AGRI Biz

Let's say I'm an austere foreign billionaire who has recently bought a respectable NBA basketball team and has commissioned you, my newly minted general manager, to craft for me a roster designed to win a title in only one year. After that year, I'll sell the team and continue to luxuriate overseas, canoodling with my yacht club groupies. Pretend somehow I have allocated the means to secure any one established player you ...

If you go to Google, and type in the Minnesota Timberwolves, you will find a lot of topics on Wesley Johnson, Darko Milicic, Al Jefferson, Martell Webster, and Nikola Pekovic. But the Minnesota Timberwolves are also adding Lazar Hayward out of Marquette, and Nemanja Bjelica. Lazar Hayward was taken with the 30th overall pick, and Nemanja Bjelica was taken 35th overall. When players go in the late first round and second round, ...

The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly offered Los Angeles Clippers' point guard Steve Blake a four year, $16 million contract, and with that move Jordan Farmar's days as a Laker appear to be over. Blake is a steady guard who is not quite the athlete that Farmar is, and his signing makes you wonder if the Lakers shouldn't have pushed a little harder to keep Farmar in the fold. Farmar allegedly was looking for a ...

As I sit here lamenting what could have been on the onset of the biggest free agent class since the Triassic period, the possible scenarios currently at play, and what could have happened with my favorite basketball team, I am struck with one startling conclusion. A toddler would make a better general manager than a good amount of the current crop that work in the National Basketball Association. The reasons why I ...

We are entering day three of the LeBron James Sweepstakes. Thus far, four teams have visited Lebron, with two left on Saturday. As we wait for his decision sometime next week, who is the favorite for LeBron's services right now? What teams still have a shot? Here are my thoughts.Begin Slideshow

Last I checked, none of the NBA teams play their home games in the Roman Coliseum. While the ancient Romans might have enjoyed the predictable spectacle of lion versus human, there's a reason why the Romans called it bread and circus. It was not a sporting event. It was a grotesque form of entertainment. Although the NBA is the least competitive of the major leagues in the U.S., I certainly ...

So tonight on Charlie Rose they had a bunch of sports yahoos from ESPN and other outlets talking about, you guessed it, LeBron James. First off, I would have thought old Charlie would have something else to talk about considering the bad job numbers earlier in the day, the new attempt by BP to contain the oil leak in the gulf, and Gen. Petraeus meeting with 1,200 people in Afghanistan ...

Since his agent last communicated the veteran guard's wishes to the Lakers' organization back in early June, Tracy McGrady's camp has not received any contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. McGrady still holds great interest in playing for the champion Lakers, yet the team has yet to initiate any contract negotiations since the NBA's free agency period began on July 1. The reason for this lack of contact stems from the ...

4 years, $18 million. Is it worth it? Hakim Warrick, from the university of Syracuse, was selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2005 draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. In his sophomore season with Syracuse, Warrick was a key part, along with Carmelo Anthony, in helping the Orangemen win their first NCAA title in team history. Warrick, in his senior year, averaged 21.4 points and 8.6 rebounds ...

The dirty little secret about free agency in the NBA is that while there are players that move on to greener pastures, many free agents come back home after flirting with the idea of leaving. Some free agents opt out to restructure their deal in part to help the team bring in more talent but also to get more money on the back end of their deals.  Some free agents stay ...