We don’t get many seasons like this in the NBA, with so many trades happening so early before the deadline. It used to be that GMs would hold out until the last minute, and then the trade queue at NBA headquarters would get jammed at 2:59 p.m. on deadline day. But this year? Chances are it’ll be more quiet than usual. Rajon Rondo has already be traded. Jameer Nelson has already been traded twice. The Cleveland Cavaliers solved their problems in
After last week’s loss in Atlanta, Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger – whose team has the fifth-best record in the NBA – lamented his roster’s shortcomings. “We have to get another playmaker on the floor,” Joerger said. “We’re going to have to start playing multiple point guards (at the same time). We’ve got to be able to get inside of defenses.” It doesn’t matter that the Grizzlies have been at or near the top of the league for most of the season.
Is this some sort of way to earn a quasi 12th ring? New York Knicks president Phil Jackson could not have done much worse Monday night in dealing away Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-way trade that netted the Knicks three non-guaranteed contracts and a second-round draft pick in 2019. We’ve all heard of selling low, but this? This was a gift to the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers, who just became the first team to lose in
I am going to tell you a couple of stories about the players that changed teams in today’s Rajon Rondo trade, but allow me to get right to the heart of matters first: Rondo is one of those rare players, a la Jason Kidd, who can totally dominate a game without taking a shot or scoring a point. If you don’t think the Dallas Mavericks just became instant championship contenders, I respectfully disagree with you. This move puts them over the top.
Championship contending windows in the NBA typically close a lot sooner than anyone thinks. Take the Indiana Pacers, for example. Entering last season, Indiana was considered an elite team perhaps still a year or two away from hitting its prime as a true title contender. The Pacers started out hot, became the early season championship favorites, bought into their own hype, made a couple of short-sighted trades and eventually fizzled. In the following months, Roy Hibbert went from All-Star center to meme extraordinaire,
We now know that the deal sending Kevin Love to Cleveland will go down Saturday. Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Miami’s 2015 first-round draft pick will go to Minnesota, and in a side deal Thaddeus Young will be sent from the Sixers to the Wolves for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved. Minnesota comes out with the last two overall No. 1 picks, Philadelphia comes out with an even worse team than before, and Cleveland comes out with …. In
The Chicago Bulls have offered a package of Taj Gibson and rookies Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic to the Minnesota Timberwolves for All-Star forward Kevin Love, a league source told SheridanHoops.com on Wednesday. The package is extremely intriguing to the Timberwolves, but there is a catch; it cannot be completed for another 29 days because McDermott and Mirotic signed their rookie contracts Tuesday. NBA rules prohibit rookies from being traded within the first 30 days of inking their rookie deals. That could
When it comes to trades, the 2014 NBA draft hasn’t been quite as nuts as last year. Nevertheless, there have been a handful of deals. Here’s a breakdown: Philadelphia 76ers trade Elfrid Payton to Orlando Magic for Dario Saric, 2015 second-round pick and 2017 first-round pick. Philadelphia didn’t need another point guard with Michael Carter-Williams entrenched at the position, and the Sixers are all about assets. Injured Joel Embiid went third and now Dario Saric will be in Turkey for the next two seasons.