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SlamBall co-founder Mason Gordon spoke to Alex Kennedy about the sport's return, the new season on ESPN and much more.

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Today, the NBA and FIBA announced 80 of the top high-school-age prospects from across Africa who will participate in the 19th edition of Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa, which will be held July 28-31 at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) in South Africa.
BWB Africa 2023 will bring together 80 boys and girls from more than 25 African countries &ndash; including 19 NBA Academy Africa and NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022 prospects &ndash; to learn directly from current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and compete alongside their peers from across the continent.&nbsp;
The campers will be coached by two-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat; U.S.; ties to Nigeria), 2022 NBA All-Star Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers; U.S.), 2022 NBA champion Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors; Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic; U.S.).
Five current and former NBA head coaches will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches: Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff; two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Nigeria Men&rsquo;s National Team head coach and Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown; 2018 NBA Coach of the Year Dwane Casey (most recently with the Detroit Pistons); Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham; and veteran NBA coach Dave Joerger (most recently with the Philadelphia 76ers).
Several former NBA and WNBA players will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches, including 2015 FIBA AfroBasket champion Olumide Oyedeji (Nigeria), 2011 NBA champion Ian Mahinmi (France; ties Benin), former NBA player and Basketball Africa League Head of League Operations Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (Cameroon), former NBA player Tacko Fall (Senegal), 2003 WNBA champion Astou Ndiaye (Senegal), two-time WNBA champion Taj McWilliams-Franklin, four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes and Mozambique basketball legend Clarisse Machanguana.&nbsp;
Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman, Team President and Alternate NBA Governor Masai Ujiri; New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin; and Portland Trail Blazers Assistant General Manager Mike Schmitz will serve as camp directors, while David Crewe and Frank Adams (Phoenix Suns) will serve as the camp&rsquo;s athletic trainers.
The players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities, including movement efficiency drills, offensive and defensive skill stations, three-point contests, 5-on-5 games, and life skills and leadership development sessions.&nbsp;&nbsp;A ceremony on the final day of the camp will award the Kim Bohuny Camp MVP, the Patrick Baumann Sportsmanship Award, the B.J. Johnson Most Improved Player Award, the Three-Point Champion and the Defensive MVP to the boys and girls who distinguish themselves on the court and as leaders.
As part of the camp, NBA players and coaches will also participate in several community outreach initiatives around Johannesburg, including a hospital visit and a Her Time to Play seminar for the female campers on July 28, and a court unveiling in the Alexandra Township on Saturday, July 29.&nbsp; In addition, BWB Africa 2023 coaches will lead a development clinic for local coaches at AISJ on July 30.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Also on July 29, select&nbsp;NBA players&nbsp;will visit the NBA Store at Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg and engage with fans.
BWB Africa 2023 will be supported by Nike, a global partner of BWB since 2002, which will outfit participants with Nike apparel and footwear, and Gatorade, which will keep players and coaches hydrated throughout the camp.
BWB has reached more than 4,100 participants from 136 countries and territories since 2001, with 112 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA.&nbsp; The NBA and FIBA have staged 70 BWB camps in 47 cities across 32 countries on six continents.
The following is a complete list of players participating in the 19th&nbsp;BWB Africa camp (rosters subject to change):
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 447px;" width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 403px;" colspan="2">
GIRLS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ines Bellahmer
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Algeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Filomena Luis
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Guigma Sadia
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Burkina Faso
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Gisele Kipo*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Hannah Dibadjou
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Salma Khedr*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Leila El Sanadily
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aisha Hassan
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Lucie Mounganga
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Gabon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Sylla
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Guinea
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Roseline Ooko
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Harena Randriamasimanana
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fitahiana Ratsimason
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joanie Rakotonanahary
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Samake*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Oumou Soumare
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aya El Kallali*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Albertina Matsinhe*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Bata Lurdes*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Shanaya Matusse*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joy Biribebe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Benitha Ngarambe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Jane Dusabe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatou Sima
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Marie Diouf
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ndickou Matar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Tacko Sy
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Sheriffa Rahman
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Sierra Leone
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Onnetse Molokwame
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Luhle Ndaba
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Reneilwe Motebele
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Susan Peter
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Asunta Ring
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Nawasa Lazaro
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tanzania
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ibouanga Moussounda
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Togo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Arwa Ghorbel*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Eya Nasri
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Afef Bengoula
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Christine Namyalo
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Immaculate Adongpiny
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Participated in NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022
&nbsp;
<table width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 418.75px;" colspan="2" width="447">
BOYS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Aginaldo Neto*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Manuel Camboma*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Inacio Anatoli Da Silva
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Claudino Capangaa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sansao Wika
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Philippe Ntungicimpaye
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Burundi
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Arnold Eyadi Kenfack
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hermann Bel Gassina
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chris Naguidebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Central African Republic
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tahir Doungous*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Chad
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Zie Cheikh Conde
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tarek Khairy
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ahmed Nedale
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Karim El Gizawi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Courage Agbekpornu
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Ghana
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Kiggundu Austin Omondi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chouhaybou Keita
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mahamadou Konate
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hamza Bechchar
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bolaji Oderinlo
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sultan Baruwa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ibrahim Dan-Mutum
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jonah Precious
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ezekiel Obe*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Andre Bonazebi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jude Fred Nkouka Silaho
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khadim Mboup*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Assane Mandian*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Yakhya Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mouhamed Camara
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Siyanda Radebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Gilchrist Storm
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khaman Maluach*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Moses Marial Mandiria
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bol Wieu Mou Thet
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Lual Deng Lual Aguek
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Rayen Rouissi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amen Hammi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Liberty Fusire*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Zimbabwe
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*NBA Academy Africa prospect

Bam Adebayo, Darius Garland, Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Suggs will coach 80 top high-school-age prospects from across Africa.

Adebayo, Garland, Kuminga, Suggs to coach prospects at BWB Africa 2023

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

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; A&nbsp;fight broke out and punches were thrown&nbsp;during the game between the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Five players were ejected following the brawl, which started in front of the Orlando bench late in the third quarter. Minnesota guard Austin Rivers and Magic center Mo Bamba were the initial players involved, and it spilled over to include several others on the court.
Rivers, Jaden McDaniels and Taurean Prince were ejected from the Timberwolves. Jalen Suggs was tossed along with Bamba for Orlando, which went on to win 127-120.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The Target Center Tussle 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RaisedByWolves?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RaisedByWolves</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/7DPJwnELgS">pic.twitter.com/7DPJwnELgS</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1621704987012206595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t like a cool moment for me,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1621726026945396736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rivers said after the game.</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;I feel embarrassed. I&rsquo;m the oldest on the team. I consider myself the leader of the team, or one of the leaders of the team. It was a weird game, and I don&rsquo;t think that helped at all. If anything right now, I&rsquo;m just (ticked off) that we lost, and that I had (something) to do with that. It doesn&rsquo;t make me feel good.&rdquo;
Bamba and Suggs were not available for comment after the game.
&ldquo;You obviously want to have your teammate&rsquo;s back and at the same time, you&rsquo;ve got to be a professional,&rdquo; said Orlando center Moritz Wagner, also involved in a skirmish with Detroit in December.
&ldquo;So, that&rsquo;s a challenge for a young team like us. I think this time around we did a good job compared to last time. So, yeah, I don&rsquo;t really know. It&rsquo;s a weird dynamic. You don&rsquo;t really want to be in those situations and it&rsquo;s not really the best look. You want to be professional. At the same time, there is something in me that appreciates the team sticking together like that.&rdquo;
Wagner appeared to get knocked out in that fight with the Pistons in Detroit. Wagner and Detroit&rsquo;s Killian Hayes and Hamadou Diallo were all ejected.
On this night, the fight began with Rivers right in front of the Magic bench as play was ongoing at the far end of the court. Bamba came off the bench and Rivers threw punches at him. Suggs later pulled Rivers away and swung him to the court. McDaniels and Prince joined the scrum.
&ldquo;Their guy came off the bench and threw a punch,&rdquo; Timberwolves coach&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1621722960921772033" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Finch said</a>. &ldquo;Pretty egregious. Then it&rsquo;s a melee, and somehow our guys get punished a lot worse. One guy got sent for not being a peacekeeper. I just looked at the film, and I didn&rsquo;t see any difference between what their guys were doing and what our guys were doing.&rdquo;
The altercation seemed to stem from talk from the Magic bench, particularly Bamba. A few moments earlier, Rivers missed a 3-point attempt in front of the Orlando bench, and Bamba and Markelle Fultz could be seen reacting to the miss.
Rivers said he approached the 7-foot, 231-pound Bamba about his comments.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not gonna snitch on the dude or whatever, but I just didn&rsquo;t like the way he was talking to me,&rdquo; said Rivers, listed at 6-4 and 200 pounds. &ldquo;For no reason, too. I don&rsquo;t even know that dude. I don&rsquo;t know anything about him. Obviously, I just know he&rsquo;s a player for the Magic. And he proceeded to talk, so that next possession, when I went down there, I just said, pretty much, &lsquo;Just keep it respectful, bro.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Rivers later added: &ldquo;I went up to him and I pressed him, and at that point, it can go one of two ways. I didn&rsquo;t think we were going to get in a fight. But when you stand up that fast and put your hands up &mdash; he threw a punch and missed, thankfully. At that point, I&rsquo;ve got to protect myself. Ain&rsquo;t no one worried about him.&rdquo;
The fight came one night after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-donovan-mitchell-dillon-brooks-get-into-scuffle-cleveland-cavaliers-memphis-grizzlies-react-ja-morant-darius-garland-taylor-jenkins-jb-bickerstaff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an on-court altercation between Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell.</a>
Brooks swung and struck Mitchell in the groin area during the third quarter Thursday after the Grizzlies guard had fallen to the floor. Mitchell retaliated by throwing the ball at Brooks and then shoving him.
Both players were ejected from Cleveland&rsquo;s 128-113 win. Afterward,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-donovan-mitchell-dillon-brooks-get-into-scuffle-cleveland-cavaliers-memphis-grizzlies-react-ja-morant-darius-garland-taylor-jenkins-jb-bickerstaff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mitchell accused Brooks of being a dirty player.</a>
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dillon-brooks-suspended-one-game-donovan-mitchell-fined-20000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The NBA announced punishments for both players</a>&nbsp;Friday, with Brooks getting suspended one game without pay and Mitchell fined $20,000.

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In Orlando's win over Minnesota, Wolves guard Austin Rivers and Magic center Mo Bamba got into a fight that led to five ejections.

Magic top Timberwolves after 5 players ejected for fighting

Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has been fined $20,000 for their roles in an on-court altercation, it was announced today by NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
"After missing a layup and falling to the floor, Brooks initiated the altercation by striking Mitchell in the groin area in an unsportsmanlike manner," the NBA's press release stated. "Mitchell then escalated the situation by throwing the game ball at Brooks and pushing him, after which both players continued to physically engage with one another."
Brooks was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, and Mitchell was given a technical foul and ejected.
The incident occurred with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Cavaliers&rsquo; 128-113 victory over the Grizzlies on Feb. 2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Brooks will serve his suspension Sunday, Feb. 5 when the Grizzlies play host to the Toronto Raptors.
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After the game, Mitchell was asked if Brooks' hit was a cheap shot and he didn't hold back.
&ldquo;For sure. That&rsquo;s just who he is. We have seen it a bunch in this league with him," Mitchell <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-donovan-mitchell-dillon-brooks-get-into-scuffle-cleveland-cavaliers-memphis-grizzlies-react-ja-morant-darius-garland-taylor-jenkins-jb-bickerstaff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Basketball News</a>. "Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly I&rsquo;ve been busting his ass for years &mdash; playoffs, regular season. And the one game he does an alright job on me today, he decides to do something like that. No place for that in the game.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta protect yourself at the end of the day. This has been brewing for years&mdash; with me, with other guys in the league. You all see it. This isn&rsquo;t new. Tonight was just the end of it. It&rsquo;s tough when you can&rsquo;t guard somebody and you can&rsquo;t do something with somebody, you&rsquo;ve got to resort to that. And that is what he has done to a lot of players. Off the top of my head, I think it&rsquo;s like Dame [Lillard] and Steph [Curry]. It&rsquo;s just one of those things you resort to and that&rsquo;s cool, but I&rsquo;m glad my guys held it down tonight and had my back throughout the whole thing...
"The NBA has to do something about it. I&rsquo;m not the only person this has happened to, and there&rsquo;s no place for that in this game. I took matters into my own hands. But at the end of the day, that ain&rsquo;t it."

After their skirmish on Thursday night, Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game and Donovan Mitchell was fined $20,000.

Dillon Brooks suspended one game, Donovan Mitchell fined $20,000

Thursday night&rsquo;s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies was a showcase of the brightest young talents the NBA has to offer.
Both teams were trading runs, as Ja Morant and Darius Garland took turns getting into the paint and finishing or finding their guys for great looks. Evan Mobley would not be denied on the offensive glass, and his aggressive ascent continued. Desmond Bane was firing on all cylinders from distance.
Then, the game abruptly came to a halt when Mobley blocked Dillon Brooks on a fastbreak opportunity. As Donovan Mitchell came up with the loose-ball rebound near the baseline, a grounded Brooks rolled into his ankle and, with his left hand, struck Mitchell in the groin.&nbsp;
Mitchell tossed the ball back at Brooks in disgust and promptly shoved him. Chaos ensued.
As both sides tried to de-escalate the situation, the two were separated. After a review of the play, Mitchell was ejected for a &ldquo;hostile act&rdquo; while Brooks was handed a Flagrant 2 penalty and also tossed.
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Spida and Dillon Brooks get CHIPPY 😳 <a href="https://t.co/jGhYHa8VAS">pic.twitter.com/jGhYHa8VAS</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1621333727543721984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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With a five-point advantage at that point in the third quarter, the Cavs ended up going on a 23-11 run that bled over into the opening part of the fourth quarter. Cleveland did not relinquish the lead, and ended up victorious over Memphis by a final of 128-113.
After the contest, unplanned and knowing the financial ramifications to come, Mitchell requested to speak on the matter. When asked if he felt it was a cheap shot, the All-Star guard did not hold back his feelings about Brooks, whom he&rsquo;s encountered plenty of times.
&ldquo;Yeah. For sure. That&rsquo;s just who he is. We have seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I&rsquo;ve been busting his ass for years &mdash; playoffs, regular season. And the one game he does an alright job on me today, he decides to do something like that. No place for that in the game,&rdquo; Mitchell said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta protect yourself at the end of the day. This has been brewing for years&mdash; with me, with other guys in the league. You all see it. This isn&rsquo;t new. Tonight was just the end of it. It&rsquo;s tough when you can&rsquo;t guard somebody and you can&rsquo;t do something with somebody, you&rsquo;ve got to resort to that. And that is what he has done to a lot of players. Off the top of my head, I think it&rsquo;s like Dame [Lillard] and Steph [Curry]. It&rsquo;s just one of those things you resort to and that&rsquo;s cool, but I&rsquo;m glad my guys held it down tonight and had my back throughout the whole thing.&rdquo;
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Mitchell continued to address the matter with Brooks.
&ldquo;We have been talking nonstop, but I wouldn&rsquo;t say [it's ever gotten] to this extent. There&rsquo;s always been talk. You can go back. I think it was like two years ago, regular season, 30 points a game (against him), it&rsquo;s nonstop talking back and forth. That was cool when we were just talking. But that right there, a line has to be drawn," Mitchell said. "The NBA has to do something about it. I&rsquo;m not the only person this has happened to, and there&rsquo;s no place for that in this game. I took matters into my own hands. But at the end of the day, that ain&rsquo;t it.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think it would be like that. Maybe the jawing back and forth, which is part of the game and it&rsquo;s cool or whatever, but when you have a cheap shot like that &ndash; there was no need to do that. I wasn&rsquo;t expecting that and then, that&rsquo;s just how I reacted. If you just can&rsquo;t guard somebody then just say that or just get a switch. You know what I mean? That&rsquo;s what it is. It is what it is.&rdquo;
In the Grizzlies&rsquo; locker room, with Morant coming to his teammate&rsquo;s defense and telling reporters to only ask his teammate about the game itself, Brooks didn&rsquo;t have much to say other than that his Flagrant 2 saved him a couple of technical fouls.
&ldquo;I just think people don&rsquo;t like me,&rdquo; Brooks said.
Morant denied any kind of previous tension or history regarding his team and Mitchell, and shared his opinion on the matter in a broader context of NBA teams.
&ldquo;I ain&rsquo;t gonna speak on the play. I&rsquo;mma just speak on pretty much everything. Anything when it comes to negative with the Grizzlies, we normally get the punishments. It ain&rsquo;t the same. They hate us... We don&rsquo;t like them. I&rsquo;m standing on that. That&rsquo;s how it is though. It&rsquo;s a little situation going on now, I ain&rsquo;t gonna speak on it yet, but if some sh** don&rsquo;t change, y&rsquo;all will gonna hear me speak on it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t got no history with nobody. We don&rsquo;t beef with nobody. They don&rsquo;t like us. We speak our mind, we put pressure on &lsquo;em, we talk to &lsquo;em. Some people ain&rsquo;t built for it. They don&rsquo;t like it, and I feel like that&rsquo;s why teams always get in that match with us. But every time, we&rsquo;re gonna stand on all 10, ride for our guys, gonna step. Whatever comes together... We&rsquo;re brothers. We put in the work each and every day together. So anytime we&rsquo;re out on that floor, we&rsquo;re out there battling together. Anything else comes, we&rsquo;re gonna do it together.&rdquo;
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While Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins was mum on the subject and praised the referees for how they handled the altercation, he said &ldquo;it was competitive and we try to stand for our teammates.&rdquo; Jenkins had a conversation with Brooks and kept the details private.&nbsp;
On the Cavs end, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn&rsquo;t appreciate what went down and didn&rsquo;t think Mitchell deserved to get tossed from the game.
&ldquo;If somebody makes a play like that, you should have the right to stand up for yourself. That was a cheap shot in multiple ways," Bickerstaff said. "You roll a guy's ankle and then obviously whatever was next out of there, a guy should have the right to stand up for himself. I thought Donovan did that. That's one thing, I'm proud of our guys; we don't have those guys that start sh**, but we got guys that don't run from sh**. You have to in this league, you have to stand up for yourself. That's what he did and that's why his teammates had his back."
&ldquo;I mean, it was a dirty play from the other dude over there. Tried to hit him in his groin area,&rdquo; Garland added. &ldquo;So, [Donovan] just had to project himself. Guys protect themselves. We just rallied behind him and protected our team. That&rsquo;s all it was. We&rsquo;re no sissies over here. We&rsquo;re not going for all the little cheap shots and stuff like that. Everybody's happy that Don did protect himself and everybody rallied behind him as well. So it was good team camaraderie right there.&rdquo;
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&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not no sissies. We not just gonna back down.&rdquo; Darius Garland offers his perspective on the Donovan Mitchell/Dillon Brooks (&ldquo;the other dude over there&rdquo;) tussle. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/93ssUP6RDz">pic.twitter.com/93ssUP6RDz</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1621378544306720770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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When asked to discuss Bickerstaff&rsquo;s comments about opponents mistaking Cleveland&rsquo;s kindness for weakness, Garland described the Cavs&rsquo; attitude in his eyes.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re some nice young men until you try to do some weird stuff like the dude did over there. We&rsquo;re still tough, though. We&rsquo;re a tough group. We&rsquo;ve got some guys that get after you and we&rsquo;re going to fight back if you try to push us first,&rdquo; Garland said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not soft or anything. We&rsquo;re still some dogs, as I always say, and we&rsquo;ll never back down from nobody, never lay down for nobody, especially those guys over there. We&rsquo;re two of the top young teams in this league, so whenever we battle out, it&rsquo;s going to be a tough one. And that goes for everybody else in this league, as well. We&rsquo;re not going to lay down for nobody.&rdquo;
Citing previous examples with others, Mitchell believes there should be some kind of punishment for Brooks&rsquo; actions.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, I think my reaction was honestly just for me was reacting to a cheap shot. You know what I mean? This has been a habit for years and this isn't new to anybody in this room. And if punishment doesn't come from that, he&rsquo;s just going to keep doing that. It&rsquo;s just dumb, to be honest with you. Just dumb. It's just dumb and I'm going to appeal (the ejection) because I don't think I should've gotten ejected for defending myself, to be honest.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to say like, &lsquo;Oh it should be this, it should be that.&rsquo; But it should be something. Like I said, this isn't just a Donovan thing. This has happened to other players throughout this league. And it's bullshit. If we're being honest with you, it's complete bullsh**. There's one thing, you&rsquo;ve got Ja, you&rsquo;ve got Bane, Jaren Jackson, those guys &mdash; they talk shit and that's fine. That's all part of basketball. We all grew up playing that way. But when you start doing little cheap sh** like that, that ain't it. That's honestly where my frustration lies. It's not about talking back and forth with us, that's whatever; the extra bumps, whatever, that's cool. But when you start doing little stuff like that, what are we really doing?&rdquo;
The Cavs and Grizzlies ended up splitting the season series with two highly intense meetings. Both teams are fighting in their respective conferences and making plenty of noise. After Thursday, it&rsquo;s clear that these squads are holding their ground.

Spencer Davies goes behind the scenes of Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks' altercation in the Cavs-Grizzlies game.

Donovan Mitchell, Dillon Brooks get into scuffle; Cavs, Grizzlies react

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves got a huge boost from their bench in a 110-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Naz Reid scored 17 of Minnesota&rsquo;s 56 bench points, while Jalen Nowell had 16. Luka Garza added nine for the short-handed Wolves.
Minnesota was without Rudy Gobert for the second half due to right groin soreness, and Jaden McDaniels picked up his fifth foul just 2:37 into the second half.
That presented opportunities for Minnesota's other big men to play a bigger role.
&ldquo;I thought Naz really came alive in that second half,&rdquo; Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. &ldquo;I thought he played well all game, but he really stepped up in Rudy&rsquo;s absence, gave us some emotional play as well with the big dunks.&rdquo;
Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen both scored 19 points for Cleveland, and Darius Garland added 15. Donovan Mitchell, who was questionable for Saturday&rsquo;s game with an illness, finished with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Cleveland led 80-77 after three, but the Wolves controlled the fourth quarter and led by as much as 13. Minnesota fed off the energy of Reid, who had three big dunks to bring Target Center fans to their feet.
Garza joked postgame that Reid dunked on Cleveland's entire roster Saturday.
&ldquo;Put the ball in the rim. If I&rsquo;ve got to put them in the rim, they've got to go in the rim, too,&rdquo; Reid said. &ldquo;The mentality is to win, so if that's what I've got to do to win, that's what I'm going to do.&rdquo;
Garza provided a lift down low for Minnesota, playing tough defense against Mobley. Garza also hit a 3-pointer early in the third to tie the game at 80, eliciting chants from the home crowd.
&ldquo;The crowd feeds into it, and I try to pick up off that momentum and help us continue what they started on that run,&rdquo; Garza said.
The Wolves have won six of their last seven games, including two straight on back-to-back nights.
Cleveland finished 2-3 on its five-game road trip.
&ldquo;I just think tonight, we had too many mental lapses,&rdquo; said Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff. &ldquo;We didn't play well enough to win. The Timberwolves outplayed us. I think it's that simple."
After the Wolves got within three early in the third, Cleveland went on an 11-2 run to take a 65-53 lead. Minnesota later used a 10-0 run of its own to cut Cleveland&rsquo;s lead to 69-65. Austin Rivers and Edwards both hit from 3-point range during that stretch.
&ldquo;I think this is one of our more mature wins,&rdquo; Finch said.
Minnesota outscored Cleveland in the paint, 60-52. The Cavs entered Saturday's game with the best defensive rating in the league (109.2) but struggled against the Wolves' offense down the stretch.
&ldquo;Those were just breakdowns,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;Giving up 33 points in the fourth quarter, our defense wasn't at its usual.&rdquo;
STANDING O FOR LOVE AND RUBIO
Former Timberwolves Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love checked into Saturday&rsquo;s game together and received a nice ovation from the crowd in Minneapolis. Love spent his first six seasons in Minnesota, while Rubio &mdash; playing in his second game of the season after returning from a torn ACL &mdash; played seven total seasons with the Wolves. That included a one-year return during the 2020-21 season, Finch&rsquo;s first as coach.
&ldquo;He was great to coach, a true professional,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;I know he made a lasting impression on Anthony (Edwards). He still talks about some of the things that Ricky had said to him. Loved coaching him.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Mobley was slow to get up in the second quarter after drawing a charge from Edwards and was helped to the bench, but he later returned.
Timberwolves: Edwards was charged with a technical foul late in the third quarter. &hellip; Saturday was the 11th game this season for Edwards with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
&nbsp;

Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102.

Edwards, bench lift Wolves to 110-102 victory over Cavs

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Sometimes, the ideal scenario doesn't unfold the way you hope.
For Donovan Mitchell, the alternative could actually become the best-case solution for his career long-term.
Exiting the Utah Jazz's rebuild has now vaulted Mitchell into a position where he can reap the benefits in spades as the Cleveland Cavaliers' new star shooting guard flanked by multiple All-Star teammates.
During his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-donovan-mitchell-intro-press-conference-cleveland-cavaliers-darius-garland-caris-levert-koby-altman-jb-bickertstaff-utah-jazz-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introductory press conference in Cleveland on Wednesday</a>, Mitchell opened up about the topsy-turvy period where his future was in limbo. Mitchell knew the writing was on the wall for months, but the end result certainly caught him by surprise, as the Jazz tore it all down in a full-scale rebuild. Both Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were shipped off for seven future first-round picks and a number of intriguing young players to develop under new head coach Will Hardy, whose vision is being put together in Salt Lake City.
&ldquo;Yeah, obviously all summer I didn&rsquo;t say much. But for me it was once Rudy got traded I kind of saw the writing on the wall. I think we all did. I think we understood we had a good run,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;I kind of had a feeling that I was going to get moved. I thought it was New York, I&rsquo;m not going to lie to you all. Who doesn&rsquo;t want to be home next to their mom? I haven&rsquo;t lived at home since I was like in the eighth grade, I&rsquo;ve been in boarding school, it would have been nice.
"But for me, once I found out I got traded and what we&rsquo;re going into, that trumped everything for me. I&rsquo;m truly excited to be here, be part of this group, be part of this city. You saw I had the Cavs jersey on when I was like 5 or 6, whatever it was. I was a LeBron fan, but I was a Cleveland fan. My man&rsquo;s over there (PA announcer Ahmaad Crump) saying Cleveland Cavaliers; I was saying that at the house. It&rsquo;s crazy how life comes full circle. Being able to be a part of that, between the fire and the intros, I remember the little things, I love playing in this arena. So to be here, I&rsquo;m truly excited.&rdquo;
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Mitchell's public peeling of the curtain for the first time since his departure brought forth some interesting details. Not only did Mitchell believe he was gone after Gobert&rsquo;s move to the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 1, but he&rsquo;s put in the hours of work to rebound from another unceremonious postseason exit.
&ldquo;Yes and no. I mean, I had a feeling,&rdquo; Mitchell said of his exit from Utah. &ldquo;You guys (the media) do what you guys do and there's always articles about it, about what could happen. No matter how much you try to ignore it, I'm not gonna be naive; we all have phones, we have technology, we have Twitter, we have Instagram. So we see it. But that wasn't a thought during the year. After we lost, that wasn't a thought for a little bit. Pretty much every question after we lost, I really wasn't thinking about it.
"But for me, I came into the summer... the last season for me wasn't my best. And no matter what situation, no matter where I was at, not matter how we were gonna go about it, I had to come back and be the best version of myself and just put that work in. Left the season healthy; I came in, my ankle's feeling good, and the thing for me, that was just a blessing itself being able to come into a summer ready to go. Obviously, it happened and things change, and I'm blessed.&rdquo;
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Donovan Mitchell candidly said he thought he'd end up home in New York this offseason, but when he found out he was heading to the up-and-coming <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a>, he "couldn't be happier to be here." <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/QHWBPBsw2a">pic.twitter.com/QHWBPBsw2a</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1570141099825721344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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With the Knicks always out in front of the Mitchell sweepstakes, the New York native was already having visions of playing inside Madison Square Garden for years to come. A homecoming for Mitchell remained at the forefront of his mind as he awaited his true fate, but the process leading him to an even more stacked roster with long-term sustainability instantly washed those feelings away of not ending up a Knick.
&ldquo;Yeah, so I honestly had no idea," Mitchell admitted. "AB (Mitchell&rsquo;s agent Austin Brown) called me on a Wednesday and said, 'You&rsquo;re going to Cleveland.' And like I said, my reaction was what it was. But all summer I really didn&rsquo;t say much, I just kind of let you guys do what you guys do and I thought for sure I was going back home, I&rsquo;m not going to lie about that.
"But when I found out where I was headed and who I was playing with, the group, the team, the coaching staff, I couldn&rsquo;t be more happier to be here, and be a part of this organization and be part of this group to join each and all of those guys, the attitude and I&rsquo;m truly excited about it... 
Now forming one of the most well-balanced starting units in the East, Mitchell and the Cavaliers are poised to make serious noise in 2021-22 and beyond. Cleveland knows the risk it took shipping off control of its drafts to Utah through 2029, but the investment into its young core adding in the star was too good to pass up on. A three-year recruiting pitch to Mitchell is well underway, and the win-loss results will be monitored closely until his player option decision arrives in 2025.
Until then, Mitchell knows what lies in front of him. This is a golden opportunity to boost his stock and become the missing element to a sleeping giant of a contender.
Now, the fun part starts beginning the next chapter of his career in Cleveland alongside Garland, Mobley, Allen and a roster ready to reach heights he and the Cavs hope could surpass what he accomplished in Utah.

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Donovan Mitchell ecstatic to bring experience to young, 'fun' Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji in a sign-and-trade, multiple sources confirmed to Basketball News. Sexton and the Jazz agreed to terms on a four-year, $72 million contract agreement, per Yahoo's Chris Haynes.
The Cavs will also send three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029) and two future pick swaps (2026, 2028) in the deal. The news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. 
Sources told Basketball News that the deal "all came together in the last 24 hours." This is a swing-for-the-fences type of move by the Cavs, who clearly believe that they had to add another superstar to complement their up-and-coming star in Darius Garland, along with the team's promising two young bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. With a majority of the Eastern Conference improving with huge offseason moves &mdash; such as Dejounte Murray heading to the Atlanta Hawks and Malcolm Brogdon going to the Boston Celtics &mdash; Cleveland joined the party by bringing in a bona fide superstar in Mitchell.
Fit shouldn't be too much of an issue for "Spida," as he'll slide into the 2-guard role that Sexton occupied for the last two seasons (before getting hurt early last year). For a number of months now, the Cavs have discussed taking some of the playmaking burden off of Garland so he can get loose and work away from the ball. Mitchell's ability to create for others has improved year-by-year, and there's no worrying about him creating space to get his own shot off. We definitely know how well Garland and his new backcourt partner can score the ball, but watching them work in sync could be poetry in motion. And while delegating between the two might be shaky at first, once some cohesiveness is established, it'll be on.
If you're into simple counting numbers, Mitchell adds about 26 points per game to this roster that was missing. (Sexton's absence was very much felt last season.) Donovan's True Shooting percentage was the highest of his career to boot (57.2%), and he also contributed a career-high 27.7% assist rate.
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Defensively, we know Mitchell had his flaws last season; however, the personnel Cleveland has in place with Mobley and Allen should take some of that pressure off of him. They are both rim-protecting (and switching, in Evan's case) monsters in their own unique way, which should cover for both smaller guards if they get beat, as we've seen in the past.
It will be interesting to see what Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff does with his rotation, as Cleveland lost its starting small forward in this deal as well. Will he elect to try Mobley at the 3 and possibly go back to Kevin Love at the 4 to keep "big ball" going? Will there be a three-guard lineup between Garland, Mitchell and Caris LeVert? Does the team trust Isaac Okoro enough offensively to give him his starting spot back?
Those are likely the most prominent questions on everybody's minds with Cleveland.
As for the Jazz, they have slammed the reset button. It started with the Rudy Gobert trade to Minnesota, and ended by sending Mitchell packing to Cleveland. Now, they've got some intriguing young pieces to work with.
Kudos to Utah general manager Justin Zanik and executive Danny Ainge for bringing in two solid starters and a lottery-pick rookie in this move. Sexton is a straight-up dog as a scorer, an intense competitor and one of the best culture pieces the Jazz could bring in. He's improved as a three-point shooter, has become a better passer over the years and will never shy away from crunch time. While he must improve defensively, the desire and ball pressure are there.
Markkanen is a stretch 4 who can spread the floor, attack off the dribble in an unorthodox manner and is long enough to be disruptive on defense. His biggest issue to overcome is his inconsistency. Agbaji hasn't even stepped foot on the floor yet, but at Summer League in Las Vegas, he had a pair of games where he was lights out from distance and was well balanced with his shooting form.
We'll see how the new-look Jazz operate under head coach Will Hardy. Utah also recently brought in Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, while also trading for Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. One thing is for sure, Zanik and Ainge retooled this roster in a big way, and with all of those guards and veterans, they're probably not done. It'll be intriguing to see how this team comes together at the end.
Even with Cleveland growing organically, step-by-step, the team obviously felt this was an opportunity it couldn't pass up. This front office is quite meticulous when it comes to the importance of chemistry and not messing with a good thing, and that showed last season by how fun this locker room truly was.
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Cavs president Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey have shaken things up with a colossal blockbuster, and were successful in keeping their core three pieces together. For that, they should be commended. Mitchell and Sexton are similar in some aspects of their game and their stature; with that said, the former is further along into his career with plenty of memorable playoff moments and experiences, as well as three All-Star appearances.
On paper, Cleveland is boasting a deep, talented roster with some solid balance. Barring any health setbacks, the 26-year-old Mitchell should fit like a glove offensively. Yes, Garland's usage will take a bit of a hit; maybe that's a good thing. He was out of gas when the Play-In Tournament came around. Honestly, the whole team was.
But adding a talent like Mitchell to the fold means you can trust two incredible ball-handlers and stagger them, if need be, and let the chips fall where they may.
Mitchell is locked in for the next three years of his contract, with a player option in 2025-26. Garland just inked a rookie max extension. Allen is in it for the long haul. You'll have to imagine Evan Mobley will be in line to sign the dotted line. The Cavs are not messing around and have a loaded core going forward.
Maybe that'll finally quiet the LeBron James rumors, huh?

Spencer Davies offers his instant reaction to the shocking trade of Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Instant reaction: Cavs swing for fences with Donovan Mitchell trade

Kevin Love and Darius Garland scored 22 points apiece, and the Cleveland Cavaliers tied their franchise record with 46 points in the third quarter of a 144-99 rout over the COVID-19 depleted Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.
Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and Garland had eight assists for Cleveland, which led by 47 points twice late in the fourth. The Cavaliers won their fifth in a row at home and made 22 3-pointers in a team-record 52 attempts.
It was Cleveland&rsquo;s largest victory margin of the season and the first time Toronto has lost by more than 17 points in 2021-22. The Cavaliers had 39 assists, two shy of the most in the NBA this season.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re lucky to be in this position where we&rsquo;ve got such a good thing going on,&rdquo; Markkanen said. &ldquo;We play hard and we play unselfish basketball. Once we brought the energy we needed, the floodgates just kind of opened up after that.&rdquo;
Yuta Watanabe posted career highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto, and Chris Boucher scored 21 points. The Raptors have 10 players in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols, including top scorer Fred VanVleet, rookie Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam.
&ldquo;We had to take a pretty good loss tonight, but we&rsquo;ll bounce back,&rdquo; Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. &ldquo;It was a good game for Yuta, and that&rsquo;s about it.&rdquo;
Toronto&rsquo;s eight-man active roster &mdash; featuring four hardship signees &mdash; had never been together until holding a brief practice on the main court at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse before the game. D.J. Wilson had 15 points and eight rebounds in his team debut.
&ldquo;We met those guys on the bus on the way to the arena,&rdquo; Watanabe said. &ldquo;Because we weren&rsquo;t permitted to do anything together the last few days, I spent a lot of time in the gym by myself putting up shots. That&rsquo;s all you could do.&rdquo;
The Raptors&rsquo; previous two games were postponed when they could not suit up the required eight players. Boucher, Watanabe, Svi Mykhailiuk and Dalano Banton were the only holdovers from their pre-outbreak squad.
Denzel Valentine had 17 points and nine rebounds, Dean Wade scored 17 points, and Ricky Rubio had 16 points and six assists for Cleveland. Love grabbed nine boards and Tacko Fall had three points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a good thing going and I&rsquo;m having a lot of fun,&rdquo; Love said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be great watching this young team develop. We know we&rsquo;re going to get everyone&rsquo;s best shot at us going forward, so I hope 2022 is a year of growth.&rdquo;
Rookie Evan Mobley and center Jarrett Allen were among seven Cavaliers sidelined because of the safety protocols. Cleveland has the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 20-13.
&ldquo;The Raptors came out and played hard, but as the game went on, we were more physical and that obviously took a toll on them,&rdquo; Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
TIP-INS
Raptors: G Gary Trent Jr., F Precious Achiuwa, F OG Anunoby, C Khem Birch, F Isaac Bonga, F Justin Champagnie and G Malachi Flynn also are in the health and safety protocols. &hellip; G Goran Dragic (personal reasons) and G David Johnson (left calf strain) were officially active, but unavailable. &hellip; F D.J. Wilson, F Juwan Morgan, C Daniel Oturu and G Tremont Waters are on 10-day contracts via roster exceptions.
Cavaliers: G Isaac Okoro missed his third straight game as he works on his conditioning after being cleared from the safety protocols. &hellip; F Cedi Osman was added to the protocols earlier in the day, joining C Ed Davis, G RJ Nembhard, G Lamar Stevens and F Dylan Windler. &hellip; Cleveland leads the East and ranks third in the NBA with 15 double-digit victories. The Cavaliers&rsquo; last 11 wins have been by at least 10 points.
CHRISTMAS GIFT
Bickerstaff, who was promoted to the job on Feb. 19, 2020, signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday morning. The son of longtime NBA coach and current Cleveland senior advisor Bernie Bickerstaff took over a team in disarray following the resignation of John Beilein. &ldquo;If you look at our roster, we&rsquo;ve got guys locked in here for a long time,&rdquo; said Bickerstaff, who is 47-69 with the Cavaliers. &ldquo;Now, with this coaching staff, we&rsquo;re locked in for a long time, too.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Raptors: Host Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Cavaliers: Visit New Orleans on Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers tied their franchise record with 46 points in the third quarter of a 144-99 rout over the depleted Raptors.

Love, Garland score 22 as Cavs rout depleted Raptors 144-99

Nekias Duncan previews the Southeast Division for the 2021-22 NBA season.

2021-22 NBA Season Preview: Southeast Division

In arguably the most important offseason in Portland Trail Blazers&rsquo; history (given what&rsquo;s at stake with Damian Lillard's future), the front office needed a marquee move. After re-signing Norman Powell and adding role players such as Cody Zeller, Tony Snell and Ben McLemore in free agency, Neil Olshey and Co. acquired one of the league&rsquo;s most underrated and versatile players: Larry Nance Jr.
The Blazers landed Nance in exchange for Derrick Jones Jr. and a protected first-round pick as part of a three-team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls. Last season, Nance averaged 9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 47.1% from the field and 36.0% from three.
At one point in January, Nance ranked first among all NBA players in steal percentage (3.3%), steals per game (2.4), deflections per game (4.8) and loose-balls recovered (21), while also ranking second in defensive win shares (.9). While he only played 35 games due to injuries (including a fractured finger), he finished the season ranked fourth in steal percentage (2.8%), fourth in steals per game (1.7) and sixth in deflections per game (3.4).&nbsp;
Cleveland went from having the NBA&rsquo;s 30th-ranked defense in 2019-20 (allowing 113.6 points per 100 possessions) to climbing as high as No. 1 in the NBA (allowing 103.3 points per 100 possessions) before he was sidelined. Nance was a huge reason for this improvement, and now he&rsquo;ll try to help the Blazers&rsquo; 29th-ranked defense undergo a similar turnaround.
BasketballNews.com caught up with Nance to discuss his recent trade request, his departure from his hometown Cavaliers, his excitement about joining Portland, his goals for the upcoming season, his fit with the Blazers, becoming a father and more.
In your Cleveland.com <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2021/08/larry-nance-jr-cleveland-will-always-be-home-for-the-nances-its-in-our-blood.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a>, you explained that this trade was a collaboration with the Cavaliers' front office and that you had expressed a desire to join a win-now team. When did you decide that you wanted to move on from the Cavs and find a new home?&nbsp;
Larry Nance Jr.: &ldquo;I kind of realized it midway through or toward the end of last year. It was a really tough year for me, individually, and for us as a team &ndash; with me having an injury-riddled season, unfortunately. But more so it kind of happened just throughout that year, just trying to get excited about the future of the team and where we were headed and all of that. That team has an unbelievably bright future and, like I said in the article, I think they&rsquo;re going to be really, really, really good &ndash; but just, unfortunately, not in the timeframe that I have. If I was 22, there might not be a better place in the world for me. But being 28, I&rsquo;ve just been dying to get back to the playoffs, especially after watching some of these playoff series and seeing these guys who play the same position and do the same things as me; they are me to a T. So, I wanted to jump on the opportunity [to compete now], and Portland is an unbelievable spot for that.&rdquo;
You&rsquo;ve said that watching Bobby Portis and P.J. Tucker step up for the Bucks during their championship run made you realize that you could do a lot of those same things for a contender. Do you feel like you could be that kind of presence that pushes a team over the top? And what exactly was going through your head when you watched those guys?
Nance: &ldquo;First of all, Bobby is a good friend of mine, so I was happy as heck for him. He&rsquo;s the ultimate competitor. But also, seeing that was so much of, &lsquo;Oh man, those are plays that I make every single game in Cleveland, and it&rsquo;s just not really necessary,&rsquo; or, &lsquo;They aren&rsquo;t ready for that kind of impact to be made&hellip;&rsquo;&rdquo;
Yeah, the stakes are different.
Nance: &ldquo;Yeah, it&rsquo;s just different. So watching a guy like Bobby and watching a guy like P.J. and watching all of those guys who fit that mold around the league, they&rsquo;re kind of the unsung [heroes]. I don&rsquo;t need any plays run for me, just like P.J. doesn&rsquo;t need any plays run for him. And even if you look at the box score and [their impact] doesn&rsquo;t show up in terms of numbers, their coach can&rsquo;t take them off of the court because they're so important.&rdquo;
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Knowing how much you love Cleveland, deciding to move on must have been really difficult and bittersweet.
Nance: &ldquo;It was not easy. It was really difficult. My house in Cleveland is seven minutes from where I grew up, seven minutes from my parents, 10 minutes from my sister and five minutes from the high school that I went to, so it was a situation that I adored for so many reasons. That community has been so good to me, and it was a really hard decision to make. But at the end of the day, your career is so short. And especially when you get a chance to come to a team like this with a player like Dame [Lillard] and C.J. [McCollum], it&rsquo;s really hard to pass up.&rdquo;
Because this was a mutual thing, were you kept in the loop on what was happening as Cleveland weighed their options? How did you find out about the trade?&nbsp;
Nance: &ldquo;I found out how you&rsquo;re supposed to find out: Koby [Altman] called me and my agent called me, so I got a chance to call my family and let them know before the news broke. Hats off to Koby and the entire front office for that because they handled it much better than previous situations I&rsquo;ve been in... (laughs) It was great. I was actually on a plane to Miami and I found out via phone call, so it was easy. I got to call my wife. But the hardest call was definitely to my parents. I had gone to them before and kinda told them, &lsquo;Hey, you guys, just so you know, here&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m thinking. I just want to keep you guys in the loop.&rsquo;&rdquo;
We've talked about how you had a unique connection with Cavs fans since you grew up in Cleveland rooting for the Cavs and Browns. After this trade, there was an outpouring of love and support from fans who were sad to see you go. How did that feel?
Nance: &ldquo;It was great. It means the world that my hometown thinks so highly of me and wanted me to stay, and that&rsquo;s something that I absolutely will not take for granted. I love them. That&rsquo;s my community; I am a Cavs [fan] &ndash; that was me at one point! It was great to see. But at the same time, I also wanted to put the article out there to let them know, &lsquo;Hey, this is not a time for you guys to be mad at the front office or do anything like that because, at the end of the day, this was my decision. You should be excited about your team.&rsquo; And just because I&rsquo;m not in Cleveland anymore and just because I&rsquo;m playing for the Blazers doesn&rsquo;t mean I won&rsquo;t be keeping one eye on the Cavs and wishing Darius Garland and Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro and all of the young guys well. I just don&rsquo;t want them to win two times a year. That&rsquo;s it!&rdquo;&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/larry2_fullsize_lg.jpg" alt="" width="675" height="450" />
When you were on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-larry-nance-jr-cleveland-cavaliers-kevin-love-draymond-green-small-businesses-crohns-sexland-collin-darius-drummond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my podcast</a> earlier this year, you talked about studying Draymond Green and trying to have a similar impact on games. After this trade was announced, you texted me that you want to be Portland&rsquo;s Draymond Green. Can you elaborate on that?
Nance: &ldquo;When I say I want to &lsquo;play the Draymond role,&rsquo; [it&rsquo;s important to note] that there&rsquo;s only one Draymond Green. You know what I mean? He&rsquo;s a ridiculous talent and, as we&rsquo;ve talked about before, I think the world of him and his game. I try to model myself in that mold. But when I said that, I&rsquo;m thinking more so about playing hand-off ball in Cleveland and I got to do a lot of that with the guys I played with there, but it&rsquo;s just a whole different layer of difficulty to guard when you&rsquo;ve got Dame and C.J. flying off that thing. I&rsquo;m just really excited to see how we work together. I&rsquo;m going to be who I am defensively and that&rsquo;s a menace, and someone you need to watch out for in the passing lanes. That&rsquo;s who I am. But offensively, I&rsquo;m excited for the DHOs, the handoffs and just being able to impact the game without being required to have the ball so much. Everybody has a skill set and that is not mine, so it&rsquo;s great to be around guys that do have that in their skill set.&rdquo;
(On <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-larry-nance-jr-cleveland-cavaliers-kevin-love-draymond-green-small-businesses-crohns-sexland-collin-darius-drummond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Alex Kennedy Podcast</a> in January, Nance said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always watched Draymond; I'm a massive Draymond Green fan. I think he&rsquo;s criminally underrated in terms of his impact on the game and impact on those championship teams. I think he's the definition of a winner. I watched his film and I studied how he talks to those guys on the defensive end and how he took charge of that [team]. I studied how he was an anchor, guarding three or four different positions at times. And there's none of that that I don't see in myself&hellip; I talked to JB [Bickerstaff] a lot over the summer about being versatile &ndash; guarding some bigger 2s, all 3s, all 4s and some smaller 5s and, defensively, trying to play that Draymond role.&rdquo;)
I feel like your game can fit on just about any team, but it feels like this fit in particular is perfect. One of our writers, Nekias Duncan, actually <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-larry-nance-jr-brings-to-the-portland-trail-blazers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a film-breakdown piece</a> explaining why you're exactly what Portland was missing. How do you feel you fit with the Blazers?&nbsp;
Nance: &ldquo;I think I fit like a glove, I really do. I couldn&rsquo;t pick a better situation. Last year, the Blazers finished sixth in a loaded Western Conference and their defense was 28th. Their defense was 28th! When JB [Bickerstaff] had just gotten the job in Cleveland, we finished 30th in defense for that year. Coming into this past year, I purposefully set [a goal in] my mind, like, &lsquo;That ain&rsquo;t happening again.&rsquo; Before I broke my hand, we played the first 25 games of the season against good competition and we were a top-three defense in the NBA, and I was leading the league in deflections, leading in steals and doing all of that type of stuff. That&rsquo;s the type of thing that I&rsquo;m planning on bringing here. Can you imagine? If they finished sixth last year while having the 28th-ranked defense, if we move that up to, say, 12th, that&rsquo;s a potent combination. Anytime you can surround guards like we have here with guys that are willing to grind on the defensive end behind them? Whew, that&rsquo;s a winning combo.&rdquo;
During that stretch, the Cavs&rsquo; defense was ranked No. 1 at one point too. Since you&rsquo;ve been part of a worst-to-first turnaround, you know what it takes to make that kind of drastic improvement. What are the keys to that, and what lessons will you try to pass on to your new teammates?
Nance: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about activity. Your activity level is extremely important. When you&rsquo;re on defense, there should be no time when you&rsquo;re relaxed. There should be no time when you&rsquo;re relaxed &ndash; whether your man has the ball or not, whether you think you&rsquo;re involved in something or not. (And if you don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;re involved in something, you&rsquo;re wrong; that&rsquo;s just kinda how this league works, there are counters to everything.) It&rsquo;s just activity. Keep your hands high. All of that type of stuff. But I&rsquo;d say the biggest thing overall is just the level of care. You know what I mean? If you genuinely care about defense and getting stops and want to be good on that end, then you will be good on that end. I think the level of care is really what I&rsquo;m going to be stressing.&rdquo;
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C.J. McCollum is also from Ohio and he's a big Cleveland Browns fan, just like you. Did you guys already have a relationship or are you just now getting to know each other?
Nance: &ldquo;C.J. is a great guy! I hadn&rsquo;t had a relationship with him before I got out here. Obviously, we knew of each other and every time we&rsquo;d play each other, it was kinda like, &lsquo;O-H, I-O!&rsquo; But we didn&rsquo;t have a personal relationship. But it&rsquo;s been good, getting to come out here and spend time with these guys. Of course, C.J. is such an impressive human being. He has his hands in a lot of different things, and he&rsquo;s just such an impressive human that, like, how could you not get along with a guy like that?! I&rsquo;m excited about it; I&rsquo;ll have another Browns fan around. I think I was the only Browns fan on the entire Cavs team, so I&rsquo;m glad I&rsquo;m not alone. Now, the Blazers might have the only two Browns fans in the NBA. (laughs)&rdquo;
We&rsquo;ll see if you two can convert some of your other teammates into Browns fans.
Nance: &ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m working on them. Absolutely.&rdquo;
You wanted to join a win-now team and you were involved in the trade discussions that landed you in Portland, so clearly you think the Blazers can compete right now. What are your expectations or goals for the team entering this season?
Nance: &ldquo;For me, my biggest thing is: Look, I didn&rsquo;t come out here [to lose]. I had a comfortable, cushy situation in Cleveland; I lived close to my family, I was happy and it was all good. I did not come out here to half-ass this thing. I&rsquo;m all in, and that means going for it all. Last year, we saw a few teams come out of nowhere; the Hawks came out of nowhere, the Suns came out of nowhere. There were teams that surprised some people, and that&rsquo;s fully what I&rsquo;m planning on doing here. I know these guys are excited as well, because we&rsquo;ve been busting our tails leading up to training camp. We should be ready to hit the ground running.&rdquo;
You recently became a father, and I&rsquo;m so happy for you and your wife! You always hear people talk about how having a kid changed them; have you experienced that?&nbsp;
Nance: &ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s funny&hellip; I was told the same thing and it was always a teammate or someone saying, &lsquo;No, man, you just want to go straight home and see your baby,&rsquo; and all of that type of stuff. For me, of course she changed my life and everything for the better. But at the same time, I always wanted to be home anyway. (laugh) So now there&rsquo;s just that much more reason for me to go home and spend time there. I have an extra little treat [and reason] to be there. But it really is the greatest thing, and there&rsquo;s nothing I&rsquo;d rather do than spend time with that kid.&rdquo;

Larry Nance Jr. spoke to Alex Kennedy about his recent trade request, leaving Cleveland, expectations for the Blazers and more.

Larry Nance Jr. Q&A: 'I did not come out here to half-ass this thing'

What Kevin Love did was unprofessional, inexcusable and frankly, immature.
Unless you&rsquo;ve been living under a rock or aren&rsquo;t a fan of the NBA, chances are you&rsquo;ve come across the viral clip of Love angrily batting a ball inbounds after a referee tossed it over to him. That&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;re going to start.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
That's some high IQ ball right there, <a href="https://twitter.com/iAmSJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iAmSJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y5N6ckYCgS">pic.twitter.com/Y5N6ckYCgS</a>
&mdash; Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raptors/status/1386850611593990149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

It&rsquo;s no secret that the louder national outlets and the talking heads are going to make this into something it&rsquo;s not, so let&rsquo;s provide some context as to why Love was fired up in the first place.
On the possession prior to the meltdown, the 32-year-old was attempting to box out ever-so-active Toronto Raptors big man Khem Birch, which resulted in a foul and Love&rsquo;s knee hitting the floor hard; he actually ended up with quite a floor burn. About a minute later, the equally-as-active Freddie Gillespie bumped him on a similar play, and his force sent Love into the stanchion underneath the basket as Malachi Flynn got a layup out of it. Love glanced over at the official on the baseline and was unhappy with a lack of a loose ball foul call. So to vent his frustration, Love decided to hand-deliver a free three points to Toronto by punching the ball in bounds, giving Stanley Johnson the easiest steal (and assist) of his professional career.
Now, let&rsquo;s lay out the reasons that this act was selfish and wrong. For starters, Love is the oldest, most seasoned player on this mostly young Cleveland Cavaliers team. He and Matthew Dellavedova are the only ones that are left from the championship years, and are considered the dependable veterans of this group to guide those inexperienced players and set an example. With that decision, Love showed that it is okay to pout and cost your team points and momentum when you don't get your way.
Speaking of which, that&rsquo;s the second point to make: the Cavs were *in the game*. With fewer than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Raptors were clinging to a six-point lead in a game where they had to stave off a feisty Cleveland bunch that was missing seven players, including Collin Sexton. That advantage ballooned to nine, and then 11, to close the period because of Love&rsquo;s mistake. One would think he&rsquo;d have a little more emotional maturity to center himself in a two-possession contest.
But that kind of leads to the third thing: this is not the first time Love has lashed out. This has been a pattern since he and the Cavs decided to continue their relationship post-LeBron James, when the two parties came to a four-year, $120 million extension agreement in the summer of 2018. While hindsight is 20-20 in both cases, that deal has not amounted well to either -- on the cap sheet or on the floor.
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Let&rsquo;s make this perfectly clear: Love hurting his toe in that preseason and having to step away four games into that contract absolutely sucked, and it was just the beginning of an incredibly unfortunate trend that he&rsquo;s dealt with since. Through no fault of his own, the veteran simply has not been able to stay on the floor. Anybody can imagine the mental toll that can take on somebody&rsquo;s psyche, especially if you&rsquo;ve played the game for as long as he has. He even talked as recently as March about how difficult this latest calf injury was to heal, strictly from the impact it had on his mind more than the physical aspect.
However, the situation is what it is. Love has played 96 games out of a possible 208, which equates to 46% if you&rsquo;re wondering. If we&rsquo;re being honest, that could be what he&rsquo;s frustrated about, which is understandable.&nbsp;
Still, getting into a shouting match with then-head-coach John Beilein and general manager Koby Altman in a practice wasn&rsquo;t the way to handle that. Throwing up your hands mid-game, clapping at a then-20-year-old Collin Sexton and chucking a ball for a &ldquo;pass&rdquo; to Cedi Osman wasn&rsquo;t the way to handle that. Showing up your teammates and head coach and deliberately turning the ball over in a winnable game because you got pushed around, even if you might&rsquo;ve been justified in your aggravation, is not the way to handle that.
(According to a <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-kevin-love-apologized-to-the-cavaliers-after-inbounds-play-161921633.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN2xZ1KlOb25Q-73M0qf-qQbJ06Guw3Y7UkYv-TlNAwEIq9BLCNefOrDBoXRfIYCaT068yp_7fakV_jtV1wceA9emYXbK1PmfEjEK8y12BZk8xjwWA0bu5xiRXgJonGuzQwL16wJgIlLj_wxUh2vcW6YjlHYrUSlAfXW1zHaRIO9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports</a>, "Love&rsquo;s intent wasn&rsquo;t to slap the ball inbounds, sources said. Love was frustrated with officials and not his team&rsquo;s performance, sources said.")
Cleveland.com&rsquo;s Chris Fedor reported that a <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2021/04/kevin-love-is-supposed-to-be-one-of-cleveland-cavaliers-leaders-which-is-why-his-behavior-is-unacceptable-chris-fedor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">source texted him that the behavior was "unacceptable."</a> Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff relayed that he apologized to his teammates; Love did not speak to the media following the game. It might&rsquo;ve been a good time to clear the air, however, cooling down before addressing the matter could have been a smart decision.
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In terms of discipline, the Cavs and general manager Koby Altman can&rsquo;t be soft here. They <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiKkqPa2p7wAhWoTN8KHdx0DtcQFjAFegQIAhAD&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fnba%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F25332090%2Fjr-smith-away-cavs-team-seeks-trade&amp;usg=AOvVaw1LupbzCDqCFFWfbY_VYii5">sent JR Smith home in 2018</a> due to his discontent. They came down hard on Kevin Porter Jr. with suspensions and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-cleveland-cavaliers-expected-to-move-kevin-porter-jr-locker-room-outburst" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ended up trading the blossoming guard following a heated argument</a>. They recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-andre-drummond-trade-possibilities-destinations-no-contract-buyout-toronto-raptors-dallas-mavericks-brooklyn-nets-sacramento-kings-new-york-knicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kept Andre Drummond away from the team</a> to try and find a new home for him (though that was less of a punishment and more of a situation). The point is, with these examples: What should make Love immune from paying the price?
There&rsquo;s no demand to sit him down or release him; that would be way too reactionary. But a few games of an in-house suspension or DNP-CDs would be appropriate at the least. Haynes reported late this morning that the team is taking care of the matter internally, yet <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1387064877789765635?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"focused on turning the page"</a> after Love's apology.
If Cleveland wants to create the culture it desires, it needs to address this elephant in the room. Love has meant a great deal to this franchise, has stuck through thick and thin and continues to be important for the next generation of wine-and-golders. On the floor, the difference he makes is legitimate.
That being said, something has to be done to stop this juvenile pattern of habits. Every time Love has an episode like this, the immediate response is, &ldquo;Damn, he really hates Cleveland,&rdquo; or &ldquo;he doesn&rsquo;t get along with Sexton.&rdquo; Both are hardly anywhere near the truth, and guess what? He signed the contract, a fruitful one at that.
Instead of constantly looking for a reason why these things are happening, maybe we need to realize that there&rsquo;s only been one constant.
It&rsquo;s time to be the adult in the room.

Spencer Davies breaks down Kevin Love's latest incident, why this pattern is unacceptable and how the Cavs should handle it.

Something's got to give with Kevin Love

There&rsquo;s a good chance that your favorite NBA player has spent time in the gym with skills coach Chris Brickley. After all, many stars have trained with Brickley or participated in his open runs in New York. That includes LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker, CJ McCollum, Trae Young, Russell Westbrook, Victor Oladipo and D&rsquo;Angelo Russell among others.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s also possible that your favorite artist has hooped with Brickley, considering Travis Scott, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, J. Cole, Quavo, Meek Mill, Trey Songz, Lil Durk, YG, Russ, Sheck Wes and Jack Harlow have shown up to work out or play in pick-up games.
Brickley was a walk-on at the University of Louisville who then made the transition to coaching. After working as an assistant coach at the college level for several years, he joined the New York Knicks as their director of player personnel. Since leaving the Knicks to train players individually, Brickley has become one of the biggest basketball influencers in the world, with over 1 million followers on Instagram and his own ESPN+ show (&ldquo;Declared&rdquo;). He&rsquo;s also a brand ambassador for a number of companies such as PUMA, Lids and, now, BODYARMOR.&nbsp;
Brickley just recently partnered with BODYARMOR, becoming their latest ambassador. He joins an impressive lineup that includes Harden, Mitchell, Young, Ja Morant, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Trout, Kyler Murray, Mookie Betts and Naomi Osaka among others.&nbsp;
BasketballNews.com caught up with Brickley to talk about his career, his famous pick-up games, his stint with the Knicks, his BODYARMOR partnership and much more.
You were the New York Knicks&rsquo; director of player personnel before leaving to train players independently. How is your job different when you&rsquo;re running your own training business versus working for an NBA team?
Chris Brickley: I would say that being part of a team, the goal is to win games. You have players come in and out. I was with the Knicks for a few years and we went through 40-to-50 different players. Now, having my own business and doing the training, I know I&rsquo;m going to have [the same player] - whether it&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell or whoever - for five, six, seven years. It&rsquo;s kind of like a long-term thing and you&rsquo;re really invested in these players. They&rsquo;re not going to get traded and you don&rsquo;t have to worry about contracts and stuff; I&rsquo;m just worried about getting them better. That&rsquo;s kind of what I like to do at this point, just lock in with the player and build a relationship with them and develop their game&hellip; I just stay locked in to what I do. I wake up in the morning, I talk to the players, I watch games, I do what I need to do in terms of my partnerships, I go to sleep and then it repeats.
Would you be open to working for an NBA team again if the circumstances are right?
Brickley: Yeah, maybe in the future. Right now, I&rsquo;m super happy where I&rsquo;m at. But maybe down the line. I wouldn&rsquo;t X it out.
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Fans don&rsquo;t get a chance to see most of these offseason workouts aside from a few clips on social media, so what are some of the biggest misconceptions about NBA training and the work that players put in?
Brickley: You don&rsquo;t necessarily expect people to know how hard these guys work; they aren&rsquo;t going to brag about it. But for sure, to be in the NBA and especially to be successful in the NBA, you need to have a different type of work ethic. It&rsquo;s not just playing games. It&rsquo;s not just doing workouts either. It&rsquo;s watching film, it&rsquo;s what you take, it&rsquo;s what you drink. For example, this BODYARMOR partnership that we&rsquo;re about to announce, what these guys put in their body [matters]. It&rsquo;s about being mindful in every single thing that you do - from drinking the right thing to eating the right thing to watching enough film to doing recovery and so on. It&rsquo;s much more than just basketball.
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How did the BODYARMOR partnership come together?&nbsp;
Brickley: I&rsquo;m super excited about it. I think it just makes sense since BODYARMOR is kind of on the rise as a company. They&rsquo;ve been on the rise; they have everybody from Donovan Mitchell to James Harden to Trae Young - it&rsquo;s a really good roster of guys. I&rsquo;d like to think that my company and what I&rsquo;m trying to build is on the rise too. We&rsquo;re both grinding to become the best in our fields. I know one of BODYARMOR&rsquo;s goals is, by 2025, to be the biggest sports drink in the game. For me, my goal is to be the biggest trainer in the game. It made sense and I&rsquo;ve always been a big fan of BODYARMOR and I&rsquo;ve always drank it, so it&rsquo;s very organic.
What advice would you give to aspiring trainers?
Brickley: That&rsquo;s a good question. First, you need to be passionate about the game of basketball. You have to be willing to understand that you might work for 10 years and not make much money. Things might not really get moving [for a while], so you have to be willing to make sacrifices. You have to be willing to sacrifice your time, sacrifice going out and partying, and things like that. Because, first and foremost, if you want to be a trainer, you need to put your time toward your players. If you don&rsquo;t have any players, how are you going to be a trainer? So you need to dedicate your time to the players and show the players that you&rsquo;re always there for them any time. Do they want to watch film late at night? Do they want to work out early in the morning? Whatever time they want to watch film or work out, I&rsquo;m going to be ready. It&rsquo;s just a big sacrifice. And you won&rsquo;t see results for a while. That&rsquo;s something that I&rsquo;d want to explain to a young trainer: Don&rsquo;t think that you&rsquo;re going to sign deals or get rich or anything like that, just be in it for the love of the game.
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You&rsquo;re basically on call 24/7. You&rsquo;ve talked about how Carmelo Anthony sometimes wants to work out at 2 a.m. and you never say no. Do guys often reach out in the middle of the night? And what is that like, being on call all day and night?
Brickley: Yeah, all the time. Living where the gym is, it&rsquo;s a good thing and it&rsquo;s a bad thing. Guys know that [I&rsquo;m always there]. Sometimes, guys will be on the road during the season&nbsp; - especially pre-quarantine - and they might play the Knicks or the Nets the next night and while they&rsquo;re in town, they want to get some work in at my gym in New York City, at The Summit.
I read that you and Carmelo got close because you would give him honest feedback and constructive criticism after games. I feel like a lot of stars appreciate that since most people in their life won&rsquo;t say those things. How has that honesty helped your relationships with players?
Brickley: I think you need to be, I think that&rsquo;s how the relationship builds. There&rsquo;s no relationship that&rsquo;s based off of, &ldquo;Hey, good job! You&rsquo;re the man! Good job! Good job!&rdquo; You&rsquo;re never going to build an organic relationship like that. I think you need to give constructive criticism and you need to explain to them what the real deal is. Like, &ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t play as hard as you should&rsquo;ve tonight,&rdquo; or maybe, &ldquo;You need to work on your pull-up off the left and work on finishing with the right.&rdquo; You can&rsquo;t just start the relationship like that, obviously, but as you get closer to someone [you can be honest]. That&rsquo;s what I do, and I think giving constructive criticism works. It shows them that you&rsquo;re paying attention and that you want to help them get better as a person and as a player, and I think they take a liking to that. And that&rsquo;s when you can get to work.
You&rsquo;re known for having star-studded pick-up games in your gym. What&rsquo;s the craziest pick-up game you&rsquo;ve witnessed? Is there a certain game that stands out?
Brickley: Yeah, I&rsquo;ve had a few legendary ones. When COVID isn&rsquo;t in the way, there are legendary ones every summer. If I had to pick, I&rsquo;d go with this one from 2017. KD had just won [the championship] and he beat LeBron. That happened and then literally two months after that series, LeBron and KD flew in and they played against each other. They were guarding each other, picking each other up full-court. There was a whole bunch of tension in the gym because they literally just got done playing against each other for the championship, and now they were playing in this private run against each other. That&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ll never forget. There were like 15 NBA guys there: Melo, J.R. Smith (who was also playing in that series), Enes Kanter (who, at the time, had beef with KD), Hamidou Diallo (who was in college at the time). There were all types of funny storylines.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
An incredible run today. One of the best open runs of all time? You decide. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AcademyBasketball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AcademyBasketball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RelentlessPursuit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RelentlessPursuit</a> <a href="https://t.co/bNeHpgG11r">pic.twitter.com/bNeHpgG11r</a>
&mdash; Academy Basketball (@__TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/__TheAcademy/status/897552027005456386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2017</a></blockquote>

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

I&rsquo;ve talked to a number of players and trainers about which position takes the longest to develop in the NBA. A lot of people have said that big men take the longest since they need to get bigger, develop lower-body strength and they are basically boys among men when they first enter the NBA. Do you agree that big men take the longest to become significant contributors?
Brickley: Yeah, especially because for big men, the game has changed. The game has evolved even since I was coaching in the NBA. It&rsquo;s tough to be a big man who just catches the ball on the block and turns and shoots. If that type of game was in, then Enes Kanter would be an All-Star since he&rsquo;s shooting like 60%. That&rsquo;s just not how the game is now. You need to be able to dribble a little bit and shoot threes and pick-and-pop and knock down mid-range shots. It&rsquo;s rare to see teams dribble down and throw the ball into the post; nobody really plays through the post now. Being a big - a real big, a seven-footer - you need to develop a little more [than other positions]. You might be really good at rebounding or you might be really good defensively - there might be one thing that you&rsquo;re really good at - but it&rsquo;s rare for a big to come into the league being able to shoot the three, dribble (for dribble handoffs), finish around the rim and play defense. As a big, you need to do a whole bunch of things, so I think it always takes some time.
Yeah, someone like Kanter would&rsquo;ve been dominant 20-30 years ago.
Brickley: Yeah, 100%.
You have a bunch of players who work hard, but is there a certain player who has really impressed you with their work ethic and hunger to improve? Is there anyone specific who stands out?
Brickley: Off the top of my head, I would have to say Donovan Mitchell, who&rsquo;s also with BODYARMOR. I&rsquo;ve worked with him since, shoot, 2015. I worked with him back in his college days and just to see his [improvement]... People were like, &ldquo;He might go first round, he might go second round; we don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo; I saw him work through that and then have an amazing rookie year and still continue to work out at 6 a.m. every morning. Then, he comes back and has another great year and he&rsquo;s back in the summer and still wants to work out at 6 a.m. every morning. Then, he becomes an NBA All-Star! Through all of these amazing things that he&rsquo;s done, he hasn&rsquo;t lost an ounce of motivation. When the offseason comes, he&rsquo;s texting me, &ldquo;Ready to go at 5 a.m.? Ready to go at 6 a.m.?&rdquo; His work ethic is crazy. When I see that he&rsquo;s an All-Star and has his own sneaker and has his deal with BODYARMOR, it just makes sense. He deserves it all.
What are your thoughts on how Donovan and the Jazz have played this season? It&rsquo;s been pretty incredible.
Brickley: I think he&rsquo;s playing great, and they have the best record in the league. I think [credit] goes to their coaching and Donovan&rsquo;s leadership, and the way they play - the way they move the ball, the way they play defense. It seems like they&rsquo;re playing faster this year. It&rsquo;s going to be interesting once the playoffs come because there are a bunch of really good teams. Right now, the Jazz look really good.

NBA skills coach Chris Brickley opens up about his star-studded pick-up games, his career, his advice for aspiring trainers and more.

NBA skills coach Chris Brickley: 'My goal is to be the biggest trainer in the game'

Ethan Fuller ranks NBA teams by their success plans, with loads of parity through three weeks of action.

NBA Sour Rankings: COVID Chaos

The Los Angeles Lakers are your 2019-20 NBA champions.
They made a gamble, flipping virtually all of their young assets and picks for Anthony Davis, and it paid off with a mostly dominant playoff run. Davis was as good as advertised -- probably a little more than advertised considering his jump-shooting hot streak. LeBron James proved once again that he&rsquo;s the NBA&rsquo;s most dangerous playoff weapon. Role players continuously stepped up, even if it became a bit of a revolving door.
Now, the fun part begins.
The Lakers&rsquo; goal will shift to repeating, which means they&rsquo;ll need to improve around the margins to maintain their place at the top. They won&rsquo;t have cap space; they&rsquo;ll have to do a bit of a tax-avoidance dance, if anything. The always-informative Keith Smith has a more thorough breakdown of their cap situation, which you can find <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers-salary-cap-space-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
Let&rsquo;s take a look at some guys they&rsquo;ll look to bring back, as well as some targets that could help them come back stronger than ever.
Key In-House Decisions
Rajon Rondo (Player Option): Bring Him Back
Playoff Rondo may very well be a thing. Teams kept daring him to shoot, and he kept making them pay to the tune of a 40 percent clip on a playoff career-high three attempts. That, combined with his playmaking and suddenly-fine-again defense, made him one of the Lakers&rsquo; more valuable role players during the title run. It shouldn&rsquo;t cost too much to bring him back. BasketballNews.com's Chris Sheridan reported that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-rajon-rondo-opt-out-player-option-contract-los-angeles-lakers-free-agency-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rondo is expected to turn down his $2.7 million player option</a> to cash in during the offseason to look for a pay day. 
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Player Option): Bring Him Back
After re-signing Davis, Caldwell-Pope should be the Lakers&rsquo; top priority. He provided solid on-ball defense across three positions and posted a career-high percentage in three-point shooting (38.5 percent). His three-point volume rose to nearly six attempts per contest in the playoffs, while maintaining his efficiency (37.8 percent). A strong argument could be made that he was the Lakers' third-best player throughout the postseason. Utilize those Bird Rights and bring him back. According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/2140002/2020/10/15/nba-free-agency-news-and-rumors-anthony-davis-and-lakers-decisions-heat-contracts-and-more-goran-dragic-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic</a>, Caldwell-Pope is expected to turn down his $8.5 million player option for a new deal. 
Markieff Morris: Bring Him Back
Morris got off to a rough start after joining the Lakers, shooting a little over 33 percent from deep during 14 regular season appearances. He would eventually settle in, drilling 42 percent of his triples during the postseason while seeing his role grow as the Lakers went smaller against the Rockets and Heat, respectively.
Morris in theory has always been a little better than Morris in practice; he isn&rsquo;t quite as versatile defensively as his tools would indicate, and offensive flow can sputter when Morris is on the court. With that said, there&rsquo;s a solid-enough fit next to Davis or as a bench spark in general to warrant his return.
Dwight Howard: Bring Him Back
Howard was a Comeback Player of the Year candidate if there ever was one. For the first time since, well, ever, Howard settled into a role that almost completely excised post-ups. He finally committed to being a clean-up artist: set hard screens or slip them hard, catch lobs and eat off the glass if a shot is missed.&nbsp;
He came off the bench and produced, averaging 7.5 points on a career-high 72.9 percent from the field, while also grabbing 7.3 boards per game in a shade under 19 minutes. It&rsquo;s easy to pinpoint where the boost in efficiency came from: only 11.4 percent of his offensive possessions came from post-ups, via Synergy; during his last full-season stint two years ago with the Charlotte Hornets, that figure was 36.4 percent -- his most frequent playtype by a wide margin. 
Howard has clear value as a vertical spacer and offensive rebounder, while also providing impact as an interior defender. He fouls way too much (6.1 fouls per 36 minutes last season), but still has the pop to alter shots at the rim and the brute strength to bang with post scorers. The Lakers would be smart to bring him back on the low.
JaVale McGee (Player Option): Circle Back Later
McGee remains one of the best lob threats in the NBA and can swat shots with little effort thanks to his length and leaping ability. Foul issues remain, and decision-making away from the rim makes him a postseason target for enemy offenses. It should come as no surprise that Howard eventually usurped him in the starting lineup last postseason. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine him getting much more than a minimum deal if he doesn't exercise his $4.2 million player option. Howard should be higher on the totem pole, and there are better centers in the free agent pool that could command similar money. 
Free Agent Guards
Mid-Tier: Jordan Clarkson&nbsp;
Clarkson is coming off of, by far, the most efficient season of his career. He gave the Utah Jazz a much-needed scoring punch once he arrived, averaging 15.6 points with a 56.9 True Shooting percentage during the regular season. Both of those marks increased (16.7, 57.7) during Utah&rsquo;s first-round showdown with the Denver Nuggets.&nbsp;
Clarkson trading out some of his pull-up long twos for threes went a long way to making him a more efficient option. The Lakers are still lacking in the guard creation department; Clarkson could definitely help.
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Bargains: Austin Rivers, D.J. Augustin
Rivers brings a particular brand of energy offensively. He&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s underrated drivers, utilizing a quick first step and channeled aggression to generate looks at the rim. He isn&rsquo;t much more than a rudimentary playmaker, but his north-south style would be a welcome addition to the Lakers' bench. He&rsquo;s also a reliable spot-up threat, drilling nearly 38 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes over the past three seasons, according to a source with access to Second Spectrum tracking data.
In the event that Rondo goes elsewhere, Augustin would be a nice consolation prize. He&rsquo;s a traditional table setter that provides more off-ball value than Rondo. Augustin is a career 37.9 percent three-point shooter, and he would likely see a boost in shot quality with a lighter load than the one he had to carry in Orlando.
Free Agent Wings
Mid-Tier: Wesley Matthews
There&rsquo;s a case to be made that Matthews could accept another minimum deal from a contender, either remaining with the Milwaukee Bucks or going elsewhere. There&rsquo;s an even stronger case to be made that he&rsquo;s earned himself a pay day.
Matthews routinely took on the most demanding perimeter defensive assignments throughout the regular season, while knocking down over 36 percent of his threes on decent volume. He then upped the ante in the postseason, most notably putting the clamps on Jimmy Butler during Milwaukee&rsquo;s second-round series against the Miami Heat. The Bucks would lose in five, but it wasn&rsquo;t because Matthews didn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Bargains: Kent Bazemore, Garrett Temple*
Bazemore has been a Laker before and has played off of stars before. It&rsquo;s easy to slot him in as a 3-and-D option with a smidge of secondary creation ability coming off the bench.
 The asterisk is present on Temple's name because the Nets hold a $5 million team option on him, though it&rsquo;d come as no surprise if they let Temple walk to free up tax room to bring back Joe Harris. Temple would give the Lakers a plus, multi-positional defender with a solid three-point stroke (35.3 percent over the past five seasons).
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14664538-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Free Agent Forwards
Mid-Tier: Danilo Gallinari
Gallinari is one of the most underrated scorers in the league, a true three-level threat that can get busy in a multitude of areas. Normally, he&rsquo;d be one of the few players commanding a near-max pay day in a weak-at-the-top free agency class. However, Gallinari has hinted at <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/danilo-gallinari-says-competing-for-a-championship-is-more-important-than-his-contract-in-free-agency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prioritizing a winning situation</a> over a paycheck.&nbsp;
Now, players say that and fold when presented with offers, so it&rsquo;s fair to take that sentiment with a grain of salt. Remember, we aren&rsquo;t that far removed from Gallinari-to-Miami talks breaking down in (large) part to Gallinari wanting more financial security.&nbsp;
If his desires have shifted, though, this could be an opportunity for the Lakers to strike and add to their offense. Half-court creation was a non-strength at best, weakness at worst last season. Having a guy that can shoot off the bounce and get to the free-throw line almost at will could be devastating, especially when you consider he&rsquo;d likely be feasting on a team&rsquo;s second or third-best defender.
Bargains: Carmelo Anthony
I don&rsquo;t have to spend much time on Melo-to-LA. He loves LeBron, LeBron loves him. Melo doesn&rsquo;t have a ring. He isn&rsquo;t quite as washed as critics (hi, hello!) made him out to be, though it&rsquo;s important not to lose sight of the context that was necessary for him to perform the way that he did.
Anyway, with Melo hitting free agency, this possibility isn&rsquo;t going to die unless he re-signs with the Portland Trail Blazers or goes elsewhere.
Free Agent Bigs
Mid-Tier: Tristan Thompson, Aron Baynes, Hassan Whiteside
Thompson may prove to be out of the Lakers' price range, but he&rsquo;s worth mentioning as a former LeBron teammate and fellow "Klutchian." The early bet is that the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-team-workouts-jb-bickerstaff-collin-sexton-darius-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Cavaliers lock him up for one last deal</a>, but if Thompson wants to go title-hunting, taking the full mid-level exception may appeal to him. If so, it&rsquo;s hard to think of a better landing spot for him than in Los Angeles.
Factoring in money, it&rsquo;s hard to argue against Baynes being one of the most valuable centers in basketball last season. He did the usual grunt work: setting bone-crushing screens as a roller or handoff partner, protected the rim with superb positioning and boxed out well enough to help end possessions or grab the board himself. The new, somewhat surprising twist is that he became a legitimate three-point option (35.1 percent on 4 attempts per game). Stretch-ish fives are hard to find; the fit next to Davis is pretty darn seamless.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14739406-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Whiteside is the real wildcard. His base numbers and on-court impact have never really matched, which makes guesstimating his free agent value a chore. He certainly isn&rsquo;t worth the max deal he signed in 2016; there are far too many holes in his game -- passing, defending in space, processing speed as a whole -- to warrant that price tag.
Yet, despite how frustrating Whiteside can be to watch on both ends, someone with his intersection of rim protection, rebounding and decent-enough touch is worth more than a minimum deal. There&rsquo;s certainly &ldquo;prove it deal&rdquo; potential here. The Lakers have proven they&rsquo;re comfortable running a more traditional drop scheme; Whiteside can thrive around the rim with Davis and LeBron roaming as extra helpers.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Bargains: Nerlens Noel, Harry Giles
Noel is your classic toolsy big whose reputation precedes him a bit. He is talented, of course; he&rsquo;s able to sky for lobs, can knock down the occasional jumper (though you don&rsquo;t want him taking many of them), has wing-like mobility in space and can send shots into orbit. The issue with Noel, aside from help, has been his propensity to go for the home-run on defense, which often leaves him out of position when those gambles fail.&nbsp;
He was a bit more under control in Oklahoma City last season; shockingly, he had his most efficient year to date. There&rsquo;s room for him to command a portion of some team&rsquo;s mid-level exception, but it wouldn&rsquo;t shock me to see him take another prove-it type deal for a contender to set himself up for a pay day in 2021.
Giles also has a bit of an injury history, dating back to his high school days. Multiple lower body injuries have sapped some of his athleticism, and he&rsquo;s still a fluid, jumpy big that can feast in transition. The intrigue lies in his on-ball skill; he&rsquo;s quietly one of the better passing big men in the league already. There&rsquo;s some serious &ldquo;throw it to him in the high post and let him do stuff&rdquo; potential waiting to be untapped. Giles would be a smart buy-low candidate to look into.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Lakers' salary cap situation heading into the offseason and what moves the team should make.