The Atlanta Hawks are 34 – 26 and sitting in the 5th position in the Eastern Conference. As usual the Hawks made no major moves at the deadline. They traded Mike Scott to the Suns for cash, and they also traded Tiago Splitter, a 2nd round pick, and the rights to swap 2017 picks with the 76ers for Ersan Ilyasova. Ilyasova is a free agent at the end of the year, so he likely is more of a rental player than an actual piece. So, there you have it, a team sitting in 5th place that

Luke Walton began his coaching career going 39-4. He did this with the Golden State Warriors while filling in for the recovering Steve Kerr. This was an amazing run for Walton and the Warriors , including 19-0 start to the season. But in the back of a lot of people’s minds, this success was was because of the Warriors’ talent, not Walton’s coaching. The Los Angeles Lakers on the other hand, believed in Walton and took a chance on him this offseason. That gamble seems to be pa

The Lakers are the type of franchise that is championship or bust, and with good reason. They have won 16 championships in their illustrious history. If they don’t get more proactive in free agency and trading, it will be very hard for the Lakers to get back to that. The Lakers haven’t been without a superstar for many years, going back at least 20 years, prior to Kobe Bryant, and before that, they had Magic Johnson. Not to mention others like James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal,

D’Angelo Russell is poised to have a breakout season for the Lakers. Russell no longer has to look over his shoulders with the weird grudge that Byron Scott held with him all season. It was a very odd situation that a 2nd overall pick would be coming off the bench, on a very bad team. Scott seemed to be very hard on his rookie point guard, and it took a heavy toll on him. In steps Luke Walton, and Russell seems to be headed to be the set starter at point guard, but that’s not

D’Angelo Russell – Pikachu He’s electric, he can do a little bit of everything. He’s someone that’s loyal to the organization, even amidst criticism. Pikachu is also the most popular Pokemon in the game, and Russell is developing a huge following in L.A. Luol Deng – Mr. Mime He has the ability to mimic other Pokemon, just like Luol Deng can mimic multiple positions, playing the 3 and the 4. Deng is also a quiet player, and rarely shows a lot of emotion, always staying cool

*Photo via USA Today The Lakers are going to ask a lot of their young players, and from what they have shown in the NBA Summer League they look ready. The Lakers won their first two games, and D’Angelo Russell has led the way. Russell hit a long 3 for the win against the 76ers Saturday night. Russell has gotten stronger, and looks more comfortable driving off of a screen. Russell has averaged 21 ppg , 7.5 rpg, and 5.5 apg. He has been more of a leader on the floor directing t

*Photo via Doublecluthpod.uk The Lakers made some pretty telling moves so far this offseason. They completely struck out on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, by not even getting a meeting with him. Instead of panicking, they did not go out and sign a lot of players to try to make up for it. They made it known that they are committed to the young core they have, and that they believe they can win with this team. The Lakers offseason starts with Luol Deng. Deng played last seaso

*Photo via Newsclip.com The Los Angeles Lakers took Brandon Ingram with the 2nd pick of the NBA Draft Thursday. Ingram was a 1-and-done player at Duke university, and the player that some experts had as the #1 overall player. By drafting Ingram and not trading away the pick for a veteran, the Lakers also sent a message that they were “all in” on rebuilding from the ground up. It shows they are okay with struggling another year, in order to have a brighter future for years to