FanHouse

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

The next player on the list is a special case for me, in that for several years I spent garbage time at ARCO Arena chanting his name. (Also, his decision to retire from the Slam Dunk Contest at age 19 after being jobbed by the judges also earns points. That was a political statement.) But even if you're aren't a mark like me, you can easily appreciate the game of Gerald Wallace.

His two common nicknames make more sense than peanut butter and jelly: "Crash" and "Multiplicity." The latter comes from the surreal box scores Wallace collects: he has 18 career 4x4s -- games in which you tally at least 4 points, rebounds, assists and either blocks or steals. (All these plus two others with 4 blocks and fewer steals.) Maybe the perfect example of Wallace's explosive versatility is legendary January 13, 2006, game against Milwaukee: 21 points, 15 rebounds, 8 steals, 4 assists, 4 blocks.

That other nickname -- "Crash" -- comes from Wallace's propensity to bash himself head-first into any center or crowd of men or tall building he comes about. It's a trait which has earned him several concussions, the last of which last season forced Wallace to retire from the power forward position. That relates to this next note, which is that in 2007-08, Crash changed completely.

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?

The incredibly too-quick fall of Larry Brown has been less mystery than curiosity. The bizarre departure from Detroit followed by the season from Hell in New York explain why L.B. became nearly untouchable in the NBA. But in a league of interminable chances, watching Brown twist in the wind as all sorts of struggling teams went with other options until MJ in Charlotte came calling ... that was weird.

Might Brown's abominable job with the 2004 Olympic team deserve more blame for the coach's castigation? Marc J. Spears indirectly makes that case in a Boston Globe feature on the 2008 team.

Along with being young and inexperienced, Team USA was mired with drama and immense pressure to win. Brown suspended [Allen] Iverson, [LeBron] James, and [Amare] Stoudemire during an exhibition game against Puerto Rico in Jacksonville, Fla., after they were late to a meeting. [Carmelo] Anthony acknowledged the incident was "the beginning" of the troubles for the 2004 team.

"We had a meeting and they were like three to five minutes late," Anthony said. "Coach Brown said they couldn't play. We were kind of shocked. A.I. can't play. Amare can't play. LeBron can't play. We thought it was hurting our team. So to start off like that, you could say it carried over."

Coaches in the NBA rarely get away with angering their stars -- hell, even nice-guy Dwight Howard probably had a major part in getting rid of Brian Hill last summer. So, even in an international competition, pissing off some of the brightest young superstars in the league is not a good idea. What role the Athens disaster had in Brown's downfall is unknown -- it preceded the Detroit drama. But it has certainly has shaped our new image of the legendary coach, and it's limited his relevancy going forward.

Even a scantily clad barbie doll reading from a teleprompter could tell you that the Charlotte Bobcats needed Emeka Okafor. Okafor may not be the franchise player they've always dreamed of, but his production is solid, he's a hard worker, and every second his contract dispute wore on, the more discombobulated the Charlotte front office looked. If you don't make contact with the people who work for you, who you depend on, you're risking the value of your franchise.

Apparently somebody in Charlotte woke up and realized that because Marc Stein's got the goods on Okafor's new 6 year, $72 million dollar deal. The $12 million annually puts him on par with the Bucks' Andrew Bogut, and cements Okafor as the center piece of the Bobcats' frontcourt for the future. In the end, it may have been a matter of the Charlotte front office realizing that if you wake up one day and you don't have your guy that can consistently put in rebounds, block shots, put backs, and solid defense, you're not going to compete. That kind of talent doesn't just grow on trees.

Surprise, surprise. Emeka Okafor and the Bobcats can't find a sweet spot in contract negotiations, and Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports 'Meka is pulling the old Luol Deng one-two: work out a sign-and-trade, give me the salary I want, or I'm signing the qualifying offer and bouncing next summer.

Bonnell reports the Bobcats have offered Okafor less money than they offered last summer. 'Meka, of course, played well this season and didn't get hurt. He's young. He's one of the better big-man defenders in the world. I'm not really understanding Charlotte's strategy here, I must say.

I noted a year ago how teams were becoming savvy to the inherent advantages of NBA restricted free agency for the franchises. It didn't take long for the players to strike back -- listening to Euroleague offers, dropping ultimatums, demanding trades. I think this suggestion has been made before with regards to established stars seeking a ring, that all the disgruntleds get together and run the table. (Boston basically did this last year.) But seriously: take Okafor, Deng, Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Ben Gordon. That's an All-Star team in two years! Make it happen, Grizzlies!

Notes from a trip to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

DJ Augustin was showing why the Bobcats had such faith in him to be the point guard of the future this weekend in Vegas before knee tendonitis set him back, prompting him to shut it down after three games in anticipation of training camp.

However, he was nice enough to answer some questions about being coached by Larry Brown, on creating opportunities for his teammates, and of course, whether he'd get a head tattoo.

MM: How's the knee?

DJ: It's getting better. It's getting stronger every day and I just want to get ready for training camp.

MM: So the coaching staff wanted to shut you down, just as a precaution?

DJ: I don't want to hurt it any worse, so I just want to get treatment.

MM: Larry Brown is notoriously hard on point guards. Is that something you were concerned about, or are you just ready for the challenge?

DJ: No, I've played for tough coaches all my life, and they only push you because they want you to be the best player you can be. As a point guard, you've got to be demanding because that's the player running your team.

Notes from a trip to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Say you have courtside seats at a summer league game. The action on the court is happening mere feet in front of you. What would you want to do? Bury your nose in a laptop, of course. Join Matt Moore and I as we chat about the NBA Summer League while watching the Pistons and Bobcats square off at 6pm ET.

Lost in the dismal implosion of the Bobcats last season, which was neither a bang, nor a whimper, but a kind of depressing grunt, was the myriad of injuries they were forced to endure. The biggest of which was Sean May.

Now, May wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire before his succumbing to microfracture surgery last October on a knee that's been bothering him since he was drafted, but he is a valuable asset to the new Bobcats regime. On top of that North Carolina connection that the Cats are so fond of, May provides them with a scoring presence inside, which will help to ease the dismay held by Bobcats' fans after their selection of D.J. Augustin.

So it's good news then, that May is reported to be cleared for basketball activities, will be hanging around the team in Las Vegas for Summer League, and will "definitely be at camp in October." May may not be the key to unlocking the puzzle of the Bobcats' stagnant growth, but he could be a significant improvement for the team under new head coach Larry Brown.

Prior to the recent announcement that Michael Jordan would be the 2008 Citizen of the Carolinas, his greatest accomplishment in life was his minor league batting title. Well, whew. Now we don't have to worry about MJ's self confidence, as the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce awarded him the title this past weekend.

The basketball legend is this year's Citizen of the Carolinas, joining the ranks of his former Tar Heels coach, the Federal Reserve chairman and other VIPs with Carolinas ties, the Chamber announced Friday.

The award is given annually to a person from North Carolina or South Carolina who has brought positive recognition to the states.

Jordan made the cut because of his success on and off the court and his charitable contributions, Chamber officials said in a press release.

And because the Bobcats have been so freaking good since he got there! Zing! (What? It was way more appropriate than making some "Free Lexus to College Students Program" joke.)

Now, it is interesting and great and all that Jordan won this award. My issue is that the award really only seems to focus on glad-handing a famous celebrity, since it, by very definition, requires previous public recognition to actually be achieved. Plus, all charitable donations aside, it totally fails to acknowledge the recent less than stellar news about Jordan regarding his personal life that have come forward. Oh. And the Bobcats.

The Bobcats, needless to say, had a curious draft. Everyone expected Brook Lopez' name to get called at nine; after all, what need does Charlotte have with D.J. Augustin if Raymond Felton is the future at point guard? (Answer: exactly.) But Charlotte reaffirmed today that Felton is going to keep starting and that Augustin was merely drafted as a backup.

"We don't think D.J. is going to come in right now and be the starting point guard," [GM Rod] Higgins said.

While Higgins dismissed talk of a Felton-to-Knicks trade, it's clear the Bobcats were in various trade discussions leading up to the draft.

Managing partner Michael Jordan confirmed Thursday that the team talked to the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped forward Gerald Wallace for point guard T.J. Ford.

Apparently, talks stalled because the Raptors wanted a draft pick included as well, which seems like a nice thing to let Wallace know (You alone, sir, are worth one T.J. Ford, but you and a draft pick? We think not.) heading into the offseason.