Kevin Martin Saw Trade Coming 

By Yannis Koutroupis

As Kevin Martin, now a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, prepared for the 2012-13 season with the Houston Rockets, he knew his time with the team was coming to an end. The franchise was clearly in rebuilding mode and had actually traded him prior to last seasom in a three-way deal for Pau Gasol that was vetoed in its final stages. They invested their highest draft pick in another shooting guard during the offseason, which told Martin all he needed to know.

“I knew it was going to come at some point, with next summer being an unrestricted free agent and them in rebuilding mode,” Martin said to HOOPSWORLD. “I knew it was going to come at some point, but I prepare every year to be where I’m at the start of training camp and have a great year.”

What surprised Martin was where he was traded to. His entire career he’s been successful, averaging 18 points over eight seasons, but he’s never been on a serious contender. Now with the Thunder, he has his best chance ever to win at a high rate and compete for a championship.

Click Here For More

NBA Trade Rumors: Who May Be Dealt?

By Alex Kennedy 

Over the past four months, NBA executives have been working the phones and trading players left and right. There are a decent amount of trades every offseason, but this summer was particularly chaotic. Since June, there have been 31 trades involving 96 players. Twenty-nine teams completed at least one trade, ranging from minor swaps to blockbuster deals, with the San Antonio Spurs finishing the summer as the only franchise that didn’t make a move (but not for lack of trying, especially on draft night).

Even after such a busy summer, the rumor mill continues to churn. Around the league, there are a number of players who find themselves on the block because they don’t fit into their team’s long-term plan for one reason or another. Some are veterans who are stuck on a rebuilding team, some are impending free agents who will likely be out of their team’s price range and some are starting-caliber players who are redundant because they’re on a deep team that has a logjam at their position.

Here are some players who could be dealt prior to the trade deadline on February 21:

Click Here For More

Ranking the Western Conference 

By Derek Page

The moment we’ve been waiting for since LeBron James and the Miami HEAT raised the Larry O’Brien trophy over their heads this past July is finally upon us. The 2012-13 NBA season kicks off tonight and it promises to be highly interesting and entertaining.

Now that we’ve had a chance to see how newly constructed squads have meshed this preseason, it’s time to take out the crystal ball and predict how the West will look in 2012-13:

#15 New Orleans Hornets

Predicted 2012-13 Regular Season Record: 25-57

What We Learned From the Preseason: New Orleans is in the process of building a solid core for the Hornets franchise, but there’s little doubt that it’s going to be just that – a process. The pieces are certainly in place for this team to be pretty good in the next couple of years, but these guys will need time to mature at the NBA level.

Click Here For More

Raptors Explain DeMar DeRozan’s Extension 

By Stephen Brotherston 

The Toronto Raptors and DeMar DeRozan waited until just before game time on Wednesday to finally come to an agreement on a four-year, $40 million contract extension. DeRozan was in the fourth year of his rookie contract and if the two sides had failed to reach an agreement before the end of the day, the young wing player would have become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

“I was to a point that I was ready if it didn’t and I was ready if it did,” DeRozan said. “It is a good thing that it’s out of the way.”

Nothing happens in Toronto any more without the agreement of Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and while Casey denies knowing any details, rest assured Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo would not have inked this deal if Casey wasn’t on board. Casey quickly identified DeRozan as one of his team’s core players going forward.

Click Here For More

Ranking the Eastern Conference 

By Joel Brigham

The preseason is over and teams are making their final cuts to gear up for the start of the regular season on Tuesday. With our first real look at how all 30 teams have responded to roster changes and injuries, we’ve been able to rank them all from 1-15 within each conference. We’ll start with the Eastern Conference today, and we’ll rank the Western Conference teams on Tuesday.

Without further ado, here’s how the East shapes up after the preseason:

#15 – Charlotte Bobcats

Predicted 2012-13 Regular Season Record: 21-61

What We Learned From the Preseason: The Bobcats are still bad. New head coach Mike Dunlap is going to make these kids much better, but it’s a process taking a roster with zero talent and turning it into something respectable. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist showed why he was the second overall pick this past June, but the rest of this roster needs work. And work takes time. Consider 21 wins a baby step in the right direction, even if getting there is going to be a painful thing to watch.

Click Here For More

Coach: System the Problem for Lakers?

By Anthony Macri

Two games in and there is already a deluge of calls for abandoning the Princeton Offense in Los Angeles.  It can’t work for a host of reasons, and one need only look at the results from the Lakers’ first two games to know that it simply can’t work.

However, to point to this system as the sole or even dominant reason for the Lakerss’ results is misguided at best, and willfully ignorant at worst.  I am a firm believer that it doesn’t really matter what you run – that if you have good players focused on team objectives, any system can be successful.  So how can we best assess the state of Laker-land two games in? I think it comes down to two key components: personnel issues and style (not system) of play.

There are two overarching personnel situations which must be acknowledged before you start placing undue blame on the coaching staff or the system.  One, Dwight Howard is simply not himself yet. Two, Steve Nash looks, well, old.

Click Here For More