NBA Playoffs Schedule 2015

NBA Playoffs Schedule 2015

Celtics' Big Three in jeopardy? Danny Ainge Willing To Break Up Celtics Big Three

Is aging the problem here?  Danny Ainge does not want to see another decline in the franchise like the one that happened after the Boston Celtics’ original Big Three dried up, and he’s reportedly willing to break up his current star trio to ensure that.

Russell Westbrook signs 5 year contract with Thunder.

With Oklahoma Thunder looking strong this season, Kevin Durant and Westbrook are favorites to win this year's NBA title, and the season just started! With that in mind, Westbrook ain't going anywhere, as a matter of fact, looks like he wants to stay in Oklahoma for the rest of his career, maybe that will change in the future or not. Read more for the entire story.

Miami Beats Lakers 98 - 87

Kobe's playing with a torn ligament while Lebron's battling with a flu, so we can't say this one was a fair contest. Gasol racks up his season high with 26 points while Lebron display a spectacular all round performance, flu couldn't hold him down tonight. Not much of a difference between Kobe stats and Lebron's, but still Heat had the upper hand over the Laker in the entire match up. Read more for the full story.

Hornets’ trade of Paul to Clippers is off.

The Los Angeles Clippers rejected NBA commissioner David Stern’s steep demands to complete a trade forNew Orleans Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul, and talks of a blockbuster deal perished on Monday afternoon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Sources didn’t preclude the talks from re-starting, but the Clippers weren’t willing to meet the NBA’s and Hornets’ demands for Paul, sources said.

While there’s been no official transition of power, general manager Dell Demps has been completely pushed to the side in deal-making decisions for the Hornets, multiple league sources told Y! Sports.

“He’s basically a spectator now,” one official said.

Stern has two of his top league office executives – Joel Litvin and Stu Jackson – making calls and conducting negotiations with teams interested in Paul. Demps is still making calls, but rival front offices and agents involved in possible deals with New Orleans say that he’s no longer authorized to decide on any transaction.

Teams interested in Paul have to send formal “bids” to the league office, sources said.

[Related: Lakers end Chris Paul trade, ship Lamar Odom to Mavs]

The league took over the Hornets in December and are angling to maintain value to sell the franchise for the highest possible price.

This circumstance is unprecedented in NBA history.

The Clippers and Hornets had been discussing a package for Paul that included players such as Eric Gordon, Eric Bledsoe, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 unprotected draft pick via the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Clippers resisted parting with Gordon, sources said. Management had been promising the talented young shooting guard that it would not include him in any deal to the Hornets for Paul, sources said.

Paul had expressed a desire to be moved to the Clippers, and the franchise would have had an excellent chance to sign him to an extension after he opts out of his current deal at the end of the 2011-’12 season, sources said.

The Los Angeles Times first reported that the two teams were on the verge of a deal.

Agents are finding it increasingly difficult to negotiate even minor deals with the Hornets’ front office. They’re struggling to get clear answers amid the belief that Demps doesn’t have the authority to make even minor signings to augment a depleted, non-NBA-caliber roster beyond the starting five.

“Stern has made them inoperable,” one prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports. “I’ve given up trying to do anything with them until the Paul situation is resolved. It’s very unfair to Dell. … Very unfair what the league is doing to him right now.”

- Written by Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo!

Chris Paul Trade Almost Complete.

Los Angeles' top motive? They get an All-NBA talent for a season, and a chance to woo and sign that All-NBA talent to a bigger deal than anyone else can next July. Paul will dominate the ball for a team that needs someone, in the wake of Baron Davis' stint with the Clippers, to dominate the ball the right way. And assuming Los Angeles matches Golden State's offer to restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers have a starting lineup and bench worth preparing the postseason for.

Of course, there are worries.

Again, this could be a rental. Paul could leave Los Angeles to go to any team that will take him on next July when his contract is up. He could chafe at playing for the decided step-sister in the Staples Center after nearly being traded twice to the Los Angeles Lakers, and his knee (which has been a concern for years) could hinder his abilities to dominate as he once did.

That's a knee on Chris Paul, though. Not on Mo Williams or even Bledsoe (who is out for two months with knee concerns, as reported before the trade was announced). The Clippers are taking a chance on it in exchange for what could be a top pick in next June's draft -- a tantalizing asset, no doubt, but one they'd have to wait on not only to draft but to develop.

Paul? He's done developed, ask any point guard in the league, and this was well worth the haul. Especially because the Clippers didn't have to depart with shooting guard Eric Gordon in the deal.

We can't blame Demps for failing to secure Gordon in the exchange, partially because the Minnesota pick is comparable, but mostly because Demps had absolutely no leverage. David Stern, in a misguided attempt to aid the team that the NBA owns, put the kibosh on a Paul deal last week that would have secured Demps several prime trading chips along with a young 20-point scorer in Kevin Martin; thus blowing to bits any chance New Orleans had at dangling Paul in the typical NBA manner.

The Hornets won't grab any 20-point scorers this time around (though a beefy frontline of Kaman andEmeka Okafor intrigues), but scoring that Minnesota pick is huge. By all accounts, the 2012 NBA draft is loaded, and it is arguable that Demps should have gone after this deal (as opposed to the Laker grab, which would have necessitated more deals from Demps to rid his team of older players) all along.

Credit Demps, in this regard. He may have threatened to retire on Thursday, when word came down from the NBA's office that Demps wasn't actually in charge of his own team, but he didn't bat an eye in securing what appears to be the best possible deal for New Orleans.

Now it's up to David Stern and the NBA to get their head out of the sand and realize as much.

Props to Yahoo!

Orlando Magic x Miami Heat Media Streaming.

Coming to you LIVE... it's Media Day in Florida!

Orlando Magic streaming LIVE right now: http://on.nba.com/rRKigY
The Miami HEAT streaming LIVE at 1pm/et: http://on.nba.com/fCLGvB

Watch the Media day live coming from Florida.