If you’ve been wondering just how much the American dollar has dropped, look no further than already-rich NBA players wanting to go to Europe to play ball, something that was once never imagined.

After watching Josh Childress head to Greece, LeBron James is saying he’d consider the move, as well.

A person close to James said Tuesday that the Cavaliers’ superstar would strongly consider playing overseas if he was offered a salary of “around $50 million a year.”

It’s hard for me to imagine the NBA letting LeBron James go, but the bottom line is that if he’s offered $50 million a year, there’s not a team out there that’s going to match it. Unless, of course, Isiah Thomas is re-hired somewhere, where he’s great at getting seven players with max deals and having a salary cap around $300 million, somehow.

It’s all rumors and speculation right now, but LeBron sat down in an interview and cleared the air a little on whether or not he’d join the Knicks. He didn’t rule out playing for the Knicks, not by any means. But he did say his favorite city is Brooklyn, where one New Jersey Nets team plays.

“My favorite borough? Brooklyn,” James said, choosing the proposed future home of the New Jersey Nets over the borough of Manhattan, where the Knicks play their home games. “Brooklyn is definitely a great place here in New York City, and some of my best friends are from Brooklyn, so I stick up for them.”

I understand his love for the city. With that said, for the last two years all we’ve really heard is LBJ complain about not having enough help down in Cleveland. News flash, LBJ: Jason Kidd is gone. And Richard Jefferson. That leaves you with Vince Carter, who can dunk, and some young guys that aren’t very good.

Ben Wallace is looking better and better by the moment.

It’s probably not the new Dream Team — I mean, how can you beat Hakeem, Clyde, Charles, Scottie and MJ? — but it’s as formidable a crew as the U.S. has put together in a long, long time. The 12 man team was named today, and it lists some pretty good names.

The team is headlined by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, but joining them will be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony.

Though I’d leave a few of those off — there’s got to better player than Redd, Prince, and Kidd — it’s a solid squad. The starting five will more than likely be Paul, Kobe, D-Wade, LBJ, and D. Howard. That leaves guys like Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh coming off the bench, which is about as good a sixth, seventh and eighth man as it gets.

Oddly, not a single player from the World Champion Celtics. No one in LA’s complaining about that one.

Well, for starters, football. But since we don’t have football, I guess figuring out the NBA Lotto and figuring out if Boston can lose at home will have to make due.

Tonight features Detroit on the road against Boston, where the Pistons will try and exploit all of Boston’s many weaknesses that, unfortunately, Atlanta and Cleveland weren’t able to exploit (or at least exploit enough). My prediction last night was off — I said Hornets by 8 — and tonight I’m going out on a limb, saying Detroit not only covers, but Detroit wins.

Boston has got to be worn out with 14 games already played in this year’s playoffs, and Detroit has cruised through. Some people will say that makes Boston battle tested, but I think that makes them pretty weak. I mean, Atlanta? I’m from Atlanta, I’m a Hawks fan, and I still think they’re pretty bad.

Say what you will about Cleveland, but they’re a one man team, and if KG is a legitimate MVP, and Paul Pierce is all he’s suddenly been cracked up to be, and Ray Allen is that other guy in the Big Three, then they should have mopped the floor with the Cavs.

That said, they didn’t, and tonight features the first game where a team has about as much talent as them. And if the game isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, then we at least get to watch the NBA Lotto at halftime, where we can see just how easily David Stern rigs everything to make sure players end up in big markets where he wants them. Miami has the best shot at No. 1, but don’t be too shocked to see it head to New York, where they’ll take Derrick Rose and rid themselves of Stephon Marbury.

With the ridiculous 21-1 (is that what it’s at now?) home record in the second round of the playoffs, with only LA and Detroit winning road games, I wanted to go back and figure out why. Steve Czaban, host of the first team on XM’s Fox Sports Radio, made a point a week or so ago about the refs in the NBA getting too caught up in the game and making fouls because of it. Bored out of my mind, I did some research. The top team mentioned is the away team, meaning the bottom team is the home team. At the bottom, I have the differential in free throws, putting either a (+) — if the home team shot more free throws, and by how many — or a (-) — if the home team shot less free throws, and by how many.

Utah Jazz/LA Lakers Series
-Game 1:
Utah team fouls 33, Utah free throws 30
LA Lakers team fouls 27, LA Lakers free throws 46
Differential: +19 for the home team

-Game 2:
Utah team fouls 30, Utah free throws 16
LA Lakers team fouls 20, LA Lakers free throws 43
Differential: +27 for the home team

-Game 3:
LA Lakers 23 team fouls, LA Lakers free throws 37
Utah Jazz 28 team fouls, Utah Jazz free throws 28
Differential: -9 for the home team

-Game 4:
LA Lakers 33 team fouls, LA Lakers 25 free throws
Utah Jazz 27 team fouls, Utah Jazz 45 free throws
Differential: +20 free throws for the home team

-Game 5:
Utah Jazz 31 team fouls, Utah Jazz 28 free throws
LA Lakers 20 team fouls, LA Lakers 42 free throws
Differential: +14 free throws for the home team

-Game 6:
LA Lakers 24 team fouls, LA Lakers 38 free throws
Utah Jazz 26 team fouls, Utah Jazz 25 free throws
Differential: -13 for the home team

Orlando Magic/Detroit Pistons

-Game 1:
Orlando Magic 23 team fouls, Orlando Magic 15 free throws
Detroit Pistons 17 team fouls, Detroit Pistons 18 free throws
Differential: +3 for the home team

-Game 2:
Orlando Magic 23 team fouls, Orlando Magic 23 free throws
Detroit Pistons 22 team fouls, Detroit Pistons 28 free throws
Differential: +6 for the home team

-Game 3:
Detroit Pistons 20 team fouls, Detroit PIstons 28 free throws
Orlando Magic 23 team fouls, Orlando Magic 28 free throws
Differential: Even

-Game 4:
Detroit Pistons 23 team fouls, Detroit Pistons 15 free throws
Orlando Magic 19 team fouls, Orlando Magic 17 free throws
Differential: +2 for the home team

-Game 5:
Orlando Magic 27 team fouls, Orlando Magic 28 free throws
Detroit Pistons 24 team fouls, Detroit Pistons 32 free throws
Differential: +4 for the home team

San Antonio Spurs/New Orleans Hornets

-Game 1:
San Antonio Spurs 16 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 21 free throws
New Orleans Hornets 17 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 15 free throws
Differential: -6 for the home team

-Game 2:
San Antonio Spurs 21 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 19 free throws
New Orleans Hornets 19 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 24 free throws
Differential: +5 for the home team

-Game 3:
New Orleans Hornets 21 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 21 free throws
San Antonio Spurs 20 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 21 free throws
Differential: Even

-Game 4:
New Orleans Hornets 17 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 12 free throws
San Antonio Spurs 18 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 20 free throws
Differential: +8 for the home team

-Game 5:
San Antonio Spurs 30 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 18 free throws
New Orleans Hornets 23 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 33 free throws
Differential: +15 for the home team

-Game 6:
New Orleans Hornets 19 team fouls, New Orleans Hornets 13 free throws
San Antonio Spurs 21 team fouls, San Antonio Spurs 18 free throws
Differential: +5 free throws for the home team

-Game 7
Monday Night

Cleveland Cavaliers/Boston Celtics

-Game 1:
Cleveland Cavaliers 23 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 26 free throws
Boston Celtics 21 team fouls, Boston Celtics 18 free throws
Differential: -8 for the home team

-Game 2:
Cleveland Cavaliers 27 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 27 free throws
Boston Celtis 26 team fouls, Boston Celtics 38 free throws
Differential: +11 for the home team

-Game 3:
Boston Celtics 27 team fouls, Boston Celtics 24 free throws
Cleveland Cavaliers 21 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 33 free throws
Differential: +12 for the home team

-Game 4:
Boston Celtics 17 team fouls, Boston Celtics 24 free throws
Cleveland avaliers 17 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 18 free throws
Differential: -6 for the home team

-Game 5:
Cleveland Cavaliers 18 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 41 free throws
Boston Celtics 27 team fouls, Boston Celtics 25 free throws
Differential: -16 for the home team

-Game 6:
Boston Celtics 25 team fouls, Boston Celtics 13 free throws
Cleveland Cavaliers 16 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 25 free throws
Differential: +12 for the home team

-Game 7:
Cleveland Cavaliers 28 team fouls, Cleveland Cavaliers 35 free throws
Boston Celtics 26 team fouls, Boston Celtics 34 free throws
Differential: -1 for the home team

Some interesting stats:

-The averages aren’t that bad; truth be told, I was expecting a much more uneven figure than the home team only averaging right at +5 in free throw differential.

-The home team shot 12 or more free throws than the away team on 8 different occasions; the away team, on the other hand, only shot 12 or more free throws than the home team in 2 games.

-The home team shot 19 or more free throws than the away team in 3 different games; the away team shot 19 or more free throws than the home team zero times.

-Of the 24 games, only 7 times did the away team shoot more free throws than the home team.

-In all of this, one way or another, Joey Crawford is always wrong.

The Celtics haven’t won a road game in the 2008 playoffs yet, but they also haven’t lost a home game. Boston will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the Pistons after their 97-92 defeat of the Cavs in a game that featured blow after blow exchanged by Paul Pierce and LeBron James.

This game was pretty much the LeBron James show for Cleveland, with an occasional appearance from Delonte West. LBJ had 45 points, leading all scorers, and West chipped in with 15. Beyond that, the next best scorer was Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 8. Paul Pierce had 41 points on 13-23 shooting, and was seemingly lights out in the first half.

The Celtics will host the Pistons on Tuesday or Wednesday, I’m presuming, but given the Spurs sudden week long break against the Hornets, I don’t want to assume too much. We keep on saying the Celtics will have to eventually win on the road, but, honestly, I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate.

Cleveland Cavaliers 89, Boston Celtics 96: You know, eventually, I’m going to stop watching these games. As I watched bits and pieces of this one last night, I kinda tuned it out. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good game. For the most part, it was incredibly competitve, and the average fan at one point in the game may have actually thought the Cavs were going to win this.

But me? I’ve seen this too much in this year’s playoffs, and I knew when I turned the TV off to go to bed that two things were going to happen: The Celtics were going to pull away from the Cavs, and the Lakers, who hadn’t even begun to play yet, were going to beat the Jazz.

I just knew it.

We’ll get to the second game in a minute, but the first game I was right on board with. Boston used a 29-17 third quarter to get past Cleveland, who got their best effort out of LeBron James yet. BronBron was 12-25 from the field with 35 points, and made 11-13 free throws. The one night he really shines, Zydrunas Ilgauskas decided to completely disappear, playing 26 minutes for a measley 6 points and 7 rebounds.

The Big Three were almost in full swing — that Ray Allen sometimes has a hard time scoring now — getting 29 points from Paul Pierce, 26 from KG, and 11 points on 4-11 shooting from Ray Ray. The series is now 3-2 heading back to Cleveland, and you can count on the rest of these series to go seven.

Utah Jazz 104, LA Lakers 111: With this victory, the home teams are now 19-1 in the second round. The game was tied going into the fourth quarter, but the away team did what the away team has done best, blowing any hope of an actual upset in this thing.

Kobe Bryant played with a sore back, but still managed 26 points, and was often seen distributing the ball in the fourth rather than shooting it. Lamar Odom had 22 points, Pau Gasol had 21 points, Vladmir Ranmanovic 15 points, and Derek Fischer finished with 14, assuring all Lakers starters finished in double figures.

I heard on the radio that Game 7 will be on Monday “if necessary,” and I’ve gotta ask: If necessary? Have you been watching this? You’ve got a better chance landing on Zero in Roullette than you do guessing which away team might actually win a game. So, in other words, this next one isn’t important, and Game 7 is sometime Monday night.

I watched Game 1 of the Spurs/Suns series, and I figured I was in for one of the better series of all time. With that game pretty much kicking off the playoffs, and with Atlanta taking Boston to seven, I figured I was in for one of the better NBA Playoffs of all time.

We’re halfway through the second round now, and all we’ve got is a bunch of teams that can’t lose at home and can’t win on the road. I’m waiting for something to change — you know, something that will maybe make this thing exciting — but I’m not holding my breath.

Utah visits LA tonight and Cleveland visits Boston. If I had to choose an upset and pick a road team to actually win, I’d say Cleveland by four points, only because I feel like Boston is starting to unravel a bit. Of course, I thought this against Atlanta, and the games weren’t even close at home.

If I was a betting man — wait, I am — I’d say every one of these series will go the distance, with seven games needed to decide the winner. And the real winner in all this? Detroit, who idly awaits, getting some much needed rest for an injured bunch.

Mike D’Antoni, former coach of the great Suns and current coach of the sorry Knicks, has officially entered purgatory, as he was announced as the Knicks coach today.

“I will adapt what I do. Now I like to play fast, move the ball and all that stuff, and we’ll try to do that as best as we can,” D’Antoni said Tuesday. “Obviously you’re going to be a little slower than [the Suns], but at the same time there’s no reason why you can’t run, be exciting and have good ball movement.

“There’s 30 teams out there all with the same goal in the off-season, and that’s to make the playoffs. And I can’t think of a better team to be with than the Knicks.”

You can’t think of one, Mike? Let me help: San Antonio, Golden State, the Lakers — hell, the Clippers — the Heat, the Hawks, the Celtics, the Bucks, the Cavs, the Bobcats, the Grizzlies, Duke, Alabama, the Bruins. . . .

Mama LeBron just wanted to have some fun the day after.