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Scarlet Knights

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; The Golden State Warriors want to keep Draymond Green, yet the team is prepared for him to formally decline his $27.5 million player option for the final year of his contract next season and become an unrestricted free agent seeking a long-term deal.
The Athletic reported Monday that Green would opt out. Green, who said in April he wants to retire with Golden State, would have to notify the Warriors of his decision by June 30.
&ldquo;I saw the report, too. Until we get the paperwork and the filing we can&rsquo;t really comment or say much,&rdquo; new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said Monday at his introductory news conference. &ldquo;I will say it, I think Steve (Kerr) has said it, I&rsquo;ll reiterate, we really want Draymond back. What he means to this organization and this team in terms of trying to win at the highest level, we feel like we have to have him. So that&rsquo;s very important.&rdquo;
Kerr has applauded Green&rsquo;s fiery, emotional play. The season began with Green punching Jordan Poole at practice during training camp then taking a brief leave of absence from the team.
This spring, Green served a one-game suspension during the Warriors&rsquo; 114-97 Game 3 victory in the first round of the playoffs that Golden State won in seven games. He&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/draymond-green-suspension-playoffs-3306ac01060deaf104f77113fd3b66b1">vowed afterward not to change</a>.
&ldquo;Draymond won&rsquo;t be moved by no Draymond rules,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I will continue to play the game how I play the game, operate how I operate, be exactly who I am, because that leads to winning.&rdquo;
In the fourth quarter of the Kings&rsquo; 114-106 Game 2 win,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-draymond-green-ejected-075df068895834184e0877648d513b0a">Green stepped on the chest of Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis</a>&nbsp;after Stephen Curry grabbed a defensive rebound.
In 2016, Green was suspended for a crucial Game 5 loss to LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals after accumulating too many flagrant fouls in the playoffs that season. The Warriors wound up losing in seven.
Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob know there&rsquo;s much to do better this summer with the expectations that the Warriors will contend for another championship next season.
And, they hope, with Green a part of that core of players along with Curry and Klay Thompson that has won four titles together.
&ldquo;Look, he&rsquo;s been a spectacular player for us. We would not have these championships without his involvement, no question,&rdquo; Lacob said of Green.
&ldquo;I think everyone understands that in this room. He&rsquo;s meant a lot to this franchise. He&rsquo;s a bit of a controversial player perhaps in some corners around the league, certain things that have happened over the years. He knows that. We know that. But the good overwhelms the bad is what I would say.
&ldquo;... He&rsquo;s meant a lot. I think if he does come back that he will be very important to our success certainly going forward in the next few years.&rdquo;
Dunleavy, promoted from assistant GM to replace Bob Myers, is optimistic of keeping the roster together &mdash; Poole and the younger players, too.
Curry, Green and Thompson are still competing at an elite level.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s our hope. We love those guys and value them. I think there is a way to do it. That&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ll have to work through. It certainly is possible,&rdquo; Dunleavy said. &ldquo;The big thing is those guys are still playing at a high level. Steph conservatively is one of the top five players in the league. Draymond just had an incredible year. Essentially first team all defense. We&rsquo;re biased. One of the premiere defenders in the league. Klay has really returned well from his Achilles injury and his knee. Those guys are playing well at an older age.&rdquo;

The Golden State Warriors want to keep Draymond Green, says the team's new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Dunleavy: Warriors are committed to keeping Draymond Green

In a battle of Maryland high school powerhouses this past weekend, the DeMatha Stags dominated Bishop McNamara with an 89-58 win in the 2023 Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament championship game.
With an array of three-pointers by their talented trio of senior guards Jaden Winston, Mason So and Isaiah Arnold &mdash; and thunderous dunks by the sole junior in the starting lineup, Malcolm Thomas &mdash; the Stags ran away with the victory in front of a stunned crowd. Nobody had predicted this outcome by that large of a margin.&nbsp;
The win marks DeMatha&rsquo;s fourth straight ACIT crown and its 27th overall.
I caught up with Malcolm Thomas after the game to discuss the team&rsquo;s championship win, an up-and-down season, adjusting to a new coach, his recruiting and much more.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/malcolmthomas3.png" alt="" width="471" height="618" />
(Photo Credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/JaySpinks12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Spinks</a>)
Etan Thomas: So your junior season has come to a close. It was your first season under new head coach Mike Jones. You all avenged regular-season losses against St. John&rsquo;s and Bishop McNamara, and now, you won the ACIT championship. How does it feel?&nbsp;
Malcolm Thomas: "It feels good. We&rsquo;ve spent all season trying to put everything together. We had a tough two-point loss in the [Washington Catholic Athletic Conference] tournament to [St. Paul VI], but we had one more tournament to go. The final four was all WCAC teams, and it feels good to end the season on a good note."
Etan: Everyone was talking about your matchup with Donnie Freeman in the semifinals. College coaches kept talking about it to me, fans were asking about it all weekend. This was the head-to-head matchup everyone wanted to see. It was a great overtime win &mdash; you had 18 points to his 15 &mdash; but talk to me about that game and that matchup in particular.
Malcolm: "The DMV as a whole is very competitive, and me and Donnie will be matching up again over the summer during AAU and will match up again next season. I think it&rsquo;s great, and it&rsquo;s fun to go back and forth with someone like that and for people to be excited to see the matchup. We push each other and that&rsquo;s how it&rsquo;s supposed to be."
Etan: There has been a lot of criticism of new coach Mike Jones in his first year. It&rsquo;s been an adjustment period. I mean, this is your third coach in three years, so I don&rsquo;t see how anyone could expect there not to be an adjustment period. But everything came together at the end with a decisive 30-point blowout of Bishop McNamara. The entire gymnasium was shocked, especially since they played so well against Gonzaga [DC] the game before. But talk about that process of going through the ups and downs of the season and the adjustment period and how you all grew as a team.
Malcolm: "One of the biggest things Coach Jones preached all year is that no matter what happens, make sure we are always growing and always learning and getting better, and that&rsquo;s what we did. We started off well at the beginning of the year, took a few dips as the season went on and we ended well. So we were able to withstand the adversity and not crumble when things weren&rsquo;t going right, and that&rsquo;s a credit to the leadership of our coaches."
Etan: You have a lot of talented guys coming back, some that people may not know about. What can DeMatha fans look forward to seeing next season?
Malcolm: "We have a lot of talent like you said. And we had a lot of seniors on this team, so many of [our players] had to take a back seat and wait and be patient, but you&rsquo;re going to see next year. Coach did this thing in practice toward the end where he put underclassmen against upperclassmen, and we won our fair share of games against the seniors. But yes, we have a lot of talent coming back and they&rsquo;re going to make a big impact next year."
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Etan: So let&rsquo;s talk about you a little bit and your growth this season. You won a lot of MVPs at different tournaments the entire year. You&rsquo;ve shown your ability to score inside and out and your athleticism. You block shots with the best in the nation. You led the team in rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage. You almost led the team in scoring &mdash; I believe you and J-Win (Jaden Winston) were neck and neck.
But what are the things you want to keep adding to your game this offseason? Coach Jones said that you are &ldquo;one of the most athletic players in the country." He emphasized that's not just in the DMV, but in the entire country, and he said this was something that shocked him and his coaching staff about you from Day 1.
Malcolm: "Well, I want to become the best player I can in all aspects of the game both offensively and defensively. I want to extend my game further out to the perimeter, improve my ball-handling. (I want to) improve on being able to guard 1-through-5 consistently no matter the lineup; coach has utilized me in that way all season and I want to keep improving on it, especially guarding smaller, faster guards on the perimeter like JQ (Jeremiah Quigley) for Bishop McNamara, who is very good at what he does &mdash; and that&rsquo;s what I want to keep challenging myself to do."
Etan: So we&rsquo;re in this new hybrid, positionless-players era that you seem to fall under. You&rsquo;re 6-foot-8. You can play the 5, but you&rsquo;re not an old-school, traditional 5. You can stretch the floor at the 4, and you can drive from the three-point line and knock down the mid-rangers at the 3. And like you said, you&rsquo;ve guarded 2s and point guards at times. What do you attribute that ability to?&nbsp;
Malcolm: "I think me playing with guys two years older than me with the <a href="https://t.co/EzdYmhuUcl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dynamic Disciples</a> my whole life helped my growth. I was tall, but I never played center. I was always guarding the perimeter. Also, I grew up playing soccer, until I got too tall for it, so moving my feet was what I always did."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
From one generation to the next🤝 Tonight after <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WizPistons?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WizPistons</a> on Postgame Live: Following In My Father's Footsteps<a href="https://twitter.com/WashWizards?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WashWizards</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@etanthomas36</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DeMathaHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeMathaHoops</a> <a href="https://t.co/auZd65xc9t">pic.twitter.com/auZd65xc9t</a>
&mdash; NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWizards/status/1635645708433752066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Etan: Let&rsquo;s talk about recruiting. What is it that you&rsquo;re looking for in a school? Schools all make promises and give their sales pitches as we&rsquo;ve seen since recruiting started, but what is Malcolm Thomas looking for in a school? Also, a lot of people have assumed that you're definitely going to Syracuse. Five people said that to me this weekend actually.
Malcolm: "I&rsquo;m looking for a school that best fits me and I would fit the best in. Of course, I grew up going up to Syracuse since I can remember, watching games at the [Carrier] Dome, seeing all the love you get when you go back there, so naturally I grew up loving the school. I mean, both my parents went there. But there are a lot of factors that come into play: My personal connection with the coaches, with the players, the environment, the school itself. I&rsquo;m doing my homework. I&rsquo;m not going to go to a school because of an NIL deal or because my parents went there. It has to be the right situation for me."
Etan: It&rsquo;s easy to get caught up in the flattery of recruiting. Everyone tells you how great you are because they want you to come there, but I see so many kids going to schools for the wrong reasons and they end up transferring because it&rsquo;s not the best place for them, which they quickly find out.&nbsp;
Malcolm: "Well, I&rsquo;m thankful that both of my parents have gone through the process and have prepared me for what to expect and what to look for and what not to be flattered by. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s important for me to take my time and find the best situation for me. So now that regular high school season is over and AAU season is about to start, I&rsquo;ll continue working on all of the things I want to improve on with my game and research schools and players who have played there and who are playing there, as these different schools reach out to me as I have been doing. It&rsquo;s a process."
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Etan: It&rsquo;s interesting. You mentioned that you wouldn&rsquo;t go to a school because of an NIL deal, but that&rsquo;s exactly what is happening in this day and age. And of course, an NIL deal doesn&rsquo;t mean that&rsquo;s the best place for you, and I think that&rsquo;s one of the reasons why you have so many kids in the transfer portal now.&nbsp;
Malcolm: "But also, you have to keep in mind that a lot of kids are coming from situations where they need that money right now. I&rsquo;m blessed not to be in that situation, but everyone&rsquo;s situation is different, so I can&rsquo;t knock them for it being important to them. But for me, yes, NIL deals are nice, but that&rsquo;s not the determining factor for me personally."
Etan: That definitely makes sense. So here's my last question: Who is your favorite player to watch? Who is someone you would want to play like?&nbsp;
Malcolm: "That&rsquo;s easy: Giannis. The way he attacks the rim, people move out of the way when he drives to the hole. He dunks everything around the basket, and powers in and uses his length and strength. The way he has built up his body over the last few years is exactly how I&rsquo;m going to build up mine. His three-point and outside shot is improving, and he is relentless on defense. He can guard anyone on the court, whether they are a point guard at the top of the key, the team's leading scoring 2-guard on the perimeter or the team&rsquo;s biggest strongest big man in the paint. And he can bring the ball up the floor and initiate the offense."
Etan:&nbsp;Does that sound a little familiar? (Laughing)&nbsp;
Malcolm: "Well, all of those are situations that Coach Jones has put me in this past season and has reiterated that he did that because he had the confidence that I can do all of that. So yeah, that&rsquo;s what I am going to keep working toward. To be able to do all of that on a Giannis level. That&rsquo;s my goal."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/malcolmthomas1-3.png" alt="" width="471" height="587" />
(Photo Credit: Jonathan Spinks)

Etan Thomas chats with his son Malcolm Thomas about DeMatha's fourth straight ACIT crown, his season, recruitment and more.

Malcolm Thomas Q&A: DeMatha’s season, ACIT Championship, recruiting

For the vast majority of his career, Caris LeVert has been a high-usage player. With the ball in his hands, he puts pressure on defenses primarily as a downhill scorer and distributor. His unorthodox methods and pull-up abilities make him one of the most efficient isolation threats in the NBA.
This season, however, the Cleveland Cavaliers have asked much more of LeVert, who&rsquo;s bringing a different kind of value that can&rsquo;t be quantified: sacrifice and adaptability.
&ldquo;The biggest challenge would probably be trying to adjust game-by-game depending on who's playing, matchups on the other side. Sometimes I've played the 4, I've never done that in life before,&rdquo; LeVert told Basketball News following the Cavs&rsquo; win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. &ldquo;So just playing different positions, just staying ready for different roles.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's been pretty tough, but I think on the flip side, we're a super talented team. We're obviously on the winning side of things more times than not, so it's definitely fun to be on that side of it 'cause I've been on the other side of it too, where guys aren't necessarily playing to win and playing for stats. Here, it's completely different, so I think that's definitely been a plus."
Instead of moving him at the trade deadline as some expected due to his expiring $18.8 million contract, Cavs president Koby Altman and his front office held onto LeVert. Altman made it known publicly how much he appreciates the 28-year-old&rsquo;s contributions and dedication to the team&rsquo;s vision, even going as far as sharing the franchise&rsquo;s interest in a potential contract extension this summer.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The thing that really speaks to me is, and I'm a softy for this, but guys that really want to be here,&rdquo; Altman said last week. &ldquo;Guys that show up every day to work, that have a great attitude, that whatever their role is &mdash; and he had to take a substantial step back, be a sixth-man type when he could be starting in the NBA on a lot of different teams &mdash; and being like, 'I want to make this work. I want to be here.' That's meaningful to me, that's meaningful to this organization and it's a big reason why he's here."
Asked about sticking around after the 3 p.m. buzzer sounded, LeVert was just glad not to be on the move for the third straight deadline.
&ldquo;It's cool to, I guess, have a home for the rest of the season, not have to pack up and go somewhere else,&rdquo; LeVert admitted. &ldquo;I've done that the past two seasons. It's very stressful to do that and hectic, so it's cool to be with this group and finish the season out and see how far we can go.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The vibes are pretty high. Winning does that. You know, you win a lot of games... we're around each other, sh**, more than we are with our families. So obviously, you're gonna get really close to a group when you win a lot of games.&rdquo;
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Since his arrival a year ago, multiple members of the Cavs told Basketball News that LeVert has bought in with the organization, so much that he changed his diet and "was in the best shape of his life."
"Especially with his role changing so much, last year and this year, he's the same person every day," said one Cavs source.
On the current campaign, LeVert&rsquo;s usage rate has dipped to 20.6% overall, per Cleaning The Glass &mdash; his lowest since he was a rookie with the Brooklyn Nets. According <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?TeamID=1610612739&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=TOUCHES" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to NBA.com</a>, he is fourth on the team in touches per game (49.9) and fifth in average dribbles per touch (3.07). In previous stops in Indiana and Brooklyn, those numbers were higher on average &mdash; especially before the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era.
Even with that fact, he is one of four Cavs creating ~10 points per game off assists and third on the squad with <a href="https://go.nba.com/3mts8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6.9 potential assists per game</a>, which is one of the many reasons Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has spoken so highly of LeVert&rsquo;s willingness to put the team first over everything else since he came into the fold.
&ldquo;The first conversation we had when we traded for him, he told me, &lsquo;Do whatever you need to do with me because I'm very adaptable,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bickerstaff said in early November. &ldquo;And understanding himself, and not having an unrealistic picture of who he is allows him to do that and do it comfortably because a lot of people can&rsquo;t. If you ask a guy to be different on a night-by-night basis, that's extremely difficult. And I think Caris, again, has showed that he can do it and I think he's only gonna get better at it.&rdquo;
In addition to making the right plays on offense while Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell (and now, a returned Ricky Rubio) operate in the half-court, the Cavs have tasked the 28-year-old with more defensive responsibility as well.
&ldquo;I knew as soon as we made the trade for Donovan, it was gonna be a different type of role for me. But I've always kinda been a player to do it all,&rdquo; LeVert explained. &ldquo;I think just this year, it's been a lot different just because I'm not necessarily on the ball as much. So the other parts of my game are gonna show a little bit more.
&ldquo;It's something that is definitely uncomfortable at times just because I've always kinda just been that (go-to scoring option). That's been my role on a lot of teams. So I just try to put it all on the defensive end of the ball, make the effort plays, make the energy plays and try to win. Make winning plays.&rdquo;
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Caris LeVert digging down &amp; making BI work <a href="https://t.co/0ltjwrllts">pic.twitter.com/0ltjwrllts</a>
&mdash; Siddharth (@SiddharthNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SiddharthNBA/status/1624294956579065856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Specifically, Bickerstaff has pointed out how LeVert&rsquo;s ability to get through screens allows Cleveland to avoid putting two on the ball. He&rsquo;s deflecting passes, staying in front of his man near the perimeter and keeping the Cavs&rsquo; towering duo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley closer to the basket.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s huge, because although you have those big guys back there to support you, you don't want to put those big guys under duress all the time,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said of LeVert&rsquo;s impact on that end. &ldquo;That (contribution), you know, allows the rest of your defense to just be in place. So, when shots go up, now you're in rebounding position and you can be better at finishing possessions.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I've always played defense, but I think when you're asked to do more on the offensive side of the ball, you kind of slack on that end sometimes,&rdquo; LeVert added. &ldquo;I think, with here, my role's not necessarily to score. It's more so to be a Swiss Army knife, do it all. It's more onus on my defense, so naturally, I'm just more locked in on that end.&rdquo;
At the beginning of the season, he was a starter for the first 14 games of the campaign &mdash; first at small forward, then at shooting guard and even once as a point guard before eventually moving back to the 3.&nbsp;
Then, it was ultimately determined that LeVert could do his best work off the bench, and he&rsquo;s been a fixture of the second unit ever since (as long as the Cavs have been healthy).
&ldquo;It was an easy conversation because Caris is easy to talk to and because of his willingness to do whatever to help the team. He reiterated to me that he was just all in. That literally came out of his mouth,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said in late November when the change was made. &ldquo;It was like, &lsquo;Whatever you need me to do to help the team win and be better, that&rsquo;s what I want to do.&rsquo; He is more comfortable with the ball in his hand. He was sacrificing a ton playing that kind of third position with those two guards and then obviously we throw it to Evan and JA, so his strength needs to be a rhythm that happens through the game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfair to him to not allow him to catch a rhythm and then be on the floor at the end of games when we need him, and now, he has no rhythm and when the ball does find him, he&rsquo;s disjointed. It&rsquo;s a combination of doing what&rsquo;s best for him but then when that&rsquo;s our finishing lineup, he&rsquo;s got a rhythm, he feels comfortable and he&rsquo;s touched the ball and has had an impact. That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re looking for. Will it happen overnight? No. But we will continue to work at it and think it will work.&rdquo;
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Fast-forward from Nov. 18 to mid-February and the All-Star break, and LeVert&rsquo;s numbers have been steadily similar to his season-long averages. He&rsquo;s produced 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists over 41 games, making 42.0% of his overall field goals including a 34.9% clip from deep.
Even wilder, LeVert has attempted just 11 shots total over his last three contests heading into the All-Star break. That's the least volume he's seen in literally five years over a three-game stretch.
&ldquo;I think for me, it's all about rhythm. When you take one a game, the percentages are gonna look a little off, same with your threes,&rdquo; LeVert said. &ldquo;When I play starter minutes, the attempts are there. Coming off the bench, it's a little bit different. If you make your first one, then the percentages look good. If you miss your first one, you may miss one each half, you're 0-for-2. If you go 0-for-2 for three straight games, the percentages look a little different. So, I try not to think too much about that and just go out there and hoop.&rdquo;
There will come a time when the Cavs are going to need LeVert to revert to his ball-dominant self in certain situations. Altman believes having him as a ready-to-go spot starter is a luxury, and noted that in the postseason, there has to be someone who's able to break down his man one-on-one when Garland and/or Mitchell need to breathe a bit.&nbsp;
"He can step right in and we won't miss a beat," said another member of the franchise.
LeVert's also able to catch the ball with momentum and make things happen when all three are on the floor together.
&ldquo;Really lethal,&rdquo; Garland said of LeVert earlier this season. &ldquo;Because when me and Donovan are up top, there's not a lot that you can do with us, I believe. And then you've got to help a lot, which means Caris is open a lot more. We have a lot more opportunities for catch-and-shoots, attacking on closeouts &ndash; which he does best &ndash; getting to the rim, getting to that floater.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I consider him like Jordan Clarkson because he can get going at any time,&rdquo; Mitchell said after a Dec. 2 win over Orlando.&nbsp;
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That&rsquo;s the type of play Caris LeVert was kept for. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetEmKnow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetEmKnow</a> <a href="https://t.co/D9ur9pTakm">pic.twitter.com/D9ur9pTakm</a>
&mdash; Mack Perry (@DevaronPerry) <a href="https://twitter.com/DevaronPerry/status/1625297368529731586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Once a point guard at Pickerington Central High School in the Columbus area before hitting a growth spurt, LeVert has always been able to deliver an on-target pocket pass, as well as a crafty wraparound after a drive to the bucket.
&ldquo;I've always kinda had that. I've always been pretty good at reading the floor on drives. And I have great chemistry with JA playing three, four years together in Brooklyn. We used to do that a lot,&rdquo; LeVert said with a laugh.
He&rsquo;s picked up where he left off with his former Nets teammate in Allen, who's the <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1627747/passes-dash?PerMode=Totals&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AST&amp;OpponentTeamID=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only player to receive at least 50 assists from LeVert</a>. Next on the list is Mobley, whom LeVert has dimed to 43 times.
LeVert hasn&rsquo;t been perfect. There have been moments of ill-advised decisions on offense with turnovers in traffic and on defense such as fouling three-point shooters at inopportune times, for example.
Yet, there will be moments like a near-comeback effort in Philadelphia that unfairly get glossed over, where LeVert gets his hand on a ball or pressures his man to the point where a teammate gets a steal, or he slides to help on a defensive rotation when somebody needs it, or he makes a pass leading to a pass that leads to an assist, or he tips a loose ball up to himself and lobs it up for a teammate in transition.
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LeVert ➡️ Stevens ⬆️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetEmKnow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetEmKnow</a> <a href="https://t.co/np3xhmhQBX">pic.twitter.com/np3xhmhQBX</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsCLE/status/1626030403730477056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

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When you look at the entire body of work and LeVert's activity, Cleveland would not be a top-four team in the East without him.
What's asked of him may differ every game, but he always makes sure to bring his best.
"I think just coming in and providing a spark,&rdquo; LeVert said when asked how he can best help the Cavs the rest of the way. &ldquo;That may be offensively, that may be defensively, that may be loose balls, that may be moving the ball and making sure we get a good shot every time. But I think that's been made clear, that's pretty much my role on this team. So just team-[first].&rdquo;
&ldquo;[There&rsquo;s] just a resiliency. Things always haven't gone his way and things haven't been easy or perfect for him. But he's never once tucked his tail, he's never put his head down and had bad body language or been disruptive to his teammates or any of those things,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;He's just continued to work and continue to try to help the team. And we appreciate that. As a coach, you appreciate a guy who doesn't let his own problems or successes get in the way of the team and that's who Caris is.
"All he cares about is trying to do what's right for the team and help as much he can.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies speaks with Cavs swingman Caris LeVert about staying in Cleveland past the trade deadline and how he's adapted.

Despite fluid role, Caris LeVert stays bought in with Cavaliers

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;
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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.
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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.
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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

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Royce O'Neale walked gingerly onto the podium with an ice bag around each knee and reiterated the soaring confidence level among the Brooklyn Nets even with star Kevin Durant on the sidelines nursing a knee injury.
Taking down Stephen Curry and the defending NBA champions on their home floor sure doesn't hurt.
With the defense keying on Kyrie Irving, O'Neale hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left, and the Nets capitalized on Golden State's third straight game squandering a double-digit lead, beating the Warriors 120-116 on Sunday night.
&ldquo;Kyrie had been getting to the basket, hitting tough shots and at that moment, he drove, two people double-teamed and he found me open," O'Neale said. &ldquo;I just needed to have the confidence to knock it down.&rdquo;
Golden State went ahead 106-93 on Klay Thompson's jumper with 6:57 to play then the Nets outscored the Warriors 27-10 the rest of the way.
Curry's two free throws with 1:12 remaining gave Golden State the lead moments after Irving's three-point play put Brooklyn ahead, then Irving missed on the other end facing defensive pressure from Thompson. Irving missed another try but Golden State got two more chances and both Curry and Kevon Looney missed with less than a minute left.
On the winning play, Irving drove, was smothered and dished the ball off.
"They did a great job of staying on my body, keeping the game physical, making it tough," Irving said. &ldquo;I felt like my teammates had a lot of great looks, drawing the defense, drawing two, three to lose their man. Royce being wide open, I felt like that was the best shot for our team so I gave up the ball, trusted him to make it and luckily it went in.&rdquo;
Irving finished with 38 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for a Nets team that won a second straight playing without Durant, who missed facing his former team after winning titles and NBA Finals MVP honors in 2017 and &rsquo;18 with Golden State.
Nic Claxton contributed career highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds with three blocks as the Nets won two in a row following a four-game losing streak that followed Durant getting hurt.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of confidence going around, everybody&rsquo;s taking the challenge, stepping up, finding out ways to win games,&rdquo; O'Neale said.
Irving shot 12 for 22 with five 3-pointers coming off a spectacular 48-point performance in a 117-106 road win at Utah on Friday night in Brooklyn's first win since Durant sprained his right knee.
Curry had 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Little brother Seth Curry&rsquo;s layup with 2:29 left pulled Brooklyn within 112-109 then Joe Harris tied it on a 3 the next time down.
Jordan Poole added 17 points for the Warriors, who used a 39-point second quarter to take charge but couldn't hold it.
&ldquo;You give a team like that some life, they're really good,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Irving's 3-pointer at the 6:55 mark of the third tied the game and the Warriors led 90-86 heading into the final 12 minutes.
O'Neale scored 11 of his 16 points with three 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Donte DiVincenzo made all four of his 3-point tries in the first half and the Warriors led 70-53 late in the second before a 7-0 Nets run got Brooklyn within 72-60 at the break. DiVincenzo wound up with 13 points and eight assists and Jonathan Kuminga added 20 points in 25 minutes.
Poole stayed in the starting lineup in Looney's place after scoring 30 or more points in two of the previous three games.
Looney had 14 points and 10 boards and Draymond Green nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists after Brooklyn whipped the Warriors 143-113 at home on Dec. 21 but without Curry and Thompson.
Thompson added 10 points as six Warriors scored in double figures.
TIP-INS
Nets: F T.J. Warren was available and played 11 minutes after dealing with a bruised right knee. ... Seth Curry scored 12 points. ... Brooklyn matched the Warriors with 42 rebounds. ... The Nets improved to 5-6 on the road vs. the Western Conference.
Warriors: The Warriors dropped to 8-2 at home against teams with winning records coming into the game. ... Golden State has hit 15 or more 3s in 12 straight games. ... The Warriors scored 50 bench points in another big performance by the backups.
&nbsp;

Royce O'Neale hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Golden State Warriors 120-116.

O'Neale's late 3-pointer lifts Nets past Warriors 120-116

SAN ANTONIO (AP) &mdash; At the NCAA convention Thursday, outgoing President Mark Emmert said goodbye, incoming President Charlie Baker introduced himself and the state of college sports was declared perilous.
&ldquo;As a collective enterprise, we are both thriving and threatened,&rdquo; said Baylor President Linda Livingstone, who is the chairwoman of the NCAA&rsquo;s Board of Governors.
Livingstone handled most of the annual state of college sports address with the NCAA in a period of both transition and transformation.
Earlier in the day, the Division I Board of Directors approved a host of recommendations intended to reform the top-tier of college sports, from membership standards to the size of championship brackets.
But Livingstone reiterated what has become a familiar refrain from college sports leaders during her time on stage, saying federal intervention is needed.
&ldquo;We need a safe harbor to a certain degree from antitrust complaints,&rdquo; Livingstone said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not looking for, nor do we need, a broad antitrust exemption. But we do need the ability to make common sense rules without limitless threats of litigation.&rdquo;
Amid a patchwork of state laws, the NCAA is struggling to regulate the way athletes can now be compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses. The association lifted its ban on athletes being paid by sponsors and endorsers in July 2021 and many within college sports worry it has quickly become a way to induce recruits or pay for play.
There are also multiple movements to grant college athletes employee status.
Livingstone said while it is essential college athletes not become employees of the schools in which they attend, that doesn&rsquo;t mean they couldn&rsquo;t eventually be compensated.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the questions that we&rsquo;re working on, trying to answer that question,&rdquo; she said during a news conference after her address to membership. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s why protection of the status of our student-athletes is so important, that they be viewed as sort of a unique status on our campus, that they would not be employees.&rdquo;
Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, was brought in to lead the NCAA because of his reputation as a consensus builder in a mostly Democratic state.
He conceded getting federal legislation passed is challenging, but not having it might not be an option.
&ldquo;I do believe that there are serious issues with just letting this train run without doing something to deal with the consequences that are currently facing college sports,&rdquo; he said in the news conference after he briefly addressed membership.
Baker doesn&rsquo;t start until March 1. He attended the convention on a mini-listening tour. He said his notes over the last few days of meeting with NCAA staff, school administrators, conference commissioners and athletes filled an entire notebook.
Emmert thanked the membership for allowing him to serve at the top of the NCAA for 12 years and congratulated them on making massive changes in college sports that have benefited athletes.
And he said he was &ldquo;absolutely delighted&rdquo; with the choice of his successor.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got to be a challenging role. You know that Charlie, you know that this is not a cakewalk. Anything but,&rdquo; Emmert said.
Livingstone has been an active participant in the NCAA&rsquo;s recent efforts to reform from within as part of the Division transformation committee. The committee made its final report public last week and D-I Board of Director&rsquo;s approval came Thursday at the convention.
&ldquo;Keep in mind these are concepts at this point,&rdquo; said Georgia President Jere Morehead, the chairman of the board. &ldquo;So there&rsquo;s still a lot of work to be done on the details, but tremendous progress was made today. The board was very adamant its support of student-athletes and most of the transformation committee recommendations focused on how to enhance the experience for student-athletes.&rdquo;
The report called for more sport-by-sport governance in Division I, more involvement by athletes in governance and enhanced expectations for D-I schools with a goal of creating a more uniform experience for athletes.
Transformation committee co-chairs Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, and Julie Cromer, Ohio University athletic director, reiterated in a joint statement the work of transforming Division I will continue beyond the committee&rsquo;s work.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re confident these important changes will meet the needs of student-athletes because they were rooted in the perspective of student-athletes,&rdquo; they said. &ldquo;In fact, we&rsquo;re confident that student-athletes&rsquo; voices have never featured more prominently in shaping how college sports is run.&rdquo;
The committee recommended allowing 25% of teams in sports sponsored by at least 200 schools to compete in annual championship events. That opens the door to possible expansion of the popular March Madness basketball tournaments from 68 to as many as 90 teams each.
The board also approved the creation of a second, 32-team postseason tournament in Division I women&rsquo;s basketball. The tournament would be similar to men&rsquo;s NIT, which is owned and operated by the NCAA.
The tournament was part of the recommendations from an independent gender equity review and is intended to provide an equal number of NCAA-funded postseason opportunities in men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s basketball.

With Mark Emmert saying goodbye, incoming NCAA president Charlie Baker introduced himself and spoke on a number of topics.

NCAA board approves recommendations for Division I reform

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Snowflakes were just starting to fall in earnest as students hurriedly erected tents with the intent of camping out for a basketball game more than 24 hours away.
The overnight party was eventually called off over concerns about the snow and frigid temperatures from the late autumn storm. But it still illustrated that there&rsquo;s nothing else in West Coast college basketball to rival what Gonzaga has created over the last two decades.
&ldquo;I am an undergrad degree-holder of the institution and so have been part of it for over 35 years and I&rsquo;ve seen sort of what it was before we have experienced the modern era of basketball and what it has been during that time,&rdquo; Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh said. &ldquo;And then some of the things that we now find ourselves challenged with and have opportunities around and it&rsquo;s very clearly been an important dimension of who we are and how we&rsquo;re seen.&rdquo;
Gonzaga is no longer the plucky up-and-comer with the frequently mispronounced name, and it no longer really fits in the &ldquo;mid-major&rdquo; category, not with its resume. And with college sports realignment back in play, the Zags are being talked about as a potential target for bigger conferences that once never would have looked to Spokane.
The possibility of a future somewhere other than the West Coast Conference is on the table for Gonzaga, which has been a member since 1979.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always the need to look and the need to evaluate and it&rsquo;s not simple math, it&rsquo;s calculus,&rdquo; Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford said. &ldquo;I think you just have to stay open-minded and you have to be willing to look at the existing ecosystem and recognize that it&rsquo;s not static, it&rsquo;s very dynamic. And you have to anticipate what some of that dynamism means, and not be complacent.&rdquo;
The talk surrounding Gonzaga is not new. There has been talk in the past of a move to the Big East or the Mountain West. More recently, the Zags have been linked to the Pac-12 and Big 12 following the latest realignment moves involving those conferences.
All those moves were based on football. Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC; USC and UCLA to the Big Ten; the Big 12 adding Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU, which is a WCC member in basketball.
But the realignment juggle may be hitting its peak with regards to football. That&rsquo;s left the question of what&rsquo;s next and what still could be done with college basketball, the next most profitable college sport.
Gonzaga wouldn&rsquo;t bring television market size. It would definitely offer brand relevance.
The Zags&rsquo; basketball resume is impressive: two national championship game appearances for the men, 23 straight NCAA Tournament berths, 21 WCC regular-season titles. The women&rsquo;s basketball program is also regularly ranked in the AP Top 25 and has made three Sweet Sixteen trips and one Elite Eight appearance.
The Bulldogs are regularly strong in other sports like baseball and soccer, all helping to create national recognition.
&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s probably the lesson that I get taught over and over is we underappreciate the power of our brand nationally,&rdquo; Standiford said. &ldquo;I think it means a lot to the sport of college basketball. I think it means a lot to the collegiate model because it inspires people to recognize that you still have a pathway to get there and it&rsquo;s not economically driven, it&rsquo;s opportunity-driven.&rdquo;
One of those opportunities for Gonzaga could be with the Big 12, whose commissioner has not been shy about expressing his desire to have a presence on the West Coast. In Las Vegas earlier this month, Brett Yormark reiterated statements he&rsquo;s made several times about the future of the Big 12 being larger than the four schools joining in 2023.
&ldquo;We want to go coast-to-coast at some point in time,&rdquo; Yormark said. &ldquo;We would love to get into that fourth time zone and we will at some point.&rdquo;
Yormark also said he views basketball as being undervalued and that he would be open to adding a member that doesn&rsquo;t play football: &ldquo;If there is a stand-alone basketball opportunity that creates value enterprise, value for the conference, absolutely.&rdquo;
His statements appears to point toward Gonzaga, which seems to stand alone in its potential value because of its basketball program, at least out West. But the Pac-12 is also evaluating its future with the pending departure of the Los Angeles schools.
Any substantial consideration by the Pac-12 likely must wait until its next media deals are finalized. The Big 12 finished its TV deals earlier this year.
When asked generally if Gonzaga feels wanted, Standiford simply replied, &ldquo;yes,&rdquo; although there are no offers from potential suitors yet.
There is also the possibility that Gonzaga ends up staying put, deciding the WCC &mdash; all of its member schools are private, faith-based institutions &mdash; is the right fit.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as easy or as simple as I think perhaps some people might want to think it is,&rdquo; McCulloh said. &ldquo;We are still a small- to medium-sized university that&rsquo;s in a town called Spokane and our success as an institution has been very interrelated with our community and with our alumni.&rdquo;

Qith college sports realignment back in play, the Zags are being talked about as a potential target for bigger conferences

Gonzaga ponders future with realignment beckoning

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Yup, <a href="https://apnews.com/3b7616ff19d673b9e743001089e39631">Ben Simmons got booed</a>.
One of the most reviled former players in Philadelphia&rsquo;s sports history got the hostile homecoming the Brooklyn Nets guard expected in his first game in the city since his former team acquiesced to his trade demand in February.
Simmons was voraciously booed from the moment he stepped on the Wells Fargo Center court for warmups against the 76ers to the first time he brought up the ball against his former franchise.
&ldquo;This is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va6nRaZ9eRg">Vince Vaughn earmuffs</a> night,&rdquo; Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said to laughter.
Oh yes, Sixers fans cursed, they turned old No. 25 jerseys into art projects and the scorned mostly let the mercurial guard have it for their belief he turned his back on the franchise that made him the No. 1 pick in 2016.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t worry about everyone&rsquo;s feelings,&rdquo; Simmons said before Tuesday&rsquo;s game.
Simmons played his first game in Philadelphia since a June 20, 2021 Game 7 loss to Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinals. He passed up a wide-open tying dunk late in the loss that triggered passive criticisms from coach Rivers and Joel Embiid that unraveled the relationship. Simmons also had back issues and later said mental health woes played a role in his trade demand in the summer of 2021 that led to a contentious few days in training camp. Simmons was sent home for good, filed a grievance after the Sixers said he breached his contract (it was later settled in a confidential agreement) and then shipped to Brooklyn in a trade for All-Star James Harden.
Embiid and Harden sat out with injuries, as did Tyrese Maxey, the genial guard that became in instant fan-favorite as Simmons replacement.
Simmons, who watched from the bench as he recovered from a back injury when the Nets played in Philly in March, told reporters at shootaround he had no hard feelings toward Embiid and other former teammates.
&ldquo;We had a lot of highlights. We had lot of great times,&rdquo; Simmons said. &ldquo;I got a lot of love for Jo, too. Obviously, didn&rsquo;t work out. That&rsquo;s life. Not everything works out in your favor.&rdquo;
Ask if he might seek out Embiid, Simmons cracked, &ldquo;Yeah, we&rsquo;re going to do our secret handshake.&rdquo;
The trio of sidelined Sixers starters made the nationally televised game a bit anticlimactic.
Well, at least on the court. Philadelphia&rsquo;s starting lineup of Tobias Harris, P.J Tucker, Montrezl Harrell, De&rsquo;Anthony Melton and Shake Milton was not what most fans who listed lower-level tickets in the $900 range expected when they listed this one.
Booing Simmons about made it worth any price.
Hey, at least the <a href="https://twitter.com/APgelston/status/1595193281574752256">local duct tape business was booming</a>. Sixers fans needed only a sharpie and the adhesive to salvage their old No. 25 Simmons jerseys. Most fans wrote some kind of profanity on the tape -- one hopeful fan waiting in a penned off area before the maincourse opened had his vulgarity ripped off by a security guard -- while one went deep in the great Philly insult well and wrote <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8VBehdpOpI">&ldquo;Crumb Bumb</a> &rdquo; over Simmons name.
Nets players laughed in the pregame layup line when Simmons jogged out to boos.
&ldquo;I had a lot of great moments here. This is where I became a man, I feel like,&rdquo; Simmons said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had a lot of respect for Philly in that way. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of love for Philly.&rdquo;
It wasn&rsquo;t all loathe and basketball in the City of Brotherly Love.
Sydney Reiver, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, held a sign from the third row that read &ldquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/APgelston/status/1595193924150329344">BEN IM UR #1 FAN</a>, PLEASE SIGN MY JERSEY&rdquo; and caught the guard&rsquo;s attention after warmups. Simmons walked toward the stands and <a href="https://twitter.com/APgelston/status/1595202650630389761">posed for a photo</a> with the teenager wearing his Brooklyn No. 10 jersey. She had missed out on meeting him when he played in Philadelphia and decided to send him a direct message in Instagram that she would be at the game. The 14-year-old ninth-grade student said she &ldquo;was upset&rdquo; when Simmons was traded but thrilled she finally met her favorite player.
&ldquo;He was like, &lsquo;what&rsquo;s up,&rsquo;&rdquo; she said.
Reiver attended the game with her dad; the family has had season tickets for 41 years.
Simmons had more friendly faces in Brooklyn&rsquo;s locker room, a point Vaughn has made with the three-time All-Star. Whatever the outcome, Simmons has a home with the Nets.
&ldquo;What I want to see is his teammates have his back, embrace him, enjoy this moment,&rdquo; Vaughn said.

One of the most reviled former players in Philadelphia’s sports history got the hostile homecoming the Nets guard expected.

Boo Simmons: Nets guard jeered in first game in Philly

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Kansas suspended Hall of Fame coach Bill Self and top assistant Kurtis Townsend for the first four games of the season Wednesday, along with imposing several recruiting restrictions, as part of the fallout from a lengthy FBI investigation into college basketball corruption.
Norm Roberts will be the acting coach for the defending national champions beginning with their opener Monday night against Omaha. Self and Townsend also will miss games against North Dakota State and Southern Utah along with a high-profile showdown between the No. 5 Jayhawks and No. 7 Duke in the Champions Classic.
Self and Townsend will rejoin the team to face North Carolina State at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 23.
The school already had barred the two coaches from off-campus recruiting this past summer. It will also reduce the number of official visits during the 2023-24 academic year, reduce the total number of scholarships by three over a three-year span and reduce the number of permissible recruiting days during the upcoming year by 13 days.
There were no official visitors this year for Late Night at the Phog, the annual celebration to kick off the season.
&ldquo;Coach Townsend and I accept and support KU&rsquo;s decision,&rdquo; Self said in a statement. &ldquo;We are in good hands with Coach Roberts, and I am confident that he will do a great job on the bench leading our team. I am proud of the way our guys have handled this situation and I look forward to returning to the bench for our game against N.C. State.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The infractions case against Kansas stems from a federal investigation in 2017 that led to the conviction of shoe company executives, a middleman who worked with them and several assistant coaches.
Kansas was among the schools named in the case, along with Arizona, LSU, Louisville and N.C. State.
The Kansas case hinged on whether representatives of apparel company Adidas were considered boosters &mdash; the school contends they were not &mdash; when two of them arranged payments to prospective recruits. The school never disputed that the payments were made, only that it had any knowledge that the inducements were happening.
Auburn received four years of probation through a traditional NCAA infractions process for a similar case, but Kansas joined other schools in appealing its case to an Independent Accountability Review Panel, which was among the proposals made by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2018 to reform the sport.
The panel works outside the purview of the NCAA and was designed to handle particularly complex cases. But its work has been painfully slow &mdash; NCAA president Mark Emmert acknowledged the process takes &ldquo;way too long&rdquo; &mdash; and Kansas decided to self-impose restrictions while continuing to wait for the IARP to announce its decision.
&ldquo;We are hopeful these difficult self-imposed sanctions will assist in bringing the case to a conclusion,&rdquo; Kansas athletic director Travis Goff said in a statement, and declining any additional comment. &ldquo;Until then, we will continue to focus on supporting our outstanding men&rsquo;s basketball student-athletes and coaches.&rdquo;
Kansas had already doubled down on Self by signing him to a new contract in April 2021.
Under the terms of the five-year deal, Self gets one additional year after the conclusion of each season &mdash; in effect, making it a lifetime contract. It guaranteed him $5.41 million per year with a base salary of $225,000, a professional services contract of $2.75 million and an annual $2.435 million retention bonus.
The contract includes a clause that states the school cannot fire Self for cause &ldquo;due to any current infractions matter that involves conduct that occurred on or prior to&rdquo; the signing of the deal. And while he would have to forfeit half of his base salary and professional services pay while serving any Big 12 or NCAA suspension, it&rsquo;s unclear whether that includes any self-imposed suspensions such as the one handed down Wednesday.
&ldquo;Throughout this process, we have had ongoing conversations with all the involved parties,&rdquo; Kansas chancellor Douglas A. Girod said in a statement. &ldquo;We believe the actions we are announcing today move us closer to resolving this matter.&rdquo;
Making the Kansas case more complex, though, is the rapidly shifting landscape of college sports. Some of the alleged infractions from the 2017 investigation would no longer be against the rules following name, image and likeness legislation, which has allowed athletes in all sports to begin making money from endorsements and other off-the-field business arrangements.
Meanwhile, the days of postseason bans and crippling scholarship reductions as punishments appear to be ending.
Memphis was placed on three years of probation in August and slapped with a public reprimand and fine for violations in the recruitment of James Wiseman, now with the Golden State Warriors. But the Tigers escaped any scholarship penalties or postseason bans because the IARP said it did not want to punish current athletes.
Even as the IARP continues to work on several cases, the NCAA&rsquo;s Division I Transformation Committee earlier this year put forth a recommendation to end the process. The proposal was swiftly adopted by the Division I Board of Directors.
&ldquo;We look forward to commenting further when this process is fully resolved,&rdquo; Girod said of the IARP process. &ldquo;Until then, I want to reiterate our unwavering support of Coach Self and our men&rsquo;s basketball program.&rdquo;

Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend will rejoin the team to face North Carolina State at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Nov. 23.

Kansas suspends Self for 4 games in ongoing infractions case

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes how Chris Webber's decision-making unlocked the Kings' revolutionary offense.

Blazing the Trail: Chris Webber, the read-and-react king

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Several months after the basketball world collectively assumed Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers were definitely headed for a breakup, the guard reported to training camp Monday wearing the same gold jersey.
Westbrook's return to the Lakers is among the biggest surprises to come out of an eventful NBA summer &mdash; and nobody knows for certain how long it will last given the trade rumors still swirling around the 2017 MVP.
But Westbrook and his fellow Lakers &mdash; even Patrick Beverley, his former nemesis &mdash; are determined to make it work after it decidedly did not during his first season back home in LA.
&ldquo;Whether they want me here or not doesn&rsquo;t really matter, honestly,&rdquo; Westbrook said. "My job is to be a professional. Show up to work like I&rsquo;ve always done thus far. Do my job to the best that I know how to, and that&rsquo;s it. We all have jobs that sometimes people at our jobs don&rsquo;t like us and don&rsquo;t want us there, as you (reporters) could probably attest."
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook are back to try it again after they managed to play in only 21 games together last season. Injuries to James and Davis were the primary factors in the Lakers' dismal 33-49 campaign, but Westbrook's inability to mesh with his new teammates and coach Frank Vogel's concepts was another harbinger of disappointment.
Westbrook's 18.5 points per game were his fewest since his second NBA season 12 years earlier, and his 7.1 assists were well off his best seasons. While his field goal percentage was decent on paper, Lakers fans became infuriated by his struggles with mid-range shots or from distance as he made only 7.0 field goals per game &mdash; again his worst performance in 12 years.
General manager Rob Pelinka didn't deny he has explored ways to move Westbrook and his massive salary. He also praised the high-scoring guard for his offseason work and his growing bond with Darvin Ham, who got his first head coaching job in part because of his determination to get Westbrook into roles he can play.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s all-in to do whatever it takes for this team to win, in whatever role that means,&rdquo; Pelinka said of Westbrook. &ldquo;I think coach Ham is going to bring another level out of him that we didn&rsquo;t see last season.&rdquo;
Ham reiterated his strong support of Westbrook and praised the guard's offseason commitment to teamwork and improvement. He also praised the relationship between Westbrook and Beverley, whose public sparring over the past several seasons left some NBA observers thinking they couldn't possibly be teammates with the Lakers.
That's all nonsense, according to Beverley, the pugnacious veteran guard who joined the Lakers in a trade last month.
&ldquo;If I had to pick a best friend out of the team, and you usually have those, it would be him," Beverley said. &ldquo;Obviously, you guys think that we have the worst relationship in the world, and at times on the court, just like in a profession, I know a lot of you guys don&rsquo;t like each other, either. You guys aren&rsquo;t the best co-workers, so it&rsquo;s that same vibe. But when you get two people who love winning, two alpha males, and you put them together it usually works. I&rsquo;m super-excited to see how it goes.
"In order to get to where we&rsquo;re going, (the Lakers) have to become great friends, so I&rsquo;m super-excited about that."
JAMES STAYING PUT
While Westbrook's future remains somewhat uncertain, James is back for his 20th season with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring record in sight this winter. The superstar also agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension through the 2024-25 season, and James said he's "committed to the franchise for as long as my career, as long as my contract is."
HEALTHY AGAIN
Davis is also back at full health after a round of injuries that have forced him to miss more games than he has played in the past two seasons. While Davis' absences are the single biggest reason for the Lakers' mediocrity during that span, he is encouraged by the offseason roster makeover that provided LA's Big Three with a fresh supporting cast.
&ldquo;It's totally different from last year,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;We had a lot of vets, and this year we've got guys we kind of need to speed up and help out. I'm excited for these young guys to learn, and they're going to bring the energy out of us. Last year, we were a little slower. These guys are going to be running, and it's going to push us to play at their speed.&rdquo;
SLOW GOING
Ham's Lakers will ramp up slowly to full capacity in training camp: German guard Dennis Schr&ouml;der could miss the first week while sorting out normal visa issues, while new signees Troy Brown Jr. (back) and Lonnie Walker IV (ankle) will be limited early in workouts. Point guard Kendrick Nunn, who missed all of last season with a bone bruise, is fully healthy.

Following an offseason of trade rumors, Russell Westbrook is back with the Lakers alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Westbrook back with Lakers after offseason of trade rumors

The Connecticut Sun were right there.
Following a 67-64 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, the general feeling around the team was one of hope. There was disappointment, of course &mdash; these aren't players or coaches that enjoy losing &mdash; but there was also a level of satisfaction with their game plan.
Connecticut head coach Curt Miller laid it bare in his opening statement following the game: "You know, [I'm] certainly disappointed for our locker room with the loss, knowing that we did so much that we wanted to accomplish defensively and got the game, the style of play that we were hoping for."&nbsp;
Miller would reiterate that he was "really pleased with holding that high-powered offense down and getting the style of play we wanted. We are encouraged, but I'm disappointed that it didn't equate to a win."
The Sun successfully brought the Aces, the second-most prolific offense in WNBA history, into their neck of the woods. Into the muck, into the mud. The Aces' mark of 67 points was a season low, and their total of eight assists was easily a season low. Connecticut was able to win the rebounding battle (38-33), double Las Vegas in paint points (40-20) and hold the Aces scoreless in transition while getting 12 points itself.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Aces head coach Becky Hammon called the Sun relentless after the game. Aces star guard Chelsea Gray knew what the deal was.
"I mean, they want to muck it up. Like, that's their defensive scheme," Gray told Basketball News when asked about her team's offensive flow.
"Second of all, I just have to do a better job of not turning the basketball over. Ten turnovers [as a team] isn't bad, but I had freaking six of them."
This is what Miller's Sun team does to people. They take the "easy" off the table and make you earn it. But because of their size advantage, they're able to expand their own margin for error. They couldn't knock down enough shots to take Game 1 &mdash; a 5-of-16 clip (31.3%) from three didn't help &mdash; but the blueprint has been clear all season.
Before Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, Basketball News was able to briefly catch up with Miller to discuss the Sun's process on both ends of the floor, as well as their last possession of Game 1.
Your defense is great, in large part due to the pressure you put on ball-handlers. You're able to disrupt things when you put two on the ball. The Aces are at their best when they're able to draw two defenders and play out of that. How do you balance sticking to what makes you great, and making sure the Aces don't have those automatic reads?
Miller: "Trying to get a team as talented as they are, out of rhythm is a challenge. You saw the first 4 to 6 minutes of the first quarter, and we couldn't cause any disruption. They were just rolling. But then you look at the last 34 minutes, and I think we did a really good job.
"You know, they run a lot of NBA actions to try to get switches and get matchups they want. It's very NBA-like. The challenge is: When they run that, can you prevent them from getting what they want and maintain the matchups and coverages that you want?&nbsp;
"That's going to be the chess match all series. It's not only going to be the chess match all series; it's going to be the chess match minute-to-minute. They're trying to manipulate our defense; we're trying to manipulate their offense. It's going to be crazy, and whoever's better over two hours each game probably gets away with the win."
If I can transition to the offense...
Miller: "Oh, God!" (Laughs)
A point of conversation surrounding the Sun has been the usage of Jonquel Jones. With her being as versatile as she is offensively, how do you balance using her as a spacer and opening up the floor for Alyssa Thomas and others, and getting her post touches?
Miller: "We're best when we have balance. The great part of our team &mdash; while everyone wants the ball and believe they could get a touch every possession &mdash; we're at our best when there's balance. JJ is really, really unselfish.
"At times, she could probably shoot through double teams and take difficult shots. But she passes on some of those shots, so we go from a good shot from her to a great shot from someone else. At times, it's finding JJ that balance of &mdash; you have to be selfish sometimes and demand the ball. Maybe a contested shot by her is better than a different shot from someone else.&nbsp;
"But yeah, the versatility in her game allows us to have some fun with Alyssa Thomas and opening up the floor and giving her some space to work with."
Last thing, if you're able to get into it: The final play call for DeWanna Bonner. From my angle, I couldn't tell if she was coming off a stagger (two angled screens) or if it was an Elevator play. Could you <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1569787189235707905?s=20&amp;t=p-pGWmONkb3URm4l1ra6ag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">walk through</a> what the play call was?
Miller: "We had a Side Elevator set up, but we had a bad angle. We executed early in that [play] to get the switch. We got a post player [Dearica Hamby] on DeWanna Bonner, and with Bonner running in space ... we had&nbsp;it. We&nbsp;had&nbsp;it!
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_09_14_01_06_13.png" alt="" width="576" height="324" />
"Our angle of the Elevator was not how the play was supposed to be [executed]. Our players made a read on the angle of the Elevator, but it wasn't the right read. We had&nbsp;it but didn't get Hamby screened. If we get the right angle there, we had the play executed."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_09_14_01_07_30.png" alt="" width="578" height="325" />
To illustrate, here's the live possession:
<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/wlarvg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Sun really could've had it.

Nekias Duncan talks to Sun head coach Curt Miller ahead of Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.

2022 WNBA Finals: Curt Miller on Game 1 ending, Sun's strategy vs. Aces

Another day, another report regarding the Kevin Durant trade market.
The latest comes from <a href="https://www.sny.tv/articles/sources-kevin-durant-celtics-landing-spot-marcus-smart-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ian Begley of SNY.tv</a> who reports that Durant sees the Boston Celtics as a "desired landing spot" and that Durant would like to play with Marcus Smart. <a href="https://theathletic.com/3446562/2022/07/25/celtics-offer-jaylen-brown-package-for-kevin-durant-the-latest-on-donovan-mitchell-and-more-inside-pass/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic reported last month</a> that the Celtics had made the Nets an offer that included Jaylen Brown but that Brooklyn would also want Smart in any potential deal for the 12-time All-Star.
While the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors have been among the teams most linked to a Durant trade, <a href="https://www.sny.tv/articles/sources-kevin-durant-celtics-landing-spot-marcus-smart-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Begley added</a>&nbsp;that the Philadelphia 76ers is another preferred landing spot for Durant and that "there were high-ranking members of the Sixers who&rsquo;ve felt strongly about engaging with Brooklyn on a Durant trade".
Begley suggests that Philly would have to include Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris along with draft picks in any Durant trade.
This latest report comes after word that Durant met with Nets owner Joe Tsai over the weekend and reiterated his trade request while also giving the ultimatum of either trading him or firing head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.&nbsp;
Tsai tweeted on Monday night: &ldquo;Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

A new report states that Kevin Durant would prefer to be traded to the Boston Celtics or the Philadelphia 76ers.

Report: Kevin Durant prefers Celtics and Sixers in trade

Kevin Durant has again told Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai that he wants to be traded, reiterating a request he first made nearly six weeks ago, a person with knowledge of the matter confirmed Monday night.
Durant also told Tsai that he has concerns about the Nets’ direction under coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the perennial All-Star nor the team confirmed details of the talks publicly.
The Athletic first reported details of the latest Durant-Tsai meeting.
“Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Tsai tweeted Monday night. “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”
This is the latest phase of a saga that began June 30, when Durant told the Nets he wanted a trade just as this summer’s free agent period was beginning. Durant isn’t a free agent; he has four years and $198 million remaining on his contract with the Nets, who will undoubtedly demand a haul of players and draft picks in any trade agreement for the 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA champion.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has never been a fan of trade demands going public.
“This needs to be a two-way street,” Silver said last month. “Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players and the expectation is, in return, they will meet their end of the bargain. I’m realistic that there’s always conversations that are going to go on behind closed doors between players and their representatives and the teams. But we don’t like to see players requesting trades, and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”
Durant has spent three seasons with Brooklyn, not playing in the first of those years while he recovered from a torn Achilles. He averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season, after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games last summer.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

“Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Joe Tsai tweeted Monday night.

Joe Tsai backs Nets' front office, coaching staff in response to Durant

Kevin Durant reportedly met face-to-face with Nets owner Joe Tsia over the weekend and not only reiterated his trade request, but also gave him an ultimatum: either trade me or fire head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks, according to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3485297/2022/08/08/kevin-durant-nets-trade-steve-nash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic's Shams Charania</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
In a meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai, Kevin Durant reiterated his trade request and informed Tsai that Tsai needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash, sources say. Story: <a href="https://t.co/W1voNf9MDC">https://t.co/W1voNf9MDC</a>
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1556709715266134016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

<a href="https://theathletic.com/3485297/2022/08/08/kevin-durant-nets-trade-steve-nash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charania reported that</a> "Durant does not have faith in the team's direction". He added that the Nets "have direct knowledge of the reasons behind Durant's request" and that he wants a change of scenery heading into what will be his 16th season.
The Nets have searched the league for a deal but no team has met the incredibly high asking price that Brooklyn is asking for in return for the 12-time All-Star and former MVP.
The Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and the Boston Celtics -- who could offer a package around young star Jaylen Brown -- are still considered the front-runners to land Durant. Charania added that "Durant has grown close with Celtics coach Ime Udoka in recent years" stemming from the the year Udoka was an assistant coach with the Nets and their time together on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Kevin Durant reportedly has told the Nets owner to either trade him or fire coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.

Report: Kevin Durant wants trade or Nash, Marks fired

Bookmark this page and we'll keep you up-to-date on every NBA rumor. We'll continue updating this tracker over the next 24 hours.

NBA Rumor Tracker: Compiling the latest news and intel

The Celtics looked toward the future by selecting former Alabama guard JD Davison in the second round of the NBA draft on Thursday night.
Davison was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection this past season for the Crimson Tide, averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists despite only starting six games.
But the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder showed a propensity for big games, with two of 10-plus assists and 10-plus rebounds.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy that we&rsquo;ve seen all year long,&rdquo; Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said. &ldquo;Very young. Very explosive &mdash; that&rsquo;s pretty obvious. Has the ability to get inside the paint and make plays and has some things that he&rsquo;ll have to improve on. But he&rsquo;s a good competitor.&rdquo;
It was the Celtics&rsquo; lone selection Thursday after they traded their first-round pick to San Antonio as part of the deal that netted them Derrick White at the trade deadline.
It&rsquo;s the second straight year Boston didn&rsquo;t make a first-round selection.
Davison didn&rsquo;t work out for the Celtics during the pre-draft process, but he is someone that they kept tabs on throughout this past season.
He also fit the archetype of player that they don&rsquo;t need to contribute immediately.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be able compete for minutes like everyone else, but at the same time he can grow, develop and focus his attention on improving. I think that&rsquo;s an important place to be for a young player,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a really good team. But he&rsquo;ll be able to put some heat on us with his speed on both ends of the floor. I&rsquo;m looking forward to it.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s part of an offseason in which the Celtics will have to be frugal as they look to add depth to a team that made a run to the NBA Finals.
Boston is teetering near the luxury tax threshold, but has three trade exceptions totaling just under $30 million to play with, including about $17 million left from the one created from its sign-and-trade of Evan Fournier last August.
Stevens reiterated that heading into free agency the evaluation process will be fluid when deciding how &mdash; or if &mdash; they'll use them.
&ldquo;It really comes downs to costs,&rdquo; Stevens said. "If the costs are appropriate, then you continue discussions and if they're not you table it for now and maybe you return to those later. But at the end of the day the trade exception is a tool, but it's not our only avenue. ... That was one thing about tonight, we wanted to make sure we were smart about all of our future assets.
&ldquo;We're smart about not shifting our team without very obvious moves that would help us.&rdquo;

“He’s a guy that we’ve seen all year long,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said.

Celtics look to future, draft Alabama's Davison at No. 53

The 2022 NBA Draft is one day away, and rumors are surfacing left and right.
Which teams have been the most aggressive in trade talks? Will any notable players be on the move? Which draft picks could be dealt? BasketballNews has compiled all of the biggest rumors:
Malcolm Brogdon &ldquo;significantly likely&rdquo; to be traded
All signs point to the Indiana Pacers trading Malcolm Brogdon this week. Not only has Brogdon surfaced in trade rumors more than any other player, ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported that teams like the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks are expected to pivot to Brogdon trade negotiations if they can&rsquo;t move up to No. 4 for Purdue&rsquo;s Jaden Ivey.
The Ringer&rsquo;s Kevin O&rsquo;Connor reported that the Pacers were throwing the veteran guard into every trade discussion they were having.
On <a href="https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/34125407" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Lowe Post,</a> ESPN&rsquo;s Jonathan Givony mentioned that the Los Angeles Lakers offered the following package for Brogdon: Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker and a future first-round pick in 2027. Givony said that the Pacers immediately declined the Lakers&rsquo; offer. Lowe also threw in that he&rsquo;s heard Brogdon and Myles Turner are &ldquo;coveted&rdquo; around the league.
During ESPN&rsquo;s NBA Mock Draft Special on Tuesday night, Wojnarowski reiterated that it&rsquo;s &ldquo;significantly likely&rdquo; that Brogdon is moved before the 2022 NBA Draft begins.
Hornets shopping Gordon Hayward
The Charlotte Hornets are prioritizing salary-cap flexibility in order to re-sign Miles Bridges, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. The Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons are also worth monitoring as potential suitors for Bridges, per <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039350-latest-nba-intel-the-divide-between-kyrie-irving-and-brooklyn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer</a>.
With the Hornets prioritizing Bridges, Gordon Hayward&rsquo;s future in Charlotte is certainly in flux. Windhorst said that the Hornets are looking to find a team that's willing to take on the final two years of Hayward&rsquo;s contract. As an incentive, Charlotte is reportedly willing to throw in one of their first-round picks (No. 13 or No. 15). We'll see if any teams pounce at the opportunity to land Hayward and a lottery pick.
Fischer notes that Charlotte is also gauging the trade market on Terry Rozier, Kelly Oubre Jr., PJ Washington and Mason Plumlee.
With the hope of shedding salary to keep Bridges alongside LaMelo Ball, the Hornets seem poised to make a big move this week.
Hawks have been aggressive
There have been a ton of Hawks-related rumors of late. On Monday night, Wojnarowski appeared on SportsCenter and said that Atlanta has been aggressive in trying to find a star to pair with Trae Young.&nbsp;
John Collins has surfaced in a number of trade rumors as well. The Hawks have had talks with the Sacramento Kings about a potential Collins deal, according to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kings-hawks-engaged-in-john-collins-trade-talks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic's Shams Charania</a>.
Versatile wing Bogdan Bogdanovic is also drawing interest from teams, per&nbsp;Windhorst. Atlanta has offers on the table for Collins and Bogdanovic.
Bleacher Report&rsquo;s Jake Fischer also shared an interesting Hawks nugget during his <a href="https://www.callin.com/episode/2022-nba-draft-preview-with-jeremy-woo-AojmeoFMXL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live podcast</a> on Tuesday: Atlanta is trying to move up from No. 16 overall into the lottery, with their primary target being G League Ignite playmaker Dyson Daniels. Fischer said that the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 7 could be a potential team to monitor as Atlanta continues to pursue Daniels.
It's possible we could see an explosive draft night from the Hawks. They are weighing multiple moves, and the front office views Young and De&rsquo;Andre Hunter as the only untouchable assets, per Woj.
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Tucker, Gordon reuniting with Harden on 76ers?&nbsp;
The Philadelphia 76ers could be a team to watch this offseason. Not only do they have <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/signing-james-harden-to-a-max-contract-could-cripple-the-sixers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an important long-term decision to make</a> on James Harden, they also have a number of players who could be viewed as available. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-pj-tucker-nba-draft-free-agency-20220621.html?utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_campaign=edit_social_share_twitter_traffic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_term=&amp;int_promo=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped multiple tidbits on the Sixers&rsquo; plans</a>.
After PJ Tucker declined his player option with the Miami Heat, Philadelphia and the veteran forward have mutual interest. In order to create cap space, the Sixers are looking to deal Matisse Thybulle and the No. 23 pick in a three-team deal.&nbsp;
Pompey <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-pj-tucker-nba-draft-free-agency-20220621.html?utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_campaign=edit_social_share_twitter_traffic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_term=&amp;int_promo=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a> that Philadelphia is trying their best to offload Tobias Harris&rsquo; large contract, but it's been tough to find any potential suitors.
Finally, there's another Houston Rocket who could potentially reunite with Harden in Philadelphia. The Sixers and Phoenix Suns have expressed interest in Eric Gordon, per Windhorst on NBA Today.
It sounds like Daryl Morey is trying to get the band back together, with Gordon and Tucker running it back with Harden in the Eastern Conference.
Knicks have been very active
As previously mentioned, the New York Knicks are showing interest in Brogdon. In addition to Wojnarowski's report, we've seen similar intel from The Athletic&rsquo;s Shams Charania and SNY&rsquo;s Ian Begley. Outside of Brogdon, are there any other targets on the board?
Begley <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MxXPLPlNRM&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported on KnicksFanTV</a> that New York recently offered the Sacramento Kings multiple future first-round picks to move up to No. 4 for Jaden Ivey. The Knicks view Ivey in a high regard, and are willing to pay a steep price to move up seven spots in the draft.
The Knicks have also had talks with the Detroit Pistons about acquiring the No. 5 overall pick, and Cam Reddish was included in those discussions, per <a href="https://www.sny.tv/articles/knicks-pistons-touched-base-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Begley</a>.&nbsp;
It certainly seems like New York is trying to make a splash.
Hawks, Pistons are top suitors for Deandre Ayton
According to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/33LDGb6QNc9VQor8CJVWoL?si=55021b96146147f5&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O&rsquo;Connor on The Mismatch</a>, the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks are the main teams to monitor as it relates to Deandre Ayton&rsquo;s upcoming restricted free agency. Ayton could still stay with Phoenix, but Detroit and Atlanta will be among the teams pursuing the 23-year-old center.
Do the Suns actually view Ayton as a max-level player? If not, perhaps the Suns will try to get creative and explore sign-and-trade packages revolving around Ayton. Detroit and Atlanta have some intriguing assets that could make a deal worth it from the Suns&rsquo; perspective (although the Pistons could also try to sign Ayton using <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/which-nba-teams-have-the-most-cap-space-entering-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their cap space</a>).
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Timberwolves inquired about Rudy Gobert, Clint Capela
During <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/33LDGb6QNc9VQor8CJVWoL?si=55021b96146147f5&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tuesday&rsquo;s episode of The Mismatch</a>, O'Connor also mentioned that the Minnesota Timberwolves have registered interest in Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela. This lines up with a previous report from Charania that Minnesota had inquired about Capela.
Where there&rsquo;s smoke, there&rsquo;s usually fire. So, are the Timberwolves really about to make Karl-Anthony Towns a full-time power forward? If the plan is to make a big move for a veteran center, moving one of the best shooting bigs of all-time further to the perimeter is an interesting thought.
According to <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/townska01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball Reference</a>, Towns played 100% of his minutes at center last season. In fact, the only time he has played power forward throughout his NBA career was during his rookie season in 2015-16, when 2% of his minutes came at the 4.
The more you think about it, the more a Towns-Gobert frontcourt is certainly intriguing though.
John Wall expected to get bought out?
The Houston Rockets and John Wall will work toward finalizing a buyout before free agency begins, according to Fischer on his <a href="https://www.callin.com/episode/2022-nba-draft-preview-with-jeremy-woo-AojmeoFMXL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest podcast</a>.
After Wall opted in to his $47.3 million player option, there were questions about what's next for the point guard. This is the final year of Wall's contract, which could make it easier for the two sides to reach a buyout agreement.
If Wall hits the open market, could regain his form on a contender (potentially signing for the mid-level exception or less)? Wall averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists for Houston during the 2020-21 season, but he hasn't set foot on an NBA court since April of 2021.
Cavaliers open to trading No. 14 pick
According to <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-bradley-beal-bobby-portis-nicolas-batum-lakers-nets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HoopsHype&rsquo;s Michael Scotto</a>, the Cleveland Cavaliers are open to trading back from the final slot in the lottery at No. 14 overall. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks are among the teams who have already called the Cavs about the pick, per Scotto.
It's interesting that the Grizzlies and Bucks &mdash; two legitimate contenders &mdash; trying to move up 10-plus spots on Thursday night. It's unclear who these teams are targeting, but our Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock currently has Ousmane Dieng projected at No. 14 overall. Rumors have been flying that Dieng has a guarantee, per Babcock, and he did receive an invite to the green room.
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Heat expressing interest in Jerami Grant
According to SNY&rsquo;s Ian Begley, the Miami Heat have checked in on the availability of Jerami Grant. The Detroit Pistons have been openly shopping Grant for a while, so perhaps a deal will finally go down this week.
Does Miami make sense as a potential trade partner for the Pistons? It's unclear what the Heat would be giving up in return for Grant, who averaged 19.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.9 threes, 1.0 block and 0.9 steals this season, while shooting 42.6% from the field, 35.8% from three-point range and 83.8% from the free-throw line.
Grizzlies attempting to move up
Reaffirming the Grizzlies&rsquo; desires of trading up on Thursday, Zach Lowe mentioned on <a href="https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/34125407" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Lowe Post</a> that Memphis' executives are &ldquo;calling in every direction.&rdquo;
If that&rsquo;s not a sign that the Grizzlies are expected to be very active on Thursday, I don&rsquo;t know what to tell you. Memphis has a history of being active on draft night, and it seems this year won&rsquo;t be any different.
Are the Suns willing to pay the luxury tax?
Recently, many national pundits have suggested that the Phoenix Suns are hesitant to go deep into the luxury tax. However, Suns owner Robert Sarver recently told BasketballNews that Phoenix has no qualms about paying up in order to keep this team together long-term.
&ldquo;My position for a market like us with the tax is, if you get yourself where you can compete at the highest level, then you pay it and you go for it,&rdquo; Sarver said.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;re in a market that can be in it 10 years in a row," Sarver added. "But when you get to a certain level where you have a chance to compete and you&rsquo;re a top-four, top-six, top-eight team, if you&rsquo;re at the level where you have a legitimate chance to compete &mdash; get to your Conference Finals and maybe win a championship &mdash; then I think you go in the tax, you pay and you do what you gotta do."
Sarver knows that the Suns&rsquo; championship window is in the here and now. Barring a change of heart, it seems that he's willing to spend to keep this core together.
&ldquo;You just can&rsquo;t take success for grant,&rdquo; Sarver said. &ldquo;It can come and go.&rdquo;
Also, keep an eye on the Suns trying to add a pick in Thursday's draft. While they have no picks at the moment, Phoenix is making calls and trying to buy a second-round selection, according to 98.7 FM&rsquo;s John Gambadoro. Gambadoro said that the Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors are teams who are open to trading their second-rounders.
Dyson Daniels rising up draft boards?
Dyson Daniels has one of the biggest risers during the NBA pre-draft process. On BasketballNews' latest mock draft, Babcock has Daniels being selected No. 8 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans.
&ldquo;After being at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, Dyson Daniels had a terrific season for the G League Ignite," Babcock said of Daniels. "The 6-foot-7 positionless Swiss army knife, Daniels excels at getting downhill and attacking the basket, relying on his athleticism and body control for finishing while occasionally employing a floater. Daniels&rsquo; outside shooting is still a work in progress, but he is a disruptive defender with quick feet and instincts. Daniels&rsquo; progression as a playmaker was also notable during the G League season. He seems to have a bright future ahead of him.&rdquo;
According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3372868/2022/06/20/indiana-pacers-nba-draft/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&rsquo;s Bob Kravitz</a>, Daniels blew away the Indiana Pacers&rsquo; front office in his recent workout in Indianapolis.
&ldquo;I was told Dyson Daniels had one of the greatest workouts a lot of people in the Indiana organization have ever seen,&rdquo; Kravitz said on ESPN 107.5 FM on Tuesday.
With the Pacers selecting at No. 6 overall, their hope is that somehow one of Jaden Ivey or Keegan Murray slips. If not, Kravitz said the Pacers will be deciding between Daniels and Arizona wing Bennedict Mathurin.
Stay tuned to BasketballNews.com for all the latest NBA news and rumors during what could be a crazy offseason. Also, check out our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft page</a> for all of our in-depth draft coverage.
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On the eve of the 2022 NBA Draft, rumors are surfacing left and right. Evan Sidery compiles the latest rumblings around the NBA.

NBA Rumors Notebook: Malcolm Brogdon, John Collins, Gordon Hayward, more

The end of the 2021-22 NBA season is remarkably bittersweet. The basketball was great, with an incredible level of competitiveness, a revamping of defense, an embracing of coverage versatility and an impressive rookie class. Covering it was an absolute joy.
On a personal note, a massive thank you to all who read my work, supported me, encouraged me or interacted with me during the season. Last May, I graduated from college with roughly a year-and-a-half of covering basketball in some part-time fashion under my belt.
I took a bit of a leap of faith to write about basketball full-time or go broke trying, and because of BasketballNews and a few other platforms, I was able to stay afloat and eventually break even for the first time in my life based on work I'm truly passionate about. My athletic &lsquo;career&rsquo; ended in 2018 and it took me a long time to really find out what was next and what my purpose was. Writing and talking about the game just does something for me that I can&rsquo;t explain, so I&rsquo;ll just reiterate: thank you all again for making this life possible. Without help from many of you and my family, I wouldn&rsquo;t be in this position. I&rsquo;m an extremely lucky person and I&rsquo;m so glad to do what I do, and I'm fortunate that my work resonates with people.
So as per usual, my main takeaway is never from the result, even when looking at my own track through basketball. The process is 97% of why I care and watch the games. It&rsquo;s what I love to track and decipher. Nekias Duncan exemplified that and then some <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jayson-tatum-boston-celtics-improvement-nba-finals-leap-nekias-duncan-golden-state-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with his piece yesterday</a>.&nbsp;
The seasons within each season define the process. A player returns from injury or makes a key development that shapes a rotation, changes a team's identity or defines a stretch of play. Rinse and repeat, as this happens a multitude of times for each team to varying degrees. The contention landscape is an ever-molding horizon that whittles away as the year goes by.
A third of the way through the season, I thought the Cleveland Cavaliers had a shot at winning a series and making a second one raucous for their opponent. I didn&rsquo;t have faith in the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; frontcourt rotation and halfcourt offense, leading me to think they&rsquo;d be out of the playoffs before the Conference Finals (lol).
Along those lines, perhaps the biggest takeaway I have from this season and the postseason is that it&rsquo;s just really freakin' hard to win a title. That sounds reductive, and perhaps it is in essence, but that&rsquo;s sort of the point. I think it&rsquo;s a bit foolhardy and lacking in context at times to take away any sweeping thoughts on the ideology of basketball in such a volatile setting.
We at large don&rsquo;t know the full slate of what is or isn&rsquo;t going on behind the scenes or in a locker room until it&rsquo;s being broken nationally and is about to be resolved one way or another. That&rsquo;s not an excuse for poor or underwhelming play, rather to say that it&rsquo;s hard to place and capture the magic of incredible success. I, and many, thought that the Phoenix Suns would walk into the Western Conference Finals. The vibes dissipated with a quickness from immaculate to disastrous in a way I haven&rsquo;t felt since the 2013-14 Indiana Pacers.
I can point out the poor play and roster flaws that led to their on-court demise, but whatever happened off the court without a doubt contributed. It would be in poor faith to say, &ldquo;Because of this they lost." But it would be just as wrong to say, &ldquo;Well, they just didn&rsquo;t have that dog in them.&rdquo;
The Suns did have that magic for much of the season. We&rsquo;ve seen teams find it and lose it during the course of the year time and time again. Finding that run of play and maintaining it is so much more difficult than we lend credence to. We tend to decry the losers rather than pointing out the immaculate nature of those who stood the test of four playoff series. We should change that! Winning the NBA Finals is extremely difficult.
As Nekias pointed out in his<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jayson-tatum-boston-celtics-improvement-nba-finals-leap-nekias-duncan-golden-state-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aforementioned article</a>about Jayson Tatum, think about all of the fantastic moments and series that Tatum did have leading up to the Finals. That man balled the heck out. We&rsquo;re talking about how making the Finals and losing is bad for Tatum&rsquo;s legacy??? That&rsquo;s crazy to me. I understand the importance of legacy to some, but those arguments shed 97% of what got us here and hyperfocus on a six-game series at the highest level of play.
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Basketball and sports in general are meant to be analyzed; it&rsquo;s a large part of my job. But I feel the championship series should ultimately be much more about enjoying two incredibly good, incredibly talented and incredibly fun teams duel for the top spot in the league after the season tipped 240 days before.
To lead into some of the more tactical/schematic takeaways, advantage continuation is paramount. It probably seems obvious, but the ability to keep moving the ball, keep a play running and force the defense to react in kind is so important, even if it doesn&rsquo;t lead to a bucket. I was routinely stricken by how often the Warriors had first, second, third or even fourth actions sputter out, but they routinely found a small crevice upon which to expand and keep the advantage flowing.&nbsp;
I saw so many times throughout the series, &ldquo;How was this Boston defense good during the regular season?&rdquo; Was I doomscrolling and over-indexing? You bet. But it still stood out. The Celtics fought for their lives on possessions, and the way they shut down the Warriors time and time again in the halfcourt only to be whiplashed by a backcut, a broken play, an impromptu DHO, a Steph Curry deep three or a quick putback after 15 seconds of scramble felt back-breaking. I&rsquo;m not sure I&rsquo;ve ever felt Steph&rsquo;s shooting gravity and never ending off-ball movement like I did in this Finals.
Even with players who weren&rsquo;t shooters on volume, the Warriors unclogged possessions due to Steph&rsquo;s otherworldly play and the quick decision-making of his teammates. Draymond flipping the switch on his offensive aggression, adjusting the shot tendencies like we WISH NBA 2K would even consider absolutely changed the series. Eliminating some of the indecisiveness and unwillingness made Golden State that much harder to guard.&nbsp;
As athletic and sizable as the Celtics were across the board, they often felt a step behind and rarely dictating the dance in defensive possessions, which felt quite polar to their first three series.
Prior to the final few games against the Warriors, the Celtics toed that line of having enough of that ball movement and redrive oomph, attacking with secondary and tertiary drives to maintain an advantage. That, uhhh, did not hold up in the Finals, as the Warriors played phenomenal defense, but it also felt like Boston went away from what made them the best offense in the league in 2022. Marcus Smart has his fair share of erratic offensive possessions, but he spurred the offense throughout the year as Ime Udoka charged him with more primary ball-handling duties to put Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in more optimal offensive situations.
It wasn&rsquo;t that he needed to always have the ball, and he still handled much in the postseason, but it assuredly happened less, and penetration and kickouts became more sparse. Again though, the point is that secondary creation juice is a large part of how they got to the Finals.
The Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks both felt as though they really lacked another secondary creator or enough of that ability to continue the advantages of Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo respectively. Again, not fully that dumbed down, but the Griz dealt with the issues of too many shooters who were hesitant and also not impacting the defense. The Bucks rarely sniffed the paint outside of Giannis or Jrue Holiday&rsquo;s forays to the rim. Kick-outs were routinely one-and-done shots. Injuries certainly played a factor, as Khris Middleton changes things greatly for the Bucks, but that wasn&rsquo;t the case. Even during the regular season, Milwaukee felt short of another shot creator.
On a similar note, the use of the clock to cut down or exacerbate your advantages on the margins is essential if you have some semblance of halfcourt struggles or are facing a top-notch defensive team. The Warriors absolutely bodied teams in transition and with early offense (no stats, just vibes; this was clear while watching). I think back to that Denver series and how masterfully the Warriors forced cross-matches and shifted the defense before plays started just by running like mad down the court.&nbsp;
Boston was on their heels for so much of the series due to how much concerted effort the Warriors put into getting into early sets. Running off of misses was a huge swing factor, feasting on Boston&rsquo;s at-rim misses in droves and parlaying a 4-on-3 against them into a 4-on-3 the other way. It honestly felt devastating at times, the basketball version of Sisyphus&rsquo; toil playing out on the parquet.
The Celtics felt on the verge of an eight-second violation every possession coming up court. Golden State employed a good array of pressure to slow down the Celtics; that&rsquo;s one of my favorite random things. You&rsquo;d think pressure would speed things up, right? Nope, it made the Celtics bog down and sink like a tank traversing through mud (shout out Call of Duty 4, mission War Pig; a throwback to seventh grade). In turn, they were sped up due to facing the shot clock with a proverbial back against the wall. All of the tendencies were loaded up in Golden State&rsquo;s favor given how they worked the margins.
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My last point I really want to stress is my ultimate Old-Man-Yells-at-Clouds moment. It is really, really, really, reaaaallllllyyyy hard to be a big in the NBA. So often, there&rsquo;s this idea that's consistently projected that you can "just scoop up a viable big for the mid-level exception" or that "teams shouldn&rsquo;t draft a big in the lottery." And sure, you can get a really serviceable backup or spot-starter for the MLE!
But you know that defensive-coverage versatility we mentioned earlier? It is so hard to be a big who can only play one coverage. I&rsquo;d argue being a coverage-versatile big who can make quality decisions and continue advantages if you don&rsquo;t craft them themselves is the most lacking positional archetype in a league that looks starved for them.&nbsp;
This is not my attempt to display how I think basketball should be played; there are a ton of viable ways to win a title and construct a roster even if there are some underscored guidelines that set the boundaries of what a team can be at the highest level.
But let&rsquo;s just run through some of the most important players on the deep playoff teams (who made it to the second round or further):
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Jaren Jackson Jr.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Giannis Antetokounmpo</li>
<li aria-level="1">Deandre Ayton</li>
<li aria-level="1">Robert Williams III</li>
<li aria-level="1">Al Horford</li>
<li aria-level="1">Draymond Green</li>
<li aria-level="1">Kevon Looney (who was incredible throughout the Warriors' run)</li>
<li aria-level="1">Bam Adebayo</li>
<li aria-level="1">Maxi Kleber</li>
</ul>
The NBA 5 is so pivotal upon how defenses play the game on either side. For a defense, they need to be able to hang up in a multitude of schemes while ideally being a backline eraser with strong-help instincts and the athleticism to deter shots. Switch everything is a lie, but some switchability is pretty nice too! Can you play close to the level? Can you show and recover? Can you display enough hand activity to add a modicum of hesitation on pull-up twos or a guard turning the corner out of a ball screen as your point-of-attack defender fights over to reconnect?
There are a trillion responsibilities seemingly, and ground coverage is a must.
Offensively, the 5s routinely were the focal point of how a defense looked to stifle an offense. While Draymond isn&rsquo;t technically a 5, he played a great deal of time there and his improved play and aggression over the backend of the series was paramount in attacking Boston&rsquo;s defense and tipping the scale. In the previous series, I can still hear Steve Jones Jr.&rsquo;s voice ringing out from the Dunker Spot (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen and subscribe!</a>) about how teams played him as a post decision-maker with Golden State&rsquo;s patented split cuts.
Al Horford broke defenses with his consistent shooting in the playoffs, something that wasn&rsquo;t there much of the regular season. Shooting in that sweet spot of league average or slightly higher without hesitation at the 5 spot is back-breaking. Miami and Milwaukee routinely tried to negate Horford&rsquo;s presence, but if you&rsquo;re going to shoot like that without thinking, it changes the way a defense can play you. Much of the same should be said of Maxi Kleber for the Mavs. His personal heater against the Suns altered that series and forced Phoenix into a defensive bind that restructured the way they could play defense without getting absolutely pelted from Kleber&rsquo;s above-the-break dynamism.
Being a capable two-way NBA big is freakin' hard. The game is still shifting more and more toward size and skill, something the next few draft classes exemplify. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s as drastic as every player being 7-feet tall and taking pull-up threes out of ball screens, but there&rsquo;s real credence to acknowledging that the first few draft classes of players that grew up playing AAU and youth ball after the spacing revolution are coming in with skill sets to match. A few seasons ago, I was speaking with a prominent high school coach who mentioned that the high-school game was a half decade behind the NBA, as players adapted to what they saw and took in growing up. We&rsquo;re seeing that start to play out and that&rsquo;s absurdly cool to witness.
What will the game look like in 2027? I don&rsquo;t have the answer, but I have a semblance of an idea of where it&rsquo;s headed in the next few years, and I&rsquo;m excited.
What will the next shift be? How is the game going to bend the court dimensions again? It continually happens over time, as innovation and adaptation occurs.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The game is beautiful, and I&rsquo;m lucky to cover it. Once again, a heartfelt thank you to anyone who's reading and those who have shared or interacted with my work over the last season. It&rsquo;s odd to say goodbye to 2022, but I have a good feeling about next season.
Who knows, maybe this is the year for the Sacramento Kings?! Maybe the Orlando Magic are our wondrous young team that takes a sizable step forward from fun and young to fun, young and funkily effective. I don&rsquo;t know what next year holds and I can make as many predictions as I want, but that unknowing is part of what makes the game so mystifying to me. I love uncovering and trying to learn more about what the game is, and the skill sets and stories that make up the humans who play the game. I truly loved the process and unraveling of the 2022 season, and I hope you can say the same!
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The 2021-22 NBA season is over. What can we take away from it and where is the game headed in the coming years?

Bidding adieu to the 2021-22 NBA season: Final(s) thoughts

Ever since Artūras Karni&scaron;ovas and Marc Eversley took over the Bulls&rsquo; front office two years ago, Chicago has been one of the most aggressive teams in the NBA. Their fingerprints are all over this roster, with notable acquisitions such as DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
These moves have translated to on-court success, as the Bulls posted their best winning percentage since the 2014-15 season and ended their four-year playoff drought. This year, Chicago was 46-36 &mdash; more wins than they had in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons combined. (Zach LaVine and Coby White are the only remaining players from that 2019-20 squad).
The Bulls entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference while boasting the NBA's 11th-ranked offense (scoring 111.0 points per 100 possessions) and 23rd-ranked defense (allowing 111.1 points per 100 possessions).&nbsp;
While this season marked a step in the right direction, the Bulls&rsquo; first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks showed that there&rsquo;s still plenty of work to be done. Despite Milwaukee losing their second-best player, Khris Middleton, to a sprained MCL in Game 2, the Bucks completed a gentleman's sweep against the Bulls. Chicago wasn&rsquo;t at full strength either, with Ball sidelined due to a knee injury and LaVine (COVID-19) and Caruso (concussion) each missing Game 5. Still, the reigning champions were a good litmus test.
Entering the offseason, where does Chicago go from here? Are big changes coming?
RE-SIGNING ZACH LAVINE
Entering this offseason, Chicago&rsquo;s top priority should be re-signing LaVine, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency. The 27-year-old has emerged as a perennial All-Star, earning a spot on the Eastern Conference squad in each of the last two seasons.&nbsp;
This year, LaVine averaged 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 threes, while reducing his turnovers to 2.6 per game and shooting 47.6% from the field, 38.9% from three and 85.3% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;
LaVine will certainly expect a maximum contract from the Bulls, which would <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bulls-offseason-preview-zach-lavines-free-agency-nikola-vucevic-extension-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay him</a> $212.3 million over five years. The most he could receive from another team is $157.4 million over four years. This is a relatively weak free-agent class, so it seems very likely that LaVine will get a max deal from some team.&nbsp;
The Bulls would be wise to re-sign their star shooting guard, as replacing his production would be difficult, and the team would certainly take a step back if LaVine signed elsewhere.
"I plan to enjoy free agency," LaVine said recently. &ldquo;We're going to have to experience A through Z without making any fast decisions. I think that's something me and [Rich Paul] are going to go through and experience."
LaVine was asked if the Bulls are the front-runners to sign him, but he wouldn&rsquo;t say.
"You guys have been a really, really soft spot in my heart," LaVine said to the Chicago media. "I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, to not just be viewed one way and be like, 'I'm automatically coming back,' or, 'I'm automatically leaving.'"
In multiple interviews, LaVine has reiterated that he wants to be paid what he feels he deserves.
"I just want my respect. I think that's the main thing," LaVine <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/zach-lavine-prepares-olympic-quarterfinal-bulls-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last August. "I outplayed my contract; I've been very loyal to Chicago, I like Chicago. I just want my respect."
FREE AGENCY
Aside from LaVine, the bulk of Chicago's core is under contract for the foreseeable future.&nbsp;
The Bulls have $103,181,950 in guaranteed salaries on the books for next season, spread across nine players: DeRozan, Vucevic, Lopez, Caruso, White, Patrick Williams, Javonte Green, Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Simonovic. Projections set next year&rsquo;s salary cap at $122 million and the luxury tax at $149 million.
Derrick Jones Jr.,Tristan Thompson and Matt Thomas will be unrestricted free agents. Tony Bradley has a player option worth $2,036,318, so he could opt out and test the market as well.
The team will have three restricted free agents (assuming Chicago extends a qualifying offer to each): Troy Brown Jr. ($7,228,448 QO), Tyler Cook ($1,576,305) and Malcolm Hill ($1,576,305).
Last year, the Bulls were very aggressive in free agency, making splashy moves left and right. Given their cap situation, it seems unlikely that Chicago will be able to go star hunting, but they&rsquo;ll likely try to improve their depth and add certain specialists. For example, Chicago could use a rim protector, as they averaged just 4.0 blocks per game (which ranked 27th in the NBA). Can they afford Mitchell Robinson? Could they throw an offer sheet at or sign-and-trade for a restricted free agent like Nic Claxton or Mo Bamba? Can they add a veteran like JaVale McGee or Hassan Whiteside?&nbsp;
In addition to a rim protector, it would make sense to add other defensive reinforcements as well (especially if Jones signs elsewhere). Caruso and Ball give Chicago a strong defensive backcourt, but they need some help if the Bulls want to improve their 23rd-ranked defensive rating (113.2). Some of the top defensive role players who are hitting the market include Bruce Brown, Gary Payton II and PJ Tucker. Lu Dort and Jae'Sean Tate each have a team option, but it seems unlikely that either will be available given their bargain contracts.
The Bulls will look to add a contributor or two using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth $10,349,000. Last offseason, that is how Chicago was able to sign Caruso to a four-year, $37 million deal, which ended up being a terrific addition. Other players who signed for the non-taxpayer MLE last offseason include McGee (Phoenix Suns), Tucker (Miami Heat), Reggie Bullock (Dallas Mavericks) and Khem Birch (Toronto Raptors).
It will be interesting to see what the Bulls do in free agency. However, keep in mind that some of Chicago&rsquo;s biggest additions in recent years were acquired through trades.
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TRADES
After watching the Bulls&rsquo; front office trade for Vucevic, DeRozan and Ball, fans are understandably thinking big when it comes to Chicago&rsquo;s trade targets entering the offseason.
Myles Turner has been mentioned as a possible target for the Bulls since he could solve their rim-protection issues, but the window on acquiring Turner may have slammed shut as a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/despite-trade-talks-the-pacers-want-to-keep-myles-turner-longterm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent report</a> suggested that the Indiana Pacers are now expected to keep the 26-year-old long-term.
Another dominant shot-blocker who may become available is Rudy Gobert. The Utah Jazz just had another season end in disappointing fashion, and there has already been a <a href="https://twitter.com/realOCsports/status/1521141215411941376" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that the Jazz will be forced to choose between Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. If Utah opts to keep their young shooting guard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Defensive First-Team selection could suddenly be obtainable.
If that happens, the Bulls should at least reach out and start a conversation. Our Evan Sidery recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-rudy-gobert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke down potential destinations for Gobert</a> and listed Chicago as the top landing spot. Here&rsquo;s what he wrote:
Imagine the possibilities for Chicago with Gobert patrolling the paint with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso hawking the perimeter. It&rsquo;s the perfect complement to offensive dynamos Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. Chicago&rsquo;s new starting lineup of Ball, Caruso, LaVine, DeRozan and Gobert would seemingly have no holes in it from a two-way perspective. I absolutely love this idea for Chicago, and they should be blowing up the Jazz&rsquo;s phone this summer if it seems plausible.
Jazz receive: Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, Coby White, draft compensation Bulls receive: Rudy Gobert
It remains to be seen if either side would do this, but it&rsquo;s an intriguing idea.
With that said, if the Bulls are committed to Vucevic and don&rsquo;t want to trade for a new big man, HoopsHype&rsquo;s Yossi Gozlan <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bulls-offseason-preview-zach-lavines-free-agency-nikola-vucevic-extension-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">points out</a> that an extension for Vooch could make sense this offseason.
If that happens, perhaps Chicago just looks for a complementary shot-blocker who can play behind Vucevic like one of the free agents we mentioned above or more of a minor trade target such as New York&rsquo;s Nerlens Noel or Minnesota&rsquo;s Jarred Vanderbilt.
It&rsquo;s also worth noting that the Bulls have a $5,000,000 trade exception that expires on July 7, 2022, from their Daniel Theis deal.
DRAFT
The Bulls have the No. 18 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. In BasketballNews.com's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a>, our senior NBA Draft analyst Matt Babcock has Chicago selecting Ohio State forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/ej-liddell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EJ Liddell</a>.&nbsp;
The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old junior is a well-rounded, NBA-ready player who makes sense for a Bulls team that wants to win now. Last season, Liddell averaged 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.6 blocks, 1.4 threes and 0.6 steals, while shooting 49.0% from the field, 37.4% from three and 76.5% from the free-throw line.
&ldquo;Although he is a bit undersized for the position, the Buckeyes often used Liddell as a 4 or 5 in their lineups,&rdquo; Babcock noted in his scouting breakdown. &ldquo;He is physical and versatile on both ends of the floor, scoring both inside and out. He appears more comfortable in the mid-range and paint, which works well for his college system but raises questions in regards to his translatability to the NBA. Liddell filled up the box score and played with great effort and toughness. He has certainly carved out a spot for himself in the 2022 NBA Draft.&rdquo;
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Other players who are projected to be available in that range are G League Ignite wing <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/marjon-beauchamp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MarJon Beauchamp</a>, Baylor forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kendall-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kendall Brown</a>, LSU forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/tari-eason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tari Eason</a>, Notre Dame guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/blake-wesley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blake Wesley</a>, G League Ignite guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/jaden-hardy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jaden Hardy</a>, Serbian forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/nikola-jovic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nikola Jovic</a> and Tennessee guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kennedy-chandler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kennedy Chandler</a>.&nbsp;
If the Bulls aren&rsquo;t interested in any of these prospects, or if Karni&scaron;ovas and Eversley continue to be aggressive on the trade market, Chicago could look to deal the No. 18 pick as part of a win-now move.
It&rsquo;s worth noting that Chicago must forfeit their next-available second-round pick after an NBA investigation revealed that they contacted Ball prior to the start of the NBA&rsquo;s free-agency period. As it stands, the Bulls&rsquo; next-available pick is the team&rsquo;s 2026 second-rounder, but Chicago can&rsquo;t acquire a second-round pick before then because they&rsquo;d have to forfeit it.
***
After a few rough years, the Bulls seem to be back on the right trajectory, and there&rsquo;s no question that this team has the talent to be a perennial playoff squad in the East. Winning 46 games despite trying to get so many new players acclimated is impressive, especially when you factor in the injuries to Ball, Caruso, Williams, etc.
Even if the Bulls bring back largely the same roster, they will benefit from that continuity and improved chemistry. However, given what we&rsquo;ve seen from this front office in recent years, don&rsquo;t be surprised if they look to wheel-and-deal in order to take the roster to the next level.

After winning 46 games and losing in the first round, where will the Bulls go from here? Alex Kennedy previews Chicago's summer.