2) It took him a while, but Mitch Kupchak has finally gotten his legs under him.  Plus, running a championship caliber team in LA never hurts when it comes to recruiting free agents.  It'll be interesting to see how RonRon handles Hollywood.  The Lakers should thank their lucky stars that Death Row records is no longer intact.

3) Kwame made a great point, it's time for the Grizzlies to fold, and if not, let's move into an A league and B league this season.  At mid-season the top-16 teams break off into their own league and play each other the rest of the way.  At seasons end, the top-8 make the playoffs.  Same format in B-league.  This way we don't have to watch San Antonio play-Memphis in mid-march and instead get to see SA, LA, Clev, Bos, Den, et al. go hard from the all-star break on.  Imagine the look on Vince Carter's face when he hears every game from mid-February on will be played at playoff intensity.  Hey it works well for the Premier League

4) The B-league playoffs will be for seeding in the lottery.  By the way, A league teams get top 16 picks according to final record.

5) What do New York and Iran have in common, neither have a functioning gov't.

2) How does Hedo fit what they're trying to do in Portland?  Does this mean taking the ball out of Brandon Roy's hands at the end of games?

3) Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh do realize that Jason Kidd is 36 right?

4) Look at the Clips making smart moves.  Now if only Dunleavy will let Baron and the Boys run.

5) DeMaurice Smith is doing it right.

2) I don't really understand why the Pistons fired Michael Curry except for the fact that Joe Dumars is an overrated GM.  He lucked out on a finals victory in '04, but there are a number of moves he should have made to keep team afloat.  It was wise trying to stay younger, but he just kept on making one bad trade and draft after another.  Curry was clearly doing what the bosses wanted when he benched Rip in favor of AI.  It was the wrong move, but as a rookie coach, what else can he do but do as he was told.  Rip has been in the league to know he shouldn't have taken the move personally.  This last point makes me think that a supposed beef with Rip was not reason for Curry's firing.  The Pistons are clearly going to try making a splash in Free Agency and Dumars figures a superstar will want a name coach on board.  Who that name coach is or what superstar they will land is besides me...but that said I see Joe D and the Pistons hiring Mike Fratello but I still can not figure out who they'll land in this market. 

3) While I'm not surprised that Sheed and Charlie V are sought after players, I'm somewhat surprised by the teams who are going after them.  Sheed is a natural fit for the Spurs and I've long wondered what it would look like seeing him and Duncan play together.  I can't say the same for Sheed and KG--this is going to sound blasphemous--but KG's on court personality is a bit over the top.  Guys like Sheed, Jesus Shuttlesworth, Pierce and Rondo are more likely to start asking him to tone it down by mid-season that being inspired by his antics...especially since they now all have rings.  KG's warrior bravado is better suited for Villanueva, a guy who doesn't have his own identity and who'd gladly at this point tag along with Garnett.  On the Cavs Villanueva would get swept up in Lebron's Mr. Magic persona and become a Drew Gooden/Mo Williams hybrid.  If I'm Villanueva I'm asking my agent to get me to either Boston or Phoenix, Boston for a shot at a ring and Phoenix for a chance to run and gun.

4) Dejuan Blair = Malik Rose

5) Joe Budden did Brandon Jennings Dirty

What the "exotic" label also tends to conceal about Cuba is that to its own people as well as outsiders, the island has long been as much an idea as a country. At least since José Martí, the great poet laureate of Cuban independence, began composing odes to the island's "half-breed" soul in the late 1800s, there has existed in Cuba an obsession with reflecting upon and debating the national character. This tradition is perhaps most memorably manifested in the seminal anthropologist Fernando Ortiz's argument, in Cuban Counterpoint (1940), that all of Cuban identity and culture--from the rumba to the mulata to the cigar--can be understood as outgrowths of an economy based in producing tobacco and sugar for export.

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2) If Rubio's that good, why don't the Clippers draft him #1. Rubio can be an understudy to Baron Davis for a year while he gets his legs under him.

3) Better yet, why don't the Clippers draft Rubio then make this trade.  They can send Baron Davis, Mardy Collins and Deandre Jordan to the Cavs for Ben Wallace and his expiring contract.  Rubio can back up Eric Gordon at point for a year or the Clips can pick up someone like Rafer Alston or Stephon Marbury to hold down the fort until Rubio's ready.  The Cavaliers should make this trade because it gives Lebron a legitimate all-star on the wing and someone who can take pressure off of him in crunch time.  They can move Mo Williams to the bench and turn him into a Jason Terry-like 6th man.  Jordan's athleticism will help them out against Dwight Howard et al.

4) Or, since these things have to be so intricate: Clippers draft Griffin and then trade him to OKC who agree to draft Rubio.  And what about the Grizzlies you say?  OKC agrees to send Nick Collison and their 25th pick to the Grizzlies in return for Marko Jaric.  Memphis would have the #2, 25th and 27th picks in this draft, plus tons of cap room.  But suddenly with a starting five of Conley, Mayo, Gay, Collison and Gasol, they're balanced and can score a shot blocker in Thabeet pick up a few veterans on the cheap with all that cap room.

5) He could also just have his agent say that the only team he will sign with is the Knicks.