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Bucks

It is common for the players who score the most points to get the most praise. They get the credit on SportsCenter and are viewed as the stars of the night. But there is another kind of player who typically doesn't get the credit they deserve, whose importance to the team is not often illuminated.
Enter Victor Oladipo.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, Oladipo's 5 points didn't make the ESPN highlight reel or pop out in the box score. His stat line wasn&rsquo;t highlighted on the NBA TV recap.
After being bumped out of the rotation in the first half in favor of Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson, Oladipo could have pouted and had an attitude. This is something that happens at every level: a player doesn&rsquo;t play in the first half and mentally checks out. Sometimes, they are visibily disgruntled. You may be able to see it during halftime warm-ups or in his demeanor on the bench.&nbsp;
Oladipo didn&rsquo;t do any of that. He stayed locked in and was ready and prepared if his number happened to be called. Then, it happened. Jimmy Butler went down and could not return to the game in the second half. Butler has been carrying the team throughout the series; he is who the offense runs through, who the team relies on every trip down the court in some capacity. When he couldn't return due to a knee injury, Oladipo&rsquo;s number was called and he was ready.
In just 20 minutes, Oladipo had 4 steals (twice as many as the Celtics had as team for the entire game) and 8 pass deflections (one more than the Celtics). After the game, PJ Tucker raved about Oladipo's play.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s usually his offense everybody talks about,&rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;He comes in with a spark. But his lateral slides and quickness were unbelievable. I told him tonight, 'That was some of the best lateral foot speed I&rsquo;ve seen anybody have.' Jaylen Brown, when he gets going &mdash; especially right &mdash; he's tough to get back in front of. For Vic to square him up was unreal. He gave us a spark.
&ldquo;We talked about it at the half, knowing he was about to start the half and play. To not play at all and then step in and do what he did in the second half, that level of professionalism is few and far between.&rdquo;
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford tweeted: &ldquo;Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.&rdquo;
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Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.
&mdash; 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/1528214518660157440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Everything about it, it speaks to his competitive character,&rdquo; Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Oladipo. &ldquo;That was not easy. We went with a slightly different rotation because Kyle [Lowry] came back. That is going to force some changes throughout the rotation, so he didn&rsquo;t play in the first half. We&rsquo;ve had so many guys that have had to take on different roles and sacrifice. We say it&rsquo;s always easy to sacrifice when you&rsquo;re not the one doing it, and he&rsquo;s had to sacrifice many times. That wasn&rsquo;t easy. That wasn&rsquo;t necessarily the way we were going to go the first half. Just things were going really well. We just kept going with that. Then, all of a sudden, boom: Jimmy is not going to go in the second half.
"For him to be stable enough and not be frustrated and not be rolling his eyes and like, 'Oh, okay, now I get an opportunity.... he&rsquo;s just steady. Stays the course. He&rsquo;s made himself available, made himself vulnerable through this whole process. He&rsquo;s prepared behind the scenes. His minutes in the second half were so important defensively against their two studs (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown), and then offensively, he just gave us a facsimile of a lot of the stuff we do with Jimmy. And I mean that as the ultimate compliment.&rdquo;
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This isn&rsquo;t the first time during these playoffs that Oladipo has had to be ready to jump right in and be a determining factor when his number was called. Oladipo was actually outside of Miami's rotation in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. However, he ended up being one of the key reasons for the Heat's 97-94 win in Game 5, which could have easily gone in the Hawks favor. Oladipo poured in 23 points, 3 assists and 3 steals, while shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from three. After that game, his play was featured in ESPN's highlight reel and his stat line jumped out when looking at the box score.
But again, if he hadn't been ready when his number was called, none of that would have been possible. Time and time again, Oladipo has shown that when given the opportunity, he can produce at a high level and be a game-changing player. Any questions about his past injuries (including a ruptured right quadricep tendon) should be laid to rest as he's proven that he's back in terms of his lateral movement, athleticism, ability to create his own shot, outside shooting and transition defense.
&ldquo;Signing Victor Oladipo [to a veteran-minimum deal] was one of the biggest steals in NBA history for the Miami Heat," said Daniel Abraham, Oladipo&rsquo;s former AAU coach. "To get a former All-Star and All-Defensive Team player still near his prime like that for very little and be able to wait patiently for him to get healthy is the type of move that will likely land them in the NBA Finals! And if you know Vic like I do, you know the level of the dedication and work ethic he has always had, so none of this would surprise you.&ldquo;
Many in the NBA world were ready to write him off into irrelevance after he re-injured his leg in 2020 and got traded twice. In January 2021, Oladipo was traded to the Houston Rockets in the four-team blockbuster deal that also sent James Harden to Brooklyn and Caris LeVert to Indiana. Two months later, the Rockets sent Oladipo to Miami for a first-round pick swap, Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk.
But with all that behind him, Oladipo is proving all of his doubters wrong. He is far from finished and he has proven that he's still capable of being an impact player and a X-Factor for his team &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s by solely playing defense on one of the best scorers in the league or stepping in and being one of the game's high scorers himself. Regardless of his role, Oladipo will have the right attitude and energy, even if those opportunities don&rsquo;t present themselves each and every game.
This is the type of player whom any organization would want on their team, and Oladipo should receive plenty of interest from teams when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer.
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Regardless of what the box score showed, Victor Oladipo played a crucial role in the Heat's Game 3 win over the Celtics.

Victor Oladipo staying ready and making the most of every opportunity

All year, it&rsquo;s been an abnormally frigid campaign beyond the arc for Stephen Curry.
He shot 38% from deep during the regular season, a career-low and the first time he&rsquo;s ever dipped below 41% (his five-game 2019-20 season notwithstanding). Through 12 playoff games, he&rsquo;s at 35.7% from three-point range &mdash; the worst mark of his eight postseason appearances.
Given his volume and degree of difficulty, neither mark is truly bad. But they are low based on his standard, and that&rsquo;s the barometer here. As a reminder, &ldquo;bad&rdquo; for Curry still means 26.4 points per game on 60% True Shooting. Just don&rsquo;t forget that. The decline is from supernova scorer to very good scorer.
Where Curry has maintained a widely rosy outlook, and what&rsquo;s helping him carry on as a superstar, is his playmaking and defense. Bouts of sloppy passes still arise intermittently. However, he&rsquo;s thrived as a facilitator and defender this season, perhaps enjoying the top campaign of his career in each regard.&nbsp;
Due to a month-long hiatus, the passing required a little rust to be shaken off before he began cooking again in the playoffs. What required virtually zero buffer period is his defense. Since Game 1 of the first round against the Denver Nuggets, Curry&rsquo;s defensive exploits have amplified the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; championship pursuits.
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Steph Curry had the perfect reaction to being called a two-way player. 😅 (🎥: <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSWarriors</a>) <a href="https://t.co/PLHIgSGXk4">pic.twitter.com/PLHIgSGXk4</a>
&mdash; theScore (@theScore) <a href="https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1526349023728254977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The caliber of assignments have bounced around, but he&rsquo;s crafting a highly versatile impact. He&rsquo;s often hedging on ball-screens to avoid mismatches in isolation, yet he&rsquo;s also held his own on numerous occasions to stymie creation attempts.&nbsp;
Will Barton, Austin Rivers and Monte Morris all struggled to commandeer offense against him in Round 1. Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane, the latter of which was hobbled by a back ailment for much of the series, also encountered difficulty. Even Luka Doncic didn&rsquo;t seamlessly chisel his way to the rim when Curry switched onto him in Game 1. The Warriors&rsquo; timely help contributed, but Curry offered notable resistance on Wednesday.
He&rsquo;s skinnying over screens to stay attached or prompting people to reject them altogether. Between his strength and lateral quickness, ball-handlers aren&rsquo;t turning the corner with routine success. Through two-plus rounds of playoff ball, he&rsquo;s absolutely been a very good on-ball defender.
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All of those clips don&rsquo;t even include his resume as a playmaker. Whether it&rsquo;s directly altering shots, ripping the ball from an opponent&rsquo;s clutches or poking the rock out of bounds, Curry&rsquo;s dexterity and stout center of gravity are flummoxing players.&nbsp;
Rivers and Brooks experienced the most significant issues, though they&rsquo;re hardly alone in this phenomenon.&nbsp;
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According to NBA.com, players are 46-of-117 for 122 points (49.7% TS) with 20 turnovers when Curry is the primary defender. On the 868.2 partial possessions he&rsquo;s been involved in as a primary defender, the opposition has scored 882 points these playoffs (101.6 offensive rating).&nbsp;
Despite wielding his strength and hands to disrupt actions, Curry is largely staying out of foul trouble. He is averaging 3.4 fouls per 100 possessions and, through 12 games, he has just one outing with more than three fouls.&nbsp;
On-ball sequences are far from his sole talent in the postseason. He&rsquo;s also a terror off the ball. Although Bane was hampered early on by a back injury last round, his foibles were exacerbated by Curry regularly detonating dribble handoffs or back-cuts to engulf the sweet-shooting wing.&nbsp;
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Ball denial has been a reliable area of expertise for the three-time MVP, and his closeouts are following suit. He&rsquo;s scurrying to shooters under control and with high hands to delay, dissuade or influence jumpers. On help-the-helper scenarios inside, he&rsquo;s crashing down at the proper moment to eliminate passing angles.
His start-stop ability enables him to mirror off-ball motion and contain shooters off the catch; his strength complicates their aim to generate separation or an advantage.
Fixate on Curry for a defensive possession off the ball this round and you&rsquo;ll likely witness a sound rotation, closeout or ball denial. His defense is superb across numerous contexts right now.
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Curry is reading offenses like an elementary book these days. Not only is he honing in on his own assignments, his off-ball awareness is brilliant. He&rsquo;ll slide in to help on an unattended player in the paint and immediately toggle back to his responsibility when necessary. The timeliness with which he&rsquo;s functioning is laudable.
Truly absorb the impact of these clips and recognize what he&rsquo;s doing defensively. Look how many shots in the paint or potentially open threes he prevents.
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Selecting a favorite among that compilation is rather arduous, but the last one stands out. Klay Thompson and Otto Porter Jr. miscommunicate on a switch, leaving Dorian Finney-Smith open as he dives toward the rim.&nbsp;
Curry, playing the weak-side corner, is lurking off a middling shooter in Frank Ntilikina. He&rsquo;s monitoring the on-ball event the entire way. Once Thompson and Porter commit their mistake, Doncic slings a one-handed bullet to Finney-Smith. But Curry is prepared. He instantly sees Doncic readying for the dime, darts in and breaks up the pass to save two points.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s how Curry is clicking defensively in the playoffs. He&rsquo;s not some All-Defensive stopper. Yet he&rsquo;s excellent nonetheless and doing a hell of a job for a defense that looks to be harmonizing at the ideal time.&nbsp;
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Jackson Frank breaks down Stephen Curry's film and the outstanding defense he's playing during the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Stephen Curry's defense continues to shine for the Warriors

The 2021-22 season wasn&rsquo;t supposed to end this way for the Phoenix Suns... not even close. After a shocking exit in the Western Conference semifinals, where do the Suns turn now? With how well-built Phoenix&rsquo;s roster is, there actually aren&rsquo;t many holes. However, the potential domino effects are franchise-altering and there are a number of different directions the team may go.
The future of Deandre Ayton is now <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/uncertain-future-of-deandre-ayton-becomes-top-topic-for-suns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murkier than expected</a> following Phoenix's shocking Game 7 blowout defeat on its home court against the Dallas Mavericks. Ayton only played 17 minutes, which included a verbal skirmish with Suns head coach Monty Williams.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s internal,&rdquo; Williams said of why Ayton was benched in Game 7.
Ayton will be a restricted free agent after the Suns decided not to extend a five-year, rookie-scale max offer his way before the regular season began. He was the NBA's first No. 1 pick since Anthony Bennett to not sign a contract extension before entering the final year of his rookie deal.
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There&rsquo;s a potentially awkward dynamic on the horizon between Ayton and the Suns. Ayton wants the highest possible dollar amount, but Phoenix&rsquo;s stance at this point is unknown. ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in October that the Suns didn&rsquo;t view Ayton as a max-level player who deserved a five-year contract. Is it possible that the Suns&rsquo; stance has changed after Ayton&rsquo;s 2021-22 campaign?
Suns general manager James Jones said Wednesday during his season-ending press conference that the team's main theme will be continuity, foreshadowing the likelihood of Phoenix running it all back with a core that set a new franchise record for wins.
&ldquo;We want to continue to keep our consistency, our continuity,&rdquo; Jones said.
Robert Sarver, the Suns' owner since 2004, also spoke on-record recently to BasketballNews.com about Ayton&rsquo;s future in Phoenix. It sure feels like Phoenix values the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, but at what cost?
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s so divisive here,&rdquo; Sarver told BasketballNews.com last month. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s improved each year, helps us on both the defense and the offense. I think offensively, you see this year he&rsquo;s taken another good step in terms of his touch and his ability to score around the basket. So, he&rsquo;s been a key part of what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
Whichever direction the Suns decide to go with Ayton will have a significant impact on this offseason. It could be relatively boring summer in the Valley, or Ayton&rsquo;s value could be parlayed into going all-out for a superstar.
Expect to see the Suns let Ayton test the open market in July. If he receives a max offer sheet, that&rsquo;s when the clock officially begins to tick on how explosive Phoenix&rsquo;s plans could become.
Another housekeeping note for Phoenix related to contracts is a massive one set to be signed this summer. Once Devin Booker officially is announced on an All-NBA team, he will become eligible for a four-year, $211 million supermax contract. It&rsquo;s an easy decision for Booker and the Suns, so a hefty new contract for Booker will keep him in Phoenix through at least 2027-28.
2022-23: $33.8 million
2023-24: $36.0 million
2024-25: $47.1 million
2025-26: $50.9 million
2026-27: $54.7 million
2027-28: $58.5 million
Add in the Ayton situation on top of a looming Booker supermax, and Phoenix is ready to fully commit to paying deep into the luxury tax. Don&rsquo;t forget that Cameron Johnson is another significant piece to the puzzle for Phoenix and he could be signing his own extension this summer that keeps him in Phoenix long-term through his prime years.
Running it back with this core feels like the route that will be traveled, and you can't blame the Suns for that line of thinking considering their immense success over the last two seasons after toiling in obscurity.
&ldquo;As your team improves, typically your payroll increases,&rdquo; Jones said Wednesday when asked about potential luxury-tax issues.
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As mentioned, this builds upon what Sarver already confirmed to BasketballNews.com last month. For the first time since 2009-10, Phoenix will be paying the luxury tax and continue to do so for the next few years, too.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;re a market that can be in it for 10 years in a row, but when you get to a certain level where you have a chance to compete and you&rsquo;re a top-four, top-six, top-eight team, [you pay it],&rdquo; Sarver said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re at that level where you have a legitimate chance to compete &mdash; get to your Conference Finals and maybe win a championship &mdash; then I think you go in the tax; you pay and you do what you gotta do.&rdquo;
Committing to being a full-time tax team is a huge change of pace from years past for the Suns, but the time is now to compete for their first NBA title.
Outside of the contractual angles that cloud the current in Phoenix, what moves need to be made in order to improve their roster?
After witnessing the failures behind Chris Paul and Booker in the backcourt &mdash; mainly from backup point guard Cameron Payne, who finished the postseason with a ghastly 35.2% True Shooting percentage &mdash; finding more creators is of the utmost importance.
The Suns had a golden opportunity at the trade deadline to acquire Eric Gordon, but haggling over a future first-round draft pick ended those discussions. It&rsquo;s hard to deny how much a player like Gordon would&rsquo;ve helped Phoenix&rsquo;s offense when it began to sink against Dallas. If the Suns had a competent starting-level third guard, there&rsquo;s a good chance they'd be playing the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals instead of the Mavericks.
Whether it be signing a free agent or utilizing the trade market, some potentially available backup guard options who could help Phoenix immediately include: Jordan Clarkson (trade), Eric Gordon (trade), Derrick Rose (trade), Terrence Ross (trade), Ricky Rubio, Dennis Schroder, Tyus Jones, Delon Wright and Goran Dragic.
The Suns&rsquo; roster is already filled with quality depth pieces, but how can this team take the next step? Will Ayton be part of their long-term vision alongside Booker and Mikal Bridges? Can the Suns take advantage of their flexibility with $30-plus million in expiring contracts? Is star-hunting actually in the cards?
Following one of the most disappointing playoff performances in recent memory, how the Suns respond moving forward will show how resilient this group truly is.
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After a shocking postseason exit for the Suns, what's next ahead? Evan Sidery previews an interesting offseason ahead.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Phoenix Suns?

Izaiah Brockington couldn&rsquo;t help but lick his chops.&nbsp;
On Dec. 9, 2021, highly-touted 2022 NBA Draft prospect Keegan Murray and his Iowa Hawkeyes were traveling to Ames for an in-state rivalry game. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward was leading the nation in scoring with an average of just under 24 points per game (on a scorching 59.3% clip from the field), and the Hawkeyes were averaging over 90 points per contest at that point.
Through rigorous film study, Brockington observed Murray&rsquo;s favorite spots on the court, where he liked to catch the ball and how he got his buckets. And from the tip, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard followed through. He denied post-entry to Murray time and time again, helped the helper and put pressure on the Hawkeyes on the perimeter.
By the end of the night, Brockington outscored and outrebounded Murray while holding him to the worst game of his season by far (9 points on 4-of-17 from the field), while simultaneously delivering the game's most efficient performance with 29 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
&ldquo;I feel like that was definitely one of my best games of the season. I really came into that game wanting to shut him down,&rdquo; Brockington told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;I went out there and really tried to take away his strengths and mainly speed him up. I feel like he was really good when he was allowed to play at his pace and when guys were giving him space to work and see what was going on on the floor. So, I really came into that game wanting to lock him down on defense. And then, the 29 points, that was a bonus really.&rdquo;
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Unlike Murray, who&rsquo;s projected to be a lottery pick in most mock drafts (including <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/keegan-murray" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 6 overall</a> in <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s latest</a>), you surprisingly won&rsquo;t find Brockington&rsquo;s name anywhere on those big boards. And no, you won&rsquo;t find him partaking in this week&rsquo;s NBA Draft Combine nor the G League Elite Camp. Considering his size at the guard position coupled with his ability to rebound, make <a href="https://twitter.com/SynergySST/status/1507061353076383744?s=20&amp;t=bJGYe1FEeuLkx9hLdfQYuQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high-difficulty shots</a> and, most importantly, defend at a high level, it&rsquo;s a head-scratcher.
Take into account that Brockington spearheaded a 22-win Iowa State program that won just two games the season before, an NCAA-record turnaround, and it just seems like a downright mistake. So, he&rsquo;ll just have to prove that he stands out and find other ways to turn heads &mdash; just like he did last December.
&ldquo;I feel like my work ethic allows me to catch guys that a lot of people deem 'better' or would rank higher [than me]," Brockington said. "I feel like I have the intangibles that other people don't. I have athleticism, and I have the dog mentality &mdash; somebody who just loves to compete and loves to win and isn't gonna let somebody just walk all over them.
&ldquo;I love to compete. I attribute it to being from Philly. We just never back down from a challenge. The intangibles, I feel like, set me apart. And then, with my work ethic, all of these things that people say I don't have, I'm working every day and I'm ready to show everybody that I do [have them].&rdquo;
Having just worked out for the Atlanta Hawks, Brockington&rsquo;s list of interested teams is growing. According to sources, the Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets are lined up next &mdash; and he has five other teams who asked to schedule workouts at Tandem&rsquo;s Pro Day on Friday.
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Brockington&rsquo;s lone season at Iowa State went down as the best of his college career, and he considers it the most fun he had playing basketball at the collegiate level because the roster was brand-new and had something to prove.
As a senior, he averaged 16.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and earned the 2021-22 midseason John Wooden award. Boasting the Cyclones&rsquo; highest usage rate (27.5%), he took on the most responsibility he had to that point and ran with the opportunity.
Defensively, Brockington attributes much of his success (93.2 Defensive Rating) to the players he had to guard along the way. Starting in the Big 12, a conference he refers to as &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; in regards to talent, match-ups against Kansas standout Ochai Agbaji and Baylor&rsquo;s Jeremy Sochan and James Akinjo helped iron sharpen iron. The nights were intense and featured high-level basketball.
This past season, Brockington was adept at cutting off catch-and-drives (0.47 points per possession, per InStat) and defending pick-and-roll ball-handlers (0.54 PPP). It&rsquo;s something that he believes carried over his time at Penn State, where he spent two seasons prior to transferring.
&ldquo;We were really big on defense, so it was really about angles over there. And then, going to Iowa State, Coach TJ [Otzelberger] and our whole defensive scheme was non-stop pressure and to get guys to go into our help,&rdquo; Brockington said. &ldquo;But I feel like... you can push guys to your help, but it's better to be able to guard somebody and not need the help. I feel like, yeah, I definitely would try to cut guys off so that it's not forcing us to rotate and create long closeouts. Little things like that just help you stay more compact on defense and just stay more locked on your man.
&ldquo;So at Iowa State, we would drill things like [pick-and-roll defense] &mdash; getting over screens, being able to communicate and getting over and under, and just sticking on the ball-handler, making it tough for them. But, I also feel like I can thrive in an all-switching situation because I have strength and I have explosiveness. I feel like when I get caught down in the post, I can front or just make it tough for bigger guys to get easy position. I feel like I can thrive in either system, for sure."
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The Work Gonna Show🖤✍🏾&hellip;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iPromise?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#iPromise</a>🙏🏾 <a href="https://t.co/K23fSy995m">pic.twitter.com/K23fSy995m</a>
&mdash; Izaiah Brockington (@TheOnlyiZB) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheOnlyiZB/status/1527033907014684682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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During his two years with the Nittany Lions, he took on different roles and began to blossom under Pat Chambers. Again, there was plenty of talent to face-off against in the Big Ten, such as current Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu at Illinois, San Antonio Spurs forward Joe Wieskamp at Iowa, Indiana Pacers guard Duane Washington and future NBA Draft pick Johnny Davis at Wisconsin. Stylistically, Brockington believes the Big Ten&rsquo;s physicality helped prepare him too.&nbsp;
At Penn State, Brockington reconnected with his longtime friend Lamar Stevens. The now-Cleveland Cavaliers forward performed night-in and night-out for the team, showing Brockington the consistency and hard work it takes to be successful. Stevens has been in his ear throughout the pre-draft process, sharing what needs to be done and how to stick in the league. Brockington appreciates the support and encouragement, and he's taking every bit of that advice.
(Brockington&rsquo;s collegiate basketball odyssey actually began at St. Bonaventure, the first of three schools he&rsquo;d attend. Playing for Mark Schmidt for one year, he and the Bonnies had a solid season led by seniors Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley. Brockington ultimately transferred to Penn State to be closer to home and ended up sitting out a season, by rule, before suiting up).
As far as translatable skills go at the next level, Brockington states that his defense and rebounding top the list, along with his athleticism and ability to get downhill.&nbsp;
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In addition, Brockington takes pride in being well-versed in any kind of role. At St. Bonaventure and early on at Penn State, he did a bit of everything &mdash; serving as a spot-up shooter, a slasher, a rebounding specialist and a sixth man. He even played spot minutes off the bench at one point.
At Iowa State, he was a go-to guy, a star player and a leader for the first time in his college career, so opposing defenses threw everything but the kitchen sink at him.
&ldquo;Against certain teams &mdash; Texas comes to mind specifically &mdash; [they were], like, face-guarding me. [Texas] Tech would have a guy pressure and they would have dudes sit in gaps and essentially try to force me off of the ball. Seeing double-teams and all of that was new," Brockington said with a laugh. "It was just crazy being guarded like that in college 'cause I'd never had to deal with things like that before. I feel like those things really pushed me to be able to adapt and really try to just make smart decisions."
On the offensive end, Brockington has an appetite for the mid-range. The sly southpaw is able to get to his spots quickly off the ball and fire away with his leaping lefty jumper, and he likes to attack off the catch (with fireworks often following). Though he admits that is the area where he&rsquo;s most comfortable at the moment, Brockington understands the importance of being a three-level scorer.
&ldquo;I've been working on really being a combo guard &mdash; a guy that can use pick-and-rolls and make reads and just really making the right decision every time, a lot of basketball IQ things,&rdquo; Brockington said. &ldquo;And then, just knocking down threes... I've been working a ton and I'm looking to show everybody that I can knock down threes off the kick-out and off the pick-and-roll and off the dribble. I've been working extremely hard on that, and it's been going great.
&ldquo;I mean, [the mid-range] is an underappreciated part of the game. But a lot of analytics guys will tell you that it's inefficient, and that's probably true for most guys. That's just not the case with me. I feel like when I take mid-rangers, I create enough space horizontally and vertically to be able to get a clean look off.&rdquo;
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Despite spending five years in college, Brockington is only 22 years old because he graduated from high school early. Possessing that much experience at his age, he considers it an advantage. At the same time, Brockington says age doesn&rsquo;t have to do with his ability to play the game, pick up new information and improve as a player.
&ldquo;My experience in college has really taught me about consistency and taught me what hard work can do, and it's really about the preparation leading into everything,&rdquo; Brockington said. &ldquo;Games are won way before that time comes. Games are won in the offseason. Games are won in the film room. Games are won in pregame shootaround. So those are things I'll always have with me.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It hasn't been a typical college journey, but one thing that's remained the same is everywhere I go, I put my head down and work. I went out there, I produced and I was out there trying to win."
For Brockington, growing up in Philadelphia, he&rsquo;d always attend his father Antoine&rsquo;s rec-league games and hear stories about him. Antoine was a hell of a pro in his own right, achieving tremendous success overseas after an impressive career at Coppin State, where he won the 1997-98 MEAC Player of the Year award &mdash; and Izaiah looked up to him proudly.
Now, as the pre-draft process begins, it&rsquo;s Izaiah Brockington&rsquo;s time to carve his own path and make him proud.
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Spencer Davies speaks with Izaiah Brockington about his breakout season at Iowa State, unique path and next-level aspirations.

Izaiah Brockington hopes his unique journey culminates in NBA success

Objectively, Damian Lillard is as accomplished as nearly anyone in the NBA, but the legacies of all-time greats are judged against other all-time greats. Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal teases Charles Barkley on "Inside the NBA" about having won zero championships because he can. Win one, and you&rsquo;re forever a member of the club. Fail to do so, and you&rsquo;ll remain on the outside looking in.
Granted, being an all-time great is a good club to be a part of, but failing to win a championship can be utterly haunting. Just watch players like Barkley and Patrick Ewing talk about failing to win on the biggest stage. You hear regret in their voices. And pain. And there&rsquo;s nothing they can do about it.
It&rsquo;s premature to lump Lillard in with the aforementioned greats. After all, he&rsquo;s still only 31, meaning he has years remaining before we can have an honest discussion about his place amongst league legends (with or without a championship). I&rsquo;ll happily wait until he&rsquo;s retired to assess his legacy.
What I will address now is the fact that Lillard&rsquo;s inability to deliver a championship to Portland in his 10 seasons is actually not his fault. In fact, I posit that that no superstar in recent memory can be blamed less than Lillard for his team&rsquo;s shortcomings. Lillard has faced a grueling uphill battle since joining the Trail Blazers as a rookie, and his presence has resulted in Portland consistently outperforming their talent.
First, let&rsquo;s inventory how Lillard&rsquo;s Trail Blazers have fared in the postseason. In total, Portland has missed the playoffs twice since Lillard was drafted: once during his rookie year and again in 2021-22, a season in which Lillard was shut down in late December due to abdominal surgery. Had Lillard been healthy all season, his Blazers may have made their ninth consecutive postseason appearance.
Once there, Lillard is an impactful postseason player, posting 25.7 points and 6.2 assists per game in 12 career postseason series. Across his playoff career, he&rsquo;s shot 41.2% from the field, 36.9% on threes and 88.7% on free throws. He&rsquo;s also had several epic shots that were either game-winners or series-enders, which probably inspired Robert Horry, an all-time great shooter himself, to recently refer to Lillard the best clutch shooter ever.
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Robert Horry calls Damian Lillard the best clutch shooter ever over Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant &ldquo;He has hit a clutch shot versus every team in the NBA.&rdquo;<a href="https://t.co/lg34EjTZNB">https://t.co/lg34EjTZNB</a>
&mdash; NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1525203234650050562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Despite his heroics, Lillard&rsquo;s Trail Blazers have never reached the NBA Finals. They did succeed in reaching the Western Conference Finals once in 2019. They ultimately lost to the Golden State Warriors. They also lost to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2014, the 73-9 Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2016 and the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round in 2020. So, four of Lillard&rsquo;s eight postseason appearances ended against either the eventual champions or the dynastic Warriors.
Like Barkley and Ewing before him, Lillard has been a victim of time and circumstance, as his prime fell right in the middle of the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; historic run. But in Lillard&rsquo;s case, his struggles have been about more than his opponents. After all, Lillard is not dominated by any one player like how Jordan dominated his era. His circumstances are more a result of his supporting cast, or lack thereof.
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Lillard&rsquo;s stance on recruiting is that he wants to remain in Portland. He&rsquo;ll assist in recruiting free agents to Rip City, but he will not entertain recruiting pitches from other teams&rsquo; stars, a fair and respectable stance. For whatever reason, Lillard has been unsuccessful in recruiting others thus far. For example, he failed to land Kelly Oubre in Portland just last summer. However, there are limited examples of a dedicated push by Lillard in recruiting. Whether he foregoes recruiting or fails at it , the result is the same, and it hurts.
But as much as Lillard could participate in team building, there is a management team that is paid a handsome salary to build the team into a legitimate contender, regardless of Lillard's recruitment style. Frankly, that front office has failed to surround Lillard with top-tier co-stars.
A quick inventory of recent NBA champions reveals that Portland&rsquo;s talent is simply insufficient. Seven of the last 10 champions had multiple All-Stars. The other three were San Antonio in 2014, Cleveland in 2016 and Milwaukee in 2021, and we know all three teams had far more talent than any Portland team. Comparatively, battling all-time great competition, Lillard&rsquo;s only active All-Star teammate has been LaMarcus Aldridge, and they only overlapped as All-Stars twice.
There is also CJ McCollum, who was the 2015-16 Most Improved Player. Despite not being named to an All-Star team, he&rsquo;s certainly been an All-Star caliber player for much of his career. He&rsquo;s even (slightly) better in the playoffs, where he&rsquo;s scored 20.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 13 series.
McCollum's and Aldridge&rsquo;s better seasons sadly didn&rsquo;t overlap. Aldridge&rsquo;s final season in Portland (2014-15) was McCollum&rsquo;s sophomore season, and McCollum wasn&rsquo;t yet the McCollum we've come to know.
Portland could be on to something now. Anfernee Simons could prove to be a valid backcourt mate for Lillard. The former IMG star had a breakout season last year, averaging 17.3 points per game on 40.9% on three-pointers. If Joe Ingles can regain his pre-injury form and Jusuf Nurkic can remain healthy, there are some promising pieces in the mix.
However, the Trail Blazers still need at least one more creator. Fortunately, Portland has a 37.2% chance of sneaking into the top-four in this year&rsquo;s NBA Draft. Doing so would equip them with a valuable trade chip that could deliver exactly the type of player they need and maybe get them closer to becoming NBA Champions.
Regardless as to what happens with Portland in the immediate future, a closer look at Lillard's body of work reveals just how great he really is. Soon, he may join that elusive and exclusive championship club, but even if he doesn&rsquo;t, we should be careful how we refer to his failures. Because more so than practically anyone in NBA history, not winning a championship shouldn't paint our perception of Lillard.&nbsp;
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Damian Lillard is already an all-time great. We can't ignore his postseason failures, but he can't be defined by them, either.

Damian Lillard's inability to win isn't his fault

Las Vegas Aces point guard Kelsey Plum gave one teammate a ringing endorsement following the team's win on Friday night: "A'ja Wilson. Let's start the campaign now, people. Defensive Player of the Year."
The Atlanta Dream lept out to a surprising 2-0 start to the season, their best start since 2017, spurred on by <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-atlanta-dream-struck-gold-with-rhyne-howard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the play of rookie Rhyne Howard</a>. Their defense has been cohesive, transition play has sparked their offense and the veterans they brought in via trade and free agency in the off-season have provided a rock-solid foundation.
The Aces simply had other plans Friday night.
Vegas flattened out much of what the Dream wanted to do out of ball screens, switching the majority of actions not involving the five spot, something they've done routinely this year. With former starting center Liz Cambage now a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, the Aces have restructured and shifted to Wilson as a member of the starting five.
The Aces are certainly smaller, but they've made up for it with activity and aggression on ball screens. If Wilson is facing a good interior presence, the weak-side defender digs into the post, and the rest of the defense rotates accordingly. It's a more strenuous brand of basketball, but the Aces are embracing it, something head coach Becky Hammon pointed out after last night's win.
"We're small, [Wilson[ is at our five, so we gotta scrap, and they've all really bought into not making anything easy, especially post catches," Hammon said. "Her alertness as to what's going on in the paint has been sensational. I told her, she's gotta be Tim Duncan for us, she's gotta be Draymond Green for us, where she's talking constantly and sniffing out anything that comes through her paint, and she's bought in and done a fantastic job... she's been senasational
Wilson often plays up to the level on screens, making it difficult to dice up the defense from the middle of the floor. Seemingly half of Wilson's blocks have been on jump shot contests when she plays at the level.
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Through four games in 2022, Wilson has 15 blocks, a stellar mark, and the league leader by a longshot. She blocked 55 shots her rookie season in 2018, the most she has in her career, and she did that over 33 games. She's been expert not just at getting the rejections, but at keeping the ball in play. After going back through all her swats, roughly half of them directly resulted in a transition opportunity. It sounds minor, but it's a minute skill that can make a significant difference.
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It would be unfair to expect her to keep up this pace all season, but the hot start is a notable and palpable change in her defensive approach. Hammon repeatedly has mentioned Wilson's "buy-in" on the defensive end. The activity is ratcheted up and setting the tone for the Aces.
"We've got to scrap. We're scrappers, and that's something we missed against DC (The Mystics)," said guard Kelsey Plum. "That was something that needed to be in the forefront tonight, so I was really proud initially when we came out. We had a ton of energy, we're rotating, boxing out, we're getting in transition, and that's when we're at our best."
They're getting out in transition and playing with pace often. Per HerHoopStats, the Aces are 7th in pace at 84.5 possessions per 40 minutes, right around average. Don't let that fool you, however, as the league-high pace in 2021 was 83.8 possessions per 40 minutes by the New York Liberty. That would rank only 9th this current year. It'll be interesting to see how that does or doesn't level out as the year goes on, because teams are flying.
The Aces' ability to get stops and create turnovers (they are 1st in blocks per game) has been essential in kickstarting their already potent offense.
This possession is such a great example of the Vegas defense and Wilson's impact. There aren't many bigs in the W who provide the coverage versatility and instincts that she does, allowing the Aces to get a little funky and aggressive.
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A'ja shows and recovers on the first pick and roll, allowing Jackie Young to release from her high tag early to get back out to Sue Bird in the slot.&nbsp;Bird calls for the ball screen in an empty corner from Ezi Magbegor. Wilson angles herself well to both recover or contest the shot as Young chases overtop and Magbegor quickly rolls off the brief screen. Bird throws the pocket pass, Wilson recovers and gets the block with her off hand before taking the ball up in transition herself.
In the event that a screen is more solid and it's harder to chase over for the point-of-attack defender, Wilson shows and recovers once the chaser regains connection, or she will outright peel switch if it's called for. The communication from the Aces in general has been impressive.
While the offense of the Aces has taken the league by storm early, the defense is tethered to its success. How Vegas continues to mesh and workshop on that end will be fascinating to keep up with throughout the season. Can they keep playing such a small rotation with this frenetic play style? How will it hold up against more stout post presences? Right now, it's hard not to feel good about the state of the Aces' defense, due in part to the improved defensive play of star A'ja Wilson.
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The Las Vegas Aces smothered the Atlanta Dream on Friday night, highlighted by the stellar defensive play of A'ja Wilson.

A'ja Wilson's defense takes a step forward early in Aces' season

Tyler Herro hasn&rsquo;t had the playoffs that Miami Heat fans were hoping for and that many others were anticipating. Even so, the Heat have gone 7-3 in their 10 playoff games, gentleman-sweeping the Atlanta Hawks with a +60 point differential in Round 1 before going up 3-2 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2.
If you comparison shop, Herro&rsquo;s playoff performance is a distinct upgrade from what he displayed last year. You could say the same for the entire Heat roster given that many of them were fatigued from the year prior, <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1517002610179461120">a point I&rsquo;ve made repeatedly about the bubble final four</a>. But Herro&rsquo;s production falls short compared to his rookie year postseason.
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In the bubble, Herro averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 43/38/87 shooting splits in 21 playoff games, logging 33.6 minutes per contest. Currently, he&rsquo;s at 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest, and he&rsquo;s averaging just 28.7 minutes per game in part because the Heat keep blowing teams out. (Six of their seven playoff wins have been by double-digit points, and the one that wasn&rsquo;t was a closeout win over Atlanta, in which Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry sat.)
His per-36 production is almost exactly the same: 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists as a rookie, and 17.8 points with the same rebounds and assists now. The difference? His shooting splits are down to 42/28 from the field and from three, and while he&rsquo;s shooting 91.3 percent on free throws, he&rsquo;s only averaging 2.9 attempts per 36 minutes, barely up from 2.8 attempts per game two playoffs ago.
Let&rsquo;s not be overly dramatic and say that Herro is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i%27m+fighting+for+my+life+">fighting for his f*cking life</a>, but at 22 years old, he is already playing for his future. The 2019 lottery pick is extension eligible this summer, which will again be one of the most significant free agencies in Heat history regardless of how these playoffs turn out. But if Herro doesn&rsquo;t show enough in these playoffs to warrant a long-term extension, he may have to become a casualty for the team to move forward. Windows are hella fragile in #thisleague.
In the NFL, quarterbacks drafted in the early rounds have a quicker trial period than ever before, something that coincides with how little time young NBA players may have to develop while on a contender. Rookie-scale contracts in the NFL, similar to NBA first-round picks, are for up to four years at the team&rsquo;s discretion. If you&rsquo;re good enough, you&rsquo;ll play through all four years and receive an extension that would kick in immediately afterward. An NFL first-round pick typically gets a fifth-year option, which is at the heart of the controversy surrounding Baker Mayfield now.
After earning over $32 million over these last four seasons following his selection as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, he&rsquo;s now on a fifth-year option worth under $19 million. He's still on the Cleveland Browns, even as they&rsquo;ve signed DeShaun Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal, the largest in NFL history.
The point is that the Browns, after Mayfield&rsquo;s struggles, felt that they had to go through alternative means for a franchise quarterback. The Heat are nearing a similar fork-in-the-road decision this summer, in which Herro&rsquo;s current play will serve as a factor.
Here&rsquo;s the Heat&rsquo;s salary cap table going forward, per basketball-reference.com:
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A potential Herro extension wouldn&rsquo;t kick in until 2023-24, and chances are Duncan Robinson&ndash;a prime trade candidate in this summer&ndash;would no longer be on the roster. Herro and Robinson could depart in the same package if Miami deems that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s best going forward, but would such a trade leave the Heat with enough talent to remain contenders?
Again, we're <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2022/05/11/knicks-heat-are-the-teams-that-are-closely-monitoring-donovan-mitchells-status/">seeing reports about the Heat&rsquo;s interest in Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell</a>. I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-desinations-for-donovan-mitchell-2022">wrote about the Mitchell-to-Miami possibilities in late April</a> immediately following Utah&rsquo;s six-game first-round elimination against the Dallas Mavericks. If such a deal were to happen, Herro and Robinson would have to be included for financial reasons, and, well&hellip; never mind. I&rsquo;ll leave Utah alone this time.
But the door seems open because Herro has generally struggled this postseason. He also has, by far, the team&rsquo;s worst on-off plus-minus per 100 possessions. On the court, he&rsquo;s been a -5.7, while the only other player in the negative is Omer Yurtseven (-11.1), who has only played garbage minutes. Herro&rsquo;s on-off is a -39.8. Yurtseven has the second-worst, at -22.8, but again, he doesn&rsquo;t really play. Victor Oladipo, the only other notable rotation player, is a -6.1. All other key players are a net positive.
Now, in fairness to Herro, let&rsquo;s add more context. First, here&rsquo;s his playoff game log, again, per bball ref.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-05-11-at-1-20-36-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="712" height="212" />
Game 1 was a blowout, so they didn&rsquo;t need him. Game 2 was fine, and Game 3 was one of his best, including 7 much-needed fourth-quarter points and 12 in the second. In Game 4, he was completely neutralized, largely thanks to Delon Wright, <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1516564233684721666">who guarded him for much of the series</a>. In Game 5, without Butler and Lowry, Herro was still mostly limited, even if wasn&rsquo;t "bad" by any means.
In this series, Sixers coach Doc Rivers has talked about putting an emphasis on slowing Herro, who went off for 25 points on 53/67/100 shooting splits in the opener, and so far that has worked to a degree, as Herro has been held to 13.3 points per game on 42/32/90 splits ever since.
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Doc Rivers on what he told his team when defending Tyler Herro: &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s make a mistake on anybody but Herro.&rdquo; Said he&rsquo;s fine with mistakes, &ldquo;but just not him.&rdquo;
&mdash; Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1522037933146091522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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While Herro&rsquo;s struggles have been born out of respect, he hasn&rsquo;t fully adjusted. Luckily for the Heat, it hasn&rsquo;t been quite the deciding factor since Butler has been an All-NBA Playoff Performer so far. Herro has the team&rsquo;s second-highest playoff usage rate at 24.5, leads the team in turnovers due to bad passes this post-season with 12 and hasn&rsquo;t quite been his Sixth-Man-of-the-Year self. He did, however, find some offense late in Game 5 over Philadelphia after a one-point first half. He found angles and was able to get to his floater after knifing through the lane, scoring 9 second-half points before sitting because the game was out of reach.
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Rivers alluded to adjustments necessary for stopping Butler, who is averaging about 28-8-6 in the playoffs on 54/37/82 shooting. That could mean double teams, and that could open up things for Herro in Game 6. Maybe the Heat haven&rsquo;t needed a hero in the way Nas intended, but if Butler sees increased defensive resistance in Game 6, they might. On many fronts, it would go a long way if he took advantage, both in this series, and for his career.
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Tyler Herro may have won Sixth Man of the Year, but has he done enough to make himself a staple in Miami's lineup long-term?

Is Tyler Herro already playing for his future with the Miami Heat?

Let me be clear: Nikola Jokic had a great season.
He averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, and the 19 triple-doubles he recorded this past year actually ranks seventh all-time in NBA history. Nobody can deny his level of production this season.
In fact, statistically, Jokic was top-10 in the league in points, rebounds and assists per game. He carried the Denver Nuggets to a 48-34 record, which is an incredible feat&nbsp; &mdash; especially without two key players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
(Editor's Note: Jokic has reportedly won the 2021-22 NBA MVP award for the second straight season, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/woj-nuggets-nikola-jokic-wins-mvp-for-second-straight-year-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per ESPN</a>.)
So before I get into what I have to say, this is no slight or disrespect to Jokic in any way, shape or form.
The NBA has never had co-MVPs in the regular season. There have been plenty of times when there was a strong case for it, but it's never actually happened.&nbsp;
With that being said, what Joel Embiid accomplished this year was worthy of at least strong consideration for co-MVP, if not winning the MVP award flat-out by himself.&nbsp;
Embiid led all scorers in the NBA with 30.6 points per game, which hasn&rsquo;t been done by a center since Shaquille O'Neal did it in the 1999-2000 season (and subsequently won the MVP award).
Embiid also averaged 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. According to NBA Stats, the Philadelphia 76ers' opponents shot just 39.4% in the paint and 40.6% from mid-range when <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting/?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*Joel%20Embiid&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Embiid was the one guarding them</a>.&nbsp;
The 28-year-old big man also produced a league-best 13 games with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds this season, and he was the Sixers' leading scorer in 57 of the 69 games he played.
And throughout all of the Ben Simmons/management drama, Embiid kept the team focused and on task, and literally carried the 76ers to their 51-31 record this season.
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It&rsquo;s important to note that, throughout Embiid&rsquo;s career, there have been many people who have written him off due to injuries that were beyond his control, questions of whether he was in shape, management issues of his own and a host of other issues. But this season, he proved all of his doubters wrong.
Not to mention, while Denver barely avoided being swept by the Golden State Warriors in the first round, the 76ers have managed to tie their series against the Miami Heat at two games apiece; it's mostly due to the fact that Embiid somehow miraculously returned to play after missing the first two games of the series with a broken thumb, a right orbital fracture and concussion sustained in the first round.
In fact, Embiid's return for Game 3 against the Heat was still up in the air 40 minutes prior to tip-off, and the team was consequently fined for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-fines-76ers-50k-for-not-disclosing-joel-embiids-injury-status" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not disclosing his status</a> &ldquo;in a timely manner." But according to multiple sources, Philadelphia honestly didn&rsquo;t know if Embiid was going to be able to play. He had spent the entire week feeling groggy from his concussion. He told reporters that he couldn&rsquo;t even read his cell phone. On top of that, his broken thumb is still in need of surgery.
But Embiid wore his black mask and pushed through all of the pain and injuries to sacrifice his body for the team, and willed his 76ers to victory. He didn&rsquo;t just have an inspirational entrance where the crowd erupted when seeing him run through the tunnel; he also played 36 minutes, racked up 18 points and 11 rebounds and kept his team afloat when it was down 0-2 and in danger of being swept.
In Game 4, Embiid tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds as the 76ers again beat Miami 116-108 on Sunday night to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
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Again, this team was likely going to be swept by Miami in the East semifinals without Embiid, while the Nuggets were almost swept in the first round of the playoffs with Jokic.
Although the voting takes place before the playoffs, it&rsquo;s difficult to make a case that Joel Embiid&rsquo;s accomplishments and importance to his team weren't worthy of acknowledgment.
Until the 1979-80 season, the MVP was selected by a vote of NBA players. Since the 1980-81 season, the award-winner has been decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Each member of the voting panel casts a vote for first-to fifth-place selections.
Maybe it&rsquo;s time to go back to the players voting because it appears as though the sportswriters and broadcasters got this one wrong.
At the very least, Embiid and Jokic should&rsquo;ve been co-MVPs for this season. &nbsp;
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Etan Thomas argues that Joel Embiid's accomplishments and importance to the Sixers shouldn't go unacknowledged.

Joel Embiid was robbed and should’ve at least been NBA co-MVP

Year 26 of the WNBA is finally here! There will be plenty of storylines to follow this year: Swan songs for long-time legends (Sylvia Fowles, Sue Bird), highly anticipated returns (Elena Delle Donne), new faces in new places (Tina Charles and Liz Cambage among others), and plenty of young stars looking to make leaps. It's a great time to get invested in the W if you haven't already.
Opening night was a doozy: four games featuring eight teams with wildly different expectations. Every game got my brain churning in some capacity, and the same can be said for my pal <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler</a>.
So, naturally, we decided to team up and share our takeaways from each game. Let's dig in!
INDIANA FEVER VS WASHINGTON MYSTICS
THE SCORE: 84-70 MYSTICS
THE STORY: MYSTICS' OFFENSE SCARY HOURS
This was a weird game to say the least, something that will likely be the norm for an extremely young Fever team that started three rookies and had five who played significant rotation minutes last night.
The youth was apparent, but so was the budding potential. NaLyssa Smith finished her first game in the pros with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double while showcasing the footwork, fluidity and athleticism that make her a remarkable prospect.
Destanni Henderson carved up the floor with passes, hitting cutters with ease and operating out of ball screens with the guile that made her a joy to watch at South Carolina.
Most importantly, seeing a healthy Elena Delle Donne back was just awesome. She's gone through an insane amount medically in the past few seasons, and to come in without a minutes restriction was great.
The 84 points scored by the Mystics last night undersells the brilliant flashes they put together offensively. While noting again that this Fever team is of course inexperienced, Washington put them through the ringer. They threw so many actions and looks at the wall in the first game that impressed, and it felt like a playoff gameplan at times. The second Crystal Dangerfield checked into the game, sets were called to run lead guard Natasha Cloud off screens or cuts to post the much smaller Dangerfield up and draw a foul or easy bucket.
Cloud saw the court extremely well last night, and her control of the offense and ability to shift east and west to find better angles to attack was impressive.&nbsp;
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For a roughly five-minute stretch in the second quarter, the Mystics went to Delle Donne at the 5 with Cloud, Ariel Atkins, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Tianna Hawkins. All five players can shoot, pass, handle and attack the floor. While it's not a look that the Mystics can fully embrace for large chunks of the game, the run they went on (outscoring Indiana by 8 in a 4:47 stretch, per InStat scouting) showed glimpses of a potent lineup.
With Delle Donne up screening this high and three shooters fanned out, Fever rookie big Queen Egbo has to play at the level. Cloud is capable of hitting a pull-up two against drop. Delle Donne is too good of a shooter from *checks notes* everywhere to give her any modicum of space. It's hard to draw help from any of the off-ball defenders given the personnel the Mystics are employing.
Washington went repeatedly to a 5-out look with this group. Space Delle Donne and use Hawkins as a popper off a pick for Cloud, as she can drive to the basket off a hard close. This is a stout group defensively as well! There's length and mobility. While they'd likely struggle against a true post, the offense feels like it could be so good that it can dictate matchups and opposing lineups.
This Mystics team has a chance to really pop, and it's great to see them whole again. - Mark
STRAY THOUGHTS
-&nbsp;I was a bit surprised by how straight-up the Fever defended the Mystics in this one. Pick-and-rolls were defended two-on-two, often allowing Delle Donne to pop into open space or, if the Fever executed a late switch, drivers to get one-on-ones against bigs. Delle Donne saw plenty of single coverage on post-ups, including a notable up-and-under against NyLyssa Smith. Bless her heart.&nbsp;
- On the pick-and-roll front, I'm curious to see how teams defend the Cloud-Delle Donne duo moving forward. Drop is a non-starter, and switches aren't ideal considering the scoring ability of both. Do you really want to give Delle Donne short-roll opportunities with traps? Good luck.
- The post-up bullying aside, it was nice to see Dangerfield scooting around out there. I'm still a little shellshocked by the Lynx waiving her, especially considering the struggles they had generating offense in their game against the Storm. - Nekias
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LOS ANGELES SPARKS VS CHICAGO SKY
THE SCORE: 98-91 (OT), SPARKS
THE STORY: DANA EVANS!!!!
The most competitive game of the evening was also a cagey affair! Both teams have new faces in prominent roles, and it was clear that both coaching staffs were trying to pinpoint these new areas early to test the waters of their personnel.
Chennedy Carter had great flashes as a scorer out of transition and in the halfcourt, but she was also on a very different rhythm than the rest of the team, which was to be expected in her first game in LA. Derek Fisher rode with Jordin Canada down the stretch, as she cut up the Sky in the halfcourt on drives and set up her teammates extremely well. They don't win the game without her shotmaking (and that call on the last shot).
Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike were both fantastic &mdash; Parker with her playmaking and defensive freneticism, Ogwumike with her aggression on offense and defense as well. It was great to see Nneka look this fluid and fully healthy.
The story of the game for me was backup guard Dana Evans. A member of the Sky's title team as a rookie last season, Evans shined bright, going for a career-high 24 points, easily surpassing her 14-point outing that paced her scoring last season.
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Evans toggled on and off the ball, which made her performance all the more impressive. She got to her pull-up and operated well as a ball-handler in pick-and-roll. She canned some deep threes, which opened up even more for her off the catch. She was great intiating sets and then relocating and making herself involved in play, which is essential playing alongside star players.
Evans was great drawing contact, finishing through it and making herself a weapon as a secondary scorer and advantage attacker last night, feasting off of initial plays in sets.&nbsp;
With Julie Allemand (part of the Diamond DeShields trade in the offseason) coming over from overseas to play soon, it'll be interesting to see how the backup guard rotation shapes up in Chicago. Allie Quigley was out last night and Kahleah Copper (who is also finishing up overseas play) is really the only true wing on the roster. As <a href="https://twitter.com/5outbasketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter Kilkelly</a> pointed out last night, we should expect a lot of 3-guard sets from the Sky this season. This was a special, special performance from Dana that perhaps signified even more reason for excitement this season. - Mark
STRAY THOUGHTS
-&nbsp;Consider me intrigued with Chicago's frontcourt. Starting big with Parker, newcomer Emma Meesseman, and Azura Stevens is sure to pose problems for everyone. That combination of size and ball skills can only be matched by... two other teams? Maybe three? To the three-guard point, I'm excited to see more of the Parker-Meesseman duo. They already showcased some high-low chemistry in the opener.
- How about Jordin Canada, Starting Point Guard? It's about darn time! She's been one of the W's best drivers and point-of-attack defenders for quite some time. Watching her direct the offense and call her own number down the stretch was pretty fun. I don't think she's a 21-and-8 player, but there's clearly more in the bag than she was able to show in Seattle.
- Chennedy Carter is playing basketball again! Her shot creation should pop in this bench role. One might say she'll provide a Spark. - Nekias
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LAS VEGAS ACES VS PHOENIX MERCURY
THE SCORE: 106-88, ACES
THE STORY: OFFENSIVE FREEDOM
Let's get the caveats out of the way early. It's one (1) game. The Mercury, in particular, were missing a ton of talent. There was no Brittney Griner (GET BRITTNEY HOME) as she's still detained in Russia. Brianna Turner, one of the best young frontcourt players in the W, is still playing overseas. The same is true for Diamond DeShields, one of the most athletic wings in the W. That's a pretty large chunk of the Mercury's defensive infrastructure missing.&nbsp;
With that said:&nbsp;whew, buddy, did the Aces put the ball in the basket.
Not only did they drop 106 points, a mark they eclipsed just twice last season, the way they went about it was encouraging.&nbsp;
With A'ja Wilson starting alongside Dearica Hamby, there was more space to operate with. The pace was pushed more frequently &mdash; they won the fastbreak points battle, 15-6 &mdash; and the tempo was up in the half-court. More pace and space means Wilson and Hamby getting busy as screeners or post hubs. Actions with an empty corner have a little more juice now.
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Ah, and then there were the threes.&nbsp;
The Aces were the league's most efficient offense last season, but did so in the most predictable, traditionalist way. They fed the block and brutalized opponents inside. This wasn't a team that shot threes often; their 13.5 attempts last season ranked last in the league by a pretty decent margin.&nbsp;
The tide seems to be turning for the group under new head coach Becky Hammon. They attempted 23 triples in their lone preseason game. They took 21 on Friday night, making 11 of them. It was, per the broadcast, the third time in&nbsp;franchise history&nbsp;that they made 11 or more threes in a game.&nbsp;
Between Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray bombing away from deep (hitting a combined 6-of-11 from three), and the complementary play styles (and general mobility) of Wilson and Hamby, it should come as no shock that Jackie Young (20 points on 8-of-10 shooting) was also&nbsp;able to shake loose.
Good freaking luck with this group. - Nekias
STRAY THOUGHTS
- I've already started the Kelsey Plum All-Star campaign, and Kelsey has done so accordingly with her play!
- I was so so impressed by Las Vegas' ball movement and connective passing. While it's important to note that the Mercury were pretty depleted heading into game one, the Aces exacerbated all the advantages they could find and make.
- Jackie Young!!! Entering her fourth season, I have really high expectations for who Jackie can be. With a new coach and system, I think Friday night was a glimpse of her bright spots from past years as well as how beneficial pacing and an even more spread floor benefits her game. She's so strong on her power-drives to the rim and such a fantastic mid-range shooter on a variety of self-created looks. Her defense on Diana Taurasi was extremely fun and effective as well, really sticking to her off the ball. - Mark
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SEATTLE STORM VS MINNESOTA LYNX
THE SCORE: 97-74, STORM
THE STORY: GABBY WILLIAMS IS BACK
It's been a tumultuous stretch from Gabby Williams, a UConn standout turned gap-filler for the Chicago Sky. She had her contract suspended for roster-spot reasons &mdash; you can get a breakdown of that ordeal <a href="https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/hc-sp-uconn-women-gabby-williams-explainer-20210508-20210507-gtqqe5sspjdrfncall7kpcxzm4-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> &mdash; and was then traded from the Sky to the Los Angeles Sparks before the 2021 season began.
She was traded again over the offseason, this time to the Seattle Storm for Katie Lou Samuelson and the pick (#9 overall) that became Rae Burrell.
We're only a game in, but this is already looking like one of the best moves of the offseason for the Storm.
Wiilliams can do just about everything but shoot from deep (as she's a career 24.8% from three), which bodes well for a Storm team as active as this one.&nbsp;
Offensively, she's able to get the machine churning with her passing ability. Whether it's making entry passes, making kicks off the dribble or running the occasional ball screen, Williams can find her teammates. Off the ball, she's a willing screener and heady cutter. You can't really afford to "gap" her because she'll make herself &mdash; or a teammate &mdash; a threat.
The real appeal comes on the other end. Williams is a true multi-positional defender. She has the mobility to slide with guards, can deal with virutally any wing you throw at her, and is pesky enough to bother bigger players as well. Watching her slither across screens and mirror ball-handlers is a joy.&nbsp;
For people who aren't familiar or needed the reminder of what she can do defensively, look no further than her work in the second quarter of this game. These are just&nbsp;three&nbsp;examples of her versatility.
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You get it all here. Active hands, timely rotations off the ball, switchability, contesting without fouling. She's a beast. - Nekias
STRAY THOUGHTS
- I'm super intrigued by who Jessica Shepard could be for this team. Her shot was there and she looked confident in it. She displayed some really fun and tantalizing ball skills and court vision as a DHO operator and high-post playmaker. With the Lynx this depleted to start the season, they'll need as much as she can offer as well.
- The Storm miss Mercedes Russell's post presence without a doubt, as Sylvia Fowles bodied them early (a norm for W frontcourt players the past decade-and-a-half). Yet, their ability to rotate backline and flash recovery skills and communicate as a defense throughout the game was impressive. Williams and Briann January bring extra pop at the point of attack and this team shows real capability early to be a more stout defense. - Mark
<a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler contributed to this article.</a>
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Nekias Duncan and Mark Schindler team up to give their observations from the opening night of the 2022 WNBA season.

2022 WNBA season: Thoughts from each opening-night game

During the Miami Heat&rsquo;s first-round dispatching of the Atlanta Hawks, Bam Adebayo showcased precisely why he finished among the top-five in Defensive Player of the Year voting this year. His perimeter mobility, length and wide-ranging ground coverage walled off drives for Trae Young and rendered a top-three regular-season offense untenable.&nbsp;
In three of those contests though, Adebayo took nine or fewer shots, including two games with a combined 11 shots and 15 points. Miami didn&rsquo;t encounter much trouble coasting past Atlanta, but Adebayo surely wasn&rsquo;t casting his holistic All-Star-caliber imprint upon the series.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Adebayo has been the series&rsquo; best player en route to a pair of blowout victories. Through two games, the 24-year-old is tallying 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals on 80% True Shooting. He&rsquo;s averaging 10.5 shots and 9.5 free throws, notable leaps from the 8.4 shots and 4.4 free throws he averaged during Round 1.&nbsp;
With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Sixers&rsquo; other options at center &mdash; DeAndre Jordan, Paul Reed, Millsap and Tobias Harris &mdash; are ill-equipped to contain Adebayo offensively. Some are too slow to track him (Jordan, Millsap). Others are too small (Millsap, Harris). Another is too inexperienced as he garners his first extended trial of playoff basketball (Reed).&nbsp;
Jordan&rsquo;s idle nature as a drop defender exposes him in pick-and-rolls. Harris lacks the length to alter the Heat center&rsquo;s finishes. Reed, prone to overzealous tendencies, has fallen for quite a few pump-fakes and has sent Adebayo to the foul line. Together, they&rsquo;ve all proven incapable of neutralizing or slowing his interior scoring prowess.&nbsp;
Adebayo isn&rsquo;t doing anything radically different to generate these heightened scoring numbers. He&rsquo;s just flourishing against a greatly beneficial matchup and amplifying Miami&rsquo;s leading perimeter duo of Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro.
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His timing and discretion as a roller have been crucial too. He routinely picks the optimal angle or path from which to begin his dives and sets hulking screens. Butler, Herro, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have all been recipients of his excellent screening, and his keen understanding of when to migrate toward the rim eases the burden for ball-handlers.&nbsp;
With seven screen assists through two second-round duels (per NBA.com), only Deandre Ayton (10), Giannis Antetokounmpo (10) and Dwight Powell (8) have more. Scoff at that statistic to your heart&rsquo;s desire, but there&rsquo;s a degree of utility in it. Adebayo&rsquo;s screening is integral to the prosperity of Miami&rsquo;s half-court offense, which is not flooded with standstill creators and requires him to aid perimeter scorers in their quest for space.
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He&rsquo;s also snagged six offensive boards in two games while also occupying the attention of defenders to spring free teammates to gobble up second chances instead. Not only is Adebayo excelling in the glamor category of scoring, he&rsquo;s checking the boxes of grunge-work like screening and rebounding.&nbsp;
The Sixers likely want nothing to do with him the rest of the series. While they can&rsquo;t control how he imposes himself offensively, they&rsquo;ve quickly made evident their intention to avoid him defensively.&nbsp;
Among the sporadic instances in which he&rsquo;s directly involved in a possession, the way he vibrantly and aggressively embraces switches has flustered Philadelphia. He&rsquo;s erased driving angles numerous times and omnisciently roamed in help. Tyrese Maxey has struggled to attack downhill against him (though Maxey, with 34 points, was stellar in Game 2). Adebayo consistently obstructs assignments from turning the corner against him.
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The All-Star&rsquo;s brightest defensive superlative in this series has been his deterrence. Philadelphia&rsquo;s clear preference is to exclude him from the action altogether. According to NBA.com, he&rsquo;s been a primary defender for ~184 possessions, and those players have only attempted 17 shots against him. As a team, the Sixers have scored 155 points, good for 84.2 points per 100 possessions.&nbsp;
Most often, when Adebayo switches onto someone, they hardly even look to create and remain far removed from any threatening scoring position. As such, he can retreat to a free safety role, complicating passing windows and disincentivizing driving lanes.&nbsp;
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Whether it&rsquo;s Jordan, Reed, Millsap or Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia is playing someone (or multiple someones) that Miami feels comfortable disregarding to suppress whatever Maxey, Harris or James Harden are looking to do. Adebayo is the man often tasked as a helper to further suppress those efforts.
During Adebayo&rsquo;s 67 minutes in this series, the Heat have outscored the Sixers, 166-125. During his 29 minutes on the pine, Philadelphia has outscored Miami, 70-59. He&rsquo;s the biggest (available) differentiator between a competitive pair of games and two double-digit wins for Miami.&nbsp;
Embiid&rsquo;s unfortunate absence pervades across various angles of this matchup. But it&rsquo;s perhaps been most pronounced in Adebayo&rsquo;s play, given the multifaceted manner in which he&rsquo;s overwhelming the Sixers. Until or if the big fella returns, these problems will likely persist for Philadelphia and continue to behoove Miami.&nbsp;
With Adebayo at the heart of everything, the Heat are in control, two wins away from their second conference finals appearance in three seasons.
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Bam Adebayo has been a difference-maker for the Miami Heat in Round 2, and Jackson Frank explains precisely why.

Bam Adebayo stands at the core of the Heat's second-round dominance

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

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

Every day, BasketballNews.com gives you NBA betting analysis before tip-off. Make sure you subscribe to our daily podcast, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zNxt0NQXPmKuryAdz89m0?si=1038d121100444fd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into our favorite NBA spread bets for Monday's postseason slate.
Miami Heat (-7.5) vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Tough sledding is ahead for the Sixers for at least the next two games in Miami, and going up against a tough, versatile Heat team without Joel Embiid is a really bad recipe. The Heat should be able to suffocate the likes of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey on defense to inefficient performances; expect a fired up Jimmy Butler ready for the task.
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&mdash; Wednesday, May 04th Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat</blockquote>

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Miami has the firepower on both ends of the court to make this a nightmare for Philadelphia, especially with no Embiid. This is one of the most confident locks we&rsquo;ve deployed throughout the postseason. Easily hammer the Heat in this spot to cover the 7.5-point spread.
Pick: Heat -7.5
Player Props: Jimmy Butler over 24.5 points, Tyrese Maxey over 21.5 points, Bam Adebayo over 9.5 rebounds, James Harden over 9.5 assists
Phoenix Suns (-5.5) vs. Dallas Mavericks
I&rsquo;m pumped about this series because there are so many intriguing angles to unpack along the way. One of those asks this question: How in the world will the Suns be able to stop Luka Doncic? In the postseason, Doncic cranks it up another level with ease. However, the Mavericks are running into a buzzsaw here with the Suns. Devin Booker is back with no restrictions, plus Chris Paul just put together <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chris-pauls-masterclass-game-6-performance-the-latest-moment-of-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of his best games ever</a> as his 37th birthday quickly approaches. Another element to this matchup that fares well in the Suns&rsquo; favor is a mismatch weapon named Deandre Ayton.
Dallas will have no answer for Ayton throughout this series, so this could be a monster game for the 2018 No. 1 overall pick. Phoenix has the better roster and all-around versatility to negate Dallas immediately out of the gate. Lock in the Suns to pick up the Game 1 win and cover the spread as well.
Pick: Suns -5.5
Player Props: Devin Booker over 24.5 points, Deandre Ayton over 18.5 points, Luka Doncic over 7.5 assists, Dorian Finney-Smith over 4.5 rebounds
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Who are the best bets for Monday night's NBA playoff games? We've got you covered!

Best Bets: BasketballNews' NBA picks and fantasy advice for 5/2/22

During the regular season, Ja Morant was one of the league&rsquo;s most prolific and productive downhill adventurers.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;sort=DRIVES&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He averaged 20.9 drives per game</a> (third-most in the NBA) and shot 51.0% on those drives. Despite playing just 57 games, his 828 points resutling from drives led all players.
Once he mounted a head of steam, containing his powerful acrobatics was an incredibly arduous task for defenses. That prowess fueled Morant's scoring leap, as he averaged 27.4 points on 57.5% True Shooting en route to winning the Most Improved Player award.
Yet from Games 2-4 in the Memphis Grizzlies&rsquo; first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Morant&rsquo;s profits attacking the rim dried up, which subsequently hampered his overall scoring numbers.&nbsp;
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During that span, <a href="https://streamable.com/me9rj6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morant thrived as a playmaker</a>, delivering 35 assists to 11 turnovers and amplifying the divergent off-ball scoring chops of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/brandon-clarke-is-slipping-through-the-cracks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Clarke</a> and Desmond Bane. But Minnesota&rsquo;s tactic had clearly flustered his individual success.
In those games, Morant averaged just 16.7 points on 45.9% TS and shot 38.7% on 62 drives. After 20 free-throw attempts in Game 1, he had just 17 total over the ensuing three outings. Halfway through Game 5, Morant had 6 points and 7 dimes (although, an uncharacteristic 2 of 7 showing at the line helped stymie him as well). Another pass-heavy approach was percolating.&nbsp;
With the Timberwolves loading help in the paint and at <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/2013/12/19/5227374/nba-defense-breakdown-nail-spurs-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the nail</a>, Morant&rsquo;s passing grew in importance, and his scoring suffered. They sagged off Memphis&rsquo; cast of generally timid, unthreatening floor-spacers, and directed focus to the star guard in front of them.&nbsp;
On most of his drives, a defender confronted Morant at the nail as three, sometimes four, bodies awaited him near the rim. Stunts from the strong side (usually a no-go for defenses) were commonplace. His once-dynamic finishing was better classified as erratic.
The Grizzlies ranked just 28th in three-point rate (.346) and 17th in percentage (35.3%) in the regular season. So, Minnesota dared them to convert beyond the arc and refused to offer Morant runways for his trampoline-bounce to shine.
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Pause those clips above. Process the positioning of Minnesota&rsquo;s help defenders and how much room Memphis&rsquo; shooters are granted. On the final play, both Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt tag the roller, likely in case Morant wiggles around Karl-Anthony Towns&rsquo; hedge and explodes to the hoop. That&rsquo;s a whole lot of attention on one dude.
To Memphis&rsquo; and Morant&rsquo;s credit, Game 5 was full of experimentation to open driving lanes for him. Whether he initiated offense from different spots (top of the key vs. the wings), he began possessions off the ball to operate as a screener/second-creator or the floor-spacing was rearranged, everyone involved worked to find him some breathing room.&nbsp;
In the second half, those efforts were rewarded and the dam broke, particularly amid Memphis&rsquo; fourth-quarter, 13-point comeback. Morant scored 24 points after intermission, including 16 over the final seven minutes, when the Grizzlies closed with Morant, Bane, Clarke, Tyus Jones and Dillon Brooks once Jaren Jackson Jr. fouled out.
That lineup didn&rsquo;t record a single minute together in the regular season and debuted for two minutes in Game 4. By surrounding Morant with four ball-handling/play-finishing threats, Memphis provided him with more space and complicated Minnesota&rsquo;s "contain Ja at all costs" approach.&nbsp;
When bigs like Jackson or Xavier Tillman occupy the dunker spot, the Timberwolves are content helping off because neither is a particularly adept scorer around the basket. When Clarke is there, abandoning him to help on Morant is riskier, given Clarke&rsquo;s premier finishing and Morant&rsquo;s interior passing genes.
Minnesota has also routinely aimed to avoid involving Towns in ball-screens against Morant, which continued in the fourth quarter. That strategy gave Morant increased space as a driver and cleaner finishing angles over the top, while also forcing the Timberwolves&rsquo; defense into rotation more often.
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Small-ball was not the Grizzlies&rsquo; only avenue to springing free Morant and their collective offense. They really emphasized emptying the wings to muddle Minnesota&rsquo;s aggressive stunt-and-recovers. Rotating to the nail/elbows is much tougher when someone&rsquo;s assignment is stationed in the corner.
They also utilized double ball-screens for Morant out of a Horns alignment. Doing so removed a big man from the dunker spot altogether, and empowered Ja to work off the ball rather than needing to spearhead every action. Without help looming around every ball-screen, the third-year guard slalomed into the paint and gained traction to bring his squad a crucial Game 5 victory.
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By night&rsquo;s end, Memphis was plus-14 with the Morant-Jones-Bane-Brooks-Clarke quintet on the court. Morant scored 16 of its 21 points, headlined by a 9 of 10 performance at the free-throw line in the fourth.&nbsp;
Both in the half-court and transition, he repeatedly shimmied downhill and scored or drew fouls. His driving acumen also repopulated. Across his 45 minutes, he tallied 31 drives, shooting 50.0% (7 of 14) on them, taking 10 free throws and scoring 19 points. His pair of assists post-halftime were also emblematic of renewed scoring comfort.
Aside from Game 2, Memphis and Minnesota have been tangled in close battle after close battle. Morant&rsquo;s struggled in certain aspects throughout these contests and amended his approach to still fashion positive contributions. On Tuesday, though, the team amended its approach to unlock the effervescent 22-year-old.&nbsp;
Now, the Grizzlies sit one win away from their first playoff series victory since 2014-15, with their franchise star guiding them and enjoying his finest stretch of postseason basketball this year.
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Jackson Frank analyzes how the Grizzlies were able to get Ja Morant going on offense after struggling to find scoring comfort.

How the Grizzlies helped Ja Morant find himself as a scorer in Game 5

It appears as though the New Orleans Pelicans are playing harder and more aggressively, and with a greater sense of urgency and more passion, than the Phoenix Suns are at this point of their playoff series.
Herb Jones is putting on a Superman cape to leap tall buildings in a single bound and block three-point attempts. The scrappy Jose Alvarado forced Chris Paul into an eight-second violation in the backcourt, something that very rarely happens to the veteran point guard. The bench is fired up for the entire game, and the team is playing with a passion that hasn&rsquo;t been seen in New Orleans for quite some time.
Nobody outside of that city could&rsquo;ve imagined that this series would be tied at two games apiece with the highly-favored, 62-win, defending-Western-Conference-champion Suns.&nbsp;
Having said that, there seems to be a feeling of disrespect from the national media for a team that has exceeded the expectations of so many in the sports world.&nbsp;
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I spoke with Pelicans color analyst Antonio Daniels about his assessment of the team and that national media disrespect toward New Orleans.
Etan Thomas: First, how great is it to see the Pelicans prove a lot of people wrong who didn't even give them a chance?
Antonio Daniels: "Oh, man. Well, for me, it's not even about it being great, proving people wrong. The great part is what I've seen this team accomplish. People are going to doubt no matter what. I don't care who you are, or what you've ever done, how good you are. People are always going to doubt. But you can't allow people's doubts to actually affect the way that you think about yourself. I have said this about this team from Day 1, and I actually have it bookmarked in my Twitter feed; Nov. 5, I said at this time, 'This team gets healthy, they're a playoff team. If they get healthy, they're a playoff team.' And I remember I was doing the pregame show and David Wesley, who's a good friend of mine, turned and faced my way and was almost like to say, 'Whatever.' You know what I mean?
Etan: Right.
Daniels: "Here's the thing, Etan. When you're talking about success in this league, it's not going to [happen] if you don't have a culture of overachievement. It doesn't happen. You have to have guys that overachieve, guys that are outplaying the expectation. You can go all the way back to the Golden State Warriors. What they did with Steph Curry and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson and those guys. They all overachieved. Did you think when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were coming out that they would be the best shooting backcourt in history? Or when Draymond Green was coming out, at this point in his career, he would be a Hall-of-Famer? No. But they created a culture of overachievement.
"What you have here in New Orleans is, a lot was going on early on in the season, new pieces trying to fit in along with head coach Willie Green. And that's a lot to take on early; 1-12, 3-16 is what this team started. And now, at that time, the talk was, 'Let's tank. There's no Zion.' Fans all said they should just tank the season. Even when you acquired CJ McCollum. I remember Stephen A. Smith saying, 'Oh, I don't know what they're doing. Why would CJ McCollum want to go there? New Orlenas ain't going anywhere anyway.'
"The disrespect from the national media is, I think, what guys really pay attention to. And I think they do somewhat use that as motivation. But to be a part of this journey, Etan, from Day 1 of training camp, to Zion being hurt [and] not being available throughout the course of this team's season, being without your best player and seeing what this team has been able to accomplish, climbing out of that 3-16 start, it's been special."
Etan: Talk about the addition you mentioned of CJ McCollum and how much that has helped the entire team.
Daniels: "I'll say this first: What people forget about in that addition is that Larry Nance was in that [trade] as well, and people aren't talking about that. People are talking about CJ, and CJ's been fantastic. But I'll tell you what, I don't think that the Pelicans are at this point without Larry Nance Jr. He was the difference in the Play-In game against the Clippers because what he offers you is versatility at the 5 spot that you didn't have prior to him. Versatility and experience. When teams go small, like you see a lot of the NBA doing now, and they're basically playing five forwards like the Toronto Raptors, it&rsquo;s problematic for opposing teams. You need a big that is experienced, knowledged, but understands strengths and weaknesses [and] also has the skill set to compete. Larry Nance Jr was great. And people don't talk about him enough."
Etan: Great point.
Daniels: "But to get to CJ &mdash; CJ's playing the best basketball of his career. And from his words, he's a servant leader. And I love it because he's not very vocal, but he leads by example. He came in and he said, 'You know what, man? I want Brandon Ingram to be the best version of himself' on Day 1. Because if B.I.'s the best version of himself, that will allow me (meaning CJ McCollum) to be the best version of myself. And I remember asking CJ, when I sat down and I interviewed him, talking about, 'How do you develop chemistry between you and B.I.?' And he said, 'You know what? I'll do the same thing with him that me and Dame [Lillard] did. We sat down and we watched films together. I want to know where he wants to ball. I want him to be vocal with me. I want to know where his hotspot is, what plays he likes, when he needs me to back down and allow him to be the best version of himself.' The communication between those two from Day 1 was at an all-time level.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
𝙋𝙀𝙇𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙉 ⚜️ Brandon Ingram : 30 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST ⚜️ Jonas Valanciunas : 26 PTS, 15 REB, 4 AST ⚜️ Cj McCollum : 18 PTS, 9 REB Les <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> l'emportent 118-103 et reviennent &agrave; 2-2 face &agrave; Phoenix ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WBD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WBD</a> <a href="https://t.co/zbghiMm2fU">pic.twitter.com/zbghiMm2fU</a>
&mdash; NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFRANCE/status/1518469593290919937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

"But, Etan, what really helped this team was the All-Star break. Because if you look at what this team has done post-All-Star break, that was the chemistry between CJ and B.I. really starting to take off. We opened up in Phoenix. First game at the All-Star break, we opened up in Phoenix. And they talked at length about the dinner that they had in Phoenix the night before, where they just got an opportunity to connect to one another and to communicate with one another. This team has been rolling ever since when those two are on the floor together with a healthy starting five."
Etan: I want you to talk a little bit about Coach Willie Green. I actually posted and tweeted the clip of <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1515310682945855488?s=20&amp;t=jxzjmwJgR9FJ3SYvF7c53w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">him motivating the guys</a>. It made me feel like I want to go out there and lace them back up and get ready to go play. Talk about how great he has been for this team.
Daniels: "Listen, Etan, I can't put it into words the respect that I have for Willie Green from Day 1. You know it's funny. Because when you're losing, people don't want to hear about it. People don't want to hear about the positives when you're losing. They only want to hear about the positives when you start playing well. And when this team was 1-12, and then, when they were 3-16... I'll tell you, Etan, we've both played on bad teams; you know what a shootaround is like walking into the gym when you're 3-16. This was not it. I have never seen more spirited shootarounds from, at the time, what seemed to be a bad basketball team. And that started with Willie Green. He never blinked. He never allowed this team to lose confidence. His faith in this team never wavered, and he stands on his faith as a whole.
"I'll give you a quick example. You know how many coaches have the open-door policy where you can come in and talk? I meet with Willie Green from time-to-time. We'll go into his office. We'll talk or sit or chat or go out to dinner. Etan, our meetings ended with prayer. How many coaches have you ever gone in to meet with and talk about the team or whatever it may be and, when it's all said and done, you guys are at his desk praying together? That speaks to the man that Willie Green is. He is one of those guys that is so inspiring because he makes you want to be a better version of yourself. I don't hoop no more, Etan. If that's how he makes me feel, I can imagine how he makes players feel. When you have guys like Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, Jaxson Hayes &mdash; all these guys, when their number was called, they were ready to go. Because when they weren't playing, Willie Green was still speaking grace, life and confidence into them. And I had an opportunity to see it up close and personal. I am at every practice, at every shootaround. I've traveled with the team. I eat with the team. To see his communication with them, his ability to relate to them [is incredible].
"And I'm a proud believer, Etan, that the best coaches in this league are role players. You know why? Because they can relate to everybody from 1-to-15. If you're a star player, you can't relate to the guy who hasn't played in six games or the guy who's major inconsistent. Willie Green has started in this league, he's been a sixth man, he's been in situations where his minutes weren't guaranteed and he's also been in a situation where he hadn't played at all. Tell me who on that bench he cannot relate to! And there's nothing more important in today's NBA than a coach's ability to relate to his players. I don't care about your defensive schemes, I don't care about your X's and O's. If the players feel like you can't relate to them, they will not play as hard for you. But the moment that they feel like you care about them as men, as fathers, as husbands &mdash; they will run through a wall for you. And I'm telling you, Willie Green has that locker room so engaged, because of the way that he handles himself throughout adversity."
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Etan: Wow. That's great to hear, and I thought that about him already, just from knowing who he is. But it's great to hear you say that. Let me ask you one more thing. I know you don't worry about the haters and the noise and social media, all that stuff, but they keep bringing up the fact that because Devin Booker isn't there, that's the reason why the Pelicans are in this series. I was like, 'Well, wait a minute. Y'all forget that Zion isn't there either?' I'm like, y'all forgot about that part.
Daniels: "Here's the thing. Has there ever been an NBA champion where there's not a 'What if?' attached to it? Let's just go back to a year ago. Remember when Trae Young got hurt against Milwaukee? Remember when Kyrie Irving got hurt against Milwaukee? Remember James Harden had to come back as a shadow of himself with half of a hamstring versus Milwaukee? Remember a couple years back when Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson got hurt, and then Toronto won the championship? Look, ain't nobody tripping on that. This is the league full of injuries. You get certain things that are out of your control. So If people say, 'Oh man, the only reason that the Pelicans won is because (fill in the blank), well, okay.' But you are not going to find an NBA champion, a NFL champion where breaks don&rsquo;t go somebody's way.
"But I'll tell you this, there are two teams in the NBA who have yet to play with their best player. I'm talking about not even one practice. Not even one practice this year with their best player. It's the L.A. Clippers and the New Orleans Pelicans. Kawhi [Leonard] literally practiced one time. But let me tell you the difference. The difference is, Kawhi Leonard has practiced with Tyronn Lue before. He's practiced with him before, last year. Zion does not have one practice with Coach Willie Green. Not one. The last that Zion has been on the floor is when he was averaging 26 points per game and shooting 61% from the field under Coach Stan Van Gundy.
"So people can sit here and say, 'Oh, well, the only reason is, because...' So what? So what? Your job is to go out and your job is to play. Plain and simple. Look at the playoffs now. Khris Middleton is sidelined. Luka [Doncic] was sidelined. Kyle Lowry is sidelined. You get guys that are injured all the time. What are the Pelicans supposed to say? 'Ah, you know what man? Devin Booker's not there. Let's wait. Let's wait until they have help and then come back to finish this series.' No. Your job is to take advantage of the situation that's given."
Etan: That&rsquo;s absolutely correct.
Daniels: "And I'll tell you this, Etan, it goes along with the national narrative of the lack of respect that's given to the Pelicans. It goes right along with it. It doesn't matter. You know this better than anybody. It doesn't matter what people think about you. 'You ain't never believed in me as long as I believe in myself.' And this is a team, right now, that believes in themselves."
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Etan Thomas speaks with former teammate and Pelicans color analyst Antonio Daniels about NOLA's playoff surge vs. Phoenix.

Antonio Daniels: Pelicans have been disrespected by national media

Once upon a time, not too long ago actually, a college athlete transferring from school to school was an anomaly, mostly due to the fact that said player would have to sit out a year before joining a new team, with a penalty put in place to deter it from happening. Those days are over now, as a new system has been put in place that has resulted in over 1,000 names currently being in the NCAA transfer portal.&nbsp;
This has created much discussion and debate as to whether or not this is in fact a good system to have for college basketball.
There can be many determining factors for student-athletes having the desire to leave a university. &nbsp;For instance, they could be being mistreated by a coach, something that happens far more often than many are aware of. Maybe their families simply believe their son or daughter&rsquo;s talents would be better utilized elsewhere, or maybe they are homesick and want to go to a college closer to home due to that familial support for their mental well being. Or, if their coach leaves for greener pastures, it's because their commitment, comfortability and connection was with that coach who will no longer be there.&nbsp;
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Another rising phenomenon is a player at a smaller school who had a successful season or a big tournament run having the opportunity to transfer to a bigger school. Case in point, St. Peter&rsquo;s Doug Edert. His school had an amazing March Madness run, had the entire country rooting for the Peacocks as underdogs and made it to the Elite Eight (the first No. 15 seed to do so).
Edert's coach, Shaheen Holloway, left St. Peters soon thereafter to take a job with his alma mater Seton Hall. So why shouldn&rsquo;t Edert be able to leave to go to a bigger school with a bigger opportunity and platform? (Edert settled on Bryant University, by the way.)
This has been a very controversial topic from the moment it was implemented. Some hold the position that players should have the freedom to easily transfer schools in order to find the best fit for them (just like coaches do). Others believe that athletes should be required to &ldquo;honor their commitment&rdquo; to the school and retain the negative consequences of the past (i.e., sitting out a year or losing a year of eligibility) in order to deter this from becoming the widespread situation that it currently has become.
I sat down with two assistant coaches at Louisville, former Duke assistant Nolan Smith and former Maryland interim head coach Danny Manning, to hear their thoughts on this particular topic.
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Etan Thomas: What are your overall thoughts on the transfer portal?&nbsp;
Nolan Smith: "My initial thoughts were that, 'If a coach can leave a kid after they&rsquo;ve recruited that kid and promised him and his family that he will be their coach for the duration of his college experience, why shouldn&rsquo;t the players be able to?' But now, obviously you&rsquo;re seeing kids at different colleges and universities, and they&rsquo;re not sticking around for a long time, and you&rsquo;re wondering, 'Why isn&rsquo;t this kid staying?' So, a few things here: Kids, together with their parents, need to start making better decisions about the schools they&rsquo;re choosing. We&rsquo;re dealing with a lot of transfers here now, and we&rsquo;re seeing that a lot of kids are coming in beaten down mentally and emotionally. So if that&rsquo;s leading to the transfer, I have no issue with a player removing himself or herself from an unhealthy situation.
"But, I will also say, they need to do a better job of doing their homework first. Don&rsquo;t rush decisions. If you ask the questions that need to be asked and really do your homework on a lot of these coaches, you will know which coaches you need to stay away from no matter how much they wine and dine you while they&rsquo;re recruiting you."
Etan: I definitely agree with that. Some of these coaches present a false image of themselves and their program during recruiting, and the kid gets there and they see they were lied to. But like you said, that&rsquo;s where you have to do your homework. Ask around, research, ask the non-starters on the team how the coach treats them, ask former players... like, really research.
Smith: "Exactly, you have to do your research before. But also let me say this: Sometimes, parents and players don&rsquo;t have patience. They want everything to happen immediately and it doesn&rsquo;t always work like that. You know, sometimes there is a process. Some players come in with a preconceived notion that they should be one-and-done, or two-and-done, and things don&rsquo;t always work out according to your plan. Sometimes you gotta be patient and your time will come."
Etan: Did y&rsquo;all have a lot of transfers at Duke while you were there? I&rsquo;m trying to remember, because we had a lot at Syracuse. And all for different reasons, but a lot of turnover happening all over.
Smith: "We brought in a couple. We lost two kids who were playing a good amount of minutes their freshman year. It worked out for one of them; the other is basically playing the same amount of minutes he was playing with us and same position. But yeah, we were losing guys just like every other program &mdash; two to three a year I would say."
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Etan: Do you think it&rsquo;s getting almost like AAU where guys just leave situations regularly? And do you think that&rsquo;s good for the game as a whole?&nbsp;
Smith: "It&rsquo;s definitely becoming a fad. You see starters transferring. Or you factor in NIL deals (name, image and likeness) and a kid may be in a mid-major [school] averaging 20, and he could stay there and the next year maybe average 25 and improve every aspect of his game, but he can [also] transfer to a bigger market &mdash; an ACC or Big 10 school &mdash; and has the opportunity to get a bigger NIL deal in a bigger market, and I understand that as well. Not everyone will be turning pro, so capitalizing on their earning potential is their ceiling, so you have to factor that in as well."
Etan: That&rsquo;s a great point. Does it make it difficult to build your program when there is so much turnover?
Smith: "It&rsquo;s extremely difficult. Okay, so at Duke, we were planning on recruiting four [prospects], but then you have to factor in the two transfers, so now you&rsquo;re recruiting six. So you have to either go out and get a grad transfer or [use] the portal, so now you&rsquo;re bringing in six new guys to the team, so that&rsquo;s in essence starting over. I think lot of teams are going straight [to the] transfer portal. We saw in the tournament against Arkansas and Texas Tech, [we] we&rsquo;re playing some old veteran grad-transfer led teams. They were really good and really old. But I&rsquo;m sure there was a lot of team-building things they had to do with a whole new team."
Etan: Do you think that hurts the overall college game, or do you think that helps it?&nbsp;
Smith: "I think overall I would say yes [it hurts it] because teams are rebuilding every year; it&rsquo;s essentially AAU. And as a fan of the game, you&rsquo;re not getting to know the players and see them grow and really root for them because you&rsquo;re gonna have a whole new group of players the next season. Now, let me be clear, I am an advocate for athletes and them having the freedom and flexibility to move as they do choose. But, there are some aspects from a coaching standpoint and from a fan standpoint that does make it problematic."
Etan: I definitely understand that, and at the same time like you opened up with, it allows players not to feel trapped, so to speak, when they&rsquo;re with coaches who aren&rsquo;t who the players thought they were when they recruited them.
Smith: "Definitely, 100%. With all the problems and issues and concerns, it always comes back down to that. If these head coaches are not treating these young men and young women right, they need to have the freedom to leave. So much goes on that people have no idea about, of coaches abusing their power, literally tormenting players both mentally and emotionally, or playing mind games with them, holding their scholarship over their head or playing time over their head. So now, they can&rsquo;t do that because a player has the option to leave without penalty or repercussion, and they can no longer have that power over them so at the end of the day, it always comes back down to that."
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Etan Thomas: Do you think the transfer portal is getting out of hand? There are over 1,000 players currently in it.
Danny Manning: "Regardless of what anyone thinks about the transfer portal, the fact is it&rsquo;s here. And we have to now navigate with this being the new reality. It&rsquo;s a part of college sports, and it&rsquo;s going to be here whether people complain about it or not. I&rsquo;m a fan of the portal; there are a lot of things that do go into it. Of course, you have to do your research and see why a guy is transferring; you definitely don&rsquo;t want to recruit any problem players, but sometimes, things just simply didn&rsquo;t work out in their previous situation and they are looking for a better fit, a better opportunity. And there is something to be said about having the ability from a coaching standpoint to bring in a player who has some college experience who can help out your team immediately. I do think there are more people in the portal than there are scholarships available, but that&rsquo;s a whole 'nother issue."
Etan: Yes, that definitely is a problem. How does the portal help or hurt the recruiting process?&nbsp;
Manning: "Well, again from a coach's perspective, it helps. Let me give you an example. Back in the day, the recruiting process could drag on and on, but now with the portal, it widens the pool so it would be in the player&rsquo;s best interest not to drag his process out because that position has a higher potential of being filled. Of course, the top high school athletes may be in a different situation, but for the majority of the high school players, they can&rsquo;t let it drag out and enjoy the recruiting process and waste a lot of coaches' time when they aren&rsquo;t really interested in that particular school. So now, the pressure is turned up quite a bit on that player making his decision because the pool has widened with the addition of the transfer portal."
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Etan: So from the standpoint of you recruiting other players, you like it. But what about from the standpoint of you retaining your players and your roster? It seems like a lot of guys leaving are rotation players, starters even. Has that become problematic?&nbsp;
Manning: "Yes, that&rsquo;s definitely problematic, but that&rsquo;s part of what we&rsquo;re dealing with in this new reality of the transfer portal. There are players who are in pretty good roles and pretty good situations who feel that they want to be in better roles and better situations. And they have a right to exhaust those avenues. The days of putting together a college team with the mindset of when we were in school &mdash; of bringing in this high school player and this young player is going to develop and get better over time &mdash; that&rsquo;s almost out the window. We&rsquo;re putting together teams now like a professional organization on a year-to-year basis."
Etan: And you don&rsquo;t see it going backwards? Initially, I thought it was more that the NCAA decided to allow players the freedom to transfer without having to sit out because of COVID &mdash; at least that&rsquo;s what I thought. But you keep referring to it as the &ldquo;new reality&rdquo; or &ldquo;new normal.&rdquo; So you think it&rsquo;s here to stay?&nbsp;
Manning: "I do. I don&rsquo;t think they can backtrack at this point once they&rsquo;ve given it to them. They opened Pandora&rsquo;s box now, so that&rsquo;s why I keep referring to it as the new reality because college basketball as we once knew it &mdash; where a player transferring was an aberration &mdash; is no more. It&rsquo;s going to be the norm moving forward."
Etan: In your opinion, does the transfer portal make it harder for high school players due to the fact that, like you said in your beginning statement, colleges now have the opportunity to recruit an experienced player now? Does the portal hurt high school players?&nbsp;
Manning: "Definitely. For that reason alone. You&rsquo;re a college coach and sometimes you want someone who has already been through the rigors of college, who understands the academic piece and understands navigating all of the other responsibilities that you have to handle as a college athlete. A lot of times, it takes freshman a while to adjust to that process. They&rsquo;re away from home, they get homesick, freshman blues, but just overall adjusting to life on your own and handling your business. So the level of maturity is typically already there with a transfer player because they&rsquo;ve already been through it
"My advice to a high school kid who is being recruited and they feel like a college is a good fit for them, my advice to them is jump on your offer and claim it right away &mdash; because that portal changes the game. I know with social media high school players like to post and tweet that they received an offer from this school and that school and let the process drag out. Well, with the transfer portal, you&rsquo;re going to see high school players lose offers they once had, and a coach is going to call them and say that scholarship is no longer available because we decided to sign a player from the transfer portal because you were dragging your feet to make a decision. High school players need to understand that this is a business, and they need to treat it as such, and with the transfer portal, they&rsquo;re actually at a disadvantage, and that&rsquo;s just the reality of this new norm.
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Louisville assistant coaches Danny Manning and Nolan Smith share their thoughts on the polarizing NCAA transfer portal.

Louisville's Danny Manning, Nolan Smith discuss NCAA transfer portal

Deja vu is unfolding for the Denver Nuggets this postseason. They face another season in which Nikola Jokic will likely finish as NBA MVP, but the campaign will end in disappointment because of injuries and a lack of impactful depth around him. Jokic&rsquo;s dominance speaks for itself, but as Denver has fallen into an impossible 3-0 hole to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it brings back vivid memories of last year&rsquo;s downfall to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals.
From the start of last year's series against Phoenix, everyone knew Denver was out-matched. It led to a quick sweep, one that left an embarrassing blemish on what was a historic campaign for their franchise player. Who knows how differently it would have gone had Jamal Murray not torn his ACL in that series? Still sidelined a year later, it's no surprise that Murray didn't return for the Nuggets&rsquo; postseason push. If anything, being cautious with Murray is Denver's only option when considering their roster. Still, Murray would've given the Nuggets a lethal one-two punch that would&rsquo;ve made a sizable dent in the West&rsquo;s hierarchy.
Even without Murray and Michael Porter Jr., Jokic&rsquo;s ho-hum manner on his way to pulverizing defenses all season was nothing short of fantastic. But watching the potential back-to-back MVP still put up numbers in losses against the Warriors&rsquo; updated Death Lineup (Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green) shows one player can&rsquo;t do it all. Jokic is averaging 29.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on a 58.4 True Shooting percentage in the playoffs, but it doesn't matter without the necessary ancillary pieces.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Nikola Jokic dropped a monster double-double in Game 3 for the <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nuggets</a>. 🃏 37 PTS, 18 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL Game 4: GSW vs. DEN, Sun. 3:30pm/et on ABC <a href="https://t.co/Kv1kVSratu">pic.twitter.com/Kv1kVSratu</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1517395121985269762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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If Murray and Porter were flanking Jokic, things might be different, but the pain of postseason failure continues to ring in the rocky mountains. We haven&rsquo;t seen the trio of Jokic, Murray and Porter share the court together since April 12, 2021. And with Porter&rsquo;s back issues becoming serious once more, who knows when the Nuggets will see their star trio blossom together and rise up the West standings?
Denver is always going to be a contender during Jokic&rsquo;s prime years, but is this series against Golden State a wake-up call that could lead to an offseason roster retooling? What could the Nuggets fetch if they decided to offload a few key role players?
As it stands, Denver is putting a lot of eggs into the basket of health for Porter and Murray, but there are a lot of intriguing angles to view their roster in the short-term and long-term. Aaron Gordon is a strong fit alongside Jokic after having put together a career-best season in 2021-22, proving last year's trade-deadline investment was the correct move. Also, rookie combo guard Bones Hyland has already forced his way into the picture thanks to his microwave scoring capabilities.
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Denver moving forward with their core of Jokic, Murray, Porter, Gordon and Hyland is fun to envision. It feels like it&rsquo;s missing one more relatively large piece to the puzzle though. The frontcourt (Jokic, Gordon, Porter) is already in place, but who makes sense as a compatible long-term backcourt partner alongside Murray?
Entering the 2022-23 campaign as an over-the-tax team, Denver will have to get lucky and creative to feel confident going toe-to-toe with the likes of Phoenix and Golden State. Murray and Porter have the equalizer potential of reuniting on-court with Jokic, but can we really view this current version of the Nuggets as true title contenders? That&rsquo;s where I pause, because the injury and depth questions surrounding this roster are legitimate.
Here&rsquo;s an early look at the Nuggets&rsquo; rotation next season, which actually seems okay on paper:
Starters: Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Second Unit: Monte Morris, Bones Hyland, JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, Zeke Nnaji
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
AARON GORDON. YOU, SIR, CAN FLY🤯 <a href="https://t.co/DJEXJLdSRT">pic.twitter.com/DJEXJLdSRT</a>
&mdash; x - Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1517327429081083904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It&rsquo;s unfortunate to already be writing the eulogy on the Nuggets&rsquo; season led by another all-time Jokic offensive barrage, but here we are as they stare down the hole of a 3-0 deficit to the reloaded Warriors. It's fair to wonder what comes next.
Denver is stuck in a position of hoping, which is one spot you never want to be without certainty.
Murray&rsquo;s return next season should benefit the Nuggets&rsquo; standing in the West, but the domino effect of MPJ's chronic back injuries serve as an eerie cloud that hovers around the corner. Those back problems are why Porter slid to the back of the lottery, which allowed the Nuggets to swoop in at No. 14 overall and draft him as a rookie. Handing out a rookie-scale max extension to Porter, they have to hope he&rsquo;s 100% next year and reaches his max ceiling in order for this dazzling Jokic era to live up to its potential.
The narrative around the Nuggets is starting to take shape. They are a team that shines in the regular season because of their unique superstar big man but folds in the postseason when the smaller things matter most.
For the Nuggets, a unique pivot point is about to arrive this offseason. Let's see how they handle it.
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Once again facing postseason failure, the Denver Nuggets must escape any future plan that forces them to bet on health.

Luck now plays a role in Denver's long-term outlook

The Trail Blazers' season started with Damian Lillard declaring his faith the team would be competitive. It ended with him on the bench in street clothes, watching as Portland lost its 11th straight game.
With a spate of injuries, a new coach, a front-office shakeup and a roster overhaul, the Blazers' turbulent season was less about the present and more about rebuilding for the future.
Portland heads into the offseason with at least one lottery pick and cap space, armed with a plan to build around six-time All-Star Lillard. He made a promise to fans at the Moda Center for the team's final game.
&ldquo;This year a lot of things came up that we didn&rsquo;t expect. A lot of hard times. But you guys continue to show up. Continue to show us love. Continue to be the fans that I&rsquo;ve always known," he said. "And I just need y&rsquo;all to know one thing: This will not continue. Next year we&rsquo;re gonna come back better than we&rsquo;ve been.&rdquo;
It was a far cry from the start of the season, when <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-portland-trail-blazers-damian-lillard-nipsey-hussle-8e42df230931af414e83df09eeae26b9">Lillard flashed his Olympic gold medal and said:</a> &ldquo;I think over the years we&rsquo;ve always had a competitive team, I think we&rsquo;ll be competitive again.&rdquo;
The Blazers finished 27-55, their worst season since 2005-06 when they won just 21 games. Clearly eying draft position after the NBA trade deadline, 11 of Portland's losses following the All-Star break were by more than 30 points.
Over the course of the season the Blazers used 34 different starting lineups, winding up at 13th in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;It's not been a season that any of us expected, but the way that I kind of see it in all honesty, this year has kind of been like a real microcosm of life. You have these great ideas and plans and thoughts, and then things happen and you have to pivot," said first-year Portland coach Chauncey Billups. "And then it becomes about how you pivot, and what you do.&rdquo;
INJURIES ABOUND
Lillard was the most significant of the Blazers' injuries this season. He played in just 29 games, the result of a nagging abdominal injury that required surgery in January.
Backcourt partner CJ McCollum missed 17 games with a collapsed lung. Others who missed significant time included Nassir Little, who sustained a labral tear in his left shoulder in late January and missed the rest of the season; Jusuf Nurkic, shut down for the final 22 games of the season with plantar fasciitis; and Larry Nance Jr., who missed 17 games with right knee inflammation before he was traded.
And that's not to mention the games missed because of COVID-19 protocols.
SHAKEUPS AT THE TOP
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/basketball-los-angeles-clippers-portland-trail-blazers-nba-sports-d396c10b6f9fb6fd2294fdbf85e0e2ae">Billups was hired in the offseason as the team's new coach, </a> replacing Terry Stotts, who had led the team to playoff appearances in the past eight seasons. Billups had limited experience with just one season as an assistant NBA coach.
Blazers President and CEO Chris Magowan stepped down in November and was replaced by Dewayne Hankins, a team vice president and chief commercial officer.
General manager Neil Olshey was then dismissed by Portland in December following an outside investigation into concerns about workplace environment. Joe Cronin, an assistant GM, was promoted to fill the role on an interim basis.
SHAKEUPS ON THE COURT
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/portland-trail-blazers-nba-sports-anfernee-simons-damian-lillard-ac8ac08b3e767746a75214b0ad1962ea">The Blazers made a flurry of multiplayer deals before the February deadline.</a> Five Blazers who played in the team&rsquo;s opener against Sacramento were no longer with the team, including three starters.
The most significant of the deals involved McCollum, who had been drafted by the Blazers in 2013 and formed a close bond with Lillard. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-orleans-pelicans-portland-trail-blazers-nba-sports-new-orleans-ba8eb752b95b311947df90132b93eee4">He was sent to the New Orleans Pelicans along with Nance and Tony Snell. </a>
Portland also traded Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Los Angeles Clippers for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, rookie Keon Johnson and a second-round pick in 2025. The day before the deadline, the Blazers acquired injured forward Joe Ingles in a three-team trade with Utah and San Antonio.
ANFERNEE'S RISE
The one bright spot in an otherwise forgettable season was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-james-harden-kyrie-irving-portland-trail-blazers-adcd0df67820677f5bac7c07202ba2f9">the rise of guard Anfernee Simons</a>.
Simons took advantage of the opportunity when Lillard was injured. After taking over as starter, he averaged 23.4 points and 5.8 assists.
Just 22, he scored a career-high 43 points on Jan. 3 against Atlanta, making him the youngest Trail Blazer ever to have a 40-point game. On Feb. 14 in Milwaukee, he had seven 3-pointers, and he finished with 18 games with five-plus 3s.
The Blazers also shut him down for the final stretch of the season. He missed the final 17 games with left knee patellar tendinopathy.

Portland heads into the offseason with at least one lottery pick and cap space, armed with a plan to build around Damian Lillard.

Trail Blazers look to rebuild after turbulent season

Jackson Frank breaks down the film and collaborates with Nekias Duncan and Mark Schindler to pick the 2021-22 All-NBA teams.

2021-22 All-NBA Teams: Praising this season's 15 best players

While doing the media rounds for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Enforcer-Outrageous-Fiercest-Competitors/dp/1982175648/ref=asc_df_1982175648_nodl/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=532676525181&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=8339304955139487848&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9007723&amp;hvtargid=pla-1380126241639&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his new book</a>, "The Last Enforcer," Charles Oakley has been extremely vocal about his feelings towards his former New York Knicks teammate Patrick Ewing.
It has become abundantly clear that Oakley and Ewing are not currently on good terms in any way shape or form.&nbsp;This appears to have stemmed from the ugly Madison Square Garden incident of 2017 when Oakley was forcibly removed by security staff from a Knicks game.&nbsp;
The image of Oakley shoving a security guard prior being dragged away from his seat on live television stands as one of the ugliest moments the Knicks organization has ever seen.&nbsp;According to court papers, Oakley has since <a href="https://theathletic.com/2266870/2020/12/16/charles-oakley-wants-knicks-owner-james-dolan-named-in-assault-suit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused Knicks governor James Dolan of orchestrating an attack on him</a>.
Oakley has long been beloved by New Yorkers as a whole, while Dolan has grown to be an incredibly unpopular figure among many Knicks fans who blame him solely for much of the team's struggles over the years.
This particular situation definitely didn&rsquo;t help Dolan&rsquo;s popularity. In fact, during the incident, Knicks fans chanted &ldquo;Oakley! Oakley!&rdquo; as he was being removed from the arena, so it was clear as day as to who the fans were supporting.&nbsp;
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To make matters worse, the Knicks released a statement that said, &ldquo;We hope [Oakley] gets some help soon," implying &mdash; without basis &mdash; that Oakley had a problem with drugs, alcohol or some type of mental issues. Dolan also subsequently banned the Knicks legend from MSG indefinitely.&nbsp;
Since then, Oakley has expressed his disappointment that some of his former teammates, namely Ewing, didn&rsquo;t have his back the way he felt they should&rsquo;ve.
&ldquo;My relationship with Patrick Ewing should be better," Oakley told Fat Joe in February. "I played with him for 10 years in the Garden. Fans saw how hard I played, had everybody&rsquo;s back. When I came to a situation and needed him, he didn&rsquo;t come out to represent me like he should have... He knows he hasn&rsquo;t been fair to me, and I was always fair to him."
&ldquo;That happened in 2017, he just said something 5 months ago," Oakley said on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmqPkiSIm8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Rich Eisen Show</a>. "I played with him 10 years, had his back. They offered him a D League job about 7 yrs ago, I said how are you gonna offer a guy who played with you 15 yrs a D League job? That hurt me when he didn&rsquo;t speak up for me."
While <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-48-nba-hall-of-famer-patrick-ewing-talks-knicks-days,-turning-the-hoyas-around,-charles-oakley,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewing Ewing for The Rematch</a>, I asked him about Oakley and the chance of them patching their brotherhood back together again. He was honest and forthcoming about the fallout, the current status and the possibility for reconciliation.&nbsp;
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Etan Thomas: How are you with all of your former Knicks teammates?&nbsp;
Patrick Ewing: "We all still talk, John [Starks] and I talk a lot. He works for the Knicks. He came to our game in the Garden. Herb Williams, we still communicate. Derek Harper, we still communicate. Doc Rivers. Me and Oak, we were still communicating; we&rsquo;re not communicating right now, but Oak was one of my best teammates. I respect everything he did on the court. Greg Anthony. So a lot of us are still in communication. We&rsquo;re all doing our own things, but we&rsquo;re friends, we&rsquo;re comrades, and we did a lot of great things together."
Etan: So, you mentioned Oak, and you said y&rsquo;all are not really communicating right now. It&rsquo;s interesting, I interviewed Oakley a few years ago, right after the thing with Dolan happened in the Garden. So I interviewed him about it, and he talked about it a lot. It was a really ugly scene, and I felt bad for Oakley because that&rsquo;s just not how you do a former New York ;egend and Knicks great when they come back to the Garden. I mean, I&rsquo;m no Washington Wizards great, but I go back to D.C. and they&rsquo;re not gonna do me like that. That&rsquo;s just not how you treat former players.
So we did the interview and we&rsquo;re talking, and he alluded to the fact that some players didn&rsquo;t support him the way he felt they should have. He didn&rsquo;t say that you were one of them, but he said to me, 'I really only knew you one year,' because he played that one year in D.C. And when I saw him in All-Star weekend in New Orleans after it happened, I gave him a big hug. 'Are you alright, do you need anything?' I thought that was messed up.
I went on a few shows and talked about it. I actually went on Michael Rappaport&rsquo;s show with Kenyon Martin and talked about how they did Oakley wrong, and I think I wrote about it as well. And he was like, 'Well, me and you, we only knew each other one year and you was kind of quiet to be honest for most of the year.' I mean, I had legends there so I was just watching and learning, but he said, 'Some of my other teammates that I&rsquo;ve known for years and played with and was in the trenches with and bled for, they didn&rsquo;t really come to back for me like I thought they should&rsquo;ve.' And he keeps saying it over and over again, and honestly, he sounded to me like he was really hurt by it. And I don&rsquo;t know if you were one of the players in that category because he didn&rsquo;t say you by name, but thinking back on that incident, do you think you and the other guys supported him as much as you all should&rsquo;ve?
Ewing: "I can&rsquo;t speak for others, all I know is what I did. When I saw the incident, I picked up the phone and called (Oak) and asked, 'Do you need anything?' I saw they took him and cuffed him, so my first question was, 'Do you need me to have someone come and bail you out? Whatever you need.' What else am I supposed to do? I was asked about it by the media. I told them it was wrong. Oak was an integral part of our team, and of the Knicks fabric, and something like that should never happen. I don&rsquo;t know what else I was supposed to do.
"I&rsquo;m still working in the NBA as an assistant coach (at the time). I&rsquo;m trying to work my way up the ladder to hopefully be a head coach in the NBA. So I don&rsquo;t know what else I was supposed to say, or what else I was supposed to do. All I could do was give him my support, let him know I was there for him and (do) anything that he needed. When I was asked about it, I gave my honest feelings that I thought it was wrong and that things like that cannot happen. And I supported him. Anything else that he may have wanted me to do... I guess I didn&rsquo;t do enough to show him that I thought about him as a friend more than just a former teammate, but I did."
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Etan: You know, as somebody who watched you all play your entire careers with New York, I personally hope that you all get back together and are back on talking terms and do like a public thing where y&rsquo;all are together as brothers. Because, when I tell you that I was a die-hard Knicks fan. Like after y&rsquo;all would lose a game, and I went to school, somebody better not say nothing about the Knicks. That&rsquo;s how seriously I took it. So even when you just mentioned that you and Oakley aren&rsquo;t really speaking now, that was like a jab to me, like, 'Aww, it&rsquo;s supposed to be like this (pounds fist together),' like the Knicks vs. everybody. 
Ewing: "Like I said before, he was one of my best teammates. I used to call him 'The Hitman.' He was the enforcer. Anything that happened on that floor, you always knew he had your back. And I wanted to let him know that I had his back in this situation. I supported him in every way I could. I talked to Mr. Dolan myself about the situation. I know other people tried to broker a peace as well, but I still respect Oak and always will."
Etan: Well, I&rsquo;m gonna still hold out hope that y&rsquo;all get back together and reconcile. 
Ewing: "Me too. Believe me, me too."
Etan: Okay, so that&rsquo;s great to hear. So if you&rsquo;re holding out hope about it and it&rsquo;s open, I&rsquo;m confident that it will happen when it&rsquo;s supposed to happen in due time. Sometimes brothers fight, sometimes brothers argue, sometimes brothers have disagreements. And then, they come back together as brothers are supposed to, so I&rsquo;m holding out hope for that.
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Etan Thomas speaks with Patrick Ewing about supporting Charles Oakley and how he hopes for the two to broker a peace.

Patrick Ewing is hopeful that he and Charles Oakley can reconcile 

For a third of the NBA, summer break comes early.&nbsp;
Though 10 teams didn't make the playoffs, it's not all doom and gloom. Several NBA bottom-feeders took tangible steps forward in their rebuilding efforts, while others &mdash; well, they're not supposed to be here.
Every franchise enters the offseason with summer plans. As teams get eliminated from the postseason, I'll be rounding up every team's offseason outlook and posing one question they must answer over the summer. You'll see each squad's 2022 NBA Draft chest, plus their potential free agents, along with the central question.&nbsp;
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Let's get started!
DETROIT PISTONS 
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick (via Brooklyn)
Potential free agents:&nbsp;Marvin Bagley III (restricted), Cory Joseph (player option), Hamidou Diallo (team option), Frank Jackson (team option), Luka Garza (team option), Carsen Edwards (team option), Rodney McGruder 
Central question: How do the Pistons build an offense around Cade Cunningham?
This was a pretty solid season for Detroit as far as rebuilding efforts go. Cade Cunningham emerged as a Rookie of the Year front-runner and two-way centerpiece who has fans ecstatic about his ceiling. The Pistons finished a solid 10-14 after the All-Star break, and have shown flashes of an improving defense. They did still finish with the 28th-ranked offense, per Cleaning the Glass, and one of the worst shooting rates in the NBA.
Cunningham had to carry a ridiculous offensive load in the latter stages of the season. Detroit has the power to change that in 2022-23, starting with its high draft pick. Maybe Jabari Smith's lights-out scoring means he's an ideal secondary option? Perhaps Paolo Banchero thrives as an additional creator, or maybe Chet Holmgren makes sense as a finisher and spot-up threat? The fun part about Cunningham is that his versatility creates so many pathways for the Pistons in the draft &mdash; whether or not the ping pong balls fall their way.
Detroit wields a cap hold of approximately $28 million on Bagley, and once that lifts (either via a new contract or letting him walk), the Pistons should have a solid chunk of cap space to add to the supporting cast.
HOUSTON ROCKETS
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), better of Brooklyn/Miami first-round picks
Potential free agents: John Wall (player option), Dennis Schroder, Bruno Fernando (restricted), Jae'Sean Tate (team option), Anthony Lamb (qualifying offer), Trevelin Queen (qualifying offer)
Central question: How patient is the front office willing to be?
Houston's 2021 draft strategy of "draft talent, figure out the fit later" appears to be working out. Jalen Green demonstrated an Anthony Edwards-esque leap post-All-Star break, Alperen Sengun is already one of the NBA's best passing bigs, and guys like Josh Christopher and KJ Martin routinely hinted at upside. Houston gets another prime shot at a franchise cornerstone this draft cycle. We're approaching Stage 2 of the strategy, though: figuring out how the pieces fit.&nbsp;
The Rockets were one of two NBA teams with bottom-five ratings on offense and defense. They led the league in rim frequency and were fourth in three-point frequency, but posted mediocre shooting clips. Houston evokes memories of the rebuilding Nets, who played a similarly extreme brand of ball for a few years as the team slowly reshaped into a fun playoff squad. Does the front office have the foresight to let head coach Stephen Silas work things out with his roster of young guns?&nbsp;
INDIANA PACERS
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How is there a &ldquo;rebuild&rdquo; to afraid of if it isn&rsquo;t a rebuild? <a href="https://t.co/0pDD7E6Mss">pic.twitter.com/0pDD7E6Mss</a>
&mdash; Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1512127632758001664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Draft assets: First-round pick (10.5% chance at No. 1), First-round pick (if 15-30, via Cleveland), Second-round pick (via Houston), Second-round pick (via Phoenix)
Potential free agents: Ricky Rubio, T.J. Warren, Jalen Smith, Lance Stephenson, Nate Hinton (restricted), Oshae Brissett (team option)
Central question: How extreme is the incoming rebuild, and what veterans mesh with the future vision?
Notably unlisted among the potential free agents are Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, Buddy Hield and T.J. McConnell. All range from solid starters to rotational complements, and 3 of the 4 (not Turner) will be 30 next season. The Pacers are clearly retooling, as evidenced by their trade-deadline fireworks and Tyrese Haliburton's subsequent high usage. They also have publicly flip-flopped regarding the direction of the team; see the above Tweet.
Indiana doesn't have the pure depth of talent to straddle the line. The Pacers can trade many of these talented players and build up a chest of draft picks and young pieces, or they can charge ahead, turn their picks into win-now players and hope Haliburton is ready for the playoff push. But a middle ground doesn't exist in an Eastern Conference where just about every team has solidified its direction.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Draft assets: None
Potential free agents: Russell Westbrook (player option), Kendrick Nunn (player option), Austin Reaves (team option), Stanley Johnson (team option), Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, D.J. Augustin, Wenyen Gabriel, Mason Jones (restricted)
Central question: What does team-building around two injury-prone superstars look like?
LeBron James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-james-i-dont-have-a-cap-on-how-long-i-want-to-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turns 38 next season</a>, and has played 60-plus games just once in the past four seasons. Anthony Davis has now missed more than half the season in back-to-back years. Sure, the Lakers were a mess regardless of their stars' health, but going forward, is pursuing fits next to James and Davis even worthwhile if the two won't consistently be on the court?
With just three players under contract (the aforementioned stars, plus Talen Horton-Tucker), the Lakers enter another offseason of a roster overhaul. This time, I'd recommend almost entirely forgetting about James and Davis when building the squad and simply try to assemble units that make sense together.&nbsp;
NEW YORK KNICKS
Draft assets: First-round pick (2.5% chance at No. 1, could change based on Play-In results), Second-round pick via Boston and Charlotte (if 56-60)
Potential free agents: Mitchell Robinson, Ryan Arcidiacono 
Central question: What's going to happen with the veterans?
The top six moneymakers for the Knicks next season are all 27 or older, and I think many fans would say that out of the group, only Julius Randle should have started &mdash; and he seriously regressed this season. The young Knicks <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-young-knicks-playing-chess" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clearly showed they're ready to take the mantle</a>.
So what happens with Randle, Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel and Kemba Walker? Is Tom Thibodeau prepared to reduce their (their meaning Burks specifically in this case) minutes and usage, will trades be coming, or will Madison Square Garden burn when Immanuel Quickley opens the season by playing 16 minutes off the bench? New York has drafted extremely well in recent seasons, but the ceiling of the young core is capped if these youngsters don't get a chance to prove themselves in meaningful situations.
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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 
Draft assets: First-round pick (12.5% chance at No. 1), First-round pick via Clippers, First-round pick via Phoenix, Second-round pick
Potential free agents: Derrick Favors (player option), Mike Muscala (team option), Lu Dort (team option), Isaiah Roby (team option), Melvin Frazier (restricted)
Central question: What is the pathway in the frontcourt?
I've stanned Sam Presti's team-building strategy for years now, and I still think it's on track for a serious payoff. Josh Giddey slots in somewhere on your All-Rookie ballot, and draft classmates Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins flashed rotation-caliber play as well. It is simply a joy to watch a random young player have a breakout game on any given night, and OKC has already shown the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-oklahoma-city-thunders-emerging-defensive-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early stages of a prominent defense</a>.
Next up: Capitalize on a draft loaded with intruiging frontcourt players. Banchero, Holmgren and Smith are obviously the best of the best. But even if the Thunder slide in the lottery, they could pounce on an athletic shot-blocker like Jalen Duren, or use one of their later picks on a center like Mark Williams. I'm just spit-balling, but the point is that OKC has plenty of chances to find its big-man anchor and further flesh out its core.
ORLANDO MAGIC
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick, Second-round pick via Indiana
Potential free agents: Gary Harris, Robin Lopez, Bol Bol (restricted), Ignas Brazdeikis (restricted), Admiral Schofield (restricted)
Central question: How do the offensive pieces fit together?
Orlando quietly logged a 17th-ranked defense this season, and an 11th-ranked unit since Feb. 1. A dismal offense ultimately doomed the Magic, who were riddled with inconsistent shotmaking and poor team efficiency marks throughout the half-court. We don't need to sound any player alarms; it takes time for young guards in particular to grasp the responsibilities of running NBA offenses.&nbsp;
But what if I told you Orlando has wielded bottom-10 offensive ratings every season for the last decade?&nbsp;
Change can start in the draft, again with some of the top offensive forward options like Banchero or Smith. Adding another ball-dominant guard in Jaden Ivey might be overkill, but AJ Griffin and Bennedict Mathurin feel like good wing fits at first glance. Spotrac estimates the Magic could have up to $30 million in practical cap space, leaving plenty of room for veteran players to accentuate the young talent.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
THE D IN DREW STANDS FOR DUNK DO NOT GOOGLE THIS <a href="https://t.co/2AojdAskYV">pic.twitter.com/2AojdAskYV</a>
&mdash; Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) <a href="https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/1508636734900166659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Draft assets: First-round pick (9.0% chance at No. 1), First-round pick via New Orleans (if 5-14), Second-round pick, Second-round pick via Memphis
Potential free agents: Joe Ingles, Jusuf Nurkic, Ben McLemore, Anfernee Simons (restricted), CJ Elleby (restricted), Elijah Hughes (restricted), Keljin Blevins (restricted)
Central question: Is Portland actually trying to win "now" or win soon?
Some really great development happened for the Blazers during the "wash" portion of the season in the form of players like Trendon Watford, Keon Johnson and Drew Eubanks. Add them to Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little and the incomng draft picks, and Portland suddenly has... kind of a sneaky-deep prospect pool? There's real potential to mold this group into a rotation cast that gives Portland one of its deepest rosters in years.
That's why these <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-trade-rumors-portland-is-still-the-frontrunner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jerami Grant trade rumors concern me</a>. Giving up a possible lottery pick to try and piece together a short-term playoff team risks too much and keeps the Trail Blazers in the limbo they have lounged in for several years. Understandably, the franchise wants to build a contender while Damian Lillard is invested and in his prime. With some patience, Portland can without sacrificing sustainibility.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
Draft assets: First-round pick (7.5% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick, Second-round pick (via Chicago)
Potential free agents: Jeremy Lamb, Josh Jackson, Damian Jones, Donte DiVincenzo (restricted), Neemias Queta (restricted), Trey Lyles (team option)
Central question: How does Sacramento turn into a competitive NBA defense?
The Kings have trotted out lackluster defenses for as long as I can remember. In fact, they haven't ranked above 20th in Defensive Rating since 2005-06 &mdash; notably, the last time they made the playoffs.
And that didn't change under interim head coach Alvin Gentry. (Gentry will not return as head coach next season, but is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shams-alvin-gentry-no-longer-interim-coach-of-the-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in talks for a front-office role</a>, per ESPN.) However, the on-paper roster actually shines some hope. Davion Mitchell made highlight reels out of his "Off-Night" defense. Justin Holiday is a solid individual defender, as is Harrison Barnes, and even De'Aaron Fox has his sporadic moments.&nbsp;
Can Sacramento find a head coach who turns a group of intriguing players with defensive potential into even an average squad? What draft and free agency options exist? Of course, the Kings would like to end their NBA-leading playoff drought. That'll come with changing the culture on defense.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Draft assets: First-round pick (2.5% chance at No. 1, depends on Play-In results), Second-round pick (via Dallas)
Potential free agents: Bradley Beal (player option), Thomas Bryant, Raul Neto, Tomas Satoransky, Anthony Gill (restricted), Cassius Winston (restricted)
Central question: What style of guard play is a feasible best fit?
Okay, so obviously the biggest question mark surrounds Bradley Beal's free agency. But from a conceptual standpoint, Washington has tried and failed over the past few seasons to find Beal's best-fitting partner in crime. John Wall, Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie were each supposed to provide the downhill juice Beal lacks. The Wizards either did this at serious expense of another skill area (Wall, Westbrook), or it just didn't translate their at-rim ability (Dinwiddie). All battled injuries as well.
"I think we need bigger guards," <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/bradley-beal-outlines-what-wizards-need-build-contender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beal said in March</a>. "We need more guys that can get in the paint for us, more ball-handlers, more guys that can really create and get two feet in the paint, but also who can knock down threes."
I mean, Beal's needs make total sense. The problem is that every other basketball team on Earth also wants this type of guard.
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Ethan Fuller sets the offseason stage for each team that missed the NBA playoffs.