HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

LeBron Considering Dunk Contest: Everyone has been clamoring for Miami HEAT forward LeBron James to participate in All Star Weekend’s Slam Dunk Contest since he first entered the league. LeBron has passed every year, but his interest in it appears to increase as he continues to see the huge demand for his participation.

LeBron was recently asked about the contest again and he actually admitted that he’s been bouncing back and forth between giving it a go and not.

The dunk contest as a whole has seen a drop off in its popularity over the years. It’s no longer the weekend’s main attraction or must-watch television. There have been some memorable moments recently, but the event just doesn’t excite like it used to.

Ridiculously-explosive rookie Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers has already gone on the record saying that he would accept the NBA’s invitation to be in the dunk contest if they offered. Putting LeBron in the mix as well may be perhaps the only way that the NBA could greatly intrigue the masses for the contest once again.

Griffin has been posterizing absolutely everybody who gets in his way this season with dunk-contest-worthy slams. Meanwhile, LeBron has always been one of the league’s most ferocious finishers. Watching the two of them go head-to-head would be absolutely epic and it’s something that the NBA needs to do everything in their power to put together.

What are your thoughts on a potential James-Griffin showdown in the 2011 dunk contest? Who else should be invited to participate along with them? Leave your comments below!

No Time To Waste: The Phoenix Suns knew that there was going to be a transition period after shipping off Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu to the Orlando Magic for Vince Carter, Mikeal Pietrus and Marcin Gortat. After completing the trade they understandably fell to the San Antonio Spurs and Miami HEAT, two teams that could possibly meet up in the NBA Finals, but followed that stretch up with losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. Now four games under .500 the Suns are starting to understand just how much of a learning curve there is going to be.

"I think it is really tough to kind of stick them in the mix," said Suns head coach Alvin Gentry to KTAR. "We play a different style of basketball than they are used to. I think Pietrus being at Golden State for a few years is a little more clued in as to what we are doing. We have got a few more practices, it is probably going to take four or five games to finally start to feel good about it. As I said to the guys this is going to be an important stretch of games for us over the next couple of weeks or so and if we want to get back into the playoff race we are going to have to have to play really good basketball and find a way to win the majority of these games."

{AUTHOR_BOX}From a coach’s perspective, understanding when and how to best utilize his new players is going to be Coach Gentry’s biggest challenge.

"It has been really tough because some of the other teams I have coached we had guys that knew they were going to play and that has been it," said Gentry. "Getting those guys accustomed to the minutes they are going to play and when we are going to sub in has been fairly easy. The difficult thing around here is that we do have a deep that but at some stage we have to develop consistency so that you know what you are going to get from guys night in and night out and you know how to use them. That has been really tough because this is our second change this season so we are trying to get guys to understand their roles and to put a combination of guys out there that is going to play great, so it is a challenge but it is something that we have to get done and get done quickly."

Looking poised to help make the transition smoother for the Suns is recently-extended forward Jared Dudley. In the first two games after the trade Dudley erupted for 27 points against the Spurs and 33 versus the HEAT. He made a combined 10 threes in those contests, giving Coach Gentry confidence that he’s going to be ready to step up. However, Carter being able to avoid surgery on his ailing knee means Dudley’s likely going to remain a reserve.

"I think for him and us it was all about spacing," said Gentry. "To me I thought we got into a great offensive rhythm where he was catching the ball in rhythm with his feet set and he is a very accurate shooter when that is the case, which is why I think he can throw up seven three’s, seven-for-ten from the three, so we do like that. One of the things is that Vince has been a starter throughout his career and Jared knows how to play off the bench and he knows how to do that and has been kind of a sparkplug for that second unit, so we will take a look at that and see how we will do that but Jared really stepped up. He did a great job in those two games.’

Luckily for the Suns six their next eight games are at home, giving them a great opportunity to get things together before the eighth seeds gets too far away from them.

Miller Needs To Get Defensive: Miami HEAT forward Mike Miller’s minutes have been sporadic since making his 2010-2011 debut earlier this month. He’s seen as many as 19 minutes on one night, while completely not playing on another.

Miller, immediately signed after the big three to serve as the team’s licensed sharpshooter, likely would prefer a bigger role that is more defined. In order to get that he may need to worry about his defense more than offense, because that’s what HEAT head coach Erik Spoelstra’s biggest concern currently is.

"(Practice was) a little bit more training-camp like today and we did a lot of those defensive drills so we don’t forget what our identity is," said Spoelstra to Ira Winderman of The Florida Sun Sentinel. "We’re very happy about the month of December and finishing the last game, even though it wasn’t to our identity. But, nevertheless, that was still 119 points against our defense and we had to drill those fundamentals.

"Sometimes you just need to go back and drill the fundamentals, which you don’t often have time to do in the regular season."

Spoelstra has plans utilize Miller more extensively eventually, but he’s going to go about it gradually until he starts to really earn his time.

"Any time we have an opportunity to put him in where it’s natural, he’s going in," said Spoelstra. "But he has to be ready. I spoke with him again to mention that. It won’t be easy the next three weeks or a month when you try to work somebody in. and it has to happen in a healthy, natural way for the team.

"Each time he gets one of those opportunities he has to make the most of it. It will probably never be in great rhythm right now because it will be based on foul trouble or some other circumstances. But it’s also not definitive that he’ll play every night. It just depends. He’s the next guy in line."

Flynn, Brewer Want To Stay: As we covered in this space earlier this week, the Minnesota Timberwolves are active in the trade market with their targets set on the likes of New York Knick Anthony Randolph and Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers. The trade talks have filtered into their locker room and a couple players are already making it clear that they have no desire to leave Minnesota.

"I love it here," said point guard Jonny Flynn, who more than seven teams are courting, to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. "I love the guys here, love the coaching staff. It’s a young team that I definitely see great things out of it. But it’s still a abusiness at the end of the day. You can never overlook that. There are some things that you can’t control. If you look at the depth chart, something’s going to happen. It’s inevitable. You can’t really overlook that. It’s just who and when. When that time comes, it will come."

"I definitely don’t want a trade," added Brewer. "I want to play more. I love Minnesota, been here four years. I don’t really want to go anywhere, whatever they decide to do. If I’m not getting the minutes I’d like to get, I still feel I can help the team whenever I do get out there."

Timberwolves head coach Kurt Rambis stated that he liked the team he has right now after they recently won two straight, but it’s highly unlikely that Minnesota goes without making a move prior to February’s trade deadline. Some changes are going to be made, and despite Flynn and Brewer’s desire to stay they could be playing elsewhere come that time.

Twitter: The 2010-2011 season is here and HOOPSWORLD is going to have a much larger presence on twitter. If you aren’t following all of our experts you’re missing out on some of the most-up-to-date information in both the NBA and NCAA along with breaking news and great insight. HOOPSWORLD’s twitter team consists of Yannis Koutroupis, Steve Kyler, Bill Ingram, Alex Kennedy, Eric Pincus, Lang Greene, Jason Fleming, Tommy Beer, Luke Byrnes, Alex Raskin, and Joel Brigham.