In looking into NBA League Pass for the year I discovered that not only is the league raising the cost of NBALP by over 20% this year, but they are NOT prorating the cost of the season.

So in the past where you'd get 82 games per team for $179, you now pay $209 for 66 games per team. So instead of $2.18 per game, you now pay $3.16 per game.

That's an increase of 44%!

Way to go NBA. Nice way of saying "hey fans, thanks for sticking with us".

Someone check my math here, because I think the new NBA has just struck a blow for the superteams.

We've got the amnesty clause, in which teams will jetison decent but drastically overpaid players like Arenas, Rip, Elton Brand, Billups etc. Doesn't that mean that Miami, Boston, Dallas, LA, NY etc are going to get some decent talent for pennies on the dollar?

Plus those teams who are jacked up to the limit on salaries are going to have an out to clear room (like Mike Miller).

Doesn't this just help the superteams get more super?

Well now that we've got our 'superteam', how does everyone here think the league will react?

Do you think this is good for the NBA or bad?  Is Stern happy about this?

Once the dust settles, how will the fans react?  Will everyone jump on the Heat bandwagon and create a new 'America's Team'?  Or will every one unite in hate and create a new 'America's Yankees', the team you love to hate?

Extra credit question:  How will this effect the new CBA?

I have read Prada’s well thought out and persuasive argument that we should dump Jamison now for whatever we can get.  I have heard the cries from many to blow the team up for nothing more than expiring contracts if that is the best deal we are offered. 

 I have to disagree.  

We have a team full of what EG calls “assets”.  These assets apparently don’t work well together and are less than the sum of their parts.  I recognize that the time has come to change course.  However I don’t believe that we have a ticking time bomb and need to sprint into bad deals and end up at zero.

I love Rook’s creative if optimistic scenaria.  Deals like those could set us up to be only a handful of years away from being back in the mix if things go reasonably well.  However if all we are offered is expiring contracts then I say we stand pat.

Yes, you heard me.  Stand pat with what we have.  I would rather sink slowly into mediocrity than plunge into awfulness.  I think that some of our assets will retain their value or get more valuable down the road and I don’t think we should just give them away at this time.  Furthermore, I think that a measured approach to dismantling the team will get us back into contention faster than a nuclear approach.

Here are some assets that have an immediate time limit:  Haywood, Miller, Foye, James. 

I think Haywood is our most valuable asset and the one we are least likely to retain.  I think we can get something for him as an expiring and a rental/Bird rights for another team.  If offered nothing more than equal expirings at the deadline, however, I see no reason to trade him.  We need some net return.

 Miller and Foye could be trade bait, again if we get something in return besides expirings, but each of them could be worth re-signing to medium term contracts if the price is right.  If not we can let them expire.  James is in a similar boat except for the re-signing part.

The other assets that are not young potential building blocks are Jamison and Butler.  I see no reason to give either of them away. 

 Butler seems more on a must-move-soon path, mostly because he seems to be tuning out.  But his value will be just as high in the offseason or before next year’s trading deadline.  And we might have more suitors.

 I believe that Jamison will also retain his value next year.  He will likely still be playing at a high level and the following year he is an expiring contract, so I don’t think he needs to be given away for nothing.  And I believe that having a player like him on the team if we are rebuilding is a plus as well.

I think a lot of the "blow it up"-ers are reacting out of emotion, frustration, anger...all very understandable.  But the falsehood at the heart of the argument--that if we start from scratch we could be in contention in a few years or even a handful of years--is pure fantasy.  If we take apart this team we are looking at a 5-8 year plan minimum.  Look at the Cavs.  They lucked into one of the greatest players of our time and they are 7 years along with no ring. 

We need to face facts.  If we start over it's going to be a long road.  I for one am willing to risk adding a year or two onto the teardown part in the thought that it will minimize the rebuild if we can get something for our outgoing assets.

Our mantra must be "no overpaying long term contracts" and we need to seize opportunities to trade assets in order to get better, not just in order to get rid of them.

Editor's Note: Bumped. -MP

I'm not referring to Abe.  We all felt that loss and expressed our respect and honor. 

The grief I'm now talking about is over the rest of the team.

Here is what you can expect to go through:

1 - Shock or Disbelief

2 - Denial

3 - Bargaining

4 - Guilt

5 - Anger

6 - Depression

7 - Acceptance and Hope

There are some of you out there who are still in stage 1, "Shock or Disbelief", but very few. If that is you then you should get moving. You have a long way to go.

Some of you are in stage 2, "Denial". Don't tell me you are not because that just proves the point.

If you are in stage 3 ("Bargaining") or stage 4 ("Guilt") then you should really move on down the list. It isn't your fault and there is nothing you can do about it. Unless your name is Ernie, Flip, Gilbert, Caron etc. Then stage 3 or 4 is really the right place for you.

Most of you are clearly in stage 5, "Anger".  If your posts include any all-caps then this is you. If your pie chart of blame added up to more than 100% this is you too. Hopefully you'll come out of it soon. Sounds like a bad place to be. I think a lot of the "blow it up" crowd is stuck here, since there seems more of a tendency to want to destroy than actually build something. I don't blame them, but really I don't think it's healthy in the long run.

CJHutch has moved on to stage 6, "Depression". Also a bad place, but it seems to be working for him. I'm jealous.

Stage 7 is "Acceptance and Hope". Is anyone on this site there yet? No. But it is my New Year's wish that by the trade deadline some of the advanced members of this BF community will have reason to start getting to this point.

Feel free to tell us all what stage you are experiencing.  It's therapeutic.

Ok, so this is really bothering me and I have to get it off my chest:

The Wiz have a game against Cleveland on Xmas stolen by a series of bad calls and there is barely a mention in the media.  Nobody wants to make the refs the story of the game.

A week later, the next time the two teams meet the "crab dribble" episode is nation-wide news.  There is talk, debate, controversy even. 

WTF?

Lame.  NBA, you are lame.

The names David Lee, Vince Carter and Dalembert have come up here recently.  

I'd prefer Prince or Gerald Wallace.

Aside from that, I still think Phili is a trading partner.  But N Young for Dalembert is just plain stupid IMHO.  We'd need more than that.  They must be desperate to unload Dalembert, so I'd look for Lou Williams and/or Thad Young to come along.  Don't know how the numbers crunch.

Thoughts?

When a season goes sour sometimes players point fingers at each other and question each other's effort

This is a new one on me.  Someone pointing fingers at himself!

"I don't feel I gave 101 percent of effort rebounding," said Blatche, pointing to his two rebounds as evidence. "We've got to step it up. That's what killing us. We had the game tied and we just didn't rebound or play defense. Rebounding is just effort. I didn't rebound, so I didn't give that much effort.

Why does this guy garner so much attention?  I recognize that he helped the Celts down the stretch, but I feel like people talk about him like he's the missing link.  "Can the Celtics do without him?"  "Are the Hornets poised for a championship now that they've signed him?" 

The guy gets about 7 pts, 4 rebounds and shoots in the low 40% .  He's a decent 3-pt shooter and free throw shooter, a good not great defender.

Only last summer it seemed like nobody really wanted him.  I think of him as a middle level role player.  Does he really have the magic touch?  Is he the new Robert Horry?  Someone please enlighten me.