All five of the teams in the NBA’s three largest media markets saw declines in local ratings during the regular season, and local ratings fell about 5% leaguewide, report John Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal. The news belies an otherwise rosy financial picture for the league, with the latest salary cap projection for 2014/15 coming in at $63.2MM, a more than 7.7% hike from this season. Here’s the latest from the Association:
- Steve Kerr is concerned with the failure of the Knicks to capitalize on their resources in the James Dolan era, and Kerr intends to do his research before taking any offer from the team, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- Former New York Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum is likely to become Kerr’s agent, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro isn’t ruling out the idea of trading the team’s first-round pick, and he’ll also try to trade for a second-round pick, as he told reporters, including Ailene Voisin and Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (All Twitter links).
- Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News would be shocked if Arnett Moultrie were back with the Sixers for 2014/15. Cooney sizes up the future for each Sixer and looks ahead to the draft, noting that Brett Brown is enamored with Dante Exum.
- The Warriors‘ purchase of land in San Francisco for a new arena appears to end any hope that they’ll remain in Oakland, writes Matthew Artz of the Bay Area News Group. “I wish them well,” Oakland city councilman Larry Reid said. “It was my hope that the Warriors would build a new arena in Oakland, but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do.”
- Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune provides a taste of the local antipathy toward leading Jazz coaching candidate Jim Boylen.