Ladies and Gentlemen it is finally here, the day we have all been waiting for (us lottery teams at least), the NBA Draft. After weeks of waiting and countless mock drafts we finally get to watch the real thing! In all likely hood this mock draft will end up like most of my NCAA tourney brackets, absolutely wrong and ruined by upsets, or in this case stupid GM’s. So with less than 12 hours until the start of the draft I present you my 8th and final mock draft. Enjoy:
1) LA Clippers: Blake Griffin (Highlights) – Blake Griffin has been [...]

Everyone and their grandmother are tweeting about the recent Shaq trade. Although it seems like Durant is a little baffled. I would take this time to talk about the trade impact for LeBron and the Cavs, but it seems like everyone else beat me to the chase. Seriously though how the fuck did you guys shoot those out so fast? Anyways while everyone else is blowing their load thinking about the dream matchup of Shaq and James, there are a few guys no one is talking about, Wallace and Pavlovic. So before my body forces me to fall asleep I’m [...]

It has been reported by ESPN that that the Warriors are trading talented combo guard Jamal Crawford to the Hawks in return for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton. The Warriors never intended to keep Crawford long term and it had been reported that Crawford and Nelson weren’t getting along (Baron Davis and now Crawford, come on Nellie!).
So the Warriors trade Crawford to the Hawks who, with Bibby about to be a free agent, are in need of another guard. Crawford has been a prolific scorer throughout his career, averaging 19.7 ppg last season, will add one more scorer to the [...]

Yesterday Ricky Rubio returned to Sacramento for a workout with the team. It was speculated that the Kings would attempt to trade up with either Memphis or OK City in order to get the talented Spanish guard. But after reports from Draft Express and Deadspin it seems like there are concerns with Rubio’s ability to adjust to the NBA.

“It’s looking more and more clear that the Kings are not nearly as enamored with Ricky Rubio as they once were, for a number of reasons. The official party line is that Sacramento is concerned that Rubio will struggle to assert his [...]

With only 2 days until the draft its time to get serious people. In this mock draft a few of the mainstays have finally moved from their long time posts, namely Hasheem Thabeet who is plummeting down draft boards with concerns for his offensive production after poor personal workouts with teams. Just now a huge trade between the Timberwolves and Wizards for the 5th pick in the draft that should change alot in the draft. It is the start of what should be a very trade happy draft. I will likely release one last mock draft Thursday right before the [...]

It has come to my attention via Twitter that my Rappin’ It Up post from earlier this morning was poorly received by the gents over at Raptors Republic.
The gist of the beef is that they felt the format of Rappin’ It Up was too similar to both their daily Morning Coffee links posts, and the classic links posts from the AltRaps blog.
Now, I’d first like to make it clear that I am a big fan of Raptors Republic and all of their writers.  I visit the site multiple times daily, I comment frequently, and they were the first people I e-mailed upon [...]

In the NBA there are a lot of what ifs, especially when it comes to the draft. So with the draft less than 2 days away we will discuss the questions that Raps fans think about all the time.
What if…
- Rob Babcock wasn’t hell bent on getting a center in 2004, when he selected Rafael Araujo, and instead selected Andre Iguodala who was considered to be a much better prospect.
- the Raptors selected Danny Granger, from small conference school New Mexico, instead of the athletically gifted Joey Graham who everyone is still desperately hoping will have his breakout season this [...]

The Raptors draft needs greatly depends on what Bryan Colangelo does in the next few days leading up to the draft. Colangelo could attempt to trade Chris Bosh or sign one of the 2009 free agents but until that happens I will discuss the Raptors draft needs as if the roster will be the same as it is now.
Need #1: Shooting Guard – Anthony Parker has been a solid shooting guard for the Raptors for the past few years. Parker was the beginning of Bryan Colangelo’s European movement in Toronto after he was the European MVP two years in a [...]

The USC basketball program has fallen on hard times.  Seemingly rejuvenated in recent years thanks to contributions from players like Gabe Pruitt, Taj Gibson, and, of course, O.J. Mayo, the program’s building process came to screeching halt recently amidst allegations that Coach Tim Floyd had provided financial incentives to Mayo (and his handlers) in order to secure a commitment from the highly sought after high school phenom.
Yahoo originally reported the story on May 12th (although there had been prior speculation) and since then the program, Tim Floyd, Mayo, and his handler Rodney Guillory have come under a tremendous amount of media [...]

Chris Bosh has been the face of the Raptors for over five years now, ever since Vince Carter stopped playing and forced his way out of Toronto in 2004. That is what makes Bryan Colangelo’s current situation so hard. Bosh turned down the chance to sign a contract extension earlier in the offseason which, for most Toronto fans, is a sign that he wants out and is likely leaving for a contender after the upcoming season. It may seem like, to people outside of Toronto, that Colangelo has an easy decision: trade Bosh now while his value is still high [...]