Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 129

The Memphis Grizzlies have all the makings of a contending team. Even those who hate the team can admit that the Grizzlies not only have the ability to challenge for a championship this year, they also have as bright a future as any other team in the NBA. Through shrewd drafting, the Grizzlies were able […]

The Los Angeles Clippers’ front office has never been shy of wheeling and dealing. Their courage in making moves is exactly what landed them the superstar duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the first place. In year four of the superstar duo’s partnership, however, they are still hunting for an elusive championship, necessitating […]

The Portland Trail Blazers appeared to have righted the ship following a down 2021-22 season following Damian Lillard’s season-ending abdominal injury. Adding Jerami Grant to a Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and Jusuf Nurkic-led core looked like a stroke of genius, especially as the Blazers came out of the gates scorching hot. However, the all-too-familiar apparition of […]

The Charlotte Hornets appeared to be a franchise on the rise. They won 43 games, and they had an impressive young core led by All-Star playmaker LaMelo Ball and burgeoning wing scorer Miles Bridges. However, Bridges was involved in serious controversy after he allegedly assaulted his then-girlfriend. Bridges’ NBA future then became shrouded in considerable […]

For months, the Clippers appeared to be hunting for a point guard upgrade on the trade market. There have been plenty of reports linking them to the likes of Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, and even D’Angelo Russell. But when the dust of the 2023 NBA trade deadline settled, the only point guard they […]

The Los Angeles Clippers are currently in the middle of a whirlwind 2022-23 campaign. Their uneven play has confused fans regarding how to feel about the team’s chances of contending for an elusive championship. Kawhi Leonard appears to be back to his usual superstar exploits, and Paul George has been doing Paul George things, but […]

The Los Angeles Clippers have all the makings of a championship contender and yet only a few believe in their capability to advance deep into the 2023 postseason. For much of the current campaign, the Clippers’ offense has struggled, devolving into a barrage of contested jumpshots and turnovers when the game slows down to a […]

For much of the 2022-23 campaign, plenty of fans and pundits expected that it was only going to be a matter of time until the Utah Jazz would sell off pieces that would make much more sense on a team with contending aspirations. After all, many expected the Jazz to fall off a cliff after […]

Fans found themselves on cloud nine after the Los Angeles Lakers managed to pull off the unthinkable and acquire three solid role players in D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt in exchange for Russell Westbrook’s expiring deal and a top-four protected 2027 first-round pick. Russell, in particular, is a former All-Star (albeit as an […]

For a while, it really did seem like the Golden State Warriors, as much as it would have cost them in terms of luxury tax payments, would hang onto James Wiseman like their lives depended on it. After all, giving up on the second overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft just three years into […]

For a while, it didn’t seem like the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t have a trick up their sleeve, as the clock ticked closer and closer to the 3 PM ET NBA trade deadline. However, the Clippers saved all of their moves with an hour left before the deadline, coming away with the likes of Eric […]

Fans of the Charlotte Hornets all over the world may be wondering where in the world are the trades? Sitting at 15-41, the fourth-worst record in the entire league, the Hornets appear to have all the makings of a selling team with the NBA trade deadline inching ever so closely. However, there has barely been […]

There was no getting around the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for Russell Westbrook in 2021 was a spectacular failure. Westbrook was supposed to give the Lakers a third star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, the Lakers were just unable to overcome the fit issues that have defined Westbrook’s one and […]

For most of the 2022-23 campaign, the Denver Nuggets have, by and large, steamrolled the opposition, thanks in large part to Nikola Jokic’s nightly dominance and Jamal Murray’s gradual return to his pre-injury form. Through 55 games, the Nuggets own the best offense in the NBA and there’s no reason to expect a drop-off given […]

There are some things in life that remind us that, amid the uncertainty given a drastic change in circumstances, we are right where we’re always meant to be. And new superstar duo Kevin Durant and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns’ shared love of a specific wing joint serves as quite the reminder. Back in June […]

The Phoenix Suns looked like a team dead in the water from late December to early January; their offense was sputtering, and their supporting cast was not able to weather the lengthy injury absence of Devin Booker. But the Suns put their foot down on Thursday midnight ET, and pulled off one of the biggest […]

The Phoenix Suns pulled off one of the biggest trades in NBA history when they sent Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, and one pick swap for Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers of all time. Simply put, the Western Conference playoff race is heating up. The Suns’ addition of Durant […]

It was only a matter of time before the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with Russell Westbrook, and that day finally arrived on Wednesday. The Lakers were able to parlay Westbrook’s expiring contract, along with a top-four protected 2027 first-round pick, into three solid pieces that fit more seamlessly alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis […]

Russell Westbrook wowed the entire world with his performance in the 2020-21 campaign, tallying 38 triple-doubles as he carried the mediocre Washington Wizards to the eighth seed. It was clear then that Westbrook still had what it takes to keep a team afloat with his floor-raising capabilities, as the Wizards were able to overcome a […]

The Miami Heat added Kyle Lowry during the 2021 offseason, looking at him as one of the final pieces to their championship puzzle. At the very least, Lowry would be a huge upgrade over Goran Dragic, who was showing clear signs of decline by then. With Jimmy Butler leading the way, Lowry fit the Heat’s […]

The Portland Trail Blazers took their first step towards retooling around Damian Lillard after trading away starting small forward Josh Hart to the New York Knicks for Cam Reddish, Svi Mykhailuk, Ryan Arcidiacono and a protected future first-round pick. For a team trying to remain competitive as they look to maximize the remaining years of […]

It has been a long time coming, but the inevitable has finally happened. Russell Westbrook is no longer a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. After a tumultuous one and a half-year stint with the purple and gold, the Lakers finally cut their losses and traded away Westbrook and a 2027 first-round pick (protected from […]

The Milwaukee Bucks, despite having to deal with injury problems to Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis, have remained one of the best teams in the league with a 37-17 record at the time of writing. However, the Bucks know the value of adding some much-needed insurance to help protect them when the injury bug strikes […]

The Portland Trail Blazers started off the season on the right foot; it looked like adding Jerami Grant to the core of Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and Josh Hart was enough to return the Blazers to, at the very least, their former playoff contending glory. However, the Blazers have fallen all the way […]

The Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder during LeBron James’ record-breaking night is well and truly the epitome of their 2022-23 campaign. The story of James carrying his substandard Lakers squad with an incredible performance only for it to go to waste due to poor defense and inability to take care […]

It’s not often that a window for title contention opens for any team in the NBA. Just ask the early 2010s Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that never won a championship despite boasting an embarrassment of riches, and the recent iteration of the Brooklyn Nets, whose vaunted Big 3 only played in 16 games together […]

Since July 2019, fans of the Los Angeles Clippers have had plenty of reasons to be optimistic about their team’s chances of competing for an NBA championship. After all, staging the free agency coup of Kawhi Leonard by trading for Paul George meant that the Clippers, indeed, meant business as they added two of the […]

The Toronto Raptors, despite finding themselves involved in almost every trade talk that could alter the landscape of the league prior to the NBA trade deadline, have stood pat, choosing not to deal their core players, none of whom are more productive at the moment than Pascal Siakam. And try as other teams might, the […]

The Golden State Warriors appeared to have all the makings of a team that would make a rousing second half run. With Stephen Curry back from his midseason hiatus due to a shoulder injury (and perhaps a minor trade or pickup here and there to shore up the team’s weaknesses), the Warriors had all the […]

There was a ton of hullabaloo after the Brooklyn Nets decided to send Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks following the polarizing point guard’s trade request. But teams around the league know that the real trade prize remains locked into a long-term contract in Brooklyn until the end of the 2025-26 season. Thus, it’s no […]

The Brooklyn Nets are the ultimate case study in just how fast a title contending window can close in the NBA. This time last year, the Nets still had Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving in town. Sure, they were struggling amid Durant’s injury-related absence, but when healthy (and when the vaccine restrictions in […]

There has been considerable uncertainty surrounding the Phoenix Suns in recent weeks. They almost pulled off a blockbuster trade for Kyrie Irving, and they are one of the most notable teams that have thrown their hat into the ring for a potential Kevin Durant trade. Even then, Suns players who could be on their way […]

Kyrie Irving who? The polarizing point guard, now with the Dallas Mavericks, threw a wrench into the Nets’ plans when he demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week. The Nets, perhaps fed up with Irving’s antics, granted him his wish. However, trading away a player of Irving’s caliber could do nothing but […]

For four seasons, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (along with Chris Bosh) joined forces in South Beach to terrorize the league with their incredible scoring prowess and eye-popping athletic capabilities. Their four-year partnership was a fruitful one, resulting in four straight NBA Finals appearances, two of which ended in the ultimate triumph – a championship. […]

Kyrie Irving’s trade request certainly sent front offices around the NBA scrambling for their phones or laptops to convene on a conference call to determine if trading for the polarizing Brooklyn Nets point guard is worth the risk, given his penchant for off-court trouble, injury risk, and impending free agency. But for the Phoenix Suns, […]

Kyrie Irving made waves on Friday afternoon when he formally requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, threatening to leave the team in free agency should they keep him. As is the case with every superstar on the trade block, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves linked once more in a trade for the polarizing […]

Kyrie Irving made waves once more, but this time, it’s for taking a page out of his Brooklyn Nets teammate Kevin Durant’s playbook. Irving, the mercurial point guard, requested a trade from the Nets – threatening to leave for nothing in free agency if they decide to keep him in town. As a result, plenty […]

The Brooklyn Nets, despite losing Kevin Durant to injury in mid-January, appeared to have righted the ship following a tumultuous start to the season. As one may recall, the Nets have had to weather a trade request from Durant, an anti-Semitic Twitter saga from Kyrie Irving, and pressing questions regarding Ben Simmons’ commitment to winning […]

There seems to be more trouble for the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets than it seems on the surface. Fans started to grow suspicious that there may be more locker room turmoil in the Mile High City than they’re letting on, especially after the Nuggets made second-year guard Bones Hyland available for trade. And Jamal Murray’s […]