There is, of course, the old adage that titles are not won in July (the Heat in 2010 being the clear exception) but several moves were made on Tuesday that could quietly alter the regular season standings out west next season. We’ve also seen shooters get large contracts this week like, it seems, never before. Those are the main two storylines from the July 2, but there’s a whole lot to get to before we all take a nice break for the
Like LeBron in 2010, Dwight Howard is 2013’s Biggest Prize July 2 was a pretty busy day in NBA free agency. July 5 will be an even busier day — if that is when Dwight Hoard makes his “Dwecision.” Amongst other things, the Oklahoma City Thunder have now pretty much lost James Harden for nothing after Kevin Martin agreed to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves for four years and $28 million. In order to clear the space, the
It might seem like a decade ago, but it happened. Jeff Teague, a seldom used second-year point guard at the time, outplayed Derrick Rose for the first few games during the second round of the 2010-11 Eastern Conference playoffs: [Read more…]
Like LeBron in 2010, Dwight Howard is 2013’s Biggest Prize Welcome to the summer of “The Dwecision.” Dwight Howard has waited his entire NBA career to be in this position, and he is going to relish it. He was jealous of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010; he never got traded to the one team he most wanted to join – the Brooklyn Nets – and he is faced with the choice of re-signing with the Los Angeles
When Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov became the majority owner of the team, he made a promise that raised plenty of eyebrows: the Nets will win a championship in five years. It sounded like an impossible promise for a team that had been so awful ever since the departure of Jason Kidd back in the 2007-2008 season. Slowly but surely, though, Prokhorov made sure that his words would prove to be meaningful by building a new arena to help attract free
Indiana took Miami to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals but the Heat were able to knock out the Pacers in Game 7. The San Antonio Spurs may have as much talent as the Pacers, but they’re a much better team. With sturdy defense, unusual discipline and unbelievable performances from its two brightest stars, San Antonio edged Miami, 92-88, to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. First of all, and most importantly, Miami has to contend with an
If there is one person that deserves major credit for the great turnaround of the Memphis Grizzlies over the past few seasons, it’s the work of Lionel Hollins. He brought toughness and a no-nonsense attitude to an environment that became accustomed to losing. He didn’t take kindly to poorly-defended possessions. If you couldn’t step up at that end of the floor, you weren’t going to play as much no matter how good you were on the offensive end. Just ask
