NBA Editorials Articles - Page 240

Life hasn’t always been easy for the Sacramento Kings. Small market teams are never going to have a whole lot of pulling power when it comes to the free agency market, making the draft all the more important, and a lot of the Kings’ woes, particularly in recent times, can be attributed to their misses […]

Anthony Davis has always preferred to play power forward, and the Los Angeles Lakers publicly acknowledged that reality after signing him to a three-year, $186 million contract extension earlier this summer. Related: Christian Wood finally put pen to paper with the Lakers on Wednesday, ending weeks of speculation that he was bound to sign in […]

The NBA draft can make or break a franchise, with teams’ ability to both capitalize on their high draft picks, and to find diamonds in the rough further down the draft board, pivotal in their subsequent success – or lack thereof. The Mavericks’ ability to be continually competitive since the turn of the century can […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are rapidly growing as a young, high-potential team in the NBA and this is in large part thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 25-year-old elevated his play to an All-Star and All-NBA level a season ago, which put Oklahoma City, a team many thought would finish near the bottom of the standings, […]

The Charlotte Hornets are one of the youngest organizations in the NBA. Forming in 1988, the Hornets rebranded to the Bobcats in 2004 before they once again became the Hornets in 2014. While the name of the team has changed, this franchise’s lack of success has remained. They’ve never advanced past the Eastern Conference Semifinals […]

The Toronto Raptors entered the NBA as part of the league’s efforts to expand the game into Canada. Since then, they have become one of the best-ran organizations in the NBA. Throughout its history, the Raptors have done well in the NBA Draft. Toronto has found gems late in the first round and has selected […]

The FIBA World Cup has been a bumpy ride for years now for Team USA. The most dominant team in international basketball history, Team USA only finished in seventh place in 2019. The 2023 team was expected to be a new era redeem team of sorts. With a relatively weaker roster than normal, things haven’t […]

After two months of consideration, conversations, and background checks, the Los Angeles Lakers finally came to terms with free-agent center Christian Wood. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers and Wood agreed to a two-year, $5.7 million veteran minimum contract with the second year as a player option. He’ll earn about $2.71 million in 2023-24. […]

James Harden’s drama with the Philadelphia 76ers has led to a ton of speculation and curiosity about the future of the franchise. So much so that many have begun questioning Joel Embiid’s future with the organization. Embiid is under contract in Philadelphia through the 2026-27 season, as his four-year, $213 million contract is set to […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have been making moves left and right this offseason in hopes of once again competing for a championship. They came up just short of reaching the NBA Finals this past season, losing in the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets, which is why general manager Rob Pelinka beefed up his […]

For years, there has been speculation that Damian Lillard should and would wind up requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers due to the organization’s inability to contend for a championship. The time finally came this offseason, as Lillard requested a trade on July 1. Since then, virtually no momentum towards a trade has […]

The Philadelphia 76ers remain one of the biggest mysteries in the NBA as training camp approaches. James Harden has controlled narratives this NBA offseason with his shocking comments regarding Sixers executive Daryl Morey and there is truly no telling how this situation will play out. Harden, who is in the final year of his contract, […]

The Denver Nuggets, of all teams, know how important it is to nail their draft picks, as the Mile High City isn’t a particularly attractive destination for superstar free agents. And to their credit, they have made the most out of their picks, especially in the 2010s, where they built the core of their 2023 […]

From 1975 to the early 2010s, misery kept piling on and on for the Golden State Warriors franchise. They traded away future Hall of Famers for scraps, gave a high-potential rookie a shocking contract that allowed him to enter free agency after just one season, and failed to capitalize on whatever momentum they had been […]

Traded to the Dallas Mavericks last offseason and thought to be a key scoring weapon alongside superstar Luka Doncic, Christian Wood saw his role in Dallas decrease drastically as the season went along. As a result, he has decided to pursue a new opportunity with the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency. According to ESPN’s […]

The Boston Celtics pulled off one of the more shocking moves of the NBA offseason when they acquired former All-Star big man Kristaps Porzingis in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. As part of the deal to get Porzingis, the Celtics had to part ways with veteran point guard Marcus Smart, […]

The 2022-23 season proved to be a massive letdown for the Charlotte Hornets, as their 27-55 record was the worst since the franchise went 23-42 since the 2019-20 season. This offseason was all about finding ways to improve their roster, as well as retain key members of their young core such as PJ Washington. However, […]

While Ronnie 2K and NBA 2K24 are preparing for the game’s worldwide release this week, the NBA season is also gearing up for it’s start. In less than a month, all 30 teams will have completed Media Day and begun training camp. For Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns, they’ll be starting the […]

Winning is in the DNA of the Boston Celtics organization. Their 17 NBA titles are tied for the most in league history and they have had just one losing season since 2007. Appearing in the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven seasons has put Boston at the top of the league once more, […]

The New Orleans Pelicans will enter the 2023-24 NBA season looking to prove that they can be big threats in the Western Conference given their depth and firepower. However, with the start of training camp less than a month away, New Orleans may wind up being without one of their key contributors on the wing […]

Team USA has been the favorites to win the 2023 FIBA World Cup ever since the event began at the end of August. Following their shocking loss to Lithuania on Sunday, the Americans bounced back in a big way while facing elimination in the knockout stage, defeating Italy 100-63. This was a statement victory for […]

The Indiana Pacers are not exactly a prime free agency destination for the top free agents in the NBA. But this offseason, the Pacers did land a sought-after free agent in Bruce Brown, who became a key piece for the 2023 NBA Champion Denver Nuggets this past season. Brown isn’t a star by any means […]

The Seattle Supersonics’ NBA return is long overdue. 15 years have passed since the new owners of the Supersonics franchise decided to move the team to Oklahoma City and rebrand them as the Thunder, snatching away the city of Seattle’s beloved NBA franchise. It remains unclear when the NBA will officially greenlight its expansion plans. […]

Barring a last-minute change in developments, the Philadelphia 76ers’ James Harden conundrum will be brought into training camp. The Sixers are left with very few options — much less good ones — for how to solve it. Trading away Harden is the only way to ensure any type of harmony leading into the season, but […]

Expectations are never higher for any sports organization than those placed upon New York franchises. The New York Knicks have felt this pressure from the media and their fans through the years, which has led to a ton of questions about the futures of those leading this organization. However, since he became the head coach […]

The Washington Wizards franchise, like most others, isn’t exactly the most attractive destination for top-tier free agents. Nothing beats the glitz and glamour of signing with a big market team based in Los Angeles or New York, after all. But that doesn’t mean that the Wizards franchise hasn’t made its fair share of impressive signings […]

The creative team behind Season 2 of “Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” compiled a companion guide outlining the historical accuracy of each episode, which they provided to ClutchPoints’ Lakers reporter. “We felt it important to show our work out of respect for the many living characters depicted,” the creators wrote. (Episodes begin with […]

As one of the smallest market teams in the NBA, the Hornets – or the Bobcats – have not often been the number one choice for free agents. More often they’re forced to develop their own talent through the draft or make savvy moves at the trade table, and this inability to attract free agents […]

Free agency is never easy for small market teams, with most players preferring to sign with the bigger franchises if they have the option. But for a team which falls into that category, the Trail Blazers have done okay over the years in this regard, picking up a handful of players who have made significant […]

A trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 has been followed up by two first-round exits from the playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks. The upcoming 2023-24 season proves to be very important for this organization, one that has consistently gone through changes over the years. Trae Young has been the face of the franchise […]

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. These three stars led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012. Since then, all three superstars have departed Oklahoma City, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ready to once again make the Thunder real contenders in the Western Conference. The 2022-23 season proved to be a huge […]

Who is the best player in the NBA? This is a question basketball fans debate every single year, and it’s one that often has no right answer. MVP candidates such as Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and LeBron James are obviously amongst the best of the best, but one player cannot win […]

The Los Angeles Clippers are preparing for the 2023-24 NBA season as title contenders in the Western Conference once again. However, Amir Coffey has provided the organization with a distraction this offseason, as he was recently arrested in July after a loaded gun was found in his vehicle by police. On Monday, TMZ reported that […]

The New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans franchise hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for blockbuster signings in free agency. That distinction is reserved for the big market teams, which was made crystal clear when Anthony Davis decided that he wanted a trade out of the team back in the 2018-19 season. Nevertheless, the Pelicans franchise has still proven […]

Oklahoma City has never been a particularly attractive free-agent destination, so it wasn’t too easy to conjure up a list of the Thunder franchise’s best signings since 2008. The Thunder also notoriously found it difficult to keep the best free agent in their history, failing to come to terms with a new contract with Kevin […]

The Boston Celtics are the most-storied franchise in NBA history. Bill Russell, Paul Pierce, Larry Bird, and other legends have paved the way for a team searching for their 18th banner led by Jayson Tatum. The credit does not only go to the star-studded names that are already in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of […]

Let’s not beat around the bush – Minnesota is not exactly the easiest place to sell to NBA players who have the option to play in Miami, New York or Los Angeles. The fact that the Timberwolves have been perennially unsuccessful during their three decades or so in the league doesn’t help either, and with […]

The Hawks have an unusual history in free agency. Over the course of their more-than-50-year history since moving to Atlanta, there aren’t exactly a plethora of great free agent signings jumping off the page, but they have found the proverbial needle in the haystack on a couple of occasions. The top three or four signings […]

As the fat has been trimmed in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, only the best teams remain. After a rest day on Sept. 4, the tournament is advancing to the quarterfinals starting on Sept. 5. Team USA just experienced their first loss of the tournament against Lithuania. At this stage, all of the teams […]