Community Shootaround

Normally filled with 50-win teams, the Western Conference had a few “haves” and way more “have nots” last season. The Warriors and Spurs separated themselves from the pack quickly, while the Thunder and Clippers cruised to the third and fourth spots. No other team won more than 44 regular-season games and spots 5-9 were separated by a mere four games.

That suggests we could see some upheaval in terms of the playoff picture this season. The Thunder will struggle to match, or even come close, to the 55 wins they collected last season with Kevin Durant now wearing a Golden State uniform. The teams in the bottom half of last season’s playoff bracket could be in danger of falling into the lottery, as most of the non-playoff teams appear to be on the upswing.

The Jazz just missed out on the playoffs and have fortified their young core with playoff-tested veterans, including George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw. The Nuggets have a deep team led by point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who could be poised for a breakout season after getting a trial by fire in his rookie season.

The Pelicans were a colossal disappointment a year ago after making the 2014/15 playoffs but any team anchored by Anthony Davis has to be respected. If rookie guard Buddy Hield makes an immediate impact as a scorer, New Orleans could be poised for a turnaround.

Perhaps no team in the league has more young talent than the Timberwolves. Led by franchise player Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the club could take a big jump with defensive-minded coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm.

The Suns added power forwards Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss in the draft and with better health for guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, they should be much more dangerous.

The Kings made some curious off-season moves but they still have arguably the league’s top center in DeMarcus Cousins. The Lakers did some roster tinkering, including the addition of veteran forward Luol Deng, but their biggest hope is that lottery pick Brandon Ingram develops into a franchise player.

This leads us to our question of the day: Which Western Conference team that missed last season’s playoffs will make the postseason in the upcoming season and what will put that team over the top?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

No matter when he decides to retire, Paul Pierce will probably be five years away from the Hall of Fame. However, that day may come sooner than anyone anticipated. At age 38 and with training camp less than three weeks away, Pierce is reportedly still deciding whether to return for his 19th NBA season.

That bit of insider information comes from Pierce’s coach with the Clippers, Doc Rivers, who also coached Pierce during some of his best seasons with the Celtics. Although it was reported last month that Pierce was definitely returning, Rivers said he hasn’t decided for sure.

“Depends on the day I talk to him,” Rivers said during an appearance Tuesday in Boston. “Paul has had the summer, he’s gone back and forth. … Paul didn’t have the best year last year. I don’t think he wants to go out that way. So I think that’s why he’s working to try to come back. But he still may change his mind next week. So we just have to wait. I told him if I see him at training camp, I’m assuming he’s playing.”

Rivers added that Pierce needs to retire as a Celtic, presumably with a one-day ceremonial contract. And although Pierce will always be associated with Boston, he hasn’t worn kelly green since the 2012/13 season, playing one year each for the Nets, Wizards and Clippers since then.

Pierce has been slipping for a while, as can be expected of any player in his late 30s, but the dropoff last season was sharp. He played in 68 games, but averaged just 6.1 points in 18.1 minutes, both career lows. In addition, his shooting percentages were way down — 36% from the field and 31% from 3-point range. He played less than 11 minutes per game in the playoff loss to the Blazers.

Pierce still has two seasons and $7.2MM left on the contract he signed with the Clippers last summer, but he made it clear at the time that he didn’t intend to play out the entire deal. As the clock ticks toward training camp, the question seems to be whether he wants to put his body through the rigors of one more NBA season.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Should Pierce try to play in 2016/17 or should he join all-time greats Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in what is shaping up to be a legendary 2021 hall of fame class? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

With nearly all of 2016’s most notable free agents off the board, it’s time to take an early look ahead to what next summer’s free agent period may look like. Our lists of 2017 free agents by position and by team are up to date, and are packed with interesting names.

We’ll publish the first installment of our 2017 free agent power rankings later this week, but before we reveal our list, we want to get your thoughts on next year’s potential free agent class.

Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, Danilo Gallinari, Kyle Lowry, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gay, and Greg Monroe are some of the players who could hit the open market, and those are just the guys with player options.

Stephen Curry, Zach Randolph, Serge Ibaka, Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose, George Hill, Jrue Holiday, and Andre Iguodala will highlight the unrestricted free agent group, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, and several others will be RFAs if they’re not extended this offseason.

Which free agents will be the most coveted next offseason? Which of those premier FAs may actually change teams, like Durant and Al Horford did this summer? Which below-the-radar free agents intrigue you the most? And which potential RFAs do you expect to come off the market within the next couple months, as they sign extensions with their own teams?

Take to the comments section below to share your opinions on the NBA’s free agent class of 2017. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

If anyone is qualified to rate the most important transaction in Miami Heat history, it’s Pat Riley. As team president, Riley has overseen everything the franchise has done since he accepted the position in 1995.

Riley has been responsible for dozens of moves each season, some large and some small, but there were two that shook the foundation of the NBA. In 2004, with the Lakers coming off a loss in the NBA Finals and the feud between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant simmering out of control, Riley made a bold offer to bring the big man to Miami. He sent Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and two draft picks to Los Angeles in exchange for the most dominant force in the game at the time.

Six years later, Riley again reached out to the NBA’s top player. After seven seasons in Cleveland and on the heels of a bitter playoff loss, LeBron James was concerned about his place in NBA history. With some help from Dwyane Wade, Riley recruited James and fellow free agent Chris Bosh to come to South Beach and form a Big Three that made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and won two titles.

For the fanfare that surrounded Shaq and LeBron, neither stayed in Miami all that long. O’Neal helped the Heat win a title in 2006, but played just 40 games the following season and was traded to Phoenix in February of 2008. James and Bosh brought a rock-star aura to the Heat, who drew comparisons with the greatest teams in history, but LeBron decided to return to Cleveland with his two rings in 2014, leaving Miami to rebuild around Bosh and Wade.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Riley says the trade for O’Neal was the most important move the franchise ever made, ahead of LeBron and the formation of the Big Three. Do you agree? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

In a piece published by The Ringer earlier this week, Kevin O’Connor conceded that “all is quiet on the mega-trade front, for now,” but wondered if there are a handful of situations around the NBA that could result in blockbuster trades over the course of the next 12 months.

As O’Connor notes, the trade market appeared to be primed for some significant deals earlier this summer, with the Bulls reportedly looked into moving Jimmy Butler, and names like Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins, and Blake Griffin popping up in the rumor mill as well. However, those players’ teams ultimately decided to stand pat, or even doubled down on investments in their stars — the Thunder signed Westbrook to a contract extension, while the Bulls opted to build around Butler after moving Derrick Rose.

None of those players will be on the move anytime soon, but O’Connor suggests that, if things don’t go well this season for some of those clubs, trade talks could materialize at the deadline or next summer.

For instance, if the Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo additions don’t work out well in Chicago, would the team consider embarking on a full-fledged rebuild and moving Butler? If the Thunder and Kings aren’t playoff teams this season, will those clubs look to fortify their rosters around Westbrook and Cousins, respectively, or will they explore trading him? Will Griffin’s impending free agency concern the Clippers, or will the team continue to be confident he’ll re-up? O’Connor also throws the Indiana Paul George into the discussion, suggesting that if George doesn’t sign an extension right away and the new-look Pacers struggle, PG-13 could become a trade candidate.

We’re still far away from any of those players genuinely landing on the trade block, and if those teams play well this season, speculation will die down. But if certain clubs are hit with a worst-case-scenario outcome this year, some intriguing players could become trade candidates.

What do you think? Will any of the players mentioned above become available, or be moved, by next summer? Is there another star player around the league that you expect to land on the trade block? Or will the 2016/17 league year be relatively quiet when it comes to trades?

Take to the comments section below to share your opinions on the possibility of a blockbuster NBA trade or two in 2016/17. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Stories of bickering in Washington, D.C., are commonplace, but when it happens in the Wizards’ backcourt, that’s a cause for concern.

Point guard John Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal have started airing their disagreements in public, with Wall saying they have “a tendency to dislike each other on the court” and Beal responding that he and Wall “lose sight of the fact that we need each other.”

That’s not how you want your starting backcourt to talk about each other, especially when they are the cornerstones of your rebuilding effort after a disappointing 41-41 season that left you out of the playoffs and prompted a coaching change. Scott Brooks had to be hoping that his time on the Wizards’ bench would start with more team unity.

Star players failing to get along is nothing new in the NBA, but the situation frequently leads to a breakup. The most recent case was in Chicago, where rumors kept floating last season of unhappiness between Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler. That was resolved in June when Rose was traded to the Knicks.

Wall, who turns 26 next month, has been an All-Star the past three years. He is coming off career-high averages of 19.9 points and 10.2 assists last season. He has three seasons and more than $54MM left on a maximum extension he agreed to in 2013. Beal averaged a career-high 17.4 points per game last season and shot a career-best 45% from the field. However, he played in a career-low 55 games and was placed on a minutes restriction in December after doctors discovered “the beginnings of a stress reaction in his lower right fibula.” Beal re-signed with the Wizards last month for $127MM over the next five seasons.

That brings us to tonight’s question: If the Wizards decide to break up their backcourt, should they trade Wall or Beal? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

The Jazz acquired then waived Kendall Marshall on Friday in a cap saving move that presumably allow the team to renegotiate and extend Derrick Favors‘ contract. Favors will make $11.05MM this upcoming season and $12MM during the 2017/18 campaign. Favors would likely want to complete an extension this summer given how team-friendly his current deal, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors explained in his Extension Candidate piece.

Utah will also look to lock up Rudy Gobert long-term and the center is likely to garner a max contract or extension, as Gauruder writes in a separate piece. If the team is able to come to terms with both players, it will have its starting frontcourt set for years to come.

However, in the modern day NBA, it’s fair to wonder whether having two traditional big men as the foundation of a team is the best way to build a championship roster. So that leads us to tonight’s topic: How far can the Jazz go as a franchise with Favors and Gobert as their starting frontcourt? They have played well together, but can the duo overcome their limitations to elevate the Jazz to contenders in the near future?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Fans who want to watch Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis play again may not have to wait for the NBA to bring back its Legends Game.

They are among several former stars who have stated that they want to return to the league, and they’re not even the most surprising names on the list. Derek Fisher, who already has a season and a half of coaching experience, is talking about playing again, as is Kwame Brown, who was the NBA’s top draft pick way back in 2001.

Maybe it’s the money or the lifestyle or the atmosphere in the locker room that they miss. Maybe they’re convinced they can still contribute something to a contending team or maybe they just want one last chance to build on their legacies. Or maybe they’re inspired by what Metta World Peace did a year ago.

The former Ron Artest seemed as much of a longshot to make an NBA roster as any of these other guys when he showed up in the Lakers’ training camp last September. He sat out all of 2014/15 and didn’t play much with the Knicks the season before that. But at age 35, he won a spot on L.A.’s roster with a partially guaranteed contract, then lasted the entire season to earn every penny of his $1,499,187 contract. Like the players mentioned above, World Peace hopes to be back in the league next season.

Are any of these other comebacks realistic? Let’s examine them case by case.

• Allen never announced his retirement; he just stopped playing after the 2014 NBA Finals. There have been rumors before that he was returning, but recent talks with the Celtics and Bucks show there is interest in the 41-year-old shooting guard, who holds the regular season and playoff records for most 3-pointers made.
• Gordon last played in 2014/15, when he appeared in 56 games as a reserve for the Magic. At age 33, he is considering overseas offers as he tries to work his was back into the NBA.
• Jackson, 38, has been out of the league for two seasons and only played nine games for the Clippers in 2013/14. Nevertheless, he said earlier this summer that he was talking to the Warriors about joining their training camp and recently claimed that Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo want him to come out of retirement and play for the Bulls.
• Davis has been away from the league since 2012 and has been on a highly publicized comeback trail for a couple of years. The 37-year-old spent time with the Delaware 87ers at the end of last season, but recently said he doesn’t want to pursue the D-League route again.
• After turning 42 earlier this month, Fisher is the oldest of the comeback candidates. The former Knicks head coach, who compiled a 40-96 record, will consider playing in China if he can’t find an interested NBA team.
• Brown’s last significant NBA job was 66 games with Charlotte in 2010/11, although he had brief stints with the Warriors and Sixers after that. At 34, Brown recently signed with a new agency and is also considering opportunities overseas.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Do you expect to see any of these players be in the NBA next season, and can any of them be productive at their current ages? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

After months of worries about the elite talent that was skipping the Summer Olympics, followed by concerns over a few close games, Team USA will leave Rio de Janeiro as the undisputed king of the basketball world.

The Americans re-established their dominance this afternoon with a 96-66 battering of Serbia in the gold medal game. It was a statement victory for the U.S. squad, which had eked out a three-point win over the Serbians earlier in the tournament when a last-second shot bounced off the rim.

Team USA won without LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis, who skipped the Games because of a combination of injuries, desire for rest and other unstated reasons. But this was no “B team” that represented the United States in Rio. All-Stars abounded on an American squad that was challenged at times, but never seemed destined to walk away with anything less than gold.

After the lopsided victory in the final game, USA Basketball director Jerry Colangelo issued a challenge to the rest of the world, relays Sam Amick of USA Today.

“I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball,” he said. “The more interest in basketball on all levels, I’m for. I’m a lifer in the game. I love the game. Basketball is the No. 2 sport in the world, [but] we just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive.

“I’d love to see that. Everyone would love to see that. I’m not going to be making excuses for anyone about our [dominance]. Someone said to me [after the game], one of the officials said to me, ‘You know next time you play, you ought to play with four.’ And I said, ‘No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete.’”

Those are strong words, and the Americans will need a strong team to back them up, which brings us to tonight’s question: Which 12 players will represent the United States at the 2020 Games in Tokyo? After four Olympic appearances, Carmelo Anthony is out, announcing his retirement from the international game today. James said this week that he was having regrets about not playing, so he may be back in four years at age 35. The rest of this year’s team is relatively young and all may want to return in 2020, but others who skipped this time may want a shot and some younger players may be in the mix by then.

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

The words “super team” are normally directed at the Cavaliers, Warriors or Spurs. However, Derrick Rose thinks the Knicks also deserve that designation.

Rose, who was traded from Chicago to New York in June, not only made the statement, but recently backed it up when he was given the chance to reconsider. “I feel like if you’re in any team in the NBA — it don’t have to be the NBA, it could be the college level, high school level — you should believe in yourself and have the confidence in yourself that you’re playing on a super team anywhere,” Rose said. “So I have a lot of confidence, and I’m not taking that back.”

So maybe Rose’s statement was more about confidence building than an actual assessment. But the Knicks do have a lot of talent for a team that won just 32 games last season:

• Start with Rose, who was the league MVP in 2011 and was a three-time All-Star before tearing his ACL in the 2012 playoffs. He appeared in 66 games last season, which was the most since the injury.
• Joakim Noah, who signed with New York as a free agent, is a two-time All-Star and has been a productive center throughout his nine-year career. He finished fourth in the MVP voting for the 2013/14 season.
• Carmelo Anthony is an 11-time All-Star and was the league’s scoring champion in 2012/13. Even at age 32, he remains one of the league’s most dangerous offensive threats.
• Kristaps Porzingis appears headed for stardom after a meteoric start to his NBA career. The 7’3″ Latvian was a unanimous choice for NBA All-Rookie first team honors and was runner-up in the balloting for Rookie of the Year.

That may not be a super team, but it’s certainly the core of a much improved team that may reach the playoffs. Throw in new additions Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings and a new coach in Jeff Hornacek, and the Knicks could be ready for a major jump in the standings.

That brings us to tonight’s question: How good will the Knicks be in 2016/17 and is there any validity to Rose’s “super team” comments? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.