There were a couple of sharks in the water in Charlotte last night, and neither one of them played for the home team. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James smelled blood in the arena, and almost immediately went about splurging with some devastating results. Miami ran away from the Bobcats in the second half en route to a 14-point win led by James (38 points) and Wade (31 points). Throw in the 11 points from the third leg of the tripod, Chris Bosh, and they were just one bucket away from beating Charlotte by themselves … Read More »

With free agency starting to slow down, I took a look back on some of the contracts handed out to marginal NBA players this summer and was shocked. It got me to thinking, if Darko gets $5 million per year, what other contracts have been handed out over the past 10 years? After much thought, here are the 10 worst contracts handed out in the NBA since 2000: Read More »

Bulls/Magic was over the moment Derrick Rose crashed to the floor and sprained his left wrist. On a night when the Bulls were already playing without Joakim Noah (foot) and Luol Deng (calf), and Orlando has been smashing all non-contender squads during their now seven-game win streak, Chicago’s only chance would be if D-Rose went off like Shep in Above the Rim — or if Vinny Del Negro hopped in a Hot Tub Time Machine and brought Mike and Scottie back with him … Late in the first quarter, Rose went to the rack and threw his body into Dwight Howard, hurting himself when he tried to break the fall. The play was exactly like the one from last month when Dwight and Rose collided and Rose wound up with a hip injury. Read More »

Kevin Durant is a freak of nature. And everybody knows it. When I was down in Dallas for All-Star, I asked Steven A. Smith about KD and this is what he had to say: “Kevin Durant is the real deal. And I think that within the next two or three years, he will easily be one of the top three players in the NBA. He’s that good.” After his streak of 29 straight games with at least 25 points ended in late February, this got people thinking: Who leads the way on the NBA’s Anti-Kevin Durant Team? Check it out. Read More »

Like we’ve said before, the offseason is prime time for supreme optimism and high expectations. In Chicago, you’ve got a lot of people pegging the Bulls as a Top-5 team in the East. And from Derrick Rose specifically, he’s gunning for the likes of Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups sooner than you might have expected — not to mention eyeing the crowns atop Kobe and LeBron‘s respective heads. Asked in a Chicago Sun-Times interview about his Year 2 goals, Rose said, “To be the best player in the League at my position, and hopefully be the best player in the NBA. There’s no point of playing basketball if you don’t want to be the best — or doing anything if you don’t want to be the best.” Read More »

Andrew wrote this morning that the Celtics should have been more patient, now having a shot at bigger frontcourt contributors Drew Gooden and Joe Smith, but with Mikki Moore and a full roster, Gooden and Smith will have to find another team to suit up for. Turns out, they’re not the only ones.

As GMs cut ties with players before Sunday’s deadline to still be playoff eligible, giving them a chance to participate in the postseason, who will snatch them up? Unless you’re contending, you’re not really looking to spend money, but if you have title aspirations, here are five guys who just became available (since the Knicks just signed Cheikh Samb) and where they’re most likely headed: Read More »