With the opening of training camps in late September, there is now more offseason behind us rather than in front of us. With six weeks to go, many teams are looking to fill the final spot or two on their rosters. And as we pointed out last week, there is not much to choose from. Although there has been talk about some of these teams possibly adding another player, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Golden State, Indiana, the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis, New York, Oklahoma City
We are down to the bargain bin of free agency. Reduced for clearance! Everything must go! Up to 90 percent off! Yes, we know Mickael Pietrus and Derek Fisher aren’t exactly scrap heap material. Both were key players for playoff teams last season, as were Leandro Barbosa and Kenyon Martin. But most of what is left falls into three categories: Olympians, amnesty victims and veterans too proud to take minimum deals. There is some variety remaining at both forward spots and shooting guard but
Commissioner David Stern wanted to level the economic playing field and curb overspending by the NBA’s bigger markets with the new CBA. Some very useful players got squeezed this summer, while some not so deserving players cashed in major checks. Some guys such as O.J. Mayo and D.J. Augustin did it to themselves. Others such as Devin Harris and Mickael Pietrus were victims of their own circumstances. But at the end of the day, a win is a win, and a loss
We are three-plus weeks into free agency, and the cupboard is not quite bare. There are still some good players out there, whose choices are narrowed to two primary options: (a) go for the money and play for a loser, or (b) pass on the money and play for a winner. More than two-thirds of NBA teams have no cap room remaining. The ones that do mostly are those in rebuilding mode – Sacramento, Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Toronto and Minnesota. There are
There is one team in the league that has been constantly in the news since the beginning of free agency: The Houston Rockets. That trend continued on Friday, as the team made a number of significant moves to ultimately acquire the prize they seek in Dwight Howard. See what they did today, along with transactions around the league including trades and signings. Also, be sure to scroll to the bottom to watch a number of entertaining videos. It’s what the
It was just a couple months ago that the “Save Vinny’s Job” homestand began for the Los Angeles Clippers. They returned home reeling from a seven-point road loss against New Orleans, the worst team in the West, and had lost eight of 12. What has happened since has been the second renaissance of the former laughingstocks of Los Angeles, and Del Negro coached his kiester off in Game 7 of the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies, riding the players
Through the first four games of this season’s playoffs, every series had one team that held at least a 3-1 lead. So not many expected any of the series to go to a full seven games, but two of them did, and they turned out to be quite the battles until the very end. The winners of those games turned out to be both Los Angeles teams, who are moving through to the Western Conference semifinals together for the first time ever. Since
Really? Two Bernucca Lists in a row without a correct answer? C’mon, Sheridan Hoops readers, you’re better than that. Yes, Edition 16 was a tough one, and sooner or later, we were going to produce one of these lists that stumped our readership. And reader Andrew was very close on Edition 17, which ran last week. However, we have to question his sense of NBA history. The correct answer was “Players who have averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds in the same season.” We