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I find it ironic that the New York Knicks essentially spent two seasons doing nothing but clearing cap space (and losing badly in the process) to prepare for this epic summer of free agency.

That’s because despite that, they still don’t appear to be the front runner for the most coveted free agent of them all, LeBron James.

At this moment in time, that appears to be the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat.

By the way, I refuse to call this the “Summer of LeBron”, because frankly, there’s some amazing free agents to be had that aren’t named LeBron.

Both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are franchise players, and Amar’e Stoudemire (if he becomes a free agent, and that’s almost a certainty), David Lee and Joe Johnson are fantastic, big name All Stars.

For the casual observer, this year’s NBA Draft came and went quietly. John Wall and a few others aside, this was not an amazingly strong draft on face value.

However, two significant trades were made around draft day last week which had great significance to the race to sign some of the best NBA players in the game.

First of all, the Miami Heat traded away their 18th pick in the draft along with Daequan Cook to Oklahoma City. In other words, they cleared even more cap space. It’s possible the Heat can sign two top free agents, along with re-signing Dwayne Wade. That’s a very attractive proposition for all those big name free agents, because that would be some team. Wade, Bosh and Johnson? Amazing.

The Bulls made a similar move, shipping off their 17th pick and Kirk Hinrich to Washington, freeing up more cap space of their own. Like Miami, the Bulls can now afford to sign two top free agents as well. Just like that, both teams in my eyes put themselves ahead of teams like the Knicks who have spent some time trying to free cap space.

It’s not just cap space that will land you the best free agents this summer, it’s having a team with the ability to win. LeBron himself has already stated that winning is important to him, and so it should be. The Knicks may well be able to woo him with their cap space, big stage and New York life, but what they can’t do is offer him a decent team with a few pieces already in place.

Instead, you have to fancy the Bulls’ chances of wooing LeBron and/or others. In addition to their cap space, they have a solid young core to go with it, including Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Britain’s own Luol Deng. And no, I don’t expect this ridiculous Joakim Noah/LeBron James argument to make any difference whatsoever to the Chicago appeal:

Having a decent core of players already on the team is far more valuable than what the Knicks could offer, even if they managed to snag another of the top free agents this summer.

The same goes for Heat. Assuming they re-sign Wade, adding two more big names to a team which already has decent players like Michael Beasley and Jermaine O’Neal would also make them a far more attractive proposition than what the Knicks appear to have at present.

As always, there’ll be plenty more twists and turns in the future destinations of LeBron, Wade, Bosh and co, especially once free agency officially begins on July 1st. Right now however, it’s hard to see how the Bulls and Heat don’t have the slight edge, not only over the Knicks but also over the Cavs who we mustn’t forget, still want to re-sign him.

And then there’s the Nets, the Mavs, the Clippers…

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This epic summer of free agency isn’t over just yet. Plenty more moves can still be made, but it’s safe to say that the big ones have now all happened, culminating in LeBron’s huge decision that he’s headed to the Heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Yes, the Heat still have work to do in filling out their roster with the roleplayers those three need round them to win championships. That will take time. But there’s no doubting that the Miami Heat were huge winners this summer.

They’re not the only winners so far however, nor are the Cleveland Cavaliers the only losers. Here are some of my winners and losers of the free agency period so far.

WINNERS

Miami Heat

Quite simply, they won the biggest free agent sweepstakes I’ve ever known in pro sports, let alone the NBA. This could have turned out so differently for them. Wade spoke with his hometown Bulls twice before announcing he would re-sign with the Heat, the only team he’s ever played for. That was in addition to Chris Bosh announcing his intent to join him.

Even at that point, the Heat were winners. It was essential that they convinced Wade to return, but to get an All-Star big man to join him was huge. Then came some guy called LeBron. It’s a bit early to talk of a dynasty, but it certainly isn’t unlikely.

Chicago Bulls

Yes, they failed to recruit Wade. And they failed to recruit LeBron too, who in my eyes would have been a great fit alongside the talent they already have in Chicago.

Nonetheless, I still think the Bulls did well. They managed to bring in Carlos Boozer in a 6 year/m deal and Kyle Korver in a 3 year/m deal. They may not be finished there, with reports JJ Redick may also join them.

This gives them a solid team going forward. Quite simply, they missed out on the big names but still made some great moves which is good to see. Unlike the Knicks, they didn’t trade away every player and pick possible to prepare for LeBron (except Kirk Hinrich), and as a result aren’t in too much trouble.

David Lee

Swapping one losing environment for another may not seem like too much of a good thing, but Lee managed to secure a 6 year/m contract in the process. He’s good, but I don’t think he’s that good. You could perhaps argue he falls in the ‘lose’ category because there were a few better teams he could have ended up at, but that would have required the Knicks to agree to such a deal in a sign and trade. After failing in the LeBron sweepstakes, they needed to get as much back as they could for David Lee.

Joe Johnson

I don’t need to say anything else here aside from: Joe Johnson was the free agent who walked away with the most money this off-season - 4m for 6 years. Incredible.

Rudy Gay

Similarly, Rudy Gay came away with a great deal himself - m for 5 years. I can’t understand the Grizzlies’ thinking here, deciding to offer him this contract before letting the market dictate his value. Gay is good, but I highly doubt anyone would have offered him that much, and the Grizzlies could have just matched to retain him. Instead, they came straight out and offered him a huge deal, making him a huge winner.

Kevin Durant

You may have missed the news on Kevin Durant. That’s because rather than draw a lot of attention to himself and generate a lot of media fanfare like a certain someone did, he simply got to work quietly on a new extension with the Thunder - m for 5 years. Great deal for an incredible player who continues to go about his business in the right way. It’s hard not to root for this kid.

LOSERS

LeBron James

Sure, he will probably win a championship or two. In fact it’s entirely possible he becomes part of a dynasty in South Beach. However I still think he’s a loser in this. The way he went about his free agency and announcing his decision was appalling and poorly thought out. He totally betrayed his loyal Cleveland fan base, breaking their hearts live on TV in a way they didn’t deserve.

I’m not saying he should have stayed there, but there was a right way and a wrong way to make this decision. He definitely did it the wrong way. It was a horrible idea by James and his management team to push ahead with a one hour live special on ESPN entitled “The Decision”. As a result, his brand name and perhaps his legacy are tarnished. All the good he did in Cleveland is forgotten. Not only does he need to win championships in Miami, he needs to rebuild his reputation.

Amar’e Stoudemire

The deal the Suns offered him was a fair one in my eyes. So long as Amar’e played five years and enough games in the final two years of the deal (and the targets were reasonable), he’d have made only m less than the New York deal he took. m less but a chance to continue playing for a winning team which brought out the best of his talents? He should have taken it.

Instead, he took the New York money and ran, perhaps under the illusion that LeBron would follow him. Only, LeBron didn’t follow him, and now Stoudemire is the only star on a pretty awful team. Where he once had Steve Nash, he now has Raymond Felton. That pretty much sums it up for me.

New York Knicks

I think the Knicks might be the biggest losers of all so far this summer. They sacrificed two seasons by shredding salary cap, losing in the process, positioning themselves for a run at the top free agents this summer. They went after LeBron James hard. They came up empty handed. The team they are left with is awful.

Yes, Amar’e Stoudemire is a great player, one of the best power forwards in the game, but who else is there? The Knicks moved so many assets to prepare for LeBron, Wade etc that they are now left with nothing. They can still make some moves to build around Amar’e, but they have very limited options to do so.

Their sign-and-trade deal that sent David Lee to the Warriors was a terrible deal. Quite simply, they’ve replaced Lee with a better forward who will probably produce slightly better stats, while making the rest of the team worse. The losing will continue in New York.

New Jersey Nets

At one point last week, I thought the Nets suddenly had a big chance of recruiting LeBron. They were the first team to meet with LeBron, sending new owner Prokhorov and Jay-Z along to do the presentation, which was widely reported to have been a huge success in impressing LeBron.

You got the impression (or at least, I did), that they could actually pull this off. It didn’t happen though, but at least they still do have some good pieces - Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, along with newly signed Travis Outlaw. Make no mistake though, this will still be a pretty bad team unless they continue to make moves.

Cleveland Cavaliers

There should be no explanation needed here. Not only did LeBron leave, he destroyed them with his decision announcement. The entire city and region is suffering. They’re simply not going to be that good a team anymore. I don’t really know where they go from here, with new coach Byron Scott on board. It’s safe to say however, that they are no longer one of the elite teams in the NBA. Their time is over.

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It’s been a just over a week since “The Decision” and the birth of the Basketballacticos of South Beach.

Since then, hoops fans the world over have been wondering how the Miami Heat would fill its roster after LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade to create a new NBA superpower.

Legendary Heat president Pat Riley has spent the ensuing days creating a roster that has to be considered the prohibitive favourite for the Eastern Conference title.

Sharpshooter Mike Miller, who made an NBA-leading 48% of his three-pointers with the Washington Wizards last season (and one imagines he’ll get a few more open looks this year), joined on a five-year contract worth million. He is no stranger to the Sunshine State, having played his college basketball at the University of Florida.

The other big name on board is Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Lithuanian centre, a 14-year NBA veteran, joins his good friend and former Cleveland teammate LeBron in Miami. The 7ft 4in big man will probably act as a back-up for Canadian Joel Anthony.

Other long-time NBAers Jamaal Magloire and Juwan Howard are expected to sign contracts within days.

So it looks like the only question mark surrounding the Heat is who plays point guard, although that LeBron fellow could probably do in a pinch.

And with what appears to be every veteran in the League wanting to flock to South Beach, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant was left to tweet: “Now everybody wanna play for the Heat and the Lakers? Let’s go back to being competitive and going at these people.”

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According to the Fresh Prince song, Summer is a time to sit back and unwind.

However, this isn’t the case in the NBA. In addition to the recent free agent frenzy the league staged its two summer leagues in Las Vegas and Orlando.

Summer League players can generally be grouped into two categories - the journeymen - pros trying to grab a roster spot or impress a European team and, more importantly, it gives the top picks in the recent draft their first taste of (almost) real NBA action.

In Vegas, two college teammates garnered the most attention. First overall pick John Wall from the University of Kentucky led the Washington Wizards to a 4-1 record, averaging 23.5 points a game and generally living up to the hype that led to him being tagged the one can’t miss project in last month’s NBA draft.

Meanwhile, his Wildcats teammate DeMarcus Cousins is as intriguing as Wall is assured.
Taken third by the Sacramento Kings, his physical tools (6ft11ins, 270lb frame and a deft touch around the rim) were never in question.

However, his attitude raised some red flags and he wasn’t helped by a series of bust-ups with his college coach John Calipari.
In Vegas, Cousins got off to a quick start before tailing off before the end of the week, but was impressive for the most part.

And if this game-winning shot against Minnesota is any indication, things might be looking up in Sactown.

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Given that everyone else in the Western world had already done so, it was only a matter of time before Michael Jordan offered his opinion on “The Decision”.

Speaking at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada, the six-time NBA champ said of Lebron James joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami: “There’s no way, with hindsight, I would’ve ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, ‘Hey, look, let’s get together and play on one team’.

“In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys.”

The Chicago Bulls legend now owns Miami’s Eastern Conference rivals the Charlotte Bobcats.

Full interview, along with Jordan bemoaning his putting woes, below.

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Denver Nuggets coach George Karl recently sat down with NBA TV’s David Aldridge to talk about his fight against throat cancer.

Karl, who guided the Seattle Supersonics to the 1996 Western Conference Championship, was named the winner of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at this month’s Espy Awards.

The honour is named after former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano who lost his own battle with cancer in 1993.

Karl, one of the game’s more popular figures, took a leave of absence from his post in February and hopes to return to the sidelines for the start of this season.

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Following the most drawn out free agency saga ever - and despite the fact some big names are yet to make their decisions, attentions are slowly returning to the court.

Stateside, the new-look Team USA are working out in Las Vegas ahead of August’s FIBA World Championships in Turkey, while Team GB have been preparing for arguably the biggest games in the history of basketball in this country.

After GB’s brave, but ultimately unsuccessful EuroBasket campaign in Poland last year, Chris Finch’s men have returned to the qualifying stage to earn a place in next year’s competition in Lithuania.

However, not only does their place among Europe’s elite rest on this summer’s performances, but so do Britain’s hopes of fielding basketball teams at the London Olympics in 2012.

In order to qualify GB must complete the difficult but by no means impossible task of winning their group, which includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Ukraine and Hungary, or, they must finish as one of the two best second placed teams, from the three qualifying groups.

But yet again GB’s job has become more difficult before even taking to the floor.

Key figures such as, Mike Lenzley, Robert Archibald, Joel Freeland and Ben Gordon have all withdrawn after long club seasons. And today, the insurance disputes which have hampered Luol Deng’s international career once again became an issue.

As reported by Britball, Deng will not feature in any of the warm-up games - the first of which takes place tonight as GB take on Canada in Cobham - a game which can be viewed live online at HoopsFix.com.

And unless Team GB and the Chicago Bulls can come to an agreement, the star forward is a real doubt for the qualifiers themselves.

Another worry is that Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who spent most of last season in Russia with CSKA Moscow, is still yet to join up with the squad, although his arrival is expected on Friday.

There is one positive piece of off-the-court news to come out of British basketball though, Back British Basketball.

BBB is a campaign led by two fans who are on a mission to get the nation interested in basketball and support the GB teams’ bid to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics Games.

There are many ways to support the campaign and you can find them all, and much more at www.BackBritishBasketball.com.

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The British Basketball League could have a franchise in Belfast by the year 2012, Ireland’s most-capped international player has said.

Gareth Maguire made the statement at the launch of the Belfast Basketball Classic, a four-team tournament featuring the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, Australian NBL team the Melbourne Tigers, as well as the national sides of England and Scotland.

Maguire told the BBC: “This tournament is a stepping stone towards the [BBL] franchise.

“It is proof we can run events like these. Wouldn’t it be a fantastic story to launch this team at the Olympics in September 2012? That is what our aim is.”

Mark Marais, speaking on behalf of tournament organisers USNI, added: “It will be similar to the [Elite League ice hockey's] Belfast Giants, but a basketball team playing in the British League.

“The plans are well down the line, it is going to happen.

“It is still two years away so nothing is signed on the dotted line. I have spent a lot of time in the States talking to potential investors and there is a lot of interest.”

The tournament is scheduled for Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on August 6 and 7.

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Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella spent 18 years in the major leagues as a player and another 22 years as a manager. But this chapter in his life is coming to a close. On Tuesday, the 66-year-old announced that he will retire at the end of the season.

Image: TSN.ca

Piniella made five trips to the World Series in his career, winning three. Though he may consider doing some consulting part-time, Piniella wants out of the daily grind to spend more time with his family.

“I’ve been away from home since 1962. That’s about 50 years,” Piniella said.

Piniella retires as the 14th-winningest manager in major league baseball history.

Post from: EveryJoe

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Kobe Bryant is incredible. As I painfully watched him hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the Lakers’ close out Game 6 win that eliminated my Suns, I started to wonder; is he actually better than Michael Jordan was?

I grew up hooked on the NBA in the mid-90s, witnessing Jordan do some truly spectacular things. On his day, and it often was his day, he was simply unplayable. He ensured his Bulls would win, no matter what.

Whether it was a buzzer beater as time expired or a series of amazing contested shots over the outstretched arms of his opponents, His Airness made sure the Bulls won games that mattered.

Six championships in that decade proved that. Superstars of yesterday such as John Stockton, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing retired trophyless. Jordan is the reason why.

I see exactly the same things in Kobe. As Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals drew to a close on Saturday night, I realised just how much like Jordan he is.

The Suns smothered him in double teams, forcing him to hit shots from 20 feet with a defender in his face and a defender on the brink of getting a hand to the ball. But Kobe released his shots, hitting nothing but net each time. Strangely, I was in awe.

As Steve Nash put it, “I’m not sure those are shooter’s shots. Those are scorer’s, best player-in-the-game type shots. He is incredibly skilled, talented. He’s a great competitor, clutch. What can you say?”

After a somewhat rusty (by his standards) first round against the Thunder, Kobe has been in spectacular form. He seems to have shrugged off the multiple injuries he’s had.

The week of rest between rounds certainly seems to have helped him. The result is we are now witnessing a player performing as well as, if not better, than Michael Jordan.

That’s terrible news for the Boston Celtics. They may feel confident about their chances - after all, they knocked off LeBron and the Cavs and then managed to finish off the Magic in 6 games.

I still can’t get my head around how they managed to make an absolutely brilliant and on-form Orlando team look so ordinary. Yet they did, and they are back in the Finals on merit.

If not for Kobe being in the form of his life, I’d actually fancy the Celtics to beat LA once again.

Rondo has developed into a tremendous point guard, their bench has suddenly become effective, Paul Pierce is Paul Pierce, and Garnett is still a force defensively. They will be a tough match up for the Lakers, without a doubt.

This is all about Kobe however. He is on another level right now. He wants his 5th championship, and he wants revenge for the embarrassing way the Celtics defeated the Lakers last time round in 2008. Kobe Bryant is a man on a mission. I for one, am not going to doubt him.

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