3 Point Buzzer

After he earns a measly $33 million this upcoming season, LeBron will once again have an opportunity to dip back into free agency. He is a virtual lock to at least opt out of his current deal, so he can either A. make more money, B. flee to another team, or C. both. The Las Vegas Summer League has not even started yet, and King James is already laying down the breadcrumbs for his inevitable, and totally justifiable, departure. Here are 5 hints that LeBron is out the door, barring another championship. He already fulfilled his promise to the city of Cleveland When LeBron made his infamous and widely ridiculed "Decision", he also had stripped Cleveland of its only transcendent sports superstar (I still love you Joe Thomas). The Cavs tanked year after year once LeBron departed, and they ended up receiving the 1st overall pick three times in a four year span. The team and city had so little hope to ever break its title drought. But when LeBron heroically returned in 2014,...

Playoff teams such as the Thunder rarely play rookies when the minutes start to matter deep into April and May. With youth comes inexperience, and with inexperience comes mistakes, which are costly in the postseason hothouse, where every possession matters. That's why Terrance Ferguson, the Thunder's first round draft pick, probably won't see the court too much in his first season. Ferguson is one of the youngest players in the entire class, having just celebrated his 19th birthday over a month ago. He was one of the hyped recruits coming out of high school, but skipping Arizona in favor of a quiet season in Australia dipped his stock. As with any draft pick, General Manager Sam Presti and his staff had to play the guessing game of whether the true Ferguson resembles his McDonald's All-American showcase, or his disappointing season buried on the bench in Australia, where he only averaged 5 points a game. Ferguson's measurements though, are much more promising. H...

Yes, it's ridiculous to grade picks before these guys even play. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun as hell. 1. Philadelphia 76ers: Markelle Fultz After a blockbuster trade with the division-rival Celtics on Monday, the 76ers, after many years of hoarding their precious assets, finally cashed in and went for the kill. Sitting at the 3rd pick, the 76ers were content to take Josh Jackson, but when a transcendent talent such as Fultz was within reach, they decided it was worth the risk to move up. GM Bryan Colangelo gave up the 2018 Lakers pick if it falls between picks 2-5, or a protected 2019 Kings pick if that Lakers pick doesn't convey. Now, with Fultz officially a 76er, the team boasts one of the fiercest collections of young talent in the league. Fultz joining Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Robert Covington promises to be a team full of two-way players who will grow together for years to come. If Simmons is not up for the tall task of being the team...

Being a lottery team can be exciting, but also excruciating. There is the promise that a young prospect bursting with potential is about to be added to your team on a cheap rookie contract, and the team will win 5 of the next 10 championships (in fans' minds). On the flip side, there is the pressure to absolutely bat .1000 on that pick, since more lottery appearances = less long term job security (Unless you can convince your owner that it's all part of the process, something the folk hero Sam Hinkie managed to pull off for a whopping two-and-a-half seasons before he was replaced by the Colangelo family.) For some teams (Philly, Minnesota), this lottery is just another opportunity to add a piece to a burgeoning core, while others (Phoenix, Orlando) have an urgency attached to their backs since its been 5 or more years since they made the playoffs and they still do not have a bonafide superstar to show for it. Here is a fun power ranking of the current lottery teams with t...

What? Why would a player chasing a ring sign with the Bucks (a team that got bounced in the first round) over a 61-win Spurs team that made it to the Conference Finals? It sounds crazy, but it might just be the right move for Paul. As we have seen this Finals and last, having a cohesive and productive small ball unit is now a necessity if a team has any hope of winning. Tristan Thompson, the Cavs' 4th best player and offensive rebounding monster, is losing minutes to guys like Richard Jefferson because of versatility, not necessarily talent. Here is a hypothetical. Say the Cavs, who are currently down 0-2 against the Warriors, had the opportunity to add either LaMarcus Aldridge or Robert Covington for the rest of the series. The most common answer would probably be Aldridge, because he has established himself as a star scorer in this league while Covington is just a role player. In reality though, I'm almost 100% confident the Cavs would choose Covington, because of his...

This has been the Clippers’ life cycle the past five seasons: Step 1: Begin a season with promise, saying all the right things to the media Step 2: Get in a groove, rip off a ton of wins in a row Step 3: Key player suffers injury, team slumps Step 4: By playoff time, everyone is back and hopes are reasonably high Step 5: Utter devastation It’s brutal. It’s crushing. It’s just...plain sad. The Clippers’ annual playoffs meltdown has become a sight to behold, and since the team resides in L.A., a fiery subject for diehard fans and detractors. Besides the debilitating playoff collapses, what makes this team so maddening is that they are objectively good! The Clippers boast the NBA’s 5th highest winning percentage over the past five years, are constantly a lock to win 50 games and have two of the top players in the league. When the Clippers’ fielded their ideal starting lineup of Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jorda...

ESPN laying off around 100 people today has been devastating for me to follow as numerous sports journalists announce on Twitter that they are no longer employed. I can't imagine how it must feel for those journalists, their colleagues, their friends and their families. It's an awful day, and many wonderful people lost their jobs because of a situation out of their control. What hits hardest is that the sports journalists who lost their jobs today have been around me on Twitter for almost my whole high school career. Seeing people like Ethan Strauss drop a phenomenal Shoe Wars piece or Ed Werder tweet out dollops of juicy NFL gossip was the lifeblood of what got me through a mundane day in high school. While this carnage is probably a result of ESPN letting politics seep into their coverage and the declining business of cable networks, that just doesn't matter right now. What matters is 100 hard working people who all directly or indirectly contributed to me enjoyin...