So maybe there was a WNBA logo at midcourt. And maybe the crowd of just over 5,000 was about one-fourth of what you’d get on a good night at Staples Center or Madison Square Garden. And maybe the only certified All-Star on either roster was sitting on the bench in street clothes, cradling his 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son in his arms instead of a basketball.

But none of those images could dim the fantasy that, for now at least, the NBA was back in Seattle. Read More »

Call it a spoon-feeding. A Costco free sample. But when your NBA team is swiped away like a waiter prematurely assuming you’re done with your meal, you’ll take anything. (Thousands of Sonics fans simultaneously nod their heads.) This Saturday, an exhibition game known as the H206 Charity Basketball Classic will take place at KeyArena in Seattle featuring over 20 NBA players broken up into two separate teams – the “Seattle Team” and the “League Team.” Trust us, you want to be there. Read More »

If the lockout goes down as expected, the Portland Trail Blazers will enter the summer having answered one of their biggest personnel questions and practically set its starting lineup in June.

Point guard Raymond Felton joins from Denver in a draft-day switch with Andre Miller. Unlike Miller, Felton doesn’t need the ball in his hands on every possession to be effective as a scorer and is an equal at distribution. And on the day he was introduced by interim GM Chad Buchanan along with draft picks Nolan Smith (No. 21) and Jon Diebler (No. 51) on Monday, Felton put the ball in the Blazers’ court about making him a franchise point guard. Read More »

After winning the national championship at Duke last season, many people expected Kyle Singler to take off for the NBA with his draft stock soaring. But the allure of the League couldn’t overcome the allure of returning to Duke for his senior season, which is exactly what Kyle did. Now, a year later, the tough, hard-nosed player from Medford, Ore. is ready to fulfill his NBA dreams. I caught up with Kyle at the Nets’ draft workouts this week and he talked about his draft prospects, Coach K and trick shots. Read More »

Following the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago and feedback from various individual workouts around the league, we can continue to fine-tune how the draft will play out after the top spot. In the second of many Dime mock drafts leading up to June 23, keep in mind that this is a combination of what we think teams should do and what we think they will do: Read More »

We’ve all heard that the 2011 NBA Draft isn’t exactly star-studded. Still, there’s much to be said for what a team – whether it be rebuilding or a championship contender – can do to put complementary players around its key pieces. J.J. Barea and Mike Miller are pretty important to the title hopes of the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat, after all. So who in this year’s draft could end up being the next big-time role players? Here’s five guys to keep an eye on: Read More »

This past weekend, the Phoenix Suns came into L.A. looking to capitalize on a pair of games against the city’s two hometown franchises. While the Lakers would hand them a crushing 3OT loss this past Tuesday, two days earlier, the Suns were busy mopping up the Blakers for a nice 108-99 win at Staples Center. This was also the same Sunday that both Duke and North Carolina were fortunate enough to escape serious second-round upset bids from both Michigan and Washington, respectively. After the Suns’ victory over the Clippers, we were able to catch up with one of Tobacco Road’s most famed alums, Vince Carter, to get his take on the NCAA Tournament thus far. Read More »

After an illustrious four-year career at Villanova, Scottie Reynolds didn’t go down the typical path of a consensus First Team All-American. Finishing his tenure at ’Nova second all-time in scoring and leading the Wildcats to a Final Four appearance in ’09, Scottie went undrafted in 2010. After a brief stint with Prima Veroli in Italy, he set his sights back on America, specifically the Springfield Armor of the D-League, in hopes of getting the opportunity to play at the next level. As one of the perennial figures of Villanova Basketball and a current standout in the D-League, we decided there was no one better to turn to for an inside scoop on life in the NBA’s minor league. In his latest entry, Scottie talks about his favorite jersey numbers, the iPad 2 and a trip he took with Ed Pinckney. Read More »

Let that boy cook! You know if we didn’t consider ourselves semi-smart, we would say the NCAA did us dirty. Scheduling the two most exciting players in the country at the same time was just a low blow. It didn’t help that both of them had the kitchen burning up and the remotes wearing out … When you think about it, UConn’s seven-point win over San Diego State and Florida’s nine-point overtime win over BYU were really only watchable because of two guys: Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette. Everything else was sloppy, filled with turnovers, ugly jumpers, failed final possessions and technicals. The games were close, but take away those two players and we are talking mid-major excitement. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Read More »

What an end to a great Big East Tournament last night as UConn beat Louisville by three, 69-66, in an intense, up-and-down slugfest at MSG. The battle itself felt like it boiled down to the Kemba Walker/Peyton Siva matchup. Players stepped up on both sides, but it felt like those two were involved in almost every big play, whether it be scoring (Kemba had 19, Siva 13), setting up teammates or keeping the tempo at a blistering pace (they are clearly two of the fastest guards in the nation) … As Kemba was imposing his will in the second half and drawing foul after foul, Jay Bilas relayed that Rick Pitino was telling the refs that “Kemba Walker is not Michael Jordan.” When he was told about Pitino’s quote after the game, Kemba replied, “I’m not Michael Jordan, I’m Kemba Walker”… Kemba finished with 130 points in his five games – a Big East record – and was the easy choice for tourney MVP … So how does this UConn run change the way you look at the Huskies as an NCAA team? Sweet 16? Further? … Think Louisville’s Mike Marra will have nightmares about last night’s game for the rest of his life? Read More »