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]

Shaquille O’Neal called Chris Bosh the “RuPaul of big men,” and his ex-girfriend is probably calling him the cheap-skate of big men. With Leather has the scoop, but here’s a brief run down:

• Chris Bosh has seen his child twice in the four months it’s been alive. (As With Leather points out, does the baby even know who its daddy is at that age?)
• He refuses on giving her any more money. Because of this, her stomach has been bleeding, she can’t pay medical bills, and her electricity has been shut off.
• According to the story, Bosh and his live-in girlfriend both purchased the $1.6 million home. Not sure what she was doing before she got knocked up, but it apparently had its financial benefits.

Somewhere, Gary Payton is applauding all this.

[With Leather]

[Chris Bosh Is Not Much of a Dad]

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.

I don’t have anything to link it to, but the ESPN Ticker is announcing that Jermaine O’Neal has been sent to the Raptors for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and a first round draft pick. I’ll follow up with more as it becomes official, but the early indicator is that Toronto got the best of this one — they’ll have one of the best front-lines in basketball with Bosh and O’Neal, and they’ve got plenty of roleplayers off the bench who can come in and contribute at the point. More on this later.

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.

Dallas Mavericks 103, New Orleans Hornets 127: At this rate, the last thing the Mavs have to worry about is choking like they did last year. The Hornets have absolutely owned them, and last night was no different. Chris Paul, who’s a really, really good player, isn’t as good of a player as the Mavs make him out to be. He scored 32 points and had 17 assists, making Jason Kidd look like an old man every time he tried to guard him. I bet the Mavs are wishing they had a certain Devin Harris right now. The seven points and eight assists Kidd had aren’t exactly creating a joyous feeling in Dallas.

Toronto Raptors 103, Orlando Magic 104: It was a good game, but since the Spurs/Suns game had already started, I missed the final 6:00. Why TNT wouldn’t flash over to a game that’s won on a final shot is beyond me, but such if Ted Turner’s Empire. Dwight Howard had another sick performance for Orlando, getting 29 points and grabbing 20 boards. I’m a big Chris Bosh fan — he went to Georgia Tech, after all — but he’s got to start doing something defensively against Dwight, or the Magic are going to eat them alive in this series.

Phoenix Suns 96, San Antonio Spurs 102: I watched the first half of this game, a half that seemed to feature a lot of Amare Stoudemire and a little bit of Tony Parker, but just enough Tony Parker to keep the Spurs floating. I didn’t watch the second half, but based on the box score, the Suns went a little flat. They had only 11 points in the third quarter, ultimately leading to a loss, putting them down 2-0 on the series. The Spurs’ Tony Parker finished with 32 points, and Manu Ginobli showed why he’s this year’s Sixth Man of the Year, chipping in with 29. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with a 33 point effort.

They probably won’t shock the world, but in this weekend’s playoff viewing, the game that means the most to me is the one at 8:30 EST tonight. The Pistons are down 20-16 against the 76′ers right now; here’s the finals from earlier today.

Toronto Raptors 100, Orlando Magic 114: The Magic were blowing out the Raptors early, and then Toronto snuck its way back in, only to fall apart in the final seven or eight minutes. Anthony Parker led all Raptors in scoring with 26 points, and Chris Bosh struggled, scoring 21 but going only 4-11 from the field. Dwight Howard had a monster game, getting 25 points and grabbing 22 boards. The Magic were 13 of 29 from beyond the arch.

Denver Nuggets 114, Los Angeles Lakers 128: Denver had a ten point lead early on, but that defense that’s struggled all year long struggled again today. The Lakers shot 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point land. Pau Gasol had 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Kobe Bryant did his Kobe Bryant thing, scoring 32 points and having a remarkably high one assist. ‘Melo and AI both scored 30 points and Linas Kleiza had 23 off the bench.

It’s not so much that the playoffs are set — teams can still win and lose and change their seeding — but we know who will be in there. Based on the two scores below, the Hawks and Nuggets have assured themselves a spot in the Final 16 (Sweet 16?). The Nuggets won their way in, while the Hawks kinda just lost less. That’s kind of a simple theme here in Atlanta.

Indiana Pacers 110, Washington Wizards 117: Thanks to the Washington Wizards, the Hawks will visit the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The last time the Hawks made the playoffs, they had Steve Smith, Dikembe Mutumbo (still in his prime, and not quite 50), and Mookie Blaylock. Yes, it’s been a while. Thank you, Washington. Thank you. To make Indiana fans feel sick, listen to this stat: The game in which they were eliminated from playoff contention, Washington’s starting five scored a combined 47 points. The Wizards got 70 points from their bench. The Pacers bench scored 22 points.

Golden State Warriors 116, Phoenix Suns 122: It’s a sad day for the Warriors, who were last year’s upset darlings, and who won’t be participating in the ‘08. With 48 wins — compared to the Hawks 30-something — the Warriors won’t be making the trip to play LA/New Orleans/San Antonio, while Atlanta will be making the trip to get swept by Boston (I’m hoping for just one win; give me one home win, and let it be the game I’m attending, and I’m cool with this season’s effort).

Toronto beat Miami, assuring them of the six-seed in the East and not playing Detroit in the first round, while also assuring that Miami will have the No. 1 pick. Other than that, there’s still some stuff up in the air, which will be resolved over the last couple games of the season.

San Antonio Spurs 85, LA Lakers 106: Well, they didn’t really win the West, but they put themselves in damn good position to do so. The Lakers defense was downright nasty, holding the Spurs to 33-79 shooting from the floor, but take something into consideration: The Spurs didn’t have Manu Ginobli and, as crazy as the guy is, he completely changes that offense. The Lakers put in an all-together team effort, getting 20 from Kobe, 17 from Odom, 14 from Gasol and Fisher, and a combined 21 points from Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf.

Miami Heat 76, Cleveland Cavaliers 84: The Cavs avoided being embarrased. The Heat increased their chances of getting the first pick.

Toronto Raptors 84, Detroit Pistons 91: My feeling here was that the Pistons would actually throw the game, assuring that they would play Philadelphia in the first round and not the Raptors. If you think about it as a coach, who would you rather play? A Raptors team that has some playoff experience as well as a marketable player (Chris Bosh), or the 76′ers, who don’t have any experience, and whose best player’s name you can’t spell (Iguodala)? Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Raptors, and Rodney Stuckey led the way for the Pistons with 18 points off the bench.

Houston Rockets 94, Denver Nuggets 111: With this win, the Nuggets are one win away from assuring their spot in the playoffs. The Rockets came out flat, and the Nuggets scored triple digits for the 21st straight game, led by Allen Iverson’s 33 point performance. A Nuggets win or Warriors loss will clinch their bid to the playoffs.

The Red Sox/Yankees is about the only Can’t Miss MLB game today, but there’s some NBA that may be worth watching.

Toronto Raptors @ Detroit Pistons (LIVE): It’s 38-34 right now, and both teams are in the playoffs, but this could be a glimpse of what the first round may look like. The Raptors currently have the six spot, and are set to face Orlando, but with Philadelphia only a half game back, this could very easily be a first round matchup for both teams. The score’s currently 38-32, Detroit.

San Antonio Spurs @ LA Lakers (3:30): This game may very well decide who’s the top of the West. The Lakers and Hornets are tied, the Spurs a half game back, and each team has three games left. Outside of being the top spot, the winner will likely face Denver/Golden State, while the loser will get Dallas in Round 1.

Houston Rockets @ Denver Nuggets (9:00): Denver will need this one. The Warriors looked dead, have won a couple, and the Nugets have slumped. Suddenly, both teams are tied for eighth again (with the Nuggets taking the tie-breaker, though), and every game for Denver is important right now.