Dwight Howard, left, will flex his muscle in State Farm Arena when Orlando plays Houston in an NBA preseason game Oct. 5. The 2010 D-League champs, Rio Grande Valley, play there.

The Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets play a preseason game Oct. 5 at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, TX.

That’s where the defending D-League champions, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, play their home games.

It’s a $20-million facility, folks, so the game isn’t being played in a hole-in-the wall.

This will be Houston’s first preseason game heading into the 2010-11 season.

Hidalgo is 371 miles from Houston. Wonder how the Rockets are going to get there? I suggest taking a caravan and stop at every small town en route and do surprise appearances.

The nearest airport to Hidalgo is McAllen International Airport.

The town has between 100,000 and 200,000 people so you know the airport is rather small, but it actually has a direct flight to and from Orlando.

The airport does take private jets, but if the Magic want to fly commercial and save some coins, it’s $160 round trip. . Just throwing it out there Orlando. And the airport offers a round trip flight for Las Vegas $100 for those who want to pull a Dennis Rodman.

Wonder the Cleveland Cavaliers will play a preseason game at Tullio Arena?

Until it’s renovated, I seriously doubt it.

Remember Dee Brown? Classic leaner blind dunk from back in the day. Still one of the best ever in an NBA Dunk Contest.

In looking over the Erie BayHawks 2010-11 schedule, I’ve tried to figure out what are their must-see games.

The one thing that caught my eye was training camp starts Nov. 7 and ends Nov. 17. Two days later, they open the season at home against the Springfield Armor, who is coached by former NBA Slam Dunk champion, Dee Brown.

However, it’s hard to really pinpoint any of the regular-season games other than the season opener because you’ve got to see the rosters to know who’s coming to town.

Even then, by the time that team plays here, the player you wanted to see might not even be on the team. He may be in the NBA or overseas.

So I’ll try to look past that and let you know the must-see games on Erie’s schedule this season.

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Without the drama. Without ESPN. With much humor, though.

Didn’t need multiple cameras or an hour show, but you need to see this.

166,171 people already have on YouTube.

Anthony Tolliver, who has bounced back and forth from the D-League to the NBA, signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.

To make it official, Tolliver had his own ‘Decision‘ show like LeBron James when he told the world his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and take his talents to Miami and play for the Heat.

Sweeeet.

When you're standing next to NBA commissioner David Stern (center), you're going to smile no matter what.

The Erie BayHawks made history this week.

They became the second D-League team to have the logo of a sponsor on its jerseys. The WNBA has had teams do so before Erie and Rio Grande Valley did so heading into this upcoming season.

LECOM has been the major sponsor of the BayHawks since they came to Erie before the 2008-09 season. LECOM provides the team quite a bit like a state-of-the-art training facility.

Now I’m from the old school of not having that kind of stuff on jerseys or uniforms. Remember in Rocky when Rocky Balboa sported the rob from the meat packing plant?

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded the tough, but troubled Delonte West.

Very interesting trade here.

In their attempt to rebuild after losing LeBron James in free agency, the Cleveland Cavaliers have traded gritty, but troubled combo guard Delonte West and young  journeyman guard Sebastian Telfair to the Minnesota Timberwolves for guard Ramon Sessions, center Ryan Hollins and Minnesota’s second round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

The Cavaliers officially announced the trade about a hour ago.

First off, big ups to my man Marc Spears at Yahoo! Sports for getting that out there to the masses. He just tweeted a few minutes ago the Timberwolves will waive West and trade Telfair.

Hmmm. If true, that’s sad, particularly for West.

For Cleveland, it’s all good on a variety of levels. The Cavaliers rid themselves of West, who for all his toughness on the court, was shaky off it. He just plead guilty to weapons charges dating back to last summer when he got caught with those guns. He isn’t going to jail, but will be on house detention.

So for the Cavaliers to get that burden off their neck can only help them. I interviewed West several times and he was always open and honest with me. You hope he does get it together.

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A 2010 D-League All-Star, Aminu played both NBA summer leagues in Orlando and Vegas.

Here’s how players who was with the Erie BayHawks at some point last season fared in the two NBA summer leagues in Orlando and Las Vegas.

Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Combo guard Blake Ahearn (Finished with BayHawks after being traded from Bakersfield to Erie for Alade Aminu) played four games for the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas and scored 11 total points. Shot 14.3 percent from the field, was 2-of-11 from 3-point range and have seven assists to five turnovers.

Power forward Alade Aminu (Finished with Bakersfield after Erie traded him there for Blake Ahearn) played five games for the Atlanta Hawks in Las Vegas and four for the Charlotte Bobcats in Orlando. Aminu averaged 10 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Hawks, 5.5 points and four boards for the Bobcats. He had 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday in his last game in Las Vegas.

Center John Bryant (Started and finished season with BayHawks) played two games for the Milwaukee Bucks in Las Vegas and scored two total points in 12 minutes. He attempted two shots total, made one.

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Mike Gansey averaged 15.6 points in his last three games with the D-League Select team in NBA Summer League play in Las Vegas.

Erie BayHawks guard Mike Gansey reached double figures in his last three games with the D-League Select team in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV.

Playing 38 minutes, Gansey had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the D-League Select’s 79-78 win Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Mark Tyndale of the Iowa Energy hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The D-League Select team finished 1-4 in its games against NBA teams using their summer league rosters.

Gansey averaged 12.8 points and shot 55 percent (11-of-20) from 3-point range in the five games. He scored a summer-league high 17 points in a 101-85 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies after scoring a summer-league low two points against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Gansey is from the Cleveland area.

As for the Cavaliers, who are an NBA affiliate of the BayHawks along with the Toronto Raptors, their second-year forward, Danny Green, averaged 12.8 points in his four summer-league games with Cleveland. Green had a summer-league best 17 points against the Miami Heat.

Green is eligible to play for the BayHawks this season as NBA teams can send down their first or second-year players down to play for the D-League team they’re affiliated with.

Here’s the 15-minute interview my girl, Rachel Nichols of ESPN, did with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade after James and Bosh decided to join Wade in Miami to play for the Heat.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will their summer league roster began playing in the Las Vegas Summer League beginning Tuesday. Going into his third season with Cleveland, power forward J.J. Hickson is scheduled to play as is forward Danny Green, who just finished his rookie season with the Cavaliers. 

The Cavaliers 2009 first-round pick, forward Christian Eyenga of the Congo, is also listed on the roster. The 6-foot-5 Eyenga didn’t play last season after deciding to remain overseas and play. 

The team also has some familiar names like Rashard McCants, who starred on the 2004 national championship for North Carolina and rookies Jerome Dyson of Connecticut and Manny Harris of Michigan.

Erie BayHawks coach John Treloar is also working as an assistant for the Cavaliers, who are an NBA affiliate of the BayHawks along with the Toronto Raptors.

 Two things to notice about the schedule is the Cavaliers play against the Miami Heat, who LeBron James chose to sign with instead of the Cavaliers earlier this week, and the Milwaukee Bucks, who have Darnell Jackson, a player Cleveland let go this past season. Jackson is scheduled to play for the Bucks this summer.

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New head coach Byron Scott and new general manager Chris Grant addressed the media Friday afternoon about LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, majority owner Dan Gilbet’s comments about James and the future of the Cavaliers.

Grant said Gilbert is entitled to his opinion in regards to what Gilbert said about James. Scott described Gilbert as being “passionate” and he’s still excited about coaching the current Cavaliers.