The NBA and the Economy Volume III

Well two columns in a week sure didn’t last long. Anyway getting back at it, today I’ll look at two small market teams with very different ideas on what it means to be an NBA franchise.

The San Antonio Spurs

Off-Season Moves- The Spurs did some serious moving and shaking this off-season, and have reloaded for the last few years of Tim Duncan’s prime. Their biggest splash was rescuing Richard Jefferson from oblivion, but the Spurs also picked up Theo Ratliff, Antonio McDyess, and drafted Dejuan Blair to shore up the frontcourt. San Antonio has pushed all their chips into the middle of the table for next year, and committed over $80 million to their payroll for next season while maintaining some significant flexibility for the summer of 2010 when it drops down around to the $55 million range.

Projected Lineup

PG- Tony Parker

SG- Roger Mason

SF- Richard Jefferson

PF- Tim Duncan

C- Theo Ratliff

Bench- Manu Ginobli, McDyess, Blair, George Hill

What This Means For The Fans- The Spurs have tons of options for mixing and matching their lineups. They can go small with T.D. at center, Parker and Ginobli in the backcourt with Mason and Jefferson on the wings. Or they can go big and hammer teams on the boards with Blair, McDyess and Ratliff. Either ways Spurs fans are going to be treated to a competitive and deep team. The biggest problem for the Spurs has always been injuries, if they have their big 3 healthy, they win, a lot, if they only have a big 2, they struggle. Jefferson solves this problem by adding an insurance policy for the inevitable Ginobli or Parker injury.

Manu comes off the books this year along with most of their role players like Mike Finley and NH’s own Matt Bonner. Which means that the small market Spurs should be able to continue to compete with the big boys out West, and have the option of retooling next summer to find new running mates for Duncan.

Verdict- It’s refreshing to see a small market team understand the window they have and aggressively pursue a championship. After the disappointment of the last two seasons it would have been easy for the Spurs to slash payroll and trade off Manu and Mr. Longoria, wasting the last few years of Duncan’s career. Instead they took on payroll in a tough economy and served notice to the rest of the League that come June they’ll be in contention.

The Milwaukee Bucks

Off-Season Moves- The Bucks have been losing players left and right this summer. Villanueva took off for the Bulls, and Jefferson went to the Spurs. Other than that there really isn’t much to discuss, they drafted Brandon Jennings, and signed Hakim Warrick. Does that excite anyone? They also picked up Jodie Meeks in the 2^nd round.

Projected Lineup

PG- Luke Ridnour

SG- Michael Redd

SF- Joe Alexander

PF- Amir Johnson

C- Andrew Bogut

Bench- Luc Mbah a Moute, Brandon Jennings, Jody Meeks

What This Means For The Fans- Why would anyone watch this team? They aren’t going anywhere this year, and probably won’t be players in the free agent market next year. I mean its Milwaukee. Like the rest of the country I have never seen Jennings play, but statistically he struggled mightily in Europe last year. The Jody Meeks pick was a steal in the 2^nd round, but his upside is the 6^th or 7^th guy on a good team. I just don’t understand what the Bucks’ philosophy is. Bogut isn’t really the type of player you build around, and Redd hasn’t been healthy in years. Villanueva was a nice piece for them last year, and they had the right to make him a restricted agent this year. Instead they declined to tender him an offer and allowed the Bulls to sign him. Had they submitted an offer to Villanueva they could have lowered his price and potentially kept him, or worked out a sign-and-trade with Chicago. But that would have meant taking on payroll, a move the Bucks are clearly against. I don’t see the formation of any sort of plan to become competitive again. If Rick Pitino was the coach of this squad he would summarize the situation as follows. “GLEN ROBINSON IS NOT WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR! SAM CASSELL IS NOT WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR! RAY ALLEN IS NOT WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR! THE ATTITUDE IN THIS TOWN SUCKS.”

Verdict- Bratwurst and alcohol in lethal quantities.

-Jesse