The long wait is finally over, the NBA is back starting tomorrow, Christmas day, and it is back in grand fashion. The NBA will feature 5 exciting matchups on 3 major television networks starting on TNT with an Atlantic Division battle and ending on ESPN with a west coast offensive explosion. Lets preview those 5 games, and the 10 teams in them.

 

Game 1

Knicks vs Celtics

Starting Lineups

NY- PG Toney Douglas, SG Landry Fields, SF Carmelo Anthony, PF Amare Stoudemire, C Tyson Chandler

BOS- PG Rajon Rondo, SG Ray Allen, SF Sasha Pavlovic, PF Kevin Garnett, C Jermaine O’ Neal

This blossoming east coast rivalry will get a kick start on day 1 of the new season, with much of the focus being on the Knicks’ prize acquisition of the shortened postseason, Tyson Chandler. Past the fearsome New York frontcourt, however, is an inexperienced backcourt, and a thin bench. With Baron Davis out with a back injury for the foreseeable future, look to rookie Iman Shumpert to be the spark plug off the New York bench early this season. For Boston, health is more important than ever for the big 3 this season as the Celtics have their weakest bench since the big 3 was created (Marquis Daniels is the 6^th man off the bench, enough said.) Mr. Boston Paul Pierce will not be in the starting lineup on Christmas day due to injury, and it remains to be seen if he will contribute off the bench or be forced to miss the game completely. If Pierce is able to play this one could go either way, but look for the Knicks to take round 1 at MSG.

 

Game 2

Mavericks vs Heat

Starting Lineups

DAL- PG Jason Kidd, SG Vince Carter, SF Shawn Marion, PF Dirk Nowitzki, C Brendan Haywood

MIA- PG Mario Chalmers, SG Dwyane Wade, SF LeBron James, PF Chris Bosh, C Joel Anthony

A finals rematch on the first day of the regular season? Yes please. As if the Heat weren’t motivated enough this season, putting them back against the Mavericks on opening day and watching Dallas raise a championship banner will surely do the trick. Miami looks to be the heavy favorite this season to win the title, and they boast a superior team to last season no doubt. This team is familiar with one another and they know how to feed off one another, and the bench is now deeper with the signing of Shane Battier, who will team with Mike Miller and James Jones to give Miami great spot up shooting they need to keep defenses honest against the big 3. Dallas, on the other hand, has experienced a major overhaul of the roster. Gone are NBA playoff heroes JJ Barea, DeShawn Stevenson, and most importantly, Tyson Chandler. Granted, the Mavs did bring in Lamar Odom and Vince Carter, but this is a very different team than last year and will no training camp it will take time to figure out how the puzzle fits together. These two teams are polar opposites of each other when it comes to the shortened season after the lockout, the Heat are one of the team that will most benefit as they have a similar roster to last season and young fresh legs. On the other hand, Dallas could and probably will struggle mightily with a lot of new faces, and a lot of older players. Look for Miami to win big here, and this game could very well set the tone for both teams’ seasons.

 

Game 3

Lakers vs Bulls

Starting Lineups

LA- PG Derek Fisher, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Devin Ebanks, PF Josh McRoberts, C Pau Gasol

CHI- PG Derrick Rose, SG Richard Hamilton, SF Luol Deng, PF Carlos Boozer, C Joakim Noah

If there is one game that could be more lopsided than the Heat Mavericks game, this will be it. A look at the Lakers starting lineup compared to last season is simply stunning, even when you consider after 4 games Andrew Bynum will be back. The Lakers have a lot of old, tired legs, and not a lot of quality depth in a season that will demand just that. A return to previous years by Troy Murphy would ease the mind of Mike Brown about his frontcourt depth, and it remains to be seen if the artist formerly known as Ron Artest can successfully transition from starter to the swing forward 6^th man spot that Lamar Odom was so good in. The brightest hope for the Lakers is if their older players can stave off father time a little bit longer, and their young players such as Ebanks, Morris, and McRoberts can play above themselves this season while providing energy. The Bulls look to be the definition of solid this year, while the addition of Richard Hamilton could possibly be the most underrated signing in quite some time. The Bulls boast impressive depth and the best defense in basketball, and realistically could challenge the Heat for the East’s number one seed. With the Lakers having to figure out their new offensive system and using young, new players to do so, the Bulls defense will look even more impressive on opening night and should run away with this one early.

 

Game 4

Thunder vs Magic

Starting Lineups

OKC- PG Russell Westbrook, SG Thabo Sefolosha, SF Kevin Durant, PF Serge Ibaka, C Kendrick Perkins

ORL- PG Jameer Nelson, SG Jason Richardson, SF Hedo Turkoglu, PF Glen Davis, C Dwight Howard

Two teams with impressive firepower should provide an exciting game in Oklahoma City, though with the Thunder having the DH12 stopper in Kendrick Perkins, OKC should come away with the win. Oklahoma City looks to be the team that could benefit most from the lockout: they are a young team with fresh legs, a team that has had a very small amount of turnover on the roster, and they are well coached by Scott Brooks. Look for this to be the season Kevin Durant lays claims to the MVP award. Orlando is a talented team with a decent bench, but they don’t stand much of a chance at deep postseason success until the Dwight Howard mess is figured out. This season will be used more to determine which direction the franchise will head: continuing to build around a re-committed Dwight, or rebuilding their team after a trade of the big man. One must think not much will be accomplished in determining the direction of the Magic until a new GM is put into place, as it appears Otis Smith is incapable of such a job. One such example of his ineptness is the re-signing of Jason Richardson to a new 4 year deal worth about $25 million. Smith made a lose-lose move here, because if Dwight decides to stay, this contract hinders possible moves the Magic could make to surround their superstar with better talent, and if Dwight is moved, this contract takes up valuable cap space the Magic could use to continue the rebuilding process. Richardson is a good player, but he is rapidly aging and a decent 30 something shooting guard is not a good player to sink money into, at least until you know the plans for your franchise.

 

Game 5

Warriors vs Clippers

Starting Lineups

GS- PG Stephen Curry, SG Monta Ellis, SF Dorrell Wright, PF David Lee, C Andris Biedrins

LA- PG Chris Paul, SG Chauncey Billups, SF Caron Butler, PF Blake Griffin, C DeAndre Jordan

An offensive and athleticism explosion will close out Christmas night in grand style as Lob City travels upstate to take on the young but talented Warriors. The Warriors are a team that is full of young talent, but the only thing that can match their potential are serious questions facing this team. Is Stephen Curry’s re-injured ankle a long term issue going forward? Is the lawsuit filed against the Warriors and Monta Ellis going to be a large distraction going forward? How soon until Golden State benches Biedrins for pathetic play and starts Udoh at PF with David Lee at center? Klay Thompson looks to be the only strong scoring off the bench for Golden State, so their starters must remain healthy to log heavy minutes if a playoff spot is a real possibility. The Clippers, with the Chris Paul deal being sealed, have become the big ticket in every NBA city across America. The Blake Show, real life NBA Jam, Lob City, you’ve heard it all, but will they also be a good, quality team in addition to being the most exciting product to hit a court this season? For Clipper fans, the answer is a yes, thanks to the additions of solid vets Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler. It seems the Clippers are making all the right moves these days, which I was sure I would never type in my lifetime. They added a superstar to team up with their superstar and the most athletic center in basketball. They added solid vets to the starting lineup to go along with these young stars, and on top of it all they managed to preserve good depth with a bench consisting of Randy Foye, Eric Bledsoe, Ryan Gomes, Trey Thompkins, and recently signed rebounding machine Reggie Evans. It’s very realistic to think the Clippers could win the Pacific this year, and make serious noise in the playoffs. They are unquestionably better than the Warriors, the Suns, and the Kings, and though this is the Lakers’ division until proven otherwise, signs are pointing to Clippermania taking over Los Angeles, the NBA, and the Pacific division sooner rather than later.

Derrick Rose just made Kevin Durant a "richer" man.

After the long NBA lockout, which lasted over five months, one of the big wins for the players' side was the addition of a new rule called the "Derrick Rose rule." It allows young players still on their rookie contracts to outplay their contracts and earn 30 percent of their team's salary cap, as opposed to 25 percent. Rose will obviously have the rule apply to his contract, seeing as how it's named after him; but his contract extension won't kick in until next season.

According to RealGM, Kevin Durant will actually be the first player to use the "Derrick Rose" rule in his contract, when his new max contract begins this season. The new rule will allow Durant to make an extra $2,584,438 this season and about $14,860,519 over the course of his new contract extension. The new extension also means that the Thunder will now be over the salary cap.

To qualify for the "Derrick Rose" rule, players have to meet certain criteria. This includes either being named an All-Star starter for two years, making two All-NBA teams or being named the NBA MVP in your first four seasons. So far, only Rose and Durant qualify for the rule. However, certain young players have a chance to meet the criteria such as Russell Westbrook, who would only need to be named to an All-NBA team; or Blake Griffin, who still has two seasons to be named an All-Star starter.

According to ESPN.com, the NBA announced on Friday that it has officially canceled 43 preseason games. In addition, team training camps have been postponed until a date not yet determined.

Camps were slated to open on Oct. 3, and preseason games filled the schedule from Oct. 9-15. While no one can express much surprise in reaction, the announcement grants a more official slant to the situation.

Deputy commissioner Adam Silver spoke out in a press conference:

"We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games. We will make further decisions as warranted."

Owners and players held another meeting on Thursday and found themselves—yet again—unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement. Following Friday's announcement, fans and athletes alike hope to see the regular season kickoff as planned on Nov. 1.

However, when would an agreement need to be reached by in order to keep the regular season on track? SB Nation's Tom Ziller weighed in on the situation:

"This thing is going all the way down to the wire; it's actually fun to see reporters continue to push the 'drop-dead' date for the season to be preserved. We'd thought Oct. 1 would mark a real deadline to save the season start, but Berger offers up Oct. 14 as a date that would delay the season start but get us 82 games. So sometime in the next three weeks, we'll actually have a drop-dead date."

So, a few weeks—it can be done, right? Well, considering the players have been locked out since July 1, some individuals—including Players Association executive director Billy Hunter—err on the side of negativity and expect no season at all.

As players and owner continue to duke it out, we fans will wait patiently...but not for too long, please.

NBA fans are anxiously waiting to see if there will be a 2011-12 season and with the wait, several trade and free agent rumors are circulating around social media sites.

The latest rumor as reported on Bleacher Report has the Chicago Bulls in a sign and trade deal with the Denver Nuggets. Denver would get forward Carlos Boozer and the Bulls in return get guard Aaron Afflalo, forward Al Harrington, and a possible draft pick.

Denver could use Boozer as the team could lose two starters from their front-court. The Nuggets have a good nucleus, but Boozer could make this one of the better teams in the Western Conference as he played his best basketball against the more up-tempo western teams. Chicago would get a serviceable replacement in Harrington and the shooting guard the team needs with Afflalo.

With Denver having plenty of room under the salary cap, this is a deal that could work and it would benefit both teams. Denver is looking to stay competitive and adding a quality player like Boozer would be a definite help. Chicago needs to add some scoring help as Derrick Rose can't do everything and a guard with the skills of Afflalo could make them the team to beat in the upcoming NBA season.