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Wizards

May 5, 2006. That was the last time the Sacramento Kings <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200605050SAC.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">played in a playoff game</a>. That contest took place 5,863 days ago.&nbsp; To put that into context: During that 2005-06 season, Chris Paul was a rookie and Bruce Bowen, who was born in 1971, was named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team. Steve Nash won his second consecutive MVP award and Boris Diaw was named the league's Most Improved Player.
The Kings made history last month, the type of history that no organization wants to be known for. Sacramento, who finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 30-52 record, failed to qualify for the postseason for the 16th straight season, breaking the NBA record for the longest playoff drought. (The Kings had been tied with the Buffalo Braves and Los Angeles Clippers prior.)
So, while <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-lottery-teams-who-should-trade-to-win-now-or-at-least-sooner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many teams in this year's draft lottery</a> are rumored to be interested in potentially trading their pick, arguably no team is more motivated to add an established player (as opposed to an unproven rookie) in hopes of avoiding a return trip to the all-too-familiar lottery dais next May than the Kings.
As proof of their urgency to win now, the Kings shocked pundits back in February by trading away Tyrese Haliburton, one of the league's most promising young point guards, to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a package that included Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.&nbsp;
Thus, it isn't shocking to learn that Sacramento, who jumped up to land the No. 4 overall pick in last week's lottery, is reportedly willing to wheel and deal if presented with the right offer.&nbsp;
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10036369-nba-draft-buzz-insiders-explain-why-chet-holmgren-makes-sense-at-no-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>, "there's a strong belief among rival teams that Sacramento will explore trading the fourth selection, either out of the draft entirely for an impact veteran or down later in the lottery to net a contributing rotation player in the process."
The other issue likely factoring into the Kings' thought process is that the top tier of the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a> consists of three players (Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero), with a bit of a dropoff after those elite prospects. Nonetheless, "the uncertainty of the fourth selection could prompt eager teams to leap up to secure their prized prospect" which puts the Kings' front office in a "<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10036369-nba-draft-buzz-insiders-explain-why-chet-holmgren-makes-sense-at-no-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strong trade position</a>," per Fischer.&nbsp;
Additionally, Mike Scotto of HoopsHype recently <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/aggregate-nba-mock-draft-lottery-jabari-smith-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero-trade-rumors/">reported</a> that NBA executives "are monitoring the Sacramento Kings" as a team that could trade their pick "in search of player(s) that can help immediately." Scotto added that after acquiring Sabonis, the Kings have "made it clear the goal is to end the franchise's playoff drought" and that "rival teams are keeping an eye on Sacramento to trade this pick."
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So, let's examine some deals that might make sense for both the Kings and a potential trading partner.
Detroit Pistons send Jerami Grant, Saben Lee, Isaiah Livers and a second-round pick (No. 46 overall) to the Kings in exchange for the No. 4 overall pick, Richaun Holmes, Maurice Harkless and Alex Len
Earlier this offseason, Sacramento general manager Monte McNair <a href="https://account.sacbee.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=260358905&amp;intcid=ab_archive">conceded</a> that the team needs to add players who can knock down shots and fit in alongside the franchise's cornerstones, Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox.
"I think shooting, we can clearly acknowledge, will be a huge priority," McNair declared. "Length, athleticism, versatility &mdash; we've talked about all that as well. Obviously, you want the whole package, but shooting will be a big priority for us."
Grant most certainly checks those boxes. During his two years in Detroit, he has averaged 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 made treys and 1.1 blocks per game. He has shot over 37% from downtown on 4.5 attempts over the past four seasons and is a versatile, plus defender. As a stretch-4, Grant &mdash; who just turned 28 and is in the heart of his prime &mdash; could conceivably fit in well in the frontcourt alongside Sabonis, who likes to operate on the low block and is a good passer from the post. Moreover, Fox-Grant pick-and-rolls would be difficult to defend.&nbsp;
The issue in this potential trade is that Grant has just one season left on the three-year, $60 million deal he signed in 2020. However, as long as Grant is traded before Aug. 9, he is eligible to sign an extension with his new team for up to $112 million over four years. After previously spurning the Nuggets to sign with the Pistons, we know that Grant is not afraid to join a team that hasn't enjoyed recent success. Would he be willing to commit to Sacramento long-term? If so, a Big Three of Fox, Grant and Sabonis might be talented enough to finally push the Kings into the postseason.&nbsp;
For the Pistons, they would add Holmes (a quality center on a team-friendly contract) and enter next month's draft with 2 of the top 5 picks, which would allow them to add a pair of promising prospects to a core centered around Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes. 
Washington Wizards send Kyle Kuzma and the No. 10 overall pick to the Kings for the No. 4 pick, Justin Holiday and Terence Davis
After a disappointing end to his tenure as a Los Angeles Laker, Kuzma bounced back with a very productive season for the Wizards in 2021-22. He averaged 17.1 points and 1.9 made three-pointers while setting career-highs in rebounds (8.5), assists (3.5) and blocks (0.9) per game. He led the Wiz in double-doubles with 24 (which ranked tied for the sixth-most among all forwards in the NBA). Adding Kuzma's offensive versatility would provide Sacramento with some much-needed depth at forward. In addition, the Kings would still have a lottery pick, dropping back just six spots, which would allow them to add another young asset to the roster.&nbsp;
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The Wizards would likely entertain such a deal if they fell in love with a prospect &mdash; such as Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey or Shaedon Sharpe &mdash; whom they feel relatively sure won't still be on the board at 10.
Kuz has two years left on his current contract but can opt out in the summer of 2023. However, he will be eligible to sign a four-year extension for up to $70 million this October if his $13 million player option for 2023-24 is declined.&nbsp;
A similar package featuring one of the Wizards' other young forwards (Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija or Corey Kispert) instead of Kuzma might also be feasible, depending on the value the Kings/Wizards place on the respective players.&nbsp;
Houston Rockets send the No. 3 overall pick and Eric Gordon to the Kings for the No. 4 pick, a (protected) future first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, Richaun Holmes and Justin Holiday
Is it possible that Sacramento views Smith, Holmgren or Banchero as talented enough to make a substantial impact as a rookie? If so, would the team be willing to pony up sufficient capital to move up one spot?
The Kings would snag one of this draft's three most prized prospects in this hypothetical scenario. The 7-foot Holmgren is one of the most versatile prospects to enter the draft in recent history. Banchero possesses a freakish combination of size, strength and athleticism. Smith projects as a lethal stretch-4 who could fit in nicely alongside Sabonis.&nbsp;
Gordon is a respected, established veteran with just one year of guaranteed money left on his contract. He shot a scorching 41.2% from three-point territory this past season, the second-best mark of his career.&nbsp;
Such a deal would make sense for the Rockets if they feel whichever of the top-tier prospects that falls to them isn't significantly better than the next highest-ranked player on their board. During a post-lottery press conference last week, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said Houston is <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1526739178557517824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526739178557517824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F10036145-rockets-open-to-trading-3rd-pick-in-2022-nba-draft-if-a-deal-makes-sense-gm-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open to trading the No. 3 pick</a>.
"I'm definitely not gonna block them out," Stone <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1526739178557517824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526739178557517824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F10036145-rockets-open-to-trading-3rd-pick-in-2022-nba-draft-if-a-deal-makes-sense-gm-says">told reporters</a>. "If they wanna talk, I'm always available to talk... If it's the case that they're interested in doing something, we're always available to listen. If there's something that makes sense for both teams, something will get done."
Adding a quality young center in Holmes would give the Rockets leverage in negotiations with Christian Wood, or potentially enable them to trade him out of Houston.&nbsp;
New York Knicks trade Julius Randle and the No. 11 overall pick to the Kings for Harrison Barnes, the No. 4 pick and a second-round pick (No. 37 overall)&nbsp;
Randle playing alongside Sabonis could be viewed as a clunky fit, but Sabonis did play 80% of his minutes at center for Sacramento after arriving via the midseason trade. The pairing would undoubtedly be problematic defensively, but the duo would be dynamic on the offensive end. Over the past two seasons, Randle and Sabonis were 2 of only 4 NBA players to average double-digit boards and more than 5 assists per contest. (The other two players in this club were Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo.)
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After being named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2020-21, Randle's offensive inefficiency regressed dramatically this past season. In addition, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/julius-randle-and-the-knicks-should-part-ways-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the relationship between Randle and Knicks fans turned toxic</a> at various points during the year. Yet, even in a "down year," he averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 boards and 5.1 dimes per game. A fresh start in California might help Randle regain his All-Star form. Also, he is under team control for at least three more years (he has a player option for 2025-26), which means the Kings wouldn't have to worry about their key players entering free agency anytime soon.&nbsp;
From the Knicks' perspective, this move would allow them to jump up and snag a highly-touted prospect, possibly combo guard Jaden Ivey, who New York was rumored to be interested in. And, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/julius-randle-and-the-knicks-should-part-ways-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as I wrote last month</a>, moving Randle would enable the Knicks to insert Obi Toppin (who averaged 27.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 made three-pointers per game in April) into the starting lineup while also clearing Randle's contract off their books. Barnes will celebrate his 30th birthday next week, but is still playing at a high level and has just one year left on his current deal.&nbsp;
Atlanta Hawks trade John Collins and the No. 16 pick to the Kings for Harrison Barnes and the No. 4 pick
After signing a massive five-year contract worth $125 million last summer, Collins struggled with injuries and inconsistency in 2021-22. His disappointing production was one of the reasons Atlanta failed to meet lofty expectations this season. One year after advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks spent much of this past season below .500 and were easily eliminated by the Miami Heat in the first round.
Would they be willing to part way with Collins (and his contract) to jump 12 spots in the draft?&nbsp;
Much like the aforementioned Randle/Knicks deal, the Kings would have to decide if Collins could mesh with Sabonis and Fox.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets trade Gordon Hayward, the No. 13 pick and the No. 15 pick (via NOLA) to the Kings in exchange for Harrison Barnes, Maurice Harkless, Alex Len and the No. 4 pick
Attempting to determine Hayward's value league-wide is difficult. When healthy, he's been remarkably productive throughout his career. However, he's been plagued by injury issues and has missed 58 games since signing a four-year, $120 million pact with the Hornets in 2020. He has two years and $61.5 million left on his current contract, which also contains a 15% trade kicker.&nbsp;
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Tommy Beer highlights a number of possible trades that the Kings could execute to improve their roster this summer.

Breaking down 6 hypothetical trades for the Kings' fourth draft pick

After spending more than 20 years working as an international scout and serving as director of international scouting for the Portland Trail Blazers, Jason Filippi continues his scouting journey by evaluating players for BasketballNews.com. Today, Filippi evaluates top European prospect Nikola Jovic of Mega Basket in Serbia.
Nikola Jovic has had a very up and down season. But even as a victim of both his inconsistency and the unrelenting pressure of high expectations, he is still arguably the top international prospect in the upcoming <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a> and a likely first-round pick.
Admittedly, Jovic struggled a bit early in the season, but I think he has improved a lot since then and is slowly starting to live up to expectations. In his defense, people often forget that this was his first real full season at the pro level; he only played in just a handful of games with the senior Mega Basket team at the end of the 2020-21 season.
Jovic was forced into the spotlight as an 18-year-old with huge expectations, and perhaps too much responsibility, for a kid his age. And while it is true that the Mega Basket club he plays for does everything possible to promote their young star prospects and groom them for the NBA Draft, it is also true that he had to face a lot of scrutiny &mdash; along with a significant amount of pressure &mdash; to perform.
(Editor's Note: Over 25 games in the Adriatic League [ABA], Jovic averaged 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest, shooting 42.8% from the field and 35.6% beyond the arc.)
I think that he did an excellent job keeping his focus through it all.
Early in the season, Jovic looked a bit flustered at times, and lost his confidence, swagger and cockiness. Still, he seems to have regained his "mojo" now, as he has been much more assertive over the last couple of months. And, in general, he has seen his role on the team grow since the start of the season. He has also been shooting it better, and is now looking much more confident from three-point range.&nbsp;
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Having scouted Jovic very closely over the past three years, I have witnessed firsthand his career progression, which has been quite impressive. Here is a list of accomplishments he has earned just over the past two seasons:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">MVP of 2021 Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Belgrade&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">MVP of 2021 Serbian Junior League Finals&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">MVP of 2021 Adriatic League ABA U19 Championship;</li>
<li aria-level="1">All-Tournament team at 2021 FIBA World U19 Championships</li>
<li aria-level="1">2021-22 Adriatic League Top Young Prospect</li>
</ul>
In addition, this past February, Jovic also made his debut with the Serbian senior national team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.&nbsp;
Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Jovic is a very skilled and versatile combo forward with excellent positional size; he stands a legit 6-foot-10 with shoes, albeit with just an average wingspan. He has a long but narrow frame, and will need to add muscle to play at the NBA level. Jovic moves pretty well for his size and is very smooth &mdash; everything seems to come easy. He is not an explosive athlete, but still seems to be able to get to wherever he wants to with the ball. He is a decent leaper who can make athletic plays in space or off the move. However, his lateral quickness is more of a question mark for me, especially from an NBA perspective.
Jovic has a very polished offensive game, and I think his versatile skill set will help him succeed at the NBA level. He has excellent ball skills; he can drive, shoot and pass, and help handle the ball. Although he can be somewhat of a ball-stopper at times, he makes excellent reads with the ball, sees the court well and can serve as a facilitator. I have also seen him make plays for others as a ball-handler in pick-and-roll situations. In addition, he is a good ball-handler in the open court who will routinely lead fast-break offense. He'll eventually be able to help initiate the offense even in the half-court too.
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One of the keys to Jovic's development has been the fact that he started his basketball career as a guard, but then had a huge growth spurt. So this allowed him to transition to the frontcourt while still retaining the feel and ball skills of a backcourt player, giving him a considerable edge over others in his new position.
Whether Jovic will be able to handle and create off the dribble as easily at the NBA level or not is a legitimate question, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt based on his skill level and feel for the game. He may not have an explosive first step, but he can still get to the rim well enough (in my opinion) thanks to his craftiness, excellent use of fakes and changes of speed and direction. The kid has a fantastic mid-range game also. At the junior level, he showed the ability to exploit favorable mismatches, and displayed some nice post-up moves. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to do it as much at the pro level thus far. However, if he can gain strength physically, it will help him.
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One area he will need to improve is his perimeter shooting, which can be very erratic. Although he is a better shooter than his current three-point percentage would suggest, Jovic is far from the type of knockdown shooter he will need to be in order to take his game to the next level. His shot is a bit "rigid,'' and he will need to tweak his mechanics to make it more fluid. He also tends not to always follow through well. On the positive side, Jovic is working on developing a nice step-back move and a side-step move.&nbsp;
As good as he is on offense, Jovic still has a lot of work to do on the defensive end, and this will be a key factor in determining his potential success at the NBA level. At the moment, he struggles to defend both forward spots &mdash; even at the European level. He will have to bulk up more to play effectively at the 4, which will likely become his long-term default position at the NBA level, as he lacks the necessary physicality to be a 5. He currently struggles too much to defend the wing at the pro level; he has just average lateral quickness and often plays too stiff &mdash; he needs to learn to bend his knees more.
Jovic has been drawing comparisons to many current and former NBA players like Hedo Turkoglu, Dario Saric, Deni Avdija and even Joe Ingles. However, the one player he reminds me of the most is Danilo Gallinari, and I think his potential career arc could be very similar.
I have followed both players since they were 16 years old, and have noticed remarkable similarities in these two at the same ages. Both were guards before growth spurts who kept those guard-like ball skills, and were mediocre long-range shooters at a young age, but continuously improved. Gallinari has become a great shooter, so I don't see why Jovic can't become the same soon. They also faced similar defensive challenges at the pro level, as both often played too stiff and had just average foot speed as big wings. And in addition, they were both thrown into the spotlight at age-18 and faced similar challenges resulting from the pressure of high expectations.
It may take him some time to adjust his game to the NBA, but I am sure that Nikola Jovic will figure things out and enjoy a long NBA career! 
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Jason Filippi shares his in-depth evaluation of top 2022 NBA Draft prospect Nikola Jovic of Mega Basket in Serbia.

2022 NBA Draft: An in-depth evaluation of Nikola Jovic's game

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; DeMar DeRozan scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away for a 107-94 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
Nikola Vucevic scored 27 points for Chicago, which is trying to stay in the top six in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in round of the postseason. The Bulls (44-32) took a half-game lead over Toronto (43-32) for fifth place in the East, and they lead seventh-place Cleveland (42-33) by 1 1/2 games.
Chicago has played 12 of its last 15 on the road, but the Bulls now have only six games remaining in the regular season &mdash; and the next five are at home.
Rui Hachimura scored 21 points for the Wizards, who had their modest two-game winning streak snapped. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20.
The Bulls rebounded from a loss to the New York Knicks the previous night, and they overcame a scoreless first half from Zach LaVine, who finished with 14 points. DeRozan was just 2 of 12 from the field in the half, but he went 10 of 15 in the second.
Chicago led 75-73 after three quarters, but the Bulls made their decisive run early in the fourth. DeRozan's breakaway dunk made it 90-80 &mdash; the first double-digit lead for either team &mdash; and Chicago comfortably closed the game out from there.
Vucevic scored 20 points in the first half, and the Bulls led 51-46 after two quarters.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Javonte Green scored nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. That included a one-handed dunk in the second quarter and an alley-oop moments later.
Wizards: Washington is without star Bradley Beal (left wrist), and Kyle Kuzma (right knee) wasn't available either. ... Kristaps Porzingis and Deni Avdija scored 14 points apiece.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
Wizards: Host Orlando on Wednesday night.
&nbsp;

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points as the Chicago Bulls earned a 107-94 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Bulls alone in 5th place after 107-94 win over Wizards

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 13 rebounds in an efficient 26-minute performance to help the Denver Nuggets cruise to a 127-109 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Jokic reached 10,001 career NBA points &mdash; all with Denver &mdash; and added eight assists while falling two shy of his 19th triple-double the season.
The four-time All-Star shot 10 of 14 from the floor, hitting both 3-pointers and all seven foul shots he attempted as the Nuggets improved to 2-0 on their three-game East Coast trip.
Bones Hyland added 17 points for a Denver team battling to seal one of six automatic Western Conference playoff spots.
The sixth-place Nuggets began the night 1 1/2 games ahead of seventh-place Minnesota and 1 1/2 behind Dallas. Both played later Wednesday.
Deni Avdija scored 19 points for Washington, which has lost five straight and continues to lose ground on the Eastern Conference play-in places.
Kristaps Porzingis added 16 points and Corey Kispert had 15 for the 11th-place Wizards.
Washington shot only 21.7% from 3-point range (5 of 23) on a night very little was in doubt other than the possibility of a Jokic triple-double.
Denver led 34-28 after the first quarter, 73-52 at halftime and 104-81 after three. Jokic came out late in the third and did not re-enter.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Set a new franchise record with their seventh consecutive road victory. ... Coach Michael Malone confirmed reports that G Jamal Murray (Left ACL) has begun practicing with G-League Grand Rapids, but said his return to play is not imminent. Murray suffered the injury last April. ... Denver made its first 17 free throws before DeMarcus cousins missed the first of a pair, and finished 20 of 21 from the line.
Wizards: Allowed 120 or more points for the fourth consecutive game and 14th time this season ... Are on their longest slide since losing six straight from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1.
NO COMPARISON
Asked before the game if Washington's Porzingis shared traits with Denver's Jokic, the NBA's second-leading rebounder and fifth-leading assist man, Malone was skeptical.
&ldquo;Other than being big and foreign, I think that&rsquo;s where the similarities stop,&rdquo; Malone said.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: At Cleveland on Friday night.
Wizards: At New York on Friday night.

Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 13 rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets cruise to a 127-109 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Jokic shines, Nuggets cruise to 127-109 victory over Wizards

Most NBA teams have approximately 15 games left in their regular-season schedules. Even if some squads are still mathematically in the postseason hunt, we can start to distinguish the desperate bids from the real races.
In the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards (despite how things look on the court) continue to chase the Charlotte Hornets and are three games back of an East Play-In spot. The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs all hold some grip onto the Western Conference Play-In battle. But as the games wind down, the intensity ratchets up, and every loss can feel like a brick wall.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst outlooks. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going.
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;The Toronto Raptors are riding a three-game win streak that includes quality victories over the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets. They now sit just one game back of the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers for the all-important sixth seed and definitely have enough momentum to take it with 15 games left in the regular season.
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10. Golden State Warriors (46-22)
The Warriors rallied with a massive week highlighted by two double-digit wins against the Nuggets and a Saturday primetime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. The win over the Bucks was particularly impressive because Stephen Curry attempted just 7 field goals; Klay Thompson (38 points), Jordan Poole (30 points) and Andrew Wiggins (21 points) carried the scoring load. Golden State has looked rudderless at times without Draymond Green, but hopefully this three-game hot stretch inspires confidence.
(Last week: 7)
9. Houston Rockets (17-51)
Jalen Green is still playing superb basketball, but KJ Martin has come alive with a longer leash as Houston wades through its rebuilding season. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kj-martin-more-than-meets-the-eye" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler wrote a fantastic article</a> over the weekend on Martin's mini-breakout. The 21-year-old is up to 43.8% from three-point range since the break and is much more than a slasher, as Mark illustrates. This is what you hope happens amidst all the losing, and if it continues, Houston might get out of the rankings altogether next week.
(Last week: 8)
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (38-29)
It's been a rough post-All-Star run for Cleveland, who is just 3-6 since the break. Jarrett Allen's finger fracture has impacted the Cavs' top-tier defense; it's now ranked 25th over the past two weeks. Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen and Rajon Rondo have also dealt with their own injuries. Cleveland is now just a single game up on Toronto in a tightly-packed East playoff race. The overall picture is still bright, but the recent downturn is simply a bummer for a franchise that can feel a tangible post-LeBron playoff appearance within its grasp.
(Last week: Unranked)
7. Charlotte Hornets (33-35)
Last week I attempted, for the second time this season, to point out a solid defensive stretch by the Hornets. Once again, they made me look like a buffoon. Charlotte gave up at least 115 points in all three of its games this past week, going 1-2 against the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Pelicans. At least Isaiah Thomas got in a nice game with 14 points against New Orleans. No matter how you feel about his viability as an NBA player, it's impossible not to root for Thomas.
(Last week: 9)
6. Brooklyn Nets (35-33)
Nets Twitter (and I presume the rest of Nets fandom) positively exploded with joy in Brooklyn's dominant 129-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. The triumph is perhaps the highlight of the season to date and hopefully a spark plug, as Brooklyn has rattled off three consecutive victories. We also need to keep talking about Bruce Brown, who is averaging 14.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game since the All-Star break.&nbsp;
(Last week: 1)
5. New York Knicks (28-40)
I'm an absolute sucker for Deuce McBride propaganda, so here you go:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Deuce has been freakin absurd at the nail as he's finally started to get rotation minutes <a href="https://t.co/2m98NjOo4p">pic.twitter.com/2m98NjOo4p</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1502679211127054337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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New York went 2-2 this week, but with some respectable losses to the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat. More importantly, we're seeing meaningful time and flashes from young talents, whether it be McBride, RJ Barrett, Jericho Sims or Immanuel Quickley. That's all that matters over the final weeks.
(Last week: 2)
4. Los Angeles Lakers (29-38)
LeBron James has now dropped multiple 50-bombs out of the All-Star break and continues his lopsided battle with Father Time. Also lopsided? The Lakers are 2-0 since the break when James scored at least 50 points and 0-7 when he doesn't. That's... not exactly a desirable bar for success. Los Angeles now looks ahead at 6 games in 10 days with five against current playoff teams. I would not be surprised if they entered a March 27 contest against New Orleans behind the Pelicans in the standings.
(Last week: 3)
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3. Sacramento Kings (24-45)
Sacramento stands four-and-a-half games behind a Play-In spot, is 2-7 since the All-Star break and has bottom-10 metrics on both ends of the floor during that span. The Kings are giving up the ninth-highest frequency of three-pointers to opponents per Cleaning the Glass, and those teams are shooting a strong 38.2% from the floor. Sacramento has the playoff-bound Chicago Bulls, Bucks, Celtics and Suns next on tap, which doesn't bode well for them stopping the current four-game slide.
(Last week: 4)
2. Portland Trail Blazers (26-40)
Despite sitting 11th in the West and just one game behind the Pelicans, Portland simply can't put enough quality games together. The Blazers finally earned a 127-118 win over the Wizards to snap a six-game skid on Saturday. Anfernee Simons is down with a knee injury and will be re-evaluated in 1-to-2 weeks, meaning Portland loses its most coveted young player for the short-term future. Props to Josh Hart for his 44-point explosion though.
(Last week: 5)
1. Washington Wizards (29-37)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Win, loss, tie, blowout either way: what on earth is this roster and minutes distribution man I know KP didn&rsquo;t play, but like how does that clear anything up lol <a href="https://t.co/1VkTfPnQfh">pic.twitter.com/1VkTfPnQfh</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1503001470148427779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Mark Schindler highlighted the rotation discord in Washington, and it's pretty baffling. Corey Kispert is playing 39 minutes? Deni Avdijia is playing 13 minutes? Washington should either be making a last-ditch playoff push (three games out of 10th right now) or committing to playing the more experienced young lottery talents it has added over the past few years. Yet somehow, neither is happening.
(Last week: 6)
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The Wizards and Trail Blazers are tumbling in Ethan Fuller's latest Sour Rankings.

NBA Sour Rankings: Wizards, Trail Blazers in postseason peril

Butterfly effects impact everything around them. That is as true in the NBA as it is anywhere &ndash; and it&rsquo;s especially true with administrative moves like trades. For example, would the Milwaukee Bucks have won the 2021 NBA championship without trading for Jrue Holiday? Probably not.
So, while new additions are discussed ad nauseum, trades also often result in diminished roles &ndash; or subsequent trades &ndash; for existing players who were firmly in a team's rotation. And with that in mind, I can&rsquo;t help but turn my attention to the Indiana Pacers.
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Indiana was lauded for a deadline deal that swapped Domantas Sabonis for Tyrese Haliburton. But lost in the shuffle of this major deadline deal is Malcolm Brogdon. It&rsquo;s understandable that Haliburton, a 21-year-old averaging 20.7 points and 10.0 assists per game in only his sophomore season, attracts serious attention. But as recently as last season, it was Brogdon who was seen as the team's future point guard.
The former Rookie of the Year is quietly averaging 18.5 points, 5.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game this season. Granted, he&rsquo;s shooting poorly (31% on three-pointers), but he leads the Pacers in assists, and he&rsquo;s their third-leading scorer (prior to the trade) &ndash; not too shabby.
The Pacers have made it abundantly clear that they are rebuilding on-the-fly. They have a young core of Haliburton, Chris Duarte and Jalen Smith. Add in their 2022 first-round pick, as well as Cleveland&rsquo;s 2022 first, and they are off to a good start.
Never mind Buddy Hield &ndash; although if the Pacers are serious about a rebuild, he should expect to be traded, too &ndash; but all of a sudden, Brogdon is probably feeling unwanted and underappreciated &ndash; and rightfully so. According to HoopsHype&rsquo;s <a href="https://hoopshype.com/author/michaelascotto/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Scotto</a>, the Pacers may be open to moving Brogdon this summer.
If I&rsquo;m being honest they should, but not due to production issues. As previously mentioned, Brogdon was playing good basketball this season prior to suffering an Achilles injury in December; Brogdon returned on Friday, Feb. 25, collecting 15 points (on 3 for 8 shooting on three-pointers), 4 assists and 4 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Instead, Brogdon should be moved because he simply doesn&rsquo;t align with a rebuild. He&rsquo;ll turn 30 in December, meaning he&rsquo;ll be past his peak when the younger Pacers enter theirs. And while that may be moot given the unlikely nature of a team remaining together for five or more years in the modern era, it&rsquo;s still probably unwise to waste a talented player like Brogdon on a team that won&rsquo;t compete for a championship with him &ndash; especially when you can swap him for additional assets, allowing less valuable veterans to show Indiana&rsquo;s youngsters the ropes. &nbsp;
For better or worse, Brogdon is under the Pacers&rsquo; control. He just signed a two-year, $45 million extension last summer, which means he&rsquo;s signed to Indiana through 2025 with no player option. Given the bad press Ben Simmons received for his hold out in Philadelphia, Brogdon is unlikely to go that route &ndash; and it may be out of the plan altogether for Brogdon, anyway, who seemed excited to play alongside the younger Haliburton.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to play with him. I think he&rsquo;s honestly similar to me,&rdquo; Brogdon told the media on Feb. 23. &ldquo;Just the way he plays the game, the way he thinks [of] the game. He&rsquo;s a great young player.&rdquo;
Still, what&rsquo;s good for the goose isn&rsquo;t always good for the gander. So, how can Indiana extract the most value for Brogdon while continuing to build? The Pacers will have to look to engage teams that hope to compete in the near future in trade talks &ndash; but those without well-stocked backcourts will be especially interested. So, who does that leave?&nbsp;
New York Knicks
Of course, New York will be mentioned as a destination for Brogdon, as they haven&rsquo;t had a consistent and legitimate starting point guard in decades. Further, after experiencing success in 2020-21, New York is starving for more.
The benefit of dealing with the Knicks is that they have a good deal of draft capital and lots of short-term and/or expiring deals. To achieve $22.6 million in outgoing salary, New York would probably like to include Evan Fournier &ndash; although that&rsquo;s unlikely give the length of his contract. From a salary perspective, an Alec Burks-Kemba Walker-Immanuel Quickley deal is probably more likely. Remember, Walker will be expiring next season. The Knicks will probably be hesitant to move Quickley, but they&rsquo;ll have to give up something to get Brogdon.
But those three alone won't get it done. Indiana will demand draft picks, too. Fortunately, the Knicks have all of theirs and then some. If the Knicks are willing to part with two future picks (at least one of which being a first-rounder), that probably gets it done &ndash; especially if that first-rounder is their own 2022 first-round pick.&nbsp;
Consensus &ndash; it could happen.
Los Angeles Lakers 
It&rsquo;s way harder to find a deal that works for the Lakers. Technically, though, if things fall their way, Los Angeles could offer something.
First of all, the Lakers need Kendrick Nunn to pick up his player option &ndash; although that&rsquo;s not out of the question as Nunn has yet to play this season. And remember the hype around Nunn just a year or so ago? While he&rsquo;s far from a sure thing, Indiana could view the 26-year-old as a possible rotation piece.
But Nunn&rsquo;s option is worth only $5 million. The Lakers would also have to include Talen Horton-Tucker, who will make approximately $10 million in 2022-23 &ndash; and they still need to add another $7 million. If they pick up Stanley Johnson&rsquo;s option ($2.3 million) and include him and other minimum guys, technically that gets them there.
But is that enough value to return Brogdon? I can speak for Indiana here &ndash; no, it&rsquo;s not. Making matters worse, the Lakers draft pick situation is murky. They can&rsquo;t trade a future first-rounder with certainty until 2027. That&rsquo;s probably too undefined for Indiana.
Consensus &ndash; won&rsquo;t work unless a third team is involved
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Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are in a similar spot as the Lakers in terms of draft picks &ndash; they can really only offer the 76ers' 2022 first-rounder, and they might not have enough promising youth to get a deal done.
Brooklyn can offer Seth Curry ($8.5 million), Cam Thomas ($2.1 million) and Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe ($2.1 million) &ndash; but they&rsquo;re still about $10 million away from matching salaries. They can potentially work in a sign-and-trade deal including Nic Claxton, too, who will be a restricted free agent &ndash; but that becomes far more complicated.
Still, would a deal involving Curry, Thomas, Sharpe, Claxton and a Philadelphia first-rounder be enough for Brogdon? It&rsquo;s not a bad haul &ndash; but Indiana would have to be confident that at least one of those players is a long-term starter, and I&rsquo;m not sure that&rsquo;s the case.
Consensus &ndash; unlikely, but it&rsquo;s possible
Washington Wizards
It might surprise folks to see Washington on this list, but remember, the Wizards are still trying to convince Bradley Beal to remain in Washington. They're hoping to compete with Beal and (probably) Kristaps Porzingis. A big three of Beal, Porzingis and Brogdon is actually a pretty good core that seemingly complements each other.
But Indiana will be doing their Eastern Conference rivals no favors. So, what&rsquo;s in it for the Pacers? Well, the Wizards have a pretty decent war chest of assets. They can send out Rui Hachimura ($6.2 million) Deni Avdija ($4.9 million) and Kyle Kuzma ($13 million). Both Hachimura and Avdija are former lottery picks, and they are only 24 and 21, respectively. Alternatively, if Washington is intent on keeping Kuzma, they can send a combination of Corey Kispert ($3.5 million), Vernon Carey Jr. ($1.7 million), Cassius Winston ($1.5 million qualifying offer) and others.
But the Wizards lack draft capital &ndash; the next first-rounder Washington can include is their 2028 pick. So, Indiana would have to be really high on Hachimura and Avdija &ndash; which is possible, but the Pacers might not view them favorably as others do.&nbsp;
Consensus &ndash; could happen
Ultimately, the Pacers must decide to move on from Brogdon before any trades can be examined, but it&rsquo;s in their best interest to do so. And while the teams that are most likely to be interested don&rsquo;t necessarily have the right assets to make Indiana jump at a deal, most of them have interesting pieces that should at least make Indiana consider a move. &nbsp;
Where Brogdon plays the 2022-23 season and beyond is still anyone&rsquo;s guess &ndash; but it shouldn&rsquo;t be with Indiana. And that&rsquo;s in the best interest of Brogdon and the Pacers.
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Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

The Pacers and Malcolm Brogdon are headed in different directions. Will Indiana continue to rebuild this summer by moving Brogdon?

The Indiana Pacers and their Malcolm Brogdon conundrum

The Washington Wizards aren't having a good time right now.
After a 10-3 start to the season, they've gone 13-24 since. Their offense (109.5 Offensive Rating, 23rd) and defense (114.7 Defensive Rating, 27th) have been woeful during this stretch. They're currently losers of six straight, which include an epic collapse against the Los Angeles Clippers and some insert-the-this-is-fine-GIF commentary from Spencer Dinwiddie.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here's video of Dinwiddie's comments. Question from <a href="https://twitter.com/Tsaltas46?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tsaltas46</a> <a href="https://t.co/xkCSVaI1FE">https://t.co/xkCSVaI1FE</a> <a href="https://t.co/y2iRJMBsxs">pic.twitter.com/y2iRJMBsxs</a>
&mdash; Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChaseHughesNBCS/status/1487653921049006080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Add in the cloud of Bradley Beal's impending free agency, and you have a less-than-fun situation on your hands. Beal has been signaling his interest in re-signing for ages, but he's also been clear about his desire to win. If things don't improve, would it truly shock anyone to see him sign a long-term extension before requesting a trade early into the deal?
The Wizards want to avoid that reality, which would explain their activity in trade talks as the deadline approaches. Both Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report have reported the Wizards being in the hunt for a high level talent. Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis certainly qualifies.
<a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bradley-beal-future-jazz-pelicans-bulls-trade-targets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From Scotto</a>:
<blockquote>
Several people I&rsquo;ve spoken to around the league believe the Wizards will look to go big-game hunting with the trade deadline coming up to keep&nbsp;Bradley Beal&nbsp;happy, and they could look to acquire&nbsp;Domantas Sabonis&nbsp;or&nbsp;Jerami Grant.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953006-trade-deadline-intel-wizards-among-nbas-most-active-shoppers-eyeing-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From Fischer</a>:
<blockquote>
Just a week out from the Feb. 10 trade deadline, the Washington Wizards are being described by league personnel as one of the more active teams on the&nbsp;NBA&nbsp;trade market. As the Wizards have discussed adding key reinforcements&nbsp;such as Jerami Grant, Indiana Pacers forward&nbsp;Domantas Sabonis&nbsp;has also emerged as another significant trade target, sources told B/R.&nbsp;
</blockquote>
If the Wizards are in the market for someone to take creation pressure off of Beal, Sabonis certainly fits the bill. As mentioned <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exploring-trade-destinations-for-domantas-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this space</a>, Sabonis is one of the best high-post hubs in the NBA. He's averaging 5.0 assists this season, a top-five mark among big men this season, but it's less about that archaic number.
Not only can Sabonis hit cutters, he has a way of prying guys open with (off-ball) screens and handoffs. He's lead the NBA in screen assists in 2 of the last 3 seasons. His off-ball partnership with Justin Holiday has been the NBA's best this year; the Pacers are generating over 1.4 points per possession on direct hookups between the two, per Second Spectrum.
<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/s1cpp7" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Veer screens. Flare screens. Pindowns. Pin-ins.
Sabonis can do it all, which could be a godsend for Beal. The star hasn't shot as well this season, but he's still masterful as an off-ball mover. Having someone like Sabonis pry him open could lead to a cleaner shot diet. Considering the passing growth he's exhibited this season, more downhill reps could improve the flow of the offense.
Per Fischer, the <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953006-trade-deadline-intel-wizards-among-nbas-most-active-shoppers-eyeing-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacers are looking for a package</a> "similar to or greater than the haul Nikola Vuceivic drew for the Orlando Magic last season." The Wizards have a trio of rookie-deal prospects &mdash; Deni Avdija, Rui Hachiumura, and Corey Kispert &mdash; that the Pacers could choose from, and enough mid-tier salaries to put a package together.
If they're adamant about saving face with Beal, pursuing a Sabonis trade would be a smart option.&nbsp;
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The Wizards have expressed trade interest in Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis. How would that look?

Wizards pursuing Domantas Sabonis could save face with Bradley Beal

The NBA trade deadline is just 17 days away. Around the league, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/after-a-slow-december-trade-talks-are-heating-up-around-the-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade talks are heating up</a> and some of the same names continue to surface.
One such name is Jerami Grant of the Detroit Pistons.
As Feb. 10 rapidly approaches, plenty of teams have <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lakers-knicks-wizards-blazers-interested-in-jerami-grant-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> been linked to the 27-year-old, including the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks among others.
Washington definitely seems like a team to watch in the Grant sweepstakes. Bleacher Report&rsquo;s Eric Pincus <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952711-latest-nba-trade-intel-would-a-john-wall-westbrook-trade-really-help-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that rival executives &ldquo;believe the Wizards are leading the chase&rdquo; for Grant.
&ldquo;Some also say the Wizards are open to dealing veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who hasn't quite meshed with [Bradley] Beal,&rdquo; Pincus <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952711-latest-nba-trade-intel-would-a-john-wall-westbrook-trade-really-help-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>.
Deni Avdija, Montrezl Harrell and Rui Hachimura were mentioned by Pincus as pieces that might interest Detroit. Also, he notes that the Pistons may be looking to move Kelly Olynyk (either as part of a Grant trade or in a separate deal).
Pincus also <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952711-latest-nba-trade-intel-would-a-john-wall-westbrook-trade-really-help-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">names</a> the Mavericks as a &ldquo;dark-horse team&rdquo; for Grant. Jalen Brunson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell have been mentioned as Dallas&rsquo; best trade chips (although it would likely take quite a bit for them to move Brunson, who&rsquo;s in the midst of a career-year).
The Mavs have been very active in recent weeks, as they have now been linked to Grant, Atlanta&rsquo;s John Collins, Indiana&rsquo;s Myles Turner and Boston&rsquo;s Marcus Smart among others.
Interestingly, "the offers aren't pouring in right now" for Grant, according to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3087762/2022/01/24/pistons-mailbag-what-im-hearing-about-detroit-as-nba-trade-deadline-nears/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic's James Edwards III</a>. There have been plenty of conversations and talks will likely pick up steam over the next two weeks, but "not many formal offers have been placed in front of Detroit" as of yet, per Edwards.
Edwards listed Chicago's Patrick Williams and Atlanta's John Collins as potential returns that would intrigue the Pistons, but he also stressed that Detroit could very well keep Grant past the deadline.
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Remember, Grant was also popping up in trade rumors around this time last year, but the Pistons ultimately decided to hold onto him. If Detroit isn't thrilled with the offers it ultimately receives, the team could do the same thing this time around.
"Furthermore, don&rsquo;t be surprised if Grant doesn&rsquo;t get traded by the Feb. 10 deadline," Edwards <a href="https://theathletic.com/3087762/2022/01/24/pistons-mailbag-what-im-hearing-about-detroit-as-nba-trade-deadline-nears/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>. "The Pistons don&rsquo;t have to trade Grant right now, especially if a deal that doesn&rsquo;t clearly benefit their future doesn&rsquo;t come along. Detroit could just elect to wait until the offseason to make a move, which I think is a real possibility."
It remains to be seen what the Pistons will do with Grant, who has been sidelined due to a thumb injury that required surgery in late December. He just spent a week practicing with Detroit's G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, which suggests he may be able to return prior to the trade deadline.
What makes Grant such an interesting trade candidate is the fact that he can fit with a variety of teams &mdash; from contenders to up-and-coming squads. After emerging as a key contributor on the third-seeded Denver Nuggets in 2019-20, he proved that he can take on increased responsibilities in Detroit. Over the last year-and-a-half with the Pistons, Grant has averaged 21.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 threes and 1.1 blocks on .425/.344/847 shooting splits.
Grant is earning $20,002,500 this season, and then he&rsquo;ll make $20,955,000 next season in the final year of his contract. The Pistons are currently 11-35, which is the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.&nbsp;

Rival executives believe that the Washington Wizards are "leading the chase" for Jerami Grant ahead of the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

Report: Wizards are front-runner for Jerami Grant, may deal Dinwiddie

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; This was quite a way for Jayson Tatum to break out of his shooting slump.
Tatum scored 51 points &mdash; 48 in the first three quarters &mdash; to help the Boston Celtics breeze to a 116-87 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Tatum made nine 3-pointers and shot 18 of 28 from the field. That was after he shot 0 for 17 beyond the arc in his previous three games.
&ldquo;When you're missing shots, you know what you're capable of, and sometimes you've got to laugh it off,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;It's as simple as sometimes you just don't make shots. You play so many games.&rdquo;
Tatum had 31 points by halftime and reached 50 on a <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1485380771795779585" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drive to the basket</a> with about 4:30 remaining in the game. He added a technical-foul free throw with 3:55 to play and then checked out of the game while the crowd in Washington, which included plenty of green-clad Boston fans, gave him a standing ovation.
&ldquo;That's an incredible feeling,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;Seeing so many fans on road with a Tatum &lsquo;0' jersey on &mdash; something I don't take for granted. I understand there's 450 some-odd guys in the league, and they took the time to go buy my jersey.&rdquo;
Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards, who never led in coach Wes Unseld Jr.&rsquo;s return from being on the COVID-19 health and safety protocol list. Washington, which has one game remaining on an eight-game homestand, has dropped three in a row.
Boston led 46-45 in the second quarter, but Tatum&rsquo;s 17-footer started a 14-0 run to close the half. Tatum added a couple free throws and two 3-pointers during that stretch and finished with 18 points in the quarter.
&ldquo;It pretty much came down to the end of the second quarter,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;Essentially, that was the game.&rdquo;
Tatum reached 40 points with a couple free throws with 4:48 left in the third. Moments later, a dunk put him even with his season high of 42 that he set last month against Milwaukee. He added two more 3s before the quarter was over, the second of which put Boston up 89-62.
&ldquo;To Tatum's credit, he had a night,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;Obviously, 51 points, it's a real number. I think he was 6 for 8 on pull-up 3s, which are tough shots. No excuse. He's been struggling, but he found his rhythm tonight.&rdquo;
Tatum seemed to realize his day might be done, taking three more shots in the final minute of the third quarter, all misses. He ended the third a bucket shy of 50 and left the game.
But he came back with 7:21 left in the fourth and scored enough to surpass 50 &mdash; although he remained well shy of his career high of 60, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/san-antonio-spurs-boston-celtics-nba-sports-f55bf91195c391d38549273758346270">set against San Antonio</a> last April.
Tatum was aware how close he was to 50 when he went back in. Celtics coach Ime Udoka said that wasn't a factor in putting him in, though.
&ldquo;We were getting a little iso-heavy, stagnant there," Udoka said. &ldquo;We've obviously had our troubles closing, so, get him back in and try to finish the game."
RETURN
Boston's Marcus Smart played for the first time since Jan. 10 after he went through health and safety protocols. He scored 11 points.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Jaylen Brown scored 18 points with 10 rebounds. Tatum also had 10 rebounds.
Wizards: Assistant Pat Delany coached the Wizards for one game in Unseld's absence before he also entered health and safety protocols. Then Joseph Blair coached the next three games. ... Deni Avdija scored 13 points with seven rebounds.
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UP NEXT
Celtics: Host Sacramento on Tuesday night.
Wizards: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

Jayson Tatum scored 51 points — 48 in the first three quarters — to help the Celtics breeze to a 116-87 victory over Washington.

Tatum scores 51 in Celtics' 116-87 rout of Wizards

Almost every franchise has cleared the halfway point of its schedule. At this mark, I'm listing the most aggravating, season-defining gripe for every squad on this week's list. Some are out of teams' control, like injuries and COVID absences. Others could on-court tendencies, front office decisions or underachieving players.
Teams stuck in the NBA Sour Rankings are all there for the same reason: they're disappointing. But how teams arrive there, and what really gets a fan base on edge, can vary wildly.&nbsp;
<div>
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
</div>
<div>
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going:
</div>
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;No one! It looks like we've found a sweet spot. Every team stays.
10. Houston Rockets (13-32)
The Rockets are trudging through a rebuild, and most of their young talent has at least flashed promise at some point in the season. Mark Schindler and Mat Issa just wrote a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/rocket-revival-evaluating-houston-rockets-young-core-part-ii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fantastic two-part breakdown</a> on the prospect core. But Houston's best player has also been one of its biggest concerns so far.
Christian Wood is, on paper, the leader of the team. But he's been ranging from inconsistent to uninterested this season. That includes a team-imposed one-game suspension for refusing to sub into a game (on top of being benched for showing up late to practice) and fluctuating effort on defense, as Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. referenced on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-73-first-team,-all-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>. Wood sets the tone for Houston's culture and intensity in many ways, and you never know if he'll bring it on any given night.
(Last week: 9)
9. Los Angeles Clippers (21-23)
The Clippers have soldiered on through brutal circumstances with significant injuries to their two stars. Now, according to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/clippers-reportedly-willing-to-discuss-majority-of-veterans-in-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer</a>, they're willing to listen to offers on the majority of their veterans and potentially viewing this season as a Warriors-esque mini-tank.&nbsp;
That's probably the right idea at this point, given they are reportedly moving forward as if George will be out for the season. Those injuries have been the worst part of the season, and unfortunately puts a pause button on any attempt at a title.
(Last week: 8)
8. Washington Wizards (22-21)
Bradley Beal is hitting just 29.8% of his three-pointers. Davis Bertans is posting a 33.8% clip. Raul Neto is at 23.1%. Each of those are career-lows. Spencer Dinwiddie (32.6%), Kyle Kuzma (32.2%), Corey Kispert (32.1%) and Deni Avdija (29.8%) have also experienced ups and downs. The Wizards are 26th in team three-point percentage and have two rotation players &mdash; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Holiday &mdash; hitting above 34% from long range.&nbsp;
I mean... that's pretty ice-cold. And with a defense that was expectedly mediocre, something has to settle in for Washington to get back on track in the playoff race.
(Last week: 6)
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7. Los Angeles Lakers (21-22)
We're not going to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-russell-westbrook-experiment-has-been-a-huge-failure-for-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discuss Russell Westbrook here</a>, because as polarizing as he is, the Lakers have bigger things to solve. Hollywood boasts the second-best offensive rating in the NBA over the past two weeks. But the team is 2-3 in that span because it wields the second-worst defensive rating, part of a consistent collapse from recent years.
The Lakers get destroyed by opponents on the offensive glass. They give up the second-highest frequency of at-rim attempts out of any team in the league. Anthony Davis' injury has once again exposed a complete lack of rim-protection, and with less effective perimeter stoppers, opponents can attack whenever they want.
(Last week: 10)
6. New York Knicks (22-21)
The Knicks have a nice little three-game winning streak and swung a trade for Cam Reddish that has been given a consensus "good for you" by the public sphere. They accordingly get a positive bump in the Sour Rankings with RJ Barrett coming to life over the recent stretch.&nbsp;
Julius Randle's regression has been the most frustrating development over the course of the season. His three-point rate has plummeted ten percentage points and made 2020-21 look like a serious outlier. He's had a difficult time making the right play consistently on offense, while his defense on the perimeter has been lacking. Six months ago, Randle was the face of the franchise. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/as-a-franchise-player-julius-randle-has-left-a-lot-to-be-desired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Now he's inspiring pessimism</a>.
(Last week: 3)
5. Sacramento Kings (18-28)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Tyrese Haliburton is delightfully good, his development is staggeringly impressive <a href="https://t.co/8TahmI2tVA">pic.twitter.com/8TahmI2tVA</a>
&mdash; Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1481075155145302016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

The clock appears to be ticking on De'Aaron Fox's development as a cornerstone for the Kings. <a href="https://theathletic.com/3066096/2022/01/12/nba-trade-deadline-looms-but-ben-simmons-remains-a-sixer-what-do-we-know-and-which-teams-could-deal-for-him/?article_source=search&amp;search_query=sam%20amick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Amick of The Athletic reports</a> that Fox and Tyrese Haliburton are up for discussion in trade conversations. Fox in particular has been the prized piece in Sacramento's rebuild attempt, but the point guard has hit a road block in his growth.&nbsp;
This season, Fox has seen his scoring and passing numbers go down in the box score. Per Cleaning the Glass, he actually has the worst assist-to-usage rate of any player at his position. His defensive energy still waxes and wanes, and he's shooting 25.3% from long range. If Fox does get traded, it signals another failed era and a rollover for the Kings.&nbsp;
(Last week: 5)
4. Indiana Pacers (15-28)
The most annoying part of the season to date is that Indiana hasn't made a move yet. The Pacers are 15-28 and clearly out of the playoff race, and yet they still roll with a largely similar rotation as the trade deadline nears. Of course, there's no real rush to make a move between now and February, but fans anticipating a teardown can get antsy.
<a href="https://theathletic.com/3060724/2022/01/10/update-on-ben-simmons-trade-talks-frustrated-hawks-star-john-collins-a-possible-match-nba-news-and-notes/?article_source=search&amp;search_query=shams%20charania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Shams Charania last week</a>, things are moving with regard to potential Myles Turner and Caris LeVert deals. A Domantas Sabonis trade seems less likely, which makes sense given his tier of stardom. Either way, the next month is a critical juncture for the Pacers to maximize their future path, and should leave no trade-talk stone unturned by the All-Star break.
(Last week: 7) 
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3. Boston Celtics (22-22)
Celtics fans yell about all sorts of problems with this team, but I think the real dagger has been the second-half woes, because there simply isn't an easy answer. Boston is 2.5 wins below their expected count (26th in the NBA), per Cleaning the Glass, in large part due to some epic meltdowns.
The Celtics are shooting 31.4% from three-point range in the fourth-quarter, which is the fifth-lowest mark. They average 4.8 assists per game as a team in the fourth quarter &mdash; second-lowest. They are 9-16 in clutch games &mdash; the fourth-worst winning percentage. The breakdowns have been spectacular.
(Last week: 4)
2. Portland Trail Blazers (17-25)
So changing to a first-year head coach and making some minor rotation tweaks didn't flip around a flawed roster with years of bad defense on record? Interesting.
Portland gives up the highest opposing effective field goal percentage of any team in the NBA. They give up top-10 shooting percentages from every area on the court except the least valuable spot &mdash; the long two. The Blazers are working extremely hard to pass Houston for the worst defensive rating, which would be quite the... achievement. There's way too much to fix in Portland.
(Last week: 2)
1. Atlanta Hawks (17-25)
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/stats-notebook-has-john-collins-role-with-the-hawks-really-changed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I wrote recently</a> about how John Collins' frustrations regarding his role have at least some stats-related ground to stand on. The conclusions spawn plenty of questions on his fit with Clint Capela, Nate McMillan's strategy and where the Hawks even plan to go next.
That's been the most distressing development: this young team, with a young superstar in Trae Young, has gotten markedly worse when it should be trending up. Now Collins could be a trade asset when he has been the No. 2 cornerstone for the franchise since he was drafted in 2017. The pieces should be here &mdash; why isn't it equating to winning when it did last season?
(Last week: 1)

Ethan Fuller ranks what facets of teams' slow starts have been the most concerning through the halfway point.

NBA Sour Rankings: The frustrating parts of the most frustrating teams

Don't watch the ball when you're watching Tyler Herro.
You normally reserve that type of request when trying to get a better handle on team defense. Peep the scheme, learn the cadence of rotations &mdash; you know, the nuts and bolts of the less-appreciated end of the floor.&nbsp;
But I'm not referencing defense in this case. Don't watch the ball with Herro, even when he has the ball.
You may miss out on the slightly tighter handle, the cleaner in-and-out dribbles he uses to reject picks. You'll miss the head fakes he uses to sell his moves. Might even miss the snarl he unleashes on occasion after big buckets.
But that's okay. You can come back to that, eventually.
To fully understand the leap Herro has made this season &mdash; one that's taken him from a solid secondary to a 20-point scorer and Sixth Man of the Year front-runner &mdash; you have to start with his footwork.
It's light. It's coordinated. Balletic, even.<a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1476015240920051712?s=20"> Some may say</a> it's among the league's best. But it's the foundation of everything he does.
Herro's shooting touch is easy to see, but it means little if he isn't able to access defensive windows to showcase it. His improved handle helps him navigates space, but his footwork unlocks a new world of real estate. Take this three from Miami's recent win over the Washington Wizards. Look at how economical this is from Herro.
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You'll notice just how delicately he moves &mdash; on his toes, ready to change directions or speeds at a moment's notice. Look at how he utilizes his right foot to both sell the drive (while sending Deni Avdija stumbling), and to explode backwards into a stepback jumper.
While Herro isn't able to consistently blow by guys off the strength of his burst or handles, his ability to decelerate and gather allows him to generate ridiculous separation.
Because of this, Herro has become Miami's most versatile &mdash; and most trusted &mdash; shot-maker. Over two-thirds of his two-point attempts have been unassisted this season, a massive leap from last season (54%). 33% of Herro's threes have been unassisted, a lower but still noticeable rise from the 27.1%. clip he posted the season before.
On stepback and pull-up jumpers, Herro has posted an Effective Field Goal percentage (eFG) of 47.8, per Second Spectrum. That&rsquo;s keeping pace with noted shot-makers like Bradley Beal (47.7), Khris Middleton (45.1), Luka Doncic (44.4), Brandon Ingram (43.1) and Paul George (41.6).&nbsp;
Herro isn't touching the paint as often as he did last season, but he is converting at-the-rim shots at a career-best mark (69%). He's added strength &mdash;<a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/tyler-herro-sizzling-for-the-heat-again-after-offseason-transformation"> eating five meals a day</a> to add body mass during the summer &mdash; to make it easier to ward off defenders on his way to the basket. Being able to stop and pop is a valuable weapon, but it's even more dangerous if it can be complemented by all-out drives.
He is driving more frequently &mdash; and getting fouled more often on those drives. He's done a better job of absorbing blows, but he also has counters to make his rim trips more fruitful. Wrong-foot finishes. Early, gliding gathers. He's crouching even lower on drives to gain inside leverage on defenders, creating clean finishing windows for himself.
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And that's just what he's able to do on the ball. Off the ball, Herro's a smart mover in and outside of structure. He's a threat to pop outside or cut to the rim when the Heat go to their vaunted split action, the East Coast version of the Golden State Death Machine. Herro's knocking down 70% of his shots off cuts, and nearly 43% of his relocation threes, per Second Spectrum.
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Herro's leap has been one of the biggest reasons the Heat have been able to stay afloat near the top of the Eastern Conference, despite injuries to their two best players. His 20.6 points per game ranks second on the Heat, but leads all (regular) bench scorers in the league by a pretty solid margin. The difference between Herro and second place Kelly Oubre (16.0 points per game off the bench) is roughly the same as Oubre's gap to 12th place Cedi Osman.
Herro made waves before the season when he said he should be talked about in the same class as Luka Doncic, Trae Young and other young stars in the league. He may not be in that class, but that assertion doesn't seem as ludicrous as it did before the season started. He's balling, and there isn't much reason to believe he can't get even better.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan breaks down the third-year leap of Heat guard Tyler Herro.

Tyler Herro is pulling up to the party

Washington&rsquo;s Kyle Kuzma had Kemba Walker&rsquo;s recent stellar numbers in the back of his mind and wondered why the New York guard had been buried at the end of the bench for nearly three weeks.
Walker showed off Thursday night, scoring 44 points. But the Wizards withstood both his hot hand and a fourth-quarter rally by the Knicks to beat New York 124-117.
The Knicks had pulled within two points with 2:40 left in the game, then Kuzma made consecutive 3-pointers to give Washington an insurmountable lead.
&ldquo;We just made big shots,&rdquo; Kuzma said. &ldquo;They did a good job of just keep fighting, whether it was Kemba obviously carrying them throughout the game. &hellip; We just did a good job of withstanding their punches and punching them back, as well as making timely, big shots.&rdquo;
Spencer Dinwiddie had 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Wizards, who were without All-Star guard Bradley Beal after he was placed on the league&rsquo;s COVID-19 health and safety protocols list before the game.
Dinwiddie, who has struggled at times in his first season in Washington after playing in just three games last year in Brooklyn, came into the game averaging 12.3 points and shooting 37.8% from the field.
&ldquo;You got to understand we all have a job to do and I try to do what&rsquo;s ask of me on a consistent basis,&rdquo; Dinwiddie said. "It&rsquo;s just hard. I want to play the best I can possibly play every night. I want to make every shot. I want to make every defensive play. I want to average 50 points and 20 assists and 30 rebounds. But it&rsquo;s just not the way it is.&rdquo;
Corey Kispert, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, filled in with a career-high 20 points in his first start. Kuzma added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Montrezl Harrell had 15 points and Deni Avdija chipped in 14.
All-Star forward Julius Randle had 23 points and Alec Burks added 20 for New York, which has lost 11 of 17 games at home this season.
Walker scored 28 of his 44 points in the second half.
&ldquo;It felt great. It was a good time. But I really wish we could have won, to be honest,&rdquo; Walker said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always tough when you really play well like that and don&rsquo;t come out on top.&rdquo;
He has averaged 31.3 points over his last three games after New York coach Tom Thibodeau pulled him out of the rotation and sat him for nine straight games.
&ldquo;He played a monster game, but we came out with a loss,&rdquo; Thibodeau said. &ldquo;So it&rsquo;s a shame to waste that type of effort with a game like that.&rdquo;
The Wizards went on a 12-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 71-66 lead, held New York at bay throughout the fourth quarter and extended its lead to 109-102 on a 3-pointer from Dinwiddie.
The Knicks got five straight points, including a 3-pointer from Evan Fournier, to cut the deficit to 109-107 with 2:40 to play. But Kuzma's 3s helped the Wizards pull ahead, 118-111, with 58 seconds left.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Washington went 1-4 on its five-game trip, though Tuesday's scheduled contest against the Nets was postponed because Brooklyn had too many people out under COVID-19 protocols. ... All five Washington starters scored in double figures; Aaron Holiday had 16 points and Daniel Gafford chipped in 11.
Knicks: F Obi Toppin returned to the lineup after missing the last five games due to being on the health and safety protocols list. &hellip; New York had won its last three games against Washington prior to Thursday night&rsquo;s loss.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Host Philadelphia on Sunday.
Knicks: Host Atlanta on Saturday in one of the NBA&rsquo;s six Christmas Day games.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Walker scored 44 points, but the Wizards withstood both his hot hand and a fourth-quarter rally by the Knicks to beat New York

Wizards withstand Kemba Walker's 44, beat Knicks 124-117

According to The Athletic&rsquo;s Shams Charania, Detroit Pistons wing Jerami Grant is one of the NBA&rsquo;s most sought-after players in potential deals as February&rsquo;s trade deadline approaches. This shouldn&rsquo;t come as a surprise, even with Grant sidelined due to torn ligaments in his right thumb. Once Grant is fully healthy, which should be around February anyways, he can provide a huge boost to just about any team that's looking to compete this year.
Since taking on more of an expanded role with the Pistons, he has averaged 21.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game on a respectable 55.2% True Shooting percentage. Presumably on a winning team in his next stop, Grant should slide back into the coveted-role-player spot he thrived in during his stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
Detroit is 4-21 this season, and No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham is beginning to blossom and showcase his superstar upside. With Grant&rsquo;s injury, now is the perfect time to let Cunningham spread his wings even further and recoup some assets for the Pistons&rsquo; best trade chip.
Charania mentioned many teams have been calling Detroit consistently about Grant, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. So, which teams should be blowing up the Pistons&rsquo; phone lines trying to acquire a souped-up three-and-D wing who can fit like a glove on any roster? Let&rsquo;s examine some potential blockbusters revolving around Grant.&nbsp;
Utah Jazz
Excuse me, because the idea of a potential Rudy Gobert and Grant frontcourt pairing would be filthy for Utah. Immediately, this trade vaults the Jazz into the Western Conference&rsquo;s top tier of Finals contenders alongside the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.
If the Jazz wanted to make an all-in Finals push, getting aggressive for Grant is the perfect scenario. Imagine them trotting out this starting lineup: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Grant, Gobert. Wow, I can&rsquo;t stop thinking about how lethal that would be on top of their copious amounts of depth.
But how can the Jazz get into the Grant sweepstakes? Here&rsquo;s where it gets interesting.
Pistons receive: Royce O&rsquo;Neale, Joe Ingles, Jared Butler, draft compensation
Jazz receive: Jerami Grant
Detroit receives a culture-setter in O&rsquo;Neale, a young asset in Butler, plus some future draft capital. Ingles likely never suits up for the Pistons and either gets flipped or hits the buyout market to join another win-now contender.
In the end, Utah trades two fan favorites. However, the risk-reward ratio certainly leans heavily toward the latter. Grant in Utah is one of my favorite fits.
Washington Wizards
The Wizards are beginning to fall back down to Earth after their hot start to the season. With pressure building as Bradley Beal inches closer to unrestricted free agency this offseason, Washington could be a sleeper team to watch out for when it comes to making an aggressive move to appease their superstar.
Grant alongside Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie would be a lot of fun in D.C., but what&rsquo;s the cost? It won&rsquo;t be cheap for the Wizards, who would have to give up one of their top young assets in the process.
Pistons receive: Deni Avdija, Aaron Holiday, Thomas Bryant, draft compensation
Wizards receive: Jerami Grant
For a team in win-now mode, acquiring Grant makes a lot of sense for the Wizards. He would slide right into the starting lineup and provide two-way versatility they desperately need. Although giving up a prospect like Avdija is a tough pill to swallow, getting aggressive could be what seals the deal on Beal staying long-term in the nation&rsquo;s capital.
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic is a superstar. Kristaps Porzingis is playing with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kristaps-porzingis-renewed-confidence-leading-to-resurgent-season-with-mavericks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confidence we haven&rsquo;t seen since his New York Knicks days</a>. However, the Mavericks are in desperate need of another reliable long-term piece. Grant would be such a fun fit alongside Doncic and Porzingis, providing exactly what they need as look to make noise in the Western Conference playoffs.
Detroit likely asks for a player like Jalen Brunson in return, but Dallas should be very wary of doing that. Brunson is earning himself a hefty pay raise as he moves toward restricted free agency, but he&rsquo;s more than worth that price after his recent stretch of excellent performances for Dallas. The Mavericks could still make an interesting offer, countering with the following package:
Pistons receive: Dwight Powell, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green, draft compensation
Mavericks receive: Jerami Grant
Detroit nabs an intriguing prospect in Green on top of two ideal complementary pieces to go alongside Cunningham. Powell would be able to stretch the floor, plus Finney-Smith is a bulky wing who can add some defensive value.
Dallas would be such an interesting team if they were to get serious on chasing Grant as their third option behind Doncic and Porzingis.
Minnesota Timberwolves
For years, Minnesota has been missing a complementary frontcourt piece to pair with Karl-Anthony Towns&rsquo; elite offensive ceiling. Well, the answer could be poached on the open market with Grant.
Grant is the perfect piece to fit alongside Towns, Anthony Edwards and D&rsquo;Angelo Russell. On a solid contract that won&rsquo;t break the bank (although a long-term extension should soon be in the cards wherever he lands), Grant provides exactly what is missing in Minnesota.
However, the cost could be a gut punch to some Timberwolves fans who are enjoying the recent development of their young role players:
Pistons receive: Taurean Prince, Jaden McDaniels, Leandro Bolmaro
Timberwolves receive: Jerami Grant
As you can see, no draft compensation goes back to Detroit here because they receive arguably the two best young assets listed thus far in McDaniels and Bolmaro. Both would certainly fit Detroit's long-term plan of building around with Cunningham as their No. 1 option. Meanwhile, Minnesota gets a much-needed boost in terms of two-way versatility.
This feels like a true win-win scenario for both sides, another deal I absolutely love the more I look it over.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings are in desperation mode and seem like a strong candidate to shake things up sometime soon. Adding a piece like Grant would help alleviate some serious defensive concerns, plus add a true No. 2 scoring option alongside De&rsquo;Aaron Fox.
The question is, would the Kings&rsquo; likely offer be enough to entice Detroit?
Pistons receive: Marvin Bagley III, Tristan Thompson, draft compensation
Kings receive: Jerami Grant
There has been smoke billowing around a potential Bagley-to-Detroit deal for quite sometime. If the Pistons still wanted to explore that possibility, now could be the perfect time. The only way this package gets Sacramento into the final conversations is the draft picks. Would the Kings be willing to give up two future protected first-round picks to acquire Grant? If so, Detroit would certainly listen intently.
Detroit brings back the 2018 No. 2 overall on top of some eye-opening draft picks, which could become gold mines soon enough. Is this a trade that makes sense for both sides?
Portland Trail Blazers
Blazers superstar Damian Lillard is frustrated, and he&rsquo;s begging for more help. Portland is stuck in the bottom-end of playoff contenders with no real chance to climb the Western Conference rankings anytime soon. With one of the NBA&rsquo;s most inconsistent defenses, Grant would be a much-needed spark to place alongside Lillard and C.J. McCollum as a true third option.
The question is, what makes sense for Detroit in a potential return package for Grant? As mentioned, the interest around Grant is robust, so Detroit will demand a pretty compelling package in exchange for the 27-year-old. Perhaps this three-for-one swap could be compelling for both sides:
Pistons receive: Robert Covington, Nassir Little, C.J. Elleby, draft compensation
Blazers receive: Jerami Grant
Detroit lands an intriguing young asset in Little as well as some additional future draft capital. Who knows if Covington even plays for Detroit, but for including him is necessary for salary-matching purposes. I love this deal for the Blazers, and I bet Lillard would appreciate it as well.
Los Angeles Lakers
Somehow, the Lakers always make their way into discussions for any potential impact player. From the Pistons&rsquo; point of view, does Los Angeles even have enough to make an enticing offer for someone like Grant? I would say it&rsquo;s doubtful, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean the Lakers won&rsquo;t try.
The Lakers&rsquo; best trade asset at this point is Talen Horton-Tucker, who signed a three-year extension this past offseason. THT is their lone remaining young asset as well, so he would certainly need to be included in a deal for Grant. Horton-Tucker is an intriguing fit to think about alongside Cunningham in Detroit, but does it really move the needle for the Pistons' front office? Unless the Lakers toss in some serious draft assets, the Pistons likely hang up the phone and look elsewhere without hesitation.
For Los Angeles, this is probably the best offer they can come up with in this scenario:
Pistons receive: Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Rajon Rondo, draft compensation
Lakers receive: Jerami Grant
So, it&rsquo;s really a package built around THT and a little draft capital. Rondo would immediately get bought out, and Nunn wouldn&rsquo;t be in the Pistons&rsquo; rotation. This trade feels very one-sided, which makes a Lakers offer very low on the potential totem pole. Since Charania did mention the Lakers&rsquo; interest, though, it&rsquo;s intriguing to see what they could actually offer.
***
Every team in the NBA could use a player like Grant, who provides endless amounts of versatility and winning qualities. After proving he can handle an expanded role in Detroit, Grant&rsquo;s price has increased significantly.
Stay tuned for the latest on the Grant situation, plus what should be a very explosive trade deadline. Also, check out recent articles breaking down potential trade destinations for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-ben-simmons-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Simmons</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exploring-trade-destinations-for-domantas-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domantas Sabonis</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myles Turner</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-caris-levert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caris LeVert</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/finding-the-perfect-team-and-deal-for-terrence-ross" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terrence Ross</a>.

As trade winds begin to pick up around the NBA, Jerami Grant is a hot commodity. Which teams make sense as a landing spot?

Examining potential trade destinations for Jerami Grant

After months of speculation, we are finally (hopefully) approaching the finish line of the Ben Simmons saga.
According to ESPN&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1469418952136835085" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe</a>, the Philadelphia 76ers are garnering much more interest in potential two- or three-team deals involving Simmons as more than 85% of the NBA&rsquo;s players will be eligible to trade next week.
Before the Association&rsquo;s biggest domino falls, which teams make sense as a landing spot for the 25-year-old three-time All-Star? Will Simmons flourish elsewhere in a bigger role?
The Simmons-Sixers situation could truly end up being a win-win scenario for both sides, so let&rsquo;s examine some potential trades that make sense for the disgruntled point-forward.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
The pressure is on for Sacramento to finally field a winning team and snap their 15-year playoff drought. Since the offseason, we've suggested that the Kings finally push their chips into the middle of the table and make an aggressive win-now move.
Simmons would be the perfect piece to fit into their puzzle alongside De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. The Kings&rsquo; backcourt duo had a positive net rating last season, and adding Simmons to the mix gives them a very fun playmaking trio that can play off one another.
Playing the four alongside Richaun Holmes provides little spacing, but Simmons could become the de-facto primary ball-handler with Fox and Haliburton providing spacing around the perimeter. A potential starting unit featuring Fox, Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Simmons and Richaun Holmes could hold up on both ends of the court.
However, Philadelphia continues to hold out hope that they'll get a top-25 player in return for Simmons. Would Sacramento feel comfortable saying goodbye to Fox, who just signed a five-year rookie-scale max extension? Philadelphia has been reluctant to discuss deals with Sacramento unless it includes Fox. With Haliburton and Davion Mitchell as their last two lottery picks, maybe Kings GM Monte McNair will shake things up in a major manner? Let&rsquo;s start our first scenario with a league-altering blockbuster:
Philadelphia receives: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
Sacramento receives: Ben Simmons
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
In a similar position as Sacramento, Minnesota could rise in the Western Conference standings if they make the right move. Karl-Anthony Towns is a bonafide superstar, while <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-high-can-anthony-edwards-fly-examining-the-20yearolds-ceiling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony Edwards has great potential</a>. Adding Simmons to the Timberwolves&rsquo; lineup would make them a more well-rounded team.
The question is, would Minnesota pull the trigger on trading Towns&rsquo; good friend D&rsquo;Angelo Russell? If so, Minnesota&rsquo;s new Big 3 would be outstanding.
Imagine the endless possibilities with Simmons flanking Towns and Edwards. The Wolves&rsquo; primary scoring duo could still have their way offensively, but Simmons would be the glue holding everything together from a playmaking and defensive standpoint.
Philadelphia receives: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels, Leandro Bolmaro, future first-round pick
Minnesota receives: Ben Simmons
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SAN ANTONIO SPURS
San Antonio has been surprisingly competitive this season. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich really has this intriguing young core humming, and they&rsquo;re one big move away from potentially making some noise in the Western Conference.
An interesting note to report from <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/secrets-out-pop-at-last-is-happy?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxNjkxNTY4LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0NTIzMzI4OSwiXyI6Im1ldEtUIiwiaWF0IjoxNjM5MDc1MzYxLCJleHAiOjE2MzkwNzg5NjEsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0zOTIyMDUiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.5ZGjmeTrbYxMRpsZwDxBziBlrMR23PwdZ73k5hs2118" target="_blank" rel="noopener">longtime NBA insider Marc Stein</a> is that Simmons would welcome a trade to San Antonio. Also, Popovich would love to coach a player like Simmons. This sounds like a perfect marriage on paper, so let&rsquo;s make it happen.
San Antonio can offer Philadelphia a very enticing package of young prospects and picks. It may not fit the &ldquo;top-25 player&rdquo; criteria that Sixers GM Daryl Morey is hoping for, but it could get pretty close. The Spurs have a number of really attractive assets, but it remains to be seen how many they'd be willing to move.
San Antonio has a strong ecosystem in which Simmons could rebuild his value. Surrounded by plus role players who thrive within San Antonio&rsquo;s system, Simmons can reach his ceiling in a role where everything is built around his strengths.
Philadelphia receives: Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Thaddeus Young, draft compensation
San Antonio receives: Ben Simmons
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
One team that has finally built around their star the right way is Washington, as they've surrounded Bradley Beal with a competent roster. However, Beal is in the final year of his deal.
Would Simmons work well alongside Beal? That&rsquo;s a legitimate concern, but making this deal is a home-run swing that could be necessary for Beal to commit long-term in the nation&rsquo;s capital.
Simmons and Beal flanked by shooters and prospects would give Washington a nice foundation for Wizards GM Tommy Shepard to build around for the next five-plus years.
Philadelphia receives: Davis Bertans, Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, two future first-round picks
Washington receives: Ben Simmons
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TORONTO RAPTORS
Another team that's facing a fork in the road with their current roster, Toronto has to decide what to do with Pascal Siakam. Over the offseason, there were reports that Siakam could be available. Will Toronto keep Siakam around with their young core or flip him for more long-term value?
If the Raptors want to offload Siakam and make an aggressive win-now push, enter Simmons.
A potential lineup of Simmons alongside Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa sounds like something Toronto would love to try.
This could be a win-win deal for both sides as they begin new eras for their respective organizations. Siakam and Embiid is a terrifying frontcourt for Philadelphia, and the duo would allow Tobias Harris to slide back to the small forward position. Meanwhile, Toronto brings Simmons aboard as their new face of the franchise with a solid young nucleus surrounding him.
Philadelphia receives: Pascal Siakam
Toronto receives: Ben Simmons
INDIANA PACERS
No surprise, Indiana is another team that could be staring down the barrel of important, franchise-altering decisions within a year. The Pacers have a very good, balanced roster that&rsquo;s been plagued by injuries over the last few seasons. T.J. Warren, who broke out in a huge way during the Orlando Bubble, only played four games during the 2019-20 campaign. Caris LeVert missed time due to a cancerous tumor that was discovered after the James Harden trade. Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon continue to miss time here and there due to various injuries as well.
The Pacers are about to blow everything up, though (and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pacers-must-accept-new-reality-and-become-sellers-at-trade-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it's long overdue</a>). Indiana is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-caris-levert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely to move Caris LeVert</a> with Chris Duarte&rsquo;s fast emergence, plus one of their two bigs: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exploring-trade-destinations-for-domantas-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domantas Sabonis</a> or <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myles Turner</a>.&nbsp;
Indiana sniffed around Simmons' availability last offseason too. Since it's tough to pitch top free agents on coming to Indianapolis, making an aggressive trade might be the only way to land their star.
Although one of Turner or Sabonis would need to be moved to a third team in this hypothetical scenario, especially to meet Philadelphia's asking price for Simmons, Indiana going star hunting could be the necessary tweak to change their long-term fortunes.
Philadelphia receives: Caris LeVert, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, two future first-round picks (plus more from a third team)
Indiana receives: Ben Simmons
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
The Blazers are stuck in the middle, which is the worst place to be. With that being said, it&rsquo;s time to finally break up the Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum backcourt. Portland needs to finally make an aggressive push in order to put the right pieces around Lillard and turn this team into a contender.
A deal revolving around Simmons and McCollum makes sense for both parties. McCollum can function as a score-first combo guard who can play well off of Embiid, while Simmons provides a beautiful blend of playmaking and defense alongside Lillard.&nbsp;
McCollum recently suffered a collapsed lung, which could complicate things. Prior to the injury, he followed all of the Sixers on social media and <a href="https://theathletic.com/3002581/2021/12/07/inside-the-mind-of-cj-mccollum-a-conversation-and-a-text-message-show-the-blazers-guards-current-struggle/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all but said goodbye</a> to Portland and the fan base, so it remains to be seen what the future holds for McCollum.
Philadelphia receives: C.J. McCollum, Nassir Little, two future first-round picks
Portland receives: Ben Simmons
Simmons' future is the biggest storyline around the NBA. Odds are, he'll be moved to the highest bidder before February&rsquo;s trade deadline. Perhaps it'll end up being one of the aforementioned teams.

The Ben Simmons saga could soon be coming to an end. Which teams around the NBA would make sense for a Simmons trade?

Examining 7 potential trade destinations for Ben Simmons

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moments after being serenaded with chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” at the free throw line, fan favorite Montrezl Harrell drew a foul on the other end of the court and pounded his chest as the home crowd roared in approval.
It took a big comeback, but Washington is off to the franchise's best start in nearly half a century.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and the Wizards erased a 19-point deficit to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 105-100 Monday night for their fifth consecutive victory. At 10-3, it’s their best start since the Bullets opened the 1974-75 season 11-2.
“We just woke up — I think we flipped a switch,” said forward Deni Avdija, who scored 11 and contained New Orleans' Brandon Ingram in the fourth quarter. “When we play together and we have that right energy, it’s very hard to stop us."
The Wizards have done this with and without All-Star guard Bradley Beal, who missed a second consecutive game mourning the death of his grandmother. They're 3-0 with Beal out last season after going 2-10 in such games last season.
“We never want to be without Brad,” said first-year coach Wes Unseld Jr., who expects Beal back this week. “No one wants to be without their best player. But the fact that we can withstand some stretches is great.”
Aaron Holiday, who took Beal's spot in the starting lineup, scored 12 points. Dinwiddie made his first three 3-point attempts in the third quarter to start the climb back from down 60-41, cutting the Pelicans' lead to five before a series of fouls and missed free throws temporarily stalled the comeback bid.
Trailing by seven entering the fourth quarter, it took until Kyle Kuzma's 3 with 5:18 left for the Wizards to pull even at 92 for the first tie since 33-all. Avdija's fast-break layup put Washington up with under four minutes left, and the second-year pro from Israel grabbed a defensive rebound on the next Pelicans possession to help ensure Washington wouldn't fall behind again.
"They just turned it up," New Orleans coach Willie Green said.
The Wizards pulled away on jumpers by Avdija and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, while the Pelicans missed 11 consecutive attempts from the field to let the game slip away.
“We shot 34 free throws, so we tried to put our heads down and be aggressive," Green said. "We just couldn't sustain it.”
New Orleans lost for the 13th time in 15 games this season, all without Zion Williamson because of a broken right foot. Ingram led all scorers with 31 points in his second game back from a hip injury, and Jonas Valanciunas added 16.
RUI EVENTUALLY
The Wizards have been playing without Rui Hachimura because the forward was granted a leave of absence for personal reasons. They know they'll need to integrate him into the rotation at some point but don't yet know what that looks like or when it will happen.
“It’s going to be a challenge," Unseld said. “Obviously we’re playing pretty well. Sometimes as coaches we overthink it, and you’re worried about upsetting the balance. There’s another part of me that says, ‘You know what, just rip the band aid off and go for it, see how it looks.’"
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Josh Hart, who Green has praised for becoming a better leader, had 13 points and 12 rebounds. ... Former Wizards guard Garrett Temple scored eight points. ... Ingram had missed seven consecutive games before coming back Saturday against Memphis. ... Devonte Graham finished with 14 points.
Wizards: Held an opponent at 100 or fewer points for the sixth time in 13 games. They only did that five times last season. ... Caldwell-Pope finished with 18 points and hit four 3s. ... Dinwiddie also had nine assists. ... Harrell has scored in double figures in every game. ... Forward Davis Bertans, who has been out with a sprained left ankle, continues to practice and could play next week, according to Unseld.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Wrap up their two-game road trip at the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. 
Wizards: Visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Wizards continue to win, and are off to their best start since the 74-75 season after beating the Pelicans, 105-100.

Wizards stay hot, erase 19-point deficit to beat Pelicans

When the Washington Wizards acquired Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a blockbuster trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise underwent a major facelift that left a lot of unknowns this offseason.
A brand new head coach in Wes Unseld Jr. A fresh-faced starting lineup. Seven new players.
And yet, in this case, change has most certainly been welcome.
As of Friday, the Wizards sit with the Chicago Bulls atop the Eastern Conference at 9-3. Make no mistake: this isn&rsquo;t your par-for-the-course, &ldquo;Bradley-Beal-carries-and-the-rest-fall-in-line&rdquo; group that we&rsquo;ve seen so many different iterations of in Washington D.C. This is a team in every sense of the word.
And the fact that it&rsquo;s come together this cohesively and this expeditiously, for a franchise that retooled its staff and personnel less than three months ago, is incredibly unique.
&ldquo;I mean it is a different team. Basically, half the roster's different, so it is remarkable that they've kinda pulled together as quickly as they have,&rdquo; Unseld said prior to Wednesday&rsquo;s win in Cleveland. &ldquo;But I give 'em credit. They were around in September, so we didn't wait 'til the first official day of training camp to say, 'Hey, let's start putting in work.' Those guys were trying to play together, do a small side of [pickup] games, get workouts [in], finding ways to be on the floor and build that chemistry. So it's paid off for us thus far."
"We've got a bunch of dogs, man,&rdquo; Kuzma added. &ldquo;Obviously, me and KCP, we've won. We know how to win in this league. Trezz has always been an underdog his whole entire career, being a second-round pick and fighting his way through the G League and all the way to being the Sixth Man [of the Year]. But the people here, too &mdash; it's not just us. It's a collective group. It's the coaching staff, it's us, it's Brad wanting to win big in this league. It's [Raul] Neto coming in, being a dog for us, being huge. [Daniel Gafford]. It's everybody. And it's all about the culture. It's all about trying to change cultures and just win. Everything's good when you win."
These Wizards are gritty and feisty. These Wizards have that dog mentality. These Wizards are going to make you earn it. Most importantly, these Wizards gut it out.
And while it is still a work in progress, when you have a collection of castoffs with something to prove and a chip on their shoulder, they&rsquo;re developing an identity of resiliency.
&ldquo;It's not something that I really mapped out. I think it's a byproduct of who we have and their individual situations, but I think they've all bought into team success,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;They understand that when the team thrives, the individual stuff will come. They don't have to press for certain things or play out of character. [They] play team ball, continue to play our brand and our style, and it'll work out.
&ldquo;It's a long season, so it's easy to say, 'Hey we figured it out.' I don't believe that's true. We're playing well right now, which is terrific, but I think it takes time &mdash; maybe a year &mdash; to say, 'This is who we are, who we have to be.' But a lot of times, that changes with your personnel. So, I think it's gonna take some time. It's easy to say who we want to be. It may be a little different as far as how it plays out."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kyle Kuzma's 4th three of the 4th quarter WINS IT for the <a href="https://twitter.com/WashWizards?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WashWizards</a>! <a href="https://t.co/T4MhNm71se">pic.twitter.com/T4MhNm71se</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1458623624575963139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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According to Cleaning the Glass, Washington <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranks fourth in the NBA</a> with a 103.6 defensive rating and, as specified by NBA.com, is allowing a league-low 8.5 transition points per game and just a 48.3% Effective Field Goal percentage. It all starts with the players guarding out on the perimeter, and keeping their assignments in front of them.
&ldquo;I think there's just an urgency to what we're doing. I've said this many times: it's never perfect. There's never a game where you walk away and those were a perfect 48 minutes of defense, but there's urgency to what we're doing,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;I think there's an understanding of how we want to play, how we want to guard concepts and situations. Where we were two weeks ago and where we are now, I think we're in a better place. And just, that's having gone through it. You can't simulate those reps enough, but having played [11] games now, you have a foundation you can kinda look back on and there's validity to it."
Not even a month into the season, Unseld&rsquo;s trust in Kuzma is already sky-high.
&ldquo;We saw it early in the preseason and obviously throughout the regular season, is our ability to switch and keep guys in front, and Kyle's able to do that,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;He's able to absorb some of the physical contact of those bigger wings, those power forwards, as well as keep those smalls in front, which is valuable. It keeps you out of rotations. And the way he's rebounded the ball in general has been dynamic. So if we can put those two things together, and you make a couple threes, you're a pretty good player."
Coming over from the West Coast, Kuzma believes that he and his Laker teammates are defensively-oriented people, but he gives much of the credit to Unseld as the reason why the Wizards are so connected on the most important end of the floor.
&ldquo;I think a lot of times in this league, what separates good teams and bad teams is defensive schemes,&rdquo; Kuzma said. &ldquo;I've been on both sides. I've been on good teams, and I've been on bad teams throughout the early part of my career. And one of the reasons why I thought we were bad was because we didn't really have schemes and whatnot. When you come here, first day of training camp, we want to be a top defensive team. Okay, how do we get that?&nbsp;
&ldquo;Wes puts us in great situations. It's really no &lsquo;air&rsquo; out there. You kinda know what it is. If it's a step-up, clear-side, we know what to do. Same thing, if we're in the lock and the trail, we know what to do. That just clears up a lot of thoughts you may have on the court, so you can just play freely and play."
Kuzma and Beal have logged the most minutes (307) among Washington duos and have allowed 99.8 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. However, among two-man combinations who have played at least 150 minutes together, Harrell and Deni Avdija carry the top defensive rating (96.0) and net rating (19.1) on the team as a whole.
&ldquo;I think they did a great job of picking the right head coach, man. As you can see, it's resulting into our play,&rdquo; Harrell said. &ldquo;Coach comes in with a simple game plan, both offensively and defensively, as far as each team goes. But Coach does all the little things that some guys may not want to do at points in time, certain situations. But we're all bought in and tied in and we support him 100 percent because at the end of the day, it's a collective group effort. It's not just the coaches and then the players and then the top staff.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think this organization moves at its best when we're all working together as one, and I think that's what Coach has done a great job of and instilling with everybody &mdash; coaching staff, players, even all the way up to the front office with Tommy [Sheppard] and our owner [Ted Leonsis].&rdquo;
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We all know by now that Harrell is a man who&rsquo;s always going to win the scrap. He uses his upper-body strength and power relentlessly, wearing down frontcourt opponents of all sizes with his multiple efforts. It seems he&rsquo;s found his footing once again following an unusual situation with the Lakers. Trezz is putting up 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest on a career-best 70.8% True Shooting percentage, which ranks seventh in the NBA (min. avg. 15 minutes).
He&rsquo;s establishing quite the rapport with Beal not only in postgame press conferences after wins, but in <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1626149/passes-dash/?sort=PASS&amp;dir=1&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pick-and-roll situations on the court</a>. According to NBA.com, Harrell is 18-for-30 on passes from Beal. Further, on InStat, Trezz is scoring 1.37 points per possession as a roll man in general and converts on a league-best 88% of his rolls.
Following a hard screen or a slip, you&rsquo;d be hard pressed to find somebody more aggressive in bolting to the bucket. Add that to his ferocious demeanor on the floor, and Washington has a one-man wrecking crew whose attitude trickles down to the rest of his teammates.
&ldquo;Trezz plays hard as sh** every night out. You've gotta prepare for him,&rdquo; Kuzma said. &ldquo;Obviously, an [opposing] team, you've got to bring your best every night 'cause he's coming at you full throttle. He's crashing the offensive glass every single time, defensive glass. He's challenging shots. If you give it to him in the pocket and he's got it in the paint, it's probably going in the rim. So he's a beast.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And that energy, we feed off of it, and it's important. Especially for 82 games. You can't bring that type of energy collectively as a group every night. It's impossible. But when you see guys out there like him doing it every night, it motivates you to play hard."
Unseld Jr. relays that Harrell&rsquo;s threat of getting to the rim and the free-throw line both allows Washington to score points and get its defense set, using his 16-point, 5-rebound effort in the first half vs. the Cavaliers as an example.
&ldquo;His voice carries a lot of weight, but that energy's contagious. And it's not just the highlight plays where he's dunking the ball or he's the first guy to the floor or he's getting second possessions. He kinda just galvanizes that group at times,&rdquo; Unseld said. &ldquo;Sometimes he does it on his own where he has that stretch in the first half [vs. Cleveland], where he was kinda the lone offense. But it's also behind the scenes &mdash; his voice on the bench, his voice in the locker room. So it's great to have a guy like that, who's played in big moments and understands the value of that."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Number of dunks by the Wizards so far this season&hellip; Montrezl Harrell: 26* Rest of team: 26 *3rd-most in NBA <a href="https://t.co/0iIKgIgorq">pic.twitter.com/0iIKgIgorq</a>
&mdash; Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChaseHughesNBCS/status/1457823082291281922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Beal is the head of the snake, and newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie has taken quite the load off of him as a ball-handler and initiator. Daniel Gafford is well on his way to becoming a household name. We&rsquo;ve still yet to see what this all looks like with Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant in the mix.
But with Unseld&rsquo;s approach, championship experience injected into the building and a number of people who know what it takes to be consistent on a nightly basis, the Wizards might have glued together the right parts to give D.C. a winner.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think we have an 'OK' chemistry right now. Obviously, it's still early and young in the season, 11 games in. But that [win in Cleveland] is something that can take 'OK' chemistry to good chemistry &mdash; finding a way on the road, with the crowd against you, with a big frontcourt like they had,&rdquo; Kuzma said. &ldquo;For us to pull out a win like that, that's a big moral victory obviously outside of winning. But for the morale of the team and to keep guys together and see how we molded into one out there that last five minutes of the game was huge.
&ldquo;I mean, we're picking up wins, but I think we can take it to another level. I think that's kinda just really plain and simple. Obviously, I think we have ways to go. We have a couple levels that we can take it up to. That's just kinda next-level thinking &mdash; certain things defensively we can be better at, offensively we can be way, way better. Like I said from the jump, it's gonna take time. Every regular-season game is rehearsals for the playoffs, and by the time we get to March, April and we figure things out, hopefully we're on the right side of things. Like I said, we've got a long ways to go. Obviously it's great to be 8-3, but it really doesn't matter in early November.&rdquo;
As Kuzma tweeted last week: &ldquo;Capitol Boys out here.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies highlights how the tone of the Wizards' defense has been influenced by the Lakers' castoffs and Wes Unseld Jr.

Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell have Wizards adopting dog mentality

If there&rsquo;s one thing we can say about the son of Dell Curry, it&rsquo;s that he surely can shoot a basketball. Finally, it appears that he&rsquo;s found a home &mdash; in Philadelphia.
That&rsquo;s right, we&rsquo;re talking about Seth Curry, who enters play on Oct. 31 as the NBA&rsquo;s league leader in three-point percentage. Certainly not the first-ballot Hall-of-Famer as his older brother Steph, the younger Curry has done his part to help redefine the concept of the &ldquo;Splash Brothers.&rdquo;
Obviously, it&rsquo;s early, and Seth continuing to shoot 63% from distance isn&rsquo;t a trend that&rsquo;s likely to hold up across the entire season, but that certainly doesn&rsquo;t make it any less noteworthy, much in the same way that some other early-season trends have captured our attention.
Entering play on Oct. 31, the gross majority of the NBA&rsquo;s teams have played five or six games, and at this point, it&rsquo;s fair to say we have a sample size.&nbsp;
With that, it&rsquo;s worth checking out our five biggest early season surprises.
Charlotte may have a star not named &lsquo;LaMelo&rsquo;
Miles Bridges has already gotten a fair amount of praise for his strong start to the season, but the Charlotte Hornets have come under newfound scrutiny after ESPN&rsquo;s Brian Windhorst reported that Bridges was &ldquo;only&rdquo; offered a four-year, $60 million rookie extension from his team. As a result, Bridges is preparing for restricted free agency this summer, and it&rsquo;s safe to say he&rsquo;s motivated to earn a big payday.
Aside from helping to lead Charlotte to a 4-2 record in its first six games, Bridges has put up some eye-popping numbers: 25.5 points, eight rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. More importantly, he&rsquo;s shown a better-than-advertised ability to play with the ball in his hands, which is a net-positive that will allow LaMelo Ball some opportunity to operate off of it.
Many looked at the four-year, $90 million extension that Mikal Bridges received from the Phoenix Suns as the kind of payday that Charlotte&rsquo;s Bridges (no relation, by the way) could be eyeing this summer. But if he continues to play anywhere near as well as he has over the first two weeks for the season, he may very well be headed for a lot more.
New York&rsquo;s best team is&hellip; the Knicks?
The Knicks were pretty good last season, but many around the league considered them to be a bit of a shooting star. With the strong additions made by the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, a healthy Miami Heat team had some believing that the Knicks would be contending to avoid a spot in the play-in tournament more than home court advantage. Yet after the first two weeks of the season, their 5-1 record puts them in a four-way tie for first place in the Eastern Conference. With Saturday&rsquo;s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Knicks are 3-0 on the road. They boast fairly impressive wins over the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and the Bulls, as well.
Perhaps they will cool down as the season continues, but the Knicks enter play on Oct. 31 making a league-leading 16.7 three-pointers per game. They are scoring 117 points per game, which makes them second (to the Charlotte Hornets, believe it or not, who are scoring 117.5).
Check out Kemba Walker&rsquo;s game log and RJ Barrett&rsquo;s line from Saturday night and you&rsquo;ll see that there&rsquo;s plenty for Tom Thibodeau to be pleased about.
Kyrie isn&rsquo;t the only player missing in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Nets would probably like nothing more than to get everyone to stop thinking about what they&rsquo;d look like with Kyrie Irving on the floor, but the team&rsquo;s relatively slow start hasn&rsquo;t helped that cause. Neither has James Harden.
Designated the conference favorite by virtually every sports book, without Irving in the lineup, Brooklyn entered the season hoping that both Kevin Durant and Harden could channel their superpowers and resemble the players they were when they each won MVP in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Durant has held up his end of the bargain, while the same can&rsquo;t necessarily be said of his partner in crime.
Entering play on Oct. 31, the Nets are just 3-3 and Harden himself has been fairly pedestrian.&nbsp;
Admittedly still working his way back into shape after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring sprain during last season&rsquo;s playoffs, through the first six games of the season, he&rsquo;s averaging 18.7 points on 37.1% shooting from the field &mdash; his lowest output since he wore an Oklahoma City Thunder uniform.&nbsp;
The good news is that Harden turned in his strongest effort of the season on Friday night when the Nets secured a much-needed victory over the Indiana Pacers. He got to the line 19 times and scored a season-high 29 points. The Nets obviously hope that starts a new trend.
In the NBA, it&rsquo;s less about how you start and more about how you finish. But in the early going at least &mdash; save for one game &mdash; Harden&rsquo;s 2021-22 campaign has been uninspiring.&nbsp;
Without Irving, head coach Steve Nash will be hoping for increased productivity from his cast of role players, as well as Harden and Durant. They&rsquo;ve fallen short. Brooklyn ranks 20th in the league in team field goal percentage (43.4%) and are only scoring 102.5 points per game &mdash; 25th in the league.
At this point, the saving grace for Brooklyn has been allowing opponents to shoot just 42.2% from the field, which ranks fourth in the league. Still, they rank 20th in offensive rebounds allowed and 26th in total rebounds allowed, so there are some obvious areas of concern.
Fortunately, both Harden and the rest of his team have got plenty of time to turn things around, and Harden definitely showed signs of life versus Indiana on Friday night.
Really rough start for the Clippers' backcourt (really rough)
It&rsquo;s been a rough five games for the Los Angeles Clippers. Playing without both Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka, it was probably fair to assume that they wouldn&rsquo;t come storming out the gate, but a 1-4 start has got to be considered somewhat disappointing. That&rsquo;s especially true considering the relatively strong play of Paul George.
George enters play on Oct. 31 averaging 27.6 points per game to go along with an incredible 3.4 steals per game. He&rsquo;s also averaging 7.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest while shooting what would be a career-best 50% from the field. But he&rsquo;s pretty much the only starter who has things going for them at the moment.
Reggie Jackson and Eric Bledsoe comprise the Clippers&rsquo; starting backcourt, and they haven&rsquo;t necessarily been inspiring. The duo are combining to score just 24 points per game on a miserable 26.5% shooting from deep.
Surprisingly, the team&rsquo;s bench has been decent. As a unit, the reserves rank 13th in the league in scoring. The major issue, is the lack of efficiency with which everyone not named Paul George has been scoring.&nbsp;
Overall, the team ranks 26th in field goal percentage (42%), 24th in three-point percentage (31.7%) and 27th in free throw attempts per game (17.2).
Obviously, it would be difficult for any team to sustain without players the caliber of Leonard and Ibaka, but the Clippers were hoping to see Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac take a step forward and for Justise Winslow to have an impact. It hasn&rsquo;t been the case so far.
Nobody even notices Bradley Beal&rsquo;s somewhat slow start
Although both Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks are surprising for the wrong seasons, it is the Washington Wizards who are most worthy of our affection at the moment.
Like the Knicks, the Wizards enter play on Oct. 31 with a 5-1 record, with their last three wins coming over the Celtics (who they beat twice) and the Hawks. It would be easy to give Bradley Beal the credit for the team&rsquo;s early success, but with 24.4 points per game, he&rsquo;s scoring almost seven less points per game than he did last season. He&rsquo;s also been shooting quite poorly, managing just 36.3% from the field and a miserable 21.6% from three-point territory.
So what gives?
It would be the team&rsquo;s supporting cast, plain and simple.
Entering play on Oct. 31, three of the Wizards&rsquo; newcomers are averaging at least 15 points per game &mdash; Spencer Dinwiddie (19.8), Montrezl Harrell (19.3) and Kyle Kuzma (15.5). They&rsquo;ve also gotten good minutes from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Raul Neto and Deni Avdija.
Put quite simply: the pieces fit.
If there is an area of concern for Wes Unseld&rsquo;s team, it would be that they&rsquo;re not sharing the ball exceptionally well. The Wizards manage just 20.5 assists per game, which ranks them 26th in the league. They&rsquo;ve already had seven different players start a game, thanks partially to both Dinwiddie and Beal missing a game each&hellip; So the search or chemistry and continuity continues.
Nonetheless, the Wizards have gotten off to an impressive start, and although many people expected them to be an improved club from last season, few predicted they&rsquo;d be sitting atop the East at any point.
Don&rsquo;t tell Russell Westbrook.
&mdash;&mdash;
If there&rsquo;s anything we&rsquo;ve learned about the NBA from years past, it&rsquo;s that the regular season is a marathon. Guys are going to get hurt and some will have hot stretches, while some will cool down. Some guys will transform as they begin their primes, while age and attrition will take a toll on others. It&rsquo;s the nature of the game.
Nonetheless, after about two weeks and six games, every team has at least a small sample size to help draw some conclusions, figure out what works and determine what doesn&rsquo;t.

The Knicks and Wizards have given their fans reason to smile. James Harden and Reggie Jackson? Not so much.

5 early NBA surprises after two weeks of regular season action

One week into preseason, NBA teams are getting back in the swing of things. We've already had a handful of impressive debuts, and it's been fun to see fresh faces in new places.
With rookie-max extensions being signed (and negotiated) and plenty of lucrative contract offers accepted this past summer, some deals may age more well than others. Certainly, only time will tell with those particular agreements, but what about the ones that have already been in place?
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
What is currently the worst contract in the NBA?
Alex Kennedy: Some people may say John Wall since he will earn $44,310,840 this season, and then he has a $47,366,760 player option for next season. However, at least Wall produced last season with the Houston Rockets, averaging 20.6 points, 6.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Sure, it'll be tough for the Rockets to move Wall&rsquo;s contract, but there is a worse deal out there. Kevin Love will make $31,258,256 this season and $28,942,830 next season. And unlike Wall, Love hasn't been a significant contributor for the Cleveland Cavaliers. At this point, he can barely get on the court due to injuries. And when has played, he's been extremely ineffective.
Nekias Duncan: I think it&rsquo;s Kevin Love by a pretty solid margin right now. John Wall is the other logical answer, but there&rsquo;s always room for a guard that can pressure the rim, pass and at least hold his own in space against two positions like he can.
Spencer Davies: To be in the top-30 in salary and to have played in barely over 100 games over the last three years, even if it's through no fault of his own, it has to be Kevin Love. However, it might not be the most hampering contract in the league anymore because there are only two years left on the deal now. Both the Cavs and the veteran former All-Star have stuck it out since the summer of 2018, despite the droves of trade rumors that have surrounded each since the marriage began. As for who might fit the bill from the long-term perspective, right below Love in total guaranteed money is Davis Bertans, who is set to make $60 million over the next four years. The Washington Wizards now have Kyle Kuzma in the fold to cut into his minutes, in addition to possibly Deni Avdija when he returns from injury. So even with his shooting prowess, the "Latvian Laser" is going to command a top-three salary on the cap sheet.
Ethan Fuller: I think this is a bit more complicated than simply comparing a player's perceived talent level to the dollar amount. Role, availability and trade value also matter, which is why Kevin Love has the worst contract in the league. Love really has no place on the Cavs' young roster. On top of that, his injury history, age and production have cratered trade interest. Love is making $31.3 million this season and $28.9 million next season, and no one knows what his role on an NBA team is right now.
Moke Hamilton: There are plenty to choose from, but I think the answer here is the most popular &mdash; John Wall. Wall was already a pretty flawed player who wasn&rsquo;t universally believed to be capable of leading a team to true contender status. The injuries and the $90 million left on his deal (for this season and the following) will be tough to move. The only thing I&rsquo;d say to that is that one season can make a huge difference. Remember, it wasn&rsquo;t all that long ago that Chris Paul was thought to have the league&rsquo;s worst contract... And look at him now.
Jesse Blancarte: Kevin Love. Love is set to make roughly $31.3 million this season and $28.9 million next season. Thankfully, the contract isn&rsquo;t a long-term problem, but that is a lot of money for a player who is always injured, well past his prime, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-something-has-got-to-give-with-kevin-love-cleveland-cavaliers-koby-altman-discipline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stopped competing mid-game last season</a> and doesn&rsquo;t seem poised for any sort of major bounce-back.
Drew Maresca: Prior to the last few days I would&rsquo;ve said Kristaps Porzingis; considering local mandates, I think Kyrie Irving might have surpassed the unicorn. Nevermind what you think about the COVID vaccine, Irving appears set to make the Nets play without him for all home games in 2021-22. While Brooklyn will be fine without him for half of the regular season, winning a championship seems like a very tall task without one of your three most important players (and nevermind what it might do to the team&rsquo;s chemistry.)
Alexander Cohen: I&rsquo;ll go with Kevin Love. While he doesn&rsquo;t make as much as John Wall, the veteran point guard is at least seemingly on the same page as the Rockets, who are at least pretending like a trade is possible. Love can&rsquo;t even disguise his apathy on the court, and the debacle in the Olympics this year certainly doesn&rsquo;t make his contract any less untradeable. The Cavaliers already have a young big-man logjam without him in Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen, so it seems unlikely there will be much of a role for him on the court &mdash; even if he can stay healthy.

What is currently the worst contract in the NBA? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: What is currently the worst contract in the NBA?

With NBA training camps open for business, teams are getting back in the swing of things. We are just two days away from the first preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET), meaning the 2021-22 campaign is right around the corner.
While these two teams are commanding the spotlight more than any other squads around the league, there are plenty of franchises that would love to knock them right off their pedestal, or at least have some of that light shone on them.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Who is your favorite dark-horse team entering the 2021-22 season? 
Alex Kennedy: The Washington Wizards are my dark-horse team because I really liked their offseason moves. They acquired Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Kispert, Aaron Holiday and Isaiah Todd among others. Dinwiddie and Bradley Beal should form a terrific one-two punch in the backcourt, and it&rsquo;s very possible that Deni Avdija (20 years old), Rui Hachimura (23), Daniel Gafford (23) and Thomas Bryant (24) will make significant strides as they take the next step in their development. Suddenly, Washington has some nice depth and a very solid supporting cast around Beal. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if they exceed expectations.
Nekias Duncan: Do the Milwaukee Bucks count here? It&rsquo;s hard to think of a title-winning team that&rsquo;s been disregarded quite like this one. I get the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; optimism, I do, but the Bucks feel pretty slept on at large.&nbsp;
Ethan Fuller: The Toronto Raptors are going to massively exceed expectations after they faced arguably the most challenging circumstances of any team in 2020-21. They're back in Toronto with a team that screams positive regression. Pascal Siakam is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-player-will-have-a-major-bounceback-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a prime bounce-back candidate</a>, Fred VanVleet continues to fly under the radar and the young core might be one of the more underrated groups in the NBA. I'm excited to see guys like OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn take their next steps.
Spencer Davies: I can't just land on one in particular. There's so much love (and rightfully so) for the Lakers and Nets that the possibility of any other teams making it to the NBA Finals would be a shock to many. In the Eastern Conference, watch out for the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. It seems that the Heat like to sneak up on people when they least expect it, and uh, that shouldn't be the case considering they were in the Finals at this time one year ago in the NBA Bubble. Kyle Lowry's going to prove to be a tremendous pickup if he can stay healthy, and Jimmy Butler seems to perform at his best when he's not being paid attention to. There's also that Bam Adebayo guy, who's somehow a Swiss Army knife with room for growth. As for the Celtics, a new head coach has the potential to inject a sense of freshness into the air. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have already been unleashed, but Ime Udoka may just be the one to kick the door open further. Plus, those contract worries over the last couple of seasons have been put to rest with Marcus Smart. Oh, and Al Horford's back with gang green, too &mdash; never a bad thing to see a familiar face.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15910981-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="651" height="479" />
Moke Hamilton: I&rsquo;d probably have to go with the Denver Nuggets. It&rsquo;s tough to pick a dark horse from the Western Conference because there are a ton of teams out there that are worthy of the respect of being called a credible contender... But I think most people are looking at the Lakers, Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns as the teams to beat. Denver often gets left out of the conversation, especially since Jamal Murray is still on the shelf. Nonetheless, I like them. If Murray can return to form and Michael Porter Jr. continues to grow, they&rsquo;ll be formidable.
Jackson Frank: Before the injury bug caught them in recent weeks, I would&rsquo;ve loved to slot the Indiana Pacers here, but my pick is the New Orleans Pelicans. I&rsquo;m not sure this means much more than competing for a low playoff seed &mdash; still an improvement, comparatively &mdash; but they seem a bit discounted among preseason projections. The acquisitions of Devonte&rsquo; Graham and Jonas Valanciunas should really help this team approach elite offense territory. Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky are steady veterans who can contribute in the rotation. The Pelicans house a bevy of young dudes, and while it&rsquo;s unlikely all of them will experience substantial strides, banking on a few of them to do so is prudent. Jaxson Hayes had an encouraging second half of 2020-21. Nickeil Alexander-Walker fared quite well as a shooter and complementary handler in his 19 starts. Naji Marshall brings versatile defense, playmaking and slashing. Zion Williamson&rsquo;s exploits speak for themselves. Brandon Ingram is a very good second scorer. To cap it off, new head coach Willie Green is an excellent offensive mind, and should serve as a general upgrade over Stan Van Gundy&rsquo;s struggles on the sidelines. I like the Pelicans to take a notable step forward and compete for a playoff spot &mdash; or a little better.
Drew Maresca: What exactly constitutes a dark-horse team? Technically, everyone is a dark-horse team except for the Lakers and Nets. As it relates to the question though, I really like the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic is going to pick up right where he left off, Michael Porter Jr. should immediately begin earning the five-year, $207 million extension he just signed and Aaron Gordon is the same cat he&rsquo;s been for the past few seasons. If Jamal Murray can return at nearly full strength at any point this season, the Nuggets are going to be scary.
Jesse Blancarte: The Los Angeles Clippers. With Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL, the Clippers are no longer considered a championship contender for the upcoming season. However, the Clippers are bringing back their core players and have plenty of wing depth to keep the ship level during the season. With Leonard sidelined, I predict Paul George will have a big season, while other players like Marcus Morris, Terance Mann and Justise Winslow could help fill the void. If Leonard can return in time for the postseason, the Clippers may have a shot at advancing deep into the postseason. &nbsp;
Chris Sheridan: The Charlotte Hornets. If they can get a full healthy season from Gordon Hayward, that will be the key. I love the pickup of Mason Plumlee at center, and we all learned last season what LaMelo Ball can do. They play way under the radar because of their market size.
Alexander Cohen: My favorite dark-horse (and also NBA League Pass) team is easily the Pelicans. David Griffin has received a great deal of mostly-warranted slack for his offseason due to asset management, but I think New Orleans has a good team here. While I&rsquo;m not a fan of letting Lonzo Ball walk, moving on from Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe should both be additions by subtraction. Bringing on Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte&rsquo; Graham &mdash; two dark horses in their own right as top players on their former teams despite LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant being understandably more publicized &mdash; should also be instrumental additions. They provide scoring presences the Pelicans lacked last season, with Graham and Valanciunas being worlds more aggressive than Ball and Adams. The two-man combo of Willy Hernangomez &mdash; who has a similar skill set to Valanciunas &mdash; and Zion Williamson had a staggering net rating of plus-11.9 last season. Factor in those changes with the anticipated improvement of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes and Kira Lewis, and the Pelicans should be a thrilling team this year with a healthy Williamson.

Who is your dark-horse team to watch entering the 2021-22 NBA season? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Who is your dark-horse team for the 2021-22 season?

Nekias Duncan previews the Southeast Division for the 2021-22 NBA season.