Now we can talk about the fun stuff – actual basketball. The next few weeks are going to be crazy, with teams racing to get ready for the season while adding a ton of new faces to their rosters at the same time.

We all know about next year’s monster free agents, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. But there are some nice players available now you’d love to have on your squad. Read More »

Every legit NBA title contender this season seems to have that one Lottery-bound team that poses problems for them. For the Celtics, it has been Detroit. For the Spurs, it’s been Minnesota. For the Heat, it’s been Indiana. The Lakers? They’ve been having a tough time with the Rockets for the last couple of years now, Yao or no Yao. Last night’s matchup was another nail-biter … It’s easy to see why the Rockets are a bad matchup for the defending champs. Read More »

The Big Three was down to the Chosen One for last night’s Heat/Pistons game, which naturally meant for LeBron James that the role of fourth-quarter hero would fall into the hands of — Eddie House? … With five minutes left in the fourth, the Pistons were up three before House tied it with a corner trey. A few possessions later, House hit an off-balance jumper from the wing. Then after Austin Daye’s triple with one minute left put Detroit up by one, House ended up with the ball in his hands with the final seconds ticking down. Read More »

Ranking the NBA from worst to first…

30. Cleveland Cavaliers (7-17) Last week — Lost at Philadelphia, lost to Chicago, lost at Houston, lost at Oklahoma City They could snap this eight-game losing streak at Miami on Wednesday. And Brett Favre could go one week without appearing on SportsCenter, and Mel Gibson could actually respect people who aren’t like him. Read More »

Unlike Christmas Day and its superstar-overload schedule, the NBA picked Thanksgiving weekend to give some of the lesser-knowns some shine, with a national TV schedule only an NBA League Pass connoisseur could fully appreciate. Last night you (hopefully) awoke from your turkey-induced coma to catch Hawks/Wizards and Clippers/Kings, and tonight it’s Rockets/Bobcats and Warriors/Grizzlies … Down in Atlanta, John Wall and Gilbert Arenas’ first real game as a starting backcourt was one to forget. Read More »

As NBA training camps get underway, we preview the upcoming season with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: DeMarcus Cousins, Sam Dalembert, Hassan Whiteside, Luther Head, Antoine Wright

Lost: Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni, Jon Brockman, Ime Udoka, Sean May Read More »

And we’re back to no basketball. The day after the World Championship wrapped up, reality set in that we’re still a couple of weeks away from NBA training camp and even farther away from preseason action. (Question: What happens if the All-WC squad of Serbia’s Milos Teodosic, Turkey’s Hedo Turkoglu, Lithuania’s Linas Kleiza, Team USA’s Kevin Durant and Argentina’s Luis Scola played the Timberwolves’ starting five?) … This is the time when everyone is predicting who will have a breakout season, and while there are 100 candidates for which you could make a solid argument, definitely keep an eye on LaMarcus Aldridge. Read More »

Geoff Petrie, former two-time NBA Executive of the Year (’99, ’01), was the guy who put the Sacramento Kings on the map.

After drafting sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic in ’96 and flashy point guard Jason Williams out of Florida in ’98 — behind the likes of Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter — the Kings began the rise to championship contention. The team made other moves as well to help boost the roster: signing Vlade Divac in free agency and trading away Mitch Richmond for Chris Webber. Read More »

There’s an old-school saying: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Whether that means the person who speaks up gets the attention, the person who asks for help receives help, or just the person who most obviously needs assistance gets it, the term can apply to everything from school to dating to self-promotion.

In basketball, it seems the grease doesn’t necessarily go to the squeaky wheel, but rather, the biggest wheel. Read More »

Immediately after winning a championship, we have a pretty good idea what Kobe, Pau, Ron-Ron, L.O. and the rest of the Lakers are doing right now: Sleeping. Clyde Drexler once told us in a Dime interview that after he won the ’95 title with Houston, he spent the next two weeks sleeping all day, and on NBA TV right after Game 7, Kevin McHale said he would sleep about 15 hours a day for a few days after his Boston ‘chips. (This was when broadcast partner Chris Webber could only nod, smile and wonder.) … Read More »