May 2014 Portland Trail Blazers Wiretap

Top-5 Playoff PER: Aldridge, LeBron, Troy Daniels, Gibson, Dwight

Apr 28, 2014 12:16 PM

LaMarcus Aldridge has the top Player Efficiency Rating through the first four games of the 2014 NBA Playoffs with a mark of 34.0.

LeBron James, who has played three games, ranks second at 33.1.

Troy Daniels has played in just two games, but ranks third with a mark of 29.5.

Taj Gibson (28.6) and Dwight Howard (28.3) round out the top-five.

Blake Griffin ranks sixth at 26.9 followed by Tim Duncan (25.7), Chris Andersen (25.4), Paul George (25.3) and Andray Blache (23.7).

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: LaMarcus Aldridge, LeBron James, Troy Daniels, Dwight Howard, Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ, NBA Playoffs

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NBA Admits Referees Should Have Awarded Howard Two Free Throws On Late Boxout With Freeland

Apr 21, 2014 5:12 PM

The NBA acknowledged the officials missed a late call in the Portland Trail Blazers' 122-120 overtime win over the Houston Rockets in Game 1 on Sunday.

"After video review by the league office, we have determined that the officials were incorrect in assessing a foul to the Rockets' Dwight Howard with 10.8 seconds remaining in overtime," Rod Thorn said in a statement. "The foul should have been called on the Blazers' Joel Freeland and Howard should have been awarded two free throws."

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Dwight Howard, Joel Freeland, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA

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Ties Broken For 2014 NBA Draft Selection Order

Apr 18, 2014 5:24 PM

The NBA broke five ties for teams with identical records to help determine the selection order for the 2014 NBA Draft.

The Utah Jazz won a tiebreaker over the Boston Celtics.

The Brooklyn Nets won a tiebreaker the Washington Wizards. The Celtics will receive the pick from the Nets, while the Phoenix Suns receive the Wizards' pick.

The Chicago Bulls on a tiebreaker over the Toronto Raptors.

The Portland Trail Blazers won a tiebreaker with the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets. The Rockets then won a tiebreaker with the Heat.

Milwaukee 15-67 (.183) // 250
Philadelphia 19-63 (.232) // 199
Orlando 23-59 (.280) // 156
Utah 25-57 (.305) // 104
Boston 25-57 (.305) // 103
LA Lakers 27-55 (.329) // 63
Sacramento 28-54 (.341) // 43
Detroit (1) 29-53 (.354) // 28
Cleveland 33-49 (.402) // 17
New Orleans (2) 34-48 (.415) // 11
Denver (3) 36-46 (.439) // 8
New York (To Denver or to Orlando via Denver) 37-45 (.451) // 7
Minnesota (4) 40-42 (.488) // 6
Phoenix 48-34 (.585) // 5

The order for the remainder of the first round picks is as follows:
15. Atlanta 38-44 (.463)
16. Charlotte (To Chicago) 43-39 (.524)
17. Brooklyn (To Boston) 44-38 (.537)
18. Washington (To Phoenix) 44-38 (.537)
19. Chicago 48-34 (.585)
20. Toronto 48-34 (.585)
21. Dallas (To Oklahoma City via Houston and LA Lakers) 49-33 (.598)
22. Memphis 50-32 (.610)
23. Golden State (To Utah) 51-31 (.622)
24. Portland (To Charlotte) 54-28 (.659)
25. Houston 54-28 (.659)
26. Miami 54-28 (.659)
27. Indiana (To Phoenix) 56-26 (.683)
28. LA Clippers 57-25 (.695)
29. Oklahoma City 59-23 (.720)
30. San Antonio 62-20 (.756)

2014 Second Round Draft Choice Order
31. Milwaukee
32. Philadelphia
33. Orlando (To Cleveland)
34/35. Boston (To Dallas)
34/35. Utah
36. LA Lakers (To Milwaukee via Minnesota and Phoenix)
37. Sacramento (To Toronto)
38. Detroit
39. Cleveland (To Philadelphia)
40. New Orleans (To Minnesota)
41. Denver
42. New York (To Houston)
43. Atlanta
44. Minnesota
45. Charlotte
46. Washington
47. Brooklyn (To Philadelphia via Dallas and Boston)
48. Toronto (To Milwaukee via Phoenix)
49. Chicago
50. Phoenix
51. Dallas
52. Memphis (To Philadelphia via Cleveland)
53. Golden State (To Minnesota)
54. Houston (To Philadelphia via Milwaukee)
55. Miami
56. Portland (To Denver)
57. Indiana
58. LA Clippers (To San Antonio via New Orleans)
59. Oklahoma City (To Toronto via New York)
60. San Antonio

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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RealGM Radio: Mega NBA Playoffs Preview

Apr 18, 2014 2:16 PM

In this episode of RealGM Radio, host Daniel Leroux previews the NBA Playoffs with four different guests. 

Beckley Mason (@BeckleyMason) of the New York Times and ESPN joins the show to work through the bracket and provide his take from the first round to the finals.

After that, Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) of Basketball Insiders comes on to provide his insight on the various matchups he is looking forward to in the next few weeks.

Following him, Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) of RealGM projects how the various first round series will shake out and what he is looking forward to the most.

Finally, Arturo Galletti (@ArturoGalletti) of BoxScoreGeeks.com shares his playoff predictions and discusses the playoff prediction contest his site is running with Wages of Wins.

CLICK HERE to listen or download.

You can also click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooklyn Nets, NBA, RealGM Radio

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Spurs, Clippers, Thunder, Heat, Warriors Finish In Top-5 In Efficiency Differential

Apr 17, 2014 12:30 PM

The San Antonio Spurs finished the 13-14 regular season with the best efficiency differential in the NBA with a mark of +8.1. The Spurs scored 110.5 points per 100 possession while allowing 102.4 points per 100 possessions.

The Los Angeles Clippers ranked second, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors. 

The Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns round out the top-10.

Click here for the full list.

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia Sixers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooklyn Nets, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

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Damian Lillard Signs 3rd Richest Shoe Deal In NBA

Apr 14, 2014 5:57 PM

Damian Lillard is finalizing a new shoe contract with Adidas that is believed to be one of the richest in the NBA.

A person with knowledge of the contract said it is smaller only than that of Derrick Rose (reportedly $185 million over 13 years with Adidas) and LeBron James ($20 million annually).

Adidas would have had stiff competition if they waited any longer, as their window to have exclusive negotiating rights with his agent, Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management, recently ended and Nike as well as the Jordan Brand were known to be very interested in luring Lillard away.

Lillard benefits from being on a team whose primary colors are red and black, which have been the most popular since the early days of Air Jordans.

ESPN reports that the deal could extend to 10 years and be worth as much as $100 million including incentives and options.

Sam Amick/USA Today

Tags: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA

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Joel Freeland Goes Through 'Contact' Practice, Close To Return

Apr 8, 2014 10:26 PM

Joel Freeland has missed the past 26 games for the Portland Trail Blazers with a sprained MCL in his right knee.

Freeland went through "contact" work during the Blazers' practice on Tuesday and is nearing a return. Freeland is hopeful of playing in one of the Blazers' final two regular season games.

“I felt pretty good, I was moving pretty well,” Freeland said of his Tuesday workout. “We’ve got one more week left. Four games. I’m trying to get back for either the Golden State game or the Clippers game — I would really love to get back for Golden State. That would be the ideal situation for me.”

Joe Freeman/Oregonian

Tags: Joel Freeland, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA, NBA Injury

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Lillard Close To New Deal With Adidas

Apr 2, 2014 11:25 AM

Damian Lillard is close to agreement on a multi-year deal with adidas.

adidas had a 30-day exclusive window to reach an agreement with Lillard.

“We’re close,” Lillard said on Tuesday. “Nothing final yet. I'm excited.”

As Haynes reported in February, due to Lillard reaching certain performance incentive clauses in his adidas rookie shoe deal, he was able to opt out at the end of the season to pursue a long-term, prosperous contract.

Chris Haynes/Comcast

Tags: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA

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