Just to recap, here's the moves made in the past 24 hours or so:
The Bulls signed Ben Wallace (and acquired P.J. Brown and one year of his contract for Tyson Chandler's enormously long/overpriced deal)
The Hornets went insane and signed Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, and traded for Tyson Chandler.
The Lakers signed Vlad Radmanovic.
The Clippers signed Tim Thomas.
The Hawks signed Speedy Claxton.
Like I said...a whole new NBA. And the free agent signing period hasn't even officially began.
With the 2006 NBA Draft less than a week away, what better time to take a walk down Draft days past, with the help of NBA Photos; first up, Grand-ma-ma himself, Larry Johnson:
We pretty much think Larry nailed what he was going for -- Odessa, Texas meets Miami Vice. Our two observations about Larry's attire are --
1.) If our country's economic prosperity were accurately represented by the amount of bling on the arms and necks (and ears) of NBA draft picks, then America would have come a really long way since 1991. A tiny wristwatch with a leather band? They won't even let you into the NBA with that anymore.
2.) The lowtop Nikes with dark socks -- a very nice touch. Obviously Larry knew this was a special occasion, and he showed respect by goin' with the dress socks. Good call LJ.
What's really unfortunate about the picture is that they couldn't find anything besides the emerald green backdrop for him to pose with. And whatever happened to a jersey or a team hat?
John Reid of THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE writes, "Hornets coach Byron Scott acknowledged that some fans in New Orleans might not have taken kindly to his team's wearing 'Oklahoma City' across their jerseys in Friday's regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz at the Ford Center. ... To thank fans... Link
With the Cleveland Cavaliers locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James could find himself on the bench a little more often. "He's been playing a lot of heavy minutes so I'm going to back off his minutes a little bit," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown... Link
Here is my mock draft, usually when a player does well in the tournament, their stock goes up in the draft. Teams are gonna pass on Sheldon Williams, due to poor tournament performance. He’ll be the next Elton Brand and will help that Hornets go to the playoffs... Link
Alright, since everyone in the league was off last night, it's time to reset the playoff race. I'm going to break down the remaining win probabilities for each of the four teams in the hunt - the Lakers, Kings, Hornets and Jazz. (My previous posts on win probability are... Link
Dunleavy’s shot clearly too late. If the fourth quarter were 12 minutes and two tenths of a second long, the Warriors would be 31-39 and still in the playoff hunt. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and Golden State dropped a big game at home against the Hornets. After a... Link
The Phoenix Suns were without Steve Nash and his backup Leandro Barbosa for Thursday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs. Nash, who had not missed a game all season, sprained his right ankle in the third quarter of Monday night's contest against New Orleans in Oklahoma City. The... Link
"The Lakers finally lost their tenuous hold on eighth place in the Western Conference, eagerly, elatedly, and without regret," writes Mike Bresnahan of the LOS ANGELES TIMES. "The playoff landscape doesn't look quite as tricky from their new perch, virtually tied for seventh in the West with New Orleans/Oklahoma... Link
Wade scores 40; Lakers spoil Hornets' homecoming Dwyane Wade returned from a two-game absence to score 40 points and lead the host Miami Heat to its 10th straight win, a 118-112 victory over the Washington Wizards last night.... Link
The NBA returned to New Orleans Wednesday night, as the Hornets and Lakers played in front of a sold-out crowd. And while Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to a 113-107 win, the 17,744 fans in attendance were more than happy to have their team back home.... Link
According to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, as reported on ESPN.COM, "Phoenix point guard Steve Nash, the reigning NBA MVP and a strong contender to win the award for a second year in a row, said Monday night he's 'day to day' after leaving the Suns' game against (the Hornets) with... Link
Tickets for the Hornets will be exempt from state sales tax under a bill Gov. Brad Henry signed into law Monday as state officials work to make Oklahoma City more attractive as a permanent home for the NBA team.... Link
Unfortunately, my gaming advice was right this time, though just barely. Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak were unstoppable, Ryan Gomes dominated the boards, and the Blazers lost, again, 102-96. Nate had nine guys at his disposal, one of them being Ha, a sick Darius (in the literal sense), and... Link
According to ESPN.com the New Jersey Nets have agreed to send Marc Jackson and forward Linton Johnson to the New Orleans Hornets in for Bostjan Nachbar. The Nets' motive for the deal was to get under the tax level to sign Tim Thomas if and when the Bulls buy... Link
In THE OKLAHOMAN, Andrew Gilman writes that "Hornets coach Byron Scott spent a good, long while in general manager Jeff Bower's office before Wednesday's game against Utah. Guard J.R. Smith spent a good, long while talking. Both Scott and Smith said they expect a trade to happen."... Link
Well I’m glad the NBA (David Stern) came to its senses and invited Gilbert Arenas to play in Houston this weekend after all. Too bad Gil had to go and finish the first half of the season with a 4-for-22 effort and 6 turnovers at Dallas. Ouch.So we have... Link
Darnell Mayberry of THE OKLAHOMAN writes, "The Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers have again agreed to extend the deadline to complete their trade for Steven Hunter until 4 p.m. Oklahoma Time today."... Link
The NBA officially announced that Andersen has been dismissed and disqualified from the league for violating the terms of the Anti-Drug Program, which were agreed to by the league and the Players Association.... Link
"Backup point guard Speedy Claxton is having a fabulous January, averaging five more points and two more assists than he did last month," writes John Reid of The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. "Since Jan. 2, Claxton has averaged 16.6 points and 5.6 assists in five games. Claxton played his best... Link
Alright, I'm just going to say I'm damn glad there are no more games scheduled for Oklahoma this season. What a pitiful game. I mean, I thought the second quarter was absolutely horrendous, but the third quarter takes the cake. The Hornets missed something like their first 8 shots... Link
NORMAN, Okla. -- Peja Stojakovic missed Sacramento's game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night because of a lingering back problem. Stojakovic, the Kings' second-leading scorer with 16.6 points per game, left Wednesday's game against Houston in the third quarter after re-aggravating a protruding disc in his back.... Link
