Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Warriors trolling the Rockets after their win.
The Golden State Warriors blew out the Rockets in Houston 133-110 and ended their season after they most likely eliminated them from the play-in contention.
Tari Eason infamously was the star of the night, as he wore a shirt that said, “Warriors come out to play”.
Here’s how NBA fans reacted to it after the Warriors win.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Lakers getting blown out by the Rockets in Houston.
The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t started the season as they hoped for. After getting blown out in Houston by the Rockets 128-94, they fell to a 3-5 record.
LA was without Anthony Davis in Houston, but still, NBA Twitter thrashed the Lakers for their blowout loss.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Victor Wembanyama’s second career NBA game.
Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to an 126-122 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.
Wemby also had a huge highlight block on Jabari Smith in the fourth quarter.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to his second career game.
Here are the teams who made it out the best and worst from day one of NBA free agency
NBA Free Agency has barely just started and we’ve already seen a ton of deals pour in.
A big story so far is that most teams have been able to find ways to retain their big-named free agent talent that hit the market this offseason. However, there are some players who’ve managed to find new homes and some teams that have been able to fill a few gaps here and there because of it.
There are also plenty of big moves left to be made. Will James Harden be on the move? Will Damian Lillard ultimately choose to stay put in Portland?
Those are the things we’re still waiting to find out. Until then, here are the winners and losers from the opening day of NBA Free Agency.
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This just doesn’t make any sense at all
We’ve seen some pretty high-profile reunions in the NBA before. The one that immediately comes to mind for everyone is LeBron James rejoining the Cleveland Cavaliers and bringing them a championship.
Of course, that reunion came with a fairy tale ending. But every story isn’t a fairy tale.
And a James Harden return to the Houston Rockets certainly isn’t equipped to be that — especially not at this point. The situation just doesn’t make that much sense.
Yet, here we are. It’s an actual thing. The Athletic’s Sam Amick is reporting that Houston is expected to pursue James Harden this offseason if he declines his player option for the 2023-24 season with the 76ers.
There’s more. Harden is also said to be just as interested in a reunion with the Rockets, too.
“Sources, who like all of the other sources in this story were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, have told The Athletic Houston is widely expected to pursue the 13-year veteran point guard if, as is expected, he declines his player option for the 2023-24 season. And even more surprisingly, sources with knowledge of Harden’s outlook say he’s as serious about a possible return now as he was when he left town.”
This really looks like a thing that could happen. Between Amick’s new reporting, Adrian Wojnarowski’s previous reporting and all the rumblings across Houston media circles, it feels like this is actually going to happen.
But let’s be clear about this: It’s a bad idea for all parties around. Let’s dive into why.
Hopefully, Russell Westbrook has finally found a new home
Welcome to Layup Lines, our basketball 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
Howdy, folks. Welcome back to Layup Lines. It’s Sykes, once again, here to usher you into another weekend of basketball. Before that, let’s talk Russell Westbrook.
The future Hall of Famer will make his season debut for the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
It’s yet another benchmark of what can only be called a tumultuous season for Westbrook at this point. He’s gone from starter to sixth man to vampire to traded to buyout bargain, all within the span of a few months. That’s a journey that no player wants to go on.
This is the dark side of the “Super Max” deal — the contract Westbrook signed back in 2017 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The designated player extension — what we know as the Super Max — was originally intended to be used as a tool for star retention. It allowed teams who already had stars in hand to pay them up to 35% of their cap space if they hit certain landmarks like winning an MVP or making an All-NBA team.
That’s the deal Westbrook signed after becoming an MVP. Yes, obviously, it’s been lucrative. But it’s led him down a perilous journey where he’s now playing for his fifth team in five seasons. No one wanted to pay him that money.
Nobody can blame the teams that have moved him for moving him. Paying 35% of the cap to a player who isn’t an All-Star isn’t smart — much less one that isn’t even a starter on your team.
You can find multiple contributors who might be better a better fit instead. Your team probably doesn’t get worse. It might even get better — the Lakers certainly seem to be seeing a boost in the aftermath of Westbrook.
But, man. Doesn’t this all just feel wrong?
I mean, Westbrook is absolutely going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s one of the best five or so point guards to ever play the game and, officially, one of the best 75 players the league has ever seen.
To see him passed around like this just doesn’t feel right at all. It’s been hard to watch over the years, honestly. We’re in Olajuwon on the Raptors territory with him now. It was painful then and it’s painful now.
Westbrook’s diminishing skill here deserves bigger blame than his contract does. And, ultimately, there’s nothing we can really do about it. The Super Max is here to stay — and it’s also worked in a lot of cases. It kept Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard around with their teams. Steph Curry won a championship on a Super Max deal.
Hopefully, let’s just hope the buck stops here for Russ. He deserves a much better finish to his career.
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Irony can be so cruel, y’all. The Kevin Durant trade has worked out extremely well for the Nets so far.
Mikal Bridges is the brightest light the organization has seen in quite some time. He seems like he can be a leader for the squad in the future. So, of course, the team wants fans to get to know their new franchise face. In a video, the team asked Bridges who his favorite player was growing up. His answer, our Bryan Kalbrosky writes, was hilarious and sad all at once.
It’s Kevin Durant.
“Bridges had to pause before answering the question because he understood just how funny it was, and then he broke out laughing.
The former Villanova star, who found out he was traded from the Suns after a call from one of his former teammates, had a pinned tweet that said he never wanted to leave Phoenix.
What a cruel twist of fate: He only had to leave the only NBA team he had ever played for because he was traded for his favorite player — who he never got a chance to play alongside.”
That’s cruel, Basketball Gods. So cruel.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Bucks (-1.5, -120) vs. Heat (+100), O/U 219.5, 7:30 PM ET
The Bucks and Heat know each other extremely well. Yes, Milwaukee is on a 12-game winning streak right now and are hitting their stride at the right time. But they’re 3-2 against Miami in their last 5 with some extremely close games played. With Giannis Antetkounmpo out due to his wrist injury, I think the Heat +1.5 feels like a pretty safe bet.
— Our Cole Huff wrote an incredible story on this trainer whose hoop dreams didn’t quite materialize but still landed him in a place of love. You should absolutely check this out.
— This act of kindness from James Harden is so incredible. Salute to him.
— The vibes seem immaculate, once again, for the Lakers. We’ll see how long all this lasts.
—LaMelo Ball needs his driver’s license revoked, dog. I’m sorry.
That’s all, folks. Enjoy the weekend.
Dejounte Murray clearly hates the 2022 draft class
What if I told you there was a game where Trae Young and Dejounte Murray combined for 83 points in a single game. You’d think it’d be one the Hawks won, right?
Well, if so, you’d be wrong. That actually happened. But they actually lost to the Houston Rockets, 128-122.
It’d be a reasonable assumption to think that they’d have won this game. We rarely see fantastic performances like this that result in losses.The funny thing is, though, the Hawks were actually in position to win. They led by as many as 16 points in the 3rd quarter.
But then, well, they just lost composure. And it was all behind a scuffle that shouldn’t have happened at all.
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This might be the biggest trade in NBA history that actually didn’t matter
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
Welcome to Layup Lines. It’s your boy Sykes here once again. Let’s talk about the most insignificant humungous trade in NBA history.
It’s rare that anyone misses news about an 8-player trade. Well, for that matter, it’s rare to ever see an actual trade with so many players involved. But, believe it or not, one happened on Thursday. It did! I promise.
You just didn’t hear about it because, well, it actually didn’t matter much. The Thunder and the Rockets swapped a bunch of names many non-hardcore NBA fans might not actually know, according to details from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Here’s the move:
Yep. Exactly. Nothing to see here. Just a bunch of dudes, swapping teams.
I wonder how this trade call went. The Thunder were probably like “Yo, do you want to include Theo Maledon in this?” and the Rockets were probably like “…who?” And then they probably proceeded to do the same thing for the next 30 minutes as they mapped the rest of this out.
And that’s not to shame any of these dudes for being involved. Making the NBA is an accomplishment on its own that they should all be proud of. And many of them have been solid contributors on good teams.
But, uh, this ain’t really changing anybody’s fortune. Well, except the Thunder, who literally saved a fortune by shaving $10 million from their cap bill. That’s about it, though.
Good luck to these guys. Hope they find steady homes in the NBA at some point.
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Everyone loves to talk about the bizarro world in which the Lakers never made the Russell Westbrook trade and went out to get DeMar DeRozan. But, as it turns out, it was actually a thing.
DeRozan, himself, thought it was a done deal. He talked about it on JJ Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast and, man. Wow. Our Bryan Kalbrosky wrote about it.
“[DeRozan] revealed that he was so “hellbent” on going to the Lakers that he had pushed all his other options to the side. Because of this, he said he had to go into “scramble mode” to find his new home.
DeRozan would have fixed many of the issues that Los Angeles had last season, but the front office opted to make the move for Westbrook, and the rest is history.”
I bet the Lakers wish they’d kept that offer on the table now. Sheesh.
— Rui Hachimura’s media scrums in Japan look like LeBron James’ in America.
— Lonzo Ball’s mysterious knee injury just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
— Matisse Thybulle is catching some eyes in Sixers’ training camp.
— Chet Holmgren is still getting a taste of NBA life despite his season-ending foot injury.
That’s all, folks! Enjoy your weekend.
With the dog days of August upon us, NBA executives and several free agents are awaiting a blockbuster trade domino to fall with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, and Russell Westbrook as potential candidates to be moved.
Several notable names remain on the free agent market, including Collin Sexton, Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroeder, Carmelo Anthony, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jordan Nwora, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Blake Griffin, Tristan Thompson, and Lou Williams, per our HoopsHype free agent rankings.
As those free agents wait for a blockbuster trade to open up potential roster spots, here’s the latest HoopsHype intel report on trade talks between the Knicks and Jazz for Mitchell, Westbrook’s future with the Lakers, Turner’s future with the Pacers, and several updates on the Houston Rockets.
Jae’Sean Tate has had to prove himself from tryouts overseas in Belgium through non-guaranteed contract seasons with the Houston Rockets, but it’s paid off in the end. This month, Tate earned a new three-year, $22.1 million deal with the Rockets and solidified himself as a core member of the team in the immediate future.
In a conversation with HoopsHype in Las Vegas, Tate discussed why he passed on more money in Europe to play in the NBL against LaMelo Ball, RJ Hampton, etc., and how he and his agents EJ Kusnyer and Jordan Cornish of Beyond Athlete Management negotiated his new deal with the Rockets. He also expanded on his long-term future, expectations for Houston this season, and more.
