Re-printed with permission from the Chronicle Herald
ORLANDO, Fla. — James Harden's swift path to redemption met its terminus on Friday as the Sunnyvale Slayers star put the finishing touches on his COMO Finals MVP performance. It was a year ago when—following an ugly playoff exit—general manager Matthew Quammen dangled Harden in several trade offers and coach Lavar Ball trashed the perennial All-COMO player in the media. Harden and the team were unable to find a buyer, and they eventually put those events behind them. Following a 4-2 Finals win over Chaska, Harden (44.5 bones) now has two rings, his first Finals MVP, and a Hall of Fame legacy carved in stone. Still, as the champagne flowed in the bubble, the front office was not quite ready to admit any fault for nearly sabotaging their championship team. "We did put Harden on the block (last year) as he'd failed us in the playoffs," Ball said in the locker room. "James understood that. What I think surprised him was that the rest of the league showed limited interest. That disrespect pushed James to another level this year, as if he dumped a Kardashian again." Salt aside, this is a team that performed at its peak at the perfect time. The bubble restart hamstrung certain teams (cough, Manhattan, cough) and gave Sunnyvale a major opportunity. It capitalized. Harden got help from fellow All-COMO star Kawhi Leonard, acquired in a midseason trade from Cleveland. Leonard posted a 35.00 average over two starts, and was the only other Slayer to join The Beard on the All-COMO Playoffs team. "Kawhi is a champion and he was huge," Ball said. "I'm told no other ownership group would give up a first (-round pick in a trade), which is crazy to me. You play to win the damn thing." He added: "Star power conquers all. Matt Quammen and Trent Johnson taught us that a long time ago." The championship party extended into the wee hours of the morning. The folks of Sunnyvale and the greater Dartmouth also held a notable celebration. Ball said he heard that local celebrities Julian, Ricky, and Mr. Lahey were on the prowl, saying, "COVID isn't the virus we're worried about tonight!" Ball also made sure to let the world know that the Slayers would be back for more in the winter. "I appreciate the haters," he said. "We could've won three or four by now, but we were getting BBB off the ground, taking over Australia, building the JBL. So this championship feels good but it mainly feels like the start of a dynasty." 2020 All-COMO Playoffs team
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DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia — At first glance, James Harden's $32 million contract with the Sunnyvale Slayers looks great. Same goes for the second glance. And the third. And, really, no matter how many times you look at it, it's attractive as hell.
Any team in the league would be more than pleased to build around Harden's relatively low cap number, given that he just finished second in the MVP race and has earned six consecutive first-team All-COMO nods. He's been a tank, and does not figure to slow down in 2019-2020. Despite all this, Slayers general manager Matthew Quammen is hellbent on moving Harden during the Summer Trade Window, which runs from July 22 until the final pick of the draft July 28. "I'm going full LaVar Ball this offseason," Quammen said, nodding to his current head coach. "Winners only." The idea that Harden is not a "winner" has permeated the Slayers facilities since a stunning beatdown in the semifinals. Following a 65-win regular season (the fourth-most in league history), Sunnyvale face-planted against the dynastic Shorewood Show, losing four games to one. Harden was noticeably flat during the series, but — on paper, at least — was set to be the Slayers' centerpiece for the foreseeable future. Now, he can turn another franchise into an instant contender. Teams such as Colorado, Duval United, Manhattan and St. Louis seem like natural landing spots (especially, the Hornets, which possess the No. 2 overall pick — and four total first-rounders — in the forthcoming COMO Draft). Simmons, Booker might also be available There figure to be a few other stars on the move next week, as well. Shorewood — bloated with attractive contracts after another title run — has been trying to move Ben Simmons ($24M) per sources. Rumors have swirled that Devin Booker ($15M) is also available, but general manager Alex Smith has publicly denied them. Elsewhere, Minnesnowta might be able to turn its influx of All-COMO candidates into more cap-friendly pieces, and teams such as Colorado (Kemba Walker) and Duval United (Blake Griffin) will likely make overtures to other front offices. GREELEY, Colo. — The Hilltoppers are beginning to show some life.
Coach Hines' squad nearly upset reigning champion Shorewood in the COMO Classic, and then steered his boys to a fifth-place finish last week. There's a new attitude in the locker room after GM Collin Atkinson made a splashy trade to bring Michael Carter-Williams to town, and shooting guard James Harden has apparently benefitted the most from the change. The 25-year-old averaged 36.33 bones in three contests en route to the first Player of the Week nod of his career. "We have made some good progress this year and we are looking to our young players to carry us forward," Atkinson said. "Fear the beard baby. MCW put up a solid triple double in the past week. Coach Hines expects a lot, but he is holding it down for Greeley." Currently 23 points out of a playoff spot, Colorado might be playing for pride at this point, but don't count them out quite yet. Free agency begins very soon (Sept. 29). It probably sounds like a vast, scary void that you don't want to get lost in. Because MAN, if you screw this up, your franchise is doomed. The easiest way to explain the FA period is as a "slow-moving auction draft." Very much like the inaugural draft we had last October, you will have the opportunity to bid on any player. This time, though, you have much more limited cap room, and the rules are a tad different. Here are the three main things you need to know: • Once a player receives his first bid, he will make a final decision within 72 hours. All bids for him must be entered within 72 hours. Teams may bid as many times as they like, auction-style. • If no one bids on a player for a 24-hour stretch at any time AFTER a bid is placed, then he will sign with the most recent high bidder. • If any bid is placed within a half hour (30 minutes) of the end of the 72-hour limit, all teams who wish to bid on him will text the commissioner with a blind bid higher than the most recent high bid posted (you will receive a prompt from the commish before your blind bid). This blind bid must be made to the commissioner within two hours of the final posted bid. Of course, there are a couple things to also keep in mind: • If the initial bid on a player is made with less than 72 hours remaining in the FA period (closes at 12 a.m. CT on Oct. 13), then there will not be a full 72 hours of bidding, just however much time remains in the FA period. The same 30-minute bidding rule applies to the end of the period though (to force a blind bid). • Teams are ALLOWED to go over $100 in this period, but beware: Teams will not be able to drop a player $5 or more until AFTER the $100 cap deadline on Oct. 20. Once the deadline passes, we go back to the normal rule of $20+ players being undroppable. This process will require daily checks on players that you are interested in signing. The easiest way to stay in the know is to 1) Follow @COMOLeague on Twitter and 2) Download the ESPN Fantasy Basketball app to keep track of the bids on the league message board. Any questions should be texted to the commish for the quickest answers. You can also use Twitter or the COMO Facebook group to clarify any confusion. To get you ready for the onslaught, here is a subjective ranking of the available free agents (and remember: If a player is not bid on during the first week, his asking price will be cut in half during the second week).
Carlos Boozer, PF/C (Los Angeles Lakers) •• Asking price: $2 million Tristan Thompson, PF (Cleveland) •• Asking price: $2 million Anderson Varejao, PF/C (Cleveland) •• Asking price: $2 million Spencer Hawes, C (Los Angeles Clippers) •• Asking price: $3 million Trey Burke, PG (Utah) •• Asking price: $2 million Marcin Gortat, PF/C (Washington) •• Asking price: $2 million Ersan Ilyasova, PF/C (Milwaukee) •• Asking price: $4 million David West, PF (Indiana) •• Asking price: $4 million Evan Turner, SF (Philadelphia) • Asking price: $2 million Tyreke Evans, SG/SF (New Orleans) • Asking price: $2 million Larry Sanders, PF (Milwaukee) • Asking price: $5 million Don't forget about waivers.The waiver period will open immediately after free agency concludes on Oct. 13. This pool will include any player listed above that is not signed + any player in the NBA that is not currently signed by a COMO team. Here are some guys who have slipped through the cracks (with several more role players available):
Arron Afflalo, SG (Denver) Gorgui Dieng, C (Minnesota) Brandon Jennings, PG (Detroit) Kevin Martin, SG (Minnesota) Brandon Knight, PG/SG (Milwaukee) Paul Pierce, SF (Washington) CHASKA — After hoisting the COMO championship trophy and thanking his players for a wonderful season, Shorewood Show general manager Alex Smith sat alone in his office with a Short Straw in his hand and a smile on his face. “What do you know?” he asked. “Never thought I’d be sitting here celebrating a COMO title. Not this early in my career.” As if to prove his disbelief, Smith stared into the distance as if trying to conjure up an elusive thought that would never come. So, instead of some romantic musing, he instead focused on a topic that everyone seems to want to discuss: Joakim Noah. The 7-foot center, signed for $17 million in the offseason auction, came through when his team needed him most. Noah was left off the All-COMO regular season team, but was an easy selection for the All-Playoffs team (see story below). He averaged 27.88 bones in nine games to help the Show take down Kevin Love, DeMarcus Cousins and the vaunted Chaska Moose in the inaugural COMO Finals. 2014 All-COMO Playoffs TeamPoint Guard — Stephen Curry (Shorewood) — 31.27 (11 games)
Shooting Guard — James Harden (Shorewood) — 31.50 (10 games) Small Forward — Kevin Durant (Duval United) — 39.29 (7 games) Power Forward — DeMarcus Cousins (Chaska) — 31.71 (14 games) Center — Joakim Noah (Shorewood) — 27.88 (16 games) 6th Man — Kevin Love (Chaska) — 27.93 (15 games) First Team All-COMOSecond Team All-COMOSHOREWOOD, Minn. — With the season more than half over, it's time for some free agency predictions. There are 16 stars who likely will not be with their current squads next year thanks to injuries, dumb contracts, underperformance, etc.
Need a point guard? This will be a fun summer. Want an upgrade at small forward? Not so much. POINT GUARDS Stephen Curry — Newport Beach Projected asking price: $35 million Open market starting price: $18 million Steph is the most likely to be re-signed out of this group of 16, but rumor has it that Newport Beach owner Peter Mayer would like to get the injury-prone guard’s contract off the team’s books. If the Grizzlies make a playoff run, expect Mayer to hold on to his superstar. If not, though, Curry could be on the open market. Kyrie Irving — Duval United Projected asking price: $33 million O.M. starting price: $17 million $30 million seemed like a logical sum to pay Irving in the auction draft. The third-year guard was poised to make a superstar leap, but his new coach’s anemic offense has held Irving back. The Duke product could still be a COMO superstar, but a pay raise is not coming his way this offseason. Derrick Rose — Rio Projected asking price: $29 million O.M. starting price: $15 million The biggest gamble in the auction draft, Rose sputtered out after playing 10 mostly awful games in Rio. He might fetch double figures with a free agent deal (starting price will be $15 million), but he could also end up being passed over at that price and sent to waivers. Ricky Rubio — Minneapolis Projected asking price: $21 million O.M. starting price: $11 million Everyone really wanted Rubio to work out, but his consistently bad shooting has held back Minneapolis. Solid defensive statistics and assist numbers keep him in his position group’s top 10, but that is not enough to warrant a $21 million sinkhole in the Player Haterzz’ cap next season (especially when Mike Conley is putting up similar numbers for much less money). Deron Williams — Chaska Projected asking price: $19 million O.M. starting price: $10 million Talk about a money suck. Whether Williams has been on or off the court this year hasn’t mattered much. Chaska has almost been better off with its premier point guard injured. Tony Parker — Kansas City Projected asking price: $11 million O.M. starting price: $6 million Parker was a good idea this year, but hasn’t performed up to his amazing levels of last season (25+ bones per game), and looks to have regressed. Things aren’t getting better next season. SHOOTING GUARDS James Harden — Shorewood Projected asking price: $40 million Open market starting price: $20 million Similar to Curry, Harden will be a tough decision to let go. The No. 1-ranked shooting guard has been good this year, but his production (24.4 bones per game) does not warrant the third-highest contract in the league. A starting price of $20 million will kick off an intriguing bidding war this offseason. Kobe Bryant — Minnesnowta Projected asking price: $14 million O.M. starting price: $7 million Bryant seemed to be one of the biggest bargains in 2013-2014. Only $14 million for a veteran who could average around 25 bones a game? Alas, Bryant flopped after coming back from injury, and is now shelved for an indefinite period of time. Dwyane Wade — Hollywood Projected asking price: $13 million O.M. starting price: $7 million Wade will simpy not be worth the money next year, especially with his penchant for sitting out games (and throwing off COMO owners’ rotations). SMALL FORWARDS Nicolas Batum — Newport Beach Projected asking price: $21 million O.M. starting price: $11 million Overpaid from the start, Batum has played decently well this season, but owner Mayer will breathe a sigh of relief when he gets his $20-million-plus number off the team’s books. If Newport lets both Curry and Batum go, they will be major players in free agency, and have an outside chance at signing an Irving/Harden combination. Josh Smith — Kansas City Projected asking price: $13 million O.M. starting price: $7 million Smith is not a bad player, but a good example of someone that isn’t worth his salt (and certainly not $13 million). His numbers are easily replaceable this offseason. POWER FORWARDS Dirk Nowitzki — Minnesnowta Projected asking price: $23 million O.M. starting price: $12 million Nowitzki has been a very good veteran player this year, but his cap hit will be too much for the 2014-2015 season. His new contract won’t be too far under $20 million, but it’s hard to ignore Father Time. Larry Sanders — Newport Beach Projected asking price: $10 million O.M. starting price: $5 million One of this season’s biggest flops, Sanders will probably find himself on the waiver wire next year. CENTERS Marc Gasol — Kansas City Projected asking price: $30 million O.M. starting price: $15 million Gasol has been the biggest reason for Kansas City’s demise. Not because of his play on the court, but because of the significant time he’s missed with injury. Owner Jack Nowland could bring the big man back at $30 million, but it’s a tough decision. Joakim Noah — Shorewood Projected asking price: $20 million O.M. starting price: $10 million Noah is simply overpaid. He’s played well (21.5 bones per game), but his production is not high enough to warrant a pay raise next season. Nikola Pekovic — Shorewood Projected asking price: $9 million O.M. starting price: $5 million The big man from Montenegro has been the epitome of a solid post player this season, but cheaper labor can be found. |
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