SH Blog: The omnipresent LeBron; Suns save on Beasley; Rodman worming release of prisoner?

• Do you know anyone who has been to North Korea even once? I don’t, and I know more than a few people who work in the news industry. Well, recent Hall of Fame inductee and all-purpose wingnut Dennis Rodman is there – for a second time. Rodman initially said he was heading to North Korea to try to persuade Kim Jong-Un to release American Kenneth Bae, who was imprisoned in November. But those conversations may not even take place, explains Neil Connor of AFP: “Speaking to reporters at Beijing airport en route to the North Korean capital Pyongyang, Rodman said “I haven’t been promised anything” on Bae. “I’m just going to meet my friend Kim the marshal to start a new basketball league going,” Rodman said. “I’m just trying to keep the communication job going.” The North’s official news agency later announced his arrival in Pyongyang in a one-line statement. “I am happy to come back here again, to meet my friend,” Rodman was quoted by China’s Xinhua news agency as saying in Pyongyang. But the agency quoted a North Korean sports ministry source as saying the visit “has nothing to do” with Bae. The source said the delegation would give a basketball clinic, watch a taekwondo performance and a women’s football match, and travel to the Mount Kumgang resort during its four-day stay.”

• An interesting study by Emory University shows that while the Clippers may have moved past the Lakers in the Pacific Division standings and the battle of Los Angeles, they are still miles behind in the world of social media equity. The study shows the Lakers rank first among NBA teams. The Clippers rank last. “To look at NBA teams “social media equity” we collected follows and likes from Twitter and Facebook. We then created a statistical model that predicts these measures of social media engagement as a function of market size, tweeting activity and team performance for this past season and for the season before that. We then compared each team’s actual follows and likes against the model predictions. This method attempts to control for short term fluctuations in winning percentage and market differences. The top team in terms of social media equity is the LA Lakers. The Lakers crush the competition both in terms of raw numbers and in our model. In second place, we have the Miami Heat.”

• And while we were putting together tonight’s blog, the Lakers generated more material to tweet about and maintain their lofty perch atop the NBA’s social media equity by signing Shawne Williams. So there. 

• Most of Tuesday’s player news had to do with guys getting dumped by their teams or – worse – getting arrested. But there was one addition: The Pacers agreed with forward Rasual Butler, according to RealGM.com: “Rasual Butler has reached agreement on a non-guaranteed contract with the Indiana Pacers, agent Joel Bell told RealGM. Butler played for the Pacers’ summer league team in July and averaged 6.2 points and three rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game. At 6-foot-7, Butler established himself as a strong outside shooter and positive presence over 10 seasons in the NBA – his most recent coming in 2011-12 with the Toronto Raptors.” Butler played in the D-League last season, where he was the Impact Player of the Year. The Pacers have 13 guaranteed deals, so there is room for him to make the roster. But with Danny Granger and Paul George in front of him, there probably isn’t much playing time.

• Finally, some loose ends on the Michael Beasley saga. In waiving the talented but troubled forward, president Lon Babby gave him a verbal shove out the door with his statement on suns.com: “The Suns were devoted to Michael Beasley’s success in Phoenix,” Babby said. “However, it is essential that we demand the highest standards of personal and professional conduct as we develop a championship culture. Today’s action reflects our commitment to those standards.” Although it is unusual for teams to take shots at departing players – no matter how they are exiting – it is not the first time Babby and the Suns have done so. In waiving Mickael Pietrus in 2011, Babby said, “There’s an expression that, ‘All’s well that ends well.’ In this case, all’s well that ends.” Earlier this evening, we spoke with Babby about the finances of waiving Beasley and the nuances of the stretch provision, which allows waived contracts to be spread over twice the remaining years plus one. Babby explained that because the Suns did not act before Sept. 1, Beasley had begun this season’s contract and had only one year left on his deal. Prior to his release, Beasley was guaranteed $6 million this season and $3 million (of $6 million) next season. So the Suns negotiated the total number down to $7 million, with Beasley getting $4.66 million this season (a cap savings of $1.34 million). The remaining $2.34 million will be stretch over the ensuing three seasons (1 x 2 + 1 =3). That creates a cap savings of $5.22 million in 2014-15 and increases of just $780,000 in 2015-16 and 2016-17. If you’re confused by that, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic explains it with less detail.

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Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of Sheridan Hoops. He almost never writes the blog.