Cowboys

With the 2024-25 NBA season just days away, the Western Conference is locked, loaded, and ready for battle. The offseason drama has settled, rosters are finalized, and every team is gearing up for what promises to be a fierce and competitive race. From reigning contenders to rising underdogs, the West is stacked with talent and ambition. Let&rsquo;s break down the top 15 teams in the West as we head into this thrilling new season&mdash;no frills, just what you need to know.
<ol>
<li> Minnesota Timberwolves The Timberwolves are turning a new page after trading away longtime cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo and are now fully embracing Anthony Edwards as the franchise cornerstone. The T-Wolves&rsquo; mix of young talent and veteran leadership gives them a balanced roster around Edwards. Rudy Gobert remains a defensive anchor as a 4-time DPOY, Edwards is primed for a superstar leap, and if the supporting cast, including Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, steps up, the Wolves could be ready to take the top spot in the West.</li>
<li> Oklahoma City Thunder The Thunder&rsquo;s rebuild is no longer a long-term project; they&rsquo;re ready to compete now. However, due to Isaiah Hartenstein&rsquo;s injury to start the season, we&rsquo;re placing the Thunder at no.2 for now. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is already an All-NBA guard and arguably a top 5 player in the league. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams figure out to be the dynamic inside-out duo around SGA. Add in Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, the two new acquisitions this offseason with their capable role players Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe, this young core is as versatile as it is exciting. OKC&rsquo;s depth and versatility on both ends of the floor could propel them into serious title contention.</li>
<li> Phoenix Suns The Suns have loaded up for a title run, and with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal leading the charge, Phoenix has one of the most dangerous offensive trios in the league. They have added their most significant hole which is the PG spot with a solid pick up in Tyus Jones, and they have one of the best offensive coaches in the league in Mike Budenholzer. The Suns&rsquo; questions lie in their depth and health, but if they can manage those concerns, they&rsquo;re built for a championship push. Their offensive firepower is unmatched, and if they click, the Suns will be a team no one wants to face.</li>
<li> Memphis Grizzlies Memphis has weathered their offseason storms and enters the season with a gritty identity intact. Ja Morant is back after his injury and suspension last year and he will now play with last season&rsquo;s addition Marcus Smart. Together with the continued growth of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies are primed to be competitive and come back from their prime two seasons ago where they won 50+ games. Memphis&rsquo; defensive dominance paired with offensive firepower ensures they can be one of the top teams in the West with a deep bench with solid role players.</li>
<li> Denver Nuggets After falling short to Minnesota in 7 games last playoffs, the Nuggets will enter the season with their core mostly intact. Nikola Jokić remains the most dominant center and the best player in the game. With Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. healthy, the Nuggets are poised for another deep run. But perhaps their biggest loss this season was losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to free agency and that might be a hit so they&rsquo;re currently ranked at no.5 to start the year. It could be a lot to ask for young players like Christian Braun or Julian Strawther to fill the void left by KCP, so it will be interesting to see how Denver handles his loss this season.</li>
<li> Dallas Mavericks Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving experiment is back after a successful season last year, where Dallas entered the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 &ndash; when they won the title. The two stars can mesh to create one of the league&rsquo;s most potent offenses and with the continued internal development of young players like Dereck Lively, the Mavs can build on that Finals appearance. With newcomer Klay Thompson set to provide historic spacing for their dynamic duo, Dallas has the talent to climb the standings and challenge the top teams in the West.</li>
<li> New Orleans Pelicans The Pelicans&rsquo; fate will always hinge on Zion Williamson&rsquo;s health. When Zion plays, New Orleans is a force to be reckoned with. Now paired with newly-acquired point guard Dejounte Murray, they have a balanced attack capable of competing with any team in the conference with Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum still on the fold. If Zion stays on the floor, the Pelicans could find themselves rising up the ranks, but his availability remains the biggest X-factor.</li>
<li> Golden State Warriors The Warriors are clinging to their championship window with Stephen Curry still playing at an elite level. The addition of capable veterans in Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield, and DeAnthony Melton gives them depth and personnel that can play in their offense to surround the core of Curry and Draymond Green for their foundation. Health and age are concerns, but if their veterans stay intact, Golden State can&rsquo;t be counted out.</li>
<li> Sacramento Kings The Kings struggled a bit last season after making their long-awaited playoff return two seasons ago, and they&rsquo;re looking to build on that momentum. They have signed DeMar DeRozan and he should bring a new wrinkle to their motion and three-hunting offense. DeRozan&rsquo;s mid range ability should be a welcome addition to Sacramento&rsquo;s offense. De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis still lead an explosive offense, but defense remains a question mark. Sacramento&rsquo;s high-flying, fast-paced style makes them a regular-season juggernaut, but they&rsquo;ll need to tighten up defensively if they want to make a deep playoff run.</li>
<li> Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers are counting on LeBron James and Anthony Davis staying healthy for a full season. With the front office standing pat on making moves this offseason, the Lakers&rsquo; success will hinge on their superstar duo. If LeBron and AD can avoid injury, Los Angeles will be a formidable playoff team, but health is always a looming concern with this group.</li>
<li> Houston Rockets The Rockets added veterans Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to guide their young core last season and this season could be the time for them to step up. They finished strong last year behind defensive minded coach Ime Udoka and the result could be a team that surprises many. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun have star potential, and younger players Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson add even more excitement. The Rockets also drafted Reed Sheppard with the 3rd pick and Houston is hoping to lay the foundation for success and could push for a Play-In spot this season.</li>
<li> San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama enters his second season, and the Spurs are fully embracing their rebuild around the budding star. While Wembanyama showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie, San Antonio is still in the development phase. But with the addition of Chris Paul, the Spurs now have a capable PG to feed Wemby and the other guys, possibly unlocking a new level to their games. With their young core, the Spurs may not be a playoff team yet, but their future looks incredibly bright with Wembanyama leading the way.</li>
<li> Los Angeles Clippers The Clippers&rsquo; fortunes rest on the health of Kawhi Leonard&mdash;again. After losing Paul George for nothing, Leonard is left to fend LA off by himself in their new arena at Intuit Dome. Gone are the days when LA has the talent to compete with anyone as they&rsquo;re just but a shell of themselves. Leading the way for the injured Leonard will be a 34-year-old James Harden and that might be too much to ask of the aging superstar. However, if Kawhi can return healthy and he can avoid the injury bug, the Clippers will be in the playoff mix, but that&rsquo;s a big &ldquo;if&rdquo; for this squad.</li>
<li> Portland Trail Blazers With Damian Lillard long gone, the Blazers will fully commit another season to their rebuild. Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe form a promising young core, but Portland will likely spend this season focusing on player development. While they won&rsquo;t be in playoff contention, the Blazers are positioning themselves well for the future, with an eye on growth and improvement.</li>
<li> Utah Jazz The Jazz are continuing their rebuild, with Lauri Markkanen emerging as a cornerstone player. While they have some intriguing young pieces like Taylor Hendricks and Keyonte George, Utah isn&rsquo;t ready to compete just yet. This season will be about development and finding which young players can be part of their long-term plans. The Jazz may not win many games this year, but they&rsquo;re building toward a brighter future.</li>
</ol>

Let’s break down the top 15 teams in the West as we head into this thrilling new season.

2024-2025 NBA Western Conference Power Rankings: A race at the top to start the year

Team USA players came inside the Kerry Sports basketball facility one by one, each sporting their preferred and comfortable gear from the blazing heat of the Philippine weather they were not so accustomed to. They were about to hold their first practices in Manila for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the sport&rsquo;s world championship meet.
Anthony Edwards was one of the last ones to enter the gym along with fellow NBA no.1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. He had his Adidas Adilette comfort slides put on with black Team USA jogger pants and an Adidas triple-colored hoodie. Edwards was fixated on his phone, walking past whispering reporters onto the team&rsquo;s huddle at center court, clearly being the center of attraction for the young Team USA squad.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s who they call the Ant-Man.&rdquo;
Once upon a time, Edwards&rsquo; name was held in a much lower regard. The 22-year-old is considered to be one of the best and brightest young players in the league but has yet to establish himself as one of the staples and premier superstars with an iconic and deep playoff performance that cements him in that tier.
Until these playoffs.
Edwards has separated himself from the pack of young superstars leading their teams and entered the upper echelon of basketball royalty in the NBA. With the league anticipating the &lsquo;changing of the guard&rsquo; as current faces LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually diminish their shining glories as the league&rsquo;s best of the best, Edwards comes in as one of the hopefuls to take the mantle when that inevitable day comes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying that he (Edwards) is the face of the league but he hates it when I say it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s true. The future&rsquo;s so bright you gotta put the sunglasses on when you&rsquo;re walking around him,&rdquo; Karl-Anthony Towns said, in their post-game interview after their first-round series with the&nbsp;Phoenix Suns.
Edwards glanced briefly at Towns, who was beside him at the podium. He had that little smile on his face while bowing down his head as his teammate praised him in front of the listening reporters. He looked at Towns again, this time shaking his head in disbelief, but it had the element of confidence. There was obviously a focus on what Towns was talking about but with Edwards&rsquo; elite level-headedness through it all.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a young superstar in the league and you have to face it,&rdquo; the statement emphasized on Edwards as he&rsquo;s trying to soak it all in.
Ever since Edwards has been adamant about not calling himself anything until he wins in the playoffs. Now that his Wolves beat the Suns to win the franchise&rsquo;s first playoff series since 2004, Edwards certainly has all the right in the world to give himself even the tiniest bit of praise.
He thought for a good three seconds, glancing at the reporter and the horizon for a moment. He was just asked if he was now able to give himself some grace in that regard when people call him that &lsquo;young superstar&rsquo; label. A small grin emerged onto his face, clearly oozing with confidence albeit a controlled one. He looked back with that smile on his face while nodding, he said:
&ldquo;Nah, not yet a man. Not yet.&rdquo;
Behind this usual brash, confident, and charismatic Edwards is a hungry side that never gets contented and satisfied until he achieves his ultimate goal: winning a championship. Maybe he&rsquo;ll have the guts to call himself one when they reach the Finals and end up going all the way. But that remains to be seen.
He&rsquo;s got the swagger, the personality, and the charisma to be marketable by the league. Edwards mentioned wanting to go kill everybody that&rsquo;s in front of him, and boy, he did.&nbsp;
Edwards swept the Suns featuring his childhood idol and favorite player of all time Kevin Durant, who he has been jawing back and forth at several times in the series. This was him going at his childhood hero, taking on the challenge and never backing down. However, the play of the series happened in Game 4 when Minnesota was trying to put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.&nbsp;
With 2:18 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, Edwards blew by Beal and rose through the air as high as he could. Durant made the right business decision by not going up together with a rampaging bull as he should For a brief moment, he looked like the second coming of a certain Michael Jordan &ndash; yet again &ndash; after he&rsquo;s been labeled as such throughout the course of the season after each jaw-dropping spectacular play. Edwards threw down a ferocious poster slam dunk that might have literally blown the roof over the Footprint Center as the play signaled the beginning of the end for the Suns.
Durant and Edwards will play together in Team USA in August for the Paris Olympics, and these two for sure would go head to head making their practice sessions much more interesting. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a good feeling because he&rsquo;s my favorite player of all time, and I can tell him that I was the one who sent him home. It&rsquo;s gonna be a fun summer for sure,&rdquo; Edwards said.
First game of the Western Conference Finals and up against the Nuggets, Edwards scored a playoff career-high 43 points. He dissected their entire defense, scoring in all types of ways imaginable for a superstar. Edwards hit threes, blown by some of the toughest defenders in the NBA Aaron Gordon, and hit fadeaway mid-range jumpers reminiscent of Jordan. More importantly, Edwards displayed the level of maturity a superstar has to make in the playoffs &ndash; playing off of your teammates and playmaking for the entire team. He has done it so far with relative ease and that&rsquo;s why the Timberwolves have found their early success in this postseason.
He&rsquo;s doing it against supposedly their biggest challenge &ndash; the defending champions &ndash; who sent them home a year ago. &ldquo;Last year we didn&rsquo;t have Jaden (McDaniels) and Naz (Reid) against them so it was quite frustrating. Now that we have both I think we can definitely do better,&rdquo; Edwards said about their biggest thing in this rematch series vs Denver is being healthy.
Before the season started, Edwards was this up-and-coming 22-year-old star leading his nation at the World Championships for a chance at glory. Although the Americans ended up not medalling after losing to eventual world champions Germany in the semifinals and to neighboring Canada in the third-place game, Edwards was clearly the best player on the team filled with young American talent. He led Team USA in scoring, and at 22 years old, this was only the start of a big year ahead.
Edwards then was the clear-cut best player for the third-best team in the West, with Minnesota having a 56-26 record. Those 56 wins were the most since 2004 when they had 58 and went to the Western Conference Finals. They were led back then by legend Kevin Garnett but that was also their last time seeing the playoffs.&nbsp;
20 years later, Edwards is now shouldering all the burden by taking this Wolves team back to relevance, basking in all the glory he&rsquo;s worked so hard to attain. He&rsquo;s one of the bonafide young rising superstars in the league, and he intends to take them all the way.
Edwards&rsquo; huge season and ascension to superstardom could be attributed back to something you see coming even from a mile away. And it all started in that summer lengthy yet productive summer in 2023.
While most players use their summers to recuperate, have a vacation somewhere, and spend time with families and loved ones, Edwards took a privileged yet opportunistic route: play with the National Team at the FIBA World Cup. Usually, NBA superstars all express their willingness to play with the National Team at the Olympics. For no definite reason, somehow the FIBA World Cup does not seem appealing to play for the older/senior superstar guys, so it&rsquo;s usually the juniors/young guys who represent Team USA. Anthony Edwards took up that challenge and became the best player for the team and in turn, he&rsquo;s reaping the benefits of it in the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in work this summer. Big shoutout to the USA team, man. They got me ready for the season.&rdquo;
That killer mentality that Edwards has is something that&rsquo;s never seen often and has been with only a select few in the history of the game, particularly Jordan and Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Behind all that bold and tough personality, however, is a side of himself that genuinely enjoys playing with his teammates.
When asked about the prospect of having his Wolves&rsquo; teammates, the first thing out of his mouth was how he was excited to meet them while playing for their respective countries (Rudy Gobert for France, Karl-Anthony Towns for Dominican Republic, Kyle Anderson for China, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada). He looked forward to playing against them, citing how much fun he would have once it happened.
Despite his clear burgeoning superstardom, however,&nbsp; Edwards still deflected every credit thrown towards him. When asked what he feels as one of the guys being billed as one of the next faces of the league, Edwards dismissed the idea faster than a Math teacher dispersing students after giving out a tough assignment due &ndash;&nbsp; immediately answering without hesitation that he does not make anything of it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just gonna keep working, man. I make nothing of it, yeah. I just hope that I keep getting better.&rdquo;
It was clear all along among all the people in the gym that fateful day: Edwards had the most aura out of them all. It was just oozing, something you can feel when you&rsquo;re around certain people. It&rsquo;s kind of intimidating, but only to a certain extent. You can just feel the energy brewing and that certain look when you come across one of the ones. The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season long. With most of their games out of the eyes of the majority, Edwards assured one thing going into the season sternly and convincingly.
&ldquo;We just gonna try to keep playing, man. We&rsquo;re not really worried about the national TV games. As long as we win, we&rsquo;ll be on TV when we make it into the playoffs. The world will know about us.&rdquo;
As their playoff mantra suggests, the Timberwolves have been waiting for this moment since 2004. From the annals of the great Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s era to ushering this new one paved by superstar-in-the-making, young Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived.

The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season despite having Anthony Edwards.

‘WOLVES BACK’: Anthony Edwards introduces the Timberwolves back to the world

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler hit an&nbsp;acrobatic reverse layup in the final minutes, and his 23 points led five Miami players in double figures as the Heat edged the Philadelphia 76ers 101-99 on Monday night.
Butler was an assist shy of a triple-double, adding 11 rebounds and nine assists. He also had four steals. His spinning move and finishing layup while driving between the Sixers&rsquo; Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker gave the Heat a 100-99 lead with 1:28 to play after Philadelphia rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. He added a free throw with 8.1 seconds left.
&ldquo;I work on that kind of stuff every day,&rdquo; Butler said of his highlight-reel basket. &ldquo;I love to play this game and I love to compete, but it&rsquo;s always much more fun when we win.&rdquo;
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How, Jimmy? 🤯<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CenterCourt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CenterCourt</a> <a href="https://t.co/5UXBZuMGsY">pic.twitter.com/5UXBZuMGsY</a>
&mdash; NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1630393261381541889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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James Harden had a chance to win the game for the 76ers, but his 3-point try at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.
&ldquo;You have to expect things to be a little bit gnarly on the road,&rdquo; Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You have to weather a bunch of different storms. &hellip; Sometimes you just need the ball to bounce the right way. Harden had a window there and was open, but we contested so many shots tonight that sometimes when you do get an open shot you don&rsquo;t have a great rhythm.&rdquo;
Gabe Vincent scored 14 points and Bam Adebayo added 13 as the Heat snapped a four-game losing streak.
Embiid led all scorers with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Harden finished with 20 points and 12 assists.
Max Struss hit a pair of free throws with 7:10 to play in the fourth quarter, giving the Heat an 11-point lead. But the 76ers mounted a furious rally, erasing the deficit and taking the lead on a pair of Harden free throws.
The Sixers rally was keyed by Tyrese Maxey, who scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half before fouling out with 3:21 to play.
The Heat did a nice job on Philadelphia defensively, forcing 18 turnovers. However, the 76ers also missed several layups, especially in the second half.
&ldquo;I just think we were really sloppy tonight, sluggish,&rdquo; Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said. &ldquo;It happens, but you still have to find a way to win the game. Tonight, we didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
Miami also got help from the bench as Struss scored 13 points and Victor Oladipo added 11.
The 76ers have lost back-to-back games. Philadelphia hasn&rsquo;t lost three in a row since the first week of December. They look to avoid the skid in a rematch with the Heat on Wednesday in Miami.
TIP-INS
Heat: There was a thought that G Kyle Lowry would return to the lineup Monday after he was upgraded on the injury report to questionable on Sunday. However, the Heat downgraded Lowry just as quickly on Monday and he missed his ninth straight game with knee soreness. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there&rsquo;s no timetable for his return, but that he was making progress. ... G Tyler Herro was also listed as questionable Sunday with a rib contusion, but he was in the starting lineup.
76ers: Philadelphia played its final home game before heading out on a five-game trip. More than that, it is facing an incredibly daunting March schedule. The 76ers will play 17 games in 31 days and 12 of the first 15 will be on the road. If that weren&rsquo;t enough, the Sixers will play four sets of games on consecutive nights, with all eight contests on the road in eight different cities.
HAMLIN CELEBRATED&nbsp;
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1630375205490008066" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was in attendance</a>, sitting with 76ers owner Joshua Harris and Fanatics owner Michael Rubin. He was wearing a No. 3 Sixers jersey and received a nice ovation from the sellout crowd when introduced during a second quarter timeout.
UP NEXT
The teams play again at Miami on Wednesday night.

Jimmy Butler hit an acrobatic reverse layup in the final minutes, as the Miami Heat edged the Philadelphia 76ers 101-99 on Monday.

Jimmy Butler’s acrobatic layup, 23 points lead Heat past 76ers

Riding the momentum of a return to the NBA playoffs, the leaders of the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to further elevate a franchise long mired among the dregs of the league.
Tim Connelly is the first big catch. They're counting on more players to follow.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason these coastal cities have a leg up, but what you can help develop and help add credence and definition to is your culture and the organization and the wins and losses,&rdquo; said Connelly, who was formally introduced Tuesday as president of basketball operations after nine seasons in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-16f98c5297d23a083e6eb360043048ad">that role in Denver</a>. &ldquo;Hopefully word spreads that this is where you're going to come if you want to be treated right.&rdquo;
Connelly agreed last week to a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/">reported five-year, $40 million contract;</a> Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed it includes bonuses for team performance. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the process of incrementally purchasing the club for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-nba-baseball-glen-taylor-alex-rodriguez-7068cd7eecf8fbd07023255059fc8901">$1.5 billion</a> from Taylor, made it a priority to aggressively pursue one of the NBA's most accomplished and respected leaders.
&ldquo;We have full confidence and trust in Tim, and he&rsquo;s going to be empowered to build a first-class, world-class organization. Full stop,&rdquo; Lore said.
The 81-year-old Taylor initiated the sale in 2021 with the intention of staying on as sort of a mentor to the incoming owners, who plan to finish the purchase in 2023.
&ldquo;We feel like we&rsquo;ve made good decisions together as a group," Lore said. "We just feel really good about the partnership and where we&rsquo;ve been and where we&rsquo;re going.&rdquo;
Connelly left behind a Nuggets team who has the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">back-to-back NBA MVP</a>, Nikola Jokic, and a still-promising roster that went 48-34 in the regular season &mdash; two games ahead of the Timberwolves &mdash; without injured standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Connelly also had to uproot his young family.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t looking for this. It was such a unique opportunity that was presented to me. The last nine years for me have been the best nine years professionally I could have ever imagined,&rdquo; Connelly said. &ldquo;As you had those sleepless nights, it makes you dig even deeper internally, even more introspective, and ask yourself if it&rsquo;s something you want to do. It&rsquo;s a leap of faith, certainly.&rdquo;
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards emerging as elite players and Chris Finch drawing rave reviews for his guidance in his first full season as coach, the Timberwolves pushed No. 2 seed Memphis hard over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six games in the first round</a>.
Minnesota also became the first team in NBA history to lose multiple games in a series with double-digit fourth-quarter leads, doing so a staggering three times.
&ldquo;I hope that as we continue to build a winning foundation and develop, this is a place that you want to come to win,&rdquo; Connelly said. "It&rsquo;s not about the weather. It&rsquo;s not about having some of these flashier markets. You&rsquo;re going to come here to win, to be treated fairly and have a lot of fun.&rdquo;
Connelly has become the seventh person in nine years to oversee the basketball side, since Flip Saunders returned for his second run. When Saunders died of cancer in 2015, Milt Newton filled in for one season. Then Tom Thibodeau was handed the top job in the now-outdated dual role of head coach and lead executive.
After Thibodeau was fired midway through the 2018-19 season, his deputy, Scott Layden, was the interim replacement. Three years ago, Gersson Rosas was hired but after a sudden dismissal, Sachin Gupta was put in charge. He's expected to remain in the front office under Connelly.
Finch was an assistant with the Nuggets in 2016-17 before being hired away by New Orleans. Connelly called him &ldquo;Finchy&rdquo; throughout his news conference Tuesday &mdash; a sign of the relationship they've already built and the relative security Finch will have under the new boss.
&ldquo;He has great faith in us and what we&rsquo;re doing here, me in particular, and he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;He is first and foremost about people. Doesn&rsquo;t take himself too seriously. Fits right in with our culture.&rdquo;

Tim Connelly is the first big catch to elevate the Wolves. They're counting on more players to follow.

Connelly wants to push Timberwolves into NBA upper echelon

This past week, the Tampa Bay Pro Combine was held in Wesley Chapel, Florida, hosting 36 draft-eligible prospects, 24 of which had an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of NBA scouts. BasketballNews.com's Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock also serves as executive director of the combine.
Last year, Darryl Hepburn launched the inaugural Tampa Bay Pro Combine. The event proved to be a success as we saw four participants play in the NBA in their rookie seasons: Terry Taylor (Indiana Pacers), Brandon Williams (Portland Trail Blazers), Micah Potter (Detroit Pistons) and Jordan Goodwin (Washington Wizards).
Thanks to title sponsor Florida's Sports Coast, Adam Thomas and Consuelo Sanchez, the event returned for a second year with hopes of helping more players find success as they transition from college to the pros. Last Friday, we wrapped up the event. Here is a recap of the 2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine:
Arrival
Last year, we had nearly 50 players come to the Tampa Bay Pro Combine. However, we decided to change things this time around, bringing in a smaller group &mdash; 24 draft-eligible prospects &mdash; to participate in two days of simulated pre-draft workouts. Another big difference was that the workouts would be in front of NBA scouts and executives this year. We also welcomed 12 additional prospects to participate in some workouts and games. All in all, we had 36 players visit Tampa.&nbsp;
As we prepared our list of potential invites, we looked to put together a talented group of players with pro-potential, primarily fourth- and fifth-year seniors coming out of college who would be eligible for the 2022 NBA Draft. We targeted players from all over the country. We brought players to Tampa from various schools, including Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Houston, Kansas State, Kentucky, Oregon, Providence, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Washington State, West Virginia and more.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ready to get going - Let&rsquo;s run it. 🏀🏁<a href="https://twitter.com/deemintz1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@deemintz1</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/_davwarr3n?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_davwarr3n</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/BallForever_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BallForever_</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/fulkerson_john?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fulkerson_john</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/AbuKigab?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AbuKigab</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/JericoleHellems?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JericoleHellems</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/Mark_Smith_13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mark_Smith_13</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TampaBayProCombine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TampaBayProCombine</a> <a href="https://t.co/5z7XKUqMiS">pic.twitter.com/5z7XKUqMiS</a>
&mdash; Tampa Bay Pro Combine (@_TBPC) <a href="https://twitter.com/_TBPC/status/1518974087460184065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The players arrived throughout the day on April 25, and we arranged rides to our event hotel, the brand new Residence Inn in Wesley Chapel. We provided them with Adidas gear and had dinner before going to our rooms. A good night's sleep was in order as the next two days were important since the players would be showcasing their talents in front of NBA scouts. A lot was on the line!
NBA Sessions
The next day, April 26, NBA scouts from a wide variety of teams arrived at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus and sat along the sideline as trainers from Yo Murphy Performance warmed up the players for our first "NBA session." Shortly after, Coach Bob MacKinnon had the players and our staff huddle up, shouting out his signature "1, 2, 3&hellip; hard work!" before we broke off for the first workout.
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That day, the first group of six players started things off right. You could feel the intensity in the gym immediately. It was clear that the players and coaches were there with a purpose. After a series of shooting drills and skill work, MacKinnon directed the group as they transitioned into competitive play, starting with 1-on-1 and finishing with 3-on-3. I don't think there is any denying that the workout was challenging and competitive. The remaining groups matched the same level of competitiveness over the two days.

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As executive director of the Tampa Bay Pro Combine, I'm responsible for inviting the players and convincing them to come. All of the young men that came to Tampa trusted me when I told them that we were putting together a platform that would help them gain exposure as they pursued their dream of playing professional basketball. Being able to contribute to helping them get closer to accomplishing their goals is beyond rewarding for me.
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Many players helped themselves those first two days, including Michael Flowers from Washington State, Noah Horchler from Providence, Nate Johnson from Xavier and Davion Warren from Texas Tech, just to name a few.
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Three-Point Shootout
After a couple of intense days working out in front of NBA teams, we put together an optional workout on April 28, which was light, and then former NBA player Shelden Williams interviewed a number of the guys throughout the day for BasketballNews.com.
In the afternoon, we gave guys plenty of time to relax, with many of them even taking advantage of Tampa's beautiful weather by lounging at the pool of the Residence Inn and enjoying the sunshine. Later that night, we had some fun. The facility hosted a local high school All-Star game and had one of our players, Taze Moore from the University of Houston, do some dunks at halftime &mdash; he put on a show!
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To finish up the night, we held a Three-Point Shootout. The participants included Jalen Adaway (St. Bonaventure), Michael Flowers (Washington State), Noah Horchler (Providence), Nate Johnson (Xavier), Davion Mintz (Kentucky), and Cole VonHandorf (Fairmont State). Mintz started hot in the first round, but it wasn't enough as Flowers ultimately won the shootout.
Double-Header
Our last session on the court was on April 29, with some 5-on-5 play. We had three-time NBA champion and current BasketballNews.com writer and podcaster James Posey and former college standout player at Arizona and South Florida Jesus Verdejo coach the teams in both games.&nbsp;
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The first game was competitive from start to finish, ultimately seeing Team 1 win over Team 2, 100-92. Davion Mintz and Davion Warren led Team 2 in scoring with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Team 1's Amadou Sow won game MVP, scoring 26 points and grabbing an impressive 12 rebounds.
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Team 3 started fast on Team 4 in the second game, leading 26-11 after the first quarter. Kalob Ledoux and Ronaldo Segu led Team 4 in scoring, with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Meanwhile, West Virginia's Malik Curry scored 24 points, earning himself MVP honors.
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Thank You, and Good Luck
To cap off the week, our title sponsor, Florida's Sports Coast, and their manager, Consuelo Sanchez, hosted our entire group at Chuck Lager in Wesley Chapel for dinner to celebrate the successful week before everyone flew back home the following day.
That's another year in the books for the Tampa Bay Pro Combine. As our players set out to make the next steps in the pre-draft process and their respective careers, I'd like to wish everyone the best and thank them for allowing us to play a small part in their journey. Thank you to all of our staff and partners who worked so hard to make this past week happen!
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BasketballNews.com's Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock shares an outlined recap of the 2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine.

Recapping the 2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine

Following last year's inaugural Tampa Bay Pro Combine, several participants &mdash; including Terry Taylor, Brandon Williams, Micah Potter and Jordan Goodwin &mdash; turned their dreams into reality by signing deals and playing in the NBA in their rookie season.
Now, the Tampa Bay Pro Combine is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/tampa-bay-pro-combine-returns-with-24-nba-draft-prospects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">back for another year</a>, and our new group of participants is looking to find the same level of success. The TBPC will be held from April 26 to April 29 at Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
We are providing 24 draft-eligible prospects an opportunity to audition in front of NBA scouts, compete in a slam-dunk contest and three-point shootout on April 28, and play in a doubleheader on April 29.
NBA scouts and personnel will be allowed to attend workouts on April 26 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST and April 27 from 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EST.
Here is the list of participants:
Alex Barcello, BYU
Evan Battey, Colorado
Luka Brajkovic, Davidson
Savion Flagg, Sam Houston State
Michael Flowers, Washington State
John Fulkerson, Tennessee
John Harrar, Penn State
Noah Horchler, Providence
Nate Johnson, Xavier
Abu Kigab, Boise State
Kimani Lawrence, Arizona State
Kalob Ledoux, Santa Cruz Warriors
Davion Mintz, Kentucky
Taze Moore, Houston
Justyn Mutts, Virginia Tech
Tyler Polley, UConn
Taz Sherman, West Virginia
Jaylen Sims, UNC Wilmington
Mark Smith, Kansas State
Amadou Sow, UC Santa Barbara
Au'Diese Toney, Arkansas
Davion Warren, Texas Tech
Marcus Weathers, SMU
Jacob Young, Oregon
In addition to the 24 invitees, we will also be welcoming 12 additional draft-eligible prospects who will participate in workouts and games. Our video partner, <a href="https://event.veo.co/">Veo</a>, will record the action and distribute it via BasketballNews.com's YouTube channel, and <a href="https://instatsport.com/basketball">InStat</a> will also provide video and data from the event.
The 2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine is presented by Florida's Sports Coast.

The 2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine will be held from April 26 to April 29 at Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

2022 Tampa Bay Pro Combine announces list of participants

Led by Fabian White Jr.&rsquo;s 21 point outing, the No. 14 Cougars strengthened their position in the American Conference with a 75-61 win over Southern Methodist. White led all players in scoring while Kendric Davis had a solid game for SMU with 19 points.
SMU (20-7, 11-4 AAC) came into this game as the &ldquo;First Team Out&rsquo; in the latest Bracketology update. Ranked No. 56 in Adjusted Efficiency, the Davis-led Mustangs have climbed their way to No. 2 in the conference. The win against Memphis gave a bit of breathing room from the third spot, but they keep their eye on a top-two seed in the conference tournament.&nbsp;
The Cougars (24-4, 13-2 AAC) entered this one ranked No. 14 nationally thanks to their tremendous efficiency, No. 7 in the nation. After losing to Memphis and this same SMU team earlier this month, they bounced back with three wins in a row. Kyler Edwards and co. need to stay on track down the stretch and in the AAC Tournament if they want to contend for a top-four seed in March.
After an even start, Houston imposed its will for the next 10 minutes of action, grabbing a lead of 27-10 after a 23-6 run. It was a team effort during the run, with buckets coming from numerous Cougars.&nbsp;
The team took a 37-22 lead into the break, with SMU&rsquo;s Davis leading all players with 10 points. Josh Carlton and Edwards each had 8 points to lead the Cougars. Jamal Shead had only 4 points in the first period, but provided 7 assists and 2 steals.&nbsp;
SMU was able to trim the lead in the second half, cutting it to 48-40. An 8-0 run from Houston a few minutes latter re-extended the lead to 63-42, and the Cougars never looked back. With the 75-61 win, barring a total collapse, Houston should roll into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Carlton ended with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Taze Moore scored 11 points and Shead ended with 11 assists for the Cougars. Micheal Weathers posted 11 points while his brother, Marcus, scored 8 for the Mustangs.&nbsp;
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UPCOMING
Houston hosts Cincinnati on Tuesday night.&nbsp;
SMU hosts Cincinnati on Thursday evening.&nbsp;

The No. 14 Houston Cougars strengthened their conference position with a 75-61 win over Southern Methodist.

No. 14 Houston takes care of business, beats SMU 75-61

Nikola Jokic kept the Denver Nuggets from blowing another game with a history-making performance.
He had 26 points and 22 rebounds, rallying Denver past the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100 on Sunday night after the Nuggets wasted a 17-point lead.
Jokic also had eight assists, becoming the first player to record 25-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and five-plus assists in consecutive games since Charles Barkley in 1988.
The Nuggets led by 19 points against Charlotte in their previous game at home and lost just before Christmas. It made for a tough holiday at coach Michael Malone's house.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t very much fun to be around. I was kind of a scrooge,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I apologized to my wife, my daughters and my dogs.&rdquo;
Jokic had 29 points, 21 rebounds and five assists in the Charlotte defeat. For a while Sunday, it looked as if the Nuggets would give away another one, this time on the road.
Luke Kennard almost made it happen. He came off the bench from foul trouble and hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 19 seconds remaining that got the Clippers to 101-100.
&ldquo;It was a little bit of an adventure there at the end,&rdquo; Malone said.
Jokic was trying to catch an inbounds pass when he got fouled by Eric Bledsoe, sending them both crashing into the Clippers bench. Jokic made both free throws to extend the Nuggets' lead to three.
Brandon Boston Jr. took the Clippers&rsquo; final shot under heavy pressure from Davon Reed, but his potential tying 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer. Reed just signed a second 10-day contract with Denver.
Boston and Bledsoe led the Clippers with 18 points apiece. Bledsoe had 10 assists. Ivica Zubac had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Clippers were playing without Paul George, who is sidelined for up to a month with an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow. They lost for the fourth time in five games.
&ldquo;We're missing our best closer,&rdquo; Terance Mann said. &ldquo;We got to a close game and nearly stole it.&rdquo;
After scoring just five points in the third, Jokic scored nine in the fourth in addition to pulling down seven rebounds.
Will Barton added 17 points for Denver, which snapped a two-game skid.
&ldquo;We needed this one,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;We responded the way we needed to, getting stops, sharing the ball.&rdquo;
Jokic helped the Nuggets tie the game at 93-all in the fourth. He fed Barton for the tying jumper after scoring on a hook shot and hitting a pair of free throws. Jokic's 3-pointer gave Denver its first lead of the fourth, 96-94.
The Clippers erased a 17-point deficit in the third. They got outscored 10-2 to open the quarter, then closed on a 26-5 run to lead 83-79 going into the fourth.
Four reserves helped key the spurt, with Boston and Serge Ibaka hitting 3-pointers and Amir Coffey scoring on a drive. Bledsoe added seven points.
&ldquo;Our guys did a good job and we were in position to win the game,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;I was happy and pleased with the way our young guys played.&rdquo;
Monte Morris scored all five Denver points. The Clippers' defense denied Jokic around the rim, leading to transition baskets for them on the offensive end.
&ldquo;We built a 17-point lead and then all of a sudden everything changed," Malone said. &ldquo;The Clippers became very aggressive, they got out and ran and had us on our heels. To weather that storm and stay together was great to see.&rdquo;
A total of four players were out because of health and safety protocols, including Clippers starter Reggie Jackson. Fellow starter Marcus Morris exited protocols before the game, but remains out while he goes through reconditioning. Denver's Michael Porter Jr. and Bol Bol were in protocols.
HE SAID IT
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost become normal and it&rsquo;s scary because you don&rsquo;t really want this to be what normal is.&rdquo; &mdash; Malone on the COVID-19 absences plaguing the league.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Jokic now has six games of 20-plus points and 20-plus rebounds, the most in team history since Denver joined the NBA in 1976-77. The previous record of five was held by Marcus Camby. ... They got back to .500 at 16-16. ... They traveled without six players.
Clippers: George complained of soreness in his elbow after Wednesday's win at Sacramento and had an MRI, which revealed the ligament tear. ... Backup big man Isaiah Hartenstein missed his second straight game with a left ankle sprain. ... Signed Xavier Moon to a 10-day contract under the league's COVID-related hardship allowance.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: At Golden State on Tuesday.
Clippers: Host Brooklyn on Monday to complete a back-to-back.

Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 22 rebounds, rallying Denver past the Clippers on Sunday night after the Nuggets wasted a 17-point lead.

Jokic has 26 points, 22 rebounds, leads Denver past Clippers

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Miami Heat said 19,600 fans attended their home game Monday night.
At least two of them left happy.
Nikola Jokic &mdash; with his two brothers behind the Denver bench &mdash; returned and scored 24 points, Aaron Gordon added 20 and the Nuggets snapped their longest losing streak in nearly six years by beating the short-handed Heat 120-111 on Monday night.
&ldquo;That's behind us," Jokic said. &ldquo;We need to move on to the future. We won the game and that's the most important thing."
Bones Hyland returned from injury to score 19 and Will Barton added 14 for the Nuggets, who had dropped six straight. Jokic hadn&rsquo;t played in the last four of those because of a wrist injury but finished with 15 rebounds and seven assists.
&ldquo;I shot the lights out of the ball," Hyland said after going 5 for 8 from 3-point range.
Denver shot 58% on the day that it was revealed <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-michael-porter-jr-jamal-murray-nikola-jokic-fe7764c78e82b3ee90e360cc6b0d5dba">Michael Porter Jr. will need back surgery.</a> Porter has been limited to only nine games this season.
Bam Adebayo finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which was without its two leading scorers &mdash; Jimmy Butler was out with a bruised tailbone, and Tyler Herro missed the game with what the Heat called general body soreness. Adebayo had 15 of his points in the third quarter.
&ldquo;Our defense is better than that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I think they played extremely well. And in those pivotal moments in the course of the game, it seemed like they made every shot, every play."
Max Strus scored 19 points and Caleb Martin added 18 for the Heat, which got 17 points and 14 assists from Kyle Lowry.
It was the first meeting of the teams since the dustup between Jokic and Miami&rsquo;s Markieff Morris on Nov. 8. Morris committed a hard take foul that the Nuggets felt was overzealous; Jokic responded with a shove into Morris&rsquo; back. Morris has now missed 11 games with what the Heat have described as a neck injury.
Jokic said he hasn't talked to Morris since. Heat fans booed Jokic every time he touched the ball, and the reigning MVP didn't seem to mind.
&ldquo;I played in Serbia, brother," Jokic said.
Jokic&rsquo;s brothers &mdash; Strahinja and Nemanja &mdash; got into a Twitter jousting with Markieff Morris&rsquo; twin brother, Marcus Morris. The Jokic brothers, who have drawn attention for their reactions to certain plays in the past, were in Miami for Monday&rsquo;s game, seated just behind the Denver bench.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re coming down here because this is Miami and I know for a fact every year they&rsquo;ve been able to come, non-COVID, they&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s not to cause trouble. That&rsquo;s just to support their brother, which they always do.&rdquo;
There was no fight in this one. It was only basketball, and fairly one-sided for most of the night.
A 12-0 run by the Nuggets in the second quarter &mdash; with Miami missing 10 consecutive shots &mdash; put Denver up 50-35. The lead was 63-43 by halftime, the biggest deficit that the Heat faced at intermission so far this season.
The only time Denver's lead dipped into single figures after halftime came when 0.9 seconds left, when Gabe Vincent made a 3-pointer on the game's final shot.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Malone used a challenge just 2:05 into the game, with good reason. It overturned an offensive foul, which would have been Barton&rsquo;s second personal, and got Denver two points. ... The Nuggets are 4-0 when Hyland scores in double figures.
Heat: Miami is 0-4 in games where it trails by double digits at halftime, 13-4 in all other games. ... Adebayo&rsquo;s high for a quarter is 19, set on Nov. 11 in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers.
TRIBUTE
Heat forward P.J. Tucker, a fashion aficionado and shoe collector, paid tribute to fashion designer Virgil Abloh with his sneakers on Monday. &ldquo;Virgil will always be with us,&rdquo; Tucker scrawled on his game sneakers in honor of Abloh, whose death was announced Sunday.
WEATHER QUIRK
Here&rsquo;s a meteorological oddity for late November: About 90 minutes before game time, it was 68 degrees in Denver &mdash; one degree warmer than it was in typically balmy Miami. Things should be closer to normal in both cities by week&rsquo;s end, with Saturday&rsquo;s high in Miami expected to be in the low 80s and the high in Denver likely to hover in the low 50s.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Visit Orlando on Wednesday.
Heat: Host Cleveland on Wednesday.

Nikola Jokic — with his two brothers behind the Denver bench — returned and scored 24 points to lead the Nuggets.

Jokic gets 24 in return, Nuggets top Heat to snap 6-game slide

Many of the stars who have shined during the 2021 NBA Playoffs were influenced by Kobe Bryant in one way or another.

Kobe Bryant's fingerprints are all over the 2021 NBA Playoffs

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic's sidekick in last year's playoffs was Jamal Murray. This year, it'll be Michael Porter Jr.
The small forward averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds in a breakout season while helping the Denver Nuggets overcome a bundle of injuries, most notably <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-denver-nuggets-denver-miami-heat-jamal-murray-61e087f3aef047e2cd18d5dbb6f11ca7">Murray's season-ending ACL tear</a> last month.
&ldquo;Michael's going to be ultra important for us on both ends of the floor. He's got to be that second scoring option for us,&rdquo; said coach Michael Malone, whose team opens its best-of-seven series against Portland on Saturday night.
"He was really important for our postseason run last year and I have no doubt that he's up for the challenge this year.&rdquo;
Porter, who missed his rookie season in 2018-19 because of a back injury that limited him to three games at Missouri, earned Malone's trust by ratcheting up his game when play resumed in the bubble at Walt Disney World last season.
Porter was working his way through defensive deficiencies and averaging 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench before play was suspended because of the coronavirus.
&ldquo;We went down to Orlando, we didn't have anybody, we had all bigs, and Michael got a tremendous chance to play in the eight seeding games," said Malone.
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Porter was named to the All-Bubble Second Team after averaging 22 points and 8.6 assists in Denver&rsquo;s eight seeding games.
&ldquo;I think that allowed Michael to get confidence in himself, but also his teammates, the coaching staff to say, &lsquo;OK, you know what? We can throw more at this kid and he&rsquo;s more than ready to take it and run with it,'&rdquo; Malone said.
&ldquo;And that translated into the postseason,&rdquo; where Porter averaged 11.4 points and 6.7 boards in a prelude to his breakout season.
Malone said he wondered whether the Nuggets could win half of their remaining 18 games after Murray, who averaged 31 points in last year's playoffs, got hurt on April 12.
&ldquo;How are we going to weather the storm?&rdquo; Malone said.
&ldquo;And Michael continued to step up his game even more, allowing us to go 13-5 down the stretch."
Porter did this despite drawing extra attention from opponents.
With Murray and Jokic on the court, Porter often got the ball for wide-open 3s or uncontested drives. But &ldquo;when you're the focal point of a team's scouting report, you've got to really use your head to get shots," Porter said.
And rebounds &mdash; playing more on the wing than &ldquo;just chillin' in the corner&rdquo; makes it harder to crash the boards.
Porter is still stuffing the stat sheet, however, and continuing to round out his game, which now includes some bona fide defensive pluck.
And he's eager to take this heavier role into the postseason.
&ldquo;I have more responsibility on my shoulders and I'm welcoming it,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;I'm embracing it. It's where I wanted to be, progressing, taking a jump.
"I want to take a jump every year. I'm never going to be content. So, I'm embracing it and I'm excited to see what teams throw at me and how I'm going to overcome.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The forward averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds in a breakout season while helping the Denver Nuggets overcome several injuries.

Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. embraces bigger role in playoffs

R.J. Hampton has had an eventful rookie season.&nbsp;
On draft night, the 19-year-old was selected No. 24 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, but his rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets as part of a four-team deal.&nbsp;
Coming off of a Western Conference Finals trip, the veteran-laden Nuggets played Hampton just 9.3 minutes per game over 25 contests. Despite the lack of playing time, he made the most of his minutes and tried to learn from vets like Jamal Murray, Will Barton and Gary Harris. Due to the condensed schedule, practice time is very limited, which further complicated matters.
In March, Hampton was traded to the Orlando Magic as part of a package for Aaron Gordon. While he was surprised by the move, he was excited to join Orlando&rsquo;s young core and receive more playing time. Since the trade, Hampton has averaged 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 24.8 minutes per game. 
BasketballNews.com caught up with Hampton to talk about his rookie experience, the midseason trade, his development, the 2020 draft class and much more.
This is such a unique season, so what&rsquo;s it like being a rookie during a year like this?
R.J. Hampton: "It&rsquo;s definitely been a little weird, having to go through a rookie season where there&rsquo;s COVID and having to go through a rookie season where you get traded in the middle of the season, it&rsquo;s definitely been challenging. But you just try to stay the course and keep working. Like I said, it&rsquo;s definitely been challenging, but I think I&rsquo;ve persevered through it pretty well."
You spent last year playing professionally in New Zealand rather than playing college basketball. How did that impact you, and do you think you were more prepared for your rookie year than players who went the college route?
Hampton: &ldquo;Yeah, I definitely feel like it prepared me more than some other players who went to college. With the things that I&rsquo;ve been through this year, I feel like the things I went through last year kind of helped me mature and prepare for a COVID season, and helped me prepare for getting traded -- just with the maturity aspect, [knowing to] continue working and to block out those other distractions.&rdquo;&nbsp;
I think we&rsquo;re going to see more and more players take a non-traditional route to the NBA, whether that&rsquo;s overseas or the G League professional path. What advice would you give to players who take the same route that you did?
Hampton: &ldquo;Probably my biggest advice is just to stay about your business. It&rsquo;s very easy to get caught up in distractions when you&rsquo;re a teenager or a kid and you&rsquo;re getting a little bit of money and a little bit of fame. Stay the course. Keep those distractions out and keep your work first. Time will tell what kind of player you are, but do those things and I think you&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;
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How much do you feel you&rsquo;ve improved from the start of the season to now?
Hampton: &ldquo;I think I improved a lot. Coming from Denver and playing with those guys in practice every day -- playing against Gary Harris, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. -- I think that prepared me for the time that I&rsquo;m playing now with Orlando. And learning from those guys as well. Now, I&rsquo;m getting an opportunity to play, but I think throughout my whole season, I&rsquo;ve progressed a little bit day-by-day and just gotten better over the course of these months.&rdquo;
This is a clich&eacute; question, but did you have a welcome-to-the-NBA moment?
Hampton: &ldquo;Hmm, a welcome-to-the-NBA moment&hellip; I don&rsquo;t know. When I was in Denver, I probably had a welcome-to-the-NBA moment every time I played. And now, it&rsquo;s the same thing in Orlando; I pretty much guard one of the best players -- if not the best player -- every game that I play. I would probably say maybe [facing] Carmelo [Anthony] with Portland. I think he got me on, like, two fakes, but then I ripped him on one play. I just remember stealing the ball from him and running down the court, and as the ball is in my hands, I&rsquo;m thinking, &lsquo;As soon as I get out of the game, I&rsquo;m going back home to tell my friends that I ripped Carmelo!&rdquo;&nbsp;
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They told us our class was trash😂 <a href="https://t.co/DOw57Eg6F4">https://t.co/DOw57Eg6F4</a>
&mdash; Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) <a href="https://twitter.com/TyHaliburton22/status/1390146725806055432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Tyrese Haliburton had a great tweet about how people said this draft class was &ldquo;trash,&rdquo; yet we&rsquo;ve seen a lot of really talented rookies step up this season. Do you feel that this class is already proving the doubters wrong and showing what you guys can do?
Hampton: &ldquo;Yeah, and Tyrese is exactly right. Certain people who talk don&rsquo;t really know basketball, so they just want to say anything to have it out there that, &lsquo;Oh, the 2020 draft class is a bad class. It&rsquo;s not going to be a great class.&rsquo; Now you see, throughout this whole season, that there are a lot of stars-in-the-making here; obviously, you&rsquo;ve got Tyrese, you&rsquo;ve got James Wiseman, you&rsquo;ve got Melo [Ball], you&rsquo;ve got Ant [Edwards], you&rsquo;ve got Saddiq Bey, you&rsquo;ve got Immanuel Quickley, Tyrese Maxey, Cole [Anthony]... There are so many guys that have star potential and that have helped their teams significantly, in a big way, this year. So, that statement is always going to be funny to me.&rdquo;
When the trade happened, where were you and how did you find out about it?
Hampton: &ldquo;I was on the bus with Denver; we were on the bus to go to New Orleans. We were all sitting on the bus, me and all of my teammates, about to get on the plane. Then, the GM [Calvin Booth] and president of the team [Tim Connelly] came back and told me and Gary [Harris] that we were getting traded, so that&rsquo;s how I found out. We got off the bus, said bye to our teammates and coaches and staff. I think we were in Tampa at the time; we went back to the hotel and chilled out for a little bit, and then we were in a car on the way to Orlando in like an hour.&rdquo;
As you mentioned, getting traded midseason isn&rsquo;t something you expect as a rookie. Were you surprised by the trade? And how did you process it?
Hampton: &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t, like, surprised or blindsided by the move; I had seen my name in certain [rumors] the week before it happened. I was happy. I was happy that Denver was getting a piece that they felt like they needed to be a championship contender, and I was happy to be able to play. That was the biggest thing for me; I wanted to play. I didn&rsquo;t care where I played at, who I played for, who I played with -- I just wanted to experience playing in the NBA. I felt like, when I got traded, that was a really good opportunity for me.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Every NBA situation is different. In Denver, you were on a playoff team with a bunch of veterans. In Orlando, it&rsquo;s a younger team, but you&rsquo;re playing more and getting twice as many shot attempts. What are the biggest differences between the two situations, and what are the pros and cons of each?
Hampton: &ldquo;I definitely think the pros in Denver were learning from such great teammates -- great guys that I had like Jamal, Gary, Will Barton and Mike. I was playing against those guys and getting that experience and learning by watching them. Obviously, one of the cons for me was not playing. But then you come to Orlando and you have guys that young and you get that experience by actually playing now. I don&rsquo;t think there are really any cons for me in Orlando; this is what I wanted. I wanted to be on a team where I could play and grow and help my team get wins. Those were the biggest pros and cons, and differences.&rdquo;
How excited are you about this young core in Orlando and what this group could be in the future?
Hampton: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited. We have a great group of guys here and a lot of young talent. And we still don&rsquo;t even have J.I. [Jonathan Isaac] or Markelle [Fultz] back, so that&rsquo;s really scary to think about -- pairing them with me, Cole, Mo [Bamba], Wendell [Carter Jr.] and the veteran guys like Gary. I definitely think that the future in Orlando is bright. Every team that&rsquo;s been good has taken time. I think we&rsquo;re putting the right pieces together and we just have to make progress now.&rdquo;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/hampton_4_lg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="375" />
What is the ceiling for this current Magic team?
Hampton: &ldquo;I think the sky's the limit for this group. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve seen a team that&rsquo;s this young with so much talent and potential. We have guys who have barely turned 23 who are playing 30 minutes per game. I just turned 20 and I&rsquo;m playing around 30 minutes per game. Cole is 20, Markelle is still very young, Mo is still very young. There&rsquo;s so much talent around all of us that I don&rsquo;t think you can put a cap on our ceiling.&rdquo;
You mentioned that you just turned 20 years old, which is wild. To have that much success at such a young age, what kind of sacrifices did you have to make? And did you have to grow up and mature quickly?
Hampton: "I mean, the biggest thing for me is that I had two really strong parents that I&rsquo;m very thankful for, and they always kept me grounded. They always knew what I wanted to do because I told them from the day that I first touched a basketball that I wanted to be in the NBA, so they never let me let that dream down. Having them in my corner and having them pushing me and keeping me on course was big for me. But, like you said, sacrifices are something that you have to make in order to get where you want to go, and I did that for 19 years of my life to get to the NBA. And now that I&rsquo;m here, I have to make all new sacrifices to get to where I want to go in the league.&rdquo;
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What&rsquo;s been your first impression of Orlando over the last two months?
Hampton: &ldquo;I like Orlando. I&rsquo;ve been to Orlando many times in my life, and I definitely like the city. The weather is nice and I like the housing. With the fans, you can really tell that they want to see Orlando win, and they&rsquo;ve wanted to see Orlando win for a long time. So when we do get wins, it&rsquo;s great and they can see our progress game-by-game. Right now, I think we&rsquo;re in that stage where we&rsquo;re rebuilding, but I think once we&rsquo;re finally done rebuilding, we&rsquo;ll be a top team and a contender and it&rsquo;ll be so much better.&rdquo;
With the condensed schedule and limited practice time, has it been tougher to get acclimated with your new teammates? And how is that process going?
Hampton: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely different. You don&rsquo;t practice pretty much at all because of the game schedule. But I think the one thing that we&rsquo;ve done well in Orlando -- and we did it well in Denver, too -- is we just go out and play hard. I think that makes up for [a lack of] practice time and chemistry. If you can play hard and play together, [you&rsquo;ll be fine]. That&rsquo;s the biggest thing we did in Denver and, now, in Orlando. We&rsquo;re starting to jell and play really well off of each other, and we&rsquo;re playing hard. Those things make up for practice time, but it&rsquo;s definitely been weird not having those structured practices and things we can build off of.&rdquo;
I&rsquo;ve heard some coaches say that because there aren&rsquo;t many practices, there&rsquo;s an even bigger emphasis on film study. Who are some players that you study?
Hampton: &ldquo;I watch the guys that I feel like I can try to model my game after, the guys I kinda want to play like in the future. The main guys that I watch are Russell Westbrook and Zach LaVine and Jamal Murray. Those are the guys that I watch consistently, on a day-to-day basis.&rdquo;
When Jamal tore his ACL, you were already on the Magic. But you mentioned that he was one of the veterans who helped you and that you study his game, so what was your reaction when that happened?
Hampton: &ldquo;It was definitely a tough situation; I was super down, super sad. Coming off of a season like he had in the bubble and then in the last month before he got hurt, he was just tearing it up, so it was just sad to see. But I&rsquo;m super close with Jamal, and people who are close with Jamal know that this isn&rsquo;t really a setback; this is just gonna make him work harder. I talked to him and he said that he misses playing basketball, but he&rsquo;s rehabbing and getting right. So, he&rsquo;ll be back in no time, and he&rsquo;ll keep showing the world who Jamal Murray is.&rdquo;
What advice would you give to next year&rsquo;s rookie class?&nbsp;
Hampton: &ldquo;I think the biggest thing I would tell them is: Be humble. You never know what&rsquo;s going to happen. Whether you&rsquo;re the No. 1 pick or the No. 30 pick, you never know what your situation is, you never know what type of thing this league is going to put you through. This is a very hard league, a very long league. It&rsquo;s tough, it&rsquo;s grimy. So, just be humble and stay the course. You see someone like James Wiseman, who was the No. 2 overall pick, and he&rsquo;s missed a significant amount of time. Nobody thought he would miss that time, but that&rsquo;s what comes with the league, that&rsquo;s what comes with playing basketball at such a high level; there are injuries. But then, you have guys who were second-round picks that have gotten an opportunity to play at a high level this year; for instance, Kenyon Martin Jr. plays a significant amount of minutes for Houston and he was picked in the 50s. So I would say to the rookie class: Always keep your eyes peeled, keep your eyes open, because you never know what this league is going to bring you. But just continue to work hard.&rdquo;

R.J. Hampton talks to Alex Kennedy about his rookie season, getting traded from the Nuggets to the Magic, his development and more.

Magic's R.J. Hampton Q&A: 'I don’t think you can put a cap on our ceiling'

Already a triple-double threat on the floor, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic is prepared to raise his game in yet another category &mdash; leadership.
Anything to help out after losing point guard and vocal leader Jamal Murray for the season due to a torn ACL in his left knee.
Jokic's first decree to his teammates: Concentrate on the task at hand. Because nothing changes, even if the odds may say so.
The Nuggets&rsquo; stock as a contender in the Western Conference took a hit in the wake of Murray&rsquo;s knee injury. Once +1400 favorites to win the West, the Nuggets are now +1600, according to <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/sports">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>. They were a +1400 bet to capture their first NBA title, too, only to slip to +3000.
Go ahead and count them out, Jokic said. They relish this sort of role.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been an underdog my whole life,&rdquo; Jokic said after a 123-106 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday in their first game after Murray tore his ACL. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m kind of used to it. It&rsquo;s a normal position for me.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to miss (Murray) as a team. He&rsquo;s a big part of our team. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean we&rsquo;re going to quit.&rdquo;
This was a Nuggets squad riding high after trading for athletic forward Aaron Gordon in late March. They were clicking on all cylinders, too, rattling off eight straight wins and looking every bit like a force in the West.
Then, a home loss to Boston in which they were outscored 31-8 in the fourth quarter. No big deal, the Nuggets had Murray about to return at Golden State on Monday after missing four games with a sore right knee.
Late in the loss to the Warriors, Murray tried to elevate off his left leg as he drove to the basket, crumpled to the floor in pain and grabbed his knee.
There went any chance of a deep playoff run, right?
&ldquo;Whoever says that, that&rsquo;s them,&rdquo; said Nuggets forward and 3-point threat Michael Porter Jr., whose team plays in Houston on Friday night. &ldquo;We never pay attention to them in the first place. We pay attention to what we believe. That&rsquo;s it. ... The goal is the same. I think we still have the talent to do it.&rdquo;
It all centers around Jokic, the do-everything 7-footer who's inserted himself in the MVP conversation by averaging 26 points, 10.9 rebounds and 8.8 assists.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got to be the guy that rights the ship and puts the team on his back, because that&rsquo;s what MVPs do," coach Michael Malone said. &ldquo;Nikola, because he&rsquo;s that great of a player and has that leadership quality within him, I expect him to understand that and start handling these situations in a manner he&rsquo;s shown many times before.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a terrific opportunity to handle a really difficult situation &mdash; for Nikola and all of his teammates. It&rsquo;s not just on him.&rdquo;
Malone reiterated the point over and over: point guard Monte Morris doesn&rsquo;t need to turn into Murray, who averaged 21.2 points and 4.8 assists. Morris only needs to be himself.
Same goes for backups Facundo Campazzo and PJ Dozier. Simply be themselves.
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go out there and try to be something you&rsquo;re not. Be true to yourself and just bring it every single night,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Play hard, compete, play with discipline, play with effort and play on both ends of the floor. If they do that, we&rsquo;ll have a chance to weather the storm without Jamal.&rdquo;
Jokic was impressed with the way the Nuggets played in a bounce-back win over the Heat. They outrebounded the Heat by a 43-30 margin, dished out 32 assists and had six different players score 10 or more points.
That's the sort of effort that may garner national attention again.
Or maybe not.
&ldquo;No one ever gives us a chance and we&rsquo;re fine with that. I think we kind of thrive in that element,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re underdogs. If they want to talk about all of the other teams, let them talk about them."
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

“We’re going to miss (Murray) as a team. He’s a big part of our team. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to quit," said Nikola Jokic.

Nuggets confident they can still go deep in playoffs minus Murray

Gingerly, the usually nimble-footed king raised his right arm as he jogged up the floor. His gait a tad off, he dialed back before settling into a home-run trot.
His ankle throbbing, LeBron James decided he couldn&rsquo;t wait any longer. Committing an intentional foul, he abandoned the stage at Staples Center, stepped into the shadows, limped into the tunnel and scurried into the locker room. We haven&rsquo;t seen him take the floor since.
The Lakers have predictably struggled since then. They would go on to lose to the Atlanta Hawks on that night, and have since won just four of their 10 contests.
Though unfortunate for the Lakers, if we are to make anything of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNau5JOhTwb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thursday evening&rsquo;s Instagram post from James</a>, it&rsquo;s this: the four-to-six-week timetable for his return may qualify as overly conservative.
That the league is in the midst of Most Valuable Player race that is as wide-open as we&rsquo;ve seen in quite some time could reasonably lead one to believe that James realizes the Lakers need him and perhaps senses that a fifth MVP award is there for the taking.
One can&rsquo;t help but wonder whether the thought has crossed his mind.
"The weatherman says the weather is changing soon and it predicts a thunderstorm is coming," James wrote on Instagram. 
"Folks prepare and take the proper caution measures to stay safe."
Take from that what you will.
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If you ever get someone who's close to James alone in a room, you might be fortunate enough to get them to tell you something that few know &mdash; his desire to make history is insatiable. To LeBron, being universally considered the &ldquo;G.O.A.T.&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t his focus, and it hasn&rsquo;t been for a long time. He can&rsquo;t beat Michael Jordan in an NBA Finals, and he can&rsquo;t dunk on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There are many who see the LeBron James glass as half-empty, and always will. He&rsquo;s long ceased to care about those opinions.
But at this point in his career, there continue to be things that motivate him. He&rsquo;s already become the first player in NBA history to win NBA Finals MVP for three different teams, and entering play on April 8, he is about 3,100 points behind Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Although missed games will diminish his chances, James understands his place in history and the opportunity that he has to catch The Captain.
It motivates him, much in the same way that the unfathomable feat of one day sharing an NBA court with his son does. Until recently, James has publicly avoided putting any pressure on 16-year-old Bronny to be good enough to even make it to the NBA, much less to suit up alongside him. But as the years have progressed, so has James&rsquo; willingness to make an admission.
"That's definitely one of my goals, but that's a long-term goal,&rdquo; James <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkG_Medina/status/1368784478420627457?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said about that prospect</a> in March, even admitting that it would be a &ldquo;cool thing&rdquo; for his resume and legacy.
What it all means is something quite simple: LeBron is keeping score, and he has been for a long, long time.
Wanna ruffle The King&rsquo;s feathers? Just ask about him the fact that he&rsquo;s &ldquo;only&rdquo; won the MVP award four times. Many close to James will tell you that he feels like he should&rsquo;ve won the award twice as many times as he has. And he hasn&rsquo;t exactly kept those feelings to himself over the years.
As recently as last September, James admitted that he was &ldquo;pissed&rdquo; to have received only 16 first-place votes as Giannis Antetokounmpo took the award home for the second consecutive year, and pointed out that he&rsquo;s finished second in the MVP vote four times.
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"It pissed me off." &mdash;LeBron on this year's MVP voting <a href="https://t.co/K2qTY2QaRS">pic.twitter.com/K2qTY2QaRS</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1307172852395892737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2020</a></blockquote>

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Abdul-Jabbar is the only player to have won MVP six times, with Jordan and Bill Russell being the only five-time winners. James and Wilt Chamberlain have each won the award four times, but it&rsquo;s pretty obvious that LeBron thinks that he should be the G.O.A.T. -- at least when it comes to taking home that trophy.
Sure, there are many who will rightfully point out that the Lakers&rsquo; quest for an 18th championship and James&rsquo; pursuit of his fifth ring should trump any personal aspiration around his wishes for additional accolades... But why choose if you could have both?
The Lakers are understandably being conservative with James and Anthony Davis, but the truth is that the team&rsquo;s chances of coming out of the Western Conference this season will be just as much about who they play as it will be about how healthy they are. And while the final standings probably won&rsquo;t be determined until the final night of the regular season, one doesn&rsquo;t need to be a math wiz to figure out that James playing means more wins for the Lakers, and thus, a higher seed and a more favorable bracket.
It just so might mean another shot to abscond with an MVP award that's ripe for pilfer.
This season, more than any other in recent memory, the race for MVP has been like watching a group of 9-year-old children play musical chairs.
Kevin Durant, James Harden and Joel Embiid have each seen their candidacies hurt by injuries after they appeared to move out front, and you get the feeling that the voting media simply won&rsquo;t give Antetokounmpo the honor of being the first player since Larry Bird to win the award three consecutive years &ndash; not while the Milwaukee Bucks are perceived to be underachieving, anyway.
Donovan Mitchell and his Utah Jazz are inexplicably being ignored, while Nikola Jokic&rsquo;s absurd numbers and efficiency are really only just now getting some recognition. When it comes to Most Valuable Players, one would be hard-pressed to argue that Chris Paul doesn&rsquo;t belong in the conversation, so he will probably peel off a vote or two, even though his individual numbers aren&rsquo;t spectacular by his standards.
Where that has left us is with an MVP race that&rsquo;s as wide-open as we&rsquo;ve seen in some time, a Lakers team that could benefit from a few more wins, a LeBron James who&rsquo;s recently complained about being passed over for the award and the belief that a dominant 20-game stretch could seal the award for any one of the aforementioned contenders.
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Back in the Orlando bubble, as LeBron James was crowned king for the fourth time, he stood at center court flanked by Anthony Davis.
He let it be known that he wanted more than just the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy. He wanted more than his fourth ring and the 17th championship that he delivered to Los Angeles.
Despite being filled with glee, James was still hungry.
&ldquo;I want my damn respect,&rdquo; he said with a calm defiance.
In the form of the 2020-21 NBA&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player award that appears to be ripe for the picking, don&rsquo;t be surprised if he decides to take matters into his own hands and comes to get it.

The race for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award is wide-open, and LeBron James may be hinting that he's up to make a late run.

LeBron James could make late run to win wide-open MVP race

Every few years, several NBA stars come together and form a super-team. Obviously, the most-recent example is the Golden State Warriors. By signing Kevin Durant in 2016, the Warriors immediately became the favorite to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy (and it was hard to envision a scenario in which they'd lose). When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up on the Miami Heat in 2010, there was the same reaction (which is why their 2010 NBA Finals loss was so surprising).&nbsp;
Which NBA franchise will assemble the next super-team? We asked a number of NBA analysts to share their predictions:
New York Knicks or Phoenix Suns: &ldquo;That's a really good question. I think you'd have to put New York in the discussion. I know it's laughable; people have been hearing about New York being a potential super-team for 20 years now and they've never been able to execute it. But I still think it's a place where people want to play and someday it'll work out, so I'll put them into the discussion. I think a sleeping giant in the NBA - an absolute sleeping giant - is the Phoenix Suns. But I don't know if they have the ability, with their ownership (Robert Sarver), to pull it off. The Phoenix Suns were good for 20 years because people loved being in Phoenix and there are so many advantages there - from the wonderful weather to the life a player can lead to the no state-income tax, and they have just squandered it. In the last 10 years, they've squandered it. They have a superstar there in residence. When you think about building a super-team, usually you want to start with a star. It's much easier to start with a star, and I think Devin Booker is a mega-star in development. They have a window to do it and they have a coach who people want to play for [in Monty Williams]. There's everything there, but the ownership is so shaky that it's just really hard for me to believe that it can be executed. But I&rsquo;ve been saying this for five years: Phoenix is a sleeping giant. I would put those two teams - the Suns and Knicks - on the list for sure, as far as building up from nothing.&rdquo; 
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://audioboom.com/posts/7700254-brian-windhorst-on-covering-lebron-james-giannis-future-the-nba-s-next-super-team-and-2020-fr">Brian Windhorst, ESPN (on &ldquo;The Alex Kennedy Podcast&rdquo;)</a>
Miami Heat: &ldquo;The New York Kn... Nah, just kidding. My early guess is the Miami Heat. They already have two stars in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. They&rsquo;re slotted to have at least one max slot available, though we&rsquo;re still unsure of the effect the pandemic will have on the cap moving forward. Still, the Heat have stars, intriguing young talent, a great coach, a strong front office and a great location to pitch. They&rsquo;re going to throw their hat in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. And even if that fails, they&rsquo;ve been linked to both Bradley Beal and Victor Oladipo. It&rsquo;s hard to believe the Heat will go 0-for-3 on that front.&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="http://www.basketballnews.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com</a>
Miami Heat: &ldquo;The franchise that will assemble the next super team is the Miami Heat. Pat Riley showed what he can do with significant cap space when he lured LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade in South Beach. It's the league's worst-kept secret that Miami hopes to make a run at MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo next summer. Miami is a potential destination for Victor Oladipo too. When you combine All-Star Jimmy Butler with a proven core of players, the lavish lifestyle of living in Miami and a ton of money to spend, who wouldn't want to sit at the table with Riley for a meeting?&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/MikeAScotto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Scotto</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://hoopshype.com/author/michaelascotto/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HoopsHype</a>&nbsp;
Miami Heat: "Miami is the odds-on favorite to form a new super-team because they will have a solid amount of cap room."
- <a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Broussard</a>, <a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://foxsportsradio.iheart.com/featured/the-odd-couple-with-chris-broussard-rob-parker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox Sports</a>
Brooklyn Nets: &ldquo;Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and the No. 2 pick the Warriors will have in the 2020 NBA Draft is pretty darn super, but I'm not sure that qualifies as &lsquo;assembling&rsquo; since they technically already possess those pieces. I found myself writing and rewriting my answer several times before eventually landing on the Brooklyn Nets. The team already has Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and a slew of young players and draft capital that could be packaged in a deal similar to the one that landed Anthony Davis in Los Angeles alongside LeBron James. Nets general manager Sean Marks has both the know-how and relationships to get something like that done, whether it be for Bradley Beal, Devin Booker or Rudy Gobert (who will be a free agent following the 2020-21 season). It's a tough call, but I vote Brooklyn. They narrowly edge Miami because, at least based on today's standard, I regard a &lsquo;super-team' as one that has three bonafide superstars. I think Miami has one in Jimmy Butler. The Lakers obviously have two in James and Davis. Should Giannis Antetokounmpo opt to sign there, they&rsquo;ll be a super-team, but that couldn't occur any earlier than after next season. Brooklyn, I think, is the only team that has two superstars and the capital to trade for another right now.&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/MokeHamilton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moke Hamilton</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://theathletic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic</a>
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/KDI_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="AUTO" />
Golden State Warriors: &ldquo;The next super-team is the previous super-team: the Golden State Warriors. Kevin Durant may be gone, but if they can find good value for their No. 2 overall pick and their trade exception from the Andre Iguodala deal, they could be absolutely loaded again next season. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are a formidable trio, but with the assets at their disposal, the Warriors could very well turn back into a juggernaut with one or two moves.&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/Trevor_Lane" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trevor Lane</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://lakersnation.com/author/trevor-lane/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lakers Nation</a>
Dallas Mavericks: &ldquo;I already mentioned Brooklyn as my <a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="http://beta.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-teams-most-improved-biggest-leap-golden-state-warriors-brooklyn-nets-phoenix-suns-new-orleans-pelicans">team that will make the biggest jump next season</a>, but I'll go with Dallas here. The Mavericks have the ultimate building block in Luka Doncic, a special talent who looks like he's capable of winning multiple MVPs before his career is over. With Kristaps Porzingis' inspiring play in the bubble showing why KD once called him a 'unicorn' and an excellent coach in Rick Carlisle completing the remarkable transition of defensive maven to installing the best offense in NBA history, Dallas is right there. The Mavericks only need to find a third star, but Doncic will attract even more talent with his playmaking skills and limitless potential. With Mark Cuban, they also have an ambitious owner who will spend whatever is necessary to keep his franchise relevant.&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Lee</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://theathletic.com/author/michael-lee/">The Athletic</a>
Dallas Mavericks: &ldquo;The Dallas Mavericks have the best building blocks right now. They already have two of the league's best young stars in Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic, but Doncic's rookie-scale contract affords them max cap room in the summer of 2021 to add a third. While no particular team can be called a &lsquo;favorite&rsquo; to assemble a super-team, it's hard to find a better landing spot for Giannis Antetokounmpo than the team that once employed his brother, Kostas.&rdquo;
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/NateDuncanNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nate Duncan</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/duncd-on-basketball-nba-podcast/id986901174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dunc&rsquo;d On Podcast</a>
It&rsquo;s Up to Giannis: "It's difficult to project where the next super-team will form, but the entire NBA hinges on&nbsp;Giannis Antetokounmpo's decision this offseason with the Milwaukee Bucks. Does he accept a super-max extension or choose to wait until he's a free agent in the summer of 2021? If he does, the Bucks may need to consider trading him, which is why the Golden State Warriors are trying to position themselves for another dynasty. It's obviously up to Antetokounmpo, who may choose to stay with the Bucks. But what if he decides to head to Miami to play with Jimmy Butler and the Heat? Or maybe he bolts for Toronto to join Pascal Siakam and Co. on the Raptors? Out in Los Angeles, would LeBron James take a paycut to make room for Giannis on the Lakers? The next superteam is wherever Antetokoumpo chooses to play, if he decides to leave Milwaukee."
-&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Pincus</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: #ecf0f1;" href="https://bleacherreport.com/users/7951339-eric-pincus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bleacher Report</a>

Which NBA franchise will put together the next super-team? We asked a number of top NBA analysts to share their thoughts.

Roundtable: Which franchise will assemble next super-team?

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