It is going to be the most exciting free agent year of all time next year and you can add the super powered guard from Miami to the list. Dwyane Wade will be joining LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudemire, among others, as 2010 free agents. This just keeps getting better. (Note, appears my Pistons won’t have any free agent money or at least the kind to land these guys.)

Now don’t get me wrong, the rules are rigged to keep a player in his home team town. In this case Dwyane can make 30 million more over 6 years if he stays with the Heat.

But will he stay with the Heat? They have done nothing to improve their roster and Jerry West is 64 years old. Dwyane Wade stated Jerry staying as GM was a factor. Really?

Dwyane Wade to the Bulls?

Now the hot rumors have Wade taking his extreme hoop skills over to the windy city to play for the Bulls.

Wade grew up a huge Bulls fan, idolized Michael Jordan and left Converse this summer to sign with Nike’s Jordan brand. Wade’s charity foundation, his family and his agent are all based in Chicago. Wade even acknowledged Wednesday he probably fueled speculation of a potential homecoming when he recently closed on a $1.4 million townhouse in the Windy City.

“Me buying a place in Chicago, that’s supposed to mean more than what it is,” Wade said. “I just sort of laugh at it, all the speculation.”
source

Wow, this would be an awesome backcourt of Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade. Maybe one of the fastest backcourts in the National Basketball Association. Oh man, this would not be good for my Pistons.

Photo source Newscom

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Hey, the Heat can forget about Amare Stoudemire.

Miami finally took that option Friday, taking the Heat out of the chase for Marion’s ex-Phoenix Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire.

In a deal first reported by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher, the Heat agreed to trade Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Raptors for O’Neal and swingman Jamario Moon.

source

All Shawn Marion did was lay down a dunk to beat the Bulls and then get shipped out of town.

Is this deal a big deal?
well, no, maybe, yes, depends.

O’Neal gives Miami a center. That makes Pat Riley happy, but O’Neal’s contract of 23 million can come off the books next year when Dwyane Wade has to be signed.

Marion gives the Raptors some scoring, but many think that Bosh will be heading out of town.
Photo source Newscom

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Today we bring you guest blogger Marquis Chapman.

What’s up NBA Obsessed fans. My name is Marquis Chapman and it’s an honor to lend some of my opinions about the latest NBA news and headlines for NBA Obsessed. Writing about the NBA and its players is a hobby I picked up while in college. I hope to one day contribute articles for SLAM and DIME magazine or any other publication that represents the young NBA sports fan.

Livingston hopes to bounce back from this devastating knee injury and start fresh with the Heat

Free agent and former Los Angeles Clipper Shaun Livingston signed a two year deal with the Miami Heat on Friday. Coming off a devastating, and what most expected to be a career ending knee injury two seasons ago, Livingston is ready to compete for the Heat.

“I’m anxious to prove and show what I can do,” Livingston told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I feel like I have a lot to prove, not just from being healthy, but also performance-based. I feel like I can be a lead guard, with no disrespect to any of the guards down here.”
source

Before suffering the infamous left knee injury that tore three ligaments and dislocated his knee cap, Livingston was emerging as a reliable young player with unlimited potential for the Los Angeles Clippers. The 6-7 point guard showed flashes of brilliance and a basketball I.Q. well beyond his years for someone who was drafted out of high school in 2004 as the No. 4 overall pick.

A healthy Shaun Livingston with a lot to prove to his naysayers could be a great addition for the Miami Heat. Livingston provides the Heat with something they’ve lacked for a while, a legitimate true point guard. His length and presence on the court is going to alleviate the constant pressure for Dwayne Wade to create for himself and others around him, and he could prove to be a big help to Shawn Marion by penetrating and dishing, giving the small forward some easy buckets.

While Livingston has been cleared to practice since Spring, and has participated in 5 on 5 scrimmages; playing an actual game will truly determine if he has fully recovered from the knee injury.

However, Livingston’s potential backcourt mate Dwayne Wade remains optimistic about the newly acquired point guard stating, ”I talked to everybody,” Wade said. “For the future of Miami, that’s a good start when you talk about point guard. It’s a great move. I’m really happy; excited to see our team continue to build for the future.”
source

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Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
source

Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

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Shaun Livingston takes a bite out of crime

Shaun Livingston played for the Clippers and destroyed his knee. The Clippers eventually renounced their rights to Shaun. Now Shaun is trying to latch onto another team as a free agent.

Livingston worked out in Portland on Friday, and two league sources believed the Blazers are the favorites to sign the ex-Los Angeles Clippers guard. Still, it is unclear whether Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard has been convinced enough to add yet another guaranteed contract to his roster.

Minnesota executives Jim Stack, Fred Hoiberg and coach Randy Wittman traveled to Chicago on Thursday to watch Livingston at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics facility. The Wolves, sources said, were sold on the workout and want to sign him.

The Miami Heat are also still in strong contention for Livingston, a 6-foot-7 point guard. Livingston is planning to work out for Heat president Pat Riley early this week in Miami.

source

Shaun Livingston is young and has a lot of potential. He was drafted straight out of high school and is only 23 years old.

If Livingston gets back to full strength, then some team is getting a steal. The Heat appear to be the favorites at this time.

photo source newscom

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Adrian Dantley guarding Larry Bird

source newscom

Wow! That is all you can say about a Hall of Fame class including Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Pat Riley.

But for me there is a double Wow for Adrian Dantley.

Pat Riley had this story about Adrian Dantley and it says it best.

Dantley was playing for the Los Angeles Lakes in the late ’70s, and Riley was the traveling secretary.

It was Riley’s job to assign seating on planes, and he always sat Dantley next to the reticent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Dantley always wanted another seat, but Riley kept rejecting his request.

“He was the only guy who wasn’t scared of Kareem,” Riley said.

source

Adrian just had a knack for scoring that you can’t teach.

NBA Adrian Dantley factoid - Dantley led Notre Dame in scoring in 1974-75 (30.4 points per game) and 1975-76 (28.6 points per game), while also leading the team in rebounding those two seasons with marks of 10.2 and 10.1 rebounds per game, respectively. He was also the leading scorer on the 1976 US Olympic team that captured the gold medal in Montreal and was drafted sixth overall, by the Buffalo Braves, in the 1976 NBA draft. He became the third Buffalo player in five years to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award when he won it after the 1977 season.

Adrian played briefly for my Detroit Pistons (Ok, Bill Davidson is the owner, not me, and he is also going into the Hall of Fame, not me. Go figure, could have been me.).

The Pistons were in their glory years with Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, and Joe Dumars, but Adrian was so good offensively in the half court that the Pistons would be caught just standing around as Adrian stared his man down and then took off for the hoop with some amazing move that resulted in a basket or foul. The Pistons wanted to run more so Adrian was sent packing and an aging Mark Aguirre was brought in.

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Shaq vies for another ring

The story will be written from here on out. The Shaq trade has implications for both conferences. The fallout can be seen everywhere. Can it be coincidence that the yesterday’s trade news for Pau Gasol to Kobe’s Lakers lost to the Hawks? You may have to read that twice. Shaq brings his presence and salary cap to Phoenix and new GM Steve Kerr. If Shaq is a bust then Kerr will again be a brilliant TV announcer. Kerr had a valid concern. The center-less Suns would never get out of the West.

The Suns have the best record in the West (34-14) but have not played up to their own expectations. Their interior defense is among the NBA’s worst. Kerr apparently felt that without a large presence inside, Phoenix could not combat the big men, such as Andrew Bynum and Tim Duncan, in the playoffs. source

If Shaq wants another ring, then Steve Nash can finish his career with a smile on his face.

Miami Heat

Meanwhile in Miami, the Heat can instantly rebuild. The Matrix is a free agent, but he definitely wanted out of Phoenix.

Marion, weary of being third fiddle to Nash and Stoudemire, asked to be traded before the season began. He didn’t get his wish and, although he refused to talk publicly about it, remained unhappy with his role. source

Miami will have bundles of money and Riley will feature Shawn Marion with Dwyane Wade.

“This whole thing right now, from a standpoint of how I look at it, we have Dwyane and Shawn and it reminds me a little of the beginning of Jordan and Pippen. The numbers are the same for Marion – he doesn’t need the ball, he does so many things from that standpoint that he’ll mesh very well with Dwyane. source

Miami will also have a couple of other contracts expiring, the cap relief from losing Shaq’s contract, and possibly the number one pick in the draft. Can you say instant rebuild? This trade looks like a winner all around, but then the end of the story has not yet been told! NBA Basketball Fan Question What do you make of the Shaq trade? As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome. More blogs about basketball.

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By Guest Blogger, Kori Ellis

If you hadn’t watched an NBA game since June of 2006 and you watched the Heat game on Friday night, you would’ve thought nothing had changed. The Heat, who won the 2005-06 NBA championship, had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal dominating like they did on their championship run.

Wade had 31 points, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks in 41 minutes of action. Shaquille O’Neal had a season-high 26 points to go along with a season-high 14 rebounds. O’Neal also had three blocks, two steals and two assists as Miami rolled to a 98-91 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Last season, the Heat battled injuries and had chemistry issues. Ultimately, Miami got swept by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat lost all of their preseason game this year and then their first five regular season games. However, Wade returned from injury and O’Neal began to start playing better, which has produced a Heat squad that has won two out of their last three games.

Do the Heat, who stand at 3-9 on the season, have a chance to regain their championship glory this season? It’s a long shot but it’s not impossible. The most important thing that must happen is that Wade and O’Neal must remain healthy. Without those two players healthy and playing well, the Heat aren’t a very good team.

Another thing the Heat need to do is figure out a rotation that best maximizes the talent of the team’s role players. Miami has talented players such as the newly-acquired Ricky Davis, Udonis Haslem, Jason Williams, Alonzo Mourning and the rejuvenated Penny Hardaway. A couple of those players need to step up for the Heat and produce on a nightly basis.

It’s a difficult task for the Heat but with two of the best players in the league and a coach in Pat Riley who knows what it takes to win championships, don’t count Miami out just yet.

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