LAS VEGAS – Day 1 of Team USA’s training camp was point guards. Day 2 is frontcourt bigs. Right now, it seems as though the consensus is condor-like Anthony Davis is the only sure thing to make the 12-man roster going to Spain for the World Cup. After that, everything else is up in the air. The other candidates are power forwards Kenneth Faried and Paul Millsap and centers Andre Drummond and DeMarcus Cousins. And the guy I want to talk about is
Four players – three of them future Hall of Famers – took pay cuts of a staggering eight figures this offseason. Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Paul Pierce all took salary slashes of more than $10 million to extend their careers with contending teams. They head the list of the top 10 individual pay cuts this summer. Our list uses exact salary figures from last season. In some cases, this season’s figures are averages of multi-year deals received by players. For example,
Have the Indiana Pacers already gone as far as they can go with this roster? It’s a question overlooked with all the big moves being made this offseason in the Eastern Conference, and the Central Division in particular. A quick synopsis, for those who watched the World Cup and forgot about basketball since the Finals ended: Cleveland signed LeBron James, drafted Andrew Wiggins and could trade Wiggins to Minnesota in a blockbuster deal for Kevin Love. Chicago got rid of Carlos Boozer and
Thankfully, the dominoes of the summer of 2014 have begun to fall into place for next season (and beyond). And even though it’s the middle of July, it’s never too early to think about the possibilities that lie ahead on the hardwood. Here are three offensive certainties that will make waves during the 2014-15 NBA season. [Read more…]
We’re at the point in the NBA offseason where we start asking why nobody wants the best RFAs on the market. Last year it was Brandon Jennings, and the answer was obvious: he’s Brandon Jennings. This year, it’s Greg Monroe and Eric Bledsoe, and there isn’t a clear answer to be had. In a market where Chandler Parsons gets a $15 million per year offer sheet, you’d think somebody would go after them, even if it’s just to set the
The Chicago Bulls introduced their two new big men Friday. [AP Photo/M. Spencer Green]It’s official. The Chicago Bulls are now, barring Kevin Love being traded from Minnesota to Cleveland, the top threat to win the Eastern Conference in 2014-15. For a team that was highly competitive and amongst the best defensive squads in the league without star point guard Derrick Rose, they have gotten deeper and better. Beyond the added scoring that they’ll get from incoming rookie Doug
It is still mid-July, and there are many more NBA moves to be made, many more paydays and strange discounts to go around. Lance Stephenson reminded us of that this morning. But it feels like we went through so much already. We have to stop and take stock. Let’s inhale. Then exhale. Man, this summer’s free agency is crazy. In a couple of days, we will take a look at which teams have been the biggest winners and losers thus far in free agency. But
As NBA free agency dominated the weekend with several big headlines — see LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh — and a avalanche of new signings, teams are now getting down to the nitty gritty of available players and are even looking at which players they can clear off the roster. That brings us to the curious case of Carlos Boozer and the Chicago Bulls. [Read more…]