Sport Thoughts

Only four teams remain in the 2025 NBA playoffs. The final four include the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota Timberwolves. The rest of the league is watching at home from their couches. With that said, it is offseason mode for twenty-six other NBA franchises. While no trades have been made, a lot could be discussed from now until the 2025 NBA Draft. Several stars and role players could be on the move during and following the June 25th NBA draft. The landscape of the league could be very different in a matter of weeks. Between regular season disappointments, early playoff exits, and injuries, a lot of changes could be on the horizon. For starters, the injuries to stars Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Kyrie Irving will impact the offseasons of the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Dallas Mavericks. Underachieving teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and New Orleans Pelicans could look to trade stars su...

The New York Knicks are in the midst of their final six regular season games. The team has struggled while playing undermanned without Allstar Julius Randle and 3&D wing Og Anunoby. The playing undermanned theme will continue in the upcoming NBA playoffs. The New York Knicks recently announced season ending shoulder surgery for All Star Julius Randle. Randle had been out since late January and was hoping to return before the regular season’s end. Several Knick role players have stepped up in Randle’s absense including Donte Divincenzo, Josh Hart, Miles McBride and Isiah Hardenstein. The disappointing Randle news changes the playoff ceiling for the current New York Knicks team. They were expected to be playoff contenders prior to Randle’s January injury. The Knicks have also missed Og Anunoby, who had played just 3 games since returning from elbow surgery. The Knicks will need Anunoby back for the upcoming playoffs. He is not a high volume scorer like Randle but his three point shoo...

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 MLB 2023 offseason has seen several teams make impactful changes. The LA Dodgers have had the biggest offseason compared to any team in the MLB. The Dodgers have signed MVP DH Shohei Ohtani, traded for starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow and signed NPB starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The two big free agent signings of Ohtani and Yamamoto plus Glasnow’s contract extension will cost the Dodgers over 1 billion dollars. To the Dodgers benefit, the money amount has greatly shrunk due to Ohtani’s deferred salary. The Dogers also resigned veteran outfielder Jason Heyward along with acquiring outfielder Manuel Margot in the Tyler Glasnow trade. Adding hitting and pitching depth has been key for the Dodgers. Yamamoto will enter the 2024 season as the ace of the Dodgers pitching rotation. Glasnow will be valued as a number 2 option in the pitching rotation. Glasnow’s injury history may be a concern in the long term. The Dodgers former ace pitcher Walker Buhler will be returning from Tommy Jo...

The New York Mets have had a quiet and sub-par 2023 offseason. The MLB offseason is known as a time period for teams to reload and make improvements for next season. Several teams have made impactful offseason moves including the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. The New York Mets have remained quiet without any signs of changes in sight. The Mets are coming off of a disappointing 75 win 2023 season. The need to improve the batting lineup, starting pitching staff and bullpen were a must need. So far, the  Mets have signed starting pitcher Luis Severino, utilityman Joey Wendle and relief pitcher Jorge Lopez. All three former All Stars are joining the Mets off of their worst seasons of their careers. Adding pitchers with ERAs over 5 and players who hit slightly above 200. do not improve the ballclub. The Mets are a fourth place team as currently constructed. Outside of Pete Alonso and Fransico Lindor, the Mets offense lack...

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 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 2023 NBA Pre Season has come to an end. It is time to analyze the stand outs from the exhibition games. For starters, the Boston Celtics look like a force to be reckoned with. Their big 4 consisting of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis looked dominant in their pre season games. The Milwaukee Bucks duo of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo look they could become the best duo in the NBA. The East might be a two team race but it does not excuse the quality of eastern conference teams. The Philadelphia 76ers did not see James Harden play a single pre season game for them, hoping he can get a trade to the LA Clippers. Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks struggled defensively in their pre season games, while teams like the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks showed a lot of promise. Out in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns promoted their elite big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. They looked like ...

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...

The Phoenix Suns are entering the upcoming 2023-2024 season with a very different looking team compared to the roster of their 2023 NBA Playoffs.  The changes made to the Suns could best be described as a team overhaul. The Suns began their Summer offseason by trading All-Star point guard Chris Paul and shooting guard Landry Shamet to the Washington Wizards for All-Star guard Bradley Beal. The blockbuster trade would be the first domino of many to fall in their roster shake up. The Suns would then trade backup point guard Camron Payne to the San Antonio Spurs as a salary dump. They would let multiple role players walk in free agency including Bizmack Byombo, Jock Landale, Torey Craig, Darius Bazley, TJ Warren and Terrence Ross. The Suns recent decision to trade  starting center Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers was the final step to finishing the team’s shake up. As currently constructed, only Superstars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are returning from the previous s...

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 long awaited Damian Lillard trade has finally happened after nearly 3 months of waiting. A three team blockbuster trade was the end result, with two fairly shocking teams in the process. The Miami Heat were heavily favorited as the front runners of the trade talks. The Heat were Lillard’s one and only trade destination. That destination would not longer be the case as the Milwaukee Bucks would become  the real trade partner. The Bucks aqcuired Damian Lillard as their game changing trade, while moving on from All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday and backup guard Grayson Allen. The Phoenix Suns would become the surprising third team trade partner. The Suns moved on from disgruntled center Deandre Ayton, sending him to the Portand Trail Blazers for veteran center Jusuf Nurkic. Trail Blazers role players Nassir Little and Keon Johnson would also included with Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen in the blockbuster trade to the Pheonix Suns. In the long haul, the Milwaukee Bucks are the clea...

The 2023 MLB season is less there 2 weeks away from being completed. The New York Mets are out of contention and examining their team options for  2024. The thought process has become a mystery if Buck Showalter will return next year as Mets manager. Showalter has one final year left of his three year contract. Showalter had previously won the Manager of the Year award during his first season as Mets manager. He helped lead the Mets to a 101 win season and their first playoff berth since 2016. His second year as Mets manager sung a different tale. His managing decisions brought negative publicity, including questionable starting lineups and a mismanaged bullpen. The Mets are in the midst of a rebuild since the August 1st tade deadline. Showalter has managed a roster filled with veterans, rookies and tripple A players. He can only manage with what he is given. The New York Mets are not expected to make a big splash in the upcoming offseason. Buck Showalter was suppose to manage a ch...

Today was a shocking day for the Boston Red Sox front office. The organization parted ways with respected top executive Chaim Bloom. Bloom joined the Boston Red Sox front office following the 2019 MLB season. Bloom took over the front office just one year after the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series. He made several major changes to the Red Sox organization during his 4-year tenure. Bloom will perhaps be most known as the executive who traded away future hall of fame outfielder Mookie Betts for outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong. In terms of free agent signings, Bloom signed shortstop Trevor Story, third baseman Justin Turner, closer Kenley Janson, outfielders Adam Duvall and Masataka Yoshida during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. On the postive side of moves, Bloom improved the Red Sox farm system and extended home grown supstar third baseman Rafael Devers. His previous offseason moves were decent but none of the moves improved the team towards contending. Bloom had little t...

The NBA Board of Governors recently passed a new policy regarding load mangement. Load management is a resting process where All-Star players are given games off in order to avoid playing in every game of the NBA Season. This process has negativily impacted nationally televised regular season games. Fans go to NBA games to see their favorite All-Star players compete. They don’t want to see their favorite players resting on the bench. This new policy will limit the number of All-Stars sitting out per game. NBA teams will no longer be able to punt regular season games via load management. This new policy will strongly affect teams with 2 or more All-Stars including the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves. They will be forced to play at least one or two All-Stars per game, if they are not injured. Teams who lack two or more All-Stars like the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors could struggle th...

The New York Yankees 2022 offseason was defined by multple big name free agent signings. They brought back former All-Star first baseman Athony Rizzo and resigning All-Star MVP Aaron Judge. They lastly signed former All-Star starting pitcher Carlos Rodon. Rodon was expected to be the number 2 starting pitcher in the Yankees pitching rotation. He was considered to be a co-ace behind Cy-Young canidate Gerrit Cole. Carlos Rodon has done everything but pitch like an ace caliber pitcher. He missed the first 3 months of the 2023 MLB season due to a forearm injury in Spring Training. He returned in late July, pitching like a shell of his former self. Rodon made 31 starts last season and finished with an ERA under 3. He has made nust 10 starts in 2023 and has pitched to an ERA well over 6. He gave up 12 total home runs last season in 178 innings of work. He has given up the same number of homers this year but in 46.1 innings. The numbers don’t lie, Carlos Rodon has underachieved in Yankee pins...

The New York Mets have a core of players which goes back to 2019. A three-man core of outfielder Brandon Nimmo, first baseman Pete Alonso and utilityman Jeff McNeil. Shortstop Francisco Lindor would join this core in 2021. This Mets core has not accomplished anything. A deep dive look at this failed core could ignite a breakup. The New York Mets fell short of reaching the playoffs by 3 games in 2019. A disappointing ending but a sign of optism for the next season. They missed the expanded 16-team playoffs in 2020. A failed follow up season that would lead to the addition of Francisco Lindoe. The Mets missed the playoffs yet again after a post All-Star break collapse in 2021. An offseason full of changes would impact the next season. The Mets would finally make the playoffs in 2022. It would however be a quick first round exit after winning 101 regular season games. Fast forward to present day, the New York Mets are on track to miss the playoffs and finish with a losing record for the t...

2023 has been an interesting year for several MLB contenders. There have been quite a few disappointing teams. The New Mets and New York Yankees have disappointed on a large scale. Perhaps the most disappointing team of the 2023 season is actually the San Diego Padres. The Padres entered the 2023 season expecting to compete for a championship. They had a success 2022 season, upsetting the 101 win New York Mets and 111 win LA Dodgers in the MLB playoffs. The Padres entered the offseason with a plethora of moves. They extended third basemen Many Machado to a multi year contract. They would sign All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, starting pitcher Seth Lugo, starting pitcher Michael Wacha and designated hitter Matt Carpenter in free agency. They would also see the return of All-Star outfielder Fernando Tatis, back from a year of injuries and a steroid suspension. The team raised their payroll and spoke about championship expectations at a fan appeciation event. 2023 has gone the complete ...

The MLB offseason can not come any sooner for the New York Mets. The Mets will hit the cross roads of rebuilding once  the offseason begins. They must decide which direction to approach free agency and the trade market. It is heavily rumored that the New York Mets will trade All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is considered to be the face of the Mets franchise. He is also their best power hitter. The Mets will have one year left of Alonso’s contract before he reaches free agency. Alonso and the Mets have not been able to agree on a contract extension. The New York Mets are looking to be competitive in 2024. Trading Pete Alonso would make the Mets a less competitive team. Alonso is having a down year in terms of batting average but he is capable of hitting over 40 homers per season. Will the Mets reach a contract extension agreement with Alonso? Will he be traded for up and coming prospects. It is only the end of August but the future is already being discussed.

The New Yankees are one of the biggest disappointments in the 2023 MLB season. They are in the midst of a 7-game losing streak. The Yankees have a 60-63 losing record and sit in last place of the American League East Division. They have shown no signs of life in their last 5 games of the losing streak. The New Yankees could have made trades to improve but choose to stand pat on the August 1st Trade Deadline. The team’s front office is the face of this uncompetitive and disappointing product. General manager Brian Cashman has struck out on many of his off season and trade deadline moves, dating back to last year. The Yankees currently lack an experienced left fielder, troting out minor league journeymen Jake Bauer and Billy Mckinney. They also heavily rely on a rooke shortstop Anthony Volpe and utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Neither of whom have shown signs of consistent hitting in a team slump. Starting pitching has gotten worse month by month. Carlos Rodon has looked like a bust free ...