The Best Free Agent That No One Is Talking About

NBA execs are lining up to throw money at LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. This makes perfect sense but only a few teams are going to be fortunate enough to land these players. Teams with cap room should take a shot at Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Rudy Gay. Gay is a restricted free agent and on the verge of being a NBA superstar. He averaged nearly 20 points per game last season and played well for an up and coming Grizzlies team. If some team made a creative offer to Gay (such as front loading his contract), it would be difficult for the Grizzlies to match. The team that gets Gay would lock up a budding superstar who is still a few years away from reaching his peak as a NBA player.

Lakers Win Another Championship

The Los Angeles Lakers won their second consecutive NBA championship by defeating the Celtics in a grueling seven game series. The championship is the Lakers 5th in the past 10 years. Kobe Bryant has now tied Magic Johnson for the most rings in Lakers history. This Lakers team may be on the verge of being another dynasty.

Kobe Bryant may not be the player he was a year or two ago but he is still in his prime. Andrew Bynum is nowhere near peaking and has the potential to be an NBA All Star. Ron Artest is still playing quality basketball on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Pau Gasol still has another 3 to 4 years of All Star level basketball left in him. The only spot that needs tightening up is the point guard position. Derrick Fisher is still a quality player but is no longer a starting point guard on a championship level team. L.A. needs to add a starter like Raymond Felton to make their entire lineup solid.

Lakers And The Celtics Tied 2-2

This series looks like it is going to come down to tomorrow night's game. L.A. missed a great chance to take a commanding lead Thursday night. Let's not forget the Lakers have done their job by stealing Game 3 in Boston. The Celtics now have to go back to L.A. I love the Lakers chances even if the Celtics can somehow steal Game 5. If you want to know who will win Game 5, look for the following signs early.

1. Lamar Odom - Odom is the barometer for how the Lakers are playing. If he is aggressively forcing the action with his playmaking abilities L.A. will roll. If he is the passive Odom of Games 2 and 4, the Lakers will struggle.

2. Andrew Bynum - The Lakers need a healthy Andrew Bynum. Game 4 showed just how much the Lakers miss Bynum. It was a layup fest. Bynum controls the middle by blocking and altering shots.

3. Paul Pierce - Pierce had an absolutely miserable first 3 games of the series. He got on track in Game 4 and helped the Celtics early. The Lakers need to contain Pierce if they want to steal 2 out of 3 at the Garden.

Prediction: L.A. in 7

Lakers Beat The Kings in Double OT

Nice bounce back. L.A. ran their record to 24-5 by beating a very game Sacramento team in double OT 112-103. Kobe had a great game scoring 30 and Gasol chipped in 24 points 11 rebounds. Shannon Brown and Derrick Fisher has great rebound performances. No Ron Artest...no problem. Artest got a concussion by falling down his steps at home on Friday night. Lamar Odom filled in nicely with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Cavs Blast the Lakers

This one was ugly.The Lakers picked a bad time for their worst performance of the season losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas day 102-87. The Lakers had one of those worst shooting nights and trailed the entire game. L.A. shot under 37% from the field and shot 27% from the 3 point line. Kobe had a terrible game hoisting up 32 shots to score 35 points and he received no help from his teammates. Derrick Fisher and Lamar Odom played poorly. Andrew Bynum was invisible and Pau Gasol was not a factor. Meanwhile the Cavs shot over 54% from the field and almost 40% from 3 point land. In a rare occasion LeBron James scored 26 but did not lead the Cavs in scoring. Mo Williams led the Cavs with 28 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. The Cavs got solid contributions from bench players Anderson Varejao, Jamario Moon and Delonte West. The game got so out of hand that the Lakers received 5 technical fouls and the crowd threw foam fingers onto the court in the 4th quarter. Hopefully things will improve when the Lakers face the Kings tomorrow on Saturday night.

NBA Surprises

NBA Scoring Leader
Carmelo Anthony leads the NBA in scoring. I assumed that Kobe, LeBron or D-wade were leading the league in scoring. Carmelo is quietly having a great season.

NBA Rebounding Leader
Gerald Wallace leads the NBA in rebounding. There is no way that I would have guessed that one without looking at the league leaders. Wallace has more rebounds then Marcus Camby, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh.

NBA Blocked Shots Leader
Josh Smith leads the NBA in blocks. Smith is living up to his billing and has become a much more polished player this season.

Lakers 16-3

The Lakers have picked up where they left off after their championship season and are off to a 16-3 start. The Lakers won their 16th game of the season after a 101-88 win over the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers lead the Pacific division by 2 games and are posied to defend their title.