I'd assume I'm the only in here from Jamaica but I'll pass
http:// [h3][/h3]
[h3]Dumars looking to deal?[/h3]
10:03AM ET
[h5]Detroit Pistons[/h5]
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Joe Dumars started breaking up the Pistons last year because he didn't feel they could compete for a championship. The team is struggling this season and Dumars is willing to make more trades if it helps long-term.
"We will not be averse to being active before the trading deadline," Dumars told The Associated Press Thursday. "But we're definitely not going to be active just to be active. At this stage, it has to make sense for us going forward. We're not looking for a short-term fix."
"We are not a finished product. "We have some holes to fill and we will go about doing that."
Players most often mentioned that Dumars would be willing to trade include Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Kwame Brown.
http:// [h3]C.D.R. won't be like T.O.[/h3]
9:48AM ET
[h5]Chris Douglas-Roberts | Nets[/h5]
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3422Chris Douglas-Roberts was having a fairly productive season for the lowly http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=njnNew Jersey Nets under Lawrence Frank, but that has not been the case since Kiki Vandeweghe took over as the head coach.
The philosophy now is to center the offense around http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3448Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian.
"It's a different offense. It's a different scheme. It's a different system," Douglas-Roberts told The Star-Ledger. "So things are a lot different. It's as simple as that. Things are a lot different now."
As much as he's frustrated with the losing and the way the offense is run and the decrease in minutes, Douglas-Roberts says he won't be a troublemaker.
"We emphasize a system, and that's what happens," he said, when asked about the team's nightly pattern. "It's that simple. I don't know. I don't know about that. But at the end of the day, I'm doing my job. If my job is 'Feed the post,' I'm feeding the post. I never want to be the guy who's the bad apple. A guy called me Terrell Owens the other day on Twitter, man. How? So I don't ever want to be that."
http:// [h3]Arenas won't be welcomed back?[/h3]
9:22AM ET
[h5]Gilbert Arenas | Wizards[/h5]
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Gilbert Arenas is expected to plead guilty today to a single felony count of carrying a pistol without a license in exchange for avoiding jail time.
Arenas is currently suspended by the league for his behavior after the incident. The final straw happened when Arenas pretended his hands were guns during the announcement of the starting lineups. A source close to the point guard says Arenas told NBA investigators that he did that because he doesn't feel the Wizards were supporting him.
"If your own franchise, the people you considered family, weren't there for you when you needed them most, would you want to play for them and be around them anymore?" the source told The Washington Post. Arenas "was wrong for bringing guns into the locker room, and it's going to mean pleading guilty to a felony. It's serious business. But the way this came out and how Ernie Grunfeld and the organization handled the facts makes you wonder if he will ever play for them again."
Another source tells the newspaper that peace between the team and the player would be difficult if Arenas can't be traded and his contract can't be voided.
"Until Gilbert realizes none of this would have happened if he hadn't brought guns in the locker room and accepts responsibility for his actions, he won't be welcomed back anywhere," said the source.
http:// [h3]Karl closer to signing new deal?[/h3]
8:54AM ET
[h5]George Karl | Nuggets[/h5]
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Contract negotiations between head coach George Karl and the Nuggets continued on Thursday and the two sides might be getting closer to an agreement.
"It's a complicated discussion and process because of the potential lockout (after 2010-11)", Bret Adams, Karl's agent, told The Denver Post. "It's a different economic environment. All of that has added a complexity to contract negotiations that simply hasn't been there before. But both parties are professionally and diligently working to keeping George Karl in Denver."
"We really want to try to move towards a resolution," Adams said, "because we don't these contract discussions to be a distraction."
http:// [h3]May happy, despite not playing?[/h3]
7:52AM ET
[h5]Sean May | Kings[/h5]
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Sean May signed with the Kings because he thought he could be part of the playing rotation. May is hardly playing, but says he is very happy in Sacramento. He also says he knows he could be traded.
"I was telling coach Paul Westphal, 'I'm not even playing, and this is the happiest that I've been since I've been in the NBA,' " May told The Sacramento Bee. "I enjoy coming to practice every day. I enjoy my teammates. My life is great. The only thing I would change is if I was playing 15 to 20 minutes a game. It seems simple, but at the same time it's hard."
"I talked with my agent (recently) about different scenarios," May said. "And the fact of the matter is you don't know what's going to happen. Look at Portland -- that happened overnight, bodies going down. You never know what could happen. I like Sacramento. I love the organization. ... It's hard to sit here and sit, as a player and a competitor. But I can't worry whether I want to be traded. I would like to see it work out here."
http:// [h3]NBA, Kings back major land swap[/h3]
7:41AM ET
[h5]Sacramento Kings[/h5]
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The NBA is supporting a land-swap proposal that would lead to the building of a new arena for the Sacramento Kings. The NBA and the Maloof family back the concept because it has private investors willing to put up money.
"We wouldn't be here today if the Maloofs didn't like it," NBA representative John Moag told The Sacramento Bee on Thursday.
The Maloofs issued a short statement thanking the NBA and the mayor. "We're committed to help any way we can."
http:// [h3]DeRozan claiming a victory already?[/h3]
7:30AM ET
[h5]DeMar DeRozan | Raptors[/h5]
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3978DeMar DeRozan's goal since the NBA draft is to compete in the dunk contest during All-Star weekend.
He will participate in a dunk-off against http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3431Eric Gordon at halftime of the Rookie-Sophomore game on that Friday night and the winner will be part of the main dunk contest on Saturday. DeRozan is confident he's going to win both of them.
"I don't care if http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=1035Michael Jordan is in it," DeRozan tells the Toronto Sun. "Ever since I was in the eighth or ninth grade, every dunk contest I did, I never lose. In the ninth grade, I was in one with Michael Beasley and http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3993Gerald Henderson and won. I always feel confident. I like pulling things off."
http:// [h3]Bosh ready for media onslaught?[/h3]
7:24AM ET
[h5]Chris Bosh | Raptors[/h5]
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The Toronto Raptors play the Knicks in New York tonight and Chris Bosh, one of the top free agents this summer, knows the media is going to be all over him wanting to know what he's going to do.
"Is anybody ready for the New York media?" Bosh asked the Toronto Sun after practice yesterday. "There are a lot of newspapers, a lot of TV stations. There's a lot of everything in New York. I'm just going to New York to play a basketball game."
According to the newspaper, the Raptors media department has assigned two officials for tonight's game.
http:// [h3]Finley returning soon?[/h3]
6:09AM ET
[h5]Michael Finley | Spurs[/h5]
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From today's San Antonio Express-News:
"The Spurs have reassigned swingman Malik Hairston to Austin of the Development League. Hairston appeared in 21 games with the Spurs. The move could be a sign Michael Finley, out since Dec. 5 with a sprained left ankle, might be nearing a return."
http:// [h3]Can Lewis and Carter play together?[/h3]
6:01AM ET
[h5]Rashard Lewis | Magic[/h5]
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Rashard Lewis' numbers are down this season as a result of less shot attempts and he's getting a bit frustrated. Lewis acknowledges that the swap of Hedo Turkoglu to Vince Carter is affecting his game, but he vows to make it work.
"Vince and I were talking. We have to make this work," Lewis told the Orlando Sentinel. "It feels different (this season). But we got to make it work. Nobody's going anywhere. We're not jelling. We're playing OK, but we're not elite ... where we need to be. It feels like we're one of last-place teams."
"You look at the stat sheet, it kind of speaks for itself every night. I think in order for me to have a good game I have to make every shot, every last one of them. Because I'm not getting very many of them," said Lewis, an edge to his voice. "Guys coming off the bench are getting more shots. There's nothing I can do about it. ... I don't think were just playing with a good rhythm on the offensive end as a team."
http:// [h3]55 not a curse?[/h3]
5:19AM ET
[h5]Brandon Jennings | Bucks[/h5]
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A few weeks ago Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings said his 55-point game against Golden State had turned into a curse because it put unrealistic expectations on him. Jennings has since changed his mind.
"It's not a curse, it's a blessing actually," Jennings told the Journal Sentinel Thursday. "It's put Milwaukee on the map. We've benefited from that game. You know, ESPN games and everything."
Jennings is not expecting to score 55 points against the Warriors in Oakland tonight.
"The main thing is I feel they're going to play more aggressive," Jennings said. "They're not going to let the same thing happen again."
http:// [h3]NBA urged to drop age rule[/h3]
4:43AM ET
[h5]NBA Draft[/h5]
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The New York Times reports Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the NBA's minimum age rule sets up young athletes for failure during a speech at the NCAA convention Thursday.
"They are simply passing through your institutions on their way to something else," he told the audience. "Some of them make it, some of them wash out very, very quickly."
After his speech, Duncan called the NBA rule a "farce" and "intellectually dishonest."
Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA Players Association, said in a statement that "the vast majority of our players have consistently expressed their opposition to the age limitation and we fully intend to revisit the issue in collective bargaining on their behalf."
http:// [h3]Could Oden return this year?[/h3]
4:26AM ET
[h5]Greg Oden | Trail Blazers[/h5]
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Everyone is counting on Greg Oden to miss the rest of the season after he fractured his left patella in December.
But is there a sliver of hope he could perhaps return before the season is up? Looks like it.
Oden told the Portland Tribune the Blazers' medical team hasn't dismissed it.
"It's possible, but you know, we'll play this by ear, and we'll be very cautious," GM Kevin Pritchard told the paper. "We're not going to push. We'll let it happen naturally and follow what the doctor orders."
It still seems unlikely at this point, but if Oden were able to return late in the season, he could be a nice option off the bench in limited minutes if the Blazers make the playoffs.
and in 3s made (5), so perhaps he's close to breaking out as a shooter. His current 12.00 PER is also a career high.
