Category Archives: new york knicks

2019 NBA Draft – Sweetbob’s Mock Draft

We don’t usually do mock drafts on the site, but we do them when a draft class is this darn stacked.

There are players in this year’s draft class that will be taken after the Lottery and will make instant impacts for their teams. There are even guys who were Lottery pick locks just a month ago, but are now slotted to go in the 20’s. There are also some young talents who suffered injuries last season (Bol Bol) and are tumbling down draft boards.

The first three picks are almost a certainty (even though I think there’s a chance #3 could be a Wild-Card), but after that trio, it could be a wild ride. There are also some teams picking early in the draft who are shopping their picks, so that could change things even more.

Here is our 2019 NBA Mock Draft.

Continue reading →

2018-19 NBA Season Wins Over/Under – Eastern Conference

The NFL has pushed all other sports news off to the side, so some may not realize the NBA regular season starts on Tuesday.

It’s not too late to throw some jellybeans on a few NBA prop bets. Prop bets have become individualized so much that you can bet on a specific person’s assists per game for a season. I just like to stick to a vanilla approach to NBA props. My favorite NBA prop bets are regular season over/unders.

The Cleveland Cavs are without LeBron, again. Do they have enough talent left to eclipse 31 wins?

Here are our 2018-19 NBA over/under season wins total picks for the Eastern Conference.

Continue reading →

2017-18 NBA Season Wins Over/Under – Eastern Conference

The NFL has pushed all other sports news off to the side, so some may not realize the NBA regular season starts on Tuesday.

The Boston Celtics boned up their roster this offseason. Can they win more than 54.5 games and hit the over?

Here are our 2017-18 NBA over/under season wins total picks for the Eastern Conference.

Continue reading →

NBA: Season Wins Over/Under – Eastern Conference

The NBA preseason just kicked off and the regular season is not too far away.

If I had to describe the NBA offseason with one word, the word would be MONEY.

It goes without saying that a lot of bad contracts were signed. A ton of money exchanged hands after the salary cap shot up to $94.143 million, an increase of roughly $24 million. I have a feeling NBA owners will want another ‘amnesty clause’ in the next CBA to bail themselves out from some of these deals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference last season and are early favorites to repeat this season. Any sleepers out there worth a bet?

Continue reading →

2015 NBA Mock Draft: Early Lottery Edition

The 2015 NBA Draft has been hyped as a two-man draft with the top prizes being Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. I believe both big men will go onto have nice NBA careers, but this draft is deeper than most people think.

I believe Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell and Duke’s Justise Winslow could both be future NBA All-Stars…but just like any other player, they need to be in the right situation to develop.

Don’t worry international basketball fans, there’s plenty of overseas talent in this year’s draft. You have Croatian Mario Hezonja and Latvian Kristaps Prozingis as the top talents from Europe. Also, there’s an American high schooler Emmanuel Mudiay who went to China in lieu of going to college.

Here’s our early 2015 NBA mock draft for the NBA lottery selection.

Continue reading →

Cavs Still Don’t Know How to Make LeBron Happy

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made a couple head-scratching moves. First, they traded Dion Waiters for Iman Shumpert’s flat top and J.R. Smith’s ability to get into VIP rooms. Then today, the Cavs traded a couple protected first-round picks to Denver for Tomofey Mozgov (who apparently survived that Blake Griffin dunk).

I get why the Cavs are making trades, but they feel like panic moves. LeBron James is battling knee and back problems and they need to right the ship in a hurry. It clearly wasn’t working out with Waiters and he needed a new home, but the deal they received could be more toxic than helpful.

Will these move put Cleveland one step closer to being a title contender or is it a step backwards?

Continue reading →

Jeremy LinRON: The Smartest Guy In The Room

The New York Knicks made everyone anxiously wait for their decision on Jeremy Lin. I haven’t seen so many will they/won’t they moments since Ross and Rachel sucked the life out of “Friends”.

New York finally made their decision and opted not to match the offer sheet that Jeremy Lin signed with the Houston Rockets.

Lin, 23, will receive $25.1 million over three years, a price the Knicks couldn’t see as the correct value for the point guard phenom.

Houston was sneaky and their offer sheet included a back-loaded contract that would have paid Lin $14.8 million in the third year of the contract. The Knicks would have been over the luxury tax and cost them nearly $43 million in salary + “repeat offender” luxury tax.

Lin came out yesterday and said that he would have loved to finish his career as a member of the New York Knicks. It’s the politically correct thing to say, but it was sincere. Lin was a borderline NBA player before he found himself in New York.

Jeremy Lin didn’t need his Harvard education to know that signing Houston’s offer sheet was the smartest decision he could make. No one can blame Lin for signing it. He had a very exciting six-week run last year before injuring his knee. He had a few moments of vulnerability, most notably a 1-11 shooting night against the Miami Heat. A $25 million dollar offer might not be there in a few seasons.

Carmelo Anthony’s comments earlier this week about Lin’s offer sheet being a ‘ridiculous’ amount of money didn’t help the situation. Lin had most of his success when Anthony was injured and one would have to believe that jealousy could have lead to that comment. If Lin had stayed, he would have taken away from Anthony’s spotlight.

The Knicks wouldn’t have been able to pay him near the $8 million annually that Houston will pay him. His marketability will be hurt by not staying in New York, but Yao Ming did very well as a member of the Rockets.

Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowy already out of town. The core players on the team are very young. Royce White, Terrence Jones, and Jeremy Lamb will be contributing right away as rookies (if they aren’t moved in an escalated attempt to sign Dwight Howard…ugh).

The Rockets will be Lin’s team. I look forward to watching them in 2012-13…they will be a lot of fun.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2012-13 NBA: Top 10 Most Overpaid Free Agents

There is one theme that stands out early in the 2012-13 off-season…NBA GMs are spending a lot of money on guys who may end up as deadweight. Free agents are not able to sign with teams until July 11th, but the confirmed agreements have been rolling in already.

Middle-of-the-road teams are offering inflated contracts to restricted free agents who are tied to teams that lack salary cap space. Due to the new collective-bargaining agreement, the luxury tax raises to a point where it will cost owners a lot of money to go over. Players will still need to sign those offer sheets, but talent could find the money too difficult to resist.

Which players have already been overpaid this off-season? Here are the top ten most overpaid free agents so far this off-season.

Jeremy Lin: Knicks/Rockets – 4 years / $29 million
The Houston Rockets offered Lin this contract and the New York Knicks can match it. ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted that the Knicks will match any deal he is offered. Darren Rovell would say that this contract is a bargain. The sheer merchandise sales should exceed $29 million dollars. I agree that the Asian market will support Lin, should the Rockets or Knicks be worried about giving this much money to a guy who had a nice three week run last season? If he doesn’t play well or gets injured, he won’t earn the team anything. Yao Ming was injured for most of the last three seasons he played and I doubt Houston got their money’s worth.

Omer Asik: Bulls/Rockets – 3 years / $25.1 million
The Rockets are really trying to piss off teams near the luxury tax. The Chicago Bulls aren’t in a position to match Houston’s offer of three years for $25.1 and shouldn’t. He played some key minutes for the Eastern Conference champions, but paying Asik $8 million a year for 3.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game is very steep. Rockets GM Daryl Morey is a smart guy, but he is making some questionable offers early this off-season.

Jeff Green: Boston Celtics – 4 years / $36 million
Green is coming back from major heart surgery. His health is a major concern, but he never meshed with the team when he came over in the Kendrick Perkins trade. He doesn’t have a set position, plays defense poorly, and doesn’t rebound well at any position. Boston is taking a huge gamble by giving him a four-year deal. I worry that this will be a regrettable contract by this time next year.

Michael Beasley: Phoenix Suns – 3 years / $18 million
At first glance, $18 million dollars isn’t much money for three years in the NBA. Beasley has had limited success in the league, but he has yet to live up to his college hype. He is undersized for his position with off the court issues. The Suns aren’t going anywhere as an organization and Beasley is known to disappear in games. I don’t see this signing working out for either party.

Nicolas Batum: Trail Blazers/Timberwolves – 4 years / $45 million
Before I go on a rant on how this contract is bad, I just want to add that this deal could be worth as much as $50 with bonuses. Batum has as much potential as any young free agent available this off-season. Minnesota is offering him ridiculous money knowing that there is a small chance that Portland will/can match it. Portland is currently in the hunt for Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and can’t overspend to keep Batum. Minnesota’s offer for Batum assures they have little faith in former #2 overall Derrick Williams. They are currently trying to trade him, but has yet found a suitor. I hope Batum lives up to the deal, but he may never live up to this big deal.

Steve Nash: Los Angeles Lakers – 3 years / $27 million
The Lakers had to trade two first-round picks and two second-round picks for the opportunity to overpay the 38-year old Steve Nash. The lauded Suns training staff has resurrected the careers of Shaquille O’Neal, Great Hill and has kept Nash looking fresh. Unless the Lakers have another move in line, say a trade for Dwight Howard, I don’t get this contract. They played well with Ramon Sessions and they could have re-signed him for half of Nash’s contract and wouldn’t have needed to trade draft picks. It will be interesting to see how Kobe and Nash will handle the last five minutes of a close game. Both players need the ball in their hands to be effective.

Landry Fields: Toronto Raptors – 3 years / $20 million
The Raptors couldn’t sign Nash, so they made a hasty decision and offered Fields an inflated contract. If Nash broke up with them, Fields is their rebound. Fields was a second-round pick and exceeded expectations. $20 million is a lot of money to offer a guy who has yet to score more than 9.7 points per game and saw a drop in every major offensive category in 2011-12.

George Hill: Indiana Pacers – 5 years / $40 million
As a Pacers fan, writing Hill’s name in this column stings a little. I think Hill is a good player and believe that he deserves to be the starting point guard over Darren Collison, but this deal feels bad. He is a local Indianapolis product and even went to college at IUPUI (Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis), but he doesn’t put butts in the seats. The Pacers had the second-worst attendance in the NBA for a team who had the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference. If they lose Roy Hibbert to Portland, this money can’t be used to sign a marquee player to fill the hole in the frontcourt.

Gerald Wallace: Brooklyn Nets – 4 years / $40 million
The (then) New Jersey Nets got themselves in trouble by shipping a lottery pick to Portland for 20+ games with Gerald Wallace. If they didn’t re-sign him, the trade would have went down as one of the most lopsided deals this decade. He had all of the cards and the Nets had to overpay him in order to not look like fools. Money will be tight for Brooklyn since they also re-signed Deron Williams and acquired Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade.

O.J. Mayo: Unknown – Too Much Money
Mayo has yet to sign with a team and he has plenty of suitors. The Pacers, Bulls, Suns, and Celtics are among the favorites to land him. They will have to pay a premium price for a player who hasn’t lived up to his potential (see: Michael Beasley). NBA GMs believe that he has yet to be pushed and would respond positively. Mayo did improve his numbers last season, but if he were to go to, let’s say the Pacers, he would be coming off the bench. Paul George should be entrenched as the starting shooting guard. Mayo will be receiving starter’s money this off-season.

Others candidates rumored to be overpaid
Courtney Lee
Chris Kaman
J.J. Hickson
Shannon Brown
Marcus Camby
Boris Diaw
Raymond Felton
Randy Foye
Lou Williams
Gerald Green
Jordan Hill
Josh Howard
Kris Humphries
Carl Landry
JaVale McGee
Anthony Randolph
DeShawn Stevenson

I’m sure there will be other free agents signing outrageous contracts during the 2012-13 off-season. The GMs will slowly bankrupt teams with dumb contracts on teams whose amnesty clause has already been used. There is nothing the fans can do to stop them from spending the salary cap money so freely even though we’re the ones who pay for it in the end with higher ticket prices.

Yay!

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Amar’e Stoudemire Hates Fire Extinguishers

When an athlete is able to play at the highest level in their sport, it can be hard to lose. You are used to dominating at every level, then you hit a wall and can’t seem to get over the hill. Players deal with their frustration differently. You can hit the gym, talk it over with teammates, or forget it and move on. If it was only that easy for a certain member of the New York Knicks. A moment of frustration could end the season for Amar’e Stoudemire or Amare Stoudemire (for those who lack an apostrophe on their keyboards).

I promise that no fire extinguishers or their cases were hurt in the writing of this blog post.

The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat (104-94) in Game 2 of their best-of-seven playoff series. This is the second defeat in a row. They were dominated in the fourth quarter with ease. Most say that this was a “must win” game for the Knicks. They now face an an incredible challenge to come back in this series.

Yahoo! reports that while exiting the court, Stoudemire punched the glass of a fire extinguisher case. He cut his hand and later left the arena with a heavily bandaged hand and his arm in a sling. It was reported that there was a great deal of blood in the Knicks locker room and that a paramedic that to assist in helping him with his injury. Stoudemire later tweeted, “I’m so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed for home for a new start.” The extent of his injury has not be reported yet, but due to the amount of blood and the bandage/sling medical equipment, it could be substantial.

It is unknown if Stoudemire is healthy enough to play in the rest of the series or if he will receive any discipline for his destruction of the arena’s property. He was just recovering from a back injury and he would join Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert, and possibly Baron Davis on the injured list. Davis missed the first-half of this game after his own back injury flared up on him. It is unknown if Lin will be able to play in this series and Shumpert will be out until next season with a torn ligament.

The Knicks have a nearly improbably task ahead of them. If they win one game in this series, I would consider it a moral victory. Carmelo Anthony can only do so much and he’s already maxed out. I will continue watching this series for Steve Novak, a “White Boy of the Year” nominee. They can go into the 2012-13 season with a decent draft pick in a very deep draft, a healthy Jeremy Lin, and either Mike Woodson or a new coach. They will be a better team next year, if they can stay healthy…and Stoudemire stops trying to fight fire extinguishing equipment.

Photo credit goes to Timothy Burke for his hilarious Photoshop talent. Go to Deadspin for his awesome photo and video work.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2009-10 NBA Preview: New York Knicks

Mike D’Antoni has one year under his belt as the head coach of the New York Knicks and you should see improvement this season. He has nearly the same roster as last season, but with a year in the system, you should see improvements. They are trying to play through this year and make a splash in the free-agency after the season. Can the Knicks make the playoffs this year? Can David Lee look passed all of the drama this past off-season and contribute this season? Check out our 2009-10 NBA Preview for the New York Knicks.

Additions/Subtractions – The Knicks didn’t go out and sign a bunch of free-agents, that will be next year. They traded Quentin Richardson for Darko Milicic. It’s basically an expiring contract, but you never know how D’Antoni can work him into the system. They drafted Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill, Douglas could contribute in their offense this season, he can get into the lane and make things happen. Hill could be a season or two away from being NBA-ready.

2009-10 Expectations – The Knicks aren’t trying to build a team this season to go out there and win a championship. The team is loaded with expiring contracts and they could even get creative at the trading deadline to move a few more pieces and get even more under the cap. They have their eyes on the 2010-11 season and hopefully have either Lebron James or Chris Bosh, plus a few other good players with the room they will have. They are not expecting to make the playoffs and D’Antoni is not on the hot seat at all, even if they go out there and only win a dozen games. Chris Duhon will be on the floor a lot this season again, not having an adequate point guard, Nate Robinson doesn’t count, will hurt them this season.

2009-10 Prediction – The Knicks will fail to make the playoffs and draft in the lottery once again. They have defensive liabilities on their team, but will be able to put a lot of points on the board. They will win more games this season, but barely.

2009-10 Win Total – 34-48

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Is Isiah Thomas Scared Of Madison Square Garden?

Isiah Thomas is the new coach of the Florida International college hoops team and the team is already making news. They are set to play in the Coaches Vs. Cancer tip-off , but they are now threatening to pull-out if the organizers don’t change their opponent. Could Isiah Thomas be afraid to go back to Madison Square Garden?

They agreed to play Ohio State in their first game, but when they received their schedule, they are set to play the defending champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels. I’m sure it would be a tough game for FIU, but so would a game against Ohio State. Is there a bigger issue here? The game is being held at Madison Square Garden, the place where Thomas led the Knicks into the ground.

It’s a possibility, but of course they knew the game would be played there when they agreed to play. It’s a nice “get” to be scheduled in such a high-profile game early in the season for a program that isn’t very established. If they played Ohio State, they mostly likely wouldn’t be beat by more than 30 points. The Buckeyes don’t execute a very high scoring offense and Thad Matta, the coach of Ohio State, would probably start putting in people from “The Trillion Man March” (guys who never see the hardwood). North Carolina will be fighting for the #1 seed and will be looking for a large margin of victory to assure a high spot. Thomas doesn’t not want to get trounced in his first game coaching in college, but it would sting even more if it happened at MSG.

If I was Isiah Thomas, I would try to pull-out of this game too. The New York media is something that he tried to escape by taking a low-level Division I college coaching job. He would be laughed at by everyone who watched that game. If they end up playing North Carolina, they would lose by 75 points, because the Tar Heels 3rd-string players are still probably better than the talent at Florida International. Thomas said that he would like to play North Carolina in “two or three years, but now right now.” I have bad news Isiah, North Carolina will still be great in two or three years, but I have a feeling that FIU will still be bad and you probably won’t be coaching them, James Dolan isn’t the A.D.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Hedo Turkoglu: Prized Free-Agent?

Why is Hedo Turkoglu smiling? Well, he played his way into a possible new, huge contract. “The Jordan of Turkey” didn’t take very long to opt out of his contract and test free agency. Trevor Ariza and Turkoglu could be the two best free agents out there this year. They weren’t considered in the top 10 possible free-agents before the beginning of the year, Ariza wasn’t even in the top 30.

Turkoglu started out very slow this year, but turned it on in both the Boston series and in Cleveland. He could very well re-sign with Orlando for a major contract, a very smart choice, or could a pretender turn into a playoff team with the signing of Turkoglu? Here are some teams that could turn their fortunes around.

Indiana Pacers – This would be my personal choice, but I don’t think that the Pacers have a shot. Turkoglu’s old running mate, Peja Stojakovic did very poorly in Indiana and doesn’t have many pleasant memories of his time there. He does fit Larry Bird’s mold. He’s tall, can shoot the 3, and he’s white. I don’t think Lary Legend has a penchant for the European players, but he would look good next to Danny Granger.

Phoenix Suns – If the Suns trade Shaq for Ben Wallace and Pavlovic, they should offer Wallace a buyout, let him retire, and sign Turkoglu. He is a better shooter than Pavlovic and can spread the floor. I would love him in Phoenix.

Chicago Bulls – The Bulls will lose Ben Gordan and probably Hinrich soon. They need another shooter and Turkoglu can do everything those guys can, but he can start and play 40 minutes a game.

Oklahoma City Thunder – The Thunder could have a huge turnaround if they get Rubio in the draft. Turkoglu to go along with Durant and Westbrook would look like a possible playoff team in maybe two seasons. Would Turkoglu want to wait? OKC definitely has the cap room to afford a nice free agent.

New York Knicks – I don’t think the Knicks have the cap space to pull this off, but D’Antoni would like to add an experienced playoff veteran to his team. He would do well in the fast-paced system and he loves to shoot the ball. He could be the piece the Knicks need to make the playoffs.

Hedo Turkoglu should re-sign with the Magic. After his stint with Sacramento, he was a free agent and signed with San Antonio. He didn’t do very well there and got lost in the rotation. He needs to choose his next team wisely and not go after money, but try to find the team where he would fit in the best. On the right team, he could be the piece to put a team over and make a playoff run.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.