"He's in Phoenix. It's his All-Star game. If I was a starter I would probably give him my starting spot anyway."

Clippers acquire Samb from Nuggets Posted January 05, 2009 LOS ANGELES(AP) The Los Angeles Clippers acquired 7-foot-1 Cheikh Samb of Senegal from the Denver Nuggets on Monday for a conditional second-round draft pick. The Clippers also waived forward Paul Davis and guard Fred Jones and received cash considerations as part of the deal. Samb played in six games with the Nuggets this season, averaging 0.7 points, 1.5 rebounds in 4.0 minutes. He came to Denver on Nov. 3 with Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess for Allen Iverson. Denver (23-12) was leading the Northwest Division by 2 1/2 games entering Monday night. The Clippers (8-25) were 19 1/2 games behind the Pacific Division-leading Lakers. Samb was assigned to the NBA Development League on Dec. 10 and has averaged 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 10 games. He was drafted 51st by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006 and played briefly with Detroit.

You know, I would perhaps be mildly impressed and entertained by JR Smith’s preening and prancing and "look at me" crap after he makes a shot if he’d done anything of any consequence at all in his career. Really, you’ve got to earn the right to look like an ass; he hasn’t. The story this week that he and George Karl aren’t talking makes me feel a bit better about George.

``But I think it's a win-win for both teams. Detroit's a good team. And I think Denver got a good player in Chauncey Billups, someone whose [sic] played there.''

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reports "Nuggets expected to trade Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billips and Antonio McDyess". Umm, wow. I knew we wanted to make a move, I didn't realize we wanted to make it now though. I think I like it though....What does everyone else think?

An NBA source said that if the Knicks waive Stephon Marbury, the Nuggets would have serious interest in signing him

Lakers Cut Coby The Los Angeles Lakers made their final roster cut today, requesting waivers on Coby Karl. I have to hand it to Coby, when we first saw him in pre-draft camp a couple of years ago I didn't think he'd ever make an NBA roster, but he managed to find a place for himself in LA last season and stuck with the team through training camp and preseason again this year. He was never particularly impressive, but he held his own. It will be interesting to see if he winds up on another NBA team, or if he winds up playing in Europe for a while. Let's hope George doesn't get depressed or anything. Hopefully he can translate it into positive energy against the Lakers when we play em.

Camby's general arrival in LA has been bad. We're still thinking that he's going to be a great veteran and glue guy, doing lots of little things, but he has gotten off to a very rocky start. One thing I didn't realize is that the Lakerworld would be extra critical of him because of the playoff thumpings of Denver. TJ Simers brought this up and Camby has already managed to get his negative attention, just to compound the early storyline of his disgruntled departure from Denver. All of this should work itself out fairly quickly, but the guy has to start playing some basketball, and then he needs to stay healthy.

But if you force your opponents to shoot 42 percent from the field, and cause 19 turnovers, you’ve done a good defensive job. Even if you give up 107 points. Know why? Because that 107 points is inflated by the fact that you, on offense, are sometimes using up a possession in seven seconds or less. So because of the sheer amount of times you shoot and give the other team the ball, the points are going to pile up. Even if it takes them three possessions to get two points (think about that level of efficiency), the points are going to pile up. And if you’re going to tell me that an ex-jock or cable TV talking head is prescient and knew it all along, well, you’re eventually going to tell me that Jerry Van Dyke has a car that channels his dead mother’s spirit.

So for now, the 2008-09 Nuggets roster is shaping up with forwards Carmelo Anthony, Nene, Kenyon Martin, Linas Kleiza, Balkman and Andersen, center Steven Hunter, and guards Iverson, J.R. Smith, Dahntay Jones, Anthony Carter, Sonny Weems and Chucky Atkins. That's 13 of 15 roster spots filled with no real point guard, no real center, no real shooter and Birdman being the only "defender." Gulp. If I think about it too much right now, it will just ruin my Monday.