Eagles

The Oklahoma City Thunder didn&rsquo;t just win a Game 7 &ndash; they passed a rite of passage.
It was gritty, and it was emotional. It was everything that defines a turning point. On Sunday afternoon, inside a frenzied arena where the air was thick with tension, the Thunder outlasted the Denver Nuggets in Game 7. The final buzzer didn&rsquo;t just signal the end of the series, but it marked the beginning of something bigger &ndash; something real.
For a team that&rsquo;s been slowly building in the shadows, amassing assets, developing talent, and waiting for its window, this series was more than just a playoff checkpoint. It was the moment where potential finally collided with performance under pressure. This win was necessary &ndash; an experience that fast-forwards a young team&rsquo;s growth in ways no regular-season run or early-round playoff series ever could.
Battle-tested by the one of the best
Oklahoma City didn&rsquo;t just beat anyone. They beat the team that has made it before and won it all. The Denver Nuggets came in with the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic, the NBA&rsquo;s three-time MVP, and a team that knows exactly what it takes to climb the mountain and hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy. Jokic had carved up defenses all season and into the playoffs and Jamal Murray returned to his playoff form. This team was poised to win the deciding game with all their experience in their belt, and yet the Thunder were the ones left standing.
And they did it by growing up before our eyes.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played like the NBA&rsquo;s MVP all season, but this series demanded more. In Game 7, he wasn&rsquo;t just a scorer &ndash; he was a leader, a closer, a composed floor general in a storm. Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace all played beyond their years, taking hits, absorbing the moment, and coming back with even more fire.
There&rsquo;s no manual for winning a Game 7. There&rsquo;s no shortcut for the intensity that builds in every possession. Even SGA admitted to being nervous after the game going into his first ever Game 7. To play in one is one thing. To perform in one is another. To win? That takes something different. It takes nerve. And Oklahoma City just proved they&rsquo;ve got it.
A crucible that creates champions
This wasn&rsquo;t just about the win. It was about the journey &ndash; about facing adversity and coming through on the other side with a new identity. For most of this roster, this was their first taste of a Game 7, and it was nothing short of a trial by fire.
There&rsquo;s a type of emotional resilience that only emerges in these moments. The game slows down and speeds up at the same time. Every cut, every rotation, every decision matters. One mistake can send you home. One stop can etch your name in franchise history.
It&rsquo;s in these crucibles that bonds are formed. These are the games players remember in the offseason, in practice, in the next series when the legs are tired and the confidence wavers. You learn who can be trusted in the foxhole. You learn how far you can push yourself &ndash; and each other.
OKC will carry this Game 7 win for years. This is a foundational building block for a future contender.
Timberwolves await: The next test
Of course, the road doesn&rsquo;t get any easier. Next up are the battle-hardened Minnesota Timberwolves &ndash; another team on the rise, but one that has already been to the Western Conference Finals and is hungry for more.
Anthony Edwards is a force of nature. His rise mirrors that of SGA in many ways &ndash; two young stars trying to grab the torch and never let go. The Wolves have size, depth, and defensive versatility that will challenge OKC in ways even Denver didn&rsquo;t. Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Jaden McDaniels form a frontcourt wall that will test Holmgren&rsquo;s poise and toughness.
But the Thunder come in with something new: belief forged in battle.
They now know what it takes to win under duress. They&rsquo;ve felt the pressure of the moment and responded with poise. That experience matters. It travels. And as much as Minnesota presents matchup capabilities, OKC presents a different kind of threat &ndash; a team that&rsquo;s fearless, well-coached, and now, proven under fire.
SGA vs Anthony Edwards is the kind of series that could define this generation of NBA stars. Two leaders, two teams, two destinies intersecting on the playoff stage.&nbsp;
&ndash; &ndash; &ndash;
For years, Oklahoma City was a patient rebuild. The Russell Westbrook-Paul George era to the Chris Paul chapters came and went, but through it all, Sam Presti stayed the course. He stockpiled picks, gambled on high-upside players, and trusted in internal growth. Many wondered when &ndash; or if &ndash; it would all come together.
Game 7 was the answer.
This isn&rsquo;t just a feel-good story anymore. This is real. This is sustainable. The Thunder are here, and they&rsquo;re not backing down from anyone &ndash; not even the moment.
So as the Western Conference Finals loom, one thing is clear: The Thunder have arrived. Not just as a team with promise, but as a team with proof.
And once you get that first taste of victory under playoff fire, it changes you. It elevates your standard. It fuels your hunger. And if you&rsquo;re Oklahoma City, it marks the start of something even bigger.
Because sometimes, the only way forward&hellip; is through the fire.

The Thunder defeat the Nuggets in Game 7, marking a defining moment in their rise. How OKC's gritty win fuels their playoff growth?

Thunder’s Game 7 triumph over Nuggets signals arrival of a contender

After months of scrolling through countless Damian Lillard trade rumors, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bucks-shock-nba-world-by-acquiring-damian-lillard-in-blockbuster-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news finally broke</a> on Wednesday afternoon that the Portland Trail Blazers' long-time franchise cornerstone was headed to the Milwaukee Bucks. In one of the more surprising blockbuster trades in recent memory, the seven-time All-Star guard will pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo to form one of the best duos in the league.&nbsp;
Now, the new big fish in the trade market is none other than the player Lillard was dealt for: Jrue Holiday. The Blazers' return featured Holiday, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns second-rounder Toumani Camara, an unprotected Bucks 2029 first-rounder, and 2028 and 2030 first-round pick swaps from Milwaukee. The circumstances of Lillard&rsquo;s trade request and his desire to be dealt specifically to the Miami Heat dampened his trade value, but the Blazers were able to come away with a &ldquo;palatable&rdquo; return.
 However, Holiday is unlikely to stay in Portland for long as he does not fit their rebuilding timeline around core players Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. <a href="https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1707100851880259810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN&rsquo;s Bobby Marks</a> graded Portland&rsquo;s trade return as &ldquo;incomplete&rdquo; pending the potential assets the team receives for Holiday when they flip him.
Many contending teams are reportedly rushing to the phones to make moves in reaction to the Lillard blockbuster, with several expressing serious interest in Holiday. These possible suitors include the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Heat. Teams must factor in Holiday's potential free agency next summer and the possibility of signing him to a long-term extension, which he becomes eligible for on Feb. 22. Perhaps the Blazers will have some urgency to deal Holiday prior to Media Day on Oct. 2 in order to avoid questions and logistics about bringing him in for training camp.&nbsp;
For any team over the luxury-tax apron ($171,294,000) to trade for Holiday, they need to trade away at least $33,175,536 (90% of Holiday&rsquo;s 2023-24 salary) in salaries in order to legally execute a trade. The rest of the league will only need to send out $27,646,280 (75% of Holiday&rsquo;s 2023-24 salary) in order to make a deal.&nbsp;
Another important CBA note with any Holiday trade is that his $36,861,707 salary cannot be aggregated with other contracts for two months. While Holiday is still eligible to be immediately rerouted elsewhere, he cannot be traded with other players. For example, just a few months back, Chris Paul was traded to the Washington Wizards and then quickly rerouted in a separate deal to Golden State. Because Paul was the only salary going back to the Warriors, he was legally allowed to be traded. This must be taken into consideration when proposing potential trade ideas.
With Holiday potentially on the move in the coming days, let&rsquo;s take a look at some potential deals for the 33-year-old.
Realistic Trade Destinations
BOSTON CELTICS
Celtics receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Al Horford, Dalano Banton (salary guarantee increased to $1,009,853 to satisfy trade rules), 2024 GSW top-4 protected first-round pick, 2025 BOS first-round pick, 2026 BOS first-round pick swap, 2024 CHI/DAL/NO (most favorable) second-round pick, 2026 MIN/NO/NYK/POR (most favorable) second-round pick
By trading away Marcus Smart this summer, the Celtics lost the key cog to their juggernaut defense. Despite not having a Defensive Player of the Year award, Holiday would probably serve as an upgrade to Smart on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, helping the Celtics compete against the new-look Bucks in the East. If they wish to enter the Holiday sweepstakes, they would need to trade Malcolm Brogdon ($22,500,000), whom they were close to dealing to the Clippers in July. Along with Brogdon, they would have to sacrifice either Al Horford ($10,000,000) or Robert Williams III ($11,571,429) to make the salaries work. They have all of their own draft picks to trade as well as the Golden State Warriors' pick in 2024, which they got from the Smart trade.
MIAMI HEAT
Heat receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, 2027 MIA first-round pick, 2029 MIA top-14 protected first-round pick, 2028 MIA first-round pick swap, 2024 MIA top-50 protected second-round pick, 2026 LAL second-round pick, 2027 HOU/IND/MIA/OKC/SA (least favorable) second-round pick
Missing out once again in their pursuit of a star third option to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami could use an upgrade like Holiday to their seemingly incomplete roster. Holiday would provide a must-needed scoring punch and would fit seamlessly in Miami&rsquo;s hard-working culture. While their Lillard trade package was highlighted by Tyler Herro, they likely wouldn&rsquo;t use him in any trade for Holiday. Their salary going out in a deal would come from Kyle Lowry&rsquo;s expiring salary ($29,682,540) and some combination of younger players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3,510,533), Nikola Jovic ($2,352,000) and Haywood Highsmith ($1,902,137). While they are somewhat restricted in terms of draft assets, they can offer up to three first-round picks if they amend their 2025 first-round pick they owe the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have three second-rounders to offer as well.&nbsp;
NEW YORK KNICKS
Knicks receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: RJ Barrett, Reggie Bullock, Khem Birch, 2024 DAL top-10 protected first-round pick, 2024 DET top-18 protected first-round pick, 2024 WAS top-12 protected first-round pick
Spurs receive: Evan Fournier, 2026 MEM top-42 protected second-round pick, 2027 NO/POR (less favorable) second-round pick
The Knicks may be holding out for when the next superstar &ndash; i.e. Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell or Giannis Antetokounmpo (although maybe not anymore?) &ndash; asks for a trade. While New York may be focused on further down the line, acquiring a player like Holiday could allow them to boost their roster right now without giving up enough capital to harm their future superstar pursuits. A Knicks trade that would not harm their trove of draft assets would have to send out RJ Barrett ($23,883,929), who potentially fits Portland&rsquo;s rebuilding timeline. Jrue could line up as the team&rsquo;s starting shooting guard alongside Jalen Brunson, while Josh Hart would play more minutes at small forward to mitigate the loss of Barrett. Evan Fournier&rsquo;s large salary ($18,857,143) would also have to be in any deal for the Knicks to take in Holiday. Portland wouldn&rsquo;t want to acquire both Fournier and Barrett as that would push them over the luxury tax, therefore they would likely route Fournier to another team (like San Antonio).
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Clippers receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, Amir Coffey, Jason Preston (salary fully guaranteed), 2028 LAC first-round pick, 2030 LAC first-round pick, 2029 LAC first-round pick swap
The Clippers may have been given an olive branch with a player like Jrue Holiday becoming available, as he's an impact player at a price they can afford. It also provides an alternative for the Clippers to land a third star while avoiding the potential drama/issues that could come with acquiring a player like James Harden. The Clippers have a lot of high-salary veterans they could use to get to Holiday&rsquo;s number like Norman Powell ($18,000,000), Marcus Morris Sr. ($17,116,279), Nicolas Batum ($11,710,818) and Robert Covington ($11,692,308). They would probably like to keep Terance Mann, who they seem to not want to include in a potential Harden trade, although his $10,576,923 could be useful. Portland could view their unprotected picks in 2028 and 2030 as some of the best draft assets they could receive due to their aging stars and lack of postseason success.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
76ers receive: Jrue Holiday
Clippers receive: James Harden, 2024 NYK second-round pick, 2029 PHI second-round pick, 2030 PHI second-round pick
Trail Blazers receive: Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, Amir Coffey, Jason Preston (salary fully guaranteed to satisfy trade rules), 2028 LAC first-round pick, 2029 PHI first-round pick, 2029 LAC first-round pick swap
Amidst the James Harden debacle, Daryl Morey has remained steadfast in getting a formidable return if they choose to trade the disgruntled All-Star. A reunion with Jrue Holiday, who played in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2013, certainly should get Morey and the Sixers' attention. Holiday would certainly upgrade their defense while being a good support and influence on Tyrese Maxey. The Trail Blazers would have little interest in taking a direct package from Philadelphia, which would almost certainly be headlined by Harden ($35,640,000). Harden's desired destination, the Clippers, should still be interested in acquiring him, but may be more interested in trading for Holiday directly. Portland would likely get a similar package to what they would receive if they traded directly with the Clippers, potentially leaving Philadelphia out to dry. The Sixers would have to incentivize the Clippers by trading some draft capital to take Harden instead of Holiday.
Honorable Mentions
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The Warriors are a logical Holiday destination in terms of fit and trade assets. A trade package would have to send the newly acquired Chris Paul back to Portland or a third team along with a young player like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski, plus a draft pick. Given that coach Steve Kerr has talked all summer about bringing Paul into the fold, it would be pretty surprising if the team pivoted from the future Hall-of-Famer just before training camp. If the Warriors do choose to jump in the Holiday waters, they could quickly move to the front of the line.&nbsp;
TORONTO RAPTORS
Toronto was considered the favorite to acquire Lillard at one point, with a package that was likely headlined by OG Anunoby and draft assets. In order to acquire Holiday, they would need to use a similar package, albeit with less draft capital involved. It seems as though the Raptors were being coy about potentially dealing Anunoby for Lillard, according to <a href="https://torontosun.com/sports/basketball/nba/toronto-raptors/options-for-raptors-with-damian-lillard-trade-dream-done" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun</a>. If Masai Ujiri was unwilling to include Anunoby in trade discussions before, it&rsquo;s unlikely he will do so for a player like Holiday.&nbsp;
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Holiday would be a near perfect fit alongside Anthony Edwards in the Wolves' backcourt and would greatly improve their defense. However, Minnesota simply doesn&rsquo;t have the right salaries or draft assets to realistically get to Holiday&rsquo;s number unless they are willing to part ways with Karl-Anthony Towns. Even if Tim Connelly was willing to deal Towns for Holiday, the trade may not be what Portland is looking for with the 2015 No. 1 overall pick&rsquo;s five-year supermax extension beginning next season. The idea of paying supermax money to Towns will likely be a turn off for Blazers GM Joe Cronin.
ORLANDO MAGIC
Orlando is probably the most fun dark-horse destination for Jrue. While Markelle Fultz has been a suitable lead guard when healthy, Holiday would bring a championship-level veteran presence that could be useful for Orlando&rsquo;s young squad. The question with the Magic is whether they would actually pursue a deal that would accelerate their timeline with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, as well as whether they would part with draft capital that they could potentially use down the line in future trades.

With the Blazers looking to flip Jrue Holiday, Blake Stern breaks down several teams that make sense as a trade suitor.

NBA trade rumors: Examining potential destinations for Jrue Holiday

Longtime pro Jordan Crawford opens up to Spencer Davies about his unpleasant NBA experience, his Detroit connection and more.

Ex-NBA pro Jordan Crawford has a story to tell — and a whole lot more

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; Harrison Barnes scored 29 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 123-117 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists and Kevin Huerter added 20 points for the Kings. They also beat the Thunder on Sunday night.
Thunder rookie Jalen Williams matched a season high with 27 points. Dario Saric, a reserve forward/center the Thunder acquired in a trade with Phoenix before the All-Star break, had a season-high 21 points. But Oklahoma City shot just 43.9% in its fourth straight loss.
The scoring leaders for both teams did not play. Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was out due to health and safety protocols and an abdominal strain and Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox missed with soreness in his left wrist.
There still was plenty of action. Sacramento led 71-66 at halftime behind 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Sabonis.
The Kings went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to go up 89-72, but the Thunder rallied and trailed 93-87 heading into the fourth.
Oklahoma City tied it at 98 before Sacramento responded with a 12-2 run, and the Kings controlled the rest of the game.
TIP-INS
Kings: F Trey Lyles was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. ... Barnes scored just nine points on Sunday. ... F Keegan Murray finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Thunder: G Isaiah Joe, who scored 28 and 24 points in his previous two games, had eight points on 3-for-5 shooting. ... Signed G Lindy Waters III to a multi-year contract on Monday. The former Oklahoma State star had signed a Two-Way contract last year.
UP NEXT
Kings: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday niht.
Thunder: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.

Harrison Barnes scored 29 points and the Kings beat the Thunder 123-117 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

Barnes scores 29 points, Kings beat Thunder for 4th straight

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; De&rsquo;Aaron Fox had 33 points and eight assists and the Sacramento Kings defeated the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder 124-115 on Sunday night.
Keegan Murray scored 20 points and Domantas Sabonis added 14 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Kings, who won their third straight.
Sacramento&nbsp;defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 176-175 in two overtimes&nbsp;Friday night in the second highest-scoring game in NBA history. The Kings followed it by shooting 52.9% from the field against the Thunder.
Isaiah Joe scored 24 points and Lu Dort and Josh Giddey each added 18 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder have lost all three of their games since the All-Star break.
Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat out with right ankle soreness and an abdominal strain. The All-Star leads the Thunder with 31 points per game &mdash; fifth-most in the league heading into the night.
Fox scored 14 points in the first half to help the Kings take a 58-50 lead. He got loose for a windmill dunk on a fast break to give the Kings a 74-59 lead in the third quarter.
The Thunder got hot later in the period. Joe scored 11 points in the final 3:50 of the third quarter to trim Sacramento&rsquo;s lead to 94-90 heading into the fourth.
The Kings threatened to run away with the game before Joe made a 3-pointer, was fouled and made the free throw with 5:19 remaining to trim Sacramento&rsquo;s lead to 113-104, but the Thunder never made another surge.
TIP-INS
Kings: Sabonis, who was drafted by Orlando in 2016 and traded to Oklahoma City that same night, had nine points, five rebounds and five assists in the first quarter to help Sacramento take a 36-26 lead. ... Trey Lyles scored 16 points.
Thunder: Joe got the start in place of Gilgeous-Alexander. ... Jalen Williams scored 15 points and Lindy Waters III added 12.
UP NEXT
The teams play again Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

De’Aaron Fox had 33 points and 8 assists and the Sacramento Kings beat the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder 124-115 on Sunday

De'Aaron Fox scores 33 as Kings beat Thunder for 3rd straight win

You know, I always find it ironically amusing how much the general NBA public gets upset over who does and doesn&rsquo;t deserve to be an All-Star. Because when the weekend comes itself, the incredible competitive spirit that each player performs with to earn that rare honor is completely absent by the time the ball tips on Sunday night.
This isn&rsquo;t going to be an old-man-yells-at-a-cloud hit piece of "here's how the All-Star Game needs to be changed" or how this current generation of stars doesn&rsquo;t carry the same gritty mentality as the rough-and-tough decades. Those tropes are tired by my estimation to be quite honest. However, isn't it just a wee bit concerning that we have this exact conversation year after year after year after year?
Let&rsquo;s Keep it 94 (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keepin-it-94/id1545629382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free plug!</a>): The three-day spectacle is meant to be a celebration of the greatness that this league has to offer and a pat on the back to the players who make it so. It&rsquo;s a show, a reason to take a break and not take things so seriously. Guys are laughing, and spending time with family and friends and co-workers that have a sensational gift of talent.
(No matter how good or bad All-Star Saturday turns out to be, I will always crack a smile watching these guys dressed to the nines huddled on the sidelines just having a blast.)
With that being said, I cannot truly feel the All-Star Game right now. There just isn&rsquo;t that &ldquo;must watch&rdquo; factor that could absolutely destroy every other professional sport&rsquo;s marquee weekend if it wanted to, and it&rsquo;s head-scratching as to why.
Our Nekias Duncan &mdash; who was on the ground for Basketball News this weekend in Salt Lake City, shout out to him for that and his amazing work all the time &mdash; tweeted something out that really got me thinking.
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To clarify, I mean in general with the All-Star Game. Not just tonight. There&rsquo;s a spectrum between giving playoff effort and risking injury (they shouldn&rsquo;t do that) and what the first three quarters are. Like, 60-70% would be cool. It doesn&rsquo;t have to be 5% lol
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1627489292602998785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t have to be 5%.&rdquo;
Nekias is on point with that message, and five percent may be generous. There has to be a balance in this thing. You don&rsquo;t want these guys to sustain any type of injuries, and you certainly don&rsquo;t want a potential setback to cost their respective teams. But can&rsquo;t there be just a smidgen more &ldquo;give an F&rdquo; about the game? You don&rsquo;t have to compete on every possession. How about once every 10 instead of every 30? Is that a fair compromise?
I was watching the game with a friend of mine at home, and I feel like the biggest fans that support this event can&rsquo;t even argue with the typical NBA haters when you&rsquo;re essentially watching a game of HORSE for two hours. It just gives those detractors more fuel.
I&rsquo;m all for a good parking lot shot &mdash; Damian Lillard, a tip of the cap to you because... holy hell &mdash; but when deep threes, mostly uncontested and many bricked, make up the shot chart the entire way, it becomes old hat. By the way, some of these lanes were more wide open than pregame shootaround layup lines before actual games.
It just seems as if that aura we&rsquo;ve been searching for continues to be missing.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Again don&rsquo;t get me wrong, it has its moments still. Like, I highly enjoy when All-Stars decide to have their own dunk contest in the early-going to pump the crowd up. LeBron James started it off, and Ja Morant electrified with his as per usual. Kyrie Irving attempting to get Nikola Jokic to dunk on alley-oop attempts was rich, as was Luka Doncic being mic&rsquo;d up for the second quarter saying essentially nothing. At least LeBron &nbsp;put a body on some dudes and attempted some blocks at the rim.
People got on their feet when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown iso&rsquo;d each other for the final moments of the third quarter in a clash of the Boston Celtics&rsquo; best. That was cool to watch unfold, and it just shows even the best of friends and teammates want to one-up each other on the floor. It&rsquo;s why they play the sport. We need more of those types of interactions, 1-on-1 matchups and a game within the game, so to speak.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his infectious personality were made for this kind of event. He legitimately loves what he does, and has a ton of fun with the experience.
Having the Elam Ending in the fourth with all the marbles is an innovative addition. Bringing charities into the mix is brilliant as well. Hell, the first-ever live game day All-Star draft was a creative move.
But when you have players and coaches talking down about the quality of basketball being played in postgame interviews, that&rsquo;s problematic.
When you have media talking down about the quality of basketball being played in different mediums, that&rsquo;s problematic.
When you have an arena full of people that see that quality of basketball being played on such a stage, that&rsquo;s problematic.
While there&rsquo;s obviously some looking inward for the players to do considering that&rsquo;s in their control, it&rsquo;s also telling that no matter how many tweaks have been made, nothing can really be done to incentivize them more.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not basketball,&rdquo; Jaylen Brown said. Called the game a glorified &ldquo;layup line&rdquo; and said he hoped there was a way to make the game more competitive. Obviously no real defense played tonight
&mdash; Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/1627521703441211394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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I don&rsquo;t have the answers. I don&rsquo;t think anybody does. I also wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if anybody reading this gives a damn what a 30-year-old reporter who types and talks for a living thinks.
I am a hoops fanatic. This sport is literally my life. Watching these talented individuals grow the NBA the way it has on a global scale is a privilege.
There just has to be a way to put on a show while also trying just a little bit harder. This is arguably the biggest annual weekend of the NBA's calendar year. It&rsquo;s an offensively-driven night, I get it. It&rsquo;s a meaningless game for all intents and purposes.
We're not going to care about this for another 365 days. I'll be over it by the time tomorrow comes quite frankly.
But a 184-175 final? That has to be where we draw the line... right?

Spencer Davies spills his candid thoughts on the 2023 NBA All-Star Game following the weekend in Salt Lake City.

Davies: I love NBA All-Star weekend, but I just can't feel the game

After being sidelined for nearly two-and-a-half years &ndash; 904 days to be exact &ndash; due to a torn ACL, Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac made his return on Monday against the Boston Celtics.&nbsp;
Isaac looked excellent in Orlando's 113-98 win, finishing with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist in 10 minutes &ndash; while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range.&nbsp;
Isaac was on a minutes restriction, but made the most of his playing time. From the moment he checked in, he made his presence felt by knocking down jumpers and guarding both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. 
The former No. 6 overall pick provided a ton of energy and activity &ndash; even diving for a loose ball at one point &ndash; and he didn&rsquo;t hesitate when given opportunities to shoot. The fans gave him a huge ovation when he first checked in, and they went nuts every time he made a play.
His best sequence came late in the third quarter, when he knocked down a three-pointer and then stole the ball from Brown to create a fastbreak dunk for Paolo Banchero.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Jonathan Isaac THREE + STEAL + POWER SLAM PAOLO that's 10 PTS + 3 REB + 2 STL + 2 3PM in 9 MIN The Magic are so back <a href="https://t.co/le25Znnmy1">pic.twitter.com/le25Znnmy1</a>
&mdash; Beyond the RK (@beyondtheRK) <a href="https://twitter.com/beyondtheRK/status/1617700433946107906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Isaac initially tore his left ACL on Aug. 2, 2020, when Orlando was competing in the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World. Isaac suffered numerous setbacks &ndash; and even needed a separate surgery on his right hamstring at one point &ndash; causing him to miss the last two seasons entirely.
"It&rsquo;s been such a long road," Isaac said after the win. "[I was] thinking about all that it has taken to get here &ndash; the tough days, the good days, the bad days, the ups-and-downs, and all of the people that were a part of getting me back. The training staff, we call them the purple people eaters, but our coaches that worked with me tirelessly &ndash; Nate Tibbetts and all of those guys. And then just my family, my church family, my faith that I have been fortunate enough to lean on this entire time. I wouldn&rsquo;t be here [without] all of that. Much love to the Magic for sticking with me, and the Magic fans that were excited. Just trying to bottle all of that up in one moment, it was surreal.&rdquo;
To put Isaac&rsquo;s missed time in perspective, consider this: the last time he appeared in an NBA game, Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball had yet to be drafted. Also, the movie "Tenet" hadn't come out yet. The Magic looked very different back then too; the only players remaining on the roster from when Isaac suffered his injury are Markelle Fultz, Terrence Ross and Mo Bamba.
Now, the Magic are one of the youngest teams in the NBA and they&rsquo;ve assembled a talented core that includes Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Bol Bol, Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and Fultz. Since Isaac is only 25 years old and still has plenty of untapped potential, the former No. 6 overall pick should fit right in with Orlando going forward.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been waiting for J.I. to get back and it&rsquo;s been a long process, but he had to take his time and listen to his body,&rdquo; Banchero told Basketball News. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for him that he&rsquo;s finally able to come back and just receive the love that he deserves. These fans have been waiting to see him, so everybody is really excited. This is probably the healthiest we&rsquo;ve been all year.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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Prior to his injury, Isaac was widely regarded as one of the best young defenders in the NBA, driving opposing teams crazy with his versatility, quickness, length and activity. During the 2019-20 season, Isaac averaged 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals on .470/.340/.779 shooting splits. If he can stay healthy, it&rsquo;s not crazy to think that All-Defensive honors are in his future, and he could even grow into a Defensive-Player-of-the-Year candidate.
The Magic currently have the NBA's 22nd-ranked defense (allowing 112.2 points per 100 possessions), so they could certainly use a healthy Isaac on that end of the court.
&ldquo;When you talk about the journey he&rsquo;s been on since getting hurt&hellip; he&rsquo;s that example of what it takes to work to get back,&rdquo; Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s never wavered, understanding how strong his faith is and understanding the process of what he had to do in order to get back on the floor. So that&rsquo;s what makes us so proud of what he&rsquo;s done and been able to do to get back on the court.&rdquo;
Mosley was impressed with Isaac's effort on Monday night.
"I thought he was great," Mosley said. "I thought he did a great job playing with a level of poise. I think that was the importance of&nbsp;him getting the G League time. Obviously, there was a ton of emotions and rightfully so. I thought it was great the way he handled himself."

After being sidelined for nearly two-and-a-half years – 904 days to be exact – Magic forward Jonathan Isaac made his return on Monday.

After missing 2 years, Magic's Jonathan Isaac provides spark in return

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; At least most of the fans went home happy. UCLA was anything but.
The 10th-ranked Bruins blew an 18-point lead in the second half before rallying to beat crosstown rival Southern California 60-58 on Thursday night for their 11th straight victory.
&ldquo;Do I look happy?&rdquo; groused Bruins coach Mick Cronin.
Jaylen Clark added, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not supposed to let them come back, especially at home.&rdquo;
Clark scored 15 points to lead the Bruins (14-2, 5-0 Pac-12). He missed a 3-pointer, but David Singleton grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Clark again. This time, he nailed it, putting the Bruins back in front, 59-58, with 14 seconds to go.
&ldquo;At least we grabbed rebounds,&rdquo; Clark said, noting a 36-30 edge on the boards. &ldquo;We lucked out but it&rsquo;s not a performance we&rsquo;re really proud of.&rdquo;
Boogie Ellis missed missed a potential tying jumper that would have forced overtime and Adem Bona grabbed the rebound to seal the win and keep UCLA undefeated at Pauley Pavilion in front of 13,659 with a 9-0 mark.
The Bruins are on their longest winning streak since 2016-17.
Reese Dixon-Waters scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Trojans (11-5, 3-2). He made all seven of his shots and both of his free throws.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our defense was really bad the entire second half,&rdquo; Cronin said. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t guard Reese Dixon. He looked like an NBA iso machine.&rdquo;
USC&rsquo;s leading scorers, Ellis and Drew Peterson, had off-nights, with Peterson in foul trouble. Ellis finished with 10 points; Peterson had nine.
&ldquo;We planned for Ellis and Peterson to go off,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;Once they realized we weren&rsquo;t giving them nothing they started moving the ball.&rdquo;
Trailing by 18, the Trojans outscored the Bruins 19-6 to open the second half. Kobe Johnson had a steal and a score and Harrison Hornery came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer that drew the Trojans within five.
Bona and Tyger Campbell picked up their third fouls in under a minute of each other. Bona had the defensive play of the second half, blocking Malik Thomas on a dunk.
The Bruins missed 5 of 6 free throws while Dixon-Waters carried the Trojans. He scored eight of their 10 points to get USC to 56-53.
Hornery scored and got fouled on USC&rsquo;s next possession. He missed the first free throw but made the second for a 56-all tie.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. missed a layup and Ellis scrambled and came up with the rebound in the clogged paint. Dixon-Waters scored to give the Trojans a 58-56 lead, their first since the start of the game.
Ellis got called for an offensive foul that gave UCLA the ball back with seven seconds to go. The Trojans fouled Singleton, whose first free throw hit the iron, drawing agonized groans from the crowd. He made the second for a 60-58 lead.
&ldquo;Obviously that was not a performance we&rsquo;re proud of,&rdquo; said Jaquez, who finished with 12 points. &ldquo;We came out in the second half flat and there&rsquo;s really no excuse for it. I put that on myself.&rdquo;
The Bruins raced to an 18-4 lead to start the game, hitting four 3-pointers in the spurt that included 13 straight points. In one sequence, Clark got blocked by Peterson, grabbed the offensive rebound and made a layup. UCLA had a 9-0 run later in the half and went into the break leading 44-26.
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans have dropped back-to-back games for just the second time this season. Before the skid, they won seven in a row, including a 6-0 mark in December that included a pair of Pac-12 road wins. They&rsquo;ll face the Bruins again in three weeks.
UCLA: The Bruins continue on a winning streak that began after losses to ranked Illinois and Baylor at Las Vegas in November. They have seemingly bought into coach Mick Cronin&rsquo;s hard-nosed defensive style, which helped them scrap to a one-point road win at Washington State last weekend. Later in January, the Bruins travel to No. 5 Arizona for a pivotal showdown in the desert in their lone remaining game against a ranked opponent.
SEEING STARS
The rivalry game brought out former Bruins Russell Westbrook and wife Nina, who played for UCLA&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s team, Baron Davis, and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who played baseball in Westwood. Dwyane Wade sat next to Utah Jazz executive Danny Ainge. Also in the crowd was Henry Winkler and Jessica Alba, whose father-in-law Michael Warren starred for UCLA in the John Wooden era.
UP NEXT
USC: Hosts Colorado on Jan. 12 in the first of a two-game homestand.
UCLA: Hosts Utah on Jan. 12 in the second of three straight home games.

The Bruins are on their longest winning streak since 2016-17.

No. 10 UCLA blows 18-point lead, hangs on to beat USC 60-58

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Zion Williamson ducked and smiled as celebrating New Orleans Pelicans teammates poured bottles of water over him. Moments later, Trey Muprhy III pretended to place a crown on Williamson's head &mdash; a fitting gesture after a memorable game which, by the end, had coronation-type energy about it.
Williamson scored a career-high 43 points, capping it with New Orleans' final 14 points in the last 2:44 of the game, and the Pelicans outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-118 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory.
&ldquo;People remember winners,&rdquo; the 22-year-old Williamson said. &ldquo;When you look at some of the greatest of all time, the first thing you go to is championships, what they did in big moments. And that's what I want to be remembered as &mdash; a winner.
&ldquo;I can't just sit here and say I want to win. I've got to show it,&rdquo; added Williamson, who also credited teammate CJ McCollum for urging him on in the final minutes.
&ldquo;CJ looked at me and said, &lsquo;You want to be great, this is the moment to do it.'&rdquo;
Anthony Edwards, who scored 27 for Minnesota, missed a baseline fade for the win as time expired on a game in which the Wolves led most of the way, and by as many as 11 points, before losing their fourth straight.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch lamented his team's defense on Williamson in the second half that was &ldquo;way too soft.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We let him come running at us, and he was able to get a head of steam,&rdquo; Finch said. "When he does that, it&rsquo;s tough.&rdquo;
Williamson's 3-pointer with 2:17 left, assisted by more usual perimeter threat Murphy, cut Minnesota's lead to 112-110. Williamson then pulled out of a spinning dribble in the lane for a short floater that tied it.
&ldquo;We really had diverse play-calling down the stretch," a smiling McCollum deadpanned. &ldquo;Get the ball to Z and get the (expletive) out of the way."
Williamson tied it again at 114 on a driving finger roll. And after Jaden McDaniels' free throws put Minnesota back up with 1:04 left, Williamson hit a contested, off-balance, driving layup to tie it before stepping up to tip a bounce pass away from McDaniels and convert the steal into a go-ahead, breakaway dunk that had a sellout crowd in a frenzy.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just who he is; he understands time, score, situations. He understands the moment. And he made big plays after big plays,&rdquo; coach Willie Green said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what great players do.&rdquo;
Edwards' dunk tied it at 118 before Williamson hit one of two free throws, which turned out to be enough.
Murphy scored 21, going 5 of 6 from 3, and McCollum scored 20 for the Pelicans. Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
D'Angelo Russell had 27 points and McDaniels scored 19 for Minnesota.
&ldquo;There were a lot of good things we did in the game," Russell said. &ldquo;We did everything we could and battled. We tried to give ourselves a chance at the end of the game and that&rsquo;s all you can ask for.&rdquo;
The game was marked by physical play and flaring emotions.
There were 52 total fouls called, including a half-dozen technical fouls and one flagrant foul on each team.
&ldquo;An emotional game, a chippy game, but this is good," Green said. "It builds our character. It&rsquo;s great to be on the winning side.&rdquo;
Austin Rivers, who wound up fouling out with nearly 8 minutes left, was assessed a flagrant-1 foul after he caught Larry Nance Jr. hard in the head with a forearm late in the third quarter. Nance went to the locker room and was ruled out for the remainder of the game with neck spasms.
Rivers, a 2012 New Orleans first-round draft choice along with Anthony Davis, also exchanged shoves with Valanciunas. Double technicals were called and an additional technical was called on New Orleans' Naji Marshall for pushing Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert as he stepped between Valanciunas and Rivers.
Minnesota took a 50-39 lead after a 9-0 run ignited by Russell's 3 and fueled by McDaniels' layup and putback in the second quarter.
Back-to-back dunks by Williamson and Murphy helped the Pelicans trim it to 52-49 before Naz Reid's 3 made it 55-49 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Jaylen Nowell scored 14 points. Reid scored 13, all in the first half. ... Karl-Anthony Towns missed his 14th straight game with his right calf strain. Minnesota is 6-8 without him. ... Shot 50.6% (42 of 83) overall and 10 of 29 from deep. ... Outscored New Orleans in the paint, 58-52, and Wolves reserves outscored the Pelicans' bench 30-11.
Pelicans: Never led by more than 4 points. ... Shot 45.8% (11 of 24) from 3-point range. ... Marshall finished with 12 points. ... Brandon Ingram missed his 15th straight game with a left great toe contusion. New Orleans is 11-4 without him. ... Missed 13 of 43 free throws.
&nbsp;

Zion Williamson scored a career-high 43 points, and the Pelicans outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-118.

Williamson scores career-high 43, Pelicans top Timberwolves

Nekias Duncan takes an early look at this year's NBA award races with an in-depth look at who leads the pack through mid-December.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award front-runners: MVP, DPOY, ROY, more

Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s first press conference after returning from his suspension was met by a barrage of reporters seemingly throwing a series of questions at him that could have potentially resulted in him being suspended again.
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The media smh <a href="https://t.co/6ZsGU5llll">pic.twitter.com/6ZsGU5llll</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594830463675375620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One interpretation is that the reporters were just doing their job in asking Kyrie the questions that inquiring minds would like answered. However, another interpretation is that Kyrie asked (very politely) if the reporters could simply stick to questions about the actual game, and they seemingly ignored his request and continued to ask questions that could potentially get him in hot water once again &mdash; an intentional attempt to set him up.
I wanted to delve deeper into this topic, so I reached out to journalist Chuck Modiano, who is a senior writer for Deadspin and has also written for the New York Daily News.
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Etan Thomas: Does it seem like the media is now picking on Kyrie?
Chuck Modiano: Let me first say that you have been doing a great job on social media covering this.
Thomas: Oh, I appreciate that.
Modiano: No problem. Well, there are definitely a couple of members who keep harping on it, but the problem is, they don&rsquo;t do that to other athletes. I don&rsquo;t think Jerry Jones is going to be peppered the same way. I know initially they asked him, but I doubt the questions will continue. I could be wrong, but we&rsquo;ll see. But the double standard always exists with Black athletes and it always has, and part of that double standard is the makeup of the press &mdash; and what the press finds noteworthy and not noteworthy to pursue. So yeah, it&rsquo;s definitely there and will continue to be there and we have to keep calling it out.
Thomas: I agree, but I don&rsquo;t see enough people calling it out and that&rsquo;s the part that frustrates me. It seems like it&rsquo;s just accepted. And let&rsquo;s take the actual content of everything that happened with Kyrie out of the discussion for a moment, and just compare this to how, say, Brett Farve was dealt with in the media. I mean, he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything &mdash; he didn&rsquo;t have to apologize or nothing?
Modiano: I think Brett Favre is a great recurring example. With Kyrie, it goes so far beyond the initial discussion of anti-semitism. It goes to something greater in media. The Black athlete is profitable and the Black athlete&rsquo;s perceived misbehavior is profitable. And we know this when a discussion should shift and it does not. So I&rsquo;ll give you an example. So there was a period of time where the discussion moved from Kyrie Irving to Jeff Bezos &mdash; let&rsquo;s hold Amazon accountable. He&rsquo;s making all this money off "Hebrews To Negroes." And let&rsquo;s form a petition, etc. And there were some famous actors joining in the charge. Rolling Stone actually had pictures of those actors, but most publications, even if the article was focused on Jeff Bezos and Amazon, still had the cover picture of Kyrie. So I said, "Well, that&rsquo;s not about perceived anti-semitism, that&rsquo;s about anti-Blackness." Because, again, the whole article was about Jeff Bezos and Amazon, so why is Kyrie on the cover picture? That was an editorial choice and that&rsquo;s when you have to examine the fact that anti-Blackness will get you more clicks and there is more profit in anti-Blackness.
Thomas: That&rsquo;s interesting. Now that you say that, I definitely noticed that as well. And to your point, there are a lot of Black media that participate in that as well. Right now, there are a lot of people trying to give Jerry Jones a pass. I just saw Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock both defending him today. I actually tweeted about it.
Modiano: It&rsquo;s completely ridiculous. And listen, I am someone who has marched with former Nazis who are now against Nazis and are now on the anti-racism side and it&rsquo;s their life mission to flip other Nazis. So I am someone who believes to the greatest extent that reform is possible. But let&rsquo;s take Jerry Jones here, and put aside the fact that probably 95% of white people in Arkansas in 1957 more than likely shared a certain belief about Black people, I think we can safely say that. But not everyone joined a mob to terrorize Black students, so there is a difference between racist thoughts and racist actions. And it&rsquo;s important to remember that in 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education was put into law, and the one of the ways white people would fight against that law was through mob action, and Jerry Jones was a part of that. So if you&rsquo;re going to tell me he&rsquo;s changed, I need to see it. I see his comments about [Colin] Kaepernick. I see the fact that he has never had a Black head coach. I see him donating half a million to Governor [Greg] Abbott&rsquo;s campaign. This doesn&rsquo;t sound like he has changed too much since 1957.
Thomas: And the same with Brett Favre. I haven&rsquo;t seen anything where he's tried to make amends after this $77 million Mississippi state-welfare-fund scandal or any evidence that he has changed. They say it&rsquo;s always something with Kyrie; well, it&rsquo;s always something with Brett Favre, right?
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JerryJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JerryJones</a> <a href="https://t.co/kpy9G3XaFU">pic.twitter.com/kpy9G3XaFU</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1596296501747228674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<div>Modiano: Oh, don&rsquo;t get me started on Brett. He has a long, ugly history and I&rsquo;m not just talking about outwardly supporting Donald Trump at the height of his racism and Charlottesville and Jan. 6th, or the inappropriate messages and nude pictures he sent to New York Jets game day host Ms. Sterger, but yes there is definitely enough history for there to be much more upheaval of outrage from the media. So we have to ask, why is the Brett Favre scandal not given the same attention and scrutiny as Kyrie? The answer could be simply that Brett Favre is not going to produce the amount of clicks that Kyrie will. But then you have to ask: why is Kyrie going to produce more clicks? Because Brett is retired and Kyrie is an active player? I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s it. I think it&rsquo;s because of anti-Blackness. We have a white customer service base that likes to see Black athletes being denigrated and will use Black media talking heads, like the ones you named before, to do the actual denigrating. That&rsquo;s the bottom line. So some will say, "No, it&rsquo;s the anti-semitism that is a much bigger issue." Well, if that were the case, all forms of perceived anti-semitism would garner the same reaction that Kyrie did, and it doesn&rsquo;t.</div>
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<div>Thomas: And to your point, let me read this <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1596184440513777665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet from Shaun King</a> that read: &ldquo;So we now know that Donald Trump just had dinner with one of the most explicit bigots and Holocaust-deniers in the world right now, Nick Fuentes. I need to see if Trump and the people who support him get the Kyrie Irving treatment now. I seriously doubt it." Now they can&rsquo;t say that Kyrie has more power and influence than Trump, so will there be a big outrage about Trump?&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: We already know the answer to that. Of course there won&rsquo;t and Nick Fuentes is a proud white supremacist and racist. He is an actual Holocaust denier and has spewed actual anti-semetic rhetoric out of his mouth. And Trump has himself said a lot of perceived, I&rsquo;ll say, antisemitic statements. So in comparing the reaction of that to Kyrie, you&rsquo;re right; it&rsquo;s not the same outrage.&nbsp;A few years ago, I wrote an article with the New York Daily News asking, "Why are we not critiquing white athletes?" Whether it&rsquo;s Tom Brady with the Trump hat in his locker or Brett Favre posing in a picture with him on the golf course, where were those same reporters who pressed Kyrie then? Where were the pointed questions that we are seeing repeatedly with Kyrie? So if we are going to have a media that is critiquing athletes the way they are with Kyrie, ok that&rsquo;s fine, but let&rsquo;s do it with the white athletes too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So, how can Kyrie navigate through this? Because it seems like the media is going to continue to press him on topics where they&rsquo;re almost trying to play GOTCHA with him. He has to meet with the media, or he&rsquo;ll get fined. So should he just keep repeating the phrase, "Can you please only ask me basketball questions?" Or do the Marshawn Lynch ("I&rsquo;m just here so I won&rsquo;t get fined")?</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;ll tell you what, I thought he turned the Thanksgiving question on its head pretty nicely. I thought it was brilliant how he navigated that. He ended positively, he wished everyone a happy holiday, and he did it with a smile, but he also made the point clear: I&rsquo;m not personally celebrating Thanksgiving. And I think that&rsquo;s great because it now brings the much larger discussion that is not going on about the actual history of Thanksgiving and the treatment of indigenous people of this country, so I thought he navigated that question brilliantly.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: But do you think the media was again trying to pick at him? I tweeted about this and it got a very strong response. Anyone who has been even remotely following the NBA knows about Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s connection to his Native American heritage. When I saw that, I was like, "Are they just trolling Kyrie now?" They could&rsquo;ve asked any other player on the team that, but they ask him in particular? I just don&rsquo;t think they would&rsquo;ve asked Deni Avdija (the Washington Wizards forward who is Jewish) if he would like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas; I just personally don&rsquo;t think they would.&nbsp;</div>
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They know Kyrie Irving doesn&rsquo;t celebrate Thanksgiving and they know exactly why because he has explained his connection to his Native American heritage and the celebrated slaughter of his people. The media is being very intentional right now with Kyrie <a href="https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I">https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595784312359624707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: So, I&rsquo;m leaning toward what you&rsquo;re saying. I don&rsquo;t know who the particular reporter was, I don&rsquo;t know the history, and we have to look at media collectively, not just this one person.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: Oh yeah, it wasn&rsquo;t particular to Meghan Triplett, the Nets new sideline reporter; I wasn&rsquo;t saying that. I was just using this one instance as yet another example, not her in particular. &nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: Right, but I think collectively, it&rsquo;s no question the media has a double standard with Kyrie. It&rsquo;s abundantly clear. So I&rsquo;ll say it like this: I can&rsquo;t say definitively that it&rsquo;s a racial double standard, but I will say that it&rsquo;s worthy of an investigation of a possibly racial double standard. And it&rsquo;s not just Kyrie, there has been a racial double standard historically with Black athletes for decades.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So let me ask you this: People like Shaq and Charles Barkley were very direct with their critique of Kyrie. I actually tweeted about this as well.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
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Immediately they got <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlesBarkley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CharlesBarkley</a> to go live and condemn <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KyrieIrving?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KyrieIrving</a> and I know he hadn&rsquo;t actually watched <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HebrewsToNegroes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HebrewsToNegroes</a> to even know what he was talking about. But Barkley is one of the go to Black Media used to condemn Black People and it&rsquo;s sad<a href="https://t.co/58aGoedJo8">https://t.co/58aGoedJo8</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC1kdKqKXi">pic.twitter.com/XC1kdKqKXi</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595022874901090311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;m telling you, you&rsquo;ve been on it on social media. And your interviews have been great too. Different perspectives. You even got a Rabbi! I haven&rsquo;t seen anyone go to the length to actually sit down with a Rabbi and discuss this.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: (Laughing) Well, there&rsquo;s been a lot to cover, but it seems like people like Charles Barkley and those of his ilk are just not willing to move past it. He brought it up again last night, saying he was disappointed that more NBA players didn&rsquo;t come out and speak against him. I&rsquo;m just like... he has apologized, served his suspension, went through the entire ridiculous six-step criteria they laid out for him, met with Adam Silver, met with Joe Tsai, and they all gave him the stamp of approval that he is not anti-semitic (although he never said anything out of his mouth that was anti-semitic). He went through all of those steps, so how long will it be before the media as a collective whole stops trolling him?&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: My response to the many problematic things that come out of Charles Barkley&rsquo;s mouth is: Why is he being uplifted as this voice of Black America or something? I remember a few years ago, CNN did this series called Race In America, led by Charles Barkley. What qualified him to lead that series?&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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<div>Thomas: They could&rsquo;ve gotten Craig Hodges, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Colin Kaepernick, John Carlos, Tommie Smith or if they wanted contemporary athletes, they could&rsquo;ve gotten LeBron James, Eric Reid, Jaylen Brown, the Olympian Gwen Berry, Swin Cash... There are so many combinations of athlete activists they could&rsquo;ve gotten. And I interviewed most of them in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=66c9a448-2d15-42b5-ad8b-555bf1229604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism.&rdquo;&nbsp;</a></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: Right, but they didn&rsquo;t want any of them, they wanted Charles Barkley. Why? The same reason he was on CNN being the spokesperson of Black America, which I believe you tweeted about too.</div>
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<div>Thomas: Yes, <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594710024969912322?s=46&amp;t=DudNOqBBO4hPI-A58FFLUg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did actually.</a>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: I told you, you&rsquo;ve been on it! (laughing) But why Charles Barkley? Because they know what his position will be on the topic, so it doesn&rsquo;t matter that he doesn&rsquo;t have a rich history of social justice like all the athletes you mentioned before and interviewed in your book. They like the positions he takes so that will trump his actual qualifications. Same with Herschel Walker. But just think about it, they don&rsquo;t do that with white athletes; they don&rsquo;t turn them into the spokespersons for white America on race relations. Anybody know where Larry Bird stands on anything? Kevin McHale? Dirk? Jerry West? Chris Mullin? We have to question these networks who continue to put the mic in Charles Barkley&rsquo;s face but at the same time, we know the answer. It&rsquo;s because he is saying what they want to hear a Black person say. Anti-Black is anti Black whether it&rsquo;s on Fox News, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Jason Whitlock or Charles Barkley.</div>
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<div>Thomas: So basically, a lot of people in the media are pawns like Kyrie said&hellip; You don&rsquo;t have to answer that. Like you said, we already know the answer.</div>
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<div>Check out these related episodes of "The Rematch."</div>
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<div>Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf:</div>
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<div>Rabbi Harry Rozenberg:</div>
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<div>Dave Zirin:</div>
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Has the media treated Kyrie Irving fairly? Etan Thomas sits down with journalist Chuck Modiano to discuss the coverage of Irving.

How long will the media continue to troll Kyrie Irving?

Nekias Duncan previews the Mavericks, Rockets, Grizzlies, Pelicans and Spurs ahead of the 2022-23 NBA campaign.

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Southwest Division

DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Cade Cunningham packed on about 10 pounds of muscle in his first NBA offseason, hoping the added weight will help him lift his game and <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/detroit-pistons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Detroit Pistons</a> to another level.
The 6-foot-6, 228-pound guard put in a lot of work and it shows.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t recognize him,&rdquo; Pistons coach Dwane Casey said Monday at the team's media day. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a really good job with his body.&rdquo;
Cunningham validated Detroit's decision to draft him No. 1 overall last year. He averaged 17.4 points to lead all rookies, ranked second among first-year players with 5.6 assists per game and averaged 5.5 rebounds after overcoming an ankle injury.
At the age of 20, he joined LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Luka Doncic, Oscar Robertson and Alvan Adams as the players in NBA history with at least the same total of points, assists and rebounds through 64 games of a career.
Like most rookies, though, he was challenged physically more than he ever had been.
&ldquo;It kept me humble because it&rsquo;s a tough grind,&rdquo; he said.
Cunningham attempted to address the weakness with a steady diet of heavy weights, more food, plenty water and a lot of sleep.
&ldquo;He looks like a different dude, and that physicality will help him," Casey said.
Cunningham also plans to be stronger above the shoulders, cutting down on turnovers after committing 3.7 per game as a rookie.
&ldquo;Being concious about it is the first step, focusing on it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In every scrimamge or live drill knowing how much i&rsquo;m turning the ball over, I think it&rsquo;s helping me understand my own game.&rdquo;
The Pistons have been among the NBA&rsquo;s worst teams the past three years, winning an average of just 21 games. The franchise has failed to win a playoff series since 2008, when it advanced to the conference finals for the sixth straight year during a run that included its third NBA championship.
Thanks to a series of moves made by general manager Troy Weaver, the Pistons are confident the Cunningham-led team can take the next step in its rebuild by competing against every team on the schedule.
That didn't happen much last year when Detroit was 23-59, finishing ahead of just Houston and Orlando at the bottom of the standings. After starting 12-45, Detroit went 11-14 &mdash; a relatively promising closing stretch in part because of Cunningham's development.
&ldquo;It took him to the second half of the season to figure out the speed of the game," Casey recalled.
Cunningham also needs help and it appears Weaver has delivered.
The Pistons selected Purdue&rsquo;s Jaden Ivey, a lightning-quick guard, with the No. 5 overall pick. Detroit also made a draft-night move to acquire Memphis center Jalen Duren, who was drafted No. 13 overall, in exchange for a first-round pick it added the previous day by trading Jerami Grant and his expiring contract to Portland.
Last week, Detroit made a deal with Utah to add proven scorer Bojan Bogdanovic.
&ldquo;We have a lot more depth this year," Cunningham said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s realistic to say we&rsquo;ll have a bunch of locked-in guys that are playing to win. If we do that, the wins will take care of itself."
&nbsp;

A bulked-up Cade Cunningham is looking to raise his game in his second year with the Detroit Pistons.

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham bulked up for 2nd NBA season

The Indiana Pacers have entered new, uncharted waters recently. Embracing a full-scale rebuild attempt for the first time in 30-plus years, the fresh energy surrounding the organization is palpable. An infusion of young talent headlined by Tyrese Haliburton and No. 6 overall pick Bennedict Mathurin suggests that a brand new vision is beginning to take shape in Indianapolis.
Stuck in neutral for a long period, the Pacers realized what had to be done and pressed the rebuild button. This decision is already showing immense promise, as they have a long-term outline that was simply nonexistent beforehand. Tearing down a veteran-heavy core that once featured Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon was a step-by-step process, and now, Indiana has ultimate amounts of optionality after moving on from all three veterans.
The Memphis Grizzlies' blueprint has stood out to the Pacers&rsquo; brain trust. It's a model that the organization hopes to follow, according to Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.
&ldquo;We looked at some of the teams that have really drafted well, and now that they&rsquo;re a pretty good team... You look at the Memphis&rsquo;s and the teams like that that have built and now they&rsquo;re going to be powerhouses for the next couple of years. So, I think what we came away from our studies [with] is there&rsquo;s no quick fix," Pritchard told Basketball News in a small scrum setting on Thursday. "We can&rsquo;t make a trade or two trades or three trades or use our draft picks and become what we want to become, which is great. So, how do you do it? You&rsquo;ve got to pay your dues, and you&rsquo;ve got to get everybody on board. And that takes multiple meetings and conviction from your head coach (Rick Carlisle), your president, your GM (Chad Buchanan) and your owner. Mr. [Herb] Simon is 100% on this. It can&rsquo;t be easy.
"Nobody wants to walk in and think rebuild, and I hate that word because we have some players that we really like that we can build around. It&rsquo;s going to take some time. We&rsquo;re going to enjoy the heck out of it. And we&rsquo;re going to build this team back up to make it a really special team, guys that have true character that want to have deep roots in this community. I think that is something we&rsquo;ve talked about. How do you do that? At the end of the day, you draft well, develop relationships. [It] is your best recipe for high-level talent, high-level characters and the ability to keep players for a long time. I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s a secret to this.&rdquo;
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It&rsquo;s hard to avoid the "rebuild" phrase for the Pacers, but the upside is flowing into the facility with former lottery picks integrating. With one of the league&rsquo;s youngest rosters heading into the season, Haliburton quickly acclimated himself and is being labeled as the new face of the franchise. (Our Alex Kennedy <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-interview-tyrese-haliburton-indiana-pacers-chad-buchanan-bennedict-mathurin-myles-turner-sacramento-kings-domantas-sabonis-trade-drew-hanlen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke with Haliburton about this and his hopes for the upcoming season last month</a>.)
With Haliburton acclimating himself with a full offseason in Indianapolis, the Pacers are having fun building a roster around their point guard&rsquo;s unique traits.
&ldquo;It starts with Tyrese, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, his ability to make plays for others,&rdquo; Pritchard told Basketball News in the scrum. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll say this: By having Tyrese and having players say, &lsquo;You know, I really like playing with that,&rsquo; I think that was a big decision in Jalen [Smith] (re-signing). I think Myles [Turner] is really looking forward to playing with Tyrese. The league has changed in that the point guard position has turned into like score first, then maybe I pass. Well, Tyrese is unique; he&rsquo;d rather pass. It&rsquo;s like a quarterback. If you&rsquo;ve got a great quarterback that&rsquo;s hitting you in the chest every time, he is that.
"We&rsquo;ve got to build around that and he&rsquo;s gotta build us. There&rsquo;s going to be games where he looks amazing and he&rsquo;s going to get 15 assists. And we&rsquo;re going to need him to do a lot of things, we&rsquo;re going to ask a lot, but we&rsquo;re not going to put too much [on him]. I&rsquo;ve seen where teams put too much on players. It&rsquo;s going to be collective with our young players and our vets. The good thing is a lot of of players are going to play this year. You&rsquo;re going to see more athletic plays, and we&rsquo;re going to play harder than we&rsquo;ve ever played. From what I&rsquo;ve seen so far, it&rsquo;s easy to stand up here and say it. I want to be about actions. I think we&rsquo;re going to be a super-hard-playing team. I think you&rsquo;ll see a lot of growth.&rdquo;
There's plenty of internal optimism for Haliburton to take a massive jump within the Pacers&rsquo; organization. (A stat line flirting near 20 points and 10 assists wouldn&rsquo;t come as any sort of a surprise in Indiana.) Outside of Haliburton and the aforementioned rookie in Mathurin, their highest draft pick selected since 1988, many new-core players are taking notable steps forward in their development.
Chris Duarte, who was sidelined to end his rookie campaign with a nagging toe injury, is mentally processing the game at a different speed. Isaiah Jackson, who Pritchard said has gained 15 to 18 pounds, is poised for a massive breakout as well. Smith, who re-signed with Indiana, continues to flash his former top-10 pick upside following his exit from the Phoenix Suns.
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A gym full of athletes and prospects looking to improve provides a breath of fresh air compared to the all-too-familiar unknown of whether or not the team would make it past the first round of the playoffs.
&ldquo;We are giddy,&rdquo; Pritchard told Basketball News of their young core they&rsquo;re building together. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s interesting, when watching (scrimmages) and you throw them out there and let them play, what you find out is Tyrese, TJ McConnell, [Andrew] Nembhard are really fast players, and everyone kinda fills in. There have been times where I have been in awe about how fast our team is, which, that&rsquo;s young legs right? That&rsquo;s young, exciting legs. We&rsquo;ve seen more plays at the rim where it&rsquo;s a blocked dunk, sprint down, dunk on someone. We&rsquo;ve had more alley-oops &mdash; I think Chad Buchanan was joking with me the other day about three or four years ago we had two lob dunks in the whole year. We had 10 [on Thursday].
"The league is getting more athletic. A couple years ago we decided, 'We&rsquo;re going to look at this draft and trades, and let&rsquo;s get some of these athletes because they&rsquo;re fun to watch.' Balancing that... Coach Carlisle loves shooting. So, if you can find a great athlete that is a great shooter, I&rsquo;m all-in.&rdquo;
Not only are the Pacers all-in on their new long-term vision, one where patience is the most important part, but they&rsquo;re also in a new position as an organization &mdash; optimizing future flexibility via multiple avenues. Indiana still has oodles of cap space ($29.6 million per Cleaning The Glass), which allows for new opportunities to fall into their lap. The Pacers are open about their desire to continue bringing in more assets, either young players or future draft picks, to accelerate their plan.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve gotta do right now. We&rsquo;ve gotta capitalize on cap space, on picks,&rdquo; Pritchard said. &ldquo;In any way we can, we got to be gritty as a staff, if can we acquire more of those to have a chance to be part of our big core. And we&rsquo;re developing the core. People ask me all the time, do you have that core? Maybe, maybe not, but we&rsquo;re getting closer and next year we&rsquo;ll be closer.
"That&rsquo;s the fun part of our business is being creative and generating ideas. Look, we have three first-round picks it looks like next year. We have close to $30 million in cap space. And we&rsquo;ll be active to use that cap space to acquire more assets. That&rsquo;s just natural, but I think it gives us the ability to pivot in a lot of different ways. We have optionality out the butt. At the end of the day, I want to be able to sit in the room with Herb and management and coach and say, 'Alright, here&rsquo;s our possibilities. Where do we want to go?&rsquo; In the past it&rsquo;s been, 'We&rsquo;ve got to go down this path. This is the path we&rsquo;ve got to go down. It&rsquo;s only going to get us so far, we know there&rsquo;s only so far, we&rsquo;ve got a freaking ceiling.' What I want to do is remove a ceiling and that takes time. It&rsquo;s going to take time.&rdquo;
Outside of that excitement for the new-look youth taking over the roster, an uncertain future remains for veteran mainstay Myles Turner. A subject of trade rumors for the last few years, which picked up immense steam once the Pacers hit the reset button, Turner saw the organization openly flirt with replacing him by chasing Deandre Ayton in restricted free agency.
Entering a contract year, Turner&rsquo;s future feels murkier than ever in Indianapolis. And with the way the subject was broached on Thursday, it wouldn&rsquo;t be a stunner to see Turner play in another uniform before February&rsquo;s trade deadline passes. Pritchard admitted his recent conversation with Turner was one filled with emotions, and the ever-changing nature of the business leaves the door open for anything to happen there.
&ldquo;I sat down and talked with Myles for an hour, hour-and-a-half the other day. It was a heart-to-heart,&rdquo; Pritchard said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to tell you exactly what was said, but I&rsquo;ll give you the crux, and that is I think he&rsquo;s super excited about playing with Tyrese. I think he wants to play the 5 exclusively. I think he wants to be a defensive monster. And I think that he&rsquo;s okay planting deep roots here. But, you know, he&rsquo;s going to be a free agent next year. There&rsquo;s a lot of things that can happen. What we think today isn&rsquo;t something that we know is going to happen tomorrow. This is the most dynamic business in the world.&rdquo;
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Turner is eligible for a contract extension, but Pritchard didn&rsquo;t want to publicly say whether or not that route remains on the table with their starting center.
&ldquo;Respectfully, I&rsquo;d like to keep that between me and him,&rdquo; Pritchard said.
Based on the Pacers&rsquo; turn into a fresh era, one where internal development takes priority over the win-loss column in the meantime, veterans like Turner and Buddy Hield will be names to watch from a leaguewide lens throughout the season from a potential trade market perspective. Nowadays, optionality, flexibility and patience will be the key buzzwords heard out of Indiana. And it&rsquo;s for the best with how its roster was running into a brick wall over and over again before the light finally turned on to rebuild from the ground up.
With the Pacers armed with draft capital and cap space, on top of a roster filled to the brim with potential &mdash; including their tantalizing backcourt combination of Haliburton and Mathurin &mdash; the vision is as clear as day. It&rsquo;s a new era in Indiana, and a route that everyone internally acknowledges should have been explored even earlier. If all goes to plan for the Pacers, these tough times could soon turn into a sustained success that hasn&rsquo;t been witnessed for the organization since nearly a decade ago.
&ldquo;We were an aircraft carrier and it was really hard to turn. And right now, we&rsquo;re a little speedboat and we&rsquo;ve got all of these ways to maneuver,&rdquo; Pritchard said. "That&rsquo;s exciting. That&rsquo;s really exciting for us, because it&rsquo;s hard to turn the big boats. For better, we&rsquo;re all-in.&rdquo;

Pacers president Kevin Pritchard discussed the franchise's new era and focus on the long-term vision, Evan Sidery writes.

Pacers enter uncharted waters searching for long-term sustainability

Dating back to when he was 9 years old, Malcolm Brogdon has made plenty of trips to Africa, a place he <a href="https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/brogdon-helps-bring-clean-water-joy-east-african-communities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">truly loves and is passionate about</a>. This past week marked yet another visit with the NBA for Basketball Without Borders, where he along with several players and coaches from around the league played a part in grooming the next generation of basketball youngsters &mdash; on and off the floor.
&ldquo;I just have a heart for it over here, a heart for the continent and developing these guys and giving them a real opportunity,&rdquo; Brogdon told Basketball News via Zoom.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think it's always an amazing opportunity when I get to come over here and work with the young talent, because there's a wealth of it in Africa. They don't have the resources and they don't have the nutrition and the development that we have, but once they do, these kids are gonna take off. So I definitely applaud the NBA for being over here and giving them an opportunity.&rdquo;
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(Photos via NBA Africa)
Held in Cairo, Egypt, for the first time since the program expanded into Africa, Basketball Without Borders returned after a brief hiatus. (The last event occurred in Dakar, Senegal, in 2019, which Brogdon also participated in at the time.) BWB Africa 2022 brought together over 60 of the top men and women&rsquo;s prospects under the age of 18 to learn and compete.
The camp featured a variety of activities, including movement efficiency drills, offensive and defensive skill stations, three-point contests and 5-on-5 games, plus sessions about life skills and leadership development. In addition, everybody involved was able to explore the country &mdash; most notably seeing the pyramids and going to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
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Finding himself coaching for the second consecutive time, Brogdon quips that such a responsibility &ldquo;is a whole different monster than playing.&rdquo; With that being said, the 29-year-old envisions he&rsquo;ll continue to be involved in developing the future talent that comes from Africa.
&ldquo;It's up to guys like myself in the NBA that have a platform and have a name that can come over [to] encourage these guys, shine some light in their life, work with them and learn from them, and allow them to learn from you,&rdquo; Brogdon said.
With BWB Africa coming to a close on Wednesday, Basketball News spoke with Brogdon about his foundation, the Boston Celtics&rsquo; upcoming season and more.
You&rsquo;ve long talked about how important your platform as an NBA player is and how it can be used to help people. Could you speak about your clean water initiative in East Africa and your <a href="https://www.brogdonfamilyfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brogdon Family Foundation</a> that started two years ago?
Brogdon: "For sure. I have a foundation, the Brogdon Family Foundation. It focuses on two things. One side is education domestically and the other side is clean water internationally. Especially on the clean water side, we've seen a lot of progress over the last couple of years. We're building clean water wells in East Africa &mdash; Tanzania and Kenya. We have over 20-to-25 wells in the ground in those two countries. We're doing a lot of really good work and really impacting people's lives."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/brogdon1.png" alt="" width="560" height="448" />
It&rsquo;s got to be cool to be able to spend time with Grant Williams out there, especially now that you&rsquo;re teammates with him. Have you gotten the chance to get to know him better and talk ball?
Brogdon: "Yeah, we've talked a lot of basketball. We've spent a lot of time together. We've talked business, we've talked life. I got to meet his mom, she's here. Grant's a great guy. He's a smart guy. He takes the game serious, takes life serious. He's an impressive guy, so I've really enjoyed my time with him."
I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;re stoked for camp to start in a few weeks. You seem thrilled to be playing in Boston now. What makes that organization stand out to you?
Brogdon: "Their history, right? I mean, they're the most winning organization in the league, and I think they're more hungry to win than anybody. You can see that with the move they made for me and [Danilo] Gallinari. They want to improve. They want to win a championship. It's all about Banner 18 for 'em. Now that's all it's about for me as well, and I'm excited to be a part of that."
Have you had the chance to talk to Gallo after <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/danilo-gallinari-diagnosed-with-meniscus-tear-no-ligament-damage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his injury</a>?
Brogdon: "I reached out to him. I sent him a text that just said, 'Hey man, praying for you. Get healthy, we need you this year.' He said, 'I appreciate it, brother.' It was short. When you get injured, it's frustrating. You want people to check on you, but a lot of the time, you don't want to talk a lot about it, so I just sent a text out to let him know I was thinking about him and I was praying for him."
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How do you feel you can complement Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown best?
Brogdon: "I think I can just relieve pressure. Whether that's touching the paint, getting 'em easy shots. Whether that's guarding players that they need a break on the defensive end [against] so they can focus on offense.
"But [mostly], being a steady presence on the floor that can help control the end of games, that can help control the flow of the game to make sure that they're getting the ball in their spots, [so] they're never having to overdo it to get a look or run their bodies into the ground. I want to be that guy that can create for 'em."
You're joining a guard room with Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. It feels like the lineup combinations could be very fun.
Brogdon: "Yeah. We're talented, we're deep. A year ago, people were talking about, 'The Celtics didn't have depth.' Well, that's not gonna be an issue. I think this year we'll have a wealth of talent coming off the bench, and I'm excited about it. I'm excited. I think we've got smart, more-than-capable guys coming off the bench that are versatile on both sides of the ball, and we can really be dangerous."
What do you admire most about Ime Udoka? What have your conversations with him been like?
Brogdon: "I admire his authenticity, his realness. He's a straight shooter, he's very direct. There's not a lot of gray area with him. You can have coaches that don't want to tell you the truth, that sorta beat around the bush. He's far from that, so I really appreciate that about him. It's hard to find. I've had maybe two conversations with him. I can tell he's a player's coach. He was in the league for a while, he knows how to talk to you, he knows how to relate to you, but he also knows how to coach."
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Background on Basketball Without Borders Africa
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">The first Basketball Without Borders Africa camp took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2003.</li>
<li aria-level="1">In total there have been 18 BWB Africa camps, with the most recent camp taking place in Cairo, Egypt, from Aug. 28-31, 2022.</li>
<li aria-level="1">More than 1,400 men and women from more than 30 African countries have participated in BWB Africa.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Camps have been attended and supported by more than 150 NBA and WNBA coaches, players and NBA team personnel.</li>
<li aria-level="1">BWB Africa camps have been conducted in South Africa (2003-2009; 2011-2015; 2017-2018), Senegal (2010, 2019), Egypt (2022) and Angola (2016).</li>
<li aria-level="1">Twelve former BWB Africa campers have been drafted into the NBA: Khalifa Diop (BWB Africa 2018), Christian Koloko (BWB Africa 2017), Pascal Siakam (BWB Africa 2012), Joel Embiid (BWB Africa 2011), Kostas Antetokounmpo (BWB Africa 2015), Chukwudi Maduabum (BWB Africa 2010), Gorgui Dieng (BWB Africa 2009), Christian Eyenga (BWB Africa 2005), Hamady N'diaye (BWB Africa 2004), Solomon Alabi (BWB Africa 2004), Mouhamed Saer Sene (BWB Africa 2004), Luc Mbah a Moute (BWB Africa 2003)</li>
</ul>
Background on Basketball Without Borders
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">Basketball Without Borders (BWB) is the NBA and FIBA&rsquo;s global basketball development and community outreach program that was launched in 2001.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The first-ever BWB camp took place in Europe in July 2001: Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslavia national team, reunited in Treviso, Italy, to work with 50 children from the former Yugoslavia.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The NBA and FIBA have staged 65 BWB camps in 40 cities across 30 countries on six continents.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="2">BWB has hosted more than 3,800 participants from 133 countries and territories.</li>
<li aria-level="2">More than 310 current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined more than 240 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to share their expertise and knowledge with participants.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The NBA typically hosts four regional BWB camps over the summer (Africa, Europe, Asia, Americas), and in 2015 created the BWB Global camp, which is held annually at NBA All-Star for the top prospects from the previous summer&rsquo;s camps</li>
<li aria-level="2">There have been 105 former BWB campers drafted or signed by NBA or WNBA teams, including a record 41 players on opening-night rosters last season.
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">Notable former BWB campers include Deandre Ayton, Josh Giddey, RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen, Joel Embiid, Danilo Gallinari, Marc Gasol, Rui Hachimura, Jonas Valanciunas, Jamal Murray, Nicolas Batum, Pascal Siakam and Awak Kuier.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

Spencer Davies chats with Malcolm Brogdon about his involvement with BWB Africa, his foundation, next year's Celtics and more.

Malcolm Brogdon Q&A: Fit with Celtics, BWB Africa experience

Sometimes it seems like the media are playing the jealous ex-girlfriend because they can no longer get the attention from the players, so they just start saying crazy, wild stuff.
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Baron Davis told me this while discussing the state of too many members of the current media.
Personal attacks have become commonplace. Now a part of everyday "journalism," there are desperate attempts to elicit a response from an athlete by continuously making them the focal point of their commentary, reporting, articles and hot takes.
Very few exemplify this more than FOX Sports 1 television personality Skip Bayless.&nbsp;
Throughout the course of LeBron James&rsquo; career &mdash; appearing to be oddly obsessed with him &mdash; Skip has unleashed countless attacks. In fact, he has made an entire career off of LeBron criticism. It&rsquo;s been Skip's shtick for over a decade, and he has been well compensated for it in past by ESPN and, now, FOX.
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But what&rsquo;s more impressive is that &mdash; throughout the countless onslaught of daily venom thrown in his direction by Skip &mdash; LeBron has never once responded to him, never lashed out or attempted to defend his honor or name. After over a decade of desperate, failed pleas for attention from someone, one would think that, eventually, the person would move on.
Not Skip, though, who appears to have a Steve Urkel-level of resiliency, as he refuses to give up his quest for acknowledgment. So now, in an even more feeble and self-disgracing attempt, he has turned to LeBron&rsquo;s teenage son, Bronny James.
Monday night, Bronny went viral for an amazing play that elicited praise from all corners of the sports world.
In a game against the U18 French Select Team, Bronny dribbled the length of the floor, completed an impressive in-and-out with his left hand on the left side of the floor and attacked the basket. He took the ball through contact and dunked it with his right hand, bringing the entire crowd to its feet, which drew praise from every corner of social media.
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However, never missing an opportunity to criticize any and everything LeBron, Skip took this opportunity to focus his attention on Bronny for not using his left hand to dunk instead of using his right hand.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Hey, Bronny ... impressive. But your dad would've dunked it left-handed. You sure got away with it, though.
&mdash; Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless/status/1559343694058102785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The NBA and basketball world swiftly blasted Skip for going after LeBron&rsquo;s son:
<ul>
<li>Kendrick Perkins</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Somebody go make you smell their cologne! You can&rsquo;t be playing with people children. Real Talk! <a href="https://t.co/zKX8qzuhI4">https://t.co/zKX8qzuhI4</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1559361025064960001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Jared Sullinger</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Now you Attacking kids. You are truly corny. <a href="https://t.co/GfqAgqVyv3">https://t.co/GfqAgqVyv3</a>
&mdash; Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jared_Sully0/status/1559349521297055747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Lou Williams&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kids a hard red line. <a href="https://t.co/QCq0AkdOg6">https://t.co/QCq0AkdOg6</a>
&mdash; Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamLou23/status/1559352686973255682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
Twitter wasn't enough for Jalen Rose, who went on TV to deliver a strong message to Skip.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Let&rsquo;s cover HS athletes responsibly especially if you played JV as a Junior averaging 1.4ppg. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WaterPistolPeteJr?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WaterPistolPeteJr</a> <a href="https://t.co/DfcOMALCly">pic.twitter.com/DfcOMALCly</a>
&mdash; Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) <a href="https://twitter.com/JalenRose/status/1559930655714189320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On the following Tuesday morning, Skip <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/fox/skip-bayless-reaction-lebron-bronny-james.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had his rebuttal on "Undisputed.</a>" He was confused as to why there was so much backlash to his tweet.
&ldquo;It shocked me last night when my tweet exploded,&rdquo; Bayless said. &ldquo;Because I wasn&rsquo;t criticizing Bronny, I was merely commenting on a young man who is going to be a focal point for this show and everybody else from this point forward.&rdquo;
In reality, this is quite disingenuous. Skip knows exactly what he is doing.
He throws out the bait, which comes in the form of a LeBron-related criticism to cause some type of a stir and places Skip at the center of the topic, and then, makes that the focal point of "Undisputed" in an attempt to drive ratings. Again, this has been his shtick for many years, and has proven to be quite beneficial for him. Just look at his salary. &nbsp;
Skip Bayless is paid an absurd amount of money to do what he does. It&rsquo;s not just that he has a weird infatuation with LeBron, or that Lebron simply lives rent-free in his mind. But he is also being compensated what equates to a professional athlete&rsquo;s salary to do exactly what he is doing. In March 2021, Skip signed a $32 million deal over four years to stay with FOX, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjxlcuMjc75AhVsM1kFHR6EB84QFnoECCcQAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.in%2Fsports%2Fnews%2Ffox-sports-reportedly-gave-skip-bayless-a-32-million-contract-to-keep-him-from-going-back-to-espn%2Farticleshow%2F81340406.cms&amp;usg=AOvVaw3PYnAtRIgcMBS2HaWmZ1Kp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to reports</a>. So yes, Skip has built an entire career off of criticizing athletes &mdash; LeBron in particular.
He claims to be completely unaware of how he is viewed, and has proclaimed that he doesn&rsquo;t see himself as one of the main contrarians of the sports world.
&ldquo;I have often been called a contrarian,&rdquo; Bayless <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/podcasts/skip-bayless-despises-contrarian.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on the June 2 episode</a> of The Skip Bayless Show. &ldquo;And I deeply despise the term 'contrarian.' To me, a contrarian is someone who delights in taking the opposite view of a popular belief or conventional thinking, just because that person enjoys attracting attention to himself, or herself. Yet that person, that contrarian, often doesn&rsquo;t often truly believe what he or she is saying. So to me, a contrarian goes against the grain just to go against the grain.&rdquo;
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Skip, let&rsquo;s be honest &mdash; that is exactly who you are.
You have made a career of contrarian commentary mostly directed at LeBron James, but you are not the real villain in this. The real villains are the organizations who pay you a king's ransom to do what you do.
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Etan Thomas shares his opinion on why Skip Bayless' decision to go after LeBron James' son reeks of desperation.

Desperate criticism of Bronny James shows exactly who Skip Bayless is

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

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

As we officially put the finishing touches on &ldquo;Bet Week&rdquo; here on BasketballNews.com, NBA over/under win total projections have been released for every team.
Which numbers stand out most to hammer one way or another from a betting perspective? In this piece, I unveil my over/under predictions for every team in the Western Conference. All odds are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook.
Phoenix Suns: Over 52.5 (-110)
Even if the Suns don&rsquo;t acquire Kevin Durant, they remain in an advantageous position to finish near the top of the Western Conference standings. Phoenix still has a stacked rotation, with the biggest difference being Dario Saric&rsquo;s return to the backup big role in place of JaVale McGee. If Devin Booker and the Suns&rsquo; formidable young core continue taking steps forward, it&rsquo;s hard to envision much of a drop-off occurring in the win-loss column.
Phoenix&rsquo;s postseason exit was one of the ugliest we&rsquo;ve seen in recent memory, but a loss like that could rattle this group enough to come back similarly to the team's Finals experience in 2021. I&rsquo;m hammering the over here, as the Suns remain one of the most dangerous squads in the Association. If Durant comes, that&rsquo;ll be the ultimate cherry on top.
Los Angeles Clippers: Over 52.5 (-110)
A fully healthy Clippers squad with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will always stay in the conversation among the league's elite tier. Last season, we were all robbed of seeing this dynamic duo in action together, but all the time off leads me to believe we should see them play more than usual. If so, the over/under of 52.5 wins is one I&rsquo;m comfortable placing the over wager upon.
Los Angeles not only has a loaded rotation similar to Phoenix, but it has a historically potent wing tandem ready to go on a revenge tour. As one of my favorite bets in the West, lock in the Clippers&rsquo; over with the utmost confidence.
Golden State Warriors: Over 51.5 (-115)
The defending champions check in third in the West, which feels like an undersell of what they just accomplished. Stephen Curry is still playing at an all-time level, and Klay Thompson began to find his footing throughout the Warriors&rsquo; run to a championship.
Feeling confident in the over also has to do with the development of the team's younger, up-and-coming players. Though dependent upon how much more Golden State will go into the luxury tax long-term, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins look to be entrenched long-term pieces. Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman are the ultimate wildcards for Golden State. Even if only one takes off from a development perspective in 2022-23, 51.5 wins is a number to hit the over on.
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Denver Nuggets: Over 49.5 (-140)
Nikola Jokic enters this season as a trendy dark-horse selection for MVP as the back-to-back award winner, which is incredible to even think about. The Nuggets have stayed competitive amidst their countless injury issues because of Jokic&rsquo;s greatness.
Now, with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. eventually expected back at 100%, Denver is a team many bettors are hammering the over on with -140 moneyline odds on 49.5 wins. Frankly, I&rsquo;m in lockstep with the sportsbooks because Denver was a team that sneakily improved on the margins this offseason. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was an underrated acquisition from the Washington Wizards, and he&rsquo;s earned a new multi-year extension upon his arrival.
If Murray and Porter&rsquo;s health cooperate alongside the all-world talent that is Jokic, 50 wins for the Nuggets just feels right to say. Even above that mark is an appropriate projection, because Jokic elevates the floor that much on his own.
Memphis Grizzlies: Under 48.5 (+105)
Ja Morant qualified as our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/best-bets-for-202223-nba-most-valuable-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under-the-radar MVP selection</a> during &ldquo;Bet Week,&rdquo; but the loss of Jaren Jackson Jr. early on looms large for the Grizzlies. Although he flies under the radar a little bit too often, JJJ is an anchor to a defense that&rsquo;s done a complete 180 over the last year.
A lot will be on the plate of Morant, which he won&rsquo;t have a problem with, but what about the rest of the West? The Clippers and Nuggets are healthy now, plus the Suns and Warriors will remain in the title race as well. If Morant can carry the Grizzlies in similar territory without JJJ, his MVP argument could become very valid.
I&rsquo;m going to tread lightly on Memphis and select the under here with plus-money value. Morant will put up spectacular numbers once more, and Desmond Bane should continue to emerge in the backcourt. For my current projection, the Grizzlies will slot in as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed.
Dallas Mavericks: Under 48.5 (-105)
The argument against the Mavericks is almost identical to the one I just presented for Memphis. Luka Doncic enters as the heavy betting favorite for MVP, but will he alone be enough to lift Dallas into truly elite territory? That&rsquo;s one of my biggest questions entering 2022-23, because players like Doncic and Morant fit the billing of talents who can lift teams all on their own.
Months away from it now, it&rsquo;s still stunning to think back to the Mavs&rsquo; Game 7 shellacking of the Suns in the West semifinals. Once Doncic figured out Phoenix&rsquo;s defense, it was game over. Could Doncic do this to the rest of the league? There&rsquo;s no doubt he will put up monster numbers, but the Mavericks fit into the same tier as the Grizzlies right now around 47-48 wins.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Over 47.5 (-140)
I&rsquo;ll continue to bang the Minnesota drum until proven otherwise because I&rsquo;m all-in on the Timberwolves taking a huge step forward. Anthony Edwards checks every box for a young superstar, and their new addition in Rudy Gobert will augment a talented rotation. Karl-Anthony Towns being flanked by Gobert makes up one of the most unique frontcourt combinations we&rsquo;ve ever seen in the modern NBA, but this type of move is a risk an organization like Minnesota must take. Towns and Edwards are ready to win big soon, so adding an elite rim-protector like Gobert allows those gifted scorers to focus on that end.
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Bookmark this if you want, but here&rsquo;s perhaps my biggest hot take: Minnesota will win the Northwest Division and become a top-four seed. With how everything stacks together for Minnesota, this is a team well-positioned to take a leap similar to the one we&rsquo;ve seen from Phoenix and Memphis in recent years.
Los Angeles Lakers: Under 45.5 (-105)
Unless Kyrie Irving is walking through the door anytime soon, I&rsquo;m taking the money and running as quickly as possible on the Lakers' under here. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will do their usual damage, but this roster is nowhere close to being finished. Also, there&rsquo;s no way anyone can truly believe the Lakers are a Finals contender with their ongoing saga surrounding Russell Westbrook. From the very beginning, Westbrook&rsquo;s fit was super clunky alongside LeBron and AD. Now, the triple-double king continues to be the main target of trade rumors, many of which are linking him to the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs as a pure salary-dump option.
Indiana is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lakers-would-be-foolish-not-to-accept-pacers-lifeline-to-extend-their-title-window" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offering the Lakers a lifeline to fix the Westbrook situation</a>. The Pacers are willing to take on the $47 million owed to Westbrook while also sending Los Angeles back two starters in Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. The current hold-up in trade negotiations reportedly is draft pick compensation. Los Angeles refuses to offer its 2029 first-round pick on top of the 2027 selection, which the Pacers believe is more than a fair price to pay.
In the meantime, I&rsquo;m going to take the Lakers under 45.5 wins while it remains at plus value. Until any resolution is reached on the roster, I&rsquo;m betting against L.A.
New Orleans Pelicans: Over 44.5 (-140)
Compared to almost any other team in the NBA, New Orleans projects supremely well long-term if Zion Williamson&rsquo;s health cooperates. Williamson and Brandon Ingram have each shown on separate occasions they can be the No. 1 option for New Orleans. CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas are ideal veteran pieces in the starting unit as well. Well-balanced on both ends of the court, the Pelicans have completely bought into what head coach Willie Green brought over from Monty Williams in Phoenix.
With Williamson, Ingram and McCollum, the Pelicans should be a team projected closer to 50 wins. I absolutely love the over here on 44.5 wins, so don&rsquo;t be surprised if New Orleans finishes as a playoff lock instead of a Play-In Tournament competitor.
Portland Trail Blazers: Under 40.5 (-110)
Kudos to Damian Lillard because he will not leave the Blazers hanging anytime soon. He&rsquo;s all-in on winning in Portland, which reminds me so much of Reggie Miller with the Pacers a few decades back. Portland re-signed Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons, but two notable splashes occurred this offseason. Jerami Grant is the Blazers&rsquo; first true wing threat in years, and the ultimate wildcard from the 2022 NBA Draft fell into their laps at No. 7 overall. What if Shaedon Sharpe hits his ceiling? That&rsquo;s something Portland has in their back pocket, because Sharpe&rsquo;s scoring prowess forecasts very well alongside Lillard. They'll just have to hope he can get healthy and stay healthy.
The West remains a tough customer though. So, with that being said, the Blazers fall into the category of a feisty team that&rsquo;s competitive most nights on their way to a sub-40-win campaign. It's certainly not the outcome Blazers fans hope for, but there&rsquo;s a large number of teams ahead of them at the moment.
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Sacramento Kings: Over 32.5 (-120)
The Kings actually had a good offseason. Yes, you&rsquo;re reading that right. Keegan Murray at No. 4 overall looks to be a lights-out scorer with an extremely high floor. Ideally, Murray can become the third piece to a long-term trio in Sacramento alongside De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Also, don&rsquo;t forget about the Kings adding much-needed help on the perimeter with Kevin Huerter via trade and Malik Monk via free agency.
I had to double-take upon finding this fact, but the Kings have only exceeded 33 wins once over the last 14 years (2018-19 was that season).
Luckily for Sacramento, I&rsquo;m projecting them to finish with at least 33 wins for 2022-23. If the Kings underachieve once more, I wonder what the future looks like for an organization that stays in topsy-turvy mode.
Utah Jazz: Under 31.5 (-110)
Assuming Donovan Mitchell is eventually traded, this number will crumble down into the 20s. Utah is in the midst of a full-scale rebuild attempt for the first time in over a decade, and all signs point to Mitchell&rsquo;s exit soon enough from Salt Lake City. Gobert being dealt within the division to Minnesota for a historic amount of draft capital shook up the trade market for good, as it&rsquo;s holding up potential blockbusters revolving around Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Mitchell.
Moving forward, there&rsquo;s no reason why you should feel confident about betting the Utah over unless Mitchell keeps them above water staying around until February. If not, you&rsquo;re putting an awful lot of faith into the hands of Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson to carry the roster. (If they're there.)
The smart route is to go with the under for the Jazz. Lock in with extreme confidence that Jazz executive Danny Ainge eventually tears it all down within a few months.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Under 26.5 (+100)
Until the Thunder stop their tanking ways, I can&rsquo;t willfully bet an over on them. Following their aggressive draft night &mdash; obtaining three lottery picks headlined by No. 2 overall selection Chet Holmgren, who many viewed as the best overall player &mdash; maybe that "tanking" buzzword is in their rearview mirror.
OKC&rsquo;s roster is young, but the talent screams out as a team that could propel itself forward in a huge manner. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey profile as a super fun long-term backcourt pairing. Luguentz Dort is a pitbull defender who continues to improve his outside shot, which earned him a lucrative five-year extension.
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The Thunder could easily make me look foolish selecting the under, but something along the lines of 25 or 26 wins feels spot on. Can Sam Presti resist the temptation of not tanking for Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson in 2023?
Houston Rockets: Over 23.5 (-125)
The Rockets have one of the most interesting young cores to monitor heading into next season. Jalen Green began to turn the corner over the last month of the season, averaging 22.3 points on a 59.9% True Shooting percentage. Jabari Smith Jr., Houston&rsquo;s No. 3 overall selection from the 2022 draft, projects as a score-first wing/big hybrid who should excel alongside Green and Kevin Porter Jr. Alperen Sengun, a throwback Turkish big man, is an underrated prospect with an unlimited ceiling once the small aspects of his game are figured out.
Houston is nowhere close to being competitive, but that&rsquo;s totally okay. The team controls the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; draft for the next season years, so the Rockets are set up arguably as well as anyone right now with the chaos surrounding that whole situation. If the youth jells together and the organization obtains another top pick in next year&rsquo;s draft, be on the lookout for this core to ascend.
For the over/under, 23.5 wins feels a little low, in my opinion. I&rsquo;m projecting the Rockets with 25 victories, so give me the over at -125 odds on DraftKings.
San Antonio Spurs: Under 22.5 (-110)
Once Dejounte Murray was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, it sounded the alarm that the Spurs are finally waiving the white flag on competing for wins effective immediately. San Antonio obtained three future first-round picks for Murray, a haul for a team pressing the reset button at the perfect time.
Las Vegas projects the Spurs with the worst over/under for next season, and there&rsquo;s no real reason to go against them there. Keldon Johnson will put up numbers following his long-term extension, but inexperience is the main theme for San Antonio. The Spurs should be on their way to 20 wins or less, so hammer the under.

Evan Sidery goes over win totals for the Western Conference. Who stands out?

Best Bets: NBA Western Conference over/under projections

As the NBA offseason marketplace has come to a halt due to the ongoing Kevin Durant saga (which directly ties into the Phoenix Suns), Deandre Ayton&rsquo;s status is finally beginning to clear up.
According to ESPN&rsquo;s Brian Windhorst, there is mutual interest between Ayton and the Indiana Pacers. Windhorst also relayed on Monday that Indiana has met with Ayton as talks progress towards either an outright offer sheet or a sign-and-trade scenario involving Phoenix. Regarding the sign-and-trade route, Myles Turner would presumably head back to the Suns, potentially with a draft pick attached as well.
Some may wonder why exactly the rebuilding Pacers and Ayton would seek each other out through this muddied restricted free agent process. However, the more you dive into the potential fit for both Ayton and Indiana, it feels like the perfect opportunity to strike on a rare opportunity for the organization.
The Pacers have never had a No. 1 overall pick play for them before, and Ayton would instantly become arguably their biggest offseason transaction ever. Ayton wants to be a primary option and showcase more of his skill set away from Phoenix. In Indiana, Ayton would have an amble runway to be a primary focal point while also fitting snugly into the team's long-term picture alongside Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Chris Duarte, Jalen Smith, Isaiah Jackson and Oshae Brissett. These players all fit within the same age timeline, almost identical to what Ayton first experienced in Phoenix before Chris Paul&rsquo;s arrival.
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Also, leaving an elite point guard like Paul means trying to find a similar situation. Although he&rsquo;s still somewhat flying under the radar nationally, Haliburton is one of the best pure passers in the league with strong pick-and-roll play, and Haliburton/Ayton pick-and-roll duo in Indianapolis could make for a lot of fun on a nightly basis.
Diving deeper into this potential pairing shows that the Pacers are comfortable handing the keys over to Haliburton as the face of their offense moving forward, which could now include Ayton as the cherry on top.
2021-22 Ayton pick-and-roll stats: 29.8 pNr% (frequency), 1.25 PPP (points per possession) &mdash; 71st percentile
2021-22 Haliburton pick-and-roll stats (Pacers): 45.2 pNr% (frequency), 1.00 PPP &mdash; 83rd percentile
Giving Haliburton a proverbial cheat code in Ayton, when Indiana already ran such high amounts of pick-and-roll, would show immense belief in the third-year point guard to potentially make an All-Star jump as soon as next season. Indiana banking on an entrenched trio of Haliburton, Ayton and Mathurin to grow together could be the smart risk for an organization like Indiana to make, because these opportunities rarely ever arrive on the organization's doorstep.
Ayton has real inconsistencies that must be ironed out, such as his motor throughout an 82-game season, but it&rsquo;s hard to envision this gamble not paying off in spades with the Pacers' flexibility still wide open for years to come. If they were to eventually shed the contracts of Buddy Hield and TJ McConnell, the team would easily clear more than $30 million in cap space for next summer when Haliburton becomes extension-eligible for a rookie-scale max contract.
In the Pacers' first rebuild attempt in over 30 years, it appears as if Ayton has been a potential target for a while. It&rsquo;s been well reported that the Pacers and Suns had an open dialogue back at February&rsquo;s trade deadline centered around Ayton for Domantas Sabonis, who ironically enough was shipped off to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Haliburton.
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Indiana&rsquo;s flirtation with Ayton has now reached levels of mutual interest, and the smoke seems to be picking up enough where there's momentum for him to eventually join the Pacers. With how the roster is being constructed &mdash; more perimeter-focused around Haliburton &mdash; Ayton&rsquo;s inclusion would actually mesh well compared to the pick-and-pop elements Turner provided. Thanks to his gravity impact in rolling situations, Ayton could make life easier for shooters like Mathurin and Duarte; pick-and-rolls for the Pacers involving this quartet could grow into pick your poison possessions for opposing defenses in due time. Also, Ayton would likely be able to feast inside when surrounded by four above-average three-point shooters, and the difference this time around would be a noticeable usage bump.
Ayton receiving passes from Haliburton and being surrounded by shooters could produce top results immediately, and it wouldn&rsquo;t stun me to see the Bahamian big man develop into a consistent 20-and-10 player within this environment. In Indiana, Ayton would become a primary pillar and focal point to its system on both ends of the court.
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Who are the biggest free-agent signings or sign-and-trade acquisitions in franchise history for Indiana? The list is rather short, headlined by David West, Malcolm Brogdon and Bojan Bogdanovic. Though Indiana&rsquo;s community is built around basketball, it&rsquo;s not a destination players actively seek out. So when a former No. 1 pick is available and fits in with how the team's image is being remade, the Pacers have to pounce on said chance.
Going from a core of Sabonis, Brogdon and Turner to Haliburton, Ayton and Mathurin would simply be unbelievable work from the Pacers&rsquo; front office of Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan. What&rsquo;d be even more impressive is that they've executed this plan from only February and on. An instant roster reshaping could soon culminate with Ayton as the emphatic exclamation point.
Heading into next season, if the Pacers do indeed secure Ayton&rsquo;s services one way or another, this could be their projected rotation:
Starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Buddy Hield, Jalen Smith, Deandre Ayton
Second Unit = TJ McConnell, Chris Duarte, Aaron Nesmith, Oshae Brissett, Isaiah Jackson
(Obviously, if there is a sign-and-trade completed with the Suns, there will be names on this list on the outs.)
Honestly, that group of 10 could be feisty enough to take a real step forward if the Haliburton/Ayton duo could hit the ground running.
The overall value of Ayton and the center position will be debated over and over again. But, based on the on-court fit alone, it&rsquo;s hard to find a better overall fit for what the Suns&rsquo; center desires than Indiana. Not only would he land in an ideal developmental environment, but the presence of Haliburton and a fun young core around him would present a new, rebuilt Pacers roster.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has echoed all offseason long how multiple moves have been made based off Haliburton. Going all-in for Ayton to give Haliburton a pick-and-roll monster partner would further solidify the new direction for an organization truly venturing into uncharted waters.

The Indiana Pacers are reportedly preparing to go after Deandre Ayton. Evan Sidery dives into his potential fit in Indiana.

Why Deandre Ayton would be a seamless fit for the young Pacers

Josh Giddey had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, No. 2 selection Chet Holmgren added 11 points and 12 rebounds and Oklahoma City beat Memphis 87-71 on Wednesday night for the Thunder&rsquo;s second straight victory in the Salt Lake City Summer League.
Giddey, the No. 6 pick in the 2021 draft, secured his triple-double on a feed to Lindy Waters III for a 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. Holmgren was 3 of 4 from the field in the first half and scored 11 points but he struggled after halftime, missing seven straight shots.
Oklahoma City opened the second half on a 10-3 run for a 58-46 lead and later scored 10 straight to make it 68-52. Memphis missed 14 straight shots in the second half.
Jalen Williams, the No. 12 selection out of Santa Clara, made three 3-pointers and scored 16 points for Oklahoma City. Holmgren, who set a Salt Lake City Summer League record with six blocks on Tuesday, blocked his first shot with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Kenny Lofton Jr. scored seven of Memphis&rsquo; opening 10 points and finished with 19.
Memphis star Ja Morant sat courtside for the second straight game.
76ERS 86, JAZZ 82
Charles Bassey had 17 points, Trevelin Queen added 15 points &mdash; including an acrobatic alley-oop layup in the closing seconds &mdash; and Philadelphia beat Utah.&nbsp;
Bassey, a second-round pick out of Western Kentucky in 2021, was 7 of 12 from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and had four of Philadelphia&rsquo;s 17 steals.
Myles Powell added 13 points, Charlie Brown Jr. had 12 and Cassius Winston 11. Julian Champagnie scored just five points on 2-of-11 shooting, including 0 for 6 from 3-point range, but grabbed 10 rebounds.
Bruno Caboclo converted a three-point play and then a putback off a missed layup by James Palmer Jr. to spark a 15-4 run that gave the Jazz an 80-78 lead when Justin Robinson hit a pull-up jumper with 2:54 to play. Queen made two free throws and Winston made 3 of 4 from the foul line before Winston whipped a pass from near midcourt to a cutting Queen for a layup that hung on the front of the rim before dropping in to make it 85-80 with 34.2 seconds to go.
Robinson led the Jazz with 17 points, Caboclo scored 16 and Palmer added 14.
Utah, which went 0 for 9 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, missed its last five field-goal attempts and committed two of its 22 turnovers in the last 2-plus minutes.&nbsp;

Oklahoma City beat Memphis 87-71 on Wednesday for the Thunder’s second straight victory in the Salt Lake City Summer League.