NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.1. PLAY Magazine, via TH. Terrific, terrific story about high-schooler Renardo Sidney and the need for change in youth basketball.
2. The Blowtorch. Bill Wennington has a mean streak.
3. Hardwood Paroxysm. FanHouse's own Matt Moore is following the Grizzlies this year. He gives his early assessment.
4. Blazers Edge. Assessing the trade values of the entire Portland roster.
5. ESPN the Mag the Blog. Lil' Wayne calls Greg Oden a bust: "Until he shows me something, I'm gonna declare him a bust. Damn shame, too." Weezy also calls Trevor Ariza the "David Price of the Lakers," which is infinitely more enlightening than that Oden take.
6. CelticsBlog. For the third straight year, Jeff Clark of CelticsBlog has grabbed the best team bloggers to preview their teams. You can find all 30 teams covered here.
