Latest news with #All-Star-level
New York Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Edwin Díaz's vintage season may force the Mets into a complicated free-agent decision
Pete Alonso isn't the only high-profile Mets player putting up All-Star-level numbers who may opt out after the season in search of a long-term contract. Quietly, Edwin Díaz is having a superb campaign in the third season of a five-year contract with the Mets worth $102 million. Díaz has pitched to a 1.99 ERA in 32 appearances with 16 saves in 17 chances this season. Over the past two months, he's allowed exactly one earned run, pitching to a 0.46 ERA. Simply, he's been the Díaz that rose to prominence in 2022, when he had one of the great seasons ever for a closer — especially one headed to free agency. It allowed him to become the highest-paid reliever in MLB history.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How will Tyrese Haliburton look post-Achilles recovery? Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kobe Bryant cases may provide some insight
Tyrese Haliburton joined an unfortunate list of NBA stars to have suffered one of the worst injuries in sports Sunday night with a torn Achilles tendon that required surgery Monday. All things considered, it's one of the most devastating injuries in basketball history. It shifted the trajectory of an NBA Finals Game 7, cut short one of the great individual postseason runs ever seen at its peak and put an immediate damper on the 2025-26 hopes of an emerging Pacers team that had just risen the ranks of Eastern Conference powers. Advertisement For Haliburton, the injury stunts the prime of his All-Star career just as he entered it at 25 years old. The good news for Haliburton is there's recent precedent for All-Star-level players to recover and resume their careers at a high level. What's next for Haliburton, Tatum, Lillard? The focus now shifts to Haliburton's recovery and the impact of the injury on his long-term prospects. It's a reality that fellow All-Stars Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum have faced for weeks since sustaining Achilles tears of their own in the postseason. Fortunately for all three, Achilles tears aren't necessarily the career-enders that they were for many in the past as medical advancements in treatment and recovery have improved the outlook of players who sustain them. But they retain the downside of altering the trajectory of basketball careers. Advertisement There's no telling how any of the three will look post-recovery. The best we can do is look at similar injuries to high-level players in recent basketball history. The most notable cases to examine are Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon in April 2013 at the end of the NBA regular season. As a 34-year-old guard at the time of his injury, Bryant's case is more relevant to Lillard's than Haliburton's or Tatum's. Bryant was on the backend of his prime as one of the game's most dominant offensive forces at the time of his injury. He played 78 games in the 2012-13 season prior to his injury and averaged 27.3 points, six assists and 5.6 rebounds per game while exceeding his career shooting percentage (44.7%) with a 46.3% success rate from the field. Advertisement This was late-stage Kobe. But it was still prime Kobe. He was named first-team All-NBA and finished fifth in MVP voting that season. He was never the same again. Kobe Bryant was never again the same player after tearing his Achilles tendon in 2013. (Photo by) (Jeff Gross via Getty Images) Bryant returned to the court the following December, only to suffer a knee fracture in the same left leg that sustained the Achilles tear six games into his comeback. He missed the rest of the 2013-14 season. He went on to play two more NBA seasons and remained a potent scorer by normal NBA standards. But he was a shell of his former self. Bryant averaged 22.3 points in 35 games in 2014-15, but shot 37.3% from the floor. A rotator cuff injury ended his season in January. Advertisement In his final season in 2015-16, Bryant averaged 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 35.8% from the field. The combination of age (37) and compounding injuries ultimately compelled the uber-competitive Bryant to hang it up. Klay Thompson Thompson's Achilles tendon injury may be the most unique and difficult of the three to compare. Thompson sustained his injury in November 2021 in a Golden State Warriors scrimmage during his comeback from an ACL tear. Thompson previously tore the ACL in his left knee during the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors. He missed the entire 2019-20 season with that injury, then tore the Achilles tendon in his right leg while ramping up for his return. Advertisement The Achilles tear cost him a second consecutive full season in 2020-21. He returned for the 2021-22 season at 31 years old and has remarkably remained a productive NBA player since. But he's not been the same. Klay Thompson has remained a productive player and was a key contributor to a Warriors championship team since his return from ACL and Achilles injuries. () (Ezra Shaw via Getty Images) Thompson was one of basketball's most lethal and efficient shooters in his pre-injury prime. Since his return, his season-long shooting percentages have ranged from 41.2% to 43.6%, well below his prime shooting rates that hovered between 46.3% and 47%. Thompson was also a high-level perimeter defender pre-injury who made an All-Defensive team and earned Defensive Player of the Year votes in two separate seasons. He's no longer capable of that level of defense and hasn't made an All-Star team post-injury after making five All-Star teams and two All-NBA teams prior to his injuries. Advertisement But he's remained a high-level scorer and one of the league's best 3-point shooters. He averaged 20-plus points in each of his first two seasons back and has shot no worse than 38.5% from 3 in his four seasons since. Some projected the combination of injuries to end Thompson's career, and they've done anything but. Kevin Durant For many, Durant's was the first name to come to mind when Haliburton collapsed to the floor Sunday night. We'd seen this before. Like Haliburton, Durant suffered a strained calf during the playoffs in 2019. Like Haliburton, Durant opted to play through the injury in the NBA Finals with an NBA title at stake. Like Haliburton, Durant collapsed in the NBA Finals with an Achilles tear that threatened to alter the trajectory of his career. Advertisement And perhaps even more so than Thompson's, Durant's case provides reason for optimism. Durant was a pending free agent at the time of his injury and didn't play during the 2019-20 season after signing with the Brooklyn Nets. He returned to the court with the Nets for the 2020-21 season at 32 years old. And it's difficult to argue that Durant's missed a beat since. Kevin Durant has remained an elite offensive force since returning from a torn Achilles tendon that he sustained in the 2019 NBA Finals. () (Chris Coduto via Getty Images) Durant's been an All-Star in each of his five seasons since his recovery. He's made two All-NBA teams and has twice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. He hasn't averaged fewer than 26.6 points per game or shot worse than 51.8% from the field or 38.3% from 3 in any of those five seasons. Advertisement In short, he's remained in large part what he always was — one of the game's all-time elite offensive weapons. That he's managed to do so on a 6-11 frame on the other side of a significant leg injury in his 30s is nothing short of remarkable. No two Achilles tears or NBA bodies are the same. Projecting just how Haliburton, Tatum and Lillard will respond post-recovery is guesswork that considers multiple factors including age, playing style and body type. At 34 years old, Lillard's recovery projects to look quite different than Haliburton's at 25. Tatum is closer in time on his basketball journey to Haliburton at 27. But he's a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward. Haliburton's a 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard. Their positions and playing styles put unique stressors on their Achilles tendons, and their recoveries should not be expected to look the same. Perhaps the biggest lesson from looking at the past is that none of them should.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DeMar DeRozan gets 100% real on playing with Lonzo Ball
The post DeMar DeRozan gets 100% real on playing with Lonzo Ball appeared first on ClutchPoints. DeMar DeRozan recently opened up about playing with Lonzo Ball on the Chicago Bulls. DeRozan played with the Bulls for three seasons from 2021 to 2024 and came to Chicago at the same time as Lonzo Ball in 2021. The issue is that Ball was dealing with injuries during most of his time in Chicago while DeRozan was his teammate. Advertisement To this point, Ball has missed most of his time playing with the Bulls. He played for the first time in October 2024 since 2022. Ball and DeRozan barely played basketball together, but when they did, things came together easily, helping the offense flow much better than it did without him. On a recent Run Your Race Podcast episode with Theo Pinson and AJ Richardson, DeRozan spoke about what it was like playing with Ball and how easy everything was. He said, 'When you talk about a piece missing for something… Lonzo was that big piece of the puzzle that put everything together for all of us. He made everything so easy.' Ball's size is what makes him stand out as a point guard. At 6-foot-7 and 190 pounds, there are not many point guards like him, and that's why he presents such a matchup issue when he is healthy and able to play. The one season he was able to play with DeRozan on the Bulls, Ball had a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, and he averaged 5.1 assists per game during that season. The combination of DeRozan and Ball never got a lot of time together with the Bulls due to his injuries, and before Ball was able to come back from injury, DeRozan was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade that also involved the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal. Advertisement Hearing DeRozan praise playing with Ball and how much he enjoyed it shows that it was a case of what could have been. Ball could have developed into an All-Star-level talent if it weren't for some of the injuries he has suffered in his career. Both players still play well with DeRozan in Sacramento and Ball back in Chicago, but those years with the Bulls will be filled with missed opportunities.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chris Mannix: In trade pursuits, Ime Udoka ‘a real asset' for Rockets
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Houston Rockets have the foundation of a relatively young and improving team that finished 2024-25 with the NBA's fourth-best record (52-30, No. 2 in the Western Conference). That's led many to speculate that Houston could be very desirable to any star players who might come available on the offseason trade market. Advertisement But there's another potential reason for that desirability. On Friday's The Rich Eisen Show, NBA insider Chris Mannix (of Sports Illustrated) made the case: Every player in the league loves (head coach) Ime Udoka. Every player wants to play for Ime Udoka. That's a real asset that the Rockets have. Mannix went on to name Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, and Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns as All-Star-level players who could be targets. Brown and Durant each have previous experience playing for Udoka, with Durant's stint coming when Udoka was an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets. 'The team that I'm still watching the closest is going to be Houston,' Mannix said of his offseason outlook. 'Can Houston make a play for Giannis? I'm sure they would love to.' More: Fact or fiction: Do the Rockets have the best assets to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo? This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Chris Mannix: In trade pursuits, Ime Udoka 'a real asset' for Rockets
USA Today
31-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chris Mannix: In trade pursuits, Ime Udoka ‘a real asset' for Rockets
Chris Mannix: In trade pursuits, Ime Udoka 'a real asset' for Rockets Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix on the NBA's 2025 offseason trade market: 'Every player wants to play for Ime Udoka. That's a real asset that the Rockets have.' Entering the 2025-26 season, the Houston Rockets have the foundation of a relatively young and improving team that finished 2024-25 with the NBA's fourth-best record (52-30, No. 2 in the Western Conference). That's led many to speculate that Houston could be very desirable to any star players who might come available on the offseason trade market. But there's another potential reason for that desirability. On Friday's The Rich Eisen Show, NBA insider Chris Mannix (of Sports Illustrated) made the case: Every player in the league loves (head coach) Ime Udoka. Every player wants to play for Ime Udoka. That's a real asset that the Rockets have. Mannix went on to name Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, and Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns as All-Star-level players who could be targets. Brown and Durant each have previous experience playing for Udoka, with Durant's stint coming when Udoka was an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets. Udoka was a finalist for the NBA's 2024-25 Coach of the Year award. 'The team that I'm still watching the closest is going to be Houston,' Mannix said of his offseason outlook. 'Can Houston make a play for Giannis? I'm sure they would love to.' More: Fact or fiction: Do the Rockets have the best assets to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo?
