NBA Teens: 2016-17 Sacramento Kings preview

If you are looking for a “ Real Husbands of California,” then come on down to  Sacramento where tempers flare, talent is wasted and diva’s can be found in the Kings organization. George Karl was hired to coach the Kings in the beginning of last season. He was fired towards the end of mid season due to him having “problems” getting along with some players. What this really means is that Demarcus Cousins did not like him and got another coach fired from the Kings organization. Demarcus is best known for his “cry baby” antics and can also be known as a “hothead”.Other than that he is arguable the best center in the league and recently won medal in Rio for the U.S. men’s national team. Now the Kings are known for wasting talent in my opinion, they had Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay, Demarcus Cousins last season along with a solid bench and still tied for 10th place with the Nuggets. Now Rajon Rondo’s contract was up and he left to play for the Bulls and Rudy Gay is on the trading block (hopefully the Pacers or the Celtics can trade for him). In free agency they made a lot of moves, they signed two 3 and D players with Anthony Tolliver and Matt Barnes.They also signed 3 veteran guards in Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson and Garrett Temple. Lastly, they signed the Atlanta Hawks former 2015 pick, Lamar Patterson who played well for Atlanta  in the 2015 summer league. In the draft they selected 3 players and in my opinion one is going to have a breakout rookie year. Two of those picks are centers, George Papagiannis who played in Greece his last couple years and Skal Labissiere from Kentucky. Skal dropped in the draft and started to get worried when he other players were picked up ahead of him in the draft. This is because of his lack of production and finishing ability around the rim in college. The other pick is Malachi Richardson the breakout freshman from Syracuse. Richardson player extremely well this past college season and led his team deep in the college basketball national tournament. Fans and even myself expect a big season from him, so there will be a lot of pressure on this 19 year old’s shoulder. Ben McLemore is expected to be traded before the deadline if he does not improve tremendously from last season. My sleeper pick is going to be McLemore if Rudy Gay is traded and he moves into the starting line up. I don’t expect much from the Kings this season and they still will not make the playoffs, I predict 10th or 11th maybe worse this upcoming season. The starting lineup will consist of Darren Collison, Arron Afflalo, Rudy Gay, Willie Cauley- Stein and “Demarcus Boogie” Cousins.

NBA Teens: 2016-17 Denver Nuggets preview

When you are young and playing basketball your dad will want to work with you on your game. He’ll usually take you to a court and go through numerous drills like dribbling through cones, shooting some jumpers, or maybe practicing some free throws. Some fathers take a different approach to basketball practice. Roger Murray, the father of 6’4 shooting guard from Kentucky decided to have different basketball practices for his son. His son would do various drills that implemented kung-fu and meditation into the basketball training. He wanted his son to have a clear mind throughout the game and stay focused through anything that pops up. Obviously Jamal benefitted from this drills because in the 2016 he would be selected 7th overall by the Denver Nuggets . Similar to Jaylen Brown another player was selected from my hometown. The Denver Nuggets selected another SG this one  from Florida State, Malik Beasley. The 6’5 guard attended St. Francis School which is approximately 35 minutes from Joseph Wheeler High School where Brown attended. The Nuggets selected 2 other forwards, Juancho Hernangomez and Petr Cornelie both from overseas. Denver now has an influx of talented guards including a personal favorite, Gary Harris who is proving his worth in the league after each season. Guard Will Barton is now a go-to scorer on the team, Jokic is a reliable big man, and Mudiay is force to be reckoned with and he will soon be the face of this organization. The points, rebounds and field goal percentage are dominated by Gallinari and Kenneth Faried. The team ultimately lack talent and experience, and vet Wilson Chandler has become very injury prone so that doesn’t help either. The Nuggets were tied for 10th place in the Western Conference and I don’t expect much for next year they might even fall lower due to the Timberwolves success.I predict another playoff absence in 9th or 10th place. Same starting lineup with Mudiay at the 1, Barton at the 2, Gallinari on the wing, Faried at power forward and Jokic in the paint at center. My sleeper player will be Gary Harris off the bench expect him to play well.  

NBA Teens: 2016-17 Indiana Pacers preview

The Indiana Pacers were the involved in a three-team trade after the NBA Finals that sent point guard George Hill to the Utah Jazz,  two 2017 draft picks to the Atlanta Hawks and the Indianapolis native, Jeff Teague to his hometown team. Teague was born in Indianapolis, Indiana he attended basketball powerhouse Pike high school, he was the 9th ranked point guard in the nation when he graduated. He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina , and entered the draft after his sophomore year in college getting selected 19th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2009 draft. After his 3rd year he proved himself as a solid point guard in the league and with the help of Al Horford was able to make it to the Conference Finals 2 seasons ago. Teague and Horford were the only remaining player on the roster who were drafted by the Hawks and both moved to a different team this off season. This brings me to the Indiana Pacers, the Pacers roster in my opinion is looking a lot better this season. The biggest hole that needed to be filled was the depth at the center position, Myles Turner is a great young talent with tremendous upside, but he can not do it all. They did so in signing veteran center Al Jefferson, who is a great low post scorer, they also signed high flyer Jeremy Evans who is a power forward that can also play the 3. In the off season the picked up a hometown player, Thaddeus Young who played ball at Georgia Tech, he had a solid season for the Brooklyn Nets last year and I know he will produce for the Pacers. Aaron Brooks, who was the backup for Derrick Rose in Chicago last year was also picked up by Indiana along with Julyan Stone. Their two draft picks are also big men, Georges Niang from Iowa State who I thought was a very solid pick-up due to his rim protection abilities in college. We also selected Alex Polythress from Kentucky who struggles around the rim but I know he will work hard in this league. Paul George will definitely play well this year and will be contending for MVP after playing well and winning gold in Rio. The starting lineup will consist of Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Myles Turner and Al Jefferson. The Pacers will make the playoffs with the 3rd seed  and maybe make it to the conference finals, they WILL beat Toronto.  

NBA Teens: 2016-17 Boston Celtics preview

I have a friend named of Nakeem Middleton. We both attended KIPP: Ways Academy for 6th-8th grade. Nakeem was a very skilled basketball player and made the school team all 3 years and started in 7th and 8th. Once he graduated from KIPP he went on to play basketball at Joseph Wheeler High school in Marietta, Georgia. This school has arguably one of the best basketball programs in Georgia. He benched the team his freshman and sophomore year due to the firepower in the lineup including one particular player. Nakeem was accompanied by 6’7, 220 pound shooting guard Jaylen Brown. Surprisingly Brown was drafted 3rd overall to my favorite team, the Boston Celtics. He was drafted out of University of Cal, Berkeley averaging 14.6 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. This is pretty amazing to know that I had close  friend play on the same team as a lottery pick. This now brings me to talk about the Boston Celtics. Boston’s biggest move was signing center Al Horford after his contract ended in Atlanta. It was sad for Hawks fans to see him leave but I key addition to the gaping hole in the Celtics depth chart. They also recently signed Gerald Green in the off season who played well for Miami last season. A Lot of their draft picks where big men from overseas. This was smart for the C’s considering their roster is loaded with guards. These players are Ante Zizic from Croatia, Guerschon Yabusele from France and Abel Nader from Egypt. The Celtics also drafted  solid center in Ben Bentil from Providence, although he is a little undersized he certainly knows how to play the game. Lastly, Demetrius Jackson is a very quick guard from Notre Dame who was also selected in the draft. They took some chances in trying to sign Russell Westbook and Blake Griffin this season but both decided to re-sign with their former teams. I predict the Celtics make the playoffs with the 4th or 5th seed and make a run in the 2nd round. My sleeper pick will be R.J Hunter this year as I expect a lot from him this year. The starting line-up will be I.T running the point, Bradley at the 2, Crowder at the 3, Either Olynk or Amir at the 4 and Horford at the 5. This is a solid line up to me and all of these players play hard every night.

 

NBA Teens: 2016-17 Atlanta Hawks preview

“With the 1st pick of the 2004 NBA Draft the Orlando Magic select, Dwight Howard !” Now fast forward 12 years later, this 6’11 center from my hometown Atlanta, GA now plays for the Atlanta Hawks. Howard said back in 2010 that he would not be able to handle the pressure of playing for his hometown team. He obviously changed his mind since then and will be snatching down boards and slamming in put-back dunks for the Hawks this upcoming season. This is a very good edition for the Hawks in my opinion due to the loss of Al Horford. The Hawks also traded away Jeff Teague in the off season and he was definitely a Hawks fan favorite along with Horford, they were both drafted by the Hawks and big contributors to their recent success. Although Teague left, this means Hawks fans will be able to see the true potential of the German backup guard, Dennis Schroeder. The coaching staff and fans have high hopes for Schroeder a lot of weight will be on his shoulders. The Hawks resigned Kris Humphries after he produced some solid numbers at the end of the regular season. They also signed Jarrett Jack (another Georgia native) to the team. In the draft they selected 6’7 SG Taurean Prince from Baylor, he is a good three and D player. With their second pick they took 6’6 Deandre Bembry from St. Joseph’s University. Bembry is an old- school player who could potentially grow to be a superstar. I predict the starting line-up will be Schroeder at point guard, Korver at shooting guard, Bazemore as the small forward, Millsap playing the power forward and Howard at center.