Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs are concerned about giving LeBron too much time on the court this early in the season, seeing as he really hasn't had a break from playing basketball last year. I think this is a more than wise decision when your entire team depends on Bron Bron to be at the top of his game for the Cavs to win games. It's two weeks before the season starts, sit him down.
Denver Nuggets - Maybe the Nuggets will finally get that point guard that they need. It seems as though talks between Indiana and Denver are in that 'hot again, cold again' stage. Right now it seems a little more than luke warm that the Nuggets will acquire the troubled point guard, Jamal Tinsley, from Indiana. We'll see how this goes, but as we all know, Tinsley has already played his last game as a Pacer.
Indiana Pacers - With the trade of Shawne Williams to the Mavericks (isn't there a joke that Shawne Williams is now playing for the right team?), a part of that deal will finally come to some kind of conclusion today. Eddie Jones, who was part of that deal to go to the Pacers, has yet to report to Indiana. Hopefully Jones will suit up and play this year in Indy, but if he retires, what happens to this deal?
Miami Heat - Any of you that saw the injury that Alonzo Mourning suffered last year never thought he would play again. It seems as though the Heat warrior is ahead of schedule to return to the court. Mourning is still experiencing some swelling in his knee from all of the bicycling and spinning that he is doing, but he is also already doing squats. He should be starting to run and jump in the next few weeks and may make a return to the court by the end of the year. Good luck Alonzo, we want to see you healthy and playing again, but healthy first.
New York Knicks - Starbury is back, well not really. Stephon Marbury has made it known that he still sees himself as a starter, but will backup newly acquired Chris Duhon until given the chance to start. Marbury didn't come off selfish, just confident that he could do the starting point guard job. I said it here once, but if Marbury is in the shape that he has reported (and as we have seen in preseason) and he is motivated to play well, he may be the answer for the Knicks at point guard this year. Either that or I have my Kevin McHale glasses on and I'm thinking about teaming up the cousins (Telfair and Marbury) in Minnesota.
Boston Celtics - Pick up the option on Rajon Rondo for a little north of $2M a year for the 2009-2010 season. Can you blame them? For all intensive purposes, when was the last time you had the starting point guard of a championship team making $2M a year? Rondo supposedly has been working on his shot, and if it comes to fruition, this becomes a GREAT deal.
Cleveland Cavaliers - What is it with backs? Is this a curse on the Cavs? Not only does Big Z have back problems, but so does undersized power forward Ben Wallace. Big Z has a degenerative disk in his back but the Cavs are being more cautious about saying what's wrong with Big Ben. It's simple, when your back hurts, you can be as physical as you want, knowing that a small bump could send you to the floor in agony. Didn't Brad Daugherty have a bad back? Criag Ehlo too? Someone needs to work on getting that root off the Cavs.
New York Knicks - Allan Houston's attempt to return to the court seems to have come to an end. Houston has been nursing a pulled quad and has missed the last two preseason games against the Sixers and the Celtics. If he is in fact cut, the Knicks have made it known that they have a place in the front office for Houston.
Minnesota Timberwolves - Sebastian Telfair has been suspended by the league for 3 games for pleading guitly to a misdemeanor possession of a loaded handgun last summer, speeding, and driving without a license (April 2007). It's really a slap on the hand, but my question is why wait this long? The incident happened in 2007, this is almost 2009. McHale, you can trade for his cousin for two ham sandwiches and 3 bags of chips. Well okay, one ham sandwich and two bags of chips.
Detroit Pistons - The Pistons are still trying to sign Jason Maxiell to a long term deal. The original offer on the table was a 3 year $15M deal with the team option for a 4th year. They gotta get this deal done, since Joe Dumars hasn't made the wholesale changes that he promised after the playoffs last year.
Detroit Pistons - Finally!!! Jason Maxiell and the Pistons agree to a 4 year $20M deal to keep the young stud in Detroit. Had to happen, period.
Los Angeles Lakers - This is what height is worth. Andrew Bynum and the Lakers agree to a 4 year $58M deal. This is for a guy that took the majority of last season off (yeah it was an injury, but I'm saying). For all of you single people out there, if you're tall, get with a tall woman and make a baby, you can get paid some day. All joking aside, Bynum will be the reason the Lakers win the title this year, mark my words.
New York Knicks - What are they going to do with Starbury? Everyone knows the Knicks want to get rid of him, but at what cost? Marbury would only be bought out for what he's owed this year from the Knicks (and do the Knicks want to do another buyout), and the trade market is looking terrible right now since the Knicks are trying to unload Eddy Curry, Malik Rose, Starbury, James Dolan's mother, and anyone else on the roster so that they can try to lure LBJ to NYC. This isn't looking good right now for Marbury, but he and Jamal Tinsley are the two big name point guards on the market right, although the biggest difference is the money they make.
