David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 74

When the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the Denver Nuggets were almost certainly going to be a team that was hurt by it. Due to salary cap restraints, it was always a strong possibility that the Nuggets weren’t going to be able to retain all of their championship core. Sure enough, the Nuggets […]

NBA free agency is starting to wind down with most teams having made all of their key offseason moves. The Miami Heat find themselves in an interesting situation as they are considered the frontrunners to land Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard. The Heat didn’t have much cap space to spend in NBA free agency […]

The Toronto Raptors lost one of their heart and soul members of the team this offseason when Fred VanVleet signed with the Houston Rockets in NBA free agency. VanVleet was one of the Raptors’ top success stories of the past couple of seasons. Undrafted out of Wichita State, VanVleet became a fan favorite and leader […]

With NBA free agency dying down now, most of the moves being made involve restricted free agents or end of the bench type moves. Many teams probably won’t commit to the last couple of roster spots just yet in case somebody ends up surprising and standing out at summer league. For the Chicago Bulls, they’ve […]

The Dallas Mavericks have had an aggressive offseason so far as they look to build a championship contender around stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. The number one priority for the Mavs was to re-sign Kyrie Irving, and they accomplished that right away. They brought back Dwight Powell to beef up their front line, and […]

Coming out of high school, Vernon Carey Jr. was one of the top basketball players in the country. A consensus five-star recruit out of NSU University School, Carey was a McDonalds All-American and he played on the famed Nike EYBL circuit. He committed to Duke over schools such as Kentucky, UCLA, UNC, Louisville and Kansas. […]

Back during March Madness, Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell exploded on the scene with his phenomenal play. He set an NCAA Tournament record for most assists in a game and led the Wildcats on a strong postseason run. His standout play wasn’t enough to get him selected in the NBA Draft though, as for some reason […]

JThe Miami Heat have had a relatively quiet offseason so far in terms of official deals. They brought back Kevin Love and added Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant in NBA free agency. They did lose Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively, but they have players who can […]

Even though NBA free agency is just a week old, all of the big signings and dominoes have fallen already. Between now and training camp, most free agent signings are going to be end of the bench, minimum contracts. There are some key restricted free agents still available, but with much of the free agent […]

NBA free agency is beginning to wind down. Even though July 6 is the day that contracts can become official, most deals have already been agreed upon. Most of the top free agents already knew where their destination would be shortly after the negotiation period began on June 30. From now until the start of […]

The Sacramento Kings are coming off one of their best seasons in franchise history. With new head coach Mike Brown at the helm, the team finished in the top three in the Western Conference Standings and pushed the defending champion Golden State Warriors to seven games in the first round of the playoffs. The next […]

The first weekend of NBA free agency has come and gone and with it most of the free agent money as well. Most of the top free agents have all agreed in principle to deals already as contracts cannot become official until July 6. Most of the best remaining free agents are the restricted free […]

The Phoenix Suns biggest question mark following their blockbuster trade with the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal was their depth. It was a key question mark last season as well even after adding Kevin Durant at the trade deadline. The Durant and Beal trades left the Suns very top heavy but not much in the […]

The exodus from the Bob Huggins resignation at West Virginia has continued even though they did get some good news recently regarding sharpshooting guard Kerr Kriisa. Their losses have been other teams’ gains, however, and one of the most significant additions of the offseason has been Tre Mitchell committing to Kentucky. Texas Tech has been […]

The Atlanta Dream are in an interesting position in the Eastern Conference in that they’re a borderline team. They’re currently 7-8 on the season but have recently won two games in a row. They don’t presently occupy a playoff spot but they’re essentially tied percentage-wise with the Chicago Sky for the fourth and final playoff […]

The Washington Mystics received some devastating news recently with the announcement that Shakira Austin was going to miss a significant amount of time due to a hip injury. Up to this point, Austin had been one of the Mystics top performers and in the running for the WNBA’s Most Improved Player Award. The No. 3 […]

The Milwaukee Bucks challenge once NBA free agency rolled around was to retool the supporting cast a little bit to ensure that this team is a championship contender. Their number one priority was re-signing Khris Middleton in NBA free agency and they did so. They also needed to re-sign Brook Lopez and they did that […]

The Charlotte Hornets are in an interesting position with NBA free agency underway. They don’t have much by way of cap space to make any kind of big splash, but even if they did, they are not a free agent destination. They have a good, young core though for the most part. LaMelo Ball is […]

The Miami Heat came into the NBA free agency period looking for a way to improve on a roster that made a phenomenal playoff run all the way to the NBA Finals. It’s not like this was a fluke either. Since trading for Jimmy Butler, the Heat have made the Finals in two out of […]

The Denver Nuggets are coming off their first championship in franchise history. The key to repeating next season will be if they’re able to shore up some of their depth. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone plays a tight rotation of only eight players or so, so it’s not like the Nuggets need tremendous depth. But […]

The Philadelphia 76ers opened NBA free agency trying to figure out how to navigate the James Harden situation. They reportedly also have interest in acquiring Damian Lillard in a possible deal after news of his trade request broke this weekend. They’ve lost three of their free agents in Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels and Shake Milton, […]

The Chicago Sky got a little bit of a surprise this past week following back to back wins against the Los Angeles Sparks. Since their 2021 WNBA championship, they’ve been slowing watching the exodus of each member of that team. This past offseason they lost Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Azurá Stevens leaving […]

The big news that came out on the second day of NBA free agency wasn’t actually anything to do with a free agent signing, but the news that Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard had finally requested a trade. With that news, the Miami Heat immediately became the frontrunner to land Lillard in a trade. […]

The Toronto Raptors have had a very eventful NBA free agency period so far. They’ve been one of the most intriguing teams to monitor as they’ve teetered between keeping the team as is or blowing it up. It appears as if they’ve chosen the path of continuity even amid losing starting point guard Fred VanVleet. […]

The transfer portal has changed college basketball forever. It’s almost like a free agency for the NCAA and it’s created more of a level playing field for mid-majors to be able to compete with high-majors. It’s also helped players with a way out of situations that are out of their control. Take Dexter Akanno for […]

The Sacramento Kings were linked to some of the bigger names on the NBA free agency market such as Draymond Green and Kyle Kuzma but they made their biggest NBA free agency splash by re-signing one of their own key players in Harrison Barnes. The Kings next NBA free agency move came with another re-signing, […]

The Dallas Mavericks kicked off NBA free agency by making one of the biggest dominoes fall in Kyrie Irving. Although it was always likely that Irving was going to re-sign with the Mavs in free agency, he was rumored to be possibly meeting with other teams. They kept the Irving and Luka Doncic pairing though […]

The Memphis Grizzlies knew they needed veteran depth this upcoming season for two reasons. The first being their lack of playoff ready players in the postseason and the second being the need for additional depth amid Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension to start the 2023-24 season. They made one key move right around draft night when […]

Before NBA free agency even began, the Boston Celtics made a huge roster move in shipping out fan favorite Marcus Smart in a three-team trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards that saw Kristaps Porzingis join the Celtics. Amid a pending decision on Grant Williams, the Celtics began NBA free agency relatively quiet. They […]

With NBA free agency underway, the San Antonio Spurs are probably focused on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft in Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama is considered a generational prospect and the future of the Spurs franchise. But they’re still going to need to build a solid team around him. They’ll look internally […]

NBA free agency officially kicked off on Friday and while player contracts cannot become official until July 6, teams and players can agree in principle to contracts. There was a huge flurry of activity once the clock hit 6 p.m. eastern time which is when teams and players could officially begin negotiating contracts. The Minnesota […]

NBA Free Agency is finally here with players and teams able to negotiate contracts. Contracts cannot become official until July 6 but deals that are agreed upon in principle are what’s being reported. The Minnesota Timberwolves entered NBA Free Agency looking to bolster their depth around stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. They made a […]

Making a WNBA roster is tough. With only 12 teams with a maximum of 12 roster spots each, it’s become the hardest professional sports league to break into. Due to salary cap constraints, most teams only carry a maximum of 11 players bringing the true number of roster spots down from 144 to about 136. […]

With the NBA offseason here, it appears as if Golden State Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have decided to try their hand at another sport. In a golf tournament dubbed ‘The Match,’ Curry and Thompson find themselves competing against NFL players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in Las Vegas. The teams had some […]

NBA free agency has yet to hit and the day before the madness begins, the NBA world had a bombshell dropped on them in the form of Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden. Rumors swirled about Harden potentially opting out of his contract and becoming an unrestricted free agent. Instead, James Harden made the choice to […]

The Phoenix Suns made a blockbuster move at last season’s traded deadline when they acquired Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. The move decimated the Suns depth but it was a move they needed to make. Then on draft day, the Suns made another big trade to acquire Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards. That […]

NBA free agency is right around the corner and while teams can begin negotiating contracts on Friday, Jun. 30, some dominoes have already fallen. Most of the activity in the days leading up to NBA free agency is contract guarantees. For players that have player options and teams that have team options, the past week […]

The Los Angeles Clippers came into the 2023 NBA Draft with the last pick of the first round at No. 30. They also had a second round pick at No. 48. The draft hasn’t exactly been kind to the Clippers in recent seasons. Going back to the last ten years to 2013, there’s only two […]

So far in the 2023 WNBA season, it feels like it’s been the Las Vegas Aces, and then everybody else. The defending champs are currently 13-1 and hold the best record in the league. The New York Liberty are the closest behind them with a record of 10-3. The Aces’ only loss so far was […]