Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 45

The Detroit Pistons are back. They have managed to turn things all the way around from a ghastly 14-win season, and they appear to be well on their way towards earning their first playoff berth since the 2018-19 season. On Monday night, they moved to 32-26 on the season, earning their seventh-consecutive victory with a […]

The Indiana Pacers have been able to jolt themselves wide awake after a bit of an uneven start to the 2024-25 season. Entering their Monday night clash against the Denver Nuggets, they have won 16 of their first 21 games in the current calendar year, positioning themselves within the top four in the Western Conference. […]

The Atlanta Hawks are trying their best not to convey a top first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs, and with Jalen Johnson out for the season, making the playoffs will be an uphill climb yet again for them. Nonetheless, the Hawks are still fighting with everything they’ve got, and on Monday night, they managed […]

Nikola Jokic is truly a one of a kind player. No one in league history has his combination of soft scoring touch around the basket, incredible court vision and the audacity to pull off some unthinkable passes, and his overall knowledge of how to play the game. On Monday night, Jokic was once again a […]

When the Golden State Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler, it seemed like a sense of bravado was restored within a Dubs brass that was being humbled by the past few seasons. Butler was a legitimate superstar, although it did not seem like it considering how badly he burned his bridges with the Miami Heat this […]

There was much concern surrounding the Denver Nuggets when the Los Angeles Lakers, on Saturday night, turned up with a game plan that limited Nikola Jokic and forced his teammates to beat them. Nonetheless, there are only so many things an opposing team can do to slow down Jokic. On Monday night, Jokic was back […]

Justin Verlander is always going to have a place on an MLB roster until it becomes very clear that he can no longer pitch at a big-league level. Heading into the 2025 season, it was the San Francisco Giants that gave Verlander a shot in free agency, signing him to a one-year, $15 million deal […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have endured an abject nightmare of a 2024-25 season, never really finding their footing in more ways than one even after overhauling their roster over this past summer. They simply keep digging too deep of a hole for them to overcome, and at this point, they might be better off having to […]

On Sunday night, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault turned 40 years old. And what better way for Daigneault to celebrate the start of his fifth decade of existence than with a huge victory for the Thunder, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 37 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and three blocks propelling OKC to […]

Doris Burke is one of, if not outright the most polarizing commentator working nationally-televised NBA games for ESPN. A good subset of fans believes that Burke provides some very insightful analysis, showing off her immense knowledge of the game, while others don’t necessarily appreciate the way she approaches her commentary gig, thinking that she’s too […]

The Milwaukee Bucks have been dealing with a slew of injury woes as of late, and it does not help matters at all that Bobby Portis is out for some time after being suspended for taking a banned substance. With the Bucks still battling for positioning in the Eastern Conference standings, having a healthy Giannis […]

The Boston Celtics may be flying under the radar this season, but make no mistake about it, they should still be the favorite to win the 2025 Larry O’Brien trophy. On Sunday night, the Celtics certainly showed how brilliant of a team they can be on both ends of the court as they took a […]

One of the best ways for an aspiring contending team to gauge their chances of winning it all is to see how they stack up against other legitimate title-contending outfits. But the New York Knicks may want to avert their gaze from their record against the two top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland […]

When the Milwaukee Bucks decided to trade Jrue Holiday away for Damian Lillard prior to the start of the 2023-24 season, it showed that the front office had little room for sentiment amid their ongoing quest to surround Giannis Antetokounmpo with the best possible roster. And with the Bucks struggling a bit to start the […]

The Detroit Pistons have been one of the biggest surprises in the league thus far in the 2024-25 season. Not much was expected out of them especially after all they could muster last season was a pitiful 14-68 record that involved the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history. But that level of putridity is […]

Sunday night was quite the good one for the Golden State Warriors. Not only did they move to 5-1 in the Jimmy Butler era by defeating the Dallas Mavericks, 126-102, they also honored one of the pillars of their near-decade-long dynasty in Andre Iguodala, retiring his jersey number nine and hanging it on the Chase […]

As the old adage in sports goes, circumstances may change, but flags fly forever. For the Golden State Warriors, they have been in a state of transition over the past few years, and this past offseason, they most notably lost Klay Thompson in free agency to the Dallas Mavericks — officially ending the Splash Brothers […]

The Golden State Warriors, prior to the trade deadline, decided to take a risk. They stepped up to the plate and decided that taking a chance on a disgruntled Jimmy Butler, who’s done nothing but frustrate the Miami Heat brass, was worth it. After all, Butler has proven in the past that he can show […]

On Friday night, the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves faced off yet again; two of their first three meetings went down to the wire, and they did not disappoint in the entertainment department in their fourth and final matchup of the season. In the end, it was the Rockets that came out on top, 121-115, […]

This offseason, the Houston Astros lost a key long-term part of their infield when third baseman Alex Bregman decided to sign with the Boston Red Sox in free agency. The Astros are a proud franchise that’s looking to continue in their winning ways despite undergoing a few roster transitions, most notably losing Bregman and Kyle […]

The Dallas Mavericks have become the laughingstock of the NBA world following their controversial decision to trade away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. To make matters worse, Davis has only played in one game for the Mavericks as he succumbed to […]

There is plenty of uncertainty regarding Anthony Rizzo’s future, and whether or not he still has staying power in the big leagues. Rizzo has already accomplished a lot in his career, but with him not being able to secure a home for the 2025 season just yet, one would have to wonder whether or not […]

The Charlotte Hornets can’t seem to get out of gear one in their ongoing rebuild. They are on track once again to finish with one of the worst records in the association, and the injury bug hasn’t been helping matters for them whatsoever. LaMelo Ball has missed his fair share of games, while Brandon Miller, […]

The Houston Rockets are in the middle of a revival, with their young core blossoming to the point of leading the team to the top of the Western Conference standings. For a while, the Rockets sat at second place in the conference, although some struggles in recent weeks, coinciding with Fred VanVleet’s injury, have knocked […]

Nikola Jokic isn’t exactly someone who gives it his all during the All-Star Weekend. His consistent excellence on the hardwood may make him a worthy inclusion on the All-Star Game roster, but the Denver Nuggets star rarely takes the game itself seriously. Jokic prefers to have fun during the season’s annual hiatus, and for good […]

On Feb. 1, no one could have predicted that the entire landscape of the NBA was going to change. That was when Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Lakers had pulled off a trade for Luka Doncic, with the Dallas Mavericks inexplicably giving up on the 25-year-old star that led them to […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers, the richest team in the MLB both literally and figuratively, only got richer this past offseason. The Dodgers secured the services of burgeoning Japanese international Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old flamethrower who’s expected to emerge as a quality rotation piece for years to come. It has to be said, however, that transitioning […]

The Toronto Blue Jays appear to be in grave danger of losing one of their best players, first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., after the 2025 season. Guerrero and the Blue Jays were unable to come to terms on a new contract on Tuesday night, the star first baseman’s deadline to reach a new deal, and considering […]

Manny Machado has built for himself a reputation as a troublemaker. This past postseason alone, during the San Diego Padres’ NLDS clash against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he made waves when he threw a ball towards the Dodgers dugout, nearly hitting manager Dave Roberts in the process. This triggered a bit of a skirmish between […]

The new NBA All-Star Game format may not have been to everyone’s liking, with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green being one of its harshest critics, but Stephen Curry still had plenty of fun, as he always does, in the process of entertaining millions around the globe. In the end, it was Curry who dazzled […]

2/18/2It has been a wild calendar month of February for Mark Williams thus far. Williams, at one point, was headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Charlotte Hornets trading away their young budding center for a package headlined by Dalton Knecht and a 2031 first-round pick. However, the trade fell through, with Williams reportedly […]

A few former NBA players who plied their trade overseas are looking to make a comeback stateside. On Tuesday, Lonnie Walker IV secured his comeback to the association after signing with the Philadelphia 76ers. And it appears as though former Dallas Mavericks/New York Knicks/Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Smith Jr. is looking to follow the same […]

The past three seasons have been tough for the Toronto Raptors. It has been a gradual decline for the Raptors franchise ever since they broke through with a championship in 2019, and now, they’re stuck in a rebuild. For the 2024-25 season, it was clear that their intention was to compete for lottery balls instead […]

The 2024-25 season that started so full of hope for the Atlanta Hawks is once again turning into a lost campaign marred by injury woes. The Hawks currently have a 26-29 record, which still has them in the thick of the playoff hunt in the mediocre Eastern Conference, but the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson […]

Jimmy Butler may have been burning all of his bridges with the Miami Heat, but the Golden State Warriors still deemed him to be worth the risk. Butler, after all, is a proven postseason performer with a long track record of lifting some undertalented Heat teams deep into the playoffs, and the Warriors are hoping […]

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest may not be the spectacle it once was, as the game’s biggest stars have continually refused to join the event over the past few years, but Mac McClung has managed to breathe plenty of life into the event over its past three iterations. McClung became the first player in NBA […]

The Arizona Diamondbacks missed the 2024 playoffs by the slimmest of margins last year, but they are gearing up for another playoff push in 2025, as evidenced by their massive decision to sign Corbin Burnes to a six-year, $210 million contract. And with the start of Spring Training right around the corner, the Diamondbacks are […]

The NBA All-Star Game may have been undergoing some changes over the past few years, but make no mistake about it, making it to the All-Star roster remains one of the biggest individual acclaims one can earn. For New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, this may not be his first time being named to the […]

It may not resonate with every fan, but the NBA is surely trying their hardest to reinvigorate everyone’s interest in the All-Star Game. To their credit, they have come up with some brilliant ideas, such as the All-Star Draft and having the leading vote-getter from each conference do the drafting. But there have been some […]