Community Shootaround

The NBA had a very intriguing matchup between two streaking teams on Monday night.

Don’t look at the top of the standings. This was a duel for the bottom of the barrel.

The Wizards brought a nine-game losing streak to Detroit on Monday. The Pistons had been drowning in even more misery, looking to end a 13-game slide. Washington won the game with ease as Detroit matched the longest losing streak in its franchise history.

While teams have only played about 20 percent of their schedules, it’s tough to imagine either club overcoming its awful start and challenging for a play-in spot.

They’re not the only franchises in danger of a “going nowhere” season. The Bulls have done little to dispel the notion that they need a major rebuild. They entered the week with only one fewer loss than those floundering Wizards and Pistons.

The Hornets have only won a handful of games and LaMelo Ball had to depart early in their last game due to an ankle injury.

Over in the West, Victor Wembanyama mania has died down. The Spurs have dropped 12 straight despite the addition of the highly-touted rookie.

The Grizzlies, saddled by injuries and awaiting the return of Ja Morant from suspension, have only one fewer loss than San Antonio. The Trail Blazers were expected to struggle after trading Damian Lillard and that’s been the case so far, as they’ve won only four games.

The Jazz, mainly due to a soft defense, have also gotten off to a very slow start.

That brings us to our topic of the day: Considering what’s happened in the first two months of the season, which teams do you believe will finish with the worst records in each conference? Do you think any of the above-mentioned teams can turn things around and make the postseason?

Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.

When the NBA sought to incorporate an in-season tournament into its regular season schedule for the first time, the league needed to answer two important questions about the event. What would make the tournament meaningful for its players, and what would make it meaningful for fans?

The NBA addressed the first question with a fairly simple answer: money. The teams that make the knockout round of the in-season tournament will earn cash prizes, ranging from $50K per player for quarterfinalists to $500K per player for the eventual champion.

It’s not a particularly elegant solution, but it sounds like it has be an effective one. Several players have spoken in recent weeks about the very real incentive that prize money has provided.

And it’s not just young players or minimum-salary veterans that are tantalized by the prospect of a $500K bonus, which might represent a huge portion of their year-end earnings. Even well-compensated stars like Anthony Davis have cited the cash incentive as a motivator that has helped those games feel more meaningful — the Lakers‘ 4-0 record in round robin play suggests that wasn’t just talk.

Still, while the bonus money provides an incentive for the players, most fans aren’t going to celebrate the fact that the guys on their favorite teams are getting an extra pay check. The NBA still needs to ensure the event feels meaningful for the people in the stands and those watching at home.

Finding an appropriate incentive that would appeal to fans as well as to players and teams is tricky. Awarding the winner(s) an extra draft pick was one option said to be discussed, but that would arguably be a disincentive for certain players, who may not want to fight to give their team the right to draft a younger, cheaper prospect who might replace them on the roster. Giving the winner(s) an extra cap exception was a similar idea thrown out there, but that would be a tough sell for casual fans and wouldn’t necessarily benefit teams.

An automatic playoff berth or some level of home-court advantage in the playoffs makes some sense, but the NBA has suggested it wants to keep the tournament separate from its postseason. The league may also risk further devaluing the regular season by locking in a playoff spot or home-court advantage for a team based on a handful of victories in November and December — what if that team falls off a cliff in the second half and finishes with 30 wins?

Ultimately, the NBA decided not to introduce any additional incentives beyond the prize money for players, which has made it difficult for some fans to get too invested in the event in its first year.

Of course, you could argue that a team’s NBA Finals victory doesn’t provide any special incentive to fans beyond the satisfaction of seeing your favorite team succeed on the league’s biggest stage. After all, it’s not as if fans receive cash prizes when their team wins a championship.

But the postseason in the spring is the culmination of an 82-game regular season and has established its importance over the course of the league’s history. It will take some time for an in-season tournament to stake out that sort of inherent meaningfulness — if it ever happens.

We want to know what you think. In order to make the in-season tournament more successful going forward, does the NBA need to introduce some sort of incentive for teams and fans beyond the bonus money for players? Or will the satisfaction of rooting for your favorite team to win games that are perhaps more competitive than typical November and December regular season contests ultimately be enough to make the tournament feel meaningful?

Head to the comment section below to let us know your thoughts!

It’s rare for an NBA team to make a head coaching change this early in the season, but it’s not unheard of. Just last fall, for instance, the Nets parted ways with Steve Nash only seven games into the regular season. The league’s reigning Coach of the Year, Mike Brown, was once let go by the Lakers a mere five games into a season.

That doesn’t mean that we should expect a head coaching change in the coming days or weeks, but it’s extremely rare to get through an entire NBA season without at least some overhaul in the coaching ranks. So it’s likely just a matter of time until at least one team decides to pull the trigger and make a change.

The NBA’s longest-tenured head coaches – such as Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Steve Kerr – won’t be fired, and it’s probably safe to assume that all the coaches who have been hired within the last year are safe as well, barring some unexpected non-basketball development. Eliminating those two groups significantly reduces our list of coaches who might be on the hot seat.

From there, we can cross off several more coaches whose teams are off to strong starts this season. That group includes guys like Chris Finch, Mark Daigneault, Jason Kidd, and Jamahl Mosley, among several others. And we can eliminate at least a couple more coaches whose clubs have given them strong votes of confidence as of late — for instance, the Clippers refused to let interested teams talk to Tyronn Lue this past offseason.

Who does that leave? Well, let’s start with Billy Donovan. He was named by at least one sportsbook in the preseason as the head coach most likely to be fired first, and the Bulls‘ performance so far this season hasn’t done much to quiet those rumors. Zach LaVine and other Chicago players have been the subject of trade rumors, but when a team is underachieving, it’s often the coach who is replaced before the players are.

J.B. Bickerstaff‘s Cavaliers and Willie Green‘s Pelicans have been up and down to start the season, but both teams have been hit hard by injuries and have still held their own in the playoff race. Their seats might start getting hotter if they don’t make any sort of postseason run this spring, but for now, they should be fine. Nets coach Jacque Vaughn falls into this category too, with expectations in Brooklyn a little lower than they are in Cleveland or New Orleans.

Chauncey Billups, Will Hardy, and Wes Unseld Jr. are among the coaches whose teams already look like strong bets to end up in the lottery, but those clubs weren’t expected to make the playoffs this season anyway, so their management groups likely won’t be in any hurry to make changes. Unseld is the lone potential exception since he was hired by a previous front office regime, but a recent report suggested his job isn’t in any immediate danger.

Taylor Jenkins and Steve Clifford are perhaps worth keeping a closer eye on, since the Grizzlies and Hornets have won a combined seven games so far this season despite entering the season with playoff aspirations. But those are two more teams who have been significantly impacted by player absences and who probably can’t be realistically judged until their groups are more whole.

Jenkins, in particular, has several strong seasons under his belt and was expected to ultimately be judged on his team’s playoff success. If Memphis’ roster is too depleted to even make the postseason, it’ll probably be hard to put that on Jenkins.

For now, then, Donovan may be the only head coach whose seat looks truly hot, though there are certainly other coaches who could join him if their teams experienced prolonged slumps.

What do you think? Is Donovan the coach whose job is in the most jeopardy in the short term? Are there others you think could be replaced before season’s end?

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

With opening night of the 2023/24 NBA season in the rearview, we at Hoops Rumors decided it was high time to delve into some predictions for how the rest of the year will unfold.

The East’s top two teams by record last year, the Celtics and Bucks, underwent some drastic personnel changes this summer, and have emerged as the two early favorites in Las Vegas. Boston’s new additions are top-lined by ex-Milwaukee All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday and floor-stretching center Kristaps Porzingis, while the Bucks added superstar point guard Damian Lillard alongside perennial MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The reigning champion Nuggets remain the class of the Western Conference, boasting perhaps the most lethal offensive tandem in the league with superstar center Nikola Jokic and sharpshooting guard Jamal Murray.

Three Western Conference hopefuls who won playoff series last year — the Suns, Lakers, and Warriors — all underwent significant alterations to their own rosters in the hopes of toppling jumbo-sized Denver.

Phoenix offloaded two starters in Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, and brought in three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal, veteran big man Jusuf Nurkic, and some fresh depth to complement incumbent All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Paul was eventually re-routed to Golden State, where his veteran presence could help stabilize the turnover-prone Warriors. The Lakers made several tactical below-the-radar signings as they look to build on their surprise Western Conference Finals berth last spring.

Competitive Eastern Conference clubs like the Heat, Knicks, Sixers and Cavaliers seem to be a move or two away from true title contention. The Clippers certainly think they’re still contenders, but given their aging and injury-prone roster, the rest of the basketball world is dubious. Elsewhere in the West, young clubs like the Kings and Thunder hope to take a leap. The Grizzlies, who will be without their best player for the first 25 games of the year and have a frontcourt beset by long-term injuries, face an uphill battle to remain among the conference’s elite teams. When everyone’s available, they certainly have the talent to compete with anyone.

On the MVP front, the usual suspects like Jokic, Antetokounmpo, and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry seem likely to have an opportunity to add even more hardware to their collections (each has two apiece). Reigning MVP Joel Embiid‘s candidacy for a repeat performance may depend on how Philadelphia performs in its conference. Booker’s traction in this conversation may likewise hinge on how his new-look Suns mesh, though early signs are quite encouraging. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have a chance to nab their first such honor. All-NBA Heat swingman Jimmy Butler always seems to miss too much time to earn major consideration, but there’s no question he remains one of the league’s top talents.

The 2024 Rookie of the Year race is looking to be one of the most exciting in a while, fronted by two unique big men and a dynamite scoring guard. Superhuman Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and lanky Oklahoma City big Chet Holmgren, the second pick in 2022 who has yet to make his regular season NBA debut, have already impressed in the preseason. Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson looks to have the green light to score at will on a youth-oriented Portland roster.

Hornets forward Brandon Miller, Rockets guard Amen Thompson, and Pistons forward Ausar Thompson all are angling for a shot at that hardware, too. One caveat: Amen will be dealing with a crowded backcourt in Houston, and may not get as much run as the others.

We want to know what you think. Which clubs will face off in the 2024 Finals? And who will win? Who will earn this year’s MVP award? And which rookie in this starry class will rise above the rest, at least this year? 

Take to the comments below with your thoughts!

The Damian Lillard saga ended a couple of weeks ago. The drama regarding James Harden remains unresolved.

Contrary to early concerns, Harden reportedly hasn’t been disruptive during the Sixers’ training camp. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden will be “engaged” as long as he feels Philadelphia’s front office will continue to pursue a trade with the Clippers, his preferred destination.

That seems unlikely to happen in the short term. There’s “no traction” on a potential swap between those two parties, Wojnarowski said on Monday.

Reportedly the Clippers have offered a future first-rounder, a pick swap and expiring contracts for Harden. The Sixers’ top executive, Daryl Morey, is holding out for more assets.

Morey is intent on protecting his cap space for next offseason. That’s why the Sixers’ haven’t pursued an extension with their other starting guard, Tyrese Maxey. They could have the most cap space of any team if they don’t add future salary to their balance sheet.

It’s hard to tell just how much the Clippers want Harden. Coach Tyronn Lue has stated that he wants his club to take the regular season more seriously and get a better seed in a pivotal season for the franchise. Would Harden blend in well with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George or would acquiring him lead to some chemistry issues?

As we saw with Lillard’s situation, there could be a surprise outcome. Few anticipated Lillard would wind up in Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday would become the starting point guard for one of its main Eastern Conference rivals.

So the possibility of Harden winding up with another team that lost out in the Lillard/Holiday sweepstakes, such as Miami or Toronto, can’t entirely be ruled out. It’s also not out of the question Harden could be traded to a non-contender in a salary-dumping move if Morey is willing to add a sweetener or two, rather than the other way around.

That brings us to our topic of the day: How do you think the Harden saga will end? Will he stay in Philadelphia, get traded to the Clippers or be moved to a mystery team?

Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.