By now you’ve seen Derrick Rose‘s latest signature shoe, the adidas adiZero Rose 2. Now, the folks at adidas Basketball have given it a whole new look. Inspired by Derrick’s off-court style, the new “Luxury Hardwood” edition takes Gucci’s iconic black/green/red color combination and adds a twist of hardwood court texture and eel skin stripes on the upper. Check it out: Read More »

I wanna know, is anyone not surprised by this? I think we could poll the entire basketball nation, and perhaps 90 percent of you would’ve said “Yeah, Tayshaun is gone” at the start of free agency talks. But Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Tayshaun Prince will re-sign with the Pistons for four year and $27 million-plus. Um… excuse me? Detroit became such a basketball wasteland in the past two seasons that pretty much everyone assumed mass changes were in order. This is certainly a step in a different direction. Read More »

Let me string you along. I’m talking really unknown… like not even David Kahn is talking about this cat right now (and he’s willing to go after old men in the draft who change their names). You could call this the end of the road, but the journey never really began. Not with the lockout this summer and fall, and not with a season-ending foot injury last year. He’s a dunking machine, and in one of the most anticipated showcase games during this lockout, he stole the show. So why isn’t anyone talking about Terrico White? Probably because he just became a free agent last night. Read More »

When Danilo Gallinari arrived in New York in 2008, the city couldn’t get enough of him. What was he wearing, where was he going – it’s as if he was dating a Kardashian. But after being traded to Denver last season as part of the deal for Carmelo Anthony, the fervor screeched to a halt. He finished out the year with the Nuggets before heading overseas to play in Italy during the lockout, keeping a relatively low profile along the way. Well, Gallo’s back, and he’ll be wearing some new shoes when he takes the court for the first time in Denver’s preseason game against Phoenix on Dec. 20. Read More »

Dwyane Wade comes strolling into the back-alley gym that sits in the shadows of I-95 with that familiar Jordan gait – pigeon-toed, swagged-out – looking like an oversized red and black hospital patient with all of the mics and wires hanging off him. “We’re going to add four more,” someone immediately says as they start outfitting Wade again. One here. One there. The All-Star smiles. It’s all he can do with his arms outstretched, foreign hands fidgeting to add more technology all over his body. Read More »

We all saw this coming, but it’s nice to hear that it’s actually going to happen. According to Jason Quick of The Oregonian, restricted free agent Greg Oden will sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Blazers on Friday for $8.9 million. This means he has one more year to prove he’s worthy of a second contract, as he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Read More »

NBA GMs are on a roll today. It looks like we’re about to be 2-for-2 with smart, veteran free agent signings (as opposed to MLB GMs giving the world’s oldest-looking 31-year-old a 10-year, $250-million deal).

Today’s New York Post is reporting that a Knicks free agent deal with Grant Hill is on the verge of becoming a reality. Read More »

There were rumors going around last night that it may happen, and Shane Battier just confirmed it on his Twitter feed: He will sign with the Miami Heat. A few minutes ago, Battier tweeted this (after telling his followers last night that he would have an announcement today): Read More »

Any time you can mix Gus Johnson, Adam Morrison and highlights of the current Gonzaga Bulldogs, you’ve got my attention. No gimmicks here, just straight hoops. Read More »

Even so little as 12 months ago, who would’ve thought we’d be starting an edition of Smack talking about J.J. Barea? He’s a big part of the story, but so is Tyson Chandler and Caron Butler. The plot of it all: the Dallas Mavericks are breaking up the defending NBA champions. They haven’t had a shot yet to defend what they won so amazingly last summer, and here we are, with the once-reckless Mark Cuban now a part of this new age NBA where superstars team up together, and Cubes doesn’t overpay for big centers coming off career years. It’s too bad for Mavs fans that it’s looking like the one time he wants to be careful is the one time they really need his wallet. Read More »