With a little more than half of the NBA season in the books, we are already seeing talks about where Carmelo Anthony will play next season. As we already know, he will most likely test the free agent market. Now, it just a matter of where will he go. It’s been speculated that Anthony might actually stay in New York with the Knicks, or he might go to Los Angeles and team up with Kobe and the Lakers, or even find his way to Chicago and team up with Derrick Rose and the Bulls.

We could see Anthony stating the time is right for his departure from the Big Apple. He will not win an NBA Championship in a New York Knicks uniform, given the team’s supporting cast, injuries, and current state.

If he were to leave New York, the best fit for Carmelo would be going to the Chicago Bulls. Some might say that it would be the Lakers because he and Kobe would be a highly dynamic offensive duo. But in Chicago it would be him and Rose and a lot of young and upcoming future all-stars like Jimmy Butler, and you still would have all-star center Joakim Noah.

Until the offseason, this is all just talk. And with how weak the Eastern Conference is this season, the Knicks are still well alive in the NBA playoffs hunt.

The NBA zeason is halfway done and it is only heating up. It is going to be a great end to this season.

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Going into the second full month of the NBA season, the Sacramento Kings made the biggest acquisition in the NBA so far this season bringing in former All-Star forward Rudy Gay to the Kings from the Raptors in a 7- player deal. The full trade included the Toronto Raptors sending Rudy Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento in exchange for John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, and Chuck Hayes. This is the second deal the Kings have made so far this season to improve their team. Early on in the season the Kings acquired former number two pick in the 2011 NBA draft Derrick Williams from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Luc Mbah a Moute.

Despite starting the season 6-13, with the acquisition of Gay it sure hope that it would make an immediate impact on the team. So far this season, Gay is averaging 19 points and 7 rebounds per game. The downside is that he is only shooting 19 percent from the field. Gay is still a high power scorer and it really seems that having Gay with take some of the load off star player DeMarcus Cousin is averaging around 23 points and 10 rebound per game. In addition to that, they have up and coming point guard Isaiah Thomas averaging 18 points and 5 assist, with other young talent such as Ben McLemore, Marcus Thornton, and Jason Thompson who are really starting to improve their game.

With this deal, we should be looking forward to new look Kings team who will be making a little noise for that final playoff spot out in the Western Conference. The season is still long, and anything can happen between December to April. As of right now we see a lot of bright spots in the Kings and bringing in Gay will probably help they jump the curve and no longer be seen as the team that always at the bottom of the league. However, not all deal work out as planned. We just have to tune in and see what this NBA season has in stored for us this year.

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Things are not looking so bright right now for the New York Knicks. Yes, I know that this is just the start of the 2013-2014 NBA season, but the Knicks are off to an slow start and now it’s just getting ugly. The New York Knicks have a record of 1-3, with their only win coming in the season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. Ever since then, they are on a three game losing streak falling to the Chicago Bulls, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Charlotte Bobcats.

Just when you think, the slow start is already bad for the Knicks who had high hope of winning the NBA championship this reason; Knicks All Star center Tyson Chandler is out 4-6 weeks breaking a bone in his leg in the loss against the Charlotte Bobcats. Losing Chandler is a big blow to the Knicks, because Chandler is the second most important player on the Knicks roster of course behind NBA Star Carmelo Anthony. Not having Chandler in the lineup for about a month is going to hurt the Knick chances of being in top of the Eastern Conference. The Knicks is truly going to miss having Chandler because he is the heart of the Knicks’ defense, and without the former NBA defensive player of the year, the Knicks just lost their best defender, their interior defense, and mainly their defense as a whole.

Now the question is who is going to step up for the Knicks with Chandler going down with the injury. The Knicks are already having issue with depth of their big man because they have former All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin. Not having a strong front court will only make this hard for the Knicks, and we all know that Carmelo Anthony cannot do it all by himself. But hopefully the acquisition of Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace would be a good pick up for the Knicks. The Knicks next game is November 8, against the Charlotte Bobcats hopefully they can get revenge. On the bright side of this they have JR Smith coming back after coming of his suspension. But if the Knicks do not do well, this season would be Mike Woodson’s last season as Knicks’ head coach. More importantly, is this the last season we will see Carmelo Anthony wearing that New York Knicks uniform?

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Because of Pierce remarks, it leads to JR Smith having to come back and respond to Pierce comments. In an interview Smith

responded saying that “I just look at him as a bitter person just getting out of Boston. He doesn’t really know what New York is all about. He’s been playing in Boston his whole career. … He just knows, just know that his words have consequences and he’s going to have to pay for them.” In addition to that Smith later guarantee that the New York Knicks will win the NBA Championship this upcoming season.

With Smith saying that he is 100% positive that the Knicks are going to win the NBA Championship this season it just spark more flames in this coming season between the two teams, causing more players to enter this war of words. This caused another Nets newcomer, Jason Terry, to get in the mix. Terry responded to Smith by saying “Maybe the Rucker Park Championship. I don’t know, not the NBA championship. I don’t see how they could guarantee that, at all.” This is important because this is a big blow to the Knicks because Rucker Park championship is for street ball.

All I know I can’t wait for the NBA season, especially with this match up. Although the Knicks and Nets won’t have their first meeting of the season until December 5 you can tell that this war of words will continue through the season. Both teams made improvement in their roster so they can reach that ultimate goal of winning an NBA Championship. This NBA season should be a great one, and I cannot wait until it starts because the Eastern Conference is heating up.

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Now that the Lakers are out of the playoffs, that is one team the Heat does not have to worry about. In addition to that, Oklahoma City star point guard Russell Westbrook is now out for the rest of the playoffs, and that a big blow for Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder because Westbrook is such a big part of the team, especially on the offensive end, by the way he creates his own shots. It is going to be a difficult task for the Thunder to reach the Finals without Westbrook and it is just making the Heat job easier, because now they would mainly focus on Durant.

That’s not the only reason why the Heat would have a good shot at repeating. A big reason why the Heat might repeat is because LeBron James so far has been playing fantastic. In the post season so far LeBron has been averaging 25 points per game, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and has been shooting 63% from the field. LeBron has been playing at a whole different level and the best part is he is getting his whole team involved in the game. Beyond, LeBron fantastic play, the heat also have been getting production from key role players such as Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, and Norris Cole while getting production from other two star Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

The next opponents that the Heat will face would be the Chicago Bulls or the Brooklyn Nets. The Heats had it way against the Nets in the regular season. However they struggle going against the Bulls having the season series tied at 2. But the way Miami has been playing lately might be problematic for the Bulls since they are still without starting all-star point guard Derrick Rose who is still out with that torn ACL injury. Would it be an easy trip to the Eastern Conferences Finals for Miami?

Can the Heat keep up this level of play and repeat as NBA Champions or will someone surprising take them off the throne? They NBA playoffs are underway and upsets will happen. It is going to be a crazy ride to crown the next NBA champion.

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With 15 days of games left in the NBA season the race for the final playoffs push is getting heated up especially in the western conference. Although seeds 1-7 may be already given and may endure small changes the west 8th spot is still wide open. The Utah Jazz, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks are still in contention for the last playoff spot. The Jazz holds a ½ game lead over the Lakers and 1 and ½ over the Mavericks.

The Lakers are trying to make that last playoff push trying to avoid having an even horrible season as they are already having. Coming into the 2012-2013 season the NBA had high hope for the Lakers especially since they acquired Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic and Steve Nash from free agency. With that acquisition the Lakers was front runner for winning the western conference and possibly going to NBA finals for the ideal match up which would include the Lakers vs. the Heat but mainly Kobe vs. LeBron.

But after a rough start to the season and battling injuries, the Lakers are actually starting to play basketball the way some expected. But, can it possibly be too late? Looking at the playoff picture they are not in the playoffs if the playoffs started to today because the Jazz has that last spot. Lately the Utah Jazz has been playing great basketball winning 5 straight games. Besides worrying about the Jazz, the Lakers have the Mavericks to worry about as well because they are finally playing the game the way they supposed to be playing winning 6 out of their last 10. However, the Lakers are the more veteran team, more playoff experience and have Kobe who is showing no signs of slowing down. So don’t count the Lakers out just yet, especially because Kobe promised that they would be in the playoffs and we just have to take one of the greatest players by his own words.

If the Lakers do not get in the playoffs this season would be a disaster, not only that it can mean a possibility of lose Dwight Howard to free agency comes off season. These last two weeks would be a long ride for the Lakers, Jazz, and Mavericks. Which team would come out on top? Does the Jazz have what it takes to finish the season strong? Will Dirk and the Mavericks top off a great post season run? Will Kobe and Lakers not make the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-2005 seasons? Two weeks left in the season and only time will tell!

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What is so wrong with dunking in pre-game warm-ups? Normally that would not be a problem because almost everyone does it. Just because three times MVP LeBron James does it the most, it causes a huge controversy. All James wants to do is have fun but everyone just wants to take all the fun away from him.

The reason why this is such a huge deal is because of the fact that LeBron James would not participate in the NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. In a past couple of years, everybody has been complaining on how bad the Slam Dunk Contest has not been any good. When you see LeBron in warm-ups before the game he puts on a show. The dunks that he does are just incredible. Therefore, it is causing fans and analyst to criticize James because of the fact that James’ warm-ups dunks are Slam Dunk Contest material.

Why is that such a big problem? Yes, LeBron is a great dunker but he is not the only person who always avoid during the Slam Dunk Contest. A lot of the best NBA dunkers do not participate in the Slam dunk contest. Just to name a few: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, DeAndre Jordan, Dwayne Wade, and John Wall. These are just a few of the best dunkers in the NBA. Yet, all of them dunks in pre-game warm-ups but not of them get criticize for not doing the Slam Dunk Contest. Yes, James does do amazing dunks in the pre-game warm-ups, and so does everyone else. In addition to that, they even do outstanding dunks during the game, so why no criticism for them for not being a part of the NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.

On bright side of this, LeBron did say he will not stop his pre-game dunk routine, and I am happy with that. No matter where you at and you see someone dunks you are going to get pump. So just let the man dunk, he having fun and putting on a show for Miami Heat fans. His dunks bring a smile on someone face, is there something wrong with that?

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I’m predicting a good season for the Kansas City Chiefs. You can thank the acquisition of quarterback Alex Smith for that. With the acquisition of quarterback Alex Smith it is just a sign that Chiefs’ Star Wide Receiver, Dwayne Bowe is going to have a great 2013 season. We just might see the Dwayne Bowe from the 2010 season where he had 72 receptions, 1,162 receiving yards, and 15 receiving touchdowns.

Although most are saying that this might not be such a great year for Alex Smith because the way Matt Cassel played as the quarterback of the Kansas Chiefs, and how his production decline throughout the years. When you look at the Smith is already looking like he should do better than Cassel. When Cassel had a great season the next year he had a mediocre season. Then after that he had a phenomena season in his second year in Kansas City where he threw 27 touchdowns, only 7 interceptions, threw for 3,116 passing yard, and had a quarterback rating of a 93. After that Cassel number just been decreasing/ Compare to Alex Smith, although he haven’t had a breakout year like Cassel did in 2010 he has been increasing his number every year since 2009.

Because of Matt Cassel struggles, that caused Chiefs’ star wide receiver stats to go down. The same year when Cassel had that breakout season was the same season when Dwayne Bowe had a breakout season as well. With Smith improving every season, that only means that Dwayne Bowe would have another breakout season this year. With Smith under center Bowe is most likely going to be a pro bowl wide out for the second time in his five year career. This maybe will be one of the best receiver and quarterback duo in the NFL next season. It is clear that Bowe is the best receiver on the Chiefs team, since his first 3 years in the league he was second in receiving on because that’s when they had Tony Gonzalez. Ever since 2009, Bowe has been leading his team in every single receiving category. As long as Alex Smith has a great year, Dwayne Bowe would have a fantastic season.

Now we have to wait until training camp starts, to find out whether or not these two stars can work together here in Kansas City. With this move it’s bring high hope to the Kansas City organization. Hopefully they want let Kansas City down again next season.

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In the last ten games the Bulls have gone 3-7 and it has taken a toll on their playoff position. The Bulls have lost two straight and are just 2-3 since the break.

Overall, the month of February has been a disaster for Chicago. The Bulls are just 4-8 In the month of February with one game left. This included two 20-point thrashings, one by the Heat and the other by the Thunder.

The Bulls were at the top of the Eastern Conference but have since dropped down to the sixth seed. If the playoffs started today, they would face the New York Knicks, and that is not the matchup the Chicago Bulls want to see in the first round without their starting point guard, Derrick Rose.

Now the concern is when will their former MVP and all-star be back in action. It is obvious that the Bulls are not the same team they are without him on the court and it is clearly showing right now as the season winds down. Teams are beginning to make their playoff push and the Bulls are hanging on by a thread.

There is some reason for optimism, however. Rose is looking significantly better now than he did a couple of weeks ago. Rose is now traveling with the team, practicing in the 5-on-5 drills, and he is finally dunking again – something you may have seen during pre-game warm-ups before the Bulls and Thunder game.

This can only be a positive sign for the Bulls, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Will we see Derrick Rose play this season or is he just going to sit out until next year and come back stronger? Will the Bulls get back on track and stay in the playoffs?

It is going to be an interesting and long ride throughout the rest of the season to see which team is going to come out strong for this final playoff push.

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Now two weeks before the All-Star break the Celtics stand at a record of 24-23 which is 8th in the eastern conference, and nobody expected them to be in this position at the start of the season. Things only got worse for the Celtics because starting point guard All-Star Rajon Rondo will miss the rest of the season because of a torn ACL. In addition to that, they will be missing rookie forward Jared Sullinger for the rest of the season due to a back injury. Now everybody is counting the Celtics out saying they won’t even make it into the playoffs because of those two key injuries.

After Rondo was hurt, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers stated “”You can write the obituary, but I’m not.” He is clearly saying the Celtics are still going to make a playoff run and not going to give up easily. Celtics great Paul Pierce also stated that “A lot of people have pretty much written us off, which is fine, but the only people that haven’t written us off is us.” The Celtics are really showing that they are not giving up without a fight. Ever since the injuries the Boston Celtics have gone 4-0 and are looking strong with the strong play of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Now can the Celtics keep it up and make the playoffs and prove all the critics wrong? I certainly think they could. This is going to be an interesting finish to the NBA season.

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