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: Shaquille O’Neal, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker, Leon Powe, Danny Green, Coby Karl

Lost: Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Sasha Pavlovic, Lorenzen Wright, Tarence Kinsey Read More »

If LeBron and Shaq are serious about their quest for a ring, it appears they’re going to need some backcourt help with Delonte West’s status still uncertain. After agreeing to a buyout and going on waivers this past Friday, veteran Antonio Daniels could be their guy. Read More »

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ quest to win an NBA championship has not started off on the right foot with all the drama surrounding Delonte West. On top of being arrested on weapons charges a few weeks ago, West has been absent from the first two days of training camp. Coach Mike Brown has called the absences unexcused but stressed West was in Cleveland and has been in contact with Cavs GM Danny Ferry over the past few days. West finally rejoined the team for today’s practice sessions.

Will Delonte West continue to be a distraction over the season?

When I heard this weekend that new Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis was mostly likely going to add Bill Laimbeer and Reggie Theus to his staff, this got me thinking: If there was a 3-on-3 tournament amongst the NBA’s current coaching staff, who would win? Read More »

Just like an art collector scouring the globe for a masterpiece, sole searching sneaker fiends will go to great lengths to find an exclusive pair of kicks. Back in Dime #25 (August 2006), we put together a list of the Top 25 Sneaker Stores when the kick game had never been bigger. But while that list was limited to mostly US spots, we decided in our 50th issue to take it worldwide. Read More »

The reigning NBA Coach of the Year admitted he got outcoached in the Eastern Conference Finals. Or not. In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, Mike Brown owned up to some mistakes on his part in the Cavs/Magic series.

Brown said he spent a few days “in a daze” following the six-game series loss. Somebody besides LeBron James had to take the majority of the blame, seeing as LBJ averaged 38 points, eight boards and eight assists on the Magic, and so far Brown has received the brunt. Read More »

You knew that this series couldn’t come and go without someone making an issue over Jameer Nelson’s playing time. Though Rafer Alston didn’t exactly say that he has an issue with how much time Jameer is on the court, he does have a problem with his being on the bench.

This is the second time someone on the Magic has been critical of Stan Van Gundy’s coaching decisions during the playoffs. Maybe if the Cavs piped up about Mike Brown’s series-long brain fart, they’d be in the Finals instead. Read More »

I don’t think Mike Brown has anyone fooled into thinking he’s a great X’s and O’s coach; you can see that for yourself in any Cavs game you’ve ever watched. He’s clearly a solid defensive coach, but personally, I don’t remember ever seeing him ever draw up a play for his team - that duty falls almost exclusively to assistant John Kuester. And at best, Brown’s offense seems like it’s 90% clear-outs for LeBron, which when you have LeBron James on your roster is fine, to a point. Having very little offensive direction proved to be a killer in the Conference Finals, as the Magic were able to pack it in and bottle up LeBron, and it seemed like Brown had no answers. Read More »

Headed into this series, the majority of the TNT crew said that the Orlando Magic would die because of the three. I think Sir Charles was the only one who believed that the Magic could beat the Cavs. But Charles’s reasoning wasn’t even based on Orlando’s three-point shooting. He thought that Dwight’s ability to protect the rim would really throw off Cleveland’s offense. He’s been right about that. But ultimately, Orlando has controlled this series because of the way they shoot it from deep. Read More »

When LeBron took that momentum-changing charge against Joe Johnson last night, he clearly had his feet set, and they were positioned outside of the restricted area. The refs whistled JJ for the charge, correctly. But watching that highlight earlier today, some people in the Dime office suggested that it wouldn’t have mattered if it was actually a block on LBJ because the refs would still have given King James the call. Read More »