The media doesn’t often come to a consensus, but regarding this year’s NBA Draft class, there seems to be widespread agreement: it blows. From bloggers to radio show hosts to television pundits, everyone is saying this could be the weakest draft class in years.

“I tend to think that there’s so much media out there that there’s no way we’re going to think just one way,” says basketball analyst Jay Bilas. “Sometimes it pays to be contrarian in the media. [But] you just don’t hear the contrary view this year.” Read More »

Surely you can understand why the Miami Heat have dominated so much of the NBA news coverage these days. More than just the LeBron hoopla, Miami is a big story because, well, we’ve never seen anything like this: A franchise trying to build a dynasty from scratch in one summer. Once he had D-Wade, LeBron and Bosh locked in (Chris Bosh might as well change his name to “And Bosh” from now on, ’cause only the first two guys will be switching spots on the marquee), Pat Riley had to set about building an entire rest of the team; it wasn’t like the ’07-08 Celtics where they had pieces in place before adding Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Read More »

With the NBA Draft Lottery all sorted out, and the selection order now set, people can start their Mock Draft frenzy. But before we delve into the future, let’s break down the best and worst picks of the past decade by 2010′s Lottery teams. Read More »

Having been given a few years in the League to develop—and for some, that was a few years too many—these once projected gems, have surely not helped their GM’s resumes. For each of these players, their expectations—either be when they entered the League or were given a generous contract—have been high at one point or another in their respective careers. But with failed production and diminished minutes, each has seen their stock plummet. 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: Hedo Turkoglu, DeMar DeRozan, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, Antoine Wright, Reggie Evans, Marco Belinelli, Rasho Nesterovic, Sonny Weems

Lost: Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, Joey Graham, Roko Ukic, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Kris Humphries, Jake Voskuhl, Nathan Jawai, Hassan Adams Read More »

The feedback from Hasheem Thabeet‘s NBA summer league debut has been mostly positive. Although his stat line was modest (9 pts, 2 rebs, 1 blk, 20 mins), the rookie was praised for altering several shots and looking at least competent on offense, in contrast to Jay Bilas’ Draft Night scouting report that basically made Thabeet sound like the tall White kid from Rebound when it comes to putting the ball in the basket.

Even if Thabeet isn’t a regular starter right away, if he continues to make solid progress during the year and gets farther and farther away from the “potential bust” label, he’ll only make things easier for the Hasheem Thabeet of the 2010 NBA Draft: Florida State redshirt sophomore Solomon Alabi. Read More »