This is when we see the lockout start affecting more than just the players and owners. The Lakers already let some employees know that they wouldn't be kept past July 1. The Bobcats have also let go at least seven members of their staff including their play-by-play announcer. And the Pistons let go 15 employees.
However, the Utah Jazz have not let anyone go according to Steve Luhm, "No employee layoffs/furloughs and none expected at this point because of the lockout."
You can read into that any way that you would like but if there is no season then there would likely be some job loss. I don't know what setup other team owners have, but I wonder if the Jazz could shuffle some of their staff to other companies in the LHM group.
I think we're going to look back at this summer and see all of the signs (layoffs, players moving overseas, "we're so far apart" quotes) and realize how naive we were to think that the season would get saved.
Could this news bolster the owners' case? From NBA.com,
Escrow money withheld from all NBA players' paychecks each season will be returned to them this offseason for the first time, providing a $160 million infusion of cash in the midst of the league's labor lockout.
The escrow funds -- representing eight percent of each NBA player's salary -- are held back each season to ensure that the players' share of basketball-related income does not exceed the contractually agreed-upon percentage, currently 57 percent. This year, for the first time since the system was introduced in the collective bargaining agreement that came out of the 1998-99 lockout, the cut to players will fall short, sources with the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association confirmed.
This would indicate that the basketball related income has been at the lowest levels since 1999. That's not total money but the percentage of that income.
[Note by Basketball John, 07/13/11 12:26 PM MDT ] I have this backwards, Look below for an explanation.
I told you his name would come up every time a coaching position came open. After the Wolves finally fired Kurt Rambis, Don Nelson was reported as being interested in the job as well as,
It's likewise true that Nelson is not the only elite veteran coach for the Wolves to pursue if they wish: Jerry Sloan, Rick Adelman and Larry Brown are also available.
From all previous accounts, Sloan is not available. He's available in the sense that he's not currently coaching an NBA team at this time but all indications have been that he does not want to coach again. The article then goes on to state,
There would also undoubtedly be questions about whether Nelson, who turned 71 in May, is the best fit with one of the league's youngest rosters.
Yet it fails to mention that Sloan is just a couple years behind Nelson at 69. I would be shocked, more many reasons, if Sloan returned to coaching.
Sactown Royalty has a nice breakdown on the available SF free agents. The Jazz may already have SF covered if Hayward/CJ/Millsap split time there. But in their rankings based on PER, look who's at the top of the list,
|
Name |
Age |
PER |
MPG |
PPG |
TRB% |
3P% |
TS% |
AST% |
TOV% |
USG% |
|
Grant Hill |
39 |
19.5 |
34.8 |
17.5 |
10.7 |
0.319 |
0.554 |
22.5 |
13.7 |
24.1 |
|
Andrei Kirilenko |
30 |
19.1 |
30.8 |
12.4 |
11.1 |
0.312 |
0.571 |
14.9 |
15.4 |
18.9 |
|
Peja Stojakovic |
34 |
17.1 |
33.5 |
17 |
7.8 |
0.401 |
0.577 |
8.6 |
8.4 |
21.5 |
|
Caron Butler |
31 |
16.2 |
36.3 |
16.6 |
9.4 |
0.319 |
0.524 |
13.8 |
12.5 |
22.7 |
|
Thaddeus Young ® |
23 |
16 |
28.2 |
12.5 |
10.3 |
0.338 |
0.55 |
6.6 |
10.7 |
20.6 |
Make sure to click through and look at the whole list. Those are apparently career numbers for everyone. Tell me who the Jazz could get for $5-6M that would be better than AK? There are certainly some younger players but a majority of them are restricted FAs.
If the Jazz sign a FA SF, and it's not AK, then who should it be? Remember to keep the salary cap (assuming the current CBA) in mind.
"This, is an outrage!" I've referenced more than my fair share of Seinfeld moments here. I'm trying to expand my horizons but if Seinfeld is on, I will watch it. So while I'm not an expert, it's safe to say I've seen each episode at least 10 times.
So that's why when someone shared this list of the top Seinfeld episodes, at first glance it's okay. But upon further review, it's an outrage. The guy who did it obviously only know the popular episodes as he skips over some of the best ones. Most things like this are subjective and up for debate. This, however, is not.
In a true fit of rage, I won't take the time the put together my own list, I'll just nitpick at his. Maybe if you follow me on Google+, I'll post it there.
#165 The Strike - Really? The episode that gives us Festivus is almost off the list?
#148 The Finale - These last two episodes do not exist. I don't know why it's on here.
#134 The Comback - Jerk store. That is all.
#122 The Chicken Roaster - One of the best Kramer episodes ever. I need that chicken Jerry.
#115 The Yada Yada - C'mon, Yada Yada should be in the Oxford dictionary.
#83 The Marine Biologist - This is a definite top 10 episode. This is the first outrage.
#59 The Junior Mint - They're very refreshing Jerry.
#53 The Library - One of the most underrated episodes. This gave us Mr. Bookman and Cantstandya (Costanza)
#38 The Jimmy - Need I say more?
#24 The Puffy Shirt - "But I don't want to be a pirate!" Also, George finds his dream job as a hand model. He won a contest you know.
I guess you could argue the positioning of the rest, but these were an outrage!