It has been three seasons since the Orlando Magic have had to change their franchise’s future and goals by trading Dwight Howard. Three seasons since GM Rob Hennigan was installed and broke everything down, sold off everything that was not bolted down and committed to a long rebuilding process centered on the draft and sustainability. And so here the Magic sit, three years after that fateful decision. And with what? The Magic professed that 2015 would be the season the team showed
Three years ago, the slogan was “Hello Brooklyn” when Deron Williams signed his five-year, $98 million maximum contract to be the face of the Nets. This summer, the slogan was “Goodbye Brooklyn” after Williams agreed to a buyout, prematurely ending the D-Will era. During his time with the Nets, Williams was derailed by ankle injuries that never allowed him to sustain his All-Star form. He teased fans with flashes, such as his franchise-record 57 points against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012.
After failing for two decades to pair their franchise cornerstone – be it Kevin Garnett or Kevin Love – with a complementary superstar, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally have reason to believe they have found a perfect two-man combination for sustainable long-term success. With Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns on hand, Minnesota has the NBA’s most promising 1-2 punch since Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook joined forces with the Oklahoma City Thunder seven years ago. So despite finishing last season with an NBA-worst 16 wins,
The 2014-15 Houston Rockets were a feel-good story, shaking off major injuries and muted preseason forecasts to become the Western Conference’s second-best team. The 2015-16 Rockets, on the other hand, shouldn’t come as such a surprise. Following the bold offseason trade for former Denver point guard Ty Lawson, the story in Houston is back to being about what is, rather than what might be. In other words, GM Daryl Morey is finally “all-in” on his roster. While Lawson fills the obvious need of
Under the guidance of Sacramento Kings legend and current VP of basketball operations and GM Vlade Divac, the Kings have assembled the most talented roster they have had in nearly a decade. So why are so many expecting the worst out of Sacramento this season? It’s complicated. The long-term consequences for how Divac went about creating enough cap space to acquire the likes of Rajon Rondo, Kosta Koufos, Marco Belinelli, Caron Butler, Seth Curry, James Anderson, Quincy Acy and Duje Dukan
What would it take for Kobe Bryant to win the 2015-2016 NBA MVP award? As we handicap the MVP race for the 2015-2016 season, we’ll take a look at last season’s top five finishers— Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and LeBron James— along with Kevin Durant. But a question many Angelenos and basketball fans around the world have is what kind of numbers would Bryant have to put up in his age-37 season to take home the crown? To
After an extended vacation along with a visit to Team USA camp in Las Vegas alongside Sheridan over the summer, my NBA gambling column is back. We absolutely NAILED last year’s NBA Championship winner (at 14-1, too, I might add) and I’m excited to be back on deck for the 2015-16 season. I’m going to kick things off with a series of preseason gambling predictions. We’ll cover all the major awards, division winners and even find where the value lies in the NBA Championship and conference winner markets.
For the Charlotte Hornets, it has been a summer filled with excitement after yet another disappointing season of missing the playoffs. After the Hornets held some hope for the future by making the playoffs in the 2013-2014 season, last year was plagued by injuries to Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson and the team finished 33-49, 10 fewer wins than the previous season. A year ago, there was plenty of excitement and hope surrounding the signing of Lance Stephenson, but that plan didn’t work