Pioneers

DENVER (AP) &mdash; All those smooth-looking, long-range jumpers Michael Porter Jr. hits have definitely been a reward for Denver.
Easy to forget just how much of a risk he was early on for the Nuggets.
They rolled the dice at No. 14 in the 2018 draft on a 6-foot-10 forward with a balky back to go with a tremendous set of skills. He&rsquo;s gone through three back procedures since college and missed basically two of his five NBA seasons, but still showed enough flashes of talent to earn a max extension.
Without taking that gamble on Porter, the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-nuggets-jokic-murray-malone-18329e13dfecae50834ebc06d409027c">Nuggets might not be</a>&nbsp;here, starting their first NBA Finals on Thursday night with a 104-93 win over Miami. He&rsquo;s become their X factor &mdash; the third part of a hard-to-contain trio that also includes Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Porter had 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Heat.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just cool looking back on the journey,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/pgraham34/status/1663249469264240640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said Porter, who</a>&nbsp;turns 25 on June 29. &ldquo;You try not to spend too much time looking back right now, just stay focused on getting this ring. But you&rsquo;ve got to take moments to just look back.&rdquo;
Rewind a few years: Porter was a senior at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle and learning from a coach who wasn&rsquo;t just a coach. This was former NBA All-Star guard Brandon Roy &mdash; someone who had been in the league and done the things Porter was hoping to do.
&ldquo;He really helped me take my game to the next level,&rdquo; Porter said.
A top recruit, he chose Missouri. It was home, with Porter growing up in Columbia. His brother, Jontay, joined him at Missouri. His dad&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://mutigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/michael-porter-sr-/927" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was added to the staff</a>&nbsp;after coaching at the University of Washington.
But his time with the Tigers was cut short by his ailing back. Two minutes into his inaugural college game, he went out. He later underwent microdiscectomy&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://mutigers.com/news/2017/11/21/mens-basketball-statements-michael-porter-jr.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">surgery to fix herniated discs</a>&nbsp;but made it back for the SEC Tournament &mdash; a loss to Georgia &mdash; and then the NCAA Tournament, where the Tigers fell to Florida State.
Despite his back issues, the Nuggets selected him in a draft that included Deandre Ayton (No. 1), Luka Doncic (No. 3) and Trae Young (No. 5).
Porter missed his first season in Denver after undergoing another back procedure. The following year, he showed what he could do in the 2020 NBA bubble when the Nuggets made it to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2020-21, he averaged 19 points in the regular season over 61 games.
Last season, though, brought another road block for Porter and his back. After nine games, he was shut down for a third surgery.
On the sideline with him was Murray, who was coming back from a torn ACL. Watching Porter work in rehab made Murray appreciate the accomplishments of Porter in these playoffs all the more.
Porter is averaging 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds through the playoffs, while also holding his own on the defensive end of the floor. He had two blocked shots against Miami.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done amazing,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Just playing a more complete game throughout the game.&rdquo;
Porter also has been dealing with serious family matters.
Earlier this year, younger brother Coban, a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://denverpioneers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coban-porter/3562" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">basketball player at the University of Denver,</a>&nbsp;was charged with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-sports-crime-coban-porter-michael-jr-ebfaffc1725e926851ff20c794b928fa">felony counts of vehicular homicide and vehicular</a>&nbsp;assault stemming from a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed a 42-year-old woman. Coban Porter has a status conference and a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Denver. Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami.
Anytime Porter needs advice or feedback on his game, he rings up his mentor Roy.
&ldquo;He definitely means the world to me,&rdquo; said Porter, who signed a five-year deal in 2021 worth up to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-denver-denver-nuggets-609d666320914d3c84632879628e8e2c">$207 million</a>. &ldquo;He was my coach in high school, so he sees kind of how my game has evolved since my injuries and things.&rdquo;
Nuggets coach Michael Malone has seen Porter&rsquo;s unabashed confidence steadily returning.
&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re not healthy and you can&rsquo;t move and do the things that you&rsquo;re accustomed to doing, that really makes it hard to go out there and be confident in your game and what you&rsquo;re able to do,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in a very good place right now.&rdquo;
And now, Porter loathes being taken out of games. He&rsquo;s known to shoot assistant coach Ryan Saunders a mean stare when a sub replaces him.
&ldquo;Like, &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t believe you&rsquo;re taking me out,&rsquo;&rdquo; Malone recounted. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s closed a lot of games for us lately because he&rsquo;s 6-10, he&rsquo;s defending well and he&rsquo;s rebounding at a high level. He&rsquo;s confident, he&rsquo;s aggressive and he&rsquo;s had a huge impact on this team.&rdquo;
Porter keeps a gratefulness journal. Just little reminders he&rsquo;s taken to heart: Stay hungry. Keep working. Never let up. Reflect.
&ldquo;To get back here and be competitive in a playoff series, man, it&rsquo;s a great feeling,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;Especially considering everything I&rsquo;ve been through.&rdquo;

Michael Porter Jr. has been incredible for Denver. It's easy to forget just how much of a risk he was early on for the Nuggets.

Once a risky pick, Michael Porter Jr. turns in big rewards for Nuggets

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic recorded his 100th career triple-double and Jamal Murray had 32 points as the Denver Nuggets coasted to a 133-112 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
Jokic had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his NBA-leading 24th triple-double this season and his 15th in the last 20 games. The Nuggets have won each game in which he&rsquo;s had a triple-double this season and 28 straight dating back to last season.
Jokic needed just three quarters to become the sixth player in league history with 100 triple-doubles, with the big man sitting out the entire fourth with the game out of hand.
The hapless Rockets were done in by a balanced scoring attack by the Nuggets, a game after allowing Damian Lillard to score a career-high 71 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Michael Porter Jr. added 17 points and Bruce Brown had 15 off the bench to help the Nuggets to their second consecutive victory and sixth in the last seven games.
Jalen Green had 17 points in his return after missing two games with a strained left groin and rookie Tari Eason also scored 17 as the Rockets dropped their 10th in a row.
Denver, which leads the Western Conference, never trailed and dominated Houston for most of the night. The Nuggets led by as many as 26 and were up 106-84 entering the fourth quarter.
Denver was up by 20 with about nine minutes left when coach Michael Malone took the rest of his starters out and cleared the bench.
The Nuggets were up by 20 at halftime and had stretched the lead to 86-60 with about 8 &frac12; minutes left in the third quarter after a 6-0 run, with the last four points from Porter. The Rockets then went on an 11-5 run, powered by seven points from Green, to get within 91-71 midway through the quarter.
Denver got going again after that, using an 8-2 spurt to make it 99-73 a couple of minutes later.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 14 points and six assists. ...Aaron Gordon scored 11 with five assists and seven rebounds. ...Denver made 16 3-pointers.
Rockets: Coach Stephen Silas said Kevin Porter Jr. is expected to return Wednesday night after missing 20 games with a bruised toe. &hellip; Boban Marjanovic delighted the home crowd when he came in late in the fourth quarter and scored eight points. ...Eason led the team with 12 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Host Memphis Friday night.
Rockets: Host Memphis Wednesday night.&nbsp;

Nikola Jokic recorded his 100th career triple-double as the Nuggets coasted to a 133-112 victory over the Rockets on Tuesday.

Nikola Jokic has 100th triple-double; Nuggets down Rockets 133-112

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander banked in a decisive 8-foot jumper with 9.2 seconds remaining and finished with 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped Denver&rsquo;s league-leading nine-game win streak and beat the Nuggets 101-99 Sunday night.
After Denver&rsquo;s Zeke Nnaji hit two free throws to tie the game at 99 with 30 seconds left, Gilgeous-Alexander got the ball out of a timeout and hit the mid-range jumper to give the Thunder the lead. The Nuggets&rsquo; Jamal Murray missed a fadeaway 14-foot shot in the final seconds.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got some poise in those situations,&rdquo; Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander. &ldquo;The game slows down for him. He&rsquo;s got great confidence and he&rsquo;s always at his pace, even in the most pressure situations.&rdquo;
Oklahoma City&rsquo;s victory ended the Nuggets&rsquo; 16-game home win streak &mdash; the franchise&rsquo;s longest run in 10 years.
Josh Giddey had 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Thunder, who earned their seventh win in nine games.
Denver center Nikola Jokic missed his second straight game while dealing with tightness in his left hamstring. The two-time reigning NBA MVP had recorded a triple-double in five of his last six games. Nuggets acting head coach David Adelman said expects that Jokic&rsquo;s return is &ldquo;going to be very soon.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s much easier to switch one through five with us,&rdquo; Adelman said. &ldquo;When Nikola is on the floor, it&rsquo;s virtually impossible to do that and it&rsquo;s virtually impossible to zone us. They did those two things and they&rsquo;re smart things to do.&rdquo;
Forward Michael Porter Jr. also missed the game for &ldquo;personal reasons,&rdquo; leaving Denver without two of its top four scorers. Porter&rsquo;s younger brother, Coban, a sophomore guard at the University of Denver, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of vehicular homicide and reckless driving after he was involved in a fatal crash.
Without Jokic and Porter, Murray shouldered much of the offensive load, finishing with a team-high 26 points and nine assists, two nights recording his first career triple-double.
&ldquo;They doubled me,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We kind of expected that. We knew from what we went through in walk-throughs what they&rsquo;d most likely do. We prepared for it. We got what we wanted. We didn&rsquo;t finish like you&rsquo;re accustomed to seeing us finish. That&rsquo;s just on us. That hurts, knowing we did everything we could and we didn&rsquo;t get over the hump.&rdquo;
Denver made 51.5% of its free throws, losing out on precious points in a narrow loss. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, shot 87.5% from the line, with Gilgeous-Alexander going 7 for 8.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who entered averaging 30.6 points, shot 13 for 21 from the field.
&ldquo;It feels good,&rdquo; Gilgeous-Alexander said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve put a lot of work in, a lot of guys have been on the team for a little bit, and we try to enjoy wins as much as possible and not take them for granted. When we see guys make a play at the end of the game, the close ones are the most fun ones, the emotions are a little bit higher and it feels a little bit better.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Nuggets: G Bones Hyland was scoreless in 11 minutes after missing the second half of Denver&rsquo;s 134-11 victory Friday against the Indiana Pacers with a sprained left finger. &hellip; F Vlatko Cancar was scoreless in 10 minutes after missing Friday&rsquo;s game with a non-COVID illness.
Thunder: Oklahoma City had lost its previous three matchups against the Nuggets this season. &hellip; F Kenrich Williams had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
UP NEXT
Thunder: Host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Nuggets: At New Orleans on Tuesday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 101-99.

Gilgeous-Alexander hits winner, lifts Thunder past Nuggets

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic followed his 60-point triple-double two nights earlier with 35 points in his NBA-best eighth triple-double of the season, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 129-114 on Thursday night.
Doncic, who recorded the NBA&rsquo;s first game with 60 points and 21 rebounds to go with 10 rebounds on Tuesday against the New York Knicks, had 12 rebounds and 13 assists in 34 minutes as Dallas ran its winning streak to a season-best five games. He clinched the triple-double with his 10th assist with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter, giving him consecutive triple-doubles twice this season.
Christian Wood, acquired from Houston last summer, had 21 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers, and four blocks for the Mavericks, who led by as many as 25 points. Dwight Powell added a season-high 19 points off the bench, hitting all eight of his shots, and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 18.
&ldquo;I thought this was a great team win,&rdquo; Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have to rely on Luka.&rdquo;
Doncic has scored an NBA-record 95 points in the consecutive triple-doubles.
Jalen Green scored 23 points, Kevin Porter Jr. 17 and Jabari Smith Jr. 16 for the Rockets, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Doncic scored 21 first-half points in 18 minutes thanks to a 35-footer at the buzzer after Dallas inbounded from the baseline with 1.5 seconds left. The Mavs led 65-51.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always been his passing that has been the thing that has really separated him from everybody else, but now he&rsquo;s adding the scoring to the passing, which makes him just a nightmare to defend and prepare for," said Rockets coach Stephen Silas, who was a Dallas assistant during Doncic&rsquo;s first two seasons.
AIR-RAID OFFENSE
The Mavericks scored a season-high 25 fast-break points.
&ldquo;Normally we have zero. Or two,&rdquo; Kidd said after a handful of Doncic&rsquo;s assists came on long-distance inbound passes from the baseline, beginning with a touchdown-like strike to Davis Bertans late in the first quarter.
&ldquo;For whatever reason, Davis is one of his favorite wide &hellip; tight-ends receivers who tends to outrun the coverage,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;I think he set the tone for us in a funny way.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Our guards, Luka especially, are looking ahead and trusting that we are going to run under some of those Hail Mary&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Powell said.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
With the Mavericks comfortably ahead late, the American Airlines Center crowd cheered wildly when Houston&rsquo;s Boban Marjanovic, who was in the Wood trade after playing three seasons for Dallas, reported in for the first time. The fans cheered even more when Marjanovic hit a turnaround jumper en route to seven points to match his season high.
Before the game, the popular big man crossed the midcourt line at the scorer&rsquo;s table to throw candy to some Mavericks front office personnel and was playfully pushed back toward Houston&rsquo;s end by Bertans.
SEE YA REAL SOON
The Rockets and Mavericks will meet for the third time in 11 days next Monday at Houston.
TIP-INS
Rockets: Green and Porter combined to hit 5 of 7 behind the arc. The rest of the team was 0 for 10. &hellip; Smith scored 14 in the first quarter, hitting 6 of 7 shots.
Mavericks: The 2021-22 Western Conference finalists are four games above .500 for the first time this season. &hellip; Doncic received his ninth technical foul this season, one of those having been rescinded.
&nbsp;

Luka Doncic had 35 points in his eighth triple-double of the season, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 129-114.

Doncic has another triple-double, Mavs beat Rockets 129-114

Is the NBA ready to add an expansion team? Evan Sidery explores what kind of team you could build in a present-day expansion draft.

NBA Expansion Mock Draft: What would a new expansion team look like?

Who is poised to become a free agent next offseason? Here’s a look at the top 40 NBA players who could be available next summer.

2023 NBA Free Agency: Looking ahead to next summer's free-agent class

The next NBA season is drawing nearer, and 95% of the offseason business is complete. We still await news on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-freeagency-destinations-for-lauri-markkanen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what team Lauri Markannen will play for</a>, and at a certain point, Sam Presti has to reduce his stockpile of draft picks over the next several years.
(The bet here is that he packages as many of them as possible to the team/teams most likely to be in the lottery next year, so that he can increase his chances of landing Gonzaga recruit Chet Holmgren with the No. 1 pick.)
With sports gambling now legal in roughly half of the United States, and coming soon to a bunch of remaining states, it is time for a look at what types of odds are out there on a bunch of different NBA wagers.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re going to take this team-by-team on this particular Monday, because summer is a time for hope, and hoping for the best is what gets us through all 30 in the NBA. So let's begin.
ATLANTA HAWKS: After the Hawks took a bow at Madison Square Garden following their takedown of the Knicks, we can only wonder what is next for Trae Young. His scoring average actually dropped last season by 4.3 points to 25.3 points per game, but we know he is capable of being a 30-point scorer. If he were to do that, and the Hawks were to improve significantly on last season&rsquo;s 41-31 record, the kid will be in the MVP discussion. Right now his odds range from (+1800) at DraftKings Sportsbook to (+2100) at FanDuel. Also, Nate McMillan is (+1500) to (+1600) to win Coach of the Year.
BOSTON CELTICS: With Brad Stevens now running the front office, Al Horford manning the middle again and Dennis Schroder coming in as a capable backup point guard &mdash; Marcus Smart reportedly is <a href="https://nesn.com/2021/08/celtics-reportedly-plan-to-start-marcus-smart-at-point-guard-and-they-should/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected to be the starter</a> &mdash; this is a transitional year for the Celtics, who are listed at 40-1 to win the championship after their .500 (36-36) finish last season. Ime Udoka has been named the 18th coach in the franchise&rsquo;s 75-year history, and coincidentally, he is 18-1 to win Coach of the Year. Jayson Tatum is among the MVP favorites, with the best odds (+3300) available at PointsBet.com.
BROOKLYN NETS: These guys are favored for just about everything, and with good reason. Kyrie Irving and James Harden are expected back healthy, Kevin Durant just won his third Olympic gold medal and Patty Mills has been brought aboard from the San Antonio Spurs. Steve Nash is the co-favorite along with Erik Spolestra for Coach of the Year, and Harden is favored to lead the league in assists. Cam Thomas, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/did-the-nets-get-a-steal-in-no-27-overall-pick-cam-thomas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the co-MVP of Summer League</a>, has been added to the Rookie of the Year wagering slate with odds all over the board; 60-1 at FanDuel is quite enticing.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS: The team with the reigning Rookie of the Year, LaMelo Ball, had somewhat of a quiet offseason, but made a deal on draft night to acquire Mason Plumlee. The 31-year-old slots in as Charlotte's new starting center. Plumlee was under the radar last season playing in Detroit, but was ranked 64th in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), just behind Kelly Olynyk and ahead of Jarrett Allen. The Duke grad averaged 10.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Plumlee is 200-1 at PointsBet to lead the NBA in rebounding, and despite the addition of Kelly Oubre Jr., PJ Washington can be found at 100-1 odds for Most Improved Player.
CHICAGO BULLS: We told you Saturday that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/over-chicago-bulls-win-total-getting-most-action-at-draftkings-sportsbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bettors are pounding the Bulls on the season win total Over/Under</a> like no other NBA team, because big things are expected from the team that acquired Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso. There are two enticing wagers here. Patrick Williams, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chicago-bulls-evolved-patrick-williams-offensive-game-at-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entering his second season</a> after averaging 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a rookie, is 100-1 for Most Improved Player at PointsBet.com. And Billy Donovan, about to enter his second season at the helm, is 10-1 for Coach of the Year at DraftKings, putting him just behind Steve Nash and Erik Spoelstra (both 9-1).
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Jarrett Allen ranked 13th in defensive rebounds and 10th in blocks last season. His defensive win share stats are low, but he will be playing a full season with the Cavs after signing long-term in the offseason, and a bump in rebounds from the 9.9 boards he averaged in 51 games for the Cavs last season could get him into the Defensive Player of the Year debate. He is 40-1 at PointsBet for Defensive Player of the Year and 30-1 to lead the league in rebounds.
DALLAS MAVERICKS: Perhaps Jason Kidd can find a way for Luka Doncic (the consensus MVP favorite) and Kristaps Porzingis to thrive together in a loaded Western Conference. Kidd is 15-1 to win Coach of the Year, but the most intriguing wager here is Moses Brown &mdash; who played with Oklahoma City last season before being traded this offseason to Boston and rerouted to Dallas &mdash; to lead the league in rebounding. Yes, Luka Doncic normally leads the Mavs in boards, so this is like the ultimate flyer bet. But if it hits, those who took Moses at (+7000) could name their new boat &ldquo;Mark Cuban bought me this yacht.&rdquo;&nbsp; (Clint Capela of Atlanta is the rebounding favorite, by the way). Doncic is second behind Bradley Beal to lead the NBA in scoring, and fourth behind James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Trae Young to lead the league in assists (+600).
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DENVER NUGGETS: Nikola Jokic is the defending MVP, but is not the favorite (Doncic is) to win Most Valuable Player this season. Michael Porter Jr. is the favorite for Most Improved Player; in my opinion, Porter should have received stronger consideration last year. If you like players with the same first and last name, Bol Bol is almost dead last on the futures page for Most Improved Player at PointsBet with odds of (+100000). Only Andrew Wiggins (+250000) has longer odds.
DETROIT PISTONS: For obvious reasons, Cade Cunningham is the top choice for Rookie of the Year. But that race is up for grabs, as a good young player on a terrible team can break out over the course of the regular season and outperform someone who was taken quite a few spots higher. This is one of the few awards where a team&rsquo;s final record plays little role in who wins the award. It is purely stat-driven. For that reason, look for players whose time on the floor is high. Signed by Detroit this summer, Kelly Olynyk was a beast for the Houston Rockets after they acquired him from Miami, and he should get lots of burn behind Isaiah Stewart at center and Jerami Grant at power forward. That makes him an enticing pick for Sixth Man of the Year at odds of 66-1 at PointsBet.com.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Before the NBA rechristened it Most Improved Player, the award was known as Comeback Player of the Year. And if that was still the case, all we would be discussing in this category would be Klay Thompson, who is two seasons removed from playing competitive hoops. None of the major U.S sportsbooks even list him in that category, but FanDuel has him at (+150000) for Most Valuable player. Nobody is listing odds on James Wiseman for Most Improved, and in Rookie of the Year odds, Jonathan Kuminga is listed highest at Fan Duel at (+3400). Moses Moody is (+6600) at PointsBet.com.
HOUSTON ROCKETS: Jalen Suggs is second behind Cunningham for Rookie of the Year, and Kevin Porter Jr. is on the board for Most Improved Player at various odds, the best of which are (+1400) at FanDuel and PointsBet. Christian Wood is (+9000) to lead the league in rebounding.
INDIANA PACERS: Rick Carlisle is the new head coach after the Nate Bjorkgren fiasco, and we shall see what he can do with one of the most underachieving teams in the NBA last season. He is (+1600) to win Coach of the Year, Domantas Sabonis is (+700) to lead the league in rebounding, Myles Turner is (+700) to win Defensive Player of the Year and Malcolm Brogdon is 130-1 for Most Improved Player at FanDuel. The best Rookie of the Year odds on Chris Duarte are (+4600) at FanDuel.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS: LeBron James did not receive any votes from his peers for best NBA player, so that may just fuel him. He is not a favorite anymore for MVP, and the best odds you can find on him in that category are (+1500) at DraftKings, where Anthony Davis is also listed at (+2500). Kendrick Nunn is (+2000) on the board for Sixth Man of the Year, and Frank Vogel is (+1400) for Coach of the Year at BetMGM. One of the biggest line disparities involves Davis for Defensive Player of the Year. He is the (+350) favorite at FanDuel and the fourth choice (+1000) at BetMGM.com.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: With Kawhi Leonard likely out for most of the season with an ACL injury, there is just not a lot of buzz around the secondary tenants at Staples Center. Paul George is going to have to be the leader of this team, and his MVP odds are alluring. He is (+4000) at Caesars/William Hill and lower everywhere else. Keon Johnson is (+6600) at PointsBet.com for Rookie of the Year, but much lower elsewhere.
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MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Theoretically, Memphis could do what Phoenix did last year and sneak up on everybody, and the Grizzlies are 50-1 to win the West. Individually, this very young team has one decent sleeper pick in Jaren Jackson Jr. for Most Improved after he played only 11 games last season. He is listed between 14-1 and 16-1 at various books. Ja Morant is in the 45-1 range for MVP.
MIAMI HEAT: We have already mentioned that Spoelstra is one of the heavy favorites for Coach of the Year, so if you really want an interesting flyer wager, you could do a lot worse than Jimmy Butler at 55-1 for MVP and Kyle Lowry at 300-1 &mdash; not a misprint &mdash; for the same award. The only player with somewhat of a chalk line is Duncan Robinson at 11-1 to lead the league in three-pointers made per game. (Steph Curry is a nutso favorite with a line of (-165)).
MILWAUKEE BUCKS: It is safe to say that Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the mix for a third MVP award if he can stay healthy and make free throws without setting the knee-knocking record, and he is on the board at odds of 8-1 pretty much everywhere. Defensive Player of the Year awards do not usually go to on-ball defenders, but we all got a close look at <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jrue-holiday-is-the-final-piece-to-any-teams-puzzle-nba-finals-2020-tokyo-olympics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how good Jrue Holiday is in that category</a> during the NBA Finals and the Olympics. Holiday is (+2700) in that category at FanDuel, and (+3000) everywhere else. Pat Connaughton, who had a nice postseason, is 100-1 for Sixth Man of the Year at PointsBet.com. Nobody has him listed for Most Improved.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: OK, we scrape the back of the brain for something nice to say. They did not have a first- or second-round draft pick, so Rookie of the Year is sort of out of the question. Karl-Anthony-Towns is (+9000) to win MVP, and that probably isn't happening unless he gets traded. And with that, we have run out of nice things to say.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: This revamped roster includes Devonte&rsquo; Graham as the team's new point guard, and if he gets extremely good at lobbing he ball to Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas &mdash; and finding Brandon Ingram &mdash; he might just lead the NBA in assists. If you think that is a realistic possibility, you seem to be alone. No sportsbook lists Graham among the contenders to lead the league in assists. The best you can do is (+6000) on him at PointsBet for Most Improved. Zion Williamson&rsquo;s MVP odds are 40-1 pretty much everywhere.
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NEW YORK KNICKS: Obi Toppin is coming off a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/new-york-knicks-youngsters-exceed-expectations-in-nba-summer-league-las-vegas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heck of a Summer League</a>, so he has to be in consideration for Most Improved Player if Tom Thibodeau believes in him. He was Player of the Year two years ago in college, so the talent is there. Problem is, the best MIP odds on him are nowhere to be found. He is not listed at any of the major U.S. sportsbooks. For true believers in the orange and blue, Kemba Walker is 400-1 for MVP at DraftKings.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may as well play 48 minutes per game and average 59 points per game until Sam Presti realizes he is damaging his tanking chances, he is a nifty flyer bet at 100-1 (DraftKings) to lead the NBA in scoring.
ORLANDO MAGIC: Do not bet on the Orlando Magic in the futures market, okay? Well, alright, we will give you one thing to consider. Markelle Fultz, back after missing all of last season, is (+8000) for Most Improved Player at DraftKings &mdash; though we'll see <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/breaking-down-6-nba-players-whose-roles-may-be-diminished-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what his role looks like</a> in a crowded backcourt.
PHILADELPHIA 76ers: A mystery team until we find out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what they plan to do with Ben Simmons</a>. Joel Embiid was a worthy runner-up for MVP last season, and he is again atop the list of favorites. Curiously, Embiid is 25-1 to lead the league in rebounds while his backup, Andre Drummond, is 20-1. Seth Curry is 80-1 for Most Improved Player, but is not on the board for most three-pointers made per game.
PHOENIX SUNS: The second-place finishers in the NBA Finals are <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/suns-poised-to-be-one-of-the-nbas-best-teams-in-early-portion-of-202122-schedule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returning pretty much the same cast</a>, with Devin Booker (20-1) listed way ahead of Chris Paul (100-1) in MVP odds. One intriguing possibility is Deandre Ayton for Most Improved, because he did not receive enough of the credit last season for this team&rsquo;s success despite shooting 62.2% in his third NBA season. It's hard to see him improving on that percentage, but should Ayton get into the 70% territory (only Wilt Chamberlain, DeAndre Jordan and Mitchell Robinson have done so), Most Improved could be within his sights. The best odds on that are (+4500) at DraftKings.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Chauncey Billups has the same odds (30-1) as Willie Green of the Pelicans to win Coach of the Year. Both are being put in charge of taking their teams to the next level, and Billups has the better team, in my opinion. Damian Lillard is a top-six choice for MVP everywhere except PointsBet, where he is eighth at (+1600). Robert Covington, the Patrick Beverley of forwards, is 100-1 to win Defensive Player of the Year.
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SACRAMENTO KINGS: Nobody places odds on the first coach to be fired. Richaun Holmes has the longest odds of anybody on the board at DraftKings for Most Improved Player at 150-1.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Gregg Popovich is 50-1 to win Coach of the Year. New Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. (45-1) and 22 other coaches have better odds. Thaddeus Young is a sneaky Sixth Man pick at 55-1 (provided he gets traded elsewhere).
TORONTO RAPTORS: Our staff loved <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/something-to-prove-og-anunoby-shot-creation-toronto-raptors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OG Anunoby</a> for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-is-poised-to-break-out-next-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">player most likely to have a breakout season</a>, and he is on the board at just 25-1 at PointsBet but 66-1 at BetMGM. Following the offseason moves that left them a long way from looking like the team that went to the NBA Finals in 2019, it is difficult to find any other members of the Raptors on the boards anywhere.
UTAH JAZZ: If they do what they did last year, Donovan Mitchell is going to get a lot more MVP consideration than he did last season, when these guys snuck up on a lot of people. He is 30-1 for MVP pretty much everywhere, and Jordan Clarkson is the favorite to repeat as Sixth Man of the Year; the same goes for Rudy Gobert with Defensive Player of the Year. Also, Quin Snyder is right up there with the favorites for Coach of the Year. With pretty much the same roster, is it a little surprising to see them listed behind the Lakers, Warriors and Suns to win the West.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: The Wizards are another off-the-radar team following the trade of Russell Westbrook, but Bradley Beal is the favorite to lead the NBA in scoring and Kyle Kuzma is 40-1 for Most Improved. Curiously, PointsBet.com is the only book listing Montrezl Harrell for Sixth Man of the Year, where he is 20-1. He won the award two years ago and was sixth last season.

Chris Sheridan checks into the NBA's preseason odds and goes through the top wagers to make for all 30 teams.

Best bets: NBA team-by-team odds choices as 2021-22 season approaches

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic scored 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 on Thursday night to finish a season sweep.
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Luka (24 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST) helps ice it for the <a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MFFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/EWRYhpSiWb">pic.twitter.com/EWRYhpSiWb</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1390489000738271234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 45 points for the Nets. They lost a season-high fourth straight game and dropped two games behind Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia.
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Season-high 45 PTS for <a href="https://twitter.com/KyrieIrving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KyrieIrving</a>. 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/urwlEWaH2W">pic.twitter.com/urwlEWaH2W</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1390502335030366208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Dorian Finney-Smith scored 17 points as the Mavericks reached 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the fifth seed in the West. Dallas holds the tiebreaker on the defending NBA champs.
Kevin Durant had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Nets with each team missing an injured star: James Harden for Brooklyn and Kristaps Porzingis for Dallas. In the Mavericks' 115-98 win at Brooklyn in February, Harden played while Durant and Irving were out.
Doncic had 10 rebounds, and one of his eight assists came on a layup by Dwight Powell that put Dallas ahead for good at 94-92 and started a 7-0 run.
The Nets were down six in the final minute when Irving was free for an easy layup and the ball slipped out of his hands. Irving finished 17 of 30 from the field after repeatedly getting to the rim in a 25-point first half.
Jalen Brunson scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, and Powell had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Nets: Brooklyn missed a chance to build a cushion when Dallas misfired on its first nine shots and first two free throws of the second half. The Nets missed six consecutive shots after Irving opened the second half with a 3, and an early third-quarter lead didn't last long. ... Blake Griffin had 10 points and 10 rebounds. ... Irving's previous season high was 43 in a 121-113 loss to Orlando on March 19.
Mavericks: Doncic, whose already made his share of wild shots that counted late in the games in his nearly three seasons, <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1390456439781593089">tossed up a halfcourt shot after a whistle</a> away from the ball in the first quarter. It went in. ... Coach Rick Carlisle said Porzingis, who has missed seven of the past eight games with right knee soreness, was doubtful Friday against Cleveland. Carlisle said he believes the 7-foot-3 Latvian will play again in the regular season.
HARDEN UPDATE
Harden, who hasn't played since April 5 and had a setback along the way with his strained right hamstring, worked out Thursday and said he plans to play again in the regular season. Coach Steve Nash said that would be ideal.
&ldquo;If we can get a little bit of extra time, that&rsquo;d be great,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;But if we can&rsquo;t, we can&rsquo;t. It looks really good right now. He&rsquo;s worked extremely hard to put himself in position to return before the playoffs.&rdquo;
COURTSIDE STARS
Retired Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, teammates with Nash for the first six of his 21 seasons in Dallas, was in one of the few courtside seats with his wife, Jessica, former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush.
Nowitzki and the former president participated in a virtual pregame forum with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about Bush&rsquo;s book of portraits of immigrants. The 7-foot German is one of the subjects.
UP NEXT
Nets: The fourth game on a five-game trip, the last road stint of the regular season, is at Denver on Sunday. The Nets have won four of the past five meetings.
Mavericks: Cleveland visits Friday for Dallas' second-to-last back-to-back, with the rematch set for Sunday in Cleveland. The Mavericks have won the past four meetings by an average of 20 points.
___
More AP NBA: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/nba">https://apnews.com/hub/nba</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a>

Luka Doncic had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Irving had a season-high 45 points.

Doncic, Mavs beat Irving, Nets for sweep, send Brooklyn to fourth straight loss

It&rsquo;s funny. After the Denver Nuggets' Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last season, when Michael Porter Jr. spoke out about the team's play calls, everyone had something to say about it.
The whole situation made me recall my own experience in Denver.
And so has all the chatter about Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mark-cuban-explains-the-relationship-between-luka-and-porzingis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whether they are &ldquo;friends&rdquo;</a> <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mark-cuban-doncic-porzingis-have-a-good-solid-business-relationship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">off the court.</a>
I figure I'll let everyone in on a little secret: contrary to what people want to believe, succeeding in the NBA is not just about competing against the 29 other teams in the league. It&rsquo;s also about competing against the other players in your own locker room. Most players come into the league trying to earn their keep, not necessarily trying to make friends.
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<div class="p-rich_text_section">As a young player, when you walk into a locker room for the first time, there are veteran players at the end of their careers, each trying to keep his job. There are journeymen on one-year deals who are trying to stay in the league. There are other young players who are trying to prove themselves, too. If you go into that situation thinking about anything other than playing your role and helping to win games, you might find yourself out of the league pretty quickly.</div>
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Most coaches I played for liked having that kind of competitive edge in the locker room because it usually meant that everyone was going to be giving maximum effort.
Even though everyone is wearing the same jersey, it doesn&rsquo;t always mean they have the same short-term and long-term goals. It&rsquo;s just the nature of the business. Because of that, there isn&rsquo;t always room for friendships.
Everyone knows that Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and Kobe Bryant didn&rsquo;t really have the best relationship when they were teammates, and Charles Barkley himself talks about how he and Kevin Johnson weren&rsquo;t good friends off the court in Phoenix. I&rsquo;m pretty sure Michael Jordan wasn&rsquo;t best friends with his teammates, either.
At the end of the day, all players know that friendships aren&rsquo;t necessary to win in the NBA; mutual respect, understanding each other&rsquo;s roles and putting the team ahead of yourself are.
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For some players, that&rsquo;s easier said than done, though, especially young players who are still trying to establish themselves. I know because I was there.
I met John Lucas more than 20 years ago during my rookie year in Denver. He was one of our assistant coaches. What everyone loves and respects about Luc is that he tells it like it is, but he also understands how to connect with you. He&rsquo;s been there, done that and has seen everything.
One day after practice, I was moping around a little bit and, in front of the whole team, Luc decided to school me. He asked me what the problem was, even though he knew. I admitted I was a little upset because I wasn&rsquo;t really getting any shots. For the most part, I was a decoy on the court, standing in the corner, just waiting to get some scraps on the offensive end. And in front of the whole team, Luc pulled no punches. In his own way, he explained to me that in the NBA, a young player like myself has to pay some dues and work my way up before anyone &mdash; including myself &mdash; knew where and how I could fit in. Our established vets were Nick Van Exel and Antonio McDyess, and we also had Raef Lafrentz &mdash; they were the ones who were getting the shots and opportunities.
Straight up, he asked me: "Do you expect us to take shots away from Nick and Dyess for you, a rookie named James Posey?" My job, according to him, was to play my role, support them and just be ready whenever my number was called.
It was tough.
I was coming off three good years at Xavier and wanted to establish myself in the NBA, especially being a first-round pick. But I took Luc&rsquo;s words to heart because I realized that if I didn&rsquo;t fit in or if I got the reputation as being a &ldquo;me-first&rdquo; player, my time in the league could be short-lived.
From that point on, I didn&rsquo;t complain about my shots or my touches and just tried my best to succeed in the role that Coach Dan Issel gave me. Looking back at it, I think that lecture and my attitude adjustment is part of what helped me have a long, productive career in the league. I&rsquo;m still close with Luc to this day.
Now when you&rsquo;re talking about young players who believe they have superstar potential, think about how hard it might be for them to decide to just &ldquo;play a role&rdquo; or play &ldquo;second-fiddle&rdquo; to another star player. That can be difficult. As athletes, we spend our entire lives being competitive and trying to get to the NBA, then when we get there, suddenly, we must become a little less competitive and be satisfied with playing a role on a team. It was a difficult adjustment for me, so for someone with a more decorated collegiate career or someone who was drafted earlier than me, I can imagine it would be even tougher.
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When LeBron James returned to Cleveland, I&rsquo;m pretty sure that there was some of that with Kyrie Irving, which is probably part of the reason why Kyrie asked out.
When you put two superstars on a team together, or a superstar and a potential superstar, they might not be competing against one another for contracts (they&rsquo;re both gonna get paid), but they&rsquo;re definitely competing for shots, opportunities, legacy and personal accolades.
If everyone is more concerned about their personal goals than winning, then things might not work out. You need everyone to be selfless. And sometimes, even if everyone is selfless and is only concerned about winning, you might still hear things here and there about Player X being unhappy with his role or a lack of touches or what have you. It happens.
As it relates to Porzingis and Doncic, I&rsquo;m not saying that any of this is applicable. I&rsquo;m not in that locker room, but they definitely wouldn&rsquo;t be the first set of teammates to just treat their relationship as a business arrangement, and there&rsquo;s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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When I was drafted in Denver, I had Bryant Stith playing in front of me. Our practices were intense because we were competing against each other. We didn&rsquo;t have fights or anything like that, but we were physical and sometimes, things got heated. That dynamic existed in every locker room I was in, and by the time I landed in Indiana at the end of my career, it came full-circle. I was one of the veteran players on the team and saw younger players like Tyler Hansbrough, Lance Stephenson and Paul George fighting for minutes in order to establish themselves.
The franchise decided to go young, and that was that, but by that point, I&rsquo;d already come to understand the NBA player lifecycle. And I also knew it wasn&rsquo;t personal. It was just business.
Now that I&rsquo;ve been a coach, I can honestly say that we don&rsquo;t care whether our players are friends or not, it&rsquo;s really not important at all. As a coach, you just want to know that, at the end of the day, your players are going to respect one another, believe in one another and do what they need to do to put the team in the best position to win.
You obviously hope that guys&rsquo; egos and personal goals don&rsquo;t get in the way of the ultimate goal, but not every player has someone like John Lucas in their ears as a rookie. It&rsquo;s easy for jealousy and resentment to creep in if someone feels like they&rsquo;re not getting enough touches or enough shots to prove themselves, especially if they&rsquo;ve got people in their ears telling them they should be getting more. It&rsquo;s just the nature of the beast.
No matter where you work or what you do, we&rsquo;ve all worked with people we didn&rsquo;t necessarily like. We&rsquo;ve all seen someone get a bigger raise or get more responsibilities or a promotion that we feel like we deserved. I can tell you firsthand: NBA players deal with the same exact thing.
At the end of the day, we&rsquo;re all out there competing.

Three-time NBA champion James Posey explains why there isn't always room for friendships in an NBA locker room.

Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis don’t need to be friends

A bunch of really good players got traded to really good teams at the NBA trade deadline, and some of them are doing better than others.&nbsp;
Why is that?
...Dare we quote Allen Iverson?
Chatter around the NBA includes complaints that teams do not have enough time to conduct practices regularly, in part because they spend so much time adhering to COVID protocols and being tested. The condensed schedule doesn't help either.&nbsp;
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said teams have practiced anywhere from 15-to-40 times, declining to be more specific. It varies from team to team.&nbsp;
The Dallas Mavericks have practiced 25 times, spokesman Scott Tomlin said.
When asked how often the team has practice, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, "Rarely.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Mostly because of the schedule -- 29 some games in 30 or so days is hard," Cuban added. "So any days off are needed rest days... But sometimes you have to force-fit a practice. It's not that we can't. It's just that the physical toll of the schedule and the need for recovery by players make it difficult.&rdquo;
For teams that made midseason moves, it's tougher than ever to get new players acclimated. &nbsp; The Mavs acquired JJ Redick from New Orleans, but he has not yet played for Dallas, who had won five games in a row before dropping a 102-93 decision against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
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The best player in that game was Kelly Olynyk of Houston, who was acquired from Miami and is arguably Stephen Silas&rsquo; best or second-best player these days. Olynyk has averaged 17.4 points on 59.7% shooting since the trade.
But this column is about teams that are either in the playoff picture or in the hunt, so let&rsquo;s start with the best teams (listed by winning percentage), the player(s) they acquired and how things have been going since the March 25 deadline.&nbsp;
UTAH JAZZ (39-13): Acquired Matt Thomas from Toronto for a future second-round pick, but he has only seen spot minutes in four games and has done nothing of note.
PHOENIX SUNS (36-15): Acquired Torrey Craig from Milwaukee for cash, and he has been getting regular rotation minutes off the bench and scored in double figures in three of 11 games. He shot well, but was a minus-10 in 12 minutes in the Suns&rsquo; overtime victory over Utah on Wednesday.
PHILADELPHIA 76ers (35-16): Acquired George Hill from the Thunder and Ignas Brazdeikis from the Knicks. Hill has yet to play because of a thumb injury, but conceivably will help in the playoffs; Brazdeikis was waived Thursday. He played just eight minutes in one total game and missed all three of his shots.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (35-18): Acquired Rajon Rondo from Atlanta for Lou Williams and two second-round picks. Prior to going for 15 points and nine assists (and a plus-24) in 19 minutes against Phoenix last night, he had taken seven shots in two games and made two of them. But he plays that way from time to time every regular season, and then the playoffs come -- and we all know what happens. That&rsquo;s why he is known as &ldquo;Playoff Rondo.&rdquo; Nobody ever had that nickname, not even Robert Horry, so stay tuned.
DENVER NUGGETS (33-18): Acquired Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark from the Magic for Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and a future first-round pick; landed JaVale McGee from the Cavs for Isaiah Hartenstein and a future second-rounder. The Nuggets have not lost since Gordon arrived, and he has moved into the starting lineup in place of Paul Millsap. He has not been quite as proficient as teammate Michael Porter Jr., but he is shooting nearly 61% from the field while averaging 12.5 points. He was averaging 14.6 points in Orlando on 43.7% shooting. McGee has appeared only briefly in two games. Clark was waived on Thursday following the team's two-way contract signing of Shaq Harrison.
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MILWAUKEE BUCKS (32-18): Acquired P.J. Tucker and Rodions Kurucs from Houston for D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson, with some first-round picks and swaps changing hands, too. Tucker played in only three games, making one of four shots, before suffering a strained left calf that has sidelined him since March 24. Kurucs has not played.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (30-21): Acquired Norman Powell from the Portland Trail Blazers for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood. Powell was playing like the best player on the Raptors for all intents and purposes, and with Portland, he is logging heavy minutes as a starter and had a 32-point game in a loss to the Clippers on Tuesday night. Terry Stotts has a heck of a starting lineup, but in the end, it will all come down to the Blazers&rsquo; defense, as it always does. The Jazz outscored them 40-19 in the third quarter last night.
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CHARLOTTE HORNETS (26-24): The best team that nobody ever talks about (especially given the fact that LaMelo Ball went down) acquired Brad Wanamaker from Golden State for a second-round pick, and the Danny Ainge castoff has been solid (8.2 points, 3.2 assists), if not spectacular as the backup point guard in his 20-plus minutes per game.
ATLANTA HAWKS (27-25): They are 4-1 with former Sixth Man Award winner Lou Williams coming off the bench, and he has shot 60% from three-point range in 24 minutes per game. The Hawks gave up 131 points to the Memphis Grizzlies, which is not the sign of a good defensive team, but Lou was not acquired for his &ldquo;D.&rdquo; And the Grizzlies have been playing well lately.&nbsp;
MIAMI HEAT (27-25): Acquired Victor Oladipo from Houston for Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a pick swap; landed Nemanja Bjelica from Sacramento for Moe Harkless and Chris Silva; picked up Trevor Ariza from Oklahoma City for Meyers Leonard and a second-round pick. The East&rsquo;s most confounding team not named &ldquo;Celtics&rdquo; is 5-3 since the deadline passed, having just beaten the Lakers. Oladipo has shot only 23.5% from three-point range and has contributed relatively little. Now, Oladipo will miss the Heat's four-game road trip due to a right-knee injury. Ariza has moved into the starting lineup and has been hot and cold like a leaky faucet; and Bjelica has played six games, with his best performance coming in a win over the Cavs when he had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
BOSTON CELTICS (26-26): The team that got nothing in return for Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford picked up Evan Fournier from Orlando for Jeff Teague and two second-round picks; they also landed Moe Wagner and Luke Kornet from the Bulls for Daniel Theis and Javonte Green. The Celtics sit at seventh in the East. Fournier had an inglorious debut in green, going 0-for-10, but had a couple of very nice games since then, going a combined 11-for-16 from three in his two most recent games. He averaged 3 points in his first two games and 20 points in his next two. Kornet has proven serviceable, and Wagner has started in a game.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (24-25): Acquired an injured Marquese Chriss from Golden State, presumably so that somebody down the line could replace LaMarcus Aldridge (who eventually was bought out and signed with the Nets). This sinking ship has lost four in a row, including a 24-point defeat at the hands of the JuggerCavs; Chriss was released to make room for Gorgui Dieng, who they signed off the buyout market.&nbsp;
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CHICAGO BULLS (22-28): Acquired Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and a pair of first-round picks; landed Daniel Theis, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. from Boston and Washington in a three-team trade. These moves made Billy Donovan the winner of the &ldquo;Figure It Out On The Fly&rdquo; award. Vucevic, an All-Star, has adapted quickly, going for 32 points and 17 rebounds against the Pacers on Tuesday; Aminu and Green have not been rotation players. Theis was okay before going for 14 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday, and Brown has come off the bench and provided depth as a defense-first, playmaking forward. Arturas Karnisovas perhaps earned the &ldquo;Executive of the Year&rdquo; award for getting Vucevic, who will be the best player on the court in every play-in game he participates in.&nbsp;
Donovan will eventually have to acclimate the new Bulls with the old Bulls through practice, and it&rsquo;ll be up to him how to make that happen.
Yes, Mr. Iverson, we are talkin&rsquo; about practice. NBA teams are averaging about 1.8 practices per week this year. Last year (pre-bubble), it was 1.9, and the year before it was 2.0.
Practice makes perfect, and nobody in the NBA is unbeaten. But somebody is going to emerge as a champion by the end of the season, and how to get there is every team&rsquo;s ongoing challenge.

Chris Sheridan checks in on the players who were dealt at the NBA trade deadline and how they've performed with their new teams.

How recently-traded players on good teams are faring

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.
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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.
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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;
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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.
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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:
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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>

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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.
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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.
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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.

What to expect from all 30 NBA teams ahead of the Trade Deadline

This is an excerpt from Jon Finkel's new book "Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics, and How a Stolen Team&rsquo;s Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA&rsquo;s Secret Empire" (which was published by Slow Grind Media, 2020). <a href="https://bit.ly/HHBasketballNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You can pre-order the book here.</a>
&ldquo;I was born in 1980 but the 1979 championship still resonated while I grew up,&rdquo; Jamal Crawford says. &ldquo;The Sonics were everything to me. In elementary school I remember Dana Barros and Xavier McDaniel coming to our school to be involved in the community. I was lucky that I was able to see these guys growing up. They were like superheroes to me. I remember listening to Barros at school and he&rsquo;d say, &lsquo;We have to leave now because we play Charles Barkley later,&rsquo; and it was just amazing. They had an aura about them.&rdquo;
By the time Crawford was in middle school, the torch had been passed from Barros and the X-Man to Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp in the early &rsquo;90s. This was the Sonics squad that made the deepest impression with Crawford. These were his guys. He watched endless highlights of Kemp posterizing fools on the court and Payton talking trash while picking someone&rsquo;s pocket. Like most kids in Seattle he dreamed of being on the floor and tossing lobs to the Reign Man or draining a three off a dime from the Glove. But unlike most kids in Seattle, by the time Crawford was old enough to get his driver&rsquo;s license, his basketball talent was able to turn most kids&rsquo; fantasy into his reality.
&ldquo;I was invited to the pro-am games as a high schooler and I&rsquo;d be playing in the men&rsquo;s pro league,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when I think I first jumped on the bigger basketball radar. I played for George Karl&rsquo;s Friends of Hoops team. Then I played in tournaments that Nate McMillan sponsored. I played on Gary Payton&rsquo;s teams. I remember playing against guys like Detlef [Schrempf] when I was only 16 or 17 years old.&rdquo;
In the 1990s, while the Sonics were emerging as an iconic NBA team, the Washington basketball scene was still under-appreciated nationally in terms of recruitment to big-time schools and in representation throughout the NBA. It was through the tournaments that Karl and Payton ran that Seattle basketball began to draw the spotlight and the attention it deserved. Crawford says that most people don&rsquo;t realize how instrumental George Karl was in getting Seattle high school basketball known nationally through his camps and teams. Same with Payton.
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Bobby Jones, who grew up in Compton, California, but played basketball for the University of Washington and calls Seattle his second home, says that at that time among West Coast hoopers, Seattle was largely overlooked.
&ldquo;Being a guy from LA, the biggest basketball scene out west, I had my typical thoughts that our city is better than yours, mainly because Seattle wasn&rsquo;t known as a basketball city,&rdquo; Jones says. &ldquo;I mean, we knew about Grunge music and the space needle, but that was it. Seattle was nowhere near as big as Los Angeles, so I just knew LA was better. As the years added on and I met more guys and played with more guys, I got to see that the city has a good basketball culture. I mean, it looks like it might rain every day, so guys are always in the gym working.
&ldquo;I started college in 2002, and for me, there was no big name that I heard of from Seattle until Jamal Crawford. When he went to Michigan and then the NBA right away, that put Seattle on the map. And when I saw how many camps Gary Payton and George Karl ran in the community, it had such a big impact. They helped jumpstart the basketball scene there.&rdquo;
The camps and teams sponsored by the Sonics and their players were long-term investments in the local basketball community. Each initiative was like planting a new hoops seed for the future, and as more and more kids fell in love with the game throughout the &rsquo;90s and had access to NBA-level coaches and players willing to give instruction (and had sponsors donating high-quality gear) the talent began to improve and be nurtured at the grade school level. By the time these kids reached high school, there was a crescendo of All-Americans and Division I talent ready to roll across the country or stay home and attend the University of Washington.
&ldquo;When I was younger, I remember thinking that more people were getting football scholarships than basketball scholarships,&rdquo; Crawford says. &ldquo;If you played football you had a much better chance at going to a bigger school somewhere else. But George Karl took us to tournaments and helped us get seen. And I&rsquo;d pick his brain. I remember we were at a Vegas tournament once and we were just talking about what made John Stockton great and what made Magic Johnson great, and I just filled up on knowledge from him.&rdquo;
Gaining access to tournaments and knowledge from Sonics icons was one huge part of why the Seattle basketball scene began to grow exponentially. Another major reason was due to the snowball effect of the individual athletes from the area taking their responsibilities as role models and mentors seriously. Case in point: the bond shared between Christie and Crawford.
&ldquo;Doug Christie impacted my life so much. He showed me everything. He taught me how to prepare, how to eat right, how to train right, and even how to fix your shoes and socks so you were ready to go,&rdquo; Crawford says. &ldquo;I remember one time we played one-on-one before practice, and I was so tired from that I could barely get through our workout afterward. I knew then, man, there&rsquo;s another level I need to get to. I knew that since he was taking the time to show me the ropes that I was going to do the same thing for the next generation.&rdquo;
A common theme when talking to Christie or Crawford or Jason Terry or any of the Seattle area ballers is how much they say they owe each other for their success. Yes, they&rsquo;re playing for their families and their community, but they&rsquo;re also playing for each other. It&rsquo;s a special camaraderie that brings to mind the three musketeers&rsquo; slogan: all for one and one for all.
&ldquo;I am so proud of what Jamal has done,&rdquo; Gary Payton says. &ldquo;He has taken his Summer League and turned it into something really big. He gets everybody together and brings all these pros in and it&rsquo;s special for the community. It keeps the basketball tradition alive.&rdquo;
Crawford describes the scene in Chicago with the Bulls as one where guys would work out together but not necessarily hang out together. They were doing their own things in the community or in their own lives. He was determined to make sure his Seattle basketball brotherhood back home was different.
&ldquo;When I am back home, I want everybody to be together,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If Nate Robinson has an event, or Isaiah Thomas has a backpack giveaway, or I have a charity game, or Spencer Hawes is doing something for an organization, we&rsquo;re all going to be there. We&rsquo;re all going to be there for each other. It&rsquo;s a brotherhood.&rdquo;
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For much of this brotherhood&rsquo;s history, the athletes were linked by two things: basketball and their love for the Sonics. With the Sonics gone, a gaping hole exists in the city. Crawford says it still doesn&rsquo;t feel real.
&ldquo;When I first heard rumors that Seattle might lose the team, I didn&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; Crawford says. &ldquo;Knowing the city and the fans and how great they are for the Seahawks and the Storm and the Sounders and the Mariners&hellip; I just couldn&rsquo;t believe we wouldn&rsquo;t have the Sonics. Maybe I didn&rsquo;t want to believe it. And then when it happened it was so hard. That last year they were kind of like a lame duck team. You knew it was happening. You knew it was inevitable. You knew they were leaving. And it&rsquo;s still such a bitter feeling.&rdquo;
And yet, without any men&rsquo;s professional basketball team in the area, the collection of NBA stars who remain involved in the city have become a de facto professional team in their own right&mdash;they sponsor community events, hand out their numbers to high school players, speak to grade schools and middle schools and high schools, put on camps, and sponsor teams. The Sonics are gone, sure, but the men who grew up on their legacy make sure it lives on.
&ldquo;In a weird way, we kind of fill that void of not having the Sonics anymore,&rdquo; Crawford says. &ldquo;Without the Sonics, the closest kids can get to NBA players is through our group or a ride to Portland or the television. So, when we put on our pro-am, which I think is needed now more than ever, I ask young kids who they want to see. They might say Kevin Durant or Blake Griffin and I understand that&rsquo;s the bigger picture. I never ask people for anything, and to be honest, I&rsquo;m uncomfortable doing it, but this is the only chance the kids in Seattle will get to see these guys. I remember what it meant to me growing up, so I want to do the same for them. So, I&rsquo;ll reach out and ask players to attend on their behalf. And I&rsquo;m grateful when they can help out. It means so much. We&rsquo;re the men&rsquo;s pro basketball players in the community. It&rsquo;s on us now.&rdquo;
Hoops Heist is the first publication from two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas&rsquo;s Slow Grind Media and it's available wherever books are sold. <a href="https://bit.ly/HHBasketballNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You can buy it on Amazon today</a>.
Jon Finkel is the award-winning author of "The Life of Dad," "Jocks In Chief," "The Athlete," "Heart Over Height," &ldquo;'Mean' Joe Greene," "The 'Greatest Stars of the NBA' Series" and other books about sports, fatherhood, fitness and more. His work has been endorsed by Spike Lee, Kevin Durant, Tony Dungy, Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban and Chef Robert Irvine. Follow Jon on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Jon_Finkel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@Jon_Finkel</a>
Photographs by Dean Rutz of The Seattle Times. Check out <a href="https://deanrutz.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dean's site</a> and follow Dean on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/deanrutz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@DeanRutz</a>

An excerpt from Jon Finkel's book (Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics, and How a Stolen Team’s Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA’s Secret Empire).

How the Sonics helped Seattle become a hoops hotbed

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