Just about every team in the Western Conference spent money in free agency. Some were trying to close the gap on the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Some were trying to jump from the lottery to the playoffs. And some were merely trying to keep pace in the arms race. But while some teams spent smartly and found bargains, others threw bad money after good, overreaching and overpaying for players who may not provide the expected bang for the buck. The Sheridan Hoops
We have already looked at the Eastern Conference and told you who has won and lost the offseason. Now it is time to look at the Western Conference, which seems to get stronger and stronger every year. How much did DeAndre Jordan’s indecision really impact the conference? Has anyone closed the gap on the defending champion Golden State Warriors? Our staff takes a look in the Three-Man Weave. 1. Which Western Conference team has had the best offseason thus far? [Read more…]
LAS VEGAS– The people at the NBA who make the schedule for its annual Summer League don’t do anything by accident. For the second year in a row, the featured game on the first day of action pitted this year’s top two draft picks against one another. So Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings was meant to be an awkward, bittersweet affair. In the middle of it all was Mike Malone. Fired in the middle of last
“Fuhgetaboutit!” That’s what Brooklyn Nets fans were saying on Twitter when the team announced it had agreed to terms with Andrea Bargnani. Nets fans in Little Italy applauded the move. The agreement is reportedly a two-year deal for the veteran’s minimum salary, according to the New York Post. The second year of the deal is a player option. Barring a catastrophically bad season, Bargnani would opt out after this season. Fans of the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks may laugh at the signing,
Dwight Howard is finally closing in on a return to the Houston Rockets after missing the last 22 games with swelling in his troublesome right knee. Howard, now 29 years old, participated in parts of Houston’s practice on Monday (video), and both star guard James Harden and head coach Kevin McHale said they were pleased with what they saw from the franchise’s star big man. Howard has been traveling with the team, working out and participating in two-on-two drills for some
Much has been made about all the drama going on in Cleveland recently with the way it has struggled over the past couple of weeks. Kevin Love, who has not been himself this year, has now been benched a couple of times for the entire fourth quarter with mixed results, while Kyrie Irving doesn’t seem to grasp what it means to run a team as the point guard. These are obviously troubling things, but there have also been some positives with the
After last week’s loss in Atlanta, Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger – whose team has the fifth-best record in the NBA – lamented his roster’s shortcomings. “We have to get another playmaker on the floor,” Joerger said. “We’re going to have to start playing multiple point guards (at the same time). We’ve got to be able to get inside of defenses.” It doesn’t matter that the Grizzlies have been at or near the top of the league for most of the season.
What a rotten week for the Spurs — three straight losses, the last two in triple overtime. Damian Lillard (career-high 43 PTS, 6 AST) and LaMarcus Aldridge (32 PTS, 16 REB) were fantastic to own on Friday as each played over 50 minutes. [Read more…]