Al-Farouq Aminu remembers when he was on a minimum contract. It was five summers ago in 2014. The Dallas Mavericks had signed him to a two-year, $2.1 million deal with a player option for the second season. After playing as a rookie with the Los Angeles Clippers and spending the next three years in New
DeMarcus Cousins looked surprisingly spry in his first game back from a torn Achilles, which is bad news for all the NBA teams who aren’t the Golden State Warriors. There were idiots (read: this writer) who figured DeMarcus Cousins would not add that much to the Golden State Warriors due to the severity of the
3:19 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Star forward Kevin Love will rest his surgically repaired left foot when the Cavaliers face the Pistons on Saturday. Love still isn’t ready to play in back-to-back games, and with Cleveland scheduled to host Orlando on Sunday, the team is remaining conservative with his minutes and won’t play
The best high salary and value picks for FanDuel fantasy basketball on Saturday, March 2. Saturday’s FanDuel slate: 7 p.m. ET: Orlando at Indiana7:30 p.m. ET: Brooklyn at Miami8:30 p.m. ET: Golden State at Philadelphia, Memphis at Dallas, Oklahoma City at San Antonio9 p.m. ET: New Orleans at Denver, LA Lakers at Phoenix, Milwaukee at
When a young team that has been steadily improving for a while finally has its breakthrough season, there are a lot of people who end up getting a lot of attention. The team’s coach, of course, gets a fair share of the spotlight and ends up in awards conversation. The star player ends up at
11:21 PM ET Steve Kerr is no stranger to being surrounded by Hall of Famers. He was a reserve guard on a 1996-97 Chicago Bulls team that had four players — Michael Jordan, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman — eventually enshrined in Springfield, along with head coach Phil Jackson and assistant coach Tex
Al-Farouq Aminu remembers when he was on a minimum contract. It was five summers ago in 2014. The Dallas Mavericks had signed him to a two-year, $2.1 million deal with a player option for the second season. After playing as a rookie with the Los Angeles Clippers and spending the next three years in New
The Denver Nuggets have a lot of good players, but Monte Morris might be the best value on the entire team. There are a lot of players across the NBA who simply do not get credit for their importance. Monte Morris of the Denver Nuggets has been one of those guys this season. Morris is
As we move into the final stretch of the regular season, it’s important for the real contenders around the league to narrow down exactly what combinations of players they want to use during the postseason. Matchups will, of course, dictate personnel in most playoff series, but that doesn’t mean teams can’t start preparing for the
3:29 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton blamed himself after a late turnover contributed to his team’s collapse in the waning minutes of a 131-120 loss to the NBA’s best team, the Milwaukee Bucks, on Friday. Trailing 121-118 with less than two minutes to play, Walton called a timeout to
Zion Williamson’s injury has brought about questions about his long-term health and weight. Does his size actually make him injury prone? Most iterations of the NBA Draft have a front-runner. For one reason or another, one player usually asserts themselves as far and away the best prospect of the class, or at least the number
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 28: Atlanta Hawks Guard Trae Young (11) celebrates a basket during a NBA game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 28, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) How does Brandon Graham’s deal impact free agency?
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 20: Dallas Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) looks on before a NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers on December 20, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Luka Doncic might just have a future in pro
The Mavericks have found a cornerstone for the future in Luka Doncic. How do they take the next step in aligning their timeline with his? The Dallas Mavericks’ future is Luka Doncic. Not only did the Mavericks take him — and trade a future pick to the Hawks in order to get him — but he’s really,
5:35 PM ET Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors in Philadelphia. According to the league injury report, Embiid has tendinitis in his left knee. It will be the fifth game the All-Star will miss since the Sixers announced on Feb. 20 that he would be out at least
In recent campaigns, the importance of a good, reliable bench unit has soared out the window as the rise in superteams grew larger. This is not to say that the Golden State Warriors regret not having a consistent Sixth Man of the Year contender in their second unit because, well, their back-to-back championships speak for
1:57 AM ET HOUSTON — It has reached a point where the Houston Rockets seem almost desensitized to James Harden producing historic statistics. As far as they were concerned, Harden’s 58 points and 10 assists were practically a footnote in the Rockets’ 121-118 comeback win over the Miami Heat on Thursday. “He had a terrific
There’s an uneasy grin etched onto Nikola Vučević’s lantern-jawed face as he gingerly walks down to the floor of the Bojangles Coliseum. The process isn’t normally an easy one for a 7-footer with size way-too-big shoes, and it’s made more challenging as smaller humans scramble around him. But it’s the All-Star Weekend and Vučević has
Welcome to The Whiteboard, your daily source for the previous day’s best NBA content from around the internet, plus an original column. Catch The Whiteboard here on The Step Back, and subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Otto Porter being dealt to the Chicago Bulls was not a thing
10:47 PM ET Rockets guard James Harden scored 58 in Houston’s win over the Miami Heat on Thursday night for his sixth 50-point game of the season. No other player in the NBA has more than one this season. Harden also had 10 assists, 8 threes, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. He was 18 for
In this week’s 2019 NBA Mock Draft, we break down the big Duke-North Carolina game and discuss how teams with multiple picks can capitalize. As always, projected standings are based upon FiveThirtyEight’s CARM-Elo rankings. This version of the mock uses projections as of Feb. 24, with the Suns and Knicks starting to separate themselves for
In recent campaigns, the importance of a good, reliable bench unit has soared out the window as the rise in superteams grew larger. This is not to say that the Golden State Warriors regret not having a consistent Sixth Man of the Year contender in their second unit because, well, their back-to-back championships speak for
4:58 PM ET Kings rookie Marvin Bagley III is expected to miss up to two weeks after an MRI exam on his injured left knee Thursday revealed a sprain. Sacramento says its fourth leading scorer and the No. 2 overall pick out of Duke will be re-evaluated in one to two weeks. That means Bagley
Welcome to The Whiteboard, your daily source for the previous day’s best NBA content from around the internet, plus an original column. Catch The Whiteboard here on The Step Back, and subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Brook Lopez is a player who has always been put in boxes
8:51 AM ET The race for consensus No. 1 overall NBA draft prospect Zion Williamson is on. But this tankathon will be different from that of past seasons. This is the first year under the lottery reform rules passed in September 2017 — more of an incremental step to deter blatant tanking than a complete
In recent campaigns, the importance of a good, reliable bench unit has soared out the window as the rise in superteams grew larger. This is not to say that the Golden State Warriors regret not having a consistent Sixth Man of the Year contender in their second unit because, well, their back-to-back championships speak for
12:22 AM ET Sacramento Kings rookie Marvin Bagley III suffered a left knee sprain during Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and will not return. Bagley will have an MRI on the knee Thursday, the team said. Bagley, the No. 2 overall pick out of Duke, was hurt when he ran into a pick
The Anthony Davis saga drags on and every night the Pelicans have to decide between sitting him and taking a $100,000 fine from the NBA, or playing him and risking an injury that craters his trade value. With implications for competitiveness, playoff standings and the in-game experience, what do the Pelicans owe to their fans
Welcome to The Whiteboard, your daily source for the previous day’s best NBA content from around the internet, plus an original column. Catch The Whiteboard here on The Step Back, and subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Early on, it seemed like the latest episode of Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast,
Welcome to The Whiteboard, your daily source for the previous day’s best NBA content from around the internet, plus an original column. Catch The Whiteboard here on The Step Back, and subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Atlanta Hawks have some promising young talent on the roster right