NBA Top 10 Power Rankings

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Garnett Suspended 1 game for punching Bougut

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Celtics F Kevin Garnett was suspended based on actions in Saturday's victory over the Bucks

Lakers Roll to 7-0 are they the best team in the NBA?

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Does AI trade put Pistons past Celtics???

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Power Rankings: Lakers rise, Celtics fall after first week

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The Answer to the Palace?? Allen Iverson sent back to the Eastern Conference where do the Nuggets and Pistons stand after this trade?

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The shakeup promised by Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars after last season's Eastern Conference finals has materialized just two games into the new season. The Pistons have reached an agreement in principle with the Denver Nuggets to acquire guard Allen Iverson in exchange for Detroit mainstays Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, club sources told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Power Rankings: Celtics begin on top, back and ready for more

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Top 10 Sophmores

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1. Kevin Durant, Thunder I'm not expecting Durant's scoring numbers to jump nearly as much as his overall efficiency and productivity. Yes, he could average close to 25 points per game -- which would be impressive -- but doing so while rebounding better, defending with more purpose and getting more buckets inside the paint will establish Durant as a true future star. Building on this past April's play would be a good start. 2. Al Horford, Hawks As a basketball player, Horford looks like he's 22 going on 30. Showing polish and poise, he shocked nobody when he averaged a double-double against the Celtics in the playoffs. And he still can improve a great deal as a scorer. Late touches in the shot clock could be in store for him this season, and an improved jumper means he can space the floor better for Atlanta's slashers. 3. Luis Scola, Rockets No team showed more heart and grit than Houston did in its six-game series against Utah. And Scola was a big factor in that effort. His numbers never tell the whole story; he truly is one of the game's best "team guys" -- his spirit infects those around him. However, his playing time could be affected if Houston goes small and plays Ron Artest inside. 4. Al Thornton, Clippers With the Clippers' roster changes and injuries, Thornton might give Durant a run for the sophomore scoring title. He progressed nicely last season and has the three tools I love to see in players -- shooting skill, terrific athleticism and a huge motor that he uses every night. However, he does need to drive more and take fewer jump shots. 5. Rodney Stuckey, Pistons This might be too high on the list for a non-starter, but Stuckey performed so well in the playoffs and summer league that he should see major minutes on a team that needs young legs. He can help the Pistons on both sides of the court but needs to add consistency to his perimeter jumper to reach the next level of his development. 6.Thaddeus Young, 76ers Young's athleticism and feel for the game are so much fun to watch; he's truly a natural out on the court. Moving to the small-forward spot full time will force him to be more focused on what made him so good last season -- mixing his inside game alongside his perimeter one. He took 54 percent of his shots near the rim and should aim for a 50-50 balance again this season. 7. Mike Conley, Grizzlies Going into the offseason, Conley knew he had to improve his jumper to be a more balanced offensive player. Indications are that he indeed has gotten better as a shooter, although there is little doubt he will have to prove it over and over again as the season begins. Conley's overall effectiveness should be greatly enhanced this season as a full-time starter. He teams with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay to form an incredibly active perimeter trio. 8. Carl Landry, Rockets Landry likely would be higher on this list were it not for the glut of talent around him in the Rockets' frontcourt. He's a do-it-all type of scorer, and despite being labeled as "undersized" for his position, he attempted to dunk on 26 percent of his field goal attempts. (Dwight Howard was at 30 percent.) Landry also personifies -- alongside fellow soph Scola -- a unique brand of incredible toughness within 6 feet of the rim on both sides of the ball. 9. Jeff Green, Thunder The Thunder might see improvement only if Green makes a big jump in production. He settled for far too many outside shots last season with too few makes (similar to Durant). But he finished the season strong and occasionally dominated Orlando's summer league in July. The talent is there. He'd be better served by focusing on defense and rebounding, though, where he has the ability and agility to be excellent. 1 0.Julian Wright, Hornets As I stated at the end of last season, no rookie improved more during the season than Wright. He's not someone who is going to put up huge numbers, maybe ever, but his presence is felt nonetheless. And if Wright somehow can provide more production as a scorer/rebounder and on defense, he could be the catalyst (along with James Posey) the Hornets need to push through into the Finals

Miracle Teams to make it to the Big Game Part 1

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Telfair suspended for first three games following guilty plea

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Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Sebastian Telfair has been suspended three games for pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon. Sebastian Telfair Telfair Tel fairwas sentenced last month to three years' probation. He was arrested in April 2007 when police found him carrying a loaded gun in his car while he was a member of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics traded him to Minnesota in the deal for Kevin Garnett, and Telfair had a solid and incident-free first season in Minnesota. He signed a three-year, $7.5 million deal this summer to remain with the Timberwolves. He is the top backup to starter Randy Foye. Telfair will miss home games against Sacramento and Dallas and a road game at Oklahoma City. His first game back will be Nov. 5 against San Antonio. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

Bush, Celtics celebrate team's 17th NBA title at White House

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WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday welcomed the Boston Celtics to the White House to celeberate the team's 17th NBA championship, declaring "Celtic pride is back." Bush saluted Celtics' captain Paul Pierce, who led the team to a title and was MVP of the finals despite suffering a knee injury early in the series. "Playing hurt in a championship game is the ultimate sign of leadership," Bush said during an East Room ceremony. The team's players, owners and coaches presented the president with a green Celtics jersey emblazoned with "43," a nod to Bush's standing as the 43rd president, and an autographed basketball. The team also said it would send a $100,000 check to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Ike. Celtics fans, a few wearing Red Sox caps and many, like Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy, snapping photos with their cameras, packed the East Room. The Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in June to end a 22-year championship drought. The title capped a dramatic turnaround for the Celtics, who had the second-worst record in the NBA during the 2006-07 season. "There was a little bit of a drought, but sure enough that drought ended with the NBA championship," said Bush. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Lawrence Jackson The Boston Celtics presented President Bush with a team jersey and an autographed basketball during an East Room ceremony at the White House on Friday. Bush said that like other sports fans across the country, he was delighted that this year's bruising final series rekindled the old Celtics-Lakers rivalry. "For baby boomers like me, that is the -- that was a reminder of a great basketball rivalry," Bush said. "So, like, Boston fans were screaming, 'Beat L.A.!' at the top of their lungs, and that's exactly what this team did in six hard-fought games." It was the Celtics' first title without Red Auerbach, the famed team patriarch who died in October 2006 after being part of the other 16 championships, nine as coach. The fortunes of the team turned around when it obtained guard Ray Allen from Seattle and forward Kevin Garnett from Minnesota in separate trades before last season. Hosting Boston's successful pro sports teams at White House ceremonies is nothing new for Bush. In February, the 2007 World Series champion Red Sox were honored at the White House for the second time in four years. The New England Patriots have three Super Bowl wins, beginning in 2002. The Patriots were last honored at the White House in 2005. Bush joked that a friend had suggested he could host a "Boston Three Party" for the city's championship teams. After the ceremony, Pierce said meeting the president was more nerve-wracking than the NBA finals. "I got real nervous back there, my hands were sweaty," he said. "I was more nervous right here today." Bush, who is winding down his presidency, wished the team well defending its title this season. But he added that a new president will be hosting next year's White House event for the NBA champs. "Should you win it, you can find me in Texas," he said with a laugh.

Summer Forecast: Who will win the NBA title?

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Is it L.A.'s turn again? Yes, it is, according to about half of our panel of 25 ESPN writers, editors and contributors. Just as they have been throughout most of NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers are a force again -- and now the preseason favorites to win NBA title No. 15. Of course, that means 13 members of our panel predicted the Lakers will not win the 2008-09 NBA championship, and the top challenger in our voting will surprise some: the up-and-coming New Orleans Hornets, not the Boston Celtics. And, don't forget, the Lakers were also favored going into the Finals in June, and we all saw how the Celtics fed on the skepticism about their chances. But the difficulty of repeating, especially with an older lineup, is reflected in the voting results below: Only 16 percent of our panel sees the C's going back-to-back. To register your opinion, click here. For the full results, including the surging expectations for the Hornets and the dark-horse candidacies of the Rockets and Cavaliers, see below:

2008-2009 NBA Expert Picks

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Schedule highlights: Season opens with champs versus King James

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The NBA's 2008-09 schedule is out ... and you know what that means. An equally anticipated document has to go with it: ESPN.com's first rundown of must-see games for the coming season to immediately input into your electronic calendar of choice. Oct. 28: Opening Night An earlier-than-usual launch to the season starts with a tasty TNT doubleheader, leading off with the new champs from Boston hosting LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers on ring night and capped by Greg Oden's long-awaited NBA debut in Blazers at Lakers. Oct. 29: Opening Night (continued) Elton Brand makes his 76ers debut in the same game that Jermaine O'Neal makes his official Raptors debut: Toronto at Philadelphia. Furtherm ore:Michael Beasley makes his pro debut at Madison Square Garden (along with Dwyane Wade's official return from injury) in Heat at Knicks, Ron Artest makes his Rockets debut in Memphis at Houston, and Oklahoma City makes its debut as a full-time NBA city with a visit from the Milwaukee Bucks. And ... ESPN dishes its own doubleheader doozy: Phoenix at San Antonio to renew year after year of recent playoff pleasantries, followed by Lakers at Clippers in a fitting bow for the Clips' new Angeleno point guard: Baron Davis. Oct. 30: Houston at Dallas (TNT) The Mavericks are one of two teams (along with Charlotte) that must wait until Thursday for their opening game, giving Mavs fans more time to fret that the Rockets' acquisition of Ron Artest reduces Dallas to the third-best team in Texas. Oct. 31: San Antonio at Portland (ESPN) The best of the Halloween fare, at least in NBA terms, is unquestionably Oden matching up with Tim Duncan. Nov. 1: Washington at Detroit (NBA TV) The league is still sorting out its full 96-game NBA TV schedule, but Wizards-Pistons has been confirmed as the opener of NBA TV's maiden doubleheader, which concludes with a Portland-at-Phoenix nightcap. [+] EnlargeJesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images If Yao can stay healthy, this could be a preview of the 2009 Finals. Nov. 4: Boston at Houston You don't have to wait long for a look at the NBA's reigning threesome of doom (Garnett, Pierce and Allen) throwing down against the new trio on the block (McGrady, Yao and Artest). P.S. How much playing time will the twins get in Phoenix at New Jersey ... also known as Robin Lopez at Brook Lopez? Nov. 5: Charlotte at New York Larry Brown returns to Madison Square Garden with his (latest) new team. We'll spare you the dates on Larry's returns to Denver, New Jersey, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Indiana, Philly and Detroit. Nov. 6: Houston at Portland (TNT) Yao Ming and Oden go toe-to-toe for the first time. Health permitting, of course. Nov. 9: Houston at L.A. Lakers The denizens of Lakerland who so badly wanted to see Artest in purple and gold will get their first dose of torture early. In L.A.'s first Sunday home game of the season, actually. Nov. 10: Portland at Orlando Oden will have lined up against Shaquille O'Neal (Nov. 1), Yao and Dwight Howard in a span of 10 days by the time he gets through this one. Health permitting, of course. Nov. 12: Atlanta at Boston Are the Hawks and Celtics rivals now because of what happened in the first round of the playoffs? Better question: Shouldn't Olympiacos be required to swing through Atlanta as part of the usual October spree of exhibition games against top European clubs? Nov. 13: Dallas at Chicago (TNT) Mavs owner Mark Cuban could know by this point whether he has won the race to buy the Cubs, which would make this somewhat of a home game for him and certainly spice up his relationship with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, since Reinsdorf owns the White Sox. Nov. 14: Detroit at L.A. Lakers (ESPN) What sort of reception awaits Kwame Brown at Staples Center? Just a hunch: If history is any guide, Kwame needn't expect (or want) any mention of a cake. On the undercard: Kareem Rush's Philadelphia 76ers visit brother Brandon Rush's Indiana Pacers. Nov. 18: Cleveland at New Jersey LeBron and Jay-Z! In the same building! Exactly one week before LeBron goes to MSG to hang with Spike Lee and the Knicks! Cavs fans will want to avoid online consumption of the New York tabloids for a good few days before Thanksgiving. Nov. 20: L.A. Lakers at Phoenix (TNT) Kobe, tell me how many times do you think you and Shaq will be asked about recent rapping exploits? Detroit at Boston, incidentally, isn't exactly a bland appetizer for TNT. Nov. 21: Boston at Minnesota A hamstring strain prevented KG from playing in his first visit to 'Sota as an ex-Wolf last February. Hard to see him missing two in row, though. In Philadelphia, meanwhile, Baron and Elton will be in the same building for the first time since they did not end up on the same team as so many of us expected. And over in Oklahoma City, New Orleans is in town to play the OKC TBAs for the first time, which makes

More than a pocketful for Posey in this lucrative deal

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You knew this was coming -- the inevitable overreaction to a role player on a championship team in free agency. Every year there's one guy whom teams can't stop fawning over, and this year it was James Posey. Sure, he was an integral part of championship teams for both Miami and Boston, but as with a lot of players who win rings it can be hard for us to look at him rationally. That' swhy role players on title winners tend to get unusually generous contracts, and Posey appears to be the latest example. The same guy who inked a two-year deal (the second was a player option) for just a portion of the midlevel exception last summer to join the Celtics suddenly finds himself enriched with a four-year, $25 million deal by the Hornets. If that seems excessive for a 31-year-old who hasn't averaged more than 8.1 points per game in any of the past four seasons, it's because it is. It's true that Posey brings three things to the table: defense, rebounding and 3-point shooting. He's not an all-defense guy, but he's an above-average defender who can play multiple positions, and that's certainly helpful. So are the 3s -- in his past three campaigns he's hit 40.3 percent, 37.5 percent and 38.0 percent from downtown. And he's an underrated defensive rebounder who had the third-best defensive rebound rate among small forwards last season. But those strengths need to be seen in the context of the bigger picture. The guy has all but abandoned shooting anything besides a 3 -- two-thirds of his shots were triples, the fourth-highest rate in the league and the highest among nonguards -- so despite the 3s, he's a fairly inert offensive player. And, as I mentioned, he's a 31-year-old who will be handsomely paid 'til age 35. Nobody wanted to pay him this kind of dough when he was 30, and his production wasn't any different last year -- just the result in June. And since this is so hard for people to remember, I'll say it again: The Hornets aren't paying for what Posey gave the Celtics last year, or what he gave the Heat in 2006, but for what he can potentially give the Hornets from 2008 to 2012. And that production is likely to diminish substantially from its already modest levels. Comb through the books and try to find perimeter players who played well until 35 -- it's tough. Now try to find some who played well 'til that age after scoring single figures in their 20s. Good luck. For better insight into Posey's future, let's take a look at what happened to some similar players -- those who rated as statistically similar based on their performance at the same age, played primarily on the wing and were in his league as a defender. The top names on that list are Bryon Russell, Dan Majerle, Jaren Jackson, Rick Fox and Raja Bell. • Bell is only a year older and declined noticeably last season. • Majerle declined sharply starting at 30 and had his last useful season at 32. • Jackson had a quality season at 32 but played 25 games the rest of his career. • Russell lost it at 31 and never got it back, though he managed to hang around for four more years. • Fox played reasonably well until 33 and then lost it, hard, and was out of the league by 35. Swim deeper in the similarity pool and you'll find similar stories from Walter McCarty, Shandon Anderson, Lucious Harris, Doug Christie, Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie. Yes, you'll find a couple exceptions if you look hard enough, most notably Mario Elie and Bruce Bowen. But the big-picture takeaway is that most players decline sharply between ages 31 and 35, and if Posey wasn't that good at 31 he's likely to be unplayable by the time he's 35. That's why nobody else wanted to give him four guaranteed years. I have two other problems with this signing from the Hornets' perspective. First, it doesn't address their main weaknesses. New Orleans badly needs additional frontcourt depth and it seemed only reasonable that it would use the midlevel exception to address that need. If not a frontcourt player, one presumed the Hornets would at least use the midlevel to target a shooting guard, where Morris Peterson was up and down this past season. Perhaps they think Posey can play the 2 full time, but that seems a major stretch for a guy who has played almost exclusively the 3 and 4 with Miami and Boston. Second, Posey creates a playing-time problem because he's a natural 3 who can swing to the 4 in small-ball lineups -- just like their 2007 first-round pick, Julian Wright. Presumably Wright will now be buried on the bench -- even though he was immensely productive in his limited minutes last season and figures to be better in his second season. As for Boston, losing Posey certainly was a blow, but it was correct not to match the Hornets' overreaction.

Hornets add a Big Player 2 Time NBA Champ James Posey .. 4 year $25 mil

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Report: Lakers approach Kings about Artest

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The Lakers' toughness was repeatedly called into question during their NBA Finals loss to the Celtics. According to one report, they may think Ron Artest is the answer to that problem. The Sacramento Bee reports that the Los Angeles Lakers recently called the Kings regarding the availability of the All-Star forward, citing an NBA source. According to the paper, Lamar Odom was believed to be offered in return. As of Tuesday evening, the Kings had not yet responded to the offer. Of course, Kings president Geoff Petrie declined to confirm whether the offer even existed. "Right now, (Artest is) just a terrific player to have on your roster," Petrie said. "I don't really have any speculation one way or another (about his future). We'll see what other things — not specific to Ron — but if there's some other way we can improve the team or change the team, we'll take a look at it." The Kings would need to include another player to make the salaries match up in a Odom-for-Artest deal. It is expected that Sacramento would insist on Kenny Thomas — and the $18 million remaining on his existing contract — being included in any potential deal.The Kings' expected payroll is currently very close to the NBA's luxury tax limit ($71.15 million) and the team has stated that they do not plan to sign any further free agents.

Brand new Sixers are instant East challengers

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Are the Philadelphia 76ers, as presently constituted, good enough to win the East in the 2008-09 season? Doubtful. But are the Sixers good enough to win a playoff series or two and scare the bejeezus out of Detroit and Boston? You bet. And if they add a shooter and get another year of growth from all their young studs, will they be in position to win the conference in 2010? Absolutely. It's amazing to think this is the same team that dealt Allen Iverson less than two years ago because their prospects had become so grim, and the same squad that fired general manager Billy King last winter in the wake of several awful contracts. The Sixers' turnaround may not seem fast compared to Boston's worst-to-first U-turn, but has been amazingly swift by anyone else's standards. Even without Brand, Philly had rebounded impressively enough from a 5-13 start to take the Pistons to six tough games in the first round of the playoffs this spring. And Philly did this with two gaping, open sores on their roster: power forward and shooting guard. Brand, obviously, fills the power forward slot quite nicely and gives the Sixers the half-court, low-post threat they so obviously needed. Philadelphia's primary option there last season was Reggie Evans, a warrior and a gamer whose low skill level is reflected in his stats: a pedestrian 11.05 player efficiency rating, just 9.0 points per 40 minutes and 43.8 percent shooting. The Sixers also used Thaddeus Young, a teenaged rookie who is going to be unbelievably good but was undersized for the 4 spot at 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, and another, much less impressive rookie in Jason Smith. Now they can replace Evans and Smith with Brand, move Young back to his natural small forward spot, and plug Evans into the backup big man role that he was meant to play. Plus, moving Young to small forward means moving Andre Iguodala to shooting guard, which takes care of the other problem in the Sixers' starting lineup. Willie Green moves to the bench and soaks up the minutes vacated by the trade of Rodney Carney, Louis Williams stays in his sixth-man Microwave role behind Andre Miller at the point, and everybody lives happily ever after. Here's how the math works. Let's be conservative and say Brand isn't quite the player he was before the Achilles injury, and puts up a PER of "only" about 20. (His career PER is 22.7, and not counting his 2007-08 lost season, his lowest mark in L.A. was 21.7.) That's still better than anybody on the Sixers had last season, and nearly doubles the PER of Evans and Smith. My basic rule of thumb is every additional point of PER over 2,000 minutes of play is worth an additional win, meaning replacing the Smith/Evans combo with Brand should be worth nearly 10 wins. If so, that takes the Sixers from 42.5 wins a season ago (their expected wins based on their point differential) to 52 in 2008-09. And 52 wins in the East makes you a pretty strong contender. That, mind you, is without considering any improvement from the rest of the roster. But one has to think the Sixers would have been better in the coming season even without adding Brand. Consider that Young boasted a 16.58 PER as a 19-year-old rookie last season even while playing half his minutes out of position, or that Williams was at 16.71 when he should have been a junior in college, or that Smith can still get better and first-round pick Marreese Speights should provide added frontcourt beef. Conversely, the only key player one could reliably expect to perform worse than last season is Miller, a 32-year-old point guard. Even here, the Sixers are somewhat insured -- he's in his walk year, and Williams is waiting in the wings. If there's a reason the Celtics shouldn't be exactly quaking in their boots quite yet, it's because Philly still has one glaring weakness: outside shooting. Philly was last in 3-point percentage last season and at some point the Sixers need to get a shooter to make defenses pay for double-teaming Brand and collapsing against the drives of Iguodala, Miller and Young. Unfortunately, the Sixers had to trade an ace shooter, Kyle Korver, in order to generate the cap space to bring in Brand. It's a deal they'd do again in a heartbeat, obviously, but it's also somewhat ironic. Fortunately, they're now in position to nab prospective veteran free agents who are looking to join a contender -- a status that was unthinkable nine months ago -- and should be able to pick up a shooter on the cheap at some point between now and the playoffs. Philly also has to do some housekeeping by retaining Iguodala -- a restricted free agent who could become the target of a big-money raid by the Clippers, especially if they're hell-bent on revenge -- and Williams, who is also restricted. But that shouldn't be a major obstacle given their solid cap position and ability to match any offer. Even with poor shooting, the Sixers should ascend into the

With new acquisitions such as Beasley, Brand and J O'Neal what will the playoff picture look like in the east?

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Breaking down the key questions surrounding Team USA

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the defending world champion, with a deep roster of NBA players or soon-to-be NBA players, including Paul and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro and Jorge Garbajosa. Point guard sensation Ricky Rubio, 17, is also expected to compete for Spain. Russia, which upset Spain in the final match of Eurobasket '07, is led by Utah's Andrei Kirilenko and American point guard J.R. Holden (of CSKA Moscow), and Lithuania is always a solid contender led by former NBA guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and 2-guard Ramunas Siskauskas, who filled in admirably at the point last summer when Jasikevicius was injured during Eurobasket. Greece should qualify, too, and should not be taken lightly despite significant changes to its roster. The Americans looked past the Greeks two years ago at the World Championship in Japan, and Greece pulled off the upset of that tournament by defeating the United States in the semifinals. Q: China doesn't make that group of contenders? A: No. As strong as China is up front, its weak spot continues to be its guards. And until the Chinese guards can master the act of breaking the press, they can't crack the top half-dozen teams in the world. Q: How big of a favorite is Team USA? A: Most international sports books are listing Team USA as the 1-3 favorite, followed by Spain at 7-2 and Argentina at 8-1, Russia at 15-1 and Lithuania at 20-1. Looking for the ultimate long shot? Iran's odds of winning the gold are 2,500-1. Q: And you, Sheridan, who you picking? A: Too soon to say. I expect Team USA to cruise through the first round, but the quarters, semifinals and gold-medal match (should the Americans make it) will bring an entirely different level of competition. I want to see how they perform in their friendlies against the big squads from Russian and Lithuania before committing to a pick. My pick will also be impacted by whether they're able to find a way to get Chandler onto the active roster. So you can expect to see my pick, and read my explanations for it, a day or two before the tournament starts.