When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded James Harden on Saturday night, they revealed to everyone that they are a team far more concerned with the bottom line than the top of the heap. Probably a bit ahead of schedule, the Thunder reached the NBA Finals last season. As we have said before, they were a questionable foul call away from opening a 2-0 lead on the mighty Miami Heat that would have cultivated the doubt and derision that has swirled around
It seemed more like an inevitability than a possibility when news about the status of Dirk Nowitzki’s knee broke out earlier in the preseason. There was swelling in his knee, and the German hinted at the possibility of surgery if the condition did not improve. Unfortunately, the swelling continued, forcing Nowitzki to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday. The procedure will sideline him for about six weeks. Chris Bernucca has the details of the situation. Playing without the heart of the team
(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) The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the league’s most talked-about teams last season, and it seemed that they were destined to meet with the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. It
Can you imagine falling faster than the speed of sound…from the edge of space? How would you react? Would you classify the experience as being fun? Thrilling? Exhilarating? Or would you be sweating bullets? Perhaps you—like some others—would release your bowels? One such person is Kevin Durant who, after seeing Felix Baumgartner’s free fall from the earth’s stratosphere, wrote:
In Sunday night’s preseason game between the Lakers and the Warriors, we witnessed something that may take a while to get used to: Steve Nash was running the floor alongside Kobe Bryant in a Lakers uniform. If you’re not a Lakers fan, what we saw was bad news because Nash – as he always does – made the game look so darned easy for everyone else. The Warriors actually blew the game open for a 110-83 victory and showed promising
We all realize at this point that the Los Angeles Lakers have assembled a team to do some special things this season. There is an incredible amount of talent on the team from Steve Nash’s play-making abilities, Dwight Howard’s defensive presence, Kobe Bryant’s scoring prowess to Metta World Peace’s renewed focus. Then there is Pau Gasol, whose ability to be an all-around player for the team could be the x-factor to help carry the Lakers over the top. See why
Elimination Roto Draft Results, Part I Last night was the first “big” draft of the fantasy hoops season for all three of us on the Sheridan Hoops team. On Monday, I went into considerable depth about the rules and strategy of this unique format, but what you can learn from these draft results applies to any type of league. Usually, “Round 1” refers to a 12-team league, and there are 13 rounds in standard-sized leagues. That means anyone who made it past
SF Tiers The two best players in fantasy hoops are small forwards. You can’t get both; they will go 1-2 in just about every league, for good reason. Which one to choose is more a matter of luck than fantasy expertise. Do you have first pick, or second? This is the third in a series. We’ve already looked at the best point guards and shooting guards. PF and C tiers will follow the next two days. Keep in mind that it’s very early
