Zimbra

People have been treating him as a joke for years for dogging it and getting fat once he got a big contract, but Hedo was transformational during his first run in Orlando. Such a weird prototype that didn't play like anyone else in the league.

*Extremely Bill Simmons voice* Who says no?

Jesus Christ, I'm not sure the Kings have ever Kingsed this hard. The highlights: -Boogie cursing out Karl in front of the entire team -Boogie feeling bad and asking teammates if that was over the line -Vlade Divac asking the team if they should fire Karl -Ranadive's embarasing boner for John Calipari

They looked so close to turning it around when the Maloofs sold the team, but just cannot escape being a goddamned calamity every year.

That's an awful nice court. Cheick Diallo lawyered up to fight for his eligibility. It's looking increasingly unlikely that he'll play at KU this year, which is going to be a real dick in the zipper for their season. Mickelson/Lucas/Traylor are mostly OK playing center-by-committee, but nobody is really bringing the grit and defensive intensity he was supposed to provide.

Uhh, that's 2-time WORLD CHAMPION Mario Chalmers to us plebes. Kings are apparently already unhappy with George Karl and Vivek wants to make a change. Just in case you were worried that they got their shit together.

Jonah Keri said his stuff is going to be on espn.com from now on, so they're doing something. It's a little weird they would have the baseball stuff up first since the season just ended while football and basketball are going on.

Axing Simmons during the playoffs and depriving us of Lowe right as the season starts can't help but feel like a big 'fuck you' from ESPN.

Lowe is still on twitter but hasn't written anything for espn.com. I don't think any of the Grantland alums have.

Went to UW's exhibition last night. Hard to tell much when they're playing a team that's all 6'6" or shorter, but they looked OK. Ethan Happ did nice things near the basket and is going to be a really good rebounder. But he can't do anything away from the basket and is a pretty bad free throw shooter. The defense was pretty bad for a Bo Ryan team; if you can beat your perimeter defender then you will have a clear path right to the basket. I ran into Andy Katz buying a t-shirt before the game, which was very unexpected.

That was a hell of a game.

Even if they can find a team to give up picks for him, still gotta match that $24M. Really, the thing that makes the most sense is for the Nets to buy him out before the deadline and let him sign with a contender. But they have no incentive to do that.

Is anyone really giving up picks for Johnson at this point in his career?

I forgot about the swap. That trade was so fucking bad.

Brooklyn doesn't have their first round pick until 2019, so they have no incentive to tear it down. They could maybe turn Lopez into picks, but they better hurry on that before he gets hurt again. Except for Curry's 2 fouls this GSW/LAC game is everything I had hoped.

I had never heard of Dragon Fin Soup, but it looks to be right up my alley. Magicka 2 is a nice get, although I hear it's not as good as the first.

*refreshes Bill Simmons twitter so hard his finger goes right through the mouse* Seriously, though, someone wake him up. Guys like Lowe, Barnwell, and Keri are going to be alright, but this is going to be real shitty for a lot of the younger writers.

Sounds like they were trying to get it out before it leaked and didn't bother to notify the staff. Which is a) super-duper shitty and b) exactly what I'd expect from ESPN.

The Martin Beck books by Sjowall and Wahloo are pretty good, although they feel a bit dated now. Even better are the Wallander books by Henning Mankell. My mom really likes Peter Hoeg, but I haven't read anything of his. The movie version of Smilla's Sense of Snow was good, though. I might pass this question to her as this is pretty much her favorite genre. EDIT: PD James isn't Nordic, but her stuff can be thematically similar.

Grantland is donezo.

"You can change the owner, you can change the players but the Clippers are who they've been for the past 30 yrs" - Mark Cuban

4 posts and nobody made a Throatwarbler Mangrove joke yet? I thought this was the internet.

The Bucks have hype, but they also have some issues to address. Shooting is the biggest one. Middleton is the only shooter in the starting lineup and he hasn't exactly been killing it in the preseason. Jabari will help, but who knows when he'll be back to full strength? Until then Copeland's their best shooter but he takes away a lot on defense, which brings us to the second issue. They have no rim protection, so they cant really afford any slips on the perimeter. And for all their length and athleticism they've had a bad habit of blowing assignments, particularly MCW. I like the Bucks, but I think they're a slightly better than .500 team without dealing with this, which is going to be difficult. They're not trading Jabari, Giannis, or Middleton. They could move MCW and either Bayless or Mayo for a shooter, but I think they'll be selling low. What they really need is for Giannis to get his shooting stroke together, but him making a jump mid-season seems unlikely.

I didn't expect that much of an ass-kicking, but the Bucks were without 3 of their top 6 players so I'm not quite panicking yet.

I think the Magic are super-interesting. Now that they have a real coach I think they're one year and a trade away from making a serious playoff run. Hezonja's Euro highlights and shit-talking make him a must-watch player for me. I don't think the Payton/Oladipo backcourt is really tenable because of lack of shooting, but they'll be fun.