“That would be everything,” Chriss said. “It would be cool, my family could come to half the games. To be in an environment with a new arena, they’re rebuilding their program, that would be really cool.” MORE: NBA Draft schedule | Who would each lottery team draft first? Chriss has caught the fancy of NBA scouts and executives who have marveled at his leaping ability and potential to develop a perimeter shot....
That’s why we’re here to play armchair quarterback and hand out some draft grades. Hopefully it’ll help figure out who did well and who didn’t. Of course, all of this could look horribly stupid in three years when we find out which prospects actually panned out. Such is the risk of offering up instant grades. NBA DRAFT WINNERS & LOSERS:Pelicans, Grizzlies build bright futures; Suns, Wizards reach A quick note about the grading philosophy employed below: I’ve historically found one of the most frustrating things about reading NBA Draft grades to be that I don’t understand why picks are being graded the way they are....
Now, it’s time to go through the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference has been a pleasant surprise this season. The Nets currently have the best record, but there are a number of teams that aren’t far behind them, including the Bulls, Wizards and the pesky Cavaliers. The Bucks have been on fire lately, but they got off to a slow start and were dealt some bad news this week — starting center Brook Lopez is out indefinitely after undergoing back surgery....
A video shared on the TikTok account @themeparksss showed a group of fans sneaking a live lobster into the game. The young men termed it a “reverse lobster heist” in the clip viewed 2.2 million times, which did not provide any particular reason for the endeavor. The adventure started with the lobster taped to one fan’s torso, secured inside a plastic bag and covered by his sweatshirt. The next clip showed the group walking into the Smoothie King Center, followed by a clip of the lobster plopped on the floor of the stands between their feet....
Two NBA teams mired in championship futility , the Cavaliers and Warriors, begin the Finals on Thursday night in Oakland (9 p.m. ET, ABC). There is a key injury to monitor for each team, although that hasn’t stopped oddsmakers from making Golden State a solid favorite in both the Game 1 point spread and the series price. Game 1 spread, total: Golden State -6, 203 ( check our odds page for the latest numbers )Series odds: Warriors -240, Cavaliers +200 Line movement: The Game 1 spread has remained pretty steady after opening between -5....
The Heat made the announcement shortly before tipoff of the win-or-else game against the San Antonio Spurs, who took a 3-1 lead into Sunday night's matchup. It's Allen's first start in 43 postseason games with the Heat. MORE: LeBron on 3-1 deficit: “Why not us?” | When Chip met Grant | Finals photos Chalmers had started every game in which he's appeared with Miami over the last three seasons. The last time he played as a reserve was in the 2011 NBA Finals against Dallas....
“It wasn’t really a scuffle because I didn’t hit him and he didn’t hit me, and I didn’t push him and he didn’t push me,” Green told reporters Friday. “We talked. We barked a little bit, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider that a scuffle, not really what I personally would consider a scuffle.” Green passed by the rapper on his way back to the locker room after the Warriors fell 118-109 on Thursday....
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry got a taste of the adulation to come at a media conference this weekend. Arjun Ram, a teen reporter for CBC Kids News, posed a question to Lowry: “Mr. Lowry, how does it feel to be an icon all over Canada to kids?” Lowry chuckled a couple of times, shook his head, put his head in his hands and seemed genuinely surprised. “That’s a crazy question — I ain’t never been asked that one,” Lowry said....
Gasol, who became a free agent Sunday, wants to return to the NBA next season. He told ESPN he’s progressing well from the left foot procedure to repair a stress fracture that cost him the tail end of 2018-19 “My recovery from surgery has been smooth and I expect to be fully cleared for basketball activities in early August,” he said. “I cannot wait to start training again.” The six-time All-Star was bought out by the Spurs in March before he signed on with the Bucks....
The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda reported the deal is worth $2.393 million. Rose, 29, finished last season with the Wolves after being waived by the Jazz, who had acquired him in a deadline trade with the Cavaliers that sent Rodney Hood to Cleveland. The point guard averaged 5.8 points and 1.2 assists in nine regular-season games while playing for his old Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota. NBA FREE-AGENT TRACKER: Latest news, rumors and speculation...
This is a guy who has been in the NBA for 11 years, who was the 24th pick in the 2006, just behind Josh Boone and well behind his Villanova teammate, sixth pick Randy Foye. Lowry had to battle Mike Conley for playing time in his early days in Memphis, and he did not come upon his first major NBA contract until he re-signed with the Raptors in the summer of 2014, inking a four-year deal worth $48 million....
The now social media-famous “NBA impersonator” Brandon Armstrong (@BdotAdot5) has released his latest imitation — Manu Ginobili. MORE: Russell Westbrook, NBA fashion icon | Meet Brandon Armstrong By perfecting the Argentine’s trademark lefty jump shot and Euro step, Armstrong got a shout out from the Spurs legend. To see why Armstrong, who has played basketball professionally overseas, has amassed more than 123,000 Twitter followers, check out some of his other impersonations:...
On Tuesday, the league sent out a memo regarding the recent trend of players jumping on another player’s back to intentionally foul them. MORE: The 15 most untradable contracts at deadline “Please be advised that the referees have been instructed to evaluate such plays under all applicable playing rules, including the rules relating to Flagrant Fouls,” the league said in a statement by league vice president Kiki VanDeWeghe. “Players remain free to commit deliberate fouls during free-throw attempts, but such fouls will be assessed as Flagrant if they meet the applicable criteria....
We have enjoyed a ton of daily fantasy success since the calendar turned to 2023. Each tournament we enter, we go in with a set strategy and a core group of players we want to build around. And our most essential principles remain: do the research, analyze the matchups, and find the most bang for our buck at every position. As always, we would never tell you to carbon-copy our lineup and roll with the exact eight players we drafted....
Never mind that $100 is a drop in the bucket for today’s NBA stars, or that it was just a friendly wager. Wall told CSN Mid-Atlantic on Friday that the NBA “squashed” the idea after hearing about it. MORE: The best active NBA player wearing every number, 0 to 99 | LSU’s Ben Simmons 3-to-10 favorite to be No. 1 overall pick “They squashed that early in the season,” Wall said....
With the “bubble” now firmly in the rearview mirror, NBA front offices have shifted their attention toward what will be a short offseason. Some players may not be excited about the quick turnaround — cough, LeBron James, cough — but the league is determined to get back on a normal calendar for the 2021-22 campaign. Oh, and there is also a lot of money at stake. That part is kind of a big deal....
Want to take it a step deeper and make even more long-term money? Let’s bet on every NBA team’s regular-season win total. Over-under win totals remain a niche futures market in the sports betting world, but they gain popularity every season. For many, it’s simply a way of adding some fun to watching and rooting for their favorite team throughout the year. For others, it’s a legitimate method of employing their knowledge and expertise of the league to ultimately turn a profit....
“We have agreed with the NBPA to extend the suspension of random testing for marijuana for the 2021-22 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said (via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first broke the news. MORE: Biggest takeaways from 2021-22 NBA GM survey The NBA first adjusted the policy during the 2019-20 season restart, which featured 22 of the 30 teams entering the Walt Disney World Resort “bubble” in Orlando, Fla....
Game 2 has typically been the best opportunity to see the turnaround, because the deficit isn't insurmountable and the losing team believes it has a realistic chance to get back in the series. If they're down 2-0 or 3-0, the psychology becomes different. The sports books, of course, are on to the bounce-back theory, which is why there usually is at least a half- or full-point adjustment from the first game....
That was supposed to be part-and-parcel with this series, given two years of meetings between these teams that featured nose-poking (that was Wall’s nose being poked), a postgame police presence set up between the locker rooms, a broken nose, an ejection (that was Wall), repeated accusations of dirty play on both sides and a night spent in funeral attire (allegedly Wall’s idea). But Game 1 was mild when it came to such hijinks....
