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The Thunder waived guard Earl Watson on Friday and Watson is expected to sign with the Indiana Pacers as soon as his one-week waiver period expires. The Thunder will have to pay Watson a portion of final $6.6 million of his contract and it gives Oklahoma City more roster flexibility.

The move may be an indication that former lottery pick Shaun Livingston has cemented himself as the reserve point guard and it gives Watson a chance to play significant minutes. That wasn't going to happen this season for OKC, which is preparing for the future.

Each Wednesday, the second part of our Under The Microscope series looks at a different player in the National Basketball Association and examines them in the context of a game that week. Wednesday night the Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons in overtime, and we kept track of Danny Granger. Here's a look at how Granger's night ended up. You can read part one of this week's UtM here.

Final Line: 24 points, 6-20 FG, 10-11 FT, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block

The Phrase Is: Getting it done the hard way.

ESPN is reporting that Indiana picked Jerryd Bayless at #11 not for themselves, but for the active active Blazers. Chad Ford says the trade is Bayless and Ike Diogu in exchange for Brandon Rush, picked 13th, and Jarrett Jack. Of course, it's a coup for Portland's Kevin Pritchard, who came into the draft needing a point guard and ended up with arguably the second best one available. And hey! Portland gets to save money in the deal, too.

The heartbreak of this one is that Indiana had no intent or need for Bayless before Portland came calling. The team after Indiana -- my Sacramento Kings -- have no point guard on the roster. Beno Udrih's agent has requested the full mid-level exception ... and the Clippers, who drafted a two-guard in Eric Gordon, are expected to offer as much.

Kings fans would have forgiven David Stern for his accused transgressions just to hear him call Jerryd's name at #12. Instead ... well, hi Jason Thompson. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, I suppose.

Portland is going to win 11 of the next 12 championships. Indiana picked Roy Hibbert with the #17, which comes over in the Jermaine O'Neal deal.

When Portland acquired the #27 pick, we knew something was about to get cracking. Kevin Pritchard isn't waiting until the last minute either, apparently lobbying New Jersey for its #10 pick so it can snatch away Texas point guard D.J. Augustin. Via The Oregonian, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski places in the current talks Portland's #13 and #33 picks and Jarrett Jack, in exchange for New Jersey's #10 and Trenton Hassell. (Portland's recently acquired #27 pick, then, isn't in play. It does allow the Blazers to take a favored foreign player -- like Nicolas Batum? -- in that late spot, though.)

Wojnarowski focuses on what this means for Indiana, who had been thought to have settled on Augustin with #11. But with the T.J. Ford acquisition, how interested in Augustin -- another diminutive fellow, a possible defensive liability -- would the Pacers even be, especially considered the instant dearth of size the parting of Jermaine O'Neal leaves? But Sacramento at #12 -- one spot ahead of Portland currently -- would not have let Augustin remain on the board, especially given renewed concerns about the hardball tactics possible with free agent Beno Udrih.

Also of note: Wojnarowski cites a "Western Conference executive" who warns of Charlotte choosing Augustin at #9. Pardon me for reading too deeply into the bones, but ... might this source be Sacramento's Geoff Petrie, trying to fright Pritchard into backing up the #10 pick by suggesting it'd be a waste for Portland? If so or if not, the gamesmanship is most certainly on.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Brandon Roy and his All Star self really transformed this team fast didn't he? Portland was the NBA's biggest surprise early, and despite slowing down, you best believe that everyone is going to be picking them as the "breakout" for 2008-09. So let's get it out of the way -- they're going to be good. No using them to breakout. It's cheating. Especially if Kevin Pritchard does what he normally does and dominates this draft.

Picks: #13, #33, #36, #55

Needs: Point guard. I know they have Roy and Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez and Steve Blake ... and there's a reason they have so many point guards on the roster. They need a legit true bal to put them over the top.

Best case scenario: D.J. Augustin drops past the point guard needy Pacers, Kings and Clippers. Not likely to happen.

You might be surprised to hear this, but the decision-makers in Portland are not thrilled with their current crop of point guards. Shocking, yes?

Jason Quick of The Oregonian reveals Portland made a big deadline push for Jose Calderon (a player Toronto would not consider giving up at this juncture), and is considering shifting two-guard Brandon Roy to the point permanently when Rudy Fernandez arrives from Spain. Whatever the case, the triptych of Jarrett Jack, Steve Blake and Sergio Rodriguez are not considered solutions.

Some good point guards should be on the board when Portland's pick comes up this June -- perhaps D.J. Augustin, Ty Lawson. No guarantees you'll grab a PG of the future at #13, but it isn't out of the question. And, allow me this response to every past and future instance when a beat writer mentions when Chris Paul and Deron Williams will be free agents: Chris Paul and Deron Williams will not make it to free agency. Their teams will offer the max without question or hesitation this summer. You will not get Chris Paul or Deron Williams this decade. Accept that. Thank you.

The days following a trade deadline typically come with all sorts of big fish stories. Whether GMs want to give the appearance of effort, or honest rumors finally reach mainstream ears, it's a cornucopia of could-have-beens. The best one so far? According to the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro, Portland was close to acquiring Jason Kidd in January, before Kidd's trade demand killed the Blazers' interest.

According to those league officials, who chose to remain anonymous in order to avoid meddling in Portland's affairs, the Blazers never wanted to assist Dallas in obtaining Kidd; they wanted the 34-year-old point guard for themselves to help raise a team of promising kids in the midst of a 3-5 slide.

But as soon as Kidd announced that he could no longer play in New Jersey, Blazers officials concluded that he wouldn't be content playing for an up-and-coming team in Portland, either.

Wouldn't that be something, Kidd running with Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and (eventually) Greg Oden? I'm not the biggest Kidd '08 fan, but settling the team's PG issues with a player of his stature and caliber ... that'd be amazing.

New Jersey did better in the long run -- I don't care what Rod Thorn says, Jarrett Jack is not a better prospect than Devin Harris. But we could've had a 10th elite team in Portland. As it is, the Blazers have slipped back and shouldn't be considered a viable threat for the postseason (given the innumerable strong teams in their way). With Kidd? Houston, Denver and Golden State -- they'd be sweating.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

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Consider yourselves lucky that you're getting this post today. I have made no secret of my mancrush, so my first inclination when I heard that Andrew Bynum would be out for eight freaking weeks was to end up hanging from the nearest ceiling fan by a guitar string. Then I realized the closest thing I own to said string is a fake plastic Gibson with five colored buttons. So I'm here. And Bynum is not. You can't drop him and keeper league teams out of contention should actually trade for him. He will miss eight weeks and in his fantasy stead will be erstwhile "phenom" Kwame Brown (seen here getting half-postered by the quite miniscule Earl Watson.)

Hot Cakes
Kwame posted 10 and 10 last night but it was in 38 minutes against the Sonics and everyone rebounds against them, so that's a misleading false sliver of hope. If he keeps up the decent play, I say sell, since he will not be scoring and Chris Mihm will probably reappear in three weeks for about a week or two (before getting hurt again) to steal playing time. Even if he doesn't, Chris Webber looms as a triangle offense passing presence/center option on the cheap for the Lakers who would be available in just around a fortnight. (Yeah, I rolled with fortnight and yeah, snatch him up if you need dimes and minimal boards.)

In that same game, Nick Collison registered a monsterous 24 points and 18 boards. Besides telling us that Collison is starting to heat up (add him if you can) while averaging over a dub-dub in January, this also tells us that Kwame cannot play defense. Suddenly, you want to start your centers against the Lakers in daily leagues. Did not want to do that when Bynum was in there. So there's that. Hurray tiny silver linings! Sigh.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
Like, seriously, who doesn't have a sprained/bruised knee these days? Losers. I am going to act like I am not freaking out, okay? You certainly do not have to believe me, but just know that I am acting the part. Besides, sprained knees, like the one Andrew Bynum suffered last night, are pretty common occurrences. Right? Right? Right?????? Anyway, that is partially an act, but whatever. Bynum is guaranteed to miss at least one game, maybe more, so Kwame Brown makes a decent (you never know) one game grab for daily and a viable add option, at least temporarily, for all larger leagues. Bynum should be okay (x-rays were negative) but he is not going to Seattle with the team.

Hot Cakes
He may have come off the bench, but it didn't take Luol Deng long to find his rhythm on the floor. He played 30 minutes Sunday, shooting ten of 15 for 28 points with six boards, a dime and one block. Obviously he will not continue to come off the bench. Ergo, you should likely consider getting him active as soon as is humanly possible.

And not to go all "two nights ago" on you, but Kevin Martin made his return Saturday for Sacramento as well, coming off the bench for about 30 minutes and scoring 25 points. He too should be starting for all teams this week.

Absurd's not too strong a word, right? This team won 32 games last year! It traded away its top scorer and rebounder for a second-string power forward and a subsidy to Isiah Thomas! Its #1 overall pick is down for the season! Its the third youngest team in NBA history! Sorry for the exclamatory sentences. I thought the first seven wins in a row were cute; the Brandon Roy impersonation of MJ was thrilling; the frenetic and clearly jinx-rejecting plea for calmness from Henry Abbott was endearing.

But 10 wins, including two each against the Jazz and Nuggets and home victories against playoff teams New Orleans and Golden State... that's not just a neat anomaly. Heck, seven NBA teams don't even have 10 wins total yet... let alone 10 wins in the last two-and-a-half weeks. Something serious is happening in Portland; whether it leads to a serious playoff run (the 8th seed would be theirs today) is irrelevant. Success is being bred.

Look at the Friday win over Denver. The Blazers entered the fourth quarter down seven. Within 75 seconds, two Travis Outlaw jumpers and a Steve Blake three tied the game. Portland got off to a 16-2 start in the fourth to take over the game; it got dicey under two minutes with a few ties, but the Blazers pulled it out with good defense (including two massive blocks from Trout Law and another from Roy on Allen Iverson Carmelo Anthony) plus some timely free throws from Jarrett Jack and others. And I guess that's how you win your 10th straight with a team which has little business being this good this soon.

Even if you aren't a devoted Blazers fan (and I'm certainly not), this is thrilling. Bully for Portland.