NBA Offseason Roundup

The NBA has had one of the most interesting offseason. Between trades and free agent signings, the NBA has changed quite a bit.

Starting with Major trades like Chris Paul being traded to the Rockets and Carmelo Anthony being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which got another good trade in Paul George being sent away from the Indiana Pacers. There has also been signings like Dwyane Wade to Cleveland and Gordon Hayward to the Celtics, or Derrick Rose to Cleveland. One of the biggest things this offseason is the Kyrie Irving trade, which is Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, the Nets 2018 first-round pick and the Heat’s 2020 second-round pick.

This offseason there are new rules like teams “can’t tank”, which essentially means that nobody can throw games on purpose or sit out players to get a better draft pick. The three worst teams will each have a 14% chance at the number 1 pick, comparing to the previous setup were the first pick had 25% and the second pick had 19.9%, so with this the 3 worst teams will have the same chance. The next rule change is the ‘All Star Game’. Instead of the East and West like it used to be for years, it has switched that there are now two All Star captains and they choose their team out of the All stars that are voted in by fans, players, media, and coaches.

As for the issue of taking a knee during the National Anthem, the NBA commissioner stated that he would like the players not to kneel and would like them to stand in unity. NBA players and coaches have been notified that they will be disciplined if caught kneeling. The NBA has also sent out alternate ways to show unity like having a team speech, or a video on the topic.

Currently, Joel Embiid got a contract extension from the 76ers. Many people are saying it is risky because he has only played just 31 NBA games since he was drafted third in 2014. Head executives say “it’s very risky.” Others say that it could be a good thing, but it’s definitely a risk because of Joel’s history of injuries. When he has been playing, he is actually quite good, averaging 20.2 points with 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game.

Weedsport freshman Mitchell Feocco is looking forward to the season, he said, “This is the most interesting offseason.” He said his favorite trade was the Celtics one because they got a good point guard in Kyrie Irving as well as Gordon Hayward. He said the Knicks made a bad trade for them because they got rid of Carmelo Anthony and received almost nothing in return. The same thing with the Pacers happened as well. I followed up with the question of who would win the NBA finals. He mentioned the Cavs and Warriors still, but feels the Cavs have a strong possibility of taking the championship because of the pickup of Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade. He also said he likes the Oklahoma City trade because they got Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, but doesn’t know if it’ll work out.