Kevin Pritchard, the general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, has been fired.

After spending six seasons with the Blazers, it ended months of speculation that he had fallen out of favor with billionaire owner Paul Allen. And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, no, he won’t be running the show in Portland once the 2010 NBA basketball season kicks off.

“This process was more public and took longer than any of us would have liked, but that was indicative of how critical a decision this was for the franchise,” Allen said in a statement. “We want to thank and acknowledge Kevin for his solid work in getting us to where we are today. Parting ways with a popular general manager is not something we take lightly. In the end, we decided to make a change.”

Portland Trail Blazers president Larry Miller said Pritchard met with Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and owner of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Miller would not specify why Pritchard was let go. Pritchard is under contract through next season and the Blazers will honor his contract. A search firm had earlier been hired to vet candidates for the job.

A rumored possible replacement, Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti, recently denied that he had been contacted about the job. Miller said Denver Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien, also said to be interested, was not being considered.

Kevin Pritchard joined the Blazers as director of player personnel in

My oh my, everybody’s really moving in the NBA lately.

The Denver Nuggets reached an agreement on a five-year, $34 million contract with free-agent forward Al Harrington, making the 2010 NBA basketball season a little bit more interesting after LeBron James went to Miami.

The Denver Nuggets had to outbid the Dallas Mavericks to secure Harrington’s signature after Dallas followed up its trade acquisition of Tyson Chandler earlier Tuesday with a hard push for Harrington, which included an in-person recruiting pitch at the NBA’s annual summer league in Las Vegas from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

But Denver would appear to have a greater need for Al Harrington than Dallas, given that the Nuggets expect to start the season with Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen unavailable after both recently underwent surgical procedures. That enabled Harrington’s agent, Dan Fegan, to land a deal starting at the full $5.8 million mid-level exception from the Nuggets which extends for the maximum allowed five years.

Buoyed by Dallas’ acquisition of Tyson Chandler after it appeared that Toronto would acquire the 7-footer from Charlotte, Dallas quickly pinpointed Harrington as its next top summer target.

The Dallas Mavericks know they need more offensive punch next to Dirk Nowitzki and were drawn to Harrington’s scoring ability. Dallas also had more than the usual familiarity with Harrington’s game after Mavs coach Rick Carlisle had Harrington in Indiana. Dallas, though, proved hesitant to extend a full five-year offer because…

In case you didn’t know, yep, Amar’e Stoudemire is the latest big name free agent to switch teams.

The NBA is making some huge headlines already with still months before the new 2010 NBA basketball season begins. While the world awaits LeBron James and his decision on where he’d be playing come October, Amar’e Stoudemire already made up his mind after only a few hours when the free agency period officially opened.

The 6′11” power forward Amar’e Stoudemire and the New York Knicks have completed a five-year contract worth nearly $100 million, which means the Phoenix Suns are left with nothing but an aging Steve Nash and an overpaid forward in Hakim Warrick.

The New York Knicks and Stoudemire’s agent Happy Walters worked out the contractual language, a source said, and Stoudemire finalized the deal in an afternoon meeting with Knicks owner Jim Dolan.

“All done,” Walters said in a text message.

Stoudemire emerged from the meeting with Dolan and Garden officials, and met an assemblage of media with a Knicks cap and bold declaration: “The Knicks are back,” he said. Stoudemire became the Knicks’ primary power forward target on Friday, and the team is still trying to recruit LeBron James(notes) to join him.

Prior to committing to play for the Knicks, Stoudemire called Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony to tell him he was…

Have you noticed that every time you take a dump on the toilet, there’s that tiny little nugget that refuses to be flushed down?

On Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz will have the opportunity to flush down more than a few NUGGETS in Denver as they look to advance in the second round of the 2010 NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

That’s right, after dropping the first game of their best of seven series with the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz came back with a vengeance, winning the next three games to put themselves in the position to eliminate the Nuggets in front of their fans in Denver.

And while the Utah Jazz are obviously riding on some momentum heading to what could be the clincher of the series, the Denver Nuggets are frustrated, infuriated and discombobulated. In case you haven’t heard, there’s some sort of dissension going on within the Nuggets camp following their 117-106 loss to the Jazz in Game 4 and trust me, this is not something those guys would want to have heading to their do or die game this Wednesday.

It turns out that Nuggets guard J.R. Smith had something to say about their loss to Utah and as always, he made his comments public through Twitter.

Apparently, Smith is sick and tired of watching Carmelo Anthony take all them shots. And while he had no problems whatsoever when Melo took more than half of their team’s field goal attempts in Game 1 to score 42 points, he probably couldn’t…

Because the Nuggets know how big getting the 2-0 lead is before they leave Denver and play the Jazz at the Energy Solutions Arena.

That’s why the Nuggets should keep their feet on the gas in Game 2 of their first round series in the 2010 NBA playoffs. The Jazz are a different team in front of their adoring fans in Salt Lake City and surely, the Nuggets don’t want to hand the homecourt edge to those guys right?

The Denver Nuggets are determined to get that 2-0 lead in Game 2 that they already know what they should do come game time, hold the Utah Jazz under 100. Sure, they gave up 113 points to Utah in their 126-113 win in Game 1 but after watching the game in their film session last Sunday, the Nuggets know the scoring barrage has to stop.

”I told Chauncey (Billups) we can’t give them 100 points,” Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said on Sunday morning. ”I think our record is pretty good when we hold teams under 100 points. I think that needs to be our focus.”

K-Mart has a point, the Nuggets are 30-3 this season when they hold opponents under 100 points. And when it comes to holding the Utah Jazz below the century mark, they know who they need to neutralize, Jazz point guard Deron Williams…

Ah, the Western Conference. Some people still say this is where it’s at.

And with good reason too because in the West, it doesn’t matter what seed you are because any one of these Western Conference teams can go on and win the NBA championship. In the 2010 NBA playoffs, it’s more or less the same story.

Heck, Kevin Durant, the youngest player ever to win the scoring title this season, will be playing from the no.8 seed with the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You see, these guys could go on and advance to, probably the second round of the playoffs. The problem is, they will be on a head-on collision with the no.1 seed Los Angeles Lakers.

That’s right, it’s the defending champions for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s probably why NOBODY expects them to get past the Lakers in the first round other than them Thunder players and their mommas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Kevin Durant and the season he had but when you pit him against Kobe Bryant? They don’t call him the Black Mamba for nothing.

The no.2 seed Dallas Mavericks take on the no.7 seed San Antonio Spurs…

As expected the Western Conference is having a dogfight for playoff positioning.

With merely days before the 2010 NBA playoffs get here, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns are all battling for control of the 2nd through 4th seeds, each of which come with home-court advantage in the first round.

The only team that knows which seed will they be at are the defending NBA world champions Los Angeles Lakers, taking the number one spot in the Western Conference for the third straight year.

The San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Portland Trail Blazers could end up as the no.8 seed to face the Lakers and unfortunately for Laker fans, all three teams can upset this Lakers team that has been struggling recently. As for now, San Antonio, Oklahoma and Portland will continue to fight for playoff positioning as the no.6, no.7 and no.8 seeds are still up for grabs.

So which of these three teams should the Lakers hope they won’t have to face in the first round? That’s easy. That team would definitely have to be the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs are currently in the seventh spot and has a tough final day schedule when they face the surging Dallas Mavericks. If they lose they would most likely end up in the eight spot and play Kobe Bryant and his Lakers.

Facing the Lakers in the first round is not an easy task for Greg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs team. But they are a veteran team composed of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and the ever reliable Tim Duncan. They all know how to play in the playoffs. And with the addition of Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, they can shock and beat the Lakers in the first round.

Hell, this Spurs team has been clicking at the right time…

He’s probably hoping that it’s not too late to ask the Wizards for more dollars too.

Gilbert Arenas has fucked himself over this 2010 NBA basketball season. Most teams are trying to get rid of their own guys to sign the LeBrons and the Wades in the coming 2010 free agency, and with Arenas getting himself to so much trouble this year, I guess he’s just making it easier for the Wizards organization to cut their ties with his overpaid ass.

But lo and behold, the Washington Wizards got rid of two thirds of their big three before this season’s trading deadline, that being Antawn Jamison (who was sent to Cleveland) and Caron Butler (who was sent to Dallas) leaving the team all alone for Gilbert Arenas to lord over.

Now I don’t know what the deal is here. Why in the world will you keep a guy like Gilbert Arenas who, let’s face it, hasn’t really done shit for you? Go figure. But as far as Arenas is concerned, all he can do at this point is take advantage of the Wizards’ stupidity and ask for more dollars. Of course, he needs to admit to his mistakes first to, at least, save face.

And he did just that.

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Gilbert Arenas said he has messed up the legacy of Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who recently passed away last November.

”I have a painting of him in my garage. I just walk by it…”

With the year he’s been having, I’d definitely say so.

The 2010 NBA basketball season hasn’t been kind to Allen Iverson, once one of the league’s brightest stars. Heck, this season has been that tough for him that he already retired this season only to come back after his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers, gave him a second lease in life.

Now, everything is being taken away from Allen Iverson again, as he was forced to put what’s left of his basketball career on hold to attend to his four-year-old daughter Messiah, who is reportedly suffering from an undisclosed illness.

Wow. You really can’t help but feel sorry for Iverson. For a guy who once led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals and won numerous scoring titles with, including league MVP honors, going out this way is definitely a tough pill to swallow.

Just look at what A.I. has been through this year. First he signs a one-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies looking to redeem himself after such a disastrous outing with Detroit last season. After only three games in Memphis, Iverson wanted out after he figured that he wasn’t on the same page with the team’s direction.

That led to Iverson announcing his retirement last November 25.

Then, his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers, gave him a second lease in life. And after a very emotional press conference, Iverson was back playing again for the very team that drafted him to the NBA.

Well, that lasted for 25 games. On February 22, Iverson took an indefinite leave to attend to his four-year-old daughter who was suffering from an undisclosed sickness. That forced the 76ers to announce that Iverson won’t be returning to the team for the remainder of the 2010 season.

”After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion…”

Yep, that’s a huge seven-foot boo-boo if you’re a Cavs fan hoping to see your team in the NBA Finals and win one game for a change.

And in case you didn’t get that, Shaquille O’Neal will likely miss the remainder of the 2010 NBA basketball season following surgery on his right thumb after Glen Davis hacked on it in a game between the Cavaliers and the Celtics.

With Shaquille O’Neal out of commission, the Cleveland Cavaliers lose that presence inside. Of course, they can hope Antawn Jamison and blossoming forward J.J. Hickson can fill the void.

But let’s face it, nobody can attract that much attention inside the paint the way Shaq does and with him out, it’ll be awfully hard for LeBron James to find those easy baskets around the perimeter.

The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the playoffs, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Orlando Magic. The Cavs signed Shaq before the season in preparation for a possible rematch with Orlando in the postseason.

Now, they’re in trouble of getting booted out of the…