The New Orleans Pelicans took a step forward, the Sacramento Kings took a step back, the LA Lakers hit the reset button – and the Boston Celtics went nowhereHeading into NBA trade deadline day, there was a very real fear that the biggest move of the year had already been made. But while nothing was likely to top the New Orleans Pelicans’ deal for DeMarcus Cousins, there was still plenty of talk that either the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler or the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George could find their way to a contender before the 3pm ET deadline. Related: NBA trade deadline day: Mavericks get Noel from 76ers – as it happened ⌚️ Continue reading...
Magic Johnson has always been one of the NBA’s most transformative figures, but he can become the league’s ultimate renaissance man if he fixes the LakersFrom the moment he came into the NBA as a point guard in a power forward’s body, Magic Johnson was a transformative figure. If he can build the Lakers into champions again, the way he did as a player, he will become the league’s ultimate Renaissance man.Few athletes have re-invented themselves in as many ways as Johnson, who has treated each life moment as another no-look pass on a fast-break dunk. In the four decades since he and Larry Bird forever changed college basketball with their 1979 NCAA championship game, he has led the Lakers...
The Kings’ gifting of their star center to the Pelicans has been hailed as the worst trade in NBA history, but might there be a method to their madness?The Sacramento Kings have completed a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad trade. A trade that, by large consensus, is being called one of the worst in NBA history. A trade so bad that the artificial intelligence in NBA 2K17 won’t allow it to go through. A trade so terrible that in his press conference discussing the deal, Kings general manager Vlade Divac took on the hopeless appearance of a man held against his will, saying he had a better offer two days ago. For all of Divac’s many failings, a list...
The winners of the NBA are far easier to predict than the MLB champions. Do we need to find a way of sustaining interest through the regular season?The biggest story in the NBA last season, of course, was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ spectacular upset win for the championship. Very nearly as big a story was that the Golden State Warriors didn’t win.Golden State went into the playoffs with the highest regular season won-lost percentage (73-9, .890) in NBA history. At this All-Star break, the Warriors again lead the NBA in W-L (47-9, .839); they easily have the best record, a whopping 71 points ahead of the No2 San Antonio Spurs (43-13, .768). Related: Adam Silver says Kyrie Irving's flat-Earth theory is...
OKC may lag behind Golden State since Kevin Durant’s defection – but Saturday’s bad-tempered clash showed there’s plenty of needle between the two teamsDo Steven Adams and Russell Westbrook haunt the Warriors’ dreams? If you watched Saturday’s game, the first between the two teams since Kevin Durant defected to the Warriors, without paying attention to the score, the question would seem absurd. Related: James Dolan's feud with Charles Oakley: what was the Knicks owner thinking? Continue reading...