Derrick Rose said some interesting things about the reason behind the decision to sit out certain games over the first couple of weeks after tweaking both of his ankles in just the second game of the season. To make a long story short, the oft-injured point guard stated that he’s putting his long-term health into consideration because he doesn’t want to feel discomfort years later when he is done with the game of basketball. Naturally, that’s a bit of a controversial statement and
For the first time in years, the Chicago Bulls entered the offseason with salary cap flexibility and great expectations in the free agent market. But they finished second in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, whiffed on Kevin Love and settled for veteran Pau Gasol as a consolation prize. However, if this team has the look of the same old Bulls, that may not be all bad. Derrick Rose returns from what amounts to a two-year layoff, and if the former MVP can
Over the last couple days, it looked like the Grizzlies were this year’s Nuggets: a playoff team undergoing massive front office shakeup and losing their well-regarded coach. Today, they’re still down a couple executives (though by many accounts, not Masai Ujiri-caliber), but in an unexpected move, it looks like coach Dave Joerger is sticking around. How unexpected? Well, let’s look at a couple pieces that came out earlier today. First, from Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor interviewed Dave Joerger
Phil Jackson won’t be awful as president of the New York Knicks. He certainly won’t be as bad as Isiah Thomas was in running the club. And he will almost certainly be better than David Kahn, Bryan Colangelo, Joe Dumars, Otis Smith and Geoff Petrie have been in recent years. But Phil Jackson isn’t Isiah Thomas, or David Kahn, or Bryan Colangelo. He’s Phil Jackson, with a reputation of all things basketball that he touches turning to gold. And that’s exactly what
Jimmer Fredette is exactly what the Chicago Bulls need right now, yet at the same time is exactly the type of player the Bulls usually look to avoid. It is this inherent contradiction that makes Chicago’s signing of Fredette so uniquely interesting among last week’s February buyouts since Fredette is the exact antithesis of the Chicago Bulls player we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the last couple of years. Chicago as a team allows 100.6 points per 100 possessions, second in the
Last week, stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett played a road game. But not just any road game. It was perhaps the most significant road game of their careers. The future Hall of Famers returned for the first time to basketball-bonkers Boston, the city where they won hearts and championships. The former Celtics were given a warm welcome that included video tributes and had an emotional evening. In this era of free agency, many players have a similar experience. They move from a
Right now, the whole basketball-watching world is in Bash the Cavs mode. They took Anthony Bennett #1 overall, and for the production he’s given them, they might as well have taken Nerlens Noel. Kyrie Irving, depending on who you want to believe, either can’t wait to get out or just hasn’t made that decision yet. Dion Waiters went at #4 last year and this year he’s been linked with every team needing help at shooting guard. Tristan Thompson changed his
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