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Powered by Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and a second season with Rudy Gobert after their oft-criticised blockbuster trade, Minnesota exceeded expectations en route to a Western Conference Finals finish, having knocked out the defending champion Denver Nuggets – where president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was lured away from – no surprise they want more.
Continue reading “Timberwolves prez of basketball ops Tim Connelly: Proud but must keep growing”
DeMar DeRozan constantly exceeding expectations among valuable but volatile situations from San Antonio to Chicago, has put him in a position where his long-term future was an oft-discussed wrinkle whenever trade season was in play and now he’s part of a handy trio in Sacramento alongside De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Why wouldn’t the latter, or his teammates, be excited? Continue reading “Domantas Sabonis excited about DeMar DeRozan trade, and why wouldn’t he be?”
Canada seek their first men’s basketball Olympic medal since clinching silver back in 1936 and know they must sustain their excellent group stage play to do so. The bulk of the focus surrounds Team USA for obvious reasons but as RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks have played important support roles, Canada’s star guard leads by example – Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Continue reading “Olympics: SGA leading the way for Canada before France quarterfinal – of course he is”
Team USA were dangerously close to a shock defeat by South Sudan in an pre-Olympics exhibition game, but this time there was a much different tone to their competitive contest in Paris on Wednesday clinching a quarter-final berth after a 103-86 victory over spirited underdogs with plenty of hidden gems. Continue reading “Olympics: Adebayo awesome as USA adjust, ease past South Sudan in rematch”
Gary Trent Jr will be reunited with former All-Star teammate Damian Lillard this coming season, after agreeing terms on a one-year deal to join the championship-contending Milwaukee Bucks following weeks of speculation about the now-former Toronto Raptors guard’s future. His new head coach Doc Rivers, who knows Gary’s dad Senior, flew to Miami to help recruit his services. Continue reading “Rivers and Lillard play key roles as Gary Trent Jr signs one-year Milwaukee deal”
The future is promised to no-one, but both Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards and Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton are tipped for longevity at the international level as the only USA players from last summer’s World Cup squad called up to feature in Olympic play later this month as part of a stacked club under Steve Kerr. Naturally, this serves as more invaluable experience.
Continue reading “Olympics: Edwards-Haliburton duo rightly take pride, leading way for USAB in future”
It’s remarkable in isolation the Washington Wizards received more for small forward Deni Avdija than either newly-crowned NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis or longtime star shooting guard Bradley Beal, but the trade market is so unpredictable that quality players on good contracts are worth their weight in gold – something emphasised by their return haul from this latest trade. Continue reading “Deni Avdija is Portland-bound, as the volatile trade market focuses on future”
The market for Alex Caruso stretched far and wide, before the February trade deadline and quietly behind-the-scenes afterwards, but yet again Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti has done it – a straight swap with Josh Giddey – for the league’s most-coveted role player at a time of his career where he can seamlessly elevate a championship-contending team again.
Continue reading “Chicago trade Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey in surprise deal – OKC stay being shrewd!”
Luka Doncic produced a 32-point triple double during Sunday’s Game 2 showing for Dallas, though coughed up eight turnovers – Boston had 10 as a team – and missed four of eight free-throw attempts, pointing to those two factors as a key reason behind their 105-98 defeat. While it’s natural for their franchise centrepiece to absorb blame, their shortcomings are much deeper than that.
Continue reading “NBA Finals: Doncic’s triple-double not enough as Dallas dented again in Game 2”
Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and three blocks in 21 minutes on a memorable return from injury, Conference Finals MVP Jaylen Brown had a 22-point, three-steal and block game as Boston eventually eased beyond a careless Mavericks side struggling with their distance shooting. Jayson Tatum was honest postgame, and that doesn’t bode well for Dallas’ chances going forward…
Continue reading “NBA Finals: Tatum calm as Boston cruise past Dallas on Porzingis’ return in Game 1”
24 hours after Boston recovered from another deficit to snatch a commanding 3-0 series lead out East, Dallas’ determined defensive efforts down the stretch proved decisive as they joined Joe Mazzulla’s ball club in being one game away from punching their ticket into this season’s NBA Finals – powered by star backcourt Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving alongside an inspired Daniel Gafford. Continue reading “Gafford’s inspired late showcase on both ends typifies another frenzied Mavs win”
Pictures often tell the full story and they do here, Boston again rallying from a big deficit – 18 points just as Dallas did earlier in the week – to stun Indiana on the Pacers’ home floor and take a historically unassailable series lead in their Eastern Conference finals matchup, punctuated by Jrue Holiday’s clutch defensive play late on. Unwell and struggling with his shot, that didn’t matter. Continue reading “Holiday hassles in the clutch on off-night, Boston take commanding 3-0 series lead”
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