The upcoming season is an evaluation campaign for the Phoenix Suns in every respect. They will introduce a new offense designed by former Sun Jeff Hornacek, a new defense spearheaded by Mike Longabardi and at least six new rotation players acquired via the draft and trades by new general manager Ryan McDonough. With the recent trade of Caron Butler – who never played a game for the team – the Suns have only one player in his 30s: Channing Frye, who
After the high of winning the 2011 NBA championship, it didn’t take the Dallas Mavericks long to tumble back down. Between the much-publicized decision to let most of the championship team go, and the subsequent failure to obtain a top-tier free agent, Dallas is treading water – not quite ready to go under but with no real rescue in sight. This offseason, the Mavericks rolled the dice and brought in an eclectic combination of players through free agency that left much of
The Los Angeles Clippers won a franchise-record 56 games and had the NBA’s third best scoring differential last season. Then after taking a 2-0 lead on Memphis, they proceeded to lose four straight, making an unexpected and disappointing first-round exit. Which begs the question – were last season’s Clippers the regular season contender or the postseason pretender? The team did not rest on its regular-season laurels during the offseason, adding a coach with a championship ring in Doc Rivers, a new set
We are back with the 2013-14 edition of the Sheridan Hoops team-by-team season preview index. In August, we asked bloggers who cover the NBA to give us five things to watch for the teams they cover for the upcoming season. You can read them simply by clicking on the team logo or name below. You can also get caught up on each team’s payroll, draft picks and financial outlooks with our salary cap analysis index. [Read more…]
After Derrick Rose shredded his ACL in the first game of the 2011-12 playoffs, Chicago Bulls management decided the injury shredded the team’s chances at competing for a title and proceeded accordingly. From the instant the front office decided to jettison useful contributors from the famed “Bench Mob” in favor of lesser, slightly cheaper approximations, the 2012-13 campaign was a bit of a throwaway season. Rose seemingly got the message and took it as an opportunity to sit out the entire season
Another season marks another chance to feel optimistic about your favorite NBA team’s chances of making some noise. Other than a few brief stretches, Minnesota Timberwolves fans have had trouble finding any reason to be optimistic over the past few years. From injuries to frequent coaching changes to frequent front office switches to Darko Milicic, the Timberwolves have had quite an interesting little decade. This season is a special one. It marks the 10-year anniversary of their 2003-04 run to the Western
This offseason was an eventful one for the Bobcats and their fans. It started the same as the previous one: looking for a new coach. This time, the search did not last quite as long as they snapped up long-time Jeff Van Gundy assistant Steve Clifford. Then they stunned analysts and fans alike at the draft by selecting Cody Zeller over Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore and Alex Len at fourth overall. With newfound financial flexibility because of DeSagana Diop’s expiring contract, the
In 2011, when the Cleveland Cavaliers were awarded the first overall pick at the NBA’s draft lottery, Nick Gilbert – the son of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert – exclaimed on national television, “What’s not to like?!” Two years after using that first pick on Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers were once again awarded the top overall pick at the this year’s draft lottery. On that night this past May, ESPN’s Heather Cox repeated Nick Gilbert’s question back to him. “What’s not to like?”