NBA Rumors Chat With Steve Kyler 11/10/11

1. AJ

   Had Sullinger, Barnes, and Perry Jones declared for last year’s draft, what do you think the top five picks would have been in order?

   • Steve Kyler

     Welcome to the chat this week… lots of questions in the que, so lets get after them…

     Seeing that none of them went through the combine/workout process that’s hard to predict.

     Look back at the history of the draft, stud collegiate guys rarely translate in the same order in the NBA, but that said I think the draft would have played out like this:

     1- Cavs – Jared Sullinger
     2- Wolves – Harrison Barnes
     3- Jazz – Kyrie Irving
     4- Cavs – Derrick Williams
     5- Raptors – Jonas Valančiūnas

     Enes Kanter and Perry Jones would have be in the running for 6th to the Wizards.

2. john

   do you think the raptors can get a 1st round pick for barbosa?

   • Steve Kyler

     No…Not many teams would look at his $7.6 million contract favorably enough to just try and absorb it, they’d want to swap a bad deal of their own.

     Also, Not sure Toronto needs any more under 20 guys, they need veterans and Barbosa is a solid player.

3. john

   where do you think aaron brooks ends up?….he seems like the best pg on the market

   • Steve Kyler

     Smart money says back in Phoenix, although I think he’d like a chance to start somewhere, but Phoenix holds his rights and he’ll go where he can be paid the most.

4. john

   if you had to redo this years draft which selections would you change

   • Steve Kyler

     None of them have played yet, so not sure there is anything other than personal preference to go on.

     Until Players play hard to say there is anything wrong with how the draft played out… teams got the players they wanted for the most part,

5. Keith

   What’s Up Steve!

   With the proposal that currently on the table, How does this affects teams who are under the salary cap ability to get prize free agents.i.e Knicks getting a Chris paul and filling out the rest of the roster

   • Steve Kyler

     Knicks won’t have much of a shot at Chris Paul unless it’s a sign and trade… the biggest issue on the table is how sign and trades will work, but the system the Players want, would make it easier for guys to change teams without much of a financial penalty, hence why so many teams are opposed to it.

6. Jonathan

   Hey Steve,

   If decertification occurs, will legal action against the NBA be only pursued by the players who want to take it or will each member of the NBPA be thrown into a lawsuit? Would these multiple cases be able to be held at the same time?

   • Steve Kyler

     If the Players follow the standard course there will be a single class action suit which all players would benefit from the fruits of.

     Keep this in mind… there isn’t much of a legal leg to stand on, and as an agent friend of mine and I were discussing, the NBA hasn’t done anything illegal and there certainly isn’t a smoking gun that the Players can say ‘see they cheated us’… there is no documented collusion, so the odds of them winning their day in court is slim, especially considering how the NFL case just played out.

     The NBA situation is different so a judge might rule slightly different and both sides would fight tooth and nail over what court would have jurisdiction over the case… the right judge could rule in the Players favor, but it’s not like there is some piece of material floating out there that makes this a slam dunk for either side.

     The end goal of anti-trust is to get it so close in the courts that one side blinks and opts to make a deal… neither side wants the courts to write the next labor deal, but what the Players hope is that the clock that starts in the courts forces progress at the bargaining table.

7. Robbie Ackley

   So if their is no NBA season can the rookies re-enter the 2012 NBA draft….

   • Steve Kyler

     It’s never happened so it’s hard to say… the outgoing CBA says that a team has one full year to sign a drafted player or he goes back in, but the circumstances of this lockout get resolved in the next labor deal.

     As Bill Ingram covered yesterday, both sides need a labor deal in order for there to be a 2012 NBA Draft, a draft cannot happen without a deal and the rights of the 2011 players will surely be addressed in that deal.

     If you are hoping for a 2012 Superdraft, it’s not going to happen.

8. Jeremy

   I know the players think that decertification might help them in negotiation because of the threat to the owners of prolonged litigation, but I kind of see it as a possible boon to the owners. If owners don’t negotiate much differently and call the players bluff and actually do go through and litigate the matter and win, which most legal experts believe they would, then the players would really be left to take whatever the owners were willing to give them afterward. The players would be done for.

   I think the NBA can bank that a panel of US judges aren’t going to go against precedent and make a ruling that would destroy professional sports.

   • Steve Kyler

     True… and the threat of legal action is simply a motivation tool… while most legal experts agree the NBA wins in court… there is not a legal expert in the world that can guarantee that.

     The 8th Circuit overturned the NFL’s lockout… the initial judgement was the NFL blocked players from their right to earn a living… an Appeals court overturned that, but the initial judge ruled for the Players… what does the next judge do?

     The NBA doesn’t want to find out, hence why its a good tool for leverage… the problem is if the NBA stands firm, the odds of a win in court are slim… but if the Players are left with try our luck in court, or take a bad deal, there are enough of them willing to try to make this a prolonged nightmare.

     If it ends up there understand the Players will never get a labor deal through the courts, they will still have to make a deal in the board room, they’ll just have the ever ticking clock of a judge standing in their corner of the fight.

     The players can also use legal tools like Subpenas to make things really hard on the owners along the way… especially as they try and make the case Owners profit from the NBA in ways not recorded on the balance sheet. If they start parading owners in for depositions and subpenaing financial records, things get serious for the individual owners.

9. Faizan

   If the Owners/Players are really as close to a deal as people are saying, how many days does it take for the deal to come to fruition. Meaning from the time they say “we may have a deal” to lets shake hands. 2 days? 3 days? more?

   • Steve Kyler

     Based on what happened in 1999… they had a handshake deal on January 6th… the final agreement was signed by both parties on January 20, the first regular season game was February 5, 1999.

     Once both sides have a hand shake agreement, both sides will like call a ratification vote based on the agreed bullet points. The NBA and Players attorneys will work on the legal language of a final deal.

     At some point the NBA will lift the lockout and open for free agency… teams will then report to what will likely be a 5 to 7 day training camp, and there will likely be two pre-season games at least.

     The first regular season game would likely be 30 days from the handshake deal, give or take… NBA circles are talking about a 72-75 game regular season schedule that would end in late April, but its all based on reaching a deal.

10. Jason

    If the NBA players and owner close this week, will there be preseason games?

    • Steve Kyler

      Yes… how many remains to be seen, but based on how 1999 played out I suspect we’ll see at least two games likely with regional located teams… Nets play the Knicks… Magic play the HEAT or Hawks… so there is very limited travel.

      Keep in mind teams have t6o shake out starting rotations, figure out which minimum deal players they want to keep. There are a lot of open roster spots so teams will need pre-season games to figure out who to keep.

11. Robbie Ackley

    I just want to know if you think the lockout will end today or tomorrow.. Thoughts….

    • Steve Kyler

      

      I have been here before… so I remain optimistic, but I will not try and kick that football again… my ass still hurts from the last one.

12. Robbie Ackley

    This is for the rookies question I asked you… Not hoping for a superdraft just was wondering if that was an option.. Thanks for the awnser..

    • Steve Kyler

      Highly unlikely…

      There would need to be a series of events that just are not plausible… the owners would have to lose on every front in the legal process and I think they’d make a deal before they let it get far enough for them to lose everything.

13. john

    your 10 breakout players this year

    • Steve Kyler

      Without seeing a lot of guys in Summer League… here is a stab in the dark with five…

      1 – Raymond Felton – Great fit in Portland.
      2 – Micheal Beasley – If Adelman doesn’t kill him, he will be a monster in that system
      3 – Jordan Crawford – He won’t be MJ anytime soon, but he is a monster offensively.
      4 – Kyrie Irving – If the foot stays right, he’ll get a ton of opportunity, see Rose, Derrick
      5 – Kemba Walker – Also very good fit in Charlotte.

      I expect big things from DeMarcus Cousins… Eric Gordon… Paul George and my guy Iman Shumpert.

14. Ben

    If Dallas can’t keep Tyson Chandler, where do you see him landing? Who has the cap room and a situation he’d want to go to?

    • Steve Kyler

      I think you’ll see Houston at the top of the waiting list… Tyson is not going to come cheap, but keep this in mind… Marc Gasol and Nene are out there too, and their going to take a ton of the free agent money.

      I think you’ll see Dallas Amnesty someone to get just under the tax line enough to keep Chandler.

      The Mavs are sitting at $61 million, leaving them about $8 million under the first tax line… they whack Brendan Haywood with the Amnesty, they’d have $14 or $15 to offer Tyson… so I wouldn’t rule out that Tyson staying in Dallas just yet… it means he may have to take a pay cut to stay and honestly, I think Dallas would be better served getting Nene or Gasol with that money.

15. bryson

    Say there is not a 2011-2012 season. How does that impact play on the court next year? Do guys come back with an energy that makes the 2012-2013 season one of the best ever? Also, how crappy is it that Blake Griffin might end up losing 2 of his first three years?

    • Steve Kyler

      Pretty crappy for Blake and a lot of guys, because there are a number of guys with limited life left on their career…

      I wouldn’t immediately buy into the idea of better basketball after a full year off… in act I’d be worried guys fall out of shape or start to drop off with that much time away from NBA pace.

16. Robbie Ackley

    How do you see Brandon Knight fitting in with the Pistons.. Minus Rip or Ben Gordan of course…

    • Steve Kyler

      Not there on B Knight… I wonder how he’s gonna fit in Detroit… he has a MONSTER chip on his shoulder and that can make a player great or make a player toxic.

17. gus26

    bynum, artest, blake and odom for jennings and bogut… who says no?

    • Steve Kyler

      Everyone in Milwaukee…

      Bynum, is solid but has two serious knee surgeries.
      Blake, was a bust in LA… could be better under Scott Skiles, but not enough.
      Odom, is a great utility/all purpose guy but far from a franchise player.
      Artest, come on.. even you don’t believe he has value.

      There is no future for Milwaukee in this deal… so no deal.

      I have to cut the chat short a few minutes, but thanks for all the questions. Until next week, make sure you are following me on Twitter (@stevekylerNBA)