The Olympics is fully underway, which means you’ll be reading plenty of news about NBA players involved in the special event for the foreseeable future. In today’s news, you’ll find LeBron James’ take on Kevin Durant’s role on a team full of superstars, Nicolas Batum’s thoughts on Team USA, Kobe Bryant’s trackback on Dream Team comment along with some player movements. Kevin Durant has tried his best to not be a ball hog on a team full of dominant scorers, but
We are three-plus weeks into free agency, and the cupboard is not quite bare. There are still some good players out there, whose choices are narrowed to two primary options: (a) go for the money and play for a loser, or (b) pass on the money and play for a winner. More than two-thirds of NBA teams have no cap room remaining. The ones that do mostly are those in rebuilding mode – Sacramento, Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Toronto and Minnesota. There are
The big news of the day is the Knicks acquiring Raymond Felton from Portland, which could very well spell the end of Linsanity in New York. Chris Sheridan covered all the news surrounding the Felton acquisition and what it means for Lin on SheridanHoops earlier, and Moke Hamilton went in-depth with the financial and luxury-tax implications as well. After you’re done checking out all the Linsanity: July Edition, here’s the latest news from everywhere else in the NBA: Things are getting downright baffling
Free agency started Sunday midnight ET. On Monday, the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks are expected to make an unrelenting push for All-Star point guard Deron Williams, who is clearly the best available player. The team that lands Williams also has the best chance of acquiring superstar center Dwight Howard, who is not a free agent but has said that he would like to play alongside Williams. In terms of flexibility, the Nets have the inside track. They can offer Williams more money
Tonight is the NBA draft lottery, which is one way to build a team. The other way is free agency, which starts in just over a month. Many teams positioned themselves for this summer, expecting Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams all to opt out and become free agents. But Howard and Paul opted in, and now there is money to spend on a significantly weaker but nevertheless strong class. A handful of teams could be very active this summer. Among playoff
New Orleans Hornets starting point guard Jarrett Jack has a stress fracture in his right foot and will miss the rest of the season, the team announced Monday. Jack missed the team’s last three games with the injury. Although very few noticed because the Hornets are enduring a miserable season, Jack was having the best year of his career, averaging 15.6 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds, all career highs. Jack had his first career triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists and
It was the Russell Westbrook show in L.A., especially in the third quarter, when he scored 17 of his 36 points. Kevin Durant missed eight of his first nine before heating up; he finished with 21 PTS and 11 REB, plus 5 AST and 2 BLK. The Lakers — except for Andrew Bynum (25 PTS, 13 REB, 4 BLK) — did not shoot well. Kobe Bryant had 23 points on 25 FG attempts. Elsewhere WAS @ IND: Hardly a classic, but a
By Chris Bernucca We all remember last year’s free agency extravapalooza – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh heating up South Beach, Amar’e Stoudemire making the Knicks relevant, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce making career commitments to their teams and Joe Johnson landing the biggest contract of them all. Next year could be a quality sequel, with a star-studded cast that includes Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Jason Terry, possibly Jameer Nelson and Gerald Wallace, and oldies but goodies Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Steve