Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your Cuban sandwich.

Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer: "If the league really wants to get high ratings over All-Star Weekend, it should scrap the Slam Dunk Contest and just have LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) play 1-on-1. If not, they could just show a replay of Monday night when James and Wade added another chapter to their already strong rivalry. In the first half they started a ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ campaign at the offensive end, a few precious minutes that are sure to be some of the most memorable played in the NBA this season. Then, as a contrast, they flipped it over to the defensive end in the second half, each attempting to one-up the other until the very end. Finally, it took a collision and a last-second shot to settle it. James came out on the winning end of both."

Barry Jackson, Miami Herald: "After five consecutive lopsided Heat games lacking even the slightest bit of drama or suspense, Miami and Cleveland treated AmericanAirlines fans to a thriller Monday — a game featuring a jaw-dropping second-quarter shootout between Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in which the two stars played ‘Can you top this?’ But ultimately, James had the last word, stealing Wade’s pass in the waning seconds and then stealing the game for the Cavaliers. James’ two free throws with 4.1 seconds left provided the winning margin in a 92-91 win at AmericanAirlines Arena. ‘Heck of a game, heck of an effort,’ coach Erik Spoelstra said. ‘We’re moving in the right direction.’ Wade scored 30 points in a remarkable first-half performance, converting on 9 of 13 shots, but he had just two points in the second half on 1-of-8 shooting. ‘They trapped, they took the ball out of his hands,’ Spoelstra said of Cleveland’s defense on Wade in the second half."

Joel Brigham, HOOPSWORLD: "The trade Monday that sent starting New Orleans Hornets guard Devin Brown(notes) to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for seldom-used center Aaron Gray(notes) doesn’t seem like much on the surface because neither guy is somebody most smart NBA fans would call a ‘game-changer.’ While it’s obvious that the Hornets made this move to shed salary, Chicago’s motivations require a little more digging and imagination. It’s possible that this trade could be an attempt to shore up the Bulls’ backcourt should they be able to find a taker for either Kirk Hinrich(notes) or John Salmons(notes) before the trade deadline. Chicago would like to head into this offseason with enough money to pursue a big name free agent and possibly have the option of extending Tyrus Thomas(notes). As it stands, they’ll have to choose one of those options or the other. Hinrich is scheduled to make $17 million for the next two full seasons, and Salmons is on the books for just under $6 million next year should he exercise his player option this offseason. Brown, on the other hand, can play out the rest of this season for right around $500,000 …"

A. Sherrod Blakeley, CSNNE.com: "The trading deadline is less than a month away, and rumors seem to grow like algae. This is especially true when it comes to players with expiring contracts such as Boston’s Ray Allen(notes). While the Celtics have maintained repeatedly that they have no intentions of moving any of their core guys between now and the Feb. 18 trading deadline — and I believe ‘em on this one — multiple league sources confirmed today that the Golden State Warriors are giving some thought to putting together a trade package that would involve Monta Ellis(notes) going to Boston in exchange for Allen. The Warriors see rookie Stephen Curry(notes) as the face of the franchise moving forward. One league source said the Warriors believe that Curry won’t develop at the rate they would like as long as Ellis is around. Golden State saw flashes of just how talented Curry can be against New Jersey earlier this week when playing without Ellis. With Ellis out with a sprained right ankle, Curry went off for a career-high 32 points. For such a deal to work, the Warriors would have to include at least one additional salary. The most likely player to be included would be Vladamir Radmonovic, who has a player option after this season but isn’t expected to exercise it."

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe: "For the second time in five years, Ray Allen is pondering his NBA future. He is a free agent at season’s end and the first of the Big Three whose future will come up for review by the Celtics organization. Allen is in the final year of a five-year, $85 million deal he signed with Seattle, a career-defining contract consummated during his prime. Allen, 34, is past his prime but remains a productive player who takes immaculate care of his body and could play into his late 30s. The Celtics will have to determine whether Allen should return and because they would own his Larry Bird rights — if he is not dealt by the Feb. 18 trade deadline — are not financially restricted by the salary cap. It’s highly unlikely Allen would earn the $19 million he’s making in the final year of his current deal, but he does have market value. He would enter this summer’s free agent bonanza as a second-tier choice behind LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh(notes). He could be pursued by teams seeking a shooter and a durable player. The Celtics are Allen’s first choice but he realizes the feeling may not be mutual, especially since he will turn 35 during the free agency period in July. ‘I would love to be here,’ Allen said Saturday. ‘In my mind right now, for me there’s no other place to be.’"

Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune: "Chris Paul was in a jovial mood considering Monday night’s opponent. The Blazers haven’t exactly been kind when it comes to Paul’s overall health since Paul came into the NBA in 2005. First off when Paul was a rookie, he tore a ligament in his right thumb when his hand became tangled in the jersey of Trail Blazers’ guard Steve Blake(notes). Last season, Paul strained his groin in January, also against the Blazers. On Nov. 13, in Jeff Bower’s first game as head coach, Paul sprained his left ankle. Against, you guessed, Portland. ‘I’m saying my prayers,’ Paul said, half-joking, half-seriously. Monday night Paul remained upright and healthy throughout flirting with a triple-double, scoring 24 points to go along with 12 assists and seven rebounds, and hitting the game-winning jumper with 3.8 seconds to go as the Hornets edged the Trail Blazers 98-97 Monday night here in The Rose Garden."

RealGM/Oregonian: "Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard insists that the team isn’t going to trade point guard Andre Miller(notes). Following a 30-minute confrontation with coach Nate McMillan on Jan. 7, Miller has done an about-face in Portland. Miller is averaging 19.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and is shooting 51.3 percent in January. ‘We have no interest in trading Andre Miller. Zero. None. Write it,’ Pritchard told the Oregonian. Agent Andy Miller confirmed that everything is finally coming together for his client and the Trail Blazers. ‘Maybe it’s later than everyone would have hoped, but clearly everything has come together,’ the agent said. ‘This is where we should have been in October — it wouldn’t have been as interesting writing for you — but all the pent-up frustrations, all the misinterpretations and misjudgments, it’s righted itself.’"

Chris Tomasson, NBA FanHouse: "Stephen Jackson believes Don Nelson will retire after this season. Nelson disagrees, saying he will retire after next season when his contract runs out. ‘After Coach Nelson gets his record, he’s going to hang it up,’ Jackson, a Charlotte guard, said in an interview Monday with FanHouse about his former coach at Golden State who is soon to break the NBA record for career coaching wins. ‘I just know that he’s going to the (Warriors) office and pass the reins to (assistant coach) Keith Smart.’ Jackson, speaking before facing Denver at the Pepsi Center, claims to know this because ‘they were talking about that when I was there’ regarding Nelson retiring after this season. Jackson, who was dealt last November from the Warriors to the Bobcats after playing under Nelson since January 2007, wouldn’t specify individuals who said that. Nelson begged to differ. ‘I’m going to coach until my contract is up next year,’ Nelson said in a phone interview. ‘Ask Jack if he’s going to leave with one year left on his contract. … I’m going to honor my contract next year and then that will be it.’"

Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post: "Forget scares of a suspension, extra shooting practice and media training. The whole J.R. Smith(notes) mess comes down to this: The Nuggets’ singular goal is to win an NBA championship, and if Smith doesn’t change his antics, it could affect the team’s chances. ‘He’s one of our best players, and if you have one of your best players not either playing at his best or acting as best he can, it’s going to affect the team,’ said Nuggets captain Chauncey Billups(notes), who has played in two NBA Finals, winning one. ‘And his role has been increased this year. The last couple years, he maybe wasn’t a player we had to lean on every night. We need J.R. (this year). He knows that. We need him to be right — at all times.’ [...] ‘I don’t care who — if the janitor or security guard can help J.R., that’s fine by me,’ [George] Karl said. ‘Do I wish J.R. would be more in tune to our coaching — and not just my coaching, but our coaching? Yeah. … But it’s a process of getting him to where you want him to get.’"

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: "Rick Adelman knew, but most could have guessed. The Rockets had been regularly falling into double-digit deficits, making their way back as often as not. He knew they could get away with that no longer. ‘You can’t get down to those teams,’ he said barely an hour before the Rockets did, ‘because they’re used to putting you away.’ The Hawks did not immediately put the Rockets away, but once they built their 11-point first-half lead, there never seemed much doubt they would. [...] The loss dropped the Rockets to 4-7 this month and out of the top eight of the Western Conference. And for perhaps the first time this season, the struggles seemed to be taking a toll, with forward Carl Landry(notes) calling this ‘pretty much the lowest point yet for us this season.’ [...] The Rockets, however, have been forced to fight from behind every night lately. When the Hawks ended the first half on a 21-3 run, the Rockets trailed 55-44 at halftime, the fifth-consecutive game they faced a double-digit deficit in the first half."

Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star: "Reggie Evans, the long-injured Raptors defensive specialist, returned to full-contact practice on Monday, banging with his teammates for the first time in more than three months. ‘Today was a fun day for me,’ he said. ‘I finally got to a good stepping stone. … I’ve got some work to do.’ Evans’s presence on the floor — and the attention he drew from a gaggle of reporters in the workout’s aftermath - earned favourable reviews from teammates. His scrum with the media was interrupted by hooting and hollering from numerous Raptors, among them Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack(notes), the latter of whom repeatedly shouted, ‘The king is back!’ How did Evans play? He was slow to the ball, his jump shot looked wonky and he appeared out of shape, according to various accounts. And, for a guy who hasn’t played since damaging ligaments in his left foot in an Oct. 14 pre-season game, none of that was unexpected. But he managed to grab a steal, according to the post-scrimmage boxscore Evans kept in his head, and he played hard, which is his calling card."

Marc Berman, New York Post: "Knicks starting point guard Chris Duhon(notes) is in the midst of one of his horrific stretches, which means coach Mike D’Antoni is in the midst of trying to spin it, touting his intangibles. As he has been since arriving on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s recommendation, Duhon is the teacher’s pet and hell will freeze over before D’Antoni yanks him from the starting lineup. But it appears time for D’Antoni to reduce Duhon’s minutes and try to cultivate a new ballhandler in Larry Hughes(notes), despite their feud. Hughes was the lone Knick not to play in Sunday’s historic 50-point defeat to Dallas at the Garden. With Nate Robinson(notes) likely to miss tonight’s Minnesota game with his strained hamstring and rookie Toney Douglas(notes) looking lost Sunday, Hughes may be D’Antoni’s best option — even if the veteran recently called D’Antoni’s methods ‘a joke.’ D’Antoni wouldn’t commit yesterday to rolling with Hughes again, but it seems likely. ‘I’m prepared to go out and help the team,’ Hughes said. ‘I don’t have any answers. It’s his team. He does what he sees fit to get a win. I’m trying to do all I can do to be ready for the games.’"

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A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: L.A. Times. "When the Lakers left New York on Saturday morning to travel to Toronto, Andrew Bynum(notes) missed the team flight and was forced to pay for his own travel to Canada." Coach.
PF: RealGM. Daniel Leroux is right; sports statistics is a fascinating business.
SF: The Big Lead. Greg Oden(notes) has great taste in t-shirts.
SG: SRI. Stephon Marbury(notes) talks about how he came to his decision to play in China.
PG: KnickerBlogger.Net. It’s an understatement to say that Chris Duhon(notes) is just struggling with his shot.
6th: RedsArmy. A call for change now that John Wall’s joking about being a one-and-done college kid.
7th: Caldeford. The Raps own Sunday home dates against Western Conference opponents. (Bonus link.)
8th: Peachtree Hoops. The Hawks are the small market success story of this season.
9th: CelticsHub.com. A video look at the C’s problems on the defensive glass.
10th: NBA FanHouse. "The Denver Nuggets discussed it. In the end, though, they decided not to suspend guard J.R. Smith(notes) for his bench antics Saturday." Was it the right decision?

Got a link or tip for Ball Don’t Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets (at) yahoo.ca, or follow me on Twitter.

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OK, NBA. I’ll play by your rules.

You needlessly force us to make categorical designations
regarding the players on the All-Star ballot, the All-Star starting lineup and
with the All-Star reserves. I’m sick of it, you’ve won, and I’ll try to make my
point spoken through my own
quarter-inch cable, but run through your particular brand of amplification.
I will list my All-Star reserves as you request. Two guards, two forwards, one
center and two wild cards.

I’ll get you back, NBA. Might even write a strongly worded letter.
But first? My picks for the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves.

Guards?

Sure. Rajon Rondo(notes) and Joe Johnson(notes).

I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself picking
Johnson over Andre Iguodala(notes), but A.I. has fallen off a bit in terms of help
defense, to these eyes. And while Johnson has cost the Hawks some games this season with his one-on-one play, apparently (see intro) I’m just a sucker for
orthodoxy. For giving in. For playing by the NBA’s rules. I won’t take it as
far as selecting, say, Derrick Rose(notes) and Mo Williams(notes) or some such nonsense, but
I will give Joe the slight edge. Even though he’s not as good.

Rondo’s "as good." Rondo
should be starting.

Forwards?

No doubt. Two of them, in fact. Gerald Wallace(notes) and Chris
Bosh(notes).

Bosh
should be starting. The man has been fantastic this season.

Wallace? The key to Charlotte’s top-ranked defense, an
all-around terror offensively, and a reminder that being very, very good at
several things will always help a team more than being excellent at one thing.
A rather crummy reminder, if I’m honest, because Wallace is excellent at quite
a few things.

Center?

Someone’s got to, right? Brook Lopez(notes).

Those without League Pass needn’t comment. Of all the
reasons the New Jersey Nets are 3-40, Brook Lopez is reason number 4,182. Of
the several reasons the Nets aren’t being blown out by 73 points per night,
Brook Lopez is first.

This is a team game, though, and an individual
accomplishment. And while others certainly merit consideration and my appreciation,
no pivot has been better than Lopez. In the East. Excluding Dwight Howard(notes).

Wild card?

You betcha. Might even include a baseball player. Al Horford(notes) and Josh Smith(notes).

These men punish teams, on the inside. Absolutely punish
teams. Atlanta’s perimeter defense is so, so lousy, and yet the team is able to
stay amongst the ranks of the above-average due to Horford’s moving feet, and
Smith’s stifling blocks and boards. On top of that, they score without much
hassle.

Left off?

Someone’s gotta be. Paul Pierce(notes), David Lee(notes).

I honestly feel absolutely terrible about these two. Let
there be no mistake — David Lee and Paul Pierce are having All-Star seasons.
They are All-Stars. They are wholly deserving of the All-Star nod. And if you
want to replace Horford with David Lee, I can’t blame you. I just slightly
prefer Horford’s defensive presence to Lee’s offensive brilliance.

Allen Iverson(notes) and Kevin Garnett’s(notes) presence more or less
tripped things up. So it goes, voters.

*****

More: KD’s Western Conference All-Star reserves

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It took a little while to get there, but the 2008-09 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers finally visited the White House on Monday to meet with President Barack Obama.

An avid basketball fan, with an unorthodox Ginobili-like jump shot, Obama said no team exemplified excellence on the court more than the Lakers did last year in winning their 15th league championship.

The team’s players, owners and coaches presented the president with a gold Lakers jersey emblazoned with "1," a nod to, um, guard Jordan Farmar(notes), and an autographed basketball. (On second thought, perhaps the Lakers didn’t give him "44," a nod to Obama’s standing as the 44th president, out of respect for Jerry West.)

Obama commended the players not only for their athletic achievements, but also their work off the court, according to Associated Press. The players held a fitness clinic for Washington-area school children Monday, and several players are donating money to relief efforts in Haiti.

The White House stop, which lasted less than an hour, fell on the sixth day of the Lakers’ eight-game, 14-day trip. Maybe the tour, visit and Khloe Kardashian-Odom photo-op will help break ‘em out of their sudden road funk.

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The premise, the ideology, was correct. The Nets won the trade that sent Jason Kidd(notes) to Dallas.

They acquired a very good, borderline All-Star, point guard. The enjoyed some payroll relief and pulled in two first-round draft picks. Jason Kidd won’t be playing in a few years, Devin Harris(notes) will be. And he’ll be playing well. They won the deal.

Without actually winning anything, though. They won the ideology battle but lost the basketball war. Because after turning in a near All-Star campaign last season, Devin Harris decided to take 2009-10 off.

And Jason Kidd? He decided to turn it all around.

Turned the tide, more accurately. Kidd is still averaging a career-low in points. And though he’s clearly taking plays off, Devin Harris is still averaging 15 points and about six assists for the 3-40 Nets.

But the deal? The one that appeared so clearly and obviously wrong for Dallas from the outset? We were wrong about it. It didn’t matter that Kidd was royally abused by Chris Paul(notes) in the playoffs immediately following the trade, and it didn’t matter that Harris clearly trumped Kidd last season by any meaningful measure save for, yeah, playoff success and a statistical formula that the Mavericks use that we’re not privy to.

What matters is expectations. And how we need to get better at realizing that these humans take games off. That while the overwhelming majority of them follow the same standard career arc, we can never accurately adjust for players suddenly giving two wits.

Kidd, in his last few go-rounds with the Nets, tanked quite a bit. He didn’t play as hard as he could have. He let Vince Carter(notes) dominate the ball (which, back then, was actually a good thing). He took plays off. He feuded and fought and demanded a contract extension and indirectly forced us to be aware of his marital issues and generally acted like a prat.

With the Mavericks? He’s St. Jason. The weirdness that was his coincidental bout of "personal reasons" keeping him out from Sunday’s Knicks game played in the town he used to live in, aside.

Harris? He took off last year, freed from Avery Johnson’s steely grip. This season? He’s just taking it off.

He’s certainly not as loutish as Kidd, and his non-basketball foibles won’t make the back page any time soon, but he’s not nearly the player he was last season. Injuries have a lot to do with that, no doubt, but just watch this guy in a screen-and-roll (either working or defending one). There’s no attack there. He’s just going through the motions, waiting for this miserable season to end.

The problem with that is this doesn’t have to be a miserable season for the Nets. It can merely be "pretty awful." Harris doesn’t want to take that next step. The result? We’re soon to hit February, and the Nets have won three times. Pinning it all on Harris? No way. And you certainly can’t blame him for acting uninspired. Money can’t buy you love. But he is the only Net who could clearly do something about this embarrassing run.

Kidd’s the bigger issue here, though. This guy runs an absolute clinic most nights. The Dallas offense isn’t among the league’s best, and it certainly isn’t nearly as flashy or fast-paced as the Suns or Warriors attacks, but you can tell Kidd is pushing his teammates and this roster to the absolute limit.

He just makes the perfect pass. And in a way that doesn’t rack up numbers the way someone like Chris Paul does. I’m not calling him a stat hog, but CP3 does run a show that seems to credit him with every score, whether by awarding him points or dimes. Kidd’s ability to locate slashers and shooters at the absolute perfect time is almost without parallel, and that includes the fine work his former teammate, Steve Nash(notes), is doing out of Phoenix.

These are things that can’t be ably rewarded with assists, a supreme assist-to-turnover ratio (which he has, while we’re at it), pure point rating, assist ratio, or even the myriad vagaries of adjusted plus/minus. Know why? Sometimes those teammates don’t hit the shots. But they don’t even get a shot off if Kidd doesn’t nail them at the absolute perfect time. It’s a game of centimeters and milliseconds, and Kidd’s eyes just see levels of complexity that we mortals can’t understand.

And then his hands and wrists do something about it. And all within a mediocre (13th ranked) offense, mainly led by an superstar who usually does his best work in an isolation situation that doesn’t require an immediate helping hand from Kidd. And you don’t talk about Kidd getting beat on defense any more. He’s still probably slower than just about any point guard in this league, but he’s not getting beat. Why is that? Where’s the adjustment? How impressive is it that he was able to change so severely?

This guy turns 37 in two months. Steve Nash turns 36 in two weeks, by the way. What a time to be a fan.

My original point to this post, I must confess, was ably usurped by the fantastic Rob Mahoney at The Two Man Game (while quoting Thoreau, no less). Last week he put together a phenomenal presentation highlighting what I’d hoped to write about Kidd, words that were preempted and made useless by this must-watch video.

Everything about this guy just screams perfection. And think about who he’s tossing to! How do you think someone like Erick Dampier(notes) feels when Kidd tosses him a lob? This guy hadn’t been on the receiving end of an alley-oop since the first Clinton Administration, though he’s quite able. So how chuffed do you think this makes him? Why wouldn’t this guy, after tossing it down, want to get back and board and bang like a beast? What do you think this does for a team? The effect might be calculable, the evolution never stops and one shan’t underestimate the potential of the human race, but I’m certainly not the guy to do it.

Again, the Mavs aren’t the best offense. Kidd isn’t the best point guard. He’s not even the best old point guard we have in this game.

But he’s worth lauding. We should really treasure the way this guy is playing, while being mindful of how it could have run along those same lines during his last few years in New Jersey. While pointing out that Devin Harris just doesn’t seem capable this season of rising above what must be a profoundly depressing situation.

And above all, it’s worth pointing out that this game never stops teaching us new things.

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