New York fans don’t trust their team. It’s not just the years spent under Isiah/James Dolan‘s reign of terror. It’s everything – the conspiracy theory that their best player in the last thirty years landed in NYC via a rigged lottery, the Frederic Weis incident, the false promise of Antonio McDyess-as-the-next-Charles Barkley, and even Allan Houston looking like the guy from Lost who doesn’t age.

But we didn’t realize that the rampant distrust reaches all levels of the organization. Read More »

You can debate how Allen Iverson would fit in with the Grizzlies or Heat until you’re blue in the face. But you just can’t dispute what kind of guy he is.

When KG first guaranteed back-to-back championships, I wrote that because he did so, “KG will now have to ratchet the insanity up a notch on the court. I have no clue what else he could add to his repertoire, but I’m sure he’ll dream something up.”

Garnett’s diabolical laugh at the 2:10 mark in this video confirms that original suspicion. Before watching this, I would have said the East would go Cleveland, Orlando, Boston next year. Now I think bloodthirsty KG rips someone’s head off and the Celts win it all.

Beyond the growing reality that Carlos Boozer is turning himself into a Ted DiBiase-style villain — he might as well put Delonte West in the Million Dollar Dream and hire Kosta Koufos to be his Virgil every time he plays in Cleveland — the trade being discussed (last time we checked) that would send Boozer to the Bulls has bigger implications: All three teams involved would get better because of it. The rumored deal would give Chicago that low-post scorer (Boozer) they’ve been missing ever since Elton Brand left town; Portland would get an upgrade at PG in Kirk Hinrich; and Utah would get an athletic PF in Tyrus Thomas who can finish what Deron Williams starts, defend the rim, and run with Jerry Sloan‘s fast lineup. Read More »

The moment that Carlos Boozer announced that he was opting in for one more year in Utah, the Jazz front office has been scrambling to find a way to get rid of him.

And at the same time, they’re trying to juggle a bunch of inflated contracts and Paul Millsap‘s precarious situation, as he’s being heavily courted by Portland. If Utah is going to lock up Millsap to a long-term deal, they need to find another home for C-Booz soon. Here’s one option. Read More »

Just because…

Having missed out on Stephen Curry, and unable to move Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries even with the help David Lee or Nate Robinson, the Knicks haven’t given the New York media anything to work with this summer.

That is until now. Ladies and gentlemen… meet your new 36-year old, 12 ppg, 4.9 rpg small forward, Grant Hill! How can you stop the enthusiasm from bubbling over the top?! Read More »

As not to break my own “It’s just summer league” adage, I won’t get too excited about the fact that Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough are rampaging through Orlando right now for my Pacers like Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in ’86 (with A.J. Price as their Dennis Johnson).

We’re still months away from the real games, from even beginning to determine whether Hansbrough will become the good pro I think he’ll be, or the Lottery pick bust his harsher critics think he’ll be. Read More »

In the comments section of Smack this morning, reader “BiG ShoT BoB” recounted the 1995 NBA Draft and asked, “Who the hell is Shawn Respert and why did the Blazers use an 8th pick on him?” Read More »

Chris Wallace should have gotten a cut from Mitch Kupchak for helping construct the Lakers’ championship team. And if he’s able to get Allen Iverson to Memphis next season, he should also get a chunk from HBO after they create a spin-off of their hit boxing series “24/7″ about the 2009-10 Memphis Grizzlies. Read More »