Dwayne Wade May Opt Out of Contract

As we all know last off season Dwayne Wayne took a significant pay cut so the Heat could resign LeBron James to a max deal so he could stay with the Miami Heat. But, as we know LeBron James decided to return home to play for his hometown team the Cleveland Cavaliers. So the Miami Heat now are left with a decent amount of money to spend this off season. This is the second time in Wade's Heat tenure that he took a pay cut for the betterment of the team. The pay cut he took last summer had him lose about 6 million dollars. So with that being said Wade is looking for a raise. Dwayne Wade will more then likely opt out of his 2 year 33 million dollar deal.

If the Heat doesn't give him a raise he has made it clear that he will become a free agent and look for a new team that is willing to pay him. It's time the Miami Heat show Dwayne Wade the loyalty he has been giving them for the past 12 years. Dwayne Wade has brought 3 NBA championships to the Miami Heat. Even with Wade aging he was still able to average 21.5 points per game , 4.8 assists per game, and 3.5 rebounds per game this season. So if the Heat don't want to get any worse they what they were this year they better give him what he asks for. There should not be anyone saying Wade is being greedy and selfish because he has shown everyone he's all about winning and doing what's best for the team.

As we saw last season with LeBron in Miami they lost in the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs. Without LeBron and with Bosh having to sit out the rest of the season due to blood clots the Miami Heat are a lottery team with the 10th pick in this year draft. If Miami loses Dwayne Wade in free agency they could be a NBA Lottery team the following season as well. Dwayne Wade deserves a raise and he deserves to retire a Miami Heat player. Hopefully Pat Riley and the Miami Heat front office makes the right decision and resigns Wade to the deal he wants.

Adrian Peterson May Retire

Even as ridiculous as it sounds that Adrian Peterson may be retiring it is not far off as it seems. Adrian Peterson made it clear that he wants to be traded by the Minnesota Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings made it clear that they don't want to trade him.  Also the team Adrian Peterson wants to be traded to the Dallas Cowboys is the least likely team the Minnesota Vikings will be willing to trade him too. So neither the Minnesota Vikings or Adrian Peterson & his agent have not seen eye to eye with anything at this point.

Adrian Peterson has skipped  OTA's which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. AP has told people who are close to him that he is willing to do anything possible to not have to play for the Minnesota Vikings ever again. Adrian Peterson still feels that the Vikings didn't back him like they should have when he was dealing with the child abuse case. In result of the Vikings not backing AP during the child abuse case they now are at risk of losing their franchise runnning back. Adrian Peterson is the Minnesota Vikings all-time leading rusher.

In Adrian Peterson 8 year career he has rushed for 10,190 and 86 touchdowns. Losing a talent like that will hurt the Minnesota Vikings franchise tremendously. So the Minnesota Vikings better get on Adrian Peterson and his agent Ben Dogra good side. The only thing the Vikings has in their favor is AP is owed 45 million dollars in the next 3 years. No team wants to take on that ridiculous contract especially with most of the teams with running back issues have already drafted young star running backs for a cheap price compared to AP contract.

JR Smith & LeBron James Take Over in Game 1

Last night was game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks. The first quarter Atlanta Hawks jumped out to an early lead that put them up 6 at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks got a little help in the first by LeBron getting into early foul trouble. But, the second quarter the Cavs were able to get a run of their own. The Cavs run led them to tie the game up 51-51 heading into halftime. The third quarter is when the Cavs started to separate themselves from the Hawks.

The Cavs outscored the Hawks 23 to 16 in third quarter. At the end of the third quarter the score was 74 to 67 with the Cavs in the lead. The second half is when JR Smith just basically took over the game and was hitting fade away threes with defenders all in his face. JR Smith was playing like a man possessed and no one could stop him. JR Smith finished with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. JR Smith also had a playoff record by making 8 3 point shots.


LeBron James also had a great game for the Cavs as well. LeBron was having a decent game when DeMarre Carroll was guarding him. But, when DeMarre Carroll went out the game with a hyperextended knee he really took over the game. The Atlanta Hawks were forced to have Paul Millsap guard LeBron James and that was just a disaster he had Paul Milsap on skates every time Millsap came out to the perimeter to guard him. LeBron James finished with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal. Game 2 will be on Friday in Atlanta if LeBron James & JR Smith play like they did in game 1 the Cavs should win game 2 as well.

Los Angeles Lakers Jump to Number 2 Pick for the 2015 NBA Draft

 

Last night was the NBA draft lottery that took place in New York. The NBA draft lottery is for the 14 teams in the NBA that didn't make the playoffs this year. They have a chance to land the number one spot in the draft to land the best talent out of college basketball or from overseas basketball. The projected top three picks before the NBA draft lottery from 1-3 was the Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers. But, as most of us know the lottery sometimes doesn't fall the way you would usually expect it to happen there is always that one team that sneaks into the top 3 that nobody thought would get a pick that high. For instance the Cleveland Cavaliers got the 1st pick 2 years in row which is a rarity.

Last night in the NBA draft lottery was no different. The New York Knicks who were projected to get the number 2 pick in the NBA draft lottery somehow dropped down and got the 4th pick in the draft. That was a huge blow to the Knicks front office, players, coaches, and fans. After a horrific season for the New York Knicks where they finished 17-65 you would think they would get rewarded with the number 1 pick or number 2 pick at worst. But, that wasn't the case unfortunately there are rumors that the New York Knicks are shopping the number 4 and are open to listening to trades.

The Los Angeles Lakers was the one team that shocked everyone and snuck into the top 3 picks in the draft. The Los Angeles Lakers were projected to be a number 4 pick before the NBA draft lottery. At worst the Lakers were projected to go number 5. But the Los Angeles exceeded projections and jumped to the number 2 spot for the 2015 NBA draft which will be held June 25th. I guess the early season injuries from Julius Randle and Kobe Bryant paid off since they will have a lottery pick for the second straight year in a row to add some more young talent to the LA Lakers.

Los Angeles Clippers Blow 3-1 Lead

The Houston Rockets became the 9th team in NBA history to come back down 3-1 in a series and win the series. The Clippers did not come out in yesterday game like this was a game 7. They came out like they were playing in a regular season game. The Houston Rockets outscored the Clippers 56 to 46 at half. It seemed like the Clippers were a step behind the Rockets the whole game.

The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Clippers in game 7 113-100. It seemed like the Houston Rockets momentum carried from game 6 to game 7 as well. Kevin McHale lineup change of starting Josh Smith over Terrence Jones was a great idea. Josh Smith had 15 points, and 1 block in 22 minutes of play. Josh Smith so far during this year's playoffs has started to play like the old Josh Smith back when he was with the Atlanta Hawks. James Harden had 31 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. Dwight Howard had 16 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Trevor Ariza had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Corey Brewer had 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Terrence Jones had 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block in 22 minutes of play. Next up for the Houston Rockets will be the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors starting Tuesday at 9 PM Eastern time at Golden State.

Although the Los Angeles Clippers lost the series Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Jamal Crawford played well this series. I would add JJ Redick on that list but he was up and down throughout this series. Chris Paul had 26 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals what more could you ask for from him. Blake Griffin had 27 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 block. DeAndre Jordan had 16 points, 17 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. Jamal Crawford had 17 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal. JJ Redick had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists. But, JJ Redick struggled from the 3pt line shooting 2 for 9 from behind the arc. In order for the Clippers to move forward next season they must resign DeAndre Jordan in offseason, sign a small forward in free agency or draft a small forward because Matt Barnes is just flat out terrible, and they need to add depth to their bench focusing mainly on a backup point guard and big men that can come off the bench to give Jordan and Griffin rest because Spencer Hawes and Glen Davis definitely didn't do that.