Chris Sheridan

  (3:01 PM)

Good afternoon from New York, where the Knicks' beat writers will be penning their tomes in blue and orange font again tonight as T-Mac plays Game 2 in Marbury's old No. 3. Come to think of it, NY media hasn't treated a Knicks as this much of a conquering hero since Marbury arrived seven years ago. Jab, jab ... anybody got a question to which I can deliver a haymaker?

Rod (Orlando)

Who is a bigger key for post season success in Orlando: Vince or Jameer?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:04 PM)

If you saw the cavs-Magic game yesterday, you saw that Stan Van Gundy was able to repeatedly draw up pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop plays that ended with Carter in an advantageous isolation situation, and he actually got fiesty on a few of them. But where was he the first three quarters? Anyway, to answer your queston, it'll be Vince because be is the better offensive player, and you need fourth quarter buckets as much as you need fourth-quarter stops in the playoffs.

mojo (nyc)

How likely the Knicks make the playoffs with tmac?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:05 PM)

That's 14 months away, Mojo, and I'm not all that believin of T-Mac when he implies he'll play for the minimum.

Jonathan (NYC)

Was wondering if you know of any provision in the CBA (or elsewhere) that prohibits an owner from hiring a player and paying them for services other than playing basketball thereby circumventing the salary cap? And yes, I'm thinking of Dolen giving Lebron his own show and paying him a fortune. Unethical and against the spririt of the CBA certainly, but prohibited? Thanks

Chris Sheridan

  (3:07 PM)

Expressly prohibited. Rememeber when Mark Cuban first bought the Mavs and signed Dennis Rodman? Cuban let Rodman stay at his guest house, which the league office nixed because it was considered circumvention.

Marc (Charlotte)

The Bobcats lose to NJ and Milwaukee in the same week that they beat Cleveland for the 3rd time this year. What gives?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:11 PM)

as Marc stein points out in today's power rankings, that was the first time in 25 years that a team followed a loss to the worst team (NJ) with a victory over the best (Cle.) Couple things: Antawn Jamison was 0-for-12 in that game, lost on offense in his first time in a Cleveland uniform. As for the Nets loss, it was a case of the Bobcats injuries in the middle being exploited. Think of where that team might be in the standings if Tyson Chandler had only missed a week or two with his foot injury, as originally predicted, instead of 2 months. Instead, they're relying heavily on Mohammed (also injured) and now Theo Ratliff. If Chandler can become a factor over the final 20-25 games, they will be a tough playoff matchup for anyone in the East.

hugh (new york)

Is collison working his way into the ROY race?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:13 PM)

He's gotten on the radar, but it's very tough to give him take what he's done for N.O. for the past 3 weeks and measure it against Tyreke Evans' much broader body of work.

MC Welk (SLC)

Is Carlos Boozer still in for a raise regardless?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:17 PM)

He'd probably tell you so if you were having a casual conversation with him. Here's the thing: with so many teams having cleared additional cap space last week, there is going to be a lot of money getting thrown at the so-called second-tier of free agents behind LBJ, D-Wade and Bosh. A lot will depend on whether certain players (Stoudemire, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce) exercise opt-outs or sign extensions, but Boozer will likely be a Top 5 f.a., which should get him a raise (then again, he spoke yesterday about doing an extension to stay in Utah. If he did, I'm not so certain it would come with a huge raise off his current $12.3 million salary.

Maga (orlando)

What do you take away from the Cavs-Magic game yesterday? New addition to Cleveland causing some issues or the Magic turning the corner this season?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:19 PM)

This i what I take from it: The Magic dictated the way the fourth quarter was played. Some of that had to do with foul trouble, but they found defensive schemes that didn't allow LBJ or Shaq to hurt them, and they got what they wanted on offense. As for the new guy (Jamison) he'll be fine. Mike Brown needs to throw him in the starting five, like now.

Mike (Iowa City)

is the most likely scenario going to be the bulls getting david lee and joe johnson over the summer?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:20 PM)

The Bulls have enough room for one max guy, and their guy is D-Wade. If that doesn't pan out, Joe Johnson would give them what they've been missing since Ben Gordon left.

Spencer (SLC)

If the playoffs were today, who would you pick: Utah or Denver?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:22 PM)

Good question. I will take the safe route and say I'd go with whoever had home court for Game 7, but if you're asking me which team I like as a bigger threat to the West's Alpha Dog, the Lakers, I'd have to go with the Nuggets.

Kevin (Cleveland)

With Leon Powe expected back very soon, what do you think will be the Cavs PF/C rotation? We have to mix in Shaq, Jamison, Varejao, Hickson, Powe, and Z (once back). Is there such a thing as too much depth?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:24 PM)

Too much depth is not a problem when you are in foul trouble, as the Cavs were yesterday. But I cannot see them going to Powe much, and I think Hickson's will end up with about 25 percent of the role he used to have once Jamison gets situated and more comfortable. It is not a bad problem to have.

David (Toronto)

What do you think of the raptors this year and can this team get past the 1st round of the playoffs?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:26 PM)

They've generally been on a slow upswing, which is in keeping with their scheme to try to have things working properly in March and April, not December and January. Bottom line though is they are not a good defensive team, nor are they particularly tough. Will Reggie Evans bring that dynamic now that he's finally playing? Watch for that, because I can see them finding a bigger role for him than he had in Philly.

Justin (Minnesota)

Will Houston have enough cap room to get that 4 they could use to round the starting five out? like Boozer or Lee?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:29 PM)

No. That cap room went away when they took on Martin and Jeffries. To me, Luis Scola is exactly the guy they need next to Yao. But take Yao away, and Scola takes on an entirely different role as their primary inside scorer. I don't think they are ready to give up on Luis being their 4 -- unless they can get a premiere player at that position like Amare Stoudemire, which colleague J.A. Adande reported was exactly what they tried to do in the final hour before the deadline last Thursday.

Danny (New York)

Chris, I'm not sold on the Knicks going for two max guys. LeBron's obviously their dream target, but more realistically I see Bosh/Stoudamire, keeping Lee and Tmac, and grabbing Felton. Thoughts?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:32 PM)

I think they need to swing for the fences and go for two max guys, but I am not the guy running the team. Donnie Walsh is, and I get the impression that he likes David Lee a lot more than he did a year ago, and he'd be content to settle for Lee and a $6-7 million PG as a good backup plan should they get LeBron but not get Bosh.

Chuck (NY)

Not sure I understand why. If the knicks got lucky and signed 2 big FA's, why can't they then sign Lee? Don't they have his "Bird rights"?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:36 PM)

When players' contracts expire, they are held against the cap at 200 or 250 percent of their last salary until a team either re-signs or renlounces them. So Lee has a $14 million cap hold until they decide what to do with him. Al Harrington's cap hold will be $20 million, and Chris Duhon's will be $12 million. So the way for the Knicks to proceed is thus: decide whether they'll keep Lee or use him in a sign-and-trade, do that deal first, then renounce their remaining free agents and use the leftover cap space on their max guy.

Scott (Oklahoma City)

Who do you have for Coach of the Year?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:40 PM)

Two-man race between Lionel Hollins and Scott Brooks. The other night at MSG, Brooks joked that he hasn't won any kind of an award since he was MVP at Cal-Irvine in 1987, so he wasn;t goin to start lobbying for one now. (Brooks also mentioned that he never took part in the 3-point contest. I thought that seemed strange, but then I looked it up and saw he shot below 40 pct from 3-point range in his 10 seasons).

Justin (Indianapolis)

What should the Pacers strategy be going forward? It was really disappointing to not see them make a move before the deadline to get in better position for the future.

Chris Sheridan

  (3:42 PM)

Nobody was more disappointed (except perhaps T.J. Ford) than Larry Bird and the folks in Indiana's front office, who were on hold to do the trde call with the Bobcats when they were informed that Charlotte was pulling out. Next year begind Year 4 of their 5-year rebuilding plan, and I don't see a lot of hope on the horizon.

Kiope (Spain)

Chris, what are the Clippers going to do in the next summer ? I can't see them singing one max FA but some sing and trade...

Chris Sheridan

  (3:44 PM)

As Chris Kaman noted: Do free agents really want to play for the Clips? The quality of who they get could be determined by the number of opt-outs exercised. In the end, they're still a more desirable landing spot than the Nets.

Chris Sheridan

  (3:48 PM)

If they can't make it to he 2-3 spots, I don't see them getting out of the second round. Of more immediate concern is the Thunder, who are nipping at their heels in the divisional race. Which leads me to this tangential thought: When exactly do the higher-ups in OKC start moving the expectations bar higher? I was shocked they didn't make a move at the deadline with Harpring's expiring, insured contract.

Michael B. (Provo, UT)

Don't you wish you could have chatted online with sports analysts during school when you were younger?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:51 PM)

We didn;t have the Internet back then, but once upon a time Hunter S. Thompson was flown in and gave a speech at Marquette's Varsity Theater, which was one of the more memorable moments of my four years there. Hunter basically stepoped to the microphone, slurred something brief about how airline deregulation was the worst thing that ever happned to the United States, then threw it open for two hours of questions. So that was the closest I ever came to having a chat with an ESPN (OK, at that point he was a future ESPN.com person) person back in the mid-80s.

Kevin (NYC)

What are the odds LeBron leaves OH? Is NY the only realy place he would go......what is your opinion?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:52 PM)

I would not underestimate Miami's chances.

Jack (Chicago)

More desireable location, the NY Knicks or the Chicago Bulls?

Chris Sheridan

  (3:55 PM)

Look, Jack, I am biased. I go with NY, cuz that's home for me. But here is a little tidbit of info: Both teams are based way out in the suburbs, and the players' commute on game days can be gruesome given the traffic. Also, Chicago's traffic is far worse than NY's, which gives the Big Apple another thumbs-up when comparing the two places.

Zach (Chicago)

Why do people keep writing off the Bulls for the Lebron sweepstakes? They can offer a max contract & Chicago is a very desirable place to be both market wise and talent wise.

Chris Sheridan

  (3:59 PM)

Miami: Warm in January.New York: Never sleeps.Chicago: Bitterly cold, have to walk past Michael Jordan's statue on the way to work.I will say this though: If Kobe Bryant continues to say no to the extension the Lakers are offering him, and if Phil Jackson starts to talk as though he's leaving, Chicago comes onto the rdar in a big, big way. Remember, when Kobe was trying to force a trade two and a half years ago, the Bulls were the team working most diligently to get him -- right up until two days before the season-opener.

Chris Sheridan

  (4:00 PM)

That's a wrap folks. Hope someone found a haymaker in there somewhere. See you next week.