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Here's the list of NCAA players who have as of April 6 filed for consideration as a candidate for the 2023 WNBA Draft

2023 WNBA Draft: Full list of prospects who have entered

<p>With the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; win at Miami on Sunday, they have won a franchise record 18 of their last 20 games, which represents the best 20-game stretch at any point in a season in the organization's history.</p>
<p>Kyrie Irving is leading the Eastern Conference guards in All-Star voting, and Kevin Durant is having an MVP-level season, averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.</p>
<p>But unfortunately, last night, Durant had to exit the game in the third quarter after Jimmy Butler fell into Durant. On Monday morning, the Nets announced that he was diagnosed with an isolated MCL sprain of the right knee and that he'll be out for at least the next two weeks before being reevaluated. It's devastating news for Nets fans, as the team has been taking the league by storm for the past 20 games.&nbsp;</p>
<p>To discuss Durant's injury, Irving's strong play and more, I sat down with Nets great and Basketball News contributor Kenyon Martin to discuss his former team.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Etan Thomas:</strong> The Nets are on a great run. They&rsquo;ve been proving a lot of people who had completely written them off wrong. How do you think they&rsquo;re playing overall right now?&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon Martin:</strong> "I think they&rsquo;ve been playing great. Once you get your two stars on the same page in KD and Kyrie &mdash; and they&rsquo;re playing off each other and going to each other when the other one is hot and they&rsquo;re healthy &mdash; they are a tough team to beat. I saw KD went down last night and I&rsquo;m hearing he may be out for a few weeks, which definitely hurts, but he&rsquo;ll bounce back. They&rsquo;ll just have to hold down the fort until he gets back, and when he returns, they&rsquo;ll take off again just like they did when Kyrie returned.</p>
<p>"And Kyrie is playing as free as I&rsquo;ve seen him since he was with Cleveland in the Finals. It's like he&rsquo;s playing with no pressure and nothing holding him back from being one of the top guards in the league. And the team is benefiting from that relief."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Let me ask you this, because I think Jacque Vaughn has done an excellent job since he&rsquo;s taken over, and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s being talked about as much as it should be. No knock on Steve Nash because I don&rsquo;t know the ins and outs of why it wasn&rsquo;t working with him, but there is definitely a visible difference. Would you agree?&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Let&rsquo;s be honest, E &mdash; Steve Nash is a hell of a basketball player and had great athletes around him. I&rsquo;ve never thought of Steve Nash as a vocal guy, never thought of him as that kind of a leader. I&rsquo;ve never heard him get after anybody. I&rsquo;ve never heard him put anybody in their place or call anybody out or chastise anyone who needed to be chastised. I just heard of him as a nice guy who is a great pass-first point guard who guys really enjoyed playing with. That&rsquo;s not to say that he couldn&rsquo;t have done a good job coaching; I just think it was a little premature to put him in that position.</p>
<p>"Jacque Vaughn, on the other hand, has proven that he could be a head coach down in Orlando. He just got a bad deal. But he showed that he could do all of the things that a head coach needs to do in order to be successful in this league. He&rsquo;s not afraid to be honest with guys, to call guys out or to challenge guys, but still not turn into the enemy. But (he'll) be like, 'We&rsquo;re in this together, but this is how we have to do things.' He wasn&rsquo;t a two-time NBA MVP, he wasn&rsquo;t an All-Star year-in and year-out, but he commanded a respect from the jump."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> That&rsquo;s very true. One person who has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-nic-claxton-approach-reaping-rewards-with-surging-brooklyn-nets-kevin-durant-jacque-vaughn-kyrie-irving-royce-oneale-georgia-bulldogs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">really stood out this season is Nic Claxton</a>. He won&rsquo;t get the praise that KD and Kyrie get of course, but he has been doing a tremendous job and is really vital to this team.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "I&rsquo;ve been a big fan of his since he got to the Nets. I love the energy he plays with, his effort, his motor, his athleticism, his defense, (he's a) rim protector. And when you have a guy who is surrounded by superstars, understands and embraces his role, and plays it to the best of his ability, the team is going to be successful, and that&rsquo;s what he does night-in and night-out."</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">"He&rsquo;s a big piece for us and we need him every night."<br /><br />Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Jacque Vaughn reflect on Nic Claxton's impact on the Nets and his development into an everyday starting center. <br /><br />STORY: <a href="https://t.co/U1odBzLCHT">https://t.co/U1odBzLCHT</a> <a href="https://t.co/v4Meeb8B7V">pic.twitter.com/v4Meeb8B7V</a></p>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1607867619347931137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p><strong>Etan:</strong> I always admit I do have big-man bias, and I know the game has transitioned into a more of a guards game &mdash; more people play small ball &mdash; but I&rsquo;m surprised players like Dwight Howard and (DeMarcus) Boogie Cousins aren&rsquo;t in the league right now. But specifically with the Nets, couldn&rsquo;t they use them? Especially in the playoffs when they have to face Milwaukee or Boston, or Philly with Joel Embiid and Montrezl Harrell off the bench?</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "I&rsquo;m a big fan of both of those guys and their entire body of work. The way Boogie has adjusted his game and what people have thought of him over the years, he&rsquo;s channeled the energy that people were saying was negative into his game and on-court passion, tenacity and physicality that every team needs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"And what Dwight brings to the table is similar to what we were talking about before with Nic Claxton. He knows his role and does it to the best of his ability. Shot-blocker, rebounder, physical play, athletic, rim-protector, and we all know he&rsquo;s strong as hell. Why wouldn&rsquo;t you want someone like that on your team? (Think about) what the Lakers got out of the combination of him and JaVale (McGee) a couple of years ago."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Uh huh, when they won the championship.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Yup, I just think more teams should follow that. If you don&rsquo;t have a dominant Joel Embiid or a dominant (Nikola) Jokic, you need to play by committee at that position. And I think what a lot of teams are missing is exactly that. I think either one of them could be that missing piece for a lot of teams. But yes, specifically for the Nets this season."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> I even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-los-angeles-lakers-anthony-davis-etan-thomas-injury-achilles-recovery-heal-patient-robert-griffin-III-rgIII-frank-vogel-lebron-james" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote about it</a>. I was surprised, going back to JaVale and Dwight, that the Lakers didn&rsquo;t keep them. I&rsquo;m not a GM, but If it ain&rsquo;t broke and just won you a championship, don&rsquo;t fix it, right?</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Who&rsquo;d they get, Marc Gasol?"</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Yeah, that&rsquo;s who they got.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Yeah I just have a problem with the league as a whole when you have guys that have proven what they can bring to the table, talking about Dwight and Boogie Cousins. It makes no sense for them not to be on an NBA roster right now."</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Another player I&rsquo;ve really been impressed with is Royce O'Neale. I don&rsquo;t know if people were expecting him to play as well as he&rsquo;s been playing this season. Was he a pleasant surprise for you or did you foresee that?</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Honestly, I thought it was a little weird of a trade at first because of the position that he plays. But you can never have enough guys that you can count on. I think Royce is a solid pro. He&rsquo;s proven that he can be successful in this league and you can count on him. And here&rsquo;s the thing &mdash; when players are surrounded by greatness and a role is asked of you, it should be easy for you to fill that role. You know what I mean? It shouldn&rsquo;t be a hard thing for professionals to do. People can really find success on good teams by simply doing what&rsquo;s asked of you."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> (Laughing) Doesn&rsquo;t seem like a hard concept.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> (Laughing) "Shouldn&rsquo;t be hard at all."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> It&rsquo;s interesting with Kyrie, because really just a few weeks ago &mdash; after the entire fiasco when he shared the documentary "From Hebrews To Negroes," got suspended, had backlash, was assigned six steps to return and everything that transpired after that &mdash; there was this loud uproar among the media and fans on social media proclaiming definitively that the Nets would be better off without Kyrie Irving, and even that he may be out the league soon.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> (Laughing) "How crazy is that?"</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> It&rsquo;s crazy, but that was the overall sentiment, especially from a lot of the media for a while. So he comes back and they are playing great. They go on a 5-0 winning run and Kyrie is averaging 30, then a 10-0 run, then a 14-1 run. Now, they&rsquo;ve won 18 of 20 games, setting a franchise record. Kyrie&rsquo;s hitting game-winners and shining, and you've seen all of those people just get quiet. None of those people have offered any retraction to their previously loud statements. They just act like they weren&rsquo;t just saying the Nets were better off without him. And I&rsquo;m just like, keep that same energy you had to demonize someone to also praise them when they are doing well.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "But the key word in what you just said is the media. Who cares what the media says? I took all that criticism and uproar and outrage the media had as all performative. They were just putting on a show and jumping on a bandwagon, which many of them get paid to do. I didn&rsquo;t buy into any of that. It&rsquo;s not like he wrote the book or made the doc. He said he didn&rsquo;t agree with all of it and was sharing it for the information. But if those media people who were saying the Nets were better off without Kyrie don&rsquo;t know how special of a player he is &mdash; aside from the documentary and whatever else &mdash; then they don&rsquo;t need to be writing or commenting on anything.</p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s like a fumble in football. Everybody in the media, fans (and) social media started jumping on top of the dog pile, and Kyrie emerged from the bottom of the pile carrying the football and holding it high in the air for everyone to see. The backlash didn&rsquo;t break him. The team still needs Kyrie Irving. They wouldn&rsquo;t be where they are without him. And if anybody thought the Nets didn&rsquo;t need him, they just don&rsquo;t know the game."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kyrie Irving scored 29 PTS &amp; the Nets have won 18 of their last 20 games! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetsWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NetsWorld</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://t.co/6SobtaV7MI">pic.twitter.com/6SobtaV7MI</a></p>
&mdash; Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1612422254607958016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<p><strong>Etan:</strong> I hear you, but the piling on just bothered me. I was like... y&rsquo;all are making him out to be Hitler himself. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dns9B0ypwk0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">specifically said</a>, like you mentioned earlier, "I don&rsquo;t agree with everything in this documentary, I&rsquo;m sharing it for the information, I don&rsquo;t hate anyone, I respect all religions." And they wanted to make him Public Enemy No. 1. and the face of antisemitism.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Yeah, that&rsquo;s exactly what they tried to do, but it didn&rsquo;t work because that&rsquo;s not who he is and (he) has never been that. You can&rsquo;t make someone be something they&rsquo;re not, and that&rsquo;s not who he is."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> But what was really bothering me is that I was seeing a lot of media people who look like me and you literally running to jump on that bandwagon and bashing him the most. That really bothered me.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "One-thousand percent. That bothered me as well seeing that because that&rsquo;s not the way it&rsquo;s supposed to be. And we&rsquo;re talking about Black media who are in high positions."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Yes, the ones you see if you turn on ESPN or FOX Sports or HBO Sports or the main Black sports journalists. And I don&rsquo;t have to single anyone out in particular because they all were doing that. It was really disappointing to see.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "For them to do that... I know you don&rsquo;t want to call names and I&rsquo;ll respect your platform, but some of them are some high paid."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Don&rsquo;t even say it.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> (Laughing) "I won&rsquo;t say it but you know what I&rsquo;m thinking." (laughing)</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> (Laughing) Yes I do.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "And the guy you expected to join the piling on actually took up for Kyrie &mdash; talking about Jason Whitlock."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Him and Candace Owens did. How crazy is that? It was like we were in the Twilight Zone.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "They usually can&rsquo;t wait to say something negative about a Black athlete, or a Black person or the entire Black community."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> They made an entire career out of it.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Absolutely, and they are where they are because of that."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> One-hundred percent.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "So yeah, I&rsquo;m with you, it was definitely disappointing to see the piling on from Black media people in particular on the platforms they have and not one guy said something even remotely in this man&rsquo;s corner. They were calling for his career."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> And very loudly too. Jay Williams did say something, so shout out to him.</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Yeah that&rsquo;s right he did, but he was the only one, at least that I saw. But let me say<br />this &mdash; you&rsquo;ve done a great job in providing perspective on this whole topic. I&rsquo;ve been following everything you posted. The interview with your guy from your show (Dave Zirin), you <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-60-rabbi-harry-rozenberg-on-antisemitism,-kyrie-irving-s-suspension,-nets-6-steps-to-return,-adl,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sat down with a Rabbi</a>, you had the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-61-former-nba-players-craig-hodges-and-mahmoud-abdul-rauf-discuss-the-kyrie-irving-backlash,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convo with Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Craig Hodges</a>. Even how you <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-nike-employs-adl-tactics-as-they-officially-drop-kyrie-irving-etan-thomas-torraine-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote about Nike after they dropped him</a>.</p>
<p>"That&rsquo;s why what you do is important, for that very reason of what we saw all the other media do with the piling on and one-sided bashing. You actually had discussions about it."</p>
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<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Thanks. Well, shout out to Basketball News for giving me the flexibility to cover different aspects of this topic in different ways. Most platforms wouldn&rsquo;t have allowed that. They would&rsquo;ve shut all that down.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "Censorship is crazy. Not even to have a discussion?"</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> Sometimes, media platforms want you to follow a script and you have to stick to the talking points. And with this, the script was: <em>B</em><em>ash Kyrie, label him antisemitic, denounce, condemn and bash some more.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "That&rsquo;s just wrong, but I&rsquo;m happy that Kyrie can put all of that behind him and the team&rsquo;s playing well, and he&rsquo;s rolling and being the Kyrie we all know him to be on the court. And you have to give a shout out to his teammates, who also didn&rsquo;t buy into all of the bashing and the talk of them being better without Kyrie. Because if you saw, they were trying to get them to co-sign that, but none of them did. They didn&rsquo;t say a bad word about Kyrie, and that&rsquo;s also a reason why they are playing so well right now. Because that kind of stuff can ruin the entire chemistry of a team if you let the outside noise seep into the locker room."</p>
<p><strong>Etan:</strong> That&rsquo;s a great point. Last question: The Nets are playing really well, clicking on all cylinders and they have a rhythm with each other. They also have so many weapons we didn&rsquo;t even talk about like Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Ben Simmons, Yuta Watanabe and TJ Warren. How well can the Nets do this season?&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kenyon:</strong> "I would like to see them go out and get another big because you might have to play Philly. I love Nic Claxton, but dealing with Embiid by yourself for a whole playoff series is a lot to ask. But other than that, they have enough shooting, enough playmakers &mdash; they have a solid shot, they are definitely a contender. (It's about) learning how to win now, and win consistently like they have been doing &mdash; close games, ugly games, games where your main people are off because everything isn&rsquo;t going to be clicking every game. But still finding ways to win consistently, they are really preparing themselves for a very good playoff season."</p>

Etan Thomas speaks with Kenyon Martin about the Nets' surge, Kevin Durant's latest knee injury and Kyrie Irving's recent play.

Kenyon Martin talks Nets, Kevin Durant's injury, Kyrie Irving backlash

<p><strong>DALLAS (AP) &mdash;</strong> Luka Doncic has a new sidekick &mdash; but not a co-star &mdash; as the Dallas Mavericks try to build on their first deep playoff run in a decade.</p>
<p>Spencer Dinwiddie, a midseason trade acquisition before the Mavs reached the Western Conference finals, joins the starting lineup after Jalen Brunson chose to run his own show with the New York Knicks.</p>
<p>The return of healthy stars should be a boost for several West contenders, and defending champ Golden State still has Stephen Curry and company after beating Dallas in five games in the conference finals.</p>
<p>The Mavs are sticking with their formula of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-knicks-dallas-mavericks-nba-sports-jason-kidd-4434e905ada4689f467fbe0b6dc1f2c9">Doncic and a host of complementary pieces</a> to go with the defensive-minded approach of coach Jason Kidd, who changed that culture quickly in his first season.</p>
<p>Doncic said there were &ldquo;no expectations&rdquo; &mdash; just the same goal.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Always the goal is the same for me, for the team,&rdquo; the three-time All-Star said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to win the championship. That&rsquo;s the only goal we have. That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re going to work for.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The biggest offseason move for second-year general manager Nico Harrison was a trade with Houston for Christian Wood. Turns out that was just the start of revamping the frontcourt.</p>
<p>The plan for Wood to start changed when free agent center JaVale McGee agreed to a second stint with the Mavs. The three-time champ (two with the Warriors, one with the Lakers) spent last season with top-seeded Phoenix, which was blown out by the Mavs at home in Game 7 in the second round. Dallas opens this season at the Suns on Oct. 19.</p>
<p>At media day before the start of training camp, Wood said that was the first he had heard of who was starting. Nor did he seem too concerned about it.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I'm motivated either way, off the bench or starting,&rdquo; said Wood, a one-time journeyman who blossomed into a 20-point scorer with the Rockets before they wanted to clear the way for younger draft picks.</p>
<p>Brunson played a huge role in Dallas' first-round victory over Utah when Doncic missed the first three games. During the regular season, Dinwiddie showed he could be a scorer with Doncic out.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-utah-jazz-washington-wizards-nba-sports-d78a2ce4b20bdb476ed23714469b0254">Dinwiddie is going into his first full season</a> with the Mavs and is almost two years removed from surgery for a partially torn ACL. Tim Hardaway Jr. returns after missing most of last season with a broken foot.</p>
<p>The guard-heavy starting lineup includes 3-and-D specialists Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock. Together, the foursome knows its supporting role behind Doncic.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think what made last year&rsquo;s team so special was the chemistry it had and how the sum of its parts became better than any individual talent,&rdquo; Dinwiddie said. &ldquo;We should be better on paper, but it comes down to how we mesh as a group.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>MVP CHATTER</strong></p>
<p>Doncic is the <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/basketball?tab=futures">FanDuel SportsBook preseason betting favorite</a> for MVP going into his fifth season &mdash; and first with the $215 million, five-year rookie supermax extension he signed in the summer of 2021.</p>
<p>The 23-year-old Slovenian has become an international star while also leading his national team. Slovenia reached the semifinals of its first-ever Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 before an upset in the quarterfinals of EuroBasket this summer.</p>
<p>The past four MVP awards have gone to two other Europeans: Denver's Nikola Jokic (Serbia) the past two years and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) the two before that.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To be an MVP of his league, not a lot of people can say,&rdquo; said Doncic, who was third in the NBA in scoring and fifth in assists last season. &ldquo;It's a long progress. Hopefully one day I can win it.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>G LEAGUE ADDITION</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-dallas-draft-houston-f33267fee99c507907f1d9c24e96c2ad">The Mavericks traded into the second round</a> of the draft this past summer to get G League Ignite player Jaden Hardy, who projected as a potential lottery pick after a one-and-done college career before bypassing that route.</p>
<p>Playing time might be an issue in a deep backcourt that also includes Josh Green, who had the fourth-year option on his rookie contract picked up Tuesday, and Frank Ntilikina. But Dallas will have an interesting option if Hardy shows an early ability to score.</p>
<p>&ldquo;He's got a little wiggle to his game,&rdquo; Dinwiddie said. &ldquo;He had a couple of days where he was getting some buckets.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>FRONTCOURT HOLDERS</strong></p>
<p>Dwight Powell probably will have to get used to coming off the bench again after starting a career-high 71 games last season and playing all 82. Maxi Kleber has a $33 million, three-year extension to take into his sixth season, all with Dallas.</p>

Luka Doncic has a new sidekick — but not a co-star — as the Dallas Mavericks try to build on their first deep playoff run in a decade.

Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie try to build on Mavs' deep playoff run

<p>We've reached the dog days of the NBA offseason. The draft has passed, the fun part of free agency is over with, and the trade market is currently frozen in light of the Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell sagas reaching stalemates.</p>
<p>The closest thing we've gotten to on-court news this week came via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. In <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/inside-lebron-james-meeting-with-lakers-front-office-darvin-ham-offensive-plan-rob-pelinka-roster-patience-014115495.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Laker-centric piece</a>, he revealed their plans to run next season's offense through Anthony Davis &mdash; and what does that really mean? &mdash; and hopes that Russell Westbrook shoots better on corner threes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>If we're not getting games right now, and the transaction mill is essentially paused, the next best thing is... schedule news? Schedule news it is.</p>
<p>The Athletic's Shams Charania gave us an <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1558494648099749889?s=20&amp;t=lECscqXY3TUs96QAPnMLkQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening-night nugget</a> on Saturday, reporting that the Golden State Warriors will open their season at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. A little later, Marc Stein gave us his second Christmas note of the weekend, following up <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1558269112064909313" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Friday's report</a> of a Lakers-Mavericks matchup with <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1558566130599559168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news</a> that the Warriors would take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Christmas Day.</p>
<p>I want to hone in on the Christmas portion for a moment, because it's one of many things that I get irrationally annoyed about. In an ideal world, we simply wouldn't have basketball games on Christmas. It truly should act as a day off so players can spend time with their families. But if we're going to get games, we need high-level matchups. I want to see great teams &mdash; not <em>historically&nbsp;</em>great teams, but teams that are, or project to be, great during the season &mdash; face off. I want to see a mix of established and up-and-coming stars.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The league has nailed the latter with these leaked matchups, at the very least. Putting the Warriors and Grizzlies together on Christmas was low-hanging fruit. Stephen Curry is at his apex; Ja Morant played MVP-caliber basketball for a large portion of last season. Their playoff matchup screamed "this is a rivalry in the making" &mdash; it would make sense to capitalize on that.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I do wonder if we're going to get a fully maximized version of this matchup, and that's mostly because versatile Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. will miss the beginning of the season as he recovers from right foot surgery. He was <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34175064/memphis-grizzlies-jaren-jackson-jr-foot-surgery-4-6-months" target="_blank" rel="noopener">given a four-to-six month timeline</a>; if it's closer to six months, we may not see him until December. The Grizzlies would likely be conservative with him, either putting him on a pitch count, holding him out of some games (likely back-to-backs) or some combination of the two.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>It's easy to see the draw for Lakers-Mavs. LeBron James and Luka Doncic are the premier point-forwards in the NBA at this point. It screams torch-passing in a way, with LeBron on the downslope of his otherworldly career and Doncic coming off his first deep playoff run.</p>
<p>I just don't know what to make of either of these teams right now.</p>
<p>With all due respect to new head coach Darvin Ham, I think it's fair to say that the Lakers aren't exactly sold on their starting point guard. Both LeBron and Davis have missed chunks of games over the past two seasons; you'd hope both will be available by the time Christmas rolls around.</p>
<p>On the Mavs front, I'm curious to see what they're going to look like without Jalen Brunson. Sorting out the frontcourt combinations with Chrstian Wood (shout out for the low-risk, moderate-reward move), JaVale McGee, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell should be interesting. This could be a case of both teams trying to find themselves by the time their matchup comes around.</p>
<p>The other three games have yet to be released, but here's what I'd like for the slate to look like.</p>
<p>12:00 p.m. EST: Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers</p>
<ul>
<li>You can definitely sign me up for a pair of MVP candidates (Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum) as headliners. James Harden and Jaylen Brown bring star power in their own right. We need Tyrese Maxey transition attacks while little ones across the globe open their presents. Both teams project as high-level defenses, which could put us in position to see some clutch bucket-getting late in the game.</li>
</ul>
<p>2:30 p.m. EST: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat</p>
<ul>
<li>You have an MVP (Giannis Antetokounmpo), a bonafide star (Jimmy Butler), versatile All-Stars (Bam Adebayo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton) and a history of fun matchups dating back to the 2020 bubble.</li>
</ul>
<p>5:00 p.m. EST: Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies</p>
<p>8:00 p.m. EST: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks</p>
<p>10:30 p.m. EST: Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves</p>
<ul>
<li>It's the Tim Connelly Bowl! In all seriousness, you can't snub the MVP on Christmas... again. Beyond that, the Wolves introduced themselves to the national consciousness with a thrilling (and frustrating) first-round matchup with the Grizzlies last season. Build on that and give the people Nikola Jokic vs. Rudy Gobert, more shine for Karl-Anthony Towns and a platform for <em>everything&nbsp;</em>that is Anthony Edwards.</li>
</ul>
<p>If the league wants a cross-conference matchup, Suns-Bucks would be a fun Finals rematch in place of Heat-Bucks. While I'd love to see Nuggets-Timberwolves, I think something like Clippers-Pelicans &mdash; with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Brandon Ingram and the triumphant return of Zion Williamson &mdash; will end up being too hard to pass up.</p>
<p>[<strong>UPDATE:</strong> <em>The Nuggets and Suns will reportedly face off on Christmas, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/msinger/status/1558893393048215558" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Singer of the Denver Post.</a></em>]</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>And if we don't see fireworks with the Brooklyn Nets before the season starts, surely they're going to get a game, right? A Nets-Celtics first-round rematch would be on the table. Nets-Clippers would have all the star power you'd want. And of course, the storylines for a Nets-Sixers game would write themselves.</p>
<p>The NBA has some tough choices to make, but this is also a testament to how much talent is in the league right now.</p>

Nekias Duncan gives his thoughts on the Christmas Day matchups we know of, then shares his ideal Christmas slate.

What is the ideal slate of NBA games for Christmas Day?

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

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

<p>The Minnesota Timberwolves disturbed the basketball universe when they paid a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/timberwolves-continue-aggressive-push-for-greatness-with-rudy-gobert-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">premium price for Rudy Gobert</a>, sending back a package to the Utah Jazz that did not include Karl-Anthony Towns, who plays the same position.</p>
<p>Immediately, most people had questions. <em>How will Gobert and Towns fit together on the court?</em></p>
<p>The short answer? Better than you may think.</p>
<p>In a world where small ball is king, Minnesota is going to join a handful of teams in the league that feature two 7-footers in their starting lineup &mdash; the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are obviously an anomaly due since one of their 7-footers is two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, but both the Grizzlies and Cavaliers had surprising seasons last year due in large part to the size in their respective frontcourts.</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>Looking at last season as a blueprint, the pairing of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Steven Adams demonstrates the most comparable fit for KAT and Gobert. And going back to the 2019-20 campaign, the Los Angeles Lakers playing Anthony Davis with either Dwight Howard or JaVale McGee also shows it can work. The one caveat is that Minnesota will have two All-Star big men on the floor at the same time; neither the Grizzlies nor Lakers could claim that.</p>
<p>In this article, we're going to forecast how Gobert and KAT's roles will look on both ends of the floor while both are sharing the court.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Offense</strong></span></p>
<p>Offensively, Gobert will likely function in the same role as he did in Utah, with some more time in the dunker spot. Towns will almost definitely see an uptick in three-point attempts, as he'll find himself floating around the perimeter more often.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/meegso" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>On this possession, JJJ sits on the perimeter while Adams is in the same-side dunker spot. Jaren's ability to shoot prevents Aaron Gordon from overhelping on the Ja Morant drive, while the positioning of Adams puts Nikola Jokic in no man's land. Will Barton also has to choose between cutting off the passing lane out to De'Anthony Melton on the perimeter or sealing off Adams.</p>
<p>Whether it is D'Angelo Russell or Anthony Edwards attacking off the drive, placing KAT and Gobert in this kind of set will generate easy buckets for the Timberwolves.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/mtmdz2" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>The Timberwolves were limited with their spacing when Towns was the screener due to Jarred Vanderbilt's inability to shoot from the perimeter. On this possession, JJJ can overhelp and force a kick-out to Vanderbilt. Jaren does not have to close-out and sags in the paint defensively as Vanderbilt dribbles up.</p>
<p>This season when Gobert is the primary screener, teams will not be able to help off KAT on the perimeter, creating the space for a drive or an open three, making Minnesota's offense even more potent than it was a season ago.&nbsp;</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/cwzvd7" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>Picture KAT setting a screen and popping to the perimeter, while Gobert hides out on the weak-side dunker spot and Edwards makes like a freight train down the lane. Ant has not operated as a lob passer in the pick-and-roll, but neither did Mike Conley Jr. before he teamed up with Gobert in Utah.</p>
<p>Let Edwards and Gobert connect just a few times, and we'll wish the rest of the league luck as they attempt to defend that tandem.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/tnf198" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>While KAT may not be the lob threat that AD is, Minnesota now has the ability to run the above set with Russell or Edwards as the ball-handler getting downhill. There is potential for Gobert to be the screen-and-roller and KAT hiding out in the dunker spot. Either way, the gravity of the big-man duo, plus a few perimeter shooters around them, will put a lot of stress on opposing defenses.&nbsp;</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/8kqw9g" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>This is an example of the lethal offensive potential the Gobert-KAT pairing creates.</p>
<p>Not only does Gobert commit devastating screens, but he is also an elite roller/lob threat. His gravity is going to force KAT's defender to be in the paint for help. In the video above, Avery Bradley's defender even steps in to chip McGee, leaving LeBron James plenty of space to hit a wide-open AD in the corner. KAT should get plenty of open corner threes off of Gobert rolls to the basket.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Defense</strong></span></p>
<p>Defensively, the opportunity for either Gobert or KAT to be the weak side rim-protector is tantalizing.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Losing Patrick Beverley and Vanderbilt will surely impact the Timberwolves' perimeter defense this season, but, with the addition of Gobert, there simply needs to be a shift in defensive philosophy and game-planning. Teams with an elite shot-blocker tend to funnel the opponent toward that rim-protector. Lacking the perimeter prowess of Beverley, Minnesota still should not worry too much, as a three-time Defensive Player of the Year is anchoring the defense behind them.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/wkld4y" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>Here's an example of one of Gobert or KAT being able to play help-side defense and the value that provides. JJJ is defending his opponent on the block, while Adams is on the weak-side block. Both Gobert and KAT are better rim-protectors than Adams, and are likely to deter opponents from even attempting this shot.</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>The marriage between Gobert and KAT will either crash and burn or be phenomenal; there is not much room for something in the middle of those two. The fit is counterintuitive with the modern NBA, but the modern NBA was counterintuitive at one point as well.</p>
<p>We likely won't see the return of traditional positions and lineups, but this group has the opportunity to be just as unique as the first small ball revolution lineups were.</p>

Justin Lewis breaks down how Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns can best coexist on the floor together in Minnesota.

How Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns can work as Timberwolves' duo

Bookmark this page and we'll keep you up-to-date on every NBA rumor. We'll continue updating this tracker over the next 24 hours.

NBA Rumor Tracker: Compiling the latest news and intel

<p>Ever since Artūras Karni&scaron;ovas and Marc Eversley took over the Bulls&rsquo; front office two years ago, Chicago has been one of the most aggressive teams in the NBA. Their fingerprints are all over this roster, with notable acquisitions such as DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.</p>
<p>These moves have translated to on-court success, as the Bulls posted their best winning percentage since the 2014-15 season and ended their four-year playoff drought. This year, Chicago was 46-36 &mdash; more wins than they had in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons combined. (Zach LaVine and Coby White are the only remaining players from that 2019-20 squad).</p>
<p>The Bulls entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference while boasting the NBA's 11th-ranked offense (scoring 111.0 points per 100 possessions) and 23rd-ranked defense (allowing 111.1 points per 100 possessions).&nbsp;</p>
<p>While this season marked a step in the right direction, the Bulls&rsquo; first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks showed that there&rsquo;s still plenty of work to be done. Despite Milwaukee losing their second-best player, Khris Middleton, to a sprained MCL in Game 2, the Bucks completed a gentleman's sweep against the Bulls. Chicago wasn&rsquo;t at full strength either, with Ball sidelined due to a knee injury and LaVine (COVID-19) and Caruso (concussion) each missing Game 5. Still, the reigning champions were a good litmus test.</p>
<p>Entering the offseason, where does Chicago go from here? Are big changes coming?</p>
<p><strong>RE-SIGNING ZACH LAVINE</strong></p>
<p>Entering this offseason, Chicago&rsquo;s top priority should be re-signing LaVine, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency. The 27-year-old has emerged as a perennial All-Star, earning a spot on the Eastern Conference squad in each of the last two seasons.&nbsp;</p>
<p>This year, LaVine averaged 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 threes, while reducing his turnovers to 2.6 per game and shooting 47.6% from the field, 38.9% from three and 85.3% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;</p>
<p>LaVine will certainly expect a maximum contract from the Bulls, which would <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bulls-offseason-preview-zach-lavines-free-agency-nikola-vucevic-extension-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">pay him</span></a> $212.3 million over five years. The most he could receive from another team is $157.4 million over four years. This is a relatively weak free-agent class, so it seems very likely that LaVine will get a max deal from some team.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Bulls would be wise to re-sign their star shooting guard, as replacing his production would be difficult, and the team would certainly take a step back if LaVine signed elsewhere.</p>
<p>"I plan to enjoy free agency," LaVine said recently. &ldquo;We're going to have to experience A through Z without making any fast decisions. I think that's something me and [Rich Paul] are going to go through and experience."</p>
<p>LaVine was asked if the Bulls are the front-runners to sign him, but he wouldn&rsquo;t say.</p>
<p>"You guys have been a really, really soft spot in my heart," LaVine said to the Chicago media. "I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, to not just be viewed one way and be like, 'I'm automatically coming back,' or, 'I'm automatically leaving.'"</p>
<p>In multiple interviews, LaVine has reiterated that he wants to be paid what he feels he deserves.</p>
<p>"I just want my respect. I think that's the main thing," LaVine <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/zach-lavine-prepares-olympic-quarterfinal-bulls-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last August. "I outplayed my contract; I've been very loyal to Chicago, I like Chicago. I just want my respect."</p>
<p><strong>FREE AGENCY</strong></p>
<p>Aside from LaVine, the bulk of Chicago's core is under contract for the foreseeable future.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Bulls have $103,181,950 in guaranteed salaries on the books for next season, spread across nine players: DeRozan, Vucevic, Lopez, Caruso, White, Patrick Williams, Javonte Green, Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Simonovic. Projections set next year&rsquo;s salary cap at $122 million and the luxury tax at $149 million.</p>
<p>Derrick Jones Jr.,Tristan Thompson and Matt Thomas will be unrestricted free agents. Tony Bradley has a player option worth $2,036,318, so he could opt out and test the market as well.</p>
<p>The team will have three restricted free agents (assuming Chicago extends a qualifying offer to each): Troy Brown Jr. ($7,228,448 QO), Tyler Cook ($1,576,305) and Malcolm Hill ($1,576,305).</p>
<p>Last year, the Bulls were very aggressive in free agency, making splashy moves left and right. Given their cap situation, it seems unlikely that Chicago will be able to go star hunting, but they&rsquo;ll likely try to improve their depth and add certain specialists. For example, Chicago could use a rim protector, as they averaged just 4.0 blocks per game (which ranked 27th in the NBA). Can they afford Mitchell Robinson? Could they throw an offer sheet at or sign-and-trade for a restricted free agent like Nic Claxton or Mo Bamba? Can they add a veteran like JaVale McGee or Hassan Whiteside?&nbsp;</p>
<p>In addition to a rim protector, it would make sense to add other defensive reinforcements as well (especially if Jones signs elsewhere). Caruso and Ball give Chicago a strong defensive backcourt, but they need some help if the Bulls want to improve their 23rd-ranked defensive rating (113.2). Some of the top defensive role players who are hitting the market include Bruce Brown, Gary Payton II and PJ Tucker. Lu Dort and Jae'Sean Tate each have a team option, but it seems unlikely that either will be available given their bargain contracts.</p>
<p>The Bulls will look to add a contributor or two using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth $10,349,000. Last offseason, that is how Chicago was able to sign Caruso to a four-year, $37 million deal, which ended up being a terrific addition. Other players who signed for the non-taxpayer MLE last offseason include McGee (Phoenix Suns), Tucker (Miami Heat), Reggie Bullock (Dallas Mavericks) and Khem Birch (Toronto Raptors).</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see what the Bulls do in free agency. However, keep in mind that some of Chicago&rsquo;s biggest additions in recent years were acquired through trades.</p>
<p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/gobe_lg.jpg" alt="" width="685" height="400" /></p>
<p><strong>TRADES</strong></p>
<p>After watching the Bulls&rsquo; front office trade for Vucevic, DeRozan and Ball, fans are understandably thinking big when it comes to Chicago&rsquo;s trade targets entering the offseason.</p>
<p>Myles Turner has been mentioned as a possible target for the Bulls since he could solve their rim-protection issues, but the window on acquiring Turner may have slammed shut as a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/despite-trade-talks-the-pacers-want-to-keep-myles-turner-longterm" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">recent report</span></a> suggested that the Indiana Pacers are now expected to keep the 26-year-old long-term.</p>
<p>Another dominant shot-blocker who may become available is Rudy Gobert. The Utah Jazz just had another season end in disappointing fashion, and there has already been a <a href="https://twitter.com/realOCsports/status/1521141215411941376" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span> that the Jazz will be forced to choose between Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. If Utah opts to keep their young shooting guard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Defensive First-Team selection could suddenly be obtainable.</p>
<p>If that happens, the Bulls should at least reach out and start a conversation. Our Evan Sidery recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-rudy-gobert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke down potential destinations for Gobert</a> and listed Chicago as the top landing spot. Here&rsquo;s what he wrote:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">Imagine the possibilities for Chicago with Gobert patrolling the paint with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso hawking the perimeter. It&rsquo;s the perfect complement to offensive dynamos Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. Chicago&rsquo;s new starting lineup of Ball, Caruso, LaVine, DeRozan and Gobert would seemingly have no holes in it from a two-way perspective. I absolutely love this idea for Chicago, and they should be blowing up the Jazz&rsquo;s phone this summer if it seems plausible.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;"><strong>Jazz receive</strong>: Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, Coby White, draft compensation<br /><strong>Bulls receive</strong>: Rudy Gobert</p>
<p>It remains to be seen if either side would do this, but it&rsquo;s an intriguing idea.</p>
<p>With that said, if the Bulls are committed to Vucevic and don&rsquo;t want to trade for a new big man, HoopsHype&rsquo;s Yossi Gozlan <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bulls-offseason-preview-zach-lavines-free-agency-nikola-vucevic-extension-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">points out</span></a> that an extension for Vooch could make sense this offseason.</p>
<p>If that happens, perhaps Chicago just looks for a complementary shot-blocker who can play behind Vucevic like one of the free agents we mentioned above or more of a minor trade target such as New York&rsquo;s Nerlens Noel or Minnesota&rsquo;s Jarred Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s also worth noting that the Bulls have a $5,000,000 trade exception that expires on July 7, 2022, from their Daniel Theis deal.</p>
<p><strong>DRAFT</strong></p>
<p>The Bulls have the No. 18 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. In BasketballNews.com's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a>, our senior NBA Draft analyst Matt Babcock has Chicago selecting Ohio State forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/ej-liddell" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">EJ Liddell</span></a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old junior is a well-rounded, NBA-ready player who makes sense for a Bulls team that wants to win now. Last season, Liddell averaged 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.6 blocks, 1.4 threes and 0.6 steals, while shooting 49.0% from the field, 37.4% from three and 76.5% from the free-throw line.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Although he is a bit undersized for the position, the Buckeyes often used Liddell as a 4 or 5 in their lineups,&rdquo; Babcock noted in his scouting breakdown. &ldquo;He is physical and versatile on both ends of the floor, scoring both inside and out. He appears more comfortable in the mid-range and paint, which works well for his college system but raises questions in regards to his translatability to the NBA. Liddell filled up the box score and played with great effort and toughness. He has certainly carved out a spot for himself in the 2022 NBA Draft.&rdquo;</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/37mLYAneg7M" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Other players who are projected to be available in that range are G League Ignite wing <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/marjon-beauchamp" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">MarJon Beauchamp</span></a>, Baylor forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kendall-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kendall Brown</span></a>, LSU forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/tari-eason" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tari Eason</span></a>, Notre Dame guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/blake-wesley" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blake Wesley</span></a>, G League Ignite guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/jaden-hardy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jaden Hardy</span></a>, Serbian forward <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/nikola-jovic" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nikola Jovic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span> and Tennessee guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kennedy-chandler" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kennedy Chandler</span></a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>If the Bulls aren&rsquo;t interested in any of these prospects, or if Karni&scaron;ovas and Eversley continue to be aggressive on the trade market, Chicago could look to deal the No. 18 pick as part of a win-now move.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s worth noting that Chicago must forfeit their next-available second-round pick after an NBA investigation revealed that they contacted Ball prior to the start of the NBA&rsquo;s free-agency period. As it stands, the Bulls&rsquo; next-available pick is the team&rsquo;s 2026 second-rounder, but Chicago can&rsquo;t acquire a second-round pick before then because they&rsquo;d have to forfeit it.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>After a few rough years, the Bulls seem to be back on the right trajectory, and there&rsquo;s no question that this team has the talent to be a perennial playoff squad in the East. Winning 46 games despite trying to get so many new players acclimated is impressive, especially when you factor in the injuries to Ball, Caruso, Williams, etc.</p>
<p>Even if the Bulls bring back largely the same roster, they will benefit from that continuity and improved chemistry. However, given what we&rsquo;ve seen from this front office in recent years, don&rsquo;t be surprised if they look to wheel-and-deal in order to take the roster to the next level.</p>

After winning 46 games and losing in the first round, where will the Bulls go from here? Alex Kennedy previews Chicago's summer.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Chicago Bulls?

<p>In the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in 2021 due to COVID, France matched up with Team USA in the men&rsquo;s basketball gold-medal game for the third time.</p>
<p>The first gold-medal meeting between the two nations took place was in 1948, with France <a href="https://www.usab.com/history/national-team-mens/games-of-the-xivth-olympiad-1948.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing 65-21 in that final</a>.</p>
<p>Despite having been historically good since then, it took another 52 years for the Frenchmen to return to that stage for a second time; unfortunately, Team USA awaited again. The game was much closer in 2000 than in 1948, but the Americans &mdash; led by Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Alonzo Mourning and Ray Allen among others &mdash; outlasted Antoine Rigaudeau, Laurent Sciarra, Frederic Weis and France, 85-75.</p>
<p>(No, that wasn&rsquo;t the game Carter <a href="https://youtu.be/WihbbVEmppI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dunked on Weis</a>; <em>that </em>was earlier in The Games.)</p>
<p>And in last year&rsquo;s gold-medal game, in the countries' third meeting on that stage, France <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-olympics-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401347899" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got even closer</a>.</p>
<p>France's best Olympic team ever was defeated by the Americans, 87-82. Team USA started Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo, answering the French quintet of Nando De Colo, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele and Rudy Gobert.</p>
<p>Contributions from the U.S. bench came from Jayson Tatum, Zach LaVine, Draymond Green and Khris Middleton, while Timoth&eacute; Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntikilina, Thomas Heurtel and Moustapha Fall were key components of France's second unit. The Frenchmen trailed by as little as 3 points with just eight seconds remaining before Durant iced the game with two free throws.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8YSrNfcKvA0" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Now imagine that game with Joel Embiid... playing for <em>France</em>.</p>
<p>The 28-year-old NBA MVP candidate, who was born and raised in Cameroon and has never played for his home national team (despite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/things-to-monitor-as-the-next-fiba-world-cups-next-qualifying-window-arrives">coming close in 2017</a>), is reportedly <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2022/05/02/joel-embiid-could-change-nationality-play-french-national-team-report">eyeing an opportunity to suit up for France</a>.</p>
<p>Embiid has family in France, and is <a href="https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/basket/basket-joel-embiid-superstar-de-nba-se-rapproche-de-l-equipe-de-france_AV-202205020664.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considering changing his nationality</a> in order to play for the Frenchmen in the 2024 Olympic Games, where they&rsquo;d enter as one of the favorites to challenge Team USA again for the gold. According to French basketball general manager Boris Diaw, Embiid is <a href="https://actucameroun.com/2022/05/03/boris-diaw-manager-general-de-lequipe-de-france-confirme-les-demarches-entamees-par-joel-embiid-pour-jouer-avec-les-bleus-en-vue-des-jo-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking the necessary steps</a>.</p>
<p>(Looks like we won't ever see the Embiid-Pascal Siakam tandem for Cameroon, unfortunately.)</p>
<p>In FIBA, each team is allowed one naturalized player on its roster. Current and recent instances of this include American-born players to suit up for different countries, such as Javonte Green (Montenegro), Matt Costello (Ivory Coast), Anthony Randolph (Slovenia) and Andray Blatche (Philippines). Non-American examples include Congolese center Serge Ibaka playing for Spain, Cuban native Ismael Romero playing for Puerto Rico and French-born Aaron Cel playing for Poland. Another famous occasion where this occurred saw Hakeem Olajuwon playing with Team USA in the 1990s.</p>
<p>Regarding American-born WNBA players, known examples include Bria Hartley representing France, Becky Hammon representing Russia and Leilani Mitchell representing Australia. Non-American examples in the women&rsquo;s game include Bahamian Jonquel Jones playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Senegal native Astou Ndour playing for Spain.</p>
<p>Now, it may be long before we see Embiid actually playing for France if this process gets finalized, or less than we think <em>if </em>he decides not to wait for the Olympics.</p>
<p>The next major European basketball tournament is EuroBasket 2022, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022">which will run from Sept. 1-18 later this year</a> across Italy, Germany, Georgia and the Czech Republic. France will be one of 24 teams competing, but seeing Embiid there would be surprising.</p>
<p>The 2023 FIBA World Cup, which France is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/where-things-stand-after-the-second-window-of-fiba-world-cup-qualifiers">currently attempting to qualify for</a>, will take place from Aug. 25 through Sept. 10, 2023. Qualifying for the World Cup will run through next February before the final pool of 32 teams gets decided.</p>
<p>And the 2024 Summer Olympics, assuming we avoid another global pandemic, is expected to actually run that summer. The host of the Games? France, who will automatically qualify for the tournament <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/pr-n34-brazils-national-teams-granted-automatic-places-at-2016-olympic-basketball-tournament" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by rule</a>. Embiid will be 30 years old by the next Olympics.</p>
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<p>Since Embiid is reportedly targeting the 2024 Games, let&rsquo;s look at some players who might be his teammates.</p>
<p>The oldest players from the silver-medal-winning squad last summer were De Colo and Batum, who&rsquo;ll be 37 and 35 by the 2024 Games, so expect many of the same players to run it back if possible. One name that could join the fray is Boston Celtics second-round pick Juhann Begarin, who is just 19 years old and was the No. 45 overall selection last summer. Isma&euml;l Kamagate and Hugo Besson, both of whom are 21, are in the 2022 NBA Draft pool; the same goes for 18-year-old Ousmane Dieng, who is quickly rising up draft boards. There's also plenty of hype surrounding fellow 18-year-old, ASVEL star and 7-foot-2 sensation Victor Wembanyama &mdash; a lock to be a high draft pick in 2023.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft">BasketballNews.com Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock</a> has Dieng going No. 21 overall, Kamagate at No. 40 and Besson at No. 51.</p>
<p>But really, there&rsquo;s one question we need to answer, and it has to do with a three-time Defensive Player of the Year already on the roster who holds down the 5 position. Could an Embiid and Gobert frontcourt lead France over Team USA?</p>
<p>If you haven&rsquo;t realized, the American pool of bigs is slighter than you think.</p>
<p>Many of the best centers in the NBA aren&rsquo;t American and don&rsquo;t represent America internationally. Examples include Embiid, Gobert, Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Nikola Vučević (Montenegro), Kristaps Porziņģis (Latvia), Clint Capela (Switzerland) and Jonas Valančiūnas (Lithuania).</p>
<p>The best centers that have represented Team USA, and/or have Team USA eligibility, have been Adebayo, Green, Jarrett Allen and JaVale McGee. Deandre Ayton (Bahamas) is a player to watch <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2021/06/22/suns-big-deandre-ayton-ideal-team-usa-2024-summer-olympics-paris/5307682001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who could represent Team USA in the future</a>, along with younger bigs like Evan Mobley and Chet Holmgren.</p>
<p>Assuming health, so the 2024 American team could start either Adebayo, Ayton or Allen, if not 2 of the 3. Team USA is generally harder to guess in advance, but your starting lineup could look like some combination of Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards, Booker, Tatum and Adebayo. Maybe, to match size, Ayton gets in there instead of Edwards.</p>
<p>Maybe a Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown and Donovan Mitchell sneak into the backcourt instead. Maybe someone we&rsquo;re not projecting to make another huge leap does &mdash; like Jordan Poole, Tyler Herro or Tyrese Maxey &mdash; or maybe Jaden Ivey or Jabari Smith are more ready than we think by 2024. Even so, you&rsquo;d throw, at best, Adebayo, Ayton, Allen, and Mobley at the Embiid-Gobert combo, and that tandem could be backed up by Dieng, Yabusele, and Vincent Poirier for France.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a lot to project, no doubt, but giving <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingmen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the No. 4 team in the world</a> a top-four player in the world could be what it takes for someone to snatch the gold medal away from Team USA in the Olympics for the first time since 2004.</p>
<p>But a lot can happen in two years, so we'll table this... for now.&nbsp;</p>
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Bryan Fonseca looks at the potential of Joel Embiid joining France in international competition.

We’re not talking enough about Joel Embiid possibly playing for France

<p>The Phoenix Suns are 49-12, hold the best Net Rating in the NBA (plus-8.6) and boast a top-three offense and defense (per Cleaning the Glass). They have a six-and-a-half game lead on the No. 2 seed Warriors and a seven-game lead on the fast-approaching Memphis Grizzlies &mdash; the second- and third-best teams in the NBA by record.</p>
<p>Chris Paul (get well soon) continues to orchestrate high-level offense like few have in the history of the league. Devin Booker is in the midst of perhaps his most complete season as a pro (this is <em>Year 7?!</em>).</p>
<p>Mikal Bridges is en route to an All-Defense nod, some dark-horse Defensive Player of the Year buzz and has made <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mikal-bridges-leap-offensively-is-vital-for-the-phoenix-suns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real strides as a scorer</a> in 2022. In spite of contract weirdness in the offseason, Deandre Ayton continues on as a pillar of efficiency, a king of quick 10-footers and the central figure in Phoenix's defensive construct.</p>
<p>This team has the juice and a special air about them, arguably even more so than the charmed team that made the Finals last summer.</p>
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<p>I've seen Star Wars Episode III at least 30 times in my life (it came out on my ninth birthday and has been a staple ever since; sue me). There's something extremely grounding and soothing about that movie for me that I don't find replicated often in media. I feel the same bewilderment and joy watching the Battle of Coruscant unfold every darn time, like I'm still that awestruck kid at Regal Cinema 15 years ago. Order 66 still breaks me each rewatch, we don't need to talk about it!</p>
<p>The Suns are my NBA comfort watch, much like that film. If I've gone through a particularly grimey stretch of Indiana Pacers play, I can flip on the Suns on League Pass once the West Coast tip-off starts and bask in the ambiance of fantastic basketball.</p>
<p>The offensive sets flow and pop. Defensive rotations are crisp and timely. The consistent stability of Phoenix draws me in, and it's third-year forward Cam Johnson who is central to that stability.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cam Johnson since Christmas (27 games)<br />14 points per game on 48.9/43.3/94 splits<br />6.3 threes per game<br />66.3% true-shooting <a href="https://t.co/TAoOULOO7n">pic.twitter.com/TAoOULOO7n</a></p>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1498737179811532802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>Paul is going to slice up the court with nifty passing, and Booker will dazzle with his shot-making. But Johnson is the kind of player who, if you watch a team casually, might not pop... at least not in the way a star might.</p>
<p>Yet, that quietness is what makes Johnson such an integral player. Once you get in tune with the Suns, the silence is audible when he's not on the court.</p>
<p>At its core, the term/archetype "3-and-D" loses the essence of what makes a player unique; Johnson's role certainly runs parallel.</p>
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<p>He paints the corners, canning 48.0% of his attempts from the wings, per Cleaning the Glass (89th percentile).</p>
<p>Johnson is a legitimate shooter off of movement, and his gravitational pull is acknowledged in full by defenses; he rates in the bottom third of Basketball Index's openness-rating metric, tracking how open a player's attempts are on average.</p>
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<p>Out of players taking 3 or more threes per game this season, Johnson is fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage (43.2%). We know about the shooting, but it's the foundation of his game! It's what he was most marketed for as a prospect, but it unlocks the remainder of his offensive skill set in a way that the box score cannot encapsulate.</p>
<p>Johnson isn't an adept ball-handler, but he's competent for his size. Along with his tremendous perception of advantages and court awareness, he's able to knife into lanes that are made available to him. Give him a step on the catch, and he might not beat you to the rim, but he's going to keep the initial push of the offense going and flowing.</p>
<p>Since he's entered the starting lineup post All-Star Break with Paul out, he's doubled his assists per game (1.5 to 3.7), but that's more of a highlight of what he's always been capable of &mdash; just exacerbated with higher usage.</p>
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<p>Attacking off the second side, he's phenomenal at driving east and west, hitting cutters or bigs in the dunker spot or floating in the paint with a dump-off or drop-off pass.</p>
<p>Johnson flows in and out of secondary ball-screens and handoffs if a primary action is denied. He often has to kill his dribble before he can get to the rim, but his quick actions and relocation buoy his lack of burst and keep the offense in equilibrium.</p>
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<p>He's also pretty darn good as a post-entry passer, and has developed some nice chemistry with JaVale McGee, finding him routinely (Shout out to JaVale, what a season from him).</p>
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<p>Johnson's even flashed some eye manipulation, toying with the defense in a way that I certainly wasn't ready for; the defense was not either!</p>
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<p>It sounds simplistic, but a player like Johnson who thrives operating off of others is essential to sn offense. Being able to put the ball on the floor and make positive decisions while maintaining the defense's attention as a shooter eases up life to a degree for Booker and Paul.&nbsp;</p>
<p>When he does his job, it's not always noticeable, as mentioned above. When backups with different skill sets fill in, there's an "Oh, yeah, I get it now!" type of realization. (And that's not Torrey Craig or Ish Wainwright slander, but rather "Cam Johnson is awesome" praise!)</p>
<p>Johnson was really solid defensively last year, but it's felt as though he's taken smaller steps this season and grown into a more consistent positive.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Johnson won't often lock down opposing wings as well as Mikal Bridges does, but he excels in a team scheme. He's been better at the point of attack and man-to-man than anticipated pre-draft.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cam Johnson is so good at using his length to contest and tip the ball without fouling<br />Always has his arms up and doesn't really flail at all<br /><br />There were pre-draft lateral quickness concerns, but being big and knowing how to play big has made him into a plus defender <a href="https://t.co/5L8mKc4oEJ">pic.twitter.com/5L8mKc4oEJ</a></p>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1487848232176820227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>While he doesn't have a massive wingspan (6-foot-10), you will rarely see Johnson with his arms down. He's so good at keeping himself square and angling, riding out drives on a ball-handlers hip, keeping vertical and using his length to contest and crowd.</p>
<p>This possession is a microcosm of why I enjoy Johnson as a defender.</p>
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<p>He fights through the screen fairly well for someone with his size and frame, but my favorite part is that he never loses contact with DeMar DeRozan. Tony Bradley doesn't fully set the screen for contact (it feels somewhere between a slip and a legit screen), but that would be enough to deter many point-of-attack defenders, creating some separation.</p>
<p>Johnson has a hand on DeRozan at all times, making it extremely difficult for DeRozan to both feel comfortable and step into one of his patented pull-up twos after snaking into space. Johnson simply doesn't provide that space by maintaining contact and always being in pursuit.</p>
<p>He works in tandem with McGee, shading DeRozan to the baseline before he pivots out and then posts up.</p>
<p>Is Johnson flat-out stopping DeRozan on the perimeter? No, but he's simply being solid and continually getting the most out of his tools. Staying solid is an art, and Johnson is the artist, with timely rotations, good communication (a Phoenix staple) and apt activity on switches.</p>
<p>While Kevin Love and Tyler Herro will rightfully garner most of the votes and consideration for Sixth Man of the Year, Cameron Johnson deserves a mention and a down-ballot nomination (even if he starts the remainder of the year, he'll meet criteria).</p>
<p>As he likely remains in a larger role with Paul out for the foreseeable future, enjoy the Cam Johnson experience, appreciate the little things he does that deserve highlighting,and soak in the rays of a great Suns team.</p>
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The Suns are surging, building the best record in the NBA with a comfortable cushion; quietly central to that is Cam Johnson.

Cam Johnson, the art of staying solid and the Suns' stability

<p>During the Phoenix Suns&rsquo; final game before the All-Star break, Chris Paul suffered a fractured thumb avulsion. Paul will now be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks, bringing Paul&rsquo;s probable return right before the postseason begins.</p>
<p>Luckily for Phoenix, it is six-and-a-half games ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the Western Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed, and it would take a noticeable slip for the Suns to be caught by anyone in the West. This will be a serious test for the Suns though, because Paul has actually avoided serious injuries on the court throughout his tenure thus far in Phoenix. Paul has only missed four games with the Suns, but this will now be a real evaluation period that could potentially help them in the long run.</p>
<p>Both Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet are expected to be back from ankle injuries after the All-Star break. Also, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/aaron-holiday-is-fitting-right-into-the-suns-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new acquisition of Aaron Holiday</a> now brings a sigh of relief for Phoenix's overall depth. Holiday&rsquo;s tenacious defense and adequate floor-spacing ability have already made him an upgrade over Elfrid Payton as the Suns&rsquo; emergency third-string point guard.</p>
<p>Paul&rsquo;s extended absence will cause major ripple effects on their offense though. With Paul on the floor, Phoenix is scoring 115.9 points per 100 possessions &mdash; 11 points better than when Paul sits for the Suns. (By the way, that&rsquo;s tied for the best mark in the Association with the Utah Jazz for Offensive Rating.) In the small sample of minutes Paul has been off the court, this season more so occurring in blowout victories, the Suns&rsquo; ORTG dips to 105.4.</p>
<p>Since the Suns&rsquo; explosion, we&rsquo;ve yet to really see Devin Booker run the show as much for obvious reasons. Booker playing extensively off the ball alongside Paul has helped conserve his energy for career-best defensive moments and being an assassin in the scoring department. Before Paul arrived, though, Booker had very important moments of growth as a facilitator in the Suns&rsquo; down years.</p>
<p>From 2018-2019, Booker operated with no starting-caliber point guard after Eric Bledsoe seemingly quit on the team via Twitter and was subsequently traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Operating in the backcourt next to names like Payton, Isaiah Canaan, Mike James and Elie Okobo for an extensive period of time forced Booker into being the entire offensive operation.</p>
<p>Everything flowed through Booker every single possession, a baptism by fire so to say, but the Suns&rsquo; young shooting guard continued to blossom into a multi-faceted weapon. Booker&rsquo;s playmaking allowed for Paul to have a steady running mate, and now with the latter sidelined for potentially the rest of the regular season, this could open back up that box even further.</p>
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<p>Will Suns head coach Monty Williams stick to the plan and allow more minutes for Payne and Holiday alongside Booker? This seems like the best bet, but what about experimenting with Booker and seeing how it goes? Lineup combinations featuring Booker flanked by wings is a fun small-ball idea (Booker, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, Torrey Craig). And Booker&rsquo;s capabilities running the pick-and-roll will lead to pick-your-poison scenarios with either Deandre Ayton or JaVale McGee. Compared to Paul, the drop-off to Booker isn&rsquo;t as steep as many think in pick-and-roll efficiency (Paul: 0.99 PPP, Booker: 0.94 PPP).</p>
<p>Where Paul&rsquo;s absence will be felt the most is in the moments where it matters most. Phoenix is on pace to be the best team in NBA history for clutch-time dominance. Paul&rsquo;s stabilizing presence and precision running the show allow for Phoenix to stay afloat when most teams sink. Booker has been potent in the clutch as well, but how will it fare with one head of the two-headed monster gone for a little bit? Again, this is a potential growth moment for Booker and Phoenix. If the Suns experience little to no drop-off without Paul, Booker&rsquo;s dark-horse MVP case will continue to rise.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">All baskets by Devin Booker in Clutch Time this season.<br /><br />(Under 5 minutes left in the game, score within 5). <a href="https://t.co/060DOBftHy">pic.twitter.com/060DOBftHy</a></p>
&mdash; RB (@RyB_311) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyB_311/status/1495432852523175936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>After the All-Star break presumably through the end of the regular season, here&rsquo;s how the Suns&rsquo; rotation will look.</p>
<p><em>Starting Lineup: Cameron Payne, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Deandre Ayton</em></p>
<p><em>Second Unit: Aaron Holiday, Landry Shamet, Cameron Johnson, Torrey Craig, JaVale McGee</em></p>
<p>Losing Paul is a huge blow in the short-term, but that 10-man unit alone is still a formidable one. The Suns&rsquo; trio around Booker &mdash; Ayton, Bridges, Johnson &mdash; should take pressure off the team's 25-year-old star, but show potential moments of growth as well. Ayton will immediately show whether or not he&rsquo;s worthy of the rookie-scale max this offseason without Paul setting him up. Bridges and Johnson are ascending into potent scoring threats, but how will Paul sitting on the sidelines impact their overall efficiency?</p>
<p>Luckily for the Suns, their distance from everyone else atop the West could keep them locked into the No. 1 seed. If anything, this time without their leader allows for those relied upon most long-term &mdash; even past the Paul era &mdash; to deliver when the situations calls for it.</p>
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With Chris Paul out for the next two months, the NBA's best team could actually benefit long-term from his absence before the playoffs.

Chris Paul's absence could actually benefit Suns long-term

<p>If there&rsquo;s one thing the Brooklyn Nets aren&rsquo;t short on, it&rsquo;s basketball talent. For the team, that&rsquo;s a good thing.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>For Paul Millsap personally? Not so much.</p>
<p>Now in his 16th year, after just 24 games in Brooklyn, the 36-year-old veteran big man is looking for a new opportunity.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Since he signed on in Brooklyn last summer, the Nets have seen Nicolas Claxton and Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe become reliable role players and LaMarcus Aldridge return from retirement. Meanwhile, 32-year-old Blake Griffin has maintained his place in the rotation, effectively leaving Millsap as the odd man out.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Of the five, he averages the fewest minutes per game (11.3 &mdash; a career low) and is the only one who hasn&rsquo;t started a single contest. Considering his pedigree, his unhappiness should come as no surprise.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Millsap effectively lost his job with the Denver Nuggets after the team acquired Aaron Gordon, and he chose to sign with Brooklyn because the team was perceived to have a shallow front court.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Surprisingly, though, it is Millsap who has drowned in the rotation.</p>
<p>With the NBA&rsquo;s Feb. 10 trade deadline approaching, there are a few teams which could both afford Millsap the opportunity to play meaningful minutes and contend for a championship. Whether the Nets trade him or buy him out, Millsap will eventually find a new home this season. If he&rsquo;s fortunate, it&rsquo;ll be with one of these clubs&hellip;</p>
<p><strong>Milwaukee Bucks</strong></p>
<p>After starting 70 games for the NBA champion Bucks last season, incumbent starter Brook Lopez hasn&rsquo;t appeared in a game since October. Currently recovering from back surgery, the Bucks are hopeful that Lopez can return before the playoffs begin, but as of now the team is rather thin up front.</p>
<p>Bobby Portis has filled in admirably since Lopez has gone down, and he&rsquo;s played well enough as a starter for head coach Mike Budenholzer to wonder whether Portis should retain the starting job even after Lopez returns. On the season, Portis is shooting a remarkable 41.4% from three-point territory. Although it&rsquo;s an appreciable decrease from the 47% he shot last season, that he&rsquo;s come close to maintaining his proficiency is an accomplishment, considering he&rsquo;s taking nearly twice as many attempts per game (4.5 this season compared to 2.4 last season).</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Millsap is able to give coach Budenholzer some minutes up front, especially considering the gaping hole that&rsquo;s been left in the team&rsquo;s rotation with Lopez&rsquo;s injury.</p>
<p><strong>Phoenix Suns</strong></p>
<p>Over the past 15 years, one of the constants in the NBA is that Chris Paul is going to find a way to maximize the players and the talent around him. We&rsquo;ve seen it since CP3 was suiting up in New Orleans, and we&rsquo;ve seen it most recently with Bismack Biyombo.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Unfortunately for the big man, Biyombo&rsquo;s career story &mdash; at least before arriving in Phoenix &mdash; has mostly been one about unfulfilled expectations. He was not re-signed by the rebuilding Charlotte Hornets after his contract expired last season and went unsigned for the first-half of this season.</p>
<p>Because of injuries to Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee, the Suns found themselves with a need in the frontcourt and, without fail, Biyombo has experienced quite the resurgence. Through nine games in Phoenix, he is averaging what would be a career-high 10.8 points per game on 70.2% shooting from the field. He&rsquo;s benefited greatly from playing alongside Paul, as well as with units that share the ball and play relatively fast.</p>
<p>According to Basketball-Reference.com, approximately 67% of Biyombo&rsquo;s field goal attempts come within three feet of the basket, with another 30% coming from 3-10 feet.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>In other words, he&rsquo;s excelled by providing the team with an inside presence that the Suns are sorely missing without Ayton, and it&rsquo;s conceivable that Millsap could provide a similar interior offensive presence.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong>Dallas Mavericks</strong></p>
<p>After hovering around .500 for the early part of the season, the Mavericks are 10-3 in 2022. Both Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have missed a fair share of games this season, but recent reports suggest that the Mavericks &mdash; who want to continue to build around their duo &mdash; are open for business.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>In recent weeks, there have been reports citing Myles Turner and Dennis Schroder as players the Mavericks have some level of interest in, but Turner recently suffered a stress reaction in his left foot that may sideline him until after the trade deadline.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, Tim Hardaway Jr. fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and is expected to be out for an extended period of time. Millsap won&rsquo;t necessarily help absorb any of the available minutes in the Mavericks&rsquo; backcourt, but he would help the team by providing another serviceable body who can help replace the 14.2 points per game they&rsquo;ll lose with Hardaway out of the lineup.</p>
<p>Along with Porzingis, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber have played most of the available big man minutes for Jason Kidd&rsquo;s team. It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine Millsap, even at 36 years old, not being able to provide value to a front line featuring those three.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>With Turner potentially off the board and Hardaway on the shelf, Dallas will certainly have to find help elsewhere, especially with the team finally beginning to click after its season got off to a rough start.</p>
<p><strong>Chicago Bulls</strong></p>
<p>Patrick Williams was lost for the season back in October, and in January the Bulls have had players dropping like flies.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Zach LaVine only missed five games and returned to the lineup on Monday night after suffering a minor left knee injury, but neither Alex Caruso nor Lonzo Ball were as fortunate. Ball and Caruso will each miss the next 6-8 weeks, with Derrick Jones Jr. out for a similar time frame. Meanwhile, Nikola Vucevic is battling left knee soreness.</p>
<p>The Bulls need bodies, and it would help if they happened to be big.</p>
<p>Enter Millsap.</p>
<p>Although there probably won&rsquo;t be many shots available for Millsap, he would provide immediate help to a Bulls front line that ranks 28th in the league in rebounds.</p>
<p>DeMar DeRozan has spent some time at power forward for Chicago this season, which isn&rsquo;t ideal. DeRozan &mdash; who has slowed down in recent weeks after being mentioned among MVP candidates earlier this season &mdash; would be better served by having another big in the lineup.</p>
<p>Although Chicago will be without Ball and Caruso for the foreseeable future, the team will need another big body or two if it hopes to challenge the likes of Milwaukee and Brooklyn for the Eastern Conference. Millsap could help.</p>
<p><strong>Utah Jazz</strong></p>
<p>Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside have proven to be a formidable tandem patrolling the paint for the Jazz, and they&rsquo;ve also proven that a team can still find success in today&rsquo;s NBA by playing traditional big men.</p>
<p>Although Millsap wouldn&rsquo;t provide the same spacing as Bojan Bogdanovic or Rudy Gay, he would provide the team with some needed insurance in the event that Gobert or Whiteside went down for an extended period of time.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Aside from the fact that Millsap began his career in Utah, he would also facilitate some offensive balance for the team &mdash; according to NBA.com, the Jazz score 38.6% of their points from three-point territory, which ranks third in the league. With respect to points scored in the paint, they rank 16th, with just 42.4%.</p>
<p>Millsap still possesses a back-to-basket game and could help Utah in one of the areas they need to improve.</p>
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Moke Hamilton examines some of the teams that should take a close look at acquiring Paul Millsap from the Nets.

Five teams that could benefit from a Paul Millsap trade

<p>Less than 48 hours ago, yours truly <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mulling-over-6-options-for-the-cavs-with-ricky-rubio-out-for-the-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn&rsquo;t sit on their hands regarding their vacant backup point guard position following the news of Ricky Rubio&rsquo;s season-ending ACL injury. General manager Koby Altman acted swiftly, entering discussions with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire veteran set-up man Rajon Rondo on Thursday.</p>
<p>On Friday morning, the Cavs and Lakers struck an agreement, landing the two-time NBA champion in exchange for Denzel Valentine, league sources confirmed to BasketballNews.com. (Editor's Note: The trade expanded on Monday morning, as the New York Knicks jumped in to acquire Valentine.) Cleveland avoided having to give up draft capital or use its JaVale McGee trade exception, which in itself is a win.</p>
<p>Though Altman did not go for one of the five options suggested in Wednesday&rsquo;s article, he wasted no time in addressing one of the most important voids on the team. Going forward with only Kevin Pangos and Isaac Okoro to spell Darius Garland would&rsquo;ve been risky business. Now, in Rondo, Cleveland has a sure thing behind its budding star in regards to organizing the offense.</p>
<p>With that said, there are two sides to every decision, and it&rsquo;ll be intriguing to see which version of Rondo we will see with the Cavs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>You can&rsquo;t question the man&rsquo;s basketball IQ. Despite what we&rsquo;ve seen this season with the Lakers, Rondo is one of the smartest and headiest &ldquo;old-school&rdquo; 1s in the game. The 15-year veteran has the ability to dazzle with his passes and he's been solid in open-floor situations for the majority of his days. Rondo should have a field day with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley hovering around the rim, while Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen wait for catch-and-shoot opportunities. And who knows, maybe what Garland has learned off the ball with Rubio can translate in similar fashion with Rondo handling the rock.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>Where this deal could backfire is if Rondo doesn&rsquo;t buy in. ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski has <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1476949220707995648" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the 35-year-old is looking forward to joining the upstart Cavs and playing a bigger role; however, there have been times in the past when Rondo has joined a team and refused to buy-in &mdash; at least over the course of a full season. Since spending nine seasons with the Boston Celtics, he has had stints with seven different teams and has been traded midseason three times now.</p>
<p>It takes a level of trust to gain Rondo&rsquo;s trust, it seems. Luckily for the Cavs, they have a Coach of the Year candidate in J.B. Bickerstaff who is clearly quite persuasive considering the team&rsquo;s 20-15 record in the top-half of the Eastern Conference. But even if Cleveland gets Rondo to seamlessly transition into its incredible environment, there are limitations to the veteran&rsquo;s game.</p>
<p>Firstly, he&rsquo;s a step slower. At 35, Rondo doesn&rsquo;t quite have that same agility on either end of the floor. Defensively, he&rsquo;s made his money by gambling for steals with his lengthy arms; staying in front of guys has been more difficult. Fortunately for him, Allen and Mobley will be a safety valve, so maybe he can be more aggressive with ball pressure.</p>
<p>Secondly, Rondo is a streaky type of shooter. Kudos to him on evolving his game to the point where defenses have to at least pay attention to him; with that said, if I&rsquo;m a defender, I&rsquo;m not going to race to close him out with two monsters in the paint and more threatening shooters out on the perimeter.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Cavs&rsquo; best-case scenario is clear-cut: Garland&rsquo;s minute load stays the same (or likely increases from the 34 he&rsquo;s getting now) and Rondo sees 15-20 minutes of action per contest. The former obviously has a lot of juice and stamina, so he should continue to run the show. The latter should play more of a backup role than Rubio, who soaked up over 28 minutes a night &mdash; both with Garland on and off the floor.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Rondo should slot in as more of a traditional second-unit maestro than as a faux &ldquo;sixth starter&rdquo; type; that&rsquo;s both due to his age and unfamiliarity with this group at the moment. That&rsquo;s okay though, because it will give Garland even more responsibility, which eventually would&rsquo;ve happened anyhow.</p>
<p>Plus, we all know what Rondo&rsquo;s reputation is at this point: It&rsquo;s all about the postseason, &ldquo;Playoff Rondo,&rdquo; a.k.a. when Rajon locks in and truly makes and breaks games. We&rsquo;re just about to break into the New Year, so that is a ways away (and isn&rsquo;t a guarantee for the Cavs &mdash; look at the East and you&rsquo;ll see that), yet experience-wise, it doesn&rsquo;t get much better than that. Particularly, for your young core to learn and get advice from.</p>
<p>Rondo has a knack for making a good first impression on the floor almost everywhere he goes. Can he sustain that level of play? And if things don't go exactly how he envisioned, will he remain engaged? These are the big questions. Attitude will be everything.</p>
<p>The most important aspect of all of this is that Cleveland acted promptly. With a little more than half of a season left to go, the Cavs are hoping that Rondo&rsquo;s impact will at least partly be a solution to the loss of Rubio.</p>

Spencer Davies reacts to the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Rajon Rondo and how this move will affect the team.

Cavs smartly and swiftly add a point guard, but is Rajon Rondo it?

<p>It was Deandre Ayton's turn on Tuesday night.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The big fella led the Phoenix Suns with 24 points, while also grabbing 11 boards (6 offensive) and swatting a couple of shots away. While the Suns beat the Warriors by eight points, they outscored the Golden Crew by 16 points in Ayton's 34 minutes.</p>
<p>It would be convenient to frame Ayton's big night as a "he stepped up without Devin Booker" performance, though that wouldn't be entirely fair. Yes, Ayton's contributions on the interior helped after Booker sustained a hamstring injury in the second quarter, but Ayton didn't just fill the gaps.</p>
<p>He set the tone.</p>
<p>With Andrew Wiggins getting the Booker assignment, and Draymond Green taking on Chris Paul for switch-the-1-5-pick-and-roll purposes, it was up to Ayton to make that plan a bad one.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He won early by doing the little things. Hard screens and even harder rolls to the basket. Quick (and deep) seals against smaller opponents. Timely offensive boards. Nine of his 24 points, and 4 of his 11 rebounds came in the first quarter.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/3uoyd6" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>Zoom out, though, and you see the beauty &mdash; and deadliness &mdash; of this Suns team. You have to worry about the three-level scoring prowess of Booker. There's Paul's playmaking ability and otherworldly mid-range shooting. And if you focus on taking those things away, you still have to deal with Ayton.</p>
<p>Tuesday night was a snapshot &mdash; a loud one, considering the opponent &mdash; of what the Suns have been during their 17-game win streak. Relentless. Calculated. Suffocating. Versatile. They often get a lot from a few, but they consistently get a little bit from everyone.&nbsp;</p>
<p>That's how <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/suns-win-over-warriors-another-crescendo-moment-for-their-incredible-rebuild" target="_blank" rel="noopener">you win 17 straight</a>. It's how you build a top-five half-court offense <em>and&nbsp;</em>defense, per Cleaning The Glass.</p>
<p><strong>THE BALLING BACKCOURT</strong></p>
<p>It starts with the duo of Paul and Booker, who seem to have struck a nice balance between lead duties. And by balance, I really mean that Paul is really commandeering this thing.</p>
<p>Paul has taken even more ownership of the offense; he once again leads the team in touches, and his overall time of possession has increased from last season. Booker has seen a decrease in both, an odd phenomenon on the surface considering Booker is ascending while Paul is, well, 37 years old.</p>
<p>Here's where we are this season, with last season's mark in parentheses.</p>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 66px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 15.7351%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Player</span></td>
<td style="width: 16.1356%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Touches</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.607%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Time of possession</span></td>
<td style="width: 20.0074%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Avg. seconds per touch</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.2064%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Avg. dribbles per touch</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 15.7351%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Chris Paul</span></td>
<td style="width: 16.1356%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">75.7 (77.4)</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.607%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">7.5 (7.2)</span></td>
<td style="width: 20.0074%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5.95 (5.56)</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.2064%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5.29 (4.84)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 15.7351%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Devin Booker</span></td>
<td style="width: 16.1356%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">51.5 (56.2)</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.607%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3.6 (4.0)</span></td>
<td style="width: 20.0074%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4.14 (4.32)</span></td>
<td style="width: 19.2064%; height: 22px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3.39 (3.52)</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The shift has worked for both parties. Paul is one of the best decision-makers of all time; he leads the NBA in assists (10.1) while only turning the ball over 2.3 times per contest. It's probably a good idea to let a guy like that direct the half-court attack, especially one with the diverse pick-and-roll attack Phoenix has.</p>
<p>Paul has continued to be the NBA's premier drop coverage beater. Play him too tightly, and he's slipping a pass to his big. Give too much grace to the big, and he's firing from mid-range; by the way, Paul is knocking down an absurd 52.1% of his pull-up twos this year. Send a third defender into the action, and Paul will slice you apart with skips to the corner.</p>
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<p>For Booker, the off-ball benefit has been two-fold. He doesn't have to carry a ridiculously heavy creation burden, and as a result, he also gets to take easier shots.</p>
<p>Booker's a madman when curling off of screens. Between the lifts from the baseline and flares above the break, Booker is often attacking with a head start. He doesn't have to spam dribble moves to free himself; he's generally within his wheelhouse with a dribble or two.</p>
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<p>With Booker operating more off the ball, he's also gotten to take more (and easier) catch-and-shoot looks. Not only is Booker draining a career-high 44.4% of his catch-and-shoot threes, this is the first time since 2016-17 that he's averaging more catch-and-shoot attempts (3.0) than pull-ups (2.8).</p>
<p>Coincidentally, Booker's overall three-point clip (40.3%, also a career-high) seems more in line with his actual shooting ability.</p>
<p>It's almost like shot diet matters when considering a player's efficiency.</p>
<p><strong>NO BURNING BRIDGES</strong></p>
<p>There's much to be said about Mikal Bridges' defense. Frankly, he should already have an All-Defensive team selection under his belt. He's certainly on pace to achieve the feat this season.</p>
<p>Only a handful of players have a tougher matchup difficulty &mdash; percentage of possessions defending high usage players &mdash; than Bridges does. He takes the toughest on-ball assignment virtually every night.</p>
<p>Among the players he's defended for at least 30 possessions, per NBA.com's tracking data: Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James and Michael Porter Jr.</p>
<p>Big, small, bulky, lanky. Pull-up artists, pick-and-roll maestros. Silky jump shooters. Isolation masters. Mid-post powerhouses. You name it, Bridges has held his own against it at the very least.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/5a9xah" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>The real intrigue lies with how Bridges is being used offensively. His scoring is down a point this season, which coincides with a slight dip in three-point accuracy (39.1%, down from 42.5%). Volume is the real story; Bridges' three-point rate has dropped over 12 percentage points from last season.</p>
<p>He's seen a bump in both at-the-rim and mid-range (10-to-16 feet, per Basketball-Reference) frequency. As pointed out by tremendous Suns follow (and recent <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-valley/id1547857052?i=1000542454702" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guest of The Dunker Spot</a>) <a href="https://twitter.com/theIVpointplay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Kevin</a>, the Suns are using Bridges in place of Booker in some of their intricate pick-and-roll sets.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/dskwdy" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>With Booker set to miss the next few games with his hamstring issue, it wouldn't be a shock to see an(other) uptick in usage from Bridges.</p>
<p><strong>MAN IN THE MIDDLE</strong></p>
<p>And then, there's Ayton &mdash; figuratively and literally at the center of it all.&nbsp;</p>
<p>His physicality gives the Suns a much-needed boost in rim pressure, whether that comes with rim-running in transition, or rolling hard (and sealing) after ball screens. Ayton is converting a career-best 84% of his shots inside of 3 feet.</p>
<p>Ayton has been just as impressive defensively. While Bridges (rightfully) gets the love for his defensive aptitude, Ayton's combination of size and mobility allows the Suns to shapeshift when necessary.</p>
<p>The Suns don't run a strict drop system with Ayton. They play him way back in ball screens &mdash; this is a large human being, of course &mdash; to wall off the rim, then late/peel switch to keep the action in front. The block numbers aren't there (career-low 0.7) because of it, but neither are the fouls (career-low 3.1 per 36 minutes).</p>
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/rgka2l" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
<p>Teamwide, the system works as designed. Only seven teams give up a lower share of rim shots than the Suns. Conversely, only four teams allow a higher share of mid-range shots.</p>
<p>It's not like teams have much success if they happen to get to the rim. Opponents are shooting just 50% at the rim when defended by Ayton, serving as the stingiest number of his career, and the 10th best mark in the NBA among players defending at least <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defensive-impact/?sort=DEF_RIM_FG_PCT&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;CF=DEF_RIM_FGA*GE*4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four shots per game</a>.</p>
<p>It's hard to overstate how impressive the synergy is between the Suns' top four guys.</p>
<p>Paul's playmaking (further) unlocks Booker as a scorer; Booker's scoring chops tilts the defense in a way that makes like easier for Bridges. The combination of playmaking and shooting from those three gives Ayton ample room to roll into.</p>
<p>Defensively, Bridges and Ayton hold down the exterior and interior respectively. Paul is able to fill gaps as a helper and communicator; Booker is able to take the lesser of wing options when he wants, though it's worth noting his on-ball defense has graduated well beyond the "liability" range at this juncture.</p>
<p>And with those four gelling the way they do, life becomes even easier for The Others.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Cameron Johnson (39% on 4.8 attempts) and Landry Shamet (37.8% on 4.5 attempts) are able to bomb away from deep; Crowder fills that role as the fifth starter, and has rebounded nicely from a slow start (37.1% on 5.6 attempts in November). JaVale McGee has thrived alongside Paul in pick-and-roll. Cam Payne has been able to shake loose when sharing the floor with Booker in hybrid second units.</p>
<p>The Suns took the NBA world by storm last season, riding their momentum all the way to a Finals berth. You can quibble about some of the injury "luck" they faced among the way (as long as you do it for literally every other Finals team in league history), but their proficiency on both ends was hiding in plain sight.</p>
<p>They seem to be even better this year. With reasonable health, there may only be one team with a chance of stopping them from returning to the Finals &mdash; and they just beat them.</p>

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Suns' two-way dominance and the reasons why they're rolling during their 17-game winning streak.

Stop sleeping on the Phoenix Suns

<p>Tuesday&rsquo;s tilt between the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors at the Footprint Center was being hyped up as the game of the year in the NBA, and for good reason.</p>
<p>The two teams were carrying the best records in the league, and both were riding win streaks of at least seven games (the Warriors at 7, the Suns at 16). In the end, the Suns won 104-96 to extend their streak to 17, but not in a way anyone really expected.</p>
<p>When Devin Booker went down late in the first half with a hamstring injury, many people's expectations for the game shifted. Once Phoenix lost its star shooting guard, my eyes focused on one matchup that would ultimately decide the flow of the game for both sides: Stephen Curry trying to free himself for open-shot opportunities against Mikal Bridges.</p>
<p>Every single second Curry was in the game, Bridges followed. More often than not, Bridges was tailing Curry the entire length of the court until the Warriors ran actions to free a tiny amount of space for the early 2021-22 MVP favorite.</p>
<p>The Suns&rsquo; game plan was simple: They were more than willing to let Jordan Poole try to beat them single-handedly &mdash; and he finished with 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting &mdash; but there&rsquo;s no chance Curry was going to have an easy go of it. Curry had one of the worst shooting performances of his illustrious career, shooting 4-of-21 from the field. Of all the games in which Curry has attempted at least 20 shots, this was his most inefficient outing of his career. Bridges put Curry in the torture chamber and made everything difficult in the 36 minutes he was on the floor.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://NBA.com">NBA.com</a>'s matchup data, Curry scored 0 points and was only able to get up three shots when guarded one-on-one by Bridges over 7:21 of action. One image stuck out to me from media row at the Footprint Center and it's been engrained in my head ever since: Curry, with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath as Bridges was still right in his hip pocket, not allowing the Warriors star any sort of opening to create for himself on the perimeter. It was a masterclass performance from Bridges, who continues to stamp his case on a national stage for <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mikal-bridges-making-early-case-as-darkhorse-dpoy-candidate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year</a>.</p>
<p>Bridges finished Tuesday&rsquo;s game with 2 points, making no impact on the offensive end. However, it&rsquo;s fair to argue that he was the most impactful player on either side. Bridges&rsquo; suffocation of Curry was one of the most dominant 2-point performances in the NBA history, and I feel like that&rsquo;s not hyperbole.</p>
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<p>Postgame, Bridges deflected from the individual attention he received for shutting down one of the game&rsquo;s most gifted scorers, instead speaking on the Suns&rsquo; overall team defense.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really just a whole team effort. What I really did was just be aggressive and be attached, but a lot of screens and a lot of reads,&rdquo; Bridges said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a whole team thing because if one guy messes up on a switch, there&rsquo;s a slip or there&rsquo;s a three for him (Curry), so it&rsquo;s a team effort. I think our coverages and what the coaches put together and our schemes were really good and we executed it pretty well.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Over the Suns&rsquo; last two games, Bridges has put the clamps on James Harden (2 points on 0-for-2 shooting over seven minutes of one-on-one matchup time) and Curry, arguably two of the best scorers in the modern era of basketball. Looking back on the Suns&rsquo; four-year, $90 million extension for Bridges on the eve of the regular season, his defense alone is worth that value on top of his improved sharpshooting prowess.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mikal Bridges rejects Curry at the rim 🚫 <a href="https://t.co/KWk4gSbD5u">pic.twitter.com/KWk4gSbD5u</a></p>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1465894720236707840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>Bridges wasn&rsquo;t the only impressive portion of the Suns&rsquo; franchise record-tying 17th-straight victory. I&rsquo;ve mentioned this before, but Phoenix is a team that made the NBA Finals last season and improved its roster even further for a potential repeat trip. Already possessing one of the NBA&rsquo;s best bench units, Phoenix acquired Landry Shamet via a draft-night trade and signed veteran center JaVale McGee for more size and rim protection down low. Both players showed up last night, and have continued to fit perfectly within the Suns&rsquo; system.</p>
<p>When Booker was ruled out for the remainder of this early-season showdown in Phoenix &mdash; potentially a preview of the Western Conference Finals five months from now &mdash; Shamet and Cam Johnson picked up the slack and carried the Suns across the finish line.</p>
<p>Again, it&rsquo;s another shining example of how general manager James Jones has rebuilt the Suns&rsquo; roster from the foundational levels since replacing Ryan McDonough. Jones brought in the ideal coach to empower a young core in Monty Williams, and he brought aboard passionate veterans who cared about the game (Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre Jr., etc.), which ultimately led to his all-in move: trading for Chris Paul.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Now, in three years, the Suns have gone from laughingstock to juggernaut thanks to Jones&rsquo; championship pedigree and knowledge of how to build a sustainable contender.</p>
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<p>On Thursday, the Suns host the Detroit Pistons to potentially clinch a new franchise record for consecutive wins. If it happens, even without Booker (who will be sidelined for a few games for precautionary reasons, according to ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski), it&rsquo;s a crescendo moment &mdash; a culmination of all the hard work that has gone into rebuilding Phoenix Suns basketball after the franchise laid dormant for over a decade.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Just a lot of work, a lot of mental toughness, staying with it. We knew, when we first got here, that we wanted to turn it around,&rdquo; Bridges said postgame about the Suns&rsquo; journey from the bottom to the top in short order. "I remember seeing [Deandre Ayton] and actually realizing that we&rsquo;re going to be on the same team. He kind of actually helped me when I got traded from Philly, because I was upset, and I was just with him at the college awards in L.A. That was the first time I met him and we were together for like two days, and got close. Once I realized we were on the same team, you see someone with that. At least I know somebody that is going to be there, and that kind of made me happy.</p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s just a lot of mental toughness, man. We stayed with it and we knew we were coming here to try to turn it around. Plus, we had Monty and everybody that came in. Obviously [Devin] Booker is here, but getting CP (Chris Paul), Jae [Crowder] and everybody who we drafted and picked up &mdash; it just turned out to be a really good team. It really feels like a college locker room, because in college you&rsquo;re forced to really like each other because you live together and see each other every single day, you have classes together and study hall together. It feels like a college team, man, and I&rsquo;m just grateful for this.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Suns are just getting started, and their championship window is nowhere close to shutting. If anything, last season was the beginning and the window just started to crack open. So far in 2021-22, the Suns are on the verge of shattering that window entirely and re-creating a new golden age in the Valley.</p>

The Phoenix Suns' latest victory, tying a franchise record 17-straight, is another mountaintop moment for an incredible rebuild.

Suns' win over Warriors another crescendo moment in team's turnaround

<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">SAITAMA, Japan (AP) &mdash; Nothing about the summer was easy for the U.S. men&rsquo;s basketball team, and neither was the gold-medal game.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">The Americans expected nothing less.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">And in the end, their Olympic reign continues.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">Kevin Durant scored 29 points and joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time men&rsquo;s basketball gold medalists in Olympic history and the U.S. held off France 87-82 on Saturday to win the title at the Tokyo Games &mdash; ending a summer that started with sputters but closed with celebration.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">Durant sealed it with two free throws with 8.8 seconds left, making the outcome academic. The lead was five, France&rsquo;s final possession was irrelevant, and it was over. The U.S. players gathered for a hug at midcourt, Durant, Bam Adebayo and Draymond Green wrapped themselves in American flags, and the journey was complete.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">Jayson Tatum finished with 19 points, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday each scored 11 for the U.S.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert each scored 16 for France, which now has four silver medals &mdash; all coming after gold-medal-game losses to the U.S. Guerschon Yabusele scored 13, Nando de Colo had 12 and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 11 for France.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">Frank Ntilikina&rsquo;s 3-pointer got France within 73-70 with 5:42 left, but the U.S. had a quick answer &mdash; a 9-2 run that restored a 10-point lead on Tatum&rsquo;s 3-pointer.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">From there, it was just a matter of finishing the job. The summer started with two exhibition losses, the Olympics started with a loss to France, and none of that seemed to matter much at the end.</p>
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<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">The mission was accomplished: Gold, again &mdash; the 16th time in 19 Olympic tries for the U.S.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">For some, it adds to family legacies. Jrue Holiday now is an Olympic gold medalist, just like his wife Lauren was twice with the U.S. women&rsquo;s national soccer team. JaVale McGee now has Olympic gold, just like his mother Pamela won with the U.S. women in basketball at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">For Milwaukee Bucks teammates Holiday and Khris Middleton, it&rsquo;s admission into a rare club: Before now, only Scottie Pippen (who did it twice), Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had won an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">And for U.S. coach Gregg Popovich, it completes an Olympic journey that started a half-century ago. He was playing for the United States Air Force Academy, tried unsuccessfully to make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team&mdash; &ldquo;the powers that be actually selected Doug Collins instead of me, it&rsquo;s hard to believe,&rdquo; Popovich joked earlier this summer &mdash; then accepted the task of replacing Mike Krzyzewski as the U.S. coach for this Olympic cycle.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">&ldquo;Being part of the Olympics has been a dream,&rdquo; Popovich said.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">The U.S. missed its first eight 3-point tries before Durant got one to drop with 2:04 left in the opening quarter, starting what became a 21-8 run by the Americans on the way to a 39-26 lead midway through the second quarter.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">France responded, closing the half on a 13-5 spurt and getting within 44-39 at the break, then within two early in the third quarter.</p>
<p class="Component-root-0-2-209 Component-p-0-2-200">And after the U.S. briefly led by 14, Nicolas Batum &mdash; who saved his team with a last-second block to close out a win over Slovenia in the semifinals &mdash; beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that cut the U.S. lead to 71-63 entering the fourth.</p>

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and became a three-time gold medalist as the U.S. held off France 87-82 to win the title in Tokyo.

Another gold medal: Team USA beats France 87-82 to win Tokyo title

<p>Remember back when Team USA was in disarray in Las Vegas &ndash; with an out-of-shape Kevin Love on the team, a COVID-19 scare causing them to cancel an exhibition game against Australia and everything looking dismal after scrimmage losses to Nigeria and the Aussies?</p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/for-team-usa-losses-in-las-vegas-do-not-matter-2020-tokyo-olympics-exhibition-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told you then that it didn&rsquo;t really matter</a>, because the goal here is not to dominate everyone all the time. The goal is to win the final three games in Saitama.</p>
<p>Well, the Americans have figured a few things out, and they are three victories away from a gold medal (a week from Sunday). It will get more difficult next week, but it was not all that hard on Saturday as Jayson Tatum scored 28 points, Kevin Durant chipped in 23 and the Americans finished the group phase of the Olympics with a 119-84 victory over the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>They finished second in Group A behind France (3-0) and had a point differential of plus-82, which is enough to get them into the knockout phase against an opponent that won&rsquo;t be known until Monday. (It will not be France, but a rematch against Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert could come as soon as the semifinals).</p>
<p>What&rsquo;s important for American fans and the U.S. federation was the way Team USA shot the ball in recovering from a flat start to win this one going away. Tatum was 10-for-16 (including 5-for-10 on three-pointers), Kevin Durant shot 8-for-11 (including 4-for-7 on threes), and as a team they shot 62% from the field including a 19-for-23 start to the second half. In the last 26 minutes, they were 33-for-44 from the field.</p>
<p>Head coach Gregg Popovich said that he told Tatum to play as though this is a Celtics game and imagine he&rsquo;s facing the Spurs. &ldquo;Every time we play him, he scores like 90,&rdquo; Popovich said.</p>
<p>Actually, Tatum scored 60 the last time the Celtics played the Spurs.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I took a couple of long threes in the final minute because guys were telling me to get 30,&rdquo; Tatum said.</p>
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<p>For all the talk (false narratives?) that the American players were unhappy with the offense they were running and were tuning out Popovich, Saturday&rsquo;s game provided a rebuke. The Americans started slowly but were unstoppable once they started finding their shooting rhythm.</p>
<p>The fact remains that no nation has a better roster 1-through-12, but if the Americans have an Achilles heel, it will be the one that France exploited in the opener: A lack of size at the center position. (France took over the opener by playing two centers, Gobert and Vincent Poirier, at the same time).</p>
<p>But this game was so much in hand in the second half that JaVale McGee got some extended run in the fourth quarter and finished 4-for-4 in just over four minutes. Draymond Green was also perfect from the field (3-for-3) and has not yet missed a shot in the Olympics (5-for-5). Also, Durant used this game to surpass Carmelo Anthony as Team USA&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer (354 points).</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still pretty weird for me to do shit, do stuff, like this,&rdquo; Durant said of the achievement.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">And new! <a href="https://twitter.com/KDTrey5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KDTrey5</a> has passed Carmelo Anthony to become the U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team's all-time scoring leader! 🙌 <a href="https://t.co/xqSXMfMGrx">pic.twitter.com/xqSXMfMGrx</a></p>
&mdash; USA Basketball (@usabasketball) <a href="https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1421447807576076288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>So, is Team USA really in bad shape, as so many folks thought not too long ago?</p>
<p>Well, the Olympics and other FIBA competitions can turn on a dime, so withhold judgement until we see what next week brings. This tournament goes into best-of-1 mode when the knockout round begins, so there is no reason to get too high off of any single victory, no matter who it is against. The trick is winning three more, and Luka Doncic wants it just as bad for Slovenia as any American wants it for Team USA. Same goes for Ricky Rubio and Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol of Spain, Gobert and Fournier and the rest of the French team, all of the undefeated (3-0) members of the Australian national team, etc.</p>
<p>What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas. Remember how Nigeria and its squad of eight young NBA players looked so dangerous back when they defeated Team USA in that exhibition opener? Well, they went 0-3 in Tokyo, and head coach Mike Brown is catching the next thing smoking out of Narita.</p>
<p>Iran also finished 0-3, and either Argentina or Japan will finish winless as well after Sunday&rsquo;s games are played.</p>
<p>The knockout phase will include at least one team with a 1-2 record, with the deciding factor being point differential. Under Olympic rules, the three group winners (France, Australia and Slovenia/Spain) and all of the second-place teams (USA, Italy and the Slovenia-Spain loser) advance, along with two third-place teams. The tiebreaker is point differential, and after Saturday&rsquo;s games, Germany was -16, Argentina (with one game left against Japan) was -28, and the Czech Republic was -49.</p>
<p>The quarterfinal matchups will be determined by draw Monday, so there is little the Americans can do from a preparation standpoint except wonder and wait &ndash; just like the folks back home are doing as they try to figure out whether any of these games will be on live TV.</p>
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<p>The American men attended Friday&rsquo;s U.S. women&rsquo;s hoops game, but they are often confined to their hotel or practice facility because of COVID lockdown rules. Fighting boredom remains a daily task.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We sit together in the meal room and watch these games on TV,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;It for sure is a different experience, especially for guys like myself who are first-time Olympians and would like to have some exposure to other events.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Instead, they sit a half a world away, keeping up with developments in the NBA now that the draft is over and free agency is about begin and continuing to do what they can to get better.</p>
<p>Training camp in Vegas is squarely in the rear-view mirror.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our confidence never waned,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have our full roster until four-to-five days ago, and we knew we would get better with each game, each practice.&rdquo;</p>
<p>That is indeed happening, but the stakes get higher next week. And as any observer should have learned by now, strange things happen in international basketball&hellip; and things happen quickly. Saturday&rsquo;s game was in the books in less than two hours (compared to the 2021 NBA Draft, which took four hours and 47 minutes on Thursday night).</p>
<p>That just goes to show that the Olympics and international competitions take place in a different world from the NBA. We are halfway to the finish, and the only thing we know for certain is that the U.S. team is a heck of a lot better than it was when it first came together.</p>

Behind Jayson Tatum's 28 points, the Americans finished the group phase of the Olympics with a 119-84 win over the Czech Republic.

USA advances to knockout phase of Olympics after best performance yet

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After shining at Creighton, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/big-board/players/marcus-zegarowski" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marcus Zegarowski</a> proved that he belongs on an NBA roster.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The All-Big-East First-Team selection averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 threes and 1.3 steals while shooting 46.4% from the field and 42.1% from three. The 22-year-old shot above 42% from three-point range in each of his three collegiate seasons.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock has Zegarowski going No. 51 to the New Orleans Pelicans in our </span><a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">latest 2021 mock draft</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Babcock&rsquo;s scouting breakdown of Zegarowski </span><a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/big-board/players/marcus-zegarowski"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reads</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: &ldquo;Although a bit undersized at 6-foot-1, Marcus Zegarowski excels as a facilitator, playmaker, and shooter. He connected on 42.1% of his three-point attempts this season, while attempting 6.6 per game. He's reliable as a pull-up shooter and is solid as a lead ball-handling facilitator. The former Creighton Bluejay has potential to serve as a solid backup point guard at the next level.&rdquo;</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Throughout the pre-draft process, he has worked out for the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors among others.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">BasketballNews.com caught up with Zegarowski to discuss his game, the advice he's received from his older brother (Michael Carter-Williams), his pre-draft experience, his off-court interests and more.</span></p>
<div><strong>Who&nbsp;were some players you grew up watching and studying?</strong></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: Growing up I've always watched, obviously, my brother Michael [Carter-Williams]. He's someone I've always watched and just learned from. I just followed him around all the time when I was younger. I know we're different players, but we're from the same fabric, so we have some similarities as well. Our mindset towards the game I took from him -- just stuff like that. I also like Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Chris Paul -- those are some guys I grew up watching, and found a love for the game because of them. And then now, Fred VanVleet I watched a lot of, [and] Kemba Walker. I try to take bits and pieces from every point guard because I can always learn and get better at it.</div>
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<div><strong>Has Carter-Williams been able to give you advice since he's been through the process?</strong></div>
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<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: Yeah, having him go through high school into college, I kind of learned at a young age that that's what it takes to get there. I just saw his work ethic every day, I saw the sacrifices that he made and tried to literally copy what he did and just try and work even harder. I happened to achieve some things that he's achieved in his career, so it's just a blessing to even do that.</div>
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<div><strong>What are some areas of your game that you want to continue to improve?</strong></div>
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<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: I want to continue to improve on, obviously, everything. I feel like I'm not perfect at anything, and I'll never be perfect at anything, so improving on everything is something I need to do at the next level. But specifically, probably just my athleticism, my pace and just getting to my spots early in offense. Defensively, I can get better at being able to guard multiple positions, being able to pick up full-court and change the dynamic of the game.</div>
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<div><strong>Are there any misconceptions about your game that you're hoping to disprove throughout this process?</strong></div>
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<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: I think I'm really underrated and I think a lot of people just doubt me. That's how I've always been my whole career... and I've always proved people wrong. That's just how my career has gone through high school [and] through college. It's the easy road to say I'm not as good as people think I am, so I'm excited to prove those people wrong, and I just want to continue to work and just continue to showcase what I can do.</div>
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<div><strong>How do you feel like your game fits in today's NBA?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: I think it fits really well. I think I can shoot the ball. I can stretch the defense. I think I play fast, I play with pace, and I'm an unselfish guy who's gonna make players around him better; I'm going to get guys to where they want to get to and I'm just going to be a winning player. I've always won at every level and I just impact winning. Great team guy, I'll do whatever the team needs me to do, I really think today's game is perfect for me. I think just how fast it is, how many possessions in the game -- that's how we played at Creighton, that's how I like to play, and I'm excited to hopefully get to that.</div>
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<div><strong>What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: That's a tough question because I've had a lot of great people [give me advice], including just my family -- my parents and my older brother, Michael. They just tell me, just keep working hard. Don't let a good game or a bad game dictate how you feel. Try to stay level-headed. From Michael, it's just always: love the basketball game. He's always just told me, like, once you get to this level, it's going to be different than just playing. There's more to it -- there's business, there's politics, you can be traded. There's all different dynamics that are in this league, so you just got to continue to love the game the same way you loved it when you were little, and good things will happen. He gives me a lot of advice, but that's one thing that really sticks out.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>In your bio at Creighton, it says your first trophy was in football. Did you play a lot when you were young? Were you a multi-sport athlete?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: I played baseball, soccer, football and basketball until, like, fourth grade, but then once fourth grade hit, I just played football and basketball up until eighth grade. In high school, I didn't play football. Growing up, I used to like football more than basketball. That was one of my first loves. I just liked it more -- I was more of a football guy growing up. But as high school came around, with my body type, my parents didn't want me to play football, so I just took to basketball. I obviously love it more -- it's a sport that fits me.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Your bio also said you were a journalism major at Creighton. Has that knowledge helped you during the process with interviews and talking to teams?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski: </strong>Yeah, 100%. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to take journalism, was to be more prepared in this field, being able to articulate, being able to speak well, have manners and just be advanced in that area, because it'll take you a long way. Originally, I wanted to take Communications, but Creighton didn't have that. So, I took classes that would kind of equal that. I took PR classes, I took broadcasting classes, I took interview classes, I took all kinds of different classes, so it was really good. I had a lot of great professors there that definitely helped me.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>After you finish your career, would you want to work in media?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski</strong>: That's definitely something I want to do down the line. And for me, it was something that I was afraid of. I used to hate speaking, I used to hate writing, and it was something I just wanted to get better at. I used to stutter a little bit growing up, and I just wanted to be able to kind of face that fear. Taking those classes really helped me grow in that area. Definitely down the line -- I don't know what I want to do yet, but obviously I know I want to be a player, and then once the ball stops bouncing, hopefully I'll either be in that, or coaching, or anything involving a basketball. But yeah, media definitely appeals to me.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>When did you get into boxing and UFC?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski: </strong>I kinda got the love for it from my dad and my older brother. Usually what they like, I usually like. I just remember them always watching boxing and UFC, and once I got to high school, I started to really fall in love with it. I just loved those two sports, especially UFC. I watch every fight that's on pay-per-view. I actually had tickets to the [Conor] McGregor fight, but I couldn't go because, obviously, I had the pre-draft training and I had workouts. I didn't want to mess up my schedule. But I just love the sport. I take a lot from it. I learn from a lot of those athletes. It's just cool to see how hard they work and how much they believe in themselves, and how they talk a lot of crap and then back it up. The mental aspect of it really appeals to me, and I kind of carry it over to basketball.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>I saw that you write left-handed. Are you ambidextrous?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski:</strong>&nbsp;Yeah, I really do everything left-handed. I'm holding my phone right now with my left hand.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Has it helped you from a basketball standpoint, being comfortable with both hands?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski:</strong> It definitely does help me a lot. Growing up, people used to force me left, then after a little bit, they'll see that I'm a lefty. I like going left. If you watch me play basketball, I can dribble more on my left hand and I can pass better off the dribble with my left hand, just stuff like that. It definitely gives me an advantage, that I can finish as good with my left hand as my right hand. Some days I'm like, "Man, I wish my right hand was a little bit better..." I actually work on my right hand more often than my left hand when I'm dribbling and stuff like that. I like it; it's good to have.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>If an NBA general manager asked you why they should draft you, what would you tell them?</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>Zegarowski: </strong>If you want to win, then take me. I feel like I can do anything on that court. I can score, I can facilitate, [and] I can lock down on defense. I can do whatever the team needs me to do and I'm just going to impact winning. I'm just going to figure out what I need to do on the team, I'm going to earn everything I got, and then I'm just going to try and win as many ball games as possible. At the end of day, I just want to win, and I think your best chance is [if] you're going to take me, because I truly believe I'm the best point guard in the draft.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out BasketballNews.com's latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft.</a></div>

Marcus Zegarowski discusses his game, advice he's gotten from his brother (Michael Carter-Williams), his off-court interests and more.

Marcus Zegarowski Q&A: 'I truly believe I'm the best PG in the draft'

<p>Hi, hello, and welcome to yet another edition of Roaming The Baseline! This will be a weekly endeavor where I point out some things that caught my eye: a hot or cold streak from a player, a developmental flash, a well-run play, a funny tweet, who knows? There will be film -- it&rsquo;s me, so of course there will be film -- but this will also be a bit looser. It&rsquo;s an extension of my Twitter feed, if you will.&nbsp;</p>
<p>With that said, let&rsquo;s roam the baseline.</p>
<p><strong>DONOVAN MITCHELL IS BECOMING SCHEME-PROOF</strong></p>
<p>We're reaching the point where there is no good answer for Donovan Mitchell in a playoff setting.</p>
<p>The numbers speak for themselves: 32.9 points with a 60.9 True Shooting percentage through his first eight games of the postseason. A 43% clip on nearly 11 threes per game is patently absurd.</p>
<p>Beyond the numbers, the way that Mitchell is going about this has been eye-opening. Base schemes just haven't worked.</p>
<p>Drop coverage has invited Mitchell to pull-up at will. Straight drives into shots, screen rejects into open pockets. You name it, he's done it.</p>
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<p>Switching has also been futile. Mitchell has been diligent about hunting mismatches. Players at a speed disadvantage have been dusted by Mitchell. Not switching quickly enough has left wide enough windows for Mitchell to pull-up against.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The Clippers have had to break character. Not only have they limited the amount of time they've had a traditional center on the floor with Mitchell, they've dialed up their aggression with their smaller units. They're sprinkling in doubles to throw off the rhythm of Mitchell's attacks.</p>
<p>It's a gambit that has succeeded -- at least compared to the other base schemes. It's also a gambit that Mitchell is starting to get comfortable with.</p>
<p>We're starting to see more possessions like this, where Mitchell sees where a double is coming from and attacks the opposite side. It's not just the method of attack, it's how quickly he's attacking.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The Leap may be upon us, folks.</p>
<p><strong>JEWELL LOYD SETTING THE TABLE</strong></p>
<p>[Insert fancy intro about how Breanna Stewart isn't the only good player on the Seattle Storm here.]</p>
<p>We'll start with a couple of stats.</p>
<p>Jewell Loyd is one of two players -- the other being Liberty wing Betnijah Laney -- that ranks in the top-10 in scoring (19.2, eighth) and assists (4.2, 10th).</p>
<p>Among 32 players that have logged at least 50 pick-and-roll possessions this season (passes included), Loyd ranks eighth in efficiency (.904 PPP). Among the seven players above her in that ranking, only Skylar Diggins-Smith (15.6) is averaging more possessions than Loyd (12.4).</p>
<p>Put another way: Loyd is one of the best high-volume pick-and-roll threats in the sport.</p>
<p>Loyd's handle is tight. She combines that skill with superb footwork, allowing her to create space and fire on a whim. Watch how quickly she reads the coverage (ICE/"weak"), and how easily she flows into the jumper.</p>
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<p>Loyd is also a strong passer. I enjoy how quickly she recognizes passing windows, as well as her overall ball placement. She might just be the best entry passer in the sport because of it. She's also wildly good at hitting slips, an element that makes quick-hitting pick-and-rolls with Stewart impossible to defend.</p>
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<p>Loyd doesn't just get busy with the ball in her hands. She's a strong off-ball mover, able to cut into open space when attention is paid elsewhere. Her ability to balance herself carries over to her off-ball screen usage. Not only is she experiencing a career-year as a three-point shooter (39.5% on 5.8 attempts), that production is coming off a heavy dosage of looks like this.</p>
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</div>
<p>Combining that kind of off-ball utility with her on-ball chops is why Loyd is one of the most dangerous offensive players in the W.</p>
<p><strong>JEFF GREEN, FILLING THE GAPS</strong></p>
<p>Lost in the fun of Kevin Durant's historic night and the Milwaukee Bucks' insistence on playing stu-, er, less-than-optimal basketball, was Jeff Green lighting it up beyond the arc.</p>
<p>Green dropped 27 points on Tuesday night, joining Durant (49) and Blake Griffin (17) as the only Nets to score in double-figures. Green went 7-of-8 from deep; let's just say this is not a thing that Green, a career 34% three-point shooter, does with any regularity.</p>
<p>Beyond the hot shooting night, I was impressed with his defense. He found himself matched up with all three of the Bucks' star players at different points, either switching ball screens or defending (stagnant) isos. He more than held his own, particularly against Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second half.</p>
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<p>It's unreasonable to expect that kind of shooting performance from Green again, but it's important that he does offer some spacing. He has the ball skills to attack closeouts. Defensively, he has the mobility to hang when switching, and he has enough strength to make post-ups difficult.</p>
<p>The Nets have missed Green's versatility; Tuesday night's game was a great example of what he can bring to the table.</p>
<p><strong>THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO "HMMMM"</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The Bucks</li>
<li>completely forgot</li>
<li>how to play</li>
<li>NBA basketball</li>
<li>and lost Game 5</li>
</ul>
<p>Okay, in all seriousness:</p>
<ul>
<li>Did you know that Tina Charles is leading the W in scoring (24.0) this season? Did you also know she's sandwiched between Kayla McBride (5.5) and Natisha Hiedeman (5.3) in three-point attempts per game (5.4)? It's not only a career-high, it's triple the volume she put up last season. I'm here for the game expansion.</li>
<li>A quick Aces update: the A'ja Wilson-Liz Cambage pairing has a plus-10.1 net rating in 230 minutes together. It still pales in comparison to Wilson and Dearica Hamby (plus-15.7 in 205 minutes), but it's nice to see the Twin-Towers look working well.</li>
<li>I can't get over Jordan Clarkson averaging 16.0 points off the bench, shooting 45% from three on 10 attempts per game, and having easily the worst plus-minus (minus-12.5) on the team during this Clippers series. The Jazz bench has been down bad, figuratively and literally.</li>
<li>Among 21 players that have logged at least 75 pick-and-roll possessions this postseason, only three have generated more points per possession than Kevin Durant (1.156 PPP). One of those players is Monte Morris (1.159). What a postseason run that guy had.&nbsp;</li>
<li>So, uh, there were some #things that went down on WNBA Twitter between Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jazmine Jones. Sydney Colson's <a href="https://twitter.com/SydJColson/status/1404572135906066434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recollection of the timeline</a> was easily my favorite.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>PLAYS I LIKED</strong></p>
<p><strong>Going Ghost</strong></p>
<p>Some simple, yet effective stuff from the Hawks here.</p>
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<p>John Collins and Clint Capela set up like they're about to flow into Double Drag, but Trae Young calls for something different.</p>
<p>The something different: some screen-the-screener action involving Bogdan Bogdanovic.</p>
<p>Capela sets a screen for Bogdanovic to come off, then Bogdanovic "ghosts" the screen for Young. Since the Sixers don't want to switch Seth Curry onto Young, Curry simply shows. Ben Simmons stays home, which puts two to the ball. Bogdanovic ends up getting an open three out of it.</p>
<p><strong>Cutting it Close</strong></p>
<p>This is freaking beautiful execution.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Kelsey Plum (glad to see her back!) flies off the baseline exchange, lifting to the left wing. Destiny Slocum pitches the ball inside to Hamby as Plum finishes the first part of her route, but peep the weak side. You'll notice that the same thing is happening. This is essentially an option play.</p>
<p>Slocum chooses the side with Hamby and Plum. As Hamby receives the ball, Plum flips the funk and goes backdoor. This feels like a variation of "Blind Pig" action. Not 100% sure, but I dig it either way.</p>
<p><strong>Improvisin' in the Valley</strong></p>
<p>I will never get tired of watching Chris Paul pull strings in the half-court.</p>
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<p>Much like the Hawks example up top, the Suns give a Double Drag look. The Nuggets are playing drop coverage with JaVale McGee (loosely defending Dario Saric), but are hedging hard on the first screen.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Oh, wait, are they playing ICE coverage? Look at the way JaMychal Green positions himself.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Wait,&nbsp;<em>is</em> Michael Porter Jr. hedging?</p>
<p>It may not be clear, but it ultimately doesn't matter either way. Paul sees an opening, so he cuts his route short and flips the ball ahead to Saric. Cameron Johnson reverses course immediately, and Saric acts in concert with Johnson by flowing into a handoff. With McGee below the free throw line, there's no hope for a contest.</p>
<p><strong>THE READING LIST</strong></p>
<p>There is plenty of high-level basketball content out here if you know where to look. I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am as a writer without reading a ton of Zach Lowe or Chris Herring or Caitlin Cooper or Mirin Fader or... well, you get the point.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Anyway, here are some -- not all, but some! -- of the stories I&rsquo;ve read lately that I think you should check out. Their Twitter handles will be linked under their names, so click and follow if you don&rsquo;t already.</p>
<p>Gibson Pyper, also known as <a href="https://twitter.com/HalfCourtHoops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Half Court Hoops</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/HalfCourtHoops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/HalfCourtHoops/status/1404774427636781060?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a breakdown</a> on Spain pick-and-rolls. If you thought I wasn't sharing this, you don't know me at all.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PD Web</a> goes deeeeeep with a <a href="https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3/status/1399850462157934597?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">breakdown of Jalen Green</a>.</p>
<p>Feels like <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jackson Frank</a> has been in here every week, but his <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1398345792050454528?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">feature on Mikal Bridges</a> is well worth your time.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Heindl</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs/status/1399084697691512845?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami's abrupt end</a>, and the perceptions around it.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA">Zach Lowe</a>'s breakdown on the layers of the <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/1402631438399275010?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suns' pick-and-roll attack</a> is tremendous stuff.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler</a> wrote the most thorough <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1402370651172790277?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Bouknight breakdown</a> you'll read this year.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/TylerRickyTynes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tyler Tynes</a> is one of the best feature writers on the planet. This one, <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerRickyTynes/status/1405181167234654209?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Dawn Staley</a>, won't disappoint.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Cooper</a> writes her farewell to the short-lived <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1402709890964017154?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nate Bjorkgren era</a> in Indiana.</p>

In Nekias Duncan's weekly notebook, he shares things that have caught his eye. He breaks down players, teams, plays and stats.

Roaming the Baseline: Donovan Mitchell, Jewell Loyd, Jeff Green

<p>A proposition: What if you were offered 250-1 odds on a team that has led the NBA in points per game and field goal percentage since April 7? Not only that, but they have the NBA's all-time leader in triple-doubles playing alongside an All-Star who is second in the league in scoring.</p>
<p>Would you wager at those odds?</p>
<p>That team is the Washington Wizards, who clinched no less than 10th place in the Eastern Conference on Friday night by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-105. Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 17 assists and 12 rebounds for his 183rd career triple-double and league-leading 37th this season, joining Hall-of-Famers John Stockton and Isiah Thomas as the only players with at least 15 assists in seven consecutive games in NBA history.</p>
<p>Nobody gives Washington much of a chance of winning a title, especially the sports books in the legalized U.S. sports gambling marketplace. That is why they are 250-1 at FanDuel and DraftKings, with FanDuel listing them at 120-1 to win the East. PointsBet has the Wizards at the same odds, listing the Hornets and Grizzlies at higher odds (500-1) and the Pacers and Spurs at 1000-1.</p>
<p>But Washington is 16-6 since April 7, having rebounded quite strongly from a start to the season that was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-washington-wizards-troy-brown-jr-bradley-beal-russell-westbrook-outbreak-covid-19-coronavirus-virus-contract-health-safety-protocol" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impacted more than most teams</a> by <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-washington-wizards-fighting-boredom-league-covid-postponements-idle-sidelines-scott-brooks-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coronavirus infections</a>. The Wizards were 15 games below .500 prior to that stretch, but Westbrook has been a beast with 311 of the team&rsquo;s 609 assists during the team's 16-6 streak.</p>
<p>"I've been in the league a long time and when you're 15 games under .500 you're thinking, &lsquo;Where are we going on vacation?'" coach Scott Brooks said.</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>Washington, currently in a three-way tie with Indiana and Charlotte for the No. 8 seed, improved to 33-38 after snapping a two-game losing streak Friday night. Washington, which hosts the Hornets on the final day of the season Sunday, can still finish anywhere between No. 8 and 10. All that is known for sure is that the Wizards will be playing some place Tuesday night, along with the Boston Celtics, who will be at home.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Those one-and-done play-in games will have captivated audiences, as will the second round of elimination games on Thursday and Friday.</p>
<p>Whether it is the Wizards in the East or the Blazers, Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies or Spurs from the West, odds are going to come down &ndash; except in the case of the Lakers, who remain the second choice to win the title behind Brooklyn at odds of 5-1.</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s not forget that the Miami Heat were 10-1 to win the East when last year&rsquo;s playoffs began in the bubble, with people largely ignoring the fact that they had defeated the Milwaukee Bucks handily twice during the 2019-20 regular season.</p>
<p>The Wizards can still get a No. 7 seed and a matchup with Brooklyn or Milwaukee if they finish the regular season in eighth and win their play-in tournament game. If they lose Sunday to Charlotte, that would mean either a finish in ninth or 10th, meaning Washington <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explaining-the-2021-nba-play-in-tournament-structure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would have to win twice</a> to earn the No. 8 seed for a date with the Sixers. Nothing will be known until Sunday&rsquo;s games are played, but Philly swept the season series 3-0, overcoming Beal&rsquo;s 60-point outing back on Jan. 6. In the most recent meeting between the teams on March 12, Washington fell behind 32-15 after one quarter and got trounced by 26 points.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Wizards went 2-1 vs. Brooklyn and 0-3 against Milwaukee.</p>
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<p>But with the exception of a one-point loss at Milwaukee on May 5, all of those aforementioned losses to the Nets, Sixers and Bucks transpired prior to the recent hot streak. And as we have all learned over the years, what matters most in the NBA playoffs is whether you enter with a head of steam and with a healthy roster. Beal has been out for three consecutive games with a hamstring strain. It is unknown whether he will be available Sunday.</p>
<p>FanDuel spokesman Kevin Hennessy said the largest wager the book had received on the Wizards to win the NBA title was $100 &ndash; a pittance in that multi-billion-dollar industry. The books have taken a ton of action on the Nets, Sixers, Lakers and Clippers, and the championship odds are more of a reflection of that reality than an accurate gauge of who has the best chance to win the title. That is why we are seeing the team with the shoo-in MVP, the Denver Nuggets, still being listed at 35-1. Portland, which is one victory away from locking down no worse than the No. 6 seed, is even higher at 80-1.</p>
<p>Most of the postseason awards are going to go down as runaways, with the exception of Coach of the Year, which many of the big books are not accepting bets on. One exception is FoxBet, which has it as a four-man race: &nbsp;Monty Williams of Phoenix is the favorite at -176, Tom Thibodeau of New York and Quin Snyder of Utah are both +200 and Doc Rivers is 12-1.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The end of the NBA season is approaching and there are clear favorites to win each of the awards. NBA MVP is the most bet prop and Nikola Jokic winning the award would be a good outcome for the sports book,&rdquo; said Seamus Magee, head sports trader at BetMGM.com.</p>
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<p>Here is where BetMGM&rsquo;s awards lines have gone:</p>
<p><strong>MVP &ndash; Nikola Jokic</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Line movement: Opened +2500, now -2000</li>
<li>Ticket%: 13%</li>
<li>Handle%: 42%</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Rookie of the Year &ndash; LaMelo Ball</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Line movement: Opened +400, now -750</li>
<li>Ticket%: 27%</li>
<li>Handle%: 71%</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Defensive Player of the Year &ndash; Rudy Gobert</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Line movement: Opened +300, now -1600</li>
<li>Ticket%: 10%</li>
<li>Handle%: 65%</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Most Improved Player &ndash; Julius Randle</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Line movement: Opened +900, now -5000</li>
<li>Ticket%: 19%</li>
<li>Handle%: 61%</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Sixth Man of the Year &ndash; Jordan Clarkson</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Line movement: Opened +900, now -1000</li>
<li>Ticket%: 17%</li>
<li>Handle%: 72%</li>
</ul>

Washington is 16-6 since April 7, having rebounded quite strongly from a start to the season that was impacted more than most teams by COVID.

Keith