Community Shootaround

With the 2019/20 regular season around the corner, ESPN’s Zach Lowe is back with one of his most entertaining annual columns, his NBA League Pass Rankings.

In the first and second parts of the rankings, Lowe lists the NBA teams from No. 30 to No. 1 based on how watchable he expects each club to be during the upcoming season. As he explains, several factors are incorporated into his rankings, including a team’s popularity, highlight potential, playing style, and – of course – unintentional comedy.

After several years of the Warriors finishing at – or near – the top of Lowe’s rankings, Golden State has slipped all the way down to No. 13 for the 2019/20 season, opening the door for some new-look rosters to take center stage.

Of course, the Los Angeles teams and their newly-formed superstar pairings are near the top of the list, with the Lakers coming in at No. 2 and the Clippers coming in at No. 4. But there are plenty of other unexpected teams in the top 10, including the up-and-coming Kings sneaking in at No. 10, while the Bulls land at No. 8.

Zion Williamson‘s arrival in New Orleans helps boost the Pelicans to No. 9, while the tantalizing star power of the Luka Doncic/Kristaps Porzingis duo in Dallas ensures that the Mavericks come in at No. 6. A pair of somewhat under-the-radar Western Conference title contenders – the Nuggets and Jazz – rank at No. 5 and No. 7, respectively, while reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are at No. 3.

This year’s top League Pass team, according to Lowe? The Sixers, who feature one of the biggest starting lineups in history, including a 6’10” point guard (Ben Simmons) and a frontcourt that features Joel Embiid and Al Horford. Lowe describes the 76ers as “weird, big, goofy and loaded with personality,” noting that he has a ton of questions about how the unusual mix of players will actually look on the court together.

Again, Lowe’s full top 15 can be found here, along with the bottom 15. But we want to know what your personal League Pass rankings would look like.

Outside of your favorite team(s), which clubs are you most looking forward to watching in 2019/20? Do you agree with Lowe’s top tier or are there other teams that intrigue you more? Which club’s games are you most likely to seek out during the coming season?

Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!

With training camps opening up, we will soon find out if the offseason moves have turned last season’s also-rans into playoff contenders.

In the Western Conference, it’s safe to assume the Lakers are firmly in the postseason picture — and a serious championship contender — with Anthony Davis joining forces with LeBron James. It’s also easy to deduce that the subtractions of Russell Westbrook and Paul George will drop Oklahoma City out of the playoff chase.

Are there any Western Conference teams that missed last season’s playoffs who have improved enough to reach the postseason?

The Kings, who finished with the ninth-best record in the West, are intriguing. They have a good young core led by De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III. They re-signed Harrison Barnes and added another solid veteran forward in Trevor Ariza.

The Timberwolves have one of the league’s best big men in Karl-Anthony Towns and the Jimmy Butler drama from early last season is a fading memory. If coach Ryan Saunders can get more out of Andrew Wiggins, and if lottery pick Jarrett Culver can make an immediate impact, they could improve.

The Grizzlies probably need a couple more years but have two building blocks in high lottery picks Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

The Pelicans are a lot closer than the Grizzlies after winning the lottery and drafting the most highly-touted prospect in years, Zion Williamson. They no longer have AD but they acquired three rotation pieces in Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. They also added proven veterans in Derrick Favors and J.J. Redick and still have Jrue Holiday.

The Mavericks had to wait half a season to see what Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic could do together. After sitting out last season, Porzingis is ready for a fresh start in Dallas.

The Suns won only 19 games but now they’ve got a respected floor leader in Ricky Rubio to elevate the play of their stars, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.

That brings us to our question of the day: Other than the Lakers, which Western Conference team that missed the playoffs last season has the best chance to reach the postseason?

Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.

With the exception of the 2016/17 season, which took place during a period of unprecedented stability for head coaches, at least three NBA teams have made in-season coaching changes in each of the last five years. In 2018/19, Tyronn Lue got the axe after just six games, with Fred Hoiberg and Tom Thibodeau later joining him in the unemployment ranks.

While it’s possible that 2019/20 will be a repeat of ’16/17, recent history tells us that the safer bet is to expect multiple teams to make coaching changes before the season ends.

With that in mind, Ben Golliver of The Washington Post singled out five head coaches around the NBA who might end up on the hot seat in the coming months. Golliver’s picks are Frank Vogel (Lakers), Mike D’Antoni (Rockets), Brett Brown (Sixers), Billy Donovan (Thunder), and Scott Brooks (Wizards).

The Lakers, Rockets, and Sixers will enter the 2019/20 season with championship aspirations, so if they get off to slow starts, it’s not hard to imagine their respective head coaches feeling some pressure.

Vogel was just hired this spring, but he didn’t appear to be L.A.’s first choice and received a shorter-term contract than most other recent hires. D’Antoni is entering a contract year, which is rare for a head coach, and anything short of an NBA Finals appearance will be a letdown for Houston. Brown, meanwhile, appeared to be on the hot seat after losing in the second round of last year’s postseason before Toronto’s championship run made the Sixers’ series against the Raptors look more impressive in retrospect.

As for Donovan and Brooks, they’re suddenly at the helm of rebuilding clubs rather than the contenders they originally signed on to join. The Wizards also have a new head of basketball operations in place, so it’s possible that Tommy Sheppard will want to bring in his own head coach at some point.

What do you think? Will any of those five head coaches be dismissed during the 2019/20 season? Do you expect other coaches to find themselves on the hot seat in the near future?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents!

Tampering has quietly existed in the NBA for decades, but teams, players and agents barely tried to hide it this summer. Several big-money contracts were announced shortly after the official start of free agency on June 30 that were obviously too complex to have been formed during the few minutes in which negotiations were legal.

Teams that lost stars complained loudly about the process, and the league decided action had to be taken. The NBA’s Board of Governors voted yesterday to adopt tough new rules, which include a fine of up to $10MM if it’s determined that “egregious” tampering has taken place.

Commissioner Adam Silver stressed that the penalties may not stop with fines. Suspensions of team executives, forfeiting draft picks and voiding contracts are all now on the table.

“We need to ensure that we’re creating a culture of compliance in this league,” Silver said. “Our teams want to know that they’re competing on a level playing field and frankly don’t want to feel disadvantaged if they are adhering to our existing rules.”

The league also has the authority to review cell phones and other electronic communication devices to look for evidence of tampering. That provision has raised the most concern among team officials, who fear that their privacy may be violated and sensitive information could be leaked.

This is hardly the first time the league has promised to crack down on tampering, but the tough talk has never made a difference in the past. Part of the problem is that many of the sales pitches made to players who are under contract come from other players, which the league acknowledges it can’t prevent. There’s no way to stop players at an All-Star Game or an international competition from talking about becoming NBA teammates some day. And the league can’t do anything if friends like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving make plans to join forces when they hit free agency at the same time.

Previous penalties for tampering have never been strong enough to scare teams. The Clippers and Nets, for instance, wouldn’t care how much they were fined or how many draft picks they had to surrender as long as they get to keep the new stars they added.

We want to get your input. Will these latest rules on tampering make a difference, or will business as usual continue behind the scenes? 

Head to our comment section below to share your feedback.

Last spring, 13 of the 15 players who were named to the All-NBA teams for the 2018/19 season had earned an All-NBA nod at least once in the past. Only two players made an All-NBA team for the first time: Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (First Team) and then-Hornets guard Kemba Walker (Third Team).

There are a handful of players who we can expect to claim spots on one of those three All-NBA teams on an annual basis as long as they stay healthy. James Harden and Stephen Curry have made six All-NBA teams apiece. Russell Westbrook has made eight, while his former teammate Kevin Durant has made nine. LeBron James has earned a staggering 15 All-NBA nods, tying the all-time record.

Still, injuries like the Achilles tear that will sideline Durant for most or all of the 2019/20 season can create openings for newcomers, as can down years by established stars (think Anthony Davis in 2018/19). And longtime All-NBA mainstays like LeBron won’t keep playing at that level forever.

With the 2019/20 season set to get underway next month, we want to know which players you think are in position to potentially grab an All-NBA spot for the first time next spring.

Will a veteran All-Star like Bradley Beal, Jrue Holiday, or Nikola Vucevic make another leap and enter the All-NBA ranks for the first time? Will a former lottery pick like Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic, or Donovan Mitchell break through with a career year that puts him in the conversation for a spot among the league’s top 15 players? Will an up-and-coming star like Devin Booker or Pascal Siakam take advantage of an opportunity to be his team’s No. 1 option and deliver an All-NBA caliber season?

Those players all received All-NBA votes last season, but they’re hardly the only candidates to become an All-NBA player for the first time.

What do you think? Do you expect any NBA players to make an All-NBA for the first time in 2019/20? And which of last season’s All-NBA players – besides Durant – do you expect to fall out of the top 15 next season?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

All of the major offseason moves have been made. Training camp is just around the corner.

We will soon find out whether those changes improved some of the also-rans last season. In terms of the Eastern Conference, the seven teams that failed to reach the playoffs approached the summer in many different ways.

The Heat made the boldest move. They got a commitment from one of the top free agents, Jimmy Butler, and turned it into a sign-and-trade. Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside were sent packing in that four-team swap and Miami also acquired reserve big man Meyers Leonard.

The Hornets lost their All-Star point guard Kemba Walker and worked out a sign-and-trade with the Celtics to acquire Terry Rozier. The Wizards resisted trade overtures for Bradley Beal and replaced injured John Wall with stopgap veterans Ish Smith and Isaiah Thomas. They also declined their option on Jabari Parker.

The Hawks continue to embrace improvement via lottery picks, adding De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish to a young core that includes Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins.

The Bulls added point guard Coby White in the draft but also acquired another guard, Tomas Satoransky, via sign-and-trade and inked veteran forward Thaddeus Young to a three-year deal.

Kevin Love remains on the Cavaliers’ roster for the time being but they’ve decided to build around young players. They surprised many people around the league by hiring Michigan coach John Beilein to spearhead that process.

The Knicks struck out on the major free agents, so they signed a bunch of second-tier free agents — Bobby Portis, Julius Randle, Marcus Morris, Taj Gibson and Elfrid Payton — on short-term contracts after drafting point guard RJ Barrett.

That brings us to our question of the day: Which non-playoff team from the Eastern Conference last season is most likely to make the postseason and why?

Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.

After Giannis Antetokounmpo beat out James Harden in a competitive two-man race for the 2018/19 NBA Most Valuable Player award, oddsmakers have made Antetokounmpo the favorite to earn MVP honors again in 2019/20.

BetOnline gives Antetokounmpo +350 odds to win the MVP award next season, meaning you’d have to risk $100 to win $350. Over at Bovada, Giannis is considered an even stronger frontrunner, with +300 odds.

Still, there are plenty of contenders who could spoil an Antetokounmpo repeat. Both Bovada and BetOnline give Stephen Curry the second-best MVP odds, with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard, and Joel Embiid rounding out the top seven candidates.

An MVP case often relies heavily on both team success and narrative, which helped Giannis win the award this past spring — the Bucks won a season-high 60 games thanks in large part to his excellence on both ends of the court. It’s easy to imagine making a similar case for the Greek Freak next year if Milwaukee once again finishes first in the East. On the other hand, if the Sixers grab the No. 1 seed, Embiid might have a stronger case.

In the West, Curry is a popular pick now that Kevin Durant is no longer in the picture, since the league’s premier sharpshooter will be back to carrying the Warriors‘ offensive load like he did during his previous two MVP seasons — his scoring responsibilities will be even greater with Klay Thompson on the shelf for much of the season. Harden, meanwhile, is a perennial contender for the award, and LeBron, AD, and Kawhi could be in the mix if one of the L.A. teams finishes atop the West.

Among the dark horse candidates for the award, my two favorite picks are Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard.

Jokic (+1500 on Bovada, +1600 on BetOnline) is the lone superstar on the Nuggets‘ roster, and after finishing second in the West last season, it wouldn’t be a total shock if Denver takes another step forward and finishes with atop the conference. Jokic, who averaged 20.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 7.3 APG in 2018/19, could theoretically approach a triple-double average and would have a strong case as the clear-cut best player on the West’s best team in that scenario.

Lillard (+2800 on Bovada, +2500 on BetOnline) would probably have to increase his numbers beyond his current career highs of 27.0 PPG and 6.9 APG and count on the Trail Blazers making a similar run to the top of the West in order to be considered a true MVP contender. But that’s not entirely out of the question. At age 29, he’s very much in his prime and may have one more leap left in him.

Finally, while I’m skeptical about his chances to legitimately compete for an MVP award this early in his career, it’s worth noting that Luka Doncic‘s MVP odds on BetOnline are +1600, compared to +5000 on Bovada — the latter is obviously a significant better value if you’re bullish on Doncic’s outlook and want to wager on his MVP chances.

What do you think? Who is your way-too-early pick for the 2020 NBA MVP award? Are there are any dark horses that you like as under-the-radar candidates?

Head to the comment section below to share your two cents!