* There’s an avalanche of stories on the Dwight Howard trade rumor front and no consensus on what will happen next with him. One thing we do know: It will never be as bad as Dwightmare I.
* Markieff Morris played a season-high 41 minutes in his first game under new Suns head coach Earl Watson. Watson is saying very nice things about the controversial forward. Pre-trade deadline showcase alert activated.
* TMZ has pictures of Blake Griffin’s swollen hand. Not a good look.
* Field of the slam dunk contest has been revealed and it’s hard to picture anybody beating defending champion Zach LaVine. Will Barton perhaps?
* Dirk Nowitzki responds to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was not so kind in his evaluation of the legendary German forward.
* Frustrated DeMarcus Cousins has some words with Bulls assistant after latest loss.
* Mark Cuban has not forgotten about the officiating in the 2006 NBA Finals. Never will.
* The ’96 Chicago Bulls would be a 1-point favorite on a neutral court against this year’s Golden State Warriors, says here.
* We have re-drafted the 2008 class. Boy, that was a good draft for Thunder GM Sam Presti.
* Lakers guard Lou Williams heads to the free-throw line, then realizes Kobe Bryant is the boss.
* Brian Scalabrine talks about his departure from the Mark Jackson-coached Warriors. It is good.
* YOLO: You will be able to buy sneakers on the JR Smith store.
* There’s now a thing called Zombie Grantland where you can read the work of the writers of the defunct website. The Internet delivers once again.
