It is crystal ball time as NBA free agency is opening, and anybody who tries to predict the future does so at considerable risk given the way things change by the hour in the NBA these days. Just ask Larry Drew. Free agency begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, and the biggest fish that could be caught is Carmelo Anthony. Apologies to LeBron James, but pretty much everyone is convinced he is staying in Miami. One team that has been under the radar
So you’ve been following this latest Jason Kidd debacle today, right? In case you haven’t, here’s the rundown: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: After a failed power play in Brooklyn, Nets coach Jason Kidd has entered into serious negotiations to become president of basketball operations for the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Kidd made a failed coup to Brooklyn’s Russian ownership to usurp the power of Nets general manager Billy King – and failed spectacularly. The Nets and Bucks are discussing
How many more years will LeBron James stay with the Heat? Not two, not three, not four … It might just be five. And a big part of the reason why was Miami’s acquisition of point guard Shabazz Napier in Thursday night’s draft, a move that James openly praised on Twitter just moments after the deal with Charlotte went down. If ever there was a case in which you needed to read between the lines, this was it. And how is this for
During the NBA Finals, Tim Duncan made many trips to the podium to regale the ever-rapacious NBA press corps. He was asked a lot of questions. I went through all of the transcripts on ASAP Sports and here’s one group of queries I didn’t see: Question: “Tim, when you took a 50 percent pay cut after the 2011-12 season, did that affect your lifestyle at all? Did you have to trade in the Land Rover for an Explorer? Did you limit the
This may come as a surprise, but the Atlanta Hawks are actually closer to becoming championship contenders than you might think. This summer, Atlanta has a realistic opportunity to present LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony with the most attractive free agent pitch of any team in the league, if Danny Ferry maneuvers contracts aggressively and appropriately. It’s certainly an ambitious idea, but it’s far from ridiculous. First and most obviously, the Hawks are situated in the Eastern Conference. This gives them a succinct
It what seems like a never-ending soap opera, the Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly split on Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. As things stand, I get the sense that the Cavs prefer to trade the top overall pick in Thursday’s draft. And if they do, I expect Joel Embiid to be a very real possibility if the Cavs move down. The significance of LeBron James opting out is that it comes early enough that all teams looking to make a play for him
With the NBA Free Agency period starting on July 1st, there was one pending decision that was sure to garner immediate attention. Earlier today it was announced that LeBron James was exercising his early termination clause, thus making him a free agent this off-season. The move by James should be seen as nothing more than a formality at this point. The decision to opt out gives him the option to decide what steps he would like to take in the next phase of
With LeBron James making the decision to opt out of his current contract, the speculations have been rampant on Tuesday. The most likely scenario that many believe will happen is that James would simply re-sign with the Heat for another multi-year deal – perhaps for a cheaper amount to help the team score better talent in the market – but anything goes when a player of his caliber becomes an unrestricted free agent. [Read more…]