NBA Editorials Articles - Page 3

The Detroit Pistons are yet to reach the double-digit mark in losses with 34 games having passed, which is quite the feat considering how bad this team was two seasons ago. And the temptation for fast-rising teams is to further expedite the rebuild and continue their march towards contention. Now, it is easy to take […]

The Toronto Raptors’ play may have fallen a bit as of late, but they remain in fourth place in the congested Eastern Conference with a 20-15 record. That is still better than most expected out of them heading into the 2025-26 campaign, although that seems to be the bare minimum considering how much the team […]

The Los Angeles Lakers came into the 2025 NBA Draft without a first-round pick, but by the end of the night, they felt like they had a first-round talent on their hands. The Lakers traded up in the NBA Draft to select Adou Thiero with the No. 36 overall pick, and during a post-draft segment […]

The New Orleans Pelicans knew Derik Queen was a productive rebounder before the 2025 NBA Draft. What James Borrego did not expect was everything else the Maryland alum was bringing to the home of Mardi Gras. Thankfully, it seems apparent now that the Rookie of the Year candidate’s rebounding base, coupled with emerging rim protection and […]

A reshaped roster, an early-season coaching change, and a fan base impatient for tangible progress have created an unforgiving environment, particularly for a rookie still learning the ropes. However, according to James Borrego, Derik Queen is tuning out the static to become the next face of the New Orleans Pelicans. Selecting Queen 13th overall in […]

For the Denver Nuggets, everything begins and ends with Nikola Jokic. Their offense, their identity, and their championship ceiling all orbit around the Serbian superstar’s singular brilliance. That’s why Jokic’s recent knee injury didn’t just feel like a routine setback. It felt existential. The Nuggets are still very much contenders. Without their engine, though, they […]

Coming off back-to-back quality wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers are finding success through feeding Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. As the wheels have started to turn for the team over the last two weeks, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson is advising Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell to prioritize […]

There are certain traits NBA coaches will tell you cannot be manufactured in a gym or taught on a whiteboard. When the new-look New Orleans Pelicans drafted Jeremiah Fears, the scouting reports spoke of speed, burst, and fearless downhill attacking. Just a few months into his NBA career, however, the internal comparisons have accelerated into […]

The New York Knicks have been on a roll of late, sitting at 7-3 in their last 10 games. Those 10 games include a comeback win on Christmas Day against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as a win in the 2026 NBA Cup Championship over the San Antonio Spurs. What’s more, head coach Mike Brown […]

To say that the Los Angeles Lakers have been a poor defensive team this season would be a major understatement. For the month of December, the Lakers have been essentially at the bottom of the league in terms of defensive rating, 29th to be exact, as per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. […]

The Washington Wizards are not only playing with joy, but rookie sharpshooter Tre Johnson made history just over two months into his first season. The 2025 No. 6 overall pick made a franchise-rookie-record nine straight three-pointers between Monday’s 115-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns and Wednesday’s 114-113 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, per the team’s […]

The final buzzer of 2025 sounded for the New Orleans Pelicans with a familiar result. A loss to the Chicago Bulls dropped interim coach James Borrego’s bunch to a daunting 8-27 entering 2026. However, the easy narrative of a last-place team, of a season slipping away, would not be accurate. Within the walls of the […]

A new year is upon us, and the NBA trade market continues to see plenty of rumors heating up. Although the big names like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis are what everyone wants to know about, there are plenty of teams around the NBA looking to make moves to compete right now. The Milwaukee Bucks […]

The 2026 NBA trade deadline is on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. ET. In this day and age, it is a can’t-miss date on the NBA calendar, regardless of who you cheer for. That is because seemingly every team gets in on the action and makes deals both big and small. Good teams look […]

Coming into 2025, the Boston Celtics were expected to do one thing: win. And while they did plenty of that to finish out the 2024-25 regular season, the 2025 NBA Playoffs marked their earliest exit since 2021. It also featured one of the most devastating moments in recent Celtics history. Star forward Jayson Tatum suffered […]

The NBA trade deadline is the busiest and most hectic day of the year in basketball. The NBA’s last day to make deals is particularly fun because every team, whether good or bad, gets in on the action. Last year, 16 trades were made on deadline day alone. Plenty of huge deals, including the Los […]

The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world a season ago by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and acquiring Anthony Davis as part of the deal. With the man who made the trade — Nico Harrison — no longer associated with the Mavs, rumors of Dallas potentially moving on from AD have swirled. […]

As the calendar flips toward the new year, the busted-up New Orleans Pelicans find themselves once again scraping for relevance in the Western Conference standings. Sporting a dismal 8-26 record going into a New Year’s Eve date with the Chicago Bulls, Zion Williamson and Derik Queen are languishing in last place. Still, the locker room […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are enduring another difficult season, sitting at a dismal 8-26 after a recent loss to the New York Knicks. For most teams in such dire straits, the news would be one of dysfunction, finger-pointing, and an inevitable rebuild. However, interim head coach James Borrego sees a young squad on the verge […]

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Washington Wizards still haven’t fully unleashed rookie guard Tre Johnson as he heals from his hip flexor injury, but he’s making them look smart for drafting him anyway. The 19-year-old scored a career-high 24 points (9-12 FG, 5-5 3-point) with one rebound, two assists, and one steal over 25 minutes during […]

The return of shooting guard Jaden Ivey has been an intriguing situation for the Detroit Pistons. The former first-round draft selection made his season debut in November after suffering a fibula injury back in January. His 2024-25 season was cut short at 30 games when former Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony dove into Ivey’s leg […]

The month of December has not been kind to the Atlanta Hawks, as they’ve done a lot of losing over the course of the past few weeks and have fallen to 10th in the Eastern Conference. Even with Trae Young returning from an MCL injury that knocked him out of the rotation for over a […]

With just about five weeks until the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 5, trade rumors around the league are heating up. The hottest rumor surrounds Anthony Davis, Trae Young, and the Atlanta Hawks, as the Dallas Mavericks star has emerged as a prime trade candidate for the Hawks. Despite his injury concerns since arriving in […]

The New Orleans Pelicans may have fallen short against the New York Knicks. However, Zion Williamson’s return to the starting lineup offered a glimpse of hope for a franchise desperately seeking consistency and direction. After a stint coming off the bench, Williamson reclaimed his spot in the starting five, playing extended minutes without restrictions. While […]

For all the defensive progress Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans believe they are making heading toward 2026, one issue continues to undermine their climb. In the eyes of James Borrego, defensive rebounding is no longer a secondary concern or a situational weakness. It is the defining variable separating a respectable team from a potentially competitive […]

The blueprint for defending Trey Murphy III used to be simple, if daunting. Find the 2021 first-round pick in transition, stick to him in the half-court, and under no circumstances let the 6-foot-8 flamethrower see a clean look from beyond the arc. This season, and particularly with James Borrego at the helm of the upstart […]

Masterful. Brilliant. Sensational. Extraordinary. We could keep rattling off words to describe what Nikola Jokic has achieved this season, but the three letters that stand out after seeing the Denver Nuggets center perform on NBA Christmas Day are MVP.  Since the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, Oklahoma City Thunder guard and reigning league MVP Shai […]

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Washington Wizards are either beginning a long-term shift or experiencing a temporary hot streak, but they’re certainly playing better than they were at the beginning of the season. Part of that is because second-year center Alex Sarr and oft-injured guard Bilal Coulibaly have each started over the last three games, which […]

Cleveland Cavaliers six-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell received a lot of love in the first fan returns of 2026 NBA All-Star voting. In the league’s official announcement on Monday afternoon, Mitchell is listed as the fifth-highest vote-getter in the Eastern Conference with 851,155 votes. Behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, and Cade Cunningham, […]

Fans should be forgiven for asking if the year is over yet, even though one New Year’s Eve game against the Philadelphia 76ers remains. Beale Street will not see winning basketball in 2025; that much was assured with a second loss to CJ McCollum’s Washington Wizards in eight days. Ja Morant’s second game back (16th […]

Throughout the first two months of the 2025-26 NBA season, nobody has been able to stop the Oklahoma City Thunder. The defending champions steamrolled through their schedule entering December, and it appeared as if the Thunder would remain atop the NBA power rankings the entire year… that is, until they ran into the San Antonio […]

Just when it’s looking like the Minnesota Timberwolves have begun to figure it out, they fall back into old habits. Carrying a four-game winning streak into Christmas made it seem as though the Timberwolves were going to establish themselves as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, especially when that streak included a huge win […]

The play was over, a routine fast-break for the Memphis Grizzlies leading to a second-quarter timeout, but the lesson was just beginning. As the rebuilding Washington Wizards grabbed some water, CJ McCollum was already deep in conversation with Alex Sarr, diagramming a read. It was a small moment, invisible to the public for the most […]

A lot of trade talk is generated at the NBA G League Winter Showcase. This year, Coby White emerged as the name that could soon be on the move. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Atlanta Hawks have all been linked as potential trade destinations for the Chicago Bulls guard. The Hawks serve […]

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson expressed extreme disappointment after his team suffered a 117-100 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday. That final score was generous, as the Cavs trailed by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter and barely showed a pulse in their follow-up to a promising week of basketball. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Perfection is usually impossible, but the Washington Wizards were close to perfect in their 138-117 home win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday. That’s partially because third-year guard Bilal Coulibaly had his best game of the season after returning from a sprained ankle on Tuesday. The 21-year-old opened up post-game about how […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not nearly been as good this season as they were the previous campaign. In fact, the decline has been steep. Following the Cavs’ disappointing 126-124 Christmas Day defeat to the New York Knicks, Cleveland is now the owner of a disappointing 17-15 record. For reference, the Cavs lost all of 18 […]

Everyone needs an occasional confidence boost from time to time. Whether from a friend or a professional peer in a high-wire field, just hearing the support of others can help a player. GG Jackson knows this all too well after years with the consistently inconsistent Memphis Grizzlies and some recent trade rumor news. So does […]

Before their Christmas Day battle with the Houston Rockets, JJ Redick made it clear that his Los Angeles Lakers needed to give more effort and that the “shortcuts” some players have been taking defensively are unacceptable. The lack of effort and intensity Redick saw from his group in a 132-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns […]