On Saturday night, while most basketball fans were watching the Final Four, the NBA playoffs got under way. Not officially, of course. That doesn’t happen until April 16. But for the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and other teams fighting for the bottom of the brackets, the postseason already has started. Detroit’s 94-90 victory at Chicago on Saturday wasn’t quite a Game Seven. The Pistons aren’t quite home free just yet, and the Bulls aren’t quite dead. But it sure looked an awful
Just six NBA teams have played at a .600 pace this season. A seventh briefly reached the threshold last week, and you have to wonder how in the world they got there. Consider that this team: Is in the bottom five in 3-point makes, attempts and percentage in the most prolific season for 3-pointers in league history. Has been without its best player for over a month. Responded to losing its best player by dealing two more of its top five remaining rotation players
It’s been just over three weeks since the NBA trade deadline and 10 days since the March 1 buyout deadline that saw numerous players joining playoff contenders. So which acquisitions are soaring and which are flailing? We’re going to look at 15 players who were recently acquired via trade or signing and sort them into three categories: Good, Bad and Obscure. The good players are making positive impacts on their teams, the bad players just haven’t been faring very well on their new
When the biggest names on the move at the NBA trading deadline are Brandon Jennings, Jeff Green and Markieff Morris, it is a bit of a letdown. There is legitimate reasoning behind last week’s relatively quiet activity. This summer marks uncharted territory for NBA teams and their general managers, none of whom want to be the guy who shoots before aiming. The salary cap is going to jump from $70 million to more than $90 million this summer. That is an unprecedented
Former NBA Executive of the Year Mark Warkentien once told me a story about this time of the season. Warkentien often traveled with his teams during the season and came to practices both at home and on the road. But not in the days leading up to the trading deadline. While with Denver, Warkentien was on the road with the Nuggets and sitting in the hotel lobby one morning before practice. It was a couple of days before the trading deadline. A
Houston Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff called his team “broken” recently, and with the team currently out of the playoffs Dwight Howard could be on the move. However, trading Howard may not be as easy as it sounds in theory as colleague Ben DuBose explained in a SheridanHoops column. Trades talks are heating up with less than a week until the trade deadline on February 18. Another player who may be dealt at the deadline is Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris who has wanted
We’re now just 16 days away from the NBA trade deadline, and some players around the league may be wondering if they would have a better situation on a different team. The following is a list of 10 players who would be better served on another team’s roster. Teams that could deal for this list of players is mainly speculation, mixed in with some reports. [Read more…]
Need a forward? Rudy Gay is available, multiple league sources tell SheridanHoops.com. And the list does not end there. Ryan Anderson is on the wish list of several teams. Josh Smith can be had … again. Markieff Morris is playing again in what looks like a showcase. Terrence Jones’ name is resurfacing again, along with Houston Rockets teammate Corey Brewer — who is eligible to be dealt as of 12:01 a.m. EST Friday. The NBA trade deadline is a month away, and GMs are working