Category — Cavs

Seems appropriate, no? The Heat sizzling on their streak, rallying from more than 20 down, then some skitzo runs on the court about as easily as Kevin Smith sneaking in a Super Bowl. You’d think security was a little more alert than that with LeBron in town? Would have been a blast if dude had been naked.
Which brings us to another question: Do fans there really believe LeBron is coming back 1 day? Seriously?

Questions always consume NBA fans on opening night. And they will have more as the season dribbles along. Can the Heat repeat as champs? Can the Lakers win the West? Can the Thunder continue to be the best in the West after trading James Harden? Or will the Nuggets emerge? In the East, can any club seriously challenge the Heat?
We know this. LeBron and the Heat are the favorites (7-4) to win it all again, while the Lakers (2-1) are the No. 2 pick. The Thunder (7-2) are the No. 3 choice, but after that it gets dicey.
Vegas Insider

A heated argument broke out on Twitter tonight about which city has the top players in the NBA. What started the discussion was an “Open Court” segment tonight on NBA TV, featuring Shaq, Barkley, Kenny Smith, Steve Smith, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Ernie Johnson.
Hard for any city, including that stale argument that New York produces the best players (maybe back in the day, but not now), to argue against this 5 though.
Complex.com

I cracked open ESPN The Magazine’s NBA Preview today. I immediately flipped to the prediction page for this season’s final showdown. Heat defeat Nuggets as Miami repeats. Seriously.
We could see the Nuggets doing some damage. They’re deep, play an uptempo style that gives teams like the Lakers problems and they now have Andre Iguodala to lead a talented cast. But can they crack the Thunder?
Laker fans will be annoyed to read their club is being pegged as the No. 4 pick in the West. That would be 4th behind the Nuggets, Thunder and (gulp) Timberwolves. We’re not buying the T-Wolves.
And the Mavericks don’t even make the playoffs.

One man’s opinion on the winners and losers of the NBA Draft.
SI.com

Billy Hunter is making the NBA players executive committee look like buffoons, particularly Mo Evans. Evans, once a teammate with Derek Fisher with the Lakers, has been the most vocal committee member about forcing Fisher out as president despite the union paying almost $5 million to Hunter’s family for union-related “work.” Please.
The committee went as far as dropping the name of Chris Paul, who also is a member of the committee and voted for Fisher’s ouster, as a possible successor to Fisher. Wonder where that came from?
Seriously, the stench is becoming unbearable.
Rick Fox was a guest on the “Petros & Money” show this afternoon on Fox Radio in L.A. Fox said the wackiness is just beginning. And though he didn’t elaborate, it’s a good guess more skeletons will be falling out of Hunter’s closet.
Bloomberg

How big is this? For starters, the Thunder can sweep the season series, but more importantly, they can keep pace with the Spurs for the top seed in the West.
For the Lakers, it’s a bigger deal. A loss and they could be looking up at the Clip Joint, which hosts the Hornets Sunday night. The Grizzlies, who have won 4 straight, also are lurking only a game back. They’re off Sunday, but host the Cavs on Monday night.
If the Lakers fall to the No. 5 spot and get the Grizzlies in the 1st round, we’re betting the farm Memphis prevails. The Clippers in the No. 4 spot is the ideal situation for Laker fans because Lob City isn’t as tough a customer as the Grizzlies.

The Warriors, who have a history of botched deals, will be infamous for cutting Jeremy Lin, but so will the Rockets. Still, Golden State, with a huge Asian fan base in the Bay Area, looks like the biggest idiots after clearing more than $700,000 in cap room by cutting Lin to sign Clipper center DeAndre Jordan to an offer sheet. Of course the Clippers matched the offer sheet, the Rockets picked up Lin before cutting him and the rest is NBA history. According to Forbes, the “Lin brand” is now worth $14 million.
Forgive Warriors coach Mark Jackson, the former NBA TV analyst, for being a bit sensitive to it all. “I had nothing to do with Jeremy Lin,” said Jackson, who was angered by a tweet Spike Lee sent thanking him for cutting Lin. “I never saw him do a layup. Stop asking me. He never practiced for us, so leave me out of it.”
Right, right.
Yahoo Sports

Since we’re doing Vegas, we always try to do what Vegas does. Make sense? Didn’t think so.
As far as the NBA goes…
The Heat remain the favorite to win it all (6-5), while the Bulls continue to be a flavor (3-1) of many. Among the others: Lakers (7-1); Mavericks (11-1); Thunder (7-2); Celtics (25-1); Spurs (15-1); Magic (25-1); and Rockets (250-1).

Do the Clippers vote David Stern a share of playoff coin if they win it all?
In a poll of 30 ESPN writers and personalities, 25 of them picked the Heat to win this season’s NBA title. Three of them picked the Bulls and 2 predicted the Thunder would win it all.
Us? As much as Miami is the safe pick, we’re rolling with our homies (Thunder). Now beam us up Scottie.
ESPN.com