James Harden Vs. Russell Westbrook

Getty Images

Tonight two of the leagues elite players will be going head to head as the Huston Rockets face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both players are playing at MVP levels so far this season. Russell Westbrook is averaging 32 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game. James Harden is averaging 30.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 12.6 assists per game. With both players being the clear face of the franchise for the first time in their careers it should be fun to watch.

Harden has made the transition to point guard seamlessly and is fitting very well in Mike D'Antoni's system. For a team expected to decline this season the Rockets have all the right personnel on the team to execute D'Antoni's offense perfectly. The team is reminiscent of the 2008 Phoenix Suns and that is no a bad thing at all.

Westbrook is getting used to life without Durant and so far he has personally played well. His team on the other hand has some what struggled as of late. With a 4 losing streak the Thunder are looking to get back to what they were doing early in the season. It will be hard against this Rockets team, but it should be a close game.

What is the Nuggets Next Move?

uip.com

The Denver Nuggets have been in rebuilding mode for the last 3 years now. Considering their roster and their current start to the season the Nuggets will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. With the team rebuilding they are not looking to move players immediately. There are players on the roster that can be moved now, but the Nuggets are looking for the right offer. The Nuggets have a lot of players that other playoff teams could be interested in. Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Jameer Nelson, Kenneth Faried, and even Darrell Arthur. Now some of these players would be easier to move than others based on contract and talent.

Danilo Gallinari has the biggest contract of the all players, but he also has a player option after this season. He is the most talented player on the team and has the least years on his contract. If a team really needs that position and has the money, adding him could be the right move. A team that would look to add him would be one on the edge of making the playoffs and knows by adding Gallinari will make them more competitive.

Kenneth Faried is another big name on this list. He is also the second highest paid player on the Nuggets. With three years and a little more than $38.5 million left on his contract it would be hard to move Faried. A team that is weak at the power forward position could seriously look into obtaining Faried. What makes Faried hard to move is his contract. Any team that would take a look at Faried would need to committed to him long term. He is under contract until 2019 so any team trading for him has to think this is their only way to upgrade their power forward position. Luckily with the salary cap increase his $13 million a year is not too bad. It would all depend on what team would like his service and if they do not have a lot of options for upgrading talent.

A fairly easy player to move would be Jameer Nelson. Nelson has given the Nuggets solid minutes at back up point guard and would bring veteran presence to any team he plays for. Nelson also has an affordable contract with only two years about $9 million left. At Nelson's age it will come down to if he wants to leave. If he wants to join a playoff team and a playoff team shows interest in him, the Nuggets could move him easily due to the type of contract he is on.

Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

Darrell Arthur is another guy that the Nuggets could have an easy time moving. With a contract of three years and about $23 million left Arthur has a friendly contract. With his third year being a player option there is a good chance he could opt out considering the cap increase. At 28 years old Arthur still has valuable years left in him. He is by no means a starter, but he is a formidable back up power forward.

And last, but not least, Wilson Chandler. Chandler is probably the hardest player on the roster to move considering his age and contract. At 29 years old Chandler is locked into a three year $36 million contract. Chandler is a good player, but there are plenty of players in the league that can do what he does a cheaper price. It would be hard to imagine any team looking to take back Chandlers contract due to how long it is. With better options throughout the Nuggets roster alone, Chandler is the least likely player to be traded.

There is a chance the Nuggets stand pat this year and just ride out one more season of being in the lottery, but making a trade will increase their odds of having a higher pick and there is a chance they can receive another pick for trading one of the players mentioned here.

Greg Oden Biggest Bust in NBA History

Greg Oden was the number 1 draft pick in 2007. Oden is forgotten by many after injuries derailed his career. What he is known for now is being picked before Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant has had a far more successful career than Oden and that is why even the most casual of NBA fans call Oden a bust. While all these facts are known about Greg Oden he never really spoke on how his career unfolded. 

In the past month or so Greg Oden has officially announced his retirement from professional basketball. After multiple injuries Oden was forced to step away from the game. Today Oden finally addressed the media about how his career went and how it will be perceived. He stated that he will go down as the biggest bust in NBA history. It is unbelievable to hear him come to grips with how his basketball career has panned out. He said that he would love to continue playing basketball, but his health prevents him. At 28 years old Greg Oden is officially beginning life after basketball. For comparison Kevin Durant is at the top of his game and is in serious position to win an NBA title. It truly is a tale of two stories.

Greg Oden could have been special in the NBA. He had all the physical tools to make him a great center. He performed extremely well at Ohio State and was a safer choice for Portland on draft night. Portland already had budding all-stars in Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. With no solid center on the roster adding Oden was a no-brainer. The team already had a good scoring wing player. By drafting Oden the Trail Blazers knew they could add a guy who will immediately impact the team. A trio of Roy, Aldridge, and Oden was supposed to be a super team in the near future. Each player was under 23 years old. Not to mention in 2008 the Trail Blazers drafted Nicolas Batum. Batum was the perfect pick for this team. He was a guy who shoot the ball and was a good scorer, but he was a role player. In his career so far he has averaged 11 points per game. He would have filled his role perfectly since the team had two scorers in Aldridge and Roy. And of course Oden would want to get touches on offense too. This group of guys never had the chance to reach their full potential due to injuries to Oden and Roy. Roy would be forced to retire early in 2011 and Oden only played 82 total games with the Blazers. This is what got this team a spot on my all time what-could-have-been teams. It is an unfortunate story, but all these players seem to be at peace now.

NBA: 5 Biggest Surprises so far this Season

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Wizards Early Struggles

The Washington Wizards are a team that going into this season were expected to improve from last season. Last year Bradley Beal was out for a good portion of the season and the team had struggles of their own. They made a late season push ending with a .500 win percentage. The problem was the East was very competitive and a 41-41 record landed the Wizards at 10th missing the playoffs. Being fully healthy and the arrival of a new coach many expected the Wizards to make the playoffs this year. Although it is still early the Wizards are 1-5 through six games. They are tied for third worst in the NBA. I think this will change as the season goes on. This team needs time to play with each other and they need to get used to Scott Brooks system.

USATODAY.com

Lakers Early Success

The Lakers are 4-4 on the season. For a team expected to land in the lottery again they have started off strong. They are also a young group. With Luke Walton at the helm it should be interesting to see if he can keep the team winning at this rate. It would be shocking to see the Lakers make the playoffs, but like the Wizards it is a long season. I expect the Lakers to have change of fortune sooner or later.

Kelley L. Cox/USA TODAY Sports

Under the Radar Team

With all the trade speculation and discombobulation surrounding the Kings they have a 4-5 record. It is  a good sign for a team that has such bad reputation. All the questions with their roster moves, management, and even ownership maybe this will be the change of things. It is the Sacramento Kings though. Chances are they will trade Darren Collison for another Center just to see how many they can get before DeMarcus Cousins throws Vlade Divac through a wall.

Point Harden?

Well many questioned Mike D'Antoni making James Harden the Rockets starting point guard. The result? Fantastic. Harden is averaging 31.6 points per game and 12.7 assists per game. That is third and first in the league respectively. With a 4-3 record the Rockets are looking alright after Dwight Howard left for Atlanta.

Frank Gunn/AP File Photo

DeMar DeRozan

There has not been a lot of talk about DeMar DeRozan or the Toronto Raptors. DeMar DeRozan is quietly averaging 33.7 points per game and his team is 4-2. In a league so three point oriented DeRozan has only taken 10 three pointers and made 2. It is crazy to think he is leading the league in scoring. Every year the Raptors are the most slept on team and they never get the attention they deserve. Keep an eye out for DeRozan for this could be the year he wins the scoring title if he keeps it up.

Just how Good are the Lakers?

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Lakers have been a surprising team so far this season. With 4-3 record the Lakers have shown a lot of positives. For starters all the players keep talking about how there is a different atmosphere surrounding the team this year. With Kobe gone the team has officially started life without Kobe Bryant. Just think this is the first time in 20 years that Kobe Bryant's name is not on the Lakers roster. Although it is sad it is also a big step for the organization. What's even better is the team has played very well in their early games.

This Lakers team had wins over the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors last week. Both those teams are expected to make the playoffs. Finishing the week with a 3-1 record is very impressive. But all this buzz raises the question, just how good are the Lakers? NBA.com's power rankings has the Lakers currently sitting at 11. That is much higher than anyone would have expected them to be ranked this season. It is also impressive considering 6 of the Lakers main rotation players are younger than 24. The Lakers seem to have just the right mixture of veterans and young guys. It shows during the games as there is a lot of energy surrounding all of the young players. That energy then effects the fans and other players on the team. It brings that new atmosphere that they continue to talk about.

Mike Nelson/EPA

The problem is holding on to that energy. The Lakers are off to good start so far, but the NBA season is a long one. With 75 games remaining it is too early to judge this team. Most young teams start to fall off around the end of December or early January. And around all-star break rookies start to see a drop off in production. That is normal considering they are not used to the grind of an NBA season.

With this current Lakers team it is hard to tell if they will have a drop off. On one hand it is expected that they will fall below .500 at some point. The other side of the coin is there veteran presence. Luol Deng is a respected veteran and was an all star at one point. Timofey Mozgov is an NBA champion and brings experience from back-to-back finals with the Cavaliers. And Luke Walton brings his championship experience and coaching knowledge from the Warriors. If those three guys can get the rest of the team to believe in themselves and buy in to the long season there is a small chance that they can make the playoffs.

Considering the way the Lakers are playing right now I expect the Lakers to be in contention for a playoff spot up to late December to all-star break at the latest. At that point the Lakers will start to string together some losses and loose all momentum they had. Seeing at how young their team is I don't think they will recover and end up missing the playoffs for a 4th straight season.

The Lakers are still a team in rebuilding. Having a season with over 20 wins would still be considered a success. It is about growing and building chemistry between all the young talent on their roster. They are only going to get better so where ever they land this year expect them to top it next year.

Durant and Westbrook's First Meeting

Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

This was the first match up between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant since Durant bolted for Oakland California in July. All the media has been talking about is Westbrook and Durant's relationship since Durant left. Last night we finally got to see them face off against each other for the first time in their careers.

For the record Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant did not shake hands before or after the game. With that out of the way here is what happened in last nights game. To no surprise Westbrook came out attacking earlier and wanted to make a statement. Even though the Thunder took an early lead it did not last long. Soon enough Durant caught fire and it was all over. Durant put on a show last night scoring 39 points on 15-24 shooting. For Westbrook he had a double double with a stat line of 20 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds.

Ben Margot/AP Sports

What stands out is Westbrook shot 4-15 from the field and had 6 turnovers. His shooting and turnovers are what really hurt his team. 15 shots is not a lot, but his teammates expect him to make somewhere around half of those shots. Westbrook's percentage was 26.7% meaning he made about 1/4 of the shots he took. For him to also have 6 turnovers on top of a bad shooting night hurt his team's chances of winning. Combine that with Durant's performance and what you have is the 122-96 blowout that occurred.

What was significant about this game was the story line between the two players. But at the end of the night Durant and Westbrook never really played each other. Westbrook went up against Klay Thompson while Durant was doing work against every player the Thunder threw at him. The only plays that standout that involved Durant and Westbrook were when they blocked each other. Westbrook had a block from behind on Durant and Durant did the same thing to Westbrook a few plays later. Other than that there is no one-on-one match up between the two players.

Yahoo.com

A take away from this game for the Warriors is how will they share the ball? Durant was feeling it last night and just kept demanding the ball. One play Curry brought the ball down and Durant stood at almost half court behind him calling and clapping for it. Since Durant was feeling it and the focus of the game was on him, they let him take over. But what happens late in the season when the Durant wants the ball, but the Warriors want to run their offense to get open threes? Do they let Durant have isolation's or do they tell him to go in the corner while Curry runs a pick-and-roll? It will be interesting to see.

For Thunder they are completely reliant on Westbrook. He now has one less guy to share the ball with, but that means he has a lot more weight on his shoulders. Will this season wear him down or will he be able to carry the load? Westbrook's teammates are ok, but none of them can score like Durant. The Thunder need to add more shooters to their team. This will open up the lane more for Westbrook and allow him to hit the open man on the perimeter when the defense collapses. The Thunder may have a line up that helps them on offense. It is just the matter of Billy Donovan experimenting with line ups and finding one that works.

World Series Game 7

After being up 3-1 in the world series the Cleveland Indians are gearing up for game 7 of the World Series. Both the Indians and the Cubs have an extremely long drought since winning a World Series. The Indians last title was in 1948. For the Cubs it has been even longer having the record for longest drought in North American Sports. The Cubs last title came 108 years ago in 1908! This makes tonight's winner-take-all game probably the most interesting baseball game recent memory.

Baseball's ratings have been down and the age demographic is the oldest of the four major sports in North America. The average age for a baseball fan and TV viewer is about 55 years old. What's great right now is the story line of this World Series. It is bringing in many viewers who might not have the slightest interest in baseball. It is good for the MLB to have so much hype surrounding it because right now they have so many stars in the league. Getting people interested in MLB again would be huge for the league and the World Series of this magnitude could be the turning point. There are multiple sports reporters who never had much interest in baseball talking about this game. Mike Golic from Mike and Mike even admitted this morning he does not follow baseball, but he is looking forward to tonight's game.

Aside from how big this game is, here is what to look for tonight. For the Indians their starting pitcher tonight is Corey Kluber. Kluber is 18-9 with an ERA of 3.14 during the regular season. More importantly he is 4-1 with an ERA of 0.89 in this years post season. Having won games 1 and 4 it is hard to bet against Kluber. For the Cubs Kyle Hendricks will be getting the nod. Hendricks led the MLB in ERA during the regular season with 2.13. He has an ERA of 1.31 this postseason. Hendricks only start in this World Series was game 3. In the four innings he pitched he allowed only 6 hits and no runs.

I'll be honest I am not a big baseball fan, but tonight's game should be great. Tune in to FOX at 8:00 and watch history be made.