Chris Webber probably overreacted a little bit, but T-Wolves GM David Kahn created an uncomfortable minute or two when he compared Darko Milicic’s career to Webber’s.
C-Webb’s response when Kahn said that Milicic was the “best passing big man” that he’s ever seen?
Kahn said a staff member spoke up in a draft meeting last week and expressed the same doubt.
They pulled out a list and went through the possibilities one by one. They crossed off free agents deemed too old to fit the Wolves’ rebuilding plans and came up with a short list of players the team’s staff collectively considered out of their reach.
“We counted three players we didn’t think we could get,” Kahn said. “By the way, I think you could put us in 92, 93 percent of the league.”
Three players?
Really?
That excluded short list — presumably James, Wade and Bosh — would leave the likes of Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David Lee and Rudy Gay possible.
“I don’t want anybody here to feel like we’re some poor stepchildren,” Kahn said. “We’re not. We’re building something of great value that will be sustainable. I think we have a chance to have some serious discussions with free agents after July 1.”
If nothing else, Minnesota’s David Kahn is one of the more entertaining general managers in the NBA. Last year, he drafted three point guards in the first round — passing on Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings in the process — and traded the one that was most NBA-ready (Ty Lawson) away. He’s still waiting on the promise of Ricky Rubio to run his club.
This year, he drafted for need (Wes Johnson) and passed on arguably the best player in the draft (DeMarcus Cousins), even though he’s trying to trade away his best player (Al Jefferson). Passing on Cousins may ultimately be the right move, but centers who can score and rebound like he can don’t come around very often. There’s also a school of thought that his best chance to thrive is in a smaller city where there aren’t as many ‘distractions.’
It sounds like Jefferson is being dangled in order to acquire a top-notch center or power forward, even though the T-Wolves already have the promising Kevin Love playing that position.
The T-Wolves do have a chance to sign a quality free agent, but chances are that they’re going to have to overpay. That means a max contract for a second-tier free agent like Carlos Boozer or Rudy Gay, who may have to decide if they want to take near-max money to play in New York, New Jersey or Miami, or max money from Minnesota.
Kurt Rambis and GM David Kahn traveled to Europe and met with Rubio. Apparently, Rubio and Rambis hit it off, at least according to Kahn, who wants this to work in the worst way.
Ricky Rubio was impressed with Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis when they met for the first time last week, and the 19-year-old point guard told friends that “he can envision playing for Kurt.”
That’s what Wolves Vice President David Kahn said on Friday after returning from a weeklong scouting trip to Europe.
Rubio’s arrival won’t happen for at least another year, but he told the Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, that he has warmed to the notion of playing in Minnesota: “They have the best possibility because they hold my rights, and they’ve shown me how much they want me,” he said. “And for that, I have to be thankful toward them.”
Rubio still plans to join the NBA after next season. It looks like the chances are pretty good that he eventually plays for the T-Wolves.
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The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight, and as always, there is a lot riding on a few ping pong balls. Here is a list of the lottery teams (with their chances of winning the top pick in parenthesis) along with some discussion of their possible strategy if they do win the #1 pick. ALMOST A SURE THING
Nets (25%) The Wall-to-New Jersey/Brooklyn rumors have been strong all season, thanks to the Nets’ woeful record and Devin Harris’s struggles. Harris is now viewed as expendable, which means Wall would be a Net if the balls bounce their way tonight.
Wizards (10.3%) Winning the right to draft Wall would allow the Wizards to cut ties with Gilbert Arenas and the franchise’s gun-toting past. It might also convince a free agent or two to sign for the chance to play with Wall.
76ers (5.3%) Jrue Holiday is nice, but he’s not going to dissuade the Sixers from drafting a franchise-savior like Wall.
Pistons (5.2%) See 76ers above but substitute “Rodney Stuckey” for “Jrue Holiday.” That is all.
Pacers (1.1%) Indiana arguably needs a point guard more than any other team in the lottery, but with just a 1.1% chance of winning, they’re hoping against hope.
Grizzlies (0.7%) Memphis would be buzzing with the arrival of Wall, who would seemingly be a great fit with O.J. Mayo, a re-signed Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Memphis would likely make the playoffs next season.
Raptors (0.6%) The chances are very slim, but winning the right to draft Wall would offset the likely loss of Chris Bosh this summer. Neither Jarrett Jack nor Jose Calderon would be enough to convince the Raptors to draft Evan Turner.
Have you heard from any of the other 29 teams, or the NBA about this? I could see somebody making an argument that you’re devaluing the brand a bit. Ten-dollar lower bowl seats could theoretically make $100 lower bowl seats a tougher sell in another market. The pricing of the very best seats are hardly ten dollars. There’s some prime beachfront real estate, and the pricing is still quite expensive by anybody’s standards. But the analogy that I’ve used is to think of the iPhone. Check me on this but I believe when it first came out, it was priced at $399. It came back a year later for $199 and with a better phone. I don’t think anybody thought the iPhone had become devalued. It was just a way for it to broaden its usage, and it became even more iconic.
I see this as being a very similar product. Are tickets are being reduced in price in many cases, but I still believe there’s enormous value, and hopefully this will mean there are more users.
Whaa? Did he just compare NBA tickets to the iPhone?
I actually agree with most of what Kahn says in the interview, but this comparison is a head-scratcher. Most electronics improve and fall in price as second or third generations are released. How does this relate to basketball tickets, which are either sold or left unsold depending on the supply and demand of each individual market. This depends on the size of the market, the quality of the team and the location of the seats.
I do think that slashing ticket prices can devalue the product, but in most cases it doesn’t matter. If an arena has a bunch of empty seats, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the tickets aren’t worth what they’re being sold for. The value of the ticket is already devalued — slashing prices simply acknowledges that new value. The quality of the team is the root cause of the devaluation.
Kahn is right that filling up the arena should be the most important thing. Increase attendance adds to revenue from parking and concessions, not to mention selling a seat that would have otherwise gone unsold. And, of course, a capacity crowd has the potential to swing the momentum (and outcome) of a game. This theoretically makes the team better and will drive up demand for tickets.
One interesting point that Henry Abbott makes at the beginning of the post is how the NBA crowd is very business-oriented. One way to increase the excitement at NBA venues is to eliminate the tax write-off for sports tickets. Then, those seats will actually be filled by fans of the team instead of a sales guy taking a prospective client out for a night on the town. Since the write-off is essentially paid for by the government, our nation’s tax laws are partly to blame for bloated NBA ticket prices.
If I were VP of Marketing for an NBA team struggling to fill the arena, I’d use the law of supply and demand to sell out the arena for virtually every game. A week before each game, I’d hold an two-day, online auction for all the unsold seats. Fans could then place a bid for the remaining seats. The highest bids get the best seats, and the worst seats could go for as little as $2 or $5 each. Whatever the price, those fans would have gone through the trouble of bidding in the auction, so they’ll probably end up going to the game. Just like that — a full arena…increased revenue from parking and concessions, and an all-around better atmosphere in which to play.
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