The Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA and they added a few more elites players that are looking for a ring.
The balance of power was already in the Western Conference’s favor, but they tipped even more in their favor this offseason.
LeBron James will play his first season in the West after signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Can LeBron push the Los Angeles Lakers to 49 wins?
Here are our over/under season wins total picks for the NBA’s Western Conference.
The 2018 NBA Trade Deadline really kicked off when the Los Angeles Clippers traded superstar power forward Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons late in the night. The Clippers got a king’s random in return. Many thought DeAndre Jordan would be next to leave the Clippers, but he stayed put.
Other big trades that happened in-between the Griffin deal and today were Nikola Mirotic going to New Orleans for a mess of veteran and picks. I also think Charlotte’s acquisition of center Willy Hernangomez could be huge. He’s a talented guy, but was stuck behind some talented bigs on the Knicks.
Today’s trades didn’t disappoint as much as previous years’ trade deadlines. There were a couple really nice trades and a ton of depth trades.
The NBA regular season kicks off tomorrow. The Celtics are at Cleveland and the Rockets travel to the defending NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors. Both are must-watch games for any NBA fan.
Picking regular season over/under prop bets in the NBA’s Western Conference takes some skill this season. You have unbelievably stacked teams like the Warriors, Thunder and Rockets, but you have to factor in the chances teams will rest their stars in a few games this season. A team that has already ‘been there, done that’ like the Warriors and Spurs, will probably rest their guys. The Thunder who legitimately look like they are having fun this preseason, have something to prove and may not rest as many stars.
Can rookie Lonzo Ball push the Los Angeles Lakers to 34 wins?
Here are our over/under season wins total picks for the NBA’s Western Conference.
The NBA regular season kicks off at the end of the month…and I can’t wait.
The offseason seemed to be gone in a blink of an eye. A ton of money was thrown around and some players are a few pounds of cash heavier.
NBA owners will want another ‘amnesty clause’ in the next CBA to bail themselves out from some of these deals. There are some guys who should have been wearing ski masks when signing their new deals.
The Golden State Warriors won the Western Conference last season and are early favorites to repeat this season. Any sleepers out there worth a bet?
With the NBA Draft taking place on Thursday, NBA teams are trying to fill holes right before the draft.
The Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz got together on a deal on Wednesday that sent Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague to the Pacers, Indiana point guard George Hill to the Jazz and the Hawks would receive Utah’s #12 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
The Pacers have been rumored to be interested in Teague for quite some time. They needed a third team’s involvement since a straight point guard for point guard swap wouldn’t work due to Atlanta’s possible salary cap issues and the fact that Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder has played well enough to now start at point guard for the Hawks.
Utah did the smartest thing they could do this off-season. I’m not referring to drafting Dante Exum or signing Gordon Hayward to an absurd contract. I’m talking about them getting rid of Tyrone Corbin as head coach. He was just horrible at his job. They upgraded by hiring Quin Snyder. He resurrected his career in the D-League and then as a player development-focused assistant coach in the NBA.
Speaking of Exum, Utah can wait to see what he becomes. They have Trey Burke and Alec Burks as their starting back-court. I actually want to see what they do this season.
Utah isn’t expected to compete this season. How many years will this rebuilding process take?
We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.
Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Utah Jazz.
I hope you’re doing well in fantasy basketball this season. I’ve been taking chances on guys with big upside and stashing them away. That strategy has worked so far, but I’m still tweaking with my roster, in-between poker hands at 888poker.com. I just keep finding quality guys on the waiver wire.
I advise you to look at every box score, especially bad teams’ box scores. You can find a few gems on bad teams. Players aren’t as highly coveted and they can slip through the cracks. You will find bargains, trust me.
For example, the Milwaukee Bucks have a few players worth a pick up, you’ll find two in this post.
Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 10%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.
Fantasy basketball just finished its first month of play. The toll of the season is starting to show its ugly face. A few major injuries occurred last week with Marc Gasol and Derrick Rose both suffering significant injuries.
Sports is all about opportunity and ‘the next guy up’, so Memphis and Chicago will look to the bench. Which players will benefit the most and receive more playing time?
On the other side, there are a few guys returning from injuries (Trevor Ariza & Tobias Harris). Which players on Washington and Orlando will they replace in the lineup?
Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 10%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.
Fantasy basketball just finished its third week of play…and the injury bug has plagued some key fantasy players. This is when researching depth charts can drastically change your team’s production.
Steve Nash, Ersan Ilyasova, Trevor Ariza, Dion Waiters, Chauncey Billups and Michael Carter-Williams are all dealing with injuries. This post focuses on their replacements for the week and a few gems who are earning more playing time.
Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 25%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.
Fantasy basketball just finished its second week of play. We are starting to figure out which players will get minutes and a few players who will benefit from an early season injury.
I know fantasy basketball isn’t as widely-played as fantasy football and baseball, but it’s a fun game. You have to work the lineups daily like baseball, but need to keep a close eye on how many games a team plays that week.
We look at some of the players who weren’t drafted in most leagues, but are now worth a pickup.
Our list is loaded with guys on bad teams. Yes, a fantasy stud can be on a bad NBA team.
Jerry Sloan, the former Utah Jazz coach who resigned during the 2011 season after 23 seasons with the team, wants another shot. He is ready to return to the NBA and has expressed interest in the open Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic coaching positions.
Would he be a good fit for either of those teams? Should he make a comeback and ruin his legacy?
If he gets the Charlotte Bobcats job, does he call John Stockton to see if he would come out of retirement? I’m only half joking…have you taken a look at their roster lately?
The former Utah Jazz coach, who resigned during the 2011 season after 23 seasons with the team, told the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday that he has talked to Bobcats owner Michael Jordan about his team’s vacancy and could meet with him as soon as this week. Sloan isn’t afraid of the Bobcats past history of losing. He told the Tribune, “Obviously, you probably wouldn’t win (a title) right off the bat.”
As far as the Magic job is considered, he just mentioned that the job would be intriguing. Orlando recently fired Stan Van Gundy and GM Otis Smith, so Sloan would more personnel control than in Charlotte. Orlando still has hopes of retaining Dwight Howard after the upcoming season. Howard could be the guy who has the final decision on who is hired as Orlando’s next head coach.
I would assume that Van Gundy would be another candidate that Charlotte would be interested in interviewing. He is a talented coach, but he needed a change of scenery. The Bobcats would have to pick between head coaches who have both made NBA Finals appearances, but yet to win a title.
Sloan retired during the 2011-12 season and used “exhaustion” as the reason for his resignation. The Jazz traded Deron Williams at the trading deadline and Sloan still stepped down. It was no secret that Deron Williams and Sloan butted heads on and off the court. Tyrone Corbin took over as head coach and remains at the position.
Sloan ranks third all-time in regular-season NBA coaching victories with 1,221. Former coaches Lenny Wilkins (1,332) and Don Nelson (1.335) are the only two to have more regular-season victories than Sloan.
Week 5 was a pretty good week for my picks. I went 10-4 against the spread and picked a few money-line winners. There are some good games this week and some games that the lines look a little skewed. Can America’s White Boy’s weekly upset team, Wyoming, keep their winnings ways against the spread? Here are my Week 6 College football betting picks against the spread.
I am throwing out two games that I would advise to avoid this week. Iowa/Michigan will be tricky and both teams have been severely inconsistent. I would also like to add the Connecticut/Pittsburgh into that category as well. Both of those teams haven’t play any top-tier teams and you really don’t know what kind of teams they are. UConn beat North Carolina earlier this year, but UNC has had a few bad games this year already. The line for the LSU/Florida game hasn’t been released yet, but once I find out if Tim Tebow is listed as playing, I will update this post.
Nebraska (-3) at Missouri (+3) – My pick is Missouri
Missouri has won the last two games against Nebraska by a combined total of 93-23. Missouri doesn’t have Daniel or Maclin anymore, but they still match up well against the Cornhuskers. The Tigers are at home, so I expect a good showing. I’ll take the points and Missouri in this game.
West Virginia (-10) at Syracuse (+10) – My pick is West Virginia
Syracuse has had a hard schedule this year and they don’t have any easy opponents. The Mountaineers have looked strong this year and should win this game by a few touchdowns. Syracuse is a decent team, but when you play the best teams, you look horrible.
Michigan State (-4.5) at Illinois (+4.5) – My pick is Michigan State
Illinois is a trainwreck and they’ve benched Juice Williams in favor of Eddie McGee as their starting quarterback. Michigan State looks to have finally righted the ship last week against Michigan and they should win this game by at least a touchdown. I like the Spartans to win this game on the road.
Auburn (-2.5) at Arkansas (+2.5) – My pick is Auburn
Auburn had a bad year in 2008, but so far this year, they have did what they had to do to stay undefeated. Arkansas has relied on the passing game to win, but have fell short in 2 out of the last 3 games. I like Auburn to win this game on the road as the slight favorites and cover ATS.
Georgia (+1.5) at Tennessee (-1.5) – My pick is Georgia
The Vols are a better team under Lane Kiffin, but they still have a lot to prove. They have been competitive in games, but haven’t won any big games. They are favored in this game, but I look for Georgia to go into Knoxville and win this game. The Bulldogs are good and I believe that their defense will finally show up in this game.
New Mexico (+10) at Wyoming (-10) – My pick is New Mexico
I usually don’t pick against Wyoming this year, but they haven’t won their games by much this year and 10 points seems like a little too much. If it was down to maybe 3, I would say Wyoming, but it is. New Mexico has been able to score points in their losses and I think this one stays close. New Mexico has won the last two games against Wyoming, but I think they will lose a close game, I pick New Mexico ATS.
Houston (+1) at Mississippi State (-1) – My pick is Houston
Houston has looked great this year, but lost a shootout against UTEP last week. They can still put points up and Mississippi State has given up a lot. Houston should be able to throw all over the Bulldogs and win this game. I like Houston to win this game, take the money-line.
Wisconsin (+16) at Ohio State (-16) – My pick is Wisconsin
Ohio State’s defense has finally started to click, but the history of the games between Wisconsin and Ohio State have been nail-biters. A 16-point spread is a large number for any Big Ten game and I don’t see Ohio State covering that large of a spread. The game will be closer than that, so give me the points and I’ll pick Wisconsin.
Utah (-7.5) at Colorado State (+7.5) – My pick is Utah
The spread offense can do damage to any defense and Utah runs it as good as any team. Colorado State has a couple nice wins under their belt this season, but Utah is a much better team
Stanford (-1) at Oregon State (+1) – My pick is Stanford
Jim Harbaugh has the Stanford Cardinal playing very well this year and Oregon State has also shown up for some big games this season. I like both of these teams going forward this season, but I like Stanford to win a close game on the road.
East Carolina (-6.5) at SMU (+6.5) – My pick is East Carolina
SMU, thanks to June Jones, has a high-powered passing attack, but they have not had any big wins so far this season. East Carolina has played a couple marquee games and faired well, but did not win either of those contests. East Carolina is good at forcing turnovers and expect them to get some points off of them against SMU. Give me East Carolina to cover the spread in this game.
Georgia Tech (+2.5) at Florida State (-2.5) – My pick is Georgia Tech
Bobby Bowden is under a lot of pressure in Tallahassee and this is a must win game for them. Georgia Tech has looked impressive this season and should give the Seminoles a good game. I look for the Yellow Jackets to go into Florida State and win against a distracted team. If you pick Georgia Tech, pick the money line, I think they have a chance.
Arizona (-3) at Washington (+3) – My pick is Washington
Why is this line not favoring the Huskies? Have we not learned anything the last few weeks? Washington is a pretty good team and they will be dangerous at home. Arizona has a better record and a win at Oregon State, but Washington are clutch. I will take Washington and the points in this game.
