David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 17

The Golden State Valkyries have surprised many this WNBA season as they’ve been an incredibly competitive team and are firmly in the mix for a playoff spot in what many felt like was going to be a struggling year. Instead, the Valkyries are in eighth place after having defeated the Washington Mystics, 68-67 on Thursday. […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are under new management this upcoming season following the firing of David Griffin and hiring of Joe Dumars. After trading Brandon Ingram at last season’s trade deadline, the team continued to reshape their roster by trading CJ McCollum to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Poole. It’s the time of offseason where […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks were on a five-game win streak and had won six of their last seven games coming into Tuesday’s home game against the Las Vegas Aces. A big reason for the Sparks’ improved play has been finally being healthy and having a consistent rotation. Fourth-year guard Rae Burrell is […]

The Phoenix Mercury have hit a bit of a rough patch, having gone 4-6 in their last ten games, but they still hold the third best record in the WNBA at 16-10. After defeating the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday the Mercury couldn’t put together a win streak as they fell to the Indiana Fever, […]

The Sacramento Kings are a team where it’s not quite easy to identify the direction they’re heading in. On paper, they appear to be a team that can reach play-in positioning, but that’s as far as the team goes. The Kings  have had a rather quiet offseason, with the sign-and-trade for Dennis Schroeder being their […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are entering a new era this season after they traded away veterans CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram. With a couple of seemingly solid draft picks in Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, and bringing in veterans like Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole, the team is looking to compete in the Western Conference […]

LOS ANGELES – Prior to the Los Angeles Sparks’ home game on Tuesday against the Las Vegas Aces, they received a major boost to the lineup. Riding high on a five-game win streak, the Sparks received word that Cameron Brink would make her season debut after being sidelined for over a year due to an […]

The Milwaukee Bucks did not have a first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft as it belonged to the New Orleans Pelicans via the Jrue Holiday trade from a few years ago. The only draft pick the Bucks had was the No. 47 overall pick which they used on Bogoljub Markovic. But after a […]

The Connecticut Sun are mired in a rebuilding year and have recently addressed rumors that the Sun might be looking at relocating. In seasons like this, one of the most important things for a team to do is evaluate players and prospects that could potentially be a part of the team’s future plans. The Sun […]

The Dallas Wings got a major boost in the lineup on Monday when Paige Bueckers made her returnPaige Bueckers made her return to the court after sitting out Sunday’s 106-80 loss to the Las Vegas Aces. With the defending champion New York Liberty in town, the Wings certainly welcomed their All-Star rookie back in the […]

The Minnesota Lynx had a open roster spot after waiving Alissa Pili right before the All-Star break, and they filled that spot temporarily this week with the signing of veteran WNBA guard Yvonne Anderson, the team announced. The Lynx were already down one guard in the lineup due to the season-ending injury to Karlie Samuelson. […]

The Chicago Sky are in another season of their rebuild centered around the duo of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. A huge part of building a winning team is putting the right pieces around the franchise cornerstones. The Sky felt they had a temporary answer at point guard with veteran Courtney Vandersloot, but Vandersloot suffered […]

The Los Angeles Sparks’ current win streak hit five games following their 101-99 win against the New York Liberty on Saturday. After giving up a double-digit lead, the Sparks hung on for the win following a game-winner from Rickea Jackson. With a little over five seconds left in the game. Dearica Hamby caught the ball […]

INDIANAPOLIS – When the Los Angeles Sparks acquired Kelsey Plum in a sign-and-trade ahead of the start of the 2025 WNBA season, the prevailing thought was the team was accelerating their rebuild and shifting to more of a win-now mentality. From the comments and quotes by new head coach Lynne Roberts as well as the […]

Back during the 2024 WNBA offseason, the Los Angeles Sparks acquired Julie Allemand in a sign-and-trade with the Chicago Sky. Allemand, who had a solid rookie season with the Indiana Fever in 2020, as well as extensive experience playing professionally overseas, was supposed to give the Sparks a quality option at point guard, a position […]

The Houston Rockets had one of the best offseasons out of any team in the NBA, transforming themselves into a legitimate contender following the trade for Kevin Durant among other roster moves. With their regular season roster pretty much done, hitting on the margins is crucial for contending teams. The Rockets made a recent roster […]

The NBA and WNBA sneaker game has become a booming business with players debuting signature shoes, as well as custom colorways for previously released shoes. A signature shoe though is the peak for players, and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu recently celebrated the release of her Sabrina 3 ‘Blueprint’ edition shoes. Sabrina Ionescu’s new […]

One of the biggest NBA rumors this offseason that just won’t die is the LeBron James’ potential future with the Los Angeles Lakers. James opted into his contract for the 2025-26 season and has not at all suggested that he won’t play out this season with the Lakers. But following cryptic comments made by his […]

The Miami Heat may have gotten a major steal when they signed undrafted big man Vladislav Goldin to a two-way contract. Goldin was among the Heat standouts during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and now the team is hoping they can strike gold twice. The Heat made a roster move on Friday with the […]

The USC Trojans got a major win on Friday with the commitment of Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2026, as per Talia Goodman of On3 Sports. Saniyah Hall’s commitment gives USC the top three recruits in the last four recruiting classes with 2023 No. 1 JuJu Watkins and 2025 No. […]

Pretty much every rookie in the WNBA has a ‘welcome to the W’ moment, that is, a moment where it truly hit them that they are in the WNBA. For some rookies, that could be an embarrassing moment. For others, that could be an enlightening moment. For Dallas Wings All-Star and No. 1 overall pick […]

When an NBA team hires a new head coach, that new coach usually has a say in who they choose to fill out the coaching staff. Such is the case for incoming New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown who is bringing along a few of his former assistants with the Sacramento Kings to his […]

Most NBA fans, even newer fans, likely know who Yao Ming is. Although the former Houston Rocket had his career cut short due to injury issues, he still left his mark in the NBA as one of the league’s best centers when healthy. His exploits have paved the way for future generations of Chinese basketball […]

In their first game immediately following the WNBA All-Star break, the Los Angeles Sparks grabbed a 93-86 win on the road against the Washington Mystics. Going back to before the break, the Sparks had won two games in a row which brought their win streak to three games after beating the Mystics. For a team […]

Coming into the 2025 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers did not have a first round pick. They ended up with two second round picks, however, in trading for the No. 38 pick from the San Antonio Spurs, and then already possessing the No. 54 pick. In days past, it used to be difficult for second […]

The Los Angeles Lakers came into the 2025 offseason with a glaring roster need in the form of a capable starting center. Given the slim free agent market, it always appeared as if the Lakers roster move for a big man would come via trade rather than a signing. But good fortune struck the Lakers […]

Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ free agent signing of veteran guard Marcus Smart, their offseason is essentially done. Barring an unforeseen trade of sorts, the Lakers current roster is likely to be what they come into training camp with. Of course there will be invites to camp, probably some of the Lakers’ summer league players […]

The Connecticut Sun will be in action on Thursday for their first game post-All-Star break, and they will be at home against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sun will be looking to get back in the win column as they ended the first half of the regular season on a three-game losing streak. But the […]

The Detroit Pistons will be looking to build on their success from last season when they snapped a five-year stretch of not making the playoffs. The Pistons will be getting Jaden Ivey back from injury, and their major free agency move was Duncan Robinson in a sign-and-trade with the Miami Heat. Good teams have to […]

The Charlotte Hornets had a strong draft in selecting Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner. They also were able to add Liam McNeely via trade with the Phoenix Suns involving Mark Williams. As the Hornets look to shape their roster for the upcoming season, finding talent on the margins is key. The Hornets made […]

With All-Star Weekend in the rearview and the second half of the 2025 WNBA season underway, the Chicago Sky are looking to get back in the win column after dropping the first game since the break, 91-68, against the Minnesota Lynx. The Sky will face off against the Seattle Storm at home on Thursday, and […]

It’s been a busy offseason for the Phoenix Suns so far as they kicked off the summer with the blockbuster trade of Kevin Durant to Houston Rockets. They followed that up with a buyout of Bradley Beal’s contract. A contract extension for Devin Booker solidified the All-Star guard as the franchise centerpiece of the organization. […]

With about two and a half minutes to go in the first quarter against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Sparks found themselves down by 16 points. At the end of the first quarter, they trailed by ten, 26-16. With a post-All-Star hangover threatening to get the second half of the WNBA season […]

The Denver Nuggets have had a fantastic offseason by all accounts as they continue to try and maximize their championship window with Nikola Jokic. The team signed key veterans such as Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency, while trading for Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. While the Valanciunas situation is not fully […]

It’s been a tough week for the Memphis Tigers beginning with the program being put on probation from the NCAA and culminating with the arrest of Sincere Parker who was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, as per Griffin McVeigh of On3 Sports. Earlier in the week, the NCAA announced a two-year probation for the […]

INDIANAPOLIS – It took seven years before Allisha Gray was selected to the WNBA All-Star Game, and it happened during her first season with the Atlanta Dream in 2023. Since then, Gray has made three straight All-Star teams and was voted in as a starter this year. Since joining the Dream, Gray’s career has really […]

INDIANAPOLIS – While WNBA All-Star Weekend was certainly the talk of the city in Indianapolis, it wasn’t the only major event going on. As part of All-Star Weekend, Basketball Without Borders, in conjunction with the WNBA and NBA, hosted one of their yearly camps at nearby University of Indianapolis. Washington Mystics guard Georgia Amoore, who […]

INDIANAPOLIS – New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu etched her name in the WNBA record books when she became only the second player to win the 3-Point Contest multiple times. Ionescu used hot shooting in the final round to edge out Atlanta Dream star Allisha Gray and take home her second 3-Point title after winning […]

Following the free agent signings of Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, the Los Angeles Lakers seemingly had another roster move to make. With the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith, the Lakers were in need of a consistent 3&D player. While LaRavia expressed interest in filling that role during his introductory press conference, it appears the Lakers […]