As usual, hear me out and read what I have to say before you react. Go into this with an open mind and relax. Ok, now let me explain. The Oklahoma City Thunder will go down in history as the organization that ruined a team filled with three rising superstars in their prime. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden are all MVP candidates this season and somehow they all ended up on the same team. Prior to the Demarcus Cousins trade, this could be looked at as one of the dumbest decisions a front office has made in years. Five years after choosing to secure Serge Ibaka instead of Harden, did the Thunder make the right decision? I believe so.
In the way the game is played today, it 's easy to say the Thunder was stupid for ridding of one of the best scorers in the league. Today, teams like the Warriors are revolutionizing the way the game is played, as they have popularized the "small ball" play we see a lot today. The Warriors allow Draymond Green to play center standing at 6 '7", which causes them to lose size, but gives an advantage in speed and
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What was a key issue for the Oklahoma City Thunder last year? Either Russell Westbrook or Kevin a Durant would hold the ball for the entire shot clock, basically taking turns playing iso ball. When on the court at the same time, in certain moments it looked liked they were confused as to whose turn it was to score. As we saw from Harden in his previous seasons in Houston, he 's a player that needs to have the ball in his hands. To have three elite scorers who at their best each need the ball in their hands, it simply wouldn 't have worked. Westbrook would barely pass to Durant when they played together and you think he would pass up even more opportunities for Harden? Remember, Harden was a sixth man on that roster and they only offered him a four-year deal around $55 million dollars. If the three of them couldn 't play at the same time, you actually think that management would pay him max dollars to come off
The T-Wolves aided immensely by Ricky Rubio’s career-best 28 point 14 assist night, but it is impossible to not state the obvious, Flip Saunders helped coach Minnesota to the victory. The Sacramento Kings have a lot in common with the current state of the Lakers. Both teams brought in big men to help improve their defense. The Lakers signed Roy Hibbert, who made the fourth-biggest impact on opponent field goal percentage last year at -5.9
Even though the Clippers have 0 championship wins they are still a good team. Like in the 2014-2015 season the Clippers went to round 2 in the playoffs. The stars of the team are Chris Paul at point guard, Blake Griffin at power forward, and Deandre Jordan at center. When them three play together
They are probably the 4th best team in the western conference behind Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. Last year 's excuse was, their bench was thin and not deep. Well this year they acquired future hall of famer Paul " the truth" Pierce, Lance (Blow in your ear) Stephenson, Josh Smith (who shouldn 't have left Houston), veterans Wesley Johnson, Pablo Prigioni, Luc Mbah a Moute and Cole Aldrich. Along with Jamal " J-Cross" Crawford and Austin " Coach 's son" Rivers, we shouldn 't be hearing anymore excuses of why this talented team can 't get to the Western Conference. The inside joke is the only way the Clippers get past the second round of the playoffs is through their commercials.
Up until the 2013-2014 season, many people, didn't know much about Goran Dragic, AKA the Dragon. Most fans, whether casual or passionate ones paid more attention to the Miami Heat and their chances at 3-peating (which, sadly failed), Paul George's potential rise to superstardom (super failed), and other stories revolving around the more interesting players and teams. Despite all of these more interesting story lines, his performance during the season as Phoenix's best player grabbed would grab the attention of the league. He set career highs three times in a month, and led the team to 48 wins, one game short of the playoffs during Eric Bledsoe's disappearance due to injury. However, following the season many things took place, before he ended up signing a 5 year, $90 Million contract with the Miami Heat!
The NBA was able to sell the Hornets to another owner after they landed Anthony Davis and the fans responded with anger. It was too suspicious that the New Orleans Hornets got to land one of the most promising young talent in league history as soon as they needed to sell the franchise. The timing was too perfect. It was also way to suspicious that Anthony Davis was spotted wearing a New Orleans Hornets hat two weeks before the draft. This draft can easily be seen as rigged due to the facts that are given by
If Nick Young can forgive Russell and the team can forget the incident, than it may no longer be an issue down the line. Like the saying goes, "time heals all wounds". It 's going to be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out (albeit it 's almost over) and the moves made in the offseason. D 'Angelo Russell is a fantastic player with tremendous upside, so it 's likely that he will remain with the team.
First, Russell Westbrook tries to take matters into his own hands during the deciding minutes of the game. Kyrie Irving likes to look for open teammates to find the best available shot. Russell sometimes loses the game for his team by playing too aggressive. Russell turns the ball over in late game situations and takes bad shot attempts.
Derrick Rose admitted that he wanted to go to the Knicks after founding out that he will be traded. Even though Rose had battle with various injuries since his ACL injury, some Knicks fans are happy with this trade. Derrick Rose is still one of most talented point guards in the league and is dangerous when he is healthy. The obvious problem is keeping Derrick Rose healthy throughout the season. If the Knicks managed to keep Rose healthy, this team can be playoffs qualifiers with Carmelo and Porzingis.
This team was known for fighting on the court, one of the most famous altercations was the Pacer-Pistons brawl, it involved several players but soon other players and even fans got involved onto the court. There was a controversial story that happened, where Dennis Rodman told an interviewer that Larry Bird was “overrated” and only got the credit and won most games “because he was white”. That interviewer ran with that comment and ask Isiah Thomas if he agreed, Isiah agreed, saying “Bird is a very good basketball player, but if he was black, he’d be just another good guy.” Since making that comment it sparked a lot of issues. People were calling Thomas a racist, and saw him as not giving enough credit to Bird.
Russell Westbrook is a famous professional basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma city thunders. He was forth in the NBA draft. Russell Westbrook was his team top scoring option when Kevin Durant was on sideline for a foot injury. After his third season he became fifth in the league history. He led his team to the 2012 NBA finals after being drafted to the Oklahoma city thunders.
The Celtics boasted a long championship drought from 1986-2008, leaving fans in Boston disgruntled and antsy. That drought ended when Celtics GM Danny Ainge made pivotal moves to construct a team that would ultimately bring number 17 to Boston. Let's look at a quick recap of those moves: Traded Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak to Seattle for Ray Allen and a 2nd round pick
Houston Rockets (53-14) Current Seed: 1 Per usual, head coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense has the Houston Rockets in first place and rolling through the regular season. However, the question remains if D’Antoni’s system can prove sustainable over the course of several long and grueling Western Conference playoff series. Luckily for Rockets fans, they have a second future Hall of Famer in Chris Paul to pair with current MVP favorite James Harden this time around, as they try to dethrone the Golden State Warriors and claim Western Conference superiority. Predicted Playoff Seed: 1 Golden State Warriors (52-16) Current Seed: 2 With Steph Curry nursing a tweak to his oft-injured right ankle, subsequent reports that fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson
If players had to stay for two years the quality of basketball the quality of basketball would undoubtedly be better. Yes, players want to get to the next level as fast as they can, but but if they had to stay for two years instead of one, college basketball would even more fun to watch. Imagine that Brandon Ingram was staying for his sophomore year, and Harry Giles is playing at Duke his Freshman year. They would be so fun to watch, and they would not be the only team like that. It would be fun watching these players grow individually and as a team.
There has been recent criticisms about the NBA allowing Players to sit out of games. Many NBA Players especially LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were sitting out of games, even when healthy. Many NBA fans are furious because they spent money on tickets, but they can’t even see NBA stars perform. As some say, it is destroying the advertisement that the NBA is trying to provide for basketball fans. The NBA is not only a professional sports league, but it is also a business.
“There’s nothing we can do. It’s always been this way. Before me, before you, before the ones who came before you. Back and back and back.” ( Lowry 68 )