Brooklyn may have missed out on the big prize this summer, but they’ve reloaded by re-signing Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez, as well as adding Joe Johnson. On first glance, they’re paying $52.5 million dollars next year just for the privilege of bringing back four-fifths of the starting lineup for a team that went 22-44 last season. On the other, even Jordan Crawford has to admit this might be the best backcourt in the NBA, and if Lopez is healthy, he will be only moderately soft inside instead of glaringly soft. That’s a big jump. But there is one interesting free agent out there who could be a perfect it for them. The only problem is Minnesota is going after him harder. Read More »

Anybody care to explain why no other Olympian or group of Olympians is subject to as much scrutiny as the U.S. men’s basketball team? Whether Michael Phelps wins by a hundredth of a second or blows his competition out of the water, all that really matters is that he wins. If Usain Bolt wins by two strides or by the taco meat on his chest, a win’s still a win. Just take a minute and watch sports like gymnastics and diving this year; the U.S. can win bronze or silver and it’s still treated like an amazing accomplishment rather than a huge failure. Read More »

No offense to the sanctity of being named the MVP of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague (it’s that continent’s best league by far), but you’re probably wondering why anyone would care about Andrei Kirilenko‘s best moments from last season. CSKA Moscow, his club that was second by a point in the Euroleague title game this year, is a powerhouse over there, but unless you’re overseas aficionado Fran Fraschilla, it probably doesn’t have the Q rating of say, a D-League team. Kirilenko, though, is back in the news not because he’ll be on Russia’s Olympic team but because he’s coming back to the NBA. So he says. Read More »

If you would’ve told us at any point during the past year that Pau Gasol‘s job security in July of 2012 would be locked up, we would’ve laughed. It’s amazing how things changed. Now, it’s Andrew Bynum who has one foot out the door, a piece of meat being spun on a skewer for Houston, Cleveland, Orlando and anyone else who will take a moment to listen. What’s perhaps even more ironic is how Kobe Bryant – the same guy who’s averaged probably 5.6 glares a game at Gasol over the past two years – is saying he wants the big Spaniard around. In talking with reporters at Team USA practice, Bryant said, according to Brian Mahoney, “As long as I’m there, he’s going to be there.” Kobe’s reasoning? He would’ve agreed to deal Gasol for a young, big-time point guard like Chris Paul, but now that they have one of the better lead generals in the game, they don’t need to deal him. Read More »

There are a few basic certainties around basketball, from the rec league to the NBA: Players will dribble and shoot and scream “Oooohhhhh!” at the top of their lungs at contact.

No matter if it’s a full-speed encounter or the slightest thread count of jersey touching, flopping happens. On Sunday, as Sean Sweeney posted earlier today, Jeff Van Gundy read the Riot Act against flopping after Miami’s James Jones went down in an Oscar-worthy heap.

It got us thinking: What are some of the worst offenses we’ve seen? Read More »

Whereas last summer reshaped the NBA and as a byproduct of that, helped usher in the extended lockout, the upcoming abbreviated free agency period won’t include a single franchise player. There are probably no future Hall of Famers available. Hell, there might not even be a single All-Star out there. But what is being given up will be replaced in a frenzy. The signings and player movement will be fast and furious, and without any sure things, there will be plenty of opportunities to criticize GMs who panic and throw ridiculous contracts at simply average players. Read More »

With the sudden end to the NBA lockout and abbreviated training camps rushing guys through to a regular season jammed with lots of games in short periods of time, I have no doubt that we’re going to be seeing an uptick in injuries across the League. There’s just no way around it. Injuries happen all the time, even when guys are in incredible basketball shape – the effects of a significantly longer offseason running right into an NBA season are going to take their toll on guys.

One of the first big injuries hit the Memphis Grizzlies over the weekend when they lost rising star Darrell Arthur, most likely for the season. Read More »

The top tier NBA free agents are signed, sealed and delivered, but there are still a handful of guys that can help impact teams this year. And with the season starting in nine days, it’s time to pull the trigger to get them into camp as soon as possible. With that, here are the Top 5 NBA Free Agents Available. Remember, spend your money wisely. Read More »

As many pointed out on Twitter yesterday, if the Lakers got both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, they might as well start the next lockout immediately. We aren’t trying to rain on anyone’s “end of the lockout” parade. Quite frankly, we don’t believe it’ll happen either. But it’s a thought, a thought that a few people in the business have. What if it just so happened that the Lakers didn’t just get Dwight Howard (a very real possibility), but they also nabbed CP3 as well? Howard has this weird fascination with following whatever Shaq did. He also wants to play with Kobe more than anyone else. He also loves warm weather. The Lakers also have assets up the a–. The Magic are also extremely worried – getting more nervous by the day – that Superman 2.0 will leave them just like the original did. Read More »

The Utah Jazz are a frontcourt-heavy team. They have about 3-4 big men capable of producing usable numbers if given sufficient minutes, which means that unless a trade happens to free things up there, some frustrating minutes-based limitations are in the cards. That said, the Jazz have a nice balance of productive veterans and up-and-coming players ready to make an impact on fantasy basketball whenever the NBA starts again. Read More »