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Who's the best fit for Orlando Magic with No. 1 in 2022 draft?
CHICAGO — It didn’t take long for the Orlando Magic’s draft lottery celebration to turn into speculation.
Moments after the Magic won the draft lottery Tuesday in Chicago, questions quickly started to surround Orlando, the winner of the No. 1 pick in the June 23 NBA draft.
What will be the Magic’s approach to having the top pick?
Will...Read more
Stefan Bondy: The third and final act of the Warriors dynasty is a special moment in history
I’ll admit it. I thought the Warriors dynasty was finished. I was there the night in Toronto when it turned, when I declared the dynasty kaput, ironically during a Warriors victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
The moment is easy to remember. Kevin Durant, the reigning two-time NBA Finals MVP, hobbled off the court with a torn Achilles, ...Read more
Dieter Kurtenbach: The Warriors are rounding into their best form at the perfect time
SAN FRANCISCO — Had Game 1 of the Warriors and Mavericks’ playoff series come in round one instead of the Western Conference Finals, things might have been different.
Instead, this series looks lopsided in favor of the Dubs after only one contest.
The Warriors didn’t just beat the Mavericks on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western ...Read more
Matt Calkins: Expectations no longer weighing on Kelsey Plum, she's now playing like one of the WNBA's best guards
There might have been a time when you thought "good" was the ceiling for Kelsey Plum and "great" was just a memory from her college days.
There might have been a moment — maybe several moments — in which you felt her going No. 1 in the 2017 WNBA draft was a whiff of a pick.
The early numbers for the former Huskies star were underwhelming, ...Read more
Max Strus was going to bleed Celtics green, now Heat culture courses through his veins in East finals
MIAMI — This is the revenge, the opportunity for Max Strus to settle the score, to prove the Boston Celtics wrong, to make Brad Stevens wish he never issued that pink slip.
Right?
“No,” Strus said to the Sun Sentinel during a private moment outside the Miami Heat locker room at FTX Arena. “This isn’t about me. This is bigger than me....Read more
Chris Biderman: The Kings got lucky with No. 4 pick in draft, now they must get lucky a second time
There’s an underlying theme of this spring’s ongoing NBA playoffs that might provides an important case study in roster building — something the Sacramento Kings should pay close attention to after they landed the No. 4 pick in the upcoming draft.
A number of the most important stars in the league are leading playoff runs, or have done so...Read more
David Murphy: Three things we know about the Sixers' offseason plans, with Tobias Harris a big key
PHILADELPHIA — Daryl Morey is back where he started. Not really. But, kind of.
When the Sixers president arrived in town in October 2020, he inherited a team that many swore had nowhere to turn. Two years of haphazard decision-making had left the franchise with little apparent room to wiggle free from an ill-fitting roster that was coming off...Read more
Warriors thump Mavericks in convincing Game 1
SAN FRANCISCO – After the Mavericks made a statement in a dominant Game 7 win over the Suns on Sunday, Dallas coach and Bay Area basketball legend Jason Kidd said the team wasn’t sweating the task of going toe-to-toe with an experienced team in the Warriors, who have advanced to the Western Conference finals in six of the last eight seasons....Read more
Celtics' Smart upgraded to probable, with Heat's Lowry still out, as pandemic, protocols remain series factors
MIAMI — The specter COVID and illness continues to be a factor in the Eastern Conference finals series between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.
A day after the Celtics big man Al Horford entered the NBA’s heath-and-safety protocols, Boston coach Ime Udoka was unavailable for his team’s Wednesday media session due to what the Celtics...Read more
P.J. Tucker perseveres as vital Heat organ, embraced again as 'the heartbeat of our team'
For four days before the start of these Eastern Conference finals, left with little else to discuss during yet another extended postseason break, coach Erik Spoelstra and his Miami Heat players spoke of the impending need to make the hustle plays, be first to the ball, impose will, take care of the small stuff in the margins.
Basically, all the...Read more
Roderick Boone: The Hornets have 2 first-round draft picks and need to trade both of them. Here's why.
When the card with their logo got pulled out of the envelope by NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, revealing the Charlotte Hornets failed to jump up in the draft lottery Tuesday night, it surely didn’t incite many smiles.
Certainly not from PJ Washington, who would’ve gladly flashed a toothy pose on the dais in Chicago if they somehow rose...Read more
Celtics go back to the video room after Game 1 collapse
MIAMI — In the wake of Tuesday night’s Game 1 loss, they sounded like a football team.
Whether it was Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown or the coach, Ime Udoka, they all had to look at the “film.”
A day later after getting together at the team hotel, the damage was fairly self-explanatory — the wrong end of a 39-14 third quarter, including ...Read more
Bob Wojnowski: Pistons fall from top three, but could land a Big Ten star
The bad news for the Pistons is, they fell out of the NBA Draft’s top three. Good news is, they won’t have to engage in the loud, rancorous debate over which super-hyped players should go one, two, or three.
With one flip of the lottery card Tuesday night, the Pistons’ focus shifted, and so will the argument. Landing at No. 5 wasn’t ...Read more
Joey Baker, Duke basketball captain and reserve forward, enters transfer portal
CHICAGO — Joey Baker’s Duke basketball career, which began earlier than planned, included his redshirt being burned late in his freshman season and saw him as a team captain last season, is coming to an end.
The 6-6 reserve forward from Fayetteville, N.C., is entering his name in the transfer portal so that, after he completes work toward ...Read more
Dave Hyde: Heat's Jimmy Butler keeps telling you who he is -- and it's more than the 41 points in Game 1 win
Every so often, just for a moment, Jimmy Butler will let you in. He’ll pull back the curtain and let you see who he is, how his mind and motivations assemble.
He mostly keeps that area closed off, opaquely answering he doesn’t care about random ideas like statistics, as he says night after playoff night.
Even if the question is framed that...Read more
Jason Kidd gets his playoff shot against hometown Warriors -- as Dallas coach
SAN FRANCISCO – Jason Kidd is back in town, and it’s not for a 30-year reunion of St. Joseph High’s Class of 1992 in Alameda.
He is here to coach the Dallas Mavericks past the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, which begin tonight at Chase Center.
“It’s always good to come home,” Kidd said Tuesday. “A lot of great things ...Read more
Amar'e Stoudemire clarifies comments on Kyrie Irving and leaving Nets
NEW YORK — Former Nets assistant Amar’e Stoudemire suggested there’s no bad blood between him, the Nets or Kyrie Irving, and that the media took his words in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take out of context.
Stoudemire, who broke the news of his departure from Steve Nash’s coaching staff in a May 12 nationally-televised conversation ...Read more
Inside the Magic's luck that landed Orlando No. 1 pick in NBA draft
CHICAGO — A few hours before their franchise-altering night, the Orlando Magic made a rare change.
Jeff Weltman, president of basketball operations, was scheduled to be the Magic’s on-stage representative at Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery.
Before it started, however, coach Jamahl Mosley told Weltman he was “feeling a little lucky” and ...Read more
Bill Plaschke: Sparks' new season, and Derek Fisher's job security, off to a shaky start
LOS ANGELES — The smattering of fans are standing, shrieking, bouncing, transforming the lower bowl of Crypto.com Arena into a downtown block party.
Dancers hop across a stage behind one basket. Sparky the Dog leads cheers from midcourt. Lisa Leslie waves from courtside. The relentless DJ Mal-Ski fills every quiet moment with chants and ...Read more
Marcus Hayes: Sixers, as they are now, can be good enough to win a title
PHILADELPHIA — Disappointment and outrage grip Sixers nation this week. Understandable.
But there is hope.
What if the Sixers get ... better? They can.
Every shortcoming the team displayed in its 12-game playoff run can improve. Every single one. They might lack championship DNA — there’s no analytic for heart — but they certainly ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Roderick Boone: The Hornets have 2 first-round draft picks and need to trade both of them. Here's why.
- Chris Biderman: The Kings got lucky with No. 4 pick in draft, now they must get lucky a second time
- Celtics' Smart upgraded to probable, with Heat's Lowry still out, as pandemic, protocols remain series factors
- Warriors thump Mavericks in convincing Game 1
- P.J. Tucker perseveres as vital Heat organ, embraced again as 'the heartbeat of our team'
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