Even though he stands 7-3 and weighs in at 290 pounds, Boban Marjanovic has been easy to overlook. Marjanovic is a rookie center on the San Antonio Spurs and not part of their rotation. While other rookie big men such as Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis and Jahlil Okafor have dominated the headlines this season, Marjanovic has played almost exclusively during garbage time while also collecting 17 DNPs. But the giant from Serbia got a chance to be more than a cheerleader this
If you are like many Americans – middle-class, middle-aged males not unlike myself – and watched your first NBA games this season on Christmas, then you probably think the Chicago Bulls are just fine. If you have watched at any other time this season, then you know otherwise. On Christmas, the Bulls played perhaps their best game of the season. They went into Loud City without injured emotional leader Joakim Noah and never trailed against the Thunder, leaving with a convincing 105-96
On an 11-game Friday slate, the NBA injury list keeps altering the fantasy landscape. Knowing who’s in and out can be profitable at DraftKings. [Read more…]
As the Los Angeles Lakers slowly and painfully transition away from the Kobe Bryant era, the franchise actually did the right thing in bottoming out last season. The Lakers went a franchise-worst 21-61 last season under first-year coach Byron Scott, losing 29 games by double digits. Forward Julius Randle was lost for the season with a foot injury in the opener, and everything went pretty much downhill from there. Los Angeles had the second-worst defensive rating and scoring defense while finishing 24th
The Los Angeles Lakers have a much different look so far in the preseason than recent years, thanks in large part to their suddenly dynamic group of young talents on the roster. The most impressive of the bunch have clearly been D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, who are showing there’s plenty of intrigue to their games and personalities. Not far behind from a highlight producing perspective, though, is rookie Larry Nance Jr. who managed to put Festus Ezeli in a mighty fine
If Laker fans hope—actually, expect—a fast turnaround, last week’s draft that brought D’Angelo Russell and two more of the top 34 picks was a reminder how tricky the process is going to be. The announcement of Russell’s selection at No. 2 prompted cries of anguish from the half of Lakerdom that wanted Jahlil Okafor. The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke kept from passing out long enough to tweet, “wow… crazy… wow… unreal… you’ve got to be kidding.” No, they were serious. The Lakers