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The Cleveland Cavs have already brought back a very familiar face this off-season. Nope, not LeBron James. Even better, Mike Brown has returned to become head coach! (Crickets)
Now in year three of the post-LeBron rebuilding effort, the Cleveland Cavs front office must stick to the script of the past few summers; build through the draft and avoid making dumb moves via free agency or trade that will ruin their cap space.
The Dallas Mavericks colloquially known as the Mavs are looking to redesign their uniforms. The Dallas Mavericks have won one NBA championship, three division titles, and two conference championships. Now they need the help of the fans in creating their next unis.
The Dallas Mavericks are owned by serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban (who also owns numerous other businesses, including the HD cable network AXS TV). Mark Cuban made his fortune in tech. You can make a fortune too. You can make a lot of money if you do NBA betting at Top Bet.
Can the Indiana Pacers upset the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals? Most people seem to think Miami will take this series and move on to the Finals versus the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies-San Antonio Spurs Western Conference Finals.
Not so fast.
Indiana played Miami tight down to the very last second of overtime in game one. On the road, the Pacers took the Heat to extra time before falling 103-102. Unfortunately, coming up short on defense in the final possession. The Pacers also had to deal with the referees swallowing their whistles in crunch time too. In the series opener, Indiana shows it has a real fighting chance in this series.
Lance Stephenson went by the nickname “Born Ready” as one of the nation’s top high-school basketball players and one of the most decorated New York prep products.
Often times, during his one year at Cincinnati and his first two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, Stephenson made folks wonder if the “Born Ready” tag was purely hype and little substance amid instances of immaturity and lack of production.
However, with Danny Granger sidelined for virtually the entire 2012-13 season with a knee injury, the 6-6 Stephenson capitalized on the opportunity at starter’s minutes, and he put a huge exclamation on his remarkable improvement last Saturday with a 25-point, 10-rebound effort (including a clutch nine-point fourth quarter) to lead the Pacers to a series-clinching Game 6 victory over the New York Knicks and a date with the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, which begin with today’s Game 1 at 8:30 p.m. in Miami.
That Game 6 performance suggested Stephenson indeed may have been “Born Ready.” The Pacers hope that’s the case regardless, but it very well might be key to their chances at defeating Miami and earning a trip to their first NBA Finals since 2000.
Here is our updated 2013 NBA Mock Draft. Click on the players’ name for a complete, in-depth scouting report.
(By the way, The Sports Bank was graded as the most accurate 2011 AND 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the web.)
Here is the second round of our updated 2013 NBA Mock Draft. Click on the players’ name for a complete, in-depth scouting report.
(By the way, The Sports Bank was graded as the most accurate 2011 AND 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the web.)
The NBA Draft Lottery was held Tonight and we found out the Cleveland Cavs will pick first in the 2013 NBA Draft.
The Cavs have been lucky enough to get No. 1 pick 3 times in 11 years. However, the Cavs have also been bad enough to get No. 1 pick three times in 11 years.
Unlike last year when Anthony Davis was the clear cut top prospect, a number of players are in consideration this year including Kentucky‘s Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore of Kansas, and even Michigan‘s Trey Burke or Georgetown‘s Otto Porter. More than likely, team need will play a huge factor in terms of which player hears their named called first on June 27th.
The Sports Bank‘s series of NBA off-season team needs pages begins with the worst team in the league this past season; the Orlando Magic. The franchise suffered a major setback after dealing disgruntled superstar Dwight Howard last off-season. They enter the off-season stuck with a roster of average talent and rather than trying to scrape by, it is time for the Orlando Magic to blow up their roster and get straight to rebuilding mode.
Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats are looking to the past, changing their name back to the Charlotte Hornets after New Orleans became the new joke of the league by switching their nickname to the Pelicans. Caught up? Good.
Despite the new mascot, the Charlotte Hornets enter the off-season in a similar position as the past decade or so; trying to find some sort of way to turn the corner and become a relevant basketball team. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to solve the problem.
Time to focus on the NBA Draft. It seems pretty certain the Illinois Fighting Illini will once again have representation on draft night. Guard Brandon Paul was at the draft combine last week and he’s had contact with the L.A. Clippers, Lakers, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls.
Two years ago was a disaster when both Demetri McCamey and Jereme Richmond went undrafted, despite all the pre-draft hype (both attended the combine). Last year brought more pride to Champaign as the Illini Nation saw Meyers Leonard go in the top ten to the Portland Trail Blazers. Brandon Paul should likely hear his name called this June; just nowhere near as high.
We know Derrick Rose has been healthy for quite some time. We know Derrick Rose was looking exactly like his former self on the floor in warm-ups when the Chicago Bulls season ended last week. What we don’t know is why Derrick Rose didn’t just sack up and play. You know, Derrick Rose might have tried to, oh I don’t know actually earned his $16 million a year.
Or if not actually play this year. At least drop the effing charade. The complete garbage Derrick Rose did all year long with the “God only knows If I’ll play or not this year.” Derrick Rose has Twitter. A simple “Hey, I’m playing in tonight’s game. I’m back.” would have been enough. And if the other way was reality, a simple “Hey, my leg still doesn’t feel right. I won’t be ready for next year,” this would have been fine too.
Either way, just tell us. Instead Derrick choose to talk out of both sides of his mouth and be an attention w****. And because he was a disgusting, revolting attention w**** now he deserves every pejorative cast upon him by Bulls fans and sports media.
And today we have our first NBA player joining the anti Derrick Rose bandwagon. That would be Washington Wizards rookie, former Florida Gators star and super high draft pick Bradley Beal:
The NBA Draft Combine hit Chicago this week. Everyone who’s likely going to get picked in the NBA Draft comes to the Second City for workouts with NBA scouts and interviews with the media.
Here’s the list of all the former college basketball players who were invited to the NBA Draft combine. And here’s our latest 2013 NBA Mock Draft.
The NBA Draft combine is pretty much a beauty pageant for boys.
The 2013 NBA Draft is scheduled to be held on June 27, 2013 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
