FREE TO TRAVEL

When you come to the NBA you sign a contract, and that contract you sign will eventually come to an end. And at the end of that contract, the team that you were on has a the option to try to resign you or let you go to another team; depending on how you contributed in the first 3 or 4 years of your career. With that said, the free agency games of 2012 have begun.

There has already been big names moving to a different team and some have resigned to remain with their current team. Here is a list of the top players and the teams they have committed to and other free agents that have yet to sign with a team:

• Kevin Garnett- Boston Celtics (The Celtics made KG their main target this off season to give themselves another push at winning another title.)

• Jason Terry- Boston Celtics (Terry who many thought would go to Miami, did the exact opposite and went to Boston.With the C's losing Allen to Miami, Jason will play the same role Ray Allen did, spot up and shoot.)

• Ray Allen- Miami Heat- (The Heat made it clear during the season that Ray Allen would be their priority come this off season, and he has agreed to take his talents to South Beach.)

• Deron Williams- Brooklyn Nets (This was one of those bitter sweet deals, D.Will had to choose to either go to his hometown of Dallas and play or stay with the Nets as they transitioned to Brooklyn.)

• Steve Nash- LA Lakers (This was maybe the biggest surprise so far, seeing that the Lakers were not even a team on his list. Kobe now gets a true point guard)

• Roy Hibbert- Indiana Pacers (The All Star free agent was a restricted free agent and was offered a max contract by the Portland Trailblazers of $58 million for 4 years. The Pacers will match that offer and Roy will remain a Pacer. That would've been a huge blow for them if he were to leave.)

• Jamal Crawford- Los Angeles Clippers (Jamal Crawford is one the most exciting players in the league to watch. This is a great pick up for the Clips, especially with Nick Young headed to Philly)

• Eric Gordon- Phoenix Suns (Eric Gordon likes the Suns, and after the Hornets drafted Austin Rivers in the draft he felt the Hornets were moving in a different direction.)

• Gerald Wallace- Brooklyn Nets (The Nets traded their first round pick last year to Portland for Wallace. They have signed him to a 4 year $40 million deal.)

• Nicolas Batum- Minnesota Timberwolves (The T'Wolves have agreed with Batum on a 4 year $45 million deal. He was a restricted free agent with Portland, and will be a great wing player for Minnesota.)

• Brandon Roy- Minnesota Timberwolves (B.Roy has come out of his brief retirement. The T'Wolves will sign him to a 2 year $10 million deal. This could be a high risk for them. But, if Roy is healthy...this is a great signing.)

This is just the beginning. To keep track with all the free agent frenzy, you know where to stop at.

DETROIT'S PRINCE

Major League Baseball has reached the All Star break, which means the leagues best will be on display for the next few days. The most entertaining thing about the whole weekend took place last night. The State Farm Home Run Derby.

In this event, you will see a power display from the leagues best hitters. In this years home run derby the contestants were:

National League:
Carlos Beltran- St. Louis Cardinals
Carlos Gonzalez- Colorado Rockies
Andrew McCutchen- Pittsburgh Pirates
Matt Kemp- LA Dodgers

American League
Jose Bautista- Toronto Blue Jays
Mark Trumbo- Los Angeles Angels
Prince Fielder- Detroit Tigers
Robinson Cano- New York Yankees

Now, my pick coming into this was Prince Fielder. I had two reasons; 1. because he's won before and 2. he plays for the Tigers. I didn't think i needed any other reason. Sounds pretty legit to me. Although Robinson Cano put on show last year, I didn't think he would be able to do the same thing this year. In the first round, Jose Bautista hit 11 home runs, the most of any hitters in that round. Prince hit 5 and all i could do was simply hope Robinson hit 4 so he could sneak into the 2nd round. Prince didn't even have to sneak in. After the defending champion hit 0 home runs. YES, I said 0. The fans in Kansas City cheered every time Cano got an out. Ive never seen anything like that before in my life.

In the 2nd round, Prince caught fire. He hit 11 home runs and about 4 of those landed in the pool at the stadium. The farthest home run he hit traveled 476 feet. He did that twice. I was just sitting there watching, and all i could say was my goodness. The ball just jumped off the bat. The big fella has some serious bat speed. He would move on to the final round against Bautista where he just salivated at the plate. He hit 12 home runs in the final round to win his 2nd home run derby in the last 3 years.

The All Star game is tonight, where Prince Fielder and Justin Verlander will represent Detroit as starters in the American League.

Time Off

Like most athletes, when the season comes to an end the need a little "R &R." Well, im no different, after the shortened season and the intense playoffs, I took sometime to myself. In my time of relaxing, I starting blogging for prosportsblogging.com for the Chicago Bulls. So, if youre a Bulls fan you can check that out and let me know what you think.

Now, its time to get back to work. Ill get you up to date with all the free agent signings and trades going on in the league. And if thats not enough, ill be talking about the upcoming Olympics...off season injuries, and NBA Summer League. Keep it locked in right here to the best sports blog.

Kings of Miami

First there was the resigning of Dwyane Wade; then Chris Bosh joined the Heat; and then the most talked about charity show EVER, "The Decision" where LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. After a full season of every fan in America hating the Heat and them making it to the NBA Finals and losing to the Mavericks in 6 games, "The Decision" finally paid off.

The Miami Heat are Champions of the basketball world for the 2nd time in franchise history. After many seasons in the league, well deserved vets earned their first ring; Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Juan Howard. They all contributed throughout the season and in the playoffs. Despite the injuries Mike Miller played the whole season with, game 5 was his coming out party for the playoffs. Mike had an out of body experience. For a minute i thought i was watching Mike Miller from Florida or even his early years in the league with Orlando and Memphis. Miller was 7-8 from the three point line. At one point in the game, Norris Cole was checking in for him and he waived him back to the bench. If this is Mike's last game in his career, i couldn't think of a better way to go out.













Chris Bosh who joined the Heat last year, also received his first ring after 9 seasons in the league. He was in the same draft class as his fellow teammates of LeBron and Wade. Last year after losing to the Mavs, Chris dropped to the floor in tears as he was walking to the locker room. Many said Chris was a good player, but shouldn't be considered a member of the "Big 3"because he was soft. The world realized how big of a role Bosh played on the team after he was injured in the Indiana series and missed 9 games. The team seemed to struggle at times, but once he was back in the line up, you could see how much it helped his team and caused problems for other teams.

The biggest story of all, is that the King has been crowned. LeBron James has won his first ring after 9 years in the NBA. After not having a triple double, LeBron picked the right game to have one. He finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. His performance was only the fifth in NBA history to get a triple double in a Championship close out game. After leaving Cleveland, and being ripped for taking his taking his talents to South Beach, he can finally say he's an NBA Champion and Finals MVP. He will still have naysayers, they re not going anywhere. But, the thing about it is they cant take away the fact that he is an NBA Champion.

After taking a step back on the team and handing the keys over to King James to drive the team, my guy Dwyane Wade gets ring #2. This was not an easy thing for him to do, to give the team to LeBron the team after he was drafted by the team in 2003 and was the franchise player. In order to win a chip he knew what needed to be done. Injuries kept Wade from being the player that we know. Throughout that he found a way to help his best friend LeBron James and the Heat organization bring a title back to South Beach. He will probably get knee surgery this summer and forgo the Olympics in London, but it will be beneficial for the Heat when the 2012-2013 season begins.


   MIAMI HEAT 2012 NBA CHAMPIONS

ONE MORE

The Miami Heat are one game away from winning their 2nd Championship in team history. One win away from "King" getting his crown and one win away from the "Big 3" getting their 1st ring together.

LeBron limped his way out the game in the 4th quarter with the game still in question, but that was no problem for the Heat. Mario Chalmers was there to save the day. Yes, I said Mario Chalmers. After the first game of the NBA Finals, Chalmers basically disappeared. And after being pulled in the 1st quarter last night for the lack of production and rookie Norris Cole coming in and providing a spark for the team; Chalmers returned to the Finals. He did that in a huge way, by dropping 25 points with 12 of those coming in the 4th quarter.

LeBron went on the game late with leg cramps; returned the next possession and hit a 3 that put the Heat up for good. Despite the leg cramp, it was an all around great performance by LeBron; he had 26 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds. His partner in crime D.Wade had 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 big blocks towards the end of the game. Bosh was solid as well with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Despite an epic performance by Thunder guard Russell Westbrook who had a career playoff high of 43 points, the Heat were able to get key stops and get timely buckets.

The day is finally here. South Beach couldnt be any hotter today. For the 1st time in his 9 year NBA career and his 3rd NBA Finals apperance, LeBron James is 48 minutes away from his 1st NBA Championship and possibly Finals MVP. Although the Heat lead the series, I feel this is a must win game for them. Could they possibly win one game in OKC, yes. But, why play with fire when you can just put it out at home tonight. Everything must go right for Miami to win. They have to hope James Harden continues to struggle and that they keep getting production from their role players, which is one of the main reasons they are winning this series right now. Game 5 is tonight at 9 and possibly the last game of the NBA season on ABC. #HEAT

BACK FIRE

2 time All American Jared Sullinger is drawing red flags from NBA doctors. Jared was predicted to be lottery pick in next weeks draft, but now with the back problems doctors are talking about his stock has seemed to drop. Reports are saying that with his back problems, his NBA career could be shortened. Last season when Sullinger was at Ohio State he sat out 2 games in December due to back spasms. Jared Sullinger's father said,

"We've got nothing to hide. At this stage it's all about what they can't do. Jared is a skilled player. A two-time All-American. He can play."

HEAT WAVE

The Miami Heat are once again 2 more games from winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Last year against the Dallas Mavericks the Heat held a 2-1 lead before going to Dallas and losing 3 straight games and losing the series. They're in the same position now, except they have 2 more games at home to try and close it out.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are 2 games away from winning their first championship together for the second year in a row. Personally, I think they will get it done. In game 3 the Heat ran away with the game in the first quarter, by opening up with a 18-2 run. Despite the Thunder effort to make it a close game and the questionable foul at the end of the game, the Thunder cant really blame no one but themselves. Miami hasnt played a good game yet in this series. They've played good in key stretches of the game, while OKC played bad, which is why they lead the series 2-1.  Also, I believe LeBron James is starting to slow down Kevin Durant a tad bit.

After KD scored 17 points in the 4th quarter of game 1, 16 in game 2, and only 4 points in game 3; I think he might be getting tired by time the 4th quarter arrives. When you have a guy like LeBron guarding you for an entire game, that can be tiring. I don't care what level you've played at or how good you are. Kevin Durant is listed at 6'9, but many say he's close to 6'11. That's a tough cover for anybody. But, what LeBron is doing is simply putting all 270 pounds of his weight on KD when he doesn't have the ball and making him work to get open. So, you figure for the first 3 quarters of the game KD will be fine offensively, but by the time the 4th quarter arrives; he doesn't have much left. Maybe that's the secret for success for the Heat.

I'm not worried about Kevin Durant or even Russell Westbrook's erratic play at times. I'm more concerned about James Harden. Where has he been? They will not win this series if he does not show up. The Thunder have 2 chances remaining in South Beach to steal a game, so the series can shift back to OKC. I picked the Heat to win in 5 games, and I will tell you this; if the Thunder do not win game 4 tonight, this series is over. I say that because, not only will LeBron and Chris Bosh be closer to their first NBA Championship, but because Dwyane Wade will takeover in game 5. I don't think Wade will want to go back to OKC and try and close out the Thunder at home. That can be a tough task, especially if the series is tied. Game 4 is tonight at 9 on ABC.