Mario Chalmers
When the NBA season gets underway, nobody has a longer list of scheduled ass-bustings on his calendar than Mario Chalmers. And not in the sense of getting lit up — more like dishing it out. All summer long, it seemed every out-of-work PG either brought up Miami as a possible destination (or the media did it for them), as if Chalmers would be a small obstacle in their taking a starting job next to D-Wade in the Heat backcourt. If and when those guys get signed, and just to the public in general, Chalmers will get to show them why Pat Riley wasn’t interested. And now you can add Rafer Alston to that list. According to an ESPN Radio report, Skip is already not feeling his situation with the Nets — where he’s definitely backing up Devin Harris and will have to battle Keyon Dooling for the #2 job — and wants to be traded to either New York or Miami. We can understand having eyes on Chris Duhon‘s unstable position, but Chalmers was legit in his rookie year, putting up 10 points, two steals and just under five assists per game while guiding Miami to the playoffs and starting all 82 games in the regular season … Carlos Boozer put on the smiley face in his first go-round with the Utah media since his interesting offseason, saying he’s ready to put in work for the Jazz like nothing happened. “I’m here. I’m back in Utah. I’m excited to be here. I’m ready to move forward, get on the court with my teammates and see how good we can be this year,” Booz said during the team’s media day before training camp. “I thought I was going to be traded but I’m here. I’m happy to be here. Coach wants me to be here. My teammates want me to be here. Management brought me back and I’m happy to be here in a Jazz uniform and not going somewhere else.” Well, we wouldn’t go on assuming Paul Millsap wants Booz around, but still … Paul Pierce is talking big again this offseason, but not so much about himself and more about his team. “If we are healthy, we are going to win it all. I honestly believe that. I think we’re the best team in the NBA, healthy,” Pierce told Yahoo! Sports. He later added, “We’re more talented now (than in 2008). It’s hard to say if we’re better. We’re definitely more talented and we had more depth than when we won it all.” He’s right in a way: Rajon Rondo is definitely better than he was when Boston won the title, as are Big Baby and Kendrick Perkins. As far as depth, it depends on how much you think Rasheed Wallace has left in the tank, and how good you think Marquis Daniels is … Here’s a good way for Boston to get less talented, though: Apparently they’re among the teams interested in taking a chance on Mike Sweetney. That could be fun if it leads to a Sweetney/Big Baby hot dog eating contest, but otherwise we’d say pass … Now that Nate Robinson and David Lee are officially locked in with New York, the remaining free agent class looks like an NBA expansion draft list gone to hell. The Nuggets picked off one of the remaining decent players, signing Joey Graham to a one-year deal. There’s a good chance Graham doesn’t make the opening day roster, so if you can, try to catch one of Denver’s preseason games, where he and James White will turn in some highlights and bait J.R. Smith into some layup line dunk contests … And now for a note involving the Wolves and the point guard position that DOESN’T mention You-Know-Who: The GM says Jonny Flynn is the starter as far as he’s concerned, despite the team signing Ramon Sessions, but also said it’s up to Kurt Rambis to decide. We’d have to imagine Sessions wins the job in camp — a rookie coach loves to have a veteran PG helping him out — but Flynn will push him all year … It’s a little late to get that beach body, but if you want to know more about how Chris Paul, D-Wade, Chris Bosh and Brandon Roy workout, click HERE … We’re out like Sweetney …
