A couple weeks ago I called Reggie Williams the NBA D-League’s biggest success story of 2010. That was for his work outside the D-League. For accomplishments in the D-League, Mike Harris was the runaway winner. The reigning league MVP led the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a championship earlier this week, putting up 27.8 points and 10.2 boards in the playoffs.

Harris appeared in 13 games with the Rockets and Wizards during the season, and expect him to be in some NBA team’s training camp this fall, potentially cracking a roster by Opening Night. A couple months ago I profiled Harris in a “What’s My Name?” piece that ran in Dime #55. Read More »

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to travel with an NBA team? Well, unless you’ve got the skills or work for a squad, you’re probably never going to find out. With that in mind, come along with Suns.com TV videographer Steven Koek as the Suns hop on their charter flight bound for Portland, where they’ll face the Blazers in Game 6 tonight. Who knew that Thunder Dan wore Beats by Dre headphones?

With the NCAA deadline for players to withdraw their names from NBA Draft consideration rapidly approaching on May 8th, one of the most intriguing underclassmen prospects is still on the fence about his decision – at least publicly that is. Butler’s Gordon Hayward, who probably helped his stock more than any other player during the NCAA Tournament last month, is currently projected all over the first round from multiple mock draft websites. He’s already declared that he will test the NBA’s draft process without hiring an agent, thus leaving him a window to return back to Indianapolis if he doesn’t like what he hears from scouts. But with almost no time to decide before the NCAA deadline passes, Hayward is going to have to make up his mind quickly. Read More »

These games don’t count toward the voting, so all Brandon Jennings is doing is making the Rookie of the Year argument even more heated for no reason. And last night was his best overall playoff performance yet. With the Bucks looking for their first W on the road, Young Money was going ham on the Hawks, scoring 12 straight points during one stretch in the first quarter and finishing with 25 points (8-20 FG) as Milwaukee went up 3-2 in the series … Jennings’ early run included deep threes and off-balance bankers over ATL’s big men. Read More »

Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward C.J. Leslie is one of the 10 best prep players in the country, period. Originally committed to N.C. State, Leslie re-opened his recruiting last year, making his one of the most intriguing stories in the 2010 class. The All-American also happens to be one of its most exciting players. C.J. agreed to give Dime and High School Hoop exclusive access in a regular diary about his season and the recruiting process as he inched closer to a decision. In an excerpt from his latest entry, C.J. talks about finally picking a college: Read More »

With Game 5 and a possible exit for the Denver Nuggets looming tonight, ‘Melo and company will certainly have to dig deep to get it done against Utah, who is up 3-1 in the series. A lot of talk has been swirling around the Nuggets since head coach George Karl left the team to undergo treatment for throat cancer in February – and while I agree with Austin about not speaking on behalf of everyone at Dime, I know that all of our prayers are with Coach Karl and his family during this time – about Denver collapsing internally. Read More »

Around this time last year, I wrote a feature on Chauncey Billups for Dime #49. The subhead on that story read like this:

Chauncey Billups was once the hyped rookie prospect, then the journeyman, who resurfaced to become world champion. One of the NBA’s most accomplished yet overlooked stars has now come home to Denver, where he has one thing left to do: Reclaim the belt in front of his hometown crowd.” Read More »

I said going into the playoffs that, under the radar, Hawks/Bucks could be the best series of the first round. It’s looking like Spurs/Mavs will take that title, but with the Hawks and Bucks tied up at two games apiece going back to Atlanta for tonight’s Game 5, it could still be the only series to go seven games in the first round.

That didn’t seem possible after the Hawks won Games 1 and 2 handily, but then they got swept in Milwaukee, as Brandon Jennings and John Salmons finally started playing well at the same time, and Carlos Delfino went off for six triples and a Dunk of the Playoffs candidate in Game 4. Read More »

In Dime #55 & Dime #56, we brought you the training secrets of high school powerhouse DeMatha Catholic in a Dime Training exclusive. Last week, we showed you the full-body workout that new Head Strength & Condition Coach, Alan Stein, has brought to DeMatha. Now, we had the opportunity to exchange words with Alan himself about what he will bring to DeMatha, his new YouTube series, and a little bit about the NBA Draft. Check out what he had to say. Read More »

As the Chicago Bulls were on their way to a season-ending loss in last night’s Game 5 in Cleveland, TNT’s Reggie Miller was already looking ahead to next year. Reggie recommended the Bulls take their $20-plus million in salary cap space and get a legit starting center, so they can move Joakim Noah to power forward.

I’m assuming this center would be a decent scorer, because we’re on about Year 5 of the “Chicago needs a low-post scorer” story line. Read More »