Sport Thoughts

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 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 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 NBA trade deadline has always been designed as a grace period for contending teams to make big or small changes. The deadline is also known as the final act for selling teams begining fire sales. NBA teams have the power to upgrade, retool or rebuild through the trade deadline. All Stars are often moved in the aftermath. The 2021, 22’ and 23’ NBA trade deadlines saw multiple All Stars moved including Nikola Vucevic, James Harden, Ben Simmons, Andre Drummand, Domantas Sabonis, Kristaps Porzingis, Russell Westbrook, Mike Conley, D’Angelo Russell, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The 2024 trade deadline did not feature any star power compared to those recent deadlines. Trades were made based on high quality role players and bench players. The newly added role players could make a solid impact but it will never be on the level of a newly added star. There were several former All Stars remaining with their current teams after the deadline. Those stars include Demar Derozan, Zach Lavine, D...

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 ...