serge-ibaka Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
OKC's Sam Presti is an overrated draft savant
Sam Presti is the only NBA executive ever to draft three future MVPs and he did it in three consecutive drafts. It’s a maniacal stroke of luck and an exercise of risk/reward, chance and foresight. By doing so, Presti at the time guaranteed short-term success for the soon-to-be relocated Seattle Soni...
Do the Thunder have a Josh Giddey problem?
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...
As the Thunder return to contention, let's not forget the Supersonics
The Oklahoma City Thunder have executed one of the shortest rebuilding periods in NBA history. Since the breakup of the Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook pairing, leading into the current Thunder 2.0, only lasted three seasons of extreme tanking. Those losing efforts netted them the sixth pick in the ...
The NBA trade deadline was a bit of a dud, but here's a look at who won and who flopped horribly
After last year’s insane trade deadline, which featured Kevin Durant being dealt to the Phoenix Suns, this year brought a bunch of smaller, shrewd moves that moved teams into contention. We have tracked the trades and broken them down by time-tested winners and losers rubric to track how the day wen...
After getting mauled by the Bucks, the Pacers found a veteran enforcer
Unsigned NBA wing James Johnson emerges from a cabin carrying a log. Meanwhile, on a television screen behind him, highlights of Giannis Antetokounpo hulking out on the sidelines and in the players’ tunnel repeats in a loop. ...
Phoenix Suns need to get Jae Crowder deal done as NBA trade deadline approaches
Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder hasn’t participated in an NBA game since last postseason. He’s yet to suit up for the Suns this season and likely won’t, ever again. It was decided early on that it was in the best interest of all parties that he stays away from the team. Trade rumors have floated ar...
Come home, Kevin Durant
The NBA’s greatest epics have been built around a meteoric star crash landing in a small market, galvanizing the city around their greatness in hopes of delivering glory. Think LeBron James in Cleveland, Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, Tim Duncan in San Antonio, Isiah Thomas in Detroit, Hakeem Olajuwon in ...
A decade after the Thunder traded James Harden, regret should linger
A decade after Oklahoma City traded James Harden on the eve of the 2012-13 regular season, it still stands as an atrocity upon the art of dynasty-building. As the central players involved in that deal wind down their Hall of Fame careers in bleak situations, there is no more denying it, Oklahoma Cit...
Jimmy Butler’s superstar card got declined when Miami needed it most
Earlier this month, FS1’s Nick Wright debuted a bit called the Superstar Club. I don’t usually endorse debate show takes, but this was a solid metaphor. Jimmy Butler was depicted standing in line, waiting for entry. In this year’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, he nearly cemen...
Three teams that could be next in line to improve drastically in a short amount of time like the Memphis Grizzlies
In the NBA, teams with stars and veteran leadership usually make waves in the postseason and win championships. It’s rare to see a team of young inexperienced players going deep in the postseason, no matter how talented they are. Of course, there are outliers to everything....
The best NBA Players to never make an All-Star appearance
The National Basketball Association has had some great players step onto the court in its 75-year history. Some outstanding players have been left off the All-Star team each season in the NBA. Many of these names get snubbed year after year, and others made their names off big moments but probably s...
In the other big NBA trade, four-team deadline deal could put Milwaukee over the top again
Many of you probably missed the four-team trade involving seven players and draft picks with all the commotion and reaction over the James Harden-Ben Simmons blockbuster. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Kings, Bucks, Clippers, and Pistons have agreed to the following trade: ...
France vs. USA — for a gold medal, and 73 years’ worth of revenge
Put yourself in the summer of 1948....
Deadspin fixes NBA free agency, Part V: Centers
Centers. You can’t live without these guys, even though some teams try their hardest to. They damn near all need a three-point shot if they’re not an ideal rim-runner to have on the floor. ...
Lots of great players were drafted, then immediately traded — and went on to be All-Stars
The weirdest thing about the NBA draft is the longstanding practice that once draft day comes, there’s no more trading draft picks. It makes some sense within the framework of the league rules and salary cap, but every year, it results in weird situations where a player is drafted by a team that he’...
A report about the NBA wanting to add games, on the same day Giannis got hurt? The irony
Less is more, even if it causes you to leave money on the table....
Go against logic and believe in THESE Los Angeles Clippers
It’s easy to believe the Los Angeles Clippers can’t do the impossible....
Can we all finally recognize Paul George for his greatness?
With Kawhi Leonard sidelined with an ACL injury, everyone rushed to their computers to rule out the Clippers in their series with the top-seeded Utah Jazz. Even though the series was tied 2-2, no one expected the Clippers to steal a game in Utah without Kawhi on the court. Much like my colleague Jon...
![What the hell?! Now CP3 tests positive for COVID, as walking-wounded playoffs roll on [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/151bc5ab8f372d8331fe5dc47b17fd47.jpg)
Deadspin looks at all the injuries that have affected the NBA playoffs
When Kyrie Irving went down with an ankle injury halfway through the second quarter of Sunday’s Bucks and Nets Game 4 matchup, basketball fans simultaneously let out a loud groan. The injury bug had hit another star in a season that may be remembered for who was left standing, instead of who was the...