Adam Morrison

WASHINGTON -- Former lottery pick Adam Morrison has been waived by the Washington Wizards, less than a month after signing with the team.

The Wizards also have waived center Sean Marks, and Thursday's moves allow the team to cut its roster to 15 players.

Morrison averaged five points and two rebounds in five preseason games with Washington. He was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 after starring in college at Gonzaga.

The 6-foot-8 forward has played in four NBA seasons, two with Charlotte and two with the Los Angeles Lakers, with career averages of 7.5 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Marks has played for five teams since entering the league in 1998. He didn't appear in any games for the Wizards this preseason.

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Jordan Farmar

Name: Jordan Farmar
Position: PG
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 180 lbs
Birth Date: November 30, 1986 (age 23)
Birth Place: Los Angeles, CA
Number: 2
Drafted: 26th pick of the First Round in 2006 by the Los Angeles Lakers
Experience: 4 years
Contract: $4 million

On Offense: Essentially, this part of Farmar’s game is going to be intriguing to watch. In his four years in the NBA, he’s been running the triangle offense, which limits the importance of a point guard. Sure, it’s a successful formula, so who cares as long as you’re winning. However, the Nets don’t run the triangle offense and this could open things up for Farmar. He’s not a particularly explosive point guard in the vein of Allen Iverson in his prime, but Farmar seems to be a solid shooter when a basket is needed and provides some much-needed three-point shooting to create space. In regards to being that second coach on the floor, Farmar never really had the opportunity to shine as he did in UCLA. He’s capable of leading a fast break, as well as slowing the tempo and getting the job done in a half-court offense. Again, it’s going to be intriguing to watch Farmar.

On Defense: Farmar doesn’t possess the speed, long arms, lateral quickness, or keen defensive intuition to jump passing lanes to be an outstanding defender, but he at least has the will to play defense, stay in front of his man, and give up his body. He may not always stop his man, but the latter set of characteristics will endear Farmar to head coach Avery Johnson, as well as Nets fans.

Miscellaneous: Farmar has two NBA championship rings and in 75% of his NBA career, he’s been to the NBA Finals. That pedigree gives him credibility to his teammates and while he won’t be looked at for sage advice as someone like Derek Fisher would, Farmar’s presence will still be an important one and should help change the attitude and environment of the Nets.

Comment: Should Devin Harris be traded for that Carmelo Anthony guy, Farmar will obviously be a downgrade as he isn’t starter material. And if he is, he’s a low-grade starter. He’s definitely a good fill-in type of player when Harris makes his annual visit to injury-land, but a full-time starter? Nets fans would need to hope that the Lakers’ triangle offense was holding back the next Isiah Thomas.

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Miami Heat

The bulk of this post was written about a month ago, and I never got around to capping it off with my own anecdote until now. Our plan of pre-preseason previews was perhaps a little too ambitious, but I think an analysis of the Miami Heat is still well-warranted. It is, after all the question that everyone's asking: How does this team match up against other championship-caliber teams for 2010-11?

Normally, I would lead a discussion of position-by-position comparisons against the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and maybe even the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls, as I did in the Orlando Magic preview.

With the Miami Heat, if we compare their Huge Three to other historic Huge Threes and find that they stack up, in my mind that would usurp the upcoming season's championship-caliber discussion. I know, I know, I've run plenty of rec leagues to know that you still need to play the games, but we're talking a run of four seven-game series that would need to stop this epic Huge Three, not just one game in which anything can happen. IMHO, that's one of the great things about the NBA.



Let us begin with the notion of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh being a Huge Three as opposed to (merely) a Big Three. An easy litmus test is Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett from 2007-08. The year before Boston's Big Three teamed up, we had this...

Ray Allen: 26.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.1 apg
Paul Pierce: 25.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.1 apg
Kevin Garnett: 22.4 ppg, 12.8 rpg, 4.1 apg

Here's the Huge Three, the year before this...

Dwyane Wade: 26.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 6.6 apg
LeBron James: 29.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 8.6 apg
Chris Bosh: 24.0 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.4 apg

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Tnt Tv

Live right now on TNT TV: the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Houston Rockets in a 2010 season opener.

And early into the first quarter of action, Houston and LA are both shooting lights-out.

Earlier this evening on TNT, the Boston Celtics ruined the big three's debut with Miami by destroying the Heat 88-80.

In Miami's season-opening loss, LeBron James scored 31 points, Dwyane Wade netted 13 points, and Chris Bosh contributed with eight points.

Leading the way for Boston was Ray Allen with 20 points while Rajon Rondo lit up the stat sheet with 17 dimes.

Also scoring in double-figures for the Celtics were Paul Pierce (19 PTS), Glen Davis (13 PTS), and Kevin Garnett (10 PTS).

Garnett also notched another NBA double-double by pulling down 10 boards in Boston's victory over Miami.

In his Boston debut, meanwhile, Shaquille O'Neal played a tad over 19 minutes: scoring nine points, grabbing seven rebounds, and blocking one shot.

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Celtics

While some of the biggest names in the NBA -- LeBron, Dwyane, KG & Paul -- are squaring off during tonight's Celtics/Heat game ... Boston's other pro superstars will be there to watch it go down.

TMZ has obtained a copy of the guest list for tonight's NBA season opener at Boston's TD Garden -- and it includes a pile of New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox players and brass.

Included on the list: Patriots' players Deion Branch, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Meriweather, Wes Welker, Vince Wilfork, Fred Taylor, and team owner Robert Kraft.

Representing the Red Sox -- who started vacation early this year ... David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, team president and CEO Larry Lucchino and owner John Henry.

Must be a big game or something.

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