ROZAY

The Christmas schedule has been released. In addition to Boston/New York, Miami/Dallas and Chicago/Lakers as originally planned, Oklahoma City/Orlando and Clippers/Golden State have been added as well. The full schedule for the season will be released on Tuesday, with the ratification coming on Thursday.

We don't have any draft picks to trade. Not first round, anyway. You can't trade future first round draft picks for consecutive years, so that's out of the window. I suppose you're right on the 3 megastars thing, as any combination of Melo/Amare and CP3 or D-12 would be enough to challenge the Heat for years to come. I'm just worried about either one wanting to take a pay cut of that much money when they could sign or get traded to other contenders for more. I'm confident one of them will come here though, so I guess that's a moot point. I'll just be happy that we don't suck again. Rumors are also going around that NY is obviously Paul's first choice, but that he will also consider the Clippers, which would be scary if it weren't for the fact that they're still the Clippers.

Can CP3 even come here to NY? We have only like 13 million in cap room (assuming the cap stays the same) with no one on the books but STAT and Melo and really no assets to trade for him without gutting out the team, not to mention any draft picks. I suppose he could force the Hornets hand like Melo did with Denver, but do we really need to go the Heat route with three stars and a bunch of guys signing for the vet minimum and a partial mid-level exception? I'd honestly much rather have D-12.

Free agency begins today, and players can start using team facilities tomorrow. Nothing can officially happen until December 9th, although I'm sure we'll hear about deals being agreed to in principle before then. There's also an interesting clause within the amnesty clause. If a player is cut, he does not automatically become a free agent - there will be a bidding contest with teams that are operating under the salary cap to acquire that player. If no one bids on said player, then he can go into free agency. Also, there will be five games on opening day instead of three - one on TNT, two on ABC and two on ESPN.

I can't find the proposal before the latest one, but here are the new changes.

D-12 would set every free throw record ever and still somehow only manage to shoot 60% from the line. In other news, fuck Cleveland and Phoenix.

Who do you think is better that's on this list, out of curiosity?

I didn't vote, so I wont complain too much. Is there no love for the old school though? No Rakim, KRS or Big Daddy Kane? Kool G Rap? Slick Rick? Fresh Prince? Hell, I don't even like him that much, but no LL? Don't get the hate for Em either. I probably wouldn't have him at 1, but he's definitely top 5 at the very least.

Edit: I see I'm a bit late with his signing. That's gonna be a scary secondary though.

Congratulations to Dirk and the Mavs. Very nice to see Jason Kidd go out with a ring and for a lot of the criticism that Dirk has faced since 2006 to finally go away. As a big LeBron fan, it sucks to see him disappoint yet again. It sucks even more that I've had to deal with all the shit that comes with being a fan of the guy for the last week or so. However, I can admit that he had this coming. Hopefully he learns from it and just shut up and play ball like he can. Still, the better team won and I'm glad that if anyone won a title other than Bron, it's Dirk.

Dallas did go to the line more than Miami, if my memory is correct. Dallas did get a lot of bullshit calls against them, though.

Two great games last night. I love the NBA playoffs. There's nothing like it to me. I guess I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this but... I'd like to see the Heat win, although I wouldn't mind seeing Dirk and company get a ring. LeBron has been my favorite player since Magic, and I guess it would be cool to see the reaction from a lot of people that didn't give them a chance in hell. Would love to see a Heat/Mavs finals again.

Ray Allen's ankles aren't the only thing D-Wade likes to break, apparently.

Even though I'm sure everyone knew he was the obvious choice, Derrick Rose has been named MVP. Congratulations to him, he had a phenomenal year and really deserves it.

There's talk that the Knicks are going to force D'Antoni to hire a defensive coach. Hopefully he doesn't refuse like he did back in Phoenix with Thibs. Then again, hopefully he does refuse so we can get rid of him. Z-Bo destroyed the Spurs last night in the fourth quarter. Memphis wins their first playoff series and became the second eighth seed to beat the number one seed in a seven game series. So, the second round has OKC/Memphis and LA/Dallas for the West, and Chicago/Atlanta (who will probably end up being the reason Dwight Howard leaves next year) and Miami/Boston in the East.

Ron Artest won the NBA citizenship of the year award. I thought that was pretty cool even though the story will probably get overlooked. Ron Ron has always been a favorite of mine and it's good to see that he has come a long way since his earlier days. So, has anyone else's first round predictions been shot to hell like mines?

Going to the Heat/Sixers game tonight, as well as game 4. Any ideas for signs to piss off Wade & James?

Fuck Ray Allen. That is all.

Chicago over Indiana in 4 Orlando over Atlanta in 5 Boston over New York in 6 Miami over Philly in 4 San Antonio over Memphis in 6 Oklahoma City over Denver in 5 Portland over Dallas in 6 LA Lakers over New Orleans in 5 Chicago over Orlando in 6 Miami over Boston in 7 Oklahoma City over San Antonio in 7 LA Lakers over Portland in 6 Miami over Chicago in 6 LA Lakers over Oklahoma City in 7 Miami over LA Lakers in 6

So the playoffs match ups are set. In the East we have: 1. Chicago Bulls vs 8. Indiana Pacers 4. Orlando Magic vs 5. Atlanta Hawks 3. Boston Celtics vs 6. New York Knicks 2. Miami Heat vs 7. Philadelphia 76ers. And in the West... 1. San Antonio Spurs vs 8. Memphis Grizzlies 4. Oklahoma City Thunder vs 5. Denver Nuggets 3. Dallas Mavericks vs 6. Portland Trail Blazers 2. Los Angeles Lakers vs 7. New Orleans Hornets Predictions anyone?

God do I love Melo. That boy is clutch I tell ya. Bring on Boston.

I know that they have the best record since the All Star break, but I think last night more than proved that the Lakers are ready for the playoffs.

Just a few weeks ago I was thinking that we definitely would lock up the sixth seed, possibly make a run at the Hawks for the fifth seed and perhaps make it to the second round. Now I'm with naiwf and Meacon. I'm sure we'll get it together next year, but right now I can't see this team surviving the first round.

Posted what naiwf did ten minutes earlier. Very surprising move. The Nets also got Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Troy Murphy, who will likely be bought out.

In light of this recent news, all I have to say is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldiFrefbIkA