One thing about the Los Angeles Lakers is that they’ll never fail to bring in some big names. I mean, it is Hollywood after all. And how many bigger names are there in the NBA community than O’Neal and Pippen?
The Lakers traded into Thursday’s draft and took Max Christie with the 35th pick — a nice get for them, all things considered. But the Lakers’ two most noteworthy gets came at the draft’s conclusion when it was announced the Lakers had signed both Shareef O’Neal and Scotty Pippen Jr.
Of course, Shareef O’Neal is the son of Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal. And yes, Scotty Pippen Jr. is exactly who you think it is — the son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.
Pippen Jr. will be one of the Lakers’ two-way players, while O’Neal gets a shot to compete for the purple and gold during the summer league.
These moves are already outstanding ones for the Lakers’ marketing teams but could also be great on-court additions should O’Neal and Pippen Jr. play anything like their old men.
Good luck to every NBA announcer calling OKC Thunder games.
Ever have something so good that you want another one? Perhaps that something is a slice of pizza, or maybe another piece of cake.
They aim higher in the NBA. How about two of the same player? That’s what OKC did during Thursday night’s draft when selecting Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.
OK, different players, same name.
Jalen Williams went to the Thunder with the 12th pick of the draft (OKC’s second of the night) before they took Jaylin Williams with the No. 34 overall pick (OKC’s fourth of the draft).
Some of the biggest stars in the NBA have gotten to their teams as a result of draft-day trades. Trae Young, Luka Doncic, the list goes on.
The trades that happen on draft day are just as important as the actual picks that are made themselves. We routinely see a lot of movement whether it be via pick or actual player. Somebody is getting moved tonight — that’s just how this thing works.
There were rumors swirling about potential moves that could be made. Some teams are trying to move up. Some teams are trying to move down. Some are trying to trade out of the draft altogether. They’re all just trying to make the roster that makes the most sense.
A lot is happening. There’s lots of movement and it’s a lot to keep up with. But, luckily for you, you don’t have to — we’re going to do it for you.
Here’s a running list of the major trades we saw on draft night along with the grades. Enjoy.
The dynasty they’d planned on building all those years ago would be gone. And all they’d have to show for it is…Ben Simmons? That’s right. Ben Simmons.
It’s really wild. He might be the only All-Star caliber player they have left. And, after everything that happened with Simmons this season? Fans thought that was hilarious.
They had so many jokes.
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Irving is reportedly looking for a long-term commitment and a max extension from Brooklyn. The Nets don’t really seem to want to give him one after he only played 103 games for them in 3 seasons, which seems pretty reasonable.
Kevin Durant does not care about that at all, though. It’s either KD and Kyrie or it’s nothing — at least, if the things currently being reported are true.
We might be seeing the end of this era of the Brooklyn Nets as we know it. That’s so wild.
Here are the NBA draft and free agency rumors you need to pay attention to
We are just a little over 24 hours away from the NBA draft and, man, things are already getting hectic.
There are plenty of things we expect to happen — experts everywhere have delivered their mock drafts and prognostications on how Thursday night should play out.
But, as anyone who has been following the NBA knows, things rarely go the way we plan them. There are trades, reaches and big drops among prospects that happen each and every year.
And then, behind all that, you’ve got teams preparing for free agency and making decisions on next year’s roster just a few days after the end of the regular season. And that’s exactly why the rumor mill is as crazy as it is this early in the offseason.
Struggling to keep up with it all? Don’t you worry. We’ve got you covered on all the details you need to know right here.
Here are all the important rumors to take stock of so far ahead of the NBA draft.
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NBA draft rumors are spreading like wildfire but you don’t need to panic
Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.
What’s good, family. It’s your boy Sykes here for another edition of Layup Lines. Let’s talk about the NBA draft for a second.
Yerboi is definitely anti-draft out here, but I can’t lie — this is still one of the most fun times of the year. It’s cool to see these kids dreams being actualized in just a major way. They go from high school and college phenoms to literal professional millionaires in a matter of seconds.
But with all that comes the big mess that is the NBA draft news cycle. And, whew buddy, is it ever messy this year.
That’s NBA draft season for you. There are lots of rumors swirling around. Some are undoubtedly true. Some are just smokescreens from teams looking to posture and make deals with other teams. It’s all just how the game works.
And in the middle of it all is, well, all of us.
There are thousands of rumors going around at this time within the league. Only, maybe, 2% of that actually is substantial enough to get reported out. That 2% is taken and regurgitated over and over and over again in our media cycle.
It’s all confusing. Some of it’s real but most of it isn’t and it’s really hard to discern what will actually go down when the time comes.
So here’s what you do: Sit down, crack open your beverage of choice and just let the rumors be what they are: Rumors. The only things that matter during these times are the things that actually happen.
Instead of just worrying about scuttlebutt from some random Eastern Conference scout that they heard from a trainer who heard it from the assistant GM of your favorite team, just read our latest mock from Bryan Kalbrosky.
That should get you to Thursday pretty safely.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors had SO much fun at their parade. The Steph Curry “night night” jokes, Klay Thompson stumbling everywhere, Draymond Green cussing folks out. Just classic Warriors stuff, man. You love to see it — unless, you know, you’re a Celtics fan.
Our Andy Nesbitt — who actually happens to be a Celtics fan — gathered up the best images from the parade. He perfectly captured the vibe of the parade with this piece.
The Aces are far and away the best team in the WNBA so far this year. They’ve got, at least, 3 players in the running for MVP between A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young this year with Wilson slowly pulling away and they’re winners of four straight games.
You can never count Candace Parker’s Chicago Sky, though. And Kahleah Copper is coming off a dazzling performance against the Fever — albeit in a loss. For tonight, the Sky are at home and they’re still really good. Even if they don’t win, they won’t get blown out. I’m taking Chicago +8.5.
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Chet Holmgren is answering questions like a 10-year NBA veteran.
Everyone always wants to know, man. Who is the best player in the NBA?
Is it Giannis Antetokounmpo? What about Nikola Jokic? Or Joel Embiid? Maybe it’s still LeBron James or Kevin Durant. Steph Curry might also still have a say in this. And there’s also Luka Doncic who is absolutely incredible.
There are so many options it’s pretty hard to choose. And choosing the wrong answer can be catastrophic for your social media feeds. Of course, you’ll inevitably be wrong to someone because no one agrees on this thing.
So when Chet Holmgren was asked who he thought the best player in the NBA was, he gave the perfect answer that wasn’t really an answer at all.
He said it’ll be “myself in two months.”
We asked potential No. 1 pick Chet Holmgren who he thinks the best player in the NBA is 👀 The seven footer doesn’t lack confidence 💯 @ChetHolmgrenpic.twitter.com/GOYqpCjTYs
Smart kid. Definitely a smart response right there. Spoken like a true vet.
Of course, he’s going to take it on the chin a bit for his confidence. But who can really knock you for believing in yourself! Nobody, that’s who.
I don’t know how this whole NBA thing will work out for Chet on the court. By all accounts, he’s got loads of talent and should be pretty awesome at the next level.
But, regardless, it seems to be that he has this media thing down already.
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Of course, they still have to field a team. So what do they do? Sign a bunch of guys to 10-day contracts and, not just play them, but start them. That’s what they did against the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Zavier Simpson, Jaylen Hoard, Georgios Kalaitazakis. Ever heard of those dudes? Don’t be ashamed if you haven’t. Because they were in the NBA G League just literally days ago. Now they’re playing big minutes for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
No offense to those players who absolutely have earned everything they’ve gotten in this league. But, it’s pretty clear, the Thunder are trying to tank.
That tank backfired on Tuesday night, though, when those same players went on a 26-4 run to beat Portland 98-94. Just an L of epic proportions.
The Thunder started three G-Leaguers along with a guy on a two-way contract against the Portland Trail Blazers and still won. That’s incredible.
Yo. The Thunder basically had a 6 man rotation of G Leaguers playing tonight. 3 of 5 starters on 10-day contracts. Another on a two-way deal. 5 guys playing 39 minutes or more.
And they went on a 26-4 run to beat the Trail Blazers tonight.
This is pretty incredible, man. I don’t know who I feel worse for — the Thunder front office who are in real danger of losing that top-4 lottery slot or the Trail Blazers who legitimately tried their hardest to win this one.
Man. This is just wildly hilarious all around no matter what way you cut it. It’s chaos. And we absolutely love to see chaos. This is what we root for. Shoutout to those Thunder players for giving it to us.
Some of them might never give us anything in the NBA again. But they gave us this. And for that? I’m thankful.
If your team sucks like mine, you should probably read this list.
March Madness is finally upon us, folks. The tournament officially started this week and, soon, we will have yet another national champion.
A lot of us are here for this for different reasons. Some of us have a favorite team we’re rooting for. Some of us are just here riding for a particular team hoping our brackets don’t get busted. Others? They’re just rooting for the chaos. Bring us upsets, baby.
But, if you’re anything like me and your favorite NBA team stinks, you’re here for a completely different reason. And that reason is you need to figure out who your team is drafting this summer.
This tournament is filled with NBA prospects that are sure bets for the NBA’s draft lottery this year should they choose to come out.
