Tracy McGrady is known to carry a relaxed persona, and he stayed true to form — for the most part — upon his introduction to Detroit.

“Anyone that knows me knows I have a chip on my shoulder,” said McGrady, a seven-time all-star who signed with the Detroit Pistons for the 2010 NBA basketball season. “Guys have injuries in this league. I’ve worked my butt off the last two years and I’ll continue to do that.”

McGrady, 31, agreed to a one-year, $1.35 million deal with the Detroit Pistons after playing last season with the Rockets and Knicks. He said Pistons president Joe Dumars has coveted him for years, and this low-risk, high-reward setting was “perfect timing.”

Yes, this is the same Tracy McGrady who claimed he was “happy to be in the second round” when his Magic had a 3-1 lead over the Pistons in the 2003 playoffs — before being eliminated in seven games.

And this is the same McGrady who told ESPN to “put it on me” if his Rockets failed to advance in the 2007 playoffs, and after a 29-point, 13-rebound performance in Game 7 that resulted in a loss, cried afterward.

“A lot of negative things were said about me, that I was done,” he said before sporting his No. 1 jersey. “It was like God came down and stripped me of my talent. I have a lot of basketball left in me.”

McGrady has played a total of 65 games the last two seasons, spending most of the time on a training table recovering from various injuries, most notably microfracture knee surgery. He also has endured…

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…

Yep, those two teams are still their two favorites to meet in the NBA Finals this year.

We’re at the halfway point of the 2010 NBA basketball season which usually means the trading deadline has passed and we have a handful of teams with improved lineups, all making that final push for a prime playoff spot.

Of course, all them moves have a huge impact on the betting public. Are the favorites last November still the favorites to win the title at this point of the year? Who made the biggest move to warrant your attention this season?

Well, as far as BetUS.com is concerned, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers are still their two favorites to compete for the world championship in the NBA Finals. And in case you were wondering, yes, most sportsbooks are picking them two teams as well.

The NBA’s All-Star weekend came and went without much fanfare as the dunk contest was panned by fans and media alike and the most exciting stuff being exhibited by some of the…

Great. That’s just what the Knicks needed, another overpaid guard to fuck up the salary cap.

After trading Nate Robinson to Boston, you can’t help but wonder, are these guys throwing the 2010 NBA basketball season away already? And what’s even funnier is the fact that the Knicks actually think bringing in a Tracy McGrady who is now merely a shell of his former self, the right move to make.

But when you come to think of it, this is probably a good business decision by New York Knicks gerenal manager Donnie Walsh. We all know the Knicks won’t be competing for the NBA championship this season anyway so the least they can do now is just put more asses inside Madison Square Garden and just like Iverson in Philadelphia, McGrady can be that guy in New York City.

Having a guy like Tracy McGrady can bolster interest to this ailing Knicks franchise. Of course, if they want to have McGrady for the next couple of years, they would have to give up key players within their team like Al Harrington and Eddy Curry at some point just to stay below the cap.

And since the Knicks are trying to clear up some cap space anyway for the highly anticipated 2010 free agency, those guys are as good as gone along with their hefty paychecks.

The first move New York Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh was looking into before the deadline was a three-team deal that involves both the…

We’re letting these out now before the trading deadline expires in a few hours.

The halfway point of the 2010 NBA basketball season only means one thing, this is that point of the season when teams have to make their final adjustments in their roster for that final push for a possible playoff spot come April.

And as far as that is concerned, we still have quite a few. With deals that sent Caron Butler to Dallas, Josh Howard to Washington and just recently, Antawn Jamison to Cleveland, we still have quite a few big names that could end up somewhere else.

Let’s start with arguably the biggest name out there on the trading block. And in case you didn’t get that, we’re referring to Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire has been the topic for the past few weeks as his name continue to pop – up in trade talks for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.

Now that Cleveland already has Jamison, the Cavaliers have left the pursuit for Stoudemire, letting the Miami Heat to make a move. I know Heat president Pat Riley is doing his best to land Stoudemire to pair him with his fellow All – Star Dwyane Wade.

We also have Ray Allen, who has an expiring contract with the Boston Celtics, in the middle of trade rumors. Boston continues to measure the veteran guard’s appeal on the market, but general manager Danny Ainge is unwilling to pull the trigger. Allen still is considered an important asset to Boston but as ya’ll know, you really don’t know for sure what the Celtics will do before…

Yep, that’s how fast this guy has been improving lately.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder surprising a lot of people this 2010 NBA basketball season, their main man, that’s Kevin Durant, is being included in the discussion for MVP honors this year. You read it, he’s right up there this year with the LeBrons, Kobes and Dwyane Wades. So how special has this guy been? Can he really take the MVP away from the more established players in the league today?

Listed at 6-foot-9 but closer to 6-11 according to those who try to defend him, Kevin Durant is doing it all for his team this season. He leads his team in scoring, rebounding and minutes (39.9). He has improved defensively while also increasing his scoring average, third best in the NBA, by four points over last season and by nine over his rookie season. His field goal percentage is up to 48.1 percent, better than last season’s 47.6 and well above the 43.0 percent he shot two years ago.

But perhaps the most impressive stat is that the Oklahoma City Thunder is posting a winning record so far. So good in fact that if the playoffs started today, the Thunder could enjoy homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason.

Opposing players know that it is Durant’s combination of height, frame and extraordinary wingspan that makes him so rare in the game and a nightmare to defend. ”His capability of taking the ball off the dribble is very 2-guard-like, and getting to the rim,” Lamar Odom said. ”And, of course, he can get his shot over anybody. His jump shot, his step-back, it’s something you don’t really see.”

The closest comparison most make of Durant to anyone who has…

These fans could care less who they get to the NBA’s midseason extravaganza.

How come? Well, Tracy McGrady COULD START for the Western Conference All-Stars in Dallas. Yep, T-Mac. Boy, is he playing awesome this 2009 NBA basketball season eh?

In what is slowly turning out to be a complete and utter joke, some NBA fans are on the verge of letting a dude who haven’t played a single game this season become an All-Star in Dallas, where the 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played.

Ain’t that funny? Tracy McGrady could join Kobe Bryant in the Western Conference backcourt. That is a slap in the face to every other guard in the Western Conference. They don’t even have to be better than McGrady this season since the guy HASN’T EVEN SUITED UP FOR A SINGLE FREAKING GAME THIS YEAR.

If you ask me, there’s this one guy who should get the vote to be a starter in the Western Conference All-Star roster, Brandon Roy. That dude, just like last season, is ballin’ this year and even without Greg Oden for the second straight year, Roy is doing just enough to keep the ship afloat.

Another dude who should get the start alongside Kobe Bryant is Chauncey Billups.

Chauncey Billups is the prototypical point guard and it is because of his leadership that the Denver Nuggets have become one of the elite teams in the West, not to mention help Carmelo Anthony become one of the prime candidates to win league MVP this season.

For a guy like him to get the boot in favor of a dude who is…

With Yao Ming out indefinitely, the Rockets need to fix that huge hole in the middle of their defense, quick.

The Houston Rockets find themselves in serious trouble now with Yao Ming’s broken foot ultimately ruling their chances of another run in the playoffs over even before the 2009 NBA basketball season can officially begin.

Dr. Tom Clanton, the Houston Rockets team physician, said that the injury Yao Ming suffered ”has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career-threatening.” That’s not really something you want to hear.

So what can the Houston Rockets do to fill such a gaping hole? The answer, trade for Chris Bosh. Bosh is reportedly going to sign with the Rockets in another year or so anyway. Some even say that there’s no way he’s coming back to the Raptors, so it makes sense for the Rockets to go grab the guy now when they need him most.

Chris Bosh is also originally from Dallas, so a return to his home state would be something he’d likely be interested in as well. It worked so far for Vince Carter in Florida anyway.

Yao suffered a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone late in a May 8 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The team said last week the injury hasn’t healed, ruling him out for the coming season, indefinitely.

Yao played in 77 regular-season games in 2008-09, his most injury-free year since 2004-05, when he played in 80. Before last season, Yao missed chunks of the previous three seasons with leg and foot injuries. He missed 21 games in 2005-06 after surgery to heal an infection to his left big toe, then broke a bone in his left foot with four games left in the regular season.

In 2006-07, Yao missed 32 games after breaking his…

Now that Kobe Bryant has finally established himself as the best player in the world, period, who’ll carry the torch once he’s done?

The only thing constant in the NBA is change and we all know that once Kobe Bryant is done, there’ll be another guy who’ll be carrying the sport by his shoulders while the rest of us start proclaiming that guy as the new king of the sport. Unless, of course, you’re still stuck in the past, masturbating over Michael Jordan.

When Kobe Bryant leaves the game of basketball, which everybody knows will take some time before he does that, who will follow his footsteps and be named as the next best thing in the NBA? Well, we already have the usual suspects in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. These guys are already ”Kobe-esque” at this point of their careers. It’s just a question on how long can both guys keep playing at this level.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have already proven that they are among the elite players in the league. Wade has already won a championship ring with the Miami Heat back in 2006 with Shaquille O’Neal while LeBron James has already won the best single accolade an NBA player can get, winning the MVP trophy last season.

Any of these guys can carry the torch after Kobe Bryant and the NBA is definitely in good hands. We also…

At best.

Yep, you read it, because there are rumors that claim that this latest injury hitting the seven-foot Chinese giant coming to the 2009 NBA basketball season is so severe that they’re calling it career-threatening.

Apparently, Yao Ming hasn’t fully recovered yet from the broken foot he suffered from during the NBA playoffs. And while the brand new season is still a few months away, Yao’s recovery is so behind schedule that they are already ruling the big guy out for the entire season, or worse, his NBA career.

”At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening,” team physician Tom Clanton said.

”One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery.”

Yao Ming suffered a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot when his Houston Rockets were playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The team initially ruled Yao to be out for eight to 12 weeks but they found out that he could be missing a lot more time after a bone scan revealed that the fracture is not healing properly.

This leaves the Houston Rockets with no choice but to…