2010-12 Team USA Men's Basketball Roster

2010-12 Team USA (Men's Basketball) Roster:

PG - Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) [p]
PG - Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) [p]
PG - Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics) [p]
PG - Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) [p]
PG - Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) [p]
PG - Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) [r]
PG - Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) [r]

SG - Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) [p]
SG - Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers) [p]
SG - O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) [p]
SG - Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings) [p] [i]
SG - Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) [r] [s]
SG - Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)

SF - Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) [p]
SF - Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers) [p]
SF - Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) [p]
SF - Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats) [p]
SF - LeBron James (Miami Heat)
SF - Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
SF - Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons)

PF - David Lee (Golden State Warriors) [p] [i]
PF - Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) [p]
PF - Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) [p]
PF - Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder) [p]
PF - Chris Bosh (Miami Heat)
PF - Carlos Boozer (Chicago Bulls)
PF - LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers)

C - Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets) [p]
C - Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks) [p]
C - JaVale McGee (Washington Wizards) [p]
C - Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
C - Amare Stoudemire (New York Knicks) [c]
C - Al Jefferson (Utah Jazz)
C - Kendrick Perkins (Boston Celtics) [i] [s]
C - Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns) [r]

Intern Assistant Coach:
PG - Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks)

Legend:
[p] = currently participating in the July 19-24 training camp in Las Vegas
[r] = recovering from injury
[i] = currently injured
[s] = waiting for / recovering from offseason surgery
[c] = not participating due to contract not covered by insurance

source:usabasketball.com

2010-11 NBA Season Preview - Chicago Bulls

The new look 2010-11 Chicago Bulls

Starter / Bench:
PG - Derrick Rose / C.J. Watson
SG - Ronnie Brewer / Kyle Korver
SF - Luol Deng / James Johnson
PF - Carlos Boozer / Taj Gibson
C - Joakim Noah / Kurt Thomas

source:espn.com

2009-10 regular season: 41-41 (8th in East)
2009-10 playoffs: Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

Players out: Kirk Hinrich, Hakim Warrick and Brad Miller
Players in: Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, Kurt Thomas

(They have added inside scoring, outside shooting, and a defensive-minded head coach to this young playoff team ...)

My 2010-11 season prediction: 50-32 (tied for 4th in East)

2010 NBA Summer League - Las Vegas

2010 NBA Summer League (Las Vegas) All-Star Selections:

PG - John Wall (Washington Wizards)
23.5 PPG  /  4.0 RPG  /  7.8 APG  /  2.5 SPG  /  0.5 BPG

DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)
14.5 PPG  /   9.8 RPG  /  1.8 APG  /  1.5 SPG  /  1.2 BPG

Sam Young (Memphis Grizzlies)
19.4 PPG  /  3.8 RPG  /  1.4 APG  /  1.2 SPG  /  0.8 BPG

JaVale McGee (Washington Wizards)
19.5 PPG  /  9.3 RPG  /  0.0 APG  /  0.5 SPG  /  0.8 BPG

Reggie Williams (Golden State Warriors)
22.6 PPG  /  4.4 RPG  /   2.8 APG  /  0.4 SPG  /  0.2 BPG

DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors)
21.0 PPG  /  4.5 RPG  /  1.5 APG  /  0.5 SPG  /  0.3 BPG

J.J. Hickson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
19.3 PPG  /  6.3 RPG  /  1.0 APG  /  0.5 SPG  /  0.5 BPG

Ty Lawson (Denver Nuggets)
16.4 PPG  /   2.4 RPG  /  5.0 APG  /  1.6 SPG  /  0.0 BPG

Dominique Jones (Dallas Mavericks)
16.6 PPG  /  3.8 RPG  /  3.4 APG  /  0.8 SPG  /  0.6 BPG

Derrick Caracter (Los Angeles Lakers)
15.4 PPG  /  8.6 RPG  /  1.8 APG  /  0.4 SPG  /  1.4 BPG

Larry Sanders (Milwaukee Bucks)
14.0 PPG  /   8.4 RPG  /  0.8 APG  /  1.4 SPG  /  3.2 BPG

Gani Lawal (Phoenix Suns)
15.4 PPG  /  7.4 RPG  /  0.2 APG  /   0.6 SPG  /   1.0 BPG

Jermaine Taylor (Houston Rockets)
18.4 PPG  /  4.8 RPG  /   2.0 APG  /  0.4 SPG  /  0.0 BPG

Alonzo Gee (San Antonio Spurs)
14.2 PPG  /  5.2 RPG  /  1.8 APG  /  2.4 SPG  /   0.0 BPG

Some Honorable Mentions:

Gary Neal (San Antonio Spurs)
16.0 PPG  /  2.6 RPG  /  1.6 APG  /  1.4 SPG  /  0.0 BPG
The San Antonio Spurs have just signed him to a 3-year guaranteed contract today ...

John Lucas III (Chicago Bulls)
18.3 PPG  /  1.0 RPG  /  2.7 APG  /  2.0 SPG  /  0.0 BPG
His impressive play in the summer league has drawn interest from a number of teams ...

Jeremy Lin (Dallas Mavericks) (Golden State Warriors)
9.8 PPG  /  3.2 RPG  /  1.8 APG  /  1.2 SPG  /  0.2 BPG
How can I not mention Jeremy Lin here? The Golden State Warriors signed the crowd favorite to a 2-year partially guaranteed contract yesterday ...

source:contracostatimes.com

Mega Trio In Miami - NBA's CBA vs NHL's

In the past 30 hours, every single sports show has been talking about the NHL's decision to reject Ilya Kovalchuk's ridculously lengthy but perfectly legal 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils. The contract was constructed in a way that it would pay Kovalchuk $98.5 million in the first 11 years, but only $3.5 million in the final 6 years ...

2010-11: $6 million
2011-12: $6 million
2012-13: $11.5 million
2013-14: $11.5 million
2014-15: $11.5 million
2015-16: $11.5 million
2016-17: $11.5 million
2017-18: $10.5 million
2018-19: $8.5 million
2019-20: $6.5 million
2020-21: $3.5 Million
2021-22: $750,000
2022-23: $550,000
2023-24: $550,000
2024-25: $550,000
2025-26: $550,000
2026-27: $550,000

The NHL feels that both Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils have no intention to honor the entire length of the 17-year contract as the player will be 44 years old when the contract expires, and the contract was only constructed to take advantage of the obvious loop holes in the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary cap rules ...

The NBA, on the other hand, has a much tighter CBA and an extremely complex salary cap structure that it is almost impossible to take advantage of. I have talked to NHL fans before and they really had no idea why it was such a big deal in the NBA that 4 Team USA members - LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Mike Miller - are now playing on the same team. They are so used to the NHL's loose salary cap structure and think that it was simply 4 superstars decided to join the same team ...

But you really can't blame them. I'll bet you more than 80% of the NBA fans around the world don't really understand why the Miami Heat gave up the 6 future draft picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors to get LeBron James and Chris Bosh when the Heat could have just signed both of them straight-up without doing sign-and trades ...

I have seen this question being asked over and over on the internet without someone knowledgeable enough to answer the question. Without going into NBA salary cap details, I will give the short answer to the question here - because the Heat wanted to preserve cap room to re-sign both Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony to non-minimum contracts after signing the Miami Thrice ...

2010-11 NBA Season Preview - Dallas Mavericks

The new look 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks

Starter / Bench:
PG - Jason Kidd / Jose Juan Barea
SG - Rodrigue Beaubois / Jason Terry
SF - Caron Butler / Shawn Marion
PF - Dirk Nowitzki / Ian Mahinmi
C - Brendan Haywood / Tyson Chandler

source:pegasusnews.com

2009-10 regular season: 55-27 (2nd in West)
2009-10 playoffs: Western Conference Quarterfinals

Players out: Erick Dampier, Eduardo Najera and Matt Carroll
Players in: Ian Mahinmi, Tyson Chandler, Alexis Ajinca and Dominique Jones

(They once again will have 2 high-priced centers on their roster and a different player starting at shooting guard every 2 months or so ...)

My 2010-11 season prediction: 56-26 (2nd in West)

Mega Trio In Miami - Finalize Their Rosters

The Miami Heat now have 13 players under contract after, interestingly, bringing 7 players back from last year's squad ...

PG: Mario Chalmers / Carlos Arroyo
SG: Dwyane Wade / Mike Miller
SF: LeBron James / James Jones
PF: Chris Bosh / Udonis Haslem / Juwan Howard
C: Joel Anthony / Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Dexter Pittman / Jamaal Magloire

After losing out on both Raja Bell (officially signed a 3-year, $10 million contract with the Utah Jazz today) and Matt Barnes (will likely sign a 2-year, $9 million contract with the Toronto Raptors later this week), the Heat still have 2 available roster spots to be filled. Possible candidates are:

PG - Jason Williams
SG - Kenny Hasbrouck
SF - Jon Scheyer
PF - Jarvis Varnado

While the Miami Heat are bringing back their own players, the Chicago Bulls are doing the exact opposite. Their plan this summer, after failing to land LeBron "now the prince" James, is to sign all available Utah Jazz free agents. So far it has been successful as they have signed Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer to multi-year contracts. The one they didn't get? Wesley Matthews! He signed a heavily front-loaded contract with the Portland Trailblazers last week ...

Las Vegas Odds On Teams Winning the 2010-11 NBA Championship:

1. Miami Heat - 7 to 5
2. Los Angeles Lakers - 7 to 2
3. Orlando Magic - 8 to 1
4. Boston Celtics - 10 to 1
5. Oklahoma City Thunder - 15 to 1
6. Denver Nuggets - 15 to 1