Sports Blog

The first round of the NBA playoffs are barely wrapping up yet rumors are already starting to fly about what players might be switching jerseys this off-season.  With the economy continuing to struggle and the salary cap going down for the first time since its inception, many teams will be looking to get creative when it comes to their roster.

One player possibly heading to a new city is the self proclaimed Most Dominant Ever, aka Shaquille O’Neal.  A lot of people think that his monster contract and diminishing skill set are untradeable, but his resurgent play this year has landed him on a few GM’s radars.  Shaq, through the use of his Twitter account, has made it known he is quite fond of Dallas and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

NBA sources say, however, the most likely destination for the Big Tweep is New Orleans.  Shaq has a large fan base in the south stemming from his days at LSU and the Hornets let it be known they wanted out of Tyson Chandler’s contract when they traded him earlier this year (only to have it fall through due to health reasons).

The trade could work in both teams favors should it happen.  The Hornets would only carry O’Neal on their books for one season and he would bring proven playoff experience to a team that really needs it.  He would also sell a lot of tickets, which makes the deal interesting from a business perspective.  The Phoenix Suns would get younger and more athletic in their front court, and if healthy, Chandler paired with forward Amare Stoudemire would be one of the most tenacious big-duos in the NBA.

What do you think? Is the Big Aristotle worth the big bucks? Or is the big man a big waste of money at this point in his career?

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A lot is being made of USA Olympic Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s decision not to play Jason Kidd in the final minutes of a recent exhibition game against Russia.

Kidd was supposed to be a leader of the team, who after suffering crushing defeats in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and not winning a major international tournament since 2000, is clearly in need of something. That something was supposed to be Kidd, whose experience and leadership was supposed to help transform the Redeem Team into something closer to the glory days of the Dream Team.

However, the emergence of Chris Paul and Deron Williams has at the very least made Krzyzewski and company question who will receive the bulk of the minutes and how to best integrate the other two into the lineup. What it got me thinking was who the best point guards in the league are.

So I asked myself if I had to start the next season with any point guard; who would it be? Assuming that it was for one year only and the only goal was to win a NBA championship this year, here is my list for the top four.

4] Steve Nash: Nash is difficult to peg because while he has led one of the most prolific offenses this decade, there are some questions about his defense and age. A couple years ago he would have been a lock to be number one on this list, but at age 34 the decision is complicated.

He was second in assists per game last season and has averaged at least 10 since arriving in Phoenix, but his numbers in Dallas weren’t nearly as strong. This makes one wonder how effective he will be in a more traditional offense, like the one he looks to have next year with Shaq.

3] Tony Parker: It is hard to argue against Parker’s resume. Since being drafted 28^th overall by San Antonio in 2001, Parker has won three NBA championships and was the NBA Finals MVP in 2007. He works the pick and roll as well as anybody in the league and is deadly around the basket.

One could argue that he has the benefit of playing alongside Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, but you don’t see the point guards that play with Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett or Dwight Howard on here.

2] Deron Williams: Williams is in a difficult situation. He plays for a franchise that housed one of the all-time greats in John Stockton and Williams was drafted one spot higher than Chris Paul in 2005. As a result, he will be compared to Paul his entire career, but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

He only scored about two points less than Paul a game last season and shot slightly better than Paul from the field and from behind the arc. The greatest thing you can say about Williams at this point: it isn’t crazy to argue that one day he ends up with more hardware on his fingers and in his trophy case than Paul.

1] Chris Paul: Even with the high upside of Williams, in the last year no player in the NBA has had their stock rise higher than Paul. He’s played a huge part in reinvigorating not only the Hornets, but the city of New Orleans.

Paul was the biggest reason the Hornets secured a number two seed in the mighty western conference last year and has turned Tyson Chandler into the player the Chicago Bulls hoped he would be. If that wasn’t amazing enough, among point guards last year Paul was a statistical powerhouse – second in scoring, first in steals and first in assists (on a per/game average).

That’s good enough to be number one on my list – and if Team USA wants to bring home the gold – Krzyzewski better have Paul as first on his.

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Teams in the NBA’s Western Conference let out a collective moan earlier this week when small forward Ron Artest was traded to the Houston Rockets.

Artest was already in the Western Conference last season – although on the playoff irrelevant Sacramento Kings – but by pairing him with All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, the mighty west just got a lot more difficult.

The move wasn’t exactly a shocker. Artest had publicly admitted he regretted not opting out of the last year of his contract after watching marquee free agents like Elton Brand and Baron Davis decide their own fate. Rumor mills have been turning all summer, especially at the idea of a trade that would have sent Artest to the Lakers for Lamar Odom.

Kings GM Geoff Petrie settled on Houston though, receiving back up Bobby Jackson, first-round pick Donte Greene and next year’s first-round pick in return. Not quite the coup the Lakers pulled off in getting Pau Gasol, but a nice trade for the annual first-round-exit Rockets.

The question now is whether or not T-Mac and company can finally abandon their perennial above average status and finally join the Lakers, Spurs and recent juggernaut Hornets in the battle atop the west. The answer is … well there isn’t exactly one.

McGrady has never been able to claw his way out of the first round, and both he and Ming have a reputation of being soft. Artest will bring with him a tenacious attitude that should shore up any questions of the Rockets toughness.

Artest is also known as a defensive stopper, which coincidentally, is the one thing that the Rockets can say they are already pretty good at. They ranked second in the NBA last year on defense and also have Shane Battier on their roster – who isn’t exactly a slouch on the perimeter.

The biggest perceived challenge is Artest’s large personality and sometimes volatile emotions. We all remember the brawl at the Palace, but Artest has played for Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman before and put up some of his best numbers in his career under Adelman’s guidance.

Regardless of how it turns out, you can’t fault the Rockets for trying. They weren’t going to win a title with the roster they had last year, and while I still don’t put them above the Lakers, Spurs, and Hornets, at least they’re taking a risk and shaking things up.

Now, for the Rockets sake, let’s hope Artest doesn’t decide to shake things up again.

It’s just the first game right?

We shouldn’t base the first game on how they will help their new teams in the long run, right?

Well, if that’s the case, then there still is some hope for the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks as both teams lost with their new additions, but there was some promising stats.

Shaquille O’Neal showed that he could last in the high octane Suns offense, although it’s not known for how long. He put up some decent numbers, finishing with 15 points and 9 rebounds, but the Suns couldn’t stop Kobe and the Lakers, losing 130-124.

As for Jason Kidd, the Mavericks didn’t give up as much points, but the result was still the same. Kidd finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but he also had 6 turnovers while the Mavs lost to the Hornets 104-93.

In defense of both players, they had to go up against two top opponents in their debuts, and in more defense for Shaq, this was his first game back in over a month.

Here’s to an interesting second half in the West.

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