Let’s be blunt: the Toronto Raptors are a sorry bunch, in real life and in fantasy terms. Sure, there are a decent number of potential breakout candidates on this squad whenever the next NBA season begins, but there are also timeshares awaiting a few positions. There’s no true stud here, but when you’re in the latter rounds of your draft, keep some of these Canadian dinosaurs in mind. Read More »

Now it’s just getting ridiculous. On their final outing of a four-games-in-five-nights road trip, Jerry Sloan‘s boys faced a prototypical trap game: After huge wins in Miami, Orlando and Atlanta, last night’s tip in Charlotte presented a not-so-glamorous opponent and an understandable excuse to let one get away. But that’s not the Jazz way. Once again they fell behind by double-digits, this time in the first quarter, and once again their collective toughness and Deron Williams brought them back … Read More »

Evidence was building up for Russell Westbrook, if anything, to have a meltdown in crunch time rather than take over last night’s Thunder/Blazers game. Throughout the second half, Wetsbrook was attacking the basket only to miss shots and not get calls. Meanwhile, Andre Miller (16 pts, 11 asts) was kind of busting Westbrook’s ass and picking apart the OKC defense Westbrook was supposed to spearhead. But right when it seemed Westbrook was one more no-call away from a technical foul or a rash of bad decisions, he locked in. Read More »

Early in the NBA season, it seems as though people are preoccupied with star players that were traded in the 2010 offseason and their new teams. But what about those teams that lost that star player. Are they destined for failure? Will anyone step their game up in the departed player’s absence?

I thought it would be interesting to look at five players who have recently risen to the occasion to deliver performances worthy of saying, “LeBron Who?” Read More »

By and large, preseason rankings are dumb. Not only because they’re completely based on speculation, but because that speculation then becomes taken as gospel, and then sets the tone for the rest of the season in polls that are supposed to be based on performance.

Look at it this way: If you predicted based on hearsay that N.E.R.D.‘s album Nothing (which drops today) will be a five-mic classic, then got a copy and find out it’s a one-mic stinker, would you still give it 3.5 mics because you don’t want to sink it too far in the rankings? Of course not. What you thought of the album before actually hearing the product doesn’t and shouldn’t matter. Read More »

Coming off a 20-point piecing of the Cavs on Friday, Toronto seems to be doing just fine in the Post-Bosh era. The captain and unofficial spokesman for the team, Jarrett Jack, looks to lead the Raptors in a more balanced attack. Sharing time with Jose Calderon, this fifth-year guard out of Georgia Tech has shown flashes of brilliance in his time with the Raps and makes a good case for a permanent spot in the starting rotation. We caught up with Jarrett to discuss new opportunities, home cooking and NBA great Dave DeBusschere. Read More »

Thank you to the Toronto Raptors for providing the first, “It’s just preseason” moment of the new year. Embarking on Phase 1 the post-Chris Bosh era, during which everyone not being paid by the Raptors is convinced the team will stink worse than Randy Watson‘s shower cap, the Raptors nonetheless DESTROYED the Suns in their preseason opener, 129-78. In front of a Vancouver, B.C., crowd that gave Steve Nash some home-province love and got to pretend for a night that the Grizzlies never left, Linas Kleiza led T-Dot with 20 points in the rout. Read More »

One of the more feeble darts thrown from Cleveland Cavaliers fans to LeBron James this summer is something along the lines of, “We made you.”

Right. Except now that LeBron is gone, the team that won 60-plus games in each of the past two seasons, that went to the ’07 NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, that during the LeBron era put together its first five-year string of consecutive postseason appearances since its ’92-96 run, went from a legit title contender to arguably the worst team in the League the moment LeBron said he was moving to Miami. So who made who again? Read More »

Right before the NBA free agency negotiating period began, Richard Jefferson threw a wrench into the game by surprisingly opting out of his contract with the San Antonio Spurs. Jefferson would have made $15 million next season, but after a disappointing campaign (12.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg), word is he wants to be back in the New York area, either with the Knicks or Nets. (Although conflicting reports say the Spurs might just re-sign him for less money.)

But if in fact the Spurs did get some wiggle room salary-wise, can they become players in the free-agent bonanza? Yes. Actually, they could walk away with one of the most coveted players in the League. Here’s the trade that can get it done: Read More »

My favorite team wore green, too. No, the Seattle Supersonics don’t perfectly blend into the St. Patrick’s Day theme — we damn sure aren’t lucky, although the whole situation does make you feel like drinking sometimes — but I’m going to steal Aron’s idea anyway and commemorate the holiday with my 10 favorite Sonics: Read More »