July 2nd

So it's official. No matter what happens in the rest of the off-season, the Pistons have put themselves in a position to compete this year, creating a 4th team that can actually compete with anyone in the East. Last year, the Magic, Cavs and Celtics were pretty much not going to be beaten by anyone. This sets up the Pistons with a whole bunch of guys that go out and fight every night, and a whole bunch of offense. Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon is one of the best back-courts in the league. I can't wait to see how this team fairs this seaso with their new products.

Trevor Ariza leaning towards leaving the Lakers? The boy needs to grow up. If he left he would only make about 1-2 million more than on the Lakers, and in L.A he is playing for his home team, and a team that just won the championship. He is being childish by looking to leave. They try saying you only have one or two chances to bank in during your NBA career, but you could even even less chances of being able to stay with a championship team. Ariza, take the MLE and keep this team together.

The Celtics did not make a qualifying offer to Leon Powe. I am very surprised, he seems like the kind of guy that could have given you a lot off the bench, compared to the amount of money they would've had to pay him. I can see the Rockets pursuing him hard, and even though this is biased I could see the Nets jumping on the opportunity to pick up a good big man without using the entire MLE.

Cavs and Lakers are fighting for Ron Artest. Makes sense for the Cavs, but the Lakers should be fighting to keep their core together. Getting Ariza and Odom back should be the #1 priority in L.A, and until then they shouldn't even be discussing other additions as anything other than a back up plan.

Rafer Alston was beyond ecstatic about becoming a New Jersey Net. He proclaimed that he could not wait to put a Nets jersey on. I find it hard to believe, but I love this guy already. This is the kind of attitude that the Nets need. This man just got traded from the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic to the lottery New Jersey Nets and he is acting happy about it. If he can have a positive outlook in this situation, the entire team has no excuse but to be positive all season long.

The Knicks are reaching out to Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. Someone needs to send a memo to the Knicks, this is not the wa you rebuild a team. They keep trying to rebuild, and at the same time pick up veteran players to try giving themselves a chance to compete. If you want to rebuild the correct way, you have to strip down the team, sending away every veteran player you have and get as many draft picks as possible. The last team to rebuild correctly was the Portland Trailblazers and it worked out very well for them. The Wolves also did it and it appears that it is beginning to pay off now.

Shawn Marion is apparently underwhelmed by offers he is receiving. He hasn't done anything the past 2 seasons so he should be happy he is getting offers. Why get Marion where you could get Linas Kleiza for less than half the price?

Thats all for now, see you guys later