Basketball Insiders Week in Review 12/14

The Defiant Kobe Bryant

By Moke Hamilton

In 1996, when Kobe Bryant began his career backing up Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel in Los Angeles, he let Del Harris and Jerry West know that he believed he was starting shooting guard material.

Years later, when Phil Jackson introduced him to Michael Jordan in 1999, the first thing Bryant told Jordan was that he “would kick [Jordan’s] ass, one-on-one.”

Bryant refused to play Robin to the Batman of Shaquille O’Neal, refused to accept losing in the years following his departure and has refused to allow father time to determine when his days as a high-level, impact player in this league are over.

From day one, Bryant has been a rebel.

Click Here For More

Fantasy Focus: Kenneth Faried

The Kenneth Faried situation is an interesting one for fantasy owners. He was a no-brainer draft pick this year, albeit not top-level, but things haven’t exactly panned out as expected.

Faried was a shining star for Team USA last summer. His contributions were so instrumental in USA capturing gold in the FIBA World Cup tournament that he became a strong contender to nab the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. It ended up going to Kyrie Irving. Faried was a difference-maker, jolting the team with fire and boundless energy when they needed it most. He averaged 12.4 points and 7.8 rebounds and recorded a tournament-best 63.7 percent from the field (51-of-80). In the end, Faried joined teammate Irving on the all-tournament team, along with Serbia’s Milos Teodosic, France’s Nicolas Batum and Spain’s Pau Gasol. Not bad for a player who was no lock to even make the USA roster.

Click Here For More

Will They Keep The Restricted Free Agents?

By Steve Kyler

NBA teams have a window that opens in July and runs through the end of October to reach contract extensions with their rookie scale players entering their fourth season. For the most part, a small handful of deals get done every year and this year was no exception. Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving was the first to ink a deal, and several others followed.

There were, however, three players in very different situations that tried to reach a deal and ultimately did not, making them free agents in July. All three players are likely to receive the necessary qualifying offer sheets to make them restricted free agents. Here is where things stand today:

Click Here For More

Warriors GM Credits Continuity for Hot Start

The Golden State Warriors have been the story of the 2014-15 season’s first quarter, posting a league-best 17-2 record and recently setting the franchise record for most consecutive wins at 12 by besting one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams in the Chicago Bulls.

Stephen Curry has played like an MVP, Steve Kerr has taken to coaching like roots to soil and the complement of role players has been among the best in the league. Best of all, they’ve done all of that without one of their best players in David Lee.

It’s hard to imagine them performing much better than they have, though a few months ago Golden State general manager Bob Myers was lambasted by fans and media alike for not shipping off guard Klay Thompson in an offseason deal for Kevin Love, who many felt would help the franchise turn the corner toward contention.

Click Here For More

Grades at 20 Games: Southeast Division

Prior to the start of the season, the Southeast Division looked as though it could have been one of the deepest divisions in the league. The Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks looked poised to return to the playoffs, while the Charlotte Hornets seemed destined to improve on last season’s playoff run with the addition of Lance Stephenson. The Miami HEAT responded to LeBron James leaving by adding veteran players in Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger and even the Orlando Magic looked like they could finally begin to win closer to 30 games with a young, promising roster.

With about 20 games in the books, some of those early season predictions have panned out while others haven’t. The Wizards and Hawks are leading the pack while the HEAT are in a distant third place with the Magic and Hornets rounding out the division. The Hornets have been the biggest disappointment and are struggling to put together wins. With that said, let’s take a closer look at each team’s situation after 20 games.

Click Here For More

Grades at 20 Games: Central Division

On Monday Cody Taylor gave his quarterly assessment of the Southeast Division and today we are going to do the same with the Central Division. You could argue that no division underwent more changes this past offseason. In Detroit, the Pistons brought in Stan Van Gundy to help lead the franchise back to its winning ways. The Bulls landed Pau Gasol in free agency to help bolster their frontcourt and further strengthen their championship hopes. The Bucks, somewhat controversially, sent Larry Drew packing and reached a deal with the Brooklyn Nets to make Jason Kidd their new head coach. Lance Stephenson and the Pacers were unable to agree to terms on a new deal, allowing their play-making wing to head to Charlotte. More importantly the Pacers lost their centerpiece, Paul George, for likely the entire season after he suffered a horrific leg injury. While those moves all made headlines, they pale in comparison to the news of LeBron James returning to Cleveland and the Cavs’ subsequent trade to acquire Kevin Love. With so many changes, the Central Division has become one of the most intriguing divisions in the NBA.

Now, onto the grades:

Click Here For More

Nets Ready to Overhaul Roster?

By Yannis Koutroupis

With six days until a large portion of the players who signed this offseason become eligible to be traded, the Brooklyn Nets are letting it be known that they are open for business – with no untouchables apparently. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Nets are shopping Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez and Deron Williams, a trio that just hasn’t lived up to expectations and is generally regarded as overpaid.

While Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Nets are primarily focused on trading Andrei Kirilenko to the Philadelphia 76ers right now (the Nets would also send a second-round pick, while the 76ers would buyout or waive Kirilenko immediately), multiple other reporters confirmed Stein’s report.

Click Here For More

The Top 10 Prospects in the NBA

Nothing inspires NBA intrigue quite like potential. The NBA has by far the most interesting draft; basketball is the one major sport where the fan can actually watch enough of the prospects to have an opinion beforehand. And there are few enough draftees and players in the league that one can actually keep track of them all. In this most star-driven of leagues, the search for the next luminary is one of the most fascinating endeavors.

This list, inspired by a question in my weekly chat and similar lists from Baseball Prospectus, Basketball Prospectus and Football Outsiders, is a stab at assessing the league’s future stars. The question: Which players 23 or under (as of February 1, 2015) would you most want to have for the rest of their career? Age 23 was chosen because it encompasses up to a year after what would be the typical player’s senior year in college. It is also probably the last year in which one can say “he’s only ____ years old!” and have it credibly imply his ceiling ought to be much higher than his current performance.

Click Here For More

Trade Rumblings Getting Louder

By Lang Greene

The NBA season is at the quarter mark and executives are beginning the annual tradition of evaluating just where their respective teams stand in the league’s hierarchy. Typically after that evaluation some teams will become buyers looking to add assets for their playoff run and others will opt to become sellers looking to unload players for financial flexibility or future positioning.

Trade season is coming. Players who signed as free agents this past summer will be eligible to be traded beginning next Monday (December 15). While the amount of players who recently signed deals being traded may be few, this is generally recognized as the start of the NBA’s trading season. There are numerous situations to watch around the league from now until the trade deadline in February.

Let’s take a look at who around the league may be busy working the lines looking for a deal to kick off trade season.

Click Here For More

Sonny Weems, Nando De Colo Starring Overseas

Established overseas swingman Sonny Weems is still getting calls from NBA teams. In fact, he turned down multiple NBA opportunities this past offseason.

Weems, a former NBA draftee who played 140 games for the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors, is widely accepted as the best and most skilled small forward outside the NBA.

It wasn’t long ago that Weems single-handedly shut down the reigning Euroleague Champions Maccabi Tel Aviv — outscoring the entire Israeli squad 13-12 throughout the first quarter — as Russian power-club CSKA Moscow cruised to an easy 81-64 triumph. Weems finished with a game-high 19 points.

Click Here For More

Things Are Getting Ugly in New York

By Alex Kennedy

When a team is struggling in the NBA, there tends to be a lot of frustration behind the scenes. When a team has lost 10 straight games and, at 4-20, has the league’s third-worst record, it’s no surprise to see that frustration boil over and lead to finger pointing, fighting and a lot of drama.

That seems to be what’s happening with the New York Knicks right now, as they have dropped 16 of their first 20 games and things are reportedly getting ugly behind the scenes.

The team is struggling on both ends of floor and, according to a report from ESPN’s Chris Broussard, players have been butting heads and doubting that the triangle offense will work with this roster. The report describes the Knicks as “full of discord, defiance and doubt.”

Click Here For More

Pierce Has Wizards Eyeing NBA Championship

For veteran leaders with championship-winning experience, their options in free agency are just as much about finding a team with potential to win as going to a place where they will be heard. Signing with a squad that is not receptive to new voices is unproductive for those whose vocal presence is a strong asset.

The news of Paul Pierce signing with the Washington Wizards this summer was surprising on the surface. He had spent the first 15 years of his career with one team, the Boston Celtics, and was on to his second in as many seasons after a stint with the Brooklyn Nets. The Wizards weren’t exactly known as a free agent destination, but Pierce’s interest had been piqued by an organization on the rise.

Click Here For More

Derrick Rose Rounding Into Form

By Jesse Blancarte

It’s been a bumpy start to the 2014-15 NBA season for former MVP Derrick Rose. He has been criticized for missing games to nagging injuries that he may have played through earlier in his career. But after missing effectively two consecutive seasons to major knee injuries, Rose is unapologetically taking his time to round into top form. On Friday, Rose showed a glimpse of his pre-injury form, scoring 31 points, and leading the Chicago Bulls to a win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Rose’s 31 point performance was his best since scoring 32 points against the New York Knicks on March 12, 2012.

Earlier in his career, Rose was notoriously aggressive in the way he played the game, especially on offense. With elite athleticisim, Rose used to drive to the rim relentlessly and often times would finish over much bigger players. However, through the first quarter of this season, Rose has looked uncomfortable at times, and has settled for long jumpers, rather than attacking the rim. That was not the case last night against the Trail Blazers.

Click Here For More

Grades At 20 Games: Pacific Division

We continue grading the first quarter of the season with today’s look at the Pacific Division. While the Warriors and Clippers are ahead of the pack, the Suns and Kings are each hovering right around the .500 mark while the Lakers continue what fans hope is the rebuilding process.

Here are their grades through 20 (or so) games:

Click Here For More