As much as last night’s Heat/Pistons exhibition game was about the debut of the “Super Friends” in Miami — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — it also represented the unveiling of a new-look Detroit squad.

The starting five stayed the same, but with the additions of Lottery pick Greg Monroe and former All-NBA regular Tracy McGrady, the Pistons certainly have more talent on the roster and expect no less than a run at the playoffs. Those hopes took a big hit with the news that second-year forward Jonas Jerebko will likely miss the entire season with a torn Achilles. Read More »

Any time an NBA player goes slumming and plays with the “regular” folks on the playground — preferably in a legit summer pro-am in a legit basketball city — he’s going to gain some measure of street cred.

It happened for Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Durant when they took their million-dollar knees to Barry Farms in D.C. It happened for Kobe, Baron Davis, Nate Robinson and a host of others when they played at Rucker Park in Harlem. It happened for Paul Pierce when he ran at L.A.’s Drew League.

But then Matt Barnes had to take it a step too far. Read More »

This should have happened a year ago. The Detroit Pistons, not too far removed from the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals, earned a trip to the Lottery podium for the first time in a long time — and now talk around the franchise is all about renovating and rebuilding.

Rodney Stuckey has a critical season in front of him if he wants to be the go-to guy. Jonas Jerebko was one of the biggest positive surprises of ’09 rookie class. The Pistons have a Top-10 draft pick in their pocket to get another future foundation piece, and ’09 free agent signees Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva will be given every chance to be VIP’s in their second year under second-year coach John Kuester. Read More »

Remember back when the 2009 NBA Draft class was almost universally panned as weak and top-heavy, with Blake Griffin pegged as the only player even resembling a future All-Star?

Sometime around the middle of this season, it became clear a lot of experts were wrong. Even with Griffin out injured for the year, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Stephen Curry led an ’09 class that turned out to produce what looks like a handful of future All-Stars and a couple certified superstars. Read More »

With the 2009-10 fantasy season in the books, it’s time to start looking forward to next season. As usual, there are a variety of reasons that fantasy values for certain players will change – free agency, age, team dynamics, etc. For those in keeper leagues and for those planning on participating in fantasy leagues in 2010-11, it’s never too early to start thinking about which players will fall and rise next season. So, here’s a quick look at some changes in fantasy values to expect next year. Read More »

Your immediate reaction after reading the title is “absolutely not,” and as of right now, it’s the right one. In fact, how can anyone compete with a ’96 lineup of Kobe, A.I., Ray Allen and Steve Nash or a ’03 lineup of LeBron, D-Wade, ‘Melo and Chris Bosh. Although we’ve seen how well Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings and Darren Collison have played so far, it’s doubtful that any of them will be Hall of Famers. Still, my friend over at NYKBlog makes a very compelling case about the potential of this year’s draft as the best ever. The argument comes down to this: Would your rather have four Hall of Famers and a big drop off after that, or 20 guys who can be All-Stars and good role players for a long time? Read More »

Earlier this season, Dime had a photo shoot set up with an NBA player who is notorious within the industry for being difficult with the media. This time, however, the player and his handlers were uncharacteristically cooperative and excited to do this shoot and be on their best professional behavior. Why? Because as his manager told us, Player X believed he had one more big contract left in him, so he wanted to do everything to get more exposure and project a positive image.

I wish I could tell you that Player X’s mindset is a rarity, but that’s how many pro athletes think. The desire to be put in position to win games and simply play at a high level isn’t necessarily the point. It’s all about the next contract. Read More »

Earlier today, the NBA released the list of 18 players selected for the 2010 Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend – headlined by reigning Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose and superstar freshmen Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Omri Casspi. The Sophomores have won seven in a row over the first-year players, but the rookies may have the firepower with a talented crop of young guards. Will this be the year the Rookies break through? I don’t think so. Read More »

I think at this point, Amar’e Stoudemire is all but gone from Phoenix. As I mentioned in an article last week, it’s unlikely that Stoudemire and the Suns are going to agree on an extension that will satisfy both parties. Plus, there’s plenty of speculation that Amar’e wants to bolt to a bigger market anyway. Now that the divorce is inevitable, the question now remains: Which zip code will STAT relocate to? Read More »

When it comes down to analyzing past NBA Drafts, it’s easy to look back in hindsight and say who should have been picked earlier. The draft is pretty much a crapshoot and you never know what you’re getting until they’re in that uniform and actually out on the court getting burn. The list of second round players who GMs dropped the ball with is endless: Manu Ginobili, Monta Ellis, Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd, Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas. Read More »