This definitely has to have been one of the most active seasons of note in respect to big name players being moved this year in the NBA. Things got started back in late December when under appreciated Kyle Korver was shipped out of Philadelphia to surging Utah for Gordan Giriceck and a protected first round pick. Then on February 1st the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol and a second round pick from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and Aaron McKie. The Lakers absolutely stole Gasol from the Grizzlies and definitely improved their chances of winning the NBA Finals. Roughly a week later the Suns countered the Lakers trade by shipping Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami for superstar Shaquille O’Neal. Also, a little over three weeks ago I predicted Kidd would be traded to the Mavericks well before the rumors began and ultimately this week Dallas able to get the deal done. Devin Harris, Gana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn and a pair of draft picks were shipped to New Jersey in order to acquire Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright. The final big trade came through yesterday when Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons were traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Joe Smith, Ben Wallace and Chicago’s 2009 regular second round draft pick. Also as part of the three-team trade, Chicago sent Adrian Griffin to Seattle. There were some other smaller trades like Mike Bibby to the Hawks, Gerald Green to the Rockets, Kurt Thomas to the Spurs, and Bonzi wells along with Mike James to the Hornets so all in all it was a very hectic time. I ultimately think the Lakers helped themselves the most especially if Andrew Bynum can come back completely healthy. Only time will tell and this has to be the most buzz around the NBA since the Jordan days.

Word is The Big Aristotle is on the move to Phoenix. The Suns will ship Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami for Shaq D. Miami is making this move to get the sinking ship of a salary off their payroll so I understand why they make the move, but does this move help the Suns? Shaq might have a little left in the tank, but he sure hasn’t shown that is the case so far this year. The jury will be out for awhile on whether this deal will work or not if it does come to fruition.

The silly overhyped feud is finally over it seems. ABC will not have the Lakers and Heat play again this Christmas after doing so the last three years. Instead Shaq and gang will be facing King James and the Cavs on Xmas.

This seems to be the question going on right now with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe made a lot of noise with the media yesterday when he announced on Steven A Smith’s radio show that he has been lied to by the Lakers and wants to be traded. He said he was promised the Lakers would build an adequate team around him after the departure of Shaquille O’Neal, but there haven’t been any big additions to the team and they don’t plan on doing much in this off-season.

A few hours after Kobe said he must be traded he backed off these statements and said he really wants things to work out. How do you back track that much in the same day Kobe? You shouldn’t make such damaging statements and then just take them back as if it wasn’t a big deal. Don’t forget this was the same team and organization that stood behind you during your off-court isssues a couple of years back and do you really need another PR problem?

Here is a video clip highlight of some pretty spectacular dunks from this year’s dunk contest Dunk Contest video clip. It does start off with a little dance display by none other than Shaq Diesel.  Check out the dunk by Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and congratulatons to Gerald Green from the Boston Celtics. 

The first two games have pretty much boiled down to the Mavericks playing exceptionally well and the Heat playing like S#%T. It really amazes me how out of sync and weak Miami’s superstar Shaquille O’Neal has played in the first two games. The second game he scored a putrid 5 points and didn’t even play the final 15 minutes of the game. In case Shaq isn’t aware, if he doesn’t play at the top of his game then the Mavs will absolutely turn the Heat off. Miami must play a lot better defensively against the perimeter play of Dallas and they have to get the ball in low and score effectively. Miami does have three games in a row now at home and they must win this one, but are they thinking in the back of their head only Boston in 1969 and Portland in 1977 have rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win the finals? We should find the answer to this question in quarter one.