That's What I'm Talkin' About!

If you're like me, you don't need to worry about the world's potential demise in 2012 because the thought of a 2011 fall without pro basketball AND pro football is a rapture in and of itself. While the NFL lockout is rumored to be nearing it's end, the joy from the return of football will be counteracted by the sadness of the second NBA strike in a decade and a half.

Baseball, meanwhile, has failed to capitalize on the hiatus of the other two members of the sports world's "Big Three". Your biggest stories as we near the close of a mundane first half on the diamond involve a historic franchise going bankrupt, a Giants fan getting beaten nearly to death and the ailing wrist of baseball's next $200 million man. Your first half American League MVP is a guy playing in Canada that nobody heard of fifteen months ago. While in the National League, the battle for the regular season's top individual prize is a dogfight between an oft-injured, speedy shortstop best known for being denounced by his owner and a star center fielder on a cash-strapped franchise who looked like trade bait on Opening Day. Guys like Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes and Matt Kemp have offered sizzle to first few months of the baseball season, but there isn't much steak overall.

At least baseball is drawing news on the field though. Any spark generated from an already weak NBA Draft was put out once the league chained up its doors. A stark contrast from last offseason, when LeBron-mania ran wild across the country. The anticipation on the gridiron seems to be growing on a daily basis as we near closer toward the end of what has now been a four-month long lockout, but anticipation will soon turn into aggravation the longer this thing stalls out. Still, the time has come for the focus to switch off from dollars and sense and to actual moving and shaking. Here are the things we SHOULD be talking about as we wait for rich men to settle their differences. Since football is closer to making a triumphant return, I'll start with what's on my mind regarding the hardwood...(pause).

* I continue to be baffled as to why teams didn't make a more aggressive run at taking the #2 pick from Minnesota. After all, the Timberwolves are going to struggle to find playing time for new addition Derrick Williams while he sits behind guys like Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph at his position. Of the three, Williams carried the most value and a team that needed so much like the T'Wolves do, should have done better to maximize the value of that pick. Still, we expect this kind of incompetence from GM David Kahn and company. After all, this is the same group that drafted two point guards with back-t0-back picks and had to pretty much bribe one(Ricky Rubio) to come to America while waving bye-bye to the other(Jonny Flynn) in a trade just two years after drafting him.

My issue is with teams like Washington, which turned down a deal to send center JaVale McGee and the 6th pick to Minny for #2. I had this debate with my friend Carlos, who is slowly becoming a Wizards fan, and his point was that you don't trade your second best player for someone who will also inevitably be your 2nd best player. My point was that McGee isn't a star but will be asking for star money when his deal expires and that the upside of a guy like Williams playing alongside John Wall far surpasses the hole at center that will be left by giving up McGee. McGee is a poor man's Dwight Howard. He's a big, athletic, defensive-minded big man with a knack for dominating the boards, but unless you tell me he's a 20-10-5 guy in the next couple of years, he's not worth keeping over Derrick Williams. Williams, to me, was the best player in this draft. You're telling me the chance to grab the best player in the Draft(especially a weak one like this year's crop) in back-to-back years isn't worth giving up a slightly above average big man? Washington also has a trade chip that could have even netted them McGee's replacement, had they dealt him: Rashard Lewis' expiring contract.

Let's say you're the Lakers. You like Andrew Bynum but the fans really want you to go hard for Dwight Howard next year and you can't take the chance that Bynum's knees don't hold up, long term. Still, you're locked in to your young center for another three years. Why not ship Bynum to Washington for Lewis' expiring deal and, say, a 2012 first rounder? If you're L.A., you've freed up money to go after Howard(or Chris Paul) in 2012 while also getting rid of overpaid injury risk. In the meantime, the Lakers could move Pau Gasol to center(where he isn't the best fit, but hardly a waste of space), play 'Shard or Lamar Odom at the four and go from there(Or, you could have just traded Bynum to Minnesota, got a potential building block in Williams, and then went after Howard or CP3 in 2012 anyway. I'll take "Missed Opportunities" for $200, Alex!). We all know Howard's leaving Orlando for L.A. if the Lakers can afford him. Why would Doomsday turn down chasing championships out in Hollywood with Kobe for first-round exits with Gilbert Arenas? In Washington's case, you get Bynum, a top-five center when healthy(which is an issue, since jumping without breaking a leg is something he still struggles with) and all it cost was a benchwarmer you weren't going to re-sign anyway. On top of that, how else were you going to get a marquee free agent unless you put some more pieces around John Wall? By making those two deals, you now have a young nuclues of Wall, Nick Young, Derrick Williams, and Bynum instead of the depressing group of Wall-Young-Andray Blatche-McGee. Jan Vesely, the Euro the Wiz got with the 6th pick, is billed as an athletic forward in the Blake Griffin mold that should be the perfect running mate for John Wall. The thing is, Euros like Vesely get overhyped every year and, more often than not, they flame out. Remember Nikoloz Tskishvilli? How about Darko Milicic? Or better yet, Wiz fans, how's Yi Jianlian working out for you? Vesely could be a hit, could be a bust, but neither he nor McGee was worth passing up a chance at Derrick Williams.

*Speaking of missed opportunities, apparently, the drum isn't being banged loud enough on the "Free Steve Nash" movement. For all the talk about how big names were going to move on Draft Day, the only "blockbuster" we got was a Stephen Jackson-Corey Maggette three-team yawner in the hours leading up to the Draft. Monta Ellis is still in Golden State. Tony Parker is still a Spur and, most importantly, Steve Nash is still residing in Phoenix. A shame, isn't it, that Casey Anthony can get her freedom but Steve Nash can't? Nash-to-Minnesota-for-#2 was a tough sell for the T'Wolves because they don't want to risk pissing off Ricky Rubio by bringing in a two-time MVP when he's finally ready to play for Minnesota(not to mention, depressing Nash by sending him from the first floor to the cellar). Still, Nash needs out of Phoenix. Obviously, the lockout quells any Nash trade talk. I liked the idea of Nash in Portland, but they struck a deal to swap Andre Miller for Raymond Felton. That doesn't leave Nash with many options in terms of contenders. The Knicks don't have much to offer. The same goes for the Heat. If the Lakers are desperate need of moving Bynum, they could try trading him for Nash. The Spurs deciding to trade George Hill instead of Tony Parker proves they are adamant on keeping their young French floor general. So that means the tragedy of Steve Nash grows unless Miller is a bust in Denver or Oklahoma City decides the Russell Westbrook-Kevin Durant duo won't work.

*Let me get this straight: Cleveland wouldn't move J.J. Hickson for Amare Stoudemire to help keep LeBron a Cavalier, but they'll send him to Sacramento for Omar Casspi? ummm...OK. I'm not sure how I feel about this Sacramento team. On paper, DeMarcus Cousins, Hickson, Tyreke Evans and rookie addition Jimmer Fredette look like an offensive juggernaut, but how do you divy up those touches? Cousins, Evans and The Jimmer are only effective when they have the ball in their hands and neither Evans or Fredette are anything but average defensively. If this was pick-up basketball, the Kings would rule the court, but in the NBA? Somebody's gonna be the odd man out.

*If you thought the Draft was lacking, this year's free agent class(whenever free agency begins) doesn't offer much either. Two of your top three are probably staying put. Marc Gasol is probably staying in Memphis and Nene looks like he'll stay a Nugget. The other, Hornets forward David West, has a chance to stay in New Orleans but with the team's financial status in limbo(as well as the pending free agency of star guard Chris Paul next summer), that seems unlikely. West is an All-Star forward, when healthy, but he's coming off a torn ACL and he wasn't that athletic to begin with. Beyond that, there's the high-risk, high-reward stylings of Yao Ming or Greg Oden. Or maybe you want to roll the dice on T-Mac or Grant Hill? How about Earl Watson or Mike Dunleavy? What, you're not salivating over the idea of adding Aaron Gray to your roster? Guys like Tyson Chandler and Thaddeus Young are nice pieces but they are hardly stars. Maybe the lockout came at the perfect time then, since between the Draft and this free agent class, we aren't really missing out on much.

Now, for some football......

*Former Raiders cornerback Nnmandi Asomugha is clearly the prize of this year's free agent crop, and it will fun to watch him join an elite defense like Baltimore's or the Jets or Philly's, but he's not free agency's best story. That title goes to two of Gabe's former man-crushes in the Big Apple: Former NBC media whore Tiki Barber and "Cheddar Bob" enthusiast Plaxico Burress. The last couple of years has seen both men do complete 180's in terms of PR. Barber left the Giants midway into his prime to share stale coffee with Al Roker on the "Today" show and become the media darling he always thought he was. Burress, meanwhile, went from catching the go-ahead touchdown pass in the Giants upset win in the Super Bowl, to being the only man stupid enough to both wear sweatpants to a club and accidentally shoot himself in the leg. Burress did two years in the clink and, thanks to the career resuscitation of Mike Vick last year, has emerged into this year's offseason as the new comeback kid. Tiki, meanwhile, was a total disaster in his quest to be Bryant Gumbel and found himself in a bit of a scandal when it was revealed he was cheating on his pregnant wife with an intern or secretary or whatever freak panty dropper gave it up to this half-sucked Milk Dud. Barber's managed to become persona non grata in Giants Land(Yes, the same place that loves child rapist Lawrence Taylor) and is now trying to make a comeback at an age and position where he, ironically, he'd be better suited in the job he just gave up. Plaxico is also gaining interest, although there is some skepticism over a big receiver(6'6, 250), coming off two years in jail who wasn't really that fast to begin with, making a return to a game that's now more reliant on smaller, speedier wideouts. All signs point to Burress uniting with Vick in Philly and sticking it to his former mates in the Meadowlands. As for Barber, he's been rumored to headed to Pittsburgh, but after dealing with Ben Roethlisberger's constant distractions, it will be hard to believe that the Rooney family will be interested in the Tiki circus. Either way, bigger names will end up in better places but they won't carry the same intrigue as two former members of the Empire State.

*I'm not ready for Brett Favre comeback talk. I'm just not. Please. Enough already.

*If you're looking for 2011's sleeper, look no further than the Motor City. Yes, that's right, I'm co-signing the Detroit Lions this season. No, not to win the Super Bowl or even the division(I am a Packers fan, after all. I have to retain some form of homerism). Now, I know, it's July, there hasn't been a real training camp and looking at a roster on paper doesn't dictate how that team fairs when the games are played(right, San Francisco?) but look at this Lions squad. Offensively, you have the strongest arm in football(Matt Stafford, when healthy) throwing to possibly the game's best receiver(Calvin "Megatron" Johnson) and a now two-pronged rushing attack with versatile scat back Jahvid Best and bruising rookie Mikel LeShoure. You also have speedy rookie Titus Young, who could be DeSean Jackson Lite and emerging tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Defensively, there's reigning Defensive ROTY Ndomukong Suh now being paired with arguably this year's best rookie defender in DT Nick Fairley. That's a nightmare of a defensive line and, as the Giants proved a couple years ago, if your D-Line can rush the passer, it doesn't matter what you have behind them. Obviously, Stafford staying healthy and Fairley living up to his billing are the two big keys for Detroit, but when's the last time there's been this much sleeper buzz in Detroit?

*Again, it's early, but if I had to make playoff picks right now(and, I know, there hasn't been a trade made or a free agent signed and a lot can still happen between now and opening kickoff), I would go Green Bay(obviously), Philly(with or without Plax or Nnamdi), St. Louis and New Orleans as division winners, Giants and Tampa Bay as the wild card. I think Detroit is this year's Tampa Bay. Also, you'll notice I don't have Atlanta in there. I'll get to that in a minute. In the AFC, Baltimore, New England, Indianapolis and....wait for it...wait for it.....Oakland as division winners. Why Oakland? Because the AFC West is horrible and a lot rides on who's staying and who's going in that division. Can San Diego keep their two big wideouts? Who's starting for Denver at QB? Can Kansas City protect Matt Cassel? Right now, I'm going with Oakland. Yes, Nnamdi's gone. Yes, they don't have a QB or a true #1 receiver.....neither did Seattle last year. As for the wild cards, Pittsburgh and the Jets.

Now, as for why I'm out on Atlanta. This team killed themselves with that Julio Jones trade. Just an absolutely foolish deal. For one, this team didn't lose to Green Bay in the playoffs because it couldn't score. It lost because it couldn't stop anybody. They don't have a pass rush beyond John Abraham, who's always hurt, and they can't stop the run. So, you trade a bunch of picks, including next year's first, for a wideout with spotty hands? Makes no sense to me. Conversely, New Orleans went out and got the RB it needed(Mark Ingram) and a solid defensive end in Cameron Jordan. Tampa Bay was thisclose to the playoffs last year and now they come back a year wiser and with bookends on defensive line in Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers. If Bowers is healthy(a BIG IF coming off microfracture knee surgery), he's the steal of the Draft. Now, I repeat, it's early, there's a couple guys on the block that can shake things up. Kevin Kolb being one, Nnamdi being another and Carson Palmer as well but I don't envision much changing my mind. As for a Super Bowl pick, Ravens vs. Saints. That's right, I don't have Green Bay repeating. I think the loss of Cullen Jenkins will sting but not kill them but it's asking a lot for Chad Clifton to stay healthy and, if he goes down, this offensive line is in trouble. I like what New Orleans did with the Draft. I would have loved to have seen them pair Reggie Bush with Mark Ingram but that looks unlikely. As for Baltimore, I'm giving Joe Flacco one last chance. That team should have beat Pittsburgh in the divisional round last year. Jimmy Smith helps that secondary if he gets his head on straight and, if the Ravens get Asomugha...my God!

So, there you have it. As usual, things are subject to change once the NFL preview hits in late August but now you have something to fight about....and before you laugh at me about Oakland winning the West, remember who gave you Kansas City last year.