Ten more NBA games are on tap for Wednesday night, with the most interesting in Houston. Not 100% sure it’s a great play in daily fantasy, as both the Grizzlies and Rockets are excellent defensively, but with Dwight Howard (knee), Patrick Beverley (hamstring), Terrence Jones (leg) and Isaiah Canaan (ankle) all unavailable, I’m leaning heavily to Memphis. [Read more…]
This is the third season of Rookie Rankings at SheridanHoops. In each of the first two seasons, a highly trusting coach has given a point guard the keys to the Ferrari and these instructions: “Try not to wreck the thing, OK, kid?” Two years ago, it was Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, who became the first rookie to lead the NBA in minutes played since Elvin Hayes in 1970. Last year, it was Michael Carter-Williams of the tanking rebuilding Philadelphia
Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo is out indefinitely after suffering a facial fracture in practice Thursday. The Magic announced Friday that Oladipo took an inadvertent elbow to the face during a practice drill. The second-year guard will undergo a surgical procedure Saturday. There is no timetable for his return. Oladipo already was nursing a sprained MCL suffered in preseason that had prevented him from playing in any exhibition games. He returned to practice Monday, and the Magic were hoping that Oladipo could
Despite the Orlando Magic becoming a better and deeper squad this offseason, a playoff push in the 2014-15 campaign still seems a step too far, even in the weaker Eastern Conference. GM Rob Hennigan has done a good job of moving on from Dwight Howard, creating a manageable payroll and rebuilding the Magic with young, exciting and athletic players. Orlando has 10 players on their rookie contracts, several of whom have already established themselves as legitimate NBA players. For now, those players
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
Chicago Bulls forward Doug McDermott, coming off a First Team selection at the recently completed Las Vegas Summer League, is among two rookie rookie chosen for the USA Select Team announced Tuesday. McDermott averaged 18.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in four games in Las Vegas. He was joined by Boston Celtics rookie guard Marcus Smart, who averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over five games in the Orlando Summer League. The Select Team is a group of players younger than
No disrespect to Andrew Wiggins, who can fly like a young Tracy McGrady and defend like a future Scottie Pippen. No disrespect to Jabari Parker, who can score like Carmelo Anthony and is our pick to win Rookie of the Year next season. And nothing against Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon, or any of the other mega-prospects who will likely be lighting up the league for the next 10 years. But Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton is the coolest player in
Thursday afternoon the NBA unveiled the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie Team, celebrating this past season’s top young athletes. One name you will not see on the the team is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ No.1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who only played in 52 games, averaging 4.2 points and three rebounds in just 12.8 minutes per game. He is just the fifth top overall draft pick to miss the All-Rookie team in 26 years. There were quite a few young rookies deserving of the