Delta Devils

<div>The Indiana Pacers medical team decided to clear Tyrese Haliburton to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals despite an existing calf strain and that blunder resulted in a torn Achilles tendon. While understandable given the gravity of the situation, that decision proved to be very costly for not only the organization as a whole but more importantly to Tyrese Haliburton as it was just announced that he would miss the entire 2025/2026 season due to a torn achilles.&nbsp;</div>
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-1_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
<div>In contrast, this past summer, my daughter Imani Thomas class of 2026 was faced with a very difficult decision to play through an injury at Nationals and risk further more severe injury.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Here&rsquo;s the story: &nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Imani had played through shin splints for the entire travel season with her team Maryland Juniors. These shin splints actually developed during her junior year high school season with Bishop McNamara, but she is a soldier and she pushed through like all athletes do.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>However, toward the end of her travel season, the shin splints continued to get worse. She did constant treatment and even started over compensating to protect her shin splints until one practice she could barely move. The assistant coach (Coach Ashley Williams) came up to me and said,&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;Imani is a beast, and she is not going to stop playing no matter what I tell her. But you need to get this checked out because it&rsquo;s visibly getting worse&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>So me and my wife Nichole took her to get X Rays and a MRI and it was discovered that her shin splints had turned into a stress fracture.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>She was devastated. Nationals were coming up and like any athlete she contemplated just sucking it up and playing through the pain.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The doctor was honest with us. He explained to us that if Imani was playing soccer, he would definitely not clear her to play because the likelihood of her getting kicked in her stress fracture was relatively high. If she played football or rugby or any contact sport, he would also not clear her. But she plays volleyball, and the likelihood of her getting kicked in her stress fracture was very low.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-6_690w.jpeg" alt="" /></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>However, if she landed wrong, the impact could be just as severe as if she got kicked. Then he asked how her mechanics were and I told him that she had been over compensating for quite some time. She&rsquo;s been pushing through and getting a lot of treatment but she has been in pain for a long time. And the doctor said honestly, it&rsquo;s a decision you have to make for her. She is going to want to risk it all and play. That&rsquo;s how athletes are.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>So we talked to Imani, explained the risks, and together we came to the decision that it would be best to sit out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>And it was a very difficult process for her as it would be for any athlete but long term over short term was what was important.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Now, back to Tyrese Haliburton.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<div>NBA fans across the world witnessed what would have been a story of triumph. One for the archives of NBA history. The storyline would&rsquo;ve been.... Facing elimination in the NBA playoffs in a pivotal Game 7, Tyrese Haliburton battles through injury with superhuman perseverance and in heroic fashion to save the Pacers and propel them into victory solidifying this as one of the greatest finals performances in the history of the NBA. They probably would&rsquo;ve had a picture of Haliburton with a Superman emblem on his chest and a cape under his Warriors uniform. Would&rsquo;ve had his dad holding the same Pacers towel he waved in front of Giannis next to his son with the trophy. Would&rsquo;ve been a sportswriters dream as so many angles could&rsquo;ve been covered and explored.</div>
<div>
People love stories of heroics. Isiah Thomas hobbling around on one foot in game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Lakers and scoring 25 points in the 3rd quarter. Or Willis Reed walking out of the tunnel for the New York Knicks on his bum ankle in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Everything was set up for Haliburton to be added to that list.
High school, college and professional coaches across the country were just salivating to be able to use this as an example to their players to enforce the philosophy that &ldquo;pain is weakness leaving your body&rdquo;. They would&rsquo;ve used Haliburton as an example to young athletes that the game (not your health) is what matters most. And a real &ldquo;team player&rdquo; would sacrifice a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; for their team.
I have seen this all before. During my tenure with the Washington Wizards, I witnessed team trainer Eric Waters misdiagnose player after player because what was best for the Wizards organization was for that player to play.
I saw Richard Hamilton go off on the entire training staff after he learned that&nbsp;he had been playing through a torn groin, only disclosed to him after the team was out of playoff contention. He had been complaining about his groin for weeks and the trainers were giving him treatment two and three times a day all the while knowing his groin was torn, but they wanted to push for the playoffs so they didn&rsquo;t tell him.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-3_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
I saw them tell Jarvis Hayes that he simply had a case of &ldquo;tendinitis&rdquo; in his knee and had him playing through the pain. Turned out he had a broken knee cap and ruined his entire career.&nbsp;
I saw them tell Kwame Brown that he was just experiencing a &ldquo;little discomfort&rdquo; in his leg and that he needed to play through the pain to show everyone that he was worthy of being the number 1 pick. Turned out later, he actually had a torn hamstring.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-4_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
I saw Eric Waters tell Deshawn Stevenson there was nothing seriously wrong with his back and had him getting ice and stem and playing through the pain. After the season, upon further review by an outside doctor it was discovered that he actually had an Inflamed L5 Nerve that was stuck underneath a disc that required not one but two back surgeries to repair.&nbsp;
My point in saying all of this is not to simply blast Eric Waters, I am showing that this happens all the time in professional sports. With team doctors and trainers, there is a conflict of interest and the sworn medical oath becomes blurred and effects their diagnoses. They are hired by the teams and are in essence employees of the organization not employees of the players. So they don&rsquo;t have the players best interest in mind, typically, they only have the organization&rsquo;s.
The Indiana Pacers medical staff basically RG3&rsquo;d Haliburton. They &ldquo;Any Given Sunday&rsquo;d&rdquo; him. They Eric Waters&rsquo;d him.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-5_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing period.
The risks outweighed the rewards. Even from a team standpoint. This is your franchise player. This is a player who has the capability of single handedly turning an entire NBA championship finals series around. This is a player that you should&rsquo;ve done everything in your power to convey to him how important he is long term for them and how much they value his health and are looking out for his best interest etc etc. However, what they showed was the exact opposite.&nbsp;
It doesn&rsquo;t matter if Haliburton insisted on playing in Game 7, just like it didn&rsquo;t matter if Imani insisted on playing in Nationals.&nbsp;Sometimes, when it comes to their health, athletes need people to make the decision for them. That&rsquo;s our job as parents and we did that. That was also the job of the Pacers medical team, and they did not have the medical integrity to do that.&nbsp;
Imani had her boot off now and is starting rehab and will be back full strength in a few weeks. Haliburton&rsquo;s calf strain turned into a ruptured Achilles and he will have to sit out the entire 2025/2026 season.&nbsp;
In explaining the difference in how me and my wife Nichole handled her injury vs how the Pacers medical staff handled his, I started singing, &ldquo;They Not Like Us&rdquo; A Dad joke that fell flat with Imani but I don&rsquo;t care it was a good joke.&nbsp;
But in all seriousness, I hope all young players see this and learn that no matter what the circumstances or how big the game is, your health always comes first, and you ALWAYS get a 2nd opinion from your own doctors that have nothing to do with the organization like Kawhi Leonard did in San Antonio his last season there.&nbsp;
Let me refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory.
Everyone with a microphone dogged Kawhi that season. Skip Bayless was still going on his hateful rants and baseless criticisms of Kawhi even after the Raptors beat the 76ers in the playoffs.
Skip Bayless tweeted out
&ldquo;Well, I guess it worked for No. 2 to quit on the Spurs last season complaining of what Spurs doctors decided was no more than a thigh bruise. He wound up in the East, playing against a hobbled, sick Embiid and an overrated Giannis. "Crime" pays.&rdquo;
Kawhi delt with Coach Popovich taking shots at him, his teammates taking shots at him, the team questioning his injury because their &ldquo;team doctors&rdquo; said he was fine. But he got a 2nd opinion and was told otherwise and did what was in his best interest. Danny Green was reportedly playing through a torn groin after being misdiagnosed by the same team doctors that misdiagnosed Kawhi.
And the Spurs are one of the most respected organizations in the NBA with one of the most respected coaches in the NBA. But, the bottom line is, any organization will throw you out there in a heartbeat injured if they feel it is best for the organization. They will publicly criticize you if you don&rsquo;t play and if you play and re-injure yourself worst or just don&rsquo;t play up to their expectations (as if they don&rsquo;t know your playing injured) they will get rid of you in a New York minute just like The Washington Commanders did RG3 and just like the Washington Wizards did with Jarvis Hayes.
I remember watching Grant Hill. He was about to literally take over the league.
People were calling him out for not playing hurt. Said he was soft, overrated etc etc just like they were saying about Haliburton before he shut them all up this playoff series.
The Orlando medical staff derailed Grant&rsquo;s entire career.&nbsp;
Another example is the young Isiah Thomas. He shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing in Boston in the playoffs but he played, ended up hurting himself more, ended up needing surgery, cost himself 100 million dollars came back and played after losing his sister and they traded him that summer because they knew about his injury and knew that he needed surgery.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/3-etan-thomas-8_690w.jpeg" alt="" />
Kyrie Irving goes and gets a 2nd opinion and they say you need surgery, the Celtics doctors didn&rsquo;t tell him he needed surgery, so he had his surgery and came back the next year strong. There is a reoccurring theme here.
I immediately called my son Malcolm who is working hard at The University Of Dayton right now as I write this article I hope he learned the lesson in what just happened to Haliburton. Told my daughter Baby Sierra and Imani the entire way to school yesterday, like literally the whole entire way I was going on an endless rant.
Told them stories of Eric Waters and Ernie Grunfeld trying to get me to take a cortisone shot in my pubic bone and go out an play when I was suffering an abdominal strain that kept me sidelined for an extended period of time. But also how the 2nd opinion I received from my doctor was that if I did that, I would almost certainly hurt myself worse because the Cortisone show wouldn&rsquo;t exceed the healing process, it was just make it so I didn't feel the pain.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
But just think of it logically, your body sends pain signals to you when something is hurting to let you know to stop doing that. If you block that signal, you won&rsquo;t feel the warning you&rsquo;re supposed to feel. Made perfect sense to me so I told them no. And sure they tried to put pressure on me and have a beat writer pressure me through the power of the pin in a few articles (no I didn&rsquo;t have any actual proof of this but the timing and coincidence was way too convenient so I&rsquo;ll say &ldquo;allegedly&rdquo; had a beat writer pressure me through the media). But the end result was me standing firm and telling them no, I can&rsquo;t go.
However, the onus shouldn&rsquo;t be placed on the athlete&rsquo;s shoulders. Of course athletes are going to want to play but it shouldn&rsquo;t be up to them. A solution to this league wide issue was suggested to me by a lawyer by the name of Marlon Amprey. He explained that the Players Association should assemble a group of outside doctors/specialists (or specific doctors/specialists the player suggests) that have no connection to the team whatsoever.
That will provide 2nd &amp; 3rd opinions and give players detailed reports on their health and risk of injury. All doctors&rsquo; reports given by teams that drastically differ should go under review and there should be repercussions for team doctors and trainers who medically clear players who shouldn&rsquo;t be medically cleared to play.
</div>
</div>

The Indiana Pacers medical team decided to clear Tyrese Haliburton to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals despite an existing calf strain.

The Indiana Pacers RG3’d Tyrese Haliburton

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; One short year ago, college basketball was getting ready for the game of a lifetime: North Carolina vs. Duke at the Final Four.
And this year? Well, to put it kindly, who the heck are these guys?
The NCAA Tournament, the annual event that has told and sold and made marketing gold out of the story of underdogs and busted brackets has, for 2023, produced an extreme rendition of what happens when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-final-four-uconn-fau-6ca1aeceb20e4d9cde254e52ea77430f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all that cherished unpredictability</a>&nbsp;plays itself out to the end.
In one Final Four meeting Saturday, it will be San Diego State against Florida Atlantic. In the other, it will be Miami vs. UConn.
&ldquo;I expect the prognosticators to pick us fifth at the Final Four,&rdquo; Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May said in a nod to the reality that nobody really expected the Owls, or any of these teams, to be here.
Of the four programs descending on Houston this week, only one has ever sniffed a Final Four before. It&rsquo;s the first time in 53 years that has happened.
With its four national titles and some famous names from the past, including Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker&nbsp;and Rip Hamilton, the name &ldquo;Connecticut&rdquo; certainly should ring a bell, even if it might not tread all the way into true blueblood territory.
Miami?&nbsp;That was a program that was literally shut down for 14 years in the 1970s and 1980s due to lack of interest. The school was too busy building a football program that would become (in)famous for winning with a certain panache.
May&rsquo;s Florida Atlantic&nbsp;program? It&rsquo;s a relative new kid on the block, a member of Division I since 1993 that is based in the retirement community of Boca Raton, a locale better known for its 4:30 dinner specials than its 7 p.m. tipoffs.
San Diego State?&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/final-four-san-diego-state-46eefb6f73d12368b158126d5365cb0a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In their defense</a>, maybe this shouldn&rsquo;t be the Aztecs&rsquo; first Final Four. In 2020, they were 30-2 and generally slotted in as a No. 1 seed, albeit still an underdog to a stacked Kansas team that was the odds-on favorite. Then COVID hit and wiped that season off the boards.
&ldquo;There are a lot of really good teams in college basketball, and the difference between winning and losing is paper thin,&rdquo; San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said.
Will anyone, outside of the truest of diehards, bother to watch?
As of Thursday, a pair of seats in the nosebleed section for Saturday&rsquo;s doubleheader &mdash; the most-anticipated day on the college hoops calendar &mdash; were going for around $100 each on the secondary market. A year ago, shortly after the Duke-Carolina matchup was set, the average price for those same seats nearly doubled to $800 a ticket.
There has been a lot of debate and even some handwringing about how one of America&rsquo;s greatest sporting events produced a 4 seed, two 5s and a 9 &mdash; for a seed total of 23, which is the second-highest in history &mdash; that between them boast not a single McDonald&rsquo;s All-American nor one consensus top-30 recruit.
The transfer portal, which allows players to come and go from school to school without having to sit out a year, might be the best explanation. Miami coach Jim Larranaga called it basketball&rsquo;s form of &ldquo;speed dating,&rdquo; a get-rich-quick scheme that, with the right timing, chemistry and luck, can make a roster very good (or very bad) very quickly.
Some other possibilities: an NCAA selection committee that some say is divorced from reality; the ever-shifting landscape caused by name-image-likeness (NIL) deals that give players more leverage (and money); and, for sure, an abundance of flawed teams &mdash; including Alabama, Houston and Kansas &mdash; that were overvalued and placed at the top of the heap this year.
But before jumping to grand conclusions about matchups like these becoming the &ldquo;new normal&rdquo; at the Final Four, former Duke star and current TV analyst Jay Bilas reminds us that we are a scant 365 days removed from a completely different sort of get-together.
&ldquo;I love the one about the narratives that you don&rsquo;t need those McDonalds guys to win,&rdquo; Bilas said. &ldquo;OK, so don&rsquo;t recruit the best players, and see how that goes for you. I just don&rsquo;t understand how all this gets this way.&rdquo;
A year ago, the tournament felt perfect. The country got its dose of Cinderella &mdash; namely, when 15 seed Saint Peter&rsquo;s made a first-of-its-kind run into the Elite Eight. Then, a sense of perfectly timed normalcy took over.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski got to close out his career at the Final Four, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-north-carolina-tar-heels-mens-basketball-duke-blue-devils-mens-basketball-sports-north-carolina-26014ae4edf5d2649b3543ab3b43528f">the end</a>&nbsp;came against none other than archrival North Carolina. Joining those power programs in New Orleans last year were Kansas and Villanova, two more of the country&rsquo;s great programs with seven national titles between them. The total seed value of those four teams: 13, with most of that accounted for by the Tar Heels, who got in as an 8 after knocking out Saint Pete&rsquo;s.
So, will 2023 be remembered as the year when chaos took over for good, or just a minor blip in the proceedings while all those Jayhawks and Blue Devils reload?
&ldquo;The tournament is about a lot of different things to a lot of different people,&rdquo; Bilas said. &ldquo;Some people love it for the brackets, some people love it for the basketball. But no matter who&rsquo;s in the Final Four, the bandwagon is always wide open, and you can jump on it whenever you want.&rdquo;

Of the four teams descending on Houston, only one has ever sniffed a Final Four before — the first time that's happened in 53 years.

Final Four: Last year’s bluebloods are this year’s no-names

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences have led the way among the so-called power leagues in hiring coaches of color to lead women&rsquo;s basketball programs.
The two conferences each have five Black head coaches, including three women changing jobs in the most recent cycle: Texas A&amp;M&rsquo;s Joni Taylor, Syracuse&rsquo;s Felisha Legette-Jack and Virginia&rsquo;s Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. Four of the ACC coaches are Black women while Virginia Tech&rsquo;s Kenny Brooks is the only Black male head coach of a women&rsquo;s team at a Power Five school.
The total number doesn&rsquo;t suggest a major shift over the past two seasons across 65 Power Five schools with 14 Black women being in charge of teams &mdash; up one from 2021. That&rsquo;s less than 22% of the total in a sport that was played by more Black athletes (40.7%) than any other race, according to a report with data from the 2020-21 season.
Still, hiring trends are leaning towards more equality with five of the 12 openings in the Power Five conferences this past offseason going to women of color.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very solid number,&rdquo; Richard Lapchick, who is the head of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida, said of the ACC and SEC. &ldquo;If that persisted over a number of years, I think there would be a lot of happy black women head coaches spread across the Power Five conferences that aren&rsquo;t there now.&rdquo;
Lapchick also pointed to the fact that the ACC has two Black female athletic directors (at Duke and at Virginia). The SEC also has two female minority ADs, at Vanderbilt and Missouri.
&ldquo;I think there is something to be said about leaders making decisions,&rdquo; Duke AD Nina King said. &ldquo;You have a diverse group and you&rsquo;ll bring a diverse group of coaches to the table.&rdquo;
King said that the conversations need to continue: &ldquo;We need to understand what the barriers are and why aren&rsquo;t there more Black women getting hired. We need to knock down the barriers.&rdquo;
The Pac-12 and Big Ten have been giving more Black women a chance. Three of the last four hires in the Pac-12 have been women of color and two of the last three in the Big Ten. The Big 12 has no Black coaches of its women&rsquo;s basketball teams after four hirings over the past two seasons.
&ldquo;There needs to be more opportunity, it should be equal opportunity,&rdquo; Agugua-Hamilton said. &rdquo;And obviously, statistics have shown that that&rsquo;s been a little skewed. So I like to see that the times are changing a little bit and more people are getting opportunities, including myself.&rdquo;
Lapchick pointed to the success of Dawn Staley, who became the first Black coach, male or female. to win two national championships. She was rewarded last year by South Carolina with one of the biggest contracts in women&rsquo;s basketball history, a landmark $22.4 million, seven-year contract.
&ldquo;I think Dawn getting a million-dollar contract was one of the biggest breakthroughs in women&rsquo;s sports,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Long overdue, but it actually happened. So this is going to be good for other women following in her footsteps, not just there but around the country at other schools as well.&rdquo;
Staley has been happy to see the door open for more Black women.
&ldquo;There is an influx of Black women getting opportunities,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Black women are getting more chances to be the head honcho of their programs. I hope we can continue to be successful.&rdquo;
Staley has inspired other Black coaches not just with what she&rsquo;s done on the court, but also what she&rsquo;s done off it, by sending them a piece of her championship net from 2017.
&ldquo;Dawn Staley is a staple for women of color,&rdquo; Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. &ldquo;She talks about it, she had the net that she sent out to everyone just to empower all the female head coaches. And I think just having opportunity, understanding how much how much representation really does matter, I think is powerful. I definitely think we&rsquo;re trending in the right direction. And I think it&rsquo;s a positive thing.&rdquo;
Ivey wants to continue what Staley has done.
&ldquo;I want to do a great job because I want my opportunity to be able to extend to someone else,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Obviously you don&rsquo;t want to fail and then the tide changes. It&rsquo;s not something that I think about as far as pressure. I&rsquo;m blessed to be in this role. I&rsquo;m going do my best because I love what I do and I love this university. And I&rsquo;m hoping that my work speaks for itself.&rdquo;
___
AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard and AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this story.

The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences have led the way among power leagues in hiring coaches of color in women's hoops.

Small uptick in Black female coaches at Power Five schools

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Plenty of people have called for NCAA Tournament expansion. Count ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips among them.
Phillips said Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s time to look at&rdquo; expanding the field beyond the 68 teams currently invited to the Big Dance each March.
Phillips believes the NCAA&rsquo;s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools. That&rsquo;s part of why he&rsquo;s hopeful of eventual expansion, not just for the men&rsquo;s event but for all NCAA championships.
Increasing the field also brings rewards for those &ldquo;schools that are spending a tremendous amount of resources in sports and not having a chance to access those championships,&rdquo; he said.
Currently, just 68 of 358 men&rsquo;s basketball programs qualify for the men&rsquo;s NCAAs &mdash; 32 conference champions and 36 at-large teams picked by the selection committee. Phillips said the logistics of staging a bigger tournament need to be worked out.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has advocated for more teams in the field the past 30 years. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been knocked down every year I&rsquo;ve brought it up,&rdquo; said the 77-year-old Boeheim. &ldquo;I stopped bringing it up. Everybody thought I was an idiot.&rdquo;
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey projects adding three more First Four pods &mdash; one for each region &mdash; could work and take the field up to 80.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s throw three more Daytons in, regionalize it up and play it out, let some more kids get in there,&rdquo; Brey said.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton wants to double the field &mdash; and double the experience for athletes who work hard all year for their moment in March. &ldquo;Do you realize how it would be an opportunity for all these youngsters to participate in the NCAA Tournament?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the greatest games in history.&rdquo;
BACOT BACK
North Carolina&rsquo;s Armando Bacot could&rsquo;ve easily jumped to the NBA, especially after leading the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship game last season. Instead, the 6-foot-11 senior wanted another run to finish the job.
Bacot, a likely pick for ACC preseason player of the year, was among four Tar Heels who held off going pro in the wake of their 72-69 title-game loss to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament in April. North Carolina was up 40-25 at halftime before the Jayhawks&rsquo; rallied.
For Bacot, it was a difficult outcome that fueled his decision to return. He doesn&rsquo;t spend much time thinking about the NBA, concentrating on improving his game and helping the Tar Heels win.
&ldquo;Going through last year with our ups and downs,&rdquo; Bacot said. &ldquo;Our ups were really high and a lot of fun. Just being able to experience that for a full year was a no-brainer.&rdquo;
PERFECT YOUNG
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young led his Hokies to a surprise ACC Tournament title last March, defeating second-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, third-seeded North Carolina in the semis and top-seeded Duke, 82-67, for the school&rsquo;s first-ever tournament crown.
That improved Young&rsquo;s record to 6-0 in tournament finals. Young, beginning his fourth season at Virginia Tech, won all five Southern Conference championship games he reached during 16 seasons leading Wofford.
The secret? Don&rsquo;t change anything. &ldquo;We all know what&rsquo;s at stake,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go have a good time, lay our ears back and let it rip.&rdquo;
DUKE INJURY
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said prize freshman Dariq Whitehead is progressing well about six weeks into recovery from a foot injury.
Whitehead is a 6-foot-7 forward from Newark, New Jersey, who was rated the country&rsquo;s No. 2 prospect by ESPN this past recruiting season.
Whitehead is entering the next phase of his recovery where he&rsquo;s able to get out on the court more, Scheyer said. The first-year coach can&rsquo;t yet say when Whitehead will be ready to play, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s progressing in a great way and he&rsquo;s working hard, and I know he&rsquo;s anxious to be out here with these guys practicing every day.&rdquo;
PASTNER TIME
Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner is excited about &mdash; well, everything.
He thinks the ACC is deep and great. His players are smart and hardworking. And his school is a leader in the space industry.
&ldquo;They found water on Mars from Georgia Tech,&rdquo; said Pastner, bragging on 14 Tech grads who&rsquo;ve been to space. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s amazing about this school. It&rsquo;s incredible.&rdquo;
Pastner gushed that he thinks North Carolina should be ranked No. 1 nationally to start the season. He also would pick Virginia as the league&rsquo;s best team. &ldquo;I know it sounds crazy when I say this,&rdquo; said Pastner, opening his seventh year with the Yellow Jackets.&nbsp;

Phillips believes the NCAA’s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools.

ACC Commisioner Phillips: Time to expand NCAA’s Big Dance

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills.
In this fourth installment, Mat goes in-depth on one of the greatest shooters of all-time: Reggie Miller. He explains what made him different from the marksmen who came before him, with insights from his former coaches in Indiana &mdash; Dan Burke and Bob Ociepka &mdash; his former teammate Rik Smits and basketball analyst Mike Prada.
<iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/23MwtT1TW3hVWON0f3P6Te?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
In his critically acclaimed, historical rendition of the NBA, "The Book of Basketball," The Ringer's Bill Simmons ranked NBA and Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller outside of the top 60 all-time:
&ldquo;Reggie Miller was the most overrated &lsquo;superstar&rsquo; of the past thirty years,&rdquo; Simmons opined.
To Simmons' credit, however, he later retracted this statement in the sequel podcast, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-of-basketball-2-0/id1483525141?i=1000462435000">The Book of Basketball 2.0.</a>" Revising his previous comments, Simmons suggested that in today's game, Miller would indeed constitute superstar status.
But what if Miller would have been a superstar in any era? What if he was an elite scorer and playmaker in ways that we couldn&rsquo;t comprehend during his time? And what if he served as an inspiration to the most prolific dynasty of the NBA's pace-and-space era?
Let's find out.
WHAT MADE MILLER SPECIAL
As a child, Miller would regularly participate in 1-on-1 matchups against his older sister, Cheryl, who turned out to be one of the greatest women's basketball players of all-time prior to untimely injuries. (She's enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.)
Because of Cheryl's superior size and strength, Reggie going inside was a moot point.
&ldquo;One of the reasons I practiced shooting from the outside was that Cheryl used to block my shots when I drove to the hoop,&rdquo; Miller recalled in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Being-Enemy-Reggie-Miller/dp/0684870398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his autobiography</a>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad feeling when your sister is knocking your best stuff into the rosebushes.&rdquo;
To defeat his sibling, Miller needed to hone in on his perimeter game.&nbsp;
That's exactly what he did.
Miller endured his sister&rsquo;s challenges and triumphed to become one of the premier shooters the NBA had ever seen. According to Cerebro Sports' Three-Point Efficiency metric (a shooting metric that combines three-point volume and efficiency to show the most lethal shooters), Miller finished in the 97th percentile or higher in all but one year from 1988 to 2004.
(The 2002-03 campaign was the exception, where he finished in the 94th percentile).
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/2.png" alt="" width="550" height="550" />
Visual provided by Cerebro Sports
Even more impressive is how he earned his standing in this data set. Unlike many of the great shooters of his time &mdash; who made their mark primarily off standstill catch-and-shoot opportunities &mdash; a majority of Miller&rsquo;s triples came while he was circling the half-court at top speed.
And again, much like his pickup contests growing up, this strategy was rooted in necessity.
&ldquo;The chances for spot-up [threes] weren&rsquo;t really there,&rdquo; said Dan Burke, Miller&rsquo;s former coach in Indiana and now an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;You have to have a real big, key player [you&rsquo;re playing off of] to get spot-ups.&rdquo;
To back Burke's words, think of one of the other notable three-point shooters of that time: Dan Majerle. Throughout his time in Phoenix and Miami, Majerle was gifted with potent penetrators like Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway, who could both consistently <a href="https://streamable.com/wd17v5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">break down a defense and get two feet in the paint</a>.
Meanwhile, Miller&rsquo;s most accomplished backcourt mate, Mark Jackson, was more of a post facilitator than a downhill threat.
Instead, Miller achieved sage status in the art of movement shooting. And for those following along at home, his technique can be divided into <a href="https://youtu.be/tv3EyzBuRb4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three keys</a>.
Key 1: Set up the Defender
Miller was an avid participant in basketball grappling &mdash; the practice of using physicality to manipulate and gain separation from your defender.
&ldquo;[Miller] embraced contact and sometimes got the feel of a guy so [he] could push off him and get open,&rdquo; Burke said.
The cunning sharpshooter also deployed harsh cuts and abrupt changes in speed to further decrease the likelihood that his opponent could shadow his movements.
&ldquo;When you watch him, it wasn&rsquo;t always the same speed,&rdquo; Burke continued. &ldquo;He changed speeds. He&rsquo;d stop and go.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Key 2: Read the Screen
Once he gained a step, Miller could interpret his optimal route-running path based on the direction his defender was chasing him. If his defender trailed outside the screen, Miller would juke inwards. If his defender rushed from the inside, Miller would retreat outside.
Miller's astute ability in this regard was largely based upon the continuity he achieved with his screen-setting bigs &mdash; Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and Rik Smits.
&ldquo;We would run through our sets almost every practice,&rdquo; Smits recalled to Basketball News. &ldquo;[A lot] of dummy offenses. Just run, run, run. We really concentrated on getting good screens set just to take full advantage of everything [Miller brought to the table].&rdquo;
"Reggie would talk to those bigs too," Burke added. "'Just stand there, I&rsquo;ll use you.'&rdquo;
Key 3: Footwork
Miller boasted balletic footwork, akin to that of a peak-<a href="https://youtu.be/Ye7xMqYqAbA">Torture Chamber Kevin McHale</a>, able to stop and pop effortlessly regardless of his travel velocity and angle.
&ldquo;[Typically], if you are right-handed, you want to come off [a pindown screen] going to your left so that your shoulder is closer to the rim,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter with Reggie. He could come with his right hand or with his left hand.&rdquo;
Miller's ambidexterity is a testament to his impeccable footwork. The direction didn't matter because his stride was sound both ways. And his ability to maintain balance during these sequences is even more impressive when you consider the defensive physicality that was accepted during his era.
&ldquo;Every time a guy like Reggie cut through the lane, the goal was to smack him. We used to say, &lsquo;Pinball him,&rsquo;" Burke recalled.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The league allows no &lsquo;impeding&rsquo; cutters now. There was much more holding then. But Reggie would stay locked and still get a rhythm jumper.&rdquo;
Here are all three of those keys in action:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/gqbq4g" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
ON-COURT PRODUCTION
Miller&rsquo;s shooting served as a double-edged sword for his reputation. On one end, he was revered as one of the game&rsquo;s top snipers. On the other, he&rsquo;d been pigeonholed into a singular role on the floor.
However, Miller was more than a marksman. He was a three-level scorer who utilized the <a href="https://streamable.com/ykdkx5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple-threat</a> position to score from the mid-range and at the rim.
&ldquo;One thing Reggie worked on, we used to call it &lsquo;Pete Newell,&rsquo;" Burke explained. &ldquo;Pete Newell was an old coach who used to have a big-man camp. His whole thing was: Jab, catch, create space. If the guy doesn&rsquo;t honor your jab, you go by him. If he backs up, you raise up and shoot it.
&ldquo;It was a series. And [Reggie] really worked on it.&rdquo;
This combination of three-level scoring and high conversion rates from the most efficient spots on the floor made Miller arguably the best backcourt scorer of the 1990s not named Michael Jordan.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
To compare the two, from 1989 to 1999, Miller tallied nine seasons where he ranked in the 90th percentile in both scoring volume and efficiency, while Jordan only touted two such seasons.&nbsp;
Additionally, Miller&rsquo;s unpredictable tendencies coming off screens and counter-laden arsenal made him one of the few stars to rarely improve his volume and efficiency during postseason play.
For instance, in 1994-95, Miller averaged 23.9 points per 75 possessions on 62.0% True Shooting. In the playoffs, those averages ballooned to 28.0 points and 63.2% True Shooting, respectively.&nbsp;
To show how rare that is, there was an inverse trend of that with John Stockton and Mitch Richmond &mdash; two guards who were (<a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1556676428426612738?s=20&amp;t=haKXS_VAVIAeIw7hLdSqkQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrongfully?</a>) regularly awarded All-NBA selections over Miller.&nbsp;
WEAVING THE THREAD
The first guard to function as an off-ball superstar was John Havlicek. When "Hondo" wasn&rsquo;t ripping and running in transition, he was usually <a href="https://streamable.com/uzgwhw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">curling off screens</a> for leaning mid-range jumpers.
A post-three-point line precursor to Miller was Joe Dumars (who coincidentally probably also took some of his All-NBA accolades). Another one of Miller&rsquo;s coaches in Indiana, Dick Versace, spent time as an assistant on the Detroit Pistons before becoming the head coach of the Pacers in 1988.
&ldquo;Joe Dumars had that knack for getting free off screens,&rdquo; said Bob Ociepka, an assistant on Versace's staff in Indiana and a 23-year NBA coach. &ldquo;Coach Versace, coming from [Detroit], ran a lot of the things Chuck Daly did &mdash; [like Dumars] coming off those staggered screens from the baseline.&rdquo;
Miller expressed a great admiration toward Dumars, even going as far as to call him the "unsung MVP of Dream Team II" in his book.
Dale Ellis was another <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1555600444763869186?s=20&amp;t=EBeojEhLms-WUc2csgmNdA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sniper</a> from that generation who cratered defenses using floppy action &mdash; a play in which a player, positioned under the basket, can choose whether to cut off a single screen to one side or a double screen to the other, per Basketball Dictionary.
However, because of the typical constraints placed on 2-guards at the time, neither Dumars nor Ellis could fully leverage their shooting prowess to their advantage.
&ldquo;[In that era], the shooting guard was supposed to be Jordan-esque,&rdquo; said Mike Prada, editor at The Athletic and "Spaced Out" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Three-Point-Revolution-Everything/dp/1629378860/ref=asc_df_1629378860/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=564700905732&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6603785140486578978&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9016969&amp;hvtargid=pla-1645726366795&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">author</a>. &ldquo;You were an all-around player, you got a lot of rebounds and assists, you went 1-on-1 a lot, you were explosive, you could dunk on people &mdash; sort of that Platonic Ideal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Miller was different from those guards; he didn&rsquo;t possess the same ball-handling or rebounding acumen. He was an outlier who weaponized his extraordinary gift to buoy an offense almost entirely through his off-ball presence.
Notably, the Pacer legend pioneered a term deeply entrenched in today&rsquo;s basketball jargon: gravity.
Dangerous from deep, Miller made <a href="https://en.mimi.hu/basketball/double_down.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling down</a> on his big-men teammates in the post a conversation killer. Teams would rather face guard him at the three-point line than send reinforcements to the interior, which opened up room for his low-post executioners to make decisions.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/yoqsg3" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Smits expressed a great deal of gratitude for the space Miller provided him to operate.
&ldquo;I was glad he was on my team. I could tell you that,&rdquo; Smits laughed.&nbsp;
Miller&rsquo;s landscape-altering effect is felt when you look through the lens of historian Ben Taylor&rsquo;s passing and playmaking statistics.
For example, in 1993-94, Gary Payton finished in the 80th percentile in Taylor&rsquo;s Box Creation stat &mdash; a metric that estimates playmaking (per <a href="https://backpicks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks.com</a>). Payton did this while simultaneously scoring in the 94th percentile in Passer Rating.
In the same season, despite only scoring in the 37th percentile in passing, Miller finished in the 77th percentile in playmaking.
Miller wasn&rsquo;t the on-ball initiator that Payton was, but this conveys that the former was still able to operate as a high-end creator thanks to the attention he garnered from his opponents.
&ldquo;The thing that Reggie Miller had that we didn&rsquo;t know how to identify back when he played &mdash; but now it&rsquo;s a no-brainer concept &mdash; is this idea of gravity,&rdquo; Prada said.
IMPACT ON TODAY'S GAME
In many circles, Ray Allen is often cited as the disciple who bears the most resemblance to Miller. Along with Allen, Richard Hamilton, JJ Redick and Kyle Korver have all played the part of "<a href="https://grantland.com/features/kyle-korver-nba-atlanta-hawks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offense unto themselves</a>" by utilizing their off-ball gravitational pull.
In the current NBA landscape, Miller&rsquo;s most obvious descendants share the same squad.
&ldquo;Two guys on the same team,&rdquo; Burke pointed out. "Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson."
The dynastic Golden State Warriors have become famous for pushing the boundaries of time and space by exploiting the shooting gravity their dynamic duo wields.&nbsp;
And, as fate would have it, Miller also once teamed up with a fellow gravity co-founder, Chris Mullin.&nbsp;
Mullin was arguably the closest comparison to Miller at the time, and together, the tandem caused wide-scale chaos and confusion &mdash; the likes of which the league would not see again until the Splash Brothers coalesced in the Bay Area nearly two decades later.
Tell me if these sequences look familiar:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/8i33cm" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
In both plays, the two pairs create a defensive breakdown simply by running past each other in the opposite direction.
Even more poetic, take a look at the Pacers&rsquo; opponent in the first clip. Who was a reserve on that team? None other than Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
&ldquo;All of the stuff that the Warriors did in the early days with the Steph/Klay combo &mdash; the crazy, figure-eight-type stuff &mdash; was very much ripped right from the Pacers,&rdquo; Prada explained.
Golden State expanded on Miller&rsquo;s semi-contained havoc, turning half-court offensive sets into absolute anarchy.
Miller&rsquo;s movement authored a great deal of mayhem, more than anyone of his time, but he was still forced to rein it in a bit to accommodate the structure of his offense. Nowadays, engines like Curry and Thompson have the discretion to graze the terrain as they see fit.
&ldquo;[For Miller], his was set plays, so it was easier for teams to really dial in,&rdquo; Burke explained. &ldquo;Curry is more of a constant, built into a random system.&rdquo;
But it was still the audacious Miller who paved the way. He crawled so that the Golden State empire could walk.
&ldquo;He was this type of player that, in an era that did not have a blueprint for this style of play, he provided it,&rdquo; Prada concluded.&nbsp;
He's the player responsible for the outline that triggered a dynasty.
Are we sure Reggie Miller was overrated?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/img_5152.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="550" />
Tune in next week for Part V of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Andrei Kirilenko &mdash; the five-tool defender.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-shane-battier-the-databall-defender-memphis-grizzlies-houston-rockets-miami-heat-daryl-morey-david-fizdale-detroit-pistons-draymond-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part III: "Shane Battier, the data-ball defender."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-rashard-lewis-all-star-stretch-four-orlando-magic-stan-van-gundy-dwight-howard-hedo-turkoglu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part II: "Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4."</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: "Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint."</a>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes all-time shooting great Reggie Miller and what separated him from the rest.

Blazing the Trail: Reggie Miller, the moving target

The last time Ben Simmons appeared in an NBA game was June 20, 2021.&nbsp;
It was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, which the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 103-96. Simmons contributed 5 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds and a steal, but the most memorable play occurred with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter when he passed up a wide-open layup. The loss ultimately led to the Simmons saga, which culminated in a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. 
Simmons has yet to suit up for the Nets, but that may change very soon. ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/woj-ben-simmons-targets-first-rounds-game-4-to-be-his-nets-debut" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that Simmons is targeting Game 4 against the Boston Celtics to make his season debut. The 25-year-old has been dealing with a herniated disc in his back, but he's made progress this week.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Based on Ben Simmons&rsquo; progress in practices this week &ndash; and the anticipation of him further accelerating in the coming days &ndash; Game 4 vs. Boston on Monday is looming as a realistic target for his Brooklyn debut, sources tell ESPN.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1516830553160527889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

If Simmons does get cleared, does it even make sense for Brooklyn to play him against Boston? Do the risks outweigh the rewards? We asked our BasketballNews.com writers to weigh in:
Mark Schindler: I'd probably lean toward not playing Ben. I understand the impact he&nbsp;could have, but the precedent of bringing players who haven't logged a regular-season minute into the middle of a playoff series makes me lean "no." I don't think it's as simple as, &ldquo;Well, he could just play 15-to-30 minutes&rdquo; because he needs rhythm. The players in the rotation already have a rhythm, and even then, it's still being sorted out. Brooklyn&rsquo;s rotation has been in flux and has varied all year, and it finally feels close to right. Given that, as well as Ben&rsquo;s injury timeline, it's murky for me.
Nekias Duncan: The Nets could use Simmons, particularly on the defensive end. They currently don't have a forward-sized player aside from Kevin Durant who is completely trustworthy. Considering the role Simmons would have to play on both ends, I don't think it'd be a crazy adjustment period for him. Defend, push after misses, execute some handoffs and hang around <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the dunker spot</a> otherwise.
Alex Kennedy:&nbsp;This is complicated. Simmons has been sidelined for nearly a year, so he's going to be rusty. It also seems unlikely that he'll be 100% healthy. A few weeks ago, Simmons needed an epidural because his herniated disc was causing him so much pain. Also, he hasn't played with any of these current Brooklyn players (aside from 49 games alongside Seth Curry in Philadelphia). He'll be trying to learn a new system, a new role and new teammates' tendencies on the fly; meanwhile, the other players will be trying to adjust to Simmons and the new rotation. If that wasn't tough enough, Simmons also has dealt with confidence issues and has struggled in high-pressure moments. This isn't throwing him into the deep end; it's tossing him into the Mariana Trench. I understand the temptation to play him since he's a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, and the Nets had the NBA's 15th-ranked defense this season (third-worst among the East playoff teams). There's no question that he'd help on that end, especially against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Still, I lean toward sitting him and focusing on next season. Playing him is the high-risk, high-reward move, but it feels like that could blow up in the team's face.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Sharon Brown: I would play him in limited sets. Simmons' role with the Nets is different than it was with the Sixers. Defense comes naturally to him. He will be able to get rebounds, alter passing lanes, block shots and more. All the Nets need him to do is play defense and pass the ball to either Kyrie or KD. I don't see how that can hurt the Nets.
Bryan Fonseca: F**k no! You're really going to take a guy who had that playoff experience last year and &mdash; fresh off a back injury and alleged mental-health issues &mdash; just throw him into this series? How does that make sense? Can he help from a basketball standpoint on the floor? Sure. That's why Brooklyn made the trade, isn't it? And maybe the Nets are confident in how they've gotten him ready, his progress, their culture and things of that nature. Cool. But to throw him back in there after a year off, after the conclusion to last season and after all that's unfolded since, I'm not sure what sense this makes. Perhaps he's mentally and physically ready, but it feels like a desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures move.
Spencer Davies: Despite having the luxury of an All-NBA defender and All-Star-caliber threat in the open floor, it'd be wise for the Brooklyn Nets to ease Ben Simmons back into competition. If that means he plays 10 total minutes in short, separated stints, so be it. He'd likely be tasked with roaming off the ball on defense and trying to create pick-sixes, in addition to containing Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown directly. There's always an inherent risk with debuting a player who hasn't played with your team in a playoff setting, particularly one where you could be experimenting in a situation that needs to be concrete (pending the series score). Still, there's always room for a playmaking, athletic, rangy weapon in the postseason, no matter how little Simmons is out there.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_18078844_lg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="500" />
Moke Hamilton: I&rsquo;m torn on this. I argued that the Nets <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/at-some-point-nets-may-be-wise-to-rule-ben-simmons-out-for-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">should shut Simmons down</a>, but I also recognize that Kevin Durant is no spring chicken. He and Kyrie don&rsquo;t necessarily have all the time in the world to bring a championship to Brooklyn, so you figure Simmons can help while they&rsquo;re both playing at a high level. Why not, right? At the end of the day, if you&rsquo;re Sean Marks, you have to trust your medical staff. If I&rsquo;m Brooklyn, I&rsquo;d let him run if everyone thought he was good to go. My major concern is that after a one-year layoff, coming back in the playoffs &mdash; especially against a team like Boston &mdash; is going from zero-to-100 pretty quickly. And let&rsquo;s keep in mind, medical staffs can be wrong. The Warriors probably didn&rsquo;t think Durant could do further damage to his &ldquo;calf strain&rdquo; by returning against Toronto in the 2019 NBA Finals. Wrong they were, obviously. I&rsquo;d let Simmons play, but I would slowly ramp him up. I also wouldn&rsquo;t be expecting him to be as effective as usual. At that point, you&rsquo;d have to wonder if he&rsquo;d even be a net-plus over the guy whose minutes he&rsquo;d be taking (Bruce Brown, in most instances)&hellip; But that&rsquo;s Steve Nash&rsquo;s problem.
Ethan Fuller: I don't think a mid-playoff-series toss into the teeth of the Celtics' defense is going to get Ben Simmons feeling confident and in rhythm after nearly a year on the sidelines. The Nets have already faced trials of team chemistry with the James Harden trade and Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s return to full-time play. Now they want to roll out Simmons and further disrupt a rotation that's finding its footing? Simmons is an All-World defender, and maybe that's what the Nets will need if they face elimination. But until then, I just can't logically picture him instantly clicking with the high stakes of the postseason.
Tommy Beer: I understand the hesitancy to introduce a new player into a heavily competitive series when he clearly hasn&rsquo;t had enough time to practice with his new teammates. However, I think throwing Ben Simmons into the mix is worth the gamble for Brooklyn, primarily because of the significant contributions he can make on the defensive end. Keep in mind, Simmons was named to the All-Defensive First Team for a second consecutive season in 2020-21 and was one of just two unanimous selections (along with Rudy Gobert). The Nets will need quality defenders if they hope to slow down a Celtics squad featuring Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Also, Simmons brings incredible versatility to the table. He is one of the very few players in the league capable of covering quick point guards (like Marcus Smart) as well as burly power forwards (like <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/appreciating-a-brilliant-showing-from-al-horford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Al Horford</a>). While the downside is obvious (expect Boston to send Simmons to the free-throw line early and often), the pros outweigh the cons for Brooklyn.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Jesse Blancarte: I am guessing that most people think the Brooklyn Nets should not play Ben Simmons this postseason. I understand the arguments. He has not played in a long time. He has struggled mightily in past postseasons. His shooting is a problem. He is playing on a new team and will have to try and fit into their offensive and defensive systems on the fly. He could become a distraction if he clams up and the collective focus turns to his struggles like it did in Philadelphia. I still think the Nets should integrate Simmons immediately if he is healthy. Assuming Simmons is healthy, he is one of the most versatile defenders in the league. He has the length, mobility and strength to defend guards and forwards and can jump passing lanes to create easy fastbreak opportunities. Integrating him on offense will be more complicated, but a progressive ramp-up could pay off down the road, assuming the Nets can advance past the Boston Celtics (which is not a certainty at this point). If he doesn&rsquo;t look healthy, or if he is struggling, then bench him or scale back his minutes. But considering his skillset, his playmaking ability and the fact that he has Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to distribute the ball to, I think there is too much upside to not give him a chance. Without him, the Nets are viable contenders, but if Simmons is activated and plays well, the Nets could become the favorite to win it all.
Justin Lewis: The Nets clearly need a body to throw at Jayson Tatum and another playmaker to take some pressure off of Kyrie and KD. They don't need Simmons to score a single point. His defensive prowess and ability to start a fastbreak and make plays for his teammates are valuable enough to throw him out there despite the rust.
Drew Maresca: Simmons is a risky play at best. Back injuries are fickle, and proceeding without sufficient time to gauge how well he responds to contact is dangerous. Simmons may have caught a break in that he avoided surgery. Why tempt fate? If his back is re-injured in any way, surgery is all but guaranteed, and that would result in additional complications. As much as Brooklyn and its fans are dying to push their chips to the center of the table, I'd proceed with caution.
Matt John: There are just so many unknowns surrounding what Ben Simmons could do for the Nets. He hasn't played all season and he's playing for a new team that will put him in a different role from what he was accustomed to in Philadelphia. Simmons could be a game-changer for Brooklyn, but that remains in the abstract until further notice. He's a great passer, but he's not going to have the ball too much playing next to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. He's a great defender, but there's only so much ground he can cover for a sub-par defensive team like the Nets. Right now, Brooklyn's problem is that they need guys who can help them on both ends of the floor outside of KD and Kyrie. Defensively, Simmons helps them immensely. Offensively, he may pose spacing problems. On paper, Simmons should help slow down Jayson Tatum, but since he's coming off a back injury, there's no telling if he's physically capable of covering one of the league's best players. If he comes back, he won't be eased in because the Nets will be throwing him to the wolves. If he thinks he's ready, he'll have to prove it right away.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1habvwh r-eqz5dr r-11rk87y r-1dye5f7 r-m611by r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!&nbsp;
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Ben Simmons is hoping to make his season debut in Game 4 against the Celtics. Should the Nets to play him? Our writers weigh in.

NBA Roundtable: Should the Brooklyn Nets play Ben Simmons right now?

March Madness is underway!
Across the country, teams are competing in conference tournaments and trying to punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is almost here, and then the tourney starts next Tuesday.
If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down on Thursday.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17866547_lg.jpg" alt="" width="549" height="449" />
Games of the Day
Indiana def. Michigan 74-69 &mdash; B1G Second Round
With 11:03 remaining, Michigan led 60-43 and appeared to be in complete control. The Hoosiers would go on a 20-2 run and took the life right out of the Wolverines, completing the comeback by winning 74-69. Trayce Jackson-Davis led all players with 24 points and 4 blocks in a stunner. Indiana faces No. 1 Illinois next.
Texas A&amp;M def. Florida 83-80 in OT &mdash; SEC Second Round
This one was wild. The Aggies dominated all afternoon and held a 9-point lead with 1:07 to play, but the Gators went on a 12-3 run of the next 50 seconds to tie it at 70-70, forcing the game into overtime. They stayed deadlocked at 78-78 with 1:10 left in overtime when Hassan Diarra hit a triple with one second on the clock to win 83-80. A huge win for a true Bubble Team in A&amp;M.
Arizona def. Stanford 84-80 &mdash; Pac-12 Quarterfinals
The largest lead either way today was 7 points &mdash; in a game where Stanford was given a whopping 5% chance of victory. The Cardinal took a 75-74 lead with just over three minutes to go, but the Wildcats had answers. Kerr Kriisa exiting with injury is important to monitor, but Christian Koloko led the team with 24 points as Arizona survives and advances.
Miami (FL) def. Boston College 71-69 in OT &mdash; ACC Quarterfinals
Kam McGusty led the Canes with 16 points in the nail-biter, as they avoided the upset in overtime. Only one basket was scored in the final 2:30 of the contest &mdash; a Jordan Miller layup that sealed the deal. A big save by Miami.&nbsp;
Villanova def. St. John&rsquo;s 66-65 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
The Red Storm let a 17-point second half lead slip away to end their season. Villanova was carried by its starting five, with only 7 points coming from the bench unit. Caleb Daniels led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Justin Moore added 15 points of his own.&nbsp;
Toledo def. Central Michigan 72-71 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
In a game where the largest lead was 7 points for each team, Toledo held on for the 1-point win. Harrison Henderson scored with 20 seconds remaining to make it 71-70 Central Michigan, but a RayJ Dennis layup with 10 seconds left would seal the deal. Setric Milner Jr. led the way with 22 points for the Rockets. It's a big win for Toledo who currently projects a No. 13 seed.
Providence def. Butler 65-61 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
This one was back-and-forth from the tip, as the teams traded leads the entire contest. Tied at 55 with 3:06 remaining, Simas Lukosius hit a big pair of free throws for Butler to take the lead, but Al Durham hit a huge triple with 43 seconds to go for the Friars to take a 61-59 lead. Durham would follow with a dunk at the end of the game to seal the deal at 65-61. Despite the loss, it was a hard-fought game by the Bulldogs.&nbsp;
Wyoming def. UNLV 59-56 &mdash; Mountain West Quarterfinals
The Cowboys held a 9-point lead in the second half, but allowed the Rebels to fight their way back into it. Xavier DuSell hit a huge three with 30 seconds, and then, Brendan Wenzel iced the game with a pair of free throws. A great game from UNLV&rsquo;s Bryce Hamilton comes up just short.&nbsp;
Akron def. Buffalo 70-68 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
This was a fight from start to finish. Led by Ali Ali&rsquo;s 19-point effort and a pair of Greg Tribble free throws with four seconds remaining, the Zips survive and advance. They will face No. 1 seed Toledo on Friday afternoon in the MAC semis.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868829_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="367" />
The Upsets, the Madness
Oklahoma def. Baylor 72-67 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Sooners took the lead with 11:51 to play and never gave it back. With a balanced offensive attack of five players in double-digits, Oklahoma shocked the Bears. Jacob Groves led the way with 15 points, while Marvin Johnson provided 12 off the bench.&nbsp;
Vanderbilt def. Alabama 82-76 &mdash; SEC Second Round
Bama led by 10 points at the break but Scotty Pippen Jr. and Co. had other plans. Vandy roared back to take a 68-67 lead with 4:26 to play, and was able to hold the Crimson Tide off the rest of the way. Jordan Wright hit a pair of free throws late to ice the game, and the Commodores advance. Pippen Jr. ended with 26 points and 7 assists.
TCU def. Texas 65-60 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Horned Frogs had a win probability of 29.3% entering this one, and that&rsquo;s all they needed. After being down 40-20 in the first half, TCU did a complete 180 and outscored the Longhorns 45-20 the rest of the way. Mike Miles and Co. are setting themselves up well, and will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 semis.
Penn State def. Ohio State 71-68 &mdash; Big Ten Second Round
The Nittany Lions were given a 24.2% chance of winning today, and they did just that behind Sam Sessoms' 18 points off the bench. Jalen Pickett also had a huge game with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Penn State moves on to play No. 3 Purdue.&nbsp;
Grambling def. Southern 60-58 &mdash; SWAC Quarterfinals
Led by Tra&rsquo;Michael Moton&rsquo;s 12 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, Grambling took the lead with 10 minutes left in the game and never gave it back. The Tigers will face Texas Southern next.&nbsp;
Tulsa def. Wichita State 73-67 &mdash; American First Round
The Golden Hurricane had four players with 10 or more points, including two with at least 20. After an 11-19 season, this was a nice win for Tulsa as it tries to make a late push in the conference. Tulsa will move on to face No. 2 SMU.&nbsp;
Portland State def. Southern Utah 77-65 &mdash; Big Sky Quarterfinals
The Vikings entered this game under .500 on the season, but put up 77 points on 51.9% shooting from the floor. They held Southern Utah to a lowly 36.8% from the floor and are able to advance.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868177_lg.jpg" alt="" width="571" height="414" />
Standout Performers
Noah Fernandes (UMass): 29 points, 7 assists
Spencer Jones (Stanford): 28 points, 8 rebounds
Jimmy Boeheim (Syracuse): 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Grant Sherfield (Nevada): 25 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
Joel Murray (Long Beach State): 25 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana): 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 10-17 FG
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Nate Watson (Providence): 26 points, 7 rebounds, 9-14 FG
Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt): 26 points, 7 assists
Tristen Newton (East Carolina): 26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists
Jordan Walker (UAB): 26 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Dillon Jones (Weber State): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Prentiss Hubb (Notre Dame): 23 points, 5 assists
Zyon Pullin (UC Riverside):&nbsp;23 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Amadou Sow (UC Santa Barbara): 21 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Bryce Hamilton (UNLV): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Mahki Morris (Abilene Christian): 22 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Chuba Ohams (Fordham): 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals
Darien Jackson (Tulsa): 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Brady Manek (UNC): 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Malique Jacobs (Kent State): 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
Kowacie Reeves (Florida): 21 points, 6 rebounds
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17866936_lg.jpg" alt="" width="381" height="272" />
2022 NBA Draft: Prospect Watch&nbsp;
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Tari Eason (LSU): 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Justin Lewis (Marquette): 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Ochai Agbaji (Kansas): 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Trevor Keels (Duke): 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Jabari Walker (Colorado): 18 points, 16 rebounds
Iverson Molinar (Miss. State): 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Collin Gillespie (Villanova): 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
David Roddy (Colorado State): 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

March Madness is underway! If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down during Thursday's games.

March Madness: Conference tournament Thursday recap

With the NBA trade deadline over and done with, the BasketballNews.com staff wants to share our thoughts on the moves that went down. Since Nekias Duncan thoroughly <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grading-every-move-from-the-2022-nba-trade-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">graded each and every trade from the past week</a>, we asked the rest of our team to react to the results of the ever-so-eventful week.
Yesterday, our staff shared their <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-who-are-your-biggest-2022-nba-trade-deadline-winners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">winners of the 2022 NBA trade deadline</a>. Now, in&nbsp;our latest Roundtable, we asked our writers the following question:
Who are the biggest losers of the NBA trade deadline? 
Alex Kennedy:&nbsp;The Los Angeles Lakers feel like losers since they weren't able to make a trade when it's clear that changes were desperately needed. However, I'm not surprised that they weren't able to make a move given how their assets are perceived around the league. The Sacramento Kings stand out too. It&rsquo;s rare for a blockbuster trade to warrant such a one-sided response amongst people around the NBA, but every <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-decisionmakers-criticize-kings-trade-i-dont-get-it-at-all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA decision-maker I spoke to questioned the Sabonis-Haliburton trade for Sacramento</a> &mdash; mainly because the Kings traded away a 21-year-old budding star and didn't seem to improve all that much.
Spencer Davies: While Josh Hart is fun... I, uh, got nothing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Why not try out Nickeil Alexander-Walker with Anfernee Simons instead of flipping him to Utah? Simons handled the ball alongside his partner Gary Trent Jr. (extra thumbs down for that one; do you see what the man&rsquo;s doing to teams in Toronto?) quite a bit. Kudos to those who are gaining valuable experience &mdash; shout out to C.J. Elleby and Greg Brown Jr., not your fault &mdash; and those former lottery picks who are trying to stick &mdash; Justise Winslow and Dennis Smith Jr. With that said: This is considered a win-now roster that is retooled? Not quite. We&rsquo;ll see what interim general manager Joe Cronin does (if he&rsquo;s in charge, that is) with the oodles of cap space the team has created. Surely Damian Lillard is watching, though he has already voiced his thoughts on staying in Portland.
Mark Schindler: It's hard for me to not view Utah as the biggest loser at the deadline. I like Nickeil Alexander-Walker as a prospect, but he's had a very rough season and is a negative-impact NBA player at the moment. There's an intriguing foundation with him that Utah could unearth more of and help him build upon, but the issue is where the Jazz are right now. They needed immediate help defensively at the point of attack and the wing, yet NAW is not really that guy right now. Perhaps Utah envisions him being squeezed into a honed-in role, more focused as a connector and less as a shot-creator; expecting a change in wiring mid-season before a playoff run when this team NEEDS a deep run to succeed, is questionable. I'm hopeful for NAW, doubtful for this season.
Ethan Fuller: Both sides of that Mavericks-Wizards trade... lost? Kristaps Porzingis is not the type of upgrade to sway Washington's playoff hopes or convince Bradley Beal the future is in good hands. It also creates a logjam of ill-fitting bigs with Porzingis, Daniel Gafford and Thomas Bryant. Meanwhile, the Mavericks added a questionable fit of their own in Spencer Dinwiddie and didn't address the resulting needs in the frontcourt. I don't get why either side was motivated to get this deal done, and I question if either team meaningfully improved.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Moke Hamilton: I think there&rsquo;s enough of the pie to go around. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks have gotta be somewhat disappointed that they weren&rsquo;t able to do anything of significance, but I think the Lakers are probably the &ldquo;winner&rdquo; here. With LeBron James continuing to advance in age, they came into the season with championship aspirations, but as of right now, would have to play their way into the playoffs. The team still doesn&rsquo;t seem to have an identity and Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel obviously have some issues they need to figure out. To be honest, I&rsquo;m also not too enthused about the Kristaps Porzingis deal for Washington. If he can stay healthy for them, then I&rsquo;ll feel differently, but at this point, he has to prove that he&rsquo;s worthy of the hype and the big contract he got from Dallas. I know the Wizards wanted to get away from Spencer Dinwiddie, but drama has followed Kristaps in each of his previous two stops. Now, he&rsquo;ll be Dallas&rsquo; headache.
Bryan Fonseca: I'd like to say us since we were deprived of the theater scenario where Brooklyn and Philly don't make the James Harden-Ben Simmons swap, but I won't. This could be Dallas or Washington because of what they actually did, but since that was one trade, we'll let them cancel each other out. Let's go with the Knicks and Lakers. I don't know how those teams just stand pat. The Knicks should've moved off a couple of guys, like Alec Burks and Kemba Walker, to gain draft capital and free up minutes elsewhere. And the Lakers, well ... yanno.
Evan Sidery: Not many teams stand out here, but one obvious one is the Washington Wizards. What exactly were the Wizards thinking with Thursday&rsquo;s acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis? Hopefully the Wizards truly don't believe Porzingis can keep Bradley Beal around long-term, but here we are. Porzingis is a great talent, but he's simply proven to be unreliable due to continuous injury woes. In D.C., Porzingis plays next to Beal and a lot of young, raw talent. The team-player fit here is just so confusing.
Mat Issa: The Bulls and Jazz are the two biggest losers to me. For the Jazz, the need for an upgrade at the perimeter defensively was pretty apparent, but instead, they only came away with Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who is a fine young player, but probably not a bonafide playoff stopper. For the Bulls, their inactivity hurts them here, as pretty much every other top-nine team in the conference did something to bolster their roster for the stretch run.
Justin Lewis: The Charlotte Hornets didn&rsquo;t do anything to improve their atrocious defense. Portland is in absolute shambles, moving quality rotation pieces for hypotheticals. The Dallas Mavericks were making strides and they blew it up for what?
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Who are the biggest NBA trade deadline losers? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: Who are the biggest losers of the NBA trade deadline?

Moke Hamilton reacts to the BasketballNews.com staff's picks for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game and explains his selections.

Selecting the 2022 NBA All-Star reserves

The holidays are traditionally a time for reflection. And family. And NBA basketball.&nbsp;
While COVID has returned to rain on our collective parades, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear that, for better or worse, the NBA will not pause the season. And as long as the NBA continues playing, Basketball News is here to analyze the results, trades, rumors and more.
While Christmas Day was a major showcase for the league, the midway point of December also marked another key day for the league, as Dec. 15 is the trigger date that a player who was signed in the 2021 offseason can be traded. Considering the NBA trade deadline is Feb. 10, Christmas (and the weeks leading up to it) was an opportunity for teams to showcase players they would like to move.
Analyzing rumors broken by the likes of ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski makes up much of the discourse around the NBA&rsquo;s trade season, but we in the media rarely pontificate about we would like to see. Generally speaking, this is intuitive in that discussing non-substantiative rumors is essentially a trip to fantasy island.&nbsp;
Still, sometimes trade ideas are so tantalizing and obvious that we can&rsquo;t help ourselves. And that&rsquo;s where we find ourselves today.&nbsp;
With that in mind, let&rsquo;s discuss an unlikely trade that, in my opinion, would greatly benefit each team involved hypothetically. Salaries don&rsquo;t match perfectly, so it would be a bit more involved than a one-for-one deal, but it&rsquo;s too good to ignore. So, let&rsquo;s fast-track this one to the top of a late-Christmas and early New Years wish list.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The New York Knicks are pretty darn polarizing. Their fans are absolute diehards, but New York receives an unfair amount of national attention considering that the team has qualified for just one postseason in the past eight years.&nbsp;
Still, even the haters had to admit that the Knicks looked like they were on to something last season. They ended the year 41-31 as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and they boasted their first All-Star selection since 2017-18 in Julius Randle. But they had an unforgiving first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, who effectively game planned for Randle and showed the entire league how to neutralize New York's roster &mdash; and they&rsquo;ve been stuck in the mud ever since.&nbsp;
The Knicks are presently 15-18 (good for 12th in the East) with limited reason to be optimistic. It&rsquo;s simply not working as planned.
Even before COVID sidelined six of its players, New York was clearly out of sync. The team ranks 22nd in Defensive Rating (110.5), 27th in Pace (96.3) and has received very little from its offseason signings. Despite recent signs of life, Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier are both averaging near career-lows in minutes and points per game, as well as field goal percentage.
Still, there is enough of a track record to believe that head coach Tom Thibodeau will right the ship defensively; Walker was a relatively affordable signing, and Fournier is in the first year of a fairly pricey deal, meaning getting out of it would cost assets too.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17410134_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" />
Unless the Knicks believe that adding some combination of peripheral pieces will make them a contender, there are limited ways forward. On the bright side, they have a young and vibrant supporting cast. On the not-so-bright side &mdash; and an oft-ignored point in and around New York &mdash; the Knicks were not going to compete for a championship with a roster built around Randle. So, while this proposal might irk some, remember that is allows New York to remain competitive, while becoming even younger.&nbsp;
Through 33 games, Randle has taken a step back from last season. He&rsquo;s averaging over four fewer points per game (19.9) and shooting significantly worse from behind the arc (33.7%). He&rsquo;s not fairing much better from inside the arc (47.3%), and he&rsquo;s turning the ball over more than ever before (3.5 turnovers per contest) too. On the whole, Randle is making bad decisions, dribbling into double teams and &mdash; as discussed by our very own Moke Hamilton &mdash; has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/as-a-franchise-player-julius-randle-has-left-a-lot-to-be-desired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set a bad example for his younger teammates</a>.&nbsp;
But there&rsquo;s a lot wrong in New York that&rsquo;s impacting Randle&rsquo;s play and attitude, and it includes the play of Walker and Fournier. RJ Barrett&rsquo;s poor shooting isn&rsquo;t helping either. Ultimately, though, Randle is easier to move than Fournier and returns far more in terms of talent and/or assets, and the idea of moving Barrett would be met with a full-on mutiny.
But Randle can still be an impressively productive player. He&rsquo;s strong, versatile, relatively young (27), helps initiate the offense and defends multiple positions. He just needs to play with a different mix of players.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Enter the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers have made it clear that they are not interested in a full-on rebuild. But considering the bevy of rumors sounding off out of Indianapolis, it&rsquo;s clearly not all sunshine and rainbows either. Players involved in rumors include <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exploring-trade-destinations-for-domantas-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domantas Sabonis</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myles Turner</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-caris-levert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caris LeVert</a> &mdash; all of whom should be of interest to the Knicks. (Editor's Note: BasketballNews.com examined potential destinations for all three. Click the hyperlinks to read more.)
Sabonis is the only one of those three I would consider swapping for Randle.&nbsp;
Sabonis is still just 25. He&rsquo;s an absolute bull, averaging 20.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game last season. His numbers are down slightly this year, but it&rsquo;s hard to blame him considering that the wheels are falling off in Indiana. Sabonis can play the 4 or the 5, meaning swapping him and Randle would enable the Knicks to slide prized second-year player Obi Toppin into the starting lineup, too. It also would allow Fournier and Barrett to take on more in terms of initiating and creating, and would cut the overall payroll a bit this season and beyond.
But this isn&rsquo;t only beneficial for New York. In fact, it might be more beneficial for the Pacers.
Indiana would receive a more dynamic playmaker in return, and one who is signed at a moderately affordable number through at least 2024-25. The Pacers would, theoretically, trot out a core of Malcom Brogdon, LeVert, Randle and Turner &mdash; all of whom are beyond serviceable. It would free up Indiana&rsquo;s big man logjam and provides them with an elite scorer. Randle would probably look better alongside an established point guard, too, and Brogdon is just flat-out better than Derrick Rose or Kemba Walker at this stage of their careers.
Ultimately, Knicks and Pacers fans will both be furious with this idea. But as they sit at the 12th and 13th spots in the Eastern Conference, respectively, I reply by with this: Is either group happy with their teams&rsquo; chances of winning a championship?
Well, this move would put both on a better path toward doing so.

Drew Maresca ponders whether the Knicks should move Julius Randle and see if another struggling East team would be interested.

Making the case for the Knicks to trade Julius Randle

A month is only a fraction of the NBA calendar, but it does set a tone for teams as they find their groove. Some franchises have burst out of the gate, while other have underwhelmed to start.
While it's still a small sample size, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers earlier this week:
<h3>One month into the season, which team are you most concerned about?</h3>
Alex Kennedy: It has to be the New Orleans Pelicans, right? The team is 3-15 and they rank in the bottom-five both offensively (26th) and defensively (29th). Zion Williamson will likely miss a few more weeks as he recovers from a fractured right foot; he&rsquo;ll be re-evaluated on Nov. 24 to determine whether he can start participating in full team workouts. Executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pelicans-exec-david-griffin-on-hot-seat-after-slow-start-altercation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly on the hot seat</a> due to the team&rsquo;s struggles. Things are ugly behind the scenes too, as Griffin and former Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry recently got into an ugly altercation at Smoothie King Center and had to be physically separated. But wait, there&rsquo;s more! There are some big-picture concerns too: Back in June, <a href="https://theathletic.com/2656520/2021/06/17/inside-the-end-of-stan-van-gundy-with-the-pelicans-and-an-ongoing-battle-to-keep-zion-williamson-happy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic reported</a> that some of Zion&rsquo;s family members &ldquo;want Williamson on another team" and have "voiced their displeasure with the organization." Yikes.
Nekias Duncan: It has to be the Atlanta Hawks for me. They've looked disjointed on both sides of the floor, a troubling sign for a team fresh off a Conference Finals berth. The defense has fallen off a cliff; the offense doesn't generate enough paint touches. Lineups have fluctuated, and now De'Andre Hunter is expected to miss time with a wrist injury. Hopefully they'll find some semblance of rhythm soon.
Spencer Davies: Before the season, even before the Zion Williamson injury news, the New Orleans Pelicans were kind of trending downward for me. There just seems to be a disconnect somewhere from the top on down. Add in Brandon Ingram &mdash; who&rsquo;s having a career year, in spite of NOLA&rsquo;s issues &mdash; missing some time in early November, and this team has had to rely on a lot of Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte&rsquo; Graham to push them forward. The former is having a great individual season statistically, but the Pels just can&rsquo;t seem to A) play with leads or B) keep games close. Two wins in 16 games is hardly going to do you any favors in the Western Conference. You have to feel for Willie Green, and it almost is reminiscent of what Stephen Silas went through (and is still going through) in Houston.
Ethan Fuller: The Atlanta Hawks have come out of the starting gate with one of the worst defenses in the NBA. Now they've lost De'Andre Hunter for two months due to a wrist injury. It also concerns me that, per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta ranks 26th in rim frequency and 28th in three-point frequency but 2nd in mid-range frequency. It doesn't seem like the offense is maximizing its talent, and the defense is giving opponents an advantage.
Jannelle Moore: The Los Angeles Lakers, at this point, are the most concerning. Granted, LeBron James was out of the lineup for most of the start. But that doesn't explain their struggles on defense. They have AD and Russ; they shouldn't be struggling to this degree.
Moke Hamilton: Portland, without question. Personally, I feel like it&rsquo;s time for everyone to move on, including Damian Lillard. It looks like, many times, they&rsquo;re just going through the motions and don&rsquo;t really have the look of a team that believes it&rsquo;s actually playing for something. As much as I like Dame and have advocated for everyone to leave him alone, it&rsquo;s time to send him elsewhere, along with CJ McCollum.
Evan Sidery: New Orleans, not only because Zion Williamson&rsquo;s injury issues, but also because of the lack of depth. Brandon Ingram is an All-Star talent. Jonas Valanciunas is a solid starting center. Outside of that, there&rsquo;s not much else to bank on consistently. The Pelicans&rsquo; slow start has put them into a deep hole that Zion likely won&rsquo;t be able to dig them out of. New Orleans is on the fast track to a top draft pick.
Blake Hairston: The Boston Celtics have been the team I've been concerned about for a few years now. Each season they're good but not good enough, and now the teams around them have gotten better. It just feels like each season we question what this team's ceiling is and this year that question got a little murkier.
Alexander Cohen: Despite Ja Morant picking up from where he left off in the playoffs, averaging a career-high 26 points per game, the Grizzlies are in trouble. They own the NBA's worst defensive rating and their offense isn't much better, ranked 20th. While Dillon Brooks returning from injury could help shore up their defense, it wasn't enough to prevent an embarrassing double-digit loss to 1-12 New Orleans Pelicans in his second game back. The Grizzlies are a young team, but they need to exhibit improvement in Ja Morant's third season after a massive Jaren Jackson Jr. extension, not take a step backwards.
Drew Maresca: Selfishly, the New York Knicks. As far as their record is concerned, New York is right where you&rsquo;d expect. But there are a number of problems. Generally, the Knicks have the 18th-best defensive rating, down from third last season. That&rsquo;s worrisome. Even more alarming is their starting unit&rsquo;s defense, which had the worst defensive rating of any five-man rotation ever entering play last Monday night, according to StatMuse. Coach Tom Thibodeau is known for defense, so there is reason to believe this will right itself. But if it doesn&rsquo;t, it&rsquo;s going to get significantly uglier. The Knicks play the fourth-toughest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon.
Jesse Blancarte: The Bucks. Key players have been sidelined, but the reigning champs are struggling more than I would have imagined to start this season. There are several teams missing key players that are managing better than Milwaukee, but it&rsquo;s still only November. There is time for the Bucks to turn things around and climb their way up the Eastern Conference standings.
Check out our other roundtable discussions, where we asked our writers about which <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-team-is-better-than-its-record-indicates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teams are better than their record shows</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-has-surprised-you-in-the-first-month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which player has surprised them the most</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-which-player-will-shake-off-a-slow-start" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which star will be able to shake off their slow start</a>.

The New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks are among the most concerning teams to start the season.

NBA Roundtable: Which team are you most concerned about?

Just three days into the 2021-22 season, the NBA is already off and running. We've had a wild double-overtime finish at Madison Square Garden, a comeback thriller in Charlotte and we're seeing familiar faces in new places. (People have wasted no time in firing off their hot takes, too.) Steph Curry even went off for a classic performance on Thursday night to spoil another team's season-opener.
With our Evan Sidery debuting his <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Nothing But Bets" podcast</a> on the Basketball News Podcast Network, we decided to have some fun by predicting how some franchises will fare record-wise in the upcoming campaign, primarily using <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DraftKings' preseason NBA win totals</a>.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Which team will hit its &ldquo;Under&rdquo; win total?
Alex Kennedy: The Los Angeles Lakers' projected win total is 52.5, but that seems high to me. Yes, this team is very talented, but given the age of this roster, I feel like they are going to do everything they can to make sure their veterans are ready for the postseason &mdash; even if that means sacrificing a few regular-season games here and there. The Lakers&rsquo; goal is to win a championship, not compete for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
Nekias Duncan: I'm just not feeling it with the Pelicans this year. It's hard to believe in the defense with some of the moves they made this off-season, and it's hard to trust Zion Williamson &mdash; still recovering from a foot surgery we didn't know about until media day &mdash; to stay on the court long enough to drive consistent winning. (DraftKings <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preseason win total was 38.5</a>.)
Spencer Davies: Like most of the general NBA public, I've bought my ticket to take the "Pelicans are a mess" train. They're down Zion Williamson, who can't buy a break injury-wise and, as a result, can't stay physically prepared. They don't really have an identity quite yet, which makes sense with a new head coach in Willie Green; however, trying to figure things out while battling in the West is not exactly something you can be patient with if you're looking for immediate success. Brandon Ingram will likely continue to keep balling out. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is due for a big jump. Naji Marshall is an underappreciated piece to the puzzle. Kira Lewis Jr. intrigues me. Rookie Trey Murphy III is a sniper. They even have a number of acquired respectable vets to help those guys along &mdash; it just won't be enough to eclipse 38.5 wins (or make the postseason, for the record, in my opinion).
Ethan Fuller: I just don't see how an Indiana Pacers squad that treaded water this summer will be able to keep pace in an Eastern Conference with a much-improved middle tier. The team is missing their top-two wing options in T.J. Warren and Caris LeVert due to injuries and didn't add substantial talent outside of lottery pick Chris Duarte. Indiana will have to storm out of the gates to stay in the playoff picture, and I worry that time is running out on the current rotation. (42.5 <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on DK</a>,)
Moke Hamilton: Tough call, but I think I&rsquo;ll take the New Orleans Pelicans. I&rsquo;ve seen most books have them around the 39-win mark, and although that&rsquo;s probably been adjusted with Zion missing the first couple weeks of the season (at least), I think NOLA is going to disappoint this season. I like some of their acquisitions, including Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte&rsquo; Graham, but the West has is just so much better around them. I think they&rsquo;ll end up closer to 30 wins than 40, unless newly-instilled head coach Willie Green has an ace or two up his sleeve.
Evan Sidery: I&rsquo;m going to roll with the Indiana Pacers here at under 42.5. Although they have a solid roster and a great head coach in Rick Carlisle, injuries have consistently gotten in the way of improvement for them. It's already happening with Caris LeVert and T.J. Warren. I see Indiana struggling to make the play-in tournament as some potentially massive roster changes could be in store next offseason.
Alexander Cohen: The Charlotte Hornets will continue to have buzz around them with the expected improvement of LaMelo Ball, but I would be surprised to see the Hornets win 39 or more games (38.5 on DK). While their consistency in play and availability was sporadic, they lost solid players in Devonte' Graham, Malik Monk, and Cody Zeller over the offseason. They will have to rely on the health of Gordon Hayward and the continued exceptional shooting of Ball and Terry Rozier, which could regress. Kelly Oubre Jr. could fit in beautifully as a stretch-4 with Ball, but if he's not played in that role or doesn't buy into it, they could be in trouble. (And for what it's worth, Oubre suited up at shooting guard and small forward in Wednesday's debut.)
Blake Hairston: Until the Ben Simmons saga is resolved, the Philadelphia 76ers may be hitting under 50.5 wins projected by Caesars (same number at DK). Not having an All-Star caliber player in your lineup is going to hurt. You can only hope the Sixers find a deal for Simmons and get a solid player(s) to fill the void left by Simmons. I have a couple others in mind, but the Sixers are first to mind today.
Mark Gunnels: The Boston Celtics won&rsquo;t win more than 46 games (46.5 <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on DK</a>). Aside from acquiring Josh Richardson and bringing back Al Horford, this team didn&rsquo;t do much to improve their roster in the offseason, and the East continues to get better and better. They&rsquo;re relying on Robert Williams to be their lone rim-protector, but he&rsquo;s yet to prove he can consistently be that guy.

Which team will hit its “under” win total? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Which team will hit its 'Under' win total?

Just two days into the 2021-22 season, the NBA is already off and running. We've had a wild double-overtime finish at Madison Square Garden, a comeback thriller in Charlotte and we're seeing familiar faces in new places. (People have wasted no time in firing off their hot takes, too.) And there are still four teams who will make their season debut on Thursday evening too.
With our Evan Sidery debuting his <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Nothing But Bets" podcast</a> on the Basketball News Podcast Network, we decided to have some fun by predicting how some franchises will fare record-wise in the upcoming campaign, primarily using <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DraftKings' preseason NBA win totals</a>.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Which team will hit its &ldquo;Over&rdquo; win total? 
Alex Kennedy: Last season, the Phoenix Suns finished with the second-best record in the NBA and went on an NBA Finals run despite relying heavily on their young core as well as incoming veterans (Chris Paul and Jae Crowder). This season, those young players should benefit greatly from that postseason experience, and the group should have improved chemistry thanks to their continuity. The Suns are bringing back largely the same roster, with a few excellent offseason additions such as JaVale McGee and Landry Shamet. Both role players fill a need for Phoenix and add to the Suns&rsquo; already impressive depth. Despite all of this, Phoenix enters this season with a projected win total of 51.5, meaning oddsmakers expect them to regress since they won 51 games last season while playing 10 fewer games (since the NBA had a 72-game season). I&rsquo;m hitting the over on the Suns.
Nekias Duncan: Sign me up for the Minnesota Timberwolves' over (34.5). The mind-meld between Karl-Anthony Towns and head coach Chris Finch seems like a perfect match. Anthony Edwards, D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley should provide plenty of scoring support. Add in the fact that they're playing defense more aggressively, which fits their personnel much better than it did last season, and I'm ready to call my shot with the Wolves as a play-in team.
Spencer Davies: I think I've got to pick the Washington Wizards at 34.5. If you've been following along on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keepin-it-94/id1545629382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keepin' It 94</a>, you'd have heard how much I loved their offseason. Not only did they address defensive areas of need, they also brought in a brand new head coach in Wes Unseld Jr. to have a clean slate going into 2021-22. Bradley Beal is still Bradley Beal, and he'll have some of the weight off his shoulders as a faciliator with Spencer Dinwiddie in the fold. I truly believe that Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can alter the attitude of that team from a defensive/hustle standpoint. And let's not forget Montrezl Harrell is going to play with a ridiculously large chip on his shoulder. Daniel Gafford just got paid and continues to grow too. This team won 34 games last season with less time; do we really think they've regressed? Not this guy.
Ethan Fuller: I'm extremely in on the Toronto Raptors to surpass a win total that most sites predict will be in the mid-30s (36.5 <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on DraftKings</a>). This is a playoff-caliber team with a certified star in Pascal Siakam, and when he returns from injury, Toronto has one of the most versatile defensive lineups in the entire league. OG Anunoby is everyone's favorite Most Improved Player candidate, Fred VanVleet continues to be underrated and Scottie Barnes should help open up the floor as a passer.
Jannelle Moore: It's early, but I'm inclined to believe that the Golden State Warriors will surprise folks and hit their over win total (48.5). Their defense is solid, and they have made acquisitions in the offseason such as Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica who seem to mesh well offensively in the areas of shooting and spacing. Jordan Poole is emerging as another perimeter threat too. After the season-opener and how they were able to withstand the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; runs &mdash; and finding a way to win despite an off night from Steph Curry &mdash; I'm getting &ldquo;Strength In Numbers&rdquo; vibes from this squad.
Moke Hamilton: I&rsquo;d probably have to go with the Washington Wizards. Depending on which book you&rsquo;re looking at, most people see them winning somewhere between 30 and 33 games &mdash; 34.5 on DK &mdash; and I think they have a chance to be much better than that. If Bradley Beal is healthy, he&rsquo;ll suddenly find himself surrounded by a capable cast of players, with those coming over from Los Angeles boasting championship experience. There&rsquo;s a decent amount of optimism that Washington may have gotten its hands on some players, and I&rsquo;m with it.
Evan Sidery: Even without Jamal Murray, I think this Denver Nuggets team has the chance to rack up 50-plus wins this season. They showcased on Wednesday night against Phoenix when Nikola Jokic gets hot and their role players make shots that they can beat anybody. Coming into the season, Denver&rsquo;s <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2021/8/17/22629137/nba-win-totals-odds-lines-2021-bulls-lakers-heat-jazz-knicks-warriors-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over-under was 46.5</a>. I'm hammering the over here.
Blake Hairston: After the preseason this may not be a surprise, but the Chicago Bulls. Caesars has them at 43.5 wins and DraftKings has them at 42.5, but if all falls right, a team with good talent and players with a bit of a chip on their shoulders could reach 45-to-48 wins in the Eastern Conference.
Alexander Cohen: If the Minnesota Timberwolves build on their solid play under Chris Finch, they will easily surpass their 35-game line &mdash; in spite of the turmoil in the front office. The Wolves were 7-25 before Finch coached, and they're 16-25 since he took the helm. There's no reason to expect they won't build off that. Their young core should continue to grow and find consistency, and Patrick Beverley is an underrated veteran addition to ensure that.
Mark Gunnels: I think the Toronto Raptors will win over 35 games this year. I know Kyle Lowry is gone, but I believe this allows guys like Malachi Flynn and Fred VanVleet to spread their wings. Also, look for OG Anunoby to be a serious MIP candidate.

Which team will hit its “over” win total? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Which team will hit its 'Over' win total?

With NBA training camps open for business, teams are getting back in the swing of things. Since Sunday afternoon, the preseason has been in full swing, meaning the 2021-22 campaign is right around the corner.
Building a team is not an easy task without a dash of draft luck and a pinch of good chemistry. Once you find the combination that sticks, there's no telling how high your squad's ceiling can get. While we've seen a handful of organizations struggle with their inexperience year-after-year, we've also seen others soar and show that they'll be around for quite some time.
In our latest Roundtable, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
Which NBA team has the best young core?
Alex Kennedy: This is tough. The New Orleans Pelicans&rsquo; young core has the most upside, with two potential superstars in Zion Williamson (21) and Brandon Ingram (24), plus talented prospects like Nickeil Alexander-Walker (23), Trey Murphy III (21), Kira Lewis Jr. (20) and Jaxson Hayes (21) among others. However, if we&rsquo;re talking about the &ldquo;best young core,&rdquo; I have to go with the Atlanta Hawks after what they showed during their Eastern Conference Finals run. Trae Young (23), John Collins (24), De'Andre Hunter (23), Kevin Huerter (23), Cam Reddish (22) and Onyeka Okongwu (20) is a very talented young nucleus that&rsquo;s already succeeding in the postseason. In a few years, this team could be a juggernaut.
Nekias Duncan: Trae Young, John Collins, De&rsquo;Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu, Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter and Jalen Johnson are all 24 or younger. All but Johnson were contributors on a team that made the conference finals last season. I don&rsquo;t think I need to say much else.
Spencer Davies: There are a number of teams that intrigue me around the NBA as far as a youth movement is concerned. If we're talking about a young core that contends for a championship &mdash; let's call 26-and-under the cutoff &mdash; I like the Denver Nuggets a lot. Nikola Jokic has already won the league MVP and continues to only get better. Jamal Murray, when healthy, is as electrifying as any guard in the NBA. Michael Porter Jr. just earned himself a maximum rookie contract extension due to his outstanding scoring capabilities and potential to expand his game. Aaron Gordon's athleticism and defensive abilities make him the ideal complement to all three. That's a fantastic four to build around for a number of years to come, and ultimately, compete for a title in the process. Throw Monte Morris and P.J. Dozier in there with rookie Bones Hyland and mystery-box Bol Bol, and that's just about the perfect mixture of youth and experience.
Ethan Fuller: It's the Oklahoma City Thunder for me by a significant margin. Oklahoma City has the youngest roster in the NBA per RealGM, and those players are a mix of high-upside swings and crystal-clear NBA fits. The team has guys like Lu Dort, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Darius Bazley and Theo Maledon, who are safe bets to be solid rotation players or elite specialists. Then, they have the potential game-changers like 7-foot wing Aleksej Pokusevksi and 2021 No. 6 pick Josh Giddey. Of course, OKC already has a rising star as well in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There's just so much to like across the board.
Drew Maresca: Easily the Hawks. Atlanta advanced to Game 6 in the East Finals last season, way before anyone expected them to be competitive. And they did so without two key youngsters (Cam Reddish and Onyeka Okongwu). They&rsquo;ll only go as far as Trae Young takes them, but Young proved that putting him in any kind of a box is a fool&rsquo;s errand. The Hawks are going to struggle with expectations in 2021-22, but that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that they&rsquo;ve arrived way ahead of schedule, and they&rsquo;ve done so with three starters who are 23 or younger.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ja gotta chill it&rsquo;s PRESEASON 🤣 (via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBAonTNT</a>)<a href="https://t.co/VdSPG66MvE">pic.twitter.com/VdSPG66MvE</a>
&mdash; Overtime (@overtime) <a href="https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1445547212516192259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Moke Hamilton: If I had to choose one, I&rsquo;d probably say Memphis. For a 22-year-old, Ja Morant is damn good, and the Grizzlies seem to be further along in their development than other contenders for this label such as New Orleans. Ditto for Minnesota. Now that I think about it... Who else is even a credible contender for this title?
Jesse Blancarte: The Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker rose to a new level last season and led his talented team to the NBA Finals. With Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Landry Shamet and other young, talented players on the roster, the Suns are well-positioned to compete at the highest levels &mdash; this season and beyond.
Jackson Frank: Young core is such an ambiguous term to define because everyone cuts off the &ldquo;young&rdquo; moniker at different thresholds. But I&rsquo;ll make 25 the high-end here and go with the Atlanta Hawks. Trae Young is a superstar. John Collins is a marvelous pick-and-roll/pop big, and tenable defender. When healthy last season, De&rsquo;Andre Hunter looked the part of a mighty fine two-way wing. Kevin Huerter took a leap last season as a 2-point scorer and defender. Onyeka Okongwu dazzled at times in the playoffs with his defense and finishing. Cam Reddish continues to hint at enticing on-ball defense and pull-up shooting; consistency and health are the vital pillars. Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper probably won&rsquo;t play much next season, but you saw their allure at NBA Summer League. Skylar Mays is even a useful combo guard. I hope I didn&rsquo;t miss any member of the Hawks&rsquo; young core, which is both deep and very good. There's a bright present and future for this team.
Alexander Cohen: Best young core is always a tricky question unless it&rsquo;s quantified. Based on sheer young talent, it&rsquo;s the Dallas Mavericks alone for simply having Luka Doncic. But if we&rsquo;re focusing on true young core of players that have a chance to grow together, I&rsquo;ll take the San Antonio Spurs for Devin Vassell, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson and even Tre Jones. There&rsquo;s not one player there that I would anticipate becoming an All-Star, but I&rsquo;d be shocked if any didn&rsquo;t turn into at least high-level role players.

Which NBA team has the best young core? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Which team has the best young core?

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.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15910981-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="651" height="479" />
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?

On the dais, his shoulders looked awfully broad for a point guard who's fairly miniature in stature.
But anyone who knows Kemba Walker &mdash; as a Rice High School standout or as a young prep coming of age in the Soundview section of the Bronx &mdash; has always known the truth.
He makes up for his size with his fight. For a long, long time, that&rsquo;s been obvious.
&ldquo;The last couple years have been tough for me,&rdquo; Walker said as he looked upon the sea of reporters who attended the New York Knicks&rsquo; media day.
What an understatement.&nbsp;
In two years, Walker went from having a career-year and being named to the All-NBA Third Team, to being a player who had to have a first-round pick attached to him in order to be traded.
In some ways, the end is fitting, though. Walker&rsquo;s journey &mdash; from the Sack-Wern housing projects to the University of Connecticut &mdash; ended up being circuitous, after all.
Entering his 11th season, at 31 years old, Walker finally comes home. One of the city&rsquo;s own, he joins a Knicks team that has put itself on the radar in relatively short order. Led by reigning Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau and Most Improved Player Julius Randle, New York will attempt to ride the talents of Randle, RJ Barrett and the rest of the club that few around the Association believe is for real.
A team that's still obviously a work in progress, the hope among those who are rooting for the Knicks is that Walker&rsquo;s tough two-year stint in Boston was a bump in the road, not a sign of what&rsquo;s to come.
Way back on draft night in 2011, when Walker became an NBA player, he hosted a post-draft party at one of Lower Manhattan&rsquo;s hotspots. Everyone from his fellow draft mates to Chris Paul was in attendance. The league and its players' union knew that the most likely outcome was that the 2011 season would be delayed due to a lockout, and the incoming class of rookies knew it too.&nbsp;
But Walker didn&rsquo;t let that dampen his mood. He'd made it. And he was especially appreciative of Michael Jordan for &ldquo;taking a chance on him.&rdquo;
It seems like ancient history, but back then, there were many who wondered whether Walker would be able to supplant D.J. Augustin as the lead guard for then-Charlotte Bobcats. In his run up to the NBA Draft, Walker heard it all &mdash; he was too small, his game wouldn&rsquo;t translate, his weaknesses were too great to overcome.&nbsp;
Those questions resulted in less-proven players being taken ahead of him, and he then realized that neither his unprecedented five wins in five nights in the Big East Tournament, nor the ensuing national championship he won at UConn would cause the questions to cease.
He had to do it in the NBA. And in the end, that&rsquo;s exactly what he did.
All his life, Walker has been proving his doubters wrong, and now, he&rsquo;ll attempt to do it in his hometown.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m home,&rdquo; he said on Monday.&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m already focused.&nbsp;Last couple years have been kinda rough for me, obviously with my knee, [but] I&rsquo;m locked in, ready to go, ready to play at a high level.&rdquo;
The Knicks will need every bit of it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"I'm home. I'm from here, born and raised. And it feels like it. I'm getting a lot of love." - Kemba Walker <a href="https://t.co/eYGG9QJ3h1">pic.twitter.com/eYGG9QJ3h1</a>
&mdash; Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1442504749723443206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Coming off of a disappointing loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of last season&rsquo;s playoffs, general manager Scott Perry saw Atlanta&rsquo;s growth up close and personally. He then saw a great many of the conference&rsquo;s teams improve this past summer.&nbsp;
The Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets are obviously entering the season as the favorites, while the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are expected to be greatly improved.&nbsp;
The Philadelphia 76ers are obviously <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/philadelphia-76ers-trade-seems-certain-but-we-havent-heard-last-of-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dealing with the Ben Simmons saga</a>, but even without getting a king&rsquo;s ransom in return for what appears to be an eventual trade, they should be one of the top teams out East. Even the Washington Wizards are entering the season with some optimism.
The question for the Knicks this season is whether they&rsquo;ve done enough to keep up. And they&rsquo;ll be counting on Walker to provide the answer.
During their run last season, New York was ultimately undone by their lack of depth from the point guard position. Their hope is that Walker&rsquo;s ability to attack the basket and create space against his defenders &mdash; assuming he still can &mdash; will be tools that should allow him to get easy looks for his teammates. That&rsquo;s not something the Knicks got against Atlanta, and both Randle and Barrett stand to benefit from allowing Walker to create off the dribble.
Perhaps it&rsquo;s fate that now, at 31 years old and with the deck stacked against him, is when Walker will be charged with the task.
Since taking over in New York, Perry&rsquo;s modus operandi has been to buy low on players whose perceived potential was greater than the results they were believed to be able to produce as pros. Randle ended up being buried treasure. They struck oil with Rose. But Bobby Portis, Mario Hezonja and Elfrid Payton? Not so much. 
Nonetheless, overall, the strategy has worked. But at this point, we obviously don&rsquo;t know which bucket Walker will end up in.
Fittingly now, only two years removed from being an All-NBA selection, the four-time All-Star will come back to the city where it all began for him in an attempt to recapture past glory.
Peddled by Brad Stevens, the former Boston Celtics coach-turned-team-president admitted defeat. Boston made a mistake by signing Walker to a four-year, $141 million contract in 2019. At least, that was the message. Stevens attached a first-round pick to him in order to get the Oklahoma City Thunder to agree to take Walker&rsquo;s pact in return for Al Horford &mdash; a player that Boston coincidentally let go in 2019. Stevens wanted a mulligan.
Truth be told, Oklahoma City isn&rsquo;t high on any player&rsquo;s list of cities to spend the latter stages of their career. But still, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine any player not feeling a bit slighted to learn that a team would rather pay him $50 million to go away than keep him around.&nbsp;
Walker, though, obviously wasn&rsquo;t complaining. When Oklahoma City bought him out, according to the Bronx native, New York was the only option he&rsquo;d considered.&nbsp;
The upstart club, for a change, had a duo of budding stars that just led an overachieving group to a playoff berth that didn&rsquo;t seem certain a year ago. With other young players showing promise &mdash; Mitchell Robinson, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin among them &mdash; any observer can truly see the Knicks from afar and wonder what they can be.
And when Walker looked around and realized he wasn&rsquo;t wanted, he probably did too.
As the Knicks began their 2021-22 season, he sat in his orange and blue jersey. The threads were unfamiliar, but ironically, he looked quite comfy.
&ldquo;I'm from here, born and raised,&rdquo; he said.
And in the end, needing one another, Walker and the Knicks united at the right time.
Defying the odds from the beginning, Kemba Walker &mdash; New York City&rsquo;s own &mdash; went back to where it all began. 
And there, in New York, a city and a franchise starved for a winner, he hopes that he can do it once again.

Kemba Walker has defied the odds his entire life. The Knicks hope that he can continue to do exactly that, writes Moke Hamilton.

Finally home, Kemba Walker hopes to turn back clock with Knicks

Now that the NBA offseason is winding down and the start of the 2021-22 regular season is right around the corner, it's time to make some predictions. But rather than playing it safe, we asked our writers:
What is your bold prediction for the 2021-22 NBA season?&nbsp;
Alex Kennedy: In October of 2019, Bradley Beal signed a two-year, $72 million extension with the Washington Wizards &mdash; much to the chagrin of many executives and fans around the NBA. While people seem to be anxiously awaiting the day that Beal requests a trade from the Wizards, I believe Beal is going to extend in Washington once again. He is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wizards-retooling-led-to-a-competent-roster-surrounding-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eligible to sign an extension</a> this offseason (worth roughly $181.5 million over four years), or he can opt to wait until next summer to re-sign for roughly $235 million over five years. During a recent appearance on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nba-offseason-preview-jake-fischer-alex-kennedy-on/id1528900732?i=1000530625591" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my podcast</a>, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report predicted that Beal will stay in Washington long-term. Beal is close with Spencer Dinwiddie, whom he recruited to Washington, and the Wizards have a solid roster that could exceed expectations this year. This will be Beal&rsquo;s 10th season in Washington, and don&rsquo;t be surprised if he sticks around for more.
Ethan Fuller: I think there's a very real possibility Michael Porter Jr. eclipses 25 points per game and leads the Denver Nuggets in scoring. He seriously ratcheted up the volume last season while maintaining elite shooting efficiency. Per Basketball Reference, Porter Jr. made 83.1% of his at-rim attempts last season and 44.5% of his threes. Those are unreal rates, especially for a second-year forward. With Nikola Jokic warping defenses with his passing and a healthy Jamal Murray returning, the Nuggets will have plenty to throw at defenses, potentially creating even easier looks for Porter Jr.
Spencer Davies: It might not be considered &ldquo;bold,&rdquo; but with so much love being shown to the Chicago Bulls&rsquo; offseason, I&rsquo;ll be that guy to throw a wet blanket on things by saying the team won&rsquo;t get out of the first round of the playoffs. Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley certainly did a number both at last year&rsquo;s trade deadline and in this summer&rsquo;s free-agency period to prove to Zach LaVine how serious they are about winning... but will the pieces fit together? Chicago shelled out a lot of dough for DeMar DeRozan, an aggressive scorer and one of the most underrated improved playmakers in the league; however, how will he play when LaVine is commanding the basketball more often than not? Lonzo Ball is essentially going to be the point-man in transition and a spot-up marksman in the corners. More importantly, though, he&rsquo;s likely to be the team&rsquo;s best perimeter defender (next to Patrick Williams, who will have all eyes on him). But who else is going to step up guarding the opposition? Will Alex Caruso get more minutes than Coby White? On paper, the Bulls&rsquo; rim protection isn&rsquo;t great, nor is the defense on the outside. It&rsquo;ll be interesting to see how that all balances out.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Drew Maresca: One or both of these will happen: Dame Lillard gets moved or Zion Williamson trade chatter heats up. Why? Because both the Trail Blazers and Pelicans will not make the playoffs, and both franchises can&rsquo;t wait much longer to show their stars significant improvement. The Western Conference is deep and, if we&rsquo;re being honest with ourselves, there is only one available playoff spot between the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Pelicans. The team(s) that misses the postseason will see rumors fly, and maybe more.
Jesse Blancarte: My bold prediction is that Russell Westbrook will adapt his game significantly in an effort to help the Los Angeles Lakers win the 2022 NBA championship. Westbrook always gives his best effort and, of course, has always worked hard. But now that he&rsquo;s at this stage of his career and surrounded by generational talent, I believe he will lower his usage rate, shoot less frequently and focus on playmaking and creating easy scoring opportunities for his teammates. There will be nights when teammates are injured or struggling where we will see vintage Westbrook, but I think that he will make a true effort to plug himself into this roster.
Evan Sidery: We&rsquo;ll have league-wide parody for every single playoff spot. Sure, that may not seem bold, but when was the last time potentially 25-30 teams in the NBA felt like they had a realistic shot at the playoffs? It&rsquo;s a great time to follow the NBA with so many teams making a run for it.
Moke Hamilton: I think Lonzo Ball makes the All-Star team. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine him not thriving in Chicago. He is surrounded by plenty of talented players, his specific skill set is needed, he has something to prove and Chicago is probably going to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. To this point in his career, Lonzo has not really lived up to the expectations that followed him from UCLA to the NBA. He&rsquo;s still a really good player though, and I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised to see him make the leap to All-Star-caliber player. He will be facing some stiff competition &mdash; Kyle Lowry will probably find himself back in the conversation for one of the reserve spots, as could Kemba Walker &mdash; but I guess that&rsquo;s why we call it a bold prediction.&nbsp;
Chris Sheridan: The Miami Heat are going to do what they did two seasons ago and be sneaky good, primarily because they have added a hungry Kyle Lowry but also because they shouldn&rsquo;t have to deal with the same types of interruptions that robbed them of the chance to build chemistry over the course of the 2020-21 regular season. The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-roundtable-breaking-down-this-offseasons-most-underrated-moves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signing of P.J. Tucker</a> gives them another lockdown defender alongside Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, so they should be a strong defensive unit. Erik Spoelstra's team will not make waves early, but they will be a steady contender.&nbsp;

Since the 2021-22 NBA season is right around the corner, we asked our writers to share a bold prediction about the upcoming campaign.

Roundtable: 8 bold predictions for the 2021-22 NBA season

There are many "what-if" scenarios throughout NBA history. It's always fun to discuss these hypotheticals that could've had an enormous impact on the NBA landscape. In order to discuss some of the best "what ifs" throughout NBA history, we asked our BasketballNews.com writers the following question:
What is your favorite "what-if" scenario in NBA history?&nbsp;
Alex Kennedy: The first thing that pops into my head is, &ldquo;What if the Thunder&rsquo;s Big Three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden had stayed together?&rdquo; How many championships would they have won? Would KD have remained in Oklahoma City? Sure, Westbrook and Harden may not have become the MVP-caliber players we know today, but that group definitely would&rsquo;ve been fun to watch in their collective prime. However, since that&rsquo;s one of the most obvious NBA-related what-ifs, I also want to bring up a lesser-known scenario. Entering the 2012 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans (who were the Hornets at the time) had the No. 1 pick and the No. 10 pick. Anthony Davis at No. 1 was a no-brainer, but they had a decision to make at No. 10. According to a source in New Orleans&rsquo; front office, the team&rsquo;s top option throughout the process was a guard from Weber State: Damian Lillard. Initially, due to his age and mid-major school, Lillard was being projected as a late-lottery pick, so he was a realistic target. The Pelicans loved the idea of landing their big man of the future and point guard of the future. They had zeroed in on Lillard, but once he shot lights out at the NBA Combine and started dominating pre-draft workouts, his stock started soaring. He eventually climbed all the way up to No. 6, where the Portland Trail Blazers selected him. New Orleans settled for a different scoring guard instead: Austin Rivers. In 2014, Lillard confirmed to <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans/article_705225d3-c9e0-525e-bde0-92505557c7a7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NOLA.com</a> that he initially thought he&rsquo;d end up in New Orleans: "I knew they had the 10th pick in that draft. That was within the range I could have gone in. In my head, it was like, 'They're going to draft AD and I could be the point guard.' Me and him talked... That was definitely what I was thinking could happen at that time." If this happened, does AD stay in New Orleans long-term? Are they a perennial contender? We&rsquo;ll never know, but it&rsquo;s fun to imagine that incredible one-two punch.
Nekias Duncan: If the prompt was &ldquo;biggest,&rdquo; I&rsquo;d be inclined to bring up the health of one Tracy McGrady because it&rsquo;s a shame that he could never completely put it together. But that&rsquo;s depressing. I&rsquo;ll stick with McGrady, though: what if Doc Rivers doesn&rsquo;t botch the Tim Duncan meeting in 2000 &mdash; or schedules it at a different time, whatever &mdash; and we get a McGrady-Duncan-Grant Hill trio in Orlando? Having McGrady and Hill dazzle in the open floor while Duncan brings it home in the half-court seems like a formula for success.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Moke Hamilton: Probably gotta go with Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s game-winning three-pointer over Steph Curry in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Had he missed, the 73-win Warriors&rsquo; legacy would&rsquo;ve been completely different and LeBron James may have never left Cleveland. Could he leave without winning a title after writing the &ldquo;I&rsquo;m Coming Home&rdquo; piece in Sports Illustrated? If Kyrie still ended up leaving &mdash; and it stands to reason he would&rsquo;ve &mdash; could LeBron have been trapped in Cleveland? Hell, had the Warriors won that series, would Kevin Durant still have signed there? What if he stayed in Oklahoma City? I mean&hellip; there was so much fallout from that shot, so it&rsquo;s an easy answer for me, all things considered.
Spencer Davies: This may sound a little biased (and it probably is because this is the last season that I was a diehard fan), but I always think about the end of Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in 2016. It was exciting as is, with the infamous sequence: The Block by LeBron James on Andre Iguodala, The Shot by Kyrie Irving over Stephen Curry and The Stop by Kevin Love against Curry to secure the Cavs&rsquo; first championship. But what if the basketball gods would&rsquo;ve allowed a fourth part of that chain of events: The Dunk. Or if you really want to describe it honestly, The Poster. As the Cavs were up 92-89 with 18.7 seconds left in the game, Irving received the inbound pass and took it up the right side of the court. He drew a defender and left the lane wide open for a diagonally-cutting LeBron, who rose up with the most purpose we&rsquo;d seen since his first stint with Cleveland. The moment was tailor-made for the history books, as Draymond Green attempted to contest LeBron&rsquo;s slam way too late and came within inches of being on the receiving end of an eternal highlight reel. Instead, LeBron took it inside with so much force that it ricocheted off the iron, and he ended up actually hurting his own wrist as a result. Had that dunk actually happened, it would&rsquo;ve been one of the best punctuations on a championship victory in NBA Finals history in an already unprecedented 3-1 series comeback. Somewhere in an alternate universe or different timeline, LeBron&rsquo;s title-winning exclamation point exists.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v95Dhj0AUyg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Ethan Fuller: Quiz your friends with this one: Who is believed to be the all-time leading scorer in pro basketball history? It&rsquo;s Oscar Schmidt, who racked up over 49,000 points between his Brazilian national team and club careers &mdash; but never played in the NBA. Schmidt is the all-time leading Olympic scorer with 1,093 points, and once scored 46 to help Brazil beat the United States in the 1987 Pan-American games. He was a 6-foot-8 forward and three-point marksman who averaged a ridiculous 42.0 points per game in the 1988 Olympics. Would he have been able to make the successful transition to the NBA? We&rsquo;ll never know, but it&rsquo;s worth shouting out one of basketball&rsquo;s underrated legends.
Check out some of our other NBA Roundtables including:&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-former-player-would-fit-perfectly-in-todays-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Which player from a previous era would fit perfectly in today's NBA?</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-who-is-the-most-untouchable-player-in-the-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Who is currently the most untouchable player in the NBA?</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-team-has-the-best-young-core" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Which NBA team has the best young core?</a>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-contract-is-the-biggest-bargain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Which NBA contract is the biggest bargain?</a>

What are the most interesting "what-ifs" in NBA history? BasketballNews.com's writers share their thoughts.

Walter