FanHouse AdamMorrison

Saturday is Halloween, but don't expect many NBA owners and general managers in this shaky economy to dress up as Bill Gates and throw money around.

Oct. 31 is the annual deadline for one-time first-round picks entering their fourth seasons to be eligible to sign extensions that would kick in for their fifth seasons. For stars, it's a chance to land their first really big contract.

But much is silent as the deadline approaches, meaning the overwhelming number of eligible players from the 2006 first round will become restricted free agents next summer. Three players from that draft -- Andrea Bargnani of Toronto and LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy of Portland -- have inked extensions, but not a lot more activity is expected.

So, you may or may not have seen the feature we did for the NFL Draft in which we took every single team and decided who the worst draft pick in the history of that franchise was. And it was so awesome and fun to do (and totally not time consuming at all) that I decided to roll it out for the NBA as well.

So, for every NBA team, we give you a horrible draft pick -- either a straight bust, or player picked ahead of another player who was far better, etc. -- and then a snarky reason as to why said pick was the worst in franchise history. Your suggestions in the comments, please. And happy draft day!

It only took nearly three full years, but the NBA has found a use for former Gonzaga star Adam Morrison: foil for Sasha Vujacic's practice court vaudeville show.

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports that Morrison and Vujacic had a scuffle in practice Friday as the Lakers prepared for Game 4 against the Jazz. But all that resulted from the battle was entertainment for coach Phil Jackson.

We expect some wacky trades now; watching the fastest team in the league trade for a 57-year-old Shaquille O'Neal tends to mess up your sense of perspective on these matters.

But even in this Brave Frightening New World, you can never be prepared for a headline like "Lakers acquire Adam Morrison." Nevertheless, the Lakers have acquired AmMo and Shannon Brown, sending Vladimir Radmanovic to Charlotte. And really, Morrison and Phil Jackson might be a perfect match.

This week, FanHouse is taking an early look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted Zach Bell and Max Mandel of the The Kennel Report to break down the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Gonzaga has become one of the most recognizable college basketball programs in the nation. During his tenure, Mark Few has elevated the small, Jesuit institution to the forefront of college basketball. He's had guys like Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf, and Dan Dickau but the talent he has for the 2008 season is the best he has ever had at Gonzaga.

Check out FanHouse's NBA Preview.

I like predictions vastly more than I do overviews. Why, you ask? Because no one cares about predictions later. That's because no one is ever right. Actually I take that back; people remember predictions if you say stupid things on national television and make it apparent that you suck at your job.

And people also remember them if you get bold and promise to remind them later. So, to make this somewhat memorable, let's get a little bold, shall we?

The Charlotte Bobcats will win the Atlantic. Okay, maybe not. But I can quasi-dream. In reality, I think the Orlando Magic will win the division. Also, reality: I lied about being "bold". Maybe. See, it turns out that even Magic bloggers agree that we could all question whether the Magic can repeat last year.

Things are tight all over. The economic crisis is causing a torrential downpour of cutbacks and fiscal fat cutting. The NBA is cutting jobs. Playboy is cutting jobs. Everyone is trying to pinch pennies and make reasonable fiscal decisions.

Well. Almost everybody.

Earlier this week, the Magic activated the option on J.J. Redick, the 2006 draft pick who's been stuck on the bench for the last two seasons. Redick had actually requested a trade last season and after no trade was found, just kind of accepted his lot in life. There's been a lot of talk about Stan Van Gundy not liking the young three point specialist's attitude, but after some heady work in preseason, Van Gundy has praised J.J. Redick. Still, there seems to be more pressing needs for the Magic than a 6-4 shooting guard who's biggest contribution in the last two years has been on his blog. Redick can be of help, but is he really the missing piece for Orlando, enough to justify the option?

Elsewhere in the Great Moments in Questionable Small-Market Team Decisions section, the Charlotte Bobcats decided that the Magic were having way too much fun with their little "Let's Extend the White Shooter That Hasn't Been Able To Adjust To The NBA" game and decided to get in on the action.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft bust of the decade.

The new millennium has brought no shortage of pitiful draft selections. We limited our selections to the top-10 overall in each draft class, and took into account the quality of the players left on the board (but ruled out odd non-basketball injures -- Jay Williams, Dajuan Wagner and the like). We start with those draft choices not quite terrible enough to make the top ... err, bottom five.

Marvin Williams, Atlanta. The rubbery forward went #2 in a draft which featured two max contract point guard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul. Williams has become some version of the projection his potential screamed of, but he'll never catch up to Deron or CP. Painfully bad choice by the Hawks, all things considered.

Adam Morrison, Charlotte and Shelden Williams, Atlanta. It's a little early to write off class of '06 products, sure, but consensus rates the Ammo and Shel picks as ... awful. With Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay and Vladimir Veremeenko all on the board, the Cats and Hawks have little excuse.

Marcus Fizer, Chicago. The 2000 draft was historically bad, but Fizer at #4 still stinks. Mike Miller went one choice later, and decent players who are, you know, still in the league -- Joel Pryzbilla, Hedo Turkoglu -- went later.

Luke Jackson, Cleveland. Hmm, Jackson seems conspicuous in his absence from this summer's '04 revival madness. Luke earns his spot among the top busts of the Oughts based on those taken after him -- Andris Biedrins, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin. Think LeBron could use any of those guys?

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

If NBA greatness translated to the front office, ho-boy, would the Bobcats be unstoppable. Unfortunately, it doesn't. And as such, Michael Jordan's Tarheel-homerism-fueled draft rampage will only be stopped this year by everyone flocking back to Chapel Hill. Oh wait. Larry Brown's still coming.

Picks: #9, #38

Needs: A big man who can score and/or complement Emeka Okafor in the post (read: let him play power forward). Or perhaps an aggressive, defensive minded bigger guard-forward that can keep Adam Morrison off the floor when Gerald Wallace gets hurt.

Best Case Scenario: Brook Lopez drops to number nine, although considering how guard/non-big man heavy the top part of the draft is, this seems pretty unlikely. There's chatter that people aren't enamored with Brook's lack of upside though, and nothing scares an NBA front office away from someone like "lack of upside" (see: Battier, Shane). And speaking of homerism -- I'm going out on a limb and saying the Cats should trade down in the second round and pick up local UNCG product (respect the alma mater, please) and 3/4 tweener Kyle Hines, or just roll with a Joey Dorsey/D.J. White frontcourt addition.