Jack Winter Articles - Page 51

No team in the NBA was more active at this season’s trade deadline than the Portland Trail Blazers. Even after making multiple deals prioritizing the future over the present, though, interim general manager Joe Cronin apparently still had hopes of bringing in an impact player. According to veteran league scribe Marc Stein, the Trail Blazers […]

The Los Angeles Lakers’ postseason hopes are on the brink of vanishing entirely. Even with his team’s collective back pressed harder than ever against the proverbial wall of elimination, though, LeBron James just isn’t healthy enough to play. Shams Charania of The Athletic and STADIUM reports that the four-time champion will miss Los Angeles’ crucial […]

The Dallas Mavericks are in the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards Friday night, in a matchup of teams heading in separate directions as the regular season comes to a close. Luka Doncic and the surging Mavericks are gearing up for a playoff run, while the Wizards have already been eliminated from postseason […]

Joel Embiid believes he’s done enough this season to be crowned MVP. Just because the Philadelphia 76ers superstar is of the opinion he deserves the league’s highest individual honor, though, hardly means he’s decrying other top-tier candidates for the award while making his case. Embiid, in fact, has long made a habit of showering his luminaries […]

One of Kevin Durant’s most enduring basketball legacies is his unflinching confidence. He’s easily the most gifted seven-foot scorer of all time, with the defensive chops and overall feel to thrive in pretty much any role imaginable. But how he’s persevered through multiple career-threatening injuries and a pair of of the most infamous free-agent exits […]

CJ McCollum didn’t hide how much it meant it for he and his family to return to Moda Center for the first time wearing colors of the Portland Trail Blazers’ opponent. After the New Orleans Pelicans’ well-earned 117-107 win over his outwardly tanking former team, though, McCollum seemed just as relieved to be leaving Rip […]

C.J. McCollum is back in Rip City, set to take on a Portland Trail Blazers team that’s a shell of the one he left at the trade deadline. Don’t expect McCollum to play vengeful adversary when he takes the floor with the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, though. As the beloved former Blazer reiterated […]

At least the Portland Trail Blazers tanked their way into a silver lining from one of the most disappointing seasons in team history. Even if the New Orleans Pelicans make the playoffs, delaying their biggest prize from the C.J. McCollum trade until 2025, the Blazers’ brazen efforts to lose under interim general manager Joe Cronin […]

The Dallas Cowboys are poised to be without one of their key offensive weapons for the early portion of 2022. Cowboys vice president Steven Jones said on Tuesday that wide receiver Michael Gallup could miss “two or three games” at the beginning of next season while recovering from a torn ACL. Cowboys VP Stephen Jones […]

The bottom has finally fallen out for the Portland Trail Blazers. Stuck toward the back of the race for the play-in tournament over the last several weeks despite their most brazen tanking efforts, the Blazers now trail the 11th-place San Antonio Spurs by four games in the standings following Monday’s overtime loss to the lowly […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are bound to look much different when Damian Lillard returns from the longest absence of his career for the 2022-23 season opener. Unfortunately for the best player in franchise history, though, the re-tooled Blazers also won’t be as talented or experienced as the now-defunct team he left after the New Year, either. So […]

One week after finally admitting Damian Lillard’s season was over, the Portland Trail Blazers clarified the status of two other franchise pillars who have been sidelined with nagging injuries. The Blazers announced on Monday that Anfernee Simons (left knee patellar tendinopathy) and Jusuf Nurkic (left foot plantar fasciitis) would miss the remainder of 2021-22. Some […]

The Portland Trail Blazers played some of their best basketball of the season on Friday night. With Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic watching from the bench, though, it was always going to be a matter of time until Kevin Durant and company responded. Portland fell to the Brooklyn Nets 128-123 at Barclays Center, […]

Jabari Smith Jr. has plenty of time to worry about the NBA draft. For now, it’s safe to say his utmost priority is leading Auburn to its first NCAA Tournament title in program history. Besides, if Smith continues making jaw-dropping plays like the poster dunk below during the Tigers’ run through March Madness, his status […]

Russell Westbrook made abundantly clear earlier this month that he’s fed up with the widespread criticism directed at he and his family in public spaces. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers lightning rod, so forcefully addressing that dynamic has only further emboldened people who believe it’s their right to castigate professional athletes off the playing […]

Former Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson sued the franchise on Thursday, claiming he was fired by owner Mark Cuban last summer as retaliation for reporting that Jason Lutin—Cuban’s “right-hand man”, per the lawsuit—sexually harassed and assaulted Nelson’s nephew during a 2020 job interview. The lawsuit, filed in Dallas County Court, alleges that Lutin victimized […]

The Portland Trail Blazers lost for the eighth time in their last nine games on Wednesday, getting blown out 128-98 by the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Another 30-point defeat marks the seventh such loss of that stretch, one defined by the organization’s overarching efforts to tank—and most manifested on the floor through […]

Karl-Anthony Towns is arguably the best shooting center of all time, and one of the most skilled big men to ever play in the NBA. Impressive as his 60-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs was, basically, it wasn’t exactly shocking considering the Minnesota Timberwolves superstar’s otherworldly offensive gifts. But knowing what we do now […]

Jerry Jones has long been criticized in some corners of the NFL for his decidedly hands-on approach to personnel decisions. How ironic that the Dallas Cowboys’ major misstep in free agency, then, apparently had nothing to do with the normally outsized influence of the team’s owner. After Randy Gregory reneged on his prior agreement with […]

Anfernee Simons’ may have already played his last game in 2021-22. The Portland Trail Blazers announced last Friday that he’d be “re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks” after an MRI confirmed a prior diagnosis of mild patellar tendinopathy in his left knee, but the organization’s brazen efforts to tank suggest Simons is likelier to take the floor […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ utmost organizational priority from now until the end of the regular season definitely isn’t winning. You wouldn’t have known it watching Josh Hart and the “baby” Blazers go punch-for-punch with a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals last season, though. Portland fell to the Atlanta Hawks 122-113 on Monday night […]

The injury-ravaged Portland Trail Blazers are signing veteran guard Kris Dunn to a 10-day contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday. The Trail Blazers are signing guard Kris Dunn to a 10-day hardship deal, sources tell ESPN. Dunn gives the Blazers some backcourt depth with Anfernee Simons out 1-to-2 weeks. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March […]

A beaming Josh Hart didn’t mince words after playing the best basketball of his life. Leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 127-118 win over the Washington Wizards, breaking a depressingly historic six-game losing streak in the process, was definitely what’s most important. But considering the last points of his career night came with 6:49 […]

The last time Anfernee Simons took the floor was the last time the Portland Trail Blazers actually looked like they belong in the NBA. That’s not a criticism of the second-round picks, undrafted free agents and G-League call-ups who have comprised Portland’s woefully depleted roster over the last few days, or even an aspersion on […]

Kevin Garnett’s stint with the Brooklyn Nets didn’t exactly go as planned. The star-laden Nets were supposed to immediately compete for a championship after they sent an unprecedented trove of future first-round picks to the Boston Celtics in exchange for the aging Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. Instead, Brooklyn won just a single playoff […]

Jim Boeheim’s team might have pulled off one of the most stunning victories of the college basketball season had it been at full strength. Instead, Syracuse’s long-shot upset bid against Duke on Thursday fell apart late, as the Orange’s most productive player—who just so happens to be the Hall-of-Fame coach’s son—watched helplessly from the bench. […]

The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t just enter Wednesday’s action as losers of five straight, engaging in tank mode no holds barred. Their aggregate deficit dating back to the All-Star break was the largest of all time over any team’s five-game stretch since the league’s inception. Let’s just say no one was surprised when Portland kept […]

Officially, the Portland Trail Blazers are still leaving the door open for Damian Lillard to return before season’s end. The team announced late last month that Lillard had passed the “initial phase” of rehabilitation from mid-January surgery on his abdomen, and would soon begin the “reconditioning phase” of his recovery. The first week of March […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered their two-game set with the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center one-and-a-half games back of the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Portland would be underdogs no matter what with Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic sidelined, but at least Minnesota’s absences—Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverly missed Saturday’s game—ensured it […]

No one expected the Portland Trail Blazers to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. They’ve been awful offensively with Anfernee Simons off the floor since the New Year, and Portland’s latest star shot-maker joined Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Justise Winslow on the sidelines Monday night with a left quad contusion. Considering the impressive fight […]

The Portland Trail Blazers finally ran out of gas in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, falling to Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves 135-121. Don’t mistake another double-digit loss, Portland’s fourth straight, for any of its more lopsided predecessors, though. Not only did the Blazers put up a hard road fight against a quality […]

Mike Krzyzewski got to know Michael Jordan quite well during their time with USA Basketball despite only serving as the program’s head coach long after the six-time NBA champion retired. He was an assistant on the amateur American side that won gold in 1984, then was on Chuck Daly’s staff with the Dream Team eight […]

The Georgetown Hoyas have never been the same since Patrick Ewing manned the middle in D.C., winning the national championship in 1984 and falling just short of back-to-back titles the following season. When Ewing was hired as his alma mater’s head coach in 2017, there was widespread optimism he’d help Georgetown re-cement itself as a […]

The Buffalo Bills may very well trade Cole Beasley before kickoff of next season. If general manager Brandon Beane and company ultimately move the veteran wide receiver, though, it apparently won’t be because they didn’t want him back in Western New York. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported on Friday that though the Bills have given […]

Chris Paul is out at least another month with a broken right thumb, and Devin Booker entered health and safety protocols hours before tipoff. Even with their opponent absent both members of basketball’s best backcourt, though, the depleted, rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers were still sent to a third straight blowout loss. The Phoenix Suns routed […]

Baker Mayfield’s 2021 season didn’t exactly go as planned. Expectations were high for the Cleveland Browns after getting their first playoff win in nearly 30 years a season ago, but Mayfield and company woefully disappointed, finishing 8-9 and missing the postseason altogether. As the unofficial offseason begins with the start of the NFL combine on […]

Bruce Arians is of the firm belief that Tom Brady’s legendary career really is over. If the seven-time Super Bowl champion has a change of heart, though, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would certainly be ready to welcome him back. Meeting with reporters on Tuesday at the NFL combine, Arians expressed doubt on the possibility of […]

Nikola Jokic only played 26 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. The streaking Denver Nuggets, now winners of six straight games, didn’t need him in the fourth quarter of their 124-92 victory. But if some late-game heroics were required from the reigning MVP, it’s safe to say Chauncey Billups believes his depleted […]

Damian Lillard is making his way toward full health while from abdominal surgery. What that means for his potential return to the floor this season, though, the Portland Trail Blazers still won’t officially confirm. Portland announced on Sunday that Lillard has passed the “initial phase” of his rehabilitation “without setback,” and will be re-evaluated in […]