The NBA Draft's Five Best Second Overall Picks Since 1984 & Sammy Sosa Is a Joke and He Does Not Deserve Induction into the HOF posted by Colin Linneweber

The NBA Draft's Five Best Second Overall Picks Since 1984

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pick former Oklahoma Sooners star Blake Griffin Thursday with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

However, there is not a consensus projection for the No. 2 pick and basketball analysts remain largely uncertain who the Memphis Grizzlies will choose tomorrow in Gotham.

In recognition of the NBA Draft, I have decided to rank the five most accomplished players selected second overall in the past quarter century.

1) Jason Kidd

Kidd, 36, attended the University of California and helped resurrect the Golden Bears dormant basketball program with his stellar play at the point guard position.

After being honored as a First Team All-American as a sophomore, Kidd declared for the NBA Draft and was selected 2nd overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 1994.

Unfortunately, the Bay Area native’s initial stint with the Mavericks didn’t materialize as most anticipated it would.

According to legend, singer Toni Braxton went to the Mavs team hotel to meet Kidd after a game.

However, instead of rendezvousing with Kidd, Braxton instead left with his Dallas teammate Jimmy Jackson and the two purportedly fornicated until the wee hours.

Subsequently, Kidd loathed Jackson and he demanded an escape from “Big D.”

Kidd, a 9-time All-Star and 6-time All-NBA nomination, was traded to the Phoenix Suns at the conclusion of the 1996 season and his career began to truly ascend in the desert.

The 5 Best Second Overall Selections in the NBA Draft Since 1984 posted by Colin Linneweber

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pick former Oklahoma Sooners star Blake Griffin Thursday with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

However, there is not a consensus projection for the No. 2 pick and basketball analysts remain largely uncertain who the Memphis Grizzlies will choose tomorrow in Gotham.

In recognition of the NBA Draft, I have decided to rank the five most accomplished players selected second overall in the past quarter century.


1)  Jason Kidd 

Kidd, 36, attended the University of California and helped resurrect the Golden Bears dormant basketball program with his stellar play at the point guard position. 

After being honored as a First Team All-American as a sophomore, Kidd declared for the NBA Draft and was selected second overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 1994. 

Unfortunately, the Bay Area native’s initial stint with the Mavericks didn’t materialize as most anticipated it would. 

According to legend, singer Toni Braxton went to the Mavs team hotel to meet Kidd for a date after a game. 

 However, instead of rendezvousing with Kidd, Braxton instead left with his Dallas teammate Jimmy Jackson and the two purportedly fornicated until the wee hours. 

Subsequently, Kidd loathed Jackson and he demanded an escape from “Big D.” 

Kidd, a 9-time All-Star and 6-time All-NBA nomination, was traded to the Phoenix Suns at the conclusion of the 1996 season and his career began to truly ascend in the desert. 

Toronto Raptors and the draft. posted by john howard

The Raptors had a horrible season finishing third from the bottom in the East.  Anthony Parker, Shawn Marion, and Jake Voskhul are all free agents.  That is 2 starters and a top bench player.  That leaves a shaky starting lineup:

PG--JOSE CALERSON  SG--JASON KOPONO  SF--JEOY GRAHAM  PF---CHRIS BOSH  C--ANDREA BARNANI

And a very weak bench.  Things may get worse before they get better.  I don't know of any trades, but perhaps a splash in free agency. It's not a big market this year.  And next year, Bosh is a free agent.  So the draft is the best bet for now.  The Raptors have the 9th pick in the draft.  There is bad news and great news with the 9th pick.  Of the past 14 drafts 7 have produced startes, 5 bench players and 3 flops.  The bad news is out of the top 10 picks, the 9 spot produces the least amount of startes and the most number of busts.  The great news is that the 7 starters are all-starts.  Picking first or third also produced 7 all-starts in that same span.  The 9th pick has yielded just as many all-starts as the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th combined! So, the 9th spot is truly a hit or miss.  There isn't much in between.

The top 2 choices on mock boards appear to be either Gerald Henderson from Duke or Tyreke Evans from Memphis.  Both are sf/sg type guys who are athletic.  An all-star to go along side Bosh would be great.  This team is definately retooling.

Catching up with the Phoenix Suns rumors this off season and who should be kept around for next year? posted by Ryan Greyslak

There have been many rumors surrounding the Phoenix Suns since they missed the playoffs this season. Some of these rumored trades would actually help the team, but some of the options are only opportunities to cut payroll for the oncoming season and further destroy the team. Some of the biggest names involved in these rumors for the team have been Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Richardson.

 Shaq Rumors 

Shaquille O’Neal has not been shy about the fact that he would not mind playing for another team other then the Phoenix Suns and is interested in a contract to extend him for one to two more years. Some of the rumored teams to be interested in Shaq are Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Hornets.

Cleveland has reportedly offered Ben Wallace (who might request a buyout or retire) and Sasha Pavlovich who has a non guaranteed contract. The Suns could potentially get out of both players and save money off payroll this year. This is a bad deal for the Suns and I would not expect it to happen for these players. They would get nothing for Shaq.

Another of the rumored teams interested in Shaq are the Dallas Mavericks. One of the rumored packages would send Jerry Stackhouse expiring contract and Erick Dampier. Dampier is guaranteed for the next two years at over 23 million. This again would be a horrible trade for the team and they would essentially be giving Shaq up for a smaller expiring contract and a slower less effective center. If the Suns have any talks with Dallas they should absolutely involve Josh Howard but it is rumored Sarver does not want to do business with Cuban.

TRIUMPH OVER TORONTO TRUMPED BY PAU GASOL TRADE posted by Peace Wilson

The Lakers' rapturous Kobe-powered 121-101 win over the Raptors was no doubt fueled by the trade made for Pau Gasol -- aptly-named. With rock-steady veteran AND current season avgs. of 19 pts. and 9 rebounds, he is precisely the pow and gas the Lakers need to fill the void left by the injured absence of the newly-emergent Andrew Bynum.

I paid little attention to the Raptors game, knowing all along the Lakers would win, and enjoying the odd good news of a big-time trade overshadowing a winning road performance, one they really needed.

I'd never heard of Pau Gasol before. 7 ft. all-star center-forward, recently of the Memphis Grizzlies, by way of Barcelona.

Consensus is he has just the right numbers, he's still young, he's consistent, diverse, talented, with a good basketball IQ. And that he might actually give books to Phil Jackson, rather than automatically the other way around.

The Grizzlies get Kwame Brown and Crittenton and some of that 1st round/2nd round draft swapping, and whatnot. So Pau Gasol will play center till Bynum returns, then slide over to power forward. Wow, twin towers, cool.

The future just got a lot brighter for the Lakers Nation. Now we'll all be wearin' shades.

60% of NBA Players Broke After 5 Years... posted by kellex

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/01/60-of-nba-players-broke-after-5

The NBA Players’ Association met with the Toronto Raptors recently to discuss financial prudence among players and during that meeting cited a statistic that scared the heck out of most of the team. It was said that 60% of NBA players go broke after only 5 years of retirement! Are you kidding me?!? That statistic however is said to be an educated estimate and some players actually have a hard time believing it. The statistic could be used as a scare tactic, but it is definitely something these players should be paying attention to.

“Sixty percent is a ballpark. But we’ve seen a lot of guys who’ve really come into hard times five years after they leave the league,” said Roy Hinson, the former NBA forward who’s a representative for the players’ association. “The problems are, for a lot of guys, they have a lot of cars, they have multiple homes, and they’re taking care of their parents. They’re taking care of a whole host of issues. And the checks aren’t coming in anymore.”

“Sometimes you can stop the bleeding, and other times you can’t stop the bleeding,” said Hinson, who added that many players associate with “too many ‘yes’ people.”

We’ve all heard the stories of NBA players owning 15 cars and 5 vacation homes. The sad part is most of these players lack educations and support outside of their posses and families. Most of these players could use some legal guidance as well as financial guidance but seem at times to not be so willing. The players’ association has continually proposed a financial firm that offers players free 2nd opinions on their financials, but getting these players to act has been a challenge.

Dallas Mavericks Early Season Report posted by Kyle Lawrence

I know it's more traditional to do this kind of report after the first twenty games. I, however, am a very non-traditional fellow. So here is your twenty-six game report.

Let's start with what we know about the Dallas Mavericks: nothing. Okay, we know a couple of things. However, if you take everything we know and shine a light on it, what you end up looking at is, well, nothing. At least nothing of any significance. But let’s try anyway.

First, they are playing poorly against the East. After finishing last season a blistering 27-3 versus the Eastern Conference, the Mavs are a lackluster 6-5 so far. If nothing else in basketball universe is knowable, it is certain that the best way to pad your record is by playing teams in the East. How else could the Toronto Raptors make the playoffs? To be considered an elite team, the Mavericks must put away Eastern Conference opponents.

Second, they are playing well against division rivals (6-2). This includes a perfect 3-0 against Houston so far and a thirteen-point victory over defending champs, San Antonio. Unfortunately, they also suffered a two-point loss to the Spurs who were without Tim Duncan. The Mavs currently own the best in-division record in the Western Conference. What does that mean? Nothing, right now. But down the road in an admittedly very low probability tie-break situation, it could be the difference between winning and losing the Southwest Division which could easily be the difference between being seeded first or second come playoff time.

Finally, coach Avery Johnson is struggling to find a consistent starting five. This is due mainly to injuries and suspensions, and to a lesser degree, disappointing production. However, the bottom line is that consistency breeds comfort on the court. Dallas needs to figure out who is going to do the heavy lifting on this team. And so far it isn’t Nowitzki whose scoring is down three points per contest since last season.

Jason Kapono Makes A Statement in Raptors 104-93 Win Over Pacers posted by Pete Richards

The win last night was phenomenal. Down by 11 at the half and then by 17 at one point in the third, things were looking pretty bleak for the Raptors. After their big win at home over Dallas on Thursday, I was starting to wonder if all their energy had been spent on the Mavs.

To me, the win over Dallas was surprising – especially the way Dirk rained threes on us the last time. But the ability to beat the Mavs not only shows that the Raptors are capable of dominating some of the top teams in the NBA, but last night’s win shows they are capable of doing it night after night.

Down by 17 at the third, the Raptors came back to win 104-93 with much thanks to Jason Kapono. The big shooter racked up 29 points and essentially saved the Raptors during the fourth quarter with his seemingly unconscious threes. He was a monster in the fourth; 4/4 from behind the arc. There was one three-pointer towards the end of the game, the assist from Calderon, where Kapono didn’t even seem to catch the ball, but rather volley it into the net. The way he was nailing shots from behind the arc while being contested by Pacers was almost Nowitzki-like and Kapono was definitely showing gleams of superstardom in last night’s game. Everyone has “one of those nights” once in a while, but we can only hope he remains as consistent throughout the rest of the season.

           But the Raptors are a team that depends on all of its players to do well, and Kapono wasn’t the only factor in last night’s game. Calderon had 16 assists. Bosh had 22 points and his 10th double-double of the season. When Carlos Delfino turned the ball over after stealing it from Jamal Tinsley in the fourth then ran back to block the Pacer’s lay-up attempt, it was one of the big turning points of the game. The team came together and outscored the Pacers by 35-18 during the fourth quarter.

Heat make offers to Moon, Anthony (AP)

The Miami Heat have made qualifying offers to forward Jamario Moon and center Joel Anthony. Both are now restricted free agents, but the Heat will have the right to match any offer they receive from other teams. The Heat made the announcement Monday. Moon was acquired Feb. 13 from the Toronto Raptors, along with Jermaine O'Neal in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Westphal ready to help turn Kings around (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Kings to hire Westphal as coach (AP)

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Sixers trade Evans to Raptors for Kapono (AP)

The Philadelphia 76ers have traded forward Reggie Evans to the Toronto Raptors for shooter Jason Kapono. Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski says the trade addresses Philadelphia's goal of getting better from the perimeter. Kapono's .454 shooting percentage on 3-pointers is tied with Steve Kerr for the best in NBA history. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Raptors' Bosh unlikely to sign extension (AP)

Chris Bosh doesn't plan to sign a contract extension with the Toronto Raptors this summer and is preparing to become a free agent at the end of next season. Bosh is in the final year of a deal that will pay him $15.7 million. While Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo has spoken optimistically in the past about signing Bosh to an extension this summer, Bosh said that isn't his intention. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports