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
Postseason Stats & Stuff: Dallas’ Jason Kidd is one of only five players in NBA postseason history with at least 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists: Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. According to NBA.com/Stats, Denver ranked second in scoring during the regular season, averaging 102.8 points while shooting .476 from the field. Over their last 10 games of the regular season, the Nuggets averaged 109.3 while shooting .514 from the field. Then, they ran in to the L.A. Lakers. In winning the first two games
NEW YORK – Jason Kidd is a good sport, one of the nicest, most thoughtful guys in the league. Today, he is being recognized for it. The Dallas Mavericks guard was announced as the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner. Kidd (Southwest) was one of six divisional winners, which included Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison (Central), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (Pacific), Miami’s Shane Battier (Southeast), Minnesota’s Luke Ridnour (Northwest), and New York’s Jeremy Lin (Atlantic). Kidd received
NEWS A league source said Tuesday afternoon that New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire is expected to miss the remainder of the Knicks’ first-round series with the Miami Heat after badly cutting his hand hitting a fire extinguisher case in a hallway of American Airlines Arena after Miami’s 104-94 Game 2 victory. The Denver Nuggets say forward Wilson Chandler is expected to be ready by the start of training camp next season after undergoing surgery to repair a labral tear in his
So the playoffs began on Saturday afternoon, and they could not have gotten off to a worse start. A much anticipated day of postseason action turned absolutely tragic when two key players for the Bulls and the Knicks – Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert – each suffered devastating knee injuries – a torn ACL. Chicago was well on its way to the first postseason win of the season. Then, with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the reigning MVP jumped up
The Dallas Mavericks have been living off the glory of their NBA championship all season while simultaneously plotting their salary cap strategy to lure Deron Williams to Dallas next season, and Dwight Howard the year after. Jason Kidd will be elsewhere next season, Brendan Haywood will be amnestied, and a good portion of Dirk Nowitzki’s supporting cast figure to be castoffs if the plan to lure D-Will succeeds. The Thunder? Everybody loved them through March, and then they went 8-7
NEWS If any doubt remained, the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash established his bona fides as one of the organization’s all-time greats on Feb. 1, when he blew past Kevin Johnson as the franchise’s all-time leader in career assists. (Nash also holds team records for three-pointers made and attempted, as well as three-point and free throw shooting percentages.) Now, he’s on the cusp of passing an NBA icon. With Phoenix set to host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight on TNT (10:30 p.m. ET)
Four point guards, including Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, were chosen as divisional winners for the annual NBA Sportsmanship Award. Lin, whose emergence from benchwarmer to star transcended the game for more than a month, is the finalist for the Atlantic Division. He is currently sidelined with a knee injury. Other point guard finalists are Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks (Southwest), Luke Ridnour of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Northwest) and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers (Pacific). The other two