NEW YORK – There were simultaneous senses of shock, joy, exuberance and disgust Tuesday night at Times Square Studios in Manhattan where the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery for the second straight year and the third time in four years. Cleveland had the ninth best odds to claim the top pick and, percentages be damned, landed numero uno again. “It was incredible,” said Cavs general manager David Griffin. “When Cleveland didn’t pop up at nine,
Tuesday night the NBA held its Draft Lottery to determine the top three picks in the forthcoming draft. Somehow, someway — conspiracy theorists have at it — the Cleveland Cavaliers won the top overall pick with only a 1.7-percent chance at it. This makes the second consecutive year that Dan Gilbert’s team has won the lottery, third time in the past four years. The results are in! The #Cavs hold the No. 1 pick in the upcoming @NBA Draft on June 26th.
There’s been some talk lately that the 2013 draft could be the worst in NBA history. We could wait more than a year before jumping into the adjoining worlds of shortsightedness and hyperbole, couldn’t we? Yes, this was a bad draft. We’ve said it ourselves several times. For the first time since 2001, the top pick is going to average less than five points per game. For the first time since 1988, the Rookie of the Year is probably going to be
The narrative is only slightly different today, but that much more impactful. According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the New York Knicks are expected to finalize a deal with Phil Jackson to bring the legendary head coach into the organization in a major front office role: “Everything is pretty much done,” the source said. “There are just some little things here and there that need to be worked out, but the Knicks are very confident that this is essentially done.” [Read more…]
Phil Jackson to the New York Knicks? That has been the talk for much of the day, and with good reason. Although Jackson doesn’t really have any experience in a front office position, he does, obviously, have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the game of basketball. It certainly would create quite an intrigue around the league to see if he has what it takes to help right the ship for this struggling Knicks organization with so many movable
The general manager of the Houston Rockets wants an overhaul of the NBA draft. The Celtics’ assistant general manager has a proposal to do away with the whole shebang. Even new commish Adam Silver is open to changes. Why? The NBA draft is fine the way it is. Don’t change it. It’s working just fine. If you’re going to change anything, eliminate the ridiculous incentives that prompts kids – most of them not close to being NBA-ready – to enter the draft
Many people were surprised by Anthony Bennett’s first career double-double on Tuesday. Bennett’s struggles as the top overall pick in the draft have been well-documented. So when he broke out for 19 points and 10 rebounds in Cleveland’s home win over Sacramento, there was somewhat of a collective gasp across the NBA. Yes, Bennett established season highs in both points and rebounds in the same game. And yes, it appeared to come out of nowhere. But the truth is that Bennett has
For Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, his first season in the league has mostly been one big nightmare to forget. He came in behind schedule due to shoulder surgery recovery, and was clearly not in game shape. He didn’t score his first field goal until the fifth game of the season, is shooting 31.9 percent from the field and has generally looked lost all season in an offense that has seen just about every relevant