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In theory, protected draft picks are a smart idea. Protecting a draft pick permits a team to hold on to the pick under certain circumstances -- for instance, a top-five protected pick stays with the team if the pick is one of the top five in the d...

[View the story "Metta 'Bows Out " on Storify]...

HoopIdea wants to help make the NBA game even better for basketball fans. With that goal in mind, taking on tanking seems obvious. In no way can what's happening in Charlotte, where the Bobcats are 7-45, can be construed as "good for fans." Same g...

Kelley L Cox/US Presswire Rick Barry tried to settle an ugly scene in Oakland, but his sharp words only made things worse. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Many of you saw it on TV. Near the end of Chris Mullin's halftime jersey retirement ceremony, Bay Area bro...

[View the story "Best of Sloan" on Storify]...

[View the story "Making fun of geeks" on Storify] Follow @SherwoodStrauss...

I was shocked to see Rajon Rondo at No. 17 in #NBA Rank and recently irked by his presence in the All-Star game. I am what you might call a "Rondo hater," insofar as that term means believing an athlete to be worse than consensus. Obviously, Rajon is...

I don't conjure Pau Gasol when thinking of Rasheed Wallace. But according to Jim Cavan at the NYT's Off the Dribble blog, the two could soon have something of a symbiosis: 'Whether or not they end up dealing Pau Gasol before the trade deadline, the L...

Jeremy Lin is having much success while racking up the turnovers. So is Kyrie Irving. Turnovers are bad, but turnover-prone rookies often have brilliant careers. What gives? Ian Levy of Hickory High explores what high TOs mean per a young player's de...

[View the story "Lin takes over Toronto ... and Twitter" on Storify]...

Ethan Sherwood Strauss doesn't think it's crazy to think some other East forwards ought to start over Carmelo Anthony: "Now, the narrative is about how the Knicks only need a point guard, an animating force that would finally allow Carmelo's obvious ...

MLK Day brings a plethora of quality matchups

Ethan Sherwood Strauss on WarriorsWorld, talking about poor Andris Biedrins who's massive, strong, tanned, talented and finally healthy again, but hamstrung by evident fear of the free throw line: "He's slowing slipping out of this league. In the la...

David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images Kevin Love and Derrick Williams have different listed heights Stumbled across this when I wrote of Dwight Howard as a 6-9 center. Some of you just could not accept the recorded fact that Dwight Howard is six-foot-...

I'll certainly enjoy Tuesday's Boston Celtics-Miami Heat game, but it won't have the deed to my attention span. Last season's Celtics-Heat opener owned my anticipation, attention and, later, my ruminations. I sat bolt-upright in a musty, saw-dusted s...

Five minutes into last night's Rockets-Magic game. Dwight Howard caught the pass, jabbed left, dribbled right, spun right, ended up right in Samuel Dalembert's teeth. The bastard child of a dunk and layup split the net above staggering Samuel's he...