While the Magic seem bent on holding out until the last possible instant, or at least until Dwight Howard gives them a definitive answer, the Hornets are being aggressive. The Hornets, who have talked a little bit with teams in the past week about Chris Paul, are now reportedly engaged in serious talks with multiple teams around the league. A major trade is coming, and we’re guessing it’s before training camps open on Friday. The biggest names, according to CBSSports.com, are the Celtics, Clippers, Warriors and Mavericks. There are rumors flying all over the place, but we continue to hear that the Celtics offered Rajon Rondo, two future first round picks and Jeff Green in a sign-n-trade for Paul. Read More »

No NBA players will be hitting up Bank of America if they’re in need of loans during the lockout. Why, just go to Kobe Bryant. He’ll hand out loans. Seriously. Billy Hunter, president of the Players Association, told the Los Angeles Times that the Laker star is intimately involved in the talks and negotiations and that he’s (along with other unnamed players) prepared to offer loans to players who may need help during the lockout … Read More »

Spain won their second straight EuroBasket championship yesterday, defeating Tony Parker and France, 98-85. Juan Carlos Navarro, the former Memphis shooting guard, stole the show. Navarro scored 27 points in a victory, describing his Spanish team as “historic.” Pau Gasol went for 17 & 10 while Oklahoma City Thunder center Serge Ibaka added 10 points and five blocks (all during a brief period in the second quarter when Spain jumped on top). This was Ibaka’s first tournament with the Spanish team after being granted citizenship in July. Read More »

Kendrick Perkins was arrested early yesterday morning after he was attempting to start a fight with a club manager and was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and public intoxication at a Houston club. ‘Perk was apparently being pushed out of the back by a large crowd after trying to start a fight, and then continued to talk smack and start other fights as he went out. Our prediction on what actually happened? Perkins hit someone with the ‘Perk mean mug and everything broke loose. Read More »

Dwyane Wade says he would absolutely listen to offers in China if something came up down the road. Wade has great business sense, and if business and money is what these guys are after, then China is where they need to be. The European leagues have much better competition, but if it’s really about the money, then China is the spot to hit. Someone can build a global empire over there. But will it be D-Wade? … Read More »

So The ESPY’s may not be an all-hoops award show, but outside of the U.S. Ladies and their overseas patriot smorgasbord, the ballers stole the show. It started off solid with SNL’s Seth Meyers making us laugh while making every athlete in the room sweat. Our favorite: Meyers mentioning that the Heat’s Big Three was a reference to how many quarters they play in big games. Sick. Burn. Dude. Or the one when Meyers said Kim K is only marrying a Net because she was sick of dating pro athletes. Wow. Read More »

Here’s all we can tell you: In addition to playing for the Texas Legends in the D-League, Rashad McCants (a.k.a. Suni Blac) has made a music video for his song, “Ballin’.” Apparently, even after four years in the NBA, ballin’ is just his hobby.

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When he left the University of North Carolina in 2009, Wayne Ellington was on top of the college basketball world. The 6-5 shooting guard averaged 15.8 points per game as a junior, hit a career-high 41.7 percent of his threes, helped the Tar Heels win a national championship, and Ellington won Final Four Most Outstanding Player after dropping 20 points on Villanova in the national semi and 19 on Michigan State in the title game.

Since being selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, however, Ellington has seen the contrasting side to success. Read More »

The NBA isn’t as much of a copycat league as the NFL, but teams that want to contend for championships still have to adapt to whatever the current ring-bearers are doing. Case in point: Every good team is looking to add size, toughness, and six to 12 extra fouls in the frontcourt to deal with the Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom problem presented by the Lakers. (Same goes for the East. Check the Celtics and Heat scrambling to sign any guy who is near 7-feet tall with four limbs.) You saw it yesterday, when as soon as Erick Dampier hit the open market, the Rockets put in their bid. Read More »

Never bet against Danny Ainge. As the mastermind behind the modern day Celtics, he seems to always be able find just the right pieces to compete for a championship. And apparently one of those potential pieces is Adam Morrison. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics have had the 26-year-old working out for their front-office and coaching staffs this week at the team’s practice facility, and have also worked out Cuttino Mobley, Rashad McCants and Trenton Hassell the past couple days. No word on whether or not Steve Francis or Latrell Sprewell were contacted. Read More »