Basketball Insiders Week in Review 6/21

Tristan Thompson is Enjoying Proving His Critics Wrong

By Moke Hamilton

With his palms sweating and his heart beating fast, on draft night, the Canadian prospect knew that there was a high likelihood that he would be the highest drafted player in his country’s history.

Weeks earlier, when the Cleveland Cavaliers called him in for a second workout, Tristan Thompson began imagining what life would be like joining the Cavaliers, reuniting with a former teammate and mentor in Samardo Samuels and likely playing alongside Kyrie Irving, who was poised to be selected first overall.

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2015 NBA Free Agent Rankings – Power Forwards

By Tommy Beer

We have previously ranked and tiered the top point guards, shooting guards and small forwards in this summer’s free agent crop.

Continuing our series, today we’ll classify the power forwards preparing to hit the free agent market

Tier 1:

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How David Blatt Gave Away The NBA Finals

By Lang Greene

There isn’t a prepackaged Hollywood script on how to navigate the road to a NBA championship. The 82-game NBA regular season, filled with grueling back-to-backs and constant travel, is a maker of men. The subsequent two-month playoff march for the opportunity to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy further weeds out pretenders from the true contenders. It’s the reason why young teams around the league, overflowing with flash and style, are typically watching from their respective couches each June.

Veteran, tough-minded, experienced teams are able to navigate the course.

When you factor in the numerous opportunities along the journey to fall victim to raging egos, looming free agencies, salary demands, internal locker room beefs, front office rifts with the coaching staff, season-ending injuries, the referee’s whistle and pressure from the media and fans, winning a title should be defined as a career achievement.

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Quinn Cook Ready to Make Impact in the NBA

By Alex Kennedy

Duke products Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones are projected to be first-round picks in the 2015 NBA Draft, with Okafor almost certainly going in the top two and Winslow potentially going in the top five.

But make no mistake, point guard Quinn Cook, who is also in this draft class, played an enormous role in the Blue Devils’ national championship run as well. Not only did Cook average a career-high 15.3 points, he emerged as one of the most important players and leaders on that squad.

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Warriors Face Important Roster Decisions

By Cody Taylor

It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to win the NBA championship.

The feeling of winning the championship is still fresh on everybody’s mind. The feeling is so fresh that talk show hosts are still dissecting last night’s game. The smell of champagne may still be present throughout Quicken Loans Arena. Fans are still in shock that their 40-year championship drought is over and players are still nursing their celebratory hangovers.

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What To Do At #12?

By Ben Dowsett

Certain bits of unforeseen success in the 2014-15 season have left the Utah Jazz in a very different position than most expected a year ago. The effect was twofold: by well exceeding win projections, the Jazz not only accelerated their developmental timetable moving forward, but did so while pushing their pick from the early-to-mid lottery back to No. 12.

In the eyes of many, this may no longer be a franchise in need of adding any more high-upside talent. With Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Alec Burks, Dante Exum and Rodney Hood all on board and this core rolling over much of the league during the latter half of the season, it’s a fair viewpoint. Others think the Jazz are at least one more young stalwart away from true contention, and there are plenty of opinions in between.

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Making Sense of the Lance Stephenson Trade

By Jesse Blancarte

On Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers agreed to trade Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Lance Stephenson. It was a trade that included two of the more disappointing free agent signings from last summer.

After playing at a borderline All-Star level in 2013-14 with the Indiana Pacers, Stephenson signed with the Charlotte Hornets to help them take the next step in their development. In Stephenson, the Hornets were adding a 24-year-old swingman who could handle the ball and play stingy defense. The biggest concern with Stephenson is the fact that he is a hard personality to deal with. He has been described as “temperamental” and has had numerous on-court issues in the past. It was a worthwhile gamble at the time for the Hornets, even though the relationship ultimately didn’t work out.

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Finding a Draft Steal

By Joel Brigham

Every year, immediately following the draft, there are about a million articles on the internet discussing who the “steals” of that draft were. But that of course is ridiculous because until we see these kids play for a year or three, there’s very little way of knowing which of those bargain-buy draft picks will ultimately pan out. Plenty of them drop in the ranks for good reasons.

The following examines the players in the last three drafts who did ultimately prove to be steals in an attempt to discover if there are any overlying themes as to why they dropped on draft night or why they ultimately ended up outperforming their draft position.

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Number 1 NBA Draft Picks: Where Are They Now?

By Jessica Camerato

There is an emphasis each year on which prospect will be selected as the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. But what happens after the buzz dies down and their careers begin? Take a look back at the last 10 top picks and how they’ve panned out in the NBA.

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