Dustdevils

The Oklahoma City Thunder came out of last Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the night&rsquo;s runner-up, taking home the No. 2 overall pick.&nbsp;
The Thunder have never received the first-overall pick in their franchise history, which technically goes back to 1967 when they were still the Seattle Supersonics. They have selected second on two occasions though, and both worked out really well (Kevin Durant in 2007 and Gary Payton in 1990).
The Thunder have a war-chest of draft picks in the coming years, but those picks are meaningless if they don&rsquo;t select a franchise-altering talent. Fortunately, the No. 2 pick should provide an opportunity to do so. The 2022 draft class features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects, including Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero. All three have their pros and cons, but adding any of them to the existing core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey should work out beautifully.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Thunder made six selections, but they traded three of those players. They added Giddey (who was named to the 2021-22 All-Rookie Second Team), Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins &ndash; none of whom are bigs. The Thunder did trade for a seven-footer in the 2020 draft (Aleksej Pokusevski), but he&rsquo;s still extremely raw and is not the same caliber of player as the top-three prospects.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done through the scouting process to effectively evaluate all three of this draft's most-coveted prospects, but a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals a murkier history than one might assume. After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-the-success-of-teams-selecting-first-in-the-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft</a> last week, let's look at how recent No. 2 overall picks have fared.&nbsp;
2012 NBA Draft: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
The Hornets bombed with the second pick in 2012. Kidd-Gilchrist had a fine career, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game across eight seasons in the NBA. The thing is, Bradley Beal was selected third and Damian Lillard was selected fifth, and both of those guys are All-NBA-caliber players annually. Comparatively, that&rsquo;s a huge miss for Charlotte.
Verdict: Failure.
2013 NBA Draft: Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
The Cavaliers certainly surprised many of us by picking Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick, but the Magic stuck to the script. Oladipo was universally seen as a top-three player in this draft, and he became the second-best player in the class before knee and quad injuries derailed his career.
As much as injuries have robbed much of what Oladipo was, he is still an intriguing player, and he&rsquo;ll probably command some decent free-agent offers this offseason. Obiously, CJ McCollumn (selected 10th) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (selected 15th) are better players, but neither was being considered by the Magic. Considering that Oladipo is a two-time All-Star, an All-Defensive selection and a one-time All-NBA selection, I&rsquo;d say the Magic did a fine job in picking Oladipo.
Verdict: Success
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2014 NBA Draft: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
The 2014 draft was a weird one. Neither the first nor the second pick ended up being the best player from this draft class. Andrew Wiggins found a good role, even if he is far less successful than most thought he&rsquo;d be, but Jabari Parker really underwhelmed. Granted, Parker stuck around in the league for eight seasons, including some of the current one, but his career simply never materialized even if it&rsquo;s not his (nor Milwaukee&rsquo;s) fault.
Parker tore his ACL twice. He looked like he was becoming a pretty darn good player (even if he was a defensive liability) before the second ACL injury, averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17. However good Parker could have been, the fact of the matter is that Joel Embiid was intriguing enough as of draft night to be taken one pick later, and that stings.
Verdict: Failure
2015 NBA Draft: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
Here&rsquo;s an instance where a player actually was worth a top-three pick. The problem is that the Lakers had the second pick, and there&rsquo;s a big difference between Karl-Anthony Towns or Devin Booker and Russell. Making matters worse, the Lakers sent Russell to Brooklyn before he matured. His immaturity was part of the reason he was traded, but that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that the Lakers picked him and moved on very quickly. Russell may or may not end up being a franchise-altering talent, but he hasn&rsquo;t realized his full potential yet, and he clearly won&rsquo;t do so for the Lakers.
Verdict: Failure
2016 NBA Draft: Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Ingram is one of the best No. 2 picks in the last 10 drafts. He&rsquo;s a true number one option on a playoff team, a career 18.5 points-per-game scorer and a one-time All-Star. It&rsquo;s debatable that Jaylen Brown (selected third) and/or Jamal Murray (selected seventh) are as good or better players, but both have played alongside more talented teammates throughout their careers.
Ingram has been the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans for a few years now, and we shouldn&rsquo;t take for granted the fact that Ingram led a playoff team this season. Sure, the Lakers didn&rsquo;t cash in on him specifically, but he was part of the package that led to Anthony Davis landing in Los Angeles. So, it worked out for them too.
Verdict: Success
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2017 NBA Draft: Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers picked second overall again in 2017. They weren&rsquo;t as successful this time around. First, there&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum to consider. Tatum was selected third and is the best player in the 2017 draft class. Being selected by the Lakers wouldn&rsquo;t have changed that, and that should be enough. But there&rsquo;s also Ball&rsquo;s rough shooting mechanics to consider. Sure, he&rsquo;s grown into a good shooter, but the Lakers didn&rsquo;t benefit from that. It&rsquo;s hard to categorize Ball&rsquo;s selection as an outright failure because like Ingram, he helped facilitate Davis to the Lakers. Still, it's tough to classify his selection a success.
Verdict: Push
2018 NBA Draft: Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings
Bagley might be the worst second pick in the last 10 years. The 2018 NBA Draft will forever be remembered as the Luka Doncic class. The Kings could have drafted Doncic, as he was still on the board, but they chose to go with Bagley instead. Bagley isn&rsquo;t even on the Kings any longer, and his time in Sacramento was not memorable.
Bagley is a sub-par defender and three-point shooter. He&rsquo;s scored the ball at a decent pace, averaging 19.5 points per-36 minutes, but he&rsquo;s never earned a big enough role to demonstrate what he can really do, and he&rsquo;s exclusively been on losing teams. Comparatively, Doncic and Trae Young (selected No. 5 in 2018) have turned their franchises around.
Verdict: Failure
2019 NBA Draft: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Ingram was the best second pick in the last 10 years, until 2019. Morant stole that made-up accolade almost immediately in his rookie season. The thing is, the 2019 NBA Draft was supposed to be all about Zion Williamson. However, unlike Williamson, Morant has backed up all the hype and then some. So, while Williamson has dealt with injuries for much of his young career, Morant has brazenly become the face of his draft class.
Morant is drawing comparisons to numerous superstars, and he was named to the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team. No one selected after him comes close to making the Grizzlies think twice about their decision.
Verdict: HUGE success
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2020 NBA Draft: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors
Unlike his brother Lonzo, LaMelo Ball was deserving of the second pick in 2020. Instead, the Golden State Warriors went with James Wiseman, though the logic behind the pick is clear, even in retrospect. The Warriors already had two All-NBA guards. The thing is, Jordan Poole looks pretty good alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, doesn&rsquo;t he? So, it&rsquo;s feasible to assume that Ball would have fit too.
After two seasons, Ball is a significantly better player, but he&rsquo;s also had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate that fact. Wiseman has had terrible health-related luck. He played in 39 of the Warriors' first 53 games in 2020-21, but he tore his meniscus in Golden State&rsquo;s 53rd&nbsp;game of the season and hasn&rsquo;t been seen since. Wiseman could still be a serious contributor, as his per-36 numbers were impressive for a rookie (19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 assists on .542/.316/.628 shooting). This is one we&rsquo;ll have to continue monitoring.
Verdict: Unclear
2021 NBA Draft: Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Basing the success of a pick on only a rookie season is tough. Green posted an impressive rookie campaign, but his defensive deficiencies were clear. That&rsquo;s an understandable flaw for a rookie. Green was the assumed second-best player in the class. Having the luxury of hindsight, we now know that Scottie Barnes (selected fourth) and Evan Mobley (selected third) translated to the NBA incredibly well. But wing scorers have a tougher time making the jump, as they must shoot deeper three-pointers and compete against far more athletic competition. Green&rsquo;s floor may be lower than that of Barnes and Mobley, but I'd argue that his ceiling is still higher. Let&rsquo;s give him a little more time.
Verdict: Unclear&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the second overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just three times (2013, 2016 and 2019).&nbsp;
A deeper examination of No. 2 overall picks reveals a limited number of franchise-altering talents. For every Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Earl Monroe and Bill Russell, there are a number of players who didn't live up to expectations. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 2 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction. Either way, No. 2 hasn&rsquo;t produced as many all-time greats as you might expect, but there have been quite a few significant contributors.
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Oklahoma City will pick No. 2 in the 2022 draft. A look back at the last 10 drafts reveals that there are no guarantees for No. 2 picks.

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 2 in the NBA Draft

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum have been selected to the 2021-22 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today.&nbsp;
Antetokounmpo was the only player to receive All-NBA First Team votes on all 100 ballots (500 total points), earning his fourth consecutive selection to the First Team and sixth All-NBA Team honor overall (First Team, Second Team and Third Team). This is the third All-NBA First Team selection each for Dončić (476 points) and Jokić (476 points), the 2021-22 NBA Most Valuable Player.&nbsp; Booker (460 points) is making his debut on the All-NBA Team.&nbsp; Tatum (390 points) joins Booker as a first-time selection to the All-NBA First Team.&nbsp;
With the selection of Antetokounmpo (27 years old), Dončić (23), Jokić (27), Booker (25) and Tatum (24), the All-NBA First Team is made up entirely of players age 27 or younger for the first time in 67 years (1954-55 season).&nbsp; Dončić is the fourth player in NBA history to be named to the All-NBA First Team three or more times before turning 24, joining Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant and Max Zaslofsky.
The 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team consists of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (414 points), Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (301 points), Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (276 points), Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (274 points) and Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (184 points).
Embiid, the 2021-22 NBA scoring champion, has been named to the All-NBA Second Team for the fourth time in the last five seasons.&nbsp; Morant, the 2021-22 NBA Most Improved Player, is an All-NBA Team honoree for the first time.&nbsp; This is the 10th&nbsp;All-NBA Team selection for Durant, the eighth for Curry and the third for DeRozan.
The 2021-22 All-NBA Third Team is composed of Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (174 points), Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (169 points), Suns guard Chris Paul (114 points), Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (110 points) and Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (63 points).
This is the second All-NBA Team honor for both Towns and Siakam and the first for Young.&nbsp; James has extended his NBA record for most All-NBA Team selections to 18.&nbsp; Paul has been voted to the All-NBA Team for the 11th&nbsp;time, the second-most selections among active players behind James.&nbsp;
The 2021-22 All-NBA Team was selected by a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.&nbsp;&nbsp;Players were awarded five points for each vote to the All-NBA First Team, three points for each vote to the Second Team and one point for each vote to the Third Team.&nbsp; Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly.&nbsp; Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position at which they received the most voting points.
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The 2021-22 Kia All-NBA First Team: 🏀 Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) 🏀 Devin Booker (Phoenix) 🏀 Luka Dončić (Dallas) 🏀 Nikola Jokić (Denver) 🏀 Jayson Tatum (Boston) <a href="https://t.co/D0H6GEDrea">pic.twitter.com/D0H6GEDrea</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1529257510481416192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The 2021-22 Kia All-NBA Second Team: 🏀 Stephen Curry (Golden State) 🏀 DeMar DeRozan (Chicago) 🏀 Kevin Durant (Brooklyn) 🏀 Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) 🏀 Ja Morant (Memphis) <a href="https://t.co/qHqDWB42tz">pic.twitter.com/qHqDWB42tz</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1529257815654776832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The 2021-22 Kia All-NBA Third Team: 🏀 LeBron James (L.A. Lakers) 🏀 Chris Paul (Phoenix) 🏀 Pascal Siakam (Toronto) 🏀 Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota) 🏀 Trae Young (Atlanta) <a href="https://t.co/uYiQpdkFeh">pic.twitter.com/uYiQpdkFeh</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1529258023121825793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The NBA announced the three All-NBA teams for the 2021-22 season.

NBA announces 2021-22 All-NBA teams

The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the big winners, winning the No. 1 overall pick for the fourth time in franchise history.
Winning the lottery is a big deal for any team, as it gives them a tremendous opportunity to add an elite young talent. The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 draft class</a> features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects who have already adequately separated themselves from the other top youngsters. Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero are easily the most electrifying players in the 2022 class.
All three of these prospects are versatile big men, which is a role that the Magic would be well-served in addressing. Orlando had two lottery picks in 2021, which they used on Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs and Michigan small forward Franz Wagner. If the Magic add a big man who grows into a superstar, their roster will be mostly set for the foreseeable future.
Of course, the allure of prospects wears off almost immediately after the draft. Ignoring the scouting process and all the work that goes into prosect evaluation, a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals that first-overall picks are far from the sure things we make them out to be:
2012 NBA Draft: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Ten years ago, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick. Davis grew into a superstar quickly, and his impact on the Pelicans was clear almost immediately. He led the Pelicans to the playoffs twice, in 2014-15 and 2017-18. The 2017-18 team was particularly good, winning 48 games in the regular season with a core of Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday. Cousins&rsquo; injury played a major role in Davis departing the Pelicans, as New Orleans failed to replace Davis&rsquo; friend and running mate. Had Cousins stayed healthy, who knows how good New Orleans could have been?
Still, Davis is clearly a great player who was absolutely worthy of the No. 1 pick. He has become an eight-time All-Star and earned a spot on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. Davis helped the Los Angeles Lakers win a championship in 2020, and he has career averages 23.8 points, 10.2 rebounds 2.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals.
Verdict: Success, although not necessarily for New Orleans.
2013 NBA Draft: Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers 2014 NBA Draft: Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland Cavaliers 
The Cleveland Cavaliers picked first overall in 2013 and 2014. The strange thing about both picks is that neither Anthony Bennett nor Andrew Wiggins made an impact in Cleveland. Both were sent to Minnesota in a package for Kevin Love. Bennett played one uneventful season with the Cavaliers, and Wiggins was sent out prior to the start of his rookie season. So, which team do we assess? Cleveland or Minnesota? Let&rsquo;s review both.
Technically, getting two consecutive first overall picks and trading them to the Timberwolves helped Cleveland win their first championship in franchise history. That&rsquo;s a big win for the Cavaliers, even if it cost them both players. Cleveland&rsquo;s championship was more so a product of LeBron James (and Kyrie Irving to a lesser extent), but Love was impactful and the trade worked out.
Conversely, Minnesota did not fare well with Wiggins and Bennett. They qualified for the playoffs only once in Wiggins&rsquo; five-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota, and Bennett was off the team after only one season. Wiggins seems to have found a home in Golden State, but he's the team&rsquo;s fourth-best player, which is not what most people expect from No. 1 picks (especially one with Wiggins' hype).
Verdict: Both are failures relative to expectations, but Wiggins has become a significant contributor.
2015 NBA Draft: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaking of Minnesota, they fared so poorly following the aforementioned Love-for-Wiggins-and-Bennett trade that they received the No. 1 overall pick in 2015. Yes, that means they technically had the first overall picks from three consecutive drafts on their roster, at least for a short period of time.
The pick in 2015 turned out to be Karl-Anthony Towns, who has now played seven seasons in Minnesota. Until recently, the Timberwolves' front office failed to surround him with the talent needed to compete. Towns has led Minnesota to the playoffs only twice, but regardless how one views the lack of team success, Towns was a good pick. He's a career 20-and-10 guy who shoots an unbelievable 40% from three-point range. The 26-year-old is a perfect big man for today's NBA.
Verdict: The Towns pick is a relative success.
2016 NBA Draft: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 2017 NBA Draft: Markelle Fultz, Philadelphia 76ers
We can&rsquo;t really discuss the first overall picks of the past 10 seasons without diving into Sam Hinke&rsquo;s Philadelphia 76ers. Hinke led the &ldquo;Trust the Process&rdquo; 76ers from 2013-2016, during which time he received significant scorn from the NBA, media and basketball purists who felt he was cheapening the game by blatantly losing to increase the odds of being awarded the first overall pick.
Thoughts on Hinke&rsquo;s philosophy aside, he picked first overall in two consecutive seasons. Philadelphia won the draft lottery in 2016, selecting Ben Simmons. Then, they traded up to No. 1 overall in 2017 to nab the rights to Markelle Fultz.
Neither Simmons nor Fultz fulfilled their potential in Philadelphia. Fultz had a misdiagnosed shoulder injury, which resulted in an awkward shooting motion. After two sub-par seasons in Philadelphia, he was traded to Orlando, where he&rsquo;s played better but still nowhere near what's expected from a No. 1 pick.
Simmons was better for the 76ers, co-leading them to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. But Simmons&rsquo; time in Philadelphia ended infamously last season, culminating with him forcing his way to Brooklyn after a lengthy holdout.
Verdict: Degrees of failure, though Fultz was considerably more disappointing than Simmons. At least Simmons became a three-time All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
2018 NBA Draft: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns picked first in the 2018 NBA Draft, which is another strange case. Objectively, Deandre Ayton is a major piece on Phoenix&rsquo;s roster. In his fourth NBA season, he averaged an impressive 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Can we really analyze players in a vacuum though? Ayton was picked a few selections before Luka Doncic, who received serious first-overall-pick buzz that June. Imagine if the Suns had paired Doncic with Devin Booker? Like the Rockets and Trail Blazers both did in 1984, the Suns simply overthought this one.
2018 is too recent to accurately judge the long-term impact of this pick. Ayton could very possibly end up being a major contributor on a championship team. Still, this is a push at best, and if he ends up signing elsewhere this offseason, that makes the Ayton selection look even worse.
Verdict: Who the hell knows?
2019 NBA Draft: Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans also picked first overall in 2019, selecting the electric athlete, Zion Williamson, who is the toughest first pick to grade in the last 10 years. In his lone injury-free season, he averaged 27 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 62% on two-point attempts.
But injuries make it far more difficult to grade him. Williamson has played in only 85 of a possible 202 career games, missing the entire 2021-22 season.
Verdict: Time will tell.
2020 NBA Draft: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota is experiencing a major resurgence, and the credit belongs to Towns and the 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Edwards had a good rookie season, but he exploded in his sophomore campaign.
This season, he helped lead Minnesota to the playoffs, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 threes and 1.5 steals on 44.1/35.7/78.6 shooting splits. In the postseason, he took his game to another level, contributing 25.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.8 threes, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks on 45.5/40.4/82.4 shooting splits.
Verdict: After only two seasons, Edwards looks like a huge win for Minnesota.
2021 NBA Draft: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Last but not least, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham first overall in 2021. Despite playing alongside less talent than most of his peers, Cunningham's rookie campaign was successful. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.6 assists and 5.5 rebounds, was named a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection and placed third in Rookie of the Year voting.
One season is too small of a sample size to grade a young player, but Cunningham looks like the absolute right pick.
Verdict: Success (so far).&nbsp; &nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the first overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just four times (2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021). He has been a complete dud twice (2013 and 2017), a good player twice (2014 and 2018), a malcontent once (2016) and an injury-prone player once (2019). Five of the last 10 first picks were traded too. If Ayton is allowed to leave this offseason, then six of the last 10 are no longer with the team that drafted them, erasing the benefit of player development.
For every franchise-changing No. 1 overall pick &mdash; such as LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar &mdash; there are a handful of players who didn't work out in the long run. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 1 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction.&nbsp;
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The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery with the first overall pick. How successful does history suggest they will be?

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft

It was the summer of 2001, and I had just finished my junior year of high school.
I received a phone call on my family's home phone in Milwaukee, Wisconsin &mdash; it was a representative from Adidas calling to invite me to be a participant at the famed ABCD Camp.
A prestigious camp held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, the ABCD Camp was established in 1984 and would continue until 2006. The camp was sponsored by Adidas and run by legendary shoe company executive Sonny Vaccaro. His main claim to fame was his role in developing and executing Michael Jordan's Air Jordan brand with Nike. After leaving Nike, Sonny joined Adidas, where he was able to get the ABCD Camp rolling.
Each year, the camp was comprised of the top high school players in the country. In 2001, the NBA had not yet set the age limit restricting high school players from declaring for the NBA draft following their senior year. Because of this, not only was every prominent college coach at this event, but so were all of the NBA scouts and front-office personnel. At that point, the ABCD Camp was the mecca of high school basketball.
I was beyond excited to get invited, but I must admit, it was somewhat intimidating. Luckily I wouldn't be going alone, as several of my good friends received invitations to the camp too.
My roommate at the camp was Dan Grunfeld, who was, and still is, one of my best friends. Dan is the son of Ernie Grunfeld, who, at the time, was my dad's boss and the general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Dan became a star player at Stanford and led the (then) Pac-10 conference in scoring his junior year, and had a successful career playing in Europe. In addition, our good friend and my high school teammate, Coby Karl, was also with us. Coby is the son of George Karl, who was the head coach of the Bucks at the time. Coby played a few years in the NBA after starring at Boise State.
The three of us were teammates as a part of the AAU program, Friends of Hoop.
Also with us from Milwaukee was Steve Novak, who has been a friend of mine since we were AAU teammates on the Wisconsin All-Stars all the way back when we were in middle school. Once Steve and I got to high school, we had some great battles during our freshman and sophomore years. (I was at Shorewood High School and he was at Brown Deer High School, one of our conference rivals. Steve went on to team up with Dwyane Wade at Marquette, and had a long successful career in the NBA.)
So there's no denying that Milwaukee was represented well at the ABCD Camp that year.
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For whatever reason, I didn't fly with my friends from Milwaukee. Instead, I flew by myself to La Guardia Airport in New York. When I landed, an Adidas representative was waiting and drove another player, DeAngelo Collins, and I to the hotel in New Jersey. It's probably not a name that will ring a bell for many people, but at the time, he was a well-known player. As soon as I saw him, I knew who he was &mdash; although we had never met before. DeAngelo was one of the top-ranked players in the country, became a McDonald's All-American and entered his name in the NBA Draft after his senior year of high school. (Unfortunately, he went undrafted and only had a short professional career overseas).
Anyway, as I was sitting next to DeAngelo in a van heading to the camp hotel, my nerves kicked up another notch. I knew that, at the end of that ride, the rest of the top high school players in the country awaited.
When I arrived at the hotel, my friends from Milwaukee were there. We had to sign in, collect a bag full of Adidas gear and take some photos. When Dan and I finally got to our room, we had a moment where we talked about how excited we were to be there. The whole experience was exciting and fun, but intense at the same time. Whether it was the top-ranked player in the country or the last guy invited, we all wanted the same thing &mdash; to improve our stock. The ABCD Camp was the biggest stage any of us had played on at that point in our careers. It was an opportunity to move up in the player rankings, which would subsequently lead to more scholarship offers or even interest from NBA teams, for some.
Coby, Dan and I had somewhat similar backgrounds, as we all grew up around the game, as our dads and families all had careers working in the NBA. As I was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-buck-from-ray-allen-to-giannis-antetokounmpo-dave-babcock-remains-milwaukee-bucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing up</a>, my dad would often suggest that I "get some shots up" or do my "Pistol Pete" ball-handling routine instead of playing video games, but generally, my family never put a lot of pressure on me to be a great player. I never got the impression that Coby or Dan felt much direct pressure from their families either. However, I think I can speak for the three of us in saying that we all put a significant amount of pressure on ourselves due to our backgrounds. And at the ABCD Camp, I certainly felt the pressure. But I was motivated and determined to move the needle!
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The first night, all of the players went to the gym for Sonny's welcome speech. He spoke to our group to set expectations for the camp, and gave some general advice. We then split up to join our assigned teams and had a light practice. That allowed us to meet our teammates for the camp and our teams' coaches. The coaches tried to implement some basic offensive and defensive principles during that practice. However, the reality was the camp was "pick-up ball" with some freelance referees.
My team's head coach was Chris Grant, who worked for my uncle, Pete Babcock, the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks at the time. (I don't think that was a coincidence). Chris started his career as an intern for my uncle after playing in college at the University of San Diego. Years later, he worked his way up and became the Cleveland Cavaliers' general manager. The top player on our team was Josh Smith from Atlanta, Georgia. He was a year younger than me, but he was a high-profile prospect. A couple of years later, Josh was selected in the first round by the Hawks directly out of high school. He had a successful NBA career, and was one of the top players for the Hawks for years.
Following practice, we returned to our rooms for the night. Dan and I talked about our teams. He told me he had a player on his team that was good. I had never heard of him before &mdash; his name was Carmelo Anthony.
We had a few things to do the following day before live games began. First, there was a guest speaker, but not just any guest speaker; it was Kobe Bryant. He talked to us about some of his personal experiences going through a lot of the same things we were all going through as high school players. It was incredible to listen to a player who had been living the life that every one of us dreamed about for ourselves. To say Kobe's talk was inspiring would be an extreme understatement. Although just a young guy at the time, Kobe had such distinct confidence and determination. It was a privilege to meet Kobe and listen to him speak.
Following the session with Kobe, the players had to take prep ACT and SAT classes. We were seated at tables with about a handful of players per table. I remember sitting with Travis Outlaw, who was a hilarious, nice guy. Travis declared for the 2002 NBA Draft after high school, and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. He went on to play in the NBA and had a good career.
At the table directly next to me was a younger player that I did not know. Like most of us, he didn't seem interested in that class. Halfway through picking out his braids and leaving half of his hair in an afro, he decided he would lay his head down and take a nap. The teacher wasn't happy about that and kept lecturing him, saying things like, "This is important, your future depends on this" &mdash; something along those lines. Finally, the player sat up and said, "I'm going pro!" and put his head back down.
Soon after, I found out the player's name was LeBron James.
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Finally, when classes finished up, the real reason we came to town was about to begin. It was time to hoop.
The games started, and they were great! There was so much talent in each game. I had the opportunity to share the court with future NBA All-Stars like Carmelo, LeBron, Chris Bosh, Deron Williams and many other soon-to-be standout pros. The gym was buzzing, and it was quite the scene. "Oohs and ahhs" could be heard left and right. The stands were filled with famous coaches, including Coach K, Lute Olson and Rick Pitino. NBA scouts and media members were busy taking notes and trying to find the next NBA star.
The actual gameplay was pretty sloppy, as expected. In most showcase types of events, players will play "to get their's." Also, there is not much of a game plan without much practice time, which usually results in poor ball movement and limited opportunities for lower-ranked players (like myself) to have the ball in their hands.
Despite the challenges, I played pretty well. I shot a high percentage, and even had one game where I scored 15 points and hit a handful of three-pointers. Because I had limited opportunities to have the ball in my hands, I made an extra effort to be as effective as possible without the ball. I noticed that the referees were quick to call offensive fouls during this camp, so I decided to get in the lane when players would drive to the hoop to draw charges. My strategy worked well, and I drew several charges.
However, I tried this tactic in one particular game and my plan backfired, as the player on the other end was LeBron. He laid one of his now-signature tomahawk dunks right on me. I flew back probably 10 feet, and the gym went crazy. That was my formal introduction to "King James."
It's been said that the 2001 ABCD Camp is when LeBron broke onto the scene and the whole media frenzy began for him. His legendary battle with the No. 1 player in my class, Lenny Cooke, happened at this camp. Dan and I were sitting together in the bleachers watching that game. I am happy to say that I was a "witness" to the making of one of the greatest stars our game has ever seen.
All in all, I did well at the camp, and I was able to generate more interest from schools, which was my goal. However, more than 20 years have passed since that ABCD camp, and the most valuable experience turned out to be the memories that I will cherish forever.
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Editor's Note: This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.babcockhoops.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BabcockHoops.com</a>.
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Matt Babcock relives his experience at the 2001 ABCD Camp, where a number of high schoolers stood out before becoming NBA stars.

ABCD Camp: The mecca of high school basketball circa 2001

It&rsquo;s impossible to watch the NBA Playoffs and not be impressed with the talent level of the league&rsquo;s stars.
Chris Paul and Steph Curry have been doing it for a minute, but in recent years, we&rsquo;ve gotten to see some newer faces on the playoff stage show that they&rsquo;re not afraid of the big moments... Guys like Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Ja Morant and now, even Anthony Edwards.
But the more I watch those guys, the more I have to respect the guys whose job it is to stop them. It might be clich&eacute;, but defense really does win championships. At this point, there&rsquo;s only eight teams left in the playoffs, and it&rsquo;s no coincidence that guys like Matisse Thybulle, Draymond Green, Mikal Bridges and Bam Adebayo are still alive.
There can only be one Defensive Player of the Year, though, and this year, he happens to play in Boston.
Marcus Smart sure is deserving.
I obviously have a little bit of a soft spot for the Celtics, but over the years, as I&rsquo;ve watched Marcus, I always felt like he was exactly the kind of player I would want on my team. He has skills on both sides of the ball, but defensively, he&rsquo;s not willing to give even one inch to his opponent, and that&rsquo;s exactly why he&rsquo;s become such a favorite in Boston.
The very first conversation I had with Gary Payton once we became teammates in Miami, GP complimented me because, according to him, I wasn&rsquo;t afraid to get up in another dude&rsquo;s face. To be honest, I was a little surprised that he even knew who I was, but he always told me that real recognize real, and today, that comment has newfound meaning to me.
When I look back at my career, I give thanks for all that I was able to accomplish and for the fact that I was able to win at the highest level. It&rsquo;s hard for me to look back on it and say I have any regrets, but I can&rsquo;t lie... As someone who was regarded as a great 3-and D guy, it would have been nice to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. If you&rsquo;re someone who takes pride in your ability to lock other guys up, that&rsquo;s sort of the pinnacle of the profession.
Even though we were only together in Miami for a short time, I learned a lot about defensive principles and technique from GP, and we took a special pride in defending our opponents and making things difficult for them.
So for me, it all comes full circle in a way; Marcus became the first guard since GP to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
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Gary Payton pulled up to surprise Marcus Smart winning DPOY 👏 <a href="https://t.co/FrGtxLWEsR">pic.twitter.com/FrGtxLWEsR</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1516195034361577472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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GP was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 1995-96 season. Since then, of the next 25 seasons the award was given out, it went to a center 19 times. The other six times, the award was won equally by small forwards and power forwards.
The fact that almost 30 years went by before a backcourt player won the award again is crazy. If anything, the award should go to guards more often than anyone else.
What we have seen over history is that, for the most part, centers get the credit for anchoring a team&rsquo;s defense. And in most cases, they do deserve the credit, because being the last line of defense is a huge responsibility. But centers usually have a size advantage and play closer to the rim. In many instances, their primary responsibilities are to block or change shots, and rebound, but they usually have more of an opportunity to make plays on the ball and attract attention since they usually play at the rim.
Having a good anchor is obviously an important part of any championship-level defense, but not even guys like Rudy Gobert or Dikembe Mutombo can patch every hole in bad defense.
When you have a five-man unit on the floor, they are really only as strong as the weakest link, and if the backcourt can&rsquo;t defend, the team is toast.
Think about it. In most cases, unless you&rsquo;re playing a triangle offense or something like that, an offensive attack begins with a point guard. If he&rsquo;s easily able to beat his man off the dribble, it compromises the entire defense. When it comes to playing straight up, man-to-man defense, guards have to be top notch in order to not be a liability for their team.
Today, the game is so spaced out; it&rsquo;s definitely become more difficult for centers, but perimeter players have to guard pick-and-rolls, chase over screens, keep assignments in front, contain the dribble in front of them and just overall have more of a responsibility.
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In the league today, things are that much tougher because pretty much every team plays pick-and-roll basketball. So again, the perimeter defenders not only have to play good on-ball defense, but they also have to know when to switch and know how to read coverages in certain situations. They have to close-out on shooters, recover and know their rotations. The job was hard when GP was doing it back in the 1990s, and it&rsquo;s only gotten more difficult in recent years.
To be honest, it feels a little weird arguing this point, because Draymond Green and OG Anunoby are two of my favorite guys to watch on the defensive end. I respect the hell out of Gobert and Adebayo, and I think that Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen are some of the best defenders ever. None of those guys are backcourt players. What they do have in common, though, is their versatility. And that&rsquo;s what made Marcus Smart deserving of winning the award this year.
Maybe the solution is for the league to separate the Defensive Players of the Year, and to give out the award to the best backcourt defender and the best frontcourt defender. That would probably take a little of the prestige away from the honor, but the truth of the matter is that bigs and guards have very different responsibilities to a team&rsquo;s defense &mdash; it&rsquo;s just really hard to compare those contributions directly.
But this year, at least, it&rsquo;s nice to see that Marcus ended the drought. It&rsquo;s been a long time coming. It&rsquo;s not every day that you find a guard who not only accepts every challenge that comes his way, but also exceling at it. Smart can effectively guard all five positions, which is not something you see every day.
With the Bucks standing between them and a chance to get to the conference finals, Boston has its work cut out for it in the Eastern semis. Giannis and the Bucks are trying to go back-to-back.
But one thing for sure, is that Boston is going to fight, and I know that Marcus Smart is going to be battling every possession he&rsquo;s out there. And even if he&rsquo;s not 100%, his fingerprints are going to be all over the game.
He deserves more than just credit for that. He deserves to be the Defensive Player of the Year, and honestly, it&rsquo;s long overdue.
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James Posey offers praise for Marcus Smart's tenaciousness and shares his thoughts on the DPOY award moving forward.

Guards like Marcus Smart should always be Defensive Player of the Year

With the 2021-22 NBA regular season in the books, let's examine the numbers and hand out some hardware to the cream of the fantasy crop.
Fantasy MVP: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
In regards to the NBA's actual Most Valuable Player award, a strong case could be made for several players (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-mvp-rankings-jokic-edging-out-embiid-antetokounmpo-chasing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as I detailed two weeks ago</a>). However, in the fantasy-hoops universe, Nikola Jokic reigns supreme for the second-straight season. And it wasn't particularly close.
Not only was the Joker durable, appearing in 74 games, but he was remarkably efficient (shooting over 58% from the floor and 81% from the charity stripe). His all-around statistical production was mind-boggling, as he became the first player in NBA history to tally more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in the same season. As a cherry on top, Jokic saved some of his best work for the fantasy playoffs. Over his last five games, he averaged 37.8 points, 16.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.2 steals (joining Karl Malone as the second player in league history to record five-straight double-doubles with 35+ points in each game). Whether you played in a head-to-head or roto league, nobody was more valuable than Mr. Jokic.&nbsp;
Fantasy Rookie of the Year: Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Orlando's Franz Wagner and Cleveland's Evan Mobley all posted impressive numbers in their rookie campaigns, but Barnes wins this race by a nose. Scottie appeared in 74 out of 82 games and became the only rookie since Luka Doncic to average at least 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a steal in their first season. Barnes is also the first rookie in Toronto's franchise history to record 1,000+ points, 500+ rebounds and 250+ assists. He finished the season ranked 66th overall in nine-category roto formats.&nbsp;
Most Improved Fantasy Player: Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
This is another award that could go to a bevy of deserving players (such as Darius Garland, Jordan Poole and Ja Morant); however, in my opinion, Maxey gets the nod. Due to the drama and uncertainty surrounding Ben Simmons coming into this season, some fantasy pundits pegged Maxey as a late-round sleeper, but nobody could have expected Maxey to step in and step up as he did.&nbsp;
As a rookie in 2020-21, ​​Maxey averaged a modest 8.0 points, 2.0 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 15 minutes a night while shooting just 30% from downtown, which resulted in him ranking 330th overall (behind players such as Edmond Sumner, John Konchar and Dean Wade) in nine-category fantasy leagues. Yet, as a starter out of the gates this season, Maxey averaged 17.5 points, 4.3 dimes, 3.2 boards and 1.8 treys, while converting 48.5% of his field goal attempts and 42.7% of his triple tries (including 48% from deep over the second half of the season). He finished the 2021-22 season ranked 35th overall in total fantasy value (ahead of fantasy stars such as Khris Middleton, Kristaps Porzingis and Domantas Sabonis). &nbsp;
Fantasy Coach of the Year: Chris Finch, Minnesota Timberwolves 
On Monday, the Minnesota Timberwolves announced that they signed Finch to a multi-year extension. And many fantasy GMs surely applauded the decision. The Timberwolves led the NBA in pace (101.47), which is the way into the hearts of fantasy folks. The Wolves also led the league in points per game (115.9) for the first time in franchise history, made three-pointers (1,211) and turnovers forced (1,339). Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell and even Patrick Beverley benefited statistically from Minny's up-tempo offense.&nbsp;
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Defensive Player of the Year: Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
For those of us who invested in JJJ on draft day the last few years, he finally rewarded us with a monster campaign in 2021-22. Jackson was able to stay healthy (making 78 appearances), and not only did he lead the league in blocked shots per game (2.3), he also averaged just shy of one steal and six rebounds. Factor in his effectiveness and efficiency from behind the arc (he knocked down 128 triples), and it's easy to see why Jackson returned fourth-round fantasy value this season.&nbsp;
Biggest Bust: Tie between Russell Westbrook and Julius Randle
After Randle finished in the top-40 overall in 2020-21, Knicks fans and fantasy GMs who drafted him back in October were hoping the burly power forward would be able to replicate his shockingly impressive production. Yet, although his counting stats were solid, Randle's field goal percentage dropped from 45.6% down to 41.1%, his three-point percentage tumbled from over 41% all the way down to below 30.8% and his free throw percentage dipped from above 81% to 75.6%. Randle also tied his career-high in turnovers (3.4). Due to the poor shooting numbers, turnovers and lack of defensive stats, Randle ranked 127th overall (or just behind Bruce Brown in per-game value).&nbsp;
Westbrook also badly burned fantasy GMs in 2021-22. Russ racked up plenty of points, rebounds and assists (18/7/7) but didn't come close to matching the 22/12/11 he averaged with the Washington Wizards the year before. In addition, Westbrook's extraordinary inefficiency and high turnover rate ruined many a fantasy matchup for GMs who rostered Russ.
Pickup of the Year: Herb Jones, New Orleans Pelicans
Jones, the 35th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, was a complete unknown to the vast majority of fantasy hoopers heading into the 2021-22 season. He went undrafted in even the deepest of leagues and went scoreless in just three minutes of action in the Pels' season opener. However, due to his defensive tenacity and efficient offense, Jones carved out a role in New Orleans and began being scooped up off of waiver wires nationwide. He had earned a spot in the starting lineup by late November and never relinquished it.
Jones finished the season averaging 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks. He led all rookies in total steals with 130 (50 more than Scottie Barnes, who ranked second) and was third in blocks. According to Basketball-Reference, he is the only rookie in New Orleans' franchise history to tally more than 125 steals and 50 blocks (and just the seventh rookie in NBA history to do so, joining Michael Jordan, Nerlens Noel, Ron Harper, Ben Simmons, Willie Anderson and David Robinson). Of those seven, Jones is the only one to commit 100 or fewer turnovers. Jones finished the season ranked 77th overall in nine-category formats.&nbsp;
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With the 2021-22 NBA regular season in the books, Tommy Beer hands out some hardware to the cream of the fantasy crop.

2021-22 Fantasy Basketball Awards: MVP, ROY, Most Improved and more

Every day, BasketballNews.com gives you NBA betting analysis before tip-off. Make sure you subscribe to our daily podcast, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zNxt0NQXPmKuryAdz89m0?si=1038d121100444fd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into our favorite NBA spread bets for Thursday's slate.
Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers (-2)
This is going to be a fun one in Toronto, folks. People continue to sleep on how good the Raptors truly are, especially noticing the late spread flip in favor Philadelphia. In the last 12 hours, the line has moved from Raptors -2 to Sixers -2. With plus money now on the table, hammer the home team here. Pascal Siakam is playing at an All-NBA level, plus Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes continue to step when called upon. Toronto pulls off another impressive victory in our forecast.
Pick: Raptors +2
Minnesota Timberwolves (-8) vs. San Antonio Spurs
In terms of stylistic matchups, Minnesota versus San Antonio is always entertaining. The Timberwolves want to run-and-gun with a blistering pace, which the Spurs can keep up with. San Antonio can slow it down as well, playing through their point guard ace in Dejounte Murray. As I mentioned this morning on SportsGrid, this feels like a game where Minnesota comes out and makes a statement.
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&mdash; Thursday, April 07th San Antonio Spurs @ Minnesota Timberwolves</blockquote>

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Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards will be dynamite against the Spurs&rsquo; defense. Hammer an emphatic victory for the Timberwolves by double-digits.
Pick: Timberwolves -8
Denver Nuggets (-4.5) vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Who&rsquo;s ready for another masterpiece performance from Nikola Jokic tonight? The MVP is ready to capture the crown once more, and this feels like thew perfect time to make some jaws drop in Denver. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if Jokic puts up a 30-plus-point triple-double against the Grizzlies, who are already locked into the Western Conference&rsquo;s No. 2 playoff seed. As Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to put up dominant numbers each game, Jokic needs to keep pace in the razor-thin MVP race. Lock-in the Nuggets to pull off the victory as they continue to build rhythm for a potentially deep playoff run.
Pick: Nuggets -4.5
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Who are the best bets for tonight's NBA games? We've got you covered!

Best Bets: BasketballNews' picks against the spread for 4/7/22

There wasn&rsquo;t exactly a consensus about how the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; season would end, but it&rsquo;s probably safe to say that nobody foresaw this.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers saw their bleak playoff hopes reduced to zero when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets, and immediately thereafter &mdash; and rightfully so &mdash; Frank Vogel, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook were all in the news.
In the end, there&rsquo;s no single reason the Lakers turned in one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history &mdash; there&rsquo;s enough blame to go around.
What Rob Pelinka needs to figure out is how to fix it.
The answer, ironically, would probably be to start thinking small.
This past season, the team managed to find some serviceable pieces to augment the star-studded core, but only Davis, James, Talen Horton-Tucker and Austin Reaves are under contract next season. The Lakers hold a team option on Stanley Johnson and Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn both have player options they are likely to pick up.
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The official 2021-22 Kendrick Nunn highlight reel 🎥 <a href="https://t.co/wDPehJyqpN">pic.twitter.com/wDPehJyqpN</a>
&mdash; Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersLead/status/1508967570560458762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Combined &mdash; thanks in large part to the commitments to Westbrook, James and Davis &mdash; the Lakers are in line to have about $148 million on their 2022-23 ledger, which is already about $26 million over the projected salary cap.
Said differently, outside of offloading one of Westbrook, James or Davis without taking much salary back in return, the team wouldn&rsquo;t be able to manufacture enough cap space to have a competent opportunity of improving via free agency. Obviously, the club could go the route it went this past season and hand out one-year, minimum salary contracts to aging veterans, but the players who could actually make a difference for the Lakers won&rsquo;t exactly be lining up to sign on the dotted line given the performance of this year&rsquo;s team.
To make matters even worse, the Lakers don&rsquo;t own a pick in this year&rsquo;s draft. Their first rounder was sent to New Orleans in the Anthony Davis trade, while their second-round pick is owned by the Spurs.
So how does a team with no cap space and no draft picks improve?
Simple: by thinking small.
Ask the Brooklyn Nets, and look toward the Miami Heat.
A historically frugal franchise, Miami has never necessarily found itself in the kind of salary cap hell the Lakers are in at the moment. Part of the reason why is because one of the constants during Pat Riley&rsquo;s tenure has been investing heavily in scouting and player development. The same rings true of most successful small market franchises.
Players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis may win you the championship, but throughout history, it&rsquo;s always been players like Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who get you there in the first place.
Contenders invariably unearth valuable and sometimes unknown role players and maximize those role players' talent. For example, this year's Miami team has enjoyed the combination of Tyler Herro, Max Strus and Omer Yurtseven combining to earn only about $7 million. That's about $3 million less than Talen Horton-Tucker alone. Strus and Yurtseven are far from household names, but Miami wouldn&rsquo;t be entering play on April 6 as the first seed out East without them, especially considering the injuries the team has dealt with this season.
Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn also go on a list that features the likes of Bam Adebayo, Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem as players drafted and developed by the staff in Miami.
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Some time ago, the Lakers had what looked like a competent core of young players. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine that just four years ago, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson were all teammates in Los Angeles. They&rsquo;ve all come and gone, most to facilitate the arrivals of LeBron, Davis and then Westbrook.
The Lakers do have a championship to show for that roster churn, but from this point forth, the way out might actually be to go back to the drawing board. Sean Marks and his Brooklyn Nets, another franchise that Lakers VP of Operations Rob Pelinka would be wise to mimic this summer, provide a blueprint for how to go about doing that.
When Marks took over the Nets in 2016, Brooklyn was not in a good place. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry had all come and gone, and the draft picks that became Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Collin Sexton were living their best lives elsewhere. The Nets had a bloated payroll, a team of scrubs and no future.
The NBA's Chicago Draft Combine was only two months after Marks was hired in Brooklyn, and despite not owning a first-round pick, he sent quite a contingent to the Windy City. Their directive was to do as much recon work as possible to find Marks some players who could help. Marks used Thaddeus Young to trade his way into the first round and came away from the draft with Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead. Within the next six months, he signed two diamonds in the rough, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie.
One season later, Marks drafted Jarrett Allen and landed D&rsquo;Angelo Russell in a trade with the Lakers, and that was essentially the core that both got Brooklyn back on track and ultimately landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
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Highlights Kyrie Irving &amp; Kevin Durant 🆚 Sixers<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetsWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NetsWorld</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBATwitter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBATwitter</a> <a href="https://t.co/viw7ZzQQIZ">pic.twitter.com/viw7ZzQQIZ</a>
&mdash; Back2Back (@B2BFR) <a href="https://twitter.com/B2BFR/status/1502186067541307394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Obviously, that all took time to come to fruition, and time isn't something that LeBron James has. But the point is that no matter how daunting the situation, a competent NBA front office can build a team without having the most obvious assets readily available. That the Lakers have two superstars should actually make the task a bit less difficult.
In this league, there are generally two types of teams: those who rely on free agency and trades to build their contender, and those who build their programs organically, most often through the draft. Big-market teams tend to be the former, while small market teams usually go the other route.
If either Marks or Riley were put in charge of the Lakers&rsquo; front office, they would probably trade Horton-Tucker for draft capital after realizing he&rsquo;s not the right fit there. They&rsquo;d engage the Pelicans, Blazers, Thunder, Rockets, Pacers and Grizzlies &mdash; teams who may have multiple first-round picks &mdash; and find a way to come away from the draft with a young piece and at least one more promising player from the summer circuit. Only then would they go knocking on the doors of guys like Tristan Thompson, Semi Ojeleye and Victor Oladipo, all of whom could help and potentially be had for cheap.
By the time the 2022-23 season tips off, the team could be remade. Some names we&rsquo;d know, and many we wouldn&rsquo;t. But as we&rsquo;ve seen before, often, it&rsquo;s the names we don&rsquo;t know who end up making the biggest difference. Alex Caruso, anyone?&nbsp;
Neither DeMar DeRozan, Buddy Hield nor Kyle Lowry will be coming to save the day; Pelinka and James got themselves into their current mess, and they&rsquo;ll have to get themselves out.
With their season ending much sooner than anyone could have imagined, the Lakers will have plenty to address over their long summer.
But, at least in the NBA, small steps can lead to major strides.
With few options, the Lakers should be so wise.
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With the Los Angeles Lakers out of playoff contention, they must now focus on rebuilding like a small-market team.

Only fix for LeBron’s Lakers is to operate like a small-market team

Every day, BasketballNews.com gives you NBA betting analysis before tip-off. Make sure you subscribe to our daily podcast, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zNxt0NQXPmKuryAdz89m0?si=1038d121100444fd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into our favorite NBA spread bets for Sunday's slate.
Houston Rockets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (-13.5)
It&rsquo;s been awesome to watch No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green turn the corner after the All-Star break. Green is carrying the Rockets&rsquo; offense right now, showcasing the same kind of late-season jump we saw from Anthony Edwards last season in Minnesota. This feels like too many points for the Timberwolves on the road in Houston. If Green gets going early and some other young Rockets role players step up, this game will be much closer than expected. Hammer the underdog here.
Pick: Rockets +13.5
Toronto Raptors (-5.5) vs. Miami Heat
I&rsquo;ve been on the Raptors' bandwagon since the All-Star break as they continue demolishing teams with relative ease. Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet have been excellent, and rookie wing Scottie Barnes looks the part of a future star, as well. However, in this matchup in Toronto, we&rsquo;re favoring the underdog Heat to cover. Miami is always a feisty team, especially when placed with plus-money odds. Expect this one to be within one possession throughout, ultimately resulting in Heat +5.5 as Sunday&rsquo;s lock.
Pick: Heat +5.5
Los Angeles Clippers (-2) vs. New Orleans Pelicans
It&rsquo;s great to have Paul George back fully healthy for the Clippers. How quickly we all forgot just how special a two-way talent George truly is. With George back in the fold, Los Angeles looks poised to be a sleeper team within the Western Conference playoff hierarchy. Sunday feels like the ideal opportunity for George and the Clippers to make a statement against a resurgent Pelicans squad. Bet big on George&rsquo;s heroics to carry the Clippers across the finish line with a cover.
Pick: Clippers -2
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"Nothing But Bets" drops off their favorite NBA picks against the spread for Sunday's slate.

Best Bets: BasketballNews' picks against the spread for 4/3/22

The lone late game on Tuesday night featured Paul George returning triumphantly to lead the Los Angeles Clippers through a nationally-televised meltdown from the Utah Jazz. Naturally, the two ensuing talking points centered on George's 34-point outing and Donovan Mitchell's <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/donovan-mitchell-voices-frustration-with-jazzs-loss-to-clippers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">postgame quotes</a> about Utah's pattern of spring failures.
But a third name emerged from Los Angeles' win. Isaiah Hartenstein tallied 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists to help fuel the comeback win and garnered several "who's-this-guy, he's-good" types of tweets from casual fans throughout the night. News flash: Hartenstein has been balling for the ragtag Clippers all season and has taken his game to another level over the last month.
The 23-year-old is averaging 10.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 21.3 minutes per game since the All-Star break. It hasn't always equated to winning &mdash; Los Angeles is 7-8 during that time &mdash; but Hartenstein has emerged as a multifaceted contributor and one of the best backup centers in the league.
Let's start with the passing, which I can define with one word: crisp.
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This Isaiah Hartenstein no-look was filthyyyy <a href="https://t.co/oQWxdTuAer">pic.twitter.com/oQWxdTuAer</a>
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1509231181899960322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2022</a>
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Hartenstein rifles basketballs to cutters. The above clip is nuts, but he does this pretty regularly. Hartenstein can operate as a QB1 at the top of the arc, out of the post or at the elbow. In fact, he sports a 22.2% assist rate from the elbow, good for third among the 20 players with at least 200 elbow touches this season.
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Then, he turns around and displays some impressive processing speed when he rolls or cuts. Hartenstein has great hands and solid body control for a seven-foot center and, coupled with his vision, can find passing lanes many bigs might not see.
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Hartenstein has an elite 18.5% assist rate that ranks in the 92nd percentile among all bigs this season. Since the All-Star break, that has soared up to 24.3%. And he maximizes his passing opportunities at some of the highest big-man levels in the league.&nbsp;
According to NBA Stats/Second Spectrum, Hartenstein ranks sixth among all centers (min. 40 games) with an 11.2% adjusted assist-to-pass ratio in 2021-22, behind only Nikola Jokic (13.2%), Mason Plumlee (11.8%), Alperen Sengun (11.7%), Steven Adams (11.6%) and Karl-Anthony Towns (11.5%). This means that 11.2% of Hartenstein's total passes result in points or free throws for the recipient. He is second in adjusted assist-to-pass ratio (13.4%) since the break, behind only Jokic (13.8%).&nbsp;
We are talking about, for my money, one of the five best passing bigs in the NBA.
Hartenstein's court vision separates him from most centers. He's also a force around the basket as a play-finisher. Hartenstein has punched home 83% of his attempts at the rim post-All-Star break and 74% on the year, per Cleaning the Glass.&nbsp;
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With his size and mobility, Hartenstein possesses some advantages inside. He has yet to expand his game consistently beyond the arc or even in the mid-range. However &mdash; and for those of you who have read the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-immanuel-quickleys-unusual-shot-diet-can-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">past</a> <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-bruce-brown-is-an-enigma-in-all-the-right-ways" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two</a> notebooks, I swear this is not supposed to be a trend &mdash; Hartenstein is lighting up the wider paint with floaters and hook shots.
Cleaning the Glass designates the zone between four feet and the free throw line as the "short mid-range." Hartenstein attempts 37% of his shots in that zone (96th percentile among centers) and is hitting on 53% of them (88th percentile). He methodically waits to strike at the right opportunities. Look at how Hartenstein circles up to an open shot on back-to-back possessions against the Jazz defense.
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According to InStat Scouting, Hartenstein has canned an impressive 57.3% of his 103 floaters. Many of them look like this jumping lefty push-floater seen above. He has an impeccable sense of timing for when to circle up, and can then either use this shot or explode to the basket.&nbsp;
Together, Hartenstein's bag of tricks as a passer and interior scorer make him an offensive weapon even without a viable jumper. Then on defense, he blocks shots and contests the rim with proficiency.
BBall Index says that when Hartenstein is on the floor, he contests more than 47% of the opponents' shots at the rim. More than 22% of his contests become blocks; that's in the 81st percentile among all players at his position. His 10.8 rim contests per 75 possessions are in the 99th percentile among bigs.
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Biggest differential between expected and actual FG% within 6 feet of the rim (5 or more FGA defended per game) Jarrett Allen -14.7% Jaren Jackson Jr -14.5% Rudy Gobert -12.2% Wendell Carter Jr -11.4% Isaiah Hartenstein -11.3% Evan Mobley -11% Isaiah Stewart -10.8% Giannis -10.8%
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1506702830903644168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Hartenstein's block rate (3.4%) and steal rate (1.9%) are in the 93rd and 91st big-man percentiles, respectively, per Cleaning the Glass. Only six other rotation players have cleared even 2.0% and 1.5% this season, nevermind approaching Hartenstein's rates.
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Against other bigs and larger forwards, Hartenstein appears mobile. He absorbs contact with his 250-pound frame and stays engaged with his hands. The discipline isn't perfect; Hartenstein has a 5.7% foul rate, in the 14th percentile for big men. But it's a fair trade with how he can affect shots inside.
Now, this isn't to say Hartenstein is an All-Defensive candidate. The Clippers big man typically comes off the bench and faces opponents with less of an offensive role. He was fairly helpless in a recent matchup against Joel Embiid &mdash; though to be fair, aren't we all?
Hartenstein also really struggles to defend guards in space. The stats don't paint him as an overt negative, but Utah in particular attacked him in switches and beat him off the dribble. You'll see two such examples within this reel:
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I would certainly label Hartenstein an "active" defender, though his size and limited foot speed hinder him in aspects of today's NBA. He's not an anchor, but there are enough valuable tools that teams can integrate into the right defensive cast.&nbsp;
Hartenstein is making just $1.73 million on his one-year contract with the Clippers. That should skyrocket this summer when he signs his next deal as a free agent. At base level, Hartenstein is a connector, finisher and bruiser. But if unlocked, he could be a secondary orchestrator for an offense and a valuable rim-protector on defense &mdash; an archetype modern teams covet.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>If you haven't seen it yet, watch this video:</li>
</ul>
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The Lakers social media team got some explaining to do 😂 <a href="https://t.co/sB5pNxXAFW">pic.twitter.com/sB5pNxXAFW</a>
&mdash; KENNY BEECHAM (@KOT4Q) <a href="https://twitter.com/KOT4Q/status/1508267758831779849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Todd Whitehead of Synergy posted the NBA's leaders in handoff assists. As the NBA MVP race comes down to the wire, there was some Twitter discussion about if certain players' assist totals are padded by handoffs. So take a look at this chart, and specficially look at the rate stat:</li>
</ul>
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NBA handoff assist leaders. <a href="https://t.co/bakrC7i4MN">pic.twitter.com/bakrC7i4MN</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1509179893094895621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>While I was writing this article, I kept noticing Alperen Sengun's name pop up among passing leaders. It's quite amazing how he is impacting the game as a rookie.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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I&rsquo;m doing a piece on a different passing big but it should be noted how some of the numbers support Alperen Sengun as an awesome passer His 11.7% Adj. AST/Pass ratio is second among all centers only behind Jokic. That means 11.7% of his passes become assists or free throws
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1509274412511547401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Isaiah Hartenstein has emerged as a high-end passing center, finisher and rim-protector with the Los Angeles Clippers.

NBA Stats Notebook: Isaiah Hartenstein is the Clippers' secret weapon

TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists for his second career triple-double, Gary Trent Jr. scored 29 points and the Toronto Raptors strengthened their hold on sixth place in the Eastern Conference by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-102 Wednesday night.
Toronto (44-32) moved two games ahead of Cleveland for sixth after the Cavaliers lost to Dallas.
OG Anunoby scored 22 points, Scottie Barnes had 17 and Precious Achiuwa 13 as the Raptors overcame a 17-point second-quarter deficit to complete a 4-0 homestand.
Fred VanVleet scored 12 points and Thad Young had 10 as Toronto matched idle Chicago for the fifth-best record in the conference. The Bulls hold the tiebreaker on the Raptors after winning three of four meetings.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Anthony Edwards scored 24 points as the Timberwolves (43-34) lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped three games behind sixth-place Denver in the Western Conference after the Nuggets beat Indiana.
Sixth place is the last guaranteed postseason spot, with teams finishing in the Nos. 7-10 spots headed for the play-in tournament.
Minnesota has five games left, while Toronto has six games remaining.
D’Angelo Russell scored 13 points, and Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley each had 10 as all five Timberwolves starters reached double figures.
The Raptors trailed 40-23 with 9:42 left in the second quarter but closed the gap with a 19-6 spurt. Toronto shot 8 for 12 from 3-point range in the second, and VanVleet’s buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the half gave Toronto a 62-60 lead.
Trent scored 14 points in the third, connecting on 3 of 4 attempts from distance, as Toronto took a 97-82 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: G Malik Beasley (sprained left ankle) sat for the second straight game. ... Coach Chris Finch said F Jaden McDaniels (sprained left ankle) has been cleared to resume basketball activities and will be evaluated again in one week. ... Minnesota had 11 turnovers in the first quarter. They finished with 23, leading to 25 points.
Raptors: C Khem Birch returned after sitting out Monday’s win over Boston because of a sore right knee. ... Achiuwa started the second half in place of Barnes, who returned with 5:02 remaining in the third. ... Toronto improved to 17-4 when at least six players score 10 or more points.
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: Visit Denver on Friday night.
Raptors: Visit Orlando on Friday night.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pascal Siakam logs a triple-double with career-high assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Siakam has triple-double, Raptors rout Timberwolves 125-102

Every day,&nbsp;BasketballNews.com&nbsp;gives you NBA betting analysis before tip-off. Make sure you subscribe to our daily podcast &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zNxt0NQXPmKuryAdz89m0?si=1038d121100444fd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts. This season, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; is up thousands of dollars on PrizePicks.
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Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into our favorite NBA betting plays for Wednesday's slate.
Boston Celtics (-5) vs. Miami Heat
Both of these teams have gone in opposite directions as of late. Boston dethroned Miami for the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed briefly this past weekend. Will the Heat bounce back in a primetime showdown with the Celtics on Wednesday? That&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve been waffling back-and-forth on, because the forecast projects an outright win for the underdog. If Jimmy Butler gets going early, plus Bam Adebayo has his way inside, the Heat have a plausible route to victory. A no-hesitation cover situation here for Miami.
Pick: Heat +5
PrizePicks Power Play: Jayson Tatum over 29.5 points, Jimmy Butler over 20.5 points, Bam Adebayo over 10 rebounds, Al Horford over 8 rebounds
Toronto Raptors (-2.5) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
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The Toronto Raptors have a forecast 54% chance to win against The Minnesota Timberwolves with a spread of -2.5/2.5 and an over/under of 227.0. The Toronto Raptors are 1 - 0 against The Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2021-22 Season.
&mdash; Wednesday, March 30th Minnesota Timberwolves @ Toronto Raptors</blockquote>

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The Raptors continue to be one of the most underrated teams in the NBA. With great cohesion and depth on their roster, Toronto is well-suited for a surprise playoff run. Pascal Siakam has a matchup against Minnesota where he should have his way inside. In what should be a fast-paced game, we love the lengthy Raptors in this spot to cover the small 2.5-point spread.
Pick: Raptors -2.5
PrizePicks Power Play: Pascal Siakam over 24.5 points, Karl-Anthony Towns over 22.5 points, Anthony Edwards over 19.5 points, Scottie Barnes over 15.5 points
Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns (-4.5)
Don&rsquo;t bet against the Suns right now, because it hasn&rsquo;t been a wise strategy for months. On the road against the Stephen Curry-less Warriors, Phoenix should feast in this playoff tune-up opportunity. Devin Booker is on a warpath to prove he&rsquo;s a legitimate MVP candidate. Meanwhile, the Suns can simply turn on another gear and be dominant whenever they please. Tonight feels like one of those situations for Phoenix. Hammer with emphasis the Suns as a best bet for Wednesday&rsquo;s slate.
Pick: Suns -4.5
PrizePicks Power Play: Devin Booker over 29 points, Klay Thompson over 23.5 points, Deandre Ayton over 10.5 rebounds, Draymond Green over 6 assists
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Who are the best bets for tonight's NBA games? Which players should you target in daily fantasy? We've got you covered!

Best Bets: BasketballNews' picks and fantasy advice for 3/30/22

We're nearing the end of the NBA regular season, which means award ballots will be due pretty soon. And because award ballots will be due pretty soon, the conversation around who deserves what award or team selection will ramp up.
We've seen recent pushes for Devin Booker (and to a lesser extent, Jayson Tatum) to get MVP love; Pascal Siakam is making a compelling case for an All-NBA forward slot, while his rookie companion Scottie Barnes is, at worst, making a serious push for Rookie of the Year. The Defensive Player of the Year award competition seems very much in the air right now.
These conversations fluctuate between fun, informative, nauseating and flat-out toxic &mdash; please check any and all xenophobia at the door, for example &mdash; but the conversations happen for a reason. We're watching (and hopefully enjoying!) the best men-ballers in the world, and want them to be rewarded for their excellence. It's a status thing, as well as a legacy thing, once you zoom out to Hall-of-Fame or GOAT talks.
As someone who doesn't have a ballot (email me whenever you're ready, NBA), I generally love digging into the awards. On the flip side, my level of care for it leads to frustration. While it would be unrealistic and unwise for everyone to follow the exact same rubric, the lack of consensus from the league and/or voters on key factors can get bothersome.&nbsp;
Heading into the final two weeks of the season, I have a few questions that I think the voting pool should come to a general understanding on, even if the selections themselves differ.
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HOW AVAILABLE DO PLAYERS NEED TO BE?
Before digging into specific award questions, I don't think there's a more pressing issue than this one. The combination of injuries and COVID absences have ravaged the NBA over the past couple of seasons. It's hard to blame&nbsp;a player for missing games due to either, but you have to split hairs once award time comes.
I think the voting choices could be made a little easier if there was a baseline expectation in terms of games played or minutes played. For my personal, fictitious ballot, I filtered for 70% of games played last season. I dropped that threshold to 60% this year in light of how wild the absences were at the beginning of the season.
Whatever the marker is &mdash; 50 games, 2,000 minutes &mdash; having something objective in place to limit the pool off rip could be beneficial.&nbsp;
"Voter X" doesn't hate your team and shouldn't get death threats in their DMs; your favorite player simply missed half the season. Sorry!
WHAT TO DO ABOUT NIKOLA JOKIC AND JOEL EMBIID?
The MVP conversation is exhausting enough; they're both worthy candidates for different reasons. It would not &mdash; NOT &mdash; be a "robbery" if Embiid beats out Jokic, or if Jokic beats Embiid. You can disagree, but they've been two of the top three players in the league all year long.&nbsp;
The more pressing concern comes with All-NBA voting. As mentioned, Jokic and Embiid have been two of the top three players in the league this season. They also play the same position (center); more importantly, that is the&nbsp;only&nbsp;position those two have played.
I don't love Basketball-Reference's position estimates because they seem to be height-based more than role-based, but it's telling that Embiid and Jokic have played 100% of their minutes at the 5 by their tally. That number was at 99% for Jokic last season, but reasonable folks are not giving Jokic the forward/center designation because he played 37 seconds with Bol Bol.
But yet, here we are, with Jokic and Embiid being eligible at forward for All-NBA voting.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Small note: I&rsquo;m told that both Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid will be eligible at both forward and center on the All-NBA vote. So both players can make first-team.
&mdash; Mike Singer (@msinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/msinger/status/1507771123806601216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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On the surface, it's a welcome loophole to give both players the First Team selection they deserve. Zoom in even a small percentage, and you'll see that it's a level of fudging that royally screws a forward on the third team. The debate then becomes: Has the NBA's fourth-best center (Rudy Gobert?) been better than the NBA's sixth-best forward (Siakam? Jimmy Butler?). And... probably not? But that shouldn't be the discussion to begin with.
I know, you know, we know that Jokic and Embiid are not forwards in the slightest. If you want to get into the role-played discussion, why is Jokic more of a forward than a guard? Explain it to me like I'm 5.
If you have Jokic over Embiid for MVP, you're admitting Embiid has been the second-best center in the NBA. The inverse is true if you're voting for Embiid. There are some positional gray areas to sort through this year (hi DeMar DeRozan and Luka Doncic); there is no debate about what position Jokic and Embiid play.
The&nbsp;real&nbsp;solution here is for the NBA to change the ballot, either going completely positionless or using the All-Star game format (two backcourt, three frontcourt). I've seen a middle ground mentioned &mdash; two backcourt, two frontcourt, one wild card &mdash; and I'd be cool with that.&nbsp;
Until then, my take is to make the tough choice. One of Embiid or Jokic should be the Second Team center &mdash; because they're centers.
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HOW MUCH SHOULD DEFENSE MATTER FOR ROOKIE AWARDS?
This has been heavily debated due to the outlier (at least until recently) production of Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.&nbsp;
In years past, Rookie of the Year has mostly been the "who has the best per-game stats" award. Naturally, guards (or wings) have the leg up because they have the ball in their hands; Blake Griffin (2011) and Karl-Anthony Towns (2016) are the only bigs to win the award in the last 15 years.
Mobley has a good enough case with numbers &mdash; roughly 15 points and 8 rebounds with 2.5 stocks (steals plus blocks) is nothing to sneeze at &mdash; but the foundation of his case has been what he's been able to do on the non-glamour end.&nbsp;
He hasn't just been rookie-good; he's made a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/defensive-awards-and-a-celebration-of-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legit All-Defense case</a> for his work this season. There's been slippage as of late, a natural byproduct of the team falling apart around him (bye Jarrett Allen), but his unique skill set unlocks a lot of what the Cavs have done from a scheme perspective.&nbsp;
While acknowledging that Mobley gets fair usage as an elbow or handoff hub, it's still fair to dub him as a play-finisher. That's in contrast to Barnes, who's had to wear a multitude of hats offensively, and the show-running that Cade Cunningham has assumed in Detroit (with the worst roster context among the serious ROY candidates).&nbsp;
It's become a sort of fundamental debate: Do you value the on-ball responsibility or the defensive aptitude more?
I don't like that question &mdash; too broad for my taste &mdash; but I'd like to get to a point where the defense is factored in, period, before getting to where it's valued in relation to that.
(As an aside: On March 14, I tweeted that I <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1503403710579359749?s=20&amp;t=ewDkbXyUS_MbRcFjhASW_g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">didn't see a real case</a> for a non-Mobley guy to win the award to that point. Barnes has thoroughly shut me up in that time frame; 16-7-5-1-1 while taking on a multitude of tough defensive assignments is pretty darn impressive. Toronto's 6-2 record helps too. I'll take my L.)
WHY CAN'T JA MORANT WIN THE MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD?
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This was a question born from a <a href="https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YpKkZnAlRPxj?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter Space held by the Basketball News staff </a>on Friday. There seems to be a pretty common sentiment that a player of Ja Morant's stature &mdash; an All-Star, easy All-NBA candidate and fringe MVP candidate &mdash; has been too good&nbsp;to win Most Improved, especially within the context of his draft selection.
I'm not saying Morant would be my choice; to be transaparent, I had Miles Bridges as my front-runner when discussing this on The Dunker Spot (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscribe</a>!), and I want to take the next week or so to solidify my selections.&nbsp;
But the logic doesn't track for me. If the award is "Most Improved", the criteria should be "who improved the most." If the answer if Morant, who has taken substantial statistical leaps and has improved in virtually every area of his game, why should he be disqualified off rip?
If the spirit of the award is "who made the most unexpected leap", then I'd like for that to be agreed upon and carried out moving forward.&nbsp;
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Nekias Duncan poses key questions to voters ahead of NBA award season.

Laying out 4 questions that need to be answered before NBA award time

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; LeBron James scored 19 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, Russell Westbrook had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors 128-123 on Friday night.
Avery Bradley hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 32.5 seconds left in the extra session, putting the visitors up 125-123, then added a pair of free throws after a turnover by Toronto rookie Scottie Barnes.
Wenyen Gabriel scored 17 points, Bradley had 14 and Austin Reaves 10 as Los Angeles avenged Monday&rsquo;s home loss to the Raptors and ended Toronto&rsquo;s winning streak at five.
James shot 15 for 26 and went 2 for 7 from 3-point range. He had nine rebounds.
Barnes had 31 points and 17 rebounds, Gary Trent Jr. scored 23 points and Fred Van Vleet 20.
Precious Achiuwa scored 18 points, but made a costly turnover in the final seconds of regulation that led to Westbrook&rsquo;s tying 3 with less than a second to play.
Toronto looked to have the game won after Trent hit a go-ahead 3 with 25 seconds left, and James and Westbrook both missed from distance at the other end, with Trent grabbing the rebound on Westbrook&rsquo;s shot.
Los Angeles got a break when Achiuwa turned the ball over with 5 seconds left and Westbrook hit a tying 3 with less than 1 second remaining. Toronto couldn&rsquo;t get a shot off on its final possession, sending it to OT.
The Lakers made their first six field-goal attempts of the game, including three from long range, to lead 15-5, but Toronto reclaimed the advantage with a 18-3 spurt. Making his first start for Los Angeles, Gabriel shot 6 for 6 in the first quarter and scored 14 points as the Lakers led 33-30 after one.
James scored 12 points in the second. Los Angeles led 59-55 at the half, but Barnes had 12 in the third as Toronto took an 89-88 lead to the fourth.
LOCOMOTIVE LEBRON
Beforehand, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he hasn&rsquo;t seen James slow down any with age.
&ldquo;To me, he&rsquo;s got the freight train game going,&rdquo; Nurse said. &ldquo;He gets in transition, and you&rsquo;ve got to be a man to stand in there and get in the way to slow him down.&rdquo;
GOOD WEEK FOR A.D.
Injured Lakers forward Anthony Davis tested his sprained right foot by taking some shots on the court before the game. Davis sat for the 12th straight game, but Lakers coach Frank Vogel said the star big man is making progress in the intensity of his work.
&ldquo;Anthony has had a good week,&rdquo; Vogel said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a productive week.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Lakers: G Talen Horton-Tucker sat because of a sprained left ankle. F Carmelo Anthony and G Wayne Ellington were both sidelined due to a non-COVID illness.
Raptors: F OG Anunoby (fractured right ring finger) will be reevaluated in a week, Nurse said. Anunoby has missed the past 13 games. &hellip; Siakam scored 17 points.
UP NEXT
Lakers: At Washington on Saturday night.
Raptors: At Philadelphia on Sunday night.
&nbsp;

LeBron James scored 36 points and Russell Westbrook had a triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 128-123.

James scores 35, Lakers beat Raptors in OT, snap 3-game skid

I tuned in late for Raptors-Suns on Friday night, but I knew I had to tune in.&nbsp;
A team with a diverse pick-and-roll offense featuring plenty of empty corner ball screens and Spain actions? And you're telling me they got to face off against one of the rangiest, switchiest teams in the sport?
Sign. Me. Up.
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The fourth quarter starts with Phoenix spamming three empty corner ball-screens, all headlined by Cam Payne. On the first, he comes off to his right and makes the one-pass-away swing to Landry Shamet for a contested triple. On the next trip, Payne flows into a contested pull-up with Fred VanVleet trailing him.&nbsp;
The shot misses, is rebounded by JaVale McGee, then kicked back out to Payne. They do the dance again, with Payne touching the paint on this one. A late switch is forced, with Precious Achiuwa picking up Payne on the drive. He contests vertically, but Payne gets a tough one to go.
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My initial thought after the first minute of fourth quarter play: Wow, that was a pretty quiet start for Achiuwa.
And I meant it in a good way.
It's not easy to defend three empty corner actions in a row against an unpredictable spark plug like Payne, while also dealing with the prospect of a lob threat like McGee getting behind you. Those three trips ended with one shot at the rim made my brow raise.
(That also gives me an excuse to drop this: 40 players have defended at least 35 empty corner ball screens since the All-Star break; only four bigs &mdash; Joel Embiid, Isaiah Jackson (!!!), Bam Adebayo and Karl-Anthony Towns &mdash; have allowed stingier marks than Achiuwa, per Second Spectrum.)
It seems counterproductive to appreciate a quiet aspect of Achiuwa, but it's the mark of growth for Toronto's second-year big man.&nbsp;
The flashes have been loud; a grab-and-go sequence here; a thunderous swat there; a poster dunk, just for funsies.
But then there's the other side: the wild passes, the dribble-dribble-dribble-shoot isolations that garner slumped shoulders from his teammates, the eagerness against ball fakes.
It's too early to say Achiuwa has put it together, but his post-All-Star break stretch &mdash; and honestly, you can track the shift back a little further &mdash; has been a step in the right direction.
In nine games since the break, he's averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in a shade under 23 minutes per contest. He has the second-best net rating (plus-1.2) among rotation regulars, trailing only Malachi Flynn.
(Don't forget to set your cuckoo clocks forward an hour tomorrow, friends.)
In true Achiuwa fashion, his True Shooting percentage since the break is both underwhelming (53.6, below league average) and a massive improvement from his pre-break number (46.7). The boom in efficiency can be explained by his three-point shooting; he's drilled 46.2% of his triples on nearly three attempts per contest.
He's been fruitful from the corners, but there's a little bit of diversity present. He's firing off of pick-and-pops. He can space in the corner, but has also shown the willingness to relocate to remain in his driver's line of sight.
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It would be irresponsible to dub Achiuwa as a mid-40s three-point shooter, but his comfort is worth monitoring. There's no hesitation in regards to the shot, and his footwork and shot prep are fine in multiple contexts. If he can cross the "reliable" threshold in the minds of defenses, that can open up his driving game.
Full disclosure: I have no idea what to make of it right now.
He has legit ball skills, and a first step that can best most centers in space. It helps him in grab-and-go situations after defensive rebounds, and there's potential worth exploring in half-court scenarios. This possession from Friday's action is ringing in my head.
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That's Achiuwa popping, pumping, then attacking McGee's top foot and absolutely dusting him off the bounce.&nbsp;
That is&nbsp;also&nbsp;Achiuwa missing Thaddeus Young as Bismack Biyombo rotates over, then getting swatted at the rim as a result.
I'm not sure there's a larger gap between a player's perception and their percentages than Achiuwa at the rim. You'd think a guy with his athletic gifts and measurements would be an elite finisher, but yet:
<ul>
<li>He's converting 55% of his shots at the rim (7th percentile), per Cleaning The Glass</li>
<li>About those ball-skills: Achiuwa is shooting 37.5% (!) on shots via drive since the All-Star break, one of the worst marks in the league</li>
<li>He gets blocked&nbsp;a ton:&nbsp;14.2% of his shots at the rim <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/nba/player?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have been swatted</a>, one of the highest marks among qualified players (min: 1000 minutes) per PBP Stats.</li>
</ul>
Passing more would probably help these matters; he's only passing on <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;SeasonSegment=Post%20All-Star&amp;TeamID=1610612761&amp;sort=DRIVES&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% of his drives</a> since the break, and rarely gives up the rock after offensive rebounds.
On the defensive end, Achiuwa has showcased high level potential. He's incredibly switchable, able to mirror wings and some guards in space while using his 7-3 wingspan as a buffer. Darius Garland didn't have the best time earlier this week.
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That switchiness allows the Raptors to flatten actions in the half-court. Lineups featuring Achiuwa with their core four (VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam) have outscored teams by 5.5 points per 100 possessions behind a stingy defense. Opposing offenses have a three-point rate of 29.1 with that group on the floor, a mark that ranks in the 90th percentile.&nbsp;
While not a great rebounder himself, he does boost Toronto's rebound rate by nearly <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/vs/advanced/#!?TeamID=1610612761&amp;VsPlayerID=1630173&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three percentage points</a> this season. That number has <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/vs/advanced/#!?TeamID=1610612761&amp;VsPlayerID=1630173&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;SeasonSegment=Post%20All-Star" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become more stark</a> since the All-Star break.&nbsp;
The case for starting Achiuwa is what he unlocks defensively, and how his open-floor handling can further help the Raptors push in transition. What's holding him back is his ability to cap or continue possessions &mdash; the finishing has to be much better, and his willingness to move the ball must improve.
I will say, Achiuwa doesn't seem far off. Even with his warts, he's clearly the most talented of Toronto's actual centers. He leads their big man room in fourth quarter minutes &mdash; late-game trust matters more than jump-ball responsibilities, anyway.
Keep an eye on him.
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Nekias Duncan digs into Precious Achiuwa's second-half surge with the Toronto Raptors.

Why doesn't Precious Achiuwa start for the Raptors?

March Madness is underway!
Across the country, teams are competing in conference tournaments and trying to punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is just three days away, and then the tourney starts next Tuesday.
If you missed any of the Day 1 action, here's a recap of what went down on Wednesday.
Tickets Punched
Colgate defeats Navy 74-58, Patriot League Championship
Jack Ferguson: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Greg Summers: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
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SEC
Missouri defeats Ole Miss 72-60, faces No. 5 LSU
Kobe Brown: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists&nbsp;
Matthew Murrell: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists&nbsp;
Vanderbilt defeats Georgia 86-51, faces No. 6 Alabama
Scotty Pippen Jr.: 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Braelen Bridges: 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17862620_lg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="468" />
Big Ten
Northwestern defeats Nebraska 71-69, faces No. 5 Iowa
Boo Buie: 16 points, 3 assists&nbsp;
Alonzo Verge Jr.: 21 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗖 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗦 😼 This is March ‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoCats?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoCats</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NU_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NU_Sports</a> <a href="https://t.co/9dBLxaSHDW">pic.twitter.com/9dBLxaSHDW</a>
&mdash; Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NUMensBball/status/1501729758111019012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Penn State defeats Minnesota 60-51, faces No. 6 Ohio State
Jalen Pickett: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Jamison Battle: 19 points, 6 rebounds
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ACC
Virginia Tech defeats Clemson in OT 76-75, faces No. 2 Notre Dame
Keve Aluma: 19 points, 10 rebounds
PJ Hall: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛!!!! <a href="https://t.co/hBrAMmBl4P">pic.twitter.com/hBrAMmBl4P</a>
&mdash; Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/HokiesMBB/status/1501744888651653122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Boston College upsets Wake Forest 82-77 in OT, faces No. 4 Miami (FL)&nbsp;
DeMarr Langford Jr.: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Jake LaRavia: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Syracuse defeats Florida State 96-57, faces No. 1 Duke&nbsp;
Cole Swider: 28 points, 13 rebounds, 9-15 FG
Joseph Girard III: 16 points, 4 assists
Virginia defeats Louisville 51-50, faces No. 3 North Carolina
Jayden Gardner: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 7-12 FG
Maliik Williams: 11 opints, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17862474_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
Big 12
West Virginia defeats Kansas State 73-67, faces No. 1 Kansas
Sean McNeil: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 7-10 FG
Nijel Pack: 18 points, 6 rebounds
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17863085_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
Big East
Butler defeats Xavier 89-82, faces No. 1 Providence
Chuck Harris: 29 points, 2 assists
Simas Lukosius: 27 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 11-13 FT
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
DOWN GOES X‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ButlerWay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ButlerWay</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Team124?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Team124</a> <a href="https://t.co/CAHgoom1CY">pic.twitter.com/CAHgoom1CY</a>
&mdash; Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ButlerMBB/status/1501712938033463298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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St. John&rsquo;s defeats DePaul 92-73, faces No. 2 Villanova
Julian Champagnie: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Javon Freeman-Liberty: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Seton Hall defeats Georgetown, faces No 3. Connecticut
Jared Rhoden: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Aminu Mohammed: 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17861107_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
Pac 12
Stanford defeats Arizona State 71-70, faces No. 1 Arizona
Spencer Jones: 26 points, 6 rebounds, 6-12 (3PT)
DJ Horne: 21 points, 8-17 FG
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Heck of a comeback, <a href="https://twitter.com/StanfordMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StanfordMBB</a> 😳🤯 <a href="https://t.co/AqCzhETS30">pic.twitter.com/AqCzhETS30</a>
&mdash; Stanford Athletics (@GoStanford) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoStanford/status/1501697971083116544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Oregon defeats Oregon State 86-72, faces No. 4 Colorado
Jacob Young: 23 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds
Jarod Lucas: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 6-10 FG
Washington State defeats California 66-59, faces No. 2 UCLA
Efe Abogidi: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Jordan Shepherd: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists
Washington defeats Utah 82-70, faces No. 3 Southern California
Terrrell Brown Jr.: 22 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Marco Anthoy: 18 points, 2 assists
&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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March Madness is underway! If you missed any of the Day 1 action, here's a recap of what went down during Wednesday's games.

March Madness: Conference tournament Wednesday recap

I&rsquo;ve had the privilege of being around some great players, including some guys from the NBA&rsquo;s 75th&nbsp;anniversary team.
In Boston, I was teammates with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In Miami, I had Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and Dwyane Wade showing me how to become a champion. I played with Chris Paul in New Orleans, coached LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and was fortunate to have other guys like Antonio McDyess, Nick Van Exel and Steve Francis show me what success at the NBA level looked like.
I&rsquo;ve been around the game for a long time and, even though the game has changed, one of the constants has been players of the older generation telling the younger players they couldn&rsquo;t cut it &ldquo;back in the day.&rdquo;
Charles Oakley became the latest to make those kinds of comments earlier this week when Oak said that Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn&rsquo;t even be a starter if he played back in the 1980s or 1990s.
I wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily say that I agree with Oak, but to be honest with you, I understand why he would feel that way. To go even further, I understand why most of the older players feel that way about the younger players in general.
There&rsquo;s always going to be people on either side of the argument, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact that the game is way different now than it was 30 years ago.
On a personal level, I feel like I&rsquo;m kind of caught between the two generations. I grew up watching Scottie Pippen and people compared me to him. I was drafted in 1999, but I was shown the ropes by guys like McDyess and Nick the Quick, who more so came up in those times. At the same time, I played 12 years and I think I saw that transition happen right before my eyes. Things just slowly evolved.
Truth be told, I think there&rsquo;s a lack of respect on both parts.
Older players like Oakley look at younger players and, for the most part, don&rsquo;t really think they&rsquo;re tough. Today, the league is more about protecting offensive players, protecting shooters and encouraging high-scoring games than it was back in the 1990s. Go back and watch some tape and you&rsquo;ll see. If Michael Jordan played by today&rsquo;s rules, for example, he could probably average 50.
Meanwhile, if Steph Curry went back to the 1980s and had to play against Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Bad Boys, and if he was seeing that kind of competition every night, if he wasn&rsquo;t encouraged to shoot 15 three-pointers every game&hellip; Would he have become the same player?
Maybe he still would have. I&rsquo;m just saying, that&rsquo;s where the arguments come from. Older players just think that the league has become soft, and they don&rsquo;t respect how players exaggerate contact and go out of their way to draw fouls the way it&rsquo;s become so common in today&rsquo;s game.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
On the other hand, one of the things I&rsquo;ve heard a lot from younger players and people who think guys like Giannis and Steph could go back and dominate is the &ldquo;lack of skill&rdquo; that some of the older players had, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s true at all.
In recent times, we began to equate a guys&rsquo; skill with his flash. Guys like Dr. J, George Gervin and Dominique Wilkins got accolades and attention, partially because of the things they could do, but so many other guys &mdash; guys like Charles Oakley &mdash; simply played the game in a no-nonsense type of way.
Guys like Oakley focused on fundamentals and on being able to perform their jobs well on the court, and I think the current generation of players and fans &mdash; when they look back at those guys &mdash; try to act like they weren&rsquo;t &ldquo;good&rdquo; because they weren&rsquo;t doing flashy dunks or crossing people over.
Even worse, a lot of the time we try to act like a lot of what we see today isn&rsquo;t a result of evolution. Guys like Giannis and Steph were either watching the previous generation or were taught by the guys who came before them. Would we have gotten Giannis if we never had Kevin Durant? Would we have had KD if we never had Dirk? Would we have had Dirk if we never had someone like George Gervin or Ralph Sampson?
I grew up being taught to respect my elders, and I think we should remember to do that.
At the same time, the older generation needs to understand that the game has changed and is just played differently. There&rsquo;s no reason to think that someone like Steph wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to get buckets against someone like Isiah or Derek Harper or whoever. He would&rsquo;ve had to adjust and find ways to be effective, just like he did in his earlier days when he was squaring off against other tough defenders.
The whole thing actually got me thinking: if I had a time machine and could make an imaginary pickup game with today&rsquo;s players against players from the 1980s and 1990s, which matchups would I like to see?
Ultimately, I think the winning team would be decided by which set of rules the imaginary pickup game was played under. If you were playing with today&rsquo;s rules, Isiah would probably get called for three hand-checking fouls on Steph in the first five minutes of the game.
If we were playing in the 1990s, though, Anthony Davis would probably get caught with an elbow from Karl Malone and need some time to recover. Worse for AD? There probably wouldn&rsquo;t even be a foul called on the play.
If I could have it my way, I&rsquo;d take one player from each position and two wildcards.
At point guard, as I&rsquo;ve already hinted at, I&rsquo;d like to see Chris Paul vs. Isiah. Both are all-time great point guards and both guys are tough competitors.
At shooting guard, I&rsquo;d take Reggie Miller and James Harden. Two of the greatest shooters ever, and also two of the best actors, haha. I&rsquo;d be interested in seeing how well Reggie would be able to keep up with and stay in front of James and also whether James could be effective without necessarily getting a bunch of free throws.
I&rsquo;d obviously have to put MJ and LeBron in there. Even though MJ is a shooting guard, I&rsquo;d have to cross-match them. It&rsquo;d be great to see whether MJ could score on LeBron at will the way he pretty much did against everyone else.
Karl Malone and Anthony Davis is an interesting one. Malone was as tough as they come, and AD doesn&rsquo;t really have that type of reputation. That said, AD is a superior offensive player and one who can score from almost anywhere. I&rsquo;d definitely want to see how The Brow managed to hold his own against The Mailman.
At center, I&rsquo;d take Shaq and Joel Embiid to go at it. Embiid reminds me of Shaq a little just because he&rsquo;s so dominant, but so agile. Because Shaq was so strong, people really don&rsquo;t give him the credit he deserves for being a great defender (when he tried) and for being able to move without the ball and see his teammates.
For my two wildcards, so to speak, I&rsquo;d want to cross-match Kevin Durant and Larry Bird and Steph Curry and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Durant and Curry are probably the superior talents, but Bird never saw a challenge he couldn&rsquo;t meet. He also never saw a player quite like KD, though, so it&rsquo;d be interesting. Curry would obviously have to be in this matchup, and the reason I&rsquo;d pick Abdul-Rauf is mainly because I think he&rsquo;s someone who isn&rsquo;t talked about enough. He definitely wasn&rsquo;t on the level of Steph, but he was a great scorer and someone who could control a game. And even if Steph was lighting him up, he wouldn&rsquo;t be asking for any double-team. If Abdul-Rauf played in this generation, I think his entire career would have been different.
So that would be my ultimate pickup game:
Isiah Thomas, Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Larry Bird and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf vs. Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Just writing out those names for the new-school team makes me wonder how on earth the old-school team would be able to stop them from scoring&hellip; But I think Isiah, MJ, Malone and Shaq would band together to find a way&hellip; Or at least go down swinging. Probably literally, too.
The game has definitely changed. Some people may like the changes, some may not. Either way, one thing is for sure: no matter what era you&rsquo;re from, it&rsquo;s not easy to succeed in the NBA. We all deserve each other&rsquo;s respect, and whether or not you agree with Oak and his assessment of Giannis, we can&rsquo;t take away the fact that the Greek Freak is the reigning Finals MVP.
Whether in 1980 or 2021, that trophy has always carried the same weight. That&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;d challenge my old-schoolers to always keep in mind.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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James Posey discusses the changes he's witnessed in the NBA over the last decades, and describes his ultimate pick-up game matchups.

Going back in time for a 7-on-7: NBA Stars of Today vs. Team 1990

Mama's got a new pair of shoes, and James Harden has a new pair of threads.
The future Hall of Fame guard made his Philadelphia 76er debut on Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. And before going further, let me just say: what a bad break for the Wolves, man.
To get the Harden debut on the second night of a back-to-back, not even two weeks after getting the Domantas Sabonis debut (on the second night of a back-to-back) is a stroke of scheduling (bad) luck you have to laugh at. Add in their base scheme (more on that very shortly), and it's hard to think of many better options to get your first run against.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
At any rate, the people were ready to see what Harden looked like. Physically, you want to see how he looks since he's been dealing with hamstring issues dating back to last postseason; emotionally, because the level of engagement shown from him during the latter stages of his Nets run was ... I mean, we can say it &mdash; it was shameful at times. On a different team, with a different superstar and reunited with Daryl Morey, it was fair to wonder how juiced up he was going to be.
And beyond that, what the heck was the partnership with Joel Embiid (that different superstar) going to look like? Seamless? Spotty? It's game one, after all.
We saw some encouraging stuff on Friday night. The Sixers absolutely blasted the Wolves 133-102. Harden (27-8-12) and Embiid (34-10-3-1) took turns wrecking the defense, and even hooked up a few times &mdash; north of 20 times when combining handoff and ball screen possessions &mdash; to do it.
Let's take a look at how the two operated together.
HANDOFFS
This was the smaller sample of play types &mdash; the Sixers had five possessions featuring a handoff between the two, per Second Spectrum.&nbsp;
The method of choice was Chicago action &mdash; a pindown that flows into a handoff. We got multiple instances of Embiid handling the ball above the break, with Tobias Harris or resident non-shooter Matisse Thybulle prying Harden open with a screen before jetting into the handoff with Embiid.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/7z9w1b" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Peep the subtleties of the spacing on the possessions above. On the first action, Harris cuts through after setting the screen for Harden, setting up an empty corner for the star duo to work with.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_02_26_19_30_46_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Harden ends up taking the floater in the first clip &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns doesn't fully commit to Harden, opting to lunge while backpedaling &mdash; but look at the weakside. With Harris relocating, Thybulle positions himself to set a pin-in screen on Anthony Edwards. Edwards is tasked with defending both players (splitting the difference) since Jarred Vanderbilt rotated over to provide some relief; pin-in screens are a great counter to that extra help.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_02_26_19_32_14_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
On the second clip, you get the inverse. Thybulle sets the screen this time and hangs around the perimeter. Harden is able to fully engage Towns on the drive, opening up the lob to Embiid. D'Angelo Russell sinks into the paint due to Thybulle's lack of shooting gravity, but you tell me who's gonna win this particular jump ball.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_02_26_19_40_04_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Yeah.
BALL SCREENS
This is where the fun stuff &mdash; or if you're a Wolves fan/observer, the infuriating stuff &mdash; happened.
If you want a quick number, the Sixers generated a whopping 1.29 points per possession on trips featuring a Harden-Embiid ball screen. For reference, the best transition offense in the league (Chicago Bulls) generate 1.2 points per possession. Heck,&nbsp;Giannis&nbsp;generates 1.18 points per possession in transition, if that further drives the point home for you.
Though they've toned it down as of late, the Wolves still show two to the ball in pick-and-roll pretty often. That requires a bunch of chemistry and connectivity on the backline to put out fires. Running that style against a passer like Harden, and a short-roll (or pop) terror like Embiid posed some problems,&nbsp;buddy.
When you think of a ball-handler getting trapped (or hard-hedged against), the natural progression seems to be "big catches the ball on the short roll and finds the best passing outlet against a 4-on-3, 3-on-2, or 2-on-1, depending on the spacing."
Embiid's different in that he's fine with popping against that look. On top of that, he can shoot off the pop or drive out of it. He's also devastating because his short roll reps turn into him bullying a much smaller helper.&nbsp;
Think about it: if Embiid's man &mdash; a large human being that probably can't guard him anyway &mdash; is 25ish feet from the basket, who the heck is stopping his rampage?&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/314o37" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
This ends in a Harris miss, but you can see the issue. Embiid pops here and has the shot if he wants it. He decides to drive instead, bullies Towns (aka the large human that can't guard him anyway), draws a double and makes the easy kick.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/jydxwq" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
We get more of a traditional roll from Embiid this time. We also get no tag or rotation from Vanderbilt, though that's also part of the fun for Philly. Vanderbilt has to choose between rotating to Embiid (and likely getting bullied anyway) or staying home on Danny Green, a plus-shooter.
(As a brief aside, I was pretty impressed with how the Sixers spaced the floor in this one. Ultimately, with Towns playing high against Harden, Russell is once again the last line of defense against Embiid.
The Wolves would attempt to do different things. They went to a zone in the second half, but Embiid was able to find the soft spots in it. The middle is generally the vulnerable area of a zone. Offenses want to get into the middle of the floor and set up high-lows or create easy kick-outs, but&nbsp; Embiid can just get a bucket himself.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/mpf2z5" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
There was also drop coverage mixed in, but that poses some pretty tough problems. In general, Harden is insanely good at getting downhill, engaging the big (and tempting a third defender to offer extra assistance), then making the defense wrong. Embiid isn't a typical lob threat, but he can bully dudes in the intermediate area.
On the Wolves side, Towns just ... isn't good as a drop defender. That reality is what led to their aggressive scheme shift to begin with. That, combined with some ill-timed (or non-existent) rotations made it easier for the Sixers to generate good stuff.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/7pg60t" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Anthony Edwards gets knocked off his path. Towns is doing ... something as he backpedals in his drop. Taurean Prince is a beat late to show help. All things considered, the Wolves end up in a decent spot with three defenders converging on Embiid. So, of course, they foul him.
Welp.
I'm curious to see what the Harden-Embiid combo looks in a tougher context than the Wolves provide, but the skeleton of a successful partnership was on full display.
And it's pretty scary.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the debut of the James Harden-Joel Embiid partnership.

The early returns on the James Harden-Joel Embiid partnership

All is well in Warrior Land.&nbsp;
Klay Thompson&rsquo;s back from his 941-day hiatus, and he&rsquo;s rekindled his usual splashiness with an added wrinkle of <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1496510661760802825?s=20&amp;t=Qta8WZ8OI-9IaVhpLWaXgg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dribble creation</a>. Draymond Green has resurrected his podcast career and should be back on the floor shortly. Andrew Wiggins may not be an All-Star starter in impact, but he's still playing like a <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/99-2022-sub-all-stars/id1428290303?i=1000550498698" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-50 player</a>. Youngsters Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/longawaited-return-of-james-wiseman-will-fill-warriors-only-void" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Wiseman</a> (via Twitter workout videos) show just enough flashes to keep Warriors to Twitter at Bay (ha, get it).
I repeat: All is well in Warrior Land, set up to compete now and well into the future.
So what then, is this all about?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The Warriors will reportedly look to lock up one of their young stars this offseason <a href="https://t.co/zOW0f8yfkX">https://t.co/zOW0f8yfkX</a>
&mdash; Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1496309488965632006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

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To figure it out, I caught up with Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle &mdash; the man credited with <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Andrew-Wiggins-is-an-All-Star-but-how-much-16936511.php#photo-22091414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">breaking this story</a>:
&ldquo;My understanding is that the Warriors will try to sign Poole to a contract extension this summer, which would keep him from hitting restricted free agency in summer 2023," Letourneau told BasketballNews.com. "To get a deal done, Golden State will probably have to ink him to a contract in the four-year, $80 million range."
On the surface, that seems like a gross overpay, particularly when you factor in Golden State's current salary-cap situation. Letourneau followed up on that.
&ldquo;The Warriors think he's worth it. And I don't blame them," Letourneau said. "Poole has improved more in the past two years than perhaps anyone else in the NBA, and he's only 22. I could see him becoming a CJ McCollum type. But then again, I should know better than to put a ceiling on him. He has far exceeded every projection I've had for him to this point.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Great point. And I like the McCollum comparison, but I&rsquo;d take it a step further. When I see the wirey, chaotic guard blazing across the court and soaring into the air, I get flashes of Zach Lavine &mdash; a player who cashed in a similar deal not too long ago.
In the summer of 2018, Lavine inked a four-year, $76 million dollar deal with Chicago (as a restricted free agent). Here is how he compared to Poole at the time:
Lavine 2017-18 v. Poole 2021-22 (mobile users scroll right for full table)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 11.9184%;">
Player
</td>
<td style="width: 9.07877%;">
Age
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8825%;">
% of Cap*
</td>
<td style="width: 16.8224%;">
PTS per 75**
</td>
<td style="width: 20.6943%;">
Relative TS%**
</td>
<td style="width: 17.6235%;">
FTA per 75**
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8799%;">
AST%**
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 11.9184%;">
Lavine
</td>
<td style="width: 9.07877%;">
22
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8825%;">
&asymp; 19.1%
</td>
<td style="width: 16.8224%;">
22.4
</td>
<td style="width: 20.6943%;">
-5.7
</td>
<td style="width: 17.6235%;">
6.0
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8799%;">
18.6%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 11.9184%;">
Poole
</td>
<td style="width: 9.07877%;">
22
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8825%;">
&asymp; 16.5%
</td>
<td style="width: 16.8224%;">
20.7
</td>
<td style="width: 20.6943%;">
+2.1
</td>
<td style="width: 17.6235%;">
4.0
</td>
<td style="width: 11.8799%;">
18.7%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
* Data provided by Spotrac
** Data provided by Basketball-Reference
Of course, Lavine has since progressed to All-Star status and earned himself a reputation as one of the <a href="https://megaphone.link/BNI9684843880" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 best offensive players</a> in basketball. He&rsquo;s worth every penny the Bulls paid him way back when.&nbsp;
If I was a betting man, I&rsquo;d put a reasonable amount of Prize Picks money on Poole doing the same.
Now, this is the part where someone pulls this up:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Not every young player that shows promise ends up being a future All-Star.
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1492202101803470855?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2022</a></blockquote>

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True, but Poole isn&rsquo;t like other young players.
For starters, at age-22, he&rsquo;s already adept at scoring at all three levels of the basketball court. Stepback three-pointers, balletic mid-range floaters, herky-jerky dribble moves into gallant attacks at the rim. All those things are firmly in his wheelhouse. How do I know that? He literally flashed it all in less than *checks clock* five minutes of game time.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/wcbjkc" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Outside of the All-Star trio (Ja Morant, Zion Williamson and Darius Garland), the player who gets the most air time from the 2019 NBA Draft class is Tyler Herro, which is fair. He&rsquo;s made some <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/miami-heat-tyler-herro-is-pulling-up-to-the-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">massive strides</a> this year. But why aren&rsquo;t people making outlandish claims about Poole like this?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Anonymous NBA scout on Tyler Herro &ldquo;He got screwed out of the All-Star Game. He should have been there. ... I would not give up Herro [in a package] for [Bradley] Beal this summer.&ldquo;<a href="https://t.co/bREQEd7jsC">https://t.co/bREQEd7jsC</a>
&mdash; NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1496255919851769856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Poole's shooting splits are just as promising:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 172px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.8407%;">
Player
</td>
<td style="width: 25.5007%;">
Rim %*
</td>
<td style="width: 30.3071%;">
Midrange %*
</td>
<td style="width: 27.3195%;">
Three Point %*
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.8407%;">
Herro
</td>
<td style="width: 25.5007%;">
59%
</td>
<td style="width: 30.3071%;">
41%
</td>
<td style="width: 27.3195%;">
38%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.8407%;">
Poole
</td>
<td style="width: 25.5007%;">
66%
</td>
<td style="width: 30.3071%;">
46%
</td>
<td style="width: 27.3195%;">
34%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
 * Data provided by Cleaning the Glass
Poole is converting shots at the rim and from the mid-range at a significantly higher rate than Herro. And while his three-pointer may be lagging behind, his league-leading free throw percentage (92.2%) is a strong indicator that he&rsquo;ll figure it out from beyond the arc.
Also, for my volume stans out there, Poole has maintained his True Shooting percentage from last year (58.1%), despite taking nearly four more shots per game.&nbsp;
As it stands, his passing is how you say ~ <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-most-volatile-scorers-in-basketball-right-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">volatile</a> ~ seesawing between sublime and errant depending on the possession (hence his career-highs in assist and turnover rate). When it&rsquo;s working, though, things get freaky:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-theme="dark">
I loved Poole coming out of Michigan because of his flexibility on his dribbles, taking some crazy angles with his body before hitting Kevon with the bounce pass out of the empty side pick and roll for an open dunk <a href="https://t.co/jXRSvj7UvY">pic.twitter.com/jXRSvj7UvY</a>
&mdash; Charlie Cummings (@klaytheist11) <a href="https://twitter.com/klaytheist11/status/1478477992108204038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One thing that should stand out to you about that clip (gifted to us by the venerable Charlie Cummings) is Poole&rsquo;s ability to draw two to the ball. That occurrence should trigger memories of this:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Just for you <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@matissa15</a> <a href="https://t.co/ADyfyywN9C">pic.twitter.com/ADyfyywN9C</a>
&mdash; Charlie Cummings (@klaytheist11) <a href="https://twitter.com/klaytheist11/status/1496897560748826673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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I&rsquo;m not the first person to make that connection &mdash; <a href="https://uproxx.com/dimemag/jordan-pool-golden-state-warriors-analysis-videos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jackson Frank</a> and <a href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2022/1/4/22866338/warriors-heat-jordan-poole-film-breakdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Viray</a> have written about this &mdash; but Poole&rsquo;s gravity (second-best on the team) enables him to temporarily masquerade as the resident, baby-faced assassin within the Warriors' offensive system. This ability to temporarily operate as the team&rsquo;s lead guard and short-roll ignitor takes a massive burden off the chiseled shoulders of Curry, who has had a history of gradually breaking down during the second half of the season (see the 2016 playoffs).
Also, it&rsquo;s worth noting that very few players can be the understudy of one of 10 best offensive players ever.
One last note I want to make about Poole is regarding his character, which is normally something I try to avoid (it&rsquo;s mainly speculation unless you know the person). But when so many people sing your praises, that has to mean something. Listen to this great clip of two of the best basketball minds ever talking about his maturation as a decision-maker:
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Both Steve Kerr and Steph Curry mentioned this specific Jordan Poole transition pass last night as a sign of growth. The play and the soundbites <a href="https://t.co/Gt2eFlqOJt">pic.twitter.com/Gt2eFlqOJt</a>
&mdash; Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href="https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1463937921489129484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2021</a></blockquote>

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That&rsquo;s how everyone from the championship crew talks about him. Curry, Green, Thompson, Andre Iguodala &mdash; they all love Poole's guts. Game recognizes game. They see the fierceness, the swagger, the hunger and the relentless quest for knowledge and skill.
When you combine that package of intangibles with the product you see on the court, $20 million dollars annually looks like a bargain.
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Mat Issa dives into Jordan Poole's value to the Warriors and why extending him should be a no-brainer.

Why the Warriors don't need to worry about paying Jordan Poole

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns gave big men everywhere something to shoot for.
Minnesota's 7-footer became the first center to win the 3-Point Shooting Contest, defeating seven guards during the NBA's All-Star Saturday and providing a memorable moment on a night the dunk contest barely got off the ground.
Towns, who has spent his entire career proving doubters wrong about his range, posted a 29 &mdash; the highest total in the competition &mdash; during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers, who tied for second with 26 each.
New York's Obi Toppin won the four-person dunk contest, scoring a 47 out of 50 in the final round by putting the ball between his legs in the air, touching it off the backboard and re-directing it through the rim.
Golden State's Juan Toscano-Anderson was second as the dunk contest, once a marquee event that at times trumped the All-Star Game, fell flat.
A trio of Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, won the Skills Challenge.
After his surprising 3-point win, Towns accepted his trophy at mid-court and immediately turned toward Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal sitting courtside in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
&ldquo;I told you Shaq,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Vegas got the odds wrong.&rdquo;
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Towns was considered, well, a long shot among a field of shot makers that included Young, Kennard, New Orleans' CJ McCollum, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Patty Mills, Toronto&rsquo;s Fred VanVleet, Chicago&rsquo;s Zach LaVine and Memphis&rsquo; Desmond Bane.
&ldquo;I wanted to prove I was the best shooting big man in the world, and now I got the trophy to prove it,&rdquo; Towns said.
There have been other big men crowned 3-point champions, but Kevin Love (2012) and Dirk Nowitzki (2006) are considered power forwards.
&ldquo;I think this is a nice little thing to put on that r&eacute;sum&eacute;,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Big man hasn&rsquo;t won in 10 years, and, of course, 10 years ago, a decade ago, who won it? The Wolves. It&rsquo;s coming back home where it belongs.&rdquo;
The dunk contest started with some promise and fizzled fast.
Orlando's Cole Anthony caused a stir when he swapped his sneakers for a pair of Timberland boots and then dunked in them with an assist from his father, former NBA guard Greg Anthony.
Toppin said all the participants are great dunkers who wanted to put on a show, and they all were encouraging each other.
&ldquo;When Cole missed those two first ones with the Timbs on, I was like no those Timbs are heavy," Toppin said. &ldquo;I was like, we got to boost his energy up. I was trying to get everybody on their feet.&rdquo;
It worked, momentarily.
But Anthony couldn't complete his second dunk in three tries and he was eliminated along with Houston's Jalen Green, who also struggled while trying to impress a panel of Hall of Fame judges &mdash; Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins.
The hometown Cavs added another moment to their impressive season by winning the re-formatted Skills Challenge, which pitted teams and not individual players.
Garland, Mobley and Allen teamed up to outperform Team Antetokounmpo &mdash; MVP Giannis and his brothers Thanasis and Alex &mdash; and a rookie trio of Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Toronto's Scottie Barnes and Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey.
Mobley, a leading candidate for rookie of the year honors, sealed the win by making a half-court shot on his first attempt, allowing the Cavs to close the segment of the contest in 5.5 seconds and defeat Team Rooks.
The Cavs started the shooting competition off target as Allen, hardly known for his outside touch, made just two shots in 30 seconds. However, Garland brought Cleveland back &mdash; and brought their crowd to life &mdash; scoring 21 points.
However, the Cavs came out of the relay portion tied with Team Antetokounmpo for second place and needed Garland to win a shoot-off with Thanasis to place Cleveland in the final.
After Cunningham drained his 47-footer in 9.9 seconds, Mobley calmly stepped into his winning shot.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of a kind,&rdquo; Allen said of his 20-year-old teammate. &ldquo;Defense, offense and now half court. The whole league knows Evan by now. If they&rsquo;ve ever driven to the paint, they definitely know him, so the NBA should know him by now.&rdquo;

Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 29 during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Clippers.