After losing Josh Childress to Europe, Atlanta Hawks’ near-upset over Boston looks more like a mirage than a step in the right direction. This team has the capability of making a run for the playoffs like last year, but even then, Atlanta’s record was still well below .500.

If there’s any team that least deserved the No. 1 pick, it was the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have a team capable of winning a round in the playoffs, but some bizarre circumstances led to their failure to make the playoffs.

The season started with rumors of Kobe Bryant coming to Chicago in exchange for much of the Bulls’ frontline. Luol Deng admitted that the rumors eventually became a distraction, and they never seemed to move on from that episode.

The Boston Celtics should be the favorites to win the Atlantic Division, considering the New Jersey Nets are only marginally better, and the Philadelphia 76ers, while improved, aren’t going to compete with the Celtics.

The only way that Boston doesn’t come out as the No. 1 team in this division—and perhaps the entire Eastern Conference—is if age begins to show, or if one of the "Big Three" gets injured. Assuming neither problem occurs, the Celtics should make it back to the Finals with a group that hasn’t changed much.

Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon has officially accepted their qualifying offer, allowing him to be a free agent next year.

So much for not seeing Gordon in a Bulls’ uniform this year. I knew that at the end of the day, there was no reason for Chicago to bend from its position. The 6-3 guard couldn’t go anywhere because he’s a restricted free agent and no other team thinks he’s worth the money that he’s trying to get.

If Gordon can have a stellar season, the Bulls will probably try harder to get over their $58 million offer. If he is the same streaky shooter that he has been in previous years, where a 30-point game comes just as often as scoring two, Chicago will come out looking smart.

If talent alone defined former Iowa Hawkeye Pierre Pierce’s career, you would certainly see his number on a banner in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. He probably would have been a first round pick and making millions of dollars in the rotation for the NBA team.

He was arguably the best guard in the Big 10, playing against guys like Maurice Ager, Alando Tucker, Luther Head and Dee Brown. He certainly was one of the best players in Hawkeye history and had the skills to make it to the next level.

Whether you think Josh Howard is unpatriotic or a knucklehead, there is one thing that most basketball fans can agree with.

He speaks his mind.

It’s very easy for us to get on a high horse and criticize Howard for his actions, but shouldn’t we be more bothered that there might be some truth to this? Until this year’s Olympics, playing for the national team was something many players avoided.

Whatever their feelings on each other are like at this point, the Chicago Bulls and Ben Gordon aren’t separating any time soon.

At this point, both sides have run out of leverage, which should cause a very interesting few months considering that NBA training camp is under a month away.

Ever since Serbia changed its name from Yugoslavia, the national basketball team has gone downhill as the country struggles to become the competitive team it once was.

Yugoslavia once was a powerhouse for international talent from 1995 through 2002, finishing no worse than third place in seven out of its eight international competitions. Former NBA center Vlade Divac was the team’s captain and was one of the pioneers for international teams building themselves to beat the U.S.

When the Memphis Grizzlies traded Pau Gasol before last year’s trading deadline, it appeared that they were going to be a lottery team for awhile.

That still might happen, but they aren’t going to be a complete bore this season.

The Grizzlies are at least making an attempt at becoming a serious team this season with some of their activity this year. First they pretty much traded Mike Miller and Kevin Love for O.J. Mayo.