This time last year, Laker fans were rejoicing in the fact that LeBron James chose to dawn the purple and gold. Laker fans instantly envisioned championships and former glory restored. However, last season wasn’t a testament to what the Lakers could eventually become.
A large topic of debate among NBA fans everywhere in recent years has been the presence of superteams. Do they prevent parity? Are they bad for the league? Are they a new concept? Are they unnatural? Are they even a real thing?
With Dwyane Wade now retired, it’s the younger Miami Heat players’ responsibility to carry the franchise forward. And every single one of them has embraced the challenge. One of those young players, Derrick Jones Jr., has his sights on the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Brooklyn Nets’ 2018-19 season was a demonstration of what can be achieved when team-mates simply like one another. Considered a long shot to make the playoffs last October, New York’s unfashionable franchise defied all expectations to make the playoffs, courtesy of strong chemistry, a never-say-die attitude and an egoless group of much-maligned misfits. Although they bowed out in the first round, they gave the heavily-favored Philadelphia 76ers a fright and with a band of young, united and hungry players, the Nets appear perfectly placed to develop further in the near future.
The Detroit Pistons have been seemingly in a state of purgatory in the NBA. Since the Chauncey Billups trade in 2008, the Pistons have not had a pick inside the top seven. And, to show how Detroit’s draft picks have done since then, said seventh pick was Greg Monroe. Although Andre Drummond has had some success in Motown, almost every other draft pick has had to find a different home to pan out… if they did. So, with the past questionable draft history in mind, let’s take a look at how Detroit did this year.
Josh Elias | June 21st, 2019 5:26 PM. T.J. Warren is in a much better basketball situation after being traded
The Toronto Raptors dethroned the Golden State Warriors in six games to take the NBA Championship, but there is still another NBA event that people can look forward to. The 2019 NBA Draft will be happening on Thursday and it will either revive a franchise back to its glory or give them more balls at next year’s lottery. The consequence of the one and done era is that top basketball prospects are leaving school after just one year, here’s a look at one who stayed for two!
On Saturday the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans finally agreed on a trade that will send six-time All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. In return, the Pelicans will receive Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the fourth overall pick in Thursday night’s draft. For months the rumors and reports have been swirling that Davis would become a Laker and now it’s finally done.
So far, trade discussions between the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat regarding Mike Conley have not gone well. Over the last couple of weeks, the Heat have talks with Grizzlies about the veteran point guard, but according to Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson the talks went nowhere.
As expected, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler will opt out of his $19.8M player-option for next season, as Chris Haynes reported earlier on Friday. He will join the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving as one of the top free agents on the market. According to Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, once NBA Free Agency begins, Butler would gladly meet with the Miami Heat.
Klay Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the third quarter of game 6 of the NBA Finals Thursday night. This is just the latest in a long list of injuries suffered by the Golden State Warriors this season. This injury occurred just 3 days after Kevin Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles Tendon in Game 5. The common issue in both of these injuries is that both players had recently returned from a different injury before suffering their more devastating injuries. Did the prior injury contribute to the new injury? Did the GSW medical staff doom the team because they cleared both Durant and Thompson to play? I am sure questions like these will make the rounds during this offseason.
Eleven months ago, in an article detailing why the Boston Celtics were the favorites for the 2019 NBA title, I labeled the Golden State Warriors; dynasty as ‘fragile’. While my praise of the Celtics proved to be excessive (I wasn’t the only one), this description of the Warriors’ dominance proved to be correct, although I did not envisage it being a literal one.
This time last year, Laker fans were rejoicing in the fact that LeBron James chose to dawn the purple and gold. Laker fans instantly envisioned championships and former glory restored. However, last season wasn’t a testament to what the Lakers could eventually become.
A large topic of debate among NBA fans everywhere in recent years has been the presence of superteams. Do they prevent parity? Are they bad for the league? Are they a new concept? Are they unnatural? Are they even a real thing?
With Dwyane Wade now retired, it’s the younger Miami Heat players’ responsibility to carry the franchise forward. And every single one of them has embraced the challenge. One of those young players, Derrick Jones Jr., has his sights on the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Brooklyn Nets’ 2018-19 season was a demonstration of what can be achieved when team-mates simply like one another. Considered a long shot to make the playoffs last October, New York’s unfashionable franchise defied all expectations to make the playoffs, courtesy of strong chemistry, a never-say-die attitude and an egoless group of much-maligned misfits. Although they bowed out in the first round, they gave the heavily-favored Philadelphia 76ers a fright and with a band of young, united and hungry players, the Nets appear perfectly placed to develop further in the near future.
The Detroit Pistons have been seemingly in a state of purgatory in the NBA. Since the Chauncey Billups trade in 2008, the Pistons have not had a pick inside the top seven. And, to show how Detroit’s draft picks have done since then, said seventh pick was Greg Monroe. Although Andre Drummond has had some success in Motown, almost every other draft pick has had to find a different home to pan out… if they did. So, with the past questionable draft history in mind, let’s take a look at how Detroit did this year.
Josh Elias | June 21st, 2019 5:26 PM. T.J. Warren is in a much better basketball situation after being traded to Indiana than he was
The Toronto Raptors dethroned the Golden State Warriors in six games to take the NBA Championship, but there is still another NBA event that people can look forward to. The 2019 NBA Draft will be happening on Thursday and it will either revive a franchise back to its glory or give them more balls at next year’s lottery. The consequence of the one and done era is that top basketball prospects are leaving school after just one year, here’s a look at one who stayed for two!
On Saturday the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans finally agreed on a trade that will send six-time All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. In return, the Pelicans will receive Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the fourth overall pick in Thursday night’s draft. For months the rumors and reports have been swirling that Davis would become a Laker and now it’s finally done.
So far, trade discussions between the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat regarding Mike Conley have not gone well. Over the last couple of weeks, the Heat have talks with Grizzlies about the veteran point guard, but according to Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson the talks went nowhere.
As expected, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler will opt out of his $19.8M player-option for next season, as Chris Haynes reported earlier on Friday. He will join the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving as one of the top free agents on the market. According to Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, once NBA Free Agency begins, Butler would gladly meet with the Miami Heat.
Klay Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the third quarter of game 6 of the NBA Finals Thursday night. This is just the latest in a long list of injuries suffered by the Golden State Warriors this season. This injury occurred just 3 days after Kevin Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles Tendon in Game 5. The common issue in both of these injuries is that both players had recently returned from a different injury before suffering their more devastating injuries. Did the prior injury contribute to the new injury? Did the GSW medical staff doom the team because they cleared both Durant and Thompson to play? I am sure questions like these will make the rounds during this offseason.
Eleven months ago, in an article detailing why the Boston Celtics were the favorites for the 2019 NBA title, I labeled the Golden State Warriors; dynasty as ‘fragile’. While my praise of the Celtics proved to be excessive (I wasn’t the only one), this description of the Warriors’ dominance proved to be correct, although I did not envisage it being a literal one.
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