Tristan Thompson remains the biggest fish in this summer’s free agent sea, as noted in our updated rankings. In fact, LeBron James has called Thompson a “key piece” to Cleveland’s hopes of winning a title this season. So why the elongated stalemate between the two sides? It comes down to leverage. Cleveland has it for the upcoming season, but Thompson has it afterward. Confused? Let me explain. [Read more…]
What is the next big surprise? When will it happen? We are inside of 48 hours until the league’s moratorium ends, so fasten your seatbelts, folks. This summer’s free agency period has provided as much suspense and excitement as the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs have agreed to terms with LaMarcus Aldridge and David West while retaining Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green in hopes of returning to the Finals. West said he wanted to play for a title
Day 2 of the 2015 free agency period wasn’t quite as crazy as Day 1, but plenty of players looking for new homes (or old) were still on the move and locking themselves up with teams for years to come. Unless you were Dwyane Wade, of course, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $20 million to stay with the Miami Heat. In most cases, though, free agents have agreed to multi-year deals including the following: Damian Lillard – five-year, $125 million contract with
LaMarcus Aldridge will kick off a whirlwind week of free agency by meeting with both the Lakers and Rockets on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, according to reports. Free agency begins at 9:01 p.m. Pacific time (12:01 a.m. Eastern), and Aldridge won’t waste much time. After meeting with the Lakers and Rockets on Tuesday, he’ll proceed to visit with the Spurs, Mavs, Suns and Raptors on Wednesday and finally with the Knicks on Thursday, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. That list doesn’t even
Is veteran coach George Karl secretly a snake in the grass? That’s what DeMarcus Cousins and a few other stars from Karl-led teams seem to believe. Via Basketball Forever, here’s the infamous tweet of emojis from Cousins last night mashed with several others in past years from previous Karl players such as Carmelo Anthony and Andre Igoudala. There seems to be a common theme. According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Karl has recently tried to convince Kings’ management to trade Cousins, an idea that owner Vivek Ranadivé
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…]
See that guy? That white silhouette inside the red and blue? That’s Jerry West. He’s the NBA logo and has been since 1969, when he was still playing. Jerry West’s nickname was “Mr. Clutch.” Former Boston Celtics radio announcer Johnny Most, who disliked every player not wearing green and white, used to call him “Gentleman Jerry.” To my knowledge, Jerry West and Julius Erving are the only visiting players who ever received polite applause upon entering the lion’s den known as Boston
I write this column every year two days before the regular season ends, and I usually get right to the point. But this year I am going to start a little differently. So let me get one item off my chest and out of the way: Michele Roberts is way off base. The new executive director of the NBA Players Association tried to reinvent the wheel this week when it was reported that she is instituting the Players Choice Awards, which will