BleacherCoaches.com

Interesting things going on lately.

--The Pistons have won 6 in a row since releasing their highest paid player Josh Smith. Go figure?

-- The Hawks are now in first place, and they are playing ridiculous basketball without any true superstar. Funny thing is, the team is up for sale and they are begging people to come to games.

-- The Cavaliers are starting to feel pressure, and they have added Smith,Shumpert, and Mozgaf. LeBron is hurt, Irving is battling injuries and they are hovering around .500. Still think they can go on a run at some point, but they haven't been impressive yet.

-- We all thought the Sixers would be the team setting records for being all kinds of bad, but the Knicks are stealing their thunder. They just dumped two of their better players, Melo could be done for the season. I don't know if they will intentionally tank the rest of the year, they are simply just that bad. I think they will make a run at Marc Gasol in the offseason and they have a good chance of winning the lottery. That should help them big time.

I saw on ESPN the Hawks are advertising games on a hookup site. Can't get more desperate than that.

ATL is definitely a surprise this year. But watch out for the Pistons. They've won seven in a row since dumping Josh Smith.... ouch! Stan Van Gundy is one one of the most knowledgeable men in the league so watch out. One of the best quotes I read was that Cleveland got ride of Dion Waiters because of his attitude and who do they bring in??? JR Smith LOL! I think Cleveland is definitely in win now mode, but its not going to be easy.

As far as the Knicks, I think Phil Jackson waived the white flag when he dumped salary. But he did free up about $20 mil and is also going to free up $20 more when Stoudemire's contract comes off the books at then end of this year. The NY papers have been roasting PJ all season, but with his record and salary he isn't going to be swayed from his ideals. I wouldn't say they are tanking, its just that the roster was so bad and the history is awful, rebuilding mode is the only option. It will be hard to get a guy like Gasol to go there for less money. Similar is the situation in LA, no one wants to go there and play with Kobe. However, they do have tons of recent success on their side, and a GM who knows what he is doing.