Pistol Pete better be unbeatable. He better be out there throwing in wild hook shots from behind the backboard, and tossing in scoop shots from the three-point line. For all of the eccentric stuff the Pistol did in the NBA, he’ll always be remembered more appropriately for his college theatrics, and the trick shots he mastered so completely (Remember all of those old H-O-R-S-E TV programs). Upon playing the “Legends Showcase” for the first time, and jumping immediately into H-O-R-S-E, I thought Pete Maravich needed to come correct. If the 2K developers didn’t arm him with justice, there would’ve been Hell to pay. Thankfully, the Pistol was at his gun-slinging best. Read More »

Point guard J.J. Barea will sign a four-year, $19-million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves later today and could report to the team as early as tonight, a source confirmed to Dime today.

The source requested anonymity because the contract has not been signed but the deal is finalized. Minnesota is expected to announce the deal later Monday afternoon. The deal was first reported by TNT’s David Aldridge. Read More »

On Friday, when we posted the unfortunate news about Brandon Roy being forced into medical retirement, we were moved by the instant outpouring of love for B-Roy from our readers. So we thought today was as good as any to post Roy’s national magazine cover debut from Dime #48. Read More »

I’ve been to some good games at some great venues – Madison Square Garden for the NBA, CenturyLink Field in Seattle for the NFL, Busch Stadium in St. Louis for Major League Baseball – but I doubt there’s a better place to watch a big game than Assembly Hall at Indiana University.

The house that Bob Knight turned into NCAA hoops holy ground was the site of not only the best college basketball game of the season on Saturday, but maybe the best game of any sport in 2011. Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis tweeted afterward that Indiana’s buzzer-beating upset of No. 1 Kentucky might have been the best regular-season game he’s ever seen. Read More »

What does David Kahn do when he can’t draft a point guard? He goes out and signs the best one available in free agency. That’s right, after looking for more than a one- or two-year deal on the open market – something Dallas and New York weren’t going to give him – it appears J.J. Barea is headed to Minnesota after agreeing to a four-year, $19 million deal. Read More »

[UPDATE] Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that a source told him Eric Gordon was not in the deal.

We never knew Eric Bledsoe was so important. The Clippers and Hornets worked furiously through the night to try to get a deal done for Chris Paul, and while they were successful in agreeing upon a trade, they are still waiting for approval from the league. As ESPN reports, there is one small thing that could be problematic. The league asked for Bledsoe to be included. ESPN says the Clippers wouldn’t give him up (while the Los Angeles Times says he was eventually included in the deal). If we are taking anything away from the league’s actions in these last few days, I think we can safely predict Bledsoe will eventually be thrown in to complete the trade. Read More »

The Clippers better hope David Stern likes their team because if it comes down to it, he’ll have a huge say in whether or not they get the best point guard in the game to possibly ignite the next Gary Payton/Shawn Kemp oop combo. ESPN is reporting Chris Paul likes the Clippers if he can’t ever get to the Knicks or Lakers, and luckily for L.A. they have a ton of assets that should please Stern, Dan Gilbert and anyone else who wants to complain. They have expiring contracts (Chris Kaman), draft picks (a possibly top three-five pick in a loaded June draft) and talent. Read More »

The Houston Rockets are apparently dying to have a Gasol on their roster. After officially losing out on Pau late last night, they have reportedly swiftly moved their sights to younger brother Marc (one of my Top 10 Centers in the NBA Today). And they are more than willing to break the bank to make it happen. Read More »

Now this is kind of funny. As last as this morning, we all thought that David West was signed, sealed and delivered for Boston. But now it appears that Larry Bird has stolen West from their clutches at the last second.

The Legend took care of business by hanging back and waiting for his time to strike. Read More »

Around midnight Eastern time last night, Marc Stein reported that the Lakers abruptly pulled themselves out of the three-team deal they put together to get themselves Chris Paul not once but twice.

After an entire day of unsuccessfully trying to restructure the deal in a way that makes everyone happy, it seems like it was just too much for the Lakers to deal with. They’re shifting gears to get themselves Dwight Howard and are already taking steps to make it happen. Read More »