If you take a quick look at the contract extensions given to the 2012 NBA draft class, nothing seems extraordinary. Eight eligible players received extensions. While collusion conspiracy theorists might point out that it’s two less than the 2011 class, it also is one more than the 2010 class and the same number as the 2009 class. As in previous seasons, the top pick got a five-year max deal and at least one other lottery pick also received a max deal of
Centers are considered a dying breed in today’s NBA. More teams are playing small ball than ever before with a focus on pushing the tempo and improving floor spacing. Heck, the league even removed the center position from the All-Star ballot in 2012. However, as you will see by the depth in our center rankings and the names not on the list, the demise of the position is a premature misconception. You won’t find two former All-Stars and Defensive Player of the
There is no way to sum up the 2014-15 season for the Toronto Raptors without including the word disappointment. You can debate the extent of it, of course – the team did win a franchise-record 49 games and saw point guard Kyle Lowry start in the All-Star Game – but the basic conclusion remains the same. Touted as a new power in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors exploded into last season borne on a wave of “We the North” expectation. This
The quarterfinals are set for this year’s Eurobasket, as eight teams will play for two automatic bids to next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio. Of the eight remaining teams, seven will be preparing next summer for a chance to play in the Olympic games, as the 3rd through 7th place teams earn bids for next summer’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, in which 18 teams will be fighting for the three remaining bids for Rio. Here is a look at the quarterfinal matchups that
You can complain all you want about FIBA’s way of doing things, you’d probably be right more often than not. Only two teams from Europe can earn berths to the Rio Olympics this summer, while there will be four teams from FIBA-Americas (USA, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina)? But if you are a fan of basketball, this EuroBasket Tournament is an overdose of fun after a long empty summer. The best national teams in Europe go at it day after day nonstop, with
This year’s European Championship, the Eurobasket, will be kicking off this weekend with group play taking place in France, Croatia, Germany and Latvia, with 24 teams fighting for two automatic bids for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Both the champion and the runner-up will automatically qualify for the prestigious competition next summer, with the 3rd-7th place teams earning the right to fight for one of the three final bids for the Olympics in next summer’s three pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments. Team USA is
There are rumblings that agent Rich Paul could deliver another client to his hometown team in the near future. Several league executives believe Canadian Tristan Thompson may head north to Toronto in the summer of 2016 if he signs his one-year, $6.8 million qualifying offer with the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I always thought he was going to end up (in Toronto) this year,” one Eastern Conference general manager told SheridanHoops. “There’s going to be so much money next year so I think he
The silence following Jonas Valanciunas’ contract extension was deafening. When the Toronto Raptors gave a reported $64 million over four years to Valanciunas, there were no proclamations from pundits that the NBA’s financial sky was falling. Owners didn’t start forming plans of collusion. No one drew comparisons to Jim McIlvaine. On the other side, there have been no whispers that Raptors GM Masai Ujiri engineered another steal. Virtually no one has suggested that Valanciunas got fleeced. Agent Leon Rose – who days