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2008-2009 NBA Playoffs – First Round – Houston Rockets @ Portland Trailblazers (Game 2)

Portland fans sent Dikembe Mutombo off the court with a standing ovation.

As the aged Houston Rockets veteran Dikembe Mutombo clutched his injured knee underneath the Portland basket during Game 2 of last year playoffs, it not only marked the end of a remarkable long career but it also closed the curtain on the last active National Basketball Association (NBA) player that was born in the 1960’s.

I then posit the question…

“With the 2009-2010 NBA regular season right around the corner, how many NBA players born in the 1970’s are still active?”

And the results are not surprising.

How many are left and the luxury of having a guaranteed contract.

As of this writing, there are a total of 120 NBA players born between the period of 1970 to 1979. This target group represents about 27% of the entire player population in the NBA (assuming that all 30 teams carry a maximum of 15 players). This number is further wilted down to 26% if you remove unsigned free agents (e.g., Raef LaFrentz (POR) and Malik Rose (OKC)), players who are still under contract but are unable to play or have retired due to injuries (e.g., Matt Harpring (UTA) and Cuttino Mobley (NYK)), and sadly, players who still have a contract but are no longer valued by their team (e.g., Brent Barry (Free Agent)).

Chicago's Lindsey Hunter is the league's most senior player at 38 years and 10 months.

This leaves the league with a total of 115 players between the ages of 30 to 39.

Age is but a number

There are still a number of prominent players who play on a high level and I’ve listed them down based on their birth year:

1972 – Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill
1973 – Jason Kidd
1974 – Steve Nash, Rasheed Wallace, Derek Fisher, Marcus Camby, and Antonio McDyess
1975 – Walter Ray Allen, Jr., Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Allen Iverson
1976 – Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Antawn Jamison, and Andre Miller
1977 – Paul Pierce, Vincent Lamar Carter, Manu Ginobili, and Jason Terry
1978 – Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Richard Hamilton, Stephen Jackson, Mike Bibby, and Shawn Marion
1979 – Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Baron Davis, Mehmet Okur, Elton Brand, and Michael Redd

Brent Barry is the last "active" NBA player who was born in 1971.

Other facts

• The Chicago Bulls Lindsey Hunter (1970) is the oldest player in the NBA and the youngest would have been Ricky Rubio (10-21-90) if he suited up for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. Instead, that honor goes to Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday (6-12-90).

• Players born in 1978 and 1979 (26 members each) represent almost half the players born in the 1970’s (45%). While Brent Barry (1971) and the aforementioned Lindsey Hunter (1970) are the only remaining members of their respective birth years still active in the NBA.

• Should Brent Barry not get an opportunity to latch on to any other team this season, 1971 would be the only birth year in the 1970’s not represented in the NBA.

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NBA Draft Lottery

Annually, the NBA Draft brings together the best crop of collegiate and international talent into Madison Square Garden in New York City. Prior to this momentous occasion wherein young aspirants take their first step to earning millions of dollars, NBA teams spend months and sometimes years scouting and assessing talent across the United States, Europe, and even Asia.

Some teams have a knack for assessing good talent like the Golden State Warriors (Latrell Sprewell 24th pick in 92’; Gilbert Arenas 30th overall and 1st in the second round of 01’; and Monta Ellis 40th selection in 05’) and San Antonio Spurs (Manu Ginobili 57th 2nd round pick in 99’ and Tony Parker 29th selection in 01’).

Another team with what I would like to call, “a great draft sense” (along with superior scouting and assessment skills) is the Phoenix Suns. They were able to draft a number of solid NBA players over the last 20 years (“Thunder” Dan Majerle (1st rd; 14th overall in 88’); Steve Kerr (2nd rd; 50th overall in 88’); Former New Jersey Nets’ All-Star F/C Jayson Williams (1st rd; 21st overall in 90’); Cedric Ceballos (2nd round; 48th overall in 90’); Michael Finley (1st rd; 21st overall in 95’); 2-time MVP Stephen John Nash (1st rd; 15th overall in 96’); their lone choice the following year named Stephen Jackson (2nd rd; 42nd overall in 97’); Shawn Marion (1st rd; 9th overall in 99’); Amar’e Stoudemire (1st rd; 9th overall in 02’); traded for San Antonio Spurs draft choice Brazil’s Leandrino Barbosa (1st rd; 28th pick in 03’).

Not bad right?

The Phoenix Suns will be celebrating their 41st year in the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Well, with “new” Phoenix Suns’ owner Robert Sarver’s mandate to tighten his squads spending, several first round draft picks from 04′ to 07′ were traded elsewhere in order to avoid paying them since 1st round picks are guaranteed a two-year rookie deal under the current NBA collective bargaining agreement.

From 2004-2007, there are the players that the Suns virtually gave away. Luol Deng (1st rd; 7th overall in 04’) was sent to the Chicago Bulls in a prearranged deal. Two-time Slam Dunk Champion Lil’ Nate Robinson (1st rd; 21st overall in 05’) was traded to the New York Knicks along with guard/forward Quentin Richardson for F/C Kurt Thomas and the right to 2nd round pick Dijon Thompson (2nd rd; 54th overall in 05’).

2006 didn’t shine any brighter for the Suns who owned two 1st round draft selections (#21 & #27). The Suns drafted Rajon Rondo (1st rd; 21st overall in 06’) and traded him, along with Brian Grant to the Boston Celtics for their 2007 1st round draft (a picked conveyed to the C’s by the Cleveland Cavaliers who got guard Jiri Welsch in a prior deal) and cash considerations. With the 27th selection, the Suns drafted promising Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez (1st rd; 27th overall in 06’) but traded his rights to the Portland Trailblazers for cash considerations.

Can you imagine Rudy Fernandez in a Suns uniform? I sure can.

The 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st round selection turned out to be Spanish sensation Rudy Fernandez (1st rd; 24th overall in 07’) who was subsequently dealt again to the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting forward James Jones for cash.

Ouch.

Can you imagine if the Suns kept half those guys instead of deciding on personnel moves like signing Marcus Banks to a five-year $21 million dollar contract in 06’ or absorbing Shaquille O’Neal’s contract in 08′?

In both cases, the Suns did “rectified” their “mistakes” by trading both of the aforementioned players in separate deals by 2009.

But at the end of the day, what do the Phoenix Suns have to show for it? They are certainly a shadow of the team that made the Western Conference Finals in 2005.

The window to win any kind of championship involves so many factors: talent, a blend of youth and experience, teamwork, and most of all, that unquantifiable element called “luck.”

But at this point, with their current talent “getting on” in years and their youth movement nowhere what it would have been had they kept their picks…

How much do the Suns have left?

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