The Golden State Warriors have one hell of a parachute. After five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, the Dubs’ 2019-20 season ended in an injury-plagued free fall into the league’s abyss, only to land into the offseason rather smoothly. In addition to a healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson returning to the lineup and…
COVID-19 unexpectedly forced the NBA season to a screeching halt. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive, and the league and other sports leagues immediately shut down to protect players, coaches, employees and their fans’ health. The coronavirus’ specter continues its spread nationally and abroad, stressing hospitals, economies and communities to the brink. Without basketball,…
In this inaugural episode of TBW’s Basketball by Association podcast, Joel C. Cordes and Arky Shea look for ways to further improve the NBA All-Star Game’s revamped format. They also discuss why the Houston Rockets’ “super small-ball” experiment could only be happening right now, as well as how the L.A. Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers…
While the NBA is littered with young offensive standouts, high-level defenders aren’t quite as abundant. It’s exceptionally difficult to shine defensively in today’s league. Scorers and playmakers are more skilled than ever while officiating lends itself toward a high-scoring brand of hoops. Nonetheless, I’m assessing the top young defensive weapons in the second part of…
The Orlando Magic were incredibly lucky in terms of health last season. Their top six rotation players—Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic, D.J. Augustin, Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross—combined to miss only 16 games. They rode that good fortune to a 42-40 record and their first playoff berth in seven seasons. They’ve been far less…
Now that the NBA regular season has finally begun, it’s time to continue ranking each and every team’s young prospects. Just to reiterate, these rankings might seem surprising on the surface with some rather unorthodox choices at various slots, but this list’s criteria are weighted heavily toward teams with a high volume of prospects that…
The NBA’s Most Improved Player race is typically one of the most difficult to predict. While the usual suspects will be in the running for MVP (i.e. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, James Harden and LeBron James), Defensive Player of the Year (Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Joel Embiid) and Sixth Man of the…
The 2019-20 NBA season is just around the corner. After an offseason chock-full of player movement, the title race appears as wide-open as it has been in years. Over the coming weeks, we will examine one big question hanging over each team heading into the season. We’ll continue today with the Southeast Division, where two…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba), Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) and special guest Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel) of Peachtree Hoops and Early Bird Rights preview the Southeast Division ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season. Could the Atlanta Hawks make the playoffs this year? Are the Orlando Magic the favorites in the division? How…
We’re trudging through the dog days of the NBA offseason, and the final weeks before the 2019-20 tipoff won’t fly by fast enough. Other than watching USA’s C-team play in the World Cup, there’s not much to do other than wait patiently for the upcoming season if men’s basketball is your thing. Fortunately, it’s never…
