The Northwest Division is a little tougher to pick than the Central Division.  The Nuggets showed their strength last season, but the Jazz always are in contention, and I like the Trail Blazers to make some noise as well.  Thus, I’ll run with LaMarcus Aldridge’s picture up top, who just scored a 5-year, $65 million extension.

Denver Nuggets - Denver Stiffs | The Nugg Doctor

Minnesota Timberwolves – Canis Hoopus | Empty the Bench | TWolvesBlog

Oklahoma City Thunder – Blue Blitz | Daily Thunder

Portland Trail Blazers - Blazersedge | A Stern Warning | The Rip City Project | Blaze of Love | BustaBucket | Trail Post

Utah Jazz – SLC Dunk | True Blue Jazz

Bonus Links: See full schedule here | Also see SBNation preview storystream

Wow, that was a long paragraph.  But after almost 2 1/2 years of law school, I can now confidently say that I will graduate with a better understanding of the best practices in representing talent, and that I will have an edge over my counterparts who never put in the 3 years to attain a J.D.  I did not write that statement with the intention of denigrating anyone’s intellectual capacity, and there are plenty of amazing sports agents who have had tremendous success in scrupulously representing their clients.  However, I do believe that there is a lot to gain by going to law school, especially in the realm of learning how to effectively negotiate (which really cannot be learned by just reading a book).

There are a lot more sports agents (A LOT MORE) than there are General Managers in their respective sports.  While not every agent has had the proper education necessary to effectively negotiate on behalf of his client, you better believe that every GM knows every trick in the book, whether it be from formal education or years and years of experience.  Mark Warkentien, VP of Basketball Operations for the Denver Nuggets, is one of those expert negotiators.  During Summer, he spent a week at Harvard Law School in order to enlarge his arsenal of negotiation tools, and shared some of his wisdom with Ian Thomsen of SI.  Some important points he talks about are:

• The need to know what your counterpart is going to say before you sit down at the negotiating table.
• Find points of agreement before starting the negotiation.
• Make your counterpart justify his interests and positions.
• Face-to-face negotiations beat phone/email/fax conversations.
• Showing emotion often does not help you in progressing your position.
• Be flexible in negotiations.
• Don’t talk down to your counterpart.
• Never use the word “but”.

I have learned all of those bullet points, minus the very last one.  However, it is definitely an interested point, and one that I may take into consideration when altering my own negotiating style.  This is how Warkentien describes Harvard Law School’s justification for scrapping the word “but” from negotiations:

“When you say, ‘I hear what you’re telling me, but …’ what you’re really saying is, ‘Go to hell.’ That word — ‘but’ — comes across as if everything the other guy has just said doesn’t matter.”

As a side note, I will be speaking at Barry University School of Law exactly a week from today.  If you are in Orlando, please join the discussion next Monday at 12 p.m.  Contact Thomas M. Schoendorf for more information.

Denver Nuggets

Jeremy: Pickaxe and Roll

Nick Sclafani: The Nugg Doctor

Minnesota Timberwolves

Derek Hanson & Staff: TWolves Blog

Andrew Thell: Empty the Bench

wyn: Canis Hoopus

Oklahoma City

xphoenix87: BallerBlogger

Zorgon: Blue Blitz

Royce: The Thunderworld

Portland Trail Blazers

Mookie: …a stern warning

Benjamin Golliver: Blazers Edge

Coup and SJ: Rip City Project

Utah Jazz

UtesFan89: The Utah Jazz

Basketball John: SLC Dunk

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

Anthony has been in trouble with the law in Denver before. Last year, he was caught and charged with possession of marijuana.  This time, the DUI came during a controversial run to gain his Nuggets a spot in the playoffs.  It seems that Melo was partying and celebrating for the playoffs a bit too early.

When high priced athletes such as Melo get charged with a DUI it makes us wonder why they don’t just call a taxi or even hire private drivers.  Their salaries certainly allow them to do such, but for some reason they still do not.  Anthony’s recent outburst and run-ins with the law have caused Denver to shop him around a little this off season.  However, it looks as if he will remain a Nugget next year, but will start on the bench for the first two games.

The plea agreement makes the general public question the way athletes are punished by our legal system.  This is not Carmelo’s first time in court yet his punishment seemed light to many of us.  The truth is first time DUI and drug offenses usually get handled like this.  As long as Melo does not mess up again within his probationary period of a year or get a second offense for DUI or marijuana charges, his punishments will remain less serious.

Much like the case of Paris Hilton and her DUI, the celebrity status in this situation only attracts more attention to a first offense that is handled pretty much uniformly throughout the criminal justice system.  In Hilton’s case, the Judge issued a more serious punishment because she was so famous.  Lucky for Melo, this did not occur.