Empty the Bench

- Is there any denying ESPN’s awesomeness when it comes to covering EuroCamp in the days leading up to the 2007 NBA Draft? They’re so on top of it. Sure, it’s not like you can read anything interesting on their site in their exclusive report without Insider access, but at least they tantalize us with this fascinating nugget in the free lead: “Warriors GM Chris Mullin showed up at the camp Monday. He’s been in Serbia talking with last year’s second-round pick, Kosta Perovic, about playing for the Warriors next season.” HOT.

- Win or Go Home has some thoughts on the rumored deal that could send Jarrett Jack to the Atlanta Hawks, including an interesting counter-proposal that he feels might help Atlanta, Portland, and Charlotte.

- You know the end is nigh when Michael Dickerson makes headlines not once but twice in the same week. With a nod to our Official Dickerson Watchdogs over at HoopsAddict, we give you the latest chapter in the former NBA bust’s blazing career path: co-founder of the “LARGEST totally free Life Changing resource on the web.” Just one click and you’re guaranteed a ticket to Heaven–or, at least, a free dinner with the apostle of your choosing.

- Winning the Turnover Battle takes on the talking heads from ESPN and AOL in vehemently refuting their opinions that it’s time for a restructuring of the NBA playoffs. Whether or not you agree, there’s no questioning the passion in this writer’s rebuttal.

- Perhaps the only good thing to come out of this snoozer of an NBA Finals.

- More on that Juwan Howard for Mike James trade, from a Timberwolves perspective.

- Chris Duhon sounds like a pretty cool, level-headed guy in the face of his name being floated around in trade rumors (which could be said of about half the league right now). We’re not sure what kind of return the Bulls could get on Duhon, but probably not much. There isn’t anything especially spectacular about his game, but you get the feeling he’s going to stick around in the NBA for another 10 seasons.

- Raise your hand if you anticipated David Stern coming up with some kind of wacky excuse about why his NBA Finals are drawing toilet-bowl ratings. The following quote is a pretty classic spin job, but we like his second-to-last quote, too, where he becomes the first human being in history to ever utter the phrase “we’re totally prepared for that consumption.” Anyway, Stern’s knee-slapping assessment of those hallowed ratings: “What it means to us is that we had two very bad games, and you would expect bad ratings. But what it also means is that we led the night in the key demographic on our network, and increasingly it’s not about how you did last year. It’s about how you did against your competition. And against our competition we’re doing great.”

- Daily Basketball is doing their best to get a herd of cats to form a single-file line, or more specifically, to corral some fantastic NBA bloggers into one virtual room for a draft preview of all 32 NBA teams. Updates are flying in as we speak, so make sure to check back daily as there’s some quality work being done. ETB will be working with Matt from Detroit Bad Boys on the Pistons piece.

- Expect to see this crap permeate the shelves of your local Salvation Army for years to come.