LAS VEGAS – Writers and team officials called for a running clock or the Mercy rule Monday afternoon at the Cox Pavilion when the New York Knicks opened up a 73-33 lead over the Charlotte Hornets. The 95-72 final score pushed the Knicks to 3-0. The team’s play has been an endorsement of the triangle offense Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher are implementing in New York. Players are sharing the ball and fluidly moving the ball to the open man, which
The Houston Rockets will decline to match the three year, $46 million offer sheet that Chandler Parsons signed with the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week. Parsons, a terrific young forward in the NBA, was strangely made a restricted free agent a year early by the Rockets with the hopes to bring him back on a reasonable long-term contract. That backfired thanks to Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, who have successfully added the wing talent they have been looking for over the past few
LAS VEGAS- Shabazz Napier has a set of skills you all know about; the slick handle, the pick-your-pocket defense and the winning pedigree with UConn’s national championship in April as Napier’s collegiate capstone. The other skills he needs to pick up as his rookie season approaches will help determine how well the Miami Heat can fare in South Florida’s post-LeBron James era. With James gone, Napier is now a much more important part of the team than Miami management imagined. [Read
In returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James took a maximum salary. But he did not take a maximum contract length. James declined the maximum four-year, $88 million deal available to him as a 10-year veteran and instead signed a two-year, $42.1 million contract with the Cavaliers. The deal has an opt-out clause after next season, which means we could have Decision III as early as a year from now. Does that mean James is hedging his bets on returning home and
The Washington Wizards have wasted no time in bolstering up their depth charts after losing Trevor Ariza in free agency to the Houston Rockets. The Wizards have engaged in talks with veteran small forward Paul Pierce to replace the gap left by Ariza. The news was broken earlier this evening by ESPN’s Marc Stein via Twitter. [Read more…]
First off, if you haven’t been updated on all the latest free agency moves, Chris Sheridan’s got all that for you over in our Top 25 Free Agents list. With LeBron and Melo off the market, the floodgates have started to open, and a lot of the second- and third-tier free agents (Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Gordon Hayward) are finding the markets a lot more friendly. Here’s the latest news and rumors from around the NBA: [Read more…]
No disrespect to Andrew Wiggins, who can fly like a young Tracy McGrady and defend like a future Scottie Pippen. No disrespect to Jabari Parker, who can score like Carmelo Anthony and is our pick to win Rookie of the Year next season. And nothing against Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon, or any of the other mega-prospects who will likely be lighting up the league for the next 10 years. But Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton is the coolest player in
So that just happened. After months of anticipation and uncertainty, LeBron James spurned the Miami Heat to re-join the Cleveland Cavaliers. As dozens of reporters provided inaccurate information from their sources, it was an unlikely name who had the inarguable evidence. Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated provided the breaking news. LeBron: “I’m coming home.” @SINow exclusive in the words of @KingJames: http://t.co/KEdJv3blqe — Lee Jenkins (@SI_LeeJenkins) July 11, 2014 For what it’s worth, our own Chris Sheridan told us that this was coming from the start. Jenkins transcribed a wonderful