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.