Going Upstairs: Carmelo

All the latest news surrounding the league pertains to Carmelo Anthony supposedly asking to be traded from the Nuggets. Speculation is starting to surface as to where he would like to go and which teams are the front-runners.

Of course, much of this speculation has him headed to the Big Apple, and to no surprise, the New York media is behind most of it. Both Michael Kay of ESPN Radio in New York and the NY Post are reporting stories of Anthony's interest in joining the Knicks. Let's remember, these were the same guys, along with Chris Sheridan, that fueled the LeBron James-to-New York fire and made it seem as if they were the clear favorites to land him. As it turned out, LeBron barely considered New York an option.

The Madhouse: A Tribute to #33

This is my first blog at Pro Basket-blog and I'm very excited to be a part of the crew. Matt Becker, Joe Romano, Tapan Jani, Kevin Connors and Shawn Gorman are some of the brightest basketball minds around and my only hope is that I can keep up with their high standards when it comes to insight, analysis and humor.

The team over here on Pro Basket-blog are very big Scottie Pippen fans. We know a lot about Pip and Pip means a lot to us. When this is the case, sometimes, it can be quite difficult to say everything that you want to. So instead, we have limited ourselves to one paragraph each.

Below, along with our paragraphs, we have gathered quotes from various sources. To truly understand the complexity of Scottie Pippen the person, you had to know him. To truly understand the brilliance of Scottie Pippen the basketball player, you had to have played with him.

On the Backburner: Five Most Fun 2k11 Teams

First off, I'd like to thank Mr. Becker for allowing me to become a guest writer on his blog. Matt - I hope you don't regret adding me that I can add a unique perspective on NBA basketball. Best of luck to you in North Carolina. I'm really looking forward to reading about Bulls basketball from a group of friends, for a change, instead of just internet randoms. I already know Tapan will bring style, Kevin passion, Becker hunger, Romano savvy, and Vineeth wisdom. Am I missing anyone? Whatever. Enough with the soapy introduction. Let us talk basketball.

The NBA's Final Four

I know this is a day late (Boston beat Orlando yesterday), but I wanted to weigh in on the Conference Finals. To no one's surprise, the Lakers and Magic are two of the last four remaining. But not many expected Boston and Phoenix to be a part of the mix. I'm going to break down each series with my very own version of "What could happen? What might happen? What will happen?"

(Basically this is how it works. "What could happen?" is a long-shot scenario. Think J.P. from Angels in the Outfield. "What might happen?" tells of a plausible situation which may or may not be contrary to popular opinion. "What will happen?" gives my official prediction. We'll see how well this works.)

Chicago-Cleveland Game 3 Recap

I missed the first half of this game, but was there to see the Bulls effectively blow a 21-point lead. After Charles Barkley predicted at halftime that the Cavs would come back and win the game, the Bulls came out gangbusters to start the third quarter, and at one point I actually convinced myself the game might be over. Well, all it took was a 13-0 Cleveland run to make it a game again.

Reactions to the first weekend of NBA Playoffs

April is my favorite sports month of the year. I know a lot of people say fall is their favorite sports season, but to me April is the best time to be a sports fan. Maybe it's because I'm such a big NBA fan. And maybe it's because I love baseball. But to me, nothing beats the spring season. Not with Opening Day, 40 games in 40 nights, or even the Masters (and the NFL draft for you football fans).

Trade deadline recap

So after a busy trade deadline, the Bulls managed to make two deals, acquire four expiring contracts, nab a first round pick, and help out their immediate competitors. We can now see that Gar Paxdorf (credit Blog a Bull for the name) is gunning to sign one of the big free agents this summer and the "2010 plan" is now in full-effect as Chicago has enough cap space to sign one max free agent and even have a few bucks leftover. For those of you wondering exactly how much money the Bulls will have to play with, I'll break it down for you: