To tell you quite frankly, there are a number of reasons.

For those of you who don’t know, LeBron James WILL be a free agent once we have a champion crowned in the 2010 NBA Finals. Yep, the self proclaimed king of Akron, Ohio will be testing the free agency market and we expect a lot of teams in the NBA to express their interest.

Of course, the Cleveland Cavaliers would love to still have LeBron James in uniform come October. But the fact of the matter is, James staying in Cleveland is becoming less and less likely.

How come? Well, for starters, the city of Cleveland may not be as appealing to a LeBron James anymore especially when you have cities like New York and Los Angeles willing to pay LeBron top dollar to don their uniforms and play for them instead. (In case you were wondering, yes, the Clippers just joined in on the race to get LBJ.)

Another reason could be James not believing anymore that he can win a title in Cleveland. I mean, we have seen numerous names the Cavaliers got to compliment James but still no hardware to show for. This year, Cleveland surrounded ‘Bron with Antawn Jamison and Shaquille O’Neal and the farthest they got was…

Can you blame them? After a couple of seasons watching Greg Oden screw himself over, it’s about time those guys have a reliable center for a change.

As of this writing, the Portland Trail Blazers are still primed for a significant run in the 2010 NBA playoffs despite playing through with every injury imaginable this year. And since injuries have, for the second straight season, defined what kind of campaign the Blazers would be able to run this season, it looks like they are finally putting the pieces together that just might alleviate the problem next season.

And in case you didn’t get that, the Portland Trail Blazers are trying to sign Marcus Camby for a two-year extension, a move that the Blazers are probably hoping can finally give them that solid and reliable presence at the center position for a change.

Reports claim that the Blazers and Marcus Camby have been negotiating toward a new deal that would be able to keep Camby from becoming a free agent this summer. According to the reports, the rumored deal is believed to be worth in excess of $20 million.

The Blazers originally got Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers before this season’s trading deadline. The Blazers were desperate for a solution after losing centers Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden (surprise surprise…) to season ending knee injuries and Camby was, without a shadow of a doubt, became more than a suitable replacement.

Sure, the Blazers are still rooting for Greg Oden to finally get his shit together and have a healthy and productive year for a change. You see, after the Blazers got this guy as their overall no.1 draft pick three years ago, Oden spent most of his time in Portland sitting on the Blazers bench with an injured knee.

Having Camby on board for two more years will hopefully…

We’ll find out soon enough.

After failing to acquire another legitimate player to help Dwyane Wade before the trading deadline expired in the 2010 NBA basketball season, the Miami Heat should consider going to their initial plan of getting a free agent in the offseason.

While the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Washington Wizards, the L.A. Clippers, and the Sacramento Kings made a surplus of combined trades to give them major cap relief after the season, the Miami Heat were caught on the sidelines watching their advantage fade away.

Chicago and New York were already expected to make a run for Dwyane Wade, but now they can offer him the chance to possibly play alongside LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, or Joe Johnson.

”You pay attention and notice what’s going on around the league because you’re a player in this league, and there’s also a business factor,” Dwyane Wade said of teams looking to join the summer sweepstakes.

”But no team is more important than the team you play for, and seeing your team put itself in position to win at a high level for a long time.”

A Chicago Bulls tandem with Derrick Rose or any of those names would have to be enticing for Wade. If Miami isn’t able to convince him the team will contend next year, the Chicago native would have a hard time saying no to a Bulls offer like that.

Same goes for New York. Would Wade really pass up the chance to…

If they do, then you can bet your ass the Knicks will be the team to beat next season.

After getting the services of multi – time All – Star Tracy McGrady this 2010 NBA basketball season from a three team trade with the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings, the New York Knicks were able to clear enough salary-cap space for the Knicks to possibly sign two maximum-salary free agents this summer.

That’s right, the New York Knicks could recruit LeBron James by giving him the option of choosing which other free agent he wants from the likes of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki.

However, getting LeBron James out of Cleveland won’t be easy since the Cavs, who own the league’s best record, bolstered their lineup with the addition of former Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. If Cleveland advances to its second NBA Finals stint in four years with LeBron, the odds of him leaving his home state figure to be diminished.

Sorry Knicks fans.

The New York Knicks aren’t the only team to clear cap space. The Chicago Bulls, a team featuring point guard Derrick Rose and a better core group of players than…

Of course, all them trades that happened a few days ago will have a huge impact on who these sportsbooks favor.

The trade deadline this 2010 NBA basketball season has come and gone and while the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t get Amare Stoudemire like they wanted, they still were able to score Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards and Sebastian Telfair from the L.A. Clippers.

”We are very excited to have an experienced all-star player of Antawn’s caliber and character join us,” said Cleveland Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry after making the deal. ”He has the ability to add a special, unique dimension to our team with a strong inside presence and the ability to stretch teams defensively, while impacting the entire court.”

As it stands, online sportsbooks have Cleveland as the odds-on favorite at -110 to win the Eastern Conference and +225 to win the NBA championship. The trade was consummated on Feb. 18 and Jamison made his debut a day later and since then, the Cavaliers are 0-2 straight up and against the spread.

After a game against the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night, LeBron James and the rest of the Cavs will hit the road for a two-game Atlantic division swing with games against the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors.

Let’s look ahead to that road trip…

How about that, this was one of those trades that really CAME OUT OF NOWHERE.

With all kinds of attention on Amare Stoudemire’s next destination before hitting the trading deadline this 2010 NBA basketball season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to pull off a fast one, acquiring Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Yep, you read it, Antawn Jamison will now be playing alongside LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal in Cleveland. Wow. With the talent the Cavs have right now, winning anything less than the NBA championship at the end of the season will be an utter disappointment.

With Antawn Jamison on board, the Cleveland Cavaliers now have a prolific forward who can open up the floor for LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal. Jamison can hurt you with both his inside and outside game and with him on the floor, the Cavaliers have that other huge threat offensively which is a huge problem considering that you already have freaking LeBron James to deal with.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are sending Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Washington Wizards and this year’s first-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire Jamison in a three-team deal.

The Washington Wizards will also receive Al Thornton from…

We know the starters, now it’s time to find out who got snubbed and who should be there in Dallas.

Every year, the NBA’s midseason extravaganza snubs a few players who fans feel should be in the league’s annual celebration of the brightest stars in the NBA. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas is no different.

Let’s start with this one guy who probably got snubbed from the All-Star game this year because of a mug you can’t market ANYWHERE. And in case you didn’t get that, I’m referring to Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman.

This will be the second time the Los Angeles Clippers star got snubbed for the All-Star game. For a guy who looks like a child molester, Kaman is quickly becoming one of the brightest stars in Hollywood. The guy is averaging 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He is arguably having the best season of any traditional center in the West and that is why the Clippers, despite all their struggles, are still hanging on for a playoff spot.

Another guy who definitely should be in the All-Star game in Dallas is Chauncey Billups. Having the All-Star game this year without Mr. Big Shot is a travesty, to say the least. He is probably the best point guard in the Western Conference at this point of the season. Hell, he should be there starting for the West instead of Steve Nash in my opinion.

But probably because of the injury that forced him to miss eight games this season, Billups failed to get the fans’ and the coaches’ votes.

”I’m sure it played a role,” Billups said, who just recently broke his career high when he led the Denver Nuggets to a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles…

Aside from the fact that they’re playing for a city like New Jersey?

You know something’s wrong when you’re playing worse than the Minnesota Timberwolves. Well, that is exactly what the New Jersey Nets have been doing this 2009 NBA basketball season. They now have one of the worst starts in NBA history, surpassing the 1988 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers who both dropped their first 17 regular season games.

What has gone wrong for the New Jersey Nets? Well, for starters, they should stop signing all these women on their team. They have a seven-foot center named Brook and a young guard named Courtney. Heck, they now have a head coach named Kiki for crying out loud. No wonder they’ve been losing all those games.

Injuries have plagued this team this season too.

Devin Harris, the Nets’ All-Star point guard, has missed 10 games with a groin injury and been limited in two others. Yi Jianlian, the franchise power forward, has sat 12 and remains out with a knee sprain. Starting shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts has missed three games; Trenton Hassell four; Courtney Lee seven; and Bobby Simmons three.

Recently-fired head coach Lawrence Frank, in turn, was forced to start 11 different guys as a result of all these injuries. The Nets have been playing short-handed just about the entire season. But is that an ample excuse to drop 18 straight games?

Harris has seemingly shifted from break-out All-Star…

Odds to win 2010 Western Conference 
All wagers have action. The team that wins the conference final in the playoffs will be graded the winner. (This Prop is Closed for Betting)

Competitor
Price

Dallas Mavericks

15.00    

Denver Nuggets
[...]

Odds to win 2010 NBA Championship 

Competitor
Price

Atlanta Hawks
46.00    

Boston Celtics
5.00

Charlotte Bobcats
101.00 

Chicago Bulls
46.00    

Cleveland Cavaliers
4.33

Dallas Mavericks
31.00 

Denver Nuggets
16.00

Detroit Pistons
46.00   

Golden State Warriors
126.00 

Houston Rockets
51.00 

Indiana Pacers
101.00

Los Angeles Clippers
91.00

Los Angeles Lakers
3.00 

Memphis Grizzlies
101.00

Miami Heat
46.00

Milwaukee Bucks
51.00 

Minnesota Timberwolves
151.00

New Jersey Nets
101.00   

New Orleans Hornets
36.00

New York Knicks
76.00

Oklahoma City Thunder
101.00 

Orlando Magic
9.00

Philadelphia 76ers
66.00

Phoenix Suns
61.00  

Portland Trailblazers
21.00 

Sacramento Kings
151.00

San Antonio Spurs
8.50

Toronto Raptors [...]