Diego Vergel de Dios Articles - Page 14

The Memphis Grizzlies crept into the NBA Playoffs last season by completing a terrific upset against the eighth-seed Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament. The Grizzlies ended up succumbing to the first seed Utah Jazz in five games, but Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and the rest of the crew put the world on […]

After the acquisition of first ballot Hall of Fame point guard Russell Westbrook, there were a slew of NBA aficionados who picked the Los Angeles Lakers as the heavy favorites to win the Western Conference and even the NBA Finals this season. The talent is unquestioned with five future Hall of Fame inductees on their […]

When the 2021-22 campaign began with coach Jason Kidd at the helm, the Dallas Mavericks struggled mightily as Kidd was still tinkering with lineups and trying to figure out their identity. Luka Doncic admittedly entered training camp out of shape, and it showed in his subpar play. However, those struggles did not spiral into something […]

After the Miami Heat won the 2012 championship, teams across the league began increasingly following their blueprint of small-ball, pace and space. Big men were forced to adapt as a result, expanding their repertoire to become outside shooters and capable of defending quick guards on the perimeter. Some bigs have been unable to flourish in […]

After the Golden State Warriors’ tilt against the Dallas Mavericks on January 5, Draymond Green sustained an unfortunate back injury that caused him to miss two months. When Green returned on March 14, he was able to suit up with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for the first time in 1,005 days. That did not […]

At just 27 years of age, Marcus Smart is already entering his eighth season in the NBA with all of them in a Boston Celtics uniform, He has been a consistent contributor ever since his rookie season as a spectacular defender and consistent role player who has been part of several iterations of the Celtics […]

The New Orleans Pelicans hoped to have a 100% healthy Zion Williamson as the leader of the franchise for the foreseeable future. However, he sustained another injury that has sidelined him for the whole season and caused the Pelicans to plummet all the way to 10th in the Western Conference. They executed a massive trade […]

After one of the hottest stretches in the first few games of the season, the Washington Wizards have been surrounded by negativity through internal turmoil, subpar performances, and inevitable injuries. Franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal opted to have surgery on his wrist last February, while coach Wes Unseld Jr. has been having trouble searching for the […]

The Chicago White Sox revitalized their team last season by winning the AL Central Division. Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson were phenomenal in leading the charge offensively, while Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn have been tremendous assets in their rotation. The foundation is set for the White Sox led by tenured manager Tony La Russa. […]

The San Francisco Giants went on a terrific run in their 2021 campaign as one of the best underdog teams in the regular season with 107 wins. Even before they added Kris Bryant to the roster, San Francisco was already a force to be reckoned with because of their impeccable pitching and defense. Offense was […]

The New York Knicks looked like they were finally heading in the right direction after finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference last season. Despite their team being eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, Knicks fans remained optimistic heading into 2021-22 because they were able to retain their core while […]

The Indiana Pacers surprised a plethora of NBA fans by trading Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, and Jeremy Lamb for a package centered around talented point guard Tyrese Haliburton. At 22 years of age and just in his sophomore season, Haliburton is the perfect franchise cornerstone for a small market team like Indiana. The next moves […]

After selecting Jalen Green with the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, a bright future was expected with the backcourt tandem of Green and Kevin Porter Jr. That was not the case for the early juncture of the season as both individuals were struggling with their efficiency and finding their rhythm offensively as […]

At 41 years of age, Nelson Cruz has still proven that he could be lethal threat the middle of the batting order. Over the past seasons, Cruz has been utilized at the DH position for the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays, thus the new rule of having a universal DH in the MLB enhances […]

As the Chicago Cubs decided to head toward the seller direction before the 2021 trade deadline, their roster has a ton of gaping holes on their squad. They decided not to seriously compete anymore for the wild card berth at the very least as they finished their campaign with a 71-91 record. Kris Bryant was […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers were primed for a fantastic run entering the 2021 MLB postseason after acquiring Max Scherzer and Trea Turner before the trade deadline. Despite missing Max Muncy and Trevor Bauer, they were victorious over the 107-win San Francisco Giants squad, but succumbed to the World Series Champions Atlanta Braves in six games. […]

For the winningest franchise in MLB History, this stretch has been a disappointing one for the New York Yankees as they have failed to win a World Series crown since 2009. The organization has arguably been giving the utmost financial resources to add MLB superstars like Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahieu, and Joey Gallo. However, talent […]

After Russell Westbrook’s departure in the offseason, the backcourt strength chart of the Washington Wizards dwindled leaving Spencer Dinwiddie, Raul Neto, and Aaron Holiday the fill the void. Before the trade deadline, Washington traded Dinwiddie and Holiday as Neto and Ish Smith were the only facilitators manning the ship for the Wizards. With Bradley Beal […]

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Reggie Jackson got the best of Los Angeles Lakers counterpart Russell Westbrook this past week, and their beef was reignited as the Clippers blew out the Lakers to complete a season sweep. The two went at each other in the second half, with Jackson dishing out some trash talk as he […]

After the 73-point demolition of the Memphis Grizzlies to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the whole NBA community were putting the Thunder on a plethora of memes and comedic images. People were sharing their sentiments on OKC throwing away another season down the drain in order to have a top selection in the upcoming NBA Draft. […]

As the Detroit Pistons are currently sporting the third-worst record in the NBA, any casual NBA fan may just feel that the Pistons are terrible and not a fun sight to watch. That could be the case at the early juncture of their campaign, but they performed at a better level over the past few […]

As the San Antonio Spurs are in the middle of another rebuilding campaign, it is definitely tough to muster for the Spurs fans who are not used to experiencing successive losing seasons. Losing DeMar DeRozan in the offseason and Derrick White in the trade deadline has opened up a ton of minutes to the young […]

One could easily forget that the Indiana Pacers were the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference just two seasons ago. Their team was a formidable bunch despite being swept in the first round of the playoffs, but it has since been a free-fall for their franchise who have struggled the past two seasons. Domantas Sabonis […]

As the Washington Wizards hired Wes Unseld Jr. for his first-ever head coaching experience, they were off to a scorching start as he led them to the first seed for the first month of the season. Even on this stretch, Bradley Beal was still misfiring with his jump shots, but when Beal found his rhythm, […]

For the fans of the Los Angeles Clippers, who acquired two superstars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in 2019, some may categorize this iteration as a disappointment as the team has only made the NBA Conference Finals once. This season, Leonard and George have been out due to unfortunate injuries, but the Clippers are […]

The current campaign of the Toronto Raptors have been a tough rollercoaster. It is their first season of playing in their home country once again after being in the bubble for the latter part of the 2020 season while playing all their home games in Tampa, Florida for 2021. It has been a welcome sight […]

For a Los Angeles Clippers franchise that just reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, the expectation is to build on that performance the following season. Superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have missed the majority of the current campaign already, but there’s no doubt they would welcome another individual […]

For the Phoenix Suns who reached the NBA Finals last season and possibly en route to another appearance this year, they seem like a franchise that must stay put and lean on building chemistry and continuity. Devin Booker finally found his backcourt tandem in Chris Paul, who have been phenomenal consistently as a two-headed monster […]

Can the Los Angeles Lakers actually make a move for New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson? With the way things are on Zion’s situation, that doesn’t seem to be too far-fetched. After all, there have been talks that Zion is not interested in staying on a small market team, which is why he has long […]

For the Houston Rockets, their team has been on a free fall ever since they swung a deal to trade Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards and shortly after, James Harden was headed to the Brooklyn Nets as well to pair up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Rockets have gone on a full […]

As Zion Williamson was one of the most hyped individuals entering the 2019 NBA Draft, the expectations and pressure for him were skyrocketing to an exponential level. Before suiting up for his first official game, Williamson already sustained an unfortunate torn meniscus injury in the 2019-20 preseason, which caused him to miss the first half […]

Similar to the Cleveland Cavaliers run this season, the New York Knicks went on a tremendous campaign last year wherein they snatched the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference before succumbing to the Atlanta Hawks in five games. This season has been a disaster for the Knicks organization as they have slipped to 3 1/2 […]

After defeating the New Orleans Pelicans on November 15th, the Washington Wizards had a 10-3  record with the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. The Russell Westbrook trade seemed like a massive win for the Wizards organization as they received most of their key cogs from that deal. Even with Bradley Beal’s struggles, Washington […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves have only made the playoffs once since a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, and they lost in five games to the Houston Rockets in a 2017-18 season featuring Jimmy Butler leading the way. Butler then forced his way out the next season, leading to three more losing seasons. However, […]

The Atlanta Hawks went on one of the most surprising playoff runs last season when they took down the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers to react the Eastern Conference Finals. Many fans did not see it coming since their roster was filled with a plethora of role players along with one superstar in Trae […]

After a 1-12 start to their campaign, NBA fans thought the New Orleans Pelicans would tank the 2021-22 season, especially with the continued lengthy absence of superstar Zion Williamson. However, coach Willie Green and company decided to push on the acceleration and catapulted themselves to a realistic chance of snatching a spot in the play-in […]

The Mavs decided to let go of Kristaps Porzingis before the NBA trade deadline in lieu of two terrific scorers in Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks Nico Harrison may have decided to have Dinwiddie and Bertans on his roster because Porzingis would fail to even be healthy […]

For the Utah Jazz, this is already their sixth straight season of being a legitimate playoff contender, but they still have not reached the Western Conference Finals. In the first quarter of this current campaign, they were on a tear as the best offense in the association as they would rain a ton of threes […]

Even with Kawhi Leonard’s departure after their NBA championship in 2019, coach Nick Nurse propelled the Toronto Raptors to a second round appearance in the NBA Playoffs in the following campaign. Due to playing all their home games in Tampa, Florida last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was inevitable for the Raptors to […]