Sport Thoughts

The half way point has been reached during the 2024-2025 NBA season. The Philidelphia 76ers are without question the biggest disappointment of the 2024-2025 NBA Season. Injuries to star player Joell Embiid and the team’s overall underperformance has led the Sixers finishing the half way point with a 15-26 losing record. They currently sit 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings with no signs of winning improvement. Stars Joell Embiid and Paul George have missed several games during the Sixer’s losing stretch of games. The big three of Joell Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have played just 10 total games together out of the 41 games played. The lack of availability from Embiid, Maxey and George has put a damper in the Sixers championship aspirations. It begs the question how the Sixers front office will manage the team’s trade deadline during the second half of the season. The NBA trade deadline is less than 3 weeks away and the Sixers remaining schedule does not get any eas...

As the holiday season approaches, it is time to analyze the current state of the NBA. While there are several teams finding surprising success including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies; there are many underachieving teams in a state of flux. One could make the argument that these underperforming teams are readying to press the panic button. These disappointing teams include the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Sacremento Kings. These four Western Conference teams began the 2024-2025 season with championship expectations. Each team’s struggles have led to poor positioning in the Western Conference standing, falling below 6th place. The underachievement of these teams have also led to several trade rumors. These teams will be forced to buy prior to the NBA trade deadline. Selling is not an option as these teams look to take a leap in the Western Conference standings. A trade could be minimal or drastic depending on the player ...

A new NBA season often allows teams to pick a direction as the season begins. The directions are usually contention or rebuilding. The rebuilding direction often leads to many losses. The losses for rebuilding teams hurt in the standings but often boost draft lottery odds. The odds to win the NBA lottery also leads to league wide tanking. It is becoming more noticable who the lottery teams could potentially be after a 20 game sample size. As previously mentioned, the teams with the worst records are likely to draft high in the lottery. As of early December, the worst teams in the NBA include the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors. These five teams are at least 9 or more games under .500. There are also teams rumored to entee to the draft lottery sweepstakes. Teams such as the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers are also expected to sell off players leading into the NBA trade deadline. Tanking could be a poten...

The stage is set for the 2024 NBA Playoffs. All 16 teams have been established following the conclusion of the NBA Play In Tournament. Some of these playoff matches will be predictable, while others are evenly matched and questionable. Starting in the Eastern Confefence, the 1 Seed Boston Celtics will face the 8 Seed Miami Heat. This matchup will be rematch of last years Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics will be considered the heavy favorites, as they improved their current roster during last offseason and finished with the best record in the NBA. The Miami Heat will also be missing injured All Star Jimmy Butler. The 2 Seed New York Knicks will face the 7 Seed Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks and 76ers series could go both ways as both teams have dealt with injuries to key rotational players. The Knicks will be missing injured All Star Julius Randle, while the 76ers will play All Star Joell Embiid, who not 100% healthy. That series could come down to 7 games, where the Knicks will h...

Sunday afternoon concluded the 2023-2024 NBA season. The final day of the regular season would reveal the final seedings of the NBA playoff and play in picture. In the Eastern Conference; The Philadelphia 76ers will host in the Miami Heat, while the Chicago Bulls will host the Atlanta Hawks. In the Western Conference; The New Orleans Pelicans will host the LA Lakers, while the Sacremento Kings will host the Golden State Warriors. The 76ers, Heat, Pelicans and Lakers will have at least two chances to reach the playoffs. The Bulls, Hawks, Kings and Warriors will enter win or elimination matchups. The Philadelphia 76ers Vs Miami Heat matchup could go eitherway as both teams will play with healthy rotations. The same availibility could be said about the LA Lakers Vs New Orleans Pelicans matchup. Those matchups will come down to levels of talent and playoff experience. The Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks will battle while missing several rotation players. The Bulls will be without All Star ...

The NBA 2024 trade deadline has offically passed and contending teams have made their moves. There were several buyers as expected but much fewer sellers than intended. Winners and losser could describe several NBA teams at this years deadline. The Winners of trade deadline include the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Dallas Mavericks. Each contending team added key role players to their rotations while trading away non rotational role players and low end draft picks. The Knicks improved their bench depth with the additions of Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. The Sixers added shooter Buddy Hield to their starting five and Cam Payne to their second unit. The Thunder added former star and veteran Gordon Hayward. Lastly, the Dalllas Mavericks improved their roster depth by acquiring six man PJ Washington and big man Daniel Gafford. The LA Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls could be described as the biggest losers of the trade ...

The NBA 2023-2024 Season is less than a week old and a major blockbuster trade has occured. James Harden has finally got his trade demand  granted to the LA Clippers. The Clippers were Harden’s specific trade destination since his initial June trade request. The Philadelphia 76ers went against their original decision to keep Harden on the team. The 76ers will now prioritize on the development of rising star Tyrese Maxay following James Harden’s departure. The Philadelphia 76ers would receive multiple draft picks, along with third year guard Kenyan Martin Jr. and veterans Robert Covington, Nick Battum & Marcus Morris. The LA Clippers would also acquire PJ Tucker in the James Harden trade. The LA Clippers could be seen as the biggest winner of the blockbuster trade. The Clippers get their third star to pair with All Stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. They add PJ Tucker to the bench to improve the team’s depth. They are now ranked the fifth betting favorite to win the NBA 2024 C...

The 2023-2024 NBA season begins this week. Expectations increase at the highest when a NBA team starts a new chapter. The NBA has recently become more known as a player empowerment league. A league where a star has the power to request a trade at any time. Entering the 2023-2024, there are several NBA All Stars, who could change the league with the power of a trade request. Last season, mid season trade requests from Kevin Durrant and Kyrie Irving helped reshape the Eastern and Western Conferences. The East and West reshaped again following offseason trades of Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday. With the new season comensing, NBA Teams will need to start their season hot and keep their stars happy. Pressure will surely play a factor for contending teams including the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks. The thought of trade requests from Joell Embiid, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic could negatively impact these franchises presently and going forward. NBA teams c...

The Damian Lillard trade saga recently came to a conclusion. The blockbuster trade sending Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks has now transitioned into a Jrue Holiday trade bidding war. Jrue Holiday is coming off of a All-Star 2022-2023 season with the Bucks. His trade demand is at a all time high with several NBA contenders showing trade interest. Contenders such as the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Crltics will need to trade young players, expiring contracts and draft picks to the Portand Trail Blazers. The Miami Heat were the original favorites to land Damian Lillard from the Blazers. Jrue Holiday plays the point guard position just like Diamian Lillard, but he is on a more affordable remaining contract. The Heat would need to include Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson or Kyle Lowry in a Jrue Holiday trade package. The Philadelphia 76ers are in the position to move on from All-Star point guard James Harden. Holiday would be a great replacement for Harden, who is rumored to avoid t...

The 2023-2024 NBA season begins on October 24th. The Christmas Day NBA schedule has been announced 4 months in advance. Christmas has always been a special day for NBA teams to showcase their talent on the big stage. It is a day to market NBA teams that are high in the power rankings. There are also teams trying to gain recognition through the holiday showcase. This years Christmas Day slate is arguably a carbon copy last years Christmas Day participants. The Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Pheonix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies were last year’s Christmas Day teams. The Miami Heat replace the Memphis Grizzlies as the 10th and final team this year. In some ways there are several NBA teams who should feel like they were snubbed. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans are teams wh...

The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of a very complicated NBA offseason. They entered the offseason coming off a blown 3-2 second round exit to the Boston Celtics. They had all optimism in advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. Things have taken a strong turn for the worst since their elimination. All Star James Harden has requested a trade and MVP Joell Embiid has hinted at leaving the Sixers in the future. As a result, the Sixers have some very tough decisions to make. Harden has not rescinded his trade request and he is rumored to avoid NBA training camp. The Sixers do not plan to give  Harden away and hope to recieve good value for his expiring contract. They have been rumored to be in the mix of the Damian Lillard trade market. It is believed that guard Tyrese Maxey could become the 76er’s second star if James Harden is traded for quality role players. Maxey is also considered a trade chip if the 76ers front office wants to pair Joell Embiid with Damian Lillard. The S...