The business on Milwaukee and Memphis
Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:16 PM ET
Memphis and Milwaukee seemed to have bright futures ahead of them just a few years back. But the bad business end of the NBA has since jumped up to bite both franchises and drag them back down into basketball abyss. At least the Bucks appear to be on the right track to climb out of the hole they've dug while the Grizzlies are seeing the red ink spread across their bottom line.
Things seemed so bright not so long ago for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bucks had what they thought was a steal of a deal: Charlie Villanueva for T.J. Ford. The Grizzlies made the playoffs three years straight and were building under The Logo himself, Jerry West.
But the NBA is a business, and business has gone wrong for both these “small market” franchises.
The Bucks exist in Milwaukee only out of the good graces of owner Herb Kohl, local businessman and now a senator for the state of Wisconsin. He bought the team in 1985 to keep it in town, and nearly sold it to Michael Jordan in 2003 before re-committing to Milwaukee. Kohl has been losing money hand over fist for years. His ability to spend the Bucks into competitiveness is running out, and the Bradley Center (opened 1988) is a relic in today’s terms.
This money pit of a franchise has spun into the ground, posting zero winning seasons in the past five years. But there is hope. Injuries had an unusually major role in Milwaukee’s decline, injuries to key players like Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and both Ford and Villanueva. All those injury-filled seasons in the lottery gave the Bucks the opportunity to draft Ford, Andrew Bogut (currently playing with a bad hip) and Yi Jianlian, one of the better rookies of the Class of 2007. As long as Kohl still has money to burn, there is time for a turnaround in Cream City.
Time is running out, meanwhile, on Memphis. Michael Heisley originally took the fledgling Grizzlies franchise from Vancouver in an act of international Scroogery that won’t soon be forgotten up north. Heisley is a turnaround expert who buys companies on the brink of collapse, strips them down, and usually hangs on to them once they’re profitable. The Grizzlies are not profitable.
At least, not yet. Since Heisley’s attempts to sell the Grizzlies have fizzled after three years and $45 million in red ink, payroll is being slashed even further. The Grizz traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers; he makes about $15 million a year for the next four years. The buzz out of Memphis suggests those savings will not be plowed back into the roster. The price of stability for the Grizzlies could be a lifetime of Clipper-level mediocrity.
Milwaukee Bucks
21-35 SU
25-30 ATS
Over: 29-26
101.6 points per 100 possessions (No. 20 in the league)
108.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (No. 29)
Injuries
Ramon Sessions (hand); Feb. 2, targeting mid-March
Memphis Grizzlies
14-42 SU
24-31-1 ATS
Under: 31-25
102.1 points per 100 possessions (No. 18)
107.8 points allowed per 100 possessions (No. 28)
Injuries
Mike Miller (back); Feb. 19, day-to-day
Phoenix at Memphis
Tuesday, Feb 26, 8:00 pm (ET)
You can see what Steve Kerr and the Suns (38-18 SU, 25-29-2 ATS) had in mind when they traded for Shaquille O’Neal. Point guard Steve Nash rightly bristles at comparisons to John Stockton, but Nash does do some of his best work off screen-and-rolls. O’Neal set some beautiful high screens for Nash in two games since coming over from the Miami Heat.
O’Neal’s interior defense, toughness, and overall charisma have made Phoenix a better team – at times. Sunday wasn’t one of those times, as the Suns lost 116-86 at home to the Detroit Pistons (+2½). Expect an angry Phoenix club to vent its frustrations on the Grizz.
Milwaukee at New Jersey
Thursday, Feb 28, 7:30 pm (ET)
In the new economy of the Eastern Conference, the Nets (25-31 SU, 22-33-1 ATS) are in playoff position with the No. 7 seed. Milwaukee is only four games behind New Jersey in 12th, but the Nets have arguably improved this past week by trading Jason Kidd (15.95 Player Efficiency Rating) to Dallas for a package including Devin Harris (18.64 PER) and DeSagana Diop (13.54 PER).
But Harris is expected to miss another week or so with a sprained ankle, leaving Marcus Williams (10.20 PER) to man the point. New Jersey is 2-2 SU and ATS since the Kidd trade.