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Alex Kennedy goes 1-on-1 with Tyrese Haliburton, who opens up about getting traded, the Pacers' future, his offseason training, etc.

Tyrese Haliburton won’t let trade 'resentment' define new Pacers era

May 5, 2006. That was the last time the Sacramento Kings <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200605050SAC.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">played in a playoff game</a>. That contest took place 5,863 days ago.&nbsp; To put that into context: During that 2005-06 season, Chris Paul was a rookie and Bruce Bowen, who was born in 1971, was named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team. Steve Nash won his second consecutive MVP award and Boris Diaw was named the league's Most Improved Player.
The Kings made history last month, the type of history that no organization wants to be known for. Sacramento, who finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 30-52 record, failed to qualify for the postseason for the 16th straight season, breaking the NBA record for the longest playoff drought. (The Kings had been tied with the Buffalo Braves and Los Angeles Clippers prior.)
So, while <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-lottery-teams-who-should-trade-to-win-now-or-at-least-sooner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many teams in this year's draft lottery</a> are rumored to be interested in potentially trading their pick, arguably no team is more motivated to add an established player (as opposed to an unproven rookie) in hopes of avoiding a return trip to the all-too-familiar lottery dais next May than the Kings.
As proof of their urgency to win now, the Kings shocked pundits back in February by trading away Tyrese Haliburton, one of the league's most promising young point guards, to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a package that included Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.&nbsp;
Thus, it isn't shocking to learn that Sacramento, who jumped up to land the No. 4 overall pick in last week's lottery, is reportedly willing to wheel and deal if presented with the right offer.&nbsp;
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10036369-nba-draft-buzz-insiders-explain-why-chet-holmgren-makes-sense-at-no-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>, "there's a strong belief among rival teams that Sacramento will explore trading the fourth selection, either out of the draft entirely for an impact veteran or down later in the lottery to net a contributing rotation player in the process."
The other issue likely factoring into the Kings' thought process is that the top tier of the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a> consists of three players (Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero), with a bit of a dropoff after those elite prospects. Nonetheless, "the uncertainty of the fourth selection could prompt eager teams to leap up to secure their prized prospect" which puts the Kings' front office in a "<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10036369-nba-draft-buzz-insiders-explain-why-chet-holmgren-makes-sense-at-no-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strong trade position</a>," per Fischer.&nbsp;
Additionally, Mike Scotto of HoopsHype recently <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/aggregate-nba-mock-draft-lottery-jabari-smith-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero-trade-rumors/">reported</a> that NBA executives "are monitoring the Sacramento Kings" as a team that could trade their pick "in search of player(s) that can help immediately." Scotto added that after acquiring Sabonis, the Kings have "made it clear the goal is to end the franchise's playoff drought" and that "rival teams are keeping an eye on Sacramento to trade this pick."
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So, let's examine some deals that might make sense for both the Kings and a potential trading partner.
Detroit Pistons send Jerami Grant, Saben Lee, Isaiah Livers and a second-round pick (No. 46 overall) to the Kings in exchange for the No. 4 overall pick, Richaun Holmes, Maurice Harkless and Alex Len
Earlier this offseason, Sacramento general manager Monte McNair <a href="https://account.sacbee.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=260358905&amp;intcid=ab_archive">conceded</a> that the team needs to add players who can knock down shots and fit in alongside the franchise's cornerstones, Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox.
"I think shooting, we can clearly acknowledge, will be a huge priority," McNair declared. "Length, athleticism, versatility &mdash; we've talked about all that as well. Obviously, you want the whole package, but shooting will be a big priority for us."
Grant most certainly checks those boxes. During his two years in Detroit, he has averaged 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 made treys and 1.1 blocks per game. He has shot over 37% from downtown on 4.5 attempts over the past four seasons and is a versatile, plus defender. As a stretch-4, Grant &mdash; who just turned 28 and is in the heart of his prime &mdash; could conceivably fit in well in the frontcourt alongside Sabonis, who likes to operate on the low block and is a good passer from the post. Moreover, Fox-Grant pick-and-rolls would be difficult to defend.&nbsp;
The issue in this potential trade is that Grant has just one season left on the three-year, $60 million deal he signed in 2020. However, as long as Grant is traded before Aug. 9, he is eligible to sign an extension with his new team for up to $112 million over four years. After previously spurning the Nuggets to sign with the Pistons, we know that Grant is not afraid to join a team that hasn't enjoyed recent success. Would he be willing to commit to Sacramento long-term? If so, a Big Three of Fox, Grant and Sabonis might be talented enough to finally push the Kings into the postseason.&nbsp;
For the Pistons, they would add Holmes (a quality center on a team-friendly contract) and enter next month's draft with 2 of the top 5 picks, which would allow them to add a pair of promising prospects to a core centered around Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes. 
Washington Wizards send Kyle Kuzma and the No. 10 overall pick to the Kings for the No. 4 pick, Justin Holiday and Terence Davis
After a disappointing end to his tenure as a Los Angeles Laker, Kuzma bounced back with a very productive season for the Wizards in 2021-22. He averaged 17.1 points and 1.9 made three-pointers while setting career-highs in rebounds (8.5), assists (3.5) and blocks (0.9) per game. He led the Wiz in double-doubles with 24 (which ranked tied for the sixth-most among all forwards in the NBA). Adding Kuzma's offensive versatility would provide Sacramento with some much-needed depth at forward. In addition, the Kings would still have a lottery pick, dropping back just six spots, which would allow them to add another young asset to the roster.&nbsp;
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The Wizards would likely entertain such a deal if they fell in love with a prospect &mdash; such as Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey or Shaedon Sharpe &mdash; whom they feel relatively sure won't still be on the board at 10.
Kuz has two years left on his current contract but can opt out in the summer of 2023. However, he will be eligible to sign a four-year extension for up to $70 million this October if his $13 million player option for 2023-24 is declined.&nbsp;
A similar package featuring one of the Wizards' other young forwards (Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija or Corey Kispert) instead of Kuzma might also be feasible, depending on the value the Kings/Wizards place on the respective players.&nbsp;
Houston Rockets send the No. 3 overall pick and Eric Gordon to the Kings for the No. 4 pick, a (protected) future first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, Richaun Holmes and Justin Holiday
Is it possible that Sacramento views Smith, Holmgren or Banchero as talented enough to make a substantial impact as a rookie? If so, would the team be willing to pony up sufficient capital to move up one spot?
The Kings would snag one of this draft's three most prized prospects in this hypothetical scenario. The 7-foot Holmgren is one of the most versatile prospects to enter the draft in recent history. Banchero possesses a freakish combination of size, strength and athleticism. Smith projects as a lethal stretch-4 who could fit in nicely alongside Sabonis.&nbsp;
Gordon is a respected, established veteran with just one year of guaranteed money left on his contract. He shot a scorching 41.2% from three-point territory this past season, the second-best mark of his career.&nbsp;
Such a deal would make sense for the Rockets if they feel whichever of the top-tier prospects that falls to them isn't significantly better than the next highest-ranked player on their board. During a post-lottery press conference last week, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said Houston is <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1526739178557517824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526739178557517824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F10036145-rockets-open-to-trading-3rd-pick-in-2022-nba-draft-if-a-deal-makes-sense-gm-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open to trading the No. 3 pick</a>.
"I'm definitely not gonna block them out," Stone <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1526739178557517824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526739178557517824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F10036145-rockets-open-to-trading-3rd-pick-in-2022-nba-draft-if-a-deal-makes-sense-gm-says">told reporters</a>. "If they wanna talk, I'm always available to talk... If it's the case that they're interested in doing something, we're always available to listen. If there's something that makes sense for both teams, something will get done."
Adding a quality young center in Holmes would give the Rockets leverage in negotiations with Christian Wood, or potentially enable them to trade him out of Houston.&nbsp;
New York Knicks trade Julius Randle and the No. 11 overall pick to the Kings for Harrison Barnes, the No. 4 pick and a second-round pick (No. 37 overall)&nbsp;
Randle playing alongside Sabonis could be viewed as a clunky fit, but Sabonis did play 80% of his minutes at center for Sacramento after arriving via the midseason trade. The pairing would undoubtedly be problematic defensively, but the duo would be dynamic on the offensive end. Over the past two seasons, Randle and Sabonis were 2 of only 4 NBA players to average double-digit boards and more than 5 assists per contest. (The other two players in this club were Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo.)
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After being named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2020-21, Randle's offensive inefficiency regressed dramatically this past season. In addition, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/julius-randle-and-the-knicks-should-part-ways-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the relationship between Randle and Knicks fans turned toxic</a> at various points during the year. Yet, even in a "down year," he averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 boards and 5.1 dimes per game. A fresh start in California might help Randle regain his All-Star form. Also, he is under team control for at least three more years (he has a player option for 2025-26), which means the Kings wouldn't have to worry about their key players entering free agency anytime soon.&nbsp;
From the Knicks' perspective, this move would allow them to jump up and snag a highly-touted prospect, possibly combo guard Jaden Ivey, who New York was rumored to be interested in. And, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/julius-randle-and-the-knicks-should-part-ways-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as I wrote last month</a>, moving Randle would enable the Knicks to insert Obi Toppin (who averaged 27.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 made three-pointers per game in April) into the starting lineup while also clearing Randle's contract off their books. Barnes will celebrate his 30th birthday next week, but is still playing at a high level and has just one year left on his current deal.&nbsp;
Atlanta Hawks trade John Collins and the No. 16 pick to the Kings for Harrison Barnes and the No. 4 pick
After signing a massive five-year contract worth $125 million last summer, Collins struggled with injuries and inconsistency in 2021-22. His disappointing production was one of the reasons Atlanta failed to meet lofty expectations this season. One year after advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks spent much of this past season below .500 and were easily eliminated by the Miami Heat in the first round.
Would they be willing to part way with Collins (and his contract) to jump 12 spots in the draft?&nbsp;
Much like the aforementioned Randle/Knicks deal, the Kings would have to decide if Collins could mesh with Sabonis and Fox.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets trade Gordon Hayward, the No. 13 pick and the No. 15 pick (via NOLA) to the Kings in exchange for Harrison Barnes, Maurice Harkless, Alex Len and the No. 4 pick
Attempting to determine Hayward's value league-wide is difficult. When healthy, he's been remarkably productive throughout his career. However, he's been plagued by injury issues and has missed 58 games since signing a four-year, $120 million pact with the Hornets in 2020. He has two years and $61.5 million left on his current contract, which also contains a 15% trade kicker.&nbsp;
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Tommy Beer highlights a number of possible trades that the Kings could execute to improve their roster this summer.

Breaking down 6 hypothetical trades for the Kings' No. 4 draft pick

Ethan Fuller gauges which NBA teams should be zeroing in on Cade Cunningham.

NBA Sour Rankings: Cade-O-Meter 2.0

Ethan Fuller breaks down the NBA hierarchy and analyzes some way-to-early Cade Cunningham fits.

NBA Sour Rankings: Introducing the Cade-O-Meter

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly targeting University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley for their vacant head coaching job, according to ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Woj, the back-to-back NCAA coach for the UConn Huskies has been the Lakers&rsquo; top-secret target after previous reports suggested that the franchise has been in contact with several other names in the NBA space. Former player and now-ESPN analyst JJ Redick and Charlotte Hornets&rsquo; top assistant James Borrego were among those mentioned in reports.
The Lakers have already been reported to have met with Hurley for initial meetings and their discussions are expected to ramp up in a few days, with the franchise preparing a massive, long-term contract offer to pry Hurley to the NBA.
ANALYSIS: With Hurley&rsquo;s name thrown to the Lakers&rsquo; head coaching job candidates, this could mean that Redick&rsquo;s opportunity with the Lakers could either turn out to be a smokescreen for the grander scheme of things of plans by the Lakers to hire the NCAA champion coach. Numerous reports have already been out there with Redick&rsquo;s name as the top candidate for the franchise&rsquo;s head coaching job and with this development, this shakes things up for a lot of reasons.
More notably, signing Hurley would mean the Lakers are going all-in with their pitch to make superstar LeBron James stay with the team, pending his decision in free agency. LeBron has expressly shown on social media platforms like X and Instagram his admiration for Hurley and his creative and innovative offensive schemes.
Furthermore, Hurley seems like the type of coach who LeBron might listen to and/or is good enough/brave enough to coach LeBron considering the type of player that he is on and off the floor.
Lastly, Hurley&rsquo;s possible hiring would likely affect the Lakers&rsquo; drafting process in which LeBron&rsquo;s son Bronny James could likely be drafted to the team using its 55th pick in the upcoming draft. Hurley has been known as a master in player development and could potentially help the younger James&rsquo; growth moving forward.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly targeting University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley for their vacant head coaching job.

Lakers targeting UConn’s Dan Hurley for head coaching job

The NBA&rsquo;s oldest coach. The NBA&rsquo;s newest superstar.
In an instant, the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs changed in a big way.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-draft-lottery-nba-b0692a8ee59c2235f2d4f4387266eab7">Victor Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;is on his way to the NBA, and the coaching wins leader in Gregg Popovich will be waiting for him.
The right combination of ping-pong balls &mdash; 14, 5, 8 and 2 were the winning ones &mdash; gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery Tuesday night, meaning they&rsquo;ll have the No. 1 pick June 22. That means they&rsquo;ve won the Wembanyama sweepstakes, and that four years of losing in a way that had never before happened under Popovich has actually paid off.
Pop and Wemby. A 74-year-old wine connoisseur who is one of the best basketball coaches in the world, and a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">19-year-old supertalent</a>&nbsp;who hails from the land where some of the best wines are made.
The NBA has a new dynamic duo.
&ldquo;When you talk about generational talents, it&rsquo;s often times beyond just your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or your ability to put the ball on the floor,&rdquo; Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all of the little details that go into being great, becoming great. And as we&rsquo;ve studied Victor, he is very in-depth with everything that he does, whether it&rsquo;s on the court, whether it&rsquo;s training, or things that he&rsquo;s into off the court.&rdquo;
If the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wemby-victor-wembanyama-nba-draft-f5be654cce544c675559bad526220a9e">7-foot-3 Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;brings his current warm-up routine to the NBA, it&rsquo;ll be like none other. He&rsquo;s barefoot on the court for probably a good 15 or 20 minutes, stretching and doing various other things to get his feet ready. There&rsquo;s also some very specific ballhandling and passing things that he likes to do. It&rsquo;s not just a few shots, few dunks, few 3-pointers and go play. There&rsquo;s a plan and a reason for everything.
Popovich will love that. He knows Wembanyama has been taught the right way; the kid spent last year playing for Spurs icon Tony Parker&rsquo;s franchise in France, and is spending this season getting coached by Vincent Collet. That&rsquo;s someone Popovich coached against with the U.S. at the 2019 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics. Popovich raves about Collet, not hiding his respect level for him at all.
They&rsquo;ll talk before long about Wembanyama. That&rsquo;s certain. Pop will immerse himself into knowing everything that makes the kid tick, just so he knows how he&rsquo;ll react to every situation he&rsquo;ll face with the Spurs next season and beyond.
&ldquo;His ability to connect and spend time and bounce between the really detailed development of basketball players and the bigger picture of developing people is just so impressive,&rdquo; Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt said. &ldquo;I think no matter what Pop does, he&rsquo;s going to find a way to do that because that&rsquo;s in his heart. And I&rsquo;m excited to see whatever the next phase is in that journey.&rdquo;
This is an embarrassment of lottery riches for the Spurs. Let&rsquo;s be clear: They&rsquo;re not giving this back. But winning the lottery in 1987 and landing David Robinson was big, then winning the lottery again in 1997 and landing Tim Duncan was bigger, and now comes Wembanyama.
It&rsquo;s big. How big, well, that story will get told in the coming years.
&ldquo;Now it becomes real,&rdquo; former NBA player Ian Mahinmi &mdash; one of more than 40 international players that Popovich has had during his tenure in San Antonio &mdash; said during the telecast of Wembanyama&rsquo;s French league game Tuesday. &ldquo;Now everything becomes real.&rdquo;
Popovich talked before the Spurs&rsquo; last game of the season about how, during his career, he has been the &ldquo;beneficiary of serendipity to a max degree.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s not wrong. And more good fortune has come to San Antonio. The Spurs haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series since 2017 and went a combined 121-186 over the last four seasons.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-draft-spurs-ee1a9bd2232173666d3302bb491c7c5c">They basically lost more games</a>&nbsp;in the last four years than they did in the previous eight years combined.
The losing ends now, if Wembanyama has anything to say about it. He&rsquo;s coming to the NBA with eyes on becoming a superstar, an icon, a champion. And he&rsquo;s about to become the star of the latest &mdash; and perhaps final &mdash; phase of Popovich&rsquo;s career.
&ldquo;Today was a good day,&rdquo; Wembanyama tweeted after the lottery.
Popovich doesn&rsquo;t tweet, but he and everyone else in San Antonio surely felt the same way. After 60 losses this season, they got the win they wanted most.

The NBA’s oldest coach and newest phenom could become the league's newest dynamic duo.

Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich will be NBA’s newest dynamic duo

Gregg Popovich placed his left thumb on the inside of his right wrist, paused for a couple of moments and then confirmed that, yes, he has a pulse.
It was also an indication when asked that yes, he is thinking about Victor Wembanyama.
There are very specific rules that teams must follow right now when it comes to mentioning the name of the 7-foot-3 French phenom with big-man height and elite guard skills who will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Essentially, since the 19-year-old is not officially in the draft yet, they can&rsquo;t mention him.
So they don&rsquo;t. And they don&rsquo;t have to, either. Everyone knows what the teams who&rsquo;ll be in the NBA lottery next month are hoping to have happen when those 14 ping-pong balls go into a hopper and determine the future for Wembanyama and the team that&rsquo;s lucky enough to draft him.
&ldquo;If I have a pulse and I&rsquo;m in basketball, I&rsquo;m probably going to think about the ping-pong balls or the lottery, I guess. I can do that, right? It&rsquo;s not against the rules,&rdquo; said Popovich, the San Antonio coach and all-time NBA wins leader. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t talk about any players or anything, I guess. But I&rsquo;m alive. I have ears, and I see TV. There&rsquo;s a lottery, yes. I&rsquo;ve thought about it. Duh.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Duh&rdquo; would also be the appropriate answer when the lottery winner gets asked what they&rsquo;ll do with the No. 1 pick. There is no debate. Wembanyama is the pick. A team that was really bad this season is probably going to get really good really fast.
They were woeful for Wemby. Now they&rsquo;re waiting for Wemby.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a freak,&rdquo; soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Dirk Nowitzki said. &ldquo;I mean, unbelievable. You always think you&rsquo;ve seen it all during your life and your career and history of the league, and then somebody else comes along. Kevin Durant comes along, a 7-foot-2 two-guard. Now we have a 7-foot-4 two-guard. &hellip; This kid is unbelievable.&rdquo;
Playing for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama leads the French league with averages of 21.3 points. 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks. He makes going viral an everyday thing; his latest break-the-Internet moment was when he took a 3-pointer, missed it short, followed the shot and slammed it home in one motion, completely unbothered by the players who were in his way.
&ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;ve seen him,&rdquo; Houston forward Jabari Smith Jr. said. &ldquo;Yeah, he&rsquo;s a problem.&rdquo;
The teams with the three worst records this season &mdash; Detroit, Houston and San Antonio &mdash; have the best odds of winning the lottery, 14% apiece. Detroit got here by having its worst season in more than 40 years. Houston has now had back-to-back seasons of 60 losses. San Antonio had its third-worst season ever.
They were never in the playoff race, though never drew any public scorn from the NBA office for trying to tank with hopes of improving draft odds, either &mdash; unlike Dallas, which faces a league investigation now for giving up on its play-in tournament chances with two games remaining. The team that wins the lottery will say it was all worth it. The others will feel at least some pang of disappointment, whether they say it or not.
&ldquo;Talent-wise, I think he&rsquo;s something that we&rsquo;ve never seen before,&rdquo; said Tony Parker, the former Spurs guard who&rsquo;ll be going into the Hall of Fame later this year &mdash; and owned the team that Wembanyama played for in France last season.
It&rsquo;s not just Wembanyama who will be coveted at this draft, though he is far and away the top prospect. This shapes up as a loaded draft at the top with G League Ignite standout Scoot Henderson and Alabama&rsquo;s Brandon Miller expected to be the second and third picks in some order. It&rsquo;s conceivable that in any other year, they would be vying to be picked first.
&ldquo;Looks good to me,&rdquo; Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of the top of the draft class. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s legal or not legal to say. The very top of (the draft) is very impactful.&rdquo;
Most experts would agree that Henderson and Miller are more than consolation picks. Teams that lands one of them should also get better, and that&rsquo;s why no team is betting it all on the lottery.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really worried about where the ball drops,&rdquo; Detroit general manager Troy Weaver said. &ldquo;Would I celebrate with everybody? Absolutely, but I don&rsquo;t walk around like that.&rdquo;
Wembanyama &mdash; who keeps a relatively low public profile, rarely doing even postgame interviews despite worldwide interest in his every move &mdash; knows he captured the league&rsquo;s attention long ago. LeBron James respectfully called him an alien last fall, Durant raves about Wembanyama&rsquo;s game and French center Rudy Gobert said he knew at least three years ago that the teenager would be an enormous star.
Even Giannis Antetokounmpo marvels at Wembanyama, predicting he could be &ldquo;one of the best to play this game.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get ready for this kid,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s cool to see Giannis saying this stuff,&rdquo; Wembanyama said when he sat down with the NBA&rsquo;s social media team a few weeks ago and was shown the clip of Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s comments. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably like my favorite player.&rdquo;
Paolo Banchero was the No. 1 pick last year. He entered the league with massive expectations and delivered; he&rsquo;s the frontrunner to win rookie of the year after a strong opening season with the Orlando Magic. And he knows what Wembanyama will go through &ndash; on some level, anyway.
&ldquo;His hype is a lot bigger than my hype,&rdquo; said Banchero, who led Duke to the Final Four in his only year in college. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to have it probably worse than I did, but I&rsquo;d tell him to just enjoy it. I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;s dreamed of this for a while and a lot comes with it, but it&rsquo;s also a lot that you gain from it, a lot of good things as well. I&rsquo;d tell him embrace it all and shoot, have fun. It&rsquo;s going to be a dream come true for him.&rdquo;
A dream come true for the lucky team, too. And answers start coming soon. The draft lottery is May 16, the same day that Wembanyama&rsquo;s French season is scheduled to end. The draft is June 22. Summer league starts in early July; anticipation of Wembanyama playing in Las Vegas again after two ballyhooed games there this past fall is already building. He intends to play in the Basketball World Cup for France starting in August. And then his rookie season starts in October.
For one team, all the losing this season will be quickly forgotten, based on how four ping-pong balls land.
&ldquo;This can be his league,&rdquo; Nowitzki said, &ldquo;for a long, long time.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken in Houston, Schuyler Dixon in Dallas, Noah Trister in Washington, Larry Lage in Detroit and Michael Marot in Indianapolis, along with Associated Press Writer Raul Dominguez in San Antonio, contributed to this story.

Playing for the Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama leads the French league with averages of 21.3 points. 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.

The losing is done, and teams are now waiting for Wembanyama

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 28 points, and the Charlotte Hornets erased a 21-point first-half deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 115-109 on Monday night behind a strong finish to snap a six-game home losing streak.
Terry Rozier added 23 points and Gordon Hayward had 22 for the Hornets, who outscored the Pacers 19-4 over the final six minutes to deal the Pacers&rsquo; postseason hopes a big blow.
Myles Turner and Buddy Hield each had 20 points for the Pacers, who fell 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 109-105 in double overtime on Monday night.
&ldquo;Believe me, an opportunity lost for sure,&rdquo; Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
Oubre said he and his Charlotte teammates are well aware that some Hornets fans don&rsquo;t want them to win at all at this point in the season with the team eliminated from playoff contention, hoping to have a better shot at the upcoming NBA draft&rsquo;s two prize prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.
But Oubre said the Hornets aren&rsquo;t bout to stop competing.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of backward when we people are commenting on how bad we played and when we lose they give up on us. But then when we win they say &lsquo;you&rsquo;re not supposed to win,&rsquo;&rdquo; Oubre aid. &ldquo;So it puts us in a uncomfortable position. But we are going to continue to play hard every night. ... We&rsquo;re in the mind frame of setting up something for next year.&rdquo;
The Hornets trailed 105-96 with 6:23 left in the game after Hield knocked down a 3-pointer.
But Svi Mykhailiuk&rsquo;s 3-pointer from the corner sparked a 13-0 Hornets run to put Charlotte in control as the Pacers were held scoreless for more than five minutes. Hayward&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 3:32 left put the Hornets ahead for good.
The Pacers turned the ball over 21 times resulting in 35 Charlotte points.
&ldquo;At that point, you&rsquo;re just giving it away,&rdquo; Carlisle said.
The Pacers (32-40) looked like they might blow out the Hornets early, bolting to a 40-22 lead behind Turner, who had 15 points in the first quarter on 9 of 9 shooting from the foul line.
The lead got as big as 21 in the second quarter, but the Hornets (23-50) battled back to take the lead in the third quarter when JT Thor buried a 3-pointer from the wing off an assist from Hayward.
&ldquo;Tonight, they were really good early, and we were really bad,&rdquo; Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. &ldquo;But you could tell in the huddle, guys were talking, &lsquo;stay with it,&rsquo; talking about the corrections they had to make. We played better and better, so they were rewarded tonight, which is great.&rdquo;
Nick Richards was strong in the second half for Charlotte, finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
HIELD&rsquo;S ENDURACE
While some NBA players have missed a game here or there for load management reasons, Hield has now played in all 72 games for the Pacers.
&ldquo;He is very prideful about playing,&rdquo; Carlisle said before the game. &ldquo;He hates missing games, plays hurt, and is very unique. He has a tremendous level of endurance, stamina, and he works at it. He&rsquo;s also wired to love the game and he just loves to play.&rdquo;
BALL IN THE FALL
Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball said he expects to return for training camp in the fall after undergoing season-ending surgery on his broken right ankle on March 1.
Ball, who has been limited to 36 games this season, said he isn&rsquo;t sure if he&rsquo;ll begin wearing ankle braces next season after spraining his left ankle three times this season prior to sustaining a season-ending fracture in the other ankle.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Played without Tyrese Haliburton (right ankle sprain), Chris Duarte (left ankle soreness) and Kendall Brown (right tibia stress fracture). ... Bench outscored Charlotte&rsquo;s 45-18.
Hornets: Rookie center Mark Williams sat out his fifth straight game with a right thumb sprain, along with Ball and Cody Martin (left knee soreness).
UP NEXT
Pacers: Continue four-game road trip at Toronto on Wednesday night.
Hornets: At New Orleans on Thursday night.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 28 points, and the Hornets erased a 21-point first-half deficit to beat the Pacers 115-109.

Oubre, Hornets finish strong, beat Pacers 115-109

CHARLOTTE, N.C (AP) &mdash; Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball said he anticipates being ready for training camp in September after suffering through an injury-plagued 2022-23 season in which he sprained his left ankle three times and fractured his right ankle, all of which limited him to 36 games.
Whether he&rsquo;ll consider wearing ankle braces moving forward remains to be seen.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough,&rdquo; Ball said Monday. &ldquo;I mean probably annoying just going through it, but I&rsquo;m still alive and stuff like that, so you can&rsquo;t really be too mad. Just go through the rehab, do that whole process and try to come out on top.&rdquo;
Ball, wearing a walking boot on his right foot and leaning on crutches, spoke to reporters for the first time since undergoing season-ending surgery on his broken right ankle on March 1.
The Hornets had playoff expectations this season, but Miles Bridges&rsquo; legal troubles over the summer and a series of injuries to key players like Ball, Gordon Hayward, Cody Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr. wrecked the team&rsquo;s season.
When on the court, Ball showed he was ready to take the next step in his progression after reaching the All-Star game last season.
He averaged career highs in points (23.3) and assists (8.3) per game while shooting 37.6% from 3-point range, becoming the second-youngest player to record 1,000 points, assists and rebounds in NBA history behind only LeBron James. NBA
The Hornets (22-50) currently have the fourth-worst record in the league heading into Monday night&rsquo;s game against Indiana, and have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
It marks the seventh-straight year Charlotte will miss the postseason.
&ldquo;Well we didn&rsquo;t make no playoffs and so whether I played 36 games, 25 or 50, it doesn&rsquo;t really matter,&rdquo; Ball said. &ldquo;The fact that we didn&rsquo;t make it... I mean, it&rsquo;s just kind of getting ready for the next season now.&rdquo;
The 21-year-old Ball didn&rsquo;t discuss the details of his rehab schedule, saying he&rsquo;s not sure when he&rsquo;ll be allowed to walk without crutches or begin running or jumping.
The repeated injuries to his ankles, which actually began in October when he stepped on Anthony Gill&rsquo;s foot in a preseason game against the Washington Wizards, has raised questions over whether Ball should wear ankle braces.
Like many NBA players, Ball wears low tops and no ankle braces.
&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t really looked into that yet,&rdquo; Ball said when asked if he&rsquo;s considering ankle braces. &ldquo;I gotta see how I feel first when I come back. Then I will make a decision.&rdquo;
Ball, who has relatively thin legs, said he wants to build more overall strength in his ankles this offseason and make sure they&rsquo;re fully healed, including the bones that have been repaired when he came down wrong on his foot during a non-contact play on Feb. 27.
&ldquo;I hate milk for real but my pops always had me drinking it &mdash; cookies and milk every night,&rdquo; he said with a laugh.
Ball, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft, has yet to make the postseason with the Hornets, but added he still likes playing for the franchise.
&ldquo;Wherever I&rsquo;m at I feel like I&rsquo;m straight, I feel like I&rsquo;m good,&rdquo; Ball said. &ldquo;I love it here.&rdquo;

LaMelo, wearing a walking boot on his right foot and leaning on crutches, spoke to reporters for the first time since his ankle surgery.

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball anticipates being ready for training camp

If you missed Friday night's fever dream between the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings, I highly recommend finding a way to catch up. Fire up League Pass, see if NBA TV is showing a re-run soon, go to YouTube. Do something.&nbsp;
We're not seeing another 176-175 in double overtime anytime soon. At the very least, I find it hard to believe we will.
That game had everything: Kawhi Leonard (44-4-4-3-2) going off, De'Aaron Fox (42-5-12-5) <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-sacramento-kings-deaaron-fox-early-frontrunner-nba-clutch-player-of-the-year-award-race-kevin-huerter-domantas-sabonis-luka-doncic-nikola-jokic-jalen-brunson-demar-derozan-shai-gilgeous-alexander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reaffirming his lead in the Clutch Player of the Year race</a>, a career-night from Malik Monk (45 points and 6 assists), Paul George (34-10-5) losing his mind before losing the ball over and over and over again. A Russell Westbrook debut befitting of the future Hall of Famer: 17 points, 14 assists (7 turnovers) and 6 fouls with the Clippers winning his minutes by three points.&nbsp;
Insane three-point shooting, bully-ball post-ups, transition exploits, and ultimately, history. It's the second-highest scoring NBA game of all-time, and the first time in NBA history that a game went into overtime with both teams having at least 150 points beforehand.&nbsp;
The Kings probably aren't in position to potentialy force overtime without the Clippers' turnover-fest &mdash; and Fox's defensive masterclass &mdash; within the last three minutes of the game. And we certainly don't get the overtime without Monk's three from the right corner with 1.1 seconds left.&nbsp;
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It's a tremendous mix of "what a play call" and "what are the Clippers doing" &mdash; enough that it warrants a breakdown of the play. Let's talk about what happened, and why it happened.
As Mark Jones expertly calls out during the mayhem, the Kings are trying to set up a "Hammer" on the weakside for Monk. The tell for the "Hammer" would be the late screen being set by Keegan Murray as Monk flows to the corner. The setup beforehand, however, is pretty important.&nbsp;
Monk tests the Clippers early by setting a brush screen for Fox right after the inbound. On three occasions before this moment, Monk set early-in-the-clock screens for Fox, with the Clippers opting to switch. Even in the second instance &mdash; a Fox triple &mdash; you can see Terance Mann dropping down in anticipation of a switch.&nbsp;
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As Monk comes across, George subtly grabs Monk. Westbrook turns and hovers around the nail at that moment. A favorable (but ultimately inexcusable) interpretation of Westbrook's actions would be him viewing Paul's grab as a sign he was getting ready to switch, thus making Fox the priority of Westbrook.
But even with Westbrook ultimately making the wrong read, the Clippers had chances to avoid disaster. With Westbrook at the nail, Nicolas Batum had the opportunity to pick up Monk as he made his way around the right wing.&nbsp;
More pressing is what Norm Powell does. He drops down from the weakside corner, showing help against the empty corner ball screen being "ran" by Fox and Domantas Sabonis. If he does that in the second quarter, you don't really blink. Doing so when the Kings are down three, with no timeouts, is an unfortunate lapse in judgment.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
From here, you have to give credit to Monk. On a basic level, he drills the most important shot of the game to that point. What's going under the radar was the read he made in space.
Instead of mindlessly following the playcall and pumping the brakes in the corner, he reads Fox. He drifts back to his left as Fox continues his drive on the baseline, creating the passing window needed for Fox to find him. His movement also makes it impossible for Powell to recover, and puts him in a spot where Westbrook can't really bother him with a contest.&nbsp;
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It was a brilliant play call from the Kings that, intentionally or not, targeted the most questionable off-ball defenders the Clippers had on the court at that time. Westbrook had to defend the inbound pass and the first action of the play; Powell had to navigate things on the back end, with him ultimately going gameplan over time and score.&nbsp;
For more on Monk's impact on the Kings, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-malik-monk-infectious-energy-breathing-life-into-sacramento-kings-mike-brown-chimezie-metu-deaaron-fox-harrison-barnes-davion-mitchell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out this excellent feature</a> from our Spencer Davies where he sat down with Monk and his teammates.

Last night's Kings-Clippers game made NBA history. Nekias Duncan breaks down the most important play: Malik Monk's OT-forcing three.

Explain One Play: How Malik Monk extended a wild Kings-Clippers game

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Brook Lopez scored 27 points and the Milwaukee Bucks stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 127-108 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Bucks led the whole way, pushing their advantage to 26 in the second half.
Lopez, who pulled down nine rebounds, topped all scorers with 17 points at halftime and Milwaukee led 58-48. He hit a 3-pointer with 10:41 left in the third quarter that gave him 15,000 career points.
&ldquo;I have a long way to still go, a long time to still play. I&rsquo;m just enjoying it and I want to keep getting better, keep being an effective player out there, being the best player I could be,&rdquo; said Lopez, who is in his 14th season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m lucky that there are people that are out there trying to help me, trying to make me better and put me in that position.&rdquo;
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 28 points. Antetokounmpo and Lillard were selected the NBA&rsquo;s players of the week earlier in the day.
Lillard averaged 38.3 points and 6.8 assists last week for his second straight POTW honor, while Antetokounmpo averaged 41 points and 17.3 rebounds.
Antetokounmpo started despite right knee soreness. The two-time league MVP had a triple-double with 35 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists on Saturday to lead the Bucks to a 123-115 victory over Miami.
Portland was coming off a 129-121 loss at Chicago on Saturday that snapped a three-game winning streak
With center Jusuf Nurkic unavailable because of a left calf strain, the Blazers struggled against the bigger Bucks.
Milwaukee led by as many as 15 in the first half, but Lillard drained a 3 from about two feet inside the half-court line that brought gasps and then cheers from the home crowd.
The Bucks finished the third period on a 22-8 run to lead 95-71.
Portland made just nine of 36 attempts from 3-point range.
&ldquo;They made some adjustments to their defense this year, to be honest with you,&rdquo; Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;They used to give up like the most 3s in the league because of that drop coverage. Not this year. I&rsquo;ve got to give them a ton of credit. (Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer) has done a really good job. They&rsquo;re still a really dominant defense but they&rsquo;re not giving up as many 3s, so you&rsquo;ve got to work even harder to get those looks.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bucks: Also won the first of their two meetings with the Blazers this season, 119-111 in Milwaukee. ... It was the opener of a three-game road trip. ... The Bucks&rsquo; longest winning streak this season is nine games.
Trail Blazers: Had only one offensive rebound. ... GM Joe Cronin was among the team representatives at a roundtable with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to pitch Portland as a possible WNBA expansion city. Oregon women&rsquo;s coach Kelly Graves and Oregon State coach Scott Rueck were also on hand.
SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS
Because of weather-related flight delays that forced the postponement of the Washington Wizards&rsquo; game at Detroit on Feb. 1, a few adjustments were made to the NBA schedule that impact the Bucks and Blazers.
Milwaukee&rsquo;s game at Washington originally set for March 6 was moved to March 5, and Portland&rsquo;s game at Detroit will be played March 6 instead of March 7.
The Wizards&rsquo; makeup game at Detroit is set for March 7.

The Milwaukee Bucks stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 127-108 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Bucks beat Trail Blazers 127-108 for 8th straight win

Only 18 times in NBA history has a player averaged 20-plus points, 10-plus assists and 5-plus rebounds per game across an entire season. James Harden and Nikola Jokic are on pace to join the list this year.
Three NBA players &mdash; Russell Westbrook, Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas &mdash; have put up at least 20 points and 10 assists per game over four or more separate seasons in their career. Harden is on pace to be the fourth.
Harden missing out on his 11th NBA All-Star appearance is simply a travesty. Maybe it's because the scoring volume is down, or because he's no longer the top bucket-getting option on his team. Whatever the case may be, he deserves applause for the way he has adapted with age and in a new role to help Philadelphia reinvent its path to contention.&nbsp;
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6 threes for <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JHarden13</a> and call it a SZN HIGH! <a href="https://t.co/OZF4WCWR1i">pic.twitter.com/OZF4WCWR1i</a>
&mdash; Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) <a href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1620969675780935684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2023</a>
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Harden is currently posting 21.0 points, 10.9 assists and 6.4 rebounds per contest. His mark of 14.9 field goal attempts per game is the lowest since his days on the Oklahoma City Thunder, but his overall efficiency is on par with his prime years in Houston &mdash; albeit in different forms. And with a dominant scorer in Joel Embiid by his side, Harden has reached new heights as a table-setter.
At 33 years old, Harden doesn't attack the basket with the same ferocity as his peak years. Only 24% of his shot attempts are coming at the rim (career-low), per Cleaning the Glass, and he's driving the basketball 13.3 times per game (lowest since 2013-14), according to Second Spectrum. They're still high numbers for most NBA players, but low by Harden's standards. His straight-line speed, probably still underrated in his heyday, has been sapped a great deal.
That's okay. Harden has been&nbsp;relatively&nbsp;confined to the perimeter, and he's made it work with a 38.8% three-point clip, his best since 2011-12. One key reason for the jump: Harden is canning a red-hot 47.7% of his attempts off the catch, which make up over one-eighth (12.7%) of his total shot diet, according to PBP Stats. That's the largest share of catch-and-shoot treys he's logged since 2016-17 and almost double last year's frequency.&nbsp;
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James Harden&rsquo;s reaction to making three catch-and-shoot 3s was pretty funny. And then, more serious: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been working on it, so that&rsquo;s pretty exciting. You don&rsquo;t do too much, just catch-and-shoot it. You put the work in, I work on it every day.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/bH9p2iGTNX">pic.twitter.com/bH9p2iGTNX</a>
&mdash; Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/rich_hofmann/status/1620982628995448832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2023</a>
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This isn't to say Harden has completely disavowed his iso-ball ways. According to Synergy, he takes the third-most isolation possessions per game (6.2) in the NBA. But those possessions are less taxing because he has a co-superstar beside him; Embiid actually logs a slightly higher isolation volume (6.3). And Harden doesn't have to will himself to the basket at his age &mdash; Embiid is also collapsing defenses.
The Harden-to-Embiid assist combination is the most popular connection in the league this season. The Beard has hit up The Process 150 times, per PBP Stats, including 71 Embiid buckets at the rim. Their 40-assist lead on the second-most prominent combo of Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield (110) is as large as that duo's edge between it and the 31st-ranked coupling (a tie between Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett, Killian Hayes and Bojan Bogdanovic, and Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton).&nbsp;
Meanwhile, though much less often, Embiid is the most frequent passer when Harden picks up an assisted bucket. They've teamed up 19 times this season, including 11 Harden makes from beyond the arc.
The Embiid-Harden pick-and-roll has boosted their ascension to perhaps the most dynamic two-man action tandem in the league. But Harden's comfort in Philly is also boosting the supporting cast &mdash; most exemplified in Tobias Harris.&nbsp;
Harris, now 30 years old, has quietly settled into an efficient complementary role while Harden, Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton initiate most offensive possessions. He's shooting a career-best 58% from two-point range. Harris' at-rim frequency (34%), field goal percentage (69%) and assisted-make rate (62%) are all the highest of his four-plus seasons with the Sixers, according to Cleaning the Glass.
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Less than a minute into the second half, James Harden records his 71st career triple-double with this dime to Tobias Harris 🔥<a href="https://t.co/uC4MpbmmYv">pic.twitter.com/uC4MpbmmYv</a> <a href="https://t.co/VEgsAzQYG2">https://t.co/VEgsAzQYG2</a>
&mdash; ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1612200618436730880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The scoring opportunities get easier with Harden on the floor. The former MVP sends 18.1% of his passes to Harris, who in turn makes 59.2% of his ensuing twos and 37.7% of his threes. Harris has typically averaged 8-10 drives per game over the course of his prime years vs. his 6.7 drives this season. The creation burden has been lessened and the efficiency has increased.
It helps that the Sixers added De'Anthony Melton to space the floor and act as a secondary ball-handler, and Maxey certainly gives them another sharp driving punch. But Harden has made everyone, including Harris and Embiid, better since finding his comfort level on the team.
Harden's average of 92.7 touches per game ranks third in the NBA and is still on par with his typical touch rate throughout his career. He's still the ignition for Philly's ninth-ranked offense and a matchup nightmare when he's on the floor, even if the picture looks a little different.&nbsp;
Whether it's the lack of All-Star recognition or the general lack of buzz, Harden's superstardom has taken a back seat in the national consciousness. Don't make that same mistake.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>A cool blocked shot locations graphic from Edoardo Vergani. Look at Bol Bol!</li>
</ul>
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NBA: Blocked shot location of the 12 players with most blocks during this season! What pops out? Let me know! <a href="https://t.co/shFXLWFonW">pic.twitter.com/shFXLWFonW</a>
&mdash; Edoardo Vergani (@ed_vergani) <a href="https://twitter.com/ed_vergani/status/1621863738931400705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>Brandon Miller is such a fascinating NBA Draft prospect:</li>
</ul>
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Brandon Miller is putting up unprecedented versatility and efficiency in his jumpshot diet for a college big wing. Here's how he compares to some other 6'7+ shooters - Jabari Smith, Keegan Murray, Saddiq Bey, Brandon Ingram, and Khris Middleton. <a href="https://t.co/DUNsKNXfb4">pic.twitter.com/DUNsKNXfb4</a>
&mdash; Mark (@MarkC_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkC_NBA/status/1621229412091039744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>The Pacers are an absolutely chaotic basketball team, as shown in this table from Tom Bassine:</li>
</ul>
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Net rating in each quarter. Best by Q: 1 - Nuggets 2 - Pacers 3 - Thunder 4 - Cavs <a href="https://t.co/0dKf9ChDbI">pic.twitter.com/0dKf9ChDbI</a>
&mdash; Tom Bassine (@tvbassine) <a href="https://twitter.com/tvbassine/status/1622230703017525249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2023</a></blockquote>

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James Harden is on pace to be the third player to average 20 points and 10 assists in five seasons. Ethan Fuller praises his play.

NBA Stats Notebook: Giving James Harden the flowers he deserves

Award talk is always fun &mdash; or annoying, depending on where you land with The Discourse&trade;. The NBA is filled with talent, giving us plenty to enjoy on a night-to-night basis. It also makes it incredibly tough to parse out awards.
Listing a top-five MVP ballot means "disrespecting" the sixth guy who didn't make it. There are at least five centers &mdash; Brook Lopez, Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen, Nic Claxton and Joel Embiid &mdash; fighting for two All-Defensive center spots, and that's ignoring Anthony Davis. This stuff is&nbsp;tough,&nbsp;man.&nbsp;
If there's one award that may wind up being a landslide, it's the newly announced Clutch Player of the Year award.&nbsp;
We don't have an official guideline; the award's description is simply the "player who best comes through for his teammates in the clutch." It's vague, yet simple &mdash; reward the guy that makes big plays when it matters.
(My hope is that it doesn't become the late-game version of Sixth Man of the Year, where the scoring leader wins regardless of any other area of the game. In short: Scoring should matter, as should playmaking and making big stops defensively.)
Let's put it out there now: This should be De'Aaron Fox's award to lose.
He feels like an award casualty candidate in other discussions. His career year &mdash; 24.0 points on 59.3% True Shooting, 6.1 assists (2.6 turnovers), 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game &mdash; just happens to coincide with Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard and Devin Booker losing their minds individually. That's just in the Western Conference, which could complicate Fox's All-Star candidacy.
Add in Eastern Conference guards like Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, and the All-NBA conversation is going to be tough for Fox too.&nbsp;
Clutch Player of the Year, though? Fox has been inevitable.
In clutch time &mdash; which NBA.com defines as the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, with the score within 5 points either way &mdash; <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/clutch-traditional?CF=FGA*GE*30&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=FGM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leads the NBA</a> in made baskets (44) while converting a ridiculous 60.3% of his shots. Among 59 players to attempt at least 30 clutch shots, Fox trails only Bradley Beal (65.6% on 32 attempts) in efficiency.&nbsp;
(As a brief aside, have we forgotten how good Beal is? He's missed games, and has taken a bit of a step back with Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis taking more ownership of the offense, but Beal is still slapping up 22-3-5 on 61.0% True Shooting. He's converting over 57.0% of his twos!)
Anyway, it starts with the drive for Fox, as it always does. He has a special ability to generate paint touches on a whim. He's one of the five fastest players in the NBA; he knows that, his opponents know that and he knows his opponents know that. What makes Fox dangerous is how he leverages that speed by decelerating &mdash; it's like he's realm shifting out there when he puts on the brakes.
That dichotomy makes him nearly impossible to stay in front of. At this point, it feels like we only see full-speed Fox in doses. Just the&nbsp;fear of him turning on the jets can throw defenders off-balance. Because he's able to create fruitful advantages, he's a dominant paint scorer&nbsp;and&nbsp;someone who can involve others when opponents toss too much attention his way.
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On the season, the Kings are generating a robust 1.16 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a Fox drive, per Second Spectrum &mdash; sixth among 77 players with at least 300 drives under their belts this season. When filtering for clutch time, that number rises to 1.2 PPP.
Fox doesn't do it on his own, of course. The two-man game between him and Domantas Sabonis is tough to deal with. Sabonis' utility as a handoff hub, post hub and screening partner helps attract attention and pry Fox open.
Kevin Huerter, one of the NBA's most dangerous off-ball weapons, makes life easier for Fox. Keeping him one pass from Fox keeps help defenders away. And using Huerter as a (ghost) screener adds another layer for defenses to deal with. Huerter can feed favorable matchups to Fox for exploiting, or the Kings can flow out of HORNS Flare &mdash; with Huerter setting or ghosting a screen for Fox before flying off a screen for Sabonis &mdash; to induce further strain on the defense.&nbsp;
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Fox has also had some&nbsp;moments&nbsp;defensively late in games. His effort overall has improved this season. He's always been able to ramp things up on the ball when needed, but I've been impressed with how he's toggled his help assignments late, especially when you factor in the load he's carrying on the other end.
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Overall, the Kings are 13-10 in "clutch" games with Fox this season, much better than last season's 11-19 mark. It's fueled by their offense, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=OFF_RATING" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lapping the field</a> in clutch offensive rating (130.4) by nearly&nbsp;six points.&nbsp;You can primarily thank Fox for that.
OTHER CANDIDATES
<ul>
<li>Hey, that Luka guy is pretty good. He's tied for fourth in clutch scoring (99) and leads the NBA in assists (23) and steals (8), oddly enough. The Mavs have gone 16-10 in clutch games featuring Doncic. They've also won the Doncic clutch minutes by 41 points, the fifth-best mark in the NBA.</li>
<li>While we're on bigs, Jokic is tied for 10th in scoring (70 points) and second in assists (22) while only turning the ball over five times. The Nuggets have outscored opponents by 69 points in Jokic's 83 clutch minutes &mdash; easily the best mark in the league. He just had a game-winning floater on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.</li>
<li>Jalen Brunson's third in crunch-time scoring (101), has canned nearly 46% of his threes, has gotten to the line a ton (36 free-throw attempts, tied for eighth) and is the biggest reason why the New York Knicks have a winning record (13-10) in clutch games.</li>
<li>Fox has made more clutch buckets than anyone, but DeMar DeRozan slightly edges him out in total scoring (113 to 108). No player has gotten to the line more than DeRozan, where he's drilled 42-of-45 foul shots (93.3%) during money time. He remains a terrifying mid-range scorer, with a filthy pump fake to bait you into easier points. The Bulls being 8-14 (and a minus-5 point differential) in clutch games isn't his fault, but that'll hurt him in the race.</li>
<li>Speaking of mid-range mastery and elite foul drawing, it's hard to ignore the production of Gilgeous-Alexander. He's tied for fourth with Doncic in clutch scoring (99) and slightly trails DeRozan in total free-throw attempts (41). Subpar efficiency (40.6% FG) and the Oklahoma City Thunder's bleh record (9-17, minus-16 differential) in SGA's minutes hurt him.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan takes his first glance at the NBA Clutch Player of the Year award and why De'Aaron Fox leads the pack of candidates.

De'Aaron Fox early front-runner in NBA Clutch Player of the Year race

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had 36 points as part of his 13th triple-double of the season to offset a 44-point performance from Damian Lillard, and the Denver Nuggets won their 14th straight home game by topping the Portland Trail Blazers 122-113 on Tuesday night.
Jokic, who was 13 of 14 from the floor, finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The Nuggets improved to 13-0 this season when the two-time reigning NBA MVP records a triple-double.
&ldquo;We're going in the right direction,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We're playing with a lot of confidence.&rdquo;
The Nuggets were without head coach Michael Malone, who missed the game after entering the league&rsquo;s health and safety protocols. Acting coach David Adelman stepped in and the Western Conference-leading Nuggets didn&rsquo;t miss a beat.
In the locker room after the game, the team dumped a bucket of cold water on Adelman to celebrate.
&ldquo;It was cold. No, it was cool,&rdquo; cracked Adelman, who's the son of longtime NBA coach Rick Adelman. &ldquo;The guys were excited."
This was a game that, at times, turned into the Jokic vs. Lillard Show. It was Lillard&rsquo;s 214th career game with 30 or more points.
But Jokic proved too difficult to contain.
&ldquo;You call plays for him and those plays sometimes turn into team-conceptual basketball because of him. He gets guys involved," Adelman explained.
Michael Porter Jr. had 23 points and Jamal Murray added 17 for Denver, which improved to 20-3 at home as a capacity crowd braved a snowstorm that was starting to hit the city.
The Trail Blazers dropped their eighth straight road game.
Denver led by 13 points in the fourth quarter but saw the Blazers slice into the lead. A Bruce Brown dunk helped spark another run by the Nuggets to pull away.
After the game, Lillard voiced his frustration with the officiating late in the game.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of stuff that we could have done better, but down the stretch I just felt like the refs just decided the game,&rdquo; said Lillard, who drew a technical foul late in the fourth quarter. &ldquo;Obviously it&rsquo;s going to be bumps, it&rsquo;s going to be a physical game, both teams working hard to win a game. We get down the stretch and it was just like everything we did was a foul. That&rsquo;s just what it seemed like to me.&rdquo;
This time, there was no need for any late-game theatrics by Jokic, who hit a last-second, game-winning 3-pointer against Orlando on Sunday.
Lillard had a big first half with 30 points. He's no stranger to turning in an explosive half against Denver. He had 32 points in the second half against the Nuggets on Dec. 8.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an all-time, all-time player,&rdquo; Adelman said of Lillard. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s something.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Blazers: F Jerami Grant had 18 points, while C Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 10 rebounds. ... Lillard was 14 of 14 from the free throw line.
Nuggets: F Aaron Gordon had 11 points. ... Denver closed out the season series against Portland with a 3-1 mark. ... It was Jokic's 89th career triple-double.
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS COURT
While in town, Denver native and Blazers coach Chauncey Billups attended a pep rally at his old high school, George Washington, where the basketball court was named in his honor. His daughter accompanied him to the event.
&ldquo;I have some great memories obviously there,&rdquo; Billups said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s where it all started. It&rsquo;s where I decided that I was going to take this basketball thing very, very serious and see where it took me. It was fun to go back over there &mdash; see the court, see it named after me, the logo on the court. It was cool.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Nikola Jokic had 36 points to offset a 44-point performance from Damian Lillard, and the Nuggets topped the Trail Blazers 122-113.

Jokic leads Nuggets past Blazers for 14th straight home win

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Justyn Mutts scored 27 points to lead Virginia Tech to an 80-72 victory over No. 18 North Carolina on Sunday.
Mutts scored 21 of his points in the second half for the Hokies (8-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who built an 18-point, second-half lead and then held on to hand the slumping Tar Heels (5-4, 0-1) their fourth consecutive defeat.
North Carolina cut that lead to 67-64 on a layup by Caleb Love with 3:06 remaining, but Mutts answered with a basket 17 seconds later, and the Tar Heels got no closer.
The Associated Press&rsquo; preseason No. 1 team, North Carolina played without center Armando Bacot, who missed the game with a bruised shoulder.
Caleb Love, Pete Nance, and RJ Davis each scored 18 for North Carolina.
NO. 4 ARIZONA 81, CALIFORNIA 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds and Arizona bounced back from its first loss by holding off winless California.
Tubelis had 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Ballo &mdash; the Division I leader in field goal percentage &mdash; made 7 of 10 shots en route to 17 points, with seven rebounds and four blocks.
The Wildcats (7-1, 1-1 Pac-12) were coming off an 81-66 loss Thursday at Utah, just their fifth in 44 games under second-year coach Tommy Lloyd.
Cal (0-9, 0-2) continued its worst start in program history, extending the nation&rsquo;s longest active losing streak to 12 games. The Golden Bears were led by guard Devin Askew, who had 25 points, while forward Lars Thiemann added 18 on 9-of-14 shooting.
NO. 5 PURDUE 89, MINNESOTA 70
WEST LAFAYETE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey set career highs with 31 points and 22 rebounds, powering Purdue past Minnesota in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The 7-foot-4 Edey started slowly, making only one of his first seven shots. He dominated after that, finishing 11 of 23 from the field and 9 of 10 from the foul line.
Fletcher Loyer scored 20 for Purdue (8-0).
Jamison Battle led the Golden Gophers (4-4) with 21 points. Ta&rsquo;Lon Cooper added 15 points for Minnesota.
NEBRASKA 63, NO. 7 CREIGHTON 53
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Derrick Walker scored a career-high 22 points as Nebraska upset Creighton, the highest-ranked opponent the Cornhuskers have beaten on the road since 1997.
Nebraska (6-3) beat the Bluejays for the first time in 14 regular-season meetings in Omaha since 1995. Creighton (6-3) lost its third straight, with its previous two against ranked opponents.
Sam Griesel scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and Juwan Gary finished with 12 as the Huskers turned back every comeback attempt by the Bluejays.
Francisco Farabello scored 16 points to lead the Bluejays, going 5 for 9 on 3-pointers. Baylor Scheierman and Kalkbrenner had 10 points apiece.
NO. 13 TENNESSEE 94, ALCORN STATE 40
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 20 points and Tennessee flexed its defensive muscles in a victory over Alcorn State.
The Volunteers (7-1) also got double-digit point production from Julian Phillips (18), Jahmai Mashack (13), Uros Plavsic (12), Tyreke Key (11) and Zakai Zeigler (10).
Dominic Brewton led the Braves (3-6) with 10 points.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 73, MICHIGAN 69
LONDON (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace scored 14 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had a double-double to lead Kentucky over Michigan in a London showcase of two marquee American college sports teams.
Wallace was 4 of 4 on 3-point shooting with his most important one giving the Wildcats (6-2) a five-point lead with 1:11 to play.
Tshiebwe, last season&rsquo;s consensus national player of the year, scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds amid foul trouble that kept him on the bench for extended spells.
Hunter Dickinson led Michigan (5-3) with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jett Howard, Michigan&rsquo;s second-leading scorer, was in early foul trouble but had 16 points for the Wolverines.
NORTHWESTERN 70, NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE 63
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Boo Buie scored 20 points and Northwestern beat Michigan State in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Chase Audige also added 15 points and Ty Berry had 13 for Northwestern (6-3).
Mady Sossoko and A.J. Hoggard each had 12 points for Michigan State (5-3) and Joey Hauser added 10. The Spartans have lost two in a row, falling to Notre Dame earlier in the week.
NO. 21 UCLA 65, OREGON 56
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Clark and freshman Amari Bailey scored 14 points each and UCLA rallied in the final four minutes to hold off Oregon for its fourth straight win.
The Bruins (7-2, 2-0 Pac-12) hadn&rsquo;t had a big scoring run all game until they pulled away late.
The Ducks (4-5, 1-1) had won four straight over the Bruins. Guerrier led the Ducks with 15 points and Will Richardson added 13 points.
NO. 23 IOWA STATE 71, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 60
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Jaren Holmes scored 14 points and Aljaz Kunc added 12 as Iowa State handed St. John&rsquo;s its first loss of the season.
Kunc also contributed eight rebounds and three assists for the Cyclones (7-1). Robert Jones had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Posh Alexander led St. John&rsquo;s (8-1) with 14 points.

A recap of Sunday's men's college basketball slate includes a handful of top-25 upsets.

Virginia Tech hands No. 18 Tar Heels fourth consecutive loss

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 17 points, Aliyah Boston had the 61st double-double of her career and defending national champion No. 1 South Carolina opened with a dominating 101-31 victory over East Tennessee State on Monday night.
Boston finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Gamecocks celebrated their 2022 NCAA Tournament title with championship rings and a banner unfurled in the arena rafters to the cheers of a boisterous, happy crowd at Colonial Life Arena.
South Carolina held its opponent to 4-of-28 shooting in the first two quarters. ETSU missed 15 straight shots during one stretch.
East Tennessee&rsquo;s Jiselle Thomas, a first-year transfer from Temple, led East Tennessee with seven points on 2-of-20 shooting.
NO. 2 STANFORD 86, SAN DIEGO STATE 48
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Kiki Iriafen had a team-leading 16 points and six rebounds, sending Stanford past San Diego State to open the season.
Iriafen was one of four players who had double-digit points for the Cardinal, including Elena Bosgana (15 points), Cameron Brink (13) and Indya Nivar (13). Alex Crain and Meghan Fiso each had nine points for the Aztecs, who were held to 31.6% shooting (18 of 57) by the Cardinal defense.
NO. 4 IOWA 87, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 34
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark scored 20 points as Iowa opened the season with a win over Southern.
Clark, a junior guard who was a unanimous Associated Press preseason All-American, shook off a couple of early injuries to finish with a 6 of 10 shooting night.
Iowa center Monika Czinano, back for a fifth season after leading the nation in field-goal percentage the last two seasons, scored 10 points on 3 of 4 shooting.
Amani McWain led Southern with eight points.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 87, CINCINNATI 68
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Hailey Van Lith scored 28 points to lead Louisville to a victory over Cincinnati in the season opener for both teams.
The Cardinals broke the game open with a 15-0 first-quarter run and led 46-25 in the final minute of the first half. The Cardinals shot 51.7% and outrebounded the Bearcats 39-27.
Sophomore Braylyn Milton led the Bearcats with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Milton was perfect on five 3-point shots. Mya Jackson and A&rsquo;riel Jackson added 12 points apiece.
NO. 8 IOWA STATE 87, CLEVELAND STATE 54
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Ashley Joens had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Iowa State opened the season with a victory against Cleveland State.
Joens, a preseason All-American, nearly recorded a double-double in the first half with 24 points and nine boards. She has 50 career double-doubles.
Stephanie Soares added 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Cyclones. Gabriella Smith led Cleveland State with 16 points and Brittni Moore added nine.
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 88, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 48
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Olivia Miles had 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals to help No. 9 Notre Dame rout Northern Illinois.
Transfer post players Kylee Watson (Oregon) and Lauren Ebo (Texas) made their Notre Dame debuts. Watson started and scored nine points, while Ebo added 10 points off the bench.
Janae Poisson led NIU in scoring with 14 points.
NO. 10 NC STATE 82, QUINNIPIAC 45
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jada Boyd scored 14 points as North Carolina State led wire-to-wire in a season-opening victory over Quinnipiac.
Boyd shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. The junior forward also had five rebounds, a block and two steals in just 20 minutes of play. Quinnipiac was led by Cur&rsquo;Tiera Haywood&rsquo;s eight points and five rebounds. Jackie Grisdale also had eight points for the Bobcats.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 101, MOUNT ST. MARY&rsquo;S 45
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Cayla King made a school record nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, All-American Elizabeth Kitley added 17 points and Virginia Tech rolled over Mount St. Mary in both teams&rsquo; season opener.
Virginia Tech never trailed thanks to King&rsquo;s opening 3-pointer and after Mount St. Mary&rsquo;s answered with a basket the Hokies reeled off 20 straight.
Michaela Harrison scored 15 points for Mount St. Mary&rsquo;s, which shot 27% and was outrebounded 45-23.
NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 105, ORAL ROBERTS 94
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams scored 19 points, Skylar Vann added 18 and Oklahoma opened the season with a win over Oral Roberts.
The Sooners finished at 47.6% shooting after hitting 60% of their shots in the first half.
Oral Roberts outscored Oklahoma 24-6 in the final 5:18 to get the margin down to 11. Tirzah Moore scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
NO. 16 LSU 125, BELLARMINE 50
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese scored 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in her debut with LSU and the Tigers coasted past Bellarmine in the season opener.
The transfer from Maryland, where she was an All-American, had 14 points in the first quarter when the Tigers took a 31-8 lead and went on to a school record for points in a game.
West Virginia transfer Jasmine Carson added 17 points and Alexis Morris 16 for LSU, which returned only one starter (Morris) and five players from Kim Mulkey&rsquo;s first team, which had the greatest turnaround by a first-year coach in Southeastern Conference history.
Hayley Harrison scored 19 points for the Knights.
NO. 17 MARYLAND 88, GEORGE MASON 51
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 19 points in her debut for Maryland as the retooled Terrapins defeated George Mason.
Meyers, an AP honorable mention All-American at Princeton and one of nine new Terrapins, made 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
Taylor Jameson scored 15 points for George Mason, which was 5 of 22 from 3-point range and had 18 turnovers.
NO. 18 BAYLOR 88, LAMAR 50
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash;Jaden Owens had a career-high 12 assists to go with 11 points for her first career double-double and Baylor pulled away for a season-opening win over Lamar.
Missouri transfer Aijha Blackwell and freshman Bella Fontleroy both added 17 points for the Bears, who used a 7-0 run early in the second quarter and a 9-0 late to go up 47-31 at halftime.
Lamar shot 32% in the second half and finished just 3 of 12 behind the 3-point line. Akasha Davis led the Cardinals with 13 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 20 OREGON 100, NORTHWESTERN 57
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Grace VanSlooten scored 20 points and Oregon downed Northwestern for the Ducks&rsquo; 10th straight season-opening win, and ninth straight under coach Kelly Graves.
Jennah Isai added 17 for the Ducks, who went 20-12 overall last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to Belmont.
Caileigh Walsh had 15 points and six rebounds for Northwestern, which went 17-12 last season.
NO. 21 CREIGHTON 73, NO. 23 SOUTH DAKTA STATE 64
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Jensen scored 17 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter and Creighton pulled away from South Dakota State in the only Top 25 matchup on the opening day of the season.
Creighton, the surprise team of the NCAA Tournament last year when they beat No. 8 Iowa and No. 10 Iowa State, made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Myah Selland scored 22 points to lead South Dakota State, which won the WNIT last season.
NO. 22 NEBRASKA 100, OMAHA 36
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Isabelle Bourne had 21 points and nine rebounds, leading Nebraska to the runaway victory in its season opener.
Allison Weidner added 19 points and nine rebounds, and South Dakota transfer Maddy Krull had 18 points with four 3-pointers. Alexis Markowski had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Cornhuskers.
Elena Pilakouta had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks.
NO. 24 PRINCETON 67, TEMPLE 49
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Kaitlyn Chen scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Ellie Mitchell added 12 points and 15 boards, and Princeton defeated Temple to spoil the debut of Owls coach Diane Richardson.
Princeton won its 16th straight regular-season game dating to last season. Prior to the game, the Tigers honored its 2021-22 campaign with a banner unveiling and ring ceremony. The Tigers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament, upending Kentucky in the first round.
Jasha Clinton scored 15 points and Tiarra East had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Temple, which was just 18-of-62 shooting.

Opening night for women's college hoops was highlighted by Aliyah Boston and the defending-champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

Defending women's national champs, No. 1 Gamecocks, rout ETSU 101-31

LORMAN, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Alcorn State&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s basketball coach Landon Bussie has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Lorman, Mississippi, through 2026, the university announced Thursday.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m humbled and honored to have the continued support of our university president, as well as our director of athletics,&rdquo; Bussie said in a news release. &ldquo;They believe in me, as well as in my vision and the goals I must help lead the men&rsquo;s basketball program into the future here at Alcorn State University. I&rsquo;m ever so grateful for that.&rdquo;
The length of his previous contract and other details were not immediately available.
Bussie, the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, ended last season with a 17-17 record (14-4 in SWAC play), advancing to the postseason with an automatic berth in the National Invitational Tournament.
Bussie began his tenure as head coach at Alcorn State in April 2020, spending the previous six seasons as an assistant for the men&rsquo;s basketball program at Prairie View A&amp;M. Before that, he also spent four seasons at Xavier University of Louisiana, where he led the Gold Rush to three straight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season titles.

Alcorn State’s men’s basketball coach Landon Bussie has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him there through 2026.

Reigning SWAC coach of the year Bussie signs extension with Braves

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) &mdash; Victor Wembanyama blocked a shot Thursday afternoon, ran to the other end of the court, went airborne from just inside the foul line, corralled an alley-oop pass with one hand and slammed home a dunk.
The entire sequence lasted eight seconds.
It may have been the signature moment &mdash; and there were a lot of candidates &mdash; from Wembanyama&rsquo;s two-game trip to the U.S., which ended Thursday with the French phenom&rsquo;s Metropolitans 92 team rallying from 16 points down to top the G League Ignite 112-106. He led the way, of course, with 36 points and 11 rebounds.
&ldquo;As a first impression of the American game, that was really great," Wembanyama said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Victor Wembanyama followed up his 37-point game on Tuesday with an equally impressive 36-point double-double in a win! 🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/vicw_32?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vicw_32</a>: 36 PTS | 11 REB | 4 AST | 4 BLK <a href="https://t.co/M5dy1WpUPT">pic.twitter.com/M5dy1WpUPT</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1578143067370127362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

So was he.
His final numbers from two exhibitions: 73 points on 22-for-44 shooting, nine 3-pointers, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots. He flies back to France on Saturday, and the next time he plays in the U.S. there likely will be an NBA logo on his jersey, presumably after he becomes the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
&ldquo;It's very, very special for France," Metropolitans 92 coach Vincent Collet said. &ldquo;Not only for France. He has huge potential. He's a huge talent."
The reviews are in from this two-game Vegas residency for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">Wembanyama, who stands 7-foot-3</a> in bare feet, and they were of the raving variety. The best of the bunch may have come from Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who suggested that calling Wembanyama a unicorn might not fully indicate how unique he is.
Instead, James went with an out-of-this-world comparison.
&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he&rsquo;s more like an alien,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor ... He&rsquo;s, for sure, a generational talent.&rdquo;
Added Golden State guard Stephen Curry: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s like the (NBA) 2K create-a-player, every point guard that wants to be 7-foot. Cheat-code type vibes, man. He&rsquo;s a solid talent. It's great to watch.&rdquo;
Sure enough, when Wembanyama&rsquo;s around, a viral moment can happen at any time. It might be a dunk. It might be a block. It might be a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner while his momentum has him drifting toward the baseline. It might be a 28-foot 3-pointer from the wing. It might be him kicking a ball into a monitor and narrowly missing fellow French center Rudy Gobert.
Yes, all those things happened.
The scene: Gobert and fellow Minnesota Timberwolves standout D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, in town to play the Lakers in a preseason game later Thursday, decided to postpone their afternoon nap &mdash; a staple of the NBA gameday routine &mdash; and make the 20-minute ride from Las Vegas to watch the game, arriving at halftime.
Gobert made a quick appearance on the game&rsquo;s televised broadcast. Wembanyama, standing nearby, stuck one of his massive feet into the path of a pass by Ignite center Eric Mika. The ball ricocheted into the monitor near Gobert&rsquo;s seat, knocking it over.
Gobert laughed. Wembanyama raised his hand to apologize.
&ldquo;Hey, he played soccer too,&rdquo; Gobert said.
Gobert raves about Wembanyama, who almost certainly will be the first top-five draft pick from France. And he doesn&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any real comparison: Gobert said Wembanyama&rsquo;s defensive instincts remind him of himself, while his ballhandling and shooting remind him of Kevin Durant.
&ldquo;What strikes me the most about him is his maturity," Gobert said. &ldquo;Obviously, he's a very unique talent and he has a very unique physique. But his maturity and his confidence ... he's very unique."
Thursday&rsquo;s game had a bit of a scare, and the other top NBA draft headliner in this showcase got the worst of that moment.
Scoot Henderson, the guard whose 28 points led the Ignite to a 122-115 victory on Tuesday night in the exhibition opener, left Thursday&rsquo;s game after less than five minutes. The reason: He banged knees with Wembanyama.
Henderson switched onto Wembanyama, who was dribbling on the wing. Wembanyama made a move, collided into Henderson and tumbled to the court, looking initially like he got the worst of that exchange. But Henderson, who was called for a foul on the play, wound up limping off for evaluation and the Ignite quickly said he wouldn&rsquo;t be returning.
&ldquo;Scoot's fine," G League coach Jason Hart said. &ldquo;It was precautionary."
There are 31 games left on Metropolitans&rsquo; 34-game schedule in the French league, and the plan &mdash; as of now &mdash; is for Wembanyama to finish his season, which is slated to go through mid-May. The NBA Draft is June 22.
Bouna Ndiaye, one of Wembanyama&rsquo;s agents, said some NBA teams might not understand why he&rsquo;s playing. The reason, he says, is because nobody can get Wembanyama out of the gym.
&ldquo;He wants to live on the court,&rdquo; Ndiaye said.
What these two games showed, in many ways, was just that the tapes of Wembanyama that have been coming out of Europe over the last few years weren't lying. He needs to get stronger. There&rsquo;s much he can still polish. He is, by all accounts, exceptional already.
&ldquo;Just before we came in last Saturday, we had a meeting with our doctor and we are going to prepare to plan the next two months to increase what he is doing, besides the court, to strengthen the body,&rdquo; Collet said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always careful also with how much time he is practicing, not to go too far. ... We plan so that we limit the risk.&rdquo;
When Thursday was over, when the comeback was complete, Wembanyama briefly lifted his arms skyward in celebration, then shook a lot of hands, partook in a lot of hugs and posed for a lot of pictures.
With that, the draft hype continued on.
&ldquo;I'm still excited and so happy about it," Wembanyama said. &ldquo;I know I'm so lucky to have this chance."
___
AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed.

Wembanyama's final numbers from two exhibitions: 73 points on 22-for-44 shooting, 9 three-pointers, 15 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.

Victor Wembanyama's 2-game Las Vegas exhibition stay ends with win

Victor Wembanyama's two-game showcase against the G League Ignite couldn't have gone better, as he averaged 36.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks on a 64.8 True Shooting percentage.
Not only are NBA executives salivating at the thought of landing him with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, he has also garnered the attention of the best players in the world.
Last night, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-victor-wembanyama-is-a-generational-talent-and-an-alien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LeBron James raved about Wembanyama's unique skill set</a>, saying that while the term "unicorn" has been overused, Victor is "more like an alien" and that he is "for sure a generational talent." On Thursday, Giannis Antetokounmpo also had some high praise for Wembanyama.
"I had the chance to watch him in play in 2021, a year ago, for the first time because my little brother, Kostas, played for ASVEL and they were teammates. And he's incredible, man," Antetokounmpo said while shaking his head. "I believe in 2045, everybody [in the NBA] is going to look like Victor! But his skills, the way he can shoot the ball, the way he can move, he's extremely fast for his size, he can block shots, he can be a threat on the defensive end &mdash; he's unbelievable. I believe it's only a matter of time until he's in the league. For him, the key is just to keep getting better, keep staying humble and stay healthy. With a body like that and a skill set like that, as long as he stays healthy, he's going to keep improving. And keep enjoying the game as much as he can.
"He has the chance to be one of the best &mdash; not in his age, not in Europe &mdash; but one of the best to ever play this game. We have never seen someone like that before. I think it's a good challenge for everybody in the league, to have somebody who's 7-foot-2 and is able to shoot over you and dribble like he's a guard and block shots and run down the floor fast. We gotta get ready for this kid, you know? He's going to be really good."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"He's incredible man... We gotta get ready for this kid, he's going to be really good" Giannis on watching Victor Wembanyama play in 2021 <a href="https://t.co/zNH5hsWzwf">pic.twitter.com/zNH5hsWzwf</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1578125128541827072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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For more on Wembanyama's game and what NBA talent evaluators are saying about his showing in Nevada, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/etah-thomas-washington-wizards-scout-laron-profit-raves-over-victor-wembanyama-scoot-henderson-2023-nba-draft-prospects-g-league-ignite-metropolitans-92" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out what Washington Wizards scout Laron Profit had to say about the phenom</a>.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has high praise for Victor Wembanyama, saying he has a chance to be one of the best players ever.

Giannis: Wembanyama 'has a chance to be one of the best' players ever

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) &mdash; Victor Wembanyama didn&rsquo;t wait long to make an impression.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 7-foot-4 French phenomenon</a> from the club Metropolitans 92 blocked shots at the rim and on the perimeter, got rebounds, ran the floor, set screens, scored on a nifty spin move, showed off his ability to dribble, dove for a loose ball and even played point guard on one possession.
Oh, and all that was in the first two minutes. Talk about setting the tone.
The 200 scouts and NBA executives who came to see a show didn&rsquo;t have to pay for their tickets Tuesday night, but if they had, they wouldn&rsquo;t have been short-changed at any price. Wembanyama showed off all the skills that have him widely presumed to be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
His final numbers: 37 points, 11-for-20 shooting, 7 three-pointers, 5 blocked shots, 4 rebounds.
The final score, as if it mattered: G League Ignite 120, Metropolitans 115, with Scoot Henderson &mdash; the consensus No. 2 pick, as of now anyway &mdash; finishing with 28 points and 9 assists for the Ignite.
The teams will play again Thursday afternoon; after that, the next time Wembanyama plays a game of any significance on U.S. soil will likely be at NBA Summer League next July.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
WHAT A DUEL Scoot Henderson &amp; Victor Wembanyama PUT ON A SHOW TONIGHT! <a href="https://t.co/jOApxyIJoD">pic.twitter.com/jOApxyIJoD</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1577516849826242562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Much of the Wembanyama repertoire was on full display, and it was as good as advertised. He made three-pointers. Step-back jumpers. Did what seemed to be mildly reminiscent of the Michael Jordan shrug from the 1992 NBA Finals after one of those shots fell. Played through what appeared to be a bit of a twisted ankle, making a fadeaway three while doing so. He even argued foul calls like a seasoned NBA veteran and may have had a legitimate case on a couple occasions.
There are many ways for the 18-year-old to get better. But it&rsquo;s clear: He&rsquo;s ready for the NBA, ready for the scrutiny that will come going into the draft, the scrutiny that will come if he is indeed the No. 1 pick.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really a talented player,&rdquo; Ignite coach Jason Hart said.
Even the stuff that didn&rsquo;t show up next to Wembanyama&rsquo;s name in the box score was eye-popping at times. Case in point: a play midway through the second quarter when he set a pick near midcourt, rolled, caught a pass a couple inches inside the three-point line, took one dribble and went airborne &mdash; because by then, he was already in the middle of the lane. He tried to elevate over multiple Ignite players, took a shot, got fouled, shrugged off the contact and dunked the rebound.
It didn&rsquo;t count, but still had some sitting courtside reacting in disbelief.
There are always shows in Vegas, but Cirque du Soleil wasn&rsquo;t the French brand capturing the basketball world&rsquo;s attention on Tuesday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Back-to-back Splash 💦 Victor Wembanyama is up to 17 PTS 🔥 Watch Now on the NBA App and on ESPN 2 📲 <a href="https://t.co/WIy2EVFAUt">https://t.co/WIy2EVFAUt</a> <a href="https://t.co/V3d1hfHCeJ">pic.twitter.com/V3d1hfHCeJ</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1577502513657323520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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San Antonio executive R.C. Buford and Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti were chatting pregame. Chris Paul and Devin Booker, in town with the Phoenix Suns to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, showed up to watch with seats near the Metropolitans bench. DeMarcus Cousins grabbed a seat near the Ignite bench. Chelsea Gray and A&rsquo;ja Wilson of the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces &mdash; coming off a FIBA World Cup gold medal won a few days ago as well &mdash; watched from one of the baselines. The WNBA trophy even made an appearance.
And this wasn't just The Victor Show, either. Henderson believes he should be the No. 1 pick and had more than his share of moments. He got around Wembanyama's incredible 8-foot wingspan a couple times for layups, got him in the air to set up assists to Ignite teammates a couple more times, made a step-back three over him as well.
He also tried what would have been a dunk with 3:31 left. Wembanyama swatted it away with ease. Henderson also tried a 3 with 1:31 left; Wembanyama sent that into the seats.
But Henderson more than lived up to his end of the bargain in this made-for-TV showdown.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Scoot Henderson hit the brakes! Get to the NBA App Now: <a href="https://t.co/WIy2EVoxSt">https://t.co/WIy2EVoxSt</a> <a href="https://t.co/BvffwiVWSo">pic.twitter.com/BvffwiVWSo</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1577504502282059776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;This game meant a lot to Scoot,&rdquo; said Ignite forward Shareef O&rsquo;Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my No. 1 pick.&rdquo;
Said Henderson: &ldquo;I feel like I impacted the game."
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Henderson showed some fire. He gave the Metropolitans&rsquo; bench a long look when time was called in the second quarter and the Ignite were starting to build their lead. Wembanyama had a little edge to him as well; he made a three-pointer from near the Ignite bench early in the second half, then turned and gave those seated there a look, then converted a four-point play on his next possession.
Nicolas Batum, who played for Metropolitans 92 coach Vincent Collet at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021 and the 2019 Basketball World Cup in China, tweeted this during the second half: &ldquo;One thing for sure is that the first 2 picks are LOCKED for the next NBA draft.&rdquo;
Much can change between now and June. But Batum's prediction seems pretty safe.
A Victor vs. Scoot show was what the NBA wanted. It delivered.

A Victor Wembanyama vs. Scoot Henderson showdown was what the NBA wanted, and both stars delivered.

Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson showed repertoire as NBA watched

The last time we saw John Wall in an NBA game was April 23, 2021, when he had 27 points, 13 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Seventeen months later, a lot has changed. Wall is now suiting up for the Clippers after signing a two-year, $13.2 million deal with Los Angeles over the offseason.
Wall sat out all of last season at the request of the Houston Rockets, who wanted to prioritize the development of their young core. Now, the 32-year-old guard is ready to make his triumphant return.
&ldquo;I've got a chip on my shoulder,&rdquo; Wall said during the Clippers&rsquo; media day. &ldquo;Anybody would; I mean, having [not] played last year and come back and play this year. I&rsquo;m happy I get the opportunity to play the game that I love... Whatever role T-Lue (Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue) want me to do, I am willing to accept. I'm just trying to come over here and help them win.&rdquo;
During the 2020-21 season, Wall appeared in 40 games with the Rockets, averaging 20.6 points, 6.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 threes, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks on .404/.317/.749 shooting splits. He produced at a relatively high level and was one of the NBA&rsquo;s best comeback stories after returning from a ruptured Achilles that caused him to miss the 2019-20 season.
&ldquo;I just feel like for my whole career, a lot of people don't give me my respect. I don't know why. It is what it is,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;Like I say, I've got a chip on my shoulder... Just let the world know like you're going to see a dog. That's what you got when you signed me.&rdquo;
Wall&rsquo;s new teammates and coaches are excited about what he&rsquo;ll bring to the team.
&ldquo;Adding John, his pace is tremendous,&rdquo; Lue explained. &ldquo;That's going to allow us to get easy baskets &mdash; guys will get open threes, easy shots. Him getting downhill and getting to the basket changes our team dramatically. His pace, the way he plays, brings a different dimension to our team.&rdquo;
&ldquo;John is definitely a piece, I think, that was needed,&rdquo; Paul George said. &ldquo;I think so much was put on [Reggie Jackson]&rsquo;s plate to where I think the addition of John will help shoulder a lot of that facilitating and playmaking. I think what he brings and where the value is so huge for us is his transition game. That was one of the things teams did against us was crash the boards, because there was really no transition game from us. They wasn't worried about that. I think with John, his ability to play and sprint up and down and get going in transition, I think, kind of keeps teams honest. They can't crash everybody. He rebounds as well as any guard. He's definitely a piece that was needed, and I'm excited. That's been a brother of mine for a long time. We came in this league together. I'm happy that [he&rsquo;s here]. I'm sure Clipper Nation will embrace him and this will be a great home for him.&rdquo;
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&ldquo;I think the biggest thing is his competitive drive and will,&rdquo; Norman Powell added. &ldquo;He talks a lot of trash early, but I think it's just the energy that he brings to the game, his pace, understanding where guys are at. He's always looking to make that pass. Even when he's getting down to the teeth of the defense, he's caught me a couple times being on the opposite team thinking he's about to make the lay-up and he kicks it out to my guy last minute for a wide-open three. That attention to detail and the way he attacks the basket and knowing the game and where guys are going to be, knowing the rotations of the defense, finding the open guys for easy looks, he's continuing to find those guys in those sweet spots.&rdquo;
While Wall is in a good place now, he recently revealed that the last two or three years were the darkest of his life. Following the death of his mother, Frances, he became depressed and even considered suicide. In <a href="https://signature.theplayerstribune.com/john-wall-nba-basketball-los-angeles-clippers/p/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an incredibly moving article on The Players Tribune</a>, Wall opened up about his depression, suicidal thoughts and the moment he finally sought help.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you haven't checked the story out, you should check it out. I think it's dope,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;I think it helps us. It's Black men that just go out there and [won&rsquo;t ask for help because of] our pride. I think we are very prideful, and a lot of times we think we can accomplish everything by ourselves until we really hit some reality and it gets tough. Hopefully, my story can help a lot of people and inspire a lot of people to not wait until it's too late.
&ldquo;Everything I've been through the last two or three years, I don't think a lot of people could have gotten through that. [It&rsquo;s a] true testimony to myself, my team, my family, my kids, the mother of my kids &mdash; just having great people around me &mdash; and me maturing as a man, becoming a better father, a better person.&rdquo;
In recent years, many NBA players have spoken out about their mental-health struggles. Wall is the latest example, joining DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love among others.
&ldquo;Just because we make a lot of money and we're famous, they think we don't have the same problems regular people got. We&rsquo;re still a regular person,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;At the end of the day, we just wake up and get an opportunity to play the game we love and make the money to take care of our families, but we still go through all the same emotional things y'all go through. That's one thing I don't think a lot of people understand. But I think for me, like just hearing one of my close friends, DeMar DeRozan, and Kevin Love come out and speak on depression, just hearing that [was huge]. And then also, with the platform we have with social media, we're able to touch a lot of people. Like, everybody is accessible now because of their camera phones and social media, so I think that gave us a platform to go out there and speak on it a little bit more.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think we're kind of changing the narrative,&rdquo; Powell added. &ldquo;I think people and fans from the outside looking in view us as just athletes and not as people, and we're dealing with the same daily struggles and life challenges that they are. Our profession and our bank accounts are a little different, so they feel like we don't have any issues at all, but we still struggle with day-to-day living, day-to-day crises with our families, personal issues, health issues that we have to deal with. I think we're pushing the envelope and the narrative that we're more than just athletes. That's been a slogan around the league for a while now in the last couple years, and that's the truth. We're all struggling with things that we don't always put out to social media or we don't always say in interviews that we have to step away from the game and deal with in our daily lives. I think it's a testament to the players being brave and having the courage to talk about their struggles, and to show that we're not perfect and we're all dealing with things behind closed doors. I think it's a way you can motivate others to go out there and seek help and be open about their struggles as well.&rdquo;
During a recent pick-up run alongside George, Wall hit a number of shots, then yelled, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m back!&rdquo; It was an emotional moment for the veteran guard, who has been through so much &ndash; on and off the court &ndash; in recent years.&nbsp;
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John Wall: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m back.&rdquo; 🗣 Paul George and John Wall hooping. 🔥 (via <a href="https://twitter.com/swishcultures_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@swishcultures_</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>) <a href="https://t.co/wHnHEpEl5n">pic.twitter.com/wHnHEpEl5n</a>
&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1565052491049316352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></blockquote>

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After making it &ldquo;through some of the darkest times you can imagine,&rdquo; the five-time All-Star is hoping to finish this next chapter of his life on a positive note &mdash; by hoisting the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy.
&ldquo;We all got an ultimate goal,&rdquo; Wall said. &ldquo;We got Kawhi [Leonard], who has two championships; we got T-Lue, who&rsquo;s won [a title] as a coach. We're all a little older now in our careers and that is the ultimate goal, to try to win. It starts [in training camp], taking every day, every practice, like we&rsquo;re a championship team, and hopefully we can get that goal.&rdquo;

After sitting out for all of last season, John Wall is excited to have a strong bounce-back season as a member of the Clippers.

John Wall ready to make his triumphant return with Clippers

Well, this was unexpected.
Not the award recipients &mdash; the actual announcements. The WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive Teams were originally slated to be announced on Friday (September 2), until that was bumped up to a noon ET release on Tuesday.&nbsp;
(It would've been nice to have an earlier heads-up; altering the schedule is one thing, but announcing the change roughly 30 minutes before the new time was... let's just call it odd!)
Aces star A'ja Wilson was named Defensive Player of the Year. Her box-score numbers speak for themselves; she led The W in blocks (1.9), ranked second in defensive rebounds (7.6) and finished just outside the top-10 in steals (1.4).
Beyond that, her versatility at the 5 allowed the Aces to toggle through multiple schemes. They were an aggressive, hard-hedging group to begin the year. We've seen them settle into drop coverage, and also switch across the board in an effort to minimize advantages with screening actions. That versatility wouldn't exist without the work A'ja did.
The voting results were as follows (56 total):
<ul>
<li>A'ja Wilson, Aces (20)</li>
<li>Alyssa Thomas, Sun (14)</li>
<li>Breanna Stewart, Storm (13)</li>
<li>Sylvia Fowles, Lynx (4)</li>
<li>Natasha Cloud, Mystics (2)</li>
<li>Jonquel Jones, Sun (2)</li>
<li>Allisha Gray, Wings (1)</li>
</ul>
It's worth noting that the ballot for WNBA DPOY operates a little differently than the NBA side. Award voters for the NBA are asked to give their top-three choices, but WNBA voters only select the winner.
The voting tally &mdash; how many people voted for each player &mdash; for the All-Defensive Teams haven't been released (at least as far as I've seen), but we do have those results as well.
First Team
G: Natasha Cloud
G: Ariel Atkins
F: Breanna Stewart
F: A'ja Wilson
C: Sylvia Fowles
Second Team
G: Brittney Sykes
G: Gabby Williams
F: Alyssa Thomas
F: Ezi Magbegor
C: Jonquel Jones
Right away, a couple things jump out for me. Fowles making an All-Defensive Team, especially the First Team, is a nice bow to place on a legendary career. Even at this stage of her career, she was able to hold her own in drop coverage, managed to finish third in defensive rebounds (7.3) and was one of seven players to average at least one steal (1.0) and one block (1.2) per contest. Fowles should be remembered as one of the most dominant defenders of all-time.
She also shouldn't have made a team, much less the first one.&nbsp;
Part of the reason she made the First Team was confusion over how to list Wilson. Wilson has started at the 4 for most of her career, but has held down the 5 for the Aces for the majority of the season. I understand how that dynamic, in addition to Wilson still being <a href="https://www.wnba.com/player/aja-wilson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed as a forward</a> on the W's official site, could confuse the voters. However... Wilson was the center this year. She started there, handled the jump balls and, more importantly, defended centers for a large chunk of the season.&nbsp;
If Wilson gets voted in as a center, that would've dropped Fowles to the Second Team while opening up a forward spot for Thomas. It's a little&nbsp;odd that Thomas wound up on the All-Defensive Second Team despite finishing second in DPOY voting.&nbsp;
As much as I respect Fowles' career and her being a solid defender at this stage, I'm not sure a Second-Team nod would've been appropriate either.
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Ezi Magbegor, who was oddly voted on as a forward, was an early DPOY candidate due to her activity in Seattle's system. Mercury center Brianna Turner and Mystics rookie center Shakira Austin both excelled in space while offering quality deterrence at the rim.&nbsp;
The biggest travesty in all of this was Sky forward Candace Parker being left out of both discussions. It's also a shame that her teammate Rebekah Gardner wasn't an All-Defensive-Team member &mdash; I had her as a First-Team guard on my fake ballot &mdash; but I could at least see the voters shying away from giving the honor to a bench player.
There is no logical explanation for Parker not making a team.
There is no coherent numbers argument against Parker. She was also one of the seven players to average at least a steal and a block this season, and actually led The W in defensive rebounds (7.7). The Sky ranked fourth in defensive rating this season (99.7), and <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661329&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=201496&amp;OnlyCommonGames=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they were stingier</a> with Parker on the floor (99.1). The same can't be said for Fowles <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661324&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=201480&amp;OnlyCommonGames=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on either front</a>.
If that isn't enough, the film certainly doesn't lie. She was tasked with doing quite a bit: hard hedging against ball screens, patrolling the paint in a drop or as a helpside defender, navigating space on switches. You watch this compilation and tell me Parker wasn't one of the league's best defenders this year.
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It's insane.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>Pretty neat for the Mystics to get both of their guards on the First Team. For my money, Cloud had more First-Team equity because of her work as a communicator and helper at the nail. I'm somewhat surprised Atkins got the nod over Sykes (or Gardner for that matter) on the First Team.</li>
<li>Considering Fowles and Jones were the centers, I wonder who was next up on the center list? How far off was Turner or Austin for the voters?</li>
<li>Sticking with the surprise: Gabby Williams actually getting enough guard votes (instead of being pigeonholed as a forward) to make a team!</li>
<li>Kinda hate that Allisha Gray has once again missed out on making an All-Defensive Team. She's one of the best wings in The W, period. And she does tremendous work as a perimeter defender. There aren't many players better at navigating screens than Gray.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan gives his thoughts on the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive-Team selections.

Did WNBA voters select the right DPOY and All-Defensive Teams?

Everyone enters NBA Summer League with something to prove.
For rookies, it's their first opportunity to show they belong at the highest level of professional basketball. To veterans, it's a chance to assert themselves, showcase their development and prove that they deserve a roster or increased minutes in the rotation.
Even in the relative nonchalance of the Las Vegas heat, for some young talents, the next 11 days will take on extra significance. For 10 in particular, this is a pivotal offseason for their pro career, and a standout Summer League could put them on a much-needed course correction.
I did not list any rookies here; it's their first shot in the league, so it's a bit unfair to stamp such high stakes on their inaugural action. Everyone on this list has at least a year of NBA experience under their belt, and one has been around the league for close to a decade. Beyond the top prospects, here are some players you should keep an eye on as they make their cases during Summer League.
Bruno Caboclo, Utah Jazz
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Justin Robinson finds Bruno Caboclo for the slam! 📺: ESPN2 <a href="https://t.co/VaFH9MTUNw">pic.twitter.com/VaFH9MTUNw</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1544860272367632384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Caboclo is one of the most experienced players on this summer's rosters. The No. 20 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Caboclo is remarkably still just 26 years old, but spent seven seasons with six teams in the NBA before suiting up for Sao Paulo FC in Brazil last year.&nbsp;
This is probably one of Caboclo's last shots at sticking in the league. He has averaged double-digit minutes per game just once in seven years, when he put up 8.3 points and 4.6 rebounds across 23.5 minutes per game with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-19. He's far from the intriguing, raw prospect he was when entering the Association, so if Caboclo is going to earn a roster spot, even on a G League team, he has to show out.
Several other prospects enter Summer League in a similar situation. DJ Wilson (Raptors) and Chandler Hutchinson (Hawks) were first-round picks in the 2017 and 2018 NBA Drafts, respectively. They played 10 NBA games combined in 2021-22.&nbsp;
Usman Garuba, Houston Rockets
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Love this sequence from Usman Garuba. Does a brilliant job of switching onto Carsen Edwards, moves over to swat the ball loose from the ball-handler, and then pushes it up the floor in transition. <a href="https://t.co/WDfKs6cdG6">pic.twitter.com/WDfKs6cdG6</a>
&mdash; Dakota Schmidt (@Dakota_Schmidt) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dakota_Schmidt/status/1490729110334808070?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Jalen Green backed up his No. 2 overall draft slot with a stellar finish to last season, landing on the All-Rookie First Team. Alperen Sengun dazzled fans with his passing and put up 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game after the All-Star break. Josh Christopher battled typical rookie inconsistencies, but closed out his year with three games of 20-plus points in his last seven contests.
Houston's fourth 2021 first-round pick, however, went relatively unnoticed. Usman Garuba appeared just 24 times and averaged 10 minutes per game. He was billed as a versatile defender who could pair with Sengun, but injuries slowed his progression, though he flashed promise in limited G League action.
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Sometimes, rebuilds move too quickly for player development to keep up. Houston drafted Jabari Smith Jr. with the third overall pick and Tari Eason at No. 17. Both figure to occupy one, if not two, forward spots, with Kenyon Martin Jr. and Jae'Sean Tate firmly in the mix as well. Garuba must demonstrate a stable offensive floor to balance his stellar defensive tools. I'll be interested to see how he's used in Las Vegas as a smaller center.
RJ Hampton, Orlando Magic
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Yeah , I asked to play. Nothing like getting reps and rhythm during the summer against competition and connecting with our new rooks 🤟🏽
&mdash; RJ (@RjHampton14) <a href="https://twitter.com/RjHampton14/status/1542161234493165568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs have graduated from Summer League play. Hampton is the lone young Magic guard returning to the roster. Orlando acquired the high-flying playmaker in March 2021, but he hasn't synced up with his backcourt mates quite yet, and playing time will only grow more scarce as the core improves.
The 21-year-old has just struggled to score efficienctly at any level. Despite his athleticism and power, Hampton made just 52.5% of his attempts at the rim last season and finished with a 48.1% True Shooting percentage.
In a featured role with this Magic summer group, he needs to display some takeover playmaking ability and consistent shotmaking. Hampton seems to be embracing the extra reps, which offer a promising chance for him to ball out with No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero.
Killian Hayes, Detroit Pistons
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Killian Hayes Is looking good 👀 Via 🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/DetroitXay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DetroitXay</a> <a href="https://t.co/xv97YJKAdl">pic.twitter.com/xv97YJKAdl</a>
&mdash; Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pistons__Talk/status/1541958241147658241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Our Nekias Duncan highlighted <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/views-from-the-bottom-young-players-to-keep-an-eye-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hayes' solid end to the 2021-22 season</a>. Though the overall stats might not show it, the former No. 7 pick did take meaningful strides as an off-ball player next to Cade Cunningham and a downhill driver when he had opportunities. Duncan also called Hayes "one of the most underrated guard defenders in the sport already."
That didn't stop Detroit from selecting Jaden Ivey to be Cade Cunningham's backcourt partner. Hayes is still very much part of a talented Pistons core, but his long-term projection with the franchise is murky right now. A standout effort in Vegas could solidify his standing, not only in the rotation, but also in the eyes of other teams around the league.
Kai Jones, Charlotte Hornets
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Kai Jones taking fight for the nasty dunk <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AllFly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AllFly</a> <a href="https://t.co/rrhOfVjnrj">pic.twitter.com/rrhOfVjnrj</a>
&mdash; Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1424516813417811970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Most expected Jones to be more of a developmental draft pick when Charlotte selected him No. 19 overall last year. He played just 63 total minutes with the Hornets and appeared in eight games for the G League affiliate Greensboro Swarm. Then, the Hornets went back to the NBA Draft for frontcourt help, selecting Mark Williams at No. 15 overall a few weeks ago.
What does this mean for Jones? Summer League head coach Jordan Surenkamp said more time at the four might be a possibility:
"Yeah, I still think that's up in the air. I think it kind of depends on what we're looking at from an organization standpoint in terms of rotations and things like that," <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/news/quick-hits-early-impressions-of-rookies-role-for-kai-jones-balancing-sl-minutes-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surenkamp said.</a> "But like I said, he's been very willing to play at that position so far just as much as he has been at the five, which is more of what he's done in this league up to this point. In terms of how many minutes and how often, those are still things that are up in the air. Those are conversations that we'll have before Friday."
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I'm admittedly a skeptic toward this type of role shift for Jones. But Summer League is an excellent laboratory for him and the Hornets to try out the fit.
Aleksej Pokusevski, Oklahoma City Thunder
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And y'all expect me to quit Poku lol TUH <a href="https://t.co/2vRTHbLWrO">pic.twitter.com/2vRTHbLWrO</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1544496249994465280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One of the most unique players in the entire NBA enters his third season with the Thunder. But this will actually be Pokusevski's first NBA Summer League experience after OKC decided not to have him join the team last year (and there was no competition in 2020).&nbsp;
Pokusevski has his staunch advocates and critics on either side after another up-and-down season in 2021-22. But he was much better after the All-Star break, averaging 12.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists across 19 games. Poku still has a ways to go in his individual development, and the Thunder have shown a willingness to be patient as the seven-foot wing progresses. A strong summer showing against less experienced competition would help justify the franchise's belief in him.
Paul Reed, Philadelphia 76ers
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Paul Reed dropped 20 PTS and snatched 15 boards in Game 1 of the Salt Lake City Summer League for the <a href="https://twitter.com/sixers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sixers</a>! 20 PTS | 15 REB | 4 STL <a href="https://t.co/NlAd1vxQSr">pic.twitter.com/NlAd1vxQSr</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1544495884829954048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Big-man depth behind Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris was one of the more pressing concerns for the 76ers in the postseason, and the franchise has done nothing in the offseason to bolster their bigs so far. For now, the responsibility falls on Reed and/or Charles Bassey to take the mantle as a backup.&nbsp;
At 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds, Reed has a bit more in his tool kit offensively then Bassey and really battles hard on the glass. This is an atmosphere where he can physically dominate. Reed already posted 20 points and 15 rebounds in a Salt Lake City Summer League showing against the Grizzlies.&nbsp;
Xavier Tillman, Memphis Grizzlies
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Xavier Tillman &amp; Ziaire Williams combined for 31 points to lead the <a href="https://twitter.com/memgrizz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@memgrizz</a> to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBASummer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBASummer</a> win!<a href="https://twitter.com/therealZiaire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@therealZiaire</a>: 15 PTS, 8 AST, 2 STL<a href="https://twitter.com/Rookiedunker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Rookiedunker</a>: 16 PTS, 4 AST <a href="https://t.co/rD5YnPb63N">pic.twitter.com/rD5YnPb63N</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1544497186821619713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The No. 35 pick from the 2020 NBA Draft logged a really solid rookie season with Memphis, but saw his playing time and efficiency scale back in 2021-22. Tillman struggled to finish at the basket and lost the flashes of three-point promise that appeared in his first year. With Brandon Clarke surging back as a notable piece, Jaren Jackson Jr. healthy and Steven Adams locked in at center, Tillman only had scraps of big-man minutes left over.
However, he's still a notable Grizzlies prospect. Tillman is the type of multifaceted big defender that today's game craves, and he can rebound and pass well for his position. Like Reed, Tillman has the chance to impose his will inside against younger, leaner Summer League players, and he can state his case for more playing time to the team.
Brandon Williams, Portland Trail Blazers
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Brandon Williams has been lighting it up for the <a href="https://twitter.com/trailblazers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@trailblazers</a>! He dropped a career-high 27 points in his first career start last night - his second consecutive 20+ point game. 💪 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GLeagueAlum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GLeagueAlum</a> <a href="https://t.co/WYteuaeBWm">pic.twitter.com/WYteuaeBWm</a>
&mdash; NBA G League (@nbagleague) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbagleague/status/1501331791558414340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Lost in the Trail Blazers' aimless second half was the emergence of Williams, an undrafted rookie guard whom Portland locked up on a two-way contract in February. He had played just two NBA games before the All-Star break, but averaged 13.7 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in 22 contests afterwards. Nekias Duncan even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/views-from-the-bottom-young-players-to-keep-an-eye-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted him in that same piece</a> for his pick-and-roll passing promise.
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Was Williams' opportunity solely because Portland was marred with injuries and well out of the playoff picture? Or does he have a real chance at a rotation spot this season? It's admittedly tough to envision with Damian Lillard getting healthy, Anfernee Simons secured on a lucrative extension and Keon Johnson on the rise. But there's no better case for Williams to assert his talent than at Summer League.
James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors
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Here is the full update from Jama Mahlalela on James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga. Said Wiseman probably won&rsquo;t play on Friday, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d definitely imagine in the next few (summer league) games we&rsquo;ll see him.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/FxLFQJ71Bn">pic.twitter.com/FxLFQJ71Bn</a>
&mdash; Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href="https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1544806078507954176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Warriors Summer League coach Jama Mahlalela said that he expects Wiseman to participate in Vegas at some point. It's been a long road of recovery for the 2020 No. 2 overall draft pick, who missed all of last season while rehabbing a torn meniscus. Wiseman's absence has fueled a chorus of critics to question his place with the defending champions.
Obviously, there's only so much Wiseman can do here as he continues to focus on his body. NBA training camp and the actual season far surpass any importance Summer League can provide. But if Wiseman does make appearances over the next two weeks, he'll assuredly be one of the summer's most-discussed players.

James Wiseman, Kai Jones and Killian Hayes are among the players who could use a standout Summer League showing in Las Vegas.

10 NBA veterans with a bit more to prove at Las Vegas Summer League

Hours before the 2022-23 league year began, one of the greatest players in NBA history dropped a bombshell.
Kevin Durant officially requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, signaling that massive changes are coming for the organization. It appears that Durant is done dealing with the sinking ship in Brooklyn, spearheaded by the melodrama consistently surrounding his fellow superstar teammate Kyrie Irving. In the next chapter of his career, it feels as if Durant seeks to be part of an organization where he can settle into a situation and win, aging gracefully in the process.
Even with Durant turning 34 years old at the start of next season, and being just two years removed from a torn Achilles, teams are lining up to offer a package for this transcendent, franchise-changing player. Somehow, despite suffering what is usually a career-altering injury for most, especially high-usage superstars, Durant has looked like himself &mdash; and maybe better.
According to Yahoo Sports&rsquo; Chris Haynes, Durant&rsquo;s preferred&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1542665711172341761?s=20&amp;t=nBjRLktC_Se3VMRltaXoVQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">destination is in Arizona with the Phoenix Suns</a>. As ESPN&rsquo;s Brian Windhorst alluded to, Durant asked out hours before the start of free agency <a href="https://twitter.com/r0bato/status/1542608980123553795?s=20&amp;t=nBjRLktC_Se3VMRltaXoVQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to help the Suns</a> in potential Deandre Ayton sign-and-trade discussions. This was a calculated move on Durant's part, and he's had the Suns circled target as his top landing spot. From Durant&rsquo;s perspective, having Phoenix as his No. 1 choice makes too much sense from multiple angles.
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First, Durant views Devin Booker as one of the best young players in the NBA. For years, Durant has been impressed with Booker from afar. And as the young star continues to develop into a bona fide top-15 player in the NBA, Durant&rsquo;s praise has been heard every step of the way.
Only a few short months ago, Durant <a href="https://youtu.be/pXG-4Ne4kcs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke glowingly about Booker&rsquo;s game</a> on JJ Redick&rsquo;s podcast, "The Old Man and The Three."
&ldquo;He just has a pretty game for one, but I just think he&rsquo;s really mastering who he is right now," <a href="https://youtu.be/pXG-4Ne4kcs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Durant said of Booker</a>. "He&rsquo;s figuring it out, like how to play at an elite level but still win, because he was always scoring the ball. But he knows how to win.&rdquo;
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Kevin Durant a few months ago talking about Devin Booker on <a href="https://twitter.com/OldManAndThree?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OldManAndThree</a>: <a href="https://t.co/AtvP0QbpSw">pic.twitter.com/AtvP0QbpSw</a>
&mdash; Evan Sidery (@esidery) <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1542583804082065408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Durant and Booker have long had a mutual admiration for one another, but their bond began to blossom back in 2019 when both were in Las Vegas with Team USA.
A few years ago, a young, star-struck Booker told me that Durant was the one who approached him about wanting to develop their relationship even further.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty well, we&rsquo;re just fans of basketball,&rdquo; Booker <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2019/1/1/18162944/phoenix-suns-focus-kevin-durant-wish-list-destination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me in 2020 about his relationship with Durant</a>. &ldquo;When you love the game and watch somebody with that much skill on both ends of the floor, you just have immediate respect for him. So, at USA [camp], he came to me like, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s play one-on-one. We have always been at a distance... Keep going, you know, your game is really solid.&rsquo; And having that chance to interact with each other then, develop the relationship even more [was great]. One of my favorite players in the league to watch from a skill-set standpoint. He has it all.&rdquo;
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Only two players under age 25 have carried 48/36/90 shooting splits + 60 TS% on high usage, per <a href="https://twitter.com/bball_ref?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bball_ref</a>: &bull; Kevin Durant (2012-13) &bull; Devin Booker (2019-20) <a href="https://t.co/Bo8RFhVAfw">pic.twitter.com/Bo8RFhVAfw</a>
&mdash; Evan Sidery (@esidery) <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1269723581568573441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2020</a></blockquote>

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Booker grew up idolizing Durant. (He even had a Fathead of the future Hall-of-Famer on his wall growing up.) Fast-forward to now, and this could be a full-circle moment for the 25-year-old All-Star; one of his idols seeking him out and wanting to play alongside him. Durant and Booker could be basketball nirvana on the court, but this relationship is also already one that's featured immense mutual respect for years.
Another reason Durant prefers the Suns is head coach Monty Williams, who coached KD for a short stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder as a lead assistant, plus he had multiple interactions with him during Team USA activities.&nbsp;
And the cherry on top? Chris Paul's elite point guard skills in setting up the offense.
Everything Durant craves is available to him in Phoenix. He'd have the stars around him to compete and go on multiple championship runs in the immediate future, as well as pre-existing relationships within the organization. The Suns have a win-now mentality, the right mix of star power and a front office willing to pay a hefty price to compete for titles.
The price Phoenix will need to pay for Durant is going to be astronomical. (Think about the Paul George trade to the Los Angeles Clippers or the Anthony Davis blockbuster to the Los Angeles Lakers.)
With the way draft picks are being moved around at the moment, Brooklyn should rightfully receive the maximum amount of compensation possible in regards to draft capital. Ayton will likely be out the door via sign-and-trade; whether he lands in Brooklyn is the biggest question. (The Nets reportedly aren't interested in Ayton, so the Suns may need to find a third team or separate deal.) Mikal Bridges and/or Cameron Johnson would also likely have to be included in a Durant blockbuster.
Is Phoenix truly willing to gut its entire young core and future in order to chase the organization&rsquo;s first NBA championship? The easy answer on that is yes, and Suns general manager James Jones is known to be passive in valuing the draft process anyways. Phoenix is probably more than willing to include whatever amount of draft picks necessary with the goal of creating the league&rsquo;s next super-team in The Valley.
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One full year after returning from his Achilles tear, Durant averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists on a ridiculously-efficient 63.4% True Shooting percentage. Durant is a basketball demigod &mdash; we all already know this &mdash; but within the Suns&rsquo; system, his own game would reach scary levels of effectiveness.
The ever-flowing gravity pull that Durant and Booker would have beside one another is truly unfair. Paul would be able to slide back into being the third or fourth option too, which is necessary at the twilight stages of his illustrious career. Having a foundation of Durant, Booker and Paul is already enough to be an elite team. After that, the next steps would be to retool around this trio, as the Suns&rsquo; roster will look completely different.
For the Nets, it will be very tough to find a realistic return package that can net them a &ldquo;win-now&rdquo; offer on top of recouping much-needed assets on the draft front. Sending out Ayton, Bridges and Johnson, plus whatever other picks and assets are involved, would be a monster haul for the Nets to fully reset. The Suns&rsquo; young trio paired alongside Ben Simmons would keep Brooklyn at least competitive for the postseason, which seems to be a goal for the Nets in trade negotiations.
It&rsquo;s not often you find two situations where the stars just align at the perfect time. That&rsquo;s exactly what&rsquo;s occurring between Durant and the Suns. Both sides want this to happen, and within the player-empowerment era, it seems very possible that this could come to fruition.
Durant bet on Irving and it blew up in his face. Instead, he wishes to pivot to an organization with newfound stability (thanks to Jones and Williams), a dynamic backcourt of Booker and Paul, and a sizeable championship window since the team projects to be a juggernaut in the Western Conference. Over the last two seasons, Phoenix has the most total wins in the NBA. Adding Durant to the already strong core of winning pieces in place presents the Suns with their best opportunity to hoist the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy.
Durant&rsquo;s arrival wouldn&rsquo;t be like Charles Barkley in 1992. This would be an entirely new level of relevancy coming to The Valley, as the Suns have already become title favorites in Las Vegas before a Durant deal has even occurred.
Phoenix wants to commit to an extended championship window centered around two of the greatest players in the NBA&rsquo;s modern era. Alongside them would be a young star in Booker who is showing to have real star-power pull.
Buckle up, because Durant has now singlehandedly changed the NBA landscape in one fell swoop. Now, the Suns are looking to soon pull off their biggest move in franchise history.
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Kevin Durant has requested a trade, with his preferred destination being the Suns. Durant's interest in Phoenix dates back a while.

Why Kevin Durant's attraction to the Suns should come as no surprise

Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren was wrapping up a multiday visit Friday with the Orlando Magic, who hold the No. 1 pick in next week&rsquo;s NBA draft.
A person with knowledge of Holmgren&rsquo;s visit said meetings, interviews and a dinner with team officials were all part of the process during his time with Orlando. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because neither side publicly revealed specifics about the visit.
There are three players who are the clear frontrunners for the No. 1 pick; Holmgren, Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/orlando-magic-nba-sports-basketball-37f5b4e51c1c0f27654f5085db1a5ba5">Smith worked out for the Magic last week.</a> Banchero expects to meet with the Magic in the coming days.
Smith also met this week with Oklahoma City, spending parts of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with the team that holds the No. 2 pick in Thursday&rsquo;s draft. He worked out for the Thunder as well, and isn&rsquo;t planning any other workouts &mdash; meaning he won't work out for Houston, which holds the No. 3 selection.
Smith said he enjoyed the Thunder workout, but made no secret of his wish to be the No. 1 pick.
&ldquo;It would mean a lot to me,&rdquo; Smith told reporters. &ldquo;A lot of great players have went No. 1. It would mean the world to me.&rdquo;
Holmgren, Smith and Banchero have similarities. All are forwards, all at least 6-foot-10 (Holmgren is a 7-footer), and all played one year of college ball. Holmgren and Smith were second-team AP All-Americans this past season, Banchero a third-team selection.
The Magic taking a long look at Holmgren probably isn't a surprise to another past Orlando star player. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway &mdash; the No. 3 pick by Golden State in 1993, before getting traded to the Magic &mdash; said as the college season was winding down that he got to know Holmgren well during the recruiting process, even while realizing that he was heading to Gonzaga instead.
He raves about Holmgren's potential.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s all about competing, he&rsquo;s about excellence, he&rsquo;s tough. ... I marvel," said Hardaway, who spent his first six NBA seasons with the Magic. &ldquo;You see a Kevin Garnett, handle the ball, shoot, make passes, and I&rsquo;ve always loved his game. He&rsquo;s just a terrific player. Every part of his game I love. He&rsquo;s just a winner."

Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren was wrapping up a multiday visit Friday with the Magic, who hold the No. 1 pick in next week’s NBA Draft.

Chet Holmgren visits with Magic as No. 1 pick intrigue builds

James Harden has averaged at least 15 field goal attempts per game in each of his last 10 regular seasons, encompassing his entire tenure with the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. He's put up at least 12 shots per game in 10 ten postseason appearances since 2013.&nbsp;
So when Harden took just two attempts in the Sixers' Game 6 exit against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals, it was jarring to those who watch Harden and those who have followed the drama of the franchise over the past year. After all, it was just one season ago where Ben Simmons' shot selection created a firestorm that ultimately led to February's blockbuster deal.
But this felt different. Harden is one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen. And the performance distracted from the fact that, even in his battle against Father Time, Harden is still one of the most talented floor generals in the world.&nbsp;
His "down" year included 22.0 points, 10.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game spanning a tenuous winter with the Nets and a midseason trade to Philadelphia. He still has the step-back, the strength and the court vision, even as his quick first step appears to be sputtering with age and injuries.
Harden is a game-changer for the 76ers, and it's why he is by far the chief offseason storyline. The 32-year-old holds a player option for next season. He could either opt-in and potentially sign an extension that could pay over $60 million in 2026-27, or decline and test the waters in unrestricted free agency. One more interesting wrinkle: According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, few around the league expect Philly to pony up with that max contract extension:
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WindhorstESPN</a> says to pump the brakes on Harden returning to Philadelphia next season with a max deal. "Nobody in the NBA believes that the Sixers are going to give James Harden a max contract.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/vASDx6p0ek">pic.twitter.com/vASDx6p0ek</a>
&mdash; Get Up (@GetUpESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1525118767511924736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It's a pivotal summer for Harden and the franchise. Should Philadelphia <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/signing-james-harden-to-a-max-contract-could-cripple-the-sixers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commit upwards of $200 million to a guard showing signs of physical decline who turns 33 next season</a>? Or should the team lower the offer and risk seeing an extremely talented, experienced playmaker (and a great fit with Joel Embiid) walk?
So Harden's contract is item No. 1 on president of basketball operations Daryl Morey's agenda. The next is evaluating which current rotation players are fit for long-term success.&nbsp;
Ten different Sixers averaged 10 or more minutes per game in the playoffs. It often felt like Sixers head coach Doc Rivers didn't know where to look for help outside of Embiid, Harden, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey. DeAndre Jordan, Matisse Thybulle and Georges Niang, among others, frequently drew the ire of fans on social media.&nbsp;
Jordan will hit the open market this summer along with fellow veteran big man Paul Millsap. But Philly doesn't have many other free agency decisions to make; Shake Milton (team option), Myles Powell (restricted) and Harden are the only others to monitor.
The luxury tax hampers the 76ers, who will only have the taxpayer mid-level exception to add free agents unless Harden leaves and opens up some cap space. That MLE is valued at approximately $6.3 million. Maybe Philly locks in a permanent backup center like Thomas Bryant or Chris Boucher? Or perhaps they look for wings, whether it be a shooter like Bryn Forbes or a playmaker such as Kyle Anderson. Either way, it's at least a chance to reel in a rotation-caliber addition.
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The Sixers are also absent from the current NBA Draft picture. They traded their first-rounder to Brooklyn in the James Harden trade (though the Nets can defer that pick to 2023) and their second-rounder is headed to Miami.&nbsp;
If Philly wants to make a serious splash, it'll have to turn to the trade machine. Morey has reasonable pieces at his disposal. Thybulle, for all of his offensive warts, is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA and will make just $4.38 million next season before entering restricted free agency. Niang is set to enter the final year of his current contract and will collect $3.47 million. Harris still has two years left on his massive deal, but the 29-year-old deserves credit for a resurgent playoff effort.
Ultimately, Morey's maneuvering will only do so much for a Sixers roster in need of tweaks and growth. The biggest development might come in the offseason gym with young players who have yet to realize their potential.
Paul Reed emerged as a high-energy bench big in the playoffs, but still has leaps to make away from the boards. Charles Bassey, picked 53rd overall last season, is another athletic center preparing for his opportunity. We're still waiting on 22-year-old Isaiah Joe (non-guaranteed for next season) to round out his flashes of microwave perimeter scoring.
I was a fan of Jaden Springer, last year's No. 28 overall pick, at draft time. Springer averaged 15.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, flying around on defense. But he still has a long way to go as an NBA guard on offense.
If any of these players break through into the full-time rotation next year, that's a major win for the 76ers development system. Trades can only accomplish so much when teams are sending pieces out to make additions. For Philly to take that next step as a championship contender, they'll need to see in-house improvement from Harden, the supporting cast and the young guns.
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James Harden's pending player option highlights a pivotal summer for the 76ers. Ethan Fuller dives in.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Philadelphia 76ers?

The Minnesota Timberwolves are talking to Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly about their vacant president of basketball operations role, The Associated Press has confirmed.
The talks were confirmed by a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity because neither franchise is commenting publicly. The talks were first reported by The Athletic.
Connelly is one of the NBA's rising top executives. He has built the Nuggets into a perennial playoff team that is expected to compete for a championship next season if Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. can return to health and rejoin <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic</a> on the court.
Connelly, who succeeded Masai Ujiri as the Nuggets' prime decision-maker in 2013 when Ujiri left to run the Toronto Raptors, has been courted before, by the Washington Wizards for their president of basketball operations position in 2019.
He's built both a solid roster and a respected front office in Denver, where the Nuggets have reached the playoffs the last four seasons under coach Michael Malone, including the Western Conference Finals in the Orlando bubble two years ago.
They <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-jamal-murray-nikola-jokic-98c0c6136a8c3b14423c54f889a09a5d">won 48 games</a> in 2021-22 despite the absences of Murray (knee) for the entire season and Porter (back) for all but nine games before losing to Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.
In addition to losing Ujiri, the Nuggets lost front office executive Arturas Karnisovas in 2020 when he left to take the Chicago Bulls' executive vice president job. Karnisovas' departure led to the promotion of Calvin Booth from assistant GM to general manager in Denver.
The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">Timberwolves also are a resurgent team</a>, coming off a season in which they doubled their win total from the previous season to 46. They pushed the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies hard in a six-game first-round playoff loss.
That was only the second appearance in the playoffs for the club in the last 18 years. With Karl-Anthony Towns inside and Anthony Edwards outside, there is an enviable foundation in place on the floor.
The Wolves have had plenty of turnover in the top front office job over the years, mirroring the franchise&rsquo;s tumultuous and largely unsuccessful history.
They fired Gersson Rosas right before training camp began last fall in response to mounting tension around him in the building. Sachin Gupta was promoted to be president of basketball operations in Rosas&rsquo; place, with the caveat that the position would be evaluated again this summer.
Gupta drew raves within the organization for his humble, steady leadership, notably from head coach Chris Finch. The franchise is currently in an ownership transition, with Glen Taylor in the process of handing over control to co-buyers Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in a sale that&rsquo;s scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
If the Wolves were to hire Connelly, or anyone from outside the organization, Gupta would more than likely be given the chance to stay with the team in a prominent position.
___
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed from Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves are talking to Nuggets president Tim Connelly about their vacant president of basketball operations role.

Report: Timberwolves in talks with Nuggets' Tim Connelly

Progression isn't linear.
Some players enter the league and almost immediately experience superstardom. Just look at what Luka Doncic is doing at just 23 years old, averaging 31.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists while <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/luka-doncic-enters-into-next-tier-of-nba-superstars-following-western-conference-semifinals-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ending the hopes and dreams of a 64-win Phoenix Suns team</a>. For other stars, the maturation process is one that takes time. Take a glance across the aisle at the Miami Heat with Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, who didn't make their first All-Star teams until 25 and 28 years of age, respectively.
Even the way that superstars experience progression differs dramatically from player to player. Steph Curry made his leap by improving as a two-point scorer. Giannis Antetokounmpo found a way to exceed his lofty ceiling by tirelessly building out his body.
That brings us to Jayson Tatum, fresh off vanquishing the aforementioned Finals MVP and the Milwaukee Bucks in what was a thrilling seven-game series. Buttery smooth scoring has long been the calling card of Tatum's game, and he's made alterations to that skill set over the years, eschewing mid-range shots for increased attempts at the rim and a bevy of pull-up three-pointers. But for as great of a scorer as Tatum has been as Boston's lead option, it's a different aspect of his game that has allowed him to ascend to a higher plane in these playoffs.
Jayson Tatum has taken yet another leap as a passer.
Tatum's assist average has increased every single season of his five-year career, and it feels as if it's all coming together this postseason. Through 11 playoff games, Tatum is averaging 6.1 assists per contest, which is not only a career-high but also a massive jump from the 4.4 dimes he averaged a night in the regular season. Five of his 10 highest-assist games have come in the 2022 playoffs, and his 12.5 potential assists &mdash; which measures passes to a player who shoots within one dribble &mdash; and 1.0 secondary assists&nbsp; (a.k.a. hockey assists) per game both register as career-highs.
His performance in Game 7 emblematized just how far he's come as a playmaker. Tatum was by far the best player on the floor, despite having the third-most points (23) in the game behind Antetokounmpo (25) and Grant Williams (27). His growth as a teammate, as a leader and as a player who has learned he can't do it alone shone brightly on the biggest stage. He finished with 8 assists and embraced his role as Boston's floor general.
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Williams will forever be etched into Boston lore thanks to his game-high 27 points on 7 made threes, but that wouldn't have been possible without the selflessness of his MVP-caliber teammate.
Milwaukee has long prioritized protecting the paint at all costs and allowing three-pointers from less-threatening options, and Sunday's Game 7 was no exception. In order to do so, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer matched Brook Lopez with Williams (and later Derrick White) and had Lopez pre-rotate into the painted area even if this meant conceding corner threes.
Initially, coach Bud's strategy appeared to be one of prudence, as Williams missed 5 of his first 7 three-point shots &mdash; 3 of which came off passes from Tatum. A younger Tatum might've looked elsewhere for assistance, or even pulled out his do-it-himself kit. The present-day Tatum, however, was unfazed by Williams' sluggish start. He instead trusted his teammate's work and continued to feed him a diet of pinpoint passes when Lopez shifted over, with his focus on finding the best possible shots &mdash; which just so happened to be open corner three-pointers for a 41% long-range shooter.
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&ldquo;Every shot he took tonight was a great shot. He took 22 shots and easily could have had 30. I feel like he passed up and was hesitant because he missed a couple in a row. And I think regardless, we just say to play the right way, make the right plays," Tatum said.
"If Grant took 10 open shots in a row, that&rsquo;s what we expect. If guys (are) hesitant and pass up open shots, it kind of (ruins) the rhythm that we play off. So we tell everybody, 'When you&rsquo;re open, shoot the ball.'&rdquo;
Tatum did more than just find the open man in the crevices of Milwaukee's defensive scheme; he also flashed his widely diverse and rapidly improving passing portfolio.
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He broke down defenders in isolation and got downhill, only to kick out to open teammates with gorgeous spinning dimes like the one above. One thing to note: Tatum is passing on 38.6% of drives, the highest downhill passing rate of his career.&nbsp;
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He exhibited patience and let the defense come to him, waiting for double-teams to converge only to precisely move the ball to open teammates (See: Clip 1). He also made plays out of the short roll when utilized as a screener (Clip 2). Tatum even fulfilled his connective duties admirably within coordinated ATOs, hurling a gorgeous high-low pass to Jaylen Brown from Boston's HORNS formation for his prettiest dime of the night (Clip 3).
In the 2022 postseason, Tatum has assisted on more than one-fourth of his teammates' buckets (25.2% assist percentage), a career-best for the St. Louis native. After averaging just 1.6 assists per game in his rookie season, he's made what was once his biggest shortcoming a legitimate strength.
Boston's ceiling as a championship contender was always going to be defined by its stars' willingness to share amongst the group. Isolation basketball doomed this ball club in previous postseason runs, and it's the main reason the Celtics have yet to advance to an NBA Finals. Even at the beginning of the season, there were questions about Tatum and Brown's capacity to move the ball and keep Boston's offense fairly democratic. Heck, their teammate, Marcus Smart, questioned the duo's appetite to facilitate after Boston's lethargic 2-5 start to the regular season.
&ldquo;Every team knows we are trying to go to Jayson and Jaylen, and every team is programmed and studies to stop Jayson and Jaylen. I think everybody&rsquo;s scouting report is to make those guys try to pass the ball," Smart said on Nov. 2. "They don&rsquo;t want to pass the ball, and that&rsquo;s something that they&rsquo;re going to learn.
"They&rsquo;re still learning and we&rsquo;re proud of the progress they are making, but they are going to have to make another step and find ways to not only create for themselves, but create for others on this team, to open up the court for them later in the game where they don&rsquo;t always have to take those tough shots or take tough matchups when they do get the 1-on-1 and see a trap. Just reading that. It&rsquo;s something that we&rsquo;ve been asking for them to do and they&rsquo;re learning. We just got to continue to help those guys do that and to help our team.&rdquo;
Now, Smart's early-season angst feels like a distant memory. Jayson Tatum has taken the requisite steps as a playmaker, only escalating that growth within the postseason, and his Celtics are beginning to see the results.
Taking down the defending champions was a big test, and Tatum passed with flying colors by, well, passing the dang rock.
A new challenge begins against the Miami Heat's second-ranked playoff defense.
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Matt Brooks raves over Jayson Tatum's career stretch as a passer and breaks down his improved floor vision in the playoffs.

Jayson Tatum is passing with flying colors as his playmaking escalates

The Phoenix Suns gave Evan Sidery a behind-the-scenes look at the their organization and what it takes to run an NBA franchise.

Inside look at the Suns' rise: The making of an elite NBA organization

Ja Morant had one of those nights. His 47 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists led the way for a young Grizzlies team fighting to avoid a 2-0 series deficit versus the Golden State Warriors in the second round. He was, in a word, invincible out there on Tuesday evening.
That said, it'd be a disservice not to mention that Golden State lost its best Morant defender, Gary Payton II, due to an elbow injury within the first three minutes of the game. That's more than just a small footnote; 'GPII' is one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the sport, a helacious screen sniffer-outer with the speed and physicality to stay epoxied to players of Morant's ilk as they bob and weave into the paint. There was a reason Payton II was promoted to Steve Kerr's starting lineup for each of the first two games. His job was to defend Morant at all costs.
Payton's injury left Golden State high and dry without any reliable options for the superstar Grizzly guard. Golden State's primary scheme versus pick-and-rolls is to simply switch assignments, so Morant went deep into his bag by targetting weaker Warrior options on PnR switches for a steady diet of downhill isolations.
Jordan Poole got the worst of it, diced up like a smoothie in a Ninja blender in a highlight that made rounds on social media almost instantaneously. Poole just doesn't have the experience nor the diligence to stick with Morant's wide array of moves&mdash;the fake-spins, the earth-shaking crossovers and through-the-legs dribbles&mdash;and was regularly left stumbling on his heels. Per NBA matchup stats, Morant went 3-for-5 when guarded by Poole, and the most shocking part about this stat is that he actually missed twice.
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Andrew Wiggins was Morant's primary defender, and while he did fare better than Poole by holding Morant to 33.3% shooting, Morant scored what ended up being the game-sealing floater by driving full force and then tapping his brakes to decelerate and get to his preferred right hand. Speed and change of pace appear to be Morant's most notable attributes when guarded by Wiggins. He basically Thanos-snapped the All-Star wing into dust with a helacious drive to close the third quarter.
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Golden State also gave Klay Thompson some reps against Morant, which, um... didn't go well. Morant shot a perfect 4-for-4 when guarded by Thompson, who very much looked like a player attempting to reclaim his former two-way greatness while coming off a two-year injury absence. It's probably too early to say Thompson has lost a step after ACL and Achillies tears in back-to-back seasons, but Tuesday night didn't necessarily help dispel that notion. Meanwhile, his backcourt buddy Steph Curry might be Golden State's best option going forward with Payton II on the mend. Not only did Curry record the game-sealing block against Morant in Game 1, he also held him to just 1-of-4 shooting in Game 2. Even on Morant's solo bucket, Curry does a nice job sending Morant to his weaker left hand before cutting off the driving lane. Ja just hits a ridiculous bank-shot through contact.
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Looking ahead, what are Golden State's options when attempting to contain this Tazmanian Devil of a power-guard? For one, disallowing Morant from attacking ill-suited defenders in isolation is certainly an idea worth exploring. Trapping pick-and-rolls by sending two defenders Morant's way just to get the ball out of his hands and forcing his teammates to finish possessions would also make sense. Per The Ringer's <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2022/5/4/23056681/ja-morant-grizzlies-warriors-nba-playoffs">Kevin O'Connor</a>, the Warriors trapped just one Grizzlies pick-and-roll, which eventually resulted in a three-pointer from a sub-32% shooter, Ziaire Williams.
Here's the problem: Late in the fourth quarter, Memphis may have already stumbled upon a possible counter should Golden State start blitzing pick-and-rolls.
Below, the Grizzlies run pick-and-roll by having Williams initially approach the left side of Wiggins' body to generate a drive going right for Ja Morant. Knowing this, Jordan Poole jumps in front of Williams to be in position to either switch or hedge the ball screen.&nbsp;
But it's all a ruse. At the last second, Williams flips his ball-screen to the right side of Wiggins' body, and because Poole was so eager to thwart Morant's preferred right-handed drive, he's now positioned poorly. Morant gladly takes the free lane to the basket down the left side of the floor for a gorgeous&nbsp;hanging layup.&nbsp;
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This wasn't the first time that Memphis preyed on Poole's inability to mask his intentions when guarding the pick-and-roll. Just one minute later, the Grizz went to the same action&mdash;this time with De'Anthony Melton faking and flipping his screen&mdash;and Poole is once again woefully out of position when he jumps out to contain the right-handed drive.
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These same principles of flipping ball screens could be applied if and when Golden State starts trapping pick-and-rolls. Imagine if, in each of the two clips above, Poole had taken a few steps higher to blitz the ball-screen from the right side of the floor. Williams would still have had a small window to set a screen on Wiggins' hip to send Morant left for the drive. It's worth mentioning that Morant is in that rarified class of athletes with a monstrous first step to beat traps with regularity.
Flat screens could also be something the Grizzlies could tinker with in lieu of the threat of a blitzing defense. Flat pick-and-rolls are when the screener sets the pick with his back completely parallel to the baseline. Because he isn't setting the screen on either side of the ball-handler defender's body, it makes it tough for the defense to tell which direction the ball-handler intends to go. It'd be at Morant's discretion to go left or right depending on which way the trapping defense was leaning.
(A brief tangent: Memphis could also experiment with snug pick-and-rolls should Golden State sag deep into the paint and dare Morant to shoot, a la Russell Westbrook. Snug pick-and-rolls, or PnRs closer to the basket, were how the Miami Heat countered the Los Angeles Lakers' paint-packed defense versus Jimmy Butler in the 2020 Finals. Setting screens closer to the rim puts the defense in a perilious situation with less time to recover, and all an explosive guard like Ja Morant needs is a slight advantage to take a few leaps and bounds to the rim to bust out his breathtaking athleticism.)
In Game 2, 21 of Ja Morant's 47 points came off drives, with most of those downhill attacks in isolation against grusomely underprepared Golden State defenders. It'll be interesting to see how Golden State responds. If the Dubs do indeed go the trapping route, Memphis already has displayed a few counters of their own with even more in their back-pocket. But ultimately, it all comes down to just how special of a driver Ja Morant is. He's fully equipt to beat aggressive schemes with pure athleticism. It turns out things get a lot easier when you boast the best downhill player of the last half-decade.
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Ja Morant single-handedly flipped the script in the Grizzlies-Warriors series, so how will Golden State respond defensively?

How the Grizzlies flipped the script on the Warriors

Mat Issa raves over Jordan Poole regarding his three-level scoring and how his ceiling may be higher than once thought.

Jordan Poole is even better than we could've imagined

The Atlanta Hawks had such high hopes.
After a surprising playoff run that came up just short of the NBA Finals, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ga-state-wire-atlanta-hawks-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-8d827eabf721d1b06d7207da48def57a">they came into this season</a> with a deep roster led by one of the league's most exciting young players.
Yet now, with only a handful of games remaining, Trae Young and the Hawks are limping toward the postseason with no prospects beyond a play-in spot and nothing to indicate they'll be hanging around very long in April.
Of the NBA's most disappointing teams, the Hawks are near the top of the list.
&ldquo;We still have an opportunity,&rdquo; insisted coach Nate McMillan, whose team is 36-37 and 10th in the Eastern Conference, the final play-in spot. &ldquo;The goal is to get ourselves in the playoffs. Once you get there, we showed last year that anything can happen.&rdquo;
Only last year, the Hawks rolled into the playoffs as one of the league's hottest teams, flipping a switch when McMillan took over for Lloyd Pierce.
They went 27-11 after the coaching change, grabbing a No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.
They kept up that momentum in the playoffs, romping past the New York Knicks in what became Young's (Madison Square) Garden party, stunning the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in seven games (effectively finishing off The Process), and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-hawks-phoenix-suns-milwaukee-bucks-nba-finals-nba-86a45418b2bf41ffcd7e53a00e0f7044">taking the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks</a> to six games in the East final.
If Young had not twisted an ankle in a freak collision with a referee, the Hawks very well could have knocked off the Bucks and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since moving to Atlanta in 1968.
Suddenly, the A-T-L went from a sleepy backwater NBA city that generally ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance to abuzz with excitement &mdash; especially after the team locked up cornerstones <a href="nba.com/news/reports-hawks-trae-young-expected-to-finalize-extension">Young</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-atlanta-hawks-john-collins-3641936ced947b00296dc2abb4dbfd84">John Collins</a> with massive contracts.
But this season hasn't come close to meeting expectations.
The Hawks have lingered around .500 all season &mdash; never building any sort of momentum, generally playing like a group of strangers, showing very little of the joy and camaraderie that carried them so far last summer.
Their mediocrity has been especially glaring in a year when the Braves gave Atlanta its first World Series title since 1995 and the Georgia Bulldogs won the college football championship.
&ldquo;Last year for a lot of guys, it was new,&rdquo; center Cint Capela said. "People don't really realize how hard it is to get there. You&rsquo;re never guaranteed to go back to the conference finals.&rdquo;
Young has put up another big season, ranking fourth in the league in scoring (28.1 points per game), but his supporting cast has been perplexingly inconsistent.
Capela has taken a big step backward, leaving the Hawks vulnerable defensively and on the boards. Bogdan Bogdanovic has never looked comfortable taking some of the scoring load off Young. Ditto for Kevin Huerter, who has too many nights when he fails to show up in the box score. Collins may be done for the season with hand and foot injuries.
Promising wins are generally followed by baffling losses, such as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-toronto-detroit-4f14d2b182f0e9744d20a3770493778c">Wednesday night's 122-101 debacle</a> against lowly Detroit, a 20-53 team that looked like a championship contender against Atlanta
The Pistons took control with a 23-0 run and led by as many as 29.
The Hawks haven't won back-to-back road games since late December, which doesn't bode well for a team that will likely have to win two straight away from home just to earn its way into the playoffs.
&ldquo;We know what we've got to do,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;We've got to stay locked in and try to finish out the season strong and see where it leads us in the end."
There have been some unexplainable losses to the league's weakest teams &mdash; three times to the Knicks, twice against the Pistons, not to mention Orlando, Washington, Portland, San Antonio and Houston.
General manager Travis Schlenk, who totally overhauled the roster to set up last year's playoff run, held off on any major changes at this season's trade deadline. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-atlanta-new-york-knicks-atlanta-hawks-7b92f82027b999ad26fd862414456510#:~:text=ATLANTA%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The%20struggling,Knox%20is%20heading%20to%20Atlanta.">His only move</a> was dealing former first-round pick Cam Reddish, who was unhappy with his lack of playing time, to the Knicks.
Now, Schlenk will have to decide if 2021 was an aberration and more big changes are needed.
Capela hopes this season was just an unexpected blip.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a new process. Sometimes the next season, you put too much pressure on yourselves, so you don&rsquo;t do as good," he said. &ldquo;It's the season after that where you do good."
So, Hawks fans, maybe check back again in 2023.

Of the NBA's most disappointing teams, the Hawks are near the top of the list.

After thrilling playoffs, Hawks limping into NBA postseason

Last night, on his 42nd birthday, Jamal Crawford announced his retirement from the NBA. Crawford is one of eight players in NBA history to play for 20 seasons; only Vince Carter (22), Robert Parish (21) and Kevin Willis (21) had a longer career.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo; Goodbye to the game, all the spoils the adrenaline rush.&rdquo; Thank you basketball, I owe you everything &hellip;..✌🏾 <a href="https://t.co/PpKYjoqz9p">pic.twitter.com/PpKYjoqz9p</a>
&mdash; 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/1505795444693082112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
Crawford will go down as arguably the greatest sixth man of all-time, and he's one of just two players to win the Sixth Man of the Year award three times. He was known for creating instant offense off of the bench, and he was one of the league&rsquo;s best ball-handlers &mdash; consistently coming up with new moves and wowing fans with his handles. He scored the second-most points off the bench in NBA history (trailing only Lou Williams), per <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1505915685238497285" target="_blank" rel="noopener">StatMuse</a>.
Crawford was also known as one of the best teammates around the league, winning the NBA&rsquo;s Teammate of the Year award in 2018. He has strong relationships with many people around the basketball world &mdash;&nbsp; from players to coaches to executives to media. Throughout his career, he garnered a ton of respect from fellow players because of his immense love of the game and electrifying style of play, which inspired plenty of younger hoopers (especially in his hometown of Seattle).&nbsp;
Over the years, Crawford has done everything in his power to help up-and-coming Seattle-area players, even letting some live with him throughout his NBA career (including Isaiah Thomas, Nate Robinson and Abdul Gaddy among others).
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about. When you&rsquo;re a kid, you think it&rsquo;s all about you making it. Then, as you get older, the real joy, the real fulfillment, comes from seeing someone else make it," Crawford <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2018/09/03/nba-seattle-supersonics-sonics-jamal-crawford-proam-crawsover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> in 2018. &ldquo;How can I tell someone like Isaiah Thomas or Brandon Roy or Nate Robinson or Tony Wroten or any of these guys to go help the next generation if I&rsquo;m not doing it? It all goes full circle. That&rsquo;s the payback. I don&rsquo;t want anything from those guys, I just want them to do it for the next generation... Before looking at their talent, I like to see how good of a kid they are and what kind of character they have. That&rsquo;s No. 1 for me. Once I see that, I&rsquo;m willing to help to the moon and back. I want to work with them and show them that this [lifestyle] is attainable.&rdquo;
When Crawford thinks about his career, he's said that passing down that pay-it-forward mentality to the next generation of Seattle players is one of his proudest achievements. Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine raves about Crawford, and he now tries to help younger players just as Crawford helped him.
&ldquo;Jamal is just, like, the best human being. He&rsquo;s a great person,&rdquo; LaVine&nbsp;<a href="https://hoopshype.com/2018/09/03/nba-seattle-supersonics-sonics-jamal-crawford-proam-crawsover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me</a> in 2018. &ldquo;I try to be the same way; it&rsquo;s just how you&rsquo;re supposed to be, how you&rsquo;re supposed to treat other people. I thank my parents [for instilling that]. I remember being in high school &ndash; or even right before I entered high school &ndash; getting little invites to their pro runs. To be a high-schooler going up against Brandon Roy, Jamal, Nate Robinson, Tone [Wroten]? You keep getting better and better. You can see the progression, and they can see that you&rsquo;re part of that group of players who will carry on Seattle basketball. You start from a young age and then once you get there [to the pros], you just pass it down the same way.&rdquo;
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Crawford is beloved by quite a few fan bases, having suited up for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets.
After a productive 2018-19 season with the Suns (where Crawford was a strong leader and scored 51 points in his final game), he had a hard time getting signed by NBA teams. The Nets ultimately signed him during the NBA Bubble in Orlando, but he appeared in just one game before injuring his left hamstring. That would end up being Crawford&rsquo;s final NBA game, as he remained unsigned throughout the 2021-22 season &mdash; even when COVID-19 ravaged rosters and created opportunities for other veterans.
What&rsquo;s next for the 42-year-old? He has already been co-hosting the HooperVision broadcasts on NBA League Pass alongside Quentin Richardson, and he has received other offers in the media space (such as podcasting opportunities). Crawford has long been considered an excellent candidate for a broadcasting gig, and now he can seriously pursue that.&nbsp;
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Recently, Crawford has been coaching his son's basketball team, and he revealed on a Twitter Spaces conversation several months ago that he has received coaching and front-office offers from NBA teams. He has said that he wants to become an NBA executive someday because he feels that the NBA needs more former players in those positions, but it remains to be seen when he&rsquo;ll pursue that.
&ldquo;I [have] wanted to get into management just from the standpoint, I think we need more players in those roles and positions, someone that can give some insight into what it is like in the locker room,&rdquo; Crawford said, according to <a href="https://landonbuford.com/2021/10/03/jamal-crawford-reveals-he-has-gotten-nba-coaching-front-office-offers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Landon Buford</a>. &ldquo;Everything is not about numbers; sometimes, it is: what is driving this person? For example, how much does this person love the game? And is there something off the court affecting his on-the-court play? Those are the little nuances that I don&rsquo;t think they are looking at.
&ldquo;I would love to do that still, but I am enjoying coaching my son&rsquo;s team right now. Like, I am having a ball doing that. And I&rsquo;ll tell you guys that I have gotten offers for front-office and coaching in the NBA. I have put it on pause because I enjoy doing this, and I&rsquo;m the parent that is good with keeping the scorebook. The coach asked me to help out and that turned into a bug. I look forward to it and that&rsquo;s the immediate step basketball-wise, and then the other [stuff] will be there like TV and management hopefully at some point down the road.&rdquo;
After an amazing 20-year career, the basketball world is excited to see what the future holds for Crawford.
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Last night, on his 42nd birthday, Jamal Crawford announced his retirement after a 20-year NBA career. What's next for Crawford?

Jamal Crawford retires after 20-year NBA career: What's next for him?

I'd like to take you on a trip down memory lane, if I may.
The date is Jan. 11, 2021. It's a chilly night in Charlotte, North Carolina. People are stuck in traffic, because that's how it goes after 5 p.m. in this city. There are no fewer than 12 Cook Out locations flooded &mdash; and for that, we say thank you and God bless.
More importantly, there's a basketball game going on between the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks.&nbsp;
Midway through the third quarter, then-rookie phenom LaMelo Ball decides to push the ball in transition. He glides through the middle of the floor, targeting fellow rookie Immanuel Quickley on a drive as he backpedals.&nbsp;
LaMelo decelerates before crossing to his right, then begins his gather. Something funny happens from there though.
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That's right &mdash; LaMelo attempts, possibly, the worst James Harden impersonation of all-time. He goes searching for Quickley's arm and gets nothing but air. The momentum from the flail alters his balance &mdash; the last thing he needs since he's in the midst of a wrong-hand finish.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Show 10 random NBA fans that clip, and I guarantee at least eight of them give some sort of "that's what you get" sentiment for trying to generate contact. I immediately fell &mdash; and continue to fall &mdash; on the other side of the aisle. As I <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1348806292882808833?s=20&amp;t=H-TnrjRhKj4jxJtee4KwqA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted in the moment</a>: That attempt is proof that foul-drawing is a skill.
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NBA offenses have never been as prolific as they are right now.
We're buzzing with buckets in this era, currently riding a four-season streak of the league's average Offensive Rating eclipsing <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats_per_game.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110 points per 100 possessions</a>.
The emphasis on shooting and spacing &mdash; linked, but not synonymous! &mdash; has led to a more open game. Ball-handlers are more dynamic, blending slick handles, a more-willing trigger from (super) deep and driving chops that leave defenders asking, "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?"
We love buckets around these parts. Pull-ups. Stepbacks. Floaters. Eurosteps. Reverse lay-ins. Thunderous finishes. Post work &mdash; hooks, up-and-unders, fadeaways. Scoring is fun, obvious to the eye, and easy to break down and compare for the most part.
There is a brand of scoring that doesn't get the respect it deserves, however: free throws. Not only are they boring to watch, but the process in which they're earned also has an approval rating of, like, six percent.
Don't take my word for it: I asked y'all.
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What's your least favorite part of NBA offense?
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1500833149051445253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It's anecdotal of course, but it's telling that 72.3% of the vote &mdash; well over 4,500 people &mdash; voiced their displeasure of foul-drawing. Or foul *baiting*, since that distinction matters to so many of you.
You can cycle through the replies and quote tweets if you'd like, but the common theme was a sense of gaming the system. Those dreaded non-basketball plays. The flailing. The possessions where players make moves to draw contact versus trying to make the shot.
It's a fair position in vacuum. I got a hearty laugh out of Chris Paul drawing a rip-through foul on young Jonathan Kuminga some 70 feet from the basket, but I can understand why that might be annoying.
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(On the Paul front, he t<a href="https://youtu.be/C4BKdCT95h0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alked about the rip-through</a> on JJ Redick's podcast not too long ago. I'd recommend it; also, he's right.)
What I will say, however, is that foul-drawing as a concept seems pretty underrated. Flat-out disrespected, even. I don't think enough people understand the level of skill it takes to draw fouls consistently.&nbsp;
LET IT RIP
Actually, let's talk about the Paul thing for a minute.
Did you know he's essentially made ICE coverage &mdash; the tell is when the on-ball defender positions himself in a way to force the ball-handler towards the sideline &mdash; unplayable against him?
Going into an ICE possession, you have to worry about him snaking the pick and flowing into the pull-up middy he shoots 8,032% on. He's one of the three best pocket passers in NBA history (argue with your mother), so any miscue can lead to a shot at the basket for his big. If all else fails, he can string out the pick, force a late switch and either:
<ul>
<li>Abuse it himself</li>
<li>Let his big brutalize a small guard</li>
</ul>
On top of that, you can't even press him prior to his drive because he'll locate your arm. If you think you can get your hand out of the cookie jar quickly enough, you can't. He's too quick, too good at timing it.
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Over the past three seasons, Paul-led ball screens are generating north of 1.1 points per possession against ICE coverage &mdash; the second-best mark among high-volume guards, per Second Spectrum. Again, Paul as a scorer and passer against the coverage is deadly enough.
On the foul front, only Ja Morant (91) has drawn more fouls against ICE coverage than Paul (83) during that span. Considering the stark difference in athleticism and shot profile between the two, you can surmise who's drawing what type of fouls the most.
Of course, Paul isn't the only guy that can make you pay in that way.&nbsp;
Kevin Durant might be the godfather of the move. He doesn't go to it as often anymore, but he's sure to remind you to keep your hand out of the cookie jar.
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Trae Young sprinkles it in as well, though we'll talk about him a little later.
TAKING STRIDES
Can we talk about the Cameroonian Cheat Code?
People are&nbsp;furious&nbsp;with the whistle Joel Embiid gets. I get it in a vacuum; it's a bit wild to watch a guy that&nbsp;big hit the ground (or flail his arms) as often as he does.&nbsp;But man, I really do implore you to dig into the subtleties of his foul-drawing.
Think about your priors when defending Embiid. He's bigger than you, stronger than you and likely quicker than you. You're already working at a disadvantage before digging into the skill level. Then, he's smart on top of all of that.&nbsp;
If you think guards can be handsy before an attack, bigs definitely are. Embiid has countered by mastering the rip-through in his own right. Because he's so comfortable with his jumper now, defenders are even more susceptible to his pump fake. You're truly at his mercy when he faces up.
On a related note &mdash; very, very, very,&nbsp;quietly, Embiid is one of the most skilled drivers in basketball.
The threat of the jumper (and pump fake) opens up driving opportunities for him. I've found myself in awe of the way he decelerates or changes his stride length when attacking the basket. And when those skills work in conjunction, defenders have no idea what to do with him.
I still have the foul he drew against Evan Mobley last week on a loop in my head.
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Mobley is already one of the best defenders in the sport, and he has nothing here. Embiid faces up, hits Mobley with a stutter-rip (shout out <a href="https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PD Web</a>) and immediately gains inside leverage. On the gather, Embiid hits the brakes on his second step and waits out the Mobley contest to draw the foul.
Think about the amount of balance it takes to pull that off, as well as the strength it takes to power through and get a shot up.
You know who else is good at throwing defenders off in that way without really getting credit for it? Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It turns out "Run and Dunk Man" has a little more to him. He doesn't just hit you with spin moves and Eurosteps; he mixes up the speed and stride length of those moves.
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LEVERAGE PLAYS &mdash; STRENGTH VS. SLICK
Zooming out, there's a difference between players who can knock defenders off-balance and players who can shift defenders off-balance. The best foul-drawers are able to do both, of course, but it's rare to find a player with a pure 50/50 split between those methods.
You generally think of bigs &mdash; Giannis and Embiid in particular &mdash; when you think of strength-based foul-drawing, which is precisely why Jimmy Butler is so unique.
He doesn't possess elite burst. The handle isn't great. His jumper is non-threatening. He's passive at times as a scorer. And yet, Butler (5.17) is one of <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/nba/player?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four high-minute players</a> averaging at least 5 two-point shooting fouls drawn per 100 possessions: Embiid (8.16), Giannis (7.82) and DeMar DeRozan (5.03) are the others.
Butler does possess great footwork, which helps him in face-up situations. He may be the NBA's prominent stutter-rip enthusiast. But man, does he do a lot of work with his shoulder.
If he gains an inch, he's driving his shoulder into his defenders' chests. And if they try to recover, he's able to pump fake them into oblivion, or plow through them for foul calls. Look no further than his masterclass against the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
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As annoyed as people have been with Harden's tricks, his ability to power through guys has gone grossly under the radar for most of his career. Remember the LaMelo play up top? Harden has the cadence down&nbsp;and&nbsp;the strength to power through.
He weaponizes his strength with a low, lull-em-to-sleep dribble that unlocks the rest of his game. Stay lax? Stepback time. Try to shade him a certain way? He's able to attack your front foot and getting downhill. Try to disrupt the dribble? He's powering through that sucker.
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Then, there's the finesse side of the equation, where unpredictability can put defenders in torturous positions.
That's where Young comes in. He's a tricky little booger you can never really catch. His ability to change directions is nearly unrivaled in the leauge.
You don't think of him as&nbsp;explosive&nbsp;because of the lack of vertical juice, but he's a pretty violent dude in terms of darting around; he's the NBA's (peak) LeSean McCoy in that regard. On top of that, I'm not sure anybody in the league decelerates quite like him. To have that, on top of his ball skills, is simply unfair.
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I'm not here to argue that watching these guys rack up 10 to 12 free throws on a given night is as fun as an ankle-breaking crossover that flows into a pull-up.&nbsp;
I do think there needs to be more credit given toward how hard it is to make defenders wrong as consistently as these guys do. There are so many split-second reads (and microskills) at play that can be missed if you aren't paying attention.&nbsp;
Or put another way: If it was easy to flop or grift your way into calls, more people would pull it off consistently.
They don't for a reason.
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Citing different methods, Nekias Duncan gives flowers to some of the best foul-drawers in the league.

A gift, not a grift: Coming to the defense of foul-drawing

On Tuesday night, Steph Curry became the NBA&rsquo;s all-time leader in career three-pointers with 2,974 at the Mecca &mdash; Madison Square Garden. It was a time of jubilation, and emotions ran high as they paused the game for an embrace with his father Dell Curry, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen, who were on hand to pass the torch. It was certainly a magical NBA moment.&nbsp;
Steph has not only cemented himself in the NBA history books as the greatest shooter ever in the game, but he has changed the way the entire game is played. With that said, he is deserving of the utmost respect for reasons that far exceed his amazing accomplishments on the basketball court.&nbsp;
I had the honor of interviewing Steph Curry for my <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/police-brutality-and-white-supremacy-the-fight-against-american-traditions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upcoming book</a>, "Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions."
When I sat down with Steph after the Golden State Warriors' game against the Washington Wizards in the visiting locker room, the first thing I told him was that I didn&rsquo;t want to talk about anything really having to do with basketball, but that I wanted to interview him for a book I was putting together about police brutality, racism and how it&rsquo;s going to take a collective effort to dismantle it.
And without hesitation, he said sure. He looked at the line of other reporters who wanted to ask him about the game, asked them to wait a minute and sat down and talked with me for about 15 minutes. Some of the other reporters were giving me the stank eye, but ESPN's Michael Wilbon stood close by and ear hustled, and told me after that he couldn&rsquo;t wait for my new book to come out.&nbsp;
I asked Steph about the stance he took of choosing to not visit the White House and his willingness to speak out against police brutality and call out racism, and I told him how much respect the athlete activists of the past had for him &mdash; namely Oscar Robertson. He looked at me with a big smile and replied, &ldquo;Really? I didn&rsquo;t know that.&rdquo;
I explained to him that I interviewed The Big O for <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/we-matter-athletes-and-activism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my book</a>, "We Matter: Athletes And Activism,&rdquo; and that Oscar spoke for quite some time about how much he respected the way Steph handled the situation at Under Armour in particular, and how he uses his voice and his platform. Oscar said a lot of the guys like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell have discussed that on many occasions.&nbsp;
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I asked Steph to break down for me how he used his position, platform and power to influence the CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, and to explain what exactly happened:
Curry: "Now as far as Under Armour, Kevin Plank was invited to this council that [Donald] Trump had put together with other major business CEOs, and the smokescreen was that they were trying to figure out how to bring jobs back to America. But, a lot of people saw through it in terms of it being more of a PR stunt, but others didn&rsquo;t. Our CEO made some glowing comments about Trump being an asset to American businesses and as a person.
"I chimed in because I had a very different opinion and position on Trump. He&rsquo;s shown exactly who he was on multiple occasions, and I didn't think it was anything worthy of praise in any way, shape or form, and I stood up for what I believed in. The ideals that Trump promotes and the way it permeates throughout our culture, we as athletes with the microphones in front of us and people caring what we have to say, we have an opportunity to be true to who we are and stand up for what is right and against what is wrong. And as a Christian and as a Black man, it really wasn&rsquo;t a hard position for me personally to take."
Etan: And your CEO, Kevin Plank, backtracked on his statement after that? Because that was the part that Oscar Robertson loved the most.
Curry: I called Kevin before I talked to the media, and I had a lot of questions around what his intentions were and where his mind was in regards to promoting and endorsing Trump &mdash; and his plans for working with Trump moving forward. I explained how Trump&rsquo;s ideals didn&rsquo;t align with mine. When you&rsquo;re connected to people from a business perspective the way that I am, I&rsquo;m in a position to hold their feet to the fire, and that&rsquo;s what I did. He respected my position and understood where I was coming from."
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And that&rsquo;s what drew high praise from Oscar Robertson, who <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/we-matter-athletes-and-activism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told me this</a> in "We Matter: Athletes And Activism."
&ldquo;I get a big smile on my face every time I see one of the current players using their voice," Robertson said. "Like a proud dad watching his son playing ball and making the moves he used to make. I think back to Muhammad Ali, and when he didn&rsquo;t go into the army... they just didn&rsquo;t want him to influence other Black kids into not going into the army, because they knew the level of influence he had. Well, the same goes for today. They don&rsquo;t want these athletes to influence Black kids. They want you to be peaceful, sedated, grateful to them...
"I was so glad to see Curry get upset when the Under Armour guy said he was a big Trump supporter, and you know why? Because they need Curry, and this is why it&rsquo;s great to take advantage and know who you are.&rdquo;
Steph Curry has remained unafraid to stand up for what he believes in, whether it&rsquo;s a popular or an unpopular position. He has publicly denounced Donald Trump, racism and police brutality, and refused to visit the White House after the Warriors won the championship, all while simultaneously speaking about his dedication and committment to his faith. Not just in name of calling himself a &ldquo;Christian,&rdquo; but by actively trying to follow the actual teachings of Jesus Christ (and yes, there is a big difference). His courage is unique and important in this day and age.
So while we celebrate the accomplishments of Steph Curry on the court, let&rsquo;s not forget his bravery and courage off the court as well.&nbsp;

Etan Thomas shares a story of why Oscar Robertson is happy with Steph Curry's accomplishments and values off the court.

Oscar Robertson has high praise for Steph Curry — off the court

Etan Thomas has a direct message for Ben Simmons, who hopefully will have an opportunity to shut up his critics.

An open letter to Ben Simmons from Etan Thomas

There was a play early last season that generated much attention around the NBA. Atlanta&rsquo;s Trae Young used his speed to dribble past Brooklyn&rsquo;s Timoth&eacute; Luwawu-Cabarrot. And as Luwawu-Cabarrot tried to catch up, Young slammed on the brakes.
Collision. Whistle.
Foul on Luwawu-Cabarrot, who shrugged in disbelief.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not basketball,&rdquo; Nets coach Steve Nash pleaded from the bench.
The NBA is apparently inclined to agree. Following suggestions from the league&rsquo;s competition committee, the NBA has spent time this offseason teaching its referees how to handle it when offensive players are making non-basketball moves with hopes of drawing contact from defenders &mdash; something that will be a point of emphasis this season.
Going forward, such plays will merit <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-nba-is-trying-to-eliminate-unnatural-foulbaiting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">either a no-call or an offensive foul</a>.
&ldquo;One of the things that we realized with a free-flowing game that&rsquo;s played in space is this idea that we want competitive balance,&rdquo; said Monty McCutchen, the NBA&rsquo;s senior vice president and head of referee development and training. &ldquo;We want this idea that both on offense and defense, you have equal opportunities to be competitive and to compete every night. ... And as the rules are written, our players are the best in the world at innovating up to the limits of those rules.&rdquo;
It falls under the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;freedom of movement&rdquo; rules, which became a major talking point three years ago when the NBA made players cut down on grabbing and dislodging opponents &mdash; and that skewed toward helping the offense. By telling offensive players to stop making non-basketball moves to create contact with opponents, that should help defenders.
The non-basketball moves are the major focus of this week&rsquo;s referee preseason meetings, which run through Thursday, and the new way of officiating those moves was put into action at summer league in Las Vegas last month.
&ldquo;Some of the best, most historical plays, in the history of our game have been blocks, wonderful defensive stands, protecting the rim or beating someone to position and taking an offensive foul,&rdquo; McCutchen said. &ldquo;And we don&rsquo;t want to lose that. The non-basketball moves is an interpretation change in which, if players launch themselves at abrupt or overt, or have a launch angle that is not part of a basketball move and it becomes abnormal, then we either want that to be a no-call or an offensive foul.&rdquo;
The competition committee &mdash; a group of owners, general managers, coaches and a player representative, a cross-section that ensures all points of view are heard &mdash; decided to push for changes in this particular area earlier this year. The league announced the policy change on Aug. 8.
Players like Young and Brooklyn&rsquo;s James Harden are typically the first ones linked to the policy change, though the NBA pointed out a series of plays that could apply under the way such a move will be officiated going forward &mdash; and neither Young nor Harden was involved.
But Young is particularly adept at getting to the line, in part because of the way he has been able to lure defenders into contact. The Hawks guard is listed at 6-foot-1 and averaged 8.7 free throw attempts per game last season; the only other time since 2007 that a player 6-foot-1 or less averaged that many in a season was 2019-20, when Young averaged 9.3 per game.
&ldquo;We have the best athletes in the world,&rdquo; McCutchen said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the biggest, and combined with the fastest and quickest, and as a result, our players will adjust to this through how the game is both written in rules and applied in rules. And when they do adjust to this, then our game will flow and be the game that can be played by the best athletes in the world, coached by the best coaches in the world, so that it presents itself as the best game in the world &mdash; which we already believe it is.&rdquo;

Non-basketball moves are the major focus of this week’s NBA referee preseason meetings, which run through Thursday.

Luring defenders into fouls won’t be easy in NBA this year

The Little Guy From Bendigo doesn&rsquo;t quite roll off the tongue like Just A Kid From Akron, but like LeBron James, G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels is trying to make his hometown famous.
It&rsquo;s apropos that Daniels is channeling his childhood hero, though his country neighborhood in Victoria, Australia is more rural and smaller than that of LeBron&rsquo;s well-known abode in Northeast Ohio. It&rsquo;s also located on another continent in another hemisphere, a place that many people in the United States have never heard about.
From news articles to funding to general support, Daniels has felt the love from his local community. So what better way to return the favor than to make it to the NBA?
&ldquo;I try not to take it as pressure, but I'm trying to do everything to get Bendigo and Australia on the map,&rdquo; Daniels told BasketballNews.com in a Zoom video interview. &ldquo;Just be the best version of me I can and do my best."
He&rsquo;s chosen to do that with the Ignite in America, as opposed to committing to college or signing with the popular National Basketball League Next Stars program close to home, a route he was extremely close to picking.
&ldquo;I was almost certain on it before I got offered to go play on the G League Ignite squad. I was almost certain on going to the NBL,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;That's obviously a very good pathway as well. We've seen it with [Josh] Giddey and a few other players.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But I think just the overruling factor was talking, having a few Zoom calls with [former Ignite] head coach Brian [Shaw] and [G League president] Shareef [Abdur-Rahim], and them telling us about the development you're gonna get on and off the court. You're gonna be busy all day doing basketball things and helping to get better life skills and stuff like that. But yeah, I think I made the right decision and I'm ready to get started."
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Just over a week ago, Daniels made the trek to America to begin a new chapter of his basketball journey in California. He&rsquo;ll be one of the standout prospects joining the likes of Michael Foster, Jaden Hardy, Scoot Henderson, MarJeau Beauchamp and Fanbo Zeng as a part of a highly-regarded Ignite squad.&nbsp;
In one of his first workouts following his arrival, Daniels got to exchange pleasantries with Jason Hart, the team&rsquo;s new head coach following Shaw&rsquo;s departure to the Los Angeles Clippers.
&ldquo;It was good to catch up with him,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;That's the first time I've ever seen him in person, but he believes in me. You've gotta earn your playing time, so when training [camp] starts, I'm gonna put in [the work] and I'm gonna make sure I earn it."
Fans and even front office decision-makers may be unfamiliar with Daniels and his skill set, as there&rsquo;s little film and box-score research that can be done on the 18-year-old. For some, that unknown factor might be cause for hesitation. Daniels, however, sees that as a golden opportunity to show what he&rsquo;s made of.
&ldquo;I try not to get in my head [and be] too involved in the mock drafts and things like that, but I guess being there, people haven't really seen me as much as some of the other guys,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;That's good for me, and I'm just here to show 'em that I'm gonna put in the work and try to get my name up top once they see me more. But yeah, ultimate goal is to go No. 1.&rdquo;
Daniels describes his game as &ldquo;unlike anyone else&rsquo;s.&rdquo; He doesn&rsquo;t model it after anybody, instead taking bits and pieces from multiple pros. Using his favorite NBA player, Russell Westbrook, as a blueprint, Daniels emulates a similar mentality. He likes to interrupt passing lanes and intercept the ball to get out into transition as his fellow Aussies, Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle, often do.&nbsp;
Defense leading to transition chances, he relays, is a signature tool in his arsenal.
&ldquo;That's how I generate a lot of my offense. I like to think of myself as just 'smart' defensively, being able to get steals, being able to guard 1-through-4, some 5,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;Get steals, play smart, rotate and generate offense then. But I'm a playmaker, I'm a big point guard, 6-foot-6, so I like to make plays off the dribble for my teammates and myself. Get into lanes and use my floaters is one of my keys.&rdquo;
Basketball News Lead NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock provided his own scouting report on Daniels:
Dyson Daniels has positional size, can create with the ball in his hands and is a terrific slasher and capable outside shooter. He has a lot of upside and is a high priority on our watch list for this upcoming season.
Once Daniels acclimates to the Ignite environment in Walnut Creek by getting to know his teammates and running through a few practices, he&rsquo;ll set more short-term objectives for himself. For now, he&rsquo;s been in the gym with trainer Jordan Lawley in L.A. to address some areas of his game that can be refined.
&ldquo;Just become a more consistent shooter, just tweaking a few things in my shot preparation that I need to do better,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;But I'm sure that's gonna come. It's come along nicely already. But that, and then tightening up my handle. I'm a bit taller [of a] point guard... some of those little guards can get in underneath you, so I'm sure that's what's gonna happen this year in the G League. Just tightening up my handle and being ready for anything are some things I'm trying to improve on.&rdquo;
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While he may have solid size and length now, it wasn&rsquo;t always that way for Daniels. Now at 6-foot-6, he argues that having to pick up skills when he was little helped him become the player he is now.&nbsp;
Daniels remembers being a small six-year-old kid playing point guard for a Division III team in a U-10 league, erratically sprinting on the floor and turning the ball over frequently. But from the day he touched a basketball, Daniels knew he was &ldquo;made for it.&rdquo; He would watch the NBA, NBL and any other hoop programming that would hit his television screen.
His father, Ricky, played two years at NC State and starred for the Bendigo Braves when he was younger. While his mom, Brikitta, has gotten Dyson right in terms of manners and keeping him in line, Ricky has helped Dyson from a young age in the backyard.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Both my parents have helped me a lot just to become the person I am,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really good to have them and I get pointers off them... My biggest support system is my family, my close friends, close coaches and things that I have like that.&rdquo;
Daniels never stopped progressing, though, and began to make Division I teams in his pre-teens. Once that started happening, it caught the eyes of coaches near and far.
When he was 15, Daniels followed in his dad&rsquo;s footsteps by joining the Braves for a season at home in 2019. It was his first taste of semi-professional basketball, and matching up with bigger bodies was advantageous. But Daniels&rsquo; stock began to soar as soon as he moved to Canberra with the NBA Global Academy later that year.
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He&rsquo;s thankful for the entire staff, from NBA international director of basketball operations Chris Ebersole and content/program development lead Marie-Laurence Archambault in New York, to the coaches, trainers and everybody involved for the chance to be a part of the program. Competing in tournaments in Europe and America was paramount to his development, and he learned crucial off-the-court lessons in addition.
"I've changed so much &mdash; the person I am, the confidence I have now, the coaching that I was able to get there was phenomenal. We had the [Centre of Excellence] coaches as well. Going in there as well [at 6-foot-2], I was a little scrawny kid. Coming out, I've got a much bigger body... I had a huge growth spurt, 6-6. That helped me 'cause I was a point guard and already had those skills; it helped me, being 6-6, to still being a point guard.
&ldquo;So just building my body, building my life skills, building my basketball. They've helped me be able to see the floor better. I think IQ's something I've always had, but they've helped me to use it more and use it to my strengths. I've just learned so much from them.&nbsp;
Daniels is poised to become the second player in NBA Academy history to be drafted. The first was fellow Aussie Josh Giddey, whom he&rsquo;s been tight with since the duo&rsquo;s U-12 days playing for Victoria. They keep in touch and congratulate one another on their successes, so Daniels was thrilled when the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Giddey at No. 6 in the 2021 NBA Draft.
&ldquo;It was huge, man. I've known Josh for a while and seeing him put in the work when I was with him in the NBA Academy and then, get the opportunity to play in the NBL with the [Adelaide] 36ers and he excelled there, and he deserves every bit of it. It was really good seeing him [get drafted] and it was really good being able to play alongside him as well. That's my boy and I'm happy for him.&rdquo;
The progression for Daniels at the Academy paid off this past February, as the Australian senior national team brought him in to be a part of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. In his only game, Daniels led the team over New Zealand with 23 points, 6 steals, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
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🇦🇺 17-year-old <a href="https://twitter.com/DysonDaniels?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DysonDaniels</a> put on a show for the Boomers in their win over New Zealand <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAAsiaCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAAsiaCup</a> 📊 23 PTS | 4 AST | 3 REB | 6 STL <a href="https://t.co/5iuKo09tK7">pic.twitter.com/5iuKo09tK7</a>
&mdash; NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA_AU/status/1363271752948744193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;That was really big for me as well. Being able to play for the Boomers in the Asia Cup Qualifiers at such a young age, some people don't get that opportunity,&rdquo; Daniels said. So obviously to be able to play, but to be able to have a really good game, that got me world looks and it helped me get to [be noticed]. [I'm] grateful for the opportunity from Adam Caporn to be able to play for the Boomers."
His momentum didn&rsquo;t stop there, either. He was a critical contributor for the Boomers&rsquo; U-19 squad in FIBA Basketball World Cup play, averaging 14.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals over seven games.
Spending time with the Boomers, Daniels has developed a relationship with former NBA veteran Matthew Dellavedova. It&rsquo;s ironic because he remembers being eight years old attending a Peak event where both ended up doing basketball drills together. Fast-forward to today, and they&rsquo;re teammates representing Australia, and Daniels gets advice from the champion guard when he asks for it.
The Little Guy From Bendigo hasn&rsquo;t done too bad for himself, and the fun part has just begun. Daniels is preparing for his first season at the professional level, which is step one toward Daniels finding himself in NBA threads come this time next year.
&ldquo;I always want to be in the gym. I always want to be the best I can. I'm sure some people have them about 'em as well, but I don't want anyone to outwork me. I want to be the hardest worker there is,&rdquo; Daniels said.
&ldquo;It's a great feeling. I think in terms of feeling ahead of people, I wouldn't say I do. There's options for everyone that they can choose, like what they want to do with their careers and that. But choosing a professional career for me, I think was the right choice, and I'm ready for it. So yeah, I'm ready to get started and I'm very excited for it.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies chats with Dyson Daniels about the upcoming G League Ignite season, his development in Australia and more.

The Little Guy From Bendigo: Dyson Daniels is unlike anyone else

Walnut Creek, Calif. will be the home base, that much the G League Ignite knows. Whether they will travel to play other G League teams, whether they will be in a new bubble or what exactly the upcoming season will look like &mdash; those are all unknowns.
Jason Hart is taking over for Brian Shaw as head coach of the Ignite, a team that is a high-profile collection of players who will eventually be headed to the NBA. He has experience with players from this age group, having been an assistant coach at the University of Southern California.
(Editor's Note: Jason Hart recently guested on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Rematch with Etan Thomas</a> to discuss the Ignite program's early success and becoming head coach of the group. Watch the full interview below or <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-30-g-league-ignite-head-coach-jason-hart-talks-evan-mobley,-ignites-draft-success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen here</a>.)
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But the players he is about to start coaching and the players he has grown used to coaching are different. His old players were student-athletes, and his new players are young professionals, so the two groups are distinctly different.
Currently, only four players and signed and sealed for the upcoming season: Jaden Hardy, Scoota Henderson, Michael Foster Jr. and Dyson Daniels. Reports of Chinese teenager <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwigh_rCirnyAhWbMVkFHW42DuoQFnoECCAQAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fca.nba.com%2Fnews%2Ffanbo-zeng-former-gonzaga-commit-reportedly-set-to-join-nba-g-league-ignite-in-2021%2Fxw9v10z4idyw1q1fjhsv324xn&amp;usg=AOvVaw0tzhi0I-HlqQwIlLPWL-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fanbo Zeng joining the Ignite</a> are premature, as he remains under contract to the Chinese Basketball Association.
Hardy, a 19-year-old native of Detroit who moved to Henderson, Nevada prior to high school, was the top-ranked guard recruit in the nation that averaged 30.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.4 assists. He opted out from the remainder of his senior season in January and signed with the Ignite in June, turning down scholarship offers from Kentucky, UCLA and others. The 6-foot-4 guard was ESPN&rsquo;s No. 2-ranked prep player.
&ldquo;Jaden Hardy is a player we recruited at USC since he was a ninth grader. He&rsquo;s a good shooter with good size, good feel for the game, and unafraid of big moments,&rdquo; Hart said.
Henderson, who will not turn 18 until February, averaged 32 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists as a junior in Marietta, Ga. He was a top 2022 draft prospect before reclassifying to 2021 on May 21 and announcing his intention to play for the Ignite. He could become the first player to spend two years with the Ignite if the NBA does not change its one-and-done rule prior to the 2022 draft.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the youngest of the bunch, an elite-level athlete with a grown man&rsquo;s body already, somebody with a ton of knowledge for the game," Hart said. "He has a relentless motor, and his skill set will carry him through. He&rsquo;s going to be a terrific player."
Foster, a 6-foot-9 power forward, played at Washington High School in Milwaukee for two years and Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix for his final two high school seasons. He averaged 32.2 points and 18.8 rebounds in his senior season, making the McDonald&rsquo;s All-American team. Foster, who committed to Arizona State in 2017 but later withdrew that commitment, has said he <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjIh-_Bi7nyAhVPhOAKHW4GBbEQFnoECAQQAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school%2F2021%2F01%2F21%2Fhillcrest-preps-michael-foster-aspires-better-than-7-footayton%2F4235442001%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw34D6bNerQjS8OEzu-1t3wc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aspires to be better than Deandre Ayton</a> of the Phoenix Suns.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a multi-talented big forward who can pass, dribble and shoot. He&rsquo;s explosive off the dribble and catch, and someone who&rsquo;s just recognizing his talent,&rdquo; Hart said. &ldquo;Now we have to put him in a position where he can succeed, and hopefully he&rsquo;ll be ready for the challenge.&rdquo;
Daniels, from Australia, played professionally for the Bendigo Braves of the NBL in Australian League before spending time at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia. A 6-foot-6 shooting guard, he played with Australia&rsquo;s senior national team last February at the FIBA Asia Cup tournament.
&ldquo;He&lsquo;s a super talented young individual, good-sized guard who knows how to play. He&rsquo;s been playing in the professional ranks, athletic, good vision, good feel, has a chance to be a terrific dynamic player," Hart said. "[We] can&rsquo;t wait to get him in our program and guide him. He needs experience. This game of basketball is about experience, and the more you put him in pressure situations, seeing different coverages and defenses, his game will grow even more.&rdquo;
Zeng, who grew up in Harbin, China and attended Windermere Prep in Florida for two seasons before COVID restrictions kept him from returning to the United States, was considered the top young Chinese prospect and had planned to attend Gonzaga before assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, who had recruited him, left the program. Despite reports that he has already signed with the Ignite, his status for the upcoming season is an uncertainty as of mid-August, in large part because of travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s highly-skilled, can stretch the game out, now it&rsquo;s time to acclimate him to the physicality of the game and the speed. As his strength grows, his talent will take off as well,&rdquo; Hart said.
One of the things to watch over the next couple of years (Hart signed a two-year contract) is whether the Ignite and the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/high-school-basketball-former-nba-execs-aaron-ryan-brandon-williams-kevin-ollie-overtime-elite-seek-to-revolutionize-amateur-to-pro-preparation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overtime Elite program</a> will eventually play each other. Currently, discussions along those lines are not known to have taken place, but if the NBA's one-and-done rule remains (despite the Rice Commission&rsquo;s suggestion to get rid of it), there will be two leagues comprised of draft-ineligible young players.
One will be under the auspices of the NBA; the other is independent. They will come to do things differently, but there is a chance they can learn from each other. The only way for that to happen is by playing together and spending time together.
They&rsquo;ll all see each other as adults soon enough; many of them anyway, in the NBA.

Chris Sheridan chats with G League Ignite head coach Jason Hart about the upcoming season and the program's talented prospects.

Jason Hart looking forward to first year with Ignite despite unknowns

ATLANTA (August 5, 2021) - OTE (Overtime Elite) announced today the signing of Izan Almansa, making him the 13th player to join the transformative new league and will be part of its inaugural season this September.
(Editor's Note: Read our Spencer Davies' exclusive interview with Aaron Ryan and Brandon Williams, and an extensive profile on Overtime Elite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/high-school-basketball-former-nba-execs-aaron-ryan-brandon-williams-kevin-ollie-overtime-elite-seek-to-revolutionize-amateur-to-pro-preparation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)
From Murcia, Spain, Almansa is a 6-foot-9 power forward who previously played for Real Madrid Cadete A. He is ranked #6 for 2005 born players on EuroHopes.com and is regarded as one of the top European prospects with NBA potential because of his length, motor and feel for the game.
&ldquo;This is a remarkable day for our program, attracting a player of Izan&rsquo;s talent, upside and character, as we continue to build an incomparable group of elite basketball players from across the world,&rdquo; said Brandon Williams, OTE&rsquo;s EVP and Head of Basketball Operations. &ldquo;OTE was created for players like Izan, who craves the coaching, training, and education that will help maximize his gifts and best prepare him to reach his dreams as an NBA player.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Izan is the type of player that makes you excited to be a coach,&rdquo; said Kevin Ollie, OTE Head Coach and Head of Player Development. &ldquo;This is a young man who&rsquo;s elite natural talent is actually outweighed by his drive and desire to get better. That makes his ceiling limitless and we&rsquo;re going to do our part to ensure he&rsquo;s given everything he needs to become a world class player and person.&rdquo;
Almansa is the thirteenth player to join OTE for its inaugural season. The league has signed top prospects Jalen Lewis from California, Amen and Ausar Thompson from Florida, Matt Bewley and Ryan Bewley from Florida, and Jai Smith from North Carolina.
OTE has signed international prospects Jean Montero from the Dominican Republic, Alexandre Sarr from France, Nathan Missia-Dio from Belgium, Emmanuel Maldonado from Puerto Rico, Francis Lopez from the Philippines and Tudor Somacescu from Romania. The league expects to make additional player announcements in the coming weeks.
OTE provides a comprehensive accelerator for elite players&rsquo; professional careers. The league, a division of next-generation sports brand Overtime, offers a year-round development program combining world-class coaching, cutting-edge sports science and performance technologies, top-notch facilities, and a rigorous, highly personalized academic program that energizes and enhances each athlete&rsquo;s journey.&nbsp;
Every OTE player will earn a six-figure salary, with a guaranteed minimum salary of at least $100,000 per year, plus bonuses and shares of equity in Overtime. In addition, players will participate in revenue from use of their name, image and likeness, including through sales of custom jerseys, trading cards, video games and NFTs.&nbsp;

Regarded as one of the top European prospects, Izan Almansa is the 13th player to sign with Overtime Elite.

Overtime Elite signs highly-touted Spanish power forward Izan Almansa

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) &mdash; There is no aura of invincibility around this U.S. men&rsquo;s basketball team. It has gone just 3-3 so far this summer, still has work to do just to qualify for the knockout stage at the Tokyo Olympics and seems far from a lock to win its fourth consecutive gold medal.
It&rsquo;s different than many past Olympics. And the Americans don&rsquo;t seem to mind.
&ldquo;I feel like it makes it more fun,&rdquo; U.S. center Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat said.
The next fun destination for the Americans, they hope, will be the Olympic quarterfinals. The U.S. can punch its ticket there on Saturday; the sure-fire way to do that would be to beat the Czech Republic in the Group A finale for both nations, though the Americans could still move on even with a loss.
A win would give the U.S. a chance at securing a top-four seed and ensure that the team wouldn&rsquo;t face any of the three group winners until at least the semifinals. And the losses &mdash; two in exhibitions,&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pump-the-brakes-team-usa-mens-basketball-can-recover-from-loss-to-france-2020-tokyo-olympics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">then the Olympic opener against eventual Group A winner France</a>&nbsp;&mdash; have been a benefit to the Americans, Adebayo said.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t go in every game thinking we&rsquo;re going to beat everybody by 50,&rdquo; Adebayo said. &ldquo;It definitely keeps us on edge and, you know, shows that we can&rsquo;t mess around.&rdquo;
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The Americans are still big favorites on Saturday; 23.5 points,&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/basketball/men's-olympics-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to FanDuel,</a>&nbsp;and that line was set after the U.S. had no problem in a&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/team-usa-finally-gets-it-right-blowing-out-iran-12066" target="_blank" rel="noopener">120-66 win over Iran</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday. The 54-point margin of victory &mdash; albeit against an overmatched opponent &mdash; was the fifth-largest for a U.S. men&rsquo;s team in an Olympics since NBA players began being used in 1992, and was by the far the best performance by the team yet this summer.
U.S. guard Damian Lillard said the game against Iran, the second one this summer where the Americans had all 12 of their players. It was the first with nobody recovering from flying 8,000 miles the previous day to get to Tokyo after the NBA Finals &mdash; as Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Devin Booker were for the France game &mdash; provided the blueprint for how this team needs to play.
&ldquo;I think everybody on our team would agree that it felt good to get out and run, get open shots, create steals and go the other way without having to set plays and use our length and athleticism to our advantage,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;I think we can find a way to be consistent at that, we should have a pretty good chance of being successful.&rdquo;
Each of the other U.S. Olympic teams that won a game by at least 54 points &mdash; the 1992, 1996, 2012 and 2016 teams all had one such contest &mdash; went on to win the gold medal.
And, perhaps for a couple days, it silenced some of the doubt about whether this U.S. team is good enough to win it all.
&ldquo;If we win, that&rsquo;s going to put the rest a lot of the things that have been said, doom and gloom,&rdquo; USA Basketball senior men&rsquo;s national team managing director Jerry Colangelo said. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t win, people will have their opportunity to take shots at anyone and as much as they wish to, for whatever reasons they choose.&rdquo;
A look men&rsquo;s field heading into the final games in group play:
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AT STAKE
The men&rsquo;s field will be pared from 12 teams down to the eight for the knockout stage this weekend, with the quarterfinal games to be played in Saitama on Tuesday. The winners of the three groups, plus the best second-place finisher, will earn top-four seeds. The other two second-place finishers and the best two third-place teams will be the bottom four seeds for the quarterfinals.
GROUP A
France (2-0) is the group winner, no matter what happens Saturday against Iran (0-2). The winner of the U.S.-Czech Republic game will be 2-1 and finish in second place; the loser falls to 1-2 and will have to hope to move on as one of the best third-place teams.
GROUP B
Australia (2-0) has clinched a quarterfinal berth and can lock up first place in its group with a win Saturday against Germany (1-1). Nigeria (0-2) needs a win, and probably by a sizable margin since overall point differential is a potential tiebreaker, against Italy (1-1) in the other Group B game on Saturday to have any chance of advancing. The Italians would advance with a win.
GROUP C
Reigning World Cup champion Spain (2-0) will take on Luka Doncic and Slovenia (2-0) on Sunday to determine who wins Group C and is guaranteed a top-four seed for the quarterfinals. Both teams have already clinched a berth in the knockout stage.
Host Japan (0-2) plays Argentina (0-2) on Sunday. The loser is eliminated and the winner &mdash; again, likely depending on the points-differential tiebreaker &mdash; may still have a chance to reach the quarterfinals. If Argentina does not advance, it may mean that Sunday would be the last time Luis Scola appears in the Olympics.&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-argentina-olympic-team-japan-olympic-team-nigeria-olympic-team-4098cb9aa6d80f985cd02a4e87496c5a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 41-year-old Scola, who has appeared in five Olympics,</a>&nbsp;hasn&rsquo;t said if he plans to continue his playing career.

A win over Czech Republic would punch Team USA's ticket to the Olympic quarterfinals and may allow them to secure a top-four seed.

Team USA-Czech game has major Olympic quarterfinal implications

Hold off on the hysteria, okay?
Team USA&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/united-states-loses-to-france-83-76-25-game-olympic-win-streak-ends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss to France</a> was a bad one, no question -- but it is not the end of the world. Heck, it is only the beginning of the Olympics.
They can recover from this. All they have to do is beat Iran and the Czech Republic (or lose one of those games, but advance on point differential) in the group phase. If that gets accomplished, Team USA will make it to the single-elimination quarterfinals. By then, the team should have developed some chemistry and cohesion. By then, we probably will not see the knee-knocking we saw late in the fourth quarter.
In a nutshell, this went wrong in the final minute when it could have gone either way.
Open three-pointer, miss.&nbsp;
Another open three-pointer, clang.&nbsp;
Yet another, and... even the friendly rims at Saitama SuperArena were unfriendly.&nbsp;
Team USA lost to France in its Olympic opener on Sunday not because they were outplayed, but because they could not shoot when it counted most. It was that simple. The very best team that the American federation could put together could not hit a shot when it mattered.
It had been 17 years since the United States lost a game at an Olympics, and that one &ndash; a 19-point loss to Puerto Rico in the Americans' debut at the Athens Olympics&mdash;was far more putrid than this one. But what was most disconcerting about this loss was that Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday all missed wide-open looks with about 30 seconds remaining and the Americans trailing by two.&nbsp;
After the last miss, Lillard was called for an unsportmanlike foul for inadvertently tripping Evan Fournier. His free throw, and two subsequent free throws by Rudy Gobert, finished off a 14-0 fourth-quarter run for France, and now Gregg Popovich has to figure out a way to get his players to shake this one off -- no matter how much their collective pride is wounded.
"When you lose a game, you're not surprised. You're disappointed. I don't understand the word 'surprised.' That sort of disses the French team, as if we're supposed to beat them by 30. That's a hell of a team," Popovich said in a postgame news conference.
This was only a pool play game, and although a gold medal seems out of the Americans' reach given the way they played in their opener, there's one important thing to keep in mind: The Olympics are far from over. They have just begun. And even when the Americans lost to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the 2004 Athens Games, they were still alive for a gold medal until losing to Argentina in the semifinals.
This loss was inglorious, for sure. But for Team USA, there is the undeniable fact that it is lacking in harmony after Holiday and Devin Booker (and Khris Middleton, who only played 5 &frac12; minutes) just joined the team late Saturday night; they have plenty of time to practice together with the new additions, and the goal here is not to win every game. It is to win the last three.
&ldquo;This was my first day,&rdquo; Holiday said. &ldquo;Literally, my first day.&rdquo;
Lillard missed 7 of his 10 shots, and six of those were from three-point range. Durant was saddled with foul trouble (he got four quick ones, and FIBA rules carry a disqualification for a fifth) and shot just 4-for-12, including 1-for-6 on threes. Booker was 0-for-2 from downtown. Jayson Tatum was 1-for-5.&nbsp;
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So the French have something to be happy about, and Celtics fans can at least take some solace in the fact that Evan Fournier (28 points) is capable of greatness. This was France&rsquo;s second straight victory over the Americans -- they also defeated them at the 2019 World Cup of Basketball in China. But the French did not win that tournament, Spain did. The Spanish have not even played yet in Tokyo, nor has Slovenia (led by Luka Doncic) or Argentina or the host country, Japan.
This tournament is about playing your best at the end, not at the beginning. So dismiss Team USA at your own peril. They still have the most talent 1-through-12; it will be a matter of Coach Popovich and his assistants, Lloyd Pierce and Steve Kerr, figuring out what is the right rotation for any particular opponent.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Don't get too high; don&rsquo;t get too low,&rdquo; Holiday said in relaying Popovich&rsquo;s postgame message. &ldquo;We have to put teams away.&rdquo;
&ldquo;This is the first time we&rsquo;ve played together, and all of us have been through adversity,&rdquo; Holiday added, noting twice that the Molten ball used in FIBA competitions is quite different from the Spalding ball used in the NBA. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll accomplish this, too. We&rsquo;re smart players with good character. We&rsquo;ll figure it out.&rdquo;
The Americans&rsquo; lack of size was exploited by French head coach Vincent Collet in the third quarter, as he played big men Rudy Gobert and Vincent Poirier together in a Twin Towers lineup that kept this thing close. It allowed France to stick around so that the game would be decided in the final minutes.
The biggest hustle play came from Guerschon Yabusele when he dove to the ground and saved a ball from going out of bounds in front of the American bench, tipping it to Fournier for a three-pointer that gave France a 76-74 lead. The Americans kept doing the same things wrong on offense &ndash; jacking up threes instead of driving and dishing and/or drawing fouls; Team USA did not have a single field goal after Zach LaVine made one with 4:21 left in the game.
So this was bad, but it was not a disaster.&nbsp;
Again, the goal is not to win every game. It is to win the final three games. Perhaps Team USA can do it, and perhaps NBC will show it.
But Sunday showed us that nothing in these Olympics is certain.

Chris Sheridan analyzes the Americans' loss to France in their Olympic opener and why Team USA isn't out of it yet.

Pump the brakes: Team USA can recover from loss to France

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; USA Basketball didn&rsquo;t blow up Kevin Durant&rsquo;s phone with repeated calls to beg and plead for him to play in the Tokyo Olympics. It was a much more dignified process: They asked, then they waited.
It was the right move.
&ldquo;They helped me make the decision by letting me be me,&rdquo; Durant said.
Already an owner of two Olympic gold medals, Durant ultimately chose to try for three. The Brooklyn Nets forward will lead the U.S. Olympic team into Tokyo this month and could become just the second men&rsquo;s player in USA Basketball history to win three golds, joining Carmelo Anthony.
And not that this matters to Durant, because it doesn&rsquo;t, but he could simply rewrite the USA Basketball Olympic record book in the next few weeks as well.
&ldquo;I committed to USA Basketball when I was coming out of college, and every chance that I get that I&rsquo;m healthy and my mind&rsquo;s in the right place to play basketball, I go out there and play,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;I finished the year off healthy, regular season and playoffs. So, I felt like it&rsquo;d be cool to get I guess a kickstart on next season by getting in shape a lot earlier in the summer with Team USA.&rdquo;
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Already the top three-point shooter in U.S. men&rsquo;s Olympic history, Durant is 25 points shy of tying Anthony (336) for the most in team Olympic play, 39 rebounds away from Anthony&rsquo;s mark in rebounds (125), 12 away from Anthony&rsquo;s mark in field goals made (113), three away from Anthony&rsquo;s mark in free throws made (53).
&ldquo;You know his famous quote? &lsquo;I am Kevin Durant.&rsquo; There&rsquo;s nothing changing,&rdquo; U.S. guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards said. &ldquo;We know who he is. We know what he&rsquo;s capable of doing and he&rsquo;s doing the same thing in practice... and his leadership is just terrific. He&rsquo;s, like, 39-0 in USA Basketball. That&rsquo;s crazy and we want to keep that going.&rdquo;
Beal had it right: Durant is 39-0 in major international events with USA Basketball. He has two NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards. He came back after a yearlong layoff from an Achilles injury this season in Brooklyn and was, again, his typical unguardable self.
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There&rsquo;s long been nothing left for him to prove, and he signed up for another Olympics anyway. Camp started Tuesday and Durant immediately began setting the tone for a roster that is mostly composed of first-time Olympians other than Durant, Draymond Green and Kevin Love.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s this very cliche line that everyone uses in basketball when you&rsquo;re working out: Go game speed every rep,&rdquo; said Green, Durant&rsquo;s former Golden State teammate. &ldquo;Quite frankly, I&rsquo;ve never seen anyone do it, except him. That&rsquo;s how he plays the game. That&rsquo;s how he works. You&rsquo;re talking about a guy who would sit at home, sit in his house and watch an elementary-school basketball game just to watch basketball. Really, really loves the game, loves watching the game, loves hooping.&rdquo;
All that is true, and part of the lure for Durant to play this summer.
U.S. coach Gregg Popovich was another major factor. It&rsquo;s no secret that players around the league hold the longtime San Antonio coach in the highest regard, and Durant said the opportunity to play for the five-time NBA champion factored into his thinking.
&ldquo;If he had said no, I would have begged, cried, done anything I could to change his mind,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s pretty obvious. But what it says about him, No. 1, is he loves the game. He really loves to play basketball. He loves to win. He loves the camaraderie. He wants to be part of this, all the time, as we all know. And that&rsquo;s his motivation. At the core, that&rsquo;s what he loves to do and luckily for all of us, that&rsquo;s who he is.&rdquo;
Mike Brown was part of Golden State&rsquo;s coaching staff when Durant was with the Warriors. Brown is also the coach of the Nigerian Olympic team, meaning he will be coaching against Durant &mdash; and his current boss, U.S. assistant coach and Golden State head coach Steve Kerr &mdash; when the Americans play the top African team in their first exhibition of this summer&rsquo;s stay in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Like everyone else in the NBA, Brown only raves about Durant.
&ldquo;A lot of people see his scoring prowess,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Obviously, he can shoot the three, he can post up, his medium game is the best in the business. But when he came to the Warriors, I was shocked by two things. The biggest thing was just his feel and intelligence on the defensive end of the floor... and then on top of that, he&rsquo;s a phenomenal passer.&rdquo;
Put simply, he can do it all. That&rsquo;s been obvious forever. And a third gold medal would only enhance that already-lofty legacy of his.
&ldquo;I look forward to just being around the best players in the world, and around the best athletes as well,&rdquo; Durant said.
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SATURDAY GAME
The U.S. will call up some players from the USA Select Team, which was ending its practice schedule in Las Vegas on Friday, to fill out its roster for exhibitions &mdash; starting with the game Saturday against Nigeria, Popovich said.
The U.S. is missing Olympians Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday because of the NBA Finals. San Antonio's Keldon Johnson, Cleveland's Darius Garland and Detroit&rsquo;s Saddiq Bey are reportedly the three players who were called up to replace them.
CURRY PASSES
Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry is playing in Nevada this weekend &mdash; golf, not basketball. He&rsquo;s participating in the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, explaining there why he decided not to play for the Olympic team.
&ldquo;I do value the offseason, and I&rsquo;m working back on the court, but to try to go and play and there&rsquo;s just a lot that could happen,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I respect every single guy that goes and plays that&rsquo;s out there in Vegas and I wish them all the success and a gold medal to show for it and whatnot. It just wasn&rsquo;t right for me. And I&rsquo;m very confident in that decision. No regrets at all.&rdquo;
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In Tokyo, Kevin Durant has a chance to win his third Olympic gold medal and rewrite Team USA's record book in the process.

Kevin Durant seeking third Olympic gold medal: ‘He loves to win'

There&rsquo;s a difference between winning and being a winner.
And even before Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals tips off Tuesday night, we can say for certain: Chris Paul is a winner.
The &ldquo;Point God,&rdquo; he&rsquo;s called. For 16 long years, he&rsquo;s maximized the talent behind him, plied his trade and seen plays happen before they did. That&rsquo;s the hallmark of a true floor general &mdash; on the basketball court, while he&rsquo;s barking directives and trying to determine where to send the ball, he needs to be able to see the future.
Perhaps ironically, as the sun sets on his career, it rises in Phoenix. Paul saw dawn before everyone else.
After leading the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder to an improbable playoff berth in 2020, general manager Sam Presti made good the same way he did with Paul George. Presti, it has long been understood, did his best to take care of those who gave him their all. It&rsquo;s obvious that Paul did.
So when the time came for the Thunder to move on and fully embrace their youth movement, Paul was asked an important question: Where did he want to play next?
Over seven months after answering it, as he celebrated his first trip to the NBA Finals, he remembered.
&ldquo;A big thanks to Sam Presti for even allowing all of this to happen,&rdquo; Paul said in reflection.
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He could&rsquo;ve asked for a ticket to Los Angeles, asking OKC to accept cents on the dollar so that he could join a super-team with his good friend LeBron James. He could&rsquo;ve demanded a trade to Milwaukee to join the then-reigning back-to-back Most Valuable Player in Giannis Antetokounmpo. While his large contract certainly limited his trade options, he also could have negotiated a buyout and signed with any contender around the league. If Paul had become an unrestricted free agent, he would've received interest from nearly every team (especially if he was willing to accept a bargain deal). However, as president of the Players' Association, Paul didn't want to set that precedent and leave money on the table.
Instead, Paul looked at the upstart Suns &mdash; he saw Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Cameron Payne &mdash; and said to himself: Give me those guys.
Winning with the deck stacked in one&rsquo;s favor isn&rsquo;t the same as winning against all odds. Self doubt showed up at the front door of Paul&rsquo;s condo in Oklahoma City. He answered and chuckled in its face.
To Phoenix we go.
&ldquo;I just love to hoop,&rdquo; Paul would often say in the Thunder pressers.
When asked about his future, he&rsquo;d respond dismissively: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking about that right now."
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As one of the game's biggest stars and leader of the NBPA, he couldn&rsquo;t help but to always find a camera staring at him or a recorder in his face. The league, including his constituents, was dealing with COVID-19, the Bubble and a historic protest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
From afar, though, despite Phoenix failing to qualify for the playoffs, Paul saw daylight breaking in the desert. Bravely, in the twilight of his career, he went all-in on what could have been the final hand of his career and doubled-up.
He ended up bringing Phoenix where he couldn&rsquo;t bring the Los Angeles Clippers; he got the Suns to a place he couldn&rsquo;t quite get the Houston Rockets.
When it came down to it, with Paul having one last chance to win the championship that long eluded him, he opted to take his talents to a place in which he saw himself as the straw that would stir the drink, not just another ice cube in an already cold cocktail.
At the end of the day, Paul wanted to compete, and in an NBA where stars conspire to stack the deck in their favor &mdash; in an NBA where the path of least resistance is all-too-often chosen &mdash; Paul decided to do something different. And we&rsquo;re all better off for it.
When the next young superstar (or two) decides to move on to the next chapter -- be it Donovan Mitchell, Luka Doncic, Ja Morant or whoever -- they&rsquo;ll learn something important from the example Paul set: the harder the journey, the sweeter the victory.
Yes, Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray and Kawhi Leonard didn&rsquo;t have the opportunity to thwart Paul&rsquo;s Suns, but injuries have always been a part of the game. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson each suffered catastrophic injuries in the 2019 NBA Finals. Draymond Green&rsquo;s suspension and Andrew Bogut&rsquo;s significant injury certainly played a role in 2016.
If you look hard enough, you can always find a way to discredit these accomplishments. Haters are gonna hate.
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Suddenly, it seems so long ago that Paul was thought to have one of the worst contracts in the NBA &mdash; four years, $160 million is what he signed for in Houston after the Rockets came within one game of winning the Western Conference in 2018.
Shortly thereafter, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/rockets-owner-tilman-fertitta-thought-chris-paul-had-the-worst-contract-hed-ever-seen-per-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly believed</a> it was &ldquo;the worst contract" he'd ever seen, "in business or sports.&rdquo;
Run out of town by James Harden and Fertitta, Paul took his aspirations to Oklahoma City, restored his value and then decided to take the road less traveled when Presti asked him to chart his own course.
Apropos to his opting for Phoenix, instead of throwing a tantrum and holding out to become the next superstar in a legacy of super-team building, Paul believed he could be the center to his own universe.
I can win in Phoenix, he thought.
When no one else did, Chris Paul believed. The Suns are rising, and he saw it before us all.

Chris Paul bet on himself when he requested a trade to Phoenix. Now sitting atop the Western Conference, he's already won big.

Regardless of 2021 NBA Finals outcome, Chris Paul is already a winner

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
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No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
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Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
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They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.

Sheridan: A history lesson is in order as the NBA Finals draw near

It's a shame that these NBA playoffs aren't in glitzy cities.
It's a shame that LeBron James isn't fighting for a chance at his fifth career title.
It's a shame that this league is so predictable.
Actually, it's a shame that you're not witnessing the birth of young, rising stars before your very eyes.
There may not be a soul left to question what Trae Young is bringing to the table in his debut playoff run, nor one to tear down Devin Booker with the all-so-familiar-and-overused label of "just a scorer."
Instead, these two now-household names are not only demanding your attention, they're seizing it.
Young played in his in first Eastern Conference Finals game on Wednesday night on the road, and took hold of the game when it mattered most. He had multi-time All-Defensive Team member Jrue Holiday on his heels, as well as anybody who dared guard him on the perimeter.
If the Milwaukee Bucks switched on him, it didn't matter. He'd blow right past his man for a floater, or a lob, or an alley-oop off the backboard. Hell, he's even taking pull-up mid-rangers now. If they had to defend him off a high screen, he'd make one dribble move and fire, or he'd have enough time to do a shimmy and can a triple as the Bucks helplessly stared, too late to contest. And if Milwaukee elected to trap him toward mid-court, he'd pinpoint a teammate on the perimeter and get it to him with a behind-the-back pass.
Since the semifinal round started, in pick-and-roll situations as a ball-handler, Young has scored 1.31 points per possession on floaters and 1.28 points per possession on jumpers. In a more traditional sense, Young has averaged 30.5 points and 10.5 assists on 42.2% from the field. He's getting to the free-throw line over nine times per contest, and is making 87.3% of his attempts. He has not been afraid to shoot, either, taking the fifth-most shots on average (23.3) in the NBA this postseason.
If you're looking for a fun little storyline to follow, try this one on for size. In series openers, Young is averaging 38.3 points per game on 48.5% shooting, to go along with 10.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds. He is 28-for-30 on free throws in total. That is what you call setting the tone, with all three of those matchups coming on the road. We may as well call Trae "Mr. Game 1" at this point. His career's just getting started and he's getting F-bombs hurled his way from opposing audiences left and right. When was the last time that the underdog was also the villain?
In the Western Conference, there's Booker, who has willed the Phoenix Suns to a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers without Chris Paul. Another player who's not afraid of the moment, yet is seeing his first postseason action in the sixth season of his career, Booker is turning the corner and making defenders pay probably more than anybody else in the NBA.
Seriously, once he's gotten a pick above the break or a handoff, that man has gotten to his spot every single time. Guys are staying in front of him pretty well, but it has not mattered. The minute that Booker has put the ball on the floor, he's found either corner of the key or the nail; at that point, there's nothing more teams can do besides contest. And even when defenders do get a hand up, he has so much elevation on his jumper to the point where it hasn't fazed him.
From the start of the second round and on, here's Booker's contested jump shot chart, <a href="https://basketball.instatscout.com/players/5278/fieldgoals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">courtesy of InStat</a>:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/field-goals-devin-booker-1_lg.png" alt="" width="499" height="316" />
And here's an illustration of how effective Booker's jumpers have been in any playtype.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.4658%; height: 236px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Playtype (Total No. of Poss)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Jumper Possessions</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; height: 23px; text-align: center;">Points Per Possession</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Pick-and-Roll Handler (42)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">33</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">1.36</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Isolation (27)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">19</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">1.05</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Catch-and-Drive (13)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">11</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">1.82</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Transition (21)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">9</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">1.11</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">Off Screens (14)</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">9</td>
<td style="width: 31.473%; text-align: center; height: 23px;">1.11</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Get the picture?
As he's dragging his assignments with him, Booker is opening things up for others to thrive, as well. Maybe the savviest development in his game is his passing; however, it's his patience that has the Suns humming. When he's found himself in a double team or in a crowd, there's no sense of panic whatsoever. Booker is wisely waiting for his teammates to cut, go for a lob or locate themselves for a look on the perimeter. None of this would be possible if he couldn't make the reads as sharply as he has. The thing is, though, he's processing all of this so quickly, while maintaining a solid pace and timely decision-making simultaneously.
Booker's efficiency is at an all-time high, unafraid to take the big shots, yet possessing the balance necessary to be the well-rounded player he has become over the course of his development. His averages in the postseason speak for themselves: 28.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists on 47.9% shooting. Not to mention that bouncing the defending NBA champions and the league's MVP in the first two rounds of your playoff career is a pretty loud way to say, "I'm here."
But that's how Young and Booker operate. They've got their own styles and ways to dissect and frustrate their opponents, all while putting on a show for the neutral audiences at home to enjoy, and both find themselves in position to make something really special happen for their respective teams.
Forget about the market they play in.
Forget about The King sitting at home.
Forget about a predetermined winner.
We're witnessing the next generation of superstardom blossom in the postseason, and judging by the latest returns on television ratings and social engagement, people are noticing.
As they should.

Spencer Davies raves over the rise of Trae Young and Devin Booker in the postseason as two blossoming superstars in the NBA.

The fearlessness of Trae Young and Devin Booker is on display

As a young kid, I heard tales of Pete Maravich dribbling out of the window while his dad drove the family car down neighborhood streets. After years of watching Pistol Pete&rsquo;s instructional videos and practicing his basketball drills in my driveway, I asked my dad, Ernie, if I, too, could try dribbling out of the car window. The response was immediate, forceful, and clear: No.
My dad was not an applied physicist, per se, possessing no advanced knowledge of how objects move through time and space, but he was intuitively skeptical. He&rsquo;d bounced plenty of basketballs in his day, and I think he just doubted the aerodynamics of it all. I remained persistent and hopeful until he eventually relented.
I can still remember my excitement as he drove the car down the road and told me I could dribble out of the window whenever I wanted. I can still hear his laughter as my ball made first contact with the ground and flew 20 feet into the bushes like it was shot out of a damn cannon. I can still admit that I want to try it again, right now, just to see if I can conjure up a few seconds of Pistol Pete&rsquo;s magic. I learned early on that I was no Pete Maravich, but I was okay with that. Even at that tender age of 10 years old, I had a keen awareness that there would never, ever be another Pete Maravich.
As a basketball lifer, I have worshipped Pistol Pete for many reasons. He is not only one of the greatest players in history, but he is also one of the most iconic. His floppy hair and socks, his creative passing, his otherworldly scoring ability, his revolutionary flair and his complex legacy all endure. Maravich was a maestro with a basketball, equal parts style and substance, someone who both played and performed the game. Over decades of loving the game of basketball, I came to understand that good players tap into the mind, great players tap into the heart, and immortal players tap into the imagination. Pistol Pete was one of the immortals.
Today would have been his 74th birthday. Though he died more than 30 years ago, his legend lives forever.
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Basketball is a sport of majesty and mystique, performances and personalities, and possibilities that seem endless. Pistol Pete Maravich is the embodiment of the game&rsquo;s most romantic qualities. He is such a core figure in the history of basketball that any true hoops fan must always have several Maravich tidbits at the ready, for all occasions, just in case. It doesn&rsquo;t matter if it&rsquo;s a factoid to share, an anecdote to recount or a statistic to cite. If someone is participating in a serious conversation about basketball but cannot speak about Pete Maravich, then that someone would be well-served to see themselves out of that conversation, politely of course, so they can go hit the books and get educated.
Next time around, they can hold their head up high and proclaim that, when Pete enrolled at Louisiana State University and freshmen were not allowed to play varsity, he had 50 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in his first game against freshman competition. Or that he&rsquo;d go on to average 44.2 points per game at LSU and is still the all-time leading scorer in college basketball despite playing only three seasons. Or that, as a member of the New Orleans Jazz, he led the NBA in scoring and gave the Knicks 68 points in the Superdome, two years before the three-point-line was even invented. Or that he was voted as a five-time NBA All Star and one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.
If nothing else, Pistol Pete was a bold and complicated book that could not be judged by its cover. He was skinny and spindly, looking more like a shy little brother than an unapologetic basketball assassin, but he wowed fans with his wizardry. Maravich so aptly captured the imagination because he was remarkably artistic on the court and imminently human off it.
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His style of play was flashy and brash, consisting of behind-the-head passes and ruthless shot hunting, but he was known as sullen and moody in his personal life. He cast spells with a basketball while dealing with personal demons &ndash; most notably the weight of a demanding father who was his coach at LSU &ndash; that made him distant and enigmatic. Pistol Pete represented both sides of life&rsquo;s coin. He lived at the intersection of triumph and sadness. He was pleasure and pain, wrapped into a ball and placed in the hands of a basketball genius.
In 1978, during a blowout win in New Orleans against the Buffalo Braves, Pistol Pete collapsed in a heap late in the game after tearing cartilage in his knee. He hadn&rsquo;t hurt himself by making a hard move to the basket or battling a big man for a rebound; the showman tore up his knee while throwing an unnecessary between-the-legs pass from half-court to a streaking teammate in front of his hometown fans. The dazzling play was completed, his 15th assist of the night, but it marked the beginning of the end of Maravich&rsquo;s career.
He retired from the NBA a few years later, and died from heart failure while playing pickup basketball not long after that. Shockingly, an autopsy would reveal that Pistol Pete was born on this day in 1947 without a left coronary artery, an extraordinarily rare and dangerous heart defect. Had his condition been known, he would never have been cleared to step foot on those basketball courts that he set ablaze with his brilliance. For many reasons, his career and life were miracles, and so we must never forget to celebrate Pete Maravich.
Thankfully, there will always be basketball fans who succumb to his sorcery. There will always be young girls and boys who try to dribble out of car windows, because that&rsquo;s what Pistol Pete did. His story remains an absorbing and exhilarating basketball enchantment for his millions of fans around the world.
Maravich was just a man, but he&rsquo;ll always be a myth to me. I&rsquo;ll be thinking about him on his birthday, that&rsquo;s for sure. He really was one of a kind.

Dan Grunfeld pays tribute to the one and only "Pistol Pete" Maravich on the day he would have turned 74 years old.

A birthday ode to the legendary 'Pistol Pete' Maravich

The NBA's top playoff seeds, Philadelphia and Utah, are on the brink of being eliminated.
The 76ers have blown leads of 18 and 26 points in back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Hawks, who now lead the Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-2. Atlanta, the No. 5 seed, can clinch the series at home on Friday night after storming back for an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pa-state-wire-philadelphia-76ers-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-ec1ad1137276c4e61ebc246a4c51f59f">improbable 109-106 win</a> on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
&ldquo;Our backs are against the wall right now and we have to play like it,&rdquo; said Philadelphia's Tobias Harris.
Seth Curry said the 76ers should not have psychological scars from losing big leads in back-to-back losses.
&ldquo;It shouldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re grown men over here. Watch the film and learn from it and bounce back.&rdquo;
Led by Trae Young, the Hawks are attempting to advance to a conference final for only the second time since moving to Atlanta in 1968. The Hawks were swept by Cleveland in the 2015 conference final. The Hawks won their only NBA championship in 1958, when the team was based in St. Louis.
Hawks coach Nate McMillan says he knows Friday night's game will be a new challenge.
&ldquo;I think you expect them to be certainly more aggressive,&rdquo; McMillan said Thursday of the 76ers. &ldquo;They are in a do-or-die situation. Their season ends if they don&rsquo;t win the game. We definitely expect them to come out with that sense of urgency and play aggressive and just really leave everything out on the floor. I will be challenging our guys to do the same.&rdquo;
The Jazz also facing a must-win game as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Despite playing without Kawhi Leonard, who was held out with a knee injury, the Los Angeles Clippers took a 3-2 lead in the semifinal series with a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-los-angeles-clippers-nba-sports-98eb2a83a60c5972d444d9fb47884d47">119-111 win</a> on Wednesday night. The Clippers can clinch the series at home on Friday night.
The Clippers, who moved to Los Angeles in 1984, have never played in the conference final. They are 0-5 in conference semifinal series in Los Angeles. The team also never played in a conference final as the San Diego Clippers (1978-84) or Buffalo Braves (1970-78).
The Clippers seemed to be on a path to continue their inglorious playoff history when they suffered what seemed to be a devastating injury to Leonard, who was averaging 30.4 points in the playoffs.
Instead, Paul George was dominant, scoring 37 points with 16 rebounds and five assists to give Los Angeles the series lead. He became the first player in Clippers history to have at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a playoff game.
&ldquo;I thought this was our toughest matchup this postseason,&rdquo; George said. &ldquo;This was our biggest game of our season, especially being down our best player.&rdquo;
76ERS AT HAWKS
Game 6, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The spotlight entering the series was on the Hawks' defensive challenge against 76ers center Joel Embiid. The Hawks still struggle to contain Embiid. Even so, perhaps the biggest difference-maker of the series has been Young, who had 39 points on Wednesday night, including 25 in the second half.
While Young sank 17 of 19 free throws, Philadelphia's Ben Simmons made only 4 of 14 and has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-ben-simmons-nba-sports-f166a6bb9c86ff8be1c1af2e70d48cd6">made only 22 for 67</a> from the line this postseason. Simmons' glaring and unprecedented weakness has made him an easy foul target during Atlanta's comebacks.
The Hawks have reason to be confident despite splitting their first two home games against the 76ers. The Hawks are 22-3 at home since Feb. 21, including a streak of 13 consecutive wins.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Philadelphia's scoring balance. Embiid scored 39 points and Curry had 36. No other 76ers player had a field goal in the second half.
&ldquo;Those two guys had it going and that was the offense we went to right there,&rdquo; Harris said.
Curry had four of Philadelphia's modest total of only five field goals in the final period. Simmons attempted only four shots from the field in the game, making two. Harris made only 2 of 11 shots for only four points.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Embiid, who spent time in the locker room in the first half of Game 4, played 39 minutes on Wednesday night. His production again calmed concerns that a cartilage tear in his right knee would limit his effectiveness.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: The 76ers. A loss in the conference semifinals would be a huge disappointment for the coach Doc Rivers and the 76ers. Simmons could face a long offseason if he can't fix his free-throw woes.
Rivers said he wants Simmons to remain aggressive and not hesitate to drive to the basket, even if those plays lead to free throws.
Rivers said he's not happy if Simmons stops driving to the pain. &ldquo;But when you start struggling with your free throws, you tend not to drive,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Despite the back-to-back losses, the 76ers are favored by three points by <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/sports/navigation/830.1/10107.3">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>.
JAZZ AT CLIPPERS
Game 6, 10 p.m. EDT, ESPN
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Clippers are showing their knack for rallying in a series. They beat Dallas in seven games after falling behind in the series 2-0 and then also lost the first two games to Utah.
George held the spotlight, but the Clippers enjoyed strong balance. Marcus Morris scored 25 points and Reggie Jackson added 22.
The Jazz are favored by two points by <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/sports/navigation/830.1/10107.3">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>. The line certainly reflects the Clippers loss of Leonard in Game 4.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Terance Mann needs to repeat his solid performance. Filling in for Leonard, Mann made his first career start in a playoff game and had 13 points and two steals. He played 26 minutes.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Leonard will be held out again. The team says he has a sprained knee. His availability for a possible Game 7 remains unknown. Mike Conley (strained hamstring) missed his fifth straight game for the Jazz and has not been ruled out.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: The Jazz need their scoring leader, Donovan Mitchell, to reclaim his outside touch. Even with Bojan Bogdanovic scoring 32 points while making nine 3s, Utah still needed more offense as Mitchell made only 4 of 14 3s and scored only 21 points while playing on a sore right ankle. He averaged 41 points in two wins to open the series but has lacked his usual explosiveness the last three games while limited by the nagging injury.
The Jazz made only six field goals in the third period and played from behind the full final quarter.
___
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The NBA's top playoff seeds, Philadelphia and Utah, are on the brink of being eliminated.

Top seeds Jazz, 76ers facing elimination games in semifinals

Five games against Boston were nearly as many as Brooklyn's Big Three played together in the regular season, so the Nets are far from a finished product.
The Nets don't have the luxury of time.
Then again, nobody else has the luxury of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
&ldquo;I think if us three are on the same page and play well and we can communicate with the rest of the guys, where to be on both ends of the ball, I take our chances against anybody,&rdquo; Harden said.
The Nets closed out the first series with their three superstars by beating the Celtics 123-109 on Tuesday night in Game 5 in the best-of-seven series. They will open their first appearance in the Eastern Conference semifinals since 2014 on Saturday against Milwaukee.
The Bucks swept a two-game series from the Nets in Milwaukee in May while Harden was sidelined. Both he and Durant had lengthy absences in the second half of the season, limiting them and Irving to a combined eight games together.
In fact, the Nets had so many players in and out of the lineup that the starting five they used against the Celtics never started a game in the regular season.
Brooklyn can shoot its way around most of its flaws, but can't count on that against Milwaukee. The Bucks are the only team in the league that scores more than the Nets, averaging 120.1 points to Brooklyn's 118.6 during the regular season.
That's why the defensive commitment and improvement Durant saw against the Celtics could be so important against the third-seeded Bucks.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to need that even more going into the next series and it&rsquo;s all about progressing every day for us,&rdquo; Durant said.
Harden had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 5, the first triple-double by a Nets player other than Jason Kidd in the postseason. Irving scored 25 points and Durant had 24.
Those 83 points were just shy of the 85.9 they averaged in the first four games, though far off the 104 they rang up in Game 4 that matched the highest total for a trio in NBA postseason history.
All three hit 3-pointers during the game-breaking 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter that turned an eight-point lead into a 17-point cushion in less than 90 seconds.
It was the kind of highlight that was envisioned when Harden was traded to the Nets in January. But there were too few chances to deliver them, with the Big Three going more than three months between appearances because of injuries.
&ldquo;When I first got traded here, the excitement and the vision of us playing together, I think that&rsquo;s what we were missing the whole season,&rdquo; Harden said.
The first round was a glimpse of what they could do, but it was against an overmatched Boston team that was already missing Jaylen Brown going into the series and lost Kemba Walker during it.
The Bucks will bring to Brooklyn two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, a team that was even more impressive than the Nets in the first round by sweeping reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to challenge each other,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;You know they&rsquo;re going to challenge us and vice versa, so may the best team win.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Nets will open their first appearance in the Eastern Conference semifinals since 2014 on Saturday against Milwaukee.

After strong playoff debut, Nets' Big Three braces for Bucks

Pat Riley has identified an immediate priority for the Miami Heat: Do absolutely nothing.
After a nonstop year, that&rsquo;s his requirement.
There will be more than enough time for roster decisions, offseason workouts, preparing for the combine and draft even though Miami doesn&rsquo;t currently have a pick, piecing together a summer league team and free agency.
For now, however, Riley wants just about everyone in the organization to take a break after a whirlwind 12 months that saw an NBA Finals appearance one season, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-travel-lifestyle-nba-olympic-games-0dbfbf5c6af32e24be5c6da788926135">an exit from another season in a first-round sweep</a> and all the while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that changed just about everything.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been at this for a while, so where we&rsquo;re headed first is rest,&rdquo; Riley, the Heat president, said Thursday in his annual state-of-the-team address that traditionally comes shortly after the season ends. &ldquo;Our players, our staff, the people that have been here every day, every single day, they&rsquo;re mentally worn out more so than physically. And I think they just need to rest for a couple of weeks, a month.&rdquo;
It was a major storyline in the NBA this season, how the compressed schedule and the additional demands of the protocols that were put into place to deal with the virus &mdash; including daily testing often late at night or early in the morning, limits on the amount of time teams could spend together, limits on who they could be with &mdash; would grind on players and teams.
It wasn't an excuse, and Riley refused to make it one. Every team went through it, and it wasn't easy for any of them.
&ldquo;This season was unrelenting. ... I can&rsquo;t wait for the day when I can wake up and I don&rsquo;t have to worry about what time I've got to go down to the arena to get another damn test," Denver coach Michael Malone said Thursday &mdash; a day when the Nuggets had 8 a.m. testing preceding a playoff game at night. &ldquo;I think this year has been the hardest year in my 20 years in the NBA. It's the mental toll, the physical toll, the emotional toll."
Miami prides itself on its offseason workout program, especially for its younger players, and even a soon-to-be 41-year-old veteran like Udonis Haslem said he won&rsquo;t be taking much down time this offseason.
But everyone simply needs a break, even the Heat.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not total lunatics,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the series against Milwaukee ended. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll give them a little bit of time off. That&rsquo;s the way this season has been. It&rsquo;s been so hard for everybody in this association. I didn&rsquo;t realize what month it was. I didn&rsquo;t realize it was Memorial Day weekend and when I brought that up several players and staff members were right there with me. It&rsquo;s been that kind of year.&rdquo;
The Heat reopened the doors of their facility in May 2020 when the NBA allowed limited workouts to resume, and the place didn&rsquo;t slow down until Miami was eliminated from this year&rsquo;s playoffs by Milwaukee in a first-round sweep that ended last weekend. The workouts last spring led into the run in the NBA&rsquo;s restart bubble at Walt Disney World, which led to an NBA Finals appearance, followed immediately by free agency and draft prep, followed by pre-camp workouts, followed by camp and then the season.
Much was made of the 71-day gap between the end of the finals and the start of this season and how that was much shorter than usual, but the reality was that very few of those 71 days were idle. Now, Riley said, there is a chance to breathe.
&ldquo;Anybody who&rsquo;s involved in the NBA family or industry, this is a challenging year from the standpoint of how you used to do your job versus how you have to do it now,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;But, in anything in life, as I&rsquo;ve said, it doesn&rsquo;t make any difference what happens to you -- it&rsquo;s how you deal with it and adapt, and everybody had to adapt.&rdquo;
That said, Riley craves the return to normalcy, one he believes might come next season. He missed being part of some of the off-the-court things that he thinks sets the Heat apart from other franchises, things like a charity gala, a family festival, holiday parties and other events -- some just for the team, some for sponsors, some for season-ticket patrons.
He even wrote a letter to Andre Iguodala after this season, telling him how unfortunate it is that he&rsquo;s missed out on all of that during his year-plus with the Heat. Iguodala was acquired in February 2020, less than a month before the pandemic forced the league into suspending that season.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be back &mdash; I hope &mdash; to normal somewhat next year when the season starts,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got more than enough time off to recharge the batteries. And then when we come back, I&rsquo;m sure there&rsquo;s going be some COVID protocols still, but they won&rsquo;t be as is draconian as they were. We&rsquo;ll see what they are, but I think we&rsquo;re on to bigger and better things.&rdquo;
He'll take a little downtime, too. When he returns, the summer work begins, and he believes the Heat will find a way to return to contender status.
&ldquo;Have a good summer," Riley said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be a lot of news coming along the way, but again, just a last shoutout to our fans and to everybody is that we&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pat Riley has identified an immediate priority for the Miami Heat: Do absolutely nothing.

In Pat Riley's mind, the first thing the Heat need is some rest

ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; When the Atlanta Hawks were excluded from the bubble last summer, Trae Young stewed at home.
He watched games on television, enviously tweeted about what he was missing, and longingly visualized what it would be like to play a starring role when it really matters in the NBA.
Now, he's got his chance.
Talk about rising to the occasion.
Young has joined an extremely rare group of point guards and guided the Hawks to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ny-state-wire-atlanta-hawks-new-york-knicks-nba-sports-1fe8f37d9b9a044c1c9ab3b53d0729c1">a 3-1 lead</a> in their opening-round playoff series against the New York Knicks.
Atlanta will try to wrap it up Wednesday night in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, where a fan spit on Young as he inbounded the ball the last time he was in New York.
No worries on Young's end. That just shows how much he's gotten under the skin of the Knicks and their fans.
&ldquo;I love it,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;This is a fun series.&rdquo;
He has become just <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1399089061193732099">the fourth player in NBA history</a> to average at least 25 points and 10 assists in his first four career playoff games.
The others: Oscar Robertson, Kevin Johnson, and Stephen Curry.
The 6-foot-1 Young has befuddled the Knicks with <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1399725111641624603">a dazzling array of moves</a> and passes. When they sag into the lane, he'll pull up for the jumper. When they crowd him on the outside, he'll take it to the hoop. When others are open &mdash; and the Hawks have plenty of shooters &mdash; Young delivers passes in about every way imaginable.
&ldquo;He really doesn't have a weakness,&rdquo; said interim Hawks coach Nate McMillan. &ldquo;He takes what the defense gives him.&rdquo;
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As good as he is as a shooter &mdash; Young's range is roughly just inside the half-court line &mdash; his passing maybe even better.
He even amazes himself at times.
&ldquo;I always know in my mind where I want to go with the ball," Young said. &ldquo;Sometimes, it trips me out the way it goes. A couple of games ago, I did <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1392625937427181569">a behind-the-back pass</a> to Tony (Snell) in the corner. I knew where I wanted to go with it. I just hoped it got there. The fact that it got there, I was pretty tripped out by that.&rdquo;
The charismatic Young has never shied away from the spotlight, making it clear from the day he arrived in Atlanta that he was more than willing to be the face of a team that has largely been a forgotten NBA outpost.
Even though <a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-hawks-washington-wizards-new-york-knicks-nba-sports-2396183616449b68485403a291785c61">the Hawks made the playoffs</a> for the first time since 2017, most of the hype was on the Knicks &mdash; a flagship franchise in the league's biggest media market that ended an eight-year postseason drought of its own.
The underdog role suited Young well. He's often griped about how the Hawks are overlooked, from a lack of national television appearances to him being passed over for a spot in this year's All-Star Game in his home city.
&ldquo;We have been disrespected all this year and overlooked a lot,&rdquo; Young said.
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With Young as the centerpiece of a massive overhaul, the Hawks went 49-100 during his first two seasons in the league. Last year, after the season shut down because of the pandemic, Atlanta was one of eight teams that didn't take part in the Disney World bubble.
It was tough for Young to watch.
&ldquo;I started training the first day everyone got in the bubble and started playing," he recalled. &ldquo;Being at the house late at night, watching those games, seeing all those playoff games, seeing guys in the play-in games, even when they were just playing (the last few regular-season) games, for me it was frustrating. I wish I could have done more to help our team get there. For us to be here now means a lot to me. And this is just the beginning.&rdquo;
Young is seemingly picking up new fans with every stellar performance.
After the Hawks romped to a dominating victory in Game 4, <a href="https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1399074598562537474">Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas</a> chimed in on Twitter.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the real deal,&rdquo; Thomas wrote. &ldquo;Let it be known!&rdquo;
McMillan has worked with Young to cut down on his turnovers. After averaging 4.14 per game during the regular season, he's given up the ball only 11 times in four playoff games.
&ldquo;He's showing growth in managing and running a team," the coach said. &ldquo;He has to cut down the turnovers. He's too good of a passer to have five or six turnovers a game. Two is OK. But five or six is a big number for a guy who passes as well as he does.&rdquo;
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Young was picked fifth overall in 2018 out of Oklahoma, going to the Hawks in a draft-night deal that sent All-Star Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks and also brought Atlanta a future first-round pick (which was used for Cam Reddish).
It is a trade that is still hotly debated around the league, but <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tn-state-wire-oh-state-wire-sports-charles-barkley-ca-state-wire-cb12144e9637411983238168bb5677af">neither team is complaining</a> about who they ended up with.
No matter what, Young and Doncic will surely be linked for the rest of their careers.
That's not an issue for Young.
He welcomes the attention. Craves it, actually.
&ldquo;I want to do something special" he said. &ldquo;I want to be different. This is a fun opportunity, a fun stage to really do that.&rdquo;
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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
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Trae Young is just the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 25 points and 10 assists in his first four career playoff games.

Atlanta's Trae Young shining in first trip to NBA playoffs

Not even an hour into the offseason, Jimmy Butler was already looking ahead.
There was no run to the NBA Finals this year for the Miami Heat, not even a single playoff victory for the team that rolled through the Eastern Conference in the restart bubble at Walt Disney World last summer. And when it was over, when <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-miami-heat-brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-2ea48ef8eacf14d1da5f2cf7f95de3e4">Miami&rsquo;s four-game ouster by Milwaukee</a> was complete, Butler quickly summed up the offseason plan.
&ldquo;We can be better,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be better.&rdquo;
The Heat don&rsquo;t have a pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, at least for now, and likely will have somewhere around $25 million in cap space that they can choose to use this summer.
Plenty of decisions need to be made about the roster for next season, but the clear cornerstones &mdash; Butler and Bam Adebayo, whose $163 million, five-year extension begins this fall &mdash; are among the selling points to free agents. Among those who&rsquo;ll likely be considered, assuming he decides to look for a new team: Toronto&rsquo;s Kyle Lowry, who insists that he wants to be part of more championship runs wherever he is.
&ldquo;Definitely want that feeling again of getting back to the finals,&rdquo; Adebayo said.
There were no shortage of moments that the Heat can point to with regret this season.
They lost 10 games to teams that didn&rsquo;t end up making the playoffs, lost nine games they led by double figures and were wildly inconsistent. They won 11 out of 12 games in one stretch, then immediately dropped six in a row. And COVID-19 was another issue; Butler tested positive and missed 10 games, a stretch where the Heat went 2-8.
&ldquo;This was one of the more memorable seasons just because it was so uniquely different than anything else we&rsquo;ve experienced,&rdquo; coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Guys had to really adjust and adapt and I really commend our guys for doing that and not becoming cynical or making excuses for all the different protocols and things outside of just the competition.&rdquo;
Even after a season of near-constant adversity, the Heat missed having home-court advantage in Round 1 by just one game in the standings. They&rsquo;re nowhere near where they want to be &mdash; it&rsquo;s always about contending for titles in Miami &mdash; but they believe this summer&rsquo;s work on the roster won&rsquo;t require a major overhaul.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m appreciative that we get to call this our job, play the game that we love, being around people we enjoy being around,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;ll be a little bit different next year, next season, but for this year it was fun. Through the ups and through the downs, nobody complained. You just go out there and compete, play hard, and I think we did that for the most part.&rdquo;
Some of what to watch for as the Heat enter the offseason:
BUTLER EXTENSION
There would seem to be a reasonable chance that Miami and Butler work out an extension this summer. He&rsquo;s got two years left &mdash; the second year at his option &mdash; on his original four-year deal with the Heat, and with Adebayo signed for the next five seasons, taking care of Butler for future years figures to be high on the list of priorities.
OLADIPO&rsquo;S REHAB
Victor Oladipo long wanted to play in Miami, and the Heat finally got him in a trade-deadline deal. He appeared in four games before having to shut down and finally get another surgery on the leg he injured in 2019.
He won&rsquo;t be ready for the start of next season &mdash; provided things start on time, at least &mdash; and it&rsquo;s still unclear when he could play again. Having surgery in May means a return isn&rsquo;t likely until November at the earliest. He passed on a $45 million, two-year extension from Houston and enters free agency with the market unclear, given the uncertainty on when he&rsquo;ll play again.
ROBINSON AND NUNN
Duncan Robinson is Miami&rsquo;s single-season 3-point record-holder and one of the best in the league from beyond the arc, and Kendrick Nunn has started 111 regular-season games primarily at point guard in his two Miami seasons. Both are restricted free agents, and what Miami does with its qualifying offers is something to watch this summer.
DRAGIC AND IGUODALA
Other than Udonis Haslem (whom the Heat would warmly welcome back for a 19th season), Goran Dragic is Miami&rsquo;s longest-tenured player and the Heat hold a $19 million option on him for next season.
Dragic is 35, but his per-36-minute averages this season &mdash; 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists &mdash; are roughly the same as the numbers he had during his lone All-Star season in 2017-18. Bringing him off the bench over the last couple of years might have extended his career.
Andre Iguodala has a $15 million team option for next season; he spent much of this season dealing with a balky hip yet was still effective in his role, and Spoelstra raves about him. Also, the 2021 NBA Finals will be the first since 2010 that do not have either the Heat or Iguodala taking part.
THE OLYMPICS
Butler, Adebayo and Robinson are among the 57 names under consideration by USA Basketball for the team that it&rsquo;ll take to the Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. team, to be coached by Gregg Popovich, will gather in Las Vegas for training camp in early July to start getting ready and play some warm-up contests.
Butler was part of the team that won gold for the U.S. at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. Asked if he&rsquo;s thinking about playing in Tokyo, Butler sounded undecided.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a good question,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;That is a very good question. It&rsquo;s not out of my mind just yet, but we definitely will see. I don&rsquo;t know."
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Heat are nowhere near where they want to be, but they believe this summer’s work on the roster won’t require a major overhaul.

Bradley Braves