Mammoths

According to <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/03/08/andrew-bogut-rumor-is-bradley-beal-will-join-james-harden-and-joel-embiid-on-76ers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former NBA player Andrew Bogut</a>, the word on the street is that Bradley Beal wants to join Joel Embiid and James Harden on the 76ers this coming summer. The former veteran big man said so <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-basketball-podcast-episode-56-with-mike-procopio/id1541789772?i=1000553089199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on his podcast</a>, "Rogues Bogues." 
"I&rsquo;ve heard a pretty big rumor &hellip; from some people that are pretty close to the situation in the NBA: Big three to Philly. Brad Beal&nbsp;is trying to get to Philadelphia in the offseason to team up with Harden and Embiid.
"Philly&rsquo;s desperate, obviously, to try to get off Harris, anyway. They have been for a while. And I think they&rsquo;re even more desperate now to free up that cap space somehow. It will most likely have to be a sign-and-trade with Philly. But don&rsquo;t be surprised if a big three forms in Philly. That&rsquo;s the word on the street."
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Something like this would be technically doable if Philly included Tobias Harris in a potential sign-and-trade, but it's hard to see Washington agreeing to take on such a mammoth contract that Harris is on, even if they could take back Tyrese Maxey in the deal. But, never say never.

Former NBA player Andrew Bogut says that Bradley Beal wants to join Joel Embiid and James Harden in Philadelphia this summer.

Bogut: Bradley Beal could be interested in move to 76ers

Sure, Montrezl Harrell is a mammoth of a man and tenacious defender, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was already oozing with confidence by the time he got the switch.&nbsp;
The young Canadian had already made a fool of Dennis Schroder on a few possessions, so when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came with a hard show to trap the Oklahoma City Thunder&rsquo;s young star, Shai crossed over from left to right, faking the two defenders out of their shoes. He slithered to the rack and threw down a two-handed dunk.
Somewhere, Chris Paul was smiling.
Gilgeous-Alexander, of course, spent last season as Paul&rsquo;s understudy. And although Paul would&rsquo;ve probably finished the play off by finding a backdoor cutter, the entire sequence had Paul&rsquo;s fingerprints on it.
So know this: the journey to becoming a superstar in the NBA isn&rsquo;t as simple as giving a kid the ball and the keys to a franchise. More often than not, young players with promise have to learn as they go. Just like Gilgeous-Alexander did. Just like RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley will.
Above all else, that&rsquo;s why the New York Knicks&rsquo; decision to run it back with Derrick Rose -- especially considering what they had to give up in exchange for him -- was a no-brainer.
It&rsquo;s disconcerting the extent to which NBA fans allow themselves to be peddled falsities. Once upon a time, we were told that tanking was the best way to building a contender. Not too long ago, we were led to believe that hoarding cap space was the way to sign impact free agents and more recently, for some reason, many have been led to believe that players with promise need to be force-fed the ball for 40 minutes per night.
You know what young players really need more than anything else? Guidance and experienced wisdom.
Neophytes need to learn how to win games and see, first-hand, what kind of commitment it takes to be successful in the NBA. They don&rsquo;t need to be on the receiving end of 30-point blowout losses or to be torn apart by the likes of Jrue Holiday or Patrick Beverley. They need veteran players whose attitudes and habits help them get to the next level. They need a coaching staff that connects with them and helps them develop their talents, and they need to be properly primed before they&rsquo;re entrusted with the marbles.
They need to marinate, and they need players who've been there and done that before them help with their seasoning. For the gross majority of players, this is fact even if&nbsp;some players &nbsp;-- LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic to name a few -- are ready from Day 1.
Far more players have been brought along slowly and surely. In a basketball culture that is often fooled into thinking there&rsquo;s only one way to do things, the want to see immediate dividends on the investment in a player with potential is understandable... It&rsquo;s just not usually the reality.
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About 25 years ago, a young backup guard named Sam Cassell was instrumental in helping deliver two NBA championships to the Houston Rockets. Nonetheless, he couldn&rsquo;t find a starting role playing behind a bevy of accomplished veterans that included Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell and Clyde Drexler.
Humbled, Cassell studied under the veterans, learned some lessons and applied the teachings in his subsequent stops. He ended up enjoying a fruitful career, to say the least.
The late, great Kobe Bryant became a starter in his third season, but only after it became apparent that he was the franchise&rsquo;s future and that Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Derek Fisher didn&rsquo;t quite have the same gifts.
In more recent times, Draymond Green, CJ McCollum, Jaylen Brown and Fred VanVleet are examples of players who spent their first couple years fighting for their keep. Before Giannis Antetokounmpo was a two-time MVP, he was playing behind the likes of Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson, Larry Sanders and Zaza Pachulia. Same with Stephen Curry, who has preached patience with rookie James Wiseman and <a href="https://twitter.com/ThompsonScribe/status/1351418668131864577?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a>&nbsp;that Curry himself "used to get benched for Acie Law."
In other words, most young NBA players are like seeds. They need to be planted, given proper conditions and some time. Not everyone comes into the league 100 percent ready, and that&rsquo;s fine. Nobody likes force-ripened fruit, anyway.
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That&rsquo;s exactly where players like Derrick Rose come in.
Given his relationship with Tom Thibodeau, the early returns suggest that he&rsquo;ll fit right in by providing the Knicks a much-needed attack guard who can help make the game easier for the team's youngsters, who&nbsp;Rose will ultimately help bloom.
At this point in his career, on an individual level, the former MVP is a player who has gone from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the barrel and back. Through it all, he&rsquo;s kept a positive attitude and persevered. A step slower and less athletic than he was 10 years ago, he's come to rely more on his ability to see through defenses and penetrate them than his blinding athleticism. At 32 years old, he plays the game more like an aging halfback who has to plan his cuts rather than a greyhound chasing a rabbit. As he&rsquo;s aged and enjoyed his renaissance, Rose has naturally become more methodical about his game. Those are qualities that any young guard would be wise to develop.
Serving as understudy worked out quite well for Gilgeous-Alexander. There's no reason to believe the same fate doesn't await Quickley and the Knicks' other promising youngsters.
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Although far from a front-office lifer, Leon Rose has spent a lot of time around the Knicks organization. In the recent past, New York has always sought the shortcut. In the end, they discovered that the only thing shortcuts are good for is making you bleed.
The road to respectability in the NBA -- a long, windy, treacherous one -- can only be successfully traversed with steps on the court.
Today more than ever, players watch one another, talk, share war stories, form relationships and create alliances, but nobody wants to join a sinking ship. No franchise-altering player will proactively take his talents to a losing franchise more renowned for its off-court shenanigans than on-court promise. So the first step toward helping the Knicks regain some respect around the NBA is to string together some wins, show some sort of developmental culture and overachieve relative to the individual parts. It&rsquo;s precisely <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-brooklyn-nets-los-angeles-clippers-kawhi-leonard-paul-george-learn-mistakes-culture-kenny-atkinson-doc-rivers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what the Brooklyn Nets did</a> and, if you look closely, it seems to be precisely what the Knicks are attempting to do. Rose is a means to that end.
Despite the Knicks' inclusion of Charlotte's second-round draft pick, trading Smith for Rose is a no-brainer. Rose provides the club with attributes they need that Smith didn&rsquo;t possess, and the 11-year veteran gets them closer to the playoffs than Smith would have.
For a franchise attempting to find its way, the Rose acquisition is a low-risk move with a potentially high reward, especially if Rose is able to impart any of his wisdom or teachings to Thibodeau&rsquo;s young and impressionable group of players.
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<div>So the next time Jaylen Brown draws praise or Gilgeous-Alexander impresses you, remember when they were seeds. Realize that now, in New York, they&rsquo;ve just begun planting.</div>
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With his experiences and wisdom, at this point in his career, Derrick Rose is properly cast on a young, upstart Knicks team.

Second time's the charm: Derrick Rose trade was right decision for Knicks

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.
Less discussed &mdash; at least these days &mdash; was their willingness, in 1999, to dive into a messy acquisition process for a largely irrelevant franchise that had been considered a relocation prospect as the 21st century approached.
All of the talk of them relocating no longer exists.
Now, the conversation is about how the Nuggets were able to reach their first NBA Finals thanks to the stubborn patience displayed by the Kroenkes, who have taken an unorthodox route toward assembling an unorthodox winner. Denver hosts the Miami Heat in Game 2 Sunday night after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-denver-nuggets-nba-sports-755531bae7f944958c4225f8d5f54bad">winning the Finals opener</a>.
Kroenke&rsquo;s deal to purchase the Nuggets, along with the Colorado Avalanche and their home arena for $450 million, included a clause that tethered the NBA franchise to Denver for the ensuing 25 years. These days, the Nuggets are estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.93 billion.
&ldquo;One thing I know about Stan is that when he sets his mind to doing something, and when he thinks he&rsquo;s right, he&rsquo;s going to fight for that,&rdquo; said Wellington Webb, who was Denver&rsquo;s mayor in 1999 and helped broker the deal that closed a year later between Kroenke and the Nuggets.
Though Kroenke married into money &mdash; he wed Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974, a few years after meeting her during a ski trip to Aspen &mdash; he had already honed his business chops. His first deal: Taking a $1,500 loan at 6% interest from his dad so he could buy part of a clothing shop with his friend.
Not long after, he got into the real estate business, building shopping centers with a developer who was tight with Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Real estate and sports are, these days, almost intertwined &mdash; a reality Kroenke grasped quickly.
&ldquo;I always thought I&rsquo;d enjoy (owning a sports franchise) because the professional sports business is part business and part sports,&rdquo; Kroenke told the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune in 2022, &ldquo;and I love both of them.&rdquo;
Kroenke&rsquo;s representatives did not return messages left by The Associated Press seeking an interview.
His first major jump into sports was his partnership with Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. In the mid-1990s, Frontiere was chafing at the inability of Los Angeles to build a new stadium, She was looking for partners to bankroll a move to St. Louis. Kroenke bought in, and when Frontiere died in 2008, he exercised his right to purchase a majority stake in the team.
The sad irony is that it was Kroenke, the Missouri native, who moved the Rams out of St. Louis and back to LA where they are the main tenant in his $5.1 billion stadium. His connection with Denver &mdash; much different.
&ldquo;One of my dreams was to be involved in a professional basketball team,&rdquo; Kroenke told The Denver Post, shortly after closing the deal for the Nuggets. &ldquo;This is a dream I&rsquo;ve had for a long time.&rdquo;
There is, in fact, a strong argument that the basketball trophy might be the most meaningful for a family that has amassed three Stanley Cup trophies with the Avalanche, a Super Bowl trophy with the Rams and is still looking for glory with Arsenal, the Premier League soccer team it has had a controlling interest in since 2011.
Kroeke&rsquo;s son, Josh, was a standout basketball player in high school and played at University of Missouri. He now runs the Nuggets.
&ldquo;I thought that you could bring a championship to Denver,&rdquo; Josh said in a recent interview on team-owned Altitude Sports Radio. &ldquo;Trying to do something that&rsquo;s never been done before, it&rsquo;s not always easy, and it&rsquo;s usually met with a lot of resistance. ... We&rsquo;re mostly excited for the city to get to experience this. But the job&rsquo;s not done.&rdquo;
The Nuggets were parked squarely in NBA purgatory when the team went on the block in 1999, having not sniffed relevancy since their mid-80s heydey, when the teams were highlighted by coach Doug Moe&rsquo;s uptempo offense. Their situation off the court wasn&rsquo;t much better. In the late &rsquo;80s, then-owner Sidney Shlenker had toyed with the idea of moving the team to Memphis.
His sale to a media conglomerate that was never truly hot on owning sports teams did nothing to tamp the idea that the Nuggets were a team that might be available to move. And teams were moving; Between 2001-08, Memphis (from Vancouver), Oklahoma City (from Seattle) and New Orleans (from Charlotte) all adopted existing franchises in a flurry of NBA reshuffling.
When Denver went on the block, the highest bidder, billionaire businessman Donald Sturm, came in with a $460 million offer, but balked at the idea that he couldn&rsquo;t move the team.
In stepped Kroenke, who had no problem with the arrangement. A side note: To close the sale, Kroenke had to outmaneuver another group fronted by none other than John Elway.
&ldquo;It was clear Sturm wasn&rsquo;t going to work out,&rdquo; Webb said. &ldquo;And my only question was, &lsquo;Is the new guy going to be supportive of the team winning?&rsquo; Because if the arena is full, not only do the owners make money, but city makes money, as well.&rdquo;
The Kroenkes have answered Webb&rsquo;s question with their willingness &mdash; increasingly rare in pro sports &mdash; to play the long game, both on the roster and on the bench.
The roster was built in workmanlike,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-finals-nuggets-jokic-murray-malone-18329e13dfecae50834ebc06d409027c">no-drama fashion</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-nikola-jokic-denver-nuggets-mvp-lebron-lakers-8e668572f9f43942175ded63e7a61832">highlighted by Nikola Jokic</a>, who entered the league as an unheralded second-round pick from Serbia. The coach, Michael Malone, was hired in 2015, and there was never much talk of making changes after disappointing finishes to their seasons in 2018, 2019 and even last year.
Today, Malone sits behind only Gregg Popovich (Spurs), Erik Spoelstra (Heat) and Steve Kerr (Warriors) &mdash; who have a combined 11 championships on their coaching resumes &mdash; in terms of longevity among the NBA&rsquo;s 30 head coaches.
&ldquo;That has a ton to do with where we are today,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be more thankful for working for an ownership group that is not impatient and is not trying to find the next great thing, but is saying &lsquo;Hey, listen, let&rsquo;s let this grow and marinate into something special.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Despite his family&rsquo;s large role in the Denver sports scene &mdash; the Kroenke business also owns the MLS Colorado Rapids, and the National Lacrosse League&rsquo;s Colorado Mammoth, who lost the deciding game in that league&rsquo;s title series Saturday &mdash; Kroenke has still taken his fair share of criticism around town.
It&rsquo;s a byproduct of his 2004 move to bundle his teams&rsquo; TV rights and air them on company&rsquo;s new regional television network, Altitude.
In 2019, the region&rsquo;s biggest cable operator, Comcast, stopped carrying Altitude due to a disagreement over fees the cable giant was charging to carry the network. The ensuing legal battle has kept the Nuggets off the local airwaves in millions of homes for the last four seasons. The battle between billion-dollar companies has left many average Nuggets fans feeling like the only real losers in the equation.
But whatever bitterness lingers from the cable dispute has mostly been set aside over the past few months. All the playoff games have been on national TV.
Meanwhile, Kroenke stays firmly in the background. He can make it from his apartment at the top of Ball Arena through some back passageways and into his luxury suite to watch games in less than two minutes. Sometimes he brings his German Shepherd along.
&ldquo;I think that not only is he a good businessman,&rdquo; Webb said, &ldquo;but he also feels he has something special in Denver. And I think it&rsquo;s always been his goal to do right by Denver.&rdquo;

Some might say Stan Kroenke and his family would be pulling off the impossible by bringing a long-awaited NBA title to Denver.

Kroenke bought Nuggets, kept team in Denver, now hoping to deliver title

Add Fairleigh Dickinson to the list of giant-killing New Jersey schools in March Madness.
The 16th-seeded Knights pulled off a mammoth upset Friday night, upsetting&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/no-16-fairleigh-dickinson-stuns-no-1-seed-purdue-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-seeded Purdue 63-58</a>&nbsp;in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Undersized FDU played big against the Boilermakers and became only the second No. 16 seed to topple a No. 1 seed.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-tournament-umbc-no-1-seeds-march-madness-df6c353dc4ff76ec99278efd69a8b454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland-Baltimore County was the first,</a>&nbsp;knocking off Virginia in 2018.
FDU&rsquo;s win blew up&nbsp;most of the remaining brackets.&nbsp;Just who are these guys?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Entering today, only .065% of March Madness brackets remained perfect. Now, after No. 16 FDU&rsquo;s upset victory over No. 1 Purdue, there are ZERO perfect brackets remaining in ESPN&rsquo;s bracket challenge. There were more than 20 million entries, but they&rsquo;re all busted by Day 2. 😅
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1636902393366433793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2023</a></blockquote>

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WHERE IS FDU?
The school has&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.fdu.edu/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two campuses in New Jersey</a>: Teaneck and Florham. The school&rsquo;s website list a total enrollment of 11,400 students, though U.S. News &amp; World Report lists the number as 7,860 as of fall 2021. The Teaneck campus is close to New York City; the Florham campus is on a former country estate of socialites Florence Vanderbilt and Hamilton Twombly. FDU has owned the campus since 1958. FDU also has campuses in Wroxton, England, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
WHAT&rsquo;S FDU KNOWN FOR?
Founded in 1942, notable alumni include billionaire and NFL Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf; Peggy Noonan, journalist and speechwriter to former President Ronald Reagan; former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg; and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware Democrat.
WHO ARE THE FDU STARS?
Demetre Robinson (16.6 points per game), Grant Singleton (14.3), Ansley Almonor (14.1) and Joe Munden Jr. (10.6). Sean Moore, the Knights&rsquo; leading scorer in the Purdue game with 19 points, came in averaging 6.7.
HOW DID THE KNIGHTS GET HERE?
FSU&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/fairleigh-dickinson-merrimack-664ffd8a126a62c7dec293f536924ac1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost in the Northeast Conference Tournament final to Merrimack by a single point</a>&nbsp;but got the automatic bid to the NCAA tourney because Merrimack wasn&rsquo;t eligible as it transitions to Division I.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/fairleigh-dickinson-texas-southern-ncaa-446ebf664cbbba7960caeaf2f52fe6d4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FDU routed Texas Southern in the First Four play-in round</a>&nbsp;to earn a date against Purdue.
DID YOU KNOW?
The FDU win is just the latest in eye-catching victories by New Jersey schools.
A year ago, Saint Peter&rsquo;s toppled No. 2 seed Kentucky in overtime to bust a bunch of brackets and then&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-purdue-boilermakers-mens-basketball-st-peters-peacocks-mens-basketball-sports-college-basketball-20b5611db138644c0ff32550749e11a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became the first 15-seed to reach the Elite Eight</a>&nbsp;by beating ... Purdue. FDU&rsquo;s shocker also came just one day after No. 15 seed Princeton ousted No. 2 seed Arizona, 59-55.

Here's everything you need to know about No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson after they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history.

March Madness: Where and what is Fairleigh Dickinson?

The Los Angeles Lakers will get to participate in the NBA draft after acquiring the 35th overall pick from the Orlando Magic on Thursday for cash and a future second-round selection.
The Magic will get either the Lakers' second-round pick or Washington's second-round pick, which is controlled by the Lakers, in the 2028 draft.
The deal allows the Lakers to buy their way back into the current draft after the club traded away both of its picks. Los Angeles' eighth overall pick belongs to New Orleans as part of the Pelicans' mammoth haul from the trade of Anthony Davis, while the Lakers' second-round pick was moved in that same multi-team deal to Washington before eventually ending up with San Antonio.
Orlando still holds the first and 32nd overall selections in Thursday&rsquo;s draft.
The Lakers' perpetual win-now mentality around LeBron James has left them without control of their own first-round pick for the fourth consecutive season, but their acquisition of this high second-round pick will allow their strong scouting department to make a contribution to that quest.
The franchise has a solid record of drafting good players and signing quality undrafted talent over the past decade despite meager draft resources. The Lakers have picked up Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac, Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso, Svi Mykhailiuk and Austin Reaves from the lower reaches of the draft pools over the past six years.
Los Angeles is in need of low-cost roster depth after finishing 33-49 and missing the play-in tournament this year. If Russell Westbrook exercises his $47 million player option, the Lakers will be above the salary cap from their commitments to James, Davis and Westbrook alone.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

The deal allows the Lakers to buy their way back into the current draft after the club traded away both of its picks.

Lakers get in draft, acquire 35th pick in trade with Orlando

According to <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10038623-latest-nba-intel-sources-expect-zach-lavine-to-re-sign-with-chicago-bulls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>, the Hawks have been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Rudy Gobert because of the package they could offer Utah.
"There has been plenty of talk among league personnel that some combination of [Clint] Capela, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and the No. 16 pick could be routed to Utah for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year."
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;That combination isn't necessarily the most desirable knowing Gobert's value around the league, but his mammoth contract makes it harder to trade him. Getting three impactful, above-average players and a pick back might be the best that the Jazz can hope for at this point.

Jake Fischer reports that the Hawks may have the most enticing package to offer for Rudy Gobert.

Hawks mentioned as possible landing spot for Rudy Gobert

Even though the NBA Playoffs present the highest stakes in basketball, the postseason is still akin to its own set of laboratories.
Within a seven-game series, teams are tinkering with strategies and toggling the risk-versus-reward dials on points of emphasis. They also have more data at their disposal, which means more information to sway decisions &mdash; and make those decisions more complicated.
We're onto Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks after two of the more radically divergent results of the postseason so far. But one thing hasn't changed: Boston, through its own creation and the Bucks' defensive scheme, is letting the three-ball fly.&nbsp;
The Celtics have attempted a whopping 93 three-pointers across the first two games in this series. They hoisted up 50 in Game 1 and 43 in Game 2; those totals rank second and seventh among all 2022 playoff games to this point. A mammoth 45 of those 93 perimeter tries (48.4%) have been categorized as "wide open" by Second Spectrum, meaning no defender is within 6 feet of the shooter.
Digging deeper, those 45 wide-open threes make up 27.4% of Boston's overall field goal attempts &mdash; the highest frequency of any team in the second round. (For some context, only 18.8% of the team's shots were wide-open threes during the regular season.)
That frequency is second among all NBA playoff series so far. Not coincidentally, it's just barely behind Milwaukee's first-round opponent, the Chicago Bulls (27.7%).
This isn't some playoff crumbling. The Bucks allowed a league-high 20.3 wide-open threes to opponents in the regular season. They've ranked in the top two for most such shots allowed in each season since Mike Budenholzer took over as head coach in 2018-19. But Milwaukee tailors what it allows opponents to take, hoping to funnel those threes to the most volatile shooters. It worked during the regular season; teams shot 36.3% on wide-open threes against the Bucks, tied for the third-worst percentage in the NBA. Chicago didn't make them pay either, knocking down just 30.4% of those shots.
However, against the Celtics, we've seen the double-edged sword to this approach.
Milwaukee lives with these three-point shots because it wants to fortify the paint with its lineup of big, long, physical defenders. The help defense is so aggressive because the Bucks want to keep Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart from establishing any kind of momentum getting to the basket. Driving lanes are a pillar of today's NBA offenses, and I highly recommend you read <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/offensive-organics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler's recent piece</a> that explains how drives make the league much more than a game of twos and threes.
The Celtics have made a mind-numbing 20% of their shot attempts on drives to the basket this series, per Second Spectrum. They have attempted 40 shots within 5 feet of the rim and finished just 50% of those looks, which is last among the second-round teams. Boston is also bottom-two in shot volume and efficiency from the 5-to-9-foot range and 10-to-14 feet. Milwaukee appears to have built a fortress.
Such an emphasis on paint protection means the Celtics have plenty of three-point chances. This isn't to say the Bucks don't care &mdash; one, that's not how NBA defense works, and two, they have several great recovery defenders on the roster. If Boston moves the ball with purpose, its players can find openings. However, they might be just the players Milwaukee wants firing away.
Here's a breakdown of Boston's three-point shooting volume by rotation player, and the frequency of wide-open looks with data from the NBA's stats site. No efficiency rates yet.
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 198px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 44px;">Player</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 44px;">Total 3PA/Game</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 44px;">Wide-Open 3PA/Game</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 44px;">% of 3PA Wide Open </td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 44px;">Wide-Open 3P%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Jayson Tatum</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">9.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">21.1%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">50.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Jaylen Brown</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">9.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">3.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">31.6%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">16.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Al Horford</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">7.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">6.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">92.9%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">30.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Grant Williams</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">4.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">61.5%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">87.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Marcus Smart (1 game)</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">3.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">50.0%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">0.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Payton Pritchard</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">41.7%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">40.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Derrick White</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">3.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">71.4%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">40.0%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The big numbers that stand out: Al Horford, Derrick White and Grant Williams have found a&nbsp;lot of open three-point attempts. Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown have captured the attention, and Payton Pritchard has garnered the defense's respect to a lesser extent.
Importantly: This isn't the Bucks simply leaving Horford, Williams and White open without any closeouts. Boston has worked to find these players on the perimeter, and speficially made adjustments in Game 2 that helped these three get in position. <a href="https://theathletic.com/3292733/2022/05/04/celtics-beat-bucks-game-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jared Weiss of&nbsp;The Athletic</a> wrote a fantastic postgame analysis of what changed, so keep it in mind.
The point is that the Bucks have not locked a target on Horford or Williams when they move around off the ball, and it's come with mixed results. Horford actually made 4 of his 9 three-point attempts in the Game 1 loss, but went 1 of 5 from long range in Game 2. Williams, meanwhile, has been on a heater in the series and made 6 threes en route to a career-high 21 points in the Celtics' blowout win.&nbsp;
All of these numbers comprise a miniscule two-game sample size though. What can fans reasonably expect from the Celtics' shooters if things stayed the same? Here's how the non-Jay rotation players fared in desirable settings during the regular season.
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 132px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Player</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">Wide-Open 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">Catch-and-Shoot 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">Corner 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">Above-the-Break 3P%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Al Horford</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">35.6%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">32.8%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">39.7%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">31.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Grant Williams</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">44.6%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">41.7%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">46.9%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">35.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Marcus Smart</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">38.9%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">35.2%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">37.1%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">31.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Payton Pritchard</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">44.0%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">42.3%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">57.1%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">37.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Derrick White</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">28.8%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">30.8%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">42.3%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">27.4%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
My takeaways: It's pretty clear that Williams is a certified sharpshooter at this point and capable of killing the Bucks if he keeps receiving these open shots. The same goes for Pritchard, though the Bucks seem to know it already. Meanwhile, Horford appears to make more sense as a perimeter gamble, as do Smart and White.
However, let's not forget the importance of location. Just look the stark differences in efficiency from... well, everyone, when they shot from the corners vs. above the break in the regular season. Milwaukee has done its homework. The Celtics have put up 12.5 corner threes per game in the series, shooting a scorching 56.0%. But it's outweighed by their 33.0 above-the-break attempts per game, which have fallen just 34.8% of the time.
The Bucks recognize that eliminating paint chances means dampening the playmaking chops of Tatum, Brown, Smart, White and Robert Williams III. The Celtics understand that they have to bet on their shooters, which can open up close-out attacks, extra passes and more open shots &mdash; as we saw in Game 2.
It's a game of risk analysis within a game of prioritization within a game of tendencies, and that's what makes the NBA Playoffs so captivating.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Staying in the vein of team-wide shot creation, here's an SIS Hoops graphic detailing which remaining squads are getting what most would categorize as ideal attempts:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The value of rim attempts and threes is widely understood, but not all shots within those buckets are created equal. Here&rsquo;s a look at which remaining playoff teams produce the most &ldquo;high-quality&rdquo; shots at the basket and from beyond the arc: <a href="https://t.co/4735x1mF5T">pic.twitter.com/4735x1mF5T</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1521889891809865728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Go read this thread from Div, who expertly explains why the analytics stereotype has already been left in the dust by today's actual NBA:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Really interesting chart. But I think a better way to frame this might be - MoreyBall already won, and so the easy gains from it are already baked in for every team. /mini-thread <a href="https://t.co/wO3W8Yz8H2">https://t.co/wO3W8Yz8H2</a>
&mdash; Div B (@statcenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/statcenter/status/1521488176644304897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

<ul>
<li>Nekias Duncan whipped out a ton of eye-popping stats in his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-are-no-good-answers-for-the-chris-pauldeandre-ayton-duo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis of the Chris Paul-Deandre Ayton pairing</a>, but it's perhaps best captured with this one:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
During the regular season, defenses surrendered a shade under 1.22 points per possession (PPP) to them on direct plays. That isn't just the best mark in the NBA among high-volume pairings (min. 300 picks); they're over 5 points per 100 possessions better than second place (Atlanta's Trae Young-Clint Capela, 1.16 PPP). That Paul-Ayton number has gone up during the postseason (1.24 PPP), a remarkable feat considering they've run 48 more&nbsp;picks against drop than any other duo.
</blockquote>
Definitely go read his breakdown.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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The Bucks have been content to let the Celtics shoot threes, but is this strategy too risky to maintain?

NBA Stats Notebook: The Celtics and Bucks' three-point standoff

Jackson Frank breaks down the film and collaborates with Nekias Duncan and Mark Schindler to pick the 2021-22 All-NBA teams.

2021-22 All-NBA Teams: Praising this season's 15 best players

Chris Paul has been to the All-Star Game 11 times in his NBA career and &mdash; barring a mammoth snub &mdash; is headed there for No. 12 next month.
Now coach Monty Williams will get to join him for the first time.
Devin Booker scored 28 points, Mikal Bridges added a season-high 26 and the Phoenix Suns overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 115-110 on Sunday night.
The NBA-leading Suns became the first team in the league with 40 wins &mdash; against only nine losses. The victory ensured that Phoenix will have the best record in the Western Conference at the All-Star break, which means Williams and his staff get to lead Team LeBron in Cleveland on Feb. 20.
Paul said getting Williams the All-Star head coaching honor has been top of mind for the players over the past week or two.
&ldquo;Over the course of the long season, there's nothing wrong with having a little benchmark, a little goal,&rdquo; Paul said. &ldquo;I'm just happy for Monty, happy for our staff. That's cool."
Booker hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth to turn a two-point deficit into a 112-108 lead with 1:18 left. He finished 12 of 24 from the field, going 4 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Spurs took a 91-79 lead into the final quarter, but the Suns erased that advantage in less than 3 1/2 minutes. They used a 14-point run &mdash; highlighted by Cam Johnson's powerful one-handed jam &mdash; to take a 96-93 lead.
The game stayed tight from that point forward until Booker's two big shots pushed the Suns ahead for good. Booker didn't have a particularly great shooting game until that point, but was clutch when needed.
&ldquo;I just know he's not afraid to take the shot,&rdquo; Williams said.
Paul had another huge game with 20 points, 19 assists and eight rebounds, just two nights after he had his 18th career triple-double. Bridges shot 11 of 16 from the field.
Williams said he appreciated how his players wanted him to receive the All-Star honor.
&ldquo;It's a huge blessing to be in this position where you can be the caretaker of an organization and represent the city, the team, your family,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;I'm mindful of all the sacrifices that people make so I can be in this position. It's a team effort for sure.&rdquo;
Doug McDermott led San Antonio with 24 points. Lonnie Walker IV added 22 off the bench.
JaVale McGee returned to the Suns after missing two games with left knee soreness. Starters Deandre Ayton (right ankle sprain) and Jae Crowder (left wrist contusion) and key backup Cameron Payne (right wrist sprain) remained out.
The Spurs were missing three starters, guards Derrick White (rest) and Dejounte Murray (left knee contusion) and forward Jakob Poeltl (low back soreness). Even so, San Antonio pushed the NBA's best team until nearly the final buzzer.
&ldquo;There was nobody that played badly,&rdquo; Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. &ldquo;They played together, we were physical, we had great pace. They played with confidence against a hell of a team. Sure, I want fewer mistakes and I want a win, but it is hard to ask for more than what they gave tonight."
San Antonio shot 54% in the first quarter to take a 31-23 lead and had a 55-50 advantage at halftime.
Tre Jones led the Spurs with 13 points before the break while McDermott added 12. Booker had 15 points for the Suns, who shot just 3 of 19 (15.8%) from 3-point range.
WAINRIGHT'S TIME
In the closing minutes, the Suns had an unfamiliar face on the floor &mdash; forward Ish Wainright.
The muscular 6-foot-5, 235-pound rookie finished with a career-high 10 points, including a bucket late in the fourth. He hit two 3-pointers, grabbed two rebounds and blocked two shots. Wainright's received more playing time in recent weeks since the Suns have had several players out with injuries.
&ldquo;It was fun, real fun,&rdquo; Wainright said. &ldquo;To have a coach that trusts you every single game, that means a lot.&rdquo;
Wainright has a football frame and played both basketball and football in college at Baylor. He finally broke into the NBA with the Suns this season at 27 years old.
TIP-INS
Spurs: Guard Josh Primo, a rookie who recently turned 19 years old, finished with 13 points, which was two from his career high.
Suns: Hosted a sellout crowd at the Footprint Center for an 11th straight game. ... F Bismack Biyombo had his 64th career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. ... G Landry Shamet left the court in the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury. He finished with three points in 17 minutes.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host Golden State on Monday night.
Suns: Host Brooklyn on Tuesday night.

Devin Booker scored 28 points, Mikal Bridges added a season-high 26 and the Suns overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

NBA-best Suns rally for 10th straight win, top Spurs 115-110

The bedrock of any fruitful offense is a player who generates advantages, and is either adept enough to capitalize individually or surrounded by teammates capable of doing so. As such, Spencer Dinwiddie, despite missing most of the 2020-21 campaign after tearing the ACL in his right knee, should be one of the most coveted free agents in the NBA this offseason.
Dinwiddie is a premier advantage creator. His 2019-20 showing underlined his value to an offense, as he averaged 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds on 54% True Shooting percentage. Kevin Durant&rsquo;s year-long absence and Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s injury struggles left the Brooklyn Nets low on initiators. That thrust Dinwiddie into an outsized lead ball-handling role, though one that enabled him to exhibit the depths of his entire game and illuminate why he&rsquo;d provide considerable impact to potential suitors moving forward.
According to Synergy, only 11 players logged more isolation possessions than him in 2019-20. Despite the mammoth volume (205 possessions), he ranked in the 69th percentile in points per possession (0.951), which was seventh among the 12 players meeting that threshold. James Harden, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, Chris Paul and Jayson Tatum were the only players to finish above him. Dinwiddie blends both usage and production in a manner emulated by a select number of preeminent offensive orchestrators.&nbsp;
The foundation of his isolation excellence is a standstill burst accompanied by a mastery of pace. His 0-60 acceleration is elite. He regularly burns defenders with sudden tweaks of tempo and explodes out of dribble moves or changes in direction, while maintaining leverage by getting lower than opponents. Bigs caught on an island are ruthlessly exposed; by controlling the cadence in ball screens, he forces these desirable matchups. At 6-foot-5, he overwhelms opposing guards and varies his stride length to cover ground as he deems appropriate. He&rsquo;s technically savvy and athletically gifted, rendering him a high-level isolation scorer.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; text-align: left;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/1cux45" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Contriving buckets out of thin air is a rare and critical commodity in the NBA. Fitting that criteria is Dinwiddie, who also sat near the top of the league in pick-and-roll possessions two seasons ago. Over 48% of his offense came via pick-and-rolls and he was in the 61st percentile. (His 667 pNr possessions slated fifth overall behind Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Lillard and Doncic).
Factor passes into the equation and his 1,286 possessions were fourth, good for the 62nd percentile at 0.974 PPP.
Using high ball-screens against a drop-coverage big is his forte. He loves side pick-and-rolls, and is particularly dangerous when rejecting the screen to scoot downhill with a head of steam. His footwork gifts him the shiftiness to shimmy around or perplex rim protectors and find space to finish. He&rsquo;s entirely comfortable embracing physicality, ramming into the chest of big men to score. The change of pace and quickness remain boons. He craftily primes screens with his handle, body angles and dexterity.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/6f9i4i" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Commandeering such substantial workloads and conserving relatively efficient numbers is a skill in itself. The volume signifies a malleable approach to creation that prevents defenses from keying in one certain tendency and eliminating it to curtail functionality in those actions. Pick-and-roll initiation is typically central to offense, as is individual creation. Dinwiddie offers both to many teams lacking those traits in a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2021-nba-free-agency-ranking-kawhi-leonard-chris-paul-and-the-top-10-offseason-players-on-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free-agent class</a> short on star talent.
All of this works because he&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s best downhill guards. According to Cleaning the Glass, his 38% rim frequency ranked in the 74th percentile, and he shot 60% around the basket (59th percentile). Not only is Dinwiddie manufacturing a ton of quality looks, but he&rsquo;s also converting at an above-average rate. It&rsquo;s one thing to create those shots; it&rsquo;s immensely more valuable to be equipped to score effectively there.
Part of what makes him such a multifaceted downhill threat in ball screens and isolation is his capacity for drawing fouls. Among 35 players to average at least 20 points per game in 2019-20, his .437 free-throw rate ranked eighth behind Joel Embiid, Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, Doncic and Young.&nbsp;
He seeks out and anticipates contact. An overzealous/poorly-timed stunt or brazen hand-check will be seen by the officials. Any misplaced limb is a death knell for defenders. He is unafraid to charge directly toward a big man, absorb the hit and draw a pair of foul shots. Sometimes, his tricks end poorly and the upshot is an errant heave toward the rim. But largely, he parades to the charity stripe with ploys emblematic of Young and Harden&rsquo;s chicanery.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ptqyc2" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
As a passer, he touts live-dribble faculty and marvelous placement on lobs, and probes in the paint for drop-off feeds. He can seamlessly rifle skip passes in pick-and-rolls, guide big men into space on alley-oops and instantly transition from dribble to pass. His advantage creation is amplified because he preserves those advantages, occupying defenders cognizant of his speed and pace manipulation.&nbsp;
Among the top-30 players in total assists in 2019-20, just Westbrook (93%) and Harden (92.4%) had a higher percentage of their assists resulting in threes or shots at the rim than Dinwiddie (92.1%), according to PBPStats. The dude catalyzes highly valuable shots for others, and does so through advanced means.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/66aij0" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
There are, however, bouts of overly audacious lobs. In general, his decision-making can drift too much toward being premeditated. He&rsquo;ll zone in on a certain read, whether it&rsquo;s deciding between passing and shooting or different passing options, and not deviate from it when needed. Traps are prone to flustering him.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/q325ml" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The premeditated tendencies, in conjunction with his poor off-the-bounce shooting, is the foremost factor standing between him and top-tier initiator status. He shot just 29.2% on pull-ups in 2019-20 and 33.7% the year prior. His willingness often skews too confidently or timidly. Defenders sag off to mitigate driving lanes.&nbsp;
As Dinwiddie hits the free-agent market, his struggles to scale into a larger off-ball role really blur things. Despite the passing, driving and self-creation intersection, he&rsquo;s not good enough to spearhead elite offense because of the shaky jumper. That wouldn&rsquo;t be much of an issue for his future employer if he was comfortable in a secondary role.&nbsp;
Theoretically, a 6-foot-5 guard with viable off-ball shooting, versatile passing, foul-drawing guile and burst should function well in a complementary spot. Dinwiddie, though, prefers to dictate the action on his terms. He&rsquo;s methodical when the ball swings his way and gun shy on spot-up chances, even though he&rsquo;s drilled a reasonable 37% of his catch-and-shoot triples (176-for-476) since 2017-18. That mark should be lucrative enough to provoke consistent close-outs and open lanes to the paint. Flashes of him puncturing a titled defense as a driver exist.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/s73yob" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Assessing his value through the prism of a new team -- the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards or New Orleans Pelicans, for example -- each franchise rosters a (super)star better qualified to be the No. 1 offensively. Dinwiddie in a condensed role is useful, but brings diminishing returns. An upgrade in offensive talent compared to the 2019-20 Nets could spur a retooled style from him. It&rsquo;d likely be necessary to maximize his opportunities.&nbsp;
The one team presenting a clear fit without a well-established, superior perimeter creator is the New York Knicks, a logical marriage for both sides. While the Knicks could stand to sign more shooting, what they truly require is a perimeter advantage creator who is better than Derrick Rose. Dinwiddie would be that.&nbsp;
Dinwiddie would help relieve Julius Randle&rsquo;s cumbersome usage by increasing the first-time All-Star's pick-and-pop or short-roll reps, while turning the latter's mid-post isolations into a feature rather than a staple. His slashing would empower RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to serve as practical second-side handlers against compromised defenses. He and Mitchell Robinson would harmonize in pick-and-rolls.&nbsp;
On the other end, New York should house much of the infrastructure to insulate Dinwiddie. He is not an abjectly terrible defender, but he is also not good, existing somewhere between those broad endpoints. Inactivity defines his imprint, and he has a habit of floating for long stretches. That is not necessarily bad on its own, but his impact is felt mostly through negative occurrences &mdash; though not abundantly.&nbsp;
Dinwiddie struggles around screens. Ball-handlers achieve dribble penetration against him because he&rsquo;s a bit weak, passive and slow laterally at the point of attack. When he plays with physicality, he can pose issues for creators and deny or top-lock assignments off the ball; those instances are irregular though.&nbsp;
He&rsquo;s also behind the curve with off-ball positioning and rotations. He will make many of the necessary decisions &mdash; a closeout, splitting the difference between weak-side shooters, stunt-and-recovers &mdash; but the execution might fall short. That dichotomy produces inconsistent outcomes. At other times, he&rsquo;s just harmful as an off-ball defender, losing sight of his assignments.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/d4uajr" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Brooklyn&rsquo;s personnel tasked Dinwiddie with guarding an array of offensive stars. He&rsquo;s not a bottom-rung defender. Periods of physicality, while anomalous, transpire on and off the ball. A context conducive to off-ball deployment &mdash; shadowing guys with his size and physicality to neutralize screens or pinning him to the least threatening creator &mdash; would mitigate his shortcomings.&nbsp;
The Knicks could probably provide that and enable him to remain the principal perimeter handler. They would vastly benefit from his offensive services and he would benefit from their defensive core. The pairing is sensible.
Dinwiddie is very good. Few free agents are better. Through pick-and-roll or isolation play, he checks many important boxes offensively: rim pressure, diverse passing and fashioning of easy scores.&nbsp;
Gauging a player is closely tied to discerning their strengths and weaknesses, recognizing the value of each and ranking them. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s most prevalent strengths &mdash; advantage creation and capitalization &mdash; are vital for team-building. His most prevalent weaknesses &mdash; offensive scalability and on-ball defense &mdash; are well down the list of damning issues.&nbsp;
Soon, a team will sign him. That team will almost assuredly improve offensively because of his addition and be quite satisfied. The gems of this free agency class are scarce, but Spencer Dinwiddie is one of them.&nbsp;

Jackson Frank breaks down the isolation and pick-and-roll savviness of Spencer Dinwiddie and why NBA teams should go after him.

The Catalyst: Why Spencer Dinwiddie should be a coveted free agent

The United States overcame a mammoth performance by 7-foot-2 Victor Wembanyama to beat France 83-81 Sunday and win the FIBA Under-19 World Cup.
Wembanyama recorded 22 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks but fouled out with 2:42 to play and the Americans held on for the victory, led by 16 points apiece from Jaden Ivey of Purdue and Kenneth Lofton Jr. of Louisiana Tech.
Chet Holmgren, a 7-foot-1 incoming freshman at Gonzaga, added 10 points and 5 assists and was named MVP of the tournament.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A battle from start to finish 😤<a href="https://twitter.com/usabjnt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usabjnt</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ffbasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ffbasketball</a> provided one of the greatest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAU19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAU19</a> Finals in recent history 👏 83-81 the final score. 🇺🇸 are going home as world champions 🥇 <a href="https://t.co/wwjYo6r4Yb">pic.twitter.com/wwjYo6r4Yb</a>
&mdash; FIBA (@FIBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1414288436794699778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The 17-year-old Wembanyama, playing against a team with several projected first-round 2022 NBA draft picks, went just 1 for 5 from behind the arc but sank all nine of his free throws.
Wembanyama is not eligible for the NBA draft until 2023 under current rules. He recently signed with French club Asvel, which is owned by former San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker.
France led 58-50 late in the third quarter, but the Americans chipped away. Holmgren drew a foul from Wembanyama &mdash; his fourth, forcing him to the bench with 7:22 to play &mdash; sank both free throws and on their next possession he put his team ahead for good 69-68 with a reverse layup to finish a baseline drive.
Louis Lesmond&rsquo;s 3-pointer closed the gap to 83-81 with 29 seconds remaining but France never regained possession.
TCU guard Mike Miles had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the United States.
Canada beat Serbia 101-92 in the third-place game.

The United States overcame a mammoth performance Victor Wembanyama to beat France 83-81 and win the FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

Amherst Mammoths