The Dallas Mavericks are at a crossroads. After one of the most disappointing collapses in NBA history, the team failed to even make the play-in tournament this year. Even with trading for Kyrie Irving to pair up with Luka Doncic mid-season, Dallas is in massive need of reinforcements for Doncic, especially if they want him to remain with the team long-term. One name that has been floated around is D’Angelo Russell. Russell has been a hot topic around Lakers nation on whether or not he will re-sign with the team. Despite some suggesting the Mavericks should cut ties with Kyrie and do a sign-and-trade for D’Angelo Russell, the organization has no interest in the one-time All-Star.

Dallas Mavericks Not Interested in Sign and Trade for D’Angelo Russell 

D’Angelo Russell’s Tumultuous Season 

D’Angelo Russell has not been able to replicate his lone All-Star campaign for awhile now. However, he still shows spurts here and there and can be effective in the right environment. He started this season on the Minnesota Timberwolves before being acquired by the Lakers at the trade deadline. This, of course, was his second stint with Los Angeles. With the Timberwolves, he tallied 17.9 points per game, 6.2 assists, and an effective field goal percentage of 56.7 percent.

When he got traded, his numbers remained comparable, but it was the postseason which showcased his shortcomings. During the playoffs, Russell failed to be a reliable third option for LeBron James and company as he only averaged 13.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 2.9 total rebounds per game in 16 playoff games. Russell certainly looks as if he is still searching for a true home, so even if the Mavericks don’t pull the trigger on a trade, expect D’Angelo Russell in a different jersey next season.

Dallas Wants to Retain Kyrie Irving 

Despite multiple reports suggesting Kyrie Irving will be headed to Los Angeles, the Mavericks are still willing to give the Kyrie-Luka experiment another chance. Due to cap limitations, the Lakers would have to propose a sign-and-trade with Dallas to make Kyrie to Los Angeles a reality.

This would mean D’Angelo Russell would be the main player coming to Dallas. As alluded to already though, the Mavericks are not interested in this deal. Despite the disappointing end to the season, Irving and Doncic still had solid moments together. If Dallas can retain Kyrie while adding some depth in free agency, especially in the frontcourt, the Mavericks will be one of the most interesting teams coming into next season.

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In a recent podcast with Stacey King, Scottie Pippen released a jaw dropping take on the NBA’s GOAT debat between Michael Jordan vs LeBron James. As Jordan’s former teammate, Pippen was often over-shadowed playing alongside arguably the greatest player of all-time.

However, in a video recently released on Twitter, Pippen claims that James will be the greatest statistical player to ever play basketball. He goes on to add that there won’t be a comparison to James. Despite making these bold claims, Pippen opted out of calling James the “greatest player” ever.

Along with his takes, Pippen took a shot at Michael Jordan early in his career. He went on to call Jordan a “horrible player” before his arrival in Chicago.

Check out the video below for Scottie Pipen’s take on James vs Jordan.

“LeBron James will be the greatest statistical [player] to ever play the game of basketball. [Michael Jordan] was a horrible player.”

– Scottie Pippen

(h/t @DieHardCBfans )

pic.twitter.com/8EN5xOpJOG

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 26, 2023

Scottie Pippen Call Michael Jordan Horrible Player

While Pippen technically refrained from naming James the greatest player ever, he did take some shots at MJ during the video. According to Pippen, there is no such thing as the greatest player ever since basketball is a team game and one player isn’t able to do it all.

Shortly after, Pippen called Jordan “a horrible basketball player”, citing Jordan’s penchant for one-on-one play and claiming that the Bulls’ star frequently took “bad shots”.

Check out what Pippen had to say below:

“I seen Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls,” Pippen said. “You guys seen him play, he was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with, he was all one-on-one, he’s shooting bad shots. All of a sudden, we became a team and we started winning, everybody forgot who he was.”

Pippen’s History with Jordan

Together Pippen and Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. Pippen and Jordan were considered one of the most dominant duos in NBA history. Despite having a very successful career together, the two have grown distant since Jordan’s retirement.

While Twitter went into a frenzy with Pippen’s take, many believe that Pippen is simply upset that Jordan’s son is dating his ex-wife.

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Bronny James’ commitment to USC basketball is already positively impacting the Trojans’ athletic department.

Bronny, the son of LeBron James, was one of the final prized recruits to make his college decision. Now, the USC athletic department is cashing in by raising ticket prices ahead of the 2023-24 basketball season.

USC chief marketing officer and associate athletic director Craig Kelley spoke with ESPN about the potential price hike at basketball games this season.

“I know it’s going to be hard to believe, but with or without Bronny, the prices were more than likely going to go up by a few percentage points just because that’s just the nature of the business,” Kelley said. “Most teams are increasing their prices 2% to 3% annually. We’ve actually been flat for quite some time, and so we were going up in price just because the team has just gotten better. And you do add some notable name players.”

How Will Bronny Impact USC Basketball Attendance?

Despite bringing in a star-studded recruiting class, none of those players have a name as notable as James.

According to On3, James has the highest NIL valuation in all of college sports at $6.8 million, double the next-highest athlete (LSU’s Livvy Dunne) and nearly five times that amount of the next-highest basketball player (Northwestern State’s Hansen Enmanuel).

Last season, an average of 4,021 fans attended USC basketball home games in 2022, which ranked near the bottom of the PAC-12. For comparison, crosstown rival UCLA averaged 9,276 fans at their 17 home games in 2022, more than double that of the Trojans. In fact, only four PAC-12 schools (California, Washington, Oregon State, & Stanford) had a lower average attendance at basketball games in 2022-23 than USC.

However, that is expected to change in 2023, with the arrival of Bronny James expected to make USC basketball games among the hottest tickets in LA.

What Will Bronny James’ Role Be At USC?

Head coach Andy Enfield will have a difficult task on his hands at USC this season. All eyes will be on how USC handles Bronny’s development and playing time. However, there isn’t a clear path for James to start on Day 1.

James will be joined in the Trojans’ backcourt by another highly-touted freshman guard, Isaiah Collier, ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class. A guard from Wheeler High School, Collier averaged 20.2 points, 6.8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 steals en route to winning the Georgia 7A State Championship.

Collier is projected to start alongside senior guard Boogie Ellis, who averaged 17.2 points per game last season while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range.

That means that Bronny might have to start his college career as a sixth man, coming off of the bench.

Enfield seemed to echo that sentiment but did mention that all of USC’s guards will have a chance to log significant playing time next season.

“All our guards have a great opportunity to play for us because we don’t have a ton of guards,” Enfield said. “We don’t have eight or nine. We have some opportunity for those guys to carve out a nice role for them, and in Bronny’s case, we don’t promise starting spots, but the nice thing is I think all of our guards will play good minutes for us this year.”

A knockdown shooter and a strong defender that plays with a high IQ on both ends of the floor, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see James carve out a role off of the bench as a freshman.

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