The Miami Heat have had some pretty solid success ever since they brought together their “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Four straight trip to the NBA Finals, kind of “solid” success.

Miami fans might want to start bracing for even more of that.

Per ESPN.com, the Heat’s big three have already started “to explore their options” for creating enough salary cap room to try to land New York Knicks superstar forward, Carmelo Anthony. Yeah, things could get crazy.

Just when we thought the Heat were sickly stacked with the guys they have, adding an elite scorer like Melo to the mix could really shake things up. Realistically, the Heat would suddenly be a broken down version of the USA Olympics squad. All they would be missing is a true star at the point guard position.

For this to happen, it looks like James, Wade and Bosh would all have to opt out of their current deals to restructure their contracts so there would be enough room to sign Anthony.

Anthony is already looking at a June 23rd deadline where he can pick up a one-year option to remain with the Knicks for the 2014-15 season. If he passes on that option, he’d become an unrestricted free agent and would be free to sign with any team he wants to.

For the longest time, it had looked like staying in New York was the likely end result, but teams like the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls have grown to be serious possibilities. Both of those teams appear built to win at a high level right now and could be one megastar away from taking the next step.

It’s anyone’s guess as to how valid this report really is, as Melo taking a backseat to anyone (even James) doesn’t really fit his personality. However, it’s also entirely possible he has come to terms that he can’t win in New York and that going anywhere else other than Miami would still have him going up against the formidable Heat.

With Anthony, the Heat would have a much better stretch four than they’ve been using (Rashard Lewis of late), while defenses would no longer be able to focus on just Wade or James. His presence would at the very worst give the Heat elite scoring from the spots, while Bosh and reserve Ray Allen would be free to shoot open jumpers on a nightly basis. While far from a lock, Anthony to the Heat is a very real and very scary scenario for the rest of the NBA.

The Arizona Cardinals spent a second round draft pick on two-way tight end Troy Niklas in the 2014 NFL Draft so they could potentially have an upgrade at the position. They may have to wait a while to see if that’s what indeed got.

According to reports, the former Notre Dame star sustained a broken hand during OTAs last week and will sit out until training camp.

Niklas was viewed as an upgrade over Arizona’s current crop of tight ends – specifically last year’s main starter, Rob Housler. With superior blocking ability and just as much size and athleticism, Niklas looked to offer that two-way versatility the Cardinals had previously been lacking.

The hand injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. With Niklas shelved for at least the next month with a broken hand, his absence likely forces the Cardinals to hold onto Housler, a guy they may have just decided to part ways with had Niklas been 100% healthy and ready to take over the starting gig.

With Niklas on the shelf, the recently signed John Carlson also could creep into a role within the offense. That may have ended up happening anyways, but Carlson will now for sure get a longer look in an expanded role with Niklas unable to show what he can do.

While the injury is clearly a downer in terms of Niklas gaining an edge on Housler and Carlson, it also may be a blessing in disguise. After all, Niklas was still rehabbing a sports hernia surgery. He was close to full health and practicing, but the extra time off with the hand injury should alleviate any concerns of causing more issues with that recovery process.

Niklas still remains the top candidate to open the season as Arizona’s top tight end and with the next month off, should enter 2014 at 100% health. That’s bad news for Housler in the long-term.

The San Antonio Spurs had a chance at securing a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2014 NBA Finals. Instead, they couldn’t execute down the stretch of a narrow 98-96 loss.

After taking the 1-0 win and holding home court advantage, the game two home loss puts home court advantage right back in the hands of the Miami Heat, who will host the Spurs for a huge game three on Tuesday night.

The Heat don’t have any doubt the Spurs will come in ready, however, as both Dwyane Wade and head coach Erik Spoelstra cited San Antonio’s focus and experience in these types of situations.

“Coming back here, there has to be an incredible sense of focus and urgency, said Spoelstra, ”They’re a veteran, posed, championship-level team…The crowd won’t affect them much.”

Perhaps, but it’s been more than just the crowd affecting the opposition in Miami, as the Heat haven’t loss a home playoff game since getting beat by the Spurs in Miami in game one of last year’s NBA Finals.

The Spurs are well aware of how tough it’s going to be to march in and turn home court advantage right back around in their favor, as star guard Manu Ginobili referenced the danger of a 3-1 hole.

“We don’t want to come back here, [down] 3-1,” Ginobili said,”It’s very hard to overcome that.”

The Spurs owned the paint in game one and did a solid job containing LeBron James. In game two, however, James erupted for 35 points and Tiago Splitter disappeared (one made shot) on the offensive end.

For San Antonio to pull it out and take back control of this series, they’ll have to get Splitter involved again and playing at a high level. Trying to shut down James on a nightly basis can probably be dismissed, but if Kawhi Leonard isn’t going to contain him, he’ll at least need to provide more than the inefficient play he has so far on offense.

Overall, the Spurs just need to find a way to execute better than the Heat late in the game. That will mean playing smart defense, hitting free throws and blocking out the crowd. While the Heat were a formidable 32-9 at home during the regular season and have yet to lose a home playoff game this year, the Spurs just might be the team to finally make it happen (30-11 on the road during regular season).

In what looks to be a back and forth series that will probably go to a full seven games for the second year in a row, the well-coached and disciplined Spurs should show up big in Miami and reclaim the series lead.

Pick: Spurs 101, Heat 99

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to march on in the footsteps of his father, the late, great Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt Jr. won the 33rd annual Pocono 400, giving him his ninth top-10 finish of 2014 and first ever victory at the Pocono event.

Earnhardt Jr. had previously finished second at the Pocono Raceway two separate times, but had never taken first place. Earnhardt Jr. has somewhat dominated the Pocono Raceway in terms of successful outings, as this also went down as his 12th top-10 finish in 29 tries.

Earnhardt’s latest win also marked his 21st career victory in 519 NSCS races.

On top of the quality win, Earnhardt Jr. got one step closer to qualify for this year’s Chase for the 2014 Nascar Sprint Cup. Earnhardt Jr. now guaranteed to be among the top 16 drivers after race number 26. Any spot inside the top-30 in driver points beyond race 26 will land him a spot in the Chase.

Jeff Gordon leads the way in the 2014 Chase, with Matt Kenseth stuck between him and Earnhardt at second place. Earnhardt is currently in third with Jimmie Johnson in fourth, while Brad Keselowski rounds out the top five.

Earnhardt Jr. was the ultimate winner in Nascar’s latest big race, but he wasn’t the only big name to finish well. Kevin Harvick finished 14th at Pocono, moving himself into 12th in the current 2014 NSCS Standings.

Greg Biffle (16th) and Brian Vickers (19th) didn’t do as well as they had hoped, but still managed to crack the top-20 and keep a solid place in the overall standings at 14th and 12th, respectively.

The next big race on the schedule will be the Quicken Loans 400, set for Sunday, June 15th at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI. Earnhardt joins the first place Gordon and Tony Stewart as former winners of the race trying to add another win at the midway point of the Nascar season.

The Oakland Raiders drafted Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr to be the future at the quarterback position in the 2014 NFL Draft. It turns out the future could be coming right away this season.

Despite trading for former Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub to seemingly hold down the starting gig for 2014, reports suggest Carr could push to start as early as week one.

It was reported just a few weeks ago that Oakland had every intention of sitting Carr during his rookie season, but NFL.com’s Albert Breer is now reporting that Carr has done enough to convince the Raiders’ brass that he could see the field early in 2014.

It still will likely take a near face-plant by Schaub over the course of the summer for Carr to even have a remote chance, as well as impressive play by the rookie.

In fact, even if Schaub shows well in preseason, a rough start combined with losses early in the year could lead to Carr taking the field well before mid-season.

Both Schaub seeing a nose dive and Carr impressing are entirely realistic possibilities. Schaub caved under pressure and a litany of pick-sixes with the Texans in 2013, while Carr has exhibited the talent to develop into a true franchise passer.

The Raiders drafted him with the intention of that taking place over time, but early signs show Carr’s intriguing combination of size, athleticism and arm strength could translate to early NFL success.

On top of Carr’s physical talents, however, the Raiders have noticed he seems to have the intelligence and leadership to play a key role from day one.

Carr could still see a long road to proving he was worth an early second-round draft pick, but the door appears wide open to him getting an early start. Now he just needs to go out and prove he’s ready.

The air conditioning in San Antonio is fixed and LeBron James sounds like he has put his cramps behind him. While there has been some controversy surrounding James’ health and the AC conditions at the AT&T Center, all seems to be normal heading into game two of the 2014 NBA Finals.

On one hand it’s at least worth mentioning that the Spurs had the home court advantage and the Miami Heat had to tough out some of game one without their best player. On the other, every player had to deal with the high temperatures on the court, and the Spurs still prevailed in convincing fashion.

If the AC becomes a problem for the second game, the it will be perfectly understandable for Heat fans to start to question the “fairness” of these Finals. For now, though, the air conditioning matter is a fluke happening that was seemingly out of anyone’s control.

Heading into a game two that is arguably a must-win game for the Heat, nothing has really changed from a schematic perspective. The Spurs went into game one with a very clear approach: play sound defense, dominate the paint and find a way to limit King James.

The Spurs accomplished all three for the most part, holding Miami under 100 points, containing James to 25 points and getting to work inside (35 combined points from Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan). San Antonio also held control of the boards with their bigs, as Splitter, Duncan and Boris Diaw combined for an impressive 24 rebounds.

Everything stays the same in game two if the Spurs want to jump out to a formidable 2-0 series lead. LeBron James won’t likely be fighting off cramps and him scoring 25 points or less isn’t safe bet, but the Spurs still have the ability to control what happens down low.

If San Antonio can keep doing the work in the paint that they have been, they should be able to hold their ground at home once again and jump out to the commanding 2-0 lead.

Pick: Spurs 106, Heat 99

The Utah Jazz have found their next head coach. Former Atlanta Hawks assistant coach Quin Snyder has finalized a deal to become Utah’s latest coach, replacing former head coach, Ty Corbin.

Per reports, Snyder is signing on to three guaranteed seasons as the head man in Utah, and will have a team option for a fourth season. The team was reportedly extremely impressed with Snyder in meetings earlier last week and nailed down the deal to get their man.

The 47-year old coach takes over the reins of an NBA head coaching position for the first time in his career after spending three of the last four years bouncing around the league as an assistant and player development specialist.

Snyder got his initial coaching start with the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant during the 1992-93 NBA season following a successful career as a player at Duke University. From there Snyder went back to Duke to help out as an assistant from 1993-1999 until he landed his first head coaching gig at Missouri.

Snyder is best known for his days at Missouri, where he took over for longtime head coach Norm Stewart and immediately helped the Tigers to solid success. Missouri made a solid run in Snyder’s first season at the helm in 1999, going on to make four consecutive NCAA tourney trips at one point. Snyder later resigned in 2006 due to allegations about various violations.

While Snyder really only had the lone stop at Missouri as a head coach, he brings solid overall experience in the NBA and is popular for his innovative play-calling – particularly with the pick and roll. Snyder will have his work cut out for him with a young Jazz squad, but he has a good amount of talent to work with to try and build the team up back toward the playoffs over the next few seasons.

Minnesota Timberwolves president Flip Saunders has finally found a new head coach to replace the retired Rick Adelman. It’s Flip Saunders.

With no legit candidates emerging to his liking, the team president and part-owner declared himself the next head coach of the ‘Wolves, effective immediately.

Names like Vinny Del Negro, Lionel Hollins, Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo popped up in rumors, but in the end Saunders returns to the post he once coached at.

The 59-year old Saunders originally joined the Timberwolves in 1995 as GM, where he started by working under former teammate and current Houston Rockets head coach, Kevin McHale. Saunders was quickly named head coach that year. The Timberwolves struggled in Saunders’ first season, but the emergence of a young Kevin Garnett shifted things dramatically and it wasn’t long before the T’Wolves were a household name.

Saunders spent 10 years with the team, making the playoffs in eight seasons before being fired with a 25-26 record during the 2004-05 NBA season. Saunders and the Wolves were known from 1996-2002 as a young and talented team that routinely made the playoffs, but couldn’t take the next step. Minnesota went “one and done” in post-season play a startling seven seasons in a row.

The Timberwolves finally took the next step during the 2003-04 season, however, as they added several key veterans that helped them win 58 games and nab their first finish atop the Midwest Division in the Western Conference. They would go on to reach the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the favored Los Angeles Lakers, four games to one.

Saunders was fired before the end of the next season and moved on to coach the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, each for three seasons. Saunders proved some skeptics wrong about his coaching ability, taking a championship caliber Pistons team to the Eastern Conference Finals in three straight seasons. Saunders missed the playoffs with a bad Wizards team during his first two seasons before being fired just 17 games into the 2011-12 season.

Out of coaching for the past two years, Saunders has overseen the major moves in Minnesota the past two years. He will now try to succeed where he and Adelman have failed in trying to push another young and talented Minnesota roster over the hump.

The 2014 NBA Finals get going on Thursday night in San Antonio, as the NBA’s top-seeded San Antonio Spurs take on the East’s #2 seed, the Miami Heat.

The Heat and Spurs will engage in a rematch of last year’s epic seven-game Finals showdown that could have easily ended with a Spurs title. Ray Allen hit a last second three pointer to vault the Heat to a dramatic win, however, and they were able to close out the series and win the title in game seven.

Going into this year’s Finals series, the Spurs seem dead set on getting revenge. They’re certainly the more battle tested team this far in the playoffs, as San Antonio has barreled their way through the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder to get to this point. The Heat, meanwhile, had an easy first round matchup with the Charlotte Bobcats, didn’t seem to have too much trouble with the Brooklyn Nets and had full control in an overly hyped duel with the Indiana Pacers.

The Spurs have the mental edge in two ways to get these Finals going, as they have major revenge on the brain, while they’ll also have their home crowd cheering them on in game one. Star point guard Tony Parker (ankle) likely won’t be 100%, but practiced on Wednesday and looks like he’ll be able to start the game.

It doesn’t all come down to Parker for the Spurs, though, as the point guard matchups are the least of their worries. They also happen to be the deepest team in the entire league, so even if Parker has to stick to limited minutes, a combination of Corey Joseph and Patty Mills can get the Spurs by until Parker’s health improves.

The early key to this series is going to be how the Heat handle San Antonio’s bigs. Tiago Splitter disappeared in the Western Conference Finals, but will absolutely be needed to get through the Heat successfully. He’s bigger and more fundamentally sound than anyone Miami has down low, and how he performs could tell us a lot about how this series might unfold. The play of Tim Duncan will also clearly come into play, as well what Boris Diaw can provide in terms of scoring and rebounding.

The other main key for the Spurs will be Kawhi Leonard and the defensive job he can do on LeBron James. It’s not really possible to completely shut King James down, but the versatile, athletic and long Leonard is built to cover superstars and should give the league’s best player problems.

If San Antonio can win the battle in the paint and somewhat contain James, they have a great shot at winning this series. Whether or not that can do it throughout the NBA Finals is up in the air, but they’re a good bet to get it done in game one at home.

Pick: Spurs 101, Heat 89

Running back Knowshon Moreno was signed by the Miami Dolphins early this offseason to be their new starting running back. Just a few months into his first season with the team, it’s possible he’s already lost that job.

According to the Miami Herald, the former Denver Broncos running back has been “unimpressive”, showing up to camp out of shape and unfit to handle lead back duties. Head coach Joe Philbin openly mentioned Moreno’s conditioning “could be better”, while the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero noted that Moreno was “a little thick around the belly”.

A player coming in a little out of shape isn’t that abnormal in June, but this isn’t a good omen for a guy who was signed to a one-year deal to help improve one of the league’s more lethargic rushing attacks.

Not only could Moreno’s lack of commitment to staying in elite shape rub his new coaching staff the wrong way, it could also lead to his starting role being handed to someone else.

The first guy up figures to be last year’s main starter, Lamar Miller. Miller garnered a mixed review as Miami’s lead back in just his second season in 2013, struggling early with ball security and blocking assignments. Miller rebounder mid-way through the year and finished with over 700 yards and 26 receptions.

Philbin praised Miller at NFL league meetings back in March, saying, “He can do all three things you want a running back to do.”

That type of versatility along with game-breaking speed and quick cutting ability give Miller a real shot to supplant Moreno. The superior natural talent, Miller will need to improve on his fundamentals and be more decisive on inside runs to complete the leap. How quickly Moreno can get back into elite shape may help decide whether or not that happens, however.