After taking a look at the offseason activity of a handful of teams in the Eastern Conference, we turn our focus to the Western Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers all made significant moves for different reasons. The Thunder want to remain title contenders. The Kings want to make the playoffs. And the Blazers want to rebuild. But did they make the right moves? In this edition of the Three-Man Weave, the Sheridan Hoops staff takes a look
We have already looked at the Eastern Conference and told you who has won and lost the offseason. Now it is time to look at the Western Conference, which seems to get stronger and stronger every year. How much did DeAndre Jordan’s indecision really impact the conference? Has anyone closed the gap on the defending champion Golden State Warriors? Our staff takes a look in the Three-Man Weave. 1. Which Western Conference team has had the best offseason thus far? [Read more…]
What is the next big surprise? When will it happen? We are inside of 48 hours until the league’s moratorium ends, so fasten your seatbelts, folks. This summer’s free agency period has provided as much suspense and excitement as the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs have agreed to terms with LaMarcus Aldridge and David West while retaining Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green in hopes of returning to the Finals. West said he wanted to play for a title
Houston GM Daryl Morey has yet to hit a home run in this summer’s free agency, with initial target LaMarcus Aldridge spurning the Rockets to sign with the rival San Antonio Spurs. But as Houston enters 2015-16 coming off its first conference finals appearance in 18 years, was a roster overhaul truly essential? [Read more…]
So this is how it ends for Kobe Bryant, huh? A top-10 all-time player, Bryant will spend his last four years as the face of arguably the most storied franchise in NBA history, watching it plunge into unprecedented irrelevance. What has happened to the Lakers happens to a lot of successful family-owned businesses. It was handed from the patriarch to the next generation, which was in over its head. It took its brand for granted and treated the competition with disdain rather
Looking back, it was really the most likely outcome. Once LaMarcus Aldridge made up his mind to leave Portland, joining the Spurs made more sense than any other option. There’s no better coach in the game than Gregg Popovich, he’ll return to his home state, and he’ll have a chance to be the first option on a team with a genuine chance to win a ring. Still, there were enough twists and turns in the proceedings, including the Lakers’ farcical pitch
Slowly but surely, the free agent market is starting to dry out with over 40 signings in the first three days of the free agency period. Further significant signings occurred on Friday with the biggest deal going down for DeAndre Jordan, who decided to bolt the Los Angeles Clippers to join the Dallas Mavericks for four years on an $80 million contract. Other significant and relevant deals included the following: Tobias Harris agreed to stay in Orlando for a four-year, $64 million
The golden age for NBA players wasn’t supposed to arrive before 2016 when the new TV deal would kick in, but it has clearly arrived early enough for the free agents of 2015. It started just as the free agency period kicked in with the calendar turning July when Anthony Davis agreed to the largest single contract ever for an NBA player. While other big-name players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Monta Ellis and Marc Gasol are still trying to figure out what they want