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Could The Hornets' Interest in Glen Davis Lead To Something Bigger?

By Celticsfanatic | July 9, 2009 | Celtics 17

McDyess headed to San Antonio.Wallace officially signs.Andersen re-signs with Denver for five years.I love Glen Davis. No, wait -- I LOVE Glen Davis. And apparently, so do the Hornets. New Orleans is reportedly keen on the restricted free agent, but is tied up with money issues which push them further behind in the race for (Big) Baby.From Marc Spears:According to an NBA source this morning, Davis is receiving interest from Boston, San Antonio, Detroit and New Orleans. San Antonio and Detroit are pursuing Detroit free-agent forward Antonio McDyess. The team left without McDyess could immediately turn its attention to Davis. While the Hornets are very interested, financial concerns limit them to only a possible sign-and-trade deal for Davis. Now who on the Hornets could we possibly be interested in? Well, here's a not-so-subtle hint from one of the first commentators who offered thoughts on the Spears article:"Sign and deal for...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Boston Celtics, Eddie House, Glen Davis, James Posey, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace

Ranking Offseason Moves

By Michael De Leon | July 8, 2009 | Project Spurs

In Chad Ford's latest at ESPN.com, he ranks all 30 NBA teams for summer moves including free agent signings, trades and the NBA Draft.With the trade to get Richard Jefferson, and stealing DeJuan Blair in the second round of the draft, Ford picks the Spurs at #1.The Spurs always seem to find a way to turn a little into a lot. They turned three aging players past their primes into Richard Jefferson -- an athletic forward at the peak of his game. And even without a first-round pick in this year's draft, they were still able to come away with some terrific players in the second round. Specifically, Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, who was the best rebounder in college basketball and is a beast in the paint. If his knees stay sturdy, he'll go down as the steal of the draft.Now it sounds like the Spurs also have the inside track...

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Everybody Loves Slam Dunks!

By Zach Harper | July 8, 2009 | Talk Hoops

With all this depressing talk today of people stealing tapes, me pimping out my own writings, and salary caps and economic woes destroying the memories of millions of fans, I figured I'd pass along this video from Ethan Jaynes at NESW Sports. It's the Top 10 Slam Dunks of the past year. Here are my thoughts on each and every dunk (I know you were dying for them):10. Westbrook alley-oop off the backboard from Earl WatsonIf you're a European player, DON'T EVER STAND UNDER THE BASKET EVER! Someone is going to try to embarrass you. 9. Dahntay Jones yaks on Erick DampierI'm pretty sure Erick Dampier was reclassified as European five years ago.8. Tracy McGrady dunks on Tyrus ThomasTo borrow a line from Doc Holliday in Tombstone for T-Mac, "the tales of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Okay, no they haven't but that was still nice to see from...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Dahntay Jones, Dwyane Wade, Gerald Wallace, Josh Smith, LeBron James, Mike Taylor, NBA, Russell Westbrook, Top 10 Dunks, Tracy McGrady

Summer League Profile: Ian Mahinmi

By Michael De Leon | July 8, 2009 | Project Spurs

With the 2009 NBA Summer League beginning this weekend, and the Spurs playing their first game July 12, we here at Project Spurs will begin to profile some players on the team. We'll continue with Ian Mahinmi.While Ian Mahinmi is not new to the Spurs, he has only played 23 minutes in two seasons for the silver & black.After a lackluster summer league showing last Summer and a disappointing season recovering from an ankle injury, Ian will have to show up and dominate in summer league play next week if he wants to ensure his future with the Spurs.Selected with the 28th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the little-known Mahinmi was labeled as a future prospect for the Spurs. He was 18-years-old when drafted and playing in his native France, but he was still very raw, while showing some potential and giving Spurs fans hope for the next big...

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Here's Some Self-Promotion (Like Always)

By Zach Harper | July 8, 2009 | Talk Hoops

I don't know if you know who I am but I'm kind of a small deal. I recently started spewing my usual basketball nonsense over at one of the greatest basketball websites ever created -- Hardwood Paroxysm. I know what you're thinking, "What blackmail-type evidence do I have over Matt Moore?" Wouldn't you like to know?!?ANYWAY, I had my first article posted on the old HP on June 29th and Matt Moore gave me this introduction: Zach Harper is the author of TalkHoops.net and Cowbell Kingdom. He has difficulty (as most people do) with how fast I speak in real life. He's a former male gymnast who won gold at the 1994 Bel-Air gymnastics tournament. That last part is a lie. He's our newest contributor to Hardwood Paroxysm. That part is not a lie. Revel in him. He opens with a discussion of hoops junkiehood, and the joys of young...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Hardwood Paroxysm, Marcus Haislip, NBA, San Antonio Spurs

The Salary Cap Hates Your Team

By Zach Harper | July 8, 2009 | Talk Hoops

Remember how the attendance was supposedly on par for NBA teams and the impending financial apocalypse of the NBA small market teams was not as dire as the crazy media made it out to be? Remember how everyone was overreacting and the NBA was going to be just fine? Well, maybe we should take a look at this report from ESPN.com: In a memo announcing next season's salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, sent out shortly before the league's annual July moratorium on signings and trades was lifted at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, NBA teams also received tentative projections from the league warning that the cap is estimated to drop to somewhere between $50.4 million and $53.6 million for the 2010-11 season.The official league memorandum, obtained by ESPN.com, forecasts a dip in basketball-related income in the 2009-10 season of 2.5 percent to 5 percent, which threatens to take the 2010-11 cap...

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LeBron James Steals Passes and Tapes

By Zach Harper | July 8, 2009 | Talk Hoops

We all know how prolific LeBron James is at shooting the passing lanes with the closing speed of Deion Sanders to pluck the ball out of mid-air and turn it into a SportsCenter Top 10 clip. I mean, it's really quite incredible to watch the entire thing happen, almost in slow motion, while in real life it probably takes no more than three or four seconds before he punctuates the play with a tomahawk exclamation. But when he gets dunked on by a college player at a Nike Basketball Skills Camp that he's hosting, he's even better at stealing things. This comes from a Wizards Extreme Forum that was passed along through the Truth About It Twitter: On Monday night at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio, NBA star Lebron James was dunked on huge by Xavier's Jordan Crawford with a vicious two-hander. Unfortunately you won't be...

Read more | 4 Comments | Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, NBA

Analysis of Boston's Addition of Rasheed Wallace

By Celticsfanatic | July 8, 2009 | Celtics 17

As you all know, the Celtics negotiated with free agent forward Rasheed Wallace, who has verbally agreed to join the C's, and looks to sign a two-year deal for the full mid-level exception on Wednesday. The addition of Sheed will impact the team in a way I can't yet figure out. His off-court attitude will certainly be a problem, especially if he's going to be with us for two years (unless trades or injuries change that). But it's been said that teammates love him and guys think he's a winner. After all, Kevin Garnett did hunt him down. After the jump, analysis on the great Rasheed Wallace (kidding on the "great" part guys, no need to bash me... or is there?)....

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Doc Rivers, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, NBA, Paul Pierce, Portland Trail Blazers, Rajon Rondo, Rasheed Wallace, Ray Allen

NBA Outsider: Memphis Grizzlies Draft Follow Up

By Staff Report | June 30, 2009 | MVN Outsider

3 Shades of Blue tells how this years draft picks are not super stars but certainly upgrades.WHEN THE DRAFT GIVES YOU LEMONS..... The Memphis Grizzlies exercised all three of the picks with which they entered the 2009 NBA draft-nos. 2, 27, and 36, selecting Hasheem Thabeet, Demarre Carroll, and Sam Young. Sure, when the year 2020 comes around, the potential for this year's draft crop to be viewed as one of the best ever is pretty low-but as the title states, the draft might give you lemons...and sometimes the lemonade takes a bit longer to make and isn't quite as good as Grandma's on a 90-degree day, but it should still be pretty tasty. What Michael Heisley has stated many times is that he wants to field a more defensive-oriented team (a philosophy with which I heartily agree), and this draft bears his mark in bold ink. Thabeet, Carroll, and...Read more

Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, NBA Draft, NBA Outsider

NBA Rumor Mill: Spurs Dealing Manu, Cavs Want Riley & Alston's Ticked at SVG

By Adam Sweeney | June 12, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Well the NBA Finals sure were a blast, huh? Wait... they're not over? Hmm. While we ponder what could have been, as visions of made Courtney Lee lay-ups and Stan Van Gundy actually making substitutions dance through our heads, we've got the best rumors in the league. So take a time-out and get your fill of water cooler talk. The NBA Rumor Mill is rolling. Spurs Have Manu on the Move to Washington?The San Antonio Spurs have yet to come out of shock induced coma they went into after being beaten down by the Dallas Mavericks in the Playoffs. If the rumors are any sign of what they're planning, things might be a bit different in S.A. very soon. The Washington Wizards apparently have an unknown offer for Manu Ginobili on the table, says Hoopsworld.SLAM Online said a "deal that makes a lot of sense for both sides is...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili, Orlando Magic, Pat Riley, Rafer Alston, San Antonio Spurs, Stan Van Gundy

NBA Great Debates: Spurs, Jazz Disappoint

By Staff Report | April 30, 2009 | MVN Outsider

NBA Outsider's Joe Boikess and Adam Sweeney debate the issue: Which team was a bigger playoff disappointment, the San Antonio Spurs or the Utah Jazz?Joe Boikess believes San Antonio failed to live up to expectations:The Mavericks' wide array of scorers frustrated the Spurs, who lacked a lot of punch on offense because of the absence of Manu Ginobili. The Jazz fought hard during the two games in Salt Lake City to forge a split, but they needed to play at their best in Game 5 in L.A., and that's not an easy task for a team that's been pretty bad on the road all year long.It's hard to believe that two teams who had legitimate championship aspirations before this season could be ousted so quickly, but this week it became a reality. So which team was the bigger disappointment? It has to be the Spurs.Entering the season, the Lakers...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Playoffs, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Five Questions: Talking NBA Playoffs with The Lakers Nation

By Anthony Hall | April 18, 2009 | MVN Outsider

As they get set to open their first-round series against the Utah Jazz on Sunday afternoon, the Lakers enter the playoffs as the clear favorites to come out of the Western Conference -- they did, after all, finish the season with a whopping 11-game advantage over the Spurs, Nuggets and Blazers in the Western Conference standings. We wanted to delve into what, exactly, the road to the NBA Finals looks like for the Lakers, and who better to ask than the guys at The Lakers Nation? We recently sat down with Jonny of The Lakers Nation to talk playoff matchups, MVP speculation, and postseason predictions in the latest installment of NBA Outsider's "Five Questions" series: 1. Do you see any chance of Kobe "upsetting" Lebron in the MVP balloting? Does he deserve MVP honors more than Lebron does? Lebron is the consensus pick this year and, like a lot of...Read more

Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs

NBA Great Debates: Which First Round Playoff Series is the Most Intriguing?

By Staff Report | April 17, 2009 | MVN Outsider

NBA Outsider's Joe Boikess and Adam Sweeney debate the issue: Of the eight playoff series set to get underway in the National Basketball Association, which is must-see TV?Joe Boikess can't wait to watch the Spurs and Mavericks square off:This is my favorite time of year, and not only because of the arriving warm weather or the approaching end of the school year. It's NBA Playoffs time, and this year's batch of first round matchups, especially in the Western Conference, is shaping up to be the best ever.Basketball junkies have more than a few intriguing series to pay attention to. In the East, the best looking series would have to be the Hawks taking on the Heat in the always-tough-to-predict 4/5 matchup. But aside from that, Cavaliers-Pistons, Celtics-Bulls and Magic-76ers should all be entertaining as well.The real TNT-style drama is going on out West. The top-seeded Lakers get to see...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA Playoffs, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

NBA Playoffs: First Round Preview

By Joe Boikess | April 17, 2009 | MVN Outsider

The NBA Playoffs tip off this weekend with eight games over the course of two days. Here's what you need to know to get you ready for the madness that is the first round...Eastern Conference(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit PistonsSeason series - Cavaliers won 3-1Drama factor - Low. The Pistons have gotten past the first round each of the past seven seasons, but expect that streak to come to an end. The Cavaliers are the better team here, and the only way that the Pistons can still make the series interesting is if the effort is there. In years past Detroit has looked lackluster in the first round, and this year they can't afford to do that against a much tougher and more well-rounded team.Key Player - Tayshaun Prince. He has the honor of guarding LeBron James, and his success in that department will likely determine how long the...Read more

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA Playoffs, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

NBA Awards: The Best of the Best

By Joe Boikess | April 14, 2009 | MVN Outsider

With only two more days remaining in the NBA regular season, it's about time to hand out my awards for the best individual performances of the season...Rookie of the Year - Derrick Rose (Bulls)My Ballot:1. Rose2. O.J. Mayo3. Brook LopezThe rookie class of 2009 was incredibly deep, but Rose gets my vote for a number of reasons. As the number one overall pick in last year's draft, he shouldered a ton of pressure and responsibility as the Bulls' new starting point guard, and yet he managed to put up consistent production for a team that was in the playoff hunt all year long. He averaged over 16 points and six assists per game and shot better than 47 percent from the field.Mayo had a great first season as well, especially in the scoring department where he averaged 18.4 points and shot a decent 38 percent from downtown. But his team,...Read more

Read more | 10 Comments | Tags: NBA

NBA Great Debates: Reaching the Conference Finals

By Staff Report | April 9, 2009 | MVN Outsider

NBA Outsider's Adam Sweeney and Joe Boikess debate the issue: Who will be the final four playoff teams alive in the NBA conference finals?Adam Sweeney argues that the Magic and Rockets will join the Lakers and Cavaliers:As huge of a college hoops fans that I am, the Final Four was about as exciting as watching Fast and Furious (sorry if anybody liked that movie). In honor of the Final Four and merciless beat down the North Carolina Tar Heels gave the Michigan State Spartans, why don't we choose our own Final Four for the NBA playoffs? Are you up for that, old chap? Sorry Joe. I'll never call you old chap again.I think we can both agree that the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers are going to make it to their respective conference finals. L.A. has shown itself to be the elite team in the Western Conference and Cleveland...Read more

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