We’re only a quarter of the way through the NBA season, but already, there are some intriguing races shaping up for some of the end-of-season awards. For perhaps the first time ever, there is even a wildly intriguing race for Most Improved Player, with several candidates who deserve recognition. With apologies to the injured Caris
The best high salary and value picks for DraftKings fantasy basketball on Saturday, Dec. 1. Saturday’s DraftKings slate: 7 p.m. ET: Golden State at Detroit, Brooklyn at Washington8 p.m. ET: Toronto at Cleveland, Chicago at Houston, Boston at Minnesota10 p.m. ET: Indiana at Sacramento My favorite plays of the day can be found on the
At the conclusion of Thursday morning’s summit meeting between the Knicks brain trust — team president Steve Mills, general manager Scott Perry and head coach David Fizdale — and gathered reporters, it was impossible to ignore what wasn’t present at the introductory presser for the season. The trio spoke with one voice. No real outstanding
A little more than a year ago, the New York Knicks signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year offer sheet with a maximum value of $71 million. From all but the most die-hard of Knicks fans, the deal was met with swift and brutal criticism. It had been just two years since the Knicks had
For former Knicks David Lee and Nate Robinson, a return to their old home couldn’t have come at a better time, as things are finally looking up. “I had six steals.” Nate Robinson sat sixteen floors up from Seventh Avenue, in an office building adjoined to the arena he once called home. Behind him is
Tim Hardaway Jr.’s huge offer sheet seemed like a classic New York Knicks gaffe, but THJ is scoring like a $70 million player should. When the New York Knicks signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $70 million-plus offer sheet in free agency, the Atlanta Hawks were stunned. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton reported that Atlanta expected
1:56 AM ET J.J. Barea got ejected from the Dallas Mavericks‘ bench late in Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers by referee Scott Foster for saying only, “That was a disaster,” the 13-year veteran guard told ESPN. “[On the first techical, Foster] said I was talking too much, but I never said a bad
4:54 PM ET Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is be out indefinitely with a sore right knee, the team announced Friday. Oladipo has not played since a Nov. 17 game in which he played just five minutes before exiting after falling into a broadcast cameraman and fans sitting courtside. An All-Star last year, the 25-year-old
Basketball Insiders “First Quarter Grades” series continues by examining the Atlantic Division. And while grading teams is challenging given how every team has its own timeline for success and development, it’s a necessary part of evaluating progress. The division appears to be the Raptors’ to lose. The Celtics have struggled mightily, whereas the 76ers upgraded
DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 11: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets tries to block the shot of Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks at the Pepsi Center on November 11, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting
This version of the Milwaukee Bucks — a night-to-night force capable of burying its opponent on either end of the floor — serves as a testament to what effect coaching and environment can have on an NBA team. It is striking to juxtapose this team with the stagnant, imprecise bunch that limped into the playoffs
12:52 PM ET The Memphis Grizzlies are working through contract language on a one-year deal with free-agent center Joakim Noah and expect to reach a deal early next week, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The New York Knicks waived Noah and stretched the final season of his four-year, $72 million contract prior to the
2:49 AM ET LOS ANGELES — If it seems like LeBron James has been shouldering a disproportionate part of the load for the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season, that’s because he has. The four-time MVP admitted after Thursday’s 104-96 win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday that he’s struggled with striking the right
Jontay Porter will miss the college basketball season with an ACL and MCL tear. While it shouldn’t hurt his draft stock, the injury dampens an already weak 2019 NBA Draft class. The 2019 college basketball season was dealt a big blow on Sunday night, as the Missouri Tigers’ basketball team announced that sophomore center Jontay
LeBron James’ son will most likely have to play college basketball if he intends to go to the NBA, and there is a good chance he might join the Duke Blue Devils. LeBron James never had to worry about what college he would go to because the one-and-done rule wasn’t implemented yet, but his son, LeBron
Just minutes into the Clippers’ Tuesday night matchup with the Thunder, Avery Bradley collected an errant and ill-advised Paul George wrap-around pass to Steven Adams and turned to push the ball up court. Danilo Gallinari, just below the free throw line, worked to get his 6-foot-11 frame moving in the opposite direction, using his long,
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not the most modern point guard of his draft class. That honor belongs to Stephen Curry descendant Trae Young. Nor is he the most skilled floor maestro. Luka Doncic holds that title, rattling off 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game on 58.1 percent true shooting. But Gilgeous-Alexander is not
9:27 PM ET Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger asked assistant general manager Brandon Williams to leave the team’s shootaround Thursday, according to The Athletic. Williams departed with Kings general manager Vlade Divac after Joerger’s request, the reports said. Joerger and Williams have reportedly been at odds for two weeks following a Yahoo! Sports report that
Reports of Lonzo Ball “tearing” his “meniscus” on the same day that LeBron James “opted out” have people second-guessing themselves. “Laser.” A year ago, we saw LaVar Ball’s dream of having his eldest son Lonzo play for the Los Angeles Lakers come to fruition. A year later, his future with the team is in jeopardy.
Basketball Insiders started off this week by giving the Central Division teams grades for their respective performances through the first quarter of the NBA season. We continue the grading by taking a look at the Pacific Division, which features a few teams that are beating early-season expectations, including the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings.
A 20-point loss to the Celtics Saturday night substantiated much of the concern and skepticism surrounding the Pistons’ 4-1 start, which included narrow wins over the Nets, Bulls, Cavaliers and shorthanded Sixers. Detroit is good enough to plow through the bottom of the lackluster Eastern Conference; proving themselves against more robust competition is a standard
He can defend, but Stanley Johnson hasn’t been able to add much else to the Detroit Pistons in his four seasons. The Detroit Pistons are 4-3, neither much better nor worse than anybody would have expected a mere seven games into the 2018-19 regular season. Blake Griffin has been terrific early, which has helped the
12:37 PM ET Nine-year-old Riley Morrison needed shoes for the new hoops season, but after deciding she liked Under Armour’s Stephen Curry model, she couldn’t find them. So she took her problem straight to the top, writing the Golden State Warriors star a letter. Saying she’s a big fan, Morrison wrote that she and her
Wes Unseld, player for the Washington Bullets basketball team. Bellator 210: Joe Schilling is ready to put kickboxing ‘to bed’ for good by Amy Kaplan We are regular-season stans here at the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast. What if we valued the best team in the regular season as much or more as the
The Chicago Bulls need to stop trading away their second-round picks based on how the last couple have turned out so far. The Chicago Bulls rightly took a lot of grief for selling the 38th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to the Golden State Warriors. As is well known by now, the Warriors
Lauri Markkanen isn’t far off from making his season debut, and that should have Chicago Bulls fans fired up. If you ask a Chicago Bulls fan, they will probably tell you that they want the Bulls to tank the 2018-19 season for a chance at Duke’s Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA Draft. So far,
1:05 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — A few nights after staying more than two and a half hours after the buzzer for a late-night solo shooting session, Russell Westbrook bounced back with one of his most complete games of the season, which included his 107th career triple-double to tie Jason Kidd for third on the
The 2019 NBA Draft doesn’t look as deep as 2018, but there’s plenty of solid prospects this year. To celebrate the start of the college basketball season, here are our top 100 prospects to watch for the coming year. The 2019 college basketball season is about to begin, and that means that it’s time to
Basketball Insiders started off this week by giving the Central Division teams grades for their respective performances through the first quarter of the NBA season. We continue the grading by taking a look at the Pacific Division, which features a few teams that are beating early-season expectations, including the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings.
DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 09: Caris Levert #22 of the Brooklyn Nets plays the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on November 9, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images