David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 51

This week, former Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker announced his retirement from basketball. While Walker played for other teams in the NBA as well, his Hornets tenure is what he’s most remembered for. Kemba Walker developed into a star player, and during a recent appearance on Carmelo Anthony’s podcast, ‘7pm in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks are currently mired in an eight-game losing streak. The skid began at the beginning of their recent seven-game road trip back on June 11 against the Seattle Storm. The Sparks most recent loss came at home against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, a game they lost after leading […]

With the 2024 NBA free agency negotiation period having been underway for almost a week now, most big name free agents have already agreed to contracts. Contracts cannot become official until this coming weekend, but most impact players are already off the open market. The Cleveland Cavaliers are still looking to strengthen the team. The […]

After about a week, most big name free agents have already agreed to deals during the NBA free agency negotiation period. While contracts cannot be signed and made official until this weekend, a lot of players are already off the open market. For a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves, they can still strengthen their roster […]

After one season of college basketball at USC, Bronny James was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and has already signed his contract. James’ contract is for four years and worth around $7.9 million. Amid signing his Lakers contract, Bronny James got a special […]

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks finally returned home to Crypto.com Arena after a road trip that saw them go 0-7. Through three quarters of their game on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics, it appeared as if they were going to snap the losing streak. But the Sparks were outplayed in the fourth quarter, […]

With the LA Sparks currently in the midst of a 4-14 season, one of the brights spots this year has been Dearica Hamby. Dearica Hamby has been putting up career numbers for the Sparks this season and on Tuesday it was announced that she was selected to the WNBA All-Star game. The 2024 Olympics are […]

The Olympics are set to begin in just a few weeks and with that the WNBA will take close to a month-long hiatus before resuming the 2024 season in mid-August. Several WNBA players will be playing in the Olympics for various countries and as of Tuesday, Los Angeles Sparks guard Kia Nurse will be suiting […]

The Los Angeles Sparks have finally returned home to the confines of Crypto.com Arena after completing a seven-game road trip. The Sparks were winless on the trip and lost both Cameron Brink for the season due to an ACL injury and Lexie Brown indefinitely due to illness related to Crohn’s. But help could be on […]

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off an NBA Finals appearance, their first since the 2010-11 season. With the NBA free agency negotiation period underway, the Mavericks are looking at ways to upgrade the roster to make another strong playoff run. The Mavericks agreed to terms with Naji Marshall in free agency, and their reason for […]

With the NBA free agency negotiation period underway, several players have already agreed to terms with teams. The Washington Wizards, engulfed in a rebuild, still need to fill out their roster and adding quality veterans is crucial for a young team. The Wizards addressed that in NBA free agency by agreeing to terms with veteran […]

The Philadelphia 76ers came into the 2024 offseason as one of the few teams that was armed with ample cap space. While signs point towards the 76ers landing Paul George in NBA free agency, they have already agreed to smaller deals with key free agents including sharpshooting veteran Eric Gordon as per Shams Charania of […]

The Los Angeles Lakers entered NBA free agency with not much to spend in terms of cap space and looking to build a championship contending roster. Barring an unforeseen major move, most of the Lakers offseason moves will most likely be internal. To that end, the Lakers came to an agreement to re-sign Max Christie […]

With the NBA free agency negotiation period officially underway, the Los Angeles Clippers came to terms on a new contract with James Harden as per Shams Charania of The Athletic. This was the first time in Harden’s career that he experienced unrestricted free agency. Harden was acquired by the Clippers in an early season trade […]

After a relatively strong 2022-23 season, the Texas Longhorns seemingly took a step back during the 2023-24 season. They finished with an overall record of 21-13 and an underwhelming 9-9 in Big 12 Conference play. It doesn’t get any easier though as Texas is set to move to the SEC for the 2024-25 season. But […]

This was always going to be a trying season for the Washington Mystics following an offseason that saw them lose franchise stalwarts in Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud. But it’s turned into a struggle as the Mystics’ roster has been hit hard with injuries as of late. Needing help, the Mystics recently signed Jakia […]

The Atlanta Hawks are at a crossroads this offseason in terms of what direction they want to go in building their team. They’ve been a team that’s not good enough to make a serious playoff run, but not bad enough to get a high draft pick and accelerate a rebuild. With NBA free agency coming […]

With the NBA Draft now in the rearview, free agency and trade season is officially here. For the Utah Jazz, that means deciding what to do with Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen is one of the top rising stars in the NBA but the Jazz are nowhere near being a team ready to compete. Rival teams are […]

To the surprise of nobody, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny James with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Now that Bronny James is on the Lakers roster, one of the most pressing questions is what jersey number will he wear. The team answered that question revealing Bronny’s No. 9 alongside […]

With the NBA Draft in the rearview, the focus now turns to NBA free agency and trade season. The Toronto Raptors made one of the first moves of the offseason in choosing to pick up the contract option on Bruce Brown as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Bruce Brown is due $23 million on his […]

The Chicago Bulls made one of the first big moves of the 2024 offseason when they acquired Josh Giddey in a trade that sent Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder. A big offseason is looming for the Bulls, with early signs pointing to a possible rebuild. One of the next dominoes to fall could […]

The Los Angeles Sparks have one game remaining on their current road trip against the Phoenix Mercury. Presently, they are 0-6 on this trip. But if the Sparks want to salvage this trip and get a win, they’re going to have to do so short-handed. The Sparks have a lengthy injury report for Friday’s game […]

The Los Angeles Lakers surprised nobody when they selected Bronny James with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In the days and weeks leading up to the draft, all of the chatter seemed to suggest that he was going to be the Lakers pick in the second round. And now Bronny […]

The New York Knicks had an incredibly busy 2024 NBA Draft. They came into the first round with the No. 24 and No. 25 overall picks but ended up making multiple trades which left them with only the No. 25 pick. The wheeling and dealing for the Knicks continued in the second round of the […]

The Denver Nuggets came into the 2024 offseason looking to regain their championship mettle. In order to do so though, the Nuggets are going to have to make a decision regarding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who will test NBA free agency as per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s decision to hit NBA free agency doesn’t […]

The Memphis Grizzlies ended up shocking the NBA world during the 2024 NBA Draft when they selected Purdue’s Zach Edey in the lottery with the No. 9 overall pick. There was perhaps no greater polarizing player in this year’s draft than Edey. Depending on which mock draft you looked at, Edey was projected to go […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is finally here and with the No. 17 overall pick, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Dalton Knecht from Tennessee. Coming into the offseason, one of the the major things the Lakers needed was consistent outside shooting. That’s one of Knecht’s strengths. Coming into the NBA Draft, Dalton Knecht was considered by […]

When the Atlanta Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, it appeared as if Alex Sarr was going to be locked in to the Washington Wizards at No. 2. Sure enough, the Wizards selected Alex Sarr with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Following […]

The Los Angeles Sparks may be in the midst of a rebuilding season, but veteran forward Dearica Hamby has been playing like an All-Star. Hamby has been an All-Star before when she played for the Las Vegas Aces, but this season in particular she has been putting up career numbers. On Wednesday her campaign for […]

As part of the new CBA, NBA teams are allowed to begin negotiations with their own free agents immediately following the NBA Finals. Some deals have been agreed to already with the latest being the Brooklyn Nets reaching an agreement to re-sign center Nic Claxton in NBA free agency as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. […]

The New York Knicks pulled off one of the first major moves of the 2024 NBA offseason in acquiring Mikal Bridges in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. Aside from Mikal Bridges’ on court impact, the trade is significant in that it reunites former Villanova teammates in Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart. […]

The Indiana Fever have been the talk of the 2024 WNBA season due to the addition of Caitlin Clark. Clark is so far living up to her billing as a rookie in the league while the Fever have been playing better basketball since the start of the season. And help is on the way as […]

The first round of the NBA Draft is tomorrow and the Atlanta Hawks hold the No. 1 overall pick. While the NBA world awaits the Hawks decision, it appears as if their selection may have already been made for them. Alex Sarr, one of the top prospects in the NBA Draft, had reportedly turned down […]

NBA free agency is rapidly approaching and the Phoenix Suns have a couple of decisions to make regarding their roster. One key player for the Suns who is set to hit free agency is Royce O’Neale. But he might not get a chance to hit the open market once Sunday evening rolls around. Royce O’Neale […]

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby has been named as a replacement for her Sparks teammate Cameron Brink on Team USA for the Olympics 3×3 competition, the team announced on Monday. Hamby had participated in training camp for the 3×3 team but was not initially selected for the final roster. Brink was unable to participate […]

The Los Angeles Lakers officially have their new head coach for the 2024-25 season in former NBA player JJ Redick. The team plans to officially introduce Redick as coach on Monday during an introductory press conference that will be streamed on YouTube, as per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Monday is significant for Redick since […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is approaching this week and the Sacramento Kings hold a lottery pick at No. 13. The Kings did not have a first round draft pick last season. They had two second round picks that they used on Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson. Jones is under contract for next season but Slawson […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is approaching this week and the Golden State Warriors only have a second round pick and No. 52. That’s not an issue for the Warriors as they’ve proven they can find good value with a late draft pick. They did so last season when they plucked Trayce Jackson-Davis out of the […]

The Los Angeles Sparks are in the midst of a seven game road trip and they come into Saturday’s game against the New York Liberty having started the trip 0-5. Not only that, but they’re going to be a little short-handed. To address the Sparks’ recent rash of injuries, they signed free agent center Queen […]