The NBA may have a new champion, but for all of those players who were not able to tattoo the Larry O' Brien trophy on themselves this season, help is on the way. The NBA Draft begins tomorrow night at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN. Unfortunately for many teams, this draft class lacks a franchise changing player that can immediately take their club out of the basement. The projected number one overall pick, Kyrie Irving, is an inexperienced point guard who was hurt for the majority of his only season at Duke. There is a total of zero dominant big men in the class of 2011. Scouts can rave about Enes Canter and Jonas Valanciunas all they want, but the fact remains that there have only been two noteworthy foreign centers, Yao Ming before he got hurt and Andrew Bogut, who have panned out. The best overall player in this very weak draft class is Derick Williams because of his length, versatility, and scoring ability. Williams' play is similar to Paul Pierce's, but Pierce could not win a ring by himself and neither will Williams without a little help from his new friends.
Speaking of the NBA draft, the number of rumors going around regarding trading players and picks is reminiscent of high school gossip. But the juiciest rumor surrounding this year's draft is that the San Antonio Spurs will part ways with one of their big three. The Spurs have talked with multiple teams about trading point guard Tony Parker for a high first round draft pick. The two lottery teams that seem to be the most receptive to these conversations have been the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings.The Kings started former Spur Beno Udrith at point guard for the bulk of the season last year, but they were still cellar dwellers. With big man Demarcus Cousins already in place, the Kings next logical step would be to add an experienced point guard. Although the overall probability of this happening is still in doubt, the Spurs seem willing to part with Parker due to his declining play, and the fact that Parker thinks the Spurs championship window has closed.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to struggle on the field, they still hold the crown for ugliest divorce in sports this year. After Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig rejected the Dodger's proposed Television deal with FOX sports yesterday. Frank McCourt's lawyer called Selig's decision "premeditated" and questioned if Selig's actions were in good faith. Selig said yesterday about the proposed deal, "It is my conclusion that the proposed transaction with FOX would not be in the best interest of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise..." This proposed deal would have given half the up front money of the deal to the McCourts instead of the team. Without this T.V. deal, the Dodgers will not make the June 30th payroll and Major League Baseball will seize the franchise from the McCourts and put the Dodgers up for sale.
A tennis rematch for the century was a colossal disappointment. John Isner defeated Nicholas Mahut 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the first round of Wimbledon action yesterday. Although the result was the same as last time, the rest of the matches could not have differed more. In the first round match between these two at Wimbledon last year, Isner and Mahut played the longest match in tennis history at eleven hours and five minutes long. These two set records for the longest set in tennis history at eight hours and eleven minutes. Most games in a set with 138 games in the fifth. Most games in a match with 183 games. And most total aces in a match with 216; Isner had 113 and Mahut had 103 aces. This year was just your typical run of the mill tennis match that Isner won in straight sets. And although this win proves once and for all that Isner is the better player than Mahut, it would have been nice to see this thing go five sets. In the end, lightning did not strike twice, and this match is just as human as any other in Wimbledon. Isner advances to the second round for the second year in a row.
Finally in NFL Labor situation news, the owners have drawn up a new blueprint for the collective bargaining agreement. In the deal, the players would get 48% of the total revenue. Teams would be required to spend almost all of their salary cap money. There would be a rookie wage scale in place when the deal is finalized. And the Owners would get some expense credits that would allow for new stadium funding. But despite the pay cut, the new deal does have some parts that the players like. The rookie wage scale being one of them, because nobody wants to see JaMarcus Russell for 68 million dollars over six years happen again. And retired players would get better health care and pensions because the league's revenue is projected to double by 2016. Also, the player's share in the money will never dip below 46.5% and the 18 game regular season is virtually off the table. If this were proposed in May, there would be time for negotiations, but this is essentially the Owners take-it-or-leave-it proposal. Now the fans wait for the players response, still without football.
