Sooners

Today, the NBA and FIBA announced 80 of the top high-school-age prospects from across Africa who will participate in the 19th edition of Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa, which will be held July 28-31 at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) in South Africa.
BWB Africa 2023 will bring together 80 boys and girls from more than 25 African countries &ndash; including 19 NBA Academy Africa and NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022 prospects &ndash; to learn directly from current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and compete alongside their peers from across the continent.&nbsp;
The campers will be coached by two-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat; U.S.; ties to Nigeria), 2022 NBA All-Star Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers; U.S.), 2022 NBA champion Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors; Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic; U.S.).
Five current and former NBA head coaches will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches: Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff; two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Nigeria Men&rsquo;s National Team head coach and Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown; 2018 NBA Coach of the Year Dwane Casey (most recently with the Detroit Pistons); Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham; and veteran NBA coach Dave Joerger (most recently with the Philadelphia 76ers).
Several former NBA and WNBA players will also serve as BWB Africa 2023 coaches, including 2015 FIBA AfroBasket champion Olumide Oyedeji (Nigeria), 2011 NBA champion Ian Mahinmi (France; ties Benin), former NBA player and Basketball Africa League Head of League Operations Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (Cameroon), former NBA player Tacko Fall (Senegal), 2003 WNBA champion Astou Ndiaye (Senegal), two-time WNBA champion Taj McWilliams-Franklin, four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes and Mozambique basketball legend Clarisse Machanguana.&nbsp;
Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman, Team President and Alternate NBA Governor Masai Ujiri; New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin; and Portland Trail Blazers Assistant General Manager Mike Schmitz will serve as camp directors, while David Crewe and Frank Adams (Phoenix Suns) will serve as the camp&rsquo;s athletic trainers.
The players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities, including movement efficiency drills, offensive and defensive skill stations, three-point contests, 5-on-5 games, and life skills and leadership development sessions.&nbsp;&nbsp;A ceremony on the final day of the camp will award the Kim Bohuny Camp MVP, the Patrick Baumann Sportsmanship Award, the B.J. Johnson Most Improved Player Award, the Three-Point Champion and the Defensive MVP to the boys and girls who distinguish themselves on the court and as leaders.
As part of the camp, NBA players and coaches will also participate in several community outreach initiatives around Johannesburg, including a hospital visit and a Her Time to Play seminar for the female campers on July 28, and a court unveiling in the Alexandra Township on Saturday, July 29.&nbsp; In addition, BWB Africa 2023 coaches will lead a development clinic for local coaches at AISJ on July 30.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Also on July 29, select&nbsp;NBA players&nbsp;will visit the NBA Store at Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg and engage with fans.
BWB Africa 2023 will be supported by Nike, a global partner of BWB since 2002, which will outfit participants with Nike apparel and footwear, and Gatorade, which will keep players and coaches hydrated throughout the camp.
BWB has reached more than 4,100 participants from 136 countries and territories since 2001, with 112 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA.&nbsp; The NBA and FIBA have staged 70 BWB camps in 47 cities across 32 countries on six continents.
The following is a complete list of players participating in the 19th&nbsp;BWB Africa camp (rosters subject to change):
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 447px;" width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 403px;" colspan="2">
GIRLS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ines Bellahmer
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Algeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Filomena Luis
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Guigma Sadia
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Burkina Faso
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Gisele Kipo*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Hannah Dibadjou
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Salma Khedr*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Leila El Sanadily
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aisha Hassan
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Lucie Mounganga
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Gabon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Sylla
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Guinea
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Roseline Ooko
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Harena Randriamasimanana
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fitahiana Ratsimason
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joanie Rakotonanahary
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Madagascar
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatoumata Samake*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Oumou Soumare
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Aya El Kallali*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Albertina Matsinhe*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Bata Lurdes*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Shanaya Matusse*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Mozambique
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Joy Biribebe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Benitha Ngarambe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Jane Dusabe
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Rwanda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Fatou Sima
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Marie Diouf
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ndickou Matar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Tacko Sy
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Sheriffa Rahman
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Sierra Leone
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Onnetse Molokwame
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Luhle Ndaba
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Reneilwe Motebele
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Susan Peter
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Asunta Ring
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Nawasa Lazaro
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tanzania
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Ibouanga Moussounda
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Togo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Arwa Ghorbel*
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Eya Nasri
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Afef Bengoula
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Christine Namyalo
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 191px;">
Immaculate Adongpiny
</td>
<td style="width: 212px;">
Uganda
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Participated in NBA Academy Women&rsquo;s Camp Africa 2022
&nbsp;
<table width="447">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 418.75px;" colspan="2" width="447">
BOYS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Name
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Country
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Aginaldo Neto*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Manuel Camboma*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Inacio Anatoli Da Silva
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Claudino Capangaa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sansao Wika
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Angola
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Philippe Ntungicimpaye
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Burundi
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Arnold Eyadi Kenfack
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hermann Bel Gassina
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Cameroon
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chris Naguidebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Central African Republic
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tahir Doungous*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Chad
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Zie Cheikh Conde
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Tarek Khairy
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ahmed Nedale
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Karim El Gizawi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Egypt
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Courage Agbekpornu
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Ghana
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Kiggundu Austin Omondi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Kenya
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Chouhaybou Keita
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mahamadou Konate
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Mali
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Hamza Bechchar
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Morocco
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bolaji Oderinlo
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Sultan Baruwa
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ibrahim Dan-Mutum
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jonah Precious
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Ezekiel Obe*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Nigeria
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Andre Bonazebi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Jude Fred Nkouka Silaho
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Republic of Congo
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khadim Mboup*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Assane Mandian*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Yakhya Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amar Diop*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Mouhamed Camara
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Senegal
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Siyanda Radebe
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Gilchrist Storm
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Africa
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Khaman Maluach*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Moses Marial Mandiria
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Bol Wieu Mou Thet
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Lual Deng Lual Aguek
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
South Sudan
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Rayen Rouissi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Amen Hammi
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Tunisia
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 197.167px;" width="208">
Liberty Fusire*
</td>
<td style="width: 221.583px;" width="239">
Zimbabwe
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*NBA Academy Africa prospect

Bam Adebayo, Darius Garland, Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Suggs will coach 80 top high-school-age prospects from across Africa.

Adebayo, Garland, Kuminga, Suggs to coach prospects at BWB Africa 2023

If there is any singular number that has defined basketball in 2023, it might be 9.9 million &mdash; the viewership of Sunday's NCAA Tournament championship game between LSU and Iowa.
The figure isn't just the largest ever for a women's college game; it also flew past other audiences for some of American sports' marquee events.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The NCAA Women's National Championship's 9.9 million viewers are more than: ▪️ Any Women's CBB game ever ▪️ Any MLS game ever ▪️ Any Stanley Cup game since 1973 ▪️ The 2023 Orange Bowl ▪️ The 2023 Sugar Bowl ▪️ 2023 Thursday Night Football ▪️ The 2021 NBA Finals ▪️ The 2020&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/X6MGXYkflQ">pic.twitter.com/X6MGXYkflQ</a>
&mdash; Front Office Sports (@FOS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1643051889846525953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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To say the game has "arrived" is disrespectful to the illustrious history of women in basketball. But Sunday was a stage unlike any other, and those who watched on TV or <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/lsu/womens_basketball/ticket-prices-for-lsu-iowa-national-championship-jump/article_8f541656-d0d6-11ed-83a2-7fb0a63f33b8.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid hundreds to attend</a> were awestruck by the outpouring of deserved fan support.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I&rsquo;m completely blown away. The direction our game is going and the excitement surrounding it- I personally have never been more proud to be a part of it. ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/WjNZii3Vg1">pic.twitter.com/WjNZii3Vg1</a>
&mdash; Rachel Galligan (@RachGall) <a href="https://twitter.com/RachGall/status/1642976923193331713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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A poorly-officiated contest (Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic had <a href="https://theathletic.com/4377949/2023/04/03/womens-basketball-officials-clark-reese/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some important thoughts on this</a>) and the trash-talking discourse that followed are problematic, but they won't taper our excitement for the trajectory of women's basketball. An influx of new, casual, uninformed fans are swarming into the sport, and we're ready for them because we've learned two important lessons in the last week.
One: This generation's stars are glimmering in the spotlight.
Two: The sport's core of diligent media members and passionate fans won't take any B.S.
Angel Reese surpassed a million Instagram followers after winning the national title, a result of her superstar season and her "Bayou Barbie" persona. But her name also dominated headlines because of her John Cena and ring-me gestures towards Caitlin Clark in the closing minutes of LSU's win, earning critical labels like "classless" and others that hinted at more serious racist undertones.
Reese didn't hold back in her initial response.
"I don&rsquo;t fit in the box that y&rsquo;all want me to be in. I'm too hood, I'm too ghetto, y'all told me that all year. When other people do it, y'all don't say nothing. This was for the people that look like me," Reese <a href="https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1642671282767507456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>

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This is different from Reese "not caring" about the critics. She does care and is aware of her own aura, which she says has been criticized since high school. Reese cares that her image as a powerful, talented, confident Black woman resonates with younger girls who can relate to her, and that for so long, that combination of traits has been met with hate.
That Reese continues to quote tweet and subtweet, and take additional interviews on ESPN days after the game, shows she's not backing down from who she wants to be.
Clark is similarly aware of her standing as a figurehead for the sport. On Tuesday, she went on ESPN's Outside the Lines and basically ended the trash-talking discussion.&nbsp;
"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all," Clark <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643311621861949441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I'm always one that competes, and she competed. I think everyone knew there was gonna be a little trash talk the entire tournament; it's not just me and Angel."
Just as important was her full response on the importance of showing passion as an athlete:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"Men have always had trash talk. ... You should be able to play with that emotion. ... That's how every girl should continue to play." Caitlin Clark discussed if women are held to a different standard than men on <a href="https://twitter.com/OTLonESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OTLonESPN</a>. <a href="https://t.co/JY7MWlOuVq">pic.twitter.com/JY7MWlOuVq</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643309736572616704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Clark is arguably the biggest trending name in basketball right now and a truly generational talent who helped drive this year's record-shattering ratings. For her to jump on ESPN two days after a heartbreaking loss and be explicit with her opinions shows that she recognizes the gravity of her voice.
The Iowa sharpshooter rightfully captured the country's attention for her NCAA Tournament heroics. According to one Google search analysis from World Sports Network, Clark's name saw a 476% search increase in the last week of March Madness.
New fans were quick to label her a "best-ever" of some sort. The social media response: Familiarize yourselves with the college careers of Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, Maya Moore, Kelsey Plum or Sabrina Ionescu.&nbsp;
And when some <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1642649593140637706" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty loud voices</a>&nbsp;took aim at Reese on Sunday, the community quickly let them know it was unacceptable.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
As women's basketball has continued to rise, deserved passionate media coverage has reached the foreground.&nbsp;The Next Hoops, Winsidr,&nbsp;and Just Women's Sports&nbsp;are three of my personal go-to's, but these smaller (yet growing) independent outlets have helped legitimize and drive quality coverage. ESPN's television coverage is spectacular and&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;is another outlet with high-level storytelling. Arielle Chambers delivers phenomenal energy for HighlightHER, Mark Schindler does an amazing job at WNBA.com, and while I'm biased, our own Nekias Duncan's WNBA coverage is top-tier (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/south-carolina-dared-caitlin-clark-to-beat-them-and-she-did-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as was his Clark film dive!</a>).
We collectively know more about media and narrative than ever in our history. It allows these writers to make sure the sport is covered fairly and accurately at the college and pro levels, holding new, influential fans accountable.&nbsp;
The players and coaches have stories to share, personalities to gravitate towards and electric talent to entertain with. The WNBA still has so much growth potential; it logged a 20% increase in regular-season viewership on ESPN last year, and this spring's March Madness momentum can be a springboard for another leap. And with NIL-driven branding soaring at the college level, more players and teams can place themselves in front of new audiences.
Sunday felt like the quantitative peak for women's basketball in the national conversation &mdash; what's exciting is that there's so much mountain still left to climb.

Nearly 10 million people watched the national championship game, signaling that women's basketball is ready for a popularity explosion.

Women's basketball is well-equipped to shape its own narrative

Joel Embiid had 36 points and 13 rebounds and a spat with Montrezl Harrell, Tobias Harris added 23 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Wizards 117-96 on Sunday night.
Philadelphia improved to 17-16 after dropping four of its last five.
Spencer Dinwiddie led Washington with 17 points. The Wizards also are 17-16.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry and Embiid keyed a 15-0 run that put the 76ers ahead 80-59 with 5:22 to play in the third quarter.
With 3:04 left in the third, Harrell fouled Embiid, and the two exchanged words. Both were assessed technical fouls, and Embiid made the two free throws.
&ldquo;He flopped,&rdquo; Embiid said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he made a play on the ball, and we got tangled.&rdquo;
Thirty seconds later, Harrell pushed Embiid, yelled at him, and was given his second technical and ejected. Harrell, who didn&rsquo;t immediately leave the court was finally escorted the floor, and left shaking his head while Embiid waved him goodbye.
&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say I baited him into that,&rdquo; Embiid said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to think I&rsquo;m a troll.&rdquo;
Harrell was visibly annoyed after the game.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, you&rsquo;ve got to ask the ref, man,&rdquo; Harrell said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel I did anything wrong. It&rsquo;s as simple as that.&rdquo;
Washington scoring leader Bradley Beal sat out his second game while in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols.
TIP-INS
76ers: Maxey and F Georges Niang returned after clearing health and safety protocol. ... C Andre Drummond, G Danny Green and G/F Shake Milton remain in health and safety protocol. &hellip; Embiid scored his 7,000th point. He and Allen Iverson are the only players to score 7,000 points in their first 300 games for Philadelphia. &hellip; G Myles Powell and G Jaden Springer scored their first NBA points.
Wizards: G Raul Neto joined Beal and F Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are in health and safety protocols. &hellip; F Rui Hachimura, who has yet to play this season, dressed for the second straight game, but didn&rsquo;t play. &hellip; G Jordan Schakel, signed to a 10-day contract on Tuesday, made his NBA debut. ... G Joel Ayayi scored his first NBA points.
SORRY, NOT SORRY:
Harrell won&rsquo;t apologize for his actions on the court.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t regret one minute,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wish I wasn&rsquo;t in the situation I was in, but I don&rsquo;t regret it. I don&rsquo;t want to take it back. It is what it is. I&rsquo;m not going to change how I play. &hellip; I&rsquo;m not going to back down.&rdquo;
Embiid wasn&rsquo;t apologizing, either.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I got to him,&rdquo; Embiid said.
REALISTIC DOC
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said that players who join teams and can acclimate quickly are invaluable.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s sports right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Be prepared. Be ready.
&ldquo;I always think it&rsquo;s the other guys, the guys who are there who aren&rsquo;t sick, who can play, the more prepared they are, the easier they make it for the newcomers.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
76ers: At Toronto on Tuesday night.
Wizards: At Miami on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia improved to 17-16 after dropping four of its last five.

Embiid has 36 points and 13 rebounds, 76ers beat Wizards

Before the 2021 NBA Draft and the start of free agency, we assessed the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/facing-a-somewhat-challenging-offseason-the-los-angeles-lakers-have-decisions-to-make" target="_blank" rel="noopener">key personnel decisions that the Los Angeles Lakers would have to make this offseason</a>.&nbsp;Here is a section from that article:
&ldquo;While the Lakers can never be counted out as candidates to trade for a superstar, the likelihood is that L.A. will not be able to swing a deal for someone like Damian Lillard this offseason. The Lakers do not have a core of young players to throw in a trade or a stash of draft picks to barter with.
"With little cap flexibility, the simplest path toward filling out the roster this offseason is through re-signing the free agents from last season&rsquo;s squad. While that will not make for the most exciting offseason in Lakers&rsquo; history, it would ensure the Lakers have a baseline of talent to put around LeBron James and Anthony Davis."
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka took a bolder approach this offseason, opting to trade several players in exchange for guard Russell Westbrook, moving on from several players from last season&rsquo;s roster, re-signing Talen Horton-Tucker and filling out the depth chart with a mix of experienced veterans and younger players with upside. With the recent Marc Gasol trade, the only returning players from last year&rsquo;s roster are LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Horton-Tucker.&nbsp;
The current roster now includes James, Davis, Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, as well as Joel Ayayi and Austin Reaves (on two-way contracts).&nbsp;
The Lakers now feature a star-studded roster, but the main concern will be the overall age of the team. L.A. now has nine players over the age of 32 and four of the top-five active leaders in overall career games played (James, Howard, Ariza and Anthony). The main questions with this roster are:&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Will the age/injuries limit L.A. in the postseason?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How will Westbrook share playmaking duties with LeBron?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Will the Lakers drop off from last season's league-leading defense?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do the Lakers have enough three-point shooting?</li>
</ol>
Last season, James missed 27 games and Davis missed 26 due to injury, and both were limited in the postseason. If both superstars are once again battling injuries in the postseason, the Lakers will suffer a similar fate as last season. However, assuming James and Davis are relatively healthy, the question is: how will the remainder of the Lakers' roster hold up? Is there enough depth to get through the grueling 82-game regular season without suffering too many setbacks?
With some luck and strategic maintenance throughout the regular season, the answer should be yes. While the roster is quite old collectively, their key rotation players did not miss too much time <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a> due to injuries.
<ul>
<li>Trevor Ariza &ndash; 1</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dwight Howard &ndash; 2</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Russell Westbrook &ndash; 2</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Talen Horton-Tucker &ndash; 2</li>
<li>Kent Bazemore &ndash; 3</li>
<li>Carmelo Anthony &ndash; 3</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Kendrick Nunn &ndash; 6</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Wayne Ellington &ndash; 15</li>
<li>Malik Monk &ndash; 17</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Rajon Rondo &ndash; 26</li>
</ul>
Out of these key rotation players, only three had more than 10 injury-related missed games last season. Of course, some players did not play heavy minutes at different times throughout the season, but based on this data, it&rsquo;s reasonable to believe that the Lakers can get through the upcoming season without losing a disproportionate number of players. Injuries are unavoidable and COVID-19 will likely play a factor in terms of players missing games, but with some strategic load management throughout the season, it appears the Lakers have the depth and personnel to persevere.&nbsp;
In terms of sharing playmaking duties, it&rsquo;s unclear how James and Westbrook are going to mesh. Westbrook is saying the right things so far:&nbsp;
&ldquo;My job is to make sure that I&rsquo;m able to make his game easy for him. I&rsquo;ll find ways to do that throughout the game,&rdquo; Westbrook said at his first press conference as a Laker. &ldquo;As it pertains to ball-handling and all that, it really doesn&rsquo;t matter. There&rsquo;s many different ways you can impact the game without having the ball in your hands. And I&rsquo;ve been able to do that for many years and I will figure it out.&rdquo;
Westbrook has played with dynamic scorers and ball-handlers in the past, including Kevin Durant, James Harden (twice) and Bradley Beal. Westbrook&rsquo;s heavy usage rate, aggressive style of play and inefficiency as a three-point shooter have caused chemistry issues with past teammates, but LeBron is now 36 years old and coming off a rare injury-plagued season.
Perhaps LeBron will look to take a step back from his usual playmaking duties in the regular season and allow Westbrook to take on that volume in his place. Or, perhaps Westbrook will defer to James and Davis, being more selective with his opportunities and acting at the team&rsquo;s primary playmaker. Considering LeBron&rsquo;s age and the injuries he suffered last season as well as Westbrook&rsquo;s desire to win his first championship, there is plenty of reason to believe these two players will find a workable balance in terms of running the Lakers&rsquo; offense.
Perhaps the biggest question people have not focused on enough is the possible drop-off on the defensive end. The Lakers had the best defense in the league last season, but that was with a younger roster that featured several two-way wing defenders. Missing from last season&rsquo;s squad are Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wesley Matthews, Markieff Morris and Marc Gasol.&nbsp;
While none of these players are individually elite defenders at their respective positions, they meshed well enough to cover each other&rsquo;s shortcomings and create a solid, consistent defense. Caruso was a particularly effective wing defender, and Gasol was still an effective anchor when he got minutes. The Lakers added some players who can certainly step in and try to fill the void left behind, but players like Ariza, Rondo, Ellington, Jordan and Carmelo are well past their athletic primes. Younger players like Monk, Nunn, Horton-Tucker and even Bazemore have the mobility to stay in front of wings and should each be in the rotation to a certain extent.
Westbrook also has the athletic ability to be a tough defender, but his focus and effort on that end of the court have been inconsistent for several seasons. The Lakers are going to need Davis to be a defensive anchor in the middle. Last season, AD averaged career-lows in blocks per game (1.6, down from 2.3 the year before), block percentage (4.5%), total rebound percentage (13.8%), defensive win shares (2.4) and value over replacement player (1.9). In addition to getting more out of Davis, L.A. hopes that Howard can provide the same defensive impact as he did during his last stint with the team in 2019-20.
Head coach Frank Vogel has the difficult task of implementing a defensive system with a rebuilt roster that features several players in the twilight of their respective careers. Expect at least a slight drop-off from last season&rsquo;s top-ranked defense.
Three-point shooting was an area of concern entering the offseason, but the Lakers added a couple of players who should provide spacing for Westbrook, James and Davis to operate. Ellington shot a scorching 42.2% from distance last season on six attempts per game. Anthony shot 40.9% on 4.7 attempts, a nice bump in efficiency over the last six seasons, and his shooting could be a big catalyst for the Lakers&rsquo; offense. Monk is coming off his best season from beyond the arc, as he shot 40.1% from distance on five attempts per game. Nunn also had a particularly good season shooting the ball, hitting 38.1% of his 5.7 attempts per game. Bazemore and Ariza showed efficiency from distance last season, though Horton-Tucker continues to struggle from beyond the arc.
In short, the Lakers added enough shooters to this roster to ensure that spacing shouldn't be a major issue unless several players regress this upcoming season, or if defenses force Westbrook into taking a heavy dose of three-point attempts each night.&nbsp;
The Lakers entered the offseason with seemingly little flexibility to reshape and improve their roster. Despite the odds, Pelinka managed to add another star player and round out the roster with proven veterans who can still contribute at a high level. Injuries and age are a concern, but that is true for several teams in contention. The Lakers enter this season with plenty of star talent, a ton of experience and championship-or-bust expectations as they look to add banner No. 18 to the rafters of Staples Center.

Jesse Blancarte answers some key questions surrounding the Lakers' 2021-22 roster.

Answering the big questions surrounding the Lakers' 2021-22 roster

With the season set to start in less than a month, the NBA fan community was treated to an accelerated offseason. The NBA Draft was on Wednesday, and free agency kicked off two days later. We got a whirlwind of signings and trades -- boy, were there trades -- on the opening night, and that activity extended throughout the weekend.&nbsp;
Rosters are still being filled, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean we can&rsquo;t evaluate early winners and losers. If we can do it <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-2020-winners-losers-philadelphia-76ers-new-york-knicks-pelicans-new-orleans-lonzo-ball-obi-toppin-patrick-williams-chicago-bulls-tyrese-haliburton-sacramento-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for the draft</a> and none of those guys have played yet, surely we can do so for more proven commodities.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s hand out some awards and slander, shall we?
Winner: Centers
If we learned anything from the bubble, particularly from the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, it&rsquo;s that size still matters in this league. The Lakers bludgeoned teams with their size all season long, led by the ultimate unicorn in Anthony Davis. With the NBA being a copycat league, there seemed to be a real emphasis on teams adding big men early on in the free agency process.
I mean sure, the Pistons tried to sign literally all of them -- I&rsquo;m still shaking my head at the Mason Plumlee 3-year, $25 million deal -- but other bigs saw a heightened market. Derrick Favors (3/$30M) went back to his stomping grounds in Utah after looking half-dead athletically in the bubble. Meyers Leonard saw a massive drop in playing time in the bubble and playoffs, and he still was able to return to Miami for nearly $10 million. Robin Lopez shockingly opted out of a $5 million player option with the Bucks, and even more shockingly got a raise from the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;
You can&rsquo;t build the boat out of centers like you could in yesteryear, but it appears that teams have swung back the other way on their utility in general. Skilled size is king, but size in general still matters quite a bit.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Whew, buddy, have the rich gotten richer.
After trading Danny Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a package for Dennis Schroder, the Lakers were able to find his replacement by adding Wes Matthews with their bi-annual exception. They then were able to add last year&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell, for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Harrell has his flaws defensively, but there may not be a better big in the league than Davis to cover for those warts.
Speaking of bigs, the Lakers were also able to pry Marc Gasol away from the Toronto Raptors. Gasol has slipped quite a bit in terms of mobility, but still possesses the shooting, passing and defensive aptitude to juice the Lakers&rsquo; frontcourt. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also returns on a reasonable deal (3/$40M) after the cap space market mostly dried up on him.
The Lakers&rsquo; potential playoff rotation now consists of LeBron James, Caldwell-Pope, Matthews, Davis, Gasol, Schroder, Harrell and Alex Caruso. I think it&rsquo;s safe to say, barring injury, that they are the clear favorites to win the title this year.&nbsp;
Winner: Trae Young
Have you ever played NBA 2K&rsquo;s MyCareer mode on Hall-of-Fame difficulty? It can be a frustrating experience. It&rsquo;s less about your individual skill level. if you&rsquo;re good, you should still be able to bake CPUs; if you&rsquo;re not that good, but you&rsquo;re smart, there are some pretty simple exploits (slip those PnRs!) that can get you easy buckets. It&rsquo;s more about what the talent around you does. They just perform in a way that makes you shake your head. At a certain point, you have to assume virtually all creation responsibility if you want to score enough against the CPU to win games, assuming you don&rsquo;t stash your player on the Lakers or something. The stats you put up and the skill/badge points you earn alleviate some of the frustration, but it&rsquo;s still a pain to deal with.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14021300-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
This is what I imagine Trae Young felt like last year.
His skill level is obviously high; he&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s best passers and is a pull-up threat the second he crosses half-court. But between not having an NBA-caliber backup point guard until the Jeff Teague addition, injury woes from second-in-command Kevin Huerter and John Collins (more on him later) getting himself suspended for 25 games, it felt like Young was the only player on the Hawks that could generate offense for himself or others.
Within that lens, this offseason has been huge for him. Signing Danilo Gallinari gives the Hawks (and Young) a bonafide three-level scorer that can hold his own weight. The merits of Rajon Rondo&rsquo;s (regular season) value can be debated, but he is a high IQ guy and a tremendous passer that can create for others in the half-court. There may be more reinforcements on the way, with Kings restricted free agent and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">honorary Bucks legend</a> Bogdan Bogdanovic signing a hefty offer sheet (4/$72M) over the weekend. If the Kings don&rsquo;t match, Bogdanovic will give the Hawks another shot creator that also offers some passing chops in pick-and-roll.
The Hawks still have some, uh, roster balancing to do, but they&rsquo;ve undoubtedly taken some of the burden off of Young&rsquo;s plate. That feels like a win for the young lad.&nbsp;
Winner: Portland Trail Blazers
I&rsquo;m not sure if &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; is the right way to describe it, but the Blazers have had themselves one heck of an offseason. It started with their pre-draft trade for Robert Covington, a ridiculous help defender that should allow the Blazers to ramp up their defensive aggression if they so choose. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t count as a free-agency move, but the Blazers have plenty of ammo in that department as well.
Bringing back Rodney Hood was a smart move. Hood was in the midst of his most efficient season by far (with a career-high 62.5% True Shooting percentage) before injuries derailed his campaign. His off-the-bounce shooting is a wonderful counterpunch to teams that overreact to the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum backcourt and scramble after getting the ball out of their hands.&nbsp;
The Blazers also added Derrick Jones Jr. on a sorta-rich-but-mostly-fine 1+1 deal at the mid-level. He gives Portland a level of athleticism that they haven&rsquo;t had since, well... when have they had a guy who can jump like he can? Jones is a versatile defender in terms of his individual skill set, but also brings with him a diversity of scheme deployment after playing just about any defense you can think of under Erik Spoelstra in Miami last year.
Circling back to the &ldquo;Centers Matter!&rdquo; point, the Blazers also made sure to bolster their frontcourt. Enes Kanter is back to provide interior scoring and rebounding against specific matchups. Harry Giles is a mystery box; a tremendous passer with plus-athleticism that also has no idea what he&rsquo;s doing on defense. Carmelo Anthony isn&rsquo;t a center, but does provide some semblance of frontcourt depth as a spacer and occasional end-of-shot-clock option.
Health is the big caveat for the Blazers (when hasn&rsquo;t it been?), but they&rsquo;re set up to push for a top-four seed this season.
Loser: Denver Nuggets
I have two issues with the Nuggets&rsquo; opening weekend -- enough that I&rsquo;d consider them a loser versus a team I&rsquo;m just concerned with.
First, losing Jerami Grant hurts, even if that was mostly out of their control. Grant reportedly chose a larger role in Detroit over sticking with the Nuggets, despite a willingness from Denver&rsquo;s side to offer a similar deal. It&rsquo;s hard to blame a young dude for wanting to expand his game. And as we know in today&rsquo;s NBA, good, young-ish players on bad NBA teams can always be flipped to good teams for draft compensation. I&rsquo;d be surprised if Grant finishes his deal as a member of the Pistons.
Regardless, the athleticism, shooting, cutting and defensive versatility that Grant brings will be missed in Denver. Bringing back Paul Millsap and signing JaMychal Green are solid counters, but they didn't replace Grant&rsquo;s skillset (or youth).&nbsp;
Second, even if they were able to retain Grant, the Nuggets would still be in need of an actual-factual wing defender. They&rsquo;ve done absolutely nothing to fill that void. The closest version of that player on the roster was Torrey Craig and they pulled his qualifying offer, leading to Craig signing with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Craig is a flawed player, particularly offensively. This isn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;wow, the Nuggets really dropped the ball&rdquo; type of complaint, but he was at least a facsimile of what they needed. Who is the guy on the roster that can match up -- forget defend, just match up -- with the LeBrons, Kawhis and Paul Georges of the conference? That is a lot of pressure on Will Barton or Gary Harris or PJ Dozier -- and all of those guys are undersized against 3s or 3/4 hybrids.
Loser: Charlotte Hornets
Four years, $120 million for Gordon Hayward. Even with the theoretical small-market/bad-team tax that has to be paid to land second-tier free agents, that is a steep price for a guy who:
1) Hasn&rsquo;t made an All-Star team in three seasons.
2) Has played in 125 games over the past three seasons due to lower-body injuries.
3) May still be dealing with a <a href="https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/07/gordon-hayards-takeover-ability-foot-pain-and-absence-3-big-questions-as-the-boston-celtics-restart-their-season.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nerve issue in his foot</a> from his catastrophic injury in 2017.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_9765789-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
On top of that, the Hornets elected to waive-and-stretch Nicolas Batum -- their last big-money-gone-bad-due-to-injury wing signing -- to free up the money to bring in Hayward. Let&rsquo;s say Hayward is reasonably healthy (60 of 72 games?) and slaps up, like, 19-5-5 on solid efficiency. Is that enough to get these Hornets into the play-in tournament? Maybe?&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t love it. I can also quibble about the Bismack Biyombo signing because there were (and are) better center options on the market, but there is familiarity there and he&rsquo;s a genuine locker-room presence.&nbsp;
Loser: John Collins
As mentioned earlier, the signing of Gallinari takes quite a bit of pressure off of Young in terms of shot creation. Gallinari is also pretty firmly a 4, which happens to be the same position that Collins plays.&nbsp;
You may say, &ldquo;Just slide Collins over to the 5!&rdquo; and sure. But the Hawks traded for Clint Capela to operate as a rim runner and rim protector. They also just drafted Onyeka Okongwu at No. 6 overall. He may be mobile enough to survive at the 4, but he does not have the shooting or ball skills (yet) to play it offensively. He should also get burn at the 5.&nbsp;
If the Hawks are serious about making the playoffs (which they seem to be based on the money they&rsquo;ve shelled out so far), then improving the defense should be priority number one. Capela, Okongwu and the recently-signed Kris Dunn all fit that billing. Capela and Okongwu are better options at holding down the fort defensively than Collins is.
These moves conveniently come during an offseason in which Collins is extension-eligible and fresh off a season where Collins missed 25 games due to stupi-, er, suspension.
I&rsquo;m not the best at math, but 2 + 2 has always come out to 4 in my experience. It&rsquo;s starting to feel like Collins is going to end up being the odd man out.&nbsp;
Collins is very talented, a legit stretch option at this point while also being a violent rim-runner and offensive rebounder; but the lack of positional versatility due to his &ldquo;meh&rdquo; length and defensive aptitude cap his ceiling in terms of playoff value. And it&rsquo;s hard to argue giving max money to a guy like that, especially when your franchise player is one of the worst defenders in the sport. If building around Young is the priority, you&rsquo;re going to need a team full of wing defenders and interior stoppers. Collins, as good as he is, doesn&rsquo;t qualify as either.
Loser: JaVale McGee
Opting into your contract, only to be shipped to Cleveland to make room for your replacement has to sting. Assuming he stays, he&rsquo;s also not any closer to consistent playing time. And even if he does carve out a 14-16-minute role as the back-up 5, he&rsquo;ll be going from LeBron to&hellip; Collin Sexton and Darius Garland as pick-and-roll passers?&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_13781902-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Quite a drop, I&rsquo;d say.
Stray Thoughts
- Maybe not a loser, but the Brooklyn Nets are loser-adjacent right now. Bringing back Joe Harris is smart, even if that price (4/$75M) seems a smidge steep for my liking. But they&rsquo;re still a couple of perimeter defenders short, and they need a 4. Badly. Go flip some stuff for Aaron Gordon, please.
- Very nerdy thing, but I love the DeAndre&rsquo; Bembry signing for Toronto. He can&rsquo;t shoot, which stinks, but he can defend multiple positions, plays at 150 MPH all the time and can make some funky passes from time-to-time. He&rsquo;s going to be fun (and sometimes infuriating) for their bench unit.
- The Bogdanovic flop was funny to watch for non-Bucks fans, but I think the consensus around the Bucks&rsquo; offseason has become overly negative because of it. They still improved their team, highlighted by the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jrue Holiday trade</a>. They&rsquo;ve also made some solid bargain signings. Bryn Forbes can shoot, as can D.J. Augustin. Bobby Portis can score, though that&rsquo;s probably all he can do. None of those guys are plus-defenders, but if you&rsquo;re of the belief that they&rsquo;ll be flanked by at least one of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez at all times, you have the interior infrastructure in place to protect them from being abused. Of course, none of this matters if head coach Mike Budenholzer doesn't evolve a bit. Which, well, I guess we&rsquo;ll see.
- Seriously, is there a single Knicks player on the roster that isn&rsquo;t repped by CAA? Somebody has to intervene, right? Right? Bueller?&nbsp;
- Shout-out to the Suns for drafting Jalen Smith at 10, then proceeding to sign or bring back three frontcourt players in less than a week. Bringing him along slowly isn&rsquo;t a bad idea, but it does make the pick look more questionable in the short-term.
- It&rsquo;s at least a little odd we&rsquo;ve heard next to nothing on the extension talks of Giannis Antetokounmpo (and by proxy, Bam Adebayo) or Brandon Ingram. I would expect the Ingram shoe to drop first, but the silence on the other end is... odd, to say the least. Teams like the Heat, Raptors and Mavericks might smell blood in the water.
- Honestly would&rsquo;ve liked to see the Hawks take the $12-or-so-million per year they spent on the Rondo/Dunn combo and use it for a De&rsquo;Anthony Melton offer sheet, but good on the Grizzlies for locking him up for cheap. That deal is going to age well, methinks.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the teams and players that were affected the most after the first three days of NBA free agency.

Yaya