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NBA Title Teams and Opening Night

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On opening night, the two presumptive favorites, Brooklyn and the Lakers, started the season with resounding thuds.  The Nets were easily handled by that Bucks, before bouncing back with a nice win in Philly.  The Lakers, on the other hand, were beaten by Golden State and then were steamrolled by Phoenix to start out 0-2.  These results got me wondering whether winning on opening night has any relationship to winning a title.  How worrisome is a losing start to eventual … [Read more...] about NBA Title Teams and Opening Night

2021-22 NBA Preview: Reviewing the Title Contenders

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Well, that was a quick off-season.  With so much going on, it feels like we didn’t have to miss the NBA for very long.  The season officially starts on October 18 and it feels like early 2020-21 again.  The Nets and Lakers are the early bettor favorites, with Sportsbettingdime.com, giving Brooklyn the edge at +200 followed by the Lakers (+400) and the Bucks (+900).  But do these odds accurately reflect the current statuses of the potential contenders?  I’m skeptical of … [Read more...] about 2021-22 NBA Preview: Reviewing the Title Contenders

The NBA’s Vaccine Quandaries

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The big NBA news of the last few days has mostly related to whether/where Ben Simmons will be traded.  Another story that has been lurking in the background is how the NBA and the NBPA will deal with issue of COVID and vaccines and what the NBA would do with players who refuse to be vaccinated.  Let’s review what’s happened so far to see what the looming issues are: -About 10 days ago, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that 85% of players had been vaccinated. -The NBA would not mandate … [Read more...] about The NBA’s Vaccine Quandaries

Breaking Down The Ben Simmons Drama

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With training camp a few weeks away, the only persistent newsworthy story is Ben Simmons' demand to be traded and his threat to holdout if he isn’t traded.  While this story has been well-covered, I thought we could break it down FAQ style and see if we can break any new ground or, at the very least, come to our own conclusions.  Let’s start with the facts as we know them: -Simmons is turning 25 years old and has four years and $160 million left on his deal. -There was no evidence, before … [Read more...] about Breaking Down The Ben Simmons Drama

Examining Noel v. Klutch

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The most interesting NBA story of the week was business related.  Actually, it was a court filing. Nerlens Noel sued his former agents Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group, LLC, accusing them of bungling the negotiation of Noel’s contracts over the last few years and costing Noel millions ($58 million actually).  In short, Noel was eligible for a big extension and he fired his agent at the urging of Paul, who allegedly promised that he could do better.  There has been some insightful … [Read more...] about Examining Noel v. Klutch

Revisiting the Kidd-Marbury Trade

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Today, the Nets are at the center of the NBA universe.  They are laden with megastars and the odds-on favorite to win an NBA title.  As we are deep in the off-season, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the recent 20th anniversary of one of the Nets’ most famous trades: the dealing of Stephon Marbury to Phoenix for Jason Kidd.  The basic story is well-remembered: Kidd turned around a terrible Nets team and brought them to back-to-back Finals in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and … [Read more...] about Revisiting the Kidd-Marbury Trade

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