Of all five teams that the New Orleans fiasco sort of screwed over this week (Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, the Knicks and Boston), it’s the Lakers who are probably hurting the most to get these talks kick-started and moving again. Lamar Odom isn’t feeling the love right now, and showed up for just a few moments during practice yesterday. So there’s no doubt in our minds that they’re working feverishly right now. The teams were given the green light to start talking again so all three are back to the negotiating table, attempting to tweak what they thought was a sure thing just a few days ago. Read More »

The Golden State Warriors have perennially been one of the more favorable NBA teams for fantasy basketball fans. The arrival of new head coach Mark Jackson may mean more energy spent on the defensive end of the court, but make no mistake – the crew from Oakland still has plenty of appeal for fantasy purposes. After all, not many teams boast four players who can potentially be drafted in the first three rounds of drafts whenever the NBA resumes. Read More »

We don’t really want to use the word. Let’s just leave it at this: the NBA is on its way to a thing – a thing that only happens when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. This thing rhymes with “flock route” which also might have something to do with birds flying south for the winter. This thing could last ’til the winter. And even though the two sides involved in preventing this thing are meeting today for the last time before the CBA expires, this thing is still probably going to happen. Read More »

While everyone has anointed the Heat as the Eastern Conference frontrunner (I believe they are), and the Magic, Celtics and Bulls as the best bet to challenge them, one team has slowly solidified its status as a contender: the Milwaukee Bucks. They didn’t have max money to shell out on free agents, but that hasn’t stopped them from having a brilliant offseason – even if it has gone largely unnoticed. Read More »

A few hours after the rumors initially surfaced, the Warriors and Bucks completed a trade sending Corey Maggette and the 44th pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft to Milwaukee in exchange for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric.

Maggette put up the quietest 19.8 points per game in the League this season, the master of getting meaningless buckets in meaningless games and never taking his foot off the pedal when it comes to scoring. His forte is getting to the rack and getting to the free-throw line, where he hit 83 percent this season. Read More »

It’s no secret that the Golden State Warriors have had Corey Maggette on the trading block all season, but with an onerous contract that owes him over $30 million for the next three years, there was little hope that they’d be able to move him. But according to Gery Woelful of The Journal Times, there is a team that might be interested in the scoring forward’s services: the Milwaukee Bucks. Read More »

Congratulations to Big Baby Davis: You produced the most famous glob of spit to hit American TV since the blonde who launched a loogie in homegirl’s face on Flavor Flav‘s show. Big Baby’s slobber made more highlight shows yesterday than the crunch-time bucket that preceded it, the one that really stamped Boston’s win over the Lakers. Between that spit and this interview, dude should capitalize on his new popularity while the iron is hot: Get a little promotional deal with the new Shrek movie and book a commercial for paper towels … Read More »

In turning themselves around from a Lottery team to a tough playoff out, the Milwaukee Bucks have thrived on a commitment to defense. While high-volume scorers Brandon Jennings and John Salmons currently get the headlines, it’s guys like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova and Kurt Thomas whose unsung efforts on the defensive end will ultimately give the Bucks its best chance at upsetting the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. Read More »

This was supposed to be about Georgetown. About Allen Iverson and Victor Page and Joey Brown and the rest of John Thompson‘s finest pupils. But since my Hoyas dropped a doggie-sized deuce in the first round of this year’s Tournament, I had to find new teams to root for as we hit the Sweet Sixteen.

The hometown Huskies were an easy choice, and over the weekend I found myself gravitating toward Michigan State. Read More »

Kelvin Torbert was, undeniably, The Man back in 2001. Coming out of Northwestern High School in Flint, Mich., the 6-4 shooting guard was named Sporting News and Gatorade National Player of the Year over future NBA classmates T.J. Ford, Dajuan Wagner, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Kwame Brown. Torbert averaged 26 points and eight boards as a senior, then dropped 21 points in that year’s McDonald’s All-American Game.

At Michigan State, Torbert was naturally expected to continue the legacies of Magic Johnson, Steve Smith, Shawn Respert and the “Flintstones” — the four-man crew of Mateen Cleaves, Mo Peterson, Charlie Bell and Antonio Smith that hailed from the same hometown as Torbert. However, Torbert never delivered on that potential in college. Read More »