First off, let me get this out of the way: Chris Paul is no worse than the 4th-best point guard in the NBA. On some days I’d take Deron Williams over him, some days Tony Parker, some days Chauncey Billups. Other days, I’d take CP over anybody.

BUT, in the name of playing Devil’s advocate, there’s a question that’s been building up that I’ve been kicking around the Dime office to no clear answer:

Is Chris Paul more of a “product of the system” than we previously thought? Read More »

Ranking the League from worst to first…

30. New Jersey Nets (4-42) Last week: Beat L.A. Clippers; lost to Washington; lost to Philadelphia. With Kris Humphries being able to step in and immediately become Jersey’s second-best big man, is that a credit to Humphries’ talent or an indictment of the team’s lack of talent? We’ll go with “B.”

29. Los Angeles Clippers (20-27) Last week: Lost at New Jersey; lost at Minnesota; lost at Cleveland. Technically, they could have had a worse week. At least the players’ paychecks didn’t bounce. Read More »

I don’t believe in curses. If I did, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to become a Cleveland Browns fan in the ’80s — and then again in the ’90s. I wouldn’t have been surprised when Aaron Boone hit that home run in ‘03. And I wouldn’t have looked into a bathroom mirror and said “Candyman” five times. (OK, I didn’t really do the last one. Tony Todd still scares me to this day.)

Point is, I don’t believe there’s a curse on the L.A. Clippers. Read More »

First of all, I want to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year! Today we start fresh with not only a new year, but a new decade as well. For some NBA players, January 1st couldn’t come soon enough. 2009 was a tough year for several players both on and off the court. But as bad as things have gotten for some people, you always have a chance to redeem yourself. We’ve already hammered to death Tracy McGrady and Nate Robinson’s tough year. And while they both hope 2010 is going to bring them more luck, here are five other players who hope to turn things around in the new year. Read More »

This was supposed to be Al Jefferson’s year. Coming into the season, the Timberwolves star was supposed to be the most dominant big man in the West and a lock for the All-Star Game in Dallas. Between him, Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn, the Wolves were expected to be an improved team this season. Read More »

After putting the world on to Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg, and highlighting two sophomores (UNC’s Ed Davis and UCLA’s Malcolm Lee) ready to lead, avid Dime reader and basketball fanatic, 16-year-old Lucas Shapiro, returns with a look at the Top 10 point guards over the next 10 years. Read More »

What would be more frustrating: Having a behemoth like Shaq make your summer weight-lifting look pointless when he bowls you over and dunks on your head? Or getting lit up by Earl Boykins, who — once he’s done lighting you up — sits on the bench and you can see his feet swinging? … D-Wade and crew got a taste of that Boykins-fueled frustration last night, when Earl (10 pts, 9 asts) took over the fourth quarter and led the Wizards to a win. Creating space for mid-range jumpers and handing out dimes to Antawn Jamison (24 pts, 13 rebs) and the other bigs, Boykins played so good that Gilbert Arenas never saw the floor in the fourth. Read More »

Seven matchups to watch on Friday’s 13-game schedule…

Detroit @ Orlando: The Demons vs. Dwight Howard How else do you explain Howard consistently looking his worst against the Pistons no matter who’s on the roster or the coaching staff? Earlier this week, old nemesis Ben Wallace led a new unit of goons that limited Dwight to eight points and five boards, and fouled him out in just 17 minutes. How much money would Superman pay Krypto-Nate Robinson this summer not to sign with the Pistons if it looked like things were headed that way? Read More »

Selected 18th overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2009 NBA Draft, Ty Lawson saw several point guards get picked ahead of him. One person who thinks 17 teams made a mistake passing on the former Tar Heel is Trevor Kapp from our sister site Bouncemag.com. We passed the mic to Trevor and let him vouch for the 2009 ACC Player of the Year. 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: Jonny Flynn, Ramon Sessions, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Hollins, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, Antonio Daniels, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jason Hart, Nathan Jawai, Mark Blount, Henk Norel

Lost: Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, Rodney Carney, Mark Madsen, Kevin Ollie, Jason Collins, Shelden Williams, Bobby Brown Read More »