This year’s NBA coaching spree centered largely around superstar players. Here’s who will benefit most from all the turnover. Eight NBA teams had coaching openings this offseason, many of them among the best in the league. Despite looming questions about the 2020-21 season, many franchises proceeded with coaching changes and many spent big to nab
New Orleans Pelicans
What can hypothetical future contenders like the Hawks, Bulls, Spurs and Pelicans learn from this year’s conference finalists? In the penultimate episode of The Good Place, Chidi Anagonye offers a Buddhist perspective on death: “Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it
Gayle Benson, New Orleans Saints. (Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports) 3 offseason moves the Toronto Blue Jays must make after early playoff exit by Brad Berreman New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson nearly had her car jacked with her inside of it. Stopping an attempting carjacking is now on New Orleans Saints owner Gayle
Mike D’Antoni is officially a coaching free agent now, and these five teams should be calling him immediately. After being eliminated from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, there are now the annual questions about the Houston Rockets. Chief among them was the future of head coach Mike D’Antoni, who was without a contract
Billy Donovan will not be back as coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and here are five spots where he could find his next job. The Oklahoma City Thunder were not expected to be good this year, as they were certain to offload Chris Paul and fully enter into a rebuild. But instead, they made
Three NBA teams still need to hire new head coaches. The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers needed to find new head coaches after parting ways with Kenny Atkinson and Brett Brown, respectively. They wasted little time finding their next leading men, as Philly plucked Tyronn Lue away from the Los Angeles Clippers while the Nets
Rudy Gobert and Zion Williamson got the scoring started in the NBA restart. NBA basketball is officially back, and the two most fitting culprits to get the scoring started down in Orlando did exactly that on Thursday. In the first seeding game of the NBA’s restart between the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz, it
Montrezl Harrell is back in the bubble by Mike Luciano Jim Harbaugh explains why he’s advocating for fall college football season by John Buhler LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 06: Lonzo Ball #2 of the New Orleans Pelicans works the floor against Bogdan Bogdanovic #8 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images The Pelicans and Jazz took part in a powerful moment during the national anthem. It was entirely predictable. It was inevitable. And in fact, ESPN had already been reported that it would happen. But when the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz chose to kneel in front of the words
As Basketball Insiders has continued its “Looking Back” series, it was only a matter of time until we crossed the double digits. Now that time has come. Today we are taking a look at how all of the tenth overall picks since 2009 have fared in the NBA. As you probably know, as the lottery
If you’ve been tuning in, Basketball Insiders has been looking into how each lottery pick has fared in the league since 2009. We’ve categorized each player as a hit, miss, in between or a role player. We started at the top with the first overall pick and we’ve been making our way down since. At
There is hope on the horizon: as more and more teams continue to re-open their facilities, the NBA would seem that much closer to a return. That said, there is still a very long road ahead. And, in the meantime, Basketball Insiders has done our best to help mitigate the monotony of quarantine. Recently, we’ve
Welcome back to Basketball Insiders’ “Looking Back” series! We’ve already gone over how the first and second overall pick have fared since 2009, so naturally, the next pick up is the third overall pick. Like with the first two, we categorize these players by if they are hits, misses, in the middle, or role players.
Zion Williamson, Duke Blue Devils. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Zion Williamson’s former marketing advisor alleges he received improper benefits to attend Duke University. What could this all mean for Duke and Zion? Did Zion Williamson receive improper benefits to attend Duke University? Well, his former marketing agent certainly thinks so. Gaming and sports betting
Last week, Basketball Insiders dove into NBA nostalgia by looking back at previous NBA drafts of recent memory, starting from 2014 all the way to 2017. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be changing the formula up a tad. Instead of looking at entire drafts, we’re looking at the individual picks – starting
Last week, Basketball Insiders dove into NBA nostalgia by looking back at previous NBA drafts of recent memory, starting from 2014 all the way to 2017. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be changing the formula up a tad. Instead of looking at entire drafts, we’re looking at the individual picks – starting
In the NBA world right now, everybody is doing what they can to stay entertained. We’re tuning into The Last Dance every Sunday. We’re squeezing every detail we can get out of this supposed rift in Utah right now between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. We’re trying to figure out what’s the aptest solution for
Last week, Basketball Insiders ranked who was the best of the best of each position in the NBA, including executives. This week, Basketball Insiders is taking a look at who are among the most underrated executives in the NBA. What makes an executive underrated? It’s actually a pretty loaded question. Their work may have led
As many as a dozen players could make strong cases they belong on this year’s ballot for Most Improved, but these seven stood out from the pack. The beauty of an award like Most Improved Player is in how wide a net it casts across the NBA. The more glamorous MVP and Rookie of the
Last week, Basketball Insiders ranked who was the best of the best of each position in the NBA, including executives. This week, Basketball Insiders is taking a look at who are among the most underrated executives in the NBA. What makes an executive underrated? It’s actually a pretty loaded question. Their work may have led
It may seem like it, but, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA world never truly stopped turning, even Bodog Canada is still running. Yes, in a time of some much-needed, sports-related distraction, the play has been put on hold. But the Association has continued to chug along as the draft and free
The Rockets belong to Russell Westbrook now, but that’s not the only thing we learned from the 2019-20 NBA season. As we wait for whatever is to come of the 2019-20 NBA season, even a momentary pause will leave certain moments and breakthroughs from the season as a memory and conversation to cherish while we
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of his generation and arguably of all-time. No matter how old he is or how many miles he has on those tires — 48,014 minutes total as of Feb. 20, good for eighth-most all-time among NBA players =- he is not to be underestimated. The Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of his generation and arguably of all-time. No matter how old he is or how many miles he has on those tires — 48,014 minutes total as of Feb. 20, good for eighth-most all-time among NBA players =- he is not to be underestimated. The Los Angeles Lakers
Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson dunked so hard at the NBA Rising Stars Challenge he literally broke the rim. All hail our king Zion Williamson, the rim-wrecker. I didn’t anticipate spending my Valentine’s Day evening watching the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, but my life choices led me to this moment. I have no regrets because watching
Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke put on the greatest dunk contest that never was. The Rising Stars Challenge between the World and U.S. teams was pretty exciting and delivered a special payoff for the fans who watched until the final minutes. Zion Williamson was the main attraction for the U.S. team
Despite the fact that the Knicks haven’t been a traditional trade deadline buyer in almost a decade, every trade deadline in recent memory has seen its share of Knicks rumors and activity, including last year’s paradigm-shifting trade with Dallas. This year will be no different. The Knicks added a number of salary-cap friendly veterans who
To begin this segment on narratives, let’s travel back to the 2016 NBA Draft. Remember what the narrative was for that particular class around that time? It was labeled as top-heavy. Very top-heavy. It was supposed to be a two-man draft. Only two prospects in that draft were projected to be potentially special talents in
The New Orleans Pelicans are within striking distance of a playoff spot, but how might their trade deadline plans take shape? With a superstar who clearly had one foot out the door, the New Orleans Pelicans were painted into a corner. But they ultimately sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers last July for
Zion Williamson and Trae Young, will be the latest case studies in player empowerment encroaching upon NBA stars’ first contracts. Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin made news this summer when he said he was “miserable” during his time building a championship team around LeBron James in Cleveland. After building something “unsustainable”