Kobe Bryant after receiving his fourth NBA Championship ring went back to work with 33 points as the Los Angeles Lakers went on to defeat their in-town rival LA Clippers 99-92 at the Staples Center. Every Laker on the team earned a ring from their 2008-2009 title except for Ron Artest, who joined the squad after trading places with now Houston Rockets small forward Trevor Ariza earlier this year.

Andrew Bynum on his 22nd birthday contributed with 26 points and 13 rebounds. While the Lakers were somewhat distracted by the banners, crowd and general memories of the summers events, the Clippers actually hung around. Eric Gordon, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman netted 21, 18, and 14 in their efforts to stay with the defending champs.  All it took was a Kobe/Odom take over early in the fourth for the Lakers to pull away.

“It’s always tough to play games after those kind of ceremonies,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson (Has won ten NBA titles as head coach with Chicago/LA). “Some of the energy is always difficult to maintain because there is a lot of energy that’s kind of dissipated when you go out and have that kind of ceremony. You’re not ready to step up and march to the tune of this season right yet.” 

The Lakers will next welcome the Dallas Mavericks to LA this Friday at 10:30 PM ET. Los Angeles Lakers tickets are available now!

The Memphis Grizzlies have officially extended an offer to free agent veteran guard Allen Iverson.  The press first caught wind of the news through Iverson’s twitter page, and it was later confirmed by GM Chris Wallace.  “We’re heading into the home stretch before the season, and we have had interest in Allen all summer,” Wallace said. “We’ve been in touch on a fairly consistent basis and had dialogue with his agent, Leon Rose, since the beginning of free agency.”

Although the Grizzlies have already formulated a set deal for the 10-time All-Star, there are still other teams in the picture.  Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown has been speaking with Iverson about teaming up again.  The Miami Heat and LA Clippers have also had conversations with him but have a more difficult route in signing the free agent with the luxury tax in place.  The deal from Memphis will likely be the biggest contract Iverson will see, knowing the franchise is around $3.5 million under the salary cap going into this season.

The former Piston was also a member of the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers earlier in his career.  Last season between Denver and Detroit he only played 57 games, averaging a career-low 17.5 points per game.

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6-foot-6 swingman Quentin Richardson has just been traded to the Miami Heat, marking the fourth time an NBA team has dealt him away.  Despite the fact that he hasn’t been able to really unpack anywhere, he manages to keep a positive attitude about the situation.  “The funny part about it was I didn’t even get any of the jerseys,” said Richardson. “I have a Knicks jersey and obviously I have a Clippers jersey because I played there before. I don’t have a Minnesota jersey and what was the other team?”  “The other team” was the Memphis Grizzlies; where he stopped after New York before arriving to LA.  From there he went to Minnesota, and after filling out the necessary paper work for the T-wolves, he wound up in Miami.  Best of luck to Q-Rich, who at this point is on pace to be acquired by every single NBA team by the end of the 2010 season.

Knowing the amount of times Richardson has changed locations, some teams have certainly made their fair share of deals this off-season.  The Los Angeles Clippers recently traded for Rasual Butler to fill their outside shooting weakness.  The 6-7 small forward averaged 11.2 points per game last year, shooting 39% from behind the arc during the regular season and 53% in the playoffs.

The Orlando Magic just signed free agent guard Jason Williams to add more depth and experience to their backcourt.  Williams hasn’t laced up since September of 2008, when he retired after a season with the Miami Heat.  He averaged 8.8 points a game in that season.

One of the most interesting developments this offseason has been talk of where veteran guard Allen Iverson will end up. Iverson is currently waiting for offers and has stated: “my people just informed me that we are getting close to a deal. I asked them to call me when it’s done. I am so ready to know!”  The eight-time All-Star is expecting calls from Charlotte, Miami, and New York.  After coming off the worst season of his career with the Detroit Pistons, AI feels as though he should address his new found work ethic through his twitter page. “When you see me again you will think that I am fresh out of Georgetown,” said Iverson. “Getting in shape, running, lifting and thinking about which team that I will help compete for a championship! Whoever gets me will be happy.”

 Look for more NBA updates to come!

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With the NBA Finals over, the last big event before free agency is just 12 days away. The 2009 NBA Draft is almost here! Expect the Clippers to use their first pick to find Baron Davis a suitable sidekick. The Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Sacramento Kings picks after. With a much-hyped draft class, speculation and mock drafts are flying around. The only definite is that the following players are on the draft board:

Blake Griffin - Oklahoma: Athletic PF that draws comparisons to Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudamire. Currently projected as the likely #1 pick.

Ricky Rubio - Spain: Rubio dazzled in the gold medal game at the 2008 Olympics. While some don’t feel the PG utilizes his size well, a number of teams are working to draft the young phenom.

Hasheem Thabeet - Connecticut:  Thabeet helped lead UCONN to the NCAA title game, but fell shortof a championship. The 7-3 center puts up solid defense, but poses some questions on offense.

Stephen Curry - Davidson: Led last year’s Cinderella Davidson squad.  Proficient scorer with speed. Some of the hype fell to the wayside this year, but still a solid option at PG.

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Ray Allen led the charge for Boston with 20 points as they went on to defeat the LA Clippers 90-77 last night in Boston.  Kevin Garnett hit all five of his attempted field goals in his 18 minutes played, finishing with 12 points.  Rajon Rondo ran the floor well for the C’s contributing 14 points with seven assists.

Zach Randolf scored 17 points with 14 rebounds for LA.  Baron Davis had a great all around game with 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.  The key for the Celtics was converting the Clippers 25 turnovers into 25 points.  “You definitely can’t let the Celtics get a lot of easy buckets,” said Clippers Marcus Camby. “They are one of the efficient teams, offensively, in the league and if you give them the extra point on turnovers, it’s going to make it impossible to beat a team like that.?

The Celtics have been on a role lately winning four straight as they head to Orlando to square off against the Magic this Wednesday at 8:00  pm.  Orlando is currently just one game behind Boston in the East.

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Less then one month after the Boston Celtics captured their 17th NBA Championship, many teams around the league are already beginning to try and make some adjustments so that they can put themselves in contention for a title run. Many teams have begun to sign their lottery draft picks and several free agents are close to signing multi-year deals with new teams.

It is expected that the Golden State Warriors will sign Corey Maggette to a five year deal estimated right around $50 million dollars. Last season, Maggette averaged 22.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the struggling Los Angeles Clippers. At 6-foot-6, great speed and a soft perimeter touch, he would fit right into Golden State coach Don Nelson’s run and gun style of play.

The Philadelphia 76ers continue to make moves, freeing up salary cap space which many suspect is so that they can make a strong offer to Elton Brand to come and play for them. On Tuesday the 76ers traded away forward Rodney Carney, a future first round draft pick and reserve forward Calvin Booth to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a future second round draft pick and $2.8 million dollars. The Sixers now have another $2 million in salary cap space to add to the $11 million in space available that they hope will land them the post player in Brand that they desperately need to become a contender in the East.

First round draft pick O.J. Mayo (third pick overall) signed a multi-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. The Grizzlies pulled off an eight player trade the night of the NBA draft to acquire the rights to the third pick and land Mayo. Memphis also announced the signing of Darrell Arthur, the 27th overall selection of this year’s draft.

The number one and two picks of this years’ NBA Draft have been in the spotlight in the early action of the NBA’s summer league games. Michael Beasley (2nd pick in the draft) scored 28 points in the first game of the summer season for the Miami Heat but then followed it up with only a 9 point outing in the second game a night later. Derek Rose of the Chicago Bulls (1st pick in the draft) scored 10 points in his NBA summer league debut against Miami and Beasley and then followed it up with 9 points in his second game against the Indiana Pacers.

In other league news, the NBA set the new salary cap at $58,680,000 for the 2008-2009 season. This year’s cap went up by more than $3 million dollars over last season’s, which was set at $55.630 million. The minimum team salary for 2008-09 was 75 percent of the cap, or $44.010 million.

Golden State Warriors guard Baron Davis has opted out of his contract for next year. Davis had reportedly been frustrated by the team’s inability to sign him to a long term deal, as well as their issues re-signing young guns Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis.

“[Opting out] was a difficult decision, to say the least,” Davis’ agent Todd Ramasar said. “The past couple years, he’s had a lot of success with the Warriors, and I think they’ve had a lot of success with him. But he had gotten to the point that we were at a crossroads and it was something we had to address. … With no extension or deal in place … [opting out] was a bit unexpected but something that I advised Baron to do.”

Unless he does a “sign-and-trade” deal with Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers are the most likely new team for Davis. The only other teams that currently have cap room are Memphis and Philadelphia, neither of which has as urgent of a need at guard as the Clippers.

The Warriors have not commented on any future plans to negotiate with Davis.

Since the 2005-2006 season, Davis has an average of  20.2 points and 8.1 assists per game.

I’m sure every Celtics fan has heard the rumors regarding Sam Cassell coming to the Celtics over the past few weeks. The seasoned veteran hinted at his interest in joining the Green Machine but couldn’t say much as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers released the oft-injured guard yesterday opening the door for a move to the Celtics. Cassell has played in 38 games this season, averaging 12.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.8 rebounds. No word on whether or not the Celtics will pursue Cassell. Sam could provide some veteran leadership and experience off the bench for the Celtics. Cassell needs to clear waivers by midnight tonight to be eligible in the playoffs for any team that signs him.

The Boston Celtics were able to salvage their West Coast trip with two consecutive wins, finishing the trip at 2-3. Last night the Celtics dominated the Los Angeles Clippers 104-76. After struggling on offense and defense in their first three games on the trip the Celtics were firing on all cylinders last night. The Celtics once again used a balanced attack approach on offense, with Pierce and Posey scoring 17 points and Ray Allen adding 15. Kevin Garnett in his fifth game back from an abdominal strain added 11 points and 6 rebounds.

The Celtics will be back in Boston on Wednesday 2/27 to host the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs have won three straight since completing a trade that landed them Ben Wallace, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. This will be a great test for both teams. Celtics tickets are still available for this game.