Since training camp opened, there have been five significant trades involving 10 teams, 19 players and seven draft picks. The big winners have been a team that got rid of the highest scorer among the traded players and a team that acquired a player who has yet to play. The big loser has been a team that swears by analytics. Another way to look at it is like this: The biggest trades thus far have been the ones that haven’t been made
I covered the Lakers in 2010-11 when they were chasing a third straight title and four straight Finals appearances. It was a strange experience. That group started the season 13-2, feasting on a home-heavy, fairly soft schedule. But from there, warning signs started popping up. They had several multiple-game losing streaks, and dropped games to some absolutely hideous teams (the 19-win Cleveland Cavaliers, for example). Those Lakers, save a brilliant run of 17 victories in 18 games coming out of the All-Star
How you gonna beat the Miami Heat? For the last three seasons, that was the most important question for the other 29 NBA teams — and it remains the case this season, too. But the Knicks and Nets did it on successive nights, which shows it is not impossible. [Read more…]
This is the final edition of the MVP Rankings that will be published from our corporate headquarters in New York this month. As I promised in the preseason, I am heading to Las Vegas to gamble on basketball and write about it on this site, diary style. Wish me luck. I know, I know … they build great big hotels in Vegas because of folks who head out to the desert trying to get rich quick. Myself? Not really trying to get
2013 has not been pleasant in terms of all the injuries accumulated in the NBA. Whether it’s Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Marc Gasol, Quincy Pondexter or J.J. Redick, players around the league have missed significant time already due to injuries. Add Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks to that list, who received the worst news possible regarding the injury he suffered last week. Find details on him and much more below. HORFORD OUT FOR THE YEAR: Horford suffered a tear of his pectoral
Amid its myriad injuries, its dozen teams below .500 and its 44-98 record against the Western Conference, there is a looming question regarding the Eastern Conference: Can the East even field an All-Star team? A year ago, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Tyson Chandler, Kyrie Irving, Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday were among the East’s All-Stars. You can make the argument – irrefutable in some cases, strong in others – that none of those players should be invited back
The Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 16, through Sunday, Dec. 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points (fourth in the Eastern Conference) while leading the Heat to a 3-0 week. He scored at least 20 points, shot at least .560 from the floor, and led Miami in scoring in all three games. On Dec. 18, Wade tallied a season-high
The NBA’s reigning MVP, LeBron James of the Miami Heat, retains the No. 1 spot on the league’s top-selling jerseys list. The list is based on overall sales from adidas and NBAStore.com from October 2013 through December 2013 and reflects record-breaking holiday season jersey sales. NBAStore.com had its largest Black Friday and Cyber Monday in history, with sales up double digits from 2012. Rounding out the top five are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (No. 2), the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick