NBA Basketball

LeChoke can go **** himself. Arrogant little POS made the whole season and whole league about him. I hope Dallas blow them out of the building tonight in the way James' wife blows Rashard Lewis. Jason Terry hitting that 3 over James was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

^^ lol that bitch was wrong for doing another ***** in the same league..but hey it's rumors

Wow! The Mavs did it! Well done to Dirk Nowitzki for leading his team to an NBA title. Congrats to old-timers like Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion for being great pros and finally getting their dues.

No mention on Jason Terry, he carried the team tonight. Big shot after big shot.

Dirk MVP, deserved. In every game, he was the man in money time.

Yes..Terry was immense last night. Great effort from the old timers...they deserved that one.

The NBA season finished a couple of weeks ago with the Dallas Mavericks winning the title against Miami Heat.

Tonight the worst teams from last season get the first pick of this year's crop of college talent. The NBA Draft order is as follows:

1st Round
1 Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Minnesota Timberwolves
3 Utah Jazz
4 Cleveland Cavaliers
5 Toronto Raptors
6 Washington Wizards
7 Sacramento Kings
8 Detroit Pistons
9 Charlotte Bobcats
10 Milwaukee Bucks
11 Golden State Warriors
12 Utah Jazz
13 Phoenix Suns
14 Houston Rockets
15 Indiana Pacers
16 Philadelphia 76ers
17 New York Knicks
18 Washington Wizards
19 Charlotte Bobcats
20 Minnesota Timberwolves
21 Portland Trailblazers
22 Denver Nuggets
23 Houston Rockets
24 Oklahoma City Thunder
25 Boston Celtics
26 Dallas Mavericks
27 New Jersey Nets
28 Chicago Bulls
29 San Antonio Spurs
30 Chicago Bulls

There are supposedly two outstanding talents in the form of Point Guard Kyrie Irving (Duke University) and Power Forward Derrick Williams (Arizona University). Cleveland are said to favour taking Irving to lead the team, but there may well be trade action looking to move up to grab Williams at the second pick. He could be a great player, but the Timberwolves already have an outstanding PF in the shape of Kevin Love. Several teams have already attempted to get up to #2, including the Lakers who offered Lamar Odom apparently.

As Cleveland also have the #4 pick, perhaps they should take the physical Derrick Williams and then grab one of the other small men? Lots of interest is directed towards the three point guards rated below Irving: Jimmer Fredette (Brigham Young), Brandon Knight (Kentucky University), and Kemba Walker (Connecticut University).

A few European stars such as Jonas Valanciunas from Lithuania, and Jan Vesely from Serbia, will probably be selected in the Top 10.

NBA teams really rely on the Draft to build their starting line-ups. Last year the Wizards took PG John Wall who is now their best player. The year before the LA Clippers got the immense dunk machine, Blake Griffin, with the top pick and he's now one of the League's best. The #1 pick in 2008 was Derrick Rose who was this past season's MVP.

The 2003 Draft had LeBron James being selected first by the Cavaliers. Curiously the 4th and 5th picks that year were Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and last summer it was a major coup of free agency that James and Bosh joined Wade to form a power trio for the Miami Heat. As we now know, they were only good enough to get to the NBA Finals, but not beat Dallas.

Will anyone else be watching the Draft on ESPN tonight?

What time does it start at???

Kind of a bit late to tell you now! I watched the first 20 picks. Also lots of players being traded, and picks being shifted around.

Cleveland took Kyrie Irving as planned, and Derrick Williams went to Minnesota.

NBA.com: Draft 2011

Anyone following the NBA this season?

Yes absolutely. Still a Phoenix Suns fan, despite their struggles. One night they can beat the Lakers. But then there are plenty of nights this season when they lose to a 'lesser' team.

As it's a shortened season with the remaining fixtures packed closer together, teams with young athletic talent (Bulls and Thunder) might really be able to sustain their excellent play.

I haven't missed many Bulls games this season. They have a great record with only having their starting 5 fit for five games. Luol Deng is having a great season and has rewarded with being named an All Star.

Lin is playing good, winning basketball but is being over-hyped, he turns the ball over a lot. It will be interesting to see how he fares when the supposed "stars" of their team get fit.

Of course. Blake Griffin > God.

oklahoma thunder are playing good basketball.. entertaining as well

Yet he can't hit a damn free throw.

Couldn't care less, neither could Shaq.

Jeremy Lin

Lin is doing his thing. Can't take anything away from his performances.

San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls fan here, can't split them, so i have to go for both. Favourite player is D. Rose, but i do also like Bryant from the Lakers. Been a Spurs fan since 2002 and a Bulls fan since 2000, was pissed that i wasn't old enough to experience the great MJ era.

Anyway, this season i feel the best teams are the Bulls, Heat and OKC, i think the Clippers are very good but not there yet and the Spurs, well they have a good record, but they do tend to get blown out against the very good teams. The Lakers are done and so are the Celtics, also the Mavs are too old and don't look to have it this season, then you have Orlando who are just delaying the inetivable, losing D. Howard.

NBA Champions for this season, Miami Heat, they just look way to strong, but hoping the Bulls can grab their 7th championship