While things have finally quieted down a bit, there are always some interesting developments around the league so we put together this brief synopsis of some of the more relevant news and notes for this week in the NBA.
The month of
July finally comes to a close in what has been an extremely active start to the
NBA offseason. Between the effects of the college draft, the free agency
signing period, and numerous trades, the entire landscape of the league has
changed with teams gearing-up for a run at next year’s world title.
US Team routs France in Olympic
opener
The 2012
Summer Olympic Games in London got underway this weekend and the US Men’s basketball
team behind the strong play of Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant rolled-over France
98-71 in its opener. It is no wonder that Bovada has the US Team as a
ridiculous 1/12 favorite to win the gold medal with players such as Durant,
LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant headlining a roster filled with NBA All-Stars.
The most
interesting story surrounding this team as it prepared for this year’s Summer
Games, was whether or not it would have been able to beat the original US
‘Dream Team’ that won the gold in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. That team
featured the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Charles
Barkley.
The US will
be back in action this Tuesday against Tunisia in its second game in the
preliminary round of the tournament.
Vaughn set to take over as Orlando’s
new head coach
The Orlando
Magic have scheduled a Monday afternoon press conference to announce that
Jacque Vaughn has been selected to replace the fired Stan Van Gundy as their
new head coach for the 2012/2013 season. This comes as somewhat of a shock
considering that the former NBA point guard has minimal experience coaching
having spent the last two seasons as an assistant in San Antonio under George
Popovich.
This could
be a strong signal that the Magic are more than ready to move on from the whole
Dwight Howard saga and looking to make a brand new start at rebuilding the team
from the ground-up around a core of younger players. There are no new
developments in its efforts to trade Howard, but you can fully expect Orlando
to step things up in the coming weeks to not only unload its disgruntled center
but some other high-priced players as well.
Miami and Boston headline an
opening-day tripleheader
The NBA
released its schedule for the 2012/2013 season that will return to a full 82-game
slate starting on Oct. 30 with a tripleheader that features Boston at Miami,
Cleveland at Washington, and nightcap showdown between Dallas and the Los
Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.
Not only do
the Heat have plans to raise their championship banner from last season’s world
title before the start of their game against the Celtics, you can rest assured
that they will give Ray Allen ample time on the court to try and pick apart his
former team during the game. The other highlight of opening day will be Steve
Nash’s debut in a Lakers’ uniform as Los Angeles begins its quest to get back
on top in the Western Conference.
Two nights
later on Nov.1, the new-look Brooklyn Nets will get an early chance to claim
bragging rights as the best team in the Big Apple when they take-on the New
York Knicks in their new home at the Barclay’s Center. Later that night, the
San Antonio Spurs open their regular season by playing host to the Oklahoma
City Thunder in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals.