Basketball

Will the Portland Trail Blazers get lucky Tuesday night and land a top 3 pick in the 2013 NBA draft? Vote in our poll and post your lottery predictions.

After what has seemed like forever and a half, Dwight Howard will finally hit the free agent market and Houston seems to be the favorite landing spot for the superstar. This is a dream come true for Morey, who has tried to acquire Dwight in past seasons from Orlando via trade, but failed due to Dwight making it known he did not want to play in Houston. Oh how times have changed, one playoff season and James Harden later and Dwight could very well sign his name on the dotted line locking himself into a 4 year contract with the up and coming Rockets. That's if he decides sign though, the Lakers and Mavericks are also favorable situations for Dwight, but which situation is actually the best? By looking at the financial situations, player personnel, play style, front office personnel, future outlook, and various outside factors of all 3 teams, we can narrow down which situation is actually best for Dwight. Cap Situations: Dwight Howard's maximum starting salary is 20.51M, which all three teams can offer him given that they make the correct moves. Here's each team's cap situation and how they can open up enough cap room to offer him a max deal. Houston Rockets: The Rockets will have to clear shop if they want to be able to offer Dwight 20.51M. As it stands right now the Rockets have James Harden, Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Terrence Jones, Donatas Montiejunas, Thomas Robinson, and Royce White all on guaranteed contracts. Chandler Parsons, Patrick Beverley, Greg Smith, Aaron Brooks, Carlos Delfino, Francisco Garcia (team option just declined), and James Andersen are all on non-guaranteed contracts which have team options. If the Rockets were to decline all options except for Parsons, Beverley, and Smith, they should be looking at about 15.3M in cap room. That's nowhere enough for Dwight to even entertain coming to Houston, but luckily for them the cap will increase (to let's say 60M) granting the Rockets 71.8 cents on the dollar for which the cap was increased, giving the Rockets an extra 1.5M in cap room, resulting in 16.8M open for spending. This still isn't enough, but there are two roads the Rockets could do down to open up near 3.7M in cap room needed to offer Dwight a max contract. 1) Trade Thomas Robinson: I don't like this situation because I like T-Rob's future as a player in the NBA, but if Dwight wants a max contract to come to Houston, Thomas Robinson would be traded within the minute. Thomas is due 3.53 million, if he's traded for a future pick or expiring contract, there's a cost of 490K due to the open roster spot, granting the Rockets an open 3.04M, giving them 19.84M in cap space. 700K isn't going to keep Dwight Howard from coming here, so let's say it's close enough. 2) Move the other rookies I prefer this plan than moving Robinson, here's why. Royce White (1.72M), Terrence Jones (1.55M), and Donatas Motiejunas (1.42M) are all tradable pieces in getting Dwight. They would have to be traded for future picks or expiring contracts to maximize cap space. By trading all three for expirings, the Rockets can clear 3.28M, giving them enough to make Dwight seriously consider Houston as his new home. As well, the Rockets don't give up one of their best young players in Robinson, instead they give up two players who quite possibly could be out of the NBA in 4 years and Terrence Jones a talented, but flawed player. Given the outlook of the team, I think Robinson's all-star potential will be move valuable than these three players. At the end of the day, the Rockets would have to make a lot of moves to clear enough cap space for Dwight, but they're all realistic moves which can easily be made. The catch though is that the contract can only be for 4 years with a 4.5% annual increase. The Lakers however can offer him 5 years with a 7.5% annual increase. Knowing this, every million matters to get close to the 20.5M mark. Dallas Mavericks: The Mavericks as well have to make moves to maximize their cap room. As it stands righ

The original Nike Hyperdunk dropped in 2008. Today, Nike unveiled the ’13 edition. It was designed by Peter Fogg—who is also credited with whipping up some of the best All Conditions Gear (ACG) models, including the Nike Air Zoom Tallac, Nike Air Terra Humara, Nike Zoom Terra Sertig, Nike Ashiko and Nike Structure Triax. More info, from the Swoosh: From the sole to the upper, the Nike Hyperdunk 2013 builds on its minimalist aesthetic with three of basketball’s most transformative technologies: Dynamic Flywire, Hyperfuse construction and Lunarlon cushioning. The lightweight fit and feel of this iteration set a new standard, while the lockdown support, intuitive stability and advanced herringbone traction are based on insight from the world’s top basketball players including All-Star Point Guard, Kyrie Irving. “When I first put the new Hyperdunks on, I didn’t want to take them off,” said Irving. “The performance was great and I feel like the shoe’s versatility benefits my game.” The Nike Hyperdunk 2013 drops at retail on July 20. Images via Nike

The Spurs have punched the Grizzlies in the mouth. Tony Parker got whatever he wanted in game one, and what he wanted was easy lay-ups, and an endless army of open three-point shooters. The Spurs, of course, have done this before. Long regarded as one the most strategically prepared teams in the league, Popovich and company exploited some of Memphis’ illusory weaknesses. But the problem for San Antonio is that the Grizzlies, too, have done this before. They lost the first game in both of their last two rounds, and then proved themselves to be excellent at adjusting, and slowly forcing games toward their will. Game one was an aberration—this is going to be a long, great series—and Memphis just better hope it isn’t the difference between going to Miami, and going home.- 5-on-5, the Pacers can give the Heat a real run for their money. 5-on-5, I’d give the Heat a slight edge, in a seven-game series victory. But this game is 12-on-12, and when we considerIndiana’s anemic, turnover-and-foul-prone bench production, it seems the Heat have enough extra manpower to keep Indy comfortably distant from victory. David West and Roy Hibbert, like all quality bigs, will challenge Miami where they’re most challenged, making Chris Bosh make an even greater case for himself, and forcing Miami to use everything they have (plenty of Birdman, and maybe even Joel Anthony if there’s foul trouble). But fortunately for the Heat, they’ve got way more than enough; depth will be the difference in this series, just as it was in the tighter games against Chicago, and any victory by Indiana will, itself, be a feat worth hanging their hats on. -The Knicks have some things to think about. An odd collection of moving parts, their 2012-2013 outfit combined several generations of ballers for a campaign that filled out its team identity around Carmelo Anthony, and on the fly. Their best hope at going beyond round two, and eyeing a championship, remains an emulation of the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks only real off-season options are in tweaking their role-player assemblage, and hoping that Melo, J.R. Smith, and Raymond Felton become modest enough (taking a cue from Amar’e Stoudemire, maybe) to let a gestalt, highly-identified crew form around one exceptional scorer, and perform consistently enough to capitalize on the weaknesses of their enemies—which, in the case of Miami, they’ll have to pray for, like the rest of the league. If you’re aNew Yorkfan who believes your team is cursed, I’d say that your not about to believe otherwise. -The Warriors’ future is an interesting one. David Lee’s injury, the most surprising silver-lining of the post-season, showed that—despite leading his conference in double-doubles—building any offense around him is a mistake, so long as they’ve got this array of shooters. If Golden State takes full advantage of its situation (Lee’s market value is relatively unknown in a world where Torontod ecides to cap out for Rudy Gay), they’ll deal Lee and acquire some defensive help in exchange. And since the real crux in the loss to San Antonio was Steph Curry re-injuring his ankle (which took more away from the offense and team mentality than can be reasonably summarized) this squad’s ceiling is still of unknown heights. (Although, of course, Curry’s perpetually tenuous ankle, itself, may be the definition of their potential, like Derrick Rose’s knee now will be for the Bulls). Further playoff runs for GSW mean a symposium on just how far perimeter shooting can take a team. -The Bulls and Thunder have health to look forward to. As Kevin Durant recently said, no season is a lost one; any experience and wisdom garnered by OKC and Chicago in their most recent playoff runs counts toward the dream-runs of the next few years: if their bodies allow it, these are two teams potentially fated to meet in the NBA finals. Here’s to hoping that either can prove how important warm, playable bodies have been to the Heat’s dominance; to hoping that eit

Ryen Russillo and Chris Broussard react to the news that Vinny Del Negro won't return as coach of the Clippers and discuss what could be next for the ...

The Clippers decided to part ways with Vinny Del Negro after the team's first-round playoff loss.

The Los Angeles Clippers have fired coach Vinny Del Negro, sources confirmed to ESPN's Chris Broussard.

Clippers let Del Negro go after historic 56-win run

Kobe: Working to help Lakers keep Howard, Gasol

Amar’e Stoudemire will go into next season with $45 million left on his contract and no guarantee of a starting job. He also could remain a reserve who plays restricted minutes. Searching for ways to improve next season, the New York Knicks could use a reliable second scorer and dependable low-post option. They have no way of [...]