If you’re a fan of Penny Hardaway, it’s impossible not to consider what could have been. Penny was All-NBA First Team twice by the time he was 25. Who knows what heights he could have reached if only his body had held up?

That said, there’s no point to focusing on what didn’t happen at the expense of celebrating what actually did. Penny’s all too brief period atop the basketball world brought him a well-deserved enduring legacy, and his eternally cool Nike signature line and 1 Cent logo continues to resonate with sneakerheads of all ages. Read More »

All things being equal, the NBA’s best sixth men would rather be starting, of course. On other teams, there’s a chance they certainly would be. You don’t have to look much further than Jason Terry. He’s been the second-best player on a championship team and one of the fourth quarter shoulders the Dallas Mavericks have leaned on for the past eight seasons. Is he good enough to start? Of course. Even though his numbers are down this year (13.9 points, 41 percent shooting), Terry’s been hitting big jumpers and spot up threes for the past decade. As a starter, he’d be a nice player. As a bench player, he became a staple of what it means to be a great sixth man. Read More »

Whereas last summer reshaped the NBA and as a byproduct of that, helped usher in the extended lockout, the upcoming abbreviated free agency period won’t include a single franchise player. There are probably no future Hall of Famers available. Hell, there might not even be a single All-Star out there. But what is being given up will be replaced in a frenzy. The signings and player movement will be fast and furious, and without any sure things, there will be plenty of opportunities to criticize GMs who panic and throw ridiculous contracts at simply average players. Read More »

Now that Philadelphia has re-signed Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes, they’re focusing their attention toward trading Marreese Speights. And who better to acquire the 6-10, 255-pound center than a team potentially losing their 6-11, 250-pound center. Read More »

There are certain moves that, yes, have to be made for “basketball reasons.” Blocking a Chris Paul trade to L.A. is not one of them; but re-signing Thaddeus Young in Philly is. According to Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that’s exactly what happened today, as Young agreed to a five-year, $43 million deal to return to Philly. Read More »

I’m going to sit back, roll my eyes, scream “arrrgggh” and throw my hands in the air when the first stupid signing goes down in the next month. The owners will try to rationalize it, talk about the market and how they’re so excited to be bringing in a player and how the team will suddenly turn it around. I’ll rationalize it by saying “Owners and general managers are stupid. They’ve always been stupid, and will continue to be stupid… lockout or no lockout.” It feels great doesn’t it? Knowing much of the lockout occurred because league executives said many players were making too much money. Awesome to know we missed out on two months of ball and countless games so that the owners could learn nothing. You know the ridiculous contracts are coming. Read More »

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 »

The Philadelphia 76ers have fantasy value pretty evenly spread across each position on their roster – except for the center spot. While there’s no outright stud, the Sixers have plenty of appeal throughout the middle and late rounds of standard-sized drafts. Read More »

Last night after work, I headed over to the Cooper Square Hotel with great expectations. Polk Audio, the award-winning designer and manufacturer of high performance audio products for the past 40 years, was introducing the industry’s first line of headphones designed specifically for athletes. And so it only made sense for the Baltimore-based company to tab Rudy Gay as a brand ambassador. Read More »

As you know, this summer Dime sponsored a team in The Chosen League. While we finished the regular season with an undefeated 5-0 record, we lost last night, 64-61, in a Final Four matchup against Thaddeus Young‘s squad. So before they take on Jrue Holiday‘s team tonight in the championship game, we figured we’d announce the 2011 All-Chosen League Teams. Read More »