Yes, these are the dog days of summertime in the NBA, where thirsty fans (including this one) grasp at anything to get their basketball fix. Indeed, any minute I'm going to get an email from a buddy asking if Zo should come back or if playing himself into the ground is going to negatively impact his legacy-like I could give a damn. In fact, though there haven't been many jaw-dropping headlines of late, there are a few developments that may have significant short-term and long-term impact for teams, and possibly the sport itself.

One of those short-term, high-impact developments was Dwayne Wade's performance for the US National team against Canada's in the pre-Olympic exhibition. Wade is coming off a year where he was so limited by injuries, that journalists had the audacity to start a rumor about Miami trading him to Chicago for a package featuring Derrick Rose. When healthy, Wade is a top five player in the NBA and makes Miami a no-doubt playoff team. Against Canada, Wade looked quick and explosive. Granted, the Canadian guards weren't exactly Bruce Bowen, but the rim was still 10 feet off the ground, and Wade's breakaway windmill dunk was even more exciting for its implications than it's ferocity. A healthy Wade, complimented by second option Shawn Marion, playing for a contract, and a healthy Udonis Haslem, makes Miami formidable. The ever-underrated Haslem's quick-footed defense and solid rebounding, along with his steady mid-range shot, pick-setting, and off-ball movement, recalls Kurt Thomas in his prime, and is integral to Miami's success. If rookie Michael Beasley can immediately develop into a strong third scoring option (hardly a stretch) and an energized Pat Riley can stave off whiny depression (something of a stretch) and get the most out of the rest of a mediocre roster, Miami can be a contender, in the East.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks stepped up the plate for drama-craving NBA fans. They low-balled Josh Childress last summer, when he was looking for a contract extension, and when they low-balled him again this summer, he signed with Olympiacos, of Greece. The strength of the Euro (currently worth about $1.56 US) makes the Olympiacos deal far more lucrative than one the Hawks were offering. Apparently, Childress' options were $20 million US before taxes with the Hawks, or (the equivalent of) $20 million US after taxes with Olympiacos. The reports also keep mentioning "incentives". I don't know what this means, but I picture it including a team-owned mansion for Childress, staffed by 10 Greek Playboy Playmates. To cap it off, Childress has an opt-out clause after each year of the deal. The guy can't lose.

It's obviously not clear yet whether this deal is the beginning of serious European competition for free agents. Henry Abbott thinks so (scroll all the way down) declaring free-market victory, "this is great for NBA fans, and ultimately, the NBA." Yeah, I'm with him in spirit. I've ranted about the inefficiencies of the NBA forever, and serious competition from Europe might be a real boon in the long run, but I'm a little skeptical that this signing is going to help deliver the free-market the NBA needs to grow and develop. NBA management and Commissioner David Stern have long shown tremendous resistance to any change that they don't orchestrate. For example, they've tinkered with hand-check rules for 15 years, to artificially increase scoring, instead of letting the game resolve itself. Mike D'Antoni's 7 Seconds or Less high-scoring offense doesn't require hands-off defense any more than the high-scoring, running teams of the 80s, who scored a gazillion points, when everything short of hip-checks were allowed. D'Antoni's wonderful Suns teams emerged from creativity and innovation, not tampering from the commissioner's office.

Stern has also long insisted that it's in the best interest of the NBA to create long-term affiliations between a particular superstar and a franchise. Kobe Bryant's Lakers, Chris Paul's Hornets, and Gilbert Arenas' Wizards are brands. The NBA uses salary-cap rules and stultifying trade restrictions to force-feed this philosophy, giving stars 8-figure incentives to re-sign with a team, rather than look for greener grass-as though the NBA gains anything from Arenas, one of the sport's most popular players, spending his prime years with a stupid franchise that's going nowhere.

Actually, reports of Arenas' signing all mentioned that he took about $16 million less to play with the Wizards, in order to give them the financial flexibility to sign the team's next best players, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Not mentioned is that only two other teams, the incompetent Clippers and directionless Warriors, had the resources to compete for Arenas. Taking about 10% less than the $126 million he could have demanded, to give the Wizards a decent chance of being (merely) decent, at best, is the NBA version of a home-team discount. But do you think Arenas would have signed in DC if there were 5 or 6 good organizations that could have offered the same money?

Sure, everyone likes superstars, but fans are far more drawn to competition, to double-overtime nail-bitters, 7-game playoff series, and knowing that their team always has a shot at contention within five years, as is the case in the NFL and MLB. And just ask any Celtics fan if they have any less love for Kevin Garnett because he's only been with them for one year.

Ditching or radically altering the salary-cap and trade restrictions would create the fluidity for teams to evolve, rather than punishing them (and their fans) for five years because of one bad personnel move. Overhauled luxury tax and revenue-sharing systems could be used to balance the playing field for small market teams. Everything the NBA does should be in the interests of creating an environment of unfettered competition. Forcing such efficiency and free-market player valuation should also go a long way to remaining competitive for free agents, as European teams become more aggressive about pursuing American free agents. Meanwhile, the NBA can ditch their now-archaic buyout limitations that prevent teams from acquiring European players under contracts overseas.

So is the Josh Childress signing more than just a drop in the bucket towards the NBA getting its act together? I hope so, because it's unfortunate enough to lose a really fun, burgeoning talent like Childress, with his horrifically ugly (but effective) jumpshot and his huge afro soaring about the rim, but more so because he's the kind of hustle-do-anything guy you want in your playoff rotation. Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a lot more than Childress. I worry that it will take ten Childress-level players and a superstar or two, defecting to Europe, before the NBA has the brains to adapt.

www.michaelmandlin.blogspot.com