The real frenzy with the NBA really starts with the Finals this year. What a finals it was this season. LeBron vs. Curry. Will Curry keep up his historic run? Can LeBron help a depleted Cavaliers team overcome an unreal Warriors team? All these story lines produced a great series that went to a shocking Game 6. These finals received the highest ratings since Michael Jordan was last in the NBA Finals. Many people started saying how LeBron James should win the Finals MVP, even if he loses the series, I disagreed with everyone. Andre Iguadala was very deserving of the Finals MVP.
About a week after the NBA Finals, we had the NBA Draft. There was so much speculation in the months leading up to the Draft. Who's going to go first, Karl Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor? What will the Knicks do? There were a bunch of teams with needs, especially to get younger and more athletic. The Lakers, who had the 2nd pick, shockingly picked D'Angello Russell! That was the first surprise of the draft. Not that Russell was not deserving, but everyone thought Okafor would, at most, be the 2nd overall pick. Knicks fans became excited when the Lakers did not pick Okafor, but than Philly decided to go that way. That made no sense to me because the 76ers had already drafted back to back big men before Okafor. Then we have the number 4 pick with the Knicks. Who do they decide to take? Did they take Mudiay? Justice Winslow? Nope, they drafted Kristaps Porzingas! The whole crowd booed at the pick. It looks like it may be the right pick. He played well in the Las Vegas Summer League, but it’s just the summer league. The way to describe that pick is “cautiously optimistic.”
While the NBA Draft is there for teams to get better in the long term, NBA free agency is more about helping right now. This off season was the most anticipated offseason since the summer of 2010. We knew the likes of Marc Gasol, Khawi Leonard, and Dragic Goran were staying with their current teams. What we did know about the likes of Greg Monroe, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Wesley Matthews was that they were on the move, but to where exactly? Everyone thought Monroe was absolutely going to the Knicks, but he ended up going to the Bucks(any shock there?!?!). Most people knew Aldridge was going to choose the Spurs. Where Wesley Matthews was going was up in the air, all though him signing with Dallas was an interesting choice of destination. Now as some of you realize, I left DeAndre Jordan off this list, but why? Well he is a special case.
As everyone knows, when it comes to NBA free agency there is a moratorium. What is a moratorium? It is the time period where NBA free agents can visit teams that are interested in them and the time they can sign their contracts. This year it was a 9 day difference. Many of the free agents who signed with their teams came to verbal agreements. DeAndre Jordan was a special case. He was being courted by his current team, Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers. He had came to a verbal agreement with Mark Cuban to sign a max deal with the Mavericks. The Clippers seemed so desperate not to lose him, they decided to go to his house in Houston and convince him not to go to Dallas.
As we all know, he spurned the Mark Cuban and the Mavericks and went back to the Clippers. The sad thing is that he could not even contact Mark Cuban to let him know of his decision. If you decide to have a change of heart that is one thing, but to not let Cuban know of his decision was just wrong. It is the responsibility of at least the agent, if not the player himself, to let the other team know he is not going to play for them. If you want my opinion, I believe that not only was DeAndre Jordan a coward, but so were those that convinced him otherwise. It is the professional thing to do. That is part of being a professional athlete. When a college football or basketball player wants to switch schools/programs, he has to let his current program know, it is the same concept here.
The NBA and the NBAPA have to come to an agreement about getting rid of the moratorium. In baseball, we see that teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own FA’s for 5 days after the end of the World Series. After those 5 days, they are free to talk to any team the wish. Something similar should be implemented by the NBA. It does not like good from a business standpoint. The NBA is really starting to take off in almost every positive aspect. If they can fix this one problem, it would certainly help more than hurt them.
