Somewhere along the way, Jason Terry became more reliable than a Chinese fortune cookie. Maybe it was the first time he guaranteed a title with a tattoo. Or maybe it was during the ’11 Finals when he predicted LeBron couldn’t hold him down all series, and then went out and lit up the King. Or maybe it was this summer when we all saw him repeat the tattoo prediction again, and miraculously didn’t think it was all that crazy. Terry isn’t the guy you want to see on the other end of the Blackjack table right now. So when he says he’s on a mission to kill everyone and everything, and hopefully that includes the Lakers and Heat, who are we to tell him to shut up? Fitting in with the Celtics won’t be a problem – Terry is playing the same exact role that he did for years in Dallas, and brings with him some of those late game cojones that Ray Allen took to South Beach. ESPN Boston reports Doc Rivers is saying no one has a better guard core than Boston does. We bet if you asked Jason Terry, he’d make an outrageous prediction on that subject, too. And chances are, it would come true … There’s also already talk that Boston’s new backcourt is better than the old one. We’re not sure about that – Jesus was losing his legs, but his presence alters every game he’s in – but one thing they do have on last year’s group is versatility. Courtney Lee can defend three different positions, while everyone else can try their hand at two. Defensively, with Kevin Garnett behind them, that’s going to be a small, but extremely pesky group … Sam Amick is reporting Marquis Daniels agreed to a one-year deal with the Bucks for the vet minimum. It is guaranteed. While we loved Daniels on Boston – just because he’s a really good dude and it’s always nice to see them in great situations – right now, we’re just happy to see him stick in the league … Anthony Tolliver is taking a similar deal with Atlanta, says Chris Tomasson. Tolliver had said that once he saw Lou Amundson agree to a contract with the ‘Wolves, he was already out the door in Minnesota … Finally, D.J. White has reached an agreement with… the Shanghai Sharks, Yahoo! Sports reports … And it sounds like Rasheed Wallace really does have an offer from New York. The New York Post reports the Knicks have a contract on the table, and it’s all up to Uncle ‘Sheed whether or not he wants to come back. Is this really happening? We joked yesterday about the Knicks going after every available old man. But we didn’t know how serious they were. Did they not watch Wallace’s final year in Boston? He had man boobs … Keep reading to see who signed with Jordan Brand …
After seeing all that’s happened in Denver, New Orleans, Cleveland and Orlando, Minnesota can’t act like Kevin Love is going to be around forever. Say what you want about David Kahn, but he put in work this summer, and while pretty much every one of his acquisitions (Brandon Roy, AK-47, Greg Stiemsma, Alexey Shved) comes with “how to use” instructions as if they’re gremlins, it’s at least an improvement that he didn’t look to sign every point guard on the market. What we did love about the Timberwolves’ moves were who they didn’t bring back. Darko Milicic is just completing depressing as a player (Seriously, watch him play. It always feels like he’d rather be working a 24-hour janitorial shift than hooping.). Anthony Randolph is as immature as anyone. And who knows what the hell to make of Michael Beasley at this point? Gone is much of the unproven youth. With that usually means more wins. Brimming with more confidence after the way he improved with Team USA (Love went from one of the last two guys off the bench to one of the team’s most important players by the end of the Olympics), Love is expecting to make the playoffs. Does Minnesota have a shot? Yes. But you can pencil in the top six in the Western Conference right now: in no particular order – Denver, OKC, the Lakers, the Clippers, San Antonio and Memphis are all going to get in, short of a meteor hitting somewhere out West. That leaves two spots for Golden State, Dallas, Utah and Minnesota to fight over … It’s good to see that while the world is just now being introduced to the new-look Brooklyn Nets, the actual players are already quite comfortable with each other. Deron Williams and Reggie Evans pulled off the ageless prank of stuffing MarShon Brooks‘ car with popcorn, and then used Instagram to take a picture of themselves eating a handful of it with the flooded car in the background. Does that photo not look like an album cover? It looks like UGK (RIP Pimp C) dropped in from Texas for a photoshoot … Check out the Nets new practice jerseys. We joked that the leaked photo of their real jerseys looked like something out of NBA 2K. These ones definitely do … Fresh off adding Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to their team, Jordan Brand announced they have also inked Kendall Marshall, Jared Sullinger and Jeff Taylor. Revolutionary? Hell no. In fact, none of those guys strike us as sneaker movers (although, you can give Marshall a shot just because he is a HUGE sneakerhead). But every “team” needs role players, even someone as big as Jordan Brand … And yesterday on DimeMag.com, we dropped another feature from the new issue: the NBA’s top 10 ballhandlers of the century. Did we miss anyone? It was hard to keep off players like Steve Francis and Baron Davis, but in the end, we think we got it right, and the top spot might surprise you … We’re out like a ‘Sheed comeback.
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