Teams on the Rise

With a somewhat busy offseason so far, some teams are looking to move into the playoffs. The main hopefuls:

LA Clippers- Plagued by injured stars and bad chemistry last season(after changing 12 of the 14 roster players from the year before), the Clippers are ready to turn it around and announced it by Selecting Blake Griffin #1 Overall in the Draft.



#23 C #1 PG #32 PF #10 SG #12 SF
Marcus Camby Baron Davis Blake Griffin Eric Gordon Al Thornton

The 2010 Los Angeles Clippers

Are You Ready?


Memphis Grizzlies- By getting 2 post players in Hasheem Thabeast(new nickname- you heard it here first) and Zach Randolph, the Grizz have strengthened their frontcourt with Rudy Gay, O. J. Mayo, and Mike Conley, all young studs.

Oklahoma City Thunder- A team that is victim of an atroscious start to the season, on pace to the worst record in NBA history, the Thunder turned it around and finished the season with an impressive 41-point win on the road. They have some great young stars in Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, James Harden, and Jeff Green. Basically all they lack is a center.

Toronto Raptors- With a team as good as the Raptors, its hard to believe they were out of the playoffs last year. Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu, and Chris Bosh should be able to bring Canada to the postseason.

Washington Wizards- Injuries, injuries... Gilbert Arenas, a few years removed from being in contention to be the best PG in NBA history, missing the majority of the last few years, the team's future is in jeapordy. But if Arenas can come back strong, he may push the Wizards into the playoffs with the help of Caron Butler, Antawn Jaminson, and newly acquired backcourt mate Randy Foye.

Hornets, Bobcats Swap Centers

The Hornets traded Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for Emeka Okafor. While Tyson probably has more value, Emeka is the better player and younger and BEING PAYED LESS. Strictly a salary dump for New Orleans.

You want it, you got it!

Good thing technology has advanced over the past year! Now we have a video of how "bad" Lebron was posterized. But really, Lebron's confiscation just showed us how much of a baby he is. The dunk really wasn't that bad, but Lebron's attitude was. Enjoy!

TMZ

Second view
(Not as clean.)

Clearly the dunk wasn't as bad as it was thought to be. But in the end, Prince James went back to the bus and probably cried on the phone to his moma after the camp session. Job well done spectators!

Yao Ming to Have Surgery on Foot

All-Star C Yao Ming announced today that he wil undergo surgery on his broken left foot. This surgery will cause him to miss next season. Rockets Team Physician Dr. Tom Clanton will perform the surgery. The bigger question for the Rockets: How to salvage this year without putting years with Ming in the future in jeapordy? Well, they need another C, because Dikembe Motumbo retired, so they should look to clear out a somewhat crowded wing with Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Tracy McGrady, Von Wafer, Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza, Chase Buddinger, and Brent Barry, 8 capable player at the wings as opposed to 0 players that can play the Center position. The tallest active player on the Rocket's roster is 6-9(Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Brian Cook). The Rockets have an appropriate amount of talent, but they simply need to spread it out.

What hapens in Lebron's camp, stays in Lebron's camp.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

What happens in Lebron Jame’s camp stays at Lebron Jame’s camp also?

So apparently, on Wednesday morning, it was reported that King James was dunked on. James was dunked on by a college student from Xavier, Jordan Crawford. But don’t take my word for how badly James seemed to have gotten dunked on, take a look at the video. Oh wait, reports alleged that Lebron spoke to a Nike executive after the dunk to confiscate all the videos inside the training camp. Surprise, surprise. One thing that we should have learned from the NBA playoffs last season was that King James has yet to mature into a King. In the eyes of haters, he’s known as 1, Lebrick, 2, Prince James and 3, my personal favorite, Princess James. Oh what loving names for a 24 year old kid.

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our no videotaping policy at an after-hours pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent on Wednesday.

The fact that Lebron confiscated all the video cameras just shows how mature Lebron really is. As if not shaking the hands of your opponents wasn’t enough, Lebron goes on to wearing a “LBJ/ MVP” shirt to prove his dominance on the NBA. I’m glad that Lebron’s competitive, but a sore loser also? I’ve always been supportive of Lebron, but Lebron seems to always make the wrong choices.

Remember when Devon Hariss was beaten on a 1v1 and all he did was laugh?

In this case, I don’t believe that Lebron confiscated the videos because it wasn’t allowed within the camp; I believe that Lebron confiscated the video because how much of a fool Jordan Crawford made Lebron look like. Now we all have our imaginations of how bad the dunk really was, instead of how bad the dunk really is. In this case, Lebron could have been pasteurized, dunked on while Crawford was doing a 360, and all Lebron could do was stare and feel the embarrassment of the cameras. I like Lebron as a player, but Lebron needs to grow up and realize that losing is an everyday essential. Without losing (and looking embarrassed), we’d never be able to realize why we lost and would never fully appreciate each victory.

My List of Top 5 Greatest In All Time

One of the most debatable topics in NBA is who is the greatest. To make it even more controversial, who are the top 5 players in NBA history? I was led into this topic after getting off work one day and one Laker fan was quick to throw out Kobe Bryant at being #1 at the top of their list. I, myself, threw out Michael Jordan, as it seems that Michael Jordan has accomplished more in Michael Jordan’s career than Kobe ever will and has. But here is a thing I hate about debating with Lakers fan: Kobe is always #1, MJ is #2, and after that, they don’t know who’s #3, 4 or 5. The more experience fan might say Magic Johnson or Larry Bird, but it almost always starts with Kobe. So, without further a due, I want to throw out my top 5 in NBA history. Some will agree with my list, but most will probably disagree.
I was hoping to work from #5- #1, but I already gave away my #1, so I’ll just start from there.

At the best player in NBA history, this award easily goes to Michael Jordan.

I hate to get into this discussion, as MJ was probably (and could still possibly be) the biggest known athlete all time in any sports. Keep in mind that MJ averaged 31.1 ppg in his entire career (first all time) and 2,514 steals (second all time.) MJ was ROY, appeared in 14 all star games, which he was MVP in three of them, 10 first team ALL-NBA, 9 first team All-Defense, 5 MVP awards, and 6 finals MVP. Also, don’t forget that he won six championships. There is so many talks about Kobe playing in a more competitive league, but remember that Jordan had to play against greats such as Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, just to name a few. This is also just a limited list of who Jordan was playing against.

At #2, Wilt Chamberlin

At #2, choosing Wilt felt like a no-brainer. Keep in mind that the lat season of Wilts career, he shot over 70% from the floor, a record that still stands today. In his rookie season, he won both ROY and MVP. During one season, he scored 100 points in a game and was average 50.1 ppg and averaged 25.7 rebounds. Wilt’s personal achievements can never be overlooked, but his team efforts can. Wilt only won two championships total, as Bill Russell seems to be the clear winner. Still, with the way Wilt was playing, I’d give Wilt #2, and Russell #3.

Woops, I just stated my #3. Bill Russell.

Bill Russell doesn’t have a knack for big scoring numbers, but he does have a knack for grabbing rebounds. He is second all time in rebounds at 21, 620 boards per game. Russell won 5 MVP awards and those 11 rings on his fingers sure does make Russell an attractive option at #3. There’s no way you can put Russell past 5. Argue that he played under a spectacular coach in Red, but coaches don’t win games( or championships), players do.

At #4, I give my hats off Oscar Robertson.

That’s right, Big O. Some say that Robertson is underrated, as he is never talked about in any top 5’s. Well, I can easily say Robertson is one of the greatest of all time. Oscar was the only player to average a triple double in one season (30.8ppg, 12.5 rpg, 11.4 apg) and that was done during his second year in the NBA. He averaged 25.7 during his 14 year career. I can’t say much about Oscar as I have never seen him play before (same goes for Russel and Wilt), but with those stats alone, it’s safe to say that Lebron has a while to catch up with Oscar.

At #5, I found myself struggle to decide who to put here. I decided that Shaq was at probably at the best fit for #5.
(I was debating whether to put Bird, Magic, or Kareem on this list.) I’ve realized one thing, you either love this guy, or you hate him. I think 15 years in the All Star game is enough to prove he dominated the game. He’s tied with Chamberlin in leading the league in fg%, 1 MVP, 3 Finals MVP, 4 rings, and has an average of 25 and 12 in the playoffs. Some argue that Shaq was fat and lazy, but they simply can’t be judging their theories on the old Shaq who played for Orlando and Lakers. At 7’1, Shaq clearly dominated any center that tries to stop him. It was like watching a train vs. a hurricane, take a guess of who’s going to fall off the tracks first. Even in today’s game, Shaq can still push around players with his size.

So if you’ve bared with me and read my article, I just wanted to state that Kobe is #1,2,3,4 or 5. He might not even be 6,7,8,9, and so forth in that matter. Kobe is good, but Lakers fan clearly over estimate him to be the greatest. But hey, what’s one guy’s opinion? Somebody enlighten me with their list of 5 greatest NBA players.

Keep in mind that this is the opinion of me, Jackson. LJ's list could possibly disagree with mines as his love obsesion with Battier could be #1 (no just kidding.)

Sources: Slam Mag.

More Transactions: Wallace; Kidd

Maveicks re-sign Jason Kidd

The Mavs agreed to a 3-year, 25mil contract with the 36-year-old Jason Kidd. Now, While Jason Kidd is important for the mavericks, wouldn't they be better off with a younger player like Jarett Jack, Chris Quinn, or Nate Robinson? Jason Kidd will be 40 when his contract expires, these 3 guys would only be 28. Maybe Dallas kept Kidd with hopes that J.J. Berea can start in 3 years.

Celtics Secure Deal With Rasheed Wallace

The Boston Celtics have reached terms with Rasheed Wallace, who was lured there with hopes that a starting lineup of: Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Wallace, Garnett could win a title. You have to admit, thats one star-studded team. The terms were in the neighberhood of 2 years and 12 million dollars. Rasheed and Garnett can both guard Dwight Howard fairly well, and we all remember the battles between LeBron and Paul Pierce in the East Finals.

Houston we have a problem.

Did anybody know that there was a third twin tower? It towers over everybody that visits it, people continually take pictures of the massive structure, and it could possibly fly. Wait what? Did I just say that? A flying tower? Why not? At 7’6, Yao Ming is a skyscraper compared to the typical NBA players. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for the Houston Rockets either, after all, Rockets main purpose is flying.

But just like the twin towers, the third tower seems to have taken a hit. “Houston, we have a problem.” On July 1 2009, Yahoo first reported of Yao Ming’s injury. “Yao sustained a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone late in a May 8 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets said last week that the injury has not healed and he was out indefinitely.” Reports have stated that Yao could miss all of next season, and can even be career ending. Yao has decided to take a different path and seek different medical opinions. In recent reports, Yao will also wait a week before deciding surgery. Eric Zhang, Yao’s agent, has stated regarding of Yao’s injury, “We are still in the information gathering period.”

Chinese officials have responded by saying that they do not believe that Yao’s status is as serious as it seems. Keep in mind that this isn’t the first time Yao’s ever injured his foot. In 2006- 2007, Yao missed 32 games because of a leg injury. In 2007-2008, Yao sustained a stress fracture in his left foot in 2007-08, which caused him to miss 26 games.

But I wouldn’t exactly jump to conclusion that Yao Ming is finally done. While some reports say that Yao’s career is done, doctors have said the same regarding quite a few players. In 2005-06, Darius Miles severly injured his knee while playing with the Portland Trail Blazers. Doctors were stated to say that Miles would probably never play again. While Miles missed two seasons Miles sure enough made a comeback. In that same year, Amare Stoudemire discovered knee cartilage damage, which resulted in micro fracture surgery. People were fast to say that Amare would not be able to come back to the NBA, and if he was able to, he would never compete at the caliber as he had before. Sure enough, Amare proved critics wrong and has continually risen to become one of the leagues best power forward/ center positions today. But I think the best example would be Shaun Livingston. Scouts have said that Livingston could be the next Magic Johnson with his pass first mentality. All those dreams were postponed in 2007. “Shaun suffered tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral meniscus. Livingston also suffered a patella dislocation, in addition to the previously diagnosed tibia/femoral dislocation” (nba.com/clippers.) Some doctors said that he would never play again, let alone walk. With determination, Shaun now plays for Oklahoma Thunders.

Seems like Yao is in bad shape now right? Wrong. The Rockets are clearly in worse shape. Without Yao, Houston seems to be destine to miss the playoffs next year after a promising playoff run against the Lakers. Who knows how many games Tracy McGrady is destined to miss next season, Ron Artest is gone, and now Yao Ming is hurt. The certainty is that Rockets seem to be looking for anything to replace Yao. In the beginning, Houston took a desperate approach to try and sign big man Marcin Gortat. They even created an email address, rocketsfanslovegortat@gmail.com, to only find Gortat signing with Dallas. Within the unrestricted free agent range playing the 5, there really isn’t any real dept inside. Arguably Chris Wilcox, Zaza Pachulia, Leon Powe, and Mikii Moore could be one the better unrestricted free agents in the class.

The second approach the Rockets can take is doing a trade to a team that has an overhaul at the center position. Being a fan of the Clippers has made me interested in exploring a possible trade to the Rockets for Kaman. Looking deep into their rooster, however, there isn’t a great want in their team besides Shane Battier. The problem with that is Shane Battier’s contract does not entirely match with Chris Kaman, so unless Houston is willing to let go of a player such as Aaron Brooks, the deal is practically shot down. Also, once 2010 hits, the only center in the team (if Kaman is traded) would be Deandre Jordan, not an ideal player to start at the center position yet. So the problem is, the Clippers should try and explore a trade option with Camby, but Houston might not want an aging veteran for a glue guy who can score without the ball. Let’s face it, Shane Battier has more trade value than Marcus Camby after his performance with Kobe.

The second trade option could possibly be for Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas, also known as “Z.” Z’s upside is phenomenal, he is one of the taller NBA players, shoots the ball very well, and can also play the low post game. With the recent acquisition of Shaq, Z might possibly switch to PF, a move that has two 7 footers starting. While it’s unclear what the Cav’s starting lineup would look like, Houston could should possibly take an approach to try and acquire Z from Cleveland. I’m not really a trade guru, so it’s doubtful that any trade speculations would work out. The problem with trading for Z is that if Cleveland wants to. Remember that Cav’s want to do anything to hold on to Lebron’s contract, which coincidental expires the same time Z’s contract does. This gives Cleveland a huge salary relief of $10,841,615, or if you’re not good with numbers like me, roughly 10 million.

Seems to me that the third tower in Houston is pretty irreplaceable, and it’s true. Even if Houston were able to sign Gortat, Gortat probably wouldn’t be able to replace the numbers that the 7’6 giant would probably produce. Don’t forget that Yao can shoot jumpers, which Gortat can’t. Easily this year, we can say that Houston probably will miss the playoffs this year. Oh by the way, there isn't a ground zero in Houston though. Even if Yao is in a wheel chair, he'd still probably be taller than most of us... Just saying. (:

Celtics Extend Offer To Sheed

In a meeting in Detroit today, Celtic stars Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett joined GM Danny Ainge in an effort to recruit Pistons F Rasheed Wallace. Thats one famous recruiting team. Wallace's agent, Bill Strickland, told the Boston Globe Newspaper that contract terms were discussed, but no agreement was reached. Wallace will continue to meet with teams this week. I, personally, do not understand all the fuss over a 35-year-old averaging 12ppg in a starting role.

Verbal Agreements: the 2009 Free Agent Class

On tuesday night, the NBA Free Agent Negotiating period began. So far a number of... interesting moves have been made.

Lakers Reach Agreement With Artest

Today, Ron Artest and the Lakers reached an agreement somewhere near 3 years/18 mil, ESPN's Marc Stein reports. This move holes up the Lakers roster fairly well, as Artest is a better Ariza for 3/4 the cost. The Lakers now may be able to re-sign Lamar Odom, but an Ariza return is unlikely. The Lakers will only improve if this Artest deal goes through, but the acquiring of Ron poses a serious question: 2 Attitude Problems on a team? Can the Diva Kobe and the Angry Ron play alongside each other for 3 Years? We will see.

Pistons Reach Agreement With Gordon, Villinueva

The Pistons have reached verbal agreements with FA's Ben Gordon and Charlie Villinueva. The agreement with Ben Gordon strikes me as odd, if only because they now have 3 starting guards in Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, and Richard Hamilton. They also lack any size besides Charlie with Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace leaving. The only big man left standing is Jason Maxiell. Charlie Villinueva+Jason MaxiellAntonio McDyess+Rasheed Wallace+Jason Maxiell. I expect a guard to be traded for a big man.

Rockets Agree To Deal With Ariza

In what is essentially a player swap, the Rockets lost Ron Artest to the Lakers and agreed to a deal with Trevor Ariza. They basically payed more money for a worse player. The problem for the Rockets? When McGrady returns, they will have McGrady, Battier, and Ariza, all wanting to start, playing only 2 positions. A possible solution? The Clippers are reportedly interested in Battier. A Kaman-Battier swap would clear up the backcourt logjam for the Rockets.