In the same afternoon reports leaked about Kristaps Porzingis asking the New York Knicks for a trade, a deal was completed to send him to the Dallas Mavericks. Boy, talk about speaking things into existence. This afternoon a Woj tweetstorm let us all in on a meeting between Kristaps Porzingis and the Knicks where expressed
4:34 PM ET Rockets guard James Harden has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing the officiating following Houston’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, the league announced Saturday. Harden’s comments were directed specifically at referee Scott Foster, whom he said “for sure” has a “personal” issue with the Rockets and should not be
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 10: LeBron James #23 and Lance Stephenson #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrate after James made a shot against the Golden State Warriors and was fouled during their preseason game at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lakers defeated the Warriors 123-113. NOTE TO
Jahlil Okafor’s recent play has drawn headlines, but behind the gaudy numbers, he’s still Jahlil Okafor. We desperately want to believe in top-5 draft picks. For years, we cling to the idea that something made them special once, and the specialness absolutely has to be there to this day, just waiting for the right context
4:06 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — If you wanted any more evidence that Paul George is feeling himself on a whole other level this season, look to the first overtime of the Oklahoma Thunder’s game Friday against the Utah Jazz. Down two, three minutes to go, Jerami Grant came up with a steal and kicked
The day after the trade deadline passed, LeBron James had some interesting things to say about the arms race that was going down between the Eastern Conference titans. “They know they ain’t gotta go through Cleveland anymore,” James said. “Everybody in the East thinks they can get to the Finals because they ain’t gotta go
The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t given their fans a whole lot of reasons to cheer this year, so they have moved on to jeers. The Minnesota Timberwolves have certainly been entertaining this season, but not always for the right reasons. An extremely public battle between Jimmy Butler and the organization occupied headlines for well over a
10:28 PM ET Memphis Grizzlies rookie forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has suffered a right quad injury and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The franchise plans to be cautious with a timetable on its young star’s return. Jackson Jr. was ruled out for Friday’s home game against the
Little more than a quarter into a pivotal January match-up against the Toronto Raptors, lightning struck the Indiana Pacers for the second time in five years. Victor Oladipo crumpled to the floor while chasing down a Pascal Siakam break-away, rupturing a tendon in his quad and ending his season. Much like with Paul George’s gruesome
There is perhaps no figure more emblematic of the NBA’s 3-point revolution than Brook Lopez. Once a back-to-the-basket center who shot just 31 triples his first eight seasons — and only seven before 2015-16 — Lopez has now attempted nearly 1,000 since 2016-17. As a rookie, 53 percent of his shots came at the rim;
The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t get a lot of fanfare when they hired Jon Horst, but he’s made some great moves so far. Jon Horst was not a sexy pick as general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks when he was hired in June 2017. Horst was an in-house hire after Bucks ownership failed to agree on
1:43 PM ET ESPN News Services Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable for Friday night’s game in New York against the Knicks after a car crash in the Minneapolis area. The Star Tribune reports that Towns was headed to the airport Thursday when he was involved in the crash. Coach Ryan Saunders told reporters
In this week’s 2019 NBA Mock Draft, we look at how the Boston Celtics could control the draft and dive deeper into a few prospects from top-five teams. As always, projected standings are based upon FiveThirtyEight’s CARM-Elo rankings. This version of the mock uses projections as of Feb. 17, with the four worst teams in
Joe Harris’ fortunes and those of the Brooklyn Nets appear to be traveling on the same trajectory. Harris’ personality and approach embody the softer side of the Brooklyn Nets’ team persona: he is loyal, hardworking and humble. And while Jared Dudley and DeMarre Carroll provide veteran leadership and Spencer Dinwiddie and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson offer personality,
3:15 AM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors have defeated the Sacramento Kings all four times the teams have played this season, but the upstart Kings have earned a measure of respect from the defending champions in the process. “That’s the fourth game that we deserved to lose against this team,” Warriors star
The Kings have blown their expectations out of the water this season, but Buddy Hield may have just promised more than he can deliver. With six weeks to play in the season, the Sacramento Kings are sitting a lot prettier than anyone expected. No one would have believed it if you had suggested it before
The trade deadline, for many NBA teams, represents a pivot point at which to declare their intentions for the rest of the season. Those with hopes of chasing a playoff spot or contending for a championship can use it as a means of fortifying their roster before the home stretch. Less urgent franchises can unload
9:45 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Houston Rockets will sign a pair of G League players to 10-day contracts, including former Houston first-round pick Terrence Jones, league sources told ESPN. Guard Chris Chiozza, a rookie out of Florida, is the other player the Rockets will sign to bring their roster up to a league-mandated
Opportunity is everything in the NBA. Last season’s implementation of two-way contracts gave a lot more players potential opportunities in the league that may not have been previously available. One player who has used two-way contracts to showcase himself and really prove that he belongs in the NBA is Danuel House Jr. House actually began
The Los Angeles Lakers are very much LeBron James’ team. As usual, LeBron is his team’s best player and the centrifugal force around which everything they do revolves. He leads the team in minutes, points, and rebounds per game, and sits just 0.3 assists per game behind Rajon Rondo for the team lead as well.
1:54 PM ET Fresh off an appearance on one of the NBA’s biggest stages, Sacramento guard Buddy Hield was quick with the assurance the Kings will have a place on the league’s most meaningful stage. The Kings, mired in the NBA’s longest postseason drought at 12 years, won’t miss the playoffs this season, Hield says.
P.J. Washington has been having a coming out party over the past few weeks and is showing off a skill set that projects well to the wing in the NBA. P.J. Washington of Kentucky has been on an absolute tear. Since a Jan. 22 game against Mississippi State, Washington’s numbers speak for themselves — in
Far out of a playoff spot, and needing to protect his trade value, the New Orleans Pelicans are trying to find a way to sit Anthony Davis. The New Orleans Pelicans are six games back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference here at the All-Star break, with five teams to usurp in
11:18 PM ET Shortly after the game started between No. 1 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina on Wednesday, Duke freshman Zion Williamson left the court after ripping through his left shoe when trying to reverse his dribble. The potential No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft, Williamson did not return to the
Last week, the NBA’s trade deadline finally came and went — along with plenty of worthwhile fireworks of their own — and buyout season is officially in full swing. But as franchises continue bolstering their roster ahead of the postseason (or lottery-bound future efforts), another deadline occurred recently without much fanfare. In January, the cutoff
Welcome to The Whiteboard, your daily roundup of the best NBA content from around the internet, plus original analysis of the day’s big stories. Catch The Whiteboard on The Step Back and subscribe here to get it delivered to you by email each morning. It would’ve been more than fair for impartial NBA observers to assume
8:00 PM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins will see his minutes increase as he continues his comeback from a torn left Achilles injury. Cousins, who made his return on Jan. 18 in a win over the LA Clippers after missing almost a year to rehab, is averaging 23.4 minutes per
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. Steph Curry, James Harden, Paul George, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all
Jame Harden is breaking records and changing our conception of how a primary ball-handler can play. His 3-point shooting tendencies are like no one else in the league. James Harden is shooting 12.5 3-point attempts per game. That is a ridiculous stat in and of itself. But it is worth paying attention to how James
James Harden sets some kind of new scoring mark nearly every night it seems, but he’s in line to be even more of a one-man show for the Rockets. A night after going 1-for-17 from 3-point range, James Harden put up 57 points (a franchise-record 36 in the first half) Monday night as the Houston