Nope, that isn't some headline I used to grab your attention. It's the real deal. And if you happened to be drawn in by it, then all the better. And no, this ain't about the Rockets.

Because Miami's playoff hopes suddenly hinge on their third-best player, the much-maligned, under-appreciated Chris Bosh and his injury.

Note that I said he's their most irreplaceable, not their best player. Look, LeBron James is their best player. He's anyone's best player. And Dwyane Wade is their second-best player. He's most teams' best player.

But here's the deal: if Wade goes down, I think LeBron and Bosh can win you a title. I really believe that. If LeBron goes down, obviously that's devastating. However, we already know you can win with Wade as your best player as long as you have a decent big (old Shaq in 2006; Bosh in 2012).

Essentially, Wade and LeBron can fill in for the other. Not entirely, but enough. But Udonis Haslem isn't what he used to be, and outside of Joel Anthony there isn't much post defense on the Heat side. So with LeBron being asked to guard David West, Danny Granger gets the old Battier on him. I love Shane Battier, but there's a huge difference between LeBron guarding you and Battier guarding you.

So the Heat need Bosh back badly. They can still get past Indiana. And maybe they squeak past Boston in 7, but I don't think they can get through both of those teams and the Western Conference Champions. So Bill Simmons may have to open up his asterisk/footnote book again and take this into account. But Simmons is an ass, so who cares?

How about you? Is Bosh that important to the Heat, or am I out of my mind?

Lean with me, mock with me. The puns will never die.

Anyway, I finally got around to throwing together a mock draft, and after contacting absolutely zero team sources or player representatives, here's what I came up with.

1. Charlotte — Anthony Davis, PF Kentucky

Good luck making a shot inside ten feet against Bismack BiUnibrow.

2. Washington — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF Kentucky

They could go in a number of directions here, but Kidd-Gilchrist is the best player available. There's no harm in shuffling recent SF draftees Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton to make it work.

3. Cleveland — Brad Beal, SG Florida

A Kyrie Irving/Brad Beal backcourt is too dreamy to go big with this pick. Imagine if the Clippers could have acquired Chris Paul without losing Eric Gordon.

4. New Orleans — Thomas Robinson, PF Kansas

Andre Drummond is intriguing here, but I'm not sure how long New Orleans will want to wait on him to develop. Robinson can make an impact right away and isn't much of a drop-off anyway.

5. Sacramento — Andre Drummond, C UConn

In two years, Andre Drummond/DeMarcus Cousins will either be the most dominant front court in the league, or they'll both go missing.

Continue reading this post »

This story could have been written at any time after the Rockets imploded their way out of a possible 5th seed into their customary 14th pick. I chose now because the pain has faded a bit. Eventually I want to cover not only theRockets fade down the stretch, but also move on to some topics regarding team composition, future direction, and long-standing gripes.

Just Missing The Playoffs, Again - The Rockets were in the catbird seat with 8 games left. They'd just completed a very impressive road trip that saw wins in Chicago and Los Angeles. They'd recently beaten the Thunder at home. (In fact the Rockets went 2-2 versus the Thunder, one of the better showings in the NBA.) Everything looked promising. Maybe we'd see a first round exit, but there are few teams I didn't think the Rockets would take to 6 games, and who knows, maybe they'd get lucky. Maybe the Rockets would get Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin playing at full strength and make a series of it.

Going .500 would have done it, for the 8th seed, anyway. Of course that didn't happen. The Rockets dropped 7 of 8, many in heartbreaking, and some in humiliating, fashion. Goodbye playoffs, hello grist for the mill, and well-earned grist at that.

Why did it happen? It's complicated, but I think the answer doesn't have anything to do with heart, or grit, or chutzpah or anything like that. The Rockets wore out, and they wore out for several reasons.

Here's my breakdown. After that clicky little jump.

Continue reading this post »

Hi all,

I'm not sure if some of you are familiar with my blog, but it's basically a jersey design blog for NBA teams. My first was a new jersey for the Rockets but this time around I've gone for the complete brand overhaul, returning to the ketchup and Mustard.

I've placed the designs below so hopefully you guys get a kick out of them. Let me know what you think either here, or Facebook, or the blog itself.

Thanks for your time.

Continue reading this post »

Here we go folks, we’re back with our weekly installment of the writer’s roundtable. Today we address a wide variety of questions and Patrick, AK, and I give you a wide variety of answers. This week we have to lend our thanks to Dupax, Twinkilling0303, VBG, datruth1, and ak2themax for questions. Yes, I recognize AK is both a writer and had a submission but you can mock him relentlessly here for hogging the spotlight. We’ll talk to you about the draft, free agency, Kevin Martin, JaVale McGee, and the amnesty clause. I hope you guys enjoy this and we love answering your questions. We received a lot of great questions and hope to continue this momentum. You all ask wonderful questions and we enjoy taking them so make sure you keep them coming.

You can submit your questions via e-mail at tdsmailbag@gmail.com or post your questions directly to the thread here. You don’t need to be a registered TDS user to submit questions, either! All questions are saved for use either today or in a later edition. We’re happy to take multiple questions from the same user but we do try to get a different user for each question. Don’t worry, that just means you’ll get more exposure next week if you ask a lot of great questions.

Continue reading this post »

Lately I’ve seen a lot of commentary on the Houston Chronicle and some posts here on The Dream Shake relating to the NBA’s draft lottery system. The common theme I have noticed is the sentiment that the Rockets are being punished by such a system. "The general lottery system punishes teams that are well managed and rewards teams that are awful!" is the rallying cry of this debate. I have spent a lot of time turning this issue over in my mind. Does the NBA Draft Lottery system actually reward poor teams? Does the draft lottery team punish well-managed teams? What is the purpose of the NBA Lottery generally? There are arguments to be made for a change in the format of the lottery. Some advocate a single lot system where every team gets just one chance at the top pick. Some advocate a playoff series for teams that failed to make the NBA title hunt to determine seeding. Some have wondered why we can’t just go in reverse order seeding. All of these arguments have their pros and cons of varying weight. After the jump join me as I look at the NBA Draft Lottery system, its purpose, and I deliver on a promise I made to a commenter here on TDS.

Continue reading this post »

Three teams have been sent home early. Two were expected to make quick exits (the Jazz and Magic) and the other just didn't catch many breaks (the Mavericks).

The Grizzlies, Nuggets, Knicks, Bulls, and Hawks are on the brink of elimination.

Tonight, the two teams that are down 3-1 will have a chance to keep their series alive.

First, the Knicks take on the Heat in South Beach. The Knickerbockers finally won a game, and seem to have shifted a little momentum their way as well. In fact, game 1 was an absolute blowout but each successive game has gotten closer and closer. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues with a return to Miami. The winner of this series gets the Indiana Pacers

The second and final game of the night features the Clippers at the Grizzlies in Memphis. Every game has been pretty close (games have been decided by 1, 7, 1, and 4 points). So by that logic game 5 should come down to the wire as well. The question is whether or not the Clippers go for the jugular or if they stay back and wait for game 6 back at Staples. Should they win tonight, they set up a date with the 1-seed Spurs.

I say the home teams win tonight. What are your thoughts?

We're quickly entering Mock You Like A Hurricane Season. Draft experts have been at it for some time now, but with a handful of teams and fans already turning to the offseason for answers, it's time to bring out the educated guesses. Here's a look at your mock draft update from a few of the most prominent web sites out there. I've attached any available pick analysis that each website offered. I've also added some analysis of my own, because ANALYSIS.

Continue reading this post »