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…

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…

Sorry, I couldn’t resist playing with some diehard Cavs fan’s emotions.

And in case you didn’t get that, NO, he ain’t with the Knicks. Well, not yet anyway. But since he got yet another early vacation after the Celtics eliminated his Cavs from the 2010 NBA playoffs, you can’t help but wonder where will LeBron end up this summer when he becomes a free agent.

Yep, the interesting 2010 summer of LeBron James has officially begun and with the way the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their final three games with LeBron this year, it’s really looking like the king of Akron, Ohio is leaning towards moving on.

Oh and in case you missed LeBron’s final three games with the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, it wasn’t pretty. Up 2-1 in their series with the Boston Celtics, the Cavaliers lost three straight, including that humiliating 32-point loss to the Celtics in Game 5 to set up what turned out to be their final game in this year’s postseason wars.

The Boston Celtics made sure that Game 6 would be LeBron’s final game with the Cavaliers this year alright. Led by Kevin Garnett who got 22 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo who had 21 points and 12 assists, the Celtics came up with a 16-4 run in the second half to put the Cavs away.

Now, everybody from Cleveland will begin scanning…

Whichever team wins Game 1 will take control of the series.

Although that is not necessarily the case since we saw quite a few Game 1 winners who have eventually lost their respective best of seven affairs in the 2010 NBA playoffs like the Portland Trail Blazers and just recently, the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, but STILL, winning Game 1 of a seven-game series is STILL huge, especially when you’re up against the Lakers.

On Monday night, the Phoenix Suns will try to take control of the Western Conference Finals by beating the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor in Game 1. That is, of course, easier said than done since the Lakers are STILL the defending NBA champions and they are STILL a team built to win that very title again but if there’s a team that can dethrone the Lakers, it would have to be the Suns.

The Phoenix Suns are clicking at the right time after a regular season full of doubt. Hell, they came this close from dealing their franchise player, Amar’e Stoudemire before the trading deadline for crying out loud.

Who would’ve thought that Amar’e Stoudemire would still be a Sun playing this deep into the postseason with an opportunity to win the Western Conference and reach the NBA Finals again since Charles Barkley lost to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls back in 1993?

The Pacific Division rivals couldn’t wait to meet each other to play for the Western Conference championship. Both the Lakers and the Suns made quick work of their second round opponents, sweeping the Jazz and the Spurs respectively to face-off against each other in the playoffs again.

However, while the Suns should be the sentimental favorites in…

Yep, the Suns are having some sort of identity crisis lately.

Well, at least in their two losses to the Blazers in their first round matchup of the 2010 NBA playoffs anyway.

In case you didn’t know, the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers are now tied at two games apiece heading to what would be a pivotal Game 5 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Despite the fact that the Portland Trail Blazers played the first three games of this series without their main man Brandon Roy, they still managed to win a couple of games over a very hot Suns team that has been riding on all sorts of momentum heading to the playoffs. They even won the first one on the road, shocking the Suns after winning Game 1 in Phoenix before beating the Suns again in Game 4 to tie the series.

But perhaps the reason why Phoenix lost games 1 and 4 was the fact that the Suns were having some sort of identity crisis in both losses. The Suns got outworked by the Blazers in both games, giving up too many second chances. In Game 4 specifically, the run and gun tempo that made the Suns such a delight to watch turned into a crawl, a pace to Portland’s liking.

In Game 5, the Suns know that they can’t afford to give this game away and let the Blazers take a…

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…

Well, at least Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo says keeping Bosh is a priority.

That’s despite the fact that there are rumors claiming that the Toronto Raptors are planning to deal Chris Bosh to the New York Knicks for David Lee in a sign and trade deal once the 2010 NBA playoffs are over.

For now, Colangelo claims he plans to do everything in his power to keep Chris Bosh in Toronto and convince the five-time NBA All-Star to play with the Raptors for at least a few more years.

With perhaps the biggest free agency period ever to hit the league for quite some time coming, the Toronto Raptors could be on the verge of losing their prized forward. With the big guns of the NBA testing free agency all at the same time, with the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade also free agents at the end of the playoffs, Bosh is likely to move on in search of greener pastures.

Of course, Colangelo claims the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere.

”It comes down, really, to what he’s looking to achieve out of free agency,” Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo said in a wide-ranging, hour-long state of the union address.

”There’s the thought and speculation that he wants to be a No.1 guy; we have that. If he’s content being a No.2 guy then there are other options for him.”

”This city is a place that has grown fond of him and I think…”

The series is tied, Blazers have homecourt but the Suns have their groove back.

That is the situation leading up to what would be a huge Game 3 between the no.3 seed Phoenix Suns and the no.6 seed Portland Trail Blazers in their first round best of seven series in the 2010 NBA playoffs.

This series started somewhat strange with the Portland Trail Blazers, without their main man Brandon Roy, going to Phoenix to beat the hottest team in the NBA and steal homecourt to get the early 1-0 series lead. The Blazers then, after their Game 1 win at the US Airways Center, became the first road team to win in the first round.

In Game 2, the Phoenix Suns reasserted themselves as the no.3 seeded team in the NBA. They were simply on fire in Game 2 with Jason Richardson scoring 15 of his game-high 29 points in the first quarter to fuel his team to what turned out to be a convincing 119-90 victory.

The game Jason Richardson came up with in Game 2 was just what the Suns needed. After all, they can’t afford to lose that game before the series moves to Portland for games 3 and 4 right? However, as good as J-Rich has been for the Suns in Game 2, the story was Grant Hill and his defense on Andre Miller, the same guy who torched them for 31 points, a career high, in Game 1.

”I just tried to make him work,” Grant Hill said on guarding Andre Miller…

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…

Cleveland has secured the top spot in the East for quite some time. As for the rest, here they are.

The matchups in the East for the 2010 NBA playoffs are finally… um… finalized and while the Cleveland Cavaliers have secured the top playoff spot in the conference a few weeks ago, the remaining few seeds were not determined until the final few days of the season.

As it turned out, the no.1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the no.8 seed Chicago Bulls, who secured the last playoff spot in the East after beating the playoff-pound Charlotte Bobcats, hence denying the Toronto Raptors of postseason play for the second straight year.

Kudos to coach Vinny Del Negro and the rest of the Chicago Bulls for overcoming a late-season injury to Joakim Noah and the publicized rift between coach Del Negro and team manager John Paxson. Congratulations guys, you’re in the playoffs.

Your reward? LeBron James. (I don’t know if the Bulls would still be happy about that in a few days…)

The Orlando Magic will be this year’s no.2 seed as they look to make a return to the NBA Finals when they take on no.7 seed, Charlotte Bobcats. Thanks to some key additions to the Magic roster, more specifically the addition of Vince Carter, the Magic have become…