Hassan Whiteside experienced some ups and downs with the Miami Heat. He had turned in a couple of statistically dominant seasons from 2015-17, especially, but the athletic 7’0”, 265-pounder was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers in a trade last summer after both parties needed a change of scenery. He promptly turned back the clock,…
Anticipation for the NBA’s reboot might reach playoff levels of excitement immediately upon the regular season’s return on July 31. That’s because there is still a chance for several teams to reach post-season play. The play-in period will highlight how some franchises have plenty to gain beyond just reaching the playoffs. But for some that…
The Portland Trail Blazers’ season changed last year during a double-overtime game against the Brooklyn Nets on March 25. Starting center, Jusuf Nurkic suffered a compound fracture in his left leg with a little over two minutes left in the game. Nurkic watched the rest of the way as Portland made a valiant effort all…
After making a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals last season, the Portland Trail Blazers may be in danger of missing the playoffs entirely this year. They have their injury-ravaged frontcourt to blame for that. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic suffered compound leg fractures in March, and general manager Neil Olshey told reporters in September…
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 past few weeks, we have examined one big question hanging over each team heading into the season. We’ll finish with the Northwest Division, where all…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba), Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) and special guest Andy Bailey (@andrewdbailey) of the Hardwood Knocks podcast preview the Northwest Division ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season. How much of a difference will Jerami Grant make with the Denver Nuggets? Is there any hope for Andrew Wiggins? How…
Coming out of the first heavy-spending summer since 2016, several teams are locked into their current core and will have trouble generating significant spending power over the next two offseasons. Of course, other teams are still riding out their own bad 2016 contracts and will look to get back in the game in 2020 and…
The Portland Trail Blazers doubled down on the value of continuity this offseason. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard signed a four-year, $196 million supermax extension that will keep him in Portland through at least the 2023-24 campaign, while fellow guard CJ McCollum signed a three-year, $100 million extension that likewise runs through 2023-24. With center…
The Portland Trail Blazers are coming off of a surprise Western Conference Finals run. Damian Lillard is at the height of his powers, confidently operating in the superstar plane. CJ McCollum just proved his brand of three-level scoring has immense value in the postseason. There’s a spread-the-wealth system in place that the stars are comfortable…
The Golden State Warriors have been the class of the conference for half a decade, but that could change next season. They’re guaranteed to be without Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson for most, if not all of the 2019-20 campaign. Barring a near-miraculous recovery, Durant (torn achilles) probably won’t return until 2020-21. Thompson (torn ACL)…
