This is the time of year where everyone and their mothers offer up a series of fearless prognostications about the upcoming NBA season. Here’s what I can tell you about my skills at predicting the future. If I was really any good at it, I wouldn’t be wasting it on the NBA season. And neither would anyone else. I am not reading tea leaves, interpreting tarot cards, gazing into crystal balls, holding seances, poring over analytics or buying classified information on the
Before last season began, I wrote a piece predicting 5 players who will have breakout seasons, 5 players who will get traded, and 5 players who will have the biggest impact on the title picture. I whiffed so badly on the players who will be traded and the players that will impact the title picture, that I’m not even going to try again. However, I was 2 for 5 on my five breakout players (Ty Lawson and Paul George), which would win me
(Folks, the news of Russell Westbrook being out for a couple months after knee surgery calls for an Oct. 1 revision. We published on Sept. 29, and should have known better. Something big happens early in ever October-CS). The beat brought us to East Rutherford N.J. this past week, where the Nets still have a practice facility (and yes, they still use it, making for a particularly brutal two-river crossing to get to the BK). Jason Kidd was the featured speaker,
Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Russell Westbrook had a second knee surgery Tuesday and is out until December. Thunder GM Sam Presti announced that Westbrook had an arthroscopic procedure after experiencing swelling in his surgically repaired right knee caused by a loose stitch. Westbrook originally hurt the knee in the 2013 postseason. Westbrook is expected to miss the first four to six weeks of the regular season, which means his entire recovery period could require up to 10 weeks. When Westbrook went down
With NBA training camps now open, every team will be using October to try to answer questions about their rosters. But for teams with injured stars, the questions have greater significance. Like, how long can the Lakers stay afloat without Kobe Bryant? Is Danny Granger going to come off the bench for the Pacers? Are the Warriors really a better team without David Lee? No less than nine current or former All-Stars will start the 2013-14 season with doubt swirling around them because they
The dust has settled and the NBA offseason has officially hit its conclusion when it comes to the futures market. [Read more…]
When are folks going to stop picking on Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti and Clay Bennett for trading James Harden? Not any time soon around here. Exhibit A is this outstanding column by Chris Bernucca, and Exhibit B will be seen nearly every week in my Power Rankings. Perhaps sometime in the next 5-10 years, we’ll let it go. But to break up a championship-caliber team and end up with nothing but Jeremy Lamb in return is borderline nauseating. Let’s face it: If
In today’s NBA news, the Pacers will look to sign all-star Paul George to an extension, Russell Westbrook may not be his superstar self to begin the year, and Deron Williams should be good to go for opening night. [Read more…]