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There have been exactly a dozen NBA trades made this season, from small to significant. Some teams wanted to clear up money, some teams wanted to continue rebuilding, while others took bold steps in ensuring present and future success on the court.
But in our society of instant gratification and unceasing competition, we almost have an unquenchable thirst for deciding winners and losers.
Saturday played host to the Final Four and NBA players were spectators just like everyone else.
The ninth seeded Wichita State Shockers played against the number one overall seed Louisville Cardinals in the early game.
While the Shockers had the attention of the nation with their improbable Cinderella run, their play made an impression with many in the league.
Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki had his eye on the game.
In yesterday’s blog, there was a news item about Mike D’Antoni’s frustration with the Lakers boiling over.
Today, Chris Bernucca suggests that maybe the problem with the Lakers isn’t so much the Lakers as it is Mike D’Antoni. Speaking of the Lakers, where does Kobe Bryant rank on Chris Sheridan’s new MVP rankings? One answer: not first.
Now for your latest NBA news:
Is Jason Kidd going to retire soon? Zach Braziller of the New York Post speculates that he might: “Knicks fans should cherish Jason Kidd’s role on the team. They may not see him when this season ends. Kidd, who turned 40 yesterday, said Friday night he may not play out his entire three-year contract with the team. “We’re going to revisit [it],” he said. “We [would] love to make it to 42, but we have to be realistic. If the body and mind can’t compete at the same time, then I got to move to the side and watch these younger guys play. But I feel great.” “
Tomorrow is Selection Sunday, and while as usual my Maryland Terrapins are on the bubble (with a crucial game today against North Carolina), there are a number of teams already in the Big Dance. Check out our index of NCAA tournament teams if you need a March Madness primer. And if you really want to win big with your bracket this year, enter our $100,000 Challenge.
In NBA news, we’ve got a column up from Frank Madden on the Heat’s 21-game winning streak, and of course all the NBA news you can handle is right here:
Pretty much a fixture in these Saturday news roundup blogs is Marc Stein’s Weekend Dime at ESPN.com. There’s a new one up today, so click through for the full piece. Here’s one interesting excerpt: “One trusted insider and faithful Weekend Dime reader, upon seeing the mention in this box last week about how some teams out there expect Monta Ellis to consider opting into the final year on his contract at $11 million next season, took strong issue with that notion and urged me to follow up with a projection that Ellis remains far more likely to opt for free agency come July. The whispers in Milwaukee have been in circulation for some time that Ellis would opt out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, largely because of the number of teams projected to have salary-cap space this summer and the resultant ability to more than recoup that $11 million in a longer-term deal.”
Whenever Dwight Howard talks to the media these days, something seems to go wrong. This has been especially true when the topic is about the Orlando Magic.
The Los Angeles Lakers center raised plenty of eyebrows last week after bringing up how he led a group of guys no one wanted in Orlando. Howard, of course, backtracked from the comments, stating he was misunderstood and that it was blown out of proportion. Truth be told, there really wasn’t a whole lot to misunderstand. “Guys no one else wanted” does not translate to “underdogs”. It’s that simple. Nevertheless, here is a clarification of what he meant to say, from Sam Amick of USA Today:
