Update on NBA Free Agency

Since the NBA draft happened, there have been some moves in the free agency that have surprised some of us, and some that has not.  The first big player, LaMarcus Aldridge from the Portland Trail Blazers will be meeting with 2 teams this Tuesday.  The Lakers and the Rockets will be the first 2 teams to meet with Aldridge to discuss possible signing opportunities.  Wednesday, Aldridge will be meeting with more teams including the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, and also the New York Knicks.  From this activity it seems that Aldridge will be highly unlikely to stay with the Trail Blazers.

The most dominate basketball player in the world, LeBron James, will be a free agent July 1^st, in which he was a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers finals run this season.  My opinion on this is that he will be returning to the Cavs before the start of the season, yet he will be negotiating contract plans and also try to help lure in other teammates.  It has been reported the James will not be meeting with other teams, which constitutes the fact that he will be returning with the Cavs.

The last player is the NBA’s most improved player, Jimmy Butler, for the Chicago Bulls might not be returning to the Bulls this offseason.  Butler is a free agent right now and looking at other teams to give him a huge contract deal.  Now the Chicago Bulls have the right to match any offer that other teams offer, yet it is solely up to Jimmy on where he wants to play next season.  There have even been rumors that Butler wanted to sign a short deal with the Lakers for a year or two.  Let’s hope he stays in Chicago where they need him, as he’ll provide a solid backcourt option with former MVP Derrick Rose.

A Look Back at Some Posts

I had just posted a blog about the last 10 NBA Champions and this is the perfect opportunity to promote this blog since the NBA Draft just debuted on ESPN in its entirety.  This was the first chance and glimpse of what's to come for the upcoming 2015-16 NBA season.  Everyone has been abuzz about the prospects that were taken in the draft and having the chance of what that means for there respected drafted teams

Last 10 NBA Champions - http://aboutmetomwickham.blogspot.com/2015/06/last-10-nba-champions.html

A page that I wrote a few days ago mentions how to fix some problems with your golf swing.  This page really should resonate for every beginner golfer or even a golfer that has been playing for quite some time.  There is always room to fix or correct a few movements in your golf swing to make it that perfect swing.  This page also gives you some extra hints while at the course or driving range to help out. Go and check it out.

Solve a problem “Golf Swing” - http://aboutmetomwickham.blogspot.com/p/solve-problem-golf-swing.html

I actually just wrote this page not to long ago but I really enjoy this post.  It is how to shoot a basketball.  Any starter who wants to correctly learn how to shoot a basketball who wants to become a better shooter with a higher field goal percentage go and check this post out.  Its shows you step by step on what to do to correctly shoot a basketball.  This post can be for any age so go and check this one out.

How to Shoot a Basketball - http://aboutmetomwickham.blogspot.com/p/how-to-shot-basketball.html

Link Post "2015 NBA Draft"

To highlight tomorrow’s big night of the NBA Draft, I’m going to show some other work of people and see what their thoughts are on tomorrow’s big day.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of talks of what the upcoming season could be like for the NBA teams. 

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/

Above is a link to “Ranking draft prospects according to wisdom of the crowd,” by Justin Rao and David Rothschild. 

I enjoy the way they did this type of draft choice, by letting the crowd or voters’ pick who would win certain match ups.  First off the match up head-to-head between Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, they took Towns, in which I definitely agree on.  From then on, they did other match ups to see who would fare against who. 

As I find this different, I also find this kind of silly and disregarding the task of finding the draft picks for certain teams.  As this might point out who can beat who in a head-to-head match up, this doesn’t depict what a team needs out of a certain player.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/22/8827017/2015-nba-draft-rumors-knicks-frank-kaminsky

Here is another look at some NBA Draft news and what teams are looking for in the draft process.  The one paragraph that stood out to me was the Lakers trying to trade for #2 pick for DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings.  I’m not sure if I quite agree with this choice.  On one side I see that Cousins is still only 24 and has a ton of basketball left in him.  He also is one of the most dominant big men in the game.  On the other side, the Lakers have the #2 pick in the draft and a chance to obtain Jahlil Okafor or even Karl-Anthony Towns.  Both of these big men will be All-Stars in the coming years and will play a big part for the Lakers in years to come. 

With that all said, I’m ready to see what happens tomorrow for the Draft and to see what picks come from which team.

Last 10 NBA Champions

I want to give you a look back at the last 10 NBA Champions since our last winner was just last week.  I want to look back at the stars on that team and who the Finals MVP and the season MVP of their respected team.  Also, I’ll take a look at an accomplishment that doesn’t happen all that often with the Champions and season MVP.

Last 10 NBA Champions

2014-15         Golden State Warriors

                        Finals MVP: Andre Iguodala (Warriors)

                        Season MVP: Stephen Curry (Warriors)

2013-14         San Antonio Spurs

                        Finals MVP: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)

                        Season MVP: Kevin Durant (Thunder)

2012-13         Miami Heat

                        Finals MVP: LeBron James (Heat)

                        Season MVP: LeBron James (Heat)

2011-12         Miami Heat

                        Finals MVP: LeBron James (Heat)

                        Season MVP: LeBron James (Heat)

2010-11         Dallas Mavericks

                        Finals MVP: Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)

                        Season MVP: Derrick Rose (Bulls)

2009-10         Los Angeles Lakers

                        Finals MVP: Kobe Bryant (Lakers)

                        Season MVP: LeBron James (Cavaliers)

2008-09         Los Angeles Lakers

                        Finals MVP: Kobe Bryant (Lakers)

                        Season MVP: LeBron James (Cavaliers)

2007-08         Boston Celtics

                        Finals MVP: Paul Pierce (Celtics)

                        Season MVP: Kobe Bryant (Lakers)

2006-07         San Antonio Spurs

                        Finals MVP: Tony Parker (Spurs)

                        Season MVP: Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)

2005-06         Miami Heat

                        Finals MVP: Dwayne Wade (Heat)

                        Season MVP: Steve Nash (Suns)

Up until the 2013-14 season the players that won the MVP awards were almost the same each year.  It was Kobe Bryant for a few years then LeBron James respectively took away that honor and started winning the MVP’s.  Out of the 30 teams that the NBA has, 6 teams in the last 10 years have won the Championship. 

I noticed that 3 out of the last 10 champions had a season MVP on the winning Champion team.  This is more than what I had originally expected.  It is tough to obtain the season MVP and then go on that magical run to win the NBA Championship.  Out of those 3 seasons, 2 players had an opportunity to gain this accomplishment.  The first player to do it, and it happened twice in a row, was none other than LeBron James in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with the Heat.  The other player was the champion of a week ago, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.  It has been a wonderful last 10 seasons for the NBA and also the players.

NBA Finals

What a series that was between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The Golden State Warriors has ended their drought and won their first championship since 1975.  On the flip side, the Warriors denied Lebron James of his 3^rd championship and forced a 2^nd year in a row defeat in the Finals.  Lebron James was nothing to mess with in the Finals, where he finished with an average of 35.8 points per game, 8.8 assists per game, and 13.3 rebounds per game.  These numbers that I just showed you led all other players in this category, the first to do so in NBA Finals history. 

So why didn’t Lebron win the Finals MVP last night?  He put up historic numbers yet Andre Iguodala got the MVP instead of Lebron.  Iguodala did do very well for the Warriors offensively and defensively (while guarding Lebron) and came up huge for the Warriors, yet I do not think he deserved the MVP.  Sure, the MVP usually comes from the team that wins the Championship, yet I think this one should have went to Lebron.  No one can deny that Lebron was the only one on that team that did anything to help out the Cavs, and also was the best one on that floor.  These two players were the only ones who had garnered any votes.  Surprising since Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are on the Warriors roster as well, and led the way for them the whole season and post-season. 

Stephen Curry won the regular season MVP and was brilliant throughout the post-season until the Finals.  The only time he shined in the Finals was during the 4^th period and then the final game (Game 6) of the series. 

Overall, the series between the Warriors and the Cavs was a good one, yet the Cavs did not have enough offensive firepower to take over the Warriors. Lebron is only one person and one person without much help can not take on 5 people and expect to win. 

Route to Stanley Cup

First off, let me start by congratulating the Chicago Blackhawks on an incredible run to win the Stanley Cup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The series between the two powerhouses was one for the ages. The Chicago Blackhawks have now won 3 cups out of the last 6 years, starting in 2010.  Can the Blackhawks be considered a dynasty now?  A sports dynasty is a team that has dominated that sport for a significant amount of time.  Some people would say no, not yet, while others would disagree and say 6 years is not long enough yet to be considered a dynasty.  I will let you decide on that.  

The Blackhawks had to get by (in order) the Predators, Wild, Ducks, and then finally the Lightning. 

Here is the list of scores from those games.

Blackhawks / Predators

Game 1: Blackhawks 4, Predators 3 (2OT)

Game 2: Blackhawks 2, Predators 6

Game 3: Blackhawks 4, Predators 2

Game 4: Blackhawks 3, Predators 2 (3OT)

Game 5: Blackhawks 2, Predators 5

Game 6: Blackhawks 4, Predators 3

Blackhawks / Wild

Game 1: Blackhawks 4, Wild 3

Game 2: Blackhawks 4, Wild 1

Game 3: Blackhawks 1, Wild 0

Game 4: Blackhawks 4, Wild 3

Blackhawks / Ducks

Game 1: Blackhawks 1, Ducks 4

Game 2: Blackhawks 3, Ducks 2 (3OT)

Game 3: Blackhawks 1, Ducks 2

Game 4: Blackhawks 5, Ducks 4 (2OT)

Game 5: Blackhawks 4, Ducks 5 (OT)

Game 6: Blackhawks 5, Ducks 2

Game 7: Blackhawks 5, Ducks 3

Blackhawks / Lightning

Game 1: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1

Game 2: Blackhawks 3, Lightning 4

Game 3: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 3

Game 4: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1

Game 5: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1

Game 6: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 0

The Blackhawks were not the best team in the NHL in the regular season, with a record of 48-28-6, yet managed to pull of wins in the playoffs to win the Stanley Cup.  The 48 stands for the game won, the 26 stands for the games they lost, and the 6 stands for the ties that they had.  The Blackhawks ended up 3^rd in the Western Conference Central division, with the Blues and Predators in front of them respectively.  

Now that Hockey is over and we have our champion, it is now going to be the start of the off season. Teams are going to be making moves to shift players around to make room for their respective salary cap and try to enhance their teams.  I’m interested to know what kind of moves the team’s make and will share with you my ideas of those moves.  Again, congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks to a fantastic run to win their 3^rd Cup in the last 6 years.