No division in the NBA was more competitive last season than the Southwest. Every team made the playoffs, and the division champion was not decided until the final night of the season. Now, with the summer signing season all but complete, the division appears as though it will be as competitive in the upcoming season as it was in 2014-15. The San Antonio Spurs have added LaMarcus Aldridge and David West, the Houston Rockets have added Ty Lawson, the New Orleans Pelicans
We are now about to enter Year 6 of the Oklahoma City Thunder dynasty … Oh, sorry about that. The James Harden trade slipped my mind. Allow me to begin again … We are now about to enter the final season of Kevin Durant’s career in Oklahoma City, and the clock is ticking as well on Russell Westbrook’s departure. In the summer of 2017, when the salary cap is nine figures, the NBA’s best-dressed man will be taking his talents elsewhere, too. And
Day 3 of our midsummer report card distribution process brings us to the Central Division, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers and owner Dan Gilbert, whose company, Quicken Loans, will soon be offering 24 percent mortgage rates in order to cover the boss’ luxury tax bill. Just kidding. We think. It has been a busy summer for the former top pizza deliveryman in Detroit. After watching his team lose to the Golden State Warriors in Games 4, 5 and 6 to surrender the
The latest NBA news is interesting: If you win your division, you can hang a banner from the rafters. But that doesn’t mean you are going to the playoffs. Which begs the question: Why even have divisions? It makes no sense. Then again, things that make no sense are part of the NBA landscape. Take Andrea Bargnani, for example. He should be playing in Europe. Or China. That has been clear for years and years and years. But the New York Knicks
We spent much of July covering the Summer League, and as always, some of the most interesting stories revolved around the performances of the most prominent new rookies. Basketball fans know by now to take Summer League stats lightly, as they rarely translate to much more than the vaguest indication of what a player will do once the regular season rolls around. Case in point: Seth Curry is not about to average 25 PPG in the league. But he did earn
When I was a kid, I never got a summer report card, which was because I never had to attend summer school. The months of June, July and August were reserved for fun, fun and more fun, a practice I carried through my 20s, 30s and 40s and now bring into Year 50. Fun, of course, is relevant when you hit the Big Five-Oh. Beating your 16-year-old in tennis? Yes, that’s fun. Teaching your dog to swim? Doesn’t get much better than
You won’t find Neil Olshey, Sam Hinkie or David Griffin on a beach at some island resort this week. We are deep into summer, but those three general managers have plenty of unfinished business as we head into the latter third of July. If you want to take pity on one of the three, pick Olshey. His Portland Trail Blazers lost four-fifths of their starting lineup from a team that ran away with the Pacific Division, and his only center heading
We have our first offer sheet signing. Enes Kanter is going to the Portland Trail Blazers for a max contract of $70 million over four years, with a 15 percent trade kicker. Only he isn’t. Having lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wes Mathews and Nicolas Batum, the Trail Blazers went for a Hail Mary on Thursday and tendered an offer sheet to Kanter, arguably the best pickup of the trade deadline. Oklahoma City has 72 hours to match the offer, and the only