Feb. 19, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard J. R. Smith and point guard Jeremy Lin (17) react during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden. Knicks won 104-97. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

their loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

Despite struggling on Friday against the Hornets, Jeremy Lin was huge once again against the Mavs. Lin dominated the game with his performance. When it was all said and done Lin’s final line was impressive—he scored 28 points, had 14 assists and even managed 5 steals—so good in fact, that we will over look his game-high 7 turnovers.

Lin’s performance was so noteworthy that Jason Kidd said after the game that Lin’s play reminded him of two-time MVP Steve Nash—not a bad comparison if you are Lin.

Without Lin on the floor, The Knicks were ineffective offensively and that was a big reason why the Knicks lead was not larger in the first half. When they brought Iman Shumpert of the bench the offense became stagnated, and it was difficult for them to score. This was particularly apparent in the second quarter when after Shumpert replaced Lin, the Knicks immediately went on a scoring drought of over 3 minutes.

Jeremy Lin aside, the Knicks did get some solid scoring efforts out of their supporting cast, including J.R Smith who was solid in his Knick debut. Smith scored 15 points in his debut, and Steve Novak added 14 included some key three-point shots late in the game.  Both players added a dimension to the Knicks’ game that they have not had for the majority of the season, thanks to their three point proficiency.

With the Knicks new found propensity for ball movement and efficient three-point shooting, much of what caused them to struggle early on in the season offensively has been fixed.  Will this trend persist when Carmelo Anthony returns? we may find out as early as tonight against the Nets.

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Superstar arms race has begun between NY & NJ

The New York Knicks, under Donnie Walsh, are 3 years into a plan to form a Big Three to rival the Boston Celtics and Miami Heats’ star trios. With the arrival of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire they now have a pair of stars, and now have their sights set on the summer of 2012, when Chris Paul and Dwight Howard can potentially change teams and change the fortunes of franchises. The New Jersey Nets are attempting to change that 2012 forecast, launching a preemptive strike today by forcing Deron Williams to New Jersey in a trade with Utah. So now two questions stand, where previously only one stood. Will the Knicks sign Chris Paul next summer & can the Nets trade for Dwight Howard next season? (more…)

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Hottest Seats:

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Could this trio still unite in New York? And who else should be on our radar? (Source: jockpost.com)

The New York Knicks should pursue some of these possible free agents and trade targets on teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia Sixers, writes Joshua Sage:

The Knicks continue to surge, led by the stellar play of Amar’e Stoudemire, while the Blazers, Hornets and 76ers all continue to stumble. To the joy of Knicks fans everywhere, the Houston Rockets have also played poorly this season [Editor's Note: this is particularly good because in the Tmac trade we gave Houston the right to swap 2011 draft picks if they want.  So since they'll likely have a worse record, we won't have to give 'em nuthin' this summer]. If these trends continue, come time for the trade deadline, the records of all these teams could affect the futures of several quality players around the NBA.

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Walt "Clyde" Frazier Splendidly Showing Sensational Sartorial Skills

Buckets writer Antony Marino’s recap of the New York Knicks’ victory over the New Jersey Nets explains how it was all about Learning To Lead And Leather Suits:

Last night a team of New York Knickerbockers with “no valuable assets*” foolishly pushed caution to the wind and actually consented to compete against a New Jersey Nets squad with an “exciting young core.*”  In the game of basketball.  In public.  On TV.  I know.  An untimely demise would certainly meet the foolhardy clowns that dared to face the future [current] power of Brooklyn [Newark], but from whence would it come? The lightning quick Devin Harris (you, sir, are not a point guard, but I will defend to my death your right to say that you are)? The quantum leaping Travis Outlaw (your titanic lack of basketball IQ is only rivaled in absurdity by your yearly salary)? The highly-touted rookie Derrick Favors (lots of guys would sit on the bench behind Kris Humphries, just not typically in the NBA)? The unstoppable Brook Lopez (okay, you are absolutely fantastic at basketball)? I, like many  prognosticators of Knick failure, waited in baited breath for this much maligned group of uncoordinated, orange and blue mouth-breathers to finally show their true colors, but alas this moment never came.

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There are positives though as I wrote in Tuesday’s post.  Beside the fact that a loss to Orlando could’ve provoked more sky-is-falling screaming from the media & fans, there are two other good things:

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Kobe bites his shirt! Does that mean he's worried the Lakers won't be on top this year? Nah, probably he just forgot to eat dinner. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

With the season beginning tonight, it’s time to rank how strong all the teams are at this point.  This isn’t who will be strongest at the end of the season or who will have the best regular season.  This measures how strong each team is right NOW.  If a team engaged in a seven game series today with any of the teams listed below them, I’m saying they’d win.  So yeah, injuries count big time.  And chemistry.  And like, how good they are.  It’s basically a highly complex formula that you mere mortals wouldn’t understand.  Either that or it’s all based on pure opinion.

1. Los Angeles Lakers — Even with the recovering Kobe shooting 28% this pre-season they’d still beat everyone.  Hell, he only shot 24% in Game 7 of Finals.

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Could Phil Jackson, the Zen Master himself, get fired this season? Of course not, you idiot, but where do the rest of the coaches in the league stand? (Source: Yarbarker.com)

I seem to be in a major ranking/grading/evaluating the whole NBA-mode, so today we’re gonna check out which coaches might not make it through the season.  Every year it seems like about six coaches are fired in the middle of the 82 game grind.  And a few more who made it through the grist then are shown the exit during the summer.  But we just finished one summer, so we ain’t talking about the next one yet.  Just this upcoming season.  Who’s Bulletproof?  Who’s on the Hot Seat?  And where does everyone else stand and why?  Well, you’re lucky ‘cuz we’s about’s ta answer these questions fer ya.

Bulletproof (again, for this upcoming season only):

Doc Rivers – Celtics

George Karl – Nuggets:  He might quit if it’s too grueling, but ya can’t fire a guy coming back from cancer.  Ya just can’t.  If you disagree, grow a heart, dude.

Phil Jackson – Lakers

Gregg Popovich – Spurs

Jerry Sloan – Jazz

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With the Cavs having lost the unstoppable Delonte West (plus I think some other guy?), how bad will they be? You might be surprised by our take. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

We already examined how much teams improved/regressed during the off-season, but now we’ll talk about how they stack up against each other.  Meaning, we gave Orlando a zero for their summer and the Wizards a +2, but now we’re here to tell you that yes, of course Orlando is still gonna be far better.  For those who haven’t seen those posts on off-season grades, click the following links to see what we had to say about the Northwest, Atlantic, Central, Southeast, Pacific and Southwest Divisions.  Also, we’re only gonna be talking about the regular season here.  So even though we don’t think the Celts will be a top two team record-wise, it doesn’t mean we think they’re incapable of making it through the gauntlet again.  Lastly, some teams will be put in clusters ‘cuz they’ll likely end up with similar records and what does a victory or two here and there matter?

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Is Philly's drafting of Evan Turner enough to compensate for the rest of the Sixers' mostly stagnant summer? Probably not. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Okay, with all the big names off the board, it’s time to look at how each team fared during the off-season.  Here are the rules:

1. Rather than a standard A through F grade or going for a scale of 1-10, we shall use a system that my friend Noriko loves: -5 through +5.  It helps differentiate things a bit more, ‘cuz like if a team gets a C-, it’s better than an F, but is it good?  With this scale, you can instead give the team a +1, which shows that they improved the team, but only marginally.  Or maybe they get a zero ‘cuz they didn’t hurt the team or help it.

2. These grades are not, I repeat, NOT, about how good teams will be.  It’s purely about how good their summer moves were.  For instance, the Sacramento Kings may get a higher grade than say the Orlando Magic, but that doesn’t mean I’m insane and think the Kings will be better than the Magic.  It simply means I like the Kings’ draft of DeMarcus Cousins more than the Magic’s signings of Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon (although I haven’t fully examined those teams yet, so I dunno what grades they’ll get).

3. The grades are not just based on how good the players are, but also their contracts.  Joe Johnson is definitely a top 30 player, but with Atlanta giving him $120 million/6 yrs, the largest contract of anyone this summer, his signing turns into a negative.

4. Grades will be scaled based on what each team could have done.  Meaning the Lakers, a team over the salary cap, get major kudos for snagging Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Theo Ratliff and bringing back Shannon Brown with their limited financial flexibility, but if say the Knicks, with all their cap space, had only made those moves, I’d pan ‘em.

5. Fit matters.  I like Kirk Hinrich a ton, and had he gone to the Pacers (a team that desperately need a point guard before yesterday’s Collison trade), I would’ve raved about the move.  However, Washington acquiring him is a bit odd considering they already have PGs in John Wall and Gilbert Arenas.

The upcoming parts will look at the Central Division, Southeast Division, Pacific Division, Southwest Division and Northwest Division. Okay, so without further ado, here’s Part I, where we start out in our own backyard, examining…

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After playing alongside James Posey and Peja Stojakovic, Chris Paul will be happy to have a forward in Trevor Ariza who can actually still dunk. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

In a four-team, five-player trade, the New Orleans Hornets will be acquiring Trevor Ariza from the Houston Rockets in an attempt to prove to their star Chris Paul that they’re committed to winning.  In return, they’re giving away last year’s promising rookie point guard, Darren Collison, who will land with the Desperately-Seeking-Point-Guard Indiana Pacers.  The Pacers also will have to take on the contract of James Posey.  Indiana in turn will send Troy Murphy and his expiring $12 million contract to the New Jersey Nets.  Finally, the Nets pass along second year shooting guard Courtney Lee to the Rockets.  How did each team fare?  Well…

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Wade will lift Bosh up so Chris can finally get past the first round. (source: Yardbarker.com)

Chris Bosh has agreed to join Dwayne Wade on the Miami Heat. Toronto has said they’re not interested in doing a sign-and-trade with Miami, although they might yet change their mind. Bosh has said even if the Raptors won’t play ball, he’s still going (meaning he’d get $30 million less and a 5-year contract rather than 6 years).

As we wait for tomorrow’s one-hour LeBron Special Announcement Insanity, this might help us narrow down his possibilities. Since he’s scheduled a time to declare this, we can assume he’s now finally already decided where he wants to go. As I see it (and yes, this is pure speculation), which of these teams are still in the horse race:

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Uh oh, LeBron can't even open his eyes to look at Jay-Z here. Is that a poor omen for NJ? You tell us. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Yes, just a few weeks ago we had a poll asking what you thought our chances were of landing LeBron, but now we’ve got a broader question where we allow you to >gasp< think about other possible cities he might end up in. Plus, c’mon, if you said a 60% chance in that poll, it’s not like you’ll ever know if you were right, regardless of where he goes. So no more being wishy-washy. Pick a side. No one argues with their friends whether there’s a 21% shot or 74% shot the Lakers will win Game 6; we just make the call, Lakers or Celtics in 6 or 7 games, and fight over why.

No one (possibly even LeBron) knows where the King’s gonna go.  Now’s your shot to permanently make your prediction for bragging rights.  Don’t mess up.

New Bulls' coach Tom Thibodeau got his defensive chops from one of the best coaches in the game: Jeff Van Gundy. Unfortunately, it seems he also co-opted Jeff's same clothing/grooming style. (source: Yardbarker.com)

There has been confirmation that both the New Jersey Nets and the Chicago Bulls have hired new coaches.  The Bulls have hired Celtic’s assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, widely acclaimed for his defensive schemes.  Many have argued that his addition was equally as key to turning the Celts into defensive juggernauts in 2008 as getting Kevin Garnett.  The Bulls were great stoppers just a few years ago under former coach Scott Skiles (who this year turned the Milwaukee Bucks from matador defenders into, um, what’s the opposite, brick wall defenders?).  While the Bulls’ whirl-a-gig center, Joakim Noah, has kept the team from slacking too much, the arrival of Thibodeu should catapult the team back to a spot as one of the top defensive squads.

Meanwhile, the Nets, after a 12-win season where the only thing they stopped was your team from playing a quality opponent, is already being brought back to life by their new 6’5″ Russian katrillionaire, Mikhail “Don’t Call Him Mikey P” Prokhorov.  It’s a nice coup for him to snag Avery Johnson, the coach with the highest winning percentage in NBA history.  He turned the Mavericks from the offense-only laughingstock 200s posse which included the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, into a solid defensive ball club.  And that was with a star player, Dirk Nowitizki, who due to his complete lack of D, almost legally changed his name to “Irk.”

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Knicks Reunion On the Horizon?

Donnie Walsh has already made it known that he will not name a GM until after this summer’s free agent frenzy, but there are already a few candidates on Walsh’s radar.

Walsh’s short list consists of Chris Mullin and Kiki Vandeweghe, but perhaps Walsh needs to look in another direction to take on the GM role.

Mullin was the Golden State Warriors GM from 2004-2009 after the Warriors didn’t renew his contract.

Now let us take a look at Mullin’s track record, but let me warn you it’s absolutely awful.

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Shhh, LeBron and Wade are on their way to the mythical Superstar Free Agency Summit. There's even a secret handshake to get in the door. (source: Yardbarker.com)

With LeBron-frenzy-ation reaching new heights as we approach hunting seasonfree agency’s opening day, lots of incorrect info is being bandied about.  And I won’t stand for poor bandying.  Thus I sit here writing about what’s a Myth or Irrelevant.

1. Bosh’s List Of 5 Teams – Myth

Yes, yes, I know even I reported it, but it turns out it’s bogus.  The claim was that his agent submitted the list of the 5 teams Bosh was interested in playing for next season.  Now it’s come out that his agent has debunked this story.  Which makes sense.  Would someone really wanna limit their options like that this early on?  Shouldn’t you wait and hear what offers you get?  Maybe say Orlando pops out of the woodwork, with the ability to do a sign-and-trade involving Rashard Lewis?  Bosh and Dwight Howard are supposedly somewhat close, and after playing with the defensively inept Bargnani, it’s gotta look pretty appealing to team-up with Superman.  I mean, yes, I completely made this up, but the point is it’s just good business to wait and see what options are out there before you start closing any doors.

2. Free-Agent Powerhouse Summit With Dwayne Wade, LeBron, Bosh, Joe Johnson, A’m'a’r'e, and Matt Barnes – Myth

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Will LeBron join D'Antoni? And is that even a championship combo? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

The following comes from my friend Shai:

Since Alex generously allowed me to post my ramblings about college basketball players on this Knicks site, I asked him if he would consider posting the following honestly-curious question to Knicks fans:

What exactly are you expecting to happen?

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Evaluating players before the draft is not easy, but at least you know who you are talking about. Predicting who is going to get picked when is harder. Everyone has their own ranking system, but the big question is whether a team is going to pick the best player available or pick the player who best addresses the team’s needs.

The other question is, what on earth was that GM thinking? The most recent “what was he thinking” award goes to the Minnesota Timberwolves, for using the 5th and 6th draft picks on point guards (Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio), followed by having one of them (Rubio) make noises that he would never play for the Wolves, and creating a situation where the other, Flynn, felt unsure of the team’s commitment to him, and for good reason.

So for me to say who will make which pick is guesswork, because every year there are inexplicable decisions made, and there are players drafted in the top 20 whose name you hear when he is selected, but then never again. Comparing mock drafts, I have seen players’ names move twenty spots or more.

Mostly, I’m seeing mocks that describe players, not why they will be picked or what the team is thinking. I already wrote about the players likely to be drafted in the first round, so instead, lets’ discuss what the team should do, not what they will do, because many teams have a weird tendency to pick the same type of player over and over regardless of the results. (Lakers trying to find a point guard, Bulls drafting post players, Houston drafting 3’s, Warriors drafting skilled bigs, etc.) Redundancy makes sense for some teams, but for others it’s stupid. I’ll take those case by case.
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(source: Yardbarker.com) Like a little girl in puppy love, New York hopes we're the one LeBron's eyeing.

Seems ESPN has launched ESPN NewYork.com today and decided to promote it by rehashing the ol’ Will LeBron James Go To New York story.  There’s a surprisingly large amount of Nothing New, mixed in with Shameless Sensationalizing, Idiotic Conclusions Based On Personal Feelings, and just Awful Math.  That said, there were maybe a couple of Intriguing Bits to me, but it might all feel redundant to y’all.  Without further ado:

Idiotic Conclusions:

The worst part was where the sportswriters speculated the percent chance of LeBron going to one team or another.  Let’s start with Mark Stein saying there’s a 10% chance that LeBron will go to Dallas.  10%???  10% means 1 in 10!  You’re going out tonight and your choosing between your ten favorite restaurants — that gives each one a really good shot at being chosen.  Thankfully, of the four other Dallas writers, they all only gave it a 1-3% chance.  I like Stein’s writing a bunch, but his thesis his based on this you-can-substitute-LeBron’s-name-with-anyone statement:

I firmly believe LeBron likes the thought of playing with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, trusts Mark Cuban to be an owner who will always spend whatever it takes to contend and loves the city of Dallas and Cowboys football

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Why hasn't the NBA tried to make the league more female-friendly? The Laker Girls may be friendly females, but that ain't the same, now is it? (source: Yardbarker.com)

Across ESPN’s TrueHoop and a few other sites, there has been a back-and-forth about female basketball fans that I find fascinating.  The initial highly intelligent post on Hardwood Paroxysm was written by Sarah Tolcser, co-author of HornetsHype, and who’s Twitter nom de plume is ticktock6 (yes, that was just my shameless excuse to write “nom de plume” and attempt to sound smart-like).  Unfortunately, a lot of the conversation has gotten caught up in whether the current usage of cheerleaders is an evil, sexist thing, but I find that to be limiting.  The question of how (and perhaps even “whether”) to appeal to female NBA fans is a much larger, more intriguing question to me.

Tolcser cites a stat that 40% of NBA fans are female, a number which shocked me.  I mean I’d always thought instead of the slogan “Where amazing happens” that the league could’ve always used “Where sausage fest happens.”  After all, most sports reporters and writers (and by writers I mean even going all the way down to the people who choose to write comments on blogs like this) tend to be people of the testicular-persuasion.  And honestly, I tend to view males as more the type to get obsessive when they follow ANYTHING, be it sports, Lord Of The Rings, indie-rock bands, whatever.  That’s not to say that there aren’t hard-core female indie-rock followers, but when I picture the over-the-top fan who brags that he only listens to vinyl and has a collection of 6,000 vintage small-label original recordings, I can only see that dork being a guy. (more…)

Poor Outlet Passing

On two separate occasions, the Knicks turned the ball over in the backcourt.  The first comes after a Rockets three pointer:

Now, both J.R. Giddens and Chris Duhon are at fault here:

(source: NBAPlaybook.com)

This is because Trevor Ariza is hanging around and it should have been noticed by either guy (or at least 1).  This is something that a lot of teams do to get the ball out of the PGs hands, but it rarely turns into a steal.  However, Giddens grabs the ball out of the net and just tosses to where Duhon is without looking.  For his part, Duhon floats away from the basketball as it comes to him instead of meeting the ball and ensuring the catch.  The Rockets went from being down 14 to being down 9 after this.  This was a huge 5 point swing in this game as the Knicks went from pulling away to trying to hang on to the lead.

This happened yet again later in the game, this time coming off of a missed basket:

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After playing so well, Gallo felt like he was sitting on air. (source: yardbarker)

This year the Atlanta Hawks picked up former Knick Jamal Crawford, who is second on the team in scoring and is the likely winner of the Sixth Man Of The Year Award for the most valuable player off the bench.  In addition, their should-be-All-Star power forward, Josh Smith, aka JSmoove, has taken his game to the next level by no longer settling for hoisting up three-pointers, thus greatly improving his field goal percentage (& shot selection).  As a result, the Hawks have taken that next step to where they’re almost up there with the big boys in the league.  No one would likely pick them to beat Cleveland or Orlando in a seven game series, but they’re no longer the gimmes they used to be.  And if the Cavs or Magic came out with less than their A game, the Hawks could easily come out as victors. All of which makes it more amazing that the Knicks beat the Hawks yet again last night.  Particularly right after losing to one of the historically worst teams ever in the Nets.

To further highlight the difference, in the Nets game the Knicks made negative NBA history by attempting the most threes (18) without hitting one (aka 0).  Against the Hawks, the Knicks came out and went four-for-four from out deep to start the game.  Of course they didn’t keep up that insane pace, but they still finished off hitting 10 of 15, for a whopping 66.6%.  Teams would kill to shoot that well from two-point range, so to do that from beyond the arc is just downright amazing.  And don’t kid yourself into thinking that it has anything to do with the other team’s defense — the Nets are one of the worst teams at defending from the three-point line.

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Sadly, Big Al goes in for the layup even if it means shoving others aside. (Source: Yardbarker)

Maybe all the cold weather in New York this year has made the Knicks think it’s still Christmas, ‘cuz they’ve been non-stop giving out the gift of victories to any team that comes near them.  The New Jersey Nets, who had won only 6 our of 61 games, were on a path to be the team with the worst record in NBA history.  The previous record low is only 9 games (out of an 82 game season) held by Washington in like 1982 or something (their leading scorer was Fred Carter).  If the Nets kept at that 6 of 61 pace, they not only would’ve been unable to win more than those 9 games, they wouldn’t have even won 9.  Now though at 7 of 62 after we let them whup us on Saturday, suddenly they’re on pace to out-do those 9 games.  Not a bad gift from their cross-river rivals?  This is one mark in the record book for which ya don’t wanna become famous.

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Bosh revealed that he’s not necessarily interested in playing anywhere that he’s not the clear-cut franchise player.

“That’s a good question,” Bosh said when asked by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher if he’s bothered by the widespread perception that he’s determined to follow either LeBron James or Dwyane Wade by signing on with one of the teams they choose starting July 1.

“It’s funny you say that, because I was thinking about it. I was just looking at what people say and it’s like, ‘Chris is going to go here and play with him or this, this and that.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute.’ I feel like I should be built around. And maybe that’s just my ego talking, but I feel that I’m a very good player in this league and I’m only going to get better. So … maybe we should be getting somebody [in Toronto].”

Bosh would probably be outta Toronto in a sec if one of the three teams in home state Texas were in the running

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And New Yorkers are buying into this hook, line & worm (why is it supposed to be sinker — I mean when a fish really falls for it he goes after the worm, much like an alcoholic with a bottle of tequila).  Darren Rovell who discuses the business side of sports tweeted yesterday that “Knicks 2010/11 tickets went on presale last Thursday. They’re on record pace, having sold 770 new tickets so far.”  Record pace???  Do fans realize we haven’t signed ANYONE yet?  If we end up looking like we’re gonna suck, even one-legged Tracy McGrady will look to leave town.  So this is a two-part look at what to realistically expect.  Part II will be sometime next week.

Let’s look at this first based on the available teams.  First, here are the ones who’ll be competing for poaching rights:

New York Knicks: $18.64 million in 2010-11 payroll
Miami Heat: $26.07 million in 2010-11 payroll
New Jersey Nets: $26.63 million in 2010-11 payroll
Chicago Bulls: $31.85 million in 2010-11 payroll
Los Angeles Clippers: $33.53 million in 2010-11 payroll

Sacramento Kings: $34.0 million in 2010-11 payroll

The Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves could also conceivably get in on the bidding, but they seem unlikely to join the chase.  I doubt Sacramento will even seriously look into trying to grab a big name and instead will prefer to build up a bit more from the ground up through draft picks.  It’s also kinda erroneous to list Miami as only having about $26 million.  Well, first the reason I list them even that low is ‘cuz I assume there’s no way they pick up James Jones’ $4.6 million option.  However, what makes them even lower is that their payroll includes Dwayne Wade’s $17.15 million contract that he’s said he’s gonna opt out of.  In other words, they’ll have less than $10 million in committed contracts!  So they could pay a max salary to both Wade & LeBron and still have say $10 million to offer to say Carlos Boozer.

Next let’s look at what each of the five teams has to offer (I’m excluding Sac).

The Knicks:

1. the second most cap space (after Miami),

2. the mass market of New York to provide much richer endorsement deals and better national exposure,

3. Perhaps the allure of playing at Madison Square Garden, aka “The Mecca of Basketball”,

4. An open and willing wallet (& now a well-respected GM in Donnie Walsh to make you feel they’ll spend wisely),

5. Coach Mike D’Antoni has a good rep as a “player’s coach” and as an assistant coach on Team USA he’s actually worked with most of these guys before.

Cons: 1. David Lee could likely be gone, meaning they’d be coming to a team with literally only Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler (oh yeah, plus Eddy Curry in the trainer’s room),

2. Perhaps a feeling that you’d have to sorta start from nothing.

The Heat:

1.For Wade it’s the only team he’s known(&he’d get more $), and for others it might feel less risky to jump with someone else to a brand new team rather than to join someone on their current team,

2. No income taxes in Florida,

3. Perhaps Pat Riley?,

4. A solid young player in Michael Beasley, and

5. The weather (& yes, that is a real factor for players).

Cons: 1.For some players it might actually be less appealing to join “Wade’s team” rather than go with him to a new place where it could be “our team” (kinda like how it’s usually better for a young couple to move into a new place rather than say just the gal moving into the guy’s place ‘cuz then it’ll always feel like “his place.”),

2.The fact that the Heat/Riley haven’t really looked for help for Wade since the championship year might make some concerned (including Wade) that this isn’t a franchise that will do whatever it takes to win the trophy.

The Nets:

1. Jay-Z is part-owner (& you bet that’s a factor for this hip-hop idolizing generation),

2. Will be moving to Brooklyn, giving it that New York mass market appeal, plus a chance to sorta “recreate” this franchise from the ground up in this new location,

3. Potentially a stud rookie (like John Wall),

4. Some decent players in the spots that are often toughest to fill: Brook Lopez at center and Devin Harris at point.

Cons: 1. They will be coming off a season where they were either the historically worst team ever or darn close to it,

2. It’ll be at least one year, if not two or more, until the team does actually make it to Brooklyn and the crowds ain’t been stellar in Jersey,

3.Uninspiring coach and front office,

4. If the NY angle is exciting, why wouldn’t ya just go to the Knicks?

The Bulls:

1.A chance to play alongside a franchise player in Derrick Rose, as well as solid pieces like Joakim Noah and Luol Deng,

2. Get to play in the house that Jordan built,

3. For Wade a chance to go home,

4.Good media market and good city.

Cons: 1. You’re playing in the house that Jordan built so you’ll likely always be second in the city’s heart to him,

2.Not enough $ to get a second max player so you’d have to feel that the addition of you alone can turn this team into a contender,

3. Questionable coach in Vinny Del Negro, and a timid front office that’s proven to be afraid to go all in (like by refusing to give up Luol Deng for Pau Gasol).

The Clippers:

1.Best nucleus of players with Baron Davis at point, potential all-star second-year player Eric Gordon at shooting guard, Blake Griffin at power forward, and Chris Kaman at center.  Throw in LeBron James at small forward and they could be contenders ‘cuz you could make a legit argument that the Clips would be stronger at every position than the Cavs supporting cast,

2. The huge market of Los Angeles,

3. The warm weather and Hollywood connections/glamor of LA,

4. A chance to do the impossible and turn a cursed laughingstock into a champion.  Even Jordan couldn’t have saved the Clips,

5. The chance to out-do Kobe Bryant in his own arena.

Cons: 1. It’s the Clippers,

2. Cheapskate owner Donald T. Sterling, so basically what you see is what you get — don’t expect any help walking through that door,

3.The injury curse — Wade gets hurt enough as it is, if he joined the Clips his torso would probably fall off his legs,

4. It’s Kobe’s arena and it’s a Laker town, even LeBron bringing the Clips three championships in a row still might not catapult him and the team to town favorite,

5. It’s the Clippers.

With a few of them likely to sit out this summer so they don’t injure themselves before they get a new contract (in other words the guys the Knicks would chase after: LeBron, Wade, Bosh, plus A’mare Stoudamire who made the pool too), it does provide some openings.  Not to mention that say a banged up Kobe might need to take the summer off to get his body healthy again.  Of course, included in those free agents-to-be are none other than David Lee, so he himself might have to bow out.  Oh, and another thing in Lee’s favor is that once again the Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antoni will be one of the assistant coaches on the USA team.  It’s always nice having someone on the inside to help plead your case.

Anyway, the remaining invitees include the Denver Nuggets’ Chauncey Billups, LA Lakers’ Lamar Odom, plus a who’s-who of all the young and upcoming players in the NBA according to ESPN: the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (pretty much a lock to make the final roster since he almost made it last time and he’s only gotten better), Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose,

Minnesota‘s Al Jefferson and Kevin Love; Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo of Memphis; Philadelphia‘s Andre Iguodala; Boston‘s Kendrick Perkins; Indiana‘s Danny Granger; New York‘s David Lee; New Jersey center Brook Lopez; Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook; Portland‘s LaMarcus Aldridge; Charlotte‘s Gerald Wallace; and Clippers guard Eric Gordon.

The Americans will choose a group from the roster to take part in their minicamp in Las Vegas in July. They are expected to play an exhibition game in New York before heading to Turkey for the world championships, which they haven’t won since 1994.

Not so fast, Sparky.  One slight difference between the rules for the coaches’ voting and the fans’ voting is big.  The coaches are allowed to vote for a player in a different position than the one they play if they think that person can play that spot.  Meaning, Chris Bosh may like to call himself a power forward, but he (like many others such as Tim Duncan) should really play center.  Thus, Bosh is the guy most likely to get that backup center spot.  Meaning David Lee’s chances boil down to the two Wild Card spots.  But to determine who he’ll be going up against, we kinda gotta figure out who’ll be left after the 2 guard & fwd spots are filled.

Top Eastern forwards: Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, Gerald Wallace.  Even though Luol Deng, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala & Antawn Jamison have had solid statistical years, they’ve all seemed pretty ineffective in bringing about wins on their teams, and most of ‘em have had better years in the past.  Leaving it down to Smith, Pierce & Wallace.  Honestly, I think they all deserve to go, and rather than pick specifics, we’ll say two get the forward spots and one gets one of the Wild Card spots.  That leaves one possible wild card spot remaining for Lee.

Top Eastern guards vying for the last spots: Joe Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Stephen Jackson, maybe Derrick Rose or Jamal Crawford.  Joe’s a definite.  Derrick Rose’s last few games have been great, and more importantly it seems like he’s hit his groove so we should expect the same going forward.  Unfortunately for him the voters had already sent their votes in and he came out sucking not swinging at the beginning of the season.  Crawford’s been great off the bench, but I think the fact that he’s on the bench will mean he won’t get a spot.  Meaning we’re down to Rondo & Stephen Jackson.  I honestly haven’t actually visually seen (as opposed to emotionally seeing?) either of them that much this season.  Some pundits have said Rondo has to make it.  Others have left him off their list.  In terms of Stephen Jackson, some people feel the Bobcats don’t deserve to have two All-Stars so you need to choose between him and Gerald Wallace.  I’ve got no idea.  One of ‘em will take that second guard spot.  The question is: will the other one take the last remaining Wild Card spot away from David Lee?  Honestly, I don’t know.  Guess I’ll have to wait these next few hours.

Despite the Knicks’ slowing down from their earlier winning pace from a few weeks, this is definitely a different, better team than the one that started this season.  If in November someone told me the Knicks would be only a game and a half out of the playoffs in January, I would’ve responded, “The only way they do that is if they get a great steal of a trade.”  Yet here they are with the same personnel as the beginning of the season (okay, so they picked up Jonathan Bender, who’s been decent, but definitely has been a game-changer.  Plus he seems to have already fallen out of the rotation).   Thus to figure out what helped bring about this change, there’s no better place to start than with Coach Mike D’Antoni (okay, maybe a better place to start would be in a bank that gave away free money and chocolate cake, but they’re hard to find).  Mike Berman of the New York Post gives some insight here:

After the Knicks’ franchise-worst 1-9 start, Mike D’Antoni woke up one morning with an epiphany: To hell with coaching with the future in mind and just try to win now.

D’Antoni’s win-at-all-costs approach has meant a tight-as-a-drum rotation; the end to the Eddy Curry experiment; the exile of their two first-round picks, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas.

“To be honest with you, when we started off slow, I got off track, too,” D’Antoni said [...]  “It was for 2010. So let’s throw all the rookies in, let’s do this, let’s do that. But after 1-9, there was no way I was going to make 82 games like this. You kind of said, ‘The hell with that. Let’s win today.’ And it’s worked out better than I thought.”

D'Antoni cuts the cord on the still-born that was the Knicks' first 10 games

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