David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 65

The Portland Trail Blazers gained a stroke of luck in their eyes when the Charlotte Hornets selected Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. That meant that G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson fell in their laps. Scoot Henderson was the consensus No. 2 player in the draft […]

The New York Liberty needed a win in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces to keep their season alive, and they did just that in impressive fashion. After dropping the first two games of the series on the road, the Liberty used an inspired performance buoyed by a record crowd […]

With the start of the 2023-24 NBA season only about one week away, most teams are in the process of evaluating their rosters and making their final roster cuts/transactions. Oct. 23 is the deadline for teams to have their regular season rosters finalized but most teams will probably have that done before then. The Los […]

The San Diego State Aztecs had a phenomenal run during last season’s NCAA Tournament. They made it all the way to the championship game before falling to UConn. Despite being a mid major school, the Aztecs have been one of the best college basketball programs on the West Coast. The Aztecs were going to have […]

Despite not making any major free agent moves or trades, the San Antonio Spurs can be considered the winner of the offseason simply by virtue of drafting Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. During the Spurs preseason so far, Wembanyama has looked every bit the generational talent they […]

Coming into Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty found themselves with their backs against the wall trailing 0-2 against the Las Vegas Aces. Facing elimination, the Liberty used an inspired performance, buoyed by a record attendance, to grab a much needed win and get back into the series. It’s not over […]

The San Antonio Spurs drafted a generational talent when they selected Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The Washington Wizards are hoping they got a player with at least half that ability when they selected Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 teammate Bilal Coulibaly with the No. 7 overall pick of […]

The Las Vegas Aces dropped Game 4 of their WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty, 94-72 on Sunday. They had won the first tow games of the series on their home floor, but faced an inspired Liberty team bent on avoiding elimination. Not only that, but the Aces are awaiting potentially bad news […]

It was a big Sunday for women’s basketball. While the WNBA Finals Game 4 between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty was occurring, a game that set a WNBA record for attendance, the same thing was happening in Iowa. The Iowa women’s basketball team squared off against DePaul in an exhibition game, but […]

Back during the early 2000s, the Michigan State Spartans had a young player by the name of Jason Richardson. As a freshman during the 1999-2000 season, Richardson played a key role for the Spartans off the bench as the team went on to win the NCAA championship. A year later, Richardson elevated his game as […]

The Las Vegas Aces tip-offed the WNBA Finals in dominating fashion, wining the first two games at home in an impressive way against the New York Liberty. The series shifted this weekend to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for Game 3. With the Liberty facing a must-win situation, they came out in a dominant way […]

The Golden State Warriors made one of the biggest moves of the offseason acquiring future Hall of Famer Chris Paul in a trade with the Washington Wizards. After a downturn following their 2022 championship run, the Warriors are trying to get back to being a title contender. With Paul being the only major move they […]

The New York Knicks are looking to build off of last season’s strong run. They finished with a top five record in the Eastern Conference and knocked off the higher seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. They ended up falling to the Miami Heat in the second round, but they laid […]

The New York Knicks have been trying to acquire a star player in a trade for quite some time now. They were linked to Damian Lillard before he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. They’ve been linked to James Harden amid his trade request drama with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks have a decent team […]

The Dallas Mavericks pulled off one of the biggest trades of the deadline last season when they acquired Kyrie Irving in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets. Pairing Irving alongside Luka Doncic was the Mavs first step towards trying to become a championship contender. Last season was a disappointment though with the Mavs floundering in […]

The Miami Heat were linked to several different players this offseason in trade rumors such as Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal and Jrue Holiday. After making a surprising run to the NBA Finals last season, the Heat were looking to bolster their roster to build upon that momentum. They ended up striking out on all of […]

The USC Trojans basketball team have garnered a lot of national attention recently due to their high profile recruits, specifically one Bronny James. James suffered a health scare during the offseason, casting potential doubt on his status for USC this upcoming season. By all accounts though, James should able to play this season alongside five-star […]

The Los Angeles Lakers did a slight retool of their roster this offseason. The core group of last year’s Western Conference Finals team is back with the team having re-signed D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers also added some key depth in signing Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxon Hayes and Christian Wood […]

The much anticipated Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty WNBA Finals clash finally morphed into reality. From the beginning of the 2023 WNBA regular season, most fans and media alike predicted that these two teams would the be the last teams standing. But what was supposed to be a heavyweight bout, has suddenly seemed […]

When fans think of NBA players and their shoe deals, the names Nike and Adidas come to mind. Reebok has been in the mix before, Converse, New Balance, even Puma has gotten into the basketball shoe game.  But one shoe company that probably doesn’t come to mind is Skechers. Los Angeles Clippers wing Terance Mann […]

Coming into the 2023-24 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers had to settle on a backup center. Last season, that job went to Montrezl Harrell early and eventually went to Paul Reed. While the Sixers resigned both Harrell and Reed in the offseason, they also added Mo Bamba to compete for backup center minutes as well. […]

Coming into the 2023-24 NBA season, Houston Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore has something to prove. After being a projected lottery pick, Whitmore slipped in the 2023 NBA Draft to the mid first round when the Rockets selected him with the No. 20 overall pick. The team is hoping that they got the steal of the […]

At this point of the preseason, most NBA teams already have their rosters set for the start of the regular season. There may be some shuffling here and there but for the most part most teams know who they’re going to bring in to the regular season. A few teams though might make some minor […]

After hearing his name come up in trade rumors seemingly every season, John Collins was finally traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Utah Jazz this past offseason. The Jazz sent Rudy Gay and a first round pick to the Hawks in return. A borderline All-Star caliber player, Collins will help bolster the Jazz frontline. […]

The Sacramento Kings are looking to build upon last season during which they snapped the league’s longest active playoff drought. The major question for the Kings this upcoming season is prove that last year was no fluke and that this group is truly among the elite teams in the Western Conference. A big part of […]

The San Antonio Spurs surprised nobody when they selected Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Considered a generational talent, and the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year Award, Wembanyama is coming into this season with a ton of hype. But the Spurs may have struck gold with […]

The Miami Heat whiffed out on their biggest target this offseason in Damian Lillard. For a team that made a surprising run to the NBA Finals last season, acquiring Lillard certainly would have improved the Heat’s chances at a return trip to the Finals and possibly a championship. The Heat also lost key members from […]

The Washington Wizards hit the reset button this offseason when they opted to trade Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis. Leading the way this season will be Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma who both had impressive performances as a duo in the Wizards first preseason game. Overall, they are a younger team with no major expectations […]

The Charlotte Hornets sure shocked their fan base back during the NBA draft when they selected Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick instead of Scoot Henderson. It’s not that Miller wasn’t worthy of being a high draft pick, he had been slated to go in the lottery in the majority of mock drafts. […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have had numerous great players suit up for the franchise. From George Mikan back during the Minneapolis days, to the present with LeBron James, the organization has always seemed to have a transcendent superstar or two. In the case of LeBron James, he made NBA history while in Lakers jersey when […]

The Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty are set to square off in one of the most anticipated WNBA Finals series in recent history. With Game 1 having tipped-off on Sunday afternoon, the Aces struck first with a 99-82 win. It’s a long series though and the Liberty still have the ability to makes […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have a few questions to answer as the 2023-24 NBA season draws closer. The number one question though surrounding the Pelicans is health. They just haven’t been able to stay healthy in recent seasons. One player though that has been relatively healthy for the Pelicans is Jose Alvarado. Alvarado played in […]

The biggest question the New Orleans Pelicans face coming into the 2023-24 NBA season is the health of Zion Williamson. Since he was drafted by the Pelicans with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Williamson hasn’t exactly been a pillar of health. He was limited to only 24 games during his […]

Before the New York Liberty became a so-called ‘super team’ when they signed Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot, the first offseason move the team made was to acquire Jonquel Jones from the Connecticut Sun. It was a precursor of sorts to the rest of the Liberty’s offseason moves. It took Jones the first half of […]

The Los Angeles Lakers opened up their preseason schedule against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Lakers star LeBron James did not suit up as expected and the Lakers trotted out a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis. While preseason doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme […]

The Golden State Warriors won’t have to make a major decision on their starting lineup just yet. That was the major question the Warriors had to answer heading into the 2023-24 season. While the injury to Draymond Green is not a good thing for the Warriors, it’s at least bought them some time before they […]

The Charlotte Hornets made quite a controversial decision when they decided to re-sign Miles Bridges towards the end of the 2022-23 season. Bridges’ hopes of a big pay day during the 2022 offseason were dashed when he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Bridges ultimately reached a deal to avoid jail time. When the Hornets […]

Team USA’s debacle at the 2023 FIBA World Cup had a ripple effect similar to when they finished with a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics. Multiple big name NBA stars have already affirmed their commitment to playing for Team USA at the upcoming 2024 Olympics. One of those players who will suit up for […]

The Golden State Warriors pulled off one of the biggest moves of the offseason acquiring future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul in a trade with the Washington Wizards. Although they lost Jordan Poole as part of that trade, the Warriors are hoping Paul can improve their title chances this season. It’s going to […]