JACK'S BALL BLOG

The NBA trade deadline is 2 weeks away and as we get closer there will be a lot of rumors. These are some teams to watch. Knicks It had been tough sledding for a few weeks for the Knicks before their 54 point win over the Nets. Over the prior 11 games, the Knicks ranked 25th in offense, 28th in defense and 27th in net rating, going 2-9 in those games. It has been a struggle. I don’t think they will make a panic move, it is much more likely the package of Guerschon Yabusele an

With All-Star voting wrapping up Wednesday and the starters being announced on Monday, it is time for my 2026 All-Star ballot. This year, they have changed how the teams are divided again. They will be separated into two USA teams and one international team and play a round robin before the two teams who fared the best in said round robin will play in a championship game. Will it make players play hard? No it won’t but don’t tell the NBA that! Will NBC have a ceremony for the

After 7 and ½ seasons, the Trae Young era in Atlanta is over as the Hawks traded the 4-time All-Star on Wednesday night to the Washington Wizards in exchange for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert. Yes, that is it. The Hawks missed the boat on a Young trade, always hoping to get more than they were being offered. Why both teams did it and what deals could the Hawks make next. Let’s start with the Wizards part of this. Adding Trae Young at this price is a no brainer. I am not pe

Coming into the season, there were two Eastern Conference powers who were expected to take gap years. The Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers have had very different seasons, for one it has been a nightmare and they are headed towards the lottery and the other is 2nd in the Eastern Conference. How have they gotten here and is one better than the other? Let’s start in Indiana. It has not been a fun season for the Pacers. Sitting at 6-31, the Pacers have the worst record in

As we hit the New Year, I wanted to present thoughts on each team. Atlanta Hawks The Trae Young era is over in Atlanta. With Young on the court this season, The Hawks net rating is -7.5, which would be 28th in the league, and their defensive rating is 129.2, which is 5.9 worse points per 100 possessions than last place Washington. They are 2-8 in games he has played this season and 13-11 without him. This isn’t even Ewing Theory anymore, the Hawks are not only better without

Christmas time is here and the NBA slate is stacked with 5 fun games, so I am going to dive into each of them and what to expect on the biggest day on the NBA regular season calendar. Cavaliers at Knicks, Noon EST The first game of the day is the only one that includes Eastern Conference teams. Coming into the season, it was projected that Cleveland and New York would be the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks are living up to the billing, I wrote about them

The New York Knicks are NBA champions… well, NBA Cup champions. That is not what we are here to talk about but congrats to the end of the bench guys who made over $500,000 for winning it. Them winning the cup was not an accident like it maybe was for the Bucks or Lakers when they won. No, the New York Knicks are really good and should be heavy favorites in the Eastern Conference. When the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau it was for a few reasons but one of them was to make their o

The unofficial start to the NBA trade season is Monday because on December 15th about 80 players who signed free agent deals this offseason can be traded. There probably won’t be a deal on Monday (though Dennis Schroder was traded last year) but it is still fun to talk about deals. I am going to go through a few teams who might most define the trade season. Make sure you read my breakdown of the Giannis trade sweepstakes from last week. Celtics Let’s start with one of the sur

Typically, I would write about the 4 NBA Cup quarterfinal knockout round games and make picks. However, on Wednesday ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo is open to exploring a future outside Milwaukee. As a result, we need to cover that, what teams could get involved and what could a package look like? Let’s start with the newest news that Antetokounmpo is going to be out 2-4 weeks with a calf strain according to Charania. This is a big loss for the Buc

Chris Paul officially announced that he is going to be retiring at the end of the season. After 21 seasons in the league, CP3 is leaving the game as one of the greatest point guards to ever play. From the Hornets, to the Clippers, Rockets, Thunder, Suns, Warriors, Spurs and back to the Clippers, the Point God has lived a lot of lives in the NBA.  Let’s start with this season. Paul is playing for the Clippers, where he spent 6 seasons of his career before this year. When I th

The Detroit Pistons had the one of the biggest single season turnarounds in NBA history last year when they went from a 14 win team to a 44 win team. Entering this season, there were mixed feelings about Detroit. They lost Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley and Dennis Schroder this offseason and people were wondering if they could take the next leap or if it was too early. Through 15 games, the Pistons have proven that they are ready to take the next leap. At 13-2, the Pistons a

Another year, another fresh batch of city edition jerseys, though there are many that are retreads.The theme this year was to bring back a city edition of the past in a way, many did not bring back exact replicas. and some teams did that well while other did not. Let's break it all down and rank them. 30: Hornets Give the Hornets credit for taking a shot here, it didn't work but give them credit for trying. There is just too much going on here for me. The yellow feature raise

The three teams at the bottom of the Western Conference standings are (in no particular order) the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies.  If I were running those three teams, I would be making a big trade.  So here is why the Mavericks should trade Anthony Davis, the Grizzlies should trade Ja Morant and the Pelicans should trade Zion Williamson with a fake trade for each guy. Let’s start with Davis.  The Luka Doncic trade, to me, is the worst in NBA h

When the Golden State Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline last year, it was seen as a good trade for them but not one that would catapult them into the championship conversations. Butler had a rough ending in Miami and the age of the Warriors stars made people hesitate.  Then they started playing the games and the Warriors were really good.  Golden State went 23-7 in games that Butler played in but lost the last game of the season and were forced to play in

Each year, right before the start of the season there is a barrage of contract extensions and I am going to give my thoughts on them. Rockets sign Kevin Durant, 2yrs/$90 million, 2nd year is a player option When Houston traded for Durant in June, we knew an extension was coming.  This is smaller than the max he was eligible for so that automatically makes this a great deal for the Rockets.  Durant remains one of the 10 to 15 best players in the NBA and will lift the Rockets o

The NBA season starts Tuesday and as always I am going to pick the regular season standings, awards and Conference Finals and Finals. Western Conference Standings Thunder Projected starting lineup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein The Thunder had the greatest regular season of point differential of all-time last year and won the championship. They are really good and going to be really good again this season. Not much else to

Typically, I write a story detailing three teams I like and three I don’t.  I go into a few teams I like and don’t like and detail what...

The Los Angeles Lakers were given a gift last February when the Dallas Mavericks traded them Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris...

The Houston Rockets made a huge trade this summer when they traded for Kevin Durant.  It was a move that signaled that they are ready to...

The Eastern Conference is missing two of its titans this year with the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers both down their best player for...