Unbelievable 
I am unfamiliar with Dan Feldman, to my knowledge I’ve never read anything he’s written.  Recently he wrote a column for ProBasketball Talk that was downright funny. When I read the headline I thought it was intended as a joke and maybe it really was. Feldman’s column was titled; “Why there’s a 100 percent chance the NBA Lottery is fixed.” I’m writing this prior to the lottery tonight. One thing for sure if the NBA sets this up in the backroom as Feldman indicates how do we determine the truth? A person whose view I respect and value made this statement regarding conspiracy theories. He said; “I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, too many people are involved with the true facts, somebody is gonna talk at some point.”

He’s now at Mizzou
6-4 wingman Deuce Bello is transferring from Baylor to Mizzou was the announcement. He’s transferring which requires he must sit out a year; Bello will be eligible for the 2014-15 season. As for his resume, he was a Top 60 prospect in the Class of 2011; in spite of this his numbers were nothing outstanding. Last season yielded a modest 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.

NBA salaries
Why do we choose to begrudge an athlete (or entertainer) for their financial earnings? These folks earn far more in a year or two than the majority of us in a lifetime. This is a short and concise response to a story written last week by a national columnist. This particular writer intended to paint a negative portrait of the Players Association, Derek Fisher and NBA owners. I won‘t debate the figures he provided however instead of focusing only on the NBA he should check other areas of endeavor. As far as the NBA he was correct Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and others are part of the 99%. They earn the greatest portion of NBA salaries, how about the 1% the writer claims is under represented by the Players Association?

The latest figures I uncovered were 2011-12, the NBA minimum salary was $498,180 with 0 years of service. One year of play and the salary rises to $788,872. I’m unsure how you roll; I don’t think I have any friends or acquaintances earning $400,000 a year or more annually. Why not contrast that with the annual salary for a U.S. Senator, in 2009 it was $174,000. How about Americans salaries, the figures I located represented households and not singles. From 2010 the average American family earned $63,091 annually. Other websites chose to print the Associated Press release rather than assign a columnist to cover the story. Do you suppose ESPN, Yahoo Sports and others don’t believe this is a “real” issue? (NBA.com)

I guess it could happen?
Never say never, almost any story could develop but we‘ll cover that at the end. It’s that time of the year, the NBA Draft Combine the timeframe collegiate and Euro talent is accessed regarding next months draft. Ever wondered why players are measured at the Combine? The ESPN crew interviewed a Mavs official and the question was asked of him. He said; “the college year book said the player was 6-9 and when we measured him we discovered he was 6-6.” One other note, arm length is also measured which is interesting. Viewers received a definition of “short arms“, I don’t remember the players name however he was measured at 6-9 player but actually had a longer reach (arms) than one who was 6-10 ½.  A number of athletes skipped the NBA Combine on advice of their agents. An athlete projected in the top 20 might not see the need to display his talent for fear of a possible injury or cause his possible draft position to slide.

One of the analyst (don’t remember which one) tossed out an interesting scenario. ____ team drafts Nerlens Noel who might play late or not at all in 2013-14. Team play is not improved and they finish in the lottery again. This same team would be afforded an opportunity to draft an Andrew Wiggins or some other high profile choice, interesting concept and quite possible. It occurred once to my knowledge, Spurs center David Robinson went down with a season ending injury in the 1996-97 season with only six games played. The Spurs finished the year with a losing record and qualified as a lottery team. I will offer you one guess the player chosen by the Spurs in the 1997 draft. I’ll make it easy for you the pick was Tim Duncan who might be the all-time best power forward in NBA history.