Author: Chris Porter

Kyrie Irving made it no surprise in late July that he wanted out of Cleveland, but fans around the league, including myself, were shocked at about 6pm Central on August 22nd when he was dealt to the Boston Celtics. It was reported that last week the Cavaliers essentially ‘struck out’ with teams in the Western Conference for a deal with Kyrie Irving. So, the Cavaliers had no choice but to turn to the Eastern Conference to find a trade partner, and they found one in the Boston Celtics. The reported trade is as follows: Cleveland receives: Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder,…

Since the 2000 season, the Western Conference of the NBA has been responsible for 12-of-17 championships. As of right now, 14 of the top 15 players from last season all play for Western Conference teams. In the past eight years, an Eastern Conference team has had the number one draft pick six times. In fact, Eastern Conference teams have had 24 top five picks since the 2010 draft compared to the Western Conference’s 16 top five picks. So this begs the question: why is the Eastern Conference so bad? I have a couple of theories as to why the Eastern…

Everyone is so quick to criticize players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant for their decisions to form ‘super teams’ with multiple all-stars. While I am not fan of either of those players, their decisions to form a ‘super team’ is not something that should be frowned upon in the league because players have done it for the entire history of the NBA. The term ‘super team’ is something that has become a more commonly used term when referring to the Golden State Warriors. However, Draymond Green has been quick to remind everyone that LeBron and “The Decision” to leave…

In my hometown of Racine, Wisconsin, there isn’t much going on outside during the cold and harsh winter months. But every few nights in the Johnson Athletic Center at The Prairie School, the lights turn on, the crowd arrives in full force, and JC Butler puts on a basketball spectacle for all to see. JC Butler is the son of two-time All-Star Caron Butler, another Racine native. Basketball is clearly in Butler’s blood and he has developed his game a lot over the years. Head coach of The Prairie School Hawks, Jason Atanasoff, had this to say about Butler: “I…

Summer league is well underway, and both Lonzo Ball and Dennis Smith Jr. have only just tasted what the NBA will be like for them. They have each only played two professional games in their young careers, but hey, it’s July and sports news is hard to come by so I am going to compare these two players. As I mentioned in my NBA draft grades: “Personally, I believe that  Dennis Smith Jr. and his Russell Westbrook-esque explosiveness will lead to him being in the conversation for best PG to come out of this draft class.” The ninth overall pick…

Before you dive into this amazing article, I (Chris) want to give a shoutout to Matt Leaman for his hardwork to make this article happen. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @matt_leaman to see more of the great work he gets done. Take it away Matt! With the Thomas & Mack Center rocking for the second night in a row, the Celtics and Lakers continued their storied rivalry. The sold out crowd of 17,923 looked on with anticipation as the likes of Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, and Jalen Brown took the floor. Kyle Kuzma started the scoring for…

Earlier this week, I wrote an article about what the Celtics needed to do now that Gordon Hayward has agreed to sign a max deal with the team. In the article, I recommended trading Jae Crowder to the Grizzlies for power forward JaMychal Green to try to free up the cap space needed to pay Gordon Hayward. After talks of a sign-and-trade deal with the Jazz in which Crowder would have been exchanged for Hayward failed, Danny Ainge dealt Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons for SF\PF Marcus Morris. This trade will send Avery Bradley and his 8.8 million…

The Golden State Warriors looked to improve on their championship season by adding two solid players in free agency. Nick Young will be joining the Warriors on a one-year deal worth $5.2 million and Omri Casspi signed for the veteran’s minimum of $2.1 million for one year as well. Young is coming off a season in which he both made and attempted career highs in three point field goals making 2.8 per game while attempting 7.0. Those numbers are good for his second best conversion rate of his career at 40.4%. Look for Young to have a more steady role…

For the second year in a row, Danny Ainge has had the number three overall draft pick and has netted a marquee free agent for his team. This year, Gordon Hayward will be joining the likes of Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford in what looks to be Boston’s next “big three.” Hayward’s deal has been reported as four years for $128 million. This will be the Celtics projected lineup should the season start today: PG: Isaiah Thomas, Terry Rozier, Demetrius Jackson SG: Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Kadeem Allen, Jabari Bird SF: Gordon Hayward, Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum…

After watching the Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers Summer League game, I am very impressed. The game ended with a 89-88 Celtics win. The third overall pick, Jayson Tatum combined with the 2016 third overall pick, and teammate, Jaylen Brown for a whopping 50 points and 20 rebounds. The rest of the Celtics combined for only 39. Tatum scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists in 33 minutes of play. Tatum went 8-17 from the field, but he shot 1-5 from three point range. It is clear that he is still transitioning from college three point…