The Dugout - May 21
A pair of Cleveland Cavs brass celebrate getting the first pick (AP)
NBA Draft Lottery
What kind of witchcraft is this? Despite a 1.7% chance of it happening, the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the number one overall pick in the lottery. It’s the second time in a row that they’ve had the first pick, and the third time in four years. Surely they can’t mess this up? Last year they picked the much maligned Anthony Bennett in a surprise move first overall. Bennett had a shocking start to the season, but as his role became more defined, he showed signs of the player that he could become. If they find themselves in the lottery again next year, they should just be banned. Three number one draft picks in one team must be a record, considering there are only 15 active number ones in the league right now.
Milwaukee drew second, though most of the attention was on owner Wesley Edens’ 18 year old daughter Mallory who represented the team at the lottery. She started the day with 250-odd twitter followers and now has over 25k. 18 years old. Settle down ya perverts.
Lining Up For Love
The race is on for the contract of K.Love. He’s told the Wolves that he won’t opt in to the final year of his contract, making him a free agent after next season. So if Minnesota want anything for their time with the Love Man (they’ve never made the playoffs with him) then they’ll probably want to trade him sometime between now and the trade deadline next season. Let the Love suiting commence.
The Lakers and Celtics are in the running with draft picks to offer, though whether or not LA will wanna part with theirs is debatable. Seeing it only land at 7 might convince them to cash it in. The Celtics have so many picks that they’ll do whatever they want. Houston are putting their hands up – imagine Beverley/Harden/Howard/Parsons/Love as a starting lineup! Same goes for Chicago who are rumoured to be campaigning for Carmelo’s signature too. Best case scenario there is Rose/Melo/Noah/Butler/Love. Wow. The Knicks are always mentioned, but come on. That’s not gonna happen. The Warriors are high in the bidding given all of their trade assets and given that they’re an up and coming power.
Damn, Son. This kid’s Got Things Figured Out
2014 NBA Draft Lottery Results:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Orlando Magic
- Utah Jazz
- Boston Celtics
- LA Lakers
- Sacramento Kings
Coaching Merry Go Rounds in the NBA
Steve Kerr has snubbed the Knicks to sign on with the Warriors, who’ve pretty unfairly sacked Mark Jackson who might be the last man standing for the Knicks job should he wanna go back there after Stan Van Gundy opted for the Detroit Pistons over all other options. There’s a brave man, choosing to walk into that firepit. The Cavaliers, Kicks, Lakers, Jazz and Timberwolves are all still without whiteboard scribblers.
TV Crossover Factiod:
The big bugger who plays The Mountain that Rides (aka The Hound’s brother) on Game of Thrones? Almost signed with the Indianapolis Colt last year. Yeah, bet you didn’t know THAT from the books!
Omaha Remains
And here I was drafting my letter to Peyton asking he start incorporating ‘Niche Cache’ into his play calling.
Rumour of the Week:
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban allegedly hired an ex-FBI private investigator to look into the 2006 NBA Finals which Dallas lost in 6 to Miami (having led 2-0). Cuban denied the entire story but we love a good conspiracy story so here goes. Mark Cuban has never been shy over speaking out after poor refereeing decisions. In that series, Dallas seemed cruising towards their first ever title, until a change in tactics from the South Beachers saw Dwyane Wade end up at the free throw line 97 times in the finals, averaging 18.3 trips to the charity stripe over the final 4 games. Cuban was supposedly told that he would win any potential lawsuit though chose not to pursue it. Probably a smart idea not to sue his bosses in the end.
Quote of the Week:
“He is a special player, the numbers that he puts up are incredible, but still the leader has to be somebody else. He leads in scoring, in other things, but in voice he is not the type of player that wants to be or that can be, no? There are different types of leaders. Still, it did not have to have been him, it should have been Kevin Martin, with a little more experience, or even I can take a step further and start to be the definitive leader.”
- Current (but maybe not for long) Kevin Love teammate Ricky Rubio. Some of this may have been lost in the translation, but there’s a clear statement of intent from Slick Rick to take on more of a leadership role, with or without K.Love.
Good Week:
- New York Rangers – It’s not often I include Ice Hockey here, but this Rangers team is something special. In one of the biggest markets imaginable, sporting success has been hard to come by for every one of its teams bar the Yankees and Giants in recent years. The Rangers are just 2 wins from competing for the Stanley Cup, a trophy not won by this team in 20 years, and only once in the past 64.
- Chris Davis (Baltimore Orioles) – Maybe just a good day. Still, after struggling for most of the season he finally found his power stroke, going 4 for 5 with 3 home runs in an O’s rout of Pittsburgh today. He now has 6 yard balls for the budding season, after a MLB leading 53 last year.
- Yasiel Puig (LA Dodgers) – He’s the Mario Balotelli of the MLB, for those footy fans reading. Earlier this year we heard the gruelling story of how he defected from Cuba. Now it’s just the same old Puig, driving in runs and being a vacuum in the outfield. Three homers and 11 RBI in the last week, he also set a career high 16 game hit streak in that time frame.
Bad Week:
- Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees) – After nine unbeaten MLB starts, the Japanese sensation finally lost one – to the Cubs. Tanaka gave up 4 runs in 6 innings to the team with the worst record in the majors to earn his first loss in America. This after 42 regular season pro games unbeaten all up having finished in Japan on an incredible run.
- Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies) – The Phillies ace was put on the DL with an elbow injury, yet another star pitcher succumbing to that kind of injury. It’s a goddamn epidemic. Luckily Lee should be bak in a few weeks as it isn’t expected to be serious. Not so lucky for guys like Matt Moore, Jose Fernandez, Patrick Corbin, Martin Perez and Josh Johnson, none of whom are expected back this year after their own elbow injuries already this season.
Player of the Week:
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) – Even when he struggles he finds ways to get involved, see his game 7 vs LAC where he dished 12 assists. He consistently outplayed Chris Paul in that series (after Paul comfortably did the same to Steph Curry R1), proving the difference on many occasions. His combination with Kevin Durant may well be the best one-two punch in the NBA.
Upcoming Dates (NZ Time):
June 27 - NBA Draft Held
July 16 - MLB All Star Game
September 5 - NFL Regular Season Begins