The Rockets visit Louisiana in a truly handsome match-up for fans of speedster point guards running slow-like-poison offenses. At some point in the near future, perhaps April or next Christmas, pockets of bastardly revolution calling for the ouster of Byron Scott in the name of a fully unleashed Chris Paul will sprout. I'd join, were I a revolutionary bastard. But I'm cool with the mundane Paul-to-Peja so long as cohabitation with Paul-to-Chandler is plausible.
The Nets and Bulls are discussing a trade that would send Larry Hughes to New Jersey, according to two published reports. The Bulls would receive Bobby Simmons in return, with little-used Maurice Ager included to make the salaries match.
Hughes has been disappointed about his lack of playing time in Chicago, especially since Kirk Hinrich returned from injury. It's not clear how much more time he could expect to see in New Jersey behind Devin Harris and Vince Carter (especially with Keyon Dooling playing well off the bench), but sometimes a move simply for the sake of a change of scenery is a good thing.
While summer's an uncertain time for just about any old NBA player, some folks on the lower rungs of the league find themselves on land less stable than T.J. Ford's neck. Two of those fellows this year: Shawne Williams and Marcus Williams.
Shawne, already on Larry Bird's DO NOT WANT list, met trouble one more time over the weekend. Williams was stopped by police for illegally tinted windows and not wearing his belt. His passenger, though, got pinched for marijuana possession. This is not the first time Williams has been with a buddy who ended up in cuffs (and Shawne himself has been in a bit of a tight situation before).
In New Jersey, the fuzz hasn't lead to Marcus Williams' eminent dismissal -- Keyon Dooling has. The Nets landed Dooling in a sign-and-trade this morning. Orlando will receive a $3.3 million trade exception. Williams will receive lots of ink on HoopsHype over the next few days (or weeks). With Devin Harris installed as default starter and Dooling as a plus-sub, there's just no room for the alleged thief steal of the 2006 draft.
In today's market, Dooling's definitely worth more. Plenty of teams have good chunks of their mid-level left, and Dooling should be able to snag at least $3 million for next year. Bully for him. Johnson, though ... this is about the high end of his range this summer, as dude turns 34 before next season begins. As AJ was never particularly potent at his peak in the first place, this is a bit of a stretch for Orlando.
Johnson split time starting for Atlanta and subbing for Sacramento last year. His defense is simply atrocious at this point; it's not his fault, but Stan Van Gundy doesn't care and it's difficult to imagine many minutes in critical games for such a limited defender. On offense, he'll (try to) limit mistakes and maybe hit a three now and then. And he's certainly able to deliver both alley-oops and designer stained glass to Dwight Howard. This might work out, but don't expect much big-picture impact.
Just the other day, I asked myself, "What do the Knicks need?" And of course the answer is "Another offensively shaky and underwhelming point guard!" Because you can never really have enough of those.
It is in that spirit that the Knicks today signed free agent point guard Chris Duhon to a two year, $6.5 million contract. The former Bull is expected to compete with Stephen Marbury for the starting point guard spot, according to the report by the New York Post today.
Duhon does have some potential. He scored 34 against Golden State this year (but then again, who didn't score against Golden State), and had 22 against Milwaukee. He also had a whole lot of the dreaded DNP-CDs. He's solid in some spots, brilliant occasionally, terrible in stretches, and mediocre a lot of the time. However, you have to wonder how much of that was the coaching in Chicago which was less than supportive of guard play. Compare that with D'Antoni's speed-first guard system, and this could turn out well.
The Magic were said to be heavily interested in Duhon as support for Jameer Nelson, but apparently their indecision on Duhon versus Keyon Dooling was enough to convince Duhon to head to New York, for what may have been less money. With Duhon off the books, it's likely that Dooling will resign with Orlando.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video, Lakers player Trevor Ariza explains to us the meaning of his tattoos, while sharing something few people know about him. Around 2:05 into the video we find out who is the nicest person on the Orlando Magic, Ariza's former team.
In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Pistons-Magic Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 3 this evening.
1. Where Time Stands Still: Maybe tonight we'll actually play the game for the correct amount of time, huh? I know, I know, much ado about nothing. But the impact on this game could be considerable if the Magic come out fighting mad. The Magic shot the lights out in the third quarter of Game 2 before falling back off into the void in the fourth, and still managed to keep the game close to the very end where they lost because the Pistons had a three point lead (kind-of) and the refs called a rather questionable foul on Keyon Dooling. This isn't to say the Pistons wouldn't have won anyway, I have every confidence they would have. But it doesn't change the fact that if you're on the Magic, you have to have at least a glimmer of confidence heading back to the friendly confines of the Magic Kingdom. If the Magic can use Game 3 as their proverbial rallying point, it might give them the boost they need to get past Detroit's defense which has been, well ... 2. Stingy As All Get Out: No, the Pistons aren't leading the playoff teams in opponents' field goal percentage. Philadelphia's unheralded and momentary uprising cut that thing off at the knees before the playoffs had even barely gotten started. But they're still holding teams to 41.9% shooting and only 31 makes a game. In news that will shock and amaze you, the problem with Detroit is not stopping their streaky, inconsistent offense. It's getting past the gauntlet. The Magic did a better job in Game 2 of getting out in transition like I called for, but they would be better served by working to create good quality shots instead of blindly hoping for threes to fall like manna from the heavens. Let me put it this way. Whatever Detroit decides to give you? It's probably poisoned.
In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Magic-Raptors Game 4 tonight.
1. As Go The Backcourts: So goes this series. In Games 1 and 2, Jameer Nelson, Keyon Dooling, and Maurice Evans were lights out, leading a three point barrage on the Raptors. In Game 3, the Raptors responded to the home cooking, and T.J. Ford scored 21, while Jose Calderon had 18 points. Calderon is also averaging 8.3 assists per game. Coach Stan Van Gundy is particularly worried about Calderon, stating after Game 3 that Calderon was playing the pick and roll as anyone in the league "this side of Steve Nash." If the Magic are going to retake momentum and deliver a deathblow to the Raps, Keyon Dooling is going to need to knock down three pointers and Jameer Nelson needs to have his back spasms better stay away. Or it could be another long day for the Magic in Toronto.
2. Howard Gets His: The tactics by Sam Mitchell suggest that the Raptors plan is to let Dwight Howard get his, and try and contain his teammates' ability to get Howard involved. Howard had a down night in Game 3, scoring "only" 19 points with 12 rebounds while picking up 5 fouls. The odds are not likely that they'll be able to keep Howard down again, but if they can keep Hedo Tukoglu and Rashard Lewis under 20 points and 5 assists each, it will allow them to more effectively bring the double team.
Every single night of the playoffs there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Everyone likes to blame Tracy McGrady when the Rockets. I know it, you know, he knows it. So in light of Houston's series-saving victory on Thursday (going down 0-3 isn't technically the same as being eliminated, but it's close enough), let's allow McGrady to soak in a little bit of the credit for this one: he scored 27 points with five boards, seven assists and a block, playing 43 minutes in Houston's slim 94-92 win. Yes, it took a last-second block by Carl Landry to seal the deal, but the Rockets would be lost without T-Mac.
Also Receiving Votes: It's borderline criminal how much point guard talent the Raptors are hoarding this year. Check out the combined production of Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford on Thursday: 39 points (13-22 FG), 12 boards, 16 assists, two steals and four turnovers in 46 minutes. How'd the Magic fare?
Umm ... not as well. Jameer Neson and Keyon Dooling mustered just 14 points (5-13 FG) and seven assists in 46 minutes. Not surprisingly, the Raps won going away.
Once he clears waivers on Thursday morning, Damon Stoudamire will officially be a free agent. Where will he end up? The Celtics will probably place a call, and the Spurs are believed to be interested. But at least one team allegedly interested has removed itself from the race:
Meanwhile, Magic General Manager Otis Smith said there was no validity to an ESPN report that the Magic are interested in signing point guard Damon Stoudamire. Stoudamire was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies and becomes a free agent.
With Jameer Nelson returning from his injured foot on Wednesday, adding Stoudamire to the mix would be complete overkill. Granted, I'm not sold on Nelson being a legitimate starter (for a contending team, no less), but the Magic also have Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling.
If I were starting a team from scratch, I'd probably take Stoudamire over all of them, but considering he's only a marginal improvement, I wouldn't take him in addition to all of them. If the Smith really wants to improve his roster, he'd find a way to move Arroyo and Dooling's expiring contract for help, though for what it's worth he's already said he won't be making any moves at the trade deadline.
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The Nets and Bulls are discussing a trade that would send 
While summer's an uncertain time for just about any old NBA player, some folks on the lower rungs of the league find themselves on land less stable than T.J. Ford's neck. Two of those fellows this year: 
Orlando offered incumbent back-up 
Just the other day, I asked myself, "What do the Knicks need?" And of course the answer is "Another offensively shaky and underwhelming point guard!" Because you can never really have enough of those. 
In another of 
In another of 
Every single night of the playoffs there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. 
Once he clears waivers on Thursday morning, 
