This was color commentator Dominique Wilkins speaking on T.J. Ford in the first quarter of last night’s Hawks/Pacers game:

“He’s not a bench player. He’s a guy you have to have on the floor because he can make so many people around him better with his penetration ability.”

Even as a Pacers fan and somebody who respects Dominique’s opinion, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that one. 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: Tyler Hansbrough, Dahntay Jones, Earl Watson, Luther Head, Solomon Jones

Lost: Jarrett Jack, Marquis Daniels, Rasho Nesterovic, Stephen Graham, Maceo Baston Read More »

Now that we’ve covered late-rounders who will help fill in your teams’ scoring and rebounding weaknesses, let’s move on to assists. Again, these are players who will likely be available in the later rounds of most fantasy drafts but could offer good value in this specific statistical category and are not listed in any specific order. Read on, respond and let us know if you’d remove or add someone to this list. 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: Hedo Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, Antoine Wright, Reggie Evans, Marco Belinelli, Rasho Nesterovic, Sonny Weems

Lost: Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham, Roko Ukic, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Kris Humphries, Jake Voskuhl, Nathan Jawai, Hassan Adams Read More »

Four of the Raptors’ starting five is basically in stone. You know Calderon is starting at point, Hedo at the three, Bosh at the four and Bargnani at the five. The shooting guard spot? That’s where it gets debatable. While early indications out of TO suggest that top draft pick DeMar DeRozan will begin the season as a starter, there is no guarantee that will stick throughout the season and maybe even preseason. The sure-to-be fan favorite guard out of USC has his fair share of competition at his spot. Read More »

What’s up Dime readers! Before I defend my headline, I’d like to take a second to introduce myself to you all. My name is Gerald Narciso and I’m the newest addition to the Dime family. I’m Canadian but grew up in Utah and just finished a three-year stint in Vancouver (Canada not Washington). In the past, I’ve done some freelance work here as long as with Bounce. Apparently Dime liked me so much they kidnapped me from Vancouver and brought me over to the big apple. Anybody got any good suggestions on cool restaurants, bars or coffee shops I should check out, please hit me up! Read More »

Even the worst team in the NBA is one monster season by one player away from getting back in the playoff race. And it doesn’t always have to be a superstar putting in an MVP-caliber effort, either. Yesterday we looked at five ‘09 Lottery teams and pinpointed one player who could get them back into postseason contention in 2010. Here are four more guys who need to step it up… Read More »

There’s only one reason why yesterday’s Wolves/Clippers trade — the one sending Quentin Richardson to Minnesota for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Mark Madsen — means anything to Wolves fans: It’s yet another reason to believe Ricky Rubio is walking through that door sooner than anyone expected. Wolves GM David Kahn is in Spain this week to sit down with Rubio’s camp and talk about that contract buyout, and then yesterday it was reported that Rubio’s Spanish squad signed another point guard (Kristaps Valters, who may or may not be the Latvian Goran Dragic), perhaps indicating they may be ready to lose Rubio. With the Q-Rich trade (3-for-1), Minnesota not only gets Bassy out of the PG picture, but they also open up a roster spot for Rubio … Read More »

The Toronto Raptors continue to make it happen, signing Jarret Jack to a reported offer of four years and more than $20 million. Not a bad deal when you consider that Jack made $2 million last year with the Pacers . Read More »

Even more than in last week’s Orlando summer league, we’re seeing a trend develop in Vegas: The star rookies aren’t just getting the green light to fire away, they’re having the entire offense run through them. Guys like Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry and DeMar DeRozan are getting 20-plus shots a day, and consider these are shorter games where almost everyone else on the court is trying to earn an NBA job … In yesterday’s big head-to-head matchup, Steph and Tyreke were like Allen Iverson and Steve Francis circa 2001: Curry put up 29 points (8-22 FG, 10-11 FT) and six boards, while Evans had 25 points (8-19 FG, 7-12 FT), 10 boards and five assists. Read More »