Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 109

For much of the past two months since Damian Lillard made his bombshell trade request to the Portland Trail Blazers, it seemed like a trade to the Miami Heat was inevitable, for this was Lillard’s preferred destination. But in the final hour, the Toronto Raptors, based on the rumor mill, had usurped every team that […]

Devon Witherspoon ran riot during the Seattle Seahawks’ 24-3 win over the New York Giants on Monday night, stealing the show with an electric defensive performance. Witherspoon tallied 2.0 sacks, and to top it all off, he also added a 97-yard pick-six during a crucial juncture in the game, driving a dagger deeper into struggling […]

The 2023-24 season figures to be an exciting one for fans of the San Antonio Spurs, for they will finally be able to witness their prized prospect, Victor Wembanyama, make his much-anticipated debut. Wembanyama, the first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, should be a game-changing presence for a Spurs team in need of […]

The New Orleans Pelicans’ 2022-23 season went downhill the instant Zion Williamson suffered what ended up being a season-ending injury back in January. Williamson, when he’s off and running, is such an impactful force, an unstoppable freight train in the paint who fuels the Pelicans’ high-octane offense. But his inability to stay healthy has become […]

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has a new co-star in town. Just last week, the Bucks turned the heads of everybody following the NBA when they pulled off a bombshell trade with the Portland Trail Blazers for star point guard Damian Lillard, ending months of trade talks linking the seven-time All-Star to the Miami Heat, […]

The Phoenix Suns have an embarrassment of scoring riches, especially in the aftermath of the trade that brought Bradley Beal to the Valley. However, the Suns had to deal away Chris Paul in the process, leaving the team without a “true” point guard. Some fans wondered if there may be diminishing returns when it comes […]

The New York Giants offense, rather than impress, continue to depress. The Giants have had difficulties gaining favorable field positioning as it is, so to see them waste their golden scoring opportunities will hurt head coach Brian Daboll to the core of his being. One play in particular drew the ire of Daboll. In the […]

The Seattle Seahawks made scoring an inordinately difficult endeavor for the New York Giants on Monday night, and it’s thanks in large part to the continued excellence of 22-year old cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the blue-chip prospect the Seahawks took with the fifth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. One play, in particular, hyped up […]

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson’s physical condition has been a trendy topic in league circles ever since the highflying southpaw broke into the scene as one of the most hyped-up prospects back in Duke. Some wondered if Williamson was too heavy for his height, as well as his playstyle, which may lead to an […]

The goal of an NFL game, at the end of the day, is to score touchdowns to put points on the board in a more efficient manner. As the old adage goes, “man does not live on field goals alone.” But the New Orleans Saints, during their Week 4 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, […]

It’s shaping up to be a huge year for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Still motivated by their Western Conference Finals defeat at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, James is still looking to win his fifth championship in his 21st season in the NBA. And beyond the usual suspects, such as Anthony […]

The New York Giants have been, in summary, a bad team for the majority of the 2023 season thus far. Outside of a rousing second half effort in their 31-28 comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, the Giants’ offense has been downright terrible. And in Week 4, that trend continued, with the […]

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo appears to be in the Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant one-team man mold, but in today’s NBA, there are no such guarantees. Antetokounmpo said as much during his podcast appearances, basically telling the Bucks front office that he could be a flight risk if the team fails to […]

Given the Chicago Bulls’ middling 2022-23 season, it’s no surprise to see the names of their star trio appear in trade rumors throughout the year. And it seems like this involvement in rumors has no end in sight, especially when the Bulls are lagging behind their peers in the Eastern Conference. But Zach LaVine, at […]

Giannis Antetokounmpo, almost all offseason long, was indirectly urging the Milwaukee Bucks to make some upgrades to show that the team, indeed, was serious about making another run for the championship. And to the Bucks’ credit, they pulled it off. The team that finished with the best regular season record in the NBA last year […]

The Portland Trail Blazers front office appears to have stumbled upon a trick that longtime players of NBA 2K’s MyLEAGUE game mode have used over the years — trade players with tons of value for players who could bring back even more assets, rinse and repeat. This was exactly what Joe Cronin and company did […]

There’s always a possibility that reigning title-holders suffer from a championship hangover, but Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone doesn’t want his players to fall victim to that trap. In fact, Malone isn’t just content with seeing his players flourish in the postseason. This time around, he wants his players, specifically star point guard Jamal […]

The start of training camp is always an optimistic time for NBA teams looking to break into the upper-echelon of true title contention. The hype is at an all-time high, and this appears to be the case for Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans. Both Williamson and the Pelicans are looking forward to putting […]

Kelly Oubre Jr. is coming off the best scoring season of his eight-year career, averaging a career-high 20.3 points per game for the moribund Charlotte Hornets. Oubre could not have picked a better time to put up the best scoring numbers of his career, and yet there he was, languishing in free agency until late […]

The Philadelphia 76ers, ever since their fateful defeat to the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2021 NBA playoffs, have fallen on hard times. Ben Simmons was unable to recover from the infamy of passing up on a layup in the dying moments of Game 7 against the Hawks, leading to his eventual […]

More than two months after Damian Lillard made his bombshell trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers, specifically for him to be traded to the Miami Heat, a new reported frontrunner emerged in the Toronto Raptors. According to multiple sources, the Raptors overtook other prospective Lillard suitors in the race for the seven-time All-Star’s services, […]

The Miami Heat may be entering the 2023-24 season without the firepower the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics have after trading for Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, but that doesn’t seem to have affected Jimmy Butler’s ability to have fun in media day. Just like last year, Butler is again going viral for a wild […]

A puzzling cloud of indecision seemed to hover over the Toronto Raptors front office’s head throughout the 2022-23 season amid a lackluster campaign. Given their mediocrity, it wasn’t surprising at all to see the possibility of a few blockbuster trades sending away the likes of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby, among others, come […]

During the 2023 WNBA regular season, it became apparent that the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty were on a collision course for the right to be crowned as champion. The Aces and Liberty both had an embarrassment of riches, combining top-end talent with solid depth to separate themselves from the rest of the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers front office, led by general manager Joe Cronin, finally traded away Damian Lillard, but not to the Miami Heat. Instead, they dealt him to the highest bidder, the Milwaukee Bucks, for a package headlined by Jrue Holiday, the two-time All-Star and one of the best defensive guards in the association. This […]

James Harden is putting his feet on the ground, refusing to budge on his trade demands three months after initially declaring that he wanted out of the Philadelphia 76ers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Harden did not attend the Sixers’ media day on Monday morning, remaining “upset” that the team hasn’t yet given in […]

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been compared to the queen of a chessboard in the past, being a cheat code not just because of his overwhelming athleticism that allows him to move in ways that confound opponents even in his advanced age, but also because of his smarts on the hardwood that has […]

Sauce Gardner and the New York Jets, despite the star cornerback’s pregame proclamations, entered their Sunday night tussle against the Kansas City Chiefs as heavy underdogs, with the Chiefs being 8.5-point road favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. But the Jets, during crunch time, appeared to have a golden chance to win the game, down by […]

The Phoenix Suns, after much anticipation, finally pulled the trigger on the trade that sent Deandre Ayton out of town. But instead of getting yet another All-Star to help their push for the franchise’s first championship, the Suns traded away Ayton to flesh out their depth, receiving Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and Keon […]

The Texas Longhorns football team is on a roll. Coming off a 38-6 win over the unranked Baylor Bears, the Longhorns will be approaching their Saturday afternoon clash against Big 12 rival Kansas Jayhawks with utmost confidence, raring to show everyone that their hot start is no fluke given how stacked their squad is. Head […]

Money may not be the be-all and end-all of what constitutes a successful professional sports franchise, but it certainly helps grease the wheels when it comes to assembling a roster that could compete for a championship. Entering the 2023 season, three MLB teams, in particular, flexed their financial might, with the New York Mets, New […]

The next time that Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres will be facing the 2023 NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers will be in spring training of 2024, what with the Padres missing out on the postseason festivities thanks to an overwhelmingly disappointing season. But that doesn’t seem to have sapped Soto’s confidence one […]

Atlanta Braves star right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. may be running away with the 2023 NL Most Valuable Player award… in a literal sense. Acuna, in recent days, became the founding father of the well and truly unique 40 home run, 70 stolen bases club. And he isn’t quite done yet making history for himself […]

Thanks to general manager AJ Preller’s relentless aggression when it comes to acquiring star-caliber players, whether via trade or via free agency, the San Diego Padres have amassed an impressive collection of talent. So with the regular season drawing to a close, a cursory look at the Padres’ roster would leave someone who hasn’t followed […]

The New York Jets may be in a bit of a crisis, particularly on the offensive end of the field, but that doesn’t seem to have sapped the confidence of their defensive personnel for at least a bit. This is evident in cornerback Sauce Gardner’s proclamations in the lead-up to the Jets’ Week 4 clash […]

There’s nothing that brings professional athletes together than shared adversity. And during the Milwaukee Bucks’ run to the championship, the team certainly went through a ton of turmoil, forever binding the star trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday in the annals of NBA history after they hoisted the franchise’s first championship in […]

The Detroit Lions heartbreakingly missed out on the playoffs during the 2022 season, losing their spot in the postseason in the last game week of the regular season by virtue of losing the tiebreaker against the Seattle Seahawks. But Jared Goff and the Lions seem to have built nicely off of that trying moment. Now […]

The Green Bay Packers locker room is in a somber mood, and understandably so. Coming into their Week 4 game against the Detroit Lions, they were hopeful of starting the season off with a 3-1 record, given their solid ability to withstand adversity and opponents’ physicality. However, the Lions ramped up the aggression on Thursday […]

The Green Bay Packers, coming off a nip-and-tuck Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints, approached their Week 4 matchup against the Detroit Lions with anticipation, hopeful of starting the season with a 3-1 record. However, the Packers, as a collective, were disjointed on Thursday night. Quarterback Jordan Love was not at his best, […]