Four matchups to watch on Thursday’s two-game schedule…

Chicago @ Cleveland: Luol Deng vs. LeBron James For all the grief he took last season — getting the big contract, then promptly going into the tank with injuries and subpar play — Deng has been earning his money this year (17.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg). Read More »

In lieu of making yet another LeBron/Jay-Z analogy, let’s put it this way: The Cavs are treating the Wizards like LL Cool J did Canibus. They’ll take some time out to address the beef, but always with a swagger that says “Who is this little pest?” It’s even trickled down to the announcers. When Washington came out blasting last night (”Second Round Knockout”) and put the Cavs down by as much as 18 in the first half, Austin Carr admitted the game didn’t mean as much to LeBron and Co. as it did to Gilbert Arenas‘ squad. 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: Eric Maynor, Ronald Dupree

Lost: Brevin Knight, Jarron Collins Read More »

After spending the past four days looking at the top 10 fantasy point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards, we’ve finally come to the projected top 10 fantasy centers for the 2009-10 NBA season. There’s a lot of room for discussion here, so don’t hold back your thoughts.

1. Dwight Howard: Even though Superman is at No. 1 here, I personally would try my best to avoid him in the first round. Still, I really have no problem with anyone who picks him early on, so long as they understand what they have to do after that. Howard’s atrocious free-throw shooting and turnovers are obvious, but he virtually guarantees that you’ll at least be competitive in rebounds and blocks each week. If you can build around him with players who shoot well from the line and don’t turn the ball over much, then Howard is a great foundation to start your fantasy team on. Also, if you are looking to build a team without regard for free-throw shooting and turnovers, Howard is also a logical first pick for your squad. Read More »

Whether you’re spending your valuable TV time or your valuable ticket money, when you settle in to watch an NBA preseason game, you hope everybody — or at least somebody — on the court treats it like Jason Terry did last night. In the Mavs/Pistons game that aired on NBA TV, Terry almost had you thinking something important was at stake. It seemed at every dead ball he was trying to hype up the Dallas crowd, raising his arms and screaming or doing his little “Jet” dance, and then between the lines he was locked in like it was a playoff game. Read More »

Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

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#10: DERON WILLIAMS, Utah Jazz

It takes a special point guard to hold down the dual responsibility of being his team’s on-court quarterback and its go-to scorer. And in this new golden era of PG’s, Deron is built to handle both jobs better than just about anyone. Read More »

As I wrote the other day, every year I can’t wait to read the results of NBA.com’s annual GM Survey to get an insider look into what the people running the League are thinking. And with GMs not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel, you know they have to be objective in their responses. Of all the questions though, there was one that stood out to me as both a compliment and a diss at the same time: Read More »

After putting together the modified Top-50 list of players from the ‘08-09 season, I had about 50 leftovers who just missed the cut. And from that, there could’ve been a whole sub-category titled “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

Going position-by-position again, here are five centers who look the most ready to crack the 2010 Top-10 with their performances next season: Read More »

Thank Oscar that the program directors at NBA TV decided to start showing some of the best games from the ‘08-09 season in neat little one-hour increments this week, otherwise the general inactivity these days would draw a basketball fan stir crazy … The NBA free agent landscape is like combing through the used CD rack at a store that’s already been raided by the broke college students: There’s still some interesting, slightly attractive product, but nothing too great. Case in point: The most intense “bidding war” lately has been over C.J. Watson — a second or third-string PG on most teams — and that just ended since the Magic pulled out of negotiations and it’s looking like C.J. is headed back to the Warriors … Meanwhile, David Lee is the biggest name left on the board that anybody seems to want (sorry, A.I.). Read More »

When I was in my throwback jersey phase, there was nothing better than copping a jersey from a guy who just got traded. Not only was it an instant throwback, but the jersey was also half the regular price. Perhaps I missed something, but last time I checked Carlos Boozer was still on the Jazz. Read More »