Bengals

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

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

The Dunk-tionary: The official guide to ranking dunks

When the new league year began on July 1, NBA teams were quick to sign free agents and start negotiating extensions with some of their younger players.&nbsp;
Players who were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft are signed to rookie-scale contracts, which are eligible to be extended on the first day (July 1) of the fourth and final year of their deal. This past offseason, the vast majority of players eligible for rookie-scale extensions were picked in the first round in 2020. Teams have until the day before the start of the 2023-24 regular season (which begins on October 24) to agree to an extension, or else those players will hit restricted free agency next summer.&nbsp;
Out of the 30 first-round picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, 27 were eligible for rookie-scale extensions. In addition, the Orlando Magic&rsquo;s Chuma Okeke also became eligible for a rookie-scale extension because he signed his rookie deal in 2020, a year after he was drafted due to injury. So far this offseason, five players have signed extensions, with four of them receiving maximum contracts.&nbsp;
Those who received the max signed what&rsquo;s called a Designated Rookie Extension, which has a starting salary at 25% of the 2024-25 salary cap (projected at $37,405,750) with 8% raises over five years (for a total contract value of $216,953,350). However, via the &ldquo;Derrick Rose rule,&rdquo; if any of the players who signed one of these extensions is a member of any of the 2023-24 All-NBA teams, their starting salary will be set at 30% of the 2024-25 salary cap (projected at $44,886,900) with 8% raises over five years (for a total contract value of $260,344,020). These players include Minnesota&rsquo;s Anthony Edwards, Charlotte&rsquo;s LaMelo Ball, Indiana&rsquo;s Tyrese Haliburton and Memphis&rsquo; Desmond Bane. However, Bane&rsquo;s extension doesn&rsquo;t contain the &ldquo;Rose Rule&rdquo; language, so he can&rsquo;t receive a starting salary raise even if he earns an All-NBA nod.
There is also a new wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that changed the rules in regards to rookie-scale extensions, allowing teams to offer all players an extension up to five years. Previously, only players who were offered maximum contracts could agree to an extension up to five years. So far, no team has given out a five-year non-max extension.
The only player who has signed a non-max rookie extension this offseason is Detroit&rsquo;s Isaiah Stewart. Stewart, the No. 16 pick in 2020, has been a starter for the rebuilding Pistons over the past few years. The tough, defensive big man agreed to a four-year, $64 million extension with $60 million guaranteed, $4 million in potential performance bonuses and a team option in the final season. Stewart&rsquo;s extension could serve as a potential benchmark for other big man extension candidates like Toronto&rsquo;s Precious Achiuwa and Atlanta&rsquo;s Onyeka Okongwu.
With 21 first-round picks (and Okeke) still awaiting a potential extension, let&rsquo;s take a look at who is most likely to receive an extension and what their deals might look like.
LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED
Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls): Williams has been a steady force for the Bulls amid the team&rsquo;s struggles to consistently play winning basketball. The former Florida State forward has improved his shooting each year of his career but has yet to really break out as a primary scoring option for Chicago. Williams is just 22 years old and still has a lot of potential, so he should command an extension similar to what Atlanta&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Andre Hunter received last summer.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $90,000,000, no options
Onyeka Okongwu (Atlanta Hawks): Okongwu has been slotted as the Hawks&rsquo; center of the future for a few years now and has mostly looked the part backing up Clint Capela. Atlanta has a very crowded cap sheet, especially after extending Dejounte Murray. It is possible they could look to move Capela soon in order to free up cap space and give the starting center job to Okongwu. As mentioned above, look for Okongwu to ask for slightly above what Detroit gave Isaiah Stewart.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $72,000,000, could earn up to $80,000,000 with incentives, no options
Devin Vassell (San Antonio Spurs): The Spurs should try to lock up some of their reliable young pieces as they begin the Victor Wembanyama era. Similar to what San Antonio did with Keldon Johnson, they&rsquo;ll likely look to give Vassell a long-term value deal. They also could take advantage of the new CBA rules, keeping the former No. 11 pick under contract through 2029.
Extension Prediction: Five years, $110,000,000, no options
Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks): Green has quietly been developing very nicely with the Mavericks and could fight for a spot in the starting lineup this fall. The Australian native has shown real potential as a 3-and-D wing and could command the full mid-level exception if he reaches the open market next summer. Dallas shouldn&rsquo;t (and most likely won&rsquo;t) let that happen.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $65,000,000, no options
Immanuel Quickley (New York Knicks): Quickley is coming off his best season as a pro that saw him finish as runner-up for the NBA&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year award. A scoring machine, the former Kentucky guard would likely start for a good chunk of NBA teams, but will likely have to be the backup as long as Jalen Brunson is in New York. The Knicks would certainly love to keep Quickley, but look for them to wait all the way up to the October 23 deadline to pay him in order to maintain trade flexibility.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $88,000,000, could earn up to $92,000,000 with incentives, no options
Jaden McDaniels (Minnesota Timberwolves): McDaniels is certainly viewed as a core piece by the Timberwolves&rsquo; brass as they fought hard to keep him out of the Rudy Gobert trade, sacrificing more draft capital instead. The Washington product has been a versatile, two-way player since arriving in Minnesota and is an ideal wing next to Anthony Edwards. He should be paid accordingly.
Extension Prediction: Four years, $100,000,000, no options, declining annual salary
LIKELY TO REACH RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY
James Wiseman (Detroit Pistons): Wiseman has been better on both sides of the ball since being traded to Detroit last February, but his game still needs to be developed further if the Pistons are to seriously invest in him.
Isaac Okoro (Cleveland Cavaliers): Cleveland has been looking for a permanent solution at their starting small-forward position for some time now, resulting in them paying Caris LeVert and signing Max Strus. Okoro hasn&rsquo;t shown he can be the Cavs&rsquo; long-term solution.
Obi Toppin (Indiana Pacers): If Toppin had stayed in New York, there&rsquo;s no way he would have been extended. Now in Indiana, the former Naismith National Player of the Year should get a chance to start and improve his stock going into next summer.
Deni Avdija (Washington Wizards): Avdija is a pretty good young player outside of his shooting struggles. With a new regime in Washington, Avdija may be a trade candidate if new president Michael Winger doesn&rsquo;t see him as a part of the team&rsquo;s long-term plan.
Aaron Nesmith (Indiana Pacers): A starter for the Pacers last year, Nesmith may be buried on the depth chart with the additions of Toppin and rookie Jarace Walker. He hasn&rsquo;t made enough of an impact to warrant an extension.
Cole Anthony (Orlando Magic): Anthony has been a solid bench contributor for Orlando since being drafted out of North Carolina. However, the Magic backcourt is extremely crowded with the addition of rookie Anthony Black, making them unlikely to prioritize securing a deal with Anthony.
Aleksej Pokusevski (Oklahoma City Thunder): Poku is coming off a fractured leg that kept him out for the back half of last season. He needs to show that he can be a long-term piece if he wishes to stay with the Thunder.
Saddiq Bey (Atlanta Hawks): Bey is certainly talented enough to warrant an extension, fitting into the starting five seamlessly after being acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. However, the team may have to choose between extending Bey or Okongwu in order to manage their already-very-full salary cap sheet.&nbsp;
Precious Achiuwa (Toronto Raptors): The Raptors have already committed to a center in Jakob Poeltl this offseason. Achiuwa hasn&rsquo;t shown enough to break through outside of his bench role to warrant an extension.
Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets): Despite not being a regular member of the rotation, Nnaji has shown he is a capable backup option to Nikola Jokic when he&rsquo;s on the floor. While an extension isn&rsquo;t in the cards, the Nuggets should look to retain him.
Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics): Boston would probably love to keep Pritchard on a team-friendly deal, as he has been a reliable insurance option for them since coming into the league. The former Oregon guard will more than likely want to test the free-agency market to see if he can possibly find a path to more playing time elsewhere.
LIKELY TO NOT RECEIVE A QUALIFYING OFFER, BECOME AN UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT NEXT SUMMER
Killian Hayes (Detroit Pistons): Hayes has not lived up to his top-10 pick billing and has fallen out of Pistons general manager Troy Weaver&rsquo;s long-term outlook. Detroit could extend him a qualifying offer next summer, but he likely won&rsquo;t receive much interest on the open market.
Kira Lewis Jr. (New Orleans Pelicans): Lewis has been relegated to a reserve while suffering through multiple injuries through his first three years in the NBA. The Pelicans have made it known league-wide that he is available for trade.
Chuma Okeke (Orlando Magic): Okeke has struggled with his all-around game for the better part of the last two years and is unlikely to be retained by Orlando going forward.
Malachi Flynn (Toronto Raptors): Flynn hasn&rsquo;t taken advantage of the many opportunities he&rsquo;s had to be a part of the Raptors&rsquo; rotation as the backup point guard. He may see some run this year, but the Raptors may have seen enough to move on this summer.
THE TYRESE MAXEY WILD CARD
Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers): Maxey is the wild card of the rookie-extension candidates, as Sixers general manager Daryl Morey has said that the team will hold off on extending the 22-year-old shooting guard in order to maintain trade and cap flexibility going into next summer. Maxey has blossomed into a core member of the 76ers going forward and would likely receive close to, if not the full, max rookie extension. With no end in sight to the James Harden debacle, the Sixers may want to secure their young prize before their situation could turn worse.

Blake Stern takes a look at which players are most likely to receive a rookie-scale extension prior to the October 23 deadline.

Checking in on the NBA's rookie-scale extension candidates

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

The return of SlamBall: Co-founder Mason Gordon discusses new season

With the NBA&rsquo;s 2023 free-agency period pretty much wrapped up, why not take a look at how projecting next year's free-agent market? Obviously, a lot can change between now and then, but let&rsquo;s examine each team&rsquo;s cap situation and how much cap room they project to have next summer.&nbsp;
Next year&rsquo;s free-agency class could feature some big names, including Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Maxey (restricted), Paul George, LeBron James, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, OG Anunoby and DeMar DeRozan.&nbsp;
For the purposes of this exercise, I&rsquo;m going to separate teams into four spending-power tiers: Cap Space Teams, Non-Tax MLE Teams, Luxury Tax Teams and Second Apron Teams. Also, let's assume that the salary cap will be set at $149,623,000 and the luxury tax will come in at $181,823,000, the maximum 10% jump from this upcoming season set under the new CBA.
CAP SPACE TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to have cap space next summer. They have spending access to their cap space, Bird Rights, the Room Exception (projected at $8,495,000) and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
San Antonio Spurs ($77,195,776 under the cap) If Victor Wembanyama is 70% as good as he&rsquo;s hyped up to be entering this season, one would figure that the Spurs will spend big or at least make a meaningful impact on the free-agent market next summer. They project to have an enormous amount of cap space, so it&rsquo;s very possible we&rsquo;ll see San Antonio take on some more bad contracts in trades to give them even more draft capital. Also, they&rsquo;ll want to retain Devin Vassell, who will be a restricted free agent next offseason once the Spurs extend his qualifying offer.
Philadelphia 76ers ($73,034,842 under the cap) The Sixers are perhaps the most interesting team in terms of their 2024 offseason outlook. By letting Tyrese Maxey hit restricted free agency next summer rather than extending him this year, Philadelphia gave themselves serious cap flexibility. Tobias Harris and James Harden both have expiring contracts, so the Sixers will have to use their cap space to replace their production. A Harden trade would obviously change their projected cap room, but it remains to be seen what they&rsquo;ll get back for the former MVP and how much it&rsquo;ll impact their books.
Toronto Raptors ($60,339,034 under the cap) After losing Fred VanVleet, the Raptors are walking a tightrope when it comes to whether they&rsquo;ll compete or rebuild. They face some tough decisions. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are both set to hit free agency next summer, so Toronto needs to decide whether they want to extend or trade their best players. Not to mention, Precious Achiuwa and Gary Trent Jr. also need new contracts.
Orlando Magic ($58,010,944 under the cap) Orlando has a lot of options for next summer, but the Magic may start with retaining many of their own players. Franz Wagner will likely receive a big contract extension, while Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony will be up for new contracts. Given that Orlando has a logjam in their backcourt &ndash; with Fultz, Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black &ndash; it&rsquo;ll be interesting to see what they do with Fultz and Anthony. The Magic will still have plenty of room to add quality talent for yearly average values over the NTMLE.
Detroit Pistons ($57,781,166 under the cap) Detroit may approach the 2024 offseason similar to how Houston approached this summer, as a young team hoping to use its massive cap space on good veterans in order to take bigger steps toward playoff contention. With that said, the first priority for the team will be agreeing to a contract extension with Cade Cunningham.
Utah Jazz ($50,315,319 under the cap) The Jazz find themselves in a unique position where they could go in two directions. After committing a three-year deal to Jordan Clarkson, they can use their cap space to give 2023 Most Improved Player Lauri Markkanen a contract extension. If they want to have significant cap space for next summer instead, they can hold off on giving Markkanen an extension until free agency is settled.
Washington Wizards ($47,123,801 under the cap) Despite their cap space next year, don&rsquo;t expect Washington to be a big player in 2024 free agency. In the beginning stages of a rebuild, the Wizards will probably keep their sights on collecting more draft capital. They do have an interesting decision coming up with recent trade acquisition Tyus Jones, whom they&rsquo;ll likely want to keep long-term.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets ($41,300,515 under the cap)&nbsp; They may lose some 2024 cap space if they eventually re-sign PJ Washington this offseason, but watch out for Charlotte to be one of the many small-market teams with money to spend next summer. With LaMelo Ball in the first year of his max contract extension, Charlotte may cash in on a marquee player to keep their young star happy.
Brooklyn Nets ($33,048,185 under the cap) The Nets do have the potential to have significant cap space next summer if they choose not to re-sign most of their own free agents. However, the Nets will more than likely focus on exploring the trade market and retaining big man Nic Claxton before reaching next year&rsquo;s free agency. Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O&rsquo;Neale will also hit free agency next offseason.
Indiana Pacers ($20,488,005 under the cap) Indiana could get to an even higher number in cap space if they decline Bruce Brown&rsquo;s $23 million team option next season. If Brown has a good year, the Pacers would likely keep him on a long-term deal that would consume a good chunk of their space. Other impending free agents they might like to keep include Obi Toppin, Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith.
Oklahoma City Thunder ($10,264,814 under the cap) The Thunder will likely continue to utilize the strategy of taking on short-term, bad-money contracts in exchange for draft capital. As they inch closer to contention, they will be looking at some big-money extensions for many of their young pieces, including one for Josh Giddey next year.&nbsp;
NON-TAX MLE TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap but under the luxury tax. They have spending access to Bird Rights, the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (projected at $13,644,000), the Bi-Annual Exception (projected at $4,968,000) unless used in 2023-24, and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
Chicago Bulls ($19,465,689 under the cap) The Bulls could potentially operate as a cap-space team if they elect to let DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams walk in free agency, but that seems unlikely. In addition, the Bulls could potentially create more space if Lonzo Ball&rsquo;s knee injury is considered career-ending by an NBA/NBPA-appointed physician. (Ball would still be paid, it just wouldn&rsquo;t count against the cap).&nbsp;
Sacramento Kings ($210,669 under the cap) The Kings used up most of their cap space by signing Domantas Sabonis to a big four-year extension that ties him with the team through 2028. As long as they are competitive, they will likely pursue quality pieces with their Non-Tax MLE to support Sabonis and De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. They will also likely try to keep Malik Monk and look at extension options for Davion Mitchell.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/pels.jpg" alt="" width="728" height="485" />
New Orleans Pelicans ($487,911 over the cap) The Pelicans are fairly set with their core of CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram under contract through 2025. Ingram and McCollum are both extension-eligible this offseason, but the Pelicans may wait on dishing out extensions to maintain flexibility under the tax. New Orleans must also monitor Jonas Valanciunas&rsquo; free agency and a possible extension for Trey Murphy III.&nbsp;
Atlanta Hawks ($1,658,172 over the cap) Similar to the Kings, the Hawks wiped away their cap space when they signed Dejounte Murray and De&rsquo;Andre Hunter to four-year, $120 million and four-year, $90 million extensions, respectively. Already pushing past the salary cap, the Hawks may face a money crunch as they broach the luxury tax line. Retaining restricted free agents Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey next offseason may be tricky.
Los Angeles Clippers ($5,018,261 over the cap) The Clippers are in an interesting spot with George and Leonard both needing new deals, which they will likely get despite their inability to stay on the floor. Many veterans with big salaries will come off the books next year, like Marcus Morris, Nic Batum and Robert Covington. The question is whether the Clippers will continue to commit significant capital to a roster that hasn&rsquo;t met its lofty expectations.
Miami Heat ($7,751,630 over the cap) The Miami Heat are in a holding pattern with their roster as they engage in a Mexican standoff with the Blazers on a Damian Lillard trade, which could see them skyrocket into the deep tax. Outside of the Dame situation, Jimmy Butler will likely look for another big extension this offseason, which will pay him max money deep into his late 30s. They will also have to contend with potentially losing Caleb Martin, who has a player option for 2024-25.
Houston Rockets ($8,734,919 over the cap) The biggest spenders of this past offseason, the Rockets made big moves for Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. Houston could get back into the cap-space tier again if they choose to part ways with Kevin Porter Jr. and his non-guaranteed $15.9 million salary. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun will also be up for extensions.&nbsp;
Cleveland Cavaliers ($11,399,749 over the cap) The Cavs are pretty set going into the 2023-24 season and beyond with two max guys (Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell) and key guys on fairly big deals (Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert and Max Strus). They will likely give Evan Mobley a big extension next offseason, which could push them into the luxury tax in the near future. For next offseason, their only notable free agent is Isaac Okoro.
New York Knicks ($11,400,861 over the cap) This morning, the Knicks inked Josh Hart to a four-year contract extension that pushed them over the cap for 2024-25. Their main concerns for next summer are Immanuel Quickley and Isaiah Hartenstein, who are both up for new contracts. They will likely be able to avoid the tax by declining their team option on Evan Fournier or trading his expiring contract for another expiring deal.
Dallas Mavericks ($13,566,153 over the cap) The Mavericks are not likely to seek pathways to cap space next summer after doubling down on their trade for Kyrie Irving by re-signing him to a three-year, $120 million deal. They should look to retain Josh Green, who will be a restricted free agent. Luka Doncic&rsquo;s happiness looms over all of the Mavs&rsquo; moves, as ESPN&rsquo;s Tim McMahon <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mavs-fear-luka-doncic-may-request-trade-unless-they-build-contender">reported in April</a> that the Mavericks are worried about Doncic potentially seeking a trade elsewhere as soon as next year.
Los Angeles Lakers ($15,380,636 over the cap) The Lakers had a pathway to almost two max slots in the unlikely scenario that they decided to pivot from the LeBron-AD era. However, that option is out the window with them inking Davis to a three-year supermax extension that will keep him with the team through 2028. LeBron James&rsquo; decision to stay with the team or leave will ultimately dictate how the Lakers approach spending next offseason.
Portland Trail Blazers ($20,567,876 over the cap) Portland is in the midst of turning the page to a new era as they look to accommodate franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard&rsquo;s trade request. If they do end up trading Lillard, expect their cap numbers to come down slightly, but not enough to get any meaningful space. Whether Lillard is traded for the Miami package or something else, Portland shouldn&rsquo;t be a major player in free agency for a while.&nbsp;
LUXURY TAX TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap and luxury tax. They have spending access to Bird Rights, the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (projected at $5,500,000), and the Veteran Minimum Exception.
Minnesota Timberwolves ($14,474,085 under the tax) The Timberwolves have paid the luxury tax only once since 2007. They should be a tax team once again, with Karl-Anthony Towns' supermax extension and Anthony Edwards' max extension kicking in. In addition, Minnesota will need to use significant capital to keep players like Jaden McDaniels, Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson, all of whom will be free agents in 2024.
Golden State Warriors ($9,696,462 under the tax) While the Warriors are currently under the tax, they are likely going to re-sign 2024 free agent Klay Thompson to a long-term deal at a lower number or at least use his Bird Rights to acquire another piece at a similar number. Golden State can cut some costs by releasing Chris Paul after the season, as his $30 million salary for 2024-25 is non-guaranteed.
Milwaukee Bucks ($6,142,529 under the tax) The Bucks re-signed Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez to big-money deals, committing to the players who won them the 2021 title. Another one of those players, Jrue Holiday, is set to reach free agency and will likely demand max money. In addition, Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes eligible for a supermax extension of up to three years in October and can sign a four-year supermax extension next offseason.
Denver Nuggets ($6,732,627 over the tax) The defending champs have their core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon locked in through the 2025 offseason. They&rsquo;ve already lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green this summer and will be forced to work around the edges with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope potentially heading for free agency next summer.
Boston Celtics ($7,306,800 over the tax) The trade for Kristaps Porzingis pushed the Celtics into the luxury tax for the first time since 2018, and that was before they signed Jaylen Brown to a five-year supermax extension. With Jayson Tatum&rsquo;s own supermax extension on the horizon next year, the Celtics figure to be a tax team, and potentially a second apron team, for the foreseeable future.
SECOND APRON TEAMS
Teams in this tier are currently projected to be over the salary cap, luxury tax and second luxury tax apron ($17.5 million over the tax). They have spending access to just Bird Rights and the Veteran Minimum Exception. The second apron was introduced in the new CBA and prevents teams from using the Taxpayer MLE, trading first-round picks seven years away, signing buyout free agents and taking back more salary than they send out in trades among other restrictions.
Memphis Grizzlies ($13,829,477 over the tax) For the first time under owner Robert Pera, the Grizzlies will be paying the luxury tax. While Memphis probably won&rsquo;t reach the second apron, they are not likely to have enough spare capital to use their Tax MLE and be able to fill out their roster without going over it. Their core of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are locked up to big money, long-term deals that will keep Memphis among the league's biggest spenders for likely the next decade-plus.
Phoenix Suns ($27,039,607 over the tax) Phoenix is by far the most limited team when it comes to spending, and they will be for the next few seasons after trading for Bradley Beal&rsquo;s behemoth contract. With four max contracts, including two supermax contracts, the Suns have blown through the second apron. Like this past offseason, the supporting cast around their core four will be mostly minimum-salary contracts.

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

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

The 2023 NBA Draft could go down as a special class, with talented prospects such as Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins as well as some interesting depth pieces.
But will it ever be considered one of the best draft classes in NBA history? That remains to be seen.
Today, we're going to identify the cr&egrave;me de la cr&egrave;me of NBA draft classes.
The 2003 NBA Draft
The 2003 NBA Draft featured multiple generational talents that would come to define the NBA for the next two decades. Led by LeBron James, this class also included household names such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Not only did this draft have star power, it was also very deep. Twenty-seven players from the 2003 class played at least 10 seasons in the NBA: James, Wade, Anthony, Bosh, Kyle Korver, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Nick Collison, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, James Jones, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, Dahntay Jones, Steve Blake, Mo Williams, Luke Ridnour, Willie Green, Matt Bonner, Travis Outlaw, Keith Bogans, Darko Milicic, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Pavlovic, Josh Howard and Luke Walton. This class featured nine All-Stars and plenty of quality role players.
The 1984 NBA Draft
The 1984 NBA Draft stands as a legendary class, and some might argue that it's the greatest draft of all-time. Two of the top three picks &mdash; Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon &mdash; would ultimately etch their names in the annals of basketball history and redefine greatness. In addition to Jordan and Olajuwon, players like Charles Barkley, John Stockton and Alvin Robertson showcased their immense talent as well. This class produced five Hall-of-Famers and seven All-Stars.
The 1996 NBA Draft
The 1996 NBA Draft changed the landscape of the league, heralding the arrival of future Hall-of-Famers and icons. Led by the legendary Kobe Bryant and the enigmatic Allen Iverson, this class boasted an array of talent that reinvigorated the game. This class also featured Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace, Stephon Marbury, Peja Stojakovic, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antoine Walker, Marcus Camby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Derek Fisher. The 1996 NBA Draft was deep, producing 10 All-Stars and five Hall-of-Famers. Jon Finkel recently revisited this star-studded class in his book "1996," and he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/revisiting-the-starstudded-1996-nba-draft-kobe-bryant-ray-allen-steve-nash-allen-iverson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran a terrific excerpt on Basketball News</a>.
The 1985 NBA Draft
The 1985 NBA Draft was certainly special. This class featured 10 All-Stars including Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, Detlef Schrempf, Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, &nbsp;AC Green, Terry Porter and Michael Adams. The class also featured Arvydas Sabonis, an overseas legend and terrific Portland Trail Blazer. Like the 1996 NBA Draft, this class has the star power and depth to be considered one of the best drafts in NBA history.
The 2009 NBA Draft
While not as immediately illustrious as some of the other classes on this list, the 2009 NBA Draft proved to be a treasure trove of talent. This class exemplified the importance of patience and player development, as Stephen Curry, James Harden, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague would all go on to become All-Stars. Griffin missed his rookie year with an injury, but dominated as soon as he stepped on an NBA court. Curry battled injuries early in his career, but would become a four-time champion and two-time MVP. Harden went from being an elite sixth man to an MVP once he got the opportunity in Houston. This class also featured Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio, Tyreke Evans, Darren Collison, Ty Lawson, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Taj Gibson and Patrick Beverley among others.
Which class is the greatest in NBA history? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts</a>!&nbsp;

Basketball News examines the crème de la crème of draft classes throughout NBA history.

Exploring the 5 best draft classes in NBA history

It&rsquo;s the easiest call of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-b3449d1a5f7a7de5906bb1979ffb2a26">NBA draft</a>: The San Antonio Spurs won.
That&rsquo;s not to say other teams didn&rsquo;t do very well on Thursday, when 58 players were selected as the league&rsquo;s newest members. But the Spurs being able to take generational French talent Victor Wembanyama puts them at the head of the class.
Some of the teams that also did well: NBA champion Denver, Golden State, Toronto &mdash; even with just one pick &mdash; and Orlando, which might now be closer to returning to the postseason mix.
A breakdown of which teams had Excellent drafts, those that had Good drafts and others that will have to Wait and See:
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">EXCELLENT</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DALLAS MAVERICKS</h3>
Picks: Dereck Lively II (12, via trade); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24, via trade).
Dallas got the big man it wanted and created opportunity by moving Davis Bertans. Hard to argue that it wasn&rsquo;t a good night. And now free agency awaits. Prosper is another player with big potential and was extremely hard to guard at Marquette.
Picks: Julian Strawther (29), Jalen Pickett (32, will be acquired via trade), Hunter Tyson (37),
Pickett should have gone in the first round. He&rsquo;s that good, and the NBA champions just got another do-it-all guy who will also serve as insurance should Bruce Brown leave in free agency.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DETROIT PISTONS</h3>
Picks: Ausar Thompson (5), Marcus Sasser (25, via trade), James Nnaji (31)
No matter what, the Pistons were going to get better and deeper on Thursday night. Thompson is incredibly athletic (even by NBA standards) and plays defense with a ton of energy.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS</h3>
Picks: Brandin Podziemski (19), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57, via trade)
Play to your strength, and the Warriors got another shooter to add to the mix with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Podziemski could add something right away, and came to Golden State on the same day that the Warriors swung a deal for Chris Paul by sending Jordan Poole to Washington.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">HOUSTON ROCKETS</h3>
Picks: Amen Thompson (4), Cam Whitmore (20)
Thompson is a great move and gives Detroit another great option as it builds. If Whitmore is healthy, then Houston got an absolute steal by getting the Villanova forward at No. 20.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER</h3>
Picks: Cason Wallace (10, via trade), Keyontae Johnson (50)
Wallace was great for Kentucky in his lone college season and played perhaps his best game in the Wildcats&rsquo; finale in the NCAA tournament. He can score; he didn&rsquo;t look to score quite often enough at times in college.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ORLANDO MAGIC</h3>
Picks: Anthony Black (6), Jett Howard (11)
Paolo Banchero got a couple more shooters to help him out, and the young and talented Magic got more young talent. An excellent night again and it&rsquo;s time to start thinking about Orlando as a team that should make a run at the play-in &mdash; at minimum.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SAN ANTONIO SPURS</h3>
Picks: Victor Wembanyama (1), Sidy Cissoko (44).
Their grade was secured at the very moment that the last ping-pong ball appeared at the lottery last month. Wembanyama was a no-brainer, and now it&rsquo;s up to the Spurs to start the real work &mdash; get him into the gym, see how he fits, and figure out what the plan is going forward.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">TORONTO RAPTORS</h3>
Pick: Gradey Dick (13)
Dick showed up to the draft in a red-and-black jacket &mdash; a nod to Dorothy from &ldquo;The Wizard of Oz&rdquo; and his Kansas roots. The color scheme will work in Toronto as well. Dick is a pure shooter, and no team can have too many of those. The jury&rsquo;s still out on what the Raptors will be this coming season, but this kid will be a rotation piece.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">UTAH JAZZ</h3>
Picks: Taylor Hendricks (9), Keyonte George (16), Brice Sensabaugh (28)
Hendricks is what an NBA big pretty much is now; a power forward who can also defend centers. George was the Big 12 rookie of the year at Baylor and is a proven scorer. He&rsquo;s good from the line, has 3-point potential and can get to the rim. There&rsquo;s some work to do, but he&rsquo;s a serious prospect.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">GOOD</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BROOKLYN NETS</h3>
Picks: Noah Clowney (21), Dariq Whitehead (22), Jalen Wilson (51)
Clowney is an athletic big from Alabama whose game is still a bit unfinished. Whitehead has enormous potential and was highly recruited by Duke, but foot issues are a concern. Wilson was the Big 12 player of the year at Kansas. The Nets likely didn&rsquo;t choose three elite programs accidentally. Lot to like here.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHARLOTTE HORNETS</h3>
Picks: Brandon Miller (2), Nick Smith Jr. (27), Amari Bailey (41).
Miller made sense over Scoot Henderson because the Hornets have a point guard already. But Henderson might be the more NBA-ready player.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">INDIANA PACERS</h3>
Picks: Jarace Walker (8, via trade), Ben Sheppard (26), Julian Strawther (29), Mojave King (47, via trade), Isaiah Wong (55)
Walker plays hard on both ends, and this is rare to say, but he might play harder on defense than he does on offense. And getting Wong &mdash; the ACC player of the year &mdash; so late is a steal.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Brown (30), Jordan Miller (48)
Brown is a strong player, addicted to rebounding, and probably needs to improve considerably on the offensive end. Miller did a little of everything for the Miami Hurricanes in their run to the Final Four.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES LAKERS</h3>
Picks: Jalen Hood-Schifino (17), Maxwell Lewis (40, via trade).
Hood-Schifino got NBA coaching in college last season; Indiana is coached by Mike Woodson. He&rsquo;s a winner; his high school teams won, his Indiana team went to the NCAA Tournament and he&rsquo;ll obviously benefit from time with LeBron James.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MIAMI HEAT</h3>
Pick: Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18)
A four-year college player whose game got more complete each year, Jaquez has a notorious work ethic that should fit in quite well with the Eastern Conference champions.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW ORLEANS PELICANS</h3>
Pick: Jordan Hawkins (14)
Hawkins was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s team that won the national title last spring, earning his way onto the All-Tournament team. New Orleans got a winner.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS</h3>
Picks: Scoot Henderson (3), Kris Murray (23), Rayan Rupert (43).
Henderson has shown that he&rsquo;s NBA-ready. The Blazers drafted well. But really, the only question now is whether Damian Lillard is happy or not. Murray is the twin brother of Sacramento&rsquo;s Keegan Murray and had a big season for Iowa &mdash; averaging just over 20 points per game.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">WASHINGTON WIZARDS</h3>
Picks: Bilal Coulibaly (7, via trade), Tristan Vukcevic (42)
The Wizards are starting over, and on the day they also agreed to acquire Jordan Poole from Golden State they just happened to get a French player. (No, not that one.) But Coulibaly is highly touted by No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, and that&rsquo;s enough of an endorsement for us.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">WAIT AND SEE</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ATLANTA HAWKS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Bufkin (15), Mouhamed Gueye (39, via trade), Seth Lundy (46)
Bufkin had a great second half of the season at Michigan, and left-handers always provide defenses with an extra challenge. The best way to describe his game is this: He doesn&rsquo;t do much wrong. Very solid, can help the Hawks in a lot of ways.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BOSTON CELTICS</h3>
Picks: James Njaji (31, via trade), Jordan Walsh (38, via trade)
Still only 18, Njaji started playing the game about seven years ago and is not even close to reaching his potential yet. Big prospect.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHICAGO BULLS</h3>
Pick: Julian Phillips (35, via trade)
The Bulls had to forfeit what would have been their pick because of free-agency violations last summer, and swung a deal with Boston to land the Tennessee wing.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS</h3>
Pick: Emoni Bates (49)
He was touted as a star since basically middle school, had more than his share of promising moments in college, and now has to really prove himself.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES</h3>
Picks: Gregory Jackson II (45), Tarik Biberovic (56)
Prospects. They&rsquo;re not expected to provide any real help anytime soon.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MILWAUKEE BUCKS</h3>
Picks: Andre Jackson (36, via trade), Chris Livingston (58)
Jackson was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s national championship. He&rsquo;s only going to benefit from being around Giannis Antetokounmpo every day.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES</h3>
Picks: Leonard Miller (33, via trade), Jaylen Clark (53)
Miller had a lot of big moments playing with Scoot Henderson and the G League Ignite this past season. Athleticism is tough to ignore.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW YORK KNICKS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHOENIX SUNS</h3>
Pick: Toumani Camara (52)
Given the trades that they&rsquo;re making, this might be one of their last picks for quite some time. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with not valuing the draft, but giving up on it entirely is a dangerous game to play too often.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SACRAMENTO KINGS</h3>
Picks: Colby Jones (34, via trade), Jalen Slawson (54)
Jones has skills the Kings crave; great shooter, great passing and great vision. A young Kevin Huerter-type in those regards.

Which teams came away from the 2023 NBA Draft as big winners? Check out the AP's draft report cards.

NBA draft report cards: Spurs, Rockets among teams that hit it big

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Denver Nuggets act like they&rsquo;ve been here before.
There is an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-b0f83f7baccd425dbf8aba440e3e210c">unmistakable poise</a>&nbsp;to the Nuggets, who are&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-miami-heat-denver-nuggets-abb4788990b6fb026d65d83c8bc4bb8b">only one win away</a>&nbsp;from their first NBA championship and could hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien Trophy as early as Monday night when the finals return to Denver for Game 5. Their stars have been starry in their first finals appearance. Their role players have delivered. There hasn&rsquo;t been a colossal blunder. And even on the cusp of a title, they refuse to change their approach.
&ldquo;We need to win one more,&rdquo; two-time MVP Nikola Jokic said.
That&rsquo;s the Nuggets. Simple. Effective. Blunt.
With Jokic and Jamal Murray leading the way, and with basically a different person stepping up to be the third hero every night so far for the Nuggets, they have the Miami Heat in serious trouble now.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets-b0f83f7baccd425dbf8aba440e3e210c">They lead the finals 3-1</a>&nbsp;and with potentially two of the next three games &mdash; if needed &mdash; in Denver.
&ldquo;We get an opportunity to play a super competitive game in a great environment,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s going to be an awesome environment. Our guys are built for that. They love that. &hellip; Yeah, we understand what the narrative will be, but that&rsquo;s the way it is with our team.&rdquo;
History says this series is pretty much over; only one team in NBA history has dug its way out of such a hole in the finals, that being the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors. Heat forward Kevin Love played for that Cleveland team.
&ldquo;Forget the game,&rdquo; Love said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one possession, one quarter, half by half. Just get it done by any means necessary and we&rsquo;ll figure the rest out.&rdquo;
It will be a daunting task.
The Nuggets have held Miami under 100 points three times through the first four games; those were the three Denver wins in the series. They&rsquo;re 9-1 at home, the only loss coming in Game 2 of this series when Miami pulled off a big rally and survived when a potentially game-tying 3-pointer by Jamal Murray missed at the buzzer.
&ldquo;This is what I always tell my guys: Winning a championship will be the hardest thing you ever do,&rdquo; said Heat forward Udonis Haslem, a three-time champion whose 20-year career ends when this series ends. &ldquo;People only talk about the parade and holding up the trophy. They don&rsquo;t talk about the journey, the sleepless nights, the frustration, the tears, the pain. They don&rsquo;t talk about that (stuff). This is all part of that.&rdquo;
Denver isn&rsquo;t talking about a parade; some city officials in Dallas were during the 2006 finals when the Mavericks led Miami 2-0, and the Heat won the next four games. The Nuggets aren&rsquo;t making any such blunders. No blunders at all, really. Every detail is covered, even remembering to run the 24-second shot clock down to the very end on multiple possessions in the final minutes of Game 4, just to shorten the game and limit whatever chance Miami had at making a comeback.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done our job. But we&rsquo;re not celebrating like we&rsquo;ve done anything yet,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;We know we&rsquo;re going to have to go home and turn off the TV, the radio, don&rsquo;t read the papers, don&rsquo;t listen to everybody telling you how great you are. &hellip; We stay true to our identity.&rdquo;
Here&rsquo;s what that means: The Nuggets have two exceptional players, a two-time MVP in Jokic playing the role of Batman and a still-rising star in Murray happily playing the role of Robin in Denver&rsquo;s superhero duo.
Jokic &mdash; who will never willingly enter a conversation about his incredible stats &mdash; is on the cusp of becoming the first player to ever lead the NBA in points, rebounds and assists during a postseason. Murray is the first player to have at least 10 assists in each of his four finals games. They have been the 1-2 punch that has put Miami on the ropes throughout this series.
And then there&rsquo;s always a third or fourth hero to finish the job. In Game 1, it was Michael Porter Jr. with 14 points and 13 rebounds. In Game 3, it was rookie Christian Braun with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. In Game 4, it was Aaron Gordon with a team-high 27 points and Bruce Brown with 21 off the bench.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just how this team is built,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;We have guys that can step up night in and night out. Sometimes it&rsquo;s not going to be your night, and sometimes it is going to be your night. This team does a good job finding the people that are kind of in a rhythm and kind of going.&rdquo;
Jokic gets most of the credit and doesn&rsquo;t want it. Murray doesn&rsquo;t get enough credit and doesn&rsquo;t care about that, either. The other guys, they just take their cues from Jokic and Murray and find a way.
If they do it one more time, they&rsquo;ll be getting rings in a few months.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just ready to win a championship,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We have the tools to do it. It&rsquo;s been on our minds for a while. We&rsquo;re just locked in. I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ve got to overthink it. We&rsquo;re just dialed in, ready to win.&rdquo;

Despite the fact that is their first NBA Finals appearance, the Denver Nuggets act like they’ve been here before.

Nuggets showing plenty of poise in NBA Finals against Heat

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Miami could blame it on fatigue, or that much-talked-about Mile High elevation. Or maybe this was just one of those nights.
Whatever the reason, the Heat had plenty of open looks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday but couldn&rsquo;t knock them down during a 104-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
&ldquo;When you look at it during the game, they all look like the right shots and I&rsquo;m not saying that we can&rsquo;t as a team make those, but we&rsquo;ve got to get more layups,&rdquo; said Jimmy Butler, who had 13 points. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s it as a whole. We&rsquo;ve got to attack the rim a lot more, myself included.&rdquo;
The stat lines were hard to fathom: Max Strus, 0 for 10. Duncan Robinson, 1 of 6. Even Caleb Martin, who had a stellar showing in the Eastern Conference finals, wasn&rsquo;t immune. He finished 1 of 7.
Coach Erik Spoelstra won&rsquo;t be saying much other than possibly this: Don&rsquo;t read too much into it.
Just one night.
&ldquo;We also have ignitable guys. You see a couple go through and that also can become an avalanche,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;One way or the other, we have to find a way to get the job done.&rdquo;
This was far from a shooting clinic for the Heat. They did make a flurry of shots in the fourth quarter to show what they can do and make the numbers a little prettier (40.6% from the floor) than they might have been.
Then again, the Nuggets felt they had a little something to do with Miami&rsquo;s wayward aim.
&ldquo;Our guys did a great job of defending without fouling,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
Denver committed just eight fouls total, resulting in only one trip to the line by Haywood Highsmith, who made both.
It tied for the fewest free throws made in a playoff game, broke the record for fewest attempts from the line in a playoff game and set an NBA Finals records for fewest free throws made and attempted.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even realize it was two free throws only, and it was only my two free throws,&rdquo; Highsmith said. &ldquo;So that was pretty interesting. I think we were aggressive, but we did shoot a lot of jump shots because we were open.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s weird having two free throws. I&rsquo;ve never seen that before.&rdquo;
Added Bam Adebayo: &ldquo;We made history.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I mean, when we got in the locker room and (saw) the stat sheet,&rdquo; Adebayo said, &ldquo;I feel like we were all shocked that we only had two free throws.&rdquo;
In this make-or-miss league, quite a few of the Heat struggled to get into any sort of rhythm through three quarters.
Sometimes, shots just don&rsquo;t fall. The Heat advanced to the Finals because of Boston&rsquo;s ineffectiveness from the outside in Game 7, when the Celtics were 9 of 42.
On Thursday in Denver, the Heat got a small taste of what it felt like.
&ldquo;I just feel like we took a lot of jump shots, and we missed a lot of them,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to watch film and get back to the drawing board.&rdquo;

Miami had many open looks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday but couldn’t knock them down in a 104-93 loss to Denver.

Cold Heat: Miami struggles with outside shooting in Game 1 of NBA Finals

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Denver Nuggets guard&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1661814879521771520" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bruce Brown</a>&nbsp;has been using the long layoff before the start of the NBA Finals to work on his game &mdash; his golf game.
&ldquo;First day of golf I played pretty well,&rdquo; Brown recounted. &ldquo;The second day was terrible.&rdquo;
On Friday, it was back to the business of Brown hitting the shots he hits the best &mdash; jumpers &mdash; as the Nuggets returned to the court for a light practice. Game 1 of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1661892845526188032" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">franchise&rsquo;s first appearance in an NBA Finals</a>&nbsp;is still nearly a week away and their opponent has yet to be determined, with Boston and Miami heading into Game 6 of its Eastern Conference finals series.
The rest has certainly been welcome. The rust, though, does become a concern.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible to keep your rhythm if you&rsquo;re not playing games,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;You can do whatever you want in practice, but there&rsquo;s no way you can replicate playing in an NBA playoff game.&rdquo;
The Nuggets celebrated sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on the plane ride home. It bought them a day off Tuesday and an optional day Wednesday (although, quite a few players showed up). On Thursday, there were conditioning drills and individual drills before reassembling on the practice floor Friday. The intensity will pick up closer to the start of the series Thursday &mdash; and once they know who they&rsquo;re facing (the Heat lead 3-2 with the series shifting to Miami on Saturday).
&ldquo;Right now, as I told our players, this is about us,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up.&rdquo;
Before the break, Nikola Jokic, guard Jamal Murray and the Nuggets were cruising along, too, turning in a 12-3 mark in the postseason. Murray&rsquo;s biggest piece of advice &mdash; keep practicing like they expect to play.
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t pick up bad habits throughout this week,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Just being able to stay locked in. You don&rsquo;t want to get relaxed. I think that&rsquo;s the biggest &mdash; we don&rsquo;t want to relax and just wait. We want to stay sharp.&rdquo;
Murray took the opportunity Thursday night to tune into the Stanley Cup playoffs. He watched the green team (his description of the Dallas Stars) knock off the white team (his description of the Vegas Golden Knights) in overtime during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. He said the contest drove home an important lesson &mdash; to play with an intensity all game especially on defense.
&ldquo;Our defense is being played with intent,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all been on a string. When we need a stop, we all lock in, even if we don&rsquo;t get it, we lock in and try and get it possession-by-possession. I think that&rsquo;s crucial at this stage.&rdquo;
Same with maintaining a balance between hoops and home life. Malone said his family has helped keep him grounded.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t go home and be in like Game 7 mindset, because my wife and kids would leave me,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I have to force myself to take a deep breath and remind myself that I am a husband, I am a father and to be a part of my family.&rdquo;
This weekend, Malone may even play some pickleball &mdash; just to take his mind off a grinding series that lies ahead. It could be Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. Or Jimmy Butler and the Heat, the eight seed that made it into the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
For Brown, no matter who it is, the game will be a reunion of sorts. He&rsquo;s from Boston and went to college at the University of Miami.
&ldquo;But if we did go to Boston, it would be a lot of tickets,&rdquo; Brown joked. &ldquo;So it would be really expensive.&rdquo;

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is still nearly a week away, but the Nuggets returned to the court for a light practice.

Idle Nuggets hold light practice as they wait for NBA Finals foe

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; As his NBA career approaches the dawn of its third decade, LeBron James plays almost exclusively alongside teammates who grew up watching him dominate their game.
He has played against the sons of his basketball contemporaries, and he has played against one of his own 18-year-old son&rsquo;s former high school teammates. That son, Bronny, is headed to college at USC in the fall, an achievement that sparks a father&rsquo;s proud smile whenever he mentions it.
Signs of time&rsquo;s passage are all around the 38-year-old James, yet&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-nba-sports-lebron-james-9641258f6600e91d99e4dc8d518deeaa">the new top scorer in NBA history</a>&nbsp;is defying all conventional wisdom about growing older in his mercilessly athletic sport.
When he&rsquo;s fully healthy &mdash; which is admittedly true less often than he would like &mdash; the third-oldest active player in the league still sprints, dunks,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1657242100734259201" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">throws no-look passes</a>&nbsp;and competes with the intensity that has kept him at the top for 20 punishing NBA seasons.
&ldquo;Bron is just different,&rdquo; Lakers big man Anthony Davis said. &ldquo;He keeps showing us, showing you. He&rsquo;s not done yet, either.&rdquo;
Two days before his Los Angeles Lakers&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-warriors-lakers-lebron-curry-470bae4da1526ce6b86be6b1bfb1b442">eliminated the vaunted Golden State Warriors</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-lakers-lebron-darvin-e3d5dea52e558a1780cb736e44c43cc4">reach the Western Conference finals</a>&nbsp;last week, James was named to the All-NBA third team. James made one of the three teams for the jaw-dropping 19th time even though he played in only 56 games this season.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t take those moments for granted,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t take anything that I&rsquo;ve been able to accomplish for granted, and I&rsquo;m always appreciative. To be a part of that class of 15 guys is still pretty cool, even at my age and where I&rsquo;m at right now, Year 20. Just don&rsquo;t take it for granted.
&ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;ve got bigger fish to fry. But those small moments, those small wins right there, is all part of the journey, all part of the legacy.&rdquo;
The big fish is his fifth NBA championship, which is somehow just eight wins away from being caught at the close of a tumultuous Lakers season. Even getting this close to James&rsquo; 11th career NBA Finals appearance is incredible, considering these Lakers started the season 2-10 and sat at 26-32 in mid-February, shortly after James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s league scoring record.
But after a 27-12 run through the past two months highlighted by knocking off second-seeded Memphis and the defending NBA champions, James&rsquo; Lakers open the conference finals at top-seeded Denver on Tuesday night. The Lakers haven&rsquo;t lost back-to-back games since March 17, and they&rsquo;ve lost just once at home since March 26.
To use the phrase frequently deployed by first-year Lakers coach Darvin Ham, James&rsquo; fingerprints are all over the Lakers&rsquo; success &mdash; particularly in their biggest games.
In the first round, James had&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/grizzlies-lakers-lebron-morant-9e8a719125079093104db8145d90ac43">the first 20-point, 20-rebound playoff game</a>&nbsp;of his career during the Lakers&rsquo; Game 4 victory over Memphis &mdash; and he also hit the dramatic tying shot in the final second of regulation. In the second round, James racked up 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the clinching Game 6 victory over defending champion Golden State, conjuring his first 30-point playoff outing since the 2020 season.
Ham was still a player in James&rsquo; first two NBA seasons. He calls LeBron&rsquo;s Year 20 performance, particularly after a late-season injury, &ldquo;unreal.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been around some elite, top-tier, top-5 talent in the NBA as a player and a coach,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;Kobe was nothing short of amazing. Giannis (Antetokounmpo). (But) LeBron, I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like it. ... Top five, dead or alive, ever to play in the NBA.&rdquo;
Indeed, no basketball player has ever stood on the sport&rsquo;s biggest stages as often and as long as James, and he has repeatedly thrived under the spotlight of 16 NBA postseasons and three Olympics. The Lakers&rsquo; elimination of the Warriors was James&rsquo; 41st career playoff series victory, passing Derek Fisher for the most series wins by one player in NBA history.
He has played in a league-record 278 postseason games, and his 7,912 career playoff points are nearly 2,000 more than Michael Jordan (5,987) atop the NBA&rsquo;s career playoff scoring list. He&rsquo;s even the fourth-leading rebounder in NBA playoff history with 2,511 boards &mdash; that&rsquo;s a whopping 1,120 more than the next-highest active player, Draymond Green.
The Lakers&rsquo; achievements are even more impressive because James missed a full month down the regular-season stretch due to a right foot injury that still limits his explosiveness. Los Angeles went 8-5 without him and then went 6-2 after he returned in late March.
One play-in victory and two commanding playoff series wins later, the seventh-seeded Lakers are four wins away from another Finals for the four-time championship series MVP.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s been us since we made acquisitions with our new guys,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been able to be very resilient in games. Like I said, we&rsquo;ve been playing lot of basketball for about 2 1/2 months now, just trying to punch our clock and to be able to play the right way in the postseason.&rdquo;
Indeed, James and Davis realize they wouldn&rsquo;t be in this position without an impressive midseason reconfiguration of the roster around them. D&rsquo;Angelo Russell was the Lakers&rsquo; centerpiece addition at the trade deadline, and the well-traveled guard soon learned something he didn&rsquo;t know about the hard work behind James&rsquo; transcendence.
&ldquo;Bron&rsquo;s niche has always been preparedness,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;A lot of guys&rsquo; niches is shooting the ball, working hard, outworking guys. LeBron is a film junkie, a basketball junkie, a leadership junkie. To be able to watch it all from the front row, it&rsquo;s almost like a cheat code.&rdquo;

As his NBA career approaches its third decade, LeBron James plays almost exclusively alongside teammates who grew up watching him.

LeBron James defies time, propels Lakers to Conference Finals

Here&rsquo;s a rarity: All five teams from one division are going to the NBA playoffs.
And they pulled that off in a year where a division champion almost didn&rsquo;t get there.
All five teams from the Pacific Division &mdash; Sacramento, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers &mdash; have made the playoffs, which start Saturday.
But Miami, the champion of the Southeast Division, almost missed out. The Heat got there Friday night by closing on a 15-1 run to beat Chicago 102-91 in the final Eastern Conference play-in game.
Had the Heat lost, it would have been the first time in NBA history that a division winner wasn&rsquo;t going to the playoffs.
On the other end of the spectrum, the whole-division-goes feat had happened only two other times since the NBA went to the six-division, five-teams-in-each format starting with the 2004-05 season.
The Central Division did it in 2006, and the Southwest Division pulled it off in 2015. It almost happened in the Northwest Division in 2018 when Denver missed the playoffs by a game. And the Atlantic Division had a chance to send all its teams this year if Toronto gotten out of the play-in tournament.
PLAY IN TO PLAY ON
The play-in tournament provided a path for Miami, Minnesota, the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta to make the playoffs.
And now, they&rsquo;ll try to go from playing in to playing on.
No team has managed that yet.
Granted, there&rsquo;s only been three previous versions of a play-in tournament, but no team has gone from the extra round in between the regular season and playoffs and gotten an actual postseason series win.
In 2020, Portland (which beat Memphis in a one-game play-in round inside the restart bubble) lost 4-1 to the top-seeded Lakers.
In 2021, the Lakers (4-2 to Phoenix), Memphis (4-1 to Utah), Boston (4-1 to Brooklyn) and Washington (4-1 to Philadelphia) were all ousted in Round 1.
And last year, Minnesota (4-2 to Memphis), New Orleans (4-2 to Phoenix), Atlanta (4-1 to Miami) and Brooklyn (4-0 to Boston) also lost their opening series after qualifying through the play-in.
2 TO 1
Golden State did something unusual last season. It finished second in the Pacific Division &mdash; and first in the NBA.
That&rsquo;s a serious break from the norm.
From 2012 through 2021, every team to make the NBA Finals did so after winning a division championship. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks had been the most recent team not to win its division but make the finals; they won the title that season.
The Warriors did it last season, also winning the title.
This season&rsquo;s division champions: Boston, Milwaukee, Miami, Denver, Sacramento and Memphis. History suggests that two of those six teams would be the wise picks for those forecasting who&rsquo;ll make the finals.
SEASON OF COMEBACKS
Playoffs might not have looked likely for a bunch of teams in the early going of the season.
Philadelphia started 0-3, Sacramento started 0-4, Brooklyn was 1-5, Golden State was 3-7, the Los Angeles Clippers opened 2-4, Minnesota was 5-8, Miami was 7-11 &mdash; and the Los Angeles Lakers were 2-10, a level of bad start that few teams have been able to overcome.
The Lakers are just the 15th team in NBA history to start 0-5 and make the postseason. And only four teams were worse than 2-10 after 12 games and still made the playoffs. Last season&rsquo;s New Orleans Pelicans started 1-11 and got there, as did the 1967-68 Chicago Bulls and 1984-85 Cleveland Cavaliers.
But the undisputed bad-start-and-made-playoffs-anyway kings are the 1996-97 Phoenix Suns. They started 0-13, wound up finishing 40-42, held a 2-1 series lead over top-seeded Seattle in the best-of-five opening round, then fell in five games.
WINS MILESTONE
Golden State teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have both appeared in 102 playoff victories.
That&rsquo;s tied for 25th-best all-time, and they could keep climbing the charts this spring.
They&rsquo;re currently two wins behind Danny Green; three behind Dwyane Wade and Dennis Johnson; five behind Bill Russell, Robert Parish and Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala; and six behind No. 18 John Havlicek.
If the Warriors win another title and Thompson and Green appear in all 16 victories, they&rsquo;d then have 118 apiece &mdash; one fewer than Michael Jordan.
The Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James enters these playoffs as the career leader in postseason wins, with 174. Phoenix&rsquo;s Kevin Durant needs five to get to 100, and Warriors guard Stephen Curry has 93.
ON THE ROAD
Going &ldquo;on the road&rdquo; in these playoffs will be a relative term in some cases.
By driving distance, some of them are pretty close. Only 85 miles or so separates the arenas used by Golden State and Sacramento, and it&rsquo;s about 100 miles between the arenas in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
Phoenix and the Los Angeles Clippers play 375 miles apart, while New York and Cleveland are separated by 450 miles, which is still no more than about an hour by air. The rest of the matchups are a bit longer &mdash; it&rsquo;s 850 miles or so between Minnesota and Denver, 1,100 between Boston and Atlanta, almost 1,500 between Miami and Milwaukee and just over 1,800 between Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; home floor.
THE WAIT IS OVER
Sacramento&rsquo;s last playoff game was May 5, 2006. That was 12 Kings coaches ago.
A look at some of the other numbers:
&mdash; The Kings played 1,358 games in that span.
&mdash; They used 184 different players.
&mdash; They scored 142,294 points, with DeMarcus Cousins having the most in that span with 9,894.
&mdash; They went 515-843.
&mdash; There will have been 1,384 playoff games in the league between Sacramento&rsquo;s last playoff game and by the time the Kings and Golden State tip off in Game 1 on Saturday. All 29 other teams played at least 11 playoff games in that span; Boston has the most with 201, and the Celtics and Miami have a league-high 108 playoff wins apiece over that stretch.
INSIDE THE STANDINGS
If the 16 playoff teams had their own league this season, with only the games against one another counting, then the Boston Celtics would be feeling pretty confident right about now.
The Celtics had the best record against fellow playoff qualifiers this season, going 27-15. That just edged out Denver, which went 26-15 against playoff-bound teams during the regular season.
Boston&rsquo;s average point differential against playoff-bound teams per game is also better than any other postseason club. The Celtics outscored playoff teams, on average, by 5.6 points per game.
The rest of the records by playoff qualifiers against one another during the regular season: Milwaukee 26-16, Philadelphia 26-16, Minnesota 22-20, Memphis 21-20, New York 22-21, Miami 21-21, Phoenix 21-23, Sacramento 19-24, Golden State 19-24, Cleveland 18-23, the Los Angeles Clippers 18-24, Brooklyn 18-24, the Los Angeles Lakers 17-25, and Atlanta 16-26.
WARRIORS&rsquo; ROAD WOES
Golden State has won a road game in 27 consecutive playoff series, an NBA record and obviously a major reason why the Warriors have four of the last eight championships.
They&rsquo;ll need to rekindle that road magic.
The Warriors &mdash; who don&rsquo;t have home-court advantage in Round 1 against Sacramento, so they&rsquo;ll need at least one road win to have a chance in the series &mdash; went 3-19 against playoff teams away from home this season.
The last time any playoff team was that bad on the road during the regular season against other eventual playoff qualifiers was 2004. Denver was 2-20 entering those playoffs in road games against fellow postseason clubs that season, and Miami was 3-19.
PLAYOFF POOL
The NBA&rsquo;s postseason playoff pool is up nearly $10 million from last year. This year, the 16 playoff teams will divide up $26,969,000.
Every team is assured of at least $402,493 for making the playoffs. The payouts increase considerably as teams advance, and the teams with the best six records in each conference get more money as well.
Milwaukee has already clinched $1,860,950 from the pool &mdash; $777,777 for having the best record in the NBA and another $680,680 for having the best record in the Eastern Conference. If the Bucks win the title, their share of the pool would soar to $7,907,335.
Last year&rsquo;s pool was $17,317,334.

The NBA Playoffs tip off on Saturday, so here's everything you need to know.

What to know entering the NBA playoffs, which start Saturday

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said &ldquo;a bunch of guys&rdquo; in college basketball are putting their names in the NBA draft.
&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s the popular thing to do,&rdquo; Izzo said Wednesday.
A few Spartans may join the trend, declaring themselves eligible to at least be evaluated for the draft with an opportunity to withdrawal from it in June, he said.
&ldquo;Jaden (Akins) could,&rdquo; Izzo said. &ldquo; (A.J.) Hoggard and Tyson (Walker) could. Guys could put their names in and see where they&rsquo;re at. That&rsquo;s the next thing to deal with, and it seems to be more common now. We&rsquo;ll find out in the next couple of weeks.&rdquo;
If all three of the Spartans&rsquo; standout guards return, Izzo will have a talented and experienced team that will get a boost from one of the top recruiting classes that includes a pair of McDonald&rsquo;s All-America selections.
&ldquo;We got something to celebrate,&rdquo; Izzo said.
Recently, Walker and forward Malik Hall announced plans to come back for a fifth season. Izzo said Hall had foot surgery after being hobbled for much of last season.
Walker, Hoggard and Akins helped Izzo become the first coach to earn 25 straight bids to the NCAA Tournament this year. Izzo advanced to his 15th Sweet 16, winning a record 16th March Madness game with a lower-seeded team before being eliminated by Kansas State in overtime.
The Hall of Fame coach won the 2000 national championship and reached the Final Four for the eighth time in 2019.
Izzo seems set up to have a chance to add to both totals next season.
Five of his top six scorers are back &mdash; potentially at least &mdash; and a few reserves return along with highly-touted freshmen Xavier Booker and Jeremy Fears.
&ldquo;Pretty solid group coming back with a great group of recruits coming in,&rdquo; Izzo said. &ldquo;There is a lot of optimism.&rdquo;

"Guys could put their names in and see where they’re at. That’s the next thing to deal with, and it seems to be more common now."

Michigan State’s Izzo says a few players could have entered draft

After monitoring the NBA awards races all season, Nekias Duncan shares his final selections for DPOY, ROY, MIP, 6MOY and more.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award selections: DPOY, 6MOY, MIP, more

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

On Wednesday afternoon, Ed Cooley was introduced as the new head coach for the Georgetown Hoyas.&nbsp;
This move follows 12 successful seasons at Providence, including seven NCAA tournament bids in the past nine years it has been held and a Big East regular-season championship in 2021-22.
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead the men's basketball program at Georgetown University," Cooley said in a statement. "I plan on hitting the ground running, getting to work on the court and cultivating relationships in and around the District. Accepting this opportunity with Georgetown is not a decision I took lightly."
In an <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-basketball/exclusive-ed-cooley-on-why-he-left-providence-for-georgetown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exclusive interview with John Fanta of FOX Sports</a>, Cooley described his reasons for leaving Providence.
"When I did a deep dive of what's important &mdash; I always said yes to everybody, and I always said no to Ed. Coach Cooley did everything, but Ed needed a change," Cooley said. "I thought Georgetown was the place for me to make that change. As hard as it was because it's in-conference, and because a lot of people look at that as villainous or betrayal, I hope people give me an opportunity to serve Ed. And it sounds selfish, it sounds real selfish, but sometimes change is need on both sides and I felt for me change was needed...
"The Big East has a lot to do with the change even though it's tough because it's in-conference. I love the Big East. I love basketball-centric places. They're the recruiting fertile ground of the DMV area that expands.&rdquo;&nbsp;
I caught up with two Georgetown Hoya legends in Jerome Williams (a.k.a. Junk Yard Dog) and Michael Sweetney to discuss their thoughts on the changing of the guard at their alma mater and the direction of the program.&nbsp;
Jerome Williams (JYD)&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/280613766_5301049609946020_6743750996342787581_n.jpg" alt="" width="515" height="515" />
Etan: Talk to me about your first thoughts on the new hire Ed Cooley for Georgetown.
JYD: "From first impressions, he hit the ball out the park. He really ushered in the alumni. He even got people like Reggie Williams commenting positivity about him taking over the reins of Georgetown&rsquo;s basketball program, and that&rsquo;s a long-term Hoya alumni who helped bring a national championship to the hilltop. So right now, all of the alumni, myself included, we're very excited.
"We&rsquo;ve always supported every regime that has been at Georgetown since I&rsquo;ve been here, and that includes Coach Patrick (Ewing), Coach JT3 (John Thompson III), Coach (Craig) Esherick. And obviously, I was blessed to have Coach John Thompson. So Ed Cooley is no different in terms of the support that he will receive from me, and the Junk Yard Dog Dogg Pound. I&rsquo;m here to support this alma mater through thick and thin. But like I said, Ed Cooley&rsquo;s first impression has really gone over well with everyone. And add to that &mdash; he has the resume of what he accomplished at Providence that has really energized this entire Georgetown community, with him being a Big East Champion and Coach of the Year, so that all helps. So yeah, we&rsquo;re all definitely excited."
Etan: Yeah, people are really buzzing here in the DMV. This seems like this was the coach that a lot of people wanted. You heard the chatter even during the tournament before Providence lost. But the electricity around the program seems to have been reignited. Would you say that&rsquo;s an accurate description?&nbsp;
JYD: "Definitely, the electricity is back. When he says he wants to sell out the arena which holds 20,000 [people], that&rsquo;s exactly what needs to happen. And that starts with the alumni, it starts with the students and it starts with the overall community. So that&rsquo;s the key."
Etan: Now, of course, programs don&rsquo;t turn around overnight and it&rsquo;s been a tough few years for Georgetown just as far as wins and losses. So what would your advice be to Hoya fans as far as patience?&nbsp;
JYD: "My advice would definitely be that everything is a process and Rome wasn&rsquo;t built in a day. But, with the world the way it is around college sports and the transfer portal, you look at teams like Missouri, who transformed very quickly into a winning program. And that was largely due to the transfer portal."
Etan: Yeah, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/is-the-ncaas-transfer-portal-getting-out-of-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transfer portal is definitely a game changer</a>, but it&rsquo;s like musical chairs; you lose four players and then you get four new players. It&rsquo;s an interesting dynamic right now that we&rsquo;re in with college basketball.
JYD: "That's absolutely correct. In some ways it&rsquo;s damaging, and in other ways, it can be transformative."
Etan: Very true. So let&rsquo;s talk about the history of Georgetown and why it&rsquo;s so historically special as a program and what it means to the DMV area and really all of college sports.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
JYD: "Well, it helps when the Georgetown University basketball program is in a good place. It helps all of college basketball. And Georgetown has meant so much to the Black community from what Coach Thompson has built not only as an individual for himself, not only as a program and a university, but for what he has done for other Black coaches who helped build other programs. The John Chaneys and Nolan Richardsons and countless others who he has helped open doors for, including Ed Cooley. So that&rsquo;s where, when Georgetown is in a good place, they represent a larger piece to the masses."
Etan: That&rsquo;s great. So are we going to see you at some of the games? Can fans expect to see you and the Junk Yard Dog Dogg Pound representing on the sidelines this season?
JYD: "Yes sir, you saw me at many of the games this season supporting Patrick (Ewing) and the program. I was able to move back to the area this year. My son [Jeremiah] goes to St. Albans now and plays for Team Takeover, so I&rsquo;m here ready to continue to support the program. My daughters [Gabby and Giselle] are playing volleyball for Georgetown, so I&rsquo;m here."
Etan: That&rsquo;s great, and what year is your son? I&rsquo;ve seen some of the clips you&rsquo;ve posted on social media. He looks like he&rsquo;s gonna be good&nbsp;
JYD: "Thanks I appreciate that, and your son [Malcolm] as well. But my son is a little younger. He&rsquo;s [in the] 2029 [class] and he is just loving the game, working hard, and getting better and better. And that&rsquo;s all you can ask at this age. But let me say, thank you for writing this and showing some love to your school&rsquo;s biggest rival historically."
Etan: No problem, it&rsquo;s always been nothing but respect for Georgetown.
Michael Sweetney&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/97028325_3148150111902658_5846889772051595264_n.jpg" alt="" width="517" height="641" />
Etan: Okay, so how do you feel about the new hire of Coach Ed Cooley and the new direction that Georgetown is going in? What were your first initial thoughts?&nbsp;
Sweetney: "Well, first let me say that it was sad for me personally to see how it went for Patrick (Ewing) these last couple of years. Winning trumps everything, and we&rsquo;ve had it tough for his last few years, so I was definitely sad to see Patrick struggle the way that he did. He loves Georgetown so much and had such a special relationship with Coach Thompson, and I know he really wanted to be successful. So that part was definitely sad for me to see."
Etan: Yeah, I grew up a Patrick Ewing fan. I was a Knicks fan. I actually <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-48-nba-hall-of-famer-patrick-ewing-talks-knicks-days,-turning-the-hoyas-around,-charles-oakley,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewed him on The Rematch last year.</a> It was just an honor to be able to sit down with him. I mean, Patrick is a legend.&nbsp;
Sweetney: "Exactly, I definitely feel the same way. And he&rsquo;s a great guy all around. But to answer your question about the Ed Cooley hire, I think everyone is excited about what&rsquo;s to come. I personally really respected the way he immediately connected with the alumni and made a concerted effort to make the point clear that he wanted the alumni to be involved, and that&rsquo;s important. It&rsquo;s no secret that, for a long time, a lot of the guys felt distant from the program. So for him to come in and that&rsquo;s one of the first things on his agenda was to reach out to the alumni, it made a lot of ears throughout the Georgetown community perk up. It was a great first impression for all of us, so we&rsquo;re all excited about that aspect for sure."
Etan: Now, I&rsquo;ve heard that from a few guys that over the last decade or so, there has been distance from the program. I don&rsquo;t understand why, but I&rsquo;ve heard quite a few former players mention that.&nbsp;
Sweetney: "Yeah, that&rsquo;s pretty accurate, because a lot of guys have been feeling like that. I don&rsquo;t think it was intentional. It&rsquo;s just a lot of people from the program never reached out and said, 'Hey guys, come to the games,' or, 'We&rsquo;re going to have this special program to bring the alumni back together and back into the fold of the program.' It was really no interaction. It was almost like, 'Hey if you want to come to the game, you have to jump through hoops.'
"Luckily for me, I had direct access. So I would just call Pat Jr. and he would always look out. But it was never anyone from Georgetown who ever contacted me and said, 'Hey, come around. We have this event.' I don&rsquo;t even know if they had anyone assigned to do that &mdash; not really sure why. I don&rsquo;t think it was personal. But yeah, a lot of guys felt they weren&rsquo;t embraced the way alumni who have given so much to the program should be."
Etan: And what did Coach Cooley do differently? You and JYD both mentioned this, so I'm just curious. What exactly did he do?&nbsp;
Sweetney: "Well, for example, he held a Zoom [meeting] just yesterday and JYD was on there. But it was just with a lot of Georgetown former players and he introduced himself to us, told all of us how honored he was to be given this opportunity for a program he has so much respect for. He was knowledgeable of the history of the program, and he specifically told us, 'Hey, I want you all to be involved. This is a family thing and whatever I have to do to make things comfortable for you all, just let me know because I want you to be a part of this entire process.'
"And a few players &mdash; I don&rsquo;t want to say their names because it wasn&rsquo;t a public meeting &mdash; but a few guys specifically said that, for years, they thought the program didn&rsquo;t like them or respect them, so this was a breath of fresh air. So yeah, Coach Cooley definitely started off on the right foot with all of us."
Etan: You know, the DMV is really excited about the direction of the program. Do you get that same feeling?&nbsp;
Sweetney: "Definitely. And a large reason for that is because Cooley is saying all the right things. And what he did at Providence, when he got there, the program was where it was, and he&rsquo;s shown that he can turn programs around. He has the resume to support that, and people in the DMV are hoping that he can do the same thing here. And also, with the DMV being a hotbed as far as recruiting, it&rsquo;s one of the top places in the country for high school players going on to play Division I. So hopefully, he can get in and develop those relationships in the DMV and get some of this local talent."
Etan: So you mentioned that, and that&rsquo;s something else that&rsquo;s always brought up. One of the biggest criticisms you hear around the DMV is that two of the biggest schools in the area &mdash; Georgetown and Maryland &mdash; haven&rsquo;t kept the local DMV talent local. You saw Coach Kevin Willard came in on Day 1 last year and made a concerted effort to recruit guys from the DMV: Jamie Kaiser, Deshawn Harris-Smith and Jahnathan Lamothe. All of them are from the area.
Do you expect that same level of focus from Coach Cooley? People don&rsquo;t understand the level of talent in this area, but for a long time, so many have left to play somewhere else. I just watched Jordin Hawkins for UConn light up Arkansas for 24 points last night. They&rsquo;re headed to the Sweet 16 and he&rsquo;s from right here and went to DeMatha.
Sweetney: "Definitely, that&rsquo;s one of the things Coach Cooley mentioned. He&rsquo;s definitely aware of it and he told us specifically that he wanted to focus on and develop those relationships in the DMV and get some of this local talent to stay home. And I hope that&rsquo;s the case because there is so much talent in this area."
Etan: There definitely is. It&rsquo;s really amazing. KD made that documentary a few years ago &mdash; "Basketball County: In The Water.&rdquo; So I think that really showed the world how special the DMV is.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Sweetney: "Now, let me ask you a question if you don&rsquo;t mind?"
Etan: Oh, you&rsquo;re gonna take over the interview? (Laughing) Sure, go ahead.
Sweetney: (Laughing) "No, but seriously. Because we were discussing the DMV talent and I&rsquo;ve seen your son Malcolm play, he is a tremendous talent and can do a lot on the basketball court. But would you be open to him coming to Georgetown? I know we&rsquo;re a rival school and you&rsquo;re Syracuse royalty, but 'What If' you know?"
Etan: Oh, you just gonna put me on the spot huh? (Laughing) Well honestly, and people ask me this all the time, that&rsquo;s one of the reasons <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/high-school-basketball-malcolm-thomas-qa-dematha-stags-season-acit-championship-recruiting-maryland-dmv-etan-thomas-prospect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did an article with Malcolm</a>. We sat down and discussed this because so many people say to me, "So Malcolm is definitely going to Syracuse?" And I always respond with, "He&rsquo;s going to whatever situation is best for him, whether that&rsquo;s Syracuse or somewhere else." Of course, both his parents went there, so yes, there is history there. But I was glad to hear him echo that he wants to go to the best place for him.&nbsp;
Sweetney: "So it wouldn&rsquo;t be weird for you to cheer for Georgetown if he came to us?"
Etan: Not at all. Listen, I bleed Orange, make no mistake, but I genuinely want him to go to the situation that&rsquo;s best for him. My situation at Syracuse worked out for me, but it has to be the right situation for him.&nbsp;
Sweetney: "That makes total sense."
Etan: I mean, Malcolm grew up here. He&rsquo;s a PG County kid. Although he has his love for Syracuse because both his parents went there, he grew up watching Georgetown, Maryland and all the DMV schools and surrounding schools like all of the other kids who grew up here. What do you think with your sons? I know they&rsquo;re a little young now, but when they get older.
Sweetney: "It&rsquo;s funny because people always say that to me too. They say they&rsquo;re future Hoyas and I&rsquo;m like, 'Well I don&rsquo;t know, we&rsquo;ll see.' But like you said, I want them to do whatever is best for them. Whatever fits their needs and their happiness. So I get it. Just had to ask you that, and honestly, that&rsquo;s good to hear because your son can play. So I'm glad to hear that you&rsquo;re open to it.
"But yeah, we&rsquo;re in a good place as a program and going in a good direction, so I think fans can expect an entire wave of local talent coming to Georgetown and exciting times in the near future."

Etan Thomas talks to Jerome "Junk Yard Dog" Williams and Michael Sweetney about their first impressions of Ed Cooley at Georgetown.

Georgetown legends Jerome Williams, Michael Sweetney on Ed Cooley hire

March Madness has begun and top teams are already heading home.
By Saturday night, two No. 1 seeds, Kansas and Purdue, No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Virginia were all gone &mdash; and gone with them were <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/zero-perfect-brackets-remaining-after-march-madness-upsets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of busted brackets.</a>
Here is what to know, including the favorites and underdogs as well as key games to watch:
TOP SEEDS
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-kansas-alabama-12476411b0da681b21df9281a8332196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The top four seeds in the tournament</a>&nbsp;were given to Alabama, Houston, Kansas and Purdue.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-alabama-kansas-fc3932edb7323b0cd5f9db3e1cbb82fe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Each had its share of headaches</a>&nbsp;to set up what is already proving to be a chaotic tournament. The Boilermakers were the first to fall, ousted in a first-round stunner, and the Jayhawks followed the very next day.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-east-region-purdue-marquette-8a7c268ac0e763368c602be51359928e">EAST REGION:</a>&nbsp;The Boilermakers got a No. 1 seed for the fourth time, but Purdue was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-fairleigh-dickinson-purdue-16-seed-715e3e361344928ea10880dd9a9d8a58" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dumped by Fairleigh Dickinson in a near-historic upset.</a>&nbsp;The region appears to be wide open for the likes of No. 2 seed Marquette, Kansas State, Tennessee, Michigan State and more. No. 5 seed Duke was ousted by the Volunteers. FDU or FAU will advance to the Sweet 16 in the bracket&rsquo;s biggest underdog matchup.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-south-bracket-alabama-005db4413ccdad1b00bcd38f879ac5df" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SOUTH REGION:</a>&nbsp;Alabama,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-nate-oats-alabama-2738775dfbf0006eee54eb3bca39fdf9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led by coach Nate Oats in a challenging season,</a>&nbsp;is a No. 1 seed for the first time behind SEC player of the year Brandon Miller,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brandon-miller-alabama-ncaa-tournament-security-guard-7104ab515dfaf81ae09abf94f0bd3165" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who has armed security on hand</a>&nbsp;after being the subject of threats. The Crimson Tide opened the tourney with an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-alabama-miller-texas-corpus-christi-9f904c350cbb1d3e84f085a8ca782a5e">easy win.</a>&nbsp;Potential hurdles could include Baylor and Creighton.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-princeton-missouri-upset-c53ede0847d5669af9fc19e18dab67eb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Princeton is heading to the Sweet 16</a>&nbsp;out of the South.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-midwest-ba5f567eee97af8eb848e229694b8b9b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MIDWEST REGION:</a> Houston got a top seed and won its opener before a rugged victory over Auburn even with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-houston-sasser-a327324228d43a8792f496890a5e7bc9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All-American Marcus Sasser hobbled</a>&nbsp;by a groin injury. Potential hurdles could include No. 2 seed Texas, No. 3 seed Xavier or the winner of a 4-5 matchup between Indiana and Miami.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-kansas-jayhawks-ucla-de98b2f3866d40f3b00d40e59c373b5c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WEST REGION</a>: Kansas, the defending national champion that was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-bill-self-norm-roberts-fbb2c52dc34fa02235d1dbc3177ced01" target="_blank" rel="noopener">without coach Bill Self</a>&nbsp;in the tournament following a heart procedure,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-arkansas-upset-dfbf9716af7de6e346e47c6edeb87277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blew an 8-point halftime lead and lost to 8-seed Arkansas.</a>&nbsp;Like the East, the West is now open for the likes of&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-ncaa-ucla-unc-asheville-4c5ead60091b98be87a72ffa91a14e97" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 2 seed UCLA,</a>&nbsp;No. 3 Gonzaga and the winner of a juicy 4-5 matchup between UConn and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-gonzaga-saint-marys-8bee98936cfde7eba11bf367cc507c9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saint Mary&rsquo;s.</a>
SHINING MOMENTS
The unforgettable plays are piling up.
Princeton used a late run to earn its&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-ncaa-arizona-princeton-4b28e0acabe2b75ccdbac81d40a6fd66" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years</a>&nbsp;by ousting No. 2 seed Arizona and then answered any skeptics by&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-princeton-missouri-upset-c53ede0847d5669af9fc19e18dab67eb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rolling Missouri</a>&nbsp;to lock in its regional semifinal spot. Furman celebrated its first tourney appearance since 1980 with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/furman-virginia-march-madness-upset-1b4e3c5c8b1ce5896eea85ba9fd42761" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a win over No. 4 seed Virginia</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1636439857127129088?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a deep 3-pointer by JP Pegues with 2.4 seconds</a>&nbsp;left.
Then came 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson&rsquo;s win over Purdue as the 22 1/2-point underdog stifled 7-4 center Zach Edey to advance and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-tournament-umbc-no-1-seeds-march-madness-df6c353dc4ff76ec99278efd69a8b454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">join UMBC in the record books.</a>
All that happened before the Razorbacks and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-arkansas-upset-dfbf9716af7de6e346e47c6edeb87277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shirtless coach Eric Musselman</a>&nbsp;celebrated their win over top-seeded Kansas.
GAMES TO WATCH
No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson (21-15) vs. No. 9 seed FAU (32-3), Sunday, 7:45 p.m. ET (truTV)
One of these unheralded teams is going to the Sweet 16. The underdog Knights of FDU may be the smallest team in the tournament, but after knocking out All-America 7-foot-4 center Zack Edey and Purdue they will now face the ninth-seeded Owls. Florida Atlantic is coming off&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-florida-atlantic-memphis-ncaa-3438cd0c1d171f3a70d0997b3671bad5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a thrilling win over Memphis</a>&nbsp;and coach Penny Hardaway.
No. 6 seed Kentucky (22-11) vs. No. 3 seed Kansas State (24-9), Sunday, 2:40 p.m. ET, (CBS)
Wildcats abound!&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kentucky-providence-8e98ee16b0c81318780c871adf2365f7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds,</a>&nbsp;the second-most in the tournament since 1973, as Kentucky beat Providence. That&rsquo;s only four fewer rebounds than Kansas State grabbed in its 77-65 win over Montana State. K-State&rsquo;s victory was its first in the tournament since 2018, when it beat ... Kentucky.
No. 7 seed Michigan State (20-12) vs. No. 2 seed Marquette (29-6), Sunday, 5:15 p.m. (CBS)
Quick, name two coaches you think are terrific. Tom Izzo and Shaka Smart need to be in your top 10, but only one will reach the Sweet 16 this tourney.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-michigan-state-usc-izzo-87b1b2b8f14b10dba38819ca6c3d4482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Spartans ousted Southern Cal</a>&nbsp;behind 17 points from Joey Hauser, and will face a Marquette team to got&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-vermont-marquettencaa-tournament-f95c79547ea1ba0c37043e6a2ca01760" target="_blank" rel="noopener">18 straight points from Kam Jones</a>&nbsp;in the second half of a 78-61 victory against Vermont.
GO DEEPER
Gun violence&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-guns-campus-violence-05a4962cd59264a997b9cdfb5256763f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has cost lives and disrupted college sports all season</a>, touching some of the top programs in college basketball, including Alabama. Coaches have been thrust into uncertain and unwelcome roles in trying to navigate the topic &mdash; as well as the fallout from the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-coaches-womens-sports-athletes-46c0f942b76f07427a6effd75a4a54d7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.</a>
On a lighter note, if you feel you know March Madness pretty well,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-trivia-ncaa-basketball-262d129aea8867ff0643b439ca9af349" target="_blank" rel="noopener">try this 25-question trivia quiz</a>&nbsp;put together by AP.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The NCAA Tournament is filled with great players and the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/all-america-mens-basketball-team-aa5e6381567b1d4732a0f0e17e60036b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP All-America team</a>&nbsp;is a good place to get familiar with the names. It&rsquo;s also an event where&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-drake-oral-roberts-colgate-asheville-bc17594044376c9e2b2ebbc69c64d44a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guys you&rsquo;ve never heard of</a>&nbsp;can take a star turn.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-players-to-watch-dcb64a292147a92e425ca8d162792b5a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guard play is always going to be important</a>&nbsp;(see: Baylor, 2021 title winner) and there are&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-nba-draft-picks-9fe43406a0d09256c7070c39c503805f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some NBA prospects</a>&nbsp;in the mix.
Bet on this, too: Some player &mdash; maybe more than one &mdash; will have a chance to join&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-social-media-edert-ef5fe8ef3e482d0f36a4d6cc3bdf2b89" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the mustachioed Doug Edert</a>&nbsp;(remember Saint Peters&rsquo; inspiring run last year?) and find a way to cash in on their celebrity.
HOW TO WATCH
Every game of the men&rsquo;s tournament will be aired &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.ncaa.com/mens-final-four/broadcast-info" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here is a schedule</a>&nbsp;&mdash; either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms. CBS,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2023-march-madness-tv-schedule-announcers-how-to-watch-ncaa-tournament-tipoff-times-tv-channels-stream/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">which also has a handy schedule that includes announcing teams,</a>&nbsp;will handle the Final Four and national title game this year.
The NCAA is streaming games via its&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">March Madness Live</a>&nbsp;option and CBS games are being streamed on&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.paramountplus.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paramount+</a>. Fans of longtime play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz should soak up every moment: It&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-cbs-jim-nantz-c09aa9f68af918fdc613dfd2e01191a1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his final NCAA Tournament.</a>
BETTING GUIDE
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-betting-favorite-odds-149e49842f90412a306dcbd1f0279a6c">Who&rsquo;s going to win the national championship?</a>&nbsp;The betting favorites as of Saturday to reach the Final Four are (in order) Houston, Alabama, UCLA, Texas, UConn and Tennessee, according to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/ncaab?tab=national-champion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FanDuel Sportsbook.</a>

By Saturday night, No. 1 seeds Kansas and Purdue, No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Virginia were out of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness recap: Top seeds fall in battle for Sweet 16 berths

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; The final day of a top-notch regular season in the Big Ten featured a last-second 3-pointer by the best player in the league that stopped the first-place team&rsquo;s 14-game winning streak.
If Iowa&rsquo;s victory over Indiana on Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s catch-and-shoot winner from the wing was any indication of the current quality of the competition, the conference tournament in Minneapolis this week will be quite the show.
Boasting three of the top seven teams in the latest Associated Press poll with Indiana (No. 2), Maryland (No. 5) and Iowa (No. 7), the Big Ten is carrying a strong case into March for being the toughest league in the country. While defending champion South Carolina remains the runaway NCAA title favorite, the Hoosiers, Terrapins and Hawkeyes all have legitimate designs on reaching the Final Four in Dallas, too.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be one of the better tournaments just because of the parity and the talent that&rsquo;s in this league this year,&rdquo; said Indiana coach Teri Moren, whose team produced the program&rsquo;s first regular season title in 40 years.
Ohio State (No. 14) and Michigan (No. 17) are the other two ranked teams that are projected as top-four NCAA Tournament seeds, giving the Big Ten by far the most of any conference.
Michigan tied with Illinois for fifth place. They&rsquo;ll enter the bracket in the second round on Thursday. Indiana, Iowa, Maryland and Ohio State earned the coveted double byes and start in the quarterfinals on Friday at Target Center, which hosted the NCAA Women&rsquo;s Final Four last year.
The Buckeyes, who were ranked as high as second in the AP poll in late January, have lost six of their last 10 games. But they secured their top-four seed with a blowout win at Michigan last week, an encouraging sign for coach Kevin McGuff.
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve seen pretty much everything you will see, so hopefully that will give us an advantage heading into March,&rdquo; McGuff said. &ldquo;Just keep this competitive spirit and fire.&rdquo;
BACKING THE BLACK AND GOLD
Indianapolis hosted 25 of the first 28 editions of the conference tournament, with one stop (2001) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and two trips (2013, 2015) to suburban Chicago. This two-year commitment to Minneapolis clearly helps the defending Big Ten Tournament champion Hawkeyes, with the Iowa border a two-hour drive from the Twin Cities and the Iowa campus less than five hours away.
Iowa is third in the NCAA in attendance, with an average home crowd of more than 10,700 that set the Big Ten women&rsquo;s record. The Hawkeyes announced a total of 15,056 on Sunday against Indiana.
They&rsquo;ll welcome the extra support for a potential semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon against Maryland, which handed them their worst loss of the season last week. The Terrapins have won six straight games, including two against Ohio State during the streak.
&ldquo;Everybody knows your play calls, you know each other&rsquo;s players by name,&rdquo; Iowa co-star Monika Czinano said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s truly just a grind there, but it&rsquo;s so much fun though. There&rsquo;s so much joy in it, too. Our group has been there.&rdquo;
WHAT COMES NEXT
The last Big Ten team to reach the national championship game was Michigan State in 2005, though Maryland (2006) and Rutgers (2007) got there in subsequent seasons while they were still in other leagues. Maryland (2014, 2015) is the only team to make the Final Four since then.
&ldquo;We really need to get a team to the Final Four,&rdquo; said Megan Kahn, the Big Ten&rsquo;s vice president of women&rsquo;s basketball. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s our next step, to continue to garner that national level of respect in how strong our league is.&rdquo;
HOSTS WITH THE MOST?
Fledgling Minnesota finished the regular season just 11-18 and has the No. 12 seed, pitted against No. 13 seed Penn State to tip off the tournament on Wednesday afternoon. No. 14 seed Northwestern plays No. 11 seed Rutgers in the other first round game.
The Gophers, whose top six scorers are all freshmen or sophomores, have shown some signs of progress lately with their young lineup. They beat Nebraska and Purdue in their final two home games, both NCAA Tournament bubble teams.
&ldquo;I feel good, and I think they feel good, and they should,&rdquo; coach Lindsay Whalen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re starting to see, when we continue to pour into each other, they have a chance to be a really special group.&rdquo;

The Big Ten is carrying a strong case into March for being the toughest league in the country.

Indiana, Iowa, Maryland top stacked women's Big Ten Tournament field

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; The fans in Salt Lake City used to serenade Donovan Mitchell with &ldquo;MVP&rdquo; chants when he played for the Utah Jazz, a sign of their appreciation and respect.
He plays for Cleveland now. But he wouldn&rsquo;t mind hearing those cries again Sunday.
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game is Sunday night with almost all of the league&rsquo;s biggest names set to take part in Utah.
Captains LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will pick their teams before the game, leaving Team LeBron coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets and Team Giannis coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics about five minutes to come up with an actual game plan.
&ldquo;It never gets old,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said Saturday. &ldquo;Every day, every time I step to my locker and I see my jersey with my name and I&rsquo;m around all these great players, which are the best players in the world, it&rsquo;s always a great feeling. I never take it for granted. God has blessed me enough to be seven times an All-Star so far, and this might be my last one, so I try to enjoy to the fullest and appreciate every moment with the best players in the world.&rdquo;
And most of the best are indeed in Salt Lake City.
There&rsquo;s James, who just passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA&rsquo;s leading scorer. There&rsquo;s Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid, currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA scoring race, both of them just over 33 points per game. Antetokounmpo and James also are averaging at least 30 points, as are Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard, Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always great just being out here with these guys, honestly,&rdquo; DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls said. &ldquo;I look forward to just being able to compete. You know, we go against all these guys all season, so just to kind of detach and play with these guys is definitely an honor.&rdquo;
James will be honored at halftime with a ceremony to celebrate his passing Abdul-Jabbar for the scoring record.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s probably going to slow down whenever he wants to slow down,&rdquo; Toronto All-Star forward Pascal Siakam said. &ldquo;It feels like he can play forever. It looks like it.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s never any real defense in these games until the fourth quarter, when players get serious, and there inevitably will be a bunch of them scoring a bunch of points. After all, that&rsquo;s been a trend this season: 20 times a player has scored 50 points in a game, a list topped by Mitchell scoring 71 for the Cavaliers against Chicago on Jan. 2.
He isn&rsquo;t flat-out going for the MVP, but acknowledged that he&rsquo;s thought about it.
&ldquo;That would be nice,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to try and shoot every shot, but close to every shot. Just have fun. That&rsquo;s the biggest thing is kind of going into these spaces and really appreciating the moment. It&rsquo;d be great to win MVP. I&rsquo;ve had a lot of full-circle moments this year. That would be another one.&rdquo;
THE FORMAT
The first three quarters can be considered mini-games, with the score starting at zero &mdash; but with the total score is still tracked because it comes into play later. The winning team in each quarter gets $100,000 for their charity; if the quarter is a tie, that money gets split.
In the fourth quarter, the total score from the first three quarters becomes the score again. The final target score will be the leading team&rsquo;s score to that point plus 24 points. There&rsquo;s no game clock, but there is a shot clock.
The winning team reaches the target score first. If the score is Team LeBron 100, Team Giannis 99 entering the fourth, the winning score would be 124. The winning team also picks up another $150,000 for its charity.
MVP AWARD
The MVP award is named for Kobe Bryant, and there will be a new winner this year. Last year&rsquo;s MVP, Golden State guard Stephen Curry, was voted into the game as a starter but is out with an injury.
Antetokounmpo was MVP in 2021 and James has been All-Star MVP three times, most recently in 2018. The only other past MVP in this year&rsquo;s game is Kyrie Irving, the 2014 winner.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
There are six players in the All-Star Game who&rsquo;ll be making their debut: Minnesota&rsquo;s Anthony Edwards, Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana&rsquo;s Tyrese Haliburton, Memphis&rsquo; Jaren Jackson Jr., and &mdash; last but certainly not least to Jazz fans &mdash; Utah&rsquo;s Lauri Markkanen.
With those six names, there are now been 450 All-Stars in NBA history.
MOVING UP
If Antetokounmpo scores 26 points Sunday, that would put him at 200 for his career in All-Star Games.
Only 10 other players have scored that many in their combined All-Star appearances: James, Bryant, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Durant, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Julius Erving, Elgin Baylor and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal.
Antetokounmpo has averaged 29 points in his six previous All-Star Games &mdash; the most in NBA history for those who have appeared in at least three games.
BACK IN UTAH
Salt Lake City becomes the 19th city (or region) to play host to multiple All-Star Games. The Jazz also had the NBA&rsquo;s midseason showcase in 1993.
Indianapolis joins that list next year when it plays host to the weekend&rsquo;s events. It&rsquo;ll be the first time that the Pacers&rsquo; home city has been the All-Star site since 1985.

The 72nd NBA All-Star Game is Sunday night with almost all of the league’s biggest names set to take part in Utah.

2023 NBA All-Star Game: All you need to know about Sunday’s event

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado&rsquo;s drifting 3-pointer clinched a 25-20 win for Team Pau (Gasol) over Team Joakim (Noah) in the title game of the Rising Stars event Friday at All-Star weekend.
Alvarado, who was named the Most Valuable Player, had five points in the title game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A certified bucket getter. Peep Jose Alvarado's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JordanRisingStars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JordanRisingStars</a> MVP mixtape 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/6SoruJRNsP">pic.twitter.com/6SoruJRNsP</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1626800481539354630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

The win capped a memorable day for Gasol, who was named a Basketball Hall of Fame finalist earlier Friday.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going out on top. It may be one and done for me,&rdquo; Gasol said of his coaching debut.
New York&rsquo;s Quentin Grimes scored 14 points in the final but was wrapped up &mdash; literally held at times &mdash; by Alvarado down the stretch.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know you could do that in the Rising Stars game. I should have alerted the refs to call a technical or something,&rdquo; Grimes said. &ldquo;It was all fun but I was going for the win tonight.&rdquo;
Said Alvarado: &ldquo;It might not have been (legal), but he was doing good.&rdquo;
The four teams, comprised of 21 first- and second-year NBA players along with seven G League players, competed in semifinals games to a target score of 40.
Alvarado&rsquo;s 13 points helped Team Pau top Team Deron (Williams) in the first game 40-27, despite an array of spectacular dunks by Trey Murphy III.
In the second semifinal, Grimes scored 13 points including the winning 3 to power Team Joakim over Team Jason (Terry), composed of the G Leaguers. Mac McClung, who is competing in Saturday&rsquo;s Dunk Contest, nearly stole the show with 10 points in the comeback bid but missed a jam on his last attempt.
CELEBRITY GAME
Team Dwyane rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Team Ryan 81-78 in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday night. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and Basketball Hall of Fame finalist Dwyane Wade served as honorary captains of the celebrity teams.
Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf paced Team Dwyane with 20 points and 10 rebounds &mdash; but he&rsquo;ll be best remembered for an array of dunks. Actor Everett Osbourne led Team Ryan with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Metcalf was named the game&rsquo;s MVP.
Each celebrity team included a WNBA All-Star. Phoenix Mercury guard Diamond DeShields played for Team Ryan. Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale played for Team Dwyane. Other notable athletes participating included former NFL player Calvin Johnson and former MLB player Albert Pujols.
Wade added former NBA player Carlos Boozer to his team in the second half. Smith countered by adding former NBA player Richard Jefferson. Jefferson served as part of the officiating crew during the first half; he also worked as an official for one quarter of a Summer League game in Las Vegas last year.
Between the game, and a 3-point shootout between Smith and Wade, $142,000 was raised for 5 for the Fight, a charitable foundation devoted to funding cancer research.
Smith said the funds raised on Friday would benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute on the University of Utah campus.
JABARI ON JORDAN
Houston&rsquo;s Jabari Smith Jr. was asked if Michael Jordan &mdash; who turned 60 on Friday &mdash; could compete if they were were to play 1-on-1 now.
Smith was pretty sure Jordan wouldn&rsquo;t be getting buckets.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not beating me right now. If a 60-year-old is hooping on me, I need to hang it up,&rdquo; Smith said. He then added, &ldquo;Happy Birthday, MJ!&rdquo;
SHORT STUFF
Alvarado is listed at 6 feet, which might be a tiny bit generous.
He doesn&rsquo;t mind.
When told before Friday&rsquo;s Rising Stars event that he was a hero for the undersized, Alvarado had a message for others who consider themselves vertically challenged.
&ldquo;Hey short people, I&rsquo;m just like y&rsquo;all. We got a lot of heart,&rdquo; Alvarado said. &ldquo;I see lots of other little guys tagging me on Instagram. I see your love. Keep being yourself, don&rsquo;t try to be nobody else.&rdquo;
Alvarado admitted that the highlights of him hiding behind bigger players to get steals in the backcourt is making it tougher to surprise opponents.
&ldquo;Everybody seen those clips. Now, so I just got to find another way, but I&rsquo;m crafty,&rdquo; he said.
WELCOME MOMENT
Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Jalen Williams said the season has been like a dream. He used to wear Derrick Rose&rsquo;s shoes constantly when he was younger and then found himself guarding D-Rose in Madison Square Garden.
&ldquo;So wild,&rdquo; Williams said before the Rising Stars games. &ldquo;Going up against people that I watched on TV is definitely kind of surreal.&rdquo;

Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado’s drifting three clinched a 25-20 win for Team Pau over Team Joakim in the Rising Stars title game.

Jose Alvarado wins Rising Stars MVP, leads Team Pau over Team Joakim

For basketball fans, the NBA trade deadline is one of the most exciting days of the year. It&rsquo;s fun to track the rumors, react to trades and root for your favorite team to make moves.
However, for the players involved in these trades, it can be very stressful and emotional.
Most players spend deadline day looking over their shoulder, and there&rsquo;s a lot of anxiety and nerves around this time of year. There aren&rsquo;t many professions where your employer can ship you across the country without any notice, but that comes with being a professional athlete.
To get a sense of what it&rsquo;s like to be traded, Basketball News spoke to several former NBA players who opened up about getting dealt and what the process entailed.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtyqvPS02_Y&amp;t=2886s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RAY ALLEN</a>: &ldquo;When I got to Seattle, [here&rsquo;s] the way the trade went down. I was in Milwaukee playing for the Bucks and we flew to Seattle, and we had a practice that day. It was coming up on the trade deadline, and everyone was talking about Tim Thomas being traded. So we were on the Key Arena floor in Seattle and the media came rushing in. I'm sitting on the floor stretching and I'm looking around and as I turn [toward the media], all of these lights come on. And I'm like, 'What's happening? We're about to have practice.' And then I turn around and I'm like, 'What's going on?' And they're all looking and pointing at me. I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Me?!&rsquo; [The media members] are like, 'Yeah! You!' So we're stretching on one end and the other team is stretching on the other end, and [Bucks head coach] George Karl is down there on the other end. I kind of look around and I&rsquo;m looking up [at Coach Karl], and he takes off. So, I walk over to the media and said, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s going on?&rsquo; They were like, &lsquo;There was a trade.&rsquo; I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Who got traded?&rsquo; They were like, &lsquo;You.&rsquo; I go into the locker room and check my phone and it's blowing up. I got traded for Gary Payton. It was crazy to be traded to Seattle in the middle of the season. I go back [to Milwaukee], get my stuff, take my physical and fly back in. And my first game [as a Sonic] is against the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I remember going out to lunch with Brent Barry, who was so great the whole time. He was such a jokester on the sly; he always had his little sarcasm that he'd add to any situation. He goes, 'Ray, just so you know, people aren't coming to the game to see you. They're coming to see the Barry brothers match-up.' Because Jon [Barry] was on Detroit. That was always Brett, with his dry humor. (Laughs) So, I'm watching the [Sonics'] film and Gary was &lsquo;The Glove&rsquo; &mdash; everybody knew how ferocious he was on defense. In Milwaukee, we had schemes, and I was used to that. But watching [the Sonics&rsquo;] film, Gary would come from one side of the floor and just start guarding a guy. And I was like, &lsquo;What scheme is that?&rsquo; And they were like, &lsquo;No, that&rsquo;s Gary&rsquo;s scheme.&rsquo; I noticed how the team was built around him, because a lot of the young players, they had kinda just waited on Gary to do whatever Gary did. So when I got there, Rashard [Lewis] was young and impressionable. We had Ansu Sesay, Reggie Evans, Jerome James and all of these young guys, and they all kinda just went as Gary went. So when I got there, I was like, 'Yo, get your shots up! I need you!' I was passing them the ball; I was flirting with triple-doubles like every other game. But I was like, 'You guys gotta [do something]!' They would just sit around, and I could tell the hole that Gary left &mdash; these guys were used to playing a certain way and kinda expecting him to do everything.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Rashard emerged because he started watching me come to the gym early every day and he would always say, 'Man, I want to make the money that you make and have the success that you've had. I really gotta start focusing in and taking this seriously&hellip;&rsquo; So, Rashard started getting to the gym early. He saw the work that I put in, and he saw that it was something that he could do and something he wanted for himself. I like to think that some of that money that he got from Orlando, he could have passed some of it [to me] on the side, but that didn&rsquo;t happen. (Laughs) But he was a great partner to have because he did get significantly better &mdash; so much better &mdash; from the time I got there to when we parted ways with him going to Orlando and me going to Boston. [I never talked to Coach Karl about him running away] and since then, George has always taken shots at me through the media or in writing his books. It's just the strangest thing because I always thought that we had a strong relationship as a player-coach.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-etan-thomas-wpfw-dc-roundtable-drew-gooden-tony-massenburg-dave-zirin-john-wall-russell-westbrook-trade-washington-wizards-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ETAN THOMAS</a>: &ldquo;I have a story from when I was with the Wizards. I was in [general manager] Ernie Grunfeld&rsquo;s office. We&rsquo;re talking about me going to big-man camp because they used to send a big man down to Florida to IMG Academy to work out with Robert Parish and Clifford Ray. So I&rsquo;m in there in the summer, and I&rsquo;m talking to him about big-man camp. And I&rsquo;ve heard a little bit of trade rumors, I&rsquo;ve heard whispers and stuff like that, but nothing major. So he&rsquo;s telling me, 'Yeah, you&rsquo;re coming back from your injury, we&rsquo;re looking forward to next year. We want to send you down to big-man camp and you&rsquo;re doing all this stuff, and Robert Parish is great to work with and Clifford Ray is this, and we&rsquo;re looking forward to everything with you and we&rsquo;ll see how you and Brendan [Haywood] can work together,' and all this different stuff. It was this whole long speech, right?
"Now I&rsquo;m driving from the Verizon Center home to PG County. I&rsquo;m not even off Route 50 yet, and I get a call from my agent who says, 'You just got traded.' I was like, 'Are you serious?' I was like, 'No, that has to be a mistake! I was just in Ernie Grunfeld&rsquo;s office like 10-15 minutes ago!' So, I had to do a U-turn, go back to the Verizon Center, clear out all my stuff, and then he shook my hand and said, 'Thank you for everything,' like the whole conversation 15 minutes ago never happened."
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/pos2.jpg" alt="" width="689" height="466" />
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/heres-the-story-on-the-time-the-nuggets-traded-me-and-didnt-tell-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAMES POSEY</a>: &ldquo;I was in my fourth season with the Denver Nuggets, and things hadn&rsquo;t really gotten off to the best start, to say the least. We were 6-18 and knew we were gonna have our hands full that night. Our opponent? The Dallas Mavericks. With Mike Finley, Steve Nash, Raef LaFrentz and Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas was no joke. They began the season 21-3, so in our morning shootaround, we were definitely engaged. Afterward, I showered and changed, went back home, took my pregame nap and was on my way back to the arena. I&rsquo;m driving and going over the gameplan in my head when I get a call from my agent. He said he was calling to 'check on me.' He asked me how I was doing and where I was. I thought the questions were a little strange, but didn&rsquo;t really think much of it. 'I&rsquo;m going to the arena, we got a game,' I said. 'You&rsquo;re going where?!' And that&rsquo;s how I found out I&rsquo;d been traded. We were both shocked, and for the same reason.
"Nobody communicated with me. I was literally a couple miles from the arena. Getting traded is a part of life as a professional athlete. And fortunately for me, I was young and, outside of the team, hadn&rsquo;t really had any family roots or ties to Denver. But that didn&rsquo;t completely remove the sting. I just considered myself lucky to not be in a situation where I also had to move a wife and three kids in the middle of the school year. Not every player is that fortunate. One minute, you&rsquo;re driving on the highway. The next minute, at a moment&rsquo;s notice, you have to start packing and prepare to make a new life in a new city. It&rsquo;s the hardest part of the job, and it&rsquo;s one that we all accept. But damn. When I got the news &mdash; again, I was literally five minutes from the arena and had done shootaround that morning with my teammates and coaches &mdash; I had mixed emotions. My initial reaction was just genuine shock, and even though resentment might be too strong of a word, I definitely felt some kind of way. 'They couldn't even tell me?'
"I can&rsquo;t speak for everybody, but I can definitely understand how being traded and not being told could make a player feel really disposable. Sometimes, people forget that players are people too. As far as I know, there&rsquo;s no specific rule about when you are no longer able to communicate with the coaching staff or the front office of a team that trades you, but in most instances, there would at least be a phone call or a text message from your old coach or GM or whoever. Just a, 'Thank you for your service, we wish you the best of luck,' something like that. From Denver, I got nothing. All those thoughts and feelings raced through my mind in the 30 seconds it took me to process everything and turn my car around. Then, naturally, I asked my agent the question everyone in my situation would ask. 'Where did I get traded to?' When he told me Houston, I perked up and immediately pressed the gas... I actually moved in with Nick Van Exel after the trade. He had a crib in Houston, so I stayed with him. When I found out about the trade, I just packed up as much of my clothes as I could and went to Nick&rsquo;s house. I stayed there until the end of the season, then I got my own spot. But yeah, if my agent hadn&rsquo;t called, I would've showed up at the arena and they probably wouldn't have even let me in.&rdquo;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-etan-thomas-wpfw-dc-roundtable-drew-gooden-tony-massenburg-dave-zirin-john-wall-russell-westbrook-trade-washington-wizards-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DREW GOODEN</a>: &ldquo;I got drafted as the No. 4 pick in Memphis. Jerry West, it was his first year being the president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, and I was his pick at No. 4, and I would say three or four months into that season, we were stockpiled at my position. We had Stromile Swift (who was drafted as the No. 2 pick two years prior to me), Pau Gasol (who was the No. 3 pick the year before my draft) and Shane Battier (who was the No. 6 or No. 7 pick that same year) and then the following year, they picked me at No. 4. So we had a lot of young talent, but we just could not put the pieces together to make something right. I heard the trade rumors. Rumors are rumors until they actually happen. It&rsquo;s funny, this story, because when I was hearing the rumors about me being traded, me and my agent had the discussion with Jerry West.
"Jerry West said, 'Drew, this is ridiculous, we have no intentions of trading you. Don&rsquo;t read the papers, you&rsquo;re going to be here a long time. So plan on wearing a Memphis jersey for a long time.' So I was like, 'Alright, that&rsquo;s cool; Jerry West gave me a straight-up answer, man! We&rsquo;ve got nothing to worry about! Let&rsquo;s just see what happens, man, let&rsquo;s ride this season out.' A day later,&nbsp;less than 24 hours later, I get a call from Dick Versace, who was an assistant general manager at the time saying, 'Drew, we&rsquo;ve got some news.' He said, 'You&rsquo;re on your way to the Orlando Magic; we just traded you for Mike Miller, the reigning Rookie of the Year.' And I was like, 'Wowww.' I was happy, don&rsquo;t get it wrong, I was happy that I was traded, but I was like, 'Wowww, Jerry West just told me that I was not going to get traded less than 24 hours ago, and then he has somebody else call me to tell me I was traded?!'"
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-tj-ford-james-posey-interview-qa-milwaukee-bucks-toronto-raptors-indiana-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">T.J. FORD</a>: "The way I got traded, I felt it was just cold-blooded. Getting traded for the first time is just a unique experience. I got traded in the summer, I think after Hurricane Katrina and all that; it was when the Essence Festival was in Houston for the first time. Somebody bought my house and I was supposed to move out a week later, but they told me they wanted me out on Friday. Now, I've got an appearance in Milwaukee on Saturday that I'm supposed to fly to on Friday&hellip; So I get to Milwaukee and I speak at Michael Redd's camp, but he wasn't there. It was just a strange day. Who comes to somebody's campand then they ain't there? That just didn't make sense to me. [I&rsquo;m thinking], &lsquo;Gosh, something ain't right.&rsquo;
"I ended up having dinner plans with Skip [Robinson], the public relations guy. He helped me do a lot of great things in Milwaukee. We go to dinner and I didn't really have no power at my house, so at the restaurant I&rsquo;ve got my phone and my charger, but they&rsquo;re not next to me. Skip answered his phone and he's sitting directly across from me and I just hear him go, 'No! No! You've got to be kidding me.' Then, he's like, 'Here, the GM wants to talk to you.' So, I'm like, 'What's going on?' The GM's like, 'How do you feel about going to Toronto?' I'm like, 'What are you talking about? Stop playing with me. Stop fuckin' with me. Seriously, what's going on?' He's like, 'No, for real. We just traded you for Charlie Villanueva and it hasn't hit the news yet and it probably won't tonight.' I'm like, 'Yo, Skip, he just told me he f*ckin' traded me. He must be joking with me.' So, I handed him the phone. I get my phone and I've got a bunch of missed calls from my mom.
"So I called my mom and she's like, 'Your agent has been trying to call you! He's been saying something about a trade?' I was like, 'I know! The GM just told me that he traded me, so it must be a joke or something. I don't know. I'll call you right back.' I called my agent right away. But before I was able to do that, they got a TV at the bar in the restaurant. And, remember, the GM just told me that nobody knew about it. But it had just hit the news. Not ESPN, I'm talking about the local news at 10. I'm like, 'Ah man!' It was the worst day, man. Worst day. I was hurt. That was a tough one&hellip; I was fortunate to always get traded in the summertime. I probably would've been really shocked if I had to move midseason. I felt like I was pretty blessed to get traded in the summertime, when you can really process it."

Basketball News spoke to several former NBA players who opened up about getting dealt and what the trade process entailed.

Micah