And the 2011 NBA Draft trade madness has begun! According to multiple reports, a three-team trade involving the Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Bobcats and Milwaukee Bucks has just been finalized.

The deal looks like this: Sacramento gets John Salmons and moves back three spots to the 10th pick. The Bobcats move up to pick seven and acquire Corey Maggette from Milwaukee. The Bucks move all the way back to pick 19 and acquire Stephen Jackson, Beno Udrih and Shaun Livingston.

Quick analysis of what this means for all teams: Read More »

Heading into yesterday, we knew that the official announcement from Ricky Rubio that he is coming to the NBA was going to happen on Friday. After all of the speculation, all of the conjecture, all the back and forth from “experts” in every medium, we finally got to hear from Rubio himself. After confirming that he is indeed heading Stateside, he admitted that his most recent season in Europe was less than stellar (just 5.3 ppg for Barcelona this past season). “I have to improve a lot as a player now,” he told reporters. “I have to gain weight because the game in NBA is harder. Next week I will be in Minnesota for the official presentation.” Apparently Rubio’s significant slide in production, strength issues and everything else aren’t going to phase T-Wolves president David Kahn. Read More »

Jeremy Tyler was a trailblazer of sorts, leaving high school after his junior year to play professional basketball in Israel for Maccabi Haifa before leaving the team in the middle of the season to return to the states. Nobody had tried the international route at such a young age before, and some called it a failure. But Tyler says it was a growing experience that has positively shaped his path to the 2011 NBA Draft, where he’s inching up the boards as a potential mid-20s pick. Read More »

The story of Len Bias is never anything but sad. The former number-two overall pick in the 1986 Draft was supposed to revitalize the Boston Celtics at the tail end of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale‘s careers. But it never happened after his cocaine use immediately following the draft caused Bias to pass away due to heart failure. Read More »

We all know about the NBA Draft combine. Every year, the future All-Stars and Hall of Famers get tested on everything from standing reach to their hand size. But this year marked the first year the NBA put together a combine for potential draftees and underclassmen still deciding whether or not to stay in the Draft. On May 7-8, 44 underclassmen, even including a few seniors, RSVD’d to attend the “testing the waters” combine. For them, it was another opportunity to showcase themselves and get a feel for what their value would be should they stay in the draft. Read More »

“Our industry is akin to a G.I. jumping out of a helicopter in Vietnam. We know what hill we want to take. We have an idea how we are going to get there. But, you need to rely on your platoon to get it done.”

Dallas Mavericks General Manager Donnie Nelson was never a general for the U.S. military, but he knows something about creating a winner. Sports Illustrated and Yahoo! Sports both rated him in the top three of NBA personnel bosses during recent articles and the Mavs have posted 10 consecutive 50-win seasons.

“I can’t sit here and tell you that there is this magical formula to win an NBA championship,” Nelson tells Dime. “Certainly, if you’ve got superstar players, it certainly helps and sometimes that can seal the deal. But, there are all kinds of different ways to do it.” Read More »

Forgive me if I fall asleep. I just walked in the door after spending all day moving out of my apartment, which included a two-section couch that weighs approximately 6,000 pounds. And it’s blazing hot in Seattle today. I’m weak, hungry, thirsty, irritated and exhausted. In other words, I feel infinitely worse than the 60 ballplayers who will hear their names called during tonight’s NBA Draft. And especially worse than the 14 Lottery picks who are about to bring home serious paper.

Although I missed the first four picks, those were predictable anyway: John Wall to the Wizards, Evan Turner to Philly, Derrick Favors to New Jersey, and Wesley Johnson to the Wolves. Read More »

Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson is the most polarizing prospect in this year’s NBA Draft. The former New York City high school phenom is all over mock drafts boards, with some slotting him in the teens, some in the 20′s, others in the second round, and some even have Lance going undrafted. In our Dime #57 NBA Draft preview, Austin Burton and Aron Phillips debated whether or not “Born Ready” will live up to the hype: Read More »

In the midst of the mass exodus of NCAA underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft (including THIS GUY), one sure-fire first round/lottery pick is headed back to school.

Earlier today, Duke’s Kyle Singler announced that he is returning to school for his senior season. It seemed like the smart move for Singler would have been to go pro now – after the way he played for the majority of the NCAA Tournament, his stock will likely never be higher than it is right now.

So why did he decide to go back to Duke? Read More »

If you had a chance to watch any of the South Florida Bulls this season, you know that Dominique Jones will shoot your face off. The 6-4 guard finished this season as the Big East’s leading scorer, pouring in 21.4 points per game (including a monster 46-point slaughter at Providence in January), and now it looks like he will be getting buckets in the League next season as he submitted the necessary paperwork for this summer’s NBA Draft.

If you haven’t seen Jones play, picture Read More »