Wildcats

Team USA players came inside the Kerry Sports basketball facility one by one, each sporting their preferred and comfortable gear from the blazing heat of the Philippine weather they were not so accustomed to. They were about to hold their first practices in Manila for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the sport&rsquo;s world championship meet.
Anthony Edwards was one of the last ones to enter the gym along with fellow NBA no.1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. He had his Adidas Adilette comfort slides put on with black Team USA jogger pants and an Adidas triple-colored hoodie. Edwards was fixated on his phone, walking past whispering reporters onto the team&rsquo;s huddle at center court, clearly being the center of attraction for the young Team USA squad.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s who they call the Ant-Man.&rdquo;
Once upon a time, Edwards&rsquo; name was held in a much lower regard. The 22-year-old is considered to be one of the best and brightest young players in the league but has yet to establish himself as one of the staples and premier superstars with an iconic and deep playoff performance that cements him in that tier.
Until these playoffs.
Edwards has separated himself from the pack of young superstars leading their teams and entered the upper echelon of basketball royalty in the NBA. With the league anticipating the &lsquo;changing of the guard&rsquo; as current faces LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually diminish their shining glories as the league&rsquo;s best of the best, Edwards comes in as one of the hopefuls to take the mantle when that inevitable day comes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying that he (Edwards) is the face of the league but he hates it when I say it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s true. The future&rsquo;s so bright you gotta put the sunglasses on when you&rsquo;re walking around him,&rdquo; Karl-Anthony Towns said, in their post-game interview after their first-round series with the&nbsp;Phoenix Suns.
Edwards glanced briefly at Towns, who was beside him at the podium. He had that little smile on his face while bowing down his head as his teammate praised him in front of the listening reporters. He looked at Towns again, this time shaking his head in disbelief, but it had the element of confidence. There was obviously a focus on what Towns was talking about but with Edwards&rsquo; elite level-headedness through it all.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a young superstar in the league and you have to face it,&rdquo; the statement emphasized on Edwards as he&rsquo;s trying to soak it all in.
Ever since Edwards has been adamant about not calling himself anything until he wins in the playoffs. Now that his Wolves beat the Suns to win the franchise&rsquo;s first playoff series since 2004, Edwards certainly has all the right in the world to give himself even the tiniest bit of praise.
He thought for a good three seconds, glancing at the reporter and the horizon for a moment. He was just asked if he was now able to give himself some grace in that regard when people call him that &lsquo;young superstar&rsquo; label. A small grin emerged onto his face, clearly oozing with confidence albeit a controlled one. He looked back with that smile on his face while nodding, he said:
&ldquo;Nah, not yet a man. Not yet.&rdquo;
Behind this usual brash, confident, and charismatic Edwards is a hungry side that never gets contented and satisfied until he achieves his ultimate goal: winning a championship. Maybe he&rsquo;ll have the guts to call himself one when they reach the Finals and end up going all the way. But that remains to be seen.
He&rsquo;s got the swagger, the personality, and the charisma to be marketable by the league. Edwards mentioned wanting to go kill everybody that&rsquo;s in front of him, and boy, he did.&nbsp;
Edwards swept the Suns featuring his childhood idol and favorite player of all time Kevin Durant, who he has been jawing back and forth at several times in the series. This was him going at his childhood hero, taking on the challenge and never backing down. However, the play of the series happened in Game 4 when Minnesota was trying to put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.&nbsp;
With 2:18 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, Edwards blew by Beal and rose through the air as high as he could. Durant made the right business decision by not going up together with a rampaging bull as he should For a brief moment, he looked like the second coming of a certain Michael Jordan &ndash; yet again &ndash; after he&rsquo;s been labeled as such throughout the course of the season after each jaw-dropping spectacular play. Edwards threw down a ferocious poster slam dunk that might have literally blown the roof over the Footprint Center as the play signaled the beginning of the end for the Suns.
Durant and Edwards will play together in Team USA in August for the Paris Olympics, and these two for sure would go head to head making their practice sessions much more interesting. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a good feeling because he&rsquo;s my favorite player of all time, and I can tell him that I was the one who sent him home. It&rsquo;s gonna be a fun summer for sure,&rdquo; Edwards said.
First game of the Western Conference Finals and up against the Nuggets, Edwards scored a playoff career-high 43 points. He dissected their entire defense, scoring in all types of ways imaginable for a superstar. Edwards hit threes, blown by some of the toughest defenders in the NBA Aaron Gordon, and hit fadeaway mid-range jumpers reminiscent of Jordan. More importantly, Edwards displayed the level of maturity a superstar has to make in the playoffs &ndash; playing off of your teammates and playmaking for the entire team. He has done it so far with relative ease and that&rsquo;s why the Timberwolves have found their early success in this postseason.
He&rsquo;s doing it against supposedly their biggest challenge &ndash; the defending champions &ndash; who sent them home a year ago. &ldquo;Last year we didn&rsquo;t have Jaden (McDaniels) and Naz (Reid) against them so it was quite frustrating. Now that we have both I think we can definitely do better,&rdquo; Edwards said about their biggest thing in this rematch series vs Denver is being healthy.
Before the season started, Edwards was this up-and-coming 22-year-old star leading his nation at the World Championships for a chance at glory. Although the Americans ended up not medalling after losing to eventual world champions Germany in the semifinals and to neighboring Canada in the third-place game, Edwards was clearly the best player on the team filled with young American talent. He led Team USA in scoring, and at 22 years old, this was only the start of a big year ahead.
Edwards then was the clear-cut best player for the third-best team in the West, with Minnesota having a 56-26 record. Those 56 wins were the most since 2004 when they had 58 and went to the Western Conference Finals. They were led back then by legend Kevin Garnett but that was also their last time seeing the playoffs.&nbsp;
20 years later, Edwards is now shouldering all the burden by taking this Wolves team back to relevance, basking in all the glory he&rsquo;s worked so hard to attain. He&rsquo;s one of the bonafide young rising superstars in the league, and he intends to take them all the way.
Edwards&rsquo; huge season and ascension to superstardom could be attributed back to something you see coming even from a mile away. And it all started in that summer lengthy yet productive summer in 2023.
While most players use their summers to recuperate, have a vacation somewhere, and spend time with families and loved ones, Edwards took a privileged yet opportunistic route: play with the National Team at the FIBA World Cup. Usually, NBA superstars all express their willingness to play with the National Team at the Olympics. For no definite reason, somehow the FIBA World Cup does not seem appealing to play for the older/senior superstar guys, so it&rsquo;s usually the juniors/young guys who represent Team USA. Anthony Edwards took up that challenge and became the best player for the team and in turn, he&rsquo;s reaping the benefits of it in the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in work this summer. Big shoutout to the USA team, man. They got me ready for the season.&rdquo;
That killer mentality that Edwards has is something that&rsquo;s never seen often and has been with only a select few in the history of the game, particularly Jordan and Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Behind all that bold and tough personality, however, is a side of himself that genuinely enjoys playing with his teammates.
When asked about the prospect of having his Wolves&rsquo; teammates, the first thing out of his mouth was how he was excited to meet them while playing for their respective countries (Rudy Gobert for France, Karl-Anthony Towns for Dominican Republic, Kyle Anderson for China, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada). He looked forward to playing against them, citing how much fun he would have once it happened.
Despite his clear burgeoning superstardom, however,&nbsp; Edwards still deflected every credit thrown towards him. When asked what he feels as one of the guys being billed as one of the next faces of the league, Edwards dismissed the idea faster than a Math teacher dispersing students after giving out a tough assignment due &ndash;&nbsp; immediately answering without hesitation that he does not make anything of it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just gonna keep working, man. I make nothing of it, yeah. I just hope that I keep getting better.&rdquo;
It was clear all along among all the people in the gym that fateful day: Edwards had the most aura out of them all. It was just oozing, something you can feel when you&rsquo;re around certain people. It&rsquo;s kind of intimidating, but only to a certain extent. You can just feel the energy brewing and that certain look when you come across one of the ones. The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season long. With most of their games out of the eyes of the majority, Edwards assured one thing going into the season sternly and convincingly.
&ldquo;We just gonna try to keep playing, man. We&rsquo;re not really worried about the national TV games. As long as we win, we&rsquo;ll be on TV when we make it into the playoffs. The world will know about us.&rdquo;
As their playoff mantra suggests, the Timberwolves have been waiting for this moment since 2004. From the annals of the great Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s era to ushering this new one paved by superstar-in-the-making, young Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived.

The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season despite having Anthony Edwards.

‘WOLVES BACK’: Anthony Edwards introduces the Timberwolves back to the world

Don&rsquo;t look now, but the Houston Rockets are back in the Western Conference playoff picture.&nbsp;
With the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves and their win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Rockets now sit just a half-game behind the 10th and last play-in spot in the Western Conference.
After looking to be nowhere near the play-in tournament range with just a 25-34 record, the Rockets have found a semblance of life again by winning 11 of their last 12 games, including rattling off a nine-game winning streak (and counting) to go above .500 on the season.
What makes the Rockets&rsquo; run even more impressive is they have done it even without young star center Alperen Sengun, who went down with a lower leg injury. Sengun has been leading the team in points (21.1), rebounds (9.3) and assists (5.0) for a young Rockets team that's hungry for some postseason action under first-year head coach Ime Udoka after rebuilding for the past four years.&nbsp;
In Sengun&rsquo;s absence, the Rockets have been rejuvenated with a different style of play. They are playing up and down the court, running and gunning and spacing the floor as coach Udoka is making the most out of the roster in without their playmaking hub.
Much of this can be credited to Jalen Green&rsquo;s increased level of play. Before the streak, Green was struggling with his shot all year long, only averaging 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists on just 40/31/80 shooting splits. Over his past 12 games, Green has amped up his level of play, significantly increasing his numbers by tallying 27.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 49.6% from the field and 40.4% from three. And this has translated to wins for Houston.&nbsp;
In those 12 games, Green has been relentlessly attacking the rim and playing with pace. Green has also been shooting more threes, and he has been making them at a respectable mark to force defenders to respect his shot. This has allowed him to create opportunities in the paint as well as facilitating for his teammates.
Due to his efforts, Green was awarded a Western Conference Player of the Week award and he certainly hopes to keep this up for the Rockets as they continue to trend upward and eventually catch the Warriors.
Another thing that has been huge in Houston&rsquo;s hot stretch is unlocking Amen Thompson. The rookie out of Overtime Elite has struggled to start the season with a slew of injuries and a lack of playing time enough to contribute. This has hampered him and his ability to contribute.
However, when Sengun was injured, Thompson was inserted into the starting lineup and has shone since the streak has started. The 6&rsquo;7 guard/forward leads the Rockets in fastbreak opportunities, and uses his athletic abilities to get out on transition. He has also proven to be a good cutter when he is off the ball to get easy buckets underneath the basket. His athleticism also gives him an advantage in finishing off plays, particularly on dunks and layups.&nbsp;
On defense, Thompson is disruptive as a point-of-attack defender, using his length and size to bother opposing smaller point guards. Thompson uses his long limbs to swipe at the ball, creating deflections and steals that lead to easy transition baskets. At 6&rsquo;7, Thompson is also an excellent rebounder at his position and gives the Rockets plenty of chances to run and leak out.
Finally, the Rockets have scored more and seemingly increased their level of play. This might be directly in correlation with Sengun being out, with other guys like Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith and even their bench guys doing more scoring to compensate for Sengun&rsquo;s production. This collected effort has been the key to their resurgence this season, and the Rockets hope to sustain it for the final stretch of the season in which eight of their remaining 11 games are against playoff teams.

Don’t look now, but the Houston Rockets are back in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Surging Rockets inch closer to West Play-In Tournament spot

This season, there's no NBA team that seems poised to breeze through the postseason. However, there are a number of legitimate championship contenders and a multitude of organizations that are a single piece away from joining that tier.
As the NBA's Feb. 8 trade deadline approaches, the most intriguing target for these teams is Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen. The All-Star is averaging 23.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.2 threes on 49.4% shooting from the field and 38.5% from three-point range in 27 games this season.
The Jazz are reportedly willing to have conversations involving Markkanen, although their asking price is significant. Expect plenty of front offices to express interest in the forward over the next month.
If Utah decides to move Markkanen, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be a perfect landing spot. With the second-best record in the Western Conference, OKC is already seen as a contender, but the reigning Most Improved Player could put them over the hump. Their core is highlighted by superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center Chet Holmgren and forward Jalen Williams. This trio fuels one of the highest-powered offenses in the league, ranking in the top five in many statistical categories. The addition of Markkanen would provide scoring and size to one of the NBA&rsquo;s biggest lineups. Not to mention, he fits their timeline perfectly since he's only 26 years old.
The Miami Heat could make sense as a trade partner for Utah as well. Miami&rsquo;s roster is filled with a mix of veterans and young talent. Forward Jimmy Butler is past his prime at 34 years old, while Bam Adebayo (26 years old), Tyler Herro (23 years old) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (22 years old) are significantly younger. Markkanen could balance their eras, excelling them into Eastern Conference contention with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics this season while also fitting alongside Adebayo, Herro, Jaquez and Co. going forward. Pat Riley is constantly star hunting, so this kind of move wouldn't be a surprise.
There are quite a few contenders that could use Markkanen, as his skill-set allows him to fit seamlessly with virtually every team.
One non-playoff team that could be a fascinating destination for Markkanen is San Antonio, where he would be paired with No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama. The 20-year-old from France is one of the most exciting prospects in NBA history. He has not disappointed early in his career, as he is averaging 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Spurs have a history of developing big men into superstars, including Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Getting Wemby some help could speed up the Spurs' plan and allow them to maximize the final years of Gregg Popovich's coaching career.
Markkanen is a diverse offensive weapon who thrives on all three levels. His height allows him to finish inside the paint without a strength-based style of play. A minimal amount of his shots come in the mid-range, but he has the talent to knock them down efficiently. He's a 7-footer who can knock down threes at a near-40% clip, which is somewhat rare for someone his size.
He uses his various methods of scoring to his advantage by exhibiting a balanced approach on offense. This season, 41.7% of his points come from two-pointers, while 40.9% are three-pointers. Markkanen tends to perform better as an off-ball scorer, with 82.7% of his points coming off assists. This ability to play alongside other stars makes him even more attractive to playoff teams, as they already have studs who demand the ball in their hands.
While his stats have slightly decreased this year because of fewer minutes and a lower usage rate, it's worth pointing out that Markkanen still accounts for more than a fourth of Utah&rsquo;s made field goals.
It remains to be seen if the Jazz will seriously consider moving Markkanen, but plenty of playoff teams will pick up the phone if he's put on the trade block.

As the NBA's Feb. 8 trade deadline approaches, Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen is an intriguing target for teams.

Lauri Markkanen could be game-changing acquisition for NBA contender

This article was originally published on Jan. 16, 2021.
We&rsquo;ve all been here before.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a random Wednesday. Full slate of games, hard to keep track of everything. Maybe you&rsquo;re peeping an ESPN matchup. Perhaps you&rsquo;re watching your favorite team on the local channel if you&rsquo;re in the market, or you&rsquo;re streaming it LEGALLY ON NBA LEAGUE PASS BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO IT. WINK.&nbsp;
But anyway, you&rsquo;re watching a game. You&rsquo;re roaming Twitter. And then a tweet catches your eye: PLAYER X HAS DUNKED ON LEBRON JAMES.
Your brow raises. You see a few tweets from your online pals big-upping the play. You&rsquo;re really interested now. You click on the video from a Big Social Media Account. And this is the dunk:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brr.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The excitement drops a little bit. That&rsquo;s a nice dunk from Wendell Carter Jr. LeBron James is underneath the basket, and there&rsquo;s a challenge. But something doesn&rsquo;t feel right about it.&nbsp;
Then you see a different angle of the Dunk Heard &lsquo;Round The World.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/wendell-w-lebron-in-the-area.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
You feel betrayed. LeBron didn&rsquo;t get dunked on; LeBron&rsquo;s arm got dunked on as he jumps out of the darn play! This isn&rsquo;t <a href="https://youtu.be/xtOUpybXmzo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/6kBWO82HUa4?t=28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vince Carter on Alonzo Mourning</a>! I can yell at these clouds if I want to!
If you&rsquo;re anything like me, you&rsquo;re tired of being misled. If I hear or read that a player got baptized, I want to see some Holy Water coming out of the rim after the aerial duel. And if you are like me, this is the piece for you. This is the guide of all guides, breaking down the different types of dunks. A universal standard of slams, if you will, so we can finally get on the same page about poster dunks.
A brief note before digging in. I am using a tier system so it&rsquo;s easier to separate the types of dunks. Like many things in life, the scale can slide on a case-by-case basis. For example, breakaway dunks are generally uncontested, which makes them the lowest tier of dunk for me. However, a breakaway dunk from 360-enthusiast Zach LaVine is different -- and much cooler -- than the two-handed flushes we see from Jimmy Butler. Each dunk is still its own thing.&nbsp;
Disclaimer: Alley-oops can fall under virtually all of these categories, with the obvious exception of put-backs.
TIER 10: BREAKAWAYS
Break-away dunks are pretty self-explanatory. There&rsquo;s a long rebound after a miss. A player leaks out early, and gets a dunk with no resistance. They&rsquo;re pretty basic with a few exceptions. LaVine, Paul George or Glenn Robinson III may bust out a 360 or windmill on occasion. LeBron has made the one-handed tomahawk a staple of his repertoire.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lebron-tomahawk.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
It&rsquo;s basic, but it&rsquo;s so darn cool. Power, a little bit of flair, the hang time. All that good stuff.
TIER 9: TIP SLAMS
I like the timing, positioning and coordination it takes to pull off a putback slam. The lower-level ones are uncontested, but can be rated higher depending on the work a player puts in before the ball comes off the rim. Take this multiple-effort possession from Larry Nance Jr. as an example:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/larry-nance-jr-putback.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 8: BUSINESS DECISIONS
The OG: Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal
Also popularized by: LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Zion Williamson
This is for the power dunkers. Whether it&rsquo;s in transition, flowing off of a broken play or rumbling down the lane after a high-ball screen, it&rsquo;s hilarious to watch players actively decide, &ldquo;Nope, I don&rsquo;t get paid enough for this.&rdquo; Take this play from the 2016-17 season, featuring Blake Griffin:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/willy-hernangomez-business-decision.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The key actor here is Willy Hernangomez (No. 14). He is watching this snug pick-and-roll all the way through. His man, noted three-point marksman DeAndre Jordan, is chilling above the break. Not only can Hernangomez make the rotation to cut off Griffin at the rim, he should make that rotation because Jordan is not a threat at all. Instead, he begins to load up, quickly realizes that Griffin will put him in the gulag, and decides against challenging the shot.
Hilarious sequence.
TIER 7: FLY-BYS
This is where having a discerning eye is important. When you think about it, this kind of dunk -- and the praise that these types of dunk typically generate -- is about deception.
A defender jumps across a player to make it look like he&rsquo;s legitimately challenging the dunk. There&rsquo;s no real threat of a block or swipe. The dunk happens because, again, there&rsquo;s no real threat to it otherwise. And somehow both players end up looking good. The dunker gets &ldquo;poster&rdquo; equity they don&rsquo;t deserve; the defender gets a slight pat on the back for giving effort instead of making a business decision.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/hhh.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
It&rsquo;s all a darn farce. A cool-looking farce at times, but a farce nonetheless.&nbsp;
TIER 6: SELF-LOBS
We&rsquo;ve reached the coolest of the non-contact dunks. It doesn&rsquo;t get much better than throwing the ball to yourself for a slam, man. Look at Jamal Murray getting himself out of trouble.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/jamal-murray-self-lob.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 5: &ldquo;IN THE VICINITY&rdquo; SLAMS (Also known as ITVs)
Folks, the rubber is starting to reach the road. The ITVs involve actual attempts at a contest and/or a little contact, a step up from the Fly-bys. This is where I&rsquo;d say the Wendell-on-LeBron dunk falls, though I wouldn&rsquo;t be mad at anyone that would classify it as a Fly-by. A better example would be this slam from Matisse Thybulle last season.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/mfff.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
There&rsquo;s an attempt at a challenge, but Thybulle still gets the better of Mason Plumlee. But Plumlee doesn&rsquo;t get dunked on. There isn&rsquo;t enough contact to call it a poster of the highest order.&nbsp;
This is also where failed chasedown blocks come in. With guys flying in from behind, the dunk-on element just isn&rsquo;t there most of the time. Take the famous Kobe-on-LeBron dunk from the 2011 All-Star game.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/kobe-on-lebron.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 4: PUTBACK POSTERS
I&rsquo;ve always gone back and forth with myself about where to place these types of dunks. On one hand, the blindsided nature of it makes it a bit unfair to defenders. You can&rsquo;t defend against what you can&rsquo;t see. However, there&rsquo;s enough contact at play, and a player Mossin&rsquo; a dude and flushing it down is generally some high level stuff.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/gerald-green-putback-poster.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Yes, that is the #BASED and #RARE Gerald Green in a Celtics uni. And yeah that&rsquo;s Mason Plumlee again. Sorry, man.
TIER 3: DUNK-ONS/CHARGE CRUSHERS
We&rsquo;ve reached the portion of the program where dudes are getting legitimately yammed on, but there are a couple of factors that keep it from ranking higher.
First, the level of contest still matters. A lot of these dunks feature dudes sliding over in an attempt to take a charge (hence the alternative name). The higher level posters feature someone trying to actually block the dunk. Sure, a charge and blocked dunk are functionally the same in terms of the result the defense wants -- taking away two points -- but we&rsquo;re talking about highlights here.&nbsp;
Secondly, and I admit we&rsquo;re splitting hairs a bit, size also matters. The first dunk I thought of was Nuggets-era J.R Smith yamming it over Gary Neal:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/jrs.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Objectively a good dunk, but Gary Neal is ground bound and short. You have to dock some points there. I&rsquo;m sorry. The famous DeAndre Jordan-on-Brandon Knight flush, while iconic, also falls in this category.
The higher end of this would be another classic involving the Spurs: LeBron dunking on Tim Duncan.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lebron-on-tim-duncan.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
That&rsquo;s more like it.
TIER 2: THE THROW-IN
THE OG: Blake Griffin
ALSO POPULARIZED BY: Derrick Jones Jr.
DUNK TRUTHERS DON&rsquo;T READ THIS!
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Dunk Truthers are stupid poopyheads.&nbsp;
Yes, we&rsquo;re well aware that dunks that involve the rim being grabbed -- or at least touched -- are more pure, whatever the heck that means. But you look at Blake Griffin embarrassing the life out of Timofey Mozgov and tell me it isn&rsquo;t one of greatest athletic feats you&rsquo;ve ever seen.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/blake-over-mozgov.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Derrick Jones Jr. has some gnarly ones in his bag as well, highlighted by this lob he converted against the Raptors that still doesn&rsquo;t make much sense to me.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/hyyy.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
TIER 1: THE PURE POSTER
Pippen on Ewing. Carter on &lsquo;Zo. <a href="https://youtu.be/tYpwjB0IzoU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baron Davis on Andrei Kirilenko</a>. Michael Jordan on, well, name almost any big man you can think of that played in the '90s.&nbsp;
We can go more modern, like Larry Nance Jr. doing this to pre-DPOY-candidate Brook Lopez:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lrrr.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
Another hidden gem: young DeMar DeRozan throwing the hammer down over Rudy Gobert:
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/derozan-on-gobert.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
The constant for these dunks: full-on, body-to-body contact with a legitimate attempt for a contest. You&rsquo;ll know it when you see it.
BONUS TIER: THE VINCE CARTER
Yeah, this is still the best dunk I&rsquo;ve ever seen.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/vince-carter-dunk-of-death.gif" alt="" width="512" height="AUTO" />
You clear a seven footer, you get your own dunk tier. Those are the rules.

Nekias Duncan has put together the guide of all guides, breaking down the different types of dunks and rating them on a tier system.

The Dunk-tionary: The official guide to ranking dunks

This article was originally published on BasketballNews on July 20, 2022.
Impact Basketball's facility sits inside an unassuming section of an unassuming plaza on Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas.
The gym contains two light-colored hardwood basketball courts with a small scoreboard, a weightlifting area, a makeshift stretching room, a kitchenette for meals and snacks and a small office. It's no place for vanities. The only flexes are the dozens of white banners hanging on the right wall, listing names upon names of distinguished players who have come through during the gym's 25 years of existence.
Among those players: Kevin Garnett, Kawhi Leonard, Chauncey Billups, Kyle Lowry, Kelsey Plum, Tayshaun Prince, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Haliburton, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Al Harrington, Kristaps Porzingis, Nassir Little, Saddiq Bey and Ziaire Williams.&nbsp;
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Kevin Garnett stopped by <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a> and offered some advice to Blazers guard Keon Johnson, Mavericks wing Josh Green and 16-year-old prospect Dayan Nessah.<a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Abunassar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Joe_Abunassar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinGarnett5KG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KevinGarnett5KG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/iamkeonjohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iamkeonjohnson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/fwRjAM2WHJ">pic.twitter.com/fwRjAM2WHJ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1548046089877524482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Impact Basketball, founded by trainer Joe Abunassar in 1997, has a reputation for its star-studded, closed-door pickup games that take place during the NBA offseason. In the spring, it's also where some of the top NBA Draft hopefuls join Abunassar's pre-draft "boot camp" and commit themselves to an intricate world of sports training and nutrition.
The timeline is simple: arrive by April, revamp your training lifestyle and find your professional pathway &mdash; either via the NBA Draft, an undrafted free-agent deal or another contract &mdash; afterwards. The work is not flashy, isn't always fun and, if you want to stick as a pro, never ends.
But the results can change lives.
"It's not about W's or L's, it's about M's &mdash; M's being millions of dollars," said Isaac Mourier, Impact's Director of Performance Nutrition and Sport Science. "Once you say that to a guy like that, that's all they need in terms of motivation."
Mourier is a key cog in Impact's program. He's from the United Kingdom and played professional basketball in England and Germany before starting his own sports nutrition consulting business. Mourier has worked for the University of Georgia and Sacramento Kings as a nutritionist and consultant, and joined Impact in 2020 during the spring.
During his two-and-a-half years and three draft cycles with the company, Mourier has filled his laptop with infographics and progress charts for Impact athletes. They include individualized goals for each player; an example involves raising one prospect's weight by 20 pounds, lowering his body fat by 2%, increasing his bench press weight by 50 pounds and adding two inches to his vertical.
Mourier feels privileged to work with athletes at this stage of their careers. To him, the noise of team ecosystems and outside expectations all fade away. He can clearly define goals, and players know exactly what success will look like.
"This is the first time, maybe ever in their life, where they have a team of people that are only worried about them," he said. "Now, I'm just trying to get you to the NBA and keep you there. I don't care whether you win or lose games right now. This is you. All the focus is on you."
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Boot camp begins as soon as players are done with their respective prior seasons. They arrive at Impact and take part in comprehensive body testing to establish a full physical profile. The technology includes a bioelectrical impedence analysis that uses electrical currents to scan body composition. Sweat patches can read how much sodium athletes need in their system.
Variables such as blood work, stress hormone levels, nutrient deficienies, pre-workout hydration levels and post-workout hydration levels, body composition and body fat percentages all help establish a baseline of strengths and needs.
From there, each prospect receives an individualized growth roadmap. Skill development makes up one component. Players often train together in small groups, but they receive specific plans that prepare them for team pre-draft workouts and the NBA level.
"We're looking and analyzing and making assessments on the court; if guys are getting bumped off their cuts, if guys don't have enough lower-body power in their jump shot and guys seem like they need to get stronger, if guys aren't fast enough, [we'll consider], 'Okay, what do we need to do in the weight room or from a nutrition standpoint to correct that?'" Abunassar told Basketball News. "So, that's why every guy has his own program, because every guy has different goals."
Hydration and dieting are also central pieces. Mourier oversees the implementation of dietary plans through Impact's local chef connections, and says he outlines each meal, snack and supplement. Along the way are regular check-ins on body metrics, sleep schedules, mood and motivation among other factors. Mourier estimated that about 20-to-25 Impact staffers are involved with a player's development.&nbsp;
But Mourier repeatedly emphasized that the technology, food and workouts aren't what takes players to the Association. One of his most important jobs is reframing their habits and instilling discipline toward health.
"When an athlete gets to the elite level with bad habits, it's, 'Well, I'm already one of the best in the world at what I do, so why would I change?' So it's changing that mindset, and then when we've done that, it's about understanding that doing small things consistently is what gets us the results, as opposed to trying to do extreme things," Mourier said.
"The way that the structure of basketball [is] from AAU to college to the pros, a lot of the power is in the athlete's hands, where it's almost like, 'Who are you to tell me what to do?' So I think one of the main things that we have to do is cut through that barrier. And again, when our goals are the same as theirs, it becomes a little bit easier. But again, it's, 'Well, you've gotten to this level despite your bad habits. How good could you be if we instill some good habits?'"
Good habits, however, can be inconvenient and awkward. For NBA players to maintain their places in the league, they have to stick with those routines well past a pre-draft boot camp.
Dallas Mavericks wing Josh Green joined Impact's program ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft cycle. He's still entrenched with Impact today, and has been working out in Las Vegas this offseason. Part of his nutrition plan includes avoiding butter, which can be a particular hurdle when eating out at restaurants.
"I have to be the guy who requests light virgin oil, whatever it is," Green told Basketball News. "I think that's the hardest part about it. I'm about to go to Australia for three weeks, and all I'm gonna want to do is eat all the food, but I'm gonna have to stay disciplined. I want to have a big year, so my goal is focusing right now, but just taking it one day at a time."
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👀 <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshBGreen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoshBGreen</a> <a href="https://t.co/pX0fkZzCBZ">pic.twitter.com/pX0fkZzCBZ</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547655829431525383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Green said he started prioritizing nutrition after his second shoulder surgery in April 2019. Since joining Impact, Green has been floored by how much nourishment the human body loses during workouts. He has an app that lays out meal calories and hydration plans, and his goal this offseason is to skip carbohydrates, even from snacks like a simple bag of chips.
"When you're young, whatever you see in front of you is what you want," Green said. "I [was] able to start here early and realize, if I want to play ball for a while, it's important to put the right things in my body and stay healthy. It's the same thing as seeing your physical therapist and getting treatment, if not more important for your body."
Abunassar has a plethora of stories about players who embraced the importance of nutrition at the pro level. Garnett has talked about taping his meal-plan menus on the cabinets of his Minnesota home.&nbsp; Lowry, Haliburton and Serge Ibaka are examples of guys who transformed their bodies under Impact's guidance too.
Gym time and workouts are obviously valuable, but to Abunassar, nutrition is what sparks physical development.
"The nutrition is really the basis of body change &mdash; for anybody, not even just for a basketball player," Abunassar said. "You can go to the gym every day, but if you're eating cheeseburgers and fries, you're just not going to lose weight."
Mourier has his own trail of success stories. He's worked with dozens of players, including Haliburton and Green. Zeke Nnaji, another 2020 draftee, was an especially interesting case as the only plant-based-dieting prospect Mourier has guided at Impact.
Mourier does not advise athletes to follow a plant-based diet solely for performance. However, Nnaji had chosen to be a vegan for ethical reasons, which Mourier respected, and the two worked together to create a nutrition plan despite the constraints. One of Nnaji's pre-draft goals was to add muscle, and he succeeded with rigorous attention to detail.
"He gained 20 pounds and everyone was like, 'Who the hell is this?'" Mourier said. "So that was really good, just being tactful with the timing and quantities of that stuff. And [Nnaji] was really diligent with it. He nailed every single aspect of it down to the gram... He was a really easy one. I really can't take credit for all that stuff. I just put the blueprint down and he just rolled with it."
This year, Impact has worked with several 2022 draft prospects, including MarJon Beauchamp, Blake Wesley and Michael Foster Jr. among others.&nbsp;
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San Antonio Spurs rookie Blake Wesley (<a href="https://twitter.com/blakewesley0?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blakewesley0</a>) working out at <a href="https://twitter.com/impactbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@impactbball</a>: <a href="https://t.co/9lfkFikWsP">pic.twitter.com/9lfkFikWsP</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1547643918904217604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Wesley has been an Impact athlete since he was 17, meeting Abunassar for the first time as a junior in high school. Wesley would come in occasionally for workouts, staying on the far court and watching as NBA players like Leonard and Paul George would get their reps in. He returned in offseasons and locked in for his own pre-draft boot camp.
Mourier praised the Spurs rookie for his attention to detail regarding nutrition. Wesley frequently FaceTimed Mourier while at restaurants and stores, and asked questions about what he should eat. He's also a staunch advocate of Herbalife's CR7 Drive sports drink mix, and even has an endorsement deal with Herbalife.
As part of his pre-draft plan to put on weight, Welsey would cook three eggs, plus have oatmeal, milk and orange juice for breakfast.
"[Changing my nutrition] helped my body a lot," Wesley told Basketball News over the phone. "I kept doing this, so I kept getting better on the court and did everything good on the court. So yeah, my nutrition helped me a lot."
The result: Wesley turned himself from a relatively unheralded four-star recruit into Notre Dame's first one-and-done player &mdash; then bulked up to 190 pounds in the spring and became a first-round NBA draft pick.
"I met [Wesley] a year ago, before he went to Notre Dame, and his transformation from then to the start of the pre-draft [process] to now &mdash; it's phenomenal," Mourier said.
The next challenge is to maintain discipline once that contract gets signed.&nbsp;
"You gotta stay focused; the NBA is totally different from college," Wesley said. "I mean, you're getting paid, you got a high profile [and] a lot of people are watching you &mdash; &nbsp;watching how you move, who you hang out with, stuff like that. So it's a whole different lifestyle."
Abunassar, Mourier and the Impact staff are hands-on with their players during the offseason and pre-draft process. But what happens when those players head back to their respective NBA franchises?
"For the most part, from a strength-and-conditioning standpoint [and] from a player development standpoint, the NBA teams have stuff really dialed in," Mourier said. "From a nutrition standpoint, for the most part, they do not."
Mourier estimated that there are only six full-time nutritionists and dietitians in the entire NBA. The Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) lists <a href="https://sportsrd.org/career-development/full-time-sports-rds-working-with-usas-top-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine full-time registered dietitians.</a> Mourier said that teams often have physicians and trainers covering several responsibilites, including nutrition, due to budget restrictions and front-office priorities. This means some athletes, specifically reserve players, receive less health guidance.
"We're kind of the ones who are the last for the front office to see the value in it, so a lot of times we're really just a check-box," Mourier said. "So especially for those lower-order guys that are maybe No. 7, 8, 9, 10, all the way through to 15 on the roster, they're not really receiving any support at all. They're receiving provision. They're receiving meals and supplements. But in terms of education and behavior change, they're really not receiving it."
Over the last 25 years, Abunassar has seen sports nutrition dramatically change, with data and technology more interwoven into practice than ever. He thinks there are positives and pitfalls to the advancements.
"From a nutrition standpoint and strength-and-conditioning standpoint, it's clearly useful information to help prevent injury, to increase lean body mass, etc.," he said. "All of the technology that has come out has been very helpful for us, but you do have to watch that you don't get too reliant on it. Sometimes, you gotta watch the games and see how guys move and that kind of thing. But a combination of the two is very effective."
Impact Basketball is one progressive frontrunner in the field of sports science, but Mourier emphasized that, at this point, all basketball pros should be setting themselves up for success with some sort of offseason developmental map. Pre-draft prospects especially cannot afford to lose that critical period before team workouts to maximize their appeal.
"It's like doing the SAT without looking at the study guide," Mourier said "...I think it's definitely a standard. There's people doing this all over the country, really. Nobody does it like us, and nobody's been doing it for as long as us, but people are seeing the value."

A behind-the-scenes look at how Impact Basketball helps players realize their full potential by focusing on their training and nutrition.

How sports nutrition and biometrics are evolving NBA training

All of the great one-name classical artists that share names with the Ninja Turtles had apprentices they held in high regard. Willie Green, now going into his third season as one of the NBA&rsquo;s youngest head coaches, has been shaping a vision with the New Orleans Pelicans but there was an obvious need for a reshaping of the assistant coaching staff this summer. The franchise&rsquo;s scaffolding was in place, but the young coach was working with old hands from previous artists; he needed to bring in a trusted apprentice.
New assistant James Borrego is no apprentice outside of this analogy. He is a well-traveled former head coach with a proven track record of building top-10 offenses, which Green admitted during media day will alleviate some burdens on the offensive end. The new assistant will also have plenty of freedom to have some experiments fail.&nbsp;
&nbsp;One of Bob Ross' most famous sayings is, "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." He encouraged artists to embrace unexpected turns and use them to their advantage. Like Ross cashing in on &ldquo;happy accidents,&rdquo; the Pelicans are betting on Borrego's schemes to raise their long-term offensive ceiling this season, and the missteps along the way are just learned experiences to be blended into the mosaic.
Green&rsquo;s focus on defense and deep personal connections took priority over offensive nuances the last few seasons, but there was an obvious need for some changes to the playbook and how the lessons learned are implemented. So, Green brought in Borrego.
Ross, with his trademark permed hair, paint brushes and soothing voice, often emphasized the importance of mastering the basics. Build creations from simple brushstrokes, with sound structures. Likewise, Borrego's offense is built on a foundation of fundamentals. He emphasizes ball movement, spacing and player movement to create scoring opportunities. Just as Ross began his paintings with a few basic elements, Borrego starts his offense with simple, well-executed plays.
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Last season&rsquo;s formula was too simple. And basics? The Pelicans had problems just inbounding the ball in critical situations and often would not begin an action until there were under 10 seconds left on the shot clock. Then, it was predictable: Brandon Ingram methodical in the midrange. Zion Williamson rumbles to the rim off of actions with very little space or off-ball movement. CJ McCollum was mostly stationary and waiting on the perimeter when not having to bail out a short-handed team late in the shot clock. Jonas Valanciunas was frustrated with his role, while Herb Jones was still growing into his on offense.
Trey Murphy III continued developing but everything was a reset of the same few actions, and it all fell apart once the injury report started filling up. Still, the sketches of a championship contender are already on the canvas in New Orleans. Borrego just has to bring out the best features. It should be a welcomed change for a not-so-young-anymore roster looking to show they are serious about winning a championship. With structure, the team will have a better ability to adapt on the fly. This hallmark of Borrego's coaching style is also reminiscent of Ross turning mistakes into opportunities on his canvas.
While Ross often started his paintings with a simple sky and landscape, he gradually added layers of detail and complexity to create stunning compositions. Similarly, Borrego's offense is designed to be layered. It begins with basic actions but can evolve into intricate plays with multiple options. Just as Ross patiently added trees, mountains, and rivers to his paintings, Borrego's teams gradually added complexity to their offense as the players became more comfortable with the system.
Alvin Gentry was an abstract artist with not a lot of museum showcase pieces, constructing a portfolio that was an interesting smorgasbord of ill-fitting talents and philosophies. Sure, it sometimes produced good-looking, free-flowing hoops but not often was the end product something worthy of the NBA Playoff platform. Stan Van Gundy tried to implement structure but just wound up erasing almost all of the goodwill between the locker room and front office.
Willie Green has mended those fences, taped together the tapestry if you will, and has a team on the verge of a breakout season. They just need an offense that is a bit more unpredictably efficient and some injury luck. Just get repetitions and a spot in the playoffs, then see what happens. An accidental, out-of-nowhere championship is still a banner raised. Some teams have to take smaller steps to a title, but why not dream of a historical breakout season? Even eighth seeds have made runs to the NBA Finals.
It all starts with Ingram. He needs to step into a bigger No. 2 role more than CJ McCollum, who would be perhaps the best fourth option in the NBA should Murphy III make a jump. Borrego should be able to get Ingram into easier-to-read actions and the former All-Star's assists numbers should take a jump. The team said Ingram is expected to be more of a ball-in-hand offensive initiator this season. This draws attention away from Williamson, instead of the Point Zion experiment that sometimes induces ball-watching.
That&rsquo;s not to say Point Zion does not have artistic merits. Williamson is a great passer, draws the attention of all 20,000 in attendance, and can be a one-man wrecking ball when the rest of the offense is just not working. It&rsquo;s just that Williamson cannot be the only attraction, dominating the canvas at the detriment of the rest of the bigger picture. It puts too much pressure on internal relationships and makes the team too predictable.
No worries. The Charlotte Hornets finished in the top-10 in three-point attempts in three of four seasons under Borrego. Charlotte was a top-10 team in points (fourth), three-pointers made (fifth), three-pointers attempted (sixth) and three-point percentage (sixth) that season. They were 11th in field goal percentage and snatched the ninth-most offensive rebounds. Charlotte led the NBA with 28.1 team assists per game and had the 10th-fewest turnovers.
Work hard, keep moving to provide options, don&rsquo;t get caught looking and fight for extra opportunities. Build greatness on the back of the basics, just like Bob Ross taught. Borrego&rsquo;s clear directions during training camp should have everyone on the same page to start the regular season in a few weeks. They also understand a few messy mistakes early will not have much of an effect on how this season is eventually framed. It&rsquo;s how they adapt to those moments that matter most.
New Orleans was near the bottom in offensive rating, assist-to-turnover ratio and true shooting percentage last season. Borrego had a rebuilding franchise&rsquo;s mismatched roster eighth in offensive rating, third in assist percentage, second in assist-to-turnover ratio, second in assist ratio and ninth-best in turnover percentage. Those Hornets played with the sixth-quickest pace, were third in shots at the rim, and second in corner three-pointers.
&ldquo;For the first three-quarters of the game, I&rsquo;m drawing stuff up based on concepts that we already know. I&rsquo;m just adding a little tweak here to maybe a few sets to disguise it," <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/5/21166585/conversation-with-hornets-head-coach-james-borrego" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/5/21166585/conversation-with-hornets-head-coach-james-borrego&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1696693000595000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2zQ3C-l7Klu8y6hMOUbdD6">Borrego has explained</a>. "I think that&rsquo;s one of the things that we do as coaches. You&rsquo;re just trying to disguise a concept. You&rsquo;re running your sets, your flow, throughout a game. Your ATOs, you&rsquo;ve got to try to come up with something a little bit trickier. But the concepts are the same, you&rsquo;re just trying to disguise it. The tough ones, and they&rsquo;re getting tougher now, are the fourth quarter/end-of-game situations because these timeouts are so quick. I don&rsquo;t even have time to think. I&rsquo;ve already got to know what play I have in mind.&rdquo;
When things start shaping up where everyone can see the bigger picture, the tougher moments start to become easier. That philosophy and Borrego&rsquo;s style will help hide the flaws and accentuate the strengths of role players like Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr., Jones, Valanciunas, Dyson Daniels and Kira Lewis Jr.
Borrego was Green&rsquo;s NBA coach just over a decade ago. Now, the roles are reversed but cultural expectations and goals are the same. The Pelicans hope everything comes together in a way that looks like the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy.
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Can James Borrego's new offense bring out the best of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram for the Pelicans?

How James Borrego's offense could take Pelicans to next level

With the NBA&rsquo;s 2023 free-agency period pretty much wrapped up, why not take a look at how projecting next year's free-agent market? Obviously, a lot can change between now and then, but let&rsquo;s examine each team&rsquo;s cap situation and how much cap room they project to have next summer.&nbsp;
Next year&rsquo;s free-agency class could feature some big names, including Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Maxey (restricted), Paul George, LeBron James, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, OG Anunoby and DeMar DeRozan.&nbsp;
For the purposes of this exercise, I&rsquo;m going to separate teams into four spending-power tiers: Cap Space Teams, Non-Tax MLE Teams, Luxury Tax Teams and Second Apron Teams. Also, let's assume that the salary cap will be set at $149,623,000 and the luxury tax will come in at $181,823,000, the maximum 10% jump from this upcoming season set under the new CBA.
CAP SPACE TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to have cap space next summer. They have spending access to their cap space, Bird Rights, the Room Exception (projected at $8,495,000) and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
San Antonio Spurs ($77,195,776 under the cap) If Victor Wembanyama is 70% as good as he&rsquo;s hyped up to be entering this season, one would figure that the Spurs will spend big or at least make a meaningful impact on the free-agent market next summer. They project to have an enormous amount of cap space, so it&rsquo;s very possible we&rsquo;ll see San Antonio take on some more bad contracts in trades to give them even more draft capital. Also, they&rsquo;ll want to retain Devin Vassell, who will be a restricted free agent next offseason once the Spurs extend his qualifying offer.
Philadelphia 76ers ($73,034,842 under the cap) The Sixers are perhaps the most interesting team in terms of their 2024 offseason outlook. By letting Tyrese Maxey hit restricted free agency next summer rather than extending him this year, Philadelphia gave themselves serious cap flexibility. Tobias Harris and James Harden both have expiring contracts, so the Sixers will have to use their cap space to replace their production. A Harden trade would obviously change their projected cap room, but it remains to be seen what they&rsquo;ll get back for the former MVP and how much it&rsquo;ll impact their books.
Toronto Raptors ($60,339,034 under the cap) After losing Fred VanVleet, the Raptors are walking a tightrope when it comes to whether they&rsquo;ll compete or rebuild. They face some tough decisions. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are both set to hit free agency next summer, so Toronto needs to decide whether they want to extend or trade their best players. Not to mention, Precious Achiuwa and Gary Trent Jr. also need new contracts.
Orlando Magic ($58,010,944 under the cap) Orlando has a lot of options for next summer, but the Magic may start with retaining many of their own players. Franz Wagner will likely receive a big contract extension, while Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony will be up for new contracts. Given that Orlando has a logjam in their backcourt &ndash; with Fultz, Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black &ndash; it&rsquo;ll be interesting to see what they do with Fultz and Anthony. The Magic will still have plenty of room to add quality talent for yearly average values over the NTMLE.
Detroit Pistons ($57,781,166 under the cap) Detroit may approach the 2024 offseason similar to how Houston approached this summer, as a young team hoping to use its massive cap space on good veterans in order to take bigger steps toward playoff contention. With that said, the first priority for the team will be agreeing to a contract extension with Cade Cunningham.
Utah Jazz ($50,315,319 under the cap) The Jazz find themselves in a unique position where they could go in two directions. After committing a three-year deal to Jordan Clarkson, they can use their cap space to give 2023 Most Improved Player Lauri Markkanen a contract extension. If they want to have significant cap space for next summer instead, they can hold off on giving Markkanen an extension until free agency is settled.
Washington Wizards ($47,123,801 under the cap) Despite their cap space next year, don&rsquo;t expect Washington to be a big player in 2024 free agency. In the beginning stages of a rebuild, the Wizards will probably keep their sights on collecting more draft capital. They do have an interesting decision coming up with recent trade acquisition Tyus Jones, whom they&rsquo;ll likely want to keep long-term.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets ($41,300,515 under the cap)&nbsp; They may lose some 2024 cap space if they eventually re-sign PJ Washington this offseason, but watch out for Charlotte to be one of the many small-market teams with money to spend next summer. With LaMelo Ball in the first year of his max contract extension, Charlotte may cash in on a marquee player to keep their young star happy.
Brooklyn Nets ($33,048,185 under the cap) The Nets do have the potential to have significant cap space next summer if they choose not to re-sign most of their own free agents. However, the Nets will more than likely focus on exploring the trade market and retaining big man Nic Claxton before reaching next year&rsquo;s free agency. Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O&rsquo;Neale will also hit free agency next offseason.
Indiana Pacers ($20,488,005 under the cap) Indiana could get to an even higher number in cap space if they decline Bruce Brown&rsquo;s $23 million team option next season. If Brown has a good year, the Pacers would likely keep him on a long-term deal that would consume a good chunk of their space. Other impending free agents they might like to keep include Obi Toppin, Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith.
Oklahoma City Thunder ($10,264,814 under the cap) The Thunder will likely continue to utilize the strategy of taking on short-term, bad-money contracts in exchange for draft capital. As they inch closer to contention, they will be looking at some big-money extensions for many of their young pieces, including one for Josh Giddey next year.&nbsp;
NON-TAX MLE TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap but under the luxury tax. They have spending access to Bird Rights, the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (projected at $13,644,000), the Bi-Annual Exception (projected at $4,968,000) unless used in 2023-24, and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
Chicago Bulls ($19,465,689 under the cap) The Bulls could potentially operate as a cap-space team if they elect to let DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams walk in free agency, but that seems unlikely. In addition, the Bulls could potentially create more space if Lonzo Ball&rsquo;s knee injury is considered career-ending by an NBA/NBPA-appointed physician. (Ball would still be paid, it just wouldn&rsquo;t count against the cap).&nbsp;
Sacramento Kings ($210,669 under the cap) The Kings used up most of their cap space by signing Domantas Sabonis to a big four-year extension that ties him with the team through 2028. As long as they are competitive, they will likely pursue quality pieces with their Non-Tax MLE to support Sabonis and De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. They will also likely try to keep Malik Monk and look at extension options for Davion Mitchell.
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New Orleans Pelicans ($487,911 over the cap) The Pelicans are fairly set with their core of CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram under contract through 2025. Ingram and McCollum are both extension-eligible this offseason, but the Pelicans may wait on dishing out extensions to maintain flexibility under the tax. New Orleans must also monitor Jonas Valanciunas&rsquo; free agency and a possible extension for Trey Murphy III.&nbsp;
Atlanta Hawks ($1,658,172 over the cap) Similar to the Kings, the Hawks wiped away their cap space when they signed Dejounte Murray and De&rsquo;Andre Hunter to four-year, $120 million and four-year, $90 million extensions, respectively. Already pushing past the salary cap, the Hawks may face a money crunch as they broach the luxury tax line. Retaining restricted free agents Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey next offseason may be tricky.
Los Angeles Clippers ($5,018,261 over the cap) The Clippers are in an interesting spot with George and Leonard both needing new deals, which they will likely get despite their inability to stay on the floor. Many veterans with big salaries will come off the books next year, like Marcus Morris, Nic Batum and Robert Covington. The question is whether the Clippers will continue to commit significant capital to a roster that hasn&rsquo;t met its lofty expectations.
Miami Heat ($7,751,630 over the cap) The Miami Heat are in a holding pattern with their roster as they engage in a Mexican standoff with the Blazers on a Damian Lillard trade, which could see them skyrocket into the deep tax. Outside of the Dame situation, Jimmy Butler will likely look for another big extension this offseason, which will pay him max money deep into his late 30s. They will also have to contend with potentially losing Caleb Martin, who has a player option for 2024-25.
Houston Rockets ($8,734,919 over the cap) The biggest spenders of this past offseason, the Rockets made big moves for Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. Houston could get back into the cap-space tier again if they choose to part ways with Kevin Porter Jr. and his non-guaranteed $15.9 million salary. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun will also be up for extensions.&nbsp;
Cleveland Cavaliers ($11,399,749 over the cap) The Cavs are pretty set going into the 2023-24 season and beyond with two max guys (Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell) and key guys on fairly big deals (Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert and Max Strus). They will likely give Evan Mobley a big extension next offseason, which could push them into the luxury tax in the near future. For next offseason, their only notable free agent is Isaac Okoro.
New York Knicks ($11,400,861 over the cap) This morning, the Knicks inked Josh Hart to a four-year contract extension that pushed them over the cap for 2024-25. Their main concerns for next summer are Immanuel Quickley and Isaiah Hartenstein, who are both up for new contracts. They will likely be able to avoid the tax by declining their team option on Evan Fournier or trading his expiring contract for another expiring deal.
Dallas Mavericks ($13,566,153 over the cap) The Mavericks are not likely to seek pathways to cap space next summer after doubling down on their trade for Kyrie Irving by re-signing him to a three-year, $120 million deal. They should look to retain Josh Green, who will be a restricted free agent. Luka Doncic&rsquo;s happiness looms over all of the Mavs&rsquo; moves, as ESPN&rsquo;s Tim McMahon <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mavs-fear-luka-doncic-may-request-trade-unless-they-build-contender">reported in April</a> that the Mavericks are worried about Doncic potentially seeking a trade elsewhere as soon as next year.
Los Angeles Lakers ($15,380,636 over the cap) The Lakers had a pathway to almost two max slots in the unlikely scenario that they decided to pivot from the LeBron-AD era. However, that option is out the window with them inking Davis to a three-year supermax extension that will keep him with the team through 2028. LeBron James&rsquo; decision to stay with the team or leave will ultimately dictate how the Lakers approach spending next offseason.
Portland Trail Blazers ($20,567,876 over the cap) Portland is in the midst of turning the page to a new era as they look to accommodate franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard&rsquo;s trade request. If they do end up trading Lillard, expect their cap numbers to come down slightly, but not enough to get any meaningful space. Whether Lillard is traded for the Miami package or something else, Portland shouldn&rsquo;t be a major player in free agency for a while.&nbsp;
LUXURY TAX TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap and luxury tax. They have spending access to Bird Rights, the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (projected at $5,500,000), and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
Minnesota Timberwolves ($14,474,085 under the tax) The Timberwolves have paid the luxury tax only once since 2007. They should be a tax team once again, with Karl-Anthony Towns' supermax extension and Anthony Edwards' max extension kicking in. In addition, Minnesota will need to use significant capital to keep players like Jaden McDaniels, Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson, all of whom will be free agents in 2024.
Golden State Warriors ($9,696,462 under the tax) While the Warriors are currently under the tax, they are likely going to re-sign 2024 free agent Klay Thompson to a long-term deal at a lower number or at least use his Bird Rights to acquire another piece at a similar number. Golden State can cut some costs by releasing Chris Paul after the season, as his $30 million salary for 2024-25 is non-guaranteed.
Milwaukee Bucks ($6,142,529 under the tax) The Bucks re-signed Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez to big-money deals, committing to the players who won them the 2021 title. Another one of those players, Jrue Holiday, is set to reach free agency and will likely demand max money. In addition, Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes eligible for a supermax extension of up to three years in October and can sign a four-year supermax extension next offseason.
Denver Nuggets ($6,732,627 over the tax) The defending champs have their core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon locked in through the 2025 offseason. They&rsquo;ve already lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green this summer and will be forced to work around the edges with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope potentially heading for free agency next summer.
Boston Celtics ($7,306,800 over the tax) The trade for Kristaps Porzingis pushed the Celtics into the luxury tax for the first time since 2018, and that was before they signed Jaylen Brown to a five-year supermax extension. With Jayson Tatum&rsquo;s own supermax extension on the horizon next year, the Celtics figure to be a tax team, and potentially a second apron team, for the foreseeable future.
SECOND APRON TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap, luxury tax and second luxury tax apron ($17.5 million over the tax). They have spending access to just Bird Rights and the Veteran Minimum Exception. The second apron was introduced in the new CBA and prevents teams from using the Taxpayer MLE, trading first-round picks seven years away, signing buyout free agents and taking back more salary than they send out in trades among other restrictions.
Memphis Grizzlies ($13,829,477 over the tax) For the first time under owner Robert Pera, the Grizzlies will be paying the luxury tax. While Memphis probably won&rsquo;t reach the second apron, they are not likely to have enough spare capital to use their Tax MLE and be able to fill out their roster without going over it. Their core of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are locked up to big money, long-term deals that will keep Memphis among the league's biggest spenders for likely the next decade-plus.
Phoenix Suns ($27,039,607 over the tax) Phoenix is by far the most limited team when it comes to spending, and they will be for the next few seasons after trading for Bradley Beal&rsquo;s behemoth contract. With four max contracts, including two supermax contracts, the Suns have blown through the second apron. Like this past offseason, the supporting cast around their core four will be mostly minimum-salary contracts.

How much cap room is your favorite NBA team projected to have next summer? Blake Stern breaks down where all 30 teams stand.

Which NBA teams project to have the most cap space in 2024?

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.
Less discussed &mdash; at least these days &mdash; was their willingness, in 1999, to dive into a messy acquisition process for a largely irrelevant franchise that had been considered a relocation prospect as the 21st century approached.
All of the talk of them relocating no longer exists.
Now, the conversation is about how the Nuggets were able to reach their first NBA Finals thanks to the stubborn patience displayed by the Kroenkes, who have taken an unorthodox route toward assembling an unorthodox winner. Denver hosts the Miami Heat in Game 2 Sunday night after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-denver-nuggets-nba-sports-755531bae7f944958c4225f8d5f54bad">winning the Finals opener</a>.
Kroenke&rsquo;s deal to purchase the Nuggets, along with the Colorado Avalanche and their home arena for $450 million, included a clause that tethered the NBA franchise to Denver for the ensuing 25 years. These days, the Nuggets are estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.93 billion.
&ldquo;One thing I know about Stan is that when he sets his mind to doing something, and when he thinks he&rsquo;s right, he&rsquo;s going to fight for that,&rdquo; said Wellington Webb, who was Denver&rsquo;s mayor in 1999 and helped broker the deal that closed a year later between Kroenke and the Nuggets.
Though Kroenke married into money &mdash; he wed Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974, a few years after meeting her during a ski trip to Aspen &mdash; he had already honed his business chops. His first deal: Taking a $1,500 loan at 6% interest from his dad so he could buy part of a clothing shop with his friend.
Not long after, he got into the real estate business, building shopping centers with a developer who was tight with Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Real estate and sports are, these days, almost intertwined &mdash; a reality Kroenke grasped quickly.
&ldquo;I always thought I&rsquo;d enjoy (owning a sports franchise) because the professional sports business is part business and part sports,&rdquo; Kroenke told the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune in 2022, &ldquo;and I love both of them.&rdquo;
Kroenke&rsquo;s representatives did not return messages left by The Associated Press seeking an interview.
His first major jump into sports was his partnership with Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. In the mid-1990s, Frontiere was chafing at the inability of Los Angeles to build a new stadium, She was looking for partners to bankroll a move to St. Louis. Kroenke bought in, and when Frontiere died in 2008, he exercised his right to purchase a majority stake in the team.
The sad irony is that it was Kroenke, the Missouri native, who moved the Rams out of St. Louis and back to LA where they are the main tenant in his $5.1 billion stadium. His connection with Denver &mdash; much different.
&ldquo;One of my dreams was to be involved in a professional basketball team,&rdquo; Kroenke told The Denver Post, shortly after closing the deal for the Nuggets. &ldquo;This is a dream I&rsquo;ve had for a long time.&rdquo;
There is, in fact, a strong argument that the basketball trophy might be the most meaningful for a family that has amassed three Stanley Cup trophies with the Avalanche, a Super Bowl trophy with the Rams and is still looking for glory with Arsenal, the Premier League soccer team it has had a controlling interest in since 2011.
Kroeke&rsquo;s son, Josh, was a standout basketball player in high school and played at University of Missouri. He now runs the Nuggets.
&ldquo;I thought that you could bring a championship to Denver,&rdquo; Josh said in a recent interview on team-owned Altitude Sports Radio. &ldquo;Trying to do something that&rsquo;s never been done before, it&rsquo;s not always easy, and it&rsquo;s usually met with a lot of resistance. ... We&rsquo;re mostly excited for the city to get to experience this. But the job&rsquo;s not done.&rdquo;
The Nuggets were parked squarely in NBA purgatory when the team went on the block in 1999, having not sniffed relevancy since their mid-80s heydey, when the teams were highlighted by coach Doug Moe&rsquo;s uptempo offense. Their situation off the court wasn&rsquo;t much better. In the late &rsquo;80s, then-owner Sidney Shlenker had toyed with the idea of moving the team to Memphis.
His sale to a media conglomerate that was never truly hot on owning sports teams did nothing to tamp the idea that the Nuggets were a team that might be available to move. And teams were moving; Between 2001-08, Memphis (from Vancouver), Oklahoma City (from Seattle) and New Orleans (from Charlotte) all adopted existing franchises in a flurry of NBA reshuffling.
When Denver went on the block, the highest bidder, billionaire businessman Donald Sturm, came in with a $460 million offer, but balked at the idea that he couldn&rsquo;t move the team.
In stepped Kroenke, who had no problem with the arrangement. A side note: To close the sale, Kroenke had to outmaneuver another group fronted by none other than John Elway.
&ldquo;It was clear Sturm wasn&rsquo;t going to work out,&rdquo; Webb said. &ldquo;And my only question was, &lsquo;Is the new guy going to be supportive of the team winning?&rsquo; Because if the arena is full, not only do the owners make money, but city makes money, as well.&rdquo;
The Kroenkes have answered Webb&rsquo;s question with their willingness &mdash; increasingly rare in pro sports &mdash; to play the long game, both on the roster and on the bench.
The roster was built in workmanlike,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-nuggets-jokic-murray-malone-18329e13dfecae50834ebc06d409027c">no-drama fashion</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-nikola-jokic-denver-nuggets-mvp-lebron-lakers-8e668572f9f43942175ded63e7a61832">highlighted by Nikola Jokic</a>, who entered the league as an unheralded second-round pick from Serbia. The coach, Michael Malone, was hired in 2015, and there was never much talk of making changes after disappointing finishes to their seasons in 2018, 2019 and even last year.
Today, Malone sits behind only Gregg Popovich (Spurs), Erik Spoelstra (Heat) and Steve Kerr (Warriors) &mdash; who have a combined 11 championships on their coaching resumes &mdash; in terms of longevity among the NBA&rsquo;s 30 head coaches.
&ldquo;That has a ton to do with where we are today,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be more thankful for working for an ownership group that is not impatient and is not trying to find the next great thing, but is saying &lsquo;Hey, listen, let&rsquo;s let this grow and marinate into something special.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Despite his family&rsquo;s large role in the Denver sports scene &mdash; the Kroenke business also owns the MLS Colorado Rapids, and the National Lacrosse League&rsquo;s Colorado Mammoth, who lost the deciding game in that league&rsquo;s title series Saturday &mdash; Kroenke has still taken his fair share of criticism around town.
It&rsquo;s a byproduct of his 2004 move to bundle his teams&rsquo; TV rights and air them on company&rsquo;s new regional television network, Altitude.
In 2019, the region&rsquo;s biggest cable operator, Comcast, stopped carrying Altitude due to a disagreement over fees the cable giant was charging to carry the network. The ensuing legal battle has kept the Nuggets off the local airwaves in millions of homes for the last four seasons. The battle between billion-dollar companies has left many average Nuggets fans feeling like the only real losers in the equation.
But whatever bitterness lingers from the cable dispute has mostly been set aside over the past few months. All the playoff games have been on national TV.
Meanwhile, Kroenke stays firmly in the background. He can make it from his apartment at the top of Ball Arena through some back passageways and into his luxury suite to watch games in less than two minutes. Sometimes he brings his German Shepherd along.
&ldquo;I think that not only is he a good businessman,&rdquo; Webb said, &ldquo;but he also feels he has something special in Denver. And I think it&rsquo;s always been his goal to do right by Denver.&rdquo;

Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.

Kroenke bought Nuggets, kept team in Denver, now hoping to deliver title

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer just over a week after their stunning first-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat spoiled a season in which they owned the NBA&rsquo;s best record.
Budenholzer&rsquo;s ouster comes just two years after he directed the Bucks to their&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-milwaukee-bucks-phoenix-suns-64e76fe1b9f0851dbcf46ad66d90d6de">first NBA title in half a century</a>. The move also comes three weeks after the NBA finalized Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-bucks-haslam-lasry-3a5237f4ce612a4c6feb6cea81ff9820">purchase of a 25% stake in the team.</a>
&ldquo;The decision to make this change was very difficult,&rdquo; Bucks general manager Jon Horst said Thursday in a statement announcing the move. &ldquo;Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks&rsquo; first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.
&ldquo;This is an opportunity for us to refocus and re-energize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.&rdquo;
The Bucks posted the most combined regular-season and playoff wins of any team during Budenholzer&rsquo;s tenure and had the league&rsquo;s best regular-season record in three of his five seasons on the job. He&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/budenmi99c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">posted a 271-120 regular-season record</a> and 39-26 playoff mark in Milwaukee.
With a roster featuring two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Budenholzer&rsquo;s Bucks soared to heights the franchise hadn&rsquo;t reached since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was wearing a Milwaukee uniform in the early 1970s.
But with the notable exception of that 2021 championship season, the Bucks couldn&rsquo;t match their regular-season success in the postseason.
The Bucks didn&rsquo;t reach the NBA Finals during any of the three seasons in which they had the league&rsquo;s No. 1 playoff seed. They had a 2-0 lead over Toronto in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals before losing four straight. They&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-milwaukee-bucks-jae-crowder-khris-middleton-miami-5e27a4ba85d538d27947524e463921a8">lost 4-1 in the second round</a>&nbsp;to the Miami Heat in the 2020 East semifinals at the Walt Disney World playoff bubble.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-bucks-heat-giannis-antetokounmpo-budenholzer-5e7ea2d31a0e15e286d5f499b8247723">This year&rsquo;s playoff exit</a>&nbsp;was particularly devastating.
The Bucks suffered fourth-quarter collapses in each of their last two games and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-bucks-antetokounmpo-butler-nba-playoffs-2023-77a194e9d9d8b18b266e21acbf206d84">lost 4-1 to the eighth-seeded Heat.</a>&nbsp;They were just the sixth No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed in the opening round, and the only No. 1 seed that failed to win more than one playoff game.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a ton of disappointment when your season ends, no matter how it happens,&rdquo; Budenholzer said afterward. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a hard feeling. It&rsquo;s a disappointing feeling.&rdquo;
Milwaukee owned a 12-point lead at Miami in Game 4 before getting outscored 30-13 over the last six minutes of a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/bucks-heat-giannis-nba-playoffs-19c43fba23f5e6863c29e3de42c0f215">119-114 loss</a>&nbsp;in which the Heat&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler scored 56 points. They were up 16 at home to start the fourth quarter of Game 5, but lost 128-126 in overtime after Butler made&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1651441852153835520" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a tying basket with half a second left</a>&nbsp;in regulation.
Budenholzer, 53, acknowledged the Bucks should have called a timeout after Butler&rsquo;s tying basket, giving them a chance to make a buzzer beater that could have prevented overtime. The Bucks also declined to call a timeout when they got the ball back while trailing by two points in the closing seconds of overtime, and they weren&rsquo;t able to attempt a shot before the game ended.
Antetokounmpo said after the game the Bucks didn&rsquo;t make enough adjustments in how they defended Butler, who averaged 37.6 points in the series.
Antetokounmpo,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/giannis-bucks-nba-playoffs-9a8b1c8f1ff97104eef29cd7544f7273">who was playing with a bruised lower back,</a>&nbsp;said he would have liked more opportunities to guard Butler.
The removal of Budenholzer comes as the Bucks enter a critical offseason. Brook Lopez, a finalist for the NBA defensive player of the year award this season, is a free agent. Three-time All-Star Khris Middleton could become a free agent as well if he doesn&rsquo;t pick up his $40.4 million player option for 2023-24.
Budenholzer&rsquo;s teams had some bad luck with injuries during the postseason.
Middleton&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-boston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-50054b97e39211a15bf4f2e2f0a90699">sprained his left medial collateral ligament</a>&nbsp;in Game 2 of an opening-round series with the Chicago Bulls last year and missed the rest of the playoffs as the Bucks ended up&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-miami-heat-boston-celtics-nba-travel-7d6fd7328f8ecf8df8dfb59001a9ce22">losing their second-round matchup</a>&nbsp;with the Boston Celtics in seven games.
Antetokounmpo sprained his ankle in Game 4 against Miami in 2020 and missed the rest of that series, though the Bucks already trailed 3-0 when he got hurt. Antetokounmpo exited Game 1 of this year&rsquo;s Heat series with the back issue that caused him to miss Games 2 and 3. The Bucks&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-basketball-milwaukee-bucks-atlanta-hawks-477d3e4a0a7cf768cf2ab47ce24a5aa7">won the 2021 title</a>&nbsp;even though a hyperextended knee prevented Antetokounmpo from playing the final two games of the Eastern Conference finals with the Atlanta Hawks.
It&rsquo;s worth noting the Bucks also benefited from injuries to opponents during their 2021 title run.
James Harden missed nearly all of the first three games and Kyrie Irving sat out the last three games of the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; second-round loss to Milwaukee that year. Atlanta&rsquo;s Trae Young missed two games of the 2021 East finals with a bone bruise in his right foot.
Budenholzer came to Milwaukee after going 213-197 in five seasons with Atlanta. He was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs from 1996-2013 and was on Gregg Popovich&rsquo;s staff for four championship seasons (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007).

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer just over a week after their stunning first-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat.

Bucks fire Mike Budenholzer as coach after early playoff exit

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Back when the New York Knicks and Miami Heat were meeting every year in the postseason, nobody had the kind of series&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-butler-heat-nba-playoffs-2023-277604ca21669f2f255b9efa86af92e1">Jimmy Butler just did</a>.
Get as hot as he was against Milwaukee and a player was going to get clobbered.
They were&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-knicks-nba-playoffs-2023-6383364c2ebdf6f3fe7dbb4af99cdf04">foul-filled matchups</a>&nbsp;at the end of the 1990s, better fit for brawlers than ballers, and beautiful to watch only for someone who loves ferocious competition like Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
&ldquo;And it was on every play,&rdquo; Thibodeau said. &ldquo;And the style of play is a little bit different today than it was then.&rdquo;
The intensity might be about the same.
The teams renew that rivalry beginning Sunday when the Knicks welcome the Heat back to Madison Square Garden for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
&ldquo;We know how fierce it&rsquo;s going to be at 1 o&rsquo;clock in the Garden,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Knicks arrived here by winning a playoff series&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/knicks-madison-square-garden-heat-nba-playoffs-2023-233faa2d835d5e1b46ce0648bd67d7ae">for the first time since 2013</a>. They got to start it at home when the Heat stunned the top-seeded Bucks thanks to Butler&rsquo;s spectacular series, where he averaged 37.6 points.
It&rsquo;s a No. 5 against No. 8 matchup, making this series a surprise. It used to seem like fate.
They met every year from 1997 to 2000, with the Heat coming from 3-1 down to take the first one after suspensions from a fight swung the series, and the Knicks taking the final three. Every one went the distance.
The typically gruff Thibodeau, then an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy, chuckled repeatedly recalling the history this week, particularly Allan Houston&rsquo;s shot to win the 1999 first-round series &mdash; another of the six No. 8 upsets of No. 1 in NBA history.
&ldquo;I probably wouldn&rsquo;t be here today if that thing didn&rsquo;t roll in,&rdquo; Thibodeau said. &ldquo;It hit every part of everything.&rdquo;
But it&rsquo;s a history that means little to the current Knicks, whose core of 20-somethings is too young to remember it.
&ldquo;So for us, those are the war stories of the past and they&rsquo;re cool to hear and they&rsquo;re cool to see highlights of it, but as a team we&rsquo;ve got our own path and our own vibe and way to navigate that,&rdquo; swingman Josh Hart said.
Hart will be one of the Knicks tasked with trying to slow Butler, who scored 56 points, tied for fourth-most in NBA playoff history, in Game 4 against Milwaukee. He followed with 42 in Game 5 to win the series.
He began his career in Chicago playing for Thibodeau, who said he didn&rsquo;t foresee Butler turning into such a dominant scorer. They reunited later in Minnesota, so Thibodeau might know what it will take to throw the swingman off his game &mdash; if that&rsquo;s even doable at this point.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to make this a Thibs vs. myself thing,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to take our entire roster to be able to do something special. It&rsquo;s the Miami Heat versus the New York Knicks.&rdquo;
Even those who don&rsquo;t understand what that used to mean are ready to be a part of it now.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to be honest: I didn&rsquo;t know the rivalry was like that,&rdquo; Heat center Bam Adebayo said. &ldquo;For me, this is a chance to build a rivalry in that aspect, but also it&rsquo;s a chance for us to try to advance. It&rsquo;s another series for us to be battle-tested.&rdquo;
KNICKED UP
All-Star forward Julius Randle is questionable to play after reinjuring his left ankle in the Game 5 victory at Cleveland. Starting guard Quentin Grimes, who missed the last two games with a bruised right shoulder, is practicing again and also listed as questionable.
FAMILIAR GROUND
Miami is in Round 2 of the playoffs for the 11th time in the last 20 seasons. The Heat have wound up advancing in eight of their 10 most recent conference semifinal appearances.
New York made the conference semifinals in nine consecutive seasons from 1992 through 2000. This is only the second trip since then for the Knicks, who last won this round in 2000 &mdash; against Miami, in a seven-game thriller.
SEASON SERIES
The Knicks took three of four, with their first two victories both by two points. All four games were decided by single digits.
SEEDINGS SPEAK
This is just the third NBA playoff series where both teams are seeded No. 5 or lower. A 1994 matchup between Utah and Denver was also a No. 5 vs. No. 8, and Houston and Seattle had a 6-7 matchup in 1987.
THE COACHES
Spoelstra is 100-66 in playoff games. Thibodeau enters 29-37 as a head coach in the playoffs. They&rsquo;ve squared off twice previously in the postseason; Miami beat Chicago 4-1 both times, in 2011 and 2013.

The Knicks and Heat are renewing their rivalry beginning Sunday at MSG for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Rivalry reborn: Heat, Knicks ready to face off in second round

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler took a hard fall.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/heat-victor-oladipo-injured-068379afcb59938fa5028e85b413d786">Victor Oladipo took a harder one.</a>&nbsp;And the Miami Heat still found a way to knock off the Milwaukee Bucks, reclaiming the lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Butler scored 30 points before leaving with a sore glute, leading the eighth-seeded Heat past the top-seeded Bucks 121-99 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
But what should have been a celebratory postgame &mdash; big win, series lead, halfway to upsetting the NBA&rsquo;s top overall seed &mdash; was anything but,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BallySportWI/status/1649955234616049665?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">after Oladipo left in the fourth quarter</a>&nbsp;after a knee injury that had the Heat fearing very bad news.
&ldquo;I feel probably like how everybody feels,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;It was a great win, but when you see a player go down like that &mdash; especially a player like Vic who&rsquo;s gone through so much in the last three years ... that&rsquo;s definitely not a good feeling.&rdquo;
Injuries have now become the biggest story in this series. The Bucks were without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for a second consecutive game because of a bruised lower back, an injury he suffered in Game 1. The Heat were already without Tyler Herro because of a broken right hand, also from Game 1.
Butler wasn&rsquo;t moving well, and Oladipo&rsquo;s situation &mdash; even without the Heat offering an initial diagnosis yet &mdash; did not seem good, based on the instant reaction of disbelief from teammates and staffers who rushed to his side as he grabbed at the knee.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all praying for the best,&rdquo; said Heat guard Duncan Robinson, who scored 20 points on his 29th birthday for Miami. Kyle Lowry scored 15 for the Heat.
Khris Middleton scored 23 points, Jrue Holiday added 19 and Grayson Allen scored 14 for Milwaukee.
Game 4 is in Miami on Monday night, when the Heat will aim for a 3-1 lead. Miami took Game 1, Milwaukee took Game 2, Miami won Game 3 and now it&rsquo;ll be the Bucks looking for another bounce-back.
&ldquo;We need to be better,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;Like I said, give them credit. They played well. We need to be better. We need to deal with a lot of things better. That&rsquo;ll be the challenge going into the next game.&rdquo;
With the win, the Heat are halfway to what would be a stunner &mdash; a No. 8 seed over a No. 1 seed, something that&rsquo;s happened only five times since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984.
Those who pulled it off: Denver over Seattle 3-2 in 1994, New York over Miami 3-2 in 1999, Golden State over Dallas 4-2 in 2007, Memphis over San Antonio 4-2 in 2011 and Philadelphia over Chicago 4-2 in 2012.
Butler got hurt midway through the third quarter after trying a shot near the rim and landing on his back. He stayed in the game briefly, departed for a short stint in the locker room and returned with a large wrap on his back &mdash; with the Heat saying he would return.
He didn&rsquo;t, because he didn&rsquo;t have to. The game was in hand, and Miami eventually led by as many as 29.
&ldquo;We still had our chances,&rdquo; Middleton said. &ldquo;Just couldn&rsquo;t get it together.&rdquo;
The first half couldn&rsquo;t have gone better for Miami. Butler had 17 points in the opening quarter, the Heat had a 19-0 run at one point, they set a franchise record by making 12 3&rsquo;s in a half &mdash; and it was still only 66-53 at the break.
The reason, again: Milwaukee was getting 3&rsquo;s, again. The Bucks made 25 of them in their easy Game 2 win and were 10 for 18 from deep in the first half Saturday.
But the Bucks cooled after halftime, shooting only 5 for 21 from 3-point range, and the outcome was never in doubt.
TIP-INS
Bucks: Holiday&rsquo;s first 10 points came in the opening 4:43. He reached 10 points faster in only one other game this season, needing 4:18 to do so against Toronto on Jan. 17. &hellip; Pat Connaughton scored 11 for Milwaukee.
Heat: Kevin Love returned to the Miami starting lineup. &hellip; Robinson had been part of only one other Heat game on his birthday &mdash; it was last year, when Miami lost Game 3 of a first-round series against Atlanta 111-110. Miami was 6-0 all-time in games played on April 22 before that. &hellip; Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was courtside.

Jimmy Butler took a hard fall. Victor Oladipo took a harder one. And the Miami Heat still found a way to knock off the Milwaukee Bucks.

Butler scores 30, Heat top Giannis-less Bucks 121-99

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-104 on Sunday night to move a step closer to the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks (56-22) have a two-game lead over Boston (54-24) with four games left. Boston won the season series with Milwaukee and has the tiebreaker. Philadelphia (51-27) is third in the East.
Brook Lopez scored 21 points, Khris Middleton had 19 and Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis each added 18 as the Bucks shot 57.5%. Middleton also had nine assists.
Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and Joel Embiid 28 for the 76ers.
The Bucks bounced back three nights after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-boston-celtics-sports-602518fe91ba1ade71877f8d634cbdd4#:~:text=MILWAUKEE%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Jayson%20Tatum,in%20the%20Eastern%20Conference%20standings." target="_blank" rel="noopener">140-99 home loss to Boston</a>&nbsp;that matched their most-lopsided defeat of the season. The Bucks never trailed thanks to a blistering start that enabled them to build a 31-15 lead.
Milwaukee made its first first eight shots from the floor and 12 of its first 13. The Bucks were 5 of 5 from 3-point range during that stretch.
The Bucks eventually led by 20 during a first half in which they shot 67.4%.
After making their first five 3-point attempts of the night, the Bucks missed 14 of their next 15. But after the Bucks&rsquo; lead dwindled to four with about four minutes left in the third quarter, Bobby Portis ended the dry spell by sinking a 27-footer.
Milwaukee soon regained a double-digit advantage and broke the game open by going on a 16-2 run that began late in the third quarter and carried over to the final period. Antetokounmpo scored nine points during that stretch and capped the spurt with a basket putting the Bucks ahead 105-84 with 9:04 remaining.
TIP-INS
76ers: Georges Niang went scoreless and missed his only two shots, both from 3-point range. Niang had gone a combined 9 of 14 from 3-point range in Philadelphia&rsquo;s last two matchups with the Bucks, which both resulted in victories for the 76ers. ... James Harden was held to 11 points after flirting with a triple-double in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bucks-76ers-giannis-antetokounmpo-joel-embiid-harden-4d4536b59829e9d8de1d14d0cde6a861" target="_blank" rel="noopener">133-130 victory at Milwaukee</a>&nbsp;on March 4. Harden had 38 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the March 4 game.
Bucks: Grayson Allen left midway through the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. ... The Bucks observed Autism Acceptance Night on Sunday by lowering the decibel level of noise and in-game sounds, keeping the lights on for the entire game and not using any strobing lights. Bucks forward Joe Ingles and his wife, Renae, had unveiled upgraded sensory rooms at Fiserv Forum during a Thursday news conference. Their 6-year-old son, Jacob, has autism.
UP NEXT
76ers: Host Boston on Tuesday night.
Bucks: At Washington on Tuesday night.&nbsp;

The Bucks beat the 76ers 117-104 on Sunday night to move a step closer to the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo helps hot-shooting Bucks beat 76ers 117-104

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges had 30 points and seven rebounds, helping the Brooklyn Nets move closer to clinching a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference by holding off the Utah Jazz 111-110 on Sunday.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points and 12 assists, his eighth double-double in 23 games for Brooklyn, and Cam Johnson had 18 points. The Nets won their third straight, and fourth in their past five games, opening a two-game lead over Miami for the No. 6 seed and dipping their magic number to two to clinch the last guaranteed playoff spot in the East.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 32 points and Lauri Markkanen had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who lost for the fifth time in six games and are 12th in the West, two spots behind the last play-in spot. Ochai Agbaji had 19 points.
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Brooklyn led by 11 at halftime then outscored Utah 28-15 over a span of 10 1/2 minutes between the third and fourth quarters to build a 23-point lead. Bridges had 17 of his 19 second-half points in the third quarter.
Horton-Tucker scored 15 in the fourth and Utah outscored Brooklyn 42-26 in the quarter. The Jazz used a 26-8 run to cut Brooklyn&rsquo;s lead to one and had a chance to win after Seth Curry missed two free throws, but Kelly Olynyk&rsquo;s jumper at the buzzer went long.
Markkanen, who leads the Jazz by averaging 25.7 points per game, started just 2 for 8 from the field and was held scoreless until the 7:21 mark of the second quarter. Brooklyn held Utah to just 42 first-half points, the second-fewest of any first half this season, and the Jazz made just 8 of 32 3-pointers in the game.
Brooklyn made 13 of its first 25 shots, including four of its first seven 3-pointers, and used a 20-5 run to build a 34-19 second-quarter lead.
TIP-INS
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Jazz: Forward Rudy Gay (lower back) missed his sixth straight game, and guards Jordan Clarkson (left ring finger) and Collin Sexton (left hamstring) were also inactive. &hellip; Horton-Tucker started his 18th straight game, and Agbaji started his 16th in a row. &hellip; With one Sunday, Markkanen added to his NBA record for single-season 3-pointers among 7-footers (200)
Nets: Dinwiddie led the NBA with 146 assists in March. He is averaging 8.7 per game in 23 games since the Nets acquired him from Dallas in the Kyrie Irving trade Feb. 6.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Host the Lakers on Tuesday
Nets: Host Minnesota on Tuesday

The Brooklyn Nets moved closer to clinching a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference by holding off the Utah Jazz 111-110 on Sunday.

Nets hold off Jazz 111-110, move closer to playoff berth

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; A bettor in December placed $500 on Florida Atlantic at 400-1 odds to make the Final Four, costing Westgate Las Vegas $200,000.
That was a clear win for one bettor, but who actually has come out on top between the sportsbooks and those on the other side of the counter during this most unusual NCAA Tournament is much more murky.
While Westgate absorbed a tough loss, Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas came out in decent shape even as upsets ruled the first two weeks of March Madness and set up a Final Four that begins Saturday with UConn at No. 4 as the highest seed.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still in really good shape on, especially, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic,&rdquo; said Chuck Esposito, Red Rock race and sportsbook director. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard that there there are some places that have some liability with Florida Atlantic, but we don&rsquo;t. We do still do well on UConn and Miami. Both those schools seem to be the the kind of two schools that are getting some future play. But, overall, we&rsquo;re pretty good shape with all four teams.&rdquo;
A UConn victory likely would be the best outcome for sportsbooks, and the Huskies have rolled through the NCAA Tournament, winning by an average of 22.5 points.
Their odds before the tournament at Westgate were 20-1 to win the championship. As for the rest of the field, Miami was at 50-1, San Diego State at 60-1 and FAU at 100-1.
&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look like a Final Four,&rdquo; said Jay Kornegay, Westgate vice president of race and sports operations. &ldquo;It looks like an NIT final.&rdquo;
Kornegay said he could see the FAU run to the Final Four coming, but there was little Westgate could to do mitigate the damage.
As for future NCAA Tournaments, Kornegay said discussions already are under way about lowering the odds for the long shots and increasing them for the favorites. It will be among many tweaks as more parity hits college basketball, in part because of the transfer portal.
&ldquo;Believe me, we&rsquo;re keeping an eye on it,&rdquo; Kornegay said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to make a knee-jerk, dramatic change. ... I do believe there are going to be more Cinderella stories than we&rsquo;ve seen in the past.&rdquo;
Esposito said even more work will go into breaking down rosters in the future, making special note of schools with veteran players.
&ldquo;I think you&rsquo;re going to continue to see the trend of numbers a lot tighter, a lot smaller,&rdquo; Esposito said. &ldquo;I do think David has more of a chance against Goliath than he ever has before.&rdquo;
Esposito and Kornegay said the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament and Final Four, which begins Friday, have drawn more betting interest than in past years, though still nowhere close to the level for the men. But both sportsbooks are offering more betting options for the women&rsquo;s Final Four to reflect the increased interest.
While the men&rsquo;s Final Four is a major surprise, the women&rsquo;s side includes undefeated South Carolina and Iowa star and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/iowas-caitlin-clark-wins-ap-player-of-the-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark</a>.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not leaps and bounds more,&rdquo; Kornegay said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen increases that are noticeable on the women&rsquo;s side.&rdquo;
The men have a near monopoly on betting during the regular season, though more women&rsquo;s games have been made available. Louisville coach Jeff Walz said he would like to see all women&rsquo;s games on the betting boards.
&ldquo;I just think for women&rsquo;s basketball there&rsquo;s more interest now for the casual fan,&rdquo; Walz said. &ldquo;Obviously, we can&rsquo;t bet on it or anything like that ... but if you&rsquo;re asking what can enhance our game, that little thing right there I think has already.&rdquo;

A UConn victory likely would be the best outcome for sportsbooks, who have had mixed results given all of the March Madness upsets.

Upset-rich March Madness causing mixed results at sportsbooks

It's December 14, and Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford has already had enough.&nbsp;
Normally a willing interviewee and giving orator, Clifford sets the stage early.&nbsp;
"You don't have to ask questions," he says, before laying down the law for nearly two full minutes.&nbsp;
The heart of the message: The Hornets won't win games &mdash; and certainly nothing of consequence &mdash; if they don't nail the little things. And they'll have no shot if they don't nail the big thing: Defense.
"We are playing no defense, not one guy. There's no bright spot," Clifford says.&nbsp;
"We don't run back on defense. We don't guard the ball. Our pick-and-roll stuff &mdash; all stuff that was good. I think we were as high as 12th or 13th in defense about 10 games ago, and we're right back where we started: Ground Zero, where all we want to be is, "Let's try to outscore the other team." It doesn't work that way. "
Quotes don't really do it justice &mdash; you can watch the whole thing <a href="https://youtu.be/DnWSEJypz5A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; but Clifford was right on all accounts. Well, mostly all accounts.&nbsp;
Through Dec. 14, the Hornets ranked 26th in half-court defense per Cleaning The Glass. Opponents generated 1.083 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a drive against the Hornets, the worst mark in the NBA. Only five teams allowed more points on a per-possession basis than the Hornets when defending pick-and-rolls.
The lone bright spot&nbsp;was&nbsp;the transition defense, ranking fifth in PPP allowed (1.165) and second in transition frequency allowed (13.7% of possessions). Honestly, it made sense for Clifford to be paranoid overseeing any slippage in that area, considering how woeful everything else had been.&nbsp;
Fast forward a few months, and we're singing a different tune.&nbsp;
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The Hornets have a 110.6 defensive rating since the All-Star break, making them, statistically, the stingiest defense in the league right now. And it's not like their numbers are juiced by feasting on awful offenses. Nearly half of their games have come against top-10 offenses.
Here are their splits, per Cleaning The Glass:
<ul>
<li>Against top-10 offenses (7 games): 115.3 DRTG (3.6 lower than league average), 8th in the NBA</li>
<li>Against middle-10 offenses (4 games): 107.6 DRTG (-9.3), 1st</li>
<li>Against bottom-10 offenses (5 games): 106.7 DRTG (-6.5), 5th</li>
</ul>
It's important to emphasize the "statistically" part. A large portion of what's driving Charlotte's success is opponent three-point shooting. Teams have shot just 31.6% from deep against them since the All-Star break, nearly two percentage points lower than the second-ranked Denver Nuggets (33.1%).
Per Second Spectrum's Quantified Shot Quality (qSQ) metric, teams have&nbsp;underperformed&nbsp;their expected field goal percentage from deep against the Hornets by nearly six percentage points (-5.87) &mdash; the largest gap in the league.&nbsp;
That's not to say the Hornets have&nbsp;only&nbsp;gotten lucky. They've been pretty intentional about limiting fruitful three-point attempts; between their off-ball switching, an uptick in space-limiting ball-screen coverages (more on that shortly) and more aggressive closeouts, teams are struggling to win the math battle in a way they weren't earlier this season.&nbsp;
You can see that reflected in the actual shot profile. Before the All-Star break, 36% of the opposition's shots were coming from deep against the Hornets, a mark that ranked No. 21 in the league. Since the break, that's fallen to 32.9% (No. 7).
But even when fruitful threes are given up &mdash; their corner three rate allowed has remain unchanged (9.6%) &mdash; they're at least making those tougher. Their contest rate on corner threes has improved throughout the year, ranking 12th before the break and sixth after it, per Second Spectrum.
The Hornets have asked their bigs &mdash; rookie Mark Williams when available, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-nick-richards-charlotte-hornets-bench-mason-plumlee-steve-clifford-jamaica-basketball-dennis-smith-jr-kelly-oubre-lamelo-ball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quietly-solid reserve Nick Richards</a> &mdash; to play closer to the level against ball-screens. When trending smaller with PJ Washington or Kai Jones (he's been fun!) at the 5, they're more inclined to (late) switch.
If opponents attempt to target a weaker defender in ball-screens or with a clear out, or are able to force an unfavorable switch, the Hornets are willing to send doubles to get their guys out of perceived trouble.&nbsp;
Either gambit puts two on the ball, creating openings on the back end. But this is where you tip your cap to the length, athleticism and overall ground coverage this group has.&nbsp;
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Only two players in the Hornets' rotation are shorter than 6-foot-7 &mdash; Terry Rozier (6-1) and Dennis Smith Jr. (6-2). Rozier has missed the last two games, and has been replaced by Theo Maledon; Maledon keeps the quota at two, while also offering more size (6-4) than Rozier.&nbsp;
Smith has been one of the best guard defenders in the NBA on a per-minute basis. He's physical at the point of attack and combines that ruggedness with some real feistiness at the rim. He isn't afraid to challenge shots. He's currently <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=BLK*GE*25&amp;Height=LT%206-4&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;TeamID=0&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=MIN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of 10 players</a> listed at 6-4 or shorter with 25 blocks to his name; everyone on the list has appeared in more action than Smith.
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On a team that's willing to send a bunch of help, it's a breath of fresh air to have someone like Smith who doesn't need&nbsp;it all that often.&nbsp;
To that point: 47 players have defended at least 200 on-ball picks at the point of attack since the All-Star break. At 0.78 PPP, no player has "allowed" a lower clip than Smith. On the year, Smith ranks second in Dunks And Three's Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (dEPM) metric (+3.6), narrowly edging out OG Anunoby (+3.4) and trailing only Alex Caruso (+4.5).&nbsp;
Beyond him, I've been impressed with the wings. JT Thor and Gordon Hayward have taken turns picking up top-tier elite wing assignments, and have mostly held their own. Hayward's been surprisingly spry chasing dudes around off-ball screens. I enjoyed the work he put in against Luka Doncic over the weekend, even if he got dotted a couple of times.
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Thor has used his rare blend of size and mobility to stick with different types of assignments on the ball. He's also provided us with some fun rim-protection flashes; you always have to be aware of where he is.&nbsp;
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As for the bigs, many will point to rookie Williams' insertion into the starting lineup as a real turning point. There's some credence to that; the Hornets rank third in defensive rating since Feb. 10th, the date marking the rookie's first start.
His size is valuable, particularly on the glass. He's had nice flashes of rim protection during this stretch, averaging 1.1 blocks while contesting <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?CF=G*GE*10&amp;DateFrom=02/10/2023&amp;Height=&amp;PerMode=Per36" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13.1 shots per 36 minutes</a>, a number in the range of guys like Jakob Poeltl (13.4), Kristaps Porzingis (13.0) and Rudy Gobert (12.6).
I'd argue they've gotten more juice out of Richards, whose growing comfort on the perimeter has really popped. He isn't the mountain to dribble around or pass over that Williams is, but the gap in mobility and understanding of angles make him a more effective at-the-level defender. He's gotten better at contesting shots vertically, which gives him a chance to alter shots in light of his limitations as a leaper.
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Neither big is ready to be a true defensive achor right now, but that's okay. Williams is still trying to navigate space at the NBA level, period. Having to defend multiple actions within a possession can get dicey for the young man.
Richards' attempts at being a late leaper &mdash; waiting for the offensive player to leave his feet before challenging the shot, in hopes of avoiding fouls &mdash; can end with the ball going in the basket as Richards' hand is slapping the backboard.
On the positive side, Williams has shown enough to be encouraged by his potential to get there. Richards will likely never be an anchor, but he's made enough strides from last season to feel comfortable with him executing multiple coverages. In 24 or fewer minutes &mdash; and I'd guess he'd be in the 18-ish range on a better team &mdash; that's all that's needed for him to be a valuable role player.&nbsp;
Are the Hornets&nbsp;actually&nbsp;the best defensive team in the NBA? No, they are not. It is, however, worth celebrating the strides they've made as the season has gone on. With the collective size and mobility this roster has, it's also worth getting excited about the foundation that could be built.&nbsp;
(And hey, with enough lottery luck, they could be set in the paint for years to come.)

Nekias Duncan explores what's happening with the Hornets' suddenly-elite defense.

What's the buzz with the Charlotte Hornets' defense?

On Saturday night, the Sacramento Kings have a chance to hit 40 wins for the first time since 2005-06 &mdash; also the last time they made the playoffs &mdash; and fulfill the prophecy from the superfans in this summer's viral video:
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Tonight the Sacramento Kings go for 40 wins 👀 <a href="https://t.co/OgvlPN1MeC">pic.twitter.com/OgvlPN1MeC</a>
&mdash; Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) <a href="https://twitter.com/cameronsalerno1/status/1634614350030991360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The Kings are the feel-good team of the NBA season. De'Aaron Fox <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-sacramento-kings-deaaron-fox-early-frontrunner-nba-clutch-player-of-the-year-award-race-kevin-huerter-domantas-sabonis-luka-doncic-nikola-jokic-jalen-brunson-demar-derozan-shai-gilgeous-alexander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deserves the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award</a>. Domantas Sabonis has silenced doubts about last year's blockbuster trade. Sacramento has the top scoring offense in the league, and the best team True Shooting percentage in league history.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
As a team, the Sacramento Kings boast a 61.4 True Shooting percentage. That would go down as the highest True Shooting percentage of any team in NBA history. <a href="https://t.co/dEW1GaPAZa">pic.twitter.com/dEW1GaPAZa</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1634419080034766848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Fox and Sabonis seem to finally be receiving appropriate national recognition. Impact rookie Keegan Murray and Sixth-Man-of-the-Year dark horse Malik Monk still deserve more praise. But I'd like to spotlight two low-usage wings who have flown particularly under the radar in the Kings' 39-26 season. Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles might not create highlights at the same rate as Sacramento's stars, but they have each enjoyed a career-year and been critical to the franchise's 7-1 surge since the All-Star break.
Barnes is registering the lowest three-point percentage (37.1%) of his five seasons in Sacramento, yet he's still a key cog in the offense. Since the break, he's slumped to 34.4% from distance but is making an impressive 59.1% of his twos. His 55.9% two-point clip this season is the second-best of his NBA career.
With guys like Fox, Sabonis, Monk and Kevin Huerter doing most of the table-setting, Barnes' buckets are getting a bit easier. Approximately 71.7% of his made shots are coming via an assist, which is the highest since his 2015-16 season as a role-player on the Golden State Warriors.&nbsp;
According to PBP Stats, Barnes in on pace to approach his career-high of 206 paint touches in a season (he's at 170 right now). This year, he's crushing it with those touches, averaging over one point per paint touch for the first time in his career.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Harrison Barnes with the slam!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeamTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeamTeam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA</a><a href="https://t.co/MotBc69u6U">pic.twitter.com/MotBc69u6U</a>
&mdash; NBA Highlights (@NBATransaction7) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATransaction7/status/1632949774902231040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Plays like this catch-and-drive highlight Barnes' syngergy with Sabonis, who can draw in defenses and make the right kick-out plays. It's important that Barnes can use his length, long strides and touch to then attack space instead of settling because it often leads to higher-quality shots or extra-pass opportunities.
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This cutting score is largely a lapse by the Los Angeles Clippers' defense, but it still shows how Barnes has the freedom and wherewithal to attack space without the ball. He knows Sabonis can see the court and make these high-low feeds to cutters, so it gives Barnes confidence to move with purpose.
Barnes has also picked up a sneaky skill in the last two seasons: getting calls. He's been fouled on over 19% of his shot attempts in back-to-back seaons, placing him among the top 3% of all forwards, per Cleaning the Glass. Those additional free throws are a nice boost since, historically, Barnes has been reliable at the charity stripe.
Eventually, the 6-foot-8 wing will return to the upper echelon of perimeter threats too. He's making just 36.7% of his catch-and-shoot threes this year after shooting over 42% in the prior two seasons. With Sacramento's arsenal of creators and playmakers, Barnes will keep getting open looks to cash.
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The 30-year-old has long been the rock amidst some shaky wing depth in Sacramento. But Barnes finally has some reinforcements, including a comeback season from Trey Lyles.
Once the No. 12 overall draft pick in 2015, Lyles never found a groove with the Utah Jazz and bounced around to the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons before landing with the Kings at last year's trade deadline. Few expected much from the 6-foot-9 wing, a stretch forward who had lost the "stretch" aspect of his shooting game.
This year, the jumper is back. Lyles has reached a respectable 37.2% from distance on a career-high 3.1 attempts per game, and he is a deadeye in the corners (42%). As he's found life from long range, he's also spiked his two-point clip up to 64.7% &mdash; the first time he's ever cleared the 60% bar.
Lyles doesn't drive the ball a ton, but when he does attack closeouts and continues to apply pressure, he's effective. He's made 60.7% of his driving field goals; that ranks 12th among 232 players to attempt at least 50 driving field goals (admittedly a small sample size) this season.&nbsp;
Another small sample, yet impressive note: Lyles has made 18-of-20 cutting field goal attempts (90%!!) this season, per Synergy.
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Absolutely love the Trey Lyles backup 5 minutes. Ability to play 5-out and P&amp;P to stretch defenses is so valuable. <a href="https://t.co/nM6vizFhMG">pic.twitter.com/nM6vizFhMG</a>
&mdash; Kings Film Room (@SacFilmRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/SacFilmRoom/status/1634319597448089601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote>

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A sweet-shooting Lyles opens up more options for Sacramento, including a pick-and-pop game that can open up the floor even more for driving players. Then he can also fake and drive for some tough finishes, including this dunk:
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TREY LYLES POSTER ON MYLES TURNER. 🤯🔥 <a href="https://t.co/fIYwrNldSC">pic.twitter.com/fIYwrNldSC</a>
&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1621694336110047232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Lyles is averaging 16.5 minutes per game on the season, but his playing time has increased in each of the last four months, and he's received 20.1 minutes per game since the All-Star break. Add in some solid work on the glass for a Kings team that needs its rebounders, and it makes sense why he's earning a larger role.
To maximize Fox and Sabonis, the Kings need their supporting cast of spacers and slashers to keep the offensive barrage up. With help from Barnes and Lyles, plus a host of other contributors, they're doing so while still trying to find their way on defense. Regardless of how far Sacramento goes in the postseason, this is new, exciting territory for the players and fan base.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Love this infographic from SIS Hoops, laying out how ball movement into shots changes over the course of a game for different teams:</li>
</ul>
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As the game winds down, let's see which teams turn to team-centric and individualistic offensive strategies. <a href="https://t.co/dSQEpXvZ8C">pic.twitter.com/dSQEpXvZ8C</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1633878060218064896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>It's March Madness time! Here's a neat look at the makeup of top men's teams:</li>
</ul>
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Which projected tournament teams are most reliant on upperclassmen versus lowerclassmen? This graph shows the predicted impact from each team's upperclassmen (blue bar, SR and JRs) and lowerclassmen (orange bar, FR and SOs) ⤵️ <a href="https://t.co/TaJ297aXia">pic.twitter.com/TaJ297aXia</a>
&mdash; Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanMiya/status/1633544387543339008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Hi. Caitlin Clark is very good at basketball.</li>
</ul>
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Caitlin Clark is the FIRST-EVER player to drop a triple-double in the women's Big Ten title game 😱🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/HighlightHER?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HighlightHER</a> 30 PTS 10 REB 17 AST Her 10 triple-doubles are the MOST in conference history (men's or women's) <a href="https://t.co/Bp93385h6M">pic.twitter.com/Bp93385h6M</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1632561557535178758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2023</a>
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Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles have been underrated vital pieces to the Sacramento Kings' breakout season.

NBA Stats Notebook: The quiet importance of Harrison Barnes, Trey Lyles

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association clearly do not agree on everything, as evidenced by the fact that there&rsquo;s no new Collective Bargaining Agreement yet.
One thing they do agree on: A record-setting trade deadline this season is a good thing.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in his annual news conference preceding All-Star Saturday events that he felt the robust amount of player movement &ndash; 12 deals involving 24 teams and 49 players on trade-deadline day, Feb. 9, alone &ndash; only speaks to how many teams think they can make deep playoff runs this season and ultimately compete for a title.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s interesting also that we&rsquo;ve had probably as much player movement this year than at any time in our history,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And I think that speaks to teams, as we got close to the trade deadline, trying to situate themselves in the best possible position to compete going into the playoffs. And in this case over 10% of the entire league was moved roughly in the last week before the trade deadline.&rdquo;
Among those traded leading up to the deadline: All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, both dealt by Brooklyn, with Durant going to Phoenix and Irving to Dallas.
Not everyone believes that players are right to ask for trades. Durant said he believes it&rsquo;s a good thing.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s bringing more eyes to the league,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;More people are more excited. The tweets that I get, the news hits that we got from me being traded, Kyrie being traded, it just brings more attention to the league and that&rsquo;s really what makes you money, is when you get more attention. I think it&rsquo;s great for the league, to be honest. Teams have been trading players and making acquisitions for a long time. Now a player can dictate where he wants to go, leave in free agency or demand a trade, it&rsquo;s just part of the game now.&rdquo;
Irving asked for a trade shortly after it became evident that the Nets were not going to meet his expectations regarding a contract extension.
&ldquo;I had a plan in place where I wanted to stay in Brooklyn long term, be a Net. It was a dream come true for me,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;Obviously, I wish things could have worked out for the best of all of us in terms of winning a championship and etching our names into history of the NBA. Those are big aspirations. It sounds easier said than done.&rdquo;
NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio, speaking at a separate news conference before Silver&rsquo;s annual event, echoed the players&rsquo; stance.
&ldquo;Certainly the fact that we have seen so many trades just sort of signifies that, you know, people do believe that they can create a championship team,&rdquo; Tremaglio said.
In other matters Silver addressed Saturday:
LABOR UPDATE
Talks between the NBA and NBPA are continuing with hopes of getting a new labor deal done. The sides have until March 31 to decide if either wants to opt out of the current deal on June 30; that deadline has already been moved twice and can be again, if necessary.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my hope that the deal will be done by then,&rdquo; Silver said.
Among the issues that the NBA and the NBPA have been discussing in recent weeks is a return to letting players enter the draft straight out high school without waiting a year &mdash; that move is expected to be included in the next CBA &mdash; along with what the league considers an &ldquo;upper spending limit&rdquo; that would significantly tighten the rules on how much teams can spend each year on their roster.
&ldquo;Yes, it has been considered,&rdquo; Tremaglio said of the spending limit. &ldquo;And no, it is not acceptable.&rdquo;
LOAD MANAGEMENT
There doesn&rsquo;t seem to be much of an appetite for the NBA to abandon the traditional 82-game schedule, though injuries and load management leave fans going to games sometimes to learn upon arrival that their favorite players aren&rsquo;t going to be in the game that night.
It has been an issue for years. The NBA has tried to make the schedule more player-friendly by lowering back-to-back games and eliminating stretches of four games in five days.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re approaching in an adversarial way with the players association,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re working collectively, together with our doctors, our data scientists and trying to see if there&rsquo;s an optimal way for player performance. If it means at some point we conclude that we&rsquo;re better off elongating the schedule ... that&rsquo;s worth looking at. If we thought it made sense to reduce the number of games we would.&rdquo;
TV DEAL
Silver said he isn&rsquo;t concerned about the potential issue that could come if Diamond Sports Group &mdash; which owns several regional sports networks, including 16 broadcasting for NBA teams &mdash; enters bankruptcy.
Diamond, the parent company of 19 Bally Sports networks, skipped about $140 million in interest payments that were due Wednesday, starting a 30-day grace period that could be the prelude to a bankruptcy filing.
&ldquo;Short term, I&rsquo;m not all that concerned,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;It largely affects the regular season for the NBA in terms of distributing, delivering those games directly to our consumers. And if they were to indeed, you know, file for bankruptcy, there won&rsquo;t be that much of the regular season left. For that period of time, we will have in place arrangements, if necessary, to continue to distribute those games to fans. So I think that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s most important.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I would say long term I&rsquo;m not that concerned because there are many other ways, platforms, including local over-the-air television, streaming services, other methods, to bring those games linear and digitally directly to fans,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;In the mid-term, it&rsquo;s an issue we&rsquo;re going to have to work through.&rdquo;

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media in Salt Lake City on Saturday to discuss a number of popular topics.

Adam Silver speaks on load management, TV deal at NBA All-Star

Sometimes, you just know it's good.
A well-timed joke in the middle of conversation. That screen pass you've been saving for the fourth quarter in Madden because your buddy's been spamming a run blitz on early downs. A perfectly placed bass run in the midst of a groove, for my musician friends reading this.&nbsp;
There's something about sensing an opening, taking advantage of said-opening and&nbsp;immediately&nbsp;knowing you made the right decision. Said the right thing, chose the right thing. It just feels&nbsp;good.
That had to be the Derrick White trade for the Boston Celtics last season.
For a team that wants to lock you down defensively &mdash; by erasing gaps with well-timed switching, or siccing its in-your-jersey defenders on unsuspecting ball-handlers while the big hangs back in a drop &mdash; White served as a perfect target.&nbsp;
There were a handful of players in the league that could navigate screens like White; close down on ball-handlers with pesky rearview contests; switch onto bigger players and swipe the ball away, or beat them to spots to draw timely charges. The Celtics were tough enough with Marcus Smart; to add another guy like that into the fold felt unfair.
And for a team trying to fully commit to moving the ball, as elementary as that sounds, White also served as the perfect target. The Celtics were just hitting their stride as an offense that could create and&nbsp;maintain advantages in the half-court without halting the show. White's ability to fit in &mdash; heck, his willingness to fit in &mdash; made him an easy fit.
He could initiate ball-screens, come off handoffs, set pin-in screens on the weak side, set pindowns for the stars to come off of, and act as an on-ball screener to force defenses into tough decisions. The shooting would serve as a bellwether of sorts, but White fit into just about everything the Celtics wanted to do on both ends.
White integrated well last season, though inconsistent three-point shooting &mdash; and waning aggressiveness &mdash; reared its ugly head during the playoff run.&nbsp;
This season, he's been even better. More comfortable, more aggressive. More efficient. For nearly a month now, he's just been more, period.
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The Celtics have been without Smart since Jan. 21, when he turned his ankle pretty badly towards the end of the first half of their matchup against the Toronto Raptors. White was already starting, but he's had to assume lead ball-handling duties since then.
To say White has been phenomenal in this recent run would be an understatement.
Over the past 11 games, White has averaged 20.1 points while converting 54.3% of his twos and 43.6% of his threes on high volume (7.1 attempts). He's dishing out 5.8 dimes (9.2 <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing?DateFrom=01/23/2023&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential assists</a>) per game while rarely turning the ball over (1.5 turnovers). He's helped on the glass (4.6 boards), and has continued to be a menace on the defensive end.
You can really have some fun with filtering White's run too.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Last eight games (6-2 record): 21.5 points, 6.3 assists (1.4 turnovers), 5.1 rebounds</li>
<li>Last five games (4-1): 25.0 points, 8.4 assists (1.8 turnovers), 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 blocks</li>
</ul>
White has racked up at least 25 points and 10 assists in each of his past three games &mdash; a streak he's never had in his career. He just won <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shai-gilgeousalexander-derrick-white-named-nba-players-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Conference Player of the Week</a>, another feat he had yet to accomplish until this year.
What stands out about White's play is, again, how easy it feels. That isn't meant to diminish what he's doing, but to highlight how well he fits the Celtics' ethos. He's not pounding the ball to get assists or boogying against defenders to get his buckets. He's taking what the defense gives him, and doing so without hesitation.&nbsp;
Take this possession for example:
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The Celtics flow out of HORNS and look to hit either Jayson Tatum or White with a cut. Both players are defended well, with Jaren Jackson Jr.'s ball pressure on Robert Williams III also hindering things. The second option &mdash; two-man game with Williams III and Sam Hauser, testing the screen navigation of Ja Morant &mdash; doesn't hit either. The ball swings to White, and the fun begins.
White receives a screen but doesn't take it; he just waits it out, and gets Xavier Tillman switched onto him. After swinging it to the corner, the ball finds him again with Tillman out of position after attempting a steal.
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White immediately attacks the basket, driving right at Jackson. Because Tatum is on the left wing, the left corner is empty &mdash; meaning Dillon Brooks can't help without giving up an open shot on the perimeter. And with Williams III rolling to the basket, Jackson now has to choose between halting White's drive or taking away the roll &mdash; with no help behind him. He chooses the former, opening up the easy lob.
Quietly, White has been one of the most productive drivers in the NBA over this stretch. He's been able to finish through contact, avoid it altogether with a funky floater he can get to at weird times and angles, and feed open teammates if the defense overreacts to him.&nbsp;
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During this 11-game run, possessions featuring a drive by White have generated 1.17 points per possession (PPP), per Second Spectrum. That ranks seventh among 45 players with at least 100 drives in that time frame, putting him in a virtual tie with James Harden and ahead of All-Stars like Morant (1.15 PPP), De'Aaron Fox (1.15 PPP), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1.09 PPP) and DeMar DeRozan (1.05 PPP).
White's work as a screener continues to be important for the Celtics. Because he naturally draws smaller matchups than Tatum or Jaylen Brown, his inclusion as a lead blocker forces defenses into tough situations.&nbsp;
Anything less than pristine screen navigation means giving one of the stars an opening to attack. Switching a smaller guy onto either of them is asking for trouble. Trapping or hedging simply opens up short-roll opportunities for White. You can get away with daring bigs to make quick decisions in space; you can't really do that with someone as smart as White is.
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And the defense. Whew, buddy, the defense.&nbsp;
You could make the case that White has been Boston's best defender this season &mdash; a massive feat on a roster featuring last year's Defensive Player of the Year in Smart. Brown remains a strong on-ball defender; Tatum, when locked in, can provide near-elite value on and off the ball. Williams III is still rounding into form, but remains a terrifying rim protector. Horford has been sturdy in drop, and still showcases comfort venturing out in space.&nbsp;
But yet it's White pestering folks and causing the most havoc on a nightly basis.
Among the 161 players to defend at least 300 pick-and-rolls, only Desmond Bane (0.22%) has been washed out by a screen at a lower rate than White has (0.26%), per Second Spectrum.
Put another way: Of the 760 screens that have been set on White, only 20 (!) of them have taken him out of the play.&nbsp;
That, my friends, is absurd.&nbsp;
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Because of White's ability to avoid being completely taken out of the action, he's almost always in position to affect the play. He'll fight to get back in front, mirroring ball-handlers before forcing them into tough looks &mdash; or passing the ball altogether.&nbsp;He'll get rearview contests if necessary, throwing off the rhythm of pull-ups and floaters.
Then, there are the action plays. He leads the team with 11 charges taken, tied with Kyle Lowry and Herb Jones (he's back, y'all) for 10th in the league.
No guard in the East has more blocks than White (53); only Gilgeous-Alexander (55) has more in the league (and has a two-inch height advantage). That White can get on-ball blocks and&nbsp;serve as a secondary rim protector is a rarity worth celebrating.&nbsp;
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The combination of productivity and availability &mdash; he's the lone Celtic to appear in all 58 games this season &mdash; should tilt the "Boston's best defender" argument in his favor this season. And for what it's worth, White leads all Celtics in Defensive Estimated Plus Minus (DEPM) this season (+1.5), edging out Smart (+1.3), Tatum (+1.2) and Horford (+1.2).
White has been everything the Celtics have needed him to be, on both ends of the floor. A quality role piece and a quality roll piece. A willing spacer. An All-Defensive level contributor &mdash; he and Jrue Holiday would be my First Team guards if I had a ballot.&nbsp;
And when more has been required, like this Smart-less stretch, White has stepped up in the equation. More buckets, more decision-making and roughly the same level of defense.
He's further proven to be one of the most valuable role players in the NBA. Not only can he slot into the Celtics' system on both ends, he can also scale up or down depending on who's available. That portion isn't true for most role players &mdash; even the good ones. He deserves his flowers for that.

Nekias Duncan puts the recent incredible performances of Celtics guard Derrick White in perspective.

Appreciating the scale of Derrick White's play for the Celtics

ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; Trae Young had 24 points and a season-high 17 assists, De&rsquo;Andre Hunter added 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the reeling San Antonio Spurs 125-106 on Saturday night.
The Spurs (14-43), losers of a season-high 12 straight, are a half-game ahead of last-place Houston (13-43) in the Western Conference. Atlanta (29-28) has won two straight and four of six. The Hawks are eighth in the East.
The losing streak is San Antonio&rsquo;s longest since the 1988-89 club dropped a team-record 13 in a row.
&ldquo;They play their (butt) off,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;They do everything they can. We&rsquo;ll just keep forming good habits and hope that this builds and builds as the weeks and months and next season come along.&rdquo;
Atlanta never trailed after Young&rsquo;s layup early in the third made it 65-64. The Hawks went on a 12-0 run to take a 75-64 lead, the game&rsquo;s first in double digits, on a pair of free throws by John Collins. A dunk by Clint Capela made it 82-70 at the 4:39 mark of the third, and the Spurs called timeout.
&ldquo;San Antonio is always going to play hard and always play the right way, meaning there&rsquo;s going to be five guys out there connected,&rdquo; Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to be moving the ball. They&rsquo;re going to be working hard trying to outscrap you. That&rsquo;s just the way they play.
&ldquo;It took us 24 minutes to start establishing and coming with that urgency that we needed on both ends of the floor.&rdquo;
Young hit two free throws to make it 93-77 entering the fourth with Atlanta&rsquo;s biggest lead. San Antonio was just 5 for 22 from the field in the third and was outscored 32-17. The lead swelled to 23 in the fourth.
&ldquo;I think we just picked up the pressure defensively and got out and ran more and got some better shots and some faster shots,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I think we were going too slow in that first half, and they were pushing the pace and pushing it at us. We just knew we had to pick up the pressure.&rdquo;
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio&rsquo;s leading scorer this season, was back in the lineup after missing Friday&rsquo;s double overtime loss at Detroit with left ankle soreness and finished with 25 points. Jeremy Sochan added 18.
Capela finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Collins added 17 points for the Hawks.
The Hawks led 61-60 at halftime as Hunter had 17 points, Capela had 12 points with eight rebounds and Young 12 points with 10 assists. Johnson and Sochan each scored 18 before intermission for San Antonio.
Atlanta outscored the Spurs 25-12 in points off turnovers.
TIP-INS
Spurs: One night after scoring 31 points to set a franchise record in a San Antonio debut, Devonte&rsquo; Graham, acquired in Thursday&rsquo;s trade with New Orleans, finished with nine points off the bench. ... G Tre Jones was back in the lineup after missing four straight games with left foot soreness and scored eight points. ... Sochan returned after missing four straight games with lower back soreness. He scored 11 points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high nine rebounds.
Hawks: In his first game against his former team, Dejounte Murray scored 18 points. ... Young passed Lenny Wilkens for fourth place on the Hawks&rsquo; career assists list with 3,050. ... Newly acquired C Bruno Fernando and G Garrison Mathews were not in uniform, but McMillan hopes they will be ready to debut Monday at Charlotte. ... Hunter had 12 points and Young had six assists in the first quarter.
ON SITE
McMillan said Saddiq Bey sat on the bench as the newly acquired swingman was in limbo with Thursday&rsquo;s four-team trade uncertain because Gary Payton II allegedly failed a physical with Golden State. Payton was supposed to return to the Warriors from Portland. Bey was acquired from Detroit. Golden State has until Sunday to decide whether to go forward with the deal or nix it.

Trae Young had 24 points and a season-high 17 assists, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the reeling San Antonio Spurs 125-106.

Young, Hunter pace Hawks past reeling Spurs 125-106

When you hear "security blanket" within a sports context, you might think of a tight end in football.
A quarterback has his top target. A speed demon on the outside like Tyreek Hill; a route technician like Stefon Diggs; a YAC (yards after catch) machine like AJ Brown; a "Yes" build like NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson.&nbsp;
But then, there's the check. Your hot read. Your if-all-else-fails option if the primary or even secondary look isn't there. That guy can be your running back, but my mind goes to the tight end. Releasing to the flat in play action. Sitting down in the middle of the zone for the eight yards you need on third-and-six.&nbsp;
In all the ways I thought about breaking down Kevin Durant's fit with the Phoenix Suns, whenever he makes his return following an MCL sprain, I kept coming back to the tight-end angle.
Durant is Phoenix's very-large, very-skilled, frankly-overqualified security blanket.
(Is the upcoming Super Bowl, particularly the participation of the Philadelphia Eagles, a factor in why I landed on a football analogy? Who's to say, really. But we rally on, friends.)
If we're extending the analogy, it's worth reiterating that Durant is overqualified for this. He is more George Kittle or Travis Kelce than he is [insert run-of-the-mill possession tight end here]. You can build the boat around Durant much like you can with those two.
On the field, their teams enjoy deploying them all over the place. On the line, split out wide, in the slot. Their presence alone forces the defense into checks; demands a level of attention that is both necessary and uncomfortable in light of the talent around them.
Durant will be moved all over the chess board, used in a multitude of ways.
Directly, he can operate as the screener or ball-handler in pick-and-rolls. He will be a hub in the middle of the floor, as part of their Elbow sets &mdash; read a detailed breakdown <a href="https://thefourpointplay.substack.com/p/vol2-iss8-the-peoples-elbow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; or the recipient of clear-outs following an off-ball screen.
I can't emphasize how important Durant's screen work will be, and how seamless of a fit he'll be in the Suns' offense because of it.
His off-ball work is the stuff of legends. Guys his size shouldn't be able to navigate traffic the way he does. Throughout his career &mdash; in Seattle (RIP), Oklahoma City, Golden State and Brooklyn &mdash; Durant has made a living flying off screens and raising up for easy (for him) ones.&nbsp;
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Pick-and-rolls involving Durant, on either side, have been dominant. Possessions featuring a Durant-led pick-and-roll are generating 1.12 points per possession (PPP) this season, which ranks second behind Luka Doncic (1.123 PPP) among 76 players who have received at least 500 on-ball picks this year, per Second Spectrum.
With Durant as a screener in pick-and-roll, that mark drops to 1.09 PPP, which is "only" a top-10 mark in the NBA among 150 players who have set at least 200 picks. A majority of those were screens set in the half-court, with the purpose of forcing a mismatch before going one-on-one.
A fun wrinkle to keep an eye on with Durant: drag screens in early offense or transition, especially when set for Chris Paul.
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Mikal Bridges would set-and-slip those suckers as a way to draw the eyes of defenders. If it was played poorly enough, Paul (or Devin Booker) could slip a pass to Bridges for a paint touch &mdash; something the Suns don't generate all that much. This is&nbsp;a team that has ranked 30th, 30th and 29th (this year) in rim rate during the Paul Era.
Durant set them in Brooklyn, but not only were those instances less frequent, he'd also fade to the perimeter or simply cut his path short to set up a mid-post touch. Much like the screens set in half-court situations, he'd operate in a way to help set up his jumper.&nbsp;
Here's an example from Bridges. He doesn't get the ball on this rep, but peep his path after the slip, how open he is, and the attention he draws from the weakside corner defender because of it. This is the threat those screens can pose.
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And now here's a rep from Durant. Again, it's less about the result and more about Durant's ideal pattern and how he reacts to openings.
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It'll be a fun dichotomy to keep track of. On one hand, you could see even more of a dip in paint pressure with Durant in the fold. If those slips turn into isolations, the pace could also drop further; <a href="http://stats.inpredictable.com/nba/ssnTeamPoss.php?season=2022&amp;po=0&amp;frdt=2022-10-18&amp;todt=2023-02-10&amp;view=off&amp;sort=aotopdr&amp;order=ASC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per Inpredictable</a>, the Suns rank 19th in seconds per possession (14.6), and that falls to 26th (11.6) on trips following a defensive rebound.
On the other hand, the degree of difficulty may be lowered. Paul or Booker hitting Bridges on those slips are impressive. Fruitful, even. You still have to wait for the window, get the right angle and hit Bridges in the pocket &mdash; early enough to where Bridges has time to gather the pass and make a decision, but not too early where the defense has time to load up in front of him.&nbsp;
With Durant, you have a 7-foot target &mdash; a security blanket, if you will &mdash; to toss the ball to before getting the heck out of the way. During his Nets tenure, possessions featuring a Durant isolation generated 1.1 PPP, putting him in a virtual tie with Doncic. On post-ups, he was even more effective (1.13 PPP).&nbsp;
Beyond that, think about how teams have tried to stifle the ball-screen brilliance of Booker and Paul over the past two seasons. I've <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-how-the-suns-create-without-chris-paul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written about</a> Booker's need for growth when seeing traps. Paul pick-and-rolls are being switched at a higher rate than they've ever been, per Second Spectrum &mdash; part of why Paul has passed the ball on a career-high 59.1% of his PnRs this year.
Can you afford to trap Booker if Durant is the screener? Do you want to switch Paul-Durant ball screens?
On the Paul front, I think about how teams have felt increasingly comfortable putting size &mdash; sometimes 4s &mdash; on Paul so they can switch the Paul-Ayton pick-and-roll. The Warriors have thrown Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins at him. Ben Simmons got the Paul assignment earlier in the week.&nbsp;
What does that gambit look like with Durant in the fold?&nbsp;
Also, Durant doesn't just provide safety on the offensive end.&nbsp;
Defensively, Durant is &mdash; or I guess, "was" before the injury &mdash; arguably in the midst of his best defensive season. He's <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*durant&amp;Season=2022-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">challenging more shots</a> at the rim than he ever has, holding opponents to roughly 56% shooting inside, and blocking 1.5 shots per game to boot.&nbsp;
Among the 50 players to defend as many isolations as Durant has this season (125), only six of them &mdash; headlined by OG Anunoby (0.81 PPP allowed) and Patrick Williams (0.69 PPP) &mdash; have been stingier than Durant (0.88 PPP), per Second Spectrum.
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The amount of ground Durant covers is so important to this group. While not the perimeter defender Bridges is, he can approximate some of the off-ball danger he poses. Durant's arms are hard to avoid when sinking down to help on a drive; they're even harder to avoid when attempting a shot inside.
Oddly enough, the Suns may have gotten a little worse on the perimeter while becoming&nbsp;better&nbsp;equipped to deal with some of the mismatch hunting Paul has dealt with the past couple of seasons. At the very least, they can afford to get more aggressive.
Think back to the second-round loss the Suns suffered at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks last year. Bridges got the primary assignment on Doncic, but didn't guard him as long as he probably could've. The Suns would sometimes switch Bridges out of the assignment when Doncic called for a screen, only to have Bridges zone up and provide (the illusion of) relief afterwards.
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There are subtleties to keep in mind here. The Mavs didn't just go after Paul; they made sure Bridges had to navigate a screen first. Throwing him off balance early made it easier for him to concede the switch later.&nbsp;
Bridges was navigating that screen because 1) he's really freaking good but 2) Ayton was in a deep drop. Of the 150 instances Ayton was involved in a Doncic-led pick-and-roll, he hedged or blitzed on five of them, per Second Spectrum. Five! The switch count was barely above 20.&nbsp;
And this is what interests me about the Durant move: The Suns may be willing to ramp up the pressure in a series like this, against mismatch hunting like that, with Durant capable of patrolling a back-line.
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It could be Ayton playing closer to the level or blitzing more often. It could be as simple as the help defenders themselves &mdash; namely the defender one pass away from a Doncic or Kawhi Leonard isolation &mdash; getting more aggressive, knowing they've got reliable backup behind them.&nbsp;
That's certainly the case through the lens of rim protection, but it also tracks in terms of rebounding. The Suns should be better at it with Torrey Craig and Durant on the floor more than the Bridges-Craig duo. That's important considering they've fallen to 22nd in defensive rebound rate this season.
Durant is one of the most versatile superstars the NBA has ever seen. An elite scorer. Elite shooter. Opportunistic playmaker. Post hub. Isolation specialist. A walking mismatch. A 7-foot-0 backspace button on the defensive end.
You simply can't cover him. But most importantly for the Suns, Durant provides so much cover for their roster shortcomings.

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