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: Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams, Lester Hudson

Lost: Leon Powe, Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore, Gabe Pruitt Read More »

Between Stephen Jackson’s trade request, Anthony Randolph’s summer league breakout, and C.J. Watson’s incredibly over-covered free agent situation (all this for a guy who’s like two steps above the minimum salary?), we’ve been talking about the Warriors a lot this offseason. Things have been such a mess in the Bay lately that it’s been assumed Golden State will stink again, but in reality, they could be better than you think. Monta Ellis will be healthy from Day One, everyone in the organization is convinced Randolph is about to blow up, Andris Biedrins will get his nightly double-double, and Kelenna Azubuike is one of the better sneaky-good players in the NBA. Read More »

Unlike a tenured professor, once you make it to the NBA, it doesn’t automatically mean you get to stay there. Just ask Jerome Moiso. So with training camp starting in a month, here are ten guys that need to break out this season: Read More »

Since Lamar Odom is waiting for some NBA team to discover 10 million extra dollars in their couch cushions, and the Knicks and Allen Iverson still haven’t realized they’re perfect for each other, there wasn’t much happening around the League yesterday … The Emeka Okafor/Tyson Chandler trade was made official. In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Chandler said his toe and ankle are healthy (”For the first time in a couple of years, I’ve got good movement in my toe.”), and Larry Brown said Chandler will help the Bobcats be more of a running team. Read More »

Some people still don’t get it. So … again … this is NOT a straight “best players” list. I don’t think Blake Griffin is better than Tim Duncan, or that John Wall is better than Chris Paul. I’m looking at the whole picture: Who had an overall better season? Pound-for-pound, who made the biggest impact on their level? Who made the biggest mark on the entire game of basketball? Who made this season his own? Here are my Top 10 — not “10 best” — shooting guards from the ‘08-09 season… Read More »

As much as everyone has talked about the cooler, calmer, more collected Denver Nuggets in this second Chauncey Billups era, this is still an energy-driven squad, especially at home. So throughout last night’s Game 6 loss that ended Denver’s season and sent the Lakers to the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant was all about delivering daggers and taking the crowd out of the equation. Kobe (35 pts, 6 rebs, 10 asts) was handing out silencers like Nic Cage in Lord of War, and in turn the Nuggets were generally listless, particularly in the second half when you’d expect them to come out on fire. Read More »

The only three games on last night’s NBA schedule just happened to provide three — well, more like two and a half — first-round playoff previews. For the Sixers, a win over Boston would even them up with Chicago for the East’s 6th seed (and the right to play Orlando), but a loss would keep them firmly in 7th place (and a date with the Celtics in Round 1). Read More »