The NBA’s trade deadline is now under 48 hours away at 3 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, and it’s the Phoenix Suns who seem to be driving the market. The Suns are expected to meet Tuesday with Bill Duffy, the agent for Goran Dragic. The assumption, of course, is that the Suns would like an indication from their point guard on his offseason plans. He’ll be a free agent in July and is said to be eyeing an “open” free agency. And with a star like Dragic
The Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t able to fetch much in return for veteran point guard Mo Williams, shipping both he and second-year guard Troy Daniels to the Charlotte Hornets for guard Gary Neal and a 2019 second-round pick. The trade was first reported by Shams Charania of RealGM, who says the Wolves (11-41) will now explore buyout negotiations with Neal. Neal, 30, has disappointed in his role with Charlotte this year — shooting just 29% from beyond the arc, his specialty — but
Is Paul George really out for the season? If the Pacers can make a playoff push in the weak Eastern Conference, it sounds like he might not be. In a video interview on Tuesday, team president Larry Bird did not rule out the star forward’s return this season despite his horrific leg injury suffered last August. “We’ll see where Paul’s at. Still have no idea whether he’s coming back or not, but it seems like every week, he’s getting better and better.
Terrence Jones could return as soon as Wednesday for the Rockets, who upgraded his status to questionable for the team’s showdown with Western rival Dallas. It’s the first time in months that the Rockets have changed Jones’ status from “out”. Jones, a third-year power forward from Kentucky, has missed Houston’s last 41 games with a nerve issue affecting his left leg. At one point, his mobility was so limited that Jones worried if his basketball career might be over. But Jones has
The Cleveland Cavaliers (22-20) seem to finally be turning things around, having won three straight — two over the Clippers and Bulls — after a brutal stretch of 10 losses in 12 games. But they aren’t forgetting what got them in that hole. The Cavs are 1-8 this season without LeBron James, and injuries to both he and Kevin Love have exposed Cleveland’s roster for lacking depth. They addressed that need up front (Timofey Mozgov) and at the wing spots (J.R.
Does an open-handed shove qualify as a punch? In what could set an important standard for future player altercations, the NBA league office seems to be saying that it does not. You’ve likely all seen the story. In the first quarter of Monday night’s game in Brooklyn between the Rockets and Nets, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard got into a bit of a scuffle. It started with a pair of minor slaps after a foul by Garnett and escalated when Garnett virtually lost his
The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t even the best tankers in their own division these days. After the Sixers boosted their record to 5-28 with a win over the Cavs, the worst team in the Atlantic — and the entire NBA, for that matter — is undoubtedly the 5-32 New York Knicks. The Knicks have now lost 12 straight, and dealt away both Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in a deal aimed solely at cap relief (Smith has
It’s still too early to push the panic button, but the situation in Cleveland is becoming more troubling by the day. The Cavs are now 18-12 after an embarrassing home loss Sunday to outmanned Detroit. That record that places them as only the No. 5 seed in the mediocre East, which is hardly what LeBron James envisioned when an apparent “super team” was formed over the offseason with James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Anderson Varejao, one of the team’s only reliable big men, was