// Now that the New Jersey Nets know they have no shot at getting Dwight Howard, will they attempt to trade Deron Williams instead of being at risk of losing him with nothing in return when he opts out of his contract this summer? ESPN.com is reporting that the Nets would say no to a Pau Gasol-for-Williams swap, and a source told SheridanHoops.com that the only thing that would make the Nets move Williams would be a clear message from him
// The trade deadline is just a couple days away, and with all of he hullabaloo over Dwight Howard and whether he will stay in or leave Orlando, there are a couple other players — Jamal Crawford of Portland and Josh Smith of Atlanta chief among them — who might have a greater likelihood of being traded. Also, the Los Angeles Lakers are still expected to be active. But does their thinking change now that they are atop the Pacific Division? They
// Almost all of the trade deadline attention is focused on Orlando, where the Magic have to figure out what they are going to do with Dwight Howard. D-12 is the top domino, and there could be a lot of residual movement if he is traded before next Thursday’s deadline. But there are also other trades being discussed that have absolutely nothing to do with the Magic; trades that would take second-echelon teams to the next level. Chris Sheridan, editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com, sees
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> What can people take from the Lakers’ decisive victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday? How about the difference Metta WorldPeace made, both defending LeBron James and putting up one of his better stat lines of the season (17 points, seven rebounds, four steals). It also tells you the Lakers aren’t all that bad, but it also can’t mask the fact that they eventually need to get some younger pieces and some production off the bench — which is
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> Kevin Durant isn’t exactly taking over the league, but he certainly would be if he were playing in a larger market. For now, we’ll have to appreciate the performances like the one he put on Thursday night at Orlando in the same arena where he was named the MVP of the All-Star game last Sunday. He enters the weekend trailing Kobe Bryant (28.5 ppg) by a half-point for the league lead in scoring, but Durant is hitting at
Columnist Chris Perkins has an opinion piece upon the site today saying it is unwise to criticize LeBron James too harshly for his pass to Blake Griffin (wrong team) at Saturday night’s All-Star game. I respectfully disagree. Big stage, big moment, everyone around the country and the globe finally getting the chance to see what LeBron would do with the game on the line. James failed in every way possible. But Perkins also makes the point that this was an exhibition game with no
csprtContainer(); ORLANDO — We shot this video at the NBA Jam Session at the Orlando Convention Center, the first Jam Session I have spent extensive time at since 1994 when the game was in Minnesota and I saw Gheorghe Muresan walking around the Metrodome like a kid in a candy store. The opening and closing topics here were somewhat related: The first question was what was biggest surprise of the first half of the season, and I went with the decline of
// Before All-Star weekend arrives, there is one last test game for a couple of teams. It comes Thursday night when the Knicks visit the Heat in Miami, and it is a test in many ways. For New York, now with a full complement of healthy players and a level of depth that exceeds what they’ve had over the first half of the season, it is a chance to measure themselves against a Heat team that has been steamrolling through the