FanHouse CharlieVillanueva

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee is cutting costs. With that being no secret, guard Michael Redd doesn't deny there is a possibility he could be traded before his contract expires in the summer of 2011.

But that's not what Redd wants.

"Oh yeah, absolutely,'' Redd said Thursday in an interview with FanHouse about wanting to remain with the Bucks through the life of his deal. "I've been here for 10 years. So I've enjoyed my time here, man, and the team keeps getting better.''

Redd, 30, is making $17.04 million this season and has an $18.3 million early-termination option for next season. It would be a shock if Redd, who has played his entire career with the Bucks since entering the NBA in 2000, opted out.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Everything that could go wrong for the Pistons did last year, from front-office blunders (the Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson trade), indefensible coaching decisions (three guards and Tayshaun Prince as a power forward?) to a rash of injuries (only two starters played more than 67 games).

We could rehash the depressing nitty-gritty details, but why bother? It's a new season, and this year's squad looks very little like the one swept out of the playoffs in front of a turncoat Palace crowd.

Instead, let's focus on the changes, which should destroy your outdated notions of what Dee-troit Basket-ball is all about. First and foremost, the Pistons went from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest -- and not just because four rookies will make the roster.

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FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is not going to set the world on fire. But he's the type of player that can provide the gasoline.

To say Mbah a Moute was under the radar last season is to vastly overestimate the strength of radar systems. Coming out of UCLA, Mbah a Moute was considered a project like so many rookies. He didn't possess the wowzer tangibles (standing only 6-8 and being listed as a power forward will do that to you), didn't stir the senses with playmaking, and was considered a good college player that he might make it with some time.

And then Mbah A Moute actually hit the floor.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer is a huge sports fan who tells us that he use to be a boxer and these days he enjoys golf. In this FanHouse exclusive we talk to Cedric at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California (not to be confused with the Sherwood Forest -- home of Robin Hood). Cedric who hangs out with lots of top athletes tells us about the time he was doing Vegas with Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley.

Check out the video after the jump.

OK, sure. They traded their franchise player a year and a half ago for Kwame Brown and some Skittles. And yes, with the No. 2 pick they managed to select the only basketball player available who's biggest weakness is his ability to put the little ball in the big circle with the net attached (which I hear is kind of important). But hey, they needed to rebuild, and they rebuilt. But they have tons of cap space now, so much in fact, that they're actually under the CBA limit and have to spend some.

So they've stopped torturing their fans with one terrible decision after another right? Right? Guys? Anybody?

Oh, hi Zach Randolph. What are you ... doing ... here ...?

Oh, no.

The Cavaliers are going all out to try to win a championship next season, before LeBron James can even think about becoming an unrestricted free agent in the magical, mystical summer of 2010. They've already traded for Shaquille O'Neal, and are rumored to have interest in the services of the recently freed Charlie Villanueva.

The team's heavy activity this summer would lead you to believe that minutes on the court will be in short supply for Anderson Varejao in the coming season. And that might be a big reason why he opted out of a contract which would have paid him $6.2M, when it's pretty unlikely that any team would offer him much more than that once he hit the open market.

The Pistons have been tied to Bulls gunner Ben Gordon for ages, it seems, with pundits constantly bickering about how little or much sense a pairing made. Detroit, after all, traded All-World champ Chauncey Billups precisely to free up time for buckin' Rodney Stuckey while also inking former All-Star Rip Hamilton to an extension.

The assumed pursuit of Charlie Villanueva -- now confirmed by Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski -- makes more immediate sense. Rasheed Wallace is gone, Amir Johnson will vie for Villanueva's old job in Milwaukee, Antonio McDyess can probably find greener pastures.

But regardless of how it looks now, these are two pursuits that make bundles of sense together.

I heard Michael Jackson died at approximately 5:30 PM ET. Hours later, I still don't think it's fully hit me. This was the man I idolized growing up as a kid ... I watched Moonwalker about 80 times on VHS (Joe Pesci was the villain). I once furiously outbid someone $159 for a replica Beat It jacket with 13 zippers. I actually have an 8x10 glossy of Billie Jean Michael taped next to my bedroom door.

Everyone -- from celebrities to sports stars to ordinary people -- had their way of trying to feel connected to the King of Pop. In his mere presence, fans have fainted and needed medical attention. So when news broke that Jackson had passed away, the reverberations on social media sites like Twitter were immense. Outspoken wide receiver Chad Ochocinco even went on to tweet "this is just as sad as 9/11" and then tried to play damage control after his offensive comment.

After the jump, read the emotional reactions from current and former athletes.

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San Antonio needed a major infusion of offensive talent this season, and it appears the team has found it. Multiple league reports indicate the Spurs have traded for Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson, sending away only bit players Bruce Bowen (age 38), Kurt Thomas (age 36) and Fabricio Oberto (age 34), according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jefferson has been in Wisconsin for one year, following last June's draft day trade which sent Yi Jianlian and others to New Jersey. Jefferson has always been a moderately efficient scorer, and he should provide some relief for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in the Spurs starting line-up. He's not quite an ace defender, but he played hard for Scott Skiles last season and hasn't missed a game in two seasons.

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Charlie Villanueva is being sued for allegedly assaulting a man at a nightclub in Milwaukee in February. It's too early to determine if the suit has merit -- neither Villanueva nor the Bucks have commented on it -- but it's certainly out of left field.

As NBA players go, Villaneuva's reputation is sterling. Long before attaining national prominence (and, yes, spurring controversy) with an overactive Twitter habit, he lent both his name and time serving as spokesman for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, reaching out to children suffering from the same disease he does whenever he goes on the road.