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Suns

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.
As expected, the Indiana Fever picked Clark as its no.1 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday night at Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York.
Arguably the best women&rsquo;s college basketball player of all time, Clark will now head to the WNBA to the Fever to team up with last year&rsquo;s first overall selection Aliyah Boston. Clark and Boston will make up one of the league&rsquo;s most exciting young duos as they try to lead Indiana back to the playoffs.
Stanford University standout and 2021 WNCAA champion Cameron Brink went second overall to the Los Angeles Sparks while recently crowned 2024 WNCAA champion Kamila Cardoso from the University of South Carolina was taken by the Chicago Sky as the third overall pick.
Check out the complete recap of the draft below:
Round 1
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink, F, Stanford&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Kamilla Cardoso, C, South Carolina</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angels Sparks (via Seattle Storm): Rickea Jackson, F, Tennessee</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings (via Chicago Sky): Jacy Sheldon, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards, F, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Minnesota Lynx): Angel Reese, F, LSU</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx (via Atlanta Dream): Alissa Pili, F, Utah</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Carla Leite, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Le&iuml;la Lacan, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis, G, Ole Miss</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream (via Las Vegas Aces): Nyadiew Puoch, F, Australia</li>
</ol>
Round 2
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Brynna Maxwell, G, Gonzaga</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Nika M&uuml;hl, G, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Celeste Taylor, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Los Angeles Sparks): Dyaisha Fair, G, Syracuse</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty (via Chicago Sky): Esmery Martinez, F, Arizona</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Washington Mystics): Kate Martin, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun (via Minnesota Lynx): Taiyanna Jackson, C, Kansas</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Isobel Borlase, G, Australia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics (via Dallas Wings): Kaylynne Truong, G, Gonzaga&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Helena Pueyo, G, Arizona&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Jessika Carter, C, Mississippi State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech</li>
</ol>
Round 3
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury: Charisma Osborne, G, UCLA</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Mackenzie Holmes, F, Indiana</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Leilani Correa, G, Florida</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Mackenzie Forbes, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury (via Chicago Sky): Jaz Shelley, G, Nebraska&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Nastja Claessens, G, Belgium</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx: Kiki Jefferson, G, Louisville&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Matilde Villa, G, Italy</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Ashley Owusu, G, Penn State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Abbey Hsu, G, Columbia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Kaitlyn Davis, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Angel Jackson, C, Jackson State</li>
</ol>

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.

2024 WNBA Draft Recap: Caitlin Clark goes No.1 to the Indiana Fever

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Brittney Griner stood for the national anthem before her first regular-season WNBA game since being jailed in Russia.
Griner was outspoken for social justice in 2020 and didn&rsquo;t take the court during the pregame anthem. But nearly a year behind bars in Russia changed her.
&ldquo;I was literally in a cage and could not stand the way I wanted to,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Just being able to hear my national anthem and see my flag, I definitely want to stand.&rdquo;
Griner had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots Friday night for the Phoenix Mercury in a 94-71 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.
&ldquo;Not good enough, didn&rsquo;t get the dub,&rdquo; said Griner, who nevertheless couldn&rsquo;t be down in defeat.
&ldquo;I appreciate everything a little bit more, all of the small moments, like, &lsquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m so tired I don&rsquo;t want to go to practice today,&rsquo; that has changed, honestly,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Tomorrow is not guaranteed, you don&rsquo;t know what it&rsquo;s going to look like. I feel a lot older somehow, too.&rdquo;
The 32-year-old center&rsquo;s immediate goal is to play an entire game by the All-Star break in mid-July. She played 25 minutes Friday.
&ldquo;I hope to be exactly where I want to be,&rdquo; Griner said. &ldquo;Just getting back to how I was before all this happened.&rdquo;
Griner made an immediate impact against the Sparks. She fired a pass to Moriah Jefferson, who hit a 3-pointer for Phoenix&rsquo;s first basket. Griner grabbed a couple of rebounds and scored twice in helping the Mercury to an early lead.
&ldquo;How good did she just look? Unbelievable,&rdquo; WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at halftime.
For the first time since last season, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard opened her pregame comments without announcing how many days Griner had been jailed. Griner has been free since December when she was part of&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-brittney-griner-sports-government-and-politics-54de0cc371615a7165053a76eff17380">a high-profile prisoner swap</a>.
&ldquo;Until the day we got the news in the morning that she was on her way home, no one thought that it was going to happen,&rdquo; Nygaard said. &ldquo;We did our jobs probably with less joy than professional athletes do. It was heavy every day.&rdquo;
Not anymore.
&ldquo;Today is a day of joy,&rdquo; Nygaard said. &ldquo;An amazing, amazing thing has happened.&rdquo;
Griner and the Mercury were greeted with a standing ovation when they came on court for pregame warmups, although the biggest cheers were reserved for the Sparks.
&ldquo;Just taking it in but staying focused because at the end of the day I&rsquo;m at work,&rdquo; Griner said. &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t get caught up in the moment. Kind of feel it, but put it to the side and feel it a little bit later.&rdquo;
Griner hugged Vice President Kamala Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff as they left the court after Harris was presented with a No. 49 Sparks jersey. Earlier, Harris posed for photos in the Mercury&rsquo;s locker room.
&ldquo;It was nice to be able to see her face-to-face and thank her for everything,&rdquo; Griner said.
She patted her heart and applauded in return during a brief video welcoming her back to the WNBA.
&ldquo;It was nice to be back on the court for a real game,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The love from the fans when we came out was amazing. I definitely feel it.&rdquo;
Griner scored 10 points in 17 minutes in an exhibition loss to the Sparks last week. It was her first game action since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/hub/brittney-griner">February 2022</a>&nbsp;after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
&ldquo;We brought back this Black, gay woman from a Russian jail and America did that because they valued her and she&rsquo;s a female athlete and they valued her,&rdquo; Nygaard said.
&ldquo;Just to be part of a group that values people at that level, it makes me very proud to be an American. Maybe there&rsquo;s other people that that doesn&rsquo;t make them proud, but for me, I see BG and I see hope and I see the future and I have young children and it makes me really hopeful about our country,&rdquo; the coach said.
Fans arriving early to Crypto.com Arena wore T-shirts with Griner&rsquo;s name and jersey number on them. The 6-foot-9 Griner stopped to photo-bomb a group of young girls posing courtside before the game.
Billie Jean King and wife Ilana Kloss, who are part-owners of the Sparks, were on hand for the opener, as was Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Byron Scott, Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham and South Carolina women&rsquo;s coach Dawn Staley.
Since her release,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brittney-griner-wnba-mercury-4fd64332a21dfe5eb31cad63ec6c61fe">Griner has used her platform to advocate</a>&nbsp;for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.
&ldquo;She stands for so many people, so many different kind of people who can be undervalued in our society,&rdquo; Nygaard said. &ldquo;She stands with pride and confidence and has never once has shied away from who she is.&rdquo;
Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.
&ldquo;She&rsquo;s an amazing person on and off the court,&rdquo; Phoenix teammate Jefferson said. &ldquo;I think her energy just inspires everybody every single day to show up and be the best version of themselves.&rdquo;

Griner had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots Friday night for the Phoenix Mercury in a 94-71 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Brittney Griner makes WNBA season debut after being jailed in Russia

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

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

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

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

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

When you hear "security blanket" within a sports context, you might think of a tight end in football.
A quarterback has his top target. A speed demon on the outside like Tyreek Hill; a route technician like Stefon Diggs; a YAC (yards after catch) machine like AJ Brown; a "Yes" build like NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson.&nbsp;
But then, there's the check. Your hot read. Your if-all-else-fails option if the primary or even secondary look isn't there. That guy can be your running back, but my mind goes to the tight end. Releasing to the flat in play action. Sitting down in the middle of the zone for the eight yards you need on third-and-six.&nbsp;
In all the ways I thought about breaking down Kevin Durant's fit with the Phoenix Suns, whenever he makes his return following an MCL sprain, I kept coming back to the tight-end angle.
Durant is Phoenix's very-large, very-skilled, frankly-overqualified security blanket.
(Is the upcoming Super Bowl, particularly the participation of the Philadelphia Eagles, a factor in why I landed on a football analogy? Who's to say, really. But we rally on, friends.)
If we're extending the analogy, it's worth reiterating that Durant is overqualified for this. He is more George Kittle or Travis Kelce than he is [insert run-of-the-mill possession tight end here]. You can build the boat around Durant much like you can with those two.
On the field, their teams enjoy deploying them all over the place. On the line, split out wide, in the slot. Their presence alone forces the defense into checks; demands a level of attention that is both necessary and uncomfortable in light of the talent around them.
Durant will be moved all over the chess board, used in a multitude of ways.
Directly, he can operate as the screener or ball-handler in pick-and-rolls. He will be a hub in the middle of the floor, as part of their Elbow sets &mdash; read a detailed breakdown <a href="https://thefourpointplay.substack.com/p/vol2-iss8-the-peoples-elbow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; or the recipient of clear-outs following an off-ball screen.
I can't emphasize how important Durant's screen work will be, and how seamless of a fit he'll be in the Suns' offense because of it.
His off-ball work is the stuff of legends. Guys his size shouldn't be able to navigate traffic the way he does. Throughout his career &mdash; in Seattle (RIP), Oklahoma City, Golden State and Brooklyn &mdash; Durant has made a living flying off screens and raising up for easy (for him) ones.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/tklo15" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Pick-and-rolls involving Durant, on either side, have been dominant. Possessions featuring a Durant-led pick-and-roll are generating 1.12 points per possession (PPP) this season, which ranks second behind Luka Doncic (1.123 PPP) among 76 players who have received at least 500 on-ball picks this year, per Second Spectrum.
With Durant as a screener in pick-and-roll, that mark drops to 1.09 PPP, which is "only" a top-10 mark in the NBA among 150 players who have set at least 200 picks. A majority of those were screens set in the half-court, with the purpose of forcing a mismatch before going one-on-one.
A fun wrinkle to keep an eye on with Durant: drag screens in early offense or transition, especially when set for Chris Paul.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Mikal Bridges would set-and-slip those suckers as a way to draw the eyes of defenders. If it was played poorly enough, Paul (or Devin Booker) could slip a pass to Bridges for a paint touch &mdash; something the Suns don't generate all that much. This is&nbsp;a team that has ranked 30th, 30th and 29th (this year) in rim rate during the Paul Era.
Durant set them in Brooklyn, but not only were those instances less frequent, he'd also fade to the perimeter or simply cut his path short to set up a mid-post touch. Much like the screens set in half-court situations, he'd operate in a way to help set up his jumper.&nbsp;
Here's an example from Bridges. He doesn't get the ball on this rep, but peep his path after the slip, how open he is, and the attention he draws from the weakside corner defender because of it. This is the threat those screens can pose.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/c4o84y" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
And now here's a rep from Durant. Again, it's less about the result and more about Durant's ideal pattern and how he reacts to openings.
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It'll be a fun dichotomy to keep track of. On one hand, you could see even more of a dip in paint pressure with Durant in the fold. If those slips turn into isolations, the pace could also drop further; <a href="http://stats.inpredictable.com/nba/ssnTeamPoss.php?season=2022&amp;po=0&amp;frdt=2022-10-18&amp;todt=2023-02-10&amp;view=off&amp;sort=aotopdr&amp;order=ASC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per Inpredictable</a>, the Suns rank 19th in seconds per possession (14.6), and that falls to 26th (11.6) on trips following a defensive rebound.
On the other hand, the degree of difficulty may be lowered. Paul or Booker hitting Bridges on those slips are impressive. Fruitful, even. You still have to wait for the window, get the right angle and hit Bridges in the pocket &mdash; early enough to where Bridges has time to gather the pass and make a decision, but not too early where the defense has time to load up in front of him.&nbsp;
With Durant, you have a 7-foot target &mdash; a security blanket, if you will &mdash; to toss the ball to before getting the heck out of the way. During his Nets tenure, possessions featuring a Durant isolation generated 1.1 PPP, putting him in a virtual tie with Doncic. On post-ups, he was even more effective (1.13 PPP).&nbsp;
Beyond that, think about how teams have tried to stifle the ball-screen brilliance of Booker and Paul over the past two seasons. I've <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-how-the-suns-create-without-chris-paul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written about</a> Booker's need for growth when seeing traps. Paul pick-and-rolls are being switched at a higher rate than they've ever been, per Second Spectrum &mdash; part of why Paul has passed the ball on a career-high 59.1% of his PnRs this year.
Can you afford to trap Booker if Durant is the screener? Do you want to switch Paul-Durant ball screens?
On the Paul front, I think about how teams have felt increasingly comfortable putting size &mdash; sometimes 4s &mdash; on Paul so they can switch the Paul-Ayton pick-and-roll. The Warriors have thrown Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins at him. Ben Simmons got the Paul assignment earlier in the week.&nbsp;
What does that gambit look like with Durant in the fold?&nbsp;
Also, Durant doesn't just provide safety on the offensive end.&nbsp;
Defensively, Durant is &mdash; or I guess, "was" before the injury &mdash; arguably in the midst of his best defensive season. He's <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*durant&amp;Season=2022-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">challenging more shots</a> at the rim than he ever has, holding opponents to roughly 56% shooting inside, and blocking 1.5 shots per game to boot.&nbsp;
Among the 50 players to defend as many isolations as Durant has this season (125), only six of them &mdash; headlined by OG Anunoby (0.81 PPP allowed) and Patrick Williams (0.69 PPP) &mdash; have been stingier than Durant (0.88 PPP), per Second Spectrum.
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The amount of ground Durant covers is so important to this group. While not the perimeter defender Bridges is, he can approximate some of the off-ball danger he poses. Durant's arms are hard to avoid when sinking down to help on a drive; they're even harder to avoid when attempting a shot inside.
Oddly enough, the Suns may have gotten a little worse on the perimeter while becoming&nbsp;better&nbsp;equipped to deal with some of the mismatch hunting Paul has dealt with the past couple of seasons. At the very least, they can afford to get more aggressive.
Think back to the second-round loss the Suns suffered at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks last year. Bridges got the primary assignment on Doncic, but didn't guard him as long as he probably could've. The Suns would sometimes switch Bridges out of the assignment when Doncic called for a screen, only to have Bridges zone up and provide (the illusion of) relief afterwards.
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There are subtleties to keep in mind here. The Mavs didn't just go after Paul; they made sure Bridges had to navigate a screen first. Throwing him off balance early made it easier for him to concede the switch later.&nbsp;
Bridges was navigating that screen because 1) he's really freaking good but 2) Ayton was in a deep drop. Of the 150 instances Ayton was involved in a Doncic-led pick-and-roll, he hedged or blitzed on five of them, per Second Spectrum. Five! The switch count was barely above 20.&nbsp;
And this is what interests me about the Durant move: The Suns may be willing to ramp up the pressure in a series like this, against mismatch hunting like that, with Durant capable of patrolling a back-line.
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It could be Ayton playing closer to the level or blitzing more often. It could be as simple as the help defenders themselves &mdash; namely the defender one pass away from a Doncic or Kawhi Leonard isolation &mdash; getting more aggressive, knowing they've got reliable backup behind them.&nbsp;
That's certainly the case through the lens of rim protection, but it also tracks in terms of rebounding. The Suns should be better at it with Torrey Craig and Durant on the floor more than the Bridges-Craig duo. That's important considering they've fallen to 22nd in defensive rebound rate this season.
Durant is one of the most versatile superstars the NBA has ever seen. An elite scorer. Elite shooter. Opportunistic playmaker. Post hub. Isolation specialist. A walking mismatch. A 7-foot-0 backspace button on the defensive end.
You simply can't cover him. But most importantly for the Suns, Durant provides so much cover for their roster shortcomings.

How does Kevin Durant fit with the Phoenix Suns? Nekias Duncan examines Durant's film and what to expect from the new-look Suns.

How Kevin Durant provides cover for the Phoenix Suns

Shortly after Paolo Banchero committed to the Duke Blue Devils back in 2020, then-assistant coach Jon Scheyer connected the five-star recruit with Jayson Tatum. Banchero would text Tatum often, picking his brain about playing for Mike Krzyzewski and what to expect at the collegiate level.
The two remained in touch, which Banchero admits is pretty surreal since Tatum is someone he modeled his game after.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known him for about two years now,&rdquo; Banchero told Basketball News. &ldquo;He was always one of my favorite players growing up. I&rsquo;ve watched him since he was in high school [and kept watching him] all the way through Duke and now throughout his career in the NBA.&rdquo;
Last offseason, Banchero had some tough decisions to make as he was declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft. Once again, Tatum was there for him every step of the way. Looking back, Banchero says that Tatum was &ldquo;the main guy&rdquo; who helped him navigate the pre-draft process.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s helped me with a lot, mainly when I was coming into the league. Like during pre-draft, I asked him about signing with an agent, signing a shoe deal &ndash; and I ended up signing with Jordan Brand, where he&rsquo;s at,&rdquo; Banchero said. &ldquo;All of that stuff coming into the league is stuff that I ran by him and tried to get his opinion on, just because he was in a lot of these same positions that I'm in. I&rsquo;ve definitely used him as a resource.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Obviously, during the season I haven&rsquo;t hit him as much since we&rsquo;re both in-season, but he&rsquo;s a guy who was always open. I mean, he made himself available to me. He offered me his number and said, &lsquo;If you ever need anything, don&rsquo;t hesitate.&rsquo; And he just kinda took me under his wing, and I appreciate him for that.&rdquo;
Tatum, who has referred to Banchero as his little brother in the past, believes it&rsquo;s only right to pay it forward to the next generation.
&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s just our responsibility. Somebody helped me [when I was younger], and somebody helped the person that helped me,&rdquo; Tatum told Basketball News. &ldquo;[Paolo] is somebody that I was close to while he was in college. Amile Jefferson is one of my best friends and he&rsquo;s an assistant coach at Duke, so all three of us kind of talked all the time while he was in college.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big fan of his; he loves the game and he works hard. And I know what it&rsquo;s like to come from Duke and be a top lottery pick and have a lot of expectations, so anytime I can help, I feel like I&rsquo;m obligated to do that.&rdquo;
Tatum knows what it's like to enter the NBA and have your idols become rivals. He&rsquo;s just not used to being on the other side of this dynamic.
&ldquo;It means a lot. It is funny, I guess. I&rsquo;m in my sixth year now and guys are coming in that are 19, so they&rsquo;ve been watching me all of their high-school career and first year in college &mdash; the tables have turned,&rdquo; Tatum <a href="https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/2022/10/23/i-couldnt-be-happier-for-him-jayson-tatum-is-proud-of-paolo-banchero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Rookie Wire</a>. &ldquo;I remember being in that position and playing against guys I really admired and looked up to. The best part about it is the respect is always there. The way you show it is to go out there and compete. No matter how much I like his game or like him as a person, I&rsquo;m not going to take it easy on him at all. I think, even moreso, I&rsquo;m trying to guard him and go at him to kind of let him know I respect his game and I know what he is capable of and things like that.&rdquo;
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In addition to Tatum&rsquo;s mentorship, Banchero says that other former Blue Devils have been there for him too. Paolo believes that this network of support (often called &ldquo;The Brotherhood&rdquo;) is one of the biggest advantages of attending Duke. Entering the 2022-23 NBA season, there were 25 Duke alumni in the NBA &ndash; the second-most of any program, trailing only Kentucky (27).
&ldquo;Everyone hears &lsquo;The Brotherhood&rsquo; and probably thinks it&rsquo;s corny, but it&rsquo;s a real thing,&rdquo; Banchero said. &ldquo;Jayson isn&rsquo;t the only one [who&rsquo;s helped me]. I&rsquo;ve talked to Zion [Williamson] plenty of times. I&rsquo;ve talked to Grant Hill a lot and he&rsquo;s helped me a lot. A lot of guys would come back [to Duke], like Jahlil Okafor came back, R.J. Barrett came back. All of those guys, they&rsquo;re just around and they try to get back any time that they can. And if they were in the same city that we were playing in back in college, we&rsquo;d have guys coming to the games.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just an elevator where they send it back down and help the next guys out. I was definitely helped by that, talking to those guys in college and hearing from those guys. It helps you a lot.&rdquo;
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR LOCK
Barring injury, Banchero seems like a lock for the Rookie of the Year award. 
He currently leads all rookies in points per game (20.8) while also averaging the third-most assists (3.8), third-most steals (1.1), fourth-most rebounds (6.4) and sixth-most made threes (1.4). Banchero has the most 30-point games (four) and 20-point games (26) among all rookies too.
&ldquo;He is just a tough matchup,&rdquo; Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said of Banchero. &ldquo;[In addition to] his skill level, his stature is just tough in itself. The way they play, and the lineups they play, allows him to be aggressive. He has been having a stellar rookie year so far.&rdquo;
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a bigger wing; he&rsquo;s 6-foot-10 and he&rsquo;s got to be 230 [pounds] or something like that. He can create off the bounce, he can shoot, post up,&rdquo; Tatum said of Banchero. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a hell of a year. I think, obviously, probably Rookie of the Year. He has been playing at a high level. It looks like he has gotten better every month and is getting accustomed to the game. I&rsquo;m happy for him.&rdquo;
The Orlando Magic went 3-1 against the Celtics this season, including three straight wins. Banchero seems to elevate his game against Tatum and other superstars that he once idolized.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s super fun,&rdquo; Banchero said of facing his favorite players. &ldquo;Going against Tatum, Luka [Doncic], KD (Kevin Durant), LeBron [James]... it&rsquo;s kinda surreal at first. But then once you get past it, it becomes even more fun than just playing a regular team because this is the best of the best. These guys are as good as you&rsquo;re gonna see, so you&rsquo;ve gotta be on your A-game.&rdquo;
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Paolo grabs the lead back as the first half comes to an end ✅ Bally Sports+ is a new option to watch Magic basketball. Learn more here ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/uVNZdsxxKl">https://t.co/uVNZdsxxKl</a><a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OrlandoMagic</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MagicTogether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MagicTogether</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ln48dhfHBa">pic.twitter.com/Ln48dhfHBa</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Florida: Magic (@BallyMagic) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallyMagic/status/1617689809471799296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Banchero has been on his A-game for much of the season, stepping in as a focal point for Orlando from Day 1.
He has led the Magic in scoring a team-high 18 times this season. In December, Banchero scored 20 or more points in seven consecutive games, tying the longest streak by a rookie in franchise history (which was previously set by Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal in February 1993). Banchero would go on to earn the NBA&rsquo;s Rookie of the Month award for December.
Banchero's best game of the season was his 33-point, 16-rebound performance against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 5. He became just the second teenager in NBA history to record at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a game, joining LeBron James. After scoring 30 points in the following game against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 7, he became just the fifth teenager in NBA history with back-to-back 30-point outings, joining James, Doncic, Williamson and Devin Booker.&nbsp;
Overall, he has made the prep-to-pro transition look relatively easy.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been good, it&rsquo;s just been a learning process. I&rsquo;m still learning, but I&rsquo;m definitely more comfortable than I was at the beginning of the season,&rdquo; Banchero said. &ldquo;I think as the year goes on, stuff changes. In this game, you have ups and downs. I think I started off really hot and then you slow down and then you heat back up, and that&rsquo;s just kinda how it goes.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s just what I&rsquo;ve been learning &ndash; how to sustain a solid focus and intensity that you can bring every night. There&rsquo;s so many games, so that&rsquo;s really just what I&rsquo;ve been trying to learn and pick up on. It&rsquo;s been a learning process, but I&rsquo;ve had a lot of fun so far.&rdquo;
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Orlando has defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers among others in recent weeks.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley has said that his young group is very coachable and great about responding to the coaching staff&rsquo;s feedback. Also, the players do a fantastic job of holding each other accountable.
&ldquo;Everyone is here to help me &mdash; all of the coaches and a lot of the guys on the team, they all hold me accountable,&rdquo; Banchero said. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t just let me [do what I want]. If I&rsquo;m out there making mistakes or not playing up to my abilities, they&rsquo;re gonna let me know about it.&nbsp;They&rsquo;re gonna challenge me, and that&rsquo;s why I love them.
"They don&rsquo;t hand anything to me. They just make sure I&rsquo;m always focused. As a team, I think that&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;re starting to come together. Everyone is keeping that communication and holding each other accountable.&rdquo;
Orlando entered this season with the fourth-youngest roster in the NBA (with an average age of 23.94 years old), and there&rsquo;s a lot to be excited about going forward. Banchero and Franz Wagner are clearly franchise cornerstones that the Magic can build around. It&rsquo;s not easy to defend a pair of 6-foot-10 point forwards who can create for themselves and others.&nbsp;
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re an unorthodox team to play against,&rdquo; Brown said of the Magic, &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got that Toronto kind of feel but longer. Kinda like how Cleveland was last year. A lot of bigs, a lot of length, guys who can cover ground and get a lot of deflections. Tough team to play against.&rdquo;
With Banchero leading the way, Orlando has emerged as one of the league&rsquo;s most entertaining teams, with the potential to be scary good in a few years.
"We play a fun brand of basketball. We have a lot of young talent on the team, I think that always gets people excited," Wagner said. "I think obviously with Paolo playing well, Markelle coming back, Bol Bol playing really well and making plays, I think that just gets people going. And just overall, how we&rsquo;re playing as a group, it&rsquo;s exciting.&rdquo;

Paolo Banchero has made his NBA transition look easy, but he's had some help along the way from fellow Duke alum like Jayson Tatum.

Paolo Banchero showing glimpses of brilliance, making Jayson Tatum proud

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Malika Andrews and the crew from &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; will have a bigger profile this season.
Andrews will host the &ldquo;NBA Countdown&rdquo; studio show that airs during Wednesday games. Andrews will be joined by analysts Richard Jefferson, Chiney Ogwumike and Kendrick Perkins and senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
The coverage will mainly take place from ESPN's Los Angeles studio, which across the street from Crypto.com Arena &mdash; the home of the Lakers and Clippers.
Andrews filled in for Mike Greenberg last season at times, and said she felt nervous during the first couple. She said there might be less anxiety this time since it is a familiar cast.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of the same feel, vibe and chemistry with the same people who I get to work alongside every day. Just in a different time slot,&rdquo; Andrews said.
The move also increases Andrews' role. Besides taking over on &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; last year and continuing her role as a sideline reporter, she hosted the network's coverage of the NBA draft and the NBA draft lottery.
Andrews rose to prominence two years ago when she reported from inside the Orlando bubble, and was the sideline reporter during the 2021 NBA Finals after Rachel Nichols was taken off coverage.
Nichols did not work the finals and a couple months later saw her time at ESPN end after reports surfaced that Nichols, who was accidentally recorded in the bubble, suggested colleague Maria Taylor&rsquo;s promotion to host the 2020 NBA Finals was related to diversity.
&ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; replaced Nichols&rsquo; &ldquo;The Jump&rdquo; last September. Ratings for this September were up 8% compared to last year, while coverage of the NBA Summer League and free agency in July was the most watched in five years in the timeslot.
&ldquo;I'm still learning to be the best host I can be. I still watch every show, taking notes and looking at how I can be better,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t manufacture chemistry in a bottle and say, &lsquo;OK, we&rsquo;re going to add one and two, and all of a sudden that spits out chemistry on the other side.&rsquo; I&rsquo;ve been colleagues with Richard, Chiney and Kendrick for years, but we didn&rsquo;t work together every day like we do now. I do think going into Year Two, that is going to help as well.&rdquo;
Dave Roberts, ESPN's head of NBA and studio production, praised Andrews for being poised and quickly adapting to being a studio host.
&ldquo;Malika is a universally respected journalist and she continues to thrive at every assignment she&rsquo;s given," he said, adding, "She can operate as an excellent point guard, if you will, to make everyone else on that set better."
Greenberg will continue to host most of ESPN and ABC&rsquo;s marquee NBA events, but Andrews will also have a key role either as a sideline reporter or contributing on features and interviews.
Andrews said he hasn't had much time to think about her rise over the past two years, but when she does, she feels grateful.
&ldquo;I never thought I would get to do this. I think it is cool when the kids are doing mock interviews because I struggled as an adolescent," she said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have this perfect plan to come together and now as everything has come together in this imperfect yet perfect way.&rdquo;

Andrews will be joined by Richard Jefferson, Chiney Ogwumike and Kendrick Perkins and senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Malika Andrews to host ESPN 'NBA Countdown' shows

Through two weeks of the WNBA season, where does each team stack up and what are some prime takeaways?

WNBA Power Rankings 5/22

You know, Mario Chalmers was on this list.
And then, the Miami Heat have a COVID outbreak, and guess who&rsquo;s back in the 305 despite strugglinig in the G League and in Puerto Rico this year? You guessed it: Rio, the former LeBron James soundboard, the damn Alaskan Assassin and two-time NBA champion.
(To his credit, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/players/mario-chalmers-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he did play well in Greece last season</a> though.)
But it signals where we are. This 2021-2022 season, we&rsquo;ve already seen more basketball players suit up in NBA uniforms than any campaign prior. We haven&rsquo;t even begun the whole 2022 portion of this yet. In fact, we&rsquo;re a good two or three weeks from being halfway through the season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Wild stat via <a href="https://twitter.com/StatsWilliams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StatsWilliams</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNStatsInfo</a>: 541 NBA players have played in at least one game this season, setting a record for the most in a season&hellip;ever. It&rsquo;s Dec. 27.
&mdash; Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baxter/status/1475649242278477826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Seemingly everyone&rsquo;s making jokes about staying ready for that call, but at this point, I&rsquo;m looking at my high school stats like, hmm, maybe I could <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/76ers-myles-powell-enters-health-and-safety-protocols/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fill in for Myles Powell</a> if I still got it. (I don&rsquo;t. Never quite did either. This.... was always the more likely path.)
Believe it or not, there are&nbsp;still&nbsp;some names we&rsquo;re going to see pop up who haven&rsquo;t yet gotten the NBA opportunity during this already historic season. Some veterans are coming close enough to get noticed, while others are overseas yet to get a call because it&rsquo;s just easier to pull a G Leaguer for 10 days. (More on that later, but not too much later.)
Kenneth Faried, Grand Rapids Gold 
Kenneth Faried, 32, might get back on his name, and he was a good-ass player for a time. The explosive rim-runner enjoyed an eight-year NBA run from 2011-2019, which included <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/farieke01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">peak seasons of 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on 53.6% shooting</a> between 2013-2016 as an everyday starter for the Denver Nuggets. He's posted 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds over his NBA career on 54.6% from the field.
Like many other vets, he was a step behind the productivity he once displayed; then, you looked up one day and the dude was out of the league. Even after being a center for the small-ball Houston Rockets of 2018-19, posting 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds in just over 24 minutes per game, shooting nearly 60% from the field and having the third-best win shares per 48 minutes on the team at .198 (after James Harden and Clint Capela), we haven&rsquo;t seen him in the NBA since.
In 2019-20, he played in China, averaging 17/10 while <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Kenneth-Faried/Summary/2303#International" target="_blank" rel="noopener">primarily coming off the bench</a>, but considering what former NBAers tend to do in the Chinese Basketball Association, it didn&rsquo;t garner much attention. He suited up for three games in Puerto Rico earlier this year for Leones de Ponce. One of his teammates, Aleem Ford, is currently with the Orlando Magic.
We also saw Faried suit up for the Portland Trail Blazers summer league team in August, where he <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/summer/1/NBA-Summer-League/47/stats/Portland-Trail-Blazers/24/Averages/All/trb/All/desc/1/Summer_League" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led the team in rebounds by about three per game despite being ninth in minutes</a>.&nbsp;
As <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-veterans-kenneth-faried-and-earl-clark-join-g-league-affiliates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com noted earlier this week</a>, Faried is returning to the G League, presumably for an advantage in proximity. Faried is coming off a stint with CSKA Moscow of VTB United and the EuroLeague, where he struggled.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/players/kenneth-faried-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He averaged fewer than 3 points and 3 rebounds in 11 games</a> while coming off the bench and shooting 33.3%. Someone might be willing to overlook that if he&rsquo;s decent in the G League. Faried will be with the Grand Rapids Gold, the Denver Nuggets afflilate (and where Lance Stephenson played before inking his Atlanta Hawks hardship deal).
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Earl Clark, Sioux Falls Skyforce 
That Earl Clark!?!??!?!?
Yeah, Clark is returning to the G League along with Faried, and will be suiting up with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Miami Heat's affiliate. Clark was a lottery pick in 2009, and after six years in the NBA, he hasn&rsquo;t returned. His career averages stand at 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds on 40/33/66 shooting splits.&nbsp;
Outside of the NBA, the 34-year-old Louisville alum <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Earl-Clark/Summary/1619#International" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had stints in the G League, China, Turkey, Montenegro, Korea, and Liga ACB in Spain</a>, arguably the most competitive domestic league in the world outside of America.&nbsp;
Honestly, there ain&rsquo;t much else to say here other than, "Wow." Watching Clark return after seven years would (respectfully) be more improbable than Julianna Pe&ntilde;a beating the piss out of Amanda Nunes for the UFC Bantamweight Championship earlier this month. And, well, that did&nbsp;happen...
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Beşiktaş Icrypex 
A strong argument could be made that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson currently is the best player here, and it might be by a safe distance. He&rsquo;s high on the list of guys who shouldn&rsquo;t be&nbsp;out of the league&nbsp;entirely in favor of "Undrafted Rookie X," but because he&rsquo;s 6-foot-6 and never became an adequate three-point shooter, it&rsquo;s been held against him, and thus, he&rsquo;s in Turkey.&nbsp;
Hollis-Jefferson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/teams/besiktas/2022.html">currently leads Beşiktaş Icrypex</a> with 13.1 points per game and also puts up 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.4 minutes per game in the Turkish Super League. Hollis-Jefferson is hitting 49.1% of his shots from the field, 33.3% from three on 1.4 attempts per game and 79.5% on free throws on a team-high four tries per contest. Additionally, he reportedly <a href="https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketball/2021/9/27/22697293/arizona-wildcats-rondae-hollis-jefferson-nba-turkey-besitkas-icrypex-nets-raptors-trailblazers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has an opt-out clause</a>, which would allow him to leave for the NBA if presented with a suitable contract.
Hollis-Jefferson, a first-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, made his bones as a part of the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; pre-super-team core. Most notably, he led the team in scoring and initiated the offense on many D&rsquo;Angelo Russell-less nights during the 2017-18 season.
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Covering those games, it felt like he averaged more than 2.5 assists per game; maybe it was all those hockey assists that ended up being Joe Harris, DeMarre Carroll or Allen Crabbe threes. He finished the season at 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game on 47.2% shooting from the field and 78.9% from the free-throw line on 4.6 attempts per game. He was only 13 of 54 from three, but showed the ability to create mid-range offense and attack the basket better than any other Net that season.
<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/holliro01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Subsequent injuries limited his minutes the following season</a>. However, he did play a valuable role off the 2019-20 Toronto Raptors bench before journeying to Portland at the tail end of last season.
In a few days, he&rsquo;ll just turn 27 years old. He&rsquo;s still a multi-positional defender, an effective slasher and an instinctual passer for his position. Surprisingly, he&rsquo;s not in an NBA rotation somewhere, or even a roster, considering, well, all of this.
As an added bonus, Shane Larkin is another name to ponder, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mulling-over-6-options-for-the-cavs-with-ricky-rubio-out-for-the-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our Spencer Davies mulled over earlier this week</a> when listing Ricky Rubio replacement options in Cleveland prior to the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/cavs-smart-and-swift-to-acquire-backup-point-guard-but-is-rondo-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rajon Rondo trade</a>.

With so many familiar faces coming back into the NBA fray, Bryan Fonseca lists a few more names who could make their return.

Other veterans worth keeping an eye on for an NBA comeback

Enes Kanter Freedom opened up to Etan Thomas on "The Rematch" on being a U.S. citizen, his Fox News interview, LeBron and more.

Q&A: Enes Kanter Freedom on U.S. citizenship, Fox interview, LeBron

There&rsquo;s no better motivation than having your heart ripped out. And that&rsquo;s why I picked the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
The job is far from over. It might take six games, it could take seven, but at least through the first five games of the series, it&rsquo;s became obvious that the Bucks had something extra, something deep down inside that was motivating them.
It&rsquo;s pain. And I can tell you that from experience.
Nothing against Phoenix, but as a whole, with the exception of Chris Paul and Jae Crowder, the Suns aren&rsquo;t a team that has taken their lumps and learned the hard lessons of what it takes to overcome adversity and succeed in the playoffs.
Milwaukee, on the other hand, knows it all too well. That&rsquo;s why they just refuse to quit.
During my career, I was fortunate enough to have some great teammates, and with Jason Kidd, Keith Van Horn, Kerry Kittles and Richard Jefferson, I was able to help the Nets get to back-to-back Finals in 2002 and 2003.
In 2002, we were a really young team that hadn&rsquo;t been there before &mdash; none of us. The Lakers, on the other hand, won two championships in a row and were looking for their three-peat. They put foot to ass for four games straight and swept us. From that series, I learned what a complete team looks like. We had pieces, but we found out the hard way that we were missing a few things, including the experience.
When people think about Shaq and Kobe, they remember the three-peat and all that, but they don&rsquo;t remember that they had a couple early exits, too. The Lakers went 61-21 in the 1997-98 season and got swept by the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Finals that year.
So yeah, Shaq and Kobe beat us down, but by that time, they were seasoned. But you know what? The next year, we used that as motivation.
Losing, especially when you&rsquo;re favored and definitely when you lose in the Finals, changes you as a player. You work for years to get the opportunity to win a championship, and when you fall short time after time&hellip; Man, it just hits you differently when you get right there on the doorstep. It&rsquo;s the equivalent of your bride or your groom not showing up on your wedding day.
We had that chip on our shoulder the entire next year, and when the 2003 playoffs came around, we were a different team. We were tired of hearing people question our toughness and our talent. We found a different gear.
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In the first round, we split the first four games with Milwaukee, but then we won our next 10 games in a row. We took Game 5 and Game 6 of that series, then swept the Celtics and Pistons in the next two rounds. We got back to the Finals, but this time, we had to play San Antonio.
Obviously, we couldn&rsquo;t get over the hump. We split the first two games in San Antonio, but then lost two out of the three on our home floor. We went back to San Antonio for Game 6 and Game 7 behind in the series, 3-2. And couldn&rsquo;t force a Game 7.
The next season, our head coach Byron Scott got fired and we lost to the Pistons in seven games in the second round. I really thought we were close in Jersey, but, that&rsquo;s the thing about the NBA: you never know when you might be on your last chance.
The front office there shook things up a bit and I ended up signing with Denver. I never got back to the Finals again.
That&rsquo;s the thing with Giannis and the Bucks &mdash; these guys have been through it. They&rsquo;ve been favored, had the best record, got swept, been doubted, and they just keep coming back.
When they were down 3-2 to Brooklyn in the second round, there was something about them that just wouldn&rsquo;t let them quit, and they&rsquo;ve developed amazing resolve. That can be said of the front office, too.
Some teams would&rsquo;ve considered making wholesale changes, but they stuck with the core and allowed them to develop. They exercised some patience and continued to build around Giannis and found ways to bring in guys like Brook Lopez, Jrue Holiday and P.J. Tucker. Most importantly, they re-signed Khris Middleton when he was a free agent back in 2019.
They gave Giannis every opportunity to finish what he started, and it&rsquo;s fitting considering the fact that they saw something in him from the very beginning.
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In 2014, my career was winding down, and I got an opportunity to sign with Milwaukee. Although my time there was short, I was able to spend some time with Giannis. He had just one season under his belt, but the staff there was working so hard to develop him and bring his talent out. His dedicated work ethic and positive attitude were there from Day 1, but the staff was utilizing advanced stats and all kind of metrics to build him individual workout regimens, provide nutritional guidance and schedules for when he should do his work.
So yeah, man, even though I was only there for a short time, I saw when they started laying the foundation. There&rsquo;s no shortcuts to becoming a champion. Title teams are built and developed.
Along the way, you&rsquo;re gonna take some bumps and bruises, but you know what? You&rsquo;re gonna learn. And in those lessons, you&rsquo;re gonna find the extra motivation that you need to get the job done.
Giannis just hyperextended his knee not too long ago, yet somehow, he found the ability to have the biggest defensive play of the series against Deandre Ayton and be the most impactful two-way player on the floor.
So I guess what I&rsquo;m saying is that I believe in Milwaukee because I know what&rsquo;s motivating them. They paid their dues and they&rsquo;re able to use their past failures as fuel to get them through those tough times when things aren&rsquo;t in their favor.
It&rsquo;s nothing against Phoenix, as a unit, they just haven&rsquo;t been there yet. And while they obviously still got a shot to win this series, in the end, in a way, I think Milwaukee&rsquo;s past failures are what&rsquo;s gonna be able to get them through the storm and make the difference when it&rsquo;s all said and done.

They may get down, but they're never out. The resilient Milwaukee Bucks are tired of falling short, writes Kenyon Martin.

Behind Giannis, Milwaukee is proving that failure is the best teacher

On July 4, 2021, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/sports/basketball/espn-rachel-nichols-maria-taylor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published a story</a> detailing the fallout of a leaked Rachel Nichols&rsquo; video, wherein the host of ESPN&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Jump&rdquo; questioned the merit of her colleague, Maria Taylor.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity &ndash; which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it &ndash; like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else,&rdquo; Nichols said while unknowingly being recorded.
Since the release of the article, ESPN has been hard at work trying to extinguish the fire sparked by Nichols&rsquo; comments.&nbsp;
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Rachel Nichols began today's episode of The Jump with this apology to Maria Taylor and others at ESPN <a href="https://t.co/9cXsDmMMhZ">https://t.co/9cXsDmMMhZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/yQj5j8akMw">pic.twitter.com/yQj5j8akMw</a>
&mdash; Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1412145201888497664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Still, flames sit at every corner of this story. They range from small to large, and they highlight the injustices at ESPN. The New York Times forced ESPN&rsquo;s hand, so now the company is trying to put out this fire as quickly as possible before it reaches the deep pit of grease at the story&rsquo;s core: ESPN&rsquo;s insidious environment of racism and sexism.&nbsp;
Some of these flames include the direct fallout from the tape &mdash; like criticism over the repercussions former ESPN video producer Kayla Johnson faced for sharing the audio with Taylor &mdash; to larger structural grievances with how the media conglomerate uses women.&nbsp; &nbsp; Despite Nichols igniting the match, many have pointed out that she&rsquo;s been burned by ESPN, too. They point to the toxic culture at ESPN, and how animosity between women is fostered at a company that so rarely makes room for more than one.&nbsp;
When women are relegated to hosting and sideline reporting, there are limited opportunities to truly flourish. And when success can no longer be had as a collective and only in spite of one another, toxicity and animosity are cultivated.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said when asked about the situation.&nbsp;
A toxic environment is still not an excuse for the racist dismissal of Taylor, especially from someone with the history and experience of Nichols.&nbsp;
Nichols is a seasoned journalist of over 26 years, having worked for The Washington Post, CNN, Turner Sports and ESPN covering both basketball and football. Throughout her career, Nichols has stood out by carving her space in media as a much-needed female voice that challenges the misogynistic culture in sports &mdash; from <a href="https://youtu.be/RhM66jfE-WE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confronting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell</a> following the Ray Rice scandal to <a href="https://youtu.be/67HVtWgDE10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">questioning the redemption narrative surrounding Derrick Rose</a>&rsquo;s 50-point game two years after a civil trial for rape allegations. (Editor&rsquo;s Note: A federal jury ultimately <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/19/derrick-rose-rape-trial-verdict-consent-nba-jury-photos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cleared Rose of all counts</a>.)
Nichols recognizes the value her identity adds to her coverage, giving her a unique perspective in a male-dominated industry. And yet, she somehow fails to recognize Taylor&rsquo;s value in a moment of national racial strife.
Many people have also been harping on Nichols' claim that it was in her contract to host NBA Countdown during the 2020 NBA Finals... But that is entirely beside the point.&nbsp;
For starters, ESPN asked Nichols if she wished to switch to sideline duties &mdash; a request she was allowed to decline. And the controversy is not about a contract dispute. It is not even about whether Nichols felt she deserved the job more than Taylor. It is about her comment at that moment. Had she only made reference to the contents of her contract, there would be no story and no backlash.
There&rsquo;s also the invasion-of-privacy issue that, rightfully, is being discussed as well. Since the recording was captured on Nichols&rsquo; laptop through software she uses to record &ldquo;The Jump,&rdquo; this is another small fire for ESPN to investigate. However, again, this is not at all what the public outcry is about.&nbsp;
While these issues may individually hold merit, they do not serve as a defense, and they have been used to detract from the core issue at hand: Rachel Nichols&rsquo; racist comment.&nbsp;
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At the core, this is a story about a powerful White woman weaponizing her Whiteness to dismiss and demean a Black colleague to another White person who&rsquo;s in a position of power.&nbsp;
The backlash and outcry are so loud because this is a story that Black people are all too familiar with. Nichols&rsquo; comment had no basis in reality, but deep roots in history. It suggests that Black people do not belong, and any advancement is the result of external assistance.&nbsp;
A handout.
Claiming that Taylor was given this opportunity instead of earning it completely dismisses her unique voice and perspective. Nichols&rsquo; compliments of Taylor&rsquo;s skill and talent evaporate the very second Nichols questions Taylor&rsquo;s merit. Her success is no longer credited to her hard work, but to the color of her skin.
The stereotype that Black people get by on handouts is a tale as old as time. This ranges from overt racist sentiments like Ronald Reagan&rsquo;s &ldquo;welfare queen&rdquo; trope to more subtle microaggressions in corporate settings.&nbsp;
Dismissing the accomplishments of Black people is a core tenant of White supremacy. Implicit bias transmitted through microaggressions is the exact strain of White supremacy that Black people fear in their workplaces. It&rsquo;s a pervasive form of racism that is felt immensely, but near impossible to call out.&nbsp;
You feel it through glances and through inner circles you can&rsquo;t penetrate, cementing the belief that you don&rsquo;t belong. You feel it when you look around and rarely see faces that look like yours. You&rsquo;re forced to exist in a space that&rsquo;s unwelcoming to you, wondering whether others question your worthiness.
It&rsquo;s a culture of exclusion, which Nichols is acutely aware of.
&ldquo;Those same people &mdash; who are, like, generally White, conservative, male Trump voters &mdash; is part of the reason I&rsquo;ve had a hard time at ESPN,&rdquo; Nichols said on the same recording.
The leaked audio of two White people dismissing a Black woman&rsquo;s credibility confirmed people&rsquo;s suspicions to be true: that these conversations do happen behind closed doors. It&rsquo;s why so many were hurt and offended.
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<section><a title="@mariataylortoks" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mariataylortoks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@mariataylortoks</a>
Hey Black Women ✊🏾🙋🏾&zwj;♀️👋🏾 <a title="blacklivesmatter" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/blacklivesmatter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">##blacklivesmatter</a> <a title="fyp" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">##FYP</a>
<a title="♬ original sound - Maria Taylor" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6863473633193380614" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound - Maria Taylor</a></section>
</blockquote>

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It&rsquo;s important to note that Nichols said this to Adam Mendelsohn, an advisor to LeBron James and NBA agent Rich Paul (who founded Klutch Sports Group and represents many stars). These are the inner circles that outsiders feel they cannot penetrate. Questioning Taylor&rsquo;s credibility leaves her on the outside with Mendelsohn and all of his notable clients.&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s even more troubling is that Mendelsohn felt safe saying he was &ldquo;exhausted&rdquo; by &nbsp;#MeToo and the Black Lives Matter movement &mdash; sentiments he would likely never share with Black journalists (or his Black clients). This furthers distrust because it illustrates how issues that should be treated as universal are discussed differently by White colleagues depending on the setting. There&rsquo;s the public response and then there&rsquo;s the behind-closed-doors response.
Once we understand what the core issue is, we can examine why Nichols&rsquo; apology fell short.&nbsp;
Her apology addresses a workplace issue at a colleague-to-colleague level rather than a racial issue. Instead of a White woman apologizing to a Black woman for racially insensitive comments, Rachel deflects, explaining that she does not want to be the story.&nbsp;
She did not have to be.
Nichols could have used her learning experience to highlight the pervasiveness of implicit bias and the importance of language.&nbsp;
In quick monologues, Nichols so often educates her audience on a prominent storyline &mdash; from <a href="https://youtu.be/JinS7woEgnA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a> to the <a href="https://youtu.be/YEBN9Oo_b1I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protests across the United States</a> in the wake of George Floyd&rsquo;s murder.&nbsp;
She is a leader in using her show to highlight the importance of difficult conversations in sports, and why the coverage around basketball cannot solely be about the Xs and Os.
Yet, in a prime opportunity to use her show as she and ESPN often do so well, both failed.&nbsp;
Instead of apologizing for her actions and explaining that she (more than anyone) understands that utilizing diverse identities isn&rsquo;t about meeting quotas, but rather about enriching coverage, Nichols apologized for the way Taylor was made to feel.&nbsp;
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To accompany Nichols' apology, Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson, two Black men, were asked to speak &mdash; despite having nothing to do with the matter.&nbsp;
Perkins spoke to knowing Nichols&rsquo; heart and shared his wonderful experience working alongside her. Jefferson, meanwhile, spoke to his 20-year relationship with Nichols and made mention of difficult conversations being had behind the scenes &mdash; while also adding that Nichols was not excused and that he and Perkins weren&rsquo;t either.&nbsp;
Bringing in these two former NBA champions to discuss race added nothing of value to Nichols&rsquo; apology, and only exposed yet another issue of diversity at the company. Why were two privileged Black men brought in to discuss racism between an established White woman and a younger Black woman? Also, why were these two Black men put in this position and used as pawns? The fact that, after 24 hours, this was the best ESPN could do is baffling.&nbsp;
They haphazardly attempted to douse the flames once and for all, but like water on a grease fire, the blaze was not subdued. Instead, burning oil splattered far and wide, reaching <a href="https://youtu.be/9WVDnygemDg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter Spaces</a>. The next day, ESPN removed Nichols from its 2021 NBA Finals coverage, with Malika Andrews handling the sideline-reporting duties in her place. Apparently, ESPN&rsquo;s power structure only doles out punishments for racist comments once they are made public.
For now, ESPN&lsquo;s solution will be to cover the fires with a cloak &mdash; a temporary answer to a grand problem. The structural damage, however, will remain until it works to rebuild its infrastructure from the ground up. &nbsp;

Imman Adan reacts to Rachel Nichols' comments toward Maria Taylor and the manner in which ESPN fumbled the fallout.

Rachel Nichols-Maria Taylor incident exposes ESPN’s racism, sexism

Nearly 11 months after the 2019-20 NBA G League season was suspended and ultimately canceled, the league has formulated a plan for 2021. Here is everything you need to know about the new G League season.
The Location:
The success of the NBA bubble set the precedent for the G League's return. Like the NBA, all G League games will be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL (just outside of Orlando).
The Teams:
Not every NBA team decided to send their G League affiliate to the new bubble. This will give the newly-formed G League Ignite team (which features top NBA prospects who are part of the professional path program) a chance to play their very first season alongside the following 17 teams:
Agua Caliente Clippers (Los Angeles Clippers affiliate) Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs affiliate; formerly Columbus Riverdragons, Austin Toros) Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers affiliate; formerly Huntsville Flight, Albuquerque Thunderbirds, New Mexico Thunderbirds) Delaware Bluecoats (Philadelphia 76ers affiliate; formerly Utah Flash, Delaware 87ers) Erie BayHawks (New Orleans Pelicans affiliate) Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers affiliate)&nbsp; Greensboro Swarm (Charlotte Hornets affiliate) Iowa Wolves (Minnesota Timberwolves affiliate; formerly Iowa Energy) Lakeland Magic (Orlando Magic affiliate; formerly Erie BayHawks) Long Island Nets (Brooklyn Nets affiliate) Memphis Hustle (Memphis Grizzlies affiliate) Oklahoma City Blue (Oklahoma City Thunder affiliate; formerly Asheville Altitude, Tulsa 66ers) Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors affiliate) Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets affiliate) Salt Lake City Stars (Utah Jazz affiliate; formerly Idaho Stampede) Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State Warriors affiliate; formerly Dakota Wizards) Westchester Knicks (New York Knicks affiliate)
The following teams have opted OUT of the G League bubble:
Capital City Go-Go (Washington Wizards affiliate) College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta Hawks affiliate; formerly Erie BayHawks) Grand Rapids Drive (Detroit Pistons affiliate; formerly Anaheim Arsenal, Springfield Armor) Maine Red Claws (Boston Celtics affiliate) Northern Arizona Suns (Phoenix Suns affiliate; formerly Long Beach Jam, Bakersfield Jam) Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat affiliate) South Bay Lakers (Los Angeles Lakers affiliate; formerly Los Angeles D-Fenders) Stockton Kings (Sacramento Kings affiliate; formerly Reno Bighorns) Texas Legends (Dallas Mavericks affiliate; formerly Colorado 14ers) Windy City Bulls (Chicago Bulls affiliate) Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee Bucks affiliate)
NOTE: The Mexico City Capitanes, formerly of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, were slated to begin the five-year experiment of having a G League team outside of Canada or the U.S. The bubble format has pushed this timeline back, and the Capitanes will not be playing with the G League in Florida.
The Format:
Each of the 18 participating teams will play a minimum of 15 games. The top eight teams will advance through single-elimination playoff rounds until a champion is named for the season.&nbsp;
The Rules:
With the inability to have two-way players safely transition between the parent and affiliate teams -- or to send players from the parent team down on assignment -- the G League has implemented new rules to ensure a smooth and simple season that still produces maximum benefits for its players.
Two-Way Players:
Rather than the previously allotted 45-day maximum, two-way players will now be eligible to spend 50 of the 72 regular-season games with their parent team. This ensures that the days are not &ldquo;used up&rdquo; without the player ever stepping on the court. The salary for two-way players was adjusted for the 2021 season, and is now a flat $449,155 rather than a prorated salary dependent on days of service.&nbsp;
Teams that do not have an active affiliate participating in the G League bubble will be allowed to send both two-way players and roster players on assignment to the G League bubble.&nbsp;
The Jeremy Lin Rule:
After an attempt to acquire NBA champion Jeremy Lin fell through for the Santa Cruz Warriors due to his FIBA clearance, the NBA and G League created a new rule that allows NBA teams to fill one G League roster spot with an NBA veteran who has at least five years of experience. This rule allows Lin to sign with the G League itself (instead of a specific designated team) and to be assigned to a roster where he would fill a need -- in this case, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Lin is not the only former NBA player to take advantage of the newly created loophole, as Nik Stauskas has signed with the G League via the same avenue in order to play for his hometown Raptors 905.&nbsp;
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/li2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="791" height="AUTO" />
Health and Safety:
The health and safety protocols of the NBA bubble were so successful that they are being implemented in their entirety into the G League bubble. Mask wearing, social distancing, enhanced cleaning and sanitization methods -- plus regular COVID testing -- should ensure the bubble and everyone in it is kept coronavirus free.&nbsp;
The Draft:
The G League draft will be held on Monday, Jan. 11. Only the 17 teams participating in the bubble, excluding the Ignite, will be eligible to draft players. The draft is three rounds and will be conducted via Zoom. G League teams who already have a complete roster or have used the Jeremy Lin Rule will not be required to use their available draft picks and can forego all remaining picks in the draft. Players signed using the Jeremy Lin Rule will not be required to enter the draft pool.&nbsp;
Notable players who have declared for the G League draft include: Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, Emeka Okafor, Terrence Jones, Shabazz Muhammad, Mario Chalmers, Festus Ezeli, Vander Blue, Marquis Teague, Allonzo Trier, Admiral Schofield, Antonio Blakeney, Justin Patton, Kenny Wooten, Jacob Evans, Tyler Ulis, Cat Barber, Isaiah Briscoe, Phil Booth, Terry Armstrong, Diamond Stone, Quincy Pondexter, Shawne Williams, Freddie Gillespie, Dusty Hannahs, Hollis Thompson, Jemerrio Jones, Cory Jefferson, Deonte Burton, Charles Cooke, CJ Fair, Gary Payton II, Shamorie Ponds and Chris Walker among others.&nbsp;
Players that were waived by a team prior to the new season are also draft eligible. Like the NBA, once a player is waived, his rights no longer belong to his former team -- thus becoming a G League free agent. Players who have signed overseas with rights still held by their former G League teams are also eligible to rejoin that team and circumvent the draft.&nbsp;
The Date:
The G League schedule has not been released yet, but teams have been given a tentative start date of Feb. 8. While this would usually be at the same time as the NBA All-Star Break, the late start to the NBA season moved the All-Star break back to the beginning of March.&nbsp;
All NBA G League games are streamed on Twitch and <a href="https://gleague.nba.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the G League's website</a>.

Kelsea O'Brien dives into the details of the NBA G League's upcoming 2021 campaign inside of the Florida bubble.

Everything you need to know about the 2021 NBA G League season

Ethan Fuller breaks down the biggest takeaways from the NBA preseason.

NBA Sour Rankings: Preseason Overreactions

Ethan Fuller breaks down the state of each NBA franchise and ranks the most frustrating teams ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.

NBA 'Sour' Rankings: Preseason Prelude

Here is the latest news on the Top 25 Free Agents in the NBA for the 2014-15 season, as ranked by Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.