Sport for Thought: Wiggins or Love?

Love and Wiggins. Two stars entering different stages of their NBA careers. Is Kevin Love or Andrew Wiggins more valuable to a NBA franchise?

Year of the Freshman

Another year another NBA Draft.  This year was considered one of the strongest and deepest draft classes since 2003 when LeBron, Melo, Bosh, Wade, and company were selected and given mega-million dollar contracts.  Eleven years later, the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Joel Embiid will each get their time to shine in the spotlight.  Nobody will know for sure how good this draft class is until several years down the road when each gets professional playing experience in the NBA.  But how can we say that this class will make a major impact right away when each of the top ten picks are twenty years old or younger?  Seven of the top ten picks were freshman!  (Dante Exum is eighteen years old and the equivalent to a freshman.)

Market Power: NBA Rookie Edition

The NBA postseason is coming to an end with the finals beginning this week. It is a rematch of last year’s thrilling finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. It’s going to be a dogfight. Even though the finals will be going on, June 26th is what many of the bottom dweller teams are looking forward to being the NBA draft. This year’s draft has a ton of talent, but does talent translate into marketability? Earlier I discussed the three players left in the playoffs I would target for marketing. Now I will take a look at three NBA soon to be rookies and why I would choose them to market my company.

Will the Ping Pong Balls Make Sixer Fans Happy?

The day is finally here. The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight and it will be fun to see how the ping pong balls play out. The Bucks and Sixers have the best chance to get the number one overall pick at 25 and 19.9 percent, respectively. Followed by the Magic at 15.6 percent, Jazz at 10.4 percent and Celtics at 10.3 percent. Being a Sixers fan, I am praying they get the number one pick to take Andrew Wiggins. Although there have been some NBA executives who say they would rather have Jabari Parker over Wiggins, I believe it would be a HUGE mistake if Wiggins is not drafted number one. The Sixers definitely went all in on this years draft to rebuild their team. Trading all-star point guard Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for the rights to Nerlens Noel (who has sat out the entire season), and this years first round pick (top five protected) during the draft last year said it all. If everything falls to place here is what I want the Sixers to do.

Abolishing the 'One and Done'?

For the 2006 NBA Draft, the NBA implemented a new rule adding an age limit to players entering:  19 years of age or one year removed from college.  The term 'one and done' was then coined for this rule as many of the top players played one year in college, only to declare for the NBA draft after the season had ended.  Since its implementation, many college student-athletes have left college for the NBA to (1) become a successful  professional athletes and (2) to earn a payday.  However, it appears that the latter may be considered the commonality.

Are the 76ers "Tanking" or do they Actually Suck?

Year in and year out, fans witness teams in all leagues appear to "give up" or "not try to win."  With the 2014 NBA Draft appearing to be one of the strongest and deepest in recent times, it appeared from the beginning that some teams would attempt to purposely lose in order to have the opportunity to draft a talent like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker.  This past week, the Philadelphia 76ers lost a franchise-record, twenty-one straight games.  The question is:  Are they tanking on purpose, or are they actually a bad team?

The Sports Biz Report - Episode 2.5 - 2014 NBA Draft Class

A Legend Retires and Is his Former Team Really Tanking??

There were rumors prior to the NBA season started that an anonymous coach had admitted that they were planning to tank this year with the hopes of a high draft pick. Everyone immediately pointed to the Philadelphia 76ers. This was due to the Philadelphia 76ers trading away Jrue Holliday for Nerlens Noel and then reporting that Nerlens Noel would sit out the whole year. Not to mention that it is clear that the 76ers are in rebuild mode.