Lakers G Kobe Bryant missed Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz with a sprained left ankle. After playing through a multitude of injuries, Kobe has finally succumbed to them. If he skips the All-Star game he’ll have 10 days of rest under his belt and should be able to start the second half of the season strong, pushing for home court advantage in the playoffs. Of course, this logically means that he will suit up for the All-Start game and probably log big minutes.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

New Jersey: Devin Harris returned from a shoulder injury Wednesday and had 27 points, nine assists and a 3-pointer in another loss.

Philadelphia: Sam Dalembert tweaked his back at the end of the first half on Wednesday night and ended up sitting out the majority of the second half. Dalembert tried to go in the second half, but came out of the game quickly and never went back in. The good news is that he didn’t go to the locker room and didn’t seem to be in pain. He simply watched the second half from the bench. We’d expect that he’ll be fine after the All-Star break.

Chicago: Derrick Rose left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with a right hip injury and will not return.
X-rays were negative, but this will leave his status for the All-Star Game in doubt. He finished with just three points in two minutes, and Kirk Hinrich will take over at point guard, while John Salmons should also see the ball a lot tonight.

Atlanta: Jamal Crawford was a late scratch for Wednesday’s game due to a sore shoulder. Expect Crawford to be back at 100 percent after the All-Star break.

Oakland: Monta Ellis (knee) will not play Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers. An MRI on Tuesday revealed that Ellis’ knee injury is only a mild sprain.

Utah: Jazz PF Carlos Boozer poured in 34 points (13-of-17 FGs, 8-of-9 FTs), 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals in Tuesday’s win over the Clippers, Utah’s ninth consecutive victory. The Jazz are red-hot going into the All-Star break, and Boozer hasn’t missed a beat since returning from his calf injury. His name is no longer appearing in many trade rumors and it seems like Utah hopes to keep this chemistry going into the postseason.

Orlando: Vince Carter came back to earth on Wednesday with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Magic were up 41-17 after one quarter, so Carter and the rest of the Orlando Magic starters played limited minutes. Still, this type of game is more in line with what we’d expect from Carter going forward.

Charlotte: Peja Stojakovic hit 7-of-16 shots and four more 3-pointers on his way to 20 points, four boards, an assist, two steals and a block in Wednesday’s win over the Celtics.

1. Lakers (37-12): Clearly the best team in the NBA right now.
2. Cavaliers (38-11): One player away from winning it all.
3. Nuggets (33-15): Still rolling even with Melo hurting.
4. Spurs (27-19): Does anyone want to play this team in the playoffs?
5. Celtics (30-16): Starting to get healthy again.
6. Hawks (30-16): A legitimate top-five team now.
7. Magic (32-16): Nobody has an answer for Howard!
8. Mavericks (30-18): Hanging around the top ten, but nothing special.
9. Jazz (29-18): This team could sneak up on some people.
10. Suns (29-21): Nash is aging, but still playing great.
11. Grizzlies (26-21): One of the best young teams in the league.
12. Thunder (26-21): See above.
13. Trail Blazers (29-21): Amazingly still way over .500 with all the injuries.
14. Rockets (25-22): How good would this team be healthy?
15. Hornets (26-22): Losing Paul really hurt.
16. Raptors (26-22): Bosh is still gone in the offseason.
17. Bulls (23-22): Del Negro might be saving his job at the moment.
18. Heat (24-24): Should be playing better than their record.
19. Bobcats (24-23): Always in the bottom third.
20. Bucks (21-25): Some good young pieces.
21. Clippers (20-27): The Clippers will be the Clippers.
22. Kings (16-31): This team is experiencing grown paints.
23. Knicks (18-29): Will top free-agents go to New York?
24. Pistons (15-31): I though this team would be better than a bottom feeder.
25. Wizards (16-31): How much worse can this season get?
26. Pacers (16-32): At least Granger is good.
27. 76ers (16-31): Iverson an all-star? Come on…
28. Warriors (13-33): Curry is the lone bright spot.
29. Timberwolves (11-38): This team has been bad for a long time.
30. Nets (4-42): I truly hope the Nets don’t have the worst record in NBA history at the end of the year.

Lakers G Kobe Bryant tied his season-high with 44 points on Monday (making 16-of-28 FGs, 4-of-7 threes, and 8-of-13 FTs) and in the process he passed Jerry West as the all-time leading scorer in Lakers’ history. Kobe now has 25,208 points for his career, incredible by any standard. His competitive fire continues to elevate his game even when nagging injuries (ankle, finger, elbow) are conspiring to bring him down. Bryant has proven himself to be one of the best players in NBA history.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Washington: Antawn Jamison was bothered by a sore left knee during warmups on Monday, but played 40 minutes but shot just 2-of-17 from the field. Jamison was frustrated all night and thought he deserved more foul calls than the referees gave him.

Utah: As expected, Paul Millsap exploded for 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocks on Monday, while starting in place of injured Carlos Boozer (calf). There’s a reason money-conscious Utah Jazz lavished a four-year, $32+ million contract on Millsap this summer. Boozer could return this week but coach Jerry Sloan has already said he’ll find more minutes for Millsap in the rotation.

Dallas: Josh Howard played a season-low 11 minutes off the Mavericks bench on Monday, contributing just two points, three rebounds, two turnovers and three personal fouls.

Charlotte: Hornets rookie Marcus Thornton got hot in the second half on Monday, finishing with a team-high 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting (including 5-of-9 from downtown). He added four rebounds, four assists and one steal in 39 minutes. Chris Paul is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury that likely will require surgery, which means Thornton will earn minutes at backup point guard.

Charlotte: Charlotte Hornets rookie Darren Collison racked up 16 points, four rebounds, 14 assists, one steal and four turnovers in another start for injured Chris Paul (knee) on Monday.

Sacramento: Kings center Spencer Hawes scored 23 points on Monday, making 10-of-18 FGs with seven rebounds, three assists and one block in 40 minutes of action. As the saying goes, “What goes up must come down.” He had played sub-20 minutes in four of the past seven games, and his erratic role changes depending upon matchups.

Denver: Kenyon Martin’s uncanny streak of double-doubles continued on Monday — he posted 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks in a win over the Sacramento Kings. Kenyon looks spry and rejuvenated lately, and this is the healthiest he’s been since missing just five games in 2002-03.

Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy says he refused to make calls to affect games even if it meant he lost money and it angered the mob. In one game where he bet on San Antonio Spurs, Donaghy ejected Coach Gregg Popovich midway through the first quarter and the Spurs eventually lost the game. After Donaghy threw Popovich out of the game and the Spurs subsequently lost the game, the mob was reportedly very upset. “I just told them that I wasn’t making calls in games to influence the outcome,” Donaghy said in an interview on “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night on CBS. “And I’m not going to be able to obviously predict the winner every night, and they have to accept that’s what’s going to happen.”

Donaghy still contends that he made wagers on NBA games based on his knowledge of other officials’ biases for certain players, teams and that his officiating was not compromised. Even though Donaghy statement sounds ridicules, the FBI has publicly backed this fact. “Watching the tapes, we could see there was never anything outlandish where he called a foul or he omitted a foul because he wanted to see a certain team win” retired FBI special agent Philip Scala told the news show. “We never saw that.” Donaghy made his wagers through a high school friend and used a code to indicate his picks. “If I wanted them to bet the home team, I would discuss his brother Chuck,” he said. “If I wanted him to bet the visiting team, I would mention his brother Johnny.”

Donaghy claims he was winning 75 percent of the time, which drew the attention of the mob, which he said threatened his family to ensure he provided his insider picks to inform betting on games. “They basically told me that I needed to give them the picks and if I didn’t, that it’s a possibility that somebody would go down and visit my wife and kids in Florida,” he said. His connection with the mob caught the attention of the FBI, which overheard something on a wiretap that led them to believe an NBA referee may be involved. After he was caught, Donaghy said he cooperated with investigators because he believed it was in his and his family’s best interests.

After cooperating with authorities, Donaghy claims that his family has received death threats and is still worried about retribution from the mob. “Certainly it’s in the back of my mind, but I’m not going to live my life in fear,” he said. “I was informed by the FBI agents that they certainly had an eye on what they called these wiseguys and that if anything would come up they would inform me immediately.”

Following the airing of the interview, NBA commissioner David Stern released a statement saying any allegations about officials will be referred to Lawrence Pedowitz, a former investigator in the U.S. attorney’s office who led a review of the league’s officiating. “Mr. Pedowitz’s review revealed that the NBA’s core values of neutrality and accountability were not compromised by anyone other than Mr. Donaghy,” Stern said.

It turns out that former NBA player Jayson Williams will not be in a New Jersey courtroom on Friday. State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman delayed a hearing in Somerville in which Williams was expected to plead guilty, indefinitely. A person with direct Knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a gag order imposed by Coleman, told The Associated Press that the delay was partly because of travel problems Williams experienced getting to New Jersey from his home in South Carolina.

Several sources have reported that Williams will plead guilty to an assault charge that would carry a minimum 18-month sentence because a gun was involved. Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in 2004 but convicted of covering up the shooting at his central New Jersey mansion. The jury deadlocked on a reckless manslaughter count and as a result, Williams has been awaiting a second trial for reckless manslaughter, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Williams has been free on bail since the Feb. 14, 2002, shooting of Costas “Gus” Christofi. He paid more than $2 million in 2003 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Christofi’s family. At the 2004 trial, witnesses testified that Williams, who had been drinking, was showing off a shotgun in his bedroom when he snapped it shut and it fired, hitting Christofi in the chest and killing him. They also said Williams put the gun in the dead man’s hands and told them to lie about what happened.

Years of legal sparring followed the trial and came to a head this fall when current and former prosecutors were forced to testify about a former investigator’s use of a racial slur to describe Williams. The slur was made in a law enforcement meeting before the trial but was not divulged to defense attorneys for more than three years after, leading to defense claims that racism had tainted the investigation. But Coleman denied Williams’ lawyers request to throw the case out because of prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias.

The 41-year-old Williams played nine seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets before a leg injury forced him to retire in 2000. He attempted a short-lived comeback in the minor league Continental Basketball Association in 2005.

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Orlando Magic

2008 Record: 52-30
Division Finish: 1st – Southeast
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-1, to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy
Season: Going into second season
Record At Orlando: 52-30
Career Record: 163-103

Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Mike Wilks, G, 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg, Free Agent
Signed Jeremy Richardson, F, 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg, Atlanta Hawks
Signed Dwayne Jones, C, 1.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, Cleveland Cavaliers
Signed Anthony Johnson, G, 5.6 ppg, 3.8 apg, Sacramento Kings
Signed Mickael Pietrus G-F, 7.2, ppg, 3.7 rpg, Golden State Warriors

Offseason Transactions:
Excersiced option on guard JJ Redick through 2009-10
Resigned center Adonal Foyle

Offseason Losses:
James Augustine, F, 1.6 ppg., 1.2, rpg, Waived
Carlos Arroyo, G, 6.9 ppg., 3.5, apg, Free Agent
Kenyon Dooling, G, 8.1 ppg, 1.8, apg, Traded to the New Jersey Nets
Maurice Williams, G-F, 9.3 ppg, 3.1 ppg., Signed with Atlanta Hawks
Pat Garrity, F, 2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg., Retired
Bo Outlaw, F, 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg. , Wavied

Rookies:
Courtney Lee, G, 20.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg., Western Kentucky

The Skinny:
Outside of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, no player in the NBA may be more exciting than Orlando’s Dwight Howard. I haven’t watched the Slam Dunk competition in I don’t know how many years, but I was tuned into last year’s competition based solely on the performance of Howard. He did some amazing things with the ball and along with James could be the new face of the NBA.

Prior to Howard’s arrival in O-Town the team was struggling. They finished seventh in the Atlantic division and as a result were able to take Howard with the No. 1 pick. Within three years he had the team back in the playoffs despite a sub-.500 record which just goes to show that the East is a very weak conference.

Last season the Magic won the Southeast Division with a 52-30 record and won their first playoff series since the 1995-96 campaign as they beat Toronto, 4-1, in the first round. Their record was their best since that 95-96 campaign when they lost to the Bulls in the conference finals and was 31 wins better than the year before Howard was drafted. They were subsequently tossed from the playoffs by Detroit, 4-1.

Despite not being the prototypical NBA center that you normally think of at only 265 pounds on a 6-foot-11 frame, Howard is one of the best in the league. He averaged 20.7 points per game and 14.2 rebounds per game. He led the NBA with 69 double doubles and his 14.2 rpg. was a full rebound better than the next closest player (Marcus Camby).

As good as Howard is, he obviously can’t do it all by himself. He’s got a pair of really good supporting cast members in guard Hedo Turkoglu and forward Rashard Lewis. Turkoglu was second on the team at 19.5 ppg while grabbing 5.7 rpg. and handing out 5.0 assists per game. Lewis was just a shade back at 18.2 ppg., 4.2 rpg. and 5.4 apg. Also doing a solid job was point guard Jameer Nelson as he produced 10.9 ppg. and handed out 5.6 apg.

The problem with the Magic isn’t a lack of production at the offensive end of the court, it’s at the defensive end, particularly during the playoffs. Orlando ranked sixth in the NBA last year at 104.4 ppg. and were pretty decent at 99.0 ppg. on defense, which surprisingly ranked 11th.

However, as anyone will tell you defense is what wins you championships. If you don’t believe me, the top three defensive teams in the NBA – Detroit (90.1 ppg.), Boston (90.3 ppg.) and San Antonio (90.6 ppg.) – all made the conference finals. The Phoenix Suns have been mentioned a lot the last few years as a potential champion, but their model of all-out offense has yet to come to fruition. Twice the Suns got to the Western Finals, only to be beaten 4-1 by San Antonio and 4-2 by Dallas. Last year they dropped another 4-1 series to the Spurs.

When going up against a great defensive team like the Pistons in the playoffs, Orlando scored a mere 91.6 ppg. This shows the flaws in the idea of just trying to outscore opponents and not putting much stock in playing defense. Nine times out of 10 the better defensive team will win. Also, because Orlando had to work harder to score, they didn’t have the energy to play the necessary defense – not that they do anyways – but Detroit was only 0.5 ppg. under its regular season average of 90.7 ppg.

The playoffs is all about who can stick to their game plan and go about business as usual. Unless you’ve got a serious injury, the playoffs is not the time to have to change approach. Detroit was able to follow its game plan better than Orlando and the Pistons were the one who were able advance.

Between Howard and Lewis the Magic seem to have the defensive end pretty well covered. Where they are struggling on defense is the back court. Richard Hamilton scored more than 30 against Orlando in the final two playoff games and Chauncey Billups tossed in 28 in game two.

Prediction:
Orlando is a pretty solid team, but they need to get Howard more help. San Antonio and Detroit have five great players on the floor while the Lakers have a super star and a great player in Pau Gasol to help out Bryant. While Lewis, Turkoglu and Nelson are all pretty solid, they’re not great. The Magic must make a decision to either get one big gun, kind of like a Scotty Pippen, or build up the four other guys to be pretty good.

They lost Maurice Wiliams, who averaged 9.3 ppg., to Atlanta and replaced him with Mickael Pietrus from Golden State and his 7.2 ppg. Shooting guard JJ Reddick was one of the best college players of all time, but he has been a dud as a pro. Maybe he’ll get better or maybe he’s just going to be another in a long string of Duke players that are great in college but a flop in the league. If he could ever rise to anything close to the level that he had in Durham he could be that great No. 2 guy.

Rookie guard CourtneyLee has some potential to be a good player. He scored 20.4 ppg. at Western Kentucky, which is a pretty solid program that you’ve probably never heard much about. Lee is a good start, but he’s not going to be enough. Orlando should have another good record so they’re not going to have a draft spot where they can really get an impact player. To move up to the Detroit, Boston and Clevelands of the world they’ll have to make a trade or sign a big free agent.

There might not be a worse division in the NBA than the Southeast so unless Howard gets hurt the Magic should have no problems winning the division again this year. Orlando should win a first round series again, but that’s as far as they are going to get. Unless Stan Van Gundy can get the Magic to play better defense in crunch time they’ll be watching the conference semifinals from home.

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Cleveland Cavaliers

2008 Record: 45-37
Division Finish: 2nd – Central
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-3, to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Head Coach: Mike Brown
Season: Going into fourth season
Record At Cleveland: 245-101

Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Ronald Dupree, F, 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, from Seattle
Signed Tarence Kinsey, G, 3.6 ppg., 1.1 rpg from Memphis
Signed center Lorenzen Wright, F-C, 1.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg. from Sacramento
Traded Damon Jones to Milwaukee & Joe Smith to Oklahoma City Thunder. Got guard Maurice Williams, G, 10.2 ppg, 6.1 apg. from Milwaukee

Offseason Transactions:
Resigned guard Daniel Gibson
Resigned guard Delonte West

Offseason Losses:
Damon Jones, G, 6.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg., Free agent
Devin Brown, G, 7.5 ppg., 3.4 rpg., Signed with New Orleans Hornets
Dwayne Jones, C, 1.0 ppg., 2.0 ppg., Signed with Orlando Magic
Detemtris Nichols, F, 1.1 ppg, 0.4 rpg., Claimed off waivers by Chicago Bulls

Rookies:
JJ Hickson, F, 6-9, NC State, 14.8 ppg., 8.5 rpg.
Darnell Jackson, F, 6-8, Kansas, 11.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg.
Sasha Kaun, C, 6-11, Kansas, 7.1 ppg., 3.9 rpg.
Signed Jawad Williams, F

The Skinny:
If the Cleveland Cavaliers want to make that next step from a good team in the East to a great team in the NBA that has a chance to win a championship, they need look no farther than one of their Central Conference foes. The Chicago Bulls wrote the playbook on how to win with a superstar and Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry needs to not only read it, but take the necessary steps.

For my money, the Cavs have the best player in the league in LeBron James. He might not go out and score 50 points in a night like Kobe Bryant and may not play as much defense as Bryant, but he’s more consistent than Bryant. He can beat you in so many ways that I think he’s more versatile than Bryant. He also rebounds a lot better than Bryant and being around the basket creates scoring opportunities with second chance points.

Another reason that makes James a better player in my opinion is that he’s trying to get everyone involved and make them a better team. James’ idol was Jordan and he knows if he wants to be in the same company some day that he has to start winning championships. Jordan was a great player but his status was elevated even higher once he started winning titles. Karl Malone may be one of the 50 greatest players in the league’s history but he’ll start to fade into the background because he was never on a championship team.

James can score just about any time he wants. It’s not a matter of if he could; it’s a matter of does he want to. I’m sure a lot of team would like for him to just to try to score at will. Detroit will let James get 45 points, but hold the rest of the team to 30 and the Pistons will come out on top almost every time.

But LeBron is smarter than that. He knows he has to get them involved because there are going to be nights when he can’t score at will and has to rely on his teammates. He also knows that he needs them because he already gets all of the attention off the court and if that spreads to the floor they won’t be as likely to play as hard. Look at the Lakers for the last few years up until this year. It was the Kobe Show and he wasn’t doing anything to make friends so no one wanted to play hard or play with him and they lost. He became more of a leader, wasn’t a ball hog, shut his mouth some and they went to the Finals.

So the Cavaliers knew they needed help last year when the acquired the services of Ben Wallace in a big midseason trade. Along with Wallace, Cleveland picked up guard Delonte West from Seattle and guard Wally Szcerbiak from Chicago. In the process they got rid of a lot of dead weight as the traded sent six players packing, topped by Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Shannon Brown.

Hughes and Marshall made sense. Both are getting long in the tooth and Marshall isn’t a great team player. Brown isn’t living up to the hype at Michigan State and he’s not doing it in the pros either. The one that surprised me is Gooden. He’s only been in the league six years and was averaging 11.3 ppg. and 8.3 ppg., but you have to give up something in those trades and they felt like Gooden was ready to go.

For his size, 6-foot-9, Wallace has been one of the best rebounders in the league over the last half a decade. However, he is getting a bit old. With a dozen NBA seasons under his belt he is getting close to hanging it up. Szcerbiak is a solid role player who can help a ball team win if he can stay healthy.

I like the edition of West. He’s a younger version of Hughes who averaged 10.3 ppg., 4.5 assists per game and 3.7 rpg. They also picked up Maurice Williams in trade during the offseason. He averaged 10.2 ppg and 6.1 apg for the Milwaukee Bucks so it will be interesting to see what happens in the battle between he and Hughes.

Most of the Cavs offseason moves besides getting Williams weren’t that spectacular. They drafted a pair of pretty solid forwards in JJ Hickson from NC State and Kansas’ Darnell Jackson. With Wallace as a mentor they don’t have to jump right into the fold and be expected to contribute, though they may.

Prediction:
I still think the Cavaliers are a year or two from putting together a championships team though when you’ve got a player the caliber of James anything is possible. If this team sticks together for 2-to-3 more years and they can keep some key guys in place then they may be a contender in 2009-10 or the following year. They have to resign James, but that’s a whole other blog.

They’ve got a great center in Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who averaged 14.1 ppg and led the squad at 9.4 rpg., and he’s locked up until the 2010-11 season. As I stated before I’m also a fan of West and Williams. One of them may have to play the point and the other the off guard because that’s where they’ve got a hole.

The Cavs have a pair of holes in their off guard and power forward. I don’t know if Wallace can hold up through the whole season, though being on the floor with Ilgauskas  and James may take some of the focus away from him and let him be productive like Dennis Rodman was with the Lakers. Hickson and Jackson could be good down the road but it’s hard to tell.

Since I predicted Detroit to win the Central and the NBA title the best I can give Cleveland is a second-place showing in the Central. I’ll give them the upset of Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but they’ll lose to Detroit in six.

2008 Record: 59-23
Division Finish: 1st – Central
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-2, to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals

Head Coach: Michael Curry
Season: First Season

Offseason Acquisitions:
Kwame Brown, C, 6-11, 5.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, Signed from Memphis Grizzles

Offseason Transactions:
Resigned forward Walter Herrman

Offseason Losses:
Jarvis Hayes, F, 6-8, 6.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, Signed with New Jersey Nets
Juan Dixon, G, 6-3, 6.5 ppg, 1.6, rpg, Signed with Washington Wizards

Rookies:
Walter Sharpe, F, 6-9, Alabama-Birmingham

The Skinny:
Teams have come and gone over the last six years in the Eastern Conference, but one constant has been the Detroit Pistons. With their core still in tact from last year’s conference finals there is no reason to believe that the team won’t be back in the Eastern Finals or beyond once again this year.

With a 59-23 record the Pistons had the second-best record in the NBA last season. The only team with a better mark was the Boston Celtics. A big reason for the two best records coming out of the same conference is that the East is pretty week. The number of really good teams in the East you can count with your ears and nose. There are only a handful of decent teams and then there are the dregs of the league.

The West is completely different. You’ve got a bunch of really good teams with no one really head and shoulders better than another. Few would have expected the Lakers to make the Finals, but really there is so much talent in the conference that who ever is hot in the West can make a run. The talent in the East is not that good. Even a really hot team will struggle to beat one of the top dogs.

Two teams have been as consistent as it comes. One is San Antonio and the other is the Pistons. They have seen very little turnover in their roster during the last six years and as a result they’ve been able to rule a mediocre Eastern Conference.

Five key players have been with the team for at least four years. Guards Richard “Rip” Hamilton and Chauncey Billups along with forward Tayshaun Prince have all been with the team for six years. Center Rasheed Wallace has been there five years and forward Antonio McDyess has been there the last four.

That’s a great group of talented players that have been with each other for a while now. They know how to anticipate everyone’s moves and they all know how to win it all as members of the Pistons’ 2004 World Championship team.

No team may have more of its team returning from last year than the Pistons. Detroit brings back its top seven scorers from last year’s squad that was on the doorstep of the NBA Finals. The starting five averaged 69.0 points per game last season and accounted for 386 starts out of a possible 410.

The biggest problem the Pistons have is their frontcourt. Not since the days of the Bad Boys has Detroit been big on the inside. Even when they had Ben Wallace they still weren’t dominant. Wallace was a tremendous rebounder, but he wasn’t much of a threat on offense. Rasheed Wallace has the size of a center, but the skills of a power forward and presents such a tough match-up at the offensive end of the floor, but just the opposite of Wallace he’s not much on defense.

In an effort to strengthen the inside, during the offseason the Pistons acquired the services of center Kwame Brown from the Memphis Grizzles. After averaging 5.7 ppg. and 5.7 rpg., Brown was shipped to Memphis as part of the Pau Gaol deal. They also drafted 6-9 forward Walter Sharpe from Alabama-Birmingham who was averaging 14.2 ppg. and 6.8 rpg. before he was declared academically ineligible for the spring semester. Second-year center Cheikh Samb from Senegal could pay benefits down the line. He’s 7-foot-1 and is pretty solid at 245.

Unlike some teams, the Pistons appear to be ahead of the curve when it comes time to replace their vets. General Manager Joe Dumars knows that Billups and Hamilton aren’t getting any younger, that’s why they drafted guard Arron Afflalo and Will Bynum. Both are pretty good college players and if they listen to what the vets have to say they could step in and keep the train rolling.

Prediction
Even though Detroit has much talent back across the board, the one big intangible is its new coach. With only one year of experience as an assistant, Michael Curry was handed the keys to the Pistons after Flip Saunders was fired.

Curry has long had the respect of Dumars when he was signed to a 10-day contract with the team a few years back. Now the question is will he have the respect of his players. At 39-years old he’s only about four years older that Wallace and McDyess.

With such a veteran team this maybe the perfect situation for Curry. Billups and Hamilton can pretty much run the team from the floor so all Curry really needs to be able to do is manage all the egos in the locker room. As a former member of the Players’ Association he knows how to deal with a lot of egos so he may be the perfect man for the job.

I think this will be the year that the Pistons get back to the NBA Finals. As good as Boston is, I think the Pistons will figure them out. I also think that Detroit is much deeper than the Celtics are and the combination of those two factors will give them the edge of Boston come playoff time.

Before he got traded to Memphis, Brown was finally starting to develop into a good role player on the inside. It also helped that it was able to get out of Los Angeles because he was starting to get into trouble off the court there. This could be a second life for him in Detroit. Sharpe and Samb could also give some help on the inside.

This could be their last hurrah, but I think the Pistons will win it all this year. No one in the East besides Boston will give them a run and I don’t think Boston has it this year. The West is better from top to bottom, but they’ll beat themselves up and only San Antonio is as good as Detroit 1-5 with any sort of bench.

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Boston Celtics

2008 Record: 66-16
Division Finish: 1st – Atlanta
2008 Playoffs: Won the NBA Championship, 4-2, over the Los Angeles Lakers

Head Coach: Doc Rivers
Season: Going into his fifth
Record at Boston: 168-160

Offseason Acquisitions:
Forward Darius Miles
Center Patrick O’Bryant

Offseason Losses:
Center Scott Pollard, option was not picked up.
Small forward James Posey signed a free agent deal with the New Orleans Hornets.

Rookies:
JR Giddens, G, 6-5, New Mexico
Semih Erden, C, 6-11, Turkey
Bill Walker, G-F, 6-6, Kansas State

The Skinny:
Everything is right again in the world of old school NBA fans. The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers played for the NBA Championship with the Celtics coming out on top for their 17th title. But the odds of those two teams meeting in the finals in two of the next three years like in the 80’s is pretty slim.

The Celtics had a great formula in place for last year. They’ve got a great core group of superstars that plays really well together in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Those three stir the drink and then they’ve got a great group of supporting players who know their role. This is pretty much the formula that will help you win a title.

While the formula works great, the ingredients are getting ready to expire. Those three, along with journeyman Sam Cassell have all played at least 10 years in the NBA. Now that all three have a title under their belts and they’re growing long in the tooth how hungry are they going to be to make a run like last year? It wasn’t easy as they didn’t win a road game until the Finals.

Another problem with the Celtics roster is that they seem to be at both ends of the spectrum. Fourteen out of the 17 players on their current roster have either played seven years or more or have only been in the league for two years or less. Those players that fall into that middle aren’t very good either.

Because of some of the deals they’ve made and the draft positions they’ve had, the young talent they haven’t isn’t very good either or needs a lot of work to keep this train going. The Celtics better strike while the iron is hot this year because after this season they could be back to being in the middle to the bottom of the pack in the Eastern Conference.

One problem the Celtics are going to have to figure out is how to fill the void left by the departure of James Posey. During the offseason he signed a four-year deal with the New Orleans Hornets. Posey did a great job picking up the opposing team’s best offensive player and was a good three-point shooter himself. Posey was the one responsible for D-ing up LeBron James and Kobe Bryant during the playoffs. He also had the intangible of being a winner after being a part of the Miami Heat’s NBA title run.

So how does Boston plan on filling that hole? During the offseason they signed free agent forward Darius Miles. In addition they drafted JR Giddens from New Mexico in the first round and wing Bill Walker from Kansas State in the second. These seem like more of the Danny Ainge trade that got rid of Tony Delk and Antoine Walker for Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills and Raef LeFrentz and not the ones last year that brought in Allen and Garnett and earned him NBA Executive of the Year.

Miles is just trouble, plan and simple. It’s probably an attribute of a rough childhood in East St. Louis, but he’s been trouble everywhere he’s gone. He’s going to miss the first 10 games of the season because of a drug suspension. Great first impression. Then there’s his lack of defense and problems staying health. Throw in a pension for alienating his teammates and you’ve got a great pick up. Maybe the vets can real him in, but I doubt it.

Giddens isn’t exactly a choir boy either. He had problems at Kansas and had to transfer to New Mexico. If he gets influenced by Miles you might as well write him off as well. I don’t know much about Bill Walker, but Kansas State isn’t exactly a hotbed for talent. He was recruiting there by Bob Huggins, but how many of his players have really panned out to be good NBA players?

One player who may pick up Posey’s slack is guard Tony Allen. The Celtics resigned the fourth-year player out of Oklahoma State during the offseason. He might be able to fill that role, but he’s got to stay healthy. No one is really sure of his potential because he’s been injured so much. If he can stay of the IR for the entire season he could be a great role player.

Prediction:
Too many things just don’t seem right for the Celtics to repeat. After so many years of not having a championships ring, how hungry are the aging Garnett, Allen and Pierce going to be? Maybe they know this is there last chance and they’ll throw everything and the kitchen sink at winning again.

It’s always tougher to repeat than to win the first one and the Celtics just don’t have enough of the pieces to maintain a run like this. San Antonio built such a strong core group of players that all fit into their system so if one was missing the other could pick up the slack. If Pierce or Garnett go down for a long period of time the Celtics are in trouble. They need to have a full squad healthy for the entire year to keep the home court advantage in the playoffs. If they didn’t have home court advantage for every Eastern Conference playoff series and the Finals the title might be in LA or Detroit.

Posey is going to be a bigger loss than most people realize. Maybe not over the course of an 82-game schedule, but come playoff time when defense is so crucial – that was the basis of Boston’s championship run last year – it will show. I don’t think Miles will turn his act around and Giddons won’t amount to much. There are too many question marks around Tony Allen’s health to count on him for the whole year.

Boston will go 55-27 during the regular season and win the Atlantic Division because it’s pretty weak. They will, however, get bounced in the second round of the playoffs.

Probably not since the San Antonio Spurs had to wait two years for David Robinson has a rookie’s debut been a longer wait than that of Greg Oden. After a year away from the game, Oden made his first appearance in a Portland Trailblazers’ uniform and so far he’s off to a good start.

Of course there is a big difference between Robinson and Oden. As a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Robinson had to fulfill his duty to the country and serve two years in the Navy before he could join San Antonio in 1989. Oden, on the other hand, injured himself after just his second summer league game and missed the entire 2006-07 season.

Now if the wait for Oden has the same dividends as the one for Robinson had, the Blazers surely won’t mind waiting an extra year for his services. But those are big expectations.

Two years ago Portland literally hit the lottery when it got the number one draft in 2007 NBA Draft. They made the wise decision, in my opinion, and drafted Oden over Texas forward Kevin Durant. It’s pretty rare that you get a big man with the potential of Oden so you have to take the chance when he’s available.

With the exception of maybe Detroit the last few years, I dare you to find me a championship team that doesn’t have a great presence in the middle. If the Lakers had someone like that they beat Boston last year. Same goes for Cleveland. LeBron and the Cavs will never win a title until he’s got someone in the paint. Mark my words.

Even without Oden in the line-up last year the Trailblazers were a pretty solid team. They managed to post a 41-41 record, which was nine games better than the year before and 20 games better than the 2005-06 season. Imagine if they had Oden, you’re looking at a team that would have been in the playoffs. It was their first season of .500 or better since 2003-04 when they also went 41-41.

So the big fella made his debut on Monday night against a very, very bad Sacramento Kings team. They’ve traded away pretty much everyone and are starting from scratch. They are still a year, maybe two away from sniffing the playoffs. Oden had a solid outing in his first NBA game, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds in just a tad under 20 minutes of play. He came back out last night to post 14 points and grab a game-high nine rebounds versus Golden State.

With Oden in the middle, Portland can be a very dangerous team, but that’s only if he stays health. The knock on Oden is that he’s always had problems staying in the line-up. Throughout most of his freshman season at Ohio State he was plagued by an injury to his right wrist. It hurt so much he had to shoot free throws left handed, which wouldn’t be an issue except that he’s a right-handed shooter.

So even before he got into the league, Oden had a rep for being a little fragile. Getting hurt two games into the summer league last year didn’t help either. He missed the entire 2007-08 season with a microfracture to his right knee. As much abuse as big men take in the NBA, I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come for Oden. He could have more of a Bill Walton career than a David Robinson one.

If you’re Portland you had to be excited about last year. Known of late as being a haven of moronic players, the franchise has not had a good reputation since the days of Clyde Drexler. With the likes of Darius Miles, Steve Francis and Sebastian Telfair gone from the team, it looked like Portland had put a strong roster of good, young talent together and Oden was going to be the missing piece. He still may be.

The team has made big strides in the last two seasons. Their team president Steve Patterson resigned during the spring of 2007 – probably way overdue – and that summer the organization brought in former Nike executive Larry Miller to replace him. Smart move to bring in someone who knows a thing or two about being successful. In addition, owner Paul Allen agreed to purchase the Rose Garden, Portland’s home floor, which assures that the team will be there for some time and not take off like Seattle did.

Also during the last three drafts the Trailblazers have done a much better job of selecting talent. The year before Oden was drafted, Portland made a pair of draft day deals to LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas and Brandon Roy from Washington. Roy was an All-Star last year and 2006-07 NBA Rookie of the Year. Last season Aldridge averaged 17.8 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The same year as they drafted Oden, Portland also picked up Josh McRoberts from Duke and Taurean Green from Florida. McRoberts never saw the floor for the Trailblazers and Green was traded last year. The one thing that I like about these two players – though I’m not a big fan of Duke and Florida in general – as well as Oden, Aldridge and Roy is that they played on winning college teams at a high level. You want guys who are used to winning and expect it. They’ll work their asses off in order to win.

This year I think the team missed the mark in its drafting. Originally they went with Brandon Rush from the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, but then they traded him to Indiana for Jerryd Bayless of Arizona. If this was Arizona 2-5 years ago, great pick, but the team struggled last year. They also got Frenchman Nicholas Batum.

Now I’m not a big fan of drafting foreign players. If you look at the Celtics, they are all American players. The game is just different in the NBA than it is overseas. Yes I know that San Antonio has been successful with a lot of foreign players, but they play a different brand of basketball than 90 percent of the league. And yes I know up until last year that the USA has been getting its ass handed to it by foreign teams, but that’s a whole group of players used to a particular style, not one or two guys trying to fit in with the rest of a team that plays a different way.

It does appear that they may have found a good-to-great foreign player in Rudy Fernandez. The Spaniard was drafted by Phoenix last year, but was traded to Portland for cash. Fernandez played last year in Spain, but decided to join Portland after he finished the Olympics.

Reports have Fernandez putting on a heck of a show during his debut, almost overshadowing Oden. Two reasons why I think Fernandez might work out is A) he plays for a winning team. Spain has been one of the best international teams of late and they took the silver at the Olympics. B) He’s a guard. I think it is much easier for guards to play well in the NBA than post players.

Portland could have the pieces of a good team in the works. I think they’ll make the playoffs this year, but the West is still too loaded for them to do more than a first round exit.

Probably not since the San Antonio Spurs had to wait two years for David Robinson has a rookie’s debut been a longer wait than that of Greg Oden. After a year away from the game, Oden made his first appearance in a Portland Trailblazers’ uniform and so far he’s off to a good start.

Of course there is a big difference between Robinson and Oden. As a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Robinson had to fulfill his duty to the country and serve two years in the Navy before he could join San Antonio in 1989. Oden, on the other hand, injured himself after just his second summer league game and missed the entire 2006-07 season.

Now if the wait for Oden has the same dividends as the one for Robinson had, the Blazers surely won’t mind waiting an extra year for his services. But those are big expectations.

Two years ago Portland literally hit the lottery when it got the number one draft in 2007 NBA Draft. They made the wise decision, in my opinion, and drafted Oden over Texas forward Kevin Durant. It’s pretty rare that you get a big man with the potential of Oden so you have to take the chance when he’s available.

With the exception of maybe Detroit the last few years, I dare you to find me a championship team that doesn’t have a great presence in the middle. If the Lakers had someone like that they beat Boston last year. Same goes for Cleveland. LeBron and the Cavs will never win a title until he’s got someone in the paint. Mark my words.

Even without Oden in the line-up last year the Trailblazers were a pretty solid team. They managed to post a 41-41 record, which was nine games better than the year before and 20 games better than the 2005-06 season. Imagine if they had Oden, you’re looking at a team that would have been in the playoffs. It was their first season of .500 or better since 2003-04 when they also went 41-41.

So the big fella made his debut on Monday night against a very, very bad Sacramento Kings team. They’ve traded away pretty much everyone and are starting from scratch. They are still a year, maybe two away from sniffing the playoffs. Oden had a solid outing in his first NBA game, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds in just a tad under 20 minutes of play. He came back out last night to post 14 points and grab a game-high nine rebounds versus Golden State.

With Oden in the middle, Portland can be a very dangerous team, but that’s only if he stays health. The knock on Oden is that he’s always had problems staying in the line-up. Throughout most of his freshman season at Ohio State he was plagued by an injury to his right wrist. It hurt so much he had to shoot free throws left handed, which wouldn’t be an issue except that he’s a right-handed shooter.

So even before he got into the league, Oden had a rep for being a little fragile. Getting hurt two games into the summer league last year didn’t help either. He missed the entire 2007-08 season with a microfracture to his right knee. As much abuse as big men take in the NBA, I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come for Oden. He could have more of a Bill Walton career than a David Robinson one.

If you’re Portland you had to be excited about last year. Known of late as being a haven of moronic players, the franchise has not had a good reputation since the days of Clyde Drexler. With the likes of Darius Miles, Steve Francis and Sebastian Telfair gone from the team, it looked like Portland had put a strong roster of good, young talent together and Oden was going to be the missing piece. He still may be.

The team has made big strides in the last two seasons. Their team president Steve Patterson resigned during the spring of 2007 – probably way overdue – and that summer the organization brought in former Nike executive Larry Miller to replace him. Smart move to bring in someone who knows a thing or two about being successful. In addition, owner Paul Allen agreed to purchase the Rose Garden, Portland’s home floor, which assures that the team will be there for some time and not take off like Seattle did.

Also during the last three drafts the Trailblazers have done a much better job of selecting talent. The year before Oden was drafted, Portland made a pair of draft day deals to LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas and Brandon Roy from Washington. Roy was an All-Star last year and 2006-07 NBA Rookie of the Year. Last season Aldridge averaged 17.8 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The same year as they drafted Oden, Portland also picked up Josh McRoberts from Duke and Taurean Green from Florida. McRoberts never saw the floor for the Trailblazers and Green was traded last year. The one thing that I like about these two players – though I’m not a big fan of Duke and Florida in general – as well as Oden, Aldridge and Roy is that they played on winning college teams at a high level. You want guys who are used to winning and expect it. They’ll work their asses off in order to win.

This year I think the team missed the mark in its drafting. Originally they went with Brandon Rush from the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, but then they traded him to Indiana for Jerryd Bayless of Arizona. If this was Arizona 2-5 years ago, great pick, but the team struggled last year. They also got Frenchman Nicholas Batum.

Now I’m not a big fan of drafting foreign players. If you look at the Celtics, they are all American players. The game is just different in the NBA than it is overseas. Yes I know that San Antonio has been successful with a lot of foreign players, but they play a different brand of basketball than 90 percent of the league. And yes I know up until last year that the USA has been getting its ass handed to it by foreign teams, but that’s a whole group of players used to a particular style, not one or two guys trying to fit in with the rest of a team that plays a different way.

It does appear that they may have found a good-to-great foreign player in Rudy Fernandez. The Spaniard was drafted by Phoenix last year, but was traded to Portland for cash. Fernandez played last year in Spain, but decided to join Portland after he finished the Olympics.

Reports have Fernandez putting on a heck of a show during his debut, almost overshadowing Oden. Two reasons why I think Fernandez might work out is A) he plays for a winning team. Spain has been one of the best international teams of late and they took the silver at the Olympics. B) He’s a guard. I think it is much easier for guards to play well in the NBA than post players.

Portland could have the pieces of a good team in the works. I think they’ll make the playoffs this year, but the West is still too loaded for them to do more than a first round exit.

As the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, the Detroit Pistons were a member team of the old National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) before joining the NBA in 1949 and becoming the Detroit Pistons in 1957.

Today, the three-time champion Detroit Pistons play their home games at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their head coach is the newly-hired Michael Curry, and their general manager is Joe Dumars, who played on the back-to-back title winning Pistons of 1989 and 1990.

Early Years in Detroit

When the Pistons first moved to Detroit in 1957, they immediately established themselves as a tough team to beat. They made the playoffs in each of their firsts six seasons in Detroit, though they didn’t get past the division finals.

The 1960s and 1970s were far from kind to the Pistons, who boasted some big names of the era but could not translate that into winning seasons. Between 1963 and 1973, the team only appeared in the playoffs once, despite having high-profile players like Bob Lanier, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, and Jimmy Walker.

Despite a few playoff berths in the mid-1970s, the Detroit Pistons did not begin to establish themselves as an NBA contender until they drafted an Indiana point guard named Isiah Thomas in 1981.

Isiah and the Bad Boys

The Pistons continued to build after drafting Thomas. They acquired guard Vinnie Johnson and center Bill Laimbeer in 1982. This paid quick dividends for the team, as they returned to the playoffs in the 1983-84 season. They lost in the first round to the New York Knicks, but things were beginning to look up for Detroit.

The Pistons picked little-known shooting guard Joe Dumars in 1985, and they picked up forward Rick Mahorn in a trade that same year. Thomas, Dumars, Mahorn, Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman would form the core of the team that would earn the nickname “Bad Boys.”

The Detroit teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a rough, physical style of play that earned them the nickname. Rodman, Mahorn, and Laimbeer were well-known for their ability to get under the skin of opposing players. The team, under the leadership of head coach Chuck Daly, had a defense-first mentality that cast them as the polar opposite of flashier teams like the L.A. Lakers.

Championships

In the 1987-88 season, after amassing 54 regular season wins, the Pistons established themselves as the class of the Eastern Conference, beating the Washington Bullets, the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics on their way to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1956 (when they were the Fort Wayne Pistons). They battled hard with the Western champion Lakers, but they eventually fell in seven games.

The following season, the Pistons won 63 games and returned to the NBA Finals bent on revenge against the Lakers. They got their revenge, sweeping the Lakers in four games.

The following year, the defending champion Pistons won 59 games and returned to the NBA Finals, this time against the Portland Trail Blazers. The opponent was different, but the result was the same. Detroit beat the Blazers in five games, making the “Bad Boys” back-to-back champions.

By the 1993-94 season, most of the core players had either retired or been traded, and the Bad Boy era came to an end.

Joe Dumars, the last holdover from the championship era, retired in 1999 and was named Detroit’s general manager in 2000. From the bottom up, he built a team that would eventually consist of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and Rasheed Wallace, among others. With these players, and the guiding hand of head coach Larry Brown (hired in 2003), Dumars constructed a team that would give him a third championship ring, and the team defeated the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in the 2004 Finals. That Finals victory had at least an indirect impact on the fate of the Lakers, who, until then, were considered the first NBA dynasty of the new millennium.

2007-08 Season

With much of the championship core still in place (Ben Wallace left for the Chicago Bulls in 2006), the 2007-08 Pistons racked up 59 regular season wins and looked to be a favorite to win the East. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games and the Orlando Magic in five games before falling to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in six games.

At the end of the 2008 season, head coach Flip Saunders left the team and was replaced by assistant coach Michael Curry.

2008-09 Outlook

Rasheed Wallace, Billups, Prince and Hamilton return, though they are a year older. Young players like Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey will be expected to take on additional minutes and relieve some of the pressure off the older players. If they can do that, the Pistons will be a contender to win the East.

Greatest Players

Dave Bing, Chauncey Billups, Joe Dumars, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Grant Hill, Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas

The Toronto Raptors are the NBA’s only Canada-based team. There were two, but the Vancouver Grizzlies were relocated to Memphis, Tenn., in 2001. The Raptors play their home games at the Air Canada Centre. Their head coach is former NBA player Sam Mitchell.

Early Years

The Toronto Raptors were established in 1993 and played their first NBA games in the 1995-96 season. They were named after the velociraptor, a character made popular by the movie Jurassic Park. The team’s first General Manager was former point guard Isiah Thomas. Their first head coach was Brendan Malone. The team’s first draft pick was point guard Damon Stoudamire out of Arizona.

The team’s first season was typical for an expansion club. The Raptors won 21 games in the 1995-96 season, the main bright spot being Stoudamire’s selection as Rookie of the Year.

The Raptors averaged just over 22 wins in their first four seasons, failing to make the playoffs until the 1999-2000 campaign.

Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady

The Raptors drafted Tracy McGrady straight out of high school in 1997. The 6-foot-8, smooth shooting swingman averaged only seven points per game his rookie year, but his potential was apparent to coaches and fans alike.

The Raptors traded their 1998 top pick, forward Antawn Jamison, to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter, a high-flying swingman out of North Carolina who happened to be McGrady’s third cousin.

Carter was named Rookie of the Year for the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.

Playoff appearances

Under the leadership of Carter and McGrady, the Raptors made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in the 1999-2000 season. They were promptly swept in three games by the New York Knicks.

During the 2000 offseason, the Raptors traded McGrady to the Orlando Magic for a first round draft pick.

In the 2000-01 season, the team posted a franchise-best 47-35 regular season record and made the playoffs a second straight season. They faced the Knicks in the first round again, but this time the story ended differently. The Raptors beat the Knicks, 3-2, in a highly competitive series.

The team had a tight second round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, losing four games to three.

The following year, the Raptors made the playoffs yet again, facing the Detroit Pistons in the first round. They lost that series in three games, and did not make the playoffs again until the 2006-07 season (in which they lost in the first round to a New Jersey Nets team led by the departed Vince Carter).

2007-08 Season

The Raptors posted a .500 season in 2007-08, led by 2003 draftee Chris Bosh. They made the playoffs and faced the Orlando Magic. The Magic beat the Raptors, four games to one.

2008-09 Outlook

The Raptors have made some offseason moves with the hopes of bolstering the team’s frontline play. They acquired center-forward Jermaine O’Neal from the Indiana Pacers and they drafted center Roy Hibbert from Georgetown. Coach Mitchell and the Raptors hope the extra big bodies will help keep Bosh from absorbing a lot of punishment down low. A successful season for the Raptors would be 45 to 50 wins.

Greatest Players

Vince Carter, Doug Christie, Antonio Davis, Tracy McGrady

The New Jersey Nets began their existence in the American Basketball Association (ABA) as the New Jersey Americans. They only spent one season (1967-68) under that name before becoming the New York Nets. The Nets moved to New Jersey in 1977, after they joined the NBA as part of the merger.

The Nets now play their home games at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but they are slated to move to Brooklyn, New York, in 2011.

The Nets’ head coach is Lawrence Frank. Rap mogul Jay-Z is a member of the ownership group.

Early Years

As the New Jersey Americans, the team failed to make the playoffs. However, they began making the ABA playoffs by their second season as the New York Nets. Led by Rick Barry, they made it to the ABA Finals in 1972, but lost.

In 1973, the Nets acquired forward Julius Erving from the Virginia Squires. Erving, nicknamed “Dr. J,” was a high-flying, above-the-rim basketball artist who helped the Nets win games and gave the team — and the league — a certain cache. The NBA had more teams, and more money, but the ABA had “The Doctor.”

Erving led the Nets to two ABA titles in three years, including the last title in the history of the defunct league.

NBA Finals Appearances

While the Nets made three ABA Finals appearances, winning the title twice, they are still looking for their first NBA title. The closest they have come are the two Finals appearances they made in 2002 and 2003.

In 2001, the Nets traded point guard Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd. Kidd, a perennial league leader in assists and one of the league’s best defensive point guards, immediately changed the team chemistry. The Nets finished 52-30 and beat Indiana, Charlotte (Hornets, not Bobcats) and Boston en route to the Finals, where they faced the L.A. Lakers. They were no match for Shaq, Kobe and company, however, and were swept in four games.

The Kidd-led Nets proved the 2001-02 season was no fluke, winning 49 games the following season and getting to the Finals again, this time facing the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs beat the Nets, four games to two.

Since 2003, the Nets have yet to get past the Eastern Conference semifinals.

2007-08 Season

The most significant thing to happen to the Nets in 2007-08 was the trading of Jason Kidd to the team that drafted him, the Dallas Mavericks. In return, the Nets got speedy point guard Devin Harris, gaining youth and quickness but giving away rebounding, passing, and savvy veteran leadership. The team went 34-48, failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001 (the season before the Kidd acquisition).

2008-09 Outlook

The Nets will begin 2008-09 with a wholly different look from the start of last season. Harris replaces the departed Kidd. Richard Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian. The Nets picked Stanford big man Brook Lopez with the 10th pick in the 2008 draft, and drafted Memphis shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts in the second round. Lawrence Frank will have to get these players on the same page in a hurry if the Nets wish to leave the state of New Jersey on a winning note.

Greatest Players

Nate Archibald, Rick Barry, Derrick Coleman, Julius Erving, Jason Kidd, Buck Williams

The New York Knicks, one of the NBA’s most storied franchises, has fallen upon hard times of late. Poor personnel moves, unfulfilled draft picks and in-house controversy have turned this once-proud franchise into a perpetual cellar-dweller. The Knicks have not made the playoffs in four seasons and haven’t posted a .500 record in seven years.

The Knicks play their home games at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Their head coach is former Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni.

Early Years

The New York Knicks are one of the NBA’s original franchises, established in 1946. They quickly established themselves as one of the NBA’s best teams, making the NBA Finals (albeit losing) three straight seasons.

The late 1950s and early 1960s were not as kind to the Knicks. From 1957 to 1966, the team only made the playoffs once. They finished dead last in the Eastern Division from 1960 to 1966.

The Knicks began to rebuild through the draft, beginning with Willis Reed in 1964 and Bill Bradley in 1965.

Championships

The Knicks slowly but surely put together a top-flight squad, led by Reed, Bradley and Walt “Clyde” Frazier. In the 1969-70 season, the Knicks posted 60 wins and blew through the playoffs, beating the Baltimore Bullets and the Milwaukee Bucks before defeating the Lakers for the championship.

In 1972, the Knicks made it to the Finals again. Newly-added Earl “The Pearl” Monroe led the team past the Bullets and the Boston Celtics to face the Lakers again. This time the story had a different ending, with the Lakers beating the Knicks four games to one.

The following year, after a 57-25 regular season, the Knicks made the Finals yet again. This time, they exacted revenge against the Lakers, beating them in five games.

The following season was another successful one for the Knickerbockers, but they fell to the Celtics in the conference Finals. Willis Reed retired after that season.

Years later, the Knicks would return to the Finals twice, but would lose both times. Bolstered by 1985 draftee Patrick Ewing and shooting guard John Starks, the Knicks posted 57 wins in 1993-94 and advanced to the Finals, where they lost a hotly-contested series to the Houston Rockets, four games to three.

In the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, the Knicks made the Finals again, only to be beaten by the San Antonio Spurs in five games.

2007-08 Season

Under head coach (and general manager) Isiah Thomas, the Knicks posted only 23 wins, tying a franchise low. Thomas had become exceedingly unpopular in New York because of dubious personnel moves, multiple losing seasons and a sexual harassment suit filed by a former Knicks employee. In April 2008, the Knicks signed Donnie Walsh to take over Thomas’ GM duties. Walsh immediately fired Thomas as head coach, hiring former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni.

2008-09 Outlook

The Knicks selected Italian forward Danilo Gallinari with the 6th pick in the NBA Draft. They also signed former Bulls guard Chris Duhon. Despite swirling rumors of a contract buyout, the Knicks have held on to point guard Stephon Marbury to this point. D’Antoni will have a hard time putting these pieces together, but in the East, the Knicks have a chance to make the playoffs.

Greatest Players

Walt Bellamy, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Bernard King, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed

Much like the Sacramento Kings, the Atlanta Hawks have traveled around the country, starting in the Midwest in 1946 and moving until finally finding a home in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1968. They play their home games in Philips Arena in Atlanta. Their head coach is Mike Woodson.

Tri-Cities Blackhawks

The Hawks were originally known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. They were part of the old National Basketball League and became one of the original members of the National Basketball Association.

After two years in the NBA (they made the playoffs one year and missed the next) the Blackhawks moved to Milwaukee and became the Hawks.

Milwaukee Hawks

The Milwaukee franchise struggled in its four seasons in Wisconsin. From 1951 to 1955, they averaged around 23 wins and failed to make the playoffs.

In 1955 the team moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

St. Louis Hawks

The move to St. Louis seemed to agree with the Hawks. They made the playoffs their first year there, and made it all the way to the division finals, where they fell to the Fort Wayne Pistons.

Two years later, the St. Louis Hawks won the first and only championship in the history of the franchise. Led by coach Alex Hannum, the team beat the Boston Celtics in six games.

The team continued to enjoy success in St. Louis, missing the playoffs only once between 1955 and 1968. Wanting a new arena but rebuffed by the city, the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs their first five seasons in Georgia, then suffered a four-year drought. Returning to the playoffs in 1978, the Hawks enjoyed moderate success. But their fortunes changed in 1982.

The Human Highlight Film

In 1982 the Hawks acquired high-flying forward Dominique Wilkins from the Utah Jazz, who drafted Wilkins earlier that year. Wilkins, known as the “Human Highlight Film” for his acrobatic, flashy dunks, led the Hawks to four 50-win seasons, but they never made it to the conference finals during his tenure with the Hawks.

Midway through the 1993-94 season, the Hawks traded Dominique Wilkins to the Los Angeles Clippers for Danny Manning, who left shortly thereafter via free agency.

The team had a couple of 50-win seasons after Dominique, but they suffered a long, slow slide to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, from which they have only begun to recover.

2007-08 Season

In the Western Conference, the Hawks never would have made the playoffs with a 37-45 record. But in the East, that was good enough for a Number Eight seeding in the postseason. Led by Joe Johnson, Al Horford, and point guard Mike Bibby (acquired midseason in a trade with the Sacramento Kings), the Hawks took the eventual-champion Boston Celtics to seven games before losing in the first round.

2008-09 Outlook

Under the leadership of coach Woodson, and with a young nucleus consisting of Horford and Johnson, things could be looking up for the Atlanta Hawks. Bolstered by how well they played the Celtics, their confidence could translate into their first .500-plus season since 1997.

Greatest Players

Bob Petit, Connie Hawkins, Moses Malone, Pete Maravich, Lenny Wilkens, Dominique Wilkins

The Charlotte Bobcats are the NBA’s newest team, founded in 2004. The team was established after the city’s previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, departed the city for New Orleans, La., and the Western Conference.

The Bobcats play their home games at Time Warner Cable Arena. Their head coach is Larry Brown, and their general manager is Rod Higgins. Michael Jordan is part of the ownership group.

Birth of a team

When the Bobcats were established in place of the departed Hornets, several ownership groups bid for the team. The franchise was awarded to a group led by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). Michael Jordan, former All-American guard at the University of North Carolina, became a majority owner and head of basketball operations in 2006.

Early Years

Since the Bobcats have only played four seasons, one could argue that they are still in their early years. Their first season was 2004-05. After drafting Connecticut forward-center Emeka Okafor, the Bobcats went 18-64. Okafor was one of the few bright spots, averaging 15 points and nearly 11 rebounds per game and earning the Rookie of the Year Award.

In the offseason, the Bobcats drafted guard Raymond Felton and forward Sean May, who were both North Carolina Tar Heel standouts. The team improved to 26-56, and Felton made the All-Rookie Second Team.

The Bobcats picked Gonzaga scoring machine Adam Morrison with the third pick in the 2006 draft. Morrison averaged nearly 12 points a game and made the All-Rookie Second Team as the Bobcats went 33-49.

In 2007, head coach Bernie Bickerstaff was fired and Sam Vincent was tapped to take his place. The team drafted another Tar Heel, Brandan Wright, but traded him to the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson.

2007-08 Season

Disaster struck the Bobcats during preseason when Morrison tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, ending his 2007-08 season. Head coach Vincent began his first season without one of his top scorers, which may have led to his early and abrupt downfall. Expansion teams are generally expected to make a climb from the division basement in the third or fourth year of their existence, and when this doesn’t happen, everyone, from the fan base to the front office, begins to lose patience.

The Bobcats struggled yet again in 2007-08, winning only 32 games and placing 11th in the East. Vincent was fired in April, and legendary coach Larry Brown (himself a former UNC Tar Heel) was hired. He is the third head coach in the four-year history of the franchise.

2008-09 Outlook

Larry Brown is famous for immediately improving his teams (with the ignominious exception of the New York Knicks, a team not even a consummate teacher like Brown could improve). Brown has a solid young nucleus to work with. Morrison is expected to make a full recovery from last season’s knee injury. Felton is a steadily improving point guard. Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson add scoring punch. Texas standout D.J. Augustin was picked 9th in the 2008 draft. These ingredients, in the hands of Brown the master chef, could make for an interesting 2008-09 campaign. A forty-win season would be considered a success — and would comprise a franchise record.

The Orlando Magic is one of the fastest rising teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They boast one of the league’s best big men in Slam Dunk champion Dwight Howard, and they are coming fresh off a 52-win season.

The Magic play their home games at the Amway Arena. Their head coach is Stan Van Gundy, and their general manager is former Magic player Otis Smith.

Early Years

The Magic entered the NBA in 1989 as part of a four-team expansion effort with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets. Their first coach was Matt Guokas, and their first draft pick was shooting guard Nick Anderson. The expansion draft, which allowed certain players to be chosen from each team in the league, brought players like Reggie Theus and Scott Skiles (who would later set a league record for assists in a game with 30). The first team went 18-64.

After drafting forward Dennis Scott out of Georgia Tech in 1990, the Magic improved rapidly. In their second season, they put up 31 wins and served notice as a promising young team.

Between 1989 and 1992, the Magic averaged 23 wins. But thing were about to change.

The Shaq Draft

In 1992, the Magic won the first pick in the draft lottery and selected seven-foot center Shaquille O’Neal out of Louisiana State University. O’Neal, a powerful, agile center, paid immediate dividends, and the Magic improved from 21 wins to 41 wins. Shaq was named an All-Star starter as a rookie, the first player in NBA history to be so honored.

Picking up a Penny

The Magic lucked out again the following year, winning the first pick in the lottery in spite of a .500 record. They selected forward Chris Webber out of Michigan, and traded him to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway.

The combination of a dynamic point guard and a bruising center turned the Magic into one of the NBA’s best teams nearly overnight. They won 50 games in the 1993-94 season and placed second in the division, losing to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.

The following season, the Orlando Magic were considered a contender for the title. They placed first in the Atlantic Division with 57 wins and beat the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls (minus the retired Michael Jordan) before exacting revenge against the Pacers in the conference finals.

In the NBA Finals, the Orlando Magic faced Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. Shaq was no match for the wily veteran center, and the Magic were no match for the Rockets, who swept Orlando in four games.

The 1995 season saw the championship window begin to close for the Magic. The team was intact, but Jordan was back from his first retirement. Despite 60 wins and another division title, the Magic lost to the Bulls in the conference finals, 4-0.

Thus ended the dynamic duo of Shaq and Penny.

Shaq leaves for La-La Land

In 1996, Shaquille O’Neal left the Magic as a free agent and joined the L. A. Lakers. The Magic were still a playoff team even without O’Neal, but they were no longer a title contender. The team traded Hardaway to the Phoenix Suns in 1999.

2007-08 Season

The Orlando Magic have re-established themselves as one of the most dangerous teams in the East. Led by high school phenom Dwight Howard, the team won 52 games and the Southeast Division title. They beat the Toronto Raptors in the first round before falling to the Detroit Pistons in five games.

2008-09 Outlook

With Howard, point guard Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick, the Magic have a talented young nucleus and figure to be a favorite to repeat as Southeast Division champs. Whether or not that translates to a deep playoff run remains to be seen.

Greatest Players

Nick Anderson, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Penny Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O’Neal

Given the Miami Heat’s recent struggles, it’s difficult to believe the team won an NBA championship just two seasons ago. Since then, a shoulder injury to star guard Dwayne Wade and the Shaquille O’Neal trade have helped turn a champion into a lottery team.

The Miami Heat play their home games at the American Airlines Arena. Their head coach is Erik Spoelstra, and their general manager is former head coach (and former NBA player) Pat Riley.

Early Years

The Miami Heat joined the NBA (along with the Charlotte Hornets) in 1988. A ragtag group of rookies and veteran castoffs, they did what new expansion teams do — they lost, to the tune of 17 straight to begin the 1988-89 season.

In their first three seasons, the Heat averaged 19 wins, but their win totals grew steadily each year. In the 1991-92 season, they won 38 games and made the playoffs. The Heat had the misfortune of drawing the Chicago Bulls, and fell to them in a three-game sweep.

The Heat made the playoffs twice more in the next four seasons, but could not get out of the first round, losing to the Atlanta Hawks in 1994 and the Bulls again in 1996. The Heat got to the Eastern Conference finals in 1997, only to lose to the Bulls once again.

The Shaq Acquisition

In 2004, buoyed by the success of 2003 draftee Dwyane Wade, the Heat made a move destined to make or break the team. They traded Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Shaquille O’Neal. The superstar big man was given a huge public welcome, during which he promised to deliver a championship to the city of Miami. (He will probably be remembered as delivering on his promise, but Shaq had more than a little help.)

The Heat responded immediately. They won 59 games in 2004-05 and made it to the conference finals, where they lost to the Detroit Pistons in seven games. Pat Riley, who had resigned his coaching post to concentrate on his GM role, resumed his coaching duties in 2005. It has been speculated that Riley, intrigued with the prospect of coaching O’Neal, engineered the departure of coach Stan Van Gundy and took Van Gundy’s place on the floor.

The Championship Season

The 2005-06 season saw a slight decrease in regular season wins — from 59 to 52 — but the Heat were finally able to get over the hump. After beating the Bulls, the New Jersey Nets, and the Detroit Pistons, respectively, the Heat went to their first-ever NBA Finals, where they met Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks (who were also in their first Finals).

Dallas took the first two games at home and were winning Game 3 in the fourth quarter when Wade took over. The Heat came back to win Game 3 and never lost another game in the series, winning the NBA title, four games to two. Dwyane Wade was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.

It was a fourth championship ring for O’Neal, and the first ring for veterans like Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker, and Gary Payton.

2007-08 Season

Injuries hit the 2007-08 Heat. Wade had badly injured his left shoulder the season before, and wasn’t back to his dominant self yet. Mourning suffered a season-ending knee injury. Shaq was in and out of the lineup with chronic hip problems. In February of 2008, Shaq was traded to the Phoenix Suns for forward Shawn Marion. The Heat won only 15 games.

2008-09 Outlook

The Heat drafted power forward Michael Beasley and NCAA title game hero Mario Chalmers in 2008, and moved assistant coach Erik Spoelstra up to head coach after Riley decided to return to the front office.

Spoelstra has his work cut out for him, but Wade has returned to form. If he can get a contribution from Beasley, plus some unexpected help, the Heat may begin the long return to playoff contention.

Greatest Players

Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Glen Rice, Dwayne Wade

Technically speaking, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the newest team in the NBA. Until 2008, they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. In a hotly contested move, owner Clay Bennett bought out the SuperSonics’ lease with Seattle’s Key Arena, and moved the team to Oklahoma City. The Thunder will play their home games at the Ford Center. Their head coach is P.J. Carlesimo.

Early Years in Seattle

The Seattle SuperSonics were born in 1967. They suffered the typical growing pains of an NBA expansion franchise, winning only 23 games in their inaugural year. Led by future Hall of Fame point guard Lenny Wilkens, the team averaged 33 wins in its first seven seasons. Their best season during that stretch was the 1971-72 season, in which they won 47 games but failed to make the playoffs.

The Seattle SuperSonics made their first playoff appearance in the 1974-75 season, Bill Russell’s first as head coach. They beat Detroit in the first round before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the second round.

Championship

The Seattle SuperSonics posted a 52-30 record in the 1978-79 season. Led by Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and center Jack Sikma, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, four games to one. In the Western Conference finals, they beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games, advancing to the NBA Finals. The Sonics faced the Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards) in the Finals, defeating them four games to one. It is, so far, the franchise’s only championship.

Karl, and Payton, and Kemp — oh, my!

After enjoying moderate success during the 1980s the Seattle SuperSonics developed into one of the NBA’s best teams for much of the 1990s. Three factors are largely credited for this development: the drafting of forward Shawn Kemp in 1989, the drafting of point guard Gary Payton in 1990, and the hiring of head coach George Karl in 1992.

Karl’s hiring boosted the Sonics from a playoff contender to a Western Conference powerhouse. In the 1992-93 season, the team posted 55 regular season wins and made it to the conference finals, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns, four games to three.

After first round losses in the following two seasons, the Sonics came roaring back. In 1995-96, the team won 64 regular season games. In the playoffs, they beat the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets, and the Utah Jazz en route to their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1978-79 season.

Like the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sonics had the misfortune of going against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won the series, four games to two, and despite continued success, the Sonics never made it to another Finals.

Shawn Kemp was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997, George Karl left after the 1997-98 season, and Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 2002-03 season.

2007-08 Season

In 2007, Sonics star shooting guard Ray Allen was traded to the Boston Celtics for three minor players. The Sonics drafted Texas scoring machine Kevin Durant the same year. Led by Durant, the Sonics won only 20 games in their last season in Seattle.

2008-09 Outlook

The Oklahoma City Thunder may have moved east, but they are still a member of the Western Conference. As such, a playoff berth is not a feasible goal for the Thunder. Rather, a 30- to 35-win season would be considered a successful campaign for the former Seattle SuperSonics.

Greatest Players

Fred Brown, Tom Chambers, Spencer Haywood,  Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Gus Williams

The Sacramento Kings’ journey has taken them across the continental United States, beginning in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Royals. Since 1957, they have moved to Cincinnati and Kansas City before settling in Sacramento in 1985. They play their home games at the ARCO Arena. Their general manager is former NBA player Geoff Petrie, and their head coach is former player Reggie Theus.

Maurice Stokes

During the team’s time in Rochester, one of the their best players was forward Maurice Stokes. He was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1956, and was considered one of the league’s most promising young players.

In 1958, Stokes hit his head on the floor during a game and was knocked unconscious. He later fell into a coma, suffering a brain injury from which he would never fully recover. The paralyzed Stokes was cared for, in part, by his friend and teammate Jack Wyman. Stokes died in 1970 at the age of 36.

The Cincinnati Years

The Rochester Royals (who won the 1950-51 NBA title) moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1957. During their 15 seasons in Cincinnati, they made the playoffs seven times. Their best players were Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. Robertson is considered by some to be the greatest point guard of all time. He once averaged a triple-double for an entire season.

Despite Robertson’s success, the team never got far in the playoffs, and after a five-season stretch without a postseason berth, the Royals underwent a move — and a name change — in 1972.

The Kansas City/Omaha Kings

When the Kings first moved to Kansas City, the team split their home games between Kansas City and Omaha, Neb., hence the name Kansas City/Omaha Kings. They stopped playing in Omaha in 1975.

During their time in Kansas City, their best player was point guard Nate “Tiny” Archibald. An adept scorer and passer, Archibald once led the NBA in scoring and assists for a season.

The Kings enjoyed moderate success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but as their fortunes took a downturn, so did their attendance, and in 1985 the team moved to Sacramento, Calif.

Playoff battles

In the early part of the 21st century, the Sacramento Kings were legitimate NBA title contenders. They were led by Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac and defensive stalwart Doug Christie. From 2001 to 2004, the Kings posted win totals of 55, 61, 59, and 55 games. They went through some epic battles with the Los Angeles Lakers, who were then led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.

In the 2001-02 playoffs, the Kings faced the two-time defending champion Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. They got out to a 3-2 series lead before losing the final two games. The Lakers went on to win a third title. The Kings would never advance as far in the playoffs.

2007-08 Season

The 2007-08 season was a rough one for the Kings. Ron Artest, who was acquired in 2005-06, was unable to lead the team to the playoffs as they finished with a 38-44 regular season record. In January they traded Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks. In July they traded Artest to Houston.

2008-09 Outlook

With so many tough teams in the Western Conference, and new players being integrated into the team, the Sacramento Kings have their work cut out for them this season. They are a long shot for a playoff berth.

Greatest Players

Nate Archibald, Bob Davies, Jerry Lucas, Mitch Richmond, Oscar Robertson, Maurice Stokes, Chris Webber