It’s truly a new era. A couple months after top-ranked high school senior Harrison Barnes broke ground by announcing his commitment to North Carolina via Skype, Fresno State sophomore Paul George became the first college player to announce his NBA Draft intentions via Twitter.

@King24George: Testing the waters my tweets but I’m leanin towards leavin to the draft.

That was on Friday, the day after Fresno State had been knocked out of the WAC Tournament by Louisiana Tech. Read More »

About one month ago, Shawn Marion found himself staring down Caron Butler at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. In the final seconds of a Mavericks/Wizards game, Marion’s squad led by one, and Caron’s squad was looking for him to change that by delivering a dagger.

Two of the most versatile forwards to come through the NBA over the last decade went head-to-head, strength against strength: Caron’s offense versus Marion’s defense. Caron made his move, went for a jumper, and Marion blocked it. Game over. Read More »

First they acquired Eduardo Najera from New Jersey for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams. Next they traded Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. Then when they signed Von Wafer to a 10-day contract, you had to know that Mark Cuban had something up his sleeve. It’s safe to say, the Mavericks are making a run at the title. Read More »

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Washington Wizards, they just did. After trading away Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson, word broke this morning that Josh Howard is done for the season after tearing his ACL. Read More »

Two games. If you were in the office pool to get action on the first time Tracy McGrady would start showing signs in New York of why the Rockets never trusted him enough to give him a featured role this season, whoever had “two games” gets the pot. In the second half of last night’s home loss to Milwaukee — the Knicks’ seventh L in a row, by the way — McGrady was noticeably limping around. After the game Mac admitted his knee had taken some punishment and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play against the Celtics tonight … On top of the knee issues, McGrady got his first taste of what it’s really like to be a Knick in the 21st century. Read More »

Friday was the night for some big-name players who’d been dealt at the NBA trading deadline to debut with their new teams. And none of them will have a more direct impact on the 2010 championship race than Antawn Jamison … The moment Jamison checked into Cavs/Bobcats in the first quarter, LeBron got a steal and looked off his new teammate on the break, barreling through two defenders for a statement dunk instead. (Statement: This is my show, homie.) Read More »

Buy Low: Carlos Boozer can breathe a bit easier now with his immediate future secure in Utah. Boozer has been relatively quiet in his last three games and the sudden emergence of Paul Millsap hasn’t helped. But this makes it an opportune time to swoop in with a cheap offer for any of his owners who fear that Boozer’s value is quickly eroding. Read More »

The Cavs are locked and loaded for a solid run at the championship, a disgruntled former superstar finds a new home (and maybe another one before the day’s up), the Bulls are in an even better position to make a splash this summer and a perennial lump of dead weight now finds himself with 10,000 lakes to drown in. That pretty much sums up all the NBA trade action from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, in what has shaped up to be a trade season that has lived up to expectations so far. Here’s a quick rundown of the fantasy implications. Read More »

Before the season, I made a pretty bold declaration by writing that the Washington Wizards could win the championship this year. And on paper, I still stand behind that statement. But when your whole starting five from the beginning of the season is gone by the trade deadline – something that I bet has never happened before – all expectations are thrown out the window. Read More »

The big news over the weekend wasn’t about the lackluster slam dunk contest, the competitive All-Star game or the Shakira/Alicia Keys halftime show; it was about the huge deal between the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards. Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson were sent to Dallas in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton. Let’s breakdown the fantasy ramifications. Read More »