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Over the past fortnight or so Blake Griffin has become the centre of two conversations. Dwight Howard added the LA Clippers to his list of preferred trade partners and thus inciting the inevitable possibility of Blake Griffin heading in the opposite direction. The other topic of debate that has emerged, largely due to the incomparable influence of ESPN, is the parallels between and the comparing of Griffin with the Timberwolves’ rebound king, Kevin Love.

In my opinion, there is an definite answer for both, and neither are in favour of the KIA jumping power forward from Oklahoma.

We’ll begin with the potential trade.

To me, it is clear Dwight Howard does not want to remain in Orlando and at the very least will leave in free agency, should Orlando be naive enough to allow that to happen. This means they will have to trade him. The rule in the NBA is that when trading a star, you will never get back equal value, rather the ambition is to stockpile draft picks, young players and expiring contracts to ensure the future of the team can be rebuilt following the chaotic loss of their franchise player.

The possibilities for Orlando when trading Dwight sat only with the Nets, Lakers and Mavericks, as these were the only teams Howard said he would sign an extension with. No promise of signing an extension would obviously nullify any teams interest in him, as there is no point trading all your best pieces for a year or even less of Dwight Howard.

Dallas have very little in terms of young players and draft picks. They have expiring contracts, but that is not enough to tempt Orlando into a trade. Their best bet is clearly to hope he makes it to free agency and try and sway him with Mark Cuban’s exuberance. The Lakers have the young, injury prone, talented center with a poor attitude, known as Andrew Bynum, and very little else. They have nothing in terms of youth and their draft picks are worthless in value. The Nets in my opinion had the best pieces of the three and gave Howard the best chance to win of the three. They could offer draft picks, some talented young players and give Orlando back a dominant big man, in Brook Lopez, who does similar things to Howard, but obviously a significant downgrade.

So when Dwight added the Clippers to the list, it gives both teams a unique opportunity to make the most of a difficult situation. The Clippers are on the verge of something special. Everyone can feel it. The trade for the game’s best point guard, Chris Paul, put the Clippers on the map unlike anything they had ever experienced before and has elevated the laughable franchise to the status of the hottest ticket in town, something none of us would have ever contemplated happening. Not only that, but Chris Paul was all but a Laker only a week or so before the Clippers made the deal. How quickly it can turn. How quickly it did turn.

Despite the trade for Paul, combined with the signing of Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups, the Clippers are still at least a year away from truly competing. Griffin and Jordan are both still young. Their coach, Vinny del Negro is largely unproven and they need to show they can make it work in the playoffs with their four point guard system.

However, should they bring in Dwight Howard, that changes everything. Immediately they would be the best team in the Western Conference and may even rival Miami as the consensus best team in the league. The combination of Paul and Howard is terrifying to think about, and it may not come at a price that would hurt the Clippers nearly as much as one would have first thought.

The deal would likely be Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan for Dwight Howard. Sure the Clippers are giving up two of the best young big men in the game, but they are getting the hands down best big man since Shaquille O’Neal and one of the greatest defensive players of all time. He would instantly change the franchise defensively, he would become a part of possibly the greatest pick and roll the game as seen and he brings in a player with a higher ceiling than either of the two they are trading away.

If I were the Clippers, I would get Otis Smith, Magic GM, on the phone immediately and make it known Blake Griffin is on the table.

Before I explain why I think Griffin is not worth what others believe him to be, let’s discuss the Kevin Love comparison.

Kevin Love has emerged as one of the best big men in the game. To me is the undisputedly the most underrated player in the NBA (followed by Udonis Haslem). He is the only reason the Timberwolves didn’t go 0-82 last season, and is the main catalyst behind their early season form this year. The Clippers have already seen how good he is, as Love drained a three at the buzzer to beat the Clippers a week ago.

Kevin Love has dethroned Dwight Howard as the game’s best rebounder and did it in the most spectacular of fashions. He broke Moses Malone’s record of 51 consecutive double doubles last season and was the first man in over 30 years to record a game with 30 points and 30 rebounds.

The Timberwolves have lacked leadership and direction since their favourite son, Kevin Garnett, left for Boston in 2006. Kevin Love has began to fill that void, inspiring his team both on and off the court. He has extended his range to Dirk Nowitzki length and I believe he is the second best shooting big man behind the German champion. He’s as tough as nails, can play the 48 and by all accounts is as nice a guy off the court as he is a great player on it. He may not be the flashiest star in the league, but do not underestimate that he is just that, a star.

Blake Griffin has the potential to be one of the faces of the NBA. He is highly likeable, he’s very charismatic and he is a human highlight reel. THAT game against the Knicks last year was mind boggling. I was skeptical about his undersized height for the position he played and his knee injuries before he made his debut, but he quickly quashed whatever serious questions I had of him.

However, he is another example of this growing trend that has swept the NBA and I place most of the blame with ESPN. It has become apparent that SportsCenter’s Top 10 has now become a genuine analytical term for determining a player’s standing against his peers. To dumb that down, I basically mean that if you can throw it down, swat it into the 12th row or break someone’s ankles, you are a top 10 player in the NBA. There is no better example of this than Derrick Rose. He is clearly not the best point guard in the game, and not even close to the best overall player, yet people make the argument for both because of the ridiculousness he produces on the court. The same can be said for Blake Griffin.

The majority of the people that are on the Griffin bandwagon are those who do not watch a lot, if any, of his games and/or do not know basketball. They justify their beliefs by watching NBATV’s plays of the night.

Don’t get me wrong, Griffin has the potential to be a true superstar of this league, maybe even on the level of Dwight Howard, but he isn’t close yet. Griffin is still so raw. His offensive game is, at times, a mess. His jump shot isn’t true and has little to no consistency. He is lacking the post moves to become a really dominate paint scorer and his defense, from what I’ve seen, is largely non existent. He gets plenty of rebounds, about 11 per game, mostly because of his athleticism. I have no doubt all of this will improve, but he is 2 years minimum off becoming the all dominating player he could be.

Dwight Howard is already there. As is Kevin Love.

LA need to show Chris Paul they are all in and want to win now. Paul doesn’t want to have to wait around for Griffin to blossom. Dwight Howard would solve everything.

I don’t think Blake Griffin knows for sure what he is yet, nor what he will become. He has gotten by, thus far, on his incredible athleticism, but there is only so long that will suffice. People will figure you out, and once that happens, you’d better hope you have some tools.

Regardless of Griffin’s potential, I am not certain he will ever be as good as Dwight Howard. That’s why you have to make this deal.

Regardless of Griffin’s potential, I am certain Kevin Love is the better player right now. It’s an unfair comparison anyway, in my opinion, given Griffin is a sophomore and Love is one of the most complete big men we’ve seen in the past decade.

Nonetheless it will be fascinating watching the next few weeks leading to the trade deadline, and indeed beyond as these three big men look to impose themselves more so upon the league that is certainly at the mercy of their talent.

LeBron’s two most scrutinised areas of his game, his free throws and ability to perform in late game situations, were the keys to Miami’s win in Detroit last night as the Heat jumped to a record of 13-5.

James has been labelled as a choker, constantly shrinking and disappearing from the big moments. Regardless of the falseness of this, he made a statement last night, hitting 6/6 from the free throw line within the last 90 seconds of the game to ensure the young Pistons went home disappointed.

James put his entire repertoire on show, making plays for himself, for his teammates and getting stops on the defensive end. Austin Daye, the 6’11 small forward for Detroit, had a career night finishing with 28 points, but was unable to score down the stretch as LeBron tightened up on him, forcing others to make plays.

Chris Bosh continued his purple patch of form, contributing throughout the game and critically in the final 5 minutes, finishing with 27 points.

Miami didn’t get the bench productivity they would have liked, their rebounding was horrible and were destroyed in that category, and their expert three point shooters (Battier, Jones and Miller) each finished without a triple.

Detroit meanwhile had breakout games from Daye, upcoming star Greg Monroe and rookie sensation Brandon Knight, and they thought they made have pulled off the season’s biggest upset thus far when the Jonas Brother hit a three with around 1:30 remaining. Unfortunately they were unable to keep LeBron out of the paint, who finished them off from the stripe and condemned the young Pistons to a league worst 4-15 record, with a frightening week of 5 games, 4 of which on the road, beginning on Saturday.

Miami host the struggling mess that is the New York Knicks (coming off a loss to the Cavaliers…yes the Cavaliers) tomorrow, then they have a days rest before Derrick Rose brings his Bulls to South Beach. Important few days for Miami to assess where they are at this point. Dwyane Wade is expected to return for the Bulls game, but is questionable for the Knicks visit.

I bet that’s a sentence you’d never thought you’d hear, see or read.

But I think that’s exactly where we’re at.

For those of you who don’t know who Arsene Wenger is (I understand a majority of Americans will read this and most will not know much about soccer), he is the manager of Arsenal Football Club, one of the top teams in the English Premier League.

On Sunday night Arsenal hosted long time rivals Manchester United. An 18 year old made their Premier League starting debut for Arsenal that night and by most people’s accounts, he was the best player on the field. His name is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. In England, as in football in general, fans have a much bigger influence over their club than anywhere else and any other sport in the world. If fans do not like a player they can all but force him out of the club. They’re that powerful. Yet Arsene Wenger has refused to concede this power, if any, to the fans and it has become apparent he has been making a conscientious effort to ensure this remains.

With the scores level at 1-1 with around 10 minutes remaining, Wenger took off the crowd favourite Oxlade-Chamberlain to the utter and complete dismay and anger of the crowd. I have never heard a reaction to a substitution like this is any sport in my life. Wenger replaced him with a player nearly every single Arsenal fan wants out of the club, a man that has been out of form for nearly 2 years and most of all a player irrelevant and ineffective to the situation he was being put into.

Wenger received a negative reaction unlike anything we have seen, at least in his tenure at the club. He is undisputedly loved by every Arsenal fan because of what he has done in the past, but a 6 season trophy-less drought has taken it’s toll and fans are no longer accepting of making the Top 4. They let their feelings known to Arsene Wenger that he has set extremely high standards for himself and for the club, and that fans accept nothing less.

Wenger’s stubbornness in refusing to appreciate and consider the fans’ opinion on the squad, his lack of ambition to spend money to bring the players into the club that it desperately needs and the fact he has brought no success to the club for over half a decade has taken it’s toll and fans are tired of it. No longer will they settle for mediocrity and they are holding Arsene Wenger responsible. They expect better.

That brings me to LeBron James. If you have not already seen the comparison I am trying to make, let me explain.

Earlier last week the Miami Heat hosted the travelling San Antonio Spurs. Miami started very slowly whilst the Spurs did the complete opposite, jumping out to a big lead. LeBron James missed his first 3 field goals of the game, then went to the free throw line and missed his first 2 attempts.

We then saw a something that will be a defining point in the career of LeBron James.

They booed him.

His home crowd booed him.

He had missed a few shots, the team was down early, that happens. It was nothing to do with that. It was the fact they are tired of seeing LeBron James be anything but brilliant. We all sat in shock during last year’s Finals as LeBron James disappeared following his incredible previous playoff series.

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, and he is the greatest talent the NBA has ever seen. He may be the greatest athlete in the history of American professional sport, if not international sport. We expect nothing but the absolute best from LeBron James every night and  nothing less will be accepted.

Following the boos, LeBron James got mad and went berserk to the tune of 17 third quarter points, helping Miami come back from a huge deficit to destroy the Spurs.  LeBron James seemed to have gotten the message that no longer would the world accept good things from him. It has to be greatness.

The same goes for Arsene Wenger.

People saw the boos for both these men as huge negatives, as the fans turning on their leaders. That couldn’t be further from the truth. No one will ever turn on LeBron James, nor Arsene Wenger, but that does not mean we can sit back and allow them to continue living comfortably. They should always be striving to achieve better, to be doing anything and everything to better themselves and their teams.

The fans have finally let themselves be heard. Mr Wenger and Mr James, sit up and take notice. This is enough. It’s time to do what we all know you can do. It’s time to do what you should have been doing the last 5 years. Everyone knows you can do it, we’ve seen it before.

You set your own standards, and we will hold you to them.

In what started as a bitter week for Miami, they have handled it sweetly, blowing past three division leaders in consecutive games to jump to an 11-4 record.

Chris Bosh led all scorers with 30 points, whilst James offered a Magic Johnson-esque performance with 28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.

The Heat won every quarter, out rebounded the well coached 76ers by an astonishing 21 boards and shot a 10% greater FG%.

In typical Doug Collins’ and 76ers fashion, they refused to be blown out by Miami as it seemed throughout the entirety of the match it was teetering towards a runaway Heat win.

One of Miami’s biggest issues last season was their bench scoring and the lack of production they received from their role players but the additions of Norris Cole and Terrell Harris combined with the return to health of Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem has seen Miami significantly improve on anything they offered last season. Tonight the Heat generated 33 points off the bench, taking a lot of pressure off James and Bosh.

The two remaining of the big 3 both shot 100% from the line and over 50% from the field. James again took 0 three pointers, and looked increasingly comfortable creating post offensive opportunities.

Miami flashbacked to the days of the Floridians, sporting a controversial white and pink strip. It was the butt of many jokes over Twitter, but the Heat looked more than comfortable in it.

Tomorrow night they face Milwaukee in a throwback 70s night. Throughout the broadcast there were clips of Heat players with afros, big dirty moustaches and dancing away to Saturday Night Fever.

The scoreboard was the only thing flattering the Lakers Thursday night as an under the weather LeBron James torched LA to the tune of 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks in a typically stat stuffing domination from the league’s best player.

Kobe Bryant failed to contribute to the game’s greatest individual rivalry as James made the Lakers legend look his age, and then some. Bryant started 1/9, but started jacking, and making, a flurry of shots when the game was already over. He finished with 24.

James missed the Heat’s training session yesterday and was sent home from the shoot around last night, still suffering from the flu like symptoms that almost kept him out of the game at home to the Spurs on Tuesday night.

Miami received tidy contributions from several players, with Bosh recording 15 points and 8 rebounds, Battier with 11 points and 6 rebounds, Chalmers with 10 points and 6 assists and Udonis Haslem with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Eddy Curry returned to the NBA for the first time since December of 2009, to a standing ovation from the sold out American Airlines Arena. Curry looked strong offensively, as ever, finishing with 6 points, but was a defensive liability, as ever, failing to rotate and close out several times of single and double picks. He will not be playing major minutes at any time throughout his undetermined tenure with Miami, and was clearly signed just for low post scoring, but will certainly need to improve his play recognition and awareness if he is to contribute in the way Miami is hoping him to.

Miami move to 10-4, level with Philly and Orlando, whilst the Lakers drop to 10-6, with a showdown in Orlando against the Magic tomorrow night. The Lakers will be one of the teams worst hit by the condensed schedule given their age, their injuries and the fact they have too many white players for anyone’s liking.

To add to the Lakers woes, they have played the most home games of any team thus far this season, already hosting 11 games at Staples (one of the 11 was ‘away’ to the Clippers, but I still classify that as a Lakers home game, regardless of the bandwagoning of Lob City), and face road games in 9 of their next 12 fixtures.

The Heat’s next game is at home to Doug Collins’ revitalised Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

Amare Stoudemire is in New York. Mike D’Antoni (at least for the time being, although I cannot understand why) is in New York.

The only thing that is missing from this no.1 seed Pheonix Suns reunion is Steve Nash and perhaps Steve Kerr, although that dude annoys me despite looking pretty cool in the LMFAO beer commercial.

Anyways, Steve Nash has been long regarded as one of the top point guards in the game. In my opinion he is one of the greatest point guards of all time, and perhaps more deserving of anyone in the league right now of a championship ring.

He has long been underrated because of his, at times, tendencies to be a defensive liability, and also because he is caucasian, but I think what he brings to his team far outweighs any negativity. I still think he is in the top 4 of PURE point guards in the NBA. By that I mean Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo, rather than Derrick Rose, John Wall and Russell Westbrook. Nash is obviously past his prime and much older than the aforementioned three, and certainly not as good as them all around, but I want my point guard to be a pure point guard and Nash is certainly more of that than either of that young threesome.

His leadership is priceless, he is a perennial 40, 50, 90 guy (3pt %, FG%, FT%), he is as clutch as they come and there have been perhaps 1 or 2 that can distribute a ball like Steve Nash.

If you want to see arguably the greatest assist of all time, YouTube Nash’s pass to Grant Hill. I couldn’t find a non-grainy version of the video to post, but see if you can find one, it’s worth it.

Nash has spoken in the past of his admiration for both the city of New York and the franchise that is the Knicks, admitting the interest was real when on Letterman in 2009. He was asked of his future beyond the Suns yesterday, as he is off contract following this current season.

Nash confirmed this again following his team’s win over the Knicks in MSG yesterday.

“Of course, it’s no secret.

It’s is the basketball capital of the world. I live here in the summer, I have a lot of friends here and my former coach and teammate play here, so it’s a homecoming in some ways for me and it’s always fun to play here.”

Whilst Nash will turn 38 next month, he has no plans to hang up the sneakers any time soon.

“I bet I can play a long time, depending on what role. I physically feel about as good as I’ve ever felt, so I don’t see any reason why I couldn’t play at this level for a couple more years.

It just becomes harder work. It’s a full-time job to stay at this level physically and to recover but as far as just playing in the league, I think I can play for a long time.”

Presumably, at least given New York’s cap room, Nash would sign for either the mid level exception or the veteran’s minimum. That would mean he would be eligible for just about every team.

The Heat have been linked with Nash ever since LeBron and co. took their talents to South Beach, and he was identified as perhaps the man to lead them to their plethora of championships. That has been impossible with his current contract with the Suns, but now he is available for next to nothing, the speculation can continue.

Mario Chalmers is blossoming into the player they thought he would be coming out of Kansas, and is the undisputed starting point guard for Miami. His defense is solid and his three point shooting is invaluable, and his job has been made that much easier following the drafting of sensational rookie Norris Cole. Cole received MVP chants on his way to a 15 point fourth quarter helping Miami escape against Charlotte early in the year, and has quickly become a cult hero and a fan favourite. Together they combine for about 25 points and 8 assists per game, as good as any point guard in the NBA.

Because of the growth of these two, the need for Nash is certainly less than it was a year ago, however who is going to turn down the opportunity for Steve Nash if it comes knocking on your door. Not Pat Riley.

Certainly it seems Nash has a greater fondness for NYC, and would be a greater addition to the woefully confused Knicks than the Heat, but imagine what Nash could do with LeBron, Wade and Bosh. He may only play 20 minutes a night, but he’d be putting up 20 assists in that time.

LeBron had a poor first half as his flu like symptoms threatened to condemn Miami to their fourth consecutive loss, but he shrugged it off after half time en route to 33 points and 10 assists in just 33 minutes of game time.

Bosh had a hugely consistent game, which has been a rarity for the power forward, on his way to a well earned 30 points.

Miami were down big early and were struggling to find any consistency on the offensive end, other than the points of Bosh. Bosh had 12 in the second to keep Miami remotely close, but they still trailed 63-49 at the half. After the break LeBron James came out steam rolling, scoring 14 points including a flurry of 3s to give Miami a solid lead heading into the final period.

Miami outscored the Spurs 71-35 in the second half, in one of the most incredible displays of offense we have seen in some time. The momentum was all with San Antonio and they were largely in cruise control throughout the first half, but LeBron put the team on his broad shoulders and, along with 18 from returning local hero Mike Miller, helped Miami to a much needed win with the Lakers incoming on Thursday.

The Heat move to 9-4, still trailing Atlanta and Orlando in their own division.

Dwyane Wade should be back for friday’s blockbuster hosting Kobe Bryant and his LA team.

Dwyane Wade’s struggle with injuries continues, ruling him out of tonight’s clash with the Spurs.

The Heat are in the midst of a 3 game losing streak, all to west coast teams, and have had a significant break hoping to restore fitness and heal any niggling problems. Wade has not recovered in time.

LeBron James is still suffering illness, but will play. I expect to see a performance similar to that of the Indiana game last week, and more similar to the Cleveland LeBron James.

Expect 30+ points on the back of a near triple double.

I would think Miami will get back to their ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-them’ offense, hoping to beat the elderly Spurs with athleticism.

Not quite yet, but possibly, we have found a genuine threat to the unrelenting, incomparable reign of Dwight Howard as the best defensive player in the league.

Dwight has won the past three DPOY awards, and has won by a landslide, a hurricane, a tsunami and a meteor collision. No one has come remotely close to taking that from him. And rightly so.

But it has occurred to me over the past couple of weeks that there may be another athlete out there, eerily similar to Dwight himself in terms of athleticism and skill set, could perhaps usurp the undisputed king.

DeAndre Jordan is a raw combination of freakish athleticism and mouth watering potential, but has largely been let down by his immaturity and attitude.

He has emerged as the starting center for the Lob City Clippers, and he is starting to be known around the league as a genuinely effective player on the defensive end of the court. I watched him in college and saw something in there that really appealed to me, and I was one of the few that thought he was worth the gamble in the draft.

I am not going to be dramatically hasty and say he will take this award from Dwight this season, perhaps never, but the comparisons and potential certainly are there.

Jordan is averaging just 32 minutes per game this season, at least 8 minutes of Howard’s average game time, more likely 10 or 11, which is going to severely disadvantage his stats. He is still averaging 3.1 blocks per game. He’s at around 8 rebounds a game, which isn’t close to what it needs to be to challenge Howard, who is usually close to 13 if not higher. Blake Griffin is taking the majority of Jordan’s rebounds, at around 11.5 per game, whereas Howard as absolutely no one else who could take both blocks or rebounds from him. Reggie Evans also gets decent minutes for Lob City, averaging a solid 6.5 boards per game off the bench. Another player to steal this key statistic from Jordan.

But defensive player of the year is not all about stats. It’s not all about record. It’s mostly about reputation. Dwight worked hard and built that reputation as the most feared paint defender the league has seen in a long time. He single handedly pulled the Magic to the Finals, basically on the back of teams’ inability to score in the paint against this freakish athlete.

Jordan isn’t close to holding that fear nor respect just yet, but who’s to say it can’t happen.