606onit
Superstar
Up....anything on the NBA playoffs?
Essential The Official ESPN Insider Thread (ESPN+)
- Thread starter the cool
- Start date
Nah, not yet...Up....anything on the NBA playoffs?
They not got playoff previews for every matchup. I'm going to post them in the official threads of those playoff series.Up....anything on the NBA playoffs?
*crackSTAR*
Pro
What to make of A-Rod's hot start
At the outset of spring training, I would have guessed that Alex Rodriguez would finish this season with fewer than 100 plate appearances, based on his age of 39, his forced time away from the game in 2014, his extensive injury history and how badly he looked against good fastballs at the end of 2013. Through the years, I've heard so many older players talk about how their reflexes disintegrate, and how time forces them to choose between power and contact.
By the end of spring training, when Rodriguez and his bat speed looked better than just about anyone expected, I probably would've amended my estimate to 300 plate appearances, with 10 to 15 homers.
But as with just about everything else involving Rodriguez, he continues to be a mystery: Not only is he hitting better than expected, and not only is he the Yankees' best hitter of the early season, but he has been among the best hitters in the majors.
On Friday, he blasted two homers, the first of which was the longest hit by anyone in baseball this season, which ESPN estimated at 477 feet. Watch where this ball lands in Tropicana Field, in a place I know I've never seen a ball hit.
Fastballs were seen as his greatest challenge this season, and instead, he has been destroying them.
Rodriguez is fourth in the majors in slugging percentage, at .781, seventh in OPS, at 1.214 and is batting .344. At his current pace, Rodriguez would finish the year with 65 homers, among 97 extra-base hits, with 178 RBIs. Better numbers, of course, than he's had in any season of his career.
What should we make of it?
I have no idea. I only know that I've been so wrong about what he might do, by applying the standard arc of age and regression, that I clearly don't know, and I assume nothing.
Rodriguez is flying up the leaderboard lists, so quickly that he is setting himself for a summer of collecting baseballs.
Rodriguez passed Derek Jeter in career runs Friday, and now has 1,925. Soon, he will pass Stan Musial.
With his hits Friday, he's at 2,950, 31st place all-time; he might approach 3,000 by the All-Star break.
With his homers, he's at 658, or two short of Willie Mays's career mark of 660.
He has 1,980 RBIs. The only players to reach 2,000, according tobaseballreference.com, are Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Cap Anson.
From ESPN Stats & Info: His first homer Friday was calculated at 477 feet, his second-longest HR since ESPN began tracking HR distances in 2006. His previous longest in that span was a 488-foot HR off Cliff Lee at the old Yankee Stadium in 2006. And it's the longest homer in the majors this season. The homer was the longest in Tropicana Field since ESPN started tracking home runs in 2006.
Coming into Friday, of the 44,049 home runs hit since 2006, only 30 have been hit farther.
Notes
Bartolo Colon was outstanding for the Mets, tossing seven innings in a win over the Marlins.
Juan Lagares made some great catches.
On Friday's Baseball Tonight podcast, Karl Ravech and Justin Havens discussed the promotion of Kris Bryant, and Jesse Rogers offered a possible timeline for prospect Addison Russell, who was moved to second base for a game Thursday.
Alcides Escobar suffered a knee sprain on a slide by Brett Lawrie. Here's the slide.
Umpire Jordan Baker set off a firestorm Friday by ejecting Ubaldo Jimenezwithout a warning. Buck Showalter said what was done was "a little embarrassing."
From Roch Kubatko's story:
- Crew chief Jerry Meals said Baker determined that the Orioles were retaliating for Sandoval's hard slide into second baseman Jonathan Schoopin the second inning.
"First of all, Jordan felt that there was intent on the pitch, and the location of the pitch was a major factor, and what fueled that was Pablo running to second base earlier in the game, second inning I believe it was. It looked as if, to Jordan, that the Orioles took exception to his hard slide," Meals said to a pool reporter.
Baker didn't issue a warning.
"Because, again after they showed the replay on the board, Jordan saw the Orioles dugout, and it seemed they reacted to the slide, and then Pablo's next at-bat, first pitch to him, fastball in," Meals said. "It's close to the head, it was a dangerous pitch, so it's an automatic. You can give a warning if you prefer to, but he felt it's an ejection.
"I just told Buck, 'He's doing his job back there, get me a pitcher,' and we just talked for a few minutes about different things. It was nothing in particular."
Showalter was clearly upset while speaking to reporters, though he did his best to remain composed.
"That's the way we play, they play, you inspire both teams to play," Showalter said. "It wasn't even a thought. Ubaldo the first time up, you try to pitch guys in that get their arms extended and are strong. We threw I think three fastballs. We tried to go in the first time up. It's kind of professionally a little embarrassing to see that type of thing have such an impact."
• Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off single, in the end.
• Speaking of retaliation: Reds manager Bryan Price didn't back off his statement that a slide by Jason Heyward last weekend was dirty. Devin Mesoraco was available to pinch-hit Friday.
• We've got the Reds and Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball, with Mike Leakescheduled to pitch against Adam Wainwright.
• Kris Bryant was hitless in his debut, which reminded me of Billy Hamilton's first start of 2014. In that game, Adam Wainwright, who might have the best curveball in baseball, kept throwing that pitch to Hamilton, and the rookie was helpless. Shields has one of the best changeups and Bryant -- who, like Hamilton, was probably saturated with adrenaline -- just didn't see it well.
Along the way, Bryant got a full dose of being a Cub, writes Rick Telander. His journey is just beginning, writes Jon Greenberg.
• The White Sox aren't talking about when Carlos Rodon might be promoted.
• Mike Trout was a one-man wrecking crew against the Astros, writes Jesus Ortiz.
• Josh Hamilton's mansion is listed for sale, for $16.5 million.
Mike Scioscia met with Hamilton, and is searching for clarity. Teammates sayHamilton is ready to play, writes Mike DiGiovanna.
From his story:
- "From what I hear and what I see, he's kind of ready to go," said third baseman David Freese, who joined outfielders Kole Calhoun and Collin Cowgill for lunch with Hamilton on Thursday in the Houston area, where Hamilton has been since early February.
"He's running, he's hitting, he's ready to go physically. He's doing the things he needs to do to play baseball and taking the necessary steps off the field." So what's the holdup?
"I have no idea," Freese said. "That's the stuff we don't know. That's between the Angels and him. I didn't ask. Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that."
• Ryan Howard so far this season: 6-for-34, two RBIs, one walk, 12 strikeouts. You would assume that given how much the Phillies wanted to move Howard during the offseason, this will not continue deep into this summer.
• For the Giants, the losing continues: That's eight straight, and counting, as John Shea writes. They've scored 32 runs in 12 games.
From John's story:
- "We obviously wanted to play a whole lot better than we've played," saidJake Peavy, who gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings and felt lower back tightness. "It hasn't been the case for a variety of reasons. I can tell you this: It's not for a lack of effort or preparation, and that's all I can tell you from the players' side of things.
"We've been grinding and the coaches as well, and we're playing as hard as the San Francisco Giants can play. Things aren't going our way, and we expect to find a way with the guys in this room to make that happen. That being said, (Saturday's ceremony) is still going to be fun."
Peavy, who refused to blame his performance on his back issue, which worsened through his outing, will be evaluated Saturday. So will third baseman Casey McGehee, who didn't look fluid in his first home start in the wake of a knee injury. Manager Bruce Bochy called McGehee day to day.
"I'll feel it from time to time," McGehee said. "It's the way it goes sometimes. I don't feel I had any setbacks. It was good to get back on the field."
TheKang
Habitual, Line Steppa
arthurli22
Rookie
How we will remember the Class of 2015
Every class has its share of stars and surprises, sleepers and disappointments. You can't fully judge a player or a class until their college career is over and if they move on to the NBA draft or play professionally overseas. This class doesn't have instant star power, but it is a competitive bunch with plenty of room for growth that will turn out some potential lottery picks and first-rounders when the NBA draft rolls around. There are a lot of players who could be stars in college basketball over time and others who could develop into all-league players.
Here are my three takeaways of the Class of 2015.
1. Breaking down the top of the class
Ben Simmons came from Australia with incredible skill, bounce and advanced IQ. As a sophomore he played for Kevin Bolye at Montverde who pushed him to achieve and eventually into the nation's best player as a rising senior. Simmons has the versatility of Jabari Parker but is far more athletic. They both impact the game in a variety of ways which is their common denominator to greatness.
ESPN No. 2 Skal Labissiere will go to another level when he works with the Kentucky staff. He has the greatest room for growth among anyone in the class as his scoring instincts, soft shot, shot-blocking ability and teachable sprit should take him to the top of the NBA lottery.
Brandon Ingram shot up to No. 3 in the rankings. Perhaps no one has impressed more down the stretch of his senior year especially on a national stage at McDonald's, and the Hoop summit in front of NBA personnel. His length at 6-foot-9 along with an aggressive approach and his fluid scoring skills have Duke, UNC, Kansas and Kentucky chasing him hard and NBA scouts waiting to see where he lands.
Jaylen Brown was sensational all year long with his physical style, and fast break finishes. Henry Ellenson could impress the most next year when it comes to front court skill and impact.
His high school team did not travel outside the state much and he broke his wrist in March but he has a chance to be a difference maker at Marquette. He is the most skilled big in the class with a gym rat work ethic .
2. We could get to know the big men in college
Seven of the top 10 in the final rankings were power forwards or centers. They will elevate their respective programs immediately and it's a great group to get to know.
We may not see another big man like Jahlil Okafor in the college game for a while, a true back to the basket post player. The bigs in 2015 have talent in different sizes, shapes and skill sets.
Some are athletic and others not so much. With coaching to learn how to play inside and conditioning to adapt to the physicality and speed of the game, players such as Diamond Stone, Ivan Rabb, Caleb Swanigan, Cheick Diallo, Chase Jeter, Thomas Bryant and Tyler Davis can contribute right away.
Stephen Zimmerman, Daniel Giddens and Doral Moore are among the bigs who have great upside when they make the adjustment to college.
The best part about this wave of big men is that they should be around college basketball for a couple of years or longer and we will get to know them.
3. The shooting guards will give the college game what it wants -- more scoring
As the season went on it was evident that the shooting guard position blossomed. We have 29 SGs in our top 100, the most at any position. This crop of shooters and scorers give the class its greatest value, as they will make the college game exciting next year. We all want scoring to be up and this group has the skill to make that happen.
Dwayne Bacon had an impactful senior season at Oak Hill. He possesses a prototypical NBA two-guard’s frame at 6-6-6. If he works at it he’ll be a threat in the ACC for Florida State.
There were a handful of guards who came in strong and finished strong such as Malik Newman Allonzo Trier, Antonio Blakeney and Luke Kennard. Newman, an elite guard who won his fourth state championship at Callaway high school, dropped a bit mostly because of the impactful bigs. He still needs work on his decision making and shot selection.
Remember Malachi Richardson, King McClure, and Jalen Coleman as these elite shooters own some of the best jumpers in the class.
A few will be very good in time if not right away such as Donovan Mitchell, who has dynamic athletic ability, passion, emerging skills and a defensive mindset. He’ll be terrific for Rick Pitino.
Malik Beasley will give Leonard Hamilton a fierce competitor. Tyler Dorsey has the talent to score points at Oregon if he is dialed in.
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Amin Elhassan
The imminent influx of cash from the new TV deal that's set to kick in by 2016 greatly inflates the basketball-related income (BRI) off which the salary cap is calculated, with the cap over the next three seasons expected to be $67.1 million, $89 million and $108 million, respectively.
What are the projected salary thresholds? And what does this mean for the league, teams and numerous players expected to become free agents over the next few seasons?
Projected salary thresholds
The most obvious question is "how much will maximum allowable salaries be?" Max salary thresholds are expressed as percentages of the cap based off years of service:
• Players with less than six years of service: 25 percent of cap (the one exception being players coming off rookie-scale contracts who are eligible for the "Derrick Rose Rule," which bumps them up to next threshold)
• Players with 7-9 years of service: 30 percent of cap
• Players with 10 or more years of service: 35 percent of cap
For the purposes of calculating these max salary thresholds, the NBA doesn't use the actual cap but rather one that's about 94 percent of the cap number we use to calculate team salaries.
Based off the current projections, we can expect first-year max salaries across the different thresholds to look something like this over the next few years:
Max Salary Projections, 2014-2018
CATEGORY 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Actual Cap $63,065,000 $67,100,000 $89,000,000 $108,000,000
Calc. Cap for Max $58,984,000 $63,074,000 $83,660,000 $101,520,000
(0-6 years exp.) 25% $14,746,000 $15,768,500 $20,915,000 $25,380,000
(7-9 years exp.) 30% $17,695,200 $18,922,200 $25,098,000 $30,456,000
(10+ years exp.) 35% $20,644,400 $22,075,900 $29,281,000 $35,532,000
LeBron James, who is eligible to opt out of his deal in 2015, can sign a new deal starting at roughly $22.1 million this summer. Were he to wait until 2016, his new deal would be $7 million-plus more lucrative, starting at $29.3 million. TeammateKevin Love, a seven-year vet, would be eligible to start at $18.9 million if he were to opt out this summer, and $25.1 million if he were to wait until 2016. Teammate Kyrie Irving, who signed his extension last summer, can expect his new deal to start at about $15.8 million next year.
Impact upon teams
Put bluntly, it is in teams' vested interest to lock up players into longer deals this summer, generally speaking. We are looking at a 32 percent jump from summer 2015 to summer 2016 for the price of a player at any given threshold, and an even bigger jump when comparing two summers down the line. We know that the max contract in and of itself is a discount in many cases, keeping star-caliber salary well below what their market price would be in a free-market free agency; signing a max player to 2015 max prices would represent a double discount. All the players who signed long-term deals last summer -- like Irving's extension with the Cavs, Klay Thompson's with the Warriors and Eric Bledsoe's five-year deal with the Suns -- got financial security but postponed getting in on the real action, and as such, those respective teams got heavily subsidized cost certainty.
This year -- 2015 -- represents the last time teams can experience how a deal signed today will represent massive savings 12 months from now. It's not just for max salary players either; because there is a salary floor in the NBA (the minimum total salary threshold every team must meet), teams will have to spend $60.4 million in 2015-16, $80.1 million in 2016-17 and $97.2 million in 2017-18. In other words,someone is going to have to get some of that money just to get to the floor. It's why players like Draymond Green and Khris Middleton -- terrific role players for their respective teams but not foundation superstars -- are absolute no-brainers at the max in 2015 for their clubs: The teams know exactly what they're getting and the cost certainty is there. Even a team facing an imminent luxury-tax payment in 2015-16 like Golden State is still better off biting the bullet for one year, as the tax threshold is expected to jump from $81.6 million in 2015-16 to $108 million in 2016-17 to $127 million in 2017-18.
Dwight Howard two summers ago) is eligible for a maximum yearly raise of 4.5 percent of the first year of his contract. Well, the salary cap jumped 7 percent from 2013 to 2014 and is projected to jump another 6-plus percent in 2015. Basically, standard cap inflation (remember, this doesn't count the massive cap explosion) has outpaced the maximum raises on non-Bird free agents.
When you factor in the expectation that the cap will jump 32 percent from this summer to next summer, and then another 21 percent in 2017, it makes no sense for star players to lock into a heavily discounted 2015 rate. Instead, signing a short-term deal with the flexibility to shred the deal and jump back in would be much more advisable. A player such as Love (who holds a player option) would be better served signing a two-year deal, with a player option on the second year (there's no incentive for him to opt-in to his 2015-16 salary of $16.7 million when the first year of a new deal this summer would get him $18.9 million). Even a three-year deal with an option after two would be more advisable than locking in long-term.
Impact upon the NBA
The rising cap will have an effect on the complexion of the league as well, beyond skyrocketing payrolls and salaries. Let's take a look at some of those impacts:
Churn
The added incentive of flexibility on the player side will lead to shorter deals, which will lead to higher attrition (in management, they call this "employee churn"). Players on shorter deals, testing free agency more often, are more likely to switch teams more frequently, especially as the increase in the cap continues to outpace the maximum allowable salary raises. If you're always better off signing a new deal than sticking to a 4.5 percent (or even 7.5 percent) raise, what's the incentive of Bird rights? The answer is there is no incentive, and so not only will players continue to seek bigger paydays to maximize their earnings but they'll also hold teams accountable in their roster construction: If real, immediate progress isn't sensed, it's in a player's interest to pack his bags and seek a better situation. Teams won't have four or five years to prove they can build a winner.
Rookie-scale deals, draft picks and Euro-stash deals
We already know that max deals represent huge discounts over market value; the same applies for rookie-scale deals. The rigid structure (two guaranteed years, followed by two team options) and benefits of restricted free agency (right of first refusal) make rookie deals incredibly subsidized contracts in general. When you add in the fact that rookie salaries for every first-round pick are predetermined throughout the life of the CBA, it's easy to see how they'll be far outpaced by the cap explosion. For example, the No. 1 overall pick this summer will make roughly $4.8 million in a $67.1 million cap year (or 7.1 percent of the cap). The following season, he makes about $5.0 million in an $89 million cap year (5.6 percent of the cap)! The No. 1 overall pick in 2016 will make $4.9 million in an $89 million cap year (5.5 percent of cap). And the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 will make $5.1 million in ... you get the picture.
What does this mean? First-round picks become incredibly more important. It also means being on a rookie-scale deal really stinks for a player! Drafted and stashed international players (most prominently from European leagues) will have a greater incentive to delay coming over, as waiting three years allows them to circumvent the rookie scale (this is how Chicago signed 2011 first-round pick Nikola Mirotic to a three-year, $16.6 million deal this past summer).
For example, 2014 Philadelphia draftee Dario Saric has an NBA out in his European deal in 2016, but he's much better off coming over in 2017 to avoid getting locked into the discounted rookie rate, and instead be eligible for a lucrative deal.
Cap exceptions
Like the rookie-scale contracts, many of the salary-cap exceptions are predetermined through the life of the CBA, including the minimum salary, full mid-level, taxpayer mid-level, and biannual exceptions. Once seen as tools for teams to add veteran talent beyond the cap level, these exceptions will become less and less lucrative for players to accept.
Lockout/strike
Of course, there's one huge caveat to all of this: impending labor strife. Both the league and the players' association have the ability to "opt out" of the CBA following the 2016-17 season (they have to notify each another of that intent by December 2016). It's hard to imagine the owners wanting out of a deal that is virtually guaranteeing them year-over-year profits, but the side effects of the system might cause them to want to come back to the negotiating table.
On the other hand, the players should have multiple grievances, but with many of the constituents in line to make a lot more money, would they have enough votes to rock the status quo?
Only time will tell, but we do know one thing: The NBA is about to change drastically.
954UAlreadyknow
All Star
954UAlreadyknow
All Star
C'mon, Doc; Jordan's not DPOY
Of all the annual awards, the defensive player of the year race appears to be the most difficult to peg.
Joakim Noah, the reigning recipient of the top defender award, has been hobbled all season and the Chicago Bulls have disappointed on that end. A pair of Warriors might split votes in defensive studs Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut. It's hard to reconcile Anthony Davis' block totals with New Orleans' bottom-five defensive ranking. Rudy Gobert might be the league's best rim protector, but has only recently started for his own team. Serge Ibaka is a perennial candidate. Tim Duncan is Tim Duncan.
It's an extremely tough ballot this season. But if you ask Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, the choice is an easy one: DeAndre Jordan.
"He's clearly the defensive player of the year," Rivers said on Sunday. "If anybody else gets that award, we need to have an investigation. ... What he's doing defensively, if he was doing that offensively, he would be recognized as the MVP or one of them, but because it's defense, no one notices."
Maybe "no one notices" because there's just not much that stands out. Rivers has been known to get out the pom-poms for his players. In fact, Rivers already had launched the Jordan DPOY campaign in June, saying, "100 percent, I think that's what he will be" when all is said and done in 2014-15. A few days ago, Rivers claimed that "D.J. is the best defensive player in the league. I just really believe that."
Unfortunately for Rivers, Jordan's DPOY case isn't much of a case at all. This screams confirmation bias on Rivers' part more than anything. All evidence suggests Jordan is a good defensive player; not a great one, and certainly not the best. Let's run through all the reasons.
Blocks don't equal rim protection
Jordan's résumé is anchored by his shot-blocking abilities, which is a lot like saying a baseball player should win MVP because he has a high batting average. There's just so much more to defense than the couple of possessions when a defensive player gets a piece of a shot attempt. It's true that Jordan ranks fourth with 2.2 blocks per game and is currently the only player in the NBA to collect a block against every opposing team, but what about the other 65 possessions when he's on the floor?
Jordan can jump out of the gym and run the floor like a gazelle, but he struggles with today's foundational task of walling off the paint in pick-and-roll attacks. Guards find little resistance when Jordan's in their path to the rim.
Looking beyond blocks, the holes in Jordan's case begin to reveal themselves. Per SportVU player-tracking data on NBA.com, opponents shoot 49.2 percent at the rim with Jordan nearby, which ranks 31st among 59 qualified big men (at least six basket attempts defended per game). The names at the top of the heap -- Gobert, Bogut and Ibaka -- have done a far better job at creating misses near the rim than Jordan.
Jordan can jump out of the gym and run the floor like a gazelle, but he struggles with today's foundational task of walling off the paint in pick-and-roll attacks. Guards find little resistance when Jordan's in their path to the rim. He uses his hands well to deflect passes -- opposing attackers turn the ball over on 24.2 percent of plays in the pick-and-roll, the highest for any big defender -- but his effective field goal percentage allowed on such plays ranks 22nd among 36 bigs, according to Synergy tracking. He defends with his hands more than with his feet, which is problematic against all the speedy guards in the league.
Jordan has done well to keep himself healthy and on the court. He hasn't missed a game this season and leads all big men in minutes played. Helping matters is that he's cut down his troublesome foul rate that plagued him earlier in his career. In his sophomore season he averaged 6.9 fouls per 100 possessions, but he's knocked that down to just 4.4 this season, which ranks ninth lowest among all big men (Al Horford is freakishly good at defending without fouling).
The Clippers aren't a good defensive outfit
Here's a fundamental question: If Jordan is an elite defender and plays so many minutes, why are the Clippers merely an average defensive team? Jordan's fan club will have trouble answering that one.
The Clippers rank just 15th in defensive efficiency this season, slipping from a seventh-place ranking last season. That the Clippers have fallen off defensively this season certainly doesn't bode well for Jordan's standing in the defensive player of the year race after he finished third in the voting in 2013-14.
Further hurting Jordan's cause is that the team's defense has sharpened when he goes to the bench. With Jordan on the floor, the Clippers give up 103.6 points per 100 possessions. When he hits the pine, it improves to 101.7 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. That's not good news, especially considering that his backup is Spencer Hawes. While the Clippers' defense gets stingier when Jordan leaves the floor, just about every DPOY candidate has seen the opposite effect on their team's bottom line.
Rebounding isn't everything
Jordan does have the upper hand in the rebounding column. Since Blake Griffin went out with a staph infection in early February, Jordan has pulled down a ridiculous 18.6 boards per game with 13.2 of those coming on the defensive end. Those are Wilt Chamberlain-type numbers.
In fact, Jordan's 17.2 rebounding average was the highest we've seen in any month (minimum 10 games) since Ben Wallace in 2002-03, when he racked up 18.8 rebounds per game in the month of March. Interestingly enough, Wallace went on to win the defensive player of the year award in a landslide that season, garnering 100 of the 117 first-place votes.
Here's why Jordan probably won't follow Wallace's path: Most of Jordan's glass-cleaning impact is on the offensive end, which doesn't move the needle for his defensive credentials. When Jordan's on the floor, the Clippers recover 25.5 percent of their misses, but that free-falls to an abysmal 15.4 percent when he goes to the bench, according to NBA.com. That's impact.
However, Jordan's defensive rebounding tells a much weaker story. The Clippers' defensive rebounding rate barely moves from 76.4 percent to 74.6 percent when he goes to the bench, indicating that he could be stealing defensive boards from his teammates. Case in point: Griffin averages just seven rebounds per 36 minutes playing next to Jordan this season, but that soars to 10.6 when Griffin plays without him. Chris Paul also shows a similar split (4.8 boards with Jordan vs. 5.6 without Jordan).
Ultimately, Rivers' case for Jordan as defensive player of the year is based more on rhetoric than reason. His high block totals overrate his rim protection, the Clippers aren't a good defensive team and Jordan's monster rebounding output does little to help the team's overall ability to get stops. Jordan's defensive RPM ranks 19th among all centers, which solidifies his standing as a good defensive cog, but far from a serious defensive player of the year candidate.
News and notes
• That sound you hear is the other shoe dropping on the Hassan Whiteside story. Front offices around the league that passed on Whiteside are collectively nodding their heads after seeing his juvenile antics creep up the last couple weeks. On Monday, he was ejected for the second time in five games after he inexplicably decked Kelly Olynyk while the Boston center wasn't looking.
Whiteside
That comes right after Whiteside was benched by Erik Spoelstra for the entire fourth quarter on Saturday night in Washington as the Heat nearly rallied all the way back from a 35-point deficit. According to NBAsavant.com, that's six combined technicals and flagrants called on Whiteside in just 770 minutes of action, or one every 128 minutes. That's the most frequent rate in the league, just ahead of Larry Sanders (once every 146 minutes) and Markieff Morris (once every 154 minutes).
The Heat can't afford any more Whiteside temper tantrums; the latest BPI projection gives them just a 44.2 percent chance of making the playoffs. They need Whiteside on the court.
• It doesn't look good for Tyreke Evans after he needed to be helped off the court and into the locker room after turning his troublesome left ankle on Monday night.
He has taken his fair share of lumps as a ball hog, but he has been a much better facilitator of late, averaging 8.5 assists since Feb. 1. But even that understates his playmaking abilities because of how many 3-pointers he cues up. He has assisted 61 3-balls over the last two months, which leads all players in the category. Get this: Hot-shooting teammate Eric Gordon converts 54.5 percent of his 3s dished from Evans and just 29.7 percent when fed by someone else, per SportVU player-tracking data. Evans may not be able to shoot, but he's getting the rock to those who can.
Player Age PER
A. Davis 21 31.6
S. O'Neal 21 28.5
L. James 21 28.1
A. Davis 20 26.5
K. Durant 21 26.2
• Speaking of the Pellies, Anthony Davis is not making this MVP race any easier. He's averaging 33.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in four games since returning from his shoulder injury. At the right is a list of the top PERs for someone age 21 or younger.
• This week's trivia question: Who is a perfect 14-for-14 on and-one opportunities? Last week's trivia question/answer: Which player leads the league in offensive charges committed? Tyreke Evans with 19.