David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 47

There’s no question that Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has become one of the biggest names in the sport across both men and women’s basketball. The senior sensation has become must-see TV with her electrifying play and uncanny ability to drop logo-bombs in the mold of Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard. She dropped 40 […]

If there’s one player who has seen his name come up in trade rumors seemingly every season, it’s Utah Jazz forward John Collins. Back when he was a member of the Atlanta Hawks, Collins seemingly had his name in trade rumors every trade deadline. Each deadline though he remained with the Hawks. This offseason he […]

There’s no question that the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers have a little rivalry building up this season. It began during the NBA in-season tournament when the Pacers eliminated the Bucks and Tyrese Haliburton used the ‘Dame Time’ celebration. It continued into the season following a record night by Giannis Antetokounmpo. At the end of […]

After getting off to a 2-10 start last season, the Los Angeles Lakers knew they needed to make moves at the NBA trade deadline. One of those moves involved Utah Jazz. The Lakers ended up trading Russell Westbrook to the Jazz and received Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in return. Beasley was expected to improve […]

Trade winds and chatter are heating up as the NBA Trade Deadline season is officially here. There’s still a little over one month to go until the deadline but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning. The Toronto Raptors appear to be open for business following the OG Anunoby trade. One name that has […]

The New York Knicks recently made headlines with the first major move of the NBA’s trade deadline season. Bringing in OG Anunoby certainly fortified the Knicks defense and gave them one of the more underrated swingmen in the league. And according to reports, the Knicks might not be done wheeling and dealing. The team is […]

The Houston Rockets have had a history of having star caliber big men. From Hakeem Olajuwon to Ralph Sampson to Moses Malone, the franchise has had some of the best centers to ever play the game don a Rockets jersey. In more recent seasons, the Rockets have had Dwight Howard who is arguably a Hall […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have been a disappointing team during the early stretch of the 2023-24 season. Part of the reason why is because the team has dealt with various injuries to key players. As a result, the team has been unable to build the proper chemistry needed to present a legit threat in the […]

The New York Knicks recently completed a major trade to bring in OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn from the Toronto Raptors as they continue to try and become a force in the Eastern Conference. They shipped out R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley in return, but this looks like it could be a good […]

The Philadelphia 76ers certainly have a leading contender for the NBA’s MVP Award with Joel Embiid. They may also have a candidate for the Most Improved Player in Tyrese Maxey. But could they have a candidate for one of the other awards? Yes, if you ask Patrick Beverley as the Sixers reserve point guard recently […]

The Indiana Pacers have been been playing better recently since their loss during the in-season tournament championship. They’ve won five games in a row and have improved to 18-14 on the season. The Pacers suffered some bad news recently though with the passing of former legend George McGinnis. McGinnis passed away on Dec. 14 due […]

For Philadelphia 76ers fans who remember the painful years of ‘Trust the Process,’ Joel Embiid is a reminder that it was all worth it. The Sixers star has become one of the NBA’s elite players and one of the few top-tier superstars. Behind Joel Embiid, the Sixers have become a contender in the Eastern Conference. […]

The Boston Celtics have been the best team in the NBA and are favored by many to win the NBA title this season. They hold the best record in the league and have been playing phenomenal basketball. The additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis have proved tremendous. But one of the biggest things for […]

The Miami Heat began a Western Conference road trip last week. The trip spans five games and began on Dec. 28 against the Golden State Warriors with stops at the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns. The Heat are 1-1 on the trip so far beating the Warriors but losing […]

The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the better teams in the Western Conference this season. After a rocky second half of the 2022-23 season that saw them miss the playoffs, the Mavs have been played much better this year despite some key injuries. Mavs point guard Kyrie Irving has been sidelined due to injury […]

The Indiana Pacers are preparing for their New Year’s Day showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks. The last time these two teams met, things got a little bit out of control. The budding rivalry between these two teams stems from the Pacers elimination of the Bucks during the NBA’s in-season tournament. For this latest installment of […]

This was a big weekend for many teams across college basketball as conference play finally tipped-off. For the USC Trojans, they ventured up north for games against Oregon and Oregon State. Bronny James is still getting up to game speed for USC as he made his return to the court this month following a cardiac […]

For NBA players, scoring their first career points is a special moment. There’s nothing like getting into a game and being able to make an impact, especially when that’s what players have been working towards their entire lives. For Boston Celtics rookie Drew Peterson, that moment came a couple days before Christmas against the Los […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have not lost a beat this season after trading star guard James Harden. They have emerged as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a star caliber player and a great compliment to Joel Embiid. Speaking of Joel Embiid, the Sixers MVP candidate has borne the brunt […]

Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark has become one of the most electrifying players in college basketball. She’s got that Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard type game in that she can cross halfcourt and pull up from close to the logo with consistency and ease. She’s been setting NCAA records and will be a top WNBA Draft […]

The New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA world on Saturday with a massive trade involving OG Anunoby going to the Knicks and Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett going to the Raptors. It’s a move that has positive implications for both teams and it’s going to be interesting to see how these […]

The USC Trojans are set to tip-off Pac-12 Conference play after an uneven non conference schedule. The Trojans finished their non conference schedule with a record of 6-5 and not ranked after starting the season on the AP Top 25 poll. USC did get an emotional boost though with the debut of Bronny James who […]

The Sacramento Kings have a bonafide superstar in De’Aaron Fox. He’s become one of the NBA’s elite point guards and the quarterback of one of the better teams in the Western Conference. Like all players though, Fox has definitely modeled his game after some of his peers and certainly has a few fellow point guards […]

The Boston Celtics have surged to the best record in the NBA at 23-6 this season. They’ve looked like the top contender for the NBA championship, but on Thursday they showed that the NBA season is a grind and anything can happen on any given night. The Celtics came into Thursday set to square off […]

The Boston Celtics have looked like one of the favorites to win the NBA title this season. With the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as well as the improvement of Derrick White the Celtics have surged to the best record in the NBA. During their Thursday night matchup against the Detroit Pistons, Holiday […]

Back before the 2021-22 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls thought they were on the verge of becoming one of the top teams in the NBA. They pulled off two sign and trade deals for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan to go alongside Zach LaVine. It hasn’t quite worked out though as Lonzo Ball has suffered […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially risen into the upper echelon of the Western Conference. Led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are poising themselves as a legitimate threat to make a deep playoff run. Gilgeous-Alexander has steadily become one of the NBA’s elite players and a true franchise building block. On Wednesday in […]

The Dallas Mavericks had been dealing with several injuries lately. Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber continue to be sidelined while Dereck Lively II and Josh Green recently made their return to the lineup. Amid the shifting rotation, the Mavs decided to change up the roster a little bit by signing G League standout Brandon Williams […]

The Denver Nuggets have been looking like the favorites to come out of the Western Conference yet again and reach the NBA Finals. They pulled off a solid win on Christmas Day agains the resurgent Golden State Warriors snapping their recent win streak. Nuggets backup guard Reggie Jackson was limited though against the Warriors due […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA this season with poor crunch time execution. Health as always been one of the Pelicans biggest issues the past couple of seasons but recently the team has been pretty healthy overall. The Pelicans have been without Larry Nance Jr. though […]

This past offseason, the Houston Rockets had a goal and that was to add meaningful veterans to a young team in desperate need of guidance and leadership. One of those vets the Rockets added was Dillon Brooks. Brooks was unfairly scapegoated for the Memphis Grizzlies’ failures and he’s been a major boost to the Rockets […]

The Miami Heat pulled off a big win on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia 76ers even if Joel Embiid didn’t play. The Heat were short-handed themselves without Jimmy Butler.  That was no matter for the Heat as they got big contributions from Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. In the case of Jaquez, he joined […]

It’s only Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean that trade winds aren’t blowing with the NBA trade deadline about two months away. With a few teams looking to solidify themselves as legit title contenders, the trade market might heat up in the coming weeks. One player whose name has come up in trade rumors is […]

The New York Knicks pulled off a major win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day. For a team that’s trying to reach the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, this was one of the biggest wins of the season for the Knicks. Leading the way for the Knicks was star guard Jalen Brunson. Brunson’s […]

The Denver Nuggets got a big Christmas Day win against the resurgent Golden State Warriors who had won five of their last six games since Draymond Green was suspended. The game was not without controversy as the Warriors had something to say about the officiating. But a big part of the Nuggets win was Kentavious […]

The Milwaukee Bucks came into their Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. After a bit of a shaky start to the season, the Bucks have seemingly found their rhythm and chemistry. But their 129-122 loss to the Knicks on Christmas Day, questions might […]

As part of the NBA’s slate of Christmas Day games, the Warriors and the Nuggets game was certainly an entertaining one as the Warriors put up a fight before falling, 120-114. One of the biggest stories after the game though was the number of free throws, particularly how many free throws the Nuggets shot. Not […]

The Atlanta Hawks have been having a bit of a disappointing 2023-24 season so far. They are currently 12-17 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. After having a solid 2022-23 season, Dejounte Murray has continued his solid play this year for the Hawks but his name has come up already in trade […]

A few weeks ago, the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks were the subject of drama when Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t find the game ball following his franchise record 64-point game. The drama was intense enough that the Pacers went out and signed an enforcer immediately after. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was noticeably in […]