The Detroit Pistons have been one of the most active teams in the NBA this offseason. Of course, that shouldn’t surprise anybody who suffered through the marginal talent base and boring, uninspired basketball on display in Motown the past few years. But after a whirlwind offseason, Detroit is definitely ready to take a big step forward. The Pistons will feature four new starters on Opening Night, including the team’s big free agent signing – Josh Smith. The Smith signing had many
Brandon Jennings has had his share of issues playing for the Milwaukee Bucks for the past four seasons. For one, he has never had enough talent to work with. The best players he has had the chance to play with include Corey Maggette, Mike Dunleavy Ersan Ilyasova, Carlos Delfino and Larry Sanders. Those are not exactly the most respectable names around the league if you’re talking about top-level talent (although Sanders has shown great potential). Jennings did once have Andrew Bogut
As July turns to August and the few remaining free agents scuttle to find homes for the 2013-’14 season, the Detroit Pistons have capitalized again. Joe Dumars struck a favorable deal with one of the NBA’s top free-agents earlier this month, Josh Smith, when they signed the All-Star forward to a four-year, $54 million deal. While still a considerable contract in terms of dollars, they were able to land Smith for less than a max-deal when Smith had made it clear
When Dwight Howard left the Los Angeles Lakers and bolted to the Houston Rockets, we heard and saw the reactions of plenty – perhaps most notably from Kobe Bryant, who immediately unfollowed his former teammate on Twitter upon hearing the news. The one person most relevant to the situation that we’ve yet to hear from had been Mike D’Antoni, whose offense was cited as a critical reason for Howard’s desire for departure. So what did the coach think of his time
There is a sneaky, devious way that the Los Angeles Lakers can re-sign Dwight Howard, continue to pay Kobe Bryant the NBA’s highest salary and create even more cap room for this summer and next summer. Use the amnesty provision on Bryant. Yes, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said in the days after Bryant tore his Achilles tendon that using the one-time provision – which 15 teams still have at their disposal – on the face of the franchise was not under consideration.
We’ve still got a handful of games that really matter in the NBA regular season, and maybe the biggest is tonight, with the Spurs heading into Staples Center to face the Lakers. [Read more…]
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) After seven straight years of 50-plus wins from 2001-2008 – including one championship – it has been a rough half decade for the Detroit Pistons. The trade of fan favorite Chauncey Billups was supposed
The NBA is constantly active for the most part, but it does have quiet moments and phases in the summer — and we appear to be at one of those times. So what do we do when nothing is going on? Sometimes, asking players thought-provoking questions such as “Who do you think will win it all for the upcoming season?”, or “Who is the best player of all time?” can get us through a day, if the answers are interesting.