Just hours before the start of NBA free agency, the Detroit Pistons continued the rapid overhaul of what was one of the league’s most stable franchises. After trading Chauncey Billups for a useless Allen Iverson, the Pistons fell to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference and were quickly routed by the Cleveland LeBrons in four games. Some of it was Joe Dumars’ fault, but it was Michael Curry whose head fell on the chopping block.

Lets start from the beginning. I think it’s safe to say that the core of Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace were done being true championship contenders. Shaking it up wasn’t the wrong thing to do, but trading Billups certainly was. To top it all off, they promoted Curry, who quickly lost the respect of his locker room. Rip Hamilton was pissed off for most of the year, and Sheed went, well, Sheed on the entire franchise.

If Dumars was so intent on firing Curry this offseason, then why did he trade promising youngster Amir Johnson before he did so? Johnson wasn’t a huge factor last year, but Curry was dumb enough to give Kwame Brown more minutes than him. Perhaps Dumars was making room for Carlos Boozer. Whoops. Boozer is staying put in Utah and really, who can blame him? The Pistons were thought to be his biggest suitor, but the makeup of their roster looks shaky compared to Utah’s.

Boozer is now out of the mix and with the Pistons boasting more than $20 million in cap space, Dumars has expressed a desire to nab two free agents off the market. There’s a glaring need in the front court without Rasheed Wallace, so grabbing someone like David Lee would be a nice start. Lee seems like a great fit in Detroit. As for the head coaching vacancy? Anyone but the retread of all retreads, Doug Collins.

Good news out of Philadelphia this week. No, it’s not about Raul Ibanez on roids or Jimmy Rollins getting benched! It comes to us from the hardwood, where the 76ers will dust off their championship jerseys for the 2009-10 season.

Awesome move here by the 76ers’ front office and the equipment staff. The 76ers’ old school basketball logo is one of the most recognizable logos in all of sports. It deserves to be dawned again. Andre Iguodala and first round draft pick Jrue Holiday seem to be pleased with the move.

I think it’s a good thing when teams go retro and I’m certainly a big fan. Philadelphia wore these jerseys from 1963-1997; possibly the longest jersey run aside from the Lakers and Celtics. The 76ers are doing their part and teams like the Rockets and Warriors should follow suit.

All in all, this is a perfect move by the 76ers organization. The franchise is set to release images of an updated court that the team will play on next year. A road jersey is also set for unveiling at a later date. But if I were to guess, it will probably look something like this.

With one of the worst NBA Drafts in recent memory in the books, we can start to turn our attention towards the piss-poor 2009 free agency class starring Hedo Turkoglu, Carlos Boozer and Ben Gordon. Here’s some quick observations from last night’s draft, as well as what to expect in the next couple of weeks.

• Minnesota’s crowded backcourt: With Ricky Rubio, I think Minnesota employed the strategy of “pick him first, figure it out later.” Will he be trade bait? Will he even play in Minnesota this season? Who knows. Rumors of a draft day deal with the Knicks fell through. With the 6th pick, I personally would have grabbed Stephen Curry, but Jonny Flynn will be a player. I think Rubio sent the Wolves franchise a message by not showing up to today’s press conference. Rubio will be a great point guard for someone, I’m just not convinced it’ll be Minnesota.

• Amare to the Bay Area? Taking Stephen Curry was a great move by the Warriors. But it might just be part of a bigger deal involving Golden State and the Phoenix Suns. There’s no secret the Suns are slashing payroll, and Amare Stoudemire could be the next one out of the desert. Names being thrown around by Golden State include Curry, Andris Biedrins and forward Brandan Wright. Amare would be a beast in Nelson’s system, while Phoenix would have a few young stars (Curry and Biedrins) to rebuild their franchise.

• Air Canada Orlando. The Magic responded to the Cavs’ acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal by finding their replacement for Hedo Turkoglu, who officially opted out of his contract earlier today. Trading promising Courtney Lee is tough, but acquiring Turkoglu’s replacement, a playmaker on the perimeter in Carter, insures that they’ll be title contenders again. Had they chosen to make do with Lee and Pietrus, they’d fall into the lower echelon of Eastern Conference teams.

• Draft Picks I Liked. For once, I agree with Michael Jordan. Gerald Henderson looks like a future Trevor Ariza to me. A gritty defender with superb athletic ability. I love the pick and getting him on the court with a defensive player like Gerald Wallace. I also like the Knicks’ selection of Jordan Hill over reaching for a guard like DeMar DeRozan or Jrue Holliday. Best value pick of the round has to be Denver, taking Ty Lawson 18th overall. He’s got the perfect veteran to learn from in Chauncey Billups.

• Picks That Sucked. Pretty much every team that passed on DeJuan Blair. I know the issues with his knees. But I fail to see how a guy that absolutely DOMINATED the 2nd overall pick every time they played can fall deep into the 2nd round. Shrewd, shrewd pickup by the Spurs, but what’s new? Blair is gonna be a great pro. Just like similar round mounds of rebound like Glen Davis, Jason Maxiell, Paul Millsap.

Consider this the slow season of sports. Basketball and hockey have ended, football seasons are still a few months away and baseball is entering the dog days of Summer. And in a summer void of much international soccer or Olympics, headlines are going to be tough to come by in the sports world. I’ll take a look at some free agent news later this week. But for now, lets focus on the draft. 

Lets not sugarcoat it, this is among the weekest draft classes in recent memory. I don’t think there’s been a consensus top pick like Blake Griffin since LeBron James in 2003. But where will the chips fall on June 20th after the Clippers take Griffin? Here’s what I see going down. 

1. Los Angeles Clippers – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma. The Clippers would appear to have the best frontcourt of any team in the draft lottery with Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Zach Randolph. However, the first two are made of glass and Randolph has never made a team better. So Griffin is the no-brainer pick. Expect at least one of the veterans to be moved to make room for Griffin, an incredibly athletic big man and dominant rebounder. I’d keep Camby around to help teach Griffin the ropes on the defensive end.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Lakers finished off their 15th NBA Championship in workmanlike fashion last night, efficiently pounding the Orlando Magic 99-86 to claim the series in five games. The ring is big for the Lakers, considering it’s their first since 2002. But it’s absolutely huge for both Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson, who certainly added to their legacy with this championship. Here’s a quick look at how this title affects both the Black Mamba and The Zen Master.

Kobe Bryant: Throughout his career, there’s always been plenty of hate on Bryant. Some of it has been justified, most of it has not. Bryant’s bouts with selfishness, immaturity and being a ballhog are long past him, so it’s time for the casual NBA fan to recognize his greatness. No matter how absurd it is, Bryant needed this “solo” ring to establish himself as one of the game’s all-time greats. Why is it absurd? Because basketball is a team game. Jordan didn’t have a dominant big man, but he had one of the greatest man-to-man defenders of all time in Scottie Pippen, a Top 50 NBA player in his own right. He also had arguably the greatest rebounder in NBA history playing in his frontcourt for the final three titles. That’d be Dennis Rodman. 

Bryant wasn’t at his best for some of these finals. His poor free throw shooting costed the Lakers game three and his 4th quarter play in game four wasn’t much to write home about either. But he still averaged 32 points a game and played some great, unselfish basketball.  Averaging over seven assists a game in the Finals is a testament to that, and high praise for Bryant’s supporting cast like Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza and the rejuvenated Derek Fisher. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Admittedly I was one of the many who was clowning Derek Fisher throughout most of game four.  Hell, I’ve been on Fisher for most of the playoffs, especially during the Rockets series in which Aaron Brooks flat out dominated him.  But give Phil Jackson all the credit in the world; he stuck with his veteran and his veteran paid him back.  Fisher hit what were undoubtedly two of the biggest shots of his career last night, one to tie the game with just four seconds remaining and another to push the Lakers to a five point lead as time winded down in overtime.  When the Lakers needed it, Fisher had it.  Forget about the wide open threes that he missed during the game and forget about his inability to keep up with Jameer Nelson down the stretch because at the most crucial time Derek Fisher had his harpoon gun locked, loaded, and aimed directly at Stan Van Gundy’s fat ass.

As for Van Gundy, I’m not sure what’s more entertaining; watching his team implode at home or watching his post-game press conference.  Van Gundy got on some soap box about how there’s no such thing as a difference between guys with playoff experience and guys without it.  Van Gundy must not have been watching the same game I was because he clearly didn’t see his team take stupid shots towards the end of the game, give the Lakers chance after chance, and blow free throws that would inevitably cost the Magic the game.  And then there’s the matter of Jameer Nelson letting Derek Fisher take a wide open three pointer instead of fouling and sending the game into a free throw battle.  If nothing else, Jameer, step out to the three point line and at least contest it.

The series now heads to game five which will still be in Orlando and will afford the Magic one last opportunity to send the series back to LA.  At this point, however, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Kobe and the Lakers slam the door on the Magic.