As the NBA shifted away from two-big lineups in recent seasons, we saw a relative devaluation of the center position. While big men used to be the centerpieces of teams’ plans on both ends of the floor, they are now more often complementary members. There are exceptions, of course. Reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and runner-up […]
After taking a buyout from the Detroit Pistons in March, Blake Griffin’s very first field goal for the Brooklyn Nets was a dunk. That might not have been remarkable for the Lob City version of Griffin, who led the league in dunks in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, but it was quite a spectacle for the […]
After NBA free agency concluded — hell, even before free agency had concluded — one team, the Detroit Pistons, seemed to be the butt of more jokes than any other. Wait, the club made deals with how many centers in the first two days of the signing period? And wait: They not only dealt a […]
The Phoenix Suns were famously the worst team invited to the NBA bubble in Walt Disney World, beginning play six games back of the No. 8 seed with only eight games left. FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR-based projections gave the Suns a less than 1 percent chance of making the postseason. Naturally, the Suns then proceeded to take […]
There’s a natural tendency in the NBA to lavish attention on teams that, with every bad loss, send social media into a tizzy because of what it might mean for the league’s landscape. For instance, if the LeBron-led Lakers don’t reach the postseason — a 80 percent probability at this point — it would seem […]