LaMarcus Aldridge will kick off a whirlwind week of free agency by meeting with both the Lakers and Rockets on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, according to reports. Free agency begins at 9:01 p.m. Pacific time (12:01 a.m. Eastern), and Aldridge won’t waste much time. After meeting with the Lakers and Rockets on Tuesday, he’ll proceed to visit with the Spurs, Mavs, Suns and Raptors on Wednesday and finally with the Knicks on Thursday, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. That list doesn’t even
As many predicted, there was no shortage of trades at the 2015 NBA draft. There just weren’t any big ones. We were all hoping for a blockbuster like DeMarcus Cousins to the Los Angeles Lakers or the Toronto Raptors detonating their roster. Instead, we may have to wait for the powderkeg of Kings training camp, when George Karl first asks Cousins to show harder on a pick-and-roll. We even would have settled for a team such as the Celtics or Hawks taking
The three-team deal sending Jeff Green to Memphis has been completed, adding another top Western Conference contender to the list of teams that have made upgrades. Grades for all the deals made by West teams can be viewed here. To remind you: The Rockets got Corey Brewer in a trade and signed Josh Smith; the Mavericks acquired Rajon Rondo; the Suns picked up Brandan Wright; and the Thunder added Dion Waiters. In the East, the Cavs have brought in Timofey Mozgov, Iman
This is the third season of Rookie Rankings at SheridanHoops. In each of the first two seasons, a highly trusting coach has given a point guard the keys to the Ferrari and these instructions: “Try not to wreck the thing, OK, kid?” Two years ago, it was Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, who became the first rookie to lead the NBA in minutes played since Elvin Hayes in 1970. Last year, it was Michael Carter-Williams of the tanking rebuilding Philadelphia
Despite the Orlando Magic becoming a better and deeper squad this offseason, a playoff push in the 2014-15 campaign still seems a step too far, even in the weaker Eastern Conference. GM Rob Hennigan has done a good job of moving on from Dwight Howard, creating a manageable payroll and rebuilding the Magic with young, exciting and athletic players. Orlando has 10 players on their rookie contracts, several of whom have already established themselves as legitimate NBA players. For now, those players
After coming off one of his best seasons ever and winning the Sixth Man of the Year award over Jamal Crawford in 2013, J.R. Smith spiraled down in the wrong direction last season. Due to off-season knee surgery, Smith had no time to work on his game or stay in shape. Consequently, he started the 2013-2014 season comically bad, scoring 11.7 points on just 32.8 percent shooting in November and 12.4 points on 36.8 percent shooting in December. To be fair, Smith
If you were hoping for a blockbuster, “Woj Bomb” type of trade on Thursday, you were out of luck. The trade deadline came and went on Thursday without any real stars packing their bags, but plenty of teams made relevant moves throughout the day to bolster their franchises in some way. Our Chris Sheridan has the trade analysis of all the deals, but you can find more on everything that went down and everything else that fell through below. [Read more…]
Capping off a mediocrity-defining three-year stretch that saw them finish ninth, ninth and eighth in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks should have entered the summer of 2013 with change as the most obvious mandate. As in change everything. Despite a return to the playoffs and encouraging progress from big men Larry Sanders, Ersan Ilyasova and John Henson, the Bucks had little to show for their efforts last season, as coaching upheaval and a dysfunctional locker room motivated GM John Hammond to take a