Tigers

The East Asia Super League is a wildly popular tournament that launched in 2017, featuring the best basketball teams in Asia. This year, the EASL was expected to become an actual league with a home-and-away season that featured eight teams competing over the course of six months and culminating in a Final Four tournament with a $1 million prize.
However, the East Asia Super League announced today that while they still intend to switch to this home-and-away format in 2023, this year's event will once again "take place in a tournament format, taking into account ongoing COVID-19-related issues throughout the region," according to a press release.
"EASL&rsquo;s focus is on operating Season 1 of game play in a responsible manner that allows for partner leagues to carry on with their domestic leagues uninterrupted by precarious travel situations," the statement reads. "Details of the tournament format will soon be announced and shared with EASL fans. Discussions regarding a 'Champions Week' in Manila are currently ongoing."
The EASL tournament is scheduled to tip off on October 12, 2022.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our mission remains to create the premier basketball league and entertainment experience in Asia; elevating the sport in the region," EASL CEO Matt Beyer said. "Controlling variables and operating our season in the most responsible manner reduces uncertainty for all our stakeholders as international travel throughout the region rebounds incrementally."&nbsp;
For more info about the East Asia Super League, check out this <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/east-asia-super-league-inside-a-basketball-startup-with-a-unique-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">behind-the-scenes look at the startup</a>, which has added Jalen Green, Baron Davis, Shane Battier and Metta Sandiford-Artest as investors.

The East Asia Super League announced today that this year's event will be a tournament rather a home-and-away season.

East Asia Super League will delay home-and-away format until 2023

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji in a sign-and-trade, multiple sources confirmed to Basketball News. Sexton and the Jazz agreed to terms on a four-year, $72 million contract agreement, per Yahoo's Chris Haynes.
The Cavs will also send three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029) and two future pick swaps (2026, 2028) in the deal. The news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. 
Sources told Basketball News that the deal "all came together in the last 24 hours." This is a swing-for-the-fences type of move by the Cavs, who clearly believe that they had to add another superstar to complement their up-and-coming star in Darius Garland, along with the team's promising two young bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. With a majority of the Eastern Conference improving with huge offseason moves &mdash; such as Dejounte Murray heading to the Atlanta Hawks and Malcolm Brogdon going to the Boston Celtics &mdash; Cleveland joined the party by bringing in a bona fide superstar in Mitchell.
Fit shouldn't be too much of an issue for "Spida," as he'll slide into the 2-guard role that Sexton occupied for the last two seasons (before getting hurt early last year). For a number of months now, the Cavs have discussed taking some of the playmaking burden off of Garland so he can get loose and work away from the ball. Mitchell's ability to create for others has improved year-by-year, and there's no worrying about him creating space to get his own shot off. We definitely know how well Garland and his new backcourt partner can score the ball, but watching them work in sync could be poetry in motion. And while delegating between the two might be shaky at first, once some cohesiveness is established, it'll be on.
If you're into simple counting numbers, Mitchell adds about 26 points per game to this roster that was missing. (Sexton's absence was very much felt last season.) Donovan's True Shooting percentage was the highest of his career to boot (57.2%), and he also contributed a career-high 27.7% assist rate.
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Defensively, we know Mitchell had his flaws last season; however, the personnel Cleveland has in place with Mobley and Allen should take some of that pressure off of him. They are both rim-protecting (and switching, in Evan's case) monsters in their own unique way, which should cover for both smaller guards if they get beat, as we've seen in the past.
It will be interesting to see what Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff does with his rotation, as Cleveland lost its starting small forward in this deal as well. Will he elect to try Mobley at the 3 and possibly go back to Kevin Love at the 4 to keep "big ball" going? Will there be a three-guard lineup between Garland, Mitchell and Caris LeVert? Does the team trust Isaac Okoro enough offensively to give him his starting spot back?
Those are likely the most prominent questions on everybody's minds with Cleveland.
As for the Jazz, they have slammed the reset button. It started with the Rudy Gobert trade to Minnesota, and ended by sending Mitchell packing to Cleveland. Now, they've got some intriguing young pieces to work with.
Kudos to Utah general manager Justin Zanik and executive Danny Ainge for bringing in two solid starters and a lottery-pick rookie in this move. Sexton is a straight-up dog as a scorer, an intense competitor and one of the best culture pieces the Jazz could bring in. He's improved as a three-point shooter, has become a better passer over the years and will never shy away from crunch time. While he must improve defensively, the desire and ball pressure are there.
Markkanen is a stretch 4 who can spread the floor, attack off the dribble in an unorthodox manner and is long enough to be disruptive on defense. His biggest issue to overcome is his inconsistency. Agbaji hasn't even stepped foot on the floor yet, but at Summer League in Las Vegas, he had a pair of games where he was lights out from distance and was well balanced with his shooting form.
We'll see how the new-look Jazz operate under head coach Will Hardy. Utah also recently brought in Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, while also trading for Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. One thing is for sure, Zanik and Ainge retooled this roster in a big way, and with all of those guards and veterans, they're probably not done. It'll be intriguing to see how this team comes together at the end.
Even with Cleveland growing organically, step-by-step, the team obviously felt this was an opportunity it couldn't pass up. This front office is quite meticulous when it comes to the importance of chemistry and not messing with a good thing, and that showed last season by how fun this locker room truly was.
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Cavs president Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey have shaken things up with a colossal blockbuster, and were successful in keeping their core three pieces together. For that, they should be commended. Mitchell and Sexton are similar in some aspects of their game and their stature; with that said, the former is further along into his career with plenty of memorable playoff moments and experiences, as well as three All-Star appearances.
On paper, Cleveland is boasting a deep, talented roster with some solid balance. Barring any health setbacks, the 26-year-old Mitchell should fit like a glove offensively. Yes, Garland's usage will take a bit of a hit; maybe that's a good thing. He was out of gas when the Play-In Tournament came around. Honestly, the whole team was.
But adding a talent like Mitchell to the fold means you can trust two incredible ball-handlers and stagger them, if need be, and let the chips fall where they may.
Mitchell is locked in for the next three years of his contract, with a player option in 2025-26. Garland just inked a rookie max extension. Allen is in it for the long haul. You'll have to imagine Evan Mobley will be in line to sign the dotted line. The Cavs are not messing around and have a loaded core going forward.
Maybe that'll finally quiet the LeBron James rumors, huh?

Spencer Davies offers his instant reaction to the shocking trade of Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Instant reaction: Cavs swing for fences with Donovan Mitchell trade

Deja vu is unfolding for the Denver Nuggets this postseason. They face another season in which Nikola Jokic will likely finish as NBA MVP, but the campaign will end in disappointment because of injuries and a lack of impactful depth around him. Jokic&rsquo;s dominance speaks for itself, but as Denver has fallen into an impossible 3-0 hole to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it brings back vivid memories of last year&rsquo;s downfall to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals.
From the start of last year's series against Phoenix, everyone knew Denver was out-matched. It led to a quick sweep, one that left an embarrassing blemish on what was a historic campaign for their franchise player. Who knows how differently it would have gone had Jamal Murray not torn his ACL in that series? Still sidelined a year later, it's no surprise that Murray didn't return for the Nuggets&rsquo; postseason push. If anything, being cautious with Murray is Denver's only option when considering their roster. Still, Murray would've given the Nuggets a lethal one-two punch that would&rsquo;ve made a sizable dent in the West&rsquo;s hierarchy.
Even without Murray and Michael Porter Jr., Jokic&rsquo;s ho-hum manner on his way to pulverizing defenses all season was nothing short of fantastic. But watching the potential back-to-back MVP still put up numbers in losses against the Warriors&rsquo; updated Death Lineup (Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green) shows one player can&rsquo;t do it all. Jokic is averaging 29.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on a 58.4 True Shooting percentage in the playoffs, but it doesn't matter without the necessary ancillary pieces.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Nikola Jokic dropped a monster double-double in Game 3 for the <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nuggets</a>. 🃏 37 PTS, 18 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL Game 4: GSW vs. DEN, Sun. 3:30pm/et on ABC <a href="https://t.co/Kv1kVSratu">pic.twitter.com/Kv1kVSratu</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1517395121985269762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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If Murray and Porter were flanking Jokic, things might be different, but the pain of postseason failure continues to ring in the rocky mountains. We haven&rsquo;t seen the trio of Jokic, Murray and Porter share the court together since April 12, 2021. And with Porter&rsquo;s back issues becoming serious once more, who knows when the Nuggets will see their star trio blossom together and rise up the West standings?
Denver is always going to be a contender during Jokic&rsquo;s prime years, but is this series against Golden State a wake-up call that could lead to an offseason roster retooling? What could the Nuggets fetch if they decided to offload a few key role players?
As it stands, Denver is putting a lot of eggs into the basket of health for Porter and Murray, but there are a lot of intriguing angles to view their roster in the short-term and long-term. Aaron Gordon is a strong fit alongside Jokic after having put together a career-best season in 2021-22, proving last year's trade-deadline investment was the correct move. Also, rookie combo guard Bones Hyland has already forced his way into the picture thanks to his microwave scoring capabilities.
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Denver moving forward with their core of Jokic, Murray, Porter, Gordon and Hyland is fun to envision. It feels like it&rsquo;s missing one more relatively large piece to the puzzle though. The frontcourt (Jokic, Gordon, Porter) is already in place, but who makes sense as a compatible long-term backcourt partner alongside Murray?
Entering the 2022-23 campaign as an over-the-tax team, Denver will have to get lucky and creative to feel confident going toe-to-toe with the likes of Phoenix and Golden State. Murray and Porter have the equalizer potential of reuniting on-court with Jokic, but can we really view this current version of the Nuggets as true title contenders? That&rsquo;s where I pause, because the injury and depth questions surrounding this roster are legitimate.
Here&rsquo;s an early look at the Nuggets&rsquo; rotation next season, which actually seems okay on paper:
Starters: Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Second Unit: Monte Morris, Bones Hyland, JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, Zeke Nnaji
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
AARON GORDON. YOU, SIR, CAN FLY🤯 <a href="https://t.co/DJEXJLdSRT">pic.twitter.com/DJEXJLdSRT</a>
&mdash; x - Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1517327429081083904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It&rsquo;s unfortunate to already be writing the eulogy on the Nuggets&rsquo; season led by another all-time Jokic offensive barrage, but here we are as they stare down the hole of a 3-0 deficit to the reloaded Warriors. It's fair to wonder what comes next.
Denver is stuck in a position of hoping, which is one spot you never want to be without certainty.
Murray&rsquo;s return next season should benefit the Nuggets&rsquo; standing in the West, but the domino effect of MPJ's chronic back injuries serve as an eerie cloud that hovers around the corner. Those back problems are why Porter slid to the back of the lottery, which allowed the Nuggets to swoop in at No. 14 overall and draft him as a rookie. Handing out a rookie-scale max extension to Porter, they have to hope he&rsquo;s 100% next year and reaches his max ceiling in order for this dazzling Jokic era to live up to its potential.
The narrative around the Nuggets is starting to take shape. They are a team that shines in the regular season because of their unique superstar big man but folds in the postseason when the smaller things matter most.
For the Nuggets, a unique pivot point is about to arrive this offseason. Let's see how they handle it.
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Once again facing postseason failure, the Denver Nuggets must escape any future plan that forces them to bet on health.

Luck now plays a role in Denver's long-term outlook

Let&rsquo;s drop off our &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; daily NBA picks against the spread here on <a href="http://BasketballNews.com">BasketballNews.com</a> for an awesome Saturday slate of games.
All odds are provided by TwinSpires Sportsbook. Player over/under prop picks are from our sponsor, Prize Picks. We&rsquo;ve hit three power play over/under bets over the last three days ($300 total to win $3,000)! Will we hit another one today and increase the massive bankroll even further heading into the weekend?
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Denver Nuggets (-11.5) vs. Houston Rockets
When Nikola Jokic is firing on all cylinders, the Nuggets are so tough to defend. Add in when the role players are hitting shots, the degree of difficulty to pull off the victory against Denver heightens. In this matchup against an inexperienced Rockets team, I&rsquo;m hammering the Nuggets to cover the massive 11.5-point spread. Nobody on Houston stacks up to defend Jokic, so forecasting a massive game from Jokic is a super wise investment play. Here&rsquo;s how to stack a solid power play over/under prop bet on Prize Picks for this one: Jokic over 26.5 points, Will Barton over 15.5 points, Jokic over 13.5 rebounds, Jokic over 6.5 assists, Jokic over 1.5 threes.
Miami Heat (-2) vs. Utah Jazz
These two teams are going to put on a prize fight in South Beach on Saturday night. Both the Heat and Jazz have been clicking at a high level to begin this season. In this round, though, I&rsquo;m rolling with the road underdog in Utah. The Jazz have been so efficient on both ends of the floor, and Rudy Gobert controlling the paint is going to be a massive deterrent for Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo around the basket. Give the Jazz at +2 and the outright win on the moneyline odds. Projecting a big game from Gobert, plus Utah&rsquo;s three-point shooters, here&rsquo;s a over/under power play to tail: Butler under 22.5 points, Adebayo under 17.5 points, Gobert over 13.5 rebounds, Adebayo under 9.5 rebounds, Bojan Bogdanovic over 2 threes.
Chicago Bulls (-4) vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia is missing its defensive stopper on the perimeter in Matisse Thybulle, who entered health and safety protocols last night. That&rsquo;s a worst-case scenario when playing against Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan in Chicago. Hammer the Bulls to cover the 4-point spread here, especially as the shorthanded Sixers play without Tobias Harris and Thybulle. On Prize Picks, this power play was too enticing not to roll the dice on: LaVine over 24.5 points, DeRozan over 23.5 points, Lonzo Ball over 4.5 assists, LaVine over 2.5 threes. These two teams are pretty evenly matched, but we&rsquo;re siding with the home team who isn&rsquo;t missing two key contributors.
Dallas Mavericks (-3.5) vs. Boston Celtics
This is going to be so fun to watch, folks. Luka Doncic vs. Jayson Tatum will have me on the edge of my seat throughout, and it&rsquo;s easy to see big scoring nights from the both of them. Again, two teams who are pretty even across the board. Another similar trait they share are early-season inconsistencies, so something has to give tonight in Dallas. I&rsquo;m rolling with Luka and the Mavericks to win and cover the 3.5-point spread. It should be close throughout, but Doncic helps Dallas win by multiple possessions late. If you&rsquo;re in the same camp as me projecting huge nights from Doncic and Tatum, this is an intriguing over/under prop to tail on Prize Picks: Tatum over 26.5 points, Doncic over 26 points, Doncic over 7.5 rebounds, Doncic over 2.5 threes, Tatum over 2.5 threes.
Phoenix Suns (-4) vs. Atlanta Hawks
Deandre Ayton is a late scratch to this duel in the Valley tonight due to a leg contusion, which has now sidelined him for the Suns&rsquo; last three games. The spread has been bumped down a point from -5 to -4, but we still love the Suns in this situation. Chris Paul is maneuvering the offense like a quarterback right now, putting up career-best assist totals. I expect that train to keep rolling against Trae Young and the Hawks. Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges have settled into being the top two scoring options for Phoenix, and another big night should be in store for this wing duo. Atlanta will keep this one close, especially without Ayton, but I&rsquo;m not backing off my projection I mentioned on &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; about the Suns covering. Hammer Phoenix at -4, plus the following over/under props on Prize Picks: Booker over 24.5 points, Bridges over 13.5 points, Paul over 10 assists, Bridges over 1.5 threes.
Portland Trail Blazers (-5.5) vs. Los Angeles Lakers
This is one I&rsquo;ve been waffling back-and-forth on. The LeBron James-less Lakers travel to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers, who are on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Indiana Pacers in a closely-contested battle. Damian Lillard&rsquo;s shooting struggles are still there in a big-time manner, while the Lakers continue to look lost at points without LeBron on the floor. The Lakers have lost to the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder twice already this season. So, with questions on both sides, I&rsquo;m rolling with Portland at home. However, I don&rsquo;t feel good enough to back the 5.5-point spread. I&rsquo;m just going with the straight-up moneyline bet on the Blazers to win outright in this situation. On Prize Picks, here&rsquo;s another fun over/under prop: CJ McCollum over 22.5 points, Russell Westbrook over 10.5 assists, Jusuf Nurkic over 10 rebounds, McCollum over 3 threes.
Recapping our picks here on &ldquo;Nothing But Bets,&rdquo; here&rsquo;s who I&rsquo;m rolling with tonight: Nuggets -11.5, Jazz ML (+2), Bulls -4, Mavericks -3.5, Suns -4, Trail Blazers ML.
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Alongside our "Nothing But Bets" podcast on BasketballNews.com, our daily picks will be posted each day.

Nothing But Bets: NBA Projections for 11/6/21

Nekias Duncan previews the Northwest Division for the 2021-22 NBA season.

2021-22 NBA Season Preview: Northwest Division

Prior to the Denver Nuggets hosting the similarly-skidding Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Michael Malone challenged his group to have a greater sense of urgency and prove that they were tired of losing.
&ldquo;Right now, we&rsquo;re not irritating a lot of people except the head coach,&rdquo; Malone said at his pregame press conference.
Message received.
The Nuggets put on a clinic in a 133-95 trouncing at Ball Arena to kick off a three-game homestand that will conclude with a visit from the Los Angeles Lakers. From the tip, it was an energetic outclassing on both ends, with unselfishness and a commitment to the defensive end that showed why Denver isn&rsquo;t one to be messed with when the team is clicking. There were two focus areas for Malone&rsquo;s staff in their morning &ldquo;state-of-the-union&rdquo; meeting with the players: come out of the half with a purposeful mentality and lock in on defense. The Nuggets answered.
&ldquo;As we all know, this season we&rsquo;ve had big leads at halftime, and the third quarter has been something that wasn&rsquo;t very good to us. So I love the fact that the defense for 48 minutes was terrific, 32 assists, 18 deflections -- which shows that we&rsquo;re being a lot more active. But I was proud of the guys for understanding the importance of playing for 48 minutes and coming out at the half playing a really solid third quarter.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason we went 11-4 in 15 games, &lsquo;cause our defense, it mattered, we cared about it... I&rsquo;ve said it for six years now -- when you defend, you give yourselves a chance every night.&rdquo;
Before the win over Cleveland, Denver had dropped three straight and was winless in the first games of February. The group had allowed 122.2 points per 100 possessions and had slippage offensively, which resulted in a negative-12.6 net rating (third-worst in the NBA during that span). Compare that to the 15 games Malone referred to, a stretch where the Nuggets had a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/?sort=NET_RATING&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DateFrom=01%2F03%2F2021&amp;DateTo=01%2F31%2F2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-10 defense and the third-best net rating (plus-7.6) in the league</a>. The difference is clear and obvious -- when Denver puts it together, it&rsquo;s dangerous. But the effort has to be consistent.
&ldquo;For us, it&rsquo;s us getting back on the right track,&rdquo; said Paul Millsap, who turned back the clock with a 22-point game on his 36th birthday. &ldquo;When we play the right way, man, we&rsquo;re a really good team, with everybody in this locker room. We&rsquo;ve shown halves, we&rsquo;ve shown quarters, but [Wednesday] we put together four quarters, a full game, and it showed on the stat sheet. We have our mentality we&rsquo;ve gotta stick to and we have our goals we&rsquo;re trying to reach.&rdquo;
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Speaking of mentality, Michael Porter Jr.&rsquo;s has been tested all season long with peaks and valleys, and he is currently in the midst of an adjustment period. Porter came out firing when he returned from the COVID list, notching multiple double-digit scoring efforts to pace the Nuggets&rsquo; second unit in late January. However, just as Denver had struggled in the three games to begin this month, so did he, to the tune of 8 points per game on a frigid 30 percent clip (and 18.8 percent from deep).
Malone&rsquo;s gone back to Porter in the starting five, though, so he&rsquo;s getting reacclimated with his teammates as far as the balance regarding his involvement on the offensive end goes, as well as figuring things out on the fly as a defender. Denver&rsquo;s head coach had high praise for the sophomore forward following his latest performance, specifically with how engaged he was on both ends of the court.
&ldquo;I wanted Michael Porter to know in front of his teammates that I thought he played a great game,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Michael&rsquo;s had games where he&rsquo;s put up big numbers for us, but I thought Michael played a complete basketball game -- offensively, shooting the basketball, shooting it with confidence, spacing the floor correctly, defensively, being engaged, helping, being in the right spots... Michael struggled the last five games. We know he&rsquo;s gonna bounce back. He&rsquo;s too good of a player, he&rsquo;s too talented and it was great to see that happen. I was proud of him.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough when you expect a lot of yourself, especially when it&rsquo;s two or three games strung together when you don&rsquo;t play your best,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;But for me, it&rsquo;s just trying to take the emotion out of it and really dissect it and understand what I could do to be better and just look at it from that angle. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been trying to do every game. Obviously, it&rsquo;s frustrating for me -- I try not to let it affect my confidence, which it can be hard to do -- but that&rsquo;s how I&rsquo;ve been trying to attack it is just look at it constructively and how I can get better.&rdquo;
Porter&rsquo;s box score didn&rsquo;t read quite as flashy as his usual loud scoring outbursts -- 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists -- but recording a pair of steals and blocks each is something that he&rsquo;s only done one other time this year (in the season opener vs. the Sacramento Kings).&nbsp;
The 22-year-old is set on changing how he gets into his rhythm offensively. To this point, he&rsquo;s admittedly been apt to hang around the perimeter and fire off a bunch of threes, which have determined what kind of night it would be. Since he feels nobody can block his shots, he figured that was the right way to approach getting started. Now, he is going to prioritize attacking the rim off the dribble for closer looks and to get to the foul line, not settling in the process.
Building his rapport with Nikola Jokic has been important as well, and his dribble handoff synergy with the Nuggets&rsquo; superstar big man worked like a charm. The two have a good relationship, and Porter emphasizes how much Jokic &ldquo;gets on him&rdquo; for knowing how much better the talented young forward can be.
&ldquo;I think Nikola, he sees me working every day, he knows how hard I work and I think he expects a lot of me,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t take any of that personally because I know I&rsquo;m my biggest critic. I know I can be better, especially when I have bad games. We&rsquo;ve got a good relationship on the court. He just expects a lot out from me, he wants me to be helping out, so that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve gotta try to do."
&ldquo;Obviously, the more chemistry that Michael and Nikola create is only going to help us,&rdquo; Malone said.&nbsp;
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Being inserted back into a lineup that features Jokic, Millsap, Jamal Murray and Will Barton has been a work-in-progress for Porter. It might not always be his night to shine on the stat sheet -- and it wasn&rsquo;t on Wednesday with limited touches -- but there are ways to impact that game in a positive manner. Getting a feel for that part is his next step.
&ldquo;With that starting unit and there being so many guys who can score and so many guys who can put the ball in the hoop, my job isn&rsquo;t necessarily to force that,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;Everybody knows I can score. I think my teammates just want me to be locked in on the other areas of the game, so it&rsquo;s not letting scoring determine my energy on the defensive end. And I think that&rsquo;s what I did that I liked.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just felt like I was locked in the whole game, didn&rsquo;t have too many lapses and that&rsquo;s progress, just not basing a good game off of scoring. I only shot three times in the first half, but that&rsquo;s okay. As long as my team&rsquo;s doing good, I can affect the game in other ways.&rdquo;
His teammate Millsap pointed out that Denver needs to take it one game at a time, even as far as one quarter and one possession at a time. While that may be a cliche, it would be smart for Porter to take the veteran&rsquo;s advice on an individual level.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just gotta keep it up, keep doing the small things, keep helping my team,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;The last few games have been rough for me, so I&rsquo;ve just gotta continue to get better, continue to be locked in every night and help my team.&rdquo;

Michael Porter Jr. knows everyone is aware he can score the ball, but he understands the Nuggets need more from him.

Michael Porter Jr. is his biggest critic, aiming to help Nuggets in other ways

Tyler Herro isn&rsquo;t a natural point guard.
Herro didn&rsquo;t play much point in college. In fact, his lack of primary on-ball reps at Kentucky was a big reason why the comfort he displayed in Summer League and, to a much larger extent, last season&rsquo;s playoff run was a surprise to many.
(READ: It was a <a href="https://www.fivereasonssports.com/voices/its-time-to-stop-doubting-tyler-herro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surprise to me</a>).
He didn&rsquo;t play it much last season, with less than 20 percent of his minutes coming at the 1, per <a href="http://bkref.com/pi/shareit/w6noc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball-Reference</a>. Heck, Herro himself will tell you he doesn&rsquo;t want to be <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/heat/miami-news/miami-heat-tyler-herro-point-shooting-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dubbed as a point guard</a>. The lineups mostly disagree with that claim, though.
Herro&rsquo;s playing time without a (traditional) point guard on the floor has nearly tripled in terms of rate. <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612748&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=201609,1629639,1629134,1629216" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per PBP Stats</a>, Herro has played 66 minutes (16.5 per game) without Goran Dragic, Kendrick Nunn or Gabe Vincent being on the floor. That&rsquo;s up from roughly six minutes per game (323 minutes in 55 games) last season if you add Justise Winslow to that list. We&rsquo;re working with a four-game sample here, but that&rsquo;s still a pretty stark difference.
The shift in role complements the shift in lineup distribution. According to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches/?Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612748&amp;sort=TOUCHES&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com&rsquo;s tracking data</a>, Herro&rsquo;s touches, touch time and dribbles per touch are all up from last season. If you compare his bump in usage to the third year of Devin Booker, a popular if-everything-goes-right comparison for Herro, you&rsquo;ll see some similarities:
Booker&rsquo;s Rookie Year: 43.4 touches, 3.52 seconds per touch, 2.81 dribbles per touch
Booker in Year 3: 67.2 touches, 4.24 seconds per touch, 3.57 dribbles per touch
Herro&rsquo;s Rookie Year: 44.5 touches, 3.25 seconds per touch, 2.70 dribbles per touch
Herro in Year 2*: 64.8 touches, 3.85 seconds per touch, 3.46 dribbles per touch
Of course, context is needed. I used Booker&rsquo;s third year because that was when he really got a lion&rsquo;s share of the lead ball-handler workload as the Suns&rsquo; point guard room became laughable. We all remember Eric Bledsoe&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/EBled2/status/922201984211369984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hair salon tweet</a>, yes? And this is a third year of sorts for Herro if we account for the pandemic layoff.
Beyond that, Herro is surrounded by more talent than Booker was, and thus is less reliant on true self creation. Case in point, per Synergy: the percentage of Herro&rsquo;s possessions that have ended via a pick-and-roll (passing included) or dribble handoff have skyrocketed from 54.2 to 69.5 this season. Booker&rsquo;s rate mostly stayed static (45.3 to 45.4).
Herro&rsquo;s been thrown into the gauntlet with four straight games against rangy, athletic, pesky defenders. The Magic with Markelle Fultz and Michael Carter-Williams; the Pelicans with Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart (Eric Bledsoe got the Duncan Robinson assignment); the Bucks with Jrue Holiday and Donte DiVincenzo. The results have been a mixed bag, as you&rsquo;d expect for a young guy thrust into a new, larger role against quality foes.
THE FILM
The most obvious improvement we&rsquo;ve seen from Herro thus far has come in pick-and-roll situations. He projected as a player primed to win against drop coverage because of his quick trigger, shooting touch and footwork well beyond his years. Combine that with underrated passing chops and you have the makings of a pretty solid creator.
He was better in theory than in practice last season. The former Wildcat ranked in the 26th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler (passes included), per Synergy. You could tell he was trying to adjust to the speed of NBA defenders, in terms of shot windows and passing windows closing quicker than they did in college.
There&rsquo;s still room for improvement, but you can see the game starting to slow down for Herro. He&rsquo;s generating 1.21 points per pick-and-roll possession on direct hookups, the seventh-best mark among 62 players that have initiated at least 50 pick-and-rolls this season, per a source with access to Second Spectrum tracking data. If you filter those ball screens to only include those with any of the Dragic/Nunn/Vincent triumvirate off the floor, that number drops to 1.15 points per possession.
He&rsquo;s been tossing flames against drop coverage. Give him room to manipulate his man into the initial screen, and he&rsquo;ll waltz into pull-up jumpers with ease.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/herro-pull-up-3-vs-drop.gif" alt="" width="614" height="AUTO" />
With both Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo stationed at the elbow, Herro has his choice of screening partners in this double-high look. He does a phenomenal job of setting Holiday up with a hang dribble before crossing back over to his left.
The growth we saw from Herro as a driver in the bubble has mostly carried over. He&rsquo;s added more craft to his finishes; that threat is attracting a little more attention from enemy giants, opening the door for lay-down or wrap-around passes.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/herro-wraparound.gif" alt="" width="614" height="AUTO" />
Again, you can see Herro relying on the hang-cross combo to set up his defender (DiVincenzo). He immediately snakes to the right elbow to draw out Bobby Portis, opening up a diving lane for Precious Achiuwa. With Portis and DiVincenzo committing to Herro, he&rsquo;s able to flip an on-target bounce pass to Achiuwa for the layup.
Herro has struggled when faced with more ball pressure. His handle isn&rsquo;t &ldquo;lead ball-handler&rdquo; tight. Stingy defenders can force him into early pick-ups or, at worst, sit on his pet move and poke it away.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/herro-stripped.gif" alt="" width="614" height="AUTO" /> Herro has the basic pick-and-roll reads against drop coverage down, and has downloaded the &ldquo;snake&rdquo; package necessary for any above-average initiator. The next steps for him are dealing with more aggression: getting the ball out early against hedges or traps, and reading the third defender -- the man who &ldquo;tags&rdquo; the big man on the roll, or the defender &ldquo;splitting the difference&rdquo; on the weak side.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/herro-no-separation%2C-missed-dumpoff.gif" alt="" width="614" height="AUTO" /> Here, Zion Williamson comes with a hedge. Herro either misses or decides not to hit Meyers Leonard early, a mostly fine result even if that isn&rsquo;t what the optimal process dictates. He drives past the hedge, but then misses the window for a dump-off to Achiuwa in the dunker spot, and instead gets blocked from behind by Ball.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/herro-vs-hedge.gif" alt="" width="614" height="AUTO" /> Later in the corner, he gets another hedge from Zion. He knows the coverage by now, but still fails to release the ball in a timely manner. That&rsquo;s precious time off the clock due to indecision.
The 66 minutes with Herro on the court without a point guard have been awful from a statistical standpoint. The Heat have a 94.2 offensive rating in that frame, which would easily be the worst mark in the NBA if extrapolated over an entire season. That number jumps to 107.2 when Herro and Dragic are on the floor together, revealing the obvious: Herro is much more comfortable operating against bent defenses as a secondary handler.
Herro isn&rsquo;t a point guard, but that&rsquo;s exactly why it&rsquo;s important for him to get these reps now. Barring an apocalyptic amount of injuries, you can comfortably slate the Heat as a playoff team. Allowing a guy as important to the Heat&rsquo;s long-term goals as Herro -- as a player or a trade asset -- to stretch the limits of his game is more important than a gaudy regular season net rating.
The Heat have multiple security blankets to fall back on in the event that Herro falters. But if they believe he can grow into a legitimate lead option -- they reportedly believe Herro can be <a href="https://247sports.com/college/kentucky/Article/Heat-think-Tyler-Herro-can-be-better-than-Devin-Booker-151355960/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">better than Booker</a>, so the safe answer is &ldquo;yes&rdquo; -- they need to give him the rope to do so.&nbsp;

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