Boys of Summer

The NBA regular season is long over and the NBA Playoffs are in full swing. Typically, the gap between these two events is met with some kind of wrap-up piece involving postseason awards and the comparing of preseason prognostications to what inevitably happened. We'll get to that part in a minute.

By now, we have a general idea of how the first round(and maybe even the playoffs) is going to shake out as nearly every series will be at least two games in by time you read this. So, let's fast forward through all the playoff previewing and attack the NBA offseason as if it will be upon us in the coming days and then, we'll finish strong with the obligatory regular season recap/postseason preview.

For now, I want to address the ten most important names I believe we will hear about throughout this summer and the type of headlines we should expect so that our brains are adjusted to it by time it's all jammed down our throats.





1. and 2. Derrick Rose, PG, Chicago Bulls and Dwight Howard, C, Orlando Magic(tentatively) - I'll group these two together for a number of reasons. One, neither will take another dribble the rest of this postseason thanks to injury(Rose's knee and Howard's back). Second, how these two's respective teams do these next few weeks in their absence will determine how big of a story we're looking at going forward. For Rose, the Bulls have performed admirably throughout the season without the league's defending MVP. While it seems unrealistic that the Bulls can run the table with Pooh sitting on the bench in a suit, Chicago remains a solid contender in a very weak East even with their best player sidelined. Stranger things have happened. As for Howard, every Orlando win in these playoffs increases the likelihood he'll be playing elsewhere by the time next season tips off(which is a near-certainty, regardless). As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, now that Howard has re-cast himself as a selfish NBA villain, D-12 haters will be coming out of the woodwork to root for the Magic to do well just to spite their sullen big man. There's no better storyline to push for this postseason than the Magic shocking the world and going on a magic carpet ride in what might be beleaguered coach Stan Van Gundy's last hurrah in South Florida while Howard watches helplessly from the bench.

The third reason is more of a grand "What if.."? If Howard is absolutely leaving town and the Bulls absolutely are dead in the water with D.Rose out(which is the majority decision by experts but remains to be seen), what's stopping someone from putting two and two together and start beating the drum for a Bulls-Magic trade that would bring Howard to Chicago? As we saw with Chris Paul inevitably landing with the Clippers, somebody always sneaks up during these blockbuster trades and snatches a big name when talks with other teams go dormant. Where's the market for Howard? Outside of Brooklyn, whose situation is tied to whether PG Deron Williams stays or not, what other suitors are out there for Doomsday? With Andrew Bynum's career resurgence this year, you'd have to think the Lakers are out unless something happens in these playoffs that tempts them into shaking up the roster much like everyone wanted them to do last year. Chicago fits all the parameters for a Howard trade. They have the talent to deal(Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Carlos Boozer, and C.J. Watson, whose stock is sure to rise filling in for Rose). They are a legit contender(something Brooklyn isn't, and probably never will be) and it will be a great marriage of one of the league's best point guards and one of the game's best defensive coaches with the game's best center/interior defender.

Look, Howard's good as gone and if Chicago's supporting cast fails to look at least somewhat formidable in Rose's absence, there's going to be talk as to whether this team will suffice for Rose's revenge year next season. The Bulls were mentioned as a target for Howard last season and, with the once-heavily favored Lakers potentially out of the race, somebody has to jump in. Why not the Bulls?

3. LeBron James, F, Miami Heat - Adding that third MVP is nice but we all know the drill by now with King James and the Miami Heat: This season is championship or bust. With Rose and Howard out, the Celtics aging and the West uncertain, the skids are greased for LeBron to finally win his first ring. If last season lead to tons of backlash against "The Akron Hammer" for not bringing a championship trophy back to South Beach, what do you think this summer will be like with Miami's degree of difficulty now made significantly easier? We're two games away from Miami completing their mopping of the floor of the New York Knicks unless we get one of those classic "This is my team and I'm not going down easy" turnarounds from Carmelo Anthony and 'Melo vs. 'Bron turns into the clash we all hoped it would be when both came to town nine years ago. That means in Round 2, LeBron and company get to feast on either a Howard-less Magic team or a Still-Not-Quite-There-Yet Pacers squad before going to war with whatever's left from what should be a heated Celtics-Bulls series(assuming Boston can get by the Hawks) for a chance to get back to the Finals. With last year's nemesis, Dallas, two games from elimination, the most likely opponents for the Heat in the Finals are a suddenly rejuvenated Spurs team(which would be a terribly boring Finals but a great last hurrah for the Duncan/Popovich Spurs era), the Durant/Westbrook Thunder(which is the matchup everyone wants), a sneaky Lakers team or an even sneakier Grizzlies team(If they can get by the Clippers. If not, sub out Grizzlies and put in Clippers).

If it wasn't any more evident, this has to be the year LeBron brings it all home. Yes, there are two other superstars on the roster. It doesn't matter. Like it or not, it's all on LeBron's shoulders. So, this summer will either be all about King James coming full circle or an even more severe battery of "Can LeBron win The Big One?" debates.

4. Kobe Bryant, G, Los Angeles Lakers - Nearly as tantalizing as LeBron's chase for Ring #1 is "The Black Mamba"'s chase for Ring #6. A sixth ring ties him with the man whose career he's forever been linked to: The once incomparable Michael Jordan. If the road to the championship seems a bit easier for LeBron, the opposite can be said for Bryant's boys. This is easily the worst Lakers team, post-Shaq, since the first season without "The Diesel"(which ended in Phoenix taking them out in Round 1 in what was supposed to be Steve Nash's coming out year). There's no Phil Jackson. No Derek Fisher. No triangle offense. No ridiculous deep bench of role players. Instead, Kobe will have to rely on his Twin Towers up front. Bynum's coming of age season can be seen as a culmination of a man angry about being on the trading block and a kid who finally decided to grow up. Given Bynum's admission that he "gets his Zen on" during team huddles and the numerous head-scratching moments we've seen throughout this season, the latter isn't completely true. What we do know is Bynum's playing his best ball and he and Pau Gasol represent the best front line in basketball. The team also needs Ron Artest/Metta World Peace to keep his 'bow throwing to a minimum and manage to be the lockdown perimeter defender he once was without also being the Queensbridge goon. It doesn't help Kobe that this is a very deep Western playoffs. You can make the case for six teams going all the way in this conference(excluding Utah and Denver. Even Dallas down 2-0 isn't a death knell).

Bryant is getting up in age. His window for tying His Airness is closing as the odometer goes up and the competition gets more fierce. As remarkable as the seasons of guys like Durant and James have been, we might go into this summer marveling at what we just saw from #24: a man who aged better than we expected that saw his grips on the NBA slipping and gave it one last run before the inevitable passing of the torch to his younger counterparts. The Lakers are long shots to run the table but Kobe Bryant has proven that, with his back against the wall, he's as dangerous as the snake he stole his moniker from.

5. Danny Ainge, GM, Boston Celtics - Huh? Hear me out. If Boston is unable to get past Atlanta(let alone make another championship run), we'll look back at the trading deadline and wonder if the embattled Celtics GM made the right move in not breaking up "The Big Three" and rebuilding around Rajon Rondo as opposed to giving it one last shot with his aging vets. Ainge, reportedly, had deals in place that would have sent Ray Allen to Memphis in exchange for guard O.J. Mayo and Celtics legend Paul Pierce to New Jersey/Brooklyn for Mehmet Okur's expiring deal and the Top-3 protected lottery pick that went to Portland instead in exchange for Gerald Wallace. Signing off on both of those deals would have put the final nail in the coffin in what has been a great run for the Garnett-Allen-Pierce Celtics. It also would have set them up nicely for the future. With KG a free agent at season's end, the Celtics would have went into the summer with cap space, a solid young trio of Rondo, Mayo and rising star Avery Bradley as well as a lottery pick in a decent-yet-not-supremely deep draft. If that pick turns into Jared Sullinger or Harrison Barnes or even someone like Andre Drummond, that would be much better than what the C's will be looking at next season....which is to say, nothing.

We knew Boston's odds of making another title run with everything falling in place for LeBron and the Heat were going to be lofty. We didn't think they'd run out of gas as soon as the playoffs tipped off and risk getting upset by a game Hawks team. If the Celtics bow out early, Ainge's refusal to look ahead will be the "What if..?" that circles around Beantown all summer and the years ahead. Even when the team acquired Allen and Garnett a few years ago, we all knew this day was coming. Ainge should have, too. Now, we're passed the point where he can do something about it. If he thought the market for old-timers like Pierce and Allen was slim back in February, watch how quickly the market closes up once they show their age in the playoffs. Depending on whether Boston turns things around, Ainge will either be breathing a sigh of relief or kicking himself in the pants.

6. Blake Griffin, F, Los Angeles Clippers - All the time spent with our jaws on the floor and our eyes wider than Vince Carter's abdomen while watching Clippers highlights headlined by the NBA's newest dunking sensation, we seemed to have forgotten Griffin's a work in progress. An unfinished product. A project. His offense is pretty much a spin move to the hoop and charging the lane with reckless abandon in hopes of jumping over whoever's foolish enough to stand in his way to get dunked on. Like the early years of LeBron, Griffin is a superstar with flashes of brilliance but he isn't "great" yet. He's a freakishly athletic double-double machine whose career will benefit greatly from every step Chris Paul takes on the court in a Clippers uniform, but he's not "there" yet. He doesn't have that outside jumper that Tim Duncan will utilize for the next decade while he adds to his already-breathtaking resume. He isn't an intimidating post defender like Andrew Bynum or Serge Ibaka. He's Brock Lesnar with a 40' vertical. He's a monster, but even monsters find people valiant enough to slay them. Even James is slowly starting to realize he'll have to do more than drive to the hoop like a freight train and either score or draw the foul if he wants to be a champion in this league. This is Griffin's first taste of the postseason and he's getting a hell of a trail by fire by being matched up with an interior beast like Zach Randolph. However, when it's all said and done, much like the glory days of Vinsanity, Griffin will stop wowing us with his NBA Jam-style dunks and we'll start having to take his career a bit more seriously in terms of whether all those highlights are translating into something more substantial. Dunking over everyone you see is nice....if you're trying to get a cute nickname and a spot on the And1 Mixtape Tour. In the NBA, what impresses people the most is winning. Tim Duncan traded flash for the chance to be a four-time NBA champion and the greatest power forward to ever live a long time ago. Griffin will soon find out that his name will be on SportsCenter for more than just his posterizing jams as the pressure to bring some jewelry to an abused franchise mounts.

7. Chris Paul, G, Los Angeles Clippers - Sure, Paul will probably not garner as much attention as former Draft classmate and point guard rival Deron Williams this summer because Williams, unlike Paul, will be testing the market this offseason. However, Paul has the opportunity to reclaim his spot as the league's best point guard(an honor that was handed to Derrick Rose after his MVP season last year while Paul floundered on the Hornets) and create some serious buzz by giving the city of Los Angeles and its beloved Lakers a legit in-house rival. Paul helped spearhead a 27-point fourth quarter comeback in Game 1 to steal a W from the Grizzlies in what is the most intriguing of a slew of entertaining opening round matchups(Heat-Knicks, Thunder-Mavs, even Lakers-Nuggets). How the rest of the series goes is anyone's guess but it's fun to see CP3 commandeer a team with legit championship aspirations after being held back by poor management and penny-pinching in New Orleans. It also gives the Western Conference a certian "Oh, shit...." feeling. As we saw in last year's playoffs when Paul nearly single-handedly took down the Lakers in Round 1, Paul is a force to be reckoned with, especially in thr 4th quarter, when he decides to turn it on, bum knee be damned. It seems farfetched to think Paul can go too much further seeing how this series with Memphis is sure to be one of those hard-fought, seven-game, back-and-forth affairs that battles between two young and hungry teams tend to be and the winner will go on to face San Antonio, who can be had but not without a fight.

Paul's rebirth in L.A. is the type of thing that makes commissioner David Stern grin, even if Stern's decision to put the screws to the trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers was one of the biggest bush league moves we've seen in years, because it gives the NBA another viable contender rather than strengthening an already great one. If Paul can make serious contenders out of a Clippers team that has been retched for years, then CP3's name will ring bells through the summer and give Lob City the kind of offseason sleeper buzz that is sure to drown out any fuss that the D-Will Sweepstakes will garner. For now, Paul and Griffin make the Clippers interesting and fun to watch and the winner of this series will emerge as a sneaky dark horse out West(especially since Memphis upset the Spurs in Round 1 last year). Congratulations are in order, regardless, for Paul, who is one of the NBA's true good guys and handled his desire to leave New Orleans with the type of class and respect that is in complete contrast to Dwight Howard's on-again, off-again posturing to skip town and for making a laughingstock into a contender that's no joke.

8. Amare Stoudemire, F, New York Knicks - The combination of being on vacation and gathering my NFL Draft thoughts(which will be posted tomorrow) prevented me from writing a suitable preview for the playoffs sooner. I'm glad it did because I would have completely missed out on one of the most peculiar stories and insanely boneheaded displays of aggression the sports world has seen in quite some time. Much like Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, Amare Stoudemire will be watching his boys finish out the playoffs in a suit and tie at the end of the bench. Unlike D-Rose and D-12, Stoudemire's injury was caused when he decided to put his hand through a fire extinguisher case, like Andy Bernard busting through a wall after Jim Halpert steals his phone on The Office, and sidelined himself for the rest of a series with the Heat that is sure to be over soon anyway. Like with Howard, how the team performs in Amare's absence will go a long way in determining his future with the team. The Knicks already flirted with dealing Stoudemire after signing Tyson Chandler but, alas, teams were scared off by STAT's uninsured knees and albatross of a contract. If finding a taker for Amare was tough before, what exactly is the going rate of a injury-prone forward who can't play defense that just systematically took himself out of the playoffs by going Mike Tyson on a glass case? Furthermore, when has punching stuff ever solved ANYTHING? I'm no Ghandi. I'm not anti-violence. Lord knows I've punched a lot of things in moments of justified rage but, you know what, I realized how stupid it was after I found myself in intense pain with knuckles swollen to the size of a pregnant girl's nipples. You can try to justify the moment by saying Stoudemire was frustrated and not thinking clearly, but that "not thinking in the moment" theory didn't work when Metta World Peace landed The People's Elbow to James Harden's neck and it's not going to fly here. What Stoudemire did was stupid and if it was done out of anger because the offense is now flowing through Carmelo Anthony(only one of the best pure scorers of this generation) instead of Stoudemire than its another example in a long line of childish selfishness that has plagued this shortned NBA season.

Making matters worse, if the Knicks put up more of a fight against the Heat(or, at least, some semblance of a fight) with Stoudemire on the bench, then Amare's last moments as a Knick will be him picking shards of glass out of his hand. The Knicks WILL find a suitor for Stoudemire. It might not be the blockbuster one would hope when dealing a former All-Star but someone will take a chance on Amare the way teams foolishly still take chances on knuckleheads like Gilbert Arenas and J.R. Smith. Stoudemire's absence allows this to be 'Melo's team, 100%. It seems impossible that Anthony as a one-man show can hold off a three-headed monster in Miami but, again, how the team responds will determine Amare's fate this summer. For now, he's an overpaid shlub coming off a moment of sheer stupidity in what has to be the epitome of "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

9. Tim Duncan, F, San Antonio Spurs - Never before did basketball fans think they would ask questions like "Can someone quietly become the greatest player to ever play his position?" or "Can someone unsuspectingly become one of the 10 best basketball players of all-time?" but the answer to both of those questions are "Yes" and "....because Tim Duncan did it.". With a resume that would make Karl Malone piss in his Wranglers and Charles Barkley choke on his WeightWatchers, Tim Duncan is poised to add a fifth ring in a shortened NBA season where every expert had the aging Duncan and his gaggle of geezers put out to pasture. Bill Simmons mentioned this stat in his recent column and it's really astonishing when you think about it: If the Spurs win it all this year, it will be 14 years between Duncan's first ring and, presumably, his last one, which would be the largest gap between first and last titles in NBA history. 14 years! While it still seems farfetched, the Spurs still have a puncher's chance to be a problem in these playoffs. They have veteran savvy, the league's best coach and a legendary power forward that gets better with age. They are porn actress deep and they are playing with a chip on their shoulder because, as always, they have flown under the radar behind the flashier Thunder, Grizzlies and Clippers.

Still, Duncan adding to his legacy is every bit as interesting as Kobe's quest for his sixth title and LeBron and Durant's chase for their first. At 34, Duncan is an elder statesman in a league where stars are barely over the legal drinking age. The old man showed he's still got it in Game 1 with a status quo line of 17-11-5. The real test, however, comes in the next round where they'll either be faced with a rematch of last year's shocking upset to Memphis or a clash against the Clippers that will feature a showdown between Blake Griffin and Duncan that will be a battle of Fun vs. Fundamentals. Duncan and company are the story that get the least amount of pub. They're boring, unspectacular but, most importantly, wildly successful. A fifth ring would be a fitting way to close the show for the greatest big man of this generation. It may not have the pizazz of watching Griffin throw one down or a Kobe turnaround jumper but it will be just as interesting to watch and will allow Duncan to use this summer to get the attention he rightfully deserves.

10. Kevin Durant, F, Oklahoma City Thunder - As basketball fans, we will probably never get to see Kobe vs. LeBron in a seven-game series with a title on the line. We weren't fortunate, in this generation, to have those Bird-Magic moments or Russell vs. Chamberlain. The closest we've come to a real head-to-head matchup between legends was Olajuwon vs. Shaq in the mid-90's(and please don't try to sell me on Kobe vs. Pierce). Kid Dynamite has an opportunity to change all of that. With the only thing standing in LeBron's way of returning to the Finals being themselves, it's up to Durant to hold up his end of the bargain and deliver on the Finals appearance that they should have given us last year. Durant vs. James for the 2012 MVP has been one of this season's better stories and it should culminate in a showdown for all the marbles. It will also be a hell of a run for The Durantula. A trip to the Finals means Durant and company would have dispatched the defending champion Mavs, their heated rival Lakers and a clash of old school vs. new school against the scrappy Spurs before entering the Finals against a star-studded Heat team. NBA fans, execs and analysts want Thunder vs. Heat. The NBA NEEDS Thunder vs. Heat. We need a showdown like this on the biggest stage. Durant vs. James would be what Rodgers vs. Brees was supposed to be in the NFL Playoffs this past season(thanks a lot, Giants and Niners!).

If Durant fails, it will be because he once again couldn't co-exist with his best friend and teammate Russell Westbrook. It will be because the leaders of the new school got outclassed by wily old vets in L.A. or San Antonio and it will be a colossal failure for everyone involved. It will also lead to an offseason where Durant is faced with the same questions LeBron has been faced throughout his career as the leader of a perennial championship favorite. "Can he win The Big One?" "Does he need more help?" "Should they trade Westbrook?" "Should they fire Scott Brooks?". Durant has the chance to kill those questions before they start. He made his case for the MVP in Game 1 by leading a fourth quarter charge to upend the Mavs and sealing it with a last second jumper for the win(as if winning his third straight scoring title wasn't enough). The time has come for Durant to step up to LeBron and battle for the right to be the NBA's alpha dog, but that chance won't come if he's still fighting for that spot on his own team.

And now......the obligatory handing out of the hardware.

For starters, I nailed 15 of 16 playoff teams with the Jazz being the only miss(I had Portland instead). Granted, the seeding was wrong but the cast of characters are the same. Mostly.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Preseason pick: Rich Carlisle, Mavericks
Postseason pick: Gregg Popovich, Spurs

In December, I made the Spurs a playoff out of respect. Nobody thought the aging Spurs would be able to survive a short season of seemingly endless back-to-back games, but Pops rested his troops beautifully and the result is San Antonio is the West's top seed and a legit threat to winning a fifth title. The Mavs, meanwhile, swallowed a poison pill by acquiring Lamar Odom from the Lakers. Odom never felt comfortable in Dallas and the team seemed out of sorts all year. The result is the Mavs finished as the conference's 7 seed and are down 2-0 to the Thunder while Odom was sent packing. Popovich, as it was announced today, was already awarded Coach of the Year honors. A fitting tribute to arguably the greatest coach of this generation.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

Preseason pick: Lamar Odom, Mavericks
Postseason pick: James Harden, Thunder

As you can tell, I was high on the Mavericks this season and I really thought Odom would use his exile from L.A. as motivation to really shine for the defending champs. What I didn't factor in was Odom's trademark moodiness and sensitivity which lead to Odom sulking throughout the season before the team told him to just stay home. Harden, however, averaged 16.8 points off the bench while shooting around 49% from the field and 39% from three. Oh, and he took a hellacious elbow to the neck from Metta World Peace.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Preseason pick: Derrick Williams, Timberwolves
Postseason pick: Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers

As a guy born and raised in Jersey, I'd love to Newark's own Kenny Faried steal this one because he's been an absolute beast on the boards for Denver. However, Irving shined the most out of a lackluster rookie class. Irving averaged 18.5 points per game with 5.4 assists for a miserable Cavs team despite missing some time with a myriad of injuries. Williams got lost in the shuffle in Minnesota, and averaged just under 9 points a game and just under 5 boards. Truth be told, Ricky Rubio seemed to have this award locked up before blowing out his knee.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Preseason pick: none.....who can really predict that?
Postseason pick: Jeremy Lin, Knicks

You can make the case for a number of guys. Ryan Anderson in Orlando, "Boogie" Cousins in Sac-Town, even Andrew Bynum but, to me, this is a no-brainer. Linsanity was the talk of New York for a good six weeks and, if Mike D'Antoni is still coaching and Lin doesn't get hurt, who knows how Lin's season ends? Anytime you go from sleeping on your teammate's couch to the biggest sports star in New York.....a week after the Giants win the Super Bowl, you've achieved something big.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Preseason pick: Serge Ibaka, Thunder
Postseason pick: Tyson Chandler, Knicks

The overwhelming consensus seems to lean toward Chandler. I guess because he's the only one who actually plays defense on the Knicks. The Ibaka pick still looks strong, as he finished the season as the leader in blocked shots(whereas Chandler finished 19th). If there are a couple sleepers here, Indiana's Roy Hibbert improved a team that was dead last defensively last year. Andrew Bynum kept his defense strong all season, a point made emphatically with his 10 block performance in Game 1 against the Nuggets(Granted, that doesn't factor into a regular season award). My prediction is it goes to Chandler but, if I had a vote, I'd stick with Ibaka. One thing's for certain, after a year of flip-flopping and mailing it in, this award won't be going to Dwight Howard.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Preseason pick: Dwyane Wade, Heat
Postseason pick: LeBron James, Heat

Let me start off by saying that I think this award belong to Kevin Durant but that I think voters will give it to LeBron after foolishly shunning him last year as punishment for "The Decision". To me, when you lead the league in scoring for three straight years, you deserve to have something to show for it. LeBron is the best player in the league. He's always going to put up amazing stat lines and yearly numbers. However, LeBron's numbers are kind of like Kate Upton's cleavage: Breathtaking to look at but eventually you aren't impressed anymore and you look for something new

(Side note: I have no problem with Kate Upton's cleavage. I, honestly, can't get enough of it. In the history of the human race, no 19-year old has ever been has physically gifted and astoundingly beautiful as Kate Upton. Period. That's not even hyperbole. That's real talk. If you find me a woman under 20 that combined Upton's beauty, body, and sex appeal the way she has, I'm open to listening. She did for "The Dougie" and now, "The Cat Daddy" what Ali Landry did for Doritos, and what Tyra Banks did for five-heads...which is to say made them immensely sexy.)

Durant is that something new. If we aren't ready to give Durant his due this year, when will we? Does he have to win four straight scoring titles? Five? I understand wanting to give a mea culpa for dissing James last season but giving LeBron another MVP just feeds the monster that we get tired of building up, which is that LeBron is a regular season champion who underwhelms in the playoffs. A third MVP season without a ring just makes the vitriol against LeBron more intense. That's not to say that an MVP season for Durant means he'll win a ring but I don't understand the idea behind making up for snubbing LeBron last year by snubbing Durant this year. LeBron's numbers will always be impressive, to the point where he's going to have to start doing outer-worldly things to shock us, but I think Durant deserves the credit or, as I pitched with Brees-Rodgers, suspend the award until the two hash it out in the playoffs if it comes to that.

NBA FINALS PREDICTION

Preseason pick: Heat over Grizzlies in 6
Postseason pick: Heat over Spurs in 5

I just have a bad feeling here. Look, I know I've been saying this entire blog that we're heading towards Thunder vs. Heat in the Finals but there's something about this Spurs team that makes it hard to pick against. We know the Heat's coming out of the East. That's without question. Every team that would oppose them is missing a star player(with the exception of Boston, who are just old). The West? Far more unpredictable. The Grizzlies are a tough out....except they might not get by the Clippers. The Thunder are the obvious favorites.....except the Lakers are in their heads. My heart says we'll get the Durant-LeBron matchup we're dying to see. My gut says the Spurs play tough D, keep everyone rested by going to their deep bench, sweep the Jazz, get revenge on the Grizz and then stun an overconfident Thunder team coming off a seven-game war with the Lakers.


Then, they go to the Finals and get completely overwhelmed by an immensely pissed LeBron, who won't let himself lose in two straight NBA Finals. Remember, we didn't get the Brees-Rodgers rematch we all wanted because some pesky team with a good D that nobody was checking for snuck in and broke up the party. The Spurs can be this year's Giants. I hope I'm wrong but you never know.

The Chris Paul Theory

Since the start of NBA free agency less than a week ago and, really, for the better part of the last six months, conspiracy theories, unnamed sources, rumors and speculation have run rampant. At the forefront of the rumor mill has been LeBron James. Where's he going? Is he leaning here? Who does he want with him? This guy says this, that guy says that. There really only seems to be one fundamental truth in King James Mania: Wherever LeBron lands, he wants help.

There was the prediction of the new "Big Three" proposed by former ESPN blowhard Stephen A. Smith that LeBron would be teaming with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to form the NBA's newest super-team. Once the obvious bleakness of that scenario set into the thick skull of Smith, he backpedaled like Darrelle Revis covering an out route. Since then, names have been tossed around, seemingly off an All-Star ballot, of guys who could, should or would team with LeBron when King James signs with Team X. On top of the "Big Three" theory, there was LeBron joining Amare Stoudemire in New York and then being joined by buddy and former high school rival Carmelo Anthony(who may or may not be on the trading block, depending on who you talk to). There was also talk of Anthony being subbed out of that equation in exchange for Warriors guard Monta Ellis(via a sign-and-trade for David Lee). There was what I like to call "The Amare Plan", in which Stoudemire(interviewed outside a NY theater) waxed poetically about the idea of a LeBron-Amare-Tony Parker trio.

However, one superstar who has been mentioned in trade talks on and off the last couple of months has managed to stir clear of being offered up as a suggestion to join LeBron and the Superfriends: New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul.

Paul has been mentioned in trade talks over the last couple of weeks as the the notoriously cheap Hornets have been playing the PR game in an effort to send out feelers. One minute, there's talk that Paul can be had and that offers have been made(such as the Nets offer of Devin Harris and the 3rd pick for CP3, that was inevitably turned down. As was Portland's offer of Andre Miller, Joel Pryzbilla, Nicolas Batum, Jerryd Bayless and the 22nd overall pick for Paul and Emeka Okafor) and each proposal seems to get shot down by current owner George Shinn.

My theory on the trade block, in any sport, is that, if there wasn't even the slighest possibility a team was willing to deal their superstar, these reports would never see the light of day. Remember how Andy Reid tried to tell people he wasn't trading Donovan McNabb weeks before McNabb went to Washington? The same goes for the Hornets and Chris Paul. The Hornets, under Shinn, have a long history of dealing superstars(Kobe Bryant, J.R. Smith, Alonzo Mourning, Eddie Jones, Glen Rice, Anthony Mason, Baron Davis, Larry Johnson....to name a few) and I have no reason to believe a penny pincher like Shinn won't do the same with his franchise guard. Shinn may have rejected offers thus far, but I believe that has something to do with his attempt at selling the team. After all, who wants a team in a small market that just traded away its only box office draw. So once the Hornets are sold, I fully expect the CP3 trade talk to heat up again. That date, however, is unknown and right now, CP3's trade value has gotten a few bites. The Blazers and Nets are obviously interested. So are the Knicks. Obviously, those teams can't give fair value back for the man whom I regard as the best point guard in the game and who would seem to be a consensus Top 3 at his position. But what about the Cavs? They certainly don't have the assets or cap to sign LeBron AND bring in a legit #2 like Bosh or Wade. They would need someone who would give them an elite player simply for the reason of alleviating some cap room. The Cavs are also DESPERATE to keep LeBron as James' departure would crush basketball in Cleveland. Enter the Hornets, who always want to save money and who may lose Paul if the team doesn't start competing NOW. With that in mind, I made a conspiracy theory of my own.

The Deal: The Hornets trade PG Chris Paul and C Emeka Okafor to Cleveland for G Mo Williams, F J.J. Hickson, F Antawn Jamison, and G Sebastian Telfair and a conditional first round pick

Why It Works For New Orleans: Obviously, it allows them to get out of the Okafor deal they should have never gotten into last year anyway. It also allows them to get something(albeit nowhere near value) for CP3 if they truly feel he will bolt after 2012. Okafor is due $10.7 million this upcoming season and still has 3 years after next year remaining on the 6-year, $72 million deal he signed with Charlotte two years ago. Paul, meanwhile, is due $13.5 million and still has another year on his deal after the 2011 season. By jettisoning Okafor's remaining deal and by getting out of paying a triple-digit contract to their star point guard in the near future, the Hornets save over $100 million. Granted, attendance will be crap and fan revolt will be high, but that's never stopped the Hornets before.

Meanwhile, in the pieces they get back from the Cavs, they get a scoring guard in Mo Williams, who does his best work in the regular season before choking in the playoffs(which, without Paul, the Hornets won't have to worry about). They can finally pull the trigger on dealing All-Star forward David West, who can opt out next year and who has been on the trading block for years. They can replace West with Jamison in the short term and then J.J. Hickson, whom the Cavs were so fond of they turned down an Amare deal when asked to include Hickson in the trade, long-term. The loss of Okafor leaves a hole at center, but Okafor was barely averaging a double-double(10 points and 9 rebounds a game....pedestrian numbers for a guy getting paid nearly $11 million) and his production can be replaced by either Hickson or a mid-level free agent. Telfair and Williams' deals expire after next season, which means that is money that comes off the books quick( and Jamison expires after 2012. The team will rebuild with lottery picks and hope to go hard in 2012 when guys like Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and O.J. Mayo are free agents(Note: Kevin Durant is a FA in 2011, but I doubt he leaves Oklahoma City).

Why It Works For Cleveland: It gives the Cavs a piece to wave in front of LeBron to get him to re-sign. Chris Paul is the total package point guard. He's a rare breed in that he looks to set up teammates first(something Mo Williams and Delonte West fail at). He can create his own shot. He's an improving three-point shooter and he's excellent defensively. In Okafor, while overpaid and a bit of a bust, they get a solid post defender who, ideally, can be rebounding machine and hold his own inside. Teaming Okafor with Varajao gives the Cavs a solid 1-2 inside and the combination of Okafor, Paul and LeBron makes the Cavs a top of the line defensive team. There's also the presence of new Cavs coach Byron Scott, who was Paul's coach in New Orleans the last few years. Now, speculation surfaced that Scott's firing was the result of players tuning him out but there has been nothing publicly fingering Paul as one of those guys. Scott knows what Paul can do and how to best utilize him. Plus, Paul can spend the next five or six years defending James' arch nemesis Rajon Rondo, something Williams and West and others couldn't do in this past season's playoffs. Financially, they don't add too much since Williams could have opted out next season, Telfair's deal was up next year and Hickson and Jamison were free agents after 2012. For the price of losing them, they get to re-up Paul and pair him with James for the next 10 years have two 25-year old bookends to contend for a title with.

Now, the deal is farfetched and, obviously, I can't see the deal being done before Wade and others come to a decision on their fates this week. However, let's say Paul is a Cavalier by Wednesday and the presence of CP3 convinces LeBron to re-sign with Cleveland. What domino effect does that have on the other big players in this year's summer blockbuster. Glad you asked.

New York Knicks: With their biggest fish deciding to swim in the Ohio ocean, the Knicks will have to resort to a bevy of other options. For one, Amare is going to be Knick by nightfall. Reports are already surfacing he's close to a 5-year, $100 million deal with New York. Assuming that's true(and everything I've read and seen from Amare would suggest it is), the Knicks can move to their next big fish: Carmelo Anthony. 'Melo's a free agent after next year and, while he's the biggest superstar the Nuggets have seen since Alex English, he's had his moments of being a knucklehead. Anthony was also a huge star at Syracuse and a trip back to New York may be a bigger coup for New Yorkers than signing LeBron(OK, maybe not, but it would be close).

A deal for 'Melo will definitely include restricted free agent power forward David Lee and either Danilo Gallinari or Wilson Chandler(Chandler being the most likely, but you have to think Denver would want Gallo). The Knicks will then attempt to make another move for Tony Parker who, like Paul and 'Melo, is one of those guys who is being mentioned in trade talks while their employers are denying that they are available. It seems outlandish that the Knicks can swing a deal for both Anthony and Parker but crazier things have happened. The Knicks have Lee, Chandler, Gallo and Eddy Curry's expiring contract as trade chips and, in a bad NBA economy, they might be able to get a discount in the value department(especially if all the wooing to New York makes 'Melo more disenfranchised about playing in Denver and the Nuggets start to really think about dealing him before next year).

If they strike out on 'Melo and T.P.(Note: I'm already assuming Wade and Bosh aren't coming to town....and I'll get to why shortly), they move on to two guys that give Knicks fans chills: the aforementioned Monta Ellis and the mercurial Gilbert Arenas. Both men are Grade A headcases signed to bad deals who their teams would trade for a bag of peanuts. The question is, are the Knicks willing to bring in yet another knucklehead with a big price tag after years of dealing with the Stephon Marburys of the world? The answer is probably no, but Knicks fans have been waiting two years for their team to make moves this summer and all these reports about who is coming to New York is whetting their appetite. If the Knicks come up empty-handed, they'll have to put tanks on the Brooklyn Bridge. Arenas and Ellis are both talented scorers and their presence is certainly an upgrade over Larry Hughes. They'll also come for cheap as I can't see Golden State or Washington getting too greedy if it means finally getting rid of the huge thorns that have been in their side. Again, it's a desperation move. For now, they have Amare in the fold and he's going to be their biggest flag waver. You have to think Stoudemire wouldn't have signed this deal if he didn't think he could get another big fish to join him in New York's fish bowl.

Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade: With LeBron out of the fold, you have to think one isn't going anywhere without the other. That could mean Chicago. That could mean Miami. That could even mean New Jersey. My money is on Chicago. They have a better team to put around Wade and Bosh with Joakim Noah, Loul Deng and Derrick Rose, whereas Miami has Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and a slew of vets making league minimum. New Jersey would be interesting but Wade's current custody battle back home pretty much makes this a choice of two different types of loyalty: loyalty to his kids and family or loyalty to Pat Riley and the city of Miami. Ultimately, I think Chi-Town wins out(Truth be told, I'm hoping for Wade and Bosh to choose Chicago just so Smith's prediction goes up and flames and we can finally put the nail in that loudmouth idiot's coffin. Goodbye ESPN, Hello BET, Mr. Smith). Bosh seems like he has a moderate interest in returning to his home in Texas as he has wined and dined with the Rockets and Mavs, but the Raptors have been less receptive about giving Bosh a sign and trade. That means Bosh will just have to sign with someone outright. With Amare in New York and James in Cleveland, Bosh pretty much has to choose between continuing to be his own man in a place like Jersey or Miami, or saddling up with Wade and making a run together.

Chicago, Miami, New Jersey: One of these teams will get the Wade-Bosh consolation prize, and the other two will be left twirling in the wind. Right now, Chicago and Miami are the top two contenders for Flash and Avatar, and Chicago's got the edge by having the ability to tug at Wade's heartstrings. The two teams that miss out will then fight over Carlos Boozer. Miami is going to be the most desperate since they seemed like a lock to keep Wade and now look like they can go 0-for-6 in the biggest free agent class in recent memory. New Jersey, meanwhile, still has a young core and plenty of cap room. Plus, they have a state-of-the-art arena being built in Brooklyn to lure big time free agents in two years. Also, while they have the most interesting of front office structures, nobody really gave the Nets more than a puncher's chance of being the big winners this summer. As someone who grew up in Newark, I know it isn't the kind of place that lures big time stars to spend the their careers, even if it's only temporary. Miami, however, has the lure of South Beach. For them to strike out like this would not only be a huge shock but a huge disappointment. With a potential lockout coming, you wonder if it might even end basketball in Miami altogether(I know, it's a stretch, but it wasn't like Miami was selling out games WITH Dwayne Wade).

Carlos Boozer: He's the last and quietest of "The Mercenary Six". Boozer's dealings haven't registered on the radar because his fate is going to be determined by where Bosh and Amare go first. If Bosh goes to Chicago and with Amare in New York, Boozer gets to choose between the beaches of Miami or the eventual glitz of playing in New York by signing with Nets. Chicago is in play if somehow Miami or New Jersey get the Flash-Avatar doggy bag, but let's assume that Chicago ends up with that dynamic duo. In Miami, Boozer will be a one-man army. Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley aren't guys you contend for a title with. If they were, Dwayne Wade wouldn't have opted out and wouldn't be considering a new home. You have to remember, Boozer is coming off a perennial contender in Utah. He made playoff runs in Cleveland. He went to Duke. The guy has been bred a winner since Day 1. He isn't going to take a boatload of money to play in front of half-filled arenas on a 25-win team. As star-studded as this class of free agents is, it drops after "The Mercenary Six". Mike Miller? Derek Fisher? Kwame Brown? Not exactly guys who stars are dying to play with. In New Jersey, Boozer will have Brook Lopez, Derrick Favors, and Devin Harris. He'll have cap room and the luxury of playing in a brand new arena in New York, the biggest sports market in America. The Nets could throw a max at Boozer and still make a run at a Carmelo Anthony or a O.J. Mayo either through free agency or by dangling one of their young pieces. Miami can't do that. If star free agents don't want to come to the beach now, they aren't coming anytime soon.

How I See It All Shaking Out: I don't see the Paul-to-Cavs trade ever getting done but it's certainly something Cleveland should consider. Really, the Cavs are trying to sell LeBron on the idea of "This is your home" as a reason for him to stay. Yes, the Cavs are a 60-win team with him in the fold, but they aren't a championship team. Inevitably, as great as being home is for LeBron, his legacy will be judged by the number of rings on his finger. You can't replace that with videos about fart jokes and a bunch of steel workers with billboards. The Knicks have a piece in Stoudemire that is significantly better than what Cleveland has on paper. The Nets and Heat can offer him a chance to team with Wade or Bosh or maybe even both. The Bulls can offer a similar package, plus Rose and Noah.

I've been saying LeBron's leaving for quite some time and I still believe it. Some odd feeling tells me that LeBron and Wade team up in Chicago and the Bulls work a sign and trade to get Bosh in the fold. I see Boozer ending up in New Jersey, where he will eventually be joined by Chis Paul(as a Hornets fan for 15 years, I know how this team operates. They aren't aggressive enough to put a winner around Paul anytime soon and GM Jeff Bower seems enamored with last year's rookie sensation, point guard Darren Collison. This team will either deal Paul early or watch him leave as a free agent. Either way, Paul's days in NOLA are numbered. If you're a Hornets fan, the fact that the team is LISTENING to CP3 offers has to be unsettling). The Knicks, who now have Amare, swing a deal for 'Melo and Gilbert Arenas and the NBA becomes MLB, where there are 6 or 7 elite teams and everybody else constantly tries to rebuild to keep up with the pact. I see Miami and New Orleans suffering the most and I see the NBA, with attendance down and the stars now aligned in the NBA's biggest cities, start to seriously consider contraction when they go to the table for the new collective bargaining agreement.

However, if my Dirk prediction going south is any indication, you should probably believe my predictions as much as the brainfarts of Stephen A. Smith.

NBA Free Agency Primer

You may have heard this at least once between now and the last two years but this summer's crop of NBA free agents....well, it's pretty stacked. In an effort to apply some blanket coverage on the subject so we aren't boring everybody with a weekly "Where's LeBron going?" piece like so many of the major news sites are going to(I'm looking at you, ESPN!), I've decided to weigh in on where I think the big name SHOULD go(keyword: SHOULD...I don't want people saying "Well, I thought you said LeBron's going to New York!"). So here's my take on this summer's spending spree and I (just me, personally, I can't speak for Gabe) can assure you that, with both of us covering NBA teams for ProSportsBlogging this summer(Gabe on the Spurs, myself on the Wizards, that this will be the last time you hear about this before free agency kicks off July 1st.

1. LeBron James(Current team: Cleveland Cavaliers, as if you didn't know)

Breakdown: I shouldn't have to give you King James' resume, so I won't. The last few weeks, LeBron's been picked apart more than Heidi Montag on the surgeon's table. He went from winning his second MVP and being a sure-shot to taking home his first ring to, all of a sudden, a Karl Malone clone who will never win the big one because he lacks "killer instinct" after getting eliminated by the Celtics. Then came the report that James' mother may or may not have had "the relations" with LeBron's teammate Delonte West. With the early exit, everyone has now had extra time to give their take on LeBron's offseason plans.

Where he SHOULD go: A friend of mine asked me "If your mother slept with your co-worker, would you leave for another company or stay and have him fired?". I chose to leave. If LeBron stays and gets Delonte exiled, everyone will know it was because of this alleged incident with LeBron's mother and, not only will it add more fuel to the fire, it will give legitimacy to the story.

That's why LeBron should reunite with his good friend Jay-Z and go to the New Jersey Nets. The Nets give LeBron the opportunity to play in New York(albeit a couple years from now). Yes, I know, so do the Knicks, but here's what the Knicks don't have: a top three pick in a decent draft, a good supporting cast, aggressive ownership and the chance for LeBron to pick his own coach. If LeBron goes to the Knicks, he'll have 30 times the pressure to win a title than he did in Cleveland. Knicks fans care about championships. They are also, and I know this is going to get me in trouble, the most fickle fans in the NBA. The longer it takes LeBron to deliver a ring, the more likely fans will turn on him. It happened with Patrick Ewing. It happened with the Yankees and A-Rod. New Yorkers are impatient(Yes, I know, so are New Jerseyians...but that's only during midday traffic).

In New Jersey, he gets a new owner dying to prove himself. He gets Devin Harris and Brook Lopez PLUS whomever the Nets take at #3(be it Wesley Johnson of Syracuse or Derrick Favors of Georgia Tech). The Knicks gave away their lottery pick to Utah and, right now, they only have David Lee as a known commodity. Plus, the Nets have the money to bring in a second big name. Does Lopez-Favors-James-Joe Johnson(or Ray Allen)-Harris sound better to you than Eddy Curry-Lee-James-Joe Johnson(or Ray Allen)-Chris Duhon to you? I thought so. As for the other destinations? Look, if LeBron goes to Miami and wins a ring with D-Wade, the knock will be that he needed Wade to carry him. In New Jersey(or New York), LeBron gets to be his own man. Cleveland had a chance to give that to LeBron and they blew it for seven years. The Clippers? They have a young nucleus, but nothing proven beyond always-fat, always-hurt point guard Baron Davis. Plus, he'd be sharing his home court with Kobe and will be playing for a notoriously cheap owner. So LeBron, start looking for houses in the Garden State and take my advice and stay the hell out of South Orange.

2. Chris Bosh(Current team: Toronto Raptors)

Breakdown: When Bosh was taken 4th overall back in 2003 after just one year at Georgia Tech, "experts" loved his potential but thought he would need a year or two to grow. Turns out they were wrong. Bosh has been an instant double-double machine, has been remarkably healthy and has shown off a KG-like mid-range stroke with his quick left hand. Recently, Bosh gave his list of five teams he'd like to join this summer(Lakers, Raptors, Heat, Knicks and Bulls. Although, the Nets were added later on). As soon as Bosh named L.A., Lakers fans started getting into a tizzy about "Avatar"(meaning Bosh, not the movie) coming to L.A.

Where he SHOULD go: The only way Bosh is going to L.A. is through a sign-and-trade and we've already read this story before. There was talk early in the season of a Andrew Bynum-for-Bosh trade but that eventually simmered and it was believed that it was a rumor floated by Lakers coach Phil Jackson to motivate Bynum. While the Lakers gives Bosh the best chance at a title, it also gives him the worst chance at playing time and touches. In L.A., Bosh would be a third or fourth option behind Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Ron Artest. Plus, there's the presence of Lamar Odom. Bringing in Bosh would not only be a disservice to Odom and Gasol(as it would be a more expensive, bigger name that requires a decent amount of shots) but it would minimize Bosh's star power. Bosh isn't the type of big man who can carry a team by himself(as seen with his stint in Toronto). He's similar to where Gasol was prior to the Lakers trade out of Memphis: A star-quality big man, who is better served as a number two on a contender.

That's why Bosh should head to Miami and link up with Dwayne Wade. The Heat haven't had a legit big man since Shaq and 'Zo left. If the Raptors can talk the Heat into a sign-and-trade, perhaps a deal for troubled scorer Michael Beasley and guard Mario Chalmers would suffice(and if not, you still have Bosh/Wade/Beasley/Chalmers plus one more)? That would free some space for Miami to re-sign Wade, bring in Bosh and then sign a lower level role player like Mike Miller or Raymond Felton. The Heat are a top five team in the East with just Wade and his bumbling gang of four behind him. Bosh gives them another weapon. I know Bosh wants to wait on LeBron and sign wherever he goes, but what if LeBron somehow goes back to Cleveland? Unlike LeBron, Wade has a ring and has proven he can get to the Promised Land by putting a team on his back. However, like LeBron, Wade can't do it all by himself forever. He needs a sidekick and that's a role Bosh is built for.

3. Dwayne Wade(Current team: Miami Heat)

Breakdown: All "Flash" has done since entering the league in 2003 is win a championship, single-handedly keep Miami basketball alive, and become perhaps the best basketball player in the Eastern Conference. What Wade has managed to do with the Heat is nothing short of breathtaking. He made them a playoff team in his rookie season, then made them a title winner with Shaq a year later. Except, you don't hear much about Wade because all the talk has been about LeBron since the two entered the league. Whether Wade is better than LeBron is another debate for another day, the fact is, he's one of the game's 3 or 4 best players in the league and he's on the market.

Where he SHOULD go: Unless there is someway to orchestrate the Wade-LeBron-Bosh triumvate in New York like some had whispered about, Wade should stay in Miami. Yes, the Heat haven't been as aggressive in building a team around Wade as the Cavs were with LeBron or the Lakers were with Kobe, but at least Wade has the memory of winning a title in Miami to fall back on. Wade knows he's good enough to make the team a dangerous playoff team on his own, but the Celtics series proved that Wade needs some help. Could he find it elsewhere if he can get Bosh or LeBron or Boozer to tag along? Sure, but Wade has too much pride to ride someone else's coattails. He needs to be the alpha dog. In a class this deep, he can find one, whether it be Boozer or Bosh or Amare Stoudemire. He gets to work under one of the game's great minds in team president Pat Riley. Riley knows what is needed to win. You don't have that luxury in some of these other places.

Wade needs to stay and be the face of the franchise but only under the condition that his re-signing is paired with the signing of another big name. If he's willing to take less money to make the Bosh-Wade-LeBron trio work in Miami(far-fetched, but still), then fine. If he's willing to accept a big man like Boozer or Avatar to patrol the paint? Great, but Wade should only come back AFTER he puts pressure on the organization to make some whole sale changes. If he signs early, and the Heat make no other moves, then Flash is stuck without the luxury of having an opt-out clause like he did this season. Wade's managed to be a billboard star without the flashy lights of the Big Apple. He doesn't need the Knicks to make him a phenomenon. He just needs to win and he can do that by finishing what he started in South Beach.

4. Amare Stoudemire: (Current team: Phoenix Suns)

Breakdown: Like Bosh, many thought Amare needed some seasoning going from high school to the pros before he developed into a genuine beast. Like Bosh, they were wrong. Stoudemire has been a monster inside since Day 1. He's also been very unlucky. The Suns couldn't win the big one despite years of having supporting casts that would make LeBron salivate. Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw....the Suns have had the components to win titles. They just couldn't get over the hump. Over the last couple years, Amare's wore out his welcome and that has resulted in his name being involved in trade talks the last two seasons. The final straw may be his recent no-shows in the Western Conference Finals, where the Suns have been dominated inside by the Lakers. Those lackluster performances have led to reports that Amare's not coming back to the desert this summer....

Where he SHOULD go:......nor should he. While micro-fracture surgery has robbed Amare of being the athletic freak he once was, he's still capable of being a terror on both ends of the court. In Phoenix, he plays in a high-octane offense that is more geared toward scoring than defense(even with Alvin Gentry being more defense-oriented than predecessor Mike D'Antoni). Also, Phoenix has done favors to Amare's ego by letting trade rumors circulate for two seasons without anything being done on that end. The Suns were expected to be rebuilding at the beginning of the season, but shocked the world by being title contenders. That run can't go for much longer. Steve Nash is reaching the twilight of his career and his aching back can only handle so much punishment. Beyond that, even the role players are getting old. Grant Hill is pushing 60. Leandro Barbosa's getting up there. Amare needs to go to a young team where he can be the veteran and be able to show his skills on both offense AND defense.

My pick? The Washington Wizards. Look, teams aren't going to seriously consider Amare until after Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh are signed. Amare's a Lexus. Boozer's a Mercedes and Bosh is a Ferrari. You're not going to consider buying the Lexus if the Benz and the Ferrari are still on the lot and will only cost a few bucks more than the Lex. When the Wizards won the lottery and the chance at John Wall, they made themselves a bit more attractive to free agents. D.C. is a solid market. Wall is the type of point guard that can make Amare look good. Flip Saunders is a proven coach(three straight Eastern Conference Finals with Detroit prior to coming to Washington). I know Amare's a Florida boy and going back home to the Heat would be a nice homecoming, but is he higher on Miami's priorities than Bosh or Boozer? I don't think so. A Wall-Stoudemire combo could make the Wizards at least a playoff team and make Amare a bigger star and, as the team grows, they become players in the East(After all, if Cleveland loses LeBron, that's one less team at the top of the conference).

5. Carlos Boozer: (Current team: Utah Jazz)

Breakdown: Like Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer has been the subject of trade talk for the last couple of years. The breakout and subsequent big re-signing of fellow forward Paul Millsap made Boozer expendable, but nobody was going to trade for a guy who may jet at the end of the season if things go awry. Now, Boozer's a free agent and he can bring his services as an inside rebounding bully to a contender and the Jazz can launch the Millsap Era in Utah. For all of Boozer's dominance inside, the knock on him is his lack of durability. That might hurt him in the market(especially with Chris Bosh also a free agent), but teams would be crazy to completely write off Boozer because he's a little frail.

Where he SHOULD go: For Cavs fans, Carlos Boozer is "the one that got away". Since Boozer left Cleveland after his rookie contract was up, the Cavs have been relentless in finding a suitable replacement....and they've failed miserably. Antawn Jamison is nice, but he's nowhere near the inside presence that Boozer is. You have to wonder if LeBron is thinking that same thing. Carlos Boozer could have been the sidekick LeBron needed to be a title contender and the front office let him walk.

So why not a reunion? If LeBron signs with New Jersey, as I suggested he should, he should talk the suits into bringing his old buddy Boozer with him. That would allow the Nets to shift their focus to Wesley Johnson in the draft(or trading the pick, if need be) and gives the Nets a ridiculous inside combo with Boozer and Brook Lopez. Like the Knicks, the Nets spent much of the last few years cutting payroll so they can make moves this summer. Right now, they may be lined up for two big signings. Yi Jianlin is a nice outside shooting threat at power forward, but he's not starter-calibur. You bring in Boozer, who's the type of physical banger the Nets haven't had since Derrick Coleman and it frees up Lopez and it gives guys like Devin Harris(or LeBron, if he signs) alot of options. Again, with the Cavs potentially losing LeBron, that's one less team at the top. Could a Lopez-Boozer-LeBron-Wesley Johnson-Harris combo at least be a 6 or 7 seed in the East? Sure, especially with the right coach. Boozer will flirt with Miami and maybe even the Knicks(though I don't think he's a good fit in that offense) but with returning to Utah no longer an option, it should be Boozer(not Bosh) who waits to join LeBron wherever he goes.

6. Joe Johnson(Current team: Atlanta Hawks)

Breakdown: He was left for dead after the Celtics gave up on him being a star and sent to Phoenix. After breaking out with the Suns, he found greener pastures in Atlanta and made the Hawks a contender before too long. After a Eastern semis sweep by Orlando, Joe Johnson may have played his last game for the Hawks. Johnson is a big guard who can run the point, or even play the 3(and maybe some 4 in the right situation). He's like a veteran version of top prospect Evan Turner(though without Turner's upside).

Where he SHOULD go: The Hawks are already paying Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford and will eventually have to pay Josh Smith and Al Horford. With attendance in the ATL always suspect, you don't know if they can afford to give JJ the money he wants(or keep him for long, if they do pay him). Plus, with Mike Woodson out and new owners coming, there's a new regime coming to town. Johnson doesn't need to be a part of that.

Signing with the Knicks reunites Johnson with his own Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni. Mike D. knows what Johnson can do and Johnson knows he can excel in that offense. I know Joe Johnson isn't the name Knicks fans were hoping for with the recent salary purge, but you have to be realisitic and realize this Knicks team doesn't have the players to entice a guy like a LeBron James. Bringing in Joe Johnson is a nice start and if you can also bring back a former popular Knicks center by the name of Marcus Camby, then I'd be happy.(The other option, Knicks fans, might be trading for Gilbert Arenas.......) Johnson could be a point forward type or be the scorer. He could also try to team with LeBron somewhere but my bet is LeBron's going to take his time before deciding to leave home or not. Johnson can be a star in New York, and unlike in Atlanta, he won't have to worry about playing in half-filled buildings(although if free agency doesn't go as planned, you wonder if Knick fans will boycott going to the Garden).

So those are this year's Big Six. There are a couple of other notables available this summer. Here's some quick hit thoughts on them:

* I think this summer we wave goodbye to Shaq, AI, and T-Mac. Shaq mentioned returning to L.A. and that very well could happen, but I think Shaq proved this year that his heart's not really in it. If Shaq couldn't get in shape to try and win a ring for LeBron, what makes anyone think he'll be fit to team back up with the man that he couldn't co-exist with in his prime: Kobe Bryant? Iverson could play a couple more years in Philly but, with Evan Turner coming, minutes are going to be hard to come by and you wonder if the Sixers will even want to bring back "The Answer" because of that. As for McGrady, it's time he listens to his body and hangs 'em up. He could probably con the Clippers into overpaying him so he can play 30-40 games a season for them. McGrady isn't washed up. He still can be an elite scorer. It's just his knees have went to mush and, with his style of play, they aren't going to get any better.

*I suggested Marcus Camby go back to the Knicks and I think either New York or a return to Denver makes the most sense. The run in Portland was nice but, with Oden and Przybilla coming back, there's no room for "The Camby Man". Like T-Mac, Camby is always an injury risk and you wonder how much is left in the tank, but guys like Camby will always have a spot in this league because every team can use a shot-blocker/rebounder who isn't a team cancer(just look at Theo Ratliff). Camby isn't going to be a sexy signing for anyone but he may be the move that wins a playoff game or two for a contender and the Nuggets can sure use some more defense after getting humiliated by Utah in the playoffs. Another sleeper choice for Camby? The Oklahoma City Thunder, who need a big man and should have made the trade for Camby this winter anyway.

*The other "big" name is Celtics guard Ray Allen. Allen was almost foolishly shipped to Boston with Celtics savior Rajon Rondo last year and Allen was on the block for most of the first few months. In typical Allen fashion, Ray has heated up during the playoffs as the smell of new money has flared through his nostrils. The man once known as "Jesus Shuttlesworth" has gotten up in years and the C's may be better suited to look elsewhere for a big-time shooter(as they saw with the 'Sheed signing, some people just lose interest when they get old and overpaid). With the team getting older, they can't afford to hog up more cap space with aging talent. If they decide to move on with their starting shooting guard, Allen could look to a team like New Jersey(who desperately need a shooter), Washington(if they can get rid of Arenas), or Phoenix(who can use someone to take the load off Nash).

Winners And Losers of NBA Trade Deadline

After weeks of trade rumors, salary dumps, offseason prognostications and various other hubbub, the smoke has finally cleared on the NBA trading deadline. Some teams got better. Some got worse. Some just sat around grabbing their nuts. So without further ado, here are the winners and losers of 2010's Trade-a-palooza.

WINNERS

1. Houston Rockets: They turned an oft-injured, overpaid, sulking waste of space into a quality, young shooter and some much needed size. The Rockets had to part ways with promising forwards Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey, but managed to get back sharp-shooting Kevin Martin to fill the scoring void left by Tracy McGrady(who went to the Knicks), as well as acquire a few new promising bigs in 2009 1st rounder Jordan Hill, versatile(yet overpaid) Jared Jefferies and adequate backup center Hilton Armstrong. For a team that was playing the 6'9 Landry at center, Houston did well to grab some length in the 6'11 Hill, 6'10 Jefferies and the 7' Armstrong. They also managed to take advantage of the Knicks' desperation to make cap room for LeBron next summer by conning New York into the right to swap 1st rounders in 2011 and the right to take the Knicks' 1st rounder in 2012. The 2011 swap is Top 1 protected, while the '12 1st rounder is Top 5 protected. The impact of those picks will be realized down the road, but for now, the Rockets will go into next year with a potentially healthy Yao Ming and two young scoring wing players in Martin and offseason signing Trevor Ariza. On top of that, they'll get to develop Hill and Armstrong while still possessing solid bench players like Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks. All in all, the Rockets owned the NBA Trade Deadline.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers: In the end, the Cavs made the smart move by opting for Antawn Jamison over Amare Stoudemire. The potential defensive deficiency that a Amare-Shaq frontcourt would have posed could have been disasterous to a team that will have to face teams like Atlanta and Orlando, who like to dominate the inside. The presence of Jamison allows the Cavs to stretch the floor and, most importantly, snatching Jamison from Washington didn't cost them young forward J.J. Hickson, whom the Cavs highly regard. The down side to the trade is that now the pressure is on LeBron and company to bring home the title after management has shown its commitment to build a winner around "The Akron Hammer". If the team can re-sign Big Z(who was sent to Washington in the Jamison trade, but is expected to be bought out), then the deal becomes that much more of a coup for Cleveland. Point guard Sebastian Telfair will probably spend the rest of the season perfecting his bench posture, as he will be hard-pressed to find minutes on a team that already has Delonte West, Mo Williams and Boobie Gibson in the backcourt. The Cavs were the team to beat in the East prior to bringing in Jamison, now that the former Tarheel is in Cleveland, the view from the top of the mountian just got a little bit steeper.

3. New York Knicks: T-Mac's impact is moot at this point because the purpose of bringing the former 2-time scoring champ into the Big Apple was purely monetary. Depending on how the salary cap goes, the Knicks could walk into this offseason with the biggest bank of any potential buyer. Of course, that only really matters if they snag the big fish New Yorkers have wanted for the last two years: LeBron James. If the Knicks can't woo LeBron to the Garden this summer, than all of this movemaking was a waste. They would have given up early on young forward Jordan Hill for nothing. They would have squandered a chance at building through the draft by swapping first rounders in '11 and '12, and most importantly, they would continue to infuriate an already impatient fan base. Make no mistake, for Knicks fans, it's LeBron or Bust. Maybe they'll settle on Wade and Bosh or Wade and Amare, but if LeBron re-ups with Cleveland or worse, signs with the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets, we might have anarchy in Manhattan. For now though, the Knicks made all the right moves(short of finding someone dumb enough to take on Eddy Curry's contract) and they got some decent returns for jitterbug point man Nate Robinson(Guards Eddie House and J.R. Giddens, mainly) as well as shedding themselves of all-time bust Darko Milicic. A solid night of moves, but the real payoff has to come this summer.

4. Portland Trailblazers: They needed size in the worst way and they got it by pilfering one of the best rebounder/shotblockers in the game in Marcus Camby. Sure, acquiring a guy with Camby's injury history after losing two starting centers for the season is a bit risky, but if the Blazers are going to compete this season, they would have needed someone of Camby's ilk to man the paint. Also, what did it really cost them? The Blazers were deep enough at point guard and small forward to afford to ditch young Travis Outlaw and the bad contract of point guard Steve Blake. That still leaves the team with veteran Andre Miller and youngster Jerrod Bayless to run point and sharpshooting Euros Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum on the wing. If Camby can stay healthy for the rest of the season, this trade becomes the biggest steal of any of the deals done this year.

5. Dallas Mavericks: They took advantage of a Wizards front office desperately seeking ways to tell fans to go fuck themselves. Once Gilbert Arenas was suspended for the season, the firebombing began and the Mavs turned out to be the biggest beneficiaries of the two stars dealt. By snagging rugged guard/forward Caron Butler(as well as center Brandon Haywood and swingman DeShawn Stevenson), the Mavs added some nice depth as well as a proven scorer and defender in Butler. Plus, they got to wave bye-bye to headache-inducing knucklehead Josh Howard. Now, much like the Blazers and Rockets' moves, it remains to be seen whether this really changes the inevitable, which is the Lakers running away with the West. Still, three teams that had big time needs, filled them at the right time and the Lakers(who remained silent after failing to acquire Kirk Hinrich from the Bulls) have their hands a bit more full than they did three weeks ago.

LOSERS

1. Amare Stoudemire: Fat girls and band geeks haven't been as disappointed in the middle of February the last two years as much as Amare Stoudemire. Just how many times does a man have to hear a trade out of town is imminent before he snaps once the deadline passes and he's stuck in the same place. Last year, we heard Amare was a mortal lock to be out of Phoenix before all deals fell through and Stoudemire ended his season in a dress suit on the sidelines. This year, Amare(in a contract year, mind you), sat back and watched Cleveland, Miami and Chicago drool over him only to find himself still in the desert. Infamous troublemaker Ron Artest can find a way to be traded twice, but an explosive, young All-Star(who may have a bit of a lax approach to defense, but nevertheless) can't seem to get a new address for the second straight year. It remains to be seen how this recent disappointment affects the big man's psyche. After all, Stoudemire is prone to injury and he wasn't the most motivated man in the world before this latest managerial screw-up. Does the big fella risk injury by going all out these next few months in an effort to raise his already high interest or does he put it on cruise control for a team that managed to screw him over for a second straight year and risk the PR hit for being unmotivated? That's a decision that has to weight heavy on Stoudemire's mind after another deadline that seems like deja vu.

2. Miami Heat: As bad as things turned out for Amare, the same could be said for Dwayne Wade. Five months ago, D-Wade ordered the team to get him some help if they wanted Flash to stick around past this season. They flirted with Phoenix and getting Amare. They whispered to Utah about Carlos Boozer. In the end......nothing. Even with Jermaine O'Neal's expiring contract, the dangling of troubled former #2 overall pick Michael Beasley and two first round draft picks in next year's draft, the Heat managed to just stay put. Does this mean Dwayne has played his last season in Miami? Who knows? But if this is a sign of the aggressiveness the front office is going to show to build a contender around a certified Top 3 or 4 player in his contract year, then there really is no reason for Wade to not go elsewhere this summer.

3. Washington Wizards: What an absolute sad sack, worthless, piece of shit organization! What a way to turn around and bitchslap fans right in the face. Once things went south for the Wizards, the front office flipped off fans by auctioning off stars Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison for pennies like they were O.J. Simpson's trophies. Let's take a look at the Wizards' moves over the last year or so. First, they offered that ridiculous $112 million contract to Gilbert Arenas(who barely played the past two seasons). Then, they blew their shot at Ricky Rubio by dealing away the 5th pick in the draft when they could have easily snagged the Spanish prodigy and talked him into staying in the U.S. by offering a big market(or at least, a bigger market than Minnesota). Then, they get shot in the foot by Arenas' moronic gun possession charge. Now, in the midst of another horrible season, they practically give away Butler and Jamison for expirings in the hopes of a huge spending spree this offseason. Who the hell would want to come to Washington, and how the hell can they expect fans to waltz back into the Verizon Center after the huge "FUCK YOU!" they just emailed to everyone in the nation's capital? How can this team offer tickets for more than 50 cents with the roster of nobodies they have now? You think someone's paying top dollar in a recession to see an idiot like Josh Howard?(Side note: How great is it that Howard goes from insulting the National Anthem on YouTube to now playing in D.C.?) If the Wizards don't snag two top free agents this summer, then David Stern should do the right thing and contract this miserable abomination of a franchise and ban Ernie Grunfeld and his stable of dumbasses from linking up with another NBA franchise ever again.

INCOMPLETES

1. Los Angeles Clippers: They turned a valuable trade piece in Camby into a backup point guard and platooner at small forward. They also opened up quite a bit of cap space in the process. Like so many other teams, the moves by the Clippers depend on what they do with that newfound cap room. If the Clippers can woo LeBron with the promise of a huge market, a roster of talented youngsters(Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman as well as Baron Davis) than it was worth giving away Camby for 10 cents on the dollar. Still, the $100 million question is this: Would a prominant star like LeBron(or any big name, for that matter) be willing to climb aboard a ship owned by a much-publicized racist like Donald Sterling? If James wasn't already getting his lumps already from activists like Jim Brown for his unwillingness to speak out against racial injustice, he sure will if he agrees to take hate money from a evil douche like Sterling. Do I think the Clippers end up with any of the big free agents next year? No. LeBron's choosing between Cleveland, New York or Miami and I can't see Wade or Bosh coming to the West coast. Plus, after watching Blake Griffin's knee snap like a twig, how can you not think this team is possessed by some kind of bad omen?

2. Boston Celtics: They got scoring mini-mite Nate Robinson for a barrell of benchwarmers and they managed to hold on to aging Ray Allen and keep the team chemistry in tact, but this team has gotten old fast. What looked like a potential dynasty after their championship run two years ago now feels like it decades have passed. Kevin Garnett is on his last leg(pun intended) and the mental and physical fatigue of carrying this team is once again exhausting Paul Pierce. Allen has shown his age, too, as he is not nearly as effective as in years past and free agent signing Rasheed Wallace has proven to be a waste of cash. On top of that, there's no youth movement behind these guys anymore. Glen Davis is a serviceable backup, but he's hardly someone who can carry the mantle after KG hangs them up and the team already lacked depth even before it dealt three players to New York for Robinson. The bottom line? This team can still be a contender if they find a fountian of youth, but with teams like Cleveland improving at the deadline, it looks like the final nail is just waiting to be hammered into the coffin.

3. Chicago Bulls: They managed to get something(albeit not much) for John Salmon's terrible contract and the unfufilled potential of former #2 overall pick, Tyrus Thomas. They also secured some nice cap room and you have to think they'll be looking at bringing in hometown boy Dwayne Wade and perhaps making a run at a Boozer or Bosh as well. Still, they swung and missed on sending away high-priced guard Kirk Hinrich(after a deal with the Lakers fell apart) and one wonders what they could have gotten in a sign-and-trade at the end of the year for Thomas if he managed to show some promise down the stretch. Once again, what happens this summer will go a long way into how we judge everything that transpired here.

4. Sacramento Kings: They went from believing that marksman Kevin Martin could co-exist with potential ROTY point guard Tyreke Evans to trading Martin for a couple expiring contracts and a promising forward in Carl Landry. Larry Hughes is a nice replacement for Martin, if he stays healthy which he never does. Landry is a solid banger inside but the team already has Kenny Thomas(though his contract expires at the end of the year) and fellow young prospect Jason Thompson. The acquisition of Landry has to come at the sacrifice of one of them(especially since Joey Dorsey came with him). If Landry turns out to be a 20-10 guy and the Kings can snag a solid wing who complements Evans in either the draft or free agency, then everything worked out in their favor. However, if Martin lights it up for Houston and Landry can't re-create his magic in Houston, this trade will leave many scratching their heads.