DeMarcus Cousins Injury Update!

Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins has a torn left quadriceps, is out for an indefinite period and will begin rehabilitation immediately, the team said Tuesday.
An MRI on Tuesday morning confirmed the tear, according to the Warriors, who said it would provide updates on Cousins "as appropriate."

Cousins' noncontact injury occurred while he was pursuing a loose ball with 8:30 remaining in the first quarter of Monday's 135-131 loss to the LA Clippers in Game 2 of their playoff series.
He knocked away a pass from Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari. As Cousins tried to chase down the ball, he fell to the floor. He tried to get up and keep going, but once he rose to his feet, he immediately called to be taken out of the game. He then gingerly made his way back to the Warriors' locker room with team medical personnel.

Cousins just started getting back to his old self. Cousins had shown steady progress and glimpses of his All-NBA self before Monday's injury, but now he will be facing several more months of rehab on the quad. Cousins must be devastated as of right now. But not only for his team but for his future as well Cousins missed almost a full year of play with a torn left Achilles suffered last season in New Orleans.

He signed a one-year deal with the Warriors, expecting that a healthy return to play would catapult him back into the free-agent market this summer. With him suffering two major injuries this changes his value and how teams look at him now. He his now seen as a liability to teams. Even with his unremarkable ability he is seen as a hazard. You take a chance on him and sign him you don’t know how long he will be out. Also when he get healthy you won’t know what your gonna get out of him and you won’t know how much of a hindrance his past injuries will be. The risk and reward is high in this situation, but that’s the price of doing business.

Dream Crushers

The NBA playoff come every year with all sorts of teams. You have your teams who know they can make it to the finals and win. The second type of teams are the teams that must prove that they belong. And then you have the dream crushers, dream crushers are the teams that are hungry and people don't think much of them. Which of the teams are dreams crushers?

The first team that could be a dream crusher is the Brooklyn Nets. D'Angelo Russel has been nothing but phenomenal in this NBA season. Leading his teams to wins to 42 wins. The Nets are currently facing the Philadelphia 76ers and they just stole the first game from the Sixers. Russel dropped 26 points in his first NBA playoff game. The sixers are considered one of the top teams in the east. If the Nets can keep this energy going they might just crush any hopes for this team keeping Jimmy Butler.

The second team that can be a great dream crusher is the Portland Trailblazers. The team is 3th in the west but people always look over them because the media forgets about about them. They have probably the best the point guard in the league right now. Right now they are facing the Thunder who are a more popular team for the players. Everyone expects Westbrook and George to make it to the next round. The Trailblazers have some great players in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Also they have some great role players like Eneis Kanter who had a 20 point game and 18 rebounds. He was very effective for being a third option.

Overall these two teams have the best bet to win there series because of skill and team work. I am excited to see the playoffs to see how it turns out. Who will win and will lose is still a mystery and I cant wait.

Is Damian Lillard the most underrated player right now?

Many players in the League have had great seasons with there teams. But every season has one player who has been nothing but a beast. In fact there was one player who is been like this for a couple years now. It has been Damian Lillard for so many reasons.

The first reason is stat lines.He has been one of the most impressive players a point guard. With 25.8 points, 6.7 assist, and 1.1 steal. Leading his team in point and assists, his great effort is shown in those numbers alone. He is in the top 10 in points per games with the 9th position. Not only that but he has had so many 30 point plus games. With four 40 points games in a year where James harden has taken the mantel of best scorer people have forgotten that Dam has played on a MVP level for sure this year.

The second and most important thing he has is leadership. He has shown so much love and respect to his teammates and team. In a interview about the reasoning for not asking for trade. It was multiple reasons but the first one is he wants to win but getting a ring isn't the most important thing. He has put the players he has around higher then being a leader of championship squad. He knows if he leaves the team the players around him could have a change in life in the negative way. Also he wants the competition to get that ring as well. On top of that Damian has a clutch gene like no other. Put the ball in his hands and the ball is going to go in.

Overall Damian is a top ten player in the league with true old school loyalty his team and fans. he has shown so much drive for winning that he wont considered a ring less career as bad thing but he wants it his way.  He wont put his pride away to just win a pointless victory.

Should The Orlando Magic Have Tanked This Season?

The main discussion revolving around the Orlando Magic this playoffs will be if they should've tanked this season to get another asset or be a first round exit. The Orlando Magic have ended the season at the 7th place in the Eastern Conference. The Magic have made the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season, ending the longest playoff drought in the Eastern Conference.

Everyone around the league thought that the Magic would be one of the worst teams in the league and compete for a top pick in the draft. They would presumably be going for either Zion or Rj to help them with their future. Instead a team lead by Dj Augustin, Evan Fournier, and Nikola Vucevic got this team to the playoffs.

The key to this incredible Magic season is Steve Clifford. Clifford has came in and gotten the maximum production from all the players on the team. He turned Vucevic into an All-Star and turned Dj Augustin into a a good starter with 11.6 points and 5.3 assists a game. Making it to the playoffs means a great deal for the team and the city of Orlando.

Dwight Howard was on the Magic the last time the Magic made it to the playoffs. Since then Dwight Howard has been with the Lakers, Rockets, Hawks, Hornets, Nets, and Wizards all before the Magic have made the playoffs. Making the playoffs means that the fans of Orlando have something to look forward to. It shows the fans that the team does have a bright future ahead and that all of these bad years they have suffered through is going to be worth it. Ultimately this helps the youth of the group the most, it'll give them the experience they can use to help them later on in their careers.

Jonathan Isaac, Aaron Gordon, and Mo Bamba are going to benefit the most from this playoff experience. These players are ultimately the future of the Magic and who they will try to build their team around. The oldest of these players are Gordon, who is 23, he's been on the Magic for the past 5 seasons and is slowly becoming a better player every year. Gordon shows flashes of becoming a Blake Griffin like player, with early in his career being a dunker who turns into a point forward with a shot. This is extremely promising for the Magic as Griffin is an All-NBA 3rd team player this season.

Bamba and Isaac are defensive minded players who are really young in their careers. This playoff experience will give these guys a better idea of what they need to add to their games to help them excel in the postseason. Bamba hasn't been the most productive rookie for the Magic, playing in only 47 games this season, but he shows a lot of promise. Bamba is a 7 foot center who showed in the Preseason he can shoot 3's, which is vital in today's game. Isaac is a defensive minded 7 foot forward who is poised to have his best scoring year next season. This season he has raised his point per game by 4.2 points and has the ability to become a dominating player on both sides of the ball.

The Orlando Magic know what they are doing with the talent they are getting to surround the team with. The ultimate example of this is Michael Carter-Williams. Since signing to the team, the Magic have gone 9-2 with him. This is just a small example of how the right role player can help the team and how the Magic have committed to winning this season.

Ultimately some will try to argue that the Magic made a mistake for not tanking and going for a good pick and keep with the rebuilding plan. However, they made the right move by getting their players experience and showing to their fans that they are moving towards the right direction. They are developing a winning culture there and having the fans demanding wins will help the Magic succeed in the future. The Magic have a great future ahead of them and we can only hope the rest of the Eastern Conference is paying attention to them.

Is Boston going to be good next year?

Boston Celtics have been slowly getting better. The infamous trade that sent Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and all there old players. In return they had received many picks from the Nets in that have made this team they have now. But will it stay together?

Problems come with many teams but the Celtics have strange problems that they have created. Danny Ainge has said things about getting Anthony Davis by trading his young core. The problem comes with Anthony not wanting to commit to a long term deal with them. Danny would be trading away all his great assist and if he fails his whole team now knows that they don't matter in the long term deal. Jayson Tatum has already express interest in leveling for a bigger role on the other team. Jaylen Brown has not been used to his full potential. The last one he would lose is Terry Rozier. he is ready to step up and get paid for it. Danny has said his hope is that his young players can better trade picecs for the Anthony davis trade.

The second issue is that his best player Kyrie Irving is planning on leaving or maybe staying we don't know. Kyrie has so much potential and can lead the team to a title if they can stay together. Kyrie has is a big time free agent, this only happens once in awhile. There is a chance he stays but it is not for sure.

The Celtics started this season with the best future but now they could easily be in rebuild mode all over again. In the best scenario they could were there at now almost at the top. The Celtics need to solve there problem.

Would You Rather Have Dwayne Wade or Dirk Nowitzki?

Last night 2 NBA legends have played their final games, those guys went out with style. Dwayne Wade recorded his 5th career triple double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, while Dirk Nowitzki recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds. The question that will be asked all around the league is who would you rather have on your team out of the two?

Dirk Nowitzki played 20 years in the NBA, averaging 20.7 points and 7.5 assists per game playing in 1522 career games. Dirk has had a legendary career having won a Finals MVP, one NBA championship, 2007 MVP, 14 time All-Star, and 12 time All-NBA player. Dirk's accomplishments are impressive to say the least. At the time he came into the league the stereotypical power forward was Karl Malone, a big strong back to the basketball player. Dirk came in and revolutionized the forward position to now teams want to find a shooter at the position. Dirk is going to go down as one of the greatest European players of all time and has inspired millions of Europeans all over the world.  

Dwayne Wade has played 15 years in the NBA, averaging 22 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists a game playing in 1054 career games. Wade's accomplishments can compete with anyones having 3 championships, a Finals MVP, 13 time All-Star, 8 time All-NBA player, and 3 time All-Defensive team. Wade is the all time blocks leader for guards, he's best known for his time with the Miami Heat and only left momentarily because of money issues. The Heat promised that if Wade kept taking less of a paycheck they would eventually pay him back for all of his sacrifices, but never did which made Wade leave for Chicago. Wade successfully recruited LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come into his town to help win 2 championships and they created on of the most famous teams of all time. That Miami Heat team became bigger than life, with everyone wearing their jerseys and they helped change the game forever. With that team it started to turn the fans from cheering for teams to cheering for just players. Wade will have a statue in front of that arena one day and it'll forever be known as Wade County.

Although Wade played 5 less years I would have to go with Wade. After Dirk won a championship he didn't really make noise again in his career. The Mavericks never made it out of the 1st round again since that championship and the last few years of Dirk have been extremely wasted. This last season Dirk could barley move and it has became a joke to watch Dirk run. Wade still is producing even this year with 15 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. The Heat could've made it to the playoffs if Josh Richardson didn't get hurt at the worst time possible. Wade has had the better career and was a force on the defensive end, where Dirk was really never known for his defense. 

The best comparisons to players coming in now to these guys are Donovan Mitchell, who is a modern day Wade, and Kristaps Porzingis, who is a modern day Dirk. If you had to start a franchise with a rookie Wade or a rookie Dirk you'd have to pick Wade. In his prime he couldn't be stopped and could put any team on his back and help them win games. He's a force who will be missed around the league. Miami will never be the same without Dwayne Wade.

John Wall Questioning his return next season

Washington Wizards point guard John Wall says he is not sure whether he will be able to play next season as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon.
Wall spoke to reporters at halftime of the Wizards’ last regular-season game Tuesday night.
He said his goal is to return next season, “but whenever the doctors clear me and get to that point, then I will know.”

Wall appeared in only 32 games this season, averaging 20.7 points and 8.7 assists, before having an operation on his left heel in January. Then he ruptured his tendon in a fall at home in February.
Wall said he will rehab his Achilles in Miami during the offseason.
The five-time All-Star was wearing a gray walking boot on his left foot and lower leg.
“It’s my job to get myself back to where I think I can be,” he said.

If John wall doesn’t return next season it’s a good chance the Wizards will trade him. We all know he’s one of their best players but if he can’t  of use, the best thing they can do is trade him for his value. Even with his injury he has a high trade stock. Once the Wizards let the league know he’s up for grabs there will be offers left and right for him.