Ramblings About The Very Real Possibility of Spoiled OJ and No More Gayness

It is no secret about LeBron James' love for New York, his friendship with "Brooklyn" Nets owner Jay-Z, and Bron-Bron's big market appeal.

In my personal opinion, it is just a matter of what I will call for lack of a better term, "Contractual Time."

As soon as he can, Akron's native son will bolt from the team and city he ressurected and go to the biggest media outlet and best city in the United States. (Sorry, every other city.)

Big ups to Bronny for placing Dallas in his top 5 NBA Cities.

I digress.

This article is old, but the topic is still fresh. Furthermore, it has gotten me to do something I normally don't like to do.

Think.

What if it happened to us?

We've all heard the phrase applied to something in our life. "It could happen to you....It happened to them, and it could happen to you, too!"

So what if? What if it did?

Boozer "bam-boozered" Cleveland years ago and bolted to Utah, and the fans were in an uproar. Lebron leaving would kill the Cavaliers franchise, in my opinion, or at least revert it back to the way that it was, which was basically an iron lung. Lifeless, with a disinterested fanbase.

What would happen to the Grizzlies, already long-suffering from attendance problems, bad seasons, lack of player development and no real stars, if our two promising stars bolted?

These were some of the questions I was beating and batting around. I weighed why I thought it would happen, why I thought it wouldn't...and had come to the conclusion that it is one obstacle, nothing that a little extra money couldn't solve. We might have to overpay to keep them, but hey, we're a small market team, sometimes we have to "overcompensate" for our smallness. We, being the team, of course. Nothing personal. Moving on...

I was so confident. Money was the answer. We'll just pay them more, and they will surely be ours!

Not Necessarily.

With the American dollar shrinking to the Euro, and teams overseas having the types of funds that would cripple teams or be impossible to pay outright, do we have a second legitimate threat? If Lebron and Kobe are "joking" about taking 20-50 milliion tax free dollars to go overseas, don't we have to worry about Rudy and Mayo going? Anyone who could possibly develop into a star? You don't even have to be an elite player to be courted...Josh Childress, the player who started this exodus, was a decent player at best. Earl Boykins has been a proverbial backup when he wasn't an Emmanuel Lewis impersonator, so elite isn't all they are chasing.

I never thought I would see the day where Cleveland had to worry about New York while New York was worrying about Greece, Russia or Italy. What a sign of the times.

Now here is the dilemma:

If we grow Mayo and Rudy as star-caliber players, and create a winning combination on the court here, is that going to be enough? LeBron has been to the Finals, Kobe has 3 NBA Championships, so a winning culture isn't the factor. It's what makes the world go around...the green. The cash.

If we don't develop them, we miss out on two potential stars, we're stuck where we have been and lose them to an NBA team in free agency so they can "grow" their stats and wallets, until they possibly go overseas.

Here is the (in keeping with the number 3 and the word plan) 3-Step Plan to keeping them. Mr. Heisley, if you read, this can be a great complement to the 3-Year plan as well.

Step 1: Develop them. High-Risk yes, but High-Reward payout. These two kids are studs.

Step 2: Pay them. I know your pocketbook will frown a bit, but thats fine. We need to keep them here, and if its money they want, money they shall get, apart from financially crippling the franchise.

Step 3: Be hopeful. Be hopeful that they have enough loyalty to circumvent the ideas in their heads of MORE money, and keep them focused on bringing a winning culture to Memphis.

Let's keep them in the three greatest colors. The Yellow, White and Blue.

Links: Lifeboat Edition (Makin' It Rain!)

My Google Alerts have been on the fritz, so I got flooded with a ton of things today -- some old, some new. Hope you enjoy.

Graham Kendrick is reporting that Mike Miller returned to practice today and is hoping to play on Wednesday against the Nets. The question for many fans now is "Should he start or return to his former role as 6th man?" -- or at least it should be.

Last week, Mike Conley sat down with Sam Amico (ProBasketballNews.com) for a great interview. Amico came away impressed, which is saying something. Here's one question and answer that I particularly liked:

PBN: Do you have faith the current situation -- your own and that of the Grizzlies -- will eventually turn around?

Conley: “I do. You can’t stop believing in that, because once you do, you become that player who just starts thinking you’re going to lose all the time. You have to look into the future with a team as young as this one. We have a lot of talent, we really do. And this (summer) we’ll possibly get a high draft pick, so we’ll have another young, talented player next season. We’re about as low as you can get right now. It’s only going to get better.”

Speaking of interviews, Hakim Warrick had an impromptu one with Dave McMenamin (NBA.com) via IM about his exclusion from the "All-Big East in the NBA" group back in December. Dave decided that an apology was in order. We concur.

USA Today is allowing NBA fans to vote for the "All-Time Five" on each team, so head on over and vote for your favorite Grizzlies.

Now for the fun portion of the program, where I pit the idiots against the people who know what they are talking about. Today's subject: Relocation of the Grizzlies.

Idiots: Bill Simmons & Ron Sims, both looking at the Grizzlies moving to Seattle to replace the departing Sonics.

Smart Guy: Geoff Calkins, explaining the details of the Grizzlies' lease with the city of Memphis. Actually, "Smart Guy" doesn't even begin to describe it. I should replace that with Supremely Intelligent Being. (Hat tip to Latty and Chip for talking about this subject endlessly on the message boards.) According to Calkins:

There's a separate non-relocation agreement, for starters, stating that "during the first 10" seasons in FedExForum, the team "shall not relocate from the City of Memphis."

So that should settle it....for a little while anyways. So go find something else to worry about.

Here's a couple of great articles about Marc Iavaroni: Grizz Coach Stays Sharp (Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune) & Sloan hopes Grizz stick with Iavaroni (Tim Buckley, Deseret Morning News).

NY Sun: Knicks fans worry that other "losers" (like the Grizzlies) will cost their team draft position.

Here's an interesting comparison: The Grizzlies' current season vs. the 1976 horror film Grizzly.

Finally, Basketbawful has decided to skewer the Grizz once again. I'd object, but I can't stop laughing long enough to do so.

Blog/Website of the Day: The Blowtorch