NBA Finals Open Thread.

Among the many things I love about the NBA is the fact that the sport runs virtually year round. Think about it: the preseason begins in early October, the playoffs run till mid-June, there's the draft, then Summer League and the annual free-agency bonanza in July. August and September are like crackhead withdrawal for me, but even then, there's a million and one trade and free agency rumors floating around. It's like the gift that keeps of giving.

The ribbon on that gift is obviously the NBA Finals, and as a Wizards fan, I find this year's matchup sorta weird. There are a grand total of 7 ex-Wizards littering the rosters of the Heat and Mavs.

Miami has Mike Bibby, who was so depressed about being traded to DC this season that he suited up for all of two games before asking for a buyout. Seriously, the dude forked over about $7M to take his talents to South Beach. Mike Miller was on the squad last season, and seems to have taken his hesitant shooting routine South, where he's generally regarded as a terrible free agent decision. Speaking of terrible free agent decisions: ladies and gentlemen... Juwan Howard.

As for the Mavs, they've got a trio of players sent to the Lone Star State in the wake of last year's post-Gilbert GunGate fire sale. Caron Butler is a slightly overrated complimentary player who got injured early in the season, but wears some really cool suits at the end of the bench. Brenda, oops, Brendan Haywood is as stiff as ever, but does well in the limited minutes he plays off the bench. I don't know what DeShawn Stevenson does for the Mavs. He presumably plays defense, so I guess he's draw D-Wade. Brian Cardinal was allegedly on the team during The Jordan Era. Personally, I don't remember him, and I'm a die hard fan.

If you were lulled to sleep by the prior two paragraphs, it's safe to start reading again now.

Calling this series is gonna be tough. Since I have a deep seated disdain for how Miami assembled their SuperTeam™, I'm obviously riding with Dallas here. I also went to a Mavs playoff game when I was in Dallas a few weeks ago, so there's that. I think Dallas has a more diversified offense and Miami has no counterbalance for Dirk. The Heat's defense can be downright stifling, and Lebron and Wade can absolutely emasculate an opposing squad when they go on one of those steal-pass-fastbreak dunk sprees. This is about as evenly matched a pair of teams as you'll see.

In the end though, I'm gonna begrudgingly pick Miami in 6.

Ouch, it hurt to type that.

Question: Who will win it all, and in how many games?!? Why?