Gators

Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center

A perfectly orchestrated out-of-bounds set is a thing of beauty.&nbsp;
Plays ran after timeouts, or ATOs as they're commonly referred to, are by far the most intricately designed sets in any NBA game.
We hear the phrase "read and react" quite frequently, but that's truly the best way to describe the typical flow of NBA offenses. Possessions in the half-court without any sort of stoppage regularly feature some sort of pick-and-roll or handoff action, maybe with 1-to-2 additional tinkerings depending on the team you're watching. But the point is: There is a great deal of freelancing going on out there. These guys are pros for a reason &mdash; they don't need a guy in a suit telling them exactly&nbsp;what to do for every second of the game.
ATOs, however, are quite different. They allow head coaches to step in, sit down with their players for a full minute and 15 seconds, precisely rehearse and recall a scripted action from practice, and, most of all, tactically prey on the weaknesses of an opponent.&nbsp;
And when they're executed well? Sheesh, there's truly nothing better.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Now, just for size, imagine watching two back-to-back successful ATOs in the final eight seconds of a playoff game. That'd be crazy, right? Huh?! For all my play-by-play geeks out there?
Alas, that is what happened during Tuesday's Game 5 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Let's set the stage a little bit: This contest was not a gorgeous showing of pristine execution. It was a back-and-forth, frenetic affair, with both teams streaking up-and-down the floor like the Gatorade coolers had been spiked with C4 pre-workout. All of that speed didn't necessarily equate to production; collectively, both teams turned the ball over a ghastly 39 total times, and Memphis couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from deep at just 25.0% (7 of 28).
Minnesota controlled the tempo for most of Tuesday's game, building a lead as large as 13 in the second half. The Grizzlies looked dead in the water on their home floor, unable to get much of anything going in the halfcourt. Then, Ja Morant did this, and the mood completely changed...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Chasing History -Episode 12 🏆 A jaw-dropping dunk&hellip;.a clutch late 3&hellip;.a game-winning shot. Ja Morant did it all in game 5, leading the Grizzlies to victory over the Timberwolves to take the 3-2 series lead. <a href="https://t.co/pKbwxriEws">pic.twitter.com/pKbwxriEws</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1519677816828313601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

(Seriously, it's tough to get enough of this freakin' dunk. BBN's Mark Schindler even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ja-morants-jadropping-dunk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an entire article on it</a>! I mean, what the actual HECK, Temetrius Jamel Morant.)
That audacious poster lit something inside of Morant, who went on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-grizzlies-helped-ja-morant-find-himself-as-a-scorer-in-game-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an absolute tear in the final period of the game</a>, eventually boosting his fourth-quarter point total to 16 after a pair of free throws. This put Memphis up by 3 with just eight seconds remaining.
With the first-round series hanging in the balance at 2-2, Minnesota needed a three-pointer more than ever to even things up at 109 apiece. And gosh darn it, Wolves head coach Chris Finch delivered.&nbsp;
Minnesota sets things up with Jordan McLaughlin inbounding, its two strongest offensive players &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards &mdash;on the strong side of the floor and D'Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels on the weak side.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-04-27-at-4-24-57-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="699" height="373" />
McLaughlin inbounds the ball to Towns at the left slot to initiate things. All the while, McDaniels streaks toward the left dunker spot and Russell brushes a backscreen for McDaniels. Then, Russell proceeds to "ghost" or fake a secondary back-screen for Edwards cutting up from the low block to the right slot.
Here's a video of that specific action involving that trio of players:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cIxs0UZKxKU" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
In the end, it was a simple exchange of positioning; McDaniels had replaced Russell in the right dunker spot, Edwards had taken McDaniels' place as the lifted shooter on the weak side of the floor, and Russell was now in Edwards' spot on the strong side. But most importantly, Brandon Clarke, the largest Grizzly available, was now tasked with manning rim-protection duties as the "low man."
Now, let's zoom out a bit. Minnesota inbounds the ball to its most dangerous offensive player, Towns, who at this point has scored a team-high 28 points on the night. Yet as the inbounder, it's McLaughlin who is technically the most dangerous player on the floor, and so Towns immediately returns the rock to give the zippy backup a running start. As such, McLaughlin gains a step on his defender, Kyle Anderson, and this causes Clarke to hesitate for a second, unsure if he's supposed to protect the rim or track the weak-side shooters.
Because Clarke decides to hold his ground in the paint, Morant then becomes responsible for "zoning up" and guarding the two weak-side offensive players, Edwards and McDaniels. So, Edwards drifts down to the baseline for deep positioning to create a brutally tough angle of recovery, and McDaniels sets a back-screen on Edwards' man (Morant).
This specific screening setup is known as "exit" action, where one offensive player pins the "zoned-up" defender with a screen to generate a corner three for his teammate. (Finch loves&nbsp;his exit-screen plays, I tell ya.)
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-04-27-at-5-03-55-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="699" height="360" />
McLaughlin flicks a ridiculous bounce pass to the corner like he's skipping rocks across a pond, and Edwards&mdash;quietly shooting ~42% on catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season and postseason&mdash;nails the corner jumper over an excellent closeout from Clarke.
Here's Finch's pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance in full:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qxrbo9dRmFw" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Tie game at 109.
Which meant it was Taylor Jenkins' time to cook for the Grizzlies' response.
Unlike Minnesota, Memphis set up by overloading one side of the floor with Desmond Bane, Anderson and Morant all sharing the strong side, and Tyus Jones on the weak side.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-04-27-at-5-24-36-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="700" height="376" />
Morant sets a cross-screen for Jones to cut across the paint, only to have Ja then come off a pindown screen from Desmond Bane. This specific action is known as "screen the screener," in which a player (Morant here) sets a screen for one teammate (Jones) and then receives a screen from another (Bane). Meanwhile, Anderson cuts across the paint from the left corner to the right slot to drag Minnesota's only rim-protector, Towns, completely out of the play.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lm0aeup-Pe8" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Memphis' screen-the-screener setup, or STS, forces Morant's defender (Edwards) to navigate not one, but two&nbsp;off-ball screens while tracking the hottest player on the floor. Edwards falls slightly behind the lightning-quick Morant, and exasperates things by gambling for the steal. Ant giveth, Ant taketh.
Now, Morant has the advantage with a free lane to the rim and Clarke in the right dunker spot. Jarred Vanderbilt rotates over to the stop the drive, and Towns inexplicably (??) turns his body away from the ball instead of rotating down to Clarke. This effectively leaves Vanderbilt in no man's land, forced to defend perhaps the best downhill dude in the league and&nbsp;a premier lob-threat... and, well, you know the rest.
Let's see the full play.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wNWz6GWXyjE" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Game. Set. Match. The Grizzlies went on to win Game 5 by a final of 111-109, and took an emphatic 3-2 lead in the series all behind Morant's 18 fourth-quarter points.
And sure, the night was dominated by the highlights (again, whew, that dunk), but it's sequences like the final eight seconds that make this NBA game what it is &mdash; great.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!
&nbsp;

Matt Brooks gives kudos to both Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins for their ATOs in the crucial moments of Game 5 in Memphis.

Applauding Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins' ATO play-calling wizardry

The NBA G League today announced that the Rio Grande Valley Vipers have earned three annual performance awards for this season, including&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8htEopW0yJ8" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8htEopW0yJ8" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">guard Trevelin Queen being named the 2021-22 Kia NBA G League Most Valuable Player</a>. Additionally, head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah is the recipient of the Dennis Johnson Trophy as the 2021-22 NBA G League Coach of the Year, while General Manager Travis Stockbridge has been named the 2021-22 NBA G League Basketball Executive of the Year.
NBA G League Head of Basketball Operations Malik Rose will present all three winners with their awards tonight before the Vipers host the Texas Legends in the Western Conference Semifinals at the Bert Ogden Arena (8 p.m. ET, ESPNews).
Rio Grande is the second team in NBA G League history to earn MVP, Coach of the Year and Basketball Executive of the Year accolades in the same season. The MVP and Coach of the Year awards were voted on by the league&rsquo;s 28 head coaches and general managers, while Basketball Executive of the Year was voted on by the general managers only.
Queen, a two-way player with the Houston Rockets, averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.3 steals in 19 games.Queen (6-6, 190, New Mexico State) received an NBA GATORADE Call-Up when he signed his two-way contract with the Rockets on Dec. 18, 2021, and has appeared in 10 games for Houston this season. He is the third Rio Grande Valley Vipers player to win the Kia NBA G League MVP award, joining Mike Harris (2009-10) and Andrew Goudelock (2012-13). In his third season as head coach of the Rockets&rsquo; NBA G League affiliate, Abdelfattah steered the Vipers to the top regular-season record in the Western Conference (24-10), earning a bye in the NBA G League Playoffs presented by Google Pixel. Under Abdelfattah, the Vipers led the league in points per game (124.5), free throws made (12.4), offensive rebounds (16.5) and total rebounds (51.4).Since being named head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, Abdelfattah has led the Vipers to a record of 48-43 and two consecutive playoff appearances. He is the second head coach in Rio Grande Valley history to earn Coach of the Year honors, joining current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch (2009-10).
Stockbridge becomes the first executive in Vipers&rsquo; history to win the Basketball Executive of the Year award. Key player acquisitions by Stockbridge included Marcus Foster (18.7 ppg, 4.3 apg), Mfiondu Kabengele (17.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and 12-year NBA veteran Gerald Green (16.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Since Stockbridge became general manager in 2019, five Rio Grande Valley players have earned GATORADE Call-Ups: Queen, Armoni Brooks, Anthony Lamb, Ray Spalding and Brodric Thomas.
The Sioux Falls Skyforce is the only other NBA G League team to win all three awards in the same season. Sioux Falls accomplished this feat for the 2015-16 season, with Jarnell Stokes winning MVP, Dan Craig earning Coach of the Year and Adam Simon receiving Basketball Executive of the Year honors.
Motor City Cruise guard Saben Lee, who was on assignment from the Detroit Pistons, and South Bay Lakers two-way guard Mason Jones finished in second and third place, respectively, in voting for Kia NBA G League MVP.
Raptors 905 head coach Patrick Mutombo and Agua Caliente Clippers head coach Paul Hewitt finished in second and third place, respectively, for NBA G League Coach of the Year.
Delaware Blue Coats General Manager Prosper Karangwa and Raptors 905 General Manager Chad Sanders finished in second and third place, respectively, for NBA G League Basketball Executive of the Year.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers have earned three of the G League's end-of-season awards, including MVP for guard Trevelin Queen.

Vipers' Trevelin Queen named NBA G League Most Valuable Player

The Miami Heat were supposed to be peaking now.
After nearly one calendar year, Victor Oladipo returned earlier this month. Shortly thereafter, four months removed from <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1479485862962413574" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a neck injury via that Nikola Jokić incident</a>, Markieff Morris finally came back. Beginning on March 5, the Heat were engaged in a stretch that included seven-straight home games &mdash; of which they won five &mdash; before their current back-to-back losing streak, their worst of the season.
Still, despite holding first place in the Eastern Conference, it&rsquo;s felt like the Heat have needed a jolt &mdash; nothing more amplifying of that fact than their last two games. In Philadelphia, against the 76ers without James Harden and Joel Embiid &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/5ReasonsSports/status/1507045025296928776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whose broadcast apparently didn&rsquo;t want them to win</a> &mdash; defeated a mostly healthy Heat team. Miami was missing Oladipo and Gabe Vincent, but still had Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry, all of whom were nearly 30-balled by Tyrese Maxey.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Okay, road game, regular season, 1-of-82 &mdash; sh*t happens.
But Wednesday, with no Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, James Wiseman, Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II (or Baron Davis, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway or Monta Ellis), the Golden State Warriors &mdash; led by a 30-ball from Jordan Poole &mdash; punked the Heat on their home floor, 118-104.
Look, these are still NBA players, sometimes that happens too.
What typically doesn&rsquo;t &mdash; in public &mdash; was the, &ldquo;<a href="https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1507040697219797000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kerfuffle, a hurly-burly, tomfoolery, a skirmish, a quarrel, a brouhaha, a dust-up, a hubbub or agree to disagree</a>.&rdquo;
You&rsquo;ve probably seen it by now, but here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Jimmy Butler was HEATED in the Miami huddle after the Warriors went on a big run to start the second half <a href="https://t.co/6waBmHlL1r">pic.twitter.com/6waBmHlL1r</a>
&mdash; Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1506804574320955392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

<ul>
<li>Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra picks up a clipboard just so he could throw it.</li>
<li>Butler and Udonis Haslem need to be separated.
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll beat yo ass,&rdquo; which we&rsquo;ll get to in a bit.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Markieff Morris and PJ Tucker act like this is a regular Wednesday, and it might be.</li>
<li>Warriors rookie Moses Moody looks amazed and/or confused.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Haslem telling Jimmy Butler &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll beat your ass&rdquo; 😂 <a href="https://t.co/9AcQiNw6WY">pic.twitter.com/9AcQiNw6WY</a>
&mdash; Ted Buddwell 🏀🏈 (@TedBuddy8) <a href="https://twitter.com/TedBuddy8/status/1506806343402893315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

After the game, and after joking that the team was heated about making dinner plans, Spoelstra offered his thoughts on the tense moment.
&ldquo;It was pretty clear. We have a very competitive, gnarly group; we were getting our asses kicked, for two straight games, we were not playing to the level that we wanted to play," Spoelstra said. "Every single person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment in how we were playing...
&ldquo;... Everything has to be better across the board. It starts with our leadership &mdash; our veteran players have to lead. And then, we just have to play better. Play better to our identity, play more consistently, and that&rsquo;s really all the discussions were. I know how it can look to the outside, but as I mentioned before, that is more our language than playing without passion or without toughness or without multiple efforts and lifelessness.&rdquo;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z1Pu5pfoows" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Tucker, along with Lowry and Adebayo, was one of the three Heat players to address the media after the game. He also downplayed the confrontation.
&ldquo;Something happened?&rdquo; Tucker <a href="https://youtu.be/A4T3AbNbufs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked with a smirk</a>. &ldquo;You put cameras on any NBA team, football team, any team, man. (We&rsquo;re) No. 1 in the East, finally got our whole team back, got our butts handed to us two games in a row by teams who don&rsquo;t even have their star players... emotions run high ... I laughed, man. I walked off the court laughing... This is part of the game.&rdquo;
Lowry acknowledged that "it&rsquo;s crazy,&rdquo; but quickly added that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s passion.&rdquo;
"We&rsquo;re in a situation where we have a lot of competitive guys. Our biggest competitor is our head coach. Jimmy and UD are tough competitive guys. It&rsquo;s good sometimes to get some anger and frustration out and just talk about it," Lowry <a href="https://youtu.be/ssv0jGhR50Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>. "We&rsquo;re gonna have situations that make people uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, as long as we&rsquo;re comfortable and we figure it out, it&rsquo;s all that really matters. And as long as we&rsquo;re still together, and we are.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
NBA players, veterans, reporters, veteran reporters, coaches, staff, referees, families and secret families would all tell you that this happens, and particularly with contenders. With the Heat specifically, it&rsquo;s an organization still run by the famously confrontational Pat Riley, who probably looks at this as a regular Wednesday despite the magnitude of social media amplification in 2022. Because this happened publicly, though, chances are this isn&rsquo;t the first time, just the most public. &nbsp;
Hardened personalities clash every now and then because they want the same goal and might have occasional philosophical differences on how to get there with their teammates. They can argue off of raw emotion because that&rsquo;s who they are, and the emotion itself mainly expresses that they care &mdash; care enough to argue over it, and are prideful enough to defend themselves publicly because of it. That&rsquo;s probably closer to what this actual is &mdash; the Heat, more than most teams and organizations &mdash; have probably earned that.
We&rsquo;ve heard his story, but it bares reiterating: Butler was homeless as a teenager and worked his ass off to become a first-round pick four years after being a JUCO-signee out of high school. Four years after being drafted, he won Most Improved Player, and has been a perennial NBA All-Star and All-Defensive player ever since while earning nine figures.
Just think. No, really, think about the self-belief that dude must have to pull that off? He never would&rsquo;ve went toe-to-toe with LeBron James in an NBA Finals without it.
Haslem is 41 years old, still in the league and has the respect of damn near everyone you could think of. He&rsquo;s a been through it all, seen it all and is an old-school dude who really values respect. Haslem went undrafted out of the Florida Gators program in 2002, played in France, came to the Heat in 2003 and has been there ever since.
Spoelstra was initially hired as the Heat&rsquo;s video coordinator in 1995 &mdash; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/sports/basketball/spoelstra-has-heat-right-where-it-wanted-to-be.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even predating Riley&rsquo;s tenure in Miami</a> &mdash; and worked his way up onto eventually becoming the head coach in 2008.
Remember last season when Haslem went at Dwight Howard? Notably, before even discussing this with teammate Duncan Robinson and podcast co-host David Reid on the Long Shot, Haslem notes how close he&rsquo;s been with Coach Spoelstra. We don&rsquo;t know what Butler said, but it might be fair to suggest Haslem felt someone was being disrespectful; sometimes, in the heat of battle, that happens too.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/943BcpzGB2Y" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&ldquo;Me and Spo been through a lot, man,&rdquo; Haslem said on the Long Shot in August. &ldquo;We done been through the bottom, we done been mad at each other, we&rsquo;ve been on the same team, we done evolved to now, we&rsquo;ve just got a great relationship. It&rsquo;s symbiotic, we don&rsquo;t have to say it, we can just feel it. I can look at him, and he can look at me.&rdquo;
Sometimes, these blowups are necessary &mdash; in a team environment, with your siblings, significant other, your bodega guy, your barber and/or your side piece. (Sometimes, you gotta get people to know their role, yanno?) Often, you just can&rsquo;t let failures fester, and there&rsquo;s a need to outwardly address them. Miami did that in a very "Heat" way, according to them.
For the Heat, it's very simple from here. This either invigorates you in time for the playoffs, or it derails your season at the worst possible time. It either really works or it really doesn&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;You can use moments during a season to catapult you,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;You can galvanize together over frustration and disappointment. Teams can also go the other way; I don&rsquo;t see that with our group, I don&rsquo;t see that with our locker room. But we have needed a kick in the butt from these two games.&rdquo;
They did, and now, they&rsquo;ll also have one of the most essential things an organization could obtain this last in the year &mdash; clarity.
If this works, the Heat will be a legit contender, mixing it up in a loaded Eastern Conference dogfight with the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and 76ers.
If it doesn&rsquo;t, and they flame out of a second-straight post-season, they&rsquo;ll have clarity on what to do next this summer.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Bryan Fonseca reviews Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra's tense moment and why it might've been beneficial for the Heat.

The Heat’s blow-up was necessary, but now the rest is up to them

It still feels like yesterday.
Boston Garden was going crazy because we knew the championship was ours. Guys started celebrating, Paul dumped that red Gatorade on Doc&rsquo;s head and we all celebrated like 10-year-old kids.
Somehow, it&rsquo;s already been 14 years since we beat the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, and even after all this time, I haven&rsquo;t forgotten those moments. It&rsquo;s like I have pictures ingrained in my head.
And going back to where it all went down to join my teammates to honor Kevin Garnett &mdash; even after all these years, man, Boston still feels like home.
I feel so blessed to have been able to play a part in such a great team accomplishing the ultimate goal. And we all felt like we played a small part in Ticket&rsquo;s jersey getting retired.
Last weekend, I was invited by the Celtics organization to attend Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s jersey retirement ceremony. It was scheduled to happen during Sunday&rsquo;s game against the Mavericks, and a bunch of the members of the 2008 team got together and spent the entire weekend in Boston. It was amazing.
It was like the band was back together. Just like old times, I was hanging out, cracking jokes and reminiscing with Paul Pierce, Big Baby Davis and Eddie House. I got to chop it up a bit and catch up with Danny Ainge. And of course, I got to not only catch up with Ray Allen and KG; I got to see them publicly, and once and for all, squash whatever beef they may have had.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
About last night. Appreciate the love as always <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@celtics</a> Great to be HOME<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KGweekend?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KGweekend</a> <a href="https://t.co/Vt5ZRqw8bP">pic.twitter.com/Vt5ZRqw8bP</a>
&mdash; James Posey (@James_Posey41) <a href="https://twitter.com/James_Posey41/status/1502702175775907840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Sometimes in life, one tiny decision you make ends up having such a huge impact. Before I signed with Boston, I really thought I was going to New Jersey to play with Jason Kidd and the Nets. But for a few reasons, I ended up heading to Boston instead.
One of the things I&rsquo;ll always remember about being a Celtic was the fact that when I came to Boston, I was the only player on the team who had already won a championship. Doc would sometimes ask me questions in front of the team and want to get my perspective. He&rsquo;d ask me about things that Pat Riley preached and habits that Dwyane Wade and Shaq had. He figured that I&rsquo;d gotten the top of the mountain, so I at least knew what the view looked like, you know?
But even though I had that experience, being around Ticket was just different.
He was so easy to rally around because he made it his personal duty to do all that he could to push everybody around him. And even after all these years, he still has the same unique energy.
When Ticket walks in the room, it&rsquo;s like you immediately get on guard. He just makes you want to be sharp and on point. He has the same energy today, but it was that times 10 when he was your teammate pushing you on the floor.
Everyone on the 2008 team just has a special love and appreciation for Ticket.
So being able to reconnect with guys that you won a championship with and doing it in honor of someone who helped to bring out the best in you, that just made the entire weekend in Boston all the more enjoyable.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
It felt like everywhere we went in the city this past Friday and Saturday, people loved us and respected us and knew us by name. With the Celtics organization itself, they treated us like first-class citizens and made sure we were taken care of.
Not only does Boston remember what we achieved, they will never stop showing us love. And we owe a lot of that to KG. It was nice to see him get the highest honor that an organization is able to bestow on one of its own.
What I&rsquo;ll remember most from that weekend &mdash; aside from Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1503106193102831620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monstrous dunk</a> over Maxi Kleber &mdash; was KG shedding tears as he saw his jersey go up into the rafters.
A couple of us, including Big Kendrick Perkins, may have had one or two side bets about whether Ticket would cry. KG himself didn&rsquo;t think he would crack, but he obviously couldn&rsquo;t hold it all together, so we at least have something to tease him about the next time we see one another.
When I replay the weekend in my head, though, I kept finding myself thinking about Ray Allen. I was happy to see him there, but wasn&rsquo;t surprised that he attended.
I knew that everything that was said about him after he left for Miami would eventually become water under the bridge. But I knew that because I was a member of that team. The guys on that 2008 team simply loved each other too much and had too strong of a bond to let Ray&rsquo;s decision to leave ruin the bond forever. Even as words were exchanged over the years, I had all the confidence in the world that KG and Ray would bury the hatchet, and it unexpectedly happened during KG&rsquo;s moment.
While being interviewed during his jersey-retirement ceremony, out of nowhere, Ticket basically interrupted the interviewer just to say that it was good to see Ray there. Everyone started cheering before the two met at halfcourt and hugged.
As great as he was, Ticket was truly unselfish. So I guess it was fitting for him to share his moment in the spotlight with Ray and finally, publicly, squash the beef.
Nothing says &ldquo;brother&rdquo; more than that.
I think what most people don&rsquo;t really understand about being a pro athlete is how strong the relationship between teammates can become. The longer guys are together, the deeper the connection usually gets. And when you actually have success as teammates and when you win a championship together, it&rsquo;s almost as if the bond is solidified. And I speak from experience. Not only do you become members of an elite fraternity together, you helped one another get there.
Deep down inside, I think Ticket and Ray both had those feelings about each other.
After what&rsquo;s been said over the past few years, that was a beautiful thing to witness, and I&rsquo;m happy I was there in person to see it.
I&rsquo;ll never forget seeing KG and Ray hugging and jumping up and down at halfcourt at TD Garden back in 2008. It truly feels like yesterday.
In honor of Kevin Garnett &mdash; our leader and the engine that pushed that team &mdash; no other Celtic will ever wear No. 5.
I&rsquo;m proud to call him a friend and a teammate, and even prouder to see him receive the ultimate honor.
Fortunately, I have some new memories that I&rsquo;ll forever cherish.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

James Posey recounts his trip to Boston for Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement, which basically became a 2008 Celtics reunion weekend.

Even after 14 years, I was right at home with Kevin Garnett in Boston

March Madness is underway!
Across the country, teams are competing in conference tournaments and trying to punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is almost here, and then the tourney starts next Tuesday.
If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down on Thursday.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17866547_lg.jpg" alt="" width="549" height="449" />
Games of the Day
Indiana def. Michigan 74-69 &mdash; B1G Second Round
With 11:03 remaining, Michigan led 60-43 and appeared to be in complete control. The Hoosiers would go on a 20-2 run and took the life right out of the Wolverines, completing the comeback by winning 74-69. Trayce Jackson-Davis led all players with 24 points and 4 blocks in a stunner. Indiana faces No. 1 Illinois next.
Texas A&amp;M def. Florida 83-80 in OT &mdash; SEC Second Round
This one was wild. The Aggies dominated all afternoon and held a 9-point lead with 1:07 to play, but the Gators went on a 12-3 run of the next 50 seconds to tie it at 70-70, forcing the game into overtime. They stayed deadlocked at 78-78 with 1:10 left in overtime when Hassan Diarra hit a triple with one second on the clock to win 83-80. A huge win for a true Bubble Team in A&amp;M.
Arizona def. Stanford 84-80 &mdash; Pac-12 Quarterfinals
The largest lead either way today was 7 points &mdash; in a game where Stanford was given a whopping 5% chance of victory. The Cardinal took a 75-74 lead with just over three minutes to go, but the Wildcats had answers. Kerr Kriisa exiting with injury is important to monitor, but Christian Koloko led the team with 24 points as Arizona survives and advances.
Miami (FL) def. Boston College 71-69 in OT &mdash; ACC Quarterfinals
Kam McGusty led the Canes with 16 points in the nail-biter, as they avoided the upset in overtime. Only one basket was scored in the final 2:30 of the contest &mdash; a Jordan Miller layup that sealed the deal. A big save by Miami.&nbsp;
Villanova def. St. John&rsquo;s 66-65 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
The Red Storm let a 17-point second half lead slip away to end their season. Villanova was carried by its starting five, with only 7 points coming from the bench unit. Caleb Daniels led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Justin Moore added 15 points of his own.&nbsp;
Toledo def. Central Michigan 72-71 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
In a game where the largest lead was 7 points for each team, Toledo held on for the 1-point win. Harrison Henderson scored with 20 seconds remaining to make it 71-70 Central Michigan, but a RayJ Dennis layup with 10 seconds left would seal the deal. Setric Milner Jr. led the way with 22 points for the Rockets. It's a big win for Toledo who currently projects a No. 13 seed.
Providence def. Butler 65-61 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
This one was back-and-forth from the tip, as the teams traded leads the entire contest. Tied at 55 with 3:06 remaining, Simas Lukosius hit a big pair of free throws for Butler to take the lead, but Al Durham hit a huge triple with 43 seconds to go for the Friars to take a 61-59 lead. Durham would follow with a dunk at the end of the game to seal the deal at 65-61. Despite the loss, it was a hard-fought game by the Bulldogs.&nbsp;
Wyoming def. UNLV 59-56 &mdash; Mountain West Quarterfinals
The Cowboys held a 9-point lead in the second half, but allowed the Rebels to fight their way back into it. Xavier DuSell hit a huge three with 30 seconds, and then, Brendan Wenzel iced the game with a pair of free throws. A great game from UNLV&rsquo;s Bryce Hamilton comes up just short.&nbsp;
Akron def. Buffalo 70-68 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
This was a fight from start to finish. Led by Ali Ali&rsquo;s 19-point effort and a pair of Greg Tribble free throws with four seconds remaining, the Zips survive and advance. They will face No. 1 seed Toledo on Friday afternoon in the MAC semis.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868829_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="367" />
The Upsets, the Madness
Oklahoma def. Baylor 72-67 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Sooners took the lead with 11:51 to play and never gave it back. With a balanced offensive attack of five players in double-digits, Oklahoma shocked the Bears. Jacob Groves led the way with 15 points, while Marvin Johnson provided 12 off the bench.&nbsp;
Vanderbilt def. Alabama 82-76 &mdash; SEC Second Round
Bama led by 10 points at the break but Scotty Pippen Jr. and Co. had other plans. Vandy roared back to take a 68-67 lead with 4:26 to play, and was able to hold the Crimson Tide off the rest of the way. Jordan Wright hit a pair of free throws late to ice the game, and the Commodores advance. Pippen Jr. ended with 26 points and 7 assists.
TCU def. Texas 65-60 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Horned Frogs had a win probability of 29.3% entering this one, and that&rsquo;s all they needed. After being down 40-20 in the first half, TCU did a complete 180 and outscored the Longhorns 45-20 the rest of the way. Mike Miles and Co. are setting themselves up well, and will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 semis.
Penn State def. Ohio State 71-68 &mdash; Big Ten Second Round
The Nittany Lions were given a 24.2% chance of winning today, and they did just that behind Sam Sessoms' 18 points off the bench. Jalen Pickett also had a huge game with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Penn State moves on to play No. 3 Purdue.&nbsp;
Grambling def. Southern 60-58 &mdash; SWAC Quarterfinals
Led by Tra&rsquo;Michael Moton&rsquo;s 12 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, Grambling took the lead with 10 minutes left in the game and never gave it back. The Tigers will face Texas Southern next.&nbsp;
Tulsa def. Wichita State 73-67 &mdash; American First Round
The Golden Hurricane had four players with 10 or more points, including two with at least 20. After an 11-19 season, this was a nice win for Tulsa as it tries to make a late push in the conference. Tulsa will move on to face No. 2 SMU.&nbsp;
Portland State def. Southern Utah 77-65 &mdash; Big Sky Quarterfinals
The Vikings entered this game under .500 on the season, but put up 77 points on 51.9% shooting from the floor. They held Southern Utah to a lowly 36.8% from the floor and are able to advance.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868177_lg.jpg" alt="" width="571" height="414" />
Standout Performers
Noah Fernandes (UMass): 29 points, 7 assists
Spencer Jones (Stanford): 28 points, 8 rebounds
Jimmy Boeheim (Syracuse): 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Grant Sherfield (Nevada): 25 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
Joel Murray (Long Beach State): 25 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana): 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 10-17 FG
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Nate Watson (Providence): 26 points, 7 rebounds, 9-14 FG
Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt): 26 points, 7 assists
Tristen Newton (East Carolina): 26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists
Jordan Walker (UAB): 26 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Dillon Jones (Weber State): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Prentiss Hubb (Notre Dame): 23 points, 5 assists
Zyon Pullin (UC Riverside):&nbsp;23 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Amadou Sow (UC Santa Barbara): 21 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Bryce Hamilton (UNLV): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Mahki Morris (Abilene Christian): 22 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Chuba Ohams (Fordham): 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals
Darien Jackson (Tulsa): 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Brady Manek (UNC): 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Malique Jacobs (Kent State): 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
Kowacie Reeves (Florida): 21 points, 6 rebounds
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17866936_lg.jpg" alt="" width="381" height="272" />
2022 NBA Draft: Prospect Watch&nbsp;
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Tari Eason (LSU): 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Justin Lewis (Marquette): 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Ochai Agbaji (Kansas): 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Trevor Keels (Duke): 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Jabari Walker (Colorado): 18 points, 16 rebounds
Iverson Molinar (Miss. State): 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Collin Gillespie (Villanova): 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
David Roddy (Colorado State): 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

March Madness is underway! If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down during Thursday's games.

March Madness: Conference tournament Thursday recap

Knoxville, TN&nbsp; &mdash; The Tennessee Volunteers (14-5, 5-3 SEC) have had a rocky start to conference play, but secured an important victory tonight by defeating Florida 78-71. The Gators (12-8, 3-5 SEC) are entering the &ldquo;must win&rdquo; part of the schedule, and after letting a second half lead slip away in this one, face an uphill battle moving forward. Santiago Vescovi led all players in scoring with an efficient night, posting 23 points on 6 of 10 from the field and 6 of 6 shooting from the free throw line.
Florida held a 42-34 at the break behind strong performances from Tyree Appleby and Brandon McKissic. Zakai Zeigler, Kennedy Chandler and Vescovi carried the early load for the Volunteers. Both teams shot the ball well and combined to hit 15 three-pointers in the half.&nbsp;
Tennessee came out hot to start the second period, scoring quickly and cutting the lead to 48-47 at the 15-minute mark. Anthony Duruji was providing both buckets and turnovers, up until the 11-minute mark when Florida started to get back on track a bit, re-extending their lead to 55-52. After a Josiah-Jordan James triple, followed by a John Fulkerson layup, the Vols held a 57-55 lead &mdash; their first lead since 10-8 early in the first half.
The Vols extended their lead to 67-62 at the 4-minute TV timeout and were able to hold on from there. Fulkerson came up huge late in the game with some key jumpers, and Vescovi knocked down important free-throws. Tyree Appleby hit a triple with 32 seconds on the clock following a James turnover, but then more makes from the charity stripe sealed the deal.&nbsp;
Appleby ended with 16 points on 4 of 8 from deep to go along with 7 assists. Duruji posted 16 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out. Freshman Zeigler had a strong game for the Vols, scoring 11 points to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Coming into tonight, Chandler was averaging 13.3 points, 4.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game as he continues to solidify himself as a likely first rounder in this summer&rsquo;s NBA draft. He posted 17 points and 5 assists.
Tennessee hit 17 of 18 from the free throw line which was crucial down the stretch. The team moves to fourth in the SEC standings.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
UPCOMING
Tennessee will visit the Texas Longhorns on Saturday night.&nbsp;
The Gators will host Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.&nbsp;
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral"> Order online now</a>!

The Tennessee Volunteers (14-5, 5-3 SEC) have had a rocky start to conference play, but defeated Florida 78-71.

No. 18 Tennessee gets big conference win, defeats Florida 78-71

With his explosiveness, elite level athleticism, charismatic personality and trademark blonde-dyed hair, it is impossible to not take notice of JD Davison the moment you walk into a gym. The freshman sensation from the small town of Letohatchee, Alabama (population of just over 1,000) has been putting the basketball world on notice.
Davison&rsquo;s vicious open floor dunks, preternatural sense in the passing lanes and laser-beam passes that require a third eye to see coming have been the source material for SportsCenter&rsquo;s Top-10 during this fledgling college season.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rmqKbyWZHqE" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
These highlight-reel plays are nothing new for Davison, who lit up the state of Alabama his entire career while playing for Calhoun High School. His production in high school was nothing new for the Davison namesake either, as JD followed in the footsteps of his three older brothers, Jerome, Jermarques and Ja&rsquo;Keem, all of whom were extremely talented players for the Calhoun program. JD, the youngest in the family, just took it to a new level.&nbsp;
As a junior, JD led Calhoun to the Class 2A state title, hitting the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left. Averaging 30 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists per game, Davison became only the fifth high school junior to win Alabama&rsquo;s Mr. Basketball award. Between his junior and senior campaigns, JD began to be approached by all of the major prep schools in the country. From Hillcrest Prep (AZ) to Oak Hill Academy (VA), everyone came knocking on Davison's front door, but each sales pitch was rebuffed by JD, as his loyalty to Calhoun was unwavering.&nbsp;
After reaffirming his commitment to his hometown school, his senior year did not disappoint; the sequel led to another 2A state championship heading home with Calhoun. Davison also reeled in another Alabama Mr. Basketball award to complement his Gatorade Player of the Year honors. The result of his illustrious Calhoun career made him a consensus five-star prospect and one of the most sought after talents in the country.&nbsp;
Davison arrived to Alabama this season to much fanfare and excitement as the No. 9 RSCI recruit, making him the highest-ranked Crimson Tide commit since Collin Sexton. Davison thus far has made good on that ranking, playing a key role off the bench and electrifying in his 24.5 minutes per game. JD has come on strong as of late, averaging 9.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17359226_lg.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="441" />
I had a chance to see Davison up close during the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s trip to Orlando during the Thanksgiving ESPN Events Invitational, and despite the loss to Iona, the game was very insightful. Getting to watch Alabama&rsquo;s shootaround session illuminated JD&rsquo;s outgoing and contagious personality. He was talking and dancing with nearly every teammate on the floor, and seemed to know every lyric to the warm-up songs playing over the loudspeaker. Throughout the entirety of the pre-game a smile never left his face.&nbsp;
As the game came down the stretch, JD&rsquo;s intensity and concentration reached new heights, and he was locked-in the whole way. He got to the free-throw line multiple times throughout the game, dealing with hecklers leftover from the Kansas game that took place beforehand. Despite the out-of-line jeers from the fans in the compact gym. JD never broke focus and paid them no mind.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
I asked BasketballNews.com&rsquo;s Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock for his thoughts on JD, here is what he had to say:
&ldquo;There is a lot to like about JD Davison. First of all, his physical gifts are very impressive. At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, he has a naturally strong build and is incredibly athletic. From a skill set standpoint, he has terrific court vision, is a high level passer, and has the potential to be a big scorer. Alabama currently brings Davison off of the bench as they have several veteran guards with more seniority. However, don&rsquo;t let that fool you, Davison is a top notch prospect with significant upside. I expect for him to be one of the first guards selected in the 2022 NBA Draft.&rdquo;
The talent of Davison has been undeniable, as his abundance of awe-striking moments has put even the casual basketball fan on notice. The future for the native son of Alabama is as bright as anyone&rsquo;s in this draft class.
JD Davison is currently ranked No. 9 on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com 2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.

Grant Aqui digs into JD Davison's local background in Alabama and how he's stepped up for the Crimson Tide.

2022 NBA Draft: Getting to know JD Davison, Alabama's native son

Lincoln, Nebraska has not been the traditional home of one-and-dones or high-profile recruits in years past, but Bryce McGowens is looking to change that.&nbsp;
As the No. 28 recruit in the RSCI rankings, McGowens headlines a consensus top-20 recruiting class for head coach Fred Hoiberg&rsquo;s Nebraska Cornhuskers. McGowens selected the program after decommitting from Florida State in October 2020. He opted instead to join his older brother, Trey McGowens, who transferred from Pittsburgh to Nebraska after two seasons.
Bryce&rsquo;s arrival to the Nebraska program has made Lincoln a must-see stop on the scouting trail this season, and the early returns have been extremely promising. Through eight games, McGowens has averaged 18.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 46% from the field. He has shouldered a massive workload to start the season, frequently taking turns running the offense alongside Arizona State transfer Alonzo Verge Jr. With Trey suffering a foot injury that&rsquo;s expected to keep him out 6-to-8 weeks, we have seen Bryce take on an even bigger responsibility. His ability to carry a large offensive workload is what makes the younger McGowens so special.
BasketballNews.com Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock detailed his thoughts on McGowens:
&ldquo;The most noticeable aspects that pop out about Bryce McGowens as a prospect are his terrific positional size for a guard at 6-foot-7 and his potential to score at three levels, while also being able to create off of the dribble. He seems to have a bit of a quick trigger, so improving his shot selection is something that I&rsquo;d like to see him address. However, with proper coaching from former NBA player Fred Hoiberg and his staff, I expect him to continue to improve throughout the season. McGowens&rsquo; potential to develop into a versatile NBA-level scorer is very intriguing. He is a prospect that I am excited about, and I certainly look forward to monitoring his development.&rdquo;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17226392_lg.jpg" alt="" width="549" height="365" /> Athletic success was seemingly in the cards from the word &ldquo;Go&rdquo; in the McGowens family, as athletic prowess runs throughout the family tree. Bryce and Trey&rsquo;s mother, Pam, was a basketball player at Western Carolina, and now is the women&rsquo;s varsity head coach at her alma mater Wren High School in Piedmont, South Carolina. Their father, Bobby, played football at Clemson before transferring to South Carolina State as a dual-sport athlete in football and basketball, and he now works as a principal and basketball coach. The family ties extend all the way to the youngest McGowens sibling, Raina, who is a Class of 2024 guard at Wren.
In an interview with the Greenville News, Pam stated: &ldquo;Bobby and I never said, &lsquo;This is what you&rsquo;re going to do because mom and dad did it,&rsquo; I think just us being coaches, they were those gym rats and became interested in the sport. They fell in love with it.&rdquo;
Bryce began his high school career at Wren, too, before eventually transferring to Legacy Early College (SC) to finish his prep career. During his senior year, McGowens was named the 2020-2021 Gatorade Player of the Year in South Carolina, joining Josiah-Jordan James, Aaron Nesmith and P.J. Dozier as one of the recent recipients of the award. He was also named to the Jordan Brand Classic roster, but the event was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the beginning of this season has been any indication, there will be more accolades and recognitions on the horizon for Bryce McGowens. The Nebraska freshman will continue to be a player to track as we progress towards the 2022 NBA Draft.
Bryce McGowens is currently ranked No. 25 on the BasketballNews.com <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.

Grant Aqui shares his takeaways on Nebraska freshman standout Bryce McGowens and details his family history in basketball.

2022 NBA Draft: A look at Bryce McGowens, Nebraska’s star freshman

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry has made Azzi Fudd his Splash Sister.
Curry is bringing the star Connecticut freshman into his SC30 Inc. brand in a unique, wide-ranging partnership that will support her successes both on and off the court as the nation&rsquo;s top recruit builds her collegiate career &mdash; a multi-dimensional name, image and likeness contract.
Golden State&rsquo;s reigning NBA scoring champion, with two young daughters, has long been dedicated to helping women shine and vowed to do more for the women&rsquo;s game. In 2018, Fudd&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-ap-top-news-basketball-sports-stephen-curry-4869df139a714a5da07854abf35e3d83">participated in Curry&rsquo;s elite camp&nbsp;</a>as one of two women invited to take part and she and Curry have continued to build their friendship since. Curry also held an all-girls camp that summer.
Fudd&rsquo;s involvement with SC30 &mdash; the athlete-run organization handling Curry&rsquo;s off-court business &mdash; will entail far more than strictly a sponsorship deal, too.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-56">
<div class="Component-adTitle-0-2-15">Curry plans to personally mentor the 5-foot-11 guard from Arlington, Virginia, who played at St. John&rsquo;s College High School in Washington, D.C., as she balances school, basketball and the demands of being a face for female athletes. He wants to help Fudd show the world who she is through not only her personality and passions but by also providing a platform and financial backing to share her values and ideas.</div>
</div>
&ldquo;Azzi Fudd is the best choice to start a brand relationship like this because she is the next face of women&rsquo;s basketball and has been a part of SC30 Inc. and the Curry Brand family since she was an invitee to the All-American Camp,&rdquo; Curry said.
Two-time MVP Curry and his SC30 team plan to give Fudd guidance through professional services and growth opportunities to develop her brand. That will mean chances to host and attend events and be part of new brand partnerships, and to deliver her personal social impact initiatives while additionally promoting and being involved in some of those dear to Curry and his family.
&ldquo;Our values are aligned when it comes to family, and in terms of hard work and for the appreciation of blessings in your life,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;For me, this is the right time because I have identified the platforms that I have, aligning purpose over profit, and the ability to collaborate with the right partners for the right opportunities. I want to be able to unlock that for Azzi, and for other talented athletes and influencers that see the world the same way I do. It is my hope that we can inspire the next generation of athletes and non-athletes who want to do amazing things.&rdquo;
College student-athletes can now be compensated, and Fudd&rsquo;s UConn teammate, Paige Bueckers, received a deal from Gatorade on Monday.
For Fudd, like Curry, this could just be the start.
&ldquo;Since I first met Steph at his camp a few years ago, I&rsquo;ve stayed connected to him and have always admired his incredible talent and accomplishments, but also his humility and the impact he has on people,&rdquo; Fudd said. &ldquo;As I continue to focus on becoming the best player and student I can be while in college, I also look forward to broadening my understanding of business and life beyond basketball. This partnership with Steph and his SC30 team will help me do that. I&rsquo;m really excited about everything we&rsquo;ll do together in the future.&rdquo;
___
More AP women&rsquo;s college basketball:&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball">https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll">https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a>

Fudd joins teammate Paige Bueckers as UConn athletes to sign major NIL deals in recent days.

Azzi Fudd signs NIL deal with Stephen Curry, SC30 brand

The college basketball season is underway, which means BasketballNews.com's scouting coverage has been kicked into full gear. The bulk of my travel and scouting schedule is set through the entire season, and let me tell you &mdash; I have some terrific basketball to see! As I scour the map evaluating prospects at various levels, I'll be sharing my takeaways every step of the way. I hope you enjoy it!
Here&rsquo;s who I watched in-person this last week:
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jabari-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jabari Smith</a> - Auburn vs. South Florida MIN: 28 | PTS: 9 | REB: 10 | AST: 0 | STL: 0 | BLK: 1 | FG: 3-12 | 3PT: 2-7 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 1
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I am in Tampa, Florida tonight to watch top-rated Jabari Smith and his Auburn Tigers take on the South Florida Bulls. To start the season, Smith, a 6'10" forward is averaging 15.5 points and 8 rebounds per game. He is currently ranked at No. 3 on our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board. <a href="https://t.co/Yp1BgGkgEf">pic.twitter.com/Yp1BgGkgEf</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1461843250311045131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

A little over a year ago, I visited Phoenix, Arizona to attend Dinos Trigonis&rsquo; Pangos All-American Festival. There, Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren stole the show. However, I was also able to see Jabari Smith, a 5-star recruit that was committed to the Auburn Tigers. I loved his potential as a mobile, stretch 4, but he seemed to be quiet and somewhat unassertive, and I was left with some questions about his lack of strength and overall toughness. &nbsp;
Fast forward to this past Friday, and I had an opportunity to see Smith for the first time with the Tigers as they took on the South Florida Bulls in Tampa, Florida.
Although it was not Smith&rsquo;s best game &mdash; he only shot 3-for-12 from the field &mdash; I walked away thoroughly impressed. He possesses a unique combination of length, fluidity as an athlete and an ability to shoot the ball with range, giving him a ton of potential on the offensive end. On the defensive end, I&rsquo;m not sure he is getting enough attention for his talent and upside. He has aggressive hands, covers a lot of ground laterally with ease and makes quick reactions. He has gotten much stronger, has a frame that looks like it will fill out very well, and subsequently, has become tougher and more physical. Any questions that I had about his lack of toughness and assertiveness have been tossed out the window. In fact, I&rsquo;m not overly concerned about anything with him.&nbsp;
Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren are still top-tier prospects in my book, but Smith is not far behind, at all. He can score on all three levels and has a chance of being an exceptional defender. He checks a lot of boxes. I think he has a chance of becoming a prototypical stretch 4, which can&rsquo;t be said lightly. If someone wanted to make an argument for Smith as the top prospect for this year&rsquo;s draft, I&rsquo;d be more than willing to listen.
We currently have Jabari Smith ranked at No. 3 on the BasketballNews.com <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/patrick-baldwin-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Baldwin Jr.</a> - UW-Milwaukee vs. Florida MIN: 34 | PTS: 13 | REB: 3 | AST: 1 | STL: 2 | BLK: 2 | FG: 6-15 | 3PT: 0-3 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 3
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I&rsquo;m in Gainesville, Florida tonight to see projected lottery pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. and his UW-Milwaukee Panthers take on the Florida Gators. Baldwin Jr., a smooth 6-foot-9 wing, is currently slotted as the No. 6 player on the <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> 2022 NBA Draft Big Board. <a href="https://t.co/bne3hgnd9c">pic.twitter.com/bne3hgnd9c</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1461460374650343428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Prior to arriving at the O&rsquo;Dome in Gainesville, Florida, I had seen freshman Patrick Baldwin Jr. before, but it had been a couple of years back at a USA Basketball mini-camp. Seeing him recently, his size was the first thing that grabbed my attention. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, he looked like a power forward and not a guard, the position he is listed as on the UW-Milwaukee website. I also noticed that he has huge hands, as he snatched the ball from the ground with ease like Kawhi Leonard might do. Once the Panthers began formal warmups, they split into two groups: guards and bigs. Baldwin worked out with the guards. I found all of that to be interesting. That said, it was immediately apparent that his skill level was very high. He handles the ball well and has a terrific shooting stroke, especially for a player of his size. Before tip-off, I was very intrigued, to say the least.
Once the game started, it was clear that UW-Milwaukee was far overmatched by an experienced Florida team. It was not a very good game overall. Baldwin showed flashes of his high skill level, consisting of abilities to shoot with range, dribble, pass and utilize advanced footwork. Despite Baldwin&rsquo;s translatable tools and skills, his casual approach was concerning. I left the arena torn; I felt teased and wanted to see more. The good thing is I&rsquo;m able to watch him again Tuesday night, as I&rsquo;ll be in attendance to see his UW-Milwaukee team take on Bowling Green in Fort Myers, Florida. I&rsquo;m also set to see him in Colorado on Dec. 10 &mdash; so stay tuned for more updates on him.
In the meantime, we currently have Patrick Baldwin Jr. ranked No. 6 on the BasketballNews.com 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/matthew-cleveland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew Cleveland</a> - Florida State vs. Loyola Marymount MIN: 17 | PTS: 13 | REB: 1 | AST: 1 | STL: 1 | FG: 6-8 | 3PT: 0-1 | FT: 1-2 | TO: 0
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
I have a close eye on Florida State&rsquo;s Matthew Cleveland tonight in Jacksonville, Florida, as the Seminoles take on the Loyola Marymount Lions. Through 3 games this season, Cleveland, a true freshman, is averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. <a href="https://t.co/3WHjH4aSjG">pic.twitter.com/3WHjH4aSjG</a>
&mdash; Matt Babcock (@MattBabcock11) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1462556486723330055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Last spring, I was able to see Matthew Cleveland play for the first time, as his high school team (Pace Academy) was competing at GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Florida. I was impressed with him, as he was an aggressive and effective slasher and scorer. Although I can&rsquo;t say I had a firm grip of him as a prospect going into the season, he had made a big enough impression for me to justify including him in our initial 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
Sunday night in Jacksonville, Florida, I was able to see Cleveland for the first time with his new team and school, Florida State. Despite not starting for the Seminoles and head coach Leonard Hamilton giving 11 players double-digits minutes of playing time, Cleveland was able to show a lot of the things that made me like him in the first place. Listed at 6-foot-7 (I question if he&rsquo;s actually that tall) with a reported 6-foot-11 wingspan, Cleveland is visibly long for a wing. Watching him, I found him to be extremely mature and poised, especially for a freshman; he made terrific decisions throughout the game. He has room for improvement as an outside shooter, but his ability to score as a slasher while also being a great defender is a valuable combination. I&rsquo;m quite confident that he will develop into a steady contributor in the NBA &mdash; he&rsquo;s solid! It is yet to be seen whether or not he&rsquo;ll play a big enough role for the Seminoles this season to generate widespread media attention for himself, but let&rsquo;s not forget that Patrick Williams was selected No. 4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft after coming off the bench for Florida State as a freshman and only playing 22 minutes per game.&nbsp;
We currently have Matthew Cleveland ranked at No. 27 in our 2022 NBA Draft Big Board.
Last Week's Takeaways: <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/babcock-takeaways-banchero-agbaji-keels-and-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paolo Banchero, Ochai Agbaji, Trevor Keels, more</a>.

Matt Babcock details his scouting observations from this past week's trip around the state of Florida.

Babcock’s Takeaways: Jabari Smith, Patrick Baldwin, Matthew Cleveland

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/michael-jordan-tops-the-list-of-25-highest-paid-athletes-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
Michael Jordan is atop so many lists. Whether based on metrics or subjective assessments, if he&rsquo;s eligible for it, you better believe MJ&rsquo;s name is up there, and Sportico&rsquo;s &ldquo;Top 25 Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time&rdquo; is the <a href="https://www.sportico.com/personalities/athletes/2021/highest-paid-athletes-earnings-1234645635/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most recent example</a>.
When Michael entered the NBA in 1984, Magic Johnson was the highest-paid NBA player with $2.5 million in salary. Today, players with 10 or more years of experience in the league get veteran minimums worth around the same amount. Guys who have yet to make their NBA debut can earn up to $925,528 per year &mdash; Michael Jordan, as a rookie, made $550,000.
Thirteen years and four NBA championships later, Jordan inked a one-year deal worth $33.1 million &mdash; more than an average team payroll at the time &mdash; representing the highest single-season salary in NBA history up until 2017-18, when LeBron James and Stephen Curry each surpassed it. Today, 31 players are on track to earn north of $30 million.
Boosted mostly by huge TV deals &mdash; $75 billion over the next nine years &mdash; star salaries have increased dramatically over the last four decades. But despite Michael only earning $90 million from NBA contracts &mdash; non-inflation adjusted, that's equivalent to Danny Green &mdash; he&rsquo;s still the highest-paid athlete of all time, despite the fact only 6% of his estimated earnings come from his playing salaries.
The estimate is based on salaries, endorsements and memorabilia earnings since Michael joined the NBA, including his ongoing deals with Nike, Hanes, Upper Deck, Gatorade, and other large and established companies.
According to Forbes, Michael has made over $1 billion from Nike alone since first signing a deal with the sportswear giant in his rookie year. Today, the Jordan Brand is easily worth over $10 billion, dominating the booming &ldquo;retro&rdquo; or lifestyle basketball business with a market share of 52%, according to market research firm NPD Group.
Unrivaled marketability
Michael Jordan, as well as his brand, show no signs of slowing down. It&rsquo;s been nearly two decades since his final goodbye to the game, and MJ is still arguably the most popular basketball persona in the world. A run that started almost four decades ago, still with no end in sight, is yet to be replicated, despite the impact and platform today&rsquo;s NBA superstars have.
And while some of them were able to build images that transcend the game of basketball, no one used it to MJ&rsquo;s extent. Guys like LeBron James, the late Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal tried and will continue to try for decades to come &mdash; the fact each of them also made the list says they&rsquo;re on the right track. But it seems His Airness will always be the standard.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Michael Jordan is listed by Sportico as the highest-paid athlete of all time.

Michael Jordan tops the list of 25 highest-paid athletes ever

Every year, there are NCAA freshmen who step into college basketball and dazzle right off of the bat, subsequently earning opportunities to be selected in the NBA Draft following their lone season at the college level. This year will be no different.
Here is a list of incoming freshmen that we currently have included in our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>:
1. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/chet-holmgren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chet Holmgren</a> | Gonzaga | Forward/Center
2. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/paolo-banchero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paolo Banchero</a> | Duke | Forward
4. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jalen-duren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jalen Duren</a> | Memphis | Center
6. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jabari-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jabari Smith</a> | Auburn | Forward
7. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/patrick-baldwin-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patrick Baldwin Jr.</a> | UW-Milwaukee | Forward
8. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/caleb-houstan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caleb Houstan</a> | Michigan | Forward
9. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/aj-griffin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AJ Griffin</a> | Duke | Guard/Forward
12. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/tyty-washington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TyTy Washington</a> | Kentucky | Guard
13. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/kennedy-chandler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kennedy Chandler</a> | Tennessee | Guard
14. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/jd-davison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JD Davison</a> | Alabama | Guard 
16. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/peyton-watson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peyton Watson</a> | UCLA | Guard/Forward
23. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/daimion-collins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daimion Collins</a> | Kentucky | Forward
24. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/kendall-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kendall Brown</a> | Baylor | Forward
25. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-big-board/players/matthew-cleveland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew Cleveland</a> | Florida State | Guard/Forward
While the players listed above are currently included on our Big Board, here is a list of other freshmen prospects (in alphabetical order) who our scouting staff will be keeping close tabs on:
Nate Bittle
Forward/Center | Oregon
Height: 7-0 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 7-5 Weight: 215 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 19.1
Nate Bittle is a long and lanky stretch big who can really open up the floor as a shooter. On the offensive end, he&rsquo;s an adequate passer, and has shown great promise as a scorer on all three levels. He can get bumped off his line with contact and needs to fill out his frame, but his combination of length and touch is impressive at his age. On defense, Bittle utilizes his length really well as a rim-protector, but it&rsquo;s yet to be seen how his lateral mobility and movement skills translate to tougher competition. The Oregon native will suit up for his home-state Oregon Ducks this season as one of four centers listed at 6-foot-11 or taller. He will likely be utilized as a floor-stretcher, but I&rsquo;m curious to see how he fits in their lineup construction.&nbsp;
Max Christie 
Guard | Michigan State
Height: 6-6 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 6-9 Weight: 190 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 19.8
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/unnamed_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" />
Max Christie is a sharpshooter who has the potential to be one of the best 3-and-D prospects in the 2022 draft class. He averaged 24.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per contest as a high-school senior, and was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. His combination of shot-making and finishing craft should allow him to provide value offensively quickly for the Michigan State Spartans, as they will likely rely on him to carry a heavy load. Christie is an active rebounder and defender who uses his hands well to contest shots and deflect passes when engaged. He&rsquo;s a skilled playmaking wing who has the tools to produce at a high level, which could potentially propel him into the 2022 draft.
Moussa Diabate 
Forward/Center | Michigan
Height: 6-11 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 7-3 Weight: 210 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Draft Day Age: 20.4
Born in Paris, France, Moussa Diabate comes to Michigan after two years at IMG Academy. He is a long, athletic, high-energy big with the ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor. Due to his aggressive nature, he excels on the offensive end by finishing through contact and being a high-level rebounder. He also has the ability to block shots and impact plays around the rim on the defensive end. With improvement as a ball-handler and shot-maker, Diabate can make a great case for himself as a one-and-done option next summer.&nbsp;
Cerebro Sports note: Per their 2021 Geico Nationals data, he was one of only six players to post a Defensive Statistical Impact rating of &gt; 90 and &gt; 60 in the Big Man Strengths metric.
Nolan Hickman
Guard | Gonzaga
Height: 6-2 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 6-6 Weight: 185 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 19.1
Nolan Hickman comes to Spokane, Washington as Gonzaga&rsquo;s fifth-highest rated recruit of all-time. The 6-foot-2 point guard is an impressive athlete who can get to his spots and create scoring opportunities at will. His tight handles and skills as a facilitator only make him that much more lethal when paired with his shooting. He is routinely found at the top of Cerebro Sports&rsquo; Floor General Skills and Pure-Scoring Prowess metrics, regardless of the event and competition. Hickman is a fiery competitor in all facets of the game, and could be poised for a strong year for the Bulldogs.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 
Forward/Center | Tennessee
Height: 6-10 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 7-1 Weight: 246 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 18.9
After graduating from Scotland Campus Prep in Pennsylvania, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield returns to his home state of Tennessee to play for the Volunteers. Standing 6-foot-10 and 246 pounds, he has the tools to be an ideal power forward in today&rsquo;s game. He&rsquo;s a powerful athlete with strength, length and an ability to score from anywhere on the floor. He is already a tremendous rebounder who has also shown promise as a ball-handler and defender. He will still be only 18 years old on draft night, and has plenty of room to develop into an elite prospect.&nbsp;
Harrison Ingram 
Forward | Stanford
Height: 6-8 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 7-0 Weight: 230 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Draft Day Age: 19.6
Harrison Ingram is one of the most intelligent and competitive prospects in this year&rsquo;s freshman class. At 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan, he is savvy on both ends of the floor, and is capable of playing both on and off the ball. Even though he&rsquo;s not an elite athlete, he has shown flashes as a shooter and projects well as a high-level defender. Another aspect of his game that stands out is his poise, as he rarely gets sped up and plays under control. As a skilled point-forward who can make plays, score and also be effective on the glass, Ingram has a great opportunity to shine for the Cardinal.
Cerebro Sports note: Per their database, Ingram was one of only four players in the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup with a Defensive Statistical Impact rating &gt; 92 and a Three-Point Efficiency rating &gt; 58.
Trevor Keels 
Guard | Duke
Height: 6-4 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 6-7 Weight: 221 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 18.8
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/unnameddd_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="504" />
The Clinton, Maryland native comes to Duke after finishing high school as a consensus top-25 prospect. At 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds, Trevor Keels has phenomenal physical strength for his age and position. He excels in attack mode on the offensive end, using his combination of strength and skill to score on all three levels. He possesses a unique ability to finish through contact in the lane, and also knock down shots by spotting up or as his own creator. At the Iverson Roundball Classic in May, Keels&rsquo; footwork and smooth shooting stroke impressed me, a swing skill he&rsquo;ll look to maintain as a freshman. With continued improvement as a passer, shooter and on-ball defender, Keels has a chance to be a solid one-and-done option.&nbsp;
Bryce McGowens
Guard | Nebraska
Height: 6-7 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 6-9 Weight: 179 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 19.6
Possessing positional size and length, Bryce McGowens has a chance to be one of the best shot makers in college basketball. He&rsquo;s flashed space creation as a shooter with pull-up craft, ball-handling and the ability to elevate over defenders. Although he can be a bit streaky, the mechanics and fluidity with his shooting are special. He is also a solid defender due to his length, athleticism and instinctual play. With his combination of great athleticism, shot-making and finishing craft at the rim, McGowens should be a go-to scorer for the Huskers, and will look to make a strong case as a potential draft pick in 2022.
Hunter Sallis
Guard | Gonzaga
Height: 6-5 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wingspan: 6-8 Weight: 175 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Draft Day Age: 19.2
Hunter Sallis stands 6-foot-5, giving him solid positional size as a scoring guard who also excels as a facilitator. The McDonald&rsquo;s All-American averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game as a high-school senior. Gonzaga will have a handful of capable ball-handlers on the roster this season, but Sallis&rsquo; ability to control the game and be a scoring floor general should create a solid role for him. He will need to add physical strength, but the size, skill set and scoring prowess give promise to him as a likely high-level prospect. Sallis is currently included on the 2022 Jerry West Award preseason watchlist, and has the potential to be one of the leaders of the Zags&rsquo; offense.&nbsp;

Derek Murray analyzes the upcoming college freshman class and under-the-radar names to watch out for in the 2022 NBA Draft.

2022 NBA Draft: Top incoming college freshmen with pro potential

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced plans for the first NBA Week Mexico City 2021 presented by AT&amp;T, a multi-day celebration of the growth of basketball and the NBA in Mexico ahead of the league&rsquo;s 75th Anniversary Season.
NBA Week Mexico City 2021, which will take place from Thursday, Sept. 23 &ndash; Sunday, Oct. 3, will feature a wide range of experiences for fans and players, including interactive basketball-themed activities, pop-up events, youth and elite basketball development programming, and the first virtual innovation summit featuring speakers from across the NBA family, headlined by NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum and NBA 2K League President Brendan Donohue.&nbsp; Fans can participate and receive access to additional information, exclusive content and more by registering at <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.
&ldquo;The NBA has incredibly dedicated fans and partners across the country, and NBA Week Mexico City is a culmination of their continued support,&rdquo; said NBA Mexico Vice President and Managing Director, Raul Zarraga.&nbsp; &ldquo;We are committed to engaging fans and players in Mexico in new and unique ways and remain focused on creating more opportunities for young people to enjoy the game.&nbsp; We&rsquo;ve never been more excited about the future of the NBA in Mexico and look forward to celebrating our 75th Anniversary Season with fans throughout the country.&rdquo;
Initial activities for NBA Week Mexico City 2021 include:
NBA Cave (Sept. 23-26)
NBA Cave is a pop-up fan experience that will be hosted next to NBA Tienda in Polanco and offer fans an array of basketball-themed games and activities.
NBA Academy Exhibition Games (Sept. 24-25)
Players from NBA Academy Latin America, NBA Academy Africa and the Atlanta-based organization The Skill Factory will compete in exhibition games at La Loma Centro Deportivo in San Luis Potos&iacute;, the home of NBA Academy Latin America.&nbsp; Games will be livestreamed on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a> and called by broadcaster &Aacute;lvaro Mart&iacute;n and analyst Carlos Morales.
NBA Locker Fan Experience (Sept. 24-26)
Twelve lockers, each featuring a unique historical NBA fun fact will be placed throughout the Antara Mall in Mexico City as part of an NBA scavenger hunt.&nbsp; A map will be available on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.&nbsp; The NBA Locker Fan Experience will also offer interactive digital content, photo opportunities and more entertainment for fans.
Her Time To Play Clinic (Sept. 25)
Former WNBA player Allison Feaster and NBA staff will lead a virtual basketball and leadership development clinic for girls ages 13-16.&nbsp; The NBA and WNBA created Her Time To Play in 2018 to inspire the next generation of girls to play basketball in a positive and healthy way and provide them with ways to engage with one another through the game.
Jr. NBA Mexico Finals (Sept. 26)
Sixteen of the top male and female youth basketball players in Mexico will compete in a virtual skills challenge via the HomeCourt app as part of the 2021 Jr. NBA Mexico Finals.&nbsp; Top performers from the qualifying competition (Sept. 8-21) on HomeCourt will earn a spot in the Finals.&nbsp; Winning boys and girls teams (4 players each) will be crowned.&nbsp; The Jr. NBA Mexico Finals will be livestreamed on <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a> on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 12:00 p.m. CDMX.
NBA Time Machine Experience (Sept. 28)
13 lucky influencers will be joined by an NBA legend for an NBA Time Machine Experience as they revisit a classic game and participate in a live Q&amp;A.
Innovation Summit Presented by SAP (Sept. 29)
The first NBA Week Mexico City Innovation Summit presented by SAP will bring together experts from a range of industries, including sports, entertainment and technology, for a series of virtual panels.&nbsp; Guest speakers will include NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum; NBA 2K League President Brendan Donohue; NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Global Strategy &amp; Innovation Matt Wolf; NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Gaming &amp; New Business Ventures Scott Kaufman-Ross; NBA Vice President, Team Marketing &amp; Business Operations Stacy McWilliams; San Antonio Spurs Executive Vice President of Revenue, Brand &amp; Communications Brandon Gayle; SAP Mexico Head of Innovation &amp; Solutions Rosendo Perez; AT&amp;T Mexico Vice President and General Manager, Business Sales &amp; Solutions Ana Michelle; and Gatorade Sports Science Institute Latin America Scientific Consultant Lourdes Mayol.&nbsp; The panelists will discuss the NBA&rsquo;s upcoming 75th Anniversary Season, innovation across the league and its teams, the business of sports, sports betting, esports and the <a href="https://2kleague.nba.com/">NBA 2K League</a> &ndash; a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), which launched in 2018 and features the best NBA 2K players in the world.
NBA Beyond the Lines Art Exhibition (Oct. 1-3)
The work of local artists showcasing the spirit of the NBA will be on display at the NBA Beyond the Lines Art Exhibition, which will be located at Lago Tanganica 67, Polanco.
In addition to AT&amp;T, partners supporting NBA Week Mexico City 2021 include Gatorade, Hennessy and SAP.&nbsp; For the latest details on NBA Week Mexico City 2021, including opportunities to participate, fans can visit <a href="http://www.nbaweek.com.mx">www.nbaweek.com.mx</a>.
Fans in Mexico can find more information&nbsp;about the NBA at <a href="http://NBA.com/Mexico">NBA.com/Mexico</a>, on Facebook (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NBAMexico/">@NBAMexico</a>), Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/NBAMEX?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@NBAMEX</a>) and Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nbamex/?hl=en">(@nbamex</a>), and use the hashtags #NBAMexicoWeek and #NBA75.

The NBA will hold a multi-day celebration of the growth of basketball and the NBA in Mexico ahead of its 75th Anniversary Season.

NBA Week Mexico City to celebrate growth of basketball in Mexico

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; For the second time in five years, the Oklahoma City Thunder went Down Under to find a first-round pick in the NBA draft, taking Josh Giddey at No. 6 on Thursday night.
The 18-year-old Giddey, a 6-foot-8 guard from Melbourne, Australia, attended the NBA Global Academy in 2019-20 and played last season for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia&rsquo;s National Basketball League. He was named the league&rsquo;s rookie of the year after averaging 10.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and a league-best 7.6 assists per game.
He already has an Oklahoma connection: His sister, Hannah Giddey, is a 6-foot-1 forward headed into her sophomore season at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, about 100 miles from Oklahoma City. Giddey called it a &ldquo;dream situation&rdquo; to be able to play so close to his sister.
&ldquo;Oklahoma is actually one of my favorite teams and to be picked by them it&rsquo;s a dream come true,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So, love the guys, the coaches, the staff on the team and really happy to be there.&rdquo;
Oklahoma City traded its second first-round pick, at No. 16, to Houston and chose Alperen Sengun for the Rockets. The Thunder received a pair of future first-round picks in return.
The Thunder also took Tre Mann, a 6-foot-5 guard from Florida, with the No. 18 overall pick in the first round.
&ldquo;We felt it was an extremely productive night for us,&rdquo; Thunder&rsquo;general manager, Sam Presti said. &ldquo;We are excited about the players that we were able to add and excited about those guys coming into the program. They all bring something different and I think will be positive contributors to the organization. They all have a lot of work in front of them and this is just the starting point for their careers. &hellip; We&rsquo;re looking forward to walking with them through their development paths.&rdquo;
Giddey is the first NBA Global Academy graduate to be drafted into the NBA and the highest-drafted player from Australia since Ben Simmons, who went first overall to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Giddey is the eighth Australian to be drafted in the first round. Although he wasn&rsquo;t from Australia, in 2017, the Thunder used the No. 21 overall pick on Terrance Ferguson, who had played for the 36ers the previous season.
&ldquo;To follow on from the guys we have had (from Australia) go through the NBA, it means a lot to me and I looked up to those guys for a long time and I speak to them and try and get advice from them,&rdquo; Giddey said. &ldquo;The Australian basketball community is really tight. So, to have those guys by my side and supporting me through this whole process has been really good for me.&rdquo;
Should Giddey play for the Thunder next season, he&rsquo;ll be the second teenager on the Thunder roster, joining Aleksej Pokusevski, who won&rsquo;t turn 20 until December. The Thunder obtained Pokusevski, the 17th pick of the 2020 NBA draft, through a trade with Minnesota.
Giddey &ldquo;is somebody that really has a lot of room to grow as a basketball player, but already has shown through his experience overseas the ability to impact professional games at a very, very young age,&rdquo; Presti said. &ldquo;He makes other people better and that&rsquo;s a really important trait as we continue to add other players to our team.&rdquo;
Mann averaged 16.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for Florida as a sophomore. He finished eighth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring and sixth in free-throw percentage (83.1) and assists per game (3.5). He was an All-SEC second-team selection.
He&rsquo;s the first first-round draft pick produced by the Gators since Bradley Beal in 2012.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all just so excited for Tre,&rdquo; Florida coach Mike White said. &ldquo;He has put in an incredible amount of work to get to this point, and his dedication, commitment and maturity have helped him reach this goal. He has earned this moment, and I couldn&rsquo;t be happier for him.&rdquo;
In the second round, the Thunder picked up 6-foot-9 forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of Villanova. He led the Wildcats in scoring (15.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.5 per game) while helping them advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
The Thunder swapped two of its second-round picks, at No. 34 and No. 36, with New York for the rights to Robinson-Earl, who the Knicks selected at No. 32.
&ldquo;The Thunder are lucky to be getting a high-character, hard working young man,&rdquo; Villanova coach Jay Wright said on Twitter. &ldquo;Jeremiah is ready to compete at the next level in the NBA.&rdquo;
With the No. 55 pick, Oklahoma City selected Aaron Wiggins, a 6-foot-6 guard from Maryland who averaged 14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season as a junior. As a sophomore, he was named as the Big Ten Conference&rsquo;s sixth man of the year as the Terrapins won the league title.

For the second time in five years, the Thunder went Down Under to find a first-round pick in the NBA Draft, taking Josh Giddey at No. 6.

Thunder shock everyone by selecting Josh Giddey at No. 6

Blake Hairston breaks down the top NBA Draft prospects to keep an eye on from the Southeastern Conference.

2021 NBA Draft: Analyzing the SEC's top prospects

Matt Babcock details Tre Mann's progression from young prospect to facing adversity to bouncing back with a breakout year at Florida.

Outlining the progression of Tre Mann as an NBA Draft prospect

Jaden Hardy, the nation&rsquo;s top guard among high-school prospects, has signed with NBA G League Ignite, NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim announced today in a press release. The five-star recruit is the No. 2 player in the Class of 2021, according to ESPN.
&ldquo;I would like to thank God for blessing me. I would like to thank my family and friends for their love and support. I am so excited and fired up that I am turning pro and playing for the NBA G League Ignite," Hardy said.
In the 2019-20 season, Hardy averaged 30.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.4 assists as a junior at Coronado High School in Henderson, Nevada, earning the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year and the Las Vegas Review-Journal&rsquo;s Boys Athlete of the Year awards. Hardy was unable to play a normal season as a senior due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he was still named a 2021 McDonald&rsquo;s High School All-American and selected to the 2021 USA Nike Hoops Summit Team. A Detroit native, Hardy participated in three minicamps with the USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s Junior National Team in 2019.&nbsp;
"Jaden Hardy&rsquo;s most notable attribute is his ability to make shots from all over the court with endless range; however, don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s limited to just being an outside shooter, as Hardy is about as dynamic of a scorer as they come," said BasketballNews.com's NBA Draft analyst Matt Babcock. "He is effective at creating off the dribble, knocking down shots in the mid-range, and utilizing his superior athleticism to finish at the rim. Hardy will undoubtedly be one of the top prospects in the 2022 NBA Draft."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Hardy is the second top-10 recruit from the class of 2021 to sign with Ignite this year, joining power forward Michael Foster Jr. (ESPN No. 7). Hardy, Foster and Scoot Henderson (ESPN No. 7, class of 2022) will help lead a mix of top young standouts and NBA and NBA G League veterans looking to continue Ignite&rsquo;s success from its inaugural year.
With five-time NBA champion Brian Shaw serving as head coach, Ignite&rsquo;s first season featured strong professional debuts from elite prospects Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd, and international standout Princepal Singh.

Hardy joins Michael Foster Jr. and Scoot Henderson as members of the next wave of Ignite prospects.

Five-star prospect Jaden Hardy signs with NBA G League Ignite

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving generated controversy when he deliberately stomped on the Boston Celtics' half-court logo after the Nets' win on Sunday night.&nbsp;
Current and former players are voicing their thoughts on Irving's act. Kendrick Perkins thinks the conversation is merely a talking point, to distract from the fan who threw a water bottle at Irving postgame.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Are we really discussing this right now? That damn fan shouldn&rsquo;t have never threw a water bottle at Kyrie I don&rsquo;t give damn if he poured Gatorade on the Logo. Real Talk! <a href="https://t.co/cawu0Bq1kt">pic.twitter.com/cawu0Bq1kt</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1399439595108982791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2021</a></blockquote>
Kevin Garnett had a different view:

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

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kevin Garnett on Kyrie stepping on the Celtics logo after the game last night. <a href="https://t.co/WtKJSyrB38">pic.twitter.com/WtKJSyrB38</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1399439068577083392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2021</a></blockquote>
Kevin Durant and former Celtic Glen Davis exchanged words on Instagram:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
KD stopped giving a fuck and immediately became the GOAT at this social media shit 😭 <a href="https://t.co/0zIxzjWkTE">pic.twitter.com/0zIxzjWkTE</a>
&mdash; America is musty (@DragonflyJonez) <a href="https://twitter.com/DragonflyJonez/status/1399447036144111622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Below are more thoughts:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
That&rsquo;s on the PLAYERS to handle.
&mdash; Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1399186526181806080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

&nbsp;

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

Irving made a point to stomp on the Celtics' logo after last night's game.

NBA players react to Kyrie Irving stepping on Celtics' logo

After a 13-year NBA career, Corey Brewer made the transition to coaching last offseason when he joined the New Orleans Pelicans as a player development coach. He wrote this article about his first season as an NBA coach and his work with the Pelicans' young core.
I wasn&rsquo;t quite ready for my playing career to be over just yet, but when I was presented with the opportunity to join Stan Van Gundy&rsquo;s staff as a player development coach for the New Orleans Pelicans last offseason, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I always wanted to become a coach and I never imagined I&rsquo;d get to cut my teeth in New Orleans, but here I am.
After my first season, I&rsquo;ve learned quite a bit. I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to learn from Stan, who&rsquo;s a master of detail. I played 13 years in the league and had some outstanding coaches &mdash; Kevin McHale, George Karl, Rick Adelman and Mike D&rsquo;Antoni, to name a few. I&rsquo;ve learned so much from each of them and have been able to blend their teachings with what I&rsquo;ve learned from Stan. And I can tell you, it takes a lot of hard work and commitment to be an effective head coach in this league.
In New Orleans, we have such a talented group of young players, the sky is truly the limit. Even though this is my first season on a coaching staff, I know that 2020-21 was unlike any we&rsquo;ve seen before. As a player, I looked at practice as an opportunity to work with my coaches and learn my teammates&rsquo; tendencies &nbsp;The practice time was definitely limited this season.
Funny thing is, though, I actually played with a few of our players, and since they were my former teammates, I think it gave me an advantage. I played with Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart in Los Angeles and with Steven Adams in Oklahoma City. The trust and familiarity with those guys is already there, so that definitely helped.
Being around Zion Williamson helped, too. It&rsquo;s hard to not be excited when you're&nbsp;around someone like him. You can&rsquo;t truly appreciate him unless you&rsquo;re around him every day. He&rsquo;s just incredible.
As for the rest of the guys, B.I. is a budding All-Star, Lonzo just had his best season and Josh is getting better every single day. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kira Lewis Jr. and Jaxson Hayes are going to have long, productive futures in this league. With all of these guys, I&rsquo;m so happy to be able to play a small part in their success.
As a player development coach, I&rsquo;ve worked with these players and tried to help them reach their full potential. In all facets of their game, the goal is to go from being &ldquo;okay&rdquo; or &ldquo;good&rdquo; to &ldquo;excellent,&rdquo; and that&rsquo;s true whether you&rsquo;re talking about shooting, passing or ball-handling.
Improvement requires a lot of work during the season as well as in the offseason. So we&rsquo;re just taking it one day at a time and trying to be the best that we can be. We&rsquo;ve made some great progress.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
***
Zion Williamson
Zion truly puts the work in. He&rsquo;s been working on his shot a lot and is so diligent; he really goes hard. He&rsquo;s already so great at attacking the basket and being physical, so the next step for him is to add some midrange and continue to develop his three-point shooting. If he&rsquo;s able to become consistent out there, it&rsquo;ll open up things for him and his teammates. It&rsquo;ll also make him literally unstoppable.
What&rsquo;s incredible about him is the fact that even though he&rsquo;s been getting so much attention for so long, he&rsquo;s so humble. He really wants to be a great player and is really willing to put in the work. If you didn&rsquo;t know him, there&rsquo;s no way you&rsquo;d ever know that he&rsquo;s been a household name for so long.
You can tell that he&rsquo;s not satisfied with where he&rsquo;s been or what he&rsquo;s achieved. He approaches his career as if it&rsquo;s just beginning, and that&rsquo;s so refreshing. His positive attitude along with his unprecedented combination of size and athleticism is scary.
He&rsquo;s one of one. I&rsquo;ve never see anything like him. But the best part is that you know he&rsquo;s not satisfied.
Brandon Ingram
Brandon gets better each game. He&rsquo;s only 23 years old, and his focus for a young player is incredible. Along with Zion, they&rsquo;re going to make New Orleans a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Brandon himself is going to be one of the top players in this league for a long, long time. What&rsquo;s been most reassuring about him is that even though he&rsquo;s been getting individual attention and accolades, his focus is always about what he needs to improve on to make the team better.
At the end of the day, he knows that in order for the team to get to the next level, he needs to continue to improve, and that&rsquo;s his priority. We&rsquo;ve been working with him on making quicker decisions, getting to his spots and learning how to counter the looks that defenses are giving him. He&rsquo;s not a secret anymore; other teams are building defensive gameplans around him and his ability to adjust and learn how to read coverages is really what&rsquo;s going to help him remain productive and help the team compete every night.
He and Zion give us a one-two punch of young All-Stars that a lot of teams don&rsquo;t have. We&rsquo;re grateful for that.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15818028_lg.jpg" alt="" width="732" height="510" />
Lonzo Ball
If there&rsquo;s one thing that everyone has been wanting Lonzo to do, it&rsquo;s shoot more. His shot has come such a long way, and assistant coach Fred Vinson is especially proud since he&rsquo;s been working on it with &lsquo;Zo so much. The improvement has been amazing. Whenever I talk to Lonzo, the main thing I tell him is to be more aggressive and keep opposing defenses honest. He has all the tools to be an effective scorer in the league, but he&rsquo;s such a willing passer that sometimes he comes across as being a little passive.
This past season, he took a major step forward, though, not only with his shot, but also his ability to play at different speeds and see the floor. He&rsquo;s a budding floor general.
At the end of the day, the more aggressive Lonzo is, the more aggressive the team is and that&rsquo;s a net-positive for us. His game fits so perfectly with Zion and B.I. that, with those three, we have a chance to be a really good team. It&rsquo;s exciting!
I had the opportunity to play with Lonzo in Los Angeles and his shot has come such a long way since then. He plays the game at his own pace and doesn&rsquo;t really force anything; it&rsquo;s just a matter of balancing his patience with some aggression, but overall, he has all the qualities of a truly great point guard.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Nickeil is going to be a big-time scoring guard in the league for years to come. He doesn&rsquo;t really get the same kind of attention as some of our other players, but he&rsquo;s gonna get there, trust me. He has a lot of stuff in his game, and even though he&rsquo;s still figuring out his strengths, he&rsquo;s going to be a dangerous, dangerous player.
Earlier this season, he scored 37 points against the Clippers in Los Angeles, so you can see the potential. He&rsquo;s had some other big games, too, so you know his future is bright. Even right now, he has a good midrange game, and once his finishing gets better, he is going to be really tough to stop.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15599948_lg.jpg" alt="" width="725" height="484" />
Josh Hart
I&rsquo;ve watched a lot of film with Josh, and like B.I. and Lonzo, I played with him in L.A.
When you're playing with Brandon and Zion, you&rsquo;ve gotta be able to move off the ball and be a good cutter, because they just attract so much attention. I think that&rsquo;s the main thing that will help him get some easy buckets for us, and that&rsquo;s what most of our film studies have focused on.
Josh is probably the best rebounding guard in the NBA today and his jumpshot is getting better every day. He&rsquo;s been incredibly receptive to the pointers we give him on both ends of the court, and defensively, he can effectively guard 1-4. He&rsquo;s also a good ball-handler and, overall, a very versatile player. He can literally go to any team in the league and be super effective, but I&rsquo;m happy we have him.
Kira Lewis Jr.
Kira is one of the fastest guys I have ever seen. His speed is elite. At this point, he&rsquo;s still trying to learn the game a bit more and learn how to slow down while maintaining his aggression, and it&rsquo;s a process. We know he can get to wherever he wants on the floor, and that&rsquo;s something that&rsquo;s going to help him have a productive career in the league, but he has to get better at reading situations.
In terms of his shooting, he&rsquo;s improved quite a bit, and once he puts it all together, he&rsquo;s going to be really tough.
In some ways, he reminds me of young point guards like John Wall and Derrick Rose. When they first came into the league, they would rely on their speed more than anything else, and even though that&rsquo;s a dangerous weapon, you&rsquo;ve gotta have other assets in your game. Kira understands that. I will say that this year has been so tough for rookies because there wasn&rsquo;t much practice time. Learning in games is tough, so I give him a lot of credit for the strides he&rsquo;s made.
Jaxson Hayes
Jaxson is an elite athlete, especially for someone with his size. He&rsquo;s just 20 years old and I think the main thing for him is to get stronger. Steven Adams&rsquo; arrival has taken some of his minutes away, but he has continued to work hard and he has all the tools necessary to be a difference-maker for our team.
***
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
One thing I learned very quickly is how hard coaches have to work. It&rsquo;s literally around the clock. In New Orleans, we have individual development plans for each of our players where we give specific things to work on. That obviously requires us to spend a lot of time watching their game film to properly analyze their strengths and weaknesses. We have to know each player's game intimately in order to help them.
It&rsquo;s funny how after 13 years, I became a rookie again. I&rsquo;ve learned firsthand that coaching is no joke, but I&rsquo;m so thankful to be part of an organization that has such a bright future.
One year down, hopefully, many more to go.

NBA veteran Corey Brewer learned quite a bit during his first season as a player development coach with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Inside the Pelicans' development: Reflecting on my first year as an NBA coach

In today&rsquo;s NBA, the point guard position is arguably the most critical component to a team&rsquo;s success. Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard, among others, are dynamic, versatile guards with the ability to drive their team to wins.
Great point guards understand that their responsibilities are paramount. Unselfishness, competitiveness, and an unwavering dedication to improvement set apart the elite from the average, and these are traits that organizations search for in every NBA Draft.&nbsp;
In the 2021 NBA Draft, there are a number of strong options at the point guard position, including Jalen Suggs, Sharife Cooper, Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and more.
But let's talk about Tre Mann.
After a less-than-stellar freshman campaign at the University of Florida, Mann burst onto the scene as a sophomore and solidified himself as a legitimate first-round option in his draft class.&nbsp;
After being ranked No. 22 in the 2019 RSCI High School class, Mann underwhelmed in his debut season with the Gators. He scored 5.3 points per game while shooting 43.8% from two and 27.5% from three. He then hit a growth spurt. Per FloridaGators.com, Mann grew nearly two inches and put on 15 pounds prior to this past season, giving him good positional size at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. He&rsquo;s developed into a real two-way threat and continues to improve at a rapid pace.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/agUAingrCUY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The most effective ball-handlers utilize a special blend of change of direction, pace and footwork to create looks for both themselves and others. He isn&rsquo;t the most explosive athlete, but Mann showed each of these skills at a high level, and became the playmaker that recruiting analysts hoped he would out of high school. He uses tight ball-handling and a unique ability to manipulate defenders in isolations and the pick-and-roll, often getting his man off-balance in order to get downhill. When watching him attack on the perimeter, it&rsquo;s impressive to see the way he uses deceptive movement and tremendous footwork to create space as a shooter.&nbsp;
As a shooter his sophomore year, Mann connected on 40.2% of his shots from deep, up 13 percentage points from his freshman season. He possesses legitimate NBA range, and is advanced in the way he controls his feet and body weight, allowing him to hit even the toughest of looks.
An archetype growing in value across the league is the pull-up shooter, especially a player who can regularly get looks for himself; this is an area where Mann catches my eye. His pull-up craft is not only effective, but it&rsquo;s been defined as "aesthetically pleasing" as well, with his smooth stepbacks and snatchbacks to remove his man from the play. Not only does he have a diversity of pull-up moves that he uses to his advantage, but of the guards listed above as potential first-round targets, Mann has the lowest percentage of assisted threes by a large margin, per HoopMath.com:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 97.3304%; height: 132px;" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Name</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Percent of FGAs are 3P</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">3P Percentage</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Percent of 3PM Assisted</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Tre Mann</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">40.3%</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">40.2%</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">31.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Jalen Suggs</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">33.9%</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">33.7%</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">51.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Sharife Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">31.0%</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">22.8%</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">53.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Davion Mitchell</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">45.6%</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">44.7%</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">60.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 18.1486%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">Jared Butler</td>
<td style="width: 28.1465%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">49.2%</td>
<td style="width: 18.6891%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">41.6%</td>
<td style="width: 34.7832%; height: 22px; text-align: center;">70.1%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Another facet where Mann performed well was with his passing. As a freshman, you could see the flashes and potential, but the confidence to initiate was lacking. This past season, he really developed into a tremendous, anticipatory facilitator for his entire team. Live-dribble passing is becoming more and more desirable in the lead guard position, which Mann does at a high level -- functional delivery while on the move, ambidexterity, improvement in manipulating defenders off the dribble. He creates open passing lanes for cutters and rollers often, and is becoming more comfortable attacking small windows. He&rsquo;s not quite an elite passer yet, but the vision is advancing; his combination of shooting and facilitating gives real promise to his future as an offensive driver.
Defensively, a lot of usage-heavy guards tend to take plays off or give minimal effort on the other side of the ball, but while Mann isn&rsquo;t an elite defender or stopper, there is effort. He is mature and plays soundly within his responsibilities, not overtly impactful, but is willing to stunt, dig and rotate when needed. On the ball, it&rsquo;s evident that his lack of strength and physicality need to be addressed, but he has good feet and is disciplined on contests, rarely biting and falling for fakes that would remove him from the play. Lead guards generally won&rsquo;t be asked to carry a defensive load, but I believe that one who is at least average, or plays with effort and intelligence, adds substantial value to the team.&nbsp;
Tre Mann is a disciplined, well-rounded point guard who may become a true two-way threat at the NBA level. He continues to improve at a rapid rate and was comfortable in taking on much greater responsibility in Year 2 for the Gators.
While he lacks elite bounce or athleticism, Mann's combination of positional size, advanced space creation and pull-up shooting potential make him a special talent. He&rsquo;ll be one to keep an eye on as we go through the pre-draft process.
Mann is currently ranked No. 16 on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com NBA Draft Big Board</a>.

Derek Murray dives into Tre Mann's breakout sophomore season at Florida and how his skill set will translate well to the NBA.