Hey, MONKEYXY & FRESHEDGE... I'm an idiot and added you guys to the draft and not as free agents. I'll make sure you get drafted to the region you desire though. Sorry, I can be absent minded at times! Lol.
Orlando, Florida - This past weekend we saw the 2012 edition of the NBA All Star game and the festivities to go with. *The events kicked off with the annual Celebrity All-Star game coached by Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard. *In the end, it was Dwight's team lead by comedian Kevin Hart who took home the Celebrity All Star game victory. *The following night we had a display of the future stars of the NBA with the Rookie Sophomore game. *This year, Charles Barkley lead the Rookies while Shaq coached the Sophomores. *It was a close game, high scoring as well and needed Overtime to be settled. *When the dust cleared, it was Jeremy Lin nailing a trifecta at the buzzer to give the Sophomore's a 119 to 118 victory! *
Saturday was "skills" night and I saw that loosely. *In a battle of the Kevin's, Kevin Love edged out Kevin Durant in the Three Point Shoot-Out. *After that, Chris Paul won the skills competition beating fellow competitors: Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Deron Williams. *In the night cap, Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz won the somewhat exciting Slam Dunk Competition after dunking two basketballs consecutively that we're lobbed to him from a seated teammate in Gordon Hayward.
The main event of the weekend did not let anyone down. *Dwight Howard made a nice introduction, starting for the East possibly for the last time as an Orlando Magic All-Star. *The game was fast paced, had little defense until late and saw many highlight plays. *Whereas the Rookie-Sophomore game went into overtime it was not needed Sunday for a winner to be decided. *With a two point margin, the West came out on top with a 109 to 107 victory. *Kobe Bryant led all players with 25 points, Dwight Howard only scored 12 points but ripped down a game high 13 rebounds and Chris Paul dished out 11 assists which were the most by any player this year. *
With All Star Weekend now over, there's just four days until the NBA trade deadline passes and boy I can guarantee it will be a doozy!
The first move has been made to kick off the trade season. With the deadline just days away and the Memphis Grizzlies excelling without OJ Mayo coming off the bench and with their success in the playoffs Last season sans OJ they've decided it was time to part ways. They hooked up with the Los Angeles Clippers who were looking for a scoring guard to replace the injured Chauncey Billups that could also play Small Forward. They got that in the former USC Trojan. Going along with Mayo across the country is 2011 draft pick Josh Selby in return the team receives Randy Foye, Reggie Evans and a 2012 1st round draft pick. "I'm looking forward to helping the once woeful but now title contending Clippers reach their goals," Mayo said excitedly as he left for the Memphis airport.
We all know that Washington and Andray Blatche have had their share of issues this season, so much so he finds himself heading to Boston with Jermaine O'Neal and second round picks in the next two drafts coming back to the Wiz. Boston's hopes are that with the elder statesmen of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, they'll be able to get Blatche to mature and grow up quickly. Doc Rivers when reached for comment said, "Andray is going to be a good addition for this team. He's a young and talented big man. *Maybe him and [Rajon] Rondo will become tight giving us a solid one-two punch for after our old guys retire."