(Quick aside: Is it just me or is the NBA offseason easily the most fun of any sport?) Anyway, it appears, based on Woj's sources, that this rumor is likely to gain very little steam, primarily because Danny Ainge is dealing with "Bring in Rasheed Wallace to win a championship" Joe Dumars, as opposed to "Draft Darko, Trade Chauncey for Iverson" Joe Dumars.
My colleague Matt Steinmetz made a compelling case over the weekend that the Lakers are at a crossroads. If this team falls short of reaching the NBA Finals, should Mitch Kupchak do everything in his power to bring back the current core? Will retaining free agents like Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown result in a roster with a championship ceiling? It's too early to say, especially after the Lakers averted disaster with a Game 7 win over the Rockets.
But after watching the Celtics fall to the Magic in Game 7 at home, I can't help but think Boston's GM Danny Ainge now faces the same dilemma. Did the Celtics lose because they were unlucky victims of the injury bug, or did they lose because the roster is inherently flawed?
This will go down as a defining moment in the still-budding career of Dwight Howard, the series in which he went from another well-hyped NBA star without a resume, to a legitimate leader who proved he could take a team deep into the playoffs.
It should be the beginning of a long run for the Orlando Magic, who will meet LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference final for the first of what might be many times in the next several years.
The guard has changed in the East. The Pistons are history, and the Celtics aren't far behind.
Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley can't avoid the playful jabs of Saturday Night Live any longer. Actually, it's ubiquitous house ads that earn most of the scorn here, along with ... Ray Allen? The sketch has Allen getting injured in today's Game 7. Methinks some SNL writer doesn't care for the Celtics. (Sully would have never let this happen.) Video hat tip to Awful Announcing. (Anyone else excited about Mark?)
What started this season as a chest-thumping NBA title defense is turning into an even more impressive testament to seat-of-the-pants resiliency and steely resolve.
The Big Three is long gone. The Gang of Unwanted has kept this one alive.
There's too much going on in the NBA playoffs right not to try to touch on every series. Let's take a look ahead to Monday's games, as well as a look back at Sunday's games ...
-- It's really too bad that Game 3 of the Dallas-Denver series had to be decided the way it did, with the officials missing an intentional foul and allowing Carmelo Anthony to hit a game-winning 3-pointer.
But now on Monday we're really going to find out about the Mavericks, and it could go a long way toward whether they're completely dismantled this offseason. Do the Mavericks have a little Houston in them?
The Celtics prevailed in their opening-round, seven-game thriller with Chicago because Allen was brilliant from long range, making his shots like he was taking target practice at the rifle range, giving everyone around him a boost of confidence.
Kendrick Perkins received a flagrant-one foul for this elbow that landed to the throat area of Orlando's Mickael Pietrus, during the fourth quarter of the Magic's Game 3 win on Friday.
Despite the fact that the league has generally been wildly inconsistent in terms of what does and does not deserve an ejection or suspension in this post-season, this play seems to be the kind that will result in Perkins being suspended for Game 4. And if that's the case, the Celtics are going to be in some serious trouble.
A shockingly dominant first half performance. A near collapse. A clanker of Game 2. A suspended point guard. This the Orlando Magic.
A pathetic shot out of the gate. A determined second-half rebound. A dominant Game 2 performance, start to finish. Swagger. Determination. A ring. These are the Boston Celtics.
As we head to Game 3 in Orlando of this seven game series, things are coming to a head. Games 1 and 2 were largely feeling one another out. And if you're a Magic fan, that process did not come out the way you'd have preferred. So what are we looking at in Game 3?
There's a little NBA trading spice coming out of Woj's internet-making machine recently, in the form of (another?) rumor involving Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. This time, they were reportedly offered to Detroit in a deal that would have sent Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey to Beantown.
Cherry Picking
This will go down as a defining moment in the still-budding career of 
There's too much going on in the NBA playoffs right not to try to touch on every series. Let's take a look ahead to Monday's games, as well as a look back at Sunday's games ...
If the best pure shooter in the NBA can't start hitting his shots again, the Boston Celtics don't have a chance in this playoff series.
A shockingly dominant first half performance. A near collapse. A clanker of Game 2. A suspended point guard. This the Orlando Magic. 
