Beast of the Night: Nene put up a monster line with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks and 2 turnovers while shooting 62 percent (8-13) from the floor and 80 percent (4-5) from the line. It was his finest game of the season so far and his owners have to be hoping that he stays healthy. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Blake Griffin, Rasual Butler, Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, Kareem Rush

Lost: Zach Randolph, Mike Taylor, Fred Jones, Paul Davis Read More »

With no more preseason games and just a few days until the NBA regular season starts, all that’s left to do is iron out some position battles and figure out who among the banged-up is healthy enough to suit up for Opening Night. There was an outside chance that Shaq, among others, would be suspended for the Cavs/Celtics opener after he left the bench during Mo Williams and Shelden Williams‘ altercation a few nights ago. But the NBA ruled that since the scrap happened technically at halftime, guys who left the bench won’t be punished … Read More »

Many times there comes a need to fill in the statistical gaps that exist in your fantasy rosters, and most times these weaknesses are only apparent later in your drafts. This week we’ll discuss players who will likely be available in the later rounds of most drafts but could help you stop up those statistical cracks in your fantasy rosters. We’ll start off with some late-round players who can help you with points, in no particular order. Read More »

Unless your name is Monta Ellis, everybody comes to media day with a positive outlook. All the players and coaches say all the right things and deny any issues may lie beneath the surface. And that’s how it was yesterday between Baron Davis and Mike Dunleavy at the Clippers’ media day. Last year, the two had several mini falling outs - stemming on their disagreements on what offense to run. It was no secret Davis wanted Dunleavy out. Read More »

Every NBA team has a go-to guy, and there’s really only room for one. And it’s not strictly who takes the last-second shot. It’s the guy who regularly gets the ball when things are getting tense in the fourth; the guy expected to calm things down when teammates are getting sloppy; the guy called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally, or spark a rally of his own; the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line? From #30 to #1, these are the League’s best go-to guys… Read More »

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the Nets and how they had one of the best young cores in the league. It got me thinking about all the other top young teams, so I decided to rank them. I know “young core” is kind of a vague term that technically could include CP and the Hornets, the Jazz and the Magic. So I set up a couple of parameters.

By young core, I mean players who have not accomplished much yet in their young NBA careers and are still paying dues. I’m talking about players and teams that are not quite ready to contribute anything big this upcoming season, but will be right there in the mix two or three years down the line. All of these players are relatively young, have no more than three years in the league and have not been all-stars or major contributors in the playoffs. Read More »

As predictable as the mainstream media/gossip page hype was concerning the now-infamous Jordan Crawford-on-LeBron dunk tape (”OMG!! Lebron got dunked on by an AMATEUR!!”), even more predictable was the fact that when the dunk was finally revealed to the public, it would be supremely anticlimactic. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out HERE … Long non-story short, it was a two-hander that Crawford caught while cutting through the lane while LeBron came over from the right side just a little too late. Nothing you haven’t seen LeBron do to 50 random guys around the League, but of course it got blown up 10-fold because of the LePruder Film controversy. Read More »

Big night in the Vegas Summer League, where the “veterans” outshined the rookies and toyed with some of the scrubs. Anthony Randolph continued his MVP-caliber run, dropping 42 points (13-22 FG, 16-21 FT), four steals and three blocks on the Bulls while looking like a more athletic version of Chris Bosh. Randolph has shown flashes in college and during his rookie year; we know, It’s Just Summer League, but the guy is looking like he’s gonna be a beast in the NBA. Few power forwards in the League have his athleticism and few small forwards have his size, making him an instant matchup problem. Read More »

Just about every year, the first day of NBA free agency is headlined by stories of team executives calling players (or their agents) — and sometimes showing up at their front door — at 12:01 a.m. in an effort to get first crack at the guys they feel will get them where they want to go. Last year it was Elton Brand and Baron Davis getting the rocks-at-the-bedroom-window treatment; the year before it was Rashard Lewis and Mo Williams.

This year? Chalk it up to the slumping U.S. economy, or everyone looking ahead to 2010 (when LeBron, D-Wade, Bosh, Amar’e, etc., could be available), but there doesn’t seem to be any “Gotta get him!” free agents out there. Read More »