NBA Team Incomes

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/12/09/team.values.ap/index.html

interesting to see how much money teams are making. larger cities with more disposable income have obvious advantages since they can charge more for tickets, which also gives them an ability to spend more on players and have a higher chance of winning. however, a few surprises: chicago we knew always made money no matter what because of the brand name, but they made the SAME amount as the Lakers who won the championship. Also, Boston doesn't seem to make that much money at all....or maybe the economic crunch hit them a little harder. Detroit seems to have a really strong fan base as they make money even when not good.

any other thoughts?

here are links to some previous seasons

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/32/nba08_NBA-Team-Valuations_Rank.html

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/32/biz_06nba_NBA-Team-Valuations_Rank.html

Lakers Repeat? In Terms of Other Contenders...

In order to judge a possible dynasty I feel like u have to look at the other contenders…

The Cavs upgraded with Shaq. The Lakers would have beaten the Cavs pretty easily in 2009 if they made it to the finals, this addition simply puts them in the discussion. But, now the Lakers got better as well (in terms of talent + guarding LBJ). The Cavs are somewhat of a threat, but if we re-sign LO and everyone is healthy we would beat them in a 7 game series.

The Spurs look to be more healthy and added young Richard Jefferson. We beat the spurs in 2008 but Ginobili was a bit injured. It was a close series, but we didn't have Bynum or Ariza. Now that we have Bynum and an upgrade with Artest, if the entire Spurs team can stay healthy, this is a pretty even matchup in my opinion with the Spurs' additions.

The Nuggets haven’t made any big changes yet…and if they don’t, they won’t be a real contender.

The Celtics won the title in '08, but they were pretty unconvincing in doing so, even against LA (except for game 6). They beat us without Bynum and Ariza, and i feel like if we had those pieces we would have been champions in '08. Regardless, they are back to '08 form with KG minus James Posey but with a new-and-improved rondo, plus a Rasheed Wallace. But, Bynum+Artest>>>Wallace, just isolating those pieces, it looks like we would be able to handle them like we didn’t do in 08, because we are MUCH better without the injuries in 08 and the Artest addition, and they are marginally better than the 2008 Celtics (remember the Big 3 are aging as well).

The Magic have lost Turkoglu, Gortat, and Lee, while they’ve added Vince. I think AT BEST they’ve stayed even, and we’ve improved with Artest after already beating them pretty easily in the '09 finals. I think the Lakers would handle them if things don’t change much.

All in all, I see the order of highest threat to repeat to lowest threat as:
Spurs, Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Nuggets.

The Celtics have a big time player coming back from injury + a new addition, but we didnt have 2 key players when we faced em in '08.

If the Spurs come back healthy and Jefferson is effective, they look scary, but again we beat them in '08 without Bynum and Ariza and now we’ve upgraded Ariza to Artest.

The net change from the 2008 matchup between the Lakers and Spurs becomes:

A healthy Ginobili (injured in '08) + Richard Jefferson VERSUS Bynum + Artest. I'd take Bynum and Artest in that matchup, but even if that is a wash, the Lakers still have the edge after winning in 2008 against the Spurs.

The drop-off after that in my opinion is pretty steep. The Cavs and the Magic are still one piece away.

All-in-all there is a good shot the Lakers can repeat if they stay healthy and driven, but look for other teams to make more moves from now till before the trade deadline in February.

Some NBA Preview E-Mail Thoughts

Nick:

Just wanted to know everyones thoughts on all the most recent free agent developments. Of course I'm most interested in Boston's signing of Rasheed and the likely signing of Big Baby by the Spurs. Hedo to the Raps and the Pistons signings are not as much of an issue in terms of turning them in to contenders in the short term. I think Rasheed is a great fit for the Celtics off the bench, a huge upgrade over Big Baby because while Big Baby can hit the midrange, Sheed can hit from just about anywhere on the floor. Big Baby to the Spurs by itself is not a huge deal but if the Spurs are healthy they have to be the favorites after the Lakers out of the West..a healthy big three, + the new blood of Richard Jefferson, DaJuan Blair, Jack McClinton (Eddie House style player out of Miami) and Big Baby is pretty scary. In light of all the movements I'm warming up to Artest more and more, the Lakers couldn't have just stood still during this off season. If we keep Odom, this could be an amazing team.
What do you guys think about the other teams moves?

Devinder:

Rasheed is 35 years old and the Celtics are betting on experience, which is crucial in the playoffs. This move is similar to the lakers moves to get gary peyton and karl Malone in the 2004 season. I think age will (has) caught up with the Celtics and the rigor of keeping up with Cleveland and Orlando in the rest will takes its toll on the 4 30 something stars that they have - RA,PP,KG and RW.

The lakers probably have a deal with lamar which will be announced on Wednesday and, with artest, they get a good defender, a good three point shooter as well as someone who will use some technicals to intimidate opponents. Phil coming back is a huge deal and he probably pushed for the artest trade.

If Portland had landed turkoglu that would have been a definite upgrade for them and I am glad he went to Toronto. The magic are weakened and, unless Dwight learns some other moves (and improves his free throw shooting) the magic will not make it back to the finals.

Shaq will disrupt lebron's game too much and Cleveland will regret getting him. At 37 shaq is too heavy to be effective on a consistent basis, expecially in 7 game series that are played over 14 days. He helps them against other big men but will not work out overall.

Finally the lakers (and kobe) have to play just as hungry and motivated this year as they did this past year. Kobe has to enforce. Bynum has to come out strong and consistent.

Prashant:

The Spurs biggest knock has been their age but they just got a huge upgrade with Richard Jefferson and if Big Baby or Shawn Marion go to the Spurs they look scary out West. They could match the Lakers in shooting for a 70-win season if everyone stays healthy.

Ginobili is a scoring beast and any team is going to have difficulties matching up with both him and Jefferson on the wing, as well as Duncan down low and a quick-as-hell Tony Parker.

Just looking at the Lakers, we are probably the only team in the league that can truly guard the Spurs' wings effectively with both Kobe/Artest, but we would still have trouble with Duncan and Parker.

I think the Lakers realized that they were good, but with Ginobili/Garnett/Nelson injured they did have an easier time than they would have. With that said, the path was easier but we still struggled at times, and the Artest upgrade merely matches the trades other teams have made and the teams that have people coming back from injury. We need one more piece in ADDITION to LO in my opinion to match all the improved and now-healthy teams out there.

That piece could be internal: Andrew Bynum being as dominant for a season as he is for certain stretches we have seen. It could be Farmar taking over the point from Fisher and flourishing. It could be Vujacic returning to 2008 form. But other than that, Kobe, Odom, and Gasol are basically playing the best they will play. I think the Lakers will make one more move before the trade deadline involving Odom/Morrison/Yue/Farmar/Vujacic/Walton and MAYBE, maybe, maybe even Bynum (even though he has been off-limits in the past) if they can convince themselves to part with him.

Kobe Bryant meets Roger Federer

Even though Kobe Bryant isn't in the Gillette ads with Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter like Roger Federer is, the comparisons between the two couldn't be clearer today. Federer captured his first ever French Open title, cementing his legacy by finally winning the Slam that has eluded him for so long. Before Sunday, he had lost to Rafael Nadal three straight years in the French final, while only managing to win a total of two sets. Federer brushed off the Roland Garros demons cursed unto him by the Matador of Spain by handling Robin Soderling convincingly in straight sets in the championship match.

Roger Federer has now won 14 Grand Slams, and at least 1 at every major Grand Slam event. He has tied Pete Sampras at 14, but has something that Sampras never achieved: a Career Grand Slam (winning all four major championships at least once). Most in the tennis world consider him the best of his era, if not the best of all-time. A younger, flashier, rising star in Rafael Nadal is clipping at its heels, having taken chunks out of Federer in the last few years. Federer has lost 8 times in the relevant years of his career after he matured into a dominant professional. 5 of those losses have come at the hands of Nadal in Grand Slam Finals. Their 2008 Wimbledon Final has been lauded as the greatest match ever played (which Nadal won).

You might ask why Kobe Bryant is even in the title of this article with so much about Roger Federer?

Because it's actually about both of them.

Federer had lost 3 straight French Open Finals, Kobe? 2 straight NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant is looking to exorcise his demons from Finals past, by redeeming the Lakers of their loss to last years Celtics on the NBA's biggest stage. We can't forget 2004 either where his Lakers lost 4-1 embarrasingly at the hands of the up-and-coming Detroit Pistons in the Finals. Roger needed to win the French to cement his legacy and it seemed to be slipping away from him the last few years as Nadal became more and more dominant on clay. But Federer finally did it in 2009. Kobe needs to win this championship in 2009, without Shaquille O'Neal, no matter what he or the media will say, to finally cement his championships and legacy as legitimate. He won't be mentioned in the conversation as the greatest ever if he can't win one being the best player on his team. Federer needed the French to make the "greatest-ever" debate between him and Sampras a little easier.

Federer is unwillingly passing the torch to Nadal. Kobe? To LeBron James.

The younger, flashier nemesis? Watch any sports channel for about 5 minutes and you'll see his face about 13 times. He goes by simply "The King", or LeBron James. He's flashier, he's more outgoing, and he's right there. Most consider LeBron the best player in the game today, a title he snatched from Kobe who held it for about the same time as Federer held the No. 1 ATP Ranking. LeBron's rise is validated by the fact that he won the Most Valuable Player award this season. Most tennis pundits consider Nadal the best in the game today, validated by his No. 1 Ranking which he took away from Federer after a record 237 consecutive weeks for the Swiss.

Both need to silence the critics, but...

Sadly, because Federer didn't beat Nadal (who lost to the guy Federer beat in the Final), some don't consider this championship legitimate, contending that he must go through Nadal, the King of Clay, to truly cement his reputation. Kobe and the Lakers can't fully redeem themselves either as they never got a chance to go through the Celtics that thrashed them last year and brought Kobe to tears at the conclusion of last years' Finals. The Celtics suffered a knee injury to arguably their best player and never had a chance to make it to the Finals to face the Lakers. Ironically enough, Nadal was suffering from a knee injury as well.

But Kobe doesn't care, and neither did Federer.

Both have time catching up with them as they age, and can't rely on youth to get them by. Both have younger challengers to the throne of their respective sports. Both need to validate something this year. Both need to lay claim to their respective sports' title of the best-right-now. Both have legacies to build, cement, and protect. Federer did his part on Sunday, June 7th, 2009. Can Kobe do the same?

We'll know before the month is over.