Monday Links – Richard Hamilton Trade Rumors, NBA Dunk Contest Fail, & Jamie McMurray Wins the Daytona 500

It’s Monday, so that means back to the grind for us all after spending way too much money this weekend on Valentine’s Day. Hopefully you don’t get one of these phone calls from your bank today.

• I was really excited for Saturday’s dunk contest for some reason, but we all saw how that turned out. Ball Don’t Lie’s J.E. Skeets ranks all 12 dunks and explains how DeMar DeRozan lost the competition (besides the God-awful fan voting business). Check out the entire first round below (DeRozan’s side-oop-windmill at the 2:50 mark).

• If you spent your Sunday like I did, you probably didn’t catch Jamie McMurray’s thrilling victory over Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Daytona 500. Actually, that’s a lie. I spent the day with my better half and still was able to see Junior go from 10th to 2nd in one lap before getting stonewalled by McMurray at the very end of the race. I don’t know if I want to call NASCAR a sport just yet, but it’s definitely exciting stuff.

• All-Star weekend might have sucked, but trade talks around the NBA heated up over the past few days. The Piston-of-choice among the rumors was Richard Hamilton. Detroit Bad Boys looks at the possibility of Rip heading to Dallas after their mega-deal with the Wizards earlier this weekend. There have also been reports of the Cavaliers’ interest in Hamilton, presumably for up-and-coming big man J.J. Hickson (please get this one done, Joe D).

• A bit of a Wings-related surprise coming from Vancouver: Johan Franzen has replaced Tomas Holmstrom on Sweden’s Olympic roster. Winging It In Motown briefly touches on the benefits of this move for the Wings. I’m still hoping for an early exit for the Swedes so the other 1,000 players we have on their roster can get a much-needed rest for the stretch run.

• Dylan from UM Hoops takes a look at Manny Harris’ inconsistent play this season, chalking it up to a combination of injuries, frustration, and scheduling. It’s a great piece (as usual), but I think Michigan’s vanilla-soft non-conference schedule is a bigger factor in Harris’ production than most people think. Long story short: he needs another year before making the jump to the NBA.

• I’ve seen various rumors already, but Thunder Treats takes the idea that Texas should join the Big Ten and runs with it. I don’t see anything against the idea, other than geographical concerns. If I’m Big Ten commish Jim Delaney, I’m in Austin two weeks ago trying to get this done.

In honor of Jonas Jerebko being the only Piston to represent the D at this weekend’s All-Star game, here’s his sick assist to Ben Wallace in Tuesday’s win over the Bucks. [via Pistons Nation]