Sport Thoughts

The 2024 NBA Play In Tournament is a few weeks away from begining. These final weeks are crunch time for NBA playoff contending teams. With just a few weeks left, it has become clear which teams will be in the Top 6 in the Eastern and Western Conference. The possible Play In Tournament teams in the Eastern Conference include the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks. The possible Play In Tournament teams in the Western Conference include the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Sacremento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, LA Lakers and Golden State Warriors. Health and remaining schedules will be key factors during these teams final stretch of games. According to Tankathon, Play In teams including the Suns, Kings, Pacers and Pelicans rank in top 10 most difficult remaining schedules. The Magic, Bulls, Mavericks, Warriors, and Heat rank in top easiest remaining schedules. The Knicks, 76ers, Hawks, Suns, Lakers and Warriors ...

The Brooklyn Nets are currently one of the worst basketball teams in the 2023-2024 NBA season. They have poorly underachieved, fired their head coach and botched the trade deadline. General Manager Sean Marks is responsible for this poorly constructed Nets roster and failed coaching staff. The Nets 2023-2024 roster is flawed but the team problems date back as early as three years ago. Sean Marks problems as General Manager began in January 2021, the year he traded multiple first round draft picks, future All Star Jarret Allen, role players Carris Levert and Taurean Prince for Super Stars James Harden. The future first round draft picks would go to the Houston Rockets, preventing the Nets from owning their own picks in the future. Just one year later, Sean Marks traded a disgruntled James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for former multi All Star Ben Simmons. Marks could have kept the Nets big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in tact for the 2022 playoffs. He would liste...

The New York Yankees entered the 2023 MLB offseason as one of the most disappointing teams in the majors. The Yankee front office knew that changes needed to be made immediately. The organization wasted a prime year of stars Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. The Yankees would begin their off season, trading for star right fielder Juan Soto and outfielders Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. The Yankees would lose a lot of pitching depth through the two trades but greatly improved their batting lineup. The departure of starting pitcher Michael King could come back to haunt the Yankees, if he becomes a star in San Deigo. The new starting lineup looks dangerous with Juan Soto projected to hit before Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton. The project lineup feels well structured but the team’s pitching depth has shrunk. The Yankees lack a fifth starting pitcher in their pitching rotation. The starting pitching rotation is currently Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortez and Clarke Schm...

The Jrue Holiday trade biding war has been completed. The Boston Celtics are the winners and now have acquired their new starting point guard of the 2023-204 NBA season. The Portland Trail Blazers traded Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics for center Robert Williams, point guard Malcolm Brogdan and draft compensation. Holiday will not only remain in the Eastern Conference but he will rival his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Jrue Holiday is a huge upgrade for the Celtics at the point guard position, replacing recently traded, Marcus Smart. The Boston Celtics will now establish a big 3 consisting of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday. Their big 3 will have a chance to go head to head with the Milwaukee Bucks new big 3 of Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. It is obvious and clear that the Bucks and Celtics improved this offseason. Both teams will be considered in the S Tier rankings, while Eastern Conference teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami He...

Every sport has at least one dark horse contender that goes under the radar of the fans and the media. The Milwaukee Brewers have arguably been the most slept on team of the 2023 MLB season. The Brewers are currently 20 games over .500, leading the NL Central Division by 7 games and are 4 wins away from clinching the National League 3 seed.  They may not be as heavily star studded as the LA Dodgers and Atlanta Braves but the Milwaukee Brewers can pitch and hit at a high level. The Brewers led by former All-Star Christian Yelich and former CY Young winning Pitcher Corbin Burnes are making a big statement by bringing the Brewer back to relevancy after a disappointing 2022 season. The Brewers are on track to win the NL Central Division for the 3rd time since the 2018 season. However, the MLB playoffs have always been a problem for the Milwaukee Brewers. They lost the 2019 Wild Card game and 2020 Wild Card Series to the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals and LA Dodgers...

It is one week shy of a month since NBA Free Agency began. More than half of the top free agents are signed. There are still unsigned role players, who can help impact contending or rebuilding teams. These remaining free agents include Christian Wood, Kelly Oubre, Jaylen Nowell and PJ Washington. Oubre and Washington averaged 20 and 15 points per game on the bad 27-55 Charlottte Hornets. Wood average 16 points per game the underachieving 38-44 Dallas Mavericks. Nowell averaged 10 points per game on the 42-40 mediocre Minnesota Timberwolves. Several NBA teams need role players who can provide offense off the bench. All four of these players fit that caliber. Health and injuries have always been a concern for these players. It is rumored that NBA teams are only willing to offer one year contracts to these injury prone players. What will these unsigned NBA players do? Will any of them sign with contenders? Will they sit out of the season without a contract? Will they play basketball overs...

The MLB trade deadline is getting closer. Teams are having tough decisions about buying and selling players. Some teams are expected to sell, while other teams remain undecided. Losing teams like the Oakaland A’s, Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals, Pitsburg Pirates and Colorado Rockies are expected to be  sellers. These last place teams are far from contending in their respective divisions. They are also out of the mix from the final wild card spot. Middle of the pack teams like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and LA Angels are on the fence about buying. It is uncertain what losing teams such as the Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox,  New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, St Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres plan to do. These seven sub 500, teams will have two weeks to determine their season’s fate. It is very possible that at least half of those teams are buyers due to being in subpar divisions. Fans of thse teams must ask which wi...

The second half of the MLB season begins tomorrow. The post All Star break is always crunch time for contending baseball teams. Each game has alot of meaning to the teams in the playoff hunt. This season will mark the second year that 12 total teams make the MLB Playoffs. 2020 was the first year of the expanded playoff format. Since 2020 the number of playoff teams have gone from 14 to 10 to 12 teams. Several MLB teams are in the midst of playoff droughts. These long droughts date back to the late 2010s or earlier. The Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds made the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season but have not reached the playoffs in a full season since 2003 and 2013. The Texas Rangers and Balitimore Orioles have not reached the playoffs since the 2016 season. The Arizona Diamondback’s playoff drought dates back to the 2017 season. Long story short, these contending MLB treams have playoff droughts at stake. Every year there are teams such as the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Atla...

The MLB 2023 season is nearing the Allstar break. There are several MLB teams in unfamiliar territory. There are teams like The Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves, who have lived up to expectations. The current MLB standings are somewhat shocking. Teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks are the biggest surprise teams. They were all not projected to be contenders. Teams like the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and LA Dodgers were not predicted to struggle. The more games played, the bigger the sample size for each MLB team. The questions that remain is if the disappointing teams can get hot and if the surprise teams can carry their momentum. Numbers don’t lie and neither does the standing. Will these unexpected contenders make moves at the trade deadline? Only time will tell as the Allstar break approaches. The league will have a better idea and understanding onc...