Pistons players fill the practice facility getting ready for photos and media interviews. Detroit seems revitalized with new energy. The Pistons have added great pieces to their roster this offseason in the rookie Sekou Doumbouya from France, former league MVP Derrick Rose, and the reigning big3 league MVP Joe Johnson. The team seems to be optimistic about what they can accomplish with this new Pistons squad.
Players seem to be excited to be playing along side the former league MVP Derrick Rose. Andre Drummond speaks on his new teammate.
“I think he’s better than what he was at and I’m glad he’s on my team.It shows his fight, his mental toughness.He didn’t allow those injuries to get him down. Most people would be really depressed and upset about their situation of not being able to play so long.“
Ed Stefanskialsohad high praises for the veteran point guard:
“Derrick had a terrific year last year, he brings that grit, that grime, he’s been through the wars, he knows what it’s all about“
This has been a big offseason for the All-Star SF Black Griffin also. He’s been training in New Yorkall summer withthe Chris Brickley whoserecognizedasoneof the top NBAtrainers. He’s been working on hisjump-shota lot andI’minterested to see what he puts togetherthisseasoncoming of an All-Star year. Blake Griffin spoke on the Pistons offseason and their newsquad:
“I thought we did an unbelievable job, especially given our circumstances with how our team is structured with the salary cap and restrictions we have.We added some guys who are very good basketball players. Not only Derrick and Tony, but Markieff, Tim, Joe. All these guys are very good basketball players and have been around and understand what it takes to win. I think our depth as a team has grown this year and also our experience.“
Derrick Rose himself seems to be very optimistic about the teams potential. He explained that he has championship aspirations with the Pistons:
“Now I want to win. The only thing on my résumé I’m missing is a championship and being here, seeing what happened last year with the Raptors in (the) East, you never know what can happen.”
Well Pistons fans have a lot to be excited about this season. The Eastern-conference is probably more open than it’s been in years with LeBron in the west, and KD out recovering from an Achilles injury. Pistons have a great chance to take the East by storm.
The 2019 NBA Media Day has officially come and gone and your top sneakerheads in the league did not disappoint with what was on their feet. Established veterans as well as NBA newcomers showed out in sneakers both new and old. There were many fresh faces to be seen in their new team threads. New teams mean new color options when it comes to players looking to match their kicks to their uniforms. Kobe IV Protro PE’s were seen in abundance on players like Anthony Davis, Isaiah Thomas, Devin Booker, and Trevor Ariza. Newly signed brand endorsers Zion Williamson (Jordan Brand), Kyle Kuzma (Puma), Jason Tatum (Jordan Brand), and RJ Barrett (Puma) were seen sporting the latest sneakers their respective companies had to offer. Signature athletes including Steph Curry (Under Armour), Damian Lillard (Adidas), and James Harden (Adidas) were all photographed wearing their brand new silhouettes for the upcoming season. Some players chose to bring it back to classic Nike basketball, sporting some of the brand’s and players’ most memorable signature sneakers – most notably Lebron James and Paul George. Trimming all of the sneakers worn on media day down to just 10 was no easy task. We looked for criteria like wearing something no one has ever seen before, wearing a shoe that is a classic plus has ties to the current team you’re on, originality, creativity, exclusivity, and something no one else would be seen wearing on media day as well. Look below to see the Top 10 Kicks Worn for Media Day and let us know what you think and who got snubbed.
This list is counting down pretty fast, and the countdown to preseason ball is coming to an end. Hardwood hoops will commence in five days with the Rockets tipping off against the Clippers in Honolulu, Hawaii. The countdown to NBA basketball is nearing its quarter-point, and the anticipation towards another season is brewing in the pots of all 30 clubs across the league.
So, it’s only right that the SneakerReporterTop 30 NBA Teams list continues with team No. 22, since there are officially 22 days until the season opener between New Orleans and Toronto on October 22nd. Today’s team on the list: the Minnesota Timberwolves.
22. Minnesota Timberwolves (39-43) – Another Year; Another Unsuccessful Postseason Push
Another outside-looking-in team that missed the postseason in 2018 by just 12 games, the T’Wolves are under new leadership and it doesn’t look like there is a favorable situation to look forward to in Minnesota. A lot of adversity is hitting these Wolves with free agents and a rather underwhelming draft, and since there is new leadership in place, there aren’t many members of this roster that are tied to anyone on the roster, meaning that nearly all of the contracts and commitments made in the past came from the previous regime, which means everyone starts with a clean slate.
That being said, the clock is ticking, and ticking fast, on the Timberwolves’ decision on their lone All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, who is entering the first season of his 5-year, $190 million extension signed in 2018. Modern NBA history isn’t like the past in roster cornerpieces being willing to grind out the growth and maturation of an NBA roster, as current All-Stars aren’t proven to commit long-term if they don’t have a chance to win right away.
The pressure of a thousand tons lie squarely on the new front office to turn the ship to either garnish the roster with additional talent to accompany the 23-year-old big man or ship him elsewhere in the efforts to gain some replacements from the draft or in the offseason.
Seeing the current situation that the Timberwolves are in is not the prettiest, but it’s not the worst in the world. Still, they maintained and will return the same roster for this upcoming season, with staples like Robert Covington and Josh Okogie ascertaining their roles in the starting five. Also, there is some value in their depth of ex-Knick Noah Vonleh, former All-Star guard Jeff Teague, and former Ohio State Buckeye Keita Bates-Diop.
What is the main issue in the further development and progression of this Timberwolves team: the regression and unfortunate disappointment that has been Andrew Wiggins’ tenure as a Timberwolf. Once dubbed the “Canadia LeBron” and the steal of the 2014 NBA Draft, Wiggins has yet to live up to that magnanimous potential, and just has not met the mark of being the key accessory and compliment to Towns’ offensive output. The Canadian has struggled mightily in the past two years, once being a 23 ppg scorer but dissolving into an 18.1 ppg scorer that shoots under 41 percent from the field.
His contract has perturbed the Wolves even more than his abysmal play with his 5-year, $147 Million extension signed back in the October of 2017, which obviously sets itself as an abrasion to the cap possibilities of acquiring extra assistance for their first-rounder in Karl Anthony Towns.
If the former No. 1 overall pick were to improve his three-point shooting, shot selection, and defense, the Wolves would have been a very different team in the past two seasons. Instead, the Wolves can either trust in head coach Ryan Saunders to keep the struggling Wiggins on the floor to regain that confidence or deal him at, or before, the February trade deadline.
The Timberwolves do have some hope – and are justified in their optimism – in the skyrocketing potential of their first-round selection taken with the 11th overall pick Jarrett Culver.
The Big 12 player of the year at Texas Tech played a significant role in getting his Red Raiders to the national championship game, and keenly displayed how he’d fit like a puzzle piece into the formulated picture of an ideal stretch four.
The draft piece acquired as a result of the Dario Šarić deal is the first marked action by the President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas. Expectations are sky-high for Culver to make his mark on a roster deprived of a second offensive option, though Culver showed difficulty in scoring the basketball, especially in the national tournament and most notably, in his 5-of-22 outing in the national championship. Minnesota did not intend to have a high lottery pick for a long time after selecting Wiggins and Towns No. 1 overall in back-to-back drafts. Culver restores that belief moving forward.
The 6-foot-7 wing was known for his defense at Texas Tech, eventually developing a scorer’s mentality when it mattered most. When push came to heave, the young Culver was unafraid to put up shots in critical moments, which impressed scouts across the league due to his unflappable nature.
The offensive part of his game will come, but the Timberwolves want his defense right now and will be content to let the rest of his game progress in time.
What is also of imminence to mention, is the increasing confidence Josh Okogie has in his game going into his second season. Selected No. 20 in the 2018 draft, Okogie was a regular highlight maker for the Wolves and looks to carry that playmaking tenacity into his second season. Okogie burst onto the scene last season using his hustle and pesky defensive skill to set others up, or himself in the open court.
And on a team tethered by injuries, Okogie was asked to start in 52 games last season and answered the call, shooting a surprising 38.6 percent from deep while averaging 7 points per contest. In a loaded backcourt last year with the likes of Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague both going down, Okogie did not disappoint and became a premier point of emphasis for former coach Tom Thibodeau to involve in the offense.
Some other key additions to this Wolves roster include Golden State’s Jordan Bell, Portland’s Jake Layman, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyrone Wallace, an undrafted free agent out of LSU in Naz Reid and veteran guard Shabazz Napier. Layman and Bell provide extra wing and perimeter defense, Tyrone Wallace is a nice plug and play pick and roll guard that is quite effective at creating space off the dribble, and, if given the minutes, Naz Reid can develop into a solid rotational rebounder and finisher at the rim that can be etched into some second-team lineups.
So, in looking at the Wolves’ ability to score the ball, it doesn’t look promising. Other than the talented KAT, who averaged 22 points per game off 53 percent shooting, their second-best offensive player is Andrew Wiggins, which obviously isn’t helping the Wolves’ solving their biggest problem.
Minnesota will claim playoff aspirations this season as they’ve done for the past four years, but that is, as they know, way easier said than done in such a contentious Western conference. Then again, the Wolves can contend for a playoff spot this year and if Wiggins’ numbers take a step in the right direction, then, well, no more work will have to be done in getting Towns his additional help.
If things don’t turn out the way they want, the Timberwolves’ situation will get even uglier than it is now. Towns is signed through 2023-24, but in the current era of the player’s voice being louder than management itself, those contract lengths are delays of the inevitable days leading up Towns voicing his displeasure. If something like an Anthony Davis saga occurs for the T’Wolves, imagine what the other 29 franchises across the league will do to gauge trade possibilities.
Minnesota needs to, at the very least, be contentious enough to get a record that exceeds .500 ball, which, yes, sounds pretty fartfetched, but if possible, it will give Towns more than enough reason to believe the growing Wolves are something worth sticking around for. That will mean that Towns will be relied on more than he ever has in his career, so that Rosas’ front office can find the right plan to keep Towns on this someday potentially-competitive roster.
To close the book on Week 4 we are getting the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers facing off on Monday Night Football. What was once the matchup that decided who would claim the title of the AFC North, now comes with both teams trying to capture their first win of the 2019 NFL season. The names that we are familiar with are mostly gone, especially with Ben Roethlisberger out with an injury.
The Steelers were not supposed to be at the bottom of their division. Even though Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are gone, Pittsburgh was thought to have undergone addition by subtraction this offseason. However, they suffered defeats in all of their first three games and the replacements for the departed stars (James Conner and Juju Smith-Schuster) have not been able to replace their production so far. Losing Roethlisberger is likely attributing to that but excuses aren’t going to make the fan base happy–or keep Mike Tomlin off the hot seat. They’ve doubled-down on figuring things out this year when they traded away their 2020 first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for a second-year defensive back, Minkah Fitzpatrick. Finishing at the bottom of the standings would be an even worse outcome for this franchise. On the other side of the field will be the Bengals. They are in year one of the post-Marvin Lewis era and they chose Zac Taylor (from the famed Sean McVay coaching tree) to lead the way. Andy Dalton is likely on his last leg as the franchise quarterback and even though A.J. Green has yet to take the field the team is still expecting him to orchestrate an average moderate offense. Joe Mixon’s slow start to the season hasn’t helped any and as we saw with McVay and his disciples, establishing the run is priority number one.
During tonight’s game, both teams will be looking to turn their season’s around. With the vast majority of teams hovering around 2-2 the winner won’t be too far out of things at 1-3. However, falling to 0-4 all but assures three’s no chance at making the postseason. For some Bengals fans, the latter outcome might be the favored one as it gives them a better chance at drafting Dalton’s eventual successor if they get a higher pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Names like Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jake Fromm, Joe Burrows, and Jacob Eason are likely to be among the potential quarterbacks selected in the first round.
Pittsburgh will be defending their home field and this could be a good opportunity for the Steelers defense to get their act together. After acquiring Fitzpatrick they now have nine defensive players that were drafted in the first round on their roster. T.J. Watt has been one of the bright spots to date but they are going to need more from the other two levels if they want any chance at getting back into the playoffs this year. The Bengals offense hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in Taylor’s first season with the team so what better way to get back on track than Monday Night Football. All eyes will be on this game and a good to great performance tonight can completely change the narrative surrounding this team.
Not only did the Denver Broncos suffer their second walk-off loss of the season on Sunday but they also lost one of their star defensive players as well.
Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb left the game in the fourth quarter after suffering a knee injury. Yet, he was able to return to action and finish the game.
The initial diagnosis revealed that he could play through it to finish the game. On Monday, further examination showed that he had suffered a slight tear in his ACL and he would require season-ending surgery.
Fangio said Bradley Chubb caused fumble on Minshew on last drive with partial ACL tear. "He was as surprised as anybody" when he woke up feeling like he did. #9sports
In yesterday’s win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears lost starting quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky after he was brought to the ground on a strip sack that ultimately was overturned.
The seriousness of the injury wasn’t immediately divulged but Trubisky did not return to the game and came out of the locker room with his arm in a sling.
During his media availability today, head coach Matt Nagy revealed that the quarterback would not need surgery and would be back “sooner rather than later”.
Initial MRI on Bears’ QB Mitchell Trubisky revealed he has a dislocated left shoulder, with a slight labrum tear, but does not need surgery and should he back “sooner rather than later”, per source. He will travel with team to London and is unlikely to play vs. Raiders.
