David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 40

The Boston Celtics have consistently been the best team in the NBA this season even before the trade deadline. The Celtics had a successful trade deadline bringing in extra big-man depth in Xavier Tillman and also acquiring a young prospect in Jaden Springer. With the buyout market season now here, the Celtics would be wise […]

The Phoenix Mercury had a whirlwind of an offseason so far. They made a major free agent splash by bringing in veteran point guard Natasha Cloud. They also pulled off a major trade by acquiring All-Star Kahleah Copper from the Chicago Sky. The moves signal that the Mercury are looking to contend this season in […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder were fairly active at the NBA Trade Deadline, acquiring Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic and Davis Bertans. The Thunder also included two second round picks in the trade. On paper, the Hayward trade looks like it will help the Thunder with a playoff […]

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Phoenix Suns did a good job strengthening their roster in anticipation of a deep playoff run. The Suns traded for Royce O’Neale from the Brooklyn Nets and David Roddy from the Memphis Grizzlies. But with the buyout market season coming up, the Suns can still […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder made an interesting trade at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring veteran wing Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets. The Thunder’s most pressing need seemed to be depth in the forecourt but they sort of addressed that on the free agent/buyout market. Hayward as a prime candidate to be traded and now […]

The Dallas Mavericks were arguably the winners of the NBA Trade Deadline. The Mavs managed to acquire Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington and didn’t give up much to get either of them. Both players are quality vets and will absolutely strengthen the Mavs roster. That was further evidenced by their Mavs debut during the team’s […]

The New York Knicks were one of the more active teams at the NBA Trade Deadline and in the weeks leading up. After strengthening their defense with the trade for OG Anunoby in December, the Knicks added more offensive firepower at the deadline in acquiring Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Detroit Pistons. The […]

Back in the day, the ABCD camp used to be one of the most prestigious camps for high school basketball players to attend. During one of the camp sessions was where current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James crossed paths with former Lakers star, the late Kobe Bryant. The Lakers recently unveiled their statue honoring […]

The NBA Trade Deadline passed with the Los Angeles Lakers deciding to stay the course. The Lakers had been linked to a few players on the trade market such as Dejounte Murray and Bruce Brown, but nothing materialized. There was one crazy rumor floating around that suggested the Lakers were looking into trading LeBron James. […]

The Toronto Raptors were one of the most active teams at the NBA Trade Deadline. Even before the trade deadline, the Raptors got the trade season off to a bang when they shipped OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks and Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers. One of the moves the Raptors made at […]

The dust and smoke from the WNBA free agency period has settled with the remaining top players available making their commitments. The Chicago Sky are headed in a different direction than they had anticipated at the start of the free agency period. After striking out on their free agent targets, they made the decision to […]

The NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone and one team that decided to stay the course was the Sacramento Kings. After taking the NBA by surprise last season, the Kings have been a middle of the pack team this year. They are currently seventh in the Western Conference standings after holding top three seed […]

It’s been a tough season for the Michigan Wolverines this year and there’s even been rumors of head coach Juwan Howard possibly stepping down. The team has stumbled to an 8-15 record overall and 3-9 in Big 10 Conference play. Barring a miraculous run through the Big 10 Tournament, their NCAA Tournament hopes are pretty […]

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions and even though they’re not atop the Western Conference standings, they should still be considered as the favorite to emerge from the pack and make back to back NBA Finals appearances. But with the NBA Trade Deadline approaching on Thursday, the Nuggets could still look to upgrade […]

With the dust from the WNBA Free Agency period winding down, there was one major domino left to fall. The Washington Mystics had cored Elena Delle Donne meaning that she was only allowed to negotiate with the Mystics during the free agency moratorium period. Being cored doesn’t necessarily mean that a player is assured to […]

The NBA Trade Deadline is on Thursday, Feb. 8 and perhaps no team has been involved in more trade rumors than the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have gotten off to a disappointing first half of the season, wallowing near the bottom half of the Western Conference standings despite having what many considered to be […]

The New York Knicks have vaulted themselves firmly into contention in the Eastern Conference this season. The Knicks actually kicked off the NBA trade deadline season with their huge acquisition of OG Anunoby. Even with the Anunoby deal, the Knicks are reportedly not done wheeling and dealing if rumors are to be believed. The NBA […]

The Miami Heat have been bit of an inconsistent team this season. But one player who has emerged as consistent role player for the Heat this season is forward Haywood Highsmith. The Heat might be without Haywood Highsmith though for the time being as he was involved in a car accident while driving home from […]

The Indiana Pacers pulled off their major move way before the NBA Trade Deadline when they acquired Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors. While Siakam is set to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, the Pacers reportedly feel confident they can re-sign him. It took a little while for Siakam to […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are in an interesting position in the Western Conference with the NBA Trade Deadline approaching. They’re a team that has the talent to be one of the better teams in the conference and a potential contender, but they’ve been playing inconsistent basketball. There is one move though that could help put […]

The Connecticut Sun were consistently among the elite teams in the WNBA last season alongside the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty. While most people believed the WNBA Finals would come down to the Aces and Liberty, and it did, the Sun put their names in the conversation. With the WNBA Free Agency period […]

The UCLA Bruins have been consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the country this season. They stayed at No. 2 in the NCAAW AP top 25 poll for most of this season but have fluctuated amid a few recent losses. One of the key reasons for UCLA Bruins rise this season has […]

The Golden State Warriors have been struggling this season, causing some to ponder if this is the final demise of the Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green dynasty. The team is barely keeping afloat in the play-in race, but would it really be beneficial for them for that to be their outcome this season? On […]

The NBA Trade Deadline is this week and one team that should look to be active is the Washington Wizards. It’s been another disappointing season for the Wizards as they are on track to miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The one thing the Wizards need to do come the trade deadline is […]

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James set the NBA world in shambles this week with a simple tweet of an hourglass that had social media aflame trying to decode his message. The tweet was followed by an even wilder tweet from David Pingalore of KTLA who suggested that the Lakers were gauging the trade market […]

Throughout NBA history, NBA fans have always been fascinated with smaller players. From Muggsy Bogues, to Allen Iverson, to Isaiah Thomas, to Jalen Brunson and more, small players have always seemed to become fan favorites. One of the current smallest players in the NBA is Memphis Grizzlies guard Jacob Gilyard who is all of 5-foot-8 […]

On Friday, the college basketball world was treated to an explosive performance from USC freshman JuJu Watkins. Watkins exploded for a career-high 51 points in a big road win against No. 4 Stanford. It was the highest scoring game of this season, as well as the highest scoring game in USC women’s basketball history. Not […]

The Memphis Grizzlies have been hit hard by injury issues this season and it has derailed their year. Ping pong balls in the lottery and pride are what they have to play for this season. They dropped another game on Friday, this time against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, 121-101. But the Grizzlies, […]

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions with a good shot a repeating this season. The Nuggets are led by their star duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. While Jokic was just named to his sixth consecutive All-Star selection, Jamal Murray has never once been named to the NBA’s midseason showcase. It’s a […]

The Los Angeles Clippers continued their Grammy road trip on Friday with a win against the Detroit Pistons, 136-125. After getting off to a six game losing streak in the immediate aftermath of the James Harden trade, the Clippers have been playing phenomenal basketball. They’ve climbed the Western Conference standings and are in striking distance […]

It has been a tough season injury wise for Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers have not been able to field a completely healthy roster for much of this season and they’ve stumbled to a 5-5 record in Big 10 Conference play despite an overall record 13-8. Coming into their next game against […]

Former NBA first-round pick Tony Snell found himself at the forefront of the NBA world this week when it was revealed that Snell needed to be on a team roster by the end of Friday in order to be eligible for the league’s premium healthcare plan. Being on a roster would give Snell 10 years […]

The Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team has been having a decent overall year at 16-6, but they’ve struggled a bit in Big 10 Conference play as they’ve only managed a 6-5 record. Nebraska has actually gotten better though each season under Fred Hoiberg and this is the first time in his five years as head coach […]

The Washington Wizards made a huge move even before the WNBA free agency period began when they made the decision to core Elena Delle Donne. Although the move does not guarantee that Delle Donne will remain in a Mystics jersey for his upcoming season, it makes it a little more difficult for her to leave […]

The Indiana Fever already have a foundational player in Aliyah Boston. They have the opportunity to add another foundational player in this upcoming WNBA Draft with the No. 1 overall pick, widely expected to be Iowa star Caitlin Clark. In order to the build a contending team around their budding stars, they’ll need to grab […]

For much of last season, the Connecticut Sun kept up in the WNBA standings as the third best team in the league alongside the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. With a star duo in Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, one of the Sun’s biggest needs in WNBA free agency was three point […]

The Indiana Fever hit the jackpot when they got the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft and used it to select rising star Aliyah Boston. They got another major boost getting the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft which they’re widely expected to use on Iowa star Caitlin Clark […]

The Chicago Sky made their major WNBA free agency move even before the 2023 season ended when they signed star guard Kahleah Copper to a contract extension. Copper was set to hit unrestricted free agency during  this offseason and the Sky ensured they have the All-Star guard locked up for at least two more seasons. […]

The WNBA free agency moratorium period is set to end on Thursday with contracts becoming official. A day before the period ended, there was a mini-flurry of reported signings. Even so, some of the major dominoes such as Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Natasha Cloud remain unsigned. Each of those players are potential game-changers depending […]