Jordan Pagkalinawan

I'm a student journalist who is passionate about sports and interested in Front-End Web Development as well as media studies. I am an incoming freshman at Emerson College, majoring in journalism.

Last Word On Basketball •

Evaluating Three Lakers Trade Rumors

By now, everyone knows that Kyrie Irving wants to be a Laker. The trade rumors have ranged from active talks to no deal, and Lakers fans have hung onto every new development. However, as the weeks have passed, some have become disinterested in the whole saga and are looking to see what else is there when it comes to a Russell Westbrook trade. Other rumors have suggested the nine-time All-Star and former MVP could end up elsewhere–just not as a Brooklyn Net. With talks between the Lakers and Ne
YR Media •

Career Advice: How Can Student Journalists Help Local News?

I attended a webinar from NPR affiliate KPCC and the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism called “The Future of Local News” in August 2020. It was the first of a three-part series connecting journalists to their communities to discuss the current crisis surrounding local news — specifically areas where coverage is barren, known as “news deserts”— and what can be done to fix it. The panelists discussed several measures that could alleviate problems facing local journa
Medium •

Grading the Lakers’ Free Agency Signings

How the purple and gold fared in the 2022 offseason The Los Angeles Lakers have filled all but one roster spot for the 2022–23 season. Despite all of the Kyrie-to-LA rumors, the purple and gold have conducted business as usual throughout the free agency, retooling their roster after a disappointing season despite the acquisition of Russell Westbrook. One major difference in their moves from last year to this year is the Lakers have gotten a lot younger. Last July, they signed plenty of 30+ ye
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The Lakers are Playing Chess, Not Checkers

The Lakers are Playing Chess, Not Checkers In an offseason where the Lakers prioritized shooting, these four names don’t remmotely fit the build. Jones is a big who thrives in the paint; Brown is defensive-minded but can’t shoot; Anderson is an energizer who only played in spurts, and Walker, though very athletic, can’t shoot nor defend. They don’t exactly gel with an offense that’s supposed to cater to Russell Westbrook as its primary facilitator. That’s what I thought at first, before I beg
Medium •

The Pistons Now Have One of the Brightest Futures in the League

How Troy Weaver Turned Detroit From Mediocre to Mesmerizing The Detroit Pistons have not sniffed the playoffs since 2019, when they were swept by Giannis and the Bucks in the first round. Their last three playoff appearances have all been first-round sweeps, the other two at the hands of the Cavs back in 2016 and 2009. Since the Pistons’ most recent title in 2004, they’ve gone on to lose in the Finals the following year, lose in
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The Best Trade Packages for Russell Westbrook

Plus What to Do if Russ Stays Laker fans’ nightmare (or dream?) scenario finally came true this morning, as Russell Westbrook did the sane thing and opted into his $47 million Player Option. Many still expect the nine-time All Star and two-time scoring champ to find a new home for next year, given all of the “opt-in and trade” noise that has clouded the league over the past few days. Amid all the rumors, there have been plenty of trade scenarios f
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Evaluating the Newest Laker Rookies

What the Young Bucks Bring to the LakeShow The 2022 Draft is over, and while most of the focus now shifts to free agency, we can’t forget about Summer League, where rookies and other league hopefuls get to prove themselves for a chance to end up on an NBA roster. The Lakers were relatively active the morning of the draft and in its aftermath, trading for the 35th pick from the Magic and drafting Michigan State guard Max Christie. They also signed two two-way players, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole
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NBA Draft Awards

The Good, Bad, and In-Between From the NBA‘s Biggest Night The 2022 NBA Draft wrapped up with plenty of trades and surprises — from drama in the top three to first-round talent sliding into the second round. Here are my awards from the big night. The Houston Rockets had a fantastic draft, progressing their rebuild very nicely by selecting Jabari Smith Jr, Tari Eason, and TyTy Washington. Smith is arguably the new second fiddle next to Jalen Green and will fit in great next to him, Kevin Porte
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Visualizing the NBA’s Three-Point Revolution

How Threes Have Impacted the Game Since 2000 In light of the incredible season Steph Curry had — from becoming the all-time leader in threes made to winning his fourth championship and first Finals MVP — I decided to take a trip down memory lane and see how the three-pointer has impacted the NBA, by way of data visualization. The stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference, compiling the averages across all 30 teams, while the positional stats are from StatMuse. In recent years, teams have bee
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One Day to Go: My 2022 NBA Mock Draft (Trade Included)

One Day to Go: My 2022 NBA Mock Draft (Trade Included) Where prospects could land in tomorrow’s NBA Draft With the NBA Draft around 24 hours away, I performed another mock draft, complete with a rumored trade. Here are the other two mocks I’ve done: The Kings are very interested in taking Murray instead of Jaden Ivey. Many teams have also inquired about the 4th pick in hopes of drafting the standout Purdue guard. The Pistons are intrigued by Mathurin, which has led to his major rise from la
Medium •

Kyrie Irving or Bradley Beal?: Evaluating the Latest Laker Rumors

The Lakers have been in the spotlight recently — but then again, what’s the surprise? From the latest news about coaching hires to new names being linked to them every day, the purple and gold have given social media a lot to talk about. I’ll be briefly evaluating the newest Laker rumors connecting Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal with the franchise, and seeing if there really is a chance of landing one of them. This morning, Shams Charania dropped a surprising report about Uncle Drew and his sta
Medium •

Underrated International Prospects in the 2022 NBA Draft

Thursday’s 2022 NBA Draft features a remarkable amount of international prospects hoping to hear their names called on one of the biggest nights of their lives. I already evaluated two overseas players, Nikola Jovic and Kai Sotto, as part of this article. I also looked at Jean Montero, a French point guard currently playing in the Overtime Elite League. Now, I’ll be looking at a few more international players who have the potential to succeed in the NBA. The six-foot-10 big man from Spain is
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2022 NBA Draft Trade Tracker

All of the Deals Made Before and During Draft Night Well, trade season has officially begun! Here is a list of all trades made leading up to and during the 2022 NBA Draft. • The list will be updated as often as possible. Check back for updates. The Nuggets traded a veteran forward (who opted into his $8.2M contract) to a young, rebuilding Oklahoma City roster. Aside from his experience, Green is a decent rotational player who can space the floor (career 36% 3PT shooter) and rebound well (4.2 R
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The Forgotten Ones: Five Underrated 2022 Free Agents

The Forgotten Ones: Five Underrated 2022 Free Agents The 2022 Free Agency class features plenty of big names, from James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Bradley Beal — who could move despite their Player Options — to Zach LaVine — an Unrestricted Free Agent who‘s exploring his options. However, there are still as many free agents that have flown under the radar, and I’ll be looking at five of them who could make an impact for their future teams. Once a dominant big man who was named to two All-NBA
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What Lakers Fans Can Expect Next Season: Part 1 (Pre-Free Agency)

What Lakers Fans Can Expect Next Season: Part 1 (Pre-Free Agency) What to Look Forward to with Ham at the Helm The Lakers have begun another new era in franchise history: the Darvin Ham era. Based on his first press conference (which I wrote about recently), it seems the Laker Faithful have a lot to look forward to. Ham set the tone for what the Lakers will look like next season, and his main message and goals centered around the Lakers being three things: Ham’s remarks weren’t the only thin
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NBA Mock Draft 2.0 (with Combine Notes)

With the NBA Draft under two weeks away, I decided to do another mock, but this time with brief analysis from the NBA Draft Combine. The Combine helped many prospects while hurting others, which played a major role in my selections. Additionally, some players decided to withdraw from the draft in favor of another year of college basketball, so that is another factor that changed the results of my mock draft. Once again, the main criteria I used for this draft was best player available and/or big
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Five Takeaways From Darvin Ham’s Introductory Press Conference

A New Era Has Begun in La La Land On June 6, the Los Angeles Lakers formally introduced their 28th head coach in franchise history: Darvin Ham. A former player who spent eight years in the NBA and won a championship with the 2004 Detriot Pistons, Ham returns to the purple and gold after first starting out as an assistant under Mike Brown from 2011 to 2013. He went on to have stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, the latter of whom he won a title as the lead assistant last season.
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An 18-Year-Old’s Frontend Development Journey

An actively-learning developer’s guide to getting started in Web Dev I’ve been learning how to code since I was 13. So far, this five-year journey has allowed me to explore a plethora of programming languages that can be used in a variety of settings. A few years ago, however, I decided to stop spreading myself too thin and started focusing on a specific branch of Computer Science: frontend web development. The journey began in 2017 when my brother introduced me to Codecademy. The first langua
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Four Players That Could Be Moved on Draft Night

The offseason provides no shortage of trade rumors — and the NBA Draft is certainly no exception. Some names have been in the trade machine for several days now, while others have been in the headlines for months, and the draft could be the perfect time to make some moves. Without further adieu, let’s jump right in. Here are four players who might be traded on June 23. The last couple of years have been a rollercoaster for Randle. From leading t
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Previewing the NBA Finals

The Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics first met in the NBA Finals in 1964 — back when Wilt Chamberlain was a Philadelphia Warrior facing the legendary Bill Russell. Now, 58 years later, the two franchises meet again, with one team looking for their seventh title and another trying to rule the world with their 18th. Here’s what to look forward to in the 2022 NBA Finals. The Warriors are re-entering very familiar territory, going back to th
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