In the past, a handful of players have come over from Europe and made a big impact in their rookie seasons in the NBA. Pau Gasol came from Spain to win NBA Rookie of the Year with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2002. Coming off two straight Italian League MVP awards, Manu Ginobili gave the San Antonio Spurs the extra push off the bench they needed to win the NBA title in 2003. Luis Scola and Juan Carlos Navarro were immediate contributors as
The latest NBA news is interesting: If you win your division, you can hang a banner from the rafters. But that doesn’t mean you are going to the playoffs. Which begs the question: Why even have divisions? It makes no sense. Then again, things that make no sense are part of the NBA landscape. Take Andrea Bargnani, for example. He should be playing in Europe. Or China. That has been clear for years and years and years. But the New York Knicks
LAS VEGAS– In a free agency period where LaMarcus Aldridge took what seemed like two dozen meetings and DeAndre Jordan’s recruiting process turned into the most bizarre sequences in years, the Toronto Raptors lured prized wing DeMarre Carroll away from the Atlanta Hawks before he left to meet with anyone else. So how did they do it? Well, $60 million over four years certainly helped. But it was more than that. SheridanHoops conducted one-on-one interviews with Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri, coach Dwane
As many predicted, there was no shortage of trades at the 2015 NBA draft. There just weren’t any big ones. We were all hoping for a blockbuster like DeMarcus Cousins to the Los Angeles Lakers or the Toronto Raptors detonating their roster. Instead, we may have to wait for the powderkeg of Kings training camp, when George Karl first asks Cousins to show harder on a pick-and-roll. We even would have settled for a team such as the Celtics or Hawks taking
“The Truth” is what Doc Rivers might just need to order for him to finally get the Los Angeles Clippers over the hump. Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce, aka “The Truth”, is expected to opt out of his $5.5 million player option with the team. David Aldridge of NBA.com is reporting the 10-time All-Star is looking to reunite with Rivers in Los Angeles: As I reported as likely to happen a couple of weeks ago, Paul Pierce will opt out of his
With a 52-point game notched on his belt earlier this season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a familiar face is interested in coming back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, free agent guard Mo Williams is willing to come back to Cleveland, where he made his only All-Star appearance in 2009: Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent point guard Mo Williams is “more than interested” in making a return to Cleveland, sources close to the guard informed
The Denver Nuggets have been searching for a reliable coach after the firing of Brian Shaw in March, and has finally decided to hire a coach who was also fired earlier in the season: former Sacramento Kings’ coach Mike Malone. Malone made quite the impression on general manager Tim Connelly and president Josh Kroenke during their meetings, and has reportedly signed a four-year deal with Denver, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: [Read more…]
A franchise record 60 wins, winning a division title and finishing as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1993-1994 may not be reason enough for the Atlanta Hawks to retain Danny Ferry. According to a report from Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ferry is expected not to be back once the sale of the Hawks is complete: In situations like this, new ownership generally would rather not have to deal with answering questions at the introductory