NBADiscussi0ns

         These past couple seasons have not gone so well for the Chicago Bulls especially with the expectations they had when they assembled this new core of LaVine, Ball, Vucevic and DeRozan.  In the summer of 2021 the Chicago Bulls had an aggressive off-season. To start, the Bulls acquired Guard Lonzo Ball in a sign-&-trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. Lonzo landed with the Bulls on a 4-year, $80 Million contract. Then the Bulls went out and signed Free Agent Guard and defensive specialist Alex Caruso. Caruso made a name for himself with the Los Angeles Lakers where he won a championship. The Bulls made another big and bit of a surprising move acquiring Forward DeMar DeRozan in a sign-&-trade with the San Antonio Spurs. DeRozan landed with the Bulls on a 3-year, $81 Million contract. There were rumors about DeRozan, who is a Californian native, going to play for his hometown team the Los Angeles Lakers. When reports came out that DeRozan and the Lakers could not agree on a

          The Miami Heat have found great success when it comes to developing undrafted players and this season they had themselves another successful project with Forward Haywood Highsmith. After graduating high school in 2014 Highsmith took his basketball talents to Wheeling University, a Division 2 program. Highsmith would go on to play 4 seasons at Wheeling University and would enter the 2018 NBA draft. Haywood Highsmith would go undrafted but that did not stop him from pursuing the big leagues.            Highsmith would have a couple opportunities at making the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers however the Sixers didn't seem to have a reason to keep him so he got waived a few times. However he did not give up on his NBA dream and would continue to work on his game in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats [Philadelphia 76ers G-League affiliated team]. Haywood Highsmith also spent a season overseas in Germany. During the 2021-22 NBA season a lot of teams found themselves shor

          People forget that JaVale McGee is a three-time NBA Champion (2017, 2018 & 2020). The 7-foot big man is still a solid player that can provide on a contending team. During the 2021-22 season McGee played for the Phoenix Suns and helped them win 64 games in the regular season and the Suns had the best record in the NBA that season. McGee played primarily as the backup Center but still provided some solid production. McGee averaged 16 MPG, 9 PPG, 7 RPG, 1 APG and 1 BPG during the regular season playing for the Phoenix Suns. Heading into the post season the Suns had high championship aspirations especially with having the best record in the league but would have their championship hopes smashed by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, losing in a game 7 blowout.            In the summer of 2022 McGee was a Free Agent and would later sign with the Dallas Mavericks on a 3-year, $17.2 Million contract. This would be McGee's second stint with the Maveric

          The New York Knicks are coming off their best season since the 2012-13 season. Going 47-35 in the regular season [5th seed in the Eastern Conference] and making it past the first-round for the first time in a decade. While the Knicks did lose in the second-round against the Miami Heat in six games it was still a successful season and a trend in the right direction. During the off-season the Knicks made a surprising move by trading Forward Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers for two second-round picks. Toppin was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up a Knick fan so he was very emotional when the Knicks drafted him with the eighth overall pick back in 2020. In Toppin's first three years in the league and with the Knicks he has made the playoffs twice and won the Slam Dunk contest. However, where things seemed to get heated was during the second-round in this years' playoffs. After losing game 4 against the Miami Heat audio leaked of Obi shouting at Knicks Head Coach Tom T

          Houston Rockets Guard Kevin Porter Jr has been arrested this Monday, September 11th, in New York for allegedly assaulting and strangling his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. The couple have been in a relationship for over a year now. According to @NBCNewYork, Kysre was taken to the hospital with at least one bone broken and bruising. A recent report came out by @APNEWS stating in this alleged attack, Kevin Porter Jr punched Kysre in the face repeatedly with a closed fist which left a cut above her right eye and causing bruising and substantial pain. It was also reported that Porter forcefully squeezed Kysre's neck which led to difficult breathing, redness and bruising. It was also reported by @ESPN_Womenhoop that Kysre has a fractured neck vertebrae. Of course more details will be released as time goes on but at the moment of typing this article, this is the info out so far. Kysre's sister, Kalabrya Gondrezick-Haskins voiced her thoughts on the situati

          Duncan Robinson was quite the story in this year's NBA playoffs. Before we talk about Duncan's huge bounce back during the playoffs lets look back a few years ago. To begin with, Duncan Robinson went undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft but would find himself an opportunity with the Miami Heat. The Heat have been known for their amazing developing program when finding overlooked players and forming them into solid role players. As Robinson was beginning his NBA career he was quickly becoming one of the top three-point shooters in the league. The 2019-20 season was when Robinson truly broke out in the NBA as he would become a starter for the Miami Heat. In a game against the Atlanta Hawks Duncan scored a career-high 34 points and making a career-high 10 threes. Robinson averaged 14 PPG, 3 RPG and 1 APG while shooting over 40% from three. While Robinson was deadly from three-point range he had his troubles on the defensive end but when you can shoot the lights out like Dunca

          The last time we saw Danny Green with the Philadelphia 76ers was in Game 6 of the 2022 playoffs during the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Miami Heat. In the first quarter, at the 9:01 mark, Joel Embiid was attacking the basket but as he went down he landed on Danny Green's knees. It was later announced that Danny Green tore the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral cruciate ligament in his left knee. The Sixers would end up losing that game thus ending their post-season run.            It was pretty clear that Danny Green would miss significant time for the 2022-23 season given the impact his knee took. While Green was a solid piece for the Sixers in his couple seasons with the team the Sixers just were not going to wait for Green to come back, at the time it was unclear when Green could possibly return. During the 2022 NBA draft the Philadelphia 76ers traded Danny Green and the draft rights to David Roddy (the 23rd overall pick) to the Memphis Grizzlies in e

          There were some questions as to where Forward/Center Christian Wood might end up in Free Agency. Wood spend this past season with the Dallas Mavericks after being traded to Dallas in the summer of 2022 from Houston. Now Wood had a solid season with the Mavericks averaging 17 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 APG and 1 BPG. Wood primarily came off the bench although he did start in 17 games for the Mavericks averaging 20 PPG, 9 RPG and 2 BPG. While Christian Wood had himself a good season the Mavericks as a team had a terrible ending to their season by missing the playoffs and did not even qualify for the play-in tournament.            There was some indication that Christian Wood was not returning to Dallas heading towards Free Agency. The big man tested the markets and it did not go as most would expect. While many teams had shown interests in Wood, with the LA Lakers and the Miami Heat being the top candidates, Wood had not signed with a team which seemed strange to some fans in the NBA world.

          The Dallas Mavericks ended their season in a very embarrassing fashion. At the trade deadline the Mavericks made a big move trading for All Star Guard Kyrie Irving sending Guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, one first-round pick and two second-round picks to Brooklyn. The Mavericks also acquired Forward Markieff Morris in the deal. While the Mavericks gave up some of their defense this trade was expected to boost their offense. Before the trade the Mavericks had a record of 29-26 (5th in the Western Conference). While a Irving-Doncic backcourt was predicted to be unstoppable the results said otherwise. The Mavericks would go 9-16 after the trade deadline, when they acquired Kyrie Irving, they would finish the season 38-42 and finish 11th in the Western Conference thus eliminating them from playoff contention. Going from the 5th seed to 11th is a huge drop and going from making the Western Conference Finals to missing the playoffs entirely was a huge setback.

          Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that New Orleans Pelicans Guard Trey Murphy III had suffered a meniscus injury to his left knee during a workout. Murphy will undergo further testing to see if he will require surgery. Murphy is heading into his third season in the NBA and Murphy has shown that he is a solid young player that can make an impact. Murphy improved in his second year compared to his rookie year in every statistical category. So if news breaks out that Murphy is going to miss a huge amount of time then it is going to be a tough loss for the Pelicans to start the new season.            Trey Murphy had shown huge improvements this past season compared to his rookie year. In his rookie year Murphy averaged 5 PPG, 2 RPG, 1 APG and shot 39% from the field and 38% from 3. Then in his sophomore season Murphy made a huge jump averaging 14 PPG, 3 RPG, 1 APG and shot 48% from the field and 41% from 3. There was also a big jump in his minutes between his rookie year and this

          The Toronto Raptors are a team that aren't good enough to compete for a championship but aren't bad enough to tank for a high lottery pick. Ever since 2019, when the Raptors won their first championship in franchise history, the Raptors have not made it back to the Finals or even reached the Eastern Conference Finals. This past season the Raptors finished 9th in the Eastern Conference which means they qualified for the Play-In Tournament and had home court advantage for the first game against the 10th seed Chicago Bulls. The winner of this game would face the Miami Heat and play for the final spot for the playoffs. The Raptors were the team favored to win the matchup but instead fell to the Bulls thus ending their season. The Raptors led as many as 19 points but just could not hold on. The biggest talk of the game was the Raptors going 50% from the free throw line, 18-36, which is not great especially in a win or go home game. Bulls fans have Diar DeRozan to thank for

          The Houston Rockets have had a few tough seasons lately. Finishing at the bottom of the standings and gambling for ping pong balls. This offseason the Rockets are looking to take the next step with this young core. This past season the Rockets finished the season with a 22-60 record (14th in the Western Conference) which means they were looking at the NBA lottery. Houston landed the 4th overall pick in this years NBA Draft and with the pick they took young talented Guard Amen Thompson from Overtime Elite. The Rockets had a lot of work to do and a lot of cap space and took advantage of it in Free Agency.            Free Agency came and the Rockets made sure to spend that money on some solid veteran players to help the young guys grow their game, guide them and win games. They started big by signing Guard Fred VanVleet to a 3-year, $128 Million max contract, final year is a club-option. VanVleet was recently on the All-Star team in 2022 and played a major role in helping the Ra