Tag: D’Angelo Russell

Derek James: “No Idea What [Anthony Edwards’] Ceiling Is”

October 18, 2022 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards mingle with Rudy Gobert, who was famously added to the fold this July (@Timberwolves/Instagram).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

After their 2021-22 season ended with a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves retooled by trading for three-time NBA Defensive Player of Year Rudy Gobert, in what many called the most surprising and impactful move of the offseason. They also re-emphasized their commitment to franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns by offering him a super-max contract extension worth $224 million. To help us assess how Minnesota will fare in the crowded Western Conference, we’ve enlisted the help of Derek James, former Timberwolves beat reporter for various outlets and writer of the By Derek James Substack. He’ll take us through those two aforementioned seismic front-office moves, the continued growth of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, and much, much more.

6:26-8:11: “It definitely struck me as a lot when the Gobert trade first went down and seeing all those picks [be sent to Utah] and then hearing Tim Connelly talk about how he feels like they probably maxed out their ceiling last year. … How are you getting even better and taking the next step there? I think that is really where this trade has pushed the Timberwolves. You could see them reasonably having home-court [advantage], at least in the first round. Continue reading

“Built to Lose” Book Special With Jake Fischer

October 28, 2021 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Jake Fischer’s “Built to Lose” chronicles the league’s “Tanking Era” with a focus on the 76ers, Suns, Magic, Kings and Lakers.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoy Aaron’s one-on-one conversation with Bleacher Report writer Jake Fischer on his debut book, “Built to Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever.”

4:47-5:23: “There was a long Google doc of probably 600 names of people that were this player and his agent and the player’s college coach and every single guy who was ever rostered by that team, guys who were in training camp. And then as you get on the phone with other people, you start to ask also, like, ‘Hey, now that we’ve talked for 20, 30, 40 minutes, and you kind of know who I am a little bit, know the work I’m trying to do, and just the honest conversation I’m trying to have, anybody you think you could put me in touch with that would help me further understand, add another perspective?’ Sometimes I’ll even ask for specific people.”

14:38-15:47: “For me, before I got into this more newsy space at Bleacher Report, at Sports Illustrated, I was working on “Built to Lose” for a long portion of my time there. I kinda developed a niche at SI of being someone who covered left-of-center stories, like I got coffee with Mike D’Antoni ‘cuz he’s obsessed with Starbucks. And my last thing I ever wrote for SI was a profile on Red Panda, so stuff like that. Continue reading

Jake Fischer: Top-Tier Free Agents May Need to Wait for Kawhi Leonard’s Decision

June 29, 2019 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Guest Jake Fischer believes Kawhi Leonard’s decision will come down to the reigning champion Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers (Chensiyuan/Creative Commons).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

Jake Fischer joins the show on the doorstep of the official beginning to the 2019 NBA free agency period. The Sports Illustrated reporter takes us through the likeliest scenarios involving superstars Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. He also explores the Los Angeles Clippers’ chances of finally landing a max free agent after years of coming away empty-handed and how their arena-mates plan to build around Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Jake’s thoughts on the 76ers’ approach to the offseason and the Rockets’ rumored interest in Jimmy Butler are featured as well, among other salient NBA storylines. Some highlights of an action-packed episode (Particular time stamps may vary due to dynamic advertising.):

4:28-5:13: “While Durant might make his decision where he wants to go before Leonard, there might be teams that say, ‘We have to wait to hear what Kawhi says first.’ If I had to guess right now, I would still expect Kyrie and Kevin Durant to go to Brooklyn together. I’m not saying that’s gonna happen; that’s my guess at the moment. I just think with those two guys’ interests in playing together, the Nets’ aggressive moves to create two max cap spots, and their ability to afford patience with [Durant’s] recovery…they both end up in Brooklyn.” Continue reading

Sandy Mui: “Nets Fans Have a Lot to Look Forward To”

October 31, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson visited Jeremy Lin in the hospital after the point guard’s season-ending injury on opening night (Jeremy Lin/Instagram).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

The Brooklyn Nets’ 2017-18 season, much like Boston’s, was shaken from the very start when starting point guard Jeremy Lin went down with a scary-looking knee injury. Shortly after, it was announced the veteran guard would be sidelined for the rest of the season with a ruptured patella tendon. To discuss the implications of the devastating injury and much more, Sandy Mui, host of the Brooklyn Revolution Podcast, not to mention Brook-Lin.com assignment editor and writer at The Brooklyn Game, graciously joins Loren and Aaron. Particularly, she also pays close attention to the team’s youngsters, D’Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, among others, and some of the veterans exceeding expectations, like DeMarre Carroll. These selections below hit nothing but net:

5:00-5:15: “I think he [D’Angelo Russell] has looked great so far, aside from the fact that he’s struggled a bit with his passing and playmaking in these last couple of games, but we’ve already seen how high his ceiling can potentially be. In the first three games he played, he averaged 21 points, 4.3 points, 7 assists and 1.7 steals.”

9:25-10:50: “I was really heartbroken for Jeremy Lin too. You could see the look on his face after he fell down. He knew that this one was going to be bad…This is terrible news for a guy who only played 36 games last season. And now, he played less than 48 minutes for the entire season…As for the impact on the team, I’d expect, of course, more playing time for the young guys. Continue reading

Clippers Sail into Third, Hawks Rise Eight Spots (Power Rankings: April 12, 2017 Edition)

April 12, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Seemingly recovered from injury, Chris Paul is playing at a high level as he chases his first championship ring (Verse Photography/Creative Commons).

We’ve reached the final day in a historic NBA season packed with nearly unprecedented statistical seasons by some players, monstrous single-game outbursts by others and a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs for almost all of the teams in the league. On Wednesday’s final 14-game slate, six playoff seeds are still yet to be determined: 1, 2, 7 and 8 in the East and 4 and 5 in the West. Thirteen teams have already been eliminated from further contention, and the rest hope that their fortunes will be on the rise. This will be the final edition of our power rankings this season, but as a reminder, you can chart how every team has fared in our rankings over the course of the season with the interactive graph atop the Power Rankings landing page.

Biggest Jumps: Atlanta Hawks (+8), Minnesota Timberwolves (+6), Los Angeles Lakers (+6)

Biggest Falls: Philadelphia 76ers (-7), Denver Nuggets (-6), Dallas Mavericks (-5) Continue reading

Darius Soriano: “Onus Is on Lakers’ Player Development Folks” to Maximize Potential

March 3, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Darius Soriano has high hopes for Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram (pictured), who figures to see his role increase as Luke Walton focuses on his team’s young core (Zach Frailey/Flickr).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

The Los Angeles Lakers have a new president of basketball operations and general manager, as first-year head coach Luke Walton leads a youthful squad headlined by lottery picks from the past three drafts, Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. At this critical juncture for the team, Forum Blue & Gold Editor-in-Chief Darius Soriano stops by to break down the biggest storylines for LA’s present and future.

2:44-3:43: Sadly, the biggest Lakers-related news this season happened off the court with last week’s management shakeup:

“The writing was sort of on the wall once Magic [Johnson] was hired as an adviser to Jeanie Buss…The timing of it, though, was awkward and just the way it was handled, I thought, was rough for everyone involved…I’m sort of intrigued by the [Rob] Pelinka aspect, and I think the Magic Johnson thing – I don’t want to say ‘cautiously optimistic.’ I’m more along the lines of ‘I’m just sort of hanging back and waiting to see how things go.’ Magic’s very well respected in the business world, and obviously he was an amazing player. We’ll see how all of that translates that to a final decision-maker on the basketball side [for the Lakers].”

Hawks Grounded, While Giannis and the Bucks Soar (Power Rankings: Dec. 9, 2016 Edition)

December 9, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

The Hawks earned a 13-spot demotion by struggling mightily after storming out of the gates with a 9-2 start (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

Due to stellar play from the Rockets, Jazz, Thunder and Celtics, the red-hot Grizzlies actually dropped a couple slots. The panel was indeed impressed by Memphis’ ability to win five of its last six games without Mike Conley Jr. on the court; it’s just those other teams were deemed to be even better. On the other side of the coin, the Hawks have been dreadful for nearly three weeks now and are paying for it by falling precipitously in this edition. Their 13-place drop on our list may be awfully difficult for teams to “beat” in future rankings.

Biggest Jumps: Milwaukee Bucks (+8), Orlando Magic (+7), Oklahoma City Thunder (+6)

Biggest Drops: Atlanta Hawks (-13), Chicago Bulls (-10), Denver Nuggets (-9), New Orleans Pelicans (-7), Los Angeles Lakers (-7)

Kobe and Garnett: Passing the Torch to Russell, Towns in Different Ways

December 12, 2015 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Kevin Garnett's veteran leadership has helped the Timberwolves to a surprising start this season. (Keith Allison/Creative Commons)

Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves are off to a surprising start this season (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

On the heels of the Lakers-focused interview with Rey Moralde, the guys delve further into how Los Angeles can best develop its highly touted young players and how important it will be for the Lakers to re-sign Jordan Clarkson. In the final segment, the A-A-Ron Block, the Minnesota Timberwolves are used as a prime example of a team that has fairly seamlessly integrated young talent, an area where Byron Scott has struggled thus far. Aging veterans, such as Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince, have taken on a diminished but important role both on the off the court, whereas Kobe Bryant’s shot-happy ways appear to be stunting the growth of promising players like D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. In recent games, Scott has started to give Russell more freedom to make mistakes and grow…and your hosts certainly hope that continues.

Music: “Who Likes to Party?” by Kevin MacLeod

Rey Moralde: Kobe Will “Retire Firing” in a “Chuckers’ Heaven”

December 9, 2015 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Rey Moralde (bottom left) interviewing Lakers rookie DeAngelo Russell (Credit: Lakers.com)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

This season’s Los Angeles Lakers are being talked about for mostly unfortunate reasons. One of the best players of all time, Kobe Bean Bryant, will retire upon season’s end and is undoubtedly playing the worst individual basketball of his career. The team is just as bad, beginning with a 3-18 record that includes a loss to the now 1-21 76ers in Bryant’s underwhelming homecoming. But while there’s certainly ample room for doom and gloom on the episode, Rey-Rey is Fundamental‘s Rey Moralde talks about some of the more positive aspects of the current Lakers, such as their exciting young core, led by Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and potentially D’Angelo Russell. Rey speaks glowingly about those guys, as well as less glowingly on the disappointing close to Bryant’s career and how poor of a job he believes Byron Scott is doing with this unit. Here are some highlights:

5:20-5:30: “It’s hard to watch, but for Kobe, he’ll just retire firing basically, like he’s just done his entire career.”

13:50-14:20: On the framework already in place and projecting the franchise’s future: “As much as there’s doom and gloom with the Lakers, they do have a few players that have potential in Russell, Randle and possibly Clarkson, if he stays, because I don’t know if someone else will scoop him up. But if they have those three, they add another one from the draft and they can Byron…if they get a young coach…and have him grow along with those four potential players, I think they could have something there.”

Tag: D’Angelo Russell

Derek James: “No Idea What [Anthony Edwards’] Ceiling Is”

“Built to Lose” Book Special With Jake Fischer

Jake Fischer: Top-Tier Free Agents May Need to Wait for Kawhi Leonard’s Decision

Sandy Mui: “Nets Fans Have a Lot to Look Forward To”

Clippers Sail into Third, Hawks Rise Eight Spots (Power Rankings: April 12, 2017 Edition)

Darius Soriano: “Onus Is on Lakers’ Player Development Folks” to Maximize Potential

Hawks Grounded, While Giannis and the Bucks Soar (Power Rankings: Dec. 9, 2016 Edition)

Kobe and Garnett: Passing the Torch to Russell, Towns in Different Ways

Rey Moralde: Kobe Will “Retire Firing” in a “Chuckers’ Heaven”

On The NBA Beat

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories