One down, what's next?

Sometimes the NBA doesn't make sense and right now I am still trying to come up with how the Magic trade really made them that much better. They give up Vince Carter (to Phoenix) and Rashard Lewis (to Washington) and a few others and netted Gilbert Arenas and a few spare parts.

Gilbert Arenas won't be wearing a
Wizards Jersey anymore after today's
trade to the Orlando Magic.

I question this because Vince Carter was the highest on the Magics +/- with 153 and nobody else is really close. I'd compare it to Arenas' but it's the Wizards and I don't think that is fair. When you look at two player combinations Carter is a part of almost all of the top duo's on the team. And Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis are #4 on the team with +85.

Seems like a complete panic move and really doesn't put the team in that much better of a position and locks them up with a lot of huge contracts.

And man do I feel sorry for Steve Nash, so close to the Finals last year and now they've dismantled the team.

So what happens the rest of the way? I don't think the Suns are done. Not by a long shot. I expect to see Nash traded by the deadline. I also think we'll see Detroit make a move and trade either Tayshon Prince and/or Rip Hamilton.

Oh and let's not forget about 'Melo.

So let's start with the obvious. How does New York get Carmelo Anthony?

First they need to get another first round pick. Rumor has it that they can get one for Anthony Randolph. Done. Whatever team it is. Done.

Next the team graciously takes 'Melo from Denver, giving up three first rounders (two 2011 and one 2012) and giving up Eddy Curry's expiring deal and Timofey Mozgov for Carmelo. Works with the ESPN Trade Machine. I think Denver would do something as small as this, because they realize that Melo is gone and they are quietly moving into panic mode and would want to get anything as opposed to nothing out of their franchise player. I don't see the Nets staying in the Melo game if they aren't 100% sure that he will sign a long term deal to stay with New Jersey.

Will Steve Nash end the season playing
for the Suns?

Next I think we'll see Steve Nash be dealt. Where? Once the Knicks have went out and gotten Melo I think their next move is to go out and land Nash. I don't think the trade would take too much, Raymond Felton and Roger Mason and a second rounder or two and I think we'll have another "Big Three." ESPN Trade Machine.

Seems like a legit New York move and something that would not only bring them back into the basketball world, i.e. the Amar'e signing, this might actually give them a shot at the Title.

This next trade is a bit out there, but don't ever put anything past Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The ESPN Trade Machine shows us something as simple as Andre Iguodala for Caron Butler. The 76ers need to make more playing time for Evan Turner and Butler has an attractive expiring contract. This would give the Mavs a play maker and would allow Dirk to play as more of a secondary option and be the recipient of many open shots because of the attention that AI2 attracts. Otherwise if that deal is not to Cuban's liking we could see a trade with Charlotte who is rumored to be shopping Gerald Wallace, the Trade Machine shows this deal works with Butler as well. The Mavs would likely have to add draft choices to get Wallace. Either of these trades make Dallas a much better team and might give them the chance to beat out LA.

Next up there has been a lot of speculation about my Utah Jazz and Andrei Kirilenko. While I feel that AK47 will end up being with Utah through the end of the year, I think that Utah would make a trade if they felt it helped their team. Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton have been linked with potential trades and this one works out and saves Detroit money, although this would require Utah to step up with the check book. ESPN Trade Machine.

With such big names on the market and many teams looking to either improve or cut spending this winter will be unpredictable and exciting.

To Mark Cuban (cc BCS officials)

Thanks for finally being someone to step up and try and make playoffs work! College Football has needed this for quite some time. I'm not sure how you exactly plan on having the  playoff work, I know you have mentioned 16-18 teams, but I think that might be a few to high. 16 teams requires four games to crown a champion and I think I have a way to do all this while keeping conferences happy.

But hey Mark, if you get this to work and it ends up being 16-18, even four; anything is better than two.

First, Mark is right there has to be financial gain for the institutions involved. Good, lets sell naming rights to either each game or to the entire playoffs. Seems like a win win situation. You can't tell me that someone wouldn't be willing to pay for that.

I'm for a much simpler solution that chooses teams for the playoffs. You must win your conference championship game.

This would create even more buzz for already high profile championship games and bring more revenue into the conferences. If a conference decides not to have a championship game than they are not eligible to send someone to the playoffs. If you are Notre Dame, you might want to consider getting off your high horse and getting with the Big Ten or you won't be winning anymore National Championships.

So how does it work? Let's assume that the big six all have title games, we'll say the Big 12 is smart enough to bring one back. I don't care how the Conferences choose who plays in them that can be their problem but the Conference Championship game is round one of the playoffs, it's like the basketball playin games, except we all actually turn on the TV to watch these. The winner of those six games get slotted into the eight team playoff. That leaves two openings left.

I'm going to even try to help keep the BCS happy here too, let's keep the formula and computer and the highest ranked conference champions from any other conference gets in. So let's move on and see how this might actually look in the future.

Big Ten
18 Nebraska (Legends) v 6 Ohio State (Leaders)

Big Twelve
17 Texas A&M  v 7 Oklahoma

Big East
3 TCU v 22 West Virginia

Pac-10
4 Stanford (North) v 19 Utah (South)

ACC
13 Virgina Tech (Coastal) v 23 Florida State (Atlantic)

SEC
16 Alabama (West) v UR Florida (East)

Lets use those as our sample Championship games. I'll take the winners in italics (I am using this years BCS numbers). We can then use the BCS standings to seed the teams as well. Then let's assume other conferences have made a move to a championship game style as well. Heck we're basically giving the little guys 25% of the field, I think they'd be dumb not to!

Let's start with the Mountain West Conference, which would have had a great matchup; lets use ChrisT's thoughts here.

MWC
10 Boise State v 24 Hawaii

And let's just go with the depleated WAC for simplification.

WAC
15 Nevada v UR Fresno State

We'll go with an upset here. So this is what your bracket looks like going into Championship Saturday. (Seriously this could make a lot of money)

Exactly what every office needs!

So what do we think? Perfect? No, but is it better than what we currently have? Absolutely! I am sure that there are other things that could be improved but who wouldn't love sitting down each week to watch some great college football? This basically takes an eight team tourney and turns it into 16 or more, with other conference championship games playing for a potential berth.

The best part is we can still have the other bowls that nobody cares about except for some of the fans of said schools that are participating.

And most of all - I can't wait to start an office pool for December Madness when this happens!

----

Interestingly enough from Cuban's blog he reports:

You should also consider that the playoffs are already owned by someone, as in, the patent for resolving the FBS championship by  way of a playoff was issued long ago.  It’s called a method patent, so be careful not to infringe it.

Anyway, if you want to know who owns assets in this field, let me know.  I can put you in touch with one of my attorneys who can let you know what you’re in for.  It’s much more complex that it’s commonly understood to be.

Yup. You read that right. Someone already owns the playoffs, regardless of if they can actually do it or not. Crazy.