So after they take their talents to Philly, it looks like the quartet of Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant have found their next destination: Winston-Salem, N.C. And this time, they’ve picked up Dwyane Wade too. On Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., the the CP3 All-Star Pickup Game will take the campus of Winston-Salem State University by storm during Homecoming Weekend. Read More »

If there were anyone who would deserve a Most Improved Player of the Year award in the NCAA, it would be Providence College guard Marshon Brooks. After the Friars got off to a good start against the local competition, they struggled mightily once Big East play started, losing six straight games. But in their last two contests, however, they have pulled off upsets against two Top 25 teams (Louisville and Villanova), and Brooks has been their MVP with 27-point and 20-point outings, respectively. Read More »

The instruction book says Chris Paul is the alpha, omega, and everything in between for the New Orleans Hornets, but last night Dave West owned the most crucial moments of the team’s win over the Thunder. We reference shooting one’s face off here often, but D-West was the epitome on Monday. By the time he was done sticking daggers on OKC, eyeballs and noses were strewn everywhere like it was the prop room of “Nip/Tuck,” and the Hornets won their 9th in a row to take possession of third place in the Western Conference … Read More »

How many times has a legit NBA championship contender engineered a massive overhaul of its roster in the middle of a season and remained a contender? The most recent example that comes to mind was in ’08, when the Cavs gutted half of their ’07 NBA Finals squad to pick up Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Joe Smith at the February deadline. That team went on to lose in seven games to the championship-bound Celtics in the conference semis … Like LeBron back then, the Orlando Magic have a centerpiece superstar in Dwight Howard whose supporting cast appeared to be failing him. Read More »

North Carolina has always been a basketball hotbed, but the last few years in particular have been a boom period for the point guard position. Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and John Wall headline the group of young N.C.-bred PG’s invading the NBA and major college ranks, with current prep stars Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis waiting in the wings.

Ishmael Smith has earned his way onto that list. The Concord, N.C., product was a four-year standout at Wake Forest, but didn’t hear his name called in the 2010 NBA Draft. Signing up with the Houston Rockets’ summer-league squad, Smith impressed the organization enough to earn a training camp invitation, where he earned a spot on the final roster. Read More »

One positive from last season for the Washington Wizards is the fact that they have made the first step in the pursuit of better days.

By trading away Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood around the February deadline, the franchise closed the book on a subpar chapter of its history. This turn of events led to another bright spot for their fan to smile about. The Jamison trade allowed always-promising Andray Blatche to show some life in his fifth season. Handed a feature role as the starting power forward, in his last 32 games Blatche averaged 22.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. Read More »

With the Heat taking up about 98 percent of the post-Decision attention devoted to the NBA’s Southeast Division, it’s like everybody forgot that the Bobcats are still on the rise, the Hawks are still pretty good, the Magic are still very good, and the Wizards shouldn’t be slept on as a future problem — and not the “Our three best players all think they’re The Man and want 20 shots a night” kind of problem they’ve been in the recent past … John Wall is the alpha, and if Gilbert Arenas isn’t a distraction, he’ll give you 20-something points a night at the two. Read More »

Surprise: Kevin Durant was not among those cut from Team USA when Coach K brought out the axe yesterday. The four who were let go — O.J. Mayo, Gerald Wallace, Tyreke Evans and JaVale McGee — will not make the trip to New York City in August for the World Basketball Festival, the first exhibition games, and the final round of cuts … Tyreke was the only “sure” cut, and that was only because he hurt his ankle early in training camp and wasn’t able to participate. Crash and McGee had to be considered just because Team USA is lacking depth in the frontcourt, and O.J. was raining buckets in the intra-squad scrimmage. Read More »

During NBA Free Agency, there are always winners and losers. There are guys like Rudy Gay and Wes Matthews that made huge jumps in their salary scale, and there are guys like Jermaine O’Neal and Ray Allen that took huge pay-cuts. After eating high off the hog for quite some time, reality is going to soon set in for a lot of NBA guys. So without further ado, here are the Top 10 NBA Free Agents Ready For The Biggest Pay-Cut. Read More »

Sometimes, an impressive run during the NBA summer league can propel a young player to a solid career. Sometimes, it’s just something to talk about for a couple of weeks in July before dude goes back to balling in Poland.

Memphis Grizzlies’ second-year forward Sam Young has been one of the early standouts of the Vegas Summer League; he dropped 35 points (12-17 FG) in last night’s win over the D-League Select squad. Read More »