Pardon the San Andreas reference, but the seismic ramifications of the 2015 NBA Draft will emanate from El Segundo, Calif. That is where the Lakers are headquartered, and that is where Jim and Jeannie Buss together with Mitch Kupchak will decide who the purple and gold will take with the No. 2 pick Thursday night. Our latest Mock Draft has them taking D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State, although the consensus on other Mock Draft sites is that they will go for
Drafted No. 4 overall in the 2004 NBA draft and suffering a potential career-ending knee injury in 2007, Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston believes playing in the NBA finals is “a special moment”, especially for him. In 2007, Livingston, in his third season with the Los Angeles Clippers, tore his ACL, MCL, PCL, a lateral meniscus and had a dislocated kneecap all in one knee. Even the Clippers’ team physician hadn’t “seen a lot of these” happen in one knee.
It would be fitting if the man who helped lead the Sacramento Kings during their most prosperous years could help guide them back after a decade of mediocre irrelevance. You may recognize Vlade Divac’s smooth European voice from your Waze navigation system, but most know Divac— aside from being traded for Kobe Bryant— for being the center of the turn-of-the-millenium Kings team that nearly reached the NBA Finals and turned Arco Arena into the loudest building in sports. With a new arena
Kevin Love is expected to seriously study the free-agent market this summer and consider leaving the Cavaliers after one year with the franchise, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. “He’s got options,” the Yahoo! Sports NBA insider said in a radio appearance on The Jason McIntyre Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio. “He could stay another year [by not opting out] and go into free agency next year. “But he’s had injuries, and he might just want to sign a four-year deal somewhere else,”
Based on conversations I had with multiple people around the league at last week’s combine in Chicago, this draft sounds like it will be known as the Karl-Anthony Towns draft– and the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to get him. Barring an injury issue similar to what Joel Embiid had last year, Towns is all but certain to be the first player to shake hands with Adam Silver on draft night and become the third straight No. 1 pick to wear a Minnesota
21. Dallas Mavericks – Tyus Jones, PG, Duke If you watched any of Duke’s tournament games, you could see how big of an impact Jones had as a true freshman. Jones is a throwback PG that creates great scoring opportunities for his teammates, but he also has the ability to hit the big shot or convert when he’s open, sort of like Chris Paul. While Jones is not big, he has tons of heart and is a true leader. In a point guard-driven league, especially
Kevin Love’s left labrum has torn away from the bone and needs at least 4-to-6 weeks to heal, reports Bleacher Report‘s Howard Beck. As a result, there’s “virtually zero chance” that Love plays again this postseason, even if the Cavaliers make the Finals. Moreover, if the labrum tear doesn’t heal on its own, offseason surgery is a possibility as well, according to Beck’s sources. “I want to make it clear that’s highly unlikely,” Cavs general manager David Griffin said, in comments transcribed
Teams in the NBA playoff races aren’t the only ones watching scoreboards this time of year. Take the Philadelphia 76ers, for example. The Sixers lost their first 17 games, were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race nearly a month ago and almost certainly will lose 60-plus games for the second straight season. But GM Sam Hinkie and the rest of the Sixers’ front office are tracking the results of other games almost as closely as their own. That’s because Philadelphia could have