NBA Top 10 Power Rankings

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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

Power Rankings: Best and worst over past six seasons

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1 San Antonio Spurs 59 23 .720 1 10 3.17 High: Wk 18, 2007-08 (most recent of 36) | Low: Wk 7, 2002-03 (most recent of 2) | Rankings archive Surely this outcome doesn't surprise you. The Spurs wound up halting the Lakers' three-peat run and winning the championship in the first season that the committee (of one) presided over these rankings and won two more titles after that. Then they've got a string of nine consecutive 50-win seasons going and generally rank as the franchise, from top to bottom, every other team wishes it could emulate. Who else could occupy this perch? 2 Dallas Mavericks 58 24 .707 1 15 4.23 High: Wk 12, 2006-07 (most recent of 30) | Low: Wk 22, 2007-08 | Rankings archive Snicker all you want about the Mavs' playoff exploits since the 6:30 mark of the fourth quarter in Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals. None of that considerable misery can change the fact that these rankings are a regular-season enterprise, which has made it impossible not to notice that Dallas has posted an average record of 58-24 over the past six seasons … and thus impossible not to rank these tortured souls accordingly. 3 Detroit Pistons 56 26 .683 1 13 5.15 High: Wk 16, 2007-08 (most recent of 25) | Low: Wk 2, 2006-07 | Rankings archive Hard to imagine that anyone would claim that Detroit hasn't fully deserved its regular spot in our top five. Frustrated as Pistons fans might be to come away from six consecutive trips to the East finals with only one championship, there's been only one source of positive consistency emanating from the Leastern Conference since Michael Jordan's retirement … and this team is it. 4 Phoenix Suns 51 31 .622 1 27 8.59 High: Wk 4, 2007-08 (most recent of 15) | Low: Wk 16, 2003-04 (most recent of 2) | Rankings archive Yet another illustration of Steve Nash's impact in his second stint as a Sun has been playing out right here in our domain. Even though Nash has been back on Planet Orange for just four of the past six seasons -- and even though the two seasons before his return were mostly forgettable -- Phoenix has nonetheless crashed the top five comfortably.

2008-2009 NBA Expert Picks

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Report: Artest replies to Yao, seeks 'commitment' from Rockets

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Agent: Grizzlies forward Brown agrees to two-year deal with Pistons

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Brown's agent, Mark Bartlestein, told ESPN.com on Monday night that the former No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft has reached a verbal agreement on a new contract with the Detroit Pistons. The contract is believed to be a two-year deal worth $8 million, with Brown -- who spent his first four seasons as a pro in Washington after being drafted by then-Wizards president Michael Jordan -- holding a player option to return to free agency after this season. Brown earned nearly $9.1 million last season in the final year of his previous three-year deal, which the 26-year-old received in the summer of 2005 in a sign-and-trade from Washington to the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown's expiring salary was the chief chip that the Lakers used to convince the Memphis Grizzlies to send Pau Gasol to L.A. on Feb. 1 in a trade that earned the Grizzlies widespread criticism. Brown played in only 15 games with the Grizzlies after the trade, averaging just 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in under 14 minutes per game

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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Da Truth Speaks: PJ Breaks down the NBA 09 season!

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Ten things that should happen in the draft … but won't

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1. Kevin Love gets love In a perfect world he'd be gone by 8 p.m. ET. But that won't happen. In any other recent draft -- with the exception of 2003 -- Kevin Love would have been an automatic top-five selection. Blame his moms and pops for not getting busy a few years earlier, because he would have had his own sweepstakes in 2005 and 2006, when Andrea Bargnani and Andrew Bogut were the top choices. Jamie Squire/Getty Images The best for Kevin McHale to get fans to forgive him for trading KG? Draft O.J. Mayo. 2. "And with the third pick, the Minnesota Timberwolves select … O.J. Mayo The whole Miami thing (Shawn Marion not opting out, Pat Riley having questions about Michael Beasley's "character," last-minute secret workouts of point guards) messed up the most perfect fit in the draft. Mayo is perfect for the Wolves. The perfect complement to Al Jefferson, the perfect mystique and sexiness to build a PR campaign around, the perfect draft pick to make up for Rashad McCants and not have Minnesota rely on Marko Jaric's eight points per game at shooting guard. The perfect player who in a few years could make a city forget the hell Kevin McHale put them through for getting rid of KG. 3. The Bucks pick anyone but Joe Alexander The center/power forward-by-committee continues. At 6-foot-8, Alexander is the type of high-risk player the Bucks have been stockpiling since the Ray Allen era ended five years ago. Still in search of that big-time big (Yi Jianlian, Bogut, Charlie Villanueva, Dan Gadzuric), the Bucks are addicted to spending high first-round draft picks on players considered "projects." Alexander is no Kevin Pittsnogle, but he's still a project. 4. The Nuggets trade J.R. Smith and a future No. 1 pick to the Sonics for the fourth pick … And draft Russell Westbrook. How beautiful would that be? Westbrook in the backcourt with AI? The enigma that has become J.R. Smith can move elsewhere, taking the mental mistakes that have haunted him in the past two playoffs. Regardless of whether Melo is in a Nuggets uniform in November or whether George Karl is the coach in January, Westbrook -- the second coming of Baron Davis -- would fit in Denver as Tim Russert did in the "Meet the Press" chair. 5. The Spurs draft a player from America Be honest, it's time for Pop to stay home. It's time for him to draft east of Crenshaw and west of Brooklyn. The Spurs need to rethink their international approach and realize that they already have two of the three best foreign players in the world, and the chances of getting one more are anorexic. It's time to find another Bowen instead of discovering the next Ginobili. The Lakers lost to Boston in six but took the Spurs out in five, so shouldn't DeAndre Jordan or Chris Douglas-Roberts seem attractive to San Antonio? 6. The Pistons pick CDR to become Rip Hamilton's protégé Every star needs an understudy, someone who can carry on his legacy. Think of how Detroit lucked out with Rodney Stuckey "studying" under Chauncey Billups this season. As one of the best backcourts of this generation starts to age, Dumars could lay the blueprint for the next phase by drafting the player everyone knows is going to be Rip reincarnated. That's much more important right now than trying to trade Sheed. 7. J.R Giddens (New Mexico) and Mike Taylor (Iowa State) hear their names In every draft, certain players remain on the board because of persistent questions about their character and professionalism. In this year's draft these two will be affected the most. (Michael Beasley also will be affected, but for him to drop from No. 2 to No. 3 is essentially irrelevant.) Each has major talent but has not been able to shake the baggage attached to him during his college career. (Taylor was kicked out of school after his junior season and played last season in the NBA Development League; Giddens was suspended at New Mexico in 2007 for "not being a good teammate.") It's always said that the "B" in NBA stands for business, not basketball. Giddens and Taylor are about to discover how real that really is. 8. The Lakers trade Lamar Odom and the 58th pick to Sacramento for Ron Artest Someone from the Lakers needs to go, and they need Ron-Ron to beat the Celtics next season. Odom is the most attractive trade bait GM Mitch Kupchak has with which the Lakers would be willing to part. 9. A GM takes a real risk on Bill Walker He's been labeled as the new Vince Carter … which may not be a good thing. Walker, if he chooses to seriously work on his game in the next three to five years, could be the steal of this draft. He could make the Vince analogies an insult. With the right team and the right amount of patience, he could be another Gerald Wallace or Jason Richardson, but more athletic and more explosive. Scary, ain't it? 10. "The Chicago Bulls select … Michael Beasley" Derrick Rose is too good to pass up, but once GM John Paxson finds out he can't move

They didn't win the lottery with these picks:The Top 14 Worst picks in history

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The first NBA draft lottery was held in 1985. The Knicks drew the lucky card and the obvious top prize: Patrick Ewing. But the history of bad lottery picks soon began, as players such as Benoit Benjamin (third overall to the Clippers) and Jon Koncak (fifth overall to the Hawks) were drafted ahead of future All-Stars such as Chris Mullin (seventh), Detlef Schrempf (eighth), Karl Malone (13th) and Joe Dumars (18th). Here are the worst picks for the top 14 slots in the draft since 1985 (though we'll try to avoid players who suffered unexpected injuries such as Jay Williams or Dajuan Wagner): 1. Kwame Brown, 2001 (Wizards) Michael Jordan made this pick, and there's a reason NBA TV hasn't aired any specials on Jordan's career as an executive. Somehow, Brown has lasted seven seasons in the NBA even though he's never averaged better than 10.9 points per game. (And that was just one season -- his career average is 7.5 ppg.) Brown also has been involved in two of the most lopsided trades in recent years, going to the Lakers in exchange for Caron Butler and ending up in Memphis in the Pau Gasol "trade." Speaking of Gasol, he's one of the many players the Wizards could have picked instead of Brown. Dishonorable mentions: Pervis Ellison (Kings, 1989), Michael Olowokandi (Clippers, 1998), [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Ed Betz How many titles would the Pistons have if David Stern had instead greeted Dwyane Wade with the No. 2 pick? 2. Darko Milicic, 2003 (Pistons) In the past two seasons, Milicic has improved from comically horrible to just your run-of-the-mill bench player. His per-36-minute averages put him near double-double territory, but considering he was drafted immediately ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, that's just not good enough. Dishonorable mentions: Danny Ferry (Clippers, 1989), Shawn Bradley (76ers, 1993), Stromile Swift (Grizzlies, 2000) 3. Chris Washburn, 1986 (Warriors) Let's be honest. We could put a lot of people from the 1986 draft in this list (and we've got one more coming), but Washburn is the poster child for the flameouts that followed. He played just two seasons, never showing any kind of maturity or ability on the court while getting into trouble with drugs off it. Sure, there weren't many great players picked in this draft, but the Warriors would have been better off with John Salley or Dennis Rodman, who teamed for two titles in Detroit. Dishonorable mentions: Benoit Benjamin (Clippers, 1985), Dennis Hopson (Nets, 1987), Adam Morrison (Bobcats, 2006) 4. Marcus Fizer, 2000 (Bulls) The 2000 draft was nothing special (Kenyon Martin was the top pick), but Fizer was special in his disappointment. A power forward who measured surprisingly short leading up to the draft (Ring any bells, Chicago?), Fizer started just 35 games in his career and has been out of the league for two seasons. Dishonorable mentions: Donyell Marshall (Timberwolves, 1994), Antonio Daniels (Grizzlies, 1997) 5. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 2002 (Nuggets) For all the flak Darko Milicic takes as the poster boy for workout wonders, it's a wonder that people have forgotten about Skita. He demonstrated amazing athletic ability in his pre-draft workouts, then showed nothing on the court. Amazingly, this scene repeated itself in the summer of 2005, when a great showing in the NBA Summer League got Skita a contract with the Timberwolves. He lasted five games. Dishonorable mention: Jon Koncak (Hawks, 1985) [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Luis Alvarez Suggested rule for NBA GMs: Don't draft a guy nicknamed "Tractor." 6. Robert Traylor, 1998 (Mavericks) Don't blame Dallas for this one. They picked Traylor only to trade him to Milwaukee for some tall guy from Germany with funny hair. Oh, what's that? That guy turned into future MVP Dirk Nowitzki. And Traylor turned into a guy who ate too much, averaged 4.8 ppg in seven seasons and later pleaded guilty to preparing a false tax return after hiding assets for a convicted drug dealer. Dishonorable mentions: Joe Kleine (Kings, 1985), William Bedford (Suns, 1986), Bryant Reeves (Grizzlies, 1995) 7. Roy Tarpley, 1986 (Mavericks) Tarpley's stats (career averages of 12.6 points and 10.0 rebounds) are actually decent. He even won the NBA's sixth man award in 1987-88. But he managed to get into so much trouble with drugs that he was twice banned for life (1991 and 1994). Dishonorable mention: Chris Mihm (Cavaliers, 2000), Eddie Griffin (Nets, 2001) 8. Bo Kimble, 1990 (Clippers) Kimble is best remembered for shooting left-handed free throws in honor of his late teammate and friend Hank Gathers during the 1990 NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, though Kimble was a good college player, he wasn't Gathers. He was already 24 years old as a rookie when he shot just 38 percent and averaged 6.9 points. Injuries shortened his career after that, and his most notable contribution to the Clippers was his involvement in the trade

Carmelo's agent assured forward will not be traded

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Anthony's representatives, Nuggets' brass to address trade rumors

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LAKERS NEED TO START PULLING SOMETHING OUT OF THEIR A$$E$ TO COME BACK FROM THIS DEFICIT.

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KOBE VS MIKE

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HONESTLY, THERE IS NO CONTEST BETWEEN THE TWO. KOBE CANT HOLD MIKE'S JOCK!!!!!!! I'M SO TIRED OF HEARING PEOPLE SAY THEY ARE ON THE SAME LEVEL AND QUITE HONESTLY, IT ISNT EVEN CLOSE. JORDAN WAS BY FAR THE BETTER DEFENDER, SCORER, SHOOTER, ETC. NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT JORDAN WAS THE MOST COLD BLOODED, RIP YOUR HEART AND THROAT OUT COMPETITIOR ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR THAT THE LEAGUE HAS EVER OR WILL EVER SEE. JORDAN DOMINATED AGAINST SOME OF THE BEST TEAM DEFENSES OF ALL TIME SUCH AS THE LATE 80TYS EARLY 90TYS PISTONS, EARLY 90TYS KNICKS, LATE 90TYS PACERS. I LOVE KOBE AND YES HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD TODAY BUT HE IS NOT ON MIKE'S LEVEL. PERIOD, POINTBLANK!!!!

Another NBA Blockbuster Trade Brewing That Includes 6 NBA BIG Names: Melo, Camby, Kenyon Martin, and Chucky Atkins to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, TayShaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and the 29th pick in this years draft. What do you think of this Trade

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The Nuggets' and Pistons' plans for this season didn't work out. The Nuggets can't get out of the first round in the West. The Pistons didn't get back to the Finals in the East. If they do this deal, there will be new, improved plans in Denver and Detroit. And I just love it when a plan comes together.