event at Saks Fifth Avenue: "All I could think about while staring at the huddled masses was the original (and awesome) 1978 Dawn of the Dead -- where zombies have overtaken a mall and are riding the escalators, numbly staring at stuff they couldn’t afford in some half-remembered haze, doomed for all eternity to repeat the pointless, boring, soul-deadening rituals of their former so-called life." Silverman goes on to explain, in further detail, how sports are like zombie movies.
• Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro speaks about the influence the late Jim Valvano, who was fond of reciting poems to his players at N.C. State.
• Seattleites take note: Metta World Peace feels for you. Among the other things he misses: "I miss the refs running down the court like they have hot tomales in their pants. I miss Charles Barkley commentating."
• On his Twitter feed, Larry Sanders offers relationship/break-up advice: "When a good thing goes bad it's not the end of the world, it's the end of a world that you had with one girl."

The way the NBA tells it, all 30 owners are perfectly united, on every issue from hard caps to revenue sharing.

Of course, it cannot be so. Human nature dictates some owners are doves -- eager to play the upcoming season -- while others are hawks who would risk ditching a season in the name of a new collective bargaining agreement that strongly favors owners.

Owners have influence over the CBA negotiations by being in the ear of the NBA's representatives in the talks, primarily NBA commissioner David Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver and Spurs owner Peter Holt.

They also have to vote to approve the final deal.

How many votes does it take? There is a right answer (see below), but very few people -- we’ve talked to people directly involved in the talks, owners, players, CBA experts -- knew the answer to that basic question. Guesses ranged from 16 to 20 to “I don’t know.”

One of the most common responses was that the voting doesn’t matter much, because what David Stern wants will be passed anyway.

And in a way, they’re right.

Here’s what we have learned: Ratifying a CBA requires the approval of 16 owners. But nobody expects anything like a 16-14 vote, for a few reasons. The first is that the league has been talking to owners throughout, and the people in the room know how much support they are likely to have for any position they might take.

The second is that it would be hard for Stern to govern a league with a CBA that nearly half his owners thought was rotten. Moving forward, as a league, requires more cohesion than that. So he is exceedingly unlikely to present owners a proposal that has any chance of struggling to attract broad support.

Our reporting finds that about 17 owners came into the bargaining process feeling hawkish -- hence the league's hard line in talks. David Stern's trick at the moment is to negotiate enough concessions from players as well as robust-enough revenue sharing from wealthy teams to bring some of those hawks into the fold.

Even if the final owner vote may be largely symbolic, the 30 owners still exert tremendous influence. League officials, including David Stern, work for them.