SAM AMICK RUMORS & GOSSIP

NBA Unplugged was back at their normal scheduled time (three shows in less than a week?!). They did not come up empty handed today as Brian Geltzeiler and Jacob Noble were joined by their good friend, Sam Amick from SI.com. We broke down the 2012 playoffs while taking a look at the psychology of the Bulls and 76ers teams, the potential for Phil Jackson to go to New York, and changing...

PER Sam Amick a writer for SI.com, and NBAConfidential.com today we've learned a source says Portland has been awarded forward JJ Hickson from waivers. Golden State misses out. League sources are saying Portland will waive Mehmet Okur to make room on roster. Team source says the Blazers are hopeful Hickson will be able to join team tomorrow. Hickson is in the final year...

The Clippers blew a sure-win vs. the Spurs, letting San Antonio escape with a 103-100 OT win -- its 10th straight. Sam Amick feels this was simply a teaching moment for Los Angeles.

Jeremy Lin's journey from the waiver wire to the toast of New York is a complicated one. Join Sam Amick as he details how NBA business and circumstance have made Lin a star.

One blowout win isn't enough to quell the fears in L.A. The powerhouse Purple and Gold appear to be struggling in their new system, and now Sam Amick has to ask: Is this team broken?

Sam Amick via twitter A recent stress echo test performed on Chuck Hayes revealed an abnormality which will require further testing this evening and tomorrow.The Celtics were interested in Hayes briefly, but the reason I'm posting this is because of the apparent parallel to Jeff Green also producing a concern with his stress test (and subsequently being held out of practice the past few days).

Free agency doesn't officially begin until Friday, but reports of agreements and possible big-name trades have already started to surface. Sam Amick has all the latest news and rumors.

SI.com’s Sam Amick obtained details of the principal agreement between NBA owners and whatever-the-current-union-group-is-called. The full document is here. It looks like the cap and tax levels will remain about the same: $58 million and $70 million, respectively. As noted previously, this doesn’t leave the Hawks much room to add salary below the tax threshold since they...

NBA owners deserve the most blame for these failed talks, but the union is hardly innocent, writes Sam Amick. Simply put, it failed to fight for the best intentions of all NBA players.