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The normally phenomenal Kelly Dwyer ranked the NBA’s top shooting guards and suggested that Ray Allen is only the 16th best shooting guard in the NBA. Behind John Salmons and 14 others. My question to you is this: Am I a crazy homer for thinking that this is not only wrong, but ludicrous? Has Ray Allen really slipped that far?

I guess it pays to be rich.

I was reading NBA Fanhouse this morning and came across an interesting piece by Tom Ziller. The jist of the story? NBA owners were forced to shell out all the big bucks they spent this offseason. They HAD to remain competitive in order to make money, so they HAD to overpay for a decent team that will win a few games.

According to Ziller, the huge money owners are spending isn’t ammunition for the players in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Rather, it’s an indictment of the times, a sign that penny-strapped owners are trying to win and earn money at any costs. These outrageous signings aren’t sure-fire ways to lose lots of money, they are desperate attempts to maintain a fanbase and earn a buck or two in the process. But there are problems with Ziller’s thinking.

On the surface, his contention seems like a possibility. Losers don’t make money. People aren’t going to buy tickets to see last year’s Nets, and they aren’t going to buy jerseys of the worst players in the league, so owners need to put a winner on the floor. Even if it means overpaying for mediocrity, mediocrity beats the basement any day of the week. Most markets can fill up a stadium with a playoff team, even if that team will undeniably get trounced in the first round. But what doesn’t fill a stadium is a loser. So it makes sense, kind of, for a team to overpay for mediocre players that will help the team win yet still keep the team short of contending for a title. After all, an owner’s got to put butts in the seats. Even if it means mortgaging the future for a few playoff appearances in the short run.

But what Ziller kindly fails to mention is that a lot of the players being signed this offseason to monster contracts don’t take their teams to the next level. In fact, one of Ziller’s main arguments is that teams like the Bucks HAVE to sign players like Drew Gooden and John Salmons to big contracts – that signings like those are the only way to make them contenders. But are Gooden and Salmons really making any team contenders? Please. Are they really even the pieces to take Milwaukee out of the first round? Probably not. Is Darko Milicic really going to help the Timberwolves get into the playoffs and put some rumps in the stands? Umm, well, they were 2-22 after they acquired him last season, so I’d say no. Is Travis Outlaw going to help the Nets become better than they were last season? Maybe a tiny bit, but will his addition alone make them a playoff team? No way. Is Wesley Matthews the player to bring the Portland Trail Blazers to the next level? I highly doubt it. Is Brendan Haywood going to win the Mavericks a championship ? Not a chance.

Do you see where I’m going with this? It’s one thing if the owners had been overspending for players that will really help their teams win or at least become formidable. That’s why the Joe Johnson and Rudy Gay deals are at least defensible. Without those two players, the Hawks and Grizzlies would have taken a big step backward. But these other deals? All this other money owners are spending out of their supposedly broke asses? They aren’t moves that help teams get much better, or even at all better. Substitute a veteran’s minimum guy for Darko and the Wolves would be just as good. Probably a bit improved, in fact. The same goes for all those other guys I mentioned. Can’t teams find cheaper replacements that would provide almost the same production?

Ziller makes the argument that small-market teams can’t attract the better free agents, so they have to offer mediocre players contracts they can’t turn down in order to field a competitive team. And maybe Ziller’s right. Maybe that’s why all this free agent nonsense is going on. But you know what? Rebuild in the lottery, develop your players, make smart signings and smarter trades. Even small-market teams can succeed that way. Just ask Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So Ziller can keep talking about how the owners are forced into this, that they have no choice but to overpay scrubs in order to stay competitive and make money. But that isn’t the proven way to win. It isn’t the proven way to make money. Nobody’s buying tickets just to see Drew Gooden and John Salmons play basketball, folks. I promise.

Lebron: "He's gotta come with me, right?" Ray: "Ew. The enemy." Ref: "Shut up Ray, I know you're considering it."

As expected, Ray Allen is turning into a hot commodity. What team with the possibility of signing Lebron doesn’t want the world’s best shooter to flank the world’s best player?

The Cavs are one of the teams that will reach out to Allen, according to Brian Windhorst, and Lebron James has reportedly already made his own pitch.

#Cavs also expected to contact shooting guards Ray Allen, John Salmons and Mike Miller at some point on July 1.

It seems re-signing Paul Pierce might be quick and painless, but I’ve got the feeling Ray is going to get all kinds of offers before it’s all said and done.

On another note, Mike Miller’s stock is inexplicably rising to unforeseen levels. Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Miller has become a wanted man, and that his initial offers are expected to be worth more than the mid-level exception. To which I say, huh? What team in its right mind values Miller at more than the mid-level exception? Is this a joke? Don’t get me wrong, Miller’s a valuable piece. But why handcuff so much cap space on Mike Miller? If you have enough cap space to spend more than the mid-level exception, aren’t there bigger fish to fry? Aren’t there? If Miller gets more than the mid-level exception, my theory that Isiah Thomas is ghost-GMing for a few teams will be confirmed.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

He doesn't look so bad, does he?

Chris Gasper, Boston Globe – “Essentially, what the Celtics have been presented is a do-over of the 2009 playoffs, but with Garnett a go and Cleveland standing in for Orlando. The team is virtually identical because the additions of Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson have had no impact. Last year, the Celtics were ousted in the second round by Orlando in seven games. If that happens at the hands of Cleveland this year, then their run has run its course, and they’re the 1991 Detroit Pistons, who coincidentally went 50-32, to LeBron’s Michael Jordan. We were hard on the Celtics because we expected so much of them, but now they’re in a position to finally fulfill those expectations. Bring on LeBron.”

Bill Livingston, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Hopes will have to wait that the Big Shillelagh will immediately break out the whuppin’ stick on the Boston Celtics, who begin their second-round series with the Cavs Saturday night at The Q. It was Celtic reserve Glen “Big Baby” Davis whose perfectly legal play on the ball led to Shaq’s torn thumb ligament — and whose tugging on the thumb afterward was both repulsive and typical of the Celtics. After the Bulls had been sent to their rooms, O’Neal fielded questions about Davis’ play with blandness. The two do share a background of playing for LSU, but old college ties mean nothing now. ‘Nothing bothers me,’ said the Big Serenity. ‘I don’t think [that the play was dirty]. I’m just glad I got my thumbs back. You need your thumbs. Your thumbs are very, very important.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Jamison averaged 19.3 points in Cleveland’s five-game first-round series against the Bulls, and he took nearly a third of his shots from 3-point range (7 of 23). He was spelled by Varejao, the sixth-year power forward who plays as if he’s never heard of inertia, making a living off hustle plays and feasting on the Celtics during the regular season by being quicker to get to open spots on the floor. It’s a matchup problem for the Celtics’ big men, who will have to flip the switch from guarding the post to jumping out to the perimeter, chasing Cleveland’s pseudo-bigs. Glen Davis put it this way: ‘Imagine if you had to bump Shaq [coming off a pick-and-roll] and then close out on Antawn Jamison when he just hit two in a row. Or with Rashard Lewis, you’ve got to bump Dwight [Howard] and get out to Rashard and force him left instead of right. You’re closing out to him and he can make you do anything he wants to, really. You’ve just got to have a feel for the game and just got to have a will to do a lot of things out there on guys like that.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “There is the Davis who made all of the hustle plays Tuesday night, from drawing two huge second-half charges on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem to grabbing most of the big rebounds down the stretch. And then there’s the young player who is still a little too intoxicated by the memory of his game-winning 20-footer in last May’s Game 4 in Orlando. That’s the player who doesn’t always make the extra pass. But he seems to be coming around. ‘He’s just got to stay there,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘We tell all of our players this: ‘You don’t need a parade out there every game. You’ve just got to continue to play. And then your body will work when it’s all said and done. Then you can have the festivities.’ And that’s Baby in a nutshell. He is so talented, and his IQ is ridiculous. It really is. But he lets up at times. He starts thinking about what he’s done well, instead of just keep playing. And he’s a young kid still. That’s the maturity part that is growing. And I think it’s getting better and better. He has proven over the long haul, though, that in big games he tends to play well. He did it in college and he’s done it here.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘I’ve maintained that I like this team,’ Rivers said. ‘You know, when we were struggling, no one wanted to hear that. I got that. I understood that, but I knew what I had, and I knew that my goal was to get them healthy. And if that meant . . . you know, I didn’t want to lose games, but you had to take that risk during the regular season. We had to choose health over anything, and I understood that. The first thing Erik (Spoelstra, the Miami coach) said was, ‘Boy, you had a hell of a fight trying to keep these guys healthy.’ And I said, ‘It was brutal.’ But it was the right move. It was. I mean, you had to. That’s our only chance. So now we’re healthy, we’re rested and we’re ready.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “”You definitely had your doubts at times because of the inconsistent play, injuries just seem to be mounting and mounting,” said Pierce, who was sidelined for 11 games this season. But he’s not griping. In fact, he embraces those times as moments that showcased this team’s character and resiliency. ‘The losing teams tend to point the finger, go to the media, says this guy need to do this better or do that better,’ Pierce said. ‘And we never held grudges with one another.’ Kevin Garnett also addressed some of the struggles Boston has endured this season, and it’s impact on the team moving forward. ‘If you want something to happen, you have to gather everybody and it’s a group effort,’ Garnett said. ‘But if you want something to work, you have to actually grab everybody, get everybody on the same page and work towards that goal.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA and the best player in the world on their roster. Of course this was the exact same scenario for the Cavs last season, and they ultimately lost to Orlando conference finals. General manager Danny Ferry bolstered his team with additions big (Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison) and small (Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon) and found improvement from within in young forward J.J. Hickson. Noted Celtic killer Anderson Varejao had the best season of his career, Mo Williams continued to shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range, effectively ending the necessity for Daniel Gibson to get playing time, and Delonte West re-emerged as a key third guard. Then, there is LeBron James, who has shattered the best player in the league argument and seems poised to truly rule the world if he can deliver a championship to his hometown team before engaging in the most frenzied free-agent courtship the league has ever known. Ah, but the Celtics have other ideas.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘My role since I’ve been here really hasn’t changed. I can just be a little bit more vocal now that I’ve been here for a while,’ Finley explained. ‘I just didn’t want to come here right away and be the loud mouth of the locker room. But now the guys feel a little more comfortable with me. I’m able to pull guys to the side, tell them different situations, especially in these playoff series that are important, not only to them, but to our team. And they’re listening and they’re being receptive, and that’s been good.’ The 37-year-old is happy to share the veteran wisdom he has accumulated over the last 15 years, and the C’s are just as happy to receive it. ‘Mike is big,’ said Ray Allen. ‘Most people don’t realize the things that he’s saying, just his advice, just some of the things that he says coming out of timeouts, coming to the bench. You can always tell he wants to win. Even though he came here later on in the season, he’s invested now in what we’re doing. So he’s always making sure, ‘Look for this, this is what’s going to go down,’ or, ‘Ray, you need to do this,’ or ‘Paul you need to make sure …’ So that’s great coming from the bench and you know that he’s fielding us more information so when we go out there, we’re prepared.’”

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – “Keep counting ‘em out, all you National Basketball Association experts. These Milwaukee Bucks will just keep fighting to the end. The Atlanta Hawks found that out the hard way on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the teams’ Eastern Conference series, as the Bucks got off the mat to grab a stunning 91-87 victory at Philips Arena. The Bucks have won three straight games against the third-seeded Hawks while taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series, and Milwaukee can eliminate Atlanta in Game 6, scheduled for Friday night at the Bradley Center. Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova showed his trademark hustle while grabbing offensive rebounds, and Milwaukee went on a dazzling 14-0 run in the final 4 minutes to erase an 82-73 deficit and end the Hawks’ 14-game home winning streak. ‘This is by far the biggest win of the season,’ said Bucks guard John Salmons. ‘We’ve still got business to take care of, so we’ve got to stay with it.’”

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “This was the Falcons blowing the lead against Danny White and Dallas in January 1981. This was Mark Wohlers hanging the slider to Jim Leyritz in October 1996. Only it wasn’t. It was worse. Those opponents were top-class. The Hawks just blew a 13-point lead and probably a playoff series to Milwaukee, which is a No. 6 seed missing its All-Star center. They trail 3-2 in a series they led 2-0. They face elimination on the road, a place they’ve won once in 11 tries over the past three postseasons. Yeah, theoretically they could still pull this out, but how can you win in the Bradley Center when you can’t hold a nine-point lead inside the final four minutes with the series lead on the line? How can you put this colossal choke — I hate that word, but it applies here — behind you? Up nine, and here’s what happened: Josh Smith missed a dunk by hitting the ball on the underside of the backboard; Jamal Crawford short-armed a layup, the first of his five misses down the stretch; the Hawks watched as Ersan Ilyasova grabbed every loose ball and Joe Johnson fouled out on a charge. Nine points up with 3:55 left, the Hawks saw the lead disappear in 116 seconds. I say again: One hundred sixteen seconds. There are no excuses for this game, this series. The team with the better players is the one with one foot out the exit door. The Bucks have two chances to win once. The Hawks are down to their final shot.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “Help? Melo got it. Selfish? Not the Nuggets, at least not this night. Game 6? A reality. For one night, all was right with the Nuggets, who played poised and possessed Wednesday during a 116-102 victory over Utah at the Pepsi Center. Overcoming the loss of Nene because of a knee injury, Denver forced Game 6 to be played Friday in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz leading the first-round playoff series 3-2. A source familiar with the situation said the Nuggets are fearful Nene tore the ACL in his left knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.”

J.A. Adande, ESPN – “Not only did Anthony receive the assistance from his teammates he all but Bat-signaled for from the dais last Sunday, he delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds. He managed to involve his teammates without too much dropoff of his own from his 39-point, 11-rebound Game 4. Sure the point total declined, but the number of turnovers also went from nine to one. A team official told Anthony he was as proud of him as he’d ever been after this game. If the Nuggets are going to exit the playoffs, apparently their disappearance won’t be traced back to Anthony. He already double his double-double total from all of last playoffs (anyone else craving In-N-Out Burger after that sentence?). And he’s put up a better resistance to elimination. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers last season, in what turned out to be the finale of his breakthrough playoffs, Anthony scored 25 points but shot only 35 percent and grabbed two rebounds.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

If you didn’t watch the game last night, then you missed two magestic ball fakes by Rajon Rondo that left Milwaukee wondering to where on earth the basketball had disappeared. The first victim was John Salmons. Salmons almost got whiplash looking for the ball, before finally realizing, “Damn it. Rondo still has the ball, and I look like a damn fool. FML.”

Next was Ersan Ilyasova. Not only was he fooled by Rondo’s patended fake-behind-the-back move, but he looked like even more of an idiot because he was in a hurry to close out to Rasheed Wallace at the three-point line. In a hurry to close out to Rasheed Wallace. Note to Ersan: Stick with Rajon next time.

The most underrated part of the highlight was Bill Raftery’s commentary. Shocking, really, that he announced a Celtics game. Even more shocking that he described Rondo’s fake as “a little globey.”

Another day, another heart attack. Read more »