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Mavericks

Last week, NBA legend Shawn Marion traveled to Abu Dhabi to support the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games, which featured two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves as well as youth clinics and fan events.&nbsp;
Marion led a skill-development clinic for youth athletes from Dubai's NBA Basketball School &mdash; a year-round basketball program in the UAE for boys and girls ages 6-to-18. He also judged a dunk contest, met with fans and took part in other NBA events alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Allen, Tim Hardaway Sr., Gary Payton, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Ronny Turiaf and Salah Mejri.
Marion is an NBA champion, four-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and one of just five players in NBA history to record 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks (the other four are LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon). The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they'll retire Marion's jersey this season.
While in Abu Dhabi, Marion joined me on <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1710458099448811578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my new show "Running Up The Score"</a> to discuss his legendary career, the Suns' decision to retire his jersey, Mat Ishbia's impact since buying the franchise, the globalization of the NBA, how the game has evolved, whether he'll get back into podcasting and more.&nbsp;
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You&rsquo;re currently in Abu Dhabi for the Mavericks-Timberwolves preseason games and to host a basketball clinic with kids from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. How is your trip going?&nbsp;
Shawn Marion:&nbsp;"Man, the trip is going amazing. This is a new culture for me; I've never experienced this, never been here. We're in a different part of the world right now and, I mean, I can tell you this: this is a place I'll definitely be coming back to. This is truly awesome. And, you know what, they're very passionate about [basketball]. I just had this meeting; I just came from an office visit and they had like 250 employees, but everybody spoke different languages! There were 16 languages being spoken! That tells you how diverse it is here, and they really pride themselves on that here. It's pretty amazing."
The globalization of the NBA has been a big priority for the league for some time. From when you were playing to now, do you see a big difference in terms of the NBA&rsquo;s worldwide popularity and international support?
Marion: "Yes. I think as you look at the lay of the land right now, the NBA and basketball is a global sport. But the way that the NBA has been able to grow it, they're taking it to other levels. They're starting NBA Academies and having clinics all around the world, and that just helps it grow even faster. Of course, TV and social-media content help as well, but the level it's growing at right now is unheard of."
The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they are retiring your jersey. Congratulations!
Marion: "Thank you!"
How did you find out that news and what was your reaction?
Marion: "I'm gonna be very honest and candid. Mat [Ishbia] called me as soon as he took ownership of the team and he was like, 'I'm not doing some of the shit that's been done [before]. I'm going to take care of you and reward you by retiring your jersey. I'm a man of my word, and that's what I'm going to do.' That's exactly what he said, and he did! Yep, it was that simple."
Ishbia is quickly winning over fans &mdash; he&rsquo;s spending money, making it easier to watch games, honoring past legends like yourself and so on. What do you think of Ishbia and the fresh start in Phoenix from an ownership perspective?
Marion: "I love it, man. I got a chance to see the practice facility; it's literally not too far from the place that I still have in Phoenix and I ain't been able to see [it before]. I ain't feel like... I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders to a certain degree. He's making the transition so easy. And he wants all the players who paved the way and set the foundation for the Suns organization and helped build that team into what the city loves and admires [to be involved]. He just wants everybody to be a part of it, man, and I love it. I think it's awesome. He's doing some amazing things out there."
The Suns have so much talent with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. What do you think of this year's team and do you think they can win it all?
Marion: "Man, I think they got a chance just like anybody else, but, of course, their [championship hopes] are probably a little bit more realistic than some other teams. I just hope they stay healthy. When you stay healthy, you give yourself a chance. That's the thing. A lot of teams deal with injuries, and they've been hit with the injury bug a little bit as well. But they've got Frank Vogel as the head coach out there now and he's a defensive-minded guy. They just made another trade and got some other pieces to add to it &mdash; Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic. I think that happened while I was out here; I was at a meeting when I got the alert and I was like, 'Wow! They ain't playing no games right now!' Listen, at the end of the day, he's trying to give himself and the organization the best chance to win. That's what you gotta do."
You obviously helped change the game and were ahead of your time. Overall, what are your thoughts on the modern NBA?
Marion: "Listen, it's run-and-gun, it's feast-or-famine right now. We set the foundation for what [the game] is now. There's so much positionless basketball being played, and it's dynamic. You're seeing the transition and evolution of what we started back in my Phoenix days during the Seven-Seconds-Or-Less era. That's what we started, and that's what it is right now. And I don't see the game going back to two traditional big men ever again."
Throughout the 2000s, not having a specific position was a death sentence for a player; nobody wanted to be labeled a "tweener." Then, seemingly overnight, the NBA became obsessed with "positionless" players and the tweeners were suddenly the most valuable players. That's one of my favorite examples of how the NBA is always evolving.
Marion: "Here's the thing: people can say [they're positionless], but it don't mean they are. You know, to be a two-way player in this league is very rare, but to be a positionless player is even more rare. You could be a guy who can go out there and guard 1 through 5, but to actually do it &mdash; willingly do it &mdash; is a big difference! A lot of guys probably could do it, but they don't do it, you know? Right now, teams are playing positionless basketball because everybody's switching everything. Most guys don't really post up anymore either. It's all face-up game and jumpers. So, it's easy to just jump into that narrative and bandwagon, but if you look at the game as a whole though, it's more of a guard-heavy game now than it was prior to when we made that transition. It's just been a shift. A lot of bigs now don't post up anymore; they're face-up players [too]. That's the evolution of the game."
A few years so, you and I did some of the NBA Watch Parties together on Clubhouse. I also love that <a href="https://twitter.com/MainTeamSports2/status/1506615984173592589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video where you jumped on Twitter Spaces</a> and educated fans about your career; it was incredibly entertaining. You're obviously passionate about this game. Have you ever thought of doing a podcast?
Marion: "Well, Alex, it's funny you say that. I actually had a podcast with one of my guys in Dallas, so I was one of the first guys to ever do it. I just didn't do any promoting or all of that stuff, but it was something that we did in the Mavs organization kind of early on &mdash; like way before everybody started getting into podcasts. And it was great! But the thing about podcasts is unless you got a set thing, you gotta create content all the time, and I was so busy focusing on trying to be a father first. That was my lane. And then I dibbled and dabbled in TV a little bit and thought about doing some broadcasting work, but, like I said, my priorities shifted because I'm a hands-on father. So, I couldn't keep doing it in Dallas because that was the situation, but I have thought about reopening that window.
"I do have a different side of the game that I like to talk about. I know narratives get created easily by the media, and we consume them and we digest them. It becomes part of our thought process of that player, of that team or whatever it is. But I was talking about this with one of my friends. I was telling him: it's easy for a [former] player to say, 'I can do this or that.' But what kind of player were you though? Because it's hard for a point guard to tell how to guard a big, or for a big to tell how to guard a point guard. But when I say it, I actually guarded all of them! I did it all! And I didn't just do it for a quarter or half a quarter. I did it for full games! So, when I sit there and I tell people that, people are like, 'Man, you know, I never thought about it from that standpoint.' I was like, 'Yo, I actually did this.' You know what I'm saying? Like, it's easy for somebody to say, 'I can guard somebody,' or, 'Oh, I'm a two way player; I can guard this player.' I'm like, 'Can you do it for a full game though?' I'm the only person ever to do it for full games."
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I love to ask players about big &ldquo;what-ifs&rdquo; from NBA history. There was a report a while back that you were nearly traded to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Phoenix and picks to Minnesota. Is that true and, if so, can you tell that story?
Marion: "It is true. But Phoenix wasn't gonna do the deal. They didn't think it was viable because they would have to change their style of play instantly because we're two different type of players. So, they didn't want it. KG was in Minnesota at the time, and I would've went to Boston and he would've came here (to Phoenix). At the time, Boston was losing; I think they had a losing record at that time. I was like, 'Uhh...' But I mean, we have no control over that. Some of the rumors that come out about trades are actually true, but both sides have to agree to it. People throw out deals all the time, [teams talk] all the time, so there's plenty of hypotheticals out there.
"But you wanna hear an untold true story? I never really fully ever became a free agent except my last year playing when I signed with with Cleveland. When I signed with Dallas, it was a sign-and-trade, so I was still under contract basically with Toronto. It was a sign-and-trade deal, so I never really tested the free-agency market like that. So, what happened was I was about to be a free agent or get traded, and this was around that same time as those KG rumors. Kobe [Bryant] called me and said, 'If you're really gonna go out on the market and it's a possibility [that you're changing teams], I want you to come out to L.A.' So, we was texting and he was like, 'Yo!' It ain't happen because they didn't have the money to pay me, but that's a story that a lot of people don't know about."
I love those kind of stories and it's always interesting to think how those potential moves could have changed NBA history.
Marion: "Oh, there were a lot of situations out there like that where [trade talks] were open! It was pretty fun. When you look at the business of the NBA, man, the optimism and [hope] of what could possibily be is what makes it so fun and dynamic &mdash; een with the trade that just went down with Damian Lillard. It's funny, Paul Pierce actually predicted that. He called that in July. He said, 'If I'm Dame, I would try to get to Milwaukee.' It's funny that he said that and I could see it [from Lillard's perspective]. But do I think they're better? Ehh, they lost a lot for that trade, you know? [Jrue Holiday]. Grayson Allen was a great player for Milwaukee. He is a great pickup for Phoenix. He's a hell of a player, a great player, dude. Like, he does a lot of small stuff. He's a very tough guy. I like him. It's something about him that I like. I like the little Duke dudes with that little rough-and-rugged side! But he's one of those guys who can hit shots, he's gonna play defense and he competes. He's actually a lot better than people give him credit for. He ain't got a chance to really showcase his skills, but he can play. And if they use him the right way, he can help them."
For sure. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!&nbsp;
Marion: "Anytime, man. You know, we have great conversations and stuff. I might contemplate doing a podcast again. I gotta have the mobile equipment. We'll see; I don't know. I gotta have a great co-host. I like people who shoot [straight]. I told this to a reporter, so I'll give this to you. I told this guy who was recording me yesterday: when you are doing your interviews, do not ask the same questions and stuff that somebody else asks. Do not&nbsp;ask the same stuff."
I'm sure that gets really annoying.
Marion: "It's so annoying. It's okay to piggyback off of answers just to get some kind of content to create something in your own way. But don't ask the exact same questions. You sound you are a true fan. I know you are a true fan of the game. Like, you really love this. And so [you] ask the questions that you wanna know from someone in my position! Forget about the stuff that's already been out there already! Create your own. We all got a story to tell."
For sure.
Marion: "And the thing is, I love my former guys talking about ball and stuff, but some of them talk like they was way bigger and better than they were. Some of these guys were below-average role players, but they talk like they were superstars! I'm like, 'What did you... How good was you? What did you do?!' (laughs) I'm like, 'He was a role player!' He was a solid role player! And look, I became a role player. But you know...
Yeah, but that was because of your longevity. You had four All-Star years before that.
Marion: "Yeah, that's about longevity and understanding that you gotta sacrifice to win. That's the biggest thing, you know? And I could have easily averaged such and such, but I was like, 'You know what? They don't need me to do that. I don't have to do that. If we can win and I'm averaging 16, 17 points, I'm cool with that. We gonna win, so I'm good with that. Let's win.' That was about getting them Ws.
"But that's something to think about though. You asked some great questions. That's the lane to go into. Those are the things to ask &mdash; the hypotheticals or something you [researched]. Like, 'You know what, he was pretty good at this, how did you pick up on that?' or, 'What's something that you did differently than everybody else?' Those are different questions, not the same questions [we always hear]. We get repetitively asked the same questions time and time again. It's boring. It sucks. I'ma be honest: it sucks. I hate it. It&nbsp;sucks!"
I can't imagine how old that gets.
Marion: "One thing that everybody was constantly asking me about was my shot. Everybody seemed to want ask me about my shot. But listen, you know what's really messed up about that though? One media person said it, so it went rampant and every media person wanted me to replicate the answer, right? Whether I like it or not, or whether I enjoy it or not. I did so much on the floor, but you wanna focus on something that nobody talks about? Nobody in the league talks about that. Don't nobody in the league shoot the same! ... I [used to get] pissed off, but now I respond and it's fine. 'It don't matter, don't nobody shoot the same. Next!' But why would you wanna talk about my shot, but then you won't talk about how I just had 25-and-15!"
Or that you shot 39% from three-point range one year!
Marion: "You wanna discredit me and what I did just to talk about my shot? Got it. I totally understand. There's certain lanes and narratives that will be pushed. I totally get it. I'm an owner now, so I see exactly what lane [they're in]; it's all marketing strategies. I know how it works and I know who controls it. Being on this side of the business, I know how things work now. But it's all good though. And it's all love. Thank you."
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/MwvBnhrrzgs?si=2BRrY0Vaq8WWyAPe&amp;t=1676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch the full conversation here</a>.
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Shawn Marion opens up about the Suns retiring his jersey, nearly getting traded to the Celtics, Mat Ishbia, the modern NBA and more.

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

The Boston Celtics entered the 2022 NBA Finals with zero games of championship-stage experience on their active roster. Between Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney, the Golden State Warriors had made 123 game appearances combined.
First-year head coach Ime Udoka never appeared in the NBA Finals as a player, and made it there for 12 games as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs. Steve Kerr had already spearheaded 21 Finals games and three titles as Golden State's head coach, in addition to his 27 games as a player.
Boston looked like a deer in the headlights during its three consecutive losses in part because it had never been here before. Pushing one of the great dynasties in basketball history to six games may not have been the desired achievement, but it's still a notable one. And getting to Game 6 of the NBA Finals after sitting 11th in the East standings as late as January? Count me as somebody who was a doubter.
More importantly: This playoff run is neon, flashing proof that this Celtics core, headlined by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, is capable of winning a championship. All the chatter about their viability as a duo, Marcus Smart's status as point guard, Udoka's capability as a coach and so on, is now unequivocally just chatter.
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Obviously, the franchise shouldn't be satisfied with a loss. Of course it can tweak the roster and players can improve their individual skills. But Boston found an identity in the regular season, tested it against some of the toughest teams in the league and proved it can propel this team to basketball's ultimate stage.
"Nobody even had us being here, let alone in the playoffs,&rdquo; Celtics guard Marcus Smart said postgame following the Finals defeat. &ldquo;It definitely is tough. But it&rsquo;s definitely one of those things we&rsquo;ve been through hell to get here, and you take that. You know what I&rsquo;m saying? We&rsquo;ve got to use that.&rdquo;
Those dejected by the final outcome will point to Tatum's dismal Game 6 performance, in which he scored 13 points, shot 6-for-18 from the floor and coughed up five turnovers. They'll roll out his 100 total giveaways in these playoffs, the most by any player ever in a single postseason run. And they'll be right that his handle and decision-making fell short against one of the league's best defenses.
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Jayson Tatum had 13 assists last night - the most ever in an NBA Finals debut. Here's what stood out to me about them (thread) ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Early on Golden State is really watching driving/rolling lanes. Draymond is sitting on the low block which means Smart can get open. AST 1 <a href="https://t.co/sCSnNwUxuj">pic.twitter.com/sCSnNwUxuj</a>
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1532766760277098500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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What about his 13 assists (the most ever in a Finals debut) against two turnovers in Game 1 though? Or his 6.2 assists per game in the postseason? Tatum had to lead Boston through 24 playoff games, including two seven-game series, to set that undesirable and meaningless total turnover record. He became the first Celtic to crack the All-NBA First Team since Kevin Garnett in 2007-08 and the second to do it since Larry Bird in 1987-88. There's no more debate over Tatum's playmaking ability or his star power.
Brown similarly struggled with turnovers in Games 5 and 6, posting five in each contest with some painful moments late where he simply lost a handle on the ball. But he also did his best to carry the scoring load with 34 points in the last defeat. Brown ended up shooting 51.0% on drives to the basket with an 11.7% assist rate and 7.8% turnover rate in the Finals &mdash; all great clips.&nbsp;
If you're still doubting Brown's ability to improve on the ball, just <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/appreciating-how-far-jaylen-brown-has-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read Mark Schindler's retrospective</a> on the star's polish versus his lone college season. Which two-man Celtics pairing had the highest plus-minus per 100 possessions in the regular season? Brown and Tatum, through all the ups and downs, at plus-14.3. They were also third on the team (plus-4.3 per 100 possessions) in the postseason. The discussion over this duo's long-term cohesion is settled by the numbers and by its achievements this season.
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Here's that gorgeous Marcus Smart touch pass in slow motion. The spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination needed to make this pass is ridiculous. What a spectacular player/decision-maker he is. <a href="https://t.co/vVI2HDKHCK">pic.twitter.com/vVI2HDKHCK</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1537820480622714886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Smart set a career-high in assists per game (5.9) for the third consecutive season and maintained that rate throughout the playoffs. In Game 6, while some folks still somehow questioned his merit as a floor general, Smart dished out 9 assists. He actually ranked eighth among all potseason players in passes per game, and while that doesn't shield him or the Celtics from criticism about their offense, he certainly moves the ball.
I have questions about how the Celtics used Smart in the Finals &mdash; why they didn't post him up more often, and why they kept him off the ball when Tatum and Brown were struggling (both of them). But we're well past wondering about Smart's "true point guard" acumen and using him as the go-to piece in trade machines. Smart is a keeper because he's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/marcus-smarts-versatile-playmaking-has-proven-vital-to-the-celtics-offensive-resurgence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a core part of Boston's&nbsp;offense</a>, nevermind also being the first guard in over 25 years to win Defensive Player of the Year.
Then, we get to some pivotal contributions from other players that underscore Brad Stevens' <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/brad-stevens-deserves-massive-credit-for-the-celtics-success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slam dunk of a first year as president of basketball operations</a>. Al Horford obviously headlines the success. I thought he was no longer a starter at the beginning of the season; instead, the longtime, familiar veteran was everything Boston needed in a low-usage big and so much more, and he battled in all 24 playoff games at 36 years old.&nbsp;
Robert Williams III had the healthiest regular season of his career and reinforced his status as one of the most fearsome shot-blockers in basketball. He was visibly struggling with mobility in the Finals, but fighting valiantly, considering he played the series on an injured, swollen knee. Grant Williams didn't impact the Finals in the same way as his regular season, but he was instrumental in series wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Derrick White fit right in as a defensive cornerstone who gave Stephen Curry &mdash; one of the sport's transcendent offensive weapons &mdash; all he could on screens and on the ball.&nbsp;
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Udoka certainly won't, but he should gloat about this defense. In one year at the helm, he overhauled Boston's entire scheme, made mid-season adjustments, took on new players and molded a unit that ranked first in regular-season Defensive Rating (106.9) and second in the playoffs (107.6). It frequently kept Boston in games and series as the offensive output waxed and waned.&nbsp;
Now, Udoka and Stevens have a full offseason to further their vision after proving it will work in their first year together. They don't have many available pathways to move, though.
The Celtics only have the No. 53 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign players outright. They do, however, have several trade exceptions, headlined by a $17.1 million TPE from dealing Evan Fournier.
The entire main rotation is under contract for next season (Horford's deal is non-guaranteed, but there are already indications <a href="https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/05/al-horford-increases-salary-guarantee-by-5-million-for-next-season-after-celtics-clinch-nba-finals-spot.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston will guarantee it)</a>.&nbsp;Nik Stauskas and Malik Fitts have non-guaranteed contracts. Matt Ryan and Brodric Thomas are restricted free agents, and Boston holds team options on Juwan Morgan and Sam Hauser. They might all be on the outs this summer.
Stevens has room to merely fine-tune the roster ahead of the 2022-23 season. Fortunately, that's all he needs to do.&nbsp;
For several years, Boston wondered if the Celtics would be able to break down the door of the NBA Finals after falling in the conference finals three times in five years. This core proved it can reach the pinnacle without any requisite experience.
So yes, a loss in the Finals always stings. But the way the Celtics arrived there, and even the way they lost, should provide their fan base with hope.
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The Celtics lost in the NBA Finals, but by getting there, they showed they have the core of a title contender.

Celtics' season a successful proof of concept despite NBA Finals loss

From a mid-season blockbuster swap involving two disgruntled stars, to rumors that a former No. 1 overall pick wants a change of scenery in only his third season, the topic of player empowerment is front and center in the NBA. &nbsp;
Superstars wanting off their team isn't a new concept. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar forced a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. In recent years, superstars demanding to be dealt is so common that the term &ldquo;player empowerment&rdquo; established itself in our NBA lexicon.&nbsp;
But this season feels different, in that it is rife with unique trade demands. Like Ben Simmons' refusal to play a single minute for the Philadelphia 76ers while requesting a trade, with a whopping four years left on his contract. Or James Harden asking off of his second team in as many years. Even the Zion Williamson situation &mdash; rumored to be disgruntled in New Orleans after playing a total of 85 games &mdash; is unprecedented. With every new trade demand, it feels like stars are pushing the limits and boundaries of player empowerment.
Either the NBA's Mercury is in retrograde or we&rsquo;re witnessing the dawn of a new era.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Player empowerment&rdquo; was popularized in 2010 after LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh conspired to play with each other in Miami. Suddenly, players realized they could control their own destiny and team up to form super-teams.
Since then, player empowerment has largely come to mean trade demands from superstars. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Many executives have decried it as ruining the league's parity and even the sanctity of the game. &nbsp;
"Player empowerment is a catchall for the fact that the league has done a terrible job of empowering teams, the players have all of the leverage in every situation. I think it's the worst thing that ever happened to professional sports on all levels," an anonymous NBA general manager <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/lebron-james-agent-is-transforming-the-business-of-basketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker</a>.&nbsp;
Many fans view it as a win for laborers.&nbsp;
The NBA is, after all, the most progressive sports league. However, without even touching the racial undertones that weave throughout the narrative about the league, it is easy to see why the masses support the players. Fans have watched players lose the battle over the means of production &mdash; from owning 57% of league revenue in 2005 down to only 50% today &mdash; so witnessing players gain autonomy over their playing career by stripping control from owners is celebrated as a nice consolation prize.&nbsp;
As we become inundated with debate over the merits of player empowerment, we&rsquo;ve seemed to skip over what the term actually means and how it actualizes itself in the league.&nbsp;
There is no denying that some players have power and some of those players have controlled the make-up of the league for over a decade. The issue is that player empowerment is a term that poses as the league's players uniting, but instead, it is merely a select few exercising their power over everyone else.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s break this down.&nbsp;
Were the Los Angeles Lakers' young core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart empowered when Anthony Davis forced his way to Los Angeles? Not likely.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s also impossible to imagine all six of Jarrett Allen (Brooklyn to Cleveland), Taurean Prince (Brooklyn to Cleveland), Caris LeVert (Brooklyn to Indiana), Rodions Kurucs (Brooklyn to Houston), Dante Exum (Cleveland to Houston) and Victor Oladipo (Indiana to Houston) felt empowered after being forced to uproot themselves midseason during a pandemic because Harden wanted to join the Nets.&nbsp;
Framing the whims of a small few that can disrupt the lives of many as player empowerment feels disingenuous. A better term would be &ldquo;superstar entitlement.&rdquo;&nbsp;
With the knowledge that player empowerment really means superstar entitlement, it&rsquo;s easy to understand how empowerment stories are often framed as prima donnas throwing tantrums until they get their way.
But maybe it should be framed as superstars earning power through loss of salary.&nbsp;
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With the advent of max salaries, stars are never fairly compensated. The bigger and brighter the star shines, the more they lose out &mdash; with their play forever eclipsing the money they make. Ergo, player empowerment is less about empowering all or even most players and more about compensating superstars in a salary-cap league.&nbsp;
Heliocentric is another popular term in our NBA vernacular; we&rsquo;ve heard the term &ldquo;heliocentric offense,&rdquo; and we&rsquo;ve heard stars described as heliocentric. But it&rsquo;s also a term that can refer to the league itself.&nbsp;
To briefly go back to the 1500s and Copernicus &mdash; heliocentrism is a cosmological theory that the Earth and planets revolve around the sun. And in the NBA, everything revolves around certain stars. The bigger and brighter the star, the stronger their gravitational pull &mdash; the LeBronicus Theory, if you will.&nbsp;
Superstars wield more power than ever. They influence nearly every aspect of an organization &mdash; from coaching hirings and firings, to player personnel and roster construction.
The Harden-for-Simmons swap is an interesting case to dissect, because it centers around two stars whom everything doesn&rsquo;t revolve around.&nbsp;
On one side, there&rsquo;s Harden, whose status as a heliocentric star diminished as soon as he left Houston for Brooklyn. And on the other side is Simmons, a player who could never cement himself into anything more than a secondary star in Philadelphia.
Though both players had leverage, Harden had more because of the status of his contract. Neither were in a place to force their teams to bend to their will &mdash; at least not in the same way Harden was able to back when he told Houston they had a problem.&nbsp;
In Brooklyn, Harden <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33259122/james-harden-wants-trade-philadelphia-76ers-formally-request-deal-due-concern-public-backlash-sources-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly never voiced his desire to leave</a>, and 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey threatened to hold out on trading Simmons for the duration of his contract.
&nbsp;"You're going to think I'm kidding, I'm not. This could [go on for] four years... We're in the prime of Joel's career... Either Ben Simmons is playing for us, or we have to get back a difference-maker," Morey said.
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Morey on his timeline: "You're going to think I'm kidding, I'm not. This could (go on for) 4 years. ... We're in the prime of Joel's career...Either Ben Simmons is playing for us, or we have to get back a difference maker."
&mdash; Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerekBodnerNBA/status/1451288448875343872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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It wasn't Simmons' refusal to play games or Harden&rsquo;s pouting that forced their teams&rsquo; hands.&nbsp; It was that Embiid&rsquo;s play pressured Morey to make a deal, and Kevin Durant <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953512-inside-kevin-durants-role-in-brooklyn-nets-james-harden-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly wanted one too</a>.&nbsp;
Ultimately, the deal came down to what was best for the biggest stars. While James and Ben were the players who used their leverage to request out, Durant and Embiid &mdash; being the heliocentric star of their respective teams &mdash; made the final call.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17432379_lg.jpg" alt="" width="695" height="464" />
What Harden lost in star power in moving to Brooklyn, KD gained by doing the same. Though Durant&rsquo;s play has always been stellar, it&rsquo;s clear he has more power within the Nets' organization than he did with the Warriors. It was Durant, after all, who <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953512-inside-kevin-durants-role-in-brooklyn-nets-james-harden-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly requested Kyrie Irving be allowed to play road games</a> despite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nets-say-kyrie-irving-cant-play-or-practice-with-team-while-unvaccinated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the stance Sean Marks and the Nets took</a> earlier in the season.&nbsp;
Who has power and how much they have is determined by a number of variables, like their standing in the league, their standing on their team, their health, the length of their contract and market size, etc. And this list of powerful players is still arguably fewer than 10 names long in any given season (with some variance).
The variables at play that make Durant&rsquo;s star shine brighter with the Nets than with the Warriors are as simple as the fact that there's another superstar in Golden State &mdash; and he was there first and couldn&rsquo;t be eclipsed.
Of course there are titans like LeBron James, who can completely shift the paradigm of the league with a flippant comment &mdash; like over All-Star Weekend when he hinted at a possible return to Cleveland.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The door&rsquo;s not closed on that&hellip; &nbsp;I&rsquo;m not saying I&rsquo;m coming back and playing, I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t know what my future holds. I don&rsquo;t even know when I&rsquo;m free.&rdquo; James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-james-on-cleveland-return-the-doors-not-closed-on-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Athletic</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
LeBron is back in Cleveland this weekend. His picture is on the building again. At first he said he hasn&rsquo;t thought about returning to play for the Cavs, but then we kept talking. &ldquo;The door&rsquo;s not closed on that,&rdquo; he said. LeBron had a lot to say today. <a href="https://t.co/cdg8RIoxZb">https://t.co/cdg8RIoxZb</a>
&mdash; Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByJasonLloyd/status/1495148179410591745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2022</a></blockquote>

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LeBron&rsquo;s comments dominated the news cycle over the league&rsquo;s busiest weekend, and that's in large part because he will be a free agent in 2023. James signs short-term deals to maximize his leverage even though it means leaving long-term NBA money on the table.
Player empowerment isn&rsquo;t limited to team decisions &mdash; the NBPA also caters to the stars. With recent negotiations featuring superstars at the helm, contract negotiations often prioritize their needs.&nbsp;
Take for example the 2017 CBA. Superstar and NBPA president Chris Paul managed to help push forward the NBA supermax deal, given to players who have either won an MVP award, a Defensive Player of the Year award or earned an All-NBA selection in the previous season &mdash; or two of the previous three. The NBA supermax allows these stars to earn massive five-year deals with a starting salary of up to 35% of the cap.
Paul also helped change the "over-36" rule that prevented players from signing multi-year deals if they are to turn 36 or older over the course of the contract to "over-38." Not lost on anyone, Paul was set to be a free agent the summer of 2017, and pushing the rule back two years would have positively affected how much and how long he could have signed for.&nbsp;
In any collective bargaining, there&rsquo;s a give and a take &mdash; so both parties can walk away feeling like winners. So as collective bargaining agreements continue to reward those at the top, that leaves little for the rest.&nbsp;
Now, let's take a look at punishments. More often than not, disciplinary action comes in the form of fines. Technical fouls, for example, come with a fine of $2,000 for a player&rsquo;s first five offenses.&nbsp;
On Jan. 25 this season, the Sixers faced the New Orleans Pelicans. Embiid and rookie Jose Alvarado got into it and were each assessed technical fouls. That means Alvarado, who earns $462,629 this season, and Embiid, who's making $31.58 million, are meant to pay the same amount. Though Embiid generously offered to cover the fine for Alvarado, the benevolence of stars shouldn&rsquo;t make up for this obvious imbalance.&nbsp;
Fines are meant to disincentivize players from committing offenses, but when by setting these as a specific dollar amount as opposed to a percentage of their salary, they disproportionately&nbsp;hurt the lowest earners. And consequently, they allow the elite to do as they please.&nbsp;
Calling out NBA officials comes with a hefty $25,000 fine &mdash; this would be astronomical to rookies like Alvarado, but not to a superstar like Embiid who has been fined for doing just that. In Feb. 2019, Embiid told reporters the "referees f**king sucked" after a missed call in a close loss to the Boston Celtics. Though the fine undoubtedly hurt his pocketbook, it was a calculated risk he and other high earners like him have the freedom of taking.&nbsp;
From afar, superstar entitlement looks like stars picking their teams; a closer look unveils real inequities like financial penalties and disproportionate representation at the top of the players' union. A more granular look reveals that every scenario and every superstar is unique.&nbsp;
There is, however, one constant amidst the chaos in understanding power dynamics in the league, and that&rsquo;s team control. The NBA draft, rookie contracts, restricted free agency and good old-fashioned trades are just some of the ways in which teams have maintained ultimate control. The difference is when teams wield their power, it&rsquo;s not much of a news story.
We clutch our pearls at Kawhi Leonard demanding a trade but not at the Raptors for sending out DeMar DeRozan. We expect teams to make moves to better their situation, yet players who have become brands in their own right aren&rsquo;t given the freedom to do the same.&nbsp;
Any team would be over the moon to have a superstar play for them &mdash; we recognize this and they recognize this. So, they aren&rsquo;t going to sit back and wish upon a star for a trade. They ask, and if they're good enough, teams will acquiesce. It is a star-driven league, after all. So, we can&rsquo;t be surprised at who's steering the ship. And I&rsquo;d argue it&rsquo;s high time for the rest of the league to just grab on to their seats and hold on, because the era of player empowerment has only started taking off.&nbsp;
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Imman Adan details what "player empowerment" in the NBA truly entails and how it's been framed incorrectly.

The truth about 'player empowerment' in the NBA

NBA players have become some of the most marketable celebrities in the world. These days, it&rsquo;s not uncommon for players to earn significantly more from their off-court opportunities than they do from their NBA contract.&nbsp;
While many companies are lining up to work with NBA players, not all of these stars have the same reach, engagement or consumer appeal. Some are far more influential than others, and <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/nba/most-marketable-popular-nba-players" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a new study from The Action Network</a> wanted to find out which NBA stars give companies the best bang for their buck.
To determine each player's "influence score," they analyzed 20 different metrics (each weighted as one point) that fell into three categories: Social performance (which measured their followers, engagement rate, yearly social growth, audience quality score, etc.), audience ratings (which factored in certain demographic and economic factors) and overall likeability (which measured monthly Google searches, online buzz and positive vs. negative sentiment). When everything was added up, 20 was the highest possible score that a player could receive.
LeBron James led all players with an overall score of 14.18, in large part because he ranked first in both social performance and likability. While James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-most-trolls-trolled-negative-tweets-study-rumors-twitter-positive-mentions-stephen-curry-lebron-james-carmelo-anthony-joel-embiid-russell-westbrook-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-klay-thompson-kevin-love" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has some haters</a>, he also has a ton of supporters. LeBron has plenty of endorsements and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-lebron-james-the-businessman-fenway-sports-group-springhill-entertainment-uninterrupted-blaze-pizza-ladder-athletes-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">off-court endeavors</a>, which is why his 2021 off-court earnings ($65 million) more than doubled his NBA salary ($31.5 million).
At No. 2 was Stephen Curry with a score of 10.67. He has lucrative endorsement deals with Under Armour, Callaway and CarMax, and his $40 million in off-court earnings ranked eighth-highest among all athletes in 2021.&nbsp;
This is where things get interesting, as Derrick Rose rounds out the top-three with a score of 9.29. The 33-year-old beat out Devin Booker (8.96), Luka Doncic (8.83), Giannis Antetokounmpo (8.59) and Kevin Durant (8.55) among others. Even though Rose isn't the MVP-caliber player he once was and mostly comes off the bench these days, he has one of the most passionate fan bases in all of professional sports.
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After Durant, Kyrie Irving (8.17), LaMelo Ball (8.04) and Russell Westbrook (7.78) round out the top-10.
The Los Angeles Lakers (3), Brooklyn Nets (3), Golden State Warriors (2) and Phoenix Suns (2) were the only teams to have multiple players crack the top-20. Notable omissions from the top-20 include Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Donovan Mitchell.
Here&rsquo;s a look at the complete top-20 list from <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/nba/most-marketable-popular-nba-players" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Action Network</a>:
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Rank
</td>
<td>
Full Name
</td>
<td>
Team
</td>
<td>
Influence Score
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
1
</td>
<td>
LeBron James
</td>
<td>
Lakers
</td>
<td>
14.18
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
2
</td>
<td>
Steph Curry
</td>
<td>
Warriors
</td>
<td>
10.67
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
3
</td>
<td>
Derrick Rose
</td>
<td>
Knicks
</td>
<td>
9.29
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
4
</td>
<td>
Devin Booker
</td>
<td>
Suns
</td>
<td>
8.96
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
5
</td>
<td>
Luka Doncic
</td>
<td>
Mavericks
</td>
<td>
8.83
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
6
</td>
<td>
Giannis Antetokounmpo
</td>
<td>
Bucks
</td>
<td>
8.59
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
7
</td>
<td>
Kevin Durant
</td>
<td>
Nets
</td>
<td>
8.55
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
8
</td>
<td>
Kyrie Irving
</td>
<td>
Nets
</td>
<td>
8.17
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
9
</td>
<td>
LaMelo Ball
</td>
<td>
Hornets
</td>
<td>
8.04
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
10
</td>
<td>
Russell Westbrook
</td>
<td>
Lakers
</td>
<td>
7.78
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
11
</td>
<td>
Ja Morant
</td>
<td>
Grizzlies
</td>
<td>
7.67
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
12
</td>
<td>
James Harden
</td>
<td>
Sixers
</td>
<td>
7.56
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
13
</td>
<td>
Anthony Davis
</td>
<td>
Lakers
</td>
<td>
7.52
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
14
</td>
<td>
Damian Lillard
</td>
<td>
Blazers
</td>
<td>
7.52
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
15
</td>
<td>
Chris Paul
</td>
<td>
Suns
</td>
<td>
7.51
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
16
</td>
<td>
Klay Thompson
</td>
<td>
Warriors
</td>
<td>
7.47
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
17
</td>
<td>
Jayson Tatum
</td>
<td>
Celtics
</td>
<td>
7.40
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
18
</td>
<td>
Ben Simmons
</td>
<td>
Nets
</td>
<td>
7.32
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
19
</td>
<td>
Zach LaVine
</td>
<td>
Bulls
</td>
<td>
7.31
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
20
</td>
<td>
Zion Williamson
</td>
<td>
Pelicans
</td>
<td>
7.18
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Which players get trolled the most on Twitter? <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-most-trolls-trolled-negative-tweets-study-rumors-twitter-positive-mentions-stephen-curry-lebron-james-carmelo-anthony-joel-embiid-russell-westbrook-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-klay-thompson-kevin-love" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out this other study</a> that determined which players receive the most negative tweets each day (and who has the most positive mentions).
&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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A new study from The Action Network analyzed 20 different metrics to find out which NBA stars are the most marketable.

New study ranks the top-20 most marketable NBA players

In case you&rsquo;ve been overly consumed by the NBA, college basketball, or the WNBA off-season, now would be a great time to remind y&rsquo;all that the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers are going on.
And in case you didn&rsquo;t know, the host countries for the 2023 World Cup are Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines &mdash; more on that later.
The last World Cup was right before the 2019-20 season, but feels so long ago because this whole COVID thing hadn&rsquo;t yet clapped us up. If you remember, the 2020 Olympics took place in 2021 &mdash; as in, last year. Yeah, I know, the international stuff can get confusing, but I&rsquo;m here to help you. Trust me.
Now, perhaps quietly to some, international play quickly resumed this past November with the first window of 2023 World Cup qualifying, which we&rsquo;ll recap shortly.
You have four sets of qualifying regions: Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. There are six windows played over a 15-month span (starting from this past November), where the competing squads normally would participate in two games per window. COVID had other ideas &mdash; more on that later.
Currently, each region has groups of four, and the top three in each group will advance to round two following the June/July window. This current round of qualifying is between Nov. 20-30, Feb. 21-March 1, and June 27-July 5, after which we&rsquo;ll enter round two. Round two also occurs over three windows: August 22-30, Nov. 7-15, and Feb. 20-28, then those who will have qualified will enter group drawing next March, and we&rsquo;ll see them compete between August 25-September 10 &mdash; the World Cup.
Now, let&rsquo;s lay out all the things you should probably know and, if you see a number in parenthesis next to a team that&rsquo;s listed, that&rsquo;s their current world ranking, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingmen">according to FIBA</a>. So if you feel like your people are being misrepresented, leave me alone and take that up with them. (Unless &hellip; unless you mean, you know, actual greater good/societal misrepresentation, then &hellip; let&rsquo;s talk, because me, too.)
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African Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Angola, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia
As they did in 2019, Africa will get five of the final 32 World Cup spots. Though they&rsquo;re hoping for a better result, because none of them advanced past&nbsp;group play. The Groups are as follows:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Nigeria (22), Mali (72), Cape Verde (74), Uganda (78),</li>
<li>Group B: Tunisia (28), Cameroon (64), South Sudan (82), Rwanda (84)</li>
<li>Group C: Angola (31), Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire (40), Central African Rep. (75), Guinea (99)</li>
<li>Group D: Senegal (34), Egypt (59), Congo DR (81), Kenya (103)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Africa has a slightly different format. Groups A and C each played three games from Nov. 26-28, the biggest perhaps being Cape Verde&rsquo;s 79-71 upset over Nigeria, which helped move their ranking from No. 100 to No. 74 in the world. Thus, Groups A and C will return in the summer window. Nigeria and Mali are 2-1 and lead Group A, and Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire went 3-0 in November, sitting atop Group C. Groups B and D begin qualifying on Feb. 25 at Dakar Arena in Senegal, which will be three straight days of games through the 27th.
Tunisia&rsquo;s To Lose?: Tunisia went 10-2 in their World Cup qualifying for the 2019 tournament, and is expected to have similar production in group play here. Tunisia won the 2021 AfroBasket this past September, led by tournament MVP Makrem Romdhane, and All-Tournament guard Omar Abada. There&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/african-qualifiers/news/the-african-champions-are-ready-to-soar-in-dakar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also a chance star center Salah Mejri suits up for Tunisia</a>. The 7-foot-2 former Dallas Maverick <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/teams/tunisia/2019.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led Tunisia with 16.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game</a> in their second ever World Cup appearance three years ago.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_Zc8DMv5vc" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Biggest What If: Tunisia plays Cameroon on Feb. 25. Cameroon is one of the many wild cards worth keeping tabs on. They still haven&rsquo;t been able to piece together the dream frontcourt of Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who hasn&rsquo;t played since the NBA bubble. <a href="https://www.libertyballers.com/2017/2/7/14539418/joel-embiid-named-cameroon-preliminary-roster-fiba-afrobasket-2017-luc-mbah-a-moute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Embiid came close in 2017</a>, but ultimately didn&rsquo;t play. Obviously, NBA players rarely can compete in these qualifying windows because of, well, them being in the NBA. But if Cameroon could do well enough and qualify, who knows if that&rsquo;ll be enough to lure Embiid and Siakam into international play.
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American Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Argentina (silver medalist), Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, USA, and Venezuela.
The Americas will, again, send seven to the World Cup late next year. The Americas have the standard format across the board, so this window will mark two games for each club. The groups are:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Argentina (7), Venezuela (17), Panama (50), Paraguay (77)</li>
<li>Group B: Brazil (15), Uruguay (41), Colombia (67), Chile (68)</li>
<li>Group C: Canada (18), Dominican Republic (20), U.S. Virgin Islands (54), Bahamas (62)</li>
<li>Group D: U.S.A. (1), Puerto Rico (19), Mexico (24), Cuba (65)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico are all 2-0. U.S.A. and Puerto Rico are the only 1-1 teams in the Americas, and will play each other on Tuesday in Washington D.C. Notably, for Team U.S.A., Jim Boylen coached the club in the November window, in which they held off Cuba 95-90, then lost to Mexico in Chihuahua City, 97-88. Although Cuba is 0-2, their star, Jaisel Rivero, is good enough to steal them a game. Rivero put 34 (13-18 shooting) with 9 rebounds and 3 threes on Team USA in their narrow loss. Rivero currently competes with Liga ACB and EuroCup&rsquo;s Valencia Basket in Spain, where he averages 11.1 points (second on team) and 4.9 rebounds (third on team) across all competitions.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
21 points for <a href="https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@isaiahthomas</a> last night, including 4 made threes, none bigger than this dagger. 👀 Team USA defeated Cuba 95-90 to start 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. They face Mexico tonight. 📹: <a href="https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82">https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82</a> (via FIBA) <a href="https://t.co/dhAUAUVHLy">pic.twitter.com/dhAUAUVHLy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465437069073858560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
Uncle Iso Joe: Among <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/game/0407/Mexico-USA#|tab=boxscore">the notables who suited up for Team USA in November</a> were Isaiah Thomas, Luke Kornet, Chasson Randle, Haywood Highsmith and Shaquille Harrison, among many other current and former NBA players. Seven-time All-Star and 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who famously was a Boston Celtic briefly earlier this season, is <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/news/nba-experience-leads-revamped-united-states-roster-for-second-window-of-2023-fiba-world-cup-americas-qualifiers">confirmed to be suiting up with Team USA</a> in this February window. Brian Bowen II is the only player returning from the November window. Other Team U.S.A. members include current G Leaguers Jordan Bell, David Stockton, Langston Galloway and Justin Wright-Foreman, among others.
La Nueva Era de Baloncesto: Both Mexico and Puerto Rico announced new head coaches shortly before the November window. Mexico&rsquo;s led by long-time NBA assistant Kaleb Caneles, while Puerto Rico hired Nelson Colon, who is a three-time champion and Coach of the Year in Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico&rsquo;s top pro basketball league. Former long-time NBA guard Carlos Arroyo was also appointed the <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/news/puerto-rico-appoints-carlos-arroyo-as-its-male-national-team-general-manager#:~:text=Americas-,Puerto%20Rico%20appoints%20Carlos%20Arroyo%20as%20its%20male%20National%20Team,of%20the%20men's%20national%20team.">Puerto Rican National Team&rsquo;s General Manager last June</a>.
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Both Puerto Rico and Mexico starting this cycle with new coaches, too: <a href="https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy">https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465151054278967302?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Asia-Oceania Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Australia (finished fourth), China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.
The hosts &ndash; Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia &ndash; typically automatically qualify for the World Cup. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171213161459/http:/www.philstar.com:8080/sports/2017/12/13/1767946/learning-2019-world-cup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indonesia&rsquo;s qualification is more provisional</a> due to their lack of international success. Japan and the Philippines are automatically in, but they&rsquo;re all scheduled to participate in World Cup qualifiers anyway.
In the 2019 World Cup, Asia/Oceania sent eight teams over, which they&rsquo;ll do again in 2023. Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: New Zealand (27), South Korea (30), Philippines (33), India (80)</li>
<li>Group B: Australia (3), China (29), Japan (37), Chinese Taipei (66)</li>
<li>Group C: Jordan (39), Lebanon (55), Indonesia (91), Saudi Arabia (79)</li>
<li>Group D: Iran (23),&nbsp;Kazakhstan (70), Syria (85), Bahrain (104)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Due to travel restrictions (COVID), <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/asian-qualifiers/news/update-to-the-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2023-asian-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several games had to be canceled</a>, so while the format was originally the same as the Americas, it came with some modifications. No one in Group A has played yet, so they&rsquo;ll each play four games to compensate, all of which will take place between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28. In Group B, only China and Japan were able to play, and China smacked them twice, 79-63, and 106-73. Australia and Chinese Taipei are each scheduled to play three times between Feb. 25 and Feb. 28. Japan will play twice in this window, once against each of them, and China will return for four games in the third window to end round one.
Medal Momentum: This will mark the first we see of Australia since finally winning their first medal at the 2020 Olympics (that were played in 2021). Australia had lost the bronze medal game in the 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2016 Olympics before finally medaling in their fifth attempt. In their history, they&rsquo;ve never had a better World Cup finish than in 2019, where they lost in &hellip; another bronze medal game. Perhaps Australia is really turning a corner now. &nbsp;
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🥉 HISTORY MADE 🥉 The Boomers have done it- Australia have secured their first ever men&rsquo;s basketball Olympic medal! The bronze is coming home! 💚💛<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/ngxiYRwHdk">pic.twitter.com/ngxiYRwHdk</a>
&mdash; Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketballAus/status/1423988352987013120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2021</a>
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European Region&nbsp;
2019 WC qualifiers: Czech Republic, France (bronze medalist), Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain (gold medalist), Turkey.
Europe is the largest region of basketball playing powers here, so their rules are slightly different. Instead of four groups, there are eight. As a result, they&rsquo;ll get 12 World Cup bids.
Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Serbia (6), Latvia (26), Belgium (36), Slovakia (63)</li>
<li>Group B: Greece (10), Turkey (16), Great Britain (44), Belarus (48)</li>
<li>Group C: Slovenia (4), Croatia (21), Finland (35), Sweden (51)</li>
<li>Group D: Germany (11), Poland (13), Israel (42), Estonia (49)</li>
<li>Group E: France (5), Montenegro (25), Hungary (43), Portugal (58)</li>
<li>Group F: Lithuania (8), Czech Republic (12), Bosnia (45), Bulgaria (53)</li>
<li>Group G: Spain (2), Ukraine (32), Georgia (38), North Macedonia (52)</li>
<li>Group H: Italy (9), Russia (14), Netherlands (47), Iceland (46)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Everyone here was able to play two games in November. Your 2-0 teams are as follows: Belgium, Slovenia, Israel, France, Lithuania, Bosnia, Spain and Russia. Your 0-2 teams are Netherlands, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Croatia and Slovakia. Czech Republic was a story from the 2019 World Cup. They shockingly punched above their weight and reached the quarterfinals. Czech Republic, led by Tom&aacute;&scaron; Satoransky, finished sixth, one spot above Team U.S.A. But, so far, they haven&rsquo;t won a game in 2023 qualifying. Czech Republic lost to Bosnia 97-90 and Lithuania 74-66. They should have a breakthrough against Bulgaria on the 24th, but it&rsquo;ll be difficult to set themselves up for a repeat of 2019, which was their first World Cup bid.
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The State of Spain: After winning the 2019 World Cup with an incredibly stacked team, including tournament MVP Ricky Rubio, captain Rudy Fern&aacute;ndez, Marc Gasol and Willy Hernang&oacute;mez, Spain was knocked out of the Olympic quarterfinals by the United States. Their Olympic team featured many of their same heavy-hitters, including even Pau Gasol, who retired in October and is now a member of the International Olympic Committee. Like the United States, many of the players you&rsquo;d expect to see on their World Cup roster <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Spain#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely won&rsquo;t participate much until then</a>. Even so, expect them to continue reigning as one of the top teams in the world. We could talk about the age factor around this time next year, perhaps.
The Sleeping Giant: Slovenia famously jumped 12 spots after their debut Olympic performance, largely led by Luka Dončić, accompanied by standout pro teammates Mike Tobey, Zoran (Goran&rsquo;s brother) Dragić,&nbsp;and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlatko_%C4%8Can%C4%8Dar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vlatko Čančar</a>. Slovenia finished fourth, losing to Australia in the bronze medal game. They didn&rsquo;t qualify for the 2019 World Cup, but did win the 2017 EuroBasket, in which Goran won MVP and Luka, at 18 years old, was named to the All-Tournament team. (Anthony Randolph played for the Slovenian team, then. Who knew?!?) Dragić and Tobey are <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Slovenia#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed on the roster for this window</a>. Look for them to continue raising hell in qualifiers, and if Dončić suits up, in the World Cup, too.
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For even more World Cup info and complete schedules, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go here</a>.
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Bryan Fonseca gives an overview of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Things to monitor as FIBA World Cup’s next qualifying window arrives

At the tail end of 2021, the former director of basketball research for the Milwaukee Bucks and current NBA writer for The Athletic released his new book &ldquo;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Midrange-Theory-Seth-Partnow/dp/1629379212" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Midrange Theory</a>." The book received rave reviews from the likes of Zach Lowe, Chris Herring, Ben Falk, Ben Taylor and even <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1463590554026057736" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daryl Morey</a>, making it safe to say that Partnow&rsquo;s recent addition to the field of basketball analytics has been a massive success.
To talk about his book and the current and future state of NBA basketball and analytics, BasketballNews.com caught up with the brains behind this 270-page masterpiece, Seth Partnow.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Throughout the book, you make multiple references to Dean Oliver and his book Basketball on Paper. How well do you think his work in that project holds up with the state of basketball analytics today? And how much do you recommend it to younger people just dipping their toes into the field?
Seth Partnow: "It&rsquo;s funny, when I went back and reread Basketball on Paper as part of the research for my book, I was shocked by how short the sections on the Four Factors were. In terms of things directly applicable to modern research, those concepts remain the most relevant, largely because many of the other topics in the book are trying to solve questions in more roundabout ways than we need to today, given the broader availability of more granular data. I should also add that Dean wrote extensively about the implications and applications of the Four Factors elsewhere, and a little bit of Google magic can probably unearth some of those, which I think are well worth reading."
"As for BoP itself, I definitely think it&rsquo;s worth reading as much for the insight into the analytical mindset and how to define the questions being asked. I&rsquo;m not sure I would recommend it as the first thing for people just dipping their toes in to read, especially those without a decent amount of familiarity with the primary concepts of formal statistics. I tried to address the lack of a real 'intro to basketball analytics' book in the appendix to 'The Midrange Theory,' but I would say even that assumes a certain degree of statistical literacy &mdash; which, depending on what you mean by 'younger people,' could be too much to expect given the degree to which stats is underemphasized in secondary education at least in the US."
Towards the end of Chapter 4, you mention that it&rsquo;s better for overall spacing if below-average shooters pull the trigger on open looks rather than avoid shooting them all together. Do you feel such a prescription is applicable for a player like Ben Simmons? Or is he too far below the threshold of a below-average shooter?
Partnow: "There isn&rsquo;t a magical line at which a player is an effective spacer through sheer volume, as it&rsquo;s as much about defensive perception as anything else. In practice, as long as a player is in the low 30s overall and the mid-30s [percentage] on catch-and-shoot threes, their willingness to shoot will greatly influence the amount of defense attention they draw. Below that fairly low accuracy bar, they will more likely get the &ldquo;he&rsquo;s with us&rdquo; treatment of defenders conceding and even encouraging those attempts until they make a few in a row."
You dedicate nearly an entire chapter of the book towards discussing Plus/Minus data and make multiple references to Regularized Adjusted Plus/Minus (RAPM). Are there any other publicly-available one-number metrics that you find to be beneficial tools of analysis?
Partnow: "I think the entire alphabet soup of RAPM-inspired metrics can be useful, but they require an understanding of what they are and are not measuring. That&rsquo;s the easiest to explain in relatively non-technical terms of vanilla RAPM, which doesn&rsquo;t have a ton going on underneath the hood. The more successful extensions of the methodology, such as &ldquo;Estimated Plus/Minus,&rdquo; incorporate box score and other more traditional production measures to refine the outputs of base RAPM. But as you start adding ingredients to the recipe, I think greater care, expertise and experience are needed to properly interpret the results."
"There are also non-RAPM models, which I think are extremely useful. Kostya Medvedovsky&rsquo;s DARKO, for example, is much more box score-based. Kostya does some clever things with how he weights production by recency to help pick up on changes in player skill level earlier than might otherwise be possible. It&rsquo;s hard to find in public now that he&rsquo;s been snapped up by the Wizards, but Player Impact Plus/Minus created by Jacob Goldstein can give some RAPM-like insight into player impact across smaller samples which can be especially relevant (though with a big &ldquo;handle with care&rdquo; sticker) to evaluating playoff performance."
The problems with Bird Rights get brought up in your discussion about the NBA salary cap. Do you think there is a reasonable alternative the league can create to combat this conundrum, or is it a necessary evil to ensure teams have a means of keeping their core group together?
Partnow: "Ben Falk (proprietor of Cleaning the Glass and former head of analytics for the Blazers and 76ers) has told me that he often annoyed the GMs he worked for by answering many questions with one of his own: &ldquo;what are we solving for here?&rdquo; I think Ben&rsquo;s query applies here. Are we trying to help teams stay together because we think it helps drive fan interest in commitment? Are we trying to protect teams from themselves in terms of how deep a hole any one management group can dig, a la the Stepien Rule? Essentially, what&rsquo;s the problem we are trying to solve, or is the system working as intended? I think that&rsquo;s a bigger question than we have time for here, but I think the present system broadly works, though it would work better if teams didn&rsquo;t tend to be quite as status quo-biased as they often prove to be."
Given the cyclical nature of trends and how many great big men passers we now have in the NBA, do you see the game ever returning to the post-up heavy one of the 90s and 2000s?
Partnow: "I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re likely to see a return to a game with a lot of static, clear out a side and dump it into the big guy post-ups, at least not without substantial rule changes. I covered this in the book, but the switch from the old illegal defense rule to today&rsquo;s defensive 3-seconds rule makes playing out of a stationary post-up player a lot more challenging than it used to be."
"What we might see is offenses based around facilitating out of quicker, movement-based post-ups. As my fellow Milwaukeean Eric Nehm has often noted, I love a good duck-in where a player receives the ball in a post-up position off of quick, possibly random movement. The increased vision and skill level of modern bigs will allow them to take advantage of defenses reacting to such an unexpected threat. But that strikes me as an approach that will end up looking a lot more like some of the dribble handoff heavy stuff teams like Denver and (when Bam Adebayo is healthy) Miami like to run, than it would Shaq planting himself on the block and sticking a hand in the air to receive the ball in the 90s and early 2000s."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
In the chapter comparing playoff and regular season strategy (great Carlos Boozer shoutout, by the way), you talk about how, in order to neutralize All-Star players, teams normally devise multiple plans for stopping them (&ldquo;Plans A, B, and C&rdquo;). Can you give us an example of how this works in practice from a time during your tenure with the Bucks?
Partnow: "I don&rsquo;t think I can give a specific example. But there were numerous situations where you go into a series not wanting to have to double team a given player or on a certain action, so plan A might be to defend it straight up until that proves untenable. Plan B might be double-teaming immediately, but then if the opposition is consistently able to pass out of the double to good looks, Plan C might be doing some kind of scramble early in a possession to keep the offense from even getting to the action causing all the problems."
"The best teams and players will be able to choose the correct option depending on which plan the defense is executing. But the players without a variety of skills or the teams which play by rote won&rsquo;t be able to adjust, and those are the ones that will often struggle in the playoffs as the opposition finds out their weak points."
In your chapter about drafting, you talk about the issue with player comparisons. I am not really a fan of one-to-one player comparisons, but I do like the idea of having tiers of potential developmental outcomes. Do you see any use/value in player comparisons at all, or would you like the practice removed altogether?
Partnow: "In practice, the combination of anchoring and optimism biases make comps more likely to mislead than to enlighten, in my opinion. Sure, you can give a range of outcomes, but how many people will look past the top line? I understand the desire to simplify with a quick comp, because you consider a whole lot of guys in any one draft class, but the shortcut ends up short-circuiting the evaluation rather than simply saving time."
Coming into this book, I&rsquo;ve always felt a sense of existential dread in the back of my mind about the possibility that basketball analytics may reach a level that data will no longer require analysts for interpretation. To your credit, you do a great job throughout the book of highlighting the importance of humans in this process; what other comforting advice would you give to someone who shares this feeling of the future?
Partnow: "We would have to improve our understanding of the game by multiple orders of magnitude for truly useful 'automated analysis' to be a worry. During one offseason during my tenure with the Bucks, the analytics group got together and brainstormed all the things we would need to know from a statistical point of view to feel we had 'solved' basketball &mdash; things from perimeter defensive skill, to movement shooting, to lineup synergies and so on. We ended up with around 70 post-its up on the board. We figured about three of them were already solved. Another five or six were close. Of the remaining 60-plus, we couldn&rsquo;t even imagine how we would go about addressing more than half of the concepts. So I would say there is still an immense amount to learn."
---
Wow. What great responses from Seth. I feel even smarter than I felt after I read through his book (and I felt brilliant after that!). If you enjoyed this conversation and want to hear more from Seth, be sure to buy his book "The Midrange Theory," available now.
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Mat Issa asks and Seth Partnow answers questions about basketball analytics and his book on the subject, "The Midrange Theory."

Seth Partnow Q&A: A sit down with the author of “The Midrange Theory”

When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook in a blockbuster trade during the 2021 NBA Draft, many eyes looked towards Hollywood as a new Big Three formed. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were already a dynamic duo with a championship on their resume together.
Westbrook&rsquo;s arrival was a massive change and, if it worked, fireworks would commence in the Western Conference&rsquo;s arms race for an NBA Finals berth. For multiple years, Los Angeles has been trying to find an ideal backcourt piece to take the ball-handling pressure off LeBron.
However, the fit with Westbrook from the beginning was viewed as clunky. Westbrook isn&rsquo;t a floor-spacer. Instead, he's an extremely high-usage, on-ball scorer who can facilitate an offense and push the pace.
If the Lakers wanted to see the Westbrook addition lead to a beautiful brand of consistently great basketball, everything around him, James and Davis included, would need to be perfect. Perimeter shooting was of the utmost importance, which Los Angeles addressed head-on during free agency, bringing aboard all of the following plus-40% three-point marksmen: Malik Monk, Carmelo Anthony, Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore.
Here&rsquo;s the issue, though &mdash; only Monk and Anthony have made a significant dent within the Lakers&rsquo; full-time rotation. Bazemore is being openly shopped before the Feb. 10 trade deadline. Ellington&rsquo;s hot-and-cold stretches have been too damaging. Trevor Ariza was another offseason addition who has yet to make a certified impact.
So, when canvassing the Lakers&rsquo; entire list of issues, there&rsquo;s no wonder why LeBron&rsquo;s MVP-level heroics have been unable to pull them out of mediocrity. It also doesn&rsquo;t help that Davis has been sidelined for the past month with a sprained MCL.
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Halfway through the season, Los Angeles is at .500 with a disappointing 21-21 record. LeBron is not at fault. Davis has been inconsistent when he's been on the court &mdash; nowhere close to superstar-type play &mdash; but who knows where the Lakers would be if he was currently available. The role players haven&rsquo;t stepped up on a consistent basis, which was the all-in bet Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka made when he brought Westbrook to Hollywood.
All roads lead back to Westbrook when it comes to the real issue at hand for Los Angeles. In the last three games, Westbrook has been a buzzkill for the Lakers, shooting 8 of 40 overall (20%). Even expanding out to a season-long sample size though, Westbrook&rsquo;s lack of adjustment to being a secondary option has been apparent whenever I tune into the Lakers.
Westbrook is averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists while carrying a below-average 50.4% True Shooting percentage. The polarizing point guard has always checked in below the Mendoza line for efficiency, but that&rsquo;s been buffered by his sky-high usage rate throughout his career. As the No. 3 option &mdash; and more recently at No. 2 in AD&rsquo;s absence &mdash; Westbrook has been unable to find his footing even with the lowest usage rate since his second NBA season (27.6%). Another worrisome advanced metric for Westbrook is his 0.2 VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), which checks in as his worst since entering the league.
More times than not, Westbrook has looked lost when he&rsquo;s on the court alongside LeBron. It&rsquo;s eerily similar to the one-year stint Westbrook experienced with James Harden in Houston two seasons ago. That ended in a swift divorce, where Westbrook was sent to the Washington Wizards before ultimately winding up in Hollywood for the 2021-22 campaign.
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I think my guy is officially broken mentally now <a href="https://t.co/bcZ4EZhjSd">pic.twitter.com/bcZ4EZhjSd</a>
&mdash; ⚡️ (@TheWestbrookEra) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWestbrookEra/status/1480416058188128256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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This is Westbrook&rsquo;s fourth team in four years. We know who the triple-double king is at this point in his illustrious career. We also know the answer to what he is within the construct of a team.
He can be the No. 1 option on a playoff contender, where he can put up his usual monster stat lines without issue. However, in this new environment in Los Angeles, Westbrook is wilting. The problem for Russ and the Lakers is there&rsquo;s one year remaining on his contract, a player option for an eye-popping $47.1 million.
There&rsquo;s already been smoke billowing from Los Angeles that the Lakers have been open to shopping Westbrook before February&rsquo;s trade deadline, including an offer to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons. (Unsurprisingly, Philly <a href="https://theathletic.com/3066096/2022/01/12/nba-trade-deadline-looms-but-ben-simmons-remains-a-sixer-what-do-we-know-and-which-teams-could-deal-for-him/?source=twitterhq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would not be interested in such a deal</a>.)
If the Lakers pulled off their trade for Buddy Hield on draft night instead of Westbrook, how different would they look? Hield&rsquo;s brilliance in perimeter shooting wouldn&rsquo;t cap their salary flexibility, which ultimately could've led to Alex Caruso re-signing in L.A.
Back at that time, it might've been a damning statement to say the Lakers would be better off with a combination of Hield and Caruso compared to Westbrook, but that&rsquo;s just how the cookie has crumbled for this awkward player-team fit.
The Lakers made their bed with the Westbrook trade, and now, they have to lie in it for (potentially) another 18 months. It&rsquo;s a shame, because the Lakers had the correct formula in mind to make this work on the court. However, a failure on the part of multiple role players, Davis' inconsistency and health &mdash; plus Westbrook looking like a deer in the headlights &mdash; has put the good news of LeBron&rsquo;s excellence at age 37 on the national media backburner.

Halfway through the 2021-22 season, the Russell Westbrook trade now looks like a huge disaster for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Russell Westbrook experiment has been a huge failure for Lakers

In a <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32861454/luka-doncic-rick-carlisle-dissolution-their-relationship-comes-next-dallas-mavericks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wide-reaching report from ESPN's Tim MacMahon</a>, he writes that current Indiana Pacers head coach and former Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle had poor relationships with several players and staff members, including Luka Doncic.&nbsp;
According to the story, Carlisle doubted that former Mavs lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. could be a "productive NBA starter," and said Smith was jealous of Doncic despite their strong bond as teammates.
Carlisle also berated former players such as Salah Mejri and developed a poor relationship with Kristaps Porzingis, who the article says wished to be traded as recently as this past summer.&nbsp;
"It wasn't really about how Rick treated Luka," a player on the 2018-19 Mavericks said. "Luka hated how Rick treated other people."
MacMahon elaborates that Jamahl Mosley, now the head coach of the Orlando Magic, was a popular voice on the Dallas bench and had grown close with Doncic. But Carlisle felt Mosley was coming for his job.
It wasn't the first example of Carlisle's fragmented partnership with team staff.
"Several Mavericks team staffers, from members of the coaching staff to non-basketball employees, told ESPN they felt intimidated and disrespected by Carlisle, who they said could be abrasive and demanding," MacMahon writes.
This culminated in verbal outbursts from Doncic when he would head to the bench last season, and eventually, Carlisle parting ways and heading to Indiana. The Pacers are 12-17 this season.
&nbsp;

Carlisle reportedly had lost the respect of Mavericks star Luka Doncic.

Rick Carlisle had strained relationships with players and Mavs staff

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended for one game and Detroit's Isaiah Stewart was suspended two games for their roles in an ugly incident during Sunday's Lakers-Pistons game.
The NBA announced the suspensions Monday, and both will affect games on Tuesday. James will not play when the Lakers visit Madison Square Garden to play the New York Knicks. Stewart will miss the Pistons' home game against Miami on Tuesday and their game Wednesday at Milwaukee.
James will forfeit about $284,000 in salary, while Stewart will lose about $45,000. It is the first suspension in the 19-year career of James, who has won four NBA titles with three teams.
The Lakers and Pistons meet again Sunday in Los Angeles, and James and Stewart will both be eligible to play.
Stewart, the NBA said, was disciplined for &ldquo;escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively pursuing ... James in an unsportsmanlike manner.&rdquo; James merited the suspension &ldquo;for recklessly hitting Stewart in the face and initiating an on-court altercation," the NBA said.
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What a surreal scene. Isaiah Stewart not only wanted to take on LeBron James and everyone on the Lakers but he calmly did the &ldquo;it&rsquo;s over, I&rsquo;m done&rdquo; walk off multiple times before sprinting back to get his revenge. The back door attempt at the end is crazy. <a href="https://t.co/5W0wmhtOUZ">pic.twitter.com/5W0wmhtOUZ</a>
&mdash; Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArashMarkazi/status/1462589048669683718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The incident happened in the third quarter, starting when James and Stewart were jostling for position during a free throw. Their arms appeared to get intertwined and James swung his elbow, making contact with Stewart, who quickly had blood streaming from above his eye. James, it appeared, attempted to defuse the situation after realizing he'd made contact with Stewart and drawn blood.
It didn't take long for most of the players from both teams &mdash; along with the referees, coaches and security personnel &mdash; to join the fray and try to keep James and Stewart separated. Within 25 seconds of the contact being made by James, there were at least 25 people on the floor. Referee Phenizee Ransom attached himself to James.
Cooler heads seemed to prevail, for a moment. Stewart was guided away from the spot where the contact occurred by teammates and coaches, though he appeared to become more incensed along the way. He then tried to double back &mdash; on multiple occasions &mdash; and run toward James. A number of people again blocked his path and made sure the incident didn't get uglier.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey said Stewart needed eight stitches to close the wound, adding that he did not think what Stewart did in reaction to the play merited a suspension.
&ldquo;His eye got cracked all the way open. He was upset for a reason,&rdquo; Casey said.
Stewart eventually left the floor, seeming to sprint again as he did so, and there was concern that he would try to head back toward the floor through another entry tunnel. Pistons guard Cory Joseph even headed toward that tunnel, just in case &mdash; and with the blessing of referee Scott Foster, the game's crew chief.
&ldquo;After Isaiah Stewart left the court, Cory was anticipating he may come around the back of (the) house and enter the Laker bench from the opposite side," Foster told a pool reporter after the game. &ldquo;So, he was going to intercept him. I actually told Cory that would be good."
Stewart was assessed two technical fouls, James was assessed a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2, and both players were ejected.
James has been sanctioned multiple times by the league in the past, receiving fines for everything from flopping, skipping news conferences and kicking a water bottle. But the suspension is his first, and means he will miss the Lakers' lone game this season at Madison Square Garden &mdash; one of his favorite arenas.

Stewart will be suspended two games, while James receives a one-game suspension.

NBA suspends LeBron James, Isaiah Stewart for on-court altercation

When Chris Paul signed a 4-year, $120 million extension with the Phoenix Suns, many outside The Valley looked around in bewilderment.
&ldquo;$120 million for a 36-year-old point guard?!&rdquo;
Yes, you read that correctly, but the value of Paul with the Suns goes well beyond on-court metrics. Paul&rsquo;s leadership and holding others accountable helped cement Phoenix into an instant contender last year in the loaded Western Conference. It reached an immediate goal that many felt was unrealistic, an NBA Finals berth. This was Paul&rsquo;s first taste of a Finals run this deep into his illustrious career, plus the Suns had missed the playoffs for 11 years prior to his arrival. The marriage and instant chemistry between Paul and the Suns led to a seamless, easy negotiation regarding a new deal after the team's disappointing Finals collapse against the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, it should be noted that Paul isn&rsquo;t exactly locked-in for $120 million in guaranteed money. Suns general James Jones, who served in the NBPA with Paul during their playing careers, gave his team multiple opportunities for a potential out down the road if Paul&rsquo;s age eventually reaches a cliff. The final two years of Paul&rsquo;s contract are not fully guaranteed. In 2023-24, only half of Paul&rsquo;s salary is on the Phoenix books. The following season, the last in Paul&rsquo;s newly inked contract, it&rsquo;s all non-guaranteed. Protection is in place for the Suns not to cripple themselves in case father time beats Paul before he reaches age-40.
At this rate, though, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine someone like Paul ever reaching that proverbial cliff anytime soon. Paul is the NBA&rsquo;s version of Tom Brady, continuously evolving his game and aging like fine wine. Paul, the wine connoisseur himself, would nod to that comparison.
So far in the 2021-22 campaign, where the Suns have won five games in a row to reach 6-3 in the early portion of their schedule, Paul is teasing the next stage of his career where the burden is taken off his shoulders rather significantly.
Paul chose Phoenix mainly because of Devin Booker, who is only 25 years old and still a few years away from his prime. Deandre Ayton, the Suns&rsquo; No. 1 overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft, continues to develop into a reliable two-way big who has been empowered by Paul. Mikal Bridges is also turning the corner as one of the most versatile two-way wings in the Association. With those three pieces to the puzzle, Paul knows what&rsquo;s next for him. It&rsquo;s time to take a backseat offensively and let the young core cook. Booker, Ayton and Bridges will allow Paul to age gracefully as he inches closer to 40 over the span of his new deal.
Say hello to the new model of CP3: the third or fourth scoring option who pulls off wizardry as a special on-ball playmaker. There&rsquo;s a reason why Paul has been referred to as &ldquo;The Point God&rdquo; for a decade now. Now, we&rsquo;re seeing that optimized version late in his career, leading a loaded young core in The Valley.
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Paul is averaging 13.2 points, 11.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals while carrying a 58.9% True Shooting percentage. In the scoring department, Paul is averaging a career-low by over two points (15.6 in 2018-19 alongside James Harden). Another intriguing angle of Paul&rsquo;s offensive metamorphosis is his career-low in field goal attempts at 9.6 per game. This is Paul&rsquo;s lowest amount in over a decade (2010-11 with 11.6 FGA). Overall, Paul&rsquo;s usage rate has dipped multiple percentage points to another career-low at 18.4%.
The role for Paul is simple, yet so deadly for opposing teams: Run the show at point guard with flawless precision, hit open three-point opportunities and take over the game only when it&rsquo;s absolutely necessary. The early results have provided flawless data for the Suns, as Paul is spoon-feeding easy looks by spraying the basketball around like Brady is for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Paul is hitting those catch-and-shoot threes at an incredible clip of 50% (3-of-6). Sure, it&rsquo;s a small sample size, but it&rsquo;s a peek behind the curtain of what&rsquo;s next in the evolution of one of the best point guards in NBA history.
Placed within a more simplified role, it&rsquo;s a best-case scenario for both player and team. Paul taking a backseat allows Booker, Bridges and Ayton to take the next steps forward. Easing up off the offensive gas pedal will also extend the Hall-of-Fame career of Paul as well.
The Suns are finding an amazing rhythm right now, which is in large part to Paul&rsquo;s scaled-back role early on. Once Ayton returns to the lineup from a leg contusion later this week, Paul will likely step into the No. 4 scoring option for the first time ever.
There&rsquo;s a popular meme on Twitter for years now from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where Splinter holds the hands and walks away with the small turtles. The image below shows the grown-up ninja turtles walking alongside an older Splinter.
This is the situation unfolding now in Phoenix. Paul immediately helped propel the Suns to heights they haven&rsquo;t reached since 1993 last season. Now, we&rsquo;re already seeing the next chapter where the young core of Booker, Ayton and Bridges grow up and walk alongside their Hall-of-Fame point guard, and continue their run of sustained success over the next four years.

We're seeing future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul officially enter the next stage of his career with the young Suns.

Chris Paul is embracing the next stage of his Hall-of-Fame career

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/michael-jordan-tops-the-list-of-25-highest-paid-athletes-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
Michael Jordan is atop so many lists. Whether based on metrics or subjective assessments, if he&rsquo;s eligible for it, you better believe MJ&rsquo;s name is up there, and Sportico&rsquo;s &ldquo;Top 25 Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time&rdquo; is the <a href="https://www.sportico.com/personalities/athletes/2021/highest-paid-athletes-earnings-1234645635/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most recent example</a>.
When Michael entered the NBA in 1984, Magic Johnson was the highest-paid NBA player with $2.5 million in salary. Today, players with 10 or more years of experience in the league get veteran minimums worth around the same amount. Guys who have yet to make their NBA debut can earn up to $925,528 per year &mdash; Michael Jordan, as a rookie, made $550,000.
Thirteen years and four NBA championships later, Jordan inked a one-year deal worth $33.1 million &mdash; more than an average team payroll at the time &mdash; representing the highest single-season salary in NBA history up until 2017-18, when LeBron James and Stephen Curry each surpassed it. Today, 31 players are on track to earn north of $30 million.
Boosted mostly by huge TV deals &mdash; $75 billion over the next nine years &mdash; star salaries have increased dramatically over the last four decades. But despite Michael only earning $90 million from NBA contracts &mdash; non-inflation adjusted, that's equivalent to Danny Green &mdash; he&rsquo;s still the highest-paid athlete of all time, despite the fact only 6% of his estimated earnings come from his playing salaries.
The estimate is based on salaries, endorsements and memorabilia earnings since Michael joined the NBA, including his ongoing deals with Nike, Hanes, Upper Deck, Gatorade, and other large and established companies.
According to Forbes, Michael has made over $1 billion from Nike alone since first signing a deal with the sportswear giant in his rookie year. Today, the Jordan Brand is easily worth over $10 billion, dominating the booming &ldquo;retro&rdquo; or lifestyle basketball business with a market share of 52%, according to market research firm NPD Group.
Unrivaled marketability
Michael Jordan, as well as his brand, show no signs of slowing down. It&rsquo;s been nearly two decades since his final goodbye to the game, and MJ is still arguably the most popular basketball persona in the world. A run that started almost four decades ago, still with no end in sight, is yet to be replicated, despite the impact and platform today&rsquo;s NBA superstars have.
And while some of them were able to build images that transcend the game of basketball, no one used it to MJ&rsquo;s extent. Guys like LeBron James, the late Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal tried and will continue to try for decades to come &mdash; the fact each of them also made the list says they&rsquo;re on the right track. But it seems His Airness will always be the standard.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Michael Jordan is listed by Sportico as the highest-paid athlete of all time.

Michael Jordan tops the list of 25 highest-paid athletes ever

For 15 consecutive seasons, the Sacramento Kings have missed the playoffs. The last time Sacramento was a postseason squad, Mike Bibby, Ron Artest and Brad Miller were their primary contributors.
Far and away the longest streak in the NBA, Sacramento has become the proverbial cellar-dweller. Stuck in a rudderless cycle of mediocrity, how can the Kings finally escape this position? With how loaded the Western Conference currently is, it&rsquo;s going to be a massive task to break through as a top-eight team in the 2021-22 season.
However, the cupboard isn&rsquo;t totally bare in Sacramento. De&rsquo;Aaron Fox&rsquo;s five-year rookie max extension officially kicked in this offseason. Tyrese Haliburton immediately proved to be an integral piece to their core as a rookie, averaging 13.0 points, 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals while converting 40.9% on three-pointers. Richaun Holmes, who proved to be a legit starting center in the Association, is now locked in on a new four-year, $55 million deal. Davion Mitchell, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft from Baylor who was lauded as one of the most pro-ready prospects, will slot in as the Kings&rsquo; third guard.
Outside of those four pieces, there are questions about the rest of Sacramento&rsquo;s rotation and whether they are actually in the team's long-term plans.
Buddy Hield was almost traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell, proving he&rsquo;s more than available in discussions this offseason. Marvin Bagley III, who was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft ahead of Luka Doncic and Trae Young, has not fared well in his first three seasons due to injuries and inefficient play. Rumors have also circulated around Bagley III being floated in trade talks entering into the final year of his rookie-scale contract. Harrison Barnes is a very solid, reliable two-way wing who has revamped his career in the purple and white, but will he be in Sacramento once his contract expires after the 2022-23 season? The rest of Sacramento&rsquo;s roster is filled with unproven young players yet to make a dent in their rotation.
So, the Kings are truly in an interesting spot. What direction should they go in? Do they make an aggressive push in an attempt to reach the seemingly impossible playoff threshold or continue playing the waiting game for years to come?
The Kings should try to find the best fits to surround their backcourt duo of Fox and Haliburton. If that&rsquo;s a win-now move or continuing to add young prospects, it&rsquo;s the best bet to make this longstanding postseason drought rewarding once it ends.
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Bringing back Holmes on a long-term deal was a great start, because he was the only player in three-man lineup combinations to carry a positive net rating (+5.8 NetRtg) alongside the budding young backcourt throughout last season. In a career-best season for Holmes, the 27-year-old big man averaged 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in only 29.2 minutes per game. When Fox, Halliburton and Holmes shared the floor in 43 games, Sacramento&rsquo;s record was close to .500 at 20-23.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum, swapping out Holmes for Bagley III alongside Fox and Haliburton caused their lineup metrics to plummet. Sacramento was outscored by 20 points per 100 possessions when this trio shared the floor, over a 25-point swing in the wrong direction compared to Holmes. Sacramento would be wise to move off Bagley III to open up more minutes elsewhere, but his value is at an all-time low. Simply salary dumping Bagley III is a possibility, but there&rsquo;s a better way to maneuver this tumultuous situation.
Hield and Bagley III&rsquo;s 2021-22 salaries combine to be $33.7 million. With both players in trade talks, Sacramento can slyly become a sleeper team in the Western Conference by making one big swing for the fences: Ben Simmons.
Sacramento is missing more defensive versatility and playmaking to help anchor an already promising foundation led by Fox and Haliburton. Insert Simmons into the mix and Sacramento is cooking with gas on, immediately taking a huge leap forward. Simmons and Haliburton would become one of the most entertaining one-two playmaking punches in the NBA, while Fox takes on a primary scoring role with the easiest buckets he&rsquo;s been fed throughout his career. Barnes would be a terrific floor-spacer, while Holmes&rsquo; efficient rim-rolling will excel while being tossed picture-perfect lobs.
Sacramento becomes a playoff contender, potentially even a lock to make the big dance, if they were to land Simmons. The No. 1 overall pick from the 2016 draft has needed a situation where he can run the show with optimum spacing around him, similar to the ecosystem Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is thriving within. The Kings present an intriguing situation to make those dreams a reality. Fox and Haliburton can play off the ball with no issue, which we saw throughout last season as they shared playmaking duties.
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NBA insider Marc Stein reported last month that Sacramento is one of five teams to have expressed interest in acquiring Simmons from Philadelphia. The Sixers' asking price for Simmons is quite simply outrageous &mdash; four first-round picks and an All-Star player. Nobody is going to send Sixers GM Daryl Morey that much in return for the 25-year-old point-forward, but Sacramento does stand out as the one team desperate enough to cobble together an enticing package to make it happen.
In the organization&rsquo;s current state, no star-caliber free agent will ever consider making their next long-term home in Sacramento. Making an aggressive trade is the only way to make it happen. Rolling the dice is tough, because it could all blow up in their face down the road, but risks need to be made in order to break the curse in Sacramento.
If the Kings refuse to go all-in, they will continue to stay in neutral. Eventually, the button needs to be pushed in order to become a well-respected playoff threat.

The Kings have missed the playoffs since 2005-06. What can Sacramento do to break their longstanding postseason drought?

How will the Kings successfully escape the abyss?

Earlier this week, <a href="https://twitter.com/lucarosano3/status/1419780470636679170?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bleacher Report&rsquo;s Jake Fischer reported</a> that the Toronto Raptors are gauging the trade market for Pascal Siakam. If available and actively involved in trade discussions, the 2020 All-Star and All-NBA Second Team honoree instantly becomes a significant needle-mover for many teams.&nbsp;
The past year or so &ndash; featuring rather abnormal circumstances including the Orlando Bubble and the 2020-21 season, which the Raptors spent in Tampa, Florida (1,300 miles from home) &ndash; has clouded much of the analysis surrounding him.&nbsp;
But Siakam is a star. He deservedly earned his 2020 accolades, was the 2B on a well-balanced title team in 2019 and became arguably the best player on a 60-win-pace squad the next season. There should not be mystery around his impact on a championship contender or top-three seed. He is quite good and conducive to high-end winning. The results literally exist to validate these statements.
After Kawhi Leonard&rsquo;s 2019 departure, Siakam expanded his offensive repertoire to try and satisfy elevated duties. Due to the absence of a certified lead ball-handler, the Raptors embraced a creation-by-committee approach, leaning heavily on Siakam, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, along with Marc Gasol&rsquo;s passing magic (for a year) and OG Anunoby&rsquo;s scoring increase, to fashion a reliable offense.&nbsp;
However, that has still left Siakam in an overextended role, where his relative true shooting (how far above or below league average one&rsquo;s true shooting percentage is) fell from plus-6.8 in 2018-19 to minus-1.1 in 2019-20 and minus-2.5 this season. Unsurprisingly, the discourse resulting from that declining efficiency and poor 2019-20 playoff run (averaging 17.0 points on 46 percent true shooting) was dominated by an indictment of his entire ability rather than merely acknowledging he&rsquo;s unfit as a primary creator, which even the majority of stars are.
The increasingly arduous responsibilities are portrayed through divergent statistics between his 2018-19 and 2020-21 campaigns. His isolation frequency spiked from 9.9% to 15.1% (per Synergy Sports). Only 13 players registered more isolations this season. His rim frequency slipped from 51% to 38% (per Cleaning the Glass). He took 63 pull-up jumpers in 2018-19 and 220 this year (per NBA.com). Just over 43% of his baskets were unassisted in 2018-19, compared to 57.7% in 2020-21 (per NBA.com).
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All of this is to underscore that there are easily discernible factors explaining Siakam&rsquo;s efficiency slide and none of them are because of suddenly depreciating skills. His job grew more complex. On a team with a bona fide initiator that could allow for a situation closer resembling 2018-19 while incorporating his self-creation strides, he&rsquo;d quickly remind everyone why he is such a heralded player.
Siakam is best treated as a selective creator. He&rsquo;s not diverse enough stylistically to routinely commandeer possessions individually, but can attack mismatches of varying sizes. A different team where he&rsquo;s not the headliner of every opponent would invite more favorable matchups. His scoring volume could look similar to the last couple years, just tinkered to better reflect a preferred shot profile yielding higher efficiency.
More regularly, he&rsquo;d have chances to leverage his slippery handle, quickness, body control and length to target slower bigs in ball-screens/off the bounce as a slasher. Or, he could punish undersized wings with length and interior touch, adept at converting off-balance leaners from distinct angles. These should be components of his scoring, not the bedrock as his context necessitated over the past couple seasons. An upgrade in surrounding offensive talent would enable that.
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Broadening the scope of his on-ball equity was a substantial passing leap this year. Siakam is one of the NBA&rsquo;s premier 6-foot-9 or taller facilitators nowadays. He&rsquo;ll elicit help in the post and on drives before threading an assist to a cutter or teammate already stationed on the interior. He&rsquo;s a fulcrum from the elbows. He&rsquo;s a connective passer, transition catalyst and short-roll firestarter.&nbsp;
His decisions are expedient. Offensive inclusion, on and off the ball, is not limited to scoring as an endpoint. A change of scenery that placed him in advantageous situations or eased his production of them would further showcase this malleable playmaking.&nbsp;
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The grandest exploit to playing alongside a star-level initiator again would be the revival of Siakam&rsquo;s frenzied, kinetic off-ball game that torched teams during Kawhi&rsquo;s Canadian pitstop. He&rsquo;s a menace attacking tilted defenses following paint pressure from a teammate. Swing the ball his way and draw a closeout; his intersection of wiggle, length and bounding strides will capitalize.&nbsp;
In 2018-19, Toronto had the primary ball-handler, another downhill threat via Lowry and a wise, snappy passer in Gasol. The floor-spacing of Gasol and Serge Ibaka pulled rim protectors away from the basket for the downhill-inclined Siakam.&nbsp;
Advantages were forged independent of him. He was the leading beneficiary of the attention Kawhi and Lowry drew by regularly logging paint touches. He frequented gaps in the defense as an instinctive cutter; the low-post playmaking of Kawhi and Gasol augmented his cutting.&nbsp;
Defenders recovering from help rotations struggle to contain him. He enjoyed vastly more runways of space to apply his physical tools and strike inside. Any actions (inverted pick-and-rolls, handoffs) merging this aptitude of operating in space toward the rim with his budding creation are a prudent strategy to bridge the past and present versions of Siakam.&nbsp;
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Raptors personnel over the last couple years have curtailed the ideal balance. A new employer aptly organized to deploy him in space and feature his polished on-ball juice without relying on it is one manner in which Siakam can remind everyone of his All-NBA form.
What has remained steady, however, is Siakam's defensive aptitude. During a 2020-21 campaign curtailed by injuries, COVID-19, and moving parts around him due to those factors, Siakam was still able to put together a strong season on that end.
Consider this: Among 47 players to log at least 2000 minutes last season, Siakam ranked 15th in BBall-Index's <a href="https://www.bball-index.com/2020-21-lebron-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">D-LEBRON metric</a> (+0.60). Of the 14 players ahead of him, only three -- Giannis Antetokounmpo (+1.98), Jayson Tatum (+0.63), and Nikola Jokic (+0.61) -- logged a higher usage rate.
In short: it's hard to play a lot, have a lot of offensive responsibility, and also provide positive impact on the defensive end.
Then consider that Siakam wasn't just deployed as an on-ball stopper, or just a weakside helper. He didn't just lock-and-trail over screens, nor was he solely operating in a switch scheme.
He did it all.
Head coach Nick Nurse deployed the most versatile defense in the league from a scheme perspective; Siakam had to wear just as many (if not more) hats on the defensive end as he did on the other side of the floor.
Luckily, he was and is equipped for that. The term "rangy" gets thrown around a little too loosely sometimes, but it's an apt moniker for Siakam. When he's operating off the ball, the Raptors have more freedom to get aggressive. They trust that Siakam can cover ground behind the initial action, whether that's providing nail help on a drive or tagging the roller while working as the low man.
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Siakam is more comfortable sinking in and flying back out to the perimeter for close-outs. There is some weakside rim protection present, though. He's not a consistent shot blocker, but Siakam's ability to change directions allows him to beat drivers to their spots and alter shot attempts with verticality.
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On the ball, Siakam can mirror perimeter players in space. I'd describe his range as 2-through-4, though he can hang with 1s in a pinch. Screen navigation against the twitchiest ball-handlers can be a struggle for Siakam; you don't want him on your Stephs or Dames of the world. His screen navigation in general slipped last season, though the hope is that it bounces back with a lower workload.
Siakam also isn't a powerful defender. That shows itself in traditional post-ups when lined up against beefier matchups. It's also apparent in pick-and-roll when he's asked to drop. Siakam is inconsistent in high-pointing lobs when backpedaling; drivers are also able to get into his body and generate good finishing angles. Those limitations -- I won't call them issues -- lower his value as a small-ball 5 against certain matchups.
The good news: Siakam doesn't have to be perfect in every scheme. The fact that there are so many avenues for success with him is entirely the point.&nbsp;
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POTENTIAL LANDING SPOTS
If the question is "how many teams could use a slashing, playmaking 4 who can defend multiple positions and fly around as a help guy?", the answer is some variation of "absolutely." There is not a team in the league that couldn't use Siakam.
What gets tricky is figuring out the price point. It's easy to understand the Raptors being willing to move Siakam for another centerpiece -- think Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal (if you view him that highly). They'd be buyers in this case.
If we're operating under the belief of the Raptors being sellers -- barterers, maybe? -- what would the ideal package look like? Do you go youth movement to add to an OG Anunoby and No. 4 pick core? Do you go 2-for-1 in a deal for win-now pieces? Some combination of the two?
Below is a mix of teams that can use Siakam. More importantly for this excercise, it's a mix of teams that provide different types of packages for the All-Star forward.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
It's no secret that the Warriors want to maximize their title-winning core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson as they begin to age out. Having a pair of lottery picks (No. 7 and No. 14) gives them a pretty simple pathway to getting into rooms for win-now pieces.
Those picks, Andrew Wiggins -- the contract still ain't great, but he showed enough on both ends last year to graduate from the "salary dump/match" class -- and another piece (Jordan Poole, perhaps?) could make the Raptors raise their brows.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Speaking of Lillard, the Blazers have their own trade stuff to sort through. Their superstar wants help, and Siakam certainly could fit as a second option.
The easy piece to send out from the Blazers' side would be CJ McCollum, a bonafide three-level scorer who probably profiles a little better as a number-one option than Siakam does. The issue: factoring in defense (and age, for that matter), McCollum is not more valuable than Siakam is.
The Blazers would need to throw in more, and that's where it gets a little tough. Aside from this year's draft, the Blazers have all of their first-round picks moving forward. Two of them plus a swap could intrigue the Raptors.
Would two of the Anfernee Simons/Nassir Little/Derrick Jones Jr. triumvirate be enough? Would the Blazers even be willing to include Simons at all if they're giving up McCollum and pick capital? It's a tough needle to thread, but it would behoove the Blazers to at least try to thread it.
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INDIANA PACERS
Indiana is intriguing in that they best fit the "take-this-$20-bill-for-two-$10s" model in this discussion. They don't have a player as good as Siakam -- love Domantas Sabonis as an engine, but the defense (yes, I'm aware #BadNate had him doing too much this year) is tough to ignore -- but the roster is littered with good players.
What does a Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner package for Siakam look like?
What does a Turner and TJ Warren and 13th pick package for Siakam look like? And if the Raptors were able to nab the 13th pick in addition to the pick (No. 4) they already own, does that give them enough ammo to FaceTime the Cavs to discuss the No. 3 pick (read: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/big-board/players/evan-mobley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evan Mobley</a>)?
I don't know, but it seems like there are a few pathways for these teams to make some magic happen.
ATLANTA HAWKS
While we're discussing consolidation, the Hawks remain a prime candidate to do so. While they may not have a lottery pick to offer like the Warriors or Pacers, they do have lottery talent to dangle. De'Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu, and Cam Reddish all offer differing levels of two-way intrigue.
It's hard to imagine the Raptors could get two of those guys, but they should make the push. Even if it's one -- say, Reddish -- the Hawks still have a nice blend of picks, young talent (John Collins or Kevin Huerter sign-and-trade, anyone?) and veterans (Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari) to put an intriguing package together.
OTHER FUN SPOTS
<ul>
<li>How many forwards would pair better alongside Nikola Jokic defensively than Siakam? The list ain't long. At the risk of sounding take-ish: a package headlined by Michael Porter Jr. for Siakam would make sense, especially if you don't believe in the long-term health or defensive growth getting where you ultimately need it to... or both. Even if Denver makes that leap, making salaries match from there would be tough to do.</li>
<li>A similar case can be made for the Suns. If you're not all the way in on Mikal Bridges having hidden potential as an on-ball creator, you can talk yourself into using him as a headliner to get Siakam. But again, salary matching beyond Bridges (extension-eligible this offseason, but the big money wouldn't kick in until next year) would get tough.</li>
<li>If the "get-a-bunch-of-good-players" model intrigues the Raptors more than prospects and picks, the Spurs have plenty of guards and wings. Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson (more forward than wing, but, you get my drift)... there's a conversation to be had. At that point, I'd imagine the Raptors would have to go with a forward with their No. 4 pick (they've been linked to Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga, for what it's worth).</li>
<li>The Lakers could offer K- ahahahahahahahahahaha.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan and Jackson Frank dissect Pascal Siakam's game, then look at possible trade partners if Toronto decides to move him.

The curious case of Pascal Siakam: What he is, and where he fits

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The price the Bucks paid to add Jrue Holiday to their roster and the amount they invested to keep him underscores how much Milwaukee believes the guard can help them end a half-century of NBA postseason frustration.
Holiday gets his chance to hold up his end of the deal this weekend when the Bucks begin a first-round series with the Miami Heat, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-milwaukee-bucks-jae-crowder-khris-middleton-miami-5e27a4ba85d538d27947524e463921a8#:~:text=The%20fifth%2Dseeded%20Heat%20finished,of%20a%20sprained%20right%20ankle.">who eliminated them in the second round last year.</a>
“I think for somebody who just wants an opportunity to win and do the best they can, to come to a team like this and try to make something happen, I’m ready for this,” Holiday said. “I’m excited to get going.”
Milwaukee posted the NBA’s best regular-season record in 2018-19 and 2019-20 but fell short in the playoffs both times. The Bucks responded by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-milwaukee-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-d33a37948c6526f18d0b9725cdc57e6e">overhauling their roster</a> and putting a new group around <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-milwaukee-bucks-hakeem-olajuwon-michael-jordan-nba-06ca728b06e0cef837c41592b7a41862#:~:text=LAKE%20BUENA%20VISTA%2C%20Fla.,season%2C%20receiving%20that%20award%20Friday.">two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo</a> and two-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton. 
No change was bigger than the addition of Holiday, who is playing for a legitimate title contender for the first time in his NBA career.
“It’s like a brotherhood,” Holiday said. “I want to be able to support my teammates and make them better just like they make me better.”
The Bucks gave up guards Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, first-round draft choice R.J. Hampton and two future first-round picks <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-bucks-new-orleans-pelicans-jrue-holiday-khris-middleton-71610073d85a7dbabd0347d282308dcc">to acquire Holiday </a> and Sam Merrill from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a four-team trade. The Bucks also gave New Orleans the right to swap two future first-round picks.
Holiday, who turns 31 on June 12, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-jrue-holiday-giannis-antetokounmpo-6ad067b5c92a9ce87cac5013a81558ce#:~:text=MILWAUKEE%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Milwaukee%20Bucks,option%20for%20the%20final%20season.">signed a four-year contract extension</a> last month <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-a42289271de9c6b390a8e1ed15b9de49">that would be worth at least $134 million if he exercises his option for the final season. </a>
The Bucks say he’s been even better than expected.
“As the season’s played out, certainly we appreciate what he brings to the game on both ends of the court,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Just the more great two-way players you have, the better your team is going to be.”
Holiday missed 10 games this season due to COVID-19 but averaged 17.7 points, 6.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds while ranking fifth in the NBA in steals (1.63). He shot 50.3% overall and 39.2% from 3-point range - both career highs - and stepped up his play after the All-Star break.
“I knew he was a good and complete player,” Middleton said, “but I didn’t know he was this good.”
Holiday’s presence helped the Bucks average 120.1 points per game and become the first team since the 1984-85 Denver Nuggets to finish a regular season averaging at least 120 points. 
The Bucks believe they upgraded by having Holiday take over at point guard for Bledsoe, who performed well in the regular season but struggled in Milwaukee’s playoff losses.
Holiday is making just his fifth playoff appearance in 12 NBA seasons and never has advanced beyond the second round.
The Bucks expect much more that a second-round exit.
Milwaukee guard Pat Connaughton believes Holiday has a game ideally suited for the playoffs. Connaughton was playing for Portland in 2018 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ab4a4b8f31864599a6fff457e1ba2977">when his Trail Blazers were swept by Holiday’s Pelicans.</a>
“His ability to control the game offensively, always be in control on offense in attack mode but then defensively to take away another team’s best player, that’s what playoff basketball is,” Connaughton said. 
As he tries to help his new team win its first NBA title since 1971, Holiday already is making an impact in Milwaukee off the floor.
He donated part of his 2019-20 salary to form the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund with his wife, who won two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup as a midfielder with the U.S. women’s national soccer team.
While Holiday prepares for the playoffs this week, his family’s foundation s opening a second round of funding to provide up to $1 million in grant money to fund Black-owned businesses and Black-led organizations in the Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Los Angeles areas.
“My family and I are here to support my community and be able to give back as much as possible,” Holiday said. “It is really exciting. It’s just that I also have to lock into something else right now.”
At the top of that list is helping Milwaukee end its NBA title drought.
___
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___
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The Bucks gave up Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, first-round pick R.J. Hampton and two future first-round picks to acquire Holiday.

Jrue Holiday eager to help Milwaukee take next step in playoffs

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Jrue Holiday says it was an easy decision to sign a contract extension in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Holiday pretty much knew he wanted to stay in Milwaukee for years to come once he spoke to team officials shortly after they paid a steep price to acquire him. General manager Jon Horst made it apparent how much the Bucks valued the veteran guard.
&ldquo;I feel like you can tell when somebody&rsquo;s like super excited or happy about something, and you could hear it in his voice,&rdquo; Holiday said Monday, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-jrue-holiday-giannis-antetokounmpo-6ad067b5c92a9ce87cac5013a81558ce#:~:text=MILWAUKEE%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Milwaukee%20Bucks,option%20for%20the%20final%20season.">one day after agreeing to terms on a four-year extension </a> that would be worth at least $134 million if he exercises his option for the final season. &ldquo;At that point, I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Man, he really wanted me to be here.&rsquo;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really not the type to be wooed and all that. I don&rsquo;t need to be courted or whatever, but it felt good to be appreciated. It felt good to be wanted.&rdquo;
Under the terms of his new deal, Holiday receives base salaries of $30.1 million next season, $32.4 million in 2022-23 and $34.7 million in 2023-24. He also holds a $37 million option for 2024-25.
There are incentives that could push the total value of Holiday&rsquo;s deal to nearly $160 million.
The 30-year-old said his teammates reinforced his desire to stay in Milwaukee.
&ldquo;Not just on the court, but off the court, how my teammates, how they are, just great people,&rdquo; Holiday said. &ldquo;Made me feel like family. You want to be around them. You want to have that type of character around you and your family. They made it an easy decision.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-milwaukee-bucks-new-orleans-pelicans-jrue-holiday-khris-middleton-71610073d85a7dbabd0347d282308dcc">The Bucks acquired Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans </a> in November as part of a four-team trade.
Milwaukee gave up guards Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, first-round draft choice R.J. Hampton and two future first-round draft picks. The Bucks also acquired Sam Merrill and gave New Orleans the right to swap two future first-round picks.
The Bucks believe the 6-foot-3 Holiday has been worth the price.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can kind of appreciate the strength and physicality he brings to both ends of the court until you get to see it night in and night out,&rdquo; coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;What he does defensively, takes on different matchups, different-sized guys, you hear about it and everybody talks about it and everything, so you have this expectation, but once you&rsquo;re around it, it&rsquo;s even more impressive.&rdquo;
Holiday is averaging 17 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals this season. He was named the Eastern Conference player of the week Monday after averaging 26.8 points, 8.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals over his last four games, all on the road.
He&rsquo;s been an equally big contributor off the court. Holiday received an NBA Cares community assist award in January for his efforts to support people impacted by the pandemic.
Holiday agreed to his deal less than four months after the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-milwaukee-bucks-milwaukee-giannis-antetokounmpo-4064e58864446b2d55314713caea70b1">Bucks signed two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to a supermax extension</a>.
The franchise&rsquo;s investment in Holiday, Antetokounmpo and two-time All-Star Khris Middleton &mdash; even without incentives &mdash; adds up to $105 million in 2021-22 and $113 million in 2022-23. That figure would reach $120 million in 2023-24 if Middleton exercises an option he has for that season.
Holiday believes that commitment should enable the Bucks to contend for years to come as they chase their first NBA title since 1971. As the Bucks prepared to play at Golden State on Tuesday, Holiday compared Milwaukee&rsquo;s situation to how the Warriors assembled their championship teams.
&ldquo;They built together for so long and they won together for so long that I feel like it kind of came to a point where they were just this well-oiled machine and knew each other and knew how things were going to go,&rdquo; Holiday said. &ldquo;Yeah, I feel like that&rsquo;s what I want to be a part of.&rdquo;
NOTES: Budenholzer said Antetokounmpo practiced Monday after missing Saturday&rsquo;s game with a sore left knee. The 6-foot-11 forward&rsquo;s status for Tuesday&rsquo;s game remains uncertain. &hellip; Reserve forward P.J. Tucker didn&rsquo;t practice Monday. Tucker has missed six straight games with a calf injury.
___
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___
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Jrue Holiday explains why signing a four-year, max extension with the Milwaukee Bucks was a no-brainer.

Jrue Holiday says signing extension with Bucks was 'easy decision'

The Milwaukee Bucks and Jrue Holiday have reportedly agreed to terms on a maximum four-year, $160 million contract extension.
Source: <a href="https://theathletic.com/news/bucks-jrue-holiday-agree-to-160-million-max-contract-extension/y4DDn67nmN3B" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania/The Athletic</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;The Bucks made a splash in the 2020 offseason by trading for Holiday, and now the franchise is committing to him long-term. The 30-year-old guard is averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game with his new team. Milwaukee is 7.1 points per 100 possessions better when Holiday is on the court, and his sound decision-making and shooting efficiency (39 percent from distance) have proved beneficial.
The trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Holiday are outscoring opponents by 10.2 points per 100 possessions when they share the court.
AP Story
Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday followed up his biggest game of the season by making a long-term commitment to his new team.
Holiday agreed to a four-year contract extension that would be worth at least $134 million if he exercises his option for the final season. The Bucks announced the agreement Sunday.
&ldquo;I'm a Buck for life,&rdquo; Holiday said in a video posted on the Bucks' Twitter account. &ldquo;Just know that I'm glad to be a part of Bucks Nation. Let's do some big things, man. I'm really excited.&rdquo;
The announcement came one day after Holiday had a season-high 33 points as well as 11 assists and seven rebounds in a 129-128 victory at Sacramento. Holiday's performance enabled the Bucks to withstand the absence of reigning two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat out with a sore left knee.
The move represents the latest step in the Bucks&rsquo; heavy investment in their trio of Holiday, Antetokounmpo and two-time All-Star Khris Middleton as the franchise chases its first NBA title since 1971.
The Bucks posted the NBA's best regular-season record each of the last two seasons but lost in the Eastern Conference finals in 2019 and in the second round of the playoffs last year. Entering Sunday, Milwaukee owned a 32-17 record and was two games behind Philadelphia and Brooklyn in the East standings.
"Jrue is one of the top guards in the NBA and we are thrilled to sign him to this extension,&rdquo; Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. &ldquo;Adding him to our team has made us better on both ends of the floor. He&rsquo;s an elite defender and an impactful offensive player with the ability to score, shoot and facilitate.&rdquo;
Holiday had a $26.7 million player option remaining for the 2021-21 season as part of the five-year, $126 million contract he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in July 2017.
Under the terms of this deal, Holiday declines that option but receives base salaries of $30.1 million next season, $32.4 million in 2022-23 and $34.7 million in 2023-24. He also holds a $37 million option for 2024-25.
There are incentives that could push the total value of Holiday's deal to nearly $160 million.
The Bucks&rsquo; investment in Holiday, Antetokounmpo and Middleton &mdash; even without incentives &mdash; totals $105 million in 2021-22, $113 million in 2022-23 and would be $120 million in 2023-24 if Middleton exercises a player option he has for that season.
The 30-year-old Holiday is averaging 17 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals this year in his first season with the Bucks. He ranks second in the league in steals per game.
He missed 10 games earlier this season after testing positive for COVID-19 but has come on strong lately.
Holiday has scored at least 22 points in four straight games. Since the All-Star break, he has averaged 20.8 points and has shot 54.1% overall and 44.3% from 3-point range.
The only other NBA players averaging at least 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and 1.5 steals this season are Miami&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler, Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Joki? and Toronto&rsquo;s Fred VanVleet.
Milwaukee paid a heavy price to acquire Holiday in the offseason as it attempted to strengthen the team in hopes of getting a long-term commitment from Antetokounmpo, who signed a five-year supermax extension worth a reported $228 million in December.
The Bucks gave up guards Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, first-round draft choice R.J. Hampton and two future first-round draft picks as part of the four-team trade. They also acquired second-round pick Sam Merrill and gave New Orleans the right to swap two future first-round picks as part of the deal.
&ldquo;Them giving up all the pieces that they did, it really, really made me feel like they wanted me to be here,&rdquo; Holiday said shortly after the trade. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s always a good feeling.&rdquo;
___
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Holiday joined the team after being traded from the Pelicans in the 2020 offseason.

Jrue Holiday inks four-year max extension: ‘I’m a Buck for life’

Ah, the Western Conference. Where there are very few &ldquo;average&rdquo; teams, much less a need to quantify that mediocrity by stating a team is &ldquo;very average.&rdquo; Back in the East, &ldquo;very average&rdquo; was the quote of the night from a player from a certain team in Brooklyn that stunk for a third-straight game.
The West is better than the East once again, which is no longer can be explained away as a cyclical pattern (as former commissioner David Stern used to do). Only once in the past 12 seasons has there been an East team without LeBron James that won a title. And that team was not even located within the continental United States.
As this 72-game season plods forward with cabin fever being experienced at an epidemic level by NBA players in five-star hotels, there is nothing predictable on any given night unless the Jazz are playing. Utah has won 16 of 17, with that only loss coming in an afternoon game against Denver. Utah&rsquo;s last loss in a night game was way back on Jan. 6.
So Quin Snyder&rsquo;s team leads off our trimester report card for the West, coming off of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trimester-report-cards-grading-team-eastern-conference-philadelphia-sixers-nets-brooklyn-boston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks-brooklyn-nets">yesterday&rsquo;s Eastern Conference report card</a> in which the Pistons must have been upset about their D-minus-minus. Hey, the professor is tough, but nobody gets an &ldquo;F&rdquo; around here.
So, without further ado&hellip;
UTAH JAZZ (20-5): What sets this team apart from the other 29 is their three-point proficiency. They have taken and made more three than any team and they have converted them at a 40.2-percent rate, which is better than everyone except the Clippers. On any given night, it could be Donovan Mitchell (an MVP sleeper pick at 100-1), Joe Ingles, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson or Royce O&rsquo;Neale. Then, they also have Rudy Gobert grabbing 13.5 rebounds and blocking nearly three shots per night, and there isn&rsquo;t much to pick apart here. They have a back-to-back against the Clippers next week. Advice: Watch both games.
GRADE: A
LOS ANGELES LAKERS (19-6): They have the league&rsquo;s best road record (10-2) and are currently on a five-game winning streak, as ageless LeBron James keeps putting up triple-doubles and Anthony Davis gets it done on both ends of the floor -- something that has made him to No. 1 name when discussing Defensive Player of the Year candidates.&nbsp; Dennis Schroeder and Montrezl Harrell are combining to give them almost 28 points per night, and they are so deep that their starting center, Marc Gasol, is 11th on the team in scoring. Six of their next 10 games are on ABC/ESPN, the best of the bunch being their Feb. 24 match-up at Utah.
GRADE: A
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (17-8): They go into tonight&rsquo;s game against Minnesota having lost two in a row for the first time this season, and Paul George (swollen right toe) is not on the trip. But Patrick Beverley could be back after missing eight games with right-knee soreness, and it&rsquo;ll be nice to have another look at one of the handful of current NBA players who can an effective perimeter defender night after night after night. Imagine if he was allowed to hand check? The Clippers are knocking down threes at an astronomical rate (41.9 percent), which is the best since the Charlotte Hornets shot 42.8 percent in 1996-97 when the league moved the three-point line closer (22 feet), a change that was abandoned after two seasons. Back to the Clippers: Kawhi is not getting worse. &lsquo;Nuff said.
GRADE: A
PHOENIX SUNS (14-9): Kaminsky? Really? OK, apologies for that, Devin Booker, but old Frank from UW is bringing it nightly lately, which is a testament to how this Phoenix team gets a lot more than expected from absolutely everyone, and last season&rsquo;s 8-0 unbeaten bubble run was no fluke. Adding Chris Paul has been huge for this team, as his veteran leadership has turned the Suns into a top-four team even though their primary offensive weapon in Booker has seen his scoring and shooting dip from where they&rsquo;ve been the past three seasons (which is weird). The trend extends to Deandre Ayton, whose scoring is down 4.2 points per game. But the Suns are well-rounded, and Paul is Mr. Intangible, Mr. Leadership, Mr. Steady.
GRADE: A-
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/lll_lg.jpg" alt="" width="798" height="AUTO" />
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (13-10): To have this record despite the injury absences of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard is quite impressive, and at a certain point 29 general managers (along with some former GMs) are going to be kicking themselves for not grabbing Enes Kanter when he was available, which has happened a number of times over the past half-decade. Lillard pretty much never has a bad night (only three sub 20-point games), and Carmelo Anthony continues to flash the form that made him a 10-time All-Star. Gary Trent Jr. is hitting threes at a 43-percent clip, and Terry Stotts has been adept at riding the secondary hot hand (aside from Lillard) from game to game.
GRADE: B+
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (14-11):&nbsp; All of the barber shops are apparently closed in San Antonio, but that did not stop Gregg Popovich from getting the coronavirus vaccine and having the NBA film it so that it could be used in a public service announcement. Props on that, Pop. Dejounte Murray and Patty Mills have been excellent alternating time at point guard, which makes one wonder whether Derrick White gives them too much of a good thing, and whether they will be active at the trade deadline. LaMarcus Aldridge has missed the past four games, and he can be considered an old 35 as he finishes up his contract along with DeMar DeRozan. No NBA team has less salary committed for next season, so the Spurs can take on long money if they so choose at the trade deadline. 
GRADE: B+
DENVER NUGGETS (12-11): Perhaps Jamal Murray spoiled us in terms of expectations during the playoffs. For two weeks, he was all anybody wanted to talk about. But now he is shooting 44 percent and averaging just 16.8 points, and the rest of the sidekick by committee crew is not stepping up on any kind of a consistent basis. Michael Porter Jr. is pretty darned good now that we are getting an extended view of him, but the team needs more from Murray and their supporting cast. Asking Nikola Jokic to deliver career-best games night after night isn&rsquo;t sustainable.
GRADE: C
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (13-12): It was all &ldquo;boo-hoo&rdquo; and &ldquo;the-end-of-the-world-is-here&rdquo; back on draft night when we all learned that Klay Thompson would miss another season, but these guys have dusted themselves off and are getting big night after big night from Steph Curry. As head coach Steve Kerr recently said: "This is the best I've ever seen him, just from a confidence and strength standpoint, and that's saying something, obviously.&rdquo; When you are talking about a two-time MVP who was once a unanimous pick (the first ever), that is truly a mouthful. Draymond Green is piling up the assists, reaching double figures four times in five games this month after doing it just twice in all of January. Kelly Oubre has improved after a slow start to the season, and you have to wonder what James Wiseman will look like in the playoffs after having a full season (aside from his current injury absence &ndash; sprained wrist) under his belt.
GRADE: C+
SACRAMENTO KINGS (12-12): De&rsquo;Aaron Fox has popped out four 30-point games in their last five, Harrison Barnes is as steady as they come and Richaun Holmes is second in the NBA in field goal percentage at 65.3 percent. If Buddy Hield could figure out how to shoot with consistency and Marvin Bagley III could realize his full potential, this could be a pretty decent team. Tyrese Haliburton has shown flashes in his rookie season, but he&rsquo;s no LaMelo Ball. The Kings were 5-10 but have won seven of their last nine, so keep an eye on them. They are the epitome of the sneaky, under-the-radar team. 
GRADE: C
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (11-12): Is it fair to say that the Zion fever we were all collectively experiencing entering his rookie season has gone away? Yes, he is a heck of a skilled player, but is he a guy you schedule your nightly TV viewing around? No. And Eric Bledsoe was supposed to be better than this. Same with Lonzo Ball and Steven Adams. They had the NBA&rsquo;s worst case of cabin fever after spending two consecutive weeks on the road right when the NBA tightened COVID protocols and banned players from leaving their hotels on the road. They have bounced back nicely recently with wins in six of their past eight, albeit against mediocre competition. A favorable schedule continues for another two weeks, after which David Griffin can decide what to do with this roster. 
GRADE: C-
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (9-10):&nbsp; Looks like we will be seeing a lot of them and the Wizards during what was supposed to be a down week surrounding the All-Star break. All of their COVID-related postponements are going to make for a busy second half of the season, and they really don&rsquo;t even qualify for a trimester grade because they&rsquo;ve only played 19 games. Aside from Ja Morant, who should continue to be a mainstay of Plays of the Day, there is not a whole lot for the casual fan to gravitate toward here.
GRADE: INCOMPLETE
HOUSTON ROCKETS (11-13): Everyone except Shaq had Christian Wood fever just a couple weeks back, and then he went down with a sprained ankle and the Most Improved Player race got thrown wide open (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-gambling-bets-odds-most-improved-player-award-jerami-grant-christian-wood-jaylen-brown-chris-boucher-collin-sexton-julius-randle">with Jerami Grant of the Pistons picking up steam</a>). There is not a huge body of evidence to review concerning John Wall and Victor Oladipo playing alongside each other, as Houston has become the new home of load management. In hindsight, they probably should have traded James Harden before the season began. Distractions of that magnitude are not all that easy to shake off, and in this case, it set a negative tone for the franchise that seems to be bleeding into mid-February.
GRADE: C-
DALLAS MEVRICKS (11-14): Wasn&rsquo;t this supposed to be Luka Doncic&rsquo;s MVP season, the year when he and Kristaps Porzingis delivered a one-two Euro punch that the rest of the West would be unable to recover from? Well, so much for preordained storylines. This is the most disappointing team in the West, and you have to wonder how Rick Carlisle is going to solve this puzzle &hellip; or if he&rsquo;ll become the NBA&rsquo;s first head coaching fall guy. Not that we expect that, but somebody will eventually win the Fizdale Award. They are the NBA&rsquo;s worst three-point shooting team, and the NBA has sort of become three-point-centric, ya know?
GRADE: D
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (10-13): After last year&rsquo;s overachieving season, we were all expecting them to take a major step backward while Sam Presti sent legions of scouts to the furthest reaches of the planet to find guys worthy of his horde of first-round draft picks. But scouts cannot travel overseas because of the pandemic, which makes you wonder exactly how Presti will find the next Aleksej Pokusevski. If not for Hamidou Diallo winning the slam dunk contest a couple years ago, these guys would be more anonymous than the Grizzlies. But they&rsquo;ve overachieved here and there, so kudos for that.
GRADE: C
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (6-18): They were 2-0 the day after Christmas after beating the Jazz, but things have not really panned out since then, one might say. As a polar vortex covers a majority of the United States this week and you sit home shivering, be thankful that you are not in Minneapolis, and that your name is not Ricky Rubio. The forecast for Thursday is 1 degree in the Twin Cities and 58 degrees in El Masnou, Catalonia in Spain where Rubio is from. Did we mention that they actually beat the Jazz? Not much else positive to say about them.
GRADE: D-

A third of the way into the 2020-21 NBA season, Chris Sheridan breaks down the state of each West team and grades their start.

Grading each NBA team's first trimester: Western Conference

The James Harden situation got even more interesting Monday, with Rockets coach Stephen Silas describing it as a &ldquo;holdout,&rdquo; as nobody was quite sure what to make of a COVID-19 protocol violation mixed together with a Lil Baby birthday bash and the social-media frenzy surrounding the entire affair.
A late-afternoon look at what was trending on Twitter revealed that Harden was the subject that everyone wanted to chime in on. It was either absurd or abhorrent, depending on one&rsquo;s point of view.
And when Rockets coach Stephen Silas went on a Zoom call with the media and said he did not know whether Harden was even in Houston, everyone had a full-blown NBA-themed diversion from the usual madness that has defined the year 2020.
&ldquo;This is a setback,&rdquo; Silas acknowledged. &ldquo;I have no clarity about the message honestly. I take it at face value that he&rsquo;s not here, and what the reasoning is on him. He is the one who can explain why or why not he&rsquo;s here. So for me to make inferences and think about the possibilities isn&rsquo;t real to me.
&ldquo;What&rsquo;s real is he&rsquo;s not here, but that&rsquo;s on him to tell whoever why he&rsquo;s not here,&rdquo; Silas said.
Harden was photographed (not wearing a mask) over the weekend at the birthday bash in Atlanta, where he reportedly lavished the 26-year-old rapper with a Prada bag stuffed with $100,000 in hundred dollar bills, along with a designer watch valued at $200,000. Lil Baby posted a video of the gift bag to Instagram, and <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/12/04/james-harden-gives-lil-baby-best-birthday-gift-ever-100k-cash-and-honey-buns/">TMZ reported</a> that the rapper and the Rockets star vacationed together recently in Turks and Caicos.
From a basketball perspective, the &ldquo;holdout&rdquo; upped the ante in the relationship between the Rockets and their best player, who apparently wants to be traded following an offseason overhaul in Houston that included the recent trade of Russell Westbrook to Washington for John Wall and was preceded by the resignation of coach Mike D&rsquo;Antoni shortly after the Rockets were defeated by the Lakers 4-1 in the second round, then the departure of general manager and team architect Daryl Morey.
Harden reportedly would prefer a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, but new general manager Rafael Stone&rsquo;s bargaining power in trade talks is being weakened by Harden&rsquo;s situation. Harden will earn a max salary of $41.25 million this season and is under contract for one more year plus a player option worth $47.36 million in 2022-23. The 31-year-old, eight-time All-Star averaged an NBA-leading 34.3 points per game last season.
Given his talent level, a majority of the league&rsquo;s 29 other teams would be lying if they said they weren&rsquo;t even a little interested.
Harden&rsquo;s mother, Monja Willis, put up a post on Instagram in response to a Rockets fan&rsquo;s inquiry about Harden&rsquo;s status. Her post seemed to confirm that Harden wants to be traded.
&ldquo;He is doing what is best for his career. Please pay attention and understand. He has worked hard every time he suited up for his job, giving 210 percent. He asked for a chance to get a ring, that&rsquo;s it. Anyone in their right mind in this (business) would want that,&rdquo; she posted.
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Silas&rsquo;s use of the word &ldquo;holdout&rdquo; changed the semantics of the situation just as Harden was being criticized on television and social media not only for missing camp, but for attending the party without honoring mask-wearing and social-distancing guidelines. The league's COVID-19 protocols require players to quarantine except for essential activities and team-sanctioned workouts.
"I've been in situations before where it was a holdout, and we just kind of handled each individual situation on its own merit and individually," Silas said. "As far as any sort of punishment, we haven't even crossed that bridge yet.&rdquo;
It is rare but not unheard of for professional athletes to miss training camp in an effort to gain leverage, but in the NBA, those types of instances have usually involved financial aspects rather than a desire to be traded. Danny Ferry spent a year playing in Europe in order to get the Clippers to trade him after they had drafted him, and two more recent training camp holdouts involved incoming rookies Juwan Howard and Glenn Robinson looking to increase the size of their first contracts before the league instituted a rookie-salary scale.
More common has been a player letting it be known through media reports (often via anonymous sources) that he wanted to be dealt, as was the case with Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans two seasons ago as the 2018 trade deadline neared. Davis eventually got his wish and was dealt to the Lakers, but the deal did not go down until the offseason.
A season earlier, Kawhi Leonard stayed away from the San Antonio Spurs for nearly an entire season before they eventually dealt him to the Toronto Raptors. If that example stands as a case study, Harden&rsquo;s holdout could be a lengthy one that detracts attention from several other interesting team storylines around the league with the start of the season just 15 days away.
The Harden case also is distinct because it is happening as the NBA prepares for the difficult task of attempting to play a 72-game season during a global pandemic and without the safety and security that existed over the summer in the bubble outside Orlando, where the NBA resumed its 2019-20 season and conducted its entire postseason.
Caught in the middle publicly is Silas, who credited Harden&rsquo;s advocacy with helping him get hired as Houston&rsquo;s head coach. Behind the scenes, Stone is having to sort through offers that are coming in from other teams, and any proposed deal must meet the approval of Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.
&ldquo;There is no timetable as far as I know, and it is a setback,&rdquo; Silas said of the holdout and its effect on the team. P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon avoided discussing the issue Monday, and no other Houston players were made available in the Zoom media availability.
Clearly, this story isn&rsquo;t going away for as long as Harden stays away.
Video of Harden tossing money into the air at what appeared to be a strip club circulated on social media, though it was difficult to ascertain when the video was made.
Regardless, the bottom line is that it&rsquo;s appearing more and more likely that Harden may be wearing a different uniform the next time anyone sees The Beard ballin&rsquo;.

All eyes are on James Harden, and Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas referred to the situation as a "holdout" on Monday.

James Harden situation now a 'holdout,' Rockets coach says

Bad news ruled the day Thursday, as the NBA universe once again mimicked the world at large. Klay Thompson is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-offseason-golden-state-warriors-klay-thompson-achilles-injury" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out for another year</a>, and the long, dark winter that will include a lot of fresh faces in new NBA places will be proceeding without one of the league&rsquo;s best players.
The year 2020 has been unrelenting when it comes to unwelcome surprises, and the Golden State Warriors and their fans took one on the chin&nbsp;over the past 24 hours.
But while the Warriors were skirting the panic zone, it was safe to say the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks emerged looking a whole lot better after Wednesday night&rsquo;s NBA Draft and Thursday&rsquo;s transaction news. The unfortunates included television viewers who expected clarity over the course of draft night, along with the Milwaukee Bucks, whose deal for Bogdan Bogdanovic is in hiatus mode.
The NBA churned forward Thursday with the countdown to opening night now 33 days away, and the deadline for Giannis Antetokounmpo to accept or reject a supermax offer from the Bucks sitting at 31 days. Yes, Jon Horst is on the clock, and if pen does not meet paper on that supermax deal, let&rsquo;s just say we will have a new Most-Likely-To-Be-Traded candidate replacing Russell Westbrook.
A total of 11 trades were made over the course of the four-plus hour draft, and confusion reigned throughout the night on TV. It was best exemplified when Kentucky coach John Calipari came on the air after pick No. 25 was Wildcats point guard Immanuel Quickley and said, &ldquo;You guys realize he&rsquo;s going to the Knicks, right?&rdquo;
The pick had been made by the Thunder and was part of multi-team transactions involving New York, Minnesota and Oklahoma City. With so many moving parts and so many deals taking place simultaneously, it was not immediately apparent that New York emerged with the SEC Player of the Year, along with the consensus College Player of the Year, Dayton&rsquo;s Obi Toppin.
Leon Rose, William Wesley and Tom Thibodeau made more moves Thursday; they let go of Elfrid Payton, Taj Gibson and Wayne Ellington and declined the team option on Bobby Portis, setting themselves up for free agency as one of the handful of teams with a ton of salary cap space. New York and Atlanta are reportedly interested in Gordon Hayward, who declined his $34 million player option with the Boston Celtics this evening.
That put the Knicks the winners column along with the Sixers, both for what they did in the trade market and what they did in the draft. Early in the day Wednesday, new Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey dealt Al Horford and the $81 million remaining on his contract to Oklahoma City for Danny Green, then picked up Seth Curry (Doc Rivers&rsquo; son-in-law) from Dallas for Josh Richardson.&nbsp;
Then, with the 58th pick, Morey picked up a sleeper in DePaul&rsquo;s Paul Reed, and rest assured that Rivers went to sleep happier than he awoke. He now has two new shooters, two new defenders and a better chance of competing with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets for an Eastern Conference title.
As for the Bucks, their <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-free-agency-Bogdan-Bogdanovic-sacramento-kings-milwaukee-bucks-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquisition of Kings forward Bogdan Bogdanovic is in jeopardy</a>. Bogdanovic stood to make $60 million over four years in a sign-and-trade deal, but wants to see if even bigger money is offered by one of the few teams with major cap space -- none of them contenders unless Miami loses Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder in free agency.
Milwaukee began the week agreeing to a pair of major deals to help ensure that Antetokounmpo stays around for the long term, but they may have to find another shooter elsewhere if the Bogdanovic deal dies. They may have found one with the 60th pick in the draft in Utah State&rsquo;s Sam Merrill, but Bogdan had a body of work that they clearly liked.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were a clear winner because they emerged not only with No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards, but also with a new starting point guard in Ricky Rubio (D&rsquo;Angelo Russell will probably be spending time at shooting guard next season). Along with two more first-round picks, they also brought in rookie building blocks with Jaden McDaniels (Washington) and Leandro Bolmaro (FC Barcelona), both of whom should be NBA-ready a year from now when Karl-Anthony Towns will be 26. Next up for Gersson Rosas is to find a power forward (he moved James Johnson&rsquo;s expiring $15.3 million contract to Oklahoma City today). The Wolves&rsquo; pick next season (protected 1-3) is owed to Golden State from the Russell acquisition.
Golden State, despite coming out of the draft with 7-foot-1 James Wiseman (best described as a mix of David Robinson and Chris Bosh), now must contemplate yet another season that may not include Thompson after the veteran sharpshooter tore his Achilles while working out in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Thompson has not played since tearing his left ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals.
With Thompson, the Warriors were regarded as a legitimate title contender. Without him, it is arguable whether they will be a top-six team and avoid the NBA&rsquo;s new play-in tournament involving the Nos. 7-10 seeded teams in each conference. However, Bob Myers was proactive and struck a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder to soften the blow, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-rumor-kelly-oubre-golden-state-warriors-okc-oklahoma-city-thunder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bringing the rising Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Bay Area</a> on Thursday.
The days ahead should be fascinating.Teams can made contact with free agents beginning at 6 p.m. EDT Friday (which is when BasketballNews.com's 2020 Free Agency Show will start). Stay tuned...

Chris Sheridan wraps up notable moments from the 2020 NBA Draft and the fallout going into free agency.