Mike Bibby to Atlanta

I bet you LeBron James probably is not having a good night of sleep tonight, and none of it is related to tonight's All-Star game. How long were the Cavs chasing Mike Bibby last year? Well... Mr Bibby is heading east, just a little bit farther east than Cleveland.

In case you haven't seen the reports, the Kings will get Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright, and a second round pick for 2008. Basically 3 expiring contracts, plus a short view at Shelden Williams, a fifth pick on the 2006 draft, which has one more year remaining in his contract.

For the Kings this is the final straw of the nice core that brought a long streak of sellouts and a great crowd to its feet. That, unfortunately, was not even enough for a trip to the Finals. Now they have a younger core to rebuild with, and maybe the help of Ron Artest which seems to be having second thoughts about leaving Sacto' town.

The Hawks got in return a solid point guard that should help them get out of their 2008 funk, after a more than promising start of the season. They finally dropped out of the 8^th playoff spot last week, but in this weak Eastern Conference they should get right back into it. They could go as far as a 6^th spot by season's end.

What's next?

Who's going to be the next star on the move? The deal on Jason Kidd seems to be on the freezer for now. I gave you already my two cents on it. Unless a third team comes up with some help or Mark Cuban has a change of heart it won't happen.

Another trade that has been part of the rumor mill for some time is the one that will send Vince Carter to Indiana for Jermaine O'Neal. I'm not sure why the Pacers would pull the trigger in this one knowing how probably Carter will bag it after a few months.

In other news

It seems like Seattle is going to be without a team soon. That's what David Stern indicated in his news conference. I don't think this is a bluff anymore. The owners want to move to Oklahoma City and the city of Seattle does not want to support a new stadium with public funding. No more public rounds sparring, the only guess now is for how long the team will have to stay in there.

This will also affect the future of the NBA in New Orleans. With the Sonics moving to OKC, the Hornets will stay in New Orleans. The commissioner put it in different way, praising the city for the great effort that they put to get the All Star weekend going. Still, the team will have to do a lot of work to improve their finances in that city.

The Hornets are first in the standings in the Western Conference, have a very entertaining team to watch and you will never known about it if you look at the attendance level for the team: right now 28^th out of 30 teams. It is true that the city is still rebuilding and most of the people have other priorities, but the team's PR people must find ways to bring them in. I don't think the economic situation in Detroit is in much better shape, and the Pistons have a sellout streak standing for the last couple of seasons.

The trade deadline is around the corner... stay tuned.