Nittany Lions

After a long four-month offseason, the 2023-24 NBA season officially kicks off on October 24. Preseason action is currently underway, with teams evaluating their roster and getting ready for the start of the regular season.
There were a few roster rule changes of note this offseason that were introduced as part of the new CBA. Now, each team can sign up to three two-way players (up from two) who are able to play up to 50 games with their NBA team and spend the rest of their season in the G League. Also, offseason rosters were originally limited to 20 players but have since increased to 21.&nbsp;
Each team needs to be at 15 standard contracts prior to the start of the season, which means a few players on guaranteed deals will have to be cut prior to the season. While some teams have a pretty set roster, others (like the Oklahoma City Thunder) will be forced to part ways with talented players to reach their roster limit.&nbsp;
Looking at the Atlantic Division, let's see how each team&rsquo;s lineup is shaping up and what questions they may need to answer before the start of the season.
(This is part one of a six-part series, with more divisional previews coming soon).
<h1>BOSTON CELTICS</h1>
Outside of the top-six players, who will be the most reliable depth option?
After acquiring Jrue Holiday, the Boston Celtics may have the best top-six of any team in the league. While we can add the Holiday trade to their list of aggressive offseason transactions, their depth has taken somewhat of a step back.&nbsp;
They will have to replace four rotation players from last year&rsquo;s Conference Finals team with a few players who don&rsquo;t have much experience in playoff situations. Three players who should definitely see more minutes are Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet. Pritchard has played well on both ends of the floor when given an opportunity, notably shooting 40% from three-point range over his first three seasons. The Celtics rewarded him with a team-friendly extension that should see him take up about 5% of the salary cap over the next four years. Hauser has also been a stellar three-point shooter, knocking down 42% since coming into the league.&nbsp;
The frontcourt is probably the most notable weakness on the team&rsquo;s depth chart. Joe Mazzulla has expressed confidence that <a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/10/7/23907608/boston-celtics-depth-sam-hauser-luke-kornet-payton-pritchard-joe-mazzulla-blake-griffin-bus-one-boys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kornet should be successful on both ends of the floor and will be their go-to backup center to start the season.</a> The preseason will be important in determining who else (i.e. Oshae Brissett, Jordan Walsh, Svi Mykhailiuk, etc.) may stand out for Mazzulla and get an opportunity for playing time behind Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Celtics have the least amount of players on guaranteed contracts in the league (10). However, their roster for opening night is likely set unless they want to open up flexibility to sign other veteran players or buyout candidates later this season. If they choose to cut someone, it would very likely be a player on a non-guaranteed deal. Mykhailiuk and Dalano Banton each have a partial $200,000 guarantee that increases to over $1,000,000 if they make the roster. Kornet, Wenyen Gabriel and Lamar Stevens all have non-guaranteed contracts.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 19 players (10 guaranteed, 2 partially guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 1 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jrue Holiday, G/F Jaylen Brown, F Jayson Tatum, F/C Al Horford, F/C Kristaps Porzingis
Projected Rotation Players: G Derrick White, G Payton Pritchard, C Luke Kornet (non-guaranteed), F Sam Hauser, F Oshae Brissett
Projected Reserves: F Jordan Walsh, G/F Svi Mykhailiuk ($200K guaranteed), F Wenyen Gabriel (non-guaranteed), G Dalano Banton ($200K guaranteed), F Lamar Stevens (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-Way Players: C Neemias Queta, G JD Davison, G Jay Scrubb (Injured)
Projected Roster Cuts: G DJ Steward (Exhibit-10)
<h1>BROOKLYN NETS</h1>
What is Ben Simmons' role?
Ben Simmons has only played 42 games since being acquired by the Nets in February 2022, dealing with physical and psychological hurdles that have made him somewhat of an afterthought. Head coach Jacque Vaughn has expressed confidence that Simmons is now 100% healthy and ready to contribute again at a high level.&nbsp;
He seems to be penciled in as the team&rsquo;s starting point guard, starting in the Nets&rsquo; first preseason game. Though it was just a small 14-minute sample size, Simmons looked a lot like his former All-Star self. Having not played since February 15, he looked athletic, aggressive and confident before sitting out the second half.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He attacked the rim, I think he played with pace, looked pretty natural out there getting up and down the floor, communicating with guys into the flow of the game,&rdquo; Vaughn said, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/ben-simmons-passes-eye-test-in-nets-preseason-opener/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praising his $38-million man</a>. &ldquo;Really good to see.&rdquo;
Vaughn has some options when it comes to starting lineups where he could go smaller, with a backcourt of Simmons and Spencer Dinwiddie, or decide to start Dorian Finney-Smith and use Mikal Bridges as a big two-guard.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
Darius Bazley, Harry Giles and Trendon Watford are all on non-guaranteed deals and are vying for the final two roster spots. The Nets also have an open two-way spot, which I believe they could potentially use on a player like <a href="https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/mens-basketball/kennedy-chandler-starring-in-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Summer League standout</a> and former Memphis Grizzlies second-rounder Kennedy Chandler.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 18 players (13 guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 2 two-way)
Projected Starters: G/F Ben Simmons, G Spencer Dinwiddie, F Mikal Bridges, F Cameron Johnson, C Nicolas Claxton
Projected Rotation Players: F Dorian Finney-Smith, F Royce O&rsquo;Neale, G Cameron Thomas, G Dennis Smith Jr., C Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe
Projected Reserves: G/F Lonnie Walker IV, C Noah Clowney, F Dariq Whitehead, F Darius Bazley (Non-Guaranteed), C Harry Giles (Non-Guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: G Armoni Brooks, F Jalen Wilson, G Kennedy Chandler* (Projected Signing)
Projected Roster Cuts: F Trendon Watford (Non-Guaranteed)
<h1>NEW YORK KNICKS</h1>
Who will be the first option off the bench?
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has his fair share of options to headline his second unit. In his third year, Immanuel Quickley had his best season to date, finishing as the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award behind Malcolm Brogdon. Quickley was the primary scorer for the second unit, but he shouldn&rsquo;t have to carry the entire load on offense with the addition of Donte DiVincenzo.&nbsp;
DiVincenzo impressed last season with the Golden State Warriors as a reliable bench shooter and should spot minutes for Quentin Grimes and R.J. Barrett when offensive pushes are needed. Josh Hart could also be the team&rsquo;s sixth man, just like he was during the Knicks&rsquo; playoff run. After being traded from Portland, Hart averaged 30 minutes per game despite coming off the bench most of the time. It is worth noting the Knicks-Villanova connection between Hart, DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson, who should fit seamlessly together on the floor thanks to their pre-existing chemistry. While unlikely to be the first off the bench, Isaiah Hartenstein also deserves mention since he has been one of the league&rsquo;s better backup centers and could see more time if Mitchell Robinson gets in foul trouble. In terms of rotation issues, Thibodeau should see this as a good problem to have regardless of who he brings off the bench first.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Knicks have three spots up for grabs between Ryan Arcidiacono, DaQuan Jeffries, Isaiah Roby and Duane Washington Jr. All are on non-guaranteed deals that won&rsquo;t be fully guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date on January 10.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (12 guaranteed, 4 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jalen Brunson, G Quentin Grimes, G/F R.J. Barrett, F Julius Randle, C Mitchell Robinson
Projected Rotation Players: G Josh Hart, G Immanuel Quickley, G Donte DiVincenzo, C Isaiah Hartenstein, G Miles McBride
Projected Reserves: G Evan Fournier, C Jericho Sims, F Isaiah Roby (non-guaranteed), G Ryan Arcidiacono (non-guaranteed), G/F DaQuan Jeffries (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: F/C Nathan Knight, G/F Dylan Windler, F Jaylen Martin
Projected Roster Cuts: G Duane Washington Jr. (non-guaranteed), G Charlie Brown Jr. (Exhibit-10), F Jacob Toppin (Exhibit-10)
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<h1>PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h1>
Will Tyrese Maxey become more of a creator and how can that adjust the rotation?
The Sixers&rsquo; ceiling is contingent on how much Tyrese Maxey can improve this season. Maxey hasn&rsquo;t needed to be the team&rsquo;s primary distributor since James Harden joined the team, allowing him to blossom into a reliable 20-PPG scorer. Regardless of whether Harden&rsquo;s trade situation is resolved, Maxey will need to become a better creator and distributor if he wants to take his game to the next level. Prior to Harden&rsquo;s arrival, Maxey had an impressive 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio despite his small frame and risk-averse tendencies.&nbsp;
Interestingly, team president Daryl Morey has held off on giving Maxey an extension this offseason, electing to wait until next summer to pay his budding young guard. Maxey will likely demand near max-level money that could harm Philly&rsquo;s flexibility to go after star players next offseason. If he can improve his ball-handling and distribution tendencies, the Sixers&rsquo; offense should benefit tremendously, helping the offensive output of players like P.J. Tucker and Paul Reed and easing the reliance on De&rsquo;Anthony Melton and Patrick Beverley.
Roster Decisions
Two players will likely be fighting for the Sixers&rsquo; final roster spot. The team re-signed veteran Danny Green, who played for the team from 2020 to 2022, to a non-guaranteed deal. They also brought over young big Filip Petrusev, who was drafted by Philadelphia in 2021. Petrusev signed a multi-year deal that was partially guaranteed for $559,782 this season and non-guaranteed next year. Although unlikely, the 76ers could also elect to waive Montrezl Harrell despite his deal being fully guaranteed, as he should miss this season with a torn ACL.
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (14 guaranteed, 1 partially Guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Tyrese Maxey, G James Harden, F P.J. Tucker, F Tobias Harris, C Joel Embiid
Projected Rotation Players: G De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, G Patrick Beverley, F/C Paul Reed, F/G Kelly Oubre Jr., F Danuel House
Projected Reserves: C Mo Bamba, F Furkan Korkmaz, G Jaden Springer, G/F Danny Green (non-guaranteed), C Montrezl Harrell (injured)
Projected Two-way Players: G Terquavion Smith, G Ricky Council IV, F Azuolas Tubelis
Projected Roster Cuts: F/C Filip Petrusev ($559,782 guaranteed), G David Duke Jr. (Exhibit-10), G Javonte Smart (Exhibit-10)
<h1>TORONTO RAPTORS</h1>
What style does Darko Rajakovic bring to Toronto and who will benefit the most?
New coach Darko Rajakovic inherits an interesting Raptors team with plenty of talent, but they may be facing a crossroads in terms of how successful they can be as a group. Rajakovic is in his first NBA head coaching gig after three seasons as an assistant with the Grizzlies and is known around the league as a pick-and-roll guru.&nbsp;
The idea of the Raptors being a primary pick-and-roll team became less appealing when they were unable to retain Fred VanVleet in free agency, replacing him with a less reliable shooter in Dennis Schr&ouml;der. Instead, Rajakovic will likely rely on Schr&ouml;der and his newly paid center Jakob Poeltl for more ball movement and playmaking. Rajakovic compared Poeltl to Domantas Sabonis before the Raptors&rsquo; preseason win over the Sacramento Kings on October 9 and could use him in a similar role. If Poeltl can be 70% of what Sabonis was last season, it can be a huge boost to an inconsistent offense.
Roster Decisions
The Raptors have 15 players on guaranteed deals going into the season, but also carry Jeff Dowtin Jr. on a non-guaranteed deal. Dowtin played on a two-way contract with Toronto last season, appearing in 25 games. With the roster full, Dowtin is unlikely to make the regular-season roster but he has still <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/news/toronto-raptors-praise-jeff-dowtin-jr-as-roster-decisions-await" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impressed the coaching staff this preseason</a>. If any player is in danger of losing their roster spot to Dowtin, it would likely be former first-round pick Malachi Flynn. Dowtin&rsquo;s deal becomes guaranteed for $900,000 on October 21, four days before the team&rsquo;s season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. I would expect the Raptors to make a decision on Dowtin before then.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (15 guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Dennis Schr&ouml;der, F/G Scottie Barnes, F OG Anunoby, F Pascal Siakam, C Jakob Poeltl
Projected Rotation Players: G Gary Trent Jr., F Precious Achiuwa, F/C Chris Boucher, F Jalen McDaniels, G/F Gradey Dick
Projected Reserves: F Thaddeus Young, G Malachi Flynn, F Otto Porter Jr., C Christian Koloko, G/F Garrett Temple
Projected Two-way Players: G/F Ron Harper Jr., G Markquis Nowell, G Javon Freeman-Liberty
Projected Roster Cuts: G Jeff Dowtin (non-guaranteed), F Mouhamadou Gueye (Exhibit-10), C Makur Maker (Exhibit-10)
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Blake Stern previews the Atlantic Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and a burning question entering the season.

NBA Atlantic Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

It&rsquo;s the easiest call of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-b3449d1a5f7a7de5906bb1979ffb2a26">NBA draft</a>: The San Antonio Spurs won.
That&rsquo;s not to say other teams didn&rsquo;t do very well on Thursday, when 58 players were selected as the league&rsquo;s newest members. But the Spurs being able to take generational French talent Victor Wembanyama puts them at the head of the class.
Some of the teams that also did well: NBA champion Denver, Golden State, Toronto &mdash; even with just one pick &mdash; and Orlando, which might now be closer to returning to the postseason mix.
A breakdown of which teams had Excellent drafts, those that had Good drafts and others that will have to Wait and See:
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">EXCELLENT</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DALLAS MAVERICKS</h3>
Picks: Dereck Lively II (12, via trade); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24, via trade).
Dallas got the big man it wanted and created opportunity by moving Davis Bertans. Hard to argue that it wasn&rsquo;t a good night. And now free agency awaits. Prosper is another player with big potential and was extremely hard to guard at Marquette.
Picks: Julian Strawther (29), Jalen Pickett (32, will be acquired via trade), Hunter Tyson (37),
Pickett should have gone in the first round. He&rsquo;s that good, and the NBA champions just got another do-it-all guy who will also serve as insurance should Bruce Brown leave in free agency.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DETROIT PISTONS</h3>
Picks: Ausar Thompson (5), Marcus Sasser (25, via trade), James Nnaji (31)
No matter what, the Pistons were going to get better and deeper on Thursday night. Thompson is incredibly athletic (even by NBA standards) and plays defense with a ton of energy.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS</h3>
Picks: Brandin Podziemski (19), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57, via trade)
Play to your strength, and the Warriors got another shooter to add to the mix with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Podziemski could add something right away, and came to Golden State on the same day that the Warriors swung a deal for Chris Paul by sending Jordan Poole to Washington.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">HOUSTON ROCKETS</h3>
Picks: Amen Thompson (4), Cam Whitmore (20)
Thompson is a great move and gives Detroit another great option as it builds. If Whitmore is healthy, then Houston got an absolute steal by getting the Villanova forward at No. 20.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER</h3>
Picks: Cason Wallace (10, via trade), Keyontae Johnson (50)
Wallace was great for Kentucky in his lone college season and played perhaps his best game in the Wildcats&rsquo; finale in the NCAA tournament. He can score; he didn&rsquo;t look to score quite often enough at times in college.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ORLANDO MAGIC</h3>
Picks: Anthony Black (6), Jett Howard (11)
Paolo Banchero got a couple more shooters to help him out, and the young and talented Magic got more young talent. An excellent night again and it&rsquo;s time to start thinking about Orlando as a team that should make a run at the play-in &mdash; at minimum.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SAN ANTONIO SPURS</h3>
Picks: Victor Wembanyama (1), Sidy Cissoko (44).
Their grade was secured at the very moment that the last ping-pong ball appeared at the lottery last month. Wembanyama was a no-brainer, and now it&rsquo;s up to the Spurs to start the real work &mdash; get him into the gym, see how he fits, and figure out what the plan is going forward.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">TORONTO RAPTORS</h3>
Pick: Gradey Dick (13)
Dick showed up to the draft in a red-and-black jacket &mdash; a nod to Dorothy from &ldquo;The Wizard of Oz&rdquo; and his Kansas roots. The color scheme will work in Toronto as well. Dick is a pure shooter, and no team can have too many of those. The jury&rsquo;s still out on what the Raptors will be this coming season, but this kid will be a rotation piece.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">UTAH JAZZ</h3>
Picks: Taylor Hendricks (9), Keyonte George (16), Brice Sensabaugh (28)
Hendricks is what an NBA big pretty much is now; a power forward who can also defend centers. George was the Big 12 rookie of the year at Baylor and is a proven scorer. He&rsquo;s good from the line, has 3-point potential and can get to the rim. There&rsquo;s some work to do, but he&rsquo;s a serious prospect.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">GOOD</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BROOKLYN NETS</h3>
Picks: Noah Clowney (21), Dariq Whitehead (22), Jalen Wilson (51)
Clowney is an athletic big from Alabama whose game is still a bit unfinished. Whitehead has enormous potential and was highly recruited by Duke, but foot issues are a concern. Wilson was the Big 12 player of the year at Kansas. The Nets likely didn&rsquo;t choose three elite programs accidentally. Lot to like here.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHARLOTTE HORNETS</h3>
Picks: Brandon Miller (2), Nick Smith Jr. (27), Amari Bailey (41).
Miller made sense over Scoot Henderson because the Hornets have a point guard already. But Henderson might be the more NBA-ready player.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">INDIANA PACERS</h3>
Picks: Jarace Walker (8, via trade), Ben Sheppard (26), Julian Strawther (29), Mojave King (47, via trade), Isaiah Wong (55)
Walker plays hard on both ends, and this is rare to say, but he might play harder on defense than he does on offense. And getting Wong &mdash; the ACC player of the year &mdash; so late is a steal.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Brown (30), Jordan Miller (48)
Brown is a strong player, addicted to rebounding, and probably needs to improve considerably on the offensive end. Miller did a little of everything for the Miami Hurricanes in their run to the Final Four.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES LAKERS</h3>
Picks: Jalen Hood-Schifino (17), Maxwell Lewis (40, via trade).
Hood-Schifino got NBA coaching in college last season; Indiana is coached by Mike Woodson. He&rsquo;s a winner; his high school teams won, his Indiana team went to the NCAA Tournament and he&rsquo;ll obviously benefit from time with LeBron James.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MIAMI HEAT</h3>
Pick: Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18)
A four-year college player whose game got more complete each year, Jaquez has a notorious work ethic that should fit in quite well with the Eastern Conference champions.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW ORLEANS PELICANS</h3>
Pick: Jordan Hawkins (14)
Hawkins was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s team that won the national title last spring, earning his way onto the All-Tournament team. New Orleans got a winner.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS</h3>
Picks: Scoot Henderson (3), Kris Murray (23), Rayan Rupert (43).
Henderson has shown that he&rsquo;s NBA-ready. The Blazers drafted well. But really, the only question now is whether Damian Lillard is happy or not. Murray is the twin brother of Sacramento&rsquo;s Keegan Murray and had a big season for Iowa &mdash; averaging just over 20 points per game.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">WASHINGTON WIZARDS</h3>
Picks: Bilal Coulibaly (7, via trade), Tristan Vukcevic (42)
The Wizards are starting over, and on the day they also agreed to acquire Jordan Poole from Golden State they just happened to get a French player. (No, not that one.) But Coulibaly is highly touted by No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, and that&rsquo;s enough of an endorsement for us.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">WAIT AND SEE</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ATLANTA HAWKS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Bufkin (15), Mouhamed Gueye (39, via trade), Seth Lundy (46)
Bufkin had a great second half of the season at Michigan, and left-handers always provide defenses with an extra challenge. The best way to describe his game is this: He doesn&rsquo;t do much wrong. Very solid, can help the Hawks in a lot of ways.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BOSTON CELTICS</h3>
Picks: James Njaji (31, via trade), Jordan Walsh (38, via trade)
Still only 18, Njaji started playing the game about seven years ago and is not even close to reaching his potential yet. Big prospect.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHICAGO BULLS</h3>
Pick: Julian Phillips (35, via trade)
The Bulls had to forfeit what would have been their pick because of free-agency violations last summer, and swung a deal with Boston to land the Tennessee wing.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS</h3>
Pick: Emoni Bates (49)
He was touted as a star since basically middle school, had more than his share of promising moments in college, and now has to really prove himself.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES</h3>
Picks: Gregory Jackson II (45), Tarik Biberovic (56)
Prospects. They&rsquo;re not expected to provide any real help anytime soon.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MILWAUKEE BUCKS</h3>
Picks: Andre Jackson (36, via trade), Chris Livingston (58)
Jackson was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s national championship. He&rsquo;s only going to benefit from being around Giannis Antetokounmpo every day.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES</h3>
Picks: Leonard Miller (33, via trade), Jaylen Clark (53)
Miller had a lot of big moments playing with Scoot Henderson and the G League Ignite this past season. Athleticism is tough to ignore.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW YORK KNICKS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHOENIX SUNS</h3>
Pick: Toumani Camara (52)
Given the trades that they&rsquo;re making, this might be one of their last picks for quite some time. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with not valuing the draft, but giving up on it entirely is a dangerous game to play too often.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SACRAMENTO KINGS</h3>
Picks: Colby Jones (34, via trade), Jalen Slawson (54)
Jones has skills the Kings crave; great shooter, great passing and great vision. A young Kevin Huerter-type in those regards.

Which teams came away from the 2023 NBA Draft as big winners? Check out the AP's draft report cards.

NBA draft report cards: Spurs, Rockets among teams that hit it big

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had a triple-double after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nikola-jokic-suns-owner-ishbia-nuggets-68825fb1632f87930fe30ec72ae5c94f">making up</a>&nbsp;with Suns owner Mat Ishbia and Michael Porter Jr. sank five 3-pointers to help the Denver Nuggets beat Phoenix 118-102 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 series lead.
Joker had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for his 10th career playoff triple-double, breaking a tie with Wilt Chamberlain for most by a center in NBA history.
&ldquo;To be honest, I just like to win the game, so whatever it takes,&rdquo; said Jokic, who was coming off a career-best 53-point performance in Game 4.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Phoenix.
&ldquo;If we play the way we did today,&rdquo; Jokic said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re going to have a chance&rdquo; to close out the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the NBA bubble in 2020.
The Suns are confident they can shake this one off just like they did in bouncing back from two losses in Denver last week.
&ldquo;Yeah. I&rsquo;ve been in here a couple of times now,&rdquo; Phoenix star Devin Booker said. &ldquo;I love it. Every game has is its own character. Every game is its own movie, its own different preparation and everything to go with it. We&rsquo;re going watch over film, see how we can be better for Game 6.&rdquo;
The home team has won every game in the series. If that holds true again, the decisive winner-take-all clash will come Sunday back in Denver, where the top-seeded Nuggets own the NBA&rsquo;s best home record at 40-7, including 6-0 in the playoffs.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone devised a five-point plan for the Nuggets to regain control of the series after losing two in Phoenix: patch up their transition defense, slow down Booker, get more from his bench, unleash MPJ and knock down open 3s.
Check, check, check, check and check.
Porter bounced back from a quiet night in Game 4 with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from long range. Denver outscored Phoenix 31-23 in fast-break points; Booker scored 28 points but missed 11 of 19 shots; Bruce Brown boosted the Nuggets&rsquo; bench with 25 points and the Nuggets sank 13 of 27 from long range.
Jamal Murray added 19 points for Denver, and Kevin Durant chipped in 26 points for Phoenix but also had an uncharacteristic five turnovers.
The Nuggets turned a three-point halftime lead into a 91-74 cushion with a domiinant third quarter in which Jokic made seven of eight shots for 17 points and Booker was just 1-for-8 for 3 points.
The chippiness of the series reached a new level in the final minute of the third quarter when Nuggets swingman Brown antagonized the Suns as they huddled up on the court and Durant gave Jokic a forearm shiver. A double technical was assessed on Durant and Brown.
&ldquo;Just to see what they were drawing up,&rdquo; Jokic said when asked why he and Brown were spying on the Suns.
Durant called the dust-up &ldquo;absolutely nothing, it wasn&rsquo;t anything serious. They were excited, they were up big and we were trying to draw up some stuff. So, it was nothing.&rdquo;
So, no need for a hug and a handshake next time they play.
Before this game, Jokic shared a warm pregame embrace &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/MichelleTuckner/status/1656099830685663232?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and the basketball</a>&nbsp;&mdash; with Ishbia 48 hours after their kerfuffle over a loose ball in Phoenix in Game 4 resulted in a technical foul and a $25,000 fine for the Nuggets big man.
&ldquo;I was hoping he was going to pay my fine,&rdquo; Jokic cracked after the game.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s just making light of a situation that was way overblown,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;The NBA handled it the right way and I give their owner, Mat Ishbia, a lot of credit when he came out after the game and said, &lsquo;Listen, I don&rsquo;t want anyone to be suspended. Let&rsquo;s let the players decide this on the court.&rsquo; So, kudos to him for that.
&ldquo;But yeah, I think it just speaks to Nikola&rsquo;s personality and him being a little bit of a smart (aleck).&rdquo;
The NBA had stickers placed on the first several rows of seats &mdash; including Ishbia&rsquo;s &mdash; reminding spectators, especially those close to the action, of its&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/arniestapleton/status/1656074725368668162?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fan code of conduct policy</a>&nbsp;and a reminder that violations could result in ejection and revocation of tickets.
TIP-INS
Suns: Seated courtside alongside Ishbia was Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker, derisively known in much of Colorado as &ldquo;Midnight Mel&rdquo; for his departure from the Buffaloes job only hours after telling boosters he was in Boulder to stay.
Nuggets: This marked the first game in the series that the leader after one quarter held on to win the game. ... Among the VIPs in attendance was Broncos new head coach Sean Payton, his quarterback Russell Wilson and John Calipari, who coached Booker and Murray at Kentucky.

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 118-102 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 series lead.

Nuggets beat Suns 118-102 in Game 5 to regain series lead

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine, which will take place at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago from May 15-21.
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games as well as shooting and strength-and-agility drills. Coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft Combine will begin May 17 on ESPN2 from 2-6 p.m. ET and continues May 18 from 4-8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The NBA Draft Combine will also be available on the ESPN App. Strength-and-agility drills and shooting drills will be broadcast live on the NBA App on May 15 from 3-5 p.m. ET.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-g-league-announces-45-draft-prospects-competing-in-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 13-14 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine.
Unfortunately, projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama won't be in attendance at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine as he has yet to finish his season overseas with Metropolitans 92.
Below is a list of expected attendees for the 2023 NBA Draft Combine:
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trey Alexander (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Seth Lundy (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kevin McCullar (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Reece Beekman (Virginia)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Miller (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adem Bona (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Leonard Miller (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Brown (Missouri)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Judah Mintz (Syracuse)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Toumani Camara (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Omari Moore (San Jose State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kris Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Noah Clowney (Alabama)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
James Nnaji (Barcelona [Spain] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Phillips (Tennessee)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Nikola Djurisic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Zach Edey (Purdue)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adam Flagler (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Rayan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers [Oceania] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyonte George (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Marcus Sasser (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Slawson (Furman)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jett Howard (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
GG Jackson II (South Carolina)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Colby Jones (Xavier)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan [Serbia] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jarace Walker (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mojave King (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Dereck Lively II (Duke)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Isaiah Wong (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

NBA announces 78 Draft Combine participants, but no Victor Wembanyama

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Wayne &ldquo;Big Daddy&rdquo; Sims, who played in four NCAA Tournaments with LSU from 1987-1991, died Wednesday at age 54.
LSU&rsquo;s athletic department confirmed Sims&rsquo; death. No cause of death was immediately disclosed. Sims&rsquo; coach at LSU was Dale Brown, and his teammates included Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Vernel Singleton. During Sims&rsquo; senior season, LSU won the Southeastern Conference championship. &ldquo;He brought the best out in players, and everyone liked him,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;He was a team player &mdash; didn&rsquo;t get the credit maybe he deserved for the great run they had, but he was a wonderful person.
&ldquo;He was never a flashy guy that needed stardom, but he was the base to our team.&rdquo;
Wayne&rsquo;s son Wayde, also played for two seasons for the Tigers before he was fatally shot during an off-campus altercation on the eve of LSU&rsquo;s first scheduled practice before the 2018-19 season.
Following their son&rsquo;s death, Wayne Sims and his wife, Fay, set up the Baton Rouge-based Wayde Sims Foundation.
&ldquo;He and Fay worked tirelessly to keep Wayde&rsquo;s memory alive,&rdquo; said McNeese State coach Will Wade, who was Wayde Sims&rsquo; coach at LSU. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never forget Wayne and Fay saying that God will find a way to save lives through Wayde&rsquo;s death.&rdquo;
Wayne Sims, listed at 6-foot-7, 247 pounds during his playing days, appeared in 117 games for LSU, starting 74, and scoring 1,107 career points and grabbing 603 rebounds. He is one of 21 LSU players to reach 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds, and one of nine players in program history to appear in four NCAA Tournaments.
Sims scored 24 points in one of LSU&rsquo;s most memorable upset victories, an 82-80 triumph over No. 2 Georgetown on Jan. 28, 1989 &mdash; a game played in the Superdome in New Orleans in front of a crowd of 54,321.
Sims grew up in Deridder, Louisiana, and was a two-time All-State selection at Deridder High School, where he averaged 21.9 points and nine rebounds as a senior.
Funeral arrangements are pending.

Wayne “Big Daddy” Sims, who played in four NCAA Tournaments with LSU from 1987-1991, died Wednesday at age 54.

Former LSU basketball player Wayne Sims dead at 54

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Ben Simmons tilted his head in bemusement at the suggestion enough time had passed since his bitter split with the 76ers that his Philadelphia homecoming might be greeted with more affection than acrimony.
His look, which became an instant meme, had the appearance of a player who knew better.
The details of Simmons' long-building split with the Sixers are too fresh for that. Like the time former coach Brett Brown asked him to shoot just one 3-pointer per game, or coach Doc Rivers simply asked Simmons to report on time and participate in practice &mdash; Simmons did niehter.
Or when management and an entire fanbase that only wanted Simmons to embrace the city, play up to his contract and the talent that made him worthy of the No. 1 pick and chase championships with Joel Embiid could not get an honest answer on why he wanted out of Philadelphia.
Simmons knows that won't all be forgotten so fast.
&ldquo;You guys are going to make titles or headlines or whatever it is, but I&rsquo;m excited to go play,&rdquo; Simmons said.
Like it or not, Simmons is in for much worse than a scornful scowl from jilted Philly fans when he returns Tuesday night with the Brooklyn Nets to play the Sixers for the first time since a February trade.
The three-time All-Star <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-philadelphia-76ers-denver-nuggets-nba-sports-4b0e286599936f8029ce5ec2c2eb930a">watched from the bench</a> as he recovered from a back injury when the Nets played in Philly in March. Simmons drew derisive cheers from the moment he stepped on the court and was <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/03/14/ben-simmons-dines-out-in-philly-after-getting-booed-at-sixers-game/?utm_source=P6Twitter&amp;utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">heckled most of the game</a>.
&ldquo;I know what&rsquo;s coming,&rdquo; Simmons said to laughter following a win Sunday.
Just wait until he actually plays.
&ldquo;One thing about Philly fans, they&rsquo;re incredible,&rdquo; Simmons said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re diehard Philly. Everything Philly, whatever it is. I respect that about the city. It&rsquo;s a sports town.&rdquo;
When Simmons sat out last season&rsquo;s home opener, fans mocked the absentee guard. The most popular form was a Mister Softee T-shirt with an ice cream swirl on Simmons&rsquo; head.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great for him,&rdquo; Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll have his teammates behind him, he&rsquo;ll have a coach that believes in him and overall, we&rsquo;re looking forward to go play.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s still at times almost implausible to fathom that the 76ers and Simmons couldn&rsquo;t <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/ben-simmons-jj-redick-podcast-shooting-layup-nets/veo3eypxhbort4svlulexqpn">patch up any differences</a> stemming from his refusal to take an open dunk in a Game 7 loss to Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinal.
Rivers and Embiid made passive criticisms of Simmons, and the relationship unraveled from there. Simmons had back issues and later said <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-brooklyn-nets-nba-entertainment-sports-032b7b7f897fb8d6adceb9eab88a720d">mental health woes</a> played a role in his trade demand in the <a href="https://twitter.com/APgelston/status/1573351303064977408">summer of 2021</a> that led to a contentious few days in training camp. Simmons was sent home for good, filed a grievance after the Sixers said he breached his contract (it was later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-james-harden-58a598cadaefe1e56aca63210dfbd3d5?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP_Sports">settled in a confidential agreement</a> ) and then <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-brooklyn-nets-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-39696822486d3683a7d4d7a1fbf19e97">shipped to Brooklyn</a> in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-james-harden-2fea364a5cc35aa3515508d518cc08bc?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP_Sports&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">trade for All-Star James Harden</a>.
Simmons couldn&rsquo;t shake the drama in Brooklyn, either &mdash; though thanks to Kevin Durant and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-race-and-ethnicity-700bac36ac5e889fdfec06894affff1e">Kyrie Irving</a>, there&rsquo;s plenty to go around in the borough &mdash; and has played only 12 games this season. He&rsquo;s rounding into form and coming off a season-high 22-point game against Memphis, his first 20-point game since for he played for the 76ers in the 2021 playoffs.
&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had many opportunities to get the reps in, so I&rsquo;m getting my reps in now,&rdquo; Simmons said.
Simmons averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists over four seasons with Philadelphia, which drafted him out of LSU, where he played only one season. His omnipresent headaches, such as his refusal to shoot beyond 15 feet &mdash; he was a 5-of-34 career 3-point shooter with the 76ers &mdash; outweighed his otherwise gifted defensive and playmaking talents.
Simmons made a surprise return to the Sixers shortly before last season opened but was promptly kicked out of practice and suspended for one game. The punishment didn&rsquo;t matter; the No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft never had any intention of playing.
He'll face a scuffling 76ers team playing without an injured Harden and Tyrese Maxey and now Embiid &mdash; his former All-Star partner and franchise cornerstone whose friendship has since dissolved.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of history, but there&rsquo;s really no history. It&rsquo;s just a regular game,&rdquo; Embiid said.
It&rsquo;s going to be loud and wild inside the Wells Fargo Center. Simmons insisted he won&rsquo;t get &ldquo;psyched out&rdquo; and vowed he will come to Philly ready to play.
Even if he feigns interest in what all the fuss is about.
&ldquo;Something going on?" he said, laughing.
__
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York contributed to this story.

“You guys are going to make titles or headlines or whatever it is, but I’m excited to go play,” Ben Simmons said.

Ben Simmons preps for hostile return in first game in Philly

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Darvin Ham was still a fringe NBA player during the first two seasons of LeBron James' career. While James went on to forge the glittery path that's likely to make him the top scorer in league history this winter, Ham carved out a coaching career that has brought them together with the Los Angeles Lakers just in time for James' 20th season.
The Lakers hope that Ham's fresh leadership will produce big results for the 17-time NBA champions, because that's the most substantial change this franchise has made despite its dismal finish to last season.
&ldquo;This year, we&rsquo;ve turned the page,&rdquo; said Ham, the longtime Milwaukee assistant who took over for Frank Vogel. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking out through the windshield. Not so much through the rearview mirror.&rdquo;
None of the Lakers want to see what's behind them, and with good reason: LA went 33-49 last season and missed the playoffs despite being a hot preseason pick for title contention after adding Russell Westbrook to team up with James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers were unable to move Westbrook and his $47.1 million contract in the summer, so they're returning with the Big Three surrounded by a mostly new supporting cast that's much younger and more athletic than last year's group of 30-something veterans.
But the biggest addition is the 49-year-old Ham, who paid plenty of dues on the way to his first head coaching job. His big messages to the Lakers are oriented around hard work, a team-first mentality for every player and an overall commitment to defense that waned last year after LA was an elite defensive team in its last championship season.
&ldquo;Every single day continues to get better and better,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;The transparency that we have, from the day he was granted the head coaching job here, it&rsquo;s been great. We&rsquo;ve had multiple conversations. I think it was well overdue for him to be a head coach, and (I&rsquo;m) overjoyed to be part of his journey.&rdquo;
FIXING RUSS
After Vogel and Westbrook clashed, Ham landed one of the most glamorous coaching jobs in sports by setting out a plan to get the most out of the 2017 NBA MVP. Ham and Westbrook have stayed close since the coach's arrival, and both say the high-scoring guard is eager to play whatever role is required to rescue his career and his Lakers tenure.
&ldquo;Just being able to communicate and connect, to me, is already a positive,&rdquo; Westbrook said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about many different things which don&rsquo;t always pertain to basketball. It creates a relationship.&rdquo;
Lakers fans are skeptical after Westbrook's much-derided play in 2021-22, but Ham is confident.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s ours,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;We love him, and we want him to do well.&rdquo;
INJURED A.D.
Davis' injuries are the single biggest reason Los Angeles has struggled for the past two seasons. The eight-time All-Star has played in only 81 of the Lakers' 160 games since they raised the trophy, and he managed to play together with James and Westbrook only 21 times last season.
Davis doesn't apologize for injuries, and he says he's doing everything possible to stay healthy this year. He scoffs at fans who &ldquo;want me to be this Greek god. I&rsquo;m not going to put that pressure on myself. I&rsquo;m going to go out there and compete at the highest level and do my best to help this team win.&rdquo;
LEBRON OVER KAREEM
If James stays healthy and typically productive, he will surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring record by early February. Although James and Abdul-Jabbar have a frosty relationship, James said the chance to be mentioned with the great Lakers center will be &ldquo;just super-duper dope. When it gets here, I&rsquo;m not going to put too much pressure on it throughout the season, but it&rsquo;s going to be a historical moment, as long as my friends and family are there.&rdquo;
SUPPORTING CAST
The Lakers are likely to have at least eight newcomers on their roster, headlined by two dynamic veteran point guards: Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schr&ouml;der, who is back in Hollywood after a year away. Big men Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant also returned to the Lakers after stints elsewhere, while Troy Brown Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson and Lonnie Walker IV will get a chance to become the dynamic wing scorers that James' Lakers have usually lacked. While the roster isn't objectively better than last year's group, GM Rob Pelinka believes it's more athletic and hopefully more durable.
STARTING FIVE?
Jones began the preseason as the Lakers' starting center alongside the Big Three and Kendrick Nunn, the point guard who missed the entirety of last season with a bone bruise. Davis' annual reluctance to play center could mean more playing time for Jones and Bryant, but Ham also might be successful in persuading Davis that the Lakers are at their best when Davis is dominating slower defenders as the tallest LA player on the floor.

The Lakers hope that Darvin Ham's fresh leadership will produce big results for the 17-time NBA champions.

LeBron, Lakers counting on revival from new coach Darvin Ham

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Plenty of people have called for NCAA Tournament expansion. Count ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips among them.
Phillips said Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s time to look at&rdquo; expanding the field beyond the 68 teams currently invited to the Big Dance each March.
Phillips believes the NCAA&rsquo;s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools. That&rsquo;s part of why he&rsquo;s hopeful of eventual expansion, not just for the men&rsquo;s event but for all NCAA championships.
Increasing the field also brings rewards for those &ldquo;schools that are spending a tremendous amount of resources in sports and not having a chance to access those championships,&rdquo; he said.
Currently, just 68 of 358 men&rsquo;s basketball programs qualify for the men&rsquo;s NCAAs &mdash; 32 conference champions and 36 at-large teams picked by the selection committee. Phillips said the logistics of staging a bigger tournament need to be worked out.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has advocated for more teams in the field the past 30 years. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been knocked down every year I&rsquo;ve brought it up,&rdquo; said the 77-year-old Boeheim. &ldquo;I stopped bringing it up. Everybody thought I was an idiot.&rdquo;
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey projects adding three more First Four pods &mdash; one for each region &mdash; could work and take the field up to 80.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s throw three more Daytons in, regionalize it up and play it out, let some more kids get in there,&rdquo; Brey said.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton wants to double the field &mdash; and double the experience for athletes who work hard all year for their moment in March. &ldquo;Do you realize how it would be an opportunity for all these youngsters to participate in the NCAA Tournament?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the greatest games in history.&rdquo;
BACOT BACK
North Carolina&rsquo;s Armando Bacot could&rsquo;ve easily jumped to the NBA, especially after leading the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship game last season. Instead, the 6-foot-11 senior wanted another run to finish the job.
Bacot, a likely pick for ACC preseason player of the year, was among four Tar Heels who held off going pro in the wake of their 72-69 title-game loss to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament in April. North Carolina was up 40-25 at halftime before the Jayhawks&rsquo; rallied.
For Bacot, it was a difficult outcome that fueled his decision to return. He doesn&rsquo;t spend much time thinking about the NBA, concentrating on improving his game and helping the Tar Heels win.
&ldquo;Going through last year with our ups and downs,&rdquo; Bacot said. &ldquo;Our ups were really high and a lot of fun. Just being able to experience that for a full year was a no-brainer.&rdquo;
PERFECT YOUNG
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young led his Hokies to a surprise ACC Tournament title last March, defeating second-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, third-seeded North Carolina in the semis and top-seeded Duke, 82-67, for the school&rsquo;s first-ever tournament crown.
That improved Young&rsquo;s record to 6-0 in tournament finals. Young, beginning his fourth season at Virginia Tech, won all five Southern Conference championship games he reached during 16 seasons leading Wofford.
The secret? Don&rsquo;t change anything. &ldquo;We all know what&rsquo;s at stake,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go have a good time, lay our ears back and let it rip.&rdquo;
DUKE INJURY
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said prize freshman Dariq Whitehead is progressing well about six weeks into recovery from a foot injury.
Whitehead is a 6-foot-7 forward from Newark, New Jersey, who was rated the country&rsquo;s No. 2 prospect by ESPN this past recruiting season.
Whitehead is entering the next phase of his recovery where he&rsquo;s able to get out on the court more, Scheyer said. The first-year coach can&rsquo;t yet say when Whitehead will be ready to play, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s progressing in a great way and he&rsquo;s working hard, and I know he&rsquo;s anxious to be out here with these guys practicing every day.&rdquo;
PASTNER TIME
Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner is excited about &mdash; well, everything.
He thinks the ACC is deep and great. His players are smart and hardworking. And his school is a leader in the space industry.
&ldquo;They found water on Mars from Georgia Tech,&rdquo; said Pastner, bragging on 14 Tech grads who&rsquo;ve been to space. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s amazing about this school. It&rsquo;s incredible.&rdquo;
Pastner gushed that he thinks North Carolina should be ranked No. 1 nationally to start the season. He also would pick Virginia as the league&rsquo;s best team. &ldquo;I know it sounds crazy when I say this,&rdquo; said Pastner, opening his seventh year with the Yellow Jackets.&nbsp;

Phillips believes the NCAA’s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools.

ACC Commisioner Phillips: Time to expand NCAA’s Big Dance

The Las Vegas Aces have the most prolific starting lineup in the WNBA.
No unit has played more than the 537 minutes they've logged together. Among high-volume lineups &mdash; <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/lineups/advanced/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;sort=NET_RATING&amp;dir=1&amp;CF=MIN*GE*150" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let's say 150 minutes</a> &mdash; their plus-13.9 Net Rating ranks second in the league. The Seattle Storm's original starting group &mdash; Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Gabby Williams, Breanna Stewart and Ezi Magbegor &mdash; slightly edges them out (plus-14.4 NET in 324 minutes).
It's easy to see why the Aces lean on this group. A'ja Wilson is playing MVP ball, and should be the front-runner for the award in my opinion. Kelsey Plum will likely make the All-WNBA First Team. Jackie Young will be in consideration for a spot on the First or Second Team. We recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-las-vegas-aces-dont-forget-about-chelsea-gray-commissioners-cup-kelsey-plum-aja-wilson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sang the praises of Chelsea Gray</a> in this space, a former All-Star in her own right.&nbsp;
Dearica Hamby is a gap-filler to the highest order.
She was an All-Star this season because of her ability to do whatever was asked of her. Defensively, she's been tasked with guarding up or down the spectrum: taking on power forwards (her natural matchup), banging with centers when asked to do so (read: take some pressure off of Wilson) and defending wings when the Aces go to their three-big lineups. And that's before getting into the multiple schemes the Aces employ on that end.
Offensively, Hamby has mostly taken what's been left over. She's a willing screener, a plus-passer in high-post actions, a heady cutter and someone who has a nose for offensive boards. There is room for aggression; her ability to grab-and-go after misses make the Aces even more difficult to deal with in transition. They don't call her "Big Guard" for nothin' folks.
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Hamby's versatility has long helped the Aces dial up the pressure on both ends. The Hamby-Wilson frontcourt has been blitzing the league for years; <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661319&amp;Season=2019,2020,2021&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628932,204324" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from 2019 to 2021</a>, the Aces outscored opponents by nearly 13 points per 100 possessions in the 1,227 minutes the two shared the court together. It should come as no surprise that the pairing has been fruitful (plus-15.9 in 771 minutes) with Hamby's insertion into the starting lineup.
Hamby is a good, multifaceted and important player for the Aces. In regards to the Aces' title hopes, I'd argue that Hamby has a case for being their most important player.
She is the X-factor at best, and a primary question mark, at worst, among the starting unit.
Hamby's value defensively is derived from her ability to do just about anything in a pinch; I would not say there is an elite&nbsp;skill present &mdash; and that's okay. That does leave the door open from subs, namely Kiah Stokes' name being called upon when the Aces want a little more beef against opposing centers.
The real question mark comes offensively. While she can be used as a passing or handoff hub, she is the worst of great options for the Aces. Pick-and-rolls with Plum or Gray at the helm are more fruitful; Young has grown as a creator out of ball screens; clearing the floor for Wilson is the bailout option of all bailout options in The W.
With that dichotomy present, Hamby has seen her on-ball usage drop. In a literal sense, Hamby's usage rate (16.5%) and assist rate (5.8%) are <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/player/204324/advanced/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">career-lows for her</a>. Roughly 20% of her offensive possessions have come via pick-and-roll screening (13.9), post-ups (4.1) or handoffs (2.0) per InStat tracking data; post-ups alone accounted for over 18% of her possessions last season.
And with Hamby not having the ball in her hands as a post or handoff hub, the spotlight has been put on her off-ball chops. Or, more accurately, there's been little spotlight put on her by opposing defenses.
Tuesday night's contest between the Aces and Washington Mystics featured plenty of possessions where Hamby was the help-off point. When spaced in the short or weak-side corner, the Mystics were okay with rotating off of her to blow things up elsewhere.
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It's generally a safe gambit for defenses because Hamby doesn't have a reliable three-point shot. She's bumped up her volume to career-high levels (2.2 attempts), but that number isn't high enough to force closeouts, nor is her perimeter percentage (23.9%) close to high enough to scare defenses right now.&nbsp;
The Aces are a machine when they're able to play with flow, force help defenders to commit and attack scrambling defenses. That becomes muted if teams are ignoring Hamby on the perimeter, mucking things up at best or turning half-court offense into a 4-on-5 affair at worst.
The "duh" solution is to hope Hamby regains form with her shot. It's gone right now; she made four triples in July (4-of-26), and has not made one since July 17.
Though Hamby's never been a high volume shooter, she's only a couple of seasons removed from a 47.4% clip on similar volume. Once the playoffs hit, you don't have to be a sniper; you just have to hit enough to survive a game or two.
Fundamentally, the answer may be in channeling her screening and hand-off abilities as counters to disrespectful defenses. Similar to Draymond Green's snappiness when he's ignored off ball, Hamby can hurt defenses with timely flare or pin-in screens, or flow into quick-hitting exhanges with guards. Her on-ball screening has been much more effective than her off-ball picks; it'll take real commitment, but there have been enough flashes to signify that it's possible.
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Without a solution, the trend of Hamby finishing games from the sideline will continue. The Aces have closed with Stokes and Iliana Rupert in Hamby's spot in different spots this season. There's value to each of those options &mdash; Stokes is better equipped to deal with true centers, and Rupert is a more willing and effective three-point shooter &mdash; but neither of them bring the connective tissue that Hamby does on both ends of the floor.
The best version of this Aces team &mdash; the team that has enough talent to win it all this season &mdash; is with Hamby on the floor.
Or at least it should be.

Nekias Duncan examines the importance of Aces forward Dearica Hamby to Las Vegas' title hopes.

The Las Vegas Aces won't reach full potential without Dearica Hamby

It&rsquo;s only a matter of time until the East Asia Super League is a household name globally.
The EASL launched in 2017 as an invitational tournament for the top-two teams from the best men&rsquo;s leagues in China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The East Asia Super League marked the first time that the premier teams from China&rsquo;s CBA, Japan's B.League, South Korea's KBL and the Philippines' PBA faced off against each other. These tournaments became massively popular in Asia, most recently drawing 117 million viewers over a six-day span in 2019.
Past EASL events featured notable players such as Lance Stephenson (Liaoning Flying Leopards), Shabazz Muhammad (Shenzhen Leopards), KJ McDaniels (TNT KaTropa), Jared Sullinger (Shenzhen Aviators), Jameel Warney (Seoul SK Knights) and Domantas Motiejunas (Shandong Golden Stars).
Now, for the first time, the EASL is becoming an actual league with a home-and-away season that tips off in October. Eight teams will compete over the course of six months, culminating in a Final Four tournament with a $1 million prize for the winning team. It&rsquo;s essentially the Asian-basketball version of soccer&rsquo;s UEFA Champions League.&nbsp;
With a valuation of $100 million, a 10-year exclusive deal with FIBA and high-profile investors such as Jalen Green, Baron Davis, Metta Sandiford-Artest and Shane Battier, there&rsquo;s no question that the East Asia Super League is gaining momentum.
&ldquo;I think the league is really going to be the first Asia-originated sports property that&rsquo;s going to be capturing the hearts and minds of fans globally,&rdquo; EASL Commissioner Matt Beyer told BasketballNews.com.
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In order to do that, the EASL is getting creative and taking cues from some unlikely influences. One might expect an up-and-coming basketball league to follow the same blueprint as the NBA or EuroLeague. Instead, Beyer is channeling Formula One and K-Pop as he looks to grow the East Asia Super League.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking a lot of lessons from the K-Pop industry and, with our content, from Formula One and what they&rsquo;ve done with their &lsquo;Drive to Survive&rsquo; reality series,&rdquo; Beyer explained. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to make the league relevant to as wide of a fan base around the world as possible.&rdquo;
After years of struggling to increase viewership and find mainstream success (particularly in the United States), Formula One racing finally took off in recent years. F1 races saw their average viewership jump from 547,722 in 2018 to 928,000 in 2021. What was the key to their success? A reality show on Netflix called &ldquo;Drive to Survive.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The show gives an inside look at the Formula One World Championship, focusing primarily on big personalities and behind-the-scenes drama. Fans became invested in these characters, which gave them a rooting interest and a reason to watch the races. It has been an absolute game-changer for Formula One, and other sports leagues have taken notice.
Soon, the EASL will launch a reality show of their own that will spotlight three-to-five players from each team, documenting their lives on and off the court.
&ldquo;We're about to announce a partnership between two really big production companies &ndash; an experienced Asian content production company and a US-basketball-storytelling production company &ndash; to do a 10-episode, 30-minutes-per-episode type reality show that we're working on distributing on one of the major global platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;For our non-core markets, we&rsquo;ve also considered distributing the reality show together with our broadcast rights. There are a lot of things that need to happen between now and when that show hits the market, but basically we want fans globally to be able to access the East Asia Super League through this type of product and use it as an inroad to hook them. Like, &lsquo;Hey, this league is pretty cool. I've never thought about Asian basketball, but these guys that are featured in the show are interesting and I want to keep following this.&rsquo;&rdquo;
As the league looks to market its players as characters and generate support from a global audience, that&rsquo;s where Beyer hopes to learn a thing or two from the K-Pop industry.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just visited Korea right after the country opened up in April,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;As we&rsquo;re doing our media-rights deals in Korea, we&rsquo;re looking at the entertainment groups like CJ E&amp;M and YG and these groups that have manufactured the highest-grossing K-Pop bands globally. How do we take the principles of K-Pop and variety shows and put that into a sports context? The way that I look at it is we have so much to learn in terms of how to create a storyline around a player or make a fan club around a certain group of players or a certain concept. For us, it&rsquo;s really about being sponges. While our team may know a lot about basketball and making highlight reels and all of that, we need to figure out how to leverage those best practices that have been tried and true in the entertainment industry and transfer them into sports.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The reality of the situation is that Asian basketball will benefit from having this platform where the top teams get together and play on a regular basis, and that will help Asian basketball as an aggregate and help their national teams perform better in key global competitions. But at the same time, there&rsquo;s still a huge gap between the level of talent in the NBA and the level of talent in Europe or Asia, so if we want to be a globally relevant league, we&rsquo;ve gotta pick up the slack somewhere and it&rsquo;s not necessarily all on the court.&rdquo;
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Beyer, who previously worked as a player agent and a translator for NBA teams, hopes the EASL can attract all kinds of fans &ndash; whether they&rsquo;re watching because their favorite team is competing or because they really like a certain player after watching the league&rsquo;s reality show and social-media content.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We want fans to understand the personalities in the East Asia Super League,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We want people to be able to access the league and basketball however they feel comfortable. That&rsquo;s sort of our mentality: we&rsquo;re here to serve the fans and we&rsquo;re here to add value to our commercial partners. It may not be in the same way that domestic leagues in our markets operate, and it&rsquo;s certainly not the way that the NBA operates. But we want to make sure that in our ecosystem, there&rsquo;s something for every fan.&rdquo;
The pandemic forced the East Asia Super League to shift its approach. Not only did they abandon the tournament format in favor of a home-and-away season, they started prioritizing content.&nbsp;
&ldquo;For us, it was really an opportunity to change from an events company to thinking and acting more like a media company,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;From 2017 to the end of 2019, everyone was just totally focused on preparing for a big tournament, executing said tournament, wrapping up the tournament and then we&rsquo;d start preparing for the next tournament. During COVID, we started to really focus on producing short-form content and presenting Asian basketball from a lifestyle perspective and doing storytelling around the players in a way that had never been done before in Asia. I think storytelling is really important, and we want to be the best basketball storytellers out there.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Since pivoting, the response from fans has been overwhelming.
&ldquo;From when we did our first short-form video in June 2020 to now, our engagement is up over 1,200%. Our video plays are up over 2,000% and our cumulative social-media following is right now very close to a million followers,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We're growing at about 20,000 followers per week. So, the fans love it and they want more. And we're gonna have so much more to give the fans once our games start on October 12. I just feel like the top is gonna be blown off at that point.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s no question that the EASL is on the rise, and Beyer is already thinking about how the league will expand going forward.
&ldquo;We're going to offer a really awesome product for fans in this first season, and then we're going to grow and expand rapidly,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;By season three, we&rsquo;re going to expand to a 16-team format and it will be four small groups of four teams playing into a Final Four competition. The city that holds the Final Four competition will rotate on an annual basis. We&rsquo;re going to keep upping the prize in subsequent seasons too. It starts at $1 million and we're going to increase it after we operate a few seasons.&rdquo;
The EASL recently made headlines when they added Jalen Green as an investor-ambassador. Green, who is of Filipino descent, became the highest-drafted Asian-American player when the Houston Rockets selected him No. 2 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Bringing in Green, Davis, Artest and Battier is a significant step for the EASL, and the league may add more notable investors soon since they are in the middle of another fundraise.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;To be a globally relevant sports property coming out of Asia means that these alliances with NBA players and other global superstars are really important for us,&rdquo; Beyer explained. &ldquo;I've known Metta for over 10 years from his trips to China when he was still an NBA player and when he went over to play in China [in 2014]. We've always kept in touch and I've always thought Metta is a good guy. He loves Asia so much, and he's benefited so much from China in his career, so he really wanted to be a part of this. With Baron, he was the first NBA player to sign with Li-Ning, and he&rsquo;s a guy who's always tried to sort of do things his own way and be a little bit different. He&rsquo;s also someone who has a startup ecosystem that he's really fostering with his own Baron Davis Enterprises. And then with Shane Battier, he played alongside both Metta and Yao Ming for such a long part of his career and did so many tours to Asia with Peak.&nbsp;
"They had all heard about the East Asia Super League, so it was more so just trying to explain the vision. I think they all understand the potential of the markets. And they also feel that the leagues need innovation to really take it to the next level. We&rsquo;re all thinking: how can Asian basketball become as relevant in society as the NBA is in the US?&rdquo;
Beyer is setting lofty goals for the East Asia Super League, believing that it can become one of the biggest basketball leagues in the world.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We want to be the premier basketball league in Asia,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We want to be a pioneer in terms of true sports entertainment for the Asian fan. But we also want to be a top-three league in the world in terms of fan-base size and commercial revenue by 2025.&rdquo;
Part of Beyer&rsquo;s confidence is because of his belief in Asia overall.
&ldquo;I mean, the 21st century is really Asia&rsquo;s century,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The growth is all in Asia and the opportunity is really in Asia; that&rsquo;s just where the money is going to be going forward, especially if you contrast that with the direction that the European market for basketball is going at the moment. Asia is on the rise; everyone knows it for pretty much every other part of the global economy, and for the sports economy, it's coming&hellip; If you're bullish on Asian markets taking more of an emphasis on experiential economy and health and wellness and that entertainment generally is growing in the region, then you should bet on the East Asia Super League.&rdquo;
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Basketball is insanely popular in Asia, which also makes the EASL a safe bet to succeed. Beyer has been blown away by the passion and support he&rsquo;s seen throughout Asia, particularly in the Philippines.
&ldquo;Just about everyone &ndash; men and women &ndash; between 6 and 60 years old in the Philippines loves basketball,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;The population is a little over 100 million. I saw a statistic that, on average, 52 million people across the country watch a live basketball game on broadcast every single week. I mean, that's half of the country! It's impressive. If you look at most NBA teams&rsquo; Facebook, I would say they have more fans from the Philippines on there than from the US. That&rsquo;s the reality of the situation. And if you look across the region, the media-rights values for basketball are growing.&rdquo;
The NBA&rsquo;s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts have more than 24 million combined followers from the Philippines &mdash; the most of any country outside of the United States. And based on average viewership and reach, the Philippines draw the second-largest average audience for NBA games behind only the US.
&ldquo;The fan support we have in the Philippines, I think, is among the most amazing things I&rsquo;ve witnessed from the data side for the demographics of the NBA,&rdquo; said Kevin Esteves, the NBA&rsquo;s associate vice president of digital strategy and analytics. &ldquo;For that country to represent such a significant portion of the consumption we have on a person-to-person basis, they just love the NBA; they love the stories and the players. Our content performs exceptionally well there. We see support from countries all over the world &mdash; in Europe, Australia, Africa and so on &mdash; but the Philippines really stood out to me. I think that ties back to a lot of the globalization that the NBA has done, with some of its global games being held in Manila. That&rsquo;s been critical and we&rsquo;ve seen that show up in the numbers."
"The NBA is the most popular sports league in the Philippines, with 98% awareness among the general population," <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mortenjensen/2022/03/06/nba-seeing-uptick-in-international-league-pass-consumption/?sh=5fa733e51d51" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a> Matt Brabants, the NBA's senior vice president and head of international content partnerships.
However, these fans also love the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has posted incredible ratings in recent years. The PBA Governors Cup between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco recently drew 3.6 million viewers (or 17% of the total population watching TV).
Dating back to the EASL's tournaments, there's been no shortage of viewers or interest.
&ldquo;Our first tournament had 21 million viewers, and our most recent one in September 2019 had 117 million viewers over the course of a week,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;The support is really special. I think when you have any kind of start-up business, you have to see how the market reacts to it. We did a lot of due diligence prior to starting this to understand that this would be a concept that people would like and that fans would get behind, but you never really know how everything is going to go until the rubber hits the road.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a soccer version of this with the AFC Champions League in Asia since 1996, but there&rsquo;s never been anything in basketball that brought everyone together like this. In 2016 when we started to go out and do fact-finding on this, that was [the big question]: &lsquo;Why hasn&rsquo;t this happened already?&rsquo; And then we realized that these leagues don&rsquo;t really have much interaction and there had been no dialogue. Really, just being there to facilitate the dialogue and bring people to the table in and of itself was sort of a revolutionary thing at that point.&rdquo;
After getting all of the decision-makers on the same page, Beyer spent the last five years building trust with the leagues, teams and FIBA.
&ldquo;We had to build trust, so putting together the tournaments between 2017 and 2019 was the way to do that, and it was also a marketing tool to the stakeholders that we can make this happen,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We have revenue-sharing deals for commercial revenue with the leagues. We have appearance fees and prize money for regular-season wins. We have this big $1 million prize at the end of the season. We handle all of the travel costs for the teams. We really derisk this for every single party involved so that participating in the East Asia Super League isn&rsquo;t something where we&rsquo;re twisting anyone&rsquo;s arm. It should be something fun for the teams and it should be an honor for the teams.
"It's really about proving yourself against your regional competition. This is exciting, it&rsquo;s different. If you're always playing against the same competition in your backyard, it becomes a bit of a vacuum, an echo chamber. Being able to go out and see a diverse group of opponents is something special, and it just hasn't happened in this environment. It has never been done before."
The East Asia Super League is demanding your attention. Soon, with an assist from Formula One and K-Pop, it very well could be the next big thing in basketball.
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With a valuation of $100 million, a 10-year exclusive deal with FIBA and high-profile investors, the EASL is gaining momentum.

East Asia Super League: Inside a basketball startup with a unique vision

It&rsquo;s the most wonderful time of the year. We've reached the end of another NBA regular season, and the playoffs are just around the corner. Good teams are prepping for their matchups, bad teams are looking forward to next season, and media types are debating awards.&nbsp;
From Most Valuable Player to Defensive Player of the Year to Sixth Man of the Year, end-of-the-season awards are meant to honor players, coaches and executives for a remarkable season. And yet, despite a failed season, one man keeps finding his way onto people&rsquo;s All-NBA ballots: LeBron James.&nbsp;
Now, let me preface this by saying: I do believe there&rsquo;s a case to be made for LeBron earning All-NBA honors. I just also believe that for the first time in a long time, there&rsquo;s also a case to be made that he should be left off of the ballot.&nbsp;
All-NBA slots are awarded to the top 15 players of a given season, divided by positions: six guards, six forwards and three centers. James is certainly one of the six best forwards in the league, but I&rsquo;d argue that he isn&rsquo;t having a top-six season and that's a demarcation that should nudge James off of anyone&rsquo;s ballot.&nbsp;
As the old NBA saying goes, "If you believe someone should make a roster, you must name who they would replace." So, if I don&rsquo;t believe LeBron is All-NBA worthy, I should name the forwards who ought to make it ahead of him.
In my opinion, those slots should be reserved for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam, Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler. All six forwards listed are on winning teams.&nbsp;
LeBron's case for All-NBA appears to be twofold &mdash; one is his statistical dominance, and the other is his legacy.
This season, many point to his scoring proficiency to bolster his All-NBA case. James is the second-leading scorer in the league, averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 boards and 6.2 assists on 61.9 TS%.&nbsp;
These are gaudy numbers that are certainly hard to ignore. But let&rsquo;s take a closer look.
LeBron leads all forwards in points per game and assists per game. However, because he only played 56 games this season, Tatum, Antetokounmpo and DeRozan all scored more total points than James.&nbsp;
Still, LeBron would finish with 144 more total points than Siakam. But if we dig a little deeper into these numbers, we&rsquo;ll see that James also leads forwards in total points scored while their team is trailing big, per NBA.com. LeBron scored 189 points this season when his team was down by more than 16 points. By comparison, only 35 of Siakam&rsquo;s points came when his Raptors were trailing big.
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It&rsquo;s easy to poo-poo LeBron&rsquo;s scoring as having happened in low-leverage moments. In fact, James has been criticized quite a bit this season for chasing statistical milestones when his team had no hope of winning. His defenders would argue the Lakers needed every point, rebound and assist to have a chance in the game, and detractors would point to the times he&rsquo;s hunted for baskets even after the game was out of reach.&nbsp;
This isn't to say LeBron is scoring maliciously and padding his stats. The question I ask is: if much of his case is bolstered by his scoring prowess, should we not question how much of his scoring was done in low-leverage moments or why it didn't translate to wins?&nbsp;
Despite being in contention for the scoring title, LeBron would not have qualified because he didn&rsquo;t meet the requisite number of games. A player must play in 58 games to qualify, and LeBron only suited it up for 56.&nbsp;
Though there aren&rsquo;t similar benchmark requirements for an All-NBA selection, this is also something that voters should take into account. The best ability is availability, and LeBron would have played the second-fewest games of all potential All-NBA forwards, only ahead of Kevin Durant (who will finish one game shy of LeBron).
I can already hear you asking: does that mean Durant should also be written off All-NBA ballots? I don&rsquo;t think so, and that&rsquo;s because of one key factor: wins.&nbsp;The Nets are 44-38 and in the Play-In Tournament as the East's seventh seed. The Lakers are 32-50 and are the 11th seed.&nbsp;
Though it&rsquo;s easy to point to the Lakers&rsquo; roster flaws for their bad record, a similar argument could be levied at the Nets. Without LeBron, the Lakers are 7-19. Without Durant, the Nets are 8-19 &mdash; similarly bad records on par with the worst teams in the league.&nbsp;
But, with Durant, the Nets are 36-19 in contrast to LeBron&rsquo;s record of 25-31, so it&rsquo;s easy to see how a case can be made that Durant&rsquo;s presence elevated one of the worst teams in basketball to contention. And this season, LeBron simply has not.&nbsp;
In fact, LeBron has a negative net rating (-2.5) for the first time since his rookie season. For the first time in nearly two decades, James&rsquo; team is not winning the minutes he&rsquo;s on the court.&nbsp;And though that isn&rsquo;t entirely his fault, it&rsquo;s hard to mount an argument that you&rsquo;ve had one of the six-best seasons at your position when your team loses with you on the court.&nbsp;
LeBron has celebrated more birthdays than he has celebrated wins this season. I&rsquo;m not sure if that&rsquo;s more a testament to his greatness and longevity or an indictment on the Lakers' poor season.
However you choose to see it, remember that only one of those numbers matter when honoring a player for end-of-the-year awards, and that&rsquo;s wins.
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Many seem to marvel at his superhuman ability to play at this level in year 19 and at 37 years old, and rightfully so. It&rsquo;s incredible, a true testament to his greatness, and it will surely matter in the greatest of all-time debate.
But it doesn&rsquo;t hold up in this debate. All-NBA doesn&rsquo;t grade players on an age curve; you&rsquo;re not rewarded more for your ability to excel in spite of something believed to be holding you back.&nbsp;
It is more than just wins and losses, it&rsquo;s about meaningful basketball. The Lakers haven&rsquo;t played a meaningful basketball game in weeks, and you could argue that they haven&rsquo;t won one in months. LeBron has only led them to four wins since the All-Star break. In that span, they have a worse record than the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have been actively tanking.&nbsp;
For years, guys have been derided for putting up showy stats on poor-performing teams. We&rsquo;ve used terms like &ldquo;empty calories&rdquo; to describe racking up counting stats in relatively meaningless games. In 2019-20, Bradley Beal missed out on All-NBA honors while also being the NBA's second-leading scorer (averaging a similar 30.5 points per game) on the ninth-seeded Wizards.&nbsp;
While it&rsquo;s easy to dismiss the Beal comparison and point to LeBron&rsquo;s better efficiency and rebounding rate, the point remains that players with showy numbers on poor-performing teams have a history of being ignored come award season, and for good reason. &nbsp; &nbsp; Why should LeBron&rsquo;s season be any different? I get it. He&rsquo;s LeBron James and he has a history of impacting winning. This will mark the first time in over a decade that he will miss back-to-back Finals. No one has won more or impacted winning more over the last two decades. But this isn&rsquo;t a legacy award; this isn&rsquo;t about who we know LeBron James to be. This is about the 2021-22 season and though it feels sacrilegious to type, LeBron is a high-usage guy on a bad team, racking up numbers as quickly as he racks up losses.&nbsp;
Like many high-usage players on bad teams before him, LeBron has also been absolutely horrid on the defensive end. He has a 113.5 defensive rating and though that&rsquo;s not a number that can capture the entire story, tune in to any Lakers game and you can catch multiple instances of LeBron simply not getting back on defense. His defensive rating is the lowest of the bunch &mdash; a far cry from the defense he was playing en route to the Lakers' last championship.&nbsp;
James' individual numbers are remarkable. This season, he catapulted Karl Malone for second all-time on the NBA's all-time scoring list and Oscar Robertson for seventh on the all-time assists list. LeBron&nbsp;has been exceptional this season, but unlike in previous seasons, it hasn&rsquo;t translated to wins.&nbsp;
And if you&rsquo;re not winning, and others are, why should you be rewarded over them? After all, the point is to win games. He isn&rsquo;t impacting winning, he has ignored the defensive end and he is scoring a ton in low-leverage moments for a team that couldn&rsquo;t even crack a top-10 seed. It seems harsh, but I believe the All-NBA teams should represent the players who mattered most that season. Despite his best efforts, James and the Lakers did not matter in 2021-22.
Yes, James has been a staple on All-NBA ballots since his sophomore season. But as Laker fans have come to learn this season, staples change, word to Crypto.
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Does LeBron James deserve a spot on one of the All-NBA teams this season? Imman Adan shares her thoughts.

A closer look at LeBron James' All-NBA case

He can&rsquo;t be a lead guard.
He&rsquo;s not a point guard.
He can&rsquo;t get to the rim.
You&rsquo;ve probably seen these kinds of phrases thrown around as long as you&rsquo;ve watched the NBA, and for good reason. Lead guard/primary ball-handler play is pretty essential to good offense.
Driving the ball, getting to the rim, collapsing the defense and forcing a defensive rotation/help at the rim with a well-timed pass to the vacated spot where the help came from (or an even more ambitious pass to where help is coming from next) are staples of modern offense in the league.
Ja Morant, Luka Doncic and Trae Young are three of the idyllic rim-pressure threats in their own variations.
Morant is the absurd downhill athlete with incredible at-rim pop. Defenses sell out to stop him from even nearing the paint. Doncic (No. 2 in the league in drives per game) breaks down his man with strength, rhythm and angles
Young is a pull-up artist with a type of guile in his movements that forces overplays on the exterior, and he uses it to his benefit, gliding to the paint and utilizing one of the best floaters in the league (also disguised as a lob!) to punish the defense. Young takes the least shots at the rim of the three, but getting there is not an issue in the slightest, and he's worked his game to use his touch and shiftiness to his advantage.
All three are varying levels of passers ranging from very good to preternatural, but the point remains that their differing gifts, along with their honed craft, are the perfect catalysts for destructing defenses.
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What about the guards/ball-handlers who are imperfect though? I'm not sure I've been more interested in such a thought than I have been this season.
Darius Garland, a player whom many draft analysts wondered if he could get to the rim enough, just makes it work. Prolific pull-up shooting, a phenomenal handle and stellar court vision allow him to work around his own at-rim struggles. He gets to the rim and to the paint with regularity, but due to his lack of verticality, finishing there isn't his forte. Drop-offs, dump-offs and well-placed and disguised lobs in tandem with his floater (in the same vein of Young) formulate the ability to set up his fantastic array of lob partners.
That timing aspect &mdash; VERY IMPORTANT.
Part of what makes this work for Garland is how sneaky he is with his interior game. Everything he does is lightning quick, often even taking his bigs by surprise (I swear at least one-third of his turnovers are bobbled passes that shock the recipient). Quickness, pace and timeliness.&nbsp;
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Oh my word, Darius Garland <a href="https://t.co/fYhSjPzfUP">pic.twitter.com/fYhSjPzfUP</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1459617261405327369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2021</a></blockquote>

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First off, this pass is freakin sick. Second, this is a great (albeit exaggerated) microcosm of what makes Garland so effective: the defense is always guessing. He's always pushing and probing and again, the defense is on its heels as he keeps the pressure on making it look like he could score. If stifled, he's superb at moving the ball, moving himself with quickness and then making himself available for the ball again as soon as possible. He's like a hornet, constantly stinging with an absurd work rate that's so difficult to keep pace with as a defender.
Immanuel Quickley enters stage left
The aforementioned three questions have been asked over and over again this year in regard to Immanuel Quickley and his ability to lead an offense. They're the same questions that were asked when he was drafted.
By definition, Quickley IS a combo guard. He is not Garland, as he lacks the same handle and playmaking ability that made the Cavs' maestro a first time All-Star, but through that same lens, there are some comparisons that can be drawn.
Since the All-Star Break (20 games, Knicks 10-10), Quickley is averaging 15.2 points and 4.2 assists with 1.2 turnovers per game on 61.1% True Shooting in slightly over 26 minutes of play per night. He's bombed away from three, taking 5.1 treys per game hitting at a 39.2% clip; most importantly, it's how he's getting these shots off.
Three-and-a-half of these long-distance tries per game are pull-up threes (shooting 41.4%), forcing defenses to prioritize his jumper and consistently forcing his defender to go over on ball-screens he runs.
One of my favorite and the most encouraging things: He is becoming quite cunning at grifting for fouls (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/in-defense-of-fouldrawing-a-gift-not-a-grift" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a gift</a>), averaging 4.8 trips to the line per game after the break. He's eighth in percentage of points derived from free throws in that time frame, actually ahead of RJ Barrett, who has been putting work in at the line.
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He's so good at snaking, using his body to wall off his man and baiting him into contact. He has a real knack for selling fouls while also deserving them if that makes sense, even if it is grifty! This is an awesome development and legitimate way to buoy his offensive game.
Quickley is shooting 45.0% from 4 to 14 feet over that span (30% of his total shots), a large portion of his offense. The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-immanuel-quickleys-unusual-shot-diet-can-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">floater is essential for him</a>. Much like we've seen with Bruce Brown in his ebbs and flows, the floater diet is a tough one; if it's not falling, the defense will adjust accordingly. But, if it is at a high clip, it puts the defense in a quandary. It is just a really hard shot to NOT contest even if it typically has less inherent value than a layup in theory.
Quickley is a good passer, not a great one &mdash; an important distinction. Ideally, he's not your best playmaker on the floor. I would honestly love to see him be more aggressive in some of the reads he makes. He'll make really good quick decisions, but he can be rather safe with the ball at times. He doesn't have the typical downhill burst of a primary ball-handler who will fully break a defense, but the quickness and timing of the passes he does make &mdash; due to the gravity he commands as a pull-up threat out of pick-and-roll &mdash; can allow him to imitate some of those looks.
Since the All-Star Break, Quickley is averaging 8.3 potential assists, accounting for all passes that lead to a shot attempt regardless of a make or miss. That puts him in the same ballpark of Jimmy Butler (8.2), DeMar DeRozan (8.6) and Julius Randle (8.5), all players with a significant usage and substantially higher minutes played than Quickley. That's not to say that he's a better scorer or playmaker, but rather to illustrate that he's doing more than the assists might indicate at face value.
This possession is such a great encapsulation of what Quickly brings offensively.
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The young Knicks who move the ball quickly and with purpose are just joyous Really fun possession <a href="https://t.co/tKXGZb4irJ">pic.twitter.com/tKXGZb4irJ</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1511079654471442434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2022</a></blockquote>

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RJ Hampton sells out for the Quickley stepback three. Quickley makes a really quick outlet pass to Obi Toppin in the slot and moves himself immediately.
A quick pause: YES. This is so huge; the relocation and constant movement. A great way to offset the lack of other primary skills is to push the tempo &mdash; always moving, always scanning and always relocating after you're out of an action. If you immediately make yourself available after the ball leaves your hands, you can put some added strain on a defense. Simple, but very effective. (This is something Tyrese Haliburton is great at.)
Yes, the initial dent Quickley puts in the defense might be lesser than that of a true primary, but with a good offensive ethos and the principles laid out, we've seen the ability for some really solid offenses to live on continuous advantage creation and maintenance.
Quickley gets far enough in to draw Devin Cannady over in a help scenario before kicking to Barrett for the corner three. I don't have a "for sure" answer, but it feels like if Quickley is able to get another step into the paint with even more of an at-rim/floater sell, perhaps he puts even more of a dent in the defense. I'm nitpicking, but it's also important to note that this is just a harder way of life as an offensive player. If Cannady is actually a wing-sized player guarding Barrett, it's a shot that's much easier to contest.&nbsp;
With Robinson in the dunker spot, Robin Lopez is rather frozen, and on the IQ fake, he immediately seeks out Robinson's body to prevent the lob or box him out on a shot attempt.
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There are subtleties in pacing Quickly can improve upon (he's already shown great signs of growth) that could make him even more impactful. Pairing him with lob partners like Robinson and Jericho Sims makes his floater and the threat of it that much more impactful, as he starts to work on masking his shot and pass to mimic one another. Sims' screening has been very fun to see work in tandem with Quickley as well; he's easily the best screener on the team that isn't IQ.
Per Cleaning the Glass, the Knicks' offense scores 5.3 points per 100 possessions more with Quickley on the floor. Yes, on/offs are extremely finicky and New York's awful starting unit plays a huge part in this sizable differential. Yet, that's also part of the point, no?
When IQ is on the floor, the Knicks actively seek more opportunities in transition and push more off of live rebounds. Truly, they just move quicker and with more purpose, something that's been a real issue for this Knicks team. The young guys play with pace, actively relocate, make quick decisions and continue to exploit advantages.
Barrett is the power wing that was promised, currently in the midst of his own breakout with high usage. In some ways, tasking IQ and Barrett with overlapping usage and quasi-primary creation together could be (and has been) a boon. RJ is one of the best in the league at getting to the rim (the finishing deserves its own article), and the pair together can mask some of its offensive flaws/inefficiencies. Both can start sets, both can capitalize upon advantages, and both are still feeling out their own abilities as creators.
Per Cleaning the Glass, lineups with Quickley and Barrett that don't feature Randle are outscoring opponents by 4.8 points per 100 possessions (747 possessions total, a solid sample). This is not intended as a refrendum on Randle; it's just a case in point when looking at who is commanding usage on the court.
Quickley doesn't get to the rim with regularity, but he does things that can emulate lead guard play. It's a harder diet to survive on, but so is *checks notes* everything else the Knicks have tried this season. He's shown enough encouraging signs that he can thrive.
It's been time for the Knicks' front office/Tom Thibodeau/whoever the heck is in charge there to prioritize Quickley and his ability to elevate the offense &mdash; and with hope, that's what they'll do this offseason.
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While Immanuel Quickley might not get to the rim like a traditional point guard, he elicits lead ball-handler traits with regularity.

Immanuel Quickley: Pressuring the rim without getting there

Late in the second quarter of a January game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets, Joel Embiid is operating from his comfort zone of the left block. He faces up, drives baseline and transitions into a shot, but doesn&rsquo;t quite find the edge to finish inside.&nbsp;
As he pivots back toward the hoop and away from the baseline, Garrison Mathews is there to offer a soft double-team. A hook shot is still available for Embiid and would be a fine decision. He&rsquo;s taller than both Mathews and his primary defender, Christian Wood. Extending over the top would present a clean release.&nbsp;
But after Charlie Brown Jr. cuts to occupy Kevin Porter Jr., Furkan Kormaz, a career 36 percent three-point shooter, is wide open. So, in one swift motion, Embiid spins, stares down Brown to dissuade Porter from closing out and delivers a no-look pass to set up Korkmaz.&nbsp;
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Korkmaz missing badly is a trivial matter. That&rsquo;s not a pass Embiid likely dishes out a year ago, nor is it one he likely makes at any stage of his career prior to this season. Late arriving help like the type Mathews brings would routinely bury him.&nbsp;
Nowadays, the seven-foot center is playing the best basketball of his career, in part because he&rsquo;s processing the game better than ever. Philadelphia is 22-9 when he&rsquo;s in the lineup. Once a middling 16-16 squad, the 25-17 Sixers have won nine of their last 10 and are just 2.5 games back of the top seed in the East.&nbsp;
Embiid isn&rsquo;t the front-runner for MVP, and he might not even finish top-three if voting was finalized today. He is, however, among the six-man race of superstars vying for the award, and perhaps nobody has been playing better basketball than him since early December.
Over his last 18 games, the big fella is averaging 30.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists (2.9 turnovers), 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game on a 64.4% True Shooting Percentage. For the year, he&rsquo;s averaging 27.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists (2.9 turnovers), 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals on 60.1% TS.
After finishing second in MVP voting last season and registering 28-10.5-3-1.5-1 on 63% TS across 11 playoff games, Embiid has returned as an improved player to reach unexplored heights.&nbsp;
The most discernible growth is his composure, control and discretion offensively, which often manifest in his playmaking. His 24.3% assist rate is a career-high, while his 11.5% turnover rate is a career-low, according to Cleaning The Glass. Those numbers aren&rsquo;t always a worthwhile proxy for passing ability, but they&rsquo;re illuminating and relevant with Embiid.&nbsp;
For years, he&rsquo;s been capable of whirling skip passes from the post to corner shooters. He incorporated them on a consistent basis last season, yet was still prone to succumbing against double-teams and struggled to find teammates on the interior. This year, the skip pass remains valuable and he&rsquo;s diversifying the reads in his arsenal.&nbsp;
Embiid has developed nifty synergy with Matisse Thybulle roaming the dunker spot. He keeps his dribble alive against double-teams and avoids them altogether more regularly. In years past, help would come and he&rsquo;d be neutralized, unsure of how to proceed and prone to shying away from the defense, desperate for some sort of counter.&nbsp;
Even if he&rsquo;s not entirely infallible, those moments of complete ineptitude are a relic. He&rsquo;s built upon last season&rsquo;s improvements to become an exceptionally high-level passing center who organizes the offense and picks apart defenses with skill, flair and feel.&nbsp;
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More than ever before, he&rsquo;s simply aware of how much pressure he applies on opponents and how to parlay that into effective offense for everyone. Previously, he had a tendency to make decisions based solely upon his individual defender and the best way to score against them.&nbsp;
Shifting his approach to identify the positioning of everyone on the floor and act based on that perspective has facilitated his maturation. Trouble used to arise when the opposition sped up his decision-making. That rarely transpires anymore. Teams don&rsquo;t really deter Embiid from his first option. If they do, he calmly moves onto a secondary plan, a critical facet in his rise from All-NBA superstar to MVP-caliber superstar.
While a portion of all this was prevalent last season, Embiid also benefited from the best midrange shooting campaign of his career, which masked some of the longstanding issues in his offensive style.
According to Cleaning The Glass, he shot 47% from midrange, six points higher than his previous career-best. This season, he&rsquo;s back down to 41% but is a more complete, impactful offensive player, and has combated that regression with a retooled means of scanning the court. His TS% is 4.4 points above league average, the second-best mark of his career behind last season&rsquo;s 6.4 points above average.&nbsp;
Without Ben Simmons around, Embiid&rsquo;s become the team&rsquo;s de facto transition energizer. After a rebound, he&rsquo;s empowered to ignite grab-and-go sequences or simply flow into the normal offense, whether it&rsquo;s a dribble handoff, high-low action, post-up or off-the-bounce jumper. Some of these occurrences happened in 2020-21, though their frequency has seen a major spike this year.&nbsp;
He boasts dexterous footwork, nimble body control and the requisite handling chops to pilot the break. As it turns out, most defenders have zero interest in being an obstacle between the hoop and a 7-foot, 280-pound point guard barreling downhill.
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Arguably the most vital component of Embiid&rsquo;s 2020-21 transformation was the diversification of his scoring repertoire. He significantly expanded his pull-up game and emerged proficient at commonly initiating offense from spots other than mid-post. That remains true.&nbsp;
According to Synergy, in 2018-19, he set a career-high with 13.4% of his half-court offense being derived from off-the-dribble jumpers, though only generated 0.783 points per possession on those shots. Last season, he eclipsed that career-high at 18.8% and generated 1.013 PPP. This season, he&rsquo;s up to 25.1% frequency and 0.992 PPP.&nbsp;
With savvy footwork that implies a drive is imminent, he&rsquo;s masterful at creating space for jumpers against defenders. His shot fake is incredibly lethal. He&rsquo;s even canned 34.2% of his pull-up triples (13 of 38).&nbsp;
There are vast avenues for Embiid to score. Leading the break. Deep seals inside -- he&rsquo;s shooting a career-high 72% at the rim, per Cleaning The Glass. The classic post touch. Pick-and-pop threes. Attacking from the perimeter as a driver. Free throws (.592 free-throw rate, second-best of his career).
He knows what he wants, which ranges far and wide, and how to pursue it. Flustering him into suboptimal decisions is a landmark achievement. Compared to his early years, and even in general, the dude is just so dang patient. That development has done wonders for him.&nbsp;
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Embiid is not the lone Sixers starter riding a career year. His ball-screen buddy, Seth Curry, has joined him in that regard, averaging 16.3 points on scintillating 63.8% TS.
Most of the credit goes to Curry. He&rsquo;s a wicked good shooter raining fire all over the floor. Some of it, though, should be attributed to Embiid&rsquo;s refined screen-setting. For years, he opted to go through the motions of a pick and avoid physical contact. Far from the most glaring issue with Philadelphia&rsquo;s offense, it still played a role in the struggles.&nbsp;
This season, he&rsquo;s committed to springing free guys like Curry with his screening. Not every possession is perfect, but there&rsquo;s significantly more good than any year prior. He&rsquo;s legitimately stonewalling some players and Curry is reaping the benefits by way of a silky jumper.
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The most remarkable part of everything he brings offensively is how defensive-oriented he was entering the league. He&rsquo;s always been a very good defender, but dating back to 2017-18, has saved a little something for the playoffs. That may still be the case, though he&rsquo;s playing the best regular season defense since his rookie year right now.&nbsp;
Between his own enhancements and seven games of trial by fire against the fearsome Trae Young-Clint Capela-John Collins trio, it felt like Embiid refined his pick-and-roll coverage substantially last season. Bouncy lob threats still expose his lack of vertical explosion at times, but he&rsquo;s learned to exquisitely engage the cat-and-mouse game of guarding ball-handler and roller.
He excels at baiting drivers into tossing lobs before retreating to alter or block shots. His positioning and recognition of proper angles in drop coverage are clinical. Philadelphia has broadened its pick-and-roll defense since assistant coach Dan Burke arrived last season, so Embiid is also asked to play at the level of the screen, trap and hedge at times as well, especially the last of those in recent weeks.&nbsp;
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Not only has Embiid showcased his merits and technique in pick-and-rolls, but he&rsquo;s also been supremely active as a general rim protector. In the Sixers&rsquo; impressive win over the Heat on Saturday, he almost entirely shut down the paint for them and extinguished (ha, get it, heat, fire) their crunch-time offense.
Miami was quite timid to challenge him and Philadelphia&rsquo;s perimeter defenders were empowered to run shooters off the arc, knowing Embiid loomed behind, waiting to reinforce their efforts.
Although most games haven&rsquo;t been that extreme, he executes necessary rotations to influence plays inside the paint. His verticality is masterful and a 280-pound frame means winning the strength battle is a nonstarter for most contestants.&nbsp;
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As a rookie, Embiid produced a gaudy 5.1% block rate, one counteracted by 6.9 fouls per 100 possessions. Over the years, he&rsquo;s become increasingly calculated and that evolution has coalesced in 2021-22.&nbsp;
While he persists as a defensive menace, his block rate sits at a career-low 2.2% and he averages 3.8 fouls per 100 possessions. In fact, he hasn&rsquo;t fouled out of his past 101 games, and hasn&rsquo;t even tallied five fouls over his past 38 outings. All this despite the Sixers&rsquo; perimeter defense being much worse than last season and inconsistent on the whole.
The Sixers have the NBA&rsquo;s sixth-ranked defense since Embiid returned from COVID on Nov. 27. That largely stems from him flying around the floor, quarterbacking everyone with vocal communication and avoiding costly penalties (2.6 fouls a night over that 22-game span).
Philadelphia doesn&rsquo;t solely lean on him defensively. His 36% usage rate is a career high and ranks fourth league-wide, according to Cleaning The Glass. Most of its offensive goodness originates with him.&nbsp;
These aren&rsquo;t new trends during his Sixers tenure; they&rsquo;ve long demanded he captain them on both ends. Yet the rate at which Embiid is succeeding in such a complex, burdensome role feels unprecedented for him.
His scoring is elite. His passing is very good. His defense has been stellar. He&rsquo;s a do-it-all superstar elevating his game to another level and asserting himself into the thick of the MVP discussion for the second consecutive season.&nbsp;

Joel Embiid has made noticeable improvements across the board in a dominant 2021-22 campaign.

Another career year from Joel Embiid has him back in the MVP race

Thus far, the footprint of the Orlando Magic&rsquo;s 2021-22 campaign is buried at the bottom. They tout the league&rsquo;s worst net rating (-11.0) and second-worst record (4-17). Each of their Southeast Division counterparts are above .500 and in the playoff hunt, including a pair of top-three seeds. Along with the Detroit Pistons, they&rsquo;re one of just two Eastern Conference squads more than two games removed from a play-in spot.
Do not confuse short-term struggles as a harbinger for a rebuild spiraling awry, though. Through the season&rsquo;s quarter poll, Orlando is cultivating a crystalized vision of future success.&nbsp;
After a troublesome rookie year, <a href="https://www.one37pm.com/strength/sports/cole-anthony-gravity-orlando-magic-offense?utm_source=link_copy&amp;utm_medium=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cole Anthony is operating with more poise and shot-making prowess</a> to assert himself as a bona fide ball-handler. Despite a thorny beginning, fifth overall pick Jalen Suggs is establishing some footing in recent weeks. New head coach Jahmal Mosley is diagramming creative schemes and deploying the young guys in predominantly optimal settings.&nbsp;
Aside from Anthony&rsquo;s newfound exploits, the crux of all these encouraging developments resides in the Magic&rsquo;s frontcourt of Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba. Together, this trio is showcasing a complementary offensive portfolio to amplify a lead initiator (Anthony or otherwise) and anchor a stingy defense.&nbsp;
Following three years of health setbacks and inconsistent playing time &mdash; mixed in with tantalizing two-way flashes &mdash; Bamba has snagged the starting center gig. His 29.7 minutes per game are nearly double his previous career-high of 16.3 minutes.&nbsp;
Amid those minutes, he&rsquo;s exhibiting heightened defensive activity. His 7-foot-10 wingspan dominated mainstream conversations around him pre-draft, and he&rsquo;s justifying credence in the impact of that physical profile. The dude&rsquo;s length is mind-boggling, and it enables him to influence so many events that most others are simply incapable of.
On attempts within 6 feet of the hoop, opponents are shooting 7.5% worse than their average when Bamba is the primary defender, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6/?sort=PLUSMINUS&amp;dir=-1&amp;CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*bamba:PLAYER_NAME*E*&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per NBA.com</a>. He&rsquo;s also stamping his mark on passes, where his 1.2% steal rate ranks in the 54th percentile among bigs, according to Cleaning The Glass (CTG). With Carter (4 vs. 5) and Wagner (3 vs. 4) probably playing down one position respectively, Bamba serves as a safeguard of the backline when they&rsquo;re stretched too thin on the perimeter &mdash; though, they&rsquo;re each quite adept out there.
All this liveliness with a greater minute load hasn&rsquo;t seen him succumb to foul trouble either. Per 100 possessions, his 4.5 fouls are well below his mark of 6.3 during the first three seasons of his career. He&rsquo;s both a better and more discretionary defender, altering plays without jeopardizing his minutes.
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Bamba has certainly emerged as a loud rim-deterrent and defensive playmaker in Year 4, but he&rsquo;s not free of significant concerns. He&rsquo;s prone to unnecessarily biting on shot fakes, as if he forgets about all his height and sprawling length. His fairly delayed load-up period as a leaper prevents him from contesting certain shots.&nbsp;
Similarly, he&rsquo;s just a slow-moving athlete. While he may identify a rotation, he cannot always execute it in a prompt manner. Even then, his processing of plays lags behind that of foremost defensive centers. Bamba&rsquo;s been rather valuable defensively, especially for a 23-year-old, but these warts feel like he&rsquo;s leaving some meat on the bone during his minutes.&nbsp;
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Although he&rsquo;s only drilling 33.7% of his triples, there&rsquo;s clear confidence in the shot, which broadens his offensive utility and shapes the way defenses view him. Wagner, Carter and Bamba each garner attention as floor-spacers. That opens driving lanes and real estate for guys like Anthony, Suggs and R.J. Hampton to maneuver inside the arc.
Bamba&rsquo;s intersection of size and shooting touch is evident when defenses try to pin smaller defenders on him and manipulate his floor-spacing duties against Orlando&rsquo;s offense. His poor center of gravity and underdeveloped core strength mean he&rsquo;s not a reliable post creator, but he&rsquo;s exhibited composure on switches and a capacity for firing over the top against smaller mismatches.
If the towering tandem of Carter and Bamba is to suffice long-term offensively, Bamba incorporating consistent scoring outside of the long ball feels paramount, especially when the opposition tries to defend him like a shooting guard in a 7-footer&rsquo;s clothes.
The more shooting, the better, of course. But with frontcourt players, much of the value can be derived from the mere threat of a jumper drawing rim protectors outside of the paint. If defenses can&rsquo;t hide smaller players on Bamba or Carter because of possible post exploitation, that will force them to station their center(s) on the perimeter, tailing Orlando&rsquo;s gargantuan gunners. Bamba looks like he might be on the way to actualizing that dynamic.&nbsp;
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Whereas Bamba&rsquo;s belief beyond the arc is ahead of his results at this juncture, those facets are in lockstep for Carter. Entering the season, Carter had made 29 long balls in his career. He eclipsed that total in the 19th game this year. From 2018-19 to 2020-21, his three-point rate was .096. Now, it&rsquo;s ballooned to .392, and he&rsquo;s splashing home 39% of his triples.&nbsp;
Stepping into early-clock threes as a trailer and firing in the face of timely closeouts, he&rsquo;s operating with a level of aggression rarely before seen from him. When his quick trigger and fruitful production spur defenders to overcommit or run him off the line, he&rsquo;s displaying off-the-dribble juice and ball skills that have largely been dormant during his NBA tenure, though assuredly were evident at lower levels.&nbsp;
With some shooters, a hurried contest can exile them from the arc and neutralize them. That&rsquo;s not the case for Carter. He&rsquo;ll bomb away if the closeout isn&rsquo;t (nearly) perfect, or drive off the catch when a lane is present. After years of passivity plagued his offense, he&rsquo;s discovered the requisite conviction to thrive, slapping down a career-high 13.3 points per game on a career-best 60.9% True Shooting percentage (5.8 points above the NBA average, also a career-best). There aren&rsquo;t that many non-stars doing all this as a 6-foot-10 big man:
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Carter has long previewed notable passing chops, but that same passivity would rear its head to mute their equity. He&rsquo;d often catch the ball near the elbow and be fixated on facilitating a dribble hand-off without glancing toward the hoop whatsoever.&nbsp;
Orlando is still utilizing him as a stationary passer, and he&rsquo;s more cognizant of the windows that arise after pressuring the defense instead of moonlighting as a statue for a few seconds. He&rsquo;s also putting the ball on the deck, and has fostered a rapport with Bamba. Teams have to respect his interior scoring touch, and when they do, he strikes via distribution.
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Starting at power forward alongside Bamba necessitates a level of defensive mobility that Carter has met. According to Basketball-Reference, more than 70% of his minutes are coming at the 4 this season. In his previous three years, that number never exceeded 20%.&nbsp;
These days, he&rsquo;s asked to function as a perimeter defender much more regularly. Light on his feet with quick hips, he&rsquo;s doing so swimmingly, and is instilling hope that the Carter-Bamba pairing can succeed permanently &mdash; just as it has through the initial portion of 2021-22.
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Perimeter services have solely been a feature of Carter&rsquo;s defense. Where he&rsquo;s really shining is in pick-and-roll coverage and as a helper. He plays 1-on-2 scenarios with patience and precision, wields jazz hands to close off passing angles on the interior and is a poster boy for verticality when contesting shots at the rim. Brawny finishers can steamroll through him for buckets, yet by and large, he&rsquo;s forming a staunch duo inside with Bamba:
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Most enticing among Orlando&rsquo;s youth-laden frontcourt is the rookie, Wagner, who&rsquo;s averaging 12.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals and a steal on 51.6% True Shooting (.425/.361/.786 splits). As a prospect, he was hindered by a gun-shy nature from deep, which has hardly been the case for him in the pros.
Across 55 contests at Michigan, he averaged 12.5 points and never scored more than 22 points. Since entering the league, he&rsquo;s averaged 12.7 points and even catalogued a 28-point night.
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The Magic have done well to balance his scoring opportunities on and off the ball. They've merged areas he already excels in with avenues he might excel in down the line if he's afforded chances to refine his creation ability.
Because he&rsquo;s willing to let it fly beyond the arc, Wagner attracts pressuring closeouts and attacks them as a driver by leveraging broad strides and silky touch. Routinely sensing when he&rsquo;s become an afterthought for defenders, he&rsquo;s a perceptively brilliant cutter, and his teammates know to feed him on those plays. His off-ball scoring package allows him to drift into the background and puncture advantages generated by others:
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Wagner is laying the ground floor of some serious self-creation upside too. Orlando entrusts him with on-ball reps, and he&rsquo;s handling them capably &mdash; especially for a 20-year-old just five weeks into NBA action. What he lacks in burst and a dynamic handle, he compensates by way of his 6-foot-9 frame to dislodge defenders, along with his stoic driving cadence to plan each decision as it arrives.&nbsp;
Only 62.7% of his buckets have been assisted this season, a remarkably impressive rate for a rookie, let alone one not billed for his creation prior to the draft. A wing-sized rookie &mdash; who&rsquo;s a plus passer, defender and off-ball scorer &mdash; looking this adept in manufacturing his own points bodes quite well for his prime in half-a-decade and beyond.
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Part of Wagner&rsquo;s initiating potential is linked to his savvy facilitating. Applying his size to tilt defenses or complete reads over the top, he&rsquo;s an excellent interior passer, and is willing to take risks in pursuit of points; that's something many good passers &mdash; especially young ones fearful of seeing their playing time reduced &mdash; don&rsquo;t always adhere to. He and Carter have synergy in ball-screen actions, and Wagner sets up the big fella for an easy score most evenings. All of it is yet another example of how Wagner benefits this squad.&nbsp;
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Aside from improving as a shot-maker, which is an underdiscussed component of virtually every player&rsquo;s ascension, Wagner has to better embrace physicality around the rim. While he&rsquo;s willing to play through it as a driver, contact aversion tends to manifest at the basket, where he&rsquo;s shooting just 53% (16th percentile among forwards, per CTG). On the positive side, 36% off his attempts occur there, but the results themselves are discouraging, and a refined approach can help bridge that disconnect.
More than any offensive facet of his game, Wagner is a vastly advanced defender. He&rsquo;s typically Orlando&rsquo;s designated stopper, and has amassed at least 20 possessions against seven different All-Stars, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630532/head-to-head/?sort=PARTIAL_POSS&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per NBA.com&rsquo;s matchup data</a>. Those All-Stars vary in style, too, ranging from Trae Young to Kevin Durant to Julius Randle.&nbsp;
He understands angles to cut drives off, shimmies around screens and brandishes deft hands to force turnovers or nab deflections. The Magic are comfortable playing him at the 3 because of his fluidity and quick hips. His plus-0.7 <a href="https://dunksandthrees.com/epm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus</a> ranks fifth among all rookies, thanks to that multifaceted aptitude. He&rsquo;s a very good defender who will soon be superb.&nbsp;
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Losing a plethora of games and welcoming a dazzling prospect to the fold for a few seasons does not guarantee prosperity simply because one is patient. The recipe for those prospects to develop beyond prospects &mdash; a word rich with promise but short on immediate results &mdash; is more nuanced.&nbsp;
They warrant suitable roles that amplify their strengths, teach them to rectify their weaknesses and prompt them to expand their arsenals without eschewing structure altogether. And that is what&rsquo;s transpiring in Orlando. The victories have conveyed how this team can and will eventually win on a consistent basis.&nbsp;
Anthony may be the brightest gem of the rebuild at this stage (Wagner might object). Yet, none better reflect the importance of stability than Wagner, Carter and Bamba, all of whom, in divergent, well-fitting roles, are making clear that Orlando&rsquo;s footprint should only temporarily be buried at the bottom of the NBA.

Jackson Frank analyzes the Magic's up-and-coming frontcourt of Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr. and Franz Wagner.

The Orlando Magic are finding their frontcourt of the future

The Boston Celtics opened up to full capacity just in time for the local fans to jeer and swear at Kyrie Irving every time he touched the ball.
It might be their last chance.
Irving had 39 points and 11 rebounds to quiet the first post-pandemic full house at the TD Garden, and Kevin Durant scored 42 points to give the Brooklyn Nets a 141-126 victory over Boston on Sunday night and a 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
James Harden added 23 points and a career postseason-high 18 assists for Brooklyn. Game 5 is in New York on Tuesday night, when the Nets will try to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrooklynNets</a> stars were firing on ALL CYCLINDERS in their Game 4 win. 💥 Harden: 23 PTS, 18 AST, 65 FPTS KD: 42 PTS, 5 AST, 62.3 FPTS Kyrie: 39 PTS, 11 REB, 60.2 FPTS <a href="https://t.co/LEwlZkfC2F">pic.twitter.com/LEwlZkfC2F</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1399178794460762120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Jayson Tatum scored 40 points for the Celtics, following up his 50-point effort in a Game 3 victory. But with Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker out with injuries, Tatum couldn't save the season on his own.
Marcus Smart had 16 points and nine for the Celtics, who reached the Eastern Conference finals in three of the previous four seasons. This year&rsquo;s team flirted with a top seed early on and still was in position to host a first-round series well into April before losing 10 of their last 15 games and falling into the play-in game.
After dropping the first two games in Brooklyn, the Celtics were hoping their home crowd would help them make a series of it. Tatum delivered one win in front of a quarter-capacity crowd on Friday, before the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted as of Saturday.
The Bruins had 17,400 for their playoff game against the Islanders on Saturday -- the biggest crowd in the NHL this season. The Celtics left several rows around the benches empty on Sunday and officially announced a sellout crowd of 17,226, about 1,500 fewer than the building&rsquo;s official capacity.
The fans &mdash; most of them attending their first home playoff game in more than two years &mdash; gave Durant the New York Yankees treatment in pregame warmups, chanting his name derisively and cheering for each missed practice shot. They were even more foul-mouthed toward Irving, who professed his love for Boston and the Celtics before opting out of his contract in 2019 to join the Nets.
But it wasn&rsquo;t enough to make up for the absence of Walker and Brown.
The Celtics scored the first six points of the game and led by as many as nine in the first but the Nets erased that before the end of the quarter. Durant had 17 in the first and Tatum had 14, setting the foundation for a star shootout.
But the second was all Brooklyn.
Harden threw in 15 points with six assists in the quarter, and Irving scored 11 to help the Nets pull away, turning a 34-33 deficit at the start of the quarter into a 45-37 lead. They made it a 13-point game at the half.
Tatum was scoreless in the second. He responded with 18 points in the third quarter but Durant had 17 to help the Nets open a 27-point lead.
By the middle of the fourth, the fans were chanting for 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall to enter the game.
TIP-INS
Nets: Durant&rsquo;s 17 points were the most in the first quarter for a Net since Kenyon Martin&rsquo;s 17 in Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals against the Lakers. ... The Nets had 100 points through three quarters of a playoff game for just the second time in history. They also did it on Friday night.
Celtics: Walker (knee) and Robert Williams III (ankle) sat out after playing in the first three games of the series, joining Brown (season-ending wrist surgery) on the injury report.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Irving had 39 points and 11 rebounds to quiet the first post-pandemic full house at the TD Garden, and Durant scored 42 points to give the Nets a 141-126 win.

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving quiet Boston crowd as Nets win over Celtics 141-126

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Daryl Morey <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJUAH9hy5N/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posed for a photo in a bookstore</a> wearing a T-shirt of the Liberty Bell emblazoned with a &ldquo;Come To Philly For The Crack&rdquo; slogan and held a copy of &ldquo;Basketball for Dummies.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Playoff Prep,&rdquo; Morey, the 76ers&rsquo; top decision maker, wrote on Instagram.
Oh, the Sixers were called much worse than a group of dolts when the franchise embarked on the strip-for-parts rebuilding seasons known as the Process. The Sixers were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-philadelphia-brett-brown-pa-state-wire-charles-barkley-43d834b574fa49b59b810ef3dde8fe25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Team Tank</a>. Larry Brown, the coach who led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA finals, said the early seasons &ldquo;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/66ee439e36bf4d74be9ead23825e8111" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made me sick to my stomach</a>.&rdquo; Philly lost some games. Well, lots of them. It had two, 26-plus game losing streaks that made even the most loyal fan feel nauseated.
Through it all, Philly stood by its ethos: Trust the Process.
The motto spawned books, merchandise, podcasts and endless debate. Lottery busts and a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-philadelphia-76ers-toronto-raptors-pa-state-wire-tx-state-wire-fc7f249a5f3a46c1939e56e489c5a2ce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter scandal</a>. Laughter, derision -- and in some corners around the NBA, admiration for the open and bold manner of building a winner.
&ldquo;Listen, I was there when we were &lsquo;Trusting the Process,&rsquo;&rdquo; Wizards guard and former 10-win Sixers member Ish Smith said. &ldquo;And as you know, they&rsquo;ve come a long way.&rdquo;
Look at the Sixers now.
Fan or critic, this season represented a litmus test for the Process and the results were sensational: Philadelphia (49-23) has an MVP candidate in Joel Embiid, a defensive player of the year candidate in Ben Simmons and the top seed and home court throughout the East playoffs.
The Sixers (<a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/sports/navigation/830.1/10107.3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with 8-1 odds</a>) really can win the NBA championship for the first time since 1983.
No Super Team assembly required.
The mission starts at home with Game 1 Sunday and Game 2 Wednesday against the Washington Wizards (34-38).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny, you can go either way on if that was a success or not,&rdquo; coach Doc Rivers said. &ldquo;I think if you came to every GM and said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll give you a 12-year plan,&rsquo; I think they&rsquo;ll take it. ... I don&rsquo;t know how long it takes each franchise to win the title.&rdquo;
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Rivers already had future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce in place when the Boston Celtics traded for superstars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen before the 2007-08 season and they immediately won the NBA title.
The Sixers&rsquo; championship pursuit has simmered in a slow cooker since 2013, as Embiid missed his first two seasons and Simmons sat out one with injuries. The Sixers reached the Eastern Conference semifinal with consecutive 50-win seasons in 2018 and 2019 and bottomed out last season when they were swept in the first round by Boston. That sparked roster changes that brought in starters Danny Green and Seth Curry and backup big man Dwight Howard and, perhaps of most importance, the one who found the formula to make it all work in Rivers.
Rivers is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/the-nba-playoffs-10-things-to-know-as-the-tourney-begins/2021/05/22/3ce3c520-baca-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html?outputType=amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine wins shy</a> of becoming the fifth coach in NBA history with 100 postseason victories.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done nothing,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a great regular season. Everyone starts 0-0 right now. This is a huge accomplishment. But this is the first one.&rdquo;
NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ?
The Wizards face long odds -- and an ugly history as they try and knock off the Sixers. The Wizards are trying to become the first team with a losing record to win a playoff series since the 1987 Seattle SuperSonics. That&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1395726072461754369" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 30-straight postseason series losses</a> for teams with losing records. Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/sixers-top-wizards-beals-record-tying-6a0-points-75102377" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who torched the Sixers for 60 points this season</a>, led a late-season surge that took the Wizards from 15 games below .500 into the postseason. The Wizards are the <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1395568684832276480" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sixth team under the current playoff format</a> (since 1984) to make the playoffs after being 15-plus games below .500. Teams that made it out of the first round? Zero.
Wizards coach Scott Brooks, a former Sixer, said an upset could be afoot.
&ldquo;They put their socks on one sock at a time, like us. Unless they do something different, putting both on at the same time. But I don&rsquo;t think so; that&rsquo;s some tricky stuff there,&rdquo; Brooks said.
Washington advanced by routing the Indiana Pacers 145-117 on Thursday night &mdash; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably the most beautiful thing I&rsquo;ve seen us do all year,&rdquo; Beal called it -- to emerge from the play-in round as the East&rsquo;s No. 8 seed, returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence.
The Wizards were a disaster early in the season, dealing with injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak, soft defense and little cohesion, and starting 0-5. then sitting at 17-32 in early April.
The Sixers <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/looking-back-wizards-regular-season-series-playoff-opponent-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swept the season series</a> 3-0.
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JOSTLING WITH JOEL
The Wizards will use a center-by-committee to go up against Embiid: Alex Len usually starts and offers some measure of rim protection; Daniel Gafford usually is the first big man off the bench and can run the floor on offense &mdash; the guards will look to lob the ball to him &mdash; and is a shot blocker on defense; Robin Lopez, 33, knows every paint move in the book and has a hook shot that is often successful. Against the Pacers, that trio combined for 28 points and 23 rebounds. Gafford, acquired in a trade deadline deal with Chicago, contributed 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. &ldquo;The three centers &mdash; look what they did. They all chipped in. They all contributed,&rdquo; Brooks said. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t get a lot of credit. They deserve a lot of credit.&rdquo; One issue Gafford needs to be careful with is foul trouble, and he acknowledged as much, saying with a chuckle: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sometimes a foul magnet. I want to put an end to that.&rdquo;
GIMME A BREAK
It&rsquo;s only a two-day break from Thursday&rsquo;s win to Sunday&rsquo;s series opener for the Wizards, but that might seem like forever to them. Washington hasn&rsquo;t had this much time without competing since the same lag between its contests March 18 and 21 &mdash; more than two months and 30 games ago. By Sunday, in contrast, the 76ers will have gone a week without playing and they had two days off between regular-season games as recently as May 9-10. &ldquo;It is kind of interesting that two days feels like an eternity at this point,&rdquo; Washington center Robin Lopez said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;ll make somewhat of a difference. The human body&rsquo;s got to be able to recuperate a little more in two days than in one day, I would assume.&rdquo; That could be useful for someone like Beal, who missed three games late in the season with a strained left hamstring and hasn&rsquo;t been back to 100% yet.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers tanked and it's paid off, as they're now the East's top seed and contending for their first NBA title since 1983.

76ers trusted the process and now they're the East's top seed

Last week, I traveled to Fort Myers, Fla. for the 2021 GEICO Nationals Tournament, which included some of the best high-school talent in the country. 
After spending several days evaluating players, it became apparent to me that there are many young players in the classes of 2022 and 2023 to be excited about moving forward, including Jalen Duren, Jarace Walker, Dariq Whitehead, Jaden Bradley, Adem Bona, M.J. Rice, Eric Dailey Jr., Gradey Dick, Vince Iwuchukwu, Jett Howard, Caleb Foster, and Kanaan Carlyle among others. 
However, as an NBA Draft Analyst, I&rsquo;d like to highlight a handful of the top seniors in the class of 2021 who will likely be high-priority prospects on my watchlist next season for the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Kennedy Chandler
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Tennessee
Quarterfinal vs. Prolific Prep: 11 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 steals, 7 TOV, 5/10 FG, 1/3 3pt
Semifinal vs. IMG Academy: 25 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 TOV, 6/8 FG, 2/3 3pt
Final vs. Montverde Academy: 9 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1, TOV, 4/12 FG, 1/6 3pt
Although on the smaller side, Kennedy Chandler dazzled with his speed, scoring, and playmaking abilities at the 2021 GEICO Nationals, leading his Sunrise Christian team to the championship game where they came up just short, losing to a loaded Montverde Academy team. Chandler, a 5-star recruit and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American, is committed to head coach Rick Barnes and the University of Tennessee, where he will most certainly be a high priority for me to scout for the 2022 NBA Draft.&nbsp;
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TyTy Washington
AZ Compass Prep | Undecided
Quarterfinal vs. Wasatch Academy: 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 TOV, 6/16 FG, 2/7 3pt
Semifinal vs. Montverde Academy: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 0 TOV, 7/16 FG, 1/6 3pt
I have had the opportunity to watch TyTy Washington and his AZ Compass Prep team a lot lately, and as I continue to watch Washington, he keeps impressing me more and more. At 6&rsquo;3, Washington is not your typical star player, as he&rsquo;s not an elite athlete. However, his court vision, shot-making ability, and basketball IQ dramatically affects each game he plays in. Having recently decommitted from Creighton, Washington has become quite the hot commodity on the college recruiting front. I&rsquo;m not quite sure where he&rsquo;ll end up playing next year, but I do know wherever it is, I&rsquo;ll be going there to evaluate him some more.&nbsp;
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Caleb Houstan
Montverde Academy | Committed to Michigan
Quarterfinal vs. Oak Hill: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 TOV, 7/11 FG, 1/4 3pt
Semifinal vs. AZ Compass: 5 points, 7 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 TOV, 2/9 FG, 1/5 3pt
Final vs. Sunrise Christian: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal 6/12 FG, 4/9 3pt
A highly-touted prospect and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American, Caleb Houston showed why so many people within basketball circles are excited about his future. At 6&rsquo;8 and 200 pounds, it wouldn&rsquo;t surprise me to see some NBA scouts label Houstan as a &ldquo;tweener." However, I see him as a hybrid forward who can really stretch the floor with his outside shooting and provide defensive versatility. After seeing Houstan play for several days in a row, I, too, am excited about his future -- which will be taking him to Ann Harbor next season.&nbsp;
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Kendall Brown
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Baylor
Quarterfinal vs. Prolific Prep: 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 0 TOV, 10/19 FG, 0/2 3pt
Semifinal vs. IMG Academy: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 2 TOV, 5/9 FG, 1/3 3pt
Final vs. Montverde Academy: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2 TOV, 5/9 FG, 1/3 3pt
Although I had never seen Kendall Brown play in-person before, he quickly impressed me with his elite motor and athleticism, as he executed spectacular dunks and defensive plays regularly. He should be a welcomed addition to the national champion Baylor Bears as they look to reload (since they will most likely lose star players Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell to the NBA).
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Matthew Cleveland
Pace Academy | Committed to Florida State
Play-in round vs. Oak Hill: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TOV, 1 steal, 12/18 FG, 2/3 3pt
This was the first time I was able to see Matthew Cleveland in-person, and unfortunately, my sample size for evaluating him still remains small, as his Pace Academy team lost in the play-in game versus Oak Hill Academy. However, in the one game I saw, Cleveland was terrific, scoring 30 points while shooting 12-for-18 from the field and also grabbing 8 rebounds. At 6&rsquo;6, Cleveland was extremely assertive and efficient getting to the hole and finishing. He was also showed an ability to shoot the ball from outside, although I would like to see more from him in this area to have full confidence. Leonard Hamilton has put together a terrific program at Florida State that keeps pumping out pros. Matthew Cleveland may very well be next in line.
Others Worth Mentioning
Nathan Bittle&nbsp;
Prolific Prep | Committed to Oregon
Moussa Diabate
IMG Academy | Committed to Michigan
Nolan Hickman
Wasatch Academy | Committed to Kentucky
Langston Love
Montverde Academy | Committed to Baylor
Zach Clemence
Sunrise Christian Academy | Committed to Kansas

After attending the 2021 GEICO Nationals Tournament, Matt Babcock shares which players stood out to him.

2021 GEICO Nationals Recap: Which players stood out?

Some bask in the spotlight, while others prefer to hide in the shadows.
Attention is the friend of many; solitude the companion of choice for a few.
In today&rsquo;s day and age &ndash; particularly with the advent of social media and the 24/7 news cycle &ndash; it&rsquo;s difficult for a neophyte to maintain his anonymity. But, it&rsquo;s possible that, for a 20-year-old with promise, avoiding the radar may not be as difficult as we once thought.
All he has to do is play for the New York Knicks.
From Michael Sweetney to Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert to Jordan Hill, one of the few commonalities between the Knicks&rsquo; first-round draft picks over the past 20 years have been dashed hopes and disappointment.
The theme actually persists throughout every facet of the organization.
But alas, even the Hudson River&rsquo;s tide turns twice a day, so in this instance, the failures of regimes past don&rsquo;t necessarily provide evidence of future performance. New York isn&rsquo;t given the benefit of the doubt, because just as it did with Kristaps Porzingis and his predecessors, somehow, the Knicks will find a way to ruin it.
At least, that&rsquo;s the prevailing sentiment.
So here we are, the 2020-21 season. Believe it or not, the Knicks have surpassed last season&rsquo;s win total, enter play on April 2 at .500, and have managed to not resemble a dumpster fire behind the raspy bark and serious demeanor of Tom Thibodeau.
On the court, Julius Randle has rightfully received the credit and praise for the Knicks arriving to this point. A playoff shot is not a fate that many would have predicted, and although the national media has slowly bestowed some credit on Randle and Thibodeau, it&rsquo;s been much slower to recognize the obvious &mdash; RJ Barrett has given the franchise something to hold onto.
Almost 20 years later, one would be hard-pressed to argue that the 2003 NBA Draft class isn&rsquo;t one of the best in history. But sometimes, we got so fixated with the cream that rises to the top that we don&rsquo;t pay enough attention to what lies beneath.
When you think of 2003, you think of LeBron James and remember Dwyane Wade. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh also certainly come to mind, while scores of others &mdash; including former All-Stars such as David West, Mo Williams and Kyle Korver &ndash; aren&rsquo;t even thought of.
Obviously, three of those are unlike the others. But it&rsquo;s quite possible to walk away from the craps table a winner even without bankrupting the casino.
In other words, Barrett may not have had anywhere near as immediate an impact as Zion Williamson or Ja Morant, but in the case of Anthony and the 2003 class, in this case, there&rsquo;s no shame in bronze.
As a sophomore, Barrett has shown appreciable growth. A throwback big guard, the defining characteristic of his game &mdash; so far &mdash; has been an understanding of how to use his body, strength and girth to get to precisely where he wants to on the floor. A soccer player before he decided to focus full-time on basketball, his light footedness and agility, at least for a second-year player whose body is still developing, is world class. If you tried hard enough, you could poke holes in Barrett&rsquo;s offensive repertoire; his handle isn&rsquo;t elite, and for a big guard whose size is among his best attributes, his back-to-basket game is fairly weak.
Yet still, the inroads he&rsquo;s made in terms of his sheer effectiveness on the floor are impressive. Be that as it may, what&rsquo;s been equally impressive for the young Canadian has been the strides he&rsquo;s made from Year 1 to Year 2 in an area critical to success in the modern NBA &mdash; spacing the floor.
Along with Randle, Barrett completes an effective duo. Unsurprisingly, the pair are together in four of the team&rsquo;s top-five offensive units in terms of points per possession, with Barrett dramatically (yet somehow, quietly) becoming a much more credible mid-range threat.
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As a rookie, Barrett connected on just 28% of his shots from 10-to-16 feet, and just 29% of his looks from further. This season, he&rsquo;s shown marked improvement, improving those same percentages to 36% and 38%, respectively. In terms of the percentage of shot attempts from those areas, they have also increased, though marginally. Nonetheless, combined with his overall improvements across the board &mdash; his scoring, rebounding and assists are significantly higher along with his shooting percentages &mdash; the simplest conclusion to draw is that he&rsquo;s improved. That&rsquo;s pretty obvious.
What&rsquo;s even more important than an increase in numbers, however &mdash; and something you could never understand without actually watching the game &mdash; is an understanding of how to be effective when advanced scouts and opposing assistant coaches begin planning for you.
It&rsquo;s typical for an NBA team to employ three or four assistant coaches, with other members of the organization invited to assist with reviewing tape and offering input into how to stop a team&rsquo;s featured players. It&rsquo;s commonplace for the support staff to spend days analyzing their opponents and building game plans to take away strengths. That&rsquo;s where the phrase &ldquo;appeared on the scouting report&rdquo; derives.
Due to relatively small sample sizes in some instances or just a lack of time, it&rsquo;s not always possible for a team to go into every contest with a complete understanding of what their opponent has been up to the past week, so there&rsquo;s a necessary prioritization; the higher a player&rsquo;s profile, the more resources dedicated to getting him on the scouting report.
Knicks fans probably remember all too well the rude awakening that Jeremy Lin encountered at the hands of the Miami Heat, but if you have a long enough memory, you&rsquo;d recall that this fate wasn&rsquo;t unique to him. There are a number of players who peak as rookies or sophomores, but it&rsquo;s not always due to any fault with the player.
As one&rsquo;s profile increases, so does the priority with which the opposition scouts him. Most often, it&rsquo;s a young player&rsquo;s ability to adapt his attack and improve his weaknesses that separate, say, Tyreke Evans and O.J. Mayo from Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell.
A relatively small sample size it may be, but at a minimum, Barrett has already proven a few things: first, he&rsquo;s someone who takes his craft and the obligation of diligently improving seriously, and second, he at least hasn&rsquo;t peaked as a rookie.
If you were curious as to why the Knicks didn&rsquo;t approach the trade deadline with the type of urgency that one would have thought a newly installed front office would, aside from the team&rsquo;s favorable cap situation, at least some within the organization believe that the duo of Barrett and Randle have earned the opportunity to continue to develop together.
Together, Zion and Ja have lived up to the expectations, and then some. But when a young player such as Barrett improves in the way he has &mdash; and when those improvements yield wins &mdash; that means something.
In the case of Barrett, at a minimum, it means that we should continue watching.
The young Canadian is onto something, and it&rsquo;s only a matter of time before everyone else figures it out.

RJ Barrett's impressive strides this season have helped put the Knicks in the playoff hunt. Moke Hamilton believes credit is due.

Deriq