NBA Free Agency Review 2016 Part 1 – Andre Drummond, Kevin Durant

In the NBA season, there is the regular season, which can be a bit of a drag at times during an 82-game stretch. The postseason, which is normally pretty fun, especially when the top teams are facing off during a 7-game series. NBA Finals, which are normally interesting, especially this last one with the Golden State Warriors & Cleveland Cavs.

However, the true drama began directly after the NBA season with the free agency frenzy taking place. This offseason, NBA salary cap numbers exploded almost $20 million from last year, up to around $90 million. Which means that many players who do & don’t deserve the big money are going to get it. Today’s post we will, of course, talk about the Pistons free agent acquisitions as well as some of the biggest moves in NBA free agency.

Let’s start local with Andre Drummond. None of us really believed that the Pistons would part away with Dre, especially with what he does on the defensive end in terms of rebounding & shot blocking. Many of the critics will say that Drummond doesn’t deserve the big money because he is a terrible shooter from the free throw line, meaning that he can’t be in games late. But in the new era of the NBA salary cap, at least until the next collective bargaining agreement comes up in two years, this is going to be the norm in the league. Drummond is a max player, but $150 million, that might be a number people may scoff at.

Detroit Pistons star Andre Drummond signed a $150 million max deal for 5 years earlier this week.

The pressure will undoubtedly be on his shoulders much more next year & he will have to put up bigger numbers and become more consistent at the free throw line to justify this amount, but if the Pistons are an improved team, then Drummond will already make him worth the investment. The Pistons made the playoffs & as we all know, got bounced by the eventual NBA Champion Cleveland Cavs. It is not out of the realm of reasonable expectation that the Pistons should get to the second round next year riding the force that is Drummond, especially with having Tobias Harris in his second year in Stan Van Gundy’s system, along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson & Marcus Morris.

While Andre Drummond will have time to get the Pistons to the point where they are an NBA championship contender for big money, no one will dispute that new Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant is worth every penny he gets on the market. Where people will take issue with Durant is that on July 4th, Durant announced via The Players Tribune website that he would be signing with the Warriors (2 years, $54 million, second year player option), thus leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that came within one game of reaching the NBA Finals, losing to the team he just joined – the Warriors.

It is being said online that Durant made a punk move by going to chase after a championship ring, but in the world of sports, that is the complete point of playing. As Herm Edwards famously said long ago, “you play to win the game.” Durant is playing for his legacy & a chance to be a NBA Champion. He knew that he was not going to win a championship with Russell Westbrook, not because Westbrook isn’t a elite player, but West is made to play more on a team where he can shoot the ball 50 times a game & not have consequences or questions from the media afterwards.

Golden State was truly the one team that is made for Durant’s style of play, and its been proven to show that their style of play can win championships – which again, is the name of the game & why all of this fuss is being made in the first place. With Curry, Klay & Draymond, Durant is going to see man to man or soft zone defenses most times, leaving him open to truly dominate from inside or out. People are saying that Durant won’t get all of the shots he is used to normally, but it doesn’t truly matter. The Warriors are about working to win an NBA Championship & it won’t matter about who takes the most shots – its about who is standing in mid-June with the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Kevin Durant is going to be a Hall-of-Famer one day, but he doesn’t want to end up like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, & others who have worked hard to chase a championship & have a great career, but never got the big prize. Will this be the start of teams being able to put this together across the league? If the owners have anything to say about it, probably not, but right now, the two teams – the Cavs & Warriors – who clearly dominated the NBA last season – are working to make themselves a cut above the rest of the teams in the NBA, especially if the RUMORS are true that the Cavs are trying to sign Dwyane Wade.

Speaking of Wade, later we will talk about the fallout from the NBA Free Agency period and some of the even crazier contracts being signed for the upcoming season & beyond.

Game 3 Might Tell LeBron James Future After NBA Finals

With tonight’s must-win 2016 NBA Finals game 3 on the horizon for the Cleveland Cavs tonight (ABC, 9:00 ET), this night could tell us much about the future of LeBron James. James has his contract setup where he can become a free agent basically every offseason & he has made it clear from the time he came back to Cleveland that he will not be jerked around or disrespected by the organization in terms of how he is treated, his teammates are treated, & how the organization puts together a team around him to be in contention for an NBA championship.

This is far different than when he took his talents to South Beach to play with the Miami Heat in 2010. James has won two NBA championships, multiple MVPs & he has become one of the biggest faces in all of sports. He put Cleveland sports back on the map when he came back to town, but the Cavs can’t forget about the fact that just as quickly as he came in, he does have it in him to leave if he doesn’t see the Cavs being a contender next year.

The 2016 NBA Finals have been as lobsided as any in recent memory. While James has had his usual strong numbers, yet again, he hasn’t had the help around him that is needed to propel a team to a championship. Kyrie Irving is shooting 33% from the floor & it has been announced that Kevin Love won’t be cleared to play tonight due to being in the concussion protocol from being hit in the head in game 2. At the end of the day, those scenarios don’t matter. LeBron cares about winning, and winning alone. It isn’t about the money, but the legacy of being amongst the greatest of all-time to play in the NBA.

But what about the city of Cleveland? The media has dubbed it the “Mistake by the Lake” for a variety of reasons, but the city has not seen a championship since the days of Jim Brown running wild for the Cleveland Browns – before the NFL had this wacky little event called the SuperBowl. ESPN recently did a movie called “Believeland” which was the story of how the city of Cleveland has choked in big game situations. We know what that feeling is like being in Detroit in some ways – the Lions have won only one playoff game in 50 years, the Red Wings went 42 years without a Stanley Cup before 1997, the Tigers went 22 years before reaching the World Series in 2006 & the Pistons went 14 years without an NBA Championship before 2004. We have had droughts, but none as rough as Cleveland.

Cleveland is a tough, midwest city. Fans work hard for their money, but when their team has hope, the entire city gets behind it. Even when the Browns, Indians & Cavs were all down, the fans still showed true support by going to the games, calling into sportstalk radio & constantly having an opinion about what was going on at all times. They deserve a championship. The only man that can bring that championship to Northeast Ohio is LeBron James. Right now. But, James, more than anything else is a complete business man, which is different than the LeBron that was drafted by the Cavs in 2003. He has become savvy, smart with his brand, & understands that bringing a championship to the city of Cleveland will put him on top of the sports & possibly even social map in the city forever.

LeBron James has to also understand, however, that if he leaves, he had better leave for a great reason because he could not come back to the city again to play, or maybe even to live there. The fans would be too heartbroken & pissed off to forgive a second time. Unless there is a great free agent or NBA draft pick that would be pumped about going to Cleveland, the team would be falling off in a heartbeat. Kyrie & Love are great, but make no mistake about it, they signed on knowing they were going to play with LeBron & that they had a great shot a winning an NBA championship. The role players have played great for the Cavs all the way through the Eastern Conference playoffs, but have not been a major factor during the NBA Finals.

Where would LeBron go if he were to leave Cleveland though? He absolutely wouldn’t go anywhere without a ready made team ready to win a championship next season or an owner/GM/coach that knew what it took to put together that type of squad. Which leaves us with basically two organizations that could use some firepower in terms of great leadership & an impact player ready to do something like right – the Los Angeles Lakers & Los Angeles Clippers. It may sound a bit crazy to some, but we could easily see James going to LA, especially if Kevin Durant decides to opt out this season or next season to go to Los Angeles if Russell Westbrook decides not to re-sign in Oklahoma City. Both teams have the ownership that is determined to win & win big right now, and will do anything it takes to get to the NBA Finals. In the Lakers’ case, they will have a ton of money to spend this offseason & next offseason to put together a super team that would be dominant in the Western Conference again, and be able to get fans back into the building now that Kobe Bryant has retired.

As for the Clippers, they have had great regular seasons, but have failed in the playoff runs in the last several years. Chris Paul is a tremendous point guard & Blake Griffin is a great power forward, but it is hard to say if Griffin is the type of guy that can be a leader to bring a team to the NBA Finals, especially after some of the antics he pulled during the regular season, including punching a Clippers employee in the face during a road trip. DeAndre Jordan is a great defensive center, but it has yet to be seen if he is a difference maker. We know he isn’t one on the offensive end, but defensively, he is one of the best in the league, getting all the way to first-team All NBA because of his great defensive effort.

All of this talk, however, can’t happen until we get to Game 3 tonight. For the city of Cleveland, LeBron James & the NBA, this game could very well be one of the most important NBA Finals games in history. If the Cavs go down 3-0, its a wrap. If its 2-1, there is still some home & we have a new situation to work through. Either way, the chatter will begin at around midnight tonight – one way or another.

Cleveland Cavs, LeBron James Completely Dismantled in NBA Finals Game 2

We could have written about this last night, however, we wanted to make sure we really had a chance to take in the absolute beat down the Golden State Warriors gave the Cleveland Cavs in Game 2 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Different game, same result as the last time – the Cavs don’t have an answer for the Warriors’ style of play, their depth & their ability to move the ball up & down the court so quickly & effectively.

The final score of the game was 110-77. Yes, a 33-point win in an NBA Finals game, which is embarrassing in its own right. The 33 points is the largest amount of victory in the history of the NBA. The part that gets even worse is that the Cleveland Cavs seemed to have quit on the series, & effectively, quit on the season as there is such as hard road to get to four wins now to win an NBA Championship – meaning the Cavs have to completely change their game up & discover new magic in order to stop Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson & the rest of the team that seems hungrier than ever to defend their NBA Championship.

In our NBA Finals previews, we talked about how we thought LeBron James was going to have a relatively easy time going against the Warriors’ forwards, yet the only one he may have a problem with is Draymond Green. Not only is Green giving him a problem, but Andre Iguodala has played some tremendous defense on James throughout the series. Both of the guys working on James helped in LeBron having seven turnovers last night. The defense on LeBron also helped to snap James’ streak of 254 straight playoff games with over 20 points. He had a solid stat line in terms of having the 19 points, 9 rebounds & 8 assists, but those stats were happy & did nothing for the Cavs after about midway through the third quarter.

While James has been locked down in terms of his overall effectiveness on the court, the Cavs have not helped out at all in terms of being the sparks on offense. Kyrie Irving is 12-36 from the field in the series & he and James combined are a dreadful 28-74 from the field. The other part of the big 3 combination was Kevin Love, and Love is playing like many people thought that he would – rough on defense & now might be out of Game 3 due taking an incidental elbow to the head during the second quarter of Game 2. Love came out for the third quarter, looked very out of it & disoriented on the bench & then headed to the back & was out for the rest of the game.

Yes, the Cavs played horrible, but we have to make sure we are giving great credit to the Golden State Warriors, who have effectively made the Big 3 of Cleveland basically useless all the way around. Not one player has made a significant impact on the series at all & we are seeing the rise of Draymond Green before our very eyes. Green is already one of the best defensive players & leaders in the NBA, but his offense in Game 2 made the series look as though it was wrapped up. Green had 28 points on 11-20 shooting & 5-8 from three-point range. Now, the Warriors have three guys that have to constantly be worried about at all times if Green continues to play with this level of confidence going forward. Green does have to gain more consistency with his shot, but if he is going to be left open the majority of the time because of the attention that has to be paid to Curry & Thompson – who both hit 4 three-pointers & were a combined 13-24 on Sunday night – Green has the opportunity to be the man that will be the one to throw the knockout punch in this series & help clinch the NBA Finals for the Warriors on Tuesday night.

This is sports & anything can happen, which is why we do believe that the Cavs will take a game in Cleveland during this series, but right now, Cleveland does not have an answer for the Warriors’ superior offensive game & having to pay attention and keep their head on a swivel so much to the point that the Cavs can’t focus on solid defensive assignments. Right now, LeBron & Kyrie are doing literally all of the heavy lifting & role players such as J.R. Smith, Matthew Dellavadova & others are being rendered non-existent due to the excellent play of the Warriors bench including Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa & all of the sudden, the defensive monster Andrew Bogut, who had 4 blocks in the first quarter in Game 2.

In order to get back in the series for Game 3, they are going to have to go big and make it a bit of a nasty series, similar to what the Oklahoma City Thunder did in games 3 & 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. They were able to speed up & slow down the pace as needed at different points of the series, never letting Golden State get into a rhythm. There may have to be some times when it might have to get a bit dirty & try to make Green gain technicals & test his overall patience, considering he is on the border for technical fouls right now due to his aggressiveness during the season & other technicals picked up throughout the NBA Playoffs up to this point. The experts put a lot of focus on Klay Thompson & Stephen Curry, but Green is the head of the snake that keeps the team functioning. Without Green’s energy, the Warriors are a completely different squad.

The Warriors don’t really have to make many adjustments right now – the only thing that they could do a bit better is get Curry more involved in the overall offense, but its clear that he has a lesser role right now because he is beat up & is pretty much running on fumes right now to get through the NBA Finals. What the Warriors may have to keep their eye on for Game 4 is the possibly of James moving to the power forward position, with Thompson possibly even moving to the 3 spot for defensive purposes & starting Timofey Mozgov at the 5. Thompson isn’t going to be an offensive threat at all, but as a 3 that could rebound & play solid defense, that could negate some of the Warriors’ speed & go the route where the Warriors do look a bit vulnerable – against teams that can play a bit bigger for a longer period of time.

No matter who the major factor is in Game 3, if the Cavs don’t win, that will be the series & possibly the end of a run in Cleveland with LeBron James.

2016 NBA Finals Game 1 Recap – Warriors Bench Sinks Cleveland Cavs

This is a part of the story that we didn’t see coming. If you had to put money on the fact that Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson would combine for 20 points & the big 3 from the Cavs – LeBron James, Kevin Love & Kyrie Irving – would combine for 66 points, you would assume that Cleveland was running away with that game right? Right?

Wrong.

The Cavs were outhustled, outworked & just didn’t match the Warriors’ energy, which resulted in a 104-89 loss in game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals. In our previews, we mentioned that LeBron & Kyrie were going to have to be the stars for the Cavs, along with working through the Warriors defense by going inside, which, for the most part, they did. However, the biggest problem came on the defensive end for Cleveland, in that they didn’t think about the fact that the Warriors bench was going to go off for 45 points, 10 assists & only one turnover.

That is going to be a result for a loss each and every game. This was Cleveland’s chance to grab home court in the series, when the two best shooters in the entire league were as off as they have ever been as a duo. It is going to be harder in game two to grab that game at Oracle with two days off coming up, but here are some bright spots & low spots for both teams coming out of game 1 & looking at game 2.

Warriors Must Get Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson Going

Tonight was a bit of a blip in the radar – Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson are not going to be this bad again during the series. Cleveland did a great job of doubling Curry & Thompson, forcing up terrible shots and putting the game in the hands of the Warriors bench, which ended up burning the Cavs as we mentioned earlier.

The Warriors can’t rely solely on the bench to do great work each game of the series. Both teams are going to make adjustments towards game 2, & the Warriors must do more to get Curry & Thompson more open shots on a consistent basis. The bench did great tonight, but in order to win a championship, especially later in the series, the stars have to step up. Both men looked a bit fatigued from playing a tough seven-game series against Oklahoma City & all of the media obligations for the start of the NBA Finals.

Cleveland Cavs Bench Must Have Answer For Livingston & Barbosa

One of the areas where the Warriors are extremely superior to Cleveland coming into this series is at the backup guard position. Shaun Livingston & Leandro Barbosa proved to be bad matchup for the Cavs in game 1. Livingston was able to get virtually anywhere on the court & outhustled J.R. Smith & Matthew Dellavadova all night long, as well as used his length to get many rollers to fall consistently. The Cavs looked as though they had never seen Barbosa before. Combined, the two men had 31 points on 13-15 shooting – basically the main stats that sunk the Cavs & helped the team pull away in the second half.

It was clear that the Cavs did not prepare at all for the Warriors bench to be a true factor in this game, which will be worked on in game two with some adjustments. The Cavs did not make rotations well the entire night & it showed in the box score.

Going forward, Smith is going to have to play on Livingston quite a bit because of the size matchup and Irving & Delly will probably need to take turns running at Barbosa & playing honest with Curry & Thompson.

LeBron James Has To Go Inside Much More

Yes, many Cavs fans & NBA fans have said this for a long time…….LeBron James can’t revert to being a jump shooter to get the team back in the game. He has to be more aggressive with going to the basket. James had 23 points, 12 rebounds & 9 assists, but for the most part, he rendered himself out of the game at certain points with tons of dribbling & taking bad three-point shots.

Iguodala is a great defender & really locked down James in the second half, but James has to take the game more to the Warriors & draw more fouls. Yes, the NBA referees don’t always call a ton of fouls on LeBron because of his size & physical play, but he has to make the Warriors make a decision & send him to the free throw line, thus getting more players in foul trouble. James had only 4 free throws in game 1, that can’t happen if the Cavs are going to win the NBA championship.

 

The Warriors came away with a big victory despite not having their main stars going. The Cavs are going to have to prepare much better for a 10-man rotation in game 2 & prepare for the idea that Curry & Thompson will play better. If the Cavs are going to take a game in this series, they will have to have much more aggression to the basket & many more free throws – almost make the game a bit ugly.

2016 NBA Finals Preview Part 3 – LeBron James vs Golden State Warriors Forwards

In part 3 of our preview of the 2016 NBA Finals, we are going to take a different approach to how we look at the forwards matchup at the three position. This area will focus predominantly on LeBron James, who will be leading the Cleveland Cavs for the second straight year into a matchup against the Golden State Warriors starting Thursday night.

Before we get started on the actual matchup, perhaps the best way to start off any conversation regarding LeBron is his legacy, which could play into how he performs in these NBA Finals. LeBron James will be going for his third NBA championship in his Hall-of-Fame career, but the first as a member of the Cleveland Cavs. We know the story of James being a native of Akron, Ohio, drafted #1 to the Cavs in the 2003 NBA Draft, but having to leave Cleveland for Miami. He was able to win in Miami with Dwyane Wade & Chris Bosh. It was custom built for him to have that success there. It was a place where free agents wanted to go & perform at in order to gain those championships.

LeBron needed to go there to discover himself, be courted and have a bit of that college feeling that he didn’t have coming out of high school at St. Vincent St. Mary. He has come back to Cleveland as a true man. He understands the intense pressure that the people of Cleveland feel to be validated as a true sports town by bringing a major championship to northeast Ohio. When he takes the court on Thursday night in Oakland, it won’t be about Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green trying to guard him or make him work over screens or anything else that is directly basketball related. This is truly going to be about James actually trying to establish a legacy & help revive an entire city. Each possession. Each shot that he takes is going to be bigger than just a basic matchup.

As for how the Warriors will defend him, we aren’t going to do a position matchup with this post because LeBron is going to see different players guarding him throughout the series. The main player that we see that could give him a hard time would be Green. Green has the length & the size that could bother James, especially when he is looking to drive to the basket, which he will most likely do to get Green into foul trouble. Green will have to be careful on defense in these NBA Finals because of the technical foul situation that has been an issue since the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City when he kicked Steven Adams in the family jewels.

If Green is not on LeBron, and subsequently becomes more occupied guarding Tristan Thompson down low in the post or defending Kevin Love on the outside or the block, look for James to truly have a big advantage against Harrison Barnes or Andre Iguodala. Both of those guys are great defenders but do not have the power or quickness to really stop James from getting to the basket on a consistent basis & getting to the free throw line.

Where this NBA Finals rematch will be different than the 2015 Finals will be that LeBron actually has his full complement of players this time around with having a healthy Kevin Love & Kyrie Irving. The Warriors will shy away from double-teaming James as much this year due to the ability for him to move the ball around the court to deadly shooters from outside as well as guys who can finish around the rim. James had a great NBA Finals last year, but he was the only player that really made life difficult on the Warriors & J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavadova aren’t the type of scorers that can win a game by themselves. This NBA Finals, the Warriors are going to have to play a great deal of man-to-man, which could be a problem since LeBron is well-rested and is ready to take that beating he will have coming by getting in amongst the big guys down low.

The best chance the Warriors will have in terms of keeping James in check is making him primarily a shooter. James is shooting only 32% from three-point range & coming into the NBA Finals, he has made only 19 three-pointers, his lowest total since the 2007-08 postseason, when the team lost in the second round to the Boston Celtics – the last time LeBron would lose that early in the NBA Playoffs. If the Cavs are going to depend on James hitting three-point shots to win game, Warriors will win this in five games, tops. Ideally, the Warriors want to clog up the lanes to where James has to constantly take three-point shots, always shoot from the elbow, or try to force the action to draw offensive fouls.

Defensively, LeBron is going to see a lot of action on a variety of guys himself, mainly Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson & Draymond Green. Our money would be that he is going to see the most of his action on Green & Curry – particularly on Curry when Kyrie Irving is resting & LeBron is running a point forward spot. He is the best defender on the team & has the length and size to bother Curry enough to maybe get him out of his rhythm. James may get time on Thompson, but J.R. Smith & others should be able to handle that situation. Draymond will be an interesting test for James because while Green isn’t the most consistent shooting the ball, he can get on the block and rebound, as well as see the floor well offensively in terms of getting teammates involved. James will have to be ready to guard Green at the top of the key, on the block & using his quick hands and length to play the passing lanes, particularly when the Warriors are in transition.

Overall, LeBron James should have a strong advantage in this year’s matchup. He is coming in healthy, the team around him is coming in healthy, which should lead to the Warriors having to deal with many different mismatches throughout the series on the defensive end. This advantage goes to King James.

Detroit Pistons Andre Drummond Deserves Max NBA Contract

As many people know in the sports world, especially in Detroit, the NBA free agency season will be getting started right after the NBA Draft at the end of June. Which means that as soon as the NBA Finals are over, the talk about who will be signing where will get started. The Detroit Pistons have their guy they will need to pay big money to – Andre Drummond.

Drummond, the center out of UConn, has developed into one of the most dominant big men in the NBA in a time where you don’t find true centers in the league that can make a true impact on the game. Drummond average 16 points & 14 rebounds this season & had multiple games (9) of 20-plus rebound games. He has shown that his defense & rebounding were game changers on a Pistons team that didn’t always have a great offense to lean on & featured many players who were truly learning how to win in clutch situations.

Many fans will talk about how Drummond is one of the worst free throw shooters in NBA history – which is absolutely true – and how teams will go to a hack-a-drummond strategy late in games.  At multiple points during the season, Drummond couldn’t be on the floor at all because of his propensity for missing free throws late & teams knowing they could do this down to two minutes left in the quarter. That aside, there aren’t any centers in the league that can currently bring what Drummond does on the defensive & rebounding side of the ball.

If this were the past, say 10-15 years ago, Drummond would not get the major money due to having more dominant big men in the league. But, when thinking about if Drummond is worth the big money, there are a few questions you have to ask? If you didn’t have Drummond, who would be a better replacement?

Dwight Howard? Not even close, especially with the way he has conducted himself during the playoff run with the Houston Rockets this year & how James Harden verbally told Rockets management how he wanted Howard to get dealt before the trade deadline. Since the season ended with the Rockets getting knocked out of the playoffs, Howard has been on an odd media blitz, getting ripped for not having any true love of the game & not asserting himself on a regular basis to be a better big man, even with getting offered help from Hakeem Olajuwon & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when Howard was in Los Angeles. The Pistons don’t need that type of distraction coming into the locker room with a bunch of young guys who need to learn how to win.

Pau Gasol? A nice pick for a forward/center but Gasol will be looking to go to a place where he can win a championship right now. The rumors around the NBA is that Gasol will end up going to the Clippers or the San Antonio Spurs, with the Spurs sounding more likely because they already have a system in place to succeed. Plus, Gasol is on the tail end of his career where he may have only 2-3 more years left in the league. Drummond is on the rise & will only get better as time goes on.

Joakim Noah? His knees are beat up right now because of his aggressive style of play. Definitely not going to be a guy who is going to be as intense of a defensive stopper as Drummond is.

Which now leaves us with Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat. Whiteside is the better shot blocker, while Drummond is the superior rebounder. Andre has more overall size than Whiteside & a big reason why we can’t see Whiteside coming to Detroit for the Pistons would be because the Miami Heat are going to try to make a play for Kevin Durant or another big superstar this summer & have Whiteside, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh (if he can come back from the blood clot issue) & another superstar be the focal point around another superteam that can make a run in the east.

Ahh, the NBA Eastern Conference – a conference that is truly open & ripe for the taking. Why can’t one of those teams that makes a run at the Cleveland Cavs & Toronto Raptors be the Detroit Pistons? The team is clearly looking to build around Drummond & point guard Reggie Jackson as the main offense/defense combination for years to come here. The Pistons made major strides in 2015-16 by having Jackson & Drummond together. While the rest of the team was young & inconsistent at many points during the season, the team will have the extra money to lure players to come in & convince Drummond that Detroit is going to be a potential player in the East.

Drummond is a player that the Pistons have to have in the long run, simply because there aren’t going to be any big men in the league right now that can be a true nightmare on the defensive end & give your team extra possessions like he does. If the Pistons are going to go all in & make Drummond a max player, the team will be absolutely within its right to demand that Drummond get better at the free throw line & develop some more post moves to be a true, elite center. The Pistons have never been a team that has been huge on paying NBA max money for a player, however, a player of Andre Drummond’s skills & style hasn’t been seen in this town since the days of Dennis Rodman. Remember, Rodman couldn’t shoot much either, but we needed his defense & that is where he made his bread & butter. It will be the same with Andre Drummond.

The new economics of the NBA show that you have to spend in order to truly be a contender in the league, whether a player is truly worth it or not. Drummond is not a trouble-maker, he doesn’t embarrass the city or the franchise on or off the court & he is a dominant center who is a couple of steps away from being the best center in the entire league. Yes, he has to get his free throw situation together & be a guy who is reliable in crunch time, but honestly, what big man in the league is a whiz at the free throw line? Not many. But teams that do have even an average big guy that can be serviceable pay out big money for them because functional centers who are the on the upside of their career are rare. Drummond is a rare case right now, so Detroit Pistons, its time to pay up to ensure the future of the team.

For more information about the different topics around the city of Detroit, check out the Detroit Sports Outlet main store & blog.

2016 NBA Finals Preview Part 2 – Cleveland Cavs vs Golden State Warriors – Shooting Guard

In the first part of our 2016 NBA Finals preview, we looked at the matchup at point guard between Kyrie Irving & Stephen Curry. This blog post will talk about the matchup at the shooting guard, or two-guard position. This matchup will feature two major components – Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors & J.R. Smith from the Cleveland Cavs.

Thompson is one of the “Splash Brothers” along side point guard Stephen Curry, meaning that he is one of the best three-point shooters in the entire NBA. In 2015-16, Thompson made the All-NBA third team & was in the top 10 in three-point shooting percentage this year. Thompson benefits from the attention given to Curry on any given night as he is constantly open for shots.

In this series, J.R. Smith is going to be asked to rotate between guarding Thompson & Curry, and while the Cavs are a solid defensive unit, there will be situations where Smith will need to make a decision on who to guard at any given time, & while Thompson is always dangerous, he is a rhythm shooter – if he is hot, he’s very hot. If he isn’t, then Smith might make the decision to switch off on Steph & leave Thompson open, which could get him going from a shooting perspective.

One of the ways that Smith is going to have a tough challenge that many people don’t talk about is Thompson is great at getting open with the basketball. His movement away from the ball is phenomenal, almost to the level of Reggie Miller or Richard Hamilton. He can create great space through his fade away shot & his overall length and size for a two-guard can make him tough to defend at times. Smith is going to have to make sure his cardio is at a premium to make sure he is able to cut off those curls that Thompson likes to run to get his shot up. An option Cleveland might look at times is putting LeBron on Thompson or Curry to spell Smith & Kyrie. If James is taking that battle, Thompson will not see open baskets due to LeBron’s length & size that can body up against him. However, we are going to stick to just the traditional shooting guards.

On the flip side, Thompson is going to have some defensive ease guarding Smith. J.R. Smith is predominantly just a shooter – he doesn’t go to the basket much so he can play honest against him & make sure he doesn’t get hot. Where Smith tends to get himself into some trouble, however, is that he has a tendency every once in a while to shoot again & again, even if he isn’t seeing his shots fall, which means he ends up playing right into the defense’s hands and the Warriors will be able to play five against four, thus being able to send a double team to Kyrie Irving or LeBron James.

This is a matchup that overall, Thompson should have a chance to exploit pretty easily because of the Cavs’ need to always watch Curry & Draymond Green. Thompson is having an excellent NBA playoff run, but at the same time, the Warriors move the ball & move without the ball so well, along with being able to work off of screens easily, meaning that Thompson should continue to have open shots throughout points in the series.

Advantage: Splash Brother

2016 NBA Finals Preview – Cavs vs Warriors Part 1 – Point Guard

After one of the most odd NBA seasons & playoffs of all time, the two teams that everyone thought would be in the NBA Finals from the beginning of the year – the Cleveland Cavs & the Golden State Warriors – will meet in a rematch for the NBA Championship starting Thursday at 9:00 ET on ABC. Why do we say the NBA season was odd? Simply because there wasn’t a ton of intrigue going on at really any major point.

Did anyone think the Warriors weren’t going to get to the NBA Finals? Not really, unless you live in San Antonio or Oklahoma City. Did we wonder if Cleveland wasn’t going to go right though the NBA Eastern Conference like hot butter? No, not really. If there wasn’t a threat of injury, the NBA script was going to play out exactly the way all of the expert & even novice fans saw it happening from the end of last year – Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavs.

This NBA Finals matchup will be much different than last year, in that both teams will be at full strength. The Cavs missed Kevin Love after he was injured in the first round of the playoffs against the Celtics when Kelly Olynyk took a nasty swipe to his arm, and Kyrie Irving was out during the early part of game 1 of the NBA Finals due to a severe knee injury that kept him out of action until December of this season. This is the true “Big 3” that LeBron James had envisioned he would play with when he decided to come back to Cleveland in that famous piece written by Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins two summers ago.

As for the Warriors, they are coming off of a grueling 7-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, meaning having to expend a ton of energy guarding Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant & Serge Ibaka. In case you have been living under a rock for the last 9 months, the Warriors broke the all-time regular season wins mark set by the 1996 Chicago Bulls by going 73-9.

They have a cheat code named Stephen Curry, who just repeated as the NBA MVP, Klay Thompson is one of the great sharpshooters in the NBA and an All-NBA selection, local Michigan State Spartans product Draymond Green, who is a bit of a swiss army knife in that he plays great defense, can shoot from outside & is a phenomenal passer & a host of great role players who have shown to be vital pieces of the puzzle enabling the Warriors to get to where we all thought they would be.

As for the series itself, this is shaping up to be one of the most entertaining series of all-time. Both teams play great offense, both teams can shoot, but they can both lock down a team big time through suffocating defense. A big factor in this series – both teams have some serious attitude that means they will not sit through any trash or hijinks on the court at all. There are superstars, great role players & enforcers on both sides. What’s not to like!

To get ready for this series, Detroit Sports Outlet will break down the different positions throughout the day  & the matchups across the board & let you know who we think has the best chance of exploiting the other team.

Point Guard – Kyrie Irving vs. Stephen Curry

This is the one matchup where it is truly a pick’em. Stephen Curry is the best offensive player in the NBA right now. He can get shots up over anyone of any height, as he showed against Serge Ibaka & Steven Adams, two Oklahoma City Thunder big men who are known for shot blocking. Curry can get the ball to the basket against almost anyone in the league if they sleep for just a second. During games 5 through 7, Curry got used to not having to deal with Westbrook all the time & OKC went big on Curry. Didn’t work. Curry got his shot together, his confidence back & the team was much stronger once their shooting came back into focus.

Kyrie Irving had a much easier path to the NBA Finals, in comparison. He went against Reggie Jackson, Jeff Teague & an up-and-down Kyle Lowry  – all great point guards, but none nearly to the level of excellence that Kyrie brings on a nightly basis. This NBA playoff run was about Kyrie making sure he was healthy & doing enough to make sure the Cavs had a smooth & rested run to the NBA Finals. Mission accomplished.

For the head-to-head matchup, we have to give the matchup a slight bit to Irving. Kyrie is a strong defender & will be the toughest matchup Curry will see in the playoffs. We don’t fully know how healthy Curry’s knee is right now, as there have been so many moments where Steph was out because of knee & ankle issues, and with the first-step quickness that Kyrie brings when he is on the court, those sudden movements are going to put a ton of pressure on the NBA MVP, possibly to the point where a Klay Thompson or Draymond Green may have to do some of the work on Kyrie. The most likely candidate would be Thompson because Green has to be able to watch LeBron as much as possible.

On the flip side, Irving has to understand that his energy is going to be drained a bit from trying to guard jump shots most of the night. The Cavs, like OKC, have some solid bigs that will look to hammer Curry when he tries to go to the basket often in Timofey Mozgov & Tristan Thompson, two solid players who can be used for fouls & to just make life difficult on Curry if the shot isn’t falling.

Irving has some of the best hands in the league, in that he can intercept passes as good as any point guard in history. Curry is a great ball-handler, but Kyrie is going to make the process difficult for Curry to have to look to Draymond, Klay or Iguodala.

Look for Kyrie Irving to make life difficult on the MVP & try to slow the pace down for Curry, making the head of the Warriors offense play more like an Eastern Conference team that plays more in the half-court, shot-clock optimization style as opposed to leading fast breaks & putting up quick shots that Cleveland will have to race to play against.

Toronto Raptors Have Now Made NBA East Finals Entertaining

Ok, ok, I didn’t see this one coming. Shoutout to the Toronto Raptors. They have finally shown up & are showing that the Cleveland Cavs won’t be able to just completely walk all over them in their way to the NBA Finals. The Raptors make the series 2-1 in favor of Cleveland with a 99-84 win.

Kyle Lowry, the man who needed to decompress during the butt kicking in game 2, came out & had 17 points while his running partner DeMar Derozan had 32 points & 5 rebounds. However, the main star of the game was center Bismack Biyombo, who absolutely dominated on the boards with 26 rebounds, a Toronto Raptors franchise record, to go along with 4 blocks.

The Raptors did win the game, however, the Cavs tried to go back to the theory that worked in the series against the Atlanta Hawks where they were going to shoot three-point shots all night & that did absolutely nothing for them – in fact, shooting so much actually put the team in bigger holes & allowed the Raptors to run the floor & keep Cleveland completely off-balance on defense. The Cavs played on defense as if they were on skates for most of the night because of the constant movement. Toronto played Cleveland’s game from games 1 & 2 with getting to the basket again & again and getting easy baskets.

Toronto did the one thing they hadn’t done throughout the first two games of the series – they got physical with Cleveland & flat out showed more effort, especially in doing all of the dirty work. Toronto also got Kyrie Irving banged up a bit. If you are a Cleveland fan, that is the absolute last thing you want to hear as Irving has an extensive injury history & was injured in his knee during last year’s NBA Finals, a big reason why many NBA fans, including us, believe that Cleveland lost the series. Fortunately, as we write this blog piece, we have learned that Irving just had the wind knocked out of him so he should be just fine going forward in the series.

Game 4 is going to be a big momentum game. If the Raptors win game 4 in Toronto & guarantee at least a game 6, whether Cleveland wins the series or not, they will be a bit tired and winded going into the NBA Finals. Both Oklahoma City & Golden State can both run up & down the court like no other teams in the NBA and either team will take advantage of Cleveland’s older players having to try & keep up for a long series.

We are not going to say that the Raptors are ready to make this series 2-2, however, should they do so, this series is completely different & the Cavs and LeBron James will have a ton to worry about going forward. In order for the Cavs to bounce back in game 4, Kyrie & Kevin Love are going to have to step up. Irving was 3-19 shooting & Kevin Love was 1-9 and didn’t play the fourth quarter.

Sounds like LeBron is going to be in someone’s head on Sunday. Might be time to decompress.