Stephen Curry has a legitimate chance to go down as the greatest shooter in NBA playoff history. With just two days before the Golden State-Cleveland NBA Finals finally begins, an appreciation of Curry’s shooting stroke — and the changing landscape of how offenses emphasize the three — point to Curry having a chance to at least be part of an elite playoff performance list. The 27-year-old MVP ideally will be playing in many more postseasons over the course of his career and should be
In Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series between the Clippers and defending champion Spurs, San Antonio was overwhelmed by the energy of the home team. Los Angeles, even when making mistakes in defensive rotations, did so with so much speed and commitment that it often didn’t matter. The Clippers, with an assortment power dunks from Blake Griffin and power spikes from DeAndre Jordan, had the capacity crowd at Staples Center in a frenzy all night. The Spurs didn’t have an
Five top sleeper free agents are all playing in the playoffs with the hope of cashing in big this summer as I outlined in a previous SheridanHoops column. With the NBA projected to increase the salary cap to roughly $90 million in 2016, teams will spend big this summer with the hope those deals will be bargains in retrospect once the new salary cap kicks in. Despite the anticipated gold rush for free agents in 2016, there are some players who would
Many teams are preparing for a free agency bonanza in the summer of 2016 when the salary cap is projected to rise to roughly $90 million with stars such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah, etc. all potentially be available. However, teams that aren’t in the running for a superstar in 2016 will spend big this summer on players who are valuable but not household names. Any deal signed this summer will ultimately be considered below
Where would the San Antonio Spurs be this season without Kawhi Leonard? To answer my own question, probably out of the playoff picture. In a Western Conference where the 8th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans are seven games over .500, the Spurs are 33-16 with Leonard and just 9-9 without him. Leonard leads the team in scoring, defensive rating and minutes per game. There’s an immense difference in Leonard’s stats in Spurs wins and losses, to the point where an off night can torpedo
July 1 is almost here. Wait, it isn’t? You mean there is still two feet of ice, slush and snow piled up outside the home office in New York? Well, if you compare July to October, then July is almost here! And there is no bigger date on the NBA calendar than July 1 (although the May 19 draft lottery is a close second). Phil Jackson becomes relevant again for something other than his Twitter vitriol. Jeanie Buss becomes more interesting
The Milwaukee Bucks were in the midst of a surprisingly successful season under the tutelage of Jason Kidd and were well on their way to make it to the postseason. Brandon Knight played a huge role for the Bucks and was in the midst of a career year, so it was quite surprising when he was traded away to the Phoenix Suns to ultimately be replaced by Michael Carter-Williams. So what’s that about, exactly? Carter-Williams is actually almost two months older
Big names are in the news. Carmelo Anthony (knee surgery) is out for the season. Goran Dragic is suddenly on the trading block. Kevin Martin also wants a trade or a buyout. [Read more…]