Plenty of NBA rookies are making meaningful contributions for their respective teams this season, but these five guys can develop into franchise players. Drafting a quality role player is nice for a franchise, but the best GMs understand the real goal of the draft is to uncover superstars. The 2018 Draft class is full of
2:56 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is feeling ill and is a game-time decision for Friday night’s game, coach Luke Walton said. James was not at Lakers shootaround. Walton said he was getting extra sleep prior to Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPNApp). “We got a sick
3:36 AM ET LOS ANGELES — On a night that Dallas Mavericks center DeAndre Jordan was welcomed back and honored by his former team at Staples Center, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he hoped to see Jordan’s LA jersey retired when all is said and done. “When you think of [Jordan] more than anybody, you
Last season the Rookie of the Year debate was alive and well with a handful of names. Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell dominated the conversation, but players like Kyle Kuzma, Jayson Tatum and Lauri Markkanen received plenty of traction as well. All of these athletes had incredible rookie campaigns and clearly deserved the praise heaped
9:22 PM ET Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul suffered a strained left hamstring and will not return against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Paul played 12 minutes and had four points before exiting in the second quarter. He lost control of the ball while dribbling past midcourt, and while attempting to take it
The annual tradition continues as Jason and Rich welcome guests Curtis Harris (ProHoopsHistory.com & Sixers History) and Reinis Lācis (The Handle Podcast) as they live-commentate one of the greatest games of all time: the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 between Philadelphia and Boston. Join us as we make fun of Steve Mix, fawn over Bobby Jones,
1:32 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Naismith Hall of Famer Rick Pitino is finalizing a to deal become head coach of EuroLeague power Panathinaikos of Greece, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Pitino’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has been working with Panathinaikos ownership on a contract to coach the rest of the team’s season, sources said. Pitino’s goal
Wednesday’s FanDuel slate: 7 p.m. ET: Cleveland at Charlotte, San Antonio at Orlando, New York at Philadelphia7:30 p.m. ET: Phoenix at Boston, Indiana at Toronto8 p.m. ET: Brooklyn at Chicago, Washington at Houston, New Orleans at Milwaukee, Detroit at Minnesota9 p.m. ET: Golden State at Utah10 p.m. ET: Memphis at Portland, Oklahoma City at Sacramento
The Milwaukee Bucks are already very good, but this team seems like it could improve internally. That’s bad news for the rest of the East. The Milwaukee Bucks have won a very nice 69 percent of their games thus far in the 2018-19 season. A team winning nearly 70 percent of its games is very
MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 2: Dillon Brooks Washington Football Recruiting: Huskies announce 2019 early signing day class by Patrick Schmidt FanDuel NFL: Best Lineup for Week 16 by Jon Dove One thing that is certain about the failed three team trade that fell apart last Friday night: somebody isn’t telling the truth. When Adrian Wojnarowkski
The holiday season is a time for gift-giving and NBA teams could use some gifts themselves to make the season more enjoyable for them. I came up with a gift idea for each team that I would like to give them if I could afford it, a gift that I think would help them out,
2:09 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Golden State Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry believes his team is close to finding its collective rhythm but admits the group needs to find its “edge” again in order to start rattling off wins at the same clip as in years past. “A lot of it’s just getting
7:45 PM ET Free agent guard Ron Baker has agreed to a deal with the Washington Wizards, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Wizards are waiving Okaro White. Baker, who signed a two-year $8.9 million deal with the Knicks before the 2017 season, was released on Thursday to make room for rookie Allonzo Trier,
8:00 AM ET LEBRON JAMES SAID what many Los Angeles Lakers fans have been thinking for months now. When talking to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Tuesday, James said that the Lakers trading for Anthony Davis “would be amazing … that would be incredible.” Indeed it would. It wasn’t the most eloquent quote of James’ career
12:47 AM ET NEW YORK — When Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen decided to contest a dunk attempt by LeBron James on Tuesday, he knew he’d end up on social media. “If you go up and you block it, you’re going to be on the highlight. You get dunked on, you’re going to be on
6:46 PM ET Michael Jordan came in at No. 4 on Forbes’ annual list of America’s wealthiest celebrities, with a net worth estimated at $1.7 billion through a sneaker fortune and a 90 percent stake in the Charlotte Hornets. Tiger Woods was tied at No. 9, with an $800 million net worth, according to the
NBA Power Rankings will be taking a week off for the holidays. As we finish off 2018, we’re leaving you with one reason every team can feel optimistic about the future. 30 Atlanta Hawks 6-23 Last week: 0-3Last rank: 26 They only appeared in one game in December, for a single 13-minute sample, but the
1:57 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — An otherwise ho-hum blowout by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Chicago Bulls became suddenly tense Monday night when a squabble spilled over into courtside fans and players and coaches tried to separate the teams. It started with Russell Westbrook and Kris Dunn in the third quarter of the
A trade fell apart due to confusion over which would be included, but is there really a difference between Dillon Brooks and MarShon Brooks? Eventually, Trevor Ariza was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Washington Wizards for Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre. But not before an evening of slapstick confusion. The original rendition of
1:04 AM ET NEW YORK — The Phoenix Suns and star shooting guard Devin Booker took to Twitter to troll Knicks center Enes Kanter after their win at Madison Square Garden. 🤦🏽♂️ “Pick n Roll at 00 every time” https://t.co/riaizpFpZV — Devin Booker (@DevinBook) December 18, 2018 Monday night’s tweets were the latest in a
Today is the day! Dec. 15. is finally here. There are still a few weeks until Christmas, but this particular date marks another major holiday in NBA circles. As of 12:01 EST, players that signed new contracts in the offseason are eligible to be traded at long last. Although we won’t see a flurry of
The Milwaukee Bucks’ shootaround Friday morning concluded with a three-point competition. A trio of players—Sterling Brown, George Hill and Ersan Ilyasova—participated in a best out of five at every spot around the perimeter. As each of them fired away, there was, of course, some playful jabbing, though nobody distracted one another. Coming into Cleveland, Brown
5:00 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The Oklahoma City Thunder have picked up the option on coach Billy Donovan’s contract for the 2019-20 season, the final year on his original five-year deal, a league source told ESPN. Donovan has a 150-96 (.610) record in his three-plus seasons with the Thunder, trailing only Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich
7:43 AM ET NEW YORK — New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who has put the WNBA’s New York Liberty up for sale, said he couldn’t rule out selling the Knicks if the right offer came along. Dolan, who is chairman of Madison Square Garden and also owns the NHL’s New York Rangers, told ESPN’s
11:40 PM ET DALLAS — Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger sees unlimited potential in Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic, the player selected with the pick immediately after the Kings drafted Marvin Bagley III. “He’s got a lot of different skills and I think he’s going to become a heck of a shooter,” Joerger said of
The trade market has been an active one this season and, on December 15, trade chatter should only increase; players that signed contracts prior to September 15 will become eligible to be traded. While some big names have already been moved — Jimmy Bulter, Kyle Korver, George Hill, etc. — anything could happen between now
Now armed with their draft picks and cap space, the Brooklyn Nets finally appear to be on a path they can follow. How will the offseason additions affect their team’s timeline? The Brooklyn Nets have slowly been climbing out of the NBA basement since their last playoff appearance in 2015. As a result of the
Ballin’ Out will break down the best performance by a role player from the previous week, weighing both individual and team performance. After starting in over 70 percent of the Brooklyn Nets’ games last season Spencer Dinwiddie saw his role change from the go-to guy, to the first man off the bench. Despite the change,
10:03 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN While he’s most known for wearing collectible kicks worth as much as $20,000 per pair — and sometimes even more — Houston Rockets power forward PJ Tucker has been showcasing a love for sneakers that extends far beyond the hype this season. From obscure, decade-old Kevin Durant models to vintage
Steph Curry just can’t escape being trolled about his moon landing comments, as he found out in Sacramento on Friday night. In what was one small step for the Kings but a giant leap for trolling Curry, Sacramento’s Twitter account joined the dog pile of folks ribbing the former MVP for his very unscientific take