The Cleveland Cavaliers have chosen David Blatt of Maccabi Tel Aviv as their new head coach. They will not be disappointed. I have known Blatt since 2007, when he led the Russian national team to a victory over Spain in Madrid in the gold medal game. I dined with him in Shanghai in 2008 in the prelude to the Beijing Olympics, and our paths crossed again in Istanbul in 2010 when I was covering the world championship. That was when Blatt
It’s all or nothing in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the course of the past month, the Boston Celtics have commanded as many headlines as the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. Boston has been everything from the front-runner to land Kevin Love via trade to a team to watch at the 2014 Draft. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. The Celtics have gone from the front-runners for Love to a media afterthought in the hunt for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ coveted power forward. New offers have been presented to Minnesota and
With Kevin Love no longer having much interest left in staying with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Flip Saunders has been exploring his options – most notably with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors can offer David Lee to help replace Love at the power forward position and have the luxury of including young stud Klay Thompson – a player Minnesota definitely wants included in a Love deal – or Harrison Barnes. Marc Stein of ESPN has full details on the discussions the
One week from today is the NBA draft, and chaos has been unleashed. Thursday’s revelation that Joel Embiid has suffered a stress fracture in his foot and will be unable to work out for teams or attend the draft has turned what appeared to be a settling draft order upside-down. Cleveland, owners of the top overall pick for the second consecutive season, now is in a difficult position. Before the news of the injury, Embiid was the player the Cavaliers had
Long thought to be the top prospect heading into the 2014 NBA Draft, Kansas Jayhawks center Joel Embiid is now enduring a minor setback. As of Friday, he will be out of commission much less incapable of traveling to the draft a week from today. Embiid is having surgery to correct a stress fracture in his right foot. His agent, Arn Tellem, spoke to the press regarding the matter. Joel Embiid suffered a stress fracture to the navicular bone in his right
Joel Embiid of Kansas has a broken foot and needs surgery. And now that piece of news has thrown everyone’s draft projections into disarray. Embiid was listed at No. 1 in Mock Draft 4.0, but he is not there in our latest edition. So does that mean the Cavs will not draft him? Perhaps not. The Cavs are now looking at trading down a couple of spots, believing that Embiid will still be available. And with the Philadelphia 76ers coveting Andrew Wiggins,
The San Antonio Spurs and the organization’s two stalwarts, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich, are coming off a fifth championship and are poised for another title run next season – provided Duncan doesn’t retire. With five championships in a 15-year period, the Spurs have made a claim to be considered a dynasty. However, some people – most notably Phil Jackson – would disagree because the Spurs haven’t won consecutive titles. Jackson won three consecutive championships on three separate occasions (1991-93, 96-98, 2000-2002).
In a summer overrun by superstars approaching free agency, no storyline has received quite as much coverage as that of Kevin Love’s future. The Minnesota Timberwolves star has been involved in trade rumors with a high percentage of the league, but nothing has come to fruition. After days of being labeled the front-runners to land him via a trade, the Boston Celtics appear to be taking a backseat in the hunt for Love. According to Chad Ford of ESPN Insider, president of basketball operations and current Minnesota