Tigers

With the 2024-25 NBA season just days away, the Western Conference is locked, loaded, and ready for battle. The offseason drama has settled, rosters are finalized, and every team is gearing up for what promises to be a fierce and competitive race. From reigning contenders to rising underdogs, the West is stacked with talent and ambition. Let&rsquo;s break down the top 15 teams in the West as we head into this thrilling new season&mdash;no frills, just what you need to know.
<ol>
<li> Minnesota Timberwolves The Timberwolves are turning a new page after trading away longtime cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo and are now fully embracing Anthony Edwards as the franchise cornerstone. The T-Wolves&rsquo; mix of young talent and veteran leadership gives them a balanced roster around Edwards. Rudy Gobert remains a defensive anchor as a 4-time DPOY, Edwards is primed for a superstar leap, and if the supporting cast, including Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, steps up, the Wolves could be ready to take the top spot in the West.</li>
<li> Oklahoma City Thunder The Thunder&rsquo;s rebuild is no longer a long-term project; they&rsquo;re ready to compete now. However, due to Isaiah Hartenstein&rsquo;s injury to start the season, we&rsquo;re placing the Thunder at no.2 for now. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is already an All-NBA guard and arguably a top 5 player in the league. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams figure out to be the dynamic inside-out duo around SGA. Add in Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, the two new acquisitions this offseason with their capable role players Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe, this young core is as versatile as it is exciting. OKC&rsquo;s depth and versatility on both ends of the floor could propel them into serious title contention.</li>
<li> Phoenix Suns The Suns have loaded up for a title run, and with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal leading the charge, Phoenix has one of the most dangerous offensive trios in the league. They have added their most significant hole which is the PG spot with a solid pick up in Tyus Jones, and they have one of the best offensive coaches in the league in Mike Budenholzer. The Suns&rsquo; questions lie in their depth and health, but if they can manage those concerns, they&rsquo;re built for a championship push. Their offensive firepower is unmatched, and if they click, the Suns will be a team no one wants to face.</li>
<li> Memphis Grizzlies Memphis has weathered their offseason storms and enters the season with a gritty identity intact. Ja Morant is back after his injury and suspension last year and he will now play with last season&rsquo;s addition Marcus Smart. Together with the continued growth of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies are primed to be competitive and come back from their prime two seasons ago where they won 50+ games. Memphis&rsquo; defensive dominance paired with offensive firepower ensures they can be one of the top teams in the West with a deep bench with solid role players.</li>
<li> Denver Nuggets After falling short to Minnesota in 7 games last playoffs, the Nuggets will enter the season with their core mostly intact. Nikola Jokić remains the most dominant center and the best player in the game. With Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. healthy, the Nuggets are poised for another deep run. But perhaps their biggest loss this season was losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to free agency and that might be a hit so they&rsquo;re currently ranked at no.5 to start the year. It could be a lot to ask for young players like Christian Braun or Julian Strawther to fill the void left by KCP, so it will be interesting to see how Denver handles his loss this season.</li>
<li> Dallas Mavericks Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving experiment is back after a successful season last year, where Dallas entered the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 &ndash; when they won the title. The two stars can mesh to create one of the league&rsquo;s most potent offenses and with the continued internal development of young players like Dereck Lively, the Mavs can build on that Finals appearance. With newcomer Klay Thompson set to provide historic spacing for their dynamic duo, Dallas has the talent to climb the standings and challenge the top teams in the West.</li>
<li> New Orleans Pelicans The Pelicans&rsquo; fate will always hinge on Zion Williamson&rsquo;s health. When Zion plays, New Orleans is a force to be reckoned with. Now paired with newly-acquired point guard Dejounte Murray, they have a balanced attack capable of competing with any team in the conference with Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum still on the fold. If Zion stays on the floor, the Pelicans could find themselves rising up the ranks, but his availability remains the biggest X-factor.</li>
<li> Golden State Warriors The Warriors are clinging to their championship window with Stephen Curry still playing at an elite level. The addition of capable veterans in Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield, and DeAnthony Melton gives them depth and personnel that can play in their offense to surround the core of Curry and Draymond Green for their foundation. Health and age are concerns, but if their veterans stay intact, Golden State can&rsquo;t be counted out.</li>
<li> Sacramento Kings The Kings struggled a bit last season after making their long-awaited playoff return two seasons ago, and they&rsquo;re looking to build on that momentum. They have signed DeMar DeRozan and he should bring a new wrinkle to their motion and three-hunting offense. DeRozan&rsquo;s mid range ability should be a welcome addition to Sacramento&rsquo;s offense. De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis still lead an explosive offense, but defense remains a question mark. Sacramento&rsquo;s high-flying, fast-paced style makes them a regular-season juggernaut, but they&rsquo;ll need to tighten up defensively if they want to make a deep playoff run.</li>
<li> Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers are counting on LeBron James and Anthony Davis staying healthy for a full season. With the front office standing pat on making moves this offseason, the Lakers&rsquo; success will hinge on their superstar duo. If LeBron and AD can avoid injury, Los Angeles will be a formidable playoff team, but health is always a looming concern with this group.</li>
<li> Houston Rockets The Rockets added veterans Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to guide their young core last season and this season could be the time for them to step up. They finished strong last year behind defensive minded coach Ime Udoka and the result could be a team that surprises many. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun have star potential, and younger players Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson add even more excitement. The Rockets also drafted Reed Sheppard with the 3rd pick and Houston is hoping to lay the foundation for success and could push for a Play-In spot this season.</li>
<li> San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama enters his second season, and the Spurs are fully embracing their rebuild around the budding star. While Wembanyama showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie, San Antonio is still in the development phase. But with the addition of Chris Paul, the Spurs now have a capable PG to feed Wemby and the other guys, possibly unlocking a new level to their games. With their young core, the Spurs may not be a playoff team yet, but their future looks incredibly bright with Wembanyama leading the way.</li>
<li> Los Angeles Clippers The Clippers&rsquo; fortunes rest on the health of Kawhi Leonard&mdash;again. After losing Paul George for nothing, Leonard is left to fend LA off by himself in their new arena at Intuit Dome. Gone are the days when LA has the talent to compete with anyone as they&rsquo;re just but a shell of themselves. Leading the way for the injured Leonard will be a 34-year-old James Harden and that might be too much to ask of the aging superstar. However, if Kawhi can return healthy and he can avoid the injury bug, the Clippers will be in the playoff mix, but that&rsquo;s a big &ldquo;if&rdquo; for this squad.</li>
<li> Portland Trail Blazers With Damian Lillard long gone, the Blazers will fully commit another season to their rebuild. Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe form a promising young core, but Portland will likely spend this season focusing on player development. While they won&rsquo;t be in playoff contention, the Blazers are positioning themselves well for the future, with an eye on growth and improvement.</li>
<li> Utah Jazz The Jazz are continuing their rebuild, with Lauri Markkanen emerging as a cornerstone player. While they have some intriguing young pieces like Taylor Hendricks and Keyonte George, Utah isn&rsquo;t ready to compete just yet. This season will be about development and finding which young players can be part of their long-term plans. The Jazz may not win many games this year, but they&rsquo;re building toward a brighter future.</li>
</ol>

Let’s break down the top 15 teams in the West as we head into this thrilling new season.

2024-2025 NBA Western Conference Power Rankings: A race at the top to start the year

PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES &ndash; PH team Meralco Bolts blew out the visiting Macau Black Bears, 97-85, in the second game of the East Asia Super League&rsquo;s (EASL) tip-off event at the Mall of Asia Arena here on Wednesday night.
The San Miguel Beermen lost earlier in the day to Suwon KT Sonicboom, 87-81.
The home squad relied on a balanced attack that saw 4 players score double digits, led by main man Chris Newsome&rsquo;s 18 points as they took the win and defended their home turf.
American imports David Kennedy and Allen Durham both posted 17 points with the latter grabbing 11 rebounds while the former had an all-around game with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Chris Banchero scored 14 points as the Bolts&rsquo; third import Ange Kouame contributed a solid 9-point, 9-rebound game.
William Artino and Jeantal Cylla paced the Black Bears with 23 points each but Macau was dominated on the boards by Meralco, 52-39. Cylla shot just 5 of 22 for the entire game in an abysmal shooting from the field.&nbsp;
Bolts coach Luigi Trillo lauded his players for their efforts but insisted there&rsquo;s much work to be done.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We definitely think that we can win this thing. But starting off, we have to at least win 4 games in our group and secure that top 2 spot, and then we can go from there,&rdquo; Trillo said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking it one game at a time and we&rsquo;re definitely aiming for that [Final Four spot], so we&rsquo;ll see how it goes,&rdquo; Newsome added.
With the win, Meralco has equaled their win total from the last EASL season and now they&rsquo;re looking forward to eclipse that when they clash with Japan&rsquo;s Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa next week, October 16.
As for Macau, a newly-added team this season as part of EASL&rsquo;s expansion, they will try to grab their first win as a member of the league when they face the Ryukyu Golden Kings on October 30 on their home floor.

PH team Meralco Bolts blew out the visiting Macau Black Bears, 97-85, in the second game of the East Asia Super League Tip-Off event.

EASL: Home team Meralco Bolts stun visiting Macau Black Bears

PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES &ndash; The Philippines&rsquo; San Miguel Beermen and Meralco Bolts will face the KT Suwon Sonicboom and the Macau Blackbears in the 2024-2025 East Asia Super League (EASL) season in the league&rsquo;s Tip-Off event today at the Mall of Asia Arena here.
This is the opening act of the tournament dubbed the Champions League in East Asia, with champion teams from each of the participating countries gunning for the crown of the best team in the region.
With that being said, let&rsquo;s dive into what to expect from the slate of games today.
How will the Beermen and the Bolts adapt to the international style of play?
Over the past few days, San Miguel and Meralco have been in the thick of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) playoffs as both teams are battling hard to get out of the quarterfinals. And now they would have to be up to the challenge of transitioning and adjusting their play when they meet international counterparts from Korea and Macau.
This seems like a tough task ahead for the Beermen and the Bolts as they have been accustomed to playing the Filipino brand of basketball for over a whole season, and the little turnaround time could present some issues along the way.
The Koreans have always been known to be shooters and ball movers, utilizing their speed and team chemistry to damage their opponents. The Black Bears employ a similar playstyle, offering a variety of their shots from three as well as relying on production from their imports.
Nevertheless, San Miguel and Meralco are two of the best teams the Philippines has to offer, so it will be a fun matchup regardless as they showcase their brand of basketball to the visitors.
San Miguel Beermen and KT Suwon Sonicboom: The three-point game
According to stats from EASL, the Beermen and the Sonicboom are both great three-point shooting teams. Throughout the Beermen&rsquo;s 2023-24 PBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup run, they hit 10.8 3&rsquo;s per game at a 34% clip. In contrast, KT hit 9.2 3&rsquo;s per game last season in the KBL, scoring 35.2% of their shots from deep.
San Miguel sharpshooter Marcio Lassiter, who became the PBA&rsquo;s all-time 3-point leader with 1,251 career 3-pointers on Sep. 15, will lead the way for the Beermen, while Heo Hoon, who averaged 3.6 threes in the KBL Finals last season, will do the same for Suwon.
This will be a very interesting thing to monitor as the Beermen have had to deal with the newly implemented 4-point line in the ongoing PBA season, and this has led to interesting results. Teams have been playing less zone over in the country&rsquo;s scene so we might see the Sonicboom play some tough 1-on-1 defense throughout the game.
Meralco Bolts and Macau Black Bears: Bounce back or good start?
After a tough EASL season last year, the Bolts aim to improve and increase their wins this EASL season. Meralco has also bowed out of the current PBA playoff season, and now they shift their focus onto their EASL campaign hoping for better results.&nbsp;
On the other hand, the Black Bears come into the 2024-2025 season as an expansion team and are looking to start good and hot. They will make their debut in the East Asian League full of hope and optimism but armed with lofty expectations.
According to EASL&rsquo;s scouting report, the Black Bears are equipped with a fast-paced and free-flowing offense. Macau also runs most of its sets through floor general Damian Chong Qui, who just at 5-foot-9, operates well off of ball screens but can also pop out and hit an open 3. Jenning Leung, a sharp-shooting 6-foot guard out of Canada&rsquo;s McGill University, makes up an elite Black Bears&rsquo; backcourt and together these two are for sure going to give the Bolts a lot of problems.

The Philippines’ San Miguel Beermen and Meralco Bolts will face the KT Suwon Sonicboom and the Macau Black Bears in the EASL.

EASL Tip-Off Preview: San Miguel, Meralco go up against neighboring Korea, Macau

Just over a month ago, Team USA claimed its fifth straight Olympic gold medal after beating hosts France at the Paris 2024 Olympics.&nbsp;
The team was led by brilliant and ageless superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who teamed up for the first time in Team USA after countless battles in the NBA.
It was LeBron&rsquo;s 4th medal in the Olympics, having won bronze in Athens 2004 and gold twice in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and yet just added another piece to his already GOAT-esque list of accolades as he approaches his 40-year-old season (22nd season) in the NBA. It was perhaps even sweeter for Steph, as the gold medal completed his own trophy cabinet after having achieved everything in the NBA.
What does this gold medal mean for both James and Curry at this point in their careers? Former Golden State Warrior and Los Angeles Laker Juan Toscano-Anderson believes it has cemented their place as one of the best, if not the best players ever to do it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think it further concretes their legacy. Obviously, they&rsquo;ve already done what they&rsquo;ve done and they&rsquo;ve been in conversations for the best player ever/ top five/ best point guard ever. I think as they continue to add accolades to their shelves, it continues to concrete the idea of them being in the GOAT status,&rdquo; Toscano-Anderson said in a one-on-one interview with BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I personally think LeBron is, you know, if not the best player to ever play one of the best players; and I think Steph is the best point guard to ever play.&rdquo;
Toscano-Anderson had the rare chance of being teammates with both superstars following his stints with both the Warriors and the Lakers, and he detailed how James and Curry are different and similar in their ways of leading their squads.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re very similar in a lot of ways,&rdquo; Toscano-Anderson mentioned. &ldquo;Greatness doesn&rsquo;t happen by accident, I mean they lead by example. They [LeBron and Steph] spend all day at the facility taking care of their bodies and working on their game. Just the way they approach being a professional is very relative and similar.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Obviously they&rsquo;re different &ndash; they have different personalities, different guys,&rdquo; Toscano-Anderson added. &ldquo;LeBron is probably a little more like goofy and funny, and Steph is very likable and friendly as well. But I think LeBron is more kid-like &ndash; he has that side of him that a lot of people don&rsquo;t see because they only see him in the limelight from a professional standpoint where he has to carry himself in a certain way. So, they&rsquo;re both very great guys. I really enjoyed playing with both of them, and I will consider both of them friends and I still have a relationship with them both.&rdquo;
Although not with an NBA team as of the moment, Toscano-Anderson is still around the NBA circuit as he&rsquo;s about to play for the NBA&rsquo;s G League United team which will be competing this weekend at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore. The 6&rsquo;7 forward has been a part of this newly formed team to go up against the champions of each continent and he has been enjoying the experience thus far.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of fun,&rdquo; Toscano-Anderson said. &ldquo;We got a lot of talent &ndash; different dynamic for me as I&rsquo;m the oldest on the team (it&rsquo;s my first time being the oldest on the team). A lot of fun to see the young talent and play with some guys that I&rsquo;ve never had the opportunity to play with. Then playing with a guy that I&rsquo;ve known since college (Deonte Burton), he was my roommate in college and this has brought us again &ndash; so just a good overall experience.&rdquo;
When asked about his future basketball plans, Toscano-Anderson is hopeful to play in the NBA again.
&ldquo;If somebody offers me, playing in the NBA is always my first preference. But obviously, that&rsquo;s not completely up to me so I&rsquo;ll revisit that after the tournament.&rdquo;
Check out the full interview here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We caught up with former Warrior and Laker Juan Toscano-Anderson (<a href="https://twitter.com/juanonjuan10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@juanonjuan10</a>) as his <a href="https://twitter.com/nbagleague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nbagleague</a> United team is set to compete at the 2024 <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAIC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FIBAIC</a> in Singapore this week ✊🏽 On playing with the NBA G League United ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/Ng4KinU216">pic.twitter.com/Ng4KinU216</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1834105826287779919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2024</a>
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Former Golden State Warrior and Los Angeles Laker Juan Toscano-Anderson shares his view on LeBron and Steph as all-time greats. it has cemented their place as one of the best, if not the best players ever to do it.

Former Warrior and Laker says LeBron ‘the best ever’; Steph ‘the best PG ever’

The Los Angeles Lakers have selected LeBron &ldquo;Bronny&rdquo; James Jr. as the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday afternoon.
The highly controversial son of the NBA&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer LeBron James, Bronny drew a lot of backlash from people surrounding his whole draft process. Some felt the elder James had been in the shadows pulling the strings to make this move, after citing since last year about his desire and dream to play with his son in the NBA.
However, a lot of people also justified the Lakers&rsquo; decision, with former and current NBA players alike congratulating James and their whole family.&nbsp;
The Lakers mentioned Bronny&rsquo;s work ethic in his workouts with the team and his character as something that the franchise valued. This helped with the decision to draft the younger James, led by general manager Rob Pelinka and newly-hired head coach JJ Redick.&nbsp;
The 6-foot-2, 210 lbs pound guard out of USC has had a rocky start to his basketball career, including suffering a cardiac arrest last year from a congenital heart disease. Since then, James Jr. has had to return to the court, training vigorously. He successfully played, was cleared by USC&rsquo;s medical team, and averaged modest stats in college.
Now, Bronny is set to play for LA alongside his father LeBron. The duo are set to become the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time, and this fulfills the elder James&rsquo; dream and legacy by playing together with his eldest son.

LeBron and Bronny James are set to become the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time.

Bronny James goes to the Lakers via the 55th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft

The Detroit Pistons have fired head coach Monty Williams after just one season, according to ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski.
With just a season under Williams, the Pistons will absorb the remaining of his $65 million contract.
According to Wojnarowski, the decision apparently did not come from newly-hired Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, but directly from the ownership headed by Tom Gores.
Williams was notably hired by the Pistons just over a year ago from the Phoenix Suns for a record $78 million, making him the highest-paid coach in the league. However, after yet another disappointing season for Detroit, the franchise pulled the trigger and will proceed in a new direction under Langdon.
Langdon and Detroit will now begin a coaching search along with teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers for their head tactician come next season.
The Pistons finished with a league-worst record this season at just 14-68 under Williams. They hold the 5th pick in this year&rsquo;s draft and have some good young pieces Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Jaden Ivey to work on long-term.

The Detroit Pistons have fired head coach Monty Williams after just one season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Pistons dismiss head coach Monty Williams

Although we&rsquo;re in the middle of the NBA Playoffs and the Boston Celtics are about to take on the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals for the championship, teams on the outside looking in are starting to make their moves to bolster their benches. Here are some of them that are on the move:
Warriors, Darvin Ham to discuss assistant coach role
According to reports, Golden State has approached former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham for an assistant coaching role with the team. Although it isn&rsquo;t expected to materialize, it is a signal of the Warriors&rsquo; desire to add a big-name assistant, and indications are they are in search of either a former head coach or former player to fill the role. The Warriors will continue their search moving forward.
Wizards hire Brian Keefe as head coach
The Washington Wizards have promoted interim head coach Brian Keefe to be the team&rsquo;s full-time coach. Keefe, who will be the 26th head coach in Wizards franchise history, had an 8-31 record as interim head coach last year for Washington. He takes over the franchise who have intriguing young talents in Deni Avdija, Bilal Coulibaly, and Tristan Vukcevic.
Lue, Clippers ink extension
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue will be back for the considerable future in LA as he extends with the Clippers for 5 years, USD 70 million. Lue, an assistant on Team USA&rsquo;s staff, has agreed with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer regarding the extension which will make him one of the league&rsquo;s highest-paid coaches.
Caron Butler returns to Miami on a 4-year deal
Butler, a part of Erik Spoelstra&rsquo;s staff in Miami, has been extended for another 4 years to remain on the bench for the Heatles. A 16-year NBA veteran and an ex-Heat player, Butler has spent the last 4 years as an assistant with the team.
David Fizdale joins Mike Budenholzer in Phoenix
Fizdale, who has been a part of Frank Vogel&rsquo;s staff, will join newly installed head coach Mike Budenholzer&rsquo;s staff in Phoenix.

Teams on the outside looking in are starting to make their moves to bolster their benches. Here are some of them that are on the move.

NBA Coaching Changes: Teams starting to equip their tacticians

The halfway point of the 2023-24 NBA regular season has arrived, offering the perfect opportunity to analyze this year's Most-Valuable-Player race.
The favorites include Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.&nbsp;
The OKC superstar is the lone player in the group who has not received the accolade, making him the most exciting to discuss.
Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the Thunder to one of their most impressive seasons in recent memory. The 25-year-old has Oklahoma City sitting as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a 27-13 record. He is having his best statistical season yet, averaging 31 points, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals on 55.2% shooting from the field and 32.6% from beyond the arc.
His ability to score at all three levels at 6-foot-6 is what separates him from the superstar big men. While Embiid and Jokic can knock down a three-pointer on a consistent basis, they lack the ability to create their own shot from beyond the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander uses his speed to create for himself inside the paint, which leads to opportunities away from the rim due to expectations of an attack.
NBA legend Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal believes that SGA has surpassed Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m gonna have to take [SGA]. Luka is a fabulous player, but this kid? He plays the right way [and] gets his teammates involved,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neal said on TNT. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m taking him right now. He&rsquo;s a hell of a player right now.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Shaq says he'd take SGA over Luka right now 👀 &ldquo;I&rsquo;m gonna have to take [SGA]. Luka is a fabulous player but this kid? He plays the right way [and] gets his teammates involved. &hellip; I&rsquo;m taking him right now. He&rsquo;s a hell of a player right now.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/apYBmLT5Am">pic.twitter.com/apYBmLT5Am</a>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1747418615383572970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s no denying that SGA is leading his team to a more successful year on paper. It remains to be seen if Gilgeous-Alexander can emerge as the MVP frontrunner over his 7-foot competitors.
Embiid&rsquo;s downfall may be the newly implemented 65-game rule, where a player must take part in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for major awards. He has missed 10 of Philadelphia&rsquo;s 39 games this season. Not to mention, the six-time All-Star may have to deal with voter fatigue.
Expectations for Jokic are higher due to the fact that he consistently posts phenomenal box scores. Not to mention, he&rsquo;s already a two-time winner of the award (so voter fatigue is also a factor with him). His situation is similar to that of LeBron James. The 19-time All-Star has received MVP four times in his career, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has arguably been the NBA's top player for more than a decade throughout his career.
The second half of the season will act as the determining factor, but right now, SGA is performing on par with the other MVP favorites.

Where does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rank in the NBA's MVP race at the midway point of the season?

Where does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rank in the NBA MVP race?

The NBA announced Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for November for giving back to his hometown of Flint, Michigan and hosting a special event through his foundation (Kyle Kuzma Family Foundation).&nbsp;
Each month, the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award recognizes a player monthly for their outstanding work in the community.
On November 26, Kuzma surprised mothers at the Genesee County Jail in Flint with clothing and gifts for them and their children for the holidays.&nbsp; Kuzma also unveiled Kuz&rsquo;s corner &ndash; two newly renovated jail cells as a part of a larger effort to upgrade the facility&rsquo;s conditions.
In conjunction with the event, Kuzma announced the launch of a special partnership through his foundation with I.G.N.I.T.E. and R.I.S.E. to support residents of the facility for a successful future when they re-enter society.&nbsp; I.G.N.I.T.E&rsquo;s mission is to reverse the cycle of generational incarceration through education by providing residents with valuable job training and skills that they can use upon release to gain employment and reduce the likelihood of reoffending.&nbsp; Since inception in 2020, I.G.N.I.T.E. has provided more than 250,000 hours of educational training to over 2,500 residents leading to a reduction of assaults and violent offenses in the jail by 97%.&nbsp; R.I.S.E.&rsquo;s mission is to ensure that residents in the Genesee County Jail have access to behavioral and social health support services and complements the work of I.G.N.I.T.E.
Also in November, Kuzma and others from Monumental Basketball (Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, Capital City Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming) partnered to host Thankful Meals presented by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, a community outreach event to serve Washington D.C.&rsquo;s Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents.&nbsp; Kuzma distributed over 1,500 hot meals from Black-owned restaurant Henry&rsquo;s Soul Caf&eacute;.&nbsp; Those in attendance also went home with a GIANT food store gift card.
&ldquo;Helping to uplift the communities that are special to me is a privilege, so being recognized for that work is a humbling experience, particularly when it takes place during the season of giving,&rdquo; said Kuzma.&nbsp; &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud to share this honor with my family and support system as well as my teammates and the entire Wizards organization, as all of us are committed to continuing to make a difference in the lives of others.&rdquo;
Kuzma will be recognized in-arena as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner during pre-game of the Dec. 29 Nets-Wizards game.&nbsp; Washington Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins will present him with the award.

The NBA announced Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for November.

Wizards' Kyle Kuzma wins NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award

After a long four-month offseason, the 2023-24 NBA season officially kicks off on October 24. Preseason action is currently underway, with teams evaluating their roster and getting ready for the start of the regular season.
There were a few roster rule changes of note this offseason that were introduced as part of the new CBA. Now, each team can sign up to three two-way players (up from two) who are able to play up to 50 games with their NBA team and spend the rest of their season in the G League. Also, offseason rosters were originally limited to 20 players but have since increased to 21.&nbsp;
Each team needs to be at 15 standard contracts prior to the start of the season, which means a few players on guaranteed deals will have to be cut prior to the season. While some teams have a pretty set roster, others (like the Oklahoma City Thunder) will be forced to part ways with talented players to reach their roster limit.&nbsp;
Looking at the Atlantic Division, let's see how each team&rsquo;s lineup is shaping up and what questions they may need to answer before the start of the season.
(This is part one of a six-part series, with more divisional previews coming soon).
<h1>BOSTON CELTICS</h1>
Outside of the top-six players, who will be the most reliable depth option?
After acquiring Jrue Holiday, the Boston Celtics may have the best top-six of any team in the league. While we can add the Holiday trade to their list of aggressive offseason transactions, their depth has taken somewhat of a step back.&nbsp;
They will have to replace four rotation players from last year&rsquo;s Conference Finals team with a few players who don&rsquo;t have much experience in playoff situations. Three players who should definitely see more minutes are Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet. Pritchard has played well on both ends of the floor when given an opportunity, notably shooting 40% from three-point range over his first three seasons. The Celtics rewarded him with a team-friendly extension that should see him take up about 5% of the salary cap over the next four years. Hauser has also been a stellar three-point shooter, knocking down 42% since coming into the league.&nbsp;
The frontcourt is probably the most notable weakness on the team&rsquo;s depth chart. Joe Mazzulla has expressed confidence that <a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/10/7/23907608/boston-celtics-depth-sam-hauser-luke-kornet-payton-pritchard-joe-mazzulla-blake-griffin-bus-one-boys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kornet should be successful on both ends of the floor and will be their go-to backup center to start the season.</a> The preseason will be important in determining who else (i.e. Oshae Brissett, Jordan Walsh, Svi Mykhailiuk, etc.) may stand out for Mazzulla and get an opportunity for playing time behind Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Celtics have the least amount of players on guaranteed contracts in the league (10). However, their roster for opening night is likely set unless they want to open up flexibility to sign other veteran players or buyout candidates later this season. If they choose to cut someone, it would very likely be a player on a non-guaranteed deal. Mykhailiuk and Dalano Banton each have a partial $200,000 guarantee that increases to over $1,000,000 if they make the roster. Kornet, Wenyen Gabriel and Lamar Stevens all have non-guaranteed contracts.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 19 players (10 guaranteed, 2 partially guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 1 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jrue Holiday, G/F Jaylen Brown, F Jayson Tatum, F/C Al Horford, F/C Kristaps Porzingis
Projected Rotation Players: G Derrick White, G Payton Pritchard, C Luke Kornet (non-guaranteed), F Sam Hauser, F Oshae Brissett
Projected Reserves: F Jordan Walsh, G/F Svi Mykhailiuk ($200K guaranteed), F Wenyen Gabriel (non-guaranteed), G Dalano Banton ($200K guaranteed), F Lamar Stevens (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-Way Players: C Neemias Queta, G JD Davison, G Jay Scrubb (Injured)
Projected Roster Cuts: G DJ Steward (Exhibit-10)
<h1>BROOKLYN NETS</h1>
What is Ben Simmons' role?
Ben Simmons has only played 42 games since being acquired by the Nets in February 2022, dealing with physical and psychological hurdles that have made him somewhat of an afterthought. Head coach Jacque Vaughn has expressed confidence that Simmons is now 100% healthy and ready to contribute again at a high level.&nbsp;
He seems to be penciled in as the team&rsquo;s starting point guard, starting in the Nets&rsquo; first preseason game. Though it was just a small 14-minute sample size, Simmons looked a lot like his former All-Star self. Having not played since February 15, he looked athletic, aggressive and confident before sitting out the second half.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He attacked the rim, I think he played with pace, looked pretty natural out there getting up and down the floor, communicating with guys into the flow of the game,&rdquo; Vaughn said, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/ben-simmons-passes-eye-test-in-nets-preseason-opener/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praising his $38-million man</a>. &ldquo;Really good to see.&rdquo;
Vaughn has some options when it comes to starting lineups where he could go smaller, with a backcourt of Simmons and Spencer Dinwiddie, or decide to start Dorian Finney-Smith and use Mikal Bridges as a big two-guard.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
Darius Bazley, Harry Giles and Trendon Watford are all on non-guaranteed deals and are vying for the final two roster spots. The Nets also have an open two-way spot, which I believe they could potentially use on a player like <a href="https://www.si.com/college/tennessee/mens-basketball/kennedy-chandler-starring-in-nba-summer-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Summer League standout</a> and former Memphis Grizzlies second-rounder Kennedy Chandler.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 18 players (13 guaranteed, 3 non-guaranteed, 2 two-way)
Projected Starters: G/F Ben Simmons, G Spencer Dinwiddie, F Mikal Bridges, F Cameron Johnson, C Nicolas Claxton
Projected Rotation Players: F Dorian Finney-Smith, F Royce O&rsquo;Neale, G Cameron Thomas, G Dennis Smith Jr., C Day&rsquo;Ron Sharpe
Projected Reserves: G/F Lonnie Walker IV, C Noah Clowney, F Dariq Whitehead, F Darius Bazley (Non-Guaranteed), C Harry Giles (Non-Guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: G Armoni Brooks, F Jalen Wilson, G Kennedy Chandler* (Projected Signing)
Projected Roster Cuts: F Trendon Watford (Non-Guaranteed)
<h1>NEW YORK KNICKS</h1>
Who will be the first option off the bench?
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has his fair share of options to headline his second unit. In his third year, Immanuel Quickley had his best season to date, finishing as the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award behind Malcolm Brogdon. Quickley was the primary scorer for the second unit, but he shouldn&rsquo;t have to carry the entire load on offense with the addition of Donte DiVincenzo.&nbsp;
DiVincenzo impressed last season with the Golden State Warriors as a reliable bench shooter and should spot minutes for Quentin Grimes and R.J. Barrett when offensive pushes are needed. Josh Hart could also be the team&rsquo;s sixth man, just like he was during the Knicks&rsquo; playoff run. After being traded from Portland, Hart averaged 30 minutes per game despite coming off the bench most of the time. It is worth noting the Knicks-Villanova connection between Hart, DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson, who should fit seamlessly together on the floor thanks to their pre-existing chemistry. While unlikely to be the first off the bench, Isaiah Hartenstein also deserves mention since he has been one of the league&rsquo;s better backup centers and could see more time if Mitchell Robinson gets in foul trouble. In terms of rotation issues, Thibodeau should see this as a good problem to have regardless of who he brings off the bench first.&nbsp;
Roster Decisions
The Knicks have three spots up for grabs between Ryan Arcidiacono, DaQuan Jeffries, Isaiah Roby and Duane Washington Jr. All are on non-guaranteed deals that won&rsquo;t be fully guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date on January 10.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (12 guaranteed, 4 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Jalen Brunson, G Quentin Grimes, G/F R.J. Barrett, F Julius Randle, C Mitchell Robinson
Projected Rotation Players: G Josh Hart, G Immanuel Quickley, G Donte DiVincenzo, C Isaiah Hartenstein, G Miles McBride
Projected Reserves: G Evan Fournier, C Jericho Sims, F Isaiah Roby (non-guaranteed), G Ryan Arcidiacono (non-guaranteed), G/F DaQuan Jeffries (non-guaranteed)
Projected Two-way Players: F/C Nathan Knight, G/F Dylan Windler, F Jaylen Martin
Projected Roster Cuts: G Duane Washington Jr. (non-guaranteed), G Charlie Brown Jr. (Exhibit-10), F Jacob Toppin (Exhibit-10)
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/embiid332.jpg" alt="" width="672" height="440" />
<h1>PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h1>
Will Tyrese Maxey become more of a creator and how can that adjust the rotation?
The Sixers&rsquo; ceiling is contingent on how much Tyrese Maxey can improve this season. Maxey hasn&rsquo;t needed to be the team&rsquo;s primary distributor since James Harden joined the team, allowing him to blossom into a reliable 20-PPG scorer. Regardless of whether Harden&rsquo;s trade situation is resolved, Maxey will need to become a better creator and distributor if he wants to take his game to the next level. Prior to Harden&rsquo;s arrival, Maxey had an impressive 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio despite his small frame and risk-averse tendencies.&nbsp;
Interestingly, team president Daryl Morey has held off on giving Maxey an extension this offseason, electing to wait until next summer to pay his budding young guard. Maxey will likely demand near max-level money that could harm Philly&rsquo;s flexibility to go after star players next offseason. If he can improve his ball-handling and distribution tendencies, the Sixers&rsquo; offense should benefit tremendously, helping the offensive output of players like P.J. Tucker and Paul Reed and easing the reliance on De&rsquo;Anthony Melton and Patrick Beverley.
Roster Decisions
Two players will likely be fighting for the Sixers&rsquo; final roster spot. The team re-signed veteran Danny Green, who played for the team from 2020 to 2022, to a non-guaranteed deal. They also brought over young big Filip Petrusev, who was drafted by Philadelphia in 2021. Petrusev signed a multi-year deal that was partially guaranteed for $559,782 this season and non-guaranteed next year. Although unlikely, the 76ers could also elect to waive Montrezl Harrell despite his deal being fully guaranteed, as he should miss this season with a torn ACL.
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (14 guaranteed, 1 partially Guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Tyrese Maxey, G James Harden, F P.J. Tucker, F Tobias Harris, C Joel Embiid
Projected Rotation Players: G De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, G Patrick Beverley, F/C Paul Reed, F/G Kelly Oubre Jr., F Danuel House
Projected Reserves: C Mo Bamba, F Furkan Korkmaz, G Jaden Springer, G/F Danny Green (non-guaranteed), C Montrezl Harrell (injured)
Projected Two-way Players: G Terquavion Smith, G Ricky Council IV, F Azuolas Tubelis
Projected Roster Cuts: F/C Filip Petrusev ($559,782 guaranteed), G David Duke Jr. (Exhibit-10), G Javonte Smart (Exhibit-10)
<h1>TORONTO RAPTORS</h1>
What style does Darko Rajakovic bring to Toronto and who will benefit the most?
New coach Darko Rajakovic inherits an interesting Raptors team with plenty of talent, but they may be facing a crossroads in terms of how successful they can be as a group. Rajakovic is in his first NBA head coaching gig after three seasons as an assistant with the Grizzlies and is known around the league as a pick-and-roll guru.&nbsp;
The idea of the Raptors being a primary pick-and-roll team became less appealing when they were unable to retain Fred VanVleet in free agency, replacing him with a less reliable shooter in Dennis Schr&ouml;der. Instead, Rajakovic will likely rely on Schr&ouml;der and his newly paid center Jakob Poeltl for more ball movement and playmaking. Rajakovic compared Poeltl to Domantas Sabonis before the Raptors&rsquo; preseason win over the Sacramento Kings on October 9 and could use him in a similar role. If Poeltl can be 70% of what Sabonis was last season, it can be a huge boost to an inconsistent offense.
Roster Decisions
The Raptors have 15 players on guaranteed deals going into the season, but also carry Jeff Dowtin Jr. on a non-guaranteed deal. Dowtin played on a two-way contract with Toronto last season, appearing in 25 games. With the roster full, Dowtin is unlikely to make the regular-season roster but he has still <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/news/toronto-raptors-praise-jeff-dowtin-jr-as-roster-decisions-await" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impressed the coaching staff this preseason</a>. If any player is in danger of losing their roster spot to Dowtin, it would likely be former first-round pick Malachi Flynn. Dowtin&rsquo;s deal becomes guaranteed for $900,000 on October 21, four days before the team&rsquo;s season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. I would expect the Raptors to make a decision on Dowtin before then.&nbsp;
Rotation
Current Roster Count: 21 players (15 guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3 two-way, 2 Exhibit-10)
Projected Starters: G Dennis Schr&ouml;der, F/G Scottie Barnes, F OG Anunoby, F Pascal Siakam, C Jakob Poeltl
Projected Rotation Players: G Gary Trent Jr., F Precious Achiuwa, F/C Chris Boucher, F Jalen McDaniels, G/F Gradey Dick
Projected Reserves: F Thaddeus Young, G Malachi Flynn, F Otto Porter Jr., C Christian Koloko, G/F Garrett Temple
Projected Two-way Players: G/F Ron Harper Jr., G Markquis Nowell, G Javon Freeman-Liberty
Projected Roster Cuts: G Jeff Dowtin (non-guaranteed), F Mouhamadou Gueye (Exhibit-10), C Makur Maker (Exhibit-10)
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Blake Stern previews the Atlantic Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and a burning question entering the season.

NBA Atlantic Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

Paying customers and plenty of media members have loudly expressed their frustrations with how the New Orleans Pelicans have handled the injuries and updates regarding Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, to the point of calling the organization outright liars.
Sure, there were frustrations with injuries derailing the season, but the messaging did not come from a place of dishonesty. It came from the type of misunderstandings and miscommunications that can ravage any type of relationship.
The obvious friction within the team the last few seasons were publicly expressed through curt answers and solemn body language on gamedays. Executive vice president David Griffin even admitted last July that the Pelicans &ldquo;did a really bad job organizationally" in handling some situations, especially after Williamson&rsquo;s viral pregame dunk and vague comments to the media. It took a summer of reconciliation, but the most pressing relationship issues have been resolved. Everyone understands how to speak each other&rsquo;s basketball love language and approach expectations for the coming season.
It all started with listening sessions this summer, which were a reason Williamson stuck around town for the offseason. But go back and listen to how Williamson and Ingram talk about basketball in press conferences over the years. Examining how they speak about the game explains a lot in how they&rsquo;ve approached their careers thus far.
Ingram has been using the term "professional" and "basketball" while talking like a hardwood scientist since his rookie season. It would not be surprising for B.I. to break down film at 4 a.m., making calls to wake sleepy-eyed teammates. Specifically, Devonte&rsquo; Graham and Josh Hart have shared on record how Ingram&rsquo;s film studies helped their game. Even when Ingram was out with an injury, the deep film sessions to help his teammates improve remained part of his routine. His methodical game reflects his intense devotion to his craft, though Ingram&rsquo;s personality comes off as a bit more laid back.
Williamson &ldquo;just loves hooping&rdquo; by his admission this Monday and in past interviews. Both are highly talented and naturally gifted and, as one source put it, &ldquo;They both love the game, but show it in different ways. The game has loved them back in different ways.&rdquo; Organizationally, there have been some growing pains as perhaps some things got taken for granted along the way for a franchise shaping a new identity.
That&rsquo;s starting to change and it is a two-way street. This team knows it was in first place last December and Williamson&rsquo;s renewed commitment has been the theme of the offseason with those I&rsquo;ve spoken with.
"This was the first summer where we&rsquo;ve seen Zion take his profession seriously like that and invest in it off the court on his own in a way that, I think, is meaningful," Griffin revealed during media day.
This is a reassuring development considering the past four years. Now, Zion still loves to hoop. There is no doubt. No one shows up on an outdoor court in New Orleans to work up a mid-summer sweat with some high-school kids without loving to hoop. Roll a ball out on a court and a smiling Williamson is like an overeager puppy. At least Alvin Gentry got that right in Zion&rsquo;s rookie season.
However, Williamson has not had a healthy relationship with NBA basketball the last few years. The NBA Draft is a crap shoot and New Orleans was not exactly a prime location. The new front office had a few growing pains earlier than expect as a result. NBA HQ added some bumps and bruises to the process as well. The national-TV-heavy schedule as a rookie and through the COVID bubble was unwarranted, unnecessary attention; it was just premature pressure on someone who couldn't legally buy a drink.
Attention before production paired with injury setbacks put pressure on every strained relationship, which partly factored into the Pelicans parting ways with coaches Gentry and Stan Van Gundy after just a year each with Williamson on the roster. Zion even went to rehab in Oregon away from the team, returning to the bench just weeks before the team&rsquo;s playoff run.
Publicly and privately, it&rsquo;s &ldquo;all water under the bridge&rdquo; between the locker room and front office. Aaron Nelson is still with the team, but in an advisory role that&rsquo;s far more hands-off on the day-to-day. Newly-hired Amy Atmore, the team's physical/performance therapist and director of rehabilitation, has already made the players comfortable with the revamped staff and new "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" process. There are a few more full-time staffers to welcome into the group but by all accounts, head coach Willie Green has righted the ship culturally in the locker room. The leadership hierarchies and trust circle bonds are very strong and have been unanimously agreed upon.
In contrast to Williamson&rsquo;s on-court hooper mentality paired with a dozen endorsement deals, Ingram loves professional basketball and has been able to operate as an under-the-radar, one-time All-Star. This approach leads to multi-generational wealth that secures family futures. Ingram did not sign a contract extension this summer because "they handing a lot of people big money, [and] I&rsquo;m trying to get some big money&rdquo; next summer.
Ingram smiled while delivering that media-day-gold statement, but Zion was refusing to flash a grin for anyone to start training camp. This isn&rsquo;t just hooping anymore. This is serious, professional basketball and it would be a disservice to his talents and teammates to not approach this season as the opportunity of a lifetime. It&rsquo;s also a chance to win back all the fans and provide a return on the team&rsquo;s investment. Williamson loves to be loved. Ingram, especially after the FIBA experience, is after All-NBA respect before negotiating a contract extension.
The revamped player performance and medical staff changes were a direct result of the front office listening to player feedback. Williamson, who just signed a max-level extension, can see that.
"The Pelicans have put in a lot of things this offseason&hellip;" Williamson said. "I think what the Pelicans have done is add good structure and we'll see as the season goes&hellip; being on the same page with the personal trainers, really locking into every aspect of my body.''
Williamson also listened to feedback from the front office and the team&rsquo;s veterans. He got the message from CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr., who played through injuries last season, to set an example.
"I think [the changes] should help us," McCollum said. &ldquo;A lot of it is on us and how we prepare. Your staff can only do so much."
Off the court, Williamson&rsquo;s larger-than-life, crowd-pleasing ways mesh well with Ingram&rsquo;s reserved, low-key-funny, musically-inclined chill. Now, the Pelicans need them to make it work on the court when the stakes are highest. Like any relationship seemingly stuck running in place, huge consequences are resting on the next decision.
&ldquo;If this team can&rsquo;t take that next step, we need to know that as quickly as possible,&rdquo; Griffin stated straightforwardly at media day.
It&rsquo;s tough to hear for a young team, but at least the tough love is understood as coming from a place of caring about what&rsquo;s best for everyone.
Former NBA vet and Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon said he felt players have returned with a bitter taste in their mouths after the way last season ended and expects them to come into camp highly motivated to show their true potential. Griffin, who is passing off some of the medical-team-oversight responsibilities to Langdon, feels this group is &ldquo;really optimistic."
"We have pieces that can be really dynamic and win together," Griffin said. "They haven&rsquo;t done a lot of it and they know they have something to prove."
Williamson definitely has something to prove and has new motivations in life to live up to his potential. The expecting father with no more viable professional excuses or blame to be placed on youth ''wanted change."
"If I want change, I have to do something different so I sat down with the Pelicans and came up with a great plan," Zion said.
All public signs from the front office, All-Stars and those speaking behind the scenes point to a mended, healthy relationship between all parties as reason for future optimism. Reports of mutiny or group dissension are downright wrong according to what I&rsquo;ve been hearing. Hot takes to insinuate the franchise operates from behind a smoke screen miss the mark at best and at times show the worst of biases from people who wouldn&rsquo;t know which coach or player had a family sitting next to them in the arena.
There were no ultimatums. It was a remodel, not a revolt. The front office took feedback from their players and ran with it. That&rsquo;s a positive relationship. It&rsquo;s boring for offseason news but has long-term benefits for the team and it&rsquo;s fans.
"If we would have controlled the narrative, it would have made (the media&rsquo;s) jobs a lot more boring, but it would have put [Williamson[ in a better position to succeed," Griffin said last summer. "I feel like to a huge degree, I failed him in that sense."
The Pelicans and Williamson are now in a position to succeed with a clear narrative: Win and show the world their true capabilities. Williamson, who trained to be &ldquo;un-guardable&rdquo; this offseason, switched vocabulary halfway through the press conference with an admission that he is &ldquo;a basketball player."
"I simply want to win and impact the game. I train to impact the game from all areas&hellip; Griff, Trajan and Swin [Cash], those three have been really helpful," Williamson added. "They've supported me, they've had my back and we all got the same goal in mind, which I think is what family is about &ndash; people having your back no matter what and wanting the best for each other.&rdquo;
Williamson went further, going out of the way to declare his loyalty to New Orleans.
&ldquo;This is home for me. This is where I want to be&hellip;" he said. "If something were to happen to me where basketball wasn&rsquo;t there or my life is changed, who would be there for me? Realistically, who would be there for me? I had to come to that realization that when it comes to them, the family, and the city, it&rsquo;s always good so I focus on that.&rdquo;
Frankly, if that doesn&rsquo;t hit you right in the feels as a fan of the Pelicans, it might be time to re-examine your engagement with basketball and this team. Either way the franchise is moving forward with stronger relationships just as their championship window is truly opening. A great start to the season might even feel like a second honeymoon for fans with an open mind and little bit of hope for the future.
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

The New Orleans Pelicans are all on the same page and could be poised for a big season, writes Christopher Dodson.

Pelicans better understand love languages of All-Star relationships

After months of scrolling through countless Damian Lillard trade rumors, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bucks-shock-nba-world-by-acquiring-damian-lillard-in-blockbuster-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news finally broke</a> on Wednesday afternoon that the Portland Trail Blazers' long-time franchise cornerstone was headed to the Milwaukee Bucks. In one of the more surprising blockbuster trades in recent memory, the seven-time All-Star guard will pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo to form one of the best duos in the league.&nbsp;
Now, the new big fish in the trade market is none other than the player Lillard was dealt for: Jrue Holiday. The Blazers' return featured Holiday, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns second-rounder Toumani Camara, an unprotected Bucks 2029 first-rounder, and 2028 and 2030 first-round pick swaps from Milwaukee. The circumstances of Lillard&rsquo;s trade request and his desire to be dealt specifically to the Miami Heat dampened his trade value, but the Blazers were able to come away with a &ldquo;palatable&rdquo; return.
 However, Holiday is unlikely to stay in Portland for long as he does not fit their rebuilding timeline around core players Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. <a href="https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1707100851880259810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN&rsquo;s Bobby Marks</a> graded Portland&rsquo;s trade return as &ldquo;incomplete&rdquo; pending the potential assets the team receives for Holiday when they flip him.
Many contending teams are reportedly rushing to the phones to make moves in reaction to the Lillard blockbuster, with several expressing serious interest in Holiday. These possible suitors include the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Heat. Teams must factor in Holiday's potential free agency next summer and the possibility of signing him to a long-term extension, which he becomes eligible for on Feb. 22. Perhaps the Blazers will have some urgency to deal Holiday prior to Media Day on Oct. 2 in order to avoid questions and logistics about bringing him in for training camp.&nbsp;
For any team over the luxury-tax apron ($171,294,000) to trade for Holiday, they need to trade away at least $33,175,536 (90% of Holiday&rsquo;s 2023-24 salary) in salaries in order to legally execute a trade. The rest of the league will only need to send out $27,646,280 (75% of Holiday&rsquo;s 2023-24 salary) in order to make a deal.&nbsp;
Another important CBA note with any Holiday trade is that his $36,861,707 salary cannot be aggregated with other contracts for two months. While Holiday is still eligible to be immediately rerouted elsewhere, he cannot be traded with other players. For example, just a few months back, Chris Paul was traded to the Washington Wizards and then quickly rerouted in a separate deal to Golden State. Because Paul was the only salary going back to the Warriors, he was legally allowed to be traded. This must be taken into consideration when proposing potential trade ideas.
With Holiday potentially on the move in the coming days, let&rsquo;s take a look at some potential deals for the 33-year-old.
Realistic Trade Destinations
BOSTON CELTICS
Celtics receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Al Horford, Dalano Banton (salary guarantee increased to $1,009,853 to satisfy trade rules), 2024 GSW top-4 protected first-round pick, 2025 BOS first-round pick, 2026 BOS first-round pick swap, 2024 CHI/DAL/NO (most favorable) second-round pick, 2026 MIN/NO/NYK/POR (most favorable) second-round pick
By trading away Marcus Smart this summer, the Celtics lost the key cog to their juggernaut defense. Despite not having a Defensive Player of the Year award, Holiday would probably serve as an upgrade to Smart on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, helping the Celtics compete against the new-look Bucks in the East. If they wish to enter the Holiday sweepstakes, they would need to trade Malcolm Brogdon ($22,500,000), whom they were close to dealing to the Clippers in July. Along with Brogdon, they would have to sacrifice either Al Horford ($10,000,000) or Robert Williams III ($11,571,429) to make the salaries work. They have all of their own draft picks to trade as well as the Golden State Warriors' pick in 2024, which they got from the Smart trade.
MIAMI HEAT
Heat receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, 2027 MIA first-round pick, 2029 MIA top-14 protected first-round pick, 2028 MIA first-round pick swap, 2024 MIA top-50 protected second-round pick, 2026 LAL second-round pick, 2027 HOU/IND/MIA/OKC/SA (least favorable) second-round pick
Missing out once again in their pursuit of a star third option to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami could use an upgrade like Holiday to their seemingly incomplete roster. Holiday would provide a must-needed scoring punch and would fit seamlessly in Miami&rsquo;s hard-working culture. While their Lillard trade package was highlighted by Tyler Herro, they likely wouldn&rsquo;t use him in any trade for Holiday. Their salary going out in a deal would come from Kyle Lowry&rsquo;s expiring salary ($29,682,540) and some combination of younger players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3,510,533), Nikola Jovic ($2,352,000) and Haywood Highsmith ($1,902,137). While they are somewhat restricted in terms of draft assets, they can offer up to three first-round picks if they amend their 2025 first-round pick they owe the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have three second-rounders to offer as well.&nbsp;
NEW YORK KNICKS
Knicks receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: RJ Barrett, Reggie Bullock, Khem Birch, 2024 DAL top-10 protected first-round pick, 2024 DET top-18 protected first-round pick, 2024 WAS top-12 protected first-round pick
Spurs receive: Evan Fournier, 2026 MEM top-42 protected second-round pick, 2027 NO/POR (less favorable) second-round pick
The Knicks may be holding out for when the next superstar &ndash; i.e. Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell or Giannis Antetokounmpo (although maybe not anymore?) &ndash; asks for a trade. While New York may be focused on further down the line, acquiring a player like Holiday could allow them to boost their roster right now without giving up enough capital to harm their future superstar pursuits. A Knicks trade that would not harm their trove of draft assets would have to send out RJ Barrett ($23,883,929), who potentially fits Portland&rsquo;s rebuilding timeline. Jrue could line up as the team&rsquo;s starting shooting guard alongside Jalen Brunson, while Josh Hart would play more minutes at small forward to mitigate the loss of Barrett. Evan Fournier&rsquo;s large salary ($18,857,143) would also have to be in any deal for the Knicks to take in Holiday. Portland wouldn&rsquo;t want to acquire both Fournier and Barrett as that would push them over the luxury tax, therefore they would likely route Fournier to another team (like San Antonio).
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Clippers receive: Jrue Holiday
Trail Blazers receive: Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, Amir Coffey, Jason Preston (salary fully guaranteed), 2028 LAC first-round pick, 2030 LAC first-round pick, 2029 LAC first-round pick swap
The Clippers may have been given an olive branch with a player like Jrue Holiday becoming available, as he's an impact player at a price they can afford. It also provides an alternative for the Clippers to land a third star while avoiding the potential drama/issues that could come with acquiring a player like James Harden. The Clippers have a lot of high-salary veterans they could use to get to Holiday&rsquo;s number like Norman Powell ($18,000,000), Marcus Morris Sr. ($17,116,279), Nicolas Batum ($11,710,818) and Robert Covington ($11,692,308). They would probably like to keep Terance Mann, who they seem to not want to include in a potential Harden trade, although his $10,576,923 could be useful. Portland could view their unprotected picks in 2028 and 2030 as some of the best draft assets they could receive due to their aging stars and lack of postseason success.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
76ers receive: Jrue Holiday
Clippers receive: James Harden, 2024 NYK second-round pick, 2029 PHI second-round pick, 2030 PHI second-round pick
Trail Blazers receive: Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, Amir Coffey, Jason Preston (salary fully guaranteed to satisfy trade rules), 2028 LAC first-round pick, 2029 PHI first-round pick, 2029 LAC first-round pick swap
Amidst the James Harden debacle, Daryl Morey has remained steadfast in getting a formidable return if they choose to trade the disgruntled All-Star. A reunion with Jrue Holiday, who played in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2013, certainly should get Morey and the Sixers' attention. Holiday would certainly upgrade their defense while being a good support and influence on Tyrese Maxey. The Trail Blazers would have little interest in taking a direct package from Philadelphia, which would almost certainly be headlined by Harden ($35,640,000). Harden's desired destination, the Clippers, should still be interested in acquiring him, but may be more interested in trading for Holiday directly. Portland would likely get a similar package to what they would receive if they traded directly with the Clippers, potentially leaving Philadelphia out to dry. The Sixers would have to incentivize the Clippers by trading some draft capital to take Harden instead of Holiday.
Honorable Mentions
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The Warriors are a logical Holiday destination in terms of fit and trade assets. A trade package would have to send the newly acquired Chris Paul back to Portland or a third team along with a young player like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski, plus a draft pick. Given that coach Steve Kerr has talked all summer about bringing Paul into the fold, it would be pretty surprising if the team pivoted from the future Hall-of-Famer just before training camp. If the Warriors do choose to jump in the Holiday waters, they could quickly move to the front of the line.&nbsp;
TORONTO RAPTORS
Toronto was considered the favorite to acquire Lillard at one point, with a package that was likely headlined by OG Anunoby and draft assets. In order to acquire Holiday, they would need to use a similar package, albeit with less draft capital involved. It seems as though the Raptors were being coy about potentially dealing Anunoby for Lillard, according to <a href="https://torontosun.com/sports/basketball/nba/toronto-raptors/options-for-raptors-with-damian-lillard-trade-dream-done" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun</a>. If Masai Ujiri was unwilling to include Anunoby in trade discussions before, it&rsquo;s unlikely he will do so for a player like Holiday.&nbsp;
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Holiday would be a near perfect fit alongside Anthony Edwards in the Wolves' backcourt and would greatly improve their defense. However, Minnesota simply doesn&rsquo;t have the right salaries or draft assets to realistically get to Holiday&rsquo;s number unless they are willing to part ways with Karl-Anthony Towns. Even if Tim Connelly was willing to deal Towns for Holiday, the trade may not be what Portland is looking for with the 2015 No. 1 overall pick&rsquo;s five-year supermax extension beginning next season. The idea of paying supermax money to Towns will likely be a turn off for Blazers GM Joe Cronin.
ORLANDO MAGIC
Orlando is probably the most fun dark-horse destination for Jrue. While Markelle Fultz has been a suitable lead guard when healthy, Holiday would bring a championship-level veteran presence that could be useful for Orlando&rsquo;s young squad. The question with the Magic is whether they would actually pursue a deal that would accelerate their timeline with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, as well as whether they would part with draft capital that they could potentially use down the line in future trades.

With the Blazers looking to flip Jrue Holiday, Blake Stern breaks down several teams that make sense as a trade suitor.

NBA trade rumors: Examining potential destinations for Jrue Holiday

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum scored 51 points &ndash; the most in a Game 7 in NBA history &mdash; and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.
One game after missing 14 of his first 15 shots only to awaken in the fourth quarter, Tatum got off to the fast start the Celtics needed. He scored 25 in the back-and-forth first half and 17 more in Boston&rsquo;s 33-10 third quarter that turned a three-point lead into a runaway.
The Celtics, who lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals last year, will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, which begin on Wednesday in Boston.
Tatum added 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points for the Celtics, who rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series to keep alive their hopes for an unprecedented 18th NBA championship. Tatum was subbed out of the game with three minutes left to a standing ovation from the crowd, which soon broke out in a &ldquo;Beat the Heat!&rdquo; chant.
Newly crowned NBA MVP Joel Embiid scored 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting, and Tobias Harris scored 19 for Philadelphia. The Sixers lost in the conference semifinals for the third straight year, and the fifth time in six seasons; they have not gotten any farther since reaching the NBA Finals in 2001.
Tatum started 0 for 6 in a Game 5 loss and missed 14 of his first 15 shots overall from the floor in Game 6 before erupting for four 3-pointers in the final 4:14 to force the decisive seventh game.
He picked up where he left off, scoring Boston&rsquo;s first basket and 11 points in the first quarter, 14 more in the second and outscoring the Sixers on his own, 17-10, in the third. The 33-10 edge in the third was the most lopsided quarter in a Game 7 since at least 1997.
BANGED-UP BROWN
Brown began the game with the black mask he has worn since breaking a bone in his face before the All-Star break. He took it off and soon absorbed an elbow to the face from James Harden, who was assessed a flagrant foul.
Brown continued without the mask but finished the half with cotton in his left nostril. He also played with an edge, making both foul shots and following it with a steal and layup as Boston went on a 9-0 run to erase a 35-26 deficit.
Brown also dove into the Sixers bench to save a ball, then had words with the bench after Georges Niang grabbed his leg and kept him from getting back on the court. Both players were given technical fouls.
Williams followed the commotion with a layup that tied the score 35-all.
WHAT&rsquo;S UP, DOC?
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is 6-10 in seventh games. The 10 defeats are five more than any other NBA coach and three more than the NHL&rsquo;s Mike Babcock and Bruce Boudreau. His teams are 6-16 in their last 22 chances to close out an opponent in a playoff series.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to keep getting teams to these places,&rdquo; he said before the game. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s people, your friends who look at you like, &lsquo;Why do you like this?&rsquo; And this is what it&rsquo;s about. You put yourself out there because you want to win. And you know if you do that you have to put yourself in these situations over and over and over again. And it&rsquo;s worth it. It&rsquo;s worth it. And that&rsquo;s what I tell my guys.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Tatum is the sixth player since 1997 to score 25 points or more in the first half of a seventh game. The last was Luka Doncic, who had 29 against the Clippers in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Paul Pierce scored 26 for the Celtics against Cleveland in the second round in 2008. &hellip; The 10 points Philadelphia scored were tied for the fewest in any Game 7 quarter in the shot clock era.

The Celtics beat the 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row.

Tatum sets Game 7 record with 51 points, Celtics beat 76ers 112-88

Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic now knows how Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid felt during two previous NBA award seasons.
Second in the MVP race &mdash; but only second-team All-NBA.
Embiid&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-joel-embiid-philadelphia-76ers-f7a108fd3c0ce1b42c1433c0beda275d">&mdash; the newly crowned MVP &mdash;</a>&nbsp;headlined the All-NBA team unveiled Wednesday night. He was the first-team center, while Jokic was the second-team pick at that position. It was a reversal of the results from 2021 and 2022, when Jokic was MVP over Embiid, who then had to settle for the second-team All-NBA center spot.
And this should be the final time such a quirk happens. Starting next year, the All-NBA team will no longer be broken down by position &mdash; meaning the presumed second-best player in the NBA one season, such as Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic now, will not have to be relegated to second-team anything.
Joining Embiid on the first team were Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward, and Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at guard.
On the second team along with Jokic were Miami&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler and Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown at forward, and Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry and Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell at guard.
The third team center was Sacramento&rsquo;s Domantas Sabonis, with the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James &mdash; now a 19-time selection, extending his record &mdash; and New York&rsquo;s Julius Randle getting the forward spots and Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard the guard selections.
Omitted this year after making it last year: first-teamer Devin Booker; second-teamers Ja Morant, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan; and third-teamers Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam.
James is a 13-time first-team, three-time second-team and now three-time third-team pick. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all 15-time selections, tied for the second-most in NBA history.
The picks were made by a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the NBA.
Antetokounmpo was the only unanimous selection this season as a first-teamer. Tatum got 92 first-team votes, Embiid got 87, Gilgeous-Alexander got 63 and Doncic got 60.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis and Fox all made All-NBA for the first time. Embiid was first-team for the first time, while Butler made the second team for the first time after four appearances on the third team.
The league has utilized the current format of picking three All-NBA teams, by position &mdash; two guards, two forwards, one center on each &mdash; since 1989. From 1956 through 1988, there were two teams picked by position; from 1947 through 1955 there were two teams picked, but with no regard for position.
More often than not, the system works without a glitch. The top finalists for MVP typically have found their way onto the All-NBA first team.
But there have been notable exceptions &mdash; often involving centers, who are vying for just the one All-NBA first-team spot instead of the two that have been available to guards and forwards.
Embiid was second in the MVP race but only second-team All-NBA in the most recent two seasons. Other examples:
&mdash; 1994-95, MVP David Robinson got the first-team nod and runner-up Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal wound up as the second-team center pick.
&mdash; 1993-94, Hakeem Olajuwon won MVP and was first-team at center, while Robinson was No. 2 in the MVP race and on the second team.
&mdash; 1976-77, Bill Walton was No. 2 in the MVP race, then second-team All-NBA behind MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
&mdash; 1975-76, Bob McAdoo was second in the MVP race and didn&rsquo;t even make All-NBA, with the center spots that season going to MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and third-place finisher Dave Cowens.
There have also been some split votes, albeit none under the current voting methods, where the MVP somehow didn&rsquo;t make the All-NBA first team. It happened to Bill Russell in 1958, 1961 and 1962, and then to Cowens in 1973.

The All-NBA teams were announced on Wednesday evening, and the First Team was headlined by MVP Joel Embiid.

MVP Embiid leads All-NBA 1st team; runner-up Jokic lands on 2nd team

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Jamarius Burton made a go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds left and Pitt edged Mississippi State 60-59 in a back-and-forth First Four game Tuesday night that featured 21 lead changes &mdash; most in the NCAA Tournament in five years.
Mississippi State had a great chance to win at the end, but Shakeel Moore missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner with two seconds remaining off an inbounds play. D.J. Jeffries&rsquo; tip-in attempt was off target just before the buzzer.
Nelly Cummings led Pitt with 15 points. Greg Elliott scored 13 and Blake Hinson added 12 as the Panthers (23-11) won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2014.
They slotted into the Midwest Region bracket as the 11th seed and advanced to face No. 6 seed Iowa State on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Dashawn Davis had 15 points for the Bulldogs (21-13).
TEXAS A&amp;M-CORPUS CHRISTI 75, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE 71
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Isaac Mushila had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi held off Southeast Missouri State to earn the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi went 3 of 4 at the free-throw line in the final 15 seconds to ice the game and advance to play top-seeded Alabama in the South Region on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama.
The 16th-seeded Islanders (24-10), winners of the Southland Conference, returned to the First Four for a second straight season and led for all but 23 seconds in the opening game of this NCAA Tournament.
Southeast Missouri State (19-17) erased a 10-point deficit and tied it at 64 with 3:07 left.
Jalen Jackson led the Islanders with 22 points. Trevian Tennyson scooped in a slick layup off the glass to give Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi a 72-69 lead with 22 seconds remaining.
Chris Harris scored 23 points before fouling out for the Redhawks, the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champions. Phillip Russell came up short on a good look at a potential tying 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go.
Southeast Missouri State went 9 of 20 at the free-throw line.

The Pitt Panthers and Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders advanced to the Round of 64 in two First Four contests.

Pitt gets past Mississippi St in first March Madness games

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; The number was supposed to be 96.
The last time the NCAA seriously considered expanding the men&rsquo;s Division I basketball tournament a plan emerged to add 16 more games and 32 more participants to grow that symmetrically satisfying 64-team bracket.
The backlash that followed from college sports administrators back in 2010 was strong enough to scrap the idea. A modest expansion to 68 teams was approved in 2011.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, membership sentiment was that they were not unified in wanting to expand the tournament beyond 68,&rdquo; recalled Greg Shaheen, the former NCAA vice president for championships.
For the first time in more than a decade, NCAA and college sports leaders are committed to a serious examination of increasing the number of teams allowed to compete in an event that has become one of the crown jewels of American sports.
The mere suggestion of messing with March Madness, which generates hundreds of millions in revenue annually for the NCAA and its 1,100 member schools, is still met with skepticism by a lot of basketball fans and some within college sports.
Making significant changes in the near term will be difficult, if not impossible. There are logistical, financial and even political obstacles.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not to say we won&rsquo;t give it it&rsquo;s appropriate level of analysis and consideration, but there&rsquo;s a lot of factors to be considered,&rdquo; said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA vice president for basketball.
Chatter about tournament expansion started more than a year ago, when the NCAA assembled a committee to look into the how Division I, the highest level of college sports, operates.
After more than a year of work, the committee&rsquo;s final recommendations included expanding fields for all NCAA championship &mdash; not just basketball &mdash;- with a high level of participation to accommodate 25% of competing schools.
The 25% recommendation is just that. Whether it is implemented will be a decision made on a sport-by-sport basis. Committee co-chair Greg Sankey, the Southeastern Conference commissioner, has tried to avoid being seen as pushing for expansion while also pointing out some of the reasons to do so.
&ldquo;You have teams that have been the 11-seed in the First Four, make it to the Final Four, the Elite Eight, the Sweet 16,&rdquo; Sankey said in January. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re excluding highly competitive teams, because of the structure. Now what does that expansion or those opportunities look like? I have ideas, but I&rsquo;m not going to throw them out now since I don&rsquo;t want to make headlines.&rdquo;
Current selection protocols provide an automatic berth to the champions of all 32 Division I conferences, plus 36 at-large bids. Those are mostly scooped up by the six strongest and richest conferences: the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern.
The Big Six secured 31 of 36 at-large bids on Sunday.
Along with prestige and opportunities to advance, bids have monetary value. The NCAA distributes revenue to conferences based on tournament performance, with conferences earning a unit for each round one of its teams advances.
In 2023, a basketball unit will be worth approximately $2.04 million over the six-year period in which it is paid out. So if you&rsquo;re the SEC or Big Ten, each with eight teams in the tourney, seeing all of them advance a round means more than $16 million.
Coaches, whose job security often depends on making the tournament, have typically supported a bigger field.
&ldquo;Since I coached at Valparaiso University I always was in favor of tournament expansion, because I thought there&rsquo;s enough quality teams,&rdquo; Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
Drew&rsquo;s magic number is 128, which would add another full round to the tournament and include more than one-third of the 358 Division I basketball teams.
Tom Burnett, the former Southland Conference commissioner who also served a stint as the head of the men&rsquo;s basketball selection committee, said he was open-minded but cautious when the topic of tournament expansion would come up.
&ldquo;If there were a practical expansion plan that addressed whatever needs to be addressed &mdash; except here&rsquo;s where I draw the line: It can&rsquo;t expand because my team didn&rsquo;t get in,&rdquo; Burnett said. There will always be teams that feel slighted if they don&rsquo;t get in.
There is some concern outside the power conferences that expansion will result in even more at-large bids going to middle-of-the-pack teams from those leagues with strong mid-major teams still getting squeezed out.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve got a seventh- or eighth-place team in over a regular-season champion in a conference, from our perspective, that&rsquo;s not the way to expand,&rdquo; said Northern Arizona athletic director Mike Marlow, whose team made an unlikely run to the Big Sky Tournament championship game before losing.
If the Lumberjacks (12-23) had beaten Montana State (25-9) to win the conference, the Bobcats &mdash; with 13 more wins than NAU &mdash; would be heading to the NIT instead of a first-round NCAA game against Kansas State on Friday.
A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said she&rsquo;s not concerned about expansion favoring certain conferences.
&ldquo;I think that everybody has a fair opportunity to share in those additional opportunities. You just have to go after it, just like teams and schools are going after it now,&rdquo; McGlade said.
McGlade stopped short of saying she supports expansion, but she enthusiastically supports doing a deep dive into the possibility.
Others are open-minded, but will enter the discussion more tentatively.
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be careful because it&rsquo;s really, really good right now,&rdquo; Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said. &ldquo;So make sure whatever we do is additive, and not just doing something for the sake of expansion that might somehow take the tournament a step back.&rdquo;
The calendar alone is likely to limit expansion options. Any plan that requires the NCAA Tournament to start earlier than it already does &mdash;- the First Four games tip-off Tuesday &mdash;- would also require conference tournaments to end sooner and maybe even the regular season.
&ldquo;We already start the regular season in early November where historically some conferences have said it&rsquo;s too early with all that&rsquo;s going on with college football and the like,&rdquo; Gavitt said.
Any expansion of the men&rsquo;s tournament will almost certainly need to be done to the women&rsquo;s tournament, too. The NCAA was slammed in 2021 for not providing a similar experience for the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s teams. An independent review concluded the association had not done enough to invest and promote the women&rsquo;s tournament.
The women&rsquo;s field expanded from 64 to 68 last year. While the depth of competition in women&rsquo;s basketball has unquestionably improved, has it done so enough to justify a large and costly expansion?
But the same thing can be said for the men&rsquo;s tournament. More teams adds expenses for travel, lodging and possibly running additional sites.
Plus, it would almost certainly decrease the value of those performance units, money that is is often the main revenue source for mid-major conferences that don&rsquo;t play major college football.
&ldquo;Cutting that by 10 or 11%, or whatever the different calculation could be, that&rsquo;s actually really important. And it&rsquo;s vital to the stability of Division I,&rdquo; Shaheen said.
When Shaheen led the last expansion effort, the NCAA was heading toward the end of a media rights deal with CBS. A new format was part of negotiations for the next deal.
That&rsquo;s not the case now. The current $8.8 billion contract with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery, part of an extension the NCAA signed in 2016, runs through 2032.
&ldquo;What role would broadcast partners play?&rdquo; Gavitt said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t do anything without respect and communication with our broadcast partners, who we value significantly.&rdquo;
While CBS and WBD will not publicly insert themselves into any exploration of tournament expansion, their opinions are key and they hold the rights to any men&rsquo;s tournament games for nine more years. The NCAA cannot seek another partner for newly created games.
Contracts between the NCAA and the networks are not made public. But if the networks are under no obligation to pay up for more inventory &mdash; and nothing indicates they are &mdash;- then all this expansion talk might be nothing more than preparation of the next TV deal.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a complicated thing,&rdquo; Shaheen said.
___
AP College Basketball Writer John Marshall contributed.

NCAA and college sports leaders are committed to a serious examination of increasing the number of teams in March Madness.

A bigger March Madness? Many obstacles stand in the way

On Wednesday, the WNBA and ESPN announced that 25 national broadcasts will occur during the regular season across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. The star-studded New York Liberty lead all teams with nine national broadcasts, with the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces not far behind with seven.&nbsp;
The two super teams will face off Aug. 6 on ABC.&nbsp;
You can read the full release below:
NEW YORK, March 8, 2023&nbsp;&ndash; The WNBA and ESPN today announced that the league&rsquo;s 27th&nbsp;regular season, set to tip off on Friday, May 19, will be highlighted by 25&nbsp;national broadcasts during the regular season across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
During the upcoming season, the WNBA will collaborate with ESPN to present up to 52 possible games beginning with the WNBA Regular Season presented by Google and extending through the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google, which will feature up to 27 games, including the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV. In addition,&nbsp;history will be made on Saturday, July 15 when the 2023 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas airs for the first time in primetime on ABC (8:30 p.m. ET).
Added coverage will be provided by&nbsp;WNBA Countdown presented by Google&nbsp;&ndash; ESPN&rsquo;s pregame show introduced during the 2022 WNBA postseason &ndash; which will now be available throughout the regular season with at least 10 editions immediately preceding game broadcasts.
The complete television and streaming schedule, including games on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Meta Horizon Worlds, and Twitter will be announced at a later date.
&ldquo;As we get set to tip off our 27th&nbsp;season, ESPN is once again stepping up as an incredibly engaged broadcast partner for the WNBA,&rdquo; said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. &ldquo;We are grateful that ESPN will provide significant opportunities to tell the stories of the incredible players across the league in 2023. From tip-off weekend through the highly anticipated postseason, ESPN and Google will continue to serve our growing fan base and deliver a robust national platform for WNBA players with game broadcasts and new, regular-season pregame shows.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;As ESPN enters its 27th season with the WNBA, we continue to elevate our coverage of this exceptional league with premier broadcast windows, expanded studio programming and best-in-class storytelling,&rdquo; said Matt Kenny, vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN. &ldquo;Our ongoing collaboration with the WNBA resulted in unprecedented growth and success last year and we have a marquee schedule that will once again showcase the league&rsquo;s best players and teams across ESPN platforms.&rdquo;
The ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 broadcast schedule gets underway on Friday, May 19, as part of&nbsp;WNBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax&nbsp;when Brittney Griner, an eight-time WNBA All-Star selection and two-time Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Diana Taurasi, the WNBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader and a three-time league champion now entering her 19th&nbsp;season, lead the Phoenix Mercury against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks&rsquo;&nbsp;revamped roster includes&nbsp;2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike and veteran acquisitions&nbsp;Azur&aacute;&nbsp;Stevens and Jasmine Thomas. That game will air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET), marking the first time a WNBA game will be available on the ESPN streaming service.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been refreshing to see women&rsquo;s sports getting more of the attention it deserves over the past year and a half,&rdquo; said Kate Johnson, Director of Global Sports &amp; Entertainment Marketing Partnerships, Content and Media at Google. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re passionate about elevating coverage of women athletes and as we enter our third year as a WNBA Changemaker, continuing to work side by side with the WNBA and EPSN to air more nationally televised games is something we&rsquo;re extremely proud of. We&rsquo;ll continue to challenge ourselves and others to raise the bar for representing women&rsquo;s sports equitably.
WNBA Tip-Off Presented by CarMax&nbsp;also includes a star-studded ABC doubleheader on Saturday, May 20. Action tips off when the Atlanta Dream, led by newly acquired Allisha Gray and reigning Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard, visit Gray&rsquo;s former team, the Dallas Wings, with newly acquired WNBA All-Stars Diamond DeShields and Natasha Howard alongside Arike Ogunbowale, one of the league&rsquo;s top scorers in each of the past four seasons (1 p.m. ET).
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Seattle Storm and four-time WNBA All-Star and two-time champion Jewell Loyd host&nbsp;the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m. ET). The Aces&rsquo; roster includes 2022 award winners Chelsea Gray (WNBA Finals MVP and Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game MVP), Kelsey Plum (All-WNBA First Team and All-Star Game MVP), A&rsquo;ja Wilson (Kia WNBA MVP and Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year) and Jackie Young (Kia WNBA Most Improved Player), along with free agent acquisition Candace Parker, a two-time MVP and two-time league champion.
&mdash;
The opening weekend of WNBA Tip-Off Presented by CarMax concludes on Sunday, May 21, when Griner, Taurasi and the Mercury host 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and the Chicago Sky in a rematch of the 2021 WNBA Finals on ESPN and ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET.
The New York Liberty, which added 2021 Kia WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, 2018 MVP Breanna Stewart and six-time league assists leader Courtney Vandersloot to a roster that already included 2022 All-WNBA selection and 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick, Sabrina Ionescu, will play nine games across&nbsp;ESPN platforms. The 2022 champion Aces&nbsp;will appear seven times. The two teams, which feature a combined eight 2022 WNBA All-Stars, will meet four times in the regular season and go head-to-head on ABC on Sunday, Aug. 6 from New York (3 p.m. ET).
Additional Highlights of the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 Broadcast Schedule:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Six teams will each be showcased four times, including the Connecticut Sun, led by 2022 WNBA All-Star Brionna Jones and fellow All-Star Alyssa Thomas, who posted a WNBA-record four triple-doubles across the 2022 regular season and postseason. Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington will also appear four times each. </li>
<li>In addition to the opening weekend broadcasts featuring Griner and Taurasi, coverage of the Mercury is set for Tuesday, July 25, when Phoenix visits Rhyne Howard and the Dream (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET) and on Sunday, Sept. 10 &ndash; the final day of the regular season &ndash; when Phoenix travels to Las Vegas to face the All-Star quintet of Gray, Parker, Plum, Wilson and Young (ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>Stewart, who starred with Seattle for six seasons from 2016-22, will face her former team in a pair of national telecasts &ndash; first when the Liberty visits the Storm on Tuesday, May 30 (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET), and on Saturday, July 8, when the Storm travels to New York (ESPN, 1:30 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>New York&rsquo;s Courtney Vandersloot, who helped Chicago to two appearances in the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, including a WNBA championship in 2021, will square off against her former team when the Liberty visits the Sky on Sunday, Sept. 3 (ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>ABC will air star-studded doubleheaders across two weekends in June beginning on Sunday, June 11, when the Liberty host the Wings (1 p.m. ET) and the Storm host two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne, two-time WNBA All-Star Ariel Atkins and the Washington Mystics (3 p.m. ET). On Sunday, June 25, New York hosts Washington (1 p.m. ET) and the Sparks welcome the Wings (3 p.m. ET) to Los Angeles. </li>
<li>Connecticut and Las Vegas, which met in the 2022 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, will play on Saturday, July 1 (ABC, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>In advance of the 2023 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game on July 15, the WNBA&rsquo;s Skills Challenge and the Starry Three-Point Contest will air on ESPN on Friday, July 14 at 4 p.m. ET. </li>
<li>All games across ESPN platforms during the regular season and postseason will stream live on the ESPN App.</li>
</ul>
The 2023 regular season will include a record-high 40 games per team, providing fans with more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level. The third year of the Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup presented by Coinbase also brings added excitement and intrigue to the first half of the season for players, teams and fans.&nbsp;
Following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season on Sunday, Sept. 10, ESPN will once again collaborate with the WNBA to broadcast all playoff games. Wall-to-wall coverage of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google and the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV will feature up to 27 nationally televised playoff games across ESPN platforms.&nbsp;
With the tip-off of the WNBA season set for May 19, ESPN Fantasy Women's Basketball is back and now open for the season. Fans can&nbsp;<a href="https://fantasy.espn.com/womens-basketball/welcome?addata=digital_gameopen_wnba" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fantasy.espn.com/womens-basketball/welcome?addata%3Ddigital_gameopen_wnba&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1678467569267000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0q8LjBe7Mah1dS2mGg4w9c">lock in their spot</a>&nbsp;for free today and get ready to dominate with their favorite WNBA stars in May.&nbsp;Go to&nbsp;<a href="http://espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1678467569267000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0TaJVvZNTg1SCNS6_knO07">espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball</a>&nbsp;or download the ESPN Fantasy App to get started.

The star-studded Liberty will have nine national appearances, with the reigning champion Aces not far behind with seven.

WNBA, ESPN announce 2023 national broadcast schedule

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as Notre Dame won longtime coach Mike Brey&rsquo;s final home game with an 88-81 victory over No. 25 Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points as the Fighting Irish (11-19, 3-16 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Brey, who is stepping down at season&rsquo;s end and received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game, improved to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 years as Notre Dame coach.
&ldquo;What an unbelievable night,&rdquo; Brey said over the public address. &ldquo;We defended pretty much the whole game. I thought we were good defensively. &hellip; It was neat for our seniors to finish like that.&rdquo;
Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 points, and Blake Hinson added 15 points and 13 rebounds, for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5), who entered with wins in eight of their last nine games. Pitt was playing its first game since moving into the AP Top 25 for the first time in seven years.
&ldquo;First and foremost, congrats to Notre Dame,&rdquo; Panther coach Jeff Capel said. &ldquo;They were terrific. I knew they would come out and be really inspired and emotional (with five grad players in their starting lineup), and obviously being the last game here for Coach Brey.&rdquo;
Pitt, the conference leader going in, had a chance to clinch at least a tie for its first ACC title across its 10 years in the league, but struggled with its shooting.
The Panthers finished 7 of 22 on 3-pointers and 20 of 36 at the line, while the Irish closed 10 of 27 and 26 of 31. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of things we didn&rsquo;t do well,&rdquo; Capel said, &ldquo;but I love the fight that we had.&rdquo;
Notre Dame led by a high of 61-41 at 11:49 remaining, after scoring the final 11 points of the first half for a 42-28 advantage at the break. Late-rallying Pitt got no closer than 84-79 at 38 seconds remaining.
BIG PICTURE 
Pittsburgh: While the Panthers appear safely into the NCAA Tournament field, their 2-2 mark over their last four games while facing entirely sub-.500 ACC teams won&rsquo;t help their seeding. They can still trend back up with a win at Miami or an extended league tourney run.
Notre Dame: While the win was sweet for the Irish, barring a miracle title in next week&rsquo;s ACC Tournament and thus the league&rsquo;s automatic NCAA Tourney bid, they&rsquo;ll be turning their full attention toward hiring Brey&rsquo;s successor.
BREY-KING AWAY 
Brey had declared Tuesday that he would be heading over to the Linebacker, an iconic bar just off the Notre Dame campus, immediately after Wednesday&rsquo;s game and that all others were welcome as well. &ldquo;I gotta get over to the Linebacker,&rdquo; Brey said to start his postgame radio interview over the PA while doubling down on his Tuesday intentions. True to his word the coach went to the bar. Brey said he had never been in the bar in all his 23 years at Notre Dame and thought this would be a fitting time. The PA interview lasted just three minutes and he did not conduct a postgame press conference.
CAPEL CIRCLES BACK 
Capel was asked if this was an emotional night for him as well. The first two years of his playing career at Duke, beginning in 1993, were also the final two years of Brey&rsquo;s time as an assistant with the Blue Devils. Brey has described Capel as &ldquo;like a son.&rdquo; &ldquo;Certainly I love Coach Brey, Capel said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a big part of my life since I was about 17 years old.&rdquo; Added Capel, &ldquo;We were excited about the opportunity to play them in Coach Brey&rsquo;s final home game here (given) how much he&rsquo;s put into this program.&rdquo;
UP NEXT 
Pittsburgh: At least a share of the ACC regular-season title goes to the winner when the Panthers visit No. 16 Miami (23-6, 14-5) in Saturday night&rsquo;s league finale. No. 13 Virginia (22-6, 14-5) remains in the mix as well and hosts last-place Louisville (4-26, 2-17) Saturday.
Notre Dame: The Irish conclude their regular season Saturday at Clemson (21-9, 13-6), where the Tigers may need a win to assure a top-four finish in the ACC and a double bye in next week&rsquo;s league tourney.

Brey is stepping down at season’s end and received warm ovations from the Notre Dame crowd before and after the game.

Notre Dame wins coach Mike Brey’s home finale, upsets Pitt

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Kyrie Irving senses the stress of trying to figure things out with Luka Doncic and the rest of his new Dallas teammates as the Mavericks jostle for playoff positioning in the tightly packed Western Conference.
The superstars are 1-4 together since the blockbuster trade that brought Irving over from Brooklyn, giving Dallas two All-Star starters for the first time in franchise history.
One or both has had the ball in his hands with a chance to tie or win in the final seconds of each of those four losses.
Since they didn&rsquo;t come through, they&rsquo;re now at risk of a 1-6 start together.
Philadelphia and Joel Embiid, neck-and-neck with Doncic in the scoring race, visit Thursday night followed by Phoenix and newly acquired star Kevin Durant on Sunday.
&ldquo;Right now, it&rsquo;s just high-intense environment. I can feel it,&rdquo; Irving said after missing a last-second 3-pointer in Tuesday&rsquo;s 124-122 loss to Indiana. &ldquo;Everybody wants to win. That&rsquo;s a great thing. Everybody cares. But now we&rsquo;ve just got to figure out what our temperament is, what our emotion is.&rdquo;
That, along with offensive tendencies and defensive coverages, among plenty of other things. Without much time to do it.
The loss to the Pacers, which came two days after Dallas blew a 27-point lead in a 111-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, dropped the Mavs out of the top six in the West with 19 games remaining.
The good news for Dallas: A modest winning streak could restore hope for home-court advantage in the first round, which the Mavs (32-31) had last year in reaching the West finals.
The bad news: A not-very-long losing streak could lead to Dallas missing the playoffs altogether. That would be a catastrophic outcome considering what the club gave up to get Irving with no guarantee that he will re-sign as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
&ldquo;I really want to win here, really put a lot of pressure on myself,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;At times, I think I need to scale it back a little bit. Usually these learning curves and learning moments happen in preseason, but it&rsquo;s happening now. It puts a glaring eye on what we&rsquo;re doing right and what we&rsquo;re doing wrong.&rdquo;
Since the Mavs led 48-21 in the second quarter against the Lakers, Irving is 1 of 13 from 3-point range. Doncic had 14 points in the first quarter against the Lakers, but just 12 after that.
In their first game together, Doncic missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left in overtime of a 133-128 loss at Sacramento. The next game, they exchanged three passes and didn&rsquo;t get off a shot in the final seconds of a 124-121 loss at home to Minnesota.
A mixup on Irving&rsquo;s inbound pass to Doncic with 15 seconds left against the Lakers took away a chance to tie. Then Irving missed a contested 3 with Doncic watching from a corner against the Pacers, who had won just four of their previous 21 games.
&ldquo;It was a good shot, I think,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;He can make a lot of those shots. We trust him.&rdquo;
Trust will be another topic as Dallas tries to ensure at least a chance to match last season&rsquo;s playoff run, which ended with a five-game loss to the eventual champion Golden State.
The Mavs say they couldn&rsquo;t pass up a chance to put a superstar alongside Doncic, even a disgruntled one on an expiring contract. A 2-5 start since Irving joined Dallas is making the clock tick a little faster.
&ldquo;I know there&rsquo;s 15 other guys that are relying on me to do things that they&rsquo;ve either seen me do or they&rsquo;re expecting me to do as one of the best players in the league,&rdquo; said Irving, an eight-time All-Star who won a title alongside LeBron James in Cleveland in 2016. &ldquo;Sitting alongside Luka, I just have to show up to the party.&rdquo;
And it&rsquo;s starting to get a little late.

The Dallas superstar duo is 1-4 since the blockbuster trade that brought Irving over from Brooklyn.

Kyrie Irving senses Mavs’ urgency in new star pairing with Luka Doncic

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched outright their second regular-season SEC title in three years but continued to live on the edge over a troubling eight days that included courtroom revelations in a capital murder trial.
Miller rebounded teammate Jaden Bradley&rsquo;s missed dunk and drew a foul, making both free throws. Noah Clowney had blocked K.D. Johnson&rsquo;s layup attempt on the other end.
The Tigers (19-11, 9-8), who had three key players foul out, couldn&rsquo;t close it out after leading almost the entire way in regulation. They were up 17 with under 11 minutes left.
Alabama won its fourth straight but the past three have gone down to the wire since courtroom revelations tied freshmen Miller and Bradley to the scene of a murder. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.
Police said Miles texted Miller asking him to bring the gun.
NO. 22 TCU 75, NO. 9 TEXAS 73
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Damion Baugh scored a career-high 24 points, Emanuel Miller had 20 and TCU denied Texas a chance to play for a share of the Big 12 title in its upcoming regular-season finale.
Baugh scored on a breakaway layup off the opening tip and the Horned Frogs (20-10, 9-8 Big 12) never trailed. It was the second loss in a row and third in five games for the Longhorns (22-8, 11-6), who haven&rsquo;t won a regular-season conference crown since 2008.
Texas hosts third-ranked Kansas (25-5, 13-4) on Saturday. The Jayhawks had already clinched at least a piece of the Big 12 title Tuesday night, and now know they won&rsquo;t have to share it.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 16 points for the Longhorns, and Tyrese Hunter had 15.
NO. 10 GONZAGA 104, CHICAGO STATE 65
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 17 points in what&rsquo;s expected to be his final home game at Gonzaga, and the Bulldogs trounced Chicago State in a postseason tune-up.
Timme made his 99th start at Gonzaga. The senior forward ranks second on the school&rsquo;s career scoring list, 21 points behind Frank Burgess (1958-61).
The 6-foot-10 Timme has played four seasons at Gonzaga but could return for a fifth because of extra eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has not announced any definitive plans.
Fellow senior Rasir Bolton added 15 points for the Zags (26-5), who won their seventh straight game. Malachi Smith scored 14.
Jahsean Corbett led Chicago State (11-19) with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Gonzaga added the game to avoid going more than a week without playing before the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 85, OKLAHOMA 69
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Desi Sills flirted with a triple-double in his Bramlage Coliseum farewell and Kansas State held on to beat Oklahoma.
Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell also had big senior send-offs for the Wildcats. Sills finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Johnson had 16 points and Nowell added 11 points and 10 assists to help Kansas State (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) snap a three-game skid against the Sooners.
Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin scored 19 points for Kansas State, which led by 20 early in the second half before the Sooners (14-16, 4-13) made a late run. Milos Uzan had 20 points to lead Oklahoma.
NO. 14 UCONN 88, DEPAUL 59
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Adama Sanogo scored 26 points to lead five UConn players in double figures and the Huskies closed out their home schedule in emphatic style with an easy win over skidding DePaul.
Andre Jackson filled up the stat sheet for Connecticut (23-7, 12-7 Big East) with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Tristen Newton added 12 points for the Huskies, who have won four straight and seven of eight.
Nick Ongenda tied a career high with 17 points for DePaul (9-21, 3-16), which has lost 11 in a row.
UConn put the game away early, opening on a 29-2 run.
NO. 19 XAVIER 94, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 89
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Souley Boum scored a season-high 33 points and Colby Jones added a career-best 29 to help Xavier beat Providence and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament.
Ed Croswell had 17 points with 13 rebounds, and Bryce Hopkins also scored 17 for Providence, which cut a 22-point first-half deficit to two in the second half.
It was the Friars&rsquo; first loss at home in 16 games this season.
With one game remaining, Xavier (22-8, 14-5 Big East) has a one-game lead over Providence (21-9, 13-6) and controls the tiebreaker, having swept their two regular-season matchups.
OHIO STATE 73, NO. 21 MARYLAND 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help Ohio State finish its home schedule with a win over Maryland.
Justice Sueing had 16 points to lead six Buckeyes in double figures. Ohio State (13-17, 5-14 Big Ten) jumped ahead early with a 12-0 run and didn&rsquo;t give up the lead the rest of the way.
Julian Reese had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Terrapins (20-10, 11-8).
VANDERBILT 68, NO. 23 KENTUCKY 66
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead fall-away jumper in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining to finish with 23 points, and Vanderbilt topped Kentucky for its first win at Rupp Arena since January 2007.
The surging Commodores (17-13, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) earned their seventh win in eight games and are 7-3 since losing to Kentucky 69-53 last month in Nashville.
Wright&rsquo;s drive tied the game with 42 seconds left, and Tyrin Lawrence grabbed Antonio Reeves&rsquo; missed jumper with 20 seconds to go.
Reeves&rsquo; 3-point attempt missed the rim altogether as time expired. Kentucky had won its previous four and re-entered the rankings on Monday for the first time in seven weeks.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Wildcats (20-10, 11-6).
NOTRE DAME 88, NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 81
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh to win longtime coach Mike Brey&rsquo;s final home game.
Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points for the Fighting Irish (11-19, 3-16 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Brey, stepping down at season&rsquo;s end, received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game. He improved to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 years as Notre Dame coach.
Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 points for Pittsburgh. Blake Hinson added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5), who lost for only the second time in 10 games. They were playing their first game since moving into the AP Top 25 for the first time in seven years.

A recap of Wednesday's top-25 action in men's college hoops includes the Crimson Tide winning the regular-season SEC title.

Zac