If I am left to be the positive one the world might be in big trouble. I have never been famous for looking on the bright side of life. Still, I saw mentioned several times, in several sources, all relating back to a story by Ken Berger. The reports I read all said that Rubio has told the wolves he will play next year for the wolves barring a lockout.

I should note that this should come with a side note because of course Ricky must get out of his Barca contract before said lockout would happen. I am left to conclude, without knowing Bergers sources, that Ricky will opt out of his Barca contract, sign his wolves contract, and if there is a lockout try and find somewhere else to play during the lockout.

I know a lot of people here are down on Ricky. I don't blame you his numbers have been less than stellar. still, Ricky did not forget how to play basketball. I for one believe a change of scenery, the realization of his childhood dream, and an offense more suited to his skill set, will increase his numbers.

I can't prognosticate on the NBA draft because I don't like to do that before the lottery results. I find it like throwing pennies in a fountain and getting upset when your wish doesn't come true. We would all like the number one overall pick. I never expect it to happen. I still say the team needs veteran players in particular at the shooting guard and center positions. They need someone who can beat people off the dribble.

I throw this out there because no one else has and well someone needs to try and turn a light on in this dark room. :)

In light of recent discussions about the possibility of the wolves "tanking' it and the significant amount of money the wolves are below the cap a thought came to my mind. What effect does the future lockout have on the wolves plans? This is a thought that many people may under estimate. It is a fact that the NBA owners want to implement a hard cap. A hard cap unlike the current soft cap means that for no reason can a team go over the set amount of money that they have to spend. If they do, they will be forced to cut players until they are under, or I believe lose any games they would play. When the NFL implemented its hard cap in 1993 it gave teams one chance to cut players to get their money under the current level. Legally the team was still obligated to pay the player, but that money did not count against the cap. If that player signed else where for less money then the team was obligated to pay the difference. It is a very financially painful process for a team. Now no one know the level of what the hard cap would be so I won't speculate other than to say that it will be at a level that allows most NBA teams to make money. The cap also comes with a salary floor. The NBA cap will most certainly be below the current cap at 57 million. This becomes more painful when you look at the salaries of current teams

as examples

Boston: 83 million                                        Dal: 86 million

NJ: 57 million                                               Hou: 71 million

NY: 56 million                                               Mem: 65 million

Phil: 68 million                                             NO: 63 million

Chi: 51 million                                              SA: 68 Million

Cle: 51 million                                             Den: 82  Million

Det: 65 million                                              Min: 40 million

Ind: 63 million                                               Por: 67 million

Mil: 68 million                                               okc: 55 million

Atl: 67 million                                               Utah: 74 million

CHa: 65 million                                          GS: 65 million

Orl: 88 million                                               LAC: 52 million

Wash: 58 million                                         LAL: 91 million

Continue reading this post »

This is the google translation of an as.com article from today. It seems to me that Fagans offer exceeds 3 million total, but that the money comes from a lot of sources so its complicated. Thought I would post it here. Still too many ways this can go for my personal taste and I still think this will go down to the wire. Now is the wire the opening of wolves camp or eurobasket, not sure, perhaps someone who follows european basketball can offer input here.

http://translate.google.com/translate?tl=en&sourceid=ie8-activity&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.as.com%2Fbaloncesto%2Farticulo%2Fbaloncesto-joventut-estudia-nueva-oferta%2Fdasbalacb%2F20090831dasdaibal_2%2FTes

Disfrutanso del ultimo dia de vacaciones, playa y sol. Con ganas de empezar a entrenar con la selección

translation from babylon:

Disfrutanso the last day of holidays, beach and sol. With desire to begin to train with the selection

thought I'd post this since this comes from Rubio's twitter page. According to the Startribune his twitter page is Twitter.com/rickyrubio9. I am not sure the wolves are the selection, but considering he said he's not going back to DKV and no one else selected him I am assuming this refers to the wolves.