Judges

Last week, NBA legend Shawn Marion traveled to Abu Dhabi to support the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games, which featured two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves as well as youth clinics and fan events.&nbsp;
Marion led a skill-development clinic for youth athletes from Dubai's NBA Basketball School &mdash; a year-round basketball program in the UAE for boys and girls ages 6-to-18. He also judged a dunk contest, met with fans and took part in other NBA events alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Allen, Tim Hardaway Sr., Gary Payton, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Ronny Turiaf and Salah Mejri.
Marion is an NBA champion, four-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and one of just five players in NBA history to record 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks (the other four are LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon). The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they'll retire Marion's jersey this season.
While in Abu Dhabi, Marion joined me on <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1710458099448811578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my new show "Running Up The Score"</a> to discuss his legendary career, the Suns' decision to retire his jersey, Mat Ishbia's impact since buying the franchise, the globalization of the NBA, how the game has evolved, whether he'll get back into podcasting and more.&nbsp;
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You&rsquo;re currently in Abu Dhabi for the Mavericks-Timberwolves preseason games and to host a basketball clinic with kids from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. How is your trip going?&nbsp;
Shawn Marion:&nbsp;"Man, the trip is going amazing. This is a new culture for me; I've never experienced this, never been here. We're in a different part of the world right now and, I mean, I can tell you this: this is a place I'll definitely be coming back to. This is truly awesome. And, you know what, they're very passionate about [basketball]. I just had this meeting; I just came from an office visit and they had like 250 employees, but everybody spoke different languages! There were 16 languages being spoken! That tells you how diverse it is here, and they really pride themselves on that here. It's pretty amazing."
The globalization of the NBA has been a big priority for the league for some time. From when you were playing to now, do you see a big difference in terms of the NBA&rsquo;s worldwide popularity and international support?
Marion: "Yes. I think as you look at the lay of the land right now, the NBA and basketball is a global sport. But the way that the NBA has been able to grow it, they're taking it to other levels. They're starting NBA Academies and having clinics all around the world, and that just helps it grow even faster. Of course, TV and social-media content help as well, but the level it's growing at right now is unheard of."
The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they are retiring your jersey. Congratulations!
Marion: "Thank you!"
How did you find out that news and what was your reaction?
Marion: "I'm gonna be very honest and candid. Mat [Ishbia] called me as soon as he took ownership of the team and he was like, 'I'm not doing some of the shit that's been done [before]. I'm going to take care of you and reward you by retiring your jersey. I'm a man of my word, and that's what I'm going to do.' That's exactly what he said, and he did! Yep, it was that simple."
Ishbia is quickly winning over fans &mdash; he&rsquo;s spending money, making it easier to watch games, honoring past legends like yourself and so on. What do you think of Ishbia and the fresh start in Phoenix from an ownership perspective?
Marion: "I love it, man. I got a chance to see the practice facility; it's literally not too far from the place that I still have in Phoenix and I ain't been able to see [it before]. I ain't feel like... I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders to a certain degree. He's making the transition so easy. And he wants all the players who paved the way and set the foundation for the Suns organization and helped build that team into what the city loves and admires [to be involved]. He just wants everybody to be a part of it, man, and I love it. I think it's awesome. He's doing some amazing things out there."
The Suns have so much talent with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. What do you think of this year's team and do you think they can win it all?
Marion: "Man, I think they got a chance just like anybody else, but, of course, their [championship hopes] are probably a little bit more realistic than some other teams. I just hope they stay healthy. When you stay healthy, you give yourself a chance. That's the thing. A lot of teams deal with injuries, and they've been hit with the injury bug a little bit as well. But they've got Frank Vogel as the head coach out there now and he's a defensive-minded guy. They just made another trade and got some other pieces to add to it &mdash; Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic. I think that happened while I was out here; I was at a meeting when I got the alert and I was like, 'Wow! They ain't playing no games right now!' Listen, at the end of the day, he's trying to give himself and the organization the best chance to win. That's what you gotta do."
You obviously helped change the game and were ahead of your time. Overall, what are your thoughts on the modern NBA?
Marion: "Listen, it's run-and-gun, it's feast-or-famine right now. We set the foundation for what [the game] is now. There's so much positionless basketball being played, and it's dynamic. You're seeing the transition and evolution of what we started back in my Phoenix days during the Seven-Seconds-Or-Less era. That's what we started, and that's what it is right now. And I don't see the game going back to two traditional big men ever again."
Throughout the 2000s, not having a specific position was a death sentence for a player; nobody wanted to be labeled a "tweener." Then, seemingly overnight, the NBA became obsessed with "positionless" players and the tweeners were suddenly the most valuable players. That's one of my favorite examples of how the NBA is always evolving.
Marion: "Here's the thing: people can say [they're positionless], but it don't mean they are. You know, to be a two-way player in this league is very rare, but to be a positionless player is even more rare. You could be a guy who can go out there and guard 1 through 5, but to actually do it &mdash; willingly do it &mdash; is a big difference! A lot of guys probably could do it, but they don't do it, you know? Right now, teams are playing positionless basketball because everybody's switching everything. Most guys don't really post up anymore either. It's all face-up game and jumpers. So, it's easy to just jump into that narrative and bandwagon, but if you look at the game as a whole though, it's more of a guard-heavy game now than it was prior to when we made that transition. It's just been a shift. A lot of bigs now don't post up anymore; they're face-up players [too]. That's the evolution of the game."
A few years so, you and I did some of the NBA Watch Parties together on Clubhouse. I also love that <a href="https://twitter.com/MainTeamSports2/status/1506615984173592589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video where you jumped on Twitter Spaces</a> and educated fans about your career; it was incredibly entertaining. You're obviously passionate about this game. Have you ever thought of doing a podcast?
Marion: "Well, Alex, it's funny you say that. I actually had a podcast with one of my guys in Dallas, so I was one of the first guys to ever do it. I just didn't do any promoting or all of that stuff, but it was something that we did in the Mavs organization kind of early on &mdash; like way before everybody started getting into podcasts. And it was great! But the thing about podcasts is unless you got a set thing, you gotta create content all the time, and I was so busy focusing on trying to be a father first. That was my lane. And then I dibbled and dabbled in TV a little bit and thought about doing some broadcasting work, but, like I said, my priorities shifted because I'm a hands-on father. So, I couldn't keep doing it in Dallas because that was the situation, but I have thought about reopening that window.
"I do have a different side of the game that I like to talk about. I know narratives get created easily by the media, and we consume them and we digest them. It becomes part of our thought process of that player, of that team or whatever it is. But I was talking about this with one of my friends. I was telling him: it's easy for a [former] player to say, 'I can do this or that.' But what kind of player were you though? Because it's hard for a point guard to tell how to guard a big, or for a big to tell how to guard a point guard. But when I say it, I actually guarded all of them! I did it all! And I didn't just do it for a quarter or half a quarter. I did it for full games! So, when I sit there and I tell people that, people are like, 'Man, you know, I never thought about it from that standpoint.' I was like, 'Yo, I actually did this.' You know what I'm saying? Like, it's easy for somebody to say, 'I can guard somebody,' or, 'Oh, I'm a two way player; I can guard this player.' I'm like, 'Can you do it for a full game though?' I'm the only person ever to do it for full games."
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I love to ask players about big &ldquo;what-ifs&rdquo; from NBA history. There was a report a while back that you were nearly traded to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Phoenix and picks to Minnesota. Is that true and, if so, can you tell that story?
Marion: "It is true. But Phoenix wasn't gonna do the deal. They didn't think it was viable because they would have to change their style of play instantly because we're two different type of players. So, they didn't want it. KG was in Minnesota at the time, and I would've went to Boston and he would've came here (to Phoenix). At the time, Boston was losing; I think they had a losing record at that time. I was like, 'Uhh...' But I mean, we have no control over that. Some of the rumors that come out about trades are actually true, but both sides have to agree to it. People throw out deals all the time, [teams talk] all the time, so there's plenty of hypotheticals out there.
"But you wanna hear an untold true story? I never really fully ever became a free agent except my last year playing when I signed with with Cleveland. When I signed with Dallas, it was a sign-and-trade, so I was still under contract basically with Toronto. It was a sign-and-trade deal, so I never really tested the free-agency market like that. So, what happened was I was about to be a free agent or get traded, and this was around that same time as those KG rumors. Kobe [Bryant] called me and said, 'If you're really gonna go out on the market and it's a possibility [that you're changing teams], I want you to come out to L.A.' So, we was texting and he was like, 'Yo!' It ain't happen because they didn't have the money to pay me, but that's a story that a lot of people don't know about."
I love those kind of stories and it's always interesting to think how those potential moves could have changed NBA history.
Marion: "Oh, there were a lot of situations out there like that where [trade talks] were open! It was pretty fun. When you look at the business of the NBA, man, the optimism and [hope] of what could possibily be is what makes it so fun and dynamic &mdash; een with the trade that just went down with Damian Lillard. It's funny, Paul Pierce actually predicted that. He called that in July. He said, 'If I'm Dame, I would try to get to Milwaukee.' It's funny that he said that and I could see it [from Lillard's perspective]. But do I think they're better? Ehh, they lost a lot for that trade, you know? [Jrue Holiday]. Grayson Allen was a great player for Milwaukee. He is a great pickup for Phoenix. He's a hell of a player, a great player, dude. Like, he does a lot of small stuff. He's a very tough guy. I like him. It's something about him that I like. I like the little Duke dudes with that little rough-and-rugged side! But he's one of those guys who can hit shots, he's gonna play defense and he competes. He's actually a lot better than people give him credit for. He ain't got a chance to really showcase his skills, but he can play. And if they use him the right way, he can help them."
For sure. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!&nbsp;
Marion: "Anytime, man. You know, we have great conversations and stuff. I might contemplate doing a podcast again. I gotta have the mobile equipment. We'll see; I don't know. I gotta have a great co-host. I like people who shoot [straight]. I told this to a reporter, so I'll give this to you. I told this guy who was recording me yesterday: when you are doing your interviews, do not ask the same questions and stuff that somebody else asks. Do not&nbsp;ask the same stuff."
I'm sure that gets really annoying.
Marion: "It's so annoying. It's okay to piggyback off of answers just to get some kind of content to create something in your own way. But don't ask the exact same questions. You sound you are a true fan. I know you are a true fan of the game. Like, you really love this. And so [you] ask the questions that you wanna know from someone in my position! Forget about the stuff that's already been out there already! Create your own. We all got a story to tell."
For sure.
Marion: "And the thing is, I love my former guys talking about ball and stuff, but some of them talk like they was way bigger and better than they were. Some of these guys were below-average role players, but they talk like they were superstars! I'm like, 'What did you... How good was you? What did you do?!' (laughs) I'm like, 'He was a role player!' He was a solid role player! And look, I became a role player. But you know...
Yeah, but that was because of your longevity. You had four All-Star years before that.
Marion: "Yeah, that's about longevity and understanding that you gotta sacrifice to win. That's the biggest thing, you know? And I could have easily averaged such and such, but I was like, 'You know what? They don't need me to do that. I don't have to do that. If we can win and I'm averaging 16, 17 points, I'm cool with that. We gonna win, so I'm good with that. Let's win.' That was about getting them Ws.
"But that's something to think about though. You asked some great questions. That's the lane to go into. Those are the things to ask &mdash; the hypotheticals or something you [researched]. Like, 'You know what, he was pretty good at this, how did you pick up on that?' or, 'What's something that you did differently than everybody else?' Those are different questions, not the same questions [we always hear]. We get repetitively asked the same questions time and time again. It's boring. It sucks. I'ma be honest: it sucks. I hate it. It&nbsp;sucks!"
I can't imagine how old that gets.
Marion: "One thing that everybody was constantly asking me about was my shot. Everybody seemed to want ask me about my shot. But listen, you know what's really messed up about that though? One media person said it, so it went rampant and every media person wanted me to replicate the answer, right? Whether I like it or not, or whether I enjoy it or not. I did so much on the floor, but you wanna focus on something that nobody talks about? Nobody in the league talks about that. Don't nobody in the league shoot the same! ... I [used to get] pissed off, but now I respond and it's fine. 'It don't matter, don't nobody shoot the same. Next!' But why would you wanna talk about my shot, but then you won't talk about how I just had 25-and-15!"
Or that you shot 39% from three-point range one year!
Marion: "You wanna discredit me and what I did just to talk about my shot? Got it. I totally understand. There's certain lanes and narratives that will be pushed. I totally get it. I'm an owner now, so I see exactly what lane [they're in]; it's all marketing strategies. I know how it works and I know who controls it. Being on this side of the business, I know how things work now. But it's all good though. And it's all love. Thank you."
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/MwvBnhrrzgs?si=2BRrY0Vaq8WWyAPe&amp;t=1676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch the full conversation here</a>.
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Shawn Marion opens up about the Suns retiring his jersey, nearly getting traded to the Celtics, Mat Ishbia, the modern NBA and more.

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant said Friday the Brooklyn Nets could have handled this tumultuous week a bit differently &mdash; a week in which his coach was fired and teammate Kyrie Irving was suspended for posting a link to an antisemitic work.
Then Durant clarified on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/KDTrey5/status/1588549639191818240?s=20&amp;t=WSOsLWtBWyk3WhGm45cMyw">that he doesn't condone hate speech</a> and &ldquo;is about spreading love always.&rdquo;
Durant spoke Friday at the Nets' shootaround in Washington ahead of the evening's game against the Wizards. When asked what he thought of Irving&rsquo;s recent conduct, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-basketball-9967fe0a7d519ec88bb69653903269a3">which landed the guard a suspension of at least five games</a>, Durant said: &ldquo;I ain&rsquo;t here to judge nobody or talk down on nobody for how they feel, their views or anything. I just didn&rsquo;t like anything that went on.
"I felt like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization.&rdquo;
Within an hour, Durant followed up <a href="https://twitter.com/KDTrey5/status/1588549639191818240">via a tweet</a>.
&ldquo;Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t condone hate speech or anti-semetism (sic), I&rsquo;m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that&rsquo;s at the forefront.&rdquo;
Irving did apologize in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckhj8iIu0HN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">an Instagram post</a> for not explaining the specific beliefs he agreed and disagreed with when he posted about the documentary.
Nets general manager Sean Marks said Friday that the team has had some dialogue with Irving, but not enough given the circumstances.
&ldquo;The organization has made multiple attempts to get with Kyrie and his representation and to have them clarify his feelings and put out a sense of remorse for this, and that obviously didn&rsquo;t happen, and he refused to disavow that until his tweet last night,&rdquo; Marks said.
Marks said Irving&rsquo;s apology was a step, but actions will speak louder than words. He also said the team is not considering releasing Irving at this time.
&ldquo;There is going to be some remedial steps and measures that have been put in place for him to obviously seek some counseling ... from dealing with some anti-hate and some Jewish leaders within our community,&rdquo; Marks said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to have to sit down with them, he&rsquo;s going to have to sit down with the organization after this, and we&rsquo;ll evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back.&rdquo;
Irving's reluctance to apologize came hours before the FBI said it had <a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-new-jersey-46e3d27517e58fffb3ec446e8cbf2d88">received credible information about a &ldquo;broad&rdquo; threat</a> to synagogues in New Jersey, Irving&rsquo;s home state.
In Florida on Saturday, the phrase &ldquo;Kanye is right about the jews&rdquo; was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kanye-west-aaron-donald-brooklyn-nets-new-england-patriots-nfl-b77fc5d2a9196b3b9f5992f139d4915a?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP_Sports&amp;utm_source=Twitter">projected on the outside of one of the end zones</a> at the TIAA Bank Field stadium in Jacksonville during the Florida-Georgia football game &mdash; a reference to recent antisemitic comments that the music mogul formerly known as Kanye West has made on social media and in interviews. The incidents come four years after the deadliest attack on American Jews, when 11 people were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kanye-west-entertainment-music-religion-dfaf38656f6e50469d353c8af10e4b41">killed at a synagogue</a> in Pittsburgh.
The Nets also parted ways with coach Steve Nash this week and despite the star tandem of Durant and Irving, the team has a 2-6 record. Durant said the team has the ability to tune out all the turbulence.
&ldquo;It's just the way of the NBA now. So many outlets now and their stories hit pretty fast now. That's where all the chaos is coming from," he said. "Everybody's opinions, everybody has an opinion on the situation, we're hearing it nonstop, but once the ball starts bouncing and we get into practice, none of that stuff really seeps into the gym.&rdquo;
___
Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister

Durant clarified on Twitter that he doesn't condone hate speech and “is about spreading love always.”

Durant: Nets 'could have kept quiet' about Irving, tumult

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On April 28, Shaquille O'Neal kept his weird vendetta against Donovan Mitchell alive on his podcast, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-bacon/id1558354780?i=1000558986005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Big Podcast with Shaq.</a>" O'Neal was discussing James Harden's postseason struggles and managed to turn the conversation toward Donovan Mitchell's candidacy as an NBA superstar.
&ldquo;Y&rsquo;all be giving out a lot of these awards to some of these bums and I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;What?&rsquo;" O'Neal said. "For example, what did I say about Donovan Mitchell two years ago? Everybody jumping on me and hating and I be quiet. What&rsquo;s he doing now?... Is that what superstars do?&rdquo;
O'Neal then <a href="https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-media/shaquille-oneal-claps-backs-after-being-accused-of-slandering-donovan-mitchell-i-could-say-what-i-say-brother-how-many-rings-do-i-have-4-brother" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended his comments in another recent episode</a>. This slander obsession dates back over a year to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFmk7kzDbiA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bizarre postgame interview on TNT</a>. Unfortunately, it's also become part of a larger narrative working against Mitchell's NBA career.&nbsp;
Mitchell's superstar credentials have gone under the microscope as trade rumors erupt around the 25-year-old this summer. The Utah Jazz have failed to surpass the second round of the playoffs with Mitchell running the show. He's a smaller combo guard at 6-foot-1 with run-of-the-mill, basic shooting splits. He played pretty poorly in this year's first-round series loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Is this a player worth mortgaging the future to acquire?
In a word: Absolutely.
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Regardless of what O'Neal or any other detractors might say, Mitchell is a certified superstar, a number one scoring-and-playmaking option and a tier-altering presence for any NBA franchise. He is not without his flaws, but this type of gravitational offensive force rarely becomes available.
Let's start with the scoring and get the "inefficient" buzzword out of the way.
Mitchell has never been among the elite shooters in the league, but he's made strides throughout his career. Last season he sported a 50.9% Effective Field Goal percentage on pull-up shots. That's very good; it placed him 15th among 107 players who attempted at least 150 such shots, per Second Spectrum.
Mitchell shot the fourth-most pull-up threes in the NBA last season (413) and hit 35.6% of them, which was in the ballpark of guys with better reputations like Luka Doncic, Khris Middleton, Devin Booker and CJ McCollum. Mitchell has improved his eFG% in each subsequent year of his career, with last year being his best yet.&nbsp;
His overall three-point clip was just 35.5%, but that's because he had a bizarre, outlier year where he hit just 34.6% of his catch-and-shoot treys. Mitchell has never been below 40% off the catch in any other season. It's reasonable to call 2021-22 an unfortunate down year when he has four prior seasons of success.&nbsp;
Mitchell's average three-point shot distance was a whopping 26.4 feet from the basket, per BBall Index. A remarkable 52% of his three-point makes were unassisted, which is in the 98th percentile among combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass. He has one of the toughest perimeter shot diets in the league, and has maintained a quality mark from deep.
Then, we zoom in closer to the basket. Mitchell made a strong 65% of his shots at the rim this season, according to Cleaning the Glass, and 80% of those makes were unassisted. In total, Mitchell created 71% of his buckets without an assist last season, the 12th-highest rate in the NBA. Mitchell has had to manifest so much for himself in Utah, and still manages to cobble together solid shooting splits.
Mitchell's volume should not diguise him as a pure scorer. He's demonstrably better at finding shooters on the floor, in addition to his synergy with Rudy Gobert. According to Second Spectrum, 16.3% of Mitchell's passed led to assists or free throws last season, good for 14th in the entire NBA.
That rate was also his best of the last three seasons, and while it's partially dependent on teammates making shots, it also shows Mitchell is finding his guys in good positions. BBall Index also tracks a stat called Box Creation (initially made by Ben Taylor), which estimates how many open shots a player creates for teammates. Mitchell's score this season was 10.3, ranking in the 97th percentile.
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The vision is apparent. Mitchell is such a dangerous downhill threat that defenses simply have to collapse on him. He knows how the second level will step up to contain him and where the next defensive rotation will be, as seen in the first and third clips. He has improved at making the corresponding reads without significantly altering his turnover rate.
Is Mitchell one of the best and most willing facilitators in the NBA? No; he averaged a pretty mediocre 41.7 passes last season to go with 5.3 assists per game. But there's a clear pattern of growth that bodes well for his future in Utah or with another team.
Mitchell's volume of difficult shots often gets warped as a ball-hog tendency. But look at who Utah has as actual well-rounded offensive engines. Mike Conley still provides solid moments and moves the ball well, but he has not been an attacking threat for several years now. Jordan Clarkson is a pure scorer with jarring peaks and valleys. Bojan Bogdanovic is transitioning to more of a spacer role. Mitchell is wholly in another category as a player who can both create a shot for himself while being a threat to pass.
With all of that said, we can't gloss over the defense &mdash; particularly in the latter stages of last season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Donovan Mitchell's defense was better the last few games IMO, but he still has some really rough lapses. Seems to totally misplay this coverage: <a href="https://t.co/MKahyif9ch">pic.twitter.com/MKahyif9ch</a>
&mdash; Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1520579287002148864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
Mitchell really faltered on a national stage. As he struggled to find an offensive rhythm, he continually played behind the play on defense. Whether it was a lack of effort, confusion or something else, he was clearly out of position and not extending himself on several possessions against the Mavericks. And the concerns had been rising before the postseason too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I see Donovan Mitchell's off-ball defense continues to be suspect. (He ain't the only at fault though. Seems like House failed to communicate a switch. Which seems to be a team-wide problem at times.) <a href="https://t.co/g5RXNfcZJo">pic.twitter.com/g5RXNfcZJo</a>
&mdash; Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeVirayNBA/status/1512629596029857793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Outside of Gobert, Utah was in a rocky defensive state by the playoffs despite finishing the regular season with a top-10 Defensive Rating. The Jazz's defense was 4.6 points per 100 possessions better without Mitchell on the court, per Cleaning the Glass.
But if there's a bright spot, it's in his 1.9% steal rate. Steals and steal rates tell only a tiny picture of overall defensive impact, but within those steals, we can see promising moments.
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It's not like Mitchell is constantly losing the plot as a team defender. In these plays, he recognized who was going to be open of the drive, and shut off the faucet to pick up two steals. Mitchell is strong and active with his hands to the point where he can be a tough individual matchup for smaller guards. It's just about consistency right now. He has the tools to be a neutral or slight positive, and has shown defensive ability in the past. For whatever reason, it fell apart last season.&nbsp;
Lastly, it's worth dispelling the notion that Mitchell does not impact winning basketball. The Jazz boasted the best Offensive Rating in the NBA last season. They were third in the metric in 2020-21 en route to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and it's no coincidence that Mitchell was the offensive catalyst in both years.&nbsp;
And, even with last season's playoff dud, Mitchell's career postseason stats include 28.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game to go along a 55.8% True Shooting percentage. He's not even two years removed from a 57-point postseason onslaught in the bubble. And he's still only 25 years old.&nbsp;
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The Athletic's&nbsp;Shams Charania reported Monday morning that the Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets have expressed interest in trading for Mitchell along with the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-rumors-offseason-donovan-mitchell-new-york-knicks-utah-jazz-danny-ainge-leon-rose-rudy-gobert-quentin-grimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-documented New York Knicks rumors</a>. Though teams should obviously do their due diligence and look at roster fit and outgoing talent, it's hard for me to see why any of these teams should outright balk at the chance to acquire a sure-fire All-Star and perennial All-NBA player.
Do Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby's defensive talents outweight the chance to bring Pascal Siakam one of the best possible long-term partners in crime? Should the Knicks hold up at the chance to add by far their greatest offensive talent since Carmelo Anthony? Are future picks going to be the impasse when Mitchell could conceivably keep a team in playoff contention for several years?
I'm not here to be the judge. But if a blockbuster trade does materialize, it's worth remembering just how special this type of 25-year-old superstar can be.

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Donovan Mitchell has been one of the biggest names to appear in NBA trade rumors this offseason.

Resetting the conversation around Donovan Mitchell's superstar stature

The NBA offseason is packed with entertaining events. In a matter of three or so months, the league undergoes free agency and trade season &ndash; and that&rsquo;s almost immediately after the Finals and the draft. And while everyone gets to experience all that is great about the NBA in a relatively short amount of time, it makes for a busy and pressure-filled time for NBA front offices &ndash; that can result in miscalculations.
The 2021 offseason had some abnormalities to contend with. The uncertain financial impact of COVID-19 and the free agent signings in the months leading up to free agency resulted in an underwhelming offseason.
Still, free agent signings and trades happened, even if it was on a smaller scale than normal. And what must surely result from NBA transactions? Regrettable transactions.
After seeing more than 40% of the season we can realistically judge the offseason&rsquo;s transactions with a modicum of accuracy. Sure, multi-year deals can&rsquo;t be graded in their entirety after less than half of a season, but slumps rarely persist for almost half a season, too. That leaves us in a gray area of sorts. Still, the impact of adding a player to a team&rsquo;s present and near-future salary cap is very real. So, after observing approximately half of a season, let&rsquo;s identify the worst deals of the 2021 offseason.
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Evan Fournier Sign-and-Trade to the New York Knicks
Entering this season, Fournier was widely seen as an above-average scorer and playmaker. He represented a relatively big upgrade from Reggie Bullock for the Knicks, providing much needed offensive versatility. So, while the pairing felt a bit off (given the Knicks defensive-mindedness), the four-year, $73 million contract seemed like only a minor overpayment.
Fournier kicked off his time as a Knick with a bang, scoring 32 points in an opening night win against the Boston Celtics &ndash; but the honeymoon was short-lived. Through 38 games, Fournier is averaging just 13.5 points with an Effective Field Goal percentage (eFG%) of 52.5%. Comparatively, he averaged 17.1 points in 2020-21 and 18.5 in 2019-19 with eFG% of 56 and 56.5 respectively. He&rsquo;s also shooting a near-career worst 38.1% on threes attempts.
The fact that the Knicks are in such hot water indicates a degree of buyer&rsquo;s remorse. So, while their future is still quite bright thanks to their younger players, their salary cap optimism has probably been muted. The fact that Bullock was lured away by the Dallas Mavericks for a three-year, $30.5 million contract only adds to the team's frustrations. And while that&rsquo;s a hefty contract, too, considering it&rsquo;s netted just 6.0 points per game on 28.7% shooting from deep, it&rsquo;s quite a bit less than the Knicks are paying Fournier. But Bullock aside, the Knicks might wish they could get a redo on this one (although maybe not quite as much, after Thursday night's career-high scoring effort from Fournier).&nbsp;
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Russell Westbrook trade to the Los Angeles Lakers 
Did anyone outside the Lakers&rsquo; front office really think this was a good idea? Westbrook is a dynamic, albeit polarizing, player who&rsquo;s produced some of the most amazing individual seasons we&rsquo;ve ever witnessed. But he was never a fit for the Lakers &ndash; and, namely, not a good fit alongside LeBron James.
On a positive note, Westbrook's contract is up after next season. So, the long-term impact is limited, even if he is still owed more than $90 million between this season and 2022-23.
But there is significant downside, too. Let's start with Westbook's play &ndash; it's not great. Westbrook's scoring (19.5 points per game), assists (8.1) and rebounds (8.1) are all down. So is his PER (15.9), which is the second-worst of his career. His turnovers (4.6) are still up and he's still struggling on threes (30%).&nbsp;
There's also the fact that the Washington Wizards are in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, and their depth has a lot to do with that. Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell are averaging at least 25.4 minutes per game. Harrell is actually posting a career-best 25.1 PER. The Lakers could use that depth. Just look at their top minute getters: James (36.9 per game), Westbrook (35.8) and Anthony Davis (35.4) lead the way. After the Big Three, it gets messy thanks in part to COVID. Talen Horton-Tucker gets 28.2 per game, Carmelo Anthony receives 27.1 and Stanley Johnson &ndash; who was just signed last week &ndash; is averaging 25.2. Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington and Austin Reaves are all averaging more than 20 minutes per game, too. Now imagine if they had a more talented rotation of role players&hellip;
Next, there are the rumors that the Lakers were in advanced talks with the Sacramento Kings about swapping Kuzma for Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield instead. Hield-to-Los Angeles makes so much more sense. He&rsquo;s the type of player who does well in a catch-and-shoot role. Hield is shooting better than 40% on threes across his 424 game career. Plus, the Lakers would have kept Harrell and Pope, meaning that the 15th best long-range shooting team could have added a top shooter (while subtracting a seriously subpar shooter in Westbrook ). Not to mention, they could have hung on to two quality role players.
And finally, there&rsquo;s the reality of James&rsquo; age and career trajectory. James is still playing insanely well, especially for a 37-year-old. But let&rsquo;s be honest, it won&rsquo;t be that way forever. In all likelihood, he will show more signs of aging over the next season or so. Unfortunately, Westbrook being signed through the end of 2022-23 eliminates cap flexibility, meaning that additional help will be hard to find until 2023-24, at which point James will turn 39. That's not a great outcome for a team hoping to win at least one more championship with their current core.
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Duncan Robinson re-signs with the Miami Heat
As the NBA season approaches its midway point, the Heat are pretty much exactly where we thought they would be. They&rsquo;re currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, boasting the seventh-best defensive and offensive ratings. And Kyle Lowry has fit perfectly with Miami&rsquo;s culture. But one thing isn&rsquo;t working, Robinson &ndash; and it&rsquo;s surpassingly due to a lack marksmanship.
Robinson signed his first big deal this past offseason to the tune of five-years and $90 million. And while that&rsquo;s a lot of money, Robison&rsquo;s shooting touch nearly warranted it. He shot 40.8 percent on 8.5 long-range attempts last season and 44.6% on 8.3 attempts per game in 2019-20.
But Robinson has struggled to replicate such performances. He&rsquo;s shooting just 34.6% on threes this season, and he hasn&rsquo;t made up for his slump elsewhere. He's down to 79.3% on free throws after shooting 82.7% last season and 93.1% in 2019-20. And he&rsquo;s connecting on just 52.2% of two-point attempts, after shooting 61.4% last season and 66.7% in 2019-20.
Ultimately, the bounce back performance of Tyler Herro is overshadowing Robinson&rsquo;s poor play, and the law of large numbers will probably win out with Robinson bouncing back at some point. In fact, there is a glimmer of hope in that he shot 37.6% on threes in December, which is less than ideal but better than he did in October and November.
A five-year, $90 million contract sounds like a lot, but to be fair Joe Harris signed a four-year, $75 million deal in late 2020, and Davis Bertans signed for five years and $80 million. Ironically, both players have been mentioned as being available this season, but Robinson signed at the going rate for a great knock-down shooter. If Robinson can get his shot back, this deal becomes infinitely more bearable.
The fact that players are assets is an unfortunate truth of professional sports. Love them or hate them, if players underperform for long enough it will inevitably draw the ire of their teams. What happens from there varies from team to team, but the business of basketball wins out more than not.

Drew Maresca takes a look trades and signings from the 2021 offseason that some teams might rather take back.

2021 Offseason redos: Decisions teams wish they could take back

The Oklahoma City Thunder have accumulated quite the collection of draft picks, including some that were procured in last month&rsquo;s trade with the Boston Celtics. In total, the Thunder could have as many as 39 picks (including 18 first-rounders) between now and the 2027 NBA Draft.
That. Is. Unprecedented.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, Oklahoma City has six picks: 6th, 16th, 18th, 34th, 36th and 55th. They&rsquo;ve also been one of the more active teams in trade talks leading up the draft.
While the Thunder may receive more notoriety than anyone else for hoarding draft picks, they&rsquo;re not the only franchise that's doing it. The New Orleans Pelicans have amassed 26 picks in the next seven drafts, and the Houston Rockets have stockpiled 19 picks over that same span.
But there&rsquo;s an uncertainty to collecting draft picks &ndash; namely, picks don&rsquo;t always pan out, even high-end lottery picks. So while it is understandable to assume that tons of draft picks will translate to tons of success, such is not always the case.
To illustrate this point, let&rsquo;s turn our attention to the Atlantic Division in the 2010s.
Pick collecting was a major part of Sam Hinkie and the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; &ldquo;Trust-the-Process&rdquo; strategy. Hinkie sparked a revolution as the 76ers&rsquo; general manager by embracing the idea of tanking to streamline the rebuilding process, while simultaneously shipping out talent that didn&rsquo;t fit his timeline (e.g., Jrue Holiday) in exchange for additional draft picks.
In total, Philadelphia made 24 selections between 2013 (the first year in which Hinkie captained the 76ers&rsquo; draft process) and 2017 (the last draft before the 76ers returned to the playoffs).
The jury is still out on Philadelphia&rsquo;s rebuild. Hinkie resigned from his position with the 76ers in 2016, but his philosophy did result in the team drafting two cornerstone pieces in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Also, Hinkie successfully identified quite a few diamonds-in-the-rough who were second-rounders or undrafted free agents such as Jerami Grant (39th), Richaun Holmes (37th), Christian Wood (undrafted), Robert Covington (undrafted) and T.J. McConnell (undrafted). But while the 76ers have had some success in recent years, reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals in three of the previous four seasons, they have failed to accomplish anything truly meaningful, yet.
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Next up, the Boston Celtics.
After winning the 2008 NBA Finals and remaining competitive in the Eastern Conference for a few seasons, the Celtics and executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge pivoted into a rebuild, trading Kevin Garnett, Paul Piece, and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets for three future first-round picks, the right to swap first-round picks in 2017, and a hodgepodge of players. And while the haul from Brooklyn was clearly the centerpiece of Boston&rsquo;s draft capital, the Celtics continued accumulating picks from various teams. They acquired selections from the Sacramento Kings (14th) and Los Angeles Clippers (20th) in 2019, and they added the 14th pick from the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020.
All told, Boston made 27 selections over the course of seven drafts up-to-and-including 2020. Their rebuild involved more than just draft picks, though, including a trade for Isaiah Thomas in 2015, a trade with Philadelphia in 2017 that netted them Jayson Tatum, and a trade for Kyrie Irving in 2019 in which they sent out a draft pick along with other assets.
But Boston&rsquo;s rebuild didn&rsquo;t result in a championship either. While Ainge stockpiled draft picks like a squirrel hoarding away acorns, he should have been more aggressive in his pursuit of available superstars. Despite an abundance of picks to entice trade partners, they <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/woulda-coulda-shoulda-the-celtics-should-have-a-superteam-right-now">balked at opportunities</a> to trade for Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Jimmy Butler in hopes of adding an even bigger star (e.g., Anthony Davis), which never happened. Instead, Boston used many of their picks, so they now have 10 players who are age-24 or younger. That young core is led by two All-Stars: the 23-year-old Tatum and 24-year-old Jaylen Brown.
To be fair, the Ainge-led Celtics were one game away from the 2018 NBA Finals and an Irving injury upset their chances at any meaningful success the following season. But Irving and Gordon Hayward both signed elsewhere as free agents in the seasons since, and Ainge left the organization this offseason.
The Thunder, Pelicans, and Rockets should review both of the aforementioned attempts at winning via draft-pick hoarding. If they pay close attention, there are lessons to be learned.
First, a lesson from the city of brotherly love: work smarter, not harder. The 76ers&rsquo; biggest misstep was giving away too much in exchange for the first-overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. They gave up Sacramento&rsquo;s unprotected 2019 first-rounder (which became the No. 14 pick), but the pick swaps were what caused the most damage.
In hindsight, wouldn&rsquo;t Tatum have the best available addition out of everyone in the entire draft class to place alongside Embiid and Simmons? Instead 76ers executive Bryan Colangelo overthought a situation, giving up extra draft capital to pick point guard Markelle Fultz (who still hasn&rsquo;t reached his full potential), when there was already an All-Star-caliber point guard on the roster (Simmons).
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The other key takeaway comes from Beantown, and it&rsquo;s even more important than the first one: when a superstar in the prime of his career is available and you can land him, you go get him. According to <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2019/06/08/kawhi-leonard-trade-rumor-raptors-celtics-jaylen-brown-danny-ainge">Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated</a>, Boston had the best offer for Leonard and regretted not pulling the trigger. The same is probably true of their inaction regarding Butler and George, any of whom would have made an already uber-talented lineup all-the-more dangerous.
Ultimately, the situations in Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston will play out differently than those in Philadelphia and Boston, but different doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean better. It goes without saying that NBA front offices are smarter than ever and constantly adapting, but miscalculations (like chasing Fultz over Tatum) are inevitable.
The major benefit of stockpiling so many picks is that you have flexibility and you can weather one or more mistakes. Ideally, the sheer number of picks owned by Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston will outweigh any errors in judgement. Otherwise, one those teams may be rebuilding for even longer than expected.

The Thunder could have as many as 39 picks over the next seven drafts. How has stockpiling draft picks worked for teams in the past?

When NBA teams have hoarded draft picks, has it paid off?

Andre Drummond may not be a terrifically well-rounded basketball player, but he is very, very good at one thing: rebounding. He does not shoot threes, he is not a great free-throw shooter and he does not block a ton of shots.
So he is not perfect, okay? &nbsp;Who is? (Aside from LeBron, of course).
Dennis Rodman was not perfect either, but he was a rebounding specialist whose skill set was incorporated into a Chicago Bulls team that needed someone to hit the boards like a maniac. That&rsquo;s what Rodman did quite well, leading the NBA in that category for seven consecutive seasons during the 1990s.&nbsp;
And Rodman made it to the Hall of Fame... not bad for a guy whose first job as a young adult was mopping floors at a Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Ben Wallace was the same type of player, a rebounder (and shot-blocker) who did little else statistically, but was a key cog in a championship puzzle; he was adored in Detroit. Dwight Howard led the league in rebounding five times, and DeAndre Jordan did it in consecutive seasons, becoming such a hot commodity in free agency that he spawned the NBA &ldquo;Emoji Era&rdquo; on Twitter back when the Dallas Mavericks were trying to sign him.
All of this is relevant today because the Cleveland Cavaliers are now <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-andre-drummond-trade-possibilities-destinations-no-contract-buyout-toronto-raptors-dallas-mavericks-brooklyn-nets-sacramento-kings-new-york-knicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trying to trade Drummond and his expiring $28.7 million contract</a>. There are people out there who are bashing him, citing quantitative stats that make perfect sense to the quants but mean nothing to the folks who judge basketball players more simply: &ldquo;Can he help us win a championship?&rdquo;
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Overthinkers are overly abundant in the NBA. Metrics can show just about anything you want, positive or negative, depending on how you spin the data you encounter.
Folks, Drummond has led the league in rebounding in four of the past five seasons. He currently is second in the league at 13.5 per game. Can&rsquo;t we just keep it simple and not pick apart things aside from his particular prowess doing the one thing he does well? Drummond has warts, but who doesn&rsquo;t?&nbsp;
Cavs general manager Koby Altman got Drummond last year for expiring contracts and a future second-round pick. It was a steal. Now, Altman has the league on notice that Drummond is available. His job is to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-andre-drummond-trade-possibilities-destinations-no-contract-buyout-toronto-raptors-dallas-mavericks-brooklyn-nets-sacramento-kings-new-york-knicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">get as much as he can for Drummond</a> before the NBA trade deadline on March 25.&nbsp;
Somebody is going to have to outrebound Nikola Jokic (11.5 per game) or Rudy Gobert (13.2) in the Western Conference playoffs, and Joel Embiid (10.8), Julius Randle (11) or Domantas Sabonis/Nikola Vucevic (both averaging 11.4) in the East playoffs. &nbsp;
Drummond could be that player, and he is clearly on the market.&nbsp;
He is better than some may lead you to believe, sort of like Enes Kanter, who is No. 11 in the NBA in rebounding as an emergency fill-in for Jusuf Nurkic. Kanter is a one-trick pony, too, and his defensive inefficiencies are well-documented. But he rebounds well, and where would the Blazers be without him?
So let&rsquo;s wait and see what Altman can get for Drummond, who ends up being a rental in Cleveland as many expected he would be when the Cavs got him. At the end of the day, Drummond is an elite rebounder. He is 27. He has a lot left.&nbsp;
As Tuesday afternoon arives, the trade market welcomes Drummond&rsquo;s arrival. Let the bidding begin.

Andre Drummond is imperfect, but he has one skill in particular that can help a team contend for a title, writes Chris Sheridan.

Andre Drummond has his faults, but he could still be key championship piece

As it became clear that the Los Angeles Lakers would win their 17th championship in franchise history in the final minutes of Game 6, LeBron James embraced an emotional Anthony Davis. 
What did James say to his teammate, who was on the verge of winning his first title?
&ldquo;He was [teasing] me, saying, &lsquo;You're soft. Oh, you crybaby!&rsquo;&rdquo; Davis said with a laugh. &ldquo;It was an unbelievable feeling, and just an emotional moment for me&hellip; I just started to cry, I couldn't hold it in. This is something that I&rsquo;ve wanted my entire career, and it's only the first one."
James said that seeing Davis&rsquo; excitement and shock reminded him of his reaction when he won his first championship back in 2012. LeBron was 27 years old at the time, just like Davis is now.
In June of 2019, the Lakers made a high-risk, high-reward move when they mortgaged their future in exchange for Davis, who&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s most talented superstars. Davis was disgruntled and had requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, but that didn&rsquo;t lower his cost very much (since other teams, including the Boston Celtics, were pursuing him too).
To land Davis, the Lakers traded Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft (which became De&rsquo;Andre Hunter), a 2021 first-rounder (top-eight protected, then unprotected in 2022), the right to swap first-rounders in 2023 and an unprotected 2024 first-round pick (which New Orleans can defer to 2025).&nbsp;The Pelicans ultimately flipped the No. 4 pick to the Atlanta Hawks for No. 8 pick (Jaxson Hayes), the No. 17 pick (Nickeil Alexander-Walker), the No. 35 pick (Marcos Louzada Silva) and a 2020 first (top-10 protected).
Following the trade, the general consensus was that the Lakers gave up too much, especially since Davis could hit unrestricted free agency after the 2019-20 season. David Griffin, New Orleans&rsquo; executive vice president of basketball operations, was praised for the move. Pelicans guard E&rsquo;Twaun Moore, who had played alongside Davis, even told me that he was shocked by the haul that New Orleans received.
&ldquo;It was like, &lsquo;Wow, I didn&rsquo;t know we were going to get all of that back!&rsquo; Moore <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2019/07/15/rumors-pelicans-etwaun-moore-anthony-davis-lonzo-ball-ingram-zion-williamson-trade-playoffs/">admitted</a>. &ldquo;I just thought we&rsquo;d get a couple young guys and that would be it, but we got a whole lot of young guys and draft picks. David Griffin did a great job with the transaction. I don&rsquo;t think it could&rsquo;ve been done any better&hellip; Man, that was exciting!&rdquo;
This swing-for-the-fences move just paid off, as the Lakers left the NBA bubble with the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy and Davis played an enormous role in the team&rsquo;s success every step of the way.
During the regular season, Davis helped the Lakers post the best record in the Western Conference (52-19), averaging 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.3 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1.2 threes while shooting 50.3 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. 
He was even better in the playoffs, contributing 27.7 points, 9.7 boards, 3.5 assists, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 steals and 1.1 threes per game on 57.1/38.3/83.2 shooting splits. During the Finals, Davis averaged 25 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2 blocks, 1.3 steals, 1.3 threes while shooting an insanely efficient 57.5 percent from the field, 48.3 percent from three and 95.2 percent from the free-throw line.
&ldquo;You know, it's interesting, a lot of people think that trades are easy in the NBA,&rdquo; said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. &ldquo;If you talk to any of the other 29 GMs - and there are some really, really good ones that I get to work alongside - any trade, especially for a superstar, is incredibly difficult and challenging and filled with intricacies and issues that the general public might never really understand. The dynamics of pulling off superstar trades are very, very challenging. They take weeks of hard work, and we were thankful when we acquired Anthony, but we knew the work wasn't done once we paired LeBron and AD together.&rdquo;&nbsp;
After acquiring Davis, the Lakers tried to land a third star during the 2019 free-agency period, pursuing Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker among others. However, the team struck out on these players and had to go with a more well-rounded approach to their roster.
&ldquo;In free agency last year, obviously we made a run to acquire a max free agent, but we had a counter, a backup plan, and I knew we had a way to pivot and build a team with the other players we were able to acquire,&rdquo; Pelinka said. &ldquo;It worked out. It worked out well, obviously. But it was hard work. It wasn't just happenstance [like], &lsquo;Oh, let's go sign a bunch of guys.&rsquo; I can't take credit because we have a front office of a lot of incredibly hard-working, bright people in our basketball operations department, and it takes a village to have success, and all those people helped with that plan. It came together and here we are.&rdquo;
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After winning his first-ever championship, Davis reflected on his journey to this point.
&ldquo;It's just part of your legacy, to say you're a champion; not everybody can say that,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;I wanted to do the same thing in New Orleans. I was there for seven years. You want to go out there and compete for a championship every time you step on the floor. [We] got close, going to the second round. We thought we had a chance before DeMarcus [Cousins] got hurt.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The last, what, two months, maybe, in New Orleans, it was obviously rocky. We were going back and forth at each other and getting booed, and everything like that. I think being there in that moment while I was still part of the team, going out there playing, kind of got me ready for a moment like this. Obviously, it was a tough environment and tough situation for me. But being to handle all that and withstand all that and bring that same energy and confidence I had, even when I was playing then, to come out here and be with these guys who want nothing but the best for you and want you to win and get it done, it's a special feeling. It just makes it all worth it. It was tough times, but like I said: I'm a champion. When I got traded, that's all I wanted - to be a champion, to be able to compete, be able to win.&rdquo;
From day one, Davis and James got along well and set the tone for the rest of the roster as the team&rsquo;s leaders (as Lakers guard Quinn Cook <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-lakers-quinn-cook-la-los-angeles-lebron-james-anthony-davis-playoffs-chemistry-bubble-leadership">wrote in his BasketballNews.com piece</a>). Davis and James have developed a special bond over the last year and a half.
&ldquo;You guys ask me about my relationship with AD and the first thing I think about is the respect, the [lack of] ego, the challenging each other,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;We want each other to be better than ourselves. I want AD to be better than me; AD wants me to be better than him. Every single night, every single day. And we challenge ourselves. I think that's a part of it.&rdquo;
Davis added: &ldquo;Respect. True friendship. We're close on the court, but you've got to see us off the court; it's unreal. I'm always at his house. He's always at my house. This is true the entire season. There's no jealousy. No one is envious of each other. Guys don't have personal agendas. We're just two guys who just want to win for various reasons. We were able to do it tonight&hellip; We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. I challenge him. He challenges me. It's not always sweet and smooth, but it gets the job done. You're going to have confrontations and arguments throughout the season to win a championship. We had our fair share. But at the end of the day, we respect one another. We respect what each one is trying to do. I respect his game, he respects my game and we just put it all together.&rdquo;
Entering the 2020 offseason, Davis can become an unrestricted free agent. He has a player option worth $28,751,775 for the 2020-21 season, so he could hit the open market. All season, Davis has seemed like a lock to re-sign with the Lakers (even if he opts out in order to sign a new, multi-year deal).&nbsp;
However, when asked about his potential free agency, Davis was noncommittal.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I have no idea... I had a great time in L.A. this first year,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;This has been nothing but joy, nothing but amazement. Over the next couple of months, we'll figure it out. I mean, I'm not 100 percent sure. But that's why my agent is who he is and we'll discuss it and figure it out." 
It&rsquo;s worth noting that Davis and James are represented by the same agent: Rich Paul, who helped Davis get traded to Los Angeles.
At other times, Davis sounded like he was already thinking ahead to next year with the Lakers.
For example, on Quinn Cook&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/TopBallCoverage/status/1315582682764517378">IG Live</a>, Davis said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re gonna run it right back.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The champagne from the Lakers' celebration hadn't even dried yet, but Davis was already turning his attention to how he could improve this offseason and what next season might bring.
&ldquo;This just puts a bigger target on your back, honestly. Teams are going to come after you next year, especially when you're one of the top players,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Guys want to take out the champion. The next four or five years, [I] have to get better and better. I have to keep improving my game and, hopefully, I can have this feeling again.&rdquo;
Blockbuster trades are typically judged on whether the superstar player delivers a championship. Take the Los Angeles Clippers, for example. If Kawhi Leonard and Paul George help the franchise win their first-ever championship, the trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder is viewed as a huge success and Lawrence Frank is a genius. 
If the team fails to win a title and loses Leonard and George, the focus suddenly shifts to the fact that Los Angeles gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and seven first-rounders (Miami's 2021 unprotected first-rounder, LA's 2022 unprotected first-rounder, LA's 2024 unprotected first-rounder, LA's 2026 unprotected first-rounder and the right to swap firsts with LA in 2023 and 2025) as part of this experiment.
Fortunately for Pelinka and the Lakers, the Davis trade worked out and they are vindicated. Now, the next step is re-signing him and seeing if Davis and James can turn this into a multi-championship run.

The Los Angeles Lakers mortgaged their future and gave up a ton of assets to acquire Anthony Davis, who proved to be worth it.

The Lakers' trade for Anthony Davis paid off

The 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest left much to be desired, according to fans and even one NBA superstar on social media.
Philadelphia 76ers reigning MVP Joel Embiid is known for cracking jokes on the internet, with Saturday night being no exception. He posted to X on multiple occasions, poking fun at the commentators and dunks from the evening.
&ldquo;Kenny smith been drinking lmao,&rdquo; <a href="https://x.com/JoelEmbiid/status/1759060203926892829?s=20">he tweeted first.</a>
Smith was one of the voices for TNT's broadcast of All-Star Saturday Night alongside Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Allie LaForce. The two-time NBA champion shared a variety of opinions, which Embiid clearly disagreed with.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a professional hater but I&rsquo;m not hating when I say I could win the dunk contest with these scores but not sure the knees would allow it," <a href="https://x.com/JoelEmbiid/status/1759061067160842647?s=20">Embiid added in a post that had social media buzzing.</a>
A critique of the judges was not uncommon, as there were various moments that resulted in anger among fans. One instance occurred when G-Leaguer Mac McClung threw the ball to himself while in the air, but received less than a perfect score. Fans were also frustrated when Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. jumped over NBA legend Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, but was given a lower score than Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s slam over influencer Kai Cenat, who was sitting down.
McClung, the reigning champion, claimed his second consecutive dunk-contest win with scores of 48, 49.4, 48.8 and 50. McClung&rsquo;s final dunk was the lone 50 of the evening. He became the fifth back-to-back winner in NBA history, joining Zach LaVine, Michael Jordan, Nate Robinson and Jason Richardson. The consensus among fans is that the Osceola Magic guard deserved the victory but that this performance was less impressive than last year's showing.
New York Knicks&rsquo; Jacob Toppin and Jaquez were eliminated in the opening round. Brown finished as the runner-up, with boos pouring in from the crowd during his turn due to controversial scoring.&nbsp;
Embiid&rsquo;s mention of his knees not allowing it refers to his unfortunate injury, which happened on Jan. 30 against the Golden State Warriors. He suffered a left meniscus injury, which required surgery. Embiid will be re-evaluated in four weeks.&nbsp;
Prior to the injury, the Sixers big man was projected to win his second MVP award. He is averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks on 53.3% shooting. With Embiid sidelined, Denver Nuggets&rsquo; Nikola Jokic, Dallas Mavericks&rsquo; Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the top MVP candidates.

The 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest left much to be desired, according to fans and even one NBA superstar on social media.

Joel Embiid clowns NBA Slam Dunk Contest and Kenny Smith

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; The NBA Finals could&rsquo;ve featured glamour teams like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and conventional thinking before the NHL playoffs stated the dominant Boston Bruins and star-studded Edmonton Oilers were on a near-collision course to meet in the Stanley Cup Final.
All four teams are out, and what could&rsquo;ve been enormous betting interest has largely waned.
On the NBA side, No. 8 seed Miami Heat will face an NBA Finals newcomer in the Denver Nuggets, an enormous minus-460 favorite, according to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>.
Christian Cipollini, BetMGM trading manager, said a Celtics-Lakers matchup would have created much more betting action, but the sportsbook was on the hook for many futures bets on those teams.
&ldquo;A Celtics-Lakers series is nine times out of 10 going to be a losing series for the book,&rdquo; Cipollini said. &ldquo;Everyone bets the Lakers-Celtics. Our Lakers money was bad. We didn&rsquo;t want the Lakers to go any farther than they did.&rdquo;
A Celtics appearance in the Finals, however, wouldn&rsquo;t have been bad for all sportsbooks. David Lieberman, who oversees NBA betting for Caesars, said the Celtics didn&rsquo;t attract a lot of futures action, limiting the book&rsquo;s liability. Like BetMGM, though, a Lakers championship would have proved a nightmare scenario.
&ldquo;It would&rsquo;ve been quite the sweat if they had the chance to win it all,&rdquo; Lieberman said.
The Stanley Cup Final matches up the last team into the Eastern Conference playoffs in the Florida Panthers against a Vegas Golden Knights team that, in six short years, is making their second championship appearance.
Adding Las Vegas to the NHL was an initial betting boost for the league, but that effect is less noticeable with the spread of legalized sports betting. The Knights are minus-125 favorites, according to&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nhl?tab=stanley-cup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FanDuel</a>.
&ldquo;People kind of fell off this Golden Knights bandwagon this season,&rdquo; Cipollini said. &ldquo;We take a little bit less bets than we have in the past. When they started, people were all over them.&rdquo;
Minnesota-based Alex B. Smith, one of the top NHL handicapping experts, said the Knights&rsquo; effect on elevating the league&rsquo;s standing among bettors should not be minimized. The NHL is noticeably behind the NFL and NBA in betting interest, but is in the next tier, largely thanks to the Knights&rsquo; run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
&ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s something they&rsquo;re really watching and kind of follow, especially from a betting aspect,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;That started off of the back with that season of Vegas. That season really kind of changed the way the betting landscape would open up and adapt.&rdquo;
OT, REGULATION DRAW THE SAME, NOT THE SAME
Smith said NHL bettors should be aware that many books offer bets on whether games will go into overtime or have a regulation draw, which is the same thing. Because bettors tend to look for the prop bets offering whether a game will reach OT, the other better-priced wager is often ignored.
He took Saturday&rsquo;s Game 1 at plus-320 to end in a regulation draw, and said that prop can go as high as plus-345, while an overtime bet tends to be around plus-300 or plus-305.
&ldquo;You short yourself anywhere from 20 to 40 cents on a given day,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s literally no difference. It&rsquo;s just how it&rsquo;s worded. I don&rsquo;t know how the books are allowed to do this.&rdquo;
SOUTH FLORIDA SUCCESS
First, it was Miami Hurricanes making college basketball&rsquo;s Final Four, and now that region&rsquo;s NBA and NHL teams are playing for championships in those leagues.
It would make sense for some kind of South Florida proposition bet to tap into the excitement there, but sports betting is still not legal in that state. Hard Rock Sportsbook is owned by the Seminoles tribe and had a monopoly in Florida, but a federal judge tossed that agreement in 2021.
THE VEGAS NONEFFECT
When legalized sports betting was limited to Nevada during the Knights&rsquo; first Stanley Cup Final run, the lines were skewed to Vegas because locals jumped in on the action.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in so many states now, we have to go with what we think will be the right line for for everyone,&rdquo; Lieberman said. &ldquo;Sometimes we&rsquo;ll take a little more action on certain teams from certain states. Like New York, there are quite a few bettors there that bet with us, so some New York teams are usually popular on daily games or futures prices and stuff like that. But, ultimately, we&rsquo;re trying to put out the best odds and not worry as much about that.&rdquo;
HISTORY LITTLE GUIDE
Comparing betting numbers on the NBA and NHL championships from year to year is tricky because legalized sports wagering has moved far beyond Nevada&rsquo;s state lines.
The COVID-19 pandemic also skewed the numbers because it forced both leagues to alter their playoff schedules to be in more direct competition with other sports.
&ldquo;I expect (the betting handle) to be slightly down,&rdquo; Cipollini said. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s also perspective that we&rsquo;ve gone into more than states, so the numbers might tell me that it&rsquo;s up from last year when really realistically, it might not be.&rdquo;

Without marquee matchups in the NBA Finals and NHL Finals, betting interest is expected to wane a bit.

Betting interest waning with NBA, NHL Finals lacking marquee matchups

I'd like to workshop a take: The Cleveland Cavaliers are the NBA's preeminent "but" team.&nbsp;
Think about your ideal makeup of a contender. You want a team that can dominate &mdash; or wall off &mdash; the paint. Preferably both. You want a stingy defense, period. You want scheme-breaking shot creators &mdash; guys who can attack a drop, pass against more aggressive coverage, and boogie against defenders 1-on-1 when the situation calls for it. You want proper spacing around those guys to make their jobs easier.
The Cavs check a lot of those boxes.
There's a reason they've been near or at the top of the league in net rating all year long. Per Cleaning The Glass, they're one-tenth of a point behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the best defense in the NBA, headlined by their menacing frontcourt. In fact, the Cavs are one of four teams &mdash; joining the Grizzlies, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers &mdash; that rank in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating.&nbsp;
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland certainly pass the bust-your-defense smell test. Mitchell will, at worst, make the All-NBA Second Team; Garland doesn't have the same momentum, but he's played at an All-NBA level.&nbsp;
There are enough questions, enough "buts" (grow up), to generate some unease:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>How versatile&nbsp;is this defense &mdash; especially with only one of the twin towers on the floor?</li>
<li>They're skilled enough to beat most coverages,&nbsp;but, do we trust their process late in games?</li>
<li>Are there enough&nbsp;spacers to accentuate the skills of Mitchell and Garland?</li>
</ul>
Smack dab in the middle of these questions, figuratively and literally, is second-year forward Evan Mobley. Mobley doubles as a budding young star and, arguably, Cleveland's biggest X-factor <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-cleveland-cavaliers-open-up-on-tough-road-back-to-playoffs-jb-bickerstaff-jarrett-allen-evan-mobley-darius-garland-lebron-james-cavs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this postseason</a>.&nbsp;
After narrowly missing out on Rookie of the Year last season, Mobley showcased growth along the margins. His screening got better; he shaved tenths of a second off of his post-catch moves, unlocking more shot opportunities, short-roll playmaking windows and more half-court continuity as a handoff hub. While still wiry, Mobley's added strength helped foster growth as a rebounder.
In 2023, Mobley has exploded.
Over his past 41 games, he's averaging 17.9 points while converting roughly 60% of his twos, grabbing 9.2 rebounds, dishing out 3.0 assists (1.8 turnovers), swatting 1.8 shots and snagging nearly a steal (0.8) per game.&nbsp;
The scoring has popped in a real way. After having 12 games of 20 or more points last season, he's up to 20 this year. He's racked up 13 since the turn of the calendar, including big performances <a href="https://youtu.be/Hm-DPTmydgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against the Milwaukee Bucks</a> (38 and 9) and Denver Nuggets (31 and 9).
What Mobley can do as a lob threat or cleanup man on the offensive glass is well-documented. But the self-creation flashes? We're moving away from "flashes" and into this-is-what-he-does territory.
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We're seeing a little more oomph&nbsp;before some of these shots. Subtle bows and shoulder nudges into the chest of defenders create *just* enough space for him to get off clean looks.&nbsp;
Beyond that, it's hard not to marvel at Mobley's patience when operating below the free-throw line. He doesn't mind pump faking once, twice, sometimes three times to get a defender off-balance. It's been fun watching Mobley almost realize in real-time, "Hey, teams really can't&nbsp;do anything with me inside of 10 feet, huh," as he flips in a mix of jump hooks, push shots and turnaround jumpers.&nbsp;
While Mobley has been assisted on more of his shots overall, he's showcased growth when creating on his own. He's converted 48.4% on self-created shots &mdash; which PBP Stats defines as "shots on which the player held the ball for two or more seconds before the shot" &mdash; inside of 10 feet this season, a slight bump from last year's number (47.7%).
Mobley's trending in the right way, but, naturally, he isn't there&nbsp;yet. He's well-below league average (53.1% FG) on those self-created looks inside of 10 feet. Though he's looked more comfortable on the block, the efficiency hasn't followed.
The Cavs are generating 0.85 points per possession (PPP) when Mobley shoots out of a post-up, ranking last among 26 players with at least 75 reps. And that efficiency actually drops&nbsp;when he's been defended by a smaller player (0.76 PPP).
I wouldn't be concerned long-term; the film is littered with some uncharacteristic misses up close, and he's been much better in 2023 (0.94 PPP) than the 2022 portion of the season (0.59 PPP). Smaller players being able to get under him and bother his better-but-still-loose handle &mdash; while also&nbsp;reading where bigger help is coming from &mdash; is something worth keeping an eye on.&nbsp;
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The jumper remains a work in progress, though it's important that the shot is less of a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency thing and more of something he's comfortable taking. It's helped him become more fluid in short-roll situations, and there's a head-shaking effect on nights where he has the three-ball going on top of his interior exploits.
Mobley has gotten better defensively as well. He's already much better than any player his age has any business being in drop coverage. His timing feels preternatural when contesting shots &mdash; inside the arc or outside of it. I don't think enough is being made of the fact that Mobley <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leads the NBA</a> in three-pointers contested, ranks in the top 10 in blocks per game (1.5) and still fouls fewer than three times per contest.
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And of course, his unique blend of length and mobility makes him quite the space defender. Only Nic Claxton has defended more isolations than Mobley, and Evan's efficiency-allowed number (0.895 PPP when a player shoots against Mobley) isn't far off Claxton's (0.852 PPP) or Bam Adebayo's (0.856 PPP). It's Year 2 and he's firmly in elite company.
The quieter portion of Mobley's growth has been his work as a rebounder. His overall rebound rate has improved by nearly two percentage points from last season (13.5% to 15.4%). His defensive rebound rate has jumped nearly three percentage points (19.8% to 22.7%). He snagged 1.8 contested defensive boards per game last season; that's up to 2.4 this year, a mark just outside the top 10 this year.&nbsp;
This growth has allowed him to anchor more minutes at the 5 this year. The Mobley on/Allen off minutes were essentially neutral (-0.2 NET, per Cleaning The Glass) last season; the Cavs are flat-out winning those minutes (plus-4.4 NET) this year behind a stingy defense (110.9 DTRG, would rank No. 1 in the league).&nbsp;
I don't think Mobley was quite ready to anchor solo minutes last year; he looks firmly prepared to do so now. The bigger question may be if the&nbsp;Cavs&nbsp;are equipped for him to do so.
They've trended smaller as of late, finding more minutes for their stable of wings at the 4 alongside Mobley. I'd worry about what happens when opponents are intentional about engaging him.
Engaging him directly, or pulling him away from the action by spacing him, puts strain on the weaker defenders around him. More worrisome, it exposes the Cavs on the glass behind him. Even when he's down there, there's only so much Mobley can do by himself. He's improved, but he isn't quite Moses Malone.
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Look no further than the four-game stretch in mid-March while Allen was out, where Cleveland logged a 70.3 defensive rebound rate (20th during that stretch), grabbing only 45.7% of available rebounds (28th).
It's fair to argue it won't always be&nbsp;that&nbsp;stark, and it's worth noting the Cavs did go 3-1 in those games. On the flip side, the three wins came against Charlotte (twice) and Washington, while the loss came against Philadelphia &mdash; a team they could see in the Eastern Conference Finals if they make it that far.
More pressing: In Round 1, they're slated to face the New York Knicks, who rank third in <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=OREB_PCT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offensive rebound rate</a> (31.6) and <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?dir=A&amp;sort=PTS_2ND_CHANCE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second-chance points</a> (16.1). The Cavs are 1-3 in the season series with a rebound rate of 45.7% in those games. There's context to be added, but still enough to be concerned about.
The good news, and something worth reminding folks of, is that it's okay for them not to have all the answers now. This is a&nbsp;young&nbsp;group with easy-to-see growth pathways for at least three-fourths of the team's core.
Mobley in particular is looking scarier by the week. If nothing else, this postseason should give us a clearer picture of where he is, where he's going and what the Cavs have to provide to facilitate that path.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan analyzes the growth of Evan Mobley in the second half of the Cavaliers' season and how he's Cleveland's X-factor.

Evan Mobley's evolution is upon us — is it enough for the Cavaliers?

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists just hours after his most recent technical foul and one-game suspension were rescinded Monday by the NBA and led the Dallas Mavericks past the Indiana Pacers 127-104.
The Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak and remained in contention in the race for one of the final two play-in spots in the Western Conference. Kyrie Irving added 16 points and six assists for Dallas.
Indiana was led by Bennedict Mathurin, who scored 22 points, and Andrew Nembhard, who had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists on a night the Pacers were missing three starters and a key backup. The Pacers have lost three straight and six of eight as they move closer to locking up a lottery pick.
Doncic had picked up his 16th technical that was rescinded on Sunday in the team&rsquo;s second loss to Charlotte. The technical came with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter of a 110-104 loss when Doncic argued a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket. Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used &ldquo;a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.&rdquo;
TIMBERWOLVES 119, KINGS 115
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jaden McDaniels scored 20 points and Minnesota spoiled Sacramento&rsquo;s bid to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2006, the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
The Timberwolves won their fourth straight and completed a sweep of a back-to-back set at Golden State and Sacramento to tie the Warriors for sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Naz Reid scored 18 points, Anthony Edwards had 17 and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 29 points and Domantas Sabonis added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, which shot 5 of 26 from 3-point distance.
The Kings will look to clinch a playoff berth when they travel to Portland for two games, starting Wednesday.
CLIPPERS 124, BULLS 112
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Nicolas Batum got all of his season-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon added 22 points as Los Angeles beat Chicago.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as the Clippers rebounded from an embarrassing loss to New Orleans with 20 3-pointers in an impressive outside shooting display led by Batum.
Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 assists and five rebounds as Los Angeles (40-36) kept hold of fifth place in the Western Conference standings and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Phoenix.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points and Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who followed up their impressive win over the Lakers on Sunday with a dud.
NUGGETS 116, 76ERS 111
DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic recorded his 29th triple double of the season and Denver beat short-handed Philadelphia in a game Joel Embiid sat out with a sore right calf.
That scuttled the highly anticipated showdown between MVP front-runners that many felt could have decided whether Embiid, the runner-up the last two years, denies Jokic a third consecutive award. With Embiid in the locker room, Jokic scored 25 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and dished out 12 assists.
Tyrese Maxey scored 23 of his 29 points in the first half as the Sixers dropped their third straight.
PELICANS 124, TRAIL BLAZERS 90
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and New Orleans routed short-handed Portland.
CJ McCollum, who played nine seasons with the Blazers before he was traded to the Pelicans last season, added 17 points. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 10 points and 21 rebounds, and New Orleans led by as many as 36.
Keon Johnson had 20 points off the bench for the Blazers, who have lost nine of 10 and will, in all likelihood, miss the playoffs for the second straight season &mdash; although they have not been mathematically eliminated. Most of their regular starters were out with injuries, including top scorer Damian Lillard (right calf), Jerami Grant (bruised left quad), Jusuf Nurkic (right knee) and Anfernee Simons (right foot).
SUNS 117, JAZZ 103
SAT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 24 points and Phoenix reserves sparked the decisive run in a win over Utah.
Deandre Ayton had 14 points after missing four games with a bruised hip. But a trio off the bench was pivotal for Phoenix: Terrence Ross had 13 points, Cameron Payne added 12 and Bismack Biyombo scored 11.
The Suns (40-35) had lost four in a row on the road. But with this victory they sit more securely in the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff race &mdash; which would give them home-court advantage in the first round.
Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for Utah, but shot 6 for 22. Walker Kessler had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz (35-40), who have lost four straight. Kessler also matched a career high with seven blocks.
KNICKS 137, ROCKETS 115
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 40 points and Julius Randle had 26 as New York snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Houston.
RJ Barrett added 19 points, Obi Toppin had 15 and Quinten Grimes scored 14 for the Knicks.
Quickley connected on 14 of 18 shots from the field and added nine assists. He started in place of Jalen Brunson, who missed his second straight game with a bruised right hand.
Kevin Porter Jr. led the Rockets with 26 points. Jalen Green had 19 and Kenyon Martin Jr. added 18 as Houston dropped its sixth straight game.
BUCKS 126, PISTONS 117
DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Khris Middleton scored 34 points against the team that drafted him and Milwaukee beat Detroit without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 54-21 despite the absences of Antetokounmpo (knee) and Jae Crowder (calf). Goran Dragic made his Bucks debut after signing with the team on March 4, but didn&rsquo;t score in nine minutes.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Bobby Portis added 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Jevon Carter scored 22.
The Pistons got 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Jaden Ivey, but lost their sixth straight game and 17th of 18. They are 1-13 against Central Division opponents.

A recap of Monday's slate of NBA games includes Doncic keeping the Mavs playoff hopes alive and a fourth straight Wolves win.

Luka Doncic powers Mavericks to 127-104 win over Pacers

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has avoided a one-game suspension for now after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul Monday.
The league&rsquo;s decision cleared Doncic to play at Indiana on Monday night as the fading Mavericks try to stay in the Western Conference playoff race.
Dallas entered the game against the Pacers 11th in the West, one spot out of the play-in tournament a year after going to the conference finals.
The Mavs are on a four-game losing streak, including consecutive losses to lowly Charlotte. Doncic got the technical that was rescinded in the second of those losses Sunday.
The technical came with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter of a 110-104 loss when Doncic argued a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket.
Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used &ldquo;a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s the second time Doncic has had a technical foul rescinded this season.
After the first loss to the Hornets in Dallas last week, Doncic said he was as frustrated as he&rsquo;s been in his stellar five-year career that has included four trips to the All-Star game.
Doncic hinted at off-court issues that were taking the joy out of the game, but wouldn&rsquo;t elaborate beyond saying it was in his private life.
The 24-year-old shared those thoughts the same day he was fined $35,000 for making a money gesture toward the refs when he was apparently upset over a non-call on his missed layup in the final seconds.
&ldquo;I think you can see it with me on the court,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Sometimes I don&rsquo;t feel it&rsquo;s me. I used to have really fun, smiling on court, but it&rsquo;s just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball.&rdquo;

It’s the second time Doncic has had a technical foul rescinded this season.

Mavs star Doncic avoids suspension after 16th tech rescinded

Isaac Mourier is the director of performance nutrition and sports science at Impact Basketball, one of the most prestigious independent training organizations for elite pro basketball players. He's spent time as a consultant for the Sacramento Kings and as a nutritionist for Georgia athletics, and he played pro basketball in Germany.
So while Mourier cannot speak for everyone in the NBA, his next statement carries weight:
"I've never met a player that doesn't want to play," Mourier told Basketball News. "Never, in my career as a player, as a practitioner, have I ever met a player that does not want to play. So that's a myth."
The NBA's perceived "load management crisis" has only sparked louder outrage this season from fans, some media and even former players. Charles Barkley has <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/charles-barkley-load-management-steel-mill-first-take.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called the trend</a> "disrespectful to the game."&nbsp;Kendrick Perkins has <a href="https://fadeawayworld.net/kendrick-perkins-rips-load-management-its-starting-to-get-beyond-disrespectful" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labeled the mental toughness of today's players</a> as "softer than funeral music." While these two are certainly controversial voices at the very least, they are significant influences in the sport's discourse.
Barkley and Perkins, among many others, are also warping the true hows and whys of load management.&nbsp;
Today's NBA game is more physically taxing than ever, and among those in the league, it's barely a debate.&nbsp;
"I was part of the physical era, where you could hand-check and grind, post up and all that," Mike Conley told <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/load-management-draymond-green-warriors-kevon-looney-technology-mike-conley-jerami-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox Sports in January.</a> "We were a physical team. It&rsquo;s who we were. That was taxing in a whole other way. You played through injuries, but it was more bumps and bruises because you were being physically assaulted.
"Now it&rsquo;s like, imagine running as fast as you can for 48 minutes and having to do that every night. There are more possessions, more opportunities to get these non-contact injuries. Guys are having more calf strains, more hamstrings and stuff like that. We weren&rsquo;t getting those as much (before)."
Kevon Looney backs Conley up in <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/load-management-draymond-green-warriors-kevon-looney-technology-mike-conley-jerami-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that article</a>, and Mourier supports them both. He says that the "physicality" of the old-school, post-centric game is much different from today's fast pace that wears out the body with more muscle contractions.
"What may look less physically taxing to the eye, in terms of less bumps and bruises and people getting knocked over &mdash; I think you're actually having the opposite effect on the body, where these distances covered, the speed at which they're covered and the changes of directions are far more taxing on the body," Mourier said.
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Today, teams can quantify those stresses. Mourier explains that players often jump on force plates and see how their power generated will change with fatigue throughout a season. Hormones and proteins found in blood testing can signal muscle damage or inflammation. Teams use GPS tracking and camera systems to monitor players' wear and tear even in practices. The data paints a collective picture of an athlete's overall load during the season.
Importantly, this data isn't hidden by doctors &mdash; it typically is part of an ongoing conversation throughout the year. Building trust between players and medical staffers is crucial to injury management. That way, players can trust the data and doctors can respect the athlete's motivations.
"There's a number of data points that you will track until it gets to the point where we have to stop," Mourier said. "It's not like, 'Hey, we've just noticed something and you're not gonna play tonight.' It will be something that's been in the works &mdash; overall wellness scores, looking at that force plate data &mdash; it will be a trend, which is happening over time, and it's got to a point where it's like, 'Okay, we really have to do this.'
"It's not taken lightly because, ultimately, everybody's job there is to make sure that people can play every night."
Fans often want to ask: Who's in control? And the difficult answer is that the power dynamics change in different organizations.
Mourier says that superstars' voices will naturally have more influence, but that college staffs have more control over player rest than NBA teams. Others in the NBA have observed that teams do hold serious decision-making power.
"I do know on occasion that it&rsquo;s not the player&rsquo;s choice [to rest]," New Orleans Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. told Basketball News.
"On the whole, I think people are on the same page, especially when it comes to our [Impact Basketball] guys on [NBA] teams," Mourier said. "I've never come across someone saying, 'They made me sit down; I wanted to play and I couldn't.'"
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_20114521.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="444" />
Seth Partnow works for StatsBomb and writes for The Athletic, and was formerly the Milwaukee Bucks' director of basketball research, working adjacent to the sports scientists within the organization. He said in his general experience, trust in both data and relationships is a huge part of reaching decisions to rest.&nbsp;
"I think that the impetus for resting overwhelmingly comes from the medical and front-office side," Partnow told Basketball News. "I think that part of the increased comfort players have with revealing that information is maybe an increased willingness to take that advice."
Partnow explained that teams often boil down decision-making for rest to a "risk versus reward" scale. Does Player X need to play this specific game for the sake of the team, and is it worth the risk of a potential injury that could threaten playoff availability?&nbsp;
"We're going to be judged on how well we do in the playoffs," Partnow said. "And more of a bigger factor than a regular-season win or two is, 'Are my good players able to play?'"
That balance does not include the weight of the fan experience &mdash; a valid criticism within the conversation. Mourier, originally from England, remembers attending his first NBA game in person between the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards and being disappointed when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade didn't suit up. NBA tickets can be a significant investment for fans and families; understandably, they would be bummed when a star rests.
But "risk vs. reward" applies to the league's approach too, as evidenced by its lack of action on anything surrounding load management. Others, including <a href="https://theathletic.com/4272209/2023/03/03/load-management-nba-injuries/?source=user_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent conversation between The Athletic's staff members</a>, have clamored for more transparency around injuries as at least a starting point.
&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a new issue. There&rsquo;s nothing particularly happening this season that we haven&rsquo;t seen happening over the last several seasons," Adam Silver <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/25/sports/sunday-basketball-notes/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in February</a>. "I understand it from a fan standpoint that if you are particularly buying tickets to a particular game and that player isn&rsquo;t playing. I don&rsquo;t have a good answer for that other than this is a deep league with incredible competition."
One motivator gaining traction is the idea of minimum-games-played requirements for season awards. Shams Charania has reported that <a href="https://theathletic.com/4302514/2023/03/13/the-bounce-lakers-cba-games-played-minimum-shams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both the league and the National Basketball Players Association like the idea</a>. But many do not, including Mourier.
"I think that opens up a pretty dangerous can of worms, because if you have somebody that's really not in a position where they're ready to play &mdash; we have to start looking at them as humans as opposed to just athletes," Mourier said. "If they're in a position where they are really not ready to play, they're feeling sore or there's an injury, and they're creeping up on that cut-off for games and they're about to play, and it's gonna mean that they're not going to get home, they can't put food on the table for their family or can't support the the different needs that they have, then we have a human issue."
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Warriors head coach Steve Kerr explains his position of protecting his players on the second night of a back-to-back, empathizes with the fans who are affected by load management and shares how a 72-game NBA season would be equally as rewarding as it&rsquo;d be safe. <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/osTyhqxNyd">pic.twitter.com/osTyhqxNyd</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1616581456658108416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Another common suggestion is to simply shorten the schedule, be it to 70 games, 65 games or whatever makes sense. It would lighten the workload for players and possibly address some of the concerns about the value of the regular season along the way. But Silver didn't seem excited.
&ldquo;If we thought it made sense to reduce the number of games, we would. But there&rsquo;s no data right now that suggests, as I said, based on some prior experiments or even as we look at the data over the course of the season and when players get injured, it isn&rsquo;t... You would think that it would be the case that injuries would increase as the season goes on, and that&rsquo;s not necessarily it either," Silver said.
Partnow echoes Silver's stance as a reason for the league shrugging its shoulders. There just isn't hard proof that the change wouldn't lead to an obvious loss of revenue from dropping 200-plus contests.
"Measuring how that sort of loss of &mdash; I don't know, if you want to call it loss of trust &mdash; might longer-term affect the per-game revenue, that's tough math to do, but I think that's the concern," Partnow added.
And even if the league did shrink the schedule, games are not the only way athletes are physically taxed during the year.
&ldquo;I think the biggest thing [fans don't notice] would just be trying to manage injuries and inflammation while traveling via airplane," Nance Jr. said. "That always seems to exacerbate most problems.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Fans can&rsquo;t imagine playing 82 games in different cities all across the country and the physical toll it takes on your body, even without injuries," added NBA veteran Etan Thomas. "It&rsquo;s difficult for most fans to really understand.&rdquo;
Mourier says that pros need at least 48-to-72 hours between high-level competition for their bodies to replenish with proper nutrients. That's not consistently happening under the current schedule, and travel doesn't help.
"All of the factors which are not directly related to after the ball is thrown up at the tip-off &mdash; so sleep, travel, all of that other stuff &mdash; how can we influence those things to put the players in a more favorable spot to be able to go and perform every night? I think that's where we start," Mourier suggested.
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Load management is the best strategy NBA teams have to contain injuries, but it isn't stopping them from happening. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263354" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studies are showing</a> that NBA players get hurt more than ever. Partnow warns not to assume rest every time a star is out briefly; many of the smaller cases are still legitimate injuries.&nbsp;
The findings hint at a scarier truth: What if the NBA can't do anything about it? As <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Baxter Holmes uncovered</a>, AAU and youth sports are taking major tolls on players' bodies before they even reach the pro level. Current pros are torn on if the grind of year-round youth basketball was worth it.
"I agree that kids are being overworked at a young age,&rdquo; <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2019/11/08/does-aau-lead-to-load-management-in-nba-kids-are-being-overworked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic told HoopsHype in 2019</a>. &ldquo;Parents push kids too hard to succeed and hire all these fake basketball coaches who don&rsquo;t teach them how to play the game the right way. Kids have to have fun first while they play, and not [have someone] make it a business for them right away."
The NBA doesn't supervise the entirety of American youth hoops, which means it can't stop one of the root problems.
"Yes, absolutely [it's worrisome]," Partnow said. "I mean, on some level, it's not just that youth sports are out of our control. Youth sports are out of control."
So, NBA teams and players have more data than ever to manage a sport that is more physcially demanding than ever. But the league doesn't have the data to comfortably make a big change, and the frustration only grows.
At what point does the NBA stop waiting for numeric proof to force change, and take the risk for the sake of its players and fans?
"That's a political question. I don't know," Partnow said. "The longer [load management] becomes front and center of the conversation, the shorter that timespan is. But if something intervening happens that takes the focus off, and now we're talking about this other thing, then it loses salience and it kind of subsides...
"It seems like this [conversation] has been pretty continuous for the last couple months, which is probably the longest I can remember it being sort of a constant."

Ethan Fuller talks to figures around basketball to understand why load management happens and what can be done about it.

Here's the reality of the NBA's perceived 'load management crisis'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; The Dallas Mavericks&rsquo; postseason hopes could be slipping away.
The Charlotte Hornets overcame a 40-point outing from Luka Doncic on Sunday to defeat Dallas 110-104, their second win over the Mavericks in three days &mdash; dealing another blow to Dallas&rsquo; playoff hopes.
Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and P.J. Washington had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the injury-plagued Hornets, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Mavericks (36-39) entered the day tied with Oklahoma City for the 10th-best record in the Western Conference but were still outside of the play-in tournament bubble because the Thunder hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate that we let these two games go and we have to figure out a way to stop the bleeding,&rdquo; said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, adding that he wasn&rsquo;t pleased with the team&rsquo;s defensive effort.
Kyrie Irving had 18 points for Dallas, which fell to 7-13 since the point guard was acquired in a trade.
&ldquo;Losing in basketball is very frustrating, especially when we have as talented a group as we do,&rdquo; Irving said.
A 3-of-18 shooting start from the field and a 19-point first-half deficit ultimately proved too much for Dallas to overcome. The Mavs were able to capture the lead in the fourth quarter when Doncic knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the game with 5:44 left, but they appeared to wear down during the stretch run.
&ldquo;The desire to win has to be at an all-time high right now,&rdquo; Tim Hardaway Jr. said. &rdquo; ... The second half it was, but the same as last game it was too late.&rdquo;
The desire will need to be even higher on Monday night.
Doncic picked up his 16th technical foul of the season in the third quarter, meaning he will face a one-game suspension and will miss a game against the Indiana Pacers unless the technical is rescinded by the league office.
Crew Chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used &ldquo;a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.&rdquo;
Kidd said he didn&rsquo;t think the technical was warranted and that it should be rescinded.
Doncic was not made available for interviews after the game.
A dejected Doncic had said after Friday night&rsquo;s loss to the Hornets he was frustrated over how the season has gone. He added that his feelings were not just basketball-related but did not elaborate.
Dennis Smith Jr. came up with a key bucket for Charlotte against his former team, sneaking behind the Dallas defense and dunking off a lob from Washington to put Charlotte up by five with 1:05 remaining. Maxi Kleber responded with a 3 off a feed from Doncic, but Charlotte answered again with a layup by Mark Williams off a pass from Hayward.
Doncic then missed a 3-pointer on the other end, all but securing the Charlotte win.
After Doncic missed another desperation 3 as the clock expired, he exchanged words with a fan seated courtside and wagged his finger at him.
&ldquo;The biggest part of the game again was the first quarter,&rdquo; Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. &ldquo;Playing from ahead is a big deal. Every year the numbers bear it out, people want to say, &lsquo;All you have to do is watch the fourth quarter,&rsquo; but they have no idea what they&rsquo;re talking about. It&rsquo;s anything but that.&rdquo;
FAN BOOTED
Irving asked officials to remove a fan from the arena in the third quarter after he said the fan called him a name.
&ldquo;I just had to make sure I looked him eye to eye and see if he would say it to my face,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;A lot of fans say things when you turn your head or say it in a crowd because they can get it away it. ... He yelled it and I handled it.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Doncic has been assessed the third-most technical fouls in the league behind Memphis&rsquo; Dillon Brooks (18) and Atlanta&rsquo;s Trae Young (17). ... Hardaway returned after missing the last two games.
Hornets: Rookie center Mark Williams had 15 points and 16 rebounds. ... Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (right shoulder sprain) both sat out for the second straight game.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: Travel to Indiana on Monday for the second of five straight games on the road.
Hornets: At Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The Hornets overcame a 40-point outing from Luka Doncic to defeat Dallas 110-104, their second win over the Mavericks in three days.

Doncic, Mavericks suffer another costly loss to Hornets

Kansas and Alabama are no strangers to playing for national championships.
For the Jayhawks, another high-expectations trip to March Madness is a rite of spring. For the Crimson Tide, well, this path to glory travels through some unfamiliar ground &mdash; the basketball court.
Alabama rolls in as the top overall seed in an NCAA Tournament that feels both familiar and foreign this season. Yes, there are plenty of heartwarming stories and unbelievable upsets to come when the action begins Tuesday with the first of four play-in games.
But this was also a season clouded with police blotters at Alabama and Texas, injuries at Houston and UCLA, some unsightly losses at Kansas, and enough twists and turns at the top of the field to make this as unpredictable a bracket as ever.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure we would&rsquo;ve predicted this,&rdquo; Alabama coach Nate Oats said of the top seeding that belongs to the Crimson Tide for the first time.
Alabama&rsquo;s ability to set aside distractions &mdash; namely, the inevitable questions that will be directed at its star, Brandon Miller, and others about an ongoing murder case against a former member of the team &mdash; could have as big an impact on the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s chances as anything.
But all these teams, especially at the top, have their issues.&nbsp;
It starts with Houston, the 1 seed in the Midwest, which was cruising along until Saturday, when its star guard, Marcus Sasser, fell awkwardly and left the game with a groin injury.
Sasser didn&rsquo;t play in his team&rsquo;s conference title game and Houston lost. How quickly he gets back to form could dictate whether the Cougars make the Final Four, which will take place at NRG Stadium, not far from their home arena.
Or take the Jayhawks, who looked like the top overall seed for a time. Two double-digit losses to Texas knocked them down a few notches. They are top seeded, but will play in the West, not the Midwest &mdash; one of those rare teams that might have preferred a possible trip down the road to Kansas City over a flight to Las Vegas for the Sweet 16. Not helping the situation was the recent illness of coach Bill Self, who was feeling chest tightness and checked himself into the hospital before the Big 12 Tournament. He was released Sunday and is expected to be with the Jayhawks this week.
&ldquo;They mark it how they feel and we&rsquo;re just going to do what we need to do to get where we need to be,&rdquo; Kansas forward KJ Adams said.
There are issues one notch down the bracket, too.
No. 2 UCLA has been dealing with injuries all season. Most recently, guard Jaylen Clark (Achilles) and big man Adem Bona (shoulder) have gone down. Clark won&rsquo;t be back; Bona might. It takes a hunk out of a team that still has the core of a roster that lost to Gonzaga on a buzzer-beater from near midcourt at the Final Four two years ago.
Another 2 seed, Texas, has had months to bounce back from the firing of coach Chris Beard, whose fiancee called in a domestic dispute that led to the coach&rsquo;s arrest. Charges were eventually dropped. By then, Rodney Terry had taken over the team and it found its footing, though the ugliness of the episode is bound to be rehashed during basketball&rsquo;s biggest month.
Back among the No. 1 seeds, Purdue has a 7-foot-4 playmaker, Zach Edey, leading the way and also has a little baggage of its own. Coach Matt Painter&rsquo;s program has now made the tournament 14 times in his 18 years but has advanced as far as the Elite Eight only once. This is the first time one of Painter&rsquo;s teams has come in as a top seed, though.
The coach is as aware as anyone how a trip to the Final Four might just cover up a lot of those old blemishes.
&ldquo;Obviously, I know,&rdquo; Painter said, &ldquo;you get judged on what you do in the tournament.&rdquo;

Despite their successes to get to this point, there are a number of top-seeded teams with issues heading into the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness top teams bring talent and, for some, baggage

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; University of Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller brought a teammate the gun that was used in a fatal January shooting near campus, an investigator testified Tuesday.
Miller, a freshman standout, brought Darius Miles&rsquo; gun to him on the night of the shooting after Miles texted him and asked him to do so, Tuscaloosa Police investigator Brandon Culpepper testified, according to news outlets.
The allegation of Miller&rsquo;s involvement on the night of the Jan. 15 shooting came during a preliminary hearing for Miles and Michael Davis, who face capital murder charges for the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
Former Tide player Miles is accused of providing his gun to Davis, who fired it and killed Harris, prosecutors say.
Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters Tuesday the team has been aware that Miller allegedly brought Miles the gun, but the team&rsquo;s leading scorer is not in &ldquo;any type of trouble.&rdquo; He has started every game since the shooting.
Miller was just in &ldquo;the wrong spot at the wrong time,&rdquo; Oats said, later clarifying what he termed his &ldquo;unfortunate remarks&rdquo; after receiving criticism on social media.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve known the situation,&rdquo; Oats said in a news conference Tuesday. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been fully cooperating with law enforcement the entire time. I mean, the whole situation is just sad. The team closed practice with a prayer for the situation today, knowing that we had this trial today. You think of Jamea and her family,&rdquo; Oats said.
Miller has not been criminally charged. A team representative did not immediately know if Miller had an attorney.
&ldquo;We knew about that,&rdquo; Oats said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t control everything everybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out. Brandon hasn&rsquo;t been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Like the wrong spot at the wrong time.&rdquo;
Oats acknowledged in his later statement that those remarks &ldquo;came across poorly&rdquo; and sought to clarify,
&ldquo;We were informed by law enforcement of other student-athletes being in the vicinity, and law enforcement has repeatedly told us that no other student-athletes were suspects,&rdquo; Oats said. &ldquo;They were witnesses only. Our understanding is that they have all been fully truthful and cooperative.
&ldquo;In no way did I intend to downplay the seriousness of this situation or the tragedy of that night. My prayers continue to go out to Jamea Harris&rsquo;s family.&rdquo;
The 6-foot-9 Miller is the biggest star of the second-ranked Tide team that had its first AP Poll No. 1 ranking in 20 years last week. He is projected to be an NBA Draft lottery pick.
The shooting occurred on the Strip, a business district of bars and restaurants that cater to students near the Tuscaloosa campus. Harris was sitting in the passenger seat of a car when she was struck by a bullet, police said.
Investigators wrote in a court document that Miles, who had been a junior reserve forward on the team, admitted to providing the gun used in the fatal shooting, but Davis fired the weapon.
Culpepper said Tuesday that Miles told Davis where his gun was in Miller&rsquo;s car.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers presented diverging accounts of the shooting. Chief Deputy District Attorney Paula Whitley told the judge that there was ample evidence to proceed with the case against Miles and Davis.
A defense lawyer suggested during Tuesday&rsquo;s hearing that Miles was reacting defensively when he told Davis where the gun was located.
&ldquo;The reason that the gun was provided to Michael Davis was for protection,&rdquo; Mary Turner argued.
Defense lawyers asked for Davis and Miles to be released on bond. District Judge Joanne Jannik did not immediately issue a decision on the bond request.
Both Davis and Miles wiped away tears as their mothers&rsquo; took to the stand to testify that they would make sure their sons would follow rules if granted bond.
After court, Harris&rsquo; mother told reporters that she is frustrated by the focus on basketball when the shooting claimed the life of her daughter.
&ldquo;She has a 5-year-old son that is still waiting for his mother to come home,&rdquo; DeCarla Heard told reporters. &ldquo;I want justice for my grandson.&rdquo;

Brandon Miller has not been criminally charged, but is accused of providing his gun to Darius Miles prosecutors say.

Alabama's Brandon Miller delivered gun in shooting, police say

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Mac McClung might have single-handedly restored the shine on a dunk contest that has been widely panned in recent years.
McClung, the 6-foot-2 Philadelphia guard on a two-way contract, defeated New Orleans&rsquo; Trey Murphy III in the finals of the dunk contest, culminating an NBA All-Star Saturday that may have finally answered the question as to whether what used to be the league&rsquo;s signature event can be glitzy again.
McClung had the answer: Absolutely.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m truly blessed and grateful for the NBA giving me this opportunity,&rdquo; McClung said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
MAC MCCLUNG 😳<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATTSlamDunk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATTSlamDunk</a> <a href="https://t.co/0wuoeaeqc6">pic.twitter.com/0wuoeaeqc6</a>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1627142230833233920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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A 540-degree dunk &mdash; not a 360, but a 540, him doing one-and-a-half rotations in the air, a move more reserved for figure skaters and skateboarders than basketball players &mdash; was his third perfect score of the night out of four dunks. By the time the judges&rsquo; scores came up it was already decided. Everyone in the building knew he&rsquo;d already won.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; McClung said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"IT IS OVER LADIES AND GENTLEMAN" 🗣<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATTSlamDunk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATTSlamDunk</a> <a href="https://t.co/WP098H7fav">pic.twitter.com/WP098H7fav</a>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1627148864238284802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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It was. And he immediately committed to defending his title at Indianapolis at All-Star Saturday next year.
&ldquo;If you guys will have me, I&rsquo;ll be back,&rdquo; McClung said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;WELCOME TO THE NBA&rdquo; 🗣 Mac McClung showing out at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATTSlamDunk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATTSlamDunk</a> ‼️ <a href="https://t.co/fWLEhtes2a">pic.twitter.com/fWLEhtes2a</a>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1627145698516017152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The final score, not that it mattered, was McClung 100.0, Murphy 98.0.
His is an unbelievable story: McClung has played mostly in the G League, where he ranks 36th in scoring this season at 19 points per game. He was undrafted in 2021 after spending three college seasons at Georgetown and Texas Tech. He was signed by Golden State last year but never played in a regular-season game for the Warriors, and spent a little time on USA Basketball&rsquo;s World Cup qualifying team last year as well.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Ever since the beginning, I was the underdog,&rdquo; said McClung, who put on a Gate City jersey &mdash; his high school and hometown in Virginia, population 1,600 &mdash; for the final dunk. &ldquo;Proving others right instead of others wrong brings a little more satisfaction.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A 50 for Mac McClung 😮&zwj;💨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATTSlamDunk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATTSlamDunk</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZBI93JcSUF">pic.twitter.com/ZBI93JcSUF</a>
&mdash; NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1627147897665110016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Philadelphia would become his third NBA team, and he hasn&rsquo;t even played for the 76ers yet. He played in one game last season for the Chicago Bulls, one other game for the Los Angeles Lakers.
He has three NBA baskets.
He had four dunks on Saturday night. A guy with more dunks than actual NBA field goals might have saved the dunk contest.
&ldquo;Give this man his flowers, man,&rdquo; TNT commentator Kenny Smith said.
McClung set the tone for the night with a dunk that had NBA superstars in disbelief &mdash; he leaped over two people, took the ball out of the hands of one of them, tapped it on the backboard and then threw down a reverse slam.
And that was just for starters.
Riding the momentum of that perfect dunk, he wound up hoisting the trophy that was newly renamed for dunking legend &mdash; and former 76ers star &mdash; Julius &ldquo;Dr. J&rdquo; Erving.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m super happy,&rdquo; McClung said.
McClung was nearly perfect on his second dunk as well; four judges gave him a perfect 50, Lisa Leslie gave him a 49 as the only dissenter, but it didn&rsquo;t matter &mdash; he was already assured a spot in the final round against Murphy.
New York&rsquo;s Jericho Sims gave himself a 50 on his second dunk, where he attached an envelope to the net, pulled it down after the dunk and displayed &ldquo;50&rdquo; to the world. No judge agreed, and his two-dunk score of 95.4 wasn&rsquo;t good enough to make the final round.
Also eliminated after Round 1: Houston&rsquo;s Kenyon Martin Jr., with a score of 93.2.

Mac McClung, the 6-foot-2 Philadelphia guard on a two-way contract, defeated Trey Murphy III in the finals of the dunk contest.

Mac McClung soars to slam dunk title at All-Star Saturday

The NBA officially announced the four players who will compete in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All-Star Saturday Night in Utah.
The following players are participating:
&bull; K.J. Martin, Houston Rockets
&bull;&nbsp;Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
&bull;&nbsp;Jericho Sims, New York Knicks
&bull; Mac McClung, Philadelphia 76ers
The four dunkers will compete in the two-round competition. The NBA also announced that this year's Slam Dunk Contest will be judged by Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner, Lisa Leslie and Jamal Crawford.
The Slam Dunk Contest will air on TNT on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET.
Last year, New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin won the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland.
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The AT&amp;T Slam Dunk participants ⬇️ Event format and rules: <a href="https://t.co/ablHEJiuxU">https://t.co/ablHEJiuxU</a> <a href="https://t.co/mPI2q9c0Hd">pic.twitter.com/mPI2q9c0Hd</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1625647256551424000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The NBA officially announced the four players who will compete in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest on NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

NBA announces Slam Dunk Contest participants, judges

The NBA sphere, in many respects, drives its conversations with numbers. They can range from the simple eye-popping box score to the intricate advanced data that power decisions and add context about the evolution of the game.
However, we often lose sight of just how those statistics get noted and validated. As evidenced by this weekend's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-what-happens-if-you-dont-believe-the-stats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buzzing Jaren Jackson Jr. Reddit conspiracy</a>, most fans and even insiders don't fully grasp how complicated the league's record-keeping process can be. The NBA is far removed from the days of one-person, hand-tracked stacking; technology and checks and balances help keep the league on top of its array of tracked data points.
Neema Djavadzadeh spent the 2021-22 season working as a stats auditor for the NBA and G League. He worked over 400 G League contests and approximately 20-30 NBA games as part of the gameday statskeeping crew. The G League's process is a bit more straightforward, but it still requires a team of auditors.
"With the G League, it involved watching game film and making sure stats were correct," Djavadzadeh told Basketball News. "We had an audit-review system that involved one person on the team auditing the stats, and then another reviewing the audits and making changes accordingly. Then, someone higher up would comb through all the edits to make final confirmation. In total, it was six people working on this for the G League."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
At the highest level, the tracking process has several layers. Here's how Djavadzadeh describes the repetition of recording stats throughout an NBA game:
<ol>
<li class="iw">A play/tracked event occurs on the court.</li>
<li class="iw">A courtside "caller" alerts a "primary" person who inputs basic stats.</li>
<li class="iw">The primary logs a basic stat, while a "secondary" notes descriptive characteristics, such as location on the floor.</li>
<li class="iw">One or two "tertiaries" then watch a slightly delayed recording of the play to confirm or correct the stats entered.</li>
<li class="iw">After that, a crew in the league's Seacaucus, NJ, headquarters double-checks and corrects stats. They can discuss corrections with the courtside team. If both teams agree on a correction, it is made, and if they disagree, no change is made at first. Either way, those communications are logged and then again checked by a "Kirk" (another auditor).&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
"Everything is basically confirmed 4-5 times," Djavadzadeh said. "The Kirks are also normally watching the game on their own and following along with the stats, but they have multiple game responsibilities, versus the auditor having one. There&rsquo;s normally about two people per game, so on a big night there was about 30 in the [league] office, or on a slow night, about 6-7. There's also technical support from Genius Sport in house as well, in case anything goes wrong courtside or in the office."
So how much can one statskeeper influence a single stat? Djavadzadeh says barely.&nbsp;
"Maybe straightforward plays like a field-goal attempt and rebound," he said. "I&rsquo;d normally watch those at max three times, normally to just confirm shot location or play descriptor. Most plays are combed over at least 3-4 times if it&rsquo;s not just a shot and rebound."
Technology also plays a huge role in providing accurate perspective on a play, particularly at the NBA level. The league has player-tracking capabilities and 12 camera angles for any given event, whereas the G League just uses one angle. Auditors can also look at a check-box system that confirms which stats have and have not yet been locked in.&nbsp;
With that being said, there is still room for interpretation. Djavadzadeh said that in his experience, recording blocks and steals specifically at the G League level was a challenge with one camera angle.&nbsp;
"It was kind of a universal thing of, 'Well, we don&rsquo;t have the tech to make it perfect right now, but we can spend the time and effort to make it as close as possible,'" he explained.
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🧵: Gonna go ahead and answer all of these if I can and give my input as someone who was a stat checker for the NBA. JJJ probably gets a hand on the ball here with Zion in an upward motion. These get started as blocks. <a href="https://t.co/0hLuLTNjC7">https://t.co/0hLuLTNjC7</a>
&mdash; Neema (@findingneema23) <a href="https://twitter.com/findingneema23/status/1619365149902798848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Different challenges arise in the NBA, where assists are actually more subjective than in the G League. The G League has a strict rule on assists: A scorer must use two or fewer dribbles, and three or fewer seconds between catch and shot attempt, to qualify as receiving an assist. That guideline does not exist in the NBA.
"I&rsquo;d get into one or two arguments a game with courtside starters over assists, but eventually you realize some crews just see them a little differently," Djavadzadeh said.&nbsp;
"Steals are a bit tough too with the NBA, but once you understand the variety of steals it becomes easier," he added. "Like, saving a ball from going out of bounds and a controlled pass back in bounds is technically a steal. A tipped pass that your teammate recovers is a steal for the person who tips it. If another offensive player tries to control the ball after it&rsquo;s been tipped, then whoever recovers the ball after the second offensive player touched it gets the steal. Little rules like that. Each possession is different, so there&rsquo;s some interpretation that has to happen, but for the most part, six-plus people are agreeing on the outcome of an event."
Where can the NBA improve its process? Djavadzadeh believes the league could better utilize its tracking abilities to more accurately portray shot location data by automating that part of a process versus relying on human judgement. While such automation is harder to achieve with most box-score stats, he says, shot location tracking tech already exists and is more plain to understand.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
One of the key "motives" in the alleged Jackson blocks conspiracy was the idea that statskeepers who have a financial stake in the game could help make themselves some money by rigging the numbers. To Djavadzadeh &mdash; who does support legal and federally-regulated sports betting &mdash; that's just an unrealistic take.
"The NBA&rsquo;s no-gambling rules are extremely strict, and knowing sports politics, something like that isn&rsquo;t something you can come back from," he said. "Any kind of conspiracy that statskeepers have money on it or something is crazy, because that&rsquo;s their career in hand.
"I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s an issue with gambling... I think, if anything, it puts an emphasis on getting things more accurate because there&rsquo;s so much money at stake. And also, if you&rsquo;re bad at your job, you&rsquo;ll get fired in an industry like this, and nobody wants to get fired."

Neema Djavadzadeh described his experience working as a stats auditor for the NBA/G League in a conversation with Ethan Fuller.

Detailing the NBA's stat-tracking process with Neema Djavadzadeh

Few people probably expected the NBA at large to be focused on a Reddit conspiracy theory for most of Saturday, but here we are.
Reddit user u/AdMassive6666 posted <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/10nbau4/memphis_grizzlies_scorekeeper_posting_fraudulent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an elaborate investigation</a>&nbsp;into the validity of Jaren Jackson Jr.'s block totals at home so far this season. The SparkNotes: This poster essentially accused the Memphis Grizzlies' scorekeeper of artificially inflating Jackson's block counts at home, leading to a massive chasm between his home and away stats. They cited examples they believed backed up the claim and then tossed out accusations of personal bias or financial motive.
The conspiracy spread like wildfire Saturday morning and the post had over 44,000 upvotes by the afternoon. Meanwhile, NBA media members across Twitter were fact-checking the claim, which looks more and more like a&nbsp;theory&nbsp;than an actual conspiracy under further scrutiny.
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I watched every block by Jaren Jackson Jr. in slow motion from alternate angles to investigate the NBA Reddit thread claiming the Grizzlies scorekeeper is "posting fraudulent numbers." But only 3 of his 66 home blocks are incorrectly labeled, a completely insignificant amount. <a href="https://t.co/84ZiE1rPVD">pic.twitter.com/84ZiE1rPVD</a>
&mdash; Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1619400282953359360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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There are already a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of videos and threads like Kevin O'Connor's breakdown, including this one from <a href="&lt;blockquote%20class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;%20data-theme=&quot;dark&quot;&gt;&lt;p%20lang=&quot;en&quot;%20dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;THEY%20ARE%20LYING%20ABOUT%20JAREN%20JACKSON%20JR.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The%20Hoop%20ReView%20presents%20a%20full%20stat%20audit%20on%20Jaren%20Jackson%20Jr&amp;#39;s%20home%20block%20numbers&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;spoiler%20alert:%20HIS%20BLOCKS%20ARE%20VERY%20REAL&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I%20went%20through%20every%20block,%20at%20most%20there%20were%204%20questionable%20or%20lacking%20video%20evidence.&lt;a%20href=&quot;https://t.co/w12jBHI8w6&quot;&gt;https://t.co/w12jBHI8w6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash;%20A:A%20(@Swarlayzers)%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https://twitter.com/Swarlayzers/status/1619379441364533250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;January%2028,%202023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;%20&lt;script%20async%20src=&quot;https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&quot;%20charset=&quot;utf-8&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@swarlayzers</a>, this one from <a href="&lt;blockquote%20class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;%20data-theme=&quot;dark&quot;&gt;&lt;p%20lang=&quot;en&quot;%20dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;Did%20some%20&amp;#39;investigative%20journalism&amp;#39;%20this%20morning%20into%20the%20Jaren%20Jackson%20Jr.%20scorekeeper%20saga%20(from%20this%20Reddit%20thread%20alleging%20his%20stats%20are%20padded%20at%20home:%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https://t.co/XH6X5muYkP&quot;&gt;https://t.co/XH6X5muYkP&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Here%20are%20some%20of%20the%20more%20questionable%20blocks/%20steals%20JJJ%20is%20credited%20for%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https://t.co/oeVKSJoImt&quot;&gt;pic.twitter.com/oeVKSJoImt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash;%20The%20Box%20and%20One%20(@TheBoxAndOne_)%20&lt;a%20href=&quot;https://twitter.com/TheBoxAndOne_/status/1619351079371829249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;January%2028,%202023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;%20&lt;script%20async%20src=&quot;https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&quot;%20charset=&quot;utf-8&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Spinella</a>, this response from former stat-checker&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/findingneema23/status/1619365149902798848?s=20&amp;t=dHOSgXZXmSBeIIoZGaqgqw">Neema Djavadzadeh</a>.&nbsp;Most of the follow-ups reach the same conclusion: The initial poster either cherry-picked some narrative-suiting examples or was just plain wrong about their claims.&nbsp;
Furthermore, the post painted a picture that some corrupt mastermind is at the center of Jackson's absurd defensive season when that simply is not how NBA statskeeping works.
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This post is making its way around the league now, not just the internet. For what it's worth, I checked in, and the Grizzlies use the same official scorer this season as they used last season. <a href="https://t.co/DViGP4JMxO">https://t.co/DViGP4JMxO</a>
&mdash; Fred Katz (@FredKatz) <a href="https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/1619369038202953729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Fred Katz of&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;gets the ball rolling with this thread, explaining that recording stats is not a one-person job anymore. In 2018, <a href="https://www.complex.com/sports/2018/04/how-nba-scorekeepers-track-player-stats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spencer Lund of </a><a href="https://www.complex.com/sports/2018/04/how-nba-scorekeepers-track-player-stats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complex</a>&nbsp;took a peek at the life of an NBA statistician and the evolution of the process. This segment offers a brief explanation of gameday protocols:
"The four-man statistics crews is divided into primary and secondary inputters and callers. The primary caller does just that: calls out each play using numbers instead of names. The primary inputter marks 'a touch screen of a basketball court,' the Brooklyn statistician says. That screen is connected to the screen of the secondary inputter, who edits mistakes and double checks iffy plays. The secondary caller works the DVR, and they&rsquo;re connected to NBA headquarters in Secaucus, NJ. That connection to Secaucus during the game is new this year, as is the mandate that every arena have four statisticians for a game.
Despite that connection, it&rsquo;s still up to the discretion of the statisticians to decide an assist. The primary inputter makes the first read, but if the stat is unclear 'it&rsquo;s kind of a consensus, majority rule,' the Nets&rsquo; statistician explains. The NBA says that they audit every stat, and they&rsquo;ve always done it that way since they went digital in the late ​&rsquo;80s; this season they&rsquo;re just connected during the game."
The NBA backed this up in its own counter to the Reddit post:
&ldquo;In order to ensure the integrity of our game statistics, auditors, independent of the statisticians on-site, review all plays and stats decisions in real-time during NBA games,&rdquo; <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2023/01/28/nba-refutes-viral-reddit-post-claiming-conspiracy-to-pad-jaren-jackson-jr-s-stats/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">league spokesman Tim Frank told NBC Sports.</a> &ldquo;If changes are necessary, they are made at that time or following a postgame review. All of the plays questioned in the post on Memphis games were scored consistently within the rules set forth by the NBA statisticians manual.&rdquo;
Today's technology also puts the NBA light-years ahead of the human error from a single set of eyeballs. "Using cameras installed in the catwalks of every NBA arena, Second Spectrum software tracks the movements of every player on the court and the basketball 25 times per second," <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/help/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the league's statistics database says on its tracking data.</a>&nbsp;
Still, some categories will involve judgement calls by nature. Even if some of Jackson's blocks are debatable, this isn't the first time the NBA fandom has questioned the integrity of the numbers. Matthew van Bommel and Luke Bornn <a href="http://www.lukebornn.com/papers/vanbommel_dmkd_2017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted a massive study about scorekeeper bias in 2016</a>.&nbsp;The Athletic's&nbsp;Seth Partnow has pointed out repeatedly how the frequency of shot attempts at the rim are unusually low at Golden Warriors home games, while the volume just outside the restricted area is much higher, for both teams competing. It's not a result of some ulterior motive; there just appears a tendency by the Warriors' record-keepers to judge shot locations differently.
Assists are notoriously subjective. Folks often wonder if John Stockton really&nbsp;racked up his all-time record of 15,806 assists, and <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2019/05/17/its-an-nba-urban-legend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Larsen looked into the total</a> for the Salt Lake Tribune in 2019.&nbsp;Larsen's work supports Stockton, but at the same time, he noted that the very definition of an assist leaves gray areas. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/1/21/21074724/nba-home-court-assist-advantage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zach Kram wrote for The Ringer&nbsp;in 2020</a> about how even generous assist-crediting has changed in recent years.
So why is this suddenly captivating the league again? Three words: legalized sports betting.
Most basic NBA counting stats are now linked to video via the league's official database, with help from Second Spectrum. That opens up record-keeping to public eyes, including Redditors and people with money on the line.
Professional sports leagues, in marrying themselves to sports gambling, will face barrages of criticism about judgement calls because the stakes are higher than ever for viewers. The accuracy of block counts shouldn't be that big of a deal, nor should it factor so heavily into awards consideration as it is implied with Jackson. But it does now because millions of dollars can swing sides.
Maybe technological innovation renders human statskeeping obselete one day, and computers can track literal touches of a basketball with perfect precision. We're not there yet, though (and doesn't that get kind of creepy at a certain point?).
Defining assists and steals more clearly is one obvious pathway for improved transparency. For example, I firmly believe basketball should credit assists almost like hockey. Remove any subjective time measure or scoring difficulty component and automatically give an assist to the last passer of the score, provided the pass landed in the frontcourt. That's straightforward, and "good" assists are already up for debate anyway, so what would really change?
In general, today should really challenge the NBA fan base and betting base to understand the rulebook. At most, the major league analysts settled on 3-5 Jackson home blocks that were categorized questionably. The league itself backed up every swat. Amplifying a conspiracy theory like this one not only wastes a ton of time, but it means more ears will ignore future complaints, even if they do end up having merit.
It's great to hold pro sports leagues accountable, but you better be right when you do.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>For the record, <a href="https://twitter.com/SethPartnow/status/1619447671407738882?s=20&amp;t=V5yQjofyh8QAY1bsYGNRTQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jaren Jackson Jr. is as good a defender as any and all numbers say.</a></li>
<li>Another data point for this season's ridiculous NBA scoring:</li>
</ul>
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The number of players with a 30-point game in each NBA season. <a href="https://t.co/ur04gbctPu">pic.twitter.com/ur04gbctPu</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1617260889497047040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>Caitlin Clark is one of the most mind-boggling scorers in the world:</li>
</ul>
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The longest range shooters in women's college hoops: <a href="https://t.co/b5x7zc4FVV">pic.twitter.com/b5x7zc4FVV</a>
&mdash; Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) <a href="https://twitter.com/SynergySST/status/1617691933945782278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2023</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>This is just over a week old now, but a really interesting graphic from SIS Hoops. Lauri Markkanen stands out to me:</li>
</ul>
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A player's shot diet can shift meaningfully from year to year. Here's a look at the players who have experienced the largest changes in median shot distance this year compared to last: <a href="https://t.co/OK8BLRqwt0">pic.twitter.com/OK8BLRqwt0</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1616461874622513153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2023</a>
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Ethan Fuller breaks down the realities of the Jaren Jackson Jr. stats conspiracy theory and its implications.

NBA Stats Notebook: What happens if you don't believe the stats?

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The naming rights deal between FTX and Miami-Dade County was terminated Wednesday by a federal bankruptcy court, a move that allows the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange's brand to be stripped from the arena where the NBA&rsquo;s Miami Heat play.
The order means that before long &mdash; and probably starting very soon &mdash; all FTX signage and advertising at the arena will be removed. There was no immediate word from the Heat or the county on when the process will begin.
That will be a massive undertaking. There is FTX branding on the arena's roof, on the basketball court, over many of the entrances, on the polo shirts worn by security personnel and even on many of the electronic cards employees use to gain access to the facility.
Terminating the rights deal &ldquo;shall be effective immediately upon entry of this order," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey wrote.
The county asked for the naming rights deal to be terminated in November, saying at the time that continuing to refer to the building as FTX Arena will only add to the &ldquo;enduring hardships&rdquo; brought on by the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.
The county owns the arena and negotiated what was to be a 19-year, $135 million naming rights deal with FTX. The Heat were to receive $2 million annually as part of that deal, which went into effect in June 2021.
FTX&rsquo;s next payment due to the county was to have been $5.5 million on Jan. 1.
FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, though it ended up with billions of dollars' worth of losses &mdash; estimates range from $8 billion to $10 billion &mdash; before seeking bankruptcy protection after a spectacular crash that took only a few days.
Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested last month in the Bahamas and extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has called &ldquo;one of the biggest frauds in American history.&rdquo; Bankman-Fried has been released on bail and is scheduled to go on trial in October.

The naming rights deal between FTX and Miami-Dade County was terminated and the brand will be stripped from the Miami Heat arena.

Miami-Dade wins right to strip FTX name off Heat arena

Nerlens Noel, Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group have settled Noel&rsquo;s legal case &ndash; with Noel paying full commissions owed to Klutch Sports on the $5 million Knicks deal in 2020, and Noel withdrawing all legal proceedings.
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Nerlens Noel, Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group settle Noel&rsquo;s legal case &ndash; with Noel paying full commissions owed to Klutch Sports on the $5 million Knicks deal in 2020, and Noel withdrawing all legal proceedings. Statement: <a href="https://t.co/isMq0L3rTU">pic.twitter.com/isMq0L3rTU</a>
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1613277994176466948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The case stems from 2021 when Noel filed a $58 million lawsuit against Paul and Klutch, accusing them of doing "little to no work" in securing a market-value deal contract or any endorsement deals.&nbsp;
Noel claimed that he turned down a four-year, $70 million contract extension from the Dallas Mavericks in 2017 at the direction of Paul, who was recruiting him to be represented by Klutch Sports.
"Paul told Noel that if he terminated his relationship with Mr. [Happy] Walters and signed with him instead, Paul would get him that 'max deal.' As part of this, Paul advised Noel that he should cease negotiations with Dallas, accept the single year qualifying offer, and seek a max deal on the free agent market the following season," the lawsuit stated.
But no max deal came, and Noel instead signed a one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer with the Mavericks in Aug. 2017.
Noel only made $12.7 million in the four seasons after he turned sown the Mavericks' $70-million extension offer. The difference &ndash; $57.3 million &ndash; is how he and his lawyers came up with the amount for damages they were seeking.&nbsp;
While the lawsuit was thrown out last September, Judge Jane J.&nbsp;Boyle recommend the situation be addressed within the NBPA's arbitration system.

Nerlens Noel has settled his legal dispute with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports and the center will pay the money owned in commissions.

Nerlens Noel, Rich Paul settle legal case

Offenses have never been more lethal than they are in this era. With primary ball-handlers becoming larger, the collective shooting range expanding and teams leaning further into the importance of spacing, it&rsquo;s becoming even more difficult to keep the ball out of the basket.
With the game expanding, screening has become even more important. A well-placed off-ball pick can free a movement shooter for a triple or a catch-and-drive. On-ball screens can make shifty ball-handlers even harder to deal with in pick-and-roll and open the door for dump-offs, lobs and fruitful catch-and-shoot opportunities.&nbsp;
Screeners come in all sizes these days, ranging from the burly centers to mismatch-causing smalls. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/changing-of-the-guard-the-future-of-screening-is-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I can&rsquo;t overstate how important guard-screening has become</a>, especially late in games.
This season, I want to keep tabs on who is &mdash; and isn&rsquo;t &mdash; getting the job done as screeners. Every week, I&rsquo;ll be highlighting a handful of the most powerful or shameful screen-setters in the league.
Let&rsquo;s get into volume two.
*All stats are through games played between October 30 and November 4, unless noted otherwise.*
BIG OF THE WEEK: DWIGHT POWELL
Dwight Powell, or "DP" (we're still consulting with the judges), is once again flying under the radar. Part of it is his visibility; he logged just seven minutes in the Mavericks' first four games, including three DNPs. That's gone up as of late, with him playing a season-high 26 minutes during Friday night's win over the Toronto Raptors.
The most substantial part of his (lack of) status is what he's tasked with doing. Screen hard, roll hard and stay solid within whatever the defensive scheme calls for him to do. He isn't fed post touches, doesn't offer much as a stretch option and doesn't even have the "hey, he's a post hub sometimes!" tag going for him.
And yet, the Mavs have won his minutes in every game he's appeared in. Spencer Dinwiddie gave Powell all of the flowers following a three-point win over the Utah Jazz.
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Dinwiddie talks about Powell's work ethic and character. He digs into the value of Powell's rolls, and how his consistency in that area forces the big and weak side defenders into tough positions, creating opportunities for himself and Luka Doncic.
I'd like to add that, in addition to the forcefulness of Powell's rolls, he does his homework early by setting effective screens. He angles his body in a way to consistently hit a defender's hip; that puts them behind the play &mdash; and on the hip of Doncic or Dinwiddie &mdash; which further stresses out the defense. If you're allowing Doncic or Dinwiddie to lead the dance, you're in trouble.
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To that point: the Mavs generated 1.36 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a Powell on-ball screen, the fourth-best mark in the NBA this week among 73 players to set at least 25 picks, per Second Spectrum. Powell created contact on nearly 82% of those picks, a rate trailing only Bulls forward Patrick Williams (92.86) in the same span.
Keep up the good work.
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CAUGHT YOU SLIPPIN': MIKAL BRIDGES
We're adding a category, because this is my thing and I do what I want.&nbsp;
In all seriousness, it felt weid to consider Bridges for "Small of the Week" considering he isn't a guard, but he obviously isn't a big either. This is a healthy middle ground for the two-way wing. I've really enjoyed his work as a screener thus far.
Dating back to last season, Bridges was used as a drag-screen partner for Chris Paul in transition or early-offense situations. Teams weren't equipped for the push-and-pivot from Bridges, often leading to fruitful opportunities for him or breakdowns elsewhere.&nbsp;
The Suns haven't just rolled that over; they've started to involve him more in half-court situations.
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After setting 6.4 on-ball screens per 100 possessions last year, that number has risen to 9.6 this season. Possessions featuring a Bridges screen were fruitful this week, with the Suns generating an absurd 1.56 PPP. They should keep going to the well.
SMALL OF THE WEEK: ALEX CARUSO
There isn't anything Alex Caruso won't do if you ask him.
Run the offense? Sure. Roam the dunker spot for dump offs? Cool! Act as a spacer? Doesn't mind. Hound guards defensively? You got it. Need him to defend Giannis? He ain't scared.
That kind of gap-filling from a guard is valuable, especially in a league that's becoming less position-bound in terms of roles. Caruso happens to be a gnarly screener on top of everything else, with a strong understanding of angles and timing &mdash; how long to hold a screen (78.3 contact rate this week), and where to release.&nbsp;
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Off the ball, I crack up at how much joy he takes in setting cross screens for Nikola Vucevic. Just look at this lead blocking!
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He might be happier setting the pick than Vucevic is getting a play called for him.&nbsp;
The Bulls generated good offense with Caruso as an on-ball screener (1.00 PPP), and his off-ball work has been even better (1.13 PPP).
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YOU SHOULD HAVE THE FACILITIES FOR THIS, BIG MAN: RICHAUN HOLMES
It's a bit weird in Sacramento.
Holmes proved himself as a capable starter, evidenced by a three-year stretch (2020-22) where he averaged 12.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in roughly 27 minutes a night. Holmes' minute load has never been lower (13.7) due to Domantas Sabonis being much better, and their skill-sets not being complementary enough to play together.
It will take an injury or roster change to dramatically shift things, but Holmes could stand to help himself by setting better screens. There's a line to walk between setting a screen to help your guard and setting one to get yourself open. Doing the former will likely cover both bases; doing the latter can lead to some ugly reps.
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The numbers back it up; the Kings performed poorly on possessions featuring an off-ball (0.5 PPP) or on-ball (0.67 PPP) screen from Holmes this week. He connected on less than half of his on-ball screens (46.8 contact rate).
He simply has to be better than that.&nbsp;
WE SEE YOU TOO: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO
Not too much on the MVP frontrunner right now, who's been excellent in just about every non-shooting category you can think of. With his workload and the physicality he plays with as a scorer, it's understandable that he isn't on 10 literally all of the time.
But dawg, for an offense that could use a little juice in the half-court, it would be a little helpful if Giannis didn't make it blatantly obvious that an off-ball action was a preamble for something else.
Friday night's game against the Wolves was pretty glaring when I went back through it.&nbsp;
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On the week, the Bucks generated just 0.89 PPP on trips featuring an off-ball screen from Giannis;&nbsp;
He doesn't have to be Steven Adams (hope he's alright) when prying guards open around the elbow (clips 1 and 4), nor does he have to be Draymond Green when guards are flying off baseline screens (clips 2, 3 and 5). Just ... get in the way. It'll help sell some of the action, make defenses work a little harder and thus open up cleaner scoring opportunities.
Screen Time will be back next Saturday!

Nekias Duncan takes a look at some of the best — and worst — screeners in the NBA this week.

Screen Time Vol. 2: Highlighting the NBA's best and worst screeners

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Kentucky coach John Calipari is long accustomed to being judged by how far his teams advance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Southeastern Conference, and some of its other flourishing programs, can now relate. Teams like Kentucky, former No. 1 Auburn, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama made quicker-than-expected exits last season, with the league&rsquo;s March fortunes salvaged by Arkansas&rsquo; second straight Elite Eight run.
The most notable upset was the second-seeded Wildcats&rsquo; overtime loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter&rsquo;s in the first round. But only the Razorbacks survived the opening weekend, while the other five SEC teams lost to double-digit seeds.
&ldquo;I had to worry about my own team, for mental health and not going in dark places and meeting, sitting and hugging,&rdquo; Calipari said Wednesday at SEC media day. &ldquo;I mean, that was ridiculously hard for our guys because we did have a good year. We had a bad finish.
&ldquo;I would say we&rsquo;re all judged by how you do in that tournament.&rdquo;
The league has only sent two teams to the Final Four since Kentucky&rsquo;s last appearance in 2015, and one school (South Carolina) has already fired the coach responsible. SEC teams are a combined 12-12 in the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, with the Razorbacks accounting for half of those wins.
Now, the SEC has six new head coaches hired to help reverse that trend.
There&rsquo;s no questioning the talent, with key transfers and a slew of highly rated recruits joining the mix. The SEC and Big 12 led the way with five teams apiece in the preseason Top 25.
Kentucky is fourth, Arkansas 10th, Tennessee 11th, Auburn 15th and Alabama 20th. Now, it&rsquo;s just a matter of surviving and advancing in the NCAA Tournament when it&rsquo;s one-and-done.
&ldquo;I think the league&rsquo;s phenomenal,&rdquo; Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said, citing the quality of coaching and NBA talent.
&ldquo;I know the SEC is an incredible football conference. It&rsquo;s also an incredible basketball conference,&rdquo; Musselman said.
Calipari, who took over at Kentucky in 2009, has seen the SEC make big strides in basketball during his tenure, with schools investing in everything from facilities to coaching salaries to recruiting budgets.
&ldquo;Now, the problem is when they really invest, you&rsquo;ve got to win,&rdquo; Calipari said. &ldquo;Not everybody is going to win. If you don&rsquo;t win, you&rsquo;ve got a lot of change. But that&rsquo;s part of it.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been great investment in basketball, and like I always say, be careful what you wish for sometimes, because now it just changed things. You were under the radar, you&rsquo;re fine; now all of a sudden, no, you&rsquo;re in the same boat as all of us.&rdquo;
That means making it to the NCAA Tournament, and sticking around for a while more often.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a one-shot deal and in 40 minutes when you&rsquo;re dealing with young people believe me, anything can happen,&rdquo; Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen teams catch lightning in the bottle.&rdquo;
The third-seeded Volunteers made it to the second round last March before falling to No. 11 Michigan. LSU, Alabama and Kentucky fell in the first round.
No. 2 seed Auburn, which had topped the rankings for the first time during the season, fell to No. 10 Miami in the second round. That led Tigers coach Bruce Pearl to predict the SEC would &mdash; unfairly, he felt &mdash; &ldquo;get crushed for our tournament performance.&rdquo;
Pearl, who led Auburn to the 2019 Final Four, said the grind of playing in the SEC can take a toll on teams come March.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to make any excuses for last year, but I think when you get in a great league ... there&rsquo;s a grind in that league,&rdquo; Pearl said. &ldquo;Sometimes, you look at football. To go through SEC football, every single weekend there are no weekends off in SEC football.
&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t many off in SEC basketball. There are other Power Five leagues, there are a couple of weekends off.&rdquo;
He cited the ACC last season, when Duke and North Carolina both made the Final Four and Miami &mdash; which knocked the Tigers off &mdash; got all the way to the Elite Eight.
&ldquo;What a run they had,&rdquo; Pearl said. &ldquo;The league wasn&rsquo;t as good top to bottom. So I think some of the best teams in that league were pretty excited about getting into that tournament, and they showed it.&rdquo;
Arkansas, meanwhile, has made it to the Elite Eight two years running. Musselman has reloaded with transfers and a recruiting class that boasts three five-star prospects and is ranked No. 2 nationally in the 247Sports composite ratings.
Musselman doesn&rsquo;t put much stock in the &ldquo;irrelevant&rdquo; preseason rankings and predictions.
&ldquo;What I do know is we have two players that have put on Arkansas Razorback uniforms and 11 guys that have not,&rdquo; he said.
Now, the teams can start with a clean slate. If only reporters will stop bringing up last season, including the Saint Peter&rsquo;s upset.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m over it. The only time I talk about it is when one of you guys ask about it,&rdquo; Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m over it. I&rsquo;m waiting on you guys to get over it.&rdquo;

SEC teams like Kentucky, former No. 1 Auburn, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama made quicker-than-expected exits last season.

SEC Ambitions: Kentucky, others judged by March success

UVALDE, Texas (AP) &mdash; The smallest gesture can have a huge impact.
That was reaffirmed to the San Antonio Spurs when the team held an open practice and community fair in Uvalde, Texas.
It was 137 days ago that the small town, 88 miles southwest of downtown San Antonio, was the sight of an elementary school shooting. On May 24, 19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary.
The Spurs held an open practice Saturday at Uvalde High School in support of the students of Robb Elementary and those affected by that tragic day.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely sad,&rdquo; San Antonio guard Tre Jones said. &ldquo;We wish everybody was with us, still being able to enjoy this moment. We are just trying to bring joy to the families and all the kids who were friends with those kids that died and help the teachers as well. We want to bring a moment of happiness into their lives again and try to just bring a smile to their faces.&rdquo;
With a transformative roster brimming with young players, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich received the loudest ovation as the team took the court for a brief practice. The Spurs then literally lifted the community, raising toddlers on their shoulders to bring them closer to the rim for a basket.
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The true elevation was felt off the court.
Monica Flores&rsquo; eldest daughter is still understandably traumatized by the day&rsquo;s tragedy. Her daughter was in the fourth grade, the same classification as those who died. Her daughter&rsquo;s classroom was directly across the hall from the two adjoining rooms where the shooting took place.
&ldquo;She has her moments, but we will never forget,&rdquo; Flores said. &ldquo;Sudden hands, different people that look like the shooter &mdash; she did see the shooter through her classroom window. She is terrified by people who look like him, not that she judges, but people have (similar looks), and it&rsquo;s just scary.&rdquo;
Flores&rsquo; daughter is scared to leave her home. She is terrified of certain situations. But that was pushed aside for a few hours, thanks to the Spurs.
Flores&rsquo; daughter eagerly anticipated Saturday afternoon once she heard the Spurs were coming to Uvalde just to see her and the other kids from Robb Elementary.
Dressed in the Manu Ginobili jersey her uncle purchased for her a few years ago, Flores&rsquo; daughter and the crowd were surprised and delighted to see the Spurs&rsquo; hall of fame guard in attendance. Now a special advisor with the Spurs, Ginobili spent the entire event signing autographs and taking pictures with those in attendance.
Flores&rsquo; daughter sprinted directly for Ginobili at midcourt when it was her group&rsquo;s turn to take the court and meet the players.
And just as hundreds of fans have done for more than a decade, Flores&rsquo; daughter was beaming in delight as she posed with Ginobili.
&ldquo;I am so glad she got to experience this with Manu,&rdquo; Flores said.
The feeling was mutual for the Spurs.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s big for me to be able to come out here and see the kids smile,&rdquo; San Antonio forward Keldon Johnson said. &ldquo;We know it&rsquo;s been tough. If we can just come out here and bring just a little bit of joy, it&rsquo;s a successful day for us.&rdquo;
The tragedy of May 24 is something the Uvalde community will never get over, but they are trying to get through it.
&ldquo;Tomorrow, on the court and off the court, we will fly,&rdquo; Dr. Kara Allen, Spurs chief impact officer, said. &ldquo;We will do the work and we will fly, but today, today is just doing joy. So, on behalf of the brilliant humans on the court and the brilliant humans you are, thank you for letting us choose to just do joy with you today.&rdquo;

The Spurs held an open practice Saturday at Uvalde High School in support of the students of Robb Elementary.

Spurs' open practice, community fair bring a bit of joy to Uvalde

Following a 10-month investigation into claims of racism, sexism, misogyny and workplace misconduct, the NBA recently announced that Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver would be suspended for one year and fined $10 million. Now, many people in and around the NBA are calling for a harsher punishment.
On Friday, NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio appeared on ESPN&rsquo;s NBA Today and said that Sarver should be banned for life.
&ldquo;We are absolutely calling for that,&rdquo; Tremaglio told ESPN&rsquo;s Malika Andrews. &ldquo;I am speaking on behalf of our players.&rdquo;
Over the last 48 hours, prominent players and sponsors have also made it clear that they don't agree with the Sarver ruling.
On Wednesday, both LeBron James and Chris Paul spoke out on Twitter.
&ldquo;Read through the Sarver stories a few times now. I gotta be honest&hellip; Our league definitely got this wrong,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;Y&rsquo;all read the stories and decide for yourself. I said it before and I&rsquo;m gonna say it again, there is no place win this league for that kind of behavior. I love this league and I deeply respect out leadership. But this isn&rsquo;t right. There is no place for racism, misogyny, sexism, and racism in any work place. Don&rsquo;t matter if you own the team or play for the team. We hold our league up as an example of our values and this ain&rsquo;t it.&rdquo;
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Paul, who has played for the Suns since 2020-21, agreed with James and mentioned that Adam Silver&rsquo;s decision wasn&rsquo;t harsh enough.
&ldquo;Like many others, I reviewed the report. I was and am horrid and disappointed by what I read,&rdquo; Paul said. &ldquo;This conduct especially towards women is unacceptable and must never be repeated. I am of the view that the sections fell short in truly addressing what we can all agree was atrocious behavior. My heart goes out to all of the people that were affected.&rdquo;
PayPal, one of the Suns&rsquo; primary sponsors (which includes a jersey-patch deal since 2018), publicly stated that they will not renew their contract after next season if Sarver keeps his ownership stake.
&ldquo;PayPal is a values-driven company and has a strong record of combatting racism, sexism, and all forms of discrimination,&rdquo; CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement. &ldquo;We have reviewed the report of the NBA league&rsquo;s independent investigation into Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver and have found his conduct unacceptable and in conflict with our values. PayPal&rsquo;s sponsorship with the Suns is set to expire at the end of the current season. In light of the findings of the NBA&rsquo;s investigation, we will not renew our sponsorship should Robert Sarver remain involved with the Suns organization, after serving his suspension.
"While we strongly reject the conduct of Robert Sarver, we remain supportive of the team, its players, and the experienced and diverse talent now leading the organization, including: Head Coach Monty Williams, General Manager James Jones, Assistant General Manager Morgan Cato, and Senior Vice President of People and Culture Kim Corbitt.&rdquo;
Basketball News&rsquo; Etan Thomas <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/howard-beck-explains-differences-in-donald-sterling-robert-sarver-cases-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke with SI's Howard Beck yesterday</a> about how the Sarver decision differed from the Donald Sterling ban, how Silver has handled this and what could happen next.&nbsp;
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Following the NBA&rsquo;s announcement, Sarver released the following statement:
&ldquo;Good leadership requires accountability. For the Suns and Mercury organizations, that begins with me,&rdquo; Sarver wrote. &ldquo;While I disagree with some of the particulars in the NBA&rsquo;s report, I would like to apologize for my words and actions that offended our employees. I take full responsibility for what I have done. I am sorry for casing this pain, and these errors in judgement are not consistent with my personal philosophy or my values.
"I accept the consequences of the NBA&rsquo;s decision. This moment is an opportunity for me to demonstrate a capacity to learn and grow as we continue to build a working culture where every employee feels comfortable and valued.
"I am extraordinarily proud of the Suns and Mercury organizations and the record we have built concerning diversity, inclusion, and giving back to the community. It means a great deal to me that our dedicated and hardworking employees have made Phoenix a basketball destination &mdash; for both players and fans.&rdquo;
Key figures within the organization will soon speak publicly at the Suns' Media Day on September 26. This situation isn't going away and it's likely that more players and coaches will speak out once Media Days and training camps get underway.

Following the NBA's suspension of Suns owner Robert Sarver, many people in and around the NBA are calling for a harsher punishment.

NBPA, stars, sponsors call for Suns owner Robert Sarver to be banned

The felony charge against free agent center Montrezl Harrell on trafficking marijuana has been reduced to possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor.
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Yahoo Sources: A felony charge against free agent center Montrezl Harrell on trafficking marijuana has been reduced to possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor, a judge ruled this morning. If he&rsquo;s in good legal standing for next 12 months, misdemeanor to be removed from record.
&mdash; Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1564990826014547970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1564990826014547970?s=20&amp;t=EEbgLg-PHwxn87DBXlLzQQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Haynes/Yahoo</a>
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Harrell was charged with trafficking less than five pounds of marijuana, a Class D felony in Kentucky, after a traffic stop the morning of May 12th, 2022. His market in free agency to this point has been largely quiet in light of the legal troubles, however with the new charge reduction which even provides a route to clean record, his draw to NBA front offices should light up once more. Harrell won the 2019-20 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award, and has shown himself to be a nice addition to NBA benches league wide.&nbsp;

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Montrezl Harrell has felony charge reduced to misdemeanor

Montrezl Harrell's felony charge reduced to misdemeanor

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Former NBA player Terrence Williams has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud and identity theft in connection to a multimillion-dollar scam against the basketball league's health plan, authorities said.
Williams, 35, entered his plea in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the identity theft.
An email seeking comment was sent to his attorney.
Williams was accused of being the leader of the scheme, which consisted of fraudulent claims and paperwork being submitted to the league's plan for medical and dental reimbursements.
He and 17 other former players were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-business-basketball-indictments-a785d565968ec3e50600baf67d9b64e3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged in an indictment</a> in October 2021, and authorities said at least $5 million in false claims were submitted to the plan between 2017 and 2021.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Terrence Williams ran the scheme and recruited others to be part of it, giving them fake paperwork to submit.
Authorities said Williams received at least $300,000 in kickbacks from the others for his efforts.
In situations where others involved balked, authorities said Williams pretended to be other people and threatened them in order to gain compliance.
The former player had been on pretrial release but was remanded into custody earlier this year, with authorities telling a judge he had threatened a witness.
As a part of the plea agreement, Williams will pay $2.5 million in restitution to the plan and forfeit over $650,000 to the federal government.

Terrence Williams is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge.

Ex-NBA player Terrence Williams pleads guilty in fraud case

Pete Carril, the rumpled, cigar-smoking basketball coach who led Princeton to 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, where his teams unnerved formidable opponents and rattled March Madness with old-school fundamentals, died Monday. He was 92.
Princeton released a statement from Carril&rsquo;s family, which said he died &ldquo;peacefully this morning.&rdquo; It did not give a cause of death.
&ldquo;We kindly ask that you please respect our privacy at this time as we process our loss and handle necessary arrangements. More information will be forthcoming in the following days,&rdquo; the statement said.
Carril, a Hall of Famer, schooled his teams in a distinct and throwback brand of ball &mdash; the Princeton offense, a game marked by patience, intelligence, constant motion, quick passing and backdoor cuts that often ended in layups.
It was an offense that could be played at any level of basketball &mdash; as Carril proved when he left Princeton and joined the NBA&rsquo;s Sacramento Kings as an assistant.
At Princeton, Carril&rsquo;s offense was performed by players often dismissed or overlooked by some of the nation&rsquo;s basketball powers. Come the NCAA Tournament, however, Princeton&rsquo;s unforgiving discipline could offset the disparity of talent on the floor.
During Carril&rsquo;s 29 seasons as the Tigers&rsquo; coach, the system worked splendidly. His teams won 13 Ivy League titles and posted a 514-261 record without the benefit of scholarship players. Its deliberate approach draining the high octane from many opponents, Princeton led the nation in scoring defense in 14 of his last 21 seasons, including the last eight in a run that ended in 1996.
He guided Princeton to the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1975 and was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Basketball fans loved to watch the headaches Carril&rsquo;s teams caused in March. That was certainly the case in 1989 for Georgetown&rsquo;s John Thompson, the Hall of Fame coach sweating late in the game with his trademark towel draped over his shoulder.
Princeton gave a No. 1 seeded Georgetown team featuring Alonzo Mourning and Charles Smith all it could handle, and as a No. 16 seed was on the verge of a monumental upset. The Tigers had two shots in the closing seconds at sending Thompson and his team home but were denied, losing 50-49.
Carril&rsquo;s final season in 1996 was highlighted by a first-round NCAA victory over defending champion UCLA, an outcome many consider one of the biggest surprises in tournament history.
Former Princeton athletic director Gary Walters was taught civics by Carril in the classroom and played on the hardwood under Carril in high school in Pennsylvania. He later served as an assistant coach to him at Princeton and was a lifelong friend.
&ldquo;His adaptability as a coach and being able to put the pieces together in a constructive way, was very, very important,&rdquo; Walters told The Associated Press on Monday. &ldquo;He also understood the game so well fundamentally. Very few coaches had his ability to teach fundamentals.&rdquo;
There was an outpouring of sympathy and praise on social media for Carril.
&ldquo;I believe that in defining greatness in coaches u must determine if they get maximum out of their TEAM personnel,&rdquo; ESPN sportscaster Dick Vitale tweeted. &ldquo;PETE CARRIL is a prime example of a brilliant coaching mind that got max out of his talent. May Coach RIP !&rdquo;
Peter Joseph Carril was born on July 10, 1930, to Spanish immigrant parents in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He played at Lafayette College under a venerable coach in Butch Van Breda Kolff. After an Army stint, Carril coached in high school in Pennsylvania in the 1950s and &rsquo;60s before getting a college head coaching job at Lehigh. He spent the 1966-67 season there, going 11-12, and then was on his way to Princeton.
Carril was more than a basketball coach. Friends and former players say he was intelligent, philosophical, a great judge of character, honest and caring. He was not the country-club type. He was down to earth, his attire simple: open-collared shirts, wrinkled sweaters, his thinning hair never quite combed. Occasionally, there would be a sport jacket.
On the court, Carril was demanding. He worked his players hard and sought perfection. It would not be unusual for him to sit on the bench with a 20-point lead and a pained look creasing his face following a bad pass, a turnover or missed layup. It was the craft, the process that mattered, never mind the score.
If asked, he would recall what his father had told him growing up in Bethlehem, one of the country&rsquo;s steel capitals.
&ldquo;When you lower your standards, they can turn around and attack you,&rdquo; Carril said often.
Success on the court never changed Carril. He liked his cigars. He enjoyed a drink, a coffee or just chatting with people at Andy&rsquo;s Tavern in Princeton, that is until it became a sushi bar in the 1990s. Conte&rsquo;s Pizza remained one of his hangouts. He would occasionally stop at the Princeton basketball office to talk hoops with Mitch Henderson, who became Princeton&rsquo;s coach in 2011.
After leaving Princeton, Carril jumped to unfamiliar ground &mdash; the NBA. He spent 10 seasons as a Kings assistant, helping coach Rick Adelman&rsquo;s teams win two Pacific Division titles and a spot in the 2002 Western Conference finals.
He joined the Washington Wizards&rsquo; staff in 2007 and in 2009 returned to the Kings. He retired from coaching in 2011.

The Princeton offense was a game marked by patience, intelligence, constant motion, quick passing and backdoor cuts that led to points.

Pete Carril was an old-school offensive maestro at any level

The Kremlin said Friday that it&rsquo;s open to talking about a possible prisoner exchange involving American basketball star Brittney Griner but strongly warned Washington against publicizing the issue.
Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and an eight-time all-star with the WNBA&rsquo;s Phoenix Mercury, has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after police at Moscow&rsquo;s airport said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
A judge convicted the 31-year-old athlete Thursday of drug possession and smuggling, and sentenced her to nine years in prison. The politically charged case comes amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia&rsquo;s military action in Ukraine.
In an extraordinary move, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke last week to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American jailed in Russia on espionage charges, would go free.
Lavrov and Blinken were both in Cambodia on Friday for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Blinken did not even glance at his Russian counterpart as they took their seats at an East Asia Summit.
Lavrov told reporters that Blinken didn&rsquo;t try to contact him while they were attending the ASEAN meeting.
&ldquo;We were separated by just one person at the discussion table, but I didn&rsquo;t feel his desire to catch me. My buttons are all in place,&rdquo; he said when asked about Washington&rsquo;s statement that Blinken would try to buttonhole Lavrov for a quick interaction in Phnom Penh.
Lavrov said Moscow was &ldquo;ready to discuss&rdquo; a prisoner swap but that the topic should only be discussed via a dedicated Russia-U.S. channel that U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to establish when they met in Geneva in June 2021.
&ldquo;If the Americans again try to engage in public diplomacy and make loud statements about their intention to take certain steps, it&rsquo;s their business, I would even say their problem,&rdquo; Lavrov said. &ldquo;The Americans often have trouble observing agreements on calm and professional work.&rdquo;
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the same point more harshly, saying &ldquo;the U.S. already has made mistakes, trying to solve such problems via &lsquo;microphone diplomacy.&rsquo; They are not solved that way.&rdquo;
He, too, emphasized that any discussions on a possible trade should be held via the previously established confidential channels that Putin and Biden agree to during last year&rsquo;s summit.
&ldquo;Such mechanisms exist, but they will be thrown into doubt if the discussion continues in the public domain,&rdquo; Peskov said. He said: &ldquo;If we discuss any nuances related to the issue of exchange via media, no exchange will ever take place.&rdquo;
People familiar with the U.S. proposal have said it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for a notorious Russian arms trader, Viktor Bout. He is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
The call between Blinken and Lavrov marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago, underlining the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
Griner was arrested as she was returning to play for a team in Russia, where she has competed since 2014. Blinken said Friday that her conviction and sentence &ldquo;compounds the injustice that has been done to her.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It puts a spotlight on our very significant concern with Russia&rsquo;s legal system and the Russian government&rsquo;s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda using individuals as political pawns,&rdquo; he said.
On Thursday, Biden denounced the Russian judge&rsquo;s verdict and sentence as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; and said he would continue working to bring Griner and Whelan home.&nbsp;

A judge convicted the 31-year-old Thursday of drug possession and smuggling, and sentenced her to nine years in prison.

Kremlin says Griner swap must be discussed without publicity

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) &mdash; U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted Thursday in Russia of drug possession and smuggling and was sentenced to nine years behind bars in a politically charged case that could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow.
The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and a eight-time all-star with the WNBA&rsquo;s Phoenix Mercury, listened with a blank expression as an interpreter translated the verdict by Judge Anna Sotnikova, but her lawyers said later she was &ldquo;very upset.&rdquo; Griner also was fined 1 million rubles (about $16,700).
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; the verdict and sentence, which came amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine.
&ldquo;I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,&rdquo; Biden said, adding that he would continue to work to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction.
Outside court, the U.S. Embassy&rsquo;s charge d&rsquo;affaires Elizabeth Rood called the outcome &ldquo;a miscarriage of justice.&rdquo;
Griner, recognized as one of the greatest players in WNBA history, has been detained since Feb. 17 after police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage upon landing at Moscow&rsquo;s Sheremetyevo Airport. She was returning to Russia, where she has competed since 2014.
As she was led out of court, Griner said: &ldquo;I love my family.&rdquo;
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years that Griner had faced under the charges. Most Russians possessing small quantities of drugs get at most five years in prison, lawyers said.
Defense attorney Maria Blagovolina told reporters later that Griner was &ldquo;very upset, very stressed. She can hardly talk. It&rsquo;s a difficult time for her.&rdquo;
Before the unusually swift verdict was reached, an emotional Griner apologized to her family, teammates and the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where she plays in the WNBA offseason, &ldquo;for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them.&rdquo;
With her voice cracking, she added: &ldquo;I hope in your ruling it does not end my life.&rdquo;
Under Russian law, Griner has 10 days to appeal, and her lawyers say they expect a hearing in Moscow regional court next week. Asked if Griner could ask for pardon from President Vladimir Putin, Blagovolina said they would consider every possibility, but the lawyers said they were not part of any discussions about a prisoner swap.
Griner&rsquo;s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas tweeted that the sentence &ldquo;was severe by Russian legal standards and goes to prove what we have known all along, that Brittney is being used as a political pawn.&rdquo; She added that she supported Biden&rsquo;s efforts &ldquo;to get a deal done.&rdquo;
A conviction is usually a prerequisite to arranging a prisoner exchange and also allows Griner to apply for a presidential pardon. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last month that the &ldquo;necessary judicial procedures&rdquo; must be completed before other steps can be taken.
The disclosure in July that the U.S. government was seeking a prisoner swap involving Griner reflected the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring her home. The U.S. State Department had earlier declared Griner to be &ldquo;wrongfully detained&rdquo; &mdash; a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.
When she took the stand July 7, Griner said: &ldquo;I would like to plead guilty on the charges against me. But I had no intention of breaking any Russian law.&rdquo; She added that she brought the vape canisters into Russia because she had packed in haste for her flight.
Griner also described a confusing scene while being held at the airport, saying an interpreter provided by authorities translated only a fraction of what was being said to her and that officials told her to sign documents without explaining what they were. She also said she was not informed of her rights.
Her lawyers introduced evidence that Griner was using the medicinal cannabis for chronic pain and injuries sustained during her career and included a letter from her doctor. Griner testified she was aware cannabis oil was outlawed in Russia and had not intended to break the law or &ldquo;plan to smuggle anything into Russia.&rdquo;
Griner&rsquo;s case and her nearly six months behind bars have raised strong criticism among her supporters in the United States, including her wife, Cherelle, that Biden was not doing enough to win her freedom.
Griner sent a personal appeal to Biden, and more than 1,100 Black female leaders urged the administration to &ldquo;make a deal to get Brittney back home swiftly and safely and to meet with Brittney&rsquo;s wife Cherelle immediately.&rdquo; Biden later called Cherelle Griner &ldquo;to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney&rsquo;s release as soon as possible,&rdquo; the White House said July 6.
Cherelle Griner, who also spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris, later said she was &ldquo;grateful to the both of them for the time they spent with me and for the commitment they expressed to getting BG home,&rdquo; using her wife&rsquo;s initials.
On July 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home Griner and Whelan in a sharp reversal of previous policy. Details of the proposal were not announced, though a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. has offered to trade convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Russian media have speculated repeatedly that Griner could be swapped for Bout, nicknamed &ldquo;the Merchant of Death,&rdquo; who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization. Russia has agitated for Bout&rsquo;s release for years.
The severity of Griner&rsquo;s sentence could give Russia leverage in a swap by increasing pressure on Washington to negotiate her release.
&ldquo;I think that the harsher the sentence, the more pressure there will be on the Biden administration to make a deal, and obviously they like leveraging that pressure,&rdquo; Tom Firestone, a lawyer who formerly served as the resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said of the Russians before the sentence was imposed.
Her detention was made public only after Russian troops moved into Ukraine, as relations between Russia and the United States hit new lows after Washington led the West in bringing sanctions against Moscow.
Griner&rsquo;s plight has been highlighted by her supporters at home, including top athletes, especially after little news emerged from her initial weeks of detention in Russia, where she had limited access to officials from the U.S. Embassy. It was only in May that the State Department designated her as wrongfully detained, moving her case under the supervision of its Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, effectively the government&rsquo;s chief hostage negotiator.
At the ESPY Awards last month, soccer player Megan Rapinoe referred to Griner as &ldquo;a political prisoner,&rdquo; and tennis great Billie Jean King said, &ldquo;First, bring BG home. Gotta do that.&rdquo;
NBA Finals MVP Stephan Curry wore Griner&rsquo;s jersey under his track suit at the awards show and urged &ldquo;the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf. She&rsquo;s one of us, the team of athletes in this room tonight and all over the world. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict.&rdquo;
Griner, a 6-foot-9 center, has 12 of the 15 regular season dunks in WNBA history and set the single-year record for blocks with 129 in 2014. She led the league in scoring twice. She was a two-time Associated Press college basketball player of the year and led Baylor to a 40-0 season and the 2012 NCAA title. She was the No. 1 pick by Phoenix in the 2013 draft.
The commissioners of the WNBA and NBA called the trial&rsquo;s outcome &ldquo;unjustified and unfortunate, but not unexpected and Brittney Griner remains wrongly detained. ... It is our hope that we are near the end of this process of finally bringing BG home to the United States.&rdquo;

An emotional Brittney Griner apologized in a Russian court, as her drug possession trial drew to a close, calling it "an honest mistake."

Russian judge sentences WNBA’s Brittney Griner to 9 years in prison

American basketball star Brittney Griner was back in court on Tuesday for her trial for cannabis possession amid U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure her release.
During the hearing, prosecutors called a state narcotics expert who analyzed cannabis found in Griner&rsquo;s luggage. Her defense fielded a specialist who challenged the analysis, charging that it was flawed and didn&rsquo;t conform to official rules.
Griner was escorted into court in handcuffs and placed inside a cage in the trial in Khimki, a town on the northern edge of Moscow. While in the cage she held up personal photos.
The trial adjourned until Thursday, when closing statements are scheduled.
If convicted, the Women&rsquo;s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star and two-time Olympic gold medalist could face 10 years in prison. As her trial has progressed, the Biden administration has faced growing public pressure to get her released.
In an extraordinary move, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago, the direct outreach at odds with U.S. efforts to isolate the Kremlin.
People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that Russia has made a &ldquo;bad faith&rdquo; response to the U.S. government&rsquo;s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don&rsquo;t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.
Griner has acknowledged there were vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage when she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February. But she insisted that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage because she was packing hastily. Griner played for a Russian women&rsquo;s basketball team in the WNBA off-season.
To bolster her case, her defense lawyers have presented testimony from doctors that she was prescribed cannabis as a treatment for pain. Medical marijuana treatment is not legal in Russia.
&ldquo;There are a lot of factors that will taken by the court into account,&rdquo; Griner&rsquo;s attorney Maria Blagovolina told reporters after Tuesday&rsquo;s hearing, adding that Griner &ldquo;admitted that she did bring something, but we need to know what she did bring.&rdquo;
While judges have leeway to consider mitigating factors under Russian law, acquittals are rare and account for less than 1% of cases in Russian criminal prosecutions.
A conviction, however, could potentially pave the way for Griner&rsquo;s exchange as Russian officials said it could only happen after the judicial process is completed.
Tom Firestone, a Washington attorney who formerly served as legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said Griner could be handed a tough sentence as a way for Russians &ldquo;to maximize their leverage in negotiations.&rdquo; He told The Associated Press that Russia &ldquo;may want to let this play out a little bit longer and try to extract more concessions.&rdquo;
Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. statements about the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law. They remained poker-faced, urging Washington to discuss the issue through &ldquo;quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.&rdquo;
Asked about the latest White House comment regarding the Russian counteroffer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn&rsquo;t offer any details.
&ldquo;Any exchange of information on the subject should be discreet without any &lsquo;loudspeaker diplomacy,&rsquo;&rdquo; he told reporters. &ldquo;Public exchange of positions will not yield any result.&rdquo;

Brittney Griner was back in court on Tuesday for her trial for cannabis possession amid U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure her release.

Brittney Griner back in Russian court on cannabis charge

American basketball star Brittney Griner testified at her drug possession trial in Russia that an interpreter translated only a fraction of what was being said while she was detained at Moscow&rsquo;s airport in February and that officials told her to sign documents, but &ldquo;no one explained any of it to me.&rdquo;
The testimony by Griner, came on the same day that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home the WNBA star and another jailed American, Paul Whelan in a sharp reversal of previous policy. Details of the proposal were not announced but Moscow has for years expressed interest in the release of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving 25 years in prison on charges he schemed to illegally sell millions of dollars in weapons.
Griner, testifying for the first time in her trial, also said that besides the poor translation at the airport, she received no explanation of her rights or access to a lawyer during the initial hours of her detention. She said she used a translation app on her phone to communicate with a customs officer.
Griner has been held since mid-February after police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She has pleaded guilty to the charges but says she had no criminal intent in bringing them into the country and packed in haste for her return to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA&rsquo;s offseason.
At one point in her testimony, her tone turned emotional as she said she has always followed the rules and tried to never let down her team.
&ldquo;My career is my whole life,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I dedicated everything -- time, my body, time away from my family. I spent six months out of the year away from everybody, and with a huge time difference.&rdquo;
Her arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of Russia sending troops into Ukraine later that month. The slow-moving trial and Griner&rsquo;s five months of detention have raised strong criticism among teammates and supporters in the United States, which has formally declared her to be &ldquo;wrongfully detained&rdquo; &mdash; a designation sharply rejected by Russian officials.
Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Trials in Russia proceed even after a guilty plea, and there has been speculation that her admission was a bid to move the legal process along in hopes of a possible prisoner swap.
At the start of Wednesday&rsquo;s session, Griner&rsquo;s lawyers asked that she be allowed to testify outside the cage that is standard for defendants in Russian courts, arguing it was too small for the 6-foot-9 (206-centimeter) athlete to testify while standing. The judge denied the request but allowed her to speak while seated.
During her testimony, the Phoenix Mercury standout and two-time Olympic gold medalist described making a grueling 13-hour flight to Moscow from Arizona while recovering from COVID-19. Griner said she still does not know how the cannabis oil ended up in her luggage but explained she had a doctor&rsquo;s recommendation for using it to address chronic pain from her sports injuries.
&ldquo;I still don&rsquo;t understand to this day how they ended up in my bags,&rdquo; Griner said, adding that she was aware of the Russian law outlawing cannabis oil and that she had not intended to break it.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have any intent to use or keep in my possession any substance that is prohibited in Russia,&rdquo; Griner said, adding that she understood the charges against her.
&ldquo;With them being accidentally in my bags, I take responsibility, but I did not intend to smuggle or plan to smuggle anything into Russia,&rdquo; she said.
She recalled being pulled aside at Moscow&rsquo;s Sheremetyevo Airport on Feb. 17 after inspectors found the cartridges.
Along with an interpreter who provided only a bare-bones translation, Griner said she received neither an explanation of her rights nor quick access to her lawyer, but instead was presented with some papers.
&ldquo;There were documents that I had to sign,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I can only assume that they were about the search and the cartridges.&rdquo;
A woman who presented herself as an interpreter only told her where to sign, but did not &ldquo;explain the contents,&rdquo; Griner said, and &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know exactly what I was signing.&rdquo;.
She said her rights &ldquo;were never read to me, no one explained any of it to me.&rdquo;
At one point, she got on her phone &ldquo;and I contacted my spouse, my sports agent and my club team&rsquo;s translator&rdquo; in Yekaterinburg, where she plays for a club in the Ural Mountains city.
&ldquo;Nothing was ever explained to me thoroughly at all,&rdquo; Griner said. &ldquo;There was a lot of short words &ndash; &lsquo;sign here&rsquo; - and at that point, I felt like being held against my will so that&rsquo;s why I contacted my family and my agent and asked for legal representation.&rdquo;
After several hours, she was finally allowed to hand over her personal belongings to a lawyer before being led away in handcuffs, Griner said. She said she received only a cursory translation of the charges against her during the investigation.
Griner described other instances of language confusion when an interpreter struggled to properly translate the accusations against her during a meeting with a detective.
&ldquo;The translations weren&rsquo;t very good,&rdquo; Griner said. &ldquo;I remember one time him receiving stacks of paper that he was supposed to translate to me, and he looked at them for a brief moment and (his) exact words were: &lsquo;Basically you are guilty.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Griner&rsquo;s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, told reporters after Wednesday&rsquo;s session that Griner &ldquo;repeatedly underlined that she had no intention to bring the forbidden substances into Russia.&rdquo;
The next trial session was set for Aug. 2. Griner&rsquo;s trial began July 1 in the Moscow suburb of Khimki where the airport is located, and it is unclear how long it will last. The court has held five previous sessions that were short, and her detention has been authorized until Dec. 20.
On Tuesday, a Russian neuropsychologist testified about global use of medicinal cannabis, which is illegal in Russia. Griner&rsquo;s defense team has submitted to the court a U.S. doctor&rsquo;s letter recommending she use cannabis for pain.
Griner said Wednesday she used medicinal cannabis for relief from pain due to injuries sustained during her career, adding that it is widely used in the U.S. because it has fewer negative effects than some other painkillers
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last week that the legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational use in parts of the U.S. had no bearing on what happens in Russia.
Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. Embassy&rsquo;s charge d&rsquo;affaires who has been attending the trial, said American officials &ldquo;are going to continue to monitor the case of Ms. Griner very closely, as well as the case of all U.S. citizens detained or in prison in Russia.&rdquo;

Brittney Griner testified Wednesday at her drug trial in Russia.

WNBA’s Griner tells drug trial: ‘My career is my whole life’

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; A federal judge in North Carolina has again ruled in favor of NBA All-Star Zion Williamson, this time in connection with a lawsuit he filed against a marketing agent two years ago in an attempt to break a contract.
U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Biggs denied a number of motions filed by Prime Sports Marketing and Gina Ford, which entered an agreement to represent Williamson when he was at Duke. The defendants were seeking to recover payment for the work they did for him, according to a copy of the ruling.
Biggs denied multiple motions by the defendants for summary judgment and to stay proceedings in the case regarding the contract. The court ruled previously that because neither the company nor the agent complied with North Carolina law, their agreement was void and unenforceable.
In January 2021, Biggs ruled in favor of Williamson, saying Ford&rsquo;s contract with Williamson was void because Ford was not a licensed agent in the state at the time she met with Williamson. The judge also ruled the contract did not comply with key requirements outlined by the state&rsquo;s sports agent law, the Uniform Athlete Agents Act.
The act requires that the contract include warnings explaining how hiring agents causes athletes to forfeit their amateur status. It also requires such contracts to include a disclaimer giving athletes 14 days to cancel.
Williamson, who was draft No. 1 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019, filed the federal lawsuit in North Carolina that June to terminate a five-year contract with Ford&rsquo;s agency after moving to Creative Artists Agency LLC.
Attorneys for Ford and Prime Sports had alleged that North Carolina&rsquo;s athlete agent law should not apply to Williamson because he and his family had accepted improper financial benefits while he was still enrolled at Duke. Ford&rsquo;s attorney&rsquo;s filed an affidavit alleging a $400,000 payment was made to Williamson&rsquo;s family before the he began his only season with the Blue Devils.
Williamson lawyer Jeffrey S. Klein asked the court to disregard the affidavit, arguing that the allegations were false and that supporting documents were fraudulent. He noted the facts in the case remained that Williamson completed his lone season at Duke in good standing and had never been ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
The judge agreed, noting that there was no legal basis for the courts to decide whether Williamson had violated NCAA rules.
The ruling was issued on July 15.

A federal judge ruled in favor of Zion Williamson in connection with a lawsuit he filed against a marketing agent two years ago.

Federal judge again rules in favor of Zion Williamson in lawsuit

I love Summer League hoops.
Well, it's probably more accurate to say I love what Summer League represents.&nbsp;
It's an opportunity for rookies to get a taste of the NBA. Second- or third-year players have the chance to hone specific areas of their games. If you're a former high pick who hasn't had a great start to your career, here's a chance for you to showcase something&nbsp;for evaluators &mdash; on your own team or around the league &mdash; to ponder. If you're hoping to make the leap from overseas, or find overseas work, Summer League can serve as an opportunity to get on a team's radar.
All of that is dope to me.
As someone who doesn't do a heavy dose of draft content, I especially love watching rookies in this element. It serves as a meet-and-greet for me, an introduction to the NBA's future. It's an informative, fun, and oftentimes wholesome endeavor.&nbsp;
It can also be a little bit annoying.
Annoying in the sense that the flashes you look for &mdash; a high-level pick-and-roll read here, a weak-side rotation into a block there &mdash; can also be gone in a flash. Literally.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
I was enjoying the mid-post dominance of No. 1 overall draft pick Paolo Banchero, and found intrigue in the way defenses were poking holes into the Orlando Magic rookie's approach. But we got two games of the Paolo Experience before the team shut him down for the summer.&nbsp;
Sometimes, we may not get the flashes at all.
Atlanta Hawks wing AJ Griffin, arguably the best shooting prospect in this year's class, didn't play at all <a href="https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/foot-soreness-limits-hawks-rookie-aj-griffin-at-summer-league/GRZNHCYKFFDLDHVQMX2HANWOXY/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">due to "right foot discomfort.</a>" You don't want to mess around with foot injuries, of course... but discomfort? Not a sprain, not even soreness, but discomfort? What does that mean?
And that takes me to a question I've had for a while now: On the teams' side, what does&nbsp;Summer League mean to them?
I come back to the Griffin situation with the Hawks. Griffin experienced some discomfort, so they held him out of play altogether. When asked about Griffin's status during Summer League, Hawks coach Nick Van Exel (what a hooper in his day) made sure to express he wasn't concerned about Griffin's health long-term.
"It's just day-to-day with him," Van Exel told a group of reporters. "It's Summer League, so we'd like to have him out there with us, but it is&nbsp;Summer League. It's just Summer League. We got a long, 82-game season, and that's what's more important."

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Well, that helps. Summer League is Summer League, and the regular season is more important; who would've thought?
On a serious note, there seems to be a line for teams. Summer League&nbsp;reps are valuable, but not that&nbsp;valuable. There's the competition level, of course &mdash; we're not seeing LeBron James out there; though if we did, it's safe to assume Russell Westbrook would be in the other gym &mdash; but there's also the lack of real structure.
The mix of rookies, second-year players and out-of-league talent altogether leads to a rather bare-bones experience in terms of cohesiveness. There isn't a ton of practice time, so the lack of continuity on both ends should be expected. Because of that, it's hard to glean too much aside from the flashes. Add in the risk of injury, and teams can be wary of having their guys out there for too long.
"It's sort of like, 'Is there anything more to gain here or are we risking injury or bad habits being developed?'" The Athletic's Seth Partnow, who was previously the Milwaukee Bucks' director of basketball research, told Basketball News.
&ldquo;If you remember, I hurt my knee towards the end of my rookie season [with the Sacramento Kings] and they shut me down the last couple of weeks of the season," Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton relayed to Basketball News. "They basically told me &lsquo;Hey, you&rsquo;re not playing Summer League.&rsquo; And I was like, 'Okay.' I was still able to be around my guys and support them though.&rdquo;
Hailburton continues: "Summer League can get reckless. Some&nbsp;of those guys are playing for more than we are &mdash; like, they&rsquo;re playing for their livelihoods. So I can understand organizations being a little worried about guys getting hurt."
Haliburton posits that the decision-making process for playing time should be judged on a "GM-by-GM basis," with some opting to be more risk averse to protect their investments. It also wouldn't be a shock to see more teams go conservative.
"I'd imagine New Orleans might be a little more hesitant to play their young guys a lot moving forward with [EJ] Liddell getting hurt," Haliburton added. 
That's a reference to New Orleans Pelicans wing EJ Liddell, their second-round pick from this year's draft who suffered a torn ACL during his second Summer League game. Liddell was viewed by some as a steal, drawing loose comps to Philadelphia 76ers forward PJ Tucker. We'll now have to wait to see how his game projects on the next level.
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God&rsquo;s not finished
&mdash; E.J. Liddell (@EasyE2432) <a href="https://twitter.com/EasyE2432/status/1547038904712187904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Though teams may opt to limit Summer League reps moving forward, it's worth nothing that there's still value in having the young guys play. While Banchero only played two games, many lottery picks, including Cleveland Cavaliers wing Ochai Ogbaji, played doubled that amount.
What, exactly, goes into that decision?
"I think we consult with our coaching staff, our front office and our training staff and try to figure out what the best decision is for each guy," Cavs summer coach Mike Gerrity told Basketball News. "It's just about managing [their workload], checking with them to see how they are feeling and then kind of making the decision from there."
It's a collaborative effort for the Cavs, much like it is for the rest of the league.
The goal is fostering the right environment for growth &mdash; for the players and staffs involved. At best, that summer growth can act as a springboard for the upcoming season. Summer League will never be as important as regular-season play, but there's something&nbsp;to be said for the opportunities it provides.
<a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr</a>, a former video coordinator and assistant coach in the league, summed it up beautifully during a recent episode of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>.
<blockquote>
"There's just too much opportunity involved for me to be like 'it doesn't matter.' It's a chance to get a bag somewhere in the world. It's easy to forget that portion. It's an opportunity to get your name out. If you're on a staff, it's a real opportunity. For me, that was my first chance to really flex my muscles and elevate my role a little bit. Really getting to walk through sets, run through parts of practices, trying to find my voice as a young coach &mdash; that was good stuff. There's value in it."
</blockquote>
Well said, partner.

Nekias Duncan talks to people around the NBA to discern the importance of Summer League reps.

Delving into the significance of Summer League for NBA teams, prospects

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; Here&rsquo;s what happened in the first few seconds of this year&rsquo;s NBA Summer League: Amid the squeaking of sneakers, and the noise generated by the people filling just about every lower-bowl seat in the arena, one voice could still be clearly heard.
That voice belonged to Paolo Banchero.
In the first moments of his first NBA game, Banchero was the loudest talker on defense for the Orlando Magic. And that was one of many, many good signs the 19-year-old out of Duke displayed during his opening night of professional basketball.
The determination on whether the Magic made the right decision by taking Banchero with the No. 1 pick in this year&rsquo;s NBA draft won&rsquo;t be made over the next few days in Las Vegas, or by what happens when the regular season starts in October, or if he wins Rookie of the Year. It&rsquo;ll be made years from now, when there&rsquo;s an actual body of work to judge.
Yet on Thursday night in Las Vegas, this much was already clear: The kid knows how to play.
Banchero&rsquo;s final numbers from Orlando&rsquo;s 91-77 win over the Houston Rockets were these: 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting, along with six assists and six fouls (you&rsquo;re allowed more in Summer League) in 26 minutes. They&rsquo;re all completely irrelevant, even though overreacting to summer stats is quickly becoming an annual NBA tradition.
The relevant part was how Banchero just kept making the right play.
The Magic were going to be part of the first game of Summer League even before drafting Banchero; the schedule for Las Vegas came out a few days before the draft happened. It was a made-for-TV event, with a 10 p.m. Eastern starting time as part of the NBA marketing the opening night doubleheader &mdash; Portland and Detroit were playing after the Rockets-Magic game &mdash; as Midnight Madness.
But Banchero was part of the reason the night had a big-game feel. Scalpers were outside the arena three hours before the game, casually asking if anyone needed tickets. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley couldn&rsquo;t walk 10 feet inside UNLV&rsquo;s Thomas and Mack Center without someone saying hello or shaking his hand. Big names &mdash; a past No. 1 pick like John Wall, a Hall of Famer like Jerry West, an All-Star like DeMar DeRozan, a NBA champion like Kyle Kuzma &mdash; grabbed courtside seats to watch.
The kid didn&rsquo;t disappoint.
The first time Banchero touched the ball, he didn&rsquo;t hesitate in whipping a pass to Devin Cannady for an open 3. His next touch, he drew a foul against Jabari Smith Jr. &mdash; the No. 3 pick by Houston, someone who many thought Orlando would take with the No. 1 selection.
He made his first four shots, two of them from 3-point range. He forced Houston into at least three turnovers just by being in the right place on defense. He felt a double-team coming on a post-up and again made the smart play, finding the open Cannady for another 3. He was not flawless, of course.
Orlando&rsquo;s Emanuel Terry made a great back-door cut that should have gotten him a dunk in the opening minutes, but Banchero was late with the pass (one of his very few early mistakes, after scoring or assisting 14 of Orlando&rsquo;s first 17 points). He was foul-prone, which isn&rsquo;t exactly a big deal in Summer League. He tried to attack the basket by going 1-on-3 late in the first half; he got fouled and went to the line, though overpowering some guys in July is quite a bit easier than if he tries it against the real pros when the games count. And when he missed a rebound that led to a Houston putback score late, Banchero slapped the ball in anger.
That all said, the good signs way outnumbered the mistakes.
A slew of Magic veterans, a fellow No. 1 pick in Markelle Fultz among them, leaped from their courtside seats more than once in response to what Banchero was doing on the floor. And at times when he was out of the game and a teammate did something particularly well, Banchero was one of the first to his feet to lead cheers.
It was one game, a summer debut, an outcome soon to be forgotten. But it was a moment, the first of many, and it wasn&rsquo;t too big for Banchero.

Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero made his NBA Summer League debut on Thursday, and it couldn't have gone better.

Magic rookie Paolo Banchero impresses in NBA Summer League debut

Seattle Storm star and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird announced Thursday the 2022 season will be her last playing in the WNBA.
The announcement by Bird, 41, ended any speculation about her future; she had acknowledged in February when she re-signed with Seattle that this would likely be her final season. She strongly considered retirement after last season before choosing to return for a 19th season as a player.
Bird&rsquo;s announcement came a day before Seattle&rsquo;s game at Connecticut. The Storm will close out their road trip on Sunday in New York, about 30 miles from where Bird grew up in Syosset, New York.
&ldquo;As the season has gone, like I said, I pretty much knew, and then once I saw the schedule, and then once I started packing for this trip a little bit, I was like, &lsquo;Oh, this is gonna be my last time playing in New York. My last time playing in front of my family and friends.&rsquo; And so that&rsquo;s why the timing of this is what it is,&rdquo; Bird said in a video posted by the Storm on social media.
&ldquo;I just really felt strongly about announcing my retirement, saying it was my last year so I can share that with my family and my friends, all the people in New York who have watched me growing up so they can come and see me play for the last time in my home state. So I&rsquo;m excited about that. It&rsquo;s also bittersweet.&rdquo;
Bird is a four-time WNBA champion, 12-time All-Star and the oldest player in the league. She has spent her entire WNBA career with Seattle since becoming the No. 1 draft pick in 2002 following her storied college career at UConn. This season is her 21st associated with the franchise although just her 19th playing after missing two seasons because of injuries.
Her resume is the envy of anyone in professional sports, let alone basketball. National championships at UConn in 2000 and 2002. WNBA titles with Seattle in 2004, 2008, 2018 and 2020, the last coming inside the WNBA &ldquo;bubble&rdquo; in Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bird hoisted five additional titles playing overseas in the EuroLeague. Last year, she added a fifth Olympic gold in Tokyo to go along with the ones the United States earned in 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Bird was the AP national player of the year her final season at UConn. She is a five-time all-WNBA first-team selection, the league&rsquo;s all-time leader in assists and the only player to appear in more than 500 games in league history.
She has been honored on every list imaginable as one of best and most influential players in the history of the league. And she&rsquo;s the standard by which other point guards are judged.
Bird turns 42 in October and was on the cusp of stepping away a year ago, and when the Storm were eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the playoffs, fans chanted &ldquo;One more year! One more year!&rdquo; as she did an on-court televised interview.
Those cheers were egged on by Phoenix&rsquo;s longtime star Diana Taurasi, Bird&rsquo;s former college teammate at UConn and part of all five of those Olympic gold-medal runs.
In the end, the fans &mdash; and Taurasi &mdash; got what they wanted. Bird came back, for exactly one more year.
&ldquo;Sue Bird is Storm basketball,&rdquo; her WNBA team tweeted moments after Bird made her decision known. &ldquo;Every moment, every memory has one constant. No. 10. It&rsquo;s time for the final chapter.&rdquo;

The announcement by Sue Bird, 41, ended any speculation about her playing future.

WNBA star Sue Bird says 2022 will be her final season

Andrew Wiggins has endured years of criticism throughout the NBA world. Fans, social-media users and media pundits like Nick Wright of "First Thing's First" have all took turns bashing Wiggins, almost in an attempt to send him into the depths of NBA obscurity for the rest of his days.
On Feb. 6, 2020, the Golden State Warriors sent D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, along with Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman, to Minnesota in exchange for Wiggins as well as a first-round pick (Jonathan Kuminga) and second-round pick (New York's Miles McBride) in the 2021 NBA Draft.
After the move, Wright publicly aired his opinion that Golden State made a mistake trading for Wiggins.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s owed $95 million over the next three years, starting next year. It&rsquo;s unspeakable the Warriors did this... It&rsquo;s over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player. He's owed $95M over the next 3 years, starting next year. It's unspeakable the Warriors did this. ... It's over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever." &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/getnickwright?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@getnickwright</a><a href="https://t.co/zTv0yR33Aq">pic.twitter.com/zTv0yR33Aq</a>&lt;
&mdash; FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports/status/1225824328203276288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
But it wasn't just him. Plenty of media pundits have had to eat their words and recant their statements and give apologies as Wright has had to almost daily since the NBA Finals began.
Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in 2014, much of the criticism has come from the fact that Wiggins didn&rsquo;t immediately become a superstar. They criticized his shot selection, his intensity (or lack thereof) on the court and his defense. Most of all, they criticized the fact that Wiggins didn&rsquo;t lead the Timberwolves to the promised land.&nbsp;
There were actually some who even suggested that Minnesota cut Wiggins from the team and eat the rest of his rookie contract because, in their &ldquo;expert&rdquo; opinion, the Wolves would&rsquo;ve been better off without him. The term &ldquo;bust&rdquo; began to float around, as it so often does.
Andrew Wiggins publicly admitted that, as much as he hoped to ignore it, he heard the constant criticism.
&ldquo;You hear it &mdash; on social media, when you turn on the TV and watch sports &mdash; you always see certain stuff; certain people say certain things,&rdquo; said Wiggins, noting he did his best to remain positive and tune out the noise, according to <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2864501-is-andrew-wiggins-20-for-real" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report</a>. &ldquo;It never really got to me to the point where, you know, it messed up my lifestyle, my life. I love myself more than anyone loves me.&rdquo;
Wiggins expressed that there had in fact been times when the criticism got the best of him.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d go through a slump, and then you can&rsquo;t help but hear it,'&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You always want to shut the people up that doubt you.&rdquo;
But those days are far behind him now, as Wiggins has proven &mdash; especially in these NBA Finals &mdash; that he is indeed one of the best two-way players currently in the NBA.
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I caught up with Golden State Warriors legend Mitch Richmond to give his assessment of the player that Andrew Wiggins has grown into.
(Mitch was a part of Golden State&rsquo;s high-scoring trio dubbed "Run TMC," which consisted of Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. Each member of the trio was among the top-11 best scorers of the 1990-91 NBA season. Mullin finished eighth in scoring with 25.7 points per game, Richmond 10th with 23.9 points per game, and Hardaway finished 11th with 22.9 points per game. Combined, Run TMC averaged 72.5 points per game as the league's highest-scoring trio.)
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Etan Thomas: How impressed have you been with Andrew Wiggins especially after all the criticism he received early in his career?
Mitch Richmond: "When you&rsquo;re a young player, and you&rsquo;re really a guy that&rsquo;s kind of passive instead of the expected boisterous and big personality guys people are used to seeing, you have to go to the right team and be with the right type of players. Andrew Wiggins is now in the perfect situation, surrounded with the right type of guys who can blend with his personality.
"He has two guys in front of him in Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] who are aggressive on the offensive end, and he has the ability to go about his business by getting rebounds, playing defense, shooting the open shot. And he is doing that very well. When you had him as the main scorer and the main guy, that&rsquo;s where he struggled a little bit because he wasn&rsquo;t that boisterous or that eager to talk and get his guys involved and just be the vocal leader. And add Draymond Green, who has such a big personality and is allowed to shoulder that burden so Andrew Wiggins can be himself without trying to be somebody he&rsquo;s not."
Etan: You mentioned Draymond Green, and a while ago I saw in an interview where he was talking to reporters and taking up for Andrew Wiggins on the subject of his past criticisms. He was saying that a lot of times, when a player is put in a situation where the team doesn&rsquo;t flourish or get to the promised land so to speak, the player is blamed, but not so much the organization. Do you think some of that occurred with Wiggins?&nbsp;
Richmond: "Most definitely. Sometimes, you have pretty good pieces as far as players, but everyone is not on the same page and not made to be on the same page by the organization. There is so much mismanagement of talent that goes on in the NBA. A winning team is often a reflection of a well-run organization. Many teams say they want to win, but they don&rsquo;t do what is necessary for their players to actually flourish, (and) they don&rsquo;t put together a system that will be successful. They don&rsquo;t run their organization correctly.
"Golden State has done a great job of putting the right pieces together, and creating a winning culture. I&rsquo;m down there all the time, going to the games, to practices; I see how the organization operates. They&rsquo;ve done a great job of creating a winning culture, and not all teams do that."
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Etan: Very true. You know I love when players make their critics eat their words and have to backtrack things they&rsquo;ve said the way Wiggins has. I love that. And watching him in these Finals, the Warriors don&rsquo;t win without him. Yeah, Steph has been phenomenal and had the 43-point night in Game 4. I wrote an article about Steph&rsquo;s phenomenal play and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nick-van-exel-rod-strickland-steve-francis-on-steph-currys-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewed Nick Van Exel, Rod Strickland and Steve Francis to all weigh in on his overall greatness</a>.
But the Warriors don&rsquo;t win this series without Andrew Wiggins. The monster rebounds he had in Boston in Game 4 (from the guard spot), and especially Game 5 when Steph was off. Wiggins stepped right up. They don&rsquo;t win without him. So to see how far he has come from the constant barrage of criticism to now, the fact that you can make a case for him being the Finals MVP is really amazing to see.
Richmond: "Yeah, he has been steady and crucial the entire series. Everyone had judgement early, even me, but now he is in the right situation for him, and people really discount how much the right situation can dictate the success of a player in the NBA. Wiggins has been the backbone of the team. That&rsquo;s a fact. All of the attention isn&rsquo;t on him. You mentioned Steph being off in Game 5, but really, the entire Boston defense was geared toward him, and they did a great job of making sure he didn&rsquo;t explode for 43 or possibly 50 the very next game.
"So other players like Wiggins had the opportunity to be freed up, and he took advantage of that opportunity. But even without that, like I said, he has been stellar all season. Let's be clear: Steph Curry is the MVP. But yes, there can definitely be a very strong case to be made that Wiggins could be the Finals MVP, at least up until this point."
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"I'm just trying to do every little thing to win." &mdash;Andrew Wiggins after his career performance in Game 5 <a href="https://t.co/kOf7ShN3Jp">pic.twitter.com/kOf7ShN3Jp</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1536555093352251392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Etan: Let me ask you if you remember this. I&rsquo;mma take you back a little bit. I had first gotten traded to the Washington Wizards my rookie year in 2000 from Dallas, when half the team was traded for Juwan Howard, but I got there late because I had the surgery. And when I got there, it was during one of the last games and you were in the training room in the whirlpool.
You said to me: Young fella I&rsquo;ve watched you play at Syracuse, love how you play, you&rsquo;re gonna have a great career in the league, but let me offer you a piece of advice. Block out all the noise. Whether it&rsquo;s from the media, fans, your friends, family, other players, from wherever &mdash; just block it all out, stay focused, have tunnel vision and you&rsquo;ll be fine. You probably don&rsquo;t remember that, but that was some of the best advice I ever got in the league.&nbsp;
Richmond: "I do remember that, we were with the Wizards and the outside noise was tremendous. One thing I learned a long time ago in this sport: You have to have tunnel vision. You have to play the game with headphones on where nobody is entering or affecting your mental space. You wanna be clear and focused. It&rsquo;s easy to get distracted if you don&rsquo;t take on that type of mentality. When you came to the Wizards, we were losing, getting booed, the fans were tough. It makes me feel good that you remembered that because that was a long time ago (laughing). We gotta be going back 20-something years ago."
Etan: (Laughing) Yeah, we&rsquo;re getting up there. But it was such great advice, and going back to Andrew Wiggins, that&rsquo;s what he had to do &mdash; block out all the noise. I read an old article where he was talking about how it did in fact bother him hearing the criticism, but how couldn&rsquo;t it? I mean, Nick Wright literally called him a horrible player and said the Warriors wouldn&rsquo;t win because they traded for him.
(I hate that the media has become this hot takes, shock-jock show. And when one person like Nick Wright says something like that, other media jump on board like what he said was the Gospel. Then, you have social media who also runs with it.)
But Wiggins' success now is a great example of what you told me, how you have to block out the noise and stay focused, and you will be able to prove people wrong. That&rsquo;s why I reached out to you for this interview because Andrew Wiggins did exactly what you told me two decades ago.
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Coming off 26 PTS and 13 REB in Game 5, run through Andrew Wiggins' best plays on both ends from the <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@warriors</a> postseason run thus far! <a href="https://t.co/RUHyEaGH1z">pic.twitter.com/RUHyEaGH1z</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1536861043317669888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Richmond: "Yeah, and in this day and age, it&rsquo;s even more difficult than when we played because of the advent of social media, and everyone has an opinion that they have the power to express through Twitter or Instagram or whatnot. And there are a million Nick Wrights, like you said, because that type of commentating is popular, and it wasn&rsquo;t like that when we were playing. You have 25 shows every morning after a game who are all doing the same thing on every channel.
"The perfect example of blocking out all the noise is Kawhi Leonard. He blocks out everything. He doesn&rsquo;t listen or look at any of that stuff. A lot of young players who came up in this social-media-buzz era, this is all they know. A million people telling you that you suck after you have a bad game. That&rsquo;s not how we came up.
Etan: Not at all. I&rsquo;m glad they didn&rsquo;t have social media back in the day when we played.
Richmond: "Oh, me too. But I always tell young players, while this is the norm in your era, it&rsquo;s not the best for everyone. Some of y&rsquo;all need to turn all that off and hire someone to manage your social media &mdash; because I understand marketing-wise the positives of it, but you don&rsquo;t look at it at all. And don&rsquo;t listen to the talking heads either. Just keep that tunnel vision like a horse with blinders on, and keep pushing."
Etan: I agree 100%. So, last question. How proud are you of the Warriors and what they have accomplished this year?
Richmond: "You gotta tip your hat to them. They have been so exciting to watch since Klay and Curry touched down in Oakland. In our day and age, we always heard, 'You live by the three, you die by the three.' And we never would&rsquo;ve thought that a team that shot this many threes would have chance to win a championship."
Etan: Thus, the reason Charles Barkley hates the Warriors so much. (Laughing)
Richmond: (Laughing) "And he&rsquo;s never going to let that go either, but it&rsquo;s here. They are winning by the three. They&rsquo;ve dispelled that notion. But when you have the best shooters in the game &mdash; and that&rsquo;s what they do best is shoot threes &mdash; they&rsquo;ve created new basketball reality, whether anyone likes it or not. But I&rsquo;m extremely proud of them. I know the Bay Area is proud of them.
"We had some great fans, even back when we played there, and me and Tim and Chris were Run TMC &mdash; the Oakland fans were always wonderful. Even when the team is struggling, they are there supporting the team with all the positive energy they can possibly give. So it&rsquo;s great to see the fans be rewarded as well. You have to take your hat off to the whole Bay Area, you have to take your hat of to the organization and to the team. They have showed you how you properly run an organization, support the players, allow them to be individuals &mdash; not what you want them to be, but who they are and support them in what they do best, bringing it back to Wiggins, and that&rsquo;s why they are having the success they are having."
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Etan Thomas chats with Mitch Ritchmond about Andrew Wiggins breaking out with the Warriors and his impact on the NBA Finals.

Mitch Richmond: Andrew Wiggins proved all of his doubters wrong

In 75 years of NBA Finals history, there have been only seven 50-point games. In those seven games, the team with the 50-point scorer went 6-1. Further, there have been just 19 30-rebound games, only one of which was done by someone other than Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain (Nate Thurmond), and only 15 15-assist games, 10 of which belong to Magic Johnson.
There have been some truly great Finals performances over the years, so let&rsquo;s identify the five best single-game showings in NBA Finals history:
5. Michael Jordan &ndash; Game 4, 1993 NBA Finals: 55 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists 
Let&rsquo;s kick things off with the GOAT. Jordan&rsquo;s 55-point performance in Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals is still tied for the second-highest point total in Finals history. Jordan&rsquo;s NBA Finals dominance is noteworthy, as he is undefeated in the championship series with a career scoring average of 33.6 points per game in his six appearances. But this is easily the most impressive of the bunch. He shot 21-for-37 from the field, failing to connect on just one three-pointer. That didn&rsquo;t slow him down though. In addition to 55 points, Jordan also tallied 8 rebounds and 4 assists in this win.
4. LeBron James &ndash; Game 1, 2018 NBA Finals: 51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists
James&rsquo; 51-point, 8-rebound, 8-assist game is the most controversial on this list, but it absolutely belongs. Yes, James&rsquo; Cavaliers lost the game in overtime, which makes this the lone loss among 50-point NBA Finals performances. The thing is, the odds were stacked against James in this series. First, former teammate Kyrie Irving requested a trade prior to the season, leaving James with less firepower to combat the star-studded Golden State Warriors. Furthermore, this game was the first one back for Kevin Love, who had suffered a concussion late in the Eastern Conference Finals. Still, James willed the Cavaliers into a prime position to go up 1-0 on Golden State shooting 19-for-32 from the floor, dishing out 8 assists and grabbing 8 rebounds. Had it not been for a meme-worthy blunder by JR Smith at the end of regulation, Cleveland would have gotten the win too. The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers by 10 in overtime. Still, win or lose, this was one hell of a performance.
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3. Walt "Clyde" Frazier &ndash; Game 7, 1970 NBA Finals: 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds
Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals is better known as "The Willis Reed Game" because Reed limped to the court during warm-ups and scored the first two baskets of the game. The fact of the matter is that Reed ended the game with only those four points, but someone else really did put the Knicks on their shoulders: Walt Frazier. Frazier&rsquo;s Game 7 performance was the stuff of legends, as he recorded 36 points, 19 assists and 7 rebounds. 1970 pre-dates recorded steals, but Frazier recorded a number of those as well. In total, Frazier scored or assisted on 31 of the Knicks&rsquo; 46 baskets, a preposterous number for a championship-deciding game. Best of all, this game resulted in one of only two Knicks championships, making this one of the most legendary performances ever.
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo &ndash; Game 7, 2021 NBA Finals: 50 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks
If you like what James did in 2018, you&rsquo;re going to love this. Antetokounmpo put Milwaukee on his back in the decisive game of the 2021 NBA Finals. He did a little bit of everything, beginning with scoring the basketball. He shot 16-for-25 from the field and 17-for-19 from the free-throw line. He racked up loads of rebounds and blocks too, and he impacted the game in a way I literally haven&rsquo;t seen in my adult life. Say what you will about Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s inability to stretch the floor, but when it clicks for him, he is easily the most dangerous player in the game today.
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1. Earvin "Magic" Johnson &ndash; Game 6, 1980 NBA Finals: 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists 
This one is more famous than Frazier&rsquo;s legendary performance, thanks in part to the work of HBO&rsquo;s Winning Time. Regardless of fame, Johnson&rsquo;s performance in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals is wildly impressive. Johnson, the Lakers&rsquo; point guard, was the team&rsquo;s second-tallest starter for this game. With his teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out due to injury, Johnson played power forward and center for much of the game, even taking a page out of Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s book in connecting on a championship-securing sky hook. In total, Johnson scored 42 points on 14-for-23 shooting. He also made up for Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s absence by recording 15 rebounds and 7 assists in this all-around show of dominance. Johnson really did a bit of everything in this game, proving that he was an absolute force to be reckoned with... as a rookie.
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Honorable Mention: Elgin Baylor - Game 5, 1962 NBA Finals: 61 points, 22 rebounds
Baylor holds the record for most points scored in a finals game (61), and if this were at top-10 list, he'd be on it, but he fails to make this list. Yes, scoring 61 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a Finals game is notable. The thing is, leading rebounders regularly snagged 20 or more rebounds in a game in the 1960s, cheapening that statistic. Case in point, Bill Russell amassed 29 boards in the same game. So, while this was clearly an all-time great performance, it doesn&rsquo;t quite make the cut as Baylor&rsquo;s overall impact wasn&rsquo;t quite on par with the five players listed above him.
Legacies are made in the NBA Finals. Players can cement themselves among the all-time greats with one overwhelmingly impressive showing. But one game only gets you so far.
Ultimately, careers are judged in terms of championships. So, while an exceptionally impressive performance gets a player remembered, it doesn&rsquo;t garner the same level of respect as an all-time great performance that results in a title.
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Truly dominant NBA Finals performances are rare. But when you witness one, it's breathtaking. Let's review the five best of all-time.

Ranking the 5 best NBA Finals performances of all-time

The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the big winners, winning the No. 1 overall pick for the fourth time in franchise history.
Winning the lottery is a big deal for any team, as it gives them a tremendous opportunity to add an elite young talent. The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 draft class</a> features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects who have already adequately separated themselves from the other top youngsters. Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero are easily the most electrifying players in the 2022 class.
All three of these prospects are versatile big men, which is a role that the Magic would be well-served in addressing. Orlando had two lottery picks in 2021, which they used on Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs and Michigan small forward Franz Wagner. If the Magic add a big man who grows into a superstar, their roster will be mostly set for the foreseeable future.
Of course, the allure of prospects wears off almost immediately after the draft. Ignoring the scouting process and all the work that goes into prosect evaluation, a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals that first-overall picks are far from the sure things we make them out to be:
2012 NBA Draft: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Ten years ago, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick. Davis grew into a superstar quickly, and his impact on the Pelicans was clear almost immediately. He led the Pelicans to the playoffs twice, in 2014-15 and 2017-18. The 2017-18 team was particularly good, winning 48 games in the regular season with a core of Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday. Cousins&rsquo; injury played a major role in Davis departing the Pelicans, as New Orleans failed to replace Davis&rsquo; friend and running mate. Had Cousins stayed healthy, who knows how good New Orleans could have been?
Still, Davis is clearly a great player who was absolutely worthy of the No. 1 pick. He has become an eight-time All-Star and earned a spot on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. Davis helped the Los Angeles Lakers win a championship in 2020, and he has career averages 23.8 points, 10.2 rebounds 2.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals.
Verdict: Success, although not necessarily for New Orleans.
2013 NBA Draft: Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers 2014 NBA Draft: Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland Cavaliers 
The Cleveland Cavaliers picked first overall in 2013 and 2014. The strange thing about both picks is that neither Anthony Bennett nor Andrew Wiggins made an impact in Cleveland. Both were sent to Minnesota in a package for Kevin Love. Bennett played one uneventful season with the Cavaliers, and Wiggins was sent out prior to the start of his rookie season. So, which team do we assess? Cleveland or Minnesota? Let&rsquo;s review both.
Technically, getting two consecutive first overall picks and trading them to the Timberwolves helped Cleveland win their first championship in franchise history. That&rsquo;s a big win for the Cavaliers, even if it cost them both players. Cleveland&rsquo;s championship was more so a product of LeBron James (and Kyrie Irving to a lesser extent), but Love was impactful and the trade worked out.
Conversely, Minnesota did not fare well with Wiggins and Bennett. They qualified for the playoffs only once in Wiggins&rsquo; five-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota, and Bennett was off the team after only one season. Wiggins seems to have found a home in Golden State, but he's the team&rsquo;s fourth-best player, which is not what most people expect from No. 1 picks (especially one with Wiggins' hype).
Verdict: Both are failures relative to expectations, but Wiggins has become a significant contributor.
2015 NBA Draft: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaking of Minnesota, they fared so poorly following the aforementioned Love-for-Wiggins-and-Bennett trade that they received the No. 1 overall pick in 2015. Yes, that means they technically had the first overall picks from three consecutive drafts on their roster, at least for a short period of time.
The pick in 2015 turned out to be Karl-Anthony Towns, who has now played seven seasons in Minnesota. Until recently, the Timberwolves' front office failed to surround him with the talent needed to compete. Towns has led Minnesota to the playoffs only twice, but regardless how one views the lack of team success, Towns was a good pick. He's a career 20-and-10 guy who shoots an unbelievable 40% from three-point range. The 26-year-old is a perfect big man for today's NBA.
Verdict: The Towns pick is a relative success.
2016 NBA Draft: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 2017 NBA Draft: Markelle Fultz, Philadelphia 76ers
We can&rsquo;t really discuss the first overall picks of the past 10 seasons without diving into Sam Hinke&rsquo;s Philadelphia 76ers. Hinke led the &ldquo;Trust the Process&rdquo; 76ers from 2013-2016, during which time he received significant scorn from the NBA, media and basketball purists who felt he was cheapening the game by blatantly losing to increase the odds of being awarded the first overall pick.
Thoughts on Hinke&rsquo;s philosophy aside, he picked first overall in two consecutive seasons. Philadelphia won the draft lottery in 2016, selecting Ben Simmons. Then, they traded up to No. 1 overall in 2017 to nab the rights to Markelle Fultz.
Neither Simmons nor Fultz fulfilled their potential in Philadelphia. Fultz had a misdiagnosed shoulder injury, which resulted in an awkward shooting motion. After two sub-par seasons in Philadelphia, he was traded to Orlando, where he&rsquo;s played better but still nowhere near what's expected from a No. 1 pick.
Simmons was better for the 76ers, co-leading them to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. But Simmons&rsquo; time in Philadelphia ended infamously last season, culminating with him forcing his way to Brooklyn after a lengthy holdout.
Verdict: Degrees of failure, though Fultz was considerably more disappointing than Simmons. At least Simmons became a three-time All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
2018 NBA Draft: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns picked first in the 2018 NBA Draft, which is another strange case. Objectively, Deandre Ayton is a major piece on Phoenix&rsquo;s roster. In his fourth NBA season, he averaged an impressive 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Can we really analyze players in a vacuum though? Ayton was picked a few selections before Luka Doncic, who received serious first-overall-pick buzz that June. Imagine if the Suns had paired Doncic with Devin Booker? Like the Rockets and Trail Blazers both did in 1984, the Suns simply overthought this one.
2018 is too recent to accurately judge the long-term impact of this pick. Ayton could very possibly end up being a major contributor on a championship team. Still, this is a push at best, and if he ends up signing elsewhere this offseason, that makes the Ayton selection look even worse.
Verdict: Who the hell knows?
2019 NBA Draft: Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans also picked first overall in 2019, selecting the electric athlete, Zion Williamson, who is the toughest first pick to grade in the last 10 years. In his lone injury-free season, he averaged 27 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 62% on two-point attempts.
But injuries make it far more difficult to grade him. Williamson has played in only 85 of a possible 202 career games, missing the entire 2021-22 season.
Verdict: Time will tell.
2020 NBA Draft: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota is experiencing a major resurgence, and the credit belongs to Towns and the 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Edwards had a good rookie season, but he exploded in his sophomore campaign.
This season, he helped lead Minnesota to the playoffs, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 threes and 1.5 steals on 44.1/35.7/78.6 shooting splits. In the postseason, he took his game to another level, contributing 25.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.8 threes, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks on 45.5/40.4/82.4 shooting splits.
Verdict: After only two seasons, Edwards looks like a huge win for Minnesota.
2021 NBA Draft: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Last but not least, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham first overall in 2021. Despite playing alongside less talent than most of his peers, Cunningham's rookie campaign was successful. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.6 assists and 5.5 rebounds, was named a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection and placed third in Rookie of the Year voting.
One season is too small of a sample size to grade a young player, but Cunningham looks like the absolute right pick.
Verdict: Success (so far).&nbsp; &nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the first overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just four times (2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021). He has been a complete dud twice (2013 and 2017), a good player twice (2014 and 2018), a malcontent once (2016) and an injury-prone player once (2019). Five of the last 10 first picks were traded too. If Ayton is allowed to leave this offseason, then six of the last 10 are no longer with the team that drafted them, erasing the benefit of player development.
For every franchise-changing No. 1 overall pick &mdash; such as LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar &mdash; there are a handful of players who didn't work out in the long run. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 1 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction.&nbsp;
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The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery with the first overall pick. How successful does history suggest they will be?

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft

Similar to when we discussed <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-combine-takeaways-from-anthro-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anthro testing</a>, the NBA Draft Combine provides opportunities for both fans and scouts alike to overreact. Some around the league put lots of stock into agility and strength testing, while others do not. The eye of the beholder takes each test into account in his or her own way.&nbsp;
Our Sr. NBA Draft Analyst, Matt Babcock, weighs in: &ldquo;I can't say I put a ton of stock into the physical testing, but I certainly look at them. I'm usually not too surprised at the results, as I think a decently experienced scout can generally judge a player's athleticism relatively well by watching them play in person. However, seeing results like Kennedy Chandler jumping an impressive 41.5 inches on his max vertical and Patrick Baldwin Jr. jumping a Combine-worst 26.5 inches does sway my opinion of them some.&rdquo;
Here are a few of my takeaways from agility testing:
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kendall-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kendall Brown</a>, Baylor
Kendall Brown leaped to a 41-inch max vertical in Chicago. This explosiveness, paired with being 6-foot, 7.5 inches and 201 pounds, gives insight into the physical athlete he really is. While there are concerns about some of Brown&rsquo;s perimeter skills, his athleticism and ability to impact the game on both ends will translate. He&rsquo;ll be a coveted player in next month&rsquo;s draft.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kennedy-chandler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kennedy Chandler</a>, Tennessee
Although only measuring in at 5-foot, 11.5 inches without shoes, Kennedy Chandler posted the highest vertical leap of the day at 41.5 inches. Scouts and media alike were impressed with the athleticism, as he makes a strong case for himself as a first-round pick.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/jalen-williams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jalen Williams</a>, Santa Clara
After registering tremendous numbers in the anthro testing, Jalen Williams then posted a 39-inch max vertical, giving real promise to how he'll fit on an NBA floor. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but his shooting, offensive skill set and obvious athleticism may lead to a rise in his draft value.&nbsp;
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Terquavion Smith, NC State
It&rsquo;s been a solid week of measurements for Terquavion Smith as he continues to consider whether he'll stay in the 2022 NBA Draft. After measuring in at 6-foot, 2.25 inches without shoes, he then posted a 10.63 lane agility time and a 38.5-inch max vertical. He&rsquo;s twitchy and explosive, and has a chance to be a reliable guard in the NBA regardless of when he declares.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/david-roddy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Roddy</a>, Colorado State
Roddy is 6-foot-6 in his shoes, 260 pounds, has a 6-foot, 11.5-inch wingspan and registers a 35.5-inch max vertical. Not only would these be strong at an NFL Combine, they were in a solid tier in Chicago as well. Roddy has a real chance to be a first-round pick next month and has helped himself this week.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/patrick-baldwin-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Baldwin Jr.</a>, UW-Milwaukee
Baldwin Jr. recorded a 23.5-inch standing vert and 26.5-inch max vert. The 26.5-inch mark is the fourth-lowest number at the Combine since 2011, ahead of only Dakari Johnson, Dedric Lawson and Nikola Vucevic. While he shows incredible potential as a shooter at the NBA level, these numbers will likely be taken into heavy consideration around the league.
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Derek Murray highlights key observations from the agility testing portion of the 2022 NBA Draft Combine.

2022 NBA Draft Combine: Takeaways from agility testing

Objectively, Damian Lillard is as accomplished as nearly anyone in the NBA, but the legacies of all-time greats are judged against other all-time greats. Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal teases Charles Barkley on "Inside the NBA" about having won zero championships because he can. Win one, and you&rsquo;re forever a member of the club. Fail to do so, and you&rsquo;ll remain on the outside looking in.
Granted, being an all-time great is a good club to be a part of, but failing to win a championship can be utterly haunting. Just watch players like Barkley and Patrick Ewing talk about failing to win on the biggest stage. You hear regret in their voices. And pain. And there&rsquo;s nothing they can do about it.
It&rsquo;s premature to lump Lillard in with the aforementioned greats. After all, he&rsquo;s still only 31, meaning he has years remaining before we can have an honest discussion about his place amongst league legends (with or without a championship). I&rsquo;ll happily wait until he&rsquo;s retired to assess his legacy.
What I will address now is the fact that Lillard&rsquo;s inability to deliver a championship to Portland in his 10 seasons is actually not his fault. In fact, I posit that that no superstar in recent memory can be blamed less than Lillard for his team&rsquo;s shortcomings. Lillard has faced a grueling uphill battle since joining the Trail Blazers as a rookie, and his presence has resulted in Portland consistently outperforming their talent.
First, let&rsquo;s inventory how Lillard&rsquo;s Trail Blazers have fared in the postseason. In total, Portland has missed the playoffs twice since Lillard was drafted: once during his rookie year and again in 2021-22, a season in which Lillard was shut down in late December due to abdominal surgery. Had Lillard been healthy all season, his Blazers may have made their ninth consecutive postseason appearance.
Once there, Lillard is an impactful postseason player, posting 25.7 points and 6.2 assists per game in 12 career postseason series. Across his playoff career, he&rsquo;s shot 41.2% from the field, 36.9% on threes and 88.7% on free throws. He&rsquo;s also had several epic shots that were either game-winners or series-enders, which probably inspired Robert Horry, an all-time great shooter himself, to recently refer to Lillard the best clutch shooter ever.
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Robert Horry calls Damian Lillard the best clutch shooter ever over Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant &ldquo;He has hit a clutch shot versus every team in the NBA.&rdquo;<a href="https://t.co/lg34EjTZNB">https://t.co/lg34EjTZNB</a>
&mdash; NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1525203234650050562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Despite his heroics, Lillard&rsquo;s Trail Blazers have never reached the NBA Finals. They did succeed in reaching the Western Conference Finals once in 2019. They ultimately lost to the Golden State Warriors. They also lost to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2014, the 73-9 Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2016 and the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round in 2020. So, four of Lillard&rsquo;s eight postseason appearances ended against either the eventual champions or the dynastic Warriors.
Like Barkley and Ewing before him, Lillard has been a victim of time and circumstance, as his prime fell right in the middle of the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; historic run. But in Lillard&rsquo;s case, his struggles have been about more than his opponents. After all, Lillard is not dominated by any one player like how Jordan dominated his era. His circumstances are more a result of his supporting cast, or lack thereof.
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Lillard&rsquo;s stance on recruiting is that he wants to remain in Portland. He&rsquo;ll assist in recruiting free agents to Rip City, but he will not entertain recruiting pitches from other teams&rsquo; stars, a fair and respectable stance. For whatever reason, Lillard has been unsuccessful in recruiting others thus far. For example, he failed to land Kelly Oubre in Portland just last summer. However, there are limited examples of a dedicated push by Lillard in recruiting. Whether he foregoes recruiting or fails at it , the result is the same, and it hurts.
But as much as Lillard could participate in team building, there is a management team that is paid a handsome salary to build the team into a legitimate contender, regardless of Lillard's recruitment style. Frankly, that front office has failed to surround Lillard with top-tier co-stars.
A quick inventory of recent NBA champions reveals that Portland&rsquo;s talent is simply insufficient. Seven of the last 10 champions had multiple All-Stars. The other three were San Antonio in 2014, Cleveland in 2016 and Milwaukee in 2021, and we know all three teams had far more talent than any Portland team. Comparatively, battling all-time great competition, Lillard&rsquo;s only active All-Star teammate has been LaMarcus Aldridge, and they only overlapped as All-Stars twice.
There is also CJ McCollum, who was the 2015-16 Most Improved Player. Despite not being named to an All-Star team, he&rsquo;s certainly been an All-Star caliber player for much of his career. He&rsquo;s even (slightly) better in the playoffs, where he&rsquo;s scored 20.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 13 series.
McCollum's and Aldridge&rsquo;s better seasons sadly didn&rsquo;t overlap. Aldridge&rsquo;s final season in Portland (2014-15) was McCollum&rsquo;s sophomore season, and McCollum wasn&rsquo;t yet the McCollum we've come to know.
Portland could be on to something now. Anfernee Simons could prove to be a valid backcourt mate for Lillard. The former IMG star had a breakout season last year, averaging 17.3 points per game on 40.9% on three-pointers. If Joe Ingles can regain his pre-injury form and Jusuf Nurkic can remain healthy, there are some promising pieces in the mix.
However, the Trail Blazers still need at least one more creator. Fortunately, Portland has a 37.2% chance of sneaking into the top-four in this year&rsquo;s NBA Draft. Doing so would equip them with a valuable trade chip that could deliver exactly the type of player they need and maybe get them closer to becoming NBA Champions.
Regardless as to what happens with Portland in the immediate future, a closer look at Lillard's body of work reveals just how great he really is. Soon, he may join that elusive and exclusive championship club, but even if he doesn&rsquo;t, we should be careful how we refer to his failures. Because more so than practically anyone in NBA history, not winning a championship shouldn't paint our perception of Lillard.&nbsp;
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Damian Lillard is already an all-time great. We can't ignore his postseason failures, but he can't be defined by them, either.

Damian Lillard's inability to win isn't his fault

During the first three quarters of Wednesday's Game 5 between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, I had already outlined today's column in my head. The Bucks have boasted some of the worst offensive numbers this postseason, they looked miserable again in Game 5, and, unless something changed, their second-round exit would be a foregone conclusion.&nbsp;
And then, the fourth quarter happened &mdash; or more specifically, the last 10 minutes changed the course of the series and this article.
Milwaukee trailed 93-79 and scored 31 points in 10 minutes &mdash; more than any other full quarter this game &mdash; to stun the TD Garden crowd and break the series tie in a 110-107 thriller. The cumulative 33 points in the fourth quarter is the second-highest total the Bucks have managed in any frame this series.
Jrue Holiday's late-game defensive wizardry became the signature moment of the night, and the Celtics' offensive meltdown drew the ire of its fan base on social media. But the "coming back" part of the comeback, in which Milwaukee altered its offensive narrative, was overshadowed. So let's spolight it.
For some context, the Bucks' offense has been&nbsp;dreadful&nbsp;most of this series. This was the half-court state of affairs entering Game 5:&nbsp;
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The Milwaukee Bucks are averaging just 84.1 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt this series, per Cleaning the Glass. That&rsquo;s the lowest of any 2nd round team and is far below any rate posted in the regular season.
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1524044083563487235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Bucks could only generate momentum in transition, where they sprinted all over the Celtics to the tune of 142.3 points per 100 possessions. Several viewers, including Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-103-second-round-check-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>, lamented the Bucks' tendency to find an offensive advantage and promptly forget to utilize it. And while I don't feel fully confident that they've put such woes behind them, Wednesday night provided a potential blueprint for offensive success.
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The surge begins on this play, where Milwaukee consistently creates advantages with constant movement. You can see that the Celtics have prioritized containing the paint and are shading off of both corners. The Bucks only need one screen to keep the defense in rotation, and no one stops moving after the pass. By the time Holiday attacks Al Horford's closeout, he could pass to any teammate and find an open shooter.
Pat Connaughton has been lights-out in this series, making 48.0% of his 5 three-point attempts per game. He can shoot the ball from a bizarre load point well above his head when he needs to, but he's also explosive enough to attack closeouts and make defenders pay, as he did in the above possession.
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Here's another play where off-ball activity from Wes Matthews results in Connaughton getting a three-pointer from a handoff. Matthews cuts into the paint, and Grant Williams and Horford both prioritize his cut over Connaughton's spacing. They don't communicate on a potential switch, and it leads to a late chase from Williams.&nbsp;
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Exhibit C: Holiday steers toward the painted area and the Celtics collapse off of the corners. This time, it's Matthews reaping the rewards as Holiday hits him for an open three. At this point, you're starting to see the pattern. The Bucks went 6 of 6 from long range in total, but these moments in particular hint at a weakness in the Celtics' defense. When the Bucks found the corners and moved the ball too quickly for Boston to communicate, they found open looks.
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One more clip. This one is a miss, but it's undoubtedly a high-quality shot from Bobby Portis. He gets the open layup because the Bucks have gone completely five-out. Portis ghosts (or slips, depends on your judgement) the screen and cuts right to the basket. It catches Horford off-guard for a split second as he anticipates a switch. Connaughton feeds Portis, and he can then either lay the ball up or make the extra pass to Matthews in the corner.
The Bucks went with two notable lineups to fuel this comeback. First, it was Holiday-Connaughton-Matthews-Allen-Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then, Portis checked in for Allen and that remained the unit for essentially the rest of the game. Brook Lopez did not play in the fourth quarter. George Hill played one minute and 52 seconds. The lineups matched smaller Celtics units and allowed the Bucks to play faster on offense with more driving threats.
Portis particularly proved pivotal. He simply feasted on the glass against the smaller Celtics in that fourth quarter. Milwaukee outnumbered Boston 7 to 1 on the offensive glass in the fourth quarter. Portis grabbed 4 himself &mdash; including the game-swinging missed free throw &mdash; and had more offensive rebounds (7) than the Celtics (5) in all of Game 5.&nbsp;
Collectively, the Bucks seem to have struck some type of gemstone. They'll either continue to have corner opportunities, or they'll force Boston to respect the space, allowing more driving and cutting chances for Antetokounmpo and others. They also capitalized on the toll of communicating in a switch-heavy scheme, and used their size to their advantage. However, Milwaukee isn't running home free.
Holiday remains the ultimate offensive swing player in this series. He came up with some stone-cold shots late in the game that masked another sketchy night where he scored 24 points on 24 attempts. It's been a brutal series on the scoring front.
Holiday has shot just 32.6% from the floor when driving to the basket in the second round, which is extremely poor. He's making 34.5% of his pull-up shot attempts with a 41.4% Effective Field Goal percentage. Holiday is one of 23 players with over 20 total possessions in isolation this postseason, per Synergy; his mark of 0.65 points per possession ranks 20th among those players. He's drawn criticism on some of Milwaukee's gunky plays that end with low-quality pull-up attempts. We'll see what adjustments he makes in Game 6.
The Celtics also missed Robert Williams III for second straight game due to knee soreness, which dramatically changed the equation and allowed the Bucks to play with the small lineup they had. What happens when he returns and adds stability on the glass and as a rim-protector?&nbsp;
Even after last night's victory, Milwaukee still ranks last among second-round teams in passes (232) and potential assists (33) per game. That doesn't have to be a negative, but it does reinforce our eye test that too many possessions have involved rushing into an Antetokounmpo or Holiday drive without utilizing the space on the court.&nbsp;
The battle to force defensive adjustments has been the most captivating aspect of this series to me. Just a week ago, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-theres-a-3point-standoff-between-the-celtics-and-bucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I wrote</a> about how Boston's shooters are forcing the Bucks into tough decisions. Now, the script has flipped to the other side of the court, and with the series now in elimination mode, the stakes only grow.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Synergy was cooking up some phenomenal information this week. Here's a look at some of the second round's most efficient scorers entering last night's action:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The most efficient offensive players in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a>: <a href="https://t.co/bDTcrD2NSv">pic.twitter.com/bDTcrD2NSv</a>
&mdash; Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) <a href="https://twitter.com/SynergySST/status/1524041599642124289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Here's another one that joins the widespread exploration of shot quality and quantifying playmaking:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
We used Synergy&rsquo;s new Shot Quality metric to find out which NBA players make their teammates&rsquo; shots easier and which make their opponents&rsquo; shots more difficult.<a href="https://t.co/u3JvOM6pJ1">https://t.co/u3JvOM6pJ1</a> <a href="https://t.co/A8bXBZExyX">pic.twitter.com/A8bXBZExyX</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1524774322367201281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>These numbers may have changed slightly after Wednesday night, but let's give Wes Matthews more love, courtesy of our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wes-matthews-twoway-play-deserves-your-attention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan and his piece on the veteran's two-way versatility.</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Matthews has defended 195 on-ball picks &mdash; the fifth-highest mark of the postseason. He's one of 21 players to defend at least 100 of them. Of those 21 players, only two &mdash; Marcus Smart (119, 0.72 PPP) and Jae Crowder (115, 0.75 PPP) have allowed fewer points per possession on direct plays than Matthews (0.85 PPP).
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The Bucks have struggled on offense in the second round, but Game 5 may hint at a turnaround.

NBA Stats Notebook: What did the Bucks find on offense in Game 5?

In the matchup of the playoffs thus far, the Boston Celtics squeaked out a 115-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Jayson Tatum played a demonstrative game, putting up 31 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, including the game-winner as time expired. Kyrie Irving had a domineering 39-point performance that kept the Nets' engine revving in spite of a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-celtics-game-1-defense-on-kevin-durant-showcased-their-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rough shooting night from Kevin Durant</a>.
But in both watching the game in real time and going through the film, I'm not sure I could come away more impressed with a player than I did with Al Horford's play. All around, this may be the best game the 35-year-old has played since the last year of his first stint with Boston.
Horford has played fairly well all year, still stalwart as a starter in the league. A friend who's a scout jokingly texted me at halftime, "Horford with rest is an All-NBA player," and in Game 1, he looked the part! The activity and attentiveness he played with was absolutely tremendous.
Horford set the tone early with consistent activity and timeliness on switches off-rip.
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Horford cheats in off of Bruce Brown (a common theme), and ultimately calls for the switch as Jaylen Brown was taken out of the picture by Andre Drummond's screen. Daniel Theis shades as well, and allows Big Al the half-step he needs to recover. Then, watch the aggressive switch onto Seth Curry.&nbsp;
I cannot illustrate enough how awesome that play is from Irving (one of the best off-ball movers and spacers in the league), as he runs into a dribble-handoff with Curry after being walled off. Against the majority of teams and defenses, that's an open shot as the switched big gets lost or contemplates the open lane the defender might give up. Horford completely blows up the impromptu play.
The play ultimately results in a dump off for Drummond, preceded by an early overhelp from Theis that you can see the duo communicate about after the possession ends. Yet, the point remains, Horford was fantastic here. Defense is often times reduced down to stops, and I think we can lose some really incredible plays and process in that shedding. It is HARD to be elite on defense, but this is an exemplary play from a big that shouldn't be judged strictly on whether or not a bucket happened.
The tightness of the help and switch erases the space for a pull-up jumper. Riding out the drive with his hips and hands up-and-out takes away the attempt around the rim. The second switch removes any chance of an open shot off the outlet. Again, it's not a stop, but that's three fantastic plays forcing an elongated possession, symbolic of Horford's night as a whole on that end.
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Durant and Irving of course made shots as they are apt to do, but man, just look at how difficult it still is.
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Horford's help was masterful, as he imposed himself all over the court. He toed the line between completely cheating off his assignment to stalk the lane, while also being aware of his man and recovering when necessary. His ability to take up space in potential driving lanes without getting beat backdoor or with a skip pass was also huge for containing the Nets to a more difficult shot profile. Boston's defense as whole ebbed and flowed throughout the game, which is understandable given the level of offense the Nets bring to the table.
Horford was a constant positive throughout.
As the Nets shifted to lineups with Nic Claxton at the 5, Horford made his presence felt on the glass (finished with 14 total rebounds) and in the paint. Switching with Claxton was more viable defensively than with Drummond at the 5 for the Nets, but shifting Horford more to the interior rather than fully slot in the corner allowed Boston to counter, using its size in the paint. The difference in size between the two teams as the game wore on was staggering, and it played out, as the Celtics outrebounded the Nets by 14 (with the game-high from Horford being the literal difference).
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This first quick seal in early offense sucked in the defense, and then the flip to do his signature "Horford seal" on Irving opened the direct driving lane on the dunk by Brown.
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As the Nets tried to deny the ball to Tatum and Brown, Horford's post-entry passing and DHOs were key to opening up ball-handlers down the stretch and lubricating the offense.&nbsp;
How Horford is respected (or not) as a jump shooter will be an intriguing storyline webbed within the X's and O's of the series. He struggled from deep on the season, but went 2 of 2 in Game 1, including a doozy of a make off a screen.
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It felt pretty clear in-game that the Nets were willing to live with any open Horford shots, as they comfortably sagged off of him when he was off the ball the majority of the game. Boston's awareness of that fact, and willingness to shift because of it, was all the more impressive.
While it would be unreasonable to expect Al Horford to play to the lofty heights he did for the remainder of the series, his brilliant play was a significant reason for a Celtics victory in the opener, and lends credence to a potentially dynamic postseason run.
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The Celtics took Game 1 of their first-round series with the Nets, and it was spurred by the stellar play of Al Horford.

Active and attentive: How Al Horford set the Celtics' tone in Game 1

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic knows the Mavericks haven't had home-court advantage in the playoffs since the young superstar came to Dallas.
Coach Jason Kidd might remember the last time the club did, since he was the point guard on the team that won the 2011 championship.
The Mavericks took an important step toward the elusive top half of the Western Conference playoff picture Sunday night.
Doncic scored 32 points and the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 114-100 for the inside track to the fourth seed in what could be a first-round playoff matchup.
The Mavericks (46-29) moved a game ahead of the Jazz (45-30) in the battle for the fourth and fifth seeds in the West and earned a split of the season series, with the home team winning all four games.
Dallas would have to finish a game ahead of Utah if the Jazz keep their Northwest Division lead over Denver. The Mavericks and Jazz have seven games remaining.
&ldquo;That's what we wanted, but it's a long way to go,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;We've still got to keep our composure, focus on the next opponent and try to win every game.&rdquo;
Rudy Gay scored 18 points for the Jazz, who lost their fourth in a row on a season-long, six-game trip that ends Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
Defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert was a late scratch for Utah because of the 7-foot-1 center's right leg contusion as another 7-footer, Hassan Whiteside, sat for the second consecutive game with a right foot sprain.
Bojan Bogdanovic was out for the ninth time in 10 games as he battles a right calf strain, and Utah had a scare in the third quarter when Donovan Mitchell left the game briefly after Dwight Powell landed on his lower right leg.
Mitchell stayed down in front of Utah's bench as play continued at the other end and limped to the bench when he finally got up. But Mitchell missed less than a minute and a half, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
&ldquo;Most of their team wasn&rsquo;t playing, so you can&rsquo;t judge,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;We had a Christmas game out there without half our team. You only will be judged once the playoffs start. This wasn&rsquo;t a playoff game. No one&rsquo;s up 1-0.&rdquo;
Doncic beat the halftime buzzer with a longer 3-pointer to get the Mavericks within a point and set up a second-half surge as Dallas won for the 18th time in 22 home games.
Reggie Bullock connected on a season-high seven 3-pointers, finishing with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting beyond the arc. He had consecutive 3s in the middle of the fourth quarter to give Dallas its biggest lead to that point at 17.
&ldquo;I thought Bullock's 3s were really big 3s,&rdquo; Utah coach Quin Snyder said. &ldquo;You can't take all of them away. There's a few that were really impactful.&rdquo;
Jalen Brunson had 22 points while matching Doncic with 10 rebounds and five assists. They were the first starting Dallas guards to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the same game in franchise history.
Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson scored 14 points apiece for Utah.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Snyder said Whiteside has been playing through soreness and mentioned feeling it in a loss at Brooklyn last Monday. Whiteside played the next game in Boston. &ldquo;It's a hard thing to predict, how long or how quickly,&rdquo; Snyder said of the outlook for Whiteside.
Mavericks: F Davis Bertans scored six points after missing three games with right knee soreness. ... G Sterling Brown was out again after entering COVID-19 protocols during the trip to Minnesota, where Dallas lost Friday.
NCAA CONNECTIONS
On the same weekend Villanova reached the Final Four, Brunson shared the floor with Utah's Eric Paschall, his teammate when the Wildcats won their second title in three years in 2018. Paschall made his third start of the season with Gobert out and scored 10 points. Jazz rookie Jared Butler, who scored seven points, was the point guard on Baylor's championship team last year.
UP NEXT
Jazz: After finishing the road trip at the Clippers on Tuesday, Utah returns home against the Lakers on Thursday. The Jazz are 2-0 against the Clippers and 0-2 against the Lakers.
Mavericks: The Lakers visit Tuesday before Dallas starts its final road trip of the regular season (four games) at Cleveland on Wednesday, the second night of a back-to-back.
&nbsp;

Luka Doncic scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 114-100.

Doncic, Mavs top Jazz 114-100 for inside track to home court

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns gave big men everywhere something to shoot for.
Minnesota's 7-footer became the first center to win the 3-Point Shooting Contest, defeating seven guards during the NBA's All-Star Saturday and providing a memorable moment on a night the dunk contest barely got off the ground.
Towns, who has spent his entire career proving doubters wrong about his range, posted a 29 &mdash; the highest total in the competition &mdash; during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers, who tied for second with 26 each.
New York's Obi Toppin won the four-person dunk contest, scoring a 47 out of 50 in the final round by putting the ball between his legs in the air, touching it off the backboard and re-directing it through the rim.
Golden State's Juan Toscano-Anderson was second as the dunk contest, once a marquee event that at times trumped the All-Star Game, fell flat.
A trio of Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, won the Skills Challenge.
After his surprising 3-point win, Towns accepted his trophy at mid-court and immediately turned toward Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal sitting courtside in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
&ldquo;I told you Shaq,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Vegas got the odds wrong.&rdquo;
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Towns was considered, well, a long shot among a field of shot makers that included Young, Kennard, New Orleans' CJ McCollum, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Patty Mills, Toronto&rsquo;s Fred VanVleet, Chicago&rsquo;s Zach LaVine and Memphis&rsquo; Desmond Bane.
&ldquo;I wanted to prove I was the best shooting big man in the world, and now I got the trophy to prove it,&rdquo; Towns said.
There have been other big men crowned 3-point champions, but Kevin Love (2012) and Dirk Nowitzki (2006) are considered power forwards.
&ldquo;I think this is a nice little thing to put on that r&eacute;sum&eacute;,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Big man hasn&rsquo;t won in 10 years, and, of course, 10 years ago, a decade ago, who won it? The Wolves. It&rsquo;s coming back home where it belongs.&rdquo;
The dunk contest started with some promise and fizzled fast.
Orlando's Cole Anthony caused a stir when he swapped his sneakers for a pair of Timberland boots and then dunked in them with an assist from his father, former NBA guard Greg Anthony.
Toppin said all the participants are great dunkers who wanted to put on a show, and they all were encouraging each other.
&ldquo;When Cole missed those two first ones with the Timbs on, I was like no those Timbs are heavy," Toppin said. &ldquo;I was like, we got to boost his energy up. I was trying to get everybody on their feet.&rdquo;
It worked, momentarily.
But Anthony couldn't complete his second dunk in three tries and he was eliminated along with Houston's Jalen Green, who also struggled while trying to impress a panel of Hall of Fame judges &mdash; Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins.
The hometown Cavs added another moment to their impressive season by winning the re-formatted Skills Challenge, which pitted teams and not individual players.
Garland, Mobley and Allen teamed up to outperform Team Antetokounmpo &mdash; MVP Giannis and his brothers Thanasis and Alex &mdash; and a rookie trio of Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Toronto's Scottie Barnes and Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey.
Mobley, a leading candidate for rookie of the year honors, sealed the win by making a half-court shot on his first attempt, allowing the Cavs to close the segment of the contest in 5.5 seconds and defeat Team Rooks.
The Cavs started the shooting competition off target as Allen, hardly known for his outside touch, made just two shots in 30 seconds. However, Garland brought Cleveland back &mdash; and brought their crowd to life &mdash; scoring 21 points.
However, the Cavs came out of the relay portion tied with Team Antetokounmpo for second place and needed Garland to win a shoot-off with Thanasis to place Cleveland in the final.
After Cunningham drained his 47-footer in 9.9 seconds, Mobley calmly stepped into his winning shot.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of a kind,&rdquo; Allen said of his 20-year-old teammate. &ldquo;Defense, offense and now half court. The whole league knows Evan by now. If they&rsquo;ve ever driven to the paint, they definitely know him, so the NBA should know him by now.&rdquo;

Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 29 during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Clippers.

Center of attention: Towns wins All-Star 3-Point Contest

I have a particular affinity for whiteboards. My thoughts are pretty unorganized and the most random thoughts about Jalen Duren's potential as a short-roller or Chimezie Metu's face-up game will come to me at any odd hour of the day. Expo markers and whiteboards all around me are an absolute must and godsend. I have three in my room, one dedicated strictly to future story ideas and league wide trends I'm curious about. One constant on that board since mid-November; Why are the Oklahoma City Thunder good at defense?
The defense has been above league average for the majority of the season, they have length and athleticism, and a few defenders who routinely stand out in watching. Yet, I couldn't really point my finger as to&nbsp;why.
Due to the public plea from Alex Speers (listen to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/down-to-dunk-okc-thunder-podcast/id599740073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Down to Dunk</a>), I finally made it a mission to really get into the thick of it and get a better view of what makes the Thunder such an effective defensive team.
Per Cleaning the Glass, OKC is 12th in defensive efficiency on the season: Not bad, above average, but nothing crazy. Ultimately, better than I'd expect (They finished in 26th last season, but were above average prior to Al Horford sitting the remainder of the season).
Fine tune it a bit more; they're 10th in defense in 2022. Ok, we've got something here.
Flip through a few more lenses, choose between one and two, and cycle to the halfcourt: The Thunder have allowed 90.7 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt since the turn of the year, the third best mark in the league. That's not just good, that's bordering on elite. For perspective, the Utah Jazz were first in halfcourt defensive efficiency last season and allowed 91.3 pp/100.&nbsp;
Ok man, what is going on here?! Where has this come from?
Oddly enough, the Thunder told us themselves early in the season in a 56 second video (Sidenote: How does this video only have ~300 views? It has great production value, a sick beat and what more could you want frankly?)
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As Darius Bazley tells us "If a guy's going for a layup or a dunk, that's a moment of truth, whether you're gonna take the charge or you're gonna go up to attempt to block it or verticality."
This is the first piece of the puzzle. The Thunder contest everything at the rim. While not necessarily an indicator of defense one way or another, the Thunder lead the NBA in contests per game according to Second Spectrum (partially because of something we'll hit on in a bit).
They don't generate steals or blocks at an above average rate, they lack a true defensive anchor at the five spot, and yet, they make it work. However, that's part of the charm in OKC's defense.&nbsp;
Legendary (and somehow underrated) rap duo, Gang Starr, had an incredible album called Moment of Truth, including a track of the same name. First of all, this is one of the few 20 track double-sided albums that's worth it. Secondly, I'd like to think Mark Daigneault is just a massive fan of Gang Starr and built this mantra with Guru's lyrics in mind, and Premo's beat as the foundation.
"Peep the language. It's universal, you play with fire it may hurt you."
The Oklahoma City Thunder simply do NOT play with fire. Everything about their defense is solid. Their whole identity is crafted around managing firepower. Gum up what the offense wants and force them into really difficult looks without gambling.
They allow the 2nd fewest attempts at the rim in 2022 (4th on the season), while holding opponents to 62.6% shooting at the rim over the same span (5th). They squeeze offenses to only 27.1% of all shots coming within four feet of the basket.&nbsp;
OKC's mission every possession is to shrink the floor, slow drives, take away the open lanes, and chew the clock.
This is the defense before the first action.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/start-of-set_lg.png" alt="" />
This is the defense after the first action hits.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/after-screen_lg.png" alt="" />
All five Thunder defenders shrink the floor; Aaron Wiggins cheats off Nikola Vucevic in help for Lu Dort if LaVine chooses to drive. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander high tags off of Ayo Dosunmu to speed bumpo a Vucevic roll (below average above the break shooter), and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl pre-rotates as the low-man, another added line of defense.
They almost operate like a slinky, capable of consistently compressing and stretching to adapt to the action presented to them.
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Preventing quick rolls and neutralizing pick-and-rolls before they can fully develop puts out those fires before they can spread. The Thunder are willing to just stay solid and concede a contested pull-up two (2nd most allowed in 2022 per Cleaning the Glass), where they get torched in all fairness as opponents shoot an undgodly 53.3%, but part of that is shot luck/variance, and that's still a more difficult shot than anything at the rim.
"Nobody's invincible, no plan is foolproof."
You'd think a team that routinely plays without a true defensive five would switch a great deal, but that's not the Thunder's motive!&nbsp;
They can and do switch fairly often, but they're adept at late-switching with backend rotations in tandem to stem the tide. The communication and team trust is apparent.
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Dort gets stonewalled by an immaculate Bruce Brown screen. Wiggins is normally going to show high and recover to Brown on his slowed roll as JRE high tags with SGA pre-rotating backline.
However, Wiggins switches with Dort out of the picture, Dort recovers to take Day'Ron Sharpe under the rim as SGA closes back out to Kessler Edwards. A fantastic defensive possession all-around.
Opposing teams will mix-in different screening angles to try and force switches, and the Thunder again are adept at switching actively, but also under control.&nbsp;
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They time their switches well, they don't bite too hard, and they know their length, making it hard for opposition to take any sort of advantage out of the ballscreen.
So yes, no plan is foolproof, but the Thunder almost revel in that. Dort is an exceptional man to man defender, but their money is made working as one, holding a sort of defensive battle line in what they are and aren't willing to concede, and utilizing their strengths (length and communication) to ward off drives.&nbsp;
They rarely close-out hard to the perimeter, choosing instead to instill choppin feet out to shooters. There's no right or wrong way to close-out in my opinion, but the Thunder choose this seemingly to further embody their ethos of staying solid without allowing drives to the heart of the court. Some shooting luck has benefitted them from above the break misses (2nd in non-corner 3-point percentage allowed in 2022), but the plan is executed well.
"Actions have reactions, don't be quick to judge."
One of the other aspects I love about the Thunder defense is their willingness to differentiate looks based on personnel.&nbsp;
They'll often play back-up five Mike Muscala in a short drop, but call quick blitzes based on the shot clock and ball-handler.&nbsp;
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They're selective with pressure, but when they do it, they're 100% committed.
If an offense starts to throw in Spain actions (pick and roll with a backscreen and replacement to the arc) or similar differentiations to throw off the regular defense, that's fine! The Thunder call out their screens incredibly well. They normally stick Dort on star players and fight to not give up the match-up, but they won't do it at the expense of jeopardizing a deep drive
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It seems simple, but that's part of the point. OKC makes the small things a point of emphasis. Consistent communication and five players all engaged, they can combat more complex actions that could throw off a less together group.
"Sometimes you gotta dig deep when problems come near. Don't fear, things get severe for everybody everywhere."
The Thunder are long, they're athletic, and man they seem irritating to play against. Again, they don't go out of their way to turn the ball over, but their length and ability to bother anything on the interior is hard to deny.
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SGA has some draw-backs and shortcomings as an on-ball defender, but he has really sharp hands in passing lanes and many unsuspecting ball-handlers have had their pocket picked or shot tipped by him.
The Thunder in general lack true lockdown ball-stoppers outside of Dort and Kenrich Williams.
Navigating screens isn't the strength of the Thunder, but they're tremendous at defending screens. It sounds like a paradoxical equation, but it comes back to communication.
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Dort is caught getting back still and the Hornets flow into some early offense. But, here comes JRE, calling out the play at first for Dort, but also operating as a middle linebacker, filling the gap and blowing it up before damage can be caused. Dort reconnects, and it's all settled down. It seems minute in the moment, but I can't speak highly enough of what JRE has done for Oklahoma City's defense.
His positioning and court-mapping as a defender are impressive. He knows how to get the most out of his length (or lack thereof) and size. He directs the defense with guile. If I'd never watched him or the Thunder, you could easily convince me he was already a 2nd or 3rd contract player.
That is such an easy bucket for the Hornets if the communication isn't there.
The Thunder actively have all players involved playing both sides of the screen. So often, defenders are strictly doing their sole purpose, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but the Thunder FIGHT those screens like a ship fighting an ocean storm. Some defenses will let screens happen and react, OKC attacks them.
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Dort and JRE are absolutely swarming that screen on the first possession, almost like an Oklahoma drill in football with two players actively defending Harden. They actively prevent the chance to roll from Griffin by interchangeably attacking the screen, while also negating Harden a chance to drive.
Consequently, they can be susceptible to screen slips, particularly from bouncy screeners. Playing this aggressively on screening action leaves you open to trickery.
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It is tough to stop a slipping Miles Bridges in open space without a top-notch rim protector.
"You got no hand skills, there's no security to save ya."
No defense is perfect, and OKC is no exception, with two vices that are extremely hard to understate.
Part of the difficulty in routinely not playing a traditional five: their rebounding is atrocious. It's not always for lack of trying, but they're not great at boxing out, often are just outmatched on the interior, and they give up a decent amount of long rebounds because of how willing they are to shrink the floor.
They're 18th in defensive rebounding percentage on the season, but a paltry 28th in 2022, and it is painstakingly obvious when watching. They sometimes make 3 or 4 stops in a row, but more possessions means more opportunities for the offense.&nbsp;
To say that the Thunder have a "bad" offense would be unkind to the other teams that are below average. They're 30th on the season in offensive efficiency, scoring 14.4 points per 100 possessions less than the league leading Utah Jazz. You've likely seen the Lakers play a few times this year and how rough their offense can be. They score 6.8 points per 100 possessions more than OKC, <a href="https://youtu.be/MpUWrl3-mc8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">yeah it's that rough!</a>&nbsp;
They turn the ball over a great deal, miss a lot (30th in rim shooting percentage), and thus give up a ton of transition opportunities.
That makes the growing defense all the more impressive.
This team isn't good, but they're growing. There have been real flashes of potential. The roster is bought in and committed to the scheme, and while it doesn't gloss over the offensive shortcomings, it's something to hang their hat on.
There's a defensive backbone that could form the foundation of the next great era of Thunder basketball, not unlike the early Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka squads that sported numerous top 10 defenses.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are on track for another top five pick during a clear tanking year, but don't be fooled by the record, a real identity is growing in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are top-10 in defense since the start of 2022. What makes the Thunder defense so effective?

The Oklahoma City Thunder's emerging defensive identity

The New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings both pulled off major blockbuster deals in which they acquired two inarguably franchise-changing pieces. CJ McCollum enters the Bayou as a strong scoring complement to Brandon Ingram, and a hopefully-soon-to-be healthy Zion Williamson. Two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis helps form an intriguing one-two punch with De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. However, Sacramento moved out arguably its best player this season in Tyrese Haliburton to make the tandem happen.
When the NBA implemented the play-in tournament, some were skeptical of how this would make a real impact. Well, based off Tuesday's moves alone, the play-in is proving to be a game changer for playoff-hungry organizations.
Both New Orleans and Sacramento aren&rsquo;t even in the discussion for a top-eight seed in the reloaded Western Conference. Where it gets interesting is that a team only needs to finish with at least the No. 10 seed to technically make the &ldquo;playoffs&rdquo; for a winner-take-all bout. The Pelicans and Kings are right in the thick of the play-in-palooza.
The race for No. 10 in the West is officially on. Three and-a-half games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans is staking its claim with a measly 22-32 record. Only three games behind the Pelicans, Sacramento checks in at 20-36.
Sandwiched between New Orleans and Sacramento, the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs have another 24 hours to decide if they&rsquo;re in or out as well for this faux playoff sprint. (Portland trading away multiple pieces strongly suggests a team that's leaning toward losing in the short-term, although <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/blazers-pistons-continue-to-discuss-possible-jerami-grant-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they have been linked to Jerami Grant</a> so we'll see.)
During this trade-deadline period, the Pelicans and Kings decided to push the chips in. Is this the new normal within the NBA, where double-digit teams in each conference believe a 10-seed is the new barrier to break?
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Pressure at the top was the main theme for Tuesday&rsquo;s terrific transactional day.
There&rsquo;s no doubt about the pressure being applied on Pelicans EVP David Griffin to steer the ship in a winning direction for New Orleans. Zion Williamson&rsquo;s future is murkier than expected due to injuries &mdash; that's another element to take into consideration.
Sacramento is experiencing a historically-long postseason drought. Any potential drop of water to chase in the desert that is the team's small playoff probability, you better believe Sacramento is going after it. That&rsquo;s exactly why Sabonis is now a foundational building block with Fox in Sacramento. The timeline for the Kings to reach the postseason is now, which might explain why Haliburton was shockingly sent to Indiana. Kings management is hoping, for their own job security, that Fox and Sabonis instantly bring magical chemistry to ignite an above-.500 stretch of winning basketball.
Both trades seem to show opposite sides of the coin for how short-term gain could have long-term ramifications. I&rsquo;m <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/why-the-pelicans-pushing-chips-in-on-cj-mccollum-was-a-wise-investment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high on McCollum&rsquo;s fit in New Orleans</a>, as he provides a much-needed veteran presence who can provide multiple assets to assist the team's inconsistent offensive attack. Brandon Ingram and Williamson will finally have someone who can bring aboard winning habits. Also, Larry Nance Jr. is an underrated piece in the trade for the Pelicans, providing an athletic big who&rsquo;s versatile enough to make an impact on both ends.
In Sacramento, Sabonis and Fox might bring a fake playoff berth and potentially even a real seed within the next three seasons, as well as bring dynamic offensive firepower. But was it worth it in the end? Again, for a playoff-starved organization like Sacramento, maybe a drastically-judged jaw-dropping deal could be what they see as the key to the team's most realistic immediate jump. Haliburton has All-Star upside, which he&rsquo;s shown throughout his first two seasons. On the other side of the deal, now the Pacers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pacers-exit-blockbuster-trade-with-kings-as-huge-winners-thanks-to-tyrese-haliburton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have one of the Association&rsquo;s best assets and overall young players</a> aboard.
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This year&rsquo;s playoff picture in the West classifies itself into an interesting tier system:
Strong Title Contenders: Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors
Deep Postseason Potential: Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets
Play-In Tournament: Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings
Undecided: San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers
Tanking: Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets
Expect to see some more shuffling across the NBA&rsquo;s leaderboard over the next 24 hours, just before the trade deadline. Whether it be true Finals threats or teams fighting for the lowest possible playoff probabilities, two seemingly desperate teams bring to light a potentially new normal for league-wide parity.
The Pelicans and Kings could easily be real winners from these deals now &mdash; and for that matter, multiple years down the line. McCollum and Sabonis turn weaknesses into plausible strengths for their respective new teams.
Play-In-Palooza 2022 is going to be electric. New Orleans and Sacramento booked their first-class tickets, but will any other overzealous teams dare join them?
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With the Pelicans and Kings chasing a Play-In tournament spot with aggressive trades, will this become a new normal in the NBA?

McCollum, Sabonis gambles are a result of NBA's new play-in era

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony, Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin and Golden State Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson will take flight in the 2022 AT&amp;T Slam Dunk on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.&nbsp; A first-time champion will be crowned as Anthony, Green and Toscano-Anderson are set to make their event debuts, and Toppin returns for his second appearance after finishing as the runner-up last year.&nbsp;
AT&amp;T Slam Dunk is part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, which also features the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest.&nbsp; All-Star Saturday Night will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the United States at 8 p.m. ET.&nbsp; Throughout the broadcast, TNT will feature a special AT&amp;T 5G Legends Cam, powered by AT&amp;T 5G, to spotlight some of the biggest NBA stars throughout history.&nbsp;
Additionally,&nbsp;<a href="https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/us/media-release/warnermedia-kids-family-teams-nba-and-turner-sports-cartoon-network-special-edition" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/us/media-release/warnermedia-kids-family-teams-nba-and-turner-sports-cartoon-network-special-edition&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1644457979485000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3jF1Khfb_atbhiSDPsFsRy">Cartoon Network will air</a>&nbsp;a special superpowered&nbsp;Teen Titans Go!&nbsp;edition of the AT&amp;T Slam Dunk on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. ET.&nbsp; The half-hour special will feature colorful commentary from the Teen Titans and surprise appearances by additional cartoon stars from Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios.
Anthony, who was also selected to play in the Clorox Rising Stars during NBA All-Star 2022, is averaging 17.7 points, 6.0 assists and 5.9 rebounds in his second NBA season.&nbsp; The 6-3 guard leads the Magic in scoring and assists.&nbsp; Anthony, the son of former NBA player and current Turner Sports analyst Greg Anthony, was selected by Orlando with the 15th&nbsp;overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Green, a Rising Stars selection, ranks fifth among NBA rookies in scoring at 14.4 points per game.&nbsp; The 6-4 guard was selected by Houston with the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft after playing with NBA G League Ignite for the 2020-21 season.&nbsp; Ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 high school basketball recruit in the Class of 2020, Green was the first player to join Ignite.&nbsp;
Toppin, a 6-9 forward, competed in AT&amp;T Slam Dunk as a rookie last season.&nbsp; He is averaging 7.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 15.5 minutes in his second NBA season.&nbsp; After being named the 2019-20 consensus National Player of the Year at the University of Dayton in Ohio, Toppin was selected by the Knicks with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Toscano-Anderson is in his third NBA season, all with the Warriors.&nbsp; The 6-6 forward has two years of experience in the NBA G League, where he first earned a spot with the Santa Cruz Warriors as a tryout player in October 2018.&nbsp; He has also played professionally in Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela.&nbsp; Toscano-Anderson, who played four years at Marquette University from 2011-15, is set to become the fourth player not selected in the NBA Draft to compete in the AT&amp;T Slam Dunk since 2000, joining Chris Andersen, Derrick Jones Jr. and Jamario Moon.
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AT&amp;T Slam Dunk&nbsp;is a two-round competition.&nbsp; Five judges will score every dunk on a scale of 6 to 10, resulting in a high score of 50 and a low score of 30.&nbsp; The judges will be announced at a later date.&nbsp;
All four competitors will get two dunks in the first round.&nbsp; The two players with the highest combined score for their two dunks will advance to the final round.&nbsp; The two finalists will then get two dunks in the final round.&nbsp; The dunker with the highest combined score for his two dunks in the final round will be crowned the 2022 AT&amp;T Slam Dunk champion.&nbsp;&nbsp;
For each scored dunk in both rounds, each player will be limited to three attempts to complete his dunk.&nbsp; An attempt is defined as the player controlling the basketball and moving it toward the rim.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2022/02/2022-ATT-Slam-Dunk-Rules.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pr.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2022/02/2022-ATT-Slam-Dunk-Rules.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1644457979485000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3OJglG_WpuuVEfUN7q2eS5">Click here</a>&nbsp;for a complete explanation of the event rules.

Cole Anthony, Jalen Green, Obi Toppin and Juan Toscano-Anderson will compete in this year's Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend.

NBA officially announces Slam Dunk Contest participants

40 games into the 2021-22 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls stand alone atop the Eastern Conference standings with the third best win percentage in the league. Their 27-13 start is an impressive flip from their 18-22 record at the same point last year, in an arguably more competitive conference than in years prior. The Bulls notably haven't made the playoffs since Fred Hoiberg's second season as head coach with one of the uhhh ... most interesting roster build experiments in recent memory.
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This was only 5 years ago <a href="https://t.co/LEKVnSUeV6">pic.twitter.com/LEKVnSUeV6</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1482387876931325958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Bulls have legitimately carved their path this season &mdash; they're 15-10 against the current top-10 seeds in each conference. They beat up on the bad teams, and have also shown their worth against playoff teams. However, they are only 3-5 against the top teams in the league and only have one top-8 win outside of their two wins against Brooklyn. That is of course not everything, and the Bulls have been impacted by injuries and COVID absences, but the majority of the teams in the NBA can make a similar claim.&nbsp;
Chicago is a very good basketball team, much better than most expected coming into the season (maybe even better than the front office expected), but they have some notable flaws when looking at the highest levels of team play in the NBA. While I of course disagree with writing them off as a playoff team, I'm not sure how to view them as a true contender. Being this good is GREAT, but it brings up difficult questions for an organization.
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The defense that inspired early in the year has fallen off, dropping significantly each month, down to 26th in defensive efficiency since Christmas, per Cleaning the Glass. Alex Caruso has missed a great deal of time and his impact has been heavily missed, but the overall activity and attention to detail just hasn't quite been there in the same way.
Patrick Williams entered the year with a great deal of expectations for his sophomore campaign &mdash; with Chicago looking for a guy who would hopefully paper over some of the concerns over lack of a bigger wing defender and function as a vital cog in the offensive flow. Unfortunately, he only managed five games before being lost for the season due to a severe wrist injury. The Bulls have struggled to find a consistent fifth option release valve who can capably space, defend, and be a neutral or better decision-maker all in conjunction.
DeMar DeRozan has played at a level that will place him on MVP ballots. Zach LaVine's own All-NBA play has been overshadowed to a degree by his teammate. It is so hard for an organization to look at this year &mdash; with two players performing this well &mdash; and deciding to just ride it out, in spite of the ability to make moves to better equip themselves for a postseason run. While I wouldn't expect a steep decline from DeMar next season, it's of course a reality that seasons like this are not often replicable, especially considering his age. Contention windows are smaller than typically believed or theorized, and man they are fickle.
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Threading the needle
Speaking of possible moves to make &mdash; they exist because of intrigue caused by the youth on the Bulls' roster. Wendell Carter Jr. has excelled in Orlando this year (and was unfairly judged in Chicago), but moving on from him was a necessary part of Chicago's forward progression. While Nikola Vucevic has struggled this season (he's been better from the field recently, but his three-point range hasn't been there), he's still been essential to the Bulls when they're at their absolute best. It's also important to note that moves don't just happen in a vacuum. If the Vucevic trade isn't made and the Bulls don't show their full commitment to a playoff push and winning with Zach LaVine last season, it's reasonable to assume that that would negatively impact the likelihood of any of the signings that took place the following off-season.&nbsp;
Would it be nice to have Wendell, those first-rounders, and still have this same team? Hell-freakin'-yes, but that's not how it works!
When I talk to scouts, coaches, or fans, often the idea of 'threading the needle' and winning with a team while still maximizing youth development is brought up. That is just so difficult to actually do. Patrick Williams could develop into a very good basketball player &mdash; in fact I would bet on it &mdash; but I do question how capable he is of reaching his best possible outcome in Chicago. He's been cast into a smaller and different role while simultaneously being given small margins for error. That's without even taking into account his unfortunate injury.
Coby White's stellar player (<a href="https://ontapsportsnet.com/2022/01/12/chicago-bulls-coby-white-hit-stride-stats-highlights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read this article</a> by Larry Golden if you haven't, it's fantastic), has thrown another variable into the equation. Since returning from health and safety protocols on Dec. 19, through 13 games, Coby is averaging 16.0 points per game with incredible efficiency (66% True Shooting percentage), bombing from deep (43.2%) and is overall more comfortable and adapted to an off-ball role as a secondary scorer off the bench. His defense, while still relatively poor, is much improved from last season. He's playing fantastic basketball and has been a significant positive for the Bulls over the past month.
He's also greatly increased his trade value.
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I don't have an answer as to what the Bulls should do. In some ways, I'm not sure that there is a right or wrong answer. Staying the course, maintaining stability, and not selling out for a potential title shot may be the right move for a team that's struggled to find its footing since Derrick Rose's injury. Maybe exchanging youth for established talent to round out the roster, bolster depth, and shore up perceived weaknesses is what sets up a deep playoff run and plants the seeds for the next great crop of Bulls basketball &mdash; perhaps luring in veteran free agents or opening the door to the next star who wants out of a poor environment this off-season.&nbsp;
I could write all about how I think trading for Harrison Barnes would add a valuable elite shooter and four who can draw defenses in the slot (something the Bulls strongly lack). Or about Jerami Grant's potential to make an impact defensively with his length and tenacity at the point of attack, or roaming weak-side in the Bulls scheme while doing enough offensively to be guarded. I HAVE written about how I think Arturas Karnisovas should look to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/rotation-players-making-the-most-of-roster-incosistency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pry Jalen McDaniels away from Charlotte</a> to add another rotational forward with upside, all while not giving up as much as one of the veteran deadline darlings may require.
Ultimately, the Bulls may well end up surprising us again in the playoffs without any change, even if I doubt the chances of that. There is no simple solution, nor is there a defined formula, and that's what makes the Bulls so fascinating from a team-building standpoint. How the Bulls decide to capitalize is one of the more interesting storylines to follow, as we head toward the Feb. 10 trade deadline. Getting good fast makes things uncertain, but that's positive pressure that many organizations can only hope for.

The Chicago Bulls have impressed with their play this season and face difficult questions on how to handle their immediate future.

Can the Bulls go all-in for a title? Should they?

NBA championships are often determined by the superstars participating in the series. Those superstars are also judged by the number of championship rings they possess at the end of their illustrious careers. However, in most series, there are unsung heroes who play a massive part in their team reaching the pinnacle.
These X-factors do the necessary things not only for their teams to win, but also for their stars to shine the brightest.&nbsp;Think about Andre Iguodala in 2015, Marc Gasol in 2019 or Danny Green in just about any year.&nbsp;
Iguodala is obviously an extreme case by winning Finals MVP, but his work on the defensive end made what Steph Curry and Klay Thompson did easier. The Toronto Raptors traded Jonas Valanciunas for a fossilized version of Gasol, but the veteran big's defensive prowess and playmaking added up just enough to lead The North to a title. Green just did his thing, shooting from deep and defending top-tier wings.
The NBA is loaded with more talent than ever, which leads to more contending teams than ever. There are the favorites like the Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, and some fringe favorites such as the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Utah Jazz. Outsiders like the Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks are making noise too.
With a number of teams in true contention, and others that could be a few trades or buyouts away from contention, the team who has the biggest X-factor will prevail. Let's take a look at who's been the most impactful this season so far.
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Honorable Mention: Ben Simmons (from a team perspective) 
This is more like a multiverse scenario, or one of those "choose your own path" books you read as a kid. Ben Simmons is an X-factor who could determine this season's NBA champion for a few different reasons.&nbsp;
Scenario 1:
Nothing happens. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that Sixers president Daryl Morey has stayed adamant on standing pat, even after a meeting with Simmons' agent Rich Paul. So say Morey keeps his strong stance of only taking back one of the 25 players on his <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/sixers/sixers-daryl-morey-holding-firm-ben-simmons-says-buckle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-secret wish list</a>. The Sixers have managed to still do well &mdash; currently fifth in the East &mdash; but with 21% of their payroll not even coming around the team, they will be hard-pressed to be actual contenders this season.
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Lunch meeting in Philadelphia with Paul and Sixers' management to talk through the ongoing Simmons situation, sources said. Sixers continue to want Simmons to return to the floor, but there's no movement on that front --- nor traction on a trade now. Trade deadline is Feb. 10.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1481378946608291840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Simmons staying put and not playing would all but eliminate the Sixers from championship contention.
Scenario 2:
Ben Simmons shows up eventually and plays for Philly. Would this be a mentally and physically prepared Ben Simmons, or an "I'm just here so I don't get fined" Ben Simmons? The former would put this team back into the conversation as a real threat in the Eastern Conference, while the latter would sabotage the season even worse than sitting out has. This feels like the least likely of all scenarios to happen.
Scenario 3:
Morey finds a deal of his liking, whether that brings back what he has been holding out for all along or he settles for "good enough." Even finding a couple of competent starters in return for a player who hasn't played at all would be an increase in title odds for Philadelphia.
On top of the Sixers gaining valuable players to add to their rotation for a playoff push, whoever adds Simmons also likely improves their odds at contending as well. Teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks would all immediately improve and have the ability to throw a wrench into the postseason picture.
The biggest wildcard in the NBA continues to be Ben Simmons and his elite defense and playmaking has the ability to reshape the playoff picture. Mix in some confidence if he were out of Phildelphia and he is one of the biggest X Factors in the league.
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Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets 
The third-year big out of the University of Georgia has burst onto the scene in Brooklyn for Steve Nash and the Nets. The Brooklyn roster hosts LaMarcus Aldridge, Day'Ron Sharpe, Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap as the team's "bigs" other than Claxton. With a high-powered offense led by future Hall-of-Famers Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant, the Nets need somone to on the back end to do the dirty work: rebound, set screens, block shots, etc.
Enter Claxton.
Some might argue that a larger role coming at this point in his career is one season too late, as Brooklyn opted to feed DeAndre Jordan minutes when Bruce Brown wasn't playing as the small-ball 5. Nonetheless, we are here, and more importantly for the Nets, Claxton is here.
Per 36 minutes, Nic leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots for players who have played at least 300 minutes on the season. Even more surprising, according to Basketball-Reference, he leads the team in Offensive Rating at 129, which is 10 points higher than Durant, the next in line. His Defensive Rating of 106 is also second behind Brown.&nbsp;
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It's his ability to drive and use his length to finish over and around the most elite shot-blockers like Myles Turner that makes him such a great fit in this offense. He's a perfect pick-and-roll partner for any of the stars handling the ball and an even better rim-runner in transition.&nbsp;
Gary Payton II, Golden State Warriors 
In the Warriors' Jan. 11 matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, Ja Morant got what and where he wanted when he wanted, early and often, to the tune of 15 first-quarter points. After a quick opening run by Golden State, Memphis responded by Ja, Ja and more Ja. He seemed unstoppable.
Unstoppable force, meet immovable object.
Payton II might be the only player in the NBA who can slow down Morant. Andrew Wiggins, an important defender for the Warriors himself, had little success hanging with Morant. If GP II can hang with the electric Morant, he will be able to frustrate the likes Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and more of the like over the course of a playoff series.&nbsp;
Payton single-handedly flipped the game from an 18-point deficit to a Golden State lead by cutting off the head of the snake. Picking up Morant for 94 feet and being extremely physical slowed down the All-Star guard to the point where he was asking the refs for a foul call. It forced the Grizzlies to insert Tyus Jones as a secondary ball-handler... meaning Payton's defense changed a game plan.
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The Warriors are, once again, an elite defensive team. The player with the best Defensive Rating on the team? Payton, allowing just 98 points per 100 possessions, is among the top defenders in the entire league by this metric. GP II is not a one-trick pony with his stellar point-of-attack defense; he is also shooting the three-ball at a 42% clip this season on just under 2 attempts per contest.&nbsp;
While Stephen Curry has certainly improved defensively throughout his career, Steve Kerr having the option to unleash Payton on the other team's best guard will prevent Curry and even Klay Thompson from expending that energy and picking up fouls.
Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns
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Mikal Bridges. <a href="https://t.co/0AApeLPjVt">pic.twitter.com/0AApeLPjVt</a>
&mdash; Dom2K🎄🎅🎁 (@Dom_2k) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dom_2k/status/1465017291175870464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Every team in the NBA would want Mikal Bridges if you gave them the chance. He is absolutely the perfect glue guy for any lineup. His length and defensive ability allow him to guard almost every team's best player in the league. He currently possesses a Defensive Rating of 107, which is ironically the second-highest on the Suns, but that is more about who he is guarding rather than his ability.
Bridges is also a highly efficient, low-usage-rate player. He does not need nor demand the ball offensively to be effective. He fits that Bruce Bowen or Shane Battier role quite well. 58% of his three-point attempts are from the corner, and he is converting those at a 40.7% rate &mdash; the ultimate 3-and-D player that teams across the league covet.
His basketball IQ and fit next to Paul and Devin Booker are crucial to the success of the Phoenix Suns. Just like Payton in Golden State, Bridges can guard Morant, Mitchell, LeBron James, Paul George and more at a high level, allowing Booker to use his legs primarily on the offensive side of the ball.&nbsp;
Mikal Bridges makes the Suns one of the toughest outs in the NBA. Not Devin Booker. Not Chris Paul. Not Deandre Ayton. Mikal Bridges.
It is what he does on both sides of the ball at a high level, night-in and night-out, that ultimately fuels the Suns.

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