Aggies

Now in his eighth season with the Indiana Pacers, Myles Turner is easily the team&rsquo;s longest-tenured player. In fact, no other Pacer on the current roster has been in town longer than four seasons.
Turner arrived in Indiana as a wide-eyed teenager who was selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In the years that followed, Turner would watch as the team continually changed around him. He has played for four different head coaches &mdash; Frank Vogel, Nate McMillan, Nate Bjorkgren and Rick Carlisle &mdash; and witnessed a ton of roster turnover. But despite Turner&rsquo;s name surfacing in trade rumors annually, he has been the one constant in Indiana.
As a rookie, Turner suited up alongside stars like Paul George and Monta Ellis. During his sophomore campaign, he called Al Jefferson, Thaddeus Young, Jeff Teague and Lance Stephenson teammates. The following year, Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison joined the squad. Turner has also played with veterans such as Tyreke Evans, Ty Lawson, Rodney Stuckey, Caris LeVert, Doug McDermott, T.J. Warren and C.J. Miles over the years.
However, one could argue that no teammate has had a greater impact on Turner&rsquo;s game than his current star running mate: Tyrese Haliburton.
When the Pacers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-interview-tyrese-haliburton-indiana-pacers-chad-buchanan-bennedict-mathurin-myles-turner-sacramento-kings-domantas-sabonis-trade-drew-hanlen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings</a> prior to last year&rsquo;s trade deadline, Turner was ecstatic. He was a fan of Haliburton&rsquo;s game and potential, and couldn&rsquo;t wait to team up with the pass-first point guard. Unfortunately, Turner wasn&rsquo;t able to play alongside Haliburton in the second half of last season due to a stress reaction in his foot.
This year, the Pacers&rsquo; one-two punch of Haliburton and Turner has been on full display, and they have become one of the most productive pick-and-roll duos in the NBA.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
pretty.😍 Tyrese Haliburton to Myles Turner for two. <a href="https://t.co/TupiSM909t">pic.twitter.com/TupiSM909t</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1629656051175026688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Turner has set 814 picks for Haliburton, which is the third-most of any pick-and-roll duo in the league, per Second Spectrum. The only tandems who have run the pick-and-roll more are Philadelphia&rsquo;s James Harden and Joel Embiid (893 picks) and Phoenix&rsquo;s Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton (897). Possessions featuring a Haliburton-Turner pick-and-roll have generated 1.063 points per possession &mdash; the fifth-best PPP of the 24 duos with at least 500 picks.
&ldquo;This has been a wonderful opportunity for Myles to play with a playmaking guard of Tyrese&rsquo;s caliber,&rdquo; Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told Basketball News. &ldquo;A couple weeks ago, we checked and they were top-five or top-six in the league as a successful pick-and-roll connection, and that&rsquo;s pretty amazing. Myles is getting all different kinds of stuff &mdash; he&rsquo;s getting rolls for dunks, he's getting a little bit of mid-range, he's getting good looks for threes and he's getting some late passes underneath for dunks as well.
"I just love the force that he&rsquo;s playing with. Tyrese has had a wonderful impact on Myles and certainly the rest of the team, but the connection those two guys have has been special.&rdquo;
The partnership has been mutually beneficial. Turner gets easy looks from an elite floor general who ranks second among all players in assists per game (10.2) and assist percentage (46.9%), while Haliburton gets a unique big-man partner who can score inside (62.8% on twos) and out (40.3% on threes). It&rsquo;s no coincidence that both players are having career years.&nbsp;
Turner is averaging career-highs in points (18.2), rebounds (8.0), field-goal percentage (54.9%), three-point percentage (40.3%) and made threes (1.7), while also contributing 2.3 blocks, 1.4 deflections and 0.6 steals per game. Turner's dominance shows up in his analytics too, as he's posting personal bests in win shares per 48 minutes (.157), Box Plus/Minus (+2.6), True Shooting percentage (65.8%), Player Efficiency Rating (20.6) and total rebound rate (14.7%).
&ldquo;Myles has blossomed this year. We've seen the relationship with him and Ty; they're one of the best pick-and-roll [duos] in the league right now,&rdquo; Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said recently. &ldquo;This is the beginning of a nice core &mdash; no, a great core.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Haliburton <a href="bit.ly/3AyPKHC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became a first-time All-Star</a> after averaging career-highs in points (20.1), assists (10.1) and threes (2.8), while also contributing 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. Haliburton is also posting personal bests in advanced stats like assist percentage (46.9%), PER (23.0), VORP (3.8), BPM (+6.9) and WS/48 (.189).
&ldquo;It was unfortunate that I didn&rsquo;t get a chance to play with him last year and really start to develop that synergy, but I think we&rsquo;ve really picked it up quickly,&rdquo; Turner told Basketball News. &ldquo;Ty is someone who&rsquo;s easy to play with. Obviously, he sees the floor well. And as the season has progressed, we&rsquo;ve done a better job of communicating with each other. It&rsquo;s been a fun experience.&rdquo;
Despite the fact that they&rsquo;ve only played 44 games together, they have developed a strong connection and can often anticipate each other&rsquo;s next move.
&ldquo;I think I know what he&rsquo;s going to do before he does it in a sense,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;I think that just comes with playing with him.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
this sequence.🔥 a huge block by Myles Turner followed by a huge dunk by Tyrese Haliburton.👀 <a href="https://t.co/4MpAf4Kp0B">pic.twitter.com/4MpAf4Kp0B</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1630770909442191360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

&ldquo;We just needed time together, that&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; Haliburton told Basketball News. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve had pretty good chemistry with my bigs throughout my NBA career, and I knew that playing with Myles wasn&rsquo;t going to be any different. He brings a different dynamic than what I&rsquo;m used to, with his ability to space the floor. And he&rsquo;s the best shot-blocker that I&rsquo;ve ever played with, so that gives me confidence on the defensive end to be able to take more risks and get into the ball a little bit more.
"I think it&rsquo;s a mutual relationship where he&rsquo;s got my back and I&rsquo;ve got his.&rdquo;
Not too long ago, Turner&rsquo;s days in Indiana seemed numbered. After all, the team traded away nearly all of its veterans last season (including Sabonis, LeVert, Torrey Craig, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb), and Turner&rsquo;s name continued to pop up in trade rumors. However, since Turner is only 26 years old, the Pacers&rsquo; brass felt that he could be on a similar timeline as Haliburton, who is 23.
It certainly seems that the Pacers are building around this duo, especially after Turner was given a two-year, $60 million extension in January.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad that we got it done. I think it was a win-win for both sides,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;I think I have a good relationship with (Pacers owner) Herb Simon, and I think he has a big belief in what I&rsquo;m capable of as well. I&rsquo;m glad that we were able to come to terms on an agreement. Behind the scenes, for me personally, I was open to the idea of free agency, but I also wanted to at least give Indy a fair chance, and both sides came to an agreement.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable. I&rsquo;m where I want to be. I&rsquo;m growing with a young team that&rsquo;s hungry. I think we&rsquo;re just trying to get better and better every day, and that&rsquo;s the main goal of this whole thing. I have a lot of belief in this city, a lot of belief in this program and a lot of belief in the guys in this locker room, so that was a big initial factor in me wanting to stay here.&rdquo;
Since Turner was a popular trade candidate, many fans of other teams got excited about the possibility of him joining their favorite squad. When Turner inked his extension with the Pacers, some of these fans reacted negatively &mdash; upset that he was no longer on the market.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What fans don&rsquo;t realize is that this is a business, and both sides have to do what&rsquo;s best for them,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;Sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t work out where you&rsquo;re able to stay with the same team, but I&rsquo;ve been blessed and fortunate enough to be with the same team for my entire career. That&rsquo;s not something that happens a lot, and I never take that for granted. That was obviously something that went into my decision as well. For the casual fan, they have to realize that while basketball may be a fun game, the business aspect of it will always reign supreme.&rdquo;
As Turner mentioned, not many players stay with one NBA team for the entirety of their career. He admits that retiring in Indiana would mean a lot to him.
&ldquo;Yeah, obviously, it&rsquo;s something that would be very special,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;Like I always talk about, the business of basketball always reigns supreme, but my loyalty is with the organization that drafted me and the city that took me in, and hopefully it&rsquo;s able to stay that way for years to come.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Turner has been a part of many different iterations of Pacers basketball. Now, looking at the current pieces around him, he&rsquo;s excited about the team&rsquo;s promising future.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen the growth in a lot of our young guys throughout the entire year,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;The best thing for them was getting a chance to play early. For <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-indiana-pacers-rookie-andrew-nembhard-rick-carlisle-tj-mcconnell-gonzaga-florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drew [Nembhard]</a>, Ben [Mathurin] and those guys, playing heavy minutes early was big for their development, and not every rookie has a chance to do that. The fact that they&rsquo;re getting battle-tested so early is going to bode well for them.
"I&rsquo;ve just enjoyed the overall spirit and fight of this team. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys who clock in and work hard day in and day out, and they&rsquo;re coming in here and getting a chance to compete after working their whole life to get here.&rdquo;
While playing alongside Haliburton has certainly helped Turner, the big man does deserve a lot of credit for the leap he has taken this season. He&rsquo;s put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to maximize his potential and make the most of his opportunity.
&ldquo;I attribute [my career year] to patience and obviously the hard work I put in over the offseason to prepare for these moments,&rdquo; Turner explained. &ldquo;I also attribute it to just the years that I&rsquo;ve been in the league, where I&rsquo;ve been able to play out on the perimeter at the 4 position and now I&rsquo;m able to play my natural position (the 5).
"I&rsquo;m thankful that I was able to just stick it out those years that I was here and see what the other side of basketball was like, outside of just getting what you want when you want it. I think I waited my turn and, obviously, I&rsquo;m thriving now, and I&rsquo;m only hoping to get better from here.&rdquo;
Nekias Duncan contributed to this article.

Alex Kennedy catches up with Pacers big man Myles Turner to discuss his extension, playing with Tyrese Haliburton and more.

Pacers' perfect pairing: Turner, Haliburton form dominant 1-2 punch

Don't forget about the other summer blockbuster.
You can't go online without the Rudy Gobert trade being flamed. It's hard not to question that move considering how clunky things have looked for the Timberwolves on both ends, a recent winning streak when Gobert was out of the lineup, and a slide coinciding with Gobert's return &mdash; featuring closing minutes with Naz Reid instead of Gobert.
You know who else has looked clunky on both ends of the floor? The Atlanta Hawks, fresh off a loss to LeBirthday and the Los Angles Lakers on Friday night.
The Hawks are currently sitting two games under .500 (17-19), with a bottom-10 net rating (-1.7, 24th) and more rumors swirling than a high-school hallway. The latter portion &mdash; the outside noise &mdash; is really what sucks about this Hawks season.
It's understandable enough that there would be growing pains when implenting former Spurs All-Star Dejounte Murray into the mix. I was ultimately <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-offseason-trade-news-dejounte-murray-fit-atlanta-hawks-trae-young-bogdan-bogdanovic-deandre-hunter-san-antonio-spurs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high on the move</a>, but the Young-Murray fit hasn't been clean. The Hawks are <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612737&amp;Season=2022-23&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1629027,1627749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barely winning the minutes</a> &mdash; plus-1.8 in 695 minutes &mdash; with them sharing the floor.&nbsp;
It's even tougher considering the injury woes the Hawks have dealt with. Clint Capela has missed nine games; John Collins and De'Andre Hunter have missed eight. Bogdan Bogdanovic, an important spacer and secondary creator, made his season debut on December 2.&nbsp;
In a perfect world, this is just a matter of on-court chemistry building. But alas, it doesn't appear to be just that. The cloud surrounding the relationship between Young and head coach Nate McMillan is hard to ignore at this point.
Before the season, Young and McMillan each referenced their need to improve communication with each other. McMillan took steps over the offseason <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34656193/atlanta-hawks-look-improve-communication-trae-young-coach-nate-mcmillan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with an in-house visit</a>, for a quick example. Naturally, Young missed a home game against the Denver Nuggets earlier this month due to [checks notes] <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/trae-young-reportedly-sat-out-fridays-game-vs-nuggets-after-feud-with-coach-nate-mc-millan-232604712.html#:~:text=The%20team%20said%20at%20the,to%20be%20any%20further%20discipline." target="_blank" rel="noopener">morning shootaround etiquette.</a>
(As the story goes, Young wanted to bypass morning shootaround to receive extra treatment for a troublesome shoulder. McMillan gave Young a choice: either come off the bench [for missing a normally-mandatory shootaround], or stay home. Young opted for the latter.)
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
That's a petty story at best, another notch on the "what-the-heck's-going-on-with-those-two?" belt at worst. It didn't look good for Young, who simply could've played if he wanted to. It didn't look good for McMillan, who wouldn't have lost sleep over letting Young slide considering the circumstances &mdash; and his importance to the team, but you know.
Fast forward to Friday, before the Lakers loss, and we get a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania that McMillan has <a href="https://theathletic.com/4046211/2022/12/30/nate-mcmillan-hawks-considers-resigning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered resigning from the job</a>. When asked about the report, McMillan didn't necessarily <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/hawks-coach-nate-mcmillan-responds-to-report-suggesting-he-may-resign-well-move-on-past-that/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shut things down</a>:
"I read that article briefly, I've never spoke to that reporter before,"&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Benson_Jr/status/1608958610905903105?s=20&amp;t=p8pumdwNvGb35E1h4W7reQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McMillan said</a>. "I think the last two weeks, he's written a couple articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me, and some things that I'm saying and doing. Look, at the end of the year, I'll do as I've always done, at the end of the season I talk with my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season. That's the end of the season. All of us think about retiring, but that's at the end of the season. So we'll move on past that."
What makes this dynamic &mdash; and the Hawks in general &mdash; so difficult to parse through is the chicken-or-egg nature of it.&nbsp;
For the "star &gt; coach" crowd, there are arguments to make.
There is a level of rigidity with McMillan from a scheme perspective. That isn't inherently bad; he provides structure, and that appeal is what helped land him the job after the Hawks fired Lloyd Pierce in the first place. But it's part of why teams have been willing to move on from McMillan after a spell, looking for a new voice or a boost in creativity. The Hawks very well could use that.&nbsp;
On the flip side, how much more can be done with this personnel? That's worth asking before factoring in the injury woes.&nbsp;
Daryl Morey would throw up at the Hawks' shot profile: 37.5% of their shots come from the mid-range area (1st), while they lag way behind in rim (32%, 20th) and three-point rate (30.5%, 29th). But when your shooting talent underperforms (Collins, Hunter, Justin Holiday), is mostly unavailable (Bogdanovic) or trying to learn the ropes in year one (AJ Griffin), what should the expectation be?
McMillan, like virtually every coach in existence, has had his rotations questioned during his tenure. But with the revolving door of talent he's had at his disposal this season, what should the expectation be?
And then there's Young himself.&nbsp;
He's underperformed by his lofty standards. Averages of 27.4 points and 9.9 assists are dope; averaging career-lows from just about everywhere &mdash; 31% on 7.2 threes, 47% on 13.8 two-pointers &mdash; is admittedly not dope.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_19684868.jpg" alt="" width="629" height="419" />
He hasn't been able to can the pull-up threes that make him such a lethal pick-and-roll threat. His floater, one of the NBA's best weapons, has largely failed him this season. (Ja Morant's dealing with a similar floater issue, hence his career-low in two-point percentage.)
Young missing shots wouldn't be as tough if his play-style didn't exacerbate things. He dictates a ton of the action &mdash; and rightfully so, with his blend of playmaking and scoring chops. After <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?Season=2021-22&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AVG_DRIB_PER_TOUCH" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading the NBA</a> in seconds per touch and dribbles per touch last season, Young ranks... second and first respectively <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?CF=GP*GE*20&amp;Season=2022-23&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AVG_DRIB_PER_TOUCH" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this season</a>.
After an encouraging start to the year, the off-ball juice just hasn't been there for Young. We're back to pass-and-stand with the ball out of his hands. He's taken just 23 relocation threes this season, per Second Spectrum; that's on pace to smash last season's number (26), but still well below the threshold you'd like to see from Young.&nbsp;
The primary reason that people questioned the Young-Murray fit was because of the off-ball woes. Murray was a fine-not-threatening catch-and-shoot threat, while Young just wasn't particularly engaged in that area. Sadly, it's been mostly a "my turn, your turn" ordeal between the two.
It's fair to question if McMillan can bring this team to the next level, and if he can connect with Young enough to make that possibility a reality. It's also fair to question how much of a limiter Young's style is to building the sort of multi-faceted attack that can take the Hawks to the next level.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
That question, in addition to the weird relationship with McMillan, is why <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10059477-sources-trae-young-could-be-next-nba-superstar-to-request-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executives have started chirping</a> about the possibility of Young eventually asking out.
This is where I pause and state the obvious: executives saying "hey, he might be the next star to ask out" is not a report. It's notable conversation, and fun to think about. It's not an actual trade request.
Even with that context, it's interesting to think about what a Young trade would even look like. The Hawks pushing that button would signify, "We can't do this," "We don't want to deal with this," or a combination of the two. How would that message be received league-wide?
Young is an offense unto himself; that's incredibly valuable and, oddly enough, part of the problem with building around him. Add in the defensive concerns &mdash; he's a small dude whose attention span wanes off the ball too often &mdash; and a Young trade sweepstakes won't be as simple as "this dude's good so we should sell the farm for him."
Go down the line of fake trade destinations, and you'll come across some roadblocks.
That Young-for-KAT swap seems plausible until you think about Young, Anthony Edwards and Gobert in the same locker room. Gobert was frustrated enough being blamed for Utah's defensive miscues; cleaning up for Young and&nbsp;Edwards' off-ball lapses feels like trouble waiting to happen.&nbsp;
The New York Knicks should be happy with the All-Star caliber play that Jalen Brunson has provided this season. Brunson isn't a Young-level talent, nor is he a Young-level star. I'd be shocked if they didn't at least consider constructing a package for Young.
In light of Chris Paul's decline, I'm sure the Phoenix Suns would sniff around. The prospect of pairing Young and Devin Booker together would be interesting, though building out an offer would induce headaches.&nbsp;
(I don't know if anyone wants to hear this, but there's probably a conversation to be had between Atlanta and Philadelphia depending on what James Harden wants to do with his player option.)
For a player as talented as Young, that's not a long list of suitors. And again, you could poke holes in all of those. Ideally, this doesn't become a real talking point to begin with. The Hawks want Young to be the face of the franchise, and he's already shown he's talented enough to lead them on a deep playoff run.
What needs to change for the Hawks to turn things around? The anwer is a little bit of everything.&nbsp;
More malleability from McMillan would be nice. A healthier roster &mdash; and better shooting talent &mdash; would give McMillan more room to experiment. Obviously there's no "shoot-the-ball-better" button to press, but Young can control his own engagement level off the ball &mdash; on both ends of the floor.&nbsp;

What's wrong with the Hawks? Nekias Duncan breaks down the team's issues and Atlanta's options moving forward.

What's wrong with the Atlanta Hawks?

Nekias Duncan previews the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic and Wizards ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Southeast Division

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry's bright-colored &ldquo;Sour Patch&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/JanieMcCAP/status/1574160750431461378">sneakers squeaked loudly announcing his media day</a> arrival. He then took his spot, tucked in that iconic No. 30 jersey and posed with all of his championship hardware.
A trophy on either side of him, his elbows propped on the other two.
The two-time MVP is showing that his swagger is as strong as ever heading into his 14th NBA season.
&ldquo;That championship glow is real,&rdquo; Curry said with a smile.
The Golden State star and reigning NBA Finals MVP will turn 35 this season and is still at the top of his game, ready to lead another championship run as the Warriors seek to repeat.
He certainly doesn't take any of this success for granted, knowing how hard it is each season to get back to the top &mdash; even when Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo calls him &ldquo;the best player in the world.&rdquo;
&ldquo;And embracing it. My 14th year. I feel fresh and prime, ready to go,&rdquo; Curry said Sunday. &ldquo;I feel like in my head still getting better, trying to feed off that. Understand it&rsquo;s a long journey and we are doing some defensive strategy and stuff like that yesterday, and it kind of felt for a second we were still preparing for the Celtics and the finals series because it didn&rsquo;t feel like that long ago.&rdquo;
Except for the fact this season he will have Splash Brother Klay Thompson alongside him from the opening tip for the defending NBA champions, who depart the Bay Area on Tuesday for Tokyo to face the Washington Wizards in a pair of preseason games Friday and Saturday in Saitama, Japan.
Thompson returned Jan. 9 from an absence of more than 2 1/2 years following a pair of devastating injuries. The 32-year-old Thompson hadn&rsquo;t played since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals as Toronto clinched the championship. While rehabbing from surgery for that injury, he tore his right Achilles tendon scrimmaging on his own in November 2020.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hungry as ever still because I still remember those two years I had to watch. I&rsquo;m eager to play a full season and show people what I&rsquo;m capable of again,&rdquo; Thompson said.
Curry cherished another shorter offseason in which a highlight was going back to Davidson College to celebrate his graduation and coach Bob McKillop&rsquo;s retirement after a 33-year career at the school.
&ldquo;Obviously you enjoy the offseason and know all the work you&rsquo;ve put in over the course of your career and especially the last three years,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;To get back there was meaningful, and you embrace it and appreciate it. Appreciate the vibe you&rsquo;ve built with the new-look team built on the core, the guys that have been around the block.
&ldquo;Very excited about what it means coming into this season trying to defend, knowing there will be new challenges for everybody as a team and everybody individually.&rdquo;
Draymond Green warned of the &ldquo;championship hangover&rdquo; and how he will strive to keep Golden State from becoming complacent.
One big key in that effort: Veteran swingman Andre Iguodala, 38, is expected to sign and arrive Monday ahead of the trip.
&ldquo;We are all so proud of what we accomplished last year, but that&rsquo;s in the past,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;The greats stay hungry, and we all have our motivations for why we want to win another one."
Both Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins said they haven't spent added energy worrying about their unsettled contract situations.
&ldquo;I really haven't been paying attention too often,&rdquo; Poole said of landing an extension.
Green, who along with Curry, Iguodala and Thompson are the core and have been around for each of the finals runs dating to the 2015 championship, doesn't expect to secure a new deal himself before the season.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it will happen," he said. &ldquo;And so for me, I&rsquo;m just focused on this season and being as great as I can be, I know I&rsquo;m capable of being, and winning another championship and reaching my individual goals.&rdquo;
Big man Kevon Looney hopes to play all 82 games again after becoming one of just five to do so last season &mdash; if the training staff approves, of course.
&ldquo;That's the goal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As long as I feel good, make it happen.&rdquo;
When told of Looney's goal, Thompson could only ponder that in amazement.
&ldquo;Does he, back-to-back?," Thompson said. "Crazy.&rdquo;

The Golden State Warriors are thinking back-to-back NBA championships coming into 2022-23.

Splash Brothers Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson ready for Warriors' repeat

Victor Oladipo scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Miami Heat moved into the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the Atlanta Hawks 97-94 on Tuesday night.
Tyler Herro scored 16, Max Strus scored 15 and Caleb Martin added 10 for the top-seeded Heat, who ousted the eighth-seeded Hawks in five games. And Miami got the series-clincher without Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, both of whom sat out Tuesday with injuries.
Trae Young's rough series for Atlanta remained that way: He finished 2 for 12 from the floor, scoring just 11 points. For the series, the Hawks' guard shot 32% against Miami's swarming defense.
De'Andre Hunter scored 35 for Atlanta, which got 12 apiece from Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari.
Hunter fouled out with 41.6 seconds left, Miami clinging to a three-point lead at the time. The Hawks got a stop, taking over with 29.2 seconds remaining, and retained possession after a missed shot from Gallinari went out of bounds off Miami.
The Hawks never got another shot off, time expired and Miami moved on.
Onyeka Okongwu's three-point play got Atlanta within 79-76 early in the fourth, the Hawks clawing back after being down by as many as 15.
But Herro hit a high-arcing jumper from the lane, Miami got a stop, and Oladipo hit a left-wing 3 on the next Heat possession to push the lead back to eight with 7:29 remaining.
That's how the final minutes went: Atlanta made a charge, Miami would hold it off, all the way to the end.
And now, the Heat get nearly a week off before facing either Philadelphia or Toronto in the East semis. Game 1 will be Monday in Miami.
The Heat already knew they&rsquo;d be without Lowry, who missed his second consecutive game with a strained left hamstring. The surprise was Butler, who reported knee soreness to the team on Monday and didn&rsquo;t see enough improvement to play on Tuesday.
It was the fourth time the Heat had to play without both Butler and Lowry this season, after going 1-2 in that scenario during the regular season &mdash; one of those losses being the finale in Orlando where Miami sat most of its rotation players.
And Butler and Lowry spent the final few minutes of the first half particularly enjoying what was happening.
A 17-0 Miami run &mdash; including 10 in a row from Strus in a span of 67 seconds &mdash; turned a three-point deficit into a 54-40 lead late in the second quarter. Miami pushed the lead out to 67-52 on a score by Adebayo with 2:55 left in the third, and the lead was 75-64 going into the fourth.
Atlanta had one last charge to make, getting within two in the final moments &mdash; but no closer.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Clint Capela, who missed the first three games of the series with a right knee injury, left in the third quarter of Game 5 because of continued knee issues. ... Atlanta was without Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee soreness). ... Atlanta coach Nate McMillan is now 1-8 in postseason games against Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra. The Heat swept McMillan&rsquo;s Indiana Pacers in Round 1 at the bubble in 2020. ... The Hawks went 2-7 against the Heat this season.
Heat: Michigan coach Juwan Howard, the former Miami player and assistant, was in attendance. ... It marked the first time Butler had ever been declared inactive for a playoff game. ... Miami missed its first eight 3-point tries before Oladipo connected midway through the second quarter. ... Martin left just before halftime with an injury around his left hand or wrist, but returned for the second half.
STREAKING
Before this series, Miami had one run of more than 16 consecutive points in its playoff history. It now has three. The Heat had a 21-0 run in Game 3 at Atlanta, and the 17-0 run on Tuesday was the third-largest in team playoff history. Miami had a 19-0 run against New York in 2012, and has had 16-0 runs on four other occasions.
ODD TECH
Miami's Markieff Morris didn't play, and got a technical foul anyway. Morris was called for an unsportsmanlike play after he grabbed onto Hunter after the Hawks' forward stepped into the Miami bench area in the third quarter.
FIRST WIN
Miami beat Atlanta in a series for the first time in three tries. The Hawks had won two previous first-round series that both went to the limit, prevailing 3-2 in 1994 and 4-3 in 2009.
UP NEXT
Miami will play host to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia or Toronto on Monday.

Victor Oladipo scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Heat advanced to the second round.

Heat hold off Hawks 97-94, reach Eastern semifinals

War Eagle is flying high over men&rsquo;s college basketball for the first time in history.
A barely ranked afterthought to begin the season, Auburn climbed past Gonzaga to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll released Monday. The Tigers beat Kentucky over the weekend for their 15th consecutive win, then scooped up 45 of 61 first-place votes to become the nation&rsquo;s top-ranked team for the first time since the poll began with the 1948-49 season.
The Bulldogs dropped to No. 2 with 15 first-place votes. Arizona remained third and earned the other No. 1 vote.
&ldquo;I think for us, it&rsquo;s the sum of our parts,&rdquo; said Bruce Pearl, who led the Tigers to the Final Four in 2019. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re playing nine guys on a regular basis, or sometimes 10, you&rsquo;ve got to account for all of them. And I thought (against Kentucky) we got really great contributions, you know, from everybody.&rdquo;
Including the teeming crowd inside Auburn Arena, and the boisterous student section known simply as The Jungle, who are no doubt celebrating the return to prominence of a school known more for its football than its basketball.
The Tigers (18-1, 15-0 SEC) spent most of the 1999-2000 season ranked in the top 10, including one week at No. 2. They also spent a week at No. 2 late in the 1988-99 season and another week at No. 2 back in February 1959.
But being No. 1? That&rsquo;s a whole new experience. The Tigers are the fifth team to reach that spot this season, following two stints by the Bulldogs and runs by Duke, Purdue and defending national champion Baylor.
The Bears rebounded from consecutive losses while ranked No. 1 to beat West Virginia and Oklahoma, and climbed one position to fourth. Big 12 rival Kansas was right behind in fifth after a pair of heart-stopping wins.
The Boilermakers fell two spots to sixth after losing to Indiana early last week. They were followed by Houston and UCLA, deadlocked at No. 7, with Duke and Michigan State rounding out the top 10.
The Spartans, unranked to start the season, blew out then-No. 8 Wisconsin last week and have lost once since November.
&ldquo;We got after it, and that&rsquo;s the way it had to be, and a lot of it falls on me, too,&rdquo; Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. &ldquo;I think we got some things accomplished last week.&rdquo;
The Badgers fell to No. 11 and were followed by Kentucky, Texas Tech, Villanova and Southern California, which bounced back from a loss to Oregon with wins over Colorado and Utah on the road.
Ohio State climbed three spots to give the Big Ten a fourth team within the top 16. Providence, Tennessee, LSU and UConn rounded out the top 20, while Xavier, Marquette, Iowa State, Illinois and Davidson completed the poll.
Stephen Curry&rsquo;s alma mater is ranked for the first time since spending a Week at No. 24 in March 2015.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to learn lessons, and it seems every game has given us lessons to learn,&rdquo; Davidson coach Bob McKillop said, &ldquo;and one of the joys of learning those lessons is we&rsquo;re learning them with victories and not losses.&rdquo;
IN AND OUT
Marquette returned to the Top 25 for the first time under Shaka Smart, landing at No. 23 after the Golden Eagles didn&rsquo;t have a single vote last week. That&rsquo;s what happens when you beat three straight ranked teams &mdash; Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier &mdash; to run your winning streak to six heading into another showdown with the Pirates on Tuesday night.
Dropping out were Texas, which has lost three of its last five, and Loyola, which lost to Missouri State on Saturday.
UP AND DOWN
Tennessee made the biggest leap this week, climbing six spots to No. 18 following wins over Vanderbilt and LSU. Texas Tech and UConn each jumped five spots with the Red Raiders reaching a season-best No. 13 in the poll.
Iowa State tumbled the farthest, eight spots to No. 23, after losses to Texas Tech and TCU gave the Cyclones five in their last seven games. Illinois fell seven spots to No. 24 after losing a heartbreaker to Purdue and getting drilled by Maryland.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Big Ten and Big East have five ranked teams apiece, followed by the SEC and Big 12 with four each. The Pac-12 has three and the ACC, American Athletic, West Coast and Atlantic 10 each had one.

A barely ranked afterthought to begin the season, Auburn climbed past Gonzaga to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll released Monday.

Auburn flies to No. 1 in AP Top 25 for first time in history

Say the words &ldquo;trade demand&rdquo; and most NBA fans will immediately think of a disgruntled superstar who wants out of their current situation. Ben Simmons, James Harden and Anthony Davis are examples of perennial All-Stars who have requested to be dealt in recent years.
While these are certainly the most high-profile and well-publicized trade demands, it&rsquo;s pretty common for NBA players to ask for a change of scenery. Sometimes, these trade requests are never made public. Other times, news of the demand will surface after a deal is completed.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s what happened after the Atlanta Hawks traded Cam Reddish to the New York Knicks earlier this week, as Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk revealed that Reddish requested a trade last offseason.
&ldquo;Cam had come to us during the offseason and expressed the desire to maybe get to a situation where he could have a little bigger role,&rdquo; Schlenk <a href="https://themercury.com/ap/sports/cam-reddish-wanted-out-to-find-bigger-role-per-hawks-gm-travis-schlenk/article_89c4b5ec-1af4-51d1-82c2-3abea898c3d0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly not the first player who&rsquo;s done that. He went about it the right way. There was no public proclamation. He showed up, went to work every day. But we told him, &lsquo;Listen, if there&rsquo;s something that makes sense for us, we&rsquo;ll certainly take a look at it.&rsquo; So that was a part of it. We did our best.&rdquo;
&ldquo;This year, he made the decision during the summer that he wanted to go elsewhere and play somewhere else, so it was tough,&rdquo; Hawks head coach Nate McMillan <a href="https://twitter.com/sarah_k_spence/status/1482492322268991489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>. &ldquo;It was tough on him to come in and he was a professional, he was a pro. He didn't do anything through the media; he came in, he tried to work. A lot of you guys were asking why he wasn't in the rotation or why we weren't doing certain things and it was: we knew that he wasn't going to probably end the season with us. [It's] unfortunate. I think he has a lot of talent, great kid and I wish him well.&rdquo;
While Reddish&rsquo;s name had occasionally popped up in trade rumors prior to the deal, the reports just indicated that the Hawks were open to moving him for a first-round pick due to their logjam of similar players. Despite Reddish's request, the Hawks found a taker without having to lower their asking price, as New York gave up a protected first-round pick (via the Charlotte Hornets) and Kevin Knox for Reddish. (The pick is top-18 protected in 2022, top-16 protected in 2023 and top-14 protected in 2024 and 2025, then it&rsquo;d convey as two second-rounders in 2026 and 2027).
&ldquo;We want players that want to be here, we want players that are happy to be here, right, but it&rsquo;s also my job to do what&rsquo;s best for the Atlanta Hawks, not necessarily that player,&rdquo; Schlenk <a href="https://themercury.com/ap/sports/cam-reddish-wanted-out-to-find-bigger-role-per-hawks-gm-travis-schlenk/article_89c4b5ec-1af4-51d1-82c2-3abea898c3d0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a>. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if New York&rsquo;s going to be the perfect spot for Cam or not, but my job is to get the best value I can for Cam Reddish, and we certainly canvassed the league and had conversations, in-depth conversations, with a lot of different teams.&nbsp;And we feel like this pick from Charlotte, even though it does have protections, I think my analytics group said there&rsquo;s a 90% chance over the next four years we get this pick, so we think it&rsquo;s a real first-round draft pick&hellip; And the one thing I&rsquo;ll say about draft picks: everybody values draft picks. Every team might not value a player, but 29 other teams will value a real first-round draft pick.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Hawks&rsquo; front office (and Reddish&rsquo;s camp) deserve credit for keeping the trade request out of the media, which would&rsquo;ve hurt their leverage and diminished Reddish&rsquo;s trade value.
A rival Eastern Conference general manager spoke to BasketballNews.com about how difficult it is to keep trade requests private these days.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard. It&rsquo;s so hard to keep it from leaking,&rdquo; said the rival East GM. &ldquo;I think it comes down to communicating with the agent at the beginning and telling them, &lsquo;If we&rsquo;re going to do this, it has to be completely on the down low.&rsquo; There has to be trust on both sides that this isn&rsquo;t going to get out. But I feel like in today&rsquo;s age, it&rsquo;s really difficult to keep it quiet. There&rsquo;s so much communication out there &mdash; players will talk to other players or their agent will talk to another executive or so on &mdash; and then the word will trickle out to the media. It&rsquo;s hard to prevent that from happening. In today&rsquo;s age, it&rsquo;s hard to keep it from getting out there, so other teams often know when a player wants out. And if other teams know that a player wants out, they know that they have a little bit of leverage on you so they&rsquo;re probably not going to give up as much in a trade. It&rsquo;s a tricky situation to be in.&rdquo;
It sounds like everyone involved in the Reddish trade request did a terrific job in terms of how they handled this. As Schlenk said, Reddish &ldquo;went about it the right way,&rdquo; and then the Hawks' decision-makers managed the situation perfectly.
When asked about Reddish&rsquo;s potential and the possibility of him becoming a star in New York, Schlenk explained why he isn't worried about this trade blowing up in his face.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the hard part any time you&rsquo;re talking about a 22-year-old player who has played less than 150 games in the league, I think,&rdquo; Schlenk <a href="https://themercury.com/ap/sports/cam-reddish-wanted-out-to-find-bigger-role-per-hawks-gm-travis-schlenk/article_89c4b5ec-1af4-51d1-82c2-3abea898c3d0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s super high-talent. We all see that. He&rsquo;s got great length, he&rsquo;s got great size, he&rsquo;s got great skill level. But we&rsquo;re trying to blend the team together as well, so we have to take all that stuff into consideration. He could certainly go on and have an All-Star caliber career, and I wouldn&rsquo;t be shocked at all by that. But he also wouldn&rsquo;t be the first player who didn&rsquo;t have that All-Star caliber career with the team that drafted him either. I wish nothing but the best for Cam. I have no ill will towards him at all.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I worry about [this trade] coming back to burn me. I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if Cam Reddish goes on to have a great career. What I came to is: he probably wasn&rsquo;t going to have that with us.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The rival Eastern Conference general manager completely agrees with Schlenk&rsquo;s mentality.
&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be afraid to be wrong,&rdquo; the rival GM said. &ldquo;I remember early in my scouting, I&rsquo;d talk about how I could see the good and the bad; I&rsquo;d say, &lsquo;Well, I could see why you&rsquo;d like him and would draft him, but I could also see why you wouldn&rsquo;t.&rsquo; Just pick a side! Don&rsquo;t be afraid to be wrong about a guy. It&rsquo;s going to happen. Every single person in this league has been wrong about players multiple times, and they&rsquo;re going to be wrong multiple times going forward. You just have to be right a little more than your wrong in order to have success. You just can&rsquo;t let the misses bother you.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I relate it to golfing. If you&rsquo;re a golfer and you shoot 75, there were probably 50 shots that didn&rsquo;t go the way you wanted them to, but you move on and hit the next one. It&rsquo;s the same thing with a shooter: &lsquo;Hey, you missed a shot? Move on. Make the next one.&rsquo; You need to have the same mentality when you&rsquo;re an executive. You could spend a month preparing for a decision and get all of the information that you&rsquo;re going to get and exhaust every channel and then still get it wrong. Some executives have a great gut, some are more about gathering as much data as possible to make a decision. But both kinds of executives get things wrong. You just can&rsquo;t let mistakes consume you. You can&rsquo;t go back and change it, so there&rsquo;s no point in stressing.&rdquo;
Managing a trade demand isn&rsquo;t easy for a number of reasons, but it sounds like the Hawks couldn't have done a better job with the cards they were dealt.

Travis Schlenk revealed that Cam Reddish requested a trade last summer. Alex Kennedy praises how the Hawks handled the situation.

Hawks deserve credit for how they handled Cam Reddish’s trade request

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Amir Coffey tied a career-high with 21 points and Serge Ibaka added 16 to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 106-93 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
Coffey, who went undrafted out of Minnesota in the 2019 NBA draft, is on a two-way contract with the Clippers and the G-League but has really blossomed this season. He made a big impact Sunday since the Clippers, like many NBA teams, are short-handed due to health and safety protocols and injuries.
He made 8 of 12 field goals and 5 of 8 3-pointers. It&rsquo;s been an up-and-down stretch for the Clippers, and while he&rsquo;s made steady improvements, Coffey has had to navigate going from the G-League to the NBA and back-and-forth.
&ldquo;I just always tell myself it&rsquo;s a marathon,&rdquo; Coffey said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s ups and downs. Good games and bad games, going back and forth. It&rsquo;s about staying level-leaded in good times and bad times. Don&rsquo;t get too high or too low. I&rsquo;m doing what i love. At the end of the day, I&rsquo;m happy for myself and excited for myself.&rdquo;
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trae Young led the Hawks with 19 points each. Bogdanovich scored 15 of those 19 points in the first half for the Hawks. The matchup featured two struggling teams, both through injuries, protocols and losses. Atlanta finished 2-4 on the roadtrip.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s many issues obviously,&rdquo; Bogdanovich said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what is the main one because we have a lot of them. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and accept we&rsquo;re playing bad right now. We can&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;re a good team right now because we&rsquo;re not.&rdquo;
The Clippers, who played back-to-back games after a home loss to Memphis, snapped a three-game losing streak. They had also lost nine of their last 12 before Sunday&rsquo;s victory.
The Clippers are still trying to figure out their way without Paul George, who is out with an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow for at least another few weeks.
Ivica Zubac had 13 rebounds and three assists for the Clippers.
Coffey scored 10 of his points in the first quarter for the Clippers. The Clippers ended the first quarter with a 15-4 run and took a 31-23 lead and were in control the rest of the way.
The Clippers outrebounded the Hawks, 47-39.
&ldquo;It feels good,&rdquo; said Clippers coach Tryonn Lue. &ldquo;We brought a physicality to the game. We rebounded inside. We played hard. We played tough. They&rsquo;re a tough team to beat.&rdquo;
The Hawks finished a season-long roadtrip of six games over 13 days.
CELEBRATING SWEET LOU
The Clippers ran a tribute video of former player Lou Williams, in the first quarter. Williams, who won two sixth man of the year awards with Los Angeles, was on the Atlanta bench as a healthy scratch. He was a fan favorite in Los Angeles.
&ldquo;It was out of respect,&rdquo; said Chris Jent, Atlanta&rsquo;s acting head coach. &ldquo;Lou wasn&rsquo;t in the rotation today. Rather than have him in uniform and not play, we had him inactive.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
TIP-INS
Hawks: F Cam Reddish sprained his right ankle after playing 3 minutes and didn&rsquo;t return to the game. It&rsquo;s the same ankle he previously injured &hellip; C Clint Capela (left ankle sprain) was out Sunday. He left Friday&rsquo;s game against the Lakers and there had been no improvement &hellip; The Hawks outscored the Clippers 12-0 in fastbreak points in the first half &hellip; John Collins made his 223rd career start for the Hawks, tying Zaza Pachulia for 23rd in Atlanta history &hellip; Chris Jent was the acting head coach for the Hawks as Nate McMillan is still in health and safety protocols.
Clippers: PF Justise Winslow (entered health and safety protocols Sunday) was out &hellip; Zubac, in his second game back after exiting health and safety protocols, debuted a new haircut.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Miami on Wednesday night.
Clippers: Host Nuggets on Tuesday night.

Amir Coffey tied a career-high with 21 points and Serge Ibaka added 16 to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 106-93 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Coffey and Clippers cruise to 106-93 win over Hawks

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kemba Walker couldn&rsquo;t have envisioned this Christmas.
Less than two weeks ago, his coach wouldn&rsquo;t even call his name.
On Saturday, his hometown fans were chanting it.
Walker became the seventh NBA player with a triple-double on Christmas, and the New York Knicks beat the depleted Atlanta Hawks 101-87 for their first win on the holiday in a decade.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-136">
<div class="Component-adTitle-0-2-29">&ldquo;It was amazing,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;Those are moments that you dream about. It&rsquo;s kind of hard to put it into words, to be honest.&rdquo;</div>
</div>
Julius Randle had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks in a matchup of teams that met in the first round of last season&rsquo;s playoffs. But the Hawks were missing Trae Young among nine players in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols, so it wasn&rsquo;t much of a rematch of Atlanta&rsquo;s five-game victory.
Walker finished with 10 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot guard raced around the floor trying desperately for his 10th rebound for much of the second half, finally getting it in the fourth quarter when Mitchell Robinson&rsquo;s block came to him.
It was the first triple-double on Christmas since Golden State&rsquo;s Draymond Green in 2017, continuing Walker&rsquo;s strong stretch since going from a nine-game stint out of the rotation to back in the starting lineup when the Knicks were short-handed.
He said he couldn&rsquo;t have foreseen things turning so quickly.
&ldquo;This is not how we pictured it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain&rsquo;t complaining, either.&rdquo;
Fans in the sold-out crowd chanted &ldquo;Kemba Walker! Kemba Walker!&rdquo; for the New York native, who scored 44 points in a loss to Washington on Thursday.
&ldquo;As a teammate, as a brother, I&rsquo;m happy for him that he&rsquo;s able to come out and be who he is,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure when he signed to come here this is kind of what he envisioned, playing the type of basketball that he&rsquo;s playing right now.&rdquo;
Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 points for the Knicks, who snapped a six-game Christmas skid. They are 23-31 in their league-high 54 appearances, but hadn&rsquo;t won one since 2011.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-136">
<div class="Component-placeholderWrapper-0-2-32">
<div id="div-gpt-ad_site_article_midarticle2" class="DFPSlot Component-ad-0-2-28" data-key="ad-placeholder" data-google-query-id="CMPY4p-JgPUCFcMLiAkdFOQFXA">
<div id="google_ads_iframe_15786418/APNews/site/article/midarticle2_0__container__">John Collins and Delon Wright each scored 20 points for the Hawks, who were playing on Christmas for the first time since 1989. They had their six-game road winning streak snapped.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Young starred in his first playoff series last spring against New York, ignoring profane taunts by Knicks fans and getting the last word when he bowed to them near the close of Atlanta&rsquo;s clinching Game 5 victory.
But he couldn&rsquo;t clear protocols in time for a coveted spot on the calendar, and playing short-handed caught up with the Hawks. Coach Nate McMillan said some players even asked to be subbed out of the game, which he said never happens.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a lack of energy,&rdquo; McMillan said. &ldquo;I think our guys are tired. They&rsquo;ve been logging a lot of minutes.&rdquo;
The Knicks made their first seven shots and raced to a 19-3 lead on Randle&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
They blew it open in the third quarter, and consecutive 3-pointers by Grimes and Taj Gibson to open the fourth gave New York its biggest lead at 87-66. From there the only drama was whether Walker would get one more rebound.
The Hawks&rsquo; injury report took three tweets from the team&rsquo;s official account to list, and besides Young featured key players such as Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari. Clint Capela returned from protocols and had six points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are getting healthier. RJ Barrett returned to the starting lineup and Grimes made his first appearance since setting a Knicks rookie record with seven 3-pointers and scoring 27 points against Milwaukee on Dec. 12. He was then placed into protocols and missed the last five games.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Signed guards Anthony &ldquo;Cat&rdquo; Barber and Malik Ellison, both playing this season for the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta&rsquo;s NBA G League affiliate, to 10-day contracts. Ellison is the son of former No. 1 draft pick Pervis Ellison.
Knicks: Hall of Famer Bernard King, who set the Christmas record of 60 points playing for the Knicks in 1984, was at the game. ... The Knicks are down to just Nerlens Noel, Miles McBride and Jericho Sims in protocols. Immanuel Quickley and Kevin Knox II have been cleared but need to regain their conditioning before playing.
CHRISTMAS TRIPLE-DOUBLES
Besides Walker and Green, the other players with Christmas triple-doubles are Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Billy Cunningham and John Havlicek. Robertson did it four times.
HOLIDAY HOOPS HISTORY
The Hawks fell to 9-12 on Christmas. They are 2-1 against the Knicks, with both victories coming when they were based in St. Louis.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Chicago on Monday.
Knicks: Visit Minnesota on Tuesday to begin a four-game road trip.
___
More AP NBA:&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/hub/nba">https://apnews.com/hub/nba</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a>

Walker posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the victory.

Kemba Walker’s triple-double leads Knicks over Hawks, 101-87

Let's talk about passed-up layups.&nbsp;
The scene has been set, explored, revisited, psychoanalyzed. You name it, it's been done.&nbsp;
Ben done, if you will.
Ben Simmons, in a high-pressure situation against the Atlanta Hawks, had a layup opportunity. Instead of taking it, he dished the ball off to Matisse Thybulle, who would eventually earn a trip to the free-throw line. It was an inexplicable choice by a player as talented &mdash; and even more simply, as large and open &mdash; as Simmons, but it was just that. An inexplicable choice.
But it's a choice that began (or accelerated, depending on your priors with Simmons) the downward spiral of his status as a star-caliber player. It set the stage for the mess we've had the (dis)pleasure of reading about for months.
The Philadelphia 76ers lost the series to the upstart Hawks. Doc Rivers said things that he later said he didn't say. Simmons didn't take too kindly to it.
Simmons asked out. The Sixers made it clear they would only move him for a bounty. Teams weren't &mdash; and, as of this writing, still aren't &mdash; willing to give up said-bounty.
Simmons didn't report to training camp, and was fined. The fines stopped once Simmons did report, but before expressing his bout with mental health issues. The mental health element permeating throughout the entire ordeal is a sensitive one &mdash; one that has made me incredibly uncomfortable to see dissected and speculated about in real time.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Meanwhile, the Hawks are in their own sort of spiral.
Their playoff run ended with a loss to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, but things were looking upward.&nbsp;
Trae Young (further, officially) announced himself to the world as a bona fide star. His supporting cast, highlighted by John Collins, Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic, proved to be impactful in its own right. Skilled. Versatile.
It was hard not to be excited by this Hawks team. Star talent, strong coaching, a deep roster.
Whew, buddy, is this a deep roster!
Whew, buddy... this is... a deep roster.
So deep, in fact, that head coach Nate McMillan mentioned during Media Day we'd see some all-bench units in an effort to spread the wealth.
Those lineups haven't done very well.&nbsp;
The Hawks have dealt with lineup questions, a lack of "oomph" defensively (27th in defensive rating), an adjustment period to let-'em-play officiating, a who-gets-to-the-rim-besides-Trae problem, a tough opening schedule and a stronger conference overall.
They are currently the losers of five straight, tied with the Hornets for the longest skid in the conference. Words like "sacrifice" and "boredom" have been uttered; that ain't what you want to hear less than a month into a new season.
I have a theory. A question, really: What if the Hawks are passing up a layup of their own?
What if the Sixers and Hawks have the answer to each other's problems?
Why haven't we explored the possibility of Simmons as a Hawk?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16242993_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" />
On the Sixers' side, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/early-results-suggest-sixers-may-be-better-off-without-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they haven't missed Simmons too much</a>. They're 8-4, sporting a top-five offense and defense in the half-court, per Cleaning The Glass. A COVID outbreak has Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris out of the lineup, so a slide wouldn't come as a surprise. But when upright, this team has been good.
You can thank The Others&trade; for that. Seth Curry is the best shooter in the league right now. Tyrese Maxey has taken a step as a shot-creator. The bench, headlined by Andre Drummond and Georges Niang, has been stellar.
This is where they stand while getting zero production from Simmons' roster spot; one would think that replacing that spot with someone who actually wants to play there would be a positive.
And for the Hawks, Simmons could solve a bit of their squad's on-court issues.&nbsp;
Young is averaging 20.8 drives per game, and is taking 9.2 shots via drives per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612737&amp;sort=DRIVES&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com tracking data</a>. Bogdanovic is second on the team in drives... at 6.8. Simmons has averaged north of 10 in all but one season of his career; he averaged 9.9 during the 2018-19 campaign, operating in a phone booth while splitting ball-handling duties with Jimmy Butler.
Simmons, despite his own self-creation limits, is an elite creator of offense for others. From 2018 to 2021, only Russell Westbrook (747) has assisted on more three-pointers (694) than Simmons. Young ranks No. 6 in that time frame with 650 helpers. That drive-and-kick dynamic would be a nice complement to Young, who leads NBA in rim-assists (947) during that stretch.
It's fun to imagine a Young-Simmons pick-and-roll tandem. Simmons has the finishing and playmaking chops to be a devastating short-roll guy. On one hand, he's never had a ball-handler as dynamic as Young to set him up. On the other, he hasn't consistently screened hard enough to maximize his opportunities as a roll-man.
As the Hawks have seemingly leaned into more switching this season, is there a better fit for that kind of scheme than Simmons? Having Simmons in the frontcourt could open up a world of grab-and-go sequences that can't be replicated by anyone else in their frontcourt.
(Well, there's rookster Jalen Johnson, but he isn't on the main roster right now, much less in the big-boy rotation.)
And to that point: the Hawks are 19th in transition frequency this year after ranking 20th the season before.
The Sixers have ranked seventh, eighth, 15th (the Al Horford season) and fifth in transition frequency over the past four seasons, mostly off the strength of Simmons pushing the pace.&nbsp;
There are half-court questions to be had, dependent on lineups. What would a potential Simmons-Collins-Capela frontcourt look like, especially when Simmons isn't involved in ball-screens?
Luckily, Simmons has experience navigating tight quarters. He's had to operate around the dunker spot (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscribe!</a>) when necessary. He's also adept at making slot cuts from the perimeter if defenders cheat off of him.&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/z9a486" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Of course, that's making the assumption that all three would play together.
If the Hawks are intent on switching as much as they have been this season, they could opt to start Simmons and Collins up front and really lean into that style. If Capela &mdash; off to a slow start on both ends this year &mdash; becomes the odd man out entirely, there are teams (DAL, CHA, BKN, TOR) that make sense as suitors when he's trade-eligible this offseason.
The real question is one I admittedly don't have a great answer to, that question is: What would the Sixers want from the Hawks?
Aside from the optics of trading with the team that just beat you in the postseason, it would take some creativity from Atlanta's side to appease Daryl Morey. The good news is the Hawks have the salary and pieces necessary to put together intriguing packages.
Even if we were to work under the assumption that Young and Collins are off the table, the Hawks have three young pieces (De'Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okongwu) who could potentially serve as a headliner, mid-to-high salary vets that could bolster Philadelphia's rotation and <a href="https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Hawks.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most of their future picks</a> moving forward.
An example &mdash; example, people! &mdash; of something that works salary-wise:
<ul>
<li>Hawks get: Ben Simmons, Shake Milton</li>
<li>Sixers get: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Cam Reddish, Delon Wright, Jalen Johnson</li>
</ul>
Just eye-balling it, I'd imagine the Sixers would want more in terms of draft capital. They might push for Okongwu over Johnson if they'd prefer a young big in the pipeline behind Embiid. Have your own fun with the trade machine if you must.
The important thing here is that there's a conversation to be had between the two sides.
Simmons and the Sixers are primed for a divorce. The Hawks are primed for a consolidation deal. It's at least worth exploring if these two can make magic.

Nekias Duncan explores what a Ben Simmons-to-Atlanta deal would look like, and why it would make sense for both sides.

The Hawks should look into a Ben Simmons trade with the 76ers

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced plans for the first NBA Week Mexico City 2021 presented by AT&amp;T, a multi-day celebration of the growth of basketball and the NBA in Mexico ahead of the league&rsquo;s 75th Anniversary Season.
NBA Week Mexico City 2021, which will take place from Thursday, Sept. 23 &ndash; Sunday, Oct. 3, will feature a wide range of experiences for fans and players, including interactive basketball-themed activities, pop-up events, youth and elite basketball development programming, and the first virtual innovation summit featuring speakers from across the NBA family, headlined by NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum and NBA 2K League President Brendan Donohue.&nbsp; Fans can participate and receive access to additional information, exclusive content and more by registering at <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.
&ldquo;The NBA has incredibly dedicated fans and partners across the country, and NBA Week Mexico City is a culmination of their continued support,&rdquo; said NBA Mexico Vice President and Managing Director, Raul Zarraga.&nbsp; &ldquo;We are committed to engaging fans and players in Mexico in new and unique ways and remain focused on creating more opportunities for young people to enjoy the game.&nbsp; We&rsquo;ve never been more excited about the future of the NBA in Mexico and look forward to celebrating our 75th Anniversary Season with fans throughout the country.&rdquo;
Initial activities for NBA Week Mexico City 2021 include:
NBA Cave (Sept. 23-26)
NBA Cave is a pop-up fan experience that will be hosted next to NBA Tienda in Polanco and offer fans an array of basketball-themed games and activities.
NBA Academy Exhibition Games (Sept. 24-25)
Players from NBA Academy Latin America, NBA Academy Africa and the Atlanta-based organization The Skill Factory will compete in exhibition games at La Loma Centro Deportivo in San Luis Potos&iacute;, the home of NBA Academy Latin America.&nbsp; Games will be livestreamed on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a> and called by broadcaster &Aacute;lvaro Mart&iacute;n and analyst Carlos Morales.
NBA Locker Fan Experience (Sept. 24-26)
Twelve lockers, each featuring a unique historical NBA fun fact will be placed throughout the Antara Mall in Mexico City as part of an NBA scavenger hunt.&nbsp; A map will be available on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.&nbsp; The NBA Locker Fan Experience will also offer interactive digital content, photo opportunities and more entertainment for fans.
Her Time To Play Clinic (Sept. 25)
Former WNBA player Allison Feaster and NBA staff will lead a virtual basketball and leadership development clinic for girls ages 13-16.&nbsp; The NBA and WNBA created Her Time To Play in 2018 to inspire the next generation of girls to play basketball in a positive and healthy way and provide them with ways to engage with one another through the game.
Jr. NBA Mexico Finals (Sept. 26)
Sixteen of the top male and female youth basketball players in Mexico will compete in a virtual skills challenge via the HomeCourt app as part of the 2021 Jr. NBA Mexico Finals.&nbsp; Top performers from the qualifying competition (Sept. 8-21) on HomeCourt will earn a spot in the Finals.&nbsp; Winning boys and girls teams (4 players each) will be crowned.&nbsp; The Jr. NBA Mexico Finals will be livestreamed on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a> on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 12:00 p.m. CDMX.
NBA Time Machine Experience (Sept. 28)
13 lucky influencers will be joined by an NBA legend for an NBA Time Machine Experience as they revisit a classic game and participate in a live Q&amp;A.
Innovation Summit Presented by SAP (Sept. 29)
The first NBA Week Mexico City Innovation Summit presented by SAP will bring together experts from a range of industries, including sports, entertainment and technology, for a series of virtual panels.&nbsp; Guest speakers will include NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum; NBA 2K League President Brendan Donohue; NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Global Strategy &amp; Innovation Matt Wolf; NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Gaming &amp; New Business Ventures Scott Kaufman-Ross; NBA Vice President, Team Marketing &amp; Business Operations Stacy McWilliams; San Antonio Spurs Executive Vice President of Revenue, Brand &amp; Communications Brandon Gayle; SAP Mexico Head of Innovation &amp; Solutions Rosendo Perez; AT&amp;T Mexico Vice President and General Manager, Business Sales &amp; Solutions Ana Michelle; and Gatorade Sports Science Institute Latin America Scientific Consultant Lourdes Mayol.&nbsp; The panelists will discuss the NBA&rsquo;s upcoming 75th Anniversary Season, innovation across the league and its teams, the business of sports, sports betting, esports and the <a href="https://2kleague.nba.com/">NBA 2K League</a> &ndash; a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), which launched in 2018 and features the best NBA 2K players in the world.
NBA Beyond the Lines Art Exhibition (Oct. 1-3)
The work of local artists showcasing the spirit of the NBA will be on display at the NBA Beyond the Lines Art Exhibition, which will be located at Lago Tanganica 67, Polanco.
In addition to AT&amp;T, partners supporting NBA Week Mexico City 2021 include Gatorade, Hennessy and SAP.&nbsp; For the latest details on NBA Week Mexico City 2021, including opportunities to participate, fans can visit <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.
Fans in Mexico can find more information&nbsp;about the NBA at <a href="http://NBA.com/Mexico">NBA.com/Mexico</a>, on Facebook (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NBAMexico/">@NBAMexico</a>), Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/NBAMEX?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@NBAMEX</a>) and Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nbamex/?hl=en">(@nbamex</a>), and use the hashtags #NBAMexicoWeek and #NBA75.

The NBA will hold a multi-day celebration of the growth of basketball and the NBA in Mexico ahead of its 75th Anniversary Season.

NBA Week Mexico City to celebrate growth of basketball in Mexico

The NBA is already in wonderful hands, with the next generation of young stars ready to take the baton very soon. Each year, so many incredible talents join the Association and various franchises help develop them into full-fledged gems. At this point, who are the top-10 players under 25 years old?
Below is a ranking of players under age-25 based on their current standing in the league. This list doesn't factor in their upside or long-term potential, just their current contributions. If you&rsquo;re wondering where players like Devin Booker, Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell are, I excluded players who will turn 25 years old during the upcoming NBA campaign.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into the list of franchise-changing stars.
LUKA DONCIC, DALLAS MAVERICKS
Doncic is the favorite to win this season's NBA MVP award for good reason. He&rsquo;s already established himself as one of the best players in the league with an effortless, beautiful brand of basketball that allows him to fill the stat sheet. Each year, Doncic has significantly improved various aspects of his game. We haven&rsquo;t seen a prospect get off to this kind of start in the NBA since LeBron James, which puts Doncic on a generational path.
Doncic has already reached a level where he can carry his Dallas Mavericks to a playoff berth, and potentially to a top-four seed in 2021-22 with another leap. Next, he'll try to help the Mavs win their first playoff series since their championship run in 2011. The Slovenian phenom has next, and he certainly seems poised to take over the league. And while this ranking is solely based on each player's current contributions, it's wild to think that Doncic is still only 22 years old (meaning he's younger than some of the incoming rookies, including Davion Mitchell and Chris Duarte).
TRAE YOUNG, ATLANTA HAWKS
After an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, Young has reached league-wide superstardom. Everything clicked together for the Hawks when Nate McMillan took over for Lloyd Pierce as head coach. Atlanta rode this momentum while Young took a leap and became one of the best point guards in the Association.
Young can go off for 30-to-40 points whenever he pleases, and his playmaking ability is reminiscent of a young Steve Nash. Young&rsquo;s trajectory is to the moon, and Atlanta gaining postseason experience with last year's deep playoff run should only help Young. This season, it'll be interesting to see how Young adjusts to the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-nba-is-trying-to-eliminate-unnatural-foulbaiting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA's new rules against unnatural foul-baiting</a> (which were added in large part due to him).
JAYSON TATUM, BOSTON CELTICS
Tatum is one of my favorite NBA betting <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/5-best-bets-on-future-nba-awardwinners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dark-horse options to win MVP</a>. Boston has built a team around Tatum that allows him to continuously produce buckets. Once the calendar hit March, Tatum averaged nearly 30 points per game with an impressive efficiency clip. Alongside Jaylen Brown, who turns 25 years old next month, Boston&rsquo;s dynamic wing duo could vault the Celtics into the Eastern Conference's second tier of contenders.
Among the young wings in the league, I&rsquo;m riding with Tatum to be the most valuable in 2021-22 and beyond. He&rsquo;s just now realizing how special of a scorer he can become in Boston.
ZION WILLIAMSON, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Williamson has already seen immense organizational turnover around him in the Bayou State. Through it all, he&rsquo;s still showcasing superstar potential on a nightly basis. Williamson just averaged 27.0 points in his age-20 season. And with the Pelicans building a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/by-making-zion-williamsons-job-easier-the-pelicans-should-finally-have-real-playoff-potential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more competent rotation</a> to space the floor, Williamson could average 30-plus points per game in 2021-22.
Williamson is a titan in the paint, and he should continue to establish his dominance throughout his career. Soon enough, New Orleans is going to become a force to be reckoned with thanks to Williamson and the rest of their young core.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
BAM ADEBAYO, MIAMI HEAT
It&rsquo;s hard to name an NBA big man who's more versatile than Adebayo. Not only can Bam score effectively around the rim with an improving range, he can also run the offense and protect the rim with the best of &lsquo;em. Adebayo already plays such a pivotal role for the Heat, and he&rsquo;s going to be a critical piece this season as they hope to make an NBA Finals run.
If Adebayo continues to develop into a more well-rounded scorer throughout his prime, he will quickly become one of the best overall bigs in the NBA. Having Kyle Lowry as his point guard will do wonders for him immediately as well.
BRANDON INGRAM, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Ingram is flying under the radar right now, and he shouldn&rsquo;t anymore. After his first All-Star appearance in 2019-20, Ingram still flashed jaw-dropping scoring capabilities as a perfect sidekick alongside Zion Williamson.
Ingram can score from all three levels while also drawing fouls at a star-like rate. Once everything clicks together &ndash; and he if shows improved defensive acumen &ndash; he could crack the top-five of this list next season.
SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
Oklahoma City nabbing SGA in the Paul George trade was a franchise-altering moment for the organization. Sure, the Thunder are continuing their tanking efforts by stockpiling copious amounts of draft picks throughout the 2020s, but Gilgeous-Alexander has quickly emerged as one of the most promising young players in the NBA.
Somehow, the Thunder were floating around .500 near last year's All-Star break thanks in large part to Gilgeous-Alexander&rsquo;s brilliance. Last season, SGA averaged 23.7 points, 5.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds while posting a 62.3 True Shooting percentage.
Gilgeous-Alexander plays a unique brand of basketball and he should only continue to improve as the Thunder&rsquo;s No. 1 option moving forward. SGA has earned his place as the face of the franchise in Oklahoma City. Now, let&rsquo;s hope the Thunder can use their draft picks and assets to surround him with talent during his prime years.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
JA MORANT, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Morant is so much fun to watch. The modern-day version of prime Derrick Rose, Morant&rsquo;s explosive scoring components bring endless amounts of energy to this new era of Memphis Grizzlies basketball. In his second season, Morant helped push Memphis to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and gave their young core some much-needed playoff experience. He can already create endless match-up problems in transition and isolation situations, and he should continue to improve as a perimeter scorer.
Morant has yet to average at least 20.0 points per game in his career, but that leap should happen in 2021-22. If the Grizzlies improve upon their impressive finish to last season, it will be in large part due to Morant taking the next step in his development.
DE&rsquo;AARON FOX, SACRAMENTO KINGS
It&rsquo;s a shame the Kings have yet to make real progress throughout Fox&rsquo;s career, because he continues to add more tricks to his bag. Last season, Fox averaged a career-high 25.2 points on a 56.5 True Shooting percentage. With some impressive draft picks in the last two years (Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell), maybe we'll finally see the Kings break their 15-year long playoff drought sometime soon.
Fox will climb this list if he works on his three-point shooting and free-throw efficiency. Thus far, Fox has shot a pedestrian 32.6% on three-pointers plus 71.8% on free throw attempts over the course of his four-year career. Even if those percentages don&rsquo;t significantly improve, Fox is already a blur in transition who continues to put up impressive outings on a nightly basis.
DEANDRE AYTON, PHOENIX SUNS
If Ayton could create for himself as a scorer, he would be much higher on this list. Although Ayton won&rsquo;t pop as a 20-plus-point-per-game big just yet, his career development is taking an interesting turn following the Suns&rsquo; improbable NBA Finals run. Playing the No. 3 role behind Devin Booker and Chris Paul, Ayton embraced doing all the dirty work &mdash; hard screens, dominating the glass, protecting the rim while staying out of foul trouble, etc.
Ayton is becoming a more valuable big in playoff situations than Rudy Gobert. Yes, that might seem like a hot take right now, but the exponential growth we saw from Ayton as a defensive anchor has changed his trajectory entirely. As one of the most efficient paint scorers to go along with elite-level defense with versatility to guard ball-handlers on switches, Ayton is the perfect center for playoff situations.
Ayton should eventually jump back into the primary No. 2 role alongside Booker as Paul ages gracefully into his new four-year, $120 million extension. In the meantime, Ayton has already thrived on the biggest stage, proving how valuable his skill set is in today's NBA. This season, Ayton will be one of the most intriguing players to follow for this very reason. And if takes a step forward with his self-creation, that would change the game again for the Bahamian big.

A new era of young stars are taking over the NBA. Which under-25 players will crack the top-10?

Ranking the top-10 players under age-25 for the 2021-22 season

Yesterday, we <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/5-nba-teams-you-should-hammer-the-over-on-for-202122-win-totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covered the best NBA win-total bets to hammer the over on</a> and now it&rsquo;s time to flip the script and discuss the most intriguing under options available. With so many teams pushing the chips in for a 2021-22 playoff run, it'll be tougher for teams to separate from the pack. Which squads will ultimately regress or fail to meet preseason expectations?
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into the five-best under bets to make entering this season.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: UNDER 51.5 WINS
The Sixers currently find themselves in a tricky situation. The Ben Simmons drama has reached a new boiling point, as the 2016 No. 1 overall pick has officially requested a trade from Philadelphia. Although Simmons' offensive struggles are well-documented, his defense helped him finish second in the Defensive-Player-of-the-Year race behind Rudy Gobert last season.
Just now entering his prime years at age-25, Simmons has shown unicorn-like tendencies as a jumbo playmaker who can defend five positions on the basketball court. Simmons&rsquo; impact will be missed in Philadelphia, and it'll be interesting to see what the Sixers receive in return for him.
With the Simmons rumors reaching a fever pitch, plus the inconsistent availability of Joel Embiid over the years, taking a swing on the under at 51.5 makes sense to me. Do we trust Tobias Harris to carry an Embiid-less team on the nights he eventually sits out? Especially with a more jam-packed Eastern Conference than ever, I expect a small step back from the Sixers. Fifty wins feels like the ceiling to me, which means I'm hammering the under here.
ATLANTA HAWKS: UNDER 47.5 WINS
Atlanta caught fire last season when they moved Nate McMillan over to the head-coach seat with Lloyd Pierce&rsquo;s midseason firing. However, will that mojo continue over a full 82-game schedule? The Hawks have built a great infrastructure of talent around their superstar Trae Young. However, I feel like Las Vegas might be overestimating Atlanta after this recent run.
Maybe I&rsquo;m too pessimistic when it comes to the Hawks, but I need to see this success continue to fully buy-in. Reaching the near-50-win mark is a huge milestone for an organization that has been stuck in the lottery for years. Atlanta added more young talent in the draft, but didn&rsquo;t add any veterans into the equation.
I&rsquo;m going to play it safe and roll with the under on Atlanta. If Trae lights up the NBA in his fourth season, plus other pieces of their core take steps forward, I would be happy to be proven wrong here. There&rsquo;s a real possibility that their late-season run was lightning in a bottle, and that their win total will be in the mid-40s. In my opinion, 47.5 is a steep over to hit.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
INDIANA PACERS: UNDER 43.5 WINS
The Pacers were dealt potentially the NBA's worst hand last season with injuries. T.J. Warren only played four games. Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner dealt with various ailments. Caris LeVert had to sit out an extended period of time following his arrival (via the Victor Oladipo trade) because a cancerous tumor was discovered on a physical.
With Rick Carlisle back in Indiana as head coach, will the Pacers&rsquo; talented nucleus finally put it all together? I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pacers-face-makeorbreak-202122-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have my doubts</a>, especially considering how much the East has improved. No longer will a team comfortably make the playoffs with a record around .500.
Indiana also feels like the most obvious team to hit the reset button midseason, especially if they get off to a slow start. Outside of Domantas Sabonis and LeVert, everyone could be on the table in trade talks. Warren is on an expiring contract, while Brogdon and Turner have been floated in trade discussions over the last calendar year. If Indiana floats around .500 or below, the Pacers would be wise to sell-high on those players at their last opportunity to receive positive value.
Although Indiana had only one down year, the East is now a beast. It might be too little, too late for this core to make a run, which leads me to feel comfortable hammering the under on 43.5.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: UNDER 41.5 WINS
Coming off their first playoff appearance since the Grit-n-Grind era, Memphis is bubbling with excitement to see if the Grizzlies can take the next step forward. Led by Ja Morant, Memphis has done a fantastic job of building around their young star point guard.
However, with the Golden State Warriors now back to full health, plus other young teams hoping to take a leaps (such as the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/by-making-zion-williamsons-job-easier-the-pelicans-should-finally-have-real-playoff-potential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Orleans Pelicans</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-the-timberwolves-finally-take-a-leap-forward-in-a-loaded-western-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minnesota Timberwolves</a>), Memphis will have to work even harder to return to the play-in spot they secured last season.
With how the Grizzlies have operated this offseason, it feels like they&rsquo;re content waiting to make a move &mdash; not getting antsy off of their early success after making the No. 8 seed. The Grizzlies&rsquo; main offseason additions were Steven Adams and No. 10 overall pick Ziaire Williams (plus they <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mem-agrees-to-trade-hernangomez-to-bos-for-dunn-edwards-pick-swap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired</a> Kris Dunn and Carsen Edwards today).
I&rsquo;m betting on a slight regression form Memphis, especially if they get off to a slow start. With Dillon Brooks recently floated in trade talks, it makes me wonder if we see the Grizzlies emerge as sellers at this year&rsquo;s trade deadline, which further pushes me to hit the under on 41.5.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
SACRAMENTO KINGS: UNDER 35.5 WINS
After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-76ers-asking-price-for-ben-simmons-is-too-steep-for-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially bowing out</a> of the Ben Simmons derby due to the 76ers' asking price &ndash; which is disappointing since Simmons would've been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a perfect fit</a> on the Kings &ndash; Sacramento seems destined for another disappointing season.
Buddy Hield was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on draft night for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell, so who knows how long he will remain a member of the Kings? Sacramento re-signed Richaun Holmes and drafted one of the most NBA-ready prospects in Davion Mitchell, but is that enough to really make a big leap in the West? I doubt it.
The Kings have a solid young cored led by De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Mitchell, but everyone else could be moved down the road. Hield and Harrison Barnes stand out as obvious candidates to be moved to contenders at the trade deadline, especially if Sacramento falls out of the playoff race before the All-Star break.
I&rsquo;m hammering the under on 35.5 wins for the Kings, and feeling pretty comfortable doing so, which would unfortunately extend their playoff drought to an incredible 16 consecutive seasons.

Which NBA teams will fail to meet preseason expectations? Here are 5 teams you should bet the under on given their projected win total.

2021-22 win-total odds: 5 NBA teams you should hammer the under on

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EkGZYKjyaSU" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/knKXGqVyOKc" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CuQ3unu2YAQ" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GvrCl12-kKo" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.

Sheridan: A history lesson is in order as the NBA Finals draw near

The Atlanta Hawks' path to the Eastern Conference finals provides reason to remain optimistic after a humbling Game 2 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks evened the series at 1-1.
The Bucks also can rely on their postseason history to boost their belief in their championship hopes. This is Milwaukee's second conference finals appearance in three years, following a loss to Toronto in 2019. This talent-rich roster led by Giannis Antetokounmpo was widely expected to contend for a title this season.
Thanks to Friday night's resounding <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wi-state-wire-atlanta-hawks-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-bb63038e9db97c93aa82d6150a33875f">125-91 win</a> in Game 2, the Bucks take momentum into Sunday night's Game 3 in Atlanta.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, you know, there&rsquo;s got to be some urgency, but you still have to enjoy the fact that we&rsquo;re here, you know, because we worked extremely hard to be in the last four teams standing,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said after leading the Bucks with 25 points.
&ldquo;But you know, now going on the road obviously there is going to be some urgency."
This is only the Hawks' second conference finals appearance in their Atlanta history. They were swept by Cleveland in 2015.
The Hawks, the No. 5 seed, already have surpassed expectations. They finished last in their Southeast Division and missed the playoffs each of the last three years before suddenly learning to win under interim coach Nate McMillan this season.
Atlanta has been an underdog in each playoff round. When facing the New York Knicks in the first round and the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals, the Hawks won their series opener on the road before losing the second game. They have followed the same path against Milwaukee.
The Hawks' staggering Game 2 loss was a reminder they are starting three players &mdash; Trae Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter &mdash; who are in their first postseason.
The Bucks never trailed and led by 41 points.
The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wi-state-wire-ga-state-wire-basketball-milwaukee-bucks-atlanta-hawks-35a0ce07be750448e0326cc37db6ca1f">young Hawks</a> have proved they can win close playoff games. They are 4-0 in games decided by no more than three points and 6-1 when the margin is no more than seven. Now they must demonstrate they are resilient.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to up our level of competition, of intensity,&rdquo; Collins said. &ldquo;I feel like this is part of us growing into the mature players that can handle a championship run, as this is our first. And not to make any excuse, but these are the type of things that happen. It&rsquo;s on us to improve and make adjustments.&rdquo;
TRAE'S SWAG
Young will be challenged to reclaim the swagger he displayed when he scored 48 points in Atlanta's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-83dc76b25e0f5d1367fbfa7716bd0d46">116-113 Game 1 win</a> on Wednesday night. He had an early highlight in Game 2 when his steal and long jumper cut Milwaukee's lead to 15-12. He celebrated by shaking his shoulders with a shimmy he unveiled in the opening game.
It was a rare highlight on a night of struggles for Young. He had only 15 points and matched his career high with nine turnovers. He accepted responsibility for the loss.
&ldquo;It was just one of those nights, and sometimes it happens like that,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;It sucks it happened tonight, but we&rsquo;ve got to be able to bounce back.&rdquo;
RULING THE PAINT
The 3-point shot is an important part of Milwaukee's attack, but the Bucks proved they thrive when driving to the basket. The Bucks can be expected to try to repeat that winning formula on Sunday night.
Led by Antetokounmpo, the Bucks outscored the Hawks 62-30 in the paint. It was the recipe for the two-time MVP to make 11 of 18 shots from the field while adding a game-high nine rebounds. He was dominant despite missing his three 3-pointers.
&ldquo;I think he set a tone early,&rdquo; said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. &ldquo;There were a couple drives and finishes that were kind of just what we expect from Giannis.&rdquo;
FREE AND CLEAR
McMillan will be watching to make sure officials continue to monitor Antetokounmpo's <a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-hawks-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-3c49cc54ae3e05821ac30d83ce526cb9">time at the free-throw line</a> after the NBA said 10-second violations should have been called late in Game 1. Antetokounmpo made three of four free throws in Game 2 and insisted he did nothing to shorten his routine at the line.
&ldquo;My mindset going into this game was go through my routine, get as many dribbles as I can, get my breath and just shoot my shot,&rdquo; he said.
REDDISH RETURNS
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Hawks in the series was the return of Cam Reddish from an Achilles injury. He scored 11 points in 17 minutes in his first appearance since Feb. 21.
&ldquo;To be honest, that was the only positive thing tonight,&rdquo; Young said.
Reddish gives Atlanta more perimeter depth as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pa-state-wire-ga-state-wire-atlanta-hawks-philadelphia-76ers-nba-378bd14d5ceb48a94d782350c46c141f">Bogdan Bogdanovic is limited</a> by right knee soreness.
&ldquo;It felt good,&rdquo; Reddish said. &ldquo;I was excited to get back out there. Obviously it felt a little bit weird at first, but as the game went on, got better, got more comfortable. I&rsquo;m looking forward to getting on to the next game.&rdquo;

The Hawks' path to the East Finals provides reason to remain optimistic after a humbling Game 2 loss to the Bucks evened the series at 1-1.

Young Hawks try to regroup at home in Game 3 against Bucks

Seth Curry hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points and the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers avoided elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinal series by beating the Atlanta Hawks 104-99 in Game 6 on Friday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Seth Curry (17 PTS, 22.6 FPTS) came out FIRING in the third quarter 🎯 12-0 run to start the half for Philly. <a href="https://t.co/EzNPb29lPA">pic.twitter.com/EzNPb29lPA</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1406055423023763461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

The 76ers overcame Trae Young's 34-point effort to force Game 7 on Sunday night in Philadelphia.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Trae filled it 🆙 once again, dropping 50+ FPTS for the 4th time in the series. 34 PTS - 12 AST - 5 REB - 63 FPTS <a href="https://t.co/16dXS1W0ib">pic.twitter.com/16dXS1W0ib</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1406076357919088640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Tobias Harris also had 24 points, making four free throws in the final 13 seconds to protect the lead. Joel Embiid added 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Young's long 3, just before the shot clock expired, cut Philadelphia's lead to 94-93. Embiid answered with a basket. Free throws by Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 16 points off the bench, pushed the advantage to 98-93.
Danilo Gallinari's jam with 20 seconds remaining cut the lead to three points.
After rallying from deficits of 18 and 26 points in their last two wins, the Hawks finally started strong. Atlanta led by 12 points in the first period, and never trailed in the first half.
Atlanta led 51-47 at halftime. The 76ers opened the second half with a flurry of four 3s, including three by Curry, for a 12-0 run to open the second half that gave Philadelphia a 59-51 lead. The 76ers led by 11 at 68-57, following a jumper by Embiid.
Atlanta cut the lead to 80-76 entering the final period.
With Atlanta leading 92-84 with 4:03 remaining, Embiid was called for an offensive foul when guarded by John Collins. Embiid fell on top of Collins on the court and Collins then shoved the 76ers center before both rose to their feet. Embiid had his arms stretched out wide with Collins' hands around his neck as both walked off the court under the basket.
Officials reviewed the altercation and called technical fouls on each player with no free throws rewarded.
After outscoring Philadelphia 40-19 in the fourth quarter of their 109-106 comeback win in Game 5, the Hawks took the momentum into the opening period of Game 6.
Collins' jumper to open the game helped Atlanta score 10 of the game's first 12 points. A steal and free throw by Kevin Huerter, who had 17 points, stretched the advantage to 12 points for the first time at 20-8.
A long 3-pointer by Young again extended the lead to 12 at 25-13.
Maxey's strong play off the bench helped the 76ers recover. Maxey's floater early in the second period tied the game at 29-all.
Following a timeout that gave Hawks coach Nate McMillan the chance to send Collins and Young back into the game, Atlanta answered with a 10-0 run that included three baskets and a steal by Young.
Following his fast-break lay-in during the run, Young celebrated with a smile and shoulder shimmy.
TIP-INS
Hawks: G Bogdan Bogdanovic left in the fourth quarter with right knee soreness and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. ... Clint Capela had 14 points and 11 rebounds. ... Atlanta's hip-hop scene was represented in the sellout crowd. Rapper Lil Scrappy performed during a first-half timeout and Quavo was shown on the video board.
76ers: After making only 12 of 39 free throws in the first five games of the series, Ben Simmons made two of four attempts, all in the final period. ... Furkan Korkmaz had seven points as he made his third consecutive start as the fill-in for starting guard Danny Green (strained right calf).
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The 76ers overcame Trae Young's 34-point effort to force Game 7 against the Hawks on Sunday night in Philadelphia.

Seth Curry, Tobias Harris help 76ers stay alive, hold off Hawks 104-99

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Seth Curry scored 20 points, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid each added 17 and the Philadelphia 76ers built a big early lead and cruised to a 127-83 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff berth.
Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz scored 12 apiece and Tyrese Maxey added 11 for the Sixers, who became the second team in the Eastern Conference to secure a postseason spot. 
“Coming into the season, our goal was to win a championship,” Embiid said. “There are a lot of steps to get there. But we have everything we need to make it happen.”
The Sixers are currently second in the East, a game behind Brooklyn and 2 1/2 games ahead of third-place Milwaukee with 10 games to play. Both the Nets and Bucks were off Wednesday. 
“We would have loved to be the first team to clinch the playoffs,” Harris said. “We’re not dwelling on that, but this is Philadelphia basketball, where greatness is expected from our fans and us as a group. We understand that. We’re not celebrating for clinching the playoffs.”
Atlanta was missing star guard Trae Young, who missed his fourth game since spraining his left ankle on April 21 against New York. John Collins scored 21 points and Solomon Hill added 14 for Atlanta.
“The first two quarters, we didn’t come out with intensity or sense of urgency,” Hawks coach Nate McMillen said. “I thought the third quarter was better with intensity, a little more scrap and fight. But we’ll look at this and we’ll learn from it. We have to get better from it.”
Young did pick up a technical foul in the fourth quarter for yelling at officials from the Hawks bench following an incident where teammate Kris Dunn picked up an unsportsmanlike technical for getting in the middle of a post-play celebration between Milton and Matisse Thybulle.
Philadelphia never trailed, jumping out to a 37-17 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks in large part to Curry’s 13 points on 5-of-7 from the floor. 
Atlanta shot just 33.3% from the floor, its second-worst mark of the season, and 32% from beyond the 3-point line. The 83 points for the Hawks were a season low, coming on the heels of an 86-point performance in a loss Monday night at Detroit.
“When you have guys who are big parts of your team that are out, it’s tough,” Collins said. “Especially against a great team like Philly that was ready to go. But I feel like we could have competed harder out there.”
Ben Simmons, who was limited to 15 minutes by foul trouble and the game’s lopsided nature, scored eight points and dished out six assists.
Philadelphia’s starters didn’t play a lot of time in the second half for the second straight game after building up big leads.
“It’s important,” Harris said. “It allows us to get a little extra rest, which is necessary for our group. But we play these guys (the Hawks) in a day. They are going to bring it as well. We have to be ready for another matchup for them.”
TIP-INS
Hawks: Besides Young’s injury, Bogdan Bogdanovic sat out Wednesday night’s game due to left hamstring soreness. Bogdanovic, averaging 15.2 points, is listed as day to day. … Guard/forward Kevin Huerter was also out on Wednesday night with a left shoulder sprain. Reserve guard Brandon Goodwin was available despite a left shoulder impingement. 
76ers: Philadelphia played with its full starting lineup — Simmons, Curry, Embiid, Harris and Danny Green — for just the 25th time this season. The 76ers are 21-4 in those games. Embiid has missed 19 games and has been bothered by a sore shoulder in recent days. 
BACK AGAIN
The 76ers made the playoffs for the fourth year in a row, the first time they’ve done that since Allen Iverson led the franchise to five straight appearances from 1999-03. 
UP NEXT
The Hawks and 76ers will meet again for the second half of the back-to-back on Friday night in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia 76ers built an early lead and cruised to a 127-83 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday to clinch a playoff berth.

76ers rout Hawks 127-83 to clinch playoff spot

ATLANTA (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points in his return to the Milwaukee lineup and got plenty of help from his teammates as the Bucks cooled off the surging Atlanta Hawks 120-109 Thursday night.
Antetokounmpo had missed six games with an ailing left knee before <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1382841308109234178">getting cleared to play</a> in Atlanta, where he starred in the NBA All-Star Game last month.
He played 25 minutes in his return, hitting <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1382846603355119629">7 of 12 shots</a> to go along with five rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. He didn't have to carry too much of a load as the Bucks put seven players in double figures, led by Jrue Holiday with 23 points.
“Watching this team play six games, I realize this team is really, really good,” Antetokounmpo said. “I just want to help as much as I can.”
While the Bucks had won their last two games without Antetokounmpo, they were thrilled to have him back on the court.
“He's our best player,” Holiday said. “That's the caliber of team we want to be, especially now going into the end of the season. Seeing Giannis out there, he's so dominant, he attracts so many people. He makes the game easier for everybody else.”
The Hawks got as close as 113-105 with just over two minutes remaining, but the Bucks sealed the victory with a sequence in which they claimed three straight offensive rebounds, the last leading to a put-back dunk by Brook Lopez. 
Pat Connaughton finished off Atlanta with a 3-pointer.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Hawks with 28 points, hitting six 3-pointers. <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1382864842348974080">Trae Young</a> returned after missing two games with a calf injury but had a terrible night, connecting on just 3 of 17 shots. 
“That was the key to the game plan,” said Holiday, one of those charged with guarding the Atlanta star. “I think we did a pretty good job of not giving him any easy, open looks.”
The Hawks lost for only the sixth time in 22 games since Nate McMillan took over as interim coach.
Antetokounmpo added <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-joel-embiid-nba-all-star-game-coronavirus-pandemic-ae2000f148de5275dd68ed6102d33a2c">another good memory</a> from State Farm Arena. He was MVP of the All-Star Game, hitting all 16 of his shots for 35 points — the most baskets without a miss in the history of the midseason showcase.
The Bucks stretched their lead for third place in the Eastern Conference to 5 1/2 games over the fourth-place Hawks.
“We ran into a team with championship ambitions,” said Solomon Hill, who scored 18 points for Atlanta.
Milwaukee led by as many as 14 in the first half, settling for a 64-52 edge at the break.
Getting hot from long range, Atlanta quickly erased the deficit in the third. Bogdanovic knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Hawks ahead 74-73 near the midway point of the period — Atlanta's first lead since the opening minutes.
But, in a game of spurts, Milwaukee quickly regained the momentum and pushed the margin at the end of the third to exactly where it stood at halftime, 94-82. 
The Bucks wrapped up a stretch in which they played nine of 10 on the road.
SQUANDERED CHANCE
The Hawks, who last made the playoffs in 2017, were eager to show how much improvement they've made this season — especially making a rare appearance on national television.
They looked a bit blinded by the TNT spotlight.
“It's our first time really understanding the moment and the implications that it has,” Hill said. “We just lacked it.”
While the Hawks are fourth in the tightly bunched East, Hill noted they could easily drop back to a spot that would force them to take part in the play-in tournament ahead of the playoffs.
“We need these games,” he said “It's going to be a dogfight all the way through."
TIP-INS
Bucks: Lopez had 19 points and 12 rebounds. ... Connaughton made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. ... Milwaukee had a 58-46 edge on the boards.
Hawks: F Danilo Gallinari missed his third straight game with a foot injury. ... Atlanta also played again without John Collins, De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, all out with longer-term injuries. ... C Clint Capela had 16 points and 16 rebounds, but no other Hawks player had more than six rebounds. 
UP NEXT
Bucks: Return to Milwaukee on Saturday for just their second home game in the past three weeks. They will host the Memphis Grizzlies to start a four-game homestand..
Hawks: Host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points in his return to the Bucks' lineup on Thursday night, as Milwaukee beat the Hawks, 120-109.

Giannis returns, Bucks cool off surging Hawks 120-109

In addition to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., MVP favorite Nikola Jokic now has Aaron Gordon flanking him, and the Denver Nuggets are better than they were a year ago when they went to the Western Conference Finals.
They got JaVale McGee, too, which means Mike Malone can give The Joker a breather and not have to hold his breath, and so we put the Denver Nuggets squarely in the winners column of today's NBA trade deadline results.
The Portland Trail Blazers did well Thursday, too, acquiring Norman Powell from the Toronto Raptors as an eventful day went down without Kyle Lowry or Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside being dealt, although there were teams that were trying.&nbsp;
The Miami Heat kept their cap space for the summer and added Victor Oladipo and Nemanja Bjelica, and the Atlanta Hawks will be the newest place where Lou Williams will continue his illustrious career, joining a young group that has turned things around under new head coach Nate McMillan.
The Chicago Bulls not only landed Nikola Vucevic, but also Boston Celtics big man Daniel Theis and Al-Farouq Aminu from the Orlando Magic, as Arturas Karnisovas aced his first trade deadline. Even if they stick in 10th place and are a play-in team, Vucevic is an All-Star who will give them a puncher&rsquo;s chance should they make it out of the play-in and go up against one of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Their fans finally have hope.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Magic basically traded every good player they had on their roster, but does that necessarily make them losers? Once Markelle Fultz went down in the first month of the season, that franchise quickly came to realize it had topped out at the end of last season. The Jonathan Isaac injury made this year an exercise in futility, and general manager John Hammond did what he had to do -- get whatever he could for the three best players on his team in Vucevic (sent to the Bulls), Gordon (sent with Gary Clark to the Nuggets) and Evan Fournier (sent to the Celtics).
Hammond and Orlando received keepers in return, like Gary Harris, Wendell Carter and R.J. Hampton, so that grade is &ldquo;incomplete" because it was necessary. Perhaps more importantly, the Magic got a top-five protected 2025 first-round pick from the Nuggets, two first-round picks from the Bulls ('21 top-four protected, '23 with light protection) and a pair of second-rounders from the Celtics.
Boston was dealing from a position of strength because nobody else had the cap space (via the Gordon Hayward trade exception) to absorb Fournier&rsquo;s contract. We shall see if Moritz Wagner and Luke Kornet in the middle will be better than what they had in Theis. It could also mean more playing time for Robert Williams III.
Fournier gives the Celtics another player who gets the job done on both ends of the floor, and the core of his team (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart) is a proven commodity -- no matter what their record says. If Boston can gather a head of steam heading into the postseason, it will not matter what their seed is. So Ainge goes into the winners column, tentatively.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15355437-1-1_lg.jpg" alt="" />
The same goes for Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson and the Dallas Mavericks, who got themselves a pair of shooters in JJ Redick and Nicolo Melli, who can knock down threes when Luka Doncic drives and dishes. Redick is one of the strongest character guys in the league and a huge locker room voice. This trade is sneaky good.&nbsp;
The Philadelphia 76ers picked up George Hill from the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving them a veteran point guard to add to a rotation of a team that has somehow stayed atop the East throughout Joel Embiid&rsquo;s injury absence. And Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers did not have to trade Mike Scott, who was the only rotation player mentioned in pre-deadline trade possibilities. It appears we are down to Rivers vs. Monty Williams for Coach of the Year. (Sorry, Thibs)
We have to have some losers in this, don't we? By default, that distinction includes the New Orleans Pelicans, who were unable to find a taker for Lonzo Ball by virtue of the fact that he is going to be a restricted free agent in the offseason. Once the Bulls were out of the picture following the Vucevic trade, the team best equipped to give something up for him -- the New York Knicks -- made the wise decision to wait until free agency to see if they can get him that way. All that Leon Rose surrendered were spare parts in Austin Rivers and Ignas Brazdeikis; the Knicks will roll the dice in the postseason with Julius Randle doing everything in the meantime and Tom Thibodeau game-planning for whatever opponent they end up going up against.
It would be easy to throw Toronto into the losers column because they did not get much for Powell or Matt Thomas (Gary Trent Jr. could potentially bolt as a free agent, and they did not get anything for Kyle Lowry, who stayed put. But giving away a player of that caliber for less than a fair price represents Masai Ujuri standing his ground in the face of what he felt were subpar offers from the Heat, Sixers and Los Angeles Lakers. A sign-and-trade could be an option over the summer, and Lowry may even decide to stay with the Raptors.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The thing about the trade deadline is that it is only one of three key transactional periods &ndash; draft night being the second, and the opening days of free agency being the third.
The Blazers have been a sleeper all season and now have Powell, a 27-year-old averaging nearly 20 points per game, who can continue to send out Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the years ahead. Neil Olshey did well. Trent and Rodney Hood were superfluous.
By the end of the season, it&rsquo;ll be interesting to see whether Powell to the Blazers or Gordon to the Nuggets ended up being the better trade. Both of those West contenders got a heck of a lot better, and the Lakers are clearly on notice with a bunch of teams gunning for them -- and that includes the Los Angeles Clippers, who cut bait with Lou Williams and will take their chances with Rajon Rondo.
New Orleans can still move Ball in a sign-and-trade, so the runaway winner of the loser portion is the Houston Rockets, who turned Victor Oladipo into Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a potential ability to swap 2022 draft picks.
Let&rsquo;s not forget that Rockets general manager Rafael Stone could have kept Caris LaVert and Jarrett Allen from the Brooklyn Nets, or received Ben Simmons from Philadelphia earlier this season -- before the James Harden trade turned into a four-team deal. Instead, now with Oladipo off to Miami, the Rockets ended up with pennies on the dollar for a guy who may end up winning an MVP award and an NBA championship, depending on how the Nets do in the playoffs.&nbsp;
We shall wait and see if the Clippers join that column. What remains to be seen is whether Kawhi Leonard decides to exercise his player option over the summer. If he declines, he can go to the Heat (who did not take on any long-term contracts) or New York to write the next chapter of his career.
But for now, the winners outnumber the losers, and that makes this a good trade deadline day.

Chris Sheridan recaps a busy day in the NBA with who performed the best and who performed the worst at the 2021 trade deadline.

NBA trade deadline winners and losers

The NBA trade deadline is now nine days away, and while we can safely assume that all 30 teams want to get better, we must proceed expecting two teams --the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks -- to play big roles in dictating what the market will look like.
There are lots of big men available, and anybody who tells you that Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside or JaVale McGee would not make a difference in an Eastern Conference playoff series has not been paying attention. Or as Gregg Popovich would say: &ldquo;Living in a phone booth.&rdquo;
Also, those who assume the Knicks (with $15.7 million in cap space) are not in win-now mode do not understand Tom Thibodeau. The guy is married to a basketball, and he is anxious to do in New York what he was unable to do in Minnesota and, to a lesser degree, in Chicago.
And then we have the Celtics, who are sitting on the largest trade exception ($28.5 million) in NBA history and are worse off that they were a year ago when they made the Eastern Conference Finals. Danny Ainge cannot stand pat and expect to get past the Nets, Sixers, Bucks or Heat.
The rumor mill will be churning between now and March 25, and every contending team in the East will be scheming to make an addition that attacks the weaknesses of Brooklyn and Philadelphia, while every Western team will try to find a way to compete with the three-point shooting of the Utah Jazz and the depth and experience of the Los Angeles Lakers.
So let&rsquo;s go through the league alphabetically and assess each team&rsquo;s needs, expectations and expendables.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
ATLANTA HAWKS: Nate McMillan is 5-0 as head coach, and the most active team in the weeks leading up to training camp remains built (if fully healthy) to advance if all of the pieces can fit together with almost zero practice time. John Collins is entering restricted free agency and is not as productive as he was a year ago, but he makes just $4.1 million. Put him in a deal with Tony Snell, though, and those combined salaries equal $16.3 million, which can get you a nice player.
BOSTON CELTICS: What made them special a year ago was the ability to get offensive production from three All-Star caliber starters: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward. But Hayward is gone, Enes Kanter is doing big things in Portland (remember how he was a game-changer for Boston in the postseason a year ago?) and Kemba Walker is shooting 38% in his 10th season. Standing pat is not an option.
BROOKLYN NETS: At some point they will need a third center to join DeAndre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton, but the buyout market or the China market (the CBA season ends before the NBA playoffs) may be the easiest way for Sean Marks to add an extra big body if they cannot get a big man whose contract fits into their $5.7 million disabled player exception. Spencer Dinwiddie is the only superfluous player on the roster, but he is out for the remainder of the season, and the Nets have no future draft picks to throw into a deal. They used them all in the Harden trade.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS: Michael Jordan&rsquo;s team is 100-1 to win the East despite having the lock for Rookie of the Year, a four-game winning streak and a roster chock full of young and hungry players who, for the most part, lack postseason experience. At a certain point, they have to realize they could have done better than Cody Zeller ($15.4 million) with the fourth pick of the 2013 draft. It might be time to sacrifice a future first-round pick or two to upgrade at center. Malik Monk has been playing well lately, otherwise, we would predict his imminent departure. The Hornets have an open roster spot and $4 million in cap room.
CHICAGO BULLS: It would be delusional of them to think they can advance beyond the first-round of the playoffs, which is why they have to consider getting a good young player from a contender in exchange for Thaddeus Young ($13.5 million), who is the leading candidate to finish a distant second to Jordan Clarkson in Sixth Man of the Year voting. &nbsp;Tomas Satoransky ($10 million this year and next year) is 29 years old and could be combined with Young to bring in a good young player. Here is an idea:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Who says no? <a href="https://t.co/Pc61DX8jQV">pic.twitter.com/Pc61DX8jQV</a>
&mdash; Chris Sheridan (@sheridanhoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/sheridanhoops/status/1371826941804883973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Aside from the inevitable Drummond and McGee moves (best offers arrive at 2:59 p.m. on deadline day), Koby Altman will probably keep quiet after acquiring Jarrett Allen from the Nets and sending Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets. Kevin Love is going to be dead money for two more seasons and Cedi Osman is looking like he will be in the same category, though not quite as expensive. It&rsquo;ll be a long road back.
DALLAS MAVERICKS: They should be better than their record (20-18), but the West is tough. Dwight Powell ($11 million this season and the next two) is not worth what he is being paid and could be packaged with more future No. 1 picks (the Mavs can&rsquo;t trade their own first-round draft pick until 2025 because they owe the Knicks their 2021 and 2023 picks), if mortgaging the future is something Mark Cuban is cool with. Powell and James Johnson for Drummond works cap-wise.
DENVER NUGGETS: A rumor is out there that the Nuggets have spoken to the Magic about acquiring Aaron Gordon, and the price would include Bol Bol. They currently do not look like they have enough to come out of the West, and JaMychal Green has not been an adequate replacement for Jerami Grant. To a lesser degree than Boston, standing pat does not seem like the most prudent option. They have a $9.6 million trade exception, so expect them to make some sort of acquisition that improves the roster. They are one player away from being one player away.
DETROIT PISTONS: Troy Weaver might have already made his &ldquo;deadline deal&rdquo; in getting Hamidou Diallo from the Thunder. Wayne Ellington is superfluous, and one would think teams might like a 14-year veteran who shot 42% from three-point range with a manageable $1.6 million salary&hellip; But the Knicks couldn&rsquo;t find a taker for him a year ago.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Limbo sucks, but Klay Thompson will be back next season. In the meantime, the best they can do is hope that the Wolves&rsquo; pick is not top three and they can get another high lottery pick to put next to James Wiseman for the years ahead. Kelly Oubre Jr., Kent Bazemore, Brad Wanamaker and Marquese Chriss are all on expiring contracts. Their combined salaries total $20.6 million. The Warriors can acquire a player into Thompson&rsquo;s $9.25 million disabled player exception.
HOUSTON ROCKETS: We are seeing a flurry of Victor Oladipo trade rumors, which is strange because he was the biggest piece they got in the Harden trade. If they are disappointed in him (and his expiring $21 million contract) they must not have been watching Pacers playoffs games the past few seasons. Kevin Porter Jr. was a nice pickup, and Rafael Stone is probably on the hunt for another player who has worn out his welcome for non-basketball reasons. P.J. Tucker is headed somewhere. Dante Exum (expiring $9.6 million contract) didn&rsquo;t quite work out for a fifth overall pick, eh?
INDIANA PACERS: Acquiring Caris LaVert for Oladipo as part of the Harden trade will go in Kevin Pritchard&rsquo;s trophy case, so the question now becomes &ldquo;What next?&rdquo; aside from waiting for T.J. Warren&rsquo;s broken foot to heal. They are in 10th place, which wasn&rsquo;t exactly what they had in mind for this season. Still, Indiana has a nice mix of players in their mid-to-late 20s. Doug McDermott (expiring $7.3 million) and T.J. McConnell (expiring $3.5 million) could be a useful shooter and pest duo for a playoff team willing to give up a draft pick and a matching expiring salary. Indiana is probably better off keeping both and rolling the dice in the play-in postseason.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: They have everything they need except the Lou Williams they had gotten used to over the past three seasons. His scoring average is down almost six points. Serge Ibaka (scoring average down 4.5 points) is showing his age at 31 and has a 15% trade kicker. Both still have plenty of playoff experience, but Jerry West likes to make trades when he can find the right ones. The Clippers are an interesting team to watch at the deadline because they have an open roster spot, but they are also within a $500,000 of the hard cap, which limits their options.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS: They need nothing except for Anthony Davis to be healthy, so the Lakers are the winner of the &ldquo;Most Unlikely To Make A Trade&rdquo; award. They are option No. 1 for pretty much everybody getting a buyout after the deadline.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: More than a year later, we are still trying to figure out the Justise Winslow acquisition. Taylor Jenkins&rsquo; rotation goes 10 deep, not including the team&rsquo;s highest-paid player in Gorgui Dieng -- $17.2 million. They are young and they are not a good team, yet they are still in contention for a play-in spot, so that incentivizes them to get creative.
MIAMI HEAT: The rule of thumb used to be &ldquo;Pat Riley hates making midseason trades,&rdquo; but he went out and got Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder last season and built an NBA Finals team. So you would think they would be predisposed to tinker despite their recent run of 11 victories in 12 games. Kelly Olynyk ($12.6 million) and Moe Harkless ($3.6 million) are on expiring deals, and Avery Bradley is gathering dust. They can take on long-term money if the incoming player is worthy of it, but that would likely involve trading a starter (Olynyk). They also have a $7.5 million trade exception but owe Oklahoma City two first-round picks.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS: Veteran Bucks writer <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-sheridan-show/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-16-gery-woelfel-on-milwaukee-bucks-chances,-possible-trade,-other-east-contender">Gery Woelful said on my most recent podcast</a> that he fully expects the Bucks to try to find an upgrade from Donte DiVincenzo at shooting guard. The salaries of DiVincenzo and D.J. Wilson add up to $7.5 million, and it is hard to see Jon Horst moving anyone else on this roster. They are not last year&rsquo;s Bucks, but they theoretically have enough to get to the NBA Finals. They are very close to the hard cap and cannot trade any more picks after using so many in the Jrue Holiday acquisition.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: The team is for sale, so do not expect Gersson Rosas to take on any long-term money. They have already changed coaches, and they have nothing anybody would want except for Karl Anthony-Towns, who isn&rsquo;t going anywhere. Okay, they have Ed Davis, who may be somebody&rsquo;s consolation prize as contending teams search for bigs. Nominations for the Dumpster Fire Award are now closed.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are not available. You can safely assume that everyone else is, and David Griffin does not need to hold anybody else up because he already did that to Horst. This was not supposed to be a throwaway season, but it is. The Pelicans would like to get J.J. Redick closer to his family, who live in Brooklyn. Exactly how close? Well, when Redick played for the Sixers, he commuted to Philadelphia. So &ldquo;close&rdquo; is a relative term. Boston is drivable from Brooklyn.
NEW YORK KNICKS: As mentioned above, they are the team to watch most closely. They can take on long-term money if the incoming player is someone who can tolerate Thibodeau&rsquo;s coaching style, and they would bring in a player on an expiring contract if they believed that player&rsquo;s Bird rights would be of value over the summer. Leon Rose is one year away from having a top-three team in the East if he plays his cards right a week from Thursday.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Sam Presti likely has George Hill, Trevor Ariza and Mike Muscala available to the highest bidders. Hill was an important piece of the Bucks last season and could help a playoff team needing a bench shooter and veteran voice in the locker room. At a certain point, Presti is going to have to package together some of the 20 extra first and second-round picks he has accumulated through trades, but that point is probably a couple of years away as the rebuild runs its course. Important: If Houston&rsquo;s pick is in the top four, the Thunder get it. Also, Presti has three trade exceptions; the largest is $27.6 million.
ORLANDO MAGIC:&nbsp; Aaron Gordon trade rumors are everywhere, which makes sense because the time to cash in on their seven-year investment is now. They need to get younger and acquire assets to build around Markelle Fultz, Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac. Their ceiling should not be the kind of first-round exits they have been producing the past two seasons, and they have not won a single playoff series since 2009-10. So, it would be shocking to see them keep Gordon, who is only 25 years old and can bring a lot in return. Gordon is a good guy who needs a change of scenery and deserves one. Same goes for Evan Fournier.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: They wanted James Harden and did not get him, and Doc Rivers still somehow kept Ben Simmons committed to the team. That is pretty huge, because players who know they have been shopped usually resent it. They are in first place in the East and have a roster with the proper pieces to match up with Brooklyn. Mike Scott&rsquo;s expiring $5 million deal and the Knicks&rsquo; 2021 second-round pick are Elton Brand&rsquo;s most movable trade assets, but Scott has been playing well lately. Terrence Ferguson, Vincent Poirier and Tony Bradley are on expiring contracts but would bring little in return.
PHOENIX SUNS: Acquiring Chris Paul checked the &ldquo;monster trade&rdquo; box, and the NBA&rsquo;s most overachieving team will likely abide by the &ldquo;If It Ain&rsquo;t Broke, Don&rsquo;t Fix It&rdquo; rule. That being said, if an on-the-ball defender capable of defending LeBron James is out there somewhere, you kick the tires on just about anything that does not include Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and Chris Paul. Ariza would seem to be a fit.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Like Dallas, they should be better than their record&hellip; and would be if C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic had not gotten injured. At full strength, they are going to be a tough out in the postseason. Gary Trent Jr. is on an expiring contract and they may fear losing him, so keep that in mind with these guys. They are sleepers.
SACRAMENTO KINGS: What they can get for Whiteside will be interesting to see, because he was killing it for the Blazers last season. Then, Nurkic returned in the bubble. Whiteside does not exactly have the best reputation around the league, which is why he played in Lebanon and China before resurrecting his career. There are also a lot of Harrison Barnes rumors out there, and like the Magic and Gordon, it may be time for the Kings to cash in on the three-year investment they made in Barnes after acquiring him from Dallas. He makes $22.2 million. Does Nemanja Bjelica have any value? Same question has to be asked of Jabari Parker.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: The LaMarcus Aldridge era is in its final days, and you have to wonder if the Patty Mills era is, too. Derrick White is signed long-term and Dejounte Murray is damn good. The expiring contracts of Aldridge and Mills add up to $37.2 million, and if you include Rudy Gay&rsquo;s expiring deal that number becomes $51.2 million. They are 20-16, yet, as currently constituted, not good enough to do much in the postseason. R.C. Buford wins the award for the league executive most overdue to make a trade.
TORONTO RAPTORS: The name that is out there now is Kyle Lowry, who has spent nine seasons of his 16-year career playing for the team that now calls Tampa its home. Having lost five in a row and sitting in 11th place in the Leastern Conference, Masai Ujiri must determine whether it is time to turn Lowry&rsquo;s expiring $30.5 million contract into something of value. At 35 years old, Lowry can still play and, percentage wise, is hitting threes, twos and free throws better than he has over the past four seasons. But this would not be a giveaway, and a sign-and-trade in the offseason is still possible.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15729880_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="auto" />
UTAH JAZZ: Like Phoenix, the &ldquo;If It Ain&rsquo;t Broke , Don&rsquo;t Dix It&rdquo; rule applies. They are in first place in the West, are making threes better than anybody and have Rudy Gobert finding new and incredible ways to never, ever be mentioned in the MVP debate. None of their nine rotation players is going anywhere, and no one else on the roster has either a big contract or much trade value. Still, someone on the team could be a giveaway because the Jazz are $1.9 million over the luxury tax line. They have already traded five of their next seven second-round picks (they don&rsquo;t have one until 2025).
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: You&rsquo;ve got to feel bad for Tommy Sheppard, one of the best guys and better GMs in the league -- he was able to turn John Wall into Russell Westbrook but then lost Thomas Bryant and had his team put on ice because of COVID issues. They are now playing the busiest second-half schedule of any Eastern Conference team, and they theoretically have a puncher&rsquo;s chance against practically anyone in the conference if Westbrook keeps triple-doubling (he leads the league with 11). But they have lost four in a row and rank 12th. Robin Lopez and his expiring $7.3 million contract is their best trade asset. If they combined Lopez with Ish Smith&rsquo;s expiring contract, that totals $13.3 million.

With one week before the NBA's trade deadline, Chris Sheridan previews what could be in store for all 30 of the league's teams.