Spartans

With NBA training camps open for business, teams are getting back in the swing of things. Sunday will mark the first preseason game of the 2021-22 campaign between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers (3:30 p.m. ET), meaning the regular season is right around the corner.
There are many players in the league whose talents go beyond the court. That's quite important, as nobody can play the game forever. A popular route we see these players go following their respective careers is transitioning into the media. Who better to analyze the game than people with firsthand experience playing it?
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Which active NBA player will make the best broadcaster someday?
Alex Kennedy: The first players who popped into my head were Draymond Green and CJ McCollum since they already have broadcasting and podcasting experience. They are terrific analysts and capable interviewers who are already comfortable on camera. However, rather than going with the obvious choices, I&rsquo;ll name someone who could become a media star in the near future: Isaiah Thomas. For years, Thomas has been a quote machine and one of my favorite players to interview. He is charismatic and brutally honest, and his quotes always feature amazing anecdotes and tremendous insight. He has an incredible story, he&rsquo;s a fan favorite and he&rsquo;ll provide a unique perspective on broadcasts since he&rsquo;s seen just about everything that this league can throw at a player. No other player in NBA history has gone from fighting for a roster spot as Mr. Irrelevant to becoming an All-NBA selection who finishes top-five in MVP voting. As Thomas told me last year: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody has been through the things that I&rsquo;ve gone through in this league.&rdquo; Once IT decides to retire, he&rsquo;ll make an outstanding broadcaster or podcaster, if that&rsquo;s what he decides to pursue.
Nekias Duncan: I&rsquo;m down for more Draymond Green on the mic. He&rsquo;s funny, has a limited filter, and can break down Xs &amp; Os concepts in a way that more casual viewers can understand easily.
Spencer Davies: There's quite a few that come to mind. We know everybody's going to name Draymond Green because of his in-depth work on TNT over the past few years &mdash; and he's very good at it &mdash; but let's go with CJ McCollum. He was a journalism major in college at Lehigh and he already has a successful podcast where he's gotten plenty of reps. McCollum just seems to have the timing and cues down pat, and you saw his true skills in action as an interviewer when he <a href="https://youtu.be/VN_o2CwnGCA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sat down with Commissioner Adam Silver for The Players' Tribune</a> a few years ago. Dissecting film and going in-depth is one thing for an analyst, but delivery is a whole 'nother ballgame &mdash; McCollum can give you both.
Ethan Fuller: Draymond Green is already fast-tracked toward a role, so I would like to toss in Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams. Williams exudes positive energy and would be a fun and insightful addition as a color commentator. I think he would do a fantastic job at breaking down the game while also staying spirited throughout. Who knows if Williams has aspirations to broadcast post-career, but I'd at least endorse him if he gave it a shot.
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Drew Maresca: Draymond Green. He&rsquo;s already shown an unusual ability to articulate his perspective on the game, and he&rsquo;s also demonstrated a good on-air personality. Green can seamlessly transition from player to analyst &mdash; if he wants to. But Green will probably weigh all of his options, and his time might end up being too valuable to devote to an on-site studio show.
Jackson Frank: Given his experience with NBA on TNT, Draymond Green is a choice I suspect to see as a recurring answer. I&rsquo;ll deviate away from that selection and say Blake Griffin, who&rsquo;s always struck me as charismatic and witty. I&rsquo;d enjoy listening to that on broadcasts, and feel as though his varying roles &mdash; from high-flying superstar to uber-skilled, ground-bound superstar to rotation player on a title contender &mdash; could introduce a perspective not every NBAer-turned-mainstream analyst brings, and allow him to offer insights on a host of different players.
Moke Hamilton: Draymond Green, and we don&rsquo;t even have to go with the &ldquo;someday&rdquo; part of the question. Draymond knows the game, has some great opinions and isn&rsquo;t afraid to share them. I think that makes for a good combination. Whenever I see him on TNT, I watch, because I genuinely am interested in what he has to say. There aren&rsquo;t many other players in the NBA I feel that way about, so there isn&rsquo;t anyone else I&rsquo;d consider for this answer.
Jesse Blancarte: Chris Paul, assuming he chooses to be a broadcaster someday. Paul is smart, articulate and knows the game better than arguably anyone else currently playing in the NBA. If he becomes a broadcaster and focuses on breaking down game action (think of Tony Romo with the NFL), he could become an instant favorite.
Chris Sheridan: Draymond Green has already shown himself to be quite capable, but I will toss in a vote for James Harden. He is a lot more loquacious than people might realize, and he is a future Hall-of-Famer who would bring a unique perspective because of his ability to dominate the ball while also thriving off the ball depending on who he is paired with. But Harden needs a championship to have something to brag about during studio time.
Alexander Cohen: I&rsquo;ll go with Robin Lopez, though he&rsquo;ll serve as more of a comedic, good vibes, Bill Walton role rather than breaking down X's and O's or any part of the game he&rsquo;s watching.

Which active NBA player will make the best broadcaster someday? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: Which active NBA player will make the best broadcaster?

With NBA training camps open for business, teams are getting back in the swing of things. We are just one day away from the first preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET), meaning the 2021-22 campaign is right around the corner.
Currently, there are 30 teams preparing to tip-off their respective seasons, but what if the NBA shook the league up a little by adding a pair of new franchises?
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Should the NBA add two expansion teams? If so, where? 
Alex Kennedy: In December, Adam Silver <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/adam-silver-opens-door-again-for-possibility-of-nba-expansion-its-a-decision-well-continue-to-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> that the pandemic &ldquo;caused [the NBA] to maybe dust off some of the analyses on the economic and competitive impacts of expansion,&rdquo; adding that the league office is &ldquo;spending a little bit more time on it than we were pre-pandemic." This makes sense since the pandemic cost the NBA a lot of money. There was a report that the NBA would charge a $2.5 billion fee to any expansion team, but Silver actually said that this number seems &ldquo;very low.&rdquo; Adding two expansion teams would help the NBA make up for lost revenue, while continuing to grow the league. One argument against expansion is that there isn&rsquo;t enough talent and that the NBA would be diluting its on-court product; however, I completely disagree. There are plenty of talented players, and increasing the number of roster spots from 450 to 480 (excluding two-way contracts) isn&rsquo;t going to ruin the league. I think the NBA should seriously consider adding expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. It seems inevitable that Seattle will get the SuperSonics back at some point, and there&rsquo;s no question that the NBA has been watching the success of the Golden Knights and Raiders closely. I'd love to see a team in my hometown of Tampa, but it&rsquo;s hard to imagine the NBA passing on Seattle and Las Vegas if they do ultimately decide to expand.
Nekias Duncan: It&rsquo;s probably rude of me, but I&rsquo;d rather see relocation than expansion in the NBA right now. As far as the markets go, it&rsquo;d be nice to see Seattle and Las Vegas get teams. Maybe we could get New Orleans and Memphis in the East to even things up.
Spencer Davies: Sure, why not? It's not as if there isn't enough talent to spread around! As an unabashed Seattle SuperSonics fan growing up (thanks to Shawn Kemp, who ended up playing for my hometown Cleveland Cavaliers), I would love to see their return to the Pacific Northwest. They have such a great fanbase and a plethora of upcoming talent in grassroots programs, and the excitement would be palpable throughout the entire NBA. As for a second place that could field a team, Las Vegas makes the most sense, doesn't it? There's an annual summer league already there and a community that is incredibly supportive of basketball with the WNBA's Aces and the NHL's Golden Knights. Plus, Vegas is absolutely a destination city that could attract potential free agents in the future even if things don't get off to a great start. It wouldn't be enviable to be in charge of the conference/division shifting and upsetting that balance, but if it were to happen, that'd be the next step.
Ethan Fuller: The talent is overflowing in today's NBA; there should absolutely be two expansion teams. Of course, Seattle is an obvious choice for one city given its rich history and thriving hoops community today. And honestly, you don't have to go too far to find the other best choice: Vancouver. Canada deserves a second NBA franchise given its rising place in the basketball world. Vancouver is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.7 million people. Montreal (second-largest) and Calgary (fourth-largest) would also make sense, but it should definitely be a Canadian city.
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Moke Hamilton: No, I don&rsquo;t think so. I think 30 teams is perfect, and I like the symmetry that the league has with six divisions and five teams in each of them. That said, if the league did decide to expand, Las Vegas and Seattle would seem to be the obvious choices. Vegas presents a bit of an issue considering the fact that NBA games are still on the books out there, but considering Adam Silver&rsquo;s attitudes towards gambling (and the state of legalized sports gambling across the country), that may now be a moot point. If the league did expand, I would hope that we&rsquo;d also get some conference realignment. New Orleans and Memphis, geographically speaking, should be in the Eastern Conference. They, along with Portland, are probably at a bit of a disadvantage considering they have to deal with the traveling. Memphis is much closer to Atlanta than Dallas, for what it&rsquo;s worth. And New Orleans is actually a smidge further East than Memphis... That&rsquo;s something that should be taken into account.
Jackson Frank: I think it makes sense. There&rsquo;s an abundance of NBA-level talent without the requisite opportunities to parallel that talent. Of course, Seattle should be atop the list of expansion markets, given its history and the rich tradition of hoops in the Emerald City. I also like the idea of St. Louis or Louisville getting a team, particularly the latter, which already has a vocal fan base of support for the University of Louisville Cardinals men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s basketball programs.
Drew Maresca: Ultimately, the NBA is a business. So, it comes down to the question of sustainability &mdash; can profitability be sustained (or increased) through expansion? But from a competition standpoint, probably not. There is an ungodly amount of talent in the NBA, and it&rsquo;s technically enough to support more teams. The problem is that it happens to be centralized on a select few teams. The league should look to address that before expanding because, as currently constructed, expansion would just lead to more non-competitive teams. Disclaimer: I do feel like Seattle needs an NBA franchise. I just don&rsquo;t know if expansion is the best path to doing so.
Jesse Blancarte: I am not sure if the NBA should add two new teams in the near future, but I think adding two new teams at some point down the road is a good idea. The NBA is always looking to refine and improve its product, and I think adding two new teams would be an exciting move. If the NBA added two new teams, I would want them to be in Seattle and Las Vegas.
Chris Sheridan: Easy. Las Vegas and Seattle. Vegas has the facilities and has become a major-league town. Seattle is missed (as is Vancouver), and an expansion team there would get to keep the Sonics' records (that was part of the deal when the franchise moved to Oklahoma City).
Alexander Cohen: I think with the always-increasing talent pool in the NBA, it would not be the worst idea to add teams. I want Isaiah Thomas, Joe Johnson, and Anthony Bennett back in the NBA! I&rsquo;m no expert on which cities should get the teams, but I think you have to at least give Seattle another team, which is a proven sports location. Kansas City would probably make the most sense to put the other one.

Should the NBA add two expansion teams to the league? If so, where? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: Should the NBA add two expansion teams? If so, where?

With NBA training camps open for business, teams are getting back in the swing of things. We are just two days away from the first preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET), meaning the 2021-22 campaign is right around the corner.
While these two teams are commanding the spotlight more than any other squads around the league, there are plenty of franchises that would love to knock them right off their pedestal, or at least have some of that light shone on them.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Who is your favorite dark-horse team entering the 2021-22 season? 
Alex Kennedy: The Washington Wizards are my dark-horse team because I really liked their offseason moves. They acquired Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Kispert, Aaron Holiday and Isaiah Todd among others. Dinwiddie and Bradley Beal should form a terrific one-two punch in the backcourt, and it&rsquo;s very possible that Deni Avdija (20 years old), Rui Hachimura (23), Daniel Gafford (23) and Thomas Bryant (24) will make significant strides as they take the next step in their development. Suddenly, Washington has some nice depth and a very solid supporting cast around Beal. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if they exceed expectations.
Nekias Duncan: Do the Milwaukee Bucks count here? It&rsquo;s hard to think of a title-winning team that&rsquo;s been disregarded quite like this one. I get the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; optimism, I do, but the Bucks feel pretty slept on at large.&nbsp;
Ethan Fuller: The Toronto Raptors are going to massively exceed expectations after they faced arguably the most challenging circumstances of any team in 2020-21. They're back in Toronto with a team that screams positive regression. Pascal Siakam is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-player-will-have-a-major-bounceback-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a prime bounce-back candidate</a>, Fred VanVleet continues to fly under the radar and the young core might be one of the more underrated groups in the NBA. I'm excited to see guys like OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn take their next steps.
Spencer Davies: I can't just land on one in particular. There's so much love (and rightfully so) for the Lakers and Nets that the possibility of any other teams making it to the NBA Finals would be a shock to many. In the Eastern Conference, watch out for the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. It seems that the Heat like to sneak up on people when they least expect it, and uh, that shouldn't be the case considering they were in the Finals at this time one year ago in the NBA Bubble. Kyle Lowry's going to prove to be a tremendous pickup if he can stay healthy, and Jimmy Butler seems to perform at his best when he's not being paid attention to. There's also that Bam Adebayo guy, who's somehow a Swiss Army knife with room for growth. As for the Celtics, a new head coach has the potential to inject a sense of freshness into the air. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have already been unleashed, but Ime Udoka may just be the one to kick the door open further. Plus, those contract worries over the last couple of seasons have been put to rest with Marcus Smart. Oh, and Al Horford's back with gang green, too &mdash; never a bad thing to see a familiar face.
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Moke Hamilton: I&rsquo;d probably have to go with the Denver Nuggets. It&rsquo;s tough to pick a dark horse from the Western Conference because there are a ton of teams out there that are worthy of the respect of being called a credible contender... But I think most people are looking at the Lakers, Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns as the teams to beat. Denver often gets left out of the conversation, especially since Jamal Murray is still on the shelf. Nonetheless, I like them. If Murray can return to form and Michael Porter Jr. continues to grow, they&rsquo;ll be formidable.
Jackson Frank: Before the injury bug caught them in recent weeks, I would&rsquo;ve loved to slot the Indiana Pacers here, but my pick is the New Orleans Pelicans. I&rsquo;m not sure this means much more than competing for a low playoff seed &mdash; still an improvement, comparatively &mdash; but they seem a bit discounted among preseason projections. The acquisitions of Devonte&rsquo; Graham and Jonas Valanciunas should really help this team approach elite offense territory. Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky are steady veterans who can contribute in the rotation. The Pelicans house a bevy of young dudes, and while it&rsquo;s unlikely all of them will experience substantial strides, banking on a few of them to do so is prudent. Jaxson Hayes had an encouraging second half of 2020-21. Nickeil Alexander-Walker fared quite well as a shooter and complementary handler in his 19 starts. Naji Marshall brings versatile defense, playmaking and slashing. Zion Williamson&rsquo;s exploits speak for themselves. Brandon Ingram is a very good second scorer. To cap it off, new head coach Willie Green is an excellent offensive mind, and should serve as a general upgrade over Stan Van Gundy&rsquo;s struggles on the sidelines. I like the Pelicans to take a notable step forward and compete for a playoff spot &mdash; or a little better.
Drew Maresca: What exactly constitutes a dark-horse team? Technically, everyone is a dark-horse team except for the Lakers and Nets. As it relates to the question though, I really like the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic is going to pick up right where he left off, Michael Porter Jr. should immediately begin earning the five-year, $207 million extension he just signed and Aaron Gordon is the same cat he&rsquo;s been for the past few seasons. If Jamal Murray can return at nearly full strength at any point this season, the Nuggets are going to be scary.
Jesse Blancarte: The Los Angeles Clippers. With Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL, the Clippers are no longer considered a championship contender for the upcoming season. However, the Clippers are bringing back their core players and have plenty of wing depth to keep the ship level during the season. With Leonard sidelined, I predict Paul George will have a big season, while other players like Marcus Morris, Terance Mann and Justise Winslow could help fill the void. If Leonard can return in time for the postseason, the Clippers may have a shot at advancing deep into the postseason. &nbsp;
Chris Sheridan: The Charlotte Hornets. If they can get a full healthy season from Gordon Hayward, that will be the key. I love the pickup of Mason Plumlee at center, and we all learned last season what LaMelo Ball can do. They play way under the radar because of their market size.
Alexander Cohen: My favorite dark-horse (and also NBA League Pass) team is easily the Pelicans. David Griffin has received a great deal of mostly-warranted slack for his offseason due to asset management, but I think New Orleans has a good team here. While I&rsquo;m not a fan of letting Lonzo Ball walk, moving on from Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe should both be additions by subtraction. Bringing on Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte&rsquo; Graham &mdash; two dark horses in their own right as top players on their former teams despite LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant being understandably more publicized &mdash; should also be instrumental additions. They provide scoring presences the Pelicans lacked last season, with Graham and Valanciunas being worlds more aggressive than Ball and Adams. The two-man combo of Willy Hernangomez &mdash; who has a similar skill set to Valanciunas &mdash; and Zion Williamson had a staggering net rating of plus-11.9 last season. Factor in those changes with the anticipated improvement of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes and Kira Lewis, and the Pelicans should be a thrilling team this year with a healthy Williamson.

Who is your dark-horse team to watch entering the 2021-22 NBA season? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Who is your dark-horse team for the 2021-22 season?

Sportswriters pride themselves on being objective. That doesn't mean they can't be stubborn.
Fans and analysts often have specific beliefs they're absolutely convinced are true, even if a cacophony of critics stand on the other side. It's the hill they will die on &mdash; a core philosophy, or "scorching-hot take" that they'll shout from the rooftops with passion.
We've already had roundtable discussions about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-what-is-your-bold-prediction-for-the-202122-nba-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our bold predictions</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-is-poised-to-break-out-next-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which players we expect to break out</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-who-is-your-mustwatch-league-pass-team-in-202122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who will be our favorite League-Pass team</a>&nbsp;and more. Today, we asked our writers:
What is an NBA-related hill that you will die on?
Alex Kennedy: That the current iteration of the NBA Draft Lottery is not rigged. This is one of the biggest conspiracy theories in all of sports, but there&rsquo;s no way that the league could actually rig the current process. I recently explained why <a href="https://youtu.be/4D90nm9i_PU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this video</a>.
Spencer Davies: I don&rsquo;t know for the life of me why specialists are looked down upon by fans. Not everybody can be a do-it-all player on the court. This applies to executives&rsquo; judgments too. Cameron Thomas just lit up summer league with incredible scoring performances and won MVP in Las Vegas &mdash; yet he was taken No. 27 in the NBA Draft and fell to the Brooklyn Nets. If you made me choose between somebody who&rsquo;s elite at one particular skill vs. somebody who&rsquo;s alright at three things, I&rsquo;d take the former every time. There&rsquo;s always a chance that a player develops those other areas. But a lockdown defender? A three-point assassin? A quintessential playmaker? Sign me up and we&rsquo;ll worry about the other areas later &mdash; especially if it fits a team need right away.
Ethan Fuller: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-are-you-higher-on-than-the-consensus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did the Andrew Wiggins thing already</a>, so I'll go off the beaten path and say that Anthony Bennett would have made it back to an NBA roster if not for an untimely knee surgery while with the Houston Rockets for 2019 training camp. Yes, the former No. 1 overall pick did not have the career many had hoped, but he was quietly producing in the NBA G League before the injury. Bennett had developed into a lethal stretch forward and knocked down over 43% of his threes in a two-year period with the Maine Red Claws, Northern Arizona Suns and Agua Caliente Clippers. Unfortunately, it seems like the knee injury derailed what was a promising opportunity with Houston.
Moke Hamilton: During NBA All-Star Weekend in 2016, before the game in Toronto, I asked Commissioner Adam Silver whether the league would consider removing the center position for the All-NBA teams, as it had done in 2012 for the All-Star game. He responded that they were not planning to do so, and I thought that it was interesting considering the fact that the center position was removed from the All-Star ballots. I was never a fan of that move. I understand that the league has a significant number of talented &ldquo;frontcourt&rdquo; players, however, removing centers was essentially the league taking a stance that said, loudly and clearly, that centers were less important than the other position players. I don&rsquo;t understand the inconsistency. If centers are removed from the All-Star ballot, then they should also be removed from the All-NBA ballot, and vice versa. Just my opinion.
Chris Sheridan: Defense wins championships. Give me one Patrick Beverley or Alex Caruso or Robert Covington and I will give you one contender that is a heck of a lot better than if it didn't have a terrific on-the-ball defender. With NBA rules favoring offensive players so much, these guys are hard to come by and are worth their weight in gold because they always show up in the postseason.
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Drew Maresca: The Bulls overplayed their hand. They made a hard run at building a playoff team, and they&rsquo;ll probably succeed at that, but they invested a lot of money and traded away some good, young players (e.g., Wendell Carter Jr.) to build a better-than-average roster&hellip;that won&rsquo;t advance past the first-round of the playoffs. And it&rsquo;s not like Chicago will be get better in the next few seasons. There&rsquo;s some good young talent &mdash; like Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball and Coby White &mdash; but their core pieces, Nikola Vucevic (30) and DeMar DeRozan (32), are in their primes now. And unfortunately, there is simply too much talent around the league for this to end well for Chicago.
Evan Sidery: After the Suns&rsquo; run to the 2021 NBA Finals, this may not seem bold anymore, but Devin Booker&rsquo;s star status is my topic. I don&rsquo;t blame you if you haven&rsquo;t watched Phoenix Suns basketball over the years, but Booker has been a star-caliber player since 2017-18. Booker is finally receiving national accolades that he&rsquo;s deserved for years. Now, with a competent organization revolving around Booker, he should continue to take the leap forward to superstardom &mdash; potentially a top 15 player &mdash; by the end of this season. Over the last three years though, Booker has already been a top 20 player.
Sharon &ldquo;Shy&rdquo; Brown: I wish we could ban &ldquo;who's-the-greatest-NBA-player&rdquo; arguments. I'm tired of the MJ and LeBron comparisons. Can we just elevate one without tearing the other one down? Can we just focus on how some of us had a chance to watch greatness from both? They are different players from different eras.

What is an NBA-related hill you will die on? Our staff answered.

Roundtable: What is an NBA-related hill that you'll die on?

As the 2021-22 NBA season approaches, our writers are sharing some takes about the upcoming campaign. We've already had roundtable discussions about <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-what-is-your-bold-prediction-for-the-202122-nba-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our bold predictions</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-is-poised-to-break-out-next-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which players we expect to break out</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-who-is-your-mustwatch-league-pass-team-in-202122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who will be our favorite League-Pass team</a> and more. Today, we asked our writers:
Which NBA player is poised for a major bounce-back season?
Alex Kennedy: Pascal Siakam should absolutely bounce back. Our Nekias Duncan and Jackson Frank recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-curious-case-of-pascal-siakam-what-he-is-and-where-he-fits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a terrific piece</a> examining Siakam's game and how he&rsquo;s currently perceived. After playing in the NBA bubble and then in Tampa last season (since the Raptors couldn&rsquo;t play in Canada), Siakam and the whole team will benefit from returning to normalcy in Toronto. He went from earning an All-NBA-Second-Team selection in 2019-20 to being the butt of jokes on social media and reportedly surfacing in trade talks. Last season, Siakam continued to fill the stat sheet (21.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.5 APG. 1.1 SPG), but he shot just 29.7% from three-point range (after hitting 35.9% from deep in 2019-20 and 36.9% in 2018-19). He&rsquo;ll miss the first month or so of the season after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum, but once he returns, I believe his three-point percentage will get back to 35% or higher and he&rsquo;ll remind everyone why he was being discussed as one of the best two-way stars in the league not too long ago.
Chris Sheridan: Markelle Fultz was coming around with the Orlando Magic and was finally starting to show some of the promise that made him the No. 1 overall pick before an injury derailed him last season. Orlando may be the worst team in the entire NBA, but that will alleviate some of the pressure and allow Fultz to have a season worthy of consideration for the Most Improved Player award.
Evan Sidery: After having to sit out most of last season due to injury, Jaren Jackson Jr. stands out as a massive bounce-back candidate. Established as the No. 2 option behind Ja Morant in Memphis, JJJ&rsquo;s modern style should allow him to have a big Year 4. Also, entering a contract season, a more motivated JJJ could really <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/something-to-prove-jaren-jackson-jr-at-center" target="_blank" rel="noopener">make a huge two-way impact</a>.
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Spencer Davies: The entire Toronto Raptors squad, really. But specifically, I&rsquo;ve got to go with Pascal Siakam. Being back home and having a fresh start will help him return to the player he was before the league shut down in March 2020. It&rsquo;s not like he even had that bad of a season last year; it was more bad luck toward the end of games if you look at the tape (shots rattling in and out, bad bounces, etc.). Spicy P is so capable with the ball in his hands to get others involved. He doesn&rsquo;t need to work with his back to the basket. Get Siakam the rock with forward motion going toward the cup, and he&rsquo;ll have the dribble moves to find his way to the bucket. As for his outside jumper, it&rsquo;s highly doubtful that he&rsquo;ll shoot sub-30% in back-to-back seasons. Defensively, he&rsquo;s still got incredible length and can disrupt spaces next to a lockdown teammate in OG Anunoby. Truthfully, it&rsquo;ll just be exciting to see Siakam break out in transition for an open-floor slam for the first time in over a year at Scotiabank Arena.
Drew Maresca: I&rsquo;ll name two: Klay Thompson and Spencer Dinwiddie. Thompson is easy to predict. The guy hasn&rsquo;t shot below 40.1% in any of his eight seasons of NBA action. Like fine wine, shooting only gets better with age. So long as his knee and Achilles hold up, Klay is due for one hell of a season. Dinwiddie is also returning from injury, only he&rsquo;s returning to a new team in an entirely new role. Dinwiddie projects to be the Wizards&rsquo; starting point guard on opening night &mdash; a role he hasn&rsquo;t owned consistently in his entire career. At his best, Dinwiddie has been good for 20 points and six-plus assists per game. Playing alongside Bradley Beal will probably enable at least those same kinds of stats, if not better. So long as his repaired ACL can sustain the workload, and workout videos from earlier this spring seem to indicate it will, Dinwiddie should return better than ever.
Sharon &ldquo;Shy&rdquo; Brown: I'd say Jaren Jackson Jr. He's such a gifted player. Before his knee injury in the NBA bubble, Jackson was a man on a mission. It seems as if he's putting in the work to be stronger. If he can defend without fouling and grab a few more rebounds, he will be a player to watch. Bold prediction: He may even be in the running for Most Improved Player.
Ethan Fuller: Pascal Siakam did regress last season, but he also demonstrated considerable growth in areas you'd like to see out of a No. 1 option. Siakam increased his assist total to a career-high 4.5 per game and maintained a high usage rate while actually decreasing his turnovers. There's enough evidence to suggest that his 29.7% three-point clip was an outlier, as Siakam has historically shot the ball well and made 82.7% of his free throws in 2020-21. He's an above-average defender with plenty of shooters around him, and I fully expect Siakam to take advantage.
&nbsp;

Our Basketball News writers predict which NBA players are due to bounce back in a big way during the 2021-22 campaign.

Roundtable: Which NBA player will have a major bounce-back season?

Many diehard NBA fans have a League-Pass darling &ndash; a team that you end up watching a ton, even if you don't have a rooting interest.
Each year, ESPN's Zach Lowe <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30587463/2020-21-nba-league-pass-rankings-most-fun-teams-watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranks</a> all 30 teams based on who will be the most fun to watch on NBA League Pass, creating a watchability score that factors in the team's style of play, highlight potential, star power, announcers, unintentional-comedy moments and more.
With the 2021-22 season rapidly approaching, we asked our Basketball News writers:
Who will be your must-watch League Pass team in 2021-22?
Alex Kennedy: Last season, I watched the Charlotte Hornets more than any other team, and I'll definitely be checking them out again in 2021-22. LaMelo Ball is so much fun to watch, and it'll be interesting to track his development. Also, the Hornets had a strong offseason, adding Kelly Oubre, James Bouknight, Kai Jones, Mason Plumlee, etc. The Detroit Pistons stand out too. They only have one game on national television. and I want to watch No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham as he adjusts to the NBA. Also, I'm intrigued by the rest of their young core, including Isaiah Stewart (20), Saddiq Bey (22), Killian Hayes (20), Hamidou Diallo (23), Saben Lee (22) and Luka Garza (22). Even if they finish near the bottom of the East again, they'll be fascinating from a developmental standpoint.
Spencer Davies: Young teams are always tantalizing to me. They&rsquo;re usually not going to register many wins, but watching the development of individual players is always a treat in flashes. Yeah, the Houston Rockets finished with the worst record in the NBA last year. They also have a backcourt worth paying attention to with Jalen Green joining a locked-in Kevin Porter Jr. It seems that after his injury, nobody remembers how dominant Christian Wood was looking. Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate&rsquo;s second season could be fun; the same might go for KJ Martin. Add in some more intriguing rookies like Josh Christopher, Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba, and H-Town&rsquo;s got my eyes.
Ethan Fuller: Even with the LaMelo Ball factor, Charlotte only got eight nationally-televised games for the upcoming season. That pens the Hornets in as my must-watch League Pass team. They combine all the elements I want in a squad I'm paying hundreds of dollars to watch: an entertaining, prospect-laden and (if things break the right way) sleeper-playoff team. People should leap from their couches every time Ball hooks up with Kai Jones for an alley-oop. Charlotte brings together a chaotic mix of offensive firepower and youthful energy.
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Sharon &ldquo;Shy&rdquo; Brown: That's a hard one, I can't decide between Charlotte or Chicago. I think both teams made improvements that will make them enjoyable to watch. I'm not going to lie: LaMelo Ball intrigues me and I don't want to miss anything with him. On the other hand, I believe the Bulls have the better roster, and they only have five nationally televised games on their schedule. It's a toss-up.
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Drew Maresca: The Golden State Warriors. Seeing whether Steph Curry can maintain his play from last season is reason enough. Add in Draymond Green, James Wiseman&rsquo;s sophomore season, two lottery picks (Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody) and the return of Klay Thompson, and we&rsquo;re talking about must-see TV. It&rsquo;ll be a weird fit, but it&rsquo;ll be fast and fun.
Evan Sidery: I&rsquo;m going with the Charlotte Hornets. LaMelo Ball and all of the athletes who excel in transition are going to be must-watch television. And with the Hornets having one of the best offseasons, they&rsquo;re <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/hornets-ready-to-fly-up-standings-following-strong-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poised for a playoff push</a> in 2021-22.
Chris Sheridan: This falls under the trainwreck category, but what Sam Presti is doing in Oklahoma City is mesmerizing because it is so Hinkie 2.0, and tuning in to see a G-League-level NBA team get bounced night after night has a certain rubbernecking appeal.

Which NBA team will you end up watching a ton on League Pass, even if you don't have a rooting interest? We asked our writers.

NBA Roundtable: Who is your must-watch League Pass team in 2021-22?

There have been plenty of fireworks during the 2021 offseason. From blockbuster trades to notable free agents changing teams, the 30 teams around the Association have given us plenty to talk about.
Recently, our staff discussed <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-breaking-down-this-offseasons-most-underrated-moves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this summer's most underrated moves</a>. Today, we asked our writers:
Which NBA team had the best offseason?
Nekias Duncan: They&rsquo;re another minor move away from rounding out the roster, but I think the Heat were pretty big winners. Being able to snag Kyle Lowry without giving up a pick or their best prospect is a win. Adding frontcourt depth, young (Omer Yurtseven) and old (P.J. Tucker, Markieff Morris) was smart. Bringing back Victor Oladipo on the minimum is the kind of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-breaking-down-this-offseasons-most-underrated-moves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">low-risk, moderately-high-reward move</a> that could swing some games in the second half of the season.
Alex Kennedy: After being super aggressive at last year's trade deadline, Nikola Vucevic <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bulls-nikola-vucevic-qa-were-built-to-be-successful-for-years-to-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> that the Chicago Bulls "sent a strong message to the rest of the league that they really want to win now." This offseason, they doubled down and were even more active &mdash; adding <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lonzo-ball-chicago-bulls-form-a-perfect-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lonzo Ball</a>, DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ayo-dosunmu-ready-to-seize-the-moment-as-he-becomes-complete-player-nba-draft-prospects-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ayo Dosunmu</a> to their core of Vucevic, Zach LaVine, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chicago-bulls-evolved-patrick-williams-offensive-game-at-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Williams</a>, Coby White and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-freeagency-destinations-for-lauri-markkanen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauri Markkanen (RFA)</a>. Prior to the Vucevic trade, there was a month-long stretch where LaVine was averaging nearly 33.0 points. While it was incredible to watch LaVine put the team on his back, it was clear that he needed help. Now, just five months later, the roster looks completely different and the supporting cast is significantly better. This is the most talent that LaVine and Vucevic have ever had around them, and Chicago seems like a lock to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17 (and perhaps win a series for the first time since 2014-15). Last year, LaVine <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2020/04/28/nba-zach-lavine-chicago-bulls-michael-jordan-the-last-dance-season-workout-staying-shape-paul-seattle-arturas-karnisovas-marc-eversley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> that he's "extremely hungry" to make his postseason debut and now it's absolutely within reach. (Also, getting Derrick Jones Jr., a lottery protected first-rounder and a future second-rounder back in the Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade is a win.)
Jackson Frank: The Heat acquiring Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker, while retaining Victor Oladipo, give them the nod in my eyes. They went from a first-round out to a team that could make a deep playoff run. Lowry is a fringe All-Star and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-kyle-lowry-brings-to-the-miami-heat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offers significant offensive versatility</a> that should help reignite a stagnant attack. Tucker, although circumstantial defensively and rather limited offensively, remains a useful rotational big who helps maintain Miami&rsquo;s defensive ethos. Oladipo&rsquo;s offense is highly dependent on his jumper these days, but the defense was quite good last season and he clearly seems to want to be in Miami. Health is a looming question mark, but he can help them when out there.
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Jesse Blancarte: The Los Angeles Lakers entered the offseason with Dennis Schroder hoping to leverage the team&rsquo;s limited cap flexibility into a $100 million contract. The Lakers passed on Schroder, opting to trade for Russell Westbrook, re-sign Talen Horton-Tucker and fill out the roster with solid veterans on minimum deals (including Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore and Wayne Ellington). The Lakers even snagged a few talented, younger players with upside in Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn. L.A. loses some points for reportedly not doing much to re-sign Alex Caruso, but the team added significant depth. Age will be an issue for this roster, but the talent and depth are there for another championship run.
Spencer Davies: This may be an unpopular opinion since all of their additions came via trades, but the Washington Wizards intrigue me as a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. Spearheaded by the acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie &mdash; who should fit like a glove next to Bradley Beal and take some of the playmaking load off the three-time All-Star &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wizards-retooling-led-to-a-competent-roster-surrounding-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the team has retooled well</a>. Something tells me that Kyle Kuzma will be able to breathe a little easier in D.C., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is easily the best sniper with defensive upside that Washington has thrown out there in years. Montrezl Harrell is going to be highly motivated after being dealt away, and perhaps he can develop a rapport with Aaron Holiday as a part of an energetic second unit. Let&rsquo;s not forget that Deni Avdija and Thomas Bryant will return at some point from their injuries too. Throw in a growing Rui Hachimura and Daniel Gafford &mdash; plus a new head coach in Wes Unseld Jr. &mdash; and the Wizards have some real firepower and could make a solid push.
Imman Adan: It&rsquo;s definitely the Nets; they managed to get better despite already being the favorites. However, I&rsquo;m going with the Miami Heat because they got their guy &mdash; Kyle Lowry &mdash; and didn&rsquo;t have to give up very much to get him. They also managed to pick up P.J. Tucker and, if he has anything left in the tank, he can help fill the void Jae Crowder left.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Evan Sidery: Although it remains to be seen how exactly all the new parts fit together, credit to the Chicago Bulls for finally going for it. Lonzo Ball is a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lonzo-ball-chicago-bulls-form-a-perfect-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perfect backcourt complement</a> for Zach LaVine, while DeMar DeRozan provides a legit scoring punch as well. If 2020 No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams takes a leap &mdash; and Summer League is showing that&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chicago-bulls-evolved-patrick-williams-offensive-game-at-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a strong possibility</a> &mdash; Chicago looks the part of a top-six team in the Eastern Conference. Ever since Derrick Rose&rsquo;s prime, Chicago has been yearning for a competitive team. In 2021-22, they have an opportunity to make noise.
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Ethan Fuller: The Miami Heat reeled in the biggest available free-agent name in Kyle Lowry without giving up a treasure trove of talent. Sure, Precious Achiuwa is a tough loss for an aging team, but Lowry is a clear upgrade over Goran Dragic in the short-term. The Heat also signed two underrated additions in P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris without losing rotation players of consequence. Miami is older, more expensive and potentially injury-prone, but the squad is also more talented and more potent as a defensive unit.
Drew Maresca: Shockingly, the Washington Wizards. Most importantly, they got out from under Russell Westbrook&rsquo;s contract, swapping Westbrook for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell. They also added Spencer Dinwiddie, who better complements Bradley Beal than Westbrook did &mdash; a hugely important aspect of his addition. If Dinwiddie bounces back to his old self, the Wizards will compete for a playoff spot in a newly competitive Eastern Conference &mdash; and that might enough to convince Beal to extend.
Chris Sheridan: It is a close call between the Nets, Heat and Lakers... so close that I am going to make it a three-way- tie. I absolutely love Brooklyn's acquisition of Patty Mills. He is a fourth star, if you ask any Australian. They needed a second perimeter defender aside from Bruce Brown, whom they were lucky to keep, and they needed someone off the bench to replace Jeff Green. Miami got Kyle Lowry, which is HUGE, along with Markieff Morris on a one-year deal, which should incentivize him to play to his full potential. Also, they got P.J. Tucker, which I feel is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-breaking-down-this-offseasons-most-underrated-moves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the offseason's most underrated move</a>. For the Lakers, acquiring Russell Westbrook may go down in history as the biggest and best move they could have ever made to facilitate another championship run with LeBron James. He is a vast upgrade over Dennis Schroder, who ended up being too greedy for his wallet's own good. The other role players the Lakers added seem to fit nicely, especially Carmelo Anthony, Kent Bazemore and Wayne Ellington for perimeter shooting and Dwight Howard for messing with the minds of opposing centers. They will miss Alex Caruso's defense (and it remains to be seen who can provide that), but they had an impressive offseason.
Jannelle Moore: The Lakers had the best offseason because they knew they didn&rsquo;t have much salary-cap space, but they got creative and still managed to land a star in Russell Westbrook. Many people doubted whether the Lakers could make a splashy move, but they managed to pull off a blockbuster trade with the Wizards. Carmelo Anthony and the role players they brought in were great additions as well.

Which team is the big winner of the 2021 NBA offseason? Our writers share their thoughts.

Roundtable: Which NBA team had the best offseason?

The 2021 NBA Summer League has concluded, with the Sacramento Kings winning the Summer League championship over the Boston Celtics. While the Kings and New Orleans Pelicans are the only teams who left Las Vegas with an undefeated record, plenty of players made the most of their opportunity during the tournament.
There were rookies who made a strong first impression at the NBA level, second-year players who were determined to showcase more of their game and prove they're ready for a bigger role, and veterans who hoped to earn a roster spot or training-camp invite. We asked our staff the following question:
Which player impressed you the most during Summer League?
Nekias Duncan: Not enough nice things can be said about the three-game stretch that Jalen Green put together. He popped as a shot creator, and showed real life as a passer in pick-and-roll situations. The on-ball defense looked much better than it did during his G-League stretch, though we&rsquo;ll see how that translates.
Alex Kennedy: Tre Jones of the San Antonio Spurs really stood out to me. The sophomore point guard only appeared in 37 contests as a rookie and played just 7.3 minutes per game, but he dominated the competition in Las Vegas. In four games, the 21-year-old averaged 22.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 0.8 steals on 50.7/36.4/90.5 shooting splits. Against the Charlotte Hornets, he hit <a href="https://youtu.be/cP5X8QT4U6k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an impressive game-winning shot</a> and finished with 34 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds. Jones looked too good for Summer-League action, which has to make the rebuilding Spurs happy. Like Jones, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/tyrese-maxey-centered-on-getting-1-better-every-day-for-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers)</a>, Desmond Bane (Memphis Grizzlies) and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/chicago-bulls-evolved-patrick-williams-offensive-game-at-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls)</a> also deserve credit for shining and showcasing their continued development.
Jackson Frank: My sample is more narrow than usual because I didn&rsquo;t catch my full allotment of games, but I dug what I saw from Aaron Nesmith. He flashed some off-the-dribble verve as a pull-up shooter and driver, and even executed some passing reads I wasn&rsquo;t aware were in his bag. The Celtics need wing shooting and if he&rsquo;s a legit rotation guy with some ability to attack closeouts, that&rsquo;d help buoy them a good bit.
Spencer Davies: Though there were a number of young players who looked ready for the big stage, it&rsquo;s hard not to salivate over what Jonathan Kuminga can become. With the right development and a perfect situation among champions in Golden State, it&rsquo;s looking like he&rsquo;ll be a force to be reckoned with down the line. The jump shot is inconsistent and he comes off as a little overaggressive and reckless right now &mdash; particularly when running the floor &mdash; but the dribble moves he put on in isolation situations were eye-popping, as were his speed and strength when he finished at the rim. The 18-year-old forward has plenty of upside to be excited about. It just may take a little time before he puts it all together, and that&rsquo;s okay.
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Chris Sheridan: The Nets have a very confident rookie in Cam Thomas, who killed it at Summer League and led all players with 27.0 points per game. In fact, this scoring average is second-best in Summer-League history behind only Donovan Mitchell (28.0). Thomas has a confidence and a hunger that the Nets recognized, which is why they selected him at No. 27. Whether he can crack that loaded guard rotation in Brooklyn remains to be seen, but he could be making noise in the BK for the next decade long after Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant have hung up their sneakers.
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<div class="c-message_actions__group" role="group" aria-label="Message shortcuts" data-qa="message-actions">Evan Sidery: Jalen Green was so impressive to me throughout Summer League. We knew how gifted of a three-level scorer he was, but Green made it look so easy. For a rebuilding Rockets squad, there&rsquo;s no reason Green can&rsquo;t average 20-25 points per game during his rookie campaign. Green&rsquo;s potential is immense; eventually, he could potentially become a multi-time scoring champion.</div>
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<div class="c-message_actions__group" role="group" aria-label="Message shortcuts" data-qa="message-actions">Ethan Fuller: I've always thought the "older-equals-more-NBA-ready" philosophy is a myth. But Chris Duarte might be proving me wrong. The 24-year-old first-round rookie shined for Indiana, who used him in so many creative ways. Duarte made plays on and off the ball, got to his shots in rhythm and played heads-up team defense. He could absolutely be a day-one positive in the Pacers' rotation.</div>
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Jalen Green summer league scoring highlights <a href="https://t.co/VioXalqqwn">pic.twitter.com/VioXalqqwn</a>
&mdash; Rob Kimbell (@RobKSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobKSports/status/1426558476373921799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<div class="c-message_actions__group" role="group" aria-label="Message shortcuts" data-qa="message-actions">Jesse Blancarte: Jalen Green only played a few Summer-League games before being sidelined with a hamstring injury, but he displayed his dynamic offensive talent and showed why he was chosen second overall in this year&rsquo;s draft. Step-back jumpers, catch-and-shoot three-pointers, drives to the basket, finishes in traffic, operating out of the pick-and-roll... Green did a little bit of everything and proved he has the talent to become a superstar player in the NBA.</div>
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<div class="c-message_actions__group" role="group" aria-label="Message shortcuts" data-qa="message-actions">Drew Maresca: Dare I say&hellip; LiAngelo Ball? Listen, a lot of guys looked great like Davion Mitchell, Payton Pritchard and Immanuel Quickley. But Ball looked surprisingly serviceable in Summer League, scoring 9.6 points per game while connecting on 34.5% of his three-point attempts, and that includes a poor final outing against the Chicago Bulls (6 points, 0-for-5 on three-point attempts). If Ball <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/did-liangelo-ball-earn-a-roster-spot-with-the-hornets-during-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">makes the Hornets' roster</a>, and I think he will, he&rsquo;ll be in a comfortable spot alongside younger brother LaMelo Ball. Sure, his long-term impact is limited, but Ball was arguably the feel-good story of the Summer League.</div>
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<div class="c-message_actions__group" role="group" aria-label="Message shortcuts" data-qa="message-actions">Jonathan Concool: Jalen Green looked every bit as advertised in his short time playing for the Houston Rockets' Summer League team. Not only did Green average 20.3 points in just 24.1 minutes, he looked extremely comfortable on the court and that might&rsquo;ve been what impressed me the most. Green&rsquo;s decision to play with the G League Ignite last season certainly seemed to give him an advantage, as he showed no jitters or nerves playing in front of NBA personnel. (After his first Summer-League game, he said that it was similar to the G League.) Green outdueled No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham in a showdown between the top-two selections, scoring a game-high 25 points and leading the Rockets to the 111-91 victory over Cunningham (20 points) and the Detroit Pistons. Green&rsquo;s Summer League was cut short due to hamstring soreness, but the Rockets emphasized they were just being overly cautious in their decision to keep him out of the lineup. Things are looking up in H-Town, as this team may be able to turn things around with their young core of Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green and Christian Wood leading the way.</div>
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Which players stood out the most during the NBA-Summer-League action? We asked our BasketballNews writers to weigh in.

Roundtable: Which NBA Summer League player impressed you the most?

If your game warrants the spotlight early in your career, chances are the lights will gleam brighter, and with that comes expectations. Some college players lived up to the hype that surrounded them at the next level, but there are quite a few whose success didn't translate to the NBA.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Who is the best college player that never became a star in the NBA?
Alex Kennedy: Jimmer Fredette became a household name while at BYU, averaging 28.9 points and 4.3 assists. In 2011, he was the Consensus National College Player of the Year and led the nation in scoring. His games were must-watch TV due to his seemingly unlimited three-point range. He even transcended the sports world and briefly became part of the pop culture lexicon; for example, at the height of Jimmer Mania, Lil Wayne name-dropped him in a song (&ldquo;I got a chopper and a trimmer shootin&rsquo; like Jimmer&rdquo;). He was the 10th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft (ahead of Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Jimmy Butler, etc.), but he never averaged more than 7.6 points in the NBA. Fortunately for Jimmer, he&rsquo;s thriving in China, where he&rsquo;s dropped 75 points, averaged 37.6 points and made three All-Star appearances.
Spencer Davies: In my lifetime, I&rsquo;m picking two: Michael Beasley and Emeka Okafor. People have to understand just how dominant Beasley was in his lone season at Kansas State, collecting accolade after accolade as a freshman for the Wildcats, as he averaged over 26 points and 12 rebounds per game on 53% from the field! He showed flashes of greatness in the NBA early in his career, but not the kind of superstardom that followed him in the NCAA. As for my other pick, it&rsquo;s crazy remembering how the big question in 2004 was who would be the No. 1 pick: Okafor or Dwight Howard? While the latter was a high-school phenom, the former outworked every big man on the national stage for Jim Calhoun&rsquo;s UConn Huskies en route to an NCAA championship in his junior year prior to entering the draft. Okafor had imposing size and was a walking double-double who blocked every freaking shot in sight. In the NBA, he had his moments; none like Howard, though, who now has an NBA championship on his laundry list of achievements and just passed Walt Bellamy to move up to No. 11 on the league's all-time rebounding list.
Chris Sheridan: The best college player who never became a star in the league was Hank Gathers, who died while playing for Loyola Marymount. He was the No. 1 draft prospect and one of just three players in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season (the others were Xavier McDaniel and Kurt Thomas). He averaged 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds. He once had 48 points and 13 rebounds against LSU&rsquo;s Shaquille O'Neal and Stanley Roberts. He collapsed after dunking in a game and passed away due to a heart issue.&nbsp;
Jannelle Moore: The best college player who never became a star in the NBA is, tragically, Len Bias. He had the athleticism and skill. He gave Michael Jordan fits in college and would have been his biggest rival in the pros.
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Imman Adan: Compared to Larry Bird entering the league and described as a &ldquo;very good scorer with [a] complete offensive repertoire,&rdquo; Adam Morrison was none of that in the NBA. In college, the 6-foot-8 forward out of Gonzaga was a star, averaging 28 points on 43% from three in his final year, making him a finalist for the Naismith Trophy. The NBA did not come as easily to the slow-footed Morrison, who struggled to adapt to the speed of the league. The effortless shooting stroke he had in college seemed to dissipate as well, as he never averaged more than 11 points or shot better than 34% from deep. After tearing his ACL in his left knee and missing his entire sophomore year, what little burst of athleticism he did have vanished, making his NBA career a short (but eventful) one, winning two rings while riding the Lakers&rsquo; bench before retiring at 28.
Ethan Fuller: I'm going to play with a looser definition of "star" for this one and rule out guys like Christian Laettner and Marcus Camby, who did win NBA league awards. Instead, let's go with Joe Smith, who won Naismith Player of the Year at Maryland in 1995. The 6-foot-10 Smith obliterated teams, averaging 20.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game as a sophomore. He then went first overall to the Golden State Warriors in the 1995 NBA Draft. But Smith never found his footing and ended up playing for 11 NBA teams.
Jonathan Concool: Adam Morrison. Morrison averaged over 28 points per game as a junior at Gonzaga University, and led the Bulldogs to the Sweet 16 before suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Bruins in the final seconds. Morrison took home five awards that season with Gonzaga, including WCC Player of the Year, but that&rsquo;s just about where the positives stop for Morrison&rsquo;s basketball career. He went on to get drafted third overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 and was out of the league by 2010, with career averages of 7.5 points per game on 37.3% shooting from the field.
Nekias Duncan: I&rsquo;d go with Jimmer Fredette. He absolutely lit it up for BYU &mdash; Mormon Steph, if you will &mdash; and almost none of it translated to the NBA across multiple stints.
Kelsea O&rsquo;Brien: People forget just how small the NBA is, and how good the end-of-bench players were in college and high school. These guys were monsters. They still are! Their only downfall is that they are playing against and alongside even bigger monsters. I&rsquo;m going to go in a different direction here, though, and choose Cheryl Miller. One of the greatest women&rsquo;s basketball players of all-time, and because of ACL injuries, she never got the chance to go pro. Her professional career will always be one of the biggest &ldquo;what ifs&rdquo; in sports history.

Who is the best college player that never became a star in the NBA? We asked our BasketballNews.com staff to weigh in.

Roundtable: Who's the best college player that never became a star in the NBA?

The NBA trade deadline is now nine days away, and while we can safely assume that all 30 teams want to get better, we must proceed expecting two teams --the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks -- to play big roles in dictating what the market will look like.
There are lots of big men available, and anybody who tells you that Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside or JaVale McGee would not make a difference in an Eastern Conference playoff series has not been paying attention. Or as Gregg Popovich would say: &ldquo;Living in a phone booth.&rdquo;
Also, those who assume the Knicks (with $15.7 million in cap space) are not in win-now mode do not understand Tom Thibodeau. The guy is married to a basketball, and he is anxious to do in New York what he was unable to do in Minnesota and, to a lesser degree, in Chicago.
And then we have the Celtics, who are sitting on the largest trade exception ($28.5 million) in NBA history and are worse off that they were a year ago when they made the Eastern Conference Finals. Danny Ainge cannot stand pat and expect to get past the Nets, Sixers, Bucks or Heat.
The rumor mill will be churning between now and March 25, and every contending team in the East will be scheming to make an addition that attacks the weaknesses of Brooklyn and Philadelphia, while every Western team will try to find a way to compete with the three-point shooting of the Utah Jazz and the depth and experience of the Los Angeles Lakers.
So let&rsquo;s go through the league alphabetically and assess each team&rsquo;s needs, expectations and expendables.
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ATLANTA HAWKS: Nate McMillan is 5-0 as head coach, and the most active team in the weeks leading up to training camp remains built (if fully healthy) to advance if all of the pieces can fit together with almost zero practice time. John Collins is entering restricted free agency and is not as productive as he was a year ago, but he makes just $4.1 million. Put him in a deal with Tony Snell, though, and those combined salaries equal $16.3 million, which can get you a nice player.
BOSTON CELTICS: What made them special a year ago was the ability to get offensive production from three All-Star caliber starters: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward. But Hayward is gone, Enes Kanter is doing big things in Portland (remember how he was a game-changer for Boston in the postseason a year ago?) and Kemba Walker is shooting 38% in his 10th season. Standing pat is not an option.
BROOKLYN NETS: At some point they will need a third center to join DeAndre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton, but the buyout market or the China market (the CBA season ends before the NBA playoffs) may be the easiest way for Sean Marks to add an extra big body if they cannot get a big man whose contract fits into their $5.7 million disabled player exception. Spencer Dinwiddie is the only superfluous player on the roster, but he is out for the remainder of the season, and the Nets have no future draft picks to throw into a deal. They used them all in the Harden trade.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS: Michael Jordan&rsquo;s team is 100-1 to win the East despite having the lock for Rookie of the Year, a four-game winning streak and a roster chock full of young and hungry players who, for the most part, lack postseason experience. At a certain point, they have to realize they could have done better than Cody Zeller ($15.4 million) with the fourth pick of the 2013 draft. It might be time to sacrifice a future first-round pick or two to upgrade at center. Malik Monk has been playing well lately, otherwise, we would predict his imminent departure. The Hornets have an open roster spot and $4 million in cap room.
CHICAGO BULLS: It would be delusional of them to think they can advance beyond the first-round of the playoffs, which is why they have to consider getting a good young player from a contender in exchange for Thaddeus Young ($13.5 million), who is the leading candidate to finish a distant second to Jordan Clarkson in Sixth Man of the Year voting. &nbsp;Tomas Satoransky ($10 million this year and next year) is 29 years old and could be combined with Young to bring in a good young player. Here is an idea:
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Who says no? <a href="https://t.co/Pc61DX8jQV">pic.twitter.com/Pc61DX8jQV</a>
&mdash; Chris Sheridan (@sheridanhoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/sheridanhoops/status/1371826941804883973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

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CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Aside from the inevitable Drummond and McGee moves (best offers arrive at 2:59 p.m. on deadline day), Koby Altman will probably keep quiet after acquiring Jarrett Allen from the Nets and sending Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets. Kevin Love is going to be dead money for two more seasons and Cedi Osman is looking like he will be in the same category, though not quite as expensive. It&rsquo;ll be a long road back.
DALLAS MAVERICKS: They should be better than their record (20-18), but the West is tough. Dwight Powell ($11 million this season and the next two) is not worth what he is being paid and could be packaged with more future No. 1 picks (the Mavs can&rsquo;t trade their own first-round draft pick until 2025 because they owe the Knicks their 2021 and 2023 picks), if mortgaging the future is something Mark Cuban is cool with. Powell and James Johnson for Drummond works cap-wise.
DENVER NUGGETS: A rumor is out there that the Nuggets have spoken to the Magic about acquiring Aaron Gordon, and the price would include Bol Bol. They currently do not look like they have enough to come out of the West, and JaMychal Green has not been an adequate replacement for Jerami Grant. To a lesser degree than Boston, standing pat does not seem like the most prudent option. They have a $9.6 million trade exception, so expect them to make some sort of acquisition that improves the roster. They are one player away from being one player away.
DETROIT PISTONS: Troy Weaver might have already made his &ldquo;deadline deal&rdquo; in getting Hamidou Diallo from the Thunder. Wayne Ellington is superfluous, and one would think teams might like a 14-year veteran who shot 42% from three-point range with a manageable $1.6 million salary&hellip; But the Knicks couldn&rsquo;t find a taker for him a year ago.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Limbo sucks, but Klay Thompson will be back next season. In the meantime, the best they can do is hope that the Wolves&rsquo; pick is not top three and they can get another high lottery pick to put next to James Wiseman for the years ahead. Kelly Oubre Jr., Kent Bazemore, Brad Wanamaker and Marquese Chriss are all on expiring contracts. Their combined salaries total $20.6 million. The Warriors can acquire a player into Thompson&rsquo;s $9.25 million disabled player exception.
HOUSTON ROCKETS: We are seeing a flurry of Victor Oladipo trade rumors, which is strange because he was the biggest piece they got in the Harden trade. If they are disappointed in him (and his expiring $21 million contract) they must not have been watching Pacers playoffs games the past few seasons. Kevin Porter Jr. was a nice pickup, and Rafael Stone is probably on the hunt for another player who has worn out his welcome for non-basketball reasons. P.J. Tucker is headed somewhere. Dante Exum (expiring $9.6 million contract) didn&rsquo;t quite work out for a fifth overall pick, eh?
INDIANA PACERS: Acquiring Caris LaVert for Oladipo as part of the Harden trade will go in Kevin Pritchard&rsquo;s trophy case, so the question now becomes &ldquo;What next?&rdquo; aside from waiting for T.J. Warren&rsquo;s broken foot to heal. They are in 10th place, which wasn&rsquo;t exactly what they had in mind for this season. Still, Indiana has a nice mix of players in their mid-to-late 20s. Doug McDermott (expiring $7.3 million) and T.J. McConnell (expiring $3.5 million) could be a useful shooter and pest duo for a playoff team willing to give up a draft pick and a matching expiring salary. Indiana is probably better off keeping both and rolling the dice in the play-in postseason.
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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: They have everything they need except the Lou Williams they had gotten used to over the past three seasons. His scoring average is down almost six points. Serge Ibaka (scoring average down 4.5 points) is showing his age at 31 and has a 15% trade kicker. Both still have plenty of playoff experience, but Jerry West likes to make trades when he can find the right ones. The Clippers are an interesting team to watch at the deadline because they have an open roster spot, but they are also within a $500,000 of the hard cap, which limits their options.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS: They need nothing except for Anthony Davis to be healthy, so the Lakers are the winner of the &ldquo;Most Unlikely To Make A Trade&rdquo; award. They are option No. 1 for pretty much everybody getting a buyout after the deadline.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: More than a year later, we are still trying to figure out the Justise Winslow acquisition. Taylor Jenkins&rsquo; rotation goes 10 deep, not including the team&rsquo;s highest-paid player in Gorgui Dieng -- $17.2 million. They are young and they are not a good team, yet they are still in contention for a play-in spot, so that incentivizes them to get creative.
MIAMI HEAT: The rule of thumb used to be &ldquo;Pat Riley hates making midseason trades,&rdquo; but he went out and got Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder last season and built an NBA Finals team. So you would think they would be predisposed to tinker despite their recent run of 11 victories in 12 games. Kelly Olynyk ($12.6 million) and Moe Harkless ($3.6 million) are on expiring deals, and Avery Bradley is gathering dust. They can take on long-term money if the incoming player is worthy of it, but that would likely involve trading a starter (Olynyk). They also have a $7.5 million trade exception but owe Oklahoma City two first-round picks.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS: Veteran Bucks writer <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-sheridan-show/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-16-gery-woelfel-on-milwaukee-bucks-chances,-possible-trade,-other-east-contender">Gery Woelful said on my most recent podcast</a> that he fully expects the Bucks to try to find an upgrade from Donte DiVincenzo at shooting guard. The salaries of DiVincenzo and D.J. Wilson add up to $7.5 million, and it is hard to see Jon Horst moving anyone else on this roster. They are not last year&rsquo;s Bucks, but they theoretically have enough to get to the NBA Finals. They are very close to the hard cap and cannot trade any more picks after using so many in the Jrue Holiday acquisition.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: The team is for sale, so do not expect Gersson Rosas to take on any long-term money. They have already changed coaches, and they have nothing anybody would want except for Karl Anthony-Towns, who isn&rsquo;t going anywhere. Okay, they have Ed Davis, who may be somebody&rsquo;s consolation prize as contending teams search for bigs. Nominations for the Dumpster Fire Award are now closed.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are not available. You can safely assume that everyone else is, and David Griffin does not need to hold anybody else up because he already did that to Horst. This was not supposed to be a throwaway season, but it is. The Pelicans would like to get J.J. Redick closer to his family, who live in Brooklyn. Exactly how close? Well, when Redick played for the Sixers, he commuted to Philadelphia. So &ldquo;close&rdquo; is a relative term. Boston is drivable from Brooklyn.
NEW YORK KNICKS: As mentioned above, they are the team to watch most closely. They can take on long-term money if the incoming player is someone who can tolerate Thibodeau&rsquo;s coaching style, and they would bring in a player on an expiring contract if they believed that player&rsquo;s Bird rights would be of value over the summer. Leon Rose is one year away from having a top-three team in the East if he plays his cards right a week from Thursday.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Sam Presti likely has George Hill, Trevor Ariza and Mike Muscala available to the highest bidders. Hill was an important piece of the Bucks last season and could help a playoff team needing a bench shooter and veteran voice in the locker room. At a certain point, Presti is going to have to package together some of the 20 extra first and second-round picks he has accumulated through trades, but that point is probably a couple of years away as the rebuild runs its course. Important: If Houston&rsquo;s pick is in the top four, the Thunder get it. Also, Presti has three trade exceptions; the largest is $27.6 million.
ORLANDO MAGIC:&nbsp; Aaron Gordon trade rumors are everywhere, which makes sense because the time to cash in on their seven-year investment is now. They need to get younger and acquire assets to build around Markelle Fultz, Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac. Their ceiling should not be the kind of first-round exits they have been producing the past two seasons, and they have not won a single playoff series since 2009-10. So, it would be shocking to see them keep Gordon, who is only 25 years old and can bring a lot in return. Gordon is a good guy who needs a change of scenery and deserves one. Same goes for Evan Fournier.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: They wanted James Harden and did not get him, and Doc Rivers still somehow kept Ben Simmons committed to the team. That is pretty huge, because players who know they have been shopped usually resent it. They are in first place in the East and have a roster with the proper pieces to match up with Brooklyn. Mike Scott&rsquo;s expiring $5 million deal and the Knicks&rsquo; 2021 second-round pick are Elton Brand&rsquo;s most movable trade assets, but Scott has been playing well lately. Terrence Ferguson, Vincent Poirier and Tony Bradley are on expiring contracts but would bring little in return.
PHOENIX SUNS: Acquiring Chris Paul checked the &ldquo;monster trade&rdquo; box, and the NBA&rsquo;s most overachieving team will likely abide by the &ldquo;If It Ain&rsquo;t Broke, Don&rsquo;t Fix It&rdquo; rule. That being said, if an on-the-ball defender capable of defending LeBron James is out there somewhere, you kick the tires on just about anything that does not include Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and Chris Paul. Ariza would seem to be a fit.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Like Dallas, they should be better than their record&hellip; and would be if C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic had not gotten injured. At full strength, they are going to be a tough out in the postseason. Gary Trent Jr. is on an expiring contract and they may fear losing him, so keep that in mind with these guys. They are sleepers.
SACRAMENTO KINGS: What they can get for Whiteside will be interesting to see, because he was killing it for the Blazers last season. Then, Nurkic returned in the bubble. Whiteside does not exactly have the best reputation around the league, which is why he played in Lebanon and China before resurrecting his career. There are also a lot of Harrison Barnes rumors out there, and like the Magic and Gordon, it may be time for the Kings to cash in on the three-year investment they made in Barnes after acquiring him from Dallas. He makes $22.2 million. Does Nemanja Bjelica have any value? Same question has to be asked of Jabari Parker.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: The LaMarcus Aldridge era is in its final days, and you have to wonder if the Patty Mills era is, too. Derrick White is signed long-term and Dejounte Murray is damn good. The expiring contracts of Aldridge and Mills add up to $37.2 million, and if you include Rudy Gay&rsquo;s expiring deal that number becomes $51.2 million. They are 20-16, yet, as currently constituted, not good enough to do much in the postseason. R.C. Buford wins the award for the league executive most overdue to make a trade.
TORONTO RAPTORS: The name that is out there now is Kyle Lowry, who has spent nine seasons of his 16-year career playing for the team that now calls Tampa its home. Having lost five in a row and sitting in 11th place in the Leastern Conference, Masai Ujiri must determine whether it is time to turn Lowry&rsquo;s expiring $30.5 million contract into something of value. At 35 years old, Lowry can still play and, percentage wise, is hitting threes, twos and free throws better than he has over the past four seasons. But this would not be a giveaway, and a sign-and-trade in the offseason is still possible.
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UTAH JAZZ: Like Phoenix, the &ldquo;If It Ain&rsquo;t Broke , Don&rsquo;t Dix It&rdquo; rule applies. They are in first place in the West, are making threes better than anybody and have Rudy Gobert finding new and incredible ways to never, ever be mentioned in the MVP debate. None of their nine rotation players is going anywhere, and no one else on the roster has either a big contract or much trade value. Still, someone on the team could be a giveaway because the Jazz are $1.9 million over the luxury tax line. They have already traded five of their next seven second-round picks (they don&rsquo;t have one until 2025).
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: You&rsquo;ve got to feel bad for Tommy Sheppard, one of the best guys and better GMs in the league -- he was able to turn John Wall into Russell Westbrook but then lost Thomas Bryant and had his team put on ice because of COVID issues. They are now playing the busiest second-half schedule of any Eastern Conference team, and they theoretically have a puncher&rsquo;s chance against practically anyone in the conference if Westbrook keeps triple-doubling (he leads the league with 11). But they have lost four in a row and rank 12th. Robin Lopez and his expiring $7.3 million contract is their best trade asset. If they combined Lopez with Ish Smith&rsquo;s expiring contract, that totals $13.3 million.

With one week before the NBA's trade deadline, Chris Sheridan previews what could be in store for all 30 of the league's teams.

What to expect from all 30 NBA teams ahead of the Trade Deadline

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BasketballNews.com adds Matt Babcock to oversee the site&rsquo;s NBA Draft coverage
Today, BasketballNews.com announced that they have hired Matt Babcock to lead their coverage of the NBA Draft and evaluate prospects at various levels.&nbsp;
Babcock was previously the owner and founder of Babcock Hoops, a basketball website that had an emphasis on NBA Draft coverage. As part of this deal, Babcock Hoops will be dissolved and Matt&rsquo;s work will be found exclusively at BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am very excited for the opportunity to partner with the ambitious and forward thinking people at BasketballNews.com,&rdquo; Babcock added. &ldquo;We are in an interesting time, as the landscape of sports media is dramatically changing before our eyes, subsequently opening the door for start-up media outlets to make an impact in the industry quickly. I&rsquo;m looking forward to working together to create something special.&rdquo;
Before becoming a media member, Babcock was a certified NBPA and FIBA agent. He accumulated 10 years of experience in the sports-management industry, working for a number of agencies including Wasserman Media Group, Excel Sports Management and ASM Sports. Babcock has worked with many players, ranging from NBA stars to players competing abroad. In 2015, he negotiated what was then the most lucrative contract for a second-round pick in NBA history.&nbsp;
In addition to his draft analysis for BasketballNews.com, Babcock will also cover the business of basketball and detail his experiences as an NBA agent.
Babcock also brings first-hand experience as a former player and coach. He was a standout player at George Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia, and went on to be a member of the basketball teams at Gulf Coast State College and the University of Arizona. He also spent one season as an assistant coach for Virtus Bologna, a professional team in Bologna, Italy.
Along with Matt&rsquo;s professional experience, he also grew up in a "basketball family.&rdquo; He learned the game from his father, Dave Babcock, who is the Director of Player Personnel for the Milwaukee Bucks, and his two uncles, Pete and Rob Babcock, both of whom are former NBA general managers. His two cousins, Chris and Nate Babcock, hold positions within the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks organizations, respectively.
"We're very excited to add Matt to the BasketballNews.com family. He brings immense credibility and knowledge in not only the NBA Draft space, but also the basketball universe as a whole,&rdquo; said BasketballNews.com CEO Scott Hale. &ldquo;He grew up around basketball and has experience as a player, coach, agent and media member. We believe he will broaden our reach as we expand into covering all levels of the game.&rdquo;
BasketballNews.com has taken off since launching in August of 2020. Their staff has 10.5 million followers across Twitter and Instagram, and the Basketball News Podcast Network features 10 shows including &ldquo;The Rex Chapman Show,&rdquo; &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered&rdquo; (with Kenyon Martin and Jadakiss), &ldquo;The Rematch&rdquo; (with Etan Thomas) and &ldquo;The Posecast&rdquo; (with James Posey).
<a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11">Make sure you&rsquo;re following Babcock on Twitter: @MattBabcock11.</a>
About BasketballNews.com
BasketballNews.com offers unprecedented access and coverage to diehard basketball fans. The platform features insights from some of the leading minds in basketball including current and former NBA players (such as Kenyon Martin, James Posey and Etan Thomas) and top journalists (such as Alex Kennedy, Chris Sheridan and Nekias Duncan). BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s staff has worked in and around the NBA for decades, which allows them to provide unique insight in their exclusive articles, podcasts and videos. BasketballNews.com also has statistical data dating back to the 1946-47 NBA season. For more information visit BasketballNews.com or follow on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/basketballnews">Instagram at @BasketballNews</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews">Twitter at @BasketbllNews</a>.&nbsp;

BasketballNews.com has hired Matt Babcock to lead their coverage of the NBA Draft and evaluate prospects at various levels. 

BasketballNews.com adds Matt Babcock to oversee NBA Draft coverage

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Jadakiss Joins Kenyon Martin&rsquo;s &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered&rdquo; Podcast as Co-Host
Season 2 starts on Feb. 3 and episodes drop weekly on all streaming platforms
Today, BasketballNews.com announced that NBA All-Star Kenyon Martin has added a high-profile co-host to his podcast &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered.&rdquo; Chart-topping rapper Jadakiss has joined the show as the co-host, starting with the season-two premier on Feb. 3. One of the most distinctive and regarded voices in hip hop is bringing his talents to the podcast space.
The first season of &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered&rdquo; featured 10 episodes, with Martin interviewing high-profile guests such as Method Man, Roy Jones Jr, Daniel Wu, Michael Eric Dyson, and Michael Rapaport among others. Season two will feature plenty of big-name guests once again, as well as Martin and Jadakiss discussing sports, hip hop and a wide variety of other topics.
New episodes of &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered&rdquo; will now drop every Wednesday at noon ET. Each video episode is available on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbiFlICp8fRLU1kyFuh9tQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/kenyon-martin-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com</a>, and the audio-only version is available on A<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neat-unfiltered-with-kenyon-martin/id1541073998" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2QPqI56BKEnTJKiH6VyLhX?si=UCryCAIISF-gPTYK50PMEQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;and all other streaming platforms.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Jadakiss is arguably one of the most influential and lyrical rappers in hip-hop, so having him as my running mate on 'Neat &amp; Unfiltered' was a no-brainer," said Kenyon Martin. "We have a game-plan for season two that will be unmatched by any podcast out there. Stay tuned!&rdquo;
"If you know me, then you know I love talking basketball,&rdquo; said Jadakiss. &ldquo;And Kenyon is a long-time friend of mine, so this is perfect.&rdquo;
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Kenyon Martin's "Neat &amp; Unfiltered" podcast just made a big addition: Jadakiss is joining the show as co-host! New episodes drop every Wednesday at noon ET, starting with the season-two premier on Feb. 3. <a href="https://twitter.com/KenyonMartinSr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KenyonMartinSr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Therealkiss?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Therealkiss</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RocNation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RocNation</a> DETAILS: <a href="https://t.co/IYhJbhVPXm">https://t.co/IYhJbhVPXm</a> <a href="https://t.co/jaUSn84Jn8">pic.twitter.com/jaUSn84Jn8</a>
&mdash; Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1356335201996181505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Martin, a fearless player who never shied away from confrontation or speaking his mind, played 15 seasons in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. After being named the National College Player of the Year, he was the No. 1 pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. He became an All-Star and averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks over the course of his career. Martin was a fan favorite due to his style of play and big personality. He also writes articles for BasketballNews.com.
One of his generation&rsquo;s most respected rappers, Jadakiss got his start with the LOX before transitioning to a successful solo career. He released &ldquo;Kiss tha Game Goodbye&rdquo; (2001) and &ldquo;Kiss of Death&rdquo; (2004) &mdash; both of which charted Top-10 and were certified gold by the RIAA. In recent years, he's added voice-actor to his titles (Netflix's &ldquo;Fearless&rdquo;) and continued to release music, including the Fabolous collaboration "Friday on Elm Street" (2017) and "Ignatius" (2020).
&ldquo;Kenyon and Jadakiss have been close friends for many years and they have terrific chemistry,&rdquo; said Alex Kennedy, BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s Chief Content Officer. &ldquo;They both say whatever is on their mind, so this will be fun!&rdquo;
There are now nine shows on the Basketball News Podcast Network, with plans to add several more in the coming months. In addition to &ldquo;Neat &amp; Unfiltered,&rdquo; the network has &ldquo;The Posecast with James Posey,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Rematch with Etan Thomas,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Dunker Spot,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Alex Kennedy Podcast,&rdquo; &ldquo;Dishes &amp; Dimes,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Follow Through with Clipps and Drew,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Sheridan Show,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Keepin&rsquo; It 94.&rdquo;
About BasketballNews.com
BasketballNews.com offers unprecedented access and coverage to diehard basketball fans. The platform features insights from some of the leading minds in basketball including current and former NBA players (such as Kenyon Martin, James Posey, Etan Thomas and Vinny Del Negro) and top journalists (such as Alex Kennedy, Chris Sheridan and Nekias Duncan). BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s staff has worked in and around the NBA for decades, which allows them to provide unique insight in their exclusive articles, podcasts and videos. BasketballNews.com also has statistical data dating back to the 1946-47 NBA season. For more information visit BasketballNews.com or follow on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/basketballnews">Instagram at @BasketballNews</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews">Twitter at @BasketbllNews</a>.&nbsp;

Kenyon Martin's "Neat & Unfiltered" podcast has added a high-profile co-host: Jadakiss! Season two begins on Wednesday, Feb. 3!

Jadakiss joins Kenyon Martin’s 'Neat & Unfiltered' podcast as co-host

The Los Angeles Lakers are your 2019-20 NBA champions.
They made a gamble, flipping virtually all of their young assets and picks for Anthony Davis, and it paid off with a mostly dominant playoff run. Davis was as good as advertised -- probably a little more than advertised considering his jump-shooting hot streak. LeBron James proved once again that he&rsquo;s the NBA&rsquo;s most dangerous playoff weapon. Role players continuously stepped up, even if it became a bit of a revolving door.
Now, the fun part begins.
The Lakers&rsquo; goal will shift to repeating, which means they&rsquo;ll need to improve around the margins to maintain their place at the top. They won&rsquo;t have cap space; they&rsquo;ll have to do a bit of a tax-avoidance dance, if anything. The always-informative Keith Smith has a more thorough breakdown of their cap situation, which you can find <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers-salary-cap-space-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
Let&rsquo;s take a look at some guys they&rsquo;ll look to bring back, as well as some targets that could help them come back stronger than ever.
Key In-House Decisions
Rajon Rondo (Player Option): Bring Him Back
Playoff Rondo may very well be a thing. Teams kept daring him to shoot, and he kept making them pay to the tune of a 40 percent clip on a playoff career-high three attempts. That, combined with his playmaking and suddenly-fine-again defense, made him one of the Lakers&rsquo; more valuable role players during the title run. It shouldn&rsquo;t cost too much to bring him back. BasketballNews.com's Chris Sheridan reported that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-rajon-rondo-opt-out-player-option-contract-los-angeles-lakers-free-agency-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rondo is expected to turn down his $2.7 million player option</a> to cash in during the offseason to look for a pay day. 
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Player Option): Bring Him Back
After re-signing Davis, Caldwell-Pope should be the Lakers&rsquo; top priority. He provided solid on-ball defense across three positions and posted a career-high percentage in three-point shooting (38.5 percent). His three-point volume rose to nearly six attempts per contest in the playoffs, while maintaining his efficiency (37.8 percent). A strong argument could be made that he was the Lakers' third-best player throughout the postseason. Utilize those Bird Rights and bring him back. According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/2140002/2020/10/15/nba-free-agency-news-and-rumors-anthony-davis-and-lakers-decisions-heat-contracts-and-more-goran-dragic-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic</a>, Caldwell-Pope is expected to turn down his $8.5 million player option for a new deal. 
Markieff Morris: Bring Him Back
Morris got off to a rough start after joining the Lakers, shooting a little over 33 percent from deep during 14 regular season appearances. He would eventually settle in, drilling 42 percent of his triples during the postseason while seeing his role grow as the Lakers went smaller against the Rockets and Heat, respectively.
Morris in theory has always been a little better than Morris in practice; he isn&rsquo;t quite as versatile defensively as his tools would indicate, and offensive flow can sputter when Morris is on the court. With that said, there&rsquo;s a solid-enough fit next to Davis or as a bench spark in general to warrant his return.
Dwight Howard: Bring Him Back
Howard was a Comeback Player of the Year candidate if there ever was one. For the first time since, well, ever, Howard settled into a role that almost completely excised post-ups. He finally committed to being a clean-up artist: set hard screens or slip them hard, catch lobs and eat off the glass if a shot is missed.&nbsp;
He came off the bench and produced, averaging 7.5 points on a career-high 72.9 percent from the field, while also grabbing 7.3 boards per game in a shade under 19 minutes. It&rsquo;s easy to pinpoint where the boost in efficiency came from: only 11.4 percent of his offensive possessions came from post-ups, via Synergy; during his last full-season stint two years ago with the Charlotte Hornets, that figure was 36.4 percent -- his most frequent playtype by a wide margin. 
Howard has clear value as a vertical spacer and offensive rebounder, while also providing impact as an interior defender. He fouls way too much (6.1 fouls per 36 minutes last season), but still has the pop to alter shots at the rim and the brute strength to bang with post scorers. The Lakers would be smart to bring him back on the low.
JaVale McGee (Player Option): Circle Back Later
McGee remains one of the best lob threats in the NBA and can swat shots with little effort thanks to his length and leaping ability. Foul issues remain, and decision-making away from the rim makes him a postseason target for enemy offenses. It should come as no surprise that Howard eventually usurped him in the starting lineup last postseason. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine him getting much more than a minimum deal if he doesn't exercise his $4.2 million player option. Howard should be higher on the totem pole, and there are better centers in the free agent pool that could command similar money. 
Free Agent Guards
Mid-Tier: Jordan Clarkson&nbsp;
Clarkson is coming off of, by far, the most efficient season of his career. He gave the Utah Jazz a much-needed scoring punch once he arrived, averaging 15.6 points with a 56.9 True Shooting percentage during the regular season. Both of those marks increased (16.7, 57.7) during Utah&rsquo;s first-round showdown with the Denver Nuggets.&nbsp;
Clarkson trading out some of his pull-up long twos for threes went a long way to making him a more efficient option. The Lakers are still lacking in the guard creation department; Clarkson could definitely help.
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Bargains: Austin Rivers, D.J. Augustin
Rivers brings a particular brand of energy offensively. He&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s underrated drivers, utilizing a quick first step and channeled aggression to generate looks at the rim. He isn&rsquo;t much more than a rudimentary playmaker, but his north-south style would be a welcome addition to the Lakers' bench. He&rsquo;s also a reliable spot-up threat, drilling nearly 38 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes over the past three seasons, according to a source with access to Second Spectrum tracking data.
In the event that Rondo goes elsewhere, Augustin would be a nice consolation prize. He&rsquo;s a traditional table setter that provides more off-ball value than Rondo. Augustin is a career 37.9 percent three-point shooter, and he would likely see a boost in shot quality with a lighter load than the one he had to carry in Orlando.
Free Agent Wings
Mid-Tier: Wesley Matthews
There&rsquo;s a case to be made that Matthews could accept another minimum deal from a contender, either remaining with the Milwaukee Bucks or going elsewhere. There&rsquo;s an even stronger case to be made that he&rsquo;s earned himself a pay day.
Matthews routinely took on the most demanding perimeter defensive assignments throughout the regular season, while knocking down over 36 percent of his threes on decent volume. He then upped the ante in the postseason, most notably putting the clamps on Jimmy Butler during Milwaukee&rsquo;s second-round series against the Miami Heat. The Bucks would lose in five, but it wasn&rsquo;t because Matthews didn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Bargains: Kent Bazemore, Garrett Temple*
Bazemore has been a Laker before and has played off of stars before. It&rsquo;s easy to slot him in as a 3-and-D option with a smidge of secondary creation ability coming off the bench.
 The asterisk is present on Temple's name because the Nets hold a $5 million team option on him, though it&rsquo;d come as no surprise if they let Temple walk to free up tax room to bring back Joe Harris. Temple would give the Lakers a plus, multi-positional defender with a solid three-point stroke (35.3 percent over the past five seasons).
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Free Agent Forwards
Mid-Tier: Danilo Gallinari
Gallinari is one of the most underrated scorers in the league, a true three-level threat that can get busy in a multitude of areas. Normally, he&rsquo;d be one of the few players commanding a near-max pay day in a weak-at-the-top free agency class. However, Gallinari has hinted at <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/danilo-gallinari-says-competing-for-a-championship-is-more-important-than-his-contract-in-free-agency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prioritizing a winning situation</a> over a paycheck.&nbsp;
Now, players say that and fold when presented with offers, so it&rsquo;s fair to take that sentiment with a grain of salt. Remember, we aren&rsquo;t that far removed from Gallinari-to-Miami talks breaking down in (large) part to Gallinari wanting more financial security.&nbsp;
If his desires have shifted, though, this could be an opportunity for the Lakers to strike and add to their offense. Half-court creation was a non-strength at best, weakness at worst last season. Having a guy that can shoot off the bounce and get to the free-throw line almost at will could be devastating, especially when you consider he&rsquo;d likely be feasting on a team&rsquo;s second or third-best defender.
Bargains: Carmelo Anthony
I don&rsquo;t have to spend much time on Melo-to-LA. He loves LeBron, LeBron loves him. Melo doesn&rsquo;t have a ring. He isn&rsquo;t quite as washed as critics (hi, hello!) made him out to be, though it&rsquo;s important not to lose sight of the context that was necessary for him to perform the way that he did.
Anyway, with Melo hitting free agency, this possibility isn&rsquo;t going to die unless he re-signs with the Portland Trail Blazers or goes elsewhere.
Free Agent Bigs
Mid-Tier: Tristan Thompson, Aron Baynes, Hassan Whiteside
Thompson may prove to be out of the Lakers' price range, but he&rsquo;s worth mentioning as a former LeBron teammate and fellow "Klutchian." The early bet is that the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-team-workouts-jb-bickerstaff-collin-sexton-darius-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Cavaliers lock him up for one last deal</a>, but if Thompson wants to go title-hunting, taking the full mid-level exception may appeal to him. If so, it&rsquo;s hard to think of a better landing spot for him than in Los Angeles.
Factoring in money, it&rsquo;s hard to argue against Baynes being one of the most valuable centers in basketball last season. He did the usual grunt work: setting bone-crushing screens as a roller or handoff partner, protected the rim with superb positioning and boxed out well enough to help end possessions or grab the board himself. The new, somewhat surprising twist is that he became a legitimate three-point option (35.1 percent on 4 attempts per game). Stretch-ish fives are hard to find; the fit next to Davis is pretty darn seamless.&nbsp;
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Whiteside is the real wildcard. His base numbers and on-court impact have never really matched, which makes guesstimating his free agent value a chore. He certainly isn&rsquo;t worth the max deal he signed in 2016; there are far too many holes in his game -- passing, defending in space, processing speed as a whole -- to warrant that price tag.
Yet, despite how frustrating Whiteside can be to watch on both ends, someone with his intersection of rim protection, rebounding and decent-enough touch is worth more than a minimum deal. There&rsquo;s certainly &ldquo;prove it deal&rdquo; potential here. The Lakers have proven they&rsquo;re comfortable running a more traditional drop scheme; Whiteside can thrive around the rim with Davis and LeBron roaming as extra helpers.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Bargains: Nerlens Noel, Harry Giles
Noel is your classic toolsy big whose reputation precedes him a bit. He is talented, of course; he&rsquo;s able to sky for lobs, can knock down the occasional jumper (though you don&rsquo;t want him taking many of them), has wing-like mobility in space and can send shots into orbit. The issue with Noel, aside from help, has been his propensity to go for the home-run on defense, which often leaves him out of position when those gambles fail.&nbsp;
He was a bit more under control in Oklahoma City last season; shockingly, he had his most efficient year to date. There&rsquo;s room for him to command a portion of some team&rsquo;s mid-level exception, but it wouldn&rsquo;t shock me to see him take another prove-it type deal for a contender to set himself up for a pay day in 2021.
Giles also has a bit of an injury history, dating back to his high school days. Multiple lower body injuries have sapped some of his athleticism, and he&rsquo;s still a fluid, jumpy big that can feast in transition. The intrigue lies in his on-ball skill; he&rsquo;s quietly one of the better passing big men in the league already. There&rsquo;s some serious &ldquo;throw it to him in the high post and let him do stuff&rdquo; potential waiting to be untapped. Giles would be a smart buy-low candidate to look into.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Lakers' salary cap situation heading into the offseason and what moves the team should make.

2020 Free Agency Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

BasketballNews.com asked each of our staff members to predict who will win the 2020 NBA Finals: the Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat? Here&rsquo;s what they had to say:
James Posey: &ldquo;I never want to go against a LeBron-James-led team, but I think it will be a very challenging series for him. The reason? Miami has the bodies to guard LeBron and they have a few players who can wear him down. And I think the matchup between Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis is going to be big. In Bam, you got a young bull who isn&rsquo;t afraid and he&rsquo;s really talented. That&rsquo;s a scary combination. With the Heat&rsquo;s system and culture, nobody is afraid of this Lakers team, they&rsquo;re going to play hard and they&rsquo;re going to put pressure on this Lakers team. To win this series, LeBron will have to play at his maximum level every game, especially if AD doesn&rsquo;t step up. I&rsquo;m taking the Heat and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;ll go to 7. -- Heat in 6
Etan Thomas: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard not to root for the Miami Heat and they shouldn&rsquo;t be counted out, even though they are being labeled as tremendous underdogs to win the Finals against the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers. But defying odds is exactly what the Heat have been doing the entire playoffs. Nobody outside of the Heat&rsquo;s locker room picked them to beat two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. In fact, many pointed to that series as Exhibit A of the NBA not possessing the &lsquo;competitive balance&rsquo; of the NHL - basically saying that you know who is going to win most of the series in advance. However, nobody told the Heat this. They were also underdogs going into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics before scratching them off the list in a 4-2 series. 
"Jimmy Butler, who previous teams labeled a 'cancer to the locker room,' has emerged as a leader with a will to win and will take on the task of going head-to-head with LeBron James. Bam Adebayo has been a budding star, whose absence from the All-NBA team left many scratching their head, has been nothing short of spectacular the entire playoffs - from recording arguably one of the greatest blocks in NBA history against Jayson Tatum, to playing point center for extended stretches, to his brilliant 32-point performance in the closing game against the Celtics. His head-to-head matchup with Anthony Davis will be much anticipated. Finally, Tyler Herro has wowed the NBA world with his scoring arsenal, showing why he earned the nickname &ldquo;Bucket&rdquo; (regardless of what Paul Pierce thinks). Throw in Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson and the Heat&rsquo;s ability to feed the hot hand (no matter who it is) - even if it means the usual top scorers aren&rsquo;t the ones getting the shots - coupled with their relentless defense and excellent conditioning, they are a dangerous opponent for the Lakers. Still, if I were a betting man (which I am not), I would have to say Lakers in 7, but don&rsquo;t be surprised if the Heat (David) gives the Lakers (Goliath) quite a few stones to the face throughout this NBA Finals.&rdquo; -- Lakers in 7
Alex Kennedy: &ldquo;This should be a very close series, which is why I&rsquo;m predicting that it will go to seven games. This series will likely be closer than many fans would expect; the Lakers are favorites, but the Heat are playing their best basketball at the perfect time and absolutely expect to take home the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy. Miami is the deeper team, but Los Angeles has more star power. At the end of the day, this comes down to championship experience, in my opinion. The Lakers have six players who have won a championship (including three players who have multiple rings), so this NBA Finals stage is nothing new to them. For the Heat, Andre Iguodala and Udonis Haslem are the only champions on their team (and Haslem is out of the rotation). Even several Heat players have admitted in interviews this week that this is all new to them. I could absolutely see this series going either way; I&rsquo;m going with Los Angeles (but I don't feel very good about it).&rdquo; -- Lakers in 7
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Chris Sheridan: &ldquo;I am picking the Heat in six games because although the two best players belong to the Lakers, the Heat remind me a whole lot of the Golden State Warriors two years ago (minus the playoff experience), and that team that swept LeBron James and the Cavaliers before he left Cleveland. They have seven or eight terrific players, including two All-Stars and a point guard, Goran Dragic, who has been waiting his whole life for this opportunity. I expect coach Erik Spoelstra to try to get into LeBron's head in some way, perhaps Hack-a-Bron. The bubble will be a factor because the Heat's young players do not have to face a hostile crowd. And Miami has three players, Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder, who are good defenders and who have had success against LeBron in the past." -- Heat in 6
Kelsea O&rsquo;Brien: &ldquo;The Heat may be the only team to face the Lakers without feeling even slightly intimidated. They are the perfect size matchup, a factor that the Lakers haven&rsquo;t encountered&nbsp; yet. Miami&rsquo;s impenetrable zone defence will work for everyone not named LeBron James, but trying to double-team the #WashedKing very rarely proves successful. Though the Heat possess the speed and youth, and have a slight advantage when it comes to the depth of their bench, the Lakers have the experience, the veteranship, and two of the greatest players in the world on their side.&rdquo; -- Lakers in 6
Spencer Davies: &ldquo;The hype around the 2020 NBA Finals is kind of a double-edged sword if you think about it. On one hand, we&rsquo;ll never know whether &ldquo;the nightlife&rdquo; of Los Angeles or Miami is more detrimental to the road team. On the other hand, nobody is going to be traveling from East Coast to West Coast, or vice-versa, meaning we should get each player&rsquo;s best basketball. Miami has been one of the most fun bunches to watch all season. In the bubble, Erik Spoelstra and Co. have turned it up to 11. It&rsquo;s been a treat to see Bam Adebayo emerge as an elite modern big man on both ends of the floor, just as it has been to witness Tyler Herro accomplish feats that no Heat rookie has achieved since Dwyane Wade. We can&rsquo;t forget about the consistency of Jae Crowder, the sharp-shooting of Duncan Robinson and the veteran savvy of Andre Iguodala, who will appear in his sixth-straight Finals. Oh yeah, then there&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler: the head of the snake, the aggressor, the defensive pest and, of course, the closer. But to me, this L.A. squad is a team of destiny. If you look at everything that has gone down in this horrific year, LeBron James has held every one of his teammates together and is speaking this championship run into existence as a leader. If there was an MVP award for specifically the postseason, Anthony Davis would have it in the bag. Somehow this late into the playoffs, the Lakers&rsquo; chemistry is still growing -- look at the impact Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso have made off the bench and in closing minutes. 
"The battle of the bigs between Davis and Adebayo should be a treat and live up to the hype. After years and years of missing out on the spectacle, I&rsquo;m itching to see Butler in his Finals debut, especially against LeBron. The Lakers have been as sound as ever in their defensive rotations. Miami loves to run the dribble hand-offs through Adebayo to Robinson and Herro as its primary action, but the quick decision-making of both makes it tough to guard when you don&rsquo;t know whether they&rsquo;re shooting off the rip or pump-faking and going to the basket. If the Heat can play the long game and stick around, they&rsquo;re a danger to deal with in clutch situations. That&rsquo;s a big if, though, especially if they&rsquo;re not hitting threes at a high clip. Being back in the Finals for the first time in a decade, the Heat will be hard-pressed to get in LeBron and the Lakers&rsquo; way of achieving their goal, but that won&rsquo;t come easily.&rdquo; -- Lakers in 6
Nekias Duncan: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to ignore the 'team of destiny'-type cliche talk that would be easy to fall into. The Heat are just a darned good team with weapons that can give the Lakers fits. The Heat just eliminated the Bucks and Celtics in back-to-back rounds, two elite defenses that could throw off the timing of Miami&rsquo;s halfcourt goodness. The Lakers have an elite defense in their own right, but it&rsquo;s fair to argue that they don&rsquo;t have the perimeter defenders the Bucks or Celtics had.&rdquo; -- Heat in 6

Who will win the 2020 NBA Finals: the Miami Heat or Los Angeles Lakers? BasketballNews.com's staff shares their predictions.

Staff predictions: Who wins 2020 NBA Finals? Heat or Lakers?

Here is the latest news on the Top 25 Free Agents in the NBA for the 2014-15 season, as ranked by Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.