Full Court Press | For The Intellectually Curious Nba Fan | National Basketball Association Fans

Despite the front office silliness, the Kings are having success on the court. Key youngsters are demonstrating real and meaningful progress. Sactown should be nothing but 100% fun right now. Can they get back to that and sustain it? The Rockets are playing back to their own level of expectations. But there are still important depth issues. Now that they are out of the running for Jimmy Butler, what’s next? The Pacers have been a little up and down but from a record standpoint they are in good shape. Is Tyreke Evans helping? Is Sabonis playing enough? The Jazz are up and down but holding up OK in the standings. What is the outlook for them?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nuggets got off to a fast start and are the best in the league in Defensive Rating… how did that happen? Is it sustainable? The Grizzlies are winning games in grit and grin fashion. Are they the Grizzlies we all remember? Is there anything new the Warriors are doing? And the Nets have been competitive so far, is winning a realistic goal for this season?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How’s the upper tier of the Eastern Conference shaping up so far. No offense Celtics fans but we are wanting to see Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving back at 100 percent before we drar any would-be premature conclusions. The Raptors and Bucks are scorching the conference so far. What’s powering that? The Sixers are struggling to meet expectations but we are not surprised. Why? And the Pistons won their first four games but have not been able to get another victory since. What’s going on in Detroit?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are happy to return to our in season format in which we watch 4 teams each week and provide analysis. How do the new look Lakers lead by Lebron James grade out? We like a lot of what we see from their young players but they’ve not been able to get settled on the defensive end yet. The Spurs look great on defense. But all of the concern we’ve had about their roster being constructed to be successful on the defensive end have proven to be legitimate thus far. The Blazers made some fundamental changes to how they are managing the rotation and they are doing really well. The Timberwolves had one of the tougher schedules to begin the season and the are competing. But they are still not prioritizing generating shots from the three point line.All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NBA season is here. And we need to complete our offseason updates. We had been holding out on the New York and LA teams to see if Jimmy Butler’s situation would impact a roster. In this episode we cover the LA teams. What to make of the veteran players the Lakers signed to one year deals? The plan on any Lebron team is to surround him with shooters. Is the roster constructed for that? What are we looking to see from Ingram, Lonzo, Kuzma and Hart? The Clippers look to be trying to change things on the fly? That’s usually not advisable. What are they really trying to accomplish this season? And what can be said of the Warriors? Well, they are not as deep as they have been the last few seasons. Might that cost them? Also how will the play when DeMarcus Cousins returns?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NBA season is here. And we need to complete our offseason updates. We’ve been holding out on the New York and LA teams to see if Jimmy Butler’s situation would impact a roster. In this episode we cover the New York teams. What should the objectives be for the Knicks and Nets this season. Some are the same; some are different. And we’ve been waiting to see as much Kawhi Leonard as we could. And well that was not encouraging. But the Raptors might have the deepest roster in the league. And in hind sight Toronto might have been the best landing spot for Kawhi given their wing depth. Also, we expect an impressive season from Pascal Siakam.All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hawks are leaning all the way in to their rebuild and have a new head coach that helped with the process in Philadelphia. They took some risk by traded back as to pass on Luca Doncic to acquire Trae Young. Is this going to work out for them? What are we looking to see from John Collins in his second year? What about Taurean Prince in his third year? Why are we so intrigued by the acquisition of Alex Len? The Jazz exceeded all expectations last season. But in the end they were a league average offense and the best defense in the league. And they are basically running it back. Is that a formula that will work in terms of getting better?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We focus on two of the younger teams in the league on this episode. What is Aaron Gordon? What is holding him back from being a player that can bring a real impact on a game? We he and Bamba and Isaac be a good fit? Why is Khem Birch a mysteriously important part of the roster? In Sacramento last season we saw maybe the most clever tank jobs of all time. Why do we say that? Have a listen. We liked what we saw from Hield and Bogdonovic last season and they added Yogi Ferrell and Ben McLemore. How are going to find time for all of these guards to play. And the answer better not be to not play Frank Mason. And of course we talk about what De’Aaron Fox need to focus on to improve his efficiency as a scorer.All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover two teams that lost in respective game 7 conference finals. Boston really didn’t add anyone, but Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving will return. Kyrie’s pending unrestricted free agency at the end of this season might be the most intriguing in the league. We talk about how Isaiah Thomas reach near-MVP level production during his second full season under Brad Stephens. Will Kyrie have his best NBA season to date? How will Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum deal the return of two all-stars to the lineup? The Rockets undid much of what helped them play elite defense last season while also being a historically great offense. Are they still the contender they were last season?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover two teams who will presumably be trying to improve on results from last season. The Hornets have a new General Manager and new head coach. But they are largely running back the same group apart from the switch from Dwight Howard to Bismack Biyombo. Kemba Walker will be a free agent next summer. Is there an obviously correct path for them this season? No, but we discuss. The Mavericks finally secured DeAndre Jordan and they are largely running the same group back after making a change at the center position. They only won 24 games last season so are playoff aspirations the least bit reasonable? We discuss.All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover the two teams that experienced the greatest amount of change and the top of their roster. What will the Cavaliers be in the second post-Lebron era? Kevin Love was the focal point of a pretty impressive offensive team in Minnesota in his mid-20s. How much of that Kevin Love is left? Do we know anything about have good of a head coach Tyrron Lue is? Are any of the young players on the roster capable of being a difference maker? All of a sudden in San Antonio it’s the post-Kahwi, post-Many and post-Parker era. But the roster still has an impressive collection of talent even if the construction does not make sense yet. Most projection systems have them missing the playoffs for the first time in a couple of decades. Is that going to happen?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We don’t think the Heat front office is very excited about running this group back despite the fact that to a player there seems to be broad buy in to the Heat culture. Should the Hassan Whiteside experience be over? Or should Whiteside become a lower priority? What should Miami do with the multitude of guards they have on the roster? What should the plan be for this season regarding Justice Winslow? The Timberwolves made the playoffs last season for the first time in an eternity, but just barely. We are big fans of what the front office did over the offseason, but they key question as to whether or not this team will achieve better results than last season is whether or not these players will play for one another. Will they? All of this and more.Follow us on twitter: @presspodcast @DaneMooreNBA @willis_glen @LawtonWillis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dwight Howard has replaced Marcin Gortat as the starting center in Washington. Is that going to make them a better team? We saw more from Bradley Beal last season as John Wall missed half of the regular season. He made his first All-Star team. Will Scott Brooks stagger Wall and Beal’s time on the court this season? That has not been the plan in previous seasons. Should that be the plan? Oklahoma City was able to convince Paul George to return. They’ve been a first round out in the last two postseasons. Can they get back to a level of being a team that is a threat to make a deeper run this season? Do the additions of Dennis Schroder and Nerlens Noel help? It really might work out well for the Thunder. All of this and more.Follow us on twitter: @presspodcast @DaneMooreNBA @willis_glen @LawtonWillis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk about a couple of surprise teams from last season. Both teams won 48 games and made some noise in the postseason. The Pacers pushed the Cavaliers as hard in the postseason as any team in the Eastern Conference. Victor Oladipo stepped up and had an all-NBA season and was awarded as the league’s most improved player. They are bringing back largely the same roster with the important addition of Tyreke Evans. What are the areas in which they need to demonstrate improvement? The Pelicans swept the Blazers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Jrue Holiday was the best guard in that series. They have added Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton. Will they have an opportunity to build upon last season and improve upon their results from last season?All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Detroit made bold moves last season but it did not move the needle for them. Stan Van Gundy is out and Dwayne Casey is in. Also in is a new front office leadership. The Pistons seem to be gearing up for a serious season but it’s hard to know invested the new leadership is in this roster. They had a hard time filling up a brand new arena last season, so that seems to be at least somewhat a part of the objective this season. We tackle the big questions. The Grizzlies are going to try to chase a serious season also. Is it as simple as return Conley to the floor along with what looks like an upgraded supporting cast? We dive into all of this and more.All of this and more.Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBAFollow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bulls have done well in the draft the last two seasons and have some exciting young talent on the team. They also invested money in Zach Lavine and Jabari Parker. But important decision loom with a number of other players on the roster. Also, who is going to play point guard? The Suns invested heavily in Devon Booker and brought in a new coach. They also had the number one overall pick in the draft. What are we watching for from the Suns this season? All of this and more. Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBA Follow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philadelphia may have played this offseason conservatively while working through a search for a new GM. But they have very possibly the best young core group of players as any team in the league. They exceed expectations last season by a good measure. Is there room for them to have a better season than they did last season? The Denver Nuggets have an exciting young core as well and perhaps underperformed last season. They continue to be dysfunctional on the defensive end of the court. So they gave a big contract to Will Barton and signed Isaiah Thomas to a contract to be a bench scorer. Will that move the needle for this team at all? All of this and more. Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBA Follow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bucks added a legitimate coach after finally ending the Jason Kidd experiment. The roster is largely the same apart from a few veterans to help man the power forward and center positions. Can they challenge the big three of Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia? How might the coaching change impact the play of Giannis? Portland largely ran it back apart from their most important front court player off of the bench and their most important back court player off of the bench. Are the young guys ready to step up and help? How urgent is the Dame legacy situation? All of this and more. Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBA Follow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We dig in to how each team faired with this transaction. We re-stack the Eastern and Western Conferences considering these changes. The we talk about the fact that the Lakers, Sixers and Celtics decided they could not or did not match or better the offer by the Raptors and what that means for 2019 NBA free agency. Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBA Follow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We provide an update on all teams in free agency starting with Lebron and the Lakers, the Rockets not trying to replicate what they did last season, the Pelicans moving on from DeMarcus Cousins, the Blazers committing to Yusuf Nurkic and the rest. All 30 teams. Follow Dane on Twitter: @DaneMooreNBA Follow us on Twitter: @willis_glen / @LawtonWillis / @presspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices