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Interview with Chuck Swirsky
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While yesterdays sports news world was turned on its ear for the return of Brett Farve to the Minnesota Vikings, I had the pleasure of speaking to ESPN Chicago's Chuck Swirsky.
I first got the pleasure of meeting Swirsky, in May, during the Pre-Draft Media Sessions and he's always polite, energetic and I learned a ton just by watching him navigate through out the room and work. I was both, gracious and and excited he afforded me the time out of what has to be a busy schedule to answer a few of my questions regarding the NBA.
What free agent name on the market are you surprised hasn’t gotten a deal done yet?
David Lee is a guy. Here's a terrific player and for whatever reason, the Knicks just haven't embraced any sign-and-trades from any other clubs that their intrigued by and maybe they'll end up signing him to the one year deal and he'll become an unrestricted free agent next year. Maybe Iverson. He's still out there and I think he's willing to take a huge pay-cut just to play. Those are probably the two guys, that and Sessions from Milwaukee. I think the Knicks want him, but the Knicks are saying, 'if you want us, you're going to have to play ball with us on our level.'
Do you think we have seen the last of Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury in the NBA?
Well, Stephon Marbury's behavior, we both can agree, has been pretty erratic the last couple of months with some of his videos he's been streaming online. I don't know what to make of Stephon Marbury at this point. I think Iverson will play. I don't think we've seen the last of Iverson. I think a lot of people are concerned that he's starting to break down as a player a little bit. I don't think last year helped him at all, with Detroit. The aftermath of that trade, all the things that came with it, I think a lot of people are kind of trying to ascertain what kind of player they're signing. Does he want to come off the bench? Will he be happy with 15-18 minutes a night? What kind of locker room guy is he going to be if he isn't getting his normal 35 minutes and he's not getting his shots? So, a lot of going into that.
A Handful of teams will have somewhat of a shot at making a move to land of the big names in 2010, but with some of the personnel on these clubs, they aren’t that attractive. Do you think some teams are setting themselves up for failure?
I think some of these teams are looking at the bottom line because, I still think the league is still looking at the CBA, which expires in two years and a lot of these owners are saying, how much money can we lose? A lot of these people are saying, do we get locked into a long-term deal? Quite frankly, some owners are saying if we have to dump salary, dump salary, even if it's not a "basketball trade." I think teams that are making money and teams that are, at least breaking even would probably be a risk-taker. along those lines, to fortify their roster. At the same time, if you're an owner and you're seeing red, the last thing you want to do is take on more contracts and more years, not knowing when this economy is going to turn the corner. While the economy is showing some life of late, it's still very fickle. I think if you're an NBA owner right now, knowing that you've got two years left of the CBA and more is coming out than what's coming in, I think you'd be very reluctant to sign a player if you're that medium or small market knowing that you can't recoup your revenue.
The Eastern Conference is thought to be all about the Big Three, Orlando, Cleveland and Boston and then being wide-open after that, but Toronto has upgraded, Washington will be healthy and Atlanta didn’t lose anyone, do you see any of these teams being able to surprise in the East?
Absolutely. I think Washington is going to be better. The trade they made with Minnesota, if they can stay healthy and Arenas can comeback and I think Flip Saunders is a very good coach for guards. I think he can really help Arenas and I think Arenas will really buy into what Flip's about. Toronto is a situation where they made a major, major overhaul from a year ago. From their opening night roster, only three players are still on the roster. They have gutted their entire club and added an infusion of very intriguing players. I think those two teams are probably looking at making the playoffs this year. I think they'd be disappointed if they didn't. A lot of clubs are probably going in saying, this is a building year. They can never really come out in public and say "We're not making the playoffs." I think there are some clubs, that privately, in organizational meetings say, "hey, you know what? chances are remote that we're making the playoffs, but we have to see improvements, so we can continue to add on." In the case of Washington and Toronto, I think it would be very disappointing seasons if they didn't make it.
Several people have Blake Griffin listed already as Rookie of the Year, but this class is more talented than a lot of critics gave it credit for, who or what rookies do you think has a chance to really surprise this season?
Well, I think there are some good players in this draft. I would say going into the season, it's Griffin's to lose. I mean, he is a man. I mean, it's one thing to see him on TV and I saw him in person and he is huge and if he can make his mid-range jumper, he's going to be really good. I think going into the season, he’ll be the odds on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year.
The Bulls lost Ben Gordon to Detroit this off season for nothing, but they still have a solid group of players, got two good rookies, and assuming Vinny Del Negro has a healthy team going into training camp and to start the season, what are the expectations for the Bulls?
In my opinion, they're probably, and this is just my opinion, they are a playoff team. I'm not saying they're going to win a championship, but I think they should be able to make the playoffs, even with the loss of Ben Gordon because I think Kirk Hinrich is going to get more touches and more playing time, Salmons is going to get a ton of playing time and he's in his contract year and hopefully, Luol Deng will stay healthy and I think he will be a different player. As much as I love Ben, and I think he is a unbelievable offensive skilled player, usually, the ball stops when it gets to Ben's hands. That's not a knock because, Ben scores and he shoots and he does it very well, but in this offense now, I think, guys will get more touches. Rose will get better and I don't think we're going to see any slippage there because, he cares too much about playing and I don't think he's going to mail it in at all. That's just not in his DNA
For questions, comments, reach me @:ccason4@sneakculture.com and follow me on www.twitter.com/C4DUNK
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