There’s speculation, if you can even call it that, that the Heat might be pursuing Chris Bosh and shipping the under-performing Michael Beasley to Toronto. Per Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel:

Let’s return to the premise: The best way to sign Wade this summer is to offer concrete evidence he can win big here. That means landing his friend, Bosh. They were Olympians together. They share the same agent. They respect each other greatly.

That’s why the smartest move to make is trading the salary-matching pair of Beasley and Mark Blount to Toronto for Bosh.

Not sure how much steam this thing will really pick up. If it does, the Heat have to be right up there with Boston and Cleveland next year as the team to beat in the East. D-Wade got them a five seed with no help, and inserting Chris Bosh with a healthy Jermaine O’Neal with a healthy D-Wade is one damn good lineup, no matter how you cut it.

[Sun-Sentinel]

There’s a lot of people wondering if the Bulls/Celtics series was the best ever. I’m one of them. It was packed with excitement: There were overtimes, double overtimes, and triple overtimes. There were last second shots. Decisive defensive stops. There was Paul Pierce and Ray Allen coming up in the clutch, only to be matched by Derrick Rose or Ben Gordon or Brad Miller.

In short, it was by far the best first round series I’d ever seen.

And the worst? Or at least the worst 7 game series ever? Well, I think that one may go to the Hawks and Heat, who played a decisive game 7 today, and, like the others, it was decided by double digits.

There wasn’t a single game in this one decided by single digits. Only once in the entire series was there a lead change after the first quarter.

The Hawks move on. They’ll now be the sacrifical lamb to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and if they didn’t like the calls they felt were given to D-Wade, they really won’t like what’s waiting for them in Cleveland. Last I checked, LeBron has a way of getting a call here and there.

Boston moves on to face Orlando, and there’s rumors KG will be gearing up for it. If so, count on a Cleveland/Boston matchup in the finals, where we’ll get a repeat of the epic battle that took place last year.

I know that Kobe or LeBron have seemingly wrapped up the MVP for this year. When will we start talking about D-Wade? This is one of the sicker game winning moments we’ve seen.

It’s been well documented that Dwyane Wade sleeps with everything that moves, and has more STD’s than Brett Favre’s had retirements, but that seems to not be the case so much anymore.

D-Wade is fighting back against the allegations, and he’s taking his baby’s mama to court, suing her for whatever she’ll get from divorcing him.

“It has been difficult to see false allegations, rumors and gossip repeatedly discussed in public about my personal life,” Dwyane Wade said in a statement released to the AP. “I had no other choice but to file this action in order to clear my name.”

Good to see the man fighting back. Women these days… if they aren’t screaming rape, they’re screaming that we gave them something. Or screaming both. In my case, normally both.

[AJC]

The latest Power Rankings are out, and since I’m too lazy to do one myself, I’ll just link you to theirs. A couple of notes:

• The Celtics are back to No. 1. Yay. I just love the Celtics, with overglorified players like KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Please, LA or Cleveland, please beat them in the playoffs.
• The Nuggets are No. 6. How is it that one good point guard can change a team around so much? No AI, insert Chauncey, and this team is rolling.
• At 23-19, the Heat are No. 10. I know they’ve been surging, but c’mon. No. 10?
• In the same conference and same division, and three games up on the Heat, the Hawks are No. 11. This is the power Dwyane Wade has on a team.
• Beware the 76′ers, who sit at No. 12. After their terrible start, they’ve come on strong and are looking like the playoff threat they were last year.
• At No. 30, is there really any hope for the Kings? They don’t have the worst record, at least, which belongs to No. 26, the 9-35 Thunder.

When you ask yourself, “Is D-Wade back?” and if that question isn’t answered after his Olympic performance last summer, it should be answered watching this dunk of Emeka Okafor. Absolutely sick.

I bet compulsively on the NFL and college, so I figure why not grow an addiction to the NBA. I’m going to pick three or four games a night, with no real knowledge. Maybe I’ll get lucky. Here we go.

Hawks @ Celtics (-10): Just look at their games in Boston last year. That’s all you need to know.

Blazers (+1.5) @ Heat: Take the points in the game Oden returns in.

Jazz (-4) @ Wizards: Washington stinks.

LA Lakers @ Hornets (-1): One point at home? Take it. They’re solid in New Orleans.

Last night the draft took place, and outside of the Grizzlies getting OJ Mayo, who was originally drafted by the T’Wolves, for Kevin Love, there wasn’t a whole ton of surprise. Here’s a recap of the Top 10.

1.) Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose: This thing was done the moment they landed the No. 1 pick. It’s his hometown, he was the best player in March, and it all made sense. What happens to Kirk Heinrich is up in the air, but this guy will be a star in this league for a long, long time.

2.) Miami Heat, Michael Beasley: Beasley with Marion and D’Wade? Not bad. Not bad at all.

3.) Minnesota T’Wolves, OJ Mayo: He was traded for Kevin Love.

4.) Seattle Supersonics Russell Westbrook: This is the guy I felt would be the steal of the draft, but at the No. 4 spot, is he still a steal? Regardless, he’s going to play lockdown D on anyone that’s got a ball in front of him. Great pick.

5.) Memphis Grizzlies, Kevin Love: Traded for OJ.

6.) New York Knicks, Danilo Gallinari: He’s an Italian guy, one I don’t know much about, but those European players are either great or they bust. The bad news? There’s not many people coming from Europe that play defense, something the Knicks really, really lack.

7.) LA Clippers, Eric Gordon: The one-year Indiana star. We’ll see how he does with the big boys.

8.) Milwaukee Bucks, Joe Alexander: He’s 6′8″, 220 pounds, and they just acquired Richard Jefferson. Where does that put Alexander on the roster?

9.) Charlotte Bobcats, DJ Augustin: Say goodbye to Raymond Felton.

10.) New Jersey Nets, Brook Lopez: Ric Smits, maybe?

Shaquille O’Neal recently rapped about Kobe Bryant, and some of the things he said have now been interpretted as racist and uncalled for. So uncalled for that he’s been stripped of his badge.

“I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

Shaq free-styled about Kobe not being able to make it without him, and also made mentions about not being able to breed anymore because he’s been fixed. Why he felt the need to mention that is a bit confusing to me — it’s got nothing to do with Kobe, and any girl that sleeps with a 7′0″ basketball player is going to know their vagina will be way too mutilated to ever re-produce, unless that basketball player is this oaf.

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.