Basketball Insiders Week in Review 5/22

Can the Cavaliers Win It All?

By Moke Hamilton

After speaking for 11 minutes, the candid LeBron James exhaled, put on his sunglasses and exited stage right.

For 11 minutes, he answered all kinds of questions: some about his return to Cleveland, some about Andre Iguodala and some about the losses of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

What all of those questions had in common was that they came in the aftermath of the Cleveland Cavaliers faltering due to a talent deficiency and succumbing to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals.

Collectively, they have been waiting for an opportunity at redemption.

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Utah Jazz Should Restructure Derrick Favors’ Contract

By Eric Pincus

With the salary cap jumping to a projected $92 million in July, a historic rise from this season’s $70 million, teams may struggle to spend enough to reach a salary floor of roughly $82.8 million.

In April, the NBA sent out a memo anticipating teams will collectively fall short of their minimum obligation, based on the agreed-upon split of Basketball Related Income, by $375 million — an average of $12.5 million per squad.  Any franchise still under the floor by the end of the 2016-17 season will be required to cut a check to their rostered players for the difference.

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50 Predictions Revisited (Part 1)

By Joel Brigham

On the one hand, the month of May means all of the NBA’s most fun things. It means Conference Finals and NBA Draft Combine and annual awards, but on the other hand it also means that it’s time for me to take my medicine and revisit the 50 NBA predictions I made in the fall.

Every year, I begin this project with extremely high hopes. I tell myself that this year will be different, that this is the time where I finally break through and get the overwhelming majority of my predictions correct. But these predictions are hard. In fact, I purposefully make them that way because if they were too easy, I’d get just as much flak in going 50-for-50 on “no duh” predictions as I do for going 25-for-50 on ones that take a little bit of gumption.

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Big Summer Ahead for the Miami HEAT

By Alex Kennedy

The Miami HEAT’s season came to an end on Sunday when they were eliminated by the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

All things considered, it was a successful campaign for the HEAT, who were without Chris Bosh (blood clot) for the second half of the season and Hassan Whiteside (knee) for the end of their second-round series. Miami finished the regular season with 48 wins and secured the third seed in the East. They had the NBA’s seventh-ranked defense (allowing just 101.6 points per 100 possessions) and 12th-ranked offense (scoring 104.2 points per 100 possessions).

Now, Miami’s focus will shift to one of the most important offseasons in franchise history. Depending on what happens this summer, the HEAT could have a drastically different roster when next season begins.

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Free Agents Who Increased Value in Playoffs

By Cody Taylor

Each year during the playoffs, we see players step up and elevate their game when the spotlight is brightest. With their season on the line, players will do whatever it takes to help their team achieve the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

We expect the top players in the league, like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook among others, to rise to the occasion and lead their teams. While it’s important for those players to turn the intensity up, it’s also extremely important for role players to step up as well.

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Controlling The NBA Draft Process

By Steve Kyler

The 2016 NBA Draft Lottery will take place tonight in New York, and the exact order for June’s NBA draft will be decided.

From there, the game of who will get access to top overall prospects Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram will begin.

A recurring theme from this year’s NBA Draft Combine was that the agents for the top-tier players are being hyper aggressive and there are many who are not hiding the fact they intend to control the process for their guys even if it means a player ends up going a few spots lower than maybe the player would like – if only to ensure the player’s lands in an ideal situation.

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Taurean Prince’s Versatility is an Asset

By Jesse Blancarte

With the way the NBA has evolved over the last few seasons, general managers are constantly looking for versatile players. This includes 3-and-D players who can spread the court with their shooting, lock down an opposing wing player on defense and play multiple positions. This also includes well-rounded players who may not thrive at any single thing, but whose collective skill set helps a team significantly, such as through setting effective screens, grabbing rebounds, defending the rim, guarding opposing players and knocking down open shots – think of, say, Draymond Green.

The Golden State Warriors assembled a collection of versatile players and have utilized that dynamic over the last few seasons with great success. Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes are the type of versatile players who can play multiple positions, have multifaceted skill sets and can switch seamlessly on defense whether it’s against bigger or smaller players. The rest of the league is trying to emulate this, as we saw with players like Khris Middleton and DeMarre Carroll receiving large paydays in free agency last offseason.

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Free Agents Hitting The Market Injured

By Lang Greene

Free agency is an exciting time for fans, but also for most players since it is a time to fully cash in on years and years of hard work in the gym. However, every year there are more than a few free agents who will head into the summer months injured and facing the prospect of toiling long hours in rehab attempting to regain their form.

Franchises face a huge risk opening up their wallet for an injured player. In past years, these teams would be insulated by market forces and a salary cap that increased a slight percentage. But this summer, the salary cap is expected rise in the neighborhood of $90 million and nearly half of the league is projected to have significant cap space to potentially become free agency players. Put simply, there will be plenty of money flowing and with a salary cap floor of $82 million, these injured guys may still get paid.

Let’s take a look at some free agents who will head into the market this summer recovering from an injury:

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Pros and Cons of Knicks Hiring Jeff Hornacek

By Tommy Beer

Phil Jackson’s strange, rambling journey to name the New York Knicks’ new head coach seems to be nearing its completion.

According to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, the Knicks are closing in on naming Jeff Hornacek their new coach. “It’s ‘as close as humanly possible,’ per source, [though] not official. Deal is expected soon, barring any unforeseen snags.” Beck tweeted on Wednesday evening.

The are plenty of potential pros and cons to this decision from a Knicks perspective. Let’s take a quick look at a few of each.

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LeBron James’ Workload Has Never Been So Light

By Ben Dowsett

Most of us wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning if it involved burning the raw energy necessary to play one minute of basketball in LeBron James’ body. Every step in his 6’8, 250-pound frame is that much heavier and burns that many more calories. Fueling this human fighter jet is just a different operation altogether than the typical recovery process for virtually any other athlete in the world, much less the average person.

It hasn’t been easy during King James’ run of five straight NBA Finals appearances, and a few instances where the tank has come dangerously close to empty have been notable. Dehydration cramps have been a recurring issue on the game’s biggest stage, from his one-legged heroics against the Thunder during his first title win in Miami to a Game 1 in San Antonio marred by a malfunctioning AC and the resulting cramps that kept him out of a pivotal fourth-quarter collapse.

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Los Angeles Lakers Finally On The Upswing?

By Jabari Davis

The Los Angeles Lakers continued their upswing in terms of positive organizational momentum by landing the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft (June 23), but that hasn’t stopped some from still questioning the direction of the franchise. Following the most brutal stretch of the team’s history – three consecutive “worst seasons ever”- the Lakers finally appear to have things headed in the right direction, but that still doesn’t seem to have eased the minds of analysts like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and even some of the less optimistic fans that still express distrust with the front office.

We can rehash and debate the steps and/or missteps that led to the team’s current situation to no end, but the fact remains they have an intriguing young core of players, as much as $68.3 million to work with on the market this summer and a pick that will land them either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram. While there have admittedly been some questionable coaching hires from a timing standpoint, and failed free agency strategies and moves along the way, you cannot deny these Lakers are in a pretty good spot as first-year head coach Luke Walton gets set to take over the reigns once his season is complete with Golden State.

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