The compressed offseason was supposed to be about hookups. On Friday, it was all about breakups. Hours after being chastised by Chauncey Billups, the New York Knicks began targeting his replacement at point guard. Billups met the media in Los Angeles on Friday, less than a week after he was surprisingly released by the Knicks via the amnesty clause. The five-time All-Star is still not over it. From Pedro Moura of ESPNLosAngeles.com: “Billups admitted he “contemplated” retiring after being claimed by the
Chris Paul fallout, and Deron Williams calls David Stern a “bully”
I am filling in for Chris Sheridan tonight. Hopefully this will go better than Brian Cardinal and Alex Ajinca filling in for Dirk Nowitzki. We applaud Deron Williams for his candor, but we also hope he doesn’t have to eat his words. Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger has a story coming out of Nets practice today where Turkish legend Deron Williams called David Stern a “bully” and said he speaks to Dwight Howard “all the time.” “You’re fighting a bully, man,” Williams
Knicks can’t trade money again until July 1
NEW YORK — Jim Dolan’s big fat wallet will be of no use to the Knicks until next July. The Knicks sent $3 million to the Washington Wizards as part of today’s three-team trade to acquire Tyson Chandler, meaning they don’t have any more money to spend in trades this season — and they might not have any draft picks in June. A new rule in the recently ratified collective bargaining agreement limits the amount of money a team can trade in
Blockbuster trade: Chris Paul going to the Lakers
Mark Heisler was the first to tell you this was a possibility nearly two weeks ago. Now, it appears it is happening. Multiple news outlets are reporting that the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets have agreed to a three-way deal sending Chris Paul to the Lakers. New Orleans will receive Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and the New York Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2012. The Rockets are getting Pau Gasol from the Lakers. There could be other pieces in
Heisler Column: Now watch the stars stampede to big markets
Good news for you little markets … You’ll be making a lot more money! Unfortunately, as far as competing with the big teams, they’ll be them and you’ll still be you for a while, or, possibly, forever, whichever comes last. Whether it was overdue or the owners were due that much, they redressed the economic balance once and for all. Of course, there was a price — and, as usual, it was their non-economic demands that would have leveled the playing field for the
Dwight Howard can bring some clarity today
Today is the day Superman can reveal his true intentions. At least that’s the way it should go sometime after 10 a.m. EST when Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith are finally permitted to speak to each other for the first time since June 30. We are now nine days removed from the tentative settlement to end the NBA lockout, and we’ve already been treated to two different versions of the Chris Paul story — he has made it
Video: Latest lockout news on Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and labor agreement
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The financial ramifications of trades involving Dwight Howard and Chris Paul
Regarding Dwight Howard and Chris Paul and their respective trade desires, it is worth explaining in dollars and sense why they’d prefer to be dealt sooner rather than later. In order for them to get the most possible money, they’ll need to finagle a way into landing in their desired destinations prior to the trade deadline. And despite all the hand-wringing over the owners’ capitulation in negotiations over the so-called Carmelo Anthony rule, neither of those guys is likely to do an extend-and-trade. Here’s