Over the summer, Carmelo Anthony had the chance to put himself in position to be a part of one of the top contending teams in the league. He was a free agent, and the Chicago Bulls believed the small forward was the perfect offensive force to complete their team compromised of mostly defensively-dominant players. Of course, Anthony decided to be loyal (the extra $20-plus million probably helped) and remained with the rebuilding New York Knicks. Unfortunately, he got to see on Wednesday
For Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, it was another summer of dreams and possibilities after a relatively disappointing 2013-2014 season that ended in dramatic fashion in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers. During the offseason last year, there was some talk about the possibility of Dwight Howard having interest in joining the Warriors. It was unlikely (and never materialized), but the interest alone elevated the team’s status to a destination that was slowly but surely becoming
What backcourt is considered the best in the NBA heading into the upcoming season? That’s the question in the minds of many this week, including the players themselves. For example, John Wall and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards openly stated that they are the best backcourt duo in the league on Tuesday. Dion Waiters of the Cleveland Cavaliers disagreed, word got back to Wall, and then the fun back and forth ensued between the two. Waiters got the final word,
In case you missed it, Phoenix Suns forwards and twin brothers Markieff and Marcus Morris received contract extensions Monday. They joined Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Kyrie Irving as the only players thus far from the 2011 NBA draft to receive extensions. Irving received a five-year maximum extension at the outset of the offseason and the Morris twins received four-year deals for $32 million and $20 million, respectively. There are as many as a dozen players from the 2011 draft whom you could
With about six weeks remaining until the Oct. 31 contract extension deadline for 2011 draftees, Klay Thompson and the Warriors are in a bit of a standoff. He wants a maximum-salary contract or close to it, while the team would undoubtedly love to find a friendlier number for their cap future. maybe something like the $44 million, four-year deal they struck with backcourt mate Stephen Curry two years ago. On the surface, Thompson isn’t a max player yet. Though known first for
BARCELONA — Quite the bizarro scene in the post-game press conference after Team USA destroyed Lithuania in the semifinals of the World Cup. There was a reporter from Slovenia who had been going back and forth with coach Mike Krzyzewski over the past several days — he wanted to ask questions that Coach K did not want to answer, and Coach K told him he’d answer his questions over a glass of wine when the time was appropriate. So the guy from
BARCELONA — If the gold medal match was being played Sunday, Team USA would not beat Spain. It wouldn’t even be close. But the gold medal game is not this Sunday. It is next Sunday. And a lot can change in a week. So the burden is on coach Mike Krzyzewski: Figure out who is going to give you the best chance to beat the host nation, start shortening up the rotation, and hope that in one week you can achieve what it
Some NBA owners have a tendency to hold grudges when the star players on their team decide that it’s time to abandon ship, so it was no surprise when Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor provided a pretty good example of having some bad feelings towards Kevin Love when asked to speak about his former franchise player. To summarize, Taylor more or less said the following about Love: he’s the third best player on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he is injury prone, doesn’t