With a new era in the NBA that features the league dictating the Clippers are blessed and the Lakers are not, it is obviously time for an advanced way of thinking that requires everyone to not only accept changes, but also embrace them.
I read many predictions before games began on Christmas Day and it was clear that the majority of media has yet to adjust to the new NBA. I will have to admit that I made it only halfway with my projections for MVP, Most Improved Player and league champions. My other guesses – and that’s what most sports predictions by media are – were more conventional and I have felt quite guilty since making them.
I can do better.
Since we are only in Day 2 of the 2011-12 NBA season, it’s not too late to right the ship (ah, the Clipper allusion) and acknowledge greatness where it has only rarely existed, and usually not on the court.
My updated predictions/guesses with a straight-forward approach that I’m sure will be recognized as common sense commentary:
1. Most Valuable Player — Chris Paul, LAC: He was supposed to be a Laker but David Stern made him a Clipper. If this guy is so good that the commissioner dictates him to be in a certain place, well it is pretty obvious he is the most valuable player in the league – at least as it relates to those with short-term contracts.
2. Most Improved Player — DeAndre Jordan, LAC: I keep reading and hearing that this guy is headed for greatness, even with career highs of 7.1 points and 7.2 assists. Perhaps the league office decided all he needed was a great point guard and magically Paul appeared on the scene. Good enough for me.
3. NBA Champion — Dallas Mavericks: OK, not a good start with a horrid loss to the Heat. But there are all sorts of precedents – for example, the Memorial Day Massacre in 1985 when the Lakers lost the first game of the NBA Finals to the Celtics by 34 points, then – after countless columns of doom – came back to win four of the next five games and the title.
Let’s remember the Mavericks still have 65 games to play. So forget the first game and focus on how the league decided the Hornets GM Dell Demps was an idiot for making the trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers but endorsed new Lakers decision-maker Jim Buss as a genius for approving a deal that sent Lamar Odom to the Mavericks for a smile and a wave from Mark Cuban. If the league didn’t want the Mavericks to win their second title, why would it approve such a deal?
4. NBA Champion (alternate) – Miami Heat: This has nothing to do with the opening day victory over Dallas and everything to do with Chris Paul being in LA. There is a link. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh took their bank accounts to South Beach, it was upsetting to small market owners, including Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert. Much of the lockout was to change the system to help the small markets. The Paul-to-the-Lakers trade was vetoed to protect a small market (which I think is New Orleans). So Paul to the Clippers is a result of James and Bosh to the Heat, and any team with that type of impact should be taken seriously.
5. Executive of the Year – In a landslide, Hornets general manager David Stern: Here’s a guy who has done for the small market Clippers (?) what they could not do for themselves. It took a little power of persuasion. The Clippers made a big deal out of not wanting to include Eric Gordon in a deal for Paul. But we kept hearing that the league office was working behind the scenes to convince Clippers GM Neil Olshey change his mind and suddenly, he did.
Unfortunately, Olshey was unable to attend the press conference announcing the Paul deal because he was being treated at a local hospital for a punctured ear drum. “Had a couple of problem phone calls from New York,” a Clippers’ spokesman explained. The result of that deal, encouraged (wink, wink) by Stern was an MVP and an MIP for the small market Clippers, a league champion, a new buyer for the Hornets (we hear), and joy among the Clippers and all other small market teams. This is a no-brainer.
6. Most Improved Executive – David Kahn, Timberwolves: I know it is popular to make fun of Kahn’s predilection for guards and treating his roster like a writer would treat his fantasy team, but, hey, he once was a writer. Despite making a few mistakes, however, Kahn has assembled a pretty deep roster led by Kevin Love, coached by Rick Adelman and, potentially, electrified by Ricky Rubio that will be far more competitive this season. You know what happens if the Wolves can crack the 30-win barrier for the first time since Kevin Garnett left in 2006? The draft choice the Hornets got in the Paul trade worsens and New Orleans doesn’t get anywhere near the help it hoped. And who recommended Kahn to get the Wolves’ GM job in the first place? That’s correct. David Stern.
7. Coach of the Year – Kevin McHale, Houston: Here is a Hall of Fame big man who was so close to having a front line that included Pau Gasol and Nene, but because the Paul-Lakers traded was voided, he now will be forced to start a front line that includes 6-9 Luis Scola and 24-year-old Jordan Hill. But hey, the league wouldn’t have deprived the Rockets of such an upgrade if there wasn’t confidence that McHale would work some of his Celtics magic. The Rockets may feel bad about the deal that was reversed but, hey, they’ve got a great head coach who is bound to improve his 39-55 career record.
We still have 65-66ths of a season to play, so perhaps these picks will not pan out. But you have to admit, they do capture the essence of what is the new NBA.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years in between media stints. His columns appear every Monday on SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.
Mr. Hubbard:
I seem to see a background to your writing that is as structured as the military uniforms, with the beauty and flexibility of a spider web. I, like the unsuspecting insect, seem drawn to trhat web. Excellent work, sir!
You know something is messed up with the NBA when people are joking about how the Exec of the Year is David Stern. That’s just great for the league’s reputation! Good job, David Stern.
A late entry to the acerbic post of the year. The sad thing is that I you’re right, just like Phil Jackson was right – there is a horrible whiff of corruption at the heart of the NBA.
I agree that Paul can be the MVP this year and he has shown that in this short preseason and the opening game. But chosing Jordan as the hypothetical MIP hurts me. I would never give such award to a guy who is unable to shoot unless he dunks the ball. Yes, he is going to rebound and block at a great level but, how much each rebound and block will cost to the LAC?.
I will also change your prediction regarding which team will achieve the ring. Last year I doubted since the begining of the season that HEAT could win the trophy (and they were about to shut my mouth). But this year, with a healthy Haslem, a more mature Chalmers and the adquisition of a proven veteran like Battier (not counting the rookie Jones) I think they are the main candidates to win the Championship.
I would also like to remark that in my opinion, Dell Demp should be awarded with the EOY mention because in a week or so was able to accomplish two astonishing trades to maintain NOLA as a candidate for a playoff spot. But specially for the one which was rejected by the league.
Regarding COY award I would consider as the main candidates Del Negro, Hollins and Brooks but I must admit that if McHale put these Rockets in postseason, he will also deserve the award.
What’s with all the backhanded remarks against the Clippers? You can’t even nominated their players for awards without hinting at some asterisk? At some point, “It’s the Clippers” is no linger a funny punchline. Time to evolve your writing because right now, it sounds very ESPN-ish.