News Around the League

Just months after Ray Allen left Boston and took a significant pay cut to go to Miami for three years, Ray seems to be unsure of his future. As reported by Hoops Rumors here, Ray has been talking to the media about the chance of him retiring at season's end. His numbers have dropped off hard since his time in Boston, but that was something he had to have seen coming. Obviously there is nothing to be discussed here until summer time, but just something to keep an eye on.

If you mentioned to someone a couple of months ago that the Lakers could be shopping Dwight Howard at the trade deadline, they probably would have laughed at you. Not so crazy anymore... D12's nightmare has continued in LA, now with Mike D'antoni saying that Howard and Pau Gasol can't be on the court together. Kobe Bryant has also stated that Dwight has been taking him out of his game because he thinks too much about getting Howard the ball in good position. With the chance that Howard walks at the end of the year, the Lakers are considering cutting their losses and trying to deal him now. Of coarse these teams would have permission to talk to Howard about signing an extension before hand. Teams that seem to make sense are Brooklyn (his top choice/team that pushed hardest for him from Orlando), Atlanta (his hometown/looking to move Josh Smith to make room), LA Clippers (on paper a trade could work out easily but REALLY, the Lakers handing over Dwight Howard after the Chris Paul mess), and don't sleep on Mark Cuban in Dallas.

This is the last season we will be seeing this logo. The New Orleans franchise has a news conference set in which they will change their name to the Pelicans and also change their logo and team colors. Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has expressed interest in bringing the Hornets' name back to its home in Charlotte when the story broke for the first time.