How did your favorite team do in Thursday’s NBA draft? Did they follow form or reach a bit? Did they fill a need or take the best player available? Should they have traded the pick or kept it? Are you tired of players being stashed in Europe? We break it down below, and we are not grading on a curve. Atlanta Hawks: C-plus Picks: John Jenkins (23), Mike Scott (43) The Danny Ferry Era began much as the Rick Sund Era ended: quietly, and still without a
Miami Heat: F Picks: Justin Hamilton (45) With their fingers freshly fitted for rings, the Heat could have rolled the dice on Perry Jones III with the 27th pick. If they wanted another ballhandler behind Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole, Marquis Teague was right there. Or they could have gone big, snagging either Arnett Moultrie or shot-blocking specialist Festus Ezeli. Instead, they made a cost-cutting move by trading the 27th pick to Philadelphia for a future first-rounder and the rights to Hamilton,
NEW YORK — It is 1:28 PM on Wednesday afternoon and a throng of reporters are gathered around an empty table. A purple microphone sits at the head of the table, awaiting the arrival of a 6-11 rebounding and shot-blocking machine that simply doesn’t come around very often. The NBA draft will take place later today in Newark, NJ. Contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of really good players who will likely help downtrodden franchises on their way back
The year the NBA got over the hump, even if it didn’t initially look like it was possible … Let’s just say it was a good time for a memorable postseason, with the improbable rise of the precocious Thunder, until going up 1-0 over the Heat, which didn’t turn out to be comprised of choking, mercenary divas, after all. Otherwise, the 2011-12 season would have gone down as the one when the NBA locked the players out until Christmas, then jammed 66
In the NBA draft, teams often default to selecting the “best player available.” They do that assuming the player will develop as projected and become an asset that allows for flexibility. However, sometimes those “best players” end up languishing behind an established veteran and never live up to expectations. It comes down to a simple truism: Players who land in the right situations often have the best chance to succeed. For example, the New York Knicks needed an explosive athlete who could defend
For David Stern, the Olympic experience has come full circle. The NBA commissioner has often found himself depicted as an international bully, and nothing could be further from the truth – at least as it applies to past Olympics. The oddity of such a charge is that it occurs only in this country, which leads us to one of the great mysteries of American sports journalism: How is it that so many journalists throughout the world know exactly what happened, yet accomplished
Through his very last timeout huddle with his team, Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks said all the right things. “We’re gonna treat them like they’re the champions,” Brooks instructed his club. “After this game, we’re gonna walk and shake their hands and acknowledge all of them. They beat us fair and square. However hard that hurts, they beat us fair and square. Give them credit.” Yes, Brooks said all the right things. It would have been nice if he had done all
MIAMI — The Oklahoma City Thunder had just been blown out by the Miami Heat by the score of 121-106, dropped their fourth straight game for the first time in 276 games, and the silence of their locker room said it all. Russell Westbrook walked out of the shower and into the locker room. He sat down and looked around at all the media in the Thunder locker room, his eyes puffy, red and a little watery. After a few moments of silence,