Bonus NBA Coverage: Who should be contracted?

Stern said he wants to cut NBA salaries by $700-800 million (about 1/3). If the players don't agree, contraction is an option. I consider contraction a small, but realistic possibility in the NBA where teams are actually losing money. So the league currently has 30 teams, I think cutting 6 teams to get to 24 seems most realistic.

This is from Forbes last year on the teams currently losing money:
"But the real news is likely that 12 NBA teams -- some 40 percent of the league's franchises -- are reported to have lost money last season. The biggest losers happen to be winners: Paul Allen's Blazers are reported to have lost $20 million, and the Mavericks are reported to have lost $17 million. Three other winning teams lost money (Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans), but the rest of the deficit contingent is made up of the league's worst squads of a year ago (Pacers, Bobcats, Nets, Bucks, Grizzlies, Wolves, Kings)."

I think we can safely say the NBA is viable in Dallas, Portland, and Orlando. Those teams have rich owners willing to lose money to support a winning franchise. I think the Nets will be fine as well.

So of the remaining cities: Atlanta, New Orleans, Indy, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, Minnesota, and Sacramento. Pick 6 to kill. THEN make a little rank list of the top 24 players on those teams that would get picked up by the remaining 24 franchises.

TJ: My kill list:
1. Memphis. I lived there for four years and never met anyone who’d been to a Grizzlies game.
2. Sacramento. Unless they moved to Vegas, I simply can’t think of a reason for this team to exist.
3. Charlotte. Why the hell did they get a team again? I mean, they sucked as the Hornets fans, and they suck as the Bobcats fans. Incidently, they also suck as Panthers fans.
4. Milwaukee. Do any of the “fans” ever look up from their brats and cheese long enough to realize there are sports besides football? Hey, I’m not really ragging on them, I often do the same thing.
5. Indiana. I know this is the heartland of basketball, but more people are interested in good High School ball there than NBA ball.
6. New Orleans. Sad to do this, but it’s the Saints town, and the people there just don’t care about any other team.

Players:
1. New Jersey- Chris Paul
2. Minnesota - Andrew Bogut (have you seen the effort this guy has made with fans? If it were anyone but Paul at the top, I’d have ranked the Aussie first.)
3. Washington - Gerald Wallace,
4. Philly - Tyreke Evans
5. Golden State - Brandon Jennings
6. Detroit- Danny Granger (Maybe he should go higher, he can really score. I just wanted him on Detroit because he fits with their crappy new style.)
7. LA Clippers- Demarcus Cousins (Can you imagine him on the same frontcourt as Blake Griffith? The Clips could be monsters for a decade!)
8. NY Knicks- OJ Mayo
9. Toronto- Zach Randolph
10. Houston- David West
11. Chicago- Emeka Okafor
12. Miami- Marc Gasol
13. San Antonio- Rudy Gay
14. OK City- Stephen Jackson (I bet he could suppress the crazy with all the great young kids here)
15. Portland- Samuel Dalembert
16. Utah- Carl Landry
17. Atlanta- Boris Diaw
18. Denver- Troy Murphy
19. Phoenix- Tyler Hansbrogh (His scrappy whiteness fits with Nash?)
20. Dallas- Mike Conley
21. Orlando- Trevor Ariza
22. Cleveland- John Salmons
23. Boston- Carlos Delfino
24. LA Lakers- Roy Hibbert

DP: So of the remaining cities: Atlanta, New Orleans, Indy, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, Minnesota, and Sacramento. Pick 6 to kill. THEN make a little rank list of the top 24 players on those teams that would get picked up by the remaining 24 franchises.

I would kill the following teams:
1. Memphis. No explanation needed.
2. Sacramento. Ditto.
3. Minnesota. No history expect for bad management.
4. New Orleans. Just not enough Corporations and professionals to support the team.
5. Charlotte. College basketball area. No history.
6. Milwaukee. Ultimately just not a viable market.

Players.

1. New Jersey- Chris Paul
2. Washington- Tyreke Evans
3. Philly- Andrew Bogut
4. Golden State- Gerald Wallace
5. Detroit- Zach Randolph
6. LA Clippers- OJ Mayo
7. NY Knicks- Brandon Jennings
8. Indy- Kevin Love
9. Toronto- David West
10. Houston- The rights to Ricky Rubio
11. Chicago- Demarcus Cousins
12. Miami- Emeka Okafor,
13. San Antonio- Rudy Gay
14. OK City- Marc Gasol
15. Portland- Samuel Dalembert
16. Utah- Carl Landry
17. Atlanta- Stephen Jackson
18. Denver- Boris Diaw
19. Phoenix- Jonny Flynn
20. Dallas- Mike Conley
21. Orlando- Trevor Ariza
22. Cleveland- Michael Beasley
23. Boston- John Salmons
24. LA Lakers- Carlos Delfino