The New Big Three

Cleveland to Acquire Kevin Love

After nearly a month since LeBron James told the world he would be “coming home” back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland made another major move on Thursday. It was announced according to Yahoo Sports, that the Cavs would be acquiring All-Star power forward, Kevin Love, from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavs traded away their most recent number 1 overall NBA Draft picks in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to get Love. Cleveland also gave Minnesota its 2015 1st round NBA Draft pick.

What Did The Cavs Gain?

The Cavs now have a lethal All-Star trio in LeBron James, Kevin Love, and point guard Kyrie Irving. Kevin Love may not have led the less talented Minnesota Timberwolves to the playoffs, but his individual stats are unbelievable. He averaged nearly 26 points and 12 rebounds per game last season. Love at 6 ft.10, also shot the three pointer very efficiently last season at 37%. Throughout his 6 year NBA career Love has averaged nearly 19 points and 12 rebounds per game. The fact that he can shoot will open up shots in the paint for both Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.

What Did the Cavs Lose?

The Cavaliers gave up the 2013 number 1 overall NBA draft pick in Anthony Bennett. Bennett only averaged nearly 4 points and 3 rebounds per game last season. Bennett only played nearly 13 minutes per game and wasn’t in the best basketball conditioning. The  Cavs also gave up  their number 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins out of Kansas University. Wiggins isn’t a great shooter as he shot 2-13 from behind the 3 point line, however he does possess tremendous athleticism. Wiggins great leaping ability, along with his speed and balance leads to exciting plays like this.

 

Expectations for Both Teams

The Cavs are definitely the favorite to win the NBA’s Eastern Conference this season and maybe for years to come. Kevin Love has been reportedly open to re-signing  with the Cavs for  5 years and LeBron  James plans to re-sign with the Cavs for more money after this season. The Cavs  have also signed veteran players  in James Jones, Mike Miller, and Shawn Marion most recently. The Timberwolves will look to rebuild around Wiggins and hope that Bennett continues to improve his game.  Still the deal between the two teams won’t be effective until after August the 23rd, so Cavs fans will have to wait to officially  welcome Kevin Love to Cleveland.

L.A. Finally Gets A New Coach

Lakers Hire Byron Scott

After being interviewed several times by the Los Angeles Lakers, Byron Scott finally was hired as the team’s 3rd head coach in 3 years. Saturday Scott agreed to a contract with the Lakers worth $17 million over 4 years, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The Lakers  have not had  a head coach since Mike D’Antoni resigned from the team on May 1st.

Byron Scott played with the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers, alongside Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson during the  Lakers championships runs in the 1980’s. Scott averaged nearly 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game  in his 14 year career as an NBA player. He even served as a mentor to Lakers star Kobe Bryant in Kobe’s rookie season with the Lakers back in 1996.

Scott’s record as a head coach is 416 wins and 521 losses, winning roughly 44% of his games. He had his best years of coaching  with the New Jersey Nets, in which he lead the team to two back-to-back NBA Final’s appearances in 2002 and 2003. Scott also coached the New Orleans Hornets and was  named the 2007-2008 NBA coach of the year. That same year he coached the Western Conference All-Star team as well. Scott had his worse years as a head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team had a gruesome record of just 64 wins and 166 losses, of course during that stretch the Cavs didn’t have superstar LeBron James on their roster either.

Now Scott is up to the huge task of coaching a rebuilding  Los Angeles Lakers team and an aging superstar in Kobe Bryant. The Lakers had their worse season in team history last year with a record of just 27 wins and 55 losses. The record gave them the 7th overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, in which they selected freshmen big man Julius Randle out of Kentucky. The Lakers also signed former Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer and former Houston Rockets player Jeremy Lin this summer. The Lakers resigned good role players in Nick Young and Jordan Hill as well, so they could be a decent team in the Western Conference this season. However the Lakers did lose former All-Star center, Pau Gasol to the Chicago Bulls in free agency this summer. Gasol was an essential component for the Lakers back-to-back NBA championships run in 2009 and 2010.

Kobe Bryant who is now 34,  isn’t getting any younger so the pressure for Byron Scott and the Lakers to win now is very high. The Lakers can only improve from last season, still they might need to make a trade to acquire another star to play alongside Bryant. However for now considering who else was out there, the Lakers got a pretty good head coach in Byron Scott.  The question remains will Kobe Bryant see another NBA championship in his last years with the Lakers?

King James and Money Manziel

The Duo That Has Given Cleveland Hope

The city of Cleveland, Ohio is very blue-collar and the citizens  love their professional sports teams, even after going nearly half of a century without witnessing  a championship. Sadly the city of Cleveland hasn’t won a championship since the Cleveland Browns did it in 1964.  Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown led the team to the  NFL championship before the game was even called the “Super Bowl”. However now in the year 2014, the city of Cleveland has become hopeful that they will win a championship soon.

With the 22nd pick in the 2014 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Johnny Manziel out of Texas &M University. Manziel won the 2012 Heisman Trophy and is one of the most exciting college football players ever to play the game. Season tickets sells for the Browns sky rocketed after fans got the news about “Johnny Football” being drafted. Now Manziel according to NFL.com, leads the NFL in player jersey sells.

The icing on the cake for Cleveland sports fans definitely came on July 11, when LeBron James decided to return to the Cavaliers. Cleveland fans  in 2010 burned LeBron’s  jersey for leaving the Cavs to join the Miami Heat. Ironically after the news was released about LeBron’s return, those some fans rejoiced like this to celebrate his “homecoming” . LeBron’s impact was so huge that Cavaliers season tickets were sold out nearly 8 hours after he made his decision.  LeBron’s decision also increased the value of the team to as much as  $1 billion according to bleacherreport.com.

Cleveland sports fans are definitely excited about this upcoming season. Johnny Manziel and LeBron James seem to be the heart of Cleveland, something they both embrace. However the task of winning for both will be extremely difficult, as  it has been 50 years since the city of Cleveland has celebrated a championship. The question still remains will  “Money Manziel” and “King James” bring championships to Cleveland?

 

 

 

Oh That’s Ahmad

Price is The Future 

These days basketball scouts waste no time recruiting the next great player. Every since LeBron James scouts have started recruiting players as early as middle school. Louisville’s Ahmad Price,  who will be a freshman this year at Fern Creek high school, has already been ranked in the top 30 of his 2018 graduating class according  to youth1.com.

Ahmad listed at 6 ft. 2  plays guard and has a huge advantage over his shorter opponents. Along with his size Ahmad possesses great quickness on the basketball court and has an exceptional basketball IQ. He averaged nearly 20 points, 5 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals in his 8th grade season at Farnsley Middle School.  Ahmad also is playing AAU basketball this summer  for the Kentucky Gators averaging nearly 17 points, 4 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals per game. Ahmad, at only 14 years old is already receiving a lot of attention, so I asked him about life as young basketball star.

Me: At your age how do you handle the fact that some college coaches are already scouting you?

Ahmad: I handle it well, I know that they can only do so much right now according to NCAA rules and regulations. However the fact that they are looking at me already shows that my hard work is paying off.

Me: What ultimately led to your decision to attend Fern Creek High School this fall?

Ahmad: I chose Fern Creek because of Coach James Schooler, who has been a huge inspiration to my life. I also feel like I can make a name for myself at Fern Creek and eventually become a leader of the team.

Me: What are you looking forward to the most about High School?

Ahmad: I am really looking forward to just the high school experience and adapting to adjustments that come with it.

Me: What parts of your game do you need to work on the most?

Ahmad: I need to work on my left hand and becoming stronger so that I can prepare myself for the physicality of high school basketball.

Me: What have you learned from playing AAU basketball?

Ahmad: AAU has the best players in the country, so I have learned that in order to be the best I have to beat the best.

Although Ahmad Price is a spectacular athlete he is a great student as well. Ahmad had a phenomenal 3.5 GPA in his 8th grade year at Farnsley and looks to excel in the  high school classroom as well. Ahmad could be one of the best high school prospects in the country once his high school career is over, however for now the 14 year old is excited to start his freshman year at Fern Creek.

 

 

Love Over Wiggins

LeBron James is the Cavs GM

Nearly almost a week since LeBron James announced his return to Cleveland, he has already made his mark on the team. According to sources via ESPN,  James convinced Mike Miller a former Miami Heat player agree to join the Cavs on Tuesday. Also Wednesday James Jones who played with the Heat last season,  agreed to sign with the Cavaliers to join Mike Miller and LeBron James. Now both Miller and James are trying to get future Hall of Famer Ray Allen, who was a member of the Miami Heat  last season to come to Cleveland.

The most shocking news out of Cleveland came Thursday around 4 pm via Bleacher Report, when the Cavaliers made it known that they would be willing to trade rookie Andrew Wiggins for Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star, Kevin Love. The ironic thing is that this past weekend the Cavs implied that Wiggins was not going to be involved in a trade for Love. LeBron James wants the Cavaliers to trade for Love even if it involves Wiggins, who wasn’t mentioned in LeBron’s “I’m Coming Home”essay for Sports Illustrated.

Comparing Love and Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins was the number 1 overall pick in this year’s 2014 NBA Draft. He played basketball at Kansas University where he averaged nearly 17 points and 6 rebounds per game, while shooting 44% from the field. In this year’s NBA Summer League games Wiggins is averaging nearly 14 points and 3 rebounds, while shooting just 38% from the field! Wiggins isn’t the best shooter in the world, which is why some people question if he would gel with LeBron James. Wiggins greatest attribute is his unbelievable athleticism as he is known for incredible plays like this.

Kevin Love is a three time All-Star for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who is practically a double-double machine! Love displays excellent shooting skills for a player 6 ft.10, as he shot the three pointer at 37% last season. Also last season Love averaged nearly 26 points and 12 rebounds per game. The only knock on Love is that he isn’t the most athletic player and he has never been to the playoffs in his 6 seasons with the Timberwolves.

Although the Wiggins/Love Trade has been making headlines, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wants Love to stay in Minnesota. Kevin Love doesn’t want to stay with the team and will be a free agent after the 2016 NBA season. Still the possibility of Love playing with LeBron and the Cavs could be a reality soon.

Stephenson Leaves Pacers

Jordan Wins, Bird Loses

Lance Stephenson is one of the most decorated players in the NBA. His tactics against LeBron James last year in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals gained a lot of attention, especially after this play right here. Although the Miami Heat won the series many people commended Lance Stephenson for his competitiveness.

Stephenson was the 40th pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Cincinnati University. Pacers president Larry Bird believed in Lance Stephenson and the Pacers took a chance on him with the 40th pick in the draft. Lance wouldn’t disappoint Bird as his numbers in the NBA have constantly improved each season.

In Stephenson’s rookie year with the Pacers he didn’t play much averaging nearly just 9 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist per game. However looking at just last season alone, Stephenson averaged nearly 35 minutes, 14 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds per game. Stephenson also has 5 career triple-doubles at age 23, something even Michael Jordan did not do at  the same age.

Lance Stephenson decided to join the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday after turning down a 5 year $44 million contract offer from the Pacers. Lance felt like the Pacers offer wasn’t enough as he had been one of the most important players on the team in the past couple seasons. The chairman of the Charlotte Hornets is ironically Michael Jordan, who according to ESPN offered Stephenson a new contract worth $27 million over three years. Now the question is why did Lance Stephenson really leave?

The new contract with the Hornets Stephenson just signed is roughly $100,000 more a year than the initial contract the Pacers offered him. Also the Hornets are not as good as the Pacers team Stephenson was on, which included All-Stars Roy Hibbert and Paul George. The Pacers have been to the Eastern conference Finals two straight years, while the Hornets made the playoffs for the first time in three years last season. What does Lance see in the Hornets besides Michael Jordan?

Wade and Dirk

Loyal Stars Re-sign

In a summer of NBA free agency that had a lot of speculation, few would ever speculate Dirk Nowitzki ever leaving the Dallas Mavericks. Dirk was actually a free agent this summer, though not too many people talked about him because he has been with the Mavericks since his rookie season in 1998. Dwayne Wade is also another NBA free agent that few thought would leave his team in the Miami Heat, who drafted Wade in 2003. These two look to end their last seasons in the NBA with the teams they started their careers with, something rare in the NBA today.

Dirk Nowitzki was selected 9th overall in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, out of Germany. At the time he was just 20 years old, possessing great shooting skills for a 7 ft. basketball player. Since then Dirk has went on to have a great 16 seasons in the NBA, as he has averaged nearly 22 points and 8 rebounds in his NBA career. Dirk was also the 2011 NBA Finals M.V.P., where he led the Mavericks to their first NBA championship over Wade and the rest of Miami’s “Big Three”.

Dwayne Wade was selected 5th in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat, out of Marquette University. He was in a draft class that included fellow stars LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony. Dwayne Wade led Miami to its first NBA championship in 2006, ironically over Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks. Wade was the Finals M.V.P. in 2006 averaging nearly 34 points per game, one of the highest scoring  averages ever in NBA Finals history! Wade also won two more NBA championships in 2012 and 2013, with the help of stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

So it is now 2014 Dwayne Wade and Dirk Nowitzki aren’t as great as they used to be. Wade currently at 32 years old, has been bothered by numerous knee injuries that have slowed him down and Nowitzki is now 36 years old.Wade also took a huge pay cut to get both LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join the Heat back in the summer of 2011. ESPN announced Tuesday that both Wade and Nowitzki resigned with their teams, Wade’s contract with the Heat is worth nearly $31 million over 2 years. Mavericks’s owner Mark Cuban made sure he re-signed future Hall of Famer Nowitzki, with a  3 year contract worth nearly $25 million. Both Nowitzki and Wade have a lot of loyalty for their respective teams and Tuesday was just another showing of that loyalty.

FIFA World Cup

Germany in OT

In a weekend that began with the return of LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with a number of other NBA free agent signings, Sunday would be soccer’s day! “The greatest sporting event I’ve ever been to,” said LeBron James about the 2014 FIFA World championship game in Brazil.It was a game between  Germany and Argentina men’s national soccer teams that would go all the way into extra time to determine a winner.

The game was tied all the way through as each team was held scoreless through 90 minutes. Germany had defended Argentina’s star forward Lionel Messi well, as many soccer fan’s  felt he had been the star of this year’s World Cup. Germany would win the game in the 113′ minute on this goal by midfielder Mario Götze. The Germans have now won their 4th FIFA World Championship in 18 appearances.

Ironically the last time the Germans won the FIFA World championship was in 1990 against Argentina. They won that game in Rome by an identical score of 1-0. The Germans where led to this year’s FIFA World championship by fiery head coach Joachim Löw. Löw was an assistant to U.S.A. men’s soccer coach Jürgen Klinsmann when Klinsmann coached the Germans back in 2006.

 

The Germans began the FIFA World Cup in Group G, beating a talented Portugal team 4-0. The team then went on to tie Ghana 2-2 in their second game and defeated the U.S.A. men’s national  soccer team 1-0 to advance to the Final 16 of the World Cup. Germany defeated Algeria 2-1 and then France 1-0 to advance to the Final 4. However their most impressive performance was against the home team Brazil, in which the Germans embarrassed 7 -1 to advance to Sunday’s championship game. Now the Germans are the 2014 FIFA world champions!

NBA Free Agency

The Other Big Name Free Agents

There is no question that LeBron James was the most talked about NBA free agent this summer, however now that “King James” has decided to go back to Cleveland other free agents have made some moves as well. LeBron signed a two year contract with the Cavs worth over $40 million on Saturday. The second most talked about free agent this off season has been Carmelo Anthony, who decided Saturday that he would resign with the New York Knicks.

Carmelo was considering joining the Chicago Bulls, but now according to ESPN he has signed a new contract with the Knicks worth an amazing $122 million over 5 years! The Knicks definitely believe Carmelo will lead them in future years as they look to rebuild the franchise.

Ironically the player that has decided to go to Chicago is Pau Gasol, who announced via Twitter that he would sign wit the Bulls. Gasol played 7 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and led them to two NBA championships alongside superstar Kobe Bryant. Gasol has averaged nearly 18 points,  9 rebounds, and 1 block per game throughout his career.

As for the Lakers they have acquired former Houston Rockets point guard, Jeremy Lin, and a future 1st round pick. Lin in his two seasons with the Rockets averaged just 12 points per game and 4 assists.

The Washington Wizards loss small forward Trevor Ariza to the Houston Rockets. Ariza played with Houston in the 2009-2010 NBA season and averaged nearly 15 points, 2 steals, and 5 rebounds per game. He also won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and led the Wizards to the NBA playoffs last year.

The Washington Wizards ironically just signed former Brooklyn Net and longtime Boston Celtic, Paul Pierce Saturday night. Pierce has a two year contract with Washington Wizards worth $11 million. Pierce is coming into his 17th NBA season and now at 36 years old is toward the end of his NBA career. Last season with the Nets Pierce averaged just 13 points and 4 rebounds per game.

Lastly former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luol Deng is being heavily pursued by the  Miami Heat. Deng’s contract with the Heat would be worth nearly  $20 million over 2 years. He was a former All-Star with the Chicago Bulls and has averaged nearly 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game in his NBA career. The Miami Heat resigned Chris Bosh Friday to a max contract but still have yet to resign All-Star guard Dwayne Wade.

The King is Back

LeBron Returns to Cleveland

After waiting anxiously for it sports fans finally got to hear what they wanted to, LeBron James finally made his decision on who he would play for next. It was announced Friday around 1 pm  via SI.com that LeBron James would be “coming home”, meaning he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he began his NBA career. After witnessing his jersey being burned by Cleveland fans in the summer of 2010 when he joined the Miami Heat, LeBron is now responsible for Cavaliers season tickets selling out nearly 8 hours after making his decision.

“What’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio” , James said in the SI.com article. LeBron James led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals back in the 2006-2007 season, where they were demolished by the San Antonio Spurs. He now returns to Cleveland with basically a new team, Anderson Varejao is the only remaining teammate from LeBron’s last season with Cavaliers. He has a new coach in David Blatt, who is in his first season as NBA head coach.

Still Cleveland fans are hopeful with “King James” back in town that he will get them back in the playoffs and maybe produce an NBA championship. James will now be teaming up with All-Star Kyrie Irving and possibly Andrew Wiggins who was the first pick in this year’s NBA draft. LeBron will now be the most experienced player for the Cavaliers something he was not in his first stint with the team.

In LeBron James four years with the Heat he led Miami to two NBA championships, won two NBA Finals M.V.P.s and two regular season M.V.P.s. James averaged nearly 27 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds per game with the Heat. Now the question is what is the future of the Miami Heat?

All-Star forward Chris Bosh resigned a new 5 year contract with the Heat worth $118 million. Sources via ESPN say that the Bulls are interested in Dwayne Wade, but he is likely to resign with the Miami Heat. One thing for certain is that the “Big Three” era in Miami is over and they can kiss this promise from LeBron James goodbye!