Sports

POST POWER RANKINGS: Fans biggest loser in Memphis deal

Sorry Memphis fans, but your team just cost itself the best chance it has ever had at winning the Larry O’Brien trophy.

It’s no secret that the Grizzlies made the trade they did in order to dump salary and get under the league’s luxury tax, which makes sense considering it is in a relatively small market and isn’t exactly drawing the fan base that say a New York or Los Angeles team is, but they also essentially threw in the towel when it comes to title hopes.

Just ask head coach Lionel Hollins.

“When you have champagne taste, you can’t be on a beer budget. It’s a small market and I understand the economics of being in a small market,” Hollins said earlier this week in the Oklahoman.

How small of a market is Memphis? If you wanted to go to a Grizzlies home game at any point for the rest of the season, the highest minimum price you would be forced to pay on a place like StubHub is $19. That doesn’t even get you two beers at Madison Square Garden.

I understand clearing out salary and I don’t disagree with Memphis’ desire to do that, but do you know what the Grizzlies saved by dealing Marreese Speights and Rudy Gay for this season? $4 million.

So when your team is coming off of the best year in franchise history (winning percentage-wise) and has the fourth-best record and best defense in the Western Conference, you opt to throw it away for $4 million.

Thankfully for those who need to get their Tennessee fix, “Nashville” is back on television.

Games through Jan. 31

1. Spurs (37-11) (Previous Ranking: 3) – San Antonio has won nine straight, which should become 10 on Saturday against the Wizards. The Spurs have regained control of the Western Conference just in time for a nine-game road trip.

2. Thunder (35-11) (1) – Alternated wins and losses over the past week and beat up on a weakened Memphis team at home on Thursday night.

3. Heat (29-13) (2) – LeBron James and the Heat quieted Reggie Evans and the Nets with a 20-point win over Brooklyn on Wednesday night, but struggled against the Celtics last Sunday.

4. Bulls (28-17) (4) – Nate Robinson had one of his patented explosions in the second quarter against the Bucks. The former Knicks star scored 16 points in the period on what was easily his best night as a Bulls player this year.

5. Knicks (28-15) (5) – Cannot help but wonder how good this Knicks team actually is after the stinker it put up against the Sixers last Saturday and needed every one of Carmelo Anthony’s 42 points to beat the Hawks at home.

6. Clippers (34-13) (6) – With Chris Paul out, Blake Griffin has stepped up offensively, scoring at least 23 points in five of his last six games.

7. Nuggets (29-18) (11) – Denver at home could be the most dangerous team in the NBA. The Nuggets simply do not lose at the Pepsi Center.

8. Warriors (29-17) (10) – An Andrew Bogut sighting?! Now I’ve seen everything.

9. Pacers (27-19) (7) – Incredibly difficult stretch coming over the next week with four games in six nights including home contests against Miami, Chicago and Atlanta. Not the best thing to see if you’re a team that has lost three of your last four.

10. Nets (27-19) (9) – Brook Lopez gets a well-deserved All-Star nod but the Nets have three double-digit losses in their past four games.

11. Rockets (25-23) (14) – Omer Asik is averaging just under 18 rebounds per game over the Rockets past three tilts, making Houston’s front office look like geniuses for swiping him from the Bulls.

12. Grizzlies (29-16) (8) – Goodbye championship aspirations.

13. Bucks (24-20) (12) – There isn’t a team that is more middle-of-the-road than Milwaukee. The Bucks have identical home and away splits and have the closest points differential in the NBA.

14. Jazz (25-21) (13) – Suffered the worst home loss in history on Tuesday night against the Rockets 125-80.

15. Hawks (26-19) (15) – Jeff Teague has morphed into one of the best guards in the Eastern Conference.

16. Celtics (22-23) (16) – Another huge blow to the Celtics’ already injury-riddled lineup came when it was announced Jared Sullinger will be joining Rajon Rondo as players who are out for the season.

17. Trail Blazers (23-22) (19) – Needed a LaMarcus Aldridge buzzer beater to outlast the Mavericks and complete a 21-point comeback.

18. Pistons (17-29) (17) – Hurt this fan when they traded away a franchise staple in Tayshaun Prince.

19. Lakers (20-26) (22) – Every time it seems as if the Lakers are going to get it going, another bump in the road comes. Luckily for Los Angeles, Dwight Howard’s injury does not appear to be too severe.

20. Sixers (19-26) (21) – Is Jrue Holiday the best point guard in the East? I think so.

21. Raptors (16-30) (23) – Nice little nab, getting Gay from the Grizzlies, but the ceiling is still just the eighth seed for Toronto.

22. Mavericks (19-27) (18) – Might be getting close to fire-sale mode in Dallas and accepting a semi-rebuild.

23. Timberwolves (17-25) (20) – Had just three wins in all of January.

24. Cavaliers (13-33) (25) – Looking into Greg Oden, but I think it might be team owner Dan Gilbert trying to hike up the former first-overall pick’s price to spite Miami.

25. Hornets (15-31) (24) – Shocking win over Memphis, while it was still the good Grizzlies, not the cheap ones.

26. Wizards (11-33) (27) – In what may have been the biggest surprise of the week, Washington held Chicago to 73 points in a win on Saturday.

27. Kings (17-30) (26) – How bad is the Kings defense? They gave up 71 points to the Nuggets in the first half last Saturday.

28. Suns (16-30) (28) – Steve Nash who? The Suns were able to get the last laugh by beating Nash and the Lakers on Wednesday.

29. Bobcats (11-34) (30) – Won at home? One step closer to that absurd Jordan commercial where the Bobcats actually win a title.

30. Magic (14-31) (29) – Maybe we should have Glen Davis miked up for every game? It would make Orlando a whole lot more entertaining.