Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires.
It's pretty easy to get excited aboutBrandon Jennings' near triple-double in his NBA debut. He scored 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished nine dimes in 34 minutes against the 76ers on Friday night. He added two threes, but didn't manage to record a steal. With Luke Ridnour coming off the bench and playing just 16 minutes, it's pretty safe to say that for now Jennings is running the point in Milwaukee.
ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic will raise their Eastern Conference title banner Wednesday night at Amway Arena, then begin the most anticipated season in franchise history. And Rashard Lewis will be at home watching on television, riding a stationary bicycle.
Just the thought makes him cringe.
"I knew this day was coming but I'm still upset every time I think about it,'' Lewis said Tuesday after a Magic practice. "I was part of winning that banner, and I won't be there to see it go up. But you do the crime, you pay the fine.''
ORLANDO – Second-year forward Ryan Anderson was almost invisible when he joined the Magic alongside All-Star Vince Carter in the trade last month with New Jersey.
He is making his presence felt now.
Anderson has been the early star of the Orlando Pro Summer League, showing why he should fit quite nicely on a team that relies heavily on good shooters surrounding a dominating center like Dwight Howard.
Anderson hit 11 of 15 shots – both his 3-point attempts -- for 33 points and 15 rebounds in the Magic's 85-82 victory over the Boston Celtics. On Monday against Oklahoma City, he had 21 points and seven rebounds after struggling through the opening half.
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:
The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
ORLANDO -- Vince Carter didn't have to travel very far to shake hands with his new coach or general manager.
He was in town before the trade was even completed.
Carter, the eight-time All-Star, was traded Thursday from the New Jersey Nets to the Orlando Magic, whose practice facilities and offices were only a few miles away from where he was holding one of his summer basketball camps earlier in the day.
Carter grew up in nearby Daytona Beach, where much of his family still lives. He already has a home in Orlando. And he was a regular at Amway Arena watching the Magic through the playoffs.
Kevin Garnett will miss another game, which adds a ready-made excuse for the Celtics in case of a loss, and could -- in TV-analyst speak -- put a ton of pressure on the Cavaliers. If, after all, the Cavs can't win in Boston (where they've dropped six straight) with K.G. missing, how can the team expect to get a postseason victory there?
With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday night, FanHouse's Tom Ziller took a friend's advice and unilaterally decided what teams ought to do in the first round. Think of it as a shorter version of our ongoing Crystal Ballin' series.
1. Chicago -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Fan consensus would have the point guard from Memphis here, and it looks like John Paxson will swing that way, too. It looks like a whole lot of Chris Paul-induced "pure point" fervor to me. Beasley, though, is the rare unassailable post presence who also boasts great perimeter skills and extraordinary tenacity on the court. With a team so desperate for points on something other than jump shots, Beasley fits right in.
2. Miami -- Derrick Rose, Memphis. The Heat, on the other hand, has some firepower in the paint, between Dwyane Wade's irrepressible slashing and the alternating efforts of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem. But Wade needs help running the show. Rose would provide the right engine to push Miami's offensive abilities while offering some backcourt defensive support.
3. Minnesota -- Brook Lopez, Stanford. Like any other basketball aesthete, I have cracked some Brook Lopez jokes. But behind the Cheetah Girls t-shirts, he's a good prospect. The biggest thing he can offer Minnesota in some interior anchorage on defense. Al Jefferson got abused routinely in the paint last season, with nary a partner to help stunt the opponent. Lopez immediately fortifies the effort, maybe not creating a good defense by himself, but at least helping out. Oh, and he can score too.
27 more picks of questionable logic after the jump.
Trying to figure out what a 20, 21 year old is going to do with his life is tough. Especially when these guys are agentless and are told different things by different people with different interests.
Still, with the 5 p.m. ET deadline for NBA Draft prospects who still have college eligibility and not signed with an agent looming, let's take a look at who has to make the big decisions today.
Chase Budinger (Arizona): He says he could come back to school, but even his coach says he'd be nuts to. He'll be a midround pick and the kind of guy who a team late in the first round won't be able to pass up.
Ty Lawson (North Carolina): I think Lawson is in. He seemed as if he was trying to find a reason to leave Carolina and he seems to have a lock on getting picked in the first round (Nuggets, Spurs). This isn't an elite point guard draft and Lawson would fit certain teams.
Bill Walker (Kansas State): This is a tough one. Even before his injury, no one really knew where Walker's value was. He was the perfect example of a guy who someone could take a chance in the 20s ... or he could fall out of the first round altogether. Initial reports say he tore his meniscus which means his pre-draft workouts are over. I think Walker comes back to school if he doesn't get any better news on his knee.
Cal's high-profile hiring of Mike Montgomery is a huge one for a program that has seen some mediocre coaching and play over the last few seasons. Monty deserves every bit of his reputation as a top-shelf teacher who gets everything out of his players. But he also comes with some baggage that could limit the effect that he will have on the Bears.
The most important of these issues is his willingness to recruit. Towards the end of his time at Stanford, Montgomery didn't put a ton of energy into recruiting, and the team suffered for it. His last two recruiting classes of Fred Washington, Tim Morris, Taj Finger, Peter Prowitt, and walk-on Kenny Brown produced some important contributors, but none of these players never showed the promise of being anything more than key role players. Now, much of the reason for Monty's lack of vigor can be attributed to very high admissions standards for athletes that won't be present in Berkeley; he won't ever lose out on a player like David Padgett because of grades. Nevertheless, this issue remains an important question mark that could limit his success.
Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour made perhaps the most popular move of her tenure today when she announced the firing of Ben Braun, who leaves Berkeley after 12 seasons of modest success. Braun's overall record and accomplishments are certainly not embarrassing, but his teams -- particularly the recent ones -- had a knack for underachieving and failing in crunch time.
A solid recruiter, Braun went 219-154 and led the Golden Bears to five NCAA appearances (including a Sweet Sixteen in 1997, his first season) and an NIT Championship, so it's impossible to say that he was a complete failure as coach. However, his teams rarely outperformed expectations, which could be seen throughout this season. Cal had two probable NBA first-rounders in Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin and a wealth of offensive talent, but the Bears finished 17-16, went a poor 6-12 in an admittedly tough Pac-10, and lost to Ohio State in the second round of the NIT. Cal rarely looked interested in playing defense and dropped several games in the closing moments.
Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires. 
ORLANDO -- The 
ORLANDO – Second-year forward 
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Trying to figure out what a 20, 21 year old is going to do with his life is tough. Especially when these guys are agentless and are told different things by different people with different interests.
Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour made perhaps the most popular move of her tenure today when she announced 
