He’s back. After getting up with Rudy Gay last week in NYC, he told me that he could not wait to get back on the court. And after a positive report from the doctor on Monday, that’s exactly what he did. With that, check out Gay in his first game back from injury at the “Lockout League,” as well as all of the highlights from Day 6 in Vegas.

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If and when the season does start, these guys will be ready…

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Just a few days into “The Lockout League” and we’ve already seen a handful of highlights. But does it get any better than dunking on someone twice in one game? Marreese Speights sized up JaVale McGee and both times found a way to finish over one of the most athletic bigs in the game. Speights finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds while McGee had 19 and 10.

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Imagine this: Amar’e Stoudemire putting up elbow jumpers in the Holy Land. Kobe posting up in Rome after a stroll down the Spanish Steps. And most realistically, Deron Williams trading Russian billionaire for Turkish Delight in Istanbul. If D-Will is giving us good info, then this just might be the case – ever since, Williams announced his plans to migrate to the Turkish team, Besiktas, rumors have swirled about locked-out NBAers starting up a mass migration to Europe to play ball in 2011-12. Read More »

After seeing limited action his first two seasons at Georgetown, Vernon Macklin thought it was time for a change. So he decided to transfer to Florida, and went on to average 10.6 and 11.6 points, respectively, in two standout seasons for the Gators. Now Macklin, known as a hustle player and the guy that gets the dirty work done, finds himself preparing for the NBA Draft. I had a chance to speak with him about his experiences the last few years and got his thoughts on the upcoming draft. Read More »

Another year, another NBA Trade Deadline gone by. As you probably would expect, the Dime office was Ground Zero today for anything and everything trade related. Whether it was Twitter, texts or phone calls, we were constantly on our toes looking for the most up-to-date info to relay to you, our readers. With players’ names being thrown around more than the gut of Chris Farley in a Matt Foley motivational speaker skit, it was difficult forecasting what gossip would end up reality. On the wake of the recently kyboshed Mayo/McRoberts deal, it brought my attention to the other rumored deals that were circulating, but for one reason or another didn’t quite come to fruition. Here they are: Read More »

We had the rumor earlier today, but the Grizzlies and Rockets made it happen. Here’s the final deal: Houston sends Shane Battier and Ish Smith to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and a first-round pick. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets went deep in talks with Philly on a Battier for Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono deal, but ended up choosing Thabeet instead. Read More »

It takes a lot to overshadow a 31-point, 21-rebound effort by Kevin Love in his own gym, but Kevin Durant did it last night by dropping 47 points (15-28 FG, 13-14 FT) on the T-Wolves to go with 18 boards and OKC’s game-winning bucket in overtime … In the opening minutes of the game, it looked like Corey Brewer was going to give KD a battle — he was in Durant’s shirt defensively and threw down a couple of momentum-building dunks on the other end — but once Durant got rolling, Brewer might as well have been wearing a traffic cone costume. Read More »

Sure Andre Iguodala finished last night’s loss to the Pacers with one point (0-for-7 from the field) in 33 minutes, but he did manage to drop seven dimes – including this gem to Marreese Speights for the flush. I mean, it was his first game back after missing seven straight, so we’ll give him a little slack.

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For an NCAA national Player of the Year and No. pick in the NBA Draft, Evan Turner has a curiously low profile and an even lower set of expectations. While most athletes in his position arrive in their city as “The Savior” or “The Franchise,” Turner — averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while shuttling in and out of the starting lineup — is just another piece to the Philadelphia 76ers’ puzzle. Meaning he has the basketball world right where he wants it. Read More »