We’ve got a very important piece up here on Sheridan Hoops today. With the Northwestern football union case picking up steam, the NCAA’s amateurism policy is coming under fire, and that could have effects on the NBA’s age limit, which Adam Silver wants to raise, and Danny Schayes says would be a disaster for the players. Personally, I like the MLB’s system, where players can get drafted out of high school, and if they don’t sign, can go to college for
Isaiah Thomas entered the league as “Mr. Irrelevant” after being selected 60th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. In his third season, he’s now become a candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player award (although colleague Kels Dayton seems to disagree). Thomas’ breakout season couldn’t have come at a better time with restricted free agency looming this summer. With that in mind, Thomas and I discussed his development, Sacramento’s new culture and his free agency plans in an
The Toronto Raptors had no intention of making the playoffs this season. Head coach Dwane Casey admitted as much earlier in the season, but the talent on the team turned out to be above average in an Eastern Conference that turned out to be historically subpar. So general manager Masai Ujiri sent the overpaid Rudy Gay to Sacramento on Dec. 8 with the team in first place at 7-12, and the Raptors have turned into one of the East’s best teams. Toronto
In his stated effort to upstage Knicks owner James Dolan, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has become him. Like Dolan, Prokhorov desperately wants an NBA championship. Like Dolan, he has pursued that desperation with financial abandon, giving his GM an open checkbook. Like Dolan, he has overspent on overvalued big names. Like Dolan, he has mortgaged his team’s future by giving away multiple draft picks. And like Dolan, he appears headed down the abyss. In two months, the Nets have gone from contenders with
If you know me or follow me on twitter, you know that I follow the Golden State Warriors more closely than any other team in the league. No player intrigues me the way Stephen Curry does (can you blame me?), and the belief that this team may be good enough to come out of the West became a reality when the team acquired Andrew Bogut two seasons ago. They were half way there to prove this point last season, and
When you’re an adored star in this league, you get a pass on a lot of things. And Dwyane Wade got a pass for an absolutely rockhead play in Miami’s inexplicable loss to Boston on Saturday. The Heat led by four with less than two seconds to play. On their home floor. Against the Celtics. And lost. In regulation. And most of it was on Wade, who (a) faltered in the clutch; (b) made his own strategic decision without any input from the
Today the Knicks got destroyed by the Spurs. The Spurs are still great, and the Knicks are missing Tyson Chandler, but this can’t say good things about the Knicks’ ability to stay near the top of the East. [Read more…]
When the deadline for contract extensions came and went Thursday night, point guards Eric Bledsoe and Greivis Vasquez didn’t get paid. But don’t shed any tears for them. Because when the summer rolls around, they will get their money. And it might be GMs Ryan McDonough of Phoenix and Pete D’Alessandro of Sacramento who are crying. As reluctant as McDonough and D’Alessandro may have been to pony up for point guards with plenty to prove, they should have done so. Both GMs are