The Cleveland Cavilers Acquire Ben Wallace And Wally Szczerbiak

The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to have beaten the NBA's annual trade buzzer to get LeBron James some of the fresh help he's been openly craving.

In a three-way, 11-player trade with Chicago and Seattle that has been submitted for league approval, NBA front-office sources say that Cleveland will come away with four new teammates for James, headlined by Ben Wallace from the Bulls and sharpshooter Wally Szczerbiak from the Sonics.

The league office was notified of the deal before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trading deadline, sources said, and is currently reviewing the trade details as required for formal approval.

After Cleveland watched two longstanding trade targets land elsewhere -- Mike Bibby in Atlanta and Jason Kidd in Dallas -- sources say that the deal calls for the Cavaliers to receive Wallace, Szczerbiak, Seattle point guard Delonte West, Chicago's Joe Smith and a future second-round pick from the Bulls.

The Bulls, apparently abandoning their gamble on Wallace less than two seasons into the lucrative four-year deal they used to sign him away from Detroit, would get Cavaliers forward Drew Gooden and swingman Larry Hughes along with Cavs reserves Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.

The Sonics, shedding Szczerbiak in the name of additional payroll flexibility, come away with the expiring contracts of Cleveland's Ira Newble and Chicago's Adrian Griffin as well as Cavs veteran Donyell Marshall.

This trade is terrible for the Cavs. When healthy, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes were excellent shooters and scorers. Now, the Cavs acquired a center who doesn't do anything. Ben Wallace is one of the biggest disappointments this year and dead weight on the court. If anything, this trade gives the Bulls a better chance of competing in the playoffs.

Now Lebron James Wants A Blockbuster Trade For The Cavs?

Like nearly everyone else, Cleveland's Lebron James was shocked by Shaquille O'Neal's trade to Phoenix.

"Unbelievable," James said after practice Wednesday. "That's all I got. It's unbelievable."

O'Neal, one of the league's top centers for more than a decade, was traded by Miami to the Suns for forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks, a blockbuster deal that rocked the league like one of Shaq's backboard-bending dunks.

It was the second jaw-dropping swap involving All-Star players in days. Last week, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired 7-foot center Pau Gasol from Memphis, a trade that may have forced the Suns into retooling their team in order to stay ahead of their nearest competitor in the Pacific Division.

With the Lakers and Heat acquiring superstars, Lebron James is starting to wonder when the Cavs will acquire a superstar (with no disrespect to Lebron's teamates) of their own.

James recently said he would love for general manager Danny Ferry to make a run at New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd, who has made it no secret that he wants the Nets to dish him off before the Feb. 21 trading deadline.

When James was asked if being paired with Kidd, his teammate last summer on the U.S. national team, could win the Cavs their first championship, Cleveland's superstar delivered an answer as resounding as any of his powerful slam dunks.

The Cavs are going to have to compete with the Dallas Mavericks, who are also interested in acquiring Jason Kidd.

The Cavaliers would like to add another star player to complement James, who's having an MVP-caliber season. Larry Hughes hasn't been what Cleveland had hoped since Ferry signed the oft-injured shooting guard to a five-year, $60 million contract before the '05 season.

James was asked if it's necessary for a team to have multiple stars to win an NBA title.

"It helps," he said with a laugh. "It does help when you have guys on the team that are perennial All-Stars or can go out there and produce every night and you know what you're going to get."

Reminded that Kidd was still available, James grinned.

"I know that," he said.

James, too, knows that adding another big player can lead to problems.

"It can mess up the chemistry a little bit and it could take a little longer for them to fit in, maybe not," he said. "The reward is you get a good player. Like the Lakers, they got a guy [Gasol] who has averaged 20 [points] and 12 [rebounds] for his whole career. Last night, Kobe Bryant gets six points and the Lakers win by 15, that's the reward.

"It all depends on what caliber of player you are getting and how fast he can adjust to the new system."

If the Cavaliers stand pat and don't make a trade, James is confident the defending Eastern Conference champs are still good enough to win it all.

"As long as I'm healthy, we're going to give ourselves a chance to win," he said. "No matter who is out on the court with me."

From James' comments, you wouldn't be able to tell if he wants another superstar on his team or not. However, it is clear that James is happy and confident with the way things are now.

Lebron James And Kobe Bryant Did Not Disappoint In This Controversial Ending

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant went back and forth throughout an intense fourth quarter.James and his Cleveland Cavaliers won out in the end, even surviving a few raindrops at Staples Center.

James scored 14 of his 41 points in the final period, and the Cavaliers beat the short-handed Lakers 98-95 Sunday for their 12th win in 15 games.Bryant scored nine of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and also had 12 rebounds and six assists, but it wouldn't be enough to keep the Lakers from losing their third straight to match their longest losing streak of the season.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:14 to play, and Larry Hughes also scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (24-19), who have beaten the Lakers in their last five meetings.

Lamar Odom had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (27-15), who have a 2-4 record since center Andrew Bynum injured his left knee. It was their fourth game without Trevor Ariza, who broke his right foot. Neither player is expected to return before the middle of March.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao was helped from the court late in the third quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday with an injured left ankle.

X-rays were negative, but he will undergo an MRI on Monday.

Right after teammate LeBron James made a layup, Varejao stepped on the foot of Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic as he entered the lane, trailing the play. Varejao was helped from the court, unable to put weight on his left leg.

Varejao, averaging 8.0 points and a team-leading 8.7 rebounds, had two points and four rebounds in 17 minutes when he was injured, with 3:12 left in the third period and the Cavaliers leading 63-59.

The game was delayed for 12 minutes late in the first quarter because of a small leak in the Staples Center roof. It resulted in a steady flow of drops falling under the north basket -- out of bounds but less than a foot from the baseline. Arena spokesman Michael Roth said a roofing company inspected the roof Sunday morning and when the inspectors were finished, they removed their rain gear and left it along with some equipment on a catwalk over the north basket. The leak came from the clothing and equipment through slats in the catwalk.

The Cavaliers took a 94-93 lead on a basket by James with 1:16 remaining, and Bryant drew an offensive foul nine seconds later. After an empty possession by each team, James ran the shot clock down before hitting from outside with 20 seconds to go, giving the Cavaliers a three-point lead. Ronny Turiaf made a follow shot with 13 seconds left, trimming Cleveland's lead to one point, but James made two free throws four seconds later to make it 98-95. The Lakers called a timeout, but were unable to get off a potential game-tying 3-pointer before the final buzzer sounded.

Welcome To The NBA Kevin Durant!

From one young superstar to another, LeBron James showed Kevin Durant how it's done by scoring 22 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't wait until the fourth quarter to put away the Seattle SuperSonics 95-79 on Tuesday night.

James, who scored 24 points in the fourth on Sunday when the Cavs (18-17) rallied for a win in Toronto, was able to sit out the final 8:36 as Cleveland coasted to its sixth win in seven games and moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 30.

Durant, Seattle's silky smooth rookie, scored 24 points and showed off some of his blossoming pro game while being guarded at times by James, who has become close friends with the No. 2 overall pick.Durant sprained his left ankle while making a jump shot with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter. He untied his sneaker and briefly went to the bench before limping to Seattle's locker room for treatment and did not return.

I don't know the status of Durant's injury, but since they labeled it as a sprained ankle, he should hopefully return to the lineup soon. They need the player who will soon become rookie of the year playing as much as possible for them.

The Most Valuable Franchises In The NBA According To Forbes

Despite the struggles and antics of the New York Knicks on and off the court, they still remain the NBA's most valuable franchise for the third straight year, according to a list compiled by Forbes. The Knicks were valued at $604 million, up 3 percent from the previous year despite a spate of losing, an embarrassing defeat in a sexual harassment lawsuit, poor team chemistry, and continuing questions about the future of coach Isiah Thomas.

The NBA's marquee franchise also had a league-high $196 million in revenues for the 2006-07 season while topping the list with negative $42.2 million in operating income after going 33-49 and missing the playoffs.

A lot of the Knicks' success, money-wise, has to do with where they play. New York is the medulla oblongata of American culture and I am willing to bet that if the Knicks played anywhere else, people wouldn't waste their time and money watching this team. I would rank the circus as a slightly better tourist attraction, though the Knicks aren't far from that. The Knicks may have the most valuable franchise, but not the most valuable team

The Los Angeles Lakers decreased in value 2 percent, down to $560 from $568 million, but remained second on the list. I would suspect this is due to their recent lack of success and the other number of California teams available to watch. It can't be because of Kobe; he's probably the only reason why the Lakers draw in the money they do.

The Chicago Bulls were third with a value of $500 million and a league-best $59.3 million in operating income. Let's see how long this lasts with that amazing team of theirs who inexplainably can't win.

The Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets rounded out the top five.

The Cleveland Cavailers showed the biggest jump in value among the top 10 teams, increasing 20 percent to $455 million. They jumped from 10th to seventh. I believe two words are responsible for that: Lebron James.

Lebron James Is A Real Difference Maker

Growing up during my generation of basketball, I had the luxury of watching the great Michael Jordan lead his team to six championships. Jordan not only was amazing to watch, but changed the face of basketball and attracted many new fans. Now, I understand Lebron James will never be Jordan and I also understand people are tired of hearing him be compared to Jordan or being called the next Jordan. Lebron James is who his name says he is. However, this man can provide for the younger generation of kids, who missed out on the MJ era and never witnessed him first-hand, an athlete to look up in the same style as Jordan.

Having said that, lets look at the Cavaliers at the moment. The Cleveland Cavilers have lost their last 4 games in a row. One can come up with as many excuses as he can, but the sole reason for their losing streak is the difference maker, Lebron James, has not been playing.

James missed his third straight game because of a sprained left index finger. He was hurt Wednesday in a loss to Detroit, when Nazr Mohammed slapped at the ball as James began to shoot.

Their most recent loss was to the New Jersey Nets, in which Richard Jefferson scored a season high 36 points in their 100-79 blowout.

Unfortunatly, Brown wouldn't comment before the game on whether James' injury is taking longer to heal than first anticipated and I haven't heard any updates. However, one thing is clear, without this difference maker on the team the Cavs look lost at the moment.

The Cavaliers have lost four straight and are 0-3 without their superstar forward, falling to 9-10.

Lebron James Injured In Loss To The Pistons

Isn't it funny how things can radically change in one day? Just last night I was ranting about how Lebron James is the king of basketball and now tonight he hurts his finger and his team got slaughtered. This was the first rematch of the Cavs and Pistons since the Cavs knocked the Pistons out of the playoffs last season.

James sprained his left index finger in the second quarter Wednesday night, and did not return, and the Detroit Pistons went on to beat the Cleveland Cavilers 109-74 Wednesday night. The Pistons insisted the victory didn't mean any less to them even though it came against a team missing its first, second and third option on offense.

The Cavs said James' X-rays were negative, adding he would be evaluated again Thursday. James returned to Cleveland's bench late in the third quarter and as soon as he hit the bench, the Pistons went on a tear.

Injuries happen in sports of course and Lebron should bounce back from this easily. Like I said, sports is funny like that. One day your king, the next day you're dethroned, and the day after you're back to being the king.