Which team has the best rookie duo this season? Coming out of the draft, you had to like the Chicago Bulls, who traded into the lottery to grab Doug McDermott and finally signed Nikola Mirotic. But while Mirotic has been a pretty steady contributor, McBuckets might need a new nickname – like McD-League. The Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic each had two first-round picks that looked like they might be able to crack the rotation. But James Young has been
When Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker learned he had won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for November, he wasn’t planning any celebrations. “It’s all good and dandy,” said Parker, who averaged 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds for the surprisingly competitive Bucks. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful or ungrateful, but it’s only one month. “It’s just because I’m insecure, that’s all. … That’s the honest truth. You may not be able to brag about the same things a month (later).” Parker’s honesty
There was a bit of NBA history made in the Milwaukee-Minnesota game Wednesday. The matchup was billed as the first meeting between Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, the top two picks in the 2014 draft. But for the first time, four teenagers played in the same game. The Bucks had Parker and second-year forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Timberwolves had Wiggins and fellow rookie Zach LaVine. Not only did all four teenyboppers play, they all started. And not only did they all
Did you watch the Bucks-Nets game on Wednesday night? If you didn’t, you missed a good one. Unlike most NBA regular season games, it had a terrific storyline, with power-hungry backstabber upwardly mobile coach Jason Kidd returning to Brooklyn for the first time since his failed takeover move to Milwaukee. And the game was perhaps the best of the young season. Before a somewhat energized crowd, the Bucks and Nets battled into triple overtime. Brooklyn was on a four-game skid and desperately needed a
This is the third season of Rookie Rankings at SheridanHoops. In each of the first two seasons, a highly trusting coach has given a point guard the keys to the Ferrari and these instructions: “Try not to wreck the thing, OK, kid?” Two years ago, it was Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, who became the first rookie to lead the NBA in minutes played since Elvin Hayes in 1970. Last year, it was Michael Carter-Williams of the tanking rebuilding Philadelphia
In a perfect world, the Philadelphia 76ers would flip a switch and have the calendar turn to 2016 or beyond. By then presumably all their wounded would not only be walking, but running at full speed. Dario Saric, the Croatian sensation, would be ready to show the NBA what made him such a hot draft commodity. Some of those other “assets’’ general manager Sam Hinkie has acquired since arriving in 2013 would have proven their value, justifying the moves that brought them