Kingsmen

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

When the new league year began on July 1, NBA teams were quick to sign free agents and start negotiating extensions with some of their younger players.&nbsp;
Players who were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft are signed to rookie-scale contracts, which are eligible to be extended on the first day (July 1) of the fourth and final year of their deal. This past offseason, the vast majority of players eligible for rookie-scale extensions were picked in the first round in 2020. Teams have until the day before the start of the 2023-24 regular season (which begins on October 24) to agree to an extension, or else those players will hit restricted free agency next summer.&nbsp;
Out of the 30 first-round picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, 27 were eligible for rookie-scale extensions. In addition, the Orlando Magic&rsquo;s Chuma Okeke also became eligible for a rookie-scale extension because he signed his rookie deal in 2020, a year after he was drafted due to injury. So far this offseason, five players have signed extensions, with four of them receiving maximum contracts.&nbsp;
Those who received the max signed what&rsquo;s called a Designated Rookie Extension, which has a starting salary at 25% of the 2024-25 salary cap (projected at $37,405,750) with 8% raises over five years (for a total contract value of $216,953,350). However, via the &ldquo;Derrick Rose rule,&rdquo; if any of the players who signed one of these extensions is a member of any of the 2023-24 All-NBA teams, their starting salary will be set at 30% of the 2024-25 salary cap (projected at $44,886,900) with 8% raises over five years (for a total contract value of $260,344,020). These players include Minnesota&rsquo;s Anthony Edwards, Charlotte&rsquo;s LaMelo Ball, Indiana&rsquo;s Tyrese Haliburton and Memphis&rsquo; Desmond Bane. However, Bane&rsquo;s extension doesn&rsquo;t contain the &ldquo;Rose Rule&rdquo; language, so he can&rsquo;t receive a starting salary raise even if he earns an All-NBA nod.
There is also a new wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that changed the rules in regards to rookie-scale extensions, allowing teams to offer all players an extension up to five years. Previously, only players who were offered maximum contracts could agree to an extension up to five years. So far, no team has given out a five-year non-max extension.
The only player who has signed a non-max rookie extension this offseason is Detroit&rsquo;s Isaiah Stewart. Stewart, the No. 16 pick in 2020, has been a starter for the rebuilding Pistons over the past few years. The tough, defensive big man agreed to a four-year, $64 million extension with $60 million guaranteed, $4 million in potential performance bonuses and a team option in the final season. Stewart&rsquo;s extension could serve as a potential benchmark for other big man extension candidates like Toronto&rsquo;s Precious Achiuwa and Atlanta&rsquo;s Onyeka Okongwu.
With 21 first-round picks (and Okeke) still awaiting a potential extension, let&rsquo;s take a look at who is most likely to receive an extension and what their deals might look like.
LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED
Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls): Williams has been a steady force for the Bulls amid the team&rsquo;s struggles to consistently play winning basketball. The former Florida State forward has improved his shooting each year of his career but has yet to really break out as a primary scoring option for Chicago. Williams is just 22 years old and still has a lot of potential, so he should command an extension similar to what Atlanta&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Andre Hunter received last summer.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $90,000,000, no options
Onyeka Okongwu (Atlanta Hawks): Okongwu has been slotted as the Hawks&rsquo; center of the future for a few years now and has mostly looked the part backing up Clint Capela. Atlanta has a very crowded cap sheet, especially after extending Dejounte Murray. It is possible they could look to move Capela soon in order to free up cap space and give the starting center job to Okongwu. As mentioned above, look for Okongwu to ask for slightly above what Detroit gave Isaiah Stewart.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $72,000,000, could earn up to $80,000,000 with incentives, no options
Devin Vassell (San Antonio Spurs): The Spurs should try to lock up some of their reliable young pieces as they begin the Victor Wembanyama era. Similar to what San Antonio did with Keldon Johnson, they&rsquo;ll likely look to give Vassell a long-term value deal. They also could take advantage of the new CBA rules, keeping the former No. 11 pick under contract through 2029.
Extension Prediction: Five years, $110,000,000, no options
Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks): Green has quietly been developing very nicely with the Mavericks and could fight for a spot in the starting lineup this fall. The Australian native has shown real potential as a 3-and-D wing and could command the full mid-level exception if he reaches the open market next summer. Dallas shouldn&rsquo;t (and most likely won&rsquo;t) let that happen.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $65,000,000, no options
Immanuel Quickley (New York Knicks): Quickley is coming off his best season as a pro that saw him finish as runner-up for the NBA&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year award. A scoring machine, the former Kentucky guard would likely start for a good chunk of NBA teams, but will likely have to be the backup as long as Jalen Brunson is in New York. The Knicks would certainly love to keep Quickley, but look for them to wait all the way up to the October 23 deadline to pay him in order to maintain trade flexibility.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $88,000,000, could earn up to $92,000,000 with incentives, no options
Jaden McDaniels (Minnesota Timberwolves): McDaniels is certainly viewed as a core piece by the Timberwolves&rsquo; brass as they fought hard to keep him out of the Rudy Gobert trade, sacrificing more draft capital instead. The Washington product has been a versatile, two-way player since arriving in Minnesota and is an ideal wing next to Anthony Edwards. He should be paid accordingly.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $100,000,000, no options, declining annual salary
LIKELY TO REACH RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY
James Wiseman (Detroit Pistons): Wiseman has been better on both sides of the ball since being traded to Detroit last February, but his game still needs to be developed further if the Pistons are to seriously invest in him.
Isaac Okoro (Cleveland Cavaliers): Cleveland has been looking for a permanent solution at their starting small-forward position for some time now, resulting in them paying Caris LeVert and signing Max Strus. Okoro hasn&rsquo;t shown he can be the Cavs&rsquo; long-term solution.
Obi Toppin (Indiana Pacers): If Toppin had stayed in New York, there&rsquo;s no way he would have been extended. Now in Indiana, the former Naismith National Player of the Year should get a chance to start and improve his stock going into next summer.
Deni Avdija (Washington Wizards): Avdija is a pretty good young player outside of his shooting struggles. With a new regime in Washington, Avdija may be a trade candidate if new president Michael Winger doesn&rsquo;t see him as a part of the team&rsquo;s long-term plan.
Aaron Nesmith (Indiana Pacers): A starter for the Pacers last year, Nesmith may be buried on the depth chart with the additions of Toppin and rookie Jarace Walker. He hasn&rsquo;t made enough of an impact to warrant an extension.
Cole Anthony (Orlando Magic): Anthony has been a solid bench contributor for Orlando since being drafted out of North Carolina. However, the Magic backcourt is extremely crowded with the addition of rookie Anthony Black, making them unlikely to prioritize securing a deal with Anthony.
Aleksej Pokusevski (Oklahoma City Thunder): Poku is coming off a fractured leg that kept him out for the back half of last season. He needs to show that he can be a long-term piece if he wishes to stay with the Thunder.
Saddiq Bey (Atlanta Hawks): Bey is certainly talented enough to warrant an extension, fitting into the starting five seamlessly after being acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. However, the team may have to choose between extending Bey or Okongwu in order to manage their already-very-full salary cap sheet.&nbsp;
Precious Achiuwa (Toronto Raptors): The Raptors have already committed to a center in Jakob Poeltl this offseason. Achiuwa hasn&rsquo;t shown enough to break through outside of his bench role to warrant an extension.
Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets): Despite not being a regular member of the rotation, Nnaji has shown he is a capable backup option to Nikola Jokic when he&rsquo;s on the floor. While an extension isn&rsquo;t in the cards, the Nuggets should look to retain him.
Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics): Boston would probably love to keep Pritchard on a team-friendly deal, as he has been a reliable insurance option for them since coming into the league. The former Oregon guard will more than likely want to test the free-agency market to see if he can possibly find a path to more playing time elsewhere.
LIKELY TO NOT RECEIVE A QUALIFYING OFFER, BECOME AN UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT NEXT SUMMER
Killian Hayes (Detroit Pistons): Hayes has not lived up to his top-10 pick billing and has fallen out of Pistons general manager Troy Weaver&rsquo;s long-term outlook. Detroit could extend him a qualifying offer next summer, but he likely won&rsquo;t receive much interest on the open market.
Kira Lewis Jr. (New Orleans Pelicans): Lewis has been relegated to a reserve while suffering through multiple injuries through his first three years in the NBA. The Pelicans have made it known league-wide that he is available for trade.
Chuma Okeke (Orlando Magic): Okeke has struggled with his all-around game for the better part of the last two years and is unlikely to be retained by Orlando going forward.
Malachi Flynn (Toronto Raptors): Flynn hasn&rsquo;t taken advantage of the many opportunities he&rsquo;s had to be a part of the Raptors&rsquo; rotation as the backup point guard. He may see some run this year, but the Raptors may have seen enough to move on this summer.
THE TYRESE MAXEY WILD CARD
Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers): Maxey is the wild card of the rookie-extension candidates, as Sixers general manager Daryl Morey has said that the team will hold off on extending the 22-year-old shooting guard in order to maintain trade and cap flexibility going into next summer. Maxey has blossomed into a core member of the 76ers going forward and would likely receive close to, if not the full, max rookie extension. With no end in sight to the James Harden debacle, the Sixers may want to secure their young prize before their situation could turn worse.

Blake Stern takes a look at which players are most likely to receive a rookie-scale extension prior to the October 23 deadline.

Checking in on the NBA's rookie-scale extension candidates

Most NBA teams have a young core of some sort, but some are better than others.
Each year, teams try to add to their young nucleus through the draft. The 2023 NBA Draft just featured the most highly-anticipated prospect since LeBron James in Victor Wembanyama, plus a number of other talented rookies like Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins.
Entering the 2023-24 season, which team has the best young core? Today, we'll rank the five best cores from around the league. The criteria is simple: players must be age-25 or younger to be considered.
5. Orlando Magic&nbsp;
The Magic landed young star Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick last season, pairing him with 2021 lottery pick Franz Wagner to form a nice one-two punch. Cole Anthony had high expectations entering the league, but he hasn't quite become the player that fans wanted him to be. One player who has exceeded expectations is Wendell Carter Jr. After a shaky start to his career with the Chicago Bulls, Carter has found his place on the Magic and is considered one of the better young starting centers in the NBA. He isn't the only player who turned his career around after landing in Orlando, as Markelle Fultz is playing his best basketball and has a nice redemption story of his own. Other young players who have an opportunity to make an impact going forward are Orlando's recent lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard, both of whom are 19 years old. Orlando has consistently been one of the worst teams in the league for several years now and while their rebuilding roster is solid, it isn&rsquo;t quite as good or enticing as some of the other teams on our list.
Notable Players: Paolo Banchero (20), Franz Wagner (23), Wendell Carter Jr. (24), Anthony Black (19), Jett Howard (19), Markelle Fultz (25), Cole Anthony (23), Jalen Suggs (21), Jonathan Isaac (25), Caleb Houstan (20)
4. New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans are the only young core on this list with postseason experience, as they made the playoffs in 2021-22 and made the play-in tournament last season. Their young core is largely carried by four players: Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. Ingram has become a terrific scorer, and he's coming off a season in which he averaged career-highs in points (24.7) and assists (5.8). While Williamson has been one of the best players in the NBA when healthy, we haven&rsquo;t seen him on the court very much since he was drafted in 2019. Murphy is a terrific shooter and Jones has had a very solid start to his career as well, making a name for himself as a lockdown perimeter defender. New Orleans has a few other young players with potential including Dyson Daniels, Jordan Hawkins and Kira Lewis Jr., but they have yet to prove themselves. Ingram, Williamson, Murphy and Jones are the main reason why the Pelicans are ranked here.
Notable Players: Brandon Ingram (25), Zion Williamson (23), Trey Murphy III (23), Herb Jones (24), Dyson Daniels (20), Jordan Hawkins (21), Kira Lewis Jr. (22)
3. Houston Rockets
The Rockets have one of the more underrated young cores in the NBA, as their lack of success has prevented them from getting much recognition. Fortunately for the Rockets, their main issue has been lack of experience, and the team addressed it this offseason. They had money to spend and they brought in some veterans to help lead the team, most notably Fred VanVleet. That said, their young core is still extremely talented and got even better through this year&rsquo;s draft. The key for this Rockets team to succeed is to make sure these young players continue to develop at a high rate, which is where new head coach Ime Udoka and his staff come in. They have multiple players on their roster with All-Star potential, and it's possible they'll compete for a play-in spot by the end of the season.
Notable Players: Jalen Green (21), Jabari Smith (20), Alperen Sengun (21), Amen Thompson (20), Tari Eason (22), Kevin Porter Jr. (23), Cam Whitmore (19)
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/vw2.jpg" alt="" width="711" height="400" />
2. San Antonio Spurs&nbsp;
The Spurs undoubtedly have one of the NBA's best young cores. No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama has made San Antonio the team to watch this season. That said, they likely won&rsquo;t be a playoff team for at least another year. While it's possible that they'll shock everyone, it will be difficult for Wembanyama to lead them to the postseason as a rookie. He will likely need at least a year to adjust to the NBA and develop before taking that next leap in his career. Wembanyama isn&rsquo;t the only young star on the Spurs, as they have already started developing fellow cornerstones Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, who have made quite an impression. Throw in Tre Jones, Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Romeo Langford and Blake Wesley, and it's clear why the Spurs are this high. Other young players who have shown promise are Charles Bassey and Julian Champagnie, both of whom came over from the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; organization. These two players have displayed a ton of potential, particularly in the G League and Summer League, and they could be solid contributors for years to come.&nbsp;
Notable Players: Victor Wembanyama (19), Keldon Johnson (23), Tre Jones (23), Devin Vassell (22), Jeremy Sochan (20), Malaki Branham (20), Romeo Langford (23), Zach Collins (25), Blake Wesley (20), Julian Champagnie (22), Charles Bassey (22), Dominick Barlow (20), Sandro Mamukelashvili (24)
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Spurs were a hard core to beat but, to nobody&rsquo;s surprise, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best young core in the NBA. Not only do they have the youngest starting lineup in the league, it is filled with young stars. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as one of the best guards in the league, while Josh Giddey and Rookie-of-the-Year runner-up Jalen Williams just had a terrific season. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, hasn't played yet but he will undoubtedly make an immediate impact and could give OKC a Rookie-of-the-Year finalist for the second year in a row. Despite how young the Thunder are, they could make a serious playoff push this season, with Shai at the steering wheel. Perhaps what's scariest about the Thunder is that they have 35 draft picks over the next seven years, including 15 first-rounders, so their already-impressive young core is still a work in progress.
Notable Players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (25), Chet Holmgren (21), Josh Giddey (20), Jalen Williams (22), Cason Wallace (19), Luguentz Dort (24), Aleksej Pokusevski (21), Isaiah Joe (24), Tre Mann (22), Jaylin Williams (21), Ousmane Dieng (20), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (22), Keyontae Johnson (23)

Entering the 2023-24 season, which NBA teams have the best young core? Hunter Simpson ranks the best cores from around the league.

Ranking the NBA's top-5 young cores entering the 2023-24 season

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83 on Saturday.
Rice&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime.
Oklahoma, however, had a chance to tie or win when Texas&rsquo; Tyrese Hunter missed one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. But Sam Godwin missed a shot from near the rim, and Texas extended its winning streak against Oklahoma to five games.
Marcus Carr added 17 points for Texas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), and Timmy Allen had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. Milos Uzan scored 15 for the Sooners.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 108, GEORGIA 59
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five 3-pointers in the first half to lead Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 halftime lead and a season scoring high. Alabama was coming off a 68-59 loss at No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night after rising to No. 1 for only the second time in program history and first in 20 years.&nbsp;
ustin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8) with 17 points. Terry Roberts scored 11 and Braelen Bridges 10.
NO. 4 UCLA 78, CALIFORNIA 43
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and UCLA routed last-place California to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation&rsquo;s longest home winning streak to 23 games.
Amari Bailey added 16 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Bruins (23-4, 14-2 Pac-12), who clinched a first-round bye in next month&rsquo;s Pac-12 Tournament with their 11th win in a row over last-place Cal.
Kuany Kuany scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (3-24, 2-14), who dropped their 11th in a row. They fell to 0-3 against top-5 teams this season, having also lost a pair against No. 8 Arizona.
NO. 5 KANSAS 87, NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half. Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference.
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points).
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia&rsquo;s career assist leader in the narrow win over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a one-and-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim.
Armaan Franklin added 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 for Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and Goodwin had 12.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 78, COLORADO 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado.
The Wildcats (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) opened with a rash of turnovers, falling into an early 12-point hole. Arizona righted itself quickly with a big run and slogged through a slowed-down second half by shutting down the Buffaloes.
Tristan da Silva had 18 points the Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10), who shot 38%.
KENTUCKY 66, NO. 10 TENNESSEE 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat Tennessee.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama.
The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Kentucky defeated the Volunteers 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville.
Wallace had totaled nine points in the Wildcats&rsquo; previous two games. Chris Livingston added 12 points and Jacob Toppin had 11.
NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 61, NO. 19 IOWA STATE 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help Kansas State over Iowa State.
Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12).
Aljaž Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. Without their 3-point leader Caleb Grill in the lineup, the Cyclones worked inside the paint. They had 24 points inside and relied on a balanced scoring line led by Kunc.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 97, PEPPERDINE 88
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help Gonzaga extend its winning streak over the Waves to 45 games.
The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2 West Coast Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 straight on the road against the Waves.
Timme moved past Bill Cartwright, who scored 2,116 points for San Francisco (1975-79), into eighth on the West Coast Conference&rsquo;s career scoring list with 2,117.
Houston Mallette led the Waves with 22 points. Jevon Porter and Maxwell Lewis added 20 points apiece.
NO. 14 INDIANA 71, ILLINOIS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and Indiana rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Illinois.
Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of 11 overall and 15 straight on their homecourt.
Matthew Mayer scored 24 to lead the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7), who were without injured leading scorer Terrence Shannon.
NO. 15 MIAMI 96, WAKE FOREST 87
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in Miami&rsquo;s win over Wake Forest.
Norchard Omier had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Jordan Miller added 14 points for the Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight and improved to 15-0 at home.
Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Damari Monsanto and Cameron Hildreth had 14 each for the Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7). Andrew Carr and Mathew Marsh finished with 12 points each.
NO. 16 XAVIER 82, DEPAUL 68
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul.
The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history, 32 of which have come since the 1982-83 season. It was the 17th career double-double for Nunge, eighth this season. Adam Kunkel scored 16 points and tied a career-high with eight assists for Xavier.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De&rsquo;Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul (9-18, 3-13), which lost its eighth in a row.
NO. 17 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 71, BYU 65
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead Saint Mary&rsquo;s to its 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
NO. 18 CREIGHTON 77, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 67
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch and Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John&rsquo;s.
Creighton (18-9, 12-4) remained in a three-way tie for second place in the Big East after Providence and Xavier won earlier in the day. Marquette holds a one-game lead in the conference standings.
Ryan Nembhard scored 16 points for the Bluejays. Kaluma finished with 13 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 as Creighton won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Joel Soriano led St. John&rsquo;s with 15 points and eight rebounds. David Jones added 14 points off the bench but the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) were unable to get their third straight win.
NO. 20 UCONN 64, SETON HALL 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play before a late run that fell short.
NO. 22 TCU 100, OKLAHOMA STATE 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks, five other TCU players also scored in double figures, and the Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State.
Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7 Big 12), which shot a staggering season-high 68.4% (39 of 57) from the field. Damion Baugh had 16 points with 11 assists. Shahada Wells had 15 points, Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon 12 and Micah Peavy 10.
Bryce Thompson had 18 points and John-Michael White 15 for the Cowboys (16-11, 7-7).
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 85, VILLANOVA 72
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Providence earned its 20th victory of the season.
Bryce Hopkins added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Noah Locked finished with 16 points. Croswell connected on two late free throws to notch the 1,000th point of his career.
The Friars (20-7, 12-4 Big East) have recorded 20 or more wins in seven of coach Ed Cooley&rsquo;s 12 seasons. They improved to 15-0 at home, including 8-0 in conference play.
Eric Dixon had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Moore added 17 points for the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9)&nbsp;

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college basketball includes a full slate of top-25 teams in heavy competition.

No. 6 Texas needs OT at home to hold off Oklahoma 85-83

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; In the 1990s, Dallas Mavericks point guard Derek Harper famously shot down an offer to be traded to the Jazz, quipping to ESPN: &ldquo;You go live in Utah.&rdquo;
Two decades later, members of the Golden State Warriors squad&nbsp;mocked Salt Lake&nbsp;as a nightlife-free city that could &ldquo;lull you to sleep.&rdquo;
And two months ago, former Jazz star Donovan Mitchell,&nbsp;reflecting on his time in Utah, said it was &ldquo;draining&rdquo; being a Black man in the mostly white, deeply religious state.
As the spotlight turns toward Salt Lake City and Utah during&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/107533176444f092fed0c7996a8e328f">this weekend&rsquo;s NBA All-Star Game</a>, business and political leaders are seeking to chip away at long-held notions &mdash; in basketball circles and elsewhere &mdash; of the state as a peculiar, boring and homogenous place that lags behind on LGBTQ- and race-related issues.
Their push to showcase the city and state as increasingly diverse and vibrant has been complicated by Utah&rsquo;s enduring legacy as a religious conservative stronghold, coupled with recent political developments at the intersection of race, gender and sports.
Just a year ago, a statewide ban implemented on transgender kids playing girls&rsquo; sports raised&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-adam-silver-north-carolina-64a3f0f2d3b33bf9ccc806bcd6293997">worries</a>&nbsp;that organizers of some events like the All-Star Game would think twice about coming to Utah.
Still, political leaders see efforts to make businesses and tourists feel welcome as key to Utah&rsquo;s continued growth and ability to attract profitable trade shows and the&nbsp;Winter Olympics, which it is seen as likely to bid to host again in 2034.
&ldquo;What happens with those oddities that people think is, they&rsquo;re very quickly dispelled when people actually come to Utah,&rdquo; said Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican and avid Jazz fan.
Downtown, a pop-up liquor store has been erected to serve fans this weekend between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints&rsquo; flagship temple and the Jazz&rsquo;s home arena. Team owner Ryan Smith is&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-nba-sports-salt-lake-city-f458ade6c498f9d9e729b25f9e5a7ebb">telling</a>&nbsp;anyone who will listen about the state&rsquo;s robust tech sector and progressive thinking. And the NBA is heavily advertising a pregame performance featuring&nbsp;Post Malone, a Utah-based, heavily face-tattooed rap star popular among residents.
Salt Lake City has long been more liberal and religiously diverse than the rest of Utah, a blue island in a sea of red. A majority of members on the current left-leaning city council&nbsp;identify as LGBTQ and are people of color.
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In the three decades since 1993, the last time the All-Star Game last was here, the population has diversified and almost doubled, transforming it into a thriving metropolis complete with the politics and problems that plague many midsize cities including pollution, housing shortages and&nbsp;homelessness.
A skyline dense with apartments, office buildings and two downtown malls has sprung up between Temple Square and the nearby mountains. The 2002 Olympics brought an influx of funding that helped build a light rail system many visitors will use during All-Star festivities.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the counterculture that rose up in response and continues to thrive both contribute to the city&rsquo;s social fabric.
&ldquo;We may still be peculiar, but we&rsquo;re&nbsp;minority Mormon&nbsp;now,&rdquo; she said.
The extensive influence of the faith known widely as the Mormon church will still be apparent, yet changes within its culture and the influx of thousands of secular residents may complicate how the expected 150,000 All-Star visitors perceive Salt Lake City, said Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University.
&ldquo;Anybody who visits &mdash; especially for the first time &mdash; is going to be immediately struck by the Salt Lake Temple and the church&rsquo;s holdings right downtown very close to the arena. This is, as a lot of people say, &rsquo;Mormonism&rsquo;s Vatican,&rdquo; he said.
High-profile church members also demonstrate how the image the faith projects has remained distinct while also becoming more assimilated into the mainstream, he said.
&ldquo;That really gets reflected in the younger generation of entrepreneurs and politicians,&rdquo; Mason added. &ldquo;People like Cox and Smith are Latter-day Saints who are committed to their faith but also are savvy people who grow up with the internet, plugged in to a global culture.&rdquo;
Hosting All-Star Weekend is a major opportunity in particular for Smith, who purchased the Jazz in 2020 after selling the survey-software provider company that he founded, Qualtrics, for $8 billion.
&ldquo;This is just a chance to really have a moment together. People definitely know that there&rsquo;s something here,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s absolutely unique in all the positive ways. I think the one thing that is beautiful about Utah, that the people keep telling me from a wellness standpoint, &lsquo;Utah is like where I&rsquo;m at my best.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Since Smith attended part of 1993&prime;s All-Star Weekend as a member of the Jazz&rsquo;s youth basketball program, the NBA has cultivated a reputation for embracing progressive politics and social justice to a greater extent than most other professional sports leagues.
The ban on transgender athletes in girls&rsquo; sports didn&rsquo;t end up costing Utah the All-Star Game. But some fear marketing efforts could face challenges as the state doubles down on socially conservative stances on matters of race, gender and sports. Last month lawmakers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-children-utah-surgery-9d8b304aef5060a1e033416558c9d6f8">banned</a>&nbsp;gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a policy being considered by lawmakers in a number of states across the country.
Utah has among the highest white populations of any state at 78% of its 3.3 million residents, and less than 2% are Black. That lack of racial diversity is long believed to have hurt efforts by the Jazz to lure free agents and retain players.
Mitchell, after being&nbsp;traded&nbsp;to the Cavaliers last offseason, said it took a lot of energy to confront a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-nhl-ut-state-wire-utah-nfl-758cb7968d564893b57ca6d0a19777ce">series</a>&nbsp;of highly public race-related experiences and the pushback he received in response. They included incidents of bullying against Black students in Utah schools that he&nbsp;called&nbsp;&ldquo;demoralizing&rdquo;; a&nbsp;dustup&nbsp;between him and the state Senate president over new restrictions on how race and history could be taught; and the time Mitchell said he was pulled over and &ldquo;got an attitude from the cop&rdquo; until the officer saw Mitchell&rsquo;s ID and realized he was the Jazz player.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret there&rsquo;s a lot of stuff that I dealt with being in Utah, off the floor. ... I took on a lot because I felt like I could do it. But at some point, it became a lot to have to deal with,&rdquo; he&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://andscape.com/features/donovan-mitchell-thinks-the-cavaliers-can-be-a-pretty-scary-group/">told</a>&nbsp;the ESPN publication Andscape in December.
Some see All-Star weekend as a means of elevating social justice initiatives and changing Salt Lake City&rsquo;s image through showcasing oft-overlooked pockets of diversity. Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, helped organize a expungement clinic with the NBA&rsquo;s social justice arm in the lead-up to the game, a year after Cox signed legislation to clear low-level convictions from people&rsquo;s criminal records. She said the NBA&rsquo;s presence in places regardless of the prevailing local politics has had&nbsp;tangible&nbsp;impacts.
&ldquo;They are doing more than lip service. They&rsquo;re putting out a host of events,&rdquo; Meade said. &ldquo;What it means for the All-Star Game to come to a state like Utah is it brings an immersion of culture and diversity and lifts up what&rsquo;s happening on some social issues.&rdquo;
</div>

With the spotlight on Salt Lake City for the NBA All-Star Game, local leaders are looking to chip away at long-held notions of the state.

In NBA All-Star spotlight, Utah looks to change perceptions

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Cam Johnson got an All-Star level ovation from the home crowd in the first quarter when he came to the scorer's table, returning to the floor after losing 37 games to a knee injury.
He's not the best player on the Phoenix Suns. But he's a very good player, and right now, they need all the help they can get.
Mikal Bridges scored 28 points, Johnson added 19 off the bench and the still very short-handed Suns held off the Brooklyn Nets 117-112 on Thursday night.
&ldquo;I just thought he brought a level of juice to the arena that we hadn't felt in a while,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;He got up off the bench and you could feel the fans, the community &mdash; &lsquo;That&rsquo;s our guy.'"
Brooklyn fought back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter to make things tight in the final minute.
Kyrie Irving &mdash; who scored 21 points of his 30 points in the fourth quarter &mdash; hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 113-110 with 10.9 seconds remaining, After the Suns hit a free throw, Nic Claxton's dunk with 7.4 seconds made it 114-112, but that's as close as the Nets would get to taking the lead.
&ldquo;Sometimes, the hole is too big to come back from," Irving said.
Deandre Ayton had 24 points and 14 rebounds to help the Suns snap a three-game losing streak. Brooklyn has lost four straight.
Johnson's return is welcome good news for a team that had lost 12 of 14 games coming into Thursday. He had a crucial steal late in the fourth quarter along with four important free throws.
&ldquo;Man, I can't tell you how good it felt to be back out there," Johnson said.
Both teams were missing some of their star players. Brooklyn's Kevin Durant was out with a knee injury while Phoenix was missing its All-Star backcourt of Devin Booker (groin) and Chris Paul (hip).
The Suns controlled most of the game, pushing to a 94-74 lead by the end of the third quarter. The Nets cut it to 107-102 with about 3:30 left, but then had three straight turnovers to blunt their momentum.
Irving also had seven rebounds and seven assists. He was 11 of 27 from the field.
The Suns pushed to a 65-51 halftime lead after shooting 58.5% from the field. Ayton had 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists before the break.
SIMMONS TOSSED
Nets guard Ben Simmons was ejected early in the third quarter after picking up two quick technicals for arguing.
Simmons was called for an offensive foul on a screen and then started arguing with official Eric Lewis as both went down the court. Lewis called him for his first technical and then Simmons was subbed out of the game. As Simmons sat down, he continued arguing and got his second technical.
After he was ejected, Simmons immediately got up and walked back to the locker room. He finished with seven points, four rebounds and six assists.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough,&rdquo; Simmons said. &ldquo;I am a 6-10 guy who likes to guard certain guys. I am going to be physical. I am not going to tone it down because the refs don't want to see the physicality.&rdquo;
NEW OWNER COURTSIDE
Incoming Suns owner Mat Ishbia was courtside Thursday night, sitting close to the same area that outgoing owner Robert Sarver used to sit.
Ishbia agreed to purchase the Suns from the embattled Sarver for $4 billion in December. The sale is still in the process of being completed. Ishbia is a former Michigan State player under coach Tom Izzo, and was a member of the Spartans&rsquo; NCAA championship team in 2000.
The NBA suspended Sarver in September for one year, plus fined him $10 million, after an investigation found he had engaged in what the league called &ldquo;workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Suns: Paul, Booker, G Josh Okogie (nasal fracture), G Cameron Payne (right foot sprain), G Landry Shamet (right foot soreness) didn't play. ... Had a 25-11 rebounding advantage in the first half ... Hosted a 48th consecutive sellout crowd. ... Saben Lee, who is on a 10-day contract, scored 15 points. ... Has a
&nbsp;

Mikal Bridges scored 28 points, Johnson added 19 off the bench and the still very short-handed Suns held off the Brooklyn Nets 117-112.

Mikal Bridges scores 28 points, Suns beat Nets to snap skid

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving apologized Sunday morning to anyone who felt threatened or hurt when he posted a link to a documentary with antisemitic material, clearing the way to finally play again for the Brooklyn Nets.
Once he did, Irving tried to keep the focus on basketball. Deeper conversations, such as about the demonstrators outside the arena or a possible appeal of his suspension without pay, would be left for another day.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just here to focus on the game,&rdquo; Irving said after scoring <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-brooklyn-nets-philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-cc1aa9bbb57c7a49a6d97bda38ce5c0b">14 points</a> in helping the Nets to a 127-115 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Irving had missed eight games since he was suspended by the team on Nov. 3, hours after he refused to say he had no antisemitic beliefs when meeting with reporters at the Nets&rsquo; practice facility.
Back at the building for the team's morning shootaround, Irving said he should have handled that interview differently.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;I feel like we all should have an opportunity to speak for ourselves when things are assumed about us and I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions, because there was a way I should have handled all this and as I look back and reflect when I had the opportunity to offer my deep regrets to anyone that felt threatened or felt hurt by what I posted, that wasn&rsquo;t my intent at all.&rdquo;
Fans arriving at Barclays Center for the game found the plaza area filled by dozens of members of the group Israel United in Christ, Black men chanting and handing out paraphernalia that contained antisemitic material. The organization's website says its mission is to &ldquo;wake up the 12 Tribes of Israel.&rdquo;
Asked about having that group's support, Irving said he hadn't seen them, adding that it was &ldquo;a conversation for another day.&rdquo;
As for whether action against the Nets was coming &mdash; members of the National Basketball Players Association, including executive director Tamika Tremaglio, were at shootaround and the game &mdash; Irving said others would be handling that for him.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure some things will be done in the future,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no timetable on that right now.&rdquo;
Irving said he was initially searching for more information about his heritage when he posted a link to &ldquo;Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America&rdquo; on his Twitter page. When first asked about it, he was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-82152b5992a02d806760bd15e070433e">defiant about his right to post material</a> that interested him. Then, he refused to apologize or clarify his religious beliefs during another interview a few days later, leading to his suspension.
&ldquo;I was rightfully defensive that there was an assumption that I could be antisemitic, or that I meant to post a documentary to stand side by side with all the views in the documentary,&rdquo; Irving said, adding, &ldquo;How can you call someone an antisemite if you don&rsquo;t know them?&rdquo;
But his tone was more reflective while speaking for about 12 minutes Sunday morning, thanking family and friends for their support.
&ldquo;I meant no harm to any person, to any group of people and yeah, this is a big moment for me because I&rsquo;m able to learn throughout this process that the power of my voice is very strong, the influence that I have within my community is very strong, and I want to be responsible for that,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;In order to do that, you have to admit when you&rsquo;re wrong and in instances where you hurt people and it impacts them.&rdquo;
Nike suspended its relationship with Irving and the fallout seemed to further strain the relationship between Irving and the Nets, who declined to give him a contract extension last summer. He missed most of their home games last season when he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as was mandated at the time in New York City.
The organization said he was &ldquo;unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets&rdquo; when it suspended him. But the Nets praised Irving on Sunday for the steps he has since taken, though it's unclear what those entailed.
&ldquo;Kyrie took ownership of this journey and had conversations with several members of the Jewish community," the team said in a statement. "We are pleased that he is going about the process in a meaningful way.&rdquo;

“I’m just here to focus on the game,” Kyrie Irving said after scoring 14 points as the Nets beat the Grizzlies 127-115 on Sunday.

Irving has 14 points after rejoining Nets, seeks to focus on basketball

Kyrie Irving's suspension is coming to an end after eight games.
The Brooklyn Nets are expected to clear Irving ahead of Sunday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1593376760900374528" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic</a>.
Irving was suspended by the Nets after he tweeted out an Amazon link to the documentary "Hebrews to Negros: Wake Up Black America," which features antisemitic content.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Just In: Suspended Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is expected to be cleared to play on Sunday vs. Memphis at Barclays Center, sources tell <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stadium</a>.
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1593376760900374528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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In order to return to the team, the Nets mandated that Irving complete the following steps:
1) Apologize and condemn the film.
2) Make a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes.
3) Complete sensitivity training.
4) Complete antisemitism training.
5) Meet with the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish leaders.
6) Meet with Tsai to &ldquo;demonstrate an understanding of the situation.&rdquo;
This was controversial, as it was an unprecedented punishment for an NBA player. Not only has Irving completed all six steps, he has <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRally/status/1593382575065923584" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> "gone above and beyond" what was asked of him by the Nets.
Kyrie recently posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckhj8iIu0HN/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lengthy apology</a> on Instagram. He also met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Nets owner Joe Tsai, who both stated that Irving isn't antisemitic.&nbsp;
"Kyrie is continuing his journey of dialogue and education," National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio told <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35041820/sources-kyrie-irving-rejoin-nets-soon-sunday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a>. "He has been grappling with the full weight of the impact of his voice and actions, particularly in the Jewish community.
"Kyrie rejects antisemitism in any form, and he's dedicated to bettering himself and increasing his level of understanding. He plans to continue this journey well into the future to ensure that his words and actions align with his pursuit of truth and knowledge."
This season, Irving has averaged 26.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.6 threes, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, while shooting 45.3% from the field, 28.0% from three and 92.7% from the free-throw line.
The Nets are 7-9, which is the 11th-best record in the Eastern Conference. The team went 5-3 without Irving. Brooklyn has the NBA's 10th-ranked offense (scoring 110.9 points per 100 possessions) and 15th-ranked defense (allowing 109.2 points per 100 possessions).

Kyrie Irving is expected to return on Sunday when the Nets face the Grizzlies, lifting his suspension after eight missed games.

Kyrie Irving expected to return from suspension Sunday vs. Grizzlies

Over the last week, I have been very active on social media voicing my views on the Kyrie Irving situation, which prompted quite a few active NBA players to reach out to me privately to express that they too shared the view that the six requirements laid out for Irving to end his indefinite suspension were not only way over the top and excessive, but insulting.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s do a quick recap of the events that have led us to this point.&nbsp;
Irving shared a link to the documentary &ldquo;From Hebrews To Negroes: Wake Up Black America" without context, which caused a firestorm, as many viewed this as an endorsement of the film.&nbsp;
At his initial press conference, he expressed his reasoning for sharing the doc, saying, &ldquo;When I post, it does not mean that I support everything that&rsquo;s being said or everything that&rsquo;s being done or [that] I&rsquo;m campaigning for anything. All I do is post things for my people and my community.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He also said:&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a divisive person when it comes to religion. I embrace all walks of life. You see it on all my platforms. I talk to all races, all cultures, all religions. And my response would be, it&rsquo;s not about educating yourself on what antisemitism is. It&rsquo;s really about where the root words come from and understanding that this is an African heritage that is also belonging to the people. Africa is in it, whether we want to dismiss it or not. So the claims of antisemitism; who are the original chosen people of God? And we go into these religious conversations and it&rsquo;s a big no-no, I don&rsquo;t live my life that way. I grew up in a melting pot, and I say a melting pot of all races: white, black, red, yellow, Jewish, Christian, Muslim. You see the way I live my life now, I&rsquo;m not here to be divisive."
This was prior to his spat with ESPN's Nick Friedell.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
This was met with criticism, condemnation and accusations that Kyrie was antisemitic, since people felt he was endorsing and promoting antisemitic propaganda (which he said wasn&rsquo;t his intention).
The media as a collective began taking turns bashing Kyrie, attributing beliefs to him that he did not express, and since he didn&rsquo;t vehemently denounce these ideas, many took that as an endorsement. It's not uncommon for athletes to be attacked by certain media talking-heads who shall remain nameless, but what we saw was a unified, non-stop, public lashing of Kyrie across the board.&nbsp;
He deleted his tweet. Then, during another press conference, he was asked if he was antisemitic and his answer was, "I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from." He also explained that he meant no harm, while adding that he wasn&rsquo;t the one who made the documentary.
This drew the ire of Brooklyn Nets governor Joe Tsai, as Irving was swiftly suspended for a minimum of five games and given six steps that had to be completed before he would be allowed to return.
The Nets released a press release that stated: "We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity &mdash; but failed &mdash; to clarify. Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets."
Many people (including some who strongly condemned Kyrie for posting the link to the documentary) viewed this as a blatant attempt to emasculate and dehumanize Irving in front of the entire world.&nbsp;
Irving eventually posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckhj8iIu0HN/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lengthy apology</a> to the entire Jewish community on Instagram.
As I voiced my personal disproval of the six steps he had to complete to return &mdash; which is unprecedented for an NBA suspension &mdash; that&rsquo;s when I started receiving messages from active players who were also outraged by the treatment Kyrie was receiving. However, they didn&rsquo;t feel comfortable saying anything out of fear that a similar outrage would be directed toward them or that an objection to Kyrie's punishment would be interpreted as supporting him posting the movie. They didn't want to be lumped in with Kyrie and face the same backlash. Their apprehension was very understandable.&nbsp;
This caused me to ponder the question: what if this Kyrie backlash causes athletes to go silent again? After all, besides Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Craig Hodges, athletes were pretty quiet back in the 1990s. That continued through my era in the early 2000s. Only recently, since Colin Kaepernick's protest, has there been a resurgence of athletes using their platforms and voices, and it&rsquo;s been beautiful to see. But it&rsquo;s also important to note that since Kaepernick took his stance, he has not played a single snap in the NFL. In addition, all of the protests have stopped and, for the most part, NFL players speaking out has significantly reduced almost to a whisper. Could that happen in the NBA?&nbsp;
Over the last 24 hours, both NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Joe Tsai said that they have met with Kyrie and can report that, in their opinion, he is not antisemitic, which has led many to believe that Irving will be returning to the court soon. But has the damage already been done?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/emerald1.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="402" />
I reached out to Emerald Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner who has a newly-released book that I co-wrote called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finding-My-Voice-Grieving-Pushing/dp/1642598313/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=163ffcc0-f0f3-4ecf-b8fa-907636f54c3f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Finding My Voice,"</a> to discuss this situation. We talked about what it meant to her personally when athletes used their voices and platforms to support her family and whether the Kyrie backlash might scare players into being silent going forward.
Etan: Do you think the backlash that Kyrie Irving is currently receiving has the potential to silence athletes?&nbsp;
Emerald: "I hope not. Listen, I don&rsquo;t know anything about the film, and don&rsquo;t support antisemitism in any form or fashion, but I didn&rsquo;t actually hear Kyrie say anything antisemitic. And correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong, but he didn&rsquo;t produce the documentary, did he? They&rsquo;re acting like it&rsquo;s his film."
Etan: No, he didn&rsquo;t produce it, but to be fair, he did share it without context. But he also cleared up his reasoning for sharing it in his initial press conference. He said he was just sharing it for the information and wasn&rsquo;t endorsing or promoting the film.
Emerald: "So, he apologized and deleted it, right?"
Etan: Yes, he did.
Emerald: "But he still has to go through all of these hoops before he gets to play again?"
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Etan: Yes, the six steps he has to complete are:
1) He has to apologize and condemn the film
2) Make a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes
3) Complete sensitivity training
4) Complete antisemitism training&nbsp;
5) Meet with the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish leaders
6) Meet with Joe Tsai to &ldquo;demonstrate an understanding of the situation.&rdquo;
Emerald: "Wow, that&rsquo;s really a lot. So let me say it like this: officer Daniel Pantaleo murdered my father in broad daylight on video and he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything before he returned to active duty. I wrote about it in my book how traumatizing it was to see him laughing and joking with other cops on the street like nothing happened. He didn&rsquo;t have to do anything. He didn&rsquo;t even have to apologize to the family of the man he murdered. But they&rsquo;re gonna make Kyrie do all this before he can play basketball?"&nbsp;
Etan: Wow, that&rsquo;s a great point.
Emerald: "Listen, Kyrie and LeBron and all of the players on the Brooklyn Nets at the time and Kobe and all of the Lakers team supported my family after my father was choked to death by the NYPD. Back then, every time I turned on the TV, all I saw were people justifying his murder and saying why my father deserved to die. I will forever be thankful to him and all the athletes who stood with us for that."
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/kyrie111.png" alt="" width="651" height="380" />
Etan: Yeah, a lot of people were quiet then, but athletes weren&rsquo;t. That started a new boom of athletes using their voices and platforms. That&rsquo;s why I wrote my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=3aa7746c-b367-4e3f-b314-48164e0e4144" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism"</a> and interviewed so many athletes and impacted family members. I wanted to encourage the next generation of athletes to continue to use their voices and show the impact it has. My fear now is that after this, athletes may start being quiet again or people may advise them to be quiet again in fear of the Kyrie Irving treatment.
Emerald: "And that would be tragic. You have done an amazing job promoting that concept and, yes, there is great power in their voices. When I turned on the TV and saw all of the NBA players wearing 'I Can&rsquo;t Breathe' shirts&hellip; I&rsquo;m getting emotional right now..."
Etan: I&rsquo;m sorry, I don&rsquo;t want to trigger you.
Emerald: "No, it&rsquo;s ok. You know I always get emotional when we talk, and we talked about this in my book, but when I saw them wearing those shirts, it made me feel seen. That someone actually cared about what happened to my father. It didn&rsquo;t feel like anyone cared. The police definitely didn&rsquo;t show any remorse. They all stood around and watched as Officer Pantaleo choked my father to death, then they all supported Pantaleo, not one of them condemned anything. So many people supported Pantaleo like they always do when the police murder someone. But it was Kyrie and NBA players who supported me. And my father loved basketball. He loved every New York team that existed. Even sports he wasn&rsquo;t even that into, if they were [a team in] New York, he supported them. He would&rsquo;ve been so proud how they all supported him. I can see his big smile now. I can&rsquo;t tell you how much I miss seeing that big smile of his."&nbsp;
Etan: It&rsquo;s so important that people know this, and understand this. I&rsquo;ve gone on multiple programs recently and said that silencing athletes that you disagree with isn&rsquo;t the answer. Instead, have an actual dialogue. And I really believe that.
Emerald: "Listen, we have done enough speaking engagements for me to fully understand and be a supporter of dialogue. Of course it&rsquo;s important. And not lectures but actually listening to because, correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong, but I didn&rsquo;t hear Kyrie say anything bad or anti-anything. He said I love everyone, I respect all religions. It&rsquo;s like they&rsquo;re trying to make him believe things that he didn&rsquo;t say he believed. At least that&rsquo;s how I see it."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan: I definitely agree. I didn&rsquo;t hear him actually say anything antisemitic. I&rsquo;m just worried about the effect it will have on athletes moving forward. When I was playing, I had so many people warn me to be careful (including David Stern). I had other people who literally said you don&rsquo;t want to get done like Craig Hodges or Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. I heard Shannon Sharpe initially say that on his show "Undisputed." I see people putting that notion out there.
Emerald: "Well, that would be tragic if athletes did 'shut up and dribble.' I&rsquo;mma be honest, I didn&rsquo;t realize the impact y&rsquo;all have until I started working with you and talking to other impacted families who had athletes stand up for them. How Russell Westbrook spoke up for Terence Crutcher, how Stephen Jackson spoke up for George Floyd, how LeBron speaks up for a lot of families, how the whole Milwaukee Bucks [team] spoke up for Jacob Blake, how the whole NBA spoke up for Breonna Taylor and I can go on and on and on. It&rsquo;s important. Take it from me, it means everything."

Could this Kyrie Irving situation silence athletes going forward? Etan Thomas discusses this with Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald.

Emerald Garner hopes Kyrie Irving backlash doesn’t silence athletes

The Brooklyn Nets recently suspended Kyrie Irving without pay "until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct." What does that entail?
<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1589056640682426368?s=20&amp;t=9baEFHQ53cMrtzOLYZj97g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic</a> reports that the Nets have given Irving six items that he must complete in order to return to the team.
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Sources: Nets have delivered Kyrie Irving six items he must complete to return to team: - Apologize/condemn movie - $500K donation to anti-hate causes - Sensitivity training - Antisemitic training - Meet with ADL, Jewish leaders - Meet with Joe Tsai to demonstrate understanding
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1589056640682426368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

The Nets announced that Irving would be suspended for a minimum of five games.
Irving recently issued the following apology on Instagram:
"While doing research on YHWH, I posted a Documentary that contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take full accountability and responsibility for my actions. I am grateful to have a big platform to share knowledge and I want to move forward by having an open dialogue to learn more and grow from this.
"To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize. I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary. I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against Anti-Semitism by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the Documentary I agreed with and disagreed with. I had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate. I am learning from this unfortunate event and hope we can find understanding between us all. I am no different than any other human being. I am a seeker of truth and knowledge, and I know who I Am."

The Brooklyn Nets have given Kyrie Irving a list of tasks that he must complete in order to return to the team.

Nets set six steps Kyrie Irving must complete to return to team

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

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

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the offensive splendor of Dirk Nowitzki and the dramatic evolution of his career.

Blazing the Trail: Dirk Nowitzki, the unicorn that became world champion

In the latest installment of his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the two-way brilliance of Shawn Kemp.

Blazing the Trail: Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist

Is the NBA ready to add an expansion team? Evan Sidery explores what kind of team you could build in a present-day expansion draft.

NBA Expansion Mock Draft: What would a new expansion team look like?

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills. 
In this second installment, Mat goes in-depth on two-time All-Star power forward Rashard Lewis and his lasting impact as a stretch 4 with insight from Bob Beyer and Ahmad Ajami, two former Orlando Magic assistants who worked closely with Lewis. 
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Like many things in basketball, the concept of the "stretch 4" was not invented in the 2000s.&nbsp;
However, before the turn of the century, the archetype was almost exclusively viewed as a matchup-based tool. Using a baseball analogy, it was like having a lefty reliever in the bullpen reserved for specific circumstances rather than an ace at the head of your rotation.
But that all changed when a combination of untimely injuries and coaching ingenuity led to Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy starting Rashard Lewis at the power forward position. Lewis became a true All-Star while playing the stretch 4 and helped influence this revolution.
What Made Lewis Special&nbsp;
Like his stretch-4 predecessors, Lewis was lethal from the perimeter. In the 2008-09 season, he shot nearly 40% from downtown while leading the NBA in total three-point makes and attempts.
Despite his prowess, Lewis was far more than just a stationary sniper. During his formative years, he underwent what I call "the Anthony Davis growth trajectory" &mdash; a phenomenon where a basketball player grows up playing as a guard, hits an unforeseen massive growth spurt and then matures into a big with guard skills. And, because that happened, Lewis was able to combine a 6-foot-10 stature with his bucket-getting chops, which earned him the moniker: &ldquo;Sweet Lew.&rdquo;
Sweet Lew quickly became a defense's worst nightmare.&nbsp;
&ldquo;At that time, length and athleticism at the 4 wasn&rsquo;t as prevalent as it is now,&rdquo; said Ahmad Ajami, a former Magic assistant coach under Van Gundy for five seasons between 2007 and 2012.
&ldquo;He could play both inside and out,&rdquo; Van Gundy&rsquo;s longtime right-hand man Bob Beyer stated about Lewis.
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Too big for smalls, too fast for bigs. This was a recurring storyline throughout Lewis&rsquo; career.&nbsp;
That narrative reached its climax during Orlando&rsquo;s iconic 2009 Eastern Conference Finals bout with the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. During that series, Lewis burned slow-footed big men Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varej&atilde;o with his superior quickness, and alpha'd the smaller Delonte West by elegantly lofting jumpers over top of him.
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&ldquo;The guy who probably [doesn&rsquo;t get] the credit that he deserves is Rashard... It [all] goes back to Rashard,&rdquo; Beyer recalled when describing Orlando&rsquo;s success against Cleveland. &ldquo;Rashard could exploit their two bigs out there.&rdquo;
In the six-game series, Lewis eviscerated Cleveland, averaging 18.3 points on 64.0% True Shooting, all while hitting some <a href="https://youtu.be/KXy51IiFwlU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">critical</a> shots en route to Orlando&rsquo;s only title appearance of the aughts.
On-Court Production&nbsp;
Throughout his career, Lewis&rsquo; impact derived primarily from his value as a scorer and spacer. During his All-Star campaign in 2008-09, he was second on the Magic in both scoring volume and efficiency (among players who played at least 50 games). He also ranked in the 93rd percentile in spacing league-wide, according to BackPicks.com.
The impact metrics available at the time seem to agree with his nomination, painting Lewis as a <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1552312398425505799?s=20&amp;t=NTXuTyPlBNy_vSgSTYRC4Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fringe All-Star contributor</a>.
However, what he accomplished by working in unison with Magic frontcourt mates Dwight Howard and Hedo T&uuml;rkoğlu was much more important than his individual success. In isolation, each member of the trio was a solid offensive player. But in the aggregate, the three coalesced to form a multi-faceted machine.&nbsp;
On the surface, this particular Magic team greatly resembled the infrastructure of the two-time world-champion Houston Rockets from the 1990s. Under the guidance of Rudy Tomjanovich, those Rockets deployed a progressive 4-out, 1-in offensive scheme with the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon flanked by four shooters on the perimeter.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
However, those Houston teams were founded on Olajuwon&rsquo;s reputation in the post that allowed him to regularly commandeer the attention of a second defender (<a href="https://streamable.com/g76o6v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like this</a>). Meanwhile, Howard was more of a play-finisher than a pure isolationist on the low block.
&ldquo;Dwight could really excel when he was on the move. He was a good runner in transition. He was a good roller in pick-and-rolls,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;Runner, roller and the other thing &mdash; we would get a lot of spin-out lobs.&rdquo;
Pair Howard's finishing with T&uuml;rkoğlu&rsquo;s size, ball-handling and pull-up shooting, and add Lewis&rsquo; expansive scoring repertoire, and you had a recipe for offensive brilliance.
The Magic (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like the D&rsquo;Antoni-led Suns</a>) were a pick-and-roll-centric team, with their pet play being a three-man action involving their frontcourt triumvirate.
Beyer said that Orlando called it a &ldquo;Thumb Down Spread,&rdquo; basically a middle pick-and-roll featuring T&uuml;rkoğlu as the ball-handler and Howard as the screener, with Lewis lurking one pass away.
Here&rsquo;s a demonstration of the play in theory and in practice (with a <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/roll-replace-a8ff659fb5d9#:~:text=Definition%3A%20A%20pick%2Dand%2D,the%20paint%20to%20the%20perimeter." target="_blank" rel="noopener">roll-and-replace</a> wrinkle from Lewis):
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Visual diagram presented by Luceo Sports
&ldquo;That was our go-to play,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;It forced the defense to protect the basket... because Dwight [was] such a dynamic roller. If you consistently dropped your big back to take the roll away, Hedo was more than capable of making that three-point shot or pull-up two. We would run the roll-and-replace action where we would come and lift Rashard up, and then, there&rsquo;s another deadly three-point shooter.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about scoring options at all three of those positions on the floor."
(Beyer also mentioned another variation of the play that utilized Lewis as the screener called the &ldquo;Thumb Up Spread,&rdquo; <a href="https://streamable.com/vqacfu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">literally signaled by a thumb up</a>.)
Typically, the major drawback that comes with playing these offensively-slanted lineups comes at the defensive end, as more offense usually means less defense. But this iteration of the Magic defied the laws of statistics, touting the No. 1 defense in the NBA in 2009.
The keystone to this formidable front was, of course, Howard.
&ldquo;[You&rsquo;d] be hard-pressed to find a rim-protector and [overall] defender &mdash; on-ball and off-ball &mdash; like Dwight,&rdquo; Ajami stated.
And despite his slender frame causing some issues against "classical" power forwards (see: 2009 Finals), Lewis compensated for his deficiencies by leveraging his great length and sound hands (87th percentile steal rate in 2009, per Cleaning the Glass) to create chaos on and off the ball.
&ldquo;Both Rashard and Hedo T&uuml;rkoğlu were so long,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;They were very intelligent [and used] their length to defend guys. They were active with their hands. Their closeouts were appropriate &mdash; based on who they were guarding. And, if they were to get beat, they still had confidence that the next play could be made by Dwight to clean it up.&rdquo;
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While some view their magical run as an anomaly, the threesome operated at the level of a true contender. According to PBP stats, in the 1,268 minutes Lewis, Howard and T&uuml;rkoğlu shared in 2008-09, the Magic posted a Net Rating of plus-12.68 (the equivalent of a 71-win pace in an 82-game season).&nbsp;
For reference, that is a higher <a href="http://www.pbpstats.com/lineup-subunits/nba?LineupId=200782-201572-201950-203114-203507&amp;TeamId=1610612749&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;SubUnitSize=3">NET</a> number than what the trio of Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted during their championship season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
&ldquo;Nobody would have ever guessed that we would have been as successful as we were,&rdquo; Ajami smiled. &ldquo;But we were right there.
&ldquo;That group of guys was extremely special.&rdquo;
Weaving the Thread &nbsp; In a <a href="https://theathletic.com/1504385/2020/01/07/orlando-magic-forgotten-3-point-innovators/">feature article</a> from 2020, The Athletic's Josh Robbins credited two factors for Van Gundy&rsquo;s decision to start Lewis at the 4: &ldquo;Necessity and smart thinking.&rdquo;&nbsp;
For some context, the Magic initially planned to start traditional power forward Tony Battie. But when he was ruled out for the entirety of the 2007-08 campaign, Van Gundy decided to experiment with Lewis playing the stretch 4 full-time.
However, dig into the weeds a little further, and one could posit that this innovation was more than happenstance, and that Van Gundy and Lewis had seen this before.
In 2008-09, Orlando&rsquo;s three-point attempt rate (3PAr) had a frequency 11.1% higher than the league average. Let&rsquo;s look at teams that posted a similar relative 3PAr that came before them:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/original-chart.jpg" alt="" width="585" height="449" />
An interesting cast of characters indeed (man, Pitino's teams loved to let it fly).
Now, let&rsquo;s narrow our focus to three specific instances:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/focus-chart.jpg" alt="" width="585" height="438" />
First are the 1996-97 Miami Heat, led by "The Godfather" Pat Riley. Who was his lead assistant during that time? None other than Stanley Alan Van Gundy.
Secondly, the 2003-04 Seattle SuperSonics. Before he landed in Orlando, Lewis had some practice slotting in at power forward under Sonics head coach Nate McMillan &mdash; spending 20% of his minutes that season at the 4 spot, per Basketball-Reference. Although, it is worth noting that Vladimir Radmanović was Seattle's primary stretch 4 (playing 80% of his minutes at power forward).
And lastly, the 2006-07 Houston Rockets. It was the last pit stop for the legendary Jeff Van Gundy, Stan&rsquo;s younger brother. Also featured on that team was Tracy McGrady &mdash; a player whom Lewis has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1snSMtaSU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly acknowledged he studied and modeled his game after</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I would specify it that cleanly," Beyer said with a chuckle. "But I do know this: I know how much Stan values shooting, and I know how much Stan is always trying to come up with lineups where the best players are on the floor together. So, your theory makes a lot of sense to me.&rdquo;
The point is that, whether it was an intentional decision, a freak coincidence, or a case of cryptomnesia, you can see that past experiences in Lewis and Van Gundy&rsquo;s professional lives had them trending in this direction the entire time. And together, they made sweet music.
Impact on Today&rsquo;s Game
Unlike Steve Nash, finding direct descendants for Lewis is more of an arduous endeavor because, nowadays, seemingly everyone employs a stretch 4 to some degree. In this past season alone, 15 players listed as power forwards on Basketball-Reference surpassed 4.4 three-point attempts per game (Lewis&rsquo; career average).
Ajami stated that, because of the absence of positional constructs in modern-day basketball, he only thinks about positions as who you guard on defense.
&ldquo;Basketball has almost become positionless,&rdquo; Ajami said. &ldquo;To me, you playing the 4 or 5 really just means who on the other team you're defending because, for us, our 4 and our 5... have got to be able to do the same things we ask our 2 and our 3 to do.&rdquo;
With that said, more direct comparisons still exist.
In 2020-21, the Utah Jazz led the league with a relative 3PAr of plus-9.6. One could find a lot of parallels between their frontcourt of Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanović and Rudy Gobert and the one the Magic rode to the NBA Finals. (Bogdanović plays the role of Lewis in this analogy.)
Coming into the 2018 NBA Draft, <a href="https://theathletic.com/266715/2018/03/09/potential-knicks-lottery-pick-profile-michael-porter-jr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some scouts</a> viewed Michael Porter Jr. as a new-age version of Lewis. And when his back was right, Michael Malone would frequently run jumbo frontcourt lineups featuring MPJ, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. (Coincidentally, Malone&rsquo;s father Brendan was an assistant coach on those Magic teams).
You can even see some influence from the Magic on this current iteration of the Cavaliers &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/in-the-nba-length-matters-unedited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three seven-footers in the frontcourt</a> with Lauri Markkanen operating as their de facto Lewis.
Ironically enough, Lewis&rsquo; legacy has made his offensive archetype less unique than it was when he was playing (something we will see a lot in this series). None of the heirs to Lewis we listed have achieved All-Star status because the stretch 4 has become a staple feature on every team.
Nonetheless, Lewis and those Magic teams pushed the limits of what was once thought possible for the position &mdash; the hallmark feature of any basketball pioneer.
And for his overarching impact on the game, Lewis deserves his respect, his All-Star nominations and, most of all, his own chapter in the history of the NBA.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/lewis-genealogy-chart.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="495" />
Tune in next week for Part III of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Shane Battier &mdash; the data-ball defender.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: "Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint."</a>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa focuses on two-time All-Star Rashard Lewis and his lasting impact as a stretch 4.

Blazing the Trail: Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills. 
In this first installment, Mat goes in-depth on Hall-of-Fame point guard Steve Nash and his incredible effect on the point guard position, with insight from Mike D'Antoni, Raja Bell and more. 
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When Steve Nash earned back-to-back NBA MVP awards in the mid-2000s, some circles viewed his achievements as a horrid oversight on the part of voters.
How is it possible that &mdash; in a world featuring the likes of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal &mdash; the league&rsquo;s most prestigious regular-season honor could be awarded to someone averaging less than 20 points per game? The nerds are ruining our sport!
But what if I told you the so-called "nerds" got this one right? What if Nash really was the most valuable player in the world? And what if he was a pioneer who blazed the trail for a generation of All-Star floor generals?
Let&rsquo;s find out.
What Made Nash Special
To understand Nash as a quarterback, we first need pick the brain of his offensive coordinator that season: then-Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D&rsquo;Antoni.&nbsp;
D'Antoni is a well-traveled basketball mind with an ideology morphed during his playing days at the University of Marshall, a brief stint in the NBA and his legendary career in Italy. At his core, he believed in efficiency, creativity and enabling players with the freedom to express themselves.
&ldquo;Basketball is an art,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Antoni told Basketball News via Zoom. &ldquo;Everybody could be Picasso if you had rules. [In basketball], there are no rules.&rdquo;
Raja Bell, a two-time All-NBA defender and Nash&rsquo;s former running mate, explained D&rsquo;Antoni&rsquo;s philosophy in detail.
&ldquo;Taking the reins all the way off &mdash; that&rsquo;s what D&rsquo;Antoni essentially did for players, and that&rsquo;s why most people have so much success with him offensively," Bell explained to Basketball News. "[With him], there are no bad shots. Every time you toe that line, and you're open, he wants you to let it go. [With] other coaches, you miss one, they might get you out of there or talk to you about driving the ball. Mike never did that.&rdquo;
D&rsquo;Antoni&rsquo;s greatest contribution to the game was, without question, his implementation of the spread pick-and-roll offense.&nbsp;
For those unfamiliar with the scheme, Orlando Magic assistant Dylan Murphy (better known by some as the author of the invaluable <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/the-basketball-dictionary-5c3835e9fe58">Basketball Dictionary</a>) defined the concept in layman's terms.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the basic idea of putting guys around the three, running pick-and-roll and making [the defense] pick between protecting against the roll, protecting against the ball-handler getting to the rim or protecting the three-point line,&rdquo; Murphy said.
To visualize how the Suns utilized this pick-and-roll variation, here's an example.
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In Nash, D&rsquo;Antoni obtained the conduit who could bring his pace-and-space vision to fruition. As D&rsquo;Antoni puts it, Nash wielded four attributes that made him the ideal spread pick-and-roll conductor: great shooting, playmaking, decision-making and finishing.
D&rsquo;Antoni called Nash one of the greatest shooters ever, and like one of Steve&rsquo;s jumpers, he was right on the money. According to Cleaning the Glass, Nash placed in the 90th percentile or higher in three-point and mid-range shooting every season from 2004 to 2010. Nash's proficiency from long range made drop coverage and going under screens a moot point for defenses.
His playmaking and decision-making exist in the same rarified air. The ultimate <a href="https://www.npr.org/2006/05/16/5408616/steve-nash-basketballs-selfless-socialist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-court Marxist</a>, Nash had every high-value delivery method in the book at his disposal. From 2000 to 2012, he placed in the 97th percentile or higher in Ben Taylor&rsquo;s Box Creation stat (a metric that estimates playmaking), leading the league in that category seven times during that span.&nbsp;
Lastly, the Canadian floor general boasted a reliable finishing profile thanks to his dexterity and footwork that were groomed by years of soccer and jump-roping. His training as a finisher made him a master of dribble penetration, something that separated him from Utah Jazz great John Stockton. Nash constantly got two feet in the paint, which allowed him to hypnotize defenses and pick them apart accordingly.
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On-Court Production
Despite facing a great deal of criticism for their offensive-orientated approach, the Suns demonstrated a championship-caliber recipe nearly a decade before The Splash Brothers hung a banner at Oracle Arena.
<a href="https://www.compare.bet/en-us/news/which-teams-are-eligible-for-an-nba-finals-run-this-season">Historically</a>, teams that make the Finals either have a great deal of balance on both ends of the court or are outlier-level elite at one end of the floor.
Under Nash, Phoenix finished top-two in the league in Offensive Rating every season from 2004 to 2010. For reference, the only other all-time primary ball-handler to accomplish this feat was Magic Johnson (1984-90), and it&rsquo;s safe to say that those offensively-slanted Los Angeles Lakers teams were indeed championship-caliber.
Individually, Nash put together the best offensive profile of any of the other MVP contenders of his time (not to mention that his team had the best record in the league that year):
2004-05 MVP Candidates: Offensive Stats (By Percentile)*
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
Player
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
Scoring Volume
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
Scoring Efficiency
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
Passing
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
Playmaking
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
Spacing
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
Off. BPM
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
Duncan
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
93rd
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
56th
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
61st
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
64th
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
12th
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
87th
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
Iverson
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
99th
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
47th
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
81st
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
99th
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
64th
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
87th
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
Nash
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
55th
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
97th
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
100th
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
100th
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
97th
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
100th
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
Nowitzki
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
96th
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
84th
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
69th
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
78th
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
99th
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
98th
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 12.9243%;">
O&rsquo;Neal
</td>
<td style="width: 17.1018%;">
97th
</td>
<td style="width: 18.6684%;">
89th
</td>
<td style="width: 13.3159%;">
62nd
</td>
<td style="width: 14.6214%;">
72nd
</td>
<td style="width: 10.9661%;">
1st
</td>
<td style="width: 12.2715%;">
95th
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Data Provided by Backpicks.com (scroll right to view full table on mobile) 
And while guards typically have a limited impact on the defensive side of the ball, Nash did enough on that end (by way of charge-drawing and off-ball intellect) to help propel the Suns to around average on defense from 2004 to 2010.
So why didn&rsquo;t the Suns make the NBA Finals?
Luck and shooting variance are two obvious, uncontrollable factors. However, Nash and D&rsquo;Antoni have both <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-nash-on-the-horry-shove-2007s-heartbreak/id1483525141?i=1000461769297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> that they wished they doubled down more on what made them so special: zagging when others continued to zig.
&ldquo;You got all the criticism. You got all the people [criticizing you]. And you do sometimes back off when you should double down on it,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Antoni said.
&ldquo;At the time, Mike was so ahead of most of the NBA. There probably was some pressure &mdash; even within his own camp &mdash; to do things he might not have in his gut wanted to do, and given the time that&rsquo;s passed, wouldn&rsquo;t do now,&rdquo; Bell added. &ldquo;You could see that manifest itself in the way Mike coached with Houston, where he essentially said, 'F*** everything else. This is what we&rsquo;re going to do.'&rdquo;
To understand what "doubling down" essentially entails, let&rsquo;s take a look at a play from the Suns' infamous clash with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.
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In this clip, Nash forces the legendary Tim Duncan out to the perimeter in a manner analogous to how Stephen Curry <a href="https://streamable.com/fps4dz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced Robert Williams III and Al Horford to the three-point line </a>in the 2022 Finals.&nbsp;
Unfortunately for Phoenix, instances like that were few and far between. After Duncan strummed their defense to the tune of 33 points in Game 1, the Suns scrapped their original starting lineup that featured Amar'e Stoudemire at center, and instead turned to a more conventional rotation with Kurt Thomas playing the 5. The two teams were playing chicken, and the Suns were the ones to duck first.&nbsp;
The following year, Phoenix acquired an aging Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal as a last-ditch effort to battle with Duncan. But all this countermeasure amounted to was a gentleman&rsquo;s sweep at the hands of the Spurs in the 2008 postseason.
&ldquo;The way we beat them was not gonna be to match up to their better bigs," Bell said. "It was going to be to make them match down to, in theory, our better smalls."
Rather than try to outbid the best big in the Western Conference, Phoenix should have forced San Antonio to keep pace with its superior spacing.
&ldquo;I should have made Steve shoot more," D&rsquo;Antoni reflected. "He should have shot more threes. He&rsquo;s one of the best shooters ever."
Weaving the Thread&nbsp;
The dirty little secret about our series is that basketball has existed for far too long for there to be any true pioneers in the 1990s and 2000s. Each of these trailblazers was influenced in some way or another by the players who came before them.
For Nash, that player was Isiah Thomas.
&ldquo;My hero growing up was Isiah Thomas," Nash stated on the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-nash-ep-34-all-the-smoke-full-episode-stayhome/id1483638752?i=1000473893537">All the Smoke</a> podcast in May 2020. "He had everything, but he wasn&rsquo;t jumping over people, so I was like, 'Okay, there is someone I can try and emulate.' He was quick, but other than that, he used his skill level, his creativity [and] his competitive nature. The fight in him was incredible."
Like Nash, Thomas was adept at knifing his way into the paint and making mincemeat of his adversaries once he got there (<a href="https://streamable.com/vlfunj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like this</a>).
However, Nash wasn&rsquo;t a mere copycat. He expanded on his idol&rsquo;s dribble penetration. Before him, a ball-handler's entry into the paint signified one of four outcomes: a shot, a pass, a foul or a turnover. Nash&rsquo;s odyssey to stardom birthed a new wrinkle to basketball's dark arts &mdash; the perpetual dribble probe.&nbsp;
Better known today as &ldquo;Nashing.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Just because Steve was driving to the basket, didn&rsquo;t mean that he was going to finish right there,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Antoni explained.&nbsp;
Akin to how a hockey player may continuously cycle the puck around the ice to tire out an opponent, Nash would often maintain his dribble in the paint to extend the period in which he commanded the defense's gaze, which created more opportunities for teammates to spring free.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/83z6gz" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
&ldquo;With Nash, he popularized it, where he would keep his dribble alive past the basket," Sporting News writer Steph Noh explained to Basketball News. "He would go along the baseline and circle around the lane. And by extending his dribble like that, it would extend the time where teammates could get open, [and] it would give defenses the opportunity to make a mistake and let their guard down.
"And you&rsquo;ve seen that pretty much every small point guard that isn&rsquo;t a freak has found how effective that technique is and incorporated it into their own game &mdash; across all levels."
D&rsquo;Antoni believes Nash owns original patent rights on the technique.
"I think he was the first one that started doing that," D'Antoni said.
Impact on Today&rsquo;s Game
When asked who in today&rsquo;s game most resembles the former two-time MVP, Bell immediately suggested the reigning Finals MVP, Stephen Curry.
&ldquo;Steph Curry reminds me a lot of Nash. They&rsquo;re great athletes, don&rsquo;t get me wrong. But they&rsquo;re not put-your-elbow-in-the-rim type athletes.&rdquo; Bell said. &ldquo;These are athletes that people could see themselves in.
&ldquo;They both have really great hand-eye coordination, really good pace, great handle &mdash; like, they have it on a string. Even if it doesn&rsquo;t look like the AND1 mixtape all the time, I think they use it efficiently and effectively. They both have a great ability to be in the pocket [and] under control. [Both] have great vision. They are very similar.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Along with Curry, another All-NBA guard who warrants comparison to the Phoenix legend is Trae Young. Young even <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-116-trae-young/id1525281746?i=1000562762348" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly stated</a> that he picked up one of his most recognizable dribble moves &mdash; <a href="https://youtu.be/spnrMvqzjek" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his hesitation dribble</a> &mdash; from studying Nash.&nbsp;
Nash&rsquo;s legacy doesn&rsquo;t end there. Young guards like Fred VanVleet have earned All-Star nominations by following the pathway Nash carved out for them when he was dealing in the mid-2000s.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He kind of made it okay to dribble the air out the ball a little bit, keeping looking, because you knew he wasn&rsquo;t being selfish about it,&rdquo; VanVleet said in an March 2018 interview with <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/steve-nashs-basketball-legacy-can-seen-played-every-night/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SportsNet</a>.
There&rsquo;s no question that Nash&rsquo;s environmental footprint on the league is intense. And when you combine those innovative tactics with progressive coaching and elite scoring efficiency and playmaking, you get something more than just a great player.
You get an MVP, a Hall-of-Famer and, most importantly for us &mdash; you get a revolutionary.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/nash-tree.jpg" alt="" width="599" height="599" />
Tune in next week for Part 2 of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Rashard Lewis &mdash; the pioneer of the modern-day stretch 4.

In the first installment of his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa goes in-depth on Steve Nash and his effect on the point guard position.

Blazing the Trail: Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint

We've reached the final frontier for over half of the squads in Las Vegas.
Eighteen NBA teams played their final contest of the summer on Saturday. The afternoon offered one more chance for prospects to assert themselves to their respective franchises.
In some cases, the results came almost instantly. Mfiondu Kabengele, for example, has reportedly agreed to a two-way contract with the Celtics after consistently standing out over the past 10 days.&nbsp;
The following players left their mark in yesterday's matchups and gave front offices something meaningful to ponder in the weeks before training camp:
STUDS
Kenny Lofton Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kenny Lofton Jr. was a FORCE in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> action today!<a href="https://twitter.com/itzjunior34?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@itzjunior34</a>: 27 PTS, 12 REB, 2 BLK <a href="https://t.co/Qu48c8k9c4">pic.twitter.com/Qu48c8k9c4</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1548463043587162115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 10/16 FG, 2/3 3PT
The undrafted rookie finished his breakout Summer League with a bang. Lofton went to work in the post, overpowering opponents with his physicality and soft shooting touch. He also knocked down two threes and drilled a beautiful step-back move. Though he's undersized (6-foot-7) and lacking length or leaping ability, Lofton uses his 275-pound fame to his advantage, and his skills and vision make him an overall offensive positive. He's outshone a couple of Memphis' draft picks this summer and the franchise should try to lock him down long-term.
Malaki Branham, San Antonio Spurs
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
BUCK3TS! 💦 Back to back to back triples for <a href="https://twitter.com/MalakiBranham?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MalakiBranham</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoSpursGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoSpursGo</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Knkq9D3ZX">pic.twitter.com/5Knkq9D3ZX</a>
&mdash; San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs/status/1548452224094707713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 23 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 8/15 FG, 5/8 3PT
The No. 20 overall pick logged his most efficient scoring performance of the summer. Branham did most of his work shooting off the catch, but has an easy, repeatable shooting stroke that was locked in against the Grizzlies. He knew how to relocate into position for defenders to kick the ball out. San Antonio mostly used Branham off the ball in Vegas and he's still a pure scorer at this stage. I'd like to see Branham extend his pull-up game to the arc and receive more reps as an initiator.&nbsp;
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Kevon Harris, Minnesota Timberwolves
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Kevon Harris tags the big, controlled closeout on the skip to the corner, then hits the step-back 3 on the other end. <a href="https://t.co/bDrg78CbuQ">pic.twitter.com/bDrg78CbuQ</a>
&mdash; Aram Cannuscio (@AC__Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/AC__Hoops/status/1548429205469143043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 9/11 FG, 4/4 3PT
Harris played an awesome Summer League as a third-year pro who went undrafted in 2020. He has impressive burst as a 6-foot-6 wing, and frequently used it to attack the basket and finish for layups and dunks. Harris was also locked in from long range, with the above sequence standing out as a noteworthy make. Harris played in the G League last season with Raptors 905, and has definitely earned another opportunity to make the NBA.
JT Thor, Charlotte Hornets
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
LOOK AT WHERE JT THOR JUMPS FROM <a href="https://t.co/lYG9Ae2U0e">pic.twitter.com/lYG9Ae2U0e</a>
&mdash; Fastbreak Breakfast (@fastbreakbreak) <a href="https://twitter.com/fastbreakbreak/status/1548415783532802050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 28 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, 9/14 FG, 3/6 3PT
I had been mildly underwhelmed by Thor's summer to date. Then, the second-year forward came out and dominated on Saturday. His long arms and aggressive digs and double-teams led to several steals. On offense, he displayed improved touch by knocking down some triples and an additional runner. Of course, Thor dropped the hammer on some massive dunks, including the one above. This was an exciting high note for the second-round pick to end on.
Charlie Moore, Detroit Pistons
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Special Delivery by Charlie Moore 📨 Live Now on ESPN U <a href="https://t.co/gmT4861app">pic.twitter.com/gmT4861app</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1548400538055634952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 9/14 FG, 3/5 3PT
Moore wowed as a passer in Detroit's win against the Magic. That acrobatic dish stands out, but he made more solid corner reads and sent in some excellent high-low entry passes. His ability to change directions and speeds also helped him as a scorer despite being just 6-feet tall as a point guard. Moore played for four different schools in college before going undrafted this summer. Hopefully he's able to find a permanent NBA home as a pro.
Juhann Begarin, Boston Celtics
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Juhann Begarin drive and mid-air kick to the corner where JD Davison hits the 3 <a href="https://t.co/FieJfJpFRI">pic.twitter.com/FieJfJpFRI</a>
&mdash; Aram Cannuscio (@AC__Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/AC__Hoops/status/1548459758960537600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 9/17 FG, 3/6 3PT
Begarin is a spring-loaded wing with tons of energy, and at times this summer, that energy led to him playing out of control. In this game, the French wing found the right balance. Begarin made solid plays as a passer, hitting a rolling Mfiondu Kabengele and corner shooter JD Davison for nice assists. He took off to the basket multiple times and flew all the way to the rim.
Begarin isn't afraid to play through contact, and though he has peaks and valleys from distance, he certainly holds confidence. We'll see if he showed enough for the Celtics to pull him over from Europe.
Cam Thomas, Brooklyn Nets 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Watching <a href="https://twitter.com/24_camthomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@24_camthomas</a> get buckets never gets old <a href="https://t.co/dPxBFemQzY">pic.twitter.com/dPxBFemQzY</a>
&mdash; Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1548474554162356227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Box Score Stats: 25 points, 6 assists, 10/20 FG, 0/1 3PT
Thomas capped his dominant Summer League with one more scoring showcase. Despite attempting just one three-pointer, the second-year guard reeled in 25 points with his full pull-up package plus some layups and runners. Thomas' assists weren't highlight-reel plays, but he was level-headed and patient with his reads. Who knows what Brooklyn's roster looks like by opening night, but I'd imagine Thomas is in line for a minutes bump this season.
Other notable performers: David Roddy (Grizzlies), Matt Lewis (Timberwolves), RJ Nembhard Jr. (Cavaliers), Isaiah Mobley (Cavaliers), Tyrese Martin (Hawks), Jules Bernard (Pistons), Malcolm Hill (Bulls), Carlik Jones (Bulls), Charlie Brown Jr. (76ers), Grant Riller (76ers), David Duke Jr. (Nets), JD Davison (Celtics), Jeriah Horne (Kings), Tari Eason (Rockets), AJ Lawson (Mavericks), Cole Swider (Lakers)
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DUDS
Trevelin Queen, Philadelphia 76ers
Box Score Stats: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 6/19 FG, 0/10 3PT
After I highlighted Queen on Friday, he unfortunately put up a long-range goose egg on Saturday. He was mostly using screens to get shots up and had some rough misses. The rest of Queen's afternoon was solid, and he did shoot 6-for-9 inside the arc. This 0-for-10 outing just sticks out as an eyesore after a strong effort in Las Vegas.
Max Christie, Los Angeles Lakers
Box Score Stats: 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1/6 FG, 0/3 3PT
Christie is simply a ways away from being a consistent scorer. The rookie guard airballed one three-pointer and settled for too many bad shots, particularly in the mid-range. He's not offering much off the dribble as a playmaker and has been confined to floor-spacing duties most of this summer. Christie has had his bright moments, but he's going to take some time to find a groove offensively.&nbsp;
Brandon Boston Jr., Los Angeles Clippers
Box Score Stats: 7 points, 2 blocks, 2/11 FG, 0/5 3PT
After a 22-point outburst on Friday, Boston came back down to Earth in LAC's loss to Miami. Both of his makes were tough, contested layups, which is promising for Boston's ability to use his length and growing frame. But he missed a bunch of spot-up threes he needs to make and didn't offer as much as a passer compared to his prior game. The upside flashes are definitely still there with Boston, but he didn't translate it to enough consistent production at Summer League.

Kenny Lofton Jr., JT Thor and Juhann Begarin highlighted Saturday's Summer League action.

10 studs and duds from Day 10 of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas

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NBA Rumor Tracker: Compiling the latest news and intel

Keep track of where the top 2022 undrafted free agents are headed after draft night.

Devon