HOOPSWORLD Week in Review
15 Current Players Already Bound To The Hall
By Eric Pincus
With the retiring of Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming, the Hall of Fame will have a tremendous ceremony in five years. O’Neal has an exuberant sense of humor but Yao, although more subtle, can be quite funny as well.
O’Neal qualifies for the Hall on just about every level. Yao’s individual numbers may not jump out but as a breakthrough ambassador to the game, specifically to China and the Far East, he’s a lock as well.
Back in August of 2010, HOOPSWORLD looked at Who’s Next for the Hall Of Fame? but to be more specific, which active players will get the call?
O’Neal and Yao don’t qualify. A young Blake Griffin or Kevin Durant needs more time to establish their credentials . . . and if we ever get past this lockout, they assuredly will.
Aaron Brooks Ready For Free Agency
By Alex Kennedy
Labor negotiations and lockout updates have dominated NBA headlines as of late, but there are still plenty of free agents who are waiting for this work stoppage to end so that they can communicate with teams and find a home. Free agency is always a hectic process, but it’s even more complicated during a lockout.
Aaron Brooks is one of the top point guards in this year’s free agency class, but he doesn’t know what the future holds. He’ll be a restricted free agent when the lockout comes to an end and he’s patiently waiting for a resolution in his hometown of Seattle.
“All I can do is just sit here and wait for the lockout to end,” Brooks told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. “I don’t know what’s going to happen at this point. Because I can’t communicate with any teams, I can’t gauge their interest or enter negotiations. I’m just waiting for a call saying that the lockout has ended.”
Coach’s Notebook: Developing A Point Guard
By Anthony Macri
This is the second part in a series of articles on offseason player development at the NBA level. Right about now, every year, players contact trainers and skill development coaches to help them take their games to the next level for the coming year. This may be even more prevalent in this “lockout-enhanced” offseason. The majority of players that contact us at the Pro Training Center are about to enter a contract year, and are looking to put themselves in the best position to maximize their value for future negotiations. For this series, I will examine how we might put together an offseason skill development plan for players at the five positions on the floor, utilizing players who will enter the free agent market in 2012 as examples. Let’s get to it…
Developing a Point Guard
Perhaps the most critical position for a team’s overall team success, developing strong point guard play is a primary priority at the professional level. Competition at this position is fierce. At other positions, size plays a huge role in determining success – but that is not necessarily the case for point guards. The position demands deep understanding of offensive and defensive schemes and theories, and especially in recent years an increased emphasis on the value of athleticism has changed the way point guards develop.
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Owner Profiles: Pacific Division
By Jason Fleming
With the lockout in full effect, we here at HOOPSWORLD are continuing our look at what comprises the “Owners” with a look at the Pacific Division. Who are the owners, where did they come from, and what have they done?
Also, while the NBA will debate the validity of these numbers, we will use the 2010 Forbes Magazine NBA valuations as a means of comparing the teams to each other. Forbes doesn’t claim these are 100% accurate – they are estimates – and they may not match an actual bottom line figure, but in the absence of having those figures the Forbes numbers are a starting point. Plus, the relative difference in the numbers between teams is still likely accurate.
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2005 NBA Draft: Re-Drafted
By Tommy Beer
With the league in official lockout mode, I figure we could all use a break from the hard-cap vs. the flex-cap debate, and the other discussions centered on potential profit-sharing and heavily steeped in legalese.
So the plan is this: over the next few months, I’ll go back over previous drafts and “re-draft” all the players. (Back in June, I started with the 2001 draft – click here for the link) Of course, I have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, based on all that we now know everyone that came into the league years ago.
Here is how we’ll approach this project: Every pick will be made pretending each organization is a first year expansion franchise and has no other players on its roster, so there is no need to factor roster needs as of June 2005 into any discussion. Selections will be made simply based on pure production – i.e. best player available.
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