Which means the Celtics are probably the front runners now (again). Personally I'd rather have Rondo over Paul, but I don't see how Rondo would want to come back and fully commit to the Celtics after he's been told twice already that they weren't going to trade him, only to go behind his back and try to trade him. He also took a discount to stay with us, so I guess loyalty means a lot to Danny Ainge.

Then again Paul and Dwight Howard are best friends so...

Imagine if Stern vetoed this to the Lakers trade but not the one that brings Dwight Howard to Boston (if Paul theoretically came here and was already on the roster).

It's an awful precedent to set for sure, especially when Hornets in fact got some pretty good players in return and a first round draft pick. It's one of those trades that each side could be happy about, yes even Rockets, where they would have saved money to pursue another star and have enough depth to cover the loss of Martin and Scola.

Wow, the one time I click on "Vote against trade" on Yahoo and this is what happens

Lakers should still do a 2-team trade with Houston, Gasol for all the Houston players and NY draft pick. Lakers clearly won that portion of the trade against Houston, and those pieces are more valuable trade chips for other trades than anything Gasol can get by himself.

O, NBA, how you continue to shoot yourself in the leg. Chris Paul isn't going anywhere this season. Next season he'll have plenty of options though: Indiana, Minnesota, Charlotte, huge markets!

Unless, of course, the Lakers BUY the Hornets and then make the trade. That would work, right?

Nets in tampering trouble for Prok and King meeting with Dwight in Miami (LOL at them for being that dumb)

Brandon Roy retires

Dan Gilbert sent an email to Stern last night whining about the Lakers getting Paul - probably was in Comic Sans

this is fun

Magic going to replace Dwight Howard by signing Larry Hughes and Big Baby Davis

Fair trade

Also announced today that Oden had a setback and they're essentially not planning on him playing this year. I think he retires before playing another game too at this point. 82 regular season games total ... WoW.

Dwight has requested a trade to New Jersey

These players are straight up bitches

Woah we lost JJ? Why?

Stern is trollin

Sota's #1 + Aminu + Bledsoe + Williams for Paul
LA's 2012 and 2013 #1s (if they have them) + Gordon + Jordan + Kaman for Howard

Would either NO or Orlando get a better deal than that? I think not. Paul/Griffin/Howard/Butler/Foye/Rookies/Minimum salary guys can win a title. And it would piss the Lakers off so much.

That would be a terrible move for the Clippers. Would there be anything more Clippers than giving up all these assets for Paul and then having him turn into Brandon Roy within a year? Can you say "the other shoe"

Stern is fucking them in the ass. He'll get Bledsoe most likely. Stern against Sterling just isn't fair. It's like Michael vs Fredo

Gordon + Minne's #1 is too much to give up for anyone.

My deal gives them a great draft pick, two good young players, and a big expiring contract. That is way better than what most teams give up for aging superstars. But yeah, Stern is making demands he knows LA won't bite on, trying to control where Chris Paul goes.

My deal for Howard doesn't work so well because Boston has the Clippers 2012 #1. Still, Gordon, Jordon, a huge expiring contract, and a 2013 #1 is better than they will get from Lakers or Nets.

Chauncey specifically said he didn't want to be a bench player, so I think CP3 is out. Not sure why they aren't going after Howard. They have the best assets of all the big market teams.

Paul for Gordon, Minnesota pick, Aminu, Kaman

Stern is boss

This feels to be a better return (younger and more potential with one proven scorer in Gordon) than the Lakers one, so Stern did come out of the mess pretty well.

Paul-Bilups-Butler-Griffin-Jordan is a pretty good starting 5. They will win the division and get knocked out in the 2nd round of the playoffs. If we get a Lakers vs Clippers battle in the playoffs all the better.

He has a fully healed knee.

He'll have an MVP year.

Rumors are out there about Dwight going to the Nets soon

Not surprised considering how check out he and the entire team looked in that preseason game - probably worse than Melo and the Nuggets body language a year ago.

The Magic just need to suck it up and make the deal now, this is going to get ugly otherwise. Might as well give yourself the best chance at a #1 pick next year too, Andre Drummond will probably be the most physically talented center prospect of the 2010-2011 decade like Shaq and Dwight were for the 90s and 00s (though Drummond looks pretty dumb and raw as an actual basketball player atm)

The Magic would be the dumbest team ever if they dealt Howard to NJ. Getting nothing for Howard is better than Brook Lopez.

East

1. Miami
2. Chicago
3. New York
4. Orlando
5. Atlanta
6. Indiana
7. Boston
8. Philadelphia

West

1. Dallas
2. Oklahoma City
3. Memphis
4. LA Clippers
5. San Antonio
6. LA Lakers
7. Denver
8. Houston

Those last few spots in both conferences are up in the air. I believe Celtics and Lakers will get hit hard by injuries.

Playoffs

Miami over Philly
Chicago over Boston
New York over Indiana
Atlanta over Orlando

Miami over Atlanta
New York over Chicago

Miami over New York

Dallas over Houston
OK over Denver
LA Lakers over Memphis
LA Clippers over San Antonio

LA Clippers over Dallas
LA Lakers over OK

LA Clippers over LA Lakers

LA Clippers over Miami

Yep, your 2011 NBA Champions - Lob City. They definitely need to pick up a couple more pieces such as JR Smith or Wilson Chandler, but they have the right formula for a championship team.

The #1 pick of the NBA Draft will go to the Detroit Pistons. We all know it is rigged, and nothing short of a top pick will make that team relevant while they still have the Gordon/Villi contracts.

I have Phx making the playoffs. Probably the 7 seed. Maybe even a 6 seed.

But I have OKC winning it all.

East

1. Miami (champ, LeBron finals MVP)
2. Orlando (lose in ECF, Dwight MVP)
3. Chicago (1st round exit)
4. Indiana (1st round exit)
5. New York (lose in semi)
6. Boston (lose in semi)
7. Detroit (1st round exit)
8. Atlanta (1st round exit)
9. Philadelphia
10. Milwaukee
11. Washington
12. Cleveland
13. Toronto
14. New Jersey
15. Charlotte

West

1. Oklahoma City (lose in semi)
2. Dallas (WCF champ)
3. LA Clippers (lose in semi)
4. LA Lakers (lose in WCF)
5. Memphis (1st round exit)
6. Denver (1st round exit)
7. Golden State (1st round exit)
8. San Antonio (1st round exit)
9. Minnesota
10. Houston
11. Portland
12. Utah
13. Phoenix
14. New Orleans
15. Sacramento

for some reason I everytime I see this