July 3, 2017
i think it’s obvious that the NBA offseason has been much better than the season itself. Except if you’re the Clippers, who lost Chris Paul to the Rockets last week in a development that rocked the franchise. However, as angry as Doc Rivers and Lawrence Frank are right now, they came out of this with an incredible haul of assets. They have two of the best value contracts in the NBA in Patrick Beverly and Lou Williams, they gave themselves a 1st round pick in 2018, and they re-signed Blake Griffin. That potentially gives themselves up to $70 million in cap space to work with next summer. They can either build around Blake, or move him or DeAndre for even more assets. The Clips may have missed their window, but they are well on their way to rebuilding a basketball team the right way. Meanwhile, CP3’s phone has been blowing up since the trade….
As for the Lakers, they are definitely taking a calculated risk with their plan. Paul George was traded to OKC for a bag of potato chips, just so Indiana made sure he didn’t get what he wanted. By not trading for George now, there’s a chance he might like it in OKC playing with Westbrook. It’s like proposing to a girl that you’re going to marry, but then letting her date other people for a year before actually getting married. There’s a chance you won’t actually get married. On the other hand, George is still telling his friends he plans on signing with the Lakers, and the trade also prevents Russell Westbrook from signing his extension now. That means both have a chance to be wearing purple and gold in one year from now. The only bad news is that the Lakers can’t seem to get many good players to take one -year deals, which means they will be a lottery team without a lottery pick next season.
Chris Paul’s move to the Rockets gives him the chance to lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs in Texas. Without Patrick Beverley the Rockets’ defense is going to be the worst in Texas since the Alamo. JJ Redick is going to make $23 million next year. NBA GM’s have lost their damn mind! Nice to see James Dolan checking in on the Knicks like a pizza he put in the oven an hour ago. I guess he finally realized that Phil Jackson was trying to get fired, but that won’t stop him from making more bad decisions. Rajon Rondo was waived, but will still make $3 million. Coincidentally, 3 is also the percentage of shots he makes from the three point line. Kyle Lowry just got $100 million. That should be just enough to afford him one pair of Lonzo Ball’s new shoes. Danny Ainge is like that kid with a bunch of baseball cards that refuses to trade with any of the other kids.
To baseball, where the Dodgers are going to get four all-stars, and possibly a 5th in this year’s mid-summer classic. They are Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, and Corey Seager. Justin Turner and Alex Wood also remain a possibility for the last roster spot in the NL. However, none of the Dodger players will be starters, which Jansen claims is the fans fault. Sorry Kenley, but it’s actually your boss’s fault. It’s the Dodger ownership that put the Dodgers on Time Warner Cable, preventing fans from watching the team on a nightly basis in LA, and reducing fan support. What Kenley Jansen should be really frustrated about is that the front office can’t add another decent starting pitcher to get the Dodgers into the World Series. That’s going to be no different at the trade deadline in a few weeks.
The Angels are just one game out of an American League Wild Card spot, however, I don’t know if this should make Halos fans excited or frustrated. It’s exciting that somehow the team is in playoff contention with no pitching staff, an injury to the best player in baseball, and a massive hole at 2nd base. On the other hand, just think how good the Angels could be if they didn’t blow all their money on Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and held on to some of their better prospects? They might actually be one of the better teams in the AL. The Halos may stay in contention with smoke and mirrors, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be a properly constructed baseball team anytime soon.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say the LA Kings were trying to get older and slower. That’s odd because the Kings fired Darryl Sutter and Dean Lombardi to tweak their style to a more productive offensive attack that includes speed. Instead, the Kings signed 35-year-old Mike Cammalleri. I mean was Tony Granato unavailable? The Kings are going to be paying the price for the Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik contracts for quite some time. With younger teams like Edmonton, Anaheim, and Calgary getting faster, a return to the playoffs is looking even more doubtful now.
I feel terrible for John McEnroe. He got totally screwed by that reporter who asked him why Serena Williams shouldn’t be considered the best tennis player of all-time, regardless of the fact she’s a woman? This has nothing to do with misogyny. We celebrate woman separately, and the fact there is women’s tennis creates a class for Serena by herself. In fact, Serene herself admitted years ago that she wouldn’t be that great on the mens tour. This story needs to die, and was nothing more than crappy journalism.
Finally, the Bachelorette gave us four hours of great television last week, and we’ll get two more tonight. I love Lee asking Rachel. “Can I be honest with you?” Why should he start now? That guy is a slimy little bastard. Peter got three hours in the hot tub but no rose? I still think ABC is taking advantage of making racism dramatic, and also turning black men into guinea pigs, since they’ve casted a black woman who loves white guys. Lee vs Kenny is way better than McGregor vs Mayweather. Poor Kenny though, he survived the toughest part of the show, then backed out because he needed to go home and see his daughter. Every rose ceremony I find myself looking at one guy asking myself “who is that guy?” Somebody tell Will this isn’t junior high, and that he needed to put the moves on. Speaking of Will, I love how Eric was understanding about Will dating outside of his race, but critical of Rachel doing it. Finally, Josiah was like the Dwight Howard of the show. He had no idea what the perception of him was, he’s so self absorbed, but ended up getting sent home while thinking he was getting a rose. Josiah does look like Jeffrey from the Fresh Prince though…..
