New five presents defensive challenge

Detroit coach Michael Curry might have found the answer he was seeking in overhauling the Pistons’ starting lineup.

Now that Rodney Stuckey has been added as the starting point guard, former point Allen Iverson can go back to working off the ball, where he won’t have to worry about getting other players involved.

Without Billups the Pistons have lacked leadership. Iverson is just trying to fit in and not trying to start telling a bunch of players that have already won a ring what to do.

In his second year, Stuckey isn’t going to carry the cache that Billups had when it comes to getting the team’s attention, but there were some signs during Wednesday’s win over the Wizards that he was starting to endear himself as a leader.

After Rasheed Wallace picked up a technical foul for arguing a call, Stuckey was the first player over to check on Wallace, appearing to remind him that they needed him. Wallace looked at Stuckey and gave him a nod that said it was all right. The aging hot-tempered veteran didn’t just blow off the kid.

The main question about adding Stuckey to the starting lineup with Iverson, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince and Wallace is the defense, especially the size of that group with Prince playing as a power forward.

Detroit could run into a problem against teams with good small forwards, which happen to be Boston and Cleveland. Detroit has counted on Prince to play Boston’s Paul Pierce and Cleveland’s Lebron James. Now Hamilton, who isn’t the defender Prince is, will have to pick up those players. Hamilton, who is three inches shorter than Prince and just as frail looking, won’t be able to guard the power forward spot, even against an offensively challenged Ben Wallace.

The Celtics are a different beast altogether because of the Pierce-Garnett combination. Hamilton will certainly have to guard Pierce and could get overpowered. Detroit will have to use their offense to help their defense, which means running Pierce off of constant screens. Also Ray Allen is probably going to have some trouble staying in front of Iverson or Stuckey.

Detroit is going to have to make team adjust to them, but also Prince will need this season to get used to guarding players that prefer to play with their backs to the basket. He didn’t see that as much at small forward, but other teams now are going to look at his frame and want to post him up.

Tonight Prince should get a good measure of what he can do at the power forward spot against a physical Utah Jazz power forward in Paul Millsap. That will be the matchup to watch to tell how the Pistons are going to work in this new alignment.

Stuckey and Deron Williams is a great matchup at the point guard spot, but in the Eastern Conference, Stuckey won’t have to worry about seeing that kind of point guard play among the contenders.

The more important thing is how well Prince — and Hamilton as well — will be able to defend their new spots.

Warriors have taken steps back

The Warriors clearly have taken a step back since getting to the second round of the playoffs two seasons ago.

At first it looked like at least statistically that they were able to make up for the points and rebounds they lost with the departures of Baron Davis and Matt Barnes. But with Monta Ellis and Al Harrington out and the front office in disarray, the Warriors appear to be in a rebuilding mode around center Andris Biedrins. Steven Jackson is also a nice player as a complimentary man, but aside from Ellis there are no sacred cows on this roster.

They are in such a position right now that Don Nelson is actually forced to play younger players like C.J. Watson. He’s always been a man that prefers the veteran talent and it’s a wonder how he’s been able to stick around in this league with a philosophy staunchly opposed to playing rookies. Not only that, he’s never put together a team properly built for the postseason.

The Warriors two years ago happened to matchup well against a Mavericks team that also wasn’t built to win in the playoffs. Neither wanted to play a half court game.

Corey Maggette was supposed to be the main piece acquired to replace Davis’ production, but he’s been slowed by injury this season and hardly dominated in the 23 minutes he played in a loss to the Pistons on Thursday.

Biedrins with 17 points and 19 rebounds looked to be the real deal, but he also ran into a team in Detroit that has struggled at times with its post defense this season. In Tuesday’s 100-92 win over Sacramento, Kings reserve forward/center Spencer Hawes made several nice moves and was the most effective post player for either team when he was in the game.

MyDyess’ absence is hurting the Pistons, especially with Amir Johnson’s apparent lack of understanding of the game. Johnson didn’t even start last night against the Warriors and Biedrins had his way against the slower Kwame Brown from the start.

C.J. Watson appeared that he’s going to be a quality player for the Warriors and perhaps if there’s any bright spot to Ellis being injured (and suspended) it’s that Watson is getting a chance to learn how to be an effective player. Lord knows Nelson is only playing the second-year pro because he absolutely has to. That, more than anything, should tell people this team isn’t going anywhere this year. If the team was in contention, Nelson would probably have been content signing a Sam Cassell or similar player to play the point.

Half-court eventually answer for Suns

Going into last night’s game against the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash sounded like a kid whining about taking his vitamins.

Nash’s is having trouble making the necessary adjustments to Terry Porter’s style, saying to the Arizona Republic that the offense lacks “creativity” and “flow.” Ideas valued in Nash’s basketball philosophy.

But more than winning?

Nash might want to concentrate on not getting wiped away every time he gets screened and let Porter have control of this team. The Phoenix Suns now have a calculated attack.

Phoenix is going to have to get used to the fact that learning to play playoff basketball is sometimes a tedious task. For years the Spurs have been derided for their matter-of-fact, uninteresting style of play. But when the playoffs come around the Spurs are a tough team to beat because they start playing that slow knockdown, drag-out style in the preseason and don’t change all year.

You’re going to see things like an easy bucket in transition getting passed up in favor of setting up the offense for a high-percentage shot.

Running and gunning is one thing, but in the end the team that wins is the team that does the most with their accumulated possessions. Why not slow down and think about getting the highest percentage opportunity each time you have the ball? That’s the way teams win championships in this league.

Also, if there’s one thing the other top teams have over Phoenix, it’s overall team athleticism and a good half court offense can neutralize the athletic advantage of a good defense.

Posting up Shaq with Steve Nash on the wing feeding him the ball is about as good an attack as any team has in the league. The defender guarding Steve Nash really can’t sag off of him to help out the man guarding Shaq. Nash is prone to shooting over 50-percent from the field and with those two on the same side of the floor, coaches know exactly where the two players guarding them are. Neither can afford to leave their man. A third defender would be needed to help double-team Shaq and then the Suns are playing three-on-two on the other side. That is why you play half court basketball. It's getting fast break numbers without running.

Every good team in the league has a combination like Shaq and Nash, a combination that forces three defenders to guard two players. Rasheed and Iverson is one. Garnett and Allen is another. Duncan and any one of the Spurs’ perimeter players can force a double team.

Be patient, Phoenix. The wins totals aren’t going to be what they were, but the team is going to be rougher and tougher and more ready to stand up to the big dogs in the Western Conference.

Iverson also changes Detroit's defense

The Detroit Pistons’ 100-92 win over the Sacramento Kings last night was closer than what one would reasonably expect from an Eastern Conference finalist going against a Western Conference also-ran that was missing two of its best players.

It’s still quite clear the Pistons have a lot of work to do with Iverson, but the adjustment is not only on the offensive side. The defense also has an adjustment to make.

Detroit has never had the type of guards that team’s would look to post-up the way they’re going to look to post-up Iverson.

Kings guard John Salmons took Iverson down low several times and it nearly won the Kings the game. Pistons first-year coach Michael Curry had a lot on his plate before Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups for Iverson, but now he has a lot more. Maybe all this new responsibility took hold last night and Curry was distracted by it as Salmons kept posting up Iverson and making plays for his team. Lets not forget, last night’s game was Curry’s seventh as an NBA head coach. He still has some things to learn, especially on the game-management end.

Detroit gained the advantage once Sacramento started breaking down in its half court sets.

The change in feel defensively may have led to Spencer Hawes playing as well as he did in the limited minutes he had. He always seemed to be working in space. He was hitting open mid-range jumpers and once, working one-on-one against Rasheed Wallace down low, he made Wallace bite on an up-and-under fake and then finished with a two-handed slam.

The only thing that seemed to keep him from dominating the game was that he was in foul trouble. But while he was in there he showed he was both big and quick. He looked a lot like Kevin Love did at UCLA last year — and this was against a Detroit front line that has no slouches.

The Kings lost by eight points without two of their big guns in Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia. Had they played, perhaps the Pistons would have never been able to lull the Kings into the half court style as much as they did and maybe that would have been enough to get a win.

Either way, the Kings didn’t seem as sorry as they might at first glance appear to be.

But was it Detroit’s defense that made them look that way?

The Celtics shredded it in their 88-76 win over Detroit Sunday and Devin Harris looked like a franchise player two nights before in a 106-93 win over the Pistons in New Jersey.

Mavs should keep Kidd past this year

It isn’t a pro sports team in Dallas without a little controversy.

But I don’t want to bore you with a diatribe on Josh Howard’s ignorance.

He was just being ghetto.

The more intriguing aspect to the Maveriks' upcoming season is what they are going to do about Jason Kidd. They haven’t committed to paying him beyond this season.

They were bounced in the first round of the playoffs last year, but that didn’t have as much to do with him as it did with the emergence of the New Orleans Hornets and the fact that players and the front office had grown tired of Avery Johnson, and he of them.

They didn’t even practice before their final playoff game. A saving grace for the only coach to take Dallas to the NBA Finals was that former coach Don Nelson also had problems with Mavs owner Mark Cuban. Makes you wonder how it's going to end with Carlisle in Dallas. Carlisle has won everywhere he’s been. He started Detriot on their turnaround and he won over 60 games one season with the Indiana Pacers.

But during those years, he was portrayed as a man that was a bit cold, a hard-nosed general that didn’t give orders politely.

Some people would have a problem with that — ghetto people like Josh Howard.

A coach is only as good as his relationship with the superstars and Howard is a superstar for the Mavericks.

So is Dirk Nowitski.

So is Jason Kidd.

The Mavericks need to stick with Kidd, for better or worse. Who else would they be able to get to play point guard?

Any team that has a good one isn’t going to get rid of him. A wise move would be for the Mavericks to keep Kidd around in order to give them time to develop another point guard. What better coach for a young point guard could there be than Jason Kidd, an all-star, Olympian and future Hall of Famer.

They want to talk in Dallas about how Kidd wasn’t aggressive enough offensively last year, like that would be grounds for a divorce. Well, anybody who lends even a casual eye to the NBA knows that you don’t play Kidd for his offensive talent. You play him for his ability to get the ball to people who know how to shoot.

There are few players that the Mavericks could trade Kidd for and it would actually be an upgrade to the team. They probably should have never brought him to Dallas again in the first place, but now that they have, it would be stupid to cut him loose for a point that might not have as much promise as Devin Harris did.

Lakers have team player in Kobe

Kobe cares.

He could have sat out until Christmas, nursing an injured pinkie that required surgery, but instead he’ll be out there practicing and playing with his team. He’ll be out there being the leader they need him to be.

He could have said to the Lakers look man, I’ve had a long summer—traveled to China, played in the Olympics and before that led this team to the NBA finals. I’m tired, dog tired. Let me rest for a little while. When the season gets serious, I’ll be there.

The Lakers would have let him do it. They would have had too. Who wants to tell Kobe Bryant he can’t have surgery now because he waited too long? Who wants to be that person to say sorry dude, you shouldn’t have played in the Olympics? No one’s going to say that, which is why Kobe cares.

He could have taken that road. He could have taken the time off. He could have opted for the surgery. Everyone could see how the pinkie affected him during the playoffs last season. He winced every time someone slapped at the ball. Kobe Bryant played hurt last season—and led his team to the brink of a championship.

He didn’t take them all the way. He still couldn’t do it without Shaq, but Kobe has already one-upped Shaq in the team player department. There’s a big difference between Shaq and Kobe and now we’re starting to see the difference.

Both will be remembered fondly in a Lakers uniform, but Kobe will be remembered with more admiration than Shaq. At first that didn’t seem possible. Kobe seemed like the selfish one, the arrogant one. Shaq appeared to be the humble one. The team player. The jovial one. But when Shaq needed toe surgery before the 2002-03 season, he chose to have it. No one questioned that he needed it, but they questioned why he waited. Why wait this long when you could have done it right after last season, they said?

But the big fella needed some extra time off. Some believed he wanted it — like how Ron Artest wanted to take a month off before Christmas to promote his record label. Shaq wanted the same thing. He just had a better method with which to seek that time and now it’s become an annual thing. He sits out most of November and December and isn’t taking it seriously until February. The Suns are going to find that out this year. The Heat quickly learned about it. That year, it was the same thing. The only counterpoint to it is that on the court it didn’t seem to matter. The Lakers won their third consecutive championship that year, but off the court the chemistry faltered. It all came to a head next season. The season Phil Jackson published as The Last Season.

By not having surgery, Kobe’s telling his team he’ll be there. Yea, I’m Kobe Bryant, he said, but I’m not too good to play games in November and December. This is a special team, he said, and we’ll need chemistry to win. We’ll need to play together. You can pass me the ball and I’ll pass you the ball. We’ll need to like each other. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, we’re one.

Kobe cares.

He cares so much that people are actually going to forget that little incident in Colorado a few years ago — or at least it’s not going to be the first thing they think about when they see him. Well, the men there anyway.

Kobe Bryant is going to play team ball, he’s going to do all the good things people think he should.

We’ll see if it will pay off. We’ll see if Kobe will have will have to make reservations to tell Shaq how his ass tastes.

Rivers gets a bigger payday

When you coach an NBA team, what a difference adding a pair of future Hall of Famers makes.

Doc Rivers always knew basketball, but after guiding the Celtics to just 24 wins in his third season, it looked like Paul Piece needed to be traded so that the rebuilding could begin. And if Pierce left town, there was no rule in place that said Rivers wouldn’t be far behind him.
They called him Doc, the fans said, but he didn’t know as much as we all thought he did. Let’s just call him Glenn from now on.

But then the trades happened -- Ray Allen from Seattle, Kevin Garnett from Minnesota. Sitting near a remote lake in Montana, Phil Jackson backed away from his pipe and smiled. Welcome to my world Doc. There are winners and there are losers and you, my friend, just became a winner. The future Hall of Famers arrived, and the Celtics couldn’t lose.

It turned out the fans weren’t duped, Rivers wasn’t just another former player that was good in front of the camera, but not in front of the chalkboard. They were worried after a 2006-2007 season that had very little promise. That year, it was acceptable to be shopping Paul Pierce. Might as well let’em go, they said. Someone was probably willing to pay a pretty draft pick and some prospects for a big body with an all-around game. Might as well not waste you time in Boston, Mr. Pierce. It’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to us. It could be a long time before we’re a winner again.

But what a difference adding a pair of future Hall of Famers can make.

For the first time in years, the Celtics were actually hard to beat. Pierce became a threat again. They put the Doc back in Doc again. The Celtics were atop the Eastern Conference again. The rainbow we all saw ended in Boston again.

Maybe Mr. Rivers can coach, they said.

Trade Pierce? You’re crazy.

Danny Ainge, with the help of an old friend named Kevin McHale, made the Celtics viable again. The future Hall of Famers were kings of a league where old guys aren’t supposed to matter.

Ainge could have said this was a one time thing. A betting man would say it probably was. Let him coach the next year to see if they could do it again and then, if they did, reconsider after that.

But Ainge said Doc you’re a good coach. I don’t care what happens in the next four years. The Big Three could all retire. You’re the guy we want taking this team into the future. You can coach. Now I have to get you players. Everyone knows that now. I won’t hide behind you anymore.

Here, Mr. Rivers, is your 5.5 million dollar check. We’ll give you one in each of the next four years. Hopefully you’ll spend it as wisely as we think we did.

The Celtics won’t win next year. There’s no doubt about it. They were lucky to escape the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers this year. The only team they looked clearly better than was the Pistons.

But the Pistons have developing youngsters, as do the Hawks. Lebron James is still getting better and he has a bona fide sidekick now in Mo Williams. The Sixers owned the free agent market and they now have their own big three -- a version that is younger, quicker and stronger. They’re also coached by a former NBA point guard, who knows a thing or two about winning championships.

How important is that?

Just ask Danny Ainge.

If you can’t get a straight answer from him, ask Rivers.

He might not know how important it is, but he can tell you how much it’s worth.

Chalmers, Arthur need to stay

Let’s get this straight. Former Kansas Jayhawks Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur made a bad decision and were thrown out of the NBA rookie transition camp, which is an annual event to help first-year players make better off-court decisions.

The NBA suspended the kids from school that didn’t want to be there anyway, even if they might have needed it the most.

Perhaps while they were there, Chalmers and Arthur could have learned something.

They knew they were not supposed to smoke pot. They knew having guests over was off limits. They know those things, among other things, but they’re young. They’re rookies. They apparently still need to be educated in the consequences of their actions, which will loom quite large from here on out.

The NBA was getting ready to teach them how to do it. But instead it told them to get lost.

They’re getting fined and possibly suspended, but it seems like the logical thing to do would be to find and suspend them, and to keep them at camp. They shouldn’t be able to play unless they go to camp.

If anyone needs a lesson on making good choices wouldn’t be a couple of guys that snuck weed and women into their hotel room — and then got caught?

Chalmers, the young man from Anchorage, Alaska, attended college in Lawrence, Kansas where. Miami is probably the biggest city in which he’s settled, and it happens to be a place known for providing vast opportunities for making poor choices when it comes to drugs and women. Miami is about as far away as he could be from Alaska, and it’s certainly not Kansas anymore.

Nightlife rules Miami life, but the NBA isn’t going to tell Chalmers that. Chances are now that someone will clue in the rookie.

Arthur is from Dallas, a city also known for its vice. He had a chance to thank Memphis for trading for him after New Orleans drafted him despite rumors he was medically unfit to play. Maybe this six-day camp would have helped him to understand that the Timberwolves did him a favor by not listening to what others had to say.

But the added blunder is the NBA telling them to come back next year, after playing an NBA season. A year from now it will teach them how to adjust to the NBA.

By then they will know all about the demands made to young millionaire basketball players.

But will they be able to deal with them?

What will the 2012 team look like?

The way the Olympic men’s basketball team won the gold medal has set the stage for a 2012 team that will have to repeat the feat.

There is a proven blueprint now, showing those that wish to join the team what it’s going to take to win the gold.

One of the best things that came out of the 2004 team’s failure in Athens is there has no longer been a shortage of superstars willing to commit to Team USA.

But what is the next team going to look like? Jordan and others sat out in 1996 because they had been there, done that. He claimed a want to give someone else the opportunity to win gold, but the real reason was how much the Olympics ate into his summer vacation. For a player that would play golf during off days of the NBA finals, having a block of free time that large occupied by what were essentially unpaid exhibition games wasn’t too appealing for for a superstar like Michael Jordan, who's team's were always playing in June.

Ideally, Olympic basketball director Jerry Colangelo would like to return Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Deron Williams, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul for the 2012 team. They would be locks. All they have to do is say they want to play and show commitment.

Jason Kidd is out. Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd are going to have to compete for their positions again. Both appear to be in their primes right now, and if their games slip in their 30s, they’ll be out.

Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh are still possibilities. Boozer will have to be content sitting the bench again. If he is, he could be valuable. Bosh could be a main player again, given his rebounding capabilities and the fact that he’s a big man that can shoot free throws. He'd get a chance to play more at the four with Oden, who was already on the Olympic team roster this year, healthy.

Al Horford from the select team would be a top candidate to replace Boozer. That’s going to be direct competition there. All things being equal, Horford is younger, bigger and stronger.

Kevin Durant is the only true lock to make it from the select team. He’s a bona fide star on the rise and in his fifth year in 2012, he should be on the same plain as the current smattering of franchise players.


Robin Lopez, Kevin Love, LeMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Duran, Jeff Green, Luther Head, Andre Igudala, Kevin Martin, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose and Rodney Stuckey were also on that select team. If Colangelo gets the players back that he wants to from this year’s team, the only thing he’ll be looking for out of this group is specialists. None appear to be that right now. There are some good players there now, but someone's going to have to show they can do something great.

Hawks guard Joe Johson and Gilbert Arenas are also on the current team. Johnson is a better option that Areneas. They both are prolific scorers, but Arenas appears to have the same mentality as Marbury or Iverson. Players that can’t play team basketball and be effective. He’s supremely skilled, but it’s about team ball now and that’s not going to change in 2012.

US learns lesson, earns gold

In its best light, the Olympics signified a change in world perception, the perception of China as a closed anti-social society and the perception of the United States as a nation of egotistical and selfish imbeciles.

America was not too popular during the 2004 Olympics, and the failure of the men’s basketball team helped explain why. The Americans had all the resources in the world. They had the best athletes. They had the most money. They had the most experienced coaches, minds that had a connection to the game’s great inventor, Dr. James Naismith.

But it didn’t matter.

America also had a problem, and it was filtering down to the senior men’s national team.
Larry Brown didn’t play rookies — period. So ‘Melo have a seat and put your warm-ups back on, you ain’t goin’ anywhere.

By the way, it’s not Marbury, it’s Starbury.

Tim Duncan might be the best post player in the world, but Allen Iverson can’t be effective unless he’s shooting 25 times a game. And don’t talk about practice….practice, man…PRACtice. I mean…we’re talking about practice….not a game…not a game…we’re talking about practice…practice, man…practice.

But even with all that clashing of egos, the Americans could still say they were the best — until 2004 when someone finally showed them they weren’t.

Sure Manu Ginobli and Fabricio Oberto are nice players, Ginobli is great even by NBA standards, but if they played for the 2004 US team, neither one would have started. Oberto’s application would have been shredded before it reached Brown’s desk.

But here they were, representing Argentina, and winning the gold medal over a team that was far more talented, but a team that didn’t take the world seriously enough.

Sure the Americans were good, the world said, but it didn’t matter. They were too selfish, too lazy and too stupid to play team ball. In the United States, they don’t believe in teamwork. Everyone thinks they can do it themselves. That’s their problem. That’s why they ended up being third-best, losing to countries with a fraction of the basketball population of the United States. The Americans don’t have a clue, the world thought, and it was hard to argue.

But things are changing.

A team more talented than ever put their egos aside. It wasn’t seamless team ball, but they tried. They really did try. They made the extra pass. They trapped on defense. They talked only about playing together.

And when they won the gold, they didn’t act like they deserved it. They acted like they worked for it, like it was special. They actually enjoyed winning it.
They showed the rest of the world that the United States does value its spot in the world and they don’t take it for granted.

Argentina you were right. Hard work, dedication, teamwork, a commitment to each other, that is the way to play. That is the way to live. You can have some success alone, but you can go all the way together.

Thank you world.

You taught, we listened.

Peace.

Wade looks good, but not tested yet

There has been a lot made of the revival of Dwayne Wade.

The 6-foot-4 Miami Heat guard has played in the Olympics and looked every bit the part of the player who was an NBA finals MVP in 2006. He’s been athletic. He’s played defense. He’s driven to the hoop. He’s dunked. When he’s not dunking, he’s hitting mid-range jumpers or getting fouled. He’s looked like the old Dwayne Wade.

If anything, it’s been so long since the old D. Wade has been in display that a lot of us forgot what he looked like. Then this lightening quick, muscular shooting guard with a clean-shaven dome shows up looking unstoppable against international competition and word goes out Wade is back.

He might be, but there still another hurdle to cross to say that he’s, indeed, back. It’s obvious he’s healthy for the first time in two years. But what he’s doing, he’s doing against international competition, which unlike other sports is a step down in competition from the US.

Most of these players that play for these Olympic teams are nothing more than reserves in the NBA. Most of these games that the US is playing in the Olympics, the other guys are so severely overmatched that it’s difficult for them to guard Wade seriously.

Wade won’t truly be tested until he steps on the court for the Miami Heat in an NBA game. Any one of the championship contenders in the NBA is capable of winning the gold medal at the Olympics and in the NBA, players don’t care as much about sportsmanship. Money is on the line, something more motivating that pride.

When Wade drives the lane in the NBA, he’s going to get hit. At times they’ll be players in the game whose sole purpose is to lay the wood to Wade. In the Olympics, taking out Wade doesn’t improve a team’s chances of winning. They’ll just bring in Kobe back in.

In the NBA, taking out Wade means taking out Miami’s chance at winning. It’s going to be the easiest path to victory over the Heat next season. He hasn’t held up in the past. Teams are going to test whether or not he can take the pounding.

Sure, he’s healthy now, but he’s going to get beat up.

One thing has become clear in Olympic basketball. The Americans are as dominant on the world stage as they’ve ever been. What happened in 2004 was an aberration. There were too many superstars and at that time there was no prestige attached to the Olympics. If a superstar is going to spend his summer overseas playing with the Olympic team, he wants to play. All we heard about last time was about the superstars that were sitting the bench and how much that affected the team’s chemistry.

The best move the USA basketball committee did was filling out the roster with specialists. Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd might want to complain about not playing, but to say they should be playing over Lebron, Kobe, D.Wade or Chris Paul is an argument with no legs.

Rockets now in championship mode

The Rockets are looking to welcome the mercurial Ron Artest to their locker room as soon as they can get the trade finalized, which has been reported to be happening Aug. 15.

When the 6-foot-6 forward arrives in Houston, he will bring with him an expectation that will have the franchise looking to bypass the next step.

A lot has been said and written about Tracy McGrady never making it out of the first round of the playoffs, including the last four seasons with Houston, but for him to simply do that next season with the addition of Artest won’t be enough for the fans and media to be content.

Artest gives the Rockets a trio of stars that rivals any other team in the NBA, Boston included. They now have three players capable of averaging more than 20 points per game, and Artest is tough defender that is stronger on the boards than most power forwards and better at getting steals.

The Rockets are getting a top-five small forward in the league. The only one that’s clearly better is Lebron James. After that he could be the next best one, or at least it’s up for debate.

Then you add in factors like Yao Ming, who is arguably the best center in the league, certainly the most complete offensively and McGrady, who might only trail Kobe Bryant as the league’s best shooting guard. This is a star studded team.

Even with all that offense, over 60-points per game’s worth, tt’s going to be tough for the other team’s swingmen to score on the Rockets next season. When Artest comes out of the game, coach Rick Adelman can turn to Shane Battier, who has earned a reputation in the league for his defensive pressure.

Only making it to the second round of the playoffs is no longer a viable goal for the Rockets. Maybe before it would have been an acceptable, viewed as another step in the evolution of Yao Ming, but the Rockets are on another level now.

They are in championship mode. Expectation starts with getting to the second round.

A big question is how Rafer Alston’s game is going to vibe with Artest’s addition. He’s a point guard that was the third scoring option on the team last season. Now he’ll be the fourth option on a team that really doesn’t need him to score anymore. The Rockets might be better suited finding a pass first point guard if they want to go all the way.

That’s the next step now.

The Rockets should be right up there with the Lakers, Jazz, Spurs and Hornets, but off the court is going to be what decides if the Rockets join ranks with those other teams, which were working harmoniously last summer. That’s where Adelman comes into play most.

His style on the court stresses the value of team play.

His off-court style is going to have to do the same thing.

Artest sinks teams like a rock

How are the Sacramento Kings going to get rid of Ron Artest?

Certainly it’s the right thing to do right now.

When the Kings brought him in as value for trading away Peja Stojakovic, it was another step away from the team that had pushed the Lakers dynasty to the brink of elimination.

The trade signified a switch. They had enough offense to win, but they needed defense and a little toughness — something that wouldn’t fail them in crunch time.

Peja was a major part of a team that had peaked, but when the pressure tightened, so did his shooting wrist. On the court it was a coup for the Kings. Here they were able to land a player who could score regularly enough to lead the team on some nights and there were able to add one of the leagues premiere defensive players along with it.

But off the court it couldn’t have been any worse.

One of the reasons the Pacers wanted to get rid of him anyway was his leading role in the Motown basketball riot of 2004. He had also asked management for some time off at the beginning of the season in order to promote his record label. He wanted to take a month off.

The move out to Sacramento put him closer to prime destination for his entertainment business interests and he seemed to fit in well with the Maloof brothers, the owners of the Kings, who had entertainment interests of their own to worry about outside of the NBA franchise they owned. If anyone would understand what Artest has to go through to promote his record label, it would be those two.

It also made sense because with the way the Western Conference was headed there was no way the Kings were going to be a team that could make it to the NBA Finals by outscoring teams like the Mavs and Kings. They would need someone to beat them up. With Artest and Brad Miller, two of the hottest heads in the league, the Kings weren’t going to get pushed around.

Three seasons later the Kings have failed to win as many games in a season as they did without Artest and now people are starting to realize the 6-7 small forward from New York City is infected with the same thing that Stephon Marbury. It neutralizes their talent on the court and makes their team struggle to win games.

The Kings were 50-32 the year before Artest showed up. They won 44 games in Artest’s first year with the team, and that number dropped to 33 the next year. Last year Sacramento won 38 games and the it was enough for them to venture further away from win-now mode by trading veteran point guard Mike Bibby.

Artest is the next player that needs to go. A youth movement is ready to start in Sacramento. This is Kevin Martin’s team and the young kid from rural eastern Ohio, doesn’t need the boy from New York City flexing his East Coast attitude.

The Kings are in need of a point guard and, with Artest’s departure, a small forward. They have a couple of tough guys at power forward and center and have third-year pro Shelden Williams to groom.

That’s why a deal to the Pistons makes sense for them. Ron Artest for Tayshaun Prince and Chancey Billups. The Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit is interested.

He would give Detroit a psychopath to guard Lebron James.

But it’s not worth it.

Anyone that takes in Ron Artest is destined for failure.

Bulls shouldn't penalize Deng and Gordon for bad season

Before the start of last season it was all good in Chicago.

General Manager John Paxson and the rest of the front office thought they had something special -- and they did. The Bulls were coming off a season in which they swept the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs and then gave Detroit a serious scare after falling behind 3-0 in the series.

“We’re close,” the Bulls thought. “Next year is our year.”

Knowing that two of their key pieces, small forward Luol Deng and reserve guard Ben Gordon, would soon be unrestricted free agents, the Bulls offered them both five year contracts. Over that five years they wanted to pay Deng $57 million and Gordon $50 million.

Deng was shaping up to be a top five small forward in the league. He had averaged a little over 18 points per game and seven rebounds during the regular season, and he had upped his averages in both categories in the playoffs. Against the Heat and Pistons, teams that were coming off Eastern Conference final appearances, Deng raised his averages to over 22 points and eight rebounds. With his bulk, Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince didn’t appear to phase him. This, the Bulls thought, was something they could use. They would be one of the few teams that had a player that could play well against Prince.

Gordon was instant offense. In a sixth-man role he averaged 20 points per game during the regular season and 18 points in the playoffs. Sure, he was short, too short to start, but he could score. As long as the Bulls had a player like Gordon to come off the bench they wouldn’t have to worry about an extended scoring drought.

“Here you go,” the Bulls said. “We want you guys around for awhile.”

The Bulls had already locked up point guard Kirk Hinrich and had brought in Ben Wallace to anchor the defense and be the enforcer. Wallace appeared to still have a few good years left. A young power forward in Tyrus Thomas added athleticism and more rebounding. If he didn’t work out, rookie Joakim Noah provided insurance, a young version of energy.

But Deng and Gordon didn’t sign their offers, and who could blame them? Another season like the one they had and teams would be knocking down the door to sign them.

They didn’t the disastrous season on the horizon.

The Bulls fired coach Scott Skiles 25 games into the season. Noah started spouting off at the mouth. The veterans spouted back. Reserve guard Chris Duhon started pouting over playing time. Wallace left in a trade to Cleveland. There was a different starting lineup nearly every night. The record fell into the gutter. No one respected lame duck interim coach Jim Boylan.

And now Deng and Gordon have to pay for it.

They still have the talent and Gordon is only 25. Deng is 23. They can still be part of a bright Bulls future, which includes No. 1 overall pick in Derrick Rose, a Chicago native. The Bulls are not a better team without Deng and Gordon.

A smart move for the Bulls would be to extend Gordon and Deng the same offer they did a year ago. Let bygones be bygones and don’t penalize them for what happened last year.

That would be a sign of fairness. All people want from their employer is to be treated fairly.

With a satisfied Deng and Gordon, along with the nice mix of young players and veterans, the Bulls will have something special to work with once again.

SIxers follow Detroit model with Brand signing

There’s hope in Philadelphia again thanks to an $82 million part.

Who knew trading away Allen Iverson and Kyle Korver would do so much good?

Those moves allowed Philadelphia to sign highly sought after Elton Brand, who had been the Clippers' franchise forward, and now the Sixers have their best big man since the Round Mound of Rebound left town before the 1992-93 season.

Don’t be mistaken into thinking this is a Sixers team that will be dominated by the lethal one-two punch of Brand and Andre Iguodala, assuming he resigns.

Iguodala and Brand are both good players, all-star caliber players, but where do they fit in with in the pantheon of duos in the league? Not that high really. They aren’t as good as TMac and Yao. Kobe and Lamar are better too. Parker and Duncan…Not even close. What about the Eastern Conference? The only combination of the Boston’s big three that they might compare to is Allen and Pierce only because Brand might be better than Allen at this point -- might. Brand, after all, missed most of last season. What about Cleveland? LeBron and Z? Brand might be better than Z. It’s insulting to put (name deliberately left out) in the same sentence as either of Philly’s two stars.

Then why is there so much hope in Philadelphia? As good of an addition Brand is to a team that already had Igudola, there are a dozen teams that could put two players together and claim they have more talent than the Sixers top duo.

Simply put, the Sixers are built in the mold of the Pistons, who won a championship without the help of a future Hall of Fame player. They are the only team to win a championship without such a player in…..well….possibly ever.

The Sixers might not have individual standouts, but together they should be very good. They have a steady journeyman point guard, in Andre Miller, who isn’t easily rattled -- like the Pistons. They have a dominant power forward, in Brand who will be the catalyst for the offense. Sound familiar? Samuel Dalembert is one of the better shot blocking forces in the league. Think back to the real Ben Wallace. Thaddeus Young was a power forward in college and now he’s been moved to small forward. He creates matchup problems with other team’s small forwards because of his size. Tayshaun Prince has long arms. Young has big muscles. Igudola is as consistent of a scorer as it gets at shooting guard as long as he can get into the lane. The same can be said about Rip Hamilton and coming free off of screens.

The year before Detroit traded for Wallace, their offense sputtered in the playoffs without the presence of a low post scorer. Philly’s offense did the same thing against Detroit. Like when the Pistons added Wallace, now the Sixers have someone that can give them spacing only they won’t have to worry about Brand chucking it from the 3-point line.

The Sixers have hope, but it shouldn’t be from Brand’s singular dominance. They now have a chance to have a team, like Detroit, that’s better than the sum of its parts.

Even though one of those parts cost $82 million.

Already 3-team race for final spot in West

With the signing of Baron Davis and the trade for Marcus Camby, the Los Angeles Clippers should be considered the favorites for the final playoff spot next year, a spot Denver vacated after it traded Camby for nothing.

Denver was lucky to get to the playoffs anyway. The only reason the Nuggets took the eighth seed and not Golden State was an injury to Golden State center Andris Biedrins that took him out of action for a big chunk of March. The Warriors were so desperate that they dusted off Chris Webber and put him in the starting lineup.

That experiment worked about as well as it should have and C-Web left out the door faster than when he entered.

He didn’t leave as fast as Davis did through. Davis opted out of his Golden State contract and then signed a max contract the following day with the Clippers. The deal was so quick it appeared to have gone down sight unseen unless the Clippers and Davis already had the principles of the deal ironed out before he opted out. But that’s a story for another day.

Today the topic is the Clippers and how the addition of Davis and Camby has shifted the balance of mediocre power by adding to the Clippers all-star level scoring and rebounding and playmaking ability.

They’ll have a front line of Camby, Kaman, and Al Thornton, one that should be tougher than most Western Conference teams. Camby, who said this week he’s going to be motivated by Denver’s giving him away, will be able to move to power forward, the position that most suits his skill set.

The Clippers main question now is shooting guard. They have undersized veteran Cutino Mobley or Quinton Ross. All they need there is someone who can man-up on defense and can hit an open jump shot.

Golden State tried to cover the loss of Davis by signing Corey Maggette. He will help. He’ll cancel out Davis in the scoring department, but he’s hasn’t shown he has Davis’ moxy. Davis will often lead the team in scoring, but he also rebounds like a forward and assists like a guard. In any game, he is a threat to post a triple-double.

Maggette will score 25 points, but have four rebounds and two assists. His slashing game should thrive in Don Nelson’s open court style, and his free throw numbers should go up, increasing his scoring average. Ultimately the Warriors won’t win unless they can find a true point guard. Perhaps it’s Monta Ellis, who they finally signed to a long-term deal yesterday.

Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette sounds like a pretty good guard/forward tandem and with Andris Biedrins and All Harrington there as big men, they should be all right.

The Trailblazers are in the conversation because Brandon Roy sometimes looks like Chris Paul with the ball in his hands. He’s the wildcard in Portland’s ascension next season. He looks like he’d going to be a top point guard in the league for a long time. But it’s going to be Greg Oden’s first season. Roy’s wizardry is going to have to make up for Oden’s mistakes.

The biggest growth curve for the 7-0 center from Ohio State is going to be how he handles the double team in the NBA. His first task will be forcing the double-team, second will be learning how to take it and third will be passing out of it. Only the best master the fourth -- turning away from it to score.

Jordan legacy tied to Okafor decision

As a player Michael Jordan didn’t want Isaiah Thomas on the Dream Team. The two were giants of the late 80s and early 90s and found it difficult to fit their personas in the same room. The thing that made them winners also repelled them from each other.

It might also be the thing that has made them both front office failures. One-on-one and even in small groups it must be hard to say no to either Jordan or Thomas after watching them make so many right decisions on the court. In the front office though, their decision-making might not be as flawless, but it's difficult to separate the two. Thomas has turned into an abject failure as a front-office man, certainly he made some bad decisions. Jordan might not be too far behind.

But Jordan still has another chance.

He and the Charlotte Bobcats are facing their biggest decision to date. What are they going to do with Emeka Okafor? When Charlotte drafted the 6-foot-10 forward from Connecticut in 2004, he was supposed to become the face of the franchise. That year they surrounded him with fresh young talent. With seven years in the league apiece, point guard Brevin Knight and forward Corey Alexander were the team’s elder statesmen. Bobcats management seemed content letting a young team grow together and they hired a coach in Bernie Bickerstaff, that hadn’t had great success as a coach, but he’d been around the block a few times and his knowledge was thought to be good for a young team. If anything, the Bobcats at least had a plan.

Then after three seasons Charlotte fired Bickerstaff and replaced him with Sam Vincent, who had no coaching experience, but he had Jordan as a reference The two played together in Chicago and he was hired a year after Jordan's deal to own a piece of the team was finalized. Majority owner Bob Johnson hardly had a choice. No one but Jordan's high school basketball coach had ever said no to Jordan in North Carolina, and you see what people think of that coach. Dumbest decision ever, right? Plus, Charlotte has already sent one team packing.

Before Bickerstaff’s final season the team's direction started to seem uncertain. They brought in journeyman Othella Harrington and he couldn’t stay healthy. Then last year they traded Brendan Wright, at young prospect a power forward for Jason Richardson, a great scorer that had lost some explosiveness since he had come into the league. There’s no doubt Richardson is a better player than Wright, but adding him from the Warriors -- a team that made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2007 -- it seemed to put the Bobcats in a win-now mode. In their fourth year of existence, they were going with veterans now instead of developing rookies.

They were looking for a winner -- like, today. No team whose front office has associated with Michael Jordan has had a winning record and he can't like that. But it's a fact.

Jordan was in the front office of the Wizards from 2000-02 before he decided to come back to play for two seasons. They once won 19 games and never won more than 37 games in a season. He drafted Kwame Brown out of high school with the first overall pick in 2001. He traded Rip Hamilton for fellow North Carolina alum Jerry Stackhouse in 2002. When Jordan thought Brown wasn’t developing fast enough, he called him out in the media.

After two losing seasons with the Bobcats, Jordan is starting to look no better than Thomas when it comes to making basketball decisions in the front office, but still, when Jordan talks, people listen -- for good or ill.

Perhaps that’s why ownership forced him out of Washington, not offering him a share of the team when he retired again. With Jordan out of the way, the Wizards eventually acquired Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler. They have been winners since Jordan left, making the playoffs in three of the four year’s he’s been gone.

Now if Jordan is going to be part of a winner, he’s going to have to help the team make the right decision with Okafor, a player that’s not spectacular but effective. He’s a lot better than most big men teams have. Going into his fifth year in the league, his peak is still ahead of him. He’s not Nazr Mohammed and he’s not Kwame Brown. In both cases that is a good thing.

He’s not the Bobcats’ only big man. They have other players there, veteran players, and they could use a veteran point guard. Okafor wants around $12 million per year, yet isn’t an offensive threat. But he can rebound. He was a dominant shot-blocker in college although he's only been over the two-blocks per game plateau once in this three healthy seasons.

The decision Jordan and company are going to have to make is are they willing to go with Mohammed at center in exchange for a veteran point guard, assuming a sign-and-trade with Okafor, or are they willing to stick with Okafor at center and a rookie at point guard.

Pay Okafor the money, and the Bobcats already have a center and a developing point guard. Trade Okafor and they buy time for their point guard, but they may never have as capable of a center.

The safe bet is keep Okafor and let the rookie develop. But it’s up to Jordan.

When he talks, people listen.

It’s his legacy on the line.

Hawks really don't need the pioneer Childress

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Childress laid down his ace of spades this week — an all expenses paid trip to Greece. All he has to do is agree to play basketball for Olympiakos a Greek team in the Euroleague, and they will pay him $20 million tax free over three years.

Childress would be the biggest American name in to say no to an NBA contract and take one overseas instead. We can call Childress a pioneer if he makes the move. It would give others like him a new magazine of ammo and international teams that play in countries with western cultures will know NBA players can be had. Not just the rejects, but bona the fide stars. David Stern has been obsessed with the globalization of the game. But for the most part it’s been a one-way pipeline. We show them the game is cool and in turn they send us their best players.

That notion is changing. The dollar isn’t the powerhouse it once was and neither is NBA basketball. There are a lot of rich team owners abroad too, rich enough to shell out American dollars, or even better, tax-free Euros.

Right now the NBA still has prestige on its side, the big stars are still going to sell Nikes. But if Childress goes abroad and finds that its not so bad out there, companies won’t be far behind him. Interested in globalization? Well, this is part of it. The United States is just one of many countries in the world, andif there’s going to be globalization, we’re going to be one of the biggest forces behind it. That doesn’t just mean us benefiting from them. They're also going to benefit from us. For Olympiakos that means getting a 25-year-old swingman that has helped turnaround the once decrepit Hawks by averaging 11 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Atlanta just has to hope that Childress is not a pioneer. They have to hope that he doesn’t want to go that far away from home, even for nearly $7 million tax-free dollars a year. They have to hope he doesn’t want to etch his name in history.

Even though he’s already been to South Africa with the NBA Without Boarders program, even though he’s been a mentor with the Young Black Scholars and even though he left Stanford early but enrolled in Georgia State upon coming to town, they have to hope they were wrong about him being a leader.

It looks like the NBA is on the verge of a paradigm shift.

But wait…Maybe the truth is Childress is just more valuable to Olympiakos than he would be to the Hawks. Maybe blazing a trail has nothing to do with it. Childress grew up learning about a free-market economy right? Maybe this is nothing but pure economic force. Simple supply and demand. The Hawks are in supply of swingmen, Olympiakos is demanding one. International teams have been giving the NBA big men for years. They’re in short supply over here. Atlanta needs one now.

If they played tomorrow, without Childress, but had Josh Smith, Mike Bibby would be at the point and Joe Johnson at the two. Marvin Williams can play the three. Not bad. Where the real problem comes in is Josh Smith and Al Horford are both power forwards and one of them is going to have to play center. That’s Atlanta’s real problem.

So, good luck in Greece Josh, the pioneer. But remember one thing. Atlanta has your rights if you end up wanting to come back after this year or the next.

OKC has ingredients to overcome moving day

Oklahoma City is going to have a basketball now. The Oklahoma City Five. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Welcome Kevin Durant to your permanent home. It’s cattle country, hope you don’t mind. Free agents might, but that’s why you’re here.

Free agents? We don't need no stinkin' free agents.

Moving is a real pain, the packing, the saying good-bye. A player like Durant has probably become used to it. Oklahoma City is going to be the fourth city in as many years that has housed his home court. He should be used to it, as should fellow rookie Jeff Green. Those two just moved to Seattle anyway. Breaking up with friends after a year isn’t that hard.

But for almost everyone else, moving to a new town will be harder. Oklahoma City will play in front of sellout home crowds next year, and the players will need that energy to offset a lack of their own. When you’re moving, free time gets cut down. That or work time. A veteran might already be chalking up this next year a lost cause, a moving year. There isn’t enough time in the day to workout, relocate and relax. Something has to give. For a veteran with a guaranteed contract, work is going to pay anyway. There’s no way to avoid the moving pain and free time is the most important time.

The last five teams to switch cities in the NBA have done well just to maintain the record they’ve had the previous season.

Of the last five teams to relocate from a year before -- Memphis (2004), New Orleans (2002), Sacramento (1985), Los Angeles Clippers (1984) and Utah (1979) -- Sacramento made the biggest improvement from one year to the next, six games. The Kings won 31 games in their final year in Kansas City in 1984-85 and upped that total to 36 wins the next season. On the other hand Utah did the worst after moving from New Orleans following the 1978-79 season and that was only a two-game difference. The Jazz too also had little firepower. They won 26 games the year before moving to Utah.

For the most part teams stay even. The Hornets won 44 games and then 46 games. The Clippers won 30 games and improved to 31. The Grizzles didn’t do any better, winning 23 games their last year in Vancouver and their first year in Memphis.

The more telling sign is when can these teams expect a winner. In most cases that depends on what kind of young prospect they can develop. The Kings and Clippers have been bad for most of their existence in their new cities. It took Sacramento 14 years before it made the playoffs and the Clippers eight. But that one playoff year for the Clippers in 1991-92 was an aberration.

The main component to getting good in a new city is drafting a good young player that can grow with the team. The turmoil that surrounds these franchises when they move doesn’t exactly make them free agent magnets and Oklahoma City isn’t going to carry the same cache as New Orleans or Los Angeles. It’s Oklahoma City, there’s not a professional sports franchise around for a far as the eye can see. What can that mean? Ask Utah. The only players that make a difference there are players they force there through the draft.

Drafting John Stockton was the reason it only took the Jazz four seasons to get into the playoffs. For Memphis, who needed three seasons, it was the development of Pau Gasol, who gave the Grizzles a center when most teams didn’t have one. New Orleans was a playoff team when they left Charlotte and made the playoffs in their first season in the Crescent City. But then Baron Davis left and things fell apart. Then a great storm wrecked the city. They spent time in the doldrums until Chris Paul pulled them out. New Orleans is a situation that will be forever unique. At least the Hornets will be able to get free agents to New Orleans.

As for Oklahoma City, at least they’re coming to town with a little meat on their bones because that’s all they could have to eat for awhile.

George steps into Posey's place in FA market

With James Posey moving to New Orleans, there is going to be a renewed interest in Mavericks free agent, Devean George, who is basically the same type of player, one who can come in as a backup small forward or shooting guard. He’s won championships with the Lakers and has played in more big games with Dallas. It should be a priority that Dallas keep him, but after the younger Antoine Wright as a swingman with the idea of adding depth, there might not be the money left in Dallas to feed into that position. George will have some higher value with other teams as someone that can come in and be the seventh or eighth man. There is not reason that all the teams that were seriously in play for Posey shouldn’t be lining up for George — and they can probably get him at a reduced rate.

Barry should be Rockets' secret weapon

The Rockets pick up of Brent Barry will give them someone they can look to in the playoffs to knock down shots. Coach Rick Adelman will have to monitor his minutes this year. Put him in there enough to learn the offense, but they don’t want to be in a situation where they are counting on him to play in heavy rotation to win games. He’s the type of player that it would be good if they won without him during the regular season and then brought him in as a secret weapon heading into the playoffs. They should treat him like Detroit treated Lindsey Hunter last year. The Rockets could have been the Western Conference representatives in the Finals last season had Yao Ming stayed healthy. He's the best center in the league right now and was playing at the highest level he'd been at since joining the NBA as a no-English speaking rookie. They are very close. It's going to be players like Barry that are going to push them over the top. He can make the shots that Posey made for the Celtics during their title run.

Camby loss makes weak defensive team weaker

For the last two years, the Nuggets couldn’t make it out of the first round in the playoffs. They basically needed win out during a grueling end-of-season run saturated for two months with must-win games. They made it to the playoffs, but for most of the season looked like the ninth-best team in the Western Conference. If Andris Biedrins hadn’t been hurt for the Warriors, the Nuggets would have been sitting at home for the playoffs. Besides the fact that Denver traded Camby for potential rights to a second round pick, the Nuggets also let go of their best defensive player. The Nuggets had no interest in playing defense last year, which was the major reason they weren’t serious title contenders. Not kind of defense, yet they had the reigning defensive MVP patrolling the paint. What is going to happen to Denver now that Camby’s gone? Will the Nuggets be able to stop anyone? Who is going to play center? Right now they have Steven Hunger and Nene. Looks like its time for the Brazilian to earn the right to be called by one name in America.

Gibson a nice fit for Cavs bench

The Cavaliers solidified their bench today with Boobie Gibson’s signing. For the next five years, he can play that role as a knockdown shooter that teams need to come in the game when it’s established the other team is double-teaming the star. If Gibson was 15-20 pounds heavier and an inch taller, he might be a starter. As it stands now, his body is too frail to play good enough defense for an entire game against some of the point guards on the better teams in the Eastern Conference. It was a good signing, and it will further allow the Cavaliers to let the core group Danny Ferry put together in the middle of the season last year mature. They never really learned how to play with each other well enough to do some damage last year. That should change by opening tip in November.

Peterson might be key to Posey deal working

James Posey is a nice player, the best of the remaining unrestricted free agents. The Hornets were willing to meet two demands in order to land the 6-foot-8 small forward. They gave him the four-year contract he wanted and they also paid him more than just the mid-level exception of $5.8 million per year. They overpaid for him. Not because of his market value. He might be worth that kind of money to another team, but where is he going to fit in with the Hornets? They desperately needed a shooting guard last season and now they’ll most likely have a starting lineup that will include two small forwards, Posey and Peja, two players that like to hover around the 3-point line. They might be able to make it work defensively with they way Posey can play on defense, but he’s going to go from playing on other teams top scorer for a handful of minutes to a player that will be counted on to shut down an opposing team’s best player for an entire game. He had the chance to start in Houston and was one of the reasons the Rockets didn’t make it out of the first round. The thought was they needed an upgrade there. Posey would make a great sixth-man for the Hornets. Unfortunately they won’t be able to play him in that role unless they start getting something out of Morris Peterson, last year’s starting shooting guard.

Spurs ready for infusion of new talent

The Spurs are old. They could stand to get younger, but it's not the age or the skill set that they have to be worried about during the course of a game. The problem is the older they get, the less likely players are going to be around for a deep postseason run. If they’re healthy, that’s fine. But getting them to late May injury free is going to keep getting trickier. Not only do the Spurs have aging players in the starting five, the players they bring off the bench are equally old. The problem is the players they already have in the starting lineup are incredibly skilled. It’s going to be hard to bring in a young player at any position without sacraficing in the short term. There’s not going to be a young player brought in through the draft that is going to have the skill set of Bruce Bowen or Tim Duncan. At 26 and 30 respectively, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli can’t be considered old yet, although many games last year 35-year-old Michael Finley started. San Antonio has also been hurt by being out of the lottery nearly every year. They played in the Western Conference finals last season, beating an up-and-coming Hornets team in seven games, but the Hornets are on the rise. What are the Spurs? No way they’re better an infusion of new talent.

Artest for Odom is a rip-off

Other than the fact that Ron Artest is set to make about half the money that Lamar Odom will make next year, it’s curious to see the reports that the Lakers would be willing to part with Odom for a perennial firestorm in Artest. No doubt Artest would bring toughness to the Lakers, but he will also pack a wild card everywhere he goes. This is a person that once wanted to take a few months off during the season in order to promote his rap label. How distracted would he be in Los Angeles? The Lakers made it to the Finals last year and they weren’t 100-percent. They’ll still have arguably the best player in the world on their team and it’s not clear that any of the other Western Conference teams will be any better than they were last year. Bringing in Artest could upset last year’s chemistry, especially if the team doesn’t win right away. In the best case scenario the Lakers would be getting a motivated Artest that gives the Lakers scoring and rebounding and quickly learns Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. Scoring and rebounding should be a given with Artest. Motivation and learning the offense? That’s another issue all together. Odom can dribble, shoot, pass, rebound and won’t fly of the handle at any given time. Odom for Artest is a steal for the Kings.

Brand exit makes Clippers major player for UFAs

After losing both Elton Brand and Corey Maggette the Clippers appear to be a wild card that is left in this free agency period. Along with Golden State, they appear to have the financial resources now to be able to put a package together that any free agent, restricted or otherwise would have to seriously think about. Andre Iguodala should stay in Philly, but the Clippers can put an offer out there he would have to consider. Until today, his name hasn’t been brought up, but after the Clippers watched Brand and Maggette out the door, they’re getting a little desperate to find someone to pair with Baron Davis. There are some impact players still out there as restricted free agents:

Josh Smith (ATL)
Josh Childress (ATL)
Emeka Okafor (CHA)
Luol Deng (CHI)
Ben Gordon (CHI)
Andris Biedrins (GS)
Monta Ellis (GS)
Nenad Krstic (NJ)
Andre Iguodala (PHI)

Magic management decisions questionable

The Magic are content to let a promising team fall into the tank. They’re offering Kenyon Dooling a little more than have the money he made last year as Nelson’s backup. Obviously they’re willing to wait and take a backup point guard that they can pay the least amount of money to. They paid Michael Pietrus, but have failed to find a complement to Dwight Howard, they’re most important player. They still have Rashard Lewis playing out of position at the power forward spot and without Dooling, there is not point guard coming off the bench. The Magic had something good started last season. Whether management is going to mess it up is the lone question now. The answer could go either way.

Pargo’s demands are going to have to wait

Hornets reserve guard Jannero Pargo isn’t going to find a better situation that the one he’s at in New Orleans. Anywhere he goes, he will be a backup and there has to be some value to playing with Chris Paul and being part of a situation that could turn out to be something special in the next five years. The only problem is he’s looking for a three year deal and although he’s a nice player, there are a lot of backup guards out there. The Hornets are really going to have to be happy with a bench whose top player is Pargo if they give him the three-year deal now. That’s not exactly a bench that is going to strike fear in the opposition. They’ll still need somebody else. That’s why they’re going to have to find their main guy first before they can think about what kind of backup point guard they want. There are probably a few veteran backups out there that would love to play with Paul -- Tyronn Lue comes to mind. He and Pargo are virtually the same player and are both shopping themselves elsewhere. The Hornets could take the one with the least financial burden after finding a big gun to come off the bench, which, actually, they already have in Bonzi Wells.

Pacers now have hope, direction

The Pacers are going to lose a lot of games next season, but they definitely have some pieces in place now that can at least give fans a hope. A true back to the basket center with the skill that Roy Hibbert has is definitely going to something interesting to watch. He’s a rare breed in today’s NBA. It shouldn’t take him long before he’s able to force double teams and he has the potential to become a very good offensively player. Though slow, he already seems to posses post moves and appears to be used to his long body. Players that are 7-2 with the skill that Hibbert has shown don’t tend to stay in college as long as he did and that might have been the best move of his career so far. The addition of T.J. Ford at point guard gives the team someone that can handle the load of playing the one spot right away, but Jarett Jack isn’t a just a throw-in. He’s a physical point guard that, with time, could present matchup problems with his physical nature. He’s in the mold of Chauncey Billiups. The Pacers have a future.

Celtics sign project in O'Bryant

Players that are over 7-0 will continue to get a chance in the NBA as long as they’re young. The Celtics signed Patrick O’Bryant, who hardly received any playing time with the Golden State Warriors, but was a force in the NBADL. A sidebar to the idea that O’Bryant didn’t play in his first couple of years in Golden State is that Golden State was one of the best teams in the Western Conference and they have a tendency to go small rather than load the floor with bigs. In addition to that Warriors coach Don Nelson has a reputation not playing young players. He’s a coach that would rather rely on veteran players. Rookies seem to have to do a lot to impress him enough to make an impact and judging by the lack of playing time, it’s clear he didn’t do that. Effort was the main problem cited in today’s Globe story. The hope is Kevin Garnett can inspire him enough to change. Maybe, but Garnett is over 30 now. He might know what O’Bryant needs to do, but can he still do the things he did in the offseason when he was in his early 20s? It might be more difficult to lead by example. Another thing is it will be interesting to see if Garnett can keep his intensity as high as it was before now that he’s won a championship. The trend in recent years has been for the champion to rest on its laurels the following season.

Pieces coming together for Hawks

The Hawks were indeed lucky, as the Journal-Constitution’s Sekou Smith said, that the Sixers opted for Brand over a better prospect in Josh Smith. Now they have a chance to build off of what they accomplished last year and things should get better with the return of Speedy Claxton. Before last season, the Hawks didn’t have a point guard and now they have three with Mike Bibby, Acie Law IV and Claxton. Claxton potentially will give Atlanta a veteran point guard that can come in, run sound offense and score, especially with him playing against another team’s second unit. On many nights he’ll be playing against a less experienced player and will have the quickness that players with that level of experience usually don’t have. The only thing separating the Hawks from a second-round-type playoff team is a stronger post presence. But what better person to be developing down low than Al Horford, who was the most NBA-ready of those national championship Florida Gator teams.

Lots of wasted salary on Knicks

The Knicks are headed in the right direction despite signing Chris Duhon, a player whose off-court activities last year have been in question. It’s amazing the number of players that they have eating up money on the books. The most obvious is Stephon Marbury, whose $21 million-plus salary makes him unable to be traded. Zach Randolph, at over $14.5 million, at least gave the Knicks some production last year, but next year they’ll owe over $6 million to players like Jared Jefferies, who was traded to Portland for Randolph, Jerome James and Malik Rose. By contrast David Lee, a player outside teams are actually interested in won’t even crack the $2 million threshold next year. You can’t blame players from wanting to score. It skews everything, including what it appears they’re worth.

Heat needs a banger

As the No. 2 overall pick in June’s draft, Michael Beasley is a marked man in the summer league games. That’s going to continue all the way through the upcoming season as veterans try to test his toughness. Right now he’s probably the strongest player physically the Heat has under the basket with Udonis Haslem projected to play center. They probably need another banger to help protect Beasley and Dwayne Wade. Haslem isn’t that type of player. Possessing a consistent mid-range jump shot, Haslem appears to be more of a finesse player, adept to finding open spaces rather than plowing his own space underneath. If he’s going to play center the Heat have no choice but to play uptempo. Too bad uptempo teams without a true center don’t win NBA championships.

Hickson needs to be James' bodyguard

The Cavaliers signed their first-round draft pick today, J.J. Hickson. At 6-feet-9 245 pounds, Hickson is built solid. The Cavaliers could stand to benefit if he has a mean streak to go along with that size and bulk. Where is the next Charles Oakley? That’s the type of player the Cavs need. Washington wasn’t afraid to hurt LeBron James in last year’s playoffs because Cleveland didn’t have anyone who would go out there and be stop Washington’s drives on the other end. That player should have been Ben Wallace, but he was too soft to do it as was Big Z. Joe Smith was a combination of both of them — old and docile. Hickson needs to come in there and immediately throw down the first player meets in the lane. It might not hurt the rookie to be know as a dirty player from the outset — at least when it comes to other team’s slashers driving the lane. James is going to continue to take hard fouls unless the Cavs do something about it. If New York and other teams that hope to lure LeBron in a couple of years are smart, they would make sure they have someone rugged they can bring to James and say “This will be your bodyguard.”

Warriors better without Davis?

Basically the Warriors traded Baron Davis for Corey Magette straight up and they have some room left under the salary cap after unloading Davis’ salary. The Warriors might not be in as bad of shape as it appeared after Davis’ departure. As far as last year’s production, here’s the tale of the tape:

Davis player Maggette
29 age 28
82 games 70
21.8 ppg 22.1
.426 fg% .458
.330 3pt% .384
.750 ft% .812
4.7 rpg 5.6
7.6 apg 2.7

Davis has the clear lead in assists per game and in the leadership department, but he was a point guard and was counted on to do those things. He also rebounded well for a point guard. But as far as point production and the ability to score. They are virtually a wash. If anything Maggette might have the edge, although last year without Brand there was more pressure on him to score. Without Davis, Golden State will have a chance to play a brand of basketball in which teams can’t key on stopping one person. They have few guys that can score. Their only problem is the half court game will continue to struggle. They’ve never been particularly strong in the slowdown game and next year they’ll be relying on a first year starting point guard.

Forget Turiaf. Lakers need nothing but healthy Bynum

Already $5 million of the luxury tax threshold, the Lakers aren’t in position to do anything major in free agency, nor do they need to. Their big pickup is going to be the addition of Andrew Bynum from the injured list. Bynum coming back will force a Lakers big to the bench and thus no pressing need for Ronnie Turiaf, who put the Lakers at a disadvantage in the finals against Leon Powe. The Lakers’ starting five is set and they might be one of the few teams that would truly be looking for depth. The fact that Turiaf is leaving is a non-story. He’s just a guy that plays forward. They can let him walk and open up a little more time to DJ MBenga, who is built like an animal.

Mason leaves Wizards for Spurs

For the Wizards, some of their backups last year like Roger Mason Jr. received a ton of playing time with Arenas out and lead the team to the playoffs only to be shoved back to the bench on Arenas’ return and watch the franchise player sign a new deal worth $111 million. The one good thing for Mason thought was that he was able to prove his value on the floor and became an attractive option to a team like the Spurs, who could use a young backup point guard.

Championship gave free-agent role players exposure

What the Celtics are going through right now is they have two key reserved, with the same agent, that are trying to see what kind of financial gain they can expect from being on a championship team. Posey is shopping himself around for a full mid-level exception and one reason the Cavaliers are in play is because they are reportedly interested in giving it to him. Eddie House has apparently also drawn some interest, even though he was a liability in the Eastern Conference Finals and anyone with a good on-ball defender like Detroit had with Lindsey Hunter can render House ineffective. There can’t be any situations better for House than what he has in Boston. He’s never been more relevant than he is now with the Celtics.

Nickname for Oklahoma City

My vote:

The Oklahoma City Five

Just like the football team I'd like to see: The Los Angeles Eleven

Rebuilding Nets must deal Carter

The Nets are officially rebuilding and it’s only a matter of time before Vince Carter is gone. The only question is where does he go? And can he accept a lesser role, possibly even one coming off the bench? The rest of the Nets team is so young that it’s laughable to suggest they would add another veteran to the mix. Even Nenad Kristic appears to want to play elsewhere. He’s wanting a longer deal than he’s shown he’s worth. The Nets often said, even when they had Kidd, that their success would depend on Kristic’s health. He was never healthy and the Nets were never serious title contenders. Both Kristic and Carter still have some nice trade value so if they can work out a deal to sign Kristic, they might be able to use him, along with Carter, in a sign a trade, possibly even for draft picks since New Jersey is no longer in a win-now mode.

With James signing, Heat overloaded at forward

The Heat has loaded itself at forward with the addition of James Jones through free agency. They certainly have some valuable pieces to use in a trade if they are still in the market for a point guard. The addition of Mario Chalmers through free agency should eliminate that need for a point guard. If they like him, might as well throw him in there. Weather they like it or not, the next year will be a building year for the Heat. Wade will be coming off on injury. Marion will still be developing chemistry with his new teammates and the rookies—Chalmers and Beasley—are going to have to learn what it is like going through an 82-game season. Starting 82 games is going to tough for a rookie point guard, but even if they determine he’s not ready to do that, if they like him, he should be ready to do that by next season. Miami probably shouldn’t trade a talented forward that would give the team depth in the long run for a short-term solution at point guard.

Posey would be wasted playing behind James

The Cavaliers have an interest in Celtics free agent James Posey just like a dozen teams out there. The problem is that they already have a small forward, and the addition of Posey would be so that he could play the same role that he did with the Celtics. One thing the Cavs have going for them is that Posey is from Twinsburg, a Cleveland suburb. Maybe he’ll want to return to the area with the cush job of having to play for James when, in the rare instance, he's sitting on the bench. Cleveland would be using their full mid-level exception for a player that is a reserve for one of the game’s most legendary players in Lebron James. In order to get full value for their $5.858 million, Cleveland would have to find a way to put James and Posey on the court at the same time.

Can't make grade? Go to Europe

Brandon Jennings, a point guard from Compton, Calif., who is one of the top recruits in the country has decided to go play in Europe instead of playing for an American University. Will this inspire other American to do the same? Possibly. Seems like Canada could try to sneak its way into being another non-US option. The year LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Darko came were drafted, it make me think about this scenario. It showed that all three levels were capable of producing a top NBA-pick. Here’s a blub of what I wrote on June, 23, 2003:

Why shouldn’t it be that high school players don’t start looking to the European leagues to further their skill if it’s not guaranteed they’ll make an NBA roster? College can present all kinds of problems and undue stress for the athlete who never gave a damn about grades anyway. Many times the graduation rates of athletes disgrace the university. In Europe high-schoolers would get to face better competition while learning what it’s like to get paid to play basketball -- and everything else that goes along with being a professional. High-School players could get incentive packages that include money for both school (if it’s even desired) and personal items. There’s not the same restriction on the number of hours they can practice with the team, coach included. In short, there are no NCAA regulations of any kind, except that you can never play in the NCAA after signing a deal. But who needs dorms and cafeteria food when there’s lobster, steak, and penthouses. Certainly the possibility exists these players would end up in Europe anyway.

Still waiting for Rose

The Bulls can’t seem to get Derrick Rose on the court. After the tendonitis he’s experienced in his knee, the jammed it in a summer league game Tuesday. All his life he’s been waiting to get to the NBA and now that its here, he can’t play. At least it doesn’t appear to be serious, but the last thing the Bulls need is an injury-prone guard. Hopefully it’s not something with the way he plays that makes him more susceptible to injury. The Bulls want to take advantage of him to create opportunities in transition. Hopefully he’s not playing out of control trying to speed things up because he’s at the NBA level. That is all speculation right now, nothing but a guess. It doesn’t take much to get fans thinking about a guy like Grant Hill. Other than that, which is the major headline right now, Tyrus Thomas has been dominating — against rookies and a bunch of hopeful reserves. It’s good that he showed up, especially since the Bulls had a ton of chemistry problems last year, but it’s clear he can play and the Bulls management would be right to send him home.

Magic needs big man not shooting guard

The Orlando Magic signed Michael Pietrus and apparantly he’s expected to become a starter. Pietrus is nice player in that he’s athletic and 6-foot-6 and will be able to match up defensively with any shooting guard in the league. The only downfall of the signing — and its going to be the reason the Magic fail again in the playoffs next year — is that it looks like the move will keep Rashard Lewis out of position at power forward. Power forward is the position Orlando needs. Hedo Turkoglu looked to have the skills last year to carry himself at shooting guard, which would allow Lewis to play the three. Once again the Magic is going to rely on Dwight Howard to get all the rebounds when other teams like Boston and Detroit are going to have multiple players banging Howard underneath. The Magic needs Tony Battie to return from injury and take over the power forward spot. Pietrus should be the sixth man. That is the foundation of a championship team. To have Pietrus coming off the bench is to have a strong bench.

Brand signing puts Sixers in win-now mode

The Sixers are going to pay $82 million for a power forward that was injured all but the very end of last season. Brand has been in the league nine seasons and for the most part has been dependable. They Sixers are definitely giving him the benefit of the doubt — and maybe for good reason, although Josh Smith would have been the better long term solution. He does have nice averages of 20 points, 10 assists per game and in the eight games he did play last year, he averaged 17 points and eight rebounds, but the season was already lost. If this works out then the Sixers will have the dimension that cost them against the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs last year. Brand will give them a player that will allow them to slow down the pace of the game if needed. They’ll be able to work on that throughout the regular season and get Andre Igudola comfortable finding his offense in the half court set. The ability to play in the half court is the next step for this team. Igudola couldn’t do that last year. If he wants to be considered a bonified No. 1 option, he’s going to have to learn that phase. However Brand’s singing signifies an end to the Sixers rebuilding process.

Maggette helps, but what about Marbury

The addition of Corey Maggette does not make up for the loss of Baron Davis, but it helps fill the hole with a little sand. The only problem with Maggette is he’s a complimentary player. He’s a Lamar Odom or, frankly, a Michael Redd. Someone that can be effective on the court, but would probably thrive in a situation where they could roam free because a bigger star is drawing all the attention. If Maggette would have stayed with the Clippers, they would have been a threat to the Western Conference, assuming the Brand comes back full strength. And that’s a big assumption. Maggette averaged 22 points a game on a team with no offensive options other than him on most nights. He’ll be a nice fit in Golden State because he’s a slasher with the strength to get to the hoop and finish with contact. The Warriors will still need someone they can trust to run the point. They were willing to offer Gilbert Arenas a max contract, which means they should still have some money left to spend after locking up Maggette for a reported $10 million a year. A max deal with Arenas would have put him around $20 million a year. There are very few point guards out there that wouldn’t want $10 million a year. An intriguing thought is Stephon Marbury, he’s a lot like Baron Davis in that he needs to score. If Don Nelson can't make the boy wonder useful, no one can.

Sign Posey, deal Peja for SG

Posey should go play with the Hornets, but that’s not going to solve the more glaring problem, which is a shooting guard. Maybe a Posey signing would allow the Hornets to Peja for a shooting guard. Peja is a nice player with some value it might not hurt to see what kind of interest is out there for him. One shooting guard always rumored to be on the block is New Jersey’s Vince Carter. He might not be the player he was, but he could score more than Morris Peterson did and Posey might not be the deadly accurate shooter that Peja is, but he can hit 3s consistently and he’s a better clutch shooter. The only problem with any of these three players is that they’ve all been in the league awhile. The Hornets know what they’re getting a bad back with Peja. Carter and all his knee ailments and perceived nasty attitudes would be an unknown.

Put Dirk at SF

They Mavericks are going to need to find a way to keep Devean George. In a shallow free agent market he’s going to command some respect. For one, he’s a player that can come in and be a starter for a lot of teams, although a team that could have a player like that coming off the bench at small forward, like the Mavs, would be a championship-caliber team. It’s useless to even talk about Gerald Green until he proves he’s an NBA player and it would be nice for the Mavericks to resign Tyronn Lue to give them a true point guard to back up Jason Kidd. Kidd is 35 and some projections have had him as the starting point guard on the Olympic team. There is already a lot of wear on Kidd and now he’s going to be going through an extended summer with the Olympic team. Dallas has tried to use Jason Terry at the point in the past, but he’s more of a scorer in the mold of Chicago’s Ben Gordon. Lue will come in and run the offense more like Kidd would. My ideal lineup for the Mavs right now would be Kidd at the point with Josh Howard at the 2. Dirk at small forward with Dampier and Bass down low. Dirk at small forward. That’s the ticket -- as long as Dallas can put enforcers in there at the four and five spots.

Detroit has dilemma at small forward

The Pistons are really sleepy right now. There isn’t much out there they can do. They are already over the salary cap and only have the mid-level exception to offer as a lure to free agents -- or they can, and might, use their entire roster as trade bait. The best they could do in free agency is landing James Posey. The worst would be having to rely on Walter Herman to back up Tayshaun Prince at small forward. Any deal that would involve Prince in a trade would have to include a small forward in return. There is very little that Detroit realistically could get back at that position equal to what Prince's value except for probably for Carmelo Anthony. It’s looking like Corey Maggette is going to be able to get a better deal than the mid-level exception. He’s not going to be available to Detroit. Ideally the Pistons are going to have to work a trade without Prince, but, at 28, he is probably their most valuable commodity, unless the team involved in the trade is looking to dump salary. Then the most valuable commodity would be Rasheed Wallace. Detroit might be able to absorb a Wallace loss more than a Prince loss if only because they have a proven big in Jason Maxiell that could fill in with another one in Amir Johnson that is waiting in the wings. He’s probably ready for a regular bench role. Bottom line is it’s going to be hard for Detroit to make a deal involving Prince without short suiting themselves as small forward.

Sixers should put energy in getting Smith

Reports out of Philadelphia today say they 76ers are financially strengthening their pursuit for Elton Brand. They could probably save a little money and pursue a younger, more athletic Josh Smith, who would make an already athletic 76ers team even more so. Smith won’t produce the offensive numbers that Brand will, but he’s no slouch at a little over 17 points per game and he would provide tremendously more intimidation guarding the basket. It remains to be seen if Brand will still have the explosiveness he had before the knee operation. Also, Brand may have already played his best basketball. Smith has yet to play his. Every team in the league should be fighting each other to get Josh Smith. There might not be another player like him in the league now — or possibly ever. A shot-blocking, rebounding force with a 3-point shot, energy and athleticism. Smith is a special player and he’s on his way up. Atlanta can’t let this man walk.

Adding Duhon solves nothing

Duhon is going to get a chance to start for the Knicks. The club doesn’t mind putting its faith in a player that had some clear off the court issues last year and isn’t known to be strong defensively. For some reason some people don’t get that to win championships, the starters need to be solid players offensively and defensively. Teams are going to attack Duhon and paring him with Jamal Crawford doesn’t appear to be a duo that will be any better than what the Knicks had last year. It’s baffling that the Knicks weren’t seriously reported as being interested in trading for Kirk Hinrich. He seems like the best potentially available point guard, although if a smart general manager would pair Hinrich in the backcourt with Rose. Hinrich would be nice complement offensively and he would be able to take ball handling pressure off the rookie. Plus he’s a defender that’s, at least, willing to get dirty.

Posey not an answer at shooting guard

The Hornets desperately need a shooting guard. It appears Morris Peterson was a failed experiment and by the end of the season Bonzi Wells proved to be a better option. But to consider Posey as an answer at shooting guard reeks of desperation. Bonzi Wells is the best backup small forward in the league right now, possibly capable of playing a complementary role as a starter, but if the Hornets make him the starting shooting guard, their problems won’t end there. Players that are 6-foot-8 usually don’t play guard unless they’ve shown unnatural skill or athleticism. Posey isn’t strikingly skilled or athletic. He’s a clutch long-range shooter. He had his chance to start in this league when he played for Houston and was expendable. He’s found a niche and although you can’t blame him for taking a role as a starter again, especially for an up-and-coming team like the Hornets, but it might be better for him to stick with coming off the bench.