Has the torch been passed?

The new crop of elite power forwards has officially arrived. The young superstars at the position are beginning to push the aging vets out of the top spots and are cementing their status as the best in the game. While some of these changes can be attributed to new frontcourt rotations, others are a direct reflection of just how good the new crop has played, and are expected to play this season. Two of the best power forwards of all-time don’t play the position anymore (no, you won’t see Duncan or Garnett on this list). Read More »

One night after Tristan Thompson and Kyrie Irving were a part of two huge plays in Cleveland’s win over Montepaschi Siena, C.J. Miles created both of the Cavs’ best highlights Tuesday against Milwaukee in Canton, Ohio (forgive me the preseason enthusiasm, I’m just excited basketball is back). Miles had a game-high 18 points in Cleveland’s loss, but you can toss out the boxscore and just pay attention to both his facial on Ersan Ilyasova and his steal and slam on the fast break. Read More »

Ryan Anderson. Kevin Love. Tracy McGrady. Gilbert Arenas. Dana Barros. Kevin Johnson. What do these guys all have in common? They all won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

What are we taught as young players? The summer is the time to improve, right? If you’re not improving, you’re losing, right? Well, as great as the NBA’s MIP award is – and IT IS definitely great when you consider how many things need to go right for someone to have a shot at it – it doesn’t necessarily mean future greatness. Read More »

There’s a time and place for shaking things up in the NBA, and there’s another for finding a rhythm with familiar parts and pieces. When free agency opened for official signings on Wednesday, most the attention went to the shiny new additions around the league, from Steve Nash in Los Angeles to Omer Asik in Houston. Creating — or holding together — a contender isn’t just about the add-ons, though; it’s about keeping the best players from before who already have experience. Read More »

Spencer Hawes is returning to Philadelphia, according to Yahoo! Sports. The deal is worth a reported $13.1 million over two years. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Patty Mills finishes the wild 2011-12 NBA regular season with this honor, thanks to his 34 points, five boards, 12 dimes, one steal, one block and four three-pointers. He shot 56 percent (14-25) from the floor and 100 percent (2-2) from the free-throw line, and turned the ball over four times. It’d be a huge surprise to see him here ever again, but good for him and however many of his owners last night. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Gerald Wallace averaged 21.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 4.0 steals, 1.0 block and 2.0 threes in two games over the weekend. In this stretch, he shot 54 percent from the floor and 89 percent from the free-throw line, while averaging 2.5 turnovers per game. It’s only been nine games, but Wallace has averaged better all-around numbers (top 20 value) for the Nets than those he was putting up in Portland earlier this season. Read More »

With four minutes left and the Chicago crowd ready to explode, John Lucas III cleared out against LeBron, did a lil’ herky jerky dance on the King, and canned a fadeaway in James’ mug. It was a capper on one of those nights when everything goes right. Lucas III has this weird complex about him where he truly believes he’s big time, and for a little while last night, we kept yelling at him to stop shooting. But eventually, you just gotta enjoy the ride. Dude went off for 24 big points, hit contested pull-ups all over the court. Read More »

Brandon Jennings was content to wait. While the Nets came out hot Monday in New Jersey, Milwaukee’s oft off-target star found his stroke wherever he wanted as the game went on. Jennings stepped back for six threes on 11 attempts and had a game-high 34 in the Bucks’ win. He’s in the best shooting season of his career at 40 percent from the field (Progress, people. Progress.). While it’s progress that he’s better year-over-year, it’s still not good. It was nice though, to see his third night of 50 percent shooting or better this month, after not hitting that mark once in February … Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Ersan Ilyasova makes his debut here after averaging 28.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 threes in two games over the weekend. In that stretch, he shot 69 percent from the field, 92 percent from the free-throw line and averaged turned the ball over just once. In his last 13 games, Ilyasova has averaged top five numbers, making him a serious contender for pickup of the year. Read More »