While the headlines on Friday evening were dominated by the first trade of the young NBA season — Washington and Phoenix completed a deal centered around Emeka Okafor, Marcin Gortat and a 2014 1st round draft pick — one team out West made yet another under-the-radar move that could alter the landscape of the Western Conference. [Read more…]
We are officially one week out from the start of the NBA regular season, and while team and season previews continue to fly in, there is an abundance of real news (and rumors) happening now. Let’s take a look around the league at the most pressing stories. We’re heading out to Denver for the story of the day, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports in his season preview that he has been informed that the Nuggets have been shopping their electric forward, Kenneth
With the NBA regular season just nine short days away, players and teams are turning it up a notch to prepare for the first meaningful games since spring. Chris Paul dropped 40 last night. Kevin Durant 36 two nights before. Luol Deng doesn’t bring that type of offensive firepower to the table, but he’s still more than ready to get back on the court with the Chicago Bulls, a popular favorite to dethrone the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. [Read more…]
While the preseason is largely about players avoiding injuries so that they can suit up for the regular season, there are always the select few that are working to recover from injuries. Nobody has entered the preseason with high expectations for Andrew Bynum — newly acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers — in his recovery from chronic knee injuries. After all, it’s been how long now since we’ve seen him play? [Read more…]
The NBA, arguably better than any major sport, has made extreme efforts to become a global league. While it’s not reported on consistently in the media, both the NBA and the NFL have an eye on London as the hub of a new international team. [Read more…]
Right now, all the Lakers have is Pau Gasol. There is hope that Kobe Bryant will return early this season, but at age 37 and coming off a torn Achilles, the Black Mamba returning as his former self is no certainty. So as Gasol enters the final year of his contract with the Lakers, that precarious question has been asked: will Gasol take less money to help the Lakers improve next year? [Read more…]
There aren’t generally many surprises throughout an NBA season. We know who the best players are. The best teams, in due time, surface to the top. But occasionally, maybe once a year, a player comes from out of nowhere and puts together a breakout year. It’s impossible to predict at this point, but after the preseason opened this weekend, Xavier Henry of the Los Angeles Lakers has at least put his name on the ballot. [Read more…]
The greatest mistake that you can make in life is to be continually fearing the one you might make. With all eyes on Derrick Rose this weekend, as he prepares to play his first game in 500-plus days, this familiar ethos can’t be how the former MVP approaches his return to the court. The last time we saw Rose play he was 23 years old and one season removed from becoming the NBA’s youngest MVP. Rose turned 25 today. [Read more…]