The Clippers and free-agent forward Kenyon Martin have agreed on a mini-midlevel deal that will be finalized as soon as Martin passes a physical, according to an NBA individual familiar with the negotiations.

Martin, who played for the Xinjiang Tigers in China and had been required to wait until their season was over before rejoining the NBA, was cleared to return to the NBA by FIBA, the international basketball federation, Thursday. (Los Angeles Times)

I’m thinking this is another good move by the Clippers this year. Martin will one provide another veteran process on a team that is still fairly young. In addition to that he should give some very valuable depth to the front court.

The 34-year old might not be able to put up the near double-doubles he did earlier in his career but he did put up 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds over 25+ minutes per game in 2010-11 with the Denver Nuggets. I’d expect something close to that once he’s cleared to play.

Grant Hill has his free agent Final Four, according to sources: the incumbent Suns, the Clippers, the Bulls and the Knicks. Each provides its own opportunities. (David Aldridge – NBA.com)

What I’ll do is just list each team and what they can bring.

Phoenix – Well he’s played there for a few years now and thanks to team trainer Aaron Nelson he’s been on the court for all but three games. After the disaster in Orlando, he’s got to love that. According to Aldridge, Hill also really likes to play with Steve Nash. There’s one big factor that can’t be overlooked his former agent, Lon Babby is the teams president.

Chicago – They had the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2010-11 so they obviously give Hill a chance to win that elusive championship. On top of that the team is a defensive juggernaut, only giving up 91.3 points which was good for second in the NBA. One of Hill’s strong suits is defense but with a team that good, he can just blend in instead of having to always guard the other teams top players. Something he’d have to do with the …..

New York Knicks – The Knicks were the third worst defensive team last season giving up 105.7 points. So yea, Hill would most likely be asked to guard the other teams leading scorer night in and night out, which would take its toll on him. On the flip side, he’ll be getting to play with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. A third wheel with them could catapult the Knicks to an Eastern Conference leader. Knicks also offer Hill the New York market. A place where he could easily make a lot of extra money in endorsements.

Los Angeles Clippers – They’re a young up and coming team that could use some real veteran leadership. That’s something Hill could provide and he’d get to play with the most exciting guy in the NBA, Blake Griffin.

Personally, I think he’ll wind up back in Phoenix. The Bulls have to worry about Derrick Rose, while the Knicks are still trying to save money for next years free agent class. The Clippers could outspend the Suns but at this point in his career I doubt money is what Hill is after.

“How do you Jenga?” (H/T Arash Markazi – ESPN LA)

There’s one problem thou.

In the past you’ve had to be a NBA player to compete in the Dunk Contest and it’s highly unlikely Tucker will even get a workout from a team. Tucker is a senior at Illinois, so he would be eligible. Too bad, that’s Illinois College not University. He is his teams second leading scorer with 14.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

Those are not numbers that will get him into the league, which means those are numbers that won’t get him into the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest. Only way that will happen if he gets this video viral and all the NBA fans across the world on board.

Take a look. He’s even got a great soundtrack to go with the action.

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For now, Jordan will go with Paul Silas, an old-school tough guy and popular figure in Charlotte’s NBA history, to coach the rest of the season. Silas is a long way removed from the NBA – and longer from his late 1990s success in Charlotte.

And if bringing back Silas isn’t retro enough for everyone, how about Silas’ old Hornets point guard, Baron Davis. Jordan is considering a trade proposal that would send Augustin, DeSagana Diop and Matt Carroll to the Los Angeles Clippers for Davis, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

I know, people will wonder why Jordan would trade Augustin and crew for Baron. Davis has just recently been reinserted to the Clippers starting lineup and hasn’t performed that well since it’s occurred. While, Augustin has been fairly effective for the Bobcats and also eight years younger.

When you look at it that way it’s hard to argue that the trade makes sense but Jordan’s not looking at it that way. He’s looking at cleaning up the mess Larry Brown made. According to Wojnarowski, Jordan never wanted to draft Augustin, he instead wanted to draft Brooks Lopez in that 2008 Draft.

So with Jordan’s ego you know the first thing he’ll do is get rid of his former coaches “guy” and start to make this the team he wanted. While I don’t see Baron Davis helping the team get better, he will at least help in the transition to the new coaches offense. Davis is also a former Charlotte player, so he could help put a few butts in the seats off nostalgia alone.

I wish I could say the Bobcats would at least get some salary relief out of this but Davis isn’t a free agent till after the 2012/2013 season. With that being the case if I was Jordan, I think I’d just swallow my pride and keep the old coaches guy.

It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next year for the Bobcats. Knowing Jordan’s track record, I could see this thing becoming a lot more of a mess before it has any chance of getting better.

Sterling has expressed his displeasure about Davis’ play by taunting him from his courtside seat at Clippers’ home games, several sources told Yahoo! Sports. Among Sterling’s verbal barbs:

– “Why are you in the game?”
– “Why did you take that shot?”
– “You’re out of shape!”

That sounds like something you’d expect from Spike Lee at the Garden, but it gets worse. Yahoo cites sources on the team that say this is getting pretty ugly and that Sterling pretty much hates Davis.

Sterling “started getting a lot more vocal during the second half of last season,” one team source said. “He never had done that before at games. Baron’s his pet project. He absolutely hates Baron. He wants to get his money back.”

The article goes on and on about Sterling and his displeasure for Davis and his performances. I for one can understand that, Davis got a huge five year contract back in 2008, $65 million and hasn’t even come close to living up to expectations.

So far this seasons he’s having his worst numbers since his rookie seasons, he’s averaging only seven points and five assists per game. For a while, he wasn’t even starting. Last night was his first start since October 31st, not what you’d expect when the guy has the highest salary on your team. In fact during most of November, he was left inactive.

What I do have to do is give Baron a lot of credit. Davis is taking the high road in the situation and not even addressing it, that’s something most players nowadays wouldn’t be able to do.

“There’s nothing I can say,” Davis said of Sterling’s taunts. “I have no comment on that. You just get to this point where it’s a fight every day. It’s a fight. You’re fighting unnecessary battles. I’m fighting unnecessary battles. It’s frustrating because I know and my teammates know I’m capable of getting it done, even dudes on the other team. It’s frustrating.”

I could give you more of a recap of this great report by Marc Spears but I’ll just say go to Yahoo Sports and check it out.

Now my opinion on the whole thing? It’s shocking. While Davis has not lived up to expectations the owner shouldn’t be riding him the way he is. Privately is one thing but going to games and heckling your own players is never good for morale, all it does is create tension. If it continues things could get really ugly in Los Angeles but hey I guess it’s expected when a team is 5-20.

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