The 5 Best Second Overall Selections in the NBA Draft Since 1984 posted by Colin Linneweber

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pick former Oklahoma Sooners star Blake Griffin Thursday with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

However, there is not a consensus projection for the No. 2 pick and basketball analysts remain largely uncertain who the Memphis Grizzlies will choose tomorrow in Gotham.

In recognition of the NBA Draft, I have decided to rank the five most accomplished players selected second overall in the past quarter century.


1)  Jason Kidd 

Kidd, 36, attended the University of California and helped resurrect the Golden Bears dormant basketball program with his stellar play at the point guard position. 

After being honored as a First Team All-American as a sophomore, Kidd declared for the NBA Draft and was selected second overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 1994. 

Unfortunately, the Bay Area native’s initial stint with the Mavericks didn’t materialize as most anticipated it would. 

According to legend, singer Toni Braxton went to the Mavs team hotel to meet Kidd for a date after a game. 

 However, instead of rendezvousing with Kidd, Braxton instead left with his Dallas teammate Jimmy Jackson and the two purportedly fornicated until the wee hours. 

Subsequently, Kidd loathed Jackson and he demanded an escape from “Big D.” 

Kidd, a 9-time All-Star and 6-time All-NBA nomination, was traded to the Phoenix Suns at the conclusion of the 1996 season and his career began to truly ascend in the desert. 

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Dallas Mavericks draft pick posted by john howard

The Dallas Mavericks only have one pick this year in the NBA draft and they really need help to keep from falling any further.  If you look at draft boards, the list of players that could go to Dallas at the 22nd pick are too numerous to mention.   But, we can look at how the past 14 drafts have done at that position.

Of the past 14 drafts, only 2 have produced mentionable players.  Kenny Thomas has been a solid bench player and starter when needed.  The other is Courtney Lee who started in the NBA finals in his first year.  That isn't very good odds.  But, it could happen.  At this point, I think Dallas would take either of those players.  I'm not sure what direction the team is going to go.  But, Mr. Cuban dosn't look like a guy who starts from zero and rebuilds.  Although he does like to wheel and deal.

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Catching up with the Phoenix Suns rumors this off season and who should be kept around for next year? posted by Ryan Greyslak

There have been many rumors surrounding the Phoenix Suns since they missed the playoffs this season. Some of these rumored trades would actually help the team, but some of the options are only opportunities to cut payroll for the oncoming season and further destroy the team. Some of the biggest names involved in these rumors for the team have been Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Richardson.

 Shaq Rumors 

Shaquille O’Neal has not been shy about the fact that he would not mind playing for another team other then the Phoenix Suns and is interested in a contract to extend him for one to two more years. Some of the rumored teams to be interested in Shaq are Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Hornets.

 

Cleveland has reportedly offered Ben Wallace (who might request a buyout or retire) and Sasha Pavlovich who has a non guaranteed contract. The Suns could potentially get out of both players and save money off payroll this year. This is a bad deal for the Suns and I would not expect it to happen for these players. They would get nothing for Shaq.

 

Another of the rumored teams interested in Shaq are the Dallas Mavericks. One of the rumored packages would send Jerry Stackhouse expiring contract and Erick Dampier. Dampier is guaranteed for the next two years at over 23 million. This again would be a horrible trade for the team and they would essentially be giving Shaq up for a smaller expiring contract and a slower less effective center. If the Suns have any talks with Dallas they should absolutely involve Josh Howard but it is rumored Sarver does not want to do business with Cuban.

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Top 10 Things Mark Cuban MEANT TO SAY to K-Mart's mom posted by Chris Strickland

When Mark Cuban told Lydia Moore that her son, the Nuggets' Kenyon Martin, was a "thug" after Game 3 of the Nuggets-Mavs series, he crossed a line. I thought I'd point out the Top 10 Things he MEANT TO SAY to Ms. Moore:

10) "I know he's not a thug. No real thug would ever get sponsorship from K-Mart."

9) "I meant to say, 'Your son's a cool dude,' not, 'Your son included.' Had some margaritas during the game. Slurred my words."

8) "THUG is an acronym. It stands for Totally Hip Underestimated Gamer."

7) "I want Kenyon to be in my new show, 'Thuggin' It,' about a group of NBA players cleaning up run-down neighborhoods."

6) "I was trying to reward you! Every thug-mama received a free chalupa that night."

5) "Last I checked, you're not a thug unless you mock our national anthem, reference slavery, and get caught multiple times with grass (no, I'm not talking about you, Josh Howard)."

4) "Why are you looking at me like that? Seriously. Stop it."

3) "Look, thugness is a good thing. If Nowitzki had your son's thugness, he'd be unstoppable. Like a German ghetto man-child."

2) "As long as Kenyon's not friends with TI or Vick, I take it back."

1) "Your son may be a thug, but he's nothing compared to 'Melo." 

There's clearly no shortage of thugs in the NBA. Just look at Artest. The only way the Rockets are going to beat the Lakers is if Ron Artest literally KILLS Kobe Bryant. That's the only way. Lakers take Game 7 in a blowout.

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Dallas Mavericks weakened by Denver Nuggets' physical play in Game 1 posted by Peter

The Mavs have just finished the series with the San Antonio Spurs who plays with speed and finess. Now, they face a Nuggets team that plays a different brand of basketball: a physical, pound the paint, and defensive style of playing that the Mavs could not adjust to in Game 1.

The Nuggets went for every block and every steal while clogging up the lane and batting away any one who dares come near the basket. The Mavs were frustrated by the non-calls and could not play their slow, half court game. The Mavs became careless with the ball and just gave away the ball in the second half. That, and the Mavs bench didn't show up.

What will the Mavs need to do to have a chance at winning this series? Take care of the ball, and play some defense in the paint. Nene scored 24 points in game 1 when he averaged only around 10 in the Nuggets-Hornets series.

And maybe if the refs would call a few more fouls on the Nuggets instead of the street ball: no blood no foul mentality. Jason Kidd touches the hair on Melo's arm and gets a foul, but Dirk getting pulled down at the waist in the middle of a shot by Nene doesn't count? We have HDTV now, refs, we can see everything you missed!Continue reading "Dallas Mavericks weakened by Denver ..."

Playoff Excitement Part 1: Winning in the West posted by Michael J. Shambaugh

With the first round of the playoffs slowly crawling towards the end, and so much excitement developing around the league, I want to take some time out side of the Blazer Box and take a quick look at the two conferences and what they have brought us this playoff season.

We’ll start with the West…

Los Angeles Lakers versus Utah Jazz:  It was no question as to which of these two teams would be moving on in the first round, but building up to their season finale match up, a lot of people wondered: “Is L.A. going to give their final home game of the season away to Utah for a chance to play Dallas in the first round?”  Most of us expected as much to happen, but there was obviously something the Lakers knew that we didn’t.    We saw it once Dallas destroyed San Antonio in the same fashion that Los Angeles destroyed Utah.  Not much excitement out of this series.

Denver Nuggets versus New Orleans Hornets:  After watching Monday’s Game 4 in New Orleans, would you believe me if I told these two teams split the season 2-2?  The Nuggets bullied the Hornets around like a Varsity team beats up on a Junior Varsity team, or the Freshman team for that matter!  There is no excuse for losing a game by 58 points.  Chauncey Billups now has one more thing to add to his already extensive resume.  New Orleans is probably in the worst situation of the teams left in the playoffs.  They have won 1 game by 2 points while they have lost the other 3 by double digits each time.  Where do you start when trying to adjust for game 5? How about turnovers? Chris Paul and his Hornets committed 27, which lead to 41 Denver points. Shame on you New Orleans.

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Ryan Moats, You Are a Better Man Than Me... posted by Tony Vandervort

By now we've all heard the story and probably seen the video. Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats was driving his family to the Baylor Regional Medical Center in the Dallas Suburb of Plano, to make it to see his mother-in-law as she was in critical condition. She was suffering from breast cancer, and they had been told she didn't have much time. Moats put on his hazards, and by his account rolled through a red light after making sure the way was clear. Officer Robert Powell was parked nearby and attempted to pull him over. Moats continued to drive a short distance to the hospital, as Powell pursued. As he pulled up near the entrance of the hospital, the family jumped out of the car. Officer Powell instructed them to get back in the car, but Moats wife Tamishia and another family member ran inside. Ryan Moats tried explaining the situation to Officer Powell, who over the course of the next thirteen minutes would not listen, and herein lies the controversy.

For about the first five minutes of the conversation, Mr. Moats tried in vain to explain what was going on. He could hardly get a word out, as Officer Powell told him more than once to keep his mouth shut. At one point he even told him, "I can screw you over". After a few minutes, Ryan seemed to realize that arguing was getting him nowhere, even slowing down the process. He asked that he be given his ticket so he could be on his way, which would not happen for approximately eight more minutes. As Officer Powell took his time writing the citation, Moats mother-in-law, 45 year old Jonetta Collinsworth, passed away with her daughter by her side.

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Crystal ball reveals Mavs will face the LA Lakers in the playoffs posted by Ben Diez

It isn't surprising that most teams dread the thought of having to face the Lakers in the first round. In fact, what team would want the responsibilty of having to put up a gameplan which would freeze Kobe Bryant? Or perhaps even trying to find a way to stop Pau Gasol and possibly even a healthy Andrew Bynum? Well, with only nine games to go until the regular season comes to an end, it seems more and more likely as if the Mavs will be the lucky group. 

The Mavs had and still do have a chance to move up in the standings and avoid LA. It at least seemed possible to move up until they lost a heart breaker at home to Denver and blew a nice first half lead against LeBron and the Cavs. So, in all honesty, what hopes to we have in beating the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs? Maybe, pray that Kobe gets injured? As most media outlets have shown, they have the Lakers either sweeping the Mavs or at the most LA winning the series in five. Call me crazy if you like but I truly believe the Mavericks have a great chance of beating the Lakers. My personal prediction, Mavs win it in six games. 

Let's first put the winning ingredients together. If the Mavs play with real passion, Dirk Nowitzki plays at even a higher level than usual, and the men play good defense. I could see this going in the Mavs favor. We have a great coach in Rick Carlisle. Most recently, Antoine Wright has shown he can step up and play some great defense at times. At the bench we have this seasons best Sixth Man in Jason Terry, and we have guys like James Singleton, Ryan Hollins, and Brandon Bass who can pump up this team. By the way lets no forget about JJ Barea and Gerald Green, also remember the guy who guys by the name of Jerry Stackhouse.

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Devean George Blocks Kidd Trade posted by kellex

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/devean-george-blocks-kidd-trade

The trade was done and both teams were waiting for league approval when Devean George of the Mavericks decided to exercise his right to veto the trade!

ESPN.COM:

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the teams verbally agreed to the deal earlier Wednesday and were preparing to submit the trade for league approval when George informed the Mavericks that he wouldn't consent to being included in the deal, which is his right based on a rare provision in his one-year contract.

This is a stunning reaction to a trade that would have marked the third blockbuster of the season. How do his teammates feel now? How does Mark Cuban feel? What about Jason Kidd? A career role player like George just ruined his chance to finally be traded to a contender.

Jason Kidd must be absolutely shocked at this point. Can they talk George into changing his mind? Does this make the deal completely done or can they go back and revisit? Unbelievable!

Devean George interview:


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Another Big Western Conference Trade posted by The Sports Point

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-big-western-conference-trade.html

For the third time this month, a Western Conference title contender in the NBA has made a move to strengthen its team. This time, the Dallas Mavericks have agreed in principle to acquire point guard Jason Kidd, returning him to the team that he began his career.

Both the Mavericks and Jason Kidd publicly said they didn't feel the deal would happen, but the Mavericks and Nets reached an agreement Wednesday. New Jersey will get Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagna Diop, Maurice Ager, a first round pick in 2008 and 2010, and $3 million in return. The Nets are also giving up veteran Malik Allen along with Kidd.

This trade looks good for the Mavs in the short term, and the Nets have invested well in their future. It's not surprising that Dallas Owner Mark Cuban could not remain complacent while multiple teams around him made changes to their rosters. Hopefully all of these teams from the West don't forget about the two favorites to win it all: Eastern Conference powers Detroit and Boston.

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Nowitzki's ex-fiancee in Missouri jail (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Mavericks, Blazers swap 1st-round picks (AP)

The Portland Trail Blazers dipped into their collection of picks in the NBA draft, acquiring No. 22 from the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday in exchange for No. 24 and two second-rounders. The Trail Blazers still have the 33rd, 38th and 55 picks in Thursday's draft. Dallas, which didn't have a second-rounder this year, got the fourth of Portland's four second-rounders -- No. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Mavs' Cuban ready to move on draft day (AP)

Mark Cuban is ready. Ready to make some blockbuster trades on draft day. Ready to take on some hefty contracts if it means adding a quality player -- or two or three -- to the Dallas Mavericks. And, perhaps most of all, he's ready ... to do nothing more than take the best player available with the 22nd pick in Thursday's NBA draft. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports