So stressed. Moving tomorrow, Futureheads tonight and if that wasn't stressful enough, now the Celtics are trying to trade for Allen Iverson!! And offering Gerald Green and Al Jefferson (depending on who you listen to). Barf! Danny, don't do it. Wally + #7 is fine, but not Al and GG. What are we, the Knicks?

Other players the C's have been linked to in the last two weeks: KG, Chris Duhon and Sebastian Telfair. I'd rather have Carlos Boozer or Rashard Lewis, both of whose names have been bandied about quite a bit lately.

The C's have the #7 pick in tonights draft and you better believe the pick is in play. And I have to go see the Futurheads tonight! That's by no means a bad thing, just bad timing. I'm going to try and stick around until after the C's pick before I head to the venue. The Iverson deal, if it goes down, might not happen until July 1 (when free agents are eligible to be signed) anyways. I'm hoping Philly asked for Al and GG and Danny countered with Wally and #7. Ok, I'll stop.

Like I said, I moving tomorrow so I might not be online again until the middle of next week. It's all up to Comcast. *shudder*

Sports Guy's Mock draft. I'm all for Randy Foye, but I bet we take Sheldon Williams tonight.

Pedro back to Fenway tonight.

Truly, truly, truly.

The NBA Draft lottery was last night (meaning roughly 5 weeks until my favorite night of the entire year) and although the Draft Gods deemed us unworthy of moving up (unlike Toronto, which moved up into the top spot and pushed Portland down to #4), I'm pretty happy with the Celtics picking at seven. Assuming Andrea Bargnani stays in the draft, this draft seems seven playwers deep to me. The best thing about this situation is that the teams ahead of us all have specific needs that they'll most likely want to address which should lead to a good player dropping to us at number seven. Also working in our favor, the Hawks and T-Wolves, both teams that have never met a draft they couldn't screw up royally, are picking ahead of us so we can capitalize on their mistakes. There are still alot of workouts and draft camps to come, but here are what the new and updated mock draftshave the Celtics doing:

NBA Draft has us taking Brandon Roy.
Hoopshype has us taking Tyrus Thomas.
So does DraftExpress.
Chad Ford has us taking Rajon Rondo.

If we get Marcus Williams or Tyrus Thomas out of this draft, color me a happy camper. Ideally, I'd want someone that can contribute right away next year (Roy, Rudy Gay or Williams) but Thomas really intrigues me. He's a reach at number one, but seems about right at number seven.

There's also the possibility that we trade Raef or Tony Allen with our pick for some veteran help and a pick later in the first round. Danny Ainge said he already knew who he wanted a few weeks ago, so it might come down to waiting to see if his guy is still on the board when we pick. For the record, I don't want us to take either Duke seniors.

The most blogged about thing on the interweb today has to be Nike+iPod. Tien has the pictures to prove it.

Borat at Cannes.

New Outkast MP3.

Ear Farm has a full Moz concert from RCMH for your downloading pleasure.

Related: Moz to Robbie Williams; "You look very Orange."
Robbie Williams to Jonathan Ross; "If that's the only thing he ever says to me I'll be happy."

Remember on Monday when I said I just saw my first ever buzzer beater in OT? Well now I've seen two in 4 days! Last night's game was incredible. High-fiving complete strangers incredible. So best.

Here is my glorious DCist recap. Check out Paul's stats since February 1st. He's scored 30+ points in 11 of his last 12 games. And people wanted us to trade him to Chicago for fucking Ben Gordon! Blasphemy! He's one of the Top 10 players in the NBA. I will not argue this. Oh yeah, Ryan Gomes...27 points, nine boards, five assists.

I got home late and stayed up watching the replays so I didnt get my photos together in time to post them, but I'll try and do it tonight. For the record, the lense that came with my Rebel XT is teh suckiness.

PS - Bear down on that, Gilbert!

Hello Happiness!

With Ron Artest finally on his way to Sacramento, the trade winds of the NBA finally started blowing and Danny Ainge was again at the fron of the line. Ainge finally unloaded Mark Blount, but it took Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed and two 2nd round picks to get it done. In return the Celtics got Wally Swerviak (I am resisting learning how to spell his name as long as possible), Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and a first round pick in 2008. I like this trade for both teams. The C's traded a few of their most turnover-prone players (Davis, Blount) along with two guys that wouldn't be on the roster next year(Banks & Reed) and two second round picks we didn't need anyway for a one time All-Star averaging 23 ppg in the last four weeks, an expiring contract and a player to be drafted later. Yes, Wally has a ridiculous contract, but the C's weren't going to be under the cap any time soon. Yes Wally's defense is suspect, but it's not like Ricky's was very good. He's given up his fair share of buckets this year, amny of them game winners(Gilbert Arenas and Jerry Stackhouse say hello). Wally will spread the floor for PP and the young 'uns(Perk and Jeff) and continue to shoot at a high percentage. We also clear up some playing time for Tony Allen, Ryan Gomes and possibly Gerald Green.

Minny didn't do too bad in this deal either. Ricky and Blount can score, Banks and Reed can be help off the bench. They need more players, plain and simple. KG needs help and he got some today. This is a trade that's good for both teams but won't put either over the top. Minny needed to make a change to their roster and Blount is as good as any free agent they would have been able to afford over the summer. For Boston, it's addition by subtraction. The team was 3-1 when Blount collected DNP's and now we'll be able to see what we have with all the young guys on our bench. Plus, we have like 5 picks in the next three drafts.

Also, reports have the Celtics signing Will Bynum to fill in their final roster slot.

The C's host the Kings (and Ron Artest) tonight. Wally's wife is due sometime in the next day or so, so his first game with the team figures to be Monday, when the Celtics travel to...Minnesota.

Ah, now we know what really held up the (now completed) Artest to Sacramento deal. Artest's new agent. From ESPN (emphasis mine):

One source involved in the inner workings of the deal suggested that agent Mark Stevens was the person most opposed to the trade because it would preclude Artest from earning any of the endorsement money from companies embracing street cred that might have been available to him in a larger market.

The absurd notion of Artest somehow being a marketable commodity at this point in his career helps show the degree of delusion under which Artest's advisers sometimes operate, but Artest long ago replaced a much more established agent, Mark Bartelstein, with the less-experienced Stevens. Bartelstein continues to collect a percentage of Artest's salary, while Stevens won't be in position to earn a similar commission until Artest decides whether to opt out of his contract following the 2007-08 season.

Straight from the Rosenhaus School of Client Representation. Who cares what's good for the player, how much money does it bring me? It's worth noting that the only significant endorsement Artest has garnered to this point in his career was with And1, which also sponsored Latrell Spreewell after he almost choked his old coach PJ Carlisemo. When Artest played in the All Star game a few years ago, he wore a different pair (and different brand) of shoes in each quarter in an effort to expose himself to potential advertisers. That obviously didn't work out very well.

Moving offices today (To an office. With a window!). More tomorrow.

(Image via Boston Dirt Dogs)

I present you the World Cup draw.

The US is in Group E with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic.

Yikes!

After what happened last time, I was a tad apprehensive to go back and do the whole book signing thing again, but I figured the cold weather would keep most of the people away, and I was right. Michelle and I left the office a little before 5:00 and made our way down to the ESPN Zone. When we got there, there were 12 people in line before us. The wait in line wasn't very long and before I knew it, it was my turn. I made sure to tell The Sports Guy that the person in front of me bought the last book at the last signing (which was on 10/4, not 10/3) and he was very apologetic, overly so in fact. I asked him why there was no NBA fantasy draft column from this year (it happened really fast and wasn't very funny), why on earth Justin Reed gets any PT (he must have naked pictures of Doc Rivers somewhere) and his thoughts on Kendrick Perkins (So far, so good). Then I was out the door and on the subway by 5:42. So I had plenty of time to get home and eat dinner before watching the Celtics play their worst game of the season against the Rockets. Tracy McGrady was nigh unstoppable.

Slightly off topic, I received some very good news today that I'll share with everyone when the time is right. And no, it has nothing to do with the Super Furry Animals, which is a big change, I know.

The NBA (thankfully/finally) tips off tonight with four games on the slate. Everyone else hits the hardwood tomorrow night and we're off to the races. Once again yours truly is here to bring you each team's season outlook in 51 words or less. Let's do this.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlanta Hawks
Roster has some talent, but it's a mess. With the death of Jason Collier, PT will be split between 6 SF's, 1 SG, 1 PG and 1 C. Al Harrington is in a contract year, but how much will Marvin Williams play? He's looked lost in camp and pre-season.
Blog: Hawks Basketblog

Boston Celtics
Mark Blount looked revitalized in pre-season. Team has talent but PG will be a real weakness. Rookie Orien Greene may be teams best bet there. PP looks ready for a huge year, but trade rumours will continue to swirl. Keep an eye on rook Ryan Gomes.
Blogs: Delonte's Diary, Scal's Blog, Rookie Diary: Ryan Gomes

Charlotte Bobcats
When Gerald Wallace and Kareem Rush are your perimeter offense, you're in trouble. Draft picks Felton and May will put butts in seats but don't help team talent level very much. Felton was TO machine in college, so watch out. Okafor proved all doubters wrong last year.
Blog: Bobcats Blog Squad Brad Thomas (fan), Chris Weiler (Marketing Officer), Matt Devlin(TV Announcer), John Blair Bickerstaff(Assistant Coach/nepotism recipient), Matt Carroll(Scrub)

Chicago Bulls
Playoff team last year could finish last in the division this year. Losing Curry hurts, but not as much as losing Antonio Davis. Keep an eye on team chemistry. It was all good last year, but how long will Ben Gordon play nice about Chris Duhon starting ahead of him?
Blog: None

Cleveland Cavaliers
Despite offseason improvements, Cavs still only third best team in their division. Signing Larry Hughes lets LeBron move to SF full time. Loaded down low but still thin on perimeter. Luke Jackson has yet to show me anything. Donyell Marshall will get a lot of open 3’s in this offense.
Blog: None

Detroit Pistons
Team is intact but will there be a drop off without Larry Brown? Will Darko finally get some PT under Flip? He's almost a complete afterthought at this point. Perimeter offense from the bench in short supply. SF Maurice Evans should fit right in. Another great move by Dumars.
Blog: Jason Maxiell's Rookie Diary

Indiana Pacers
Best team in the East for my money(as much as I loathe to admit it). Jasikevicius has looked good in pre-season, might be starting before the year is out. Will Jonathan Bender finally see the court this year? Rookie Granger will open alot of eyes. I still hate J. Oneal. Eff him.
Blog: Fan Blog

Miami Heat
Should have upgraded from Eddie Jones to James Posey and stopped there. Instead, Shaq & Wade have a whole new supporting cast and question marks abound. 'Toine still shooting at his usual clip. Will GP accept being J WIll's back up? Regular season won't matter, only playoffs. Bench is old.
Blog: None

Milwaukee Bucks
Magloire trade really strengthens front line and will help Bogut immensely. TJ Ford returning will help just as much. If he goes down again, Mo Williams can play. Bench is thin so pray they stay healthy. Last chance for Jiri Welsch to prove he belongs.
Blog: Bucks Fan Blog

New Jersey Nets
Best team in Atlantic. On paper. Kidd-Jefferson-Carter is the best perimeter in the L. But frontline is full of potential(Kristic) and also rans/never weres(M.Jackson, Uncle Cliffy, J. Collins). Kidd had most rebounds on team last year. Rod Thorn FINALLY got Kidd a backup in Jeff McInnis.
Blog: None

New York Knickerbockers
Who's health will be watched more, Curry's or Larry Brown's? Brown gets paid as much as Phil Jackson but has eight less titles. Roster at the end of the season figures to be much different than it is now. Still too many PF's and not enough PG's.
Blog: None

Orlando Magic
G Hill is already hurt, not a good sign. Dwight Howard poised to really break out. Steve Francis is the most over-rated player in the L. But he's the best PG on the team. Getting Garrity back will help, but Turkoglu still can't shoot straight. Battie and Cato are useless.
Blog:Dante's Speak (TV announcer)

Philadelphia 76ers
Iverson has his best year last season, but isn't getting any younger. Neither is C Webb's lone good leg. Iggy and Dalembert (now hurt) will have to step up for Philly to make the playoffs. Team will miss Willie Green(out for season). Bench(S. Hunter, Nailon, Ollie) doesn't scare anyone, except Mo Cheeks.
Blog: None, but they do have podcasts

Toronto Raptors
Fans off the ledge after Villanueva looked good in pre-season, but it's gonna be a long year up North. Bosh is rising superstar. Jalen Rose is the only other above average NBA talent on the roster. Araujo is new "El Busto". Trading Alston for Mike James was the right move.
Blog:Swirsk Blog (TV announcer)

Washington Wizards
Atkins, Butler and Daniels more than make up for the loss of Larry Hughes. Kwame Brown won't exactly be hard to replace. Can Hayes and Thomas finally stay healthy? Arenas will score, but he needs to share the ball with Butler and Jamison for Wiz to excel.
Blog: None

Playoff bound:

Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Miami, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Washington

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Mavericks
Same problems as last year, PG and C are big question marks. DeSagana Diop is current back up C. Will there be lingering feelings about Dirk throwing everyone under the bus in the playoffs? Christie is done and won't be the difference maker everyone thinks. Josh Howard poised to explode.
Blog: None for the team, but there's always Mark Cuban's Blog

Denver Nuggets
Shooting guards on roster are V. Lenard, G. Buckner, and D. Johnson. C’mon Kiki. Loaded everywhere else though. 'Melo will look for redemption, he flourished under Karl last year. Three great PG's but none of them are great shooters. Nene playing for a big contract (from someone else) next year.
Blog: None

Golden State Warriors
The B Diddy trade had them looking good last year(when it didn't matter). Trendy playoff pick but I'm skeptical. Warriors will find a way to fail. Calbert Cheaney's still alive? Still waiting for Mike Dunleavy Jr. to breakout. Monta Ellis looked great in summer league.
Blog: None

Houston Rockets
Yao finally got a summer off, will he shine this year? TMac hurt to start the season. Ruh roh. Stro Swift will help but still no bruiser to protect Yao. Ryan Bowen doesn't scare anyone. I can jump higher than Juwan Howard. WIll Alston keep up his cuckoo act in Houston?
Blog: None

LA Clippers
Lost Jaric and B. Simmons, brought in C. Mobley and Sam Cassell. Shaun Livingston already hurt again. Is he too frail? Former Dookies Brand and Maggette will put up good numbers but it'll still be for naught. Maggette is on the block, someone will bite. New home for Waltah.
Blog: None

LA Lakers
Good thing Phil is back, otherwise we'd have to mention how the roster is Kobe, Odom and not much else. Kwame Brown couldn’t hack it in DC and he thinks he'll have it easier with Commader Kobe? Not likely. Best PG on roster is Smush Parker. Read that sentence again.
Blog: None

Memphis Grizzlies
Made wholesale changes but still haven't found what they need, a decent big man. Pau Gasol is the ideal second fiddle, but he's forced to be the man in Memphis. Hakim Warrick might surprise some people this year. Softest team in the L? Making playoffs will be tough.
Blog: None

Minnesota Timberwolves
Poor KG, future isn't exactly bright in Minny. GM McHale fired Flip last year but it's McHale's penchant for overpaying his own FA's (Hassell, Hudson, Szczerbiak) that is killing this team. Spree won't be missed, rookie McCants will fill right in. Olowokandi has been a total bust.
Blog: None

New Orleans slash Oklahoma City Hornets
Still scratching my head about the Magloire trade. PJ Brown and Chris Anderson are only other C's on roster. Chris Paul and JR Smith are gonna be trouble a few years from now, but right now roster is long on potential but short on impact. Worst team in the L?
Blog: None

Phoenix Suns
Team isn't elite without Amare. If/when he comes back, they can make noise in the playoffs, but will it be too late by then? Won't score as much as last year with Thomas, Bell and Grant replacing Johnson and Richardson. Defense will be better, but will it be good enough?
Blog: None

Portland Trailblazers
Team in turmoil before season even starts. Pre-season was a disaster. Signings of Blake and Dizon are head scratchers, especially after drafting Jarrett Jack. Joel Przybilla was a surprise last year, but team will have to show him the money next year. Telfair will get to prove he is for real.
Blog: Barrett's Blog (TV announcer)

Sacramento Kings
Team reloaded with Wells and Abdur-Rahim, but can they fit in to the offense? Will F. Garcia make an impact this year? Jason Hart is underrated, but perimeter depth is sorely lacking. Can Peja regain his stroke and become a force again? He wanted Webber gone and got his wish.
Blog: None

San Antonio Spurs
Champs just got better with additions of Finley, Van Exel and F. Oberto. Will they still have their usual slow start this year? Loaded at every position, and then some. Duncan can move past Shaq in total titles with his next championship. GM Buford is underrated but put together a great team.
Blog: None

Seattle SuperSonics
Storybook season last year but don't count on a repeat. Losing back up PG Daniels will hurt more than most think. Back up PG's are now Mateen Cleaves and Herman Brunson. Collison showed promise lastyear, look for more this year. Does moving Robert Swift for Marcus Banks make sense?
Blog: None

Utah Jazz
Jerry Sloan still the best coach in the L (for my money). Rookie PG D. Williams just what team needed, but he'll take a while to settle in. Can healthy Boozer and Kirilenko get it done this year? Still expecting big things from Kris Humphries. Harping's hurt, so bench is thin.
Blog: None

Playoff bound:

Denver, Houston, Minnesota, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, Seattle Dallas, Utah