FanHouse Bucks

You have to give Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman an "A" for persistence. Neither the bad economy, nor the bad publicity from the All-Star Game in 2007 -- or even the stepped-up anti-gambling push after the snake-like Tim Donaghy raised his head -- has deterred Goodman from continuing his push for an NBA franchise.

He does make a lot of sense. Las Vegas really would be NBA heaven.

Goodman at his weekly press conference Thursday brought up the issue again of moving forward with plans for a new downtown arena in hopes of luring an NBA franchise to his city.

The Pistons have four rookies on the roster. Two of them have been suspended by the league for the season opener because of preseason scuffles. (You are on high alert, DaJuan Summers and Deron Washington!) The league announced today that Austin Daye, Detroit's No. 15 pick in the June draft, will be suspended for the first game of the season due to a fight with Bucks forward Carlos Delfino on Wednesday. Delfino will also miss the opener.

Earlier this week, fellow Pistons rookie Jonas Jerebko was suspended one game for a Tuesday altercation with Heat center Jamaal Magloire. Magloire was docked two games. If nothing else, Jerebko and Daye are showing that while the roster has turned over, the ol' Detroit Bad Boys attitude still exists in Motor City.

(While we're on the subject, by the transitive property: Omri Casspi beats up Austin Daye, Austin Daye beats up Carlos Delfino ... therefore Omri Casspi could beat up Carlos Delfino. Can't wait to see that.)

For the second game in a row, replacement officials have completely botched routine free-throw procedures in Detroit.

During Monday's game between the Pistons and the Heat, the referees failed to whistle a dead ball after Ben Wallace tossed up an air ball on a free-throw attempt in the first half. Worse yet, in the fourth quarter, the officials allowed Will Bynum, a career 77.8% shooter from the stripe, to shoot free throws for Maceo Baston, only realizing their mistake after Miami's bench complained when Bynum drained them both. After conferring, the officials took the points off the board and sent Baston to the line, where he missed both attempts.

Bynum pleaded innocence after Monday's game, telling FanHouse he heard a referee tell him to take the line. From the officials' perspective, I'm not sure what's worse: Bynum telling a fib, which shows how easily they were fooled; or Bynum telling the truth, which proves that all three refs weren't on the same page. Either way, it looks bad ... but not as bad as what happened Wednesday.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is not going to set the world on fire. But he's the type of player that can provide the gasoline.

To say Mbah a Moute was under the radar last season is to vastly overestimate the strength of radar systems. Coming out of UCLA, Mbah a Moute was considered a project like so many rookies. He didn't possess the wowzer tangibles (standing only 6-8 and being listed as a power forward will do that to you), didn't stir the senses with playmaking, and was considered a good college player that he might make it with some time.

And then Mbah A Moute actually hit the floor.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Bucks were awful last year, but at least they had an excuse: Michael Redd, the team's leading scorer six years and counting, and Andrew Bogut, the franchise center who signed a $72 million extension before last season, each missed more than half of the season with injury.

The good news? Both players are healthy entering camp and should be primed to make up for lost time. The bad news? GM John Hammond has rebooted the supporting cast in their absence, trading Richard Jefferson to the Spurs in a cost-cutting maneuver while losing Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions to free agency.

When a fifth-place team loses three of its top four scorers and doesn't even receive a legitimate starter to show for it, you know it's going to be a long year.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Saturday, there are 38 days remaining.

Before Jerry Rice made shambles of NFL marks and before Wayne Gretzky was done tearing up the NHL, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was doing a skyhook on the NBA record book.

The big fellow scored an NBA-record 38,387 points in a 20-year career that spanned from 1969-89.

The number 38 figures prominently in a few other Abdul-Jabbar accomplishments. It was 38 years ago he won his first of six NBA titles, and the 7-foot-2 center was 38 when he won his second of two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards.

It's official: Ramon Sessions is heading to Minnesota.

Bucks general manager John Hammond confirmed to the Journal Sentinel earlier that he will not match the Minnesota Timberwolves' four-year, $16.4 million offer sheet for Sessions.

The Timberwolves signed Sessions to an offer sheet after they failed to lure point guard Ricky Rubio, whom they selected with the No. 5 pick in the June draft, over to the NBA from Europe.

The agent for Ramon Sessions has told FanHouse he does not expect Milwaukee to match Minnesota's four-year, $16 million offer sheet for the point guard. But a new trade rumor leaves open the possibility that Milwaukee is trying to cut enough salary to fit Sessions back into the equation.

Barring an unexpected 11th-hour move by Milwaukee, guard Ramon Sessions soon will be a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Sessions, a restricted free agent, last Friday signed a four-year, $16-million offer sheet with the Timberwolves that the Bucks have until the close of the business day Friday to match. Sessions' agent, James "Chubby'' Wells, doesn't believe they will.

"We don't think they're going to match,'' Wells told FanHouse on Wednesday. "That would put them in luxury-tax territory. I feel pretty confident that they're not going to match."

Come 2011 or 2012, the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to have a hell of a rotation at point guard.

Everybody's favorite new maverick GM, David Kahn, got over Ricky Rubio's rebuff in a hurry and went out and signed restricted free agent Ramon Sessions to a four-year, $16 million offer sheet, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Sessions, who played in Milwaukee last season, has been hanging out there all summer, drawing interest from a number of teams but never quite receiving that elusive offer. Until, that is, Rubio did his number on the Timberwolves.