Category: NBA Basketball

Play-In Tournament will be fixture in NBA season

Brandon King

Whether you like it or not, it looks like the play-tournament is going to be in around for a while. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the league’s Board of Governors is expected tomorrow to finalize making the play-in tournament a permanent part of the season. The play-in concept was first instituted during the COVID-interrupted season in 2020 when played resumed in the Orlando bubble. It was revived with mixed results by fans, with some loving it , as it gave teams in the lower portion of each conference something to…

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Knicks complete trade with Pistons

Brandon King

Monday morning the announced the completion of their trade with the Detroit Pistons. In the deal the Knicks sent guard Alec Burks, center Nerlens Noel, two future seconds and cash in exchange for the draft rights to Nikola Radicevic and a future second. Burks averaged 11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists this past season and overall 12.2 points 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his two seasons as a Knickerbocker on .403/.408/.832 shooting splits. Injuries limited Nerlends Noel to just 25 games this season and as a result, Noel’s…

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Damian Lillard signs 2, year, $122.2 million extension

Brandon King

Though was only on the court for 29 games, ( he averaged 24. 0 points , 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds in those 29 games) and is under contract for another three seasons, and due $136.9 million, Damian Lillard signed a two-year , $122.2 million extension Friday. Havingg been the subject of trade rumors, because of course if you don’t win a championship in a few years, then the club must be blown up and the best player on the team needs to bolt for greener (easier ) pastures, Lillard…

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Why trading Kevin Durant may not be that easy

Brandon King

Kevin Durant’s trade request not set free agency on its ear , but that of the enitre NBA as well. Players of Durant’s caliber aren’t on the market that often so the Nets were Miley fielding calls from every team in the league, whether they believed they had a legitimate shot at acquiring him or not. KD has Phoenix and Miami at the top of his list of preferred destinations but is there any one franchise that can put together a package sufficient enough to pry Durant away from Brooklyn.…

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Lakers will need better offer to get Kyrie

Brandon King

The Kevin Durant trade request has branched off into the reinvigoration of the Russell Westbrook trade speculation, with the Nets emerging as the likely trade partner and Kyrie Irving the Lakers target. The Lakers desire to move Westbrook ( who, for a variety of reasons, they never should have acquired in the first place) is not only the worse kept secret in the NBA , but quite possibly in all of pro sports. This fact should put the Lakers on the wrong side of the leverage equation in any trade…

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Big players got big bags in free agency

Brandon King

Day 2 of NBA Free Agency has come and we have seen some player movement, most notably the trades of Dejounte Murray and Rudy Gobert to the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively . However the saga in Brooklyn notwithstanding, several star players remained with their teams, either through opting to ink a new deal or just outright signing extensions. Here are some of players, who may have reached an even higher tax bracket over the past 48 hours: Nikola Jokić, 5-year, $270 million Nikola Jokić is coming off a…

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Good for Bradley Beal

Brandon King

Although you may have missed it with all the attention directed at the seemingly out-of-nowhere Kevin Durant trade request but Bradley Beal agreed to remain with the Washington Wizards by agreeing to a 5-year, $251 million contract. Many in the professional peanut gallery , ask the mainstream sports media derided Beal’s decision, sting that the three-time All-Star should have bolted to a more ready-made contender, rather that opting to secure the bag. This sentiment once again puts the deranged, delusional mindset of not only the gasbags of the sports media…

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Kevin Durant requests trade from Nets

Brandon King

It has been said that the second season of the NBA is the offseason. Already we have seen big contract options picked up by stars , Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook, whose future with their teams . A five-time all star who hasn’t been on an NBA court since March 23, 2021 was bought out and seemingly will have a new team next season. The Atlanta Hawks made a move to substantially upgrade their backcourt with the acquisition of former San Antonio Spur Dejonte Murray. However, as we stand just…

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Russell Westbrook opts in on $47 million player option

Brandon King

In a move that surprised no one, the favorite whipping boy of Laker nation ,as well as the LeRichard riders in the media, Russell Westbrook opted in the $47 million player option. Westbrook was acquired last season in a deal that confounded those with a modicum of basketball knowledge , who questioned the fit and how the skillset of the three Laker star would mesh. The most optimistic ( or delusional) Lakers fans and media arm of clutch sports had the the team, at minimum in the Western Conference Finals.…

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John Wall and Rockets to agree to buyout

Brandon King

After trading for him and then sitting him, because you can’t let good players play when team tank is the club’s mantra, the short and confusing marriage between John Wall and the Houston Rockets. Wall appeared in only 40 games in space city and in those games he averaged 20.6 points , 6.9 assists ( a career low) and 3.2 rebounds ( also a career-low) on .404/.317/.749 splits. In that small sample size, the jury is still out on precisely where Wall’s game is post Achilles. He looked fine in…

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