NBA Nba Draft

Bill Simmons is everywhere.

As an provocateur, he's burrowed under the skin of old-media types such as Mike Francesa, who don't get him.

But most new-media types -- especially handsome and talented interns -- do get him. He's the 700-pound sportswriting gorilla touting a 700-page tome, The Book of Basketball, and tweeting the tour.

Yet, more than refusing to get off the virtual lawn of curmudgeons or fomenting a fervent fan base or getting this, the third post to feature him today at the 'House, Simmons has often expressed his desire to be an NBA GM. (OK, so not every new-media type finds this endearing.)

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Friday, there are 60 days remaining.

In 1957, the NBA draft sprawled some 14 rounds, with each of the league's eight teams picking out a handful of additions. Most of the 83 players selected never played a second of NBA basketball, especially those taken in later rounds.

But there was one diamond in the rough. The Philadelphia Warriors spent their eighth round pick -- No. 60 overall -- on forward Woody Sauldsberry of Texas Southern. And Sauldsberry turned out to be the best pick of all, winning the 1957-58 Rookie of the Year award.

If the NBA's age minimum were raised to 20 or 21, would incoming players be less likely to fall victim to depression or substance abuse? As Michael Beasley begins his apparently (and hopefully) earnest journey toward getting right, is there a case to be made for keeping kids in college another year?

Unfortunately, college life is no cure for depression or dependency. In fact, it's quite the opposite: Beasley might be in a worse situation if the NBA mandated two years of post-high school activity before league admission. Unravel the gilded dressing on our idyllic portrait of the campus life and you'll actually find that college can be a really stressful and unforgiving place ... even for a basketball prodigy.

UPDATE: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! and Chris Mannix of SI both tweet that a deal is not in place. I recommend Ben Golliver's reaction.

Spanish newspaper Marca is reporting (via RealGM/Skeets) that Ricky Rubio has sorted out his plans for next season. The paper reports that Regal FC Barcelona has worked out a deal with Rubio and his former team, DKV Joventut.

Joventut will receive more than $5 million (or 3.7 million Euros) for the rights to Ricky. There's no word on how much Barcelona will pay Rubio, though I imagine it will be more than the rookie scale contract La Pistola would have earned with Minnesota ($5.6 million over two years). For reference, Juan Carlos Navarro became the richest player in FC Barcelona history last summer when he inked a five-year, $23 million deal. I would hazard a guess Rubio's pay will be even more.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Brandon Jennings, drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, is poised to make a splash in the NBA. His numbers in high school were very impressive, but he made headlines last summer when he skipped college and signed with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian league. In this exclusive video, we talk to Brandon about his upcoming season, why he decided to go play in Italy and more.

Check out the video after the jump.

I don't aim to defend the practice of cheating on your SAT, as Bulls star Derrick Rose is alleged to have done prior to enrolling at the University of Memphis in 2007. Even at age 17, Rose should know better. His brother Reggie Rose should have known better. Any other advisers potentially involved in the alleged fake-out should have known better. No excuse erases that.

But humor me for a second. We're told by David Stern that the NBA age minimum is a business decision, that the league's owners benefit from being able to see these bucks play for a year elsewhere (college, Europe, D-League). That the league benefits from being able to remove its scouts from high school gyms and AAU tournaments. That, in the end, the players benefit from the softer transition from amateur to pro.

Rose, one of the league's brightest young stars, saw his reputation take a massive hit Wednesday, all for a violation that never would have occurred if he didn't have to wait a year to join the league. The age minimum rule essentially paved the way for the criminalization of Rose's image. And Rose isn't the only one.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Wednesday, there are 69 days remaining.

It's been 40 years since Phoenix Suns executive Jerry Colangelo last called "heads" in a coin flip. And it still haunts the franchise today.

When that Kennedy half-dollar landed on "tails" in the NBA office that spring day, it meant that the Milwaukee Bucks – and not the Suns – would get the No. 1 pick in the 1969 NBA Draft.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

For the past nine years the Harold Pump Foundation, created by David and Dana Pump (known as the gurus of high school and college basketball) has raised over $3.5 million dollars to fight cancer. The foundation's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Major stars such as Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pete Sampras and Denzel Washington have all joined the Pump brothers. In this report we also hear from young NBA stars like Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, and Blake Griffin.

Check out the video after the jump.

Sonny Vaccaro and B.J. Armstrong aren't advising Jeremy Tyler. They are exploiting him for their own gain.

Tyler is the 18-year-old San Diego youngster who is trying to become the first American-born student to leave high school early to play professional basketball overseas. He signed a one-year contract worth $140,000 Wednesday to play with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League.

While everyone else in his class is getting ready to start his senior year of high school, Tyler is being led down a path to a nightmare.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 NBA season. On Tuesday, there are exactly 84 days left.

We've already talked about the most disastrous draft in NBA history (1986) and the calamity it caused, but if you backtrack two years, you can make a good case for just the opposite, the finest class of players ever to enter the league at one time.

The '84 NBA Draft stands alone.

This is the Draft that produced four future Hall of Famers, three others that played in at least one All-Star Game, and a handful of guys who had long and productive NBA careers.