At this point, the novelty of preseason games have worn off, at least for me. It’s time to focus on the upcoming season. Which starts in 10 days, in case you forgot.
With that in mind, Tommy Dee looked at who’s doing well in the preseason for Sheridan Hoops. A lot of 2012 draft picks, and a few big men who could mean a lot for their teams. Speaking of which, does anyone think the Pistons will do well this season? I keep seeing people suggest that it’s a majority opinion that they will improve, but it seems like that’s just a consensus “well, they have Josh Smith now…”.
I don’t know how much people have actually thought about the Pistons. To be fair, the last few playoff teams in the East are basically irrelevant. They could be the Cavs, Wizards and Pistons, all of whom have seemingly been awful forever, and nobody (apart from those teams’ fans, obviously) would really care because they’d probably get squashed by the Heat, Pacers and whichever of the Nets, Bulls and Knicks ends up finishing third.
On the other hand, every playoff team in the West could conceivably win a series. And that’s why the West is stronger than the East: Once you get past those top five teams, there’s not a whole lot right now.
Now let’s get to the latest news from around the NBA:
The Jazz have locked up a crucial member of their young core, reports Sam Amick of USA Today: “Less than a month after the Sacramento Kings gave 23-year-old center DeMarcus Cousins a four-year, $62 million deal to make him their franchise player, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Utah Jazz have a verbal agreement with 22-year-old forward Derrick Favors on a four-year deal worth approximately $49 million. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been finalized. Favors was stuck behind veterans like Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in recent years, and thereby never averaged more than 23.2 minutes per game, but he’s expected to sign the deal soon and be paid handsomely for the defensive prowess and potential he brings to the rebuilding Jazz group.”-
Jazz haven’t yet reached a contract extension with Gordon Hayward. The sides have until Oct. 31 to work something out or he’ll become a RFA.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) October 19, 2013
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Derrick Favors thanks Miller family for his $49M extension. Thanks everybody else, too, including media. Clearly he is deliriously happy.
— Steve Luhm (@sluhm) October 19, 2013
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News gives us a solid rundown on what Carmelo Anthony’s future looks like: “Carmelo Anthony reiterated that he wants it all: He wants to be a Knick for life, yet he also wants NBA teams — the Lakers, really — to court him when he becomes a free agent on July 1. The Melo-drama Part II is under way in the wake of Anthony confirming that he plans to opt out of his contract next summer and become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. And for the first time, Anthony hinted that it is a two-team race between the Knicks and Lakers. When asked about the long-held belief that the Lakers would pursue him, Anthony said: “What other team would they say? I don’t think they would say any other team. If you look at situations, that’s the only team that they probably would say.” The Lakers will have cap space, and Anthony is close to Kobe Bryant. Also, Anthony owns a home in Los Angeles, and his wife, La La, is a working actress in Hollywood. Needless to say, if Anthony leaves the Knicks, it won’t be for a small market team.”
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It should be noted #Heat feverishly tried to trade for Nik Vucevic last summer when he was with Philly. Instead #Magic nabbed budding star.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 7, 2013
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