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
For the first time in roughly two decades, the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference from top to bottom. Nine East teams are at .500 or better – nearly twice as many teams as last season, when sixth-seeded Milwaukee finished 41-41. And the East actually has a winning record against the West this season at 100-98 What changed so quickly from last season, when articles were written about how there was the greatest disparity in conference strength in recent memory? “I
If you are like many Americans – middle-class, middle-aged males not unlike myself – and watched your first NBA games this season on Christmas, then you probably think the Chicago Bulls are just fine. If you have watched at any other time this season, then you know otherwise. On Christmas, the Bulls played perhaps their best game of the season. They went into Loud City without injured emotional leader Joakim Noah and never trailed against the Thunder, leaving with a convincing 105-96
If you’ve noticed that this year’s rookie class is being talked about and praised around the league and in the media, there’s good reason for that. This year’s top five picks— Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell, Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, New York’s Kristaps Porzingis and Orlando’s Mario Hezonja— are making a larger early impact than any top-five group in at least a half decade. A detailed statistical analysis of top five picks over the last five years shows that over the first two
One of the new secrets revealed over the first two days of the regular season was that Derrick Rose is experiencing double vision. Leave it to the Bulls to be the first team to keep things rather interesting. One of the NBA’s worst-kept secrets in 2015 was Chicago management’s dissatisfaction with head coach Tom Thibodeau. Thibs was dispatched from the position in late-May, two weeks after losing to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals. His replacement, as expected, was former NBA guard
It’s been quite the summer for the Chicago Bulls as they head into the 2015-2016 season. It began with another disappointing postseason exit when they were dispatched by their nemesis LeBron James and the eventual Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in May. From there, a whirlwind offseason began. After falling to James in the playoffs for the third time under Tom Thibodeau and failing to make it past the seccond round for the fourth consecutive year – compounded with other issues –
From “too many” games on Wednesday, with millions of possible 8-man lineup combinations, the pendulum swings as far as possible the other way. Two very interesting Thursday matchups feature playoff teams. [Read more…]
There are seven games tonight, one of them attracting by far the most national attention. At 7:30, on NBA-TV, Houston must visit Atlanta without James Harden, who is suspended. [Read more…]