These days, we expect greatness from our NBA stars, and Kobe Bryant is one who delivers on a consistent basis. On Sunday night, he drilled one of the craziest shots of his career in the Lakers' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Kobe got the ball on the low post, guarded closely by OKC's James Harden. As he tried to spin to the hoop, Harden bumped him just enough to force him along the baseline right behind the basket. Thinking he would draw the foul, he fired up a shot from near out of bounds along the baseline that sailed high over the backboard and fell perfectly through the net, mimicking Larry Bird's famous shot that forced a rule change and Rajon Rondo's high-soaring floater over the Sixers' Jason Smith.
The Lakers got two points for Kobe's circus shot whereas Larry Legend's shot was then against the rules. The NBA later changed those rules, declaring that if the shooter is clearly in bounds, such a shot would count. I'm sure Kobe is glad for the rule-change, giving him yet another spot on the court for him to hit improbable shots from.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
The Knicks bench came up big as they erased a 19-point deficit in the second-half on their way to picking up their second victory of the season. Al Harrington led the way with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Larry Hughes added 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Hughes has trumped both Nate Robinson and Toney Douglas at the 'two' and continues to look like a safe add.
Danilo Gallinari's big goose egg was overshadowed -- literally? -- by the return of every Knick fan's favorite big man, Eddy Curry. Big Slacks had 10 points and four rebounds in 12 minutes coming off the bench. Mike Breem said it best when he insinuated that the Knicks were going to start giving Curry more playing time in order to showcase his "talents" with the hopes that someone will bite on his contract. That says a lot, doesn't it?
For the Pacers it was Danny Granger who led the way with 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting and five treys. He wasn't very helpful in the second half, scoring just three of his 33 in the final two quarters.
The shooting guard position is where you load up on scorers with three-point shooting range and the defensive ability to pick up steals. Of the top 24 scorers in the league last season, 12 of them were eligible at the shooting guard position. Dwyane Wade was out in front, leading the league in scoring and finishing ranked third overall in standard scoring systems.
Many of the top shooting guards from last season were selected in the value rounds. Rookie O.J. Mayo, veteran Jason Terry, and youngsters like Wilson Chandler, J.R. Smith, John Salmons and Nate Robinson all returned Top 75 value in the 9th round or later. Then there's the case of Eric Gordon, who as a rookie went undrafted and yet finished the '08-09 season ranked 48th overall. Looking at the average draft positions (ADP) as reported by Mock Draft Central (MDC) and Yahoo! Sports (Y!), let's see if we can find any value/sleeper picks from the shooting guard position.
The goal of the Oklahoma City Thunder should be apparent: Rise from the dregs of the Western Conference and into the middle-of-the-pack. That's a realistic endeavor, and it will be the responsibility of coach Scott Brooks to get the Thunder there.
LAS VEGAS -- Expect the Utah Jazz to match the Portland Trail Blazers' offer sheet for forward Paul Millsap. The Blazers offered Millsap a front-loaded four-year deal at about $33 million. The Jazz badly want to retain Millsap and will match if it can find a taker for Carlos Boozer.
LAS VEGAS -- The question for the Oklahoma City Thunder is whether premium free agents will want to play in a city with little NBA reputation. That question will loom large in coming years because the Thunder will have a satchel full of money and cap space to attract an All-Star caliber player to join Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green.
Until then, the Thunder will rely on the draft and clever moves such as the mid-season signing of Nenad Krstic and the acquisition of former lottery pick Thabo Sefolosha. Oklahoma City has one of the NBA's lowest payrolls -- although many critics would say that's due to the thriftiness of owner Clay Bennett -- and just $20 million committed to players after the 2010-11 season. But will any of those potential 2010 free agents -- a class that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki -- consider the Dust Bowl?
ORLANDO -- Rookie James Harden, the No. 3 pick in the 2009 Draft, is a smart guy who will become a fine player as he grows up with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But the NBA Summer League may be giving him a false sense of security. As an NBA shooting guard, he will learn quickly that not everyone in his position puts their pants on one leg at a time.
When he starts trying to defend the likes of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, he may find himself a little more blistered than he thinks.
"Kobe is the best player in the world, but he laces up his shoes just like I lace up mine,'' Harden said earlier this week. "Sure, I'll get a welcome-to-the-NBA moment, but it's just basketball. I've played against him before [in the summer]. I won't be intimidated.''
The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer -- Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the fun happened, with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet and the Timberwolves' vexing decision to horde as many point guards as they could. A few other teams lucked out when players dropped down the board and into their laps. Check out the grades for the Western Conference after the jump.
It has been said of late the draft begins with Oklahoma City at No. 3. Well, Sam Presti didn't pull out a bag of tricks -- he took the somewhat expected pick, shooting guard James Harden of Arizona State. Harden figures to slide right into the Thunder line-up between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
Speaking of Westbrook, who earlier this week bristled at the idea OKC could select point guard Ricky Rubio: he's going to love feeding Harden the ball. Harden is an incredibly efficient scorer. He even finished higher than Stephen Curry in True Shooting percentage last season. While not a perfect shooter, Harden has good athleticism and he was a solid defender in college. We'll see how much of an upgrade on Damien Wilkins and Thabo Sefolosha he can become.
The day of reckoning has arrived for some 90 or so prospects hoping to be an NBA Draft pick. The day of reckoning has also arrived for some 9,000 mock drafters, who desperately try to get it right even though no one ever could on a consistent basis.
And, if I may, a word about the recent backlash against mock drafts from the key mock draft writers. The major draft experts from ESPN and DraftExpress told the New York Times last week that they hate mock drafts. But the mock draft is like their version of a test. It's too arbitrary, too black and white. It creates an impossible task. But thems the breaks when you're in a field in which performance matters. If Chad Ford didn't have to put out a mock, he could forever avoid criticism, basically. It's his job to analyze and predict the draft. How could we judge his efficacy without looking at his mock the morning after? It's like Amar'e Stoudemire telling everyone he hates to rebound. (Oh wait ...)
I love mock drafts! You'll find my final version after the jump.
These days, we expect greatness from our NBA stars, and Kobe Bryant is one who delivers on a consistent basis. On Sunday night, he drilled one of the craziest shots of his career in the Lakers' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The shooting guard position is where you load up on scorers with three-point shooting range and the defensive ability to pick up steals. Of the top 24 scorers in the league last season, 12 of them were eligible at the shooting guard position. 
FanHouse 
Gary Washburn empties his notebook from the 
LAS VEGAS -- The question for the Oklahoma City Thunder is whether premium free agents will want to play in a city with little NBA reputation. That question will loom large in coming years because the Thunder will have a satchel full of money and cap space to attract an All-Star caliber player to join 
ORLANDO -- Rookie 
The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer -- 
It has been said of late the draft begins with Oklahoma City at No. 3. Well, 
The day of reckoning has arrived for some 90 or so prospects hoping to be an 
