However, the two threes that Thompson hit moved him into some very elite NBA company. Coming off a recent game where he had just moved up to 13th in the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers list, Thompson is also the 13th NBA player ever to make 2,000 career three-pointers.

Thompson now joins Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, James Harden, Kyle Korver, Vince Carter, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, and Paul Pierce as the only NBA players ever to accomplish such a milestone.

Becoming a part of such an elite group of sharpshooters must feel great to Thompson after battling his way back to form after suffering an Achilles injury in 2020 after just returning from an ACL injury in 2019.

This 2023 season has been sort of a “revenge tour” for Thompson, as he has trying to block out the noise and prove to the doubters that he’s still got it. Admittedly Thompson has come out and said that comments about his game “slipping” have hurt, but he knows that he can’t please everybody.

While it is a great career moment for Thompson, he and the Warriors look to get back on the winning track Thursday against the Indiana Pacers.

The post Klay Thompson Becomes the 13th NBA Player to Knock Down 2K Threes appeared first on SLAM.

Kyle Korver’s shot is part magic, part perfection. There are layers and levels to it, mechanics and technicalities layered within each release, from a bend of the elbow to the way he’s catching the ball. It’s a full-body experience, he once said. It’s a motion that involves every part of the body, the same way drawing comes from the wrist. Every meticulous detail gets noticed and considered: how he lands in front of the line, how he’s squaring up his shoulders, how he’s finding the ball, even squeezing the ball. They say the greatest shooters of all time approach it like an art form. If so, then Korver Picasso’d the catch-and-shoot game of the early ’00s.

He sensationalized it. One beautiful, clutch play at a time.

Korver was drafted, technically, out of his dorm room, Kiewit Hall, at Creighton. At least, that’s where he watched the draft with a friend, back in ’03. As the night progressed deeper into the second round and more people filled Korver’s room, the room suddenly became quieter.

Is he gonna get picked? Should we leave if he doesn’t get picked?

The pre-draft process, he admits, was tough for him. He had never been a big workout type of guy, preferring to live in his own imagination and get lost in his head while he trained. But, as he discovered during those workouts, teams wanted to see him try to lock down more athletic guards. One-on-one workouts against Dwyane Wade, Dahntay Jones, Josh Howard and Travis Hansen. First, they did the physical assessment, testing his vertical, and then he went head-to-head with other draft prospects. By the end of the workout, he was asked to shoot stand-still threes.

“My confidence wasn’t so high,” he admits over email, which he sent in June while on vacation with his family at a camp in the “sticks” in South Carolina, with minimal cell phone reception. 

He was drafted, 51st overall by the New Jersey Nets, then traded to the Sixers, during the last commercial break of the night. When the broadcasting resumed, his name was there, at the bottom of the screen.

As a rookie, Korver was joining a Sixers franchise that was hitting a rough patch. Their superstar guard, Allen Iverson, specifically, was starting to get testy with management. Head coach Randy Ayers was fired midway through the season. Injuries plagued the team so much, they even earned the nickname “the City Line 9,” a moniker that refers to where the team practiced, on City Line Avenue, and the number of healthy bodies they had on a given night. Korver, a shooting guard/small forward, played center at times and only saw a minute, minute-and-a-half at a time at the end of most quarters. But what he learned, especially in that first year, even in the first few weeks of the season alone, was what it was like to hoop in the L.

“I remember the first week of games,” Korver says. “One night we played Boston [and] Paul Pierce had 40, and I’m like, Yo, Paul Pierce is the best player I’ve ever seen! The next game we played New Orleans. Baron Davis had 45 and I’m like, Yo, Baron Davis is the best player. But AI is on my team and he’s matching everyone! Until opening night, I had only ever been to one NBA game and I think I was eight years old. Until you watch NBA games in person, you can’t understand how good everyone is.”

And it was Iverson who really pushed him to keep shooting the ball. But that came with an expectation; he’d make his shots.

“I can’t overstate how important AI was for me,” Korver says. “So much of a young player making it in the League is finding the right fit from a team standpoint and earning the trust of your best players. AI wanted to make plays, [he] wanted to pass. But if he didn’t think you were gonna make it, he was like, Why would I pass it to you? I’ll just shoot it! We didn’t have a lot of shooting on our team, so those first couple years he was always in my ear to be ready and to let it fly. If I passed up a shot he thought I should shoot, he would let me hear about it all the way back down the court. And AI, he’s more than a superstar. He’s a legend. So to have him put me under his wing like he did, it was everything.”

GET YOUR COPY OF SLAM PRESENTS THE ’03 DRAFT NOW

By his second year in the League, Korver went from averaging only 4.5 points as a rookie to double digits (11.5), shooting 40 percent from three. When Iverson dished the rock to him, Korver let that thing fly every single time. Even in crunch time.

Against the Pacers in January of ’05, the Sixers trailed by four going into the fourth quarter. After a comeback, Iverson drove into the paint with 10 seconds left and was damn near at the rim and just a layup away, when he decided, suddenly, to dish it out to his second-year shooting guard. Korver got himself on balance with a single dribble and pulled up for a two-point jump shot. The Sixers won, 89-88, and Korver, who had hit five three-pointers on the night, finished with 17 points.

Iverson, who had hit the game-winner in overtime against Indiana months prior in November, saw something in Korver.

“You see a guy in his second year who’s able to hit a big shot like that, it says a lot about him as a player,” Iverson said in the postgame presser. “It says a lot about his confidence and the confidence the coaching staff and we have in him.”

His catch and release game, which has made him so lethal throughout his time in the League, has often been described as clutch. Early on in his career, he was once called “the prototypical catch and release guy,” a sentiment that reflected the inside-outside offense that was mainly run in the early 2000s—back when the ball went inside, first, before it was kicked out to catch-and-shoot guards like Korver.

Playing in Philly “toughened” Korver up a bit. And as a starter, now playing 82 games in his third season, he learned that consistency mattered most. You don’t start averaging double-digit numbers (11.5) and leading the team in three-pointers made (184) and attempted (438) without being consistent.

“As a shooter, that’s what I care about,” Korver told CBS Sports in ’14. “It’s not just about having hot days when you couldn’t miss. It’s, How do you be consistent through an 82-game season? And that’s hard. And that takes a lot of work and a lot of mental preparation. As a young guy coming in, that’s a thing to work through.”

GET YOUR COPY OF SLAM PRESENTS THE ’03 DRAFT NOW

By the time he landed in Utah in ’07, he only averaged 9.8 points, putting up solid numbers midway throughout the season, including 20 points against the New Orleans Hornets and 27 against Denver two nights later. But by the following season in ‘09, he found himself dealing with nagging knee and wrist injuries, opting to have surgery in October that caused him to miss 23 games.

Years later, Korver says that injury made him start getting more “serious” about his shooting mechanics.

“If my elbow wasn’t straight, if I wasn’t using my legs properly, I was getting pain,” Korver says. “But if I was doing it correctly, I wasn’t feeling the pain. And then also when I was doing it correctly, my shot was going in more. So it’s one of those things where, like in life and in basketball, sometimes through adversity, that’s when good things happen. It’s the same thing with my shot. I feel like I’ve been better the last five years after dealing with some injuries and having to work with them and get more serious about my craft.”

After a stint in Chicago, he went on to set records when he landed in Atlanta. In 2012-13, he made at least one three-pointer in his final 73 games of the season, setting an NBA record for the longest active streak at the time, and the fourth-longest streak in Hawks history—Dana Barros, Michael Adams and Dennis Scott are also on that list. His historic streak didn’t end until the following season, marking 127 consecutive games. He made his first All-Star appearance the next year, having passed Jason Richardson for 15th all-time in threes made. And by that March, he had passed Kobe Bryant for 12th all-time on that list.

And it was in 2013 that he was introduced to the practice of misogi by Marcus Elliot, the founder of Peak Performance Project. As he writes poetically in his email, the practice itself changed his perspective on both shooting and life. 

“The heart of misogi is to keep learning about yourself and push your boundaries,” he writes. “Oftentimes, as we get older, it’s easy to start settling. We worked through younger years where maybe there were more unknowns. We were trying to establish ourselves. We were probably more willing to try something new. But along the way we probably took some losses. We got burned. And so as we age, we can easily move into a more careful mindset. We get more concerned with protecting the things we’ve accumulated. ‘Risk’ moves from a positive relationship to a negative one. On top of that, when you get more careful, you stop working hard! You feel like you’ve got things figured out and you lose that endurance muscle…and I felt that. I felt it with life. I felt it with basketball. It’s harder as you get older to keep trying to evolve. Getting better can easily turn into being more specialized in every way. But you have to ask yourself, does your world getting smaller and more specialized lead you to the life you ultimately want? Nah.”

Through physical exercises and activities, like stand up paddleboarding 25 to 30 miles from the Channel Islands to Santa Barbara, Korver learned how to endure, how to push through the pain, how to become completely present in the moment and in the task at hand. How out there, in the middle of the ocean on a paddleboard, each stroke was important. 

“We start and right away, I’m falling,” he says. “Can’t even get back on my board to stand up. And my mind is only partially present because I keep thinking about sharks. But my friends are way ahead of me, so I start paddling from my knees. After an hour, my knees are killing me and my toes are bleeding from rubbing on the rubber on top of the board. But the waves go down just enough that I can start standing better. So I start trying to paddle from standing. I’d get to 3-4 strokes and then fall. Try again. Fall. And out there in the middle of the ocean, you can’t gauge your progress. When we are young, we’re taught to set goals. And if that goal feels far away, to set smaller goals that lead to that bigger goal. But there weren’t smaller goals to set out there. There were no mile markers. No houses or streets to try to make it to. So I started to think about what I could actually control and the smallest thing I could control was this stroke. What if I got lost in trying to make the perfect stroke? So I did. I started thinking through every part of my body, from my toes—turning my toes slightly towards the edge of the board gave me better balance to my knees, to my hips, to my core, to how I positioned my shoulders over my toes, to how I held the paddle, to where I put the paddle in the water, what muscles I pulled from, what muscles I didn’t pull from, where I pulled the paddle out of the water. Every little detail I could find, I tried to explore as deep as I could. And once I found what I thought was optimal, I tried to duplicate—one in a row. Two. Three. Fall. Get up. One in a row. Two. Three. Four. Fall. But I got lost in it, and before I knew it I was finding new details. And then I realized I hadn’t fallen in a while. Or thought about sharks. 8.5 hours later, we made it. It was one of the most gratifying feelings.”

It’s clear, even in his email, that his passion for the details, for explaining the intricacies of things like misogi, hasn’t left him. Even after a three-year stint in Cleveland, a return to Utah, a one-year deal with the Bucks, and, ultimately opting out of the 2020-21 regular season to spend time with his family, Korver is still detailed as ever.

The greatest shooters of all time find solace in the specifics and it’s that attention that has made him one of them. His methodical approach to the game will surely help him this upcoming season as he moves on to his next venture as a player development assistant coach on the Brooklyn Nets.

“It’s become ingrained in me, to always keep pushing,” Korver writes. “Always keep evolving. To me, it’s vital.”

While he’s referring to his approach to shooting, it’s perhaps another commentary on life, too. That when the ball stops bouncing, or when a time in our lives reaches an end, we’re all just humans, moving forward. There’s beauty in the details, the moments that have made us who we are, but we’re not to be defined by what we’ve done or what we’ve accomplished. What’s vital, human nature, really, is how we’ve grown and evolved since then.

SLAM PRESENTS THE ’03 DRAFT AVAILABLE NOW.

Photos via Getty Images.

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As first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Korver is joining the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff, as Player Development Assistant Coach.

Korver played 17 seasons in the NBA on a variety of teams and was known as one of the best shooters of his era. Now that his career as a player is over, Korver will continue making an impact on the NBA. 

He posted career averages of 9.7 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from deep. Korver made one NBA All-Star appearance and was part of the historic 2003 Draft, going No. 51 overall. 

The post Kyle Korver To Join Nets As Player Development Assistant Coach appeared first on SLAM.

Led by back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are also at his mercy, now feeling the pressure to prove to him that they can win an NBA championship with him in his prime. This season could prove to be the most pivotal one for the Bucks since they traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975.

Bucks Roster Additions

Biggest Acquisitions

• Jrue Holiday: Trading for two-time All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday was the Milwaukee Bucks’ splash move this offseason, as they found their necessary upgrade over Eric Bledsoe, a below-average 3-point shooter and playoff performer. All in the name of keeping the Greek Freak in the Cream City.

• Bobby Portis: Bobby Portis replaces Robin Lopez as the Bucks’ energy big off of the bench but unlike his predecessor, Portis is more than willing to take shots from beyond the arc. As a result, Giannis Antetokounmpo should always find himself with space to drive or with an outlet when defenses load up against him in the paint.

Bucks Roster Subtractions

Biggest Losses

• Eric Bledsoe: Eric Bledsoe may not have endeared himself to Bucks fans as much as he should have due to a number of woeful playoff performances over the last few seasons. However, he was a dependable slasher, playmaker and defender whose overall impact in Milwaukee has gone underappreciated.

• George Hill: George Hill is one of the most reliable point guards in the league, valued for his experience, leadership, 3-point stroke and defense. Although he came off the bench during his time in Milwaukee, he’s a starting-quality player.

All NBA Team Offseason Summaries

The post Milwaukee Bucks: Offseason Summary 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

While no moves can be made official until Nov. 22, it’s rare that deals that have been agreed to fall apart, so that means this list of the best players still available should be mandatory reading for anybody looking to make sense of the rest of the offseason.

For a recap of all the signings that have already gone down, hit our archive. Note that I’ve also been updating our original feature breaking down the free agent class with signings and agreements as they’re reported.

Top 2020 NBA Free Agents Remaining

The post Top 2020 NBA Free Agents Remaining appeared first on SLAM.

That won’t be easy.

Even though the Bucks will enter 2020-21 with nearly the same rotation as last season (a rotation that allowed Milwaukee to have the league’s best record at 56-17), they’re a weak shooting team and they ended up exposed in the playoffs. In addition, while the Bucks may have been dominant in 2019-20, they were ranked 23rd in strength of schedule by ESPN.

Related: Full Milwaukee Bucks 2020 Salary Cap Preview

2020 NBA Draft Picks

Bucks Draft Needs

At the risk of oversimplifying their draft needs, Milwaukee’s most glaring weakness is their lack of 3-point threats.

Therefore, with their sole pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Bucks should target the best possible shooter they can find without sacrificing their defensive aptitude.

In terms of who to target, with players entering the draft knowing how important of a skill shooting is? Milwaukee’s roster composition dictates that they prioritize a small forward prospect.

Although there’s plenty of talk surrounding the point guard position, the Bucks likely don’t have a pick high enough in the draft to secure a prospect that will perform better than Eric Bledsoe. Meanwhile, 39-year-old Kyle Korver — who ranked fourth on the Bucks in total threes last season while ranking 10th in total minutes — is set to become a free agent.

2020 NBA Draft Prospect Watchlist

What The Mocks Are Saying

Projected Roster

Team-by-Team NBA Draft Guides

More: SLAM’s 2020 NBA Draft Preview

The post Milwaukee Bucks: 2020 NBA Draft Preview appeared first on SLAM.

In an honest and candid conversation (see the video above), Korver explained how he came to better understand the Black Lives Matter movement, and described the series of events that led to the Bucks’ decision not to play in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic.

Following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI—a town 30 miles south of Milwaukee—players and coaches in the Bucks’ locker room were hit hard by the news. Assistant coach Darvin Ham, whose sons live in Milwaukee, entered the locker room in tears, tearing down the partitions surround the coach’s area.

“Everyone jumped up, everyone’s already on edge,” Korver recalled. “I just sat there in my chair with tears running down my face. I’m looking at my jersey that says ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and I’m just like, What are we doing?”

With the team scheduled to take the court in a matter of minutes, Bucks guard George Hill told his teammates that he wasn’t going to play. Sterling Brown, who has a pending lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee, was the next to follow. And then, the entire team decided to not play.

As one of the few White players on the team, Korver knew that his voice was needed and important. “How do I help as a White man? What do I say as a White man in this space?” Korver said. “You know what you do? You stand with the marginalized.

“And when you can, you amplify their voice, and you listen to their thoughts, and you listen to their ideas, and then you find your way to help out,” he said.

That evening, the team spoke to Blake’s parents on the phone. “We just stood around the phone and cried,” Korver said. “We were like, We don’t know exactly what the future holds, we don’t know exactly what our plan is, but we’re doing the right thing.”

Over the next few days, games across several professional sports leagues—including the WNBA, MLB and MLS—were postponed as players followed suit and protested against racial injustice. The Bucks certainly were doing the right thing.

Last night Kyle Korver explained the decision for the Milwaukee Bucks to stick together during an intense locker room meeting inside the NBA Bubble, and how it helped bring about change. pic.twitter.com/1wPi4brcyN

— Creighton Bluejays (@gocreighton) October 27, 2020

Today, Korver is staunch ally for the oppressed, but he admits that it took a lot of time to educate himself on racial inequality in America before he could understand it.

Moving a lot during his childhood and NBA career exposed Korver to many different communities, but he never thought much about racial inequality until the Black Lives Matter movement started gaining momentum.

“I’m sitting here, and I’m trying to understand Black Lives Matter for the first time,” Korver explained. “I got a lot of White friends who are like, ‘All lives matter,’ and, ‘Blue lives matter,’ and, ‘This isn’t right; this isn’t helping.’ And I’m like, Yeah, I don’t understand it either.”

His lack of understanding on the topic set him on a path to educate himself. Korver journaled about the articles he read, poured through books on Black history in America, and listened to a number of podcasts. He had conversations with many of his Black friends and teammates.

The knowledge he gained eventually led him to on the path of creating change by speaking out against the racial injustices happening in America. And it all began with having an open mind. “You don’t know what you don’t know,” he said.

“When you admit your own shortcomings,” said Korver, “it creates this space for someone to step into and maybe admit some of their own.”

The post Kyle Korver Shares Powerful Insights on Racial Inequality in America appeared first on SLAM.

In addition to a summary for each of the 30 teams (accessible in the link grid below), we’ve also tiered the top NBA free agents league-wide and published a general comparison of all teams’ cap space. Follow @SLAMnewswire on Twitter for constant offseason updates as we head into free agency.

Projected Roster Players

Projected Free Agents

Dead Money

2020 NBA Draft Picks

Exceptions Available

• Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception – $9,258,000
• Bi-Annual Exception – $3,623,000

Key Offseason Decisions

• Will Giannis Antetokounmpo sign a super max extension? Antetokounmpo is eligible to sign a super max (10+ years of service tier) that would start with the 2021-22 season. He may choose to play things out and become an unrestricted free agent in 2021. If so, he’ll be one of the most anticipated free agents of all time.
• Will Robin Lopez ($5M) and Wesley Matthews ($2.7M) pick up their player options? Matthews had a nice season as a 3&D starter on the wing. Lopez was in and out of the rotation in the playoffs as the backup to his brother.
• Will Milwaukee guarantee Ersan Ilyasova? Ilyasova has been a key reserve for the Bucks for years now. $7M is a fairly healthy number for a fourth or fifth big though.

Projected Team Salary

$141,349,475

While the Bucks have more immediate roster decisions for the 2021 season, everything comes down to Giannis Antetokounmpo signing a super max extension or not. One thing he reportedly asked Milwaukee ownership to do in a postseason meeting was to commit to spending money for a contender. The Bucks are just $8.2M under the luxury tax. To improve the roster to get to Finals contention, Milwaukee may need to dip into the tax. Also, look for the Bucks to guarantee Ersan Ilyasova, as his $7M would be a nice piece towards salary-matching in trade talks. (@KeithSmithNBA)

Cap Space Forecast

-$32,219,475 (10^th out of 30). $8,206,492 under the Luxury Tax.

Team Salary Cap Outlooks

The post Milwaukee Bucks: Salary Cap Space 2020 appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve listed the entire roster with comparisons to last year’s launch rating below. We’ve also identified some general NBA 2K21 ratings trends for the league as a whole.

Bucks NBA 2K21 Ratings

View the NBA 2K21 player ratings for other teams below.

The post Milwaukee Bucks: NBA 2K21 Ratings appeared first on SLAM.

Nov. 20 Update: The Top 2020 NBA Free Agents Available, 24 Hours In

Rather than focus on specific rankings for players, a process limited by the fact that a given individual’s value fluctuates based on the needs of each team, I’ve broken down the league’s available free agents into general tiers.

Not all of the players that you see listed here will end up hitting the open market. Any team with (player) or (team) next to them has an option built into their contract. If that option is picked up, they’re immediately under contract for a pre-negotiated amount in 2020-21.

Players with (restricted) next to their names are restricted free agents, meaning the teams that they currently play for hold the right to match any contract that they’re able to draw from outside organizations.

The actual date for the start of NBA free agency is unknown but it stands to reason that the official negotiation period will fall after the now locked in Nov. 18, 2020 NBA Draft. Earlier this summer, the league had floated a potential Oct. 15 draft with free agency set three days later. The October dates are moot now but the three-day buffer could still apply.

While I stayed away from floating any potential contract figures for these pending free agents, the tiers were constructed under the assumption that the 2020-21 NBA salary cap would fall in line with what it was in 2019-20 ($109 million). Originally it was set to increase but the league’s economic forecast is less optimistic than it was pre-pandemic.

The exact cap number will impact how teams approach free agency but the value of the players available remains relative. Scroll through the complete list below but remember that different teams will prioritize different tiers depending on where they are as an organization.

The Pre-Packaged Superstar Tier

• Anthony Davis (declined PO)
• Brandon Ingram (restricted)

There are two players in this year’s free agent class that you could envision as the No. 1 option on an NBA playoff team. Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram are, all things being equal, players that a front office could legitimately plan their offseason strategy around. In reality, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Anthony Davis leaves the Los Angeles Lakers given the trouble he went through to get there, even if that means he turns down his player option and signs a new deal. Ingram bet on himself in 2019-20 and fortified his case for max money. If such a deal doesn’t come from the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of free agency, it’ll certainly come via restricted free agent offer sheet, even if the 2020-21 salary cap remains right where it was this season.

The Established Star Tier

• DeMar DeRozan (exercised PO)
• Andre Drummond (exercised PO)
• Gordon Hayward (declined PO) -> Agreement with Charlotte
• Danilo Gallinari -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Mike Conley (declined ETO)

There won’t be too many teams lining up to poach an established star in or at the end of their prime this offseason, even if they come with the All-Star resumes and accolades that this lot comes with. Without question, these are the types of players that could make good teams great but that’s not much help if the price point isn’t feasible for the teams that need them. With a shortage of cap room around the league this year, expect most of the players in this group to exercise their player options. If they do end up on the market, as both DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond have at different times implied, their best bet may be to trade a pay cut in the short-term for a longer duration deal like Al Horford and Jonas Valanciunas did last season.

The Emerging Star Tier

• Fred VanVleet – > Back with TO
• Montrezl Harrell – Agreement with Lakers

Both Fred VanVleet and Montrezl Harrell have made their names providing immense value in supporting roles for teams with first-class championship aspirations. As a result, fans and opposing teams alike have no shortage of chances to see what they’re capable of. What nobody truly knows, however, is how either of these teams would fare as a primary or secondary option on another squad, the type of role that comes with max or near-max money. Both Toronto and Los Angeles are well positioned to give their guys a substantial pay raise and keep them in town but things could get complicated in a hurry if outside teams hungry for assets they can grow with start to court them. 

The Brimming with Potential Tier

• Davis Bertans -> Back to DC
• Christian Wood -> Agreement with Houston
• Malik Beasley (restricted) – > Back in Minny

In certain offseasons, teams flush with cap space would be happy to throw money at players who’ve shown the glimpses of high ceiling potential that this group has. This year though, with a shortage of spenders and much of the league’s financial outlook still uncertain, things are different. While all of these particular individuals had shown promising signs with other teams, it wasn’t until they landed on their current squads that they started to truly gain momentum as potential long-term building blocks. For that reason, any outside team eager to pluck one would likely need to spend more on a relatively unproven commodity than they’re comfortable with. That’s a risk that may seem especially hard to justify in 2020, leaving incumbent teams in prime position to bring them back.

The Proven Impact Player Tier

• Serge Ibaka
• Bogdan Bogdanovic (restricted) -> Offer from ATL expected
• Jordan Clarkson -> Back in Utah
• Goran Dragic -> Back in Miami
• Otto Porter Jr. (exercised PO)
• Carmelo Anthony – > Back with Portland
• Evan Fournier (exercised PO)
• Aron Baynes
• Derrick Favors -> Agreement with Utah
• Marc Gasol -> An “option” for Lakers
• Jerami Grant (declined PO) -> Agreement with Detroit

This group of starting caliber impact players can be one of the most interesting to monitor every offseason. None of the players will command max money or even a featured role in any new team’s offense but they can immediately tilt the scales for whichever franchise they land with. These players are safe, often nomadic, with a track record of performing consistently. If the fit and the price are right, it’s a perfect marriage with postseason implications.

The Elite Role Player Tier

• Tim Hardaway Jr. (exercised PO)
• Joe Harris –> Back with Nets
• Marcus Morris -> Back with Clippers
• Paul Millsap -> Back with Denver
• Kelly Olynyk (exercised PO)
• Dario Saric (restricted)
• Dwight Howard -> Agreement with Philly

While these players may not have the luxury of demanding heavy usage wherever they go, they’re capable of specifically thriving in certain ideal situations. Fit is key with these players and that can completely shift the narratives that follow them around for the rest of their career. There’s a thin line between heroic supporting veteran and onerous contract and it usually depends on how competitive the team ends up being after they’ve signed them.

The Re-Purposed Veteran Tier

• Tristan Thompson
• DeMarcus Cousins
• Isaiah Thomas
• Austin Rivers (declined PO)
• Enes Kanter (exercised PO)
• Jeff Teague
• Hassan Whiteside
• Bobby Portis (declined TO) – >Agreement with Milwaukee

This group of players with histories of featuring heavily into team rotations will always garner interest because of their track records but they may be forced to accept reduced roles if they’d like to play meaningful basketball come playoff time. Alternatively, they could opt instead for larger, albeit temporary, roles with developing programs in need of starters.

The High Ceiling Rotation Piece Tier

• De’Anthony Melton (restricted) -> Back with Memphis
• Harry Giles
• Jakob Poeltl (restricted) -> Back with Spurs
• Svi Mykhailiuk (exercised TO)

Teams looking to stockpile assets that they can grow and work with will always have an interest in this mid-level group. Inevitably, these players appeal more to teams with room and patience to focus on player development since there’s no guarantee that they’d be able to consistently excel on a team contending for a title. Not all will blossom into major rotation pieces down the road but they’re simultaneously capable contributors in the short-term and low-risk investment opportunities in the long term.

The Veteran Support Tier

• Jae Crowder -> Agreement with Phoenix
• Nerlens Noel -> Agreement with New York
• D.J. Augustin -> Agreement with Milwaukee
• Mason Plumlee – > Agreement with Detroit
• Nicolas Batum (exercised PO)
• Reggie Jackson
• Kyle Korver
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
• Avery Bradley (declined PO) -> Agreement with Miami

Teams less inclined to take on development projects may prefer mid-rotation pieces that they can plug into their lineup without stress. None of these players are going to move the needle for a team on a season-to-season basis but they can still make a difference from game to game. Given that they wouldn’t likely yield big contracts, they’re the perfect building blocks to slide into contending rosters to fortify already impressive lineups.

The Mystery Value Tier

• Rodney Hood (declined PO) -> Back in Portland
• Kenrich Williams (restricted)
• Josh Jackson -> Agreement with Detroit
• Jevon Carter (restricted)
• Juan Hernangomez (restricted)
• Mario Hezonja (exercised PO)
• Chris Boucher (restricted)
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
• Allonzo Trier
• Chandler Parsons

Whether a team is ready to compete now or still in the rebuilding phase, they’ll need to fill out the middle portion of their rotation with reliable players. This particular group would appeal more to teams still developing their core as the players within it have room to grow on a personal level. The fact that a young team could commit now and groom a potential long-term supporting cast member carries a lot of weight. The fact that they could settle on a contender and then blossom into something more is scary.

The Veteran Reinforcement Tier

• Andre Roberson
• Alec Burks -> Agreement with NY
• Langston Galloway
• JaVale McGee (exercised PO)
• Michael Carter-Williams ->. Agreement with ORlando
• Kent Bazemore
• Markieff Morris
• Matthew Dellavedova
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Maurice Harkless -> Agreement with Miami
• Pat Connaughton -> Back with Milwaukee
• Marco Belinelli
• Frank Kaminsky (declined TO)
• Meyers Leonard -> Back in Miami
• Justin Holiday -> Back with Indy

While unlikely to grab many headlines, these veterans are necessary components of the NBA workforce. Equally equipped to slot in as prominent bench players for contending teams or help guide a developing team through a rebuild in more of a leadership role, there’s an impressive amount of flexibility here. They’ll get minutes wherever they end up and can be some of the most affordable sources of value in the league.

The Low-Risk Gamble Tier

• Kris Dunn -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Rajon Rondo (declined PO) -> Agreement with Atlanta
• Evan Turner
• Torrey Craig
• Thon Maker
• Stanley Johnson (exercised PO)
• Bryn Forbes
• Jonah Bolden
• Dragan Bender

Teams don’t necessarily go looking for prominent contributors at the bottom of their rotation but these are players that could start there and work their way up. These players aren’t so much budding prospects as they’re veteran players capable of more if things break right. So long as the price is right, these are low-risk gambles with intriguing rewards.

The Dormant Game Changer Tier

• Shabazz Napier
• Cameron Payne (declined TO)
• JaKarr Sampson
• Anthony Tolliver
• Marvin Williams -> Retired
• Raul Neto -> Agreement with Washington
• Mike Muscala (exercised PO)
• Garrett Temple (declined TO) -> Agreement with Chicago
• Wesley Matthews (declined PO) -> Agreement with Lakers
• Bismack Biyombo
• Brandon Knight
• Robin Lopez (declined PO) -> Agreement with Washington
• J.J. Barea
• Iman Shumpert

It’s unrealistic to expect a deep rotation piece to be able to produce above their weight class consistently but any time a utility player can step up as an injury replacement or even just flex a unique skill set, it provides additional value for the team. These players may slide by undetected in the box score on most nights but are capable of much more.

The Depth on Depth Tier

• Gary Payton II
• Emmanuel Mudiay
• JaMychal Green (declined PO) -> Agreement with Denver
• DeMarre Carroll
• Jeff Green -> Agreement with Brooklyn
• Dwayne Bacon -> Agreement with Orlando
• Wilson Chandler
• Chris Chiozza
• Glenn Robinson III
• Derrick Jones Jr. -> Agreement with Portland
• Wes Iwundu -> Agreement with Dallas
• Treveon Graham
• David Nwaba (exercised TO)
• Wenyen Gabriel (restricted)
• C.J. Miles
• Dion Waiters
• James Johnson (exercised PO)
• E’Twaun Moore
• Solomon Hill
• Isaiah Hartenstein
• Tim Frazier

What can make or break a season is the depth at the bottom of the roster. There are no shortage of quality hoopers in this world who can fill in at the end of the bench for an NBA squad but if those players have the skills, experience and gravitas to make the most of the fleeting action they do get, the sky is the limit. These players won’t demand consistent court time but they’re a luxury to have at the bottom of a rotation.

The Scrapping for Opportunities Tier

• Damyean Dotson (restricted)
• Skal Labissiere (restricted)
• DeAndre’ Bembry (restricted)
• Ian Mahinmi
• Corey Brewer
• Yogi Ferrell
• Caleb Swanigan
• Kyle O’Quinn
• Hamidou Diallo (exercised TO)
• Patrick Patterson -> Back with Clippers
• Willy Hernangomez
• Denzel Valentine (restricted)
• Shaquille Harrison
• Bruno Caboclo
• Alize Johnson (restricted)
• Noah Vonleh
• John Henson
• Frank Mason (restricted)
• Jahlil Okafor -> Agreement with Detroit
• Frank Jackson (restricted)
• Sterling Brown (restricted)
• Tyler Johnson
• Kadeem Allen

Securing a consistent job in the NBA is incredibly difficult, leaving this group the most susceptible to churn as 60 new rookies enter the league every offseason. These players will have their work cut out for them landing new roles and some could even spend time on the outside of the league looking in if they don’t find a good fit. We’ve seen time and time again examples of players that left the league only to return after a brief hiatus in the G League or overseas.

Update #1, Sep. 17, 2020: Post updated with new NBA Draft date, additional free agents added to existing tiers.

Special Offer: Click Here To Get 15% Off NBA Store With Code NBASLAM15

The post Top 2020 NBA Free Agents List appeared first on SLAM.

Of course the way draft pick protection works, the Warriors and Cavaliers knew that they weren’t exactly gambling their nest eggs away with heavily protected future draft assets. Not all draft pick trades are so cut and dry, however.

The Celtics, for one, could stumble into a lottery pick thanks to a trade they made back in January of 2015.

I combed through each of the Warriors, Cavaliers and Grizzlies picks that may or may not be on the move in the draft this year. We know with certainty that Golden State and Cleveland will retain their picks already but won’t find out until later tonight what happens with Memphis’.

For a reminder of what’s at stake in tonight’s 2020 NBA Draft lottery, check out our aggregate NBA mock draft.

Golden State’s 2020 1st-Round Pick

The Brooklyn Nets jumped at the opportunity to land Kevin Durant in a sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors last summer, especially considering that he came packaged with a first-round pick.

That pick, however, came with unusual protections that significantly lessened its value.

The top-20 protected 2020 first-rounder would have flipped from the Warriors to the Nets this offseason had Golden State finished with one of the league’s ten-best records. Suffice it to say, that did not happen.

The myriad of injuries that derailed Golden State’s season has put the Warriors deep in the lottery. The Dubs had the worst record in the NBA this year and thus can pick no later than fifth in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Golden State picking in the top-five means that the pick will not convey to Brooklyn and will rather convert into a second-round pick in 2025.

Cleveland’s 2020 1st-Round Pick

In January, 2017, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed depth on the wing so they traded a protected 2019 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Kyle Korver. Korver, then 35, was averaging 9.5 points per game with the Hawks when the LeBron James-led Cavs acquired him.

The pick was top-10 protected in 2019 and it ultimately failed to convey given that the Cavaliers drafted fifth last year (shout out Darius Garland). The pick then converted into a top-10 protected first rounder in 2020 as negotiated in the initial trade.

At this point, the Hawks packaged the protected 2020 pick with several other assets and shipped it to the New Orleans Pelicans in order to move up to the fourth pick in last year’s draft (shout out Deandre Hunter).

Given that the Cavs once again find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference in 2019-20, they sit in the No. 2 spot ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft lottery. They can only be leapfrogged by four teams, which means they’ll pick no worse than sixth and thus retain their pick.

As decided in the Korver deal, if the pick in question didn’t convey in 2019 or 2020, it would default to second-round picks in 2021 and 2022, the only difference being that the second rounders will now belong to the Pelicans and not Atlanta.

Memphis’ 2020 1st-Round Pick

It’s 2015, Barack Obama is still in office and Zion Williamson is 14 years old. The Memphis Grizzlies, eager to capitalize on their grit-n-grind core, have agreed to a three-team trade involving the Boston Celtics and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Among the five players involved in the deal is Jeff Green, averaging 17.6 points per game for the C’s at the time of the deal. In this swap, Green would land on the Grizz, Austin Rivers would move from the Pels to the Celtics (only to be flipped to the Los Angeles Clippers), and a number of less consequential assets would change hands.

Among those assets tacked into the deal was a protected future first-round pick heading from Memphis to Boston. That pick was top-eight protected in the 2019 NBA Draft. Considering the Grizz picked at No. 2 (shoutout Ja Morant), the C’s were left to wait.

The pick automatically converted into a top-six protected pick in 2020, which means that the Celtics will finally collect so long as Memphis doesn’t move up in the lottery.

If Memphis does move up in the lottery, which they’ve got a 2.4% chance of doing, then the Grizzlies will hold onto the pick and the asset they’ll ship to Boston becomes an unprotected 2021 first-round pick.

The post Past Trades Impacting the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery appeared first on SLAM.

During the month of March, the Bucks saw an increase in production from some rotation pieces as a result. Kyle Korver cracked double digits, averaging 11.7 points per game (up from 6.4), as did Donte DiVincenzo who had elevated his game to 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per.

Both Korver and DiVincenzo will be critical to establishing Milwaukee’s depth in the postseason. As will Brook Lopez, who went from averaging 10.7 points and 4.4 boards to averaging 14.2 and 5.0 in March.

SLAM’s Heat Check series compares each individual player’s personal production in the month of March with their production prior. The goal is to get a sense of the direction in which players were trending when the league stood still. For a more in-depth description, check out our Heat Check (Hiatus Edition) introduction.

MIL

Donte DiVincenzo
Kyle Korver
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Frank Mason
D.J. Wilson
Wesley Matthews	–
Pat Connaughton	–
Brook Lopez	–
Sterling Brown	–
Robin Lopez
Marvin Williams
Giannis Antetokounmpo
George Hill
Ersan Ilyasova
Eric Bledsoe
Khris Middleton

Team-by-Team Breakdown

The post Heat Check (Hiatus): Milwaukee Bucks appeared first on SLAM.

Also included in the team-by-team breakdowns are all partial/non-guaranteed players for the 2020-21 season, essentially expanding the list to include any individual that could plausibly hit free agency this summer.

Related: CBA Explained – Different types of NBA free agency

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks

The post 2020 NBA Free Agent List – Central Division appeared first on SLAM.

Both teams fought in regulation and overtime, but it was Atlanta that finally pulled away in the second extra period. Trae Young put up 31 points and 16 assists in the Hawks’ win. On the other side, Terry Rozier notched a career high with 40 points.

Bucks 95 (53-12), Nuggets 109 (43-21)

Denver had control of this game from the first quarter on, easily dispatching a Bucks team that was resting several key starters. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 21 points, followed by Paul Millsap’s 20 points. Kyle Korver posted 23 points in 24 minutes off the bench.

Raptors 101 (46-18), Jazz 92 (41-23)

Despite the Jazz’s fourth-quarter comeback, Toronto locked down to secure the road win. The Raptors featured a three-headed scoring attack of Pascal Siakam (27 points), Serge Ibaka (27 points) and Kyle Lowry (21 points). Joe Ingles paced Utah off the bench with 20 points.

The post Post Up: Trae Young’s Double-Double Helps Hawks Outlast Hornets appeared first on SLAM.

Antetokounmpo helped the Bucks recruit free agents last summer after Malcolm Brogdon ended up in Indiana via sign-and-trade, even though he was deeply uncomfortable doing so.

“I love my teammates. … I’d die for them,” says The Greek Freak, adding that a championship would create a lifelong bond.

Per The Athletic:

“I don’t like doing that stuff,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t get an extra paycheck for doing [Bucks general manager Jon Horst’s] job or Coach [Mike Budenholzer’s] job or whoever’s job it is. … If you asked me one year ago, two years ago, I’d say, ‘Coach, just take care of it.’ ”

As he learned that Brogdon was joining the Pacers though, Antetokounmpo got involved.

“It comes to a point that I’m like, “OK. Malcolm’s about to leave,’ ” Antetokounmpo said. “And at the time, Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver were the guys I felt like could help us win.”

Just like he was there for Brogdon last season, Antetokounmpo has supported Matthews and Korver this season.

“I can’t imagine the feeling that we’ll have if we win a championship together,” Antetokounmpo said. “This team is special. The atmosphere is amazing. If we win a championship, it is going to be amazing. It’s going to be a bond that is for life and that’s what I’m looking for. I love my teammates. … I’d die for them. That’s who I am and I hope they know that and I think they know that. This is the group that I want to do it with, and hopefully, we can get it done.”

Related Giannis Antetokounmpo: ‘My Game is Not Just Power’

The post Giannis: ‘If We Win a Championship, it is Going to Be Amazing’ appeared first on SLAM.

In this post, just one of a series of 30, we’ll break down the reports that have started to trickle out about Bucks players that may or may not be on the move. While there’s no guarantee when it comes to a league as wild as the modern NBA, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on each squad’s roster as the deadline draws near.

Players Unlikely To Be Traded

• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Khris Middleton

Through the first half of the season, Milwaukee has been the best team in the league and major trades aren’t expected before the deadline.

Biggest Name Available On Market

• Eric Bledsoe

If the team makes a major trade, Eric Bledsoe seems like the likeliest core player to be moved. One Eastern Conference executive told long-time NBA journalist Gery Woelfel that the Bucks are open to the idea of trading Bledsoe. “Sure. Publicly, [the Bucks] say all the right things about him but I know that’s not the case,” a separate source told Woelfel. 

The point guard has missed time with a leg injury and the emergence of Donte Divincenzo has slightly cut into his playing time in Milwaukee. However, Bledsoe is still playing at a high level, as his .354 shooting from deep is his highest mark since the 2015-16 season.

Logical Trade Pieces

• D.J. Wilson

The Bucks could dangle D.J. Wilson in trade talks if they wish to make upgrades to the back end of their rotation. Wilson has only appeared in 26 games for the club, seeing under 10 minutes of action in 17 of those appearances. Perhaps a team with more playing time to spare can see some potential in the 2017 No. 17 overall pick.

Trades Are Possible

• Brook Lopez
• George Hill
• Ersan Ilyasova
• Robin Lopez
• Donte DiVincenzo
• Wesley Matthews
• Pat Connaughton
• Dragan Bender
• Kyle Korver
• Sterling Brown
• Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Brook Lopez inked a four-year deal this offseason and being that he’s arguably the perfect center to play alongside Giannis, it’s unlikely that the team moves him before the deadline. George Hill filled in nicely for Bledsoe earlier this season. He’s a nice insurance policy for Bledsoe and has showcased that he can still play a role off the bench when everyone is healthy. Ersan Ilyasova is knocking down 37.3% of his treys this season, though the 32-year-old is seeing just 16.6 minutes per game, his lowest mark since his rookie campaign. Robin Lopez joined the team in free agency this offseason via the room exception. He has primarily been the backup to his brother, though the duo has shared the floor for exactly three minutes this season. DiVincenzo’s shooting has been streaky this season but coach Mike Budenholzer is trusting him more than ever. He’s earned a major slot in the rotation. Wesley Matthews’ 8.6 player efficiency rating leaves much to be desired. He has a $2.7M player option on his contract for next season. Pat Connaughton has made just 28.6% of his shots behind the arc this year, which is his worst mark since his rookie season. Dragan Bender’s career has not been revived in Milwaukee. The former No. 4 overall pick has seen action in just six games this season. Kyle Korver remains strong from behind the arc, hitting 43.3% of his looks. Sterling Brown has appeared in 32 games for the club. He’s scored over 10 points just twice. Thanasis Anteokounmpo, the brother of Giannis, seems like a safe bet to remain in Milwaukee through the deadline. He’s under contract through the 2020-21 campaign.

The post 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Primer: Milwaukee Bucks appeared first on SLAM.

Although Jackson showed potential at various times throughout his two-year run with the Phoenix Suns, he was offloaded in a cash-saving maneuver when the team had the opportunity to acquire and buy out Kyle Korver’s contract.

Earlier this month it was announced that Jackson would not go through training camp with the Grizzlies and would instead play with the team’s G League affiliate.

Jackson remains under contract for the 2019-20 NBA season and will earn $7.1 million for his efforts but friction with various coaches and several off-court incidents have diminished his value. He’ll look to jump start his career with the Memphis Hustle.

Herrington adds that the franchise isn’t opposed to bringing Jackson back next season if the 2019-20 campaign goes well but declining the team option absolves them of an $8.9 million commitment in 2020-21.

The post Grizzlies Decline Josh Jackson’s Fourth-Year Option appeared first on SLAM.

Memphis acquired Jackson from the Suns as part of the Kyle Korver deal this past offseason. Phoenix added several young wings since drafting Jackson back in the 2017 draft, so the team was comfortable moving on from the former Kansas Jayhawk.

Jackson’s time in Phoenix was uninspiring, as he shot just .415 from the field during his two seasons in the Pacific Division. Now in Memphis, he’ll have an opportunity to address his shooting woes and turn his career around. The 6’8″ forward is only 22-years-old.

The post Josh Jackson To Start Season With Memphis Hustle appeared first on SLAM.

Below is a list of the contract types the Milwaukee Bucks have heading into training camp. This resource will be updated as players are signed and waived. Check back often to see if your team’s roster configuration has changed.

Milwaukee Bucks

For a complete list of all the NBA teams and links to each team’s roster breakdown, check out our 2019 NBA Training Camp Index. Follow the curators of this database, Chris Crouse and Austin Kent, on Twitter.

More NBA Training Camp Rosters

The post Milwaukee Bucks Roster Count: 2019 Training Camp appeared first on SLAM.

We’ve broken down the overall ratings for each player and sorted them by team so that you can see how your squad stacks up against the rest of the league.

Milwaukee Bucks NBA 2K20 Ratings

This table is updated as of Nov. 22, 2019

Can’t get enough 2K? SLAM’s dedicated gaming channel, @SLAMftw, is blowing up. Hit us with your best uploads and watch our streams!

More NBA 2K20 Ratings

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The 38-year-old veteran has shot a staggering .429 from beyond the arc over the course of the past 16 seasons and will help open the floor for club superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In a subsequent tweet about the signing, Wojnarowski reports that Korver was torn between Milwaukee and Philadelphia. Korver’s arrival in Milwaukee will reunite him with head coach Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer coach Korver as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

The post Kyle Korver, Milwaukee Bucks Agree To One-Year Deal appeared first on SLAM.

Korver ended the season on the Jazz. He was traded to the Grizzlies as part of the Mike Conley deal before he was acquired by the Suns in the Josh Jackson trade.

The Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers were previously linked to the veteran wing. Korver will clear waivers on Wednesday evening.

The post Suns Waive Kyle Korver appeared first on SLAM.

Also headed to Memphis are second-round picks in 2020 and 2021, the latter being conditional with details currently unknown. Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian tweets that the 2021 pick will convey if it falls between picks 31 and 35.

In the swap the Grizzlies, very much in the midst of a rebuild, will get a pile of young assets, including the 2017 fourth-overall pick who has flashed signs of his high ceiling but struggled to stay solid on and off the court.

In five April games, Jackson averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Suns but his production has been inconsistent over the course of the past two seasons. Jackson has been in and out of the coaches with three head coaches so far in his young career.

The Suns will bring back veteran Korver and a low-key stable point guard in Jevon Carter. Korver is likely to be bought out given that only $3.4 million of his $7.5 million deal is guaranteed.

The move will free up about $3.5 million for Phoenix but it will also clear up a roster spot in the likely event that Korver heads a different direction.

The post Grizzlies Acquire Josh Jackson, More In Trade With Suns appeared first on SLAM.

Memphis-bound, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, are the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft and a protected future first-rounder. That future first-rounder could convey as early as next year but comes with particular protections, as Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian lays out.

The Grizzlies will get the first-rounder if it falls within the 8-14 range next year. If not, the same protection will apply in 2021. The protections decrease from there to top-6 six in 2022, top-3 in 2023 and top-1 in 2024 before converting to two second-round picks in 2025.

We wrote about the Jazz stepping up as frontrunners to land Conley earlier this week, giving them a top-rate veteran point guard as they look to compete in the Western Conference. Conley now will suit up alongside Donovan Mitchell in a dynamic backcourt.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the two clubs won’t be able to make the deal official until July 6, when the Jazz can absorb Conley’s deal with cap room. That would mean that Utah will make the No. 23 pick on behalf of Memphis tomorrow night.

Although Conley’s contributions will give the Jazz a level of depth they haven’t seen in their previous postseason runs, he does come with a substantial price tag. Conley will earn $32.5 million in 2019-20 and then $34.5 million the next.

The Grizzlies will have the chance to cut some costs by waiving Korver, something the veteran may be amenable to if he’s looking to play for a contender. According to Basketball Insiders, only $3.4 million of Korver’s $7.5 million is guaranteed and the deadline for the team to waive him by is July 7.

The post Grizzlies Trading Mike Conley To Utah For Package With Grayson Allen, Picks appeared first on SLAM.

The Sixers’ money was then used to pay for Summer League fees and to purchase a copy machine.

Korver, 38, triumphantly told graduates at his alma mater during a commencement speech that his NBA career outlasted the copy machine.

Per The NY Post:

“The 51st pick, to the New Jersey Nets,” Korver said Saturday, as he delivered a commencement speech at his Creighton alma mater, “I found out shortly afterwards that I had been traded to Philly. I’m not sure if traded is the right word.

“I was more or less sold for an undisclosed amount of money. I later found out (the Nets) used that money to pay for the entry fee for their summer league team, and with the leftover money, they bought a copy machine.”

“We gave away a good player for summer league,” then-Nets general manager Rod Thorn told Grantland in 2014. “It was just one of those things we had to do. At least, that’s how I rationalized it.”

As for that copy machine?

“…A couple of years ago, that copy machine broke. And I’m still playing.”

Related Report: Cavs Players Upset By Kyle Korver Trade to Utah

The post Kyle Korver Was Once Traded for a Copy Machine appeared first on SLAM.

He is still searching today.

“Searching for the truth is what the end goal is,” he says. “The end goal is equality for people on the planet.” 

Hodges believes it was inequality that resulted in the premature ending of his NBA career. He was a two-time champion with the Bulls and one of the best shooters in the game during his prime, going back-to-back-to-back in the three-point contest at All-Star Weekend. But he was out of the League by the age of 32—a result, he maintains, of blackballing by teams due to his activism and outspokenness on issues beyond basketball. Though the forms of protest and surrounding circumstances were different, Hodges’ situation mirrored that of Colin Kaepernick’s. 

Instead of taking a knee, Hodges pursued several other means to shed light on injustice. He tried to convince his teammates—and members of the opposing Los Angeles Lakers—to boycott Game 1 of the 1991 Finals, so as to emphasize the lack of black NBA owners and executives. When the Bulls made their championship visit to the White House that October, Hodges wore a dashiki and delivered an eight-page letter to the staff of President George H.W. Bush, highlighting discrimination in America and encouraging the administration to do more for black communities. 

“You have a chance in this life to make choices,” says Hodges. He’s now 58-years-old but remains as passionate as ever about sharing his story. 

“The choice that I made was: I wanted to be on the right side of history. When people are oppressed, somebody has to stand up.” 

Born in Chicago Heights, Illinois in 1960, Hodges was raised in a segregated America. He vividly remembers the rules passed down to him by his aunt and uncle—when he had to be home, where he could and couldn’t go, what he should and shouldn’t say. He remembers, as an eight-year-old boy, seeing his mother and grandmother weeping “like they never had [in their lives]” the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. He remembers marching in protest of “Whites Only” lunch counters; even if, at the time, he wasn’t old enough to fully grasp the purpose. 

As he grew older and more knowledgeable about the civil rights movement, Craig looked back on his childhood and recognized that he had been a part of something bigger. He made it his mission to continue the fight, to never let oppression and discrimination slip from his mind as he led a successful basketball career. 

Hodges played for head coach Tex Winter (later an assistant with the Bulls and the mastermind behind the famed triangle offense) at Long Beach State University from 1978-82. Prior to his senior season, the death of Ron Settles—a friend of Craig’s and a running back on the school’s football team—sparked protests among the student body. Settles, who was arrested for speeding in June 1981, was found severely beaten and hanging in his jail cell the following morning. The police maintained that it was a suicide but an autopsy showed Settles had been choked to death.

“It was something that we had to have a firsthand approach on, not a second,” says Hodges. “We can’t be sitting around, watching. We have to put our lives into the movement if we want it to sustain itself and to get to the point where we get solutions as opposed to continuing to have conflicts about the same issue.”

The team allowed Hodges to miss practices so he could participate in protests and other organized events. When Craig transitioned to the NBA in ‘82, his commitment to racial and political issues never wavered.

“That’s been me,” he says. “It’s always been. It’s a part of me. So when I put on my uniform, under that uniform is who I am.”

His perspective on basketball, even while the accolades piled up, did not change. It has always been a “game”—one that he’s grateful for, of course, largely because of the platform it afforded him. He worked hard to be successful but would not let his craft distract from the bigger picture. That meant staying informed and keeping his eyes open to the world at all times and in all places—the court included. 

“I’m still having fun [while playing] but at the same time, when we’re standing in line and we’re singing the national anthem, I’m saying, The land of the free and the home of the slaves,” he explains. “We’re still in politics. While we’re sitting there [on the bench], I’m still talking politics. It might be a timeout and I see something that’s going on out there, like, Bro look at that. Come on. You don’t see that?” 

Following the 1991-92 season and coming off his second straight championship, Hodges went unsigned. No team would return his calls or offer him a tryout. This came in the wake of his actions at the White House during the summer of ‘91, a moment that highlighted his reputation for being outspoken. 

“The purpose of this note is to speak on behalf of the poor people, Native Americans, homeless and, most specifically, the African Americans, who are not able to come to this great edifice and meet the leader of the nation where they live,” Hodges’ note to the President read. “This letter is not begging for anything, but 300 years of free slave labor has left the African American community destroyed. It is time for a comprehensive plan for change. Hopefully, this letter will help become a boost in the unification of inner-city youth and these issues will be brought to the forefront of the domestic agenda.”

At 32-years-old, a career 40 percent three-point shooter with incredible experience was gone from the League for good. He filed a federal lawsuit four years later, charging the NBA with racial discrimination and asserting that “the owners and operators of the 29 NBA member franchises have participated as co-conspirators” in ”blackballing” him ”because of his outspoken political nature as an African-American man.” The claim was eventually dismissed as the judge ruled that the statute of limitations in this case was only two years. 

“The ramifications of our actions often times promote things that don’t help us or elevate us,” Hodges says, noting that he missed out on millions and millions of dollars because of his activism. 

“One of the things that gasses me, man, is: How could Donald Sterling be a racist and get two billion dollars? But Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Craig Hodges and other unnamed players I’m sure who have been discriminated against—our careers ended and [we weren’t] compensated at all for it. We sacrificed.”

Abdul-Rauf is a former NBA player from the 1990s who, like Hodges, fell out of the League under atypical circumstances. In the middle of his career, he made the decision not to stand for the national anthem prior to games, as to him the American flag represented oppression and conflicted with his Muslim faith. When others began to take notice, Abdul-Rauf was suspended. He eventually reached an agreement with the NBA that dictated he stand for the anthem but could pray with his head down while it played. Just two years later, however, the talented scorer (Abdul-Rauf averaged 18 or more points in three separate seasons) went unsigned at 29.

“We have to look at the power structure that doesn’t want change,” Hodges says. “It is so evident that the powerful don’t want to speak to the issue of race, the issue of oppression, the issues of reparations because that’s the bottom line in America—the reason America is struggling so much is because they haven’t done the right things when it comes to poor people, disenfranchised people.

“We sit here now and they say, Oh, you’re free. But are we really free?”

So yes, Craig Hodges is still searching for the truth. He is still searching for freedom and equality. But he’s also encouraged by the progress that’s been made and by the increasing number of athletes who are using their platforms to promote change. 

Over the past few years, several basketball players have delivered powerful messages during times of racial and political tension. At the ESPYs in 2016, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade took the stage for an opening monologue that addressed the alarming amount of police shootings with black victims.

“Let’s use this moment as a call to action for all professional athletes to educate ourselves. Explore these issues. Speak up. Use our influence. And renounce all violence,” said James.

Members of the NBA and WNBA wore shirts backing the Black Lives Matter movement, despite potentially facing fines for doing so. Utah Jazz guard Kyle Korver published a piece in The Players’ Tribune earlier this week that examined white privilege and urged society to be more conscious and active as a whole.

“Everybody has to carry the mantle where they are,” Hodges says. “That’s the energy that’s vibing today, when I see young white people talking more consciously than I was and considering issues with black people and people of color. That’s the promise that Martin Luther King put in the dream, that that would happen one day.”

With the rise of social media and outlets like The Players’ Tribune, modern athletes have an easier means of communicating messages than Hodges did. Support can be garnered in a quicker, more direct way. Hodges’ story didn’t get the exposure in the 1990s that it would have today. There’s no denying that.

So on a Friday morning in early-March, Hodges, who most recently coached hoops at his old high school, Rich East, is happy to recount his tale to SLAM. He talks passionately about the history of racism in this country and the effect it had on him personally, not only in the NBA. He continues to tell the hard truth to those who will listen and came out with a book about his life entitled, Longshot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter. He has no regrets about the choices he made and takes it as a “sign of redemption and grace” to see people like Colin Kaepernick getting paid by the NFL. 

“A lot of this stuff is changing as we speak,” he states. “The fact that we’re having this conversation. The fact that social media is what it is. The fact that Colin Kaepernick can get paid when Mahmoud and I didn’t get a dime. That should let us know that people can impact change.

“I just applaud the young brothers and sisters that are standing up and standing on principles that are bedrock and solid,” he adds. “When you stand on the right side of [the truth], there shouldn’t be any fear, because you know you’re doing the right thing.”

—

Alex Squadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos via Getty.

The post Former Chicago Bull Craig Hodges Tells His Story, Opens Up About NBA Activism appeared first on SLAM.

DeMarre Carroll dropped 22 off the bench to lead the way as eight Nets scored at least eight points and four (Rodions Kurucs, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and Carroll) scored at least 16.

Luka Doncic had 16 points and six rebounds.

Clippers 113 (37-29), Lakers 105 (30-34)

The Lakers ran out to a quick start, leading by double-digits in the first quarter, but the Clippers’ bench duo of Lou Williams (21 points) and Montrezl Harrell (14 points, 11 rebounds) provided a spark to push the Clippers into the driver’s seat. Danilo Gallinari scored a team-high 23.

LeBron James finished the night with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Hawks 113 (22-43), Heat 114 (29-34)

Vince Carter hit seven 3’s en route to 21 points while Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 23 points off the bench for Miami.

Wade’s bucket with 46.6 seconds to go iced the game as the Heat went up 3 and held on the rest of the way.

Bucks 105 (48-16), Suns 114 (14-51)

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 27 points and had 13 boards as the Bucks suffered a loss in the final game of their West Coast trip. The Suns outscored the Bucks 38-23 in the final period to earn their second straight win and third of their last four contests.

Pelicans 115 (30-36), Jazz 112 (36-27)

Anthony Davis was ultra-efficient in his 22 minutes of play, racking up 15 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks in just 22 minutes of action. Julius Randle was the star of the show, though, with 30 points, eight boards, five dimes and two steals to go along with a game-high plus-minus of +17 in 39 minutes.

Kyle Korver, Jae Crodwer, Rudy Robert and Donovan Mitchell combined for 58 points for Utah.

Knicks 108 (13-51), Kings 115 (32-31)

Alonzo Trier scored a game-high 29 off the bench, but 17 turnovers plagued the Knicks.

Buddy Hield scored a team-high 28 points for Sacramento and Harry Giles continued to shine with 17 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.

Nuggets 103 (42-21), Spurs 104 (36-29)

The Nuggets trailed by 18 with 7:14 to go and cut that deficit down to one after a Jamal Murray 3-pointer with 49.6 seconds to go, but the comeback effort ended there as the Nuggets ended the game with three missed field goals and a turnover.

DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge combined for 46 points to lead San Antonio.

The post Post Up: Suns Upset Bucks, Dwyane Wade and Vince Carter Duel in South Beach appeared first on SLAM.

The Warriors dropped their second straight game as the Magic outscored the defending champs 33-15 in the final period of play. Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 15 boards and Terrence Ross scored 16 off the bench. Ross’ plus-minus of +17 in 27 minutes led all players.

Steph Curry scored 33 points, but he shot just 12-for-33 from the field.

Cavaliers 125 (15-47), Knicks 118 (13-49)

Four Cavaliers (Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson) scored at least 20 points as Love led the way with 26 in just 28 minutes of work. Cleveland outscored New York 40-21 in the fourth quarter.

Alonzo Trier led the Knicks with 22 off the pine.

Heat 118 (27-34), Rockets 121 (37-25)

Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade met for the 22nd and final time as Paul improved his career record to 15-7 against one of his closet friends.

James Harden went off for 58 points — his sixth game with at least 50 points this season — 10 dimes, seven rebounds and four steals.

76ers 108 (40-22), Thunder 104 (38-23)

Tobias Harris led all scorers with 32 points as the Sixers snapped a 19-game losing streak against the Thunder.

Both sides were without arguably their best players as Joel Embiid and Paul George both sat.

Jazz 111 (35-26), Nuggets 104 (42-19)

Donovan Mitchell scored six unanswered points late in the fourth quarter to secure the win and give Utah breathing room at the 6-seed spot in the Western Conference standings.

Mitchell finished the night with 24 and Kyle Korver scored 22 (6-for-10 from 3) to lead the way for Utah.

Timberwolves 115 (29-33), Pacers 122 (41-22)

Karl-Anthony Towns took over the night with 42 points, 17 rebounds and four dimes, but Bojan Bogdanvic’s 37-point outing was the deciding factor as the Timberwolves fell to the Pacers. TJ Leaf added 18 points for Indiana.

The post Post Up: Dwyane Wade and CP3 Meet for Final Time, James Harden Scores 58 appeared first on SLAM.

In his first game against the Clippers at Staples Center, Blake Griffin took his revenge.

Griffin dropped a game-high 44 points (on 23 shots) with 8 boards, 5 dimes and 3 steals as the Pistons handed the Clippers their second straight loss.

The former “Clipper for Life” refused to shake owner Steve Balmer’s hand after warming up—causing NBA twitter to erupt. But after the game, Griffin said that running straight to the locker room has always been part of his pregame routine.

Grizzlies 108 (19-23), Heat 112 (21-20)

Miami squandered a 13-point third quarter lead but was able to outlast the Grizz in crunch time.

Justise Winslow stepped up and had a game-high 26 points (on 16 shots) with 7 boards, 4 dimes and a +23 plus/minus.

Celtics 103 (25-17), Magic 105 (18-24)

Boston had a 12-point lead in the third quarter and watched it all slip away as the Magic outscored the Celtics by 13 in the second half.

Aaron Gordon had a game-high 28 points (on 14 shots) with 12 boards as Orlando snapped a four-game losing streak.

Thinking he should have gotten the final shot with a chance to win the game, Kyrie Irving called his teammates in the locker room, saying his young teammates don’t know what it takes to be a championship-level team.

Pelicans 106 (20-23), Wolves 110 (21-22)

Karl-Anthony Towns went off for 27 points and a career-high 27 boards and blocked Anthony Davis twice in crunch time as the Wolves picked up a win with potential playoff implications.

The win was the second of the Ryan Saunders era, and the Wolves are seemingly playing with new life and energy.

The Pelicans, on the other hand, continue to be dreadful on the road, where they’re just 5-17 on the season.

Spurs 112 (25-19), Thunder 112 (26-16)

OKC got their usual contributions from Russ, PG and Steven Adams, but it was Dennis Schroder and Adbel Nader who sparked the Thunder to victory.

Schroder scored all 19 points in the second half, and Nader shot 6-6 for 15 points.

It was a nice bounce-back win for OKC after losing three straight.

Russ made him #TOUCHEARTH (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/2q2JDjEp2c

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 13, 2019

Nuggets 93 (28-13), Suns 102 (11-33)

Not many people saw this coming. Phoenix, without Devin Booker, took down the No. 1 team in the West and led by as much as 18 in the third quarter.

Kelly Oubre tied a career-high with 26 points and added 11 rebounds off the bench.

Hornets 97 (19-22), Kings 104 (21-21)

Charlotte committed an uncharacteristic 20 TOs en route to their fifth loss in the last 6 games.

De’Aaron Fox led the way for Sacramento, finishing with 21 points, 7 boards, 4 dimes and 3 steals.

Bulls 102 (10-32), Jazz 110 (22-21)

A close game throughout, it wasn’t until mid-way through the fourth quarter that the Jazz were finally able to pull away.

Donovan Mitchell recorded his third straight 30-point game, finishing with a game-high 34 points and a +20 plus/minus.

The win was Quin Snyder’s 200th as head coach of the Jazz, and Kyle Korver passed Jason Terry for fourth all-time in made three-pointers.

Chicago has now lost seven straight.

The post Post Up: Blake Griffin Gets Revenge Against the Clippers 😤 appeared first on SLAM.

It was an ugly game for both teams, but the Pacers were able to outlast Chicago during the final minutes.

Myles Turner led the way for Indy, finishing with 18 points, 11 boards and 5 blocks.

After dropping their seventh game in a row, Chicago has tied the Nets for the League’s longest active losing streak.

Magic 105 (12-12), Heat 90 (9-14)

Miami had a four-point lead heading in to halftime, but they completely choked in the third quarter, getting outscored 30-12.

To add to chaos in Miami, Hassan Whiteside left the bench before the game finished and headed to the locker room. He was unavailable for comment after the game.

Aaron Gordon had 20 points, 13 boards and 5 dimes while Nik Vucevic had 19 and 10 to lead Orlando.

.@Double0AG combining power and finesse (via @OrlandoMagic) https://t.co/BCg3IVa6aY

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 5, 2018

Blazers 102 (13-11), Mavs 111 (12-10)

Dallas opened up a 14-point lead after the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead until the Blazers rallied late in the fourth.

But the Mavs have 19-year-old Luka Doncic who lives for clutch moments. With 59 seconds remaining, El Matador drilled a step-back dagger trey to put the game out of reach.

Doncic finished with 21 points and 9 boards, and the Rookie of the Year award would be his if the season ended today.

Dallas has now won eight straight games at home.

Luka once again proving that ICE runs through his veins (via @dallasmavs) pic.twitter.com/xZ0PWlEhTt

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 5, 2018

Kings 122 (21-11), Suns 103 (4-20)

After the first quarter, Kings had a 36-9 lead.

During the second quarter, Sacramento led by 35 points.

It was certainly a game to forget for the Suns, who got embarrassed in front of their home crowd.

De’Aaron Fox had 16 points, 7 dimes and one nasty Shammgod during the second half.

Swipa with the pristine Shammgod (via @SacramentoKings) https://t.co/yMIRt59N2g

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 5, 2018

Spurs 105 (11-13), Jazz 139 (12-13)

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but on the night of Kyle Korver’s return to SLC, the Jazz set a franchise record with 20 made threes.

Korver himself contributed 3 treys in just 15 minutes of action.

The Jazz outscored the Spurs by 14 in the first quarter, and San Antonio just couldn’t stop the bleeding. The game quickly reached blowout status in the second half, as the Jazz eventually led by as much as 37 points.

HE'S BACK! Kyle Korver checks-in wearing a Jazz uniform in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2010 (via @utahjazz) https://t.co/nhgj6X6Bq4

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 5, 2018

The post Post Up: Luka Doncic’s Clutch Performance Thwarts Blazers Rally 🔥 appeared first on SLAM.

Korver, 37, says he’s happy to relocate back to Salt Lake City, where he played for the Jazz from 2007-10.

Exclusive to @TheAthleticNBA: Kyle Korver opens up on trade to Jazz and the Cavs he’s leaving behind https://t.co/lKszHMeQYp

— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) November 29, 2018

Korver asked the Cavs to move him last summer after LeBron James left via free agency.

Per The Athletic:

“I think just overall I’m really grateful for my time in Cleveland,” Korver said. “So many amazing opportunities. Incredible teammates. Relationships that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. The fans have really embraced me and my family. I’ve never heard ‘thank you’ so many times from fans, even after harder moments.

“Cleveland fans are who you want to play for.”

The hard part for veterans is coming to work every day and trying to win games, knowing the deck is stacked against them. It’s knowing that scenes like what unfolded Wednesday — Korver being traded just after he arrived at Chesapeake Energy Arena to play against the Thunder — are possible, even probable. Korver was on the court early getting up shots when an assistant pulled him off and told him he’d been traded. Most teammates didn’t even get to say good bye.

Multiple Cavs players are upset with the trading of Korver, insofar as this is a team with very little outside shooting. Korver’s only averaging 6.8 points per game, but he’s still shooting .463 from the outside and is one of the greatest 3-point shooters in NBA history. Subtracting him from the team only makes it harder to win games, they feel.

Related
Report: Cleveland Has ‘Initiated Testing the Trade Market’ for Kyle Korver

The post Report: Cavs Players Upset By Kyle Korver Trade to Utah appeared first on SLAM.

Damian Lillard willed his team to the win with a herculean 41 points. This included a franchise-record 10 made 3-pointers, with six of them alone coming in the third quarter. Lillard had the dagger bucket with under a minute to keep Portland in the lead.

Franchise record 10 threes for Dame Dollaaaaaa (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/HCa5XPIMxe

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 29, 2018

Mavericks 128 (10-9), Rockets 109 (9-11)

It was the Luka Doncic show in Houston, displaying an array of crafty moves to get bucket after bucket. He hit an incredible shot in the corner over James Harden, he took off on a dunk, and he even hit a half-court shot. He finished tied for a team-high with 20 points.

Luka Doncic: special (via @dallasmavs) pic.twitter.com/GQWW1CXazX

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 29, 2018

Bulls 113 (5-17), Bucks 116 (15-6)

Khris Middleton came up clutch with the go-ahead bucket with just over five seconds remaining in the game. Teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo (36 points) and Malcolm Brogdon (24 points) provided the scoring punch for Milwaukee. Jabari Parker scored 24 points in his return to Milwaukee.

Khris Middleton hits the late go-ahead triple to propel the @Bucks to a 15-6 record with the win over CHI!#FearTheDeer 116#BullsNation 113

Giannis: Season-high 36 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST
Brogdon: 24 PTS, 6 AST pic.twitter.com/kCdM6JpMmK

— NBA (@NBA) November 29, 2018

Hawks 94 (5-17), Hornets 108 (11-10)

Charlotte took control of the lead in the second quarter and never looked backed. The Hornets rode almost 46 percent shooting from the field to the win. Jeremy Lamb led the game in scoring with 22 points.

.@MKG14 makes it dunk number nine for the @hornets tonight!!! #BuzzCity | #ATLatCHA | #Hornets30 pic.twitter.com/e4uoBs4WoY

— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) November 29, 2018

Knicks 91 (7-16), 76ers 117 (15-8)

Joel Embiid went to work in Philly. The big man poured in 26 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished seven assists in the win. JJ Redick added 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field.

What a move by Embiid (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/5Nsq81WZVZ

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 29, 2018

Jazz 101 (10-12), Nets 91 (8-14)

Utah got two big contributions from Donovan Mitchell (29 points) and Rudy Gobert (23 points) to win one in Brooklyn. Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets in scoring with 18 points, coming in just 21 minutes played.

boop https://t.co/0eC8ECWt3P

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 29, 2018

Spurs 89 (10-11), Timberwolves 128 (11-11)

Minnesota started strong from the jump, grabbing the lead and building on it the entire game. At one point the Wolves held a 48-point lead, making the night easy for their starters. Robert Covington led the team with 21 points.

Y'all should take dunking notes from Josh Okogie (via @Timberwolves) https://t.co/Z1x5rHDvrB

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 29, 2018

Wizards 104 (8-13), Pelicans 125 (11-11)

The trio of Jrue Holiday (29 points), Anthony Davis (28 points) and Julius Randle (23 points) propelled New Orleans over Washington. They needed it, as the Wizards’ supporting cast of Kelly Oubre Jr. (22 points) and Marcus Morris (22 points) put in strong efforts.

Tonight’s @redbull Energy Play is the @timfraz23 assist to @juliusrandle30 for the SLAM DUNK! https://t.co/iBBllEJ5qU

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 29, 2018

Cavaliers 83 (4-16), Thunder 100 (13-7)

Russell Westbrook put up a ridiculous line of 23 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists as the Thunder cruised to a victory in Cleveland. The Cavs made headlines before the game for trading guard Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz.

The face of happiness #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/maYZwuaaMq

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 29, 2018

Suns 99 (4-17), Clippers 115 (14-6)

The Clippers pulled away in the second half after Phoenix came out gunning in the first two quarters. Danilo Gallinari led all scorers with 28 points along with 10 rebounds and four assists.

Executed to perfection.@MONSTATREZZ comin' through. He's got 12 points in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/l7tdaIvezc

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 29, 2018

RELATED:
Damian Lillard Is ‘All On Board’ for Becoming a ‘Lifetime Blazer’

The post Post Up: Damian Lillard Sets Franchise Record for 3’s in Win 💸 appeared first on SLAM.

Meanwhile, the Cavs have initiated testing the trade market for guard Kyle Korver in the past several days, sources said. There was some trade interest in Korver last summer, and the Cavs are circling back on those talks.

Two games into the season, [JR] Smith and Korver were told they would be out of the rotation, sources said. Then-coach Ty Lue reversed that decision and elected to reinsert them into the lineup. The team lost its next three games, and Lue was fired.

Korver, 37, has appeared in six games this season and is averaging 5.5 points in 15.2 minutes.

RELATED
Report: Sixers Discussed Trading for Kyle Korver

The post Report: Cleveland Has ‘Initiated Testing the Trade Market’ for Kyle Korver appeared first on SLAM.

Smith, 33, was listed as a “DNP-CD” as the Cavs picked up their first win of the season Tuesday night.

Cavs finally got a win tonight. But in other news they're in an unprecedented stalemate with their acting coach, are managing a volatile situation with JR Smith & have started gauging trade market for Kyle Korver (w/@wojespn): https://t.co/ZLpdOFyTiL

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) October 31, 2018

False! They gave me the option an I chose to stay! https://t.co/MMjMDiUdHA

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) October 31, 2018

Larry Drew, meanwhile, is “very disappointed” that his contractual situation remains in limbo after he took over coaching duties for Tyronn Lue this week.

Per ESPN:

Drew said he was told the Cavs might bring in a new head coach from the outside, but the team has not yet been aggressive in hiring one, sources said. Drew, who is one of the league’s highest-paid assistants at nearly $1 million this season, is seeking an adjustment to his contract that would guarantee him additional money in return for assuming the interim job. His deal is up in July.

“There are no updates, which I’m very disappointed about,” Drew said Tuesday. “I’m going to be professional and I’m going to do my job. It’s been close to 72 hours.”

While that situation plays out, the Cavs had to manage another issue on the team Tuesday with veteran guard JR Smith. For the second time this season, Smith was informed he would be removed from the rotation and not receive guaranteed playing time, sources said. Smith was upset by the news and considered taking some time away from the team, sources said. Smith decided to stay for the time being, but he didn’t play in Tuesday night’s 136-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Two games into the season, Smith and [Kyle] Korver were told they would be out of the rotation, sources said. Then-coach Ty Lue reversed that decision and elected to reinsert them into the lineup. The team lost its next three games, and Lue was fired.

Related
Report: Cavs Players ‘Pissed’ Over Tyronn Lue Firing

The post Report: JR Smith Considered Time Away from Cavs Over Playing Time appeared first on SLAM.

It looked like Boston’s offensive woes were due to continue after mustering up only 34 points in the first half, but a 40-point third quarter energized by three 3-pointers in 41 seconds by Al Horford brought the Celtics back to life.

The Celtics ended the game on a 16-1 run, taking the lead off a Marcus Morris 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds to go.

Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 24 and Morris added another 21 for Boston. Paul George led the Thunder with 22 points, but shot just 7-for-22 from the field. His backcourt mate Russell Westbrook scored 13 points on 5-for-20 shooting.

Jayson Tatum just threw it DOWN on Paul George (via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/0BATODQOYi

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

Nuggets 114 (4-1), Lakers 121 (2-3)

LeBron James recorded his first triple-double (28 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) and started his first win streak in purple and gold as the Lakers put an end to the Nuggets’ undefeated run to open the season.

The Lakers finished the night on a 17-6 run in the final 4:33 of play as back-to-back dunks from Kyle Kuzma in the final two minutes of regulation sunk the dagger.

Los Angeles’ young core of Kuzma (22 points, 2 steals), Lonzo Ball (12 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals) and Josh Hart (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) shined in the starting lineup.

Nikola Jokic (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Jamal Murray (22 points, 10 rebounds) each notched double-doubles for the Nuggets.

Kobe is checking out #LakeShow LeBron for the first time. (via @Lakers) pic.twitter.com/Wk9TZQBTkK

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

Lonzo can turn on the clamps, hope y’all didn’t forget. (via @Lakers) pic.twitter.com/izD2Zzgd0n

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

Dagger. That’s too easy for a King. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/pVn4BhhdOT

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

Cavaliers 103 (0-5), Pistons 110 (4-0)

A game after Blake Griffin scored a career-high 50 points, his frontcourt mate Andre Drummond stuffed the stat sheet with a 26-point, 22-rebound outing of his own.

Griffin hit a 3-pointer with 2:44 to go in the second quarter and the Pistons held the lead for the remainder of the night.

Kyle Korver scored a team-high 21 points for the Cavs.

Trail Blazers 128 (3-1), Magic 114 (2-3)

Damian Lillard broke his own team record for most points in a half, exploding for 34 after halftime en route to a 41-point night on 13-for-23 shooting from the field.

CJ McCollum added 22 and Jusuf Nurkic had 18.

Nikola Vucevic stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block for the Magic.

3⃣4⃣ points in ONE HALF for Dame. Time to make some edits to the @trailblazers’ record book. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/IAMtjgXN6u

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

The post Post Up: LeBron’s Triple-Double Downs Denver, Lillard Scores 41 on Orlando appeared first on SLAM.

Korver, who played the first four seasons of his career in Philly, has two years and $15.1 million left on his deal.

According to a league source, the #Sixers have had discussions about trading Jerryd Bayless to the #Cleveland #Cavs for Kyle Korver.

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 20, 2018

RELATED:
Report: Sixers Attempted to Hire Away Daryl Morey from Rockets

The post Report: Sixers Discussed Trading for Kyle Korver appeared first on SLAM.

Sources: Carmelo Anthony has informed the Oklahoma City Thunder that he has opted into $27.9M deal for 2018-19 by not exercising his early termination option.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2018

During his final interview with media this season, Anthony, 34, said OKC didn’t have a plan to utilize his talents.

Melo averaged 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in 2017-18.

RELATED:
Carmelo Anthony Rejects Claim That Kyle Korver is a Better Player

The post Report: Carmelo Anthony Informs Thunder That He Has Opted-In appeared first on SLAM.

For Cleveland, LeBron James did his best to carry the load for the Cavaliers falling just short of another triple-double as he donned his Nike LeBron 15 in wine and gold with Kyle Korver and Kevin Love following suit in the Nike Kobe A.D. Mid and Nike Hyperdunk 2017 respectively. Following his epic Game 1 mistake, JR Smith was hoping to find redemption in the “Mamba Mentality” Nike Kyrie 4, but struggled mightily as he posted just five points as he shot 2-9 from the field.

Scroll down to see all the fire feets.

Photos via Getty Images

The post 2018 NBA Finals Kicks of the Night: Game 2 appeared first on SLAM.

Anthony, 33, is coming off a frustrating season in OKC, during which he averaged a career-low 16.2 points on 40 percent shooting as a catch-and-shoot option for the Thunder.

The 37-year-old Korver remains a valuable contributor in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ postseason run, though he only logged 19 minutes Wednesday night in a 96-83 Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Per ESPN:

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens’ choice to not play Semi Ojeleye in the Celtics’ 96-83 Game 5 win over the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals foiled his planned rotation for Kyle Korver.

“Well, initially, he’s been putting Ojeleye in,” Lue said of Stevens after the game Wednesday.

“So that’s been kind of Kyle’s matchup when he comes in the game. He didn’t play him tonight, so it kind of threw us for a loop.”

The post Carmelo Anthony Rejects Claim That Kyle Korver is a Better Player appeared first on SLAM.

Korver was able to fend off Boston’s young guns in Cleveland’s 111-102 Game 4 victory, which deadlocked the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.

LeBron James, who wasn’t too shabby himself in the critical win, continues to rave about the trade that netted the veteran sharpshooter.

37-year-old Kyle Korver staring down young Celtics, epitomizing #Cavs playoff mantra https://t.co/kxPB58G0hW

— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) May 22, 2018

Per Cleveland.com:

“I wish I was 36,” Korver said with a wry smile. “I loved being 36.”

On Monday, Korver poured in 14 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, as the Cavs moved to 8-1 in the 2018 NBA Playoffs when he reaches double figures. They are 30-9 when the regular-season record is tossed in.

“I’ve loved Kyle ever since we made the trade to get him here,” James said. “I have no idea how Griff [David Griffin] was able to pull that off still to this day. He’s just a true professional. There’s not many of us ’03 class guys still around. I feel like we’re just cut from a different cloth because we’ve been around for so long. We have this work ethic and you see him every day putting in the work, putting his mind, his body into it. It’s not about his age. I think it’s just always keeping his body in the right position, especially in tonight’s game.”

The post 37-Year-Old Kyle Korver Comes Up Huge in Game 4 appeared first on SLAM.

Tristan Thompson hit a layup 4:29 into the first quarter to give Cleveland a one-point lead and the Cavaliers never looked back, racing out to a lead that grew as large as 19 en route to 64 first half points. LeBron James led the way with 44 points and five others — Kevin Love (9 points), Tristan Thompson (13), George Hill (13), JR Smith (9) and Kyle Korver (14) — chipped in at least nine points.

BIG MOOD pic.twitter.com/yivvFrnzSc

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 22, 2018

James made history with his 2,357th career postseason field goal late in the first half, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabar for the most in League history.

2,357 field goals made.

No player has more playoff buckets than LeBron James. pic.twitter.com/ebQ0OIFo9q

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 22, 2018

The Cavs struggled with ball security, turning the ball over 18 times, but a 41-for-81 shooting night and a 10-rebound advantage kept the Celtics at bay.

Boston gave its best shot at a comeback, cutting the deficit down to seven with 4:29 to go in the fourth quarter, but a trio of buckets from Thompson, James and Hill stifled the attempt.

Terry Rozier continued to shine for the Celtics, notching 16 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, three steals and no turnovers. His plus-minus of plus-three was a team-high.

Kevin Love really has the best deep ball in Cleveland (via @DefPenHoops) pic.twitter.com/ktBc8KfpLG

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 22, 2018

The post Post Up: Cavs Even Up Series Behind LeBron’s 44 Points appeared first on SLAM.

Sluggish starts plagued the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals; however, a change of scenery was all that was needed to reverse Cleveland’s fortunes in game three. The Cavs ran out to a 20-4 lead and never looked back with the Q packed 20,562 fans deep.

LeBron James led the way with 27 points and 12 assists on 8-for-12 shooting and his supporting cast rose to the occasion, too: Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, George Hill, JR Smith and Kyle Korver each scored in double-digits. That group caught fire from behind the arc, shooting 14-for-24 from 3 collectively as the Cavaliers knocked down 17 3-pointers as a unit.

The Celtics struggled to get anything going on offense, shooting just 39.2 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from behind the arc. Rookie phenom Jayson Tatum was a lone bright spot, scoring 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

JR SHRUG GAME (via @espnnba) pic.twitter.com/vIGYglmUSz

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 20, 2018

Unbelievable. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/FbawrzC9mv

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 20, 2018

LeBron gotta be a magician tbh (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/o584h309BA

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 20, 2018

The post Post Up: LeBron James’ Double-Double Leads Cavs To Blowout Win In Game 3 appeared first on SLAM.

The Cavaliers trailed by as many as 29 points en route to a 108-83 loss.

New story: The Cavs have to bounce back from an 0-1 series deficit for the second time in three series this postseason https://t.co/8hycZvSktc

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 14, 2018

The Celtics put the clamps on LeBron James—holding him to 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and seven turnovers—snapping his personal six-game postseason winning streak in Beantown.

Per ESPN:

Cleveland’s 26-point halftime deficit was the largest in James’ 229-game postseason career. The Celtics outscored the Cavs 60-38 in the paint and had a 48-40 edge in rebounds.

“Bad game,” Kyle Korver said. “Bad first game. There’s lot of things we can do better in the next one.”

Tristan Thompson was more direct in his critique.

“They punked us,” he told ESPN. “Early and often.”

Related
LeBron James: ‘I Have Zero Level of Concern at This Stage’

The post Tristan Thompson: Celtics ‘Punked Us’ appeared first on SLAM.

Greatest shooter of all time. (via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/tI0fyrIbKr

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) May 11, 2018

The comments tell the story:

Layups! https://t.co/4QKaFxCEaP

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) May 11, 2018

Somehow he cheating…I just ain’t figured it out yet

— Zaywop (@Zaytxven) May 11, 2018

This dude is so consistent the video looks like its on a 5 second loop

— Kyle Jordan (@Kyle_Jordan) May 11, 2018

This shit truly is not fair,
Homie. Like seriously.
Is there a cheat code?!

— Hell Trell (@FollowThaTrell) May 12, 2018

Stephortless

— Trenton (@TButter_11) May 11, 2018

The video also reignited the debate about where Curry ranks among the greatest shooters in NBA history:

In the conversations with Ray Allen, Reggie, Korver, Dale Ellis, Nash, Peja. Only a matter of time until he gets up there in all time makes and it’ll be no question.

— Saomonella (@saomonella) May 11, 2018

I’m a big Ray Allen and Dale Ellis fan (Sonics) but Curry is easily the greatest shooter of all time. That’s not a knock on the rest of the guys in your list, but Curry has taken it to another level.

— Dangeric E (@Seattlelife) May 11, 2018

Best shooter of all time, period. If not, please provide name and numbers for whoever the supposed best (at mid-range) is. #stephBetter

— Justin Webb (@JustinWebb) May 12, 2018

That’s not Reggie Miller

— International GM (@jstafford545) May 12, 2018

Ray Allen the best. Jesus Shuttleworth com’on

— Maxadaisical (@Maxadaisical) May 12, 2018

Youre the greatest shooter of all time if people think this video is on a loop

— Ins Mable (@Xmablex) May 12, 2018

This guy is the greatest shooter of all time pic.twitter.com/DdlLSPWzZE

— +41 Akso (@mirrow24) May 12, 2018

pic.twitter.com/jMWANfCanY

— Spida future MVP (@randyslade) May 11, 2018

In your opinion, where does Curry rank? Comment below.

RELATED
Kevin Durant: Stephen Curry ‘Off the Leash’

The post Is Steph Curry The Greatest Shooter Of All Time? 🤔 appeared first on SLAM.

Irving shockingly requested a trade last summer and was eventually dealt to Boston.

Now with the Cavaliers and Celtics set to square off in the East Finals (without Kyrie, unfortunately), former Cleveland GM David Griffin hopped on The Bill Simmons podcast and explained why he believes the duo didn’t work out:

Why didn’t LeBron and Kyrie work? Ex-Cavaliers GM David Griffin explains to @billsimmons why the situation in Cleveland was never going to be like Jordan and Pippen. pic.twitter.com/ubhr65R9cf

— The Ringer (@ringer) May 10, 2018

“I really think it was a situational thing. Somebody has to be Pippen and somebody has to be Jordan, and I think that’s true. But Scottie Pippen got to the League because he was a freakishly gifted defensive player. Everything he had that brought him to the ;eague helped him grow and evolve to the point where he was as good as he was. But it wasn’t like the situation in Chicago precluded him from showing those things. Michael needed everything that Scottie was, so they fit together.

And I think the fit of LeBron and Kyrie was difficult because Kyrie was so good offensively and had been carrying the load offensively for a bad team. Hadn’t been raised to understand how to lead and help you win necessarily. Hadn’t been given that opportunity yet and just when we were going to be good LeBron shows up and it’s his team. So he never got the chance to take the natural progression in his career where he had to try to carry the load and see how good he could be. And he really wanted that. He’d been doing it on a bad team. He wanted the chance to do it on a good team.

It wasn’t about being the man, it’s how good can I be? What am I capable of? LeBron can score, he doesn’t need me to score. LeBron can make all the passes, he doesn’t need me to do that. I’m not a better defender than he is. So I think you get to the point where the fit and the need LeBron had for Kyrie wasn’t going to allow him to become Scottie because he didn’t need Kyrie to fill in the gaps necessarily.”

RELATED
Kyle Korver: ‘We Can’t Just Stand and Watch LeBron’

The post Ex-Cavs GM David Griffin Explains Why LeBron James-Kyrie Irving Didn’t Work appeared first on SLAM.

Korver, however, admits that being a spectator is an easy trap to fall into when playing alongside LeBron.

Inside the weird, devastating, completely off-ball two-man game that helped revive Cleveland's offense and give the Cavs an option beyond, "LeBron, please score": https://t.co/tJeOo2v7bD

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 9, 2018

And while it may be easy to dismiss and laugh at “the other Cavs,” they stepped up in their second-round sweep of the Toronto Raptors.

Per ESPN:

[Kevin] Love and Korver are second and third, respectively, on the team in postseason scoring. Cleveland piled up 125 points per 100 possessions against Toronto in 99 minutes with LeBron, Love and Korver on the floor, and outscored the Raptors by 41 points over that time, per NBA.com. Korver and Love are 50-of-117 combined from deep — 43 percent — in the playoffs.

When Love feels like a participant, and not a bystander, he tends to play with more spirit on both ends. “We can’t just stand and watch LeBron,” Korver says. “That’s a trap we all fall into. It’s fine to do that sometimes. But we have to stay involved.”

The post Kyle Korver: ‘We Can’t Just Stand and Watch LeBron’ appeared first on SLAM.

After dropping three straight games to the Celtics, the 76ers needed to make a drastic change to keep their season alive. The change wasn’t what most expected, but Brent Brown’s decision to insert TJ McConnell into the starting lineup proved to be the difference.

McConnell started strong and his play never faltered, finishing the night with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a plus-minus of +18 in 39 minutes. He was also the only 76er to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, shooting 9-f0r-12 from the field.

Although the 76ers and Celtics already have a long-standing rivalry, Terry Rozier and Joel Embiid added a little to spice to things. After getting into a scuffle that resulted in double technicals, Embiid went on to blast Rozier after the game for being too short to connect when throwing #ThemHands.

Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 20 points for the Celtics.

SCARY TERRY AND JOEL READY TO GIVE #THEMHANDS (via @TheRenderNBA) https://t.co/hZjnARuNAn

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 7, 2018

Jayson Tatum got ‘eeeeeeeem (via @celtics) https://t.co/W1OVfnfNFw

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 7, 2018

Joel Embiid: “(Terry Rozier) tried to punch me twice. Too bad he’s so short he couldn’t get to my face.” (via @BenGolliver) pic.twitter.com/ksNwaoFI84

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 8, 2018

Ever since the Toronto Raptors tied up the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals at 2-2, LeBron James and his Cavaliers have been dominant. Monday night was no different as Cleveland cruised to their 10th straight postseason win over Toronto and secured a spot in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

With “The Other Cavaliers” being a hot topic on the Twitter streets before the game, James’ supporting cast stepped up. as J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver hit every one of their 3-point shots in the first half. Kevin Love caught fire in the third, scoring 12 of his 23 points.

The King finished the night with 29 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

It was a rough ending for Toronto’s all-star duo: Kyle Lowry mustered up only five points and DeMar DeRozan was ejected for a flagrant foul on Jordan Clarkson.

Jelly Fam LeBron (via @nbatv) pic.twitter.com/1MMi9zgnra

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 8, 2018

Yep LeBron def has all six infinity stones already (via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/rPNhFVasAo

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 8, 2018

The post Post Up: Cavaliers Complete Sweep, Sixers Bounce Back Against Celtics appeared first on SLAM.

Man, what a game. The Raptors looked like they were going to run away with Game 1 in front of their home crowd before a 38-point second quarter for the Cavs made this a close one at the half. Toronto threatened to break away in both the third and fourth quarters, taking double-digit leads on multiple occasions only to have Cleveland fight right back.

As regulation wound down, the Cavs made their big push. Down 92-82 after a Delon Wright three early in the final frame, it was the non-LeBron Cavs — like Kevin Love (7 points, 13 rebounds), J.R. Smith (20 points on 5 threes) and Tristan Thompson (14 points, 12 rebounds) — that stepped up to bring Cleveland within striking distance. Then LeBron (26 points on 12-of-30 shooting, 11 rebounds, 13 assists) started to get going himself, and tied it up at 105 with 30 seconds left with one of his patented fadeaways.

Clutch from The King! pic.twitter.com/OehPKHZOZ3

— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2018

Still the Raptors had a chance to win it before going to overtime. After Fred VanVleet’s three clanged off the rim, Toronto missed multiple putbacks that would have likely given them a Game 1 W. LeBron also had a chance to win it in regulation, but missed. Instead, it went on to overtime where the Cavs took an early lead on a Kyle Korver (19 points on 5 threes) triple and never looked back.

Down 113-112 with the shot clock off, though, the Raptors had another opportunity for the win. However, DeMar DeRozan (22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) passed it out to VanVleet who missed once again from deep. Thompson grabbed the game-clinching rebound and the Air Canada Centre crowd — and the Raptors — were left stunned and without homecourt advantage.

Warriors 121, Pelicans 116 (Warriors lead 2-0)

With Playoff Rondo (22 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 5 steals) in full force and strong play from Anthony Davis (25 points, 15 rebounds) and Jrue Holiday (24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), the Pelicans had a real chance to swing momentum in their favor by stealing a game in Oakland. But, with Steph Curry (28 points in 27 minutes) making his long-awaited return and Kevin Durant (29 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) knocking down shot after shot down the stretch, it just wasn’t meant to be.

A sloppy, back-and-forth first quarter ended with New Orleans taking a small lead which disappeared by halftime when Klay Thompson (10 points on 4-of-20 shooting) drilled an almost-impossible buzzer-beating three off the glass. The Pelicans were able to push back ahead at points yet couldn’t get any separation not only due to Steph and KD being locked in but also because Draymond Green (20 points, 9 assists, 12 rebounds) and Andre Iguodala (15 points, 8 rebounds) helped out with the scoring load.

Even with that said, the Pelicans found themselves down just 99-98 with over seven minutes to play after Rondo drilled one of his three triples on the night. But Iguodala responded with a quick bucket and the Dubs rolled off a 11-0 run that essentially put New Orleans away. The real capper was an Iggy three-point play consisting of a fastbreak dunk that bounced 20 feet over the rim before falling right through the hoop. It sent Oracle into a frenzy and made it clear that the Warriors were going to head on the road up 2-0.

Count it! (@NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/SLsqtRWLNq

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 2, 2018

Definitely a better showing for New Orleans than in Game 1 but it just wasn’t enough. This was as close to 100 percent as the Warriors have been in weeks and they were downright scary at points. The Pelicans are going to need to step it up another level going forward — especially on defense — if they’re going to have a chance. It would also help to get to the free throw line a bit more (only nine attempts on the night).

The post Post Up: Cavs Steal Game 1 In Toronto, Warriors Take Big Lead Over Pelicans appeared first on SLAM.

A 12-3 run late in the fourth quarter followed by a wild final minute lifted the Cavaliers over the Pacers and sent the series back to Cleveland all even. LeBron James, naturally, led the way for Cleveland, scoring 32 points to go with 13 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

The Cavs led by 10 at halftime, but a quick 10-2 spurt to open the second half brought Indiana close before the Pacers pulled ahead early in the fourth. Then Kyle Korver and James took over. They combined for 14 of the Cavs’ final 15 points, including a pair of clutch threes from Korver.

The Pacers still had a chance in the final minute. Down six with 14 seconds left, Victor Oladipo hit a three. Then, on the ensuing inbounds, it appeared that Lance Stephenson may have successfully tied up Jeff Green. Stephenson and Green both went to the floor and there was some shoving involved, causing a delay as the officials went to the replay. The conclusion was a common foul on Stephenson, so Green went to the line to make it a two possession game. The Pacers could not score on their trip down the court and Cleveland survived.

Domantas Sabonis had 19 to lead Indiana, while seven of the nine Pacers to appear in the game scored in double figures.

JR SWISH (via @cavs) pic.twitter.com/vcBke742JH

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) April 23, 2018

Bucks 104, Celtics 102 (Series tied 2-2)

Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s tip-in with five seconds to go broke a tie and helped the Bucks even up the series at two games apiece. Those were the last two of the Greek Freak’s team-high 27 points. Khris Middleton had 23 to help out.

But that basket wasn’t the loudest of the night for Giannis. That came on this dunk over Al Horford that put Milwaukee up by seven. The Bucks were, at the time, trying to hold off a Celtics rally that brought them back from down 20 in the second half:

Giannis…GIANNIS (via @Bucks) pic.twitter.com/Q3LKbhb8bx

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) April 22, 2018

Jaylen Brown did his part for the Celtics. He scored 34 points, including two baskets in a row with under two minutes left that got the Celtics within one. Jayson Tatum put them ahead a moment later with a jumper of his own. Then, trailing 100-99, Malcolm Brogdon hit a three to put the Bucks ahead. Boston never led again.

The home team has won each of the first four games of this series. Game 5 will be in Boston on Tuesday night.

The Greek Freak wins it!!#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/gQXjPcTbvS

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 22, 2018

Spurs 113, Warriors 90 (Warriors lead 3-1)

The Spurs staved off elimination, defeating the Warriors to force the series back to Oakland for a Game 5. LaMarcus Aldridge led the way for San Antonio with 22 points and 10 rebounds as one of five Spurs players in double figures.

San Antonio, playing again without head coach Gregg Popovich, led by 14 at the break, but the Warriors won the third quarter 29-22 to stay within striking distance. Then, in the fourth, Manu Ginobili ensured that the hometown crowd would see a win, scoring 10 of his 16 points down the stretch.

Kevin Durant had 34 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Warriors, but Golden State shot just 38 percent for the game and 25 percent from three.

What a 3⃣!!!

LaMarcus is 3-for-3 from long range #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/3rgNiqtiPB

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 22, 2018

Wizards 106, Raptors 98 (Series tied 2-2)

Bradley Beal scored 31 points and John Wall had 27 points and 14 assists as the Wizards protected their home court and evened up the series 2-2.

It started in the third quarter where Beal scored 12 on three threes and a trip to the line on a fourth attempt. He helped turn an 11-point deficit into a tie game headed into the fourth. Then, down the stretch, Wall simply took over. And that’s exactly what the Wizards needed, as Beal fouled out with five minutes to go and the score tied. From that point forward, Wall scored eight points and assisted on a Markieff Morris alley-oop to hold off Toronto.

Wall finds Markieff Morris on the lob!#DCFamily up 3 with 1:45 left.

: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/AcqzBg4vuz

— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2018

DeMar DeRozan had 35 points to lead the Raptors on 10-29 shooting from the field and 14-18 shooting from the line. Kyle Lowry added 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

The post Post Up: Cavaliers Survive Wild Game In Indiana To Tie Series appeared first on SLAM.

Even without Joel Embiid or Dario Saric, Philly dominated this one from the opening tip. The 76ers outrebounded Brooklyn by 20 and shot over 54 percent from the field while forcing 18 Nets turnovers. Philly sharpshooters J.J. Redick (19 points) and Marco Belinelli (17 points) ran circles around the Brooklyn defense, while Ben Simmons (15 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) put together his 36th double-double. He also became the second player in NBA history to eclipse 1,200 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in a rookie season. The other? Oscar Robertson.

Ben with the steal, Ben with the score. pic.twitter.com/Mp8xq5Gh2y

— x – Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 3, 2018

Cavaliers 112 (48-30), Raptors 106 (55-22)

Toronto is still in a battle with Boston for both the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division crown, so the Raptors’ recent swoon is more than just the result of complacency and may be a cause for concern. All five Cavaliers starters scored in double digits — led by LeBron‘s 27 points and 10 rebounds — as Cleveland led most of the way in Kyle Korver‘s return.

Kyle Lowry (5 points on 2-of-11 shooting) never got going and even Toronto’s stellar bench couldn’t make up the missed production. DeMar DeRozan had a team-high 19 points with seven dimes. The Cavs also need to keep winning to maintain their No. 3 spot in the East and, with the 76ers and Pacers bearing down, Cleveland having homecourt advantage in the first round is far from guaranteed. But, if the Cavs keep playing like this, they’ll be fine.

Heat 101 (42-36), Hawks 98 (22-56)

Atlanta is far from the postseason but gave the playoff-bound Heat a real scare on Tuesday night, leading 98-90 with three minutes left to play. However, as the final score would indicate, Miami scored the game’s final 11 points with a crazy rally and was able to seal the win with two last-second Josh Richardson blocks following a go-ahead Hassan Whiteside tip-in.

Whiteside gives Miami the lead! pic.twitter.com/itr8Bq4C2k

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 4, 2018

John Collins (19 points, 10 rebounds) led the way for the Hawks, who also got 18 points off the bench from Tyler Dorsey. Goran Dragic had 22 points and 10 assists for Miami while Whiteside — days after complaining about his lack of playing time — posted an 18-point, 12-board double-double.

Magic 97 (23-54), Knicks 73 (27-51)

The Mario Hezonja redemption tour continues, as the former lottery pick — whose fourth-year option wasn’t picked up by the Magic earlier in the season — keeps playing well. He paced the Magic with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, as Orlando used a dominant final frame to beat up on the Knicks.

New York was just 4-of-27 from three-point range and scored a measly 28 second half points. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points in the defeat. It was a big loss for the Knicks from a draft pick perspective, as they entered a tie with the Bulls for the 8th-worst record in the Association.

Bulls 120 (27-51), Hornets 114 (34-45)

Chicago has followed up a seven-game losing streak with a fairly improbably three-game winning streak, especially for a team missing a good chunk of its starting lineup. Lauri Markkanen (24 points in 24 minutes) knocked down five triples while relative newcomer Sean Kilpatrick added 21 points off the bench.

Kilpatrick with the break away dunk pic.twitter.com/qPhL6x90km

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 4, 2018

The Hornets committed 20 turnovers in the loss. Dwight Howard (23 points, 17 rebounds) had another big game while Malik Monk, who hasn’t gotten consistent playing time in his rookie season, scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Kemba Walker struggled from the field, posting just nine points and four assists.

Rockets 120 (63-15), Wizards 104 (42-36)

Another ho-hum 71-point first half for the Rockets made for a pretty boring final 24 minutes as Houston rolled past the Wizards. James Harden (38 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) dominated all game and Washington — like most teams — had no answer for him. There was some injury concern for the Rockets, though, with Ryan Anderson suffering a left ankle sprain after playing just five minutes. He didn’t return.

Step-back pic.twitter.com/cfRriklGwn

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 4, 2018

The Wizards are still reintegrating John Wall back into the flow of things and he had an off-night, shooting 3-of-10 from the field along with eight turnovers. Bradley Beal (27 points) was locked in.

Bucks 106 (42-36), Celtics 102 (53-24)

The shorthanded Celtics had to lose at some point. Boston’s six-game winning streak, all without Kyrie Irving, was snapped by a Bucks team that needs one more win (or one more Pistons loss) to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Khris Middleton (20 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) were great, and Giannis may have saved the game with an insane chasedown block on Jaylen Brown with less than a minute to go.

No layup is safe when Giannis is on the court (via @Bucks) pic.twitter.com/EjtHYOn9D4

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) April 4, 2018

Brown and Jayson Tatum (combined for 44 points) provided much of Boston’s scoring on a night when the bench didn’t do much.

Warriors 111 (57-21), Thunder 107 (45-34)

The latest KD–Russell Westbrook battle in Oklahoma City lived up to the hype, even with Steph Curry on the sidelines. Durant dropped 34 points (albeit on 9-of-25 shooting) and grabbed 10 boards in the Golden State win while Westbrook had a ridiculous 44 points and 16 rebounds.

Think KD’s motivated tonight? (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/8Sj46LkGQK

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) April 4, 2018

For the most part, though, the OKC starting five outplayed that of the Warriors. The difference in this game was when KD and Russ weren’t on the floor. Golden State got 38 points from its bench while OKC got just 14. The trio of David West, Damian Jones and JaVale McGee combined to go a perfect 12-for-12 from the field.

Paul George (5-of-19) and Carmelo Anthony (4-of-16) weren’t very efficient, with Melo missing all nine of his three-point attempts. The Thunder are far from guaranteed to make the postseason and are just 1.5 games up on idle No. 9 Denver. A first round matchup with Golden State is also very possible.

Mavericks 115 (24-54), Trail Blazers 109 (48-30)

Portland has already clinched a playoff spot, but losing to lottery-bound Dallas delayed the Blazers’ quest for homecourt advantage in the postseason’s opening round. Every Mavs starter reached double figures — led by Dennis Smith Jr.‘s 18 points — with Yogi Ferrell adding 15 as a reserve.

!!! pic.twitter.com/Txy7DAhjBH

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 4, 2018

The Blazers couldn’t buy a three, going 10-for-40 beyond the arc. Damian Lillard (29 points) was the game’s high-scorer but was just 6-of-20 from the field. He did make all 15 of his free throw attempts. Jusuf Nurkic (15 points, 13 rebounds) was effective but limited to 27 minutes, partially due to foul trouble.

Nuggets 107 (43-35), Pacers 104 (46-32)

For the third consecutive game, the Nuggets played a postseason-bound team tough and won a one-possession decision that helped them keep pace in the West. Following wins over the Thunder and Bucks, Denver had a chance to gain some ground against a red-hot Pacers team and did just that. Nikola Jokic (30 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals) filled up the stat-sheet in the W alongside Will Barton (26 points, 10 rebounds) as Gary Harris continued to sit with due to a knee injury.

WILL ALWAYS SHOOT FROM DISTANCE pic.twitter.com/sTsUaJkpwy

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 4, 2018

Victor Oladipo (25 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals) played well as Indiana had a solid offensive game, but lost the rebounding battle by 14 and couldn’t stop Jokic at all. When he’s making threes and getting his teammates involved, there’s not much any team can do against him.

Jazz 117 (45-33), Lakers 110 (33-44)

Without Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Isaiah Thomas, the Lakers needed other guys to step up if they were going to have a chance to take down the Jazz. Julius Randle (12 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists), Kyle Kuzma (26 points) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (28 points) did just that but it still wasn’t enough as the backcourt combo of Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell (57 combined points on 37 shots) spearheaded a big scoring night for Utah.

| Donovan with the easy 26-point night

He shot 50% from distance (4-8) and had his 44th game with 20 points or more.#DonROY #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/mng9ppqtLh

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 4, 2018

The Jazz, which leapfrogged the Thunder to tie with the Spurs for the No. 4 spot in the West, scored 65 first half points en route to a third-straight win. Rudy Gobert (12 points, 16 rebounds) even helped in facilitating with five assists, his second-highest total of the season. Joe Ingles knocked down 3 threes, extending his streak with at least one made triple to 35 games. That’s a Jazz record.

Suns 97 (20-59), Kings 94 (25-54)

No player from this year’s rookie class has arguably made a bigger in-season improvement than Josh Jackson (28 points, 6 rebounds), who couldn’t find his shot for the first few months of the season but has turned into a reliable scorer for the Suns as of late. His big game helped the Suns snap a franchise-worst 15-game losing streak that lasted the entire month of March. Alex Len helped with a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double off the bench.

JJ FOR TRE! pic.twitter.com/jbGQ13R0PU

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 4, 2018

Bogdan Bogdanovic (22 points) and Justin Jackson (19 points, 8 rebounds) had good performances in the loss. With the Mavs’ win over Portland, the Kings moved to a half-game “behind” Dallas for the 5th in the reverse standings. Phoenix has a two-game “lead” over Memphis for the worst record in the NBA.

Clippers 113 (42-36), Spurs 110 (45-33)

Maybe against the Spurs of old — with Kawhi Leonard — a 41-point fourth quarter and late double-digit comeback would have been unthinkable, but this Spurs team isn’t the Spurs of old anymore. Needing a win to move within 1.5 games of a playoff spot, the Clippers fought back to stun San Antonio thanks to 31 points from Tobias Harris and a go-ahead three from Austin Rivers with 29 seconds left.

.@AustinRivers25 – CLUTCH! pic.twitter.com/GToZFm04ix

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 4, 2018

Lou Williams (22 points), as usual, provided a massive spark to draw the game to a tie midway through the final quarter just minutes after the Spurs led by 11. But San Antonio went back up, and held a 103-96 advantage with three minutes to play. LA scored the next seven points to tie it up at 103 and took the lead for good on Rivers’ three from the wing.

LaMarcus Aldridge (35 points, 9 rebounds) had his way all night in the loss but he and Patty Mills (17 points) didn’t get much help, especially in the fourth quarter.

The post Post Up: KD And The Warriors Get The Last Laugh in Oklahoma City appeared first on SLAM.

Kirk Korver, 27, played Division-I college basketball at Missouri-Kansas City.

In a statement, the Cavs expressed their sympathy for the Korver family: “We extend our deepest condolences and heartfelt best to Kyle and his entire family as they go through this very difficult time.”

We are very sad to share that Cavaliers guard Kyle Korver’s brother, Kirk, passed away today. Kyle has been excused from the team to be with his family. We extend our deepest condolences and heartfelt best to Kyle and his entire family as they go through this very difficult time.

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 21, 2018

The post Kyle Korver Excused From Cavaliers Following Brother’s Death appeared first on SLAM.

Smith told reporters that he wasn’t upset with the change, but admitted that he wished Lue had been more communicative.

New story: JR Smith says he doesn't know what his role will be moving forward after being replaced by Kyle Korver in the starting lineup on Tuesday https://t.co/L0BQBNrKH3

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 14, 2018

JR scored 14 points in 22 minutes off the pine in Cleveland’s 129-107 road win against Phoenix.

Per ESPN:

“I just felt like it,” Lue said when asked about the timing of his decision to bench Smith.

Smith said that there was no conversation with his coach about the move.

“We didn’t talk,” Smith told ESPN. “He sent me a text [Monday], and I told him, ‘No problem.’ I didn’t know that it was a ‘talk.'”

Smith acknowledged he was surprised by the change.

“That’s all right, though,” Smith said. “I’m not upset about it. I just wish there would have been more dialogue, I guess.”

The post Tyronn Lue Moves JR Smith to the Bench Again appeared first on SLAM.

Clutch Kuz stole the show as the Lakers outlasted the Nuggets behind his 26 points, 13 rebounds and strong fourth quarter showing. Julius Randle stayed hot with 26 and Isaiah Thomas added 23 off the pine as the Lakers’ won the 12th out of their last 13 at the Staples Center.

For those keeping track of the Lonzo Ball vs. Jamal Murray beef:

• Ball: 5 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, +18
• Murray: 18 points, 6 rebound, 4 assists, 2 steals, +/- 0

Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 26.

Isaiah Thomas really crossed up Nikola Jokic and LOOKED BACK AT ‘EM (via @BleacherReport) pic.twitter.com/EFeFhYVBwc

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

LONZO COMIN’ FOR YOU (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/disf4ZZQKm

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Cavaliers 129 (39-28), Suns 107 (19-50)

Year 15 and no signs of slowing down: LeBron James hit a career-best 14 triple-doubles in a season as he stuffed the box score with 28 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks.

Kyle Korver knocked down five 3s and scored 22 in 23 minutes as a starter.

LEBRON ISN’T HUMAN

(via @Cavs) https://t.co/HGS2owy9xi

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

YEP. NO-LOOK LEBRON IS OFFICIALLY A THING NOW. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/FTByDDpfvM

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Pistons 79 (30-27), Jazz 110 (38-30)

Any momentum from the Blake Griffin trade seems surely lost now as the Pistons have dropped six of their last eight. The Jazz ran out to a huge first quarter advantage, doubling Detroit’s scoring with 42 points, and never looked back as Rudy Robert’s 22 points and 12 rebounds led the way. Jonas Jerekbo was a key spark off the bench for Utah as he scored 16 points and grabbed eight boards in just 19 minutes.

DONOVAN MITCHELL IS DIFFERENT.

NAILS THE FROM ANOTHER ZIP CODE (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/EzgmfSstC9

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Mavericks 110 (22-46), Knicks 97 (24-44)

Harrison Barnes provided the scoring with 30 points and Dennis Smith Jr. put down the exclamation dunk with his jaw-dropping windmill dunk as the Mavericks rode a 26-12 third quarter advantage to victory.

Michael Beasley scored 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field for New York and Trey Burke continued to shine on offense as he scored 16 points in 15 minutes off the bench.

Dennis Smith Jr. throwing it down with TENACITY at the Garden (via @BleacherReport) pic.twitter.com/sjSkWuIBCT

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Yep, we can add this one to the Dennis Smith Jr. reel (via @dallasmavs) https://t.co/ggait7oKmK

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 13, 2018

Thunder 119 (41-29), Hawks 107 (20-48)

The Thunder actually trailed the cellar-dwelling Hawks at the intermission, but five 3s from Carmelo Anthony in the opening five minutes of the third quarter sparked a 21-5 Oklahoma City run that put it back in the driver’s seat.

Russell Westbrook became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 100 career triple-doubles as he grabbed his 10th rebound with less than three minutes to go. Westbrook finished the night with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

Russ is surrounded by icons–only Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) have more career triple-doubles: https://t.co/mkDvvmXIJA pic.twitter.com/yIc0tKZanS

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

RUSS GOT’EEEEEEM (via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/OgUdqQHL0F

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

THE ROOK JOHN COLLINS JUST DUNKED ON THE BRODIE (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/C2pVzmPJya

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Pacers 101 (40-28), 76ers (36-30)

Ben Simmons became the second rookie in NBA history to hit seven triple-doubles as he amassed 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, but it wasn’t enough as Myles Turner’s 25  points led Indiana to victory.

‘Dipo got a MEAN handle (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/iGmLU76VOK

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 14, 2018

Timberwolves 116 (40-29), Wizards 111 (38-30)

Karl-Anthony Towns turned in a season-high 37 points as the Timberwolves needed to outscore the Wizards 34-21 in the final period to earn the comeback dub. Five other players scored in double-digits for Minnesota.

Markieff Morris scored a team-high 27 for Washington.

Jamal Crawford out here slicing and dicing up defenses like it’s easy (via @Timberwolves) https://t.co/RsWQukiIeS

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 13, 2018

Raptors 116 (50-17), Nets 102 (21-47)

D’Angelo Russell had Twitter poppin’ with his seven 3s en route to 24 first quarter points, but the Eastern Conference’s top dogs locked up in the final three periods as Russell’s hot hand dwindled and he scored only eight more points the rest of the way.

Jonas Valanciunas was the star of the night for Toronto as he dropped 26 points and snatched 14 boards.

Clippers 112 (37-29), Bulls 106 (23-44)

The Bulls’ young duo of Zach LaVine and Bobby Portis scored 18 and 19 apiece but it wasn’t enough to overcome DeAndre Jordan’s 29-point, 18-rebound outing for Los Angeles. Lou Williams chipped in 26 points and five dimes.

Hornets 115 (29-39), Pelicans 119 (39-28)

The Hornets got at least 20 points out of Kemba Walker, Nic Batum, Dwight Howard and Frank Kaminsky but couldn’t overcome the one-two punch of Anthony Davis (31 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks) and Jrue Holiday (25 points, nine assists).

Spurs 108 (38-30), Magic (20-48)

The Magic went just 28-for-82 from the field and turned the ball over 20 times as the Spurs cruised to an effortless win. LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 24 points.

The post Post Up: LeBron, Westbrook and Ben Simmons Hit Triple-Double Milestones appeared first on SLAM.

Embiid wrote that he enjoyed competing against “one of the best to ever play” Thursday night following the Sixers’ 108-97 win against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.

Trust The Process??? Always a great time playing against one of the best to ever play the game #summer2018goals

A post shared by Joel "The Process" Embiid (@joelembiid) on Mar 1, 2018 at 8:52pm PST

Sixers rookie Ben Simmons added that it should be obvious to James just how good and promising Philadelphia is.

Per the AP:

Simmons is sure James knows what’s going on in Philly.

“He knows,” Simmons said. “He knows. He’s a very smart guy. His IQ on the court is amazing.”

Philadelphia nearly blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Cavs, who never led, got within 95-94 on Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer with 2:25 left. However, the Sixers showed poise down the stretch by scoring the next eight points to seal an impressive win.

Related
LeBron James Denies Looking at Schools in Philadelphia

The post Joel Embiid on LeBron James: ‘#summer2018goals’ appeared first on SLAM.

With five straight wins since acquiring Blake Griffin, it seemed nothing could stop the Detroit Pistons–that is, until Lou Williams took over the second half as the Clippers pulled away in the fourth quarter to snap the streak. Williams scored 26 points for Los Angeles while Griffin had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

No handshakes for Blake Griffin following a loss to the Clippers (via @DefPenHoops) pic.twitter.com/AjsszG8r7C

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

LOU WILL SHOOTS IT FROM SOUTH GWINNETT…

…BANG (via @LAClippers) pic.twitter.com/nEyXCBWvMg

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

BLAKE GRIFFIN IS FEELIN’ ’D UP AFTER THIS BLOCK (via @DetroitPistons) pic.twitter.com/ZENjVX7Y91

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Pelicans 82 (28-26), 76ers 100 (27-25)

The 76ers outscored the Pelicans 32-14 in the first quarter and never looked back as Dario Saric and Joel Embiid each scored 24 points to lead the way. Ben Simmons flirted with a triple-double, notching 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

JOEL EMBIID SAYS NOPE

(via @Sixers) https://t.co/2Jtv1JasHP

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Cavaliers 123 (32-22), Hawks 107 (17-39)

The Cavaliers didn’t have use of the six players acquired during Thursday’s trade deadline day, but it didn’t matter as LeBron James set a career-record in assists in his 22-point, 18-assist and 12-rebound triple-double. Kyle Korver led all scorers with 30 points as he hit 7-of-13 from behind the arc.

Hawks fans chanting “LeBron will leave you!” Savage. (via @BBallSociety_) https://t.co/QYyvg3CqlS

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

LeBron got DIMES (via @Cavs) https://t.co/mNfz4CnmzK

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

LeBron joining #JellyFam? (via @johnschuhmann) pic.twitter.com/MNawQQIPeY

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Pacers 97 (31-25), Celtics 91 (40-17)

The Celtics have had a knack for comeback wins this year and nearly overcame a 26-point deficit against the Pacers, but it wasn’t enough as Victor Oladipo scored 35 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and snatched five steals for Indiana to hold off the Eastern Conference leaders.

Bucks 85 (30-24), Heat 91 (30-26)

Dwyane Wade didn’t light up the stat sheet as he scored just three points in 22 minutes, but his presence brought the American Airlines Arena crowd to life as Bam Adebayo and Hassan Whiteside combined for 27 points and 26 rebounds.

BAM WHITESIDE JUST SNATCHED A SHOT OUT OF THE AIR (via @MiamiHEAT) https://t.co/WUj2mEZtCN

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Another look of the crowd reaction when Dwyane Wade checked in (via @WillManso) pic.twitter.com/xdFnWAUWEE

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

HEEEE’S BAAAAAACK (via @MiamiHEAT) https://t.co/lZMn9i6ePH

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Nuggets 104 (29-26), Rockets 130 (41-13)

The Rockets’ offense rolled from start to finish, largely in part from Clint Capela’s 23 points and 25 rebounds (seven offensive). James Harden scored 28 points in 27 minutes.

Trey Lyles scored 24 off the bench for the Nuggets.

I fell three times just watching Chris Paul dribble (via @HoustonRockets) https://t.co/TF17kETUVw

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Hornets 94 (23-32), Jazz 106 (27-28)

Donovan Mitchell continued to send a message to the mid-lottery teams that passed on him, scoring 25 points and punching home a jaw-dropping dunk against the Hornets. Joe Ingles added 23 and Rudy Gobert scored another 20.

TAKE FLIGHT DONOVAN MITCHELL (via @utahjazz) https://t.co/z5x3Uzaruy

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Timberwolves 113 (34-24), Bulls 114 (19-35)

Jimmy Butler said he’s had this game marked on his calendar for a while now and it showed as he dropped 38 points against his former team; however, Zach LaVine, one of the three players the Bulls got in return for Butler in last summer’s trade, took over the fourth quarter as he scored all 11 of Chicago’s final points en route to 35 for the night.

Five other Bulls–Bobby Portis (11), Lauri Markkanen (12), Robin Lopez (19), Jerian Grant (14) and Justin Holiday (12)–supported LaVine with double-digit points.

ZACH LAVINE IS COLD BLOODED (via @chicagobulls) pic.twitter.com/7uZFVTEogy

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Karl-Anthony Towns is STRONG (via @Timberwolves) https://t.co/NsjjZ4mf0E

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Trail Blazers 118 (31-25), Kings 100 (17-37)

Dame Lillard became the second Trail Blazer to score 50 points in just three quarters of work in two weeks (C.J. McCollum did it on Jan. 31) as Portland rolled over Sacramento. On top of the points, Lillard also had six assists and just two turnovers.

Buddy Hield hit five 3-pointers in 16 minutes off the bench for the Kings.

The Kings want NOTHING more to do with Dame Lillard. pic.twitter.com/H3xU7UzEL9

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

Dame from the logo! (via @trailblazers) pic.twitter.com/jjpVWC1uXF

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 10, 2018

The post Post Up: Dame Lillard Scores 50, Zach LaVine and Jimmy Butler Duel appeared first on SLAM.

The sixth-year guard, who is widely considered one of the top five shooting guards in the League and, with all respect due to DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, part of the best backcourt in the East (when healthy), was never an All-Star before this year. Last season, Beal finished behind Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver, JR Smith, Jeremy Lin and Avery Bradley in fan voting. He was posting 23 points per game.

This season? Beal is averaging a career-high 23.8 points per game, yet still finished behind Isaiah Thomas, who has played only a handful of games, Dwyane Wade and Ben Simmons in fan votes. Fortunately game recognizes game and Beal was selected as a reserve in the Eastern Conference before eventually being drafted by captain LeBron James.

“It would surprise me if I wasn’t an All-Star this year,” Beal tells SLAM during a December afternoon photoshoot at his crib in the suburbs of DC, weeks before he made the team. “As crazy as it might sound, I don’t get caught up in it because I’ve been snubbed before—at least in my opinion—and I understand the business aspect of it. Granted, being an All-Star is great, but winning a championship is far more of a better accolade than that. That’s my ultimate goal, but I would love to be an All-Star.”

The guard isn’t speaking out of turn either. In the East, Beal is neck and neck with DeRozan and Victor Oladipo as the conference’s top shooting guard. And he’s getting his due props from his peers. Following a 106-99 loss to the Cavs in December, LeBron told reporters that Beal is “playing at an All-Star level this season,” and in January, John Wall said that his teammate “should be an automatic lock” to make the team.

Following injuries and inconsistent play during the first four seasons of his career, the St. Louis native has blossomed over the last season and a half. Through the first 40 games of the ’17-18 run, Beal has been exceptional. He has scored at least 30 points eight different times while taking on more responsibility and handling some point guard duties as Wall has dealt with a knee injury that has limited him to 37 games and will keep him out for the next 6-8 weeks.

Labeled as a catch-and-shoot player for the majority of his career, Beal has shown the full repertoire of his bag this season. The guard’s ever-expanding game was put on display during his career-high 51-point outburst against the Blazers in December: coming off screens; beating his man off the dribble; hesitation step-backs; attacking the rim; pull-up jumpers. Beal was unstoppable and put the rest of the NBA on notice that he is a threat from any position on the floor.

“I saw my first couple [of shots] go in and it was a wrap from there,” he says. “I feel like I have a lot to prove in the League and I’m big on evolving my game. I don’t want to be labeled strictly as a shooter or a catch-and-shoot guy. I want to be labeled as a scorer and a playmaker and someone who can get his teammates involved in plays off the dribble. I don’t want to be a one-dimensional guy.”

It’s a cool, grey afternoon before Christmas when we’re greeted by five dogs at the front door of Beal’s home. Beal’s four brothers—Brandon, Bruce, Byron and Bryon—are posted up at various spots around the house, either playing 2K or fooling around on their laptops, while the two Rottweilers and three French bulldogs are corralled by Brad’s girl, Kamiah Adams. It’s a familial setting, one that Beal feels most comfortable in.

“We’re a tight-knit family and we keep our circle more like a dot,” says Beal. “I’m big on family and big on love and providing for them and helping them in any way I can.”

Beal credits his mother for putting a ball in his hands and introducing him to the game. “Still to this day she mentors me and cusses me out if I don’t shoot it the right way,” he says with a laugh. He says he recognizes how lucky he is to come from a stable household where both of his parents were present.

The family atmosphere carries over to the Wizards locker room. You’d be hard pressed to find a team that is more close-knit than the Wiz, who have built a young core that will spend the foreseeable future together.

“We really are tight—it’s not just to show people that we can act like great teammates, we really are,” says Beal. “We’re even better friends off the court. We’re like brothers. We clown on each other off the court and all that stuff. It’s real down to earth. We understand that it’s a business but we don’t necessarily treat it like that. We understand that we can be cool off the floor just as well as on the floor.”

Before the 2016-17 season, Beal and Wall’s relationship came under the microscope when Wall told CSN Washington that he and his backcourt mate “…a lot of times we have a tendency to dislike each other on the court.” From that point on, their body language started to become dissected, and quotes and interviews regarding their relationship became online fodder.

With two stars sharing the rock, there’s bound to be some friction—that’s natural for anyone in a high-stakes, competitive environment. Whatever issues may have hampered them in the past, though, seem to be resolved, as the two led the Wizards to the brink of the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

“I think the thing that people probably confuse it with is that we’re competitive and we both want to win, we both want to be successful, and we both want to lead,” says Beal. “I think they get it confused that we don’t like each other, or we hate on another because of our competitive edge. I think that’s just who we are and what makes us one of the most dominant backcourts in the League, because we’re able to compete. We respect each other’s game and we push each other.”

The Wizards have been one of the more brash teams in the League, shit-talking with the best of them both on the court and during press conferences. Beal and Wall have routinely called themselves the best backcourt in the NBA, and the team has scrapped with the Celtics, Bucks and Warriors, among others. While the Wiz aren’t short on confidence, the team has yet to get over the hump and pull together enough wins to truly be considered one of the League’s elite. And they know it.

This season, the team has been up and down and after a 113-99 loss to the lowly Hawks, Wall told the Washington Post that when the Wizards play a team whose record is below .500, they “go out there playing for stats. It’s simple as that.” The quote holds weight. As of press time, the Wizards are 12-11 against teams with a winning record this season, and curiously 16-11 against losing teams—tied with the Knicks, Magic and Kings for most losses against sub-.500 teams, according to ESPN.

With the loss of Wall, Beal will once again become the focal point of the Wizards’ offense. It will take a group effort to finish strong while missing a star point guard, but with Beal at an All-Star level, the Wiz should be able to weather the storm and make another playoff push.

“I feel like we haven’t done what we’re capable of doing,” says Beal. “I feel like that’s a good thing and a bad thing because as the season goes on we can get it clicking right before the playoffs. At the same time, we’re disappointed with how we’ve been playing. We’re not happy about it and know that we should be a lot better than 17-14 [the Wizards improved to 27-22 as of press time—Ed.] at least we feel like that. We’re confident in ourselves, but reality is what it is—we’re sitting at 17-14. We’re not complacent about it, we’re not happy about it, but we feel like we have to do something about it and that’s go out and play to our potential every night.”

—

SLAM 214 hits newsstands next week!

—

Peter Walsh is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @peter_m_walsh.

Portraits by Joseph L. Sherman.

The post Bradley Beal Finally Gets The All-Star Recognition He Deserves appeared first on SLAM.

Brown is personally working with the rookie point guard to reclaim “the shot that he used to have.”

#Sixers seeking to find Markelle Fultz's missing shot https://t.co/4f5jwyBo8n via @phillysport

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) January 16, 2018

The 19-year-old continues to recover from a right shoulder injury, and has sat out 36 consecutive games.

Per Philly.com:

“I’m old. And I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Brown, 56, said of having a player lose his shot. “I really haven’t.”

 

The coach will personally work with Fultz to help him reclaim his old form.

 

“He’s a rise-up guy,” Brown said. “He’s a live ball, off-the dribble, rise-up guy. A Kyle Korver type, that wasn’t who he was. He was a wiggly, do-what-he-wants-to-guard. So you go back and you say, ‘How can you find that again?”

Related
Brett Brown: Markelle Fultz Must Be ‘Able to Shoot a Basketball’

The post Brett Brown Baffled By Markelle Fultz’ Shooting Woes appeared first on SLAM.

It’s been one step forward, one step back for New Orleans this month as the Pellies haven’t won consecutive games since late November. Anthony Davis (37 points, 9 rebounds) and DeMarcus Cousins (26 points, 13 rebounds) keep scoring at will but the bench (just 18 total points) hasn’t been able to pick up where Alvin Gentry’s starters have left off. The 5-for-20 three-point shooting didn’t help either.

Washington has gone through similar struggles with consistency this season, but has now won three of four. The Wizards’ bench is usually a problem too so Mike Scott‘s 24 points in 23 minutes were huge as Bradley Beal (26 points) and John Wall (18 points, 10 assists) paced the starters.

The peripheral vision (via @WashWizards) pic.twitter.com/B08UpOi5vN

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 20, 2017

If Scott can be a more reliable scoring threat off the bench, the Wizards are a much more dangerous team. Come playoff-time, when rotations shorten up, he could be a difference-maker.

Kings 101 (10-20), 76ers 95 (14-16)

Philly is obviously a much different team when Joel Embiid doesn’t play, but that shouldn’t negate how troubling the 76ers’ recent slide is. With the loss to Sacramento on Tuesday night, Brett Brown’s club has dropped seven of its last eight games including defeats to the Bulls, Suns and Lakers.

Ben Simmons neared another triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists) on only six shots while Dario Saric, J.J. Redick and Robert Covington (combined 11-for-49 from the field) couldn’t get it going offensively. With that said, Philly held a halftime lead and threatened to pull away multiple times but the Kings — led by Zach Randolph‘s 27 points — kept fighting and moved in front with a big fourth quarter. They got big shot after big shot down the stretch to hold the 76ers off.

Ageless. Z-Bo’s got 10 first half points. (via @SacramentoKings) pic.twitter.com/6BGJhwRVsf

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 20, 2017

Only three Kings hit double digits on the night: Z-Bo, Frank Mason (16 points) and Buddy Hield (24 points). With De’Aaron Fox leaving the game early due to a flare-up of the right quad injury that has been bugging him as of late, Mason took over primary point guard duties in the second half and shined. The Kansas product slipped to the 2nd round in June’s draft but has been great for Sacramento, showing off his athleticism at both ends. Looks like the Kings got a steal with him.

Bucks 119 (16-13), Cavaliers 116 (23-9)

What a crazy game. After the Cavs got off to a quick start with a 34-point first quarter, Milwaukee roared back in the second to take a big lead at the break. The Bucks let Cleveland hang around despite being ahead by 20 early in the fourth. Then, the Cavs started to chip away even with LeBron on the bench as Jeff Green and Dwyane Wade forced the issue at the line and from three-point range to eventually regain the lead with just over five minutes to play.

Milwaukee went back up on a Malcolm Brogdon three which spurred Ty Lue to put LeBron back in. He immediately got to work, drilling a trademark stepback three over Tony Snell to tie the score at 110 a possession before barreling to the rim for a go-ahead three-point play. Snell got his revenge though, hitting a transition three to put the Bucks back on top. After a Kyle Korver miss, LeBron nearly stole a Snell pass that would have set up an end-of-game possession for Cleveland down two but Giannis stole it from him and notched a three-point play of his own to seal the W.

The gamewinner. What a finish. (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/TfWEQkIhGk

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 20, 2017

It was another casual 39-point night for LeBron to go with seven assists. Kevin Love also played well, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 boards. Korver and Jae Crowder missed a lot of open looks, combined to go 0-for-9 from beyond the arc. Giannis (27 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists) and Eric Bledsoe (26 points) were great from start to finish for Milwaukee, while Khris Middleton added an 18-point, 10-assist double-double and Brogdon chipped in 16 off the bench.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

The post Post Up: Open Season appeared first on SLAM.

The Lakers scored the final five points of regulation to force overtime, but the Knicks never trailed in OT, riding 37 points from Kristaps Porzingis to a thrilling win at the Garden. Enes Kanter helped Porzingis out with 14 points (7-10 FG) and 11 rebounds. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 24 to lead the Lakers.

One quarter to go on ESPN… (via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/ot2kMCTL84

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 13, 2017

Mavericks 95 (8-20), Spurs 89 (19-9)

Kawhi Leonard returned to the court and provided a few highlights for the Spurs, but they still fell at Dallas, thanks to five Mavericks in double-figures. Leonard had 13 points in his return to help out LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 23 points and 13 boards. Harrison Barnes led the balanced Dallas attack with 17 points.

Welcome back, Kawhi (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/jheN0nw59T

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 13, 2017

Cavaliers 123 (20-8), Hawks 114 (6-21)

To no one’s surprise, LeBron James was nearly flawless on Tuesday. His 25 points came on 11 of 13 shooting. He also had just two turnovers and a career-high-tying 17 assists. That helped the Cavs win their 15th game in 16 tries, as Cleveland got going early thanks to nine first-quarter threes. Kyle Korver went 6-9 from three, and as a team, Cleveland shot 20-38 from deep. That was too much for Taurean Prince (24 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and Kent Bazemore (20 points, eight rebounds) to keep up with.

.@cediosman sinks the season-high tying three for our 18th 3-pointer in #CavsHawks! pic.twitter.com/tE2dml1YYB

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 13, 2017

Nets 103 (11-15), Wizards 98 (14-13)

Allen Crabbe’s three with 44 seconds left put the Nets up two, lifting them to a close win in Brooklyn. That helped overshadow Crabbe’s rough shooting night — he went just 3-15 from the field, with 14 of those attempts coming from three. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Joe Harris each had 16 to lead the Nets, and Bradley Beal led all scorers with 28.

LOOK OUT! pic.twitter.com/igFK43GeN1

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 13, 2017

Nuggets 103 (15-12), Pistons 84 (14-13)

Jamal Murray‘s 28 points were plenty for a Denver team still playing without Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic. Of course it helped that the Pistons committed 20 turnovers and shot 35 percent for the game. Langston Galloway had 18 points on 5-7 three-point shooting to lead Detroit.

POSTER pic.twitter.com/w6heUSkt5M

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 13, 2017

Kings 99 (9-18), Suns 92 (9-20)

The Kings used a 13-0 fourth-quarter run to pull ahead and hold off the Suns. George Hill led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds for Sacramento and T.J. Warren had 18 for the Suns. Phoenix has now lost four in a row.

76ers 118 (14-13), Timberwolves 112 (16-12) OT

The lead changed hands three times in the final minute of regulation, starting with a Jimmy Butler three with 47 seconds remaining. Joel Embiid answered 15 seconds later, before Butler hit another three with 17 seconds left. Embiid then drew a foul and tied the game at the line, sending it to overtime. From there, the 76ers took control, with Embiid and JJ Redick each scoring seven in the extra session. Embiid had 28 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, to go with 26 from Redick. Butler had 38 for Minnesota.

EMPHATIC. (via @Timberwolves) pic.twitter.com/OsrW6g3BAn

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) December 13, 2017

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LeBron clowned the heckler while leading his squad past Chicago 113-91.

LeBron to #Bulls fan heckling him: “I hope that ain’t your girl next to you because she’s filming me. Bum.” pic.twitter.com/lC897O7yN1

— FootBasket.com (@FootBasketcom) December 7, 2017

Cleveland is riding a 13-game winning streak, but Bron is far from satisfied.

Per the AP:

“He’s amazing,” said Kyle Korver. “He’s just demanding the ball. He’s like, ‘Give me the ball, we’re about to win.’ And, I’ve been around some guys who’ve had amazing years. I’ve been playing with him and Derrick (Rose) when he was MVP. Allen Iverson when I was young.

 

“But he’s taken this to a whole new level. It’s amazing to have a better than a front-row seat, because I’m usually on the court next to him somewhere. I’m glad he’s on my team.”

 

While Cleveland’s win streak is impressive, James said he won’t consider anything special until the Cavs nearly double it.

 

“Twenty-five,” he said when asked where the streak needs to get to before becoming significant. “Because you’re getting close to 33 (Lakers 1971-72), that’s the all-time record. We ain’t nowhere near close. We got close in Miami. We got to 27 and lost to Chicago.”

The post LeBron James Fires Back at Heckling Bulls Fan appeared first on SLAM.

It’s the day before the NBA season is scheduled to kick off and Hardaway Jr is dribbling and shooting around on a beat-up court in Harlem’s Morningside Park. Following an unseasonably warm early fall, there’s a chill to the air that reminds us that along with the grueling winter months ahead, NBA basketball is back after a fun offseason that saw superstars changing teams at a pace that had everyone’s heads spinning and Twitter feeds on fire.

While Hardaway Jr works on his dribble and gets a few shots up on an uneven, net-less rim that is at least 12-feet high, I ask him what he thinks about all the moves that went down—in particular the heavy roster turnover that took place in Cleveland.

“Oh, they’re gonna be tough,” he says. “Especially once IT gets back from injury.”

As he rises for another picturesque jump shot, I remind him that Dwyane Wade recently signed with the team, too. Instead of letting go of the rock at the apex of his jumper, he holds on to the ball and shoots me a bewildered look as his Jordan Vs hit the ground.

“Yo!” he exclaims. “I forgot about that. Crazy.”

It was that kind of offseason.

Slightly lost in the shuffle was the big deal that brought Hardaway Jr back to New York. In July, the shooting guard inked a four-year, $71 million contract with the Knicks, the organization that drafted him in 2013. While some pundits scratched their heads at the deal, the 25-year-old readied himself to begin his second stint as a Knick.

“It feels great to be back in New York,” he says at his apartment as his French bulldog Otto keeps an eye on things. “You feel more like a Knick, you know? You always feel good when you’re living in the city for the team you play for. My previous years, I didn’t live here. I lived up north in White Plains by the practice facility in Westchester. [Living in the city] is new for me—it’s great. New team, new front office, new system and new goals. I’m happy right now and I’m ready for the journey.”

Though he’s only been in the League since 2013, Hardaway Jr’s journey thus far has already taken him from New York to Atlanta to a stint in the G-League to the Hawks’ starting lineup, and now back to New York. He’s been a first-round pick, been part of the worst team in Knicks franchise history, traded, demoted, seen his minutes cut, made the playoffs and, most importantly, carved out a role for himself as a legit scorer who can get hot and give a team 30.

“I’ve been through it all,” he says. “I’ve been to the playoffs, been on the worst team in Knicks history, down to the [D-] League, to a point where I wasn’t seeing the court at all. I’ve been through it all in the last five years. It was hard.”

As a rookie in 2013-14, Hardaway Jr was a regular rotation player and appeared in 81 games with New York. A scorer off the bench, the late first-round pick averaged 10.2 points per game, good enough to earn First Team All-Rookie honors.

The following season, Derek Fisher took over head coaching duties from Mike Woodson and the Knicks were a train wreck. The team won 17 games and Hardaway Jr saw his minutes and role fluctuate. After a promising rookie season, he averaged 11.5 points per game and his field goal percentage dipped below 40 percent.

On the night of the 2015 Draft, Hardaway Jr was attending a party at Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine restaurant with teammates Cleanthony Early and Langston Galloway. Shortly after the Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis, Hardaway Jr got a call from his agent and learned that he’d been traded to Atlanta for the draft rights to point guard Jerian Grant.

“I was just devastated,” Hardaway Jr says. “I really had big plans going into that summer to rebuild and play like I did my rookie season and it sucked that I couldn’t get the job done.”

In Atlanta, Hardaway Jr found himself on a crowded roster that included vets like Kyle Korver, Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha. He didn’t play a single minute until a win over Boston on November 24. In December of 2015, he was sent to the D-League, where he played first for the Canton Charge and then the Austin Spurs. He ended up playing five games total between the two teams, but credits the experience as a pivotal point in his career.

“I could have went down to the [D-] League and had an attitude where I said, You know what? I’m not even gonna play basketball, or, I’m just going to stay in the [D-]League and cry about it and not play with heart and passion,” he says. “I had my best friends, my parents, my sisters and my agent constantly being on top of me telling me to do the right things and play with a smile on my face. Everyone may see the [D-] League as a negative, but I see it as a way to improve. It was great for me, but it’s not for everyone. You have to go out there and earn it. If you’re not playing hard, they’ll find somebody else.”

Once he was called back up to the Hawks in January 2016, he became a fixture in the rotation and played in 25 straight games, earning minutes during the Hawks’ playoff run. While he only averaged 6.4 points, 1.7 boards and 1.0 assists on the season, the former Michigan Wolverine had regained his footing as a player.

During the 2016-17 season, an improved Hardaway Jr put up career-highs of 14.5 points, 2.8 boards and 2.3 assists per game. With his restricted free agency looming, the shooting guard played the best ball of his career down the stretch, averaging 18 points a night over the final three months of the regular season. In Atlanta’s first-round series against the Wizards, Hardaway Jr averaged 12.8 points over 33.5 minutes per game.

Back up in New York, the franchise was undergoing a change. Team president Phil Jackson was fired and general manager Steve Mills took over. Without a new GM in place, Mills offered Hardaway Jr a four-year, $71 million contract, which the Hawks did not match.

Just like that, Hardaway Jr was on his way back to the team that drafted him.

“It was a surprising feeling,” Hardaway Jr says of getting the call from the Knicks. “I feel like they sent me away to camp and they said, Well, we’ll see where you are down the road. Once I got a call from my agent that the Knicks were interested and they were willing to invest in my abilities, I was happy. I felt like I was on my way home. I felt like there was some unfinished business to take care of.”

“I was excited when I heard that we were signing him,” adds teammate Kristaps Porzingis. “That’s another young guy who works hard and is willing to do the right things to grow as a team. In the preseason, to me, he looked great. He was making shots and getting to the basket. He’s an explosive player. He’s only going to get more comfortable with the team, and me and him are going to find that connection on the court and that’s going to help us. I like his mentality—he’s a hard worker and I enjoy playing with him.”

While Hardaway Jr was thrilled to be coming back, not all Knicks fans and analysts shared the same sentiment. With Jackson gone, and Carmelo Anthony traded to the Thunder, the franchise appeared to be on the way to a true rebuild with Porzingis and rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina as the centerpieces. Many scoffed at the big money given to Hardaway Jr (What was he supposed to do? Say no?), but based on other recent deals that have been given out to shooting guards—like the four-year, $84 million extension given to Nuggets guard Gary Harris—Hardaway Jr could have the same people who originally blasted the big offer singing his praises by the end of the season.

“I have to use [criticism] as motivation,” he says. “I take it as those are your fans and they’re coming at you with that. It hurts. But at the same time, you can’t harp on that. You have to go out there and show that you deserve what the Knicks offered. At the end of the day, it’s not my fault. They came to me. I knew that if it was something big, I would have to deliver. I’ve been delivering since last season in Atlanta. I feel like I’m confident and capable of getting what I got money-wise and going out there and playing for the team and playing for the franchise and playing for the city.”

Hardaway Jr’s season didn’t get off to an ideal start. Through the first three games of the season the Knicks were 0-3 and the team’s new shooting guard was averaging 9.3 points and shooting under 30 percent. But THJ then turned things around quickly—the Knicks won three straight and he broke out of his slump with a 34-point game against the Cavs. Hardaway Jr is now averaging 17.5 points, 4.4 boards and 2.9 assists on the season, and the Knicks, who weren’t projected to win a whole lot of games this season, sit at a surprising 8-7.

Hardaway Jr is optimistic about the team’s chances.

“Behind closed doors, no one else sees it, but I see it—everybody is bustin’ their tail and wants to prove everybody wrong out there. We believe in ourselves and people can take it how they want it, [but] I feel like we can sneak into the playoffs. Everybody can laugh at that statement but I feel like it can happen. If we come out there and play hard every night, knock down shots and get stops when we need to, we can make it.”

—

Peter Walsh is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @peter_m_walsh.

Portraits by Joseph L. Sherman, action shot via Getty Images.

Video by Veronica Studios.

The post The Big Payback appeared first on SLAM.

Kanter vowed not to let James “punk” the New York Knicks.

Enes Kanter, who scuffled with James: "I don't care who you are. What do you call yourself? King, Queen, Princess. Whatever you are. We're going to fight. Nobody out there is going to punk us." Wow

— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) November 14, 2017

LeBron brushed off Kanter’s barbs by reminding him that he is indeed the “king.”

LeBron’s response to Enes Kanter’s comments (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/sPmUtnBY9E

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) November 14, 2017

James ruined New Yorkers’ day by leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 104-101 comeback win.

Per the AP:

James had 23 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, Kyle Korver scored 19 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to spark a huge comeback, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat New York 104-101 on Monday night.

 

Cleveland outscored New York 43-25 in the fourth, making more 3s than the Knicks had baskets (8). But the turnaround started late in the third with the second unit in.

 

“Now we just kept talking about chipping away, chipping away,” Dwyane Wade said. “And then as you saw Kyle Korver got going and then when you saw LeBron check back in, you knew, OK. You saw the waves coming.”

The post Enes Kanter: LeBron James Won’t Punk the Knicks appeared first on SLAM.

Washington’s offense continues to hum with John Wall and Bradley Beal playing really good basketball.

Wall had 21 points on 8-9 FG, and showed fellow UK point guard De’Aaron Fox a thing or two.

John Wall teaches De’Aaron Fox a lesson (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/WwIaIup5SM

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 14, 2017

Cavs 104 (7-7), Knicks 101 (7-6)

Tensions were running high at Madison Square Garden when LeBron James‘ Cavs visited the Knicks.

LeBron took an indirect shot at Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina on Saturday, saying that New York made a mistake by passing on Dennis Smith Jr in the 2017 Draft.

After throwing down an alley-oop late in the first quarter, LeBron bumped into Ntilikina, who shoved James in return.

Enes Kanter then came to Ntilikina’s defense by getting into James’ face.

Things getting chippy between LeBron and the Knicks pic.twitter.com/zAhQt6QSvz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 14, 2017

Cleveland only managed 13 points in the second quarter, and all the momentum was heading in New York’s direction.

The Cavs trailed by 23 points late in the third quarter when they began to turn things around.

The fourth quarter was an exhibition of force by LeBron James (23 points, 7-13 FG, 12 assists, 9 boards) and expert shooting by Kyle Korver (19 points in the quarter, 21 overall). The Cavs put up 43 points in the final frame, and LeBron, of course, delivered the dagger while being guarded by Kristaps Porzingis.

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/7XzAsAh5NE

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 14, 2017

Grizzlies 103 (7-6), Bucks 110 (7-6)

Since trading for Eric Bledsoe last week, Milwaukee has gone 3-0.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) has benefitted from having another playmaker on the court, and John Henson (17 points, 8 boards) looks much improved with consistent minutes.

Hawks 105 (2-12), Pelicans 106 (8-6)

After jumping out to a 32-23 advange after the first quarter, Atlanta actually held a lead until the fourth quarter.

Anthony Davis (13 points, 10 boards, 7 dimes) and DeMarcus Cousins (22 points, 16 boards, 7 dimes) did their thing, but it was Darius Miller who gave the Pels a needed boost, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the fourth.

Lakers 100 (6-8), Suns 93 (5-10)

The Lakers are officially the No. 1 team in L.A. once again (by record at least).

Jordan Clarkson (25 points) and Corey Brewer (13 points, 5-7 FG) played crucial minutes off the bench as the Lakers took care of business in the fourth quarter.

Wolves 109 (8-5), Jazz 98 (6-8)

It wasn’t pretty but Minnesota bounced back from a loss to Phoenix with a W against the Rudy Gobert-less Jazz.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler added 21 points and 10 assists in the win.

Nuggets 82 (8-6), Blazers 99 (7-6)

Portland’s defense continues to stifle opponents, knocking flat a Nuggets team that won 5 of their last 6 games.

Damian Lillard had 15 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Magic 100 (8-6), Warriors 110 (11-3)

The Warriors now have the second-longest winning streak in the L with 7 dubs in a row.

Even with Stephen Curry (thigh contusion) sitting out, Golden State had no problem putting together another dominant third quarter that essentially buried the Magic.

Kevin Durant led the way with 21 points and 8 dimes in just over 30 minutes of work.

Sixers 109 (7-6), Clippers 105 (5-8)

For Robert Covington, it’s a great time to be alive.

Not only did he score a season-high 31 points with 5-8 shooting from three, but he’s allegedly going to sign a contract extension on Wednesday.

Joel Embiid played a season-high 36 minutes and scored 32 points with 16 boards. As Embiid said out there on the court, he could not be stopped.

It’s too easy for Embiid (via @sixers) https://t.co/RTbk29N5kz

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 14, 2017

As for the Clippers, they’ve lost six straight games after beating the Mavs on November 1.

The post Post Up: Mood Forever… appeared first on SLAM.

LeBron started at point guard because, well, he can do that, and the Cavs pulled away in the fourth quarter against the Bulls. Down a point headed into the fourth quarter, the Cavs hit three threes (two from Kyle Korver) in the first 2:03 of the final period and never trailed again.

LeBron had 34 points and 13 assists, while Kevin Love had 20 and 12 rebounds.

He does what he wants (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/Os1Cv0bTPc

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 25, 2017

For Cleveland, the win snapped a five-game losing streak against the Bulls and got them back on track after a blowout loss to the Magic last time out.

The bright spot for Chicago: Lauri Markkanen. The rookie posted 19-and-eight and was relentless:

Can’t deny the rookie (via @nbatv) pic.twitter.com/30ZUNVIjiJ

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 25, 2017

Magic 125 (3-1), Nets 121 (2-2)

Aaron Gordon had the game of his life, scoring a career-high 41 points on 14-18 shooting, including 5-5 from three.

The Magic needed every bit of it to beat the Nets, including Gordon’s three with 36 seconds left that put Orlando ahead for good. Gordon was unstoppable on Tuesday, going off after sitting the Magic’s last two games with an injury.

1 v. 4 and @Double0AG doesn’t care (via @OrlandoMagic) pic.twitter.com/Bkl8FRuGi6

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 24, 2017

D’Angelo Russell had 29 in the loss for Brooklyn.

Celtics 110 (2-2), Knicks 89 (0-3)

The Celtics won their second straight behind strong efforts from young players and veterans alike. Rookie Jayson Tatum had the best game of his young career, scoring 22 points to go with four rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Kyrie Irving had 20 points and seven assists, and Jaylen Brown had 23 points and one of these:

Happy 21st, @FCHWPO (via @celtics) pic.twitter.com/lPHT0tkqaR

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 25, 2017

Enes Kanter had 16 points and 19 boards for the Knicks, who shot just 1-12 from three and 42 percent overall.

Pacers 130 (2-2), Timberwolves 107 (2-2)

The Pacers put up some of the most ridiculous offensive numbers you’ll ever see, led by a franchise-record 66.7 percent shooting from the field. Bojan Bogdanovic, Domantas Sabonis, and Thaddeus Young combined to shoot 20/25, and Darren Collison had 15 points and 16 assists.

Needless to say, the Timberwolves didn’t stand much of a chance. Karl Anthony Towns had 28 points and perhaps the pass of the night, but this one will be remembered for a truly outstanding performance from Indiana.

If you’re not impressed that’s your issue not ours. pic.twitter.com/pIWKv2Clps

— Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 25, 2017

Trail Blazers 103 (3-1), Pelicans 93 (1-3)

The Blazers extended their own NBA-record home opener winning streak with their 17th straight, pulling away late from the Pelicans.

Portland trailed by two going into the fourth quarter, but quickly built a double-digit lead, making it appear as though the game was in hand. Then the Pelicans went on a 12-2 run to make it interesting before CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard put the game away.

DeMarcus Cousins led all scorers with 39 points to go with 13 rebounds, but McCollum’s 23, as well as four other players in double figures, was enough for Portland.

Clippers 102 (3-0), Jazz 84 (2-2)

Blake Griffin’s game-high 22 points was more than enough for the Clippers, who used a 33-15 third quarter to quiet any drama in their game against the Jazz. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 18 of LA’s 44 total rebounds.

Between Jordan and Griffin, the Clippers outscored the Jazz 52-34 in the paint. Griffin had the exclamation point:

Excuse me coming through. pic.twitter.com/FiawcatHpb

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 25, 2017

The post Post Up: A Record Night for the Pacers and Blazers appeared first on SLAM.

A lot was made of Lonzo Ball’s three-point opening night performance on Thursday.

But Ball silenced the doubters, at least for a night, by flirting with a triple-double with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists.

Ball was the catalyst on a night that the Lakers looked much better overall, especially with plays like this (note the assist goes to the rookie out of UCLA):

Ball movement #LakeShow

(: @SpectrumSN / @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/2AdOcZCFFh

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 21, 2017

The Lakers trailed by three at the half, but came out of the locker room to quickly take the lead thanks to a couple baskets from Brandon Ingram. He finished with 25 for LA, while Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with a game-high 28 points.

Cavaliers 116 (2-0), Bucks 97 (1-1) 

Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his stellar start to the season (34 points, eight rebounds, eight assists), but LeBron and company pulled away in the second half as the Cavs earned their second win.

Kyle Korver provided some firepower off the bench, scoring 17 points on 5-6 shooting from three for Cleveland. Three of those came in the third quarter as Cleveland extended its lead.

Watch @KyleKorver sink all five of his #CavsBucks triples … with 3 in the 3Q!
pic.twitter.com/wFZieCuwdF

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 21, 2017

LeBron had 24 on 10-16 shooting, while Kevin Love had a double-double with 17 and 12.

Timberwolves 100 (1-1), Jazz 97 (1-1)

The Timberwolves got the best of Ricky Rubio and the Jazz in Rubio’s return to Minnesota.

Rubio did have 19 points, 10 assists, and a rousing ovation from the crowd, but it was Jamal Crawford’s three with 28 seconds left that lifted Minnesota to victory. Crawford’s shot put the Timberwolves ahead 98-96, with a few free throws the rest of the way providing the final margin.

Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 21 points, three of them coming like this, to end the first half.

Wiggins. From deep. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/H0KyyCrxi7

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 21, 2017

Hornets 109 (1-1), Hawks 91 (1-1) 

Charlotte outscored Atlanta 35-17 in the third quarter, turning a tie game at halftime into a comfortable first win of the season. Kemba Walker (26 points, nine assists) was great again, while Dwight Howard and Frank Kaminsky added 21 and 20 respectively.

Howard also had an interesting encounter with an official after committing a foul:

Wyd, Dwight pic.twitter.com/DIXImtDcZj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 21, 2017

As for the Hawks, Dennis Schroder had 25 as 13 players saw at least three minutes.

Trail Blazers 114 (2-0), Pacers 96 (1-1)

Portland improved to 2-0 with the road win behind 28 points from CJ McCollum and a strong performance from Al-Farouq Aminu.

Aminu had a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Blazers methodically build a lead that they held much of the night.

It may have been a loss for Indiana, but Pacers fans can take solace in getting to see this dunk from Victor Oladipo, in which he elevated roughly 35 feet in the air.

Sometimes it’s just not fair. (via @pacers) pic.twitter.com/31vL4IufeK

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 21, 2017

Celtics 102 (1-2), 76ers 92 (0-2) 

In a tie game with just over seven minutes to go and staring at a potential 0-3 start, the Celtics finished the game on an 18-8 run to escape Philadelphia with a win. Kyrie Irving (21 points) scored seven in that stretch.

JJ Redick led the way for Philadelphia with 19 points while the younger core of the team struggled offensively. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz combined to shoot just 10-36 (27.7 percent), though Simmons and Embiid both had double-digit rebounds. 

Wizards 115 (2-0), Pistons 111 (1-1) 

John Wall blocked Reggie Jackson’s attempt in the final minute that would have tied the game, allowing the Wizards to hold off a Pistons rally late. Wall also scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to go with his 10 assists.

Jackson had 21 to lead Detroit, while Andre Drummond added nine points and 12 rebounds inside.

You can count on Wall to provide at least one play a night that you’ll want to watch on a loop. Here was tonight’s:

John Wall is unreal. (via @WashWizards) pic.twitter.com/EyaV3t0arp

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 21, 2017

Nets 126 (1-1), Magic 121 (1-1)

Nikola Vucevic’s second consecutive great game wasn’t enough for the Magic to escape Brooklyn with a win. Vucevic had 41 points on 17-22 shooting from the field and 6-8 shooting from three, along with 12 rebounds.

Brooklyn countered with a balanced attack that included six players in double figures.

The Nets held a slim lead for most of the fourth quarter, and nearly gave it away when Terrence Ross pulled the Magic to within one on a three with 14 seconds to go.  Evan Fournier, however, missed a three of his own on the ensuing possession, giving the Nets their first victory of the year.

Kings 93 (1-1), Mavericks 88 (0-2) 

Fresh off a statement regular season debut, Dennis Smith Jr. was a late scratch for the Mavericks with a knee injury.

The Dallas rookie had 16 points and 10 assists in his first game and the injury is not believed to be serious, according to coach Rick Carlisle. Still, there’s some cause for concern as it is the same knee that Smith Jr. had surgically repaired two years ago.

George Hill had 21 to lead the Kings, while rookie De’Aaron Fox came off the bench to contribute nine points and 10 assists.

Warriors 128 (1-1), Pelicans 120 (0-2) 

The defending champs earned their first win of the season behind 33 points from Klay Thompson and 28 from Steph Curry.

The Pelicans, led by 35 each from Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, were up 13 after a quarter, thanks to a 10-0 run capped in dramatic fashion by Davis.

Boogie AD to cap a 10-0 run for the #Pelicans!#DoItBig pic.twitter.com/WIgx7HYUmW

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 21, 2017

The Warriors trailed by as many as 17, but came back, scoring 11 of the final 13 points of the first half to pull within three at the break. Thompson went 7-11 from three overall, and his triple to start the third quarter completed the comeback and pulled Golden State even.

The post Post Up: Lonzo Ball Breaks Out as Lakers Earn First Win appeared first on SLAM.

“He was fine. It’s tough, you’ve been in position where you went to three straight Finals and you’ve been the starting 2-guard. But like I said it’s about sacrifice if you want to win. JR was great about it. Just knows he has to have a different role right now so we’ll see how it works.”

“I think at the end of the day, when guys sign here and wanted to come here, we all know what we’re here for,” LeBron James said, also in a quote on Cleveland.com. “So, there’s no ego. The only ego is bring your game, which these guys know how to do. We all have a common goal so none of that other stuff matters.”

Lue went on to say that though Derrick Rose will start, he’ll also run the second-unit offense, teaming with Smith and Tristan Thompson, another longtime starter. Kyle Korver and Jeff Green will most likely join that trio to form the Cavs’ go-to bench players.

The Cavs will go into opening night with a starting lineup that includes Rose, Wade, James, Jae Crowder and Kevin Love. They open up the regular season on October 17 against the Celtics.

Related
Tristan Thompson Wants to Win Sixth Man of the Year

h/t Cleveland.com

The post Ty Lue Confirms That Dwyane Wade Will Start, JR Smith Will Come Off the Bench appeared first on SLAM.

Perfect pair: Wade, LeBron 'like peanut butter and jelly' (from @AP) https://t.co/CM0pLD7hTl

— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) September 29, 2017

“It’s like peanut butter and jelly, man, we just go together,” Wade said.

Wade and James still can’t believe they’ve been re-united in Cleveland, with a chance to compete for a third NBA championship together.

D-Wade says his integration into the Cavs’ system has been “seamless.”

Per the AP:

“Every time we walk by each other in the locker room and everywhere, we just look at each other and shake our head because it just don’t seem real,” Wade said Friday. “It’s like, ‘How did this happen? How did we get here?’ We just start laughing every time we walk by each other.

 

“It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t expected, but when it happened it happened and everything happened fast. It’s definitely cool. It’s definitely good to have a friend here, somebody that you respect here, that’s playing the game here.”

 

When he arrived earlier this week, Wade found himself in familiar company: James, Cavs assistant coaches and former teammates James Posey and Damon Jones, and players he’s battled with over the years like Derrick Rose, Kyle Korver and Richard Jefferson.

 

“I’ve been around Bron, I’ve been around this organization for a while from afar, so I knew everybody,” Wade said. “I knew the coaches. It was seamless. I was telling my family. It was just like, just get me a jersey and I just got out there and it felt normal. It felt seamless. That made me at ease.”

Related
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“I personally always said he was staying,” Durant said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

 

“I told him this,” Durant added. “That’s me. I feel like he’s going to end it in Cleveland. That’s his crib now. He run it and he gonna turn it into something mega when he’s done. He’s going to do something.”

LeBron can become a free agent next summer.

The Cavs, meanwhile, are said to be working under the widely-held assumption that James will bolt.

Per The Ringer:

Multiple sources told me that [Dan] Gilbert is operating under the assumption that LeBron will opt out of his contract next summefr and leave Cleveland. So Gilbert and Altman targeted (Kyrie) Irving trade packages that set up the franchise for the post-LeBron era, rather than the instant-gratification deals they’ve made over the last three years (e.g., trading first-rounders for Channing Frye or Kyle Korver).

 

A front-office executive from another team inquiring about Irving told me that knowing LeBron was staying in Cleveland would have changed what the Cavs asked for in return for Kyrie. Though a wide range of league sources believe LeBron is LeGone, it’s not certain. Regardless, Cleveland doesn’t want to be caught flat-footed. The variety of assets included in Boston’s Irving offer allowed Cleveland to be competitive in 2017–18 while preparing for life after LeBron. Cleveland might have considered [Isaiah] Thomas the third-most valuable incoming asset, but the team still wanted a healthy version of him.

 

Gilbert criticized the Indiana Pacers for the Victor Oladipo–and–Domantas Sabonis package they accepted for Paul George, reflecting a sentiment held by much of the public back in July. Now, he’s embroiled in his own blockbuster-trade controversy, fielding criticisms that could have dire ramifications. Multiple sources with knowledge of Gilbert’s mind-set believe the Cavs owner cares deeply about how the deal will be seen today and in the future, both internally and across the league—Thomas’s health and a less enthusiastic James and (Tyronn) Lue had Gilbert shook.

Related
Kevin Durant on LeBron James: ‘Can’t Trade a Legend’

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New York drafted the 25-year-old in the 2013 NBA Draft, traded him two years later to Atlanta, and now is offering him mega-bucks.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was traded for Jerian Grant who was traded for Derrick Rose who was renounced so NYK could sign Hardaway Jr. for $71M.

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 7, 2017

Hawks were thinking something in the neighborhood of $45M for Hardaway. This latest act of Knickery should make the call easier.

— Kevin Arnovitz (@kevinarnovitz) July 7, 2017

Hardaway averaged 14.5 points per game in 28 minutes for the Hawks last season.

Per ESPN:

The Hawks will have two days to match the offer, which contains a 15% trade kicker and a player option in the fourth year, per sources.

 

In particular, Hardaway flourished after the Hawks traded Kyle Korver to Cleveland midway through the season. In the final six weeks of the regular season, Hardaway averaged 18 points in 32 minutes per game, hitting 38 percent of his 3-point attempts.

 

He has become a more well-rounded player with the Hawks, who transformed him by initially benching him and sending him to the NBA’s D-League. Hardaway eventually developed into a key rotation player for Atlanta and started games for the club late in the regular season and in the playoffs.

 

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said retaining Hardaway was a priority for Atlanta entering the offseason.

The post Tim Hardaway Jr. Inks 4-Year, $71 Million Offer Sheet from Knicks appeared first on SLAM.

Free agent Kyle Korver has agreed to a three-year, $22M deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources tell The Vertical.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2017

The sharp shooter hit 45 percent of his 3-point attempts last season and averaged 10.1 points per game. Korver turned 36 in March.

RELATED:
2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker

The post Kyle Korver Agrees To Re-Sign With Cavs For 3 Years, $22 Million appeared first on SLAM.

Undoubtedly influenced by the Warriors’ dominance last season, teams have been making big acquisitions to counter the reigning champions.

As usual, we’ve broken down the NBA free agent signings into two categories: “On The Move” and “Staying Put.”

Below is a comprehensive look at the agreements made since the free-agency period began at midnight on July 1. Everything is a verbal agreement until the moratorium period ends on July 7.

Let us know in the comments who you think has had the best and worst offseason so far!

ON THE MOVE

Gordon Hayward: 4-year, $128 million deal with Celtics

Paul Millsap: 3-year, $90 million deal with Nuggets

Jeff Teague: 3-year, $57 million deal with Wolves

George Hill: 3-year, $57 million deal with Kings

JJ Redick: 1-year, $23 million deal with Sixers

Taj Gibson: 2-year, $28 million deal with Timberwolves

Danilo Gallinari: 3-year, $65 million deal with Clippers

Rudy Gay: 2-year, $17 million deal with Spurs

Jonathon Simmons: 3-year, $20 million deal with Magic

PJ Tucker: 4-year, $32 million deal with Rockets

Nick Young: 1-year, $5.2 million deal with Warriors

Omri Casspi: 1-year deal with Warriors

Langston Galloway: 3-year, $21 million deal with Pistons

Zach Randolph: 2-year, $24 million deal with Kings

Vince Carter: 1-year, $8 million deal with Kings

Patrick Patterson: 3-year, $16.7 million deal with Thunder

Kelly Olynyk: 4-year, $50-plus million deal with Heat

Darren Collison: 2-year, $20 million deal with Pacers

Ben McLemore: 2-year, $10.7 million deal with Grizzlies

Justin Holiday: 2-year, $9 million deal with Bulls

Tyreke Evans: 1-year, $3.3 million deal with Grizzlies

Jodie Meeks: 2-year, $7 million deal with Wizards

Bojan Bogdanovic: 2-year, $21 million deal with Pacers

Amir Johnson: 1-year, $11 million deal with Sixers

Michael Carter-Williams: 1-year, $2.7 million deal with Hornets

Jose Calderon: 1-year, $2.3 million deal with Cavaliers

Arron Afflalo: 1-year, $2.3 million deal with Magic

Zhou Qi: Multiyear deal with Rockets

Mike Scott: Veteran’s minimum deal with Wizards

Jamal Crawford: two-year, $8.9 million deal with Timberwolves

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: 1-year, $18 million deal with Lakers

Dewayne Dedmon: 2-year, $14 million deal with Hawks

Ramon Sessions: 1-year, $2.3 million deal with Knicks

Terrence Jones: 1-year, $2 million deal in China

Brandon Jennings: 1-year, $1.5 million deal in China

Ian Clark: 1-year, $1.6 million deal with Pelicans

Michael Beasley: 1-year deal with Knicks

STAYING PUT

Stephen Curry: 5-year, $201 million deal with Warriors

Kevin Durant: 2-year, $53 million deal with Warriors

Blake Griffin: 5-year, $173 million deal with Clippers

Jrue Holiday: 5-year, $126 million deal with Pelicans

Kyle Lowry: 3-year, $100 million deal with Raptors

Serge Ibaka: 3-year, $65 million deal with Raptors

Dion Waiters: 4-year, $52 million deal with Heat

Andre Iguodala: 3-year, $48 million deal with Warriors

James Johnson: 4-year, $60 million deal with Heat

Joe Ingles: 4-year, $52 million deal with Jazz

Patty Mills: 4-year, $50 million deal with Spurs

Tony Snell: 4-year, $46 million deal with Bucks

Cristiano Felicio: 4-year, $32 million deal with Bulls

Mason Plumlee: 3-year, $41 million with Nuggets

Shaun Livingston: 3-year, $24 million deal with Warriors

Kyle Korver: 3-year, $22 million deal with Cavs

Nene: 3-year, $11 million deal with Rockets

JaMychal Green: 2-year, $17 million deal with Grizzlies

Manu Ginobili: 2-year, $5 million with Spurs

David West: 1-year deal with Warriors

Andre Roberson: 3-year, $30 million deal with OKC

Mike Muscala: 2-year, $10 million deal with Hawks

Otto Porter: four-year, $106.5 million deal with the Wizards

The post 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker appeared first on SLAM.

The 3-on-3 boom has everyone talking about who’d they put on their squad. LeBron James says he’d pick Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, while JR Smith said he’d rock with Kyrie Irving and Kyle Korver.

“It’s great for basketball,” LeBron said, via the AP. “For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it’s pretty great. I haven’t seen the full layout of how they plan on executing it … are they going to use NBA guys, are they going to use college guys. I’m not quite sure. I’m not very good in a 3-on-3 thing. I’m more of a 5-on-5 guy. I stay out of the 1-on-1 matchups during our practice, the 2-on-2 and the 3-on-3s. So probably not. I probably won’t be a part of the 3-on-3 matchup.”

Draymond Green was also asked about 3-on-3, saying, via ESPN, “I grew up playing street ball so to have 3-on-3 a part of the Olympics I think it’s also something guys can win that are not pro athletes. So I think that could be really good. You see in these other sports where they go compete in the Olympics but they have regular day jobs. I think that can be like that for 3-on-3. So I think that can be great.”

Eight men’s and women’s teams will compete in the first-ever 3-on-3 Olympic tournament in 2020.

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Dennis Scott Talks Dew NBA 3x

h/t ESPN and AP

The post LeBron Says He’d Pick Magic and Michael Jordan As 3-on-3 Teammates appeared first on SLAM.

Jefferson points out that the Warriors signed Kevin Durant, while Cleveland merely added Kyle Korver and Deron Williams to their title defense.

Video of Richard Jefferson proclaiming all the pressure is on Golden State for Game 5 pic.twitter.com/itwWpD9hiQ

— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) June 11, 2017

The Dubs hold a 3-1 series lead, and are looking to close things out tonight in Oakland.

Per the AP:

The Cavaliers and Warriors, who have tangled for three consecutive Junes, headed back to the West Coast on Saturday after Cleveland’s record-setting 137-116 victory. Kyrie Irving said he was aware the Warriors wanted to finish a 16-0 romp through the postseason and celebrate a title on the Cavs’ court, just as they did in 2015.

 

But Draymond Green said Golden State is eager to end this one back in the Bay.

 

“We have a golden opportunity going home on Monday to close this thing out. I’ve won one on the road. I want to see how it feels to win at home,” he said. “We have to come out with some fire and try it get done.”

The post Richard Jefferson: All Pressure on the Warriors appeared first on SLAM.

And with that, fans waited and waited and waited as the two squads tore through their respective conferences, and this Thursday will finally tip-off what’s expected to be the first competitive series either team has faced in the 2017 playoffs.

This perceived lack of competition has greatly affected the ticket market this season, as fans for each team simply saved their money for the impending NBA Finals, resulting in both the Cavaliers and Warriors showcasing record low prices for the playoffs. According to TicketIQ, the average price for the Cavaliers over the first 3 rounds was $188, a 29 percent decrease from 2016 ($265) and a 40 percent decrease from 2015 ($314). Meanwhile the Warriors average price over the first 3 rounds was $497, a 21 percent decrease from 2016 ($632) and a 5 percent decrease from 2015 ($524).

Further evidence is the more robust ticket market for the NBA Finals than the previous two years. There’s currently over 20,000 tickets on the secondary market for the 2017 Finals compared to 16,000 for 2016 and 12,000 for 2015. Prices have seen a significant cut, with them being the lowest for each team of the past 3 seasons. The cheapest ticket for Game 1 at Oracle Arena is currently $431, more than 35 percent cheaper than 2016’s least expensive ticket ($665) and 27 percent cheaper than 2015’s ($594). Meanwhile the cheapest seat at Quicken Loans Arena is $303, a 10 percent drop from 2016 and 7 percent from 2015.

Luckily for fans, the travel market is also quite affordable. According to information provided by Priceline.com, the cheapest available hotel (minimum 2.5 stars) in the Bay Area during the finals is $74/night, while the cheapest in Cleveland is just $53/night.

There’s also similarly fair pricing on air travel, as flights from Cleveland to San Francisco and flights from San Francisco to Cleveland are available from $134.

Minimum all-in pricing for a Cleveland fan traveling to Golden State is $639 ($431 ticket, $134 flight, $74 hotel). That number is LESS than the cheapest ticket for a Finals game at Golden State last season ($665). Meanwhile, all-in pricing for a Warriors fan traveling to Cleveland is $490 ($303 ticket, $134 flight, $53 hotel), once again over $150 cheaper than the least expensive Finals ticket at Golden State last season.

Fans may have played a dangerous game by saving their chips for an NBA Finals cashout, but with a favorable ticket market and affordable clearly the gamble payed off.

The post Cavs-Warriors Finals Tickets Are Cheapest in Three Seasons appeared first on SLAM.

James, however, doesn’t think Cleveland was particulary impressive in the series-opener.

Cavaliers' LeBron James after Game 1 blowout road win over Celtics: "I don't even think we played that great tonight." pic.twitter.com/BxZpMZY2Yg

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 18, 2017

That’s not very good news for the Celtics.

Per the Boston Globe:

Leading by as many as 28 points along the way, the Cavaliers never trailed in their Game 1 trouncing of the Celtics. But, apparently, the performance didn’t impress LeBron James.

 

“I don’t even think we played that great tonight, ” James told reporters at TD Garden after recording 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in his team’s 117-104 win over the top-seeded Celtics.

 

“We definitely didn’t shoot the ball as well as we capable of shooting,” he said. “I know Kyle [Korver] had three or four very, very good looks that he missed.”

Related
Brad Stevens on LeBron James: ‘He’s Better Than When I Got in the League’

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The King: 35 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists

Uncle Drew: 27 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined to score or assist 92 of the Cavs’ 102 points today

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 7, 2017

With the Raptors knocking on the door in the fourth quarter, it was Kyrie that took over, scoring 11 straight to help Cleveland regain control.

Big buckets by Kyrie! #DEWxNBA pic.twitter.com/jiuoErqCQb

— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2017

Kyrie is a bad, bad man. pic.twitter.com/yr2IYoxC00

— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2017

LeBron did his part as well, hitting maybe the biggest shot of the game with just under 3 minutes remaining.

Dagger.

Peep the full game highlights above, courtesy of Ximo Pierto. Cleveland now awaits either Boston or Washington in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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LeBron James Says He’s Been Great Since He Was 16
Kyrie Irving Gave Dave East His Sneakers

The post WATCH: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving Help Cavaliers Complete Sweep of Raptors appeared first on SLAM.

Kyle Korver says the defending NBA champions, who hold a commanding 2-0 series lead in the East semis, have designs on sweeping the Raptors.

"He's a machine." – Kyle Korver on "Playoff LeBron." https://t.co/5Rb4B4aZuV pic.twitter.com/YGkdW6SG9Z

— Steve Aschburner (@AschNBA) May 4, 2017

“Playoff LeBron” has destroyed Toronto in the series’ first two games, and is looking to put them out of their misery as quickly as possible.

Per NBA.com:

Asked about the level of James’ play this spring relative to the past, [Iman] Shumpert ran a hand over his face, smiled and shook his head, agreeing that Playoff LeBron is hitting new heights. Kevin Love spoke of James’ efficiency, though it wasn’t efficiency that left bruises on the bodies and the egos of first Indiana and now Toronto.

 

Kyle Korver, the veteran shooter acquired in January, was on the receiving end of James’ postseason missions in 2011, 2015 and 2016, his teams going 1-12 in East clashes. But now he’s on the inside with James, and has been caught up in the relentlessness of the man.

 

“I know sweeps are hard to get,” Korver said, “but these guys have been doing that, and it’s like they want to sweep so they get that week [off between rounds]. Having that thought in their heads – ‘If we sweep this team, we’re going to have that time off’ – not many teams go into a playoff series thinking that. You’re just trying to win the series. But they were like, ‘Trust us.’”

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DeMar DeRozan Offers $100 to Anyone Who Can Stop LeBron James

The post Kyle Korver: Cavs Want to Sweep Raptors to Get a Week Off appeared first on SLAM.

James finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, but it wasn’t enough.

The Pistons held off the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 106-101.

Per the AP:

(Andre) Drummond had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Pistons scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter before holding on for a 106-101 victory over the injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers. (Reggie) Jackson led Detroit with 21 points, including 12 in the final period.

 

“My teammates were just telling me to go out there and be myself, be aggressive on offense and try to make the right play,” Jackson said. “It was a great team win, and most importantly, our defensive stops is what really got us the win.”

 

LeBron James had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists — and threw down over a half-dozen tremendous dunks — but the Cavaliers have now lost three straight and five of their last seven. J.R. Smith played for Cleveland after a thumb injury had kept him out since December, but Kevin Love and Kyle Korver were out, and the Cavaliers lost Andrew Bogut earlier in the week with a broken leg.

The post LeBron James Records 50th Career Triple-Double appeared first on SLAM.

Bogut, 32, suffered a fractured left tibia in his first game with the Cavs.

STATUS UPDATE: https://t.co/hxiBq6yJQM provides the latest on Andrew Bogut, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith & Coach Lue.

: https://t.co/Rwa7otCQLo

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 8, 2017

The big fella will not require surgery.

From the press release:

Andrew Bogut underwent additional imaging and evaluation at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday related to his fractured left tibia.

 

His tibia has been set and he is undergoing a non-surgical treatment and recovery plan commencing immediately with an extended period of immobilization and healing stimulation.

 

He will not be available to play the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, but is expected to successfully complete his recovery process in advance of training camp for the 2017-18 NBA season.

The post Andrew Bogut Out for the Season With Broken Leg appeared first on SLAM.

Channing Frye, Derrick Williams, Kyle Korver and Richard Jefferson made 3 threes each, while Kyrie Irving drilled 5 and LeBron James made 6. Iman Shumpert also hit a pair of three’s. Check out video of all 25 above.

The post Cavs Make History, Connect on 25 Threes appeared first on SLAM.

Korver was traded to Cleveland earlier this season and in his first return to Atlanta, the Hawks made sure to show him the love.

The Hawks say thank you to Kyle Korver. pic.twitter.com/Lba3Osmx0q

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 4, 2017

The post WATCH: The Hawks Tribute Video to Kyle Korver appeared first on SLAM.

Frank Kaminsky dropped a team-high 23 points and Marvin Williams added 16, lifting Charlotte to a road victory. Steve Clifford’s squad needed this one in a bad way; now 2-8 in their last 10 games, the Hornets are three games behind the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. With Miles Plumlee and Spencer Hawes each unavailable, Christian Wood saw nine minutes of action behind Kaminsky.

Buddy Hield turned in his second quality outing with Sacramento, coming off the bench to score 15 points. Willie Cauley-Stein took a step back, however, managing just two points with two boards through 28 minutes. The rest of this season won’t be easy for the rebuilding Kings.

Buddy Hield is running with his new opportunity in Sacramento. his highlights from tonight: https://t.co/MSeaBOoCsa pic.twitter.com/fKlcmbWn3U

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 26, 2017

Magic 105 (22-38), Hawks 86 (32-26)

Orlando is comfortably out of the playoff picture, but they enjoyed a lopsided victory over the contending Hawks. Deadline acquisition Terrence Ross went for 24 points, Nikola Vucevic double-doubled, and Aaron Gordon tacked on 18 while dunking all over Atlanta.

https://youtu.be/rXRLRELTaoA

Knicks 110 (24-35), 76ers 109 (22-36)

Carmelo Anthony– who’s had as tumultuous a season as any player in the league- had a banner night Saturday, dropping 37 points including the game-winning bucket.

Carmelo Anthony hits the game-winner with Robert Covington's hand in his face. #IceCold pic.twitter.com/oBVTkYPHGS

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 26, 2017

The Sixers are going to be relying heavily on Jahlil Okafor in Nerlens Noel‘s absence, and the former Blue Devil stepped up at MSG. Okafor scored 28 points with 10 boards, hitting all six free throws attempted.

Heat 113 (27-32), Pacers 95 (30-29)

It’s possible Paul George is still in a sour mood from the trade deadline. PG-13 got ejected early in the third quarter for arguing a call, leaving his team with minimal chance of topping Hassan Whiteside (22p, 17r) and the Heat. Dion Waiters matched Whiteside’s 22 points, and Goran Dragic tallied 21 points of his own.

https://youtu.be/DNdahFkLNQw

Bulls 117 (30-29), Cavaliers 99 (40-17)

Kyrie Irving went off for 34 points, and James Jones combined with Kyle Korver for eight 3-pointers off the bench, but the LeBron James-less Cavs were overmatched in this one. Nikola Mirotic double-doubled, Jimmy Butler recorded and a triple-double, and Dwyane Wade came this close to a triple-double of his own.

Dwyane Wade was on his way to a triple-double…until Cristiano Felicio jumped in and stole his rebound https://t.co/Kqa7H6s85A pic.twitter.com/zoIB8jSp8t

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 26, 2017

Mavericks 96 (23-35), Pelicans 83 (23-36)

DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis playing together is a joy to watch. Boogie went for 15 boards, 12 points, six dimes and three steals while AD dropped 39 points on Dallas.

Unfortunately for Alvin Gentry and the Pelicans, Cousins and Davis haven’t been able to produce a win since the deadline. Dirk Nowitzki was in prime form, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, and Harrison Barnes netted 19 points to help the cause. Mavs fans also got their first taste of Nerlens Noel, who may have a future in Dallas beyond 2017.

Nerlens Noel puts the finishing touches on a Mavs victory pic.twitter.com/ExRiNfNhdJ

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 26, 2017

Rockets 142 (41-18), Timberwolves 120 (23-35)

Who needs defense, right? Minnesota couldn’t keep up with a barrage of 3-pointers from the Rockets, who attempted 58 shots from beyond the arc. James Harden had 24, Lou Williams added 17, and seven Rockets scored in double-digits as Houston improved to 7-3 over their last 10. Andrew Wiggins went off for 30 in the loss, and Karl-Anthony Towns had a dominant 37 points with 22 rebounds.

Warriors 112 (48-9), Nets 95 (9-48)

No Kevin Durant? No problem. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had 27 and 24 points, respectively, in a comfortable win over Brooklyn. K.J. McDaniels played two minutes in his Nets debut, while Briante Weber scored four points in his final appearance for Golden State.

Charlotte has emerged as the likely landing spot for recently released Briante Weber, per source.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 26, 2017

The post Post Up: Firing Range appeared first on SLAM.

Damian Lillard scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Blazers back from a 11-point fourth quarter deficit. The Blazers outscored the Magic 35-18 in the final frame. CJ McCollum had 22 points and 6 assists and Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Terrence Ross scored 13 in his Magic debut.

Pistons 114 (28-30), Hornets 108 (24-33)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored the Pistons’ final 11 points in overtime to lead his squad back from being down 18 points. KCP would finish with 33 points and 9 rebounds, outdueling Kemba Walker’s 34 points. The Pistons had 10 more assists than the Hornets and behind five quick points from Marcus Morris to start overtime, they never looked back.

Rockets 129 (41-18), Pelicans 99 (23-35)

The Smoothie King Center was hype for DeMarcus Cousins’ debut as a Pelican. Luckily, Boogie didn’t disappoint, stuffing the stat sheet for 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 4 blocks. Anthony Davis also had 29 points. But the Rockets came in and destroyed, raining in 20 three-pointers.

In his Rockets debut, Lou Williams came off the bench to nail 7 three-balls and score 27 points. James Harden had his fingerprints all over the game, putting up 13 points and 14 assists in just 29 minutes. Houston built at 35-point lead and held the Pels to 6-31 shooting from distance.

James Harden is a beast. pic.twitter.com/2UHUOxbORE

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 24, 2017

Cavs 119 (40-16), Knicks 104 (23-35)

LeBron James controlled this whole game. The King threw 15 assists, grabbed 13 rebounds and shot 7-11 for his 18 points. He delivered several highlight plays, toying with the Knicks. New York shot 42% and made just 8 of their 26 three-point attempts. The Cavs shot 15-38 from beyond the arc and 53% for the game.  Kyrie Irving scored 23 and Kyle Korver nailed 6 three-pointers for his 20 points. The Cavs have now beaten the Knicks ten times in a row and own an NBA-best 8-1 record in February.

Bron, man. Too good. pic.twitter.com/dIQpYbafYB

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 24, 2017

Kings 116 (25-33), Nuggets 100 (25-32)

Willie Cauley-Stein scored a career-best 29 points to lead Sac-Town to a convincing win over the Nuggets. The post-Boogie era is officially underway, with Buddy Hield scoring 16 off the bench. Six Nuggets scored in double-figures, led by Gary Harris’ 23 points.

Ayyy, Buddy Hield putting on a show in his Kings debut. pic.twitter.com/LtWg8TKfhF

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 24, 2017

Warriors 123 (48-9), Clippers 113 (35-22)

The Clippers jumped out to a 16-point lead, forcing turnovers and getting fastbreak buckets. In the second quarter, they outscored the Warriors 37-18 and had a 12-point lead at the half. Then Draymond Green got a tech, Kevin Durant got a dunk and the route was on.

The Dubs scored 50 in the third, the League’s first 50-point quarter since 2014 when the Lakers dropped 51 on the Knicks. In that quarter, Durant had 15 points, 5 rebounds and shot 6-7 from the floor. Stephen Curry became a flamethrower, scoring 20 points, dishing 4 assists and shooting 5-8 from distance. It was over after Curry said it was over, making a buzzer-beating shot with two defenders in his face. Steph finished with 35 points and KD had 25, 15 rebounds and 7 dimes.

.@StephenCurry30 is just not fair. pic.twitter.com/uDnhsX6jP0

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 24, 2017

The post Post Up: The King’s Court appeared first on SLAM.

The Hornets’ swoon continues, as Steve Clifford’s squad has now dropped nine of their last 10. Nicolas Batum led all scorers with 25 points and Frank Kaminsky added 20, but Jamal Crawford and Blake Griffin (22 and 20 points, respectively) spurred the Clippers to a come-from-behind victory. L.A. received a highlight for the ages in this one, as Blake Griffin threw a monstrous jam over the recently acquired Miles Plumlee.

Blake Griffin baptizes Miles Plumlee pic.twitter.com/XoBEl6x5Um

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 11, 2017

Bucks 116 (23-30), Pacers 100 (29-25)

The Bucks were without the recovering Khris Middleton (second night of a back-to-back set), using just a nine-man rotation against Indiana. Giannis Antetokounmpo came just two rebounds short of a triple-double, Malcolm Brogdon and Greg Monroe scored 17 each off the bench, and Thon Maker scored 12 points in his audition for a starting role. Let’s be real, though: this foul line dunk from the Greek Freak is the main takeaway from this game:

.@Giannis_An34 is not human. pic.twitter.com/QwyVpN7z20

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 12, 2017

76ers 117 (20-34), Heat 109 (24-31)

Of course the 76ers would be the team to slow Miami’s momentum. Robert Covington, Nerlens Noel, and Dario Saric tallied 19 points apiece to snap the Heat’s 13-game winning streak; the third longest total in franchise history. Goran Dragic scored 30 and James Johnson added 26 in the disappointing loss. Following their improbable streak, the Heat are now just 1.5 games behind an eighth-seed; should Pat Riley and Miami’s front office go for it at the trade deadline?

Cavaliers 125 (37-16), Nuggets 109 (24-30)

The Joker kept on rolling (27 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks for Nikola Jokic) but Cleveland earned the W behind 27-point showings from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Kyle Korver and Channing Frye combined for 22 points off the bench, while Derrick Williams contributed seven points in his home debut with the Cavs. The Nuggets continue to miss Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari‘s presence in the lineup.

Warriors 130 (46-8), Thunder 114 (31-24)

The Thunder never cut their second half deficit to more than 12, but Kevin Durant‘s return to OKC made this one captivating TV. Durant, who had run-ins with Russell Westbrook and Andre Roberson, scored 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting, and was flanked by 26-point showings from Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.

Westbrook posted a 47-point performance (albeit with 11 turnovers), and Victor Oladipo added 20, but Billy Donovan’s squad now sits at .500 over their last 10 games. After his emotional return to OKC was over, Durant shared his thoughts on the experience.

Kevin Durant's take on OKC fans booing him? "I actually thought it'd be a little louder." pic.twitter.com/r91rp5ugDS

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 12, 2017

Mavericks 112 (22-32), Magic 80 (20-36)

The Magic have found a new rock bottom, getting trounced by Wesley Matthews (20 points, six dimes) and the Mavericks in their fourth straight loss. Bismack Biyombo scored a team-high 15 points for Orlando, while Mario Hezonja played a season-high 35 minutes in Aaron Gordon‘s absence.

Rockets 133 (40-17), Suns 102 (17-38)

This result is to be expected when Houston plays one of the league’s worst defenses. James Harden went off for 40 points, including an 8-of-15 rate from downtown, and Patrick Beverley added 19 in the Rockets’ fourth straight W. Things got out of hand quickly for Phoenix; look where Harden pulled up on this one:

James Harden pulling up from near-halfcourt with a full shotclock pic.twitter.com/PBh78YyxQd

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) February 12, 2017