The three-team blockbuster trade involving the Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks has been made official, after initial reports of the trade on Monday evening. Now that it’s gone through, the players involved had some things to say to their now former teams before they left town. Dion Waiters, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert each showed respect for the franchises after they were traded. [Read more…]
The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t even the best tankers in their own division these days. After the Sixers boosted their record to 5-28 with a win over the Cavs, the worst team in the Atlantic — and the entire NBA, for that matter — is undoubtedly the 5-32 New York Knicks. The Knicks have now lost 12 straight, and dealt away both Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in a deal aimed solely at cap relief (Smith has
Now that the entire NBA knows that Phil Jackson will take pennies on the dollar for his few remaining assets, there are two tams that should be picking up the phone this morning and trying to take Jose Calderon off his hands. Those teams are the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings. Both are in win-now mode, and both could use a 41 percent career 3-point shooter who knows how to run an offense and get the ball into the hands of
Is this some sort of way to earn a quasi 12th ring? New York Knicks president Phil Jackson could not have done much worse Monday night in dealing away Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-way trade that netted the Knicks three non-guaranteed contracts and a second-round draft pick in 2019. We’ve all heard of selling low, but this? This was a gift to the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers, who just became the first team to lose in
Young players having the best seasons in their careers right before they’re due a new contract is hardly a new phenomenon, but it takes on new significance due to the NBA’s current economic situation. A likely escalation in the salary cap this summer will allow free agents to obtain more expensive contracts from a larger pool of teams with newfound cap space. A quartet of these young, emerging stars— Milwaukee’s Brandon Knight, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Orlando’s Tobias Harris and Golden State’s
In today’s NBA, the formula for winning in recent years was simple: Accumulate as many maximum-salary stars as you can without breaking the bank. But when you start piling up eight-figure salaries against the luxury tax, the bank breaks pretty quickly. So teams fill out their rosters with minimum-salary veterans. And if you look at the top of the NBA standings right now, many teams are getting very productive seasons from veterans signed to minimum-salary deals. The Chicago Bulls added Pau Gasol to Jimmy
Sunday marked a tragic day in the sports world. Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed away in the morning hours of January 4, 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 49. The news is devastating to all those in the sports industry, including athletes, fans and viewers of ESPN. He brought something to the network and sports reporting that changed the game, and will continue to do so. [Read more…]
Not many people expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to be sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference two months into the season. When you build a SuperTeam, 5th place is not where you set your sights … and Cavs fans are grousing about it. But when you have a new coach, two imported superstars who have to change their games, a franchise cornerstone (Kyrie Irving) who is not the franchise cornerstone anymore, there are going to be growing pains. And that