Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 135

The Phoenix Suns stand as one of the favorites to take home the 2023 NBA championship, by virtue of their blockbuster trade deadline move to add Kevin Durant alongside their Devin Booker-Chris Paul core. Nevertheless, the Suns, despite already clinching a playoff berth, aren’t resting on their laurels, playing their stars heavy minutes in a […]

Some of what the Charlotte Hornets must to do to improve when the offseason kicks off have been covered extensively on this space. While there will be no easy fixes for a team that owns a 26-54 record at the time of writing, one area the Hornets will need to bolster in a huge way […]

The Utah Jazz, after such a strong start to the 2022-23 season, have fallen way off the playoff pace en route to a lottery pick in the stacked 2023 NBA Draft. With an eye towards the future, the Jazz are evaluating which members of the current roster can contribute to their quest of building a […]

For a while, it seemed like the Denver Nuggets were going to run away with the number one seed in the Western Conference. But over the past few weeks, the Nuggets definitely made that race a bit interesting, falling into bad habits and suffering a few uncharacteristic losses along the way. During this stretch, it […]

Memphis Grizzlies franchise point guard Ja Morant has been the subject of plenty of controversy over the past few months, hitting a low point when he received an eight-game suspension after he brandished a gun in an adult club for the entire world to see on his Instagram Live. Since then, the Grizzlies star appeared […]

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is taking over the NBA MVP race by sheer brute force, punctuating his efforts to win the newly-named Michael Jordan award with a 52-point effort against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Even with the stiff competition provided by reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Embiid appears to be swaying the […]

The Dallas Mavericks appeared to be on the fast track to success, as evidenced by their run to the 2022 Western Conference Finals that eventually ended in a five-game series defeat to the Golden State Warriors. With Luka Doncic in town, there was no reason to expect the Mavs to fall off a cliff anytime […]

With the San Antonio Spurs having an eye towards their future, it’s difficult to envision them being strong players for the best players in free agency this coming offseason. The Spurs have plenty of areas they must improve for them to come close to being a playoff-caliber team once more, as evidenced by their groan […]

The Charlotte Hornets may have had a terrible 2022-23 campaign, but they have pieces in place that should help facilitate a quick turnaround, especially if they fill their roster’s biggest need in the offseason. After all, they aren’t beginning from scratch in their rebuilding efforts, as they will still boast the services of LaMelo Ball […]

A playoff berth would have been nice, but the Indiana Pacers’ miserable finish to the 2022-23 season shouldn’t put too much of a damper on what was such a promising season for them. To begin the year, the Pacers looked like they were on a steep upward trajectory, with a Tyrese Haliburton-named rocket strapped behind […]

There may be plenty of growing pains yet to come for such a young squad led by promising youngsters Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but things are on the up-and-up for the Orlando Magic, a 34-45 record at the time of writing notwithstanding. In fact, rarely has a rookie looked as good and NBA-ready from […]

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks will need everything to break right for them to have even a puncher’s chance at making the play-in tournament. They will need to finish with more wins than the Oklahoma City Thunder to squeak into the play-in tournament, and their efforts to do so will continue on Wednesday night, […]

It truly is difficult for an NBA franchise to get over the hump when the city they’re based in isn’t exactly a marquee free agent destination. That difficulty only ratchets up even further when that team refuses to bottom out, which prevents them from getting a pick at the top of the draft and the […]

The Golden State Warriors had to overcome a surprise absence from Klay Thompson en route to a 136-125 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it wasn’t an easy endeavor. After all, head coach Steve Kerr didn’t seem to possess the right answers to this conundrum at first when he decided to roll with a […]

The Boston Celtics face a quick turnaround, as less than 24 hours after suffering a heartbreaking defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers, they will be facing the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors will be motivated to perform as well as they can to usurp the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Nevertheless, it […]

The New York Mets have not particularly been off to the strongest of starts during the 2023 campaign. Through six games, they have gone 3-3. Of course, there is plenty of baseball left to be played. But after getting shut out in two consecutive games by the Milwaukee Brewers, the last thing the Mets will […]

Clearly, the NBA wants the players to start taking regular season games more seriously, as they instituted a 65 games played minimum for players to become eligible for the regular season awards. Even then, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, who has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in his NBA career, believes that one […]

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has the rest of the NBA world on his fingertips following such an exceptionally dominant performance on Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics. In a heated affair between two of the best teams in the NBA, it was Embiid whose star shone blindingly bright as he erupted for 52-point masterclass […]

Given the talent involved in the 2022-23 NBA MVP race, the narrative will play a huge part in determining which player, among all deserving candidates, gets to hoist the newly-named Michael Jordan Trophy. Thus, there’s no better time for Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid to bust out everything in his arsenal — including a dominant […]

Many expected that the blow-off Hell in A Cell match between Edge and Finn Balor in Wrestlemania 39, months after Balor helped Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley kick the Rated-R Superstar out of the Judgment Day stable, to be a heated bout. After all, beyond Balor’s betrayal, the Judgment Day were also responsible for inflicting […]

From 1998 to 2019, the San Antonio Spurs stood as one of the most successful franchises; even fans joked that there were three certainties in life to that point: death, taxes, and a Spurs playoff berth. And it seemed like the Spurs’ train of contention would just continue to chug along for all eternity, especially […]

Not too long ago, the Charlotte Hornets were buzzing towards an upward trajectory, making the play-in tournament two seasons in a row, with plenty of room to grow to spare. Sure, the Hornets flamed out in the very first game of those play-in appearances (their loss to the Indiana Pacers in 2021, specifically, was extremely […]

It’s not too often that the San Antonio Spurs find themselves playing in meaningless games during April, but here we are. After years of being in denial, trying to remain in the NBA’s dreaded middle ground, the Spurs finally decided to embrace the tank by trading away Dejounte Murray this past offseason, essentially handing over […]

For the first few months of the 2022-23 season, it looked like the Indiana Pacers were arriving in the league’s upper-echelon way ahead of schedule. Buoyed by inspired play from the likes of All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, and Buddy Hield, the Pacers went off to a solid 23-18 start that put them […]

For much of the 2010s, the Orlando Magic found themselves stuck in mediocrity, always ending up with late lottery picks or unimpactful first-rounders in the middle of the draft as a result of their stubbornness in remaining in the NBA’s dreaded middle ground. But the NBA has a system in place that rewards losing and […]

Paul George, before arriving with the Los Angeles Clippers in a blockbuster trade in July 2019, was linked to a move to the Los Angeles Lakers for quite some time. After all, it only made sense to many for George to play for the premier franchise in the city instead of the little brother franchise […]

It has been a disappointing season overall from the defending champion Golden State Warriors. They’ve been stuck in a Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll impersonation all season long. They have looked like Victor Wembayama sweepstakes frontrunners away from the friendly confines of San Francisco despite being world-beaters at Chase Center. But with Steph Curry in […]

It’s the same story for the New Orleans Pelicans for the second straight season. They currently find themselves in the play-in tournament picture, shaking off a rough stretch of the season behind inspired basketball from Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, all the while the uncertainty of Zion Williamson’s injury status hangs over their heads. And […]

March Madness season has finally come and gone, but the most coveted prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft class remains 7’4 center Victor Wembanyama, who has shown flashes of incredible ball-handling and shot-creation skills for his size, to go along with the incredible rim protection that he provides given his physical stature. For months, the […]

The Washington Wizards appear to be stuck in mediocrity, as they currently have a 34-44 record at the moment. And there seems to be no easy fixes present for the team in the nation’s capital. Some fans may say that this is exactly what happens when you lock up Bradley Beal to a supermax contract […]

The San Antonio Spurs are in borderline-uncharted territory for the franchise; they have a 67 percent chance of landing a top five pick, setting themselves up nicely for the future after a mad dash towards the bottom of the NBA standings. Of course, this effort to bottom out included some blatant tanking shenanigans, including random […]

The rebuilding efforts of the Orlando Magic are beginning to bear fruit, their 34-44 record at the time of writing notwithstanding. Over the past two seasons, the Magic have accrued a plethora of high-potential youngsters who should only get better as time goes by. With Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, two players at the heart […]

While only a few fans and pundits (if any) expected the Detroit Pistons to make some sort of mini-leap during the 2022-23 campaign, especially after adding Bojan Bogdanovic in a surprise offseason move, they remain very much where they have been over the past two seasons — the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Of course, […]

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, the Charlotte Hornets seemed to be on the ascent, as slow as their climb towards the NBA’s upper echelon might have been during those campaigns. After last making the postseason in 2016, the Hornets had an opportunity to make the playoffs in both 2021 and 2022, failing in the […]

The Dallas Mavericks are in the middle of the most frustrating part of their up and down 2022-23 season. Having been in at least a play-in spot for much of the year, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Mavs have lost seven of their past eight games, including a dispiriting 127-125 loss against the Golden […]

The Portland Trail Blazers, for the second consecutive season, have given up towards the end of the campaign, choosing instead to “develop” their young talents with a playoff push looking more and more unattainable with each passing day. As a result, the Blazers will be heading into the 2023 offseason with much to ponder, especially […]

Lionel Messi will always have a home with FC Barcelona, now led by talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski. After all, Messi spent the majority of his illustrious football career playing for one of the most successful football clubs in the world, only leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 due to the inexplicable financial struggles of the […]

It hasn’t particularly been the best past few days for the Los Angeles Clippers and its fans. Sure, Kawhi Leonard did play in his first back-to-back since April 2021, but the Clippers struck out swinging during that crucial stretch, losing two straight games to the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans that puts them in […]

After nearly two months of build-up, the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes finally took on the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 39 Night 2. Many expected a bout between one of the hottest babyfaces in the WWE and one of the most menacingly successful champions […]