NBA Trade Deadline 2020 Updated (5:00pm EST)

The NBA trade deadline is upon us. As all teams are actively looking at their roster and seeing what pieces they need to make a championship run, they better think fast as trades end Thursday at 3pm eastern.

UPDATED: The last blockbuster trade of the day included the Knicks Clippers and Wizards! The Clippers gain Marcus Morris and Isaiah Thomas (I.T. the Clippers will waive), the Wizards will receive Jerome Robinson who they wanted to draft and the Knicks get Moe Harkless plus a 2020 First Round Pick.

UPDATED: The Detroit Pistons are trading Andre Drummond to Cleveland in return for Brandon Knight, John Henson and a second round draft pick. Drummond looks just as confused as all of us… definitely could’ve got more from other teams.

UPDATED: According to Woj of ESPN the Golden State Warriors have traded D’Angelo Russell, Omari Spellman and Jacob Evans to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins, a protected 2021 first round pick & and 2022 second round pick. This teams D-Lo up with his good friend Karl Anthony Towns which the two have had a great desire to play together. The warriors are stacking their picks to draft some talent or use the picks for more trade bait before the deadline ends!

The first big trade that has kicked off the deadline was a move involving James Harden’s favorite pick and roll threat Clint Capela. Tuesday night it was announced there was a huge 4 team, 12 players trade between the Rockets, Hawks, Nuggets & Timberwolves. The big pieces in the trade include the already mentioned Capela heading to Atlanta and Robert Convington going to Houston with Jordan Bell from Minnesota.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA Today Sports

Another trade that is in the works and yet to be fully completed involves 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala. Dre was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in the offseason but has yet to play a minute for the franchise. It’s reported that the Miami Heat have worked out a deal that will land him in Miami in a trade for Justise Winslow. Supposedly reported by Woj of ESPN that the OKC Thunder are in the mix which will also allow Miami to gain forward Danilo Gallinari. The trade isn’t final yet and it looks like there’s more pieces to the puzzle but Miami is definitely going all out at the deadline.

UPDATED: Miami has agreed to trade Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson to Memphis for Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder. Miami is still trying to bring OKC in the picture for Gallinari but the clock is ticking!

I mentioned Atlanta earlier and I’m mentioning them again because they are trading Jabari Parker and Alex Len to the Sacramento Kings for Dewayne Dedmon and two second round draft picks sources tell Zach Lowe.

Late in the evening Wednesday night the Warriors & Sixers made a swap with Golden State trading Glenn Robinson III & Alec Burks in exchange for 3 second round picks.

The NBA Trade Deadline has now come and gone. It was fun while it lasted, some teams made good moves and others some head scratching ones. How’d your team do? Let me know in the comments!

RIP Stuart Scott: The ESPN Legend Cooler Than The Other Side Of The Pillow

In September of 1993 a young, University of North Carolina graduate, by the name of Stuart Scott appeared for the first time on ESPN. That day would be the start of an amazing 21 year career with ESPN, and would show the world the passion Stuart had for sports, people, and life.

A lot of us grew up watching Stuart Scott and his fun catch phrases such as, “Booyah” “holla at a playa when you see him in the street!”, “as cool as the other side of the pillow”. Sports are supposed to be fun and Scott definitely brought that to his reporting style. Just check him out down below analyzing a young Vince Carter’s amazing dunks!

In 2007 Stuart Scott was diagnosed with cancer. A cancer that would come back 3 times in 7 years. A cancer that Scott fought every day but continued to live his life to the fullest, still broadcasting for Sportscenter, Monday Night Football games and doing MMA workouts while still receiving treatments. Stuart didn’t let cancer hold him back and that’s why ESPN recently admired their colleague by presenting Scott at the 2014 ESPY’s with the Jimmy V Award. Scott gave an unbelievable and inspiring speech telling everyone, “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”

This morning ESPN paid tribute to their warrior with an amazing segment, showcasing the broadcaster, father, hard worker, and man Stuart Scott has fought so hard to be. He always stayed true to himself and today we thank him for that. Heaven has gained a fighter, thank you Stuart Scott.

Kevin Hart Drops Knowledge On The NBA MVP Race

I personally would take Kevin Hart over Skip Bayless on ESPN’s First Take any day of the week. The dude is funny but also has pretty good knowledge of the game.

Marcus Smart Pushes Fan During Upset Loss To Texas A&M!!

During todays game against Texas A&M, Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart lost his cool with a fan in the stands. With seconds left in the game Smart was called for a foul and while falling into the stands, where a fan stepped in and said something as Marcus was getting up. Smart turned around and shoved the fan, Jeff Orr a supposed Texas A&M “Super Fan”. Not a good look for both men involved but as a player Smart will receive a decent punishment by the NCAA.

Nick Johnson’s Two Big Dunks Against Oregon!

Nick Johnson with two great dunks during a tough win tonight against Oregon!

8 Years Ago Today Kobe Bryant Scored 81 Points

8 years ago today, on a horrible Los Angeles Lakers team, Kobe Bryant dropped a career high and ridiculous 81 points on the Toronto Raptors. It was one of the best scoring performances of our generation, since billions of us never saw Wilt Chamberlain’s historic 100 point game. Bryant scored 81 points on 28-46 field goal attempts, 7-13 three pointers, and 18-20 free throws. Check out down below as Jalen Rose recaps Kobe’s 81 points on Grantland as he was one of the main defenders Kobe was doing work against.

Taylor University’s Incredible “Silent Night”

Watch a little to get the point then fast forward to 40 seconds into the clip!

“Each year, on the Saturday before final exams week, the students at Taylor University gather for one of the most unique traditions in all of college sports, appropriately dubbed, the Silent Night game! The premise is simple, the fans are completely silent until the Trojans score their 10th point of the game. The moment the ball passes through the net for TU’s 10th point the standing room only crowd goes absolutely crazy!”

And ABSOLUTELY CRAZY THEY WENT!!! College sports are so GREAT!

Huntington University’s Shane Merryman Hits 3/4 Court Game-Winner!!

This is the kind of stuff ESPN loves…. the small gym, two small universities, the grainy camera and one GREAT shot!! With Huntington University down by 1 with a second left, Shane Merryman chucks a shot up from the other free throw line as a defender flies at him….Nothing But The Bottom Of The Net!!

Where Are They Now? Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway Edition!

If you were a fan of basketball in the 90’s, then you absolutely know the name, Anfernee Hardaway or maybe you knew him by his nickname, “Penny”. Penny Hardaway was the closest thing to Magic Johnson in the 90’s, as he was a 6’7 point guard, with a beast of a center in Shaquille O’neal. The rookie shined for the Orlando Magic averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while leading them to their first playoff berth and 50 win season. The next year, Hardaway was named to the eastern conference all-star team and the all-NBA team, while taking the Magic to the NBA finals, even though they were swept by the Houston Rockets.

His third year is when the super stardom took off as he made his second all-star game, received his own Nike shoes, starred in his own commercials featuring Chris Rock, was third in MVP voting and won a gold medal with the 1996 Olympic team. Penny Hardaway was starting to take over the NBA as Michael Jordan was slowly on his way out.

The super stardom carried over to the following years, even though injuries slowed down Hardaway’s progress, fans still voted him to third and fourth all-star games. The couple of knee injuries made the Magic trade Penny to the Phoenix Suns where he averaged 17 ppg and 20 ppg during the playoffs. Eventually losing to the Lakers in the semi-finals, another knee surgery kept him out of the next season. A few years later and a career average with the Suns of 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, he was traded to the New York Knicks with Stephon Marbury. The two did their best by getting the Knicks to the playoffs but ended up losing in the first round. Hardaway battled a couple more knee surgeries during the next couple years eventually being traded back to the Magic. The Magic waived him and he signed a minimum deal with the Miami Heat in the off-season. Midway through the season he was waived and his NBA career abruptly ended.

His career lasted 16 years with averages of 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. The numbers don’t do him justice, as a lot of us remember the good times of Penny Hardaway. It’s sad that 6 knee surgeries didn’t allow him to be the player we all knew he could be.

The Present:

The present brings Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway back home, but in a good way. I recently watched a special on ESPN E:60 about Penny Hardaway and a close friend, Desmond Merriweather, who is battling colon cancer while coaching a middle school basketball team. Hardaway teamed up with Merriweather to lead the boy’s to numerous victories over the next couple of years. This is where I let E:60 tell this amazing story….

Penny Hardaway may have been one of the best basketball players to play the game but this may be his greatest gift to the game of basketball.

Duke Lands #1 Jahlil Okafor And #4 Tyus Jones

 

This past week was the start of the college signing period. High school and college sports have blown up as of recent. Back in the day a player would sign their letter of intent and that’s that. Nowadays there are press conferences at  the schools, players committing live on ESPN and  the whole world knowing where these kids will be taking their talents in the fall. This Friday was no different as many of the top basketball recruits told the world where they will be playing. Two of these commits just so happened to be #1 ranked, Jahlil Okafor and #4 ranked Tyus Jones who both chose Duke University.

Like the Miami Heat Big 3, these two star players talked about playing in college together as they played for Team USA, winning gold medals is Mexico and Lithuania. The team USA affiliation is what raised eyebrows when news of the possible duo ending up at Duke was going around, as Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is the USA Men’s National Team head coach. Okafor kept it simple when he said, “We just wanted the best opportunity to win,”. You can’t be mad at that.

Take a look at what Duke will be expecting next fall down below