NBA Opinions
In a wild double overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets in which the Portland Trailblazers clinched a playoff spot, the Blazers are by no means excited. At the end of the contest, they lost their third best player in big man Jusuf Nurkic to one of the gruesomest injuries since Gordon Hayward. Continue reading “Another Gruesome Leg Injury: Jusuf Nurkic”
Just as I finished writing about the Lakers’ struggles, it seems fitting that the Los Angeles Clippers are on the rise. I went to the Clippers’ game last Sunday against the Knicks, and since that impressive performance, I have paid closer attention to them. Before their loss to the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday, the Clippers had won five in a row, including impressive wins over the Thunder and the Celtics and are firmly entrenched in the eighth spot in the West with clear direction to the sixth seed, as they only sit half a game behind the Utah Jazz. Continue reading “The Clippers are LA’s Team Now”
On February 21, LeBron James proclaimed that he would be turning on “playoff mode” with the Lakers struggling to find themselves in the playoff picture. Since then, the results have not been what James expected, to say the least. The Los Angeles Lakers are 2-5 since that comment and now sit 5.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the final playoff spot. Ironically, LeBron’s return had no effect on Los Angeles; who the Lakers truly need is point guard Lonzo Ball. Continue reading “Lakers have LeBron but need Lonzo”
After four consecutive years in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors seem to be a lock to do so again, especially after adding DeMarcus Cousins. They may still fail to do so, though, and the reason for that is Paul George.
Following a disappointing season with a new “big three,” Russell Westbrook and Paul George, amidst his MVP caliber season, have made the Oklahoma City Thunder the biggest threat to Golden State. Continue reading “Fifth straight Finals? Warriors must get through Paul George”
The trade deadline is tomorrow and the league refuses to slow down. Just as we had got through the earthquake with the Kristaps Porzingis trade, we were shocked by the news of the Tobias Harris trade. Early on Wednesday, it was reported that the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Mike Scott from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, 2 first round picks (1 from Miami) and 2 second round picks.
Continue reading “Tobias Harris traded to the 76ers: Winners?”
The #tradeszn just blessed us one more time Thursday afternoon with the news that Kristaps Porzingis was shipped to the Dallas Mavericks along with Tim Hardaway Jr. Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke; with DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Smith Jr., Wesley Matthews, and two first round picks returning to the New York Knicks. All the trade news had been Anthony Davis blah blah blah, but Kristaps Porzingis is a huge name on the move and is going to steal the spotlight for a while in the NBA. Here is my quick reaction:
Kristaps Porzingis is of course injured currently with a torn ACL suffered last February, but when healthy, he is one the most unique and skilled big men in the game. He is a monstrous 7’3″ with the ability to smoothly dribble and shoot.
Adding that once in a decade talent to the Dallas Mavericks now centered around Luka Doncic gives Dallas possibly the most potent young 1-2 punch in the game. They instantly become one of the most exciting teams next year when Porzingis is fully healthy, especially when you consider they will be able to add (probably) a lottery pick in June. The Mavericks have a blindingly bright future now.
As for the Knicks, what I have heard as their thought process is that they did this trade with an intention of clearing cap space for two max free agents in the summer. To that end, they were successful because Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr. had an additional one and two years left on their deals, respectively. The only costly player returning, Wesley Matthews, becomes a free agent at the end of the season. But I just have such a hard time liking this from the Knicks’ perspective. DeAndre Jordan will either leave at the end of the year or he will eat into a large portion of the aforementioned cap space by resigning. So logically, the only piece the Knicks got in return for Porzingis is Dennis Smith Jr. Smith had a solid rookie season, but this season has regressed and shown that his inefficiency may not be an easy fix. I understand that Porzingis asked for a trade shortly before the news broke of his trade, but using that chip to create cap space is too exorbitant a price. Also, he is slated to become a restricted free agent when his contract expires, so in essence, the Knicks could have forced to stay for many more years anyways. Even if this ploy ends up in the Knicks geetting two max superstars, I will reminisce upon this trade as a lost opportunity. Just because they may get lucky later does not justify that they made a mistake now.
Knicks fans have a true gripe with management after this one. But Dallas fans, boy oh boy. After years of being a mediocre, boring team, they have got to make some room on that bandwagon, especially for me. Geez. They will be so good.
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