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Heat

I still remember when I got the call that I&rsquo;d been traded from New Orleans to Indiana. It was the third time I was traded in my career, and by this point, I was going on 34 years old. I didn&rsquo;t want to leave my guys Chris Paul and David West, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
The silver lining for me was that I was heading to Indiana to join a team with a nice group of young players, including Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and two rookies named Paul George and Lance Stephenson.
So it made me really happy to see that Lance not only got another shot with Indiana this season, but that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lance-stephensons-energy-would-make-him-a-perfect-tank-commander-for-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he&rsquo;s made the most of it</a>. Last week, Lance dropped 30 on the Nets, and even scored 20 straight points in the game&rsquo;s first quarter. I was so happy for him, just like I was happy for guys like Joe Johnson, Isaiah Thomas and Greg Monroe, to name a few.
G League guys get &ldquo;called up,&rdquo; but some <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/greg-monroe-and-the-brief-case-for-us-to-see-more-nba-veterans-this-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">veteran players were fortunate to get called back</a>. It&rsquo;s hard to come back to the league after you&rsquo;ve spent a year or two away, but this season, a lot of guys have made it look really easy. They deserve props.
Everyone who loves the NBA owes the guys who are coming in and playing on these 10-day contracts, because the season would have probably been suspended already if it wasn&rsquo;t for them.&nbsp;
But what the whole situation has revealed, to me, is that there are some teams that have faith in their developmental programs, and some that don&rsquo;t.
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When I was coaching in the G League, we approached the situation with our players on the Canton Charge as if we were developing them and preparing them to get called up to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers one day. The G League is the NBA&rsquo;s farm system, and it&rsquo;s supposed to be used as the training ground for the league. Even I am an example of that &mdash; I spent a year with Canton before I was promoted to an assistant coach for the Cavs.&nbsp;
In theory, the same thing is supposed to happen with the G League players.
Like I said, I am happy for guys like Lance, Joe and Isaiah. Someone like Jamal Crawford should still be in the league right now.&nbsp;
But when a team goes out and signs a guy who&rsquo;s been out of the league to a 10-day contract, it does make you wonder a bit.&nbsp;
A guy coming in on a 10-day isn&rsquo;t coming to the team with an understanding of the team&rsquo;s offensive system, the team&rsquo;s coaching staff or any of his teammates&rsquo; tendencies. For the most part, he&rsquo;s being signed as an insurance policy to be available to play a few minutes and to play off of muscle memory. In most situations, he probably isn&rsquo;t going to be incorporated very much into the team&rsquo;s long-term plans.
G League call-ups, on the other hand, should already be familiar with the culture of the organization and the system that his team is running. So if a team has players out with COVID (or for whatever reason) and it finds itself in a pinch, the G League should be the first place to turn to. In some cases, you can look at some of the teams that do things the right way, and see the rewards they get from taking player development seriously.
Look at Miami, for example.
When I was in the NBA, even before there was a G League, Pat Riley and the Heat had a reputation for finding guys with potential and turning them into ballers. I think about guys like Voshon Leonard, Caron Butler, Udonis Haslem and D-Wade, as well as some of the younger guys like Mario Chalmers, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
This season, Omer Yurtseven&rsquo;s name is starting to ring out. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/omer-yurtseven-georgetown-hoyas-nc-state-wolfpack-fenerbahce-ulker-turkey-2020-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Look him up</a>.
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Omer Yurtseven now has 10 straight games with 12+ rebounds. That is a new 𝙈𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 breaking Hassan Whiteside's previous streak of 9. Yurtseven is only the 3rd rookie ever to accomplish this feat. Blake Griffin was most recent.<a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiamiHEAT</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HEATCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HEATCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/wjLjK9yj0z">pic.twitter.com/wjLjK9yj0z</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallyHEAT/status/1478951383244197889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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He might not ever be an All-Star or anything like that, but he&rsquo;s just another example of a player that Miami got its hands on and prepared for the big leagues. They&rsquo;ve had guys in and out the lineup all season, and have had to rely on some of their end-of-bench guys and replacement players &mdash; and they really haven&rsquo;t skipped a beat.
That&rsquo;s a developmental culture.
Already this season, there have been over 100 G League call-ups, and what I&rsquo;m really paying attention to is the amount of guys who get called up by the team that their G League team is affiliated with. That kind of continuity, in my opinion, should be the goal. If every team strives to treat its G League affiliate like a true farm system, it will help to advance the game and could continue to help make the G League a more viable alternative for players who might not be good enough to play in the NBA as soon as they&rsquo;re eligible.
While on the subject, I will show some love to the Magic, who have called up five players so far this season, four of them from their affiliate in Lakeland. The Thunder have called up four of their own guys from the Blue; meanwhile, the Lakers (South Bay), Pistons (Motor City Cruise) and Sixers (Delaware Blue Coats) have gotten good mileage out of their G League programs too.
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Of all years, if you can&rsquo;t find use for your G League affiliate this season, why bother having a G League affiliate at all? That&rsquo;s the way I see it.
At the end of the day, the NBA is a fraternity. I have a lot of brothers still playing in the league and others who are blessed to be coaching or otherwise working for teams. I&rsquo;m rooting for everyone to succeed, and hope that the league is able to continue to thrive and bring us exciting basketball, in spite of COVID.
I just couldn&rsquo;t help but to think about all the G League players who are hoping to find their own opportunity and get their 15 minutes of fame.&nbsp;
Some guys literally work their entire lives for that one moment, and I hope as many as possible continue to get them this season.
In the long run, the game and the G League itself will both be better off for it.

The pandemic has resulted in over 100 G League players being called up this season. But some teams can't rely on their prospects.

This season, we’re seeing the teams that trust their G League program

Entering the 2021-22 season, there were many long-term questions facing the Indiana Pacers. Seemingly stuck in the middle for years on end, when would they get off the hamster wheel and make a move one way or the other? Well, early on, we&rsquo;re already getting answers to some of those intriguing topics in Indianapolis.
Malcolm Brogdon, who was reportedly involved in Ben Simmons trade discussions, signed a new long-term extension worth $45 million, extending his stay in Indy through at least through 2024-25. Now, the Pacers&rsquo; leading scorer is off the market for good.
Two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis has continued to prove why he&rsquo;s a fixture piece for the Pacers, averaging 19.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists to this point. Sabonis has also continued to produce instant synergy with last year&rsquo;s newcomer in Caris LeVert, who the Pacers acquired after shipping off Victor Oladipo in the James Harden four-team blockbuster.
Among Sabonis-only lineup duos who played at least 500 minutes alongside him in 2020-21, only one player carried a positive net rating: LeVert. After LeVert suffered a stress fracture in his lower back, he missed the first six games of the regular season. However, that chemistry with Sabonis has picked up right where it left off for Indiana, as the inside-out duo is carrying a plus-10.3 NET in 109 total minutes (109.4 ORTG, 99.1 DRTG).
So, Indiana has at least three players locked into its long-term plans in a make-or-break campaign with Rick Carlisle now running the show at head coach. And now, surprisingly, a 24-year-old rookie has forced his way into the immediate conversation alongside Brogdon, Sabonis and LeVert.
Chris Duarte, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, has been an <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chris-duarte-exhibiting-maturity-poise-with-indiana-pacers-early" target="_blank" rel="noopener">instant revelation for the Pacers</a>. Carlisle has placed immense trust in the rookie already, giving him the ultimate green light and drawing up late-game, crunch-time shots for him as well. Duarte is averaging 16.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting a blistering-hot 42.2% on three-point attempts. In total, Duarte&rsquo;s efficiency levels stand at a respectable 55.5% True Shooting percentage in his first 11 games on the NBA level.
Duarte has already made Pacers fans think back to the days of Danny Granger and Paul George &mdash; two young wings who made instant impacts in the Association and became key long-term fixtures in the organization. It&rsquo;s a super-small sample size, but Duarte seems to be the team's first top draft pick in a while to hit since Myles Turner in 2015.
Honestly, the Granger comparisons have some legs to them. Coming out of New Mexico as an older prospect, Granger hit the ground running in Indiana having no real adjustment period for the Pacers. The same exact learning curve is happening for Duarte, last year's Pac-12 Player of the Year at Oregon.
Already, Duarte has forced Carlisle&rsquo;s hand to keep him on the floor, even with LeVert back from an injury. Instead of splitting the two, Carlisle is letting the talented wing duo log heavy minutes together, and it is producing fantastic results. When Duarte and LeVert share the floor, Indiana is outscoring opponents by 30.2 (!!) points per 100 possessions. That number will surely slide down as the season continues on, but the early results have been nothing short of phenomenal. This also shows Carlisle and the Pacers&rsquo; front office that the two can thrive with one another in a pair, taking pressure off each other as a slashing/spot-up combination with Sabonis using his Nikola Jokic-like tendencies inside.
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LeVert block 🚫 LeVert assist 🏀 Duarte triple 🎯<a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Pacers</a> open on an 11-0 run on NBA League Pass! 📱💻: <a href="https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG">https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG</a> <a href="https://t.co/uHvgaAizsE">pic.twitter.com/uHvgaAizsE</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1456038702296219652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Indiana seems to have struck a gold mine with the Duarte selection, even further evidenced by the fact that the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/07/30/warriors-knicks-pursue-chris-duarte-even-after-pacers-chose-him/5426677001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tried to trade for him after he was selected</a>. On the court, Duarte is cold-blooded and doesn&rsquo;t fear any situation. He even took Giannis Antetokounmpo 1-on-1 and made a jumper in a must-score scenario. Duarte has forced himself into the Rookie of the Year discussion, which has Indiana grinning from ear-to-ear at the moment.
With Duarte currently breaking into a different tier of Indiana&rsquo;s roster, it&rsquo;s going to create a unique situation in a few months before February&rsquo;s trade deadline. If the Pacers are in the playoff race, don&rsquo;t be surprised if they keep the core together and reassess this upcoming offseason. However, if they are fading away already, how should they maneuver the deadline?
T.J. Warren, who hasn&rsquo;t played yet this season due to further complications from his foot injury, is expected to make his debut around Christmas or early January. Warren is slated to be one of the top available free agents in a light 2022 market, but his injury history could make teams with the necessary cap space seriously second-guess about offering him a hefty new contract. So, if Warren does well upon his return, he could lock in a new long-term deal with Indiana where it benefits both the team and the player&rsquo;s financial security multiple years down the road.
This leads us back to the elephant in the room, one that has been there for years now: Turner and his fit alongside Sabonis.
Thus far, the results have actually been positive for this jumbo big-man duo in Indy. The Sabonis-Turner 2-man lineup combination is outscoring opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions (103.7 ORTG, 97.5 DRTG) right now, so if that figure maintains, it will certainly be intriguing. Carlisle is still experimenting how to best utilize Sabonis and Turner together, which more often than not leads to each one patrolling his own unit. We&rsquo;ve yet to really see Indiana commit to closing a game with both Sabonis and Turner on the floor. That isn&rsquo;t a financially sustainable plan with a player making close to $20 million in either scenario sitting out in crunch-time.
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Thought this was really smart geometry last night. The Knicks were consistently involving extra defenders on the roll to crowd Sabonis, so took advantage of the gravity by positioning Turner's hot hand in the strong-side corner. Big difference from what occurred against Toronto <a href="https://t.co/3DILKyHv17">pic.twitter.com/3DILKyHv17</a>
&mdash; Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1456309637293264902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2021</a></blockquote>

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However, it should be noted that Turner is putting together a career-best start in Year 7 with the Pacers: 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 41.1% on threes. No surprise here, but when Turner isn&rsquo;t on the floor, Indiana&rsquo;s defense completely submarines. The team carries a 100.5 DTRG with Turner in 308 minutes, but it balloons to 115.9 points allowed per 100 possessions in the 230 minutes he sits. Overall, the Pacers are 14.3 points per 100 possessions better when Turner is on the floor. That&rsquo;s a noticeable swing, and one where it makes their long-term decisions revolving around their core even murkier.
Another way of looking at is that Turner&rsquo;s trade value may never be higher with his current start to the season. If it maintains for another few months, the trade deadline might be the best time to cash-in on a considerable return. Turner has been on the trade block for years, but nobody has wanted to bite on Indiana&rsquo;s asking price. Now, with Turner playing the way he is, it might finally be time to push that button.
A team like the Charlotte Hornets &mdash; an elite rim-protector away from making the jump &mdash; could be a team who would pay a fortune for Turner to be its swing piece to contention; that would allow Indiana to embrace its locked-in core of Brogdon, Duarte, LeVert, Warren and Sabonis. Would the Pacers bite on a trade package revolving around a protected 2022 first-round pick via the New Orleans Pelicans, plus promising young big man prospect PJ Washington? We&rsquo;ll cross that bridge when we get there, but these long-term hypotheticals should be buzzing within the mind of Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.
In February, or at the end of this season, will Indiana commit further to the Turner-Sabonis frontcourt? What if Warren comes back and thrives as a small-ball 4 in lineups alongside LeVert and Duarte? There&rsquo;s still plenty of time for these questions to get answered, but that&rsquo;s why Indiana continues to stand out to me as one of the league&rsquo;s most intriguing teams &mdash; short- and long-term.
Duarte may have forced the Pacers into considering making a bigger move earlier than expected. And for a team in desperate need of hitting on draft picks, completely dearth of homegrown players, that&rsquo;s totally okay.

Could the Pacers be facing a foundational change earlier than expected thanks to Chris Duarte's impact? Evan Sidery examines.

Pacers facing key decision point with Chris Duarte's early emergence

With the team facing elimination, the Los Angeles Lakers' team doctors cleared Anthony Davis last night to return for their critical Game 6 matchup with the Phoenix Suns.
After five-and-a-half minutes of grimacing, limping and straining up and down the court, he fell to the ground writhing in pain. As soon as he stepped on the court, anybody with eyes could see that he wasn&rsquo;t healthy.
During that stretch, Turner Sports journalist and broadcaster Taylor Rooks tweeted, "Y&rsquo;all gotta take AD out." To which <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1400659703957438465?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I responded</a>, "They should&rsquo;ve never put AD in."
NBA fans across the world witnessed what would have been a story of triumph. One for the archives of NBA history. It's easy to imagine the storyline that could've been.
Facing elimination in the NBA playoffs and down 3-2 in the series to Chris Paul, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns, Anthony Davis had the dedication and passion, summoning his inner Mamba Mentality to exhibit superhuman perseverance -- and in heroic fashion, Davis saved the Los Angeles Lakers' season, propelling them to victory and solidifying this as one of the greatest displays of resilience in the history of the NBA on the way to another championship. 
Graphic designers for the media companies probably would&rsquo;ve drawn a picture of AD with a Superman emblem on his chest and a cape under his Lakers uniform.
People love stories of heroics. Isiah Thomas hobbling around on one foot in Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Lakers and scoring 25 points in the third quarter, or Willis Reed walking out of the tunnel for the New York Knicks on his bum ankle in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals.
Everything was set up for Kevin Durant to be added to that list in 2019... until it didn't happen.
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High school, college and professional coaches across the country were just salivating to be able to use this as an example to their players, to enforce the philosophy that &ldquo;pain is weakness leaving your body." They would&rsquo;ve used AD as an example to young athletes that the game, not your health, is what matters most. And a real &ldquo;team player&rdquo; would sacrifice a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; for the good of the team.
(Editor's Note: Etan, David West, Chamique Holdsclaw, James Posey, Rushia Brown, Mo Evans, Jahidi White, Cody Toppert and the BBN staff approached the subject of injuries, team doctors, getting a second opinion and more in a roundtable discussion. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-veterans-discuss-injuries-team-doctors-second-opinion-etan-thomas-james-posey-maurice-evans-chamique-holdsclaw-kevin-durant-greg-oden-danny-granger" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read that conversation in its entirety</a>.)
I have seen this all before.
During my tenure with the Washington Wizards, I witnessed team trainer Eric Waters misdiagnose player after player, because what was best for the Wizards organization was for those players to play.
I saw the team tell Jarvis Hayes that he simply had a case of tendinitis in his knee, and had him playing through the pain; it turned out he had a broken knee cap, which ruined his entire career.
I saw him tell Kwame Brown that Kwame was just experiencing a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; in his leg, and that he needed to play through the pain to show everyone that he was worthy of being the No. 1 pick; later, it turned out that Kwame actually had a torn hamstring.
I saw Eric Waters tell Gilbert Arenas that nothing was &ldquo;structurally wrong&rdquo; with his knee and he needed to show toughness and be a leader; it turned out Gilbert needed surgery and injured his knee worse by playing on it.
I saw him tell DeShawn Stevenson there was nothing seriously wrong with his back, and had him getting ice and stim and playing through the pain. After the season, upon further review by an outside doctor, it was discovered that DeShawn actually had an Inflamed L5 Nerve that was stuck underneath a disc that required not one, but two back surgeries to repair.
My point in saying all of this is not to simply blast Eric Waters, but to show that this happens all the time in professional sports. With team doctors and trainers, there is a conflict of interest, and the sworn medical oath becomes blurred and affects their diagnoses. They are hired by the teams, and are in essence employees of the organization -- not employees of the players. So they don&rsquo;t have the players' best interests in mind, typically; they only have the organizations'.
The Los Angeles Lakers medical staff basically RG3&rsquo;d Anthony Davis. They &ldquo;Any Given Sunday'd" him. They Eric Waters&rsquo;d him.
He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing, period.
The risks outweighed the rewards. Even from a team standpoint, this is one of your franchise players. This is a player who has the capability of single-handedly turning an entire NBA Finals series around en route to a championship. This is a player that you should do everything in your power to convince him how important he is long term.
However, what the Lakers showed was the exact opposite. I don&rsquo;t care if Davis insisted on playing; they should&rsquo;ve have the medical integrity to tell him no. On Inside The NBA on TNT, Charles Barkley said, &ldquo;The doctors cleared him to play? They&rsquo;re gonna need some better doctors."
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But the Lakers aren&rsquo;t the only ones. This happens all the time. I hope all young players see this and learn that no matter what the circumstance is or how big the game is, your health always comes first, and you ALWAYS get a second opinion from your own doctors that have nothing to do with the organization, as Kawhi Leonard wisely did in San Antonio in the 2017-18 season.
Interestingly enough, a few nights ago on the same platform, the same Charles Barkley <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVobMhM0nSk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made fun of Anthony Davis for frequently being injured</a> and coined the phrase, "Anthony 'Street Clothes' Davis.&rdquo; Kendrick Perkins, a former player-turned-media member at ESPN, tweeted that Charles needs to "pick a damn side" regarding the situation.
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Somebody tell Charles Barkley to pick a damn side. He&rsquo;s &ldquo;Street Clothes&rdquo; Davis when he sits out and he&rsquo;s ridiculing the medical team for letting him play when he tries to play through it! Damn if you do, damn if you don&rsquo;t!
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1400664393910784002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Interesting that the media will ridicule a player for being injured, and then act surprised when he succumbs to the pressure of playing in a key game and risking injuring himself worse.
I remember watching Grant Hill. He was about to literally take over the league.
People were calling him out for not playing hurt. Said he was soft, etc. etc., just like they were saying about AD in this playoff series. The Orlando medical staff derailed Grant&rsquo;s entire career.
Another example is the young Isaiah Thomas. He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing in Boston in the 2017 playoffs, but he played, ended up hurting himself more, ended up needing surgery, cost himself $100 million, came back and played after losing his sister in a tragic accident. What did the Celtics do after all of that? They traded him that summer because they knew about his injury and knew that he needed surgery.
Kyrie Irving, while playing for Boston, went and got a second opinion and said he needed surgery on his left knee just one year after the Thomas situation; the Celtics' doctors didn&rsquo;t tell Kyrie that he needed surgery, so he had surgery on his own and came back the next year strong.
There is a reccurring theme here.
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I saw many responses on social media of people (usually non-athletes) saying that Anthony Davis made the decision himself to go into the game, so anything that happens is his fault and not the organization&rsquo;s -- but it&rsquo;s not that simple.&nbsp;The onus shouldn&rsquo;t be placed on the athlete&rsquo;s shoulders. Of course athletes are going to want to play, but it shouldn&rsquo;t be up to them.
A solution to this league-wide issue was suggested to me by a lawyer by the name of Marlon Amprey. He explained that the Players Association should assemble a group of outside doctors/specialists (or specific doctors/specialists the player suggests) that have no connection to the team whatsoever, and will provide second &amp; third opinions and give players detailed reports on their health and risk of injury. All doctors&rsquo; reports given by teams that drastically differ should go under review, and there should be repercussions for team doctors and trainers who medically clear players who shouldn&rsquo;t be medically cleared to play.
The bottom line is, if you're injured, any organization will throw you out there in a heartbeat if they feel it is best for the organization. They will publicly criticize you if you don&rsquo;t play, and if you play and re-injure yourself worse -- or just don&rsquo;t play up to their expectations (as if they don&rsquo;t know your playing injured) -- they will get rid of you in a New York minute.
Just like The Washington Football team did with Robert Griffin III and just like the Washington Wizards did with Jarvis Hayes.

Etan Thomas goes in-depth on the Lakers' reckless decision to clear Anthony Davis to play in Game 6 and utilizes firsthand examples to show why.

Irresponsible Lakers medical team could have RG3'd Anthony Davis

With increased pace and perimeter-centric offenses, we often hear that individual statistics are inflated, and that those players wouldn&rsquo;t put up those kinds of numbers against their predecessors. Well, even if that&rsquo;s the case for some guards and forwards, it sure as hell doesn&rsquo;t apply to Joel Embiid, whose game would thrive into the past, present or future.
The 7-foot, 280-pounder is coming off an MVP-caliber season -- an untimely hyperextended knee injury in mid-March forced him out for 10 games and allowed Nikola Jokic to capitalize on the missed time -- and he&rsquo;s finally healthy, which has allowed us to feast our eyes on the array of weapons in his arsenal.
Embiid is fit for any era of ball.&nbsp;
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You want to muck up the game and go through the post? He&rsquo;s got you there&hellip; only not in the way most players his size go about it. Playing back to the basket with a physical and mental advantage, Embiid doesn&rsquo;t do his damage by settling for hook shots in the mid-post; one way or another, he&rsquo;ll use his footwork to get deep positioning for a point-blank look at the basket.&nbsp;
And somehow, that&rsquo;s not even his go-to choice on the block. Embiid has no problem sizing up his competition with a Carmelo Anthony-like jab step and firing a feathery 15-footer that&rsquo;s fallen 68.8% of the time for the Philadelphia 76ers in their playoff series vs. the Washington Wizards. Oftentimes, he&rsquo;ll fall back too, which makes the shot impossible to contest or block.
Maybe the scariest tool in Embiid&rsquo;s bag of tricks is how deceptive he is off the dribble. He can get you on your heels before you know it. Out on the perimeter, he can always settle for a three (and knock them down -- a 6-for-11 clip thus far and 37.7% on the season); however, it just looks like he has more fun when he puts it on the floor. Light pump fake, crossover, dribble between the legs, spin move, stepback, fadeaway -- they can all lead to points on the scoreboard&hellip; frequently, with emphasis.
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JOEL EMBIID WITH AUTHORITY 🔨 <a href="https://t.co/uO0qKpQCSe">pic.twitter.com/uO0qKpQCSe</a>
&mdash; NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1398794933826330627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote>

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As said on Keepin&rsquo; It 94, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/keepin-it-94" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my podcast with Brian Fritz</a>, the way Embiid can just stop on a dime full speed for a pull-up mid-ranger as if he&rsquo;s a 6-foot-4 guard is astounding. The best part about his isolation game is that it is aesthetically pleasing and feels as natural as it looks. It&rsquo;s not a clunky route to the bucket that&rsquo;s easy to pickpocket; it&rsquo;s calculated with long strides and great reads on who&rsquo;s defending him.
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Joel Embiid has been a MONSTER this season. <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpinDavies</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianFritz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrianFritz</a> discussed his dominance and more on this week's episode of "Keepin' it 94." Listen to the full episode! Apple: <a href="https://t.co/Sz8GhlzCBm">https://t.co/Sz8GhlzCBm</a> Spotify: <a href="https://t.co/cxM0X8ocOC">https://t.co/cxM0X8ocOC</a> Stitcher: <a href="https://t.co/1ryRArxRvp">https://t.co/1ryRArxRvp</a> <a href="https://t.co/9UCo8w5Jx3">pic.twitter.com/9UCo8w5Jx3</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1359990563366440965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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He&rsquo;s only turned the ball over once on his 17 iso possessions in this series, <a href="https://basketball.instatscout.com/players/26751/playtypes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per InStat</a>, and he&rsquo;s 20-for-30 on shots made with <a href="https://go.nba.com/27h9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15-to-7 seconds left on the shot clock</a>.
Embiid&rsquo;s also been able to scan the floor, look over the top and find his shooters. It doesn&rsquo;t happen quite often, but when doubles come around that mid-post area, it results in triples for Seth Curry and Danny Green. His favorite passing partner is Ben Simmons in the two-man game, whether he&rsquo;s on the receiving end or targeting the Aussie on a cut.
We all know how imposing of a presence he is defensively, staying grounded and rarely committing foolish fouls. He&rsquo;s got good timing as a rim protector, has the agility to recover against drivers, uses his towering arms to discourage teams from coming into the paint and always knows when to shade over and help if one of his teammates needs it.&nbsp;
But this offensive showing has been first-class all around. Players at his position do not create their own shots the way Embiid does, and in the rare case where somebody comes close to it, they aren&rsquo;t nearly as efficient.&nbsp;
In this series, Embiid is averaging 29.3 points on a 78.4% True Shooting percentage. His latest performance was a career night, with 36 points in 28 minutes -- the <a href="https://twitter.com/_JimmyMcCormick/status/1398834397651087362?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second-fewest minutes for that high of a scoring output in NBA playoff history in the shot-clock era</a>.&nbsp;
Embiid is leading the league in postseason net rating (plus-39.6 points per 100 possessions) and commandeering a sizzling, top-seeded team that&rsquo;s poised for bigger things than a first-round series victory.
Sounding completely cliche, it&rsquo;s easy to see why the Sixers Trust(ed) The Process. Embiid is a one-man wrecking crew. Nobody has been able to slow this nimble monster down, and with Philly being one win away from advancing to round two, it&rsquo;s hard to think about who&rsquo;s going to be able to actually do it.

Spencer Davies breaks down Joel Embiid's dominance for the Philadelphia 76ers and why he's been so special.

Joel Embiid's offensive showing for 76ers has been first-class all around

Fran Fraschilla discusses his upbringing, coaching career, transition to broadcasting, fatherhood, whether he'd coach again, and more.

Fran Fraschilla Q&A: 'If someone wants to take a chance on me, I'd consider coaching again'

There are many unknowns surrounding this NBA offseason. The 2020 NBA Draft is on Nov. 18, but that's the only day that is set in stone. Bubble is over and the only thing NBA fans have to do at this time is hang onto hope.
But that is the nifty thing about the NBA, especially when it comes to the have-nots. The draft brings hope for the long-term, while free agency brings hope for the short-term.
With that in mind, let&rsquo;s take a look at the NBA teams that project to have the most salary-cap space this offseason and what they are positioned to do in terms of possible wants and needs.
Teams That Definitely Have Cap Space
Atlanta Hawks 
Despite getting nearly 30 points per game from Trae Young and more than 20 from John Collins, the Hawks were 20-47 last season. At the trade deadline, they went out and traded for Clint Capela, who is 26 years old and should anchor the middle long after Dewayne Dedmon and his two years and $26.6 million of salary eventually come off the books. If Atlanta could find a way to move Dedmon this offseason, the organization's committed salary number would drop to the $45 million range. As it is, Capela and Dedmon will be the two highest-paid players on the team next season. Jeff Teague will likely head elsewhere as a free agent, meaning a point guard should be a priority in free agency. The best young one out in the market is Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors, who likely will have his choice of destinations once free agency begins sometime after the draft.
Atlanta has always been a favored destination city for a lot of NBA players because of the usual nightlife, although the pandemic has made nightlife a fond memory in most major American cities. Still, operating under the assumption that things will eventually return to normal, players and their agents who look at the Hawks see a terrific youthful trio in Young, 22, Collins, 23, and Capela, 26. The Hawks missed the postseason in each of the past three years after making it for 10-straight seasons, and general manager Travis Schlenk has stuck to a steady rebuild plan. Cam Reddish will be entering his second NBA season, and Atlanta selects No. 6 in this year's draft.
Having the most cap room in the NBA (about $40 million) will allow the Hawks to broker deals and add players without having to match salaries, so this is a franchise that should be positioned to grow into a contender over the next few years. Given the fact that they MUST spend 90 percent of the cap on somebody, it is incumbent upon head coach Lloyd Pierce and the ownership group (led by Tony Ressler) to sell perspective additions on the prospects for long-term success. The city is an easy sell. The goal of winning soon is a little more tricky.
New York Knicks
Assuming they do not pick up the Bobby Portis' player option ($15.75 million), New York's committed salary number will drop to roughly $67 million. That provides a heck of a lot of flexibility for new general manager Leon Rose (and new head coach Tom Thibodeau), and the team&rsquo;s braintrust is scheduled to meet in two weeks to map out a free agency plan. The Knicks have won exactly one playoff series in the past 21 seasons, and a significant portion of the fan base has given up on the team, believing sustained success will never come until James Dolan ceases being the owner. But since that is not happening anytime soon, Rose must become a super salesman to free agents later this year -- or a master craftsman in making trades.
There is a school of thought that trading for Chris Paul might be a way to lure Giannis Antetokounmpo in free agency after the 2020-21 season, but The Greek Freak&rsquo;s long-term plans will be impacted more by what changes Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst is able to make on the trade market this season, and he will probably kick the tires on a number of moves. Nearly every player on the Knicks' roster -- aside from RJ Barrett and Julius Randle -- will come off the cap a year from now (New York has only $21 million committed for the 2021-22 season), so free agency after another season of mediocrity is where Rose has to set his sights. But until players are convinced that the Knicks are capable of having a winning culture, they will stay away -- the same way Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons were 20-46 last season and traded away Andre Drummond to Cleveland for John Henson, Brandon Knight and a second-round pick, creating an immediate nomination for Head-Scratcher of the Year. Drummond has led the league in rebounding in each of the past three seasons (and four of the past five), and little did the Pistons -- who expected Drummond to leave in free agency -- know how the pandemic would change everything for everyone in the NBA.
Unrestricted free agent Christian Wood should be Drummond's replacement at center if re-signed, but his market value will determine if Detroit brings him back. With Derrick Rose now trade bait on an expiring $7.68 million deal, Detroit currently has only $68 million in committed salary for next season, so there will be new faces joining the team through trades or free agency. Incoming general manager Troy Weaver has waited his whole career for this opportunity, but there is not much young talent there to build around.
The first order of business will be taking the best-available prospect with the No. 7 pick in the draft. As of now, Detroit does not have a second-round pick; it was dealt to Phoenix in the home-run deal that brought Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to the Pistons back in 2015, but the Sacramento Kings now own that selection. Blake Griffin is on the cap sheet for two more seasons for nearly $76 million as well, so Weaver has his work cut out for him.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets
Michael Jordan can do better, one would think. How&rsquo;s this for preposterous: Nicolas Batum will earn $27.13 milllion next season if he picks up his player option. If there is an expression for &ldquo;no brainer&rdquo; in French, it would be fitting here, but at least Jordan can sleep tight at night knowing that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bismack Biyombo will not be getting any more of his money. The Hornets went for Terry Rozier in free agency a season ago, and he responded by averaging 18 points and shooting 40 percent from three-point range.
The two best players on this roster are guards after Devonte' Graham&rsquo;s strong second season, which was largely overlooked by Most Improved Player voters (perhaps because of this franchise&rsquo;s low profile). They are building a young core with P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges at the forward spots, and they now need a center. Montrezl Harrell and Serge Ibaka are <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ranking-top-10-nba-free-agent-centers-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">among colleague Spencer Davies&rsquo; top-10 free agents</a>, and landing Harrell would be a coup for Jordan. There have been reports that Harrell was among the Los Angeles Clippers players turned off by former coach Doc Rivers&rsquo; load management of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but the hiring of Ty Lue could be the proper fix. Ibaka would be a riskier long-term investment given his age (31). Mitch Kupchak is on the spot this offseason with Charlotte currently sitting on roughly $30 million in cap space.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/mitch2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="793" height="AUTO" />
Teams That Could Have Cap Space (Depending On Moves)
Miami Heat
This is where things get very interesting, with a lot of moving parts. Already the defending Eastern Conference champions, the Heat are sitting roughly $28 million under the projected salary cap number (or $41 million if Kelly Olynyk opts out), which means they can probably entice anyone out there to join a team anchored by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo -- and yes, Miami remains enticing in the COVID era. But that cap space is an illusion because the cap holds on Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder prohibit using it unless one or both leave in free agency.
If Dragic and Crowder leave for big money elsewhere, things get interesting because, in addition to the cap space, the Heat have trade chips in Andre Iguodala&rsquo;s expiring $17 million deal and Olynyk's expiring $13.6 million deal. Put the two of them together with a Kendrick Nunn or a Tyler Herro, and the sky is the limit in terms of what can come back in a trade. It remains to be seen what Miami has its eye on short-term (perhaps Victor Oladipo?), but the team is most certainly watching the Giannis situation for the longer-term. Pat Riley is a master recruiter, and let&rsquo;s just say that Miami is a nice place to live even during a pandemic. It should be a very interesting offseason...
New Orleans Pelilcans
First thing's first: They need to hire a coach; then comes the decision on whether to trade Jrue Holiday while his value is sky-high, having just been voted by his peers as the most desirable teammate in the league. The keeps long-term are Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram (the NBA&rsquo;s Most Improved Player) and Lonzo Ball. There is a glaring need for a big man, which is where executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin and general manager Trajan Langdon may look to spend with his cap number currently sitting at $83 million -- unless they makes an uneven trade salary-wise and bring in more money than he sends out in a Holiday trade (this is a scenario looked at in my <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-playoffs-finals-milwaukee-bucks-eric-bledsoe-khris-middleton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Khris Middleton/Eric Bledsoe column</a>).
The Pelicans' cap situation will depend on a couple of things. The first is Brandon Ingram, who is a restricted free agent with the ability to sign an offer sheet anywhere (but New Orleans has the ability to match any deal). The Pels were also one of the NBA&rsquo;s top-six rebounding teams last season, but Derrick Favors is an unrestricted free agent after averaging nearly 10 boards per game, which led the team. If they choose to re-sign him, their cap space is illusory because Favors&rsquo; cap holds eats it all up. If he leaves, New Orleans is right behind Miami on the list of Best Cities In Which To Ride Out a Pandemic.
Phoenix Suns
The beasts of the bubble (8-0) looked fantastic in Lake Buena Vista, FL, so maintain a healthy skepticism of rumors out there that Devin Booker could be traded to Minnesota for the No. 1 pick. Suns general manager James Jones has a nice young core in place with Booker, Deandre Ayton, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mikal Bridges; two factors that will impact their cap space is whether they tender a qualifying offer of $4.8 million to Dario Saric and whether they pick up the team option on Frank Kaminsky&rsquo;s $5 million option.
Phoenix had seven double-digit scorers last season led by Booker&rsquo;s 26.6 points per game, and their performance in the bubble made folks wonder whether the NBA should have included a play-in contingency plan for a team that outperformed expectations. As it was, they got squeezed. If Saric, Kaminsky (and Cameron Payne) are kept, the team's cap space shrinks to roughly zero when also accounting for the No. 10 pick in the draft. They are a work in progress, building to be a legit contender as this young core has another year together. Adding another piece with all or part of the $9.3 million mid-level exception, if it does not create luxury-tax problems, seems the most likely route.
Note: The cap and tax levels have not yet been set.

Chris Sheridan dives into the teams in the NBA with the most cap space and what they are positioned to do this offseason.

Analyzing the seven NBA teams with the most salary cap space

David West, James Posey, Etan Thomas, Mo Evans, Jahidi White and more discuss injuries in the NBA, team doctors and second opinions.

NBA vets discuss injuries, team doctors, second opinions and more

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.