Former Cavs coach John Lucas claims that the franchise tanked the 2002-03 season to try to get LeBron James.

“They trade all our guys away and we go real young, and the goal was to get LeBron and also to sell the team,” Lucas told AOL FanHouse. “I didn’t have a chance. … You can’t fault the Cavaliers for wanting to get LeBron. It was hard to get free agents to come there.”

The Cavaliers finished the 2002-03 season with a 17-65 record, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the worst record in the NBA. Cleveland won the NBA’s draft lottery and selected James with the No. 1 pick. Lucas was fired midway through that season.

Gordon Gund, who was then the team’s principal owner but is now a minority owner of the Cavs, denied Lucas’ claims. He also told the Web site that the Cavaliers weren’t for sale during that season. The team didn’t get sold until 2005.

“You don’t try to get the No. 1 pick,” Gund told AOL Fanhouse. “That’s why the lottery was designed. To not allow that. We had a young team that we were developing. … We did not tank the season. … To lose to get LeBron James, we would never do that. I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that.

“In the very last game of the season, we had nothing to gain and we were in sole possession of last place [in the NBA]. But we beat [the Toronto Raptors] and that left us tied with Denver [at 17-65]. … The chances of getting the first pick were only [22.5 percent].”

While tanking at the end of the season is rather commonplace in the NBA, tanking an entire season has been, to this point, unheard of. Even the worst franchises would like to make the playoffs for the first half of the season. It’s not until after the All-Star Game that we generally start seeing teams give up trying to win.

Gund has a point about the Cavs winning the final game of the season, but I’d bet that the Cleveland front office was upset after that victory, as it decreased the chances that the team would win the lottery. It’s not like the GM tells the players to lose games. The players go out and try to win. Like Herm Edwards says, “You PLAY to WIN the GAME!” When teams tank, the front office simply puts the team in the worst position to win. They shut down semi-injured stars and they start giving minutes to young players so they can “evaluate what they have.” They don’t go in the locker room and tell the players to lose the game.

Don’t kid yourself, we’re going to see tanking at the end of this season. John Wall is far and away the best prospect in this summer’s draft, and teams that are out of the playoff hunt will be tripping over each other trying to lose to increase the chances that they’ll win the #1 overall pick in the lottery. The lottery is supposed to eliminate tanking, but even though the chances of winning the #1 pick only increase incrementally with every loss, they still increase. There is still incentive to lose, so teams will lose.

For the ’03 Cavs, there was no upside to winning games late in the season. Every loss meant that they were that much closer to getting LeBron. This is why the lottery system is broken.

The only way to fix it is to give every non-playoff team an equal shot at the #1 pick. This is the way that it used to be, and under such a system, a fringe playoff team will sometimes win the lottery. So be it. Why are we so focused on rewarding incompetence?

Teams expect to find someone who can contribute in the first round of the NBA Draft, but once the second round arrives, general managers have to dig through the leftovers, hoping to find a diamond in the rough. And seemingly every year, a second round pick emerges as a quality starter. Sometimes he even develops into a star. As part of our Decade Debate series, here is a list of the NBA’s top 10 second round picks of the last ten years.

10. Chris Douglas-Roberts (2008, pick #40)

Not only was CDR (the player, not the recordable compact disc) one of the most efficient scorers in the nation during his junior year at Memphis, he was also a consensus first team All-America selection and the C-USA Male Athlete of the Year. He hit 54% from the field and 41% from long range. Yet this wasn’t enough to convince an NBA team to pick him in the first round. The biggest knock on him was his lack of strength, but he has gained 10 lbs since college and after a quiet rookie campaign, he’s averaging 17-5-2 and has started 15 of 17 games for the Nets. Yes, the Nets suck, but still. At the very least it looks like he’s capable of being a sixth man for a contender, and that’s a great find in the second round.

9. Marc Gasol (2007, #48)

Marc was the “bag of peanuts” in the now infamous trade that sent his brother from Memphis to the Lakers for Javaris Crittenton, Kwame Brown’s expiring contract, and a bag of peanuts. (This trade eventually led to Kobe’s first title without Shaq, so he no longer has to tell Shaq how his a** tastes.) In his second season for the Grizzlies, Gasol is averaging 15-10, 61% shooting and 1.6 blocks per game. When he was drafted, scouts complained about his lack of athleticism and the fact that he was a little overweight. No one is going to confuse him with his brother, but Marc is a good player in his own right.

8. Trevor Ariza (2004, #44)

Say what you will about Isiah Thomas the GM, but he did have an eye for talent in the draft. Ariza turned pro after a single so-so season at UCLA (12-7-2); the biggest knock was his sketchy jumper. In the middle of his second season with the Knicks, Thomas traded him to Orlando (along with Penny Hardaway) for a washed up Steve Francis. Ariza showed some promise with the Magic, but was shipped to the Lakers for Maurice Evans and Brian Cook. There, he blossomed into a strong defender and solid spot up shooter, posting 11-4-2 and hitting 48% of his three-point attempts during the Lakers’ 23-game playoff run this past spring. Oddly enough, when he hit free agency this summer, his agent overplayed his hand and the Lakers elected to sign Ron Artest instead of re-signing Ariza. Now with the Rockets, Ariza is averaging 18-5-4 but is shooting just 38% from the field.

7. Paul Millsap (2006, #47)

Is the 24 year-old Millsap destined to be a star? Given the fat contract they signed him to this summer, the Utah Jazz sure think so. And considering his stats as a starter last season (16-10-2 and 54% from the field in 38 games), he looks every bit the part. At Louisiana Tech, he became the only player in history to lead the NCAA in rebounding for three straight seasons (12.8 rpg), and since rebounding is one stat that translates really well to the NBA, why would he last until the second round? Well, scouts were down on his size (6’7″ – 6’8″) and didn’t think he’d be able to score inside on bigger players. Needless to say, they were wrong. Millsap is bound for a breakout season once Carlos Boozer signs elsewhere next summer.

6. Monta Ellis (2005, #40)

If not for the boneheaded moped accident that ate up most of his 2008-09 season, Ellis might be higher on this list. He won the Most Improved Player in his second season and is currently averaging 25-5-4 on 46% shooting plus 2.4 steals per game. He entered the draft straight out of high school, and although scouts said he was a very gifted offensive player, they thought he was a shooting guard in a point guard’s body and there were those that wondered about his basketball IQ. In fact, DraftExpress compared him to Dajuan Wagner. Well, as it turns out, Ellis is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body, and he’s a lot better than Dajuan Wagner. At just 24, he has a great chance to move up this list, assuming he stays off the mopeds, that is.

5. Mo Williams (2003, #47)

The Jazz drafted Williams and subsequently traded him to the Bucks. At Alabama, he was a shoot-first point guard who couldn’t shoot all that well (41% FG, 32% 3PT), but during his time with the Bucks, he developed into one of the best scoring guards in the league. In the 2006-07 season, he averaged 17-4-6 and shot 48% from the field and 39% from long range. The Bucks traded him to Cleveland (for Luke Ridnour, of all people) in a salary dump. There, he posted an 18-4-4 season and made the All-Star Game as an alternate. Now he’s the perfect sidekick for LeBron — he’s a great long-range shooter (43%+ 3PT since joining the Cavs) and he can carry the offense when LeBron needs a break.

4. Mehmet Okur (2001, #38)

Scouts wondered if Okur could defend in the post and were worried about his lack of athleticism. When he started getting big minutes as part of Detroit’s talented front line from 2002 to 2004, he proved he could hang. Okur’s best statistical season came in his second season after signing with Utah, when he averaged 18-9-2. But he was actually named to the All-Star Game in the following season (’07). He’s a seven-footer with legit 3PT range; over the past year and a quarter, he has nailed better than 44% of his three-point attempts. This accuracy means that he’s able to draw opposing centers away from the basket, which opens things up for Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. Sure, he looks like one of your old college buddies who never went to class and ate too many Twinkies, but the guy can ball.

3. Michael Redd (2000, #43)

Redd was a productive scorer at Ohio State, but he has never been a great athlete, and he didn’t develop his dead-eye jumper until joining the Bucks. He had a nice three-year run from 2003 to 2006 where he averaged 23-4-3 and only missed nine games. The key is that last stat: nine missed games. Because over the next three seasons, he missed 88 games, and he has been sidelined much of this season. He was an All-Star and All-NBA 3rd Team in the same season (2004). Needless to say, with all the injuries, his stock has taken quite the hit, and he has now turned into one of those overpaid, underperforming franchise players who can’t carry their franchise. But in his heyday, he could score. In 2006, I saw him drop 45 points on Kobe to help the Bucks upset the Lakers in L.A. He averaged 30.4 points that month, which also included a 57-point game against Utah. Redd’s release is about as quick as they come.

2. Carlos Boozer (2002, #35)

Of the ten players on this list, the Jazz drafted two and signed two as free agents. Boozer falls into the latter category. How did a future two-time All-Star and All-NBA 3rd Team player slip into the second round? Scouts were down on his size, athleticism and lack of a jumper while at Duke. But as the league continued to get smaller in the mid-’00s, Boozer was right at home at power forward. It didn’t hurt that he developed a killer 15-footer or that his release was high enough that he could get it off over bigger defenders. He peaked in 2007-08 with a 21-10-3 season that gave him his second All-Star nod and his only All-NBA (3rd Team) honors. Cleveland fans remember Boozer as the one who got away. It’s rumored that the Cavs made an (illegal) under-the-table verbal agreement with Boozer’s camp that would release him from the final year of his rookie contract so they could sign him to a longer deal. After becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Jazz essentially doubled the Cavs’ (alleged) offer and Boozer took it. To this day, Boozer denies that there was an (illegal) deal in place. It’s a shame, because a LeBron-Boozer combo might have already brought a championship to the city of Cleveland.

1. Gilbert Arenas (2001, #31)

Simply stated, Arenas is one of the best offensive combo guards to ever play the game. But it was that “combo” status that drove him out of the first round. Scouts didn’t think he was big enough to be a shooting guard and lacked the playmaking skills to be a true point guard. In a sense, they were right. But Arenas is so good that his talent trumps his lack of a true position. He handles the ball for the Wizards and turns it over a lot, but he also scores a ton. His best year was in 2005-06, when he averaged 29-4-6 and shot 45% from the field and 37% from 3PT. He has received All-Star and All-NBA honors three times each, and before a knee injury derailed his career in 2007, he was one of the most electrifying (and quirky) players in the league. After missing almost two full seasons rehabbing that knee, he’s back with the Wizards averaging 20-4-7 but shooting under 40%. Hopefully, we’ll be soon able to see the Gilbert of old once again.

Photos from fOTOGLIF

In any NBA Draft, after the top few picks are gone, things start to get dicey. Things get even sketchier once the draft hits the late-first round, and teams are lucky if they can find a starter-quality player, much less an All-Star. As part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here are the NBA’s top 10 picks from the late-first round (pick #16 or later) in the last ten years. Players are ranked in order of talent and accomplishment, and the later the pick, the better.

10. Kevin Martin (drafted #26 by the Kings in ’04)

Martin is one of the best scorers in the league. Before a broken hand derailed his 2009-10 campaign, he was averaging 31-5-3 and was nailing 45% of his 3PT attempts. The Kings got him late in the first because he played at Western Carolina and has busted form on his jumper. Hey, it goes in, and that’s all that matters.

9. David Lee (drafted #30 by the Knicks in ’05)

Say what you will about Isiah Thomas the GM. Zeke the scout had an eye for talent. Lee averaged a double-double in his second season, and as Mike D’Antoni implemented his up-tempo attack, Lee’s numbers grew to 16-12 (on 55% shooting) last season. He’s bound to get a fat contract next summer, but how much are his numbers inflated playing for D’Antoni?

8. Josh Smith (drafted #17 by the Hawks in ’04)

Let’s see — “J-Smoove” has posted four straight years of 15+ points and 7+ rebounds, plus at least 2.8 blocks in three of his last four seasons, and he’s just 23 since he entered the league straight out of high school. If he is able to fulfill his potential, he’ll surely move up this list. Versatile enough to play either forward position, Smith is coming into his own this season, averaging 16-9-4 with 2.8 blocks through 18 games. It helps that he’s not jacking the outside shot like he used to.

7. Rajon Rondo (drafted #21 by the Suns in ’06)

The Celtics deserve credit for this one as they traded for Rondo on draft day. Rondo isn’t a very good shooter, but he does everything else well, not unlike Jason Kidd. Last season, he averaged 12-5-8 with two steals, and was named to the All-Defensive 2nd Team. In the playoffs, he averaged 17-10-10 and helped the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Semis without Kevin Garnett. So far this season, Rondo is averaging 11-4-9, and is shooting 54% from the field. Simply stated, he’s one of the very best two-way guards in the NBA.

6. Josh Howard (drafted #29 by the Mavs in ’03)

Howard was the classic case of a four-year senior that didn’t have any jaw-dropping skills, so he slipped all the way to the last pick in the first round. Over he last three seasons, he averaged at least 18-5, but he seems to have hit his ceiling and his reputation has taken a hit with some…um…poor off court decisions.

5. Jameer Nelson (drafted #20 by the Nuggets in ’04)

The Magic acquired Nelson after the draft and haven’t looked back. Deemed too short for the NBA — he’s listed at a very generous 6’0″ — scouts thought that Nelson’s ceiling was as a backup, but the league’s rule changes (handchecking) and his dead-eye shooting made him an All-Star last season. He averaged 17-5-4 and shot 50% from the field, 45% from 3PT and 89% from the free throw line.

4. David West (drafted #18 by the Hornets in ’03)

West’s career really took off in 2005, when he joined forces with rookie Chris Paul to form a dangerous one-two punch. He’s a terrific mid-range jumpshooter, which is a perfect complement for Paul’s drive-and-dish game. Over the past two years, West has averaged 21-9 and shot at least 47% from the field, making the All-Star Game in both seasons.

3. Danny Granger (drafted #17 by the Pacers in ’05)

I’m projecting a bit by putting Granger ahead of West here, but he made his first All-Star Game when he was 25, while West made his first at the age of 27. Granger also isn’t dependent on a point guard like West is. Over the last season and a quarter, Granger is averaging 25-6-3 and looks like he’ll be All-Star caliber for the foreseeable future. The guy is just a terrific scorer.

2. Tayshaun Prince (drafted #23 by the Pistons in ’02)

How many All-Star nods are four All-Defensive 2nd Team honors (from ’05-’08) worth? I don’t know, but when the same player is posting 14-6-3 and is shooting 46% from the field, he gets to be #2 on this list. Maybe those aren’t eye-popping stats, but how much damage did he do on the defensive end? Four straight All-Defensive nods is as beautiful as Prince’s jumper is ugly.

1. Tony Parker (drafted #28 by the Spurs in ’01)

Parker has three All-Star nods (’06, ’07 and ’09), an All-NBA 3rd Team (’09) and a Finals MVP (’07) under his belt and he’s only 27 years-old. It has been fun to watch Parker develop from a clueless rookie to one of the most difficult covers in the league (married to one of the hottest women in the world). He’s lightning quick, is a solid playmaker and has an improving jumper. But the big question is — can he carry a team once Tim Duncan retires?

Honorable Mention: Gerald Wallace (#25), Boris Diaw (#24), Hedo Turkoglu (#16), Zach Randolph (#19), Jamal Magloire (#19), Leandro Barbosa (#28) Aaron Brooks (#26), John Salmons (#26), Morris Peterson (#21), Kendrick Perkins (#27), Delonte West (#24), Nate Robinson (#21), Rudy Fernandez (#24), Wilson Chandler (#23)

Up-and-Comers: Marreese Speights (#16), J.J. Hickson (#19), Ryan Anderson (#21), Courtney Lee (#22), George Hill (#26)

Photos from fOTOGLIF

The single most important thing to do when rebuilding an NBA franchise is to find good players in the draft. Young players are cheap, and if a team finds a good one, they’ll likely have them at a bargain for the first few years of his career. As a part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here is a list of draft picks from the ’00s that…um…didn’t work out so well. I’ll rank them in order of magnitude of the blunder, which takes into account the talent of the pick as well as the players that the team passed up.

10. The Grizzlies select Mike Conley (#4), passing on Jeff Green and Joakim Noah.

Conley has played better of late, and may eventually prove to be a good pick, but he certainly hasn’t had the kind of consistency that the Grizzlies hoped for when they took him with at #4 in the 2007 draft. What’s funny is that GM Chris Wallace made this pick when the Grizzlies still had Pau Gasol on the roster. Then he traded Gasol, and now he’s drafting for size (Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll). What’s even funnier is that he’s still the GM in Memphis.

9. The Knicks select Jordan Hill (#8), passing on Brandon Jennings and Ty Lawson.

When it became clear that the Knicks might miss out on Stephen Curry, they settled on Hill as their fallback option. Jennings is the current ROY frontrunner, while Hill is seeing regular DNP-CDs. Even at the time, the pick was strange since Hill plays the same position as current double-double machine David Lee and Mike D’Antoni is dying to find a point guard that can run his offense. While Jennings may not have the pass-first mentality of Steve Nash, he can certainly push the ball and find open people. Were the Knicks worried about Jennings being a ball-dominant guard when they hope to add a ball-dominant small forward named LeBron next summer? Even if Jennings wasn’t the right fit, what about Lawson, who is getting 21 minutes per game on a good Denver squad? This Hill pick was not Donnie Walsh’s finest hour, but as a sometimes-proud Bucks fan, I couldn’t be happier that Jennings fell in Milwaukee’s lap.

8. The Pistons select Rodney White (#9), passing on Joe Johnson.

This blunder is overshadowed by another pick from the same draft (’01, we’ll get to it), but it’s ponderous nonetheless. Johnson was picked at #10. At the time, the Pistons’ top four players were Jerry Stackhouse, Corliss Williamson, Clifford Robinson, Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace. I think Joe Johnson could have found a place on that team.

7. The Raptors select Rafael Araujo (#8), passing on Andre Iguodala, Andris Biedrins and Al Jefferson.

The list of big man busts is extensive, and back in ’04 the Raptors were looking for a center to protect Chris Bosh at power forward. They could have had Biedrins (#11) or Jefferson (#15), but took the BYU product instead. It’s a shame, because Biedrins would be a perfect fit for the up tempo style the Raptors want to play. Iggy would look pretty good at off guard as well.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

6. The Bucks select Joe Alexander (#8), passing on Brook Lopez, Jason Thompson and Anthony Randolph.

Boy, this one looks bad already and it will probably get worse. This was John Hammond’s first draft as the Bucks GM and he admitted this past summer that he felt rushed leading up to the ’08 Draft. As well as he did with Jennings in ’09, he blew this one. Passing on Lopez is somewhat understandable, since the Bucks already had Andrew Bogut on the roster. But Milwaukee definitely needed a power forward and both Thompson and Randolph would have fit in well. Randolph especially looks like a budding star. Imagine if the Bucks were building around a Jennings/Randolph/Bogut core.

5. The Bobcats select Adam Morrison (#3), passing on Brandon Roy.

Granted, Charlotte’s second- or third-best player at the time was point guard Raymond Felton (diminishing the need for Roy), while Morrison was phenomenal at Gonzaga, even drawing comparisons to Larry Bird. Who knew he’d be such a dud in the NBA. He somehow lost his shot once he went pro. The kid hit almost 51% of his attempts in college and is hitting at a 37% clip since joining the NBA. It got so bad that the Bobcats traded him for an overpaid three-point specialist who can’t play a lick of defense (Vladimir Radmanovic). I must also mention the Hawks’ decision to draft Shelden Williams at #5 with Roy still on the board. That pick is probably worse, given the Hawks’ needs at the time, but at least Williams is contributing on a stacked Celtics squad. How lethal would a Brandon Roy/Joe Johnson backcourt be in Atlanta?

4. The Nuggets select Nickoloz Tskitishvili (#5) passing on Amare Stoudemire and Caron Butler.

Denver isn’t alone in this one. In the ’02 Draft, Cleveland drafted Dajuan Wagner at #6 and passed on the same guys (and Nene, who went #7 to the Knicks and was traded to the Nuggets). After years of sleeping on international prospects, teams were reaching on foreign players hoping to find the next Dirk Nowitzki. Tskitishvili was a bust, but if the Nuggets had landed Stoudemire or Butler, they may have won a few more games and missed out on Carmelo Anthony the following year.

3. The Blazers traded out of the #3 pick, selecting Martell Webster (#6) and passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the process.

Yes, Portland was in the midst of its “Jail Blazers” era with Zach Randolph, Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson getting big minutes, and it would still be two years before Kevin Pritchard would take over the reins. But Steve Blake was running the point — why not take Chris Paul or Deron Williams? Webster is just 22 and still has room to grow, but those are two franchise point guards and Portland basically said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Portland would turn things around the following summer with draft day trades that landed Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. I should also mention Atlanta’s decision to draft Marvin Williams. He has been a decent (i.e. starter-quality) pro, but Atlanta would have been a great fit for either Paul or Williams, and instead of picking one of those future All-Pros, the Hawks drafted a guy who didn’t even start for his college team. (I know, it was a loaded North Carolina squad, but still.)

2. The Wizards select Kwame Brown (#1), passing on Pau Gasol and Tyson Chandler.

This is the second pick that has fingerprints of His Airness all over it. Gasol was a legit seven footer with a polished offensive game, yet the Wizards went with the high school kid with hands of stone. Brown has turned into a decent defensive center, but Tyson Chandler is twice as good, and the Wizards passed on him as well. Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever to play the game, but the Bobcats should lock him out of the war room on draft day from here on out.

1. The Pistons select Darko Milicic (#2), passing on Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

Really, the only other real option was Melo, as no one was thinking about Bosh or D-Wade over Anthony back in ’03. But Joe Dumars was worried about Melo’s impact on the Pistons’ chemistry, and he already found a pretty good small forward (Tayshaun Prince) the year before. Ironically, Detroit won a title that year with Milicic riding the pine. Would they still have won if they had gone with Anthony instead? How much better would the Pistons be now if Anthony were still on the roster? These are the questions that try men’s souls.

Drew Packham of NBA.com ranks how the rookies fared at summer league.

1. Blake Griffin
2. Jonny Flynn
3. Tyreke Evans
4. James Harden
5. Brandon Jennings
6. Ty Lawson
7. Dante Cunningham
8. DeJuan Blair
9. Austin Daye
10. Tyler Hansbrough

Packham provides a short writeup for each player and lists several notables.

Summer league isn’t a great indicator of future success (i.e. Jerryd Bayless had a great summer league last year), but you’d obviously rather see your guy play well than stink up the gym.

The NBA offseason is by no means over, but the lion’s share is behind us, so it’s a good time to take a look back at a few of the…um…let’s say “questionable” decisions of the summer. Here are my Top 10, in no particular order. Feel free to add to the list if I missed something.

1. Trevor Ariza plays spiteful hardball…and loses.
Let’s get this straight — the Lakers offered Ariza the same deal he was getting on the open market, and he refused since the Lakers could have offered more, but didn’t? Um, okay. David Lee (the agent, not the Knicks forward) says that Ariza wanted to go somewhere where he’d be “appreciated.” Lee overestimated the market for his client, and the Lakers quickly moved on to acquire Ron Artest. Now instead of playing for the world champs, Ariza is stuck in Houston on a team that faces a very uncertain future. Lee now says that Ariza turned down a deal worth $9 million more, but still picked Houston. It sounds to me like he’s just trying to save face.

2. Grizzlies acquire Zach Randolph.
Once the Clippers traded for Randolph (and his toxic contract) last season, I thought the bar for NBA general managers had hit a new low thanks to Mike Dunleavy and his wily ways. But Dunleavy proved that he wasn’t the dumbest GM in the league when he convinced the Memphis Grizzlies to take on the final two years Randolph’s contract at the tune of $33.3 million. Remember that $25 million or so of cap space that the Grizzlies were going to have next summer? Yeah, that’s down to about $8 million with this brilliant move. Just when it looked like Chris Wallace was going to rehab his image after the Pau Gasol trade — Marc Gasol panning out, trading for O.J. Mayo — he goes and does this. Sigh.

3. T-Wolves draft both Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn with no (good) plan in place.
When GM David Kahn drafted two point guards with back to back picks, everyone around the league thought that he had a trade in place. Not so, according to Kahn, who likes the idea of playing two smallish, ball-dominating guards in the same backcourt. Now Rubio is threatening to stay in Europe for another year or two, and Kahn is seemingly happy to wait until Rubio finally makes his way to the NBA to see if his unorthodox plan (and that’s being kind) will ultimately work.

4. The Magic trade for Vince Carter.
Let’s see, your team just lost in the Finals — losing two games in overtime — and your main ballhandler is a free agent. What do you do? It’s tough to create the kind of chemistry that gets a team to the Finals, so you re-sign him, right? Not the Orlando Magic, who balked at Hedo Turkoglu’s $10 million-per-season asking price and instead pulled the trigger on a trade for Vince Carter. So essentially they gave up their most consistent player (Turkoglu) and a budding star (Courtney Lee) for the 32-year-old Carter. A healthy Jameer Nelson (along with a savvy mid-level signing) may have been enough to put this Magic team over the top, but now we’ll never know.

5. Pistons sign Ben Gordon for $11 million per season.
Look, I like Ben Gordon…for about $8 million per season. The guy is a great scorer, but he has sketchy shot selection at times and is a big liability on defense. For years, the Bulls didn’t even deem him good enough to start, but the Pistons are going to throw $11 million per year at him? And it turns out that they were bidding against themselves, as the Bulls didn’t even bother to make an offer before Gordon signed with Detroit.

6. No one makes an offer (that we know of) to Ramon Sessions.
7. The Bucks don’t extend one-year offer to Charlie Villanueva and lose him without compensation.
8. The Bucks give away Richard Jefferson.
Let’s tackle my beloved Bucks all at once. First, they give away a former All-Star Jefferson in a salary dump. Then, they elect not to take the option to make Villanueva a restricted free agent, which allows the Pistons to sign him away without having to give the Bucks anything in return. I know why the Bucks made these moves — they don’t feel that this roster is worthy of being in luxury tax territory and I don’t disagree, but small market teams can’t give away assets for nothing. Yeah, maybe signing Villanueva for the final year of his rookie contract would have cost them $4 million or more, but they could have traded him for a young prospect or maybe a draft pick. And why didn’t they get a first rounder out of the Spurs for Jefferson? Small market teams have a tough time signing stars, so they have to build through the draft and via trade. Giving away the rights to a $7 million-per-season player (which is what the Pistons paid Villanueva) is not the way to get better. Lastly, why hasn’t anyone made RFA Ramon Sessions an offer? The Bucks have proven that they are trying to cut salary and they picked up Brandon Jennings in the draft. Does anyone really think that they’d match a significant ($4-$5 million per year) offer for Sessions? He had the 13th-highest PER amongst all point guards, and the 5th-highest amongst all point guards under the age of 26. Moreover, his +/- numbers are the best on the team for anyone who played more than 1200 minutes. Why hasn’t a team in need of point guard help (Portland?) jumped on this guy?

9. The Suns give away Shaquille O’Neal.
Regular readers know that I’m not fond of the job Steve Kerr is doing in Phoenix. First, he trades Rudy Fernandez away for cash. Then he ruins one of the most exciting teams in NBA history by trading Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal. Now he seemingly admits that the Shaq trade was all for naught by giving him away in a salary dump. Shaq made the Third Team All-NBA last year, and Kerr traded him for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic’s expiring contracts. Geesh.

10. Six teams pass on DeJuan Blair IN THE SECOND ROUND!
When I first heard that there were concerns about Blair’s knees, I thought he might fall into the bottom third of the first round. Even if the guy is missing ligaments in his knees, he was still one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball last season and he ate up #2 pick Hasheem Thabeet in Connecticut. When Blair fell into the second round I was stunned as the Kings, Wizards, Blazers, Nuggets, Pistons and Grizzlies all passed on Blair. A second round pick doesn’t require the same kind of financial commitment as a first round pick, so there’s very little downside if the guy doesn’t pan out. Blair fell and fell, right into the inviting arms of the Spurs, who will be lucky to have him on the roster for the foreseeable future.

- THE SPORTZ ASSASSIN lists a few guys that made themselves available for the NBA Draft and probably shouldn’t have.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has the details of an awesome prank sprung on some visiting Red Sox fans by a Nationals fan.

- US SOCCER previews tomorrow’s Confederations Cup final between the U.S. and Brazil.

- SLATE wonders why baseball uses an offset, misleading camera angle to show the pitcher and the batter.