Falcons

Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals will be played on Thursday, June 2. Remarkably, that date is the exact one-year anniversary of the Boston Celtics' announcing Brad Stevens had stepped away from head coaching duties to assume the role of president of basketball operations in place of the departing Danny Ainge.
Let's have a look back at what has been an extraordinary and almost unimaginable 12 months&hellip;
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During his eight seasons on the sidelines in Boston, Stevens was viewed as one of the league's better head coaches. He was regarded as an elite tactician and considered an important part of the Celtics' sustained success. Under his stewardship, Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in four years.
So when the club announced that its long-time top executive in Ainge was retiring and that Stevens would be promoted to team president last June, it came as a shock to most. Would Stevens be able to replicate the regular-season success he enjoyed as head coach? Could Boston get over the hump and advance all the way to the NBA Finals?
Although Ainge left a roster stocked with a budding superstar in Jayson Tatum, his All-Star caliber sidekick in Jaylen Brown, veteran stalwart Marcus Smart and a few promising youngsters, Stevens took control at a precarious juncture. Boston entered last summer capped out (with a directive from ownership not to incur a costly luxury tax bill) and lacking excess draft capital.&nbsp;
Stevens' first order of business was parting ways with Kemba Walker and his cumbersome contract. With two years and $73 million remaining on his deal, Walker was the team's highest-paid player. When healthy, the four-time All-Star Walker was highly productive on the offensive end for the C's, but his balky left knee had robbed him of his quickness. Some suggested the Celtics sit tight, hoping that an entire offseason of rest would allow Kemba to re-establish himself as a quality starter. If Boston wanted to trade Walker, Stevens would have to get creative.
The week before the 2021 NBA Draft, Stevens dealt Boston's first-round pick (16th overall) and a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford and a 2023 second-rounder.&nbsp;
At the time, Stevens' first significant move as team president was considered highly questionable.&nbsp;
Following the 2019-20 season, when Horford posted career-worst numbers for the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a monstrous four-year, $109 million pact, the veteran big man's contract was viewed as one of the worst in the league. In December 2020, the Sixers were forced to attach a future first-round pick and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic (who just won his second EuroLeague Final Four MVP) in a trade with OKC just to get out from under Horford's contract.
During his lone season in Oklahoma City, Horford appeared in just 28 games for the Thunder. After the trade deadline passed in February 2021, the Thunder shut him down for the rest of the season. At the time, it felt like Stevens was trading for a potentially washed-up 35-year-old center with two years and $53.5 million left on his contract ($41 million of it guaranteed).
But after struggling at times to find his groove in the regular season, Horford has been a crucial cog in the Celtics' run to the Finals. During these playoffs, he is averaging 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.9 three-pointers,1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, all while shooting 50.0% from the floor, a scorching 43.2% from downtown, and 83.3% from the free-throw line.
Per Basketball-Reference, Horford is just the third player in NBA history (joining Draymond Green and Rasheed Wallace) to average more than 1.5 blocks and more than 1.5 made treys in a postseason (minimum 15 games played). Horford is also the first player ever over the age of 35 to tally more than 25 blocks and more than 25 three-pointers in a single postseason.
To say the Walker/Horford trade has worked out well for Boston would be a dramatic understatement.&nbsp;
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After acquiring Horford, Stevens' next critical decision would be choosing a new head coach. After interviewing several candidates, Stevens zeroed in on Ime Udoka and officially hired him in late June. Udoka was a bit of a gamble, as he had never been a head coach, having spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant with San Antonio (2012-13 to 2018-19), Philadelphia (2019-20) and Brooklyn (2020-21).&nbsp;
Udoka's job was made that much more difficult when the C's stumbled out of the gates this season. By the turn of the new year, there was some finger-pointing in the locker room with the Celtics losing too many winnable games. Three weeks into January, Boston was still below .500 with a 23-24 record.
However, Udoka remained stoically stern, providing a calm and reassuring presence in the locker room and on the sideline. His ability to outcoach opponents and his command of the X's and O's gained him the trust of his team. Over the second half of the season, Boston ranked in the top three in Defensive Efficiency, and led the league in Offensive Efficiency (122.6) and Net Rating (plus-12.7) by a wide margin.
Udoka earned Coach of the Month honors on multiple occasions, and would go on to finish fourth in the NBA Coach of the Year voting. The league-wide respect he's garnered has only increased as he's helped guide his team to the championship series.&nbsp;
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When the free agency frenzy commenced in July 2021, Stevens had to decide what to do with shooting guard Evan Fournier. Ultimately, Boston opted to let Fournier leave for New York.
The Celtics' only free-agent addition of note last summer was inking Dennis Schroder to a team-friendly, one-year deal for $5.9 million. However, Stevens signed Marcus Smart (four years, $76.5 million) and Robert Williams III (four years, $48 million) to lengthy extensions.
The Smart signing, in particular, looks genius in retrospect.&nbsp;
It had been rumored that Ainge was seriously considering trading away Smart in different deals in years past. However, Stevens made it clear that he was committing to Smart for the long term. Just as importantly, Stevens let it be known he would entrust Smart with the team's primary point guard duties. This may seem like an easy decision with the benefit of hindsight, but it's important to point out that entering this season, Smart had started in just 228 of the 449 games he had appeared in. And a large percentage of those starts were alongside point guards such as Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas.&nbsp;
The C's flourished with Smart installed as the floor general, especially on the defensive end. Smart, as we know, would be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1996.
Starting in each of the 71 regular-season games he played, Smart finished the season ranked seventh in the NBA in steals per game (1.68), ranked fifth among all guards with a Defensive Rating of 105.2, and led the NBA with 1.1 loose balls recovered per contest. He was also near the top of the league in deflections, charges drawn and defensive rebounds. On the offensive end, he averaged a career-high 5.9 assists per game and posted an Effective Field Goal percentage above 50% for the first time.
Had Stevens not locked up Smart last summer, he would undoubtedly have been one of the most highly sought-after players on the free-agent market next month.&nbsp;
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Before being sidelined by a knee injury late in the season, Williams had also been enjoying a breakout 2021-22 campaign, averaging career-highs in points (10.0), rebounds (9.6), blocks (2.2), steals (0.9), field-goal percentage (73.6%) and free-throw percentage (72.2%). Like Smart, Williams' value now exceeds his salary.&nbsp;
In February, Stevens recognized Boston's backcourt needed an upgrade. Hence, he sent Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford and a top-four-protected 2022 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Derrick White at the trade deadline. Udoka, who was familiar with White having spent time as an assistant in San Antonio, asked him to sacrifice some of his offense. White would serve as a reserve, which meant fewer field goal attempts and fewer minutes. White embraced the role, supplied solid defense on the perimeter and knocked down a handful of big buckets during Boston's run to the Finals.
Ironically, of all the trades and signing Stevens has made over the past 12 months, arguably the most important and impactful are the ones he did NOT agree to. It sounds outlandish now because the C's are four wins away from the franchise's 18th championship, but plenty of pundits and fans in New England had been calling for the Celtics to break up the duo of Brown and Tatum.
While there was no denying their collective talent, many argued the roster was unbalanced, and that the skill sets Tatum and Brown brought to the table were a bit duplicitous. Thus, some folks contended that the best path forward was trading Brown (possibly in a package with Smart) for a pure point guard (such as Damian Lillard).
Pressure and the corresponding rumors reached a fever pitch in the dark days of December and January.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Damnit I&rsquo;m holding everybody in Boston accountable, from the front office, to the coaching staff and down to Jaylen and Tatum. It&rsquo;s time to break them up! Carry on&hellip; <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a> <a href="https://t.co/2fNHMFavfd">pic.twitter.com/2fNHMFavfd</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1479494503765524483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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As noted above, Boston was below .500 for much of the season. On Jan. 15, the Celtics had a worse record than both the Knicks and Washington Wizards. Boston was 11th in the East, on the outside of the Play-in Tournament looking in.&nbsp;&nbsp;
But Stevens never budged, trusting in the roster he helped construct. And the results speak for themselves. Twelve months after he was hired, Stevens's squad is preparing for the NBA Finals.&nbsp;
Earlier this month, the NBA announced Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Zach Kleiman as the winner of the 2021-22 Basketball Executive of the Year Award. Stevens came in sixth, receiving only one first-place vote. However, that award is based on regular-season accomplishments.
Given how well Boston has performed in the playoffs, there is little doubt about which executive's moves have looked best in the postseason.&nbsp;
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Tommy Beer reviews Brad Stevens' first season as Celtics president with his one-year anniversary coinciding with NBA Finals Game 1.

Brad Stevens deserves massive credit for the Celtics' success

With the 2022 NBA Draft less than a month away, BasketballNews.com will have you covered from top to bottom. The NBA Draft Combine in Chicago began the pre-draft process for a number of hopeful prospects as they try to break into the league.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Ohio State swingman Malaki Branham, who averaged 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in his lone season with the Buckeyes. We discussed his start in basketball, playing in his home state, his second-half surge and how he'll translate to the next level.
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Let's start with your background. What's your hometown?
Malaki Branham: "My hometown is Columbus, Ohio, where I was born and raised."
Could you tell me a little bit about your family background?
Branham: "I have a small circle. It's my mom, my little brother, my uncle, my auntie and my grandma. That's about it. My trainer is also like family. I've been working with him for seven-plus years, so he became family."
Did you play any other sports growing up?
Branham: "No, not really. When I was younger, I played soccer and baseball, but basketball has always been everything to me."
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When did you first start getting into organized basketball?
Branham: "Probably when I was 8 or 9. I started playing AAU early on, and things just took off from there."
At what point in your development did it start to click that you might have a bright future in basketball?
Branham: "It was my eighth-grade year. I dunked on somebody; that was my first in-game dunk but my first "poster" too. I thought, 'If I keep working, I can do something with this.'"
How tall were you when that happened?
Branham: I was around 6-2, 6-3. And I'm 6-5 now, so I've grown a few inches.
Being from Ohio, what was it like to be able to stay home and play at Ohio State?
Branham: "It meant everything to me, getting to play for my hometown school. I loved every second I was there on campus with the coaching staff and everyone. It was a good feeling to play for my hometown and have my family watch me too."
In our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a> on BasketballNews.com, we have you projected to the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 14. How would you feel if that ended up being the case?
Branham: "It would be cool! Many people back home want me to stay and play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's just a blessing to be in this position."
I saw you early on in the season at the Fort Myers Classic. At that point, you were starting, but not getting a lot of shots. Then, midway through the season, you started to explode. From your perspective, what began to click for you to elevate your game so dramatically?
Branham: "I didn't have the biggest role on the team to start. In the beginning, I was trying to fit in. Then, when we played Wisconsin at home, I had 0 points and 4 turnovers. I texted Coach [Chris] Holtmann after the game and thanked him for letting me play through the mistakes that I was making. I was just frustrated with myself, I looked in the mirror and said, 'We need to get to work.'
"From that point, the Nebraska game came, and I kept that in the back of my head and wanted to make sure that the game wasn't just a fluke. I just wanted to be consistent the rest of the year, and I feel like I did that."
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The Big Ten was stacked this year. I stayed in Indianapolis to watch the entirety of the conference tournament. Who do you think was your toughest matchup this year?
Branham: "The toughest 1-on-1 matchups that I had to guard, I'd probably say Fatts Russell from Maryland; he's a smaller guard, but he's so quick and shifty. I'd also have to say Johnny Davis and Jaden Ivey as well.
"That quick first step that lets [Jaden] get to the rim with ease (makes him a tough matchup). Also, he gets up in the air and gets his shot off from anywhere he wants. With him, I feel like it's him being more explosive than everybody. Johnny is just smooth. He's a bigger guard as well. He gets to the mid-range just like me, so making it tough on him is hard to do. I feel like he plays through a lot of contact.
"Those guys were both a year ahead of me, so they had a feel for Big Ten basketball. I just had to get a feel for how they moved, but I felt like I matched up with them pretty well."
What was your driving force for going all-in on the draft?
Branham: "Really, it was just getting good feedback. I kept working and put my head down, and after, I kept getting good news. I felt like it was too good of an option for me to pass up. I feel like entering the draft with two feet is what I wanted, so I'm just excited to be in this process."
Can you describe yourself as a player?
Branham: "I would say that I'm aggressive. I'm always in attack mode. When I'm between those four lines, I'm in attack mode and aggressive. In the second half of the season, I was aggressive, looking for my shot. I'm also always trying to facilitate for my team too."
Are there any specific aspects of your game that you're looking to improve?
Branham: "Probably tightening my handle. I will be on the wing against bigger and older guys, so I need a tight handle. I'd also like to work on my defensive abilities as well. I'm not going to be a guy who is handling the ball all the time right away, so I need to get some stops on the defensive end to earn that trust on the offensive end."
Are there any current or former players that you model your game after?
Branham: "I watch a lot of Khris Middleton, Devin Booker and those types of guys that can get to the mid-range and are three-level scorers. Those are the guys I model my game after."
If you had to use one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
Branham: 'I'd go with resilient. There will always be tough times in life, but I'm always pushing through. This year was a good example of me being resilient. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't playing as well as I could have, and in the second half, I found a way to push through and get through it."
Let's pretend I'm an NBA general manager. What is your elevator pitch to me as to why I should select you?
Branham: "I live and breathe basketball. I'm a hard worker. So many people say that, but I am genuinely a hard worker. I wake up at 5 a.m. every day and put the work in to perfect my craft. You should select me because I do that and want to get better every day to become the best I possibly can become."
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Matt Babcock speaks with Ohio State wing Malaki Branham about his second-half surge, how he'll translate to the NBA and more.

2022 NBA Draft Q&A: Ohio State's Malaki Branham leans on resilience

By appearing in the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks showed that they have collected some of the ingredients of an NBA title contender.
Prior to that, the Mavs had not made it out of the first round of the playoffs since winning the Finals in 2010-11, and had exited the postseason in the first round each of the last two years. Even this season, Dallas had its doubters in the first round against the Utah Jazz, and most of the national audience was against them versus the dominant Phoenix Suns.&nbsp;
Then, the Mavericks won. Luka Doncic continues to ascend as one of the best basketball players on the planet. Several supporting cast members helped carry the load as well, whether it was Jalen Brunson in the first round, Maxi Kleber's Round 2 fireworks or Spencer Dinwiddie's production in the West Finals.
For so long, the narrative in Dallas had been: Does Luka have any help? After 2021-22, we at least know the Mavs have pieces to the puzzle. This summer presents the opportunity to shape the vision of a championship under Doncic and second-year head coach Jason Kidd.
The Mavericks boasted the sixth-best Defensive Rating (109.4) in the NBA during the regular season, per Basketball-Reference. That's impressive growth from a 20th-ranked unit in 2020-21 that didn't undergo massive roster overhaul. Our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-do-the-mavericks-have-an-elite-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan covered Dallas' defense back in January</a>, and it kept up the work even after trading Kristaps Porzingis away in the deal that returned Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.&nbsp;
No single, All-Defense-caliber player even stands out on the roster right now. Dorian Finney-Smith is very solid and so is Frank Ntilikina, though his minutes are too inconsistent currently. It's a true team-wide shift that significantly raises the team's floor come playoff time.&nbsp;
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With that being said &mdash; finding a true center to anchor the paint and provide stability on the glass remains a high priority. Dallas was 15th among the 16 playoff teams in offensive rebounding percentage (45.1%) and second chance points per game (9.0). They also gave up 14.2 second-chance points per game to their opponents, ranking fourth-highest in the postseason. The Mavs scored just 42.9 points in the paint per game during the regular season (ranked 29th of 30) and 35.4 in the playoffs (13th of 16) despite boasting two of the league's best driving threats in Doncic and Brunson.
Dwight Powell is a fine, rotation-caliber NBA player, but his minutes decreased in each subsequent series. Kleber is an awesome sharpshooting big and solid defender, but not an impactful interior presence.
Fortunately, there are several available free agents who Mavs president and general manager Nico Harrison could pursue in his second offseason with the team. Unfortunately, they have severely hamstrung themselves financially. According to Spotrac, they're a luxury taxpayer, which only leaves a mid-level exception worth just over $6.3 million to spend on a free agent. Dallas has virtually no path to cap space this season.
Jusuf Nurkic and Mitchell Robinson are the biggest names to hit unrestricted free agency as a center. They would almost instantly plug the rebounding hole, but are they the types of defenders and rim-runners who would thrive with Doncic? And is there a realistic way for the Mavericks to even sign them?
Other free agent centers who could fit in the mid-level exception include JaVale McGee, Andre Drummond and Bismack Biyombo, for some quick suggestions. Dallas does also hold a $10.2 million trade exception that it created when the team traded Josh Richardson to the Boston Celtics. It expires on June 27, before free agency begins, but it provides another avenue to acquire a rotation-level player.
It might make more sense for the Mavs to pursue a sign-and-trade with a restricted free agent. Obviously, Deandre Ayton is the marquee man. Evan Sidery toyed with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential trade packages for the Suns</a>; could Dallas offer something in this ballpark?
I personally am intrigued by Mo Bamba's potential fit. The 2018 No. 5 overall pick had a solid developmental year in Orlando, but appears to be the odd man out in a crowded young locker room. Bamba feels like a worthwhile gamble as a rebounder and rim-protector with a bit more mobility and shooting than your traditional bruising center.
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Of course, all this free agency discussion will come after the Mavericks address their largest elephant in the room. Jalen Brunson broke out as a secondary scorer this season, culminating in his huge games that gave Dallas the edge against Utah. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-jalen-brunson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He's an unrestricted free agent</a> who deserves a bag this summer.
"It&rsquo;s the top priority,&rdquo; Harrison said about re-signing Brunson in his <a href="https://www.mavs.com/brunson-is-top-priority/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exit interview Friday</a>. &ldquo;We got to figure that out. Obviously, we&rsquo;re not in control of it. But he&rsquo;s definitely a priority. We want to re-sign him. He knows it. And we want him back. He&rsquo;ll be a big part of our future.&rdquo;
The Mavs' last route to improve is with their No. 26 overall draft pick. Dallas has been a mixed bag with drafting in recent seasons, but this is the first year Harrison will be at the helm after the franchise passed on the process in 2021. Most recently, the franchise selected Josh Green at No. 20 and Tyrell Terry at No. 31 in 2020. Green's development has been slow but notable through two seasons, while Terry is no longer in the organization.&nbsp;
Matt Babcock's latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a> projects the Mavericks to select Max Christie, a freshman wing from Michigan State. Christie was a five-star high school talent who struggled to produce as a college freshman. But his tools as a shooter, scorer and on-ball defender have all flashed and can be sharpened in the right environment.&nbsp;
Aside from Brunson, reserves Trey Burke and Theo Pinson are the only other players entering free agency. However, Dallas notably has just four players under fully guaranteed contracts in 2023-24, per Spotrac: Doncic, Finney-Smith, Bertans and Tim Hardaway Jr. If the squad underwhelms next year, the 2023 offseason could open up a serious roster makeover.&nbsp;
Dallas is on the cusp of true title contention. This offseason is all about checking off some final boxes, keeping the successful core intact and adding depth to a team that persevered through several injuries during the season.
If the summer breaks right, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Mavericks emerging as everyone's favorite championship sleeper by October.
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The Mavericks exited the Western Conference Finals with a strong playoff run, but have several glaring needs.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Dallas Mavericks?

The NBA is undergoing an epiphany on positional value, much like the NFL has begun to re-evaluate modern-day running backs. Since positions are becoming less and less important and versatility is the name of the game, what&rsquo;s next for NBA centers?
Centers are slowly but surely being phased out, aside from some rare exceptions. Long gone are the Roy Hibbert-archetype bigs who patrolled the paint with slow-footed speed. The upgraded version looks more like Rudy Gobert in Utah, producing at an even higher level. But even with Gobert, long-term questions have arisen due to his bloated super-max salary.
If Gobert&rsquo;s on-court value is diminishing as well, which bigs will be deemed worthy of a lucrative second contract? It&rsquo;s an elite club where the positional value more than outweighs the price tag: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo top the list. For all other centers, will they be worth their price in the long run?
For the Phoenix Suns, a $100-plus million decision awaits on Deandre Ayton, their only No. 1 overall pick in franchise history. Does Ayton deserve to be mentioned among those names, or does he fall a tier or two below? Ayton is an anchor of the Suns&rsquo; historic defensive turnaround under head coach Monty Williams, plus his soft touch on the offensive end already brings super efficient scoring value too.
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The Suns and Ayton&rsquo;s representation are about to enter an awkward period, and it seems like the odds of Ayton playing elsewhere next season are increasing. Do the Suns believe Ayton is worth a max-level contract? Does Suns general manager James Jones believe Ayton can be on the same tier as an Adebayo or Gobert?
Based on Ayton's usage within Williams&rsquo; system (19.8% usage rate since 2020-21), Phoenix&rsquo;s need to reconstruct the roster for more wing-based scoring as well as the big man's own desire to be a more featured piece on offense (plus his desire for a max deal), I wouldn't be surprised if Ayton&rsquo;s days with the Suns are numbered.
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One could argue that Ayton would be even more valuable if he were to leave Phoenix and sign elsewhere. In another situation &mdash; in Detroit with Cade Cunningham, for example &mdash; giving Ayton the max would be an acceptable allocation of resources that benefits both parties. However, in the Suns&rsquo; system, I don&rsquo;t believe Ayton is worthy of max-level money.
A fatal flaw that prevents Ayton from being mentioned in the top tier of big men is his lack of self-creation ability, which he's failed to develop throughout his first four seasons with the Suns. According to Cleaning The Glass, 74.8% of Ayton's shots have been assisted on in his career. Compared to his max-salary counterparts, Ayton is nowhere close on self-creation capabilities. And at this point, I have serious doubts that this will ever become a consistent part of his game during his upcoming prime years.
Percentage of FGs Assisted in 2021-22
Deandre Ayton: 81%
Rudy Gobert: 72%
Nikola Jokic: 62%
Karl-Anthony Towns: 62%
Bam Adebayo: 61%
Joel Embiid: 54%
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 43%
The NBA&rsquo;s elite big men buck the trend of super small-ball and three-point-shooting barrages because they bring unique traits to the table.&nbsp;Antetokounmpo and Embiid can simply punish any defenses that are thrown at them. Jokic&rsquo;s demigod-like ability to run an offense and be its primary scoring engine speaks for itself. Towns is one of the greatest perimeter-shooting bigs of all-time. Adebayo&rsquo;s defense and playmaking versatility, coupled with his recent development as an on-ball creator, raise his value. Gobert&rsquo;s price tag is a tough pill to swallow, especially later on, but he&rsquo;s one of the most impactful rim-protectors we&rsquo;ve ever seen (while also providing efficient scoring around the rim).
Ayton is a very good basketball player, but he fails to emphatically check any of the boxes that the other max bigs do. He brings immediate value as a scoring threat and rim-protector, with a rare ability to easily rack up 20-and-10 outings like it&rsquo;s nothing. His stat line shows that there&rsquo;s real promise if he is fed like a primary offensive hub, but that&rsquo;s not going to happen in Phoenix.
The Suns are moving away from the inside-out approach in favor of outside-in, a modern flip of the script that likely provides some insight into how they view centers. JaVale McGee was an excellent free-agent addition for Phoenix last summer, and he ended up putting up nearly identical numbers to Ayton on a per-36-minute basis:
Ayton: 21.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 blocks, 65.6 TS%
McGee: 20.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.5 blocks, 65.1 TS%
McGee is another example where working within the Suns&rsquo; system, especially playing alongside Chris Paul and Devin Booker, brings immense improvement on the margins. From the Suns&rsquo; perspective, would they rather just pay McGee $5 million again and add a difference maker elsewhere for the same price as Ayton? For example, would it make more sense to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bring aboard a unique modern fit in Jerami Grant via a sign-and-trade deal</a>? There&rsquo;s no doubt that these discussions are ongoing for the Suns, because this decision will decide what direction the team is heading in the post-CP3 era.
As a restricted free agent, Ayton is heading toward a negotiation standoff with Phoenix. If the organization doesn&rsquo;t view him as a max-level player, expect to see the Suns&rsquo; offer come in around a similar annual value as Al Horford ($27.8 million) or Nikola Vucevic ($25.0 million). John Collins provides a recent example of restricted free agency leading to a cheaper payday, as he signed a five-year, $125 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 offseason.
For Ayton, it seems like a lock that he'll get a max contract from some front office. The Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers are all expected to show interest once free agency's moratorium period opens on July 1. Will Phoenix try to pull off a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign-and-trade to bring back some win-now pieces</a>? If another team extends a max-level offer sheet, would the Suns match it or let him walk? These are the big questions entering this offseason.
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Another angle that is falling under the radar is how the Suns view Ayton&rsquo;s motor. Will Ayton continue to improve his game or eventually become an albatross contract a few years from now?&nbsp;
&ldquo;Definitely getting to my second contract; that&rsquo;s my success,&rdquo; Ayton said before being drafted by the Suns.
Throughout Ayton&rsquo;s career in Phoenix, teammates like Paul, Booker and Mikal Bridges have had to keep him locked in throughout games to ensure he's playing at a certain intensity level. They have even mentioned it during press conferences. When Ayton is locked in, he&rsquo;s one of the most dominant two-way bigs in the NBA. The issue is his inconsistency and those moments where he loses focus. It's unclear why this occurs, but there are some games where it's apparent in the first few minutes whether it will be a positive or negative outing for the big man. If there are concerns about Ayton&rsquo;s motor, that will also enter this discussion.
Jones and Williams know more about Ayton's work ethic and motor than just about anyone given all the time they've spent with him behind the scenes, so we'll see if this factors in to their decision.&nbsp;
The drive to be great and the sheer will to refuse failure are what separate great players from good ones. Does Ayton possess this trait to become one of those exceptions to the rule for non-floor spacing bigs within the modern NBA?
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This year&rsquo;s Finals matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics further paints a picture of spacing and wings/on-ball creators buttering the bread of success nowadays. For their bigs, the postseason usage rate is a tell-tale sign of letting the perimeter-oriented stars cook (Al Horford: 13.0 USG%, Robert Williams: 13.0%, Kevon Looney: 11.2%). Can the Suns rely upon Ayton to be a player who takes over 20% of their offensive possessions? If it&rsquo;s a hit-or-miss proposition in their eyes, Ayton will be looking for greener pastures within the next six weeks.
As an elite finisher around the rim who also excels in pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations, Ayton already brings a rock solid baseline for a floor. When you add in his supreme athleticism for his position, it brings even more intrigue as a two-way force. Entering into his age-24 season in 2022-23, what&rsquo;s the next step for Ayton? If there&rsquo;s not much room left for Ayton on the developmental curve, a max contract shouldn&rsquo;t be coming his way from Phoenix.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s so divisive here,&rdquo; Suns owner Robert Sarver told BasketballNews.com in April about Ayton&rsquo;s future in Phoenix. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s improved each year, helps us both on the defense and the offense. I think offensively, you see this year he&rsquo;s taken another good step in terms of his touch and his ability to score around the basket. So, he&rsquo;s been a key part of what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
Ayton averaged 17.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.7 blocks for the Suns this past season. In an environment where he's more heavily featured, those numbers likely rise closer to 22-23 points and 12-13 rebounds per game. Is that the way to go though?
Welcome to the new evaluation process of great, non-transcendent bigs. Ayton is the first case study, and this expensive decision that's on the horizon is going to change the Suns&rsquo; future one way or another.
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With centers becoming the NBA's version of running backs, is Deandre Ayton worthy of a max deal? Evan Sidery explores.

Should Suns give Deandre Ayton a max deal? Positional value says no

Deandre Ayton has emerged as one of the best young centers in the NBA, but after an up-and-down postseason, his future with the Phoenix Suns is up in the air. In July, Ayton will be a restricted free agent, so the Suns can match any offer sheet he receives. But if they feel he isn't worth a max deal, Phoenix may ultimately weigh their sign-and-trade options.
If the 23-year-old becomes available, which teams make sense as a possible landing spot? Oddsmakers from <a href="https://www.sportsbetting.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/nba-specials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SportsBetting.ag</a> have the Detroit Pistons (+150), Indiana Pacers (+300) and San Antonio Spurs (+450) as the front-runners to land Ayton.
Here are the complete odds for Ayton's next team if ends up leaving the Suns:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 44.1913%; height: 176px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Detroit Pistons</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+150</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Indiana Pacers</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+300</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">San Antonio Spurs</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+450</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Orlando Magic</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+500</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Portland Trail Blazers</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+550</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Houston Rockets</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+1000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Chicago Bulls</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+1100</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 34.7041%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Oklahoma City Thunder</td>
<td style="width: 25.6006%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+1200</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Our Evan Sidery recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examined some possible sign-and-trade ideas for Ayton</a>, including potential deals for the Pistons, Pacers and Spurs.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Also, check out BasketballNews.com's 2022 NBA Free Agency page, which includes free-agency rankings and a scouting report of each player who could be available this summer.&nbsp;</a>

Oddsmakers have the Pistons (+150), Pacers (+300) and Spurs (+450) as the front-runners to land Deandre Ayton this summer.

Pistons, Pacers, Spurs have best odds to land Deandre Ayton

The 2021-22 season was an absolute nightmare for the Los Angeles Lakers, who went 33-49 and finished 11th in the Western Conference. They had the NBA's 21st-ranked defense and 23rd-ranked offense.
Following those struggles, much of the blame has been placed on Russell Westbrook, who has a player option worth $47,063,478 for next season. It seems highly unlikely that he'll opt out, so the Lakers will undoubtedly explore all possible trade scenarios this offseason.
Which teams could make sense as a possible landing spot for Westbrook if he gets traded?
Oddsmakers from <a href="https://www.sportsbetting.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/nba-specials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SportsBetting.ag</a> have the Oklahoma City Thunder (+350), Indiana Pacers (+400) and New York Knicks (+450) as the teams to watch. Here are their complete odds for Westbrook's next team if he ends up leaving the Lakers:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 45.2599%; height: 220px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Oklahoma City Thunder</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+350</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Indiana Pacers</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+400</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">New York Knicks</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+450</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Charlotte Hornets</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+500</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Detroit Pistons</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+600</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Houston Rockets</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+700</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Sacramento Kings</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+750</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Los Angeles Clippers</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+900</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Cleveland Cavaliers</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+1600</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 29.6795%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Boston Celtics</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">+2000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 29.6795%; text-align: center;">Toronto Raptors</td>
<td style="width: 11.789%; text-align: center;">+2500</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out BasketballNews.com's 2022 NBA Free Agency page, which includes free-agency rankings and a scouting report of each player who could be available this summer.&nbsp;</a>

Oddsmakers have the Thunder (+350), Pacers (+400) and Knicks (+450) among the potential landing spots for Russell Westbrook.

Thunder, Pacers, Knicks have best odds to acquire Russell Westbrook

Jimmy Butler followed up one amazing performance with another.
It just wasn't enough for the Miami Heat.
The last shot of Butler's season was a 3-pointer that missed &mdash; and in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, that's the way most of the shots from deep went for the Heat. Miami went 6 for 30 from long range on Sunday night, one of the big factors in their season-ending 100-96 loss to the Boston Celtics.
&ldquo;When it ends, it ends in a thud," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I just have so much incredible respect and love for everybody in the locker room and what everybody gave to this team. It's such a memorable season and postseason."
Butler was brilliant &mdash; 47 points in Game 6 to extend the season, 35 points in Game 7 to give the Heat a chance at getting to an NBA Finals matchup with the Golden State Warriors. He played every second of the finale.
&ldquo;You can put him in that category of superstars," Heat center Bam Adebayo said. &ldquo;To me, he's one of the best two-way guys in the league, hands down."
This is how good Butler was: On a rough shooting night for the Heat, they still had a chance.
When the Heat made 3s at home this season, it was game over: Miami was 25-1 when shooting at least 37% from deep. When the Heat didn't shoot that well, they went 11-14.
They were the epitome of how it's truly a make-or-miss league. And if Butler had gotten one more 3 to fall &mdash; for the record, the Heat had no problem with his shot selection when he tried <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1531112011383222273?s=20&amp;t=M1r6JG-DauXYeTvK0QmwVg">what would have been a go-ahead 3 with about 17 seconds left</a> &mdash; they might have been headed to the NBA Finals.
&ldquo;I thought it'd have been an incredible storyline, Jimmy to pull up and hit that 3," Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I love that about Jimmy. That was the right look. As it was leaving his hand, I thought for sure that was going down. Good, clean look. It was definitely better than anything we could have designed. It's just a shame that it didn't end that way."
Butler averaged 27.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in the playoffs. His assessment of those numbers: &ldquo;Not good enough."
&ldquo;I learned that I have to be better," Butler said. &ldquo;And I will be better. Back to the lab."
It was the third time that a top-seeded Miami team was ousted at home in an ultimate game.
There was the Allan Houston shot with a second to go in 1999 that gave the eighth-seeded New York Knicks a 78-77 win in Game 5 of a best-of-five opening round series. In 2005, the Heat led Detroit in Game 7 of the East finals with 90 seconds remaining before getting outscored 10-3 the rest of the way and losing 88-82.
And now, add a loss to the Celtics to that list.
&ldquo;This was all about competition," Spoelstra said. &ldquo;We faced a team that kind of matches all the best qualities of what we do."
There was also an injury factor. The majority of the key pieces in the Heat rotation -- Butler, Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker, Max Strus, Tyler Herro primarily among them &mdash; were all dealing with various problems in the season&rsquo;s final weeks, some of those issues particularly pronounced during the East finals. Tucker didn't finish Game 7 because of injury.
&ldquo;I will never make any excuse about injuries," Lowry said. &ldquo;Ever."
The Heat even took great pains to point out that Boston was also dealing with ailments &mdash; which is absolutely correct. Regardless of which team lost Game 7, it was going to be reasonable for that side to wonder &ldquo;what if?&rdquo; on the health front and lament that injuries played a big role in their falling short of making the title round.
&ldquo;One thing I love about this team, we fought through adversity this whole year," Adebayo said.

Miami went 6 for 30 from long range on Sunday night in Game 7.

Heat go cold in Game 7 against Boston, and pay the price

After an impressive season that culminated in a third-place finish for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham recently opened up about a valuable lesson he learned during his first year as a pro.
&ldquo;I think the biggest thing I learned is that the league, the media, nobody will care until you&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; Cunningham <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/cade-cunningham-slam-238/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told SLAM</a>. &ldquo;I could feel bad for myself all I want about [how] people didn&rsquo;t respect or appreciate the season I had or anything, but I didn&rsquo;t win a lot of games.
"I think that&rsquo;s been the biggest thing that I&rsquo;ve locked in on and I decided within: I have to win games if I want people to respect my name. And if not, then I can&rsquo;t be mad at people not watching enough games and how I really play. That&rsquo;s the challenge that I&rsquo;ve tried to take on. I&rsquo;ve talked to teammates [and] we&rsquo;re all trying to take that challenge on. I think that&rsquo;s the next step for us.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Cunningham played well as a rookie, averaging 17.4 points, 5.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 threes and 1.2 steals in 64 games. And he looked significantly better in the second half of the season, posting 21.1 points, 6.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 threes and 1.1 steals per game after the All-Star break.
However, to his point, the Pistons finished the season 23-59, which was the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference (and the third-worst record in the NBA). Detroit boasted the league's 28th-ranked offense (scoring 103.3 points per 100 possessions) and 23rd-ranked defense (allowing 111.1 points per 100 possessions).
Cunningham seems determined to change that. It's not uncommon for a young player to spend years trying to put up numbers and prove he is a star, so it's great to see Cunningham already prioritizing team success over individual accolades and taking a mature approach as a 20-year-old.&nbsp;
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Perhaps Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas has helped Cunningham see the bigger picture, as SLAM notes that Thomas has had several conversations with Cunningham about leadership and other topics.
Fortunately, the Pistons are in excellent position to add some some reinforcements alongside Cunningham. Detroit has the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock currently projects</a> that the Pistons will select Kentucky's Shaedon Sharpe.
Also, the Pistons currently project to have the second-most cap space in the NBA this offseason ($25.80 million), trailing only the Orlando Magic ($28.67 million). If Detroit is able to add some key pieces alongside Cunningham, perhaps the organization can right the ship and return to the playoffs sooner than later.
Cunningham was also asked about this season's Rookie of the Year award, which went to Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (with Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley finishing as the runner-up). While Cunningham felt he should have won the award, he's happy for his former high-school teammate and he's glad the debate is over.
&ldquo;Scottie is my brother, I&rsquo;m happy that he got that award," Cunningham said. "I feel like it&rsquo;s great that it&rsquo;s him, [my] Montverde teammate. I&rsquo;m super excited [for him]. I mean, it&rsquo;s never really been about that award for me. I&rsquo;ve had a ton of questions asked about it, you know&mdash; 'Rookie of the Year, what do you think about you winning?' So, I&rsquo;ma answer the question, you know? I feel like I should win it. That&rsquo;s natural. But it was never a knock on those guys. I love their game and I&rsquo;m happy that now we can quiet that question down. Congrats to Scottie, man, I love my dog.&rdquo;
While Cunningham didn't win the Rookie of the Year, award there's no question that he has a bright future and the Pistons are thrilled to have him.&nbsp;
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Cade Cunningham learned a valuable lesson during his rookie season — something that many young players take years to grasp.

Cade Cunningham shares valuable lesson he learned as a rookie

The Miami Heat organization has been fined $25,000 for violating league rules regarding team bench decorum, the NBA announced today.
"On multiple occasions, several players stood for an extended period in Miami&rsquo;s team bench area, stood away from the team bench, and were on, encroaching upon or entering the playing court during live game action in the Heat&rsquo;s 111-103 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 27 at TD Garden," the league's press release stated.
The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/breakingnews/nba-fines-mavs-100000-for-3rd-bench-violation-in-playoffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA fined the Dallas Mavericks</a> three times (totaling $175,000) throughout this postseason for violating the same bench-decorum rules.
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Game 7 between the Heat and Celtics is Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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The Miami Heat organization has been fined $25,000 for violating league rules regarding team bench decorum, the NBA announced.

NBA fines Miami Heat $25,000 for violating bench-decorum rules

What happens is the crux of any conversation. Results spur on ideology and conjecture. Wins, losses, box scores and stat lines invite slander and celebration.
Why?&nbsp;
Results are important for measuring goals, gauging success and resetting priorities or strategies. Why those results occur is what I find fascinating.&nbsp;
The 2022 Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics have been difficult to parse through, akin to a redux of the 2004 series between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers. Only four of the players who played 10 minutes per game or more in that series shot 40% or better from the floor.&nbsp;
A series defined by restrained offense and amplified defense is rooted in the why. Yes, both the Heat and Celtics have exchanged slogging moments. Turnovers have been in abundance. There have been many free throws, as the physicality is ratcheted up to the 10th degree.
The Heat&rsquo;s offense is predicated on movement, screening, handoffs and maximizing their pressure points through shooting gravity to open up looks with their collective passing and intuitive play. Miami was 14th in the league in three-point attempts per game, but first in three-point percentage (37.9%). What made them more impressive was how those shots got off.&nbsp;
The Heat are chock-full of movement shooters with Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry all capable of hitting shots off of a variety of movements and even self-created with their handles to varying degrees. Miami shot 42.9% from deep in Game 6, a far cry from the 29.2% (52/178) over the previous five games. Jimmy Butler hit four shots from distance after only hitting two all series. Tough shots fell in volume.&nbsp;
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To equate Miami&rsquo;s victory and invigorated offense strictly to shot variance would be unfair. Miami has thrived on those tough threes off movement or pull-ups all season, but they haven&rsquo;t hit the same. It&rsquo;s difficult to project another game like last night for Miami&rsquo;s shot-making, although one game throws sample size to the wind. Again, the why is so crucial here.&nbsp;
Miami&rsquo;s offense has been stuck in the mud much of the series as our own Nekias Duncan <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-heat-have-a-bigbig-problem-on-their-hands">recently wrote</a>. Boston&rsquo;s bigs have stifled the Heat in the paint and through their ability to toggle between the paint and perimeter. Stopping shots at the second and third level has been a large reason for Boston&rsquo;s defensive success. Miami,&nbsp; 27th in rim frequency during the regular season per Cleaning the Glass, is dependent on their ability to attack the gaps created by their shooting gravity.&nbsp;
They&rsquo;ve been constricted by their own shot profile at times this series, but mainly due to how Boston has been able shut off the release valves. Most of Miami&rsquo;s aforementioned premier spacing core, particularly the shooters off screens, has struggled throughout the series. We know the shots haven&rsquo;t fallen, but it&rsquo;s not simply a collective slump. Boston&rsquo;s defense as a whole has been swarming, but why have Miami&rsquo;s movement shooters struggled the most?
Through the lens of the Eastern Conference Finals and the league at large, few players epitomize the why quite like Derrick White. The results haven&rsquo;t always been there for White during the playoffs, although the post-baby bump has been real (congrats again to Derrick and his family).&nbsp;
Yet, so often when watching White, whether with the Spurs or Celtics, the why is consistently there. The consistency in process matters so much more than the consistency in production. That sounds counterintuitive, but it&rsquo;s strikingly true in basketball. There&rsquo;s a line in the sand that wavers among the grains, and White often has crossed the line in spite of his production simply due to his persistent process.
White has routinely neutralized Miami&rsquo;s release valves and shut off the water entirely for stretches. It&rsquo;s been like watching a naturally-rich land dry up after a dam is built up stream. That dam is Derrick White, and the Heat have employed any number and variety of players to try to take White out of the picture to free up shooters.
This play from Game 5 stood out.
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Notice the quick flip and pushoff from P.J. Tucker in a screening action that was masked with Oladipo setting up as a second screener. White immediately takes Oladipo, and Horford takes Tucker after Jaylen Brown switches onto Duncan Robinson. Brown navigates the screen well enough for the action to die out, and would you look at that... Derrick White still makes a play on the back side.
Already four games and roughly 10 minutes into the series, the Heat are throwing the kitchen sink at an off-ball chaser to free up their shooters. Whatever it takes to force switches, including some semi-illegal&nbsp; screens. Again, why?
Well, White immediately made his presence felt on Max Strus.
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He always shifts his body, scans the floor constantly, and his slight movements are impeccable. So often, chasers get beat off the ball because of too big a stride or a wrong step. White rarely crosses his feet up, and he can appear choppy at times, but it's because he's always on his toes, minimizing space given and maximizing his margins for error. Even with the majority of hard screens, White is making his recovery plays and finding his way back into the picture.
If he does get beat when running a shooter off the line, he's one of the best in the league with backtaps and strips.
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Press up that hard on a shooter, and the opposing team will try to use that against you as a pressure point. Lo and behold, Erik Spoelstra dialed up just that, using Duncan Robinson as a screener with White stapled to him, hoping to cause an error on the perimeter.
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White shoots that gap absurdly well. Not just well, like Julius Peppers is smiling somewhere watching that. White dips his shoulder back around Bam Adebayo's screen and is back in front of Herro by the free throw line. It's a ridiculous possession.
To say Max Strus hasn't had a fun series would be an understatement. Watch the way White starts to angle himself, immediately prepping to lock and trail as soon as he knew the movement was en route.
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White seemingly always has at least one hand on the man he's trailing, making it that much harder to gain separation.&nbsp;
This play is a pinnacle "What else am I supposed to do?" moment. Strus hits White with a swim move, sends him careening into the Tucker screen, and Tucker thuds White. So clearly, Strus should be open, right? Right?
Once again, White comes flying around the screen and reattaches to Strus' hip without being overly physical or fouling, funneling him into the looming Horford.
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That consistency has been unreal. While White isn&rsquo;t necessarily the player finishing possessions defensively (although he still forces his fair share of turnovers), the quietness is what stands out.&nbsp;
White&rsquo;s giving his best Darrelle Revis impression, shutting off options, isolated against the best deep threats in the game. You see Jimmy Butler struggling to find an opening, wading in the mid-range, but the why? Max Strus can&rsquo;t get separation. White&rsquo;s been glued to Duncan Robinson. Gabe Vincent is always seeing a rear contest on pull-up twos. Nothing is coming easy for Miami.&nbsp;
Derrick White has put on a masterclass of screen shedding and route mirroring. His off-ball defense and ability to make things difficult always&nbsp;is a large reason for why Nekias Duncan, Jackson Frank and I had <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/defensive-awards-and-a-celebration-of-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White making an All-Defense team</a>. It's not hyperbole to say that White is among the most consistent defensive players in basketball, something that tends to go underappreciated. Regardless of whether or not the Celtics win Game 7 tomorrow and make their first NBA Finals since 2010, Derrick White's consistent ability to make things difficult deserves shine.

Derrick White has put on a defensive masterclass during the Conference Finals, shutting down Miami's shooters.

Derrick White: Eliminating release valves and shutting off the water

Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock shares his experience of moving to Bologna, Italy, where he became an assistant coach for a professional basketball team before becoming a sports agent. Check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/my-past-life-as-a-sports-agent-going-to-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part 1</a> about how he got his start and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/my-past-life-as-a-sports-agent-the-2006-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part 2</a> about helping players prepare for the 2006 NBA Draft.
It was 2006, I was 22-years old and I was set to begin my first full-time job out of college as an assistant coach for Virtus Bologna, a professional basketball team in Bologna, Italy. Before leaving for Europe, I stayed at my parents' house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had received my travel itinerary via email, so I packed up all of my stuff, purchased a couple of Italian phrasebooks and hugged my mom. Then, my dad drove me to Chicago for my flight, and before I knew it, I was off to Italy.
After a long travel day, I made it to Bologna. I had not been given many details about my arrangements before landing. I knew that I would be an assistant coach and that the team would cover all of my expenses, but I didn't know where I would be living. I didn't even know if anyone would pick me up at the airport. I didn't have anyone's contact info from the team. To say an unknown world awaited me would be a significant understatement. I was a bit anxious.
I exited the plane and made my way to the baggage claim. I had hoped to see a driver holding a big sign with my name, but I did not see anyone like that. I collected my two massive bags that contained pretty much everything I owned at that point, took a seat and waited, hoping someone from the team was coming to pick me up. I was exhausted and grew increasingly anxious the longer I waited. I began to think, "Did I make a mistake coming here?"
Finally, a man approached me and said with a thick Italian accent, "Matt?"
I felt like I had been rescued from a deserted island.
The man pointed to a logo on his shirt that read, "Virtus Bologna." It was evident that he did not speak English. I didn't speak any Italian, so I'm sure you can imagine how everything carried on. We shook hands, and he directed me to follow him to his car, which was seemingly a team-issued van. After about a twenty-minute drive and no words exchanged, we arrived at a small hotel. A receptionist translated for us when we walked into the hotel, which was a huge relief. She explained that the team was on the road, but someone would reach out to me on the hotel phone the next day. (I didn't use my cell phone, as international roaming charges were costly at the time.)
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I was exhausted but also starving, so I asked the receptionist if any restaurants would be serving food at that hour. She directed me to a place nearby. I walked into the restaurant, and no one spoke English very well. I sat down at a table with my Italian phrasebook in hand. I ordered a pizza and a glass of red wine&mdash;I was in Italy, after all. After a long day and night, I was tired and stressed. Having been a young guy on my own in a foreign country was difficult. The language barrier was challenging, and all of the unknowns were nerve-wracking. I again questioned if I had made the right decision accepting that job. However, the waitress brought out my pizza and glass of red wine, and let me tell you, they were perhaps the best things I had ever tasted in my entire life! Subsequently, my stress subsided a bit, and although I still didn't know what to expect next, I could relax and appreciate the opportunity.
The following day, I woke up at about 3:00 AM because of jet lag. After hours of killing time, a man named Daniele Cavicchi called me on the hotel phone. He introduced himself in a thick Italian accent, saying he was the team's assistant coach (there was only one before I came). He told me they were happy to have me and that he would pick me up in a few hours. He explained that the team had the day off, but I would meet with the head coach and general manager.
When Daniele picked me up, I instantly liked him and thought he was a nice guy. Although he was older than I was, maybe in his late 20s, he was a relatively young coach. So he naturally became my "go-to guy" while I was there. Anyway, we got into his car, and we were off to the practice facility. He told me that he was from Bologna and would show me around the town. He gave me the lay of the land as we drove around, similar to a tour guide. Daniele explained that it was essentially a college town, with the university being the oldest in the world, established in 1088. He continued to explain that within Italy, a country known for its food and wine, that specific region was the best and even the home of bolognese sauce. It had been dark the night before when I arrived, so that car ride with Daniele was when I realized that Bologna was an extraordinary place, rich in culture and history. The more he described the city, and the more I saw it, the more excited I became to be there. I couldn't believe that was where I would be living. It felt like a dream come true.
When we arrived at the team's offices, my first meeting was with the team's head coach, Zare Markowski. A classy gentleman from Macedonia, he was a veteran coach that seemed to have coached nearly everywhere at some point in his career. Our initial meeting was brief as he pretty much just welcomed me. However, despite only meeting with him briefly, I found him to be a charming guy.
My second meeting was with the general manager, Piergiorgio Bottai, a businessman from "Roma." After meeting him, it was apparent from his enthusiasm that he was the main reason I was there. He outlined his vision for me and laid out the details of my arrangements during my stay. He told me I would be an assistant coach, and my primary responsibility was to develop their players individually. They also wanted me to occasionally direct the youth team's practices with a translator. He continued to tell me that they had an apartment for me in the "city centre," which also happened to be in the same building as the team's owner. I would have access to a nice restaurant, and I could eat there whenever I'd like, order whatever I'd like and always put it on the team's tab. He then explained that Mercedes-Benz sponsored the team, so players and staff members were given courtesy cars, myself included. It was apparent that the team had intended to take great care of me while I was there.
Following my meetings, Daniele brought me downstairs to give me all of the team-issued gear: a team jacket, polos, t-shirts, etc. I felt part of the team, and everyone was very welcoming.
After leaving the practice facility, Daniele and I had a great dinner at the team restaurant, and then I settled into my apartment afterward. It was "perfetto." The following day was my first day of practice, where I was set to be introduced to the team as their new assistant coach. Although it had been a hectic couple of days, and I was nearly 5,000 miles from home, I went to sleep that night with my mind at ease. Everything was "molto bene!"
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Matt Babcock discusses his stint as an assistant coach in Italy, which helped lay the groundwork for his later job as an NBA agent.

My past life as a sports agent: Bologna, Italy

Following the Miami Heat's 111-103 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, several Heat players "thanked" Draymond Green.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"Tell Draymond thank you." Dray picked the Celtics to win the series, so Udonis Haslem had a message for their possible NBA Finals opponent 👀 🎥: <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BleacherReport</a> <a href="https://t.co/xhZPVvKWFZ">pic.twitter.com/xhZPVvKWFZ</a>
&mdash; FanDuel (@FanDuel) <a href="https://twitter.com/FanDuel/status/1530395382710247424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

During an interview on TNT's "Inside the NBA" on Thursday, Green wrote off the Heat and predicted with confidence that the Golden State Warriors would be facing the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to tell you who I think we&rsquo;re going to play. We&rsquo;re going to play Boston,&rdquo; Green told Shaquille O'Neal, who had asked him which team he wanted to face. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s who we&rsquo;re going to play.&rdquo;
This comment upset several players on the Heat.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what part of the game is that,&rdquo; Heat forward PJ Tucker <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/udonis-haslem-draymond-broke-the-code-saying-warriors-would-face-celtics-in-nba-finals-050925538.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Yahoo Sports</a>. &ldquo;A player picking a team before they&rsquo;re out? That&rsquo;s crazy, bro.&rdquo;
&ldquo;He let Shaq peer pressure him into saying some s*** he ain&rsquo;t got no business saying,&rdquo; Udonis Haslem <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/udonis-haslem-draymond-broke-the-code-saying-warriors-would-face-celtics-in-nba-finals-050925538.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Yahoo Sports</a>. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t sleep much after he said that. That was some bulls***. Draymond broke the code. You ain&rsquo;t supposed to say some s*** like that. That&rsquo;s disrespectful. He know better than that.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going home [for Game 7]. We did what we were supposed to do. Don&rsquo;t ever count us out.&rdquo;
Game 7 between the Heat and Celtics is Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Draymond Green said that the Warriors would end up facing the Celtics in the NBA Finals, which upset several players on the Heat.

Haslem: Draymond Green 'broke the code' by predicting Celtics win

Zach LaVine is an unrestricted free agent and he has made it clear that he'll weigh all of his options this offseason. If LaVine decides to move on from the Chicago Bulls, which teams make the most sense as a landing spot for the 27-year-old All-Star?
Oddsmakers from <a href="http://www.BetOnline.ag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetOnline</a> have given the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers the best odds of landing LaVine if he decides to leave the Bulls.
Here are the complete odds (without factoring in a potential return to Chicago):
<table style="font-weight: 400;" width="283">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
San Antonio Spurs
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
2/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Portland Trail Blazers
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
3/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Los Angeles Lakers
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
4/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Atlanta Hawks
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
5/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
New York Knicks
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
6/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Miami Heat
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
7/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Indiana Pacers
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
8/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Detroit Pistons
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
9/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Dallas Mavericks
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
10/1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 203.2px;" width="215">
Orlando Magic
</td>
<td style="width: 51.2px;" width="53">
11/1
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Last offseason, LaVine bet on himself rather than signing a four-year, $105 million extension and the gamble certainly paid off. This season, he averaged 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 made threes while shooting 38.9% from downtown and a career-high 85.3% from the free-throw line.
LaVine will certainly expect a maximum contract from the Bulls, which would <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/bulls-offseason-preview-zach-lavines-free-agency-nikola-vucevic-extension-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay him</a> $212.3 million over five years. The most he could receive from another team is $157.4 million over four years. This is a relatively weak free-agent class, so it seems very likely that LaVine will get a max deal from some team.
"I plan to enjoy free agency," LaVine said recently. &ldquo;We're going to have to experience A through Z without making any fast decisions. I think that's something me and [Rich Paul] are going to go through and experience."
LaVine was asked if the Bulls are the front-runners to sign him, but he wouldn&rsquo;t say.
"You guys have been a really, really soft spot in my heart," LaVine said to the Chicago media. "I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, to not just be viewed one way and be like, 'I'm automatically coming back,' or, 'I'm automatically leaving.'"
Check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's 2022 NBA Free Agency page</a>, which features a ranking of the top 85 free agents and scouting reports for all of the notable players hitting the market.

If Zach LaVine decides to move from the Chicago Bulls, which teams make the most sense as a landing spot for the 27-year-old All-Star?

Spurs, Blazers, Lakers have best odds to steal Zach LaVine from Bulls

A champion will be crowned in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) today, as Tunisia&rsquo;s US Monastir and Angola&rsquo;s Petro de Luanda face off at noon ET.
The game will reach fans in 215 countries and territories, and will air in Africa on ESPN, Canal+, VisionView TV and Voice of America (VOA) radio, and around the world on American Forces Network (AFN), ESPNews, NBA TV International, Tencent Sports, TSN, the NBA App and <a href="NBA.com">NBA.com.</a> The BAL featured the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries.
On May 22-23, Indiana Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce and Detroit Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno led a BAL Coaches Clinic for more than 70 local basketball coaches in the Rwandan capital Kigali. The clinic offered tools and strategies to help the coaches enhance their player-development curriculum. Former NBA players Joakim Noah and Ian Mahinmi were in attendance along with BAL players from US Monastir.
BasketballNews.com caught up with Coach Pierce to discuss the camp, his growth as a coach, his experience as an assistant coach with Team USA, the Pacers&rsquo; young core and more.
You and Coach Bill Bayno just wrapped up the BAL Coaches Clinic. How did it go?
Lloyd Pierce: &ldquo;First and foremost, you have to give credit to the NBA and especially NBA Africa and the staff. [BAL President] Amadou Gallo Fall has done an amazing job of taking a vision and executing that vision to bring this together. The BAL league is really taking off over here in Africa, and I think the next layer of really trying to get this thing to grow and develop properly is teaching and trying to educate the coaches on the strategies and techniques so that they can not only coach it, but coach it better and find their passion. They have a huge impact by finding these players in the early stages in their career and teaching them and giving them the proper tools so that they can take off.
"So, this Coaches Clinic is probably as important as the games because it&rsquo;s education. It&rsquo;s educating an entire continent on the game of basketball that we all know so well, and they are eager to learn more and more about the different things that we have. I really feel blessed to be a part of this Coaches Clinic along with Coach Bayno and working with these coaches here and seeing the excitement that they have to teach the game, which really excites us as coaches as well.&rdquo;
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There was a classroom component and an on-court component. Can you walk me through each session and what kind of stuff you covered?
Pierce: &ldquo;Coach Bayno spoke in the classroom and really just gave them a ton of gems on player development and the different techniques that a coach needs to help a player get better. Using your imagination as a coach, the sweat equity &ndash; being able to get out there with your guys and work. But also the sweat technique &ndash; as you&rsquo;re working with those guys, giving them the proper technique and the essential tools to not just do it but do it correctly. The importance of that one-on-one relationship when it comes to connecting with players. Focusing on development, but being able to give them that same energy that you&rsquo;re expecting from them in return. He did a tremendous job on the player-development side.
"I tried to do more of a team-focused [lesson], both offensively and defensively. Offensively, we talked about some general principles and spacing &ndash; what spacing looks like, using cuts, using screens, using respace, our first three steps to open the floor up. These are a lot of strategies and techniques that we use in the NBA, but I think it&rsquo;s very important for young players too. There&rsquo;s commitment and a selflessness to spacing the floor that they have to learn and buy into. And defensively, we talked a lot about positioning, taking pride in being a good defender, understanding what a help defender looks like and just sticking to the basics &ndash; so a lot of shell-drill emphasis and a lot of one-on-one defensive emphasis.&rdquo;
The NBA has really prioritized globalization in recent years. What are your thoughts on the NBA&rsquo;s globalization efforts?&nbsp;
Pierce: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s probably one of the most important things that we do. As the top professional basketball league in the world, I think it&rsquo;s an obligation of ours to help grow the game globally. Our game benefits from the globalization of [basketball] and from the millions of viewers who watch across the world, so it&rsquo;s our obligation to give back. And there&rsquo;s no shortage of talent on this continent, so our main contribution is not only discovering talent but helping develop that talent. You&rsquo;re looking at a guy like Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo or any of these players who have come from different countries. But [when it comes to] players with African heritage, the [talent pool] is plentiful on this continent. I think they&rsquo;ve done a great job of not only discovering these players, but also trying to get to them early about the right habits, techniques, nutrition and strength development. I don&rsquo;t know if there&rsquo;s a more important global impact that we can have in our sport than being here on this continent and helping spread the game.&rdquo;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/image00017_lg.jpeg" alt="" width="698" height="346" />
I want to discuss how coaches can develop over time. There are many examples of a coach struggling early on and then doing a much better job after they&rsquo;ve learned from their mistakes and gained experience. Someone like Jason Kidd was labeled a &ldquo;bad coach,&rdquo; but he&rsquo;s gotten better over the years and silenced those doubters. Do you think fans and media sometimes throw that label around prematurely and underestimate how much coaches can grow over time?
Pierce: &ldquo;Yeah. I&rsquo;m a reader, and I try to learn things that I think can apply to basketball. In Malcolm Gladwell&rsquo;s book &lsquo;Outliers,&rsquo; he talked about the 10,000-Hour Rule. If you spend enough time on something, you&rsquo;re going to get better at it. As coaches, that can be youth development, that can be personal development (or how to connect with players), that can be strategy and technique. As a former head coach and current assistant coach, you have to continue to work at your craft &ndash; whether it&rsquo;s decision-making, making reads, connecting with players or finding your joy and the energy that you bring to the game. That last one is important; there are a lot of coaches you hear from who burn out &ndash; they lose [their passion], have a lack of energy and aren&rsquo;t as motivating anymore. I think it&rsquo;s important to go and find ways to challenge yourself.
"For me to be over here in this beautiful city of Kigali, Rwanda &ndash; one of the cleanest cities I&rsquo;ve ever been in &ndash; to work with players who are excited about us being here, there&rsquo;s a renowned joy of coaching because it&rsquo;s purposeful for me. That helps us as coaches grow. So, you see a lot of coaches like Jason Kidd who get their second or third opportunities and find a renewed sense of energy and strength and strategy. They see the game a little differently. Things they may have over-complicated before, they simplify those things now. These things are important for us. I have a saying that I use all the time: For me, coaching is about getting better and helping others get better. And I truly, really mean that. I&rsquo;ll get better if I&rsquo;m helping others get better, and that&rsquo;s my purpose in coaching.&rdquo;
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From when you started coaching to where you&rsquo;re at now, how much do you feel you have improved? I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;s a night-and-day difference.
Pierce: &ldquo;It is! And I think the biggest joy that you get to experience as a coach who&rsquo;s been through the ringer is Summer League. Most coaches in Summer League are player-development guys or front-of-the-bench assistants that are constantly working their way up. I think when you&rsquo;re an assistant, you think you know all of the answers. Then, when you&rsquo;re forced into that head-coach seat, you gotta make all of the decisions so there&rsquo;s no one else to blame or be pissed at for not taking your idea. (laughs) You make the decisions. When I first started coaching, my voice wasn&rsquo;t as strong. The eye-contact wasn&rsquo;t as great. The conviction wasn&rsquo;t always there. Now, it&rsquo;s simple. It&rsquo;s not the ideas; I have lots of ideas and I love listening to ideas. It&rsquo;s the decision. And when you make the decision, you&rsquo;ve gotta believe it. Because if you don&rsquo;t believe it, they won&rsquo;t believe it. And if you don&rsquo;t believe it, they&rsquo;ll know you don&rsquo;t believe it. That comes over a period of time. You might be down 20 points and you&rsquo;ve gotta sell it to your guys that the game ain&rsquo;t over. You might be up 20 and you&rsquo;ve gotta convince your guys that we shouldn&rsquo;t be complacent. You&rsquo;ve gotta do those things with conviction, and that just comes with experience, you know? Maybe as a first-time head coach, in your first game when you&rsquo;re up 20, you relax. Well, guess who else relaxes? The players! So, that&rsquo;s a lesson learned.
"All of those things, I think, are hard to measure from the outside looking in. Everyone always paints the picture of a coach &lsquo;not making the right adjustments&rsquo; or they really hate his rotations, but some of those things, you&rsquo;ve gotta have conviction and sell it with conviction. And if it doesn&rsquo;t work out, you&rsquo;ve gotta live with it. But if you&rsquo;re wishy-washy and going back and forth, it really puts your team in a bad spot, and it also puts you in a bad spot because now you don&rsquo;t believe what you&rsquo;re doing; you&rsquo;re just trying stuff. That all comes with experience. You see these coaches [in the playoffs]: I love Jason Kidd&rsquo;s demeanor on the sideline, I love Steve Kerr&rsquo;s demeanor on the sideline, I love Spo and Ime Udoka&rsquo;s demeanor. Because they are confident in what they&rsquo;re doing, and their players are playing to their confidence and their strengths right now. And that&rsquo;s all you can ask. You&rsquo;ve done all of the preparation and now it&rsquo;s [late in a series] and these guys know each other extremely well, so the coach just has to sit back and stay the course and be extremely confident, so that the players can do the same thing.&rdquo;
You were part of Gregg Popovich's Team USA coaching staff alongside Steve Kerr and Jay Wright among others. What were your biggest takeaways from that experience and how did that help you grow as a coach?
Pierce: &ldquo;Pop didn&rsquo;t show his angst. Pop is always cool under pressure, but he preached to us &lsquo;appropriate fear.&rsquo; You fear your opponents out of respect, not out of fear so it&rsquo;s appropriate. And if you have that level of respect, you know that you need to bring it and not go into any game feeling overconfident against any opponent. I just thought being around guys like Pop and Jay Wright and Steve Kerr and Jeff Van Gundy and all of those guys was tremendous for my development. Because you not only got to see how their minds work and how they communicate with each other and the respect they have for the game, but you got to experience high-level conversations with the players and that connectivity and then apply it to the game. The level of experience that those coaches have, it was unfair that I was able to gain the advantage of learning from them during the two summers that we had together. It&rsquo;s a different game and it was a different challenge for all of us, but we embraced it. We came together, we had great dinners and great conversations, and the gold medal was rewarding.&rdquo;
I love the core that your Indiana Pacers are assembling, with Tyrese Haliburton, Chris Duarte, Myles Turner and so on. What are your thoughts on the team&rsquo;s development throughout the season and how excited are you about this young core going forward?
Pierce: &ldquo;Extremely excited. I think we&rsquo;ve got some guys who, more importantly, want to be in Indiana. They&rsquo;re excited about starting and continuing their careers [here]. You&rsquo;re looking at a guy like Tyrese whose third year is coming up and he&rsquo;s now on his second team, and he&rsquo;s looking to make Indiana a home. Chris Duarte, after going through his rookie season, is looking to make Indiana a home and find some consistency. We&rsquo;re all excited about what we have, and we look forward to the draft and free agency. I&rsquo;ve talked to Coach [Rick] Carlisle often about this new group next year being his team and not the team that we inherited, and he gets an opportunity to really mold some young guys and some really talented guys and bring back some veterans who will get a fresh start with the youth and the guys that have talent. I think we&rsquo;re all looking forward to training camp and this summer of development to get back on the right track.&rdquo;
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Lloyd Pierce discusses the BAL Coaches Clinic, the Pacers' young core, his development as a coach, coaching Team USA and more.

Lloyd Pierce opens up about BAL Coaches Clinic, his growth as a coach

TNT&rsquo;s coverage of the 2022 Western Conference Finals &ndash; which featured the Golden State Warriors eliminating the Dallas Mavericks in five games &ndash; delivered the network its most-watched Conference Finals broadcasts since 2018, averaging 6.7 million viewers.
Viewership for this year&rsquo;s five-game series was up 35% over TNT&rsquo;s 2021 Eastern Conference Finals coverage (which featured the Milwaukee Bucks beating the Atlanta Hawks in six games, averaging 5.0 million viewers) and up 23% when compared with last year&rsquo;s Western Conference Finals (which saw the Phoenix Suns defeat the Phoenix Suns in six games, drawing 5.5 million viewers).
Thursday&rsquo;s Western Conference Finals coverage garnered the top program of the night across all of television (broadcast and cable) for the third-straight time during the series, and together with the "Inside the NBA" postgame show, delivered cable&rsquo;s top two programs on Thursday.
The Warriors&rsquo; series-clinching win averaged 6.8 million viewers &ndash; peaking with an average of 7.7 million viewers from 11-11:15 p.m. ET &ndash; to rank as the most-viewed WCF Game 5 since 2018.
Overall, the network has delivered its most-watched NBA Playoffs coverage since 2018, averaging 4.1 million viewers (over 42 telecasts), up 11% vs. last year, while winning the night on cable in primetime 22 times. Additionally, "Inside the NBA" has averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 6% vs. last year (23 telecasts).
Turner Sports&rsquo; NBA on TNT and NBA TV social-media accounts have seen a 40% increase in engagement for this year&rsquo;s series vs. last year.

The Warriors-Mavericks series delivered TNT its most-watched Conference Finals since 2018, averaging 6.7 million viewers.

Warriors-Mavs were TNT's most-watched Conference Finals since 2018

As former Michigan State forward Gabe Brown goes through the NBA pre-draft process, he wants front offices to know one thing: he knows his role, and he's perfectly fine being a 3-and-D player.
"Usually when guys come in, they think they&rsquo;re going to take the world by storm and [become a star] and get the keys to the team, but that&rsquo;s not really how it works," Brown told BasketballNews.com. "There are already other players on the team who have paid their dues, and they may be All-Stars or champions. What I&rsquo;m looking to do is be a 3-and-D guy who looks to put the ball on the floor sometimes, but that&rsquo;s not always going to be my job. My job is usually going to be locking up guards, defending 1-through-4, [providing] athleticism and being consistent with my shot.&rdquo;
After spending four years with the Spartans, the 22-year-old has started working out for NBA teams (including the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks), and he recently participated in the G League Elite Camp in Chicago.
He has modeled his game after two other older prospects who spent at least four years in college: Phoenix Suns forward Cameron Johnson and Brooklyn Nets wing Joe Harris.
&ldquo;I try to be myself as much as possible, but the guys that I really do look at are Cam Johnson and Joe Harris," Brown said. "They are guys who have been through four years of college and then made it and were successful in the NBA. And they played around [talented] guys and then worked their way into their role, so those are guys that I really try to pay attention to.&rdquo;
As a senior with the Spartans, Brown averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 threes, 1.1 assists and 0.7 steals, while shooting 38.2% from three-point range. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward believes that he can step in and immediately help an NBA team that's in need of a 3-and-D specialist.&nbsp;
BasketballNews.com caught up with Brown to discuss his skill set, how much he developed while in college, his experience at the G League Elite Camp, how he fell in love with basketball and more.
Throughout the pre-draft process, everyone talks about age. But there are also benefits to spending four years in college. Do you think staying at Michigan State for four years and gaining that experience helped you?
Gabe Brown: &ldquo;I just feel like my maturity level is higher than a lot of kids who come in earlier, and that&rsquo;s due to just being in college for so long and staying for four years. And I have to say: you learn the game more, you develop more when you&rsquo;re in college for four years. You know how to play NBA basketball when you get done with college, so I feel like my game will truly expand when I get to the next level."
How much have you grown as a player from your first day in college to where you&rsquo;re at now?
Brown: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a whole change for me&mdash;my maturity level, my work ethic, just everything has changed for me in a lot of positive ways.&rdquo;
The knock on older prospects is that they sometimes don&rsquo;t have as much potential or room to grow. What would you say to that and what do you think of your ceiling?
Brown: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that&rsquo;s true. I believe that I&rsquo;m just getting started. I just turned 22 years old in March, so I&rsquo;m still very young. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve reached any of my potential yet, and I&rsquo;ve got a lot of time. [Giving me an opportunity] in the NBA is the perfect way to see.&rdquo;
Which teams have you worked out for so far? And who do you have scheduled?
Brown: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve worked out with the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. And as for upcoming workouts, I basically have the whole league that I have to work out for, so I have about 12-to-14 more NBA workouts upcoming.&rdquo;
You participated in the G League Elite Camp. How did that go, and what was that experience like?
Brown: &ldquo;It was very fun to be out there. It was very fun, truly. Not a lot of kids get to be invited to these camps and take them in, and I was one of the kids who got invited to the G League one. It was a great experience. I went out there and I played two good games. I was looking for a call-up, but it&rsquo;s all good. I mean, my path, my journey is different. It was fun, though. The atmosphere was amazing.&rdquo;
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Which of your skills do you think will best translate to the NBA?
Brown: &ldquo;My defense, my length, my shooting ability, my size and my athleticism. That will all translate to me being out on the floor on an NBA court.&rdquo;
Off the court, what are some things you bring to a team?
Brown: &ldquo;I lead by example with my work ethic. I stay in the gym more and [come back] during the night. That&rsquo;s what I do. I feel like guys will respect me more just off of the way I work. And then, it&rsquo;s all about personality. I&rsquo;m a leader, I love to talk, I love to get guys going and I love to motivate people. That&rsquo;s no problem with me.&rdquo;
As you go throughout this pre-draft process, what are some of the things you&rsquo;re trying to showcase to teams&mdash;on and off the court?
Brown: &ldquo;On the floor, I&rsquo;m just trying to showcase my whole game&mdash;all of the things that I couldn&rsquo;t [show] at Michigan State or the things that I wasn&rsquo;t good at but that I really am good at that scouts didn&rsquo;t really get to see, like putting the ball on the floor, coming off ball screens, making reads, maintaining my consistent shooting level and being in tip-top shape. Off the floor, I just want to show them the person that I am. I&rsquo;ll always be myself. I&rsquo;ll always be Gabe Brown.&rdquo;
I read that growing up, your favorite player was Kobe Bryant.&nbsp;
Brown: &ldquo;I was a big Kobe fan. Just his mentality and the work ethic&hellip; I mean, everybody knows Kobe can score, and he&rsquo;s got championships, but nobody saw the work he really put in to get there. I think the motivating factor is just his work, what he did off the court, how he motivated guys and got guys going. And he always showed up when it was game time.&rdquo;
How did you initially fall in love with basketball?
Brown: &ldquo;It was my father. My dad put a ball in my hands at 3 years old and I haven&rsquo;t looked back since.&rdquo;
(Gabe&rsquo;s father, Charles Brown, passed away in 2016 after suffering a stroke.)
I&rsquo;m so sorry for your loss. You&rsquo;ve said that you considered quitting basketball after he passed away, and that it felt like &ldquo;there was no point in playing anymore&hellip; it felt like the game of basketball left me." How did you ultimately decide to continue playing and use basketball to honor him by wearing his No. 44?&nbsp;
Brown: &ldquo;It was a tough process. I still think about it to this day and it&rsquo;s never going to leave me. But I had my family behind me and they were totally supportive, and I had my coaches and everybody else being fully supportive. I just decided that I didn&rsquo;t want to give up on myself and give up on what I accomplished, so [I kept playing]. No. 44 was his number, and all of my brothers wore it, so it was my turn to wear it.&rdquo;
If an NBA executive asks, &ldquo;Why should I draft you?&rdquo; What would be your pitch?
Brown: &ldquo;I would have to say, 'I&rsquo;m gonna go hard, I&rsquo;m gonna give everything that I&rsquo;ve got and I&rsquo;m not gonna take the opportunity for granted.'&rdquo;
Check out BasketballNews.com's recent interviews with fellow 2022 NBA Draft prospects including <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-nba-draft-bennedict-mathurin-offers-unique-twoway-ceiling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dont-let-age-deny-keegan-murrays-tantalizing-nba-ceiling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iowa's Keegan Murray</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/johnny-davis-winning-intangibles-make-him-a-safe-bet-to-hit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin's Johnny Davis</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-nba-draft-qa-toledos-ryan-rollins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toledo's Ryan Rollins</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-nba-draft-prospect-qa-keon-ellis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alabama's Keon Ellis</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kofi-cockburn-wants-to-prove-everyone-wrong" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois' Kofi Cockburn</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/preparation-competitive-spirit-fuel-izaiah-brockingtons-will-to-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iowa State's Izaiah Brockington</a>.
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Alex Kennedy spoke to Gabe Brown about his skill set, the G League Elite Camp, which players he modeled his game after and more.

2022 NBA Draft: Michigan State's Gabe Brown knows his role

One of the breakout stars of this year&rsquo;s NBA playoffs has been Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson. He&rsquo;s old-school, unconventional, talented, savy and up for a big pay day this summer. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard and Villanova alum was selected No. 33 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft and is one of the better second-round draft picks over the past few classes.
Last year, he was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, averaging 12.6 points and 5.5 assists on 52/41/80 shooting splits in this third season with the Mavericks. This season, as a full-time starter, while watching his minutes jump from 25.0 to 31.9 per game, his productivity increased to 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game on 50/37/84 shooting. In the playoffs (35.2 minutes per contest), Brunson jumped to 21.6 points and 3.7 assists per contest on 47/35/80 shooting.
His 2022 postseason included signature performances like a 41-point game in a win over the Utah Jazz in Game 2 without Luka Dončić and a 31-point effort against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. He also had a meaningful 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting in Dallas&rsquo; shocking Game 7 romping of the Phoenix Suns.
But now, he&rsquo;s an unrestricted free agent. Dallas has a lot of questions to answer. How can they best build around Dončić? What do they do with Tim Hardaway Jr.? If they want to upgrade at center, what's the best answer at that position?
Among the most important questions is: do they extend Brunson? Here are some teams to watch in the Brunson sweepstakes this offseason.
NEW YORK KNICKS
The New York Knicks haven&rsquo;t had a reliable point guard since Raymond Felton in their famed 54-win season back in 2012-13. Since then, it&rsquo;s largely been a revolving door of meh at the point of attack at Madison Square Garden. Jose Calderon was past his peak when he got to New York. Iman Shumpert, though very talented, wasn&rsquo;t a natural point guard. Frank Ntilikina is closer to a three-and-D wing than a true floor general. Jerian Grant never panned out. Neither has Kemba Walker. Derrick Rose has arguably been the best of the bunch.
Walker, Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley and Miles McBride make up the Knicks' point guard depth chart for 2022-23, in no particular order. Walker&rsquo;s health can&rsquo;t be trusted for an entire season. Burks isn&rsquo;t a true point guard and might be a trade chip. Quickley, if he starts, is probably better suited next to a natural point, and the same could be said for R.J. Barrett. And McBride is young, raw and inexperienced. Brunson is better than all of them, hard stop.
Because Brunson will be unrestricted, the highest-bidder has a chance. The bad news for the Knicks is that <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/cap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they&rsquo;re pretty much capped out</a>.
That means getting Brunson to New York would require a sign-and-trade. The good thing is that the Mavericks need a Mitchell Robinson type of center, and for about two years, I've been pushing for Brunson-Robinson swap. The Knicks should throw in something else, be it draft capital and or an additional young piece to make the deal work (for cap purposes too), but that&rsquo;s the framework that can come from this. Robinson gives Luka a lob threat, gives the team a higher upside defensively, and gives the coaching staff a player who can share the floor with just about anyone on the roster.&nbsp;
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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
If Brunson can play with Dončić and Spencer Dinwiddie, he can share a backcourt with Reggie Jackson. Kawhi Leonard has <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/10/19/report-kawhi-leonard-wants-clippers-to-add-point-guard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wanted a point guard</a>, but the Clippers still don&rsquo;t have one. It&rsquo;s Jackson, and that&rsquo;s it. Norman Powell, Luke Kennard and Terance Mann are guards, but they're all wings. 2021 second-round pick Jason Preston still hasn&rsquo;t played due to injury, and Xavier Moon was a two-way guy last year who played just 10 games. <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/10/19/report-kawhi-leonard-wants-clippers-to-add-point-guard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leonard&rsquo;s been wanting a point guard for two seasons</a>, and it&rsquo;s time for the Clippers to address that spot since both Leonard and Paul George are due back next season.
Given the Clippers' cap situation, this would most certainly be a sign-and-trade. Powell, Marcus Morris, Kennard and Robert Covington all make between $12 and $16 million next season, and any of them could make sense going to Dallas. Only one or two of them would probably need to go at most, among other compensation (i.e. young players and picks).
Brunson in L.A. would join the starting line-up alongside Jackson, Leonard, George and a center. Ivica Zubac is an expiring $7.5 million contract next season, and he could actually be a piece Dallas wants in return. Assuming he stays in Los Angeles, Zubac rounds out their starting five and gives Los Angeles a true point guard, which they&rsquo;re clearly missing.
DALLAS MAVERICKS&nbsp;
The Mavericks reportedly had multiple opportunities to sign Brunson to a four-year, $55.5 million deal before and during the season, <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/04/25/report-mavericks-didnt-offer-jalen-brunson-contract-extension-until-after-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per reports</a>, but did not. As a result, he could be looking at <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952513-latest-nba-trade-intel-lakers-realistic-targets-myles-turner-landing-spots?share=sms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">something in the $80 million range</a>, and possibly more after these playoffs.
Clearly, the offense works with him and Luka in the backcourt, blending in Dinwiddie in a natural role as a combo guard off the bench who can finish games. Dallas can keep their core together (those three and Dorian Finney-Smith) and work around the margins.
After losing to the Warriors in Game 5, Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban said that keeping Brunson is a priority, and damn near guaranteed that it&rsquo;ll happen.
"We can pay him more than anybody,&rdquo; Cuban said. "I think he wants to stay, and that's most important. I think [Jason Kidd] has a big part to play in that... JB blossomed as a player as much as anybody on this squad. From where he was last year to how far he came this year is a tribute to how hard he worked. And the support he got from his dad and his family and his girlfriend, but also, what he was able to learn from [Kidd]. I think he recognizes that, and I think he wants to stay."

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/mcuban?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mcuban</a> reflecting on the 2021-22 Dallas Mavericks season with Marc Stein. <a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> | 📺 BSSW | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dALLasIN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dALLasIN</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSteinLine</a> <a href="https://t.co/YZROfVsnq0">pic.twitter.com/YZROfVsnq0</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1530038560673435658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Brunson didn&rsquo;t have the exact same tone, but he&rsquo;ll cross that bridge when he gets there, it seems.
"When it&rsquo;s time, it&rsquo;s time. I&rsquo;m not worried about it right now," Brunson said, <a href="https://twitter.com/sixfivelando/status/1530037759955636242" target="_blank" rel="noopener">via Landon Thomas of Mavs Fans For Life</a>. "I&rsquo;m just really happy I got to play with these guys and what we did this year. I&rsquo;ll think about that later.&rdquo;
For Dallas, this is probably the move. Keep Brunson and build around the margins, particularly on the interior. Four years in, we can now say, as long as you have Luka, you have a chance. You just have to nail what&rsquo;s around him, and Brunson is someone you should want back in Dallas.
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Jalen Brunson was a breakout star for the Mavericks this postseason and is now an unrestricted free agent. Where will he end up?

Examining potential free-agent destinations for Jalen Brunson

Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points and the Golden State Warriors advanced to their sixth NBA Finals in the past eight seasons by beating the Dallas Mavericks 120-110 in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
Thompson scored 19 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that he punctuated with teammate Stephen Curry&rsquo;s signature shake as the Warriors raced out to a 17-point halftime lead and coasted the rest of the way.
Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Draymond Green scored 17 points and Curry had 15 points and nine assists for Golden State.
Luka Doncic overcame a slow start to score 28 points for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie added 26.
After missing the playoffs in 2020 and &rsquo;21 in back-to back injury-plagued seasons, the Warriors are returning to a familiar stage. They are the first team to make six finals appearances in an eight-year span since the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls had a pair of three-peats from 1991-93 and 1996-98.
Golden State will host the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between Boston and Miami on June 2 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics hold a 3-2 lead heading into Game 6 at home on Friday night.
The Warriors followed their pattern from the first two rounds by bouncing back after squandering a chance to end a series on the road by winning at home. Golden State is now 9-0 at the Chase Center this postseason, tying the 2017 team for the the most consecutive home wins in a single postseason in NBA history.
The star this game was Thompson, who sat out the past two seasons with injuries but showed flashes of his old self in this clincher.
After making just seven 3-pointers in the first four games of the series, Thompson had eight this game. He gave the Warriors a 13-point lead in the first half when he hit one from the corner before dancing and added two early in the third quarter for a 23-point lead.
Dallas cut a 25-point deficit down to eight in the final minute of the third quarter but couldn&rsquo;t get over the hump in the fourth. Thompson&rsquo;s 3-pointer with just under 3 minutes left gave the Warriors a 15-point lead.
SLOW START
Doncic has typically been a playoff star. His 32.7 points per game in his first 27 playoff games were second best to Jordan&rsquo;s 33.4 ppg among players with at least 10 playoff games.
But he had a rough start in this elimination game against Golden State. He shot 2 for 10 in the first quarter with his eight misses, tied for the most in the opening quarter of a playoff game since LeBron James missed all nine of his attempts in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Atlanta in 2015.
Doncic was held to six points in the first half, his lowest opening half of his postseason career, on 2-for-12 shooting before finding his stroke in the third quarter.
MOODY MANIA
With Otto Porter (left foot) sidelined for a second straight game, the Warriors got a big boost in the first half from 19-year-old rookie Moses Moody.
Moody scored all of his seven points in the second quarter with his 3-pointer giving Golden State a 56-38 lead. Moody scored just six points the first three games of this series for the Warriors before scoring 17 the past two games with Porter sidelined.

Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points and the Warriors advanced to their sixth NBA Finals in the past eight seasons.

Warriors beat Mavericks 120-110 to return to NBA Finals

Bennedict Mathurin bet on himself entering his sophomore season at the University of Arizona.
As an end result, he&rsquo;s reaped huge benefits, with his stock now exploding going into the 2022 NBA Draft.
Mathurin helped lead the Wildcats to a resurgent season, as he averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game on a 57.6% True Shooting percentage. Mathurin&rsquo;s rise helped him earn Pac-12 Player of the Year honors, and along the way he displayed why he&rsquo;s such a perfect fit within today&rsquo;s modern pace-and-space game.
Offering endless versatility on both ends of the court with explosive athleticism, Mathurin&rsquo;s name is one of the hotter ones in the draft class right now. Mathurin met with the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors at the NBA Draft Combine.
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Also, during Mathurin&rsquo;s Pro Day in Santa Barbara, California on Wednesday, all 32 teams were well represented. Amongst the flock of scouts, a number of names stood out with notable attendance: Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. and president Tommy Sheppard, New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau and Chicago Bulls general manager Marc Eversley and vice president of player personnel Pat Connelly.
Mathurin&rsquo;s immense upside as a three-level scorer and lockdown defender has him slotted at <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/bennedict-mathurin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 7 overall to the Blazers</a> in BasketballNews.com's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest mock draft</a> via our Sr. NBA Draft Analyst, Matt Babcock:
<blockquote>
There is a lot to like about Bennedict Mathurin. At 6-foot-5 or so, he has a valuable combination of attributes. He has a sweet outside stroke, is a high flyer and is an alpha dog. He would have had a chance to be a first-round pick if he had declared to enter last year&rsquo;s draft. Instead, however, he chose to bet on himself and return to Arizona for his sophomore season. I expect Mathurin to be selected in the lottery on draft night, so it&rsquo;s looking like his decision to return to school is about to pay off big time.
</blockquote>
That alpha-dog mentality from Mathurin is what makes him stand out most, because those are the traits you want to bet on most in prospects. Taking developmental leaps in his game every season, Mathurin believes his shooting and defense are his true calling-card attributes.
&ldquo;I think my shooting is the biggest part of my game,&rdquo; Mathurin said. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m a two-way player. I think I&rsquo;m able to showcase to get a stop defensively. I give them 30 seconds and we get the (win) because I get a stop or offensively, because I&rsquo;m able to shoot the ball and just have an impact in both ways.&rdquo;
Another promising part of Mathurin&rsquo;s offensive development is being able to take pressure off the offense as a secondary playmaker. It wasn&rsquo;t displayed much throughout Mathurin&rsquo;s collegiate career, but he&rsquo;s eager to prove that it can quickly become a fortified tool in his arsenal.
&ldquo;Often, teams have been asking me what are things I wanted to showcase, and (playmaking) was definitely one thing," Mathurin said. "I feel the USC game (6 assists with only a single turnover) I think a lot of people started noticing I was able to pass the ball. We played in a different kind of system where we have guards &mdash; already one of my biggest strengths is to score the ball, so I just did what the team needed me to do in order for us to win.&rdquo;
There aren't many holes to poke in the game of Mathurin, which is why this late buzz around him is well-deserved.
Offering a tantalizing two-way package with much more room to grow physically, don&rsquo;t be surprised if Mathurin is a pick we look back on a few years from now as a home-run hit wherever he lands next month.
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One of the late risers in the 2022 NBA Draft process, Bennedict Mathurin's upside is immense thanks to his two-way profile.

2022 NBA Draft: Bennedict Mathurin offers unique two-way ceiling

BasketballNews.com's Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock presents a series that will peel back the curtain from his time as a sports agent, giving a glimpse at some of his personal experiences working in the sports agency business for over a decade.
In the third entry of the series, Babcock discusses his search for coaching jobs prior to entering the sports agency business, ultimately leading him to go abroad.
Within several months, I left the University of Arizona and completed a summer internship at Wasserman Media Group in Los Angeles, California, which was an exciting summer and excellent learning experience. However, the real world was knocking on my door, and I needed to find a full-time job &mdash; a typical situation for a 22-year-old right out of college.
I had ambitions of being a basketball coach, not a sports agent, which was something I had planned on my entire life. Once my internship ended at Wasserman, I tapped into my family's network (with the help of my dad) in hopes of landing an entry-level coaching job &mdash; ideally with an NBA or D-League team. Although I had some interest from teams, I couldn't secure any legitimate offers. I realized then how tough it is to break into professional sports, even if you are well connected.
For better or worse, I'm not one to sit back and wait for anything to unfold organically. I felt that I needed to think outside of the box and be assertive &mdash; so that's what I did. I came up with the idea to pursue jobs with professional teams overseas. I ran it by my dad, and he thought it was a good idea.
We started making calls to people within our network that could help facilitate that sort of deal. We talked with Max Ergul, an agent from Turkey who worked with Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova. We had gotten to know Max because he had moved to Milwaukee when Ersan joined the Bucks, the team my dad had worked for (and still does). Max liked the idea and began to pursue opportunities for me. Before I knew it, he found a team in Istanbul, Turkey that wanted me to be an assistant coach with an emphasis on player development.
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The terms of the deal were unique: I would not get paid a salary, but they would cover all of my expenses (flights, food, housing, transportation, etc.). The team wanted me to fly to Istanbul in August and be there for the entire season. I had only a few months of work experience under my belt, but in my mind, I was ready to conquer the world; all I needed was an opportunity just like that. I had made up my mind that I would take the deal. I was set to start my coaching career in Istanbul.
However, before I formally agreed to the deal in Turkey, I called Sam Goldfeder, an agent with Excel Sports Management. Sam had been kind enough to let me stay in his mother-in-law's guest house in Beverly Hills for the summer while I did my internship with Wasserman. My intent in calling Sam was to thank and update him on my job status, but the conversation did not go as I had expected.
Me: Sam, I wanted to thank you again for everything you did for me this summer. I also wanted to let you know that I plan to accept a coaching position with a professional team in Istanbul, Turkey.
Sam Goldfeder: "What?! Have you signed anything yet?"
Me: No, I have not.
Sam: "Okay, don't! I'll call you back."
He abruptly hung up the phone, and I thought: "What was that?" However, I trusted Sam, so I waited anxiously for his call.
Within a day or so, my phone rang. It was Sam.&nbsp;
Sam: "I have good news. I talked with our collaborating partner in Italy, Matteo Comellini. I told him about your offer in Turkey, and he spoke to the team in his hometown of Bologna, Italy. They would like to match the offer."
Me:&nbsp;No way, that's amazing!
Sam: "Yes, it's a great situation. The team's name is Virtus Bologna. They are one of the best teams in Italy. It's a terrific place &mdash; I think you will love it!"
Me: Thank you so much, Sam! But first, let me talk to my dad, and I'll get back to you.
After some consideration, I decided to accept the deal in Italy, and just like that, my plans were overhauled. I packed up all of my stuff, purchased a couple of Italian phrasebooks and gave my mom a hug and kiss, and I was off. I boarded the plane to Italy without speaking to anyone from the team, as all of the communication had been through Sam and Matteo.
I wasn't quite sure what I had signed up for, but one thing was for sure: I was a soon-to-be Italian resident and assistant coach of a professional basketball team.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/my-past-life-as-a-sports-agent-the-2006-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read the last entry of this series</a>: "My past life as a sports agent: "The 2006 NBA Draft."
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.babcockhoops.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BabcockHoops.com</a>.
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Matt Babcock discusses his search for coaching jobs before entering the sports agency business, ultimately leading him to go abroad.

Ramon