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Nekias Duncan breaks down the 2022 NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors from a multitude of angles.

2022 NBA Finals Scouting Report: How the Celtics and Warriors match up

Following the Phoenix Suns&rsquo; shocking postseason exit, all eyes are now on Deandre Ayton's free agency.
After the Suns declined to sign Ayton to a five-year, rookie-scale max extension before the 2021-22 season, restricted free agency is now on the horizon for the athletic big man. During the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, Ayton&rsquo;s agent Bill Duffy discussed Ayton's future on SiriusXM&rsquo;s NBA show.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re disappointed. We wanted a max contract,&rdquo; Duffy <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1527772160923619328" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;He went out and was a solider the whole year, played well, improved his statistics. So, we&rsquo;re proud of him. A lot of guys handle things differently, but he was very mature about it. Things will work out for Deandre. He&rsquo;s a valuable player. There&rsquo;s other teams in the league as well. He&rsquo;s a restricted free agent, so we&rsquo;ll see how this process unfolds.&rdquo;
Ayton averaged 17.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.7 blocks on a career-high 65.6% True Shooting percentage during the 2021-22 campaign. Ayton was a key asset for the Suns on both ends of the court, especially around the basket as an easy lob threat and defensive anchor. Ayton has been a key piece for the Suns, but is he worth a max contract? Based on Duffy&rsquo;s comments earlier this week, it sounds like Ayton&rsquo;s camp won&rsquo;t settle for anything less than the max entering free agency.
From the Suns&rsquo; perspective, they saw improvement from the 2018 No. 1 overall pick this season before the team's disappointing postseason showing.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s improved each year, helps us on both the defense and the offense,&rdquo; Suns owner Robert Sarver told <a href="http://BasketballNews.com">BasketballNews.com</a> recently about Ayton. &ldquo;I think offensively, you see this year he&rsquo;s taken another good step in terms of his touch and his ability to score around the basket. So, he&rsquo;s been a key part of what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
Taking all of this into consideration, what if Ayton's days in Phoenix are numbered? Here's a look at the most realistic sign-and-trade destinations for Ayton this summer.
Note: It's important to remember that sign-and-trade deals rarely return the same value as a traditional trade. The Suns have let it be known that they won't simply let an asset like Ayton walk for nothing. If Ayton&rsquo;s time in Phoenix is indeed over, the Suns won&rsquo;t be leaving the relationship empty-handed.
San Antonio Spurs
Spurs receive: Deandre Ayton
Suns receive: Jakob Poeltl, Devin Vassell, Tre Jones
San Antonio is one of the few teams this offseason with secured max-level cap space. All that needs to be done in order to chase Ayton is renounce the restricted rights to Lonnie Walker.
Being at the bottom of the NBA standings is new for the Spurs. After being one of the league's model organizations for over two decades, they have officially hit a playoff drought. San Antonio was hoping for some lottery luck, but now they have to try another plan to bring in a star.
San Antonio&rsquo;s dynamic young duo of Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson is so fun to watch, but the they need a third game-changer to take this rebuild back into playoff mode. Ayton would be an ideal solution, mainly because of his excellent two-way fit in the Spurs&rsquo; system. Dropping Ayton into the Spurs&rsquo; player-development program could make some in Phoenix worry about the long-term consequences of this deal.
For Phoenix, cooperating with a long-time rival would hurt. However, if the relationship between team and player becomes fractured, the Suns won&rsquo;t have much of a choice if he finds a max offer on the open market.
The Suns won&rsquo;t let Ayton leave Phoenix unless they receive strong assets in return. The Spurs can actually provide a solid package that helps in the short and long-term.
In this deal, Phoenix could land one of the most underrated big men in the Association as well as two young players who have shown flashes. The Jalen Smith experiment was a disaster for the Suns after taking him No. 10 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, and Vassell went one pick later. Phoenix can right that wrong while also obtaining an intriguing point guard to develop in Jones.
This feels like a win-win for both sides. San Antonio would have a new Big 3 in Ayton, Murray and Johnson, while the Suns could acquire their new starting center and two pieces to bolster the bench unit.
Charlotte Hornets
Hornets receive: Deandre Ayton
Suns receive: Terry Rozier, PJ Washington and draft compensation
There might not be a team with a more dire offseason need than the Hornets and their hole at center. Charlotte was one of my NBA League Pass teams this season due to their fun offensive pace, but the defense often bordered on disastrous. Montrezl Harrell and Mason Plumlee aren&rsquo;t going to cut it, so it&rsquo;s time for Charlotte to get aggressive.
Given Charlotte&rsquo;s roster, they would have to move some salaries around to make an Ayton chase realistic. Offloading Gordon Hayward&rsquo;s contract is going to be a tough task and they may even have to relinquish one of their top-15 picks to do so, but it would have to happen in order for them to pursue Ayton. Hayward is due $61.6 million over the next two seasons, and Charlotte simply can&rsquo;t afford to keep biting that bullet with restricted free agent Miles Bridges due for a payday and LaMelo Ball&rsquo;s own rookie-scale extension on the horizon. Trading away Hayward and Mason Plumlee would give the Hornets max space.
Landing Ayton is Charlotte's dream scenario. Not only would Ayton continue to get spoon-fed easy looks from an elite point guard, he would help stabilize the Hornets' defense to respectable levels. Thanks to his freakish athleticism, Ayton would be able to cover up a lot of holes around him defensively.
Phoenix would love to pull off a double sign-and-trade to nab Bridges, but that seems unlikely. Instead, this deal allows them to find their long-term answer at point guard post-Chris Paul. While Terry Rozier is a shot-chucker, he has improved as a playmaker in Charlotte. In the short-term, Rozier could step in as the Suns&rsquo; sixth man and provide the exact boost that they need in offensive guard creation. PJ Washington is an interesting add because he could slide right into the small-ball 5 role played previously by Dario Saric.
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Indiana Pacers
Pacers receive: Deandre Ayton
Suns receive: Myles Turner, Chris Duarte, TJ McConnell
What&rsquo;s the next step for Indiana? Long gone are Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert. Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield could be the next Pacers veterans to be shipped out via trade as Indiana fully embraces a rebuild attempt. It&rsquo;s been long overdue for the Pacers to pull the plug on the core that continued to stagnate once the postseason arrived.
A year later, Indiana&rsquo;s future looks much brighter with a talented, new-look core of Tyrese Haliburton, Chris Duarte, Isaiah Jackson and whoever is selected at No. 6 overall.
Ayton couldn't ask for a better pick-and-roll partner than Haliburton. Already making magic happen with CP3, Ayton&rsquo;s rolling ability would help accentuate Haliburton&rsquo;s biggest strengths. Also, Ayton&rsquo;s defensive versatility would be a welcome arrival for a team that nosedived in that category last season.
For Indiana, the price would be hefty. Not only would this trade require a four-year max contract for Ayton, but the Pacers would likely need to ship out a key piece of their young core via sign-and-trade (such as Duarte).
This trade would be a huge win for Phoenix, but it also looks great for the Pacers. The Suns would have a starting center who adds floor-spacing equity and elite rim protection, a capable veteran backup point guard who can spell Paul at times, plus one of the most impactful rookie wings in the Association. Having to include Duarte could leave the Pacers apprehensive, but they are reportedly enamored with adding another explosive piece via the draft, as Jaden Ivey (Purdue), Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky) and Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona) have all been linked to Indiana early in the pre-draft process.&nbsp;
Detroit Pistons
Pistons receive: Deandre Ayton
Suns receive: Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart, Cory Joseph and draft compensation
Another team that has considered making a run at Ayton this offseason is the Pistons, and they can create max space very easily: trading away Kelly Olynyk&rsquo;s contract.
The Pistons struck gold with Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey and they are helping usher in a new era in Detroit. Ayton&rsquo;s arrival would be the final piece to the puzzle for a team seemingly pushing their chips in on postseason play as early as 2023.
It would be best for Ayton to land with a capable lead guard who can feed him regularly. Already capable of tallying 20 and 10 most nights, Ayton would be set up for long-term success alongside Cunningham and Bey.
The question is, what would the Pistons need to send Phoenix&rsquo;s way in order for this sign-and-trade to go through? It&rsquo;s going to be a lot, and it would be a blockbuster-type transaction.
Blockbuster indeed, because Grant is now heading back to the Valley in this scenario. If the Suns and Pistons want to cooperate on a Ayton deal, I have to imagine one of Grant or Bey would have to be involved. Stewart is another enticing trade chip because he&rsquo;s shown the versatility to space the floor from three-point range. While he doesn't have the same touch as Ayton, Stewart brings nastiness and a tenacity on both ends of the court that Phoenix would absolutely love.
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Atlanta Hawks
Hawks receive: Deandre Ayton
Suns receive: Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic
No ifs, ands or buts about it, Trae Young would make Ayton an All-Star next season. What a fun inside-out duo this is to envision. While Atlanta is nowhere close to reaching the necessary cap space to absorb a massive Ayton deal on their own, a sign-and-trade becomes feasible with all of the talent that could fit into the Phoenix roster.
For the Hawks, Ayton represents another foundational building block to place alongside Young for the long-term. John Collins could be the guy, but he&rsquo;s been in trade rumors for the past year with no signs of those slowing down. Onyeka Okongwu could also grow into that role, but the Hawks signing Clint Capela to a long-term extension perhaps signals that they see him more as a piece to the puzzle rather than a true building block.
Ayton would arrive in Atlanta and instantly average around 23 points and 12 rebounds per game. On box-score fit alone, this would be the best landing spot for Ayton thanks to the greatness of Young.
If Phoenix had drafted Luka Doncic rather than Ayton at No. 1 overall in 2018, Phoenix may have considered adding Clint Capela to their frontcourt. Four years later, Capela being re-routed to Phoenix in an Ayton sign-and-trade is a plausible scenario to imagine. Capela would provide similar numbers to Ayton while requiring less of an offensive workload. Meanwhile, Bogdan Bogdanovic might vault to the top the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year leaderboards in the near future. Bogdanovic and Cameron Johnson leading the Suns&rsquo; second unit? That&rsquo;s a filthy thought.
***
None of these trades are perfect, but they do illustrate how challenging it will be for Phoenix to find a home for Ayton while also returning the value they'd love to get back for him. Ultimately, it may be in the Suns' best interest to re-sign Ayton this offseason and trade him at some point down the road when his value isn't so depressed.
Whatever happens, Ayton&rsquo;s name will continue to pop up in rumors throughout the spring and summer until the Suns and Ayton's camp find common ground at the negotiation table. This situation could become awkward and dragged out, which would surely kick the trade rumors into high gear. This isn't the last we'll hear about Ayton and the possibility of him changing teams.
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With Deandre Ayton's future in Phoenix becoming murky, it's time to examine potential destinations for the former No. 1 overall pick.

Examining potential sign-and-trade destinations for Deandre Ayton

The Utah Jazz&rsquo;s 2021-22 season is officially over. The Jazz believed they were a championship contender, but this marks another season ending in disappointment and heartbreak. Now, looking ahead at what&rsquo;s to come in Salt Lake City, massive changes seem to be on the horizon. Whether it be Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert on the move, something&rsquo;s gotta give. Other veterans such as Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic could be on the move too.
While our Bryan Fonseca recently broke down <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-desinations-for-donovan-mitchell-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">possible trade destinations for Mitchell</a>, it's seems likely that the Jazz will try to appease their young star shooting guard. Gordon Hayward already broke Utah&rsquo;s heart a few years ago when he left in free agency. If Mitchell requested a trade, it would send shockwaves throughout Utah. Unlike Hayward, Mitchell has star power that transcends Utah and he could potentially lead the team to heights they haven&rsquo;t reached since the 1990s with John Stockton and Karl Malone.
If the Jazz have to move their homegrown three-time Defensive Player of the Year in order to keep Mitchell, I'm almost certain it would happen. It&rsquo;s an unfortunate twist of fate for Gobert, but leaving the Jazz&rsquo;s system might be the best thing for him so he can truly blossom into a true two-way presence.
As seen throughout Utah's first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks, Gobert was ignored or simply used as a decoy more often than not. If Gobert is used on a more consistent basis in a different environment, who knows what he could accomplish as one of the NBA&rsquo;s premier lob threats?
Gobert hitting the trade market would result in a feeding frenzy around the Association. Whether it be title contenders or rebuilding teams who feel close to a massive leap, Gobert could be viewed as the missing piece to the puzzle.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into five realistic destinations for a Gobert blockbuster deal this offseason.
Chicago Bulls
Chicago knows they&rsquo;re in desperate need of a defensive jolt. Adding Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso in the backcourt already brought a new identity to the Bulls, who were seemingly allergic to defense before their arrival. Myles Turner has been mentioned as a possible target for Chicago, but the Indiana Pacers are <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/despite-trade-talks-the-pacers-want-to-keep-myles-turner-longterm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> expected to keep him long-term. Why not swing for the fences with Gobert? Acquiring the 29-year-old would be a crown-jewel moment for the organization.&nbsp;
Imagine the possibilities for Chicago with Gobert patrolling the paint with Ball and Caruso hawking the perimeter. It&rsquo;s the perfect complement to offensive dynamos Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. Chicago&rsquo;s new starting lineup of Ball, Caruso, LaVine, DeRozan and Gobert would seemingly have no holes in it from a two-way perspective.
I absolutely love this idea for Chicago, and they should be blowing up the Jazz&rsquo;s phone this summer if it seems plausible.
Jazz receive: Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, Coby White, draft compensation
Bulls receive: Rudy Gobert
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New York Knicks
The Knicks are bound to blow it up one way or another soon enough. Julius Randle feels like <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/five-nba-players-who-feel-destined-to-be-traded-this-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the most obvious trade candidates</a> to potentially hit the market this offseason. If the Knicks are done with Randle, could they parlay him and other young pieces to acquire Gobert? While <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-desinations-for-donovan-mitchell-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York would love to land Mitchell</a>, the Knicks should seriously explore a Gobert trade since the organization needs some sort of game-changing move.
The 2022-23 season feels like a make-or-break year for the current Knicks regime. Head coach Tom Thibodeau&rsquo;s seat is red-hot, plus the Knicks&rsquo; front office has to be itching to make some sort of move to change course from a stale build.
Gobert&rsquo;s arrival would signal New York is ready to finally ascend the Eastern Conference standings. Sure, Gobert isn&rsquo;t a true &ldquo;superstar,&rdquo; but he&rsquo;s far and away the most impactful player the Knicks could realistically reel in this offseason. Gobert being the adult in the room for an accelerated rebuild in the Big Apple is a fun scenario, especially as it provides a high-floor outcome immediately.
New York&rsquo;s current roster has ample flexibility to turn it all over again by 2023. If the Knicks clear out all of their contracts with team options and expiring deals, sans the young core, they will have a max slot open for the loaded 2023 free-agent class. Would Gobert and RJ Barrett be able to sell a star on New York? If Barrett takes the leap forward that many expect, that&rsquo;s a fun big/wing duo to build around long-term.
Utah will likely want at least another young asset or two in return as part of this projected blockbuster, but the framework is strong enough to build off it.
Jazz receive: Julius Randle, Alec Burks, Quentin Grimes, draft compensation
Knicks receive: Rudy Gobert
Atlanta Hawks
Want to find the perfect fit for Gobert outside of Utah? The Hawks are the ideal destination for Gobert, who would be able to shine outside of the Jazz&rsquo;s system. Trae Young pick-and-rolls with Gobert would simply be unfair to try to guard, and it would help insulate their star point guard in a better situation.
Atlanta also has the right amount of assets to make this compelling for Utah to pull the trigger. Whether it be John Collins or Bogdan Bogdanovic, either one could be the centerpiece to a Gobert deal. Also, Atlanta has an upcoming expiring salary in Danilo Gallinari with only $5 million guaranteed on his contract. If you throw together Collins, Gallinari and future draft compensation, it could be enough for the Jazz to take negotiations more seriously. Clint Capela could also be re-routed to another team to free up further cap flexibility as well.
For Atlanta, they are ready to win right now with Young leading the way. With Young, Kevin Huerter, De&rsquo;Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson, they have a young core that's ready to take the next step. Gobert brings a star piece to an organization that has the urgency to compete right now in the East, and they'll want to bounce back after how they crashed and burned to end their 2021-22 season. Also, the Hawks had the NBA's 26th-ranked defense this season (allowing 112.1 points per 100 possessions), so adding a three-time Defensive Player of the Year could be just what they need.
It wouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise to see a player of Young&rsquo;s caliber push for Gobert to join him in Atlanta too. With all the trade rumors swirling around Collins since he signed a five-year extension, this deal makes a lot of sense for both sides to explore further.
Jazz receive: John Collins, Danilo Gallinari, future draft compensation
Hawks receive: Rudy Gobert
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Golden State Warriors
Smoke is already forming around this possibility, if the Jazz indeed decide to blow it up in a few months. For the Warriors, it&rsquo;s an all-in move to create another dynasty in the final prime years of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. With so much young talent climbing the ladder in the reloaded Western Conference, the time is now for the Warriors to make a splashy move to keep themselves atop the standings.
This will be the last time the Warriors can explore potential deals revolving around Andrew Wiggins&rsquo; bloated salary as well. Next season, Wiggins will be on an expiring contract making $33.6 million. With Wiggins, Golden State can immediately enter the conversation for Gobert while also having some intriguing young pieces that could appeal to Utah.
Jonathan Kuminga is likely off limits from the Warriors&rsquo; perspective, flashing real two-way potential throughout this season. However, what about a combination of Moses Moody and James Wiseman? Instantly, Utah can replenish their young core with two immediate contributors to place alongside Mitchell long-term. Throw in some future draft picks and the Jazz might be the ones who are ready to press &ldquo;accept&rdquo; on this hypothetical trade.
Golden State&rsquo;s new-age lineup of dominance would simply be unfair. Take a look at the Warriors&rsquo; projected lineup with Gobert: Curry, Jordan Poole, Thompson, Green and Gobert. With all of the versatility on display here, it could vault Golden State into a different stratosphere entirely.
Jazz receive: Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, Moses Moody, future draft compensation
Warriors receive: Rudy Gobert, Rudy Gay
Detroit Pistons
Here&rsquo;s a surprise team that could become very aggressive in the Gobert sweepstakes if the chips fall their way this offseason. No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham flashed superstar potential for the Pistons during his rookie campaign, especially after the All-Star break.
If the Pistons get lottery luck once more with a top pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, could they decide to push some chips into the middle of the table for Gobert? Imagine if the Pistons had a trio of Cunningham, Gobert and a top prospect (Jabari Smith or Paolo Banchero?) to build around for the next five-plus years.
For the Pistons, acquiring stars via the draft or trades is the only realistic route to obtaining a game-changing talent. We already saw it on display with their former regime when they traded for Blake Griffin, which led to little progress long-term. Unlike Griffin, Gobert actually fits into the organization's long-term calculus.
From the Jazz&rsquo;s perspective, they would be asking for a heavy return from a team like Detroit. We&rsquo;re talking two key pieces to their core as well as veteran wing Jerami Grant. Would the Pistons feel comfortable moving Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart for Gobert? That may be Utah's asking price.
Jazz receive: Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Kelly Olynyk, future draft compensation
Pistons receive: Rudy Gobert, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
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Entering a pivotal offseason, will the Utah Jazz blow it up? If so, which teams make sense as a landing spot for Rudy Gobert?

Examining potential trade destinations for Rudy Gobert

In spite of Luka Dončić only playing half of the series, the Utah Jazz have been eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs, which can only mean it&rsquo;s time to blow them up!
Okay, not really... but maybe? Virtually everyone is expecting organizational changes given the team's recent underachievement in the playoffs stemming from successful regular seasons. This incarnation of the Jazz was established in 2017-18, behind then-rookie Donovan Mitchell&rsquo;s quick rise to stardom and Rudy Gobert&rsquo;s emergence as an annual Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
That season, Mitchell &mdash; filling the void left by Gordon Hayward &mdash; finished his first season as a 20-point-per-game scorer despite being picked No. 13 overall and averaging just over 14 points per game in his first 19 appearances. Gobert, even having played only 56 games, was awarded his first of now three DPOY awards.
In these five years, there have been as many playoff trips &mdash; three as the No. 5 seed (including this season), one as the No. 6 in the Orlando Bubble, and another as the top overall seed in the Western Conference last year.
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In 2017-18, the Jazz overachieved, taking down the Russell Westbrook-Paul George-Carmelo Anthony-led Oklahoma City Thunder in six games before losing to the No. 1 seed Houston Rockets in five contests.
In 2018-19, Utah lost to the Rockets again in five, this time in the first round, and Houston even led 3-0 with a +55 scoring margin before dropping Game 4.
In 2019-20, the Jazz squandered a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets, losing Game 7 in the final seconds of the opening round.
Last season &mdash; despite the Los Angeles Clippers losing Kawhi Leonard to a torn ACL (that he&rsquo;s still not back from) &mdash; the Jazz <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2yBy-EqnU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost in six games to the Clippers</a> in the West semifinals, and Gobert was dunked on by both Terance Mann and social media in the ending.
And finally, this postseason &mdash; in a series with Dončić missing the first three games with a calf injury, in which Utah still trailed 2-1 upon his return &mdash; Utah lost on yet another last-second heartbreaker.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
THE PLAYOFF DROUGHT IS OVER. THE DALLAS MAVERICKS ADVANCE TO THE SECOND ROUND SINCE 2011!<a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> | 📺 BSSW | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dALLasIN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dALLasIN</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> <a href="https://t.co/VcWGAdSOL4">pic.twitter.com/VcWGAdSOL4</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1519896562079518727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Given <a href="https://twitter.com/tribjazz/status/1482077811019902980">the sniping back-and-forth between Mitchell and Gobert</a>, the Jazz's inability to break through and how far behind they appear from the top teams in the West, this seems like the summer where sizeable moves will be coming.
Personally speaking, it feels like we&rsquo;re heading toward Mitchell requesting a trade and moving on, but either way, one of Mitchell or Gobert &mdash; perhaps both &mdash; may be on the move in the coming months. Our Evan Sidery <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-rudy-gobert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently looked at five trade ideas involving Gobert</a>.
Today, let's look at where Mitchell could end up, <a href="https://fanspo.com/nba/trade-machine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using this trade machine</a>.
Mitchell is due $30.3 million next year, $32.6 million in 2023-24, $34.9 million in 2024-25, and has a player option for $37 million in 2025-26. Keep that in mind as we embark on this journey together. (Why did I sound like Professor Oak there?)
New York Knicks
Mitchell&rsquo;s father, Donovan Sr., works with the New York Mets organization. The 25-year-old Mitchell himself is a native of Elmsford, New York. Naturally, with the New York Knicks, there will be Mitchell smoke until a deal (or something else) actually happens. Because Tommy Beer already <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/expect-the-knicks-to-make-a-real-run-at-donovan-mitchell-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke down the possibility of a Mitchell-to-New-York trade</a>, we won&rsquo;t stay here too long.
Regarding the Knicks&rsquo; actual proposal, the first look would be to RJ Barrett, who is extension eligible this summer, entering year four and making $10.9 million next year. The idea, for New York, should be to team Barrett and Mitchell together. If that&rsquo;s not possible, and the Mitchell deal were to have to get done, Barrett is your chief trade chip, along with first-round draft picks. The Knicks have all their own first-rounders as of this writing.
Usable salaries for the Knicks next year include Evan Fournier, who&rsquo;ll be at $18 million, Derrick Rose at $14.5 million, Alec Burks at $10 million, Nerlens Noel at $9.2 million and Kemba Walker at over $9.1 million. Rose, Burks and Noel all have team options for 2023-24, so they have ostensibly expiring deals. Walker&rsquo;s next season is his last under contract, and Fournier is signed through 2025, but that also includes a team option. Cam Reddish and Taj Gibson also enter the last year of their respective deals, at about $6 million and $5.1 million each, respectively.
The contract elephant in the room is Julius Randle&rsquo;s, which is a four-year, $117 million extension that begins next season at $26.1 million. It&rsquo;ll gradually increase until his player option for $32.4 million kicks in for 2025-26. The Knicks might try to move Randle instead, but what sense does that make for Utah? And if Utah isn&rsquo;t getting Barrett, would they want a package of the aforementioned veterans (say, Fournier and Burks), along with one or two of Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, or Miles McBride (who make between $1.6 and $2.3 million next year) and picks?
It&rsquo;ll be hard to do without Barrett, and maybe Randle gets involved in a three-team deal, but the Knicks have the picks, salaries and prospects to make it work, if that&rsquo;s the route the Jazz want to go.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons seem like a team that could be a version of this past season&rsquo;s Cleveland Cavaliers &mdash; not in terms of play style or once being a top-four team in the Eastern Conference standings necessarily, but from the standpoint of being competitive a year sooner than we think and playing meaningful games down the stretch (like one or two in the Play-In Tournament).
Given that 20 of 30 NBA teams will have games beyond the regular season, the Pistons may (should) attempt to get one of those spots.
Last year&rsquo;s No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham is <a href="https://youtu.be/I9OLPXxgYWk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">someone you can build with</a>. Saddiq Bey should be a more efficient scorer with more experience and better teammates. Most of the rest is to be determined, but Detroit can start by using Jerami Grant&rsquo;s near $21 million expiring deal next summer.
What comes next depends on what stage the Jazz want to be closer to. If this is a rebuild, you can ask for a combination of Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo (both of whom make over $5 million next year), for example, and Hayes has a $7.4 million team option for 2023-24. If not, Kelly Olynyk has $12.8 million coming to him next year that&rsquo;s usable. Utah can in throw in, hypothetically, Royce O&rsquo;Neale&rsquo;s $9.3 million deal next year and get Olynyk anyway.
So the player framework can look something like:
<ul>
<li>Donovan Mitchell for Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk</li>
<li>Donovan Mitchell for Jerami Grant, Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo</li>
<li>Donovan Mitchell and Royce O&rsquo;Neale for Jerami Grant, Killian Hayes, Hamidou Diallo and Kelly Olynyk plus a sh*t ton of draft picks. The Pistons would be moving something like three first-rounders in the deal, and potentially multiple first-round pick swaps.</li>
</ul>
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Miami Heat
I brought this up during <a href="https://youtu.be/XBQwn0pOAa4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's NBA Trade Deadline stream</a>.&nbsp;
The Heat didn&rsquo;t do it then, but it might still be on the table depending on how these playoffs go. The Heat might not offer the best return package because of their draft picks, but they did unlock additional firsts by moving KZ Okpala to Oklahoma City in February. And, for Miami, we&rsquo;re mainly talking about one package. But again, it depends on the results of this postseason.&nbsp;
Currently, the Heat are getting ready to face the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, a matchup they&rsquo;re favored to win (albeit narrowly). If they lose this particular series, or if they win and Tyler Herro continues to struggle in the playoffs, or even if Miami makes a deep run and Herro elevates from a slow start, he&rsquo;d be the primary chip in a Mitchell deal. Furthermore, the <a href="https://twitter.com/GregSylvander/status/1482101290964504580" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heat are on Mitchell&rsquo;s shortlist</a>, according to Greg Sylvander of Five Reasons Sports.
The deal, as I mentioned on our stream, would include Herro &mdash; who is still on a rookie-scale contract ($5.7 million next year), but is extension-eligible this summer and wouldn&rsquo;t kick-in until 2023. Then comes Duncan Robinson, who&rsquo;ll enter the second year of a five-year, $90 million deal next season, which bookends with a near $20 million player option and rises to $16.9 million next season.
According to the trade machine, Omer Yurtseven&rsquo;s $1.7 million next season makes the math work, and would give Utah a Gobert backup who&rsquo;ll, if nothing else, get you 10 rebounds in 15 minutes on occasion. Would the Heat have to throw in at least one of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus or Haywood Highsmith (all of whom make between $1.7 and $1.8 million next year)? Perhaps. And from there, Miami has tradeable first-rounders in 2022, 2024 and 2026. So, in summation, it could look like this:
<ul>
<li>Donovan Mitchell for Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven, one of Gabe Vincent/Max Strus/Haywood Highsmith, draft capital</li>
</ul>
But if Herro has a big playoff run moving forward, the Heat may instead opt to move Robinson in a separate, smaller deal for a worthy big man in their rotation, and mostly run it back otherwise.
Atlanta Hawks
Alright, now you saw what the Heat did to Trae Young in the first round. The Hawks clearly are not only poised to get Young some help, but make a 3-for-1-ish deal to consolidate some depth into a higher-end starter &mdash; or in the case of Mitchell, a fellow offensive starter. His teammate, Gobert, is probably the better fit, but one, I&rsquo;m not writing about Gobert (our Evan Sidery will handle that) and two, if Gobert is frustrated with Mitchell&rsquo;s defense...
But anyway, you gotta start somewhere. And for Atlanta, part of why the Heat neutralized Young is their malleability defensively, but also, the Hawks don&rsquo;t have another true star to account for on the perimeter. Mitchell would give Young a viable tag team partner offensively to spread the defensive focus. To do so, the Hawks could play this a few different ways.
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The obvious trade chip is John Collins, and there could be questions about his fit next to Gobert, but it&rsquo;s not a bad place to start if you&rsquo;re moving someone of Mitchell&rsquo;s caliber. Collins will make $23.5 million next year, and between $25.3 and $26.6 million through 2025-26. Collins has had rumored friction with Young, though they&rsquo;ve downplayed it over the years. From there, if you use Collins in a possible deal, it gets interesting.&nbsp;
De&rsquo;Andre Hunter &mdash; who makes $9.8 million next year in the last season of a rookie deal and is extension-eligible this summer &mdash; seems logical for both the Jazz to want and the Hawks to keep. Hunter was Atlanta's best player against the Heat, and has been a quality two-way wing when healthy. Is a framework of Collins and Hunter for Mitchell straight up enough of a deal for both sides? Sheeeeeiiiiit, ask them, but it sounds good to me!
<ul>
<li>Donovan Mitchell for John Collins and De'Andre Hunter</li>
</ul>
No Collins? Okay. You&rsquo;re not moving Clint Capela&rsquo;s long-term deal for Utah in a Mitchell move, so that&rsquo;s out of the picture. Kevin Huerter would absolutely have to be part of this, and no, that&rsquo;s not a white Utah joke. Hu-why would you think that?&nbsp;
Huerter begins his $65 million extension next year, the first of four, banking $14.5 million in 2022-23. Hunter probably stays in the deal because Utah has to get something really good, and the Hawks simply can&rsquo;t extend everyone. Again, Atlanta should want to keep Hunter, but this is the price of doing business. But if you&rsquo;re throwing in Huerter instead of Collins (which does work on the trade machine since different rules apply in the offseason than in-season), you&rsquo;ll need multiple first round picks &mdash; of which the Hawks have all their own &mdash; so that could get done.
Could Utah also want Onyeka Okongwu? Sure, but he seems like Atlanta's 5-man of the future, and a separate deal moving off Capela might be more likely. So the second proposal could look like this:
<ul>
<li>Donovan Mitchell for De'Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter, draft capital</li>
</ul>
Now, the Hawks would still need to figure some things out defensively, seeing as how they&rsquo;d be led by two 6-foot-1 scorers in the backcourt. They could just became the new Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to some extent, but <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/a-salute-to-the-defiance-of-damian-lillard-and-cj-mccollum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Portland Trail Blazers are as much to blame for that &ldquo;not working,&rdquo;</a> and the Hawks can learn from those team-building mistakes.&nbsp;
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Bryan Fonseca takes a look at four logical landing spots for Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell.

Examining potential trade desinations for Donovan Mitchell 

The 2022 NBA Draft is still two months away, but that&rsquo;s when the dominoes around the Association begin to fall for player activity. In a shallow class of free agents, the trade market will be the best way for teams to make win-now moves. So many teams are in flux, stuck between pushing for the postseason or rebuilding. When scouring the potential trade marketplace, five names stand out from the rest.
Malcolm Brogdon
The Tyrese Haliburton era is in full swing for the Indiana Pacers, which showed immediate long-term promise for a star-starved organization. With Haliburton in place as the primary building block for the Pacers, it&rsquo;s time to say adios to the failed Malcolm Brogdon partnership.
Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard is on record as saying Haliburton is their point guard of the future, and he even compared acquiring him to former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. If that doesn&rsquo;t say they&rsquo;re all-in on Haliburton, then I don&rsquo;t know what to tell you.
Although Brogdon put together career-best scoring numbers during his time in Indiana, availability continued to be a serious problem for the veteran combo guard. During the 2021-22 campaign, Brogdon missed 46 games due to nagging injury issues.
Another interesting angle to monitor from the Pacers&rsquo; point of view is losing a first-round pick they expected to receive via the Caris LeVert trade back in February. After the Cavaliers&rsquo; collapse post-All-Star break, Indiana lost out on a top-20 pick they were planning on using for further draft ammunition.
Moving Brogdon would help recoup that asset, now deferred to next season. Brogdon&rsquo;s trade market could be robust thanks to his two-way versatility, despite his injury woes.
If there&rsquo;s any player in the Association who feels like a lock to be dealt, it&rsquo;s Brogdon, thanks to the Haliburton era beginning in Indianapolis.
Christian Wood
Christian Wood is seemingly on the way out in Houston. The Rockets&rsquo; rookie big man Alperen Sengun shined in a limited role, which increased later on as Wood&rsquo;s minutes diminished. Wood was shopped by the Rockets before the trade deadline, but they weren't able to move him. That may change this offseason.
As an expiring contract making only $14 million, Wood offers any contender a ready-made stretch four who provides intriguing upside. For Houston, there&rsquo;s no reason to keep Wood around. He simply doesn&rsquo;t fit their timeline with a young core spearheaded by Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr. and Sengun.
Wood originally signed with the Rockets to be a pick-and-roll partner with James Harden, but Harden is no longer with the team. With a potentially fresh opportunity on the horizon, Wood has the chance to cash in if he lands in the right situation.
One team who continues to make sense for Wood as a long-term fit is the Miami Heat. Miami reportedly offered the Rockets Duncan Robinson for Wood, which Houston rebuked. With the Heat&rsquo;s 2023 first-round pick now available, could that change the Rockets&rsquo; mind on this swap? If Houston can offload Wood while obtaining a sharpshooter and a future first, it makes way too much sense.
Whether it be Miami or elsewhere, Wood&rsquo;s market has the chance to catch fire in a few months. He feels like another shoo-in to be on the move.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
CHRISTIAN WOOD ARE YOU SERIOUS! 39 POINTS AND THIS RIDICULOUS SHOT 😱 <a href="https://t.co/rqWDA2NS4z">pic.twitter.com/rqWDA2NS4z</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1506094094698774528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Jerami Grant
Another player who has been stuck in trade rumors for the past calendar year is Jerami Grant, who bet on himself and signed a long-term deal with the rebuilding Detroit Pistons. Grant sought out a role where he would be more of a focal point offensively, and he&rsquo;s shown now over a large sample size he can get it done in that area.
However, Grant&rsquo;s best fit for any contending team is how he was used with the Denver Nuggets. As a third or fourth option who also handles the best scorer on the defensive end, Grant would fit onto any team looking to take a significant leap forward next season.
Grant is another player who doesn&rsquo;t fit the timeline of his current team. With the Pistons projected to have another top pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, plus an enticing young core led by 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, the youth movement is in full effect in the Motor City. The Pistons would be wise to shop off Grant to the highest bidder around the draft or in early July.
Grant&rsquo;s elite versatility provides him a strong role anywhere he lands. And don&rsquo;t be shocked by the price tag for a Grant trade this offseason. Contenders will get into a bidding war to secure the services of a strong plug-and-play wing who will raise their ceiling immediately.
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John Collins
What&rsquo;s next for the Atlanta Hawks? After a disappointing first-round exit in the postseason thanks to the Heat, Atlanta&rsquo;s roster has a few interesting decisions looming ahead. One of those revolves around dynamic power forward John Collins, who has continued to hear his name floated in trade rumors since signing a five-year extension last offseason.
Collins let it be known this season he was frustrated with his role on the offensive end, and soon after we once again heard trade winds blowing around the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon. If the Hawks begin fielding offers on Collins this offseason, expect Atlanta to net a significant asset (or assets) in return.
Trae Young is obviously the straw that stirs the drink in Atlanta&rsquo;s system, but take a look at all of the young pieces in place within their organization: Onyeka Okongwu, Kevin Huerter, DeAndre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and you can even throw in the more experienced veteran in Bogdan Bogdanovic to the mix thanks to his strong fit with Young. Huerter already signed his rookie-scale extension, but Hunter and Okungwu will soon be due. The same goes for Bogdanovic, if he wants to stay in Atlanta past the 2022-23 season.
From a financial standpoint, Collins feels like the easiest piece to move in order to keep everyone else intact. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if the Hawks use Collins&rsquo; contract alongside Danilo Gallinari&rsquo;s expiring salary ($21.4 million) to go star hunting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Trae Young finds John Collins in the corner for 3 🎯<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by Google Pixel on ESPN <a href="https://t.co/pGchqDhGyW">pic.twitter.com/pGchqDhGyW</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1517668614333210634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Julius Randle
What a disaster this season was for the New York Knicks. After a surprising surge in the 2020-21 campaign, the Knicks felt inclined to run it back with their veteran-heavy core. Looking back on it now, that decision has left egg on the face of New York&rsquo;s front office.
After winning Most Improved Player, Julius Randle may have been the winner of &ldquo;Most Disappointing Player,&rdquo; if such an award actually existed. Randle seemed out of it for most of the season, not utilizing his special motor to help the Knicks consistently. Whether Randle&rsquo;s incredible run was a flash in the pan or the fit has worn itself out, something has to give this offseason.
We should also note the emergence of former lottery pick Obi Toppin, who continued to flash when given more playing time for the Knicks. Toppin makes Randle more expendable, and that should be the primary plan for New York this offseason.
Randle&rsquo;s contract is very movable, too. Making $26.1 million next season, Randle would help present a strong trade market for New York to scour for the best offers. And who knows? Maybe Randle bounces back to his 2020-21 form in a different environment.
For Randle and the Knicks, it&rsquo;s in the best interest of both parties to split up.
While we're still a couple of months away from the trade market opening back up, there are plenty of big names who could be moved. These players should find themselves at the top of that list, as any of them would prove a huge boost for the organization acquiring them.
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Looking ahead to the offseason, here are five names to monitor as potential trade targets.

Five NBA players who feel destined to be traded this offseason

For a third of the NBA, summer break comes early.&nbsp;
Though 10 teams didn't make the playoffs, it's not all doom and gloom. Several NBA bottom-feeders took tangible steps forward in their rebuilding efforts, while others &mdash; well, they're not supposed to be here.
Every franchise enters the offseason with summer plans. As teams get eliminated from the postseason, I'll be rounding up every team's offseason outlook and posing one question they must answer over the summer. You'll see each squad's 2022 NBA Draft chest, plus their potential free agents, along with the central question.&nbsp;
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Let's get started!
DETROIT PISTONS 
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick (via Brooklyn)
Potential free agents:&nbsp;Marvin Bagley III (restricted), Cory Joseph (player option), Hamidou Diallo (team option), Frank Jackson (team option), Luka Garza (team option), Carsen Edwards (team option), Rodney McGruder 
Central question: How do the Pistons build an offense around Cade Cunningham?
This was a pretty solid season for Detroit as far as rebuilding efforts go. Cade Cunningham emerged as a Rookie of the Year front-runner and two-way centerpiece who has fans ecstatic about his ceiling. The Pistons finished a solid 10-14 after the All-Star break, and have shown flashes of an improving defense. They did still finish with the 28th-ranked offense, per Cleaning the Glass, and one of the worst shooting rates in the NBA.
Cunningham had to carry a ridiculous offensive load in the latter stages of the season. Detroit has the power to change that in 2022-23, starting with its high draft pick. Maybe Jabari Smith's lights-out scoring means he's an ideal secondary option? Perhaps Paolo Banchero thrives as an additional creator, or maybe Chet Holmgren makes sense as a finisher and spot-up threat? The fun part about Cunningham is that his versatility creates so many pathways for the Pistons in the draft &mdash; whether or not the ping pong balls fall their way.
Detroit wields a cap hold of approximately $28 million on Bagley, and once that lifts (either via a new contract or letting him walk), the Pistons should have a solid chunk of cap space to add to the supporting cast.
HOUSTON ROCKETS
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), better of Brooklyn/Miami first-round picks
Potential free agents: John Wall (player option), Dennis Schroder, Bruno Fernando (restricted), Jae'Sean Tate (team option), Anthony Lamb (qualifying offer), Trevelin Queen (qualifying offer)
Central question: How patient is the front office willing to be?
Houston's 2021 draft strategy of "draft talent, figure out the fit later" appears to be working out. Jalen Green demonstrated an Anthony Edwards-esque leap post-All-Star break, Alperen Sengun is already one of the NBA's best passing bigs, and guys like Josh Christopher and KJ Martin routinely hinted at upside. Houston gets another prime shot at a franchise cornerstone this draft cycle. We're approaching Stage 2 of the strategy, though: figuring out how the pieces fit.&nbsp;
The Rockets were one of two NBA teams with bottom-five ratings on offense and defense. They led the league in rim frequency and were fourth in three-point frequency, but posted mediocre shooting clips. Houston evokes memories of the rebuilding Nets, who played a similarly extreme brand of ball for a few years as the team slowly reshaped into a fun playoff squad. Does the front office have the foresight to let head coach Stephen Silas work things out with his roster of young guns?&nbsp;
INDIANA PACERS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
How is there a &ldquo;rebuild&rdquo; to afraid of if it isn&rsquo;t a rebuild? <a href="https://t.co/0pDD7E6Mss">pic.twitter.com/0pDD7E6Mss</a>
&mdash; Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1512127632758001664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Draft assets: First-round pick (10.5% chance at No. 1), First-round pick (if 15-30, via Cleveland), Second-round pick (via Houston), Second-round pick (via Phoenix)
Potential free agents: Ricky Rubio, T.J. Warren, Jalen Smith, Lance Stephenson, Nate Hinton (restricted), Oshae Brissett (team option)
Central question: How extreme is the incoming rebuild, and what veterans mesh with the future vision?
Notably unlisted among the potential free agents are Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, Buddy Hield and T.J. McConnell. All range from solid starters to rotational complements, and 3 of the 4 (not Turner) will be 30 next season. The Pacers are clearly retooling, as evidenced by their trade-deadline fireworks and Tyrese Haliburton's subsequent high usage. They also have publicly flip-flopped regarding the direction of the team; see the above Tweet.
Indiana doesn't have the pure depth of talent to straddle the line. The Pacers can trade many of these talented players and build up a chest of draft picks and young pieces, or they can charge ahead, turn their picks into win-now players and hope Haliburton is ready for the playoff push. But a middle ground doesn't exist in an Eastern Conference where just about every team has solidified its direction.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Draft assets: None
Potential free agents: Russell Westbrook (player option), Kendrick Nunn (player option), Austin Reaves (team option), Stanley Johnson (team option), Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, D.J. Augustin, Wenyen Gabriel, Mason Jones (restricted)
Central question: What does team-building around two injury-prone superstars look like?
LeBron James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-james-i-dont-have-a-cap-on-how-long-i-want-to-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turns 38 next season</a>, and has played 60-plus games just once in the past four seasons. Anthony Davis has now missed more than half the season in back-to-back years. Sure, the Lakers were a mess regardless of their stars' health, but going forward, is pursuing fits next to James and Davis even worthwhile if the two won't consistently be on the court?
With just three players under contract (the aforementioned stars, plus Talen Horton-Tucker), the Lakers enter another offseason of a roster overhaul. This time, I'd recommend almost entirely forgetting about James and Davis when building the squad and simply try to assemble units that make sense together.&nbsp;
NEW YORK KNICKS
Draft assets: First-round pick (2.5% chance at No. 1, could change based on Play-In results), Second-round pick via Boston and Charlotte (if 56-60)
Potential free agents: Mitchell Robinson, Ryan Arcidiacono 
Central question: What's going to happen with the veterans?
The top six moneymakers for the Knicks next season are all 27 or older, and I think many fans would say that out of the group, only Julius Randle should have started &mdash; and he seriously regressed this season. The young Knicks <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-young-knicks-playing-chess" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clearly showed they're ready to take the mantle</a>.
So what happens with Randle, Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel and Kemba Walker? Is Tom Thibodeau prepared to reduce their (their meaning Burks specifically in this case) minutes and usage, will trades be coming, or will Madison Square Garden burn when Immanuel Quickley opens the season by playing 16 minutes off the bench? New York has drafted extremely well in recent seasons, but the ceiling of the young core is capped if these youngsters don't get a chance to prove themselves in meaningful situations.
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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 
Draft assets: First-round pick (12.5% chance at No. 1), First-round pick via Clippers, First-round pick via Phoenix, Second-round pick
Potential free agents: Derrick Favors (player option), Mike Muscala (team option), Lu Dort (team option), Isaiah Roby (team option), Melvin Frazier (restricted)
Central question: What is the pathway in the frontcourt?
I've stanned Sam Presti's team-building strategy for years now, and I still think it's on track for a serious payoff. Josh Giddey slots in somewhere on your All-Rookie ballot, and draft classmates Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins flashed rotation-caliber play as well. It is simply a joy to watch a random young player have a breakout game on any given night, and OKC has already shown the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-oklahoma-city-thunders-emerging-defensive-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early stages of a prominent defense</a>.
Next up: Capitalize on a draft loaded with intruiging frontcourt players. Banchero, Holmgren and Smith are obviously the best of the best. But even if the Thunder slide in the lottery, they could pounce on an athletic shot-blocker like Jalen Duren, or use one of their later picks on a center like Mark Williams. I'm just spit-balling, but the point is that OKC has plenty of chances to find its big-man anchor and further flesh out its core.
ORLANDO MAGIC
Draft assets: First-round pick (14.0% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick, Second-round pick via Indiana
Potential free agents: Gary Harris, Robin Lopez, Bol Bol (restricted), Ignas Brazdeikis (restricted), Admiral Schofield (restricted)
Central question: How do the offensive pieces fit together?
Orlando quietly logged a 17th-ranked defense this season, and an 11th-ranked unit since Feb. 1. A dismal offense ultimately doomed the Magic, who were riddled with inconsistent shotmaking and poor team efficiency marks throughout the half-court. We don't need to sound any player alarms; it takes time for young guards in particular to grasp the responsibilities of running NBA offenses.&nbsp;
But what if I told you Orlando has wielded bottom-10 offensive ratings every season for the last decade?&nbsp;
Change can start in the draft, again with some of the top offensive forward options like Banchero or Smith. Adding another ball-dominant guard in Jaden Ivey might be overkill, but AJ Griffin and Bennedict Mathurin feel like good wing fits at first glance. Spotrac estimates the Magic could have up to $30 million in practical cap space, leaving plenty of room for veteran players to accentuate the young talent.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
THE D IN DREW STANDS FOR DUNK DO NOT GOOGLE THIS <a href="https://t.co/2AojdAskYV">pic.twitter.com/2AojdAskYV</a>
&mdash; Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) <a href="https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/1508636734900166659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Draft assets: First-round pick (9.0% chance at No. 1), First-round pick via New Orleans (if 5-14), Second-round pick, Second-round pick via Memphis
Potential free agents: Joe Ingles, Jusuf Nurkic, Ben McLemore, Anfernee Simons (restricted), CJ Elleby (restricted), Elijah Hughes (restricted), Keljin Blevins (restricted)
Central question: Is Portland actually trying to win "now" or win soon?
Some really great development happened for the Blazers during the "wash" portion of the season in the form of players like Trendon Watford, Keon Johnson and Drew Eubanks. Add them to Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little and the incomng draft picks, and Portland suddenly has... kind of a sneaky-deep prospect pool? There's real potential to mold this group into a rotation cast that gives Portland one of its deepest rosters in years.
That's why these <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-trade-rumors-portland-is-still-the-frontrunner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jerami Grant trade rumors concern me</a>. Giving up a possible lottery pick to try and piece together a short-term playoff team risks too much and keeps the Trail Blazers in the limbo they have lounged in for several years. Understandably, the franchise wants to build a contender while Damian Lillard is invested and in his prime. With some patience, Portland can without sacrificing sustainibility.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
Draft assets: First-round pick (7.5% chance at No. 1), Second-round pick, Second-round pick (via Chicago)
Potential free agents: Jeremy Lamb, Josh Jackson, Damian Jones, Donte DiVincenzo (restricted), Neemias Queta (restricted), Trey Lyles (team option)
Central question: How does Sacramento turn into a competitive NBA defense?
The Kings have trotted out lackluster defenses for as long as I can remember. In fact, they haven't ranked above 20th in Defensive Rating since 2005-06 &mdash; notably, the last time they made the playoffs.
And that didn't change under interim head coach Alvin Gentry. (Gentry will not return as head coach next season, but is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shams-alvin-gentry-no-longer-interim-coach-of-the-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in talks for a front-office role</a>, per ESPN.) However, the on-paper roster actually shines some hope. Davion Mitchell made highlight reels out of his "Off-Night" defense. Justin Holiday is a solid individual defender, as is Harrison Barnes, and even De'Aaron Fox has his sporadic moments.&nbsp;
Can Sacramento find a head coach who turns a group of intriguing players with defensive potential into even an average squad? What draft and free agency options exist? Of course, the Kings would like to end their NBA-leading playoff drought. That'll come with changing the culture on defense.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Draft assets: First-round pick (2.5% chance at No. 1, depends on Play-In results), Second-round pick (via Dallas)
Potential free agents: Bradley Beal (player option), Thomas Bryant, Raul Neto, Tomas Satoransky, Anthony Gill (restricted), Cassius Winston (restricted)
Central question: What style of guard play is a feasible best fit?
Okay, so obviously the biggest question mark surrounds Bradley Beal's free agency. But from a conceptual standpoint, Washington has tried and failed over the past few seasons to find Beal's best-fitting partner in crime. John Wall, Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie were each supposed to provide the downhill juice Beal lacks. The Wizards either did this at serious expense of another skill area (Wall, Westbrook), or it just didn't translate their at-rim ability (Dinwiddie). All battled injuries as well.
"I think we need bigger guards," <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/bradley-beal-outlines-what-wizards-need-build-contender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beal said in March</a>. "We need more guys that can get in the paint for us, more ball-handlers, more guys that can really create and get two feet in the paint, but also who can knock down threes."
I mean, Beal's needs make total sense. The problem is that every other basketball team on Earth also wants this type of guard.
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Ethan Fuller sets the offseason stage for each team that missed the NBA playoffs.

Summer plans for the NBA's 10 non-playoff teams

Leading up to last month's NBA trade deadline, Jerami Grant's name was consistently popping up in trade rumors. Teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks were all linked to the 28-year-old.
However, for the second year in a row, the Detroit Pistons ultimately decided to hold onto him.
With that said, it's very possible that the Pistons will revisit a potential Grant trade this offseason. If that happens, Portland is the team to watch, says Pistons beat writer James Edwards III of The Athletic.
"I reported, and you did as well, that the Blazers were one of the teams persistent in trying to get Grant," Edwards <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/pistons-rumors-jerami-grant-marvin-bagley-jalen-brunson-mitchell-robinson-chet-holmgren/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype</a>. "I don&rsquo;t think at the time they had the assets [Pistons general manager] Troy Weaver was looking for to trade Grant. He&rsquo;s somebody they like and a good player. Troy had all the leverage. He doesn&rsquo;t have to trade Grant.
"Portland&rsquo;s going to find itself in an interesting situation where they could have a high draft pick coming up&hellip; Maybe if it&rsquo;s high enough, it&rsquo;s an offer the Pistons can&rsquo;t refuse. If Jerami gets traded anywhere this offseason, it&rsquo;s going to be Portland. It feels like Portland is still the front-runner."
The Blazers are currently 27-45, which is the seventh-worst record in the NBA. If Portland stays in this spot, they would have a 31.9% chance of landing a top-four pick in the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a>. Edwards wonders whether the Blazers may be willing to include their lottery pick in a trade for Grant.
"I think a lottery pick would be the kind of sweetener that would [get a deal done]," Edwards explained. "Portland is obviously heading towards that trajectory. It wasn&rsquo;t all the way clear at that point at the deadline. Troy was in no rush to get something done at the deadline.
"My gut tells me that Portland really makes a legitimate push and goes and gets Jerami."
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It remains to be seen how much the Blazers are willing to give up for Grant, but it seems that Portland's veterans would love to see a trade go down (judging by <a href="https://twitter.com/joshhart/status/1506109637006970885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Hart</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/bosnianbeast27/status/1506109718930067458" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jusuf Nurkic</a>'s recent tweets).
Edwards believes that the Pistons would be more likely to trade Grant if they are able to draft a top forward like Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith, Paolo Banchero or Keegan Murray in the 2022 NBA Draft. This would seemingly make Grant more expendable since they would have his replacement on the roster.&nbsp;
This season, Grant is averaging 19.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 threes, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steal while shooting 42.6% from the field, 35.7% from three and 83.8% from the free-throw line. At 20-53, the Pistons have the third-worst record in the NBA and are clearly rebuilding around Cade Cunningham and Co.

Keep an eye on the Portland Trail Blazers as a likely trade destination for Jerami Grant this summer, says James Edwards III.

Jerami Grant trade rumors: 'Portland is still the front-runner'

From a mid-season blockbuster swap involving two disgruntled stars, to rumors that a former No. 1 overall pick wants a change of scenery in only his third season, the topic of player empowerment is front and center in the NBA. &nbsp;
Superstars wanting off their team isn't a new concept. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar forced a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. In recent years, superstars demanding to be dealt is so common that the term &ldquo;player empowerment&rdquo; established itself in our NBA lexicon.&nbsp;
But this season feels different, in that it is rife with unique trade demands. Like Ben Simmons' refusal to play a single minute for the Philadelphia 76ers while requesting a trade, with a whopping four years left on his contract. Or James Harden asking off of his second team in as many years. Even the Zion Williamson situation &mdash; rumored to be disgruntled in New Orleans after playing a total of 85 games &mdash; is unprecedented. With every new trade demand, it feels like stars are pushing the limits and boundaries of player empowerment.
Either the NBA's Mercury is in retrograde or we&rsquo;re witnessing the dawn of a new era.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Player empowerment&rdquo; was popularized in 2010 after LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh conspired to play with each other in Miami. Suddenly, players realized they could control their own destiny and team up to form super-teams.
Since then, player empowerment has largely come to mean trade demands from superstars. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Many executives have decried it as ruining the league's parity and even the sanctity of the game. &nbsp;
"Player empowerment is a catchall for the fact that the league has done a terrible job of empowering teams, the players have all of the leverage in every situation. I think it's the worst thing that ever happened to professional sports on all levels," an anonymous NBA general manager <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/lebron-james-agent-is-transforming-the-business-of-basketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker</a>.&nbsp;
Many fans view it as a win for laborers.&nbsp;
The NBA is, after all, the most progressive sports league. However, without even touching the racial undertones that weave throughout the narrative about the league, it is easy to see why the masses support the players. Fans have watched players lose the battle over the means of production &mdash; from owning 57% of league revenue in 2005 down to only 50% today &mdash; so witnessing players gain autonomy over their playing career by stripping control from owners is celebrated as a nice consolation prize.&nbsp;
As we become inundated with debate over the merits of player empowerment, we&rsquo;ve seemed to skip over what the term actually means and how it actualizes itself in the league.&nbsp;
There is no denying that some players have power and some of those players have controlled the make-up of the league for over a decade. The issue is that player empowerment is a term that poses as the league's players uniting, but instead, it is merely a select few exercising their power over everyone else.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s break this down.&nbsp;
Were the Los Angeles Lakers' young core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart empowered when Anthony Davis forced his way to Los Angeles? Not likely.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s also impossible to imagine all six of Jarrett Allen (Brooklyn to Cleveland), Taurean Prince (Brooklyn to Cleveland), Caris LeVert (Brooklyn to Indiana), Rodions Kurucs (Brooklyn to Houston), Dante Exum (Cleveland to Houston) and Victor Oladipo (Indiana to Houston) felt empowered after being forced to uproot themselves midseason during a pandemic because Harden wanted to join the Nets.&nbsp;
Framing the whims of a small few that can disrupt the lives of many as player empowerment feels disingenuous. A better term would be &ldquo;superstar entitlement.&rdquo;&nbsp;
With the knowledge that player empowerment really means superstar entitlement, it&rsquo;s easy to understand how empowerment stories are often framed as prima donnas throwing tantrums until they get their way.
But maybe it should be framed as superstars earning power through loss of salary.&nbsp;
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With the advent of max salaries, stars are never fairly compensated. The bigger and brighter the star shines, the more they lose out &mdash; with their play forever eclipsing the money they make. Ergo, player empowerment is less about empowering all or even most players and more about compensating superstars in a salary-cap league.&nbsp;
Heliocentric is another popular term in our NBA vernacular; we&rsquo;ve heard the term &ldquo;heliocentric offense,&rdquo; and we&rsquo;ve heard stars described as heliocentric. But it&rsquo;s also a term that can refer to the league itself.&nbsp;
To briefly go back to the 1500s and Copernicus &mdash; heliocentrism is a cosmological theory that the Earth and planets revolve around the sun. And in the NBA, everything revolves around certain stars. The bigger and brighter the star, the stronger their gravitational pull &mdash; the LeBronicus Theory, if you will.&nbsp;
Superstars wield more power than ever. They influence nearly every aspect of an organization &mdash; from coaching hirings and firings, to player personnel and roster construction.
The Harden-for-Simmons swap is an interesting case to dissect, because it centers around two stars whom everything doesn&rsquo;t revolve around.&nbsp;
On one side, there&rsquo;s Harden, whose status as a heliocentric star diminished as soon as he left Houston for Brooklyn. And on the other side is Simmons, a player who could never cement himself into anything more than a secondary star in Philadelphia.
Though both players had leverage, Harden had more because of the status of his contract. Neither were in a place to force their teams to bend to their will &mdash; at least not in the same way Harden was able to back when he told Houston they had a problem.&nbsp;
In Brooklyn, Harden <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33259122/james-harden-wants-trade-philadelphia-76ers-formally-request-deal-due-concern-public-backlash-sources-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly never voiced his desire to leave</a>, and 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey threatened to hold out on trading Simmons for the duration of his contract.
&nbsp;"You're going to think I'm kidding, I'm not. This could [go on for] four years... We're in the prime of Joel's career... Either Ben Simmons is playing for us, or we have to get back a difference-maker," Morey said.
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Morey on his timeline: "You're going to think I'm kidding, I'm not. This could (go on for) 4 years. ... We're in the prime of Joel's career...Either Ben Simmons is playing for us, or we have to get back a difference maker."
&mdash; Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerekBodnerNBA/status/1451288448875343872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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It wasn't Simmons' refusal to play games or Harden&rsquo;s pouting that forced their teams&rsquo; hands.&nbsp; It was that Embiid&rsquo;s play pressured Morey to make a deal, and Kevin Durant <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953512-inside-kevin-durants-role-in-brooklyn-nets-james-harden-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly wanted one too</a>.&nbsp;
Ultimately, the deal came down to what was best for the biggest stars. While James and Ben were the players who used their leverage to request out, Durant and Embiid &mdash; being the heliocentric star of their respective teams &mdash; made the final call.&nbsp;
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What Harden lost in star power in moving to Brooklyn, KD gained by doing the same. Though Durant&rsquo;s play has always been stellar, it&rsquo;s clear he has more power within the Nets' organization than he did with the Warriors. It was Durant, after all, who <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953512-inside-kevin-durants-role-in-brooklyn-nets-james-harden-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly requested Kyrie Irving be allowed to play road games</a> despite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nets-say-kyrie-irving-cant-play-or-practice-with-team-while-unvaccinated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the stance Sean Marks and the Nets took</a> earlier in the season.&nbsp;
Who has power and how much they have is determined by a number of variables, like their standing in the league, their standing on their team, their health, the length of their contract and market size, etc. And this list of powerful players is still arguably fewer than 10 names long in any given season (with some variance).
The variables at play that make Durant&rsquo;s star shine brighter with the Nets than with the Warriors are as simple as the fact that there's another superstar in Golden State &mdash; and he was there first and couldn&rsquo;t be eclipsed.
Of course there are titans like LeBron James, who can completely shift the paradigm of the league with a flippant comment &mdash; like over All-Star Weekend when he hinted at a possible return to Cleveland.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The door&rsquo;s not closed on that&hellip; &nbsp;I&rsquo;m not saying I&rsquo;m coming back and playing, I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t know what my future holds. I don&rsquo;t even know when I&rsquo;m free.&rdquo; James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-james-on-cleveland-return-the-doors-not-closed-on-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Athletic</a>.
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LeBron is back in Cleveland this weekend. His picture is on the building again. At first he said he hasn&rsquo;t thought about returning to play for the Cavs, but then we kept talking. &ldquo;The door&rsquo;s not closed on that,&rdquo; he said. LeBron had a lot to say today. <a href="https://t.co/cdg8RIoxZb">https://t.co/cdg8RIoxZb</a>
&mdash; Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByJasonLloyd/status/1495148179410591745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2022</a></blockquote>

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LeBron&rsquo;s comments dominated the news cycle over the league&rsquo;s busiest weekend, and that's in large part because he will be a free agent in 2023. James signs short-term deals to maximize his leverage even though it means leaving long-term NBA money on the table.
Player empowerment isn&rsquo;t limited to team decisions &mdash; the NBPA also caters to the stars. With recent negotiations featuring superstars at the helm, contract negotiations often prioritize their needs.&nbsp;
Take for example the 2017 CBA. Superstar and NBPA president Chris Paul managed to help push forward the NBA supermax deal, given to players who have either won an MVP award, a Defensive Player of the Year award or earned an All-NBA selection in the previous season &mdash; or two of the previous three. The NBA supermax allows these stars to earn massive five-year deals with a starting salary of up to 35% of the cap.
Paul also helped change the "over-36" rule that prevented players from signing multi-year deals if they are to turn 36 or older over the course of the contract to "over-38." Not lost on anyone, Paul was set to be a free agent the summer of 2017, and pushing the rule back two years would have positively affected how much and how long he could have signed for.&nbsp;
In any collective bargaining, there&rsquo;s a give and a take &mdash; so both parties can walk away feeling like winners. So as collective bargaining agreements continue to reward those at the top, that leaves little for the rest.&nbsp;
Now, let's take a look at punishments. More often than not, disciplinary action comes in the form of fines. Technical fouls, for example, come with a fine of $2,000 for a player&rsquo;s first five offenses.&nbsp;
On Jan. 25 this season, the Sixers faced the New Orleans Pelicans. Embiid and rookie Jose Alvarado got into it and were each assessed technical fouls. That means Alvarado, who earns $462,629 this season, and Embiid, who's making $31.58 million, are meant to pay the same amount. Though Embiid generously offered to cover the fine for Alvarado, the benevolence of stars shouldn&rsquo;t make up for this obvious imbalance.&nbsp;
Fines are meant to disincentivize players from committing offenses, but when by setting these as a specific dollar amount as opposed to a percentage of their salary, they disproportionately&nbsp;hurt the lowest earners. And consequently, they allow the elite to do as they please.&nbsp;
Calling out NBA officials comes with a hefty $25,000 fine &mdash; this would be astronomical to rookies like Alvarado, but not to a superstar like Embiid who has been fined for doing just that. In Feb. 2019, Embiid told reporters the "referees f**king sucked" after a missed call in a close loss to the Boston Celtics. Though the fine undoubtedly hurt his pocketbook, it was a calculated risk he and other high earners like him have the freedom of taking.&nbsp;
From afar, superstar entitlement looks like stars picking their teams; a closer look unveils real inequities like financial penalties and disproportionate representation at the top of the players' union. A more granular look reveals that every scenario and every superstar is unique.&nbsp;
There is, however, one constant amidst the chaos in understanding power dynamics in the league, and that&rsquo;s team control. The NBA draft, rookie contracts, restricted free agency and good old-fashioned trades are just some of the ways in which teams have maintained ultimate control. The difference is when teams wield their power, it&rsquo;s not much of a news story.
We clutch our pearls at Kawhi Leonard demanding a trade but not at the Raptors for sending out DeMar DeRozan. We expect teams to make moves to better their situation, yet players who have become brands in their own right aren&rsquo;t given the freedom to do the same.&nbsp;
Any team would be over the moon to have a superstar play for them &mdash; we recognize this and they recognize this. So, they aren&rsquo;t going to sit back and wish upon a star for a trade. They ask, and if they're good enough, teams will acquiesce. It is a star-driven league, after all. So, we can&rsquo;t be surprised at who's steering the ship. And I&rsquo;d argue it&rsquo;s high time for the rest of the league to just grab on to their seats and hold on, because the era of player empowerment has only started taking off.&nbsp;
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Imman Adan details what "player empowerment" in the NBA truly entails and how it's been framed incorrectly.

The truth about 'player empowerment' in the NBA

I'll let you in on a poorly-kept secret of mine: I'm not a huge fan of (trade) rumor talk serving as the primary source of NBA coverage.
It especially irks me when it's done for players well under contract, or done without firm, he's-absolutely-out-of-there intel. What teams (and players) are doing on the court is infinitely more fun and interesting than where they're pushing to go in the future, for me. It's why my writing is mostly film-intensive, and why <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot podcast</a> exists.&nbsp;
It's important for me to set the stage on my general thoughts because I want you to recognize how hypocritical I'm about to be. There's an exception to every rule, as the old adage goes, and boy is this LeBron James situation looking like the anomoly of all anomolies.
The "where's he going and when can he get there?" wheels have been turning in my head since Saturday. LeBron decided to use All-Star Weekend &mdash; generally a time period for rest, fun, and a celebration of excellence &mdash; to send a message to the Los Angeles Lakers' front office.
We knew he was frustrated with how the season was going; a 27-31 record will do that to you. We can also surmise that's he's over the Russell Westbrook Experiment. It's been a clunky fit on the court that's come with its own media back-and-forth. And in light of former Lakers showing out (hi, Kyle Kuzma) and other Westbrook alternatives trade targets looking pretty darn good (hi, DeMar DeRozan), it's easy to see why LeBron's relationship with the Lakers isn't particularly peachy.
(Of course, there are some easy counters to be made. One could argue injuries to LeBron and Anthony Davis have played a larger role in this season-from-heck than Westbrook's missed jumpers. It's hard to build chemistry when people are in and out of the lineup. Also, hey, LeBron (and Davis) kiiinda vouched for Westbrook, and it's pretty well documented that rosters are genearlly shaped in LeBron's image. He isn't&nbsp;the&nbsp;front office, but he has enough of an influence where the woe-is-me card doesn't hit the same.)
To the message: LeBron found it appropriate (read: strategic) to let it be known that a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lebron-james-on-cleveland-return-the-doors-not-closed-on-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">return to Cleveland isn't out of the cards</a>.
That would be pretty light &mdash; heck, All-Star festivities were in Cleveland so why wouldn't this come up? &mdash; if that didn't also come with <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-02-19/nba-all-star-weekend-lebron-james-lakers-groove" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compliments to Sam Presti's talent evaluation</a>. Or an announcement, <a href="https://theathletic.com/3138844/2022/02/19/could-lebron-james-return-to-cleveland-again-the-doors-not-closed-on-that-he-says/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">via The Athletic</a>, that his final season will be played wherever his son Bronny gets drafted/signed. Or a few days <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/02/18/lebron-james-les-snead-tweet-raises-lakers-questions/">following some Les Snead praise</a>, conveniently showered upon him after an actionless trade deadline from his own team's general manager.
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All of that got me thinking. If LeBron is already setting the stage for an exit, the roster is flawed with limited cap space or pick ammo in the short term, and the top of the conference is pretty set with Phoenix and Golden State (and Memphis, plus a healthy version of Denver if you want to go that route) &mdash; why not press the big red button this offseason?
Why not trade LeBron?
It's an insane-adjacent thought, but think about it. If you know he's gone, and you aren't in position to compete for a title in his last season, why not work with him and rip the Band-Aid off?
But that leads into the other question that has me stuck: What would a deal even look like?
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The value-question is a tough one to answer. LeBron is undoubtedly one of the five best players in the league (and of all-time), but he's also 37 years old and comes with an internal power shift that you better be ready for. How many teams have the ecosystem for LeBron, a roster with good enough pieces to talk the Lakers into and a remaining cast that LeBron could compete with post-trade?
Not very many.
The first team that came to mind was the Phoenix Suns.
They're the best team in the league right now, and have a trio of young pieces &mdash; Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and the oddly-wasn't-given-a-max Deandre Ayton &mdash; they could theoretically move in the summer for LeBron. Between Ayton's max in a sign-and-trade, Bridges' extension kicking in and Johnson's team option, the Suns could easily get to north of $40 mililion in salary to make it work.&nbsp;
(There could be some haggling for Johnson. The Suns do have <a href="https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Suns.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all their picks</a> from 2023 and onward, so maybe they could sub in a first or two down the road in an effort to keep him out of the trade.)
What's left? A trio of Chris Paul (happens to be one of LeBron's best friends), Devin Booker and LeBron. The playmaking and general IQ of the Paul/LeBron convo would make an already-elite half-court attack more difficult to deal with. Even this stage of LeBron would help solve the rim pressure issue; the Suns have ranked last in rim frequency in both seasons of the Paul era, per Cleaning The Glass.
Beyond the Suns, the Cavs could obviously get in the room. They could dangle Evan Mobley if they wanted to and make that phone call a short one; they absolutely won't (and shouldn't!) do that though.&nbsp;
The Cavs also <a href="https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Cavaliers.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have their first-rounders</a> from 2023 and onward, and have enough non-Mobley and non-Darius Garland pieces &mdash; Jarrett Allen, Isaac Okoro, Klutch client Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen &mdash; to put something intriguing together if they don't want to play the wait-for-free-agency game.
Atlanta (John Collins, De'Andre Hunter) could build something out to pair LeBron and Trae Young together. It's hard to believe the Knicks wouldn't want to get in on the LeBron sweepstakes, though it's tough to guage what the stock of RJ Barrett (or Julius Randle, for that matter) is these days.
Could New Orleans build a package around Zi... ahahahahahahaha.
Anyway, color me intrigued by the prospect of a LeBron trade &mdash; even if it is super unlikely.
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Nekias Duncan asks the question we all want to know: Could LeBron actually be traded, and where?

What would a LeBron James trade look like?

The past month saw Talen Horton-Tucker's name get thrown around far more as a bargaining chip than as an actual basketball player.
Horton-Tucker, according to most reports, was the "centerpiece" of many attempted trades by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was involved in swaths of rumored deals, including one from <a href="https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-trade-rumors/lakers-and-rockets-discussed-a-blockbuster-trade-christian-wood-and-john-wall-for-russell-westbrook-talen-horton-tucker-and-2027-first-round-pick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Brian Windhorst</a> that could have brought back Christian Wood and John Wall from Houston. The gossip goes back all the way to last season's trade deadline, when he was supposedly the primary holdup in a potential Kyle Lowry trade.
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Of course, the Lakers didn't make any moves. Horton-Tucker remains on an ill-fitting roster that is lost at a critical juncture of the season. Many fans are probably wondering why he's still on the team and not headed elsewhere with a future draft pick.
It feels like we've been forgetting about who Talen Horton-Tucker actually&nbsp;is as a player. He's 21 years old and playing a role that far exceeds his age and draft slot. Now that THT's short-term future is certain, it's worth pulling some numbers to help describe his unique nature as a young talent.
There are 28 second-round draft picks averaging at least 25 minutes per game over at least 25 games this season. Horton-Tucker is the youngest. Open it up to all players drafted outside the top-20 and THT is still&nbsp;the youngest.&nbsp;Among all players drafted outside the top 10, only Isaiah Stewart is younger.&nbsp;
Horton-Tucker was drafted No. 46 overall in 2019. He was not supposed to be here this quickly, and especially not for a team trying to contend in the postseason. He's receiving almost seven more minutes per game in what I imagine is a more stressful team environment compared to last season.&nbsp;
Now, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything: Talen Horton-Tucker has been one of the most inefficient rotation players on offense in the NBA. Almost every stat points this way, including Cleaning the Glass' Points per 100 Shot Attempts rate, where Horton-Tucker is in the 15th percentile (100.8 PSA) at his position. He turns the ball over at an extremely high rate (13.5%) and has below-league-average efficiency clips from nearly every zone on the floor.
But hidden between the brick houses are some positive indicators. He's a great driver. According to The BBall Index, Horton-Tucker averaged 10 adjusted drives per 75 possessions (82nd percentile) and 3.4 unassisted rim attempts per 75 possessions (86th percentile). He's extremely well-built for a 6-foot-4 21-year-old at 230 pounds, and you see that in how he gets to the basket.&nbsp;
Horton-Tucker's assist rate (14.7%) and assist-to-usage rate (0.77) are both in the top 20%. This is a little misleading; Cleaning the Glass has him listed as a wing this season, but I don't think that's his long-term position &mdash; despite the weird nature of Lakers rotations. Still, those are both solid numbers, and BBall Index supports a case for THT as a passer. Horton-Tucker gets an A+ grade from the database in their "Passing Versatility" metric and an A- grade in their overall "Playmaking Talent" impact estimator. You can read more about how those are calculated <a href="https://www.bball-index.com/glossary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
And if you want a small carrot to chase, Horton-Tucker is making close to 80% of his limited free-throw attempts. That can often be positive foreshadowing of some shooting improvement.&nbsp;
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On defense, THT's block and steal rates are both well above average. He tallies 2.66 deflections per 75 possessions (74th percentile) and turns them into 1.31 steals per 75 possessions (87th percentile). These don't mean he's a "good defender," but they are definitely positives. His wingspan, which is somewhere around seven feet, is ridiculous proportionally.
The Lakers give Horton-Tucker some tough assignments. Per BBall Index, THT spends 21% of the time guarding the opponent's primary ball-handler. He has extremely high marks in "Matchup Difficulty" (80th percentile) and "Positional Versatility" (94th percentile) which essentially means that, from these trackers, Horton-Tucker is asked to handle good offensive players in a variety of contexts. And on the whole, he's been at least passable when doing so.&nbsp;
That's a lot to digest. All of the advanced stats should be taken with a grain of salt &mdash; there's no film here to capture how THT does what he does, and discern if the numbers line up with his fit in a team context. Again, this also isn't meant to overshadow his extreme current negatives on offense and the fact that his defense isn't helping the Lakers enough to make them, well, good.&nbsp;
The point is: Talen Horton-Tucker is interesting for a reason. He's a third-year pro who is only 21 and was expected to be a "project" out of the draft. He's in a larger role than anyone could have anticipated from someone on his career path. His current contract will end in 2024 and he'll still be just 23 years old.&nbsp;
Should the Lakers have traded him in a deal for, say, Kyle Lowry? Definitely. But that doesn't mean Horton-Tucker isn't himself worth betting on in the long-term.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>From <a href="https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/daily-briefing-feb-7-2022-caitlin-clark-history-michigan-big-ten-baylor-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Em Adler of </a><a href="https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/daily-briefing-feb-7-2022-caitlin-clark-history-michigan-big-ten-baylor-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The</a><a href="https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/daily-briefing-feb-7-2022-caitlin-clark-history-michigan-big-ten-baylor-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Next</a>&nbsp;on one of the world's most dominant basketball players, Caitlin Clark (stats as of Feb. 7): "Since New Year&rsquo;s, Clark leads the country in points, assists, points in the paint, usage, attempts from both the field and the line, and nearly leads the country in defensive rebounds. She&rsquo;s also in the 98th percentile in true-shooting and in the 93rd in blocks and ranks third overall in fouls drawn (all per CBB Analytics)." My goodness.</li>
<li>Our Nekias Duncan wrote a super insightful piece on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/on-the-block-minnesota-timberwolves-surging-post-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karl-Anthony Towns' post-up presence</a> and how the Wolves are using it more successfully. My favorite stat from that: Minnesota is averaging 1.02 points per possession on plays with a Towns post-up in 2022, compared to just 0.84 PPP in the 2021 part of the season.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Another plug: Mat Issa opened my eyes to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/steven-adams-the-gatekeeper-of-the-grizzlies-offense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the greatness of Steven Adams</a> this past week. It's crazy the effect he's partially had on pick-and-rolls where he plays:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Check this out: Pick &amp; Roll Ball Handler PPP Pelicans 19-20 (w/o Adams): 30th Pelicans 20-21 (w/Adams): 16th Pelicans 21-22 (w/o Adams): 28th Grizzlies 20-21 (w/o Adams): 25th Grizzlies 21-22 (w/Adams): 17th A lot of other variables at play in all of this, but wow🤯🤯
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1489639468835422212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Ethan Fuller provides some stats as a baseline to assess Talen Horton-Tucker after trade rumors swirled around him.

Stats Notebook: Resetting the dialogue around Talen Horton-Tucker

Nekias Duncan thoroughly grades every NBA trade from 2022 Deadline Week.

Grading every move from 2022 NBA trade deadline week

Shortly after the Sacramento Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Indiana Pacers for Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick, fans and media (and even some <a href="https://twitter.com/HGiiizzle/status/1491118262570336257" target="_blank" rel="noopener">players</a>) rushed to social media to criticize the Kings&rsquo; decision and express confusion over the move.
Meanwhile, people in NBA circles were doing the exact same thing.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get it at all,&rdquo; said a Western Conference scout. &ldquo;How Tyrese was made available is beyond me. It&rsquo;s puzzling.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The Kings are the worst,&rdquo; texted a league source.
&ldquo;What are the Kings doing?&rdquo; asked an NBA trainer. &ldquo;There has to be another trade.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s rare for a trade to warrant such a one-sided response among people around the league, but every individual who spoke to BasketballNews.com questioned the move for Sacramento.
It&rsquo;s not a huge surprise that Sabonis landed with the Kings; after all, Sacramento and Washington were the two teams that had been linked to the big man the most, and it had become increasingly clear that the Wizards lacked the assets to complete a deal.
The shocking part was the inclusion of Haliburton. In the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the Kings were shopping De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III among others, but Haliburton wasn&rsquo;t mentioned as a possible trade chip.&nbsp;
In fact, in an effort to silence some of the Fox trade rumors, Sacramento had <a href="https://theathletic.com/news/kings-have-no-plans-currently-to-trade-deaaron-fox-will-center-team-around-him-sources/k4SfP584UQrs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leaked to The Athletic</a> that they had every intention of building around their backcourt of Fox and Haliburton going forward. Clearly, that was a lie in order to gain leverage in trade talks.
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The strong reaction has less to do with Sabonis and more to do with the fact that the Kings seemingly lack a long-term plan. After all, Sabonis is a two-time All-Star and he&rsquo;s clearly a very talented player; he&rsquo;s averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals this season. But what is the Kings&rsquo; ceiling with Sabonis? The eighth seed and a first-round exit?&nbsp;
Multiple executives said that it feels like Sacramento is mortgaging their future for minimal improvement, especially since they&rsquo;ll still likely miss the playoffs this year (they have the third-worst record in the Western Conference) and potentially next season too.
Also, many NBA executives expect the Kings to make another trade prior to Thursday's deadline.
Haliburton is a 21-year-old with seemingly unlimited upside, and he has a lot of fans around the NBA, so it&rsquo;s not a surprise that many league sources view this trade as a mistake. This season, he's averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 threes and 1.7 steals on .457/.413/.837 shooting splits.
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Kings Reddit is in shock (h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ActionNetworkHQ</a>) <a href="https://t.co/KvGfbqyCpK">pic.twitter.com/KvGfbqyCpK</a>
&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1491123100603551744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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While it seems unlikely, it&rsquo;s possible that this move will work out and the Kings will silence their critics. After all, the last time Sabonis was traded back in 2017, the Pacers were initially ridiculed for that move too.
When Indiana dealt Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, the Pacers were mocked for this return. However, the deal ended up working out since Oladipo and Sabonis emerged as All-Stars and George requested a trade from Oklahoma City after just two seasons.&nbsp;
Two years ago, I <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2020/01/24/nba-rumors-indiana-pacers-front-office-pritchard-buchanan-oladipo-brogdon-behind-the-scenes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke to</a> Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard about the backlash they received following their blockbuster trade.
&ldquo;I remember going back to my room probably around midnight and I was just exhausted. I turned on the TV before trying to fall asleep and we were just getting crushed for the trade,&rdquo; Buchanan recalled. &ldquo;I remember feeling like, &lsquo;Oh gosh.&rsquo; My wife called me and she was like, &lsquo;Uh, you guys really aren&rsquo;t getting much good press for your trade&hellip;&rsquo;"
&ldquo;After we did the trade, we were thinking, &lsquo;Okay, you ready for this avalanche?&rsquo;&rdquo; Pritchard added. &ldquo;I knew that there was going to be some harsh criticisms: &lsquo;Why didn&rsquo;t you get another pick? Why didn&rsquo;t you leverage longer? Why didn&rsquo;t you go [talk] to Boston? Why didn&rsquo;t you go to all these other teams?&rsquo; I knew it was going to come, but I didn&rsquo;t know it was going to come that hard. It came hard from the community, it came hard nationally.&rdquo;
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Pacers owner Herb Simon was very supportive of Pritchard and Buchanan during that time, which made them feel a lot better. Simon told Pritchard that they made the right move and stressed, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not on an island.&rdquo;
&ldquo;When he said that, I could breathe,&rdquo; Pritchard recalled.
Two years later, the general consensus completely flipped, with the Pacers viewed as the clearcut winners of the trade. Perhaps the same thing will happen this time around, with Kings general manager Monte McNair and his staff getting the last laugh down the road.

As fans and media criticized the Kings' decision to trade Tyrese Haliburton, many NBA decision-makers were doing the same thing.

NBA decision-makers criticize Kings' trade: 'I don't get it at all'

It's that time of year when NBA trade machines and insider gossip hijack basketball discourse. Trade deadline season means absolute chaos for just about anyone involved in basketball from a management, player or media perspective. For better or for worse, I'm pulling the "we live in a society" card and conforming.
The Tank-O-Meter is back for the second time this season to assess how seriously teams should consider folding for the remainder of 2021-22. Teams are rated on a scale from 1 (playoffs or bust) to 10 (do not even think about winning a game again) based on how much a rebuild helps the long-term franchise outlook.
A key part of any good rebuild is maximizing selling out at the trade deadline. It makes sense to get a read on what teams should do before Thursday to build their chests of assets and get out of the limbo of a weak postseason push. You'll see a Tank-O-Meter reading for each of these 10 squads, plus the usual Sour Rankings.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst outlooks. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going.
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;The New Orleans Pelicans got Brandon Ingram back from injury and immediately started winning. They're currently on a three-game stampede and have even moved into the Play-In tier of the Western Conference standings. Boston is also rolling on a five-game win streak with perhaps the hottest defense in basketball, suddenly tied with Toronto and Brooklyn for sixth in the Eastern Conference.
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10. Charlotte Hornets (28-26) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 2/10
The Hornets sink into the Sour Rankings as they tough out a four-game losing streak with defeats against the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. Their run to the All-Star break is daunting; it features 6 games in 11 days and includes matchups against the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Heat (again). According to <a href="https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/nba-trade-rumor-josh-richardson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heavy's Steve Bulpett</a>, Charlotte is also looking to trade PJ Washington, which still doesn't make much sense to me.
Charlotte shouldn't consider bottoming out as long as the team has confidence in its young core. The Hornets have the pieces to either become buyers or sellers at the deadline, and are right in the thick of a competitive East playoff race. At the absolute minimum, this is great experience for guys like LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, and the Hornets are still a threatening offense on a nightly basis.
(Last week: Unranked)
9. Detroit Pistons (12-41) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 9/10
Easy reading for Detroit &mdash; the franchise has already been near the bottom of the league all season. The Pistons can really supercharge the current rebuild with how they approach the trade deadline regarding veterans like Jerami Grant and Cory Joseph.
But Detroit still cracks the Sour Rankings, because even in the scheduled losses, it just feels like there's been too much uninspired basketball. Honestly, what young talents on the roster do you feel better about from the start of the season besides Cade Cunningham? I'd say there's an argument for Saddiq Bey and... that's about it. Detroit still has several questions to answer about the team's identity, and those questions can be answered even in losses.
(Last week: Unranked)
8. Utah Jazz (32-21) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 1/10
Utah battled to a win against the Denver Nuggets and dismantled the flailing Nets this week, bringing some stability after a five-game skid. However, reports are back (this one from <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2022/2/4/22916919/utah-jazz-donovan-mitchell-on-reports-relationship-with-rudy-gobert-has-deteriorated-thats-not-true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Brian Windhorst</a>) that Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are "at each other's throats." Mitchell once again denied the rumors, and who knows at this point what's grounding the reports. But it's never good to hear.
No, the Jazz should not tank &mdash; they're still fourth in the West standings even in this rough patch.
(Last week: 6)
7. Indiana Pacers (19-36) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 9/10
The Pacers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reaction-caris-levert-fills-blended-need-for-cavs-as-pacers-reset" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dealt Caris LeVert to the Cavaliers yesterday in a trade</a> that brought back an expiring (and injured) Ricky Rubio, a lottery-protected first-round pick that will likely convey this season and two additional second-rounders. That's not a bad return for a team that simply needs young talent in waves, and draft picks always add some trade flexibility.&nbsp;
Moving LeVert for that package signals a rebuild is on the way. It's long overdue. Now, the Pacers have to get what they can for Myles Turner, Justin Holiday and their other vets. I do not think Domantas Sabonis is a "must-trade" due to his sheer skill. But Indiana also can't be afraid to accept a good offer. They're one of the primary teams to watch ahead of Thursday.
(Last week: 4)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (21-33) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 8/10
Here's another team giving off "rebuild" vibes. The Trail Blazers traded Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers this week for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a future second-round pick. That return feels underwhelming considering Portland gave up two very good rotation players. But if they like the uber-athletic Johnson, so be it.
With no Damian Lillard return in sight, Portland should really sell at this deadline. What does being in a Play-In race even mean for this franchise? Young trade pieces and the NBA Draft are the best way to find game-changing talent. CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic have been involved in trade rumors recently. I wouldn't be surprised if both had new homes by Thursday evening.
(Last week: 7)
5. New York Knicks (24-29) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 7/10
One day, Deuce McBride and Immanuel Quickley will join the starting lineup and everything will be alright in New York. For now, the Knicks remain a woefully inconsistent basketball team that can't be trusted &mdash; but can't be counted out &mdash; on any night. If I had my way, Tom Thibodeau would commit to playing the youth; Quentin Grimes, Quickley and McBride would see serious playing time increases, and New York would head into the offseason with a good draft pick and an enticing young core. Then again, it's Thibs.
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Julius Randle got into it with a coach on the bench against the Lakers. 😬 (h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/AhnFireDigital?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AhnFireDigital</a>) <a href="https://t.co/NNhrE2XgVt">pic.twitter.com/NNhrE2XgVt</a>
&mdash; theScore (@theScore) <a href="https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1490765945396244482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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By the way, read this <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/julius-randle-and-the-george-costanza-problem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">excellent piece from Mat Issa</a> that further highlights how the Knicks are leaving Julius Randle out to dry.
(Last week: 5)
4. Sacramento Kings (20-35) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 9/10
<a href="https://theathletic.com/3113791/2022/02/07/detroit-pistons-nba-trade-deadline-guide-what-im-hearing-about-jerami-grant-trade-tiers/?article_source=search&amp;search_query=jerami%20grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James L. Edwards III of&nbsp;The Athletic</a>&nbsp;says that the Kings have reported interest in Jerami Grant. This comes after all the will-they-won't-they drama surrounding a Ben Simmons trade and the availability of De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. Of course, smokescreens exist in trade gossip, but I still can't rationalize most of the reported targets for Sacramento.
This is a bad basketball team. The Kings have the second-worst offensive rating in the NBA over the past few weeks in addition to their perenially-porous defense. Sacramento may be two games out of 10th place, but the team would have to unseat several better squads in the San Antonio Spurs, Trail Blazers and Pelicans. As repetitive as selling is for this squad, it's the logical step.
(Last week: 2)
3. Los Angeles Lakers (26-28) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 1/10
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;more from an off-ball perspective&rdquo; from TALEN HORTON-TUCKER is just- <a href="https://t.co/LO3LSpvuxR">https://t.co/LO3LSpvuxR</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1490191241878851589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
I audibly chuckled reading this reaction from Nekias Duncan on Frank Vogel's rationale benching Russell Westbrook late against the Knicks. L.A. won that game in overtime, but it sure wasn't thanks to either player. Even though the Lakers went 2-1 this week, the lasting image will be the game-winner from Clippers guard Reggie Jackson on Thursday. The purple and gold are now down to ninth in the Western Conference.
The Tank-O-Meter reading remains the same: You don't tank with a healthy LeBron James.
(Last week: 3)
2. Washington Wizards (24-28) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 5/10
Washington's downward spiral continued last week with two one-sided losses to the Bucks and Suns. The Wizards did manage a 106-103 win over Philadelphia, but they've now been usurped by the Atlanta Hawks for the final Play-In bid. Does being on the outside looking in change anything from a directional perspective?
I think the Wizards are at the most polarizing trade deadline crossroads of any NBA team. They could make a desparation play for a star to help Bradley Beal and <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeLFischer/status/1488860395683168259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1488860395683168259%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F8points9seconds.com%2F2022%2F02%2F03%2Findiana-pacers-domantas-sabonis-trade-wizards%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swing on someone like Domantas Sabonis.</a> Or, Washington could send out its solid veterans in return for young talent or draft assets &mdash; at the risk of losing Beal this offseason. Moves have to be made by Thursday, but I couldn't honestly say what the right direction is.
(Last week: 1)
1. Brooklyn Nets (29-24) &mdash; Tank-O-Meter reading: 1/10
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Harden effort thread because I watched the film back and, my god, it's pathetic. Clip 1: just blatantly not caring. <a href="https://t.co/NbCccj2Ntt">pic.twitter.com/NbCccj2Ntt</a>
&mdash; Erik Slater (@erikslaterNR) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslaterNR/status/1489287381031297027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Whew... An eight-game losing streak, complete with some epic meltdowns, has the Nets in the Play-In tournament. And that's not even the worst part amidst the firestorm of rumors surrounding James Harden's potential availability. Whether or not he gets traded, Harden is showing visible disinterest at a critical point in Brooklyn's season. It's hard to consider the Nets a legitimate title contender with the way they've played over the past three weeks.
(Last week: 8)
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Ethan Fuller looks at which struggling teams should sell ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.

NBA Sour Rankings: Tank-O-Meter readings ahead of the trade deadline

The 2021-22 NBA season has presented us all with its share of surprises, and chief among them is the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets entered last season with high expectations. They made it as far as the Western Conference Finals in the 2020 playoffs behind superstar-level performances by Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic &ndash; and their superstars continued their strong play into 2020-21. The Nuggets' future looked incredibly bright.
The team began the 2020-21 season much like they finished the previous one. But they didn&rsquo;t rest on their laurels. Instead, Denver made a major mid-season move, adding Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic. The Murray-Jokic-Gordon trifecta looked like it could be formidable.
Unfortunately, after winning 34 of their first 52 games, Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL (in April), ending the team's hopes of contending for a championship. The Nuggets were eventually swept by the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semis.
Still, there is a lot to be excited about in Denver. Before losing time to a back injury, Michael Porter Jr. looked ready to live up to his potential, averaging 23.5 points per game in the team&rsquo;s final 18 games after losing Murray. After struggling a bit to find his place, Gordon has fit in nicely this season, averaging 14.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. And since Murray&rsquo;s injury, Jokic has solidified himself as a perennial MVP candidate.
But Murray is an integral part of the Nuggets&rsquo; success. They have been relatively successful so far in 2021-22 without Murray, of course. But if he returns, could the Nuggets make a push to snatch up home court advantage in the first round? They are currently 28-24, good for sixth in the West. Denver is only 1.5 games behind the fifth-seed Dallas Mavericks. Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis has missed the past three games with a bone bruise in his right knee &ndash; he's notoriously injury prone, so any trouble he suffers should be taken seriously. A longer-term Porzingis absence will further hurt Dallas&rsquo; chances at holding its place in the playoff race.
Along the same line of thought, the Nuggets are also just 3.5 games behind the fourth-seed Utah Jazz &ndash; who just lost Joe Ingles for the season. And while Utah&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell shot down rumors of a continued rift between himself and Rudy Gobert just the other day, there is probably something to the rumor, as it is not the first time its made its way into public discourse. Can the Jazz hang on without one of their key players and with their anchors allegedly feuding? Utah is just 3-7 in their last 10 so things don't look great there, either.&nbsp;
But without reinforcements, the Jazz and Mavericks are probably safe in their respective spots &ndash; but reinforcements might not be too far off. Both Murray and Porter Jr. have recently taken part in the Nuggets&rsquo; pre-game warmups. Porter Jr. was never given a strict timeline, but that fact that he&rsquo;s on the court so soon after a December surgery is a good sign for a pre-playoffs return. On the flip side, the NBA recently awarded the Nuggets a disabled player exemption, meaning that the league feels its highly unlikely he returns before June 15. So, maybe this one is a long shot.&nbsp;
There are pros and cons to Murray&rsquo;s recovery, too. Murray could be on track to return before the playoffs. ACL injuries typically require approximately one year on the shelf, and Murray&rsquo;s injury was suffered on April 12, 2021; the 2021-22 regular season ends on April 10 with the play-in tournament beginning on April 12.
Let&rsquo;s assume for a moment that Murray returns (and Porter Jr. does not). Prior to the injury, Murray was in the midst of his best professional season yet, averaging 21.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. He was shooting a career-best 40.8% on three-point attempts, and he was posting career-bests in PER (18.3), box plus/minus (2.0) and VORP (1.7), too. Will he be able to regain his pre-injury form? Will he perform as efficiently? The good news is that Murray is still only 24, so odds are decent that he returns to form. But doing so immediately would be a small miracle.
But Murray is so good that any sort of form on him is better than nothing at all, and the combination of Murray, Gordon and Jokic can be downright lethal. And while rushing players back is usually frowned upon, this is probably the ideal season to do so because there is a void in the upper echelon of the NBA. There is no super team this season. The Nets and Lakers are both struggling to regain consistency, and both of the Clippers&rsquo; superstars are out with injuries. The Grizzlies are a nice story, as are the Cavs; but when healthy, the Nuggets probably see themselves as a step above those teams. Right now, the Bulls, Heat and Bucks are the best the East has to offer &ndash; the Suns and Warriors are the class of the West. All five of those teams are exceptionally talented, but do any of them strike fear in the hearts of league executives like the Kevin Durant-Steph Curry Warriors did? Or like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh&rsquo;s Heat did? I think not.
With the increase in player movement, there&rsquo;s simply no guarantees for future seasons &ndash; and that goes for Denver&rsquo;s roster, as well as their competitors. If Murray can return to form &ndash; which is admittedly a big &ldquo;if&rdquo; &ndash; Denver&rsquo;s big three and its role players (e.g., Will Barton, Monte Morris, Jeff Green, Facundo Campazzo and Bryn Forbes) make up as formidable a roster as any.&nbsp;
The Nuggets are in the unfortunate position of seeing an opportunity in front of them, while having to weigh the significant risks involved with attempting to capitalize on it. Maybe Denver&rsquo;s leadership decides to punt on 2021-22 in hopes of returning everyone entirely healthy next season. But if things line up just so, the Nuggets could be in perfect position to be dark horse favorites this season.&nbsp;
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While no return date has been announced, can the Nuggets compete for a championship this season if Jamal Murray is back in action?

What if Jamal Murray returns to form THIS season?

The Washington Wizards were forced to retool on the fly after last season, with serious consequences potentially looming for the franchise.
Russell Westbrook asked for a trade after just one season, but the front office somehow swindled draft capital plus three rotation players from the Los Angeles Lakers as they escaped that albatross contract.
From Washington&rsquo;s point of view, it made too much sense not to capitalize and switch some pieces around their rotation with an important 2021-22 campaign looming. Bradley Beal rumors have been running rampant for multiple years now, and the potential of Beal leaving has never been higher since he can hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2022.
With a roster that seemed to perfectly complement their superstar shooting guard with two-way versatility across the board, I bought the team's stock hook, line and sinker as it related to their strong start.
Kicking off the season going 10-3, Washington was well on its way to finally showing progress before Beal&rsquo;s career-altering decision to apparently not sign an extension this summer. However, the team has completely gone off the rails ever since. A 10-3 beginning led to a disappointing 14-24 mark afterwards. Washington is on the outside looking in right now in the reloaded Eastern Conference.
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Take a look at the advanced metrics from the Wizards&rsquo; red-hot start followed by their big-time regression to the mean:
10-3 start: 107.5 OffRtg (16th), 102.7 DefRtg (4th), +4.8 NetRtg (6th)
14-24 since: 109.7 OffRtg (22nd), 114.7 DefRtg (27th), -5.0 NetRtg (24th)
As showcased with the advanced look within the Wizards&rsquo; on-court successes and failures, the main culprit is on the defensive end. The Wizards&rsquo; defense was clicking early on, but they benefited from a league-wide slow start offensively.
Zooming back out, Washington&rsquo;s 10-3 clip always flashed a buyer beware sign. Scoring 107.5 points per 100 possessions, Washington&rsquo;s early-season mark would now rank them No. 27 in the Association.
Washington&rsquo;s seismic collapse on the defensive end is the inverse of what&rsquo;s going on with the Charlotte Hornets. Twelve points per 100 possessions worse over this span, the Wizards have multiple holes being exposed along the way to a tumultuous trade deadline.
According to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, Washington has let it be known three players are available for the team with the best offer: Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell and Thomas Bryant. The latter two make sense, especially as Daniel Gafford has emerged into a long-term piece in D.C. Clearing the way for heavy Gafford minutes makes a lot of sense, but let&rsquo;s circle back around to Dinwiddie here.
Entering this season, Dinwiddie checked all of the boxes for a potentially perfect backcourt fit for Beal. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s profile featuring on-ball creation, playmaking, as well as nights where he can take scoring pressure off Beal was rightfully attractive to the Wizards. Washington acquired Dinwiddie from Brooklyn via sign-and-trade, inking a three-year, $54 million deal.
Having Westbrook leave and adding Dinwiddie was supposed to fix the issues Washington observed with a high-usage ball handler alongside Beal. Instead, this fit hasn&rsquo;t looked good at all throughout.
When Beal and Dinwiddie have shared the court this season, Washington has a 13-18 record. Among two-man lineup combinations around the Wizards&rsquo; star, Dinwiddie checks in low on the totem pole. The Dinwiddie-Beal backcourt was a nightmare on the offensive end, showing no true chemistry with a 101.7 OffRtg. The defense was passable at points between this duo, but the offense was truly a disaster to watch unfold.
Beal&rsquo;s scoring compared to when Dinwiddie is in and out is a damning statistic:
Beal with Dinwiddie (22 games): 21.5 PPG
Beal without Dinwiddie (9 games): 29.0 PPG
The player-team fit on display between Washington and Dinwiddie has been a nightmare scenario. According to The Ringer&rsquo;s Kevin O&rsquo;Connor, Wizards teammates believe Dinwiddie is a shell of himself post-knee injury, so now they don&rsquo;t want him there.
Dinwiddie also said last week that he tried to be a vocal leader with the Wizards, but the reception he got for it wasn&rsquo;t welcomed.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an interesting situation. I spoke up a little bit early on,&rdquo; Dinwiddie said. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t necessarily welcomed. And so, like I said, I try to do whatever is asked of me. At the end of the day, everybody has a role to play.&rdquo;
Dinwiddie&rsquo;s fit in D.C. hasn&rsquo;t allowed him to play at the same level we saw in Brooklyn, but he&rsquo;s done himself no favors with his new team. Compared to his breakout campaign in 2019-20, Dinwiddie does look like a shell of himself from a scoring perspective.
Washington was expecting an 18 to 20-points per game scorer, but they&rsquo;ve instead received a Dinwiddie who&rsquo;s been unable to complement Beal. We&rsquo;ve also witnessed an epic collapse from the Wizards&rsquo; defense, which has led to multiple double-digit leads being blown in the process.
So, what&rsquo;s next for the Wizards after admitting their failure with the Dinwiddie experiment? Will the Wizards now pivot to full-on selling, or make one last big swing to appease Beal?
Whatever button Washington decides to push will have major ramifications leading up to next week&rsquo;s trade deadline.
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If the Wizards decide to become buyers, don&rsquo;t be stunned if they make an eye-opening move for Jerami Grant or Domantas Sabonis. On the other side, if the Wizards sell, does that seal Beal&rsquo;s long-term fate in D.C.? It certainly feels like foreshadowing, if that indeed is the Wizards&rsquo; decision.
Regression has hit Washington to the point that huge decisions needs to be made immediately. It might be time to say goodbye to the Beal era, which has spanned many seasons, but led to disappointing results far more often than not.
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After a 10-3 start, the Washington Wizards have regressed hard to the mean. What happens next in D.C. for the Wizards?

Blame for Wizards' regression falls on failed Beal-Dinwiddie experiment

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After the Wizards endured a 115-95 thumping at the hands of the Grizzlies, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dinwiddie-says-his-leadership-wasnt-necessarily-welcomed-by-wizards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spencer Dinwiddie was pretty candid with reporters</a> about his leadership approaches not really working out in the early going of the season. That comes after a previous report from <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dinwiddie-says-his-leadership-wasnt-necessarily-welcomed-by-wizards-a-john-wall-westbrook-trade-really-help-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus</a> on the imperfect chemistry between Dinwiddie and Bradley Beal.
So that, plus a five-game losing streak with some epic moments of failure, gives Washington the edge in this week's Sour Rankings.&nbsp;
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will earn you a spot on this list.
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The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Let's get going:
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;The Atlanta Hawks have taken flight and won their last seven straight games to vault back into the Play-In race. The Los Angeles Clippers have not reeled off a winning streak, but continue to fight hard with an undermanned cast and have snuck up to seventh in the Western Conference standings. They're a fun team to watch and a fun team to root for with this ragtag bunch.
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10. New Orleans Pelicans (18-31)
The Pelicans are mired in a three-game skid, though all three of those losses came without Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas. They're still one of my personal favorite squads to watch in the NBA and still worth praising for how they've remained competitive. But we're hitting the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 10, and that brings some anxiety for a squad that is too far outside the Play-In race as things stand but too good of a team to fold.
New Orleans could certainly make a splash to push to the postseason, but is that the right move? What happens if they don't? Every loss makes the claw toward contention more challenging.
(Last week: Unranked)
9. Boston Celtics (26-25)
The Celtics do not break out of the Sour Rankings because there's too much of a roller-coaster track record. But the past week is a massive confidence-builder for fans of the current starting lineup. The Marcus Smart-Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum-Al Horford-Robert Williams III group is outscoring opponents by 23.7 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. They helped Boston eviscerate some lesser teams this past week. The real tests begin on Monday against Miami.
(Last week: 6)
8. Brooklyn Nets (29-20)
This is the first Sour Rankings appearance for Brooklyn since the early weeks of the season. The Nets have lost four games in a row to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, all while Kevin Durant rehabs an MCL injury. James Harden also missed Sunday's defeat at Golden State with a hand sprain.
Harden <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/james-harden-interested-in-exploring-other-opportunities-in-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dominated headlines this week</a> after reports surfaced that he would consider "exploring other options" outside of the Nets this offseason with significant ties to Philly. That's simply not the news Brooklyn wants with the Big Three finally (partially) back together.
(Last week: Unranked)
7. Portland Trail Blazers (24-27)
The Blazers went 1-3 this week, but maintain a comfortable hold on 10th in the West because the teams behind them fared poorly as well. Portland got beat out narrowly by Minnesota and less closely by the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls, though it did take care of business against the lowly Houston Rockets. Sadly, much of the week gets overshadowed by the season-ending shoulder injury to Nassir Little, who was having a breakout third year with the team.
(Last week: 8)
6. Utah Jazz
Yes, the Jazz have missed Donovan Mitchell over the last six games, and also Rudy Gobert for the last four. Yes, they've played a brutal recent schedule that included the Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies. However, this current five-game losing streak has only exposed how serious the depth question is for Utah ahead of the trade deadline.
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This has pretty easily been the most difficult month for the Utah Jazz in Quin Snyder&rsquo;s tenure as head coach
&mdash; Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tjonesonthenba/status/1487971479790796800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The team is 1-7 with bottom-10 efficiency ratings on both ends over the past two weeks. Now, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Utah fears Joe Ingles has torn his ACL. When the Jazz inevitably deal with injuries in the postseason, is there enough confidence that the next man up can help them win?
(Last week: 10)
5. New York Knicks (23-27)
It was just a two-game week for the Knicks and they got smacked in both with two double-digit losses to the Heat and Bucks. <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10025155-knicks-trade-rumors-ny-open-to-dealing-kemba-walker-evan-fournier-alec-burks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst</a>, New York is open to trading Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks. "Open to" feels like some generous phrasing at this stage. It can't feel great that the two marquee offseason additions are both on the block. Oh, and <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/knicks-coach-tom-thibodeau-reveals-why-cam-reddish-isnt-in-rotation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cam Reddish isn't in the rotation, either.</a>
(Last week: 5)
4. Indiana Pacers (18-33)
The Pacers are 4-14 dating back to Christmas. A mediocre defense has fallen apart, and that probably isn't helped by Myles Turner's extended absence due to a foot fracture. But you know what? Isaiah Jackson's been interesting. The 2021 first-round rookie most recently had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a made three-pointer against the Mavericks.
Did the Pacers lose that game by 27 and did Jackson also foul out? Who's to say? But there's a nice little silver lining for a team that has very little going for it right now.
(Last week: 4)
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3. Los Angeles Lakers (24-27)
I'm glad Russell Westbrook had a fun second half in what ended up being a three-point Laker loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The discourse around him will never be fair, so it feels good to see him be successful through all the criticism.&nbsp;
... And that'll do it for this week's positive Lakers talk! They lost all three games this week to the Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers. Anthony Davis is shooting 18.0% from long range on the season, by the way.
(Last week: 1)
2. Sacramento Kings (18-33)
Kings-related conversations are rapidly turning from "How good is Tyrese Haliburton?" to "Free Tyrese Haliburton!" and that's not a great sign. The second-year combo guard put up 38 points on Saturday and Sacramento still lost that contest to the 76ers. He's built off a stellar December and is averaging 16.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 42.0% from beyond the arc in January. Yet, the Kings are 3-11 this month.
(Last week: 2)
1. Washington Wizards (23-26)
I listened to a couple of different social media conversations after the Wizards lost in meltdown fashion against the Clippers last Tuesday. In that game, Washington had a 30-point halftime lead before giving up 80 second-half points to the Clippers and ultimately losing on Luke Kennard heroics, 116-115. Those poor fans circled around the same phrase: "Why does this always happen?"&nbsp;
Washington had a three-day layoff and then promptly lost by 20 to the Grizzlies. The Wizards' upcoming schedule? In order: Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Miami, Brooklyn. This is going to get really ugly.&nbsp;
(Last week: 1)
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Washington blew a 30-point halftime lead to the Clippers in a spectacular collapse. Ethan Fuller updates his Sour Rankings.

NBA Sour Rankings: Wizards hitting new rock bottom

Even though they fleeced the Brooklyn Nets in 2013, for, among other things, first-round draft picks that subsequently turned into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics still haven&rsquo;t figured out how to adequately build around the two All-Star swingmen for a sustainable period. In Part I of our joint series, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reshaping-the-celtics-for-a-playoff-push-part-1-the-backcourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justin Lewis talked about solutions to the point guard predicament</a>.
Now, for Part II of this collab, I'll get into the situation with the bigs.
For the Celtics&rsquo; entire run as fringe or actual contenders &mdash; the 2016-17 season through now &mdash; think of all the times you could ever name a meaningful big man they&rsquo;ve had on their roster. The list goes as follows: Al Horford, Robert Williams and... that&rsquo;s it. Aside from that, it&rsquo;s a lot of Daniel Theis, Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, one of the Zellers, Aron Baynes and multiple runs (and name changes) with rebounding-specialist-turned-FOX-5-pundit Enes Kan... *sigh* &hellip; Freedom.
(Somehow, not one Plumlee made the list.)
Despite entering the later 2010s with a video game-like draft asset advantage over most of the NBA, the C's still haven&rsquo;t gotten to an NBA Finals, which highlights two things. One, it&rsquo;s very (emphatically insert expletive of choice here) hard to get to a Finals, never mind winning the championship. And two, just because you accumulate all those draft picks doesn&rsquo;t mean you&rsquo;re going to build a dynasty as some project. Why? Because this isn&rsquo;t a simulation... <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/15-irrefutable-reasons-we-might-be-living-in-a-simulation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even though it may feel like it sometimes.</a>
Amid <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/celtics-have-been-extremely-active-in-trade-talks-ahead-of-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade rumors involving Horford and Josh Richardson</a>, it&rsquo;s clear that the currently 25-24 Celtics are trying to execute something with an eye toward winning now and not rebuilding by splitting up the two Jays. Now, regardless of what they do, they'll probably "win now" anyway, given that the Eastern Conference is as strenuous as it is imperfect.
Sure, maybe a team other than the Nets, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks or Miami Heat break through. Maybe the Philadelphia 76ers finally make a Ben Simmons deal and push themselves into that upper-echelon group, or maybe the Cleveland Cavaliers make moves to remain afloat amid their surprising successes. Pointing all of that out is a reminder that the East is deep, and all of those teams are just better than the Celtics right now &mdash; regardless of the fact that their top two players are more talented than the top two players on at least half of those other teams.
Having <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-case-against-and-for-separating-jayson-tatum-and-jaylen-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">just written about Tatum and Brown</a> and whether or not they should even remain together, the most important thing is building this differently. Assuming the 24-year-old Williams &mdash; who is averaging 9.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game this season &mdash; is your center of the present and future alongside the Jays, think about the 4-man who&rsquo;d best complement all three parties and their <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reshaping-the-celtics-for-a-playoff-push-part-1-the-backcourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hypothetical point guard change</a>. (Williams begins a four-year, $54 million extension next season.)
Thaddeus Young, San Antonio Spurs
Young&rsquo;s been in trade rumors all season and is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/spurs-thad-young-frustrated-about-role-this-situation-is-not-ideal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">currently not a regular part of the San Antonio Spurs' rotation</a>. But he&rsquo;d be just about perfect for so many teams, including the Celtics. In 2020-21, we saw Thad play meaningful minutes with regularity, averaging 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists; he posted a team-high 2.2 defensive win shares for the Bulls (tied with Patrick Williams).
He&rsquo;s 6-foot-8, 235 pounds, a career 50.2% finisher from the field, and 33.0% from three on 1.4 attempts per contest. Young shot 35.6% beyond the arc on a 3.5 attempts in 2019-20, but last season, he shot just 0.7 attempts per contest (26.7%) to provide more slashing ability for the Bulls. If Young &mdash; who is on a $14.1 million expiring contract &mdash; could be respectable from the perimeter, you&rsquo;d take that regardless of how little he took. (Not everyone needs to shoot mad threes to space adequately, guys.)
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The Hypothetical Trade: 
Celtics receive: Thaddeus Young ($14.1 million), Doug McDermott ($13.7 million) 
Spurs receive: Al Horford ($27 million), one or two second-round draft picks
In attaching a second-rounder or two to Horford, there&rsquo;s incentive for the Spurs to do this, even as Horford has $26.5 million coming next season, <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/al-horford-2199/">though only $14.5 million is guaranteed</a>. McDermott is due $13.7 million the following two seasons, and by acquiring him, it makes the numbers work; plus this gives the C&rsquo;s an additional floor-spacer who&rsquo;d likely become a crowd favorite&hellip;.. Ya know?
Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons&nbsp;
A better and younger Thad Young? The 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist is apparently demanding, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/report-contract-extension-leverage-pistons-213513259.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">but you gotta respect it</a>. Grant&rsquo;s due over $20 million this season, and closer to $21 million next, the last of a three-year deal he signed just over a year ago. Grant&rsquo;s been out since Dec. 12, but over the last two seasons &mdash; in which he's played 78 games &mdash; Grant has averaged 21.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks since seeing an expanded role with the Pistons.
Chances are he winds up on a better team and doesn&rsquo;t have the same offensive workload, but on a good team, he&rsquo;s probably best suited as a third option (next to Tatum and Brown in Boston's case). And, if one of those two absolutely wants to leave for whatever reason down the road, you can tie yourself to whichever player you keep plus Grant, as well as whatever comes back. Grant wants an extension after all.
It&rsquo;s worth mentioning that Grant&rsquo;s shooting splits have been .425/.344/.847 with the Pistons on around six three-point and free throw attempts both per contest, but again, on that team, it&rsquo;s hard to be efficient &mdash; especially since he has more of the scoring load than he should. In Boston, you&rsquo;d expect him to be somewhere between where he was with the Denver Nuggets and where he is in Detroit now, in regards to scoring. Thus, his defense should also revert back to where it was in Denver and even in Oklahoma City, or something close to that.
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The Hypothetical Trade
Celtics receive: Jerami Grant ($20 million), Cory Joseph ($4.9 million) 
Pistons receive: Al Horford ($27 million), two first-round picks, and possible a second-rounder
You figure that multiple moves are coming, and Joseph is a very good backup point guard option who has a $5.1 million option for next season. This indicates that the Celtics would subsequently move off of others, like Dennis Schr&ouml;der and Richardson in separate deals for example. The Pistons will clearly want draft capital for Grant, more so if they&rsquo;re taking back Horford&rsquo;s contract. It feels like a win-win since the Pistons aren&rsquo;t going anywhere yet, and could try building around Cade Cunningham with a player who fit his timeline closer (i.e. Saddiq Bey and whoever you select in the 2022 NBA Draft).
Christian Wood, Houston Rockets
Wood is due $13.7 million this season and brings in another $14.3 million next season. Like Young, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-miami-heat-pursuing-christian-wood-in-trade-talks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he may be dealt this season</a>. Unlike Young, he isn&rsquo;t a dirty work, defensive-minded type of 4 as outlined earlier. But if you&rsquo;re hypothetically getting him, John Wall, Wood or Eric Gordon would likely come with. And Wood&rsquo;s the better fit if you&rsquo;re moving Horford, more so if it&rsquo;s Horford and Smart.
Since leaving the Detroit Pistons for the Rockets, Wood&rsquo;s averaged 19.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and a block per game on .499/.370/.623 shooting splits across 86 games. He&rsquo;d be the third or fourth option in Boston, but a damn interesting one next to Wall, Tatum, Brown and Time Lord if you could somehow make the numbers work.
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The Hypothetical Trade
Celtics receive: Christian Wood ($13.6 million), John Wall ($44.3 million) 
Rockets receive: Al Horford ($27 million), Josh Richardson ($11.6 million), Dennis Schr&ouml;der ($5.8 million), Romeo Langford ($3.8 million), at least one first-round pick, and or multiple second-round picks. &nbsp;
I&rsquo;m not even sure that I like this move much, but if you&rsquo;re going to do this both ways &mdash; and with a need to include Wall and Horford &mdash; well, there you have it.
Grant Williams could also be included and the deal would still go through since he&rsquo;s only at $2.6 million. The Rockets should want multiple first-rounders, especially since nothing they&rsquo;d be getting back would excite them long-term otherwise. But, this is more of an &ldquo;I mean, I guess.&rdquo;
Read <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reshaping-the-celtics-for-a-playoff-push-part-1-the-backcourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part I of this series</a>, where Justin Lewis addressed fixing the Celtics' point guard situation. 
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Bryan Fonseca looks at Boston's options in the trade market to bolster the frontcourt in Part II of his series with Justin Lewis.

Broken in Boston: Retooling the spiraling Celtics — Part II

Kevin Love bolted from his seat, a spot on the bench that has revived his career and helped fuel the Cavaliers' stunning rise, and streaked past coach J.B. Bickerstaff standing near the scorer's table.
Stopping near midcourt, Love screamed and pointed toward teammate Dean Wade, another of Cleveland's reserves, who nailed a 3-pointer to push the Cavs back in front of the New York Knicks.
Once an All-Star, Love's now a $30 million-per-year role player relishing his new niche.
The 33-year-old, slowed by injuries and self-inflicted drama the past few seasons, is having the time of his basketball life with the young Cavs, a 22-win team last season and now a legitimate threat to win the Eastern Conference.
Trade rumors about Love have gone silent. The on-court temper tantrum in Toronto last year has been forgiven, if not forgotten. Cleveland fans don't grumble as much about his massive contract.
Love's in a positive place emotionally after being so open about his struggles with mental health.
&ldquo;The world that we live in now people tend to have quick memories," Love said with a smile after scoring 20 points in 24 minutes as Cleveland beat New York and moved 10 games over .500. "I&rsquo;m thankful for that. ... Winning changes a lot.&rdquo;
However, it's deeper than that.
Love's willingness to accept coming off the bench this season so rookie forward Evan Mobley could develop has had a trickle-down effect.
The selfless move, perhaps partially rooted in him wanting to make himself appealing for a trade, has helped galvanize the Cavs.
&ldquo;He made the ultimate sacrifice of basketball, probably a first-ballot Hall of Famer, to basically pass the torch to a rookie,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said before Monday&rsquo;s win over the Knicks. "&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not easy to do. Not only did he do it, he did it without hangover.
"He didn&rsquo;t hold onto it the next day or the next weeks and walk around pouting and be an energy vampire. He accepted the role and then tried to be the best at it, tried to help the team as best he possibly could. To me, those are the guys that deserve all of our respect because it&rsquo;s not easy.
"We see guys go out fighting all the way. For him to do that and contribute to the team and try to help the young guys, that&rsquo;s giving back to the game and that&rsquo;s what this game is about.&rdquo;
Mobley said Love's acceptance changed the Cavs.
&ldquo;It's had a huge impact, just him being bought in,&rdquo; said the 20-year-old and Rookie of the Year frontrunner. "Everyone's all on the same page. We all know what we're supposed to do, so I feel like him doing that helped the team a lot."
Love's got his game back on track as well.
He's averaging 13.9 points and 7.2 rebounds in a career-low 21.4 minutes. The Cavs' preseason plan was to reduce Love's workload to try to keep him healthier, and to this point it has gone perfectly.
Because of Love's ability as an outside shooter, Bickerstaff uses him to spread defenses and create more driving opportunities for others. And, if the Cavs need points, Love can deliver those too.
With the Cavs in a third-quarter funk against the Knicks, Love knocked down four 3-pointers in the third quarter &mdash; three in 67 seconds &mdash; to help Cleveland open an 11-point lead.
The flurry forced New York to call a timeout, and Cleveland's crowd erupted to salute the rejuvenated Love, who later said the moment reminded him of the Cavs' four-year run to the Finals from 2015-18.
&ldquo;It was huge for us,&rdquo; Wade said of Love's lift. &ldquo;Everyone loves Kevin Love. It feels like once a game he goes on those little runs by himself. It just gives us so much energy."
Cleveland fans are falling for these Cavs, whose embrace of a team-first attitude and obvious chemistry on and off the floor has driven their rise in the standings.
And even though his young teammates playfully call him &lsquo;Old Man&rsquo; or &lsquo;Uncle Kevin,&rsquo; Love's enjoying the ride.
&ldquo;We may be the ultimate share-the-wealth team,&rdquo; Love said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s beautiful. We really pay it forward for the next guy. We trust the extra pass. We trust guys to make the right plays out there and understand that they have great intention in everything that they do and we do.
"That allows guys to play free."
It's easy to see Love's renewed joy, whether he's hugging guard Darius Garland or delivering a flying chest bump after a big basket.
&ldquo;For him to be back and feel like he&rsquo;s a part of something greater than himself, that&rsquo;s why we do what we do,&rdquo; said Bickerstaff, who has known Love since his rookie season with Minnesota 13 years ago. "For him to be able to showcase that with all the things that he&rsquo;s been through recently, you love and respect that.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Once an All-Star, Kevin Love's now a $30 million-per-year role player relishing his new niche with the Cavs.

'Old Man' Love relishing reserve role with rising Cavaliers

With rumblings surrounding the availability of Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins, BasketballNews.com's Evan Sidery and Nekias Duncan teamed up to come up with possible destinations prior to the NBA's Feb. 10 trade deadline.
John Collins is growing increasingly frustrated with his role. Carrying his lowest usage rate since his rookie campaign in 2017-18, Collins feels <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/stats-notebook-has-john-collins-role-with-the-hawks-really-changed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he's more than deserving of being a more featured piece within the Hawks&rsquo; offense</a>. Even with Collins still only holding a 19.9 USG%, he&rsquo;s averaging an impressive stat line of 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 blocks at an above-average efficiency clip.
Collins is excellent at what he does for Atlanta, but would he look like in a different role elsewhere away from Trae Young?
He is only on the first year of his new deal, which drew lines in the sand during a tough restricted free agency period last offseason.
With extremely high expectations in Atlanta following its Eastern Conference Finals surprise, the team has been unable to clear the first bars. The Hawks already dealt promising young wing Cam Reddish to the New York Knicks in order to avoid paying him a big-figure contract. Meanwhile, if Collins is indeed available to the highest bidder around the Association, Atlanta could receive an extremely high amount of resources.
Below, Nekias and I dove into the film room, as well as five destinations that make the most sense for Collins in a trade scenario.
WHAT COLLINS BRINGS
Collins has become one of the NBA's most versatile pick-and-roll partners. Because of his speed, soft hands and impressive vertical pop, Collins is able to sky for just about anything you throw his way after he rolls to the basket. And because of his improved shooting ability &mdash; he's converted north of 40% of his above-the-break threes in each of the past three seasons &mdash; you can't afford to completely sell out against rim attempts.
It's that combination of skills that makes him deadly. Pairing that with Young &mdash; a guy that can pull from 30, make every pass in the book, and #FloaterGang you to death &mdash; is patently unfair. It's unsurprising that trips featuring a Young-Collins ball screen has generated over 1.05 points per possessions over the last three seasons, per Second Spectrum.
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Collins' quick-leaping ability also makes him a menace on the offensive glass when he's allowed to hover around the paint. The gradual decline in offensive rebounding has more to do with his positioning within the offense than some lack of instinct or physicality.
LIMITATIONS&nbsp;
There are some questions defensively.
There are fewer questions to answer than in years past, to be fair. Collins' activity level and awareness have improved throughout his career. You could especially sense a shift from him during last year's playoffs, and that has seemingly carried over into this year.&nbsp;
Collins looks a little more comfortable on the perimeter, holding his own in switches and in the rare times the Hawks have asked him to trap this year. He has the feel needed to clean up messes as a weak-side helper, especially if he's allowed to roam against a non-shooter.
It's still largely unclear if Collins has made enough strides to serve as a primary rim-protector for extended periods of time. Among 75 frontcourt players that have defended at least 150 picks in drop coverage this season, Collins ranks in the bottom five in points allowed per Second Spectrum.
The added activity is nice, but he's still suffering from the too-little-too-much problem. Sometimes he's giving up too much of a gap, which allows the ball-handler or roll man (if he receives a pass early enough) to build momentum and launch into Collins' chest. Other times, he's playing the gap a little too high, which allows the big to get behind him for easy lobs.
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It's fair to question how much of that is Collins trying to figure things out, and how much of it is him not trusting the point-of-attack defenders he's had to play with over the past couple of seasons. Let's be kind and say Young and Lou Williams leave quite a bit to be desired.
The boring answer: Collins has clear strengths and weaknesses, and a stronger defensive infrastructure could bring the best out of him.
Sacramento Kings
Rumors <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kings-making-buddy-hield-richaun-holmes-harrison-barnes-available" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continue to billow out of Sacramento</a> right now pointing towards a massive roster overhaul soon in store. Everyone on the Kings, except reportedly De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, is available in trade talks. It shows the urgency is rising in Sacramento, and someone like Collins could be the perfect remedy.
Kings receive: John Collins
Hawks receive: Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell
This feels like a very fair trade for both sides, especially if Collins malcontents his way out of Atlanta. Barnes would provide beautiful floor-spacing acumen for the Hawks&rsquo; guards, plus Mitchell would be a bulldog defender who'd had heavy spot minutes alongside Young.
For Sacramento, it&rsquo;s easy to sell yourself on the idea of switching things up and inserting a potential 20-and-10 machine in Collins. Haliburton would be spoon-feeding easy looks for Collins, plus Fox provides a steady scoring partner as well.
Resetting around a trio of Fox, Collins and Haliburton in Sacramento could actually be a fun scenario to watch unfold. And from Atlanta&rsquo;s standpoint, this feels like a win-win deal in the short and long-term.
Charlotte Hornets
An intra-division trade, huh? With the way the Hornets have played lately, showcasing a complete turnaround on the defensive end, could they be positioning themselves to make a big push at February&rsquo;s trade deadline. Don&rsquo;t rule it out, because Charlotte&rsquo;s upside is already massive with a young superstar like LaMelo Ball running the show offensively.
Nabbing Collins from Atlanta would cost significant assets, but the payoff could be absolutely massive. Could you imagine Collins and Miles Bridges catching lobs from Ball with reckless abandon?
Hornets receive: John Collins
Hawks receive: Kelly Oubre Jr., P.J. Washington, James Bouknight
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For Atlanta, Oubre would fill a similar energizer role as Collins, but with much less consistency and pop. Oubre has flashed at times brilliance this season we saw from him during his years with the Phoenix Suns; could that jump be intensified playing with Young as his point guard?
Washington and Bouknight are two former lottery picks for the Hornets who simply haven&rsquo;t been able to carve out a consistent role. If Charlotte decides the time is now, relinquishing these two enticing prospects likely is the going rate to seriously upgrade. Bouknight would provide a promising young building block who could turn into a 20-plus point-per-game scorer. Washington has the makeup similar to Collins where he can feast around the rim and pick-and-pops in Atlanta&rsquo;s scheme.
I would grade this one as doubtful on the potential scale of realism, but the construct of this certainly makes plenty of sense on paper.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are so much fun to watch when they&rsquo;re clicking on all cylinders. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns have been the dynamite scoring duo Minnesota had hoped for. D&rsquo;Angelo Russell is also finding his footing with the Timberwolves, showcasing a strong ability to bounce-back and fit within what&rsquo;s required of him.
It&rsquo;s long been known the Timberwolves have really been one more piece away from taking another serious jump in the Western Conference hierarchy. That&rsquo;s why Ben Simmons has been floated around Minnesota for months now.
What about Collins landing in Minnesota to play alongside Towns, Edwards and Russell? It wouldn&rsquo;t provide the defensive security blanket Minnesota is in desperate need of, but he makes an already scary offense absolutely terrifying.
Timberwolves receive: John Collins
Hawks receive: Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, Malik Beasley, draft compensation
The Hawks check plenty of boxes in this scenario where they send Collins off to Minnesota, bringing back an immediate impact scorer in Beasley, a super versatile rebounder with flashes of elite defense in Vanderbilt; plus, they would get a potentially beautiful backcourt fit with Bolmaro as a jumbo-sized playmaker. Throwing in some picks to the equation makes this so enticing for Atlanta as well.
This would be one to watch out for as a real fit for Collins, if it reaches that point in Atlanta anytime soon.
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland is in an odd spot right now. Damian Lillard is out indefinitely due to an abdomen injury that has plagued him for a while. With the Trail Blazers far out of competing for a serious playoff push, especially with no Lillard, now is the perfect time to reset a little bit and try something different.
The pressure is on for the Blazers to find another competent scoring punch to keep Lillard happy in Oregon long-term. Could Collins be the answer here? It&rsquo;s a very intriguing fit for both player and team.
Hawks receive: Larry Nance Jr., Robert Covington, Nassir Little
Trail Blazers receive: John Collins
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I have to admit, Collins teaming up with Lillard would be so much fun for everyone to watch. Instantly, Collins would provide an inside scoring jolt that&rsquo;s been missing for the Blazers. Also, Collins would be feasting consistently playing off the gravity of Lillard and CJ McCollum.
For the Hawks, they would receive three pieces to insert into their frontcourt to replace Collins&rsquo; production. Nance would be a strong bounce-back candidate playing with Young as his point guard in Atlanta. Covington isn&rsquo;t who he used to be, but can still provide winning attributes on a hopeful contender. Little is the wildcard who provides real intrigue here. Beginning to flash more consistently this season, could Little&rsquo;s rise become a full-on ascension with the Hawks?
Another scenario where this feels like a win-win for both sides. Maybe Portland throws on some draft compensation to make the return more eye-opening for Atlanta.
San Antonio Spurs
The dots have already been connected around Collins to San Antonio. As Collins entered restricted free agency, the Spurs were the one team we continuously heard as a team who was seriously interested in pursuing him for a lucrative offer sheet.
San Antonio&rsquo;s core has been overachieving a little bit this season, thanks in large part to Dejounte Murray becoming a key building block. It&rsquo;s really almost a blank slate for the Spurs, so maybe Collins could be the piece to really augment another era of strong basketball in San Antonio?
Hawks receive: Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV
Spurs receive: John Collins
White has been thrown around in trade rumors throughout his career, but his fit next to Young is nothing short of excellent. White&rsquo;s all-around ability would cover up a lot of holes and help strengthen Atlanta&rsquo;s backcourt depth. Walker is a home-run swing, but an athlete like that to catch lobs every game from Young could lead to some magic happening.
San Antonio has been floating around as a potential shocking buyer at the trade deadline, including its name being thrown into the Simmons sweepstakes. Collins would boost up a Spurs core in desperate need of another strong piece.
Collins would cause a feeding frenzy in the NBA, if the Hawks are indeed shopping him around to the highest bidder anywhere. The Hawks&rsquo; big man has displayed he&rsquo;s deserving of a bigger role. Whether it&rsquo;s in Atlanta or elsewhere, Collins would change the dynamics of a lot of organizations.
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John Collins is growing increasingly frustrated with his role in Atlanta. If the Hawks decide to move on, where could he end up?

Examining potential trade destinations for John Collins

According to Yahoo Sports&rsquo; Chris Haynes, Sacramento Kings point guard De&rsquo;Aaron Fox is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kings-receiving-interest-in-deaaron-fox-ahead-of-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the biggest names that could be available</a> before next month&rsquo;s trade deadline. Haynes mentioned that the Kings are receiving heavy interest in Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, but the plan internally is to build long-term around this backcourt combination.
Haynes spoke with Fox recently about his future in Sacramento among other topics.
&ldquo;You definitely think about potentially being traded because we are struggling,&rdquo; Fox <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/deaaron-fox-addresses-kings-trade-rumors-his-ideal-role-in-the-nba-173928242.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Haynes</a>. &ldquo;If you do have a change of scenery, it changes everything. I&rsquo;ve been here for five years. I&rsquo;ve built a life here, a family here. But once I&rsquo;m on the court, all that is out the window. You&rsquo;re not thinking about anything else than can happen outside of your control.&rdquo;
Although Fox just signed a five-year rookie-scale max extension during the 2020 offseason, his fit alongside Haliburton has brought up serious questions about who Sacramento should actually build around in their backcourt.
As I wrote last month, Haliburton has a big enough sample size now to show he blossoms when he&rsquo;s not next to a high-usage backcourt partner in Fox. When Fox was in NBA health and safety protocols, Haliburton showed a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/tyrese-haliburton-providing-hope-potentially-forcing-kings-hand-on-backcourt-decisions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dazzling display of what his ceiling could potentially become</a> as Sacramento&rsquo;s No. 1 option.
In 42 games this season, Fox has averaged 20.9 points, 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals on a pedestrian 53.1% True Shooting percentage. Simply put, Fox hasn&rsquo;t taken the developmental jumps the Kings&rsquo; front office hoped for when he inked a big-money extension. Fox is still a blur in transition, being a massive weapon in that area, but he still struggles to keep teammates involved consistently and put in complete effort on the defensive end.
Still only 24 years old, Fox has immense upside as a top scoring option in Sacramento or elsewhere. Could he be Devin Booker-like when it comes to defensive effort, once the Kings get a true contender around him? That&rsquo;s the big question for both player and team, because Sacramento is once again going nowhere for another season.
At this point, it might be best for the Kings to trade Fox at his peak value while resetting a little bit around Haliburton in their backcourt.
If Fox actually isn't untouchable &mdash; something that has been <a href="https://theathletic.com/3052221/2022/01/05/nba-trade-talk-russell-westbrooks-awkward-lakers-fit-the-hurting-hawks-and-more-sam-amicks-nba-notebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mentioned by The Athletic&rsquo;s Sam Amick</a> &mdash; which teams make sense for him? Let&rsquo;s dive into some potential landing spots for the score-first point guard.
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Philadelphia 76ers
This destination has been mentioned before as a potential blockbuster revolving around Fox and Ben Simmons, who continues to sit out games for the Sixers. So, why don&rsquo;t we explore that possibility a little bit further?
Honestly, I love the idea of Fox in Philadelphia creating a lethal one-two combination with Joel Embiid. Also, I believe Fox and Tyrese Maxey can coexist in the same backcourt for Philadelphia.
Instantly, Fox would come aboard and bring a scoring jolt that&rsquo;s desperately needed to take pressure off Embiid. On the other side, I&rsquo;ve long been a fan of the idea where Simmons lands in a situation where he becomes the No. 1 scoring option.
How fun would a pick-and-roll combination of Haliburton and Simmons be in Sacramento? All around, this feels like a major win-win. We&rsquo;ll see if Philadelphia and Sacramento are actually open to the idea, but this swap feels right for both parties.
Kings receive: Ben Simmons
Sixers receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
Indiana Pacers
When looking through the NBA standings, Indiana continues to stand out like a sore thumb when it comes to a team in desperate need of a reset. Rumors are <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-mavs-blazers-wolves-knicks-lakers-hornets-targeting-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picking up steam revolving around Myles Turner</a> and Caris LeVert. Domantas Sabonis has also been mentioned around the league in potential trade talks.
Sacramento and Indiana could find common ground on a potential Fox deal, which could make a lot of sense for two teams who need a shake up.
Kings receive: Domantas Sabonis, T.J. Warren, draft compensation
Pacers receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
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Yes, the Kings have Richaun Holmes, who is an average starting center in the Association. However, could you imagine the on-court synergy Haliburton and Sabonis could develop as a lethal inside-out combination? As we&rsquo;ve seen in Indiana as well, there&rsquo;s some spot minutes where Holmes and Sabonis could share the floor as well (though I honestly wouldn&rsquo;t be a fan of that).
Fox would arrive in Indiana and be their star for years to come. He would be in a perfect situation to have a team built competently around him. Malcolm Brogdon would be an intriguing backcourt partner in this scenario too.
I&rsquo;m very intrigued by this potential landing spot for Fox, so keep an eye out on the Pacers here.
New York Knicks
Fox in the Big Apple? I love the sound of that. The question is: What would it cost for the Knicks to acquire him?
Honestly, unless the Knicks are willing to give up former No. 3 overall pick RJ Barrett, it likely won&rsquo;t happen. I&rsquo;m not a fan of Julius Randle in Sacramento, at least from the Kings&rsquo; perspective.
Kings receive: R.J. Barrett, Miles McBride, Kemba Walker, Taj Gibson
Knicks receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
Fox and Randle would bring a potent pick-and-roll duo to New York. Meanwhile, Sacramento would acquire a young building block in Barrett who fits perfectly next to Haliburton. McBride has also shown unique upside, bringing aboard another backcourt piece who could play spot minutes with Haliburton down the road.
New York is in a tough spot after betting on running it back following a surprise playoff run last season. After stagnating, this could be the perfect move for the Knicks to make to expedite their win-now mindset with head coach Tom Thibodeau.
If the Knicks are open to trading Barrett for Fox, a big question mark currently, this could leapfrog right to the top of potential trade packages.
Boston Celtics
Boston is another team who seems poised for a major shake up within the next calendar year. Not taking a serious step forward this season, many questions are bubbling around <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-case-against-and-for-separating-jayson-tatum-and-jaylen-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whether the Celtics&rsquo; dynamic wing duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can coexist long-term</a>.
If Celtics president Brad Stevens decides to pull the plug down the line and find peak value, Brown seems to be the more obvious choice. Tatum is locked in as the Celtics&rsquo; face of the franchise, so who could they find to be an ideal compliment with him?
Enter Fox, who brings backcourt competency for a team in desperate need of it like Boston.
Kings receive: Jaylen Brown
Celtics receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, draft compensation
Some might be asking why Sacramento is giving up draft compensation to Boston here, but, quite frankly, Brown has more value right now compared to Fox. And honestly, it would be a major win-win in the end for both teams.
Tatum and Fox would be a fun duo to build around in Boston, allowing more well-balanced roster construction. In Sacramento, Brown would enter as the go-to scorer with a great point guard to set him up in Haliburton.
This scenario might be more of a 2022 offseason scenario compared to the trade deadline, but crazier things have happened since both teams are stuck in neutral.
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New Orleans Pelicans
The pressure is on in the Bayou. Zion Williamson&rsquo;s injury concerns continue to put a cloud over the Pelicans&rsquo; future. New Orleans EVP David Griffin is on the hot seat, so what can he do to save his job?
Why not push the chips all-in on a franchise building block in Fox? In head coach Willie Green&rsquo;s system, acquiring Fox would be a brilliant move to make in the short and long-term. With Williamson out, Fox and Brandon Ingram would make a lethal scoring combination. And hopefully once Williamson eventually returns, the Pelicans would have their new Big Three set for years to come.
The Pelicans are loaded with future draft capital thanks to the Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday trades. They own so many picks from the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, plus their own, which makes them a potential suitor in any star-level trade.
What would it take for Fox to land in New Orleans, though?
Kings receive: Devonte&rsquo; Graham, Josh Hart, Kira Lewis, draft compensation
Pelicans receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
This trade doesn&rsquo;t look too enticing on the surface for Sacramento, but if they receive a boatload of future draft capital from the Pelicans, it makes this scenario very appealing.
Resetting around Haliburton with ample draft picks for the future would be an ideal solution to hitting the reset button in Sacramento.
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic needs help in Dallas, so where can the Mavericks find a player who can take pressure off of him? Enter Fox, who could really push the Mavericks&rsquo; ceiling to a completely new level.
Fox and Doncic would create instant fireworks in Dallas, playing on and off-ball with no issue. The offensive ceiling of this duo would be one of the best in the Western Conference.
The question is, do the Mavericks have enough to make a Fox blockbuster happen?
Kings receive: Jalen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr., draft compensation
Mavericks receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17436591_lg.jpg" alt="" width="649" height="433" />
This trade is very interesting for a multitude of reasons. I considered a trade of Porzingis to the Kings, but would they actually want his contract? I doubt it.
That led me back to giving up a prized asset in Brunson, who is going to cash out as a restricted free agent this offseason. Why not get something now for Brunson instead of potentially letting him walk with a big offer sheet elsewhere?
Fox not only would be an upgrade over Brunson, but also form a Big Three that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been lusting after for years in Dallas. It&rsquo;s a big bet to make locking in a core of Doncic, Fox and Porzingis together, but, if it works out, the ceiling is astronomical.
Sacramento would land future draft compensation to go along with an intriguing backcourt piece in Brunson. Also, Hardaway could be flipped elsewhere or kept around if the Kings decided to move Buddy Hield as well in a different deal.
Charlotte Hornets
This one was suggested to me by our own <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/news/authors/nekias-duncan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan</a>, which had me thinking about some potential scenarios. Fox and LaMelo Ball would be box-office levels of entertainment in Charlotte, so I totally get the idea.
However, what would the Hornets need to give up for Fox? Here&rsquo;s where I eventually landed on that idea, which led to our biggest blockbuster yet.
Kings receive: Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, James Bouknight, P.J. Washington, draft compensation
Hornets receive: De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III, Tristan Thompson, Jahmi&rsquo;us Ramsey
Yeah, that&rsquo;s a lot to take in. This could have been a lot easier if I believed the Hornets would trade away Miles Bridges in this scenario, but I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s realistic. So, let&rsquo;s chew on this eight-player deal for a moment.
Charlotte swaps out Rozier for Fox, an instant upgrade who elevates Charlotte&rsquo;s playoff hopes for this season and beyond. It takes a midseason flier on Bagley, who is a restricted free agent at the end of this season. And Bagley could be a big-time beneficiary of being spoon-fed easy looks from Ball.
Sacramento lands two win-now veterans in Hayward and Rozier. Whether the Kings decide to keep him long-term or not is to be determined. The prize of this deal is the young players/prospects. Bouknight and Washington are former lottery picks who just haven&rsquo;t found a consistent role in Charlotte. With the Kings, that would definitely change.
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If the Kings indeed decide to shop Fox openly before the trade deadline, a league-wide bidding war will ensue. Yet to hit his prime, Fox has a lot of great basketball left in him. Wherever he would potentially land, Fox could change the immediate calculus for win-now possibilities.

De'Aaron Fox could be the top name available at this year's trade deadline. Which teams make the most sense for the Kings' star?

Examining potential trade destinations for De'Aaron Fox

Myles Turner is no stranger to seeing his name in trade rumors.&nbsp;
Throughout his seven-year NBA career, Turner has repeatedly surfaced as a trade candidate. In fact, he&rsquo;s so used to seeing this that he&rsquo;s no longer fazed by the rumor mill.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Now that I see myself in these rumors all the time, it&rsquo;s just like another day for me. It&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;Oh, what else is new?&rsquo;&rdquo; Turner <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/myles-turner-i-want-to-be-an-all-star-defensive-player-of-the-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype</a> in November. &ldquo;Three years ago was the first time it really kind of got to me because I&rsquo;d see it all the time, and people were saying it was a sure thing. It was like every time I opened up my phone, I saw my name there. At one point, I loved the attention. The second time, it can be overwhelming for a younger player because you think you have some comfortability in a city and you could get moved at any time, and you see situations like that across the league all the time.&rdquo;
In the past, there would be a ton of talk about a potential Turner trade, and then he'd ultimately stay put with the Indiana Pacers. However, this time around feels a bit different since the Pacers are reportedly &ldquo;moving toward a substantial rebuild&rdquo; and listening to offers for Turner, Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert among others. Also, Turner recently spoke out about how Indiana isn't valuing him properly.
"It's clear that I'm not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity," Turner told <a href="https://theathletic.com/3005965/2021/12/09/as-pacers-consider-shake-up-myles-turner-seeks-bigger-role-with-more-opportunity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&rsquo;s Jared Weiss</a> last month. "I'm trying really hard to make the role that I'm given here work and find a way to maximize it. I've been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it's clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I'm not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that."
Basically, the 25-year-old wants to be utilized like a featured player and valued like a star. If that isn&rsquo;t in the Pacers&rsquo; plans, he wants a change of scenery.
A few weeks from the Feb. 10 trade deadline, the Pacers&rsquo; asking price for Turner is two first-round picks or a promising young player and a first-rounder, according to <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-myles-turner-caris-levert-eric-gordon-bryn-forbes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HoopsHype&rsquo;s Michael Scotto</a>.&nbsp;
The Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets are among the teams that have targeted Turner, <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-myles-turner-caris-levert-eric-gordon-bryn-forbes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Scotto</a>. NBA insider Marc Stein <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-trade-winds-?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxNjkxNTY4LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0NzA4NTUwNCwiXyI6Im1ldEtUIiwiaWF0IjoxNjQyMTk2OTA5LCJleHAiOjE2NDIyMDA1MDksImlzcyI6InB1Yi0zOTIyMDUiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.gjj6nyd488sFyvWVv7Hc5_b0FAVkctbQSRo8ApHBpJc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> that the Mavs are interested in Turner (as well as Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins).
Turner is a young, talented big man who is a perfect fit for today&rsquo;s NBA, so it&rsquo;s no surprise that he has a long list of suitors. He is currently averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.5 threes while shooting 50.9% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range and 75.2% from the free-throw line. He's on pace to lead the NBA in blocks per game for the second-straight season (and the third time in four years).
Whether he remains in Indiana or gets dealt to a new situation, Turner is prepared for whatever the future holds.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to go out there and take control of your own destiny. If you get traded, so be it. Go out there and kill it. If you stay with your organization, come out and show them why they paid you,&rdquo; Turner <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/myles-turner-i-want-to-be-an-all-star-defensive-player-of-the-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told HoopsHype</a> in November. &ldquo;You can make it an ego thing, but this is a business at the end of the day. The organization is going to do what&rsquo;s best for the organization. They&rsquo;re not inclined to care about your feelings in a sense.&rdquo;

The Pacers' asking price for Myles Turner is reportedly two first-round picks or a promising young player and a first-rounder.

Mavs, Blazers, Wolves, Knicks, Lakers, Hornets targeting Myles Turner

We've gotten some juicy NBA rumors over the past week, but John Collins' place on the Atlanta Hawks might be the most notable development.
Shams Charania first reported on Tuesday that the fifth-year big man was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-john-collins-frustrated-by-role-with-hawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frustrated by his current role</a> with the team. Collins then <a href="https://theathletic.com/3065272/2022/01/12/john-collins-on-trade-rumors-frustration-and-how-he-feels-about-the-hawks-this-is-where-i-want-to-be/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke to&nbsp;The Athletic's Chris Kirschner</a> to candidly share his own thoughts, mentioning that he doesn't love his current usage with the team, and is frustrated less by the volume and more by the context.
"I&rsquo;m not sitting here complaining and saying I need more touches of the ball, or I need to score more points or need more shots," Collins <a href="https://theathletic.com/3065272/2022/01/12/john-collins-on-trade-rumors-frustration-and-how-he-feels-about-the-hawks-this-is-where-i-want-to-be/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Kirschner</a>. "I&rsquo;ve never complained about that. All I&rsquo;ve said, specifically, if there&rsquo;s a way that I feel like is beneficial for everybody &mdash; and not just myself &mdash; is for us to be used in the correct way. "
It's fairly unusual for a player to be this publicly honest and in-depth about his frustrations, and Collins' comments make his role worth investigating. What do the numbers say? Have things really changed significantly?
According to Cleaning the Glass, the 24-year-old does have the second-lowest usage rate of his career (17.9%), and it has decreased in each of the past four years &mdash; something Collins referenced in the interview. The site's usage rate refers to the percentage of plays that end in free throws, shot attempts, assists or turnovers; Collins is less involved in these play-enders.
He's also averaging career-lows in field goal attempts and three-point attempts per game, but Collins says in the interview that this isn't what he is frustrated about. This quote was particularly interesting:
"I just don&rsquo;t like to be out there running around sometimes," Collins said. "Sometimes, you just want to understand where you can make an impact instead of having to create it for myself. I feel like that&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;m at a lot of times. I&rsquo;m just having to create out of nothing, and it&rsquo;s hard as hell."
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How is Collins getting his shots? He's actually being assisted on 75.3% of his makes, which is a career-high; this would seem to contradict Collins' claim. Though, that number has decreased in recent games.&nbsp;
Things get intriguing when looking at the changes in his shot distribution. Below are Collins' year-by-year numbers regarding his frequency of shots in each area of the half-court, per Cleaning the Glass:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>2017-18: 69% came in the paint | 24% in the mid-range | 7% from three</li>
<li>2018-19: 64% came in the paint | 19% in the mid-range | 17% from three</li>
<li>2019-20: 55% came in the paint | 22% in the mid-range | 22% from three</li>
<li>2020-21: 43% came in the paint | 32% in the mid-range | 25% from three&nbsp;</li>
<li>2021-22: 44% came in the paint | 32% in the mid-range | 24% from three</li>
</ul>
Something changed between 2019-20 and 2020-21, and it has carried over to the 2021-22 campaign. Collins' paint opportunities have noticeably decreased, and his mid-range attempts have increased without a serious jump in three-point volume. He's being drawn out of the paint. Is it a coincidence that he's also averaging two rebounds fewer per game than he did a couple of years ago?
Nine percent of Collins' field goal attempts this season have been pull-ups, according to NBA Stats. That's also a career-high, and it's historically a shot he's not comfortable with (39.5 FG% this season). And nearly all of those pull-ups are twos, not threes.
His playtype data looks suspect as well. Collins is posting up over twice as often (17.8% of his plays) as he did two years ago (8.1%), per NBA Stats/Synergy. He's not a good post-up shooter, as evidenced by the 39.4% clip and 14.0% turnover rate.
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Despite being one of the most efficient pick-and-roll bigs in the league, Collins' frequency in those plays is down nearly 9% from 2019-20. He acts as a roll man on just 19.9% of his possessions, which is far behind the NBA leaders. This is partially because he is being asked to space the floor more often, and that has come with his elite shooting from beyond the arc.
Then, we get to the NBA's touch data. Collins has a few claims in his favor. To start, he is averaging about 10 fewer touches per game over the past two seasons compared to 2019-20. He's also receiving nearly twice as many post touches. Meanwhile, his paint touches per game have progressed like this:
<ul>
<li>10.3 in 2018-19</li>
<li>9.4 in 2019-20</li>
<li>6.1 in 2020-21</li>
<li>5.8 in 2021-22</li>
</ul>
Interesting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Elite efficiency: 2️⃣ NBA players have made over 70% of their shots at the rim and over 40% of their threes on high volume. John Collins and Andrew Wiggins 🔥 (Via NBA Stats, min. 80 FGA each) <a href="https://t.co/8UzNYNimwQ">pic.twitter.com/8UzNYNimwQ</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1479922651783208961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

Collins is one of the elite "3-and-rim" offensive players in the entire NBA. That's why this next stat from Sportradar might be the biggest indictment on his usage. Below is the percentage of Collins' shots that were either layups, dunks or threes:
<ul>
<li>2017-18: 79.1%</li>
<li>2018-19: 82.3%</li>
<li>2019-20: 82.3%</li>
<li>2020-21: 69.4%</li>
<li>2021-22: 68.4%</li>
</ul>
In short, yes, Collins' role has changed, specifically in the past two seasons. He is used less for his rim pressure and lob pressure, and asked to do more out of the post and in the mid-range. Collins' strengths on offense are pretty clear: he dunks on people and forces help when attacking the basket, and spaces the floor effectively. He's a play-finisher, not an initiator or post player.
I don't want to put words in Collins' mouth. Perhaps he's referring to other offensive situations that stats don't accurately capture. It's worth diving more into the film to see visual examples of where he is uncomfortable.&nbsp;
But there's no doubt he's being used differently. While this is far from the sole reason Atlanta is plummeting, it does lend some credence to his public confusion.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>I don't really have anything to add, but just wanted to pass along this awesome visual from Mark Cheung in the Twitterverse:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
110 ten-day contracts. 40 earn a second opportunity after the first ten days. 9 have secured the rest-of-season contract. Visualized the journey of hardship 10-day contracts thru Jan 9. it's tough out here - plenty of opportunity, but with plenty of replaceability and changes. <a href="https://t.co/6I7xaNmB0W">pic.twitter.com/6I7xaNmB0W</a>
&mdash; Mark (@MarkC_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkC_NBA/status/1480618455971745792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Here's another neat graphic from Tom Bassine. Notice how the Warriors' league-best defense gives up plenty of threes, but the fewest percentage of at-rim attempts in the NBA:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Here are opponent shot profiles! <a href="https://t.co/l5s2tsyOpq">https://t.co/l5s2tsyOpq</a> <a href="https://t.co/jrQfhkP7sZ">pic.twitter.com/jrQfhkP7sZ</a>
&mdash; Tom Bassine (@tvbassine) <a href="https://twitter.com/tvbassine/status/1481395413240332288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

<ul>
<li>Props to Coby White for finding his rhythm off the bench for the Bulls. According to Cleaning the Glass, the third-year guard has increased his points per 100 shot attempts by nearly 10, and he's now in the 85th percentile at his position after two below-average seasons. White has improved from an abysmal to average at-rim finisher and a good to great shooter in the mid-range and on the corners.</li>
</ul>

With John Collins going on the record about his frustration with his role, Ethan Fuller dove into the data to see if it backed the claims.

Stats Notebook: Has John Collins' role with the Hawks really changed?

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Hornets didn't pop champagne or go wild in the locker room following a win over the Sixers more than five years in the making.
There was just a simple message from Gordon Hayward: On to the next game.
“We talked about it before the game. We talked about ending the streak,” Hayward said. “It was a big win for us. But it was just one.”
Hayward made his first nine shots and scored 30 points and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 109-98 on Wednesday night to snap a 16-game losing streak in the series.
The Hornets hadn’t won against the Sixers since Nov. 2, 2016 and held the longest active losing streak to one team in the NBA.
Now the winning streak stands at one.
“We battled with these guys for a number of years and it feels like every shot at the end of the game has gone their direction,” Hornets coach James Borrego said.
All the Hornets needed was a flawless first half out of Hayward to get them going.
Hayward came out firing with a 9 of 9 first half -- that included four 3-pointers -- for 22 points that put the Hornets up 14 at the break. Hayward, who averaged 17 points, became the fourth Hornets player to score 20 points in the first half since the 1996-97 season.
“I had some easy looks and I was able to knock them down,” Hayward said.
Terry Rozier scored 22 points for the Hornets and Miles Bridges added 21.
Joel Embiid scored 31 points for the fifth straight game and the Sixers' seven-game winning streak ended.
Embiid continued to do Embiid things and wrecked the Hornets with every kind of a shot from a step-back 3 to a down-the-lane dunk that left the backboard shaking.
His recent stretch is one of the best in team history, joining Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain as the only Sixers to score 30-plus points in eight straight games. Embiid made 10 of 17 shots and 10 of 14 free throws against the Hornets.
“It’s the skill and the power,” Borrego said. “He knows how to play the game. The way he can impose his size and power on the game and still use skill and finesse at the same time.”
Embiid, though, can’t carry the Sixers alone and the franchise is still at a stalemate with All-Star guard Ben Simmons. Embiid picked up his fifth foul with 3:45 left in the third and the Hornets ended the quarter up 85-76. 
“It starts with me. I wasn't good enough," Embiid said.
With a losing streak to the Sixers stretching more than five years, the Hornets, coming off two straight wins against Milwaukee, instead showed why they might be a team on the rise in the Eastern Conference. 
“I wouldn’t say it’s a message. We just have to continue to get better,” Bridges said. “These are three good wins against three good teams but we still haven’t done anything yet.”
Tobias Harris hit a 3 that brought the Sixers within eight only for Rozier to come right back and hit one for the Hornets. Bridges buried Charlotte’s ninth 3 to stretch the lead -- and put that losing streak to rest. 
TIP-INS
Hornets: Borrego stumped for guard LaMelo Ball to make the All-Star team. “He brings a joy to our gym,” he said. “If we were having a film session right here, he’s up front, he’s talking the most, he’s got great spirit about us. You need that spirit to get through 82 games.” ... C Kai Jones entered health and safety protocols.
76ers: G Danny Green had his right hip examined after a hard fall and returned to the game. ... The Sixers had 16 turnovers.
THE BEN THING
The Sixers continue to motor along with no change in Simmons’ status as he sits out the season following an offseason trade demand. The NBA trade deadline is about a month away (Feb. 10) and rumors continue to swirl around Simmons and the Sixers.
“We have the Ben thing,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I’m sure there will be some crazy rumors. There’s not a lot I can do about that. But there may be more than usual. If that’s the case, then you have to deal with it. You have to deal with it, I guess.”
Rivers said Simmons continues to visit the Sixers’ training facility in New Jersey.
“Hopefully we’ll have an answer, sooner or later,” Rivers said.
Simmons’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, sat courtside and heard one fan shout, “Yo, Rich Paul, get Ben Simmons out of Philly!”
UP NEXT
Hornets: Host the Magic on Friday.
76ers: Host the Celtics on Friday.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Charlotte Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time since 2016.

Hornets end 16-game losing streak to 76ers in 109-98 win

Tommy Beer checks in with an installment of BasketballNews.com's NBA Power Rankings.

NBA Power Rankings: New Year's Resolutions for each team

The holidays are traditionally a time for reflection. And family. And NBA basketball.&nbsp;
While COVID has returned to rain on our collective parades, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear that, for better or worse, the NBA will not pause the season. And as long as the NBA continues playing, Basketball News is here to analyze the results, trades, rumors and more.
While Christmas Day was a major showcase for the league, the midway point of December also marked another key day for the league, as Dec. 15 is the trigger date that a player who was signed in the 2021 offseason can be traded. Considering the NBA trade deadline is Feb. 10, Christmas (and the weeks leading up to it) was an opportunity for teams to showcase players they would like to move.
Analyzing rumors broken by the likes of ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski makes up much of the discourse around the NBA&rsquo;s trade season, but we in the media rarely pontificate about we would like to see. Generally speaking, this is intuitive in that discussing non-substantiative rumors is essentially a trip to fantasy island.&nbsp;
Still, sometimes trade ideas are so tantalizing and obvious that we can&rsquo;t help ourselves. And that&rsquo;s where we find ourselves today.&nbsp;
With that in mind, let&rsquo;s discuss an unlikely trade that, in my opinion, would greatly benefit each team involved hypothetically. Salaries don&rsquo;t match perfectly, so it would be a bit more involved than a one-for-one deal, but it&rsquo;s too good to ignore. So, let&rsquo;s fast-track this one to the top of a late-Christmas and early New Years wish list.
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The New York Knicks are pretty darn polarizing. Their fans are absolute diehards, but New York receives an unfair amount of national attention considering that the team has qualified for just one postseason in the past eight years.&nbsp;
Still, even the haters had to admit that the Knicks looked like they were on to something last season. They ended the year 41-31 as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and they boasted their first All-Star selection since 2017-18 in Julius Randle. But they had an unforgiving first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, who effectively game planned for Randle and showed the entire league how to neutralize New York's roster &mdash; and they&rsquo;ve been stuck in the mud ever since.&nbsp;
The Knicks are presently 15-18 (good for 12th in the East) with limited reason to be optimistic. It&rsquo;s simply not working as planned.
Even before COVID sidelined six of its players, New York was clearly out of sync. The team ranks 22nd in Defensive Rating (110.5), 27th in Pace (96.3) and has received very little from its offseason signings. Despite recent signs of life, Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier are both averaging near career-lows in minutes and points per game, as well as field goal percentage.
Still, there is enough of a track record to believe that head coach Tom Thibodeau will right the ship defensively; Walker was a relatively affordable signing, and Fournier is in the first year of a fairly pricey deal, meaning getting out of it would cost assets too.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17410134_lg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" />
Unless the Knicks believe that adding some combination of peripheral pieces will make them a contender, there are limited ways forward. On the bright side, they have a young and vibrant supporting cast. On the not-so-bright side &mdash; and an oft-ignored point in and around New York &mdash; the Knicks were not going to compete for a championship with a roster built around Randle. So, while this proposal might irk some, remember that is allows New York to remain competitive, while becoming even younger.&nbsp;
Through 33 games, Randle has taken a step back from last season. He&rsquo;s averaging over four fewer points per game (19.9) and shooting significantly worse from behind the arc (33.7%). He&rsquo;s not fairing much better from inside the arc (47.3%), and he&rsquo;s turning the ball over more than ever before (3.5 turnovers per contest) too. On the whole, Randle is making bad decisions, dribbling into double teams and &mdash; as discussed by our very own Moke Hamilton &mdash; has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/as-a-franchise-player-julius-randle-has-left-a-lot-to-be-desired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set a bad example for his younger teammates</a>.&nbsp;
But there&rsquo;s a lot wrong in New York that&rsquo;s impacting Randle&rsquo;s play and attitude, and it includes the play of Walker and Fournier. RJ Barrett&rsquo;s poor shooting isn&rsquo;t helping either. Ultimately, though, Randle is easier to move than Fournier and returns far more in terms of talent and/or assets, and the idea of moving Barrett would be met with a full-on mutiny.
But Randle can still be an impressively productive player. He&rsquo;s strong, versatile, relatively young (27), helps initiate the offense and defends multiple positions. He just needs to play with a different mix of players.
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Enter the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers have made it clear that they are not interested in a full-on rebuild. But considering the bevy of rumors sounding off out of Indianapolis, it&rsquo;s clearly not all sunshine and rainbows either. Players involved in rumors include <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/exploring-trade-destinations-for-domantas-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domantas Sabonis</a>, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myles Turner</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-caris-levert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caris LeVert</a> &mdash; all of whom should be of interest to the Knicks. (Editor's Note: BasketballNews.com examined potential destinations for all three. Click the hyperlinks to read more.)
Sabonis is the only one of those three I would consider swapping for Randle.&nbsp;
Sabonis is still just 25. He&rsquo;s an absolute bull, averaging 20.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game last season. His numbers are down slightly this year, but it&rsquo;s hard to blame him considering that the wheels are falling off in Indiana. Sabonis can play the 4 or the 5, meaning swapping him and Randle would enable the Knicks to slide prized second-year player Obi Toppin into the starting lineup, too. It also would allow Fournier and Barrett to take on more in terms of initiating and creating, and would cut the overall payroll a bit this season and beyond.
But this isn&rsquo;t only beneficial for New York. In fact, it might be more beneficial for the Pacers.
Indiana would receive a more dynamic playmaker in return, and one who is signed at a moderately affordable number through at least 2024-25. The Pacers would, theoretically, trot out a core of Malcom Brogdon, LeVert, Randle and Turner &mdash; all of whom are beyond serviceable. It would free up Indiana&rsquo;s big man logjam and provides them with an elite scorer. Randle would probably look better alongside an established point guard, too, and Brogdon is just flat-out better than Derrick Rose or Kemba Walker at this stage of their careers.
Ultimately, Knicks and Pacers fans will both be furious with this idea. But as they sit at the 12th and 13th spots in the Eastern Conference, respectively, I reply by with this: Is either group happy with their teams&rsquo; chances of winning a championship?
Well, this move would put both on a better path toward doing so.

Drew Maresca ponders whether the Knicks should move Julius Randle and see if another struggling East team would be interested.

Making the case for the Knicks to trade Julius Randle

Admittedly, it feels stupid to talk about trades right now amid the postponements caused by the Decepticon Variant, but so long as the season rages on &mdash; whether or not it should be is another conversation, one the NBA probably knows the answer to because of recent cancellations &mdash; I guess we&rsquo;ll keep talking about basketball.
Well, let&rsquo;s give this a shot, and hopefully, it&rsquo;ll provide a boost to your day...
We&rsquo;re gonna play Stay or Trade, which goes as it sounds, and it will involve four noteworthy guys who are now available to be dealt following Dec. 15. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-case-against-and-for-trading-will-barton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I wrote about one of them already</a>, so no Will Barton talk today. Let's proceed with who we will discuss. 
Dennis Schr&ouml;der, Boston Celtics &mdash; $5.9 million expiring
Disregarding that even ESPN is using eyeball emojis in their YouTube video titles, Bobby Marks <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVL-QTZvdAQ">says he expects Schr&ouml;der to be traded</a>. On the most recent episode of The Dunker Spot, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-65-bring-i-t-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr. and Nekias Duncan discussed Boston's needs</a>&nbsp;as part of their mailbag segment.&nbsp;
Schr&ouml;der was&nbsp;famously a mini-mid level signing&nbsp;after passing on a reported $84 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers,&nbsp;allegedly desiring for north of $100 million. At least he <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2ibrTsWAK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=b9fddcbe-5a95-4f46-ab7e-d7494deca917" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let y&rsquo;all cook him for it</a>.&nbsp;
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The fit with the Celtics has been productive, but it&rsquo;s looking increasingly likely that it&rsquo;ll be short-term. Schr&ouml;der&rsquo;s producing and, as of now, is in line to recoup some&nbsp;of the money he reportedly turned down. Currently, he&rsquo;s averaging 17.1 points and 4.8 assists per game on 44/34/89 shooting splits, roughly on par with where he&rsquo;s been since his fourth season (2016-17). As Marks outlined, all signs point to him being on the move, and the Celtics, in theory, selling high.
Schr&ouml;der&rsquo;s $5.9 million could combine with, say, Josh Richardson&rsquo;s $11.6 million. For now, leave that to the side. Juancho Hernang&oacute;mez and his $7 million are sitting there, and he's averaging just 4.2 minutes per contest with another $7.5 million to come next year. If you pair him and Schr&ouml;der with Romeo Langford's $3.8 million, you&rsquo;re at about $17 million combined. 
From there, throw in however many draft picks it takes. Use those three contracts and your draft capital, and do what you can to convince the Toronto Raptors to bring in Fred VanVleet. Two unprotected first-rounders, at least; unless you make it Schr&ouml;der and Marcus Smart. Though, that would have to wait until the latter&rsquo;s restriction is lifted after Jan. 25. (None of this has to happen immediately, anyway.)
But if I&rsquo;m Toronto, I&rsquo;m mostly telling Boston to headbutt Trey Murphy&rsquo;s &ldquo;<a href="https://twitter.com/_Andrew_Lopez/status/1472321597415563265">dry ass chicken sandwich</a>,&rdquo; and get the f&mdash;outta here. Worth a shot if you&rsquo;re the Celtics, though.&nbsp;
Verdict: Trade 
Tim Hardaway Jr., Dallas Mavericks &mdash; $21 million 
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Hardaway's production is declining like his contract right now.
So far, through 28 appearances, he&rsquo;s at 14.4 points per game on 38/33/74 shooting splits. It&rsquo;s his worst scoring output since 2016-17 and among the worst splits of his career. His contract is outlined as follows, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardati02.html">per Basketball-Reference</a>:
2021-22: $21.3 million
2022-23: $19.6 million
2023-24: $17.9 million
2024-25: $16.2 million
We&rsquo;ve always said the same two things about the Mavs for at least two years now. The first is the constant questioning of Luka Dončić&rsquo;s fit next to Kristaps Porziņģis. The second is: How could the Mavericks get adequate shot-creation next to Luka?
Hardaway Jr.&rsquo;s contract would be a burden to move, but none of us expect him to finish all four years in Dallas, do we? We&rsquo;re just anticipating it&rsquo;ll be increasingly difficult to deal him in Year 1 of the contract.
Verdict: Stay (for now)
Kemba Walker, New York Knicks &mdash; $8.7 million
After being removed from the rotation, Kemba Walker returned on Saturday night well-rested against his former Celtics, netting a season-high 29 points while hitting 5 of 11 shots from three and converting 8 of 12 free throws. The 13-17 Knicks are 10-9 in games Walker plays this season, and were 2-8 following his benching. Their defense has taken a step back, and Walker&rsquo;s been partially to blame. Still, he was effectively scapegoated for a team-wide issue. Now, he&rsquo;s playing again because of a COVID outbreak in the organization that primarily hampered their depth at guard.
Walker&rsquo;s averages are at 12.6 points and 3.1 assists in 25.2 minutes per contest. The minutes and assists are the lowest of his career, and his scoring is only second to his rookie season of 2011-12. His 112 Offensive Rating is actually on par with where he&rsquo;s been since 2015-16, his breakout offensive season. His defense, well, is about what you&rsquo;d expect. But, for where the Knicks are, he can still be productive offensively and gives them their best shot-creator at the point guard position since... Raymond Felton?!?
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Walker is due $9.2 million next season, making him a trade candidate. But seeing as how the Knicks still might need him in some regard, honestly, they should just keep him around at this time. We&rsquo;ll reevaluate the situation next month or something.
Verdict: Stay (for now)
Kelly Olynyk, Detroit Pistons &mdash; $12.2 million
Kelly Olynyk is up to 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds (and 2.3 assists) on 46/34/60 splits. Olynyk is a nice player, and is apparently already being <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-ben-simmons-trade-rumors-james-harden-jerami-grant-20211118.html?utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_campaign=edit_social_share_twitter_traffic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_term=&amp;int_promo=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thrown around in trade rumors</a>. Olynyk may or may not get attached in a trade to Jerami Grant&rsquo;s deal, but the Canadian 7-footer is bringing home $12.8 million next season and $12.1 million in 2023-24, so his deal is long-term in this climate.
Combining him with Grant puts you at $32 million of incoming salary. That&rsquo;s the Porziņģis, CJ McCollum, D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Ben Simmons, K&mdash;sigh, Kyrie Irving, territory financially. None of that sounds entirely realistic except maybe Simmons since it was at least credibly reported as a possibility.&nbsp;
Otherwise, you&rsquo;re looking at sending Olynyk to a big-needy, playoff-worthy team, who probably wouldn&rsquo;t want a long-term commitment right now. This will probably be an easier process next season, save for adding to a Grant deal, but if you can make one, why not?&nbsp;
Verdict: Trade if you can, but not by himself

Bryan Fonseca looks at four veterans who are trade-eligible and debates whether or not their teams should deal them away.

Stay or Trade: Pondering the fate of 4 eligible veteran candidates

We&rsquo;re still two months away from the NBA trade deadline in February, but expect rumors to pick up once the moratorium on recently signed players lifts on Dec. 15. Once that occur, it&rsquo;s open season on anything and everything, wherever the trade winds blow in the league.
In the meantime, which teams seem poised to buy or sell? Are there any players who could be better off elsewhere? Here are five trade ideas that have already piqued my interest. Think of it as a hypothetical early Christmas gift for these teams mentioned. Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into the scenarios below.
Christian Wood &mdash; Golden State Warriors
According to The Ringer&rsquo;s Kevin O&rsquo;Connor, the Houston Rockets will be <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/11/29/22807223/seven-observations-stephen-curry-kristap-porzingis-julius-randle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">willing to listen to trade offers on Christian Wood</a> leading up to February&rsquo;s deadline. O&rsquo;Connor also notes that the market is expected to be robust for the versatile 26-year-old big man.
So far this season in Houston, Wood is averaging 16.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. With Houston in a full-fledged rebuild centered around No. 2 overall pick, Wood simply doesn&rsquo;t fit the team's timeline. Whatever the Rockets would be able to gather for Wood would be a win at this point, and he could swing the fortunes of a championship contender.
Although the Warriors likely won&rsquo;t mess with their team chemistry, why not kick the tires on Wood? Not only would he fit the short-term goal of chasing another Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy, but he&rsquo;s young enough where you can continue building around him. Wood in Kevon Looney&rsquo;s starting spot alongside Stephen Curry would be completely unfair. Wood would feast with the gobs of spacing available to him, plus he could take pressure off others in the Warriors&rsquo; system.
The question is: What&rsquo;s a win-win hypothetical trade that makes sense for both Houston and Golden State revolving around Wood? Although Houston just selected two bigs in the 2021 NBA Draft &mdash; Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba &mdash; why not have as many bites of the apple for elite talent as possible? 2020 No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman plus Looney&rsquo;s salary to match contract value actually makes a lot of sense here. Wiseman would be able to play an extensive role alongside Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., plus the rotation at center would sort itself out eventually.
Maybe Golden State tosses in a protected future first-round pick to sweeten the offer further, but I love this for both sides. Wood raises the already immense ceiling for Golden State, while Wiseman could be another lottery ticket to develop for Houston&rsquo;s new era.
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Myles Turner &mdash; Charlotte Hornets
Indiana needs to come to the realization of where its roster stands. It&rsquo;s time to sell to the highest bidder with some of their core players. One of those who could attract a serious slew of offers is Turner, who has proven himself to be a valuable defensive anchor and floor-spacer.
Charlotte is exceeding expectations this season thanks to LaMelo Ball&rsquo;s superstar rise, plus Miles Bridges becoming the No. 2 option. Imagine how much better the Hornets would be if they acquired Turner to stabilize their inconsistent defense. Mason Plumlee isn&rsquo;t going to cut it. Throwing Turner into the mix in Charlotte would be a perfect scenario for both the team and the player. Turner would thrive alongside LaMelo in an up-tempo offense and take away a lot of easy looks that have caused serious problems this season for Charlotte.
Would Indiana be enticed by Kelly Oubre Jr. and PJ Washington as a trade package? Maybe swap out Washington for James Bouknight, who hasn&rsquo;t been able to crack the rotation due to Terry Rozier?
Either way, this type of return feels reasonable for Turner. If Indiana decides to finally pull the trigger and embrace a roster overhaul, Charlotte should be blowing them up to acquire an elite rim protector.
Domantas Sabonis &mdash; Portland Trail Blazers
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If the Pacers decide to go in the aforementioned direction with their team and ship off Sabonis to the highest bidder in February, we already have a realistic baseline in place for a package thanks to Nikola Vucevic last season. Orlando traded Vucevic, a similar player archetype as Sabonis, to Chicago for Wendell Carter Jr. and two future first-round picks. With Sabonis being five years younger and a better overall player, that&rsquo;s the floor for what should come back in any deal for Indiana's two-time All-Star center.
Portland is already dealing with roster imbalance on top of organizational issues, which now has led to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/trail-blazers-fire-neil-olshey-following-independent-review" target="_blank" rel="noopener">general manager Neil Olshey&rsquo;s firing</a>. As a last-ditch effort to appease Damian Lillard, how about pushing the chips in for Sabonis? It would be awesome to see another Sabonis suit up for the Blazers, and him being a secondary hub to the offense alongside Lillard and CJ McCollum would create an explosive offense. Lillard finally seeing the Blazers making an aggressive move could delay/off his eventual trade request at some point as well.
With Sabonis only being 25 years old and having three years remaining on his bargain of a contract, the price would be steep. Would Portland be willing to trade Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little for Sabonis?
Pascal Siakam &mdash; Sacramento Kings
The quick emergence of No. 4 overall pick Scottie Barnes is leading to the inevitable conversations revolving around Siakam&rsquo;s long-term future in Toronto. With OG Anunoby and Barnes, is Siakam (and his hefty contract) a necessity to stay around? Personally, I don&rsquo;t think so. If the Raptors are able to find a big-time offer to offload Siakam, it makes a ton of sense to explore that possibility.
Who around the league would be interested in Siakam, though? There would be a bidding war ensuing for a near-star who can lift the ceiling of a team on both ends of the court. One team that actually makes a lot of sense for Siakam, potentially out of sheer desperation, would be Sacramento.
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After firing head coach Luke Walton, there are really no more excuses for the Kings to not figure it out sometime soon. It might simply just be time to reshuffle the roster a little bit to see what happens. Adding Siakam would be a brilliant move to help out De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. Imagine how much fun this would be in Sacramento: Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Siakam, Richaun Holmes. That right there is starting lineup that can push the pace and score efficiently while also holding up on the defensive end.
With Toronto on the outside looking in for the playoff picture, acquiring Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and two future first-round picks may not be enough to say goodbye to Siakam. Maybe I&rsquo;m underselling Siakam&rsquo;s value here, but I absolutely love the on-court fit for him with the Kings, so let&rsquo;s roll with it.
Ben Simmons for CJ McCollum blockbuster
Nothing has changed when it comes to Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; standoff. If anything, Simmons&rsquo; trade value is plummeting. At some point, will Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey lower his asking price and circle back around to discussions with Portland around a Simmons for McCollum swap? Ever since Simmons passed up a wide-open dunk in a pivotal moment in the Eastern Conference Finals, this trade has felt inevitable.
Simmons would be Lillard&rsquo;s own version of Draymond Green, helping stabilize the Blazers&rsquo; defense while also being a potent forward driving to the rim. Meanwhile, McCollum would help the Sixers&rsquo; short-term hopes of forming a title contender. Philadelphia certainly loses juice on defense swapping out Simmons for McCollum, but he&rsquo;s an experienced All-Star-level player who can score 20 points per game with ease. Imagining McCollum and Tyrese Maxey is a fun exercise for a potential Sixers backcourt combination post-Simmons.
What even is the value for Simmons right now around the Association? It&rsquo;s tough to gauge, but this trade construction still feels like the easiest to navigate. As I wrote once news broke a few months ago about Simmons wanting out of Philadelphia, it could lead to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-sixers-destined-for-a-rare-winwin-breakup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a true win-win for both parties in the end</a>.

With certain free-agent trade restrictions lifting on Dec. 15, it's time to start hypothesizing which teams could be buyers or sellers.

5 potential moves that make sense leading up to NBA trade deadline

Since he arrived to the NBA as the No. 1 pick in 2017 for the Philadelphia 76ers, there has been so much misreported about Markelle Fultz.
Fultz went through two tumultuous years of misinformation by the media and fans, conspiracy theories, unfounded rumors, criticisms and internet jokes, and he was labeled a bust by people who are paid a king&rsquo;s ransom on ESPN &mdash; namely Stephen A. Smith, who called Fultz &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG8Vtvkq8Fo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the biggest bust in NBA history</a>.&rdquo;
But what actually happened is quite the opposite. Fultz wasn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;bust.&rdquo; He was dealing with an injury that is not only untraceable by an MRI, but also rarely (or hardly ever) seen in basketball players. In spite of all that, he was still trying to play through the pain because of his love for the game of basketball, and it's something that he does, in fact, regret doing.&nbsp;
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I spoke with Fultz on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my podcast</a>, "The Rematch," and the Orlando Magic guard opened up on everything that happened with his shoulder and finally put all of the incorrect rumors to rest. Below is a snippet of our conversation:
Etan Thomas: You mentioned your shoulder. You injured your shoulder, and you initially tried to play through it and not tell anybody about the injury, right? Am I correct?
Markelle Fultz: "Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely."
Etan Thomas: So walk me through that process because people don't really understand how it works sometimes. And I'm sure the pressure of being No. 1 was a contributing factor to why you wanted to play through the injury. But walk me through that process.
Markelle Fultz: "Yeah. Well, a lot of people just don&rsquo;t know my love for the game. Growing up in the area I grew up, you have bumps and bruises. But that's where it becomes a business, taking care of your body. And me being who I am, loving the game so much, I feel like, although my shoulder was messed up, I feel like I can still contribute to the game and help my team win. So I wanted to go out there and just compete and have fun with the game. And also, it's my first year. And I think that I did a poor job of communicating to my agent and my family what I was feeling, instead of just going out there and trying to compete without expressing what I was feeling. And all I was doing was making it worse. But when I realized that certain situations weren't going my way, I knew I had to speak up, and I had to do what's best for myself.
"And I think that was the toughest part about it, because I felt like I could still play and contribute to my team, but I wasn't myself. I wasn't 100%, and it wasn't what was best for the team. So I took that time and tried to figure out what was going on. And I went to go see certain doctors and started that rehab process then. But I think the biggest thing I learned from that is just taking care of my body, and communicating what I feel to not only my agent and my family, but also trainers and stuff like that."
Etan Thomas: So how long were you in pain before you told anybody?
Markelle Fultz: "Actually, my shoulder started hurting before training camp [in my rookie year]. &nbsp;But I just thought it was from how much work I was putting in, from me shooting so much that my shoulder was just sore. So I tried to work through it. I'm going in the gym, shooting thousands of shots, trying to shoot through it. And the whole time, I just continued to make it worse. But again, the mindset that I had, I'm just trying to grind. I'm trying to continue to work through these issues, and not knowing that I'm making it worse. Again, I'm just kind of being young and being selfish, I would call it, in a sense, not understanding my body. And I think that was a big part of it. And again, once I communicated, I started to get the help that I needed. And I started to work and rehab, and it started to get better."
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Etan Thomas: You mentioned you learned how to advocate for yourself. I want you to go a little bit more detail with that. And speak up because still, a lot of people don't really understand how it works with team trainers and team doctors, and how a lot of times players have to speak up and advocate for themselves. Just go into a little bit more detail about that point.
Markelle Fultz: "Yeah. And this is no knock on any team or anything like that, but it's a business, at the end of the day. And sometimes, again, it's a long season, so you have bumps and bruises. And sometimes, some people play through it, some people don't. Everybody's body is different. So especially not knowing a person and not knowing the situation, if you don't communicate and advocate for yourself, you never know what could happen. And it can be something as small as your toe hurting. But what I've learned so much about my body is your body compensates. And we're so good, as athletes and as humans, that if we're trying to do something, our body's going to find a way to do it. So it might not be the right way, but we can do certain stuff and hurt ourself, in the long run.
"And so my one thing would be: try to be in tune with your body as much as you can. And [it could be something] as small as your toenail hurting. I mean, you always get this phrase of 'You're soft' or you're whatever. But what I've learned is I'd rather overcommunicate about how my body's feeling and still be able to work out. I still want to work out, but I'm going to let you know, 'Hey, my big toe's hurting. Hey, my right hamstring is feeling like this today. My knee's feeling like this.' So they can start to know that you're caring about your body, and you're documenting certain stuff, so you don't end up compensating and hurting yourself in the long run."
Etan Thomas: Yeah, well, it's interesting. You go to different gyms, and they could be even as young as high school. And you see phrases on the wall like "Pain is weakness leaving your body" and stuff like that. And I hate that. I do, because it puts the wrong mentality into players, to thinking that them being injured is somehow their fault, like they're not being tough enough to play through an injury. And I just personally cannot stand that mentality at all.
Markelle Fultz: "Yeah. And I think that's how I kind of grew up. Not in a bad way. But growing up, I'm playing through whatever. I don't want to be soft. I want to show that I'm tough. But when you get to a certain point where your body is your brand... Your body is your car, so you need to take care of that thing like it's a Ferrari. You hear phrases like that, but it's true. You have to take care of your body.
"You have to get the right recovery. You have to get the right sleep. If not, it's going to end up hurting you. It might not hurt you right away, but down the road it can give you certain side effects. Or you never know, it can lead to something happening right away. But there are also freak accidents that happen. But I think that's the one thing that I would recommend to any player at any age, is just communicating about your body. [That] doesn't mean that you have to sit out of a drill, but it can start to put an awareness on people's mind. You can start to document certain things. And you'll have a better understanding, going forward, of why you do what you do."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Markelle Fultz&rsquo;s story is a great example for all younger players on fighting through adversity, having the right mentality, ignoring critics and perseverance. His testimony is something every young athlete should hear. Powerful interview <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheRematch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheRematch</a> <a href="https://t.co/25vHkql1Rj">https://t.co/25vHkql1Rj</a> <a href="https://t.co/LpHu9jQxfG">pic.twitter.com/LpHu9jQxfG</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1464569831324332045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Etan Thomas: But I think that sometimes a player does have to sit down. A player does have to say, "Okay, I can't go. You're going to talk bad about me. You're going to tell..." So I use the example a lot with my son about Robert Griffin III. So when RG III first came to D.C., my son was the biggest RG III fan on earth. And then I took him to... you know when they have the open scrimmages? So he met him, and RG III was cool with him. And they took a picture, and he's been the biggest RG III fan forever since then. And you remember that game where RG III was limping out there? And so, I'm watching that game with Malcolm. And he was like, "Why is he playing? What is he doing? He's going to injure himself," and so forth. This is what a young Malcolm is saying.
And sure enough, in fact his entire career, the trajectory of everything, went downhill from there. And then you saw the trainer say, "Well, I didn't tell him to go out there." Nobody wanted to take responsibility. But it should be the trainer's job to tell you that you are going to hurt yourself more if you continue playing. And that's the problem that I personally have with a lot of NBA trainers. I'm not throwing anybody in particular under the bus; this is a league-wide issue. They're employers of the team, and they want to do what's best for the team, not what's best for the player.
Markelle Fultz: "Exactly. And that's where it comes back to a relationship. So you have to have the certain people in your corner that's going to always keep it real with you because at the end of the day, like I said, your body's your brand. And it's about the longevity. It's different if it's Game 7 in the playoffs or the championship, and you're sacrificing for that. What I've also learned is rest is a big part of recovery, and getting the right amount of rest. Some days you got to go hard, and some days you have to not do anything at all. I mean, you can do some light stuff. But I think you hit it right on the head. Some people&rsquo;s mind is set for the team. Not everybody has your best interest [in mind]. You have the best interest for yourself. So I think that's why it's huge to communicate how you feel to whoever it is &mdash; whether it's your mom, your dad, your trainer, whoever &mdash; and do what you feel is best because you know your body the best.
"Nobody else can tell you how your body is supposed to feel, how your body feels at that time. And I think that's where I learned how to advocate the most for myself. And I've gotten more respect from a lot of people when I do that. And again, it doesn't mean you're soft. It's just being smart about certain things. But at the same time, you do have to push yourself in certain limits to be able to... It's going to be certain days where you're sore, and you still have to push through. That's part of it, but it's a difference between sore and hurt. So just trying to learn... The sooner you start to communicate certain things, you start to learn what's pain, and what's okay to work through and what's not to work through. And that's where I think I've learned the most. I've learned how to identify what's going on in my body, and understand what I need to do to make that feel better, or if I need to take rest or if I need to go get treatment."
Etan Thomas: Yeah. I mean, I always heard the saying that there's a difference between being injured and hurting. So sometimes you're going to have to play through being hurting. That's just part of being an athlete. But being injured, you need to sit down.
Markelle Fultz: Exactly.
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Etan Thomas: So, I want to ask a few specifics. I remember seeing some videos of you, watching you play and seeing your different routines on the free-throw line. And I just wanted to ask: Was that when you was trying to push through it? Was it part of the rehab? So there was one where you would kind of pat the ball like this, and then shoot it. And then there were some where you would go up and it would be kind of like a hitch, kind of. What exactly was going on?
Markelle Fultz: "Yes. So what a lot of people don't know is, what TOS (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) is. It's a nerve... It's when your nerves are getting pressured on, and you can start to lose feeling in your hands. So at the time when I was playing, I still had TOS. I wasn't diagnosed with TOS. I still was working through certain shoulder stuff. But again, with my love for the game, I still wanted to be out there.
"And another thing people don't know, TOS is not diagnosed through a MRI, CAT scan. It's very hard to diagnose TOS, which is a big part of why, in the beginning, I kind of thought that nothing was going on. And I just thought it was my shoulder, because when I got MRIs and I got the scans, I didn't see anything that was going on. But I had to continue. So I went from shooting 40% in college to coming into the NBA.... It's so funny, people were like, 'He changed his shot.' Like, what would I change my shot for? There's no reason. So that was one of the funniest things that I heard, then I used to hear all these rumors about me being injured on a motorcycle, but that's another story."
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&ldquo;JJ Redick stood up for me to the media. He went off on them in front of the camera and I really appreciated that a lot. He was like a big brother to me&rdquo; Markelle Fultz <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheRematch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheRematch</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JJRedick?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JJRedick</a> <a href="https://t.co/U5IHeV99rU">https://t.co/U5IHeV99rU</a> <a href="https://t.co/GwGJ3a3FSB">pic.twitter.com/GwGJ3a3FSB</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1464597794677743621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Etan Thomas: Oh, man! There were so many different rumors about you... They got the story wrong so many times. I heard so many different stories.
Markelle Fultz: And that's what was the funniest thing because to me... I never went out to address it because I didn't care about that. Again, my main focus was getting back on the court, doing what I needed to do. But some of the stuff I used to see, I used to be like, 'Yo, that's crazy that somebody actually believes that.' But it also taught me another thing: You can't believe everything you read, right? But yeah. So pretty much what people didn't know is, so when I was going... The whole thing on my shoulder, when I would try to shoot, it almost felt like I had a too-small suit jacket on. So I would go, try to go up, and it felt like somebody was almost holding my arm there. I would try to move fast, but I felt like I couldn't move fast. So what I ended up doing is continue to try to shoot on it. I ended up building up more and more pressure on my shoulder where I'm not using... where I'm starting to hinge my shoulder up. I'm starting to use the wrong muscles, and I'm building bad habits.
"But what people don't understand is I'm out there playing, still. Still trying to shoot, still doing this. I was still making free throws. I wasn't very high percentage, but I was still making free throws. And so the first thing, when I would go up sometimes, I would lose feeling in my hand. And so, that's the reason I'd double clutch, because I would get here and I wouldn't feel like the ball was in my hand. But when I'd come up, my feeling would come back because the way it is &mdash; when I'm going through a certain motion &mdash; my muscles are pushing on my nerve, which is cutting my feeling off. And when I go through, it releases off the nerve, and that's when I would get my feeling back. So when I would do the double clutch, it was because when I would get here, I wouldn't feel the ball in my hand. So it was no way I was shooting if I don't feel like the ball [was] in my hand.
"So I would go up a little bit and it would come back, so I would just come from here and shoot the ball. And so when I went to practice, I'm like, 'Alright, that's not working, so let me try something else.' So another thing I tried to do was, this wouldn't have me holding the ball. So the desensitization of just moving the ball back and forth until I get into where I get feeling, which is right here, then I can just shoot. I was fine shooting from here. If I had just caught the ball here and shot up, it was perfectly fine. So that was why I went to that because I was just trying to be more efficient at the free-throw line. I didn't care what people were saying. I was just trying to get my flow in. So when I got to where I needed to go, I can just shoot the ball fine. But again, that was another realization of me compensating. And I said, 'Markelle Fultz, you don't need to compensate. You need to get healthy.'
"And another instance where I talked to my agent, I just told him I have no problem playing. I just feel like I want to be myself so I can just go out there and play without thinking, just playing my game, be who I am. And so, that's where it kind of went from. But just a lot of repetition of shooting the wrong way, it just builds bad habits and it builds your muscle memory wrong. And so, that was the biggest thing, trying to get back to... And I'm still working on it now. It's something I'm always going to have to work on. It's just trying to get my brain to process the ball being over my head the same way. And it's something that is a everyday grind, but I'm enjoying it. I feel way more comfortable now, and I feel the improvement. And again, I know my body, so I know what I need to work on.
Listen to the full episode of Markelle Fultz on The Rematch <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-39-markelle-fultz-talks-injuries,-dealing-with-criticism-his-love-of-the-game-and-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Markelle Fultz gives a behind-the-scenes breakdown of the shoulder injury he suffered as a rookie and how it affected his jump shot.

Markelle Fultz reveals what really happened with his shot, shoulder

It's a new NBA season, which means the Sour Rankings are back!&nbsp;
Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well-under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and general underwhelming play will all be considered.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Some teams value wins this season and paths to a title, while others are looking down the road at long-term pieces.&nbsp;
This week is not a "preview" installment; it is rather a barometer of the general vibe around a franchise as things get underway. The NBA preseason is generally filled with optimism; 10 teams make the Sour Rankings, but that doesn't mean they're all in dire straits, as I'll note.
So without further ado, let's get to it!
10. Washington Wizards
Given the circumstances, the Wizards had a satisfactory 2021 offseason. They returned three rotation-caliber players from the Russell Westbrook trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, and then went out and found a strong backcourt partner for Bradley Beal in Spencer Dinwiddie.&nbsp;
Washington could be a very solid team on paper with improved depth &mdash; but is that enough to make considerable playoff noise in the Eastern Conference? Beal's looming 2022 free-agent status shines a harsh spotlight on the current Wizards. Their star has stuck it out through multiple years of mediocrity. Maybe he'll re-up with the team that drafted him, but Beal would undoubtedly appreciate some serious postseason contention before having to decide.
9. Indiana Pacers
The injury bug simply will not let go of the Pacers. T.J. Warren still appears to be a ways off from recovering from a foot injury that held him to just four games last season. Caris LeVert will <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/10/16/pacers-caris-levert-getting-closer-but-miss-first-four-games/8489876002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly miss at least the first four games</a> of the regular season as he works to return from a stress fracture in his back. These are two top-scoring options out of the short-term picture.
Indiana largely opted to stay the course in a suddenly crowded East. The Pacers can't afford to fall behind early, and these absences certainly won't help.
8. New Orleans Pelicans
Another team hampered by health, this ranking is entirely due to Zion Williamson's injury status. The superstar forward has suffered a sprained knee, torn meniscus and foot fracture in the past years, and is now without a return timetable as he recovers from that foot surgery. Without Williamson, the Pelicans are nowhere near the playoff sleeper they could be &mdash; even with a new head coach and some positive roster moves. They need their centerpiece, and his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/we-should-be-worried-about-zion-williamson-ability-to-stay-healthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developing pattern of injuries is concerning</a>.
7. Phoenix Suns
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Mikal Bridges on being there for Deandre Ayton after not signing a new contract: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s way more mature with everything. He has great people around him. I try to do the best I can to clear his mind, but it&rsquo;s tough. .. Being around him every single day, I don&rsquo;t want to lose that.&rdquo;
&mdash; Evan Sidery (@esidery) <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1450186692871135232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Three hours before writing this, I would not have remotely considered the Suns to be in the Sour Rankings. But the rookie extension deadline has passed without Deandre Ayton securing a long-term deal, the first No. 1 pick since Anthony Bennett not to do so.
Suns general manager James Jones did not negotiate a maximum contract extension with the Bahamian big man, perhaps at the direction of team owner Robert Sarver &mdash; but the team did agree to a 4-year, $43 million extension with draft classmate Landry Shamet. As Evan Sidery <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/news/authors/evan-sidery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in regards to Ayton</a>, that's blasphemous, and it could fragment an extremely fun, likable Phoenix squad.
6. Sacramento Kings
Your 2021 Las Vegas Summer League champs are back to fight the longest postseason drought in the league. The Kings are making strides with their young talent, highlighted by the preseason success of No. 9 overall pick Davion Mitchell, and retained a core piece in Richaun Holmes.&nbsp;
But does it feel like Sacramento is any closer to the playoffs? Buddy Hield was all-but-traded to the Lakers, and his future is now uncertain as the Kings see if a De'Aaron Fox-Tyrese-Haliburton-Mitchell lineup has potential. What about 2018 No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III, who was not extended at Monday's deadline? He's as big of a question mark as one can exist among young prospects league-wide.&nbsp;
5. Minnesota Timberwolves
There's definitely reason for optimism with the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards had a phenomenal second half to the 2020-21 season and an overall stellar rookie year. Karl-Anthony Towns can be rid of the awful, awful year-plus he has endured personally. D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley can get buckets, Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt are intriguing defensive pieces and Chris Finch had a summer to prep for all of this as head coach.&nbsp;
But the Gersson Rosas firing and fallout feels all too Timberwolves-y. It's yet another reset for Towns, who was vocally frustrated at training camp. Is the front office in position to guide the team with the season about to start?&nbsp;
4. Portland Trail Blazers
Larry Nance Jr.'s acquisition partially salvaged what was a wildly terrible offseason in Portland between the Chauncey Billups hiring and the Damian Lillard trade rumors. It appears Lillard is content to stick with the Blazers this season and see how the team operates under its first-year head coach. That's admirable, but it also means the entire season will be laced with tension.
Portland should run back a fun, high-scoring offense. Will the defense improve with Nance in the frontcourt? That's the big question. If not, the Blazers will return to playoff mediocrity and potentially push Lillard closer to the exit door.&nbsp;
3. Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks were one of my picks for the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-team-had-the-worst-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worst NBA offseason</a> (Jackson Frank also picked them), and nothing in recent weeks has made me feel any better. Mark me down as adamantly opposed to the Jason Kidd hiring. Reggie Bullock is a fine individual player; he is not going to dramatically alter things on the offensive end. Plus, Dallas recently released 2020 draft pick Tyrell Terry, and we haven't seen much of 2020 first-rounder Josh Green. Where does the optimism come from outside of Luka Doncic?
2. Brooklyn Nets
I'm not going to get deep into the Kyrie Irving situation from a public health perspective, celebrity responsibility perspective or general common sense perspective. I don't have anything major to add to those discussions, other than to reinforce that Irving is carelessly and dangerously misusing his power as a public figure.&nbsp;
This section is about the Nets, who are paying the price for Irving's choices. The NBA title should have traveled through Brooklyn and its Big Three, and the Nets are still an elite basketball team with improved depth. But, remove an All-NBA-caliber player and the ceiling significantly lowers. Instead of being the overwhelming favorite, the Nets have become just another contender.
1. Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons has given us the Hollywood trade drama we had missed since, well, last winter. Simmons was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-thrown-out-of-practice-suspended-philadelphia-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tossed out of practice and suspended Tuesday</a>, so the months-long firestorm appears to still be getting hotter. But while that's a win for NBA/TMZ crossover fans, it's a serious loss for the 76ers, who now have to take this show into the regular season.
Joel Embiid has never played more than 64 games in a season, and is coming off of two shortened offseasons sandwiching an East Finals run. That should cause concern. The backcourt is fun, but nowhere near close to replicating Simmons' impact. Maybe Simmons actually does suit up in games &mdash; will he bring a positive on-court presence to a team that has publicly denounced his game?
Until Philly finally makes a trade &mdash; and who knows when it could happen &mdash; the Sixers' season could range from awkward to disastrous.

Ethan Fuller ranks the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises ahead of the season.

NBA Sour Rankings: Chaos among the contenders?

Prior to the start of last season, Kyrie Irving <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2921968-nets-kyrie-irving-on-fine-for-media-policy-violation-i-do-not-talk-to-pawns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called the media &ldquo;pawns&rdquo;</a> and stated that it would be his preference if he didn&rsquo;t speak to them at all, and it appears as though many are dedicated to holding a grudge for the rest of their days.
But did Kyrie Irving have a valid point? Were the members of the media who fall into that category the only ones offended by those comments? I personally didn&rsquo;t take offense because I know he wasn&rsquo;t talking about me. But as the saying goes, if the shoe fits...
Irving's words should have resulted in a lot of the media taking a hard and long look in the mirror instead of getting their notepads in a bunch (see what I did there).
A pawn is defined as &ldquo;a person used by others for their own purposes.&rdquo;
So from that standpoint, was Kyrie onto something? For instance, recall last year&rsquo;s dramatic articles and commentary projecting disaster on the Brooklyn Nets in the preseason. A hypothetical (and eventual) combination of three of the game&rsquo;s most gifted scorers led to the media assuming they'd be unwilling to share the ball. There were accusations that Kyrie would be uncoachable. There were reports claiming he no longer cared about the game of basketball and more of the like.
But didn&rsquo;t all of that disappear as soon as the season started? Some members of the media were even calling for Kyrie to retire before the season even began.&nbsp;
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Creating baseless gossip and chit-chat for ratings, clicks and shares is very pawn-like.
Isn't that the script that the media is following?
Look at the evidence &mdash; articles with &ldquo;anonymous sources&rdquo; claiming that the Nets are looking to move Kyrie, commentators drumming up baseless trade chatter and spreading rumors that Kevin Durant secretly wants Kyrie gone, reports that if Kyrie is traded he&rsquo;ll retire, suggestions that a Ben Simmons swap is even in the realm of a possibility, etc.
Isn&rsquo;t it interesting that so much of the noise seems to magically disappear as soon as he starts playing? I&rsquo;m sure that will be the case again as soon as this season begins. That usually means the reports and commentary and &ldquo;anonymous sources&rdquo; never really had any substance in the first place, but were just more media noise that was manufactured to create chatter in the slow months tor ratings. Again, very pawn-like.
To weigh in on Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s never-ending battle with the media, I asked NBA Hall-of-Famer, Detroit Pistons legend and television analyst Isiah Thomas for his thoughts on the matter.
&ldquo;I respect the independence that Kyrie has shown throughout this entire process. Just like we [do] as professional athletes, we as human beings, we as fathers, husbands, brothers &mdash; sometimes we get it wrong. And at the same time, sometimes the media gets it wrong," Thomas told me. "And when the media gets called out on being wrong, their response is almost &lsquo;How dare you?&rsquo;
"Just like one side can be wrong, so can the other side. So, don&rsquo;t jump on me when I&rsquo;m wrong, but be quiet when you&rsquo;re wrong. You received information about me, and what I am thinking and what my intentions are, and whoever told you that didn&rsquo;t tell you correctly. Now, this is what I meant, this is my voice. This isn&rsquo;t whatever source, this is my voice. So respect my voice, and that&rsquo;s what Kyrie has been saying. And he has been very authentic in his voice."
It doesn&rsquo;t sound like he took Kyrie&rsquo;s &ldquo;pawn&rdquo; comment personally, does it?&nbsp;
Regarding the trade rumors surrounding the star point guard in Brooklyn, Thomas feels strongly that sending Kyrie elsewhere would be a mistake the Nets would regret.
&ldquo;The LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavs that came back and beat the Golden State Warriors after they had a 73-9 season &mdash; and LeBron James was off the charts in every statistical category &mdash; but the Cleveland Cavs do not win the championship without Kyrie Irving on that team," Thomas said. "Put me down on record. The Brooklyn Nets with the team constructed the way it currently is, cannot, and will not, win the championship if he is not there. Period.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s be clear: Kyrie is special. If he is not beating you from the perimeter off the dribble, he is knifing through the paint whenever he chooses with an array of dribble moves, crossovers, stepbacks and finishing in traffic. He is &ldquo;both-handed,&rdquo; which in basketball terms equates to being ambidextrous. He can finish with his left or right hand regardless of the size of the shot-blocker or the number of people occupying the lane. His layup package is on a different planet.
But don&rsquo;t take my word for it.
Allow legendary NBA point guard and New Jersey Nets fan favorite Kenny Anderson to tell you himself.
&ldquo;As far as [the great] point guards go: Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, [Allen] Iverson, Steph Curry, Oscar Robertson, and you gotta put Kyrie in the next mix," Anderson told me. "He&rsquo;s one of the best that ever played the game. He&rsquo;s so talented. His ball-handling skills are exceptional. He&rsquo;s hitting his shot from long range and short range. He can do it all. He&rsquo;s just a great player. I love watching him. He&rsquo;s one of my favorite players.
&ldquo;The Nets would be crazy to even think about trading him. They&rsquo;re favored to win everything. I don&rsquo;t even believe that they are seriously thinking about trading him. I think that&rsquo;s just something the media came up with to have something to talk about before the season starts. We got the best player in the league, Kevin Durant, with the best point guard in the league. Kyrie Irving. and an unstoppable scorer in James Harden. So no, trading Kyrie from the Nets perspective shouldn&rsquo;t even come into their minds and definitely shouldn&rsquo;t come out of their mouths as even a consideration.&rdquo;
There is statistical evidence to back up what both point guard legends are saying.
Last season, Kyrie had the best regular season of his 10-year career, averaging 26.9 points, 6.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. He became just the ninth player in NBA history to join the exclusive 50/40/90 club and shot 50.6% from the field, 40.2% from the three, and 92.2% from the free-throw line. He joined the likes of Curry, Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki and Malcolm Brogdon, along with his teammate, Durant, and head coach, Steve Nash.&nbsp;
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To provide further insight, Syracuse University point guard icon Sherman Douglas &mdash; who played 11 seasons in the NBA and two with Nets &mdash; weighed in as the rumors as well.
&ldquo;Kyrie is vital to the Nets' success this season. To even think about trading him is absurd," Douglas said. "It&rsquo;s going to take the Lakers a while to get their chemistry [together], and we&rsquo;ll see how that works out. But if you trade him, you&rsquo;re not going to get equal value back, I don&rsquo;t care what package you come up with. He is a special talent, so what type of sense would it make to take a step back in a season where you should be favored to win it all? And if it weren&rsquo;t for injuries, you very well may have won it all last season. Of course, no disrespect to Milwaukee because they did an amazing job. But my point is, it would make no sense to break that team up.&rdquo;
Nicknamed &ldquo;The General&rdquo; for the way he ran the Orangemen and setting the NCAA record for assists in 1989, Douglas offered his evaluation of Kyrie Irving as a point guard and a leader.
&ldquo;Kyrie&rsquo;s skill level of not just ball-handling but of shooting, passing and scoring is one of the best I&rsquo;ve ever seen. He can do it all," Douglas said. "He is one of those point guards where you have to just say, 'I hope he&rsquo;s off tonight.' And [with] the way Brooklyn plays spreading the floor with shooters &mdash; which leaves the defender on an island by himself with Kyrie &mdash; you wanna send help, but you can&rsquo;t because of all of the shooters.
&ldquo;And as a leader, one of the many things that had impressed me with Kyrie is that he can take a step back and let other guys score. So when he sees Durant is scoring or Harden has it going or whoever, he has the humility to take a step back and allow those guys to get off when he knows he could be doing the same exact level of scoring. And I&rsquo;ve seen Harden do that as well. It&rsquo;s not a competition, and that&rsquo;s special. You don&rsquo;t just throw that away, because that chemistry isn&rsquo;t easy to come by and they jelled quickly.&rdquo;
So everyone agrees that, on the court, Kyrie is invaluable. But one of the things that makes him somewhat of an enigma to many is the fact that Kyrie cares about much more than basketball.&nbsp;
At one point last season, Irving divulged that he was participating in his first Ramadan, a sacred time for Muslims where they fast from dawn to sunset and can&rsquo;t eat or drink anything during the day. He also disclosed that the Israeli airstrikes that slaughtered dozens of Palestinians heavily weighed on him, and despite the fact that the playoffs were just days away and the Nets were significant favorites to win it all, his main focus wasn&rsquo;t at the time bouncing a ball.
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Kyrie explained why, with everything going on in the world, basketball isn't the most important thing for him to talk about right now. <a href="https://t.co/y6YbMPoZq6">pic.twitter.com/y6YbMPoZq6</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1393764602840768513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of stuff going on in this world, and basketball is just not the most important thing to me right now," he said. "There&rsquo;s a lot of stuff going on overseas. All my people are still in bondage all across the world. There&rsquo;s a lot of dehumanization going on, so I apologize if I&rsquo;m not going to be focused on your questions. There&rsquo;s just too much going on in the world for me to just be talking about basketball... and it&rsquo;s not just in Palestine and not just in Israel, it&rsquo;s all over the world, and I feel it.
"I&rsquo;m very compassionate to all races, all cultures, and to see so many people being discriminated against based on their religion, the color of their skin, what they believe in it&rsquo;s just sad. We all say we&rsquo;re human beings and we&rsquo;re compassionate and we care, but what are you doing to help?&rdquo;&nbsp;
Anybody with eyes could see the genuine hurt that Kyrie Irving was feeling at that moment. This is who he is. He cares deeply.&nbsp;
Shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection &mdash; in which the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. was violently attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump as they sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election &mdash; Kyrie took a break from the team. Upon his return, he addressed the media. 
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"There are so many oppressed communities and so many things going on that are bigger than a ball going in the rim." Kyrie Irving discussed his absence, mental health and his goals off the court. (via <a href="https://twitter.com/SNYNets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SNYNets</a>) <a href="https://t.co/4LY7T8V327">pic.twitter.com/4LY7T8V327</a>
&mdash; Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSportsNBA/status/1351601992280498178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
&ldquo;When things become overwhelming in life, you know, you just got to take a step back and realize what&rsquo;s important. I&rsquo;m not alone in this. And that&rsquo;s just a big thing about also mental health, you know, just coming in and being balanced with yourself and then being able to perform," Irving said. "So, with everything going on in the world politically, socially, it&rsquo;s hard to ignore. I want to make changes daily. You know, there are so many oppressed communities, so many things going on that are bigger than just a ball going into the rim. So it&rsquo;s just the balance of it.&rdquo;&nbsp;
No one is going to deny that Kyrie's absence from the team was unexpected, and the lack of details opened the door for speculation and chatter. And to be fair, the way he handled it wasn&rsquo;t the best either. Breaking the NBA&rsquo;s COVID-19 protocols and attending a party is obviously not the greatest thing to do, even if it&rsquo;s part of the taking a step away process.
However, at the same time, Irving&rsquo;s mental health is something that needs to be intact in order for him to perform at the optimal level fans desire. And taking a break doesn&rsquo;t always look the same for everyone. But in this society, athletes are still greatly ridiculed when they take time off for their mental health, just ask Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles. But that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that mental health is something that should be valued, and Kyrie is not someone who is going to stop caring &mdash; because that&rsquo;s just who he is. 
On my show "<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Rematch</a>," while I was interviewing Stephen Jackson, <a href="nba-kyrie-irving-george-floyd-stephen-jackson-house-bought-gianna-lil-baby-barbra-streisand-brooklyn-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he revealed that Kyrie bought a house for the family of George Floyd</a>, who was murdered last year at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.&nbsp;
Irving also <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2021/01/01/brooklyn-nets-guard-kyrie-irving-pays-off-tuition-of-nine-students-at-hbcu-lincoln-university/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid off the college tuition of nine students from an HBCU</a> (Lincoln University) on Dec. 10 as part of his foundation&rsquo;s 11 Days of Giving.
At the height of an international covid pandemic, <a href="https://nothinbutnets.com/2020/07/27/nets-kyrie-irving-wnba-players/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he committed $1.5 million to help support the income of WNBA players</a> who chose to sit out the 2020 season due to health and other personal reasons.
This past August, <a href="https://www.michigandaily.com/news/kyrie-irving-donates-13000-to-umich-student-run-charity-for-solar-water-center-in-pakistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he donated funds to help build a solar water center in Pakistan</a> that will provide clean water and electricity to over 1,000 people.
And I could go on and on and on, but in describing his character, many members of the media choose to focus on Kyrie not wanting to speak to them instead of constantly bringing up these facts.
It always goes back to him calling them pawns, or downplaying his need to take a mental break, or not being committed to the team or pulling up previous statements to add ridicule to him. A good example is his strong opposition to Thanksgiving.
(All the while ignoring the fact that he is very serious about his Native American heritage; his mother, Elizabeth, who passed away when he was 4, was a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Irving and his older sister, Asia, were actually welcomed into the tribe with a ceremony in 2018. He was even given the Lakota name "Little Mountain" by tribal elders. So, yes, it should be more than understandable why he would not be as enthusiastic about a holiday that marks the slaughter of his people, but I digress.)&nbsp;
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I asked Douglas why many in the media choose to focus on the negative instead of the positive so often with Kyrie. 
&ldquo;Unfortunately, the way of the media is to focus on the negative and not the positive. &nbsp;Negativity is what sells," Douglas said. "They are not looking to praise Kyrie for what he does off the court, and he is not looking for that. In fact, he wants to do things quietly and is looking to do the right thing, and you have to commend him for that. What he is doing off the court is just phenomenal. I think Kyrie has to just tune all of that out and keep doing what he has been doing. But he is an example to all on how to give of yourself and to be selfless and care for the well-being of others in thought, word and in deed."
Thomas reflected with the same sentiments.
&ldquo;I love the sensitivity that he shows to the community and in particular, people who are in poverty. I am one who grew up in poverty, so I benefitted from the charitable generosity and good will of others. And it is appreciated more than many people know because he doesn&rsquo;t have to do that," Thomas said. "And he doesn&rsquo;t do it to be seen doing it. Things leak out of course because that&rsquo;s the age we are living in, but he would rather keep everything quiet, and that shows how genuine of a person he is &mdash; because he is doing it out of the kindness of his heart, not for recognition or to embarrass the person who he is helping, which happens too often. So I have all the respect and admiration in the world for him.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Anderson had some closing comments, in addition.
"They just want him to just shut up and play basketball. He has things other than basketball that he feels passionately about, and there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with that," Anderson said. "He cares for people in a way that is foreign to a lot of folks, but he&rsquo;s supposed to care about people. He wants to make a difference in the world and that&rsquo;s what he is doing. He&rsquo;s looking at what&rsquo;s going on overseas, what&rsquo;s going on here in America, things affect him &mdash; but they are supposed to affect him. He&rsquo;s a human being with a huge heart and the financial ability to make a change.
"I think he is doing great, and he needs to keep doing everything he&rsquo;s doing &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s challenging whoever, or helping whoever, or speaking up for whoever. It obviously didn&rsquo;t take away from what he is doing on the court. He can&rsquo;t help injuries, but when he laced them up, he dominated. And if he wouldn&rsquo;t have gotten hurt, things would&rsquo;ve been different last year. So he just needs to ignore everyone and keep doing what he is doing. He definitely has my admiration and support.&rdquo;
All three are absolutely right about Kyrie Irving, and I couldn't agree more.

Etan Thomas defends Kyrie Irving along with three former NBA point guards that admire his game and, more importantly, his character.

Isiah Thomas, Kenny Anderson, Sherman Douglas have Kyrie Irving's back

Yesterday, we <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/5-nba-teams-you-should-hammer-the-over-on-for-202122-win-totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covered the best NBA win-total bets to hammer the over on</a> and now it&rsquo;s time to flip the script and discuss the most intriguing under options available. With so many teams pushing the chips in for a 2021-22 playoff run, it'll be tougher for teams to separate from the pack. Which squads will ultimately regress or fail to meet preseason expectations?
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dive into the five-best under bets to make entering this season.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: UNDER 51.5 WINS
The Sixers currently find themselves in a tricky situation. The Ben Simmons drama has reached a new boiling point, as the 2016 No. 1 overall pick has officially requested a trade from Philadelphia. Although Simmons' offensive struggles are well-documented, his defense helped him finish second in the Defensive-Player-of-the-Year race behind Rudy Gobert last season.
Just now entering his prime years at age-25, Simmons has shown unicorn-like tendencies as a jumbo playmaker who can defend five positions on the basketball court. Simmons&rsquo; impact will be missed in Philadelphia, and it'll be interesting to see what the Sixers receive in return for him.
With the Simmons rumors reaching a fever pitch, plus the inconsistent availability of Joel Embiid over the years, taking a swing on the under at 51.5 makes sense to me. Do we trust Tobias Harris to carry an Embiid-less team on the nights he eventually sits out? Especially with a more jam-packed Eastern Conference than ever, I expect a small step back from the Sixers. Fifty wins feels like the ceiling to me, which means I'm hammering the under here.
ATLANTA HAWKS: UNDER 47.5 WINS
Atlanta caught fire last season when they moved Nate McMillan over to the head-coach seat with Lloyd Pierce&rsquo;s midseason firing. However, will that mojo continue over a full 82-game schedule? The Hawks have built a great infrastructure of talent around their superstar Trae Young. However, I feel like Las Vegas might be overestimating Atlanta after this recent run.
Maybe I&rsquo;m too pessimistic when it comes to the Hawks, but I need to see this success continue to fully buy-in. Reaching the near-50-win mark is a huge milestone for an organization that has been stuck in the lottery for years. Atlanta added more young talent in the draft, but didn&rsquo;t add any veterans into the equation.
I&rsquo;m going to play it safe and roll with the under on Atlanta. If Trae lights up the NBA in his fourth season, plus other pieces of their core take steps forward, I would be happy to be proven wrong here. There&rsquo;s a real possibility that their late-season run was lightning in a bottle, and that their win total will be in the mid-40s. In my opinion, 47.5 is a steep over to hit.
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INDIANA PACERS: UNDER 43.5 WINS
The Pacers were dealt potentially the NBA's worst hand last season with injuries. T.J. Warren only played four games. Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner dealt with various ailments. Caris LeVert had to sit out an extended period of time following his arrival (via the Victor Oladipo trade) because a cancerous tumor was discovered on a physical.
With Rick Carlisle back in Indiana as head coach, will the Pacers&rsquo; talented nucleus finally put it all together? I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pacers-face-makeorbreak-202122-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have my doubts</a>, especially considering how much the East has improved. No longer will a team comfortably make the playoffs with a record around .500.
Indiana also feels like the most obvious team to hit the reset button midseason, especially if they get off to a slow start. Outside of Domantas Sabonis and LeVert, everyone could be on the table in trade talks. Warren is on an expiring contract, while Brogdon and Turner have been floated in trade discussions over the last calendar year. If Indiana floats around .500 or below, the Pacers would be wise to sell-high on those players at their last opportunity to receive positive value.
Although Indiana had only one down year, the East is now a beast. It might be too little, too late for this core to make a run, which leads me to feel comfortable hammering the under on 43.5.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: UNDER 41.5 WINS
Coming off their first playoff appearance since the Grit-n-Grind era, Memphis is bubbling with excitement to see if the Grizzlies can take the next step forward. Led by Ja Morant, Memphis has done a fantastic job of building around their young star point guard.
However, with the Golden State Warriors now back to full health, plus other young teams hoping to take a leaps (such as the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/by-making-zion-williamsons-job-easier-the-pelicans-should-finally-have-real-playoff-potential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Orleans Pelicans</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-the-timberwolves-finally-take-a-leap-forward-in-a-loaded-western-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minnesota Timberwolves</a>), Memphis will have to work even harder to return to the play-in spot they secured last season.
With how the Grizzlies have operated this offseason, it feels like they&rsquo;re content waiting to make a move &mdash; not getting antsy off of their early success after making the No. 8 seed. The Grizzlies&rsquo; main offseason additions were Steven Adams and No. 10 overall pick Ziaire Williams (plus they <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mem-agrees-to-trade-hernangomez-to-bos-for-dunn-edwards-pick-swap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired</a> Kris Dunn and Carsen Edwards today).
I&rsquo;m betting on a slight regression form Memphis, especially if they get off to a slow start. With Dillon Brooks recently floated in trade talks, it makes me wonder if we see the Grizzlies emerge as sellers at this year&rsquo;s trade deadline, which further pushes me to hit the under on 41.5.
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SACRAMENTO KINGS: UNDER 35.5 WINS
After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-76ers-asking-price-for-ben-simmons-is-too-steep-for-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially bowing out</a> of the Ben Simmons derby due to the 76ers' asking price &ndash; which is disappointing since Simmons would've been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a perfect fit</a> on the Kings &ndash; Sacramento seems destined for another disappointing season.
Buddy Hield was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on draft night for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell, so who knows how long he will remain a member of the Kings? Sacramento re-signed Richaun Holmes and drafted one of the most NBA-ready prospects in Davion Mitchell, but is that enough to really make a big leap in the West? I doubt it.
The Kings have a solid young cored led by De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Mitchell, but everyone else could be moved down the road. Hield and Harrison Barnes stand out as obvious candidates to be moved to contenders at the trade deadline, especially if Sacramento falls out of the playoff race before the All-Star break.
I&rsquo;m hammering the under on 35.5 wins for the Kings, and feeling pretty comfortable doing so, which would unfortunately extend their playoff drought to an incredible 16 consecutive seasons.

Which NBA teams will fail to meet preseason expectations? Here are 5 teams you should bet the under on given their projected win total.

2021-22 win-total odds: 5 NBA teams you should hammer the under on

Kevin Porter Jr. needs some answers.
He's confused. He feels... a bit disrespected. So he decides to go straight to the source, confronting the issue head-on.
"A 77?" Porter asks <a href="https://twitter.com/Kevinporterjr/status/1428758867257798658" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ronnie2K on Twitter</a>. "Carry on. You got rookies rank[ed] higher than me? Can you validate that?"
The BallIsLife account questions the 2K player rating as well, slyly <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1428774697358041095?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropping a highlight compilation</a> of Porter's 50-point, 11-assist masterpiece against the Milwaukee Bucks last season.
Ronnie2K <a href="https://twitter.com/Ronnie2K/status/1428775298938511363?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doesn't budge</a>. "Love KPJ and know the sky is limit but in this specific case&hellip; 1 of 82 does not a rating make."
He's right. Well, 72 games were played last season, but the general sentiment is true. One ridiculous game isn't enough to carry a rating. It's worth noting that while the 50-burger was the high point of the season, Porter <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-kevin-porter-jr-houston-rockets-low-risk-high-reward-trade-james-harden-cleveland-cavaliers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did take off as a member of the Houston Rockets</a> following his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-cleveland-cavaliers-expected-to-move-kevin-porter-jr-locker-room-outburst" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less-than-ideal exit from the Cleveland Cavaliers</a>.
In 26 games, Porter averaged 16.6 points (51.5% from two, 31.1% from three on 6.2 attempts), 6.3 assists (3.5 turnovers), and 3.8 rebounds.&nbsp;
Once John Wall was shut down for the season, Porter got the full-blown reins of the offense. He only had a five-game sample before missing time himself, but he put together stellar averages (21-4-7, 50/38/70) during the stretch that featured &mdash; you guessed it &mdash; the 50-point, 11-assist masterpiece against the Bucks.
It's one thing for the Rockets to give Porter more burn and responsibility, with or without Wall in the picture. It's another thing entirely to give him&nbsp;point guard&nbsp;duties.
(We can roll with "lead guard" or "primary ball-handler" or "primary initiator" if that's more of your labeling speed.)
Regardless of if he's brought off the bench, bought out or traded, Wall doesn't seem to be part of Houston's long-term future. Those lead reps have to go somewhere, and it's unlikely &mdash; in the early goings of the season, at least &mdash; that they'll go to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jalen-green-shines-summer-league-debut-for-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rookie sensation Jalen Green</a>.
Porter got a crack at it already. A 26- (or 5-) game sample isn't huge, but it's worth exploring if he can handle the responsibility full-time. In an ideal world, his ability to set the table or scramble the defense early will allow Green to attack bent defenses.
This could serve as a way for the Rockets to kill two birds with one stone: develop Porter as a decision-maker, while bringing Green along in an easier context before building out&nbsp;his&nbsp;decision-making palette.
THE FOUNDATION
I don't want to be hyperbolic, but there are... six? Seven? Ten? There can't be many players that are more effective in the art of creating a window for a shot, results be darned, than Porter is. Already.
He's in the Hardenian-mold of setting players up with rhythm dribbles before unleashing combos to get where he wants to go. He's certainly Harden-like in the pure amount of dribbles used; nearly 61% of Porter's shots came <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1629645/shots-dash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after three or more dribbles</a>. That isn't inherently a bad thing, and the highlights are freaking amazing.
What makes Porter infuriating to defend, and excuse me for sounding clich&eacute; here, is that you never really have an idea of what he wants to do. He has a wide array of jumpers in his disposal: stepbacks, pull-ups, leaning jumpers, side-steps, turnarounds.
The scary part is that he's comfortable getting to either of those options. When he's on, he's the infuriating MyPlayer you come across in The Rec that jogs down the court, boogies behind a screen for a bit, then makes you wrong no matter how you try to defend it.&nbsp;
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Compounding&nbsp;all of that&nbsp;is the fact that Porter is also comfortable going downhill (more on that later). If he catches you leaning at all, he's generating a shot.
That can be for himself, of course. When getting to the rim, Porter isn't afraid of seeking out contact. His footwork is advanced beyond his years, allowing him to Eurostep on a whim, or confuse defenders with off-timing, wrong-foot, and sometimes wrong-hand, finishes.
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The encouraging sign, and the reason this article is being written, is that Porter began leveraging his scoring gravity to create for others.
You have to walk before you run, and you have to get down basic passing reads before you can really experiment with the advanced stuff. Porter didn't just begin nailing the basic reads last season; the speed in which he made the reads increased as he got more accustomed to his role.
Give him a 2-v-2, and he'll consistently turn it into a 2-v-1. It's hard not to with his combination of ball-handling, pace (he's really good with deceleration) and footwork. From there, he's able to read the big before making a pass or finishing himself.
Having Christian Wood (returning!) and Kelly Olynyk (off to Detroit) was huge for his development in that regard. A pure 2-v-2 with Wood as his partner allowed him to get important pocket pass/wrap-around/dump-off/entry pass/lob reps with an athletic roller.
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A 2-v-2 with Olynyk meant making exterior passes on pick-and-pops. Whether they were operating above the break, or closer to the sidelines (and likely facing ICE coverage), Porter mostly did a solid job of getting the ball out when he drew two defenders.
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Advantage creation is the most important trait for a primary ball-handler, and Porter is well on his way to providing it at a high level.&nbsp;
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT&nbsp;
Porter being good at perimeter space creation is a good thing, for obvious reasons. You need late-game, late-clock bailout guys. The Rockets are a ways off from being a playoff team, but with playoff teams generally getting switchier, you need someone that can create on an island when necessary.&nbsp;
Porter makes the hard stuff look easy, but I worry that he doesn't get enough easy stuff. Some of that is roster context; as promising as he is as a player, he has no business being the best perimeter option on a team right now. That's not slander; that's just the downside of being on a rebuilding team.
But a large chunk of it comes down to Porter. He isn't an elite&nbsp;burst guy. That's a minor mark against him, but it matters little thanks to his handle and understanding of pace. The real physical limitation for Porter right now is his strength.
He converted just 53.8% of his shots at the rim in half-court situations, placing him in the 39th percentile via Synergy. While Harden is a stylistic comp, there's a drastic difference between the two as drivers. Even a younger, more-explosive Harden was able to gain inside leverage and shield guys away. Porter doesn't do that consistently right now.
If you're able to get into his body, you can knock him off his spots. Do it early enough, and he'll struggle to get real lift, forcing him into some awkward shots over taller defenders. This is exacerbated by the fact that Porter makes life harder on himself with farther-than-you'd-like launching points and, as mentioned earlier, some of those wrong-foot/hand finishes.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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And because Porter is so hard-wired to score right now, he often puts himself into no-win situations if his driving method doesn't work.&nbsp;
Assist totals never tell the full story of a passer &mdash; sometimes guys just miss shots &mdash; but it's a bit telling that Porter Jr's assist split is so drastic. The split, courtesy of the good folks at PBP Stats:
Rim: 84
Short mid-range: 18
Long mid-range: 4
Above-the-break threes: 50
Corner threes: 8
That is not a typo. Porter racked up eight assists on corner triples. Zoom out and look at the 2-v-3 split, and it's still pretty drastic (106 to 58).
There's context to be added. For the corner issue specifically, you can boil some of it down to scheme. This was a Double Drag-heavy (early) offense, and the Rockets did simplify some of Porter's playmaking reads by giving him empty corner actions.
Also, defenses don't want to give up fruitful threes, so in cases where you have a 2-v-1 on the weakside, the guy tasked with "splitting the difference" will often slide to the corner first. Watch Elfrid Payton (pre-rotating to the paint) and RJ Barrett (splitting the difference behind it) on this clip for a quick example.
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But go through the film, and it won't take you long to find instances of Porter trying to force a ball inside without even&nbsp;looking&nbsp;for outside help. Missed reads aren't a death sentence, especially for a guy as young (and as new to the role) as Porter is, but he certainly has some work to do.
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Decision-making has to be better for Porter if he's going to take on this role full-time. It's widening his horizons as a passer, but also reeling in some of the wild shots. The movement jumpers look sick&nbsp;when he's cooking, but he isn't always cooking.
Nearly 61% of Porter Jr's threes came off-the-dribble, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1629645/shots-dash/?Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Second Spectrum tracking data</a>. 70% of those threes came after three or more dribbles, in which he converted 31.9% of those looks. I hate to keep going back to Harden, but he hit those three-or-more-dribble threes at a 35.2% clip on much higher volume.
In short: It is really, really, really, really, really difficult to live on the shot diet that Porter tried to live on last year.
That he was able to post a near-53% True Shooting percentage (admittedly below average) with that diet, within that roster context, and with that sort of on-ball responsibility as a second year guy, is kind of silly. For his usage rate (20.5 to 25.4) and assist percentage (13.9 to 31.2) to skyrocket from his rookie campaign without a drastic jump in turnover rate (16.7 to 18.2) is encouraging.
I don't think Porter should be clamoring for an 80-plus overall on 2K22. The shot selection and efficiency must be better, as should the decision making as a passer. But there were enough flashes to be excited about.
A full offseason and an infusion of (young) talent should help make life a little easier for him next season.

Nekias Duncan continues his Something To Prove series by exploring Kevin Porter Jr.'s potential as a lead guard.

Something To Prove: Kevin Porter Jr. with point guard duties

&ldquo;They f**ked it up.&rdquo;&nbsp;
That was the main takeaway from both Draymond Green and Kevin Durant in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x6DjeJNd64" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural episode of CHIPS</a>, a Bleacher Report show hosted by Green. &ldquo;They&rdquo; being Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and owner Bob Myers, and &ldquo;it&rdquo; being the Bay Area dynasty.&nbsp;
Green hosted his former teammate Durant to discuss their time together in Golden State. And while they covered a number of topics, they provided a new and interesting explanation for why the Warriors disbanded &ndash; and it wasn&rsquo;t their on-court confrontation. &nbsp;
Durant and Green had several run-ins in their three seasons as teammates. Durant is legitimately one of the greatest players to ever play in the NBA &ndash; and everything we know about the best players in this game would indicate that they&rsquo;re all competitive. Green, too, is a hyper-competitive and outspoken player. Neither is shy about speaking his mind, so butting heads was inevitable.
Their most aggressive public feud took place in Los Angeles in a game against the Clippers in November 2018. Green held (and ultimately lost) the ball on a potentially game-winning possession, which resulted in a minutes-long exchange on the Warriors bench between the two.
There was already speculation about Durant leaving the Warriors prior to the dust-up in question; after the fight, it was assumed to be a done deal. And that assumption became a reality, as Durant left Golden State to team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn the following offseason.&nbsp;
In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x6DjeJNd64" target="_blank" rel="noopener">24-minute-long episode</a>, Green directly asked if he was to blame for Durant&rsquo;s departure.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t the argument,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;It was the way that everyone&hellip; Steve Kerr acted like it didn&rsquo;t happen. Bob Myers tried to just discipline you and think that that would just put the mask over everything.
&ldquo;I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group,&rdquo; Durant continued. &rdquo;(It was the) the first time we went through something like that. We had to get that sh*t all out. I remember watching The Last Dance and when Scottie [Pippen] didn&rsquo;t go into the game, the whole team, in the locker room, said Scottie that was f**ked up that you did that. We needed that.&rdquo;
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So, there&rsquo;s a new narrative about Durant, Green and the Warriors &ndash; do we believe it? While the two agree that Kerr&rsquo;s inactivity and Myers&rsquo; punitive actions played a larger role in the team breaking up, Durant previously confirmed the role Green played in his departure, and it contradicts the message from their recent sit-down.&nbsp;
In an <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1189909935343013888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oct. 2019 appearance on ESPN&rsquo;s First Take</a>, Durant confirmed that the fight did in fact play a role in his departure. When specifically asked about the fight&rsquo;s role in his leaving, Durant replied, &ldquo;For sure, I&rsquo;m not gonna lie about it.&rdquo;&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s worth noting that Durant appeared hesitant to relive the confrontation with Green. It&rsquo;s possible that he simply didn&rsquo;t want to explore it. Durant&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-is-thirty-five-ventures-examining-kevin-durants-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a savvy businessman</a>, and he understands the impact of confirming a rumor to the media, so feeding that narrative to the media was a major mistake if it was untrue.
However, in that same interview, Durant willingly elaborated on the main reasons for his departure &ndash; namely, an aging Warriors&rsquo; roster and the impending challenges of re-signing all major contributors. Maybe he was simply brushing past an uncomfortable topic that he wished would go away. And when it didn&rsquo;t, his displeasure toward the media probably grew. &nbsp;
Durant addressed his relationship with the media in his conversation with Green, too, revealing disappointment with it after learning that members aren&rsquo;t as knowledgeable as he assumed. &nbsp;
&ldquo;I felt like the media knew more than me,&rdquo; Durant said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;(But) some of the questions, they didn&rsquo;t seem so intelligent to me anymore,&rdquo; Durant continued. &ldquo;&hellip;This game is simple to me, so some of the stuff that y&rsquo;all asking doesn&rsquo;t move me the way it used to.&rdquo;
Durant is clearly resentful of the media, which could be partially due to how he was covered in (and on his way out of) Golden State. We&rsquo;ll never know for sure exactly how Durant felt about Green following the November 2018 incident and how much of a role it played in his departure, but that&rsquo;s fine. Durant&rsquo;s feelings about the confrontation seem to have changed, and that&rsquo;s fine, too &ndash; after all, time heals all wounds.&nbsp;
But Durant and Green clearly maintain a strong rapport, so it&rsquo;s fair to assume that the relationship was never as toxic as it was reported to be. And while Durant might be hard on the media at times, his issues with the media are probably valid.
He does know more. Snap judgments are made and stuck by. And some articles are written for views.&nbsp;
But for Durant&rsquo;s peace of mind, he should try to land on a more amicable way to interact with the media. The news cycle moves quickly. Other things will inevitably happen involving Durant resulting in major stories. He can react one of two ways &mdash; either be a part of shaping future narratives, or narratives can be shaped about him.
Regardless, the stories will run.

Green hosted his former teammate Durant on Bleacher Report's "CHIPS" to discuss their time together in Golden State.

Kevin Durant, Draymond Green bury the 2018 Warriors hatchet

Free-agent signings have the potential to alter the NBA landscape. They can swing the balance of power dramatically in one direction or another, and there isn&rsquo;t much that other teams can do to stop it.
To the victors go the spoils. To that point, free-agency signings can reshape the trajectory of a team or a player&rsquo;s career. However, some signings were so monumental that they became folklore &ndash; causing rule changes, influencing generations, turning friends to enemies and so on.
Let&rsquo;s explore five signings that reshaped the free-agency process and the entire league.
1. LeBron James to the Miami Heat, 2010
The summer of 2010 featured what was undoubtedly the most anticipated free-agency period of all-time. James was the prize of the 2010 class, and a new rumor seemed to surface every day, connecting him to the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers. But it was the Miami Heat who swooped in, signing James away from the Cavs and Northeast Ohio. The Heat also added Chris Bosh and re-signed Dwyane Wade, ushering in a new era of super-teams. However, James didn&rsquo;t announce his signing through a press release or a tweet. Instead, he opted for "The Decision," a live event that was televised from the Boys &amp; Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. The totality of the move set James and the Heat up to be the villains of the NBA for some time.
James led Miami to two straight championships, and he also won his first two NBA Finals MVP awards. James would later describe his stint with the Heat as his college years. "Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am,&rdquo; James <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in Sports Illustrated</a> when he returned to Cleveland. &ldquo;I became a better player and a better man. I learned from a franchise that had been where I wanted to go&hellip; Without the experiences I had there, I wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do what I&rsquo;m doing today."
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2. Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors, 2016
If signing with the Heat made LeBron James a villain, signing with the Golden State Warriors made Durant peak-MCU Thanos. In 2015-16, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors were fresh off a 73-win season and a trip to the NBA Finals. Still, when Draymond Green called to recruit Durant, it had enough of an impact to open the door for a meeting. The Warriors ultimately wooed him in the Hamptons over the Fourth of July weekend in 2016, and Durant decided to sign with Golden State.
This move infuriated fans even more than LeBron-to-Miami. Fans and analysts questioned Durant&rsquo;s competitive instinct. The fact that close friends James and Wade wanted to play together was understandable. But the thought of Durant joining forces with Stephen Curry and the loaded Warriors &ndash; the team that had just defeated Durant and the Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals a few weeks earlier &ndash; didn&rsquo;t sit well with many spectators. It made Durant seem like a mercenary, hunting for a championship. But love it or hate it, this was a major move in terms of player freedom. Durant signing with the Warriors was the clearest sign yet that basketball is a business, and it also showed the consequences of rings culture and constant discussions about an active player&rsquo;s legacy. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Without this signing, Durant doesn&rsquo;t win back-to-back championships, and he&rsquo;s short two Finals MVPs too. Had he re-signed with Oklahoma City, the Thunder likely would have struggled to win a championship given the high-degree of competition in the Western Conference in the mid-2010s, so who knows when (or if) Durant wins his first championship.
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3. Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal to the Los Angeles Lakers, 1996
In the 1990s, max contract extensions stretched for as long as seven years and players rarely made trade demands. As a result, player movement via free agency was limited. And that brings us to the Los Angeles Lakers and Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal.
O&rsquo;Neal was drafted first overall by the Orlando Magic in 1992. Alongside co-star Penny Hardaway, the Magic advanced to their first NBA Finals berth in 1995. O&rsquo;Neal hit free agency in 1996, at which point the league&rsquo;s salary cap was $24.3 million, but there was no luxury tax or max salary. It appeared that O&rsquo;Neal would re-sign with the Magic, but Orlando made the fatal decision of opening negotiations with a four-year, $54 million offer &ndash; significantly less than the seven-year, $112 million deal that Alonzo Mourning (the No. 2 overall pick in 1992) had just received. The Magic further hurt their credibility by continuing to low-ball O&rsquo;Neal, and a poll released by The Orlando Sentinel showed that 90% of local fans felt O&rsquo;Neal was not worth $115 million hurt too. O&rsquo;Neal was essentially driven into the arms of Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers, who signed him to a seven-year, $120 million deal.
Without this signing, the Lakers don&rsquo;t win three-consecutive championships. Conversely, the Magic may have won a championship or two, and who knows what happens with Kobe Bryant&rsquo;s career. Either way though, Shaq&rsquo;s legacy is probably the same.
4. Joe Smith to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 1999
Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. After a few above-average seasons, he turned down an $80 million extension with the Golden State Warriors. He was then traded to Philadelphia, hitting free agency the following season. He signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the 1998 lockout, which was well-below fair market value. He re-signed with Minnesota after the season, signing another one-year deal worth $2.1 million.
You may be wondering: Why is Smith on this list? He was a fine player, but not as impactful as the other names featured. Under normal circumstances, Smith wouldn&rsquo;t be included here. However, Smith qualifies for this list due to the fallout from the attempted transaction with Minnesota. The deal was premeditated, and therefore illegal.
Essentially, Minnesota asked Smith to sign these one-year deals for three-consecutive seasons so they&rsquo;d have additional cap space. Then, after the three years, the Timberwolves would have his Bird rights and could go over the cap to re-sign him (giving him a deal worth roughly $86 million to pay him back). Ultimately, the NBA found out. Minnesota was fined $3.5 million and had to forfeit its first-round picks for five consecutive seasons (although the team's 2005 first-rounder was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120901224939/http:/www.nba.com/news/twolves_draft_pick_011228.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned to them</a>). Smith&rsquo;s contract was voided, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor was suspended and VP of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale took a leave of absence.
This one set a precedent. If a team tries to circumvent the salary cap, the league takes it very seriously. It&rsquo;s very difficult for the NBA to investigate and prove these kinds of arrangements exist. So, how did they prove that Smith&rsquo;s deal with Minnesota was premeditated? Smith's agents had a messy split that prompted a lawsuit and documents spelling out the illegal arrangement were made public.
&ldquo;There are 8-to-10 teams that do this all the time,&rdquo; McHale <a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/01/nba-joe-smith-illegal-contract-timberwolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just good at it. We&rsquo;re bad.&rdquo;
Had this signing not happened, the Timberwolves probably could&rsquo;ve done a better job surrounding Kevin Garnett with a formidable supporting cast in the early 2000s. But more impactful, this trade set a precedent for the NBA in its willingness to punish teams over salary-cap circumvention.
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5. LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers &ndash; 2014, 2019
This probably feels like a cop out, especially since James also holds the top spot in these rankings &ndash; but it&rsquo;s not. James&rsquo; fingerprints are all over modern free agency, from ushering in super-teams to popularizing players recruiting their peers. Each of these signings is significant and unique. James going back to Cleveland in 2014 was huge. It went a long way in repairing his image, completing his return to NBA darling. It also resulted in the city&rsquo;s first sports championship in 50 years. James&rsquo; return also resulted in the most impressive championship of his career, one in which he led a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit over a 73-win Golden State ensemble &ndash; needless to say, James won his third NBA Finals MVP award with Cleveland.
His signing with the Lakers was also monumental. It was the culmination of a long history of James&rsquo; flirtations with major markets. It, too, resulted in another championship and NBA Finals MVP. And it should result in a major showdown of super-teams, with James&rsquo; Lakers and Durant&rsquo;s Nets on a collision course for NBA supremacy as soon as this season.
Without these signings, James would be stuck with two championships and two Finals MVP awards, 3-1 wouldn&rsquo;t be a thing and the Warriors might have won four-straight championships (imagine?!). Further, the GOAT debate would be dramatically different, and who knows where James would have played in his prime years?
***
Fans are captivated by free-agent signings for a reason. They regularly influence championships. But they obviously have the potential to be even more impactful, shaping the league&rsquo;s power dynamic for a decade or more with a single stroke of a pen.
In recent years, the best players have been more prone to signing extensions and demanding trades if their team fails to build around them, meaning that these top-tier signings have been happening less frequently. But fear not drama fans, there will always be player movement. After all, there&rsquo;s always someone who wants out of their current situation.

Drew Maresca examines five free-agent signings that ended up altering NBA history.

5 free-agent signings that changed NBA history

The NBA's free-agency period is in full swing, with agreements being reported left and right. Who were in the instant winners? After Day 1 of free agency, which teams made the biggest improvements to their roster? Let&rsquo;s go ahead and examine who stood out on the opening night of free agency.
MIAMI HEAT
Pat Riley once again proved that you can never, ever count out Miami. Not only did the Heat secure Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade on a three-year, $90 million deal, but they also re-signed sharpshooter Duncan Robinson on a five-year, $90 million extension. Also, a very underrated move was Miami stealing gritty veteran PJ Tucker from the Milwaukee Bucks (on a two-year, $15 million contract) since he'll instantly become a key cog in their rotation as a small-ball big who can guard 3-5.
Lowry and Tucker are tremendous fits within the Heat&rsquo;s hard-working culture, as two veterans who are known for their relentlessness and drive to win. Miami went all-in on adding win-now veterans to an already intriguing core spearheaded by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Looking ahead to the 2021-22 season, Miami feels entrenched atop the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s second tier behind only Brooklyn and Milwaukee. The Heat&rsquo;s rotation now features a Butler-Adebayo-Lowry big three with valuable role players such as Robinson, Tucker, Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn (assuming the restricted free agent is re-signed).
There are more moves to come that will further address their depth, but Miami is off to a hot start.
PHOENIX SUNS
For a team who just made the NBA Finals, the Suns have kicked off their 2021 offseason with a bang. On draft night, the Suns acquired shooting guard Landry Shamet from the Nets, who fits perfectly off the bench within head coach Monty Williams&rsquo; &ldquo;0.5 offense&rdquo; scheme. Shamet&rsquo;s three-point marksmanship helps form a deadly bench duo alongside Cameron Johnson, as snipers who can hunt for easy deep shots relentlessly.
That wasn&rsquo;t all for Phoenix, as they landed the best bargain deal on Day 1 of free agency. Backup point guard Cameron Payne returned to the Suns on a three-year, $19 million deal. Compared to other depth-guard signings, Payne seems to have given Phoenix a loyalty discount since they were the team that saved his NBA career. Payne&rsquo;s shot-creation ability off the bench is a huge asset for the Suns, and his further developing offensive profile is a massive spark plug that Phoenix couldn&rsquo;t let walk away.
Chris Paul also returned to Phoenix (as expected) soon after free agency opened, agreeing to a four-year, $120 million contract. However, Paul and the Suns created some flexibility down the line; the third year is partially guaranteed, while the final year is non-guaranteed. This is a win-win scenario for Paul and the Suns, who are ready to run it back with the future Hall-of-Fame point guard.
Following Dario Saric&rsquo;s torn ACL in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, adding a backup center became Phoenix&rsquo;s top priority outside of retaining their own free agents. The Suns needed to add size, length and athleticism behind Deandre Ayton. Enter JaVale McGee, who joins the Suns on a one-year, $5 million contract. McGee&rsquo;s veteran presence will help Ayton, but also add a new twist to the Suns&rsquo; second unit.
The Suns just made the NBA Finals and subsequently&nbsp;improved their roster. Watch out for Phoenix to stay atop the Western Conference next season.
CHICAGO BULLS
Lonzo Ball is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lonzo-ball-chicago-bulls-form-a-perfect-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the perfect fit for the Bulls</a> as their starting point guard of the future. Providing a perfect complement of playmaking, shot creation and steady defense alongside Zach LaVine, Ball is set up to thrive in the Windy City. What Lonzo cost Chicago was a steal, in my opinion. Sending out only Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and a second-round pick to the Pelicans in a sign-and-trade, Ball&rsquo;s four-year, $85 million contract is fair value for a player who continues to improve every season.
The rumor was that Chicago wanted to add multiple guards in free agency, and they accomplished that in stellar fashion, signing key Lakers reserve Alex Caruso to a four-year, $37 million deal. Like Ball, Caruso provides a nice blend of all-around game that will be an instant jolt to the Bulls&rsquo; second unit. Caruso shot plus-40% on three-pointers this past season in Los Angeles, and his pesky on-ball defense is an obvious trend Chicago prioritized early on.
The Bulls might not be done making splashes, though. There are heavy rumblings surrounding a potential double sign-and-trade sending DeMar DeRozan to Chicago and Lauri Markkanen to San Antonio. If Chicago is able to land DeRozan on top of their big-guard moves, Chicago&rsquo;s early free-agency grade vaults to an even higher level.
NEW YORK KNICKS
The Knicks had $50 million in cap space coming into free-agency, and they used it all up on the first day. Running it back by re-signing Derrick Rose (three-years, $43 million), Nerlens Noel (three-years, $32 million) and Alec Burks (three-years, $30 million), New York is prioritizing continuity for a team that finished as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference last season.
Utilizing the rest of their remaining cap space, New York signed three-level scoring guard Evan Fournier to a four-year, $78 million deal. Fournier might seem like a confusing signing for that amount of money, but he fits very well within the Knicks&rsquo; system. Fournier&rsquo;s shot creation will be a welcome asset alongside Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett. Since becoming a full-time starter in the league six years ago, Fournier has averaged 16.9 points while draining 38.1% of his three-point opportunities. Fournier brings a floor-spacing element that has been missing consistently within the Knicks&rsquo; offense.
New York now has an interesting rotation littered with depth across the board:
Starters: Rose, Fournier, Barrett, Randle, Noel
Second Unit: Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Burks, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson
After these early free-agency moves, there&rsquo;s no reason to believe the Knicks can&rsquo;t duplicate last season's success.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Once the Wizards traded Russell Westbrook to the Lakers on draft night, many assumed a full reset was incoming. Bradley Beal would soon ask out of D.C. with no hope of fielding a competent roster around him.
Turns out, those preconceived thoughts were way off. It&rsquo;s very impressive what the Wizards have accomplished over the last week, surrounding Beal with a young nucleus who can contribute immediately. Spencer Dinwiddie is on the verge of agreeing to a three-year, $60 million deal as Beal&rsquo;s backcourt partner. The last time Dinwiddie played a full season in Brooklyn, he averaged 20.6 points and 6.8 assists. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s efficiency should go up playing alongside Beal, and both take immense pressure off one another.
Not only is the backcourt fit now snug between Dinwiddie and Beal, but the role players are a strong collection who are tailor-made for their superstar shooting guard: Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Deni Avdija, Daniel Gafford, Corey Kispert, Isaiah Todd, Thomas Bryant and Montrezl Harrell. Washington&rsquo;s rotation now legitimately goes 11-12 players deep, a stark contrast from where they were a few weeks ago, even with Westbrook on their roster.
Inking Dinwiddie on a three-year deal vaulted Washington into the winners list, and they certainly deserve the praise for retooling on the fly around Beal.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Lakers are Day 1 winners in free-agency? Indeed they are, because they are attacking their biggest need: three-point shooting. In order for Hollywood&rsquo;s new big three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook to work, endless amounts of sharpshooters need to surround them. Through the first day of free-agency, Los Angeles is off to a great start.
Signing Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore, the Lakers have added three above-average shooters from deep. Ellington could potentially step into a starting role alongside Westbrook in Los Angeles&rsquo; backcourt thanks to his 42.2% clip on threes last season with the Pistons. Meanwhile, Ariza and Bazemore provide two-way versatility as perimeter shooters and on-ball defenders who can cover multiple positions.
Los Angeles also signed Dwight Howard, who will become a key cog in their big-man rotation alongside Davis. Howard averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 18.9 minutes per game during the Lakers&rsquo; championship run.
If the Lakers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/los-angeles-lakers-free-agent-targets-10-names-that-could-fit-in-la-nba-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continue to address their spacing</a> in a positive manner, they are on the right track to making the LeBron/AD/Russ partnership work magnificently.

Who were the biggest winners from Day 1 of the NBA's free-agency period? Six teams stood out.

The biggest winners from Day 1 of NBA free agency

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The 2021 NBA Draft is less than a week away. Fireworks are always set off (one way or another) on draft night, making it one of the best dates on the Association&rsquo;s yearly calendar. This year looks to be no different, as certain teams have been very aggressive and plenty of trade rumors have been surfacing recently.
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Matt Babcock, our NBA Draft analyst, has been hearing the same rumblings.
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&ldquo;There seems to be a lot of trade chatter this year, so do not be surprised if we have some deals involving lottery picks,&rdquo; Babcock <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1417526240722911234" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
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So, who will shake things up once they&rsquo;re on the clock? Which players could be on the move? When looking around the league, six names stand out as possible trade chips.
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Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers
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What will the Pacers do with their big-man duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner? I recently wrote about whether Indiana&rsquo;s jumbo-big-man <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/can-rick-carlisle-make-a-domantas-sabonis-myles-turner-pairing-work-for-the-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">duo can coexist</a>. The numbers show that they shouldn&rsquo;t play Sabonis and Turner together (and Rick Carlisle has talked about staggering them), which means Indiana should definitely shop one or the other on draft night.
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Knowing the value of Sabonis as an offensive hub (similar to Nikola Jokic and Nikola Vucevic), the Pacers would be wise to find the best value out there for Turner instead.
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Many teams around the league would be clamoring for a win-now piece like Turner, who can be an elite shot-blocking anchor for a defense, while also spreading the floor adequately from three-point range. Multiple teams showed interest in Turner last offseason. For example, the Boston Celtics were in talks with Indiana about a potential Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade involving Turner.
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According to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/warriors-pacers-have-reportedly-discussed-trade-involving-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Ringer&rsquo;s Kevin O&rsquo;Connor</a>, the Golden State Warriors have entered into discussions with Indiana surrounding Turner. The fit for Turner with Golden State is amazing. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have always missed a big man with the talents of Turner. Golden State&rsquo;s stars are reportedly <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/warriors-interested-in-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing for a win-now move</a>, and the team has been trying to deal their two lottery picks (No. 7 and No. 14) for a player who can help elevate them back into the Western Conference&rsquo;s elite tier. Adding Turner alongside Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green would do just that.
A trade package revolving around Andrew Wiggins and multiple picks could potentially get the job done for Indiana, who would also send out Jeremy Lamb for salary-matching purposes.
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Golden State receives: Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb, No. 13 pick
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Indiana receives: Andrew Wiggins, No. 7 pick, No. 14 pick
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Kemba Walker, Oklahoma City Thunder
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Kemba Walker is in a weird spot right now. After leaving Charlotte for Boston, which didn&rsquo;t go well in terms of the on-court fit alongside the Celtics&rsquo; young core, Walker and the No. 16 pick were <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/rapid-reaction-to-boston-trading-kemba-walker-for-al-horford-moses-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shipped to Oklahoma City</a> in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a second-round pick.
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A player of Walker&rsquo;s caliber shouldn&rsquo;t be long with the Thunder, though. Oklahoma City is in a full-fledged rebuild with countless picks over the next five-plus years. Even with three years remaining on his lucrative contract, Walker should intrigue some teams who are looking to bolster their playoff chances.
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How about Kemba finally playing full-time in Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks? New York will likely want to wait to see what happens with Damian Lillard in Portland before making any decision, but Walker&rsquo;s fit next to their young core is actually pretty interesting. Trotting out a starting lineup featuring Walker, Julius Randle, and R.J. Barrett fortifies the Knicks as a strong playoff team entering 2021-22.
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As seen in the Celtics-Thunder trade, Walker&rsquo;s value is not high at all. New York could get the deal done sending one of their first-round picks plus a player to shed some of their own salary.
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New York receives: Kemba Walker, No. 34 pick 
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Oklahoma City receives: Kevin Knox, No. 21 pick
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Buddy Hield, Sacramento Kings
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Buddy Hield&rsquo;s tenure in Sacramento has been a roller coaster ride, to say the least. Bouncing back and forth from a starter to a sixth-man role, Hield&rsquo;s frustration with the organization feels like it&rsquo;s reached a boiling point. At times, he <a href="https://twitter.com/Chase_Everett_/status/1331428184445730817" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hasn&rsquo;t even tried to hide</a> his displeasure. With three years remaining on Hield&rsquo;s contract and this divorce seeming inevitable, perhaps the Kings will look to deal him this offseason.
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Looking back at the Kings&rsquo; decision, choosing Hield over Bogdan Bogdanovic was a big mistake. Still, if Hield does become available, many teams would be calling to inquire about the sharpshooter. As one of the best three-point marksmen in the NBA, hitting 40.9% over his last four years, Hield could seemingly fit on any roster.
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After a surprising first-round exit in this year&rsquo;s playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers make so much sense as a potential suitor for Hield. Los Angeles has been floated in almost every rumor surrounding big free agents (from <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lakers-want-veteran-point-guard-have-interest-in-chris-paul-russell-westbrook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Paul</a> to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-interested-in-joining-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyle Lowry</a> to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-interested-in-joining-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeMar DeRozan</a>), but Hield&rsquo;s floor-spacing gravity would open up the offense even more for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
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Just imagine Hield as a third or fourth option, running around the perimeter while LeBron and AD do their damage on drives. This is something that Los Angeles should seriously explore, while also keeping their options open in free agency for potential sign-and-trades for a new starting point guard (*cough, Kyle Lowry, cough*).
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For Sacramento, receiving a first-round pick along with a young player who fits their timeline in Kyle Kuzma feels like a win considering their current situation with Hield.
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Los Angeles receives: Buddy Hield 
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Sacramento receives: Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, No. 22 pick
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Andrew Wiggins, Golden State Warriors
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Golden State feels destined to make a move on draft night, no matter what size deal it may be. With two lottery picks at No. 7 and No. 14 overall, the Warriors are trying to make one final push for another championship in the Curry era.
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Andrew Wiggins&rsquo; $31.6 million salary for the 2021-22 season puts the Warriors in any discussion for star-caliber players. Already included earlier in a hypothetical Myles Turner trade, Wiggins also makes sense in another scenario.
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Pascal Siakam rumors have bubbled up occasionally over the last few weeks, as Toronto decides on their long-term vision. Siakam is &ldquo;considered available for trade by sources around the league,&rdquo; according to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pascal-siakam-seen-around-the-league-as-available-for-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>. Holding the No. 4 overall pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, should the Raptors re-tool or rebuild?
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If Toronto decides to blow it up, leaving behind only OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, and their top-five pick, a deal with Golden State makes way too much sense. The Warriors can send Wiggins, last year&rsquo;s No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, and their two lottery picks, which is an enticing package that&rsquo;s hard to pass up. This deal also allows both teams to embrace their current directions (with Golden State in win-now mode and Toronto rebuilding).
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Toronto receives: Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, No. 7 pick, No. 14 pick
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Golden State receives: Pascal Siakam, Aron Baynes&nbsp;
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Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers
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Darius Garland is the prioritized member of the Cavaliers&rsquo; young backcourt, so Collin Sexton looks to be <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-landing-spots-for-collin-sexton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the way out soon</a>. Cleveland is not comfortable paying Sexton a big chunk of money on his looming second contract, so finding the best potential deal on draft night could be the route they&rsquo;re headed.
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Sexton is a score-first combo guard who averaged 24.3 points this past season for the Cavaliers. Many teams should be interested in acquiring the 22-year-old, but some organizations will be worried about whether those are empty-calorie stats.
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One team that has already been rumored to be interested in Sexton is the New York Knicks. Sexton is a strong fit for the culture that head coach Tom Thibodeau is trying to build in New York, and he&rsquo;s another tantalizing piece to add to their young core alongside R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Also, Sexton could be used later on as a trade piece for the next disgruntled superstar who asks out.
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Sending Cleveland Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, the No. 19 overall pick, plus a top second-round pick (No. 32 overall) feels like a fair package for both sides in this scenario.
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New York receives: Collin Sexton 
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Cleveland receives: Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, No. 19, No. 32
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Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
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Something has to give in the city of Brotherly Love this offseason. After an awful playoff performance, the Sixers must explore moving off of Ben Simmons&rsquo; massive max contract. For years, many have questioned the long-term fit between Simmons and Joel Embiid. After losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, once again coming up short of an NBA Finals appearance, Philadelphia needs to make some tweaks to reach their ultimate goal.
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Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/finals-tomorrow-trade-talk-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> earlier this month that all of the following teams have inquired about Simmons&rsquo; availability: Indiana, Cleveland, Minnesota, Sacramento, and Toronto.
</div>
<div>
Out of those five teams mentioned, who makes the most sense to pay the hefty price needed for Simmons? Sacramento strikes me as the one who&rsquo;s desperate enough to pay whatever it takes (outside of their young backcourt of De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton).
</div>
<div>
A package revolving around Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, and three first-round picks (including the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft) could make Sixers GM Daryl Morey seriously consider pulling the trigger.
</div>
<div>
For Sacramento, a young big three consisting of Simmons, Fox, and Haliburton is their last-ditch effort to try to escape the proverbial abyss. Missing the playoffs for 15-straight seasons, a massive move needs to occur in order to keep Fox happy long-term, while also trying to jump another tier in the loaded Western Conference.
</div>
<div>
In return for sending Simmons to the Kings, Philadelphia adds a ton of shooting in the short-term, while holding golden tickets in draft capital long-term. If the Sixers are serious about making a Finals push while adding security past that window, this deal makes so much sense.
</div>
<div>
Sacramento receives: Ben Simmons, George Hill 
</div>
<div>
Philadelphia receives: Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, No. 9 pick, 2023 1st, 2025 1st
</div>
<div>
Stay tuned to <a href="http://basketballnews.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com</a> for all the latest news and rumors. Check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest 2021 mock draft here</a>.
</div>

From Buddy Hield to Collin Sexton and Ben Simmons to Myles Turner, we may see a blockbuster deal on draft night. Here are some ideas.

6 players who could be traded during the 2021 NBA Draft

Everyone who works here at BasketballNews.com has a crystal ball. And an opinion. On Saturday, after asking several of our writers to make an NBA Finals MVP pick and explain their choice, this columnist drove across the New York/New Jersey border and placed $10 wagers for each staff member.
Sadly, Patrick Beverley of the Clippers was not on the board at any of the big U.S. sportsbooks, nor was Kawhi Leonard. Fortunately, neither player was picked by our writers.
I took Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks, because I have a thing for glue guys who play great defense under Adam Silver&rsquo;s new and, ahem, improved rules. If the Bucks get past the Hawks, somebody is going to have to defend Chris Paul or Devin Booker or whoever has the hot hand at guard for the Clippers.
And since defense wins championships, and since Holiday was 38-1, and since short odds do not exactly do it for me, I took the guy who most certainly won&rsquo;t have the jitters from the free throw line if the NBA Finals comes down to a Game 7.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is my colleague Nekias Duncan, who also loves great defenders and went with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"I think I'm going to roll with Giannis here,&rdquo; Duncan said. &ldquo;There isn't a great option to throw at him from either West team, though Deandre Ayton (if the Suns make it) might have the best shot. His offensive prowess, combined with his defensive versatility, should make it easy for him to make a tangible impact on both ends. Great &lsquo;overcame-adversity&rsquo; narrative too.&rdquo;
Not a bad pick, as Giannis is the national favorite at odds of +115. Problem is, if Nekias wins his $10 wager, his winnings are $1.50. Years ago, 150 cents was worth a whole heck of a lot at the candy story. Today, it&rsquo;ll get you a Mars bar.
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The boss, Alex Kennedy, was initially tempted to go with Giannis, too. But Alex does not run with the pack, which is why he had more Twitter followers before he turned 21 than many celebrities have after a half-dozen major motion pictures. He has more contacts in his phone than an optician has in his shop.
&ldquo;Give me Devin Booker,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;I think the Phoenix Suns have enough to win it all, and Booker has been incredible this postseason. I can see him shining on the Finals stage, scoring a ton of points and creating for others -- all while talking trash and winning over more fans with his brash personality. Prior to this season, Booker was often characterized as someone whose empty stats didn't translate into wins, and now it feels like he's taking out five years of pent-up frustration on his playoff opponents.&rdquo;
Booker is the second choice on the board at FanDuel, so Kennedy&rsquo;s $10 could turn into $32, enough to purchase a half-dozen frappuccinos at Alex&rsquo;s local Starbucks outside of Orlando.
Matt Babcock, our draft guru who is working the NBA draft combine in Chicago, went with Giannis, too -- apparently because Matt believes that airballs from the free throw line are merely a hazard of the business. (Just messin&rsquo; with you, Matt.)
&ldquo;At this point, I believe the Milwaukee Bucks are the front-runner to win the championship, making it a natural decision to pick their top player,&rdquo; Babcock explained. &ldquo;Also, with how much the Bucks depend on Giannis to carry such a heavy load for them, that&rsquo;s another reason as to why he is the natural choice.&rdquo;
In Chicago, Matt&rsquo;s $1.50 won&rsquo;t go as far as Nekias&rsquo; $1.50, but at least that buck-and-a-half will get Matt four slices of pepperoni at the original Uno&rsquo;s (but not an entire deep-dish pizza).
Columnist extraordinaire Moke Hamilton is a practicing attorney when he is not talking and writing hoops, so his decisions go through an IQ filter that the rest of us can only wish we had. He is also a non-insufferable New Yorker, which makes him an outlier &ndash; even if his pick is not.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take a flier on Chris Paul,&rdquo; Hamilton said. &ldquo;If he is able to help the Suns get past his old team, I think he&rsquo;ll take advantage of the opportunity to win his first Finals. I also liked him for regular-season MVP, but obviously fell short there. Maybe second time is the charm.&rdquo;
Paul&rsquo;s odds are +440, and if Hamilton wins, he can take that $44 to a Brooklyn Nets game next season and get a cheeseburger and a water and still have $15.32 cents left over. (Yes, a cheeseburger and water at Barclays Center costs $28.68. And no fries are included). But Hamilton will have to put that money into plastic form, because concession stands at the Nets home area do not take cash.
Last but not least is our own Hartenstein, Spencer Davies, who is counting down the decades until the Cavs are an NBA Finals team again.
Davies went with Paul George.
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be bold, shall we? If the Clippers continue to display the resilience they have through being battle-tested, what about Paul George? This is a man in the midst of an underappreciated playoff run,&rdquo; Davies said. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s looking at the shooting numbers from deep, but George&rsquo;s mentality to put his head down and get to the rim has really opened up things for Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard and company to fire away. That is how you impact the game, by drawing multiple defenders and making plays for your teammates, especially when your team is missing a former Finals MVP in Kawhi Leonard.
&ldquo;Defensively, he&rsquo;s been effective with deflections and multiple efforts as well. George has continued to answer the bell (aside from the two missed free throws in Game 2) when called upon, and it would be incredible to see him win the 2021 Finals MVP in a bounce-back postseason from the Bubble less than a year ago.&rdquo;
Davies&rsquo; wager is priced at +700, and if Davies wins, he can take that $70 and drive down to Dan Gilbert&rsquo;s casino across from the Cavs&rsquo; arena and play blackjack with house money. With a good run, Davies can have enough dinero to take Hartenstein out for dinner.
But it would have to be a heck of a blackjack run. Hartenstein, rumor has it, can put down a lot of food.
For help placing NBA bets, check out <a href="https://betql.co/nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetQL</a>. And as a BasketballNews.com reader, you can get access to BetQL for 30% off when you use the code BBN30.

The BasketballNews.com writers make their early Finals MVP picks, and we put our money where our mouth is.

BasketballNews.com writers make early NBA Finals MVP bets

With the NBA Draft Lottery behind us, four teams remaining in the hunt for a championship and the 2021 NBA Draft approaching in a little over a month, rumor season is heating up. We&rsquo;ve seen coaching changes, hires and fires in front offices and even a rare trade in the middle of the playoffs.&nbsp;
The latest rumblings over the last couple of days involve Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton. Multiple reporters, including <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-cavs-could-look-to-move-collin-sexton-this-summer-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SI's Jeremy Woo</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/projecting-the-top5-picks-in-the-2021-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our own Matt Babcock</a>, say that Sexton&rsquo;s name has surfaced in trade talks.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s not all that surprising to hear that the Cavs are open to moving the feisty, improving 22-year-old, as he is eligible for a maximum rookie-scale contract extension this offseason worth five years and $168 million, per <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cleveland-cavaliers/collin-sexton-26974/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SpotRac</a>. Woo wrote that Cleveland's front office would rather trade Sexton than give him a lucrative deal that would limit their flexibility going forward.
On lottery night, the Cavs had a little bit of luck on their side, as they bumped up from fifth to the No. 3 overall pick by the end of the drawing. At that third slot, most mock drafts have Cleveland selecting Jalen Green, Evan Mobley or Jalen Suggs; Scottie Barnes has been another popular name. (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's latest mock draft has the Cavs selecting Green</a>). Cleveland general manager Koby Altman even said in his post-lottery press conference that the team didn&rsquo;t expect to select as high as third, so it makes sense that a wide net has been cast.&nbsp;
If the Cavs end up going with one of Green or Suggs, it&rsquo;s easy to see the &ldquo;too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen&rdquo; scenario playing out. Green is a guard or wing, and Suggs is definitely a guard, so that would leave an odd man out. That presumably would be Sexton or Isaac Okoro, depending on the rotations J.B. Bickerstaff would construct. (After last season&rsquo;s injury-filled debacle, Bickerstaff showed how well he can adapt with what was available, and he wasn&rsquo;t afraid to get creative, so keep that in mind).
Say that is the case and Cleveland goes with one of the Jalens -- should Sexton, who is one of the best scorers in this league and coming off a career season of over 24 points per game with improved efficiency and playmaking, be rushed out of town just because a rookie might reduce his role a little bit? Do we even know if that will be the case? And if that is how things wind up, does Altman have to act swiftly when handling this?
The answer is, &ldquo;No.&rdquo; The Cavs do not have to make a decision on this right away. The first day that either side can agree to the aforementioned extension (or one similar to it) is Aug. 3., which officially marks day one of the 2021-22 NBA year. They can negotiate up until the day before the regular season begins; if Sexton and Cleveland don&rsquo;t come to an agreement, the fourth-year guard would become a restricted free agent in the 2022 offseason.
(For a reference to that working in real time, see Jarrett Allen&rsquo;s current situation, which Sexton could be in next summer if the sides don&rsquo;t work it out).
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Speaking strictly from opinion, sending out a player that a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-team-workouts-jb-bickerstaff-collin-sexton-darius-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">team source described as a &ldquo;cultural backbone&rdquo;</a> before he even begins to approach his prime would be foolish. Lest we forget that Sexton -- the human pi&ntilde;ata who's taken hit after hit after hit, whether it&rsquo;s been unnamed teammates questioning his knowledge, the public attempting to drive a wedge in between he and his backcourt partner Darius Garland and any other nonsense that he&rsquo;s been unfairly targeted for -- has kept his head down and has kept pushing on. This is a player who has in three years gone through four different head coaches and had a grand total of 52 different teammates (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/teammates_and_opponents.fcgi?pid_hint=Collin+Sexton&amp;pid_select=Collin+Sexton&amp;pid=sextoco01&amp;type=t" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 of whom he has played in at least 50 games with</a>).&nbsp;
And despite that fact, Sexton was selected to the Rising Stars in his sophomore year after being left out his rookie season. He was a legitimate candidate for the All-Star game in Year 3. When you look at the surrounding circumstances and stroke of terrible injury luck the team went through, it&rsquo;s quite remarkable.&nbsp;
Sexton&rsquo;s not a perfect player by any stretch of the imagination. He has his moments of tunnel vision. He could stand to take more threes (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-banking-on-organic-growth-supplementing-talent-to-take-next-step" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the team wants him and Garland taking up to eight a night</a>). Defensively, the effort is there, but the execution and awareness away from the ball are lacking; it&rsquo;s not the best formula when you&rsquo;re undersized. He needs to be better with the ball in his hands, and particularly, more patient in pick-and-roll situations to let plays develop.
Once again, though, we&rsquo;re looking at labels being slapped onto him after just three years of his career, as if he hasn&rsquo;t made progress and should be a finished product. There is a middleground here that seemingly nobody wants to find, particularly in our new-age infatuation of extremism.
If there&rsquo;s anything we&rsquo;ve learned from watching the likes of Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Devin Booker, Trae Young and these other young guards bursting onto the scene, it&rsquo;s to see things through. The mid-range game and floaters have been the key to many of their successes, and it&rsquo;s something both Sexton and Garland have implemented in their game. Every franchise is different, and moves must be made to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-banking-on-organic-growth-supplementing-talent-to-take-next-step" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surround Cleveland&rsquo;s core with veterans and supplementary talent</a>.&nbsp;
But could you imagine Sexton with the same spotlight and opportunity? This is a player who nearly led Alabama to victory in a 3-on-5 setting as a freshman on national television. Look up how he&rsquo;s historically performed against Young and his hometown Atlanta Hawks, who are now in the driver&rsquo;s seat in the Eastern Conference Finals.&nbsp;
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If you want a more recent example, why not go back to January against the Brooklyn Nets? Young Bull nailed a game-tying three over Kyrie Irving in overtime, and followed it up by scoring 15 of Cleveland&rsquo;s 20 points in double overtime to spoil the debut game of Steve Nash&rsquo;s Big Three. Sexton had 42 points and sent the Cavs to a 7-7 record at the time.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He's not scared of the moment, and he feels like he belongs,&rdquo; a Cavs team source told BasketballNews.com a couple of weeks ago. &ldquo;No question [Sexton is built for that stage].&rdquo;
A trade may not even be an indictment of Sexton and more about the timing, and that&rsquo;s understandable. At some point, the wins have to come along, especially for a team entering its third or third-and-a-half season of a rebuild, realistically; the 2018-19 season was an unmitigated disaster with championship leftovers forced to play with Sexton and guys on 10-day contracts trying to stick in the NBA.&nbsp;
Again, there should be no reason to hurry this hypothetical move. Barring an unforeseen circumstance, it&rsquo;s not like Sexton&rsquo;s trade value would magically evaporate over the course of 100 days. And if you keep him around without an extension, that just gives him the motivation to prove his worth going into a contract year. Being a restricted free agent, the Cavs can match any offer sheet he would receive; the only way he could go elsewhere is if Cleveland allowed it. You don&rsquo;t have to choose one or the other just yet in terms of Sexton or Garland; you may not have to at all.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re seeing more and more three-guard sets as the NBA trends smaller, and a trio of Garland, Sexton and Green would be the same size essentially as what Cleveland went with last season in Garland, Sexton and Okoro. If Bickerstaff would elect to go the defensive route, the three could look like Garland, Green and Okoro, with Sexton packing one of the most powerful punches off the bench. For years, league officials have believed that is Sexton&rsquo;s ideal role (a la Jordan Clarkson or Lou Williams); that sells his capabilities short, and benching the team&rsquo;s top scoring presence for a rookie could inhibit things, but it could turn out that way if Sexton sticks around. We don&rsquo;t know. Time will tell.&nbsp;
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Remember, a lot of this is banking on what the Houston Rockets decide to do with the No. 2 overall pick as well.&nbsp;
What happens if the Cavs want Green, but the Rockets draft him and you&rsquo;ve already dealt Sexton away? Now you&rsquo;re really in trouble, and have to bank on an unproven rookie to fill that spot.&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s an instance that hasn&rsquo;t really been brought up, too: What if the Cavs want Mobley and he falls to them? Say that happens, and Cleveland selects the USC big man brimming with potential. While Mobley&rsquo;s playstyle and body type indicate that he&rsquo;ll be a 4 instead of a 5, would that compromise a potential contract extension with Allen, a restricted free agent?
If that were to happen, there would certainly be no reason to move Sexton, and then Allen&rsquo;s future with the team could be in question, as he&rsquo;d be due around $15-20 million annually over four or five years depending on negotiations. Paying Allen that kind of money and drafting another seven-footer, with Kevin Love still around, probably wouldn&rsquo;t be the best choice. Particularly because the team is still lacking a primary initiator and ball-handler with size.
There are many decisions that have to be made this summer for the Cavs, including Allen, the draft and free agency, on an immediate basis.&nbsp;
With Sexton, they can, and should, take their time.

The Cavs have a lot of decisions to make, but choosing to hurry with Collin Sexton wouldn't be smart, writes Spencer Davies.

Amid trade and extension talks, Cavs shouldn't rush things with Collin Sexton

Since the NBA MVP award was introduced following the 1955-56 season, there have been 34 different players to earn the honor. Of those 34 MVP winners, 26 have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The only ones who haven&rsquo;t been selected to the Hall of Fame are either still active or not yet eligible (Dirk Nowitzki). 
Of the eight guys not yet inducted, seven of them are presumptive locks. There&rsquo;s no doubt that LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nowitzki will receive the call and be named among the game&rsquo;s immortal when their times come.&nbsp;
But that leaves us with one remaining player: Derrick Rose. Is Rose a future Hall-of-Famer?
Rose is one of the most polarizing players of the last 20 years. At his peak, Rose was certainly one of the game&rsquo;s best. While there&rsquo;s debate in hindsight about whether he was deserving of the 2011 NBA MVP &ndash; the vote would likely look much different today &ndash; there is no question that Rose was on a path of ascension toward becoming one of the NBA&rsquo;s best. He dominated games with his mind-blowing athleticism, and his high-flying dunks looked out of this world for a player his size. He was the key cog on the Bulls at the start of the 2010s. Chicago became a contender for the first time since Michael Jordan retired, mostly because of how good Rose was at such a young age.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s certainly a case for Rose to be in the Hall of Fame, but there&rsquo;s also a case against him being enshrined with the greatest players of all-time. Let&rsquo;s break down both.&nbsp;
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THE CASE FOR ROSE&rsquo;S INDUCTION
Rose was a player who undeniably changed basketball. He brought back an era of uber-athletic point guards, and showed that it was possible to be a successful team with the best player being 6-foot-3 and lightning fast. Rose was able to accomplish so much at such a young age.&nbsp;
In 2011, he became the youngest NBA MVP in league history at just 22 years old. This is where the argument that Rose belongs stems from.&nbsp;
Is it really right to keep out a guy who was considered to have the best season in the league at just 22 years old? Especially when there had to be an amendment to the NBA&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement to fairly compensate a young player who&rsquo;s that good, that quickly (known as <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2019/01/28/anthony-davis-trade-rumors-pelicans-derrick-rose-rule-explained-designated-player">&ldquo;the Derrick Rose Rule&rdquo;</a>)?
No one should be making the argument that Rose was ever the best player on the planet; he wasn&rsquo;t (and if you&rsquo;re making this argument, you&rsquo;re foolish). But he certainly belonged in the league&rsquo;s top-five.
In Rose&rsquo;s first four seasons in the NBA, he averaged 21.0 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. And because he&rsquo;s still playing, he could continue to bolster his case. For example, if he added a late-career championship or two to his resume (like Dwight Howard last year), that could help him.
THE CASE AGAINST ROSE&rsquo;S INDUCTION
Just because Rose won the MVP award doesn&rsquo;t automatically make him a Hall-of-Fame player. Just because everyone that won the award before him is a Hall-of-Famer, and every player that has won it after him will be in the Hall of Fame, does not mean that he belongs, too. There&rsquo;s almost always an exception to every rule, and it seems as if Rose is the exception to this one.&nbsp;
Rose&rsquo;s flame burned so bright at its brightest, but it also burned out so quickly. Yes, injuries are the reason for that, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he gets a pass for peaking at 22 years old and never returning to form. Rose does have that MVP award, and is a three-time All-Star, but he also doesn&rsquo;t have much playoff success to speak of to date.
What Rose has been able to do in the latter stages of his career makes for a great revitalization story. Rose has been a useful player on mediocre teams in Minnesota and Detroit, and this year&rsquo;s surprise New York squad. All this has happened after Rose was cast aside and essentially out of the league following a stint in Cleveland and being cut by the Utah Jazz after a trade in 2018. He&rsquo;s finished in the top-10 of NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in each of the last three seasons, but that&rsquo;s not something that&rsquo;s ever said about guys that belong in the Hall of Fame. (This year, he received a first-place vote for MVP and it turned out to be the fan ballot; Rose has always had an enormous, passionate fanbase).
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Keep him mind, it&rsquo;s the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. If Rose had some Olympic gold medals or an NCAA Championship on his resume, that would help his case. Instead, his two Team USA medals came during the FIBA World Cup, and while he played for the National Championship as a freshman at Memphis, the Tigers lost, and that entire season was later vacated by the NCAA after an investigation found that Rose's SAT scores were invalidated.
The truest indicator that Rose doesn&rsquo;t belong in the Hall of Fame is that if his first four NBA seasons are removed from his stat line, he looks just like a good-not-great player. From 2014 until now, Rose has averaged 16.5 points per game on 45% shooting to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists, while being a liability on the defensive end of the floor. That&rsquo;s hardly a stat line that deserves to be enshrined amongst the game&rsquo;s greats.&nbsp;
THE VERDICT
Ultimately, what Rose was able to do for his hometown team as a youngster was a story that you&rsquo;d expect on the big screen. But that early stretch of his career isn&rsquo;t great enough to justify how short it was. Had Rose gone two or three more great years before injuries got in the way, this would be a different conversation, but ultimately that&rsquo;s the reality of the situation.&nbsp;
Basketball Reference has <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob.html">a Hall-of-Fame-Probability tool</a> that takes each player&rsquo;s stats, awards and achievements into consideration, and it tends to be pretty accurate when determining a player&rsquo;s Hall-of-Fame likelihood. It currently gives Rose an 11.9% chance to become a Hall of Famer, and that feels right.

Every other NBA MVP is either in the Hall of Fame or a lock to get inducted. Will Derrick Rose be enshrined with the game's all-time greats?

Is Derrick Rose a future Hall-of-Famer? The case for and against

Former NBA GM Pete Babcock opens up to Etan Thomas about how the media's false narratives can greatly influence NBA front offices.

Former NBA GM confirms false narratives hurt Kwame Brown, others

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; As the Cavaliers' slow, stuttering rebuild continues around a &ldquo;core four&rdquo; of young players, the team still views Kevin Love as an important piece.
One worth keeping around. At least, for now.
On Friday, general manager Koby Altman spoke to the media for the first time since the Cavs completed a injury-marred season by going 22-50 and failing to compete for a playoff spot during a year in which Love went from being a major contributor to a distraction.
The five-time All-Star played in just 25 games because of a severe calf injury. All that will be remembered from his forgettable season is an on-court lapse against Toronto when he lost his composure and smacked the ball away in frustration only to have the Raptors grab it and score.
It's a regrettable moment that has stained an otherwise clean resume.
Love's mini-tantrum was also a microcosm of a frustrating season for the Cavs, who used 30 different starting lineups and lost 300 total games to injuries. There was also plenty of self-inflicted drama, which included Love's meltdown in Florida, Kevin Porter Jr.'s surprising trade to Houston and the team buying out All-Star center Andre Drummond's contract.
Altman said Love was &ldquo;internally reprimanded&rdquo; for his on-court behavior in April. But his actions caused serious damage to Love's reputation with fans and possibly affected relationships with teammates and coaches.
Love publicly apologized for his outburst, saying it was out of character. And while fans may have had a harder time accepting Love's remorse &mdash; and stomaching his $30 million per season contract &mdash; Altman insists it hasn't caused a rift inside the Cavaliers.
&ldquo;What people don&rsquo;t see is his vulnerability with the players and his teammates. I don&rsquo;t think people see his generosity,&rdquo; said Altman, who last spoke to reporters in January. &ldquo;If he was an all-out bad guy and those plays that you talk about represented him, his teammates wouldn&rsquo;t love him, his teammates wouldn&rsquo;t want to be around him.&rdquo;
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Altman said Love gives the Cavs, who at one point were starting four players under 22, a needed mentor for younger players. He may have some quirks, but Love's value stretches far beyond his ability to shoot and rebound.
&ldquo;Jarrett Allen loves Kevin and I asked him why and he said, &lsquo;Off the court he provides leadership. He provides a sense of humility. He&rsquo;s funny,'&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s been here a long time; he&rsquo;s won a championship with us, so he has a lot of equity here. I love talking to him, I love being around him. He has his moments, but he&rsquo;s ours and he&rsquo;s uniquely Kevin Love.&rdquo;
Altman said Love is headed into a &ldquo;significant&rdquo; summer. He needs to get physically healthier and mentally tougher to handle what's ahead.
Although the Cavs played few meaningful games this season, Altman believes the team is close to a breakthrough behind guards Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, forward Isaac Okoro and Allen, whose arrival necessitated the team to move on from Drummond.
The Cavs will add another talented player high in the draft, and there are plans to sign veteran free agents this summer.
But the young guys need someone to show them the way, and Altman feels that's a perfect role for Love.
&ldquo;We want him to be here,&rdquo; Atlman said. "We signed him to an extension (four years, $120 million in 2019) for that reason, to be here when we want to make that next step. And so we&rsquo;re going to hopefully rely on him heavily next year after a significant summer.&rdquo;
Altman touched on several other items during his Zoom conference:
&mdash; The GM said he's had candid conversations with owner Dan Gilbert, who feels good about the team's positioning. Altman said he's never had any direct talks with Gilbert about his own situation but feels comfortable that he's done a good job.
Altman said Gilbert, who has had health issues following stroke, remains &ldquo;very engaged&rdquo; with the team.
&mdash; Altman said the Porter trade came after the Cavs exhausted themselves in trying to work with the talented and troubled former first-round pick. Porter had some legal issues while in Cleveland his stay ended shortly after he became enraged when the team moved his locker and confronted Altman.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible to bat a thousand percent when you&rsquo;re doing it this way,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;The hard part is this thing&rsquo;s fragile, it&rsquo;s a fragile thing and the culture that we&rsquo;re trying to create we have to have a level of integrity that we&rsquo;re trying to live by and grow that young talent to hopefully win. That&rsquo;s for everybody. I think the change of scenery was needed from both parties.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

As the Cavaliers' slow rebuild continues around a “core four” of young players, the team still views Kevin Love as an important piece.

Cavs still view Kevin Love as valuable piece in slow rebuild

Jaylen Brown's season-ending wrist surgery feels like that final weight-bearing Jenga piece being pulled from Boston Celtics fans' tense tower of sanity.
This season felt cursed. The Celtics have underperformed as much as any team in the NBA, sitting 35-33 in the home stretch of the regular season. They just lost a critical seeding game to the Miami Heat, 130-124, that really wasn't even a contest until the final quarter -- and have to play them again Tuesday.
The notoriously loud Boston sports landscape has unabashedly complained about a lack of energy, continuity and consistency this season. They're all valid observations.
Even with the postseason on the horizon, the 2020-21 campaign feels like a lost cause. Fans should feel frustrated. Blame should fly in every direction -- except towards the players.&nbsp;
Brown's loss hurts, but based on this season's trajectory, it's not a surprise. The Celtics have lost <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/injured-reserve/cumulative-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15 different players</a>&nbsp;to injuries or COVID absences this season -- tied for fourth-most in the NBA behind only the Brooklyn Nets (17), Orlando Magic (16) and Houston Rockets (16). Look at this list compiled by NBC Sports' Chris Forsberg:
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🚑 2020-21 Celtics in a snapshot ⤵️ 183 games missed. Add 4 more for Jaylen Brown. Maybe more for Rob. And now it&rsquo;s guaranteed: Zero games played with their top 7 available the entire season. <a href="https://t.co/fbC5NgsV92">pic.twitter.com/fbC5NgsV92</a>
&mdash; Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1391908896403562496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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That is&nbsp;staggering&nbsp;for the fifth-youngest team in basketball. How can you expect a roster with an <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/transactions/composition_search" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average age of 24.7</a> to mesh cleanly on the court when they never get to see each other at the same time?&nbsp;
Even more egregious is the short and long-term impact of COVID-19. According to data tallied by Fansure, Celtics players have spent a <a href="https://fansure.com/user/fansureFeed/detail/608" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whopping 167 days</a> in the league's health and safety protocols this season -- 49 more days than the second-leading Dallas Mavericks. Jayson Tatum was still <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/04/14/post-covid-19-jayson-tatum-says-he-uses-inhaler-to-open-lungs-up-before-games/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using an inhaler</a> as of mid-April to combat lasting effects from COVID-19 that he had experienced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/16/sports/jayson-tatum-says-hes-still-experiencing-some-side-effects-his-bout-with-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three months earlier.</a>
Evan Fournier detailed his own experiences of contracting COVID-19 just after arriving in Boston via trade from Orlando. When he spoke to the media on May 3, Fournier described the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/evan-fournier-on-covid19-recovery-been-feeling-really-weird" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concussion-like symptoms and depth perception issues</a> he was still feeling.&nbsp;
To recap: the face of the Celtics franchise, as well as its biggest trade deadline acquisition in a decade, has battled serious long-term COVID ramifications despite clearing protocols.&nbsp;
Fans should be irate at Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA for jeopardizing the health and safety of its players. The shortened offseason, jam-packed schedule and unflappable resolve to play games in January now has major consequences on this team in May, and potentially, beyond.&nbsp;
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But it's not just Silver on the hot seat here. General manager Danny Ainge sure loved to put the blame <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ainge-on-celtics-struggles-im-putting-it-on-my-players-shoulders-right-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"on my players' shoulders"</a> when they struggled. But how did Ainge help? He did finally make a small splash at the deadline by nabbing Fournier. However, based on the swirling rumors surrounding Nikola Vucevic, Harrison Barnes and Aaron Gordon, March still feels like a missed opportunity with that $28.5 million trade exception at his disposal.&nbsp;
Tragically, that wasn't Ainge's only move. He also traded Daniel Theis and Javonte Green, two well-liked players, to Washington in a three-team deal for Moe Wagner and Luke Kornet. Wagner is now in Orlando and Kornet has been a healthy scratch in half of his last six games.
The Celtics currently roster three players over age-26 and zero over 30. Yet Ainge would pop into Boston sports radio shows with win-now expectations.
Brad Stevens isn't exempt, either. In fairness, he's been dealt a tough hand by Ainge and the league with the aforementioned young team, short offseason and harrowing absences. But while fans loved to clamor at the players for a lack of energy, that ultimately falls on a coaching staff.
Inconsistency has plagued the Celtics since trading for Kyrie Irving way back in 2017. This year, it's come to a head, with the usual stalwarts plummeting to the 19th-ranked defensive rating in the league.
But Boston also has a minus-0.4 net rating in first halves this season, which ranks 18th in the NBA. In the second half, that improves to a plus-3.2, good for the sixth-best mark in the league.
Over the last 15 games, however, the discrepancy is much more noticeable, as the Celtics have been a net minus-6.7 in the first half (ranked 24th) and a plus-7.6 in the second half (eighth).&nbsp;
There is a noticeable difference in energy and engagement. It's on Stevens and the coaching staff to motivate the players to be consistent, or change the first-half game plan, or do something different in general -- because the players are doing everything they can.
According to <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/injured-reserve/boston-celtics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotrac</a>, Brown has withstood six different injuries and illnesses this season, not even including time spent in league protocols. Finished at the hands of wrist surgery, there's no doubt that he still put together his best season by far as a pro.
Kemba Walker has missed 20 games with injuries and illness, yet is putting consistent games together. In spite of his uniquely dangerous COVID-related circumstances, Tatum still tied the franchise record for points in a single game.
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☘️ Career high and <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@celtics</a> franchise record-tying 60 points ☘️ 31 PTS in 4th quarter &amp; OT ☘️ Led <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@celtics</a> 32-point comeback W ☘️ Career high 80.1 fantasy points Jayson Tatum WENT OFF last night. <a href="https://t.co/epNrPHlEw9">pic.twitter.com/epNrPHlEw9</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1388493409476702216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Fournier has battled the virus, too, and the jarring experience that comes with being dealt at the deadline (which is even tougher during this condensed season with limited practice time). Robert Williams III has broken out as a potential starting center of the future -- all while missing 16 games (to date) with four different injuries and illnesses. Marcus Smart, the heart of the franchise, missed 20 games with a calf injury, thumb injury and illness. Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard proved themselves in one of the most unusual rookie seasons they could imagine.&nbsp;
Do not blame the players for appearing unmotivated during a miserable season. They've cobbled together a winning record despite their inexperience, both in the Association and with each other. The Celtics are still in the growth phase, although most will tell you that time should pass.&nbsp;
Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, Celtics fans should appreciate the players for making do with an unstable and hopeless situation.

Regardless of what happens next, Celtics fans should appreciate the players for making do with an unstable and hopeless situation, writes Ethan Fuller.

In a cursed year, Celtics fans shouldn't place any blame on the players

Nekias Duncan dissects every detail of the moves that went down at Thursday's NBA trade deadline and gives them grades.

Grading every move from the 2021 NBA trade deadline

The NBA All-Star break couldn&rsquo;t have come at a worse time for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following a brutal 10-game losing streak, J.B. Bickerstaff&rsquo;s young bunch had just won four out of five contests, finally finding a rhythm and a consistency the team had been searching for. For the first time all season, the starting lineup was the same for five consecutive games.
Returning from the one-week hiatus, that changed quickly. On the bright side, the Cavs got a vocal leader and top defender back in Larry Nance Jr. after he missed 12 games with a fractured wrist. Kevin Love, who hadn&rsquo;t appeared since the team&rsquo;s second game of the season, returned on a limited basis. Losing bodies is difficult, but adding them back into the mix is a battle in and of itself. So for Cleveland, that acted more as a stopper of continuity.
The Cavs dropped three straight out of the break. Two 82-point efforts and a 98-point night in a loss at Miami meant the offense was having issues, similar to the lengthy slumps we&rsquo;ve seen before in stretches. As has been the case throughout the season, Collin Sexton was relied on as the primary scorer. While his numbers weren&rsquo;t pedestrian by any means, there wasn&rsquo;t nearly enough shot-making outside of his for Cleveland to succeed, as evidenced by a ghastly 39.2% field goal rate and 28.9% collective clip from deep. Once again, there was a lack of practice time and no shootaround while the team was on the road -- the very same issue that plagued them on the West Coast.
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On top of that, over two minute-restricted games, it took only 11 minutes and 42 seconds combined for Love to find himself back on the shelf with an injured calf. He has not played since he felt discomfort in Atlanta. The team was as cautious with the 32-year-old&rsquo;s original recovery process as it could be. Due to his progression and a week-long All-Star break, it seemed to be the right time to reimplement him into the fold. However, with just one practice under his belt before hitting the floor, we soon found out he wasn&rsquo;t past it.
According to a Cavs team source, Love&rsquo;s calf still "has to get back to 100%." With the number of games left on the schedule, Cleveland is committed to ensuring he gets to that point before sending him out on the court again. As for when that will be, we don&rsquo;t have an answer yet.
"It's hard to tell,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;There's days when he feels great, there's workouts when he feels phenomenal, then there'll be soreness the next day and it's like, it sucks. We've gotta keep moving forward...He'll get to have some really meaningful minutes in.
&ldquo;Obviously, we'd love to have him back and see what it's gonna look like with him on the floor and spacing. It's gonna be great for Jarrett Allen, it's gonna be great for our guards (Sexton and Darius Garland); he&rsquo;s gonna give some pressure relief. That's another thing -- those two guards have to create everything for us, and Kevin is pressure relief. You throw the ball into him, and he can create a lot of gravity. It's something we want to see happen, but we realize, let's let this injury take its course...then, we'll see what that looks like.&rdquo;
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Of course, when it rains, it pours. The day after Love exited early in the loss against the Hawks, Twitter detectives noticed that Sexton <a href="https://www.complex.com/sports/collin-sexton-liked-tweet-kevin-love-contract-heist-of-the-century?utm_campaign=sportstw&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">liked a tweet</a> that said the veteran big man &ldquo;stole $120 million&rdquo; from the Cavs, a reference to his contract. Setting the platform abuzz, it spread like wildfire. According to the team source, Sexton doesn&rsquo;t use social media and only has his account managers utilize it for sponsorships or promotions. He didn&rsquo;t know it happened in the first place, and once he was informed, Sexton had his social team unlike the tweet and addressed Love about the situation right away.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That's just not Collin. It's an absolute non-story, but it did happen,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;He said, 'Look, this is a lesson. I'm gonna be way more secure with my stuff and my passwords.&rsquo; That's actually a good lesson for who has access to your stuff, who's checking your stuff. A lot of times, it's very innocent -- business associates' friends, who knows? He'll get better in that space, but it certainly wasn't something that he meant to do or be out there.&rdquo;
But a slip of somebody&rsquo;s finger and another lengthy losing streak didn&rsquo;t stop the Cavs from staying at it. In a four-game homestand, they went 2-2 with wins over the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, and suffered defeats at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings. (It should be noted that the Western Conference is the culprit of the majority of the shortcomings this season; Cleveland is 4-15 against those teams). To say that there have been ebbs and flows in this campaign would be selling it short.
Is that not to be expected, though? Take a step back for a moment: the Cavs are starting four players on rookie-scale contracts: Sexton, Garland, Isaac Okoro and Jarrett Allen. Each of those players are 22 years old or younger, and every one of them are considered a crucial piece of Cleveland&rsquo;s established core from this moment on. They&rsquo;ve played 24 games -- 422 minutes of floor time -- together to this point. The core four have spent more moments on the floor in real-time NBA games than they have in practice.&nbsp;
Individually, they have shown their own strides.&nbsp;
Garland is really finding his niche as a primary initiator. Despite Tuesday&rsquo;s outlier, the second-year point guard is averaging 17.4 points and 6.3 assists per game over the last month, and shooting 41.3% from the perimeter in that span. Garland&rsquo;s success has been driven by his ability to change speeds off the dribble and his knack for finding the open man. If a teammate has position in the paint, he&rsquo;ll fire a bullet with an underhand shovel pass. If he draws two with the threat of a floater, he&rsquo;ll toss it up for somebody to throw it down.
Sexton is the most consistent player the Cavs have when it comes to the scoring department. He is <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional/?sort=PTS&amp;dir=-1&amp;CF=GP*GE*35:PTS*GE*24:FG_PCT*GE*47&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of 15 players in the NBA</a> who boasts averages of at least 24 points per game on 47% from the field or better. We know he can put the ball in the bucket; it&rsquo;s the secondary playmaking reads he&rsquo;s making that have stood out particularly this month. Knowing he commands the attention of multiple defenders now, he&rsquo;s been looking to spray out or, like Garland, get the ball to his bigs for easier looks inside. Understandably, it&rsquo;s been taxing on him, and that shows on off nights where Cleveland struggles.
Okoro is easily one of the top perimeter defenders that the team has. He&rsquo;s been tasked with guarding the opposition&rsquo;s best players, often All-Star caliber talents, and they&rsquo;ve introduced him to what life is like in the best basketball league in the world. In spite of the ups and downs offensively, he&rsquo;s shown a more aggressive side as of late, unafraid to put it on the floor and making his presence felt as an outlet in transition. Keep in mind that he hit the ground running from the moment he was drafted -- no summer league, a fast-tracked preseason and games coming quickly in a condensed year.
Allen is the newest cornerstone and injection of talent that the Cavs were able to pry away from the Brooklyn Nets. He is a modern big that surprisingly fell into their lap who is able to see things before they happen on both ends of the floor. He&rsquo;s a lob threat, a relentless rebounder, solid screen-setter and a defensive deterrent at the rim. He knows what he does well and sticks to it, although he has teased his jump shot from time to time. Even being the &ldquo;oldest&rdquo; of the core four, Allen is younger than New York Knicks rookie Obi Toppin, and is in his fourth year in the Association.
&ldquo;We're asking a lot of them, but we're also trying to put them in those adverse situations so they can grow because eventually, they have to learn how to win games,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;Certainly that last stretch before the All-Star break, those young guys were winning. They weren't propped up by any vets -- Larry wasn't there, Kevin wasn't there, JaVale McGee helped a little bit -- but it was like, them. Those are the situations we're trying to put them in. You're gonna get a lot of roller-coaster games, and weeks, that way."
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/ewwxddoxiai2lko-1_lg.jpg" alt="" />(Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers)
Evaluating these four players, and the team as a whole, is not an easy job when there&rsquo;s been so many moving pieces and parts -- be it through injuries or transactions. You can look at the positives of the moment: those four establishing a relationship, Nance being the glue guy that he is, Dean Wade, Dylan Windler and Lamar Stevens making legitimate cases to be nightly rotational pieces.&nbsp;
The negatives are apparent. Cedi Osman has been struggling mightily and is reportedly available. Taurean Prince hasn't been able to stay on the floor. Damyean Dotson's minutes have been inconsistent. There&rsquo;s only a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-houston-rockets-orlando-magic-victor-oladipo-aaron-gordon-evan-fournier-andre-drummond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">day left to find a trade partner (or two) for Andre Drummond</a>. Love&rsquo;s injuries seem to be lingering. The 16-27 record itself isn&rsquo;t pleasing to the naked eye, neither are the offensive ruts, and a lot of that has to do with the defensive adjustments opponents are making.
&ldquo;People are starting to guard us a little different,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;Collin's getting all sorts of different respect, from even back at the Indiana game with the box-and-one. They're jumping the ball and putting two on the ball, so we're trying to figure out how to play that way. I think a lot of the teams are trying to take him out and say, 'Beat me with other guys.' So it's a great challenge, that means they respect him, but we've gotta figure out different ways to score."
We&rsquo;d be remiss to ignore that Cleveland won just 19 games a season ago; they&rsquo;re three away from that mark with plenty of games left to go. According to the team source, the franchise is pleased with how Coach Bickerstaff has developed the young pieces and handled the bad breaks that the Cavs have dealt with.
This team is still in the process of building a team culture and environment. Cleveland&rsquo;s front office is always assessing its players and coaches as the organization, and the organization will continue to assemble parts to add to the foundation in place. Sexton, Garland and Okoro were picked in the last three drafts. They were selected eighth, fifth and fifth, respectively. By now, general manager Koby Altman probably gets the memo that he and the franchise can&rsquo;t bank on lottery luck to turn things around at the drop of a hat.
To this point, with where they&rsquo;ve picked and the players they&rsquo;ve picked, the grade is incomplete. You can easily argue that Sexton has outperformed where he was taken, and Garland is finding his stride. Okoro has 38 professional games under his belt. We won&rsquo;t know what it truly looks like with this small of a sample size, especially considering the fact they&rsquo;re all going to represent the Cavs -- now and in the future.&nbsp;
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Cleveland will keep adding, always looking for more size and athleticism. This upcoming 2021 NBA Draft class is stacked with talent, from G League Ignite standouts such as Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, to college phenoms like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Suggs. It&rsquo;s wishful thinking that the Cavs could land one of these prospects or another young talent to bolster their ever-growing roster, but you can&rsquo;t depend on ping pong balls. Just look at the last three years as an example.
So as the games keep coming -- 29 in 53 days -- the goal is the same as it was when the season started: positive momentum and taking a step forward. And no, it&rsquo;s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows.
&ldquo;We're gonna have some unbelievable runs, and then we're also gonna have some low moments where it's like, we're still very young and figuring it out,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;There'll be peaks and valleys where it's like, 'Wait a second guys, you might not wanna win too much more' vs. 'Damn, they look terrible there in those four games.' It's a delicate balance, but we&rsquo;re pretty happy with where we are in terms of our young talent.&rdquo;
When LeBron James left for Los Angeles, the cupboard was empty. Assets were non-existent, contracts were heavy and youth was at a premium. The one prize Cleveland had was the Nets pick, and that turned into Sexton. From that moment on, over the last two-and-a-half years, the Cavs have refilled that cupboard with young players and draft picks, and they&rsquo;ve still got a ways to go. It&rsquo;s been a methodical, prolonged approach, but the team source says the organization is happy with where it is and the direction it is heading in.
&ldquo;All we can keep doing is keep moving forward at our pace,&rdquo; the team source said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no shortcuts.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies spoke with a Cavs team source to discuss where the team is at, Kevin Love's injury, Collin Sexton's Twitter mix-up and more.

Cavs riding Core Four into the future, through the good and bad

LaVar Ball, the boisterous father of Lonzo and LaMelo Ball, found himself in the news again.
While doing a radio interview with ESPN LA last Thursday, he was asked about Lonzo&rsquo;s play and future in New Orleans. He didn&rsquo;t hold back, <a href="https://lonzowire.usatoday.com/2021/03/18/lavar-ball-lonzo-trade-new-orleans-pelicans-rumors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressing his displeasure</a> and ultimately stating his hopes for a trade.
To be clear, this was LaVar calling for movement, not Lonzo. But that interview did nothing but add fuel to the trade-rumor fire. Lonzo has been mentioned in the rumor mill for most of the season, and those rumblings have picked up over the past couple of weeks. Most recently, The Ringer&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA">Kevin O&rsquo;Connor</a> reported some of the offers the <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/3/21/22343488/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-kyle-lowry-lonzo-ball-john-collins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pelicans have received</a> for the fourth-year guard.
In a vacuum, LaVar&rsquo;s comments should be taken with a grain of salt. He doesn&rsquo;t really speak for his sons, at least not in the way that he wants to. While the &ldquo;I hope he&rsquo;s traded&rdquo; portion of his comments understandably got the most traction in the media, I do think there&rsquo;s another portion of his comments that are worth digging into.
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WHO IS LONZO BALL? 
We know what Lonzo brings on the defensive end. He&rsquo;s able to defend 1-through-3 and can wreak havoc on the weak side of actions due to his feel and length. Offensively, there seems to be a split in thinking.
&ldquo;Lonzo&rsquo;s always been a playmaker,&rdquo; LaVar said during the interview. &ldquo;Why are you trying to change him into a defensive specialist that stays in the corner and shoots threes? And you&rsquo;re trying to change Zion [Williamson] and Brandon Ingram who, all through their careers, have never been playmakers. [They&rsquo;ve always been] scorers! Now you want to put the ball in their hands and be playmakers?&rdquo;&nbsp;
The frustration makes sense on the surface. Lonzo was one of the most electrifying college guards in recent memory, flipping full-court darts, tossing lobs and making advanced reads against shifting defenses. His play style drew comparisons to Jason Kidd, though Kidd himself <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/jason-kidd-not-buying-comparisons-between-lonzo-ball-and-himself" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed back against those</a>.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s... more than fair to say that Ball isn&rsquo;t on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory right now. And there is a reason Lonzo has shifted to more of an off-ball role during his NBA career, and especially in New Orleans.
In order to earn primary initiator reps, you have to bend defenses in some way. You can stress defenses with the threat of deep pull-ups -- think Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Trae Young. You can stress defenses with constant rim pressure -- think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Russell Westbrook, De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. The best players in the sport can do both, but you need at least one of those skills to warrant a lead role.&nbsp;
Lonzo hasn&rsquo;t done that to this point of his career. He&rsquo;s averaging 5.8 drives per 36 minutes, according to NBA.com&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*lonzo&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tracking data</a>, down from his 6.5 average attempts in the same category last season. He&rsquo;s never converted higher than 37.5% of his field goal attempts on drives in a season, which is problematic for obvious reasons.
The threat of the pull-up isn&rsquo;t there yet. Though his percentages have risen over the past couple of seasons -- Lonzo ranks in the 65th percentile in dribble jumpers this season, per Synergy -- teams still largely guard him the same way, ducking under picks and daring him to shoot. It&rsquo;s a positive that he&rsquo;s gotten better at knocking those shots down, but defenses are dictating that shot for him, not the other way around.
Compare that to the growth of his off-ball shooting -- he&rsquo;s drilled 38% of his threes on nearly seven attempts over the past two seasons -- and it&rsquo;s easy to see why a secondary role makes sense for him. When you have rim threats like Zion and Ingram forcing rotations, Lonzo is able to feast on easier catch-and-shoot looks or &ldquo;one-more&rdquo; passes.
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At this point, Lonzo is more of a play connector or finisher (on the perimeter) than he is an initiator. That makes him a great fit alongside the Pelicans&rsquo; franchise pillars, but it&rsquo;s understandable for them to be a bit squeamish about paying him north of $20 million per year. Any team looking to pry Lonzo out of New Orleans will need to be willing to shell out that kind of dough, but also have a true primary guy on the roster to fully maximize what Lonzo can do.
WHO COULD USE HIM?
Per <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/3/21/22343488/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-kyle-lowry-lonzo-ball-john-collins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O&rsquo;Connor&rsquo;s report</a>, the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks have sent in offers. Both teams have a dynamic lead guard (Zach LaVine, Trae Young) that Lonzo could play off of. There are other teams that could, or at least should, toss their hats into the ring too.
The Memphis Grizzlies have the picks and young players needed to make a real run at Lonzo, though they&rsquo;d have to think pretty hard about the contract this offseason. Still, it&rsquo;s fun to imagine what a Ja Morant-Lonzo backcourt would look like. Something like De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, Gorgui Dieng (who is available, per O&rsquo;Connor), and the 2021 first-round pick they received from Utah could be a package worth building on in order to land Lonzo and JJ Redick for a playoff push.
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The Miami Heat have been linked to guards all year long. They were in the hunt for James Harden, though the seriousness of those talks has been debated. They&rsquo;ve been linked to Victor Oladipo for what feels like two years now. They&rsquo;re currently in talks with the Raptors for Kyle Lowry; heck, Yahoo&rsquo;s Chris Haynes recently reported that they could be a landing spot for Spencer Dinwiddie.
It&rsquo;s clear the Heat want to add to their guard room to complement the Jimmy Butler-Bam Adebayo duo. Why not aim for Lonzo, someone who can shoot, make quick decisions and give them more &ldquo;oomph&rdquo; at the point of attack defensively? A package headlined by Duncan Robinson, one of the NBA&rsquo;s best shooters, could be of intrigue. The Pelicans have already experimented with inverted pick-and-rolls with Zion and JJ Redick; swapping out the older (and likely to be gone at some point) Redick with Robinson would be a solid long-term play.
The Knicks have two players in Julius Randle and RJ Barrett that make their living at the rim. What the Knicks don&rsquo;t have is a multitude of spacers; Lonzo could be a fit there. They&rsquo;re also equipped with cap space to absorb Lonzo into, as well as plenty of pick capital. Tossing in one or both of the Dallas first-rounders from the Kristaps Porzingis trade -- an unprotected 2021 first and a top-10 protected 2023 first (that extends to 2025) -- could be a framework worth exploring.

Nekias Duncan looks at Lonzo Ball's season with the Pelicans to this point and where he could fit if he's traded to another team.

Where does Lonzo Ball go from here? On his development, possible destinations

With less than a week until March 25, the NBA Trade Deadline is fast approaching. There have already been a number of moves made to this point, with the most-recent deals sending P.J. Tucker to the Milwaukee Bucks and Hamidou Diallo to the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
There was no move &ldquo;noisier&rdquo; than the colossal four-team trade in February, when James Harden got his wish to split from the Houston Rockets and ended up with the Brooklyn Nets. That same blockbuster saw Caris LeVert go to the Indiana Pacers, Victor Oladipo land with the Rockets and Jarrett Allen wind up with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It&rsquo;s highly unlikely that any move prior to the deadline will top that blockbuster deal, considering the magnitude of that particular trade. There&rsquo;s just not much star power on the market, and the biggest names that are available come with a steep price tag attached.&nbsp;
On top of that, this is a unique time in the basketball world. For the first time maybe ever, college conference tournaments and March Madness have coincided with NBA trade season.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We're all starting to miss calls and stuff,&rdquo; an Eastern Conference executive told BasketballNews.com. &ldquo;Obviously we've been making calls all year, but stuff's starting to pick up&hellip; We're all in flux of where we are across the country, and there's just a lot of phone tag going on just because you're trying to scramble to see some of these draft prospects for the last time.
&ldquo;It's just a little different than in the past where you could sort of sit at your desk and field phone calls and do it. So we're sort of a little all over the place. You're trying to do a whole bunch of stuff at once, but that's this year. That's what this year is."
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Currently sliding down the standings on a 18-game losing streak, the Rockets are the most active organization when it comes to trade talks, per sources. Tucker was the hot name not too long ago, and he&rsquo;s been moved. Now, Oladipo is another piece that could be traded.&nbsp;
Similarly on a lengthy eight-game skid and sinking in the East standings, the Orlando Magic are somewhat stuck in the middle as far as their team makeup goes. Aaron Gordon, who was recently linked to the Denver Nuggets by <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/19/aaron-gordon-nuggets-trade-possibilities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Singer of the Denver Post</a>, and Evan Fournier have been mentioned as possible targets for numerous interested teams. Terrence Ross might be another player who draws interest.&nbsp;
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The Sacramento Kings are in a comparable predicament in a highly competitive Western Conference. Executives around the league are monitoring Orlando and Sacramento to see whether they decide to shake things up.
While quite a few contenders and playoff teams are looking to bolster their roster, the players they are targeting likely won&rsquo;t be stars.
"I just don't know who's available that way, right? I'm pretty certain someone like a Bradley Beal is unavailable right now,&rdquo; the East executive said. &rdquo;I don't see anything huge happening. I think a team might add around the edges. I think that might be what you see, to get ready for the playoffs. But I don't see anything monstrous happening, where you get a big name change teams. There were some big trades that have already happened.
"I think there will be some stuff around the edges, like what Sam [Presti] did to get another second-round pick for Hamidou [Diallo]. That&rsquo;s the kind of stuff I could see happening.&rdquo;
One Western Conference executive did mention one notable player to keep an eye on.
&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen Lauri Markkanen&rsquo;s name mentioned a lot, but he could be available,&rdquo; suggested the West executive.
<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1372925200757526531" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marc Stein of the New York Times reported</a> Friday morning that the Los Angeles Clippers are intrigued by Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans. Speaking of New Orleans, one Eastern Conference general manager told BasketballNews.com, "New Orleans is a team to keep an eye on too," mentioning that J.J. Redick seems like a lock to change teams (either via a trade or buyout).
We do know that the San Antonio Spurs are attempting to find a new home for veteran big man LaMarcus Aldridge. Since mid-February, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-andre-drummond-trade-possibilities-destinations-no-contract-buyout-toronto-raptors-dallas-mavericks-brooklyn-nets-sacramento-kings-new-york-knicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Cavaliers have been trying to do the same for Andre Drummond</a>, as the two parties mutually agreed upon.
It&rsquo;s going to take some real creativity for Cavs general manager Koby Altman to get a deal done with the All-Star big man&rsquo;s $28.7 million salary.&nbsp;
According to a source close to the team, Cleveland believes it will take a multi-team trade to make a Drummond move work. As days shrink between now and the deadline, the source feels there will be enough urgency to make it happen.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The hard part with [Drummond] is not so much the interest, it's the number,&rdquo; the source close to the Cavaliers told BasketballNews.com &ldquo;The teams that are interested in him are competitive teams that are in the playoffs, but they're not going to trade the contracts, they're not going to trade the good players to get there.&rdquo;
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Drummond&rsquo;s been linked to several contenders in the event that the Cavs buy out his contract. The West executive believes that the New York Knicks could be a &ldquo;sneaky&rdquo; option if he is bought out, and that the Knicks could try to secure Drummond in the long-term.
&ldquo;Would they throw him a four-year, $60 million offer and try to lock him up ahead of free agency?&rdquo; the West executive pondered.
Remember, there is an incentive for Drummond to be traded because he would keep his Bird rights and have a chance to sign an extension with his new team. A buyout for him means money left on the table and losing those Bird rights, although the West executive downplays that particular notion.
&ldquo;His Bird rights are overrated,&rdquo; the West executive said. &ldquo;So many teams have enough space and I don&rsquo;t know that he ends up being that expensive.&rdquo;
The Cavs source indicates that &ldquo;option one is to try to find a trade partner," and that both the team and Drummond are on the same page in that regard.&nbsp;
Per the same source, the Cavs have received calls on other players as well, including Swiss Army knife forward Larry Nance Jr.&nbsp;
"It's amazing how many people [have reached out]... he fits everybody, so it makes a lot of sense,&rdquo; the source said, adding that Altman&rsquo;s even joked that he&rsquo;d have to go with Nance if he traded him and that he&rsquo;d &ldquo;get run out of town.&rdquo;
The Cavs already made their major move by acquiring Allen in that aforementioned blockbuster deal, so there won't be any "groundbreaking" change, per the team source. That said, Cleveland will always welcome the opportunity to work around the margins and "keep hitting singles and "take swings at young guys" if the chances present themselves.
March 25 is right around the corner, and the stove is about to heat up.
BasketballNews.com's Alex Kennedy also contributed to this report.

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NBA trade deadline notebook: Executives share rumblings ahead of March 25

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Things are kinda weird in Atlanta.
The Hawks currently sit with a 12-17 record, a big improvement from last season (.414 win percentage compared to .299) but one that leaves them just outside of the play-in. The growth should be viewed as a positive, but it feels a little underwhelming based on the offseason they had.
There was a clear emphasis on adding talent for a playoff push: that would help explain the several million dollars spent to bring in Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and others. Using free-agent dollars and draft capital to juice the roster wasn&rsquo;t a surprise, but where those resources were allocated was a bit odd.&nbsp;
Atlanta&rsquo;s biggest free-agent addition (Gallinari) and prized draft pick (Onyeka Okongwu) profile as 4s right now; that just happens to be where John Collins, arguably Atlanta&rsquo;s second-best player, plays most of his minutes. With Collins up for an extension in the preseason and set to hit restricted free agency this summer, it was fair to question what those moves meant for his future.
Sure enough, Collins and the Hawks failed to agree to an extension. Two reporters from The Athletic have recently tag-teamed on reports about Collins&rsquo; future. Sam Amick reported that the Hawks were <a href="https://theathletic.com/2383620/2021/02/12/nba-trade-news-rumors-nuggets-hawks-kings/?source=emp_shared_article">willing to listen to trade offers</a> for Collins, while Shams Charania <a href="https://theathletic.com/2387459/2021/02/15/nba-trade-news-andre-drummond-to-raptors-coming-lonzo-ball-interest-and-more/">gave insight</a> on the potential asking price: a lottery-level first-round pick.
None of that means a Collins deal is imminent. It does mean the Hawks have seriously thought about -- and may end up accepting -- a long-term future without Collins on the roster.
Let&rsquo;s take a look at potential in-season trade partners, as well as teams that could use Collins&rsquo; services if he hits free agency.
Note: All trades were checked/completed on <a href="https://tradenba.com/">tradenba.com</a>, while salary figures were checked from <a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/261138/2021-NBA-Cap-Space-Projecting-All-30-Teams">realgm.com</a>.
TRADE PARTNERS
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies have one of the best young cores in the NBA, headlined by star-in-the-making Ja Morant. They&rsquo;ve mostly overachieved this season within the context of their injuries: Morant has missed a chunk of games, while Jaren Jackson Jr. has yet to play this season. Despite this, the Grizzlies are 13-13 and are firmly in the play-in mix.
They&rsquo;re not at a point in their rebuild where consolidating parts of their core for a superstar makes sense. It&rsquo;s why you didn&rsquo;t hear anything about the Grizzlies being in the mix for James Harden, and why you&rsquo;ve heard nothing on the Bradley Beal front either.
A tier below? Adding to the young core? That&rsquo;s more palatable, and why a swing for Collins could make sense.
Starter Offer: Gorgui Dieng, Jon Konchar, 2021 first-round pick via Utah (protected 1-7, 15-30 this season, 1-6 in 2022, 1-3 in 2023), 2023 first-round pick (top-10 protected)
The first via Utah will likely convey in 2022. It&rsquo;s fair to say, barring injuries, the Jazz won&rsquo;t be in the lottery that year either. That falls below the reported asking price of a lottery-level first, which is why the Grizzlies may be inclined to include a protected first of their own.
Dieng is very quietly -- too quietly, honestly -- a very good backup big. His ability to space the floor makes him an ideal partner alongside Okongwu on the second unit. Konchar can do a little bit of everything: shoot, keep the chain moving as a passer and cut, while being sound rotationally on the defensive end. There&rsquo;s a quality wing -- a fifth starter on a good team -- in there if he gets the reps.
Final Offer: Brandon Clarke, Justise Winslow, 2021 first-round pick via Utah (protected 1-7, 15-30 this season, 1-6 in 2022, 1-3 in 2023)
If the Hawks can&rsquo;t get a lottery-level first, getting a lottery-level talent who&rsquo;s still on his rookie deal seems like a fair consolation prize. Clarke has regressed some as a shooter; I&rsquo;m not quite sure what&rsquo;s going on with his shooting form. He still has fantastic touch on his floater, and he provides value as a roller, screener, off-ball mover, and a smart defender.
The theory of Winslow -- a 6&rsquo;6 playmaking wing who can puncture the rim in PnR, fire darts everywhere, and defend four positions -- is better than the reality right now. His inability to stay healthy is a red flag that he has to shake. But it&rsquo;s hard to talk yourself out of Winslow&rsquo;s talent when he is available. Even in a season debut filled with misses, he gave you flashes of his ability to get downhill and make life tough on the other end.
San Antonio Spurs
Who could&rsquo;ve expected the Spurs to be this fun this season?&nbsp;
They&rsquo;ve gone from a plodding, mid-range hunting slogfest to a turbo-charged unit led by dynamic athletes on the perimeter. The absence of LaMarcus Aldridge has only expedited this shift.
It&rsquo;s tough to imagine Aldridge being back next season; honestly, it&rsquo;s tough to imagine Aldridge being on the team past the trade deadline. There&rsquo;s room for the Spurs to add a piece to their frontcourt. Collins could either slot in at the 5 -- he&rsquo;s certainly an upgrade from Aldridge on both ends -- or at the 4 alongside Jakob Poeltl, one of the more underrated rim protectors in the league.
Starter Offer: Lonnie Walker, Trey Lyles, 2022 first-round pick (top-7 protected)
While the Spurs have a ton of young talent on the wings, that&rsquo;s kinda the thing: they have a ton of young talent on the wings. They can&rsquo;t play everybody. Looking further ahead, they certainly can&rsquo;t pay everybody. Walker could be pry-able, especially with Devin Vassell being drafted over the offseason and already showing flashes of being a defensive terror who can knock down threes at a high clip.&nbsp;
Lyles could be a short-term spot-starter alongside Clint Capela to 1) space the floor and 2) keep Gallinari in a bench role. If not, Lyles could space the floor alongside Okongwu on the second unit.
Final Offer: A whole lot of moving parts around Derrick White
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As someone who generally enjoys thinking about trades, let me tell ya: dealing with a player with a poison-pill provision absolutely stinks. A Collins-for-White package makes some roster-balancing sense, but pulling it off takes some financial gymnastics.
I settled in on this framework. White goes to Atlanta as a fun partner alongside Trae Young. Tony Snell and Darius Miller swap spots, along with a pair of second-rounders going to OKC for helping grease the wheels of a deal -- and taking on a little money in the process.
FREE-AGENT DESTINATIONS
Collins will want a max contract, which is currently projected to be in the neighborhood of a four-year, $125 million deal for non-Hawks teams. He reportedly turned down a four-year deal worth north of $90 million extension before the season. Collins&rsquo; limitations as a primary rim protector or consistent threat off the bounce -- as a driver or passer -- will likely keep him out of max territory.&nbsp;
However, he does bring enough as a pick-and-roll threat, shooter, rebounder, and weakside rim protector to warrant more than $90 million over four years. My take-with-a-grain-of-salt guess -- I emphasize &ldquo;guess&rdquo; here -- is that it would take something like a four-year, $110 million offer sheet to both land Collins and also make the Hawks uneasy about matching.
Put another way: a team looking to land Collins is going to need -- and be willing to spend -- north of $25 million in cap space. Here are the teams I feel could justify making that sort of splash:
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Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks, like the teams that&rsquo;ll be mentioned after them, cleared their books so they&rsquo;d have a max slot available for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is off the market, so the Mavs will need to pivot elswhere.&nbsp;
Luka Doncic is one of the best playmakers in the NBA. The Mavericks have wisely attempted to surround Doncic with shooters, highlighted by Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. What&rsquo;s missing in their attack is some north-south oomph; Collins could help provide that as a high-volume roller or screen slipper.
He&rsquo;s an ideal diver to complement the spacing Porzingis provides. Defensively, Collins could bring a little more size and athleticism to the backline as a weakside helper.
Miami Heat
Finding a long-term frontcourt partner for Bam Adebayo should be pretty high on the priority list for the Heat. They drafted Precious Achiuwa over the offseason, a Bam-lite athlete with flashes of defensive switchability and open floor ball-handling. The lack of a reliable jumper makes the AA frontcourt a questionable fit in the short-term; Collins would alleviate the need for that plan to be fast-tracked.
Collins has proven enough as a shooter to comfortably operate as the 4 on offense. There would still be ample roll opportunities despite Adebayo not being a true spacer yet. The Heat invert the floor by using Adebayo above the break as a handoff or screening hub, making it difficult for opposing bigs to cheat off of him at the risk of Adebayo and a shooter hooking up for some sort of two-man action off the ball.
Toronto Raptors
One of the more underrated storylines of the season has been the Raptors&rsquo; struggles at the center position. After losing Marc Gasol (and Serge Ibaka), they turned to Aron Baynes in free agency to fill the void. He&rsquo;s been mostly bad. They also signed Alex Len in November, but he struggled so much that he was waived one month into the season.
Chris Boucher has been a bright spot, firmly in the &ldquo;he won&rsquo;t win MIP but he&rsquo;s been good enough to get a nod as an honorable mention&rdquo; camp, but he&rsquo;s a bit matchup dependent because of his weight. The recent answer has been downsizing, using Pascal Siakam and even OG Anunoby at the 5 in a switch-heavy scheme.
Collins would fall somewhere in the middle -- he&rsquo;s beefier than Boucher, a better shooter and athlete than Baynes, a more dynamic vertical threat than Siakam or Anunoby, and probably worse defensively than all of them.

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By appearing in the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks showed that they have collected some of the ingredients of an NBA title contender.
Prior to that, the Mavs had not made it out of the first round of the playoffs since winning the Finals in 2010-11, and had exited the postseason in the first round each of the last two years. Even this season, Dallas had its doubters in the first round against the Utah Jazz, and most of the national audience was against them versus the dominant Phoenix Suns.&nbsp;
Then, the Mavericks won. Luka Doncic continues to ascend as one of the best basketball players on the planet. Several supporting cast members helped carry the load as well, whether it was Jalen Brunson in the first round, Maxi Kleber's Round 2 fireworks or Spencer Dinwiddie's production in the West Finals.
For so long, the narrative in Dallas had been: Does Luka have any help? After 2021-22, we at least know the Mavs have pieces to the puzzle. This summer presents the opportunity to shape the vision of a championship under Doncic and second-year head coach Jason Kidd.
The Mavericks boasted the sixth-best Defensive Rating (109.4) in the NBA during the regular season, per Basketball-Reference. That's impressive growth from a 20th-ranked unit in 2020-21 that didn't undergo massive roster overhaul. Our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-do-the-mavericks-have-an-elite-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan covered Dallas' defense back in January</a>, and it kept up the work even after trading Kristaps Porzingis away in the deal that returned Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.&nbsp;
No single, All-Defense-caliber player even stands out on the roster right now. Dorian Finney-Smith is very solid and so is Frank Ntilikina, though his minutes are too inconsistent currently. It's a true team-wide shift that significantly raises the team's floor come playoff time.&nbsp;
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With that being said &mdash; finding a true center to anchor the paint and provide stability on the glass remains a high priority. Dallas was 15th among the 16 playoff teams in offensive rebounding percentage (45.1%) and second chance points per game (9.0). They also gave up 14.2 second-chance points per game to their opponents, ranking fourth-highest in the postseason. The Mavs scored just 42.9 points in the paint per game during the regular season (ranked 29th of 30) and 35.4 in the playoffs (13th of 16) despite boasting two of the league's best driving threats in Doncic and Brunson.
Dwight Powell is a fine, rotation-caliber NBA player, but his minutes decreased in each subsequent series. Kleber is an awesome sharpshooting big and solid defender, but not an impactful interior presence.
Fortunately, there are several available free agents who Mavs president and general manager Nico Harrison could pursue in his second offseason with the team. Unfortunately, they have severely hamstrung themselves financially. According to Spotrac, they're a luxury taxpayer, which only leaves a mid-level exception worth just over $6.3 million to spend on a free agent. Dallas has virtually no path to cap space this season.
Jusuf Nurkic and Mitchell Robinson are the biggest names to hit unrestricted free agency as a center. They would almost instantly plug the rebounding hole, but are they the types of defenders and rim-runners who would thrive with Doncic? And is there a realistic way for the Mavericks to even sign them?
Other free agent centers who could fit in the mid-level exception include JaVale McGee, Andre Drummond and Bismack Biyombo, for some quick suggestions. Dallas does also hold a $10.2 million trade exception that it created when the team traded Josh Richardson to the Boston Celtics. It expires on June 27, before free agency begins, but it provides another avenue to acquire a rotation-level player.
It might make more sense for the Mavs to pursue a sign-and-trade with a restricted free agent. Obviously, Deandre Ayton is the marquee man. Evan Sidery toyed with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential trade packages for the Suns</a>; could Dallas offer something in this ballpark?
I personally am intrigued by Mo Bamba's potential fit. The 2018 No. 5 overall pick had a solid developmental year in Orlando, but appears to be the odd man out in a crowded young locker room. Bamba feels like a worthwhile gamble as a rebounder and rim-protector with a bit more mobility and shooting than your traditional bruising center.
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Of course, all this free agency discussion will come after the Mavericks address their largest elephant in the room. Jalen Brunson broke out as a secondary scorer this season, culminating in his huge games that gave Dallas the edge against Utah. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-jalen-brunson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He's an unrestricted free agent</a> who deserves a bag this summer.
"It&rsquo;s the top priority,&rdquo; Harrison said about re-signing Brunson in his <a href="https://www.mavs.com/brunson-is-top-priority/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exit interview Friday</a>. &ldquo;We got to figure that out. Obviously, we&rsquo;re not in control of it. But he&rsquo;s definitely a priority. We want to re-sign him. He knows it. And we want him back. He&rsquo;ll be a big part of our future.&rdquo;
The Mavs' last route to improve is with their No. 26 overall draft pick. Dallas has been a mixed bag with drafting in recent seasons, but this is the first year Harrison will be at the helm after the franchise passed on the process in 2021. Most recently, the franchise selected Josh Green at No. 20 and Tyrell Terry at No. 31 in 2020. Green's development has been slow but notable through two seasons, while Terry is no longer in the organization.&nbsp;
Matt Babcock's latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a> projects the Mavericks to select Max Christie, a freshman wing from Michigan State. Christie was a five-star high school talent who struggled to produce as a college freshman. But his tools as a shooter, scorer and on-ball defender have all flashed and can be sharpened in the right environment.&nbsp;
Aside from Brunson, reserves Trey Burke and Theo Pinson are the only other players entering free agency. However, Dallas notably has just four players under fully guaranteed contracts in 2023-24, per Spotrac: Doncic, Finney-Smith, Bertans and Tim Hardaway Jr. If the squad underwhelms next year, the 2023 offseason could open up a serious roster makeover.&nbsp;
Dallas is on the cusp of true title contention. This offseason is all about checking off some final boxes, keeping the successful core intact and adding depth to a team that persevered through several injuries during the season.
If the summer breaks right, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Mavericks emerging as everyone's favorite championship sleeper by October.
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The Mavericks exited the Western Conference Finals with a strong playoff run, but have several glaring needs.

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The Tyrese Haliburton era is well on its way in Indianapolis, which means it&rsquo;s likely time to say adios to Malcolm Brogdon in an Indiana Pacers uniform. Brogdon is one of the more <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/five-nba-players-who-feel-destined-to-be-traded-this-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obvious trade candidates in the NBA this offseason</a> thanks to his consistent injury issues and Haliburton&rsquo;s quick emergence. Despite Brogdon's missed games, he will still attract interest from rival teams.
During Brogdon&rsquo;s three-year tenure with the Pacers, he averaged 18.9 points, 6.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game on a 55.3 True Shooting percentage. Brogdon always produced when he was on the court for Indiana, but his availability was an issue. Going forward, it&rsquo;s going to be hard for Brogdon to shed the &ldquo;injury prone&rdquo; label because it&rsquo;s been an issue dating back to his collegiate career at the University of Virginia.
Aside from injury concerns, Brogdon&rsquo;s market will be robust with playofff or championship-hopeful teams lining up for his services. As a versatile multi-positional defender, connective playmaker and secondary scorer, Brogdon can really help a team that's going in the opposite direction as the rebuilding Pacers.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s go ahead and dive into the most realistic trade packages Indiana could expect for Brogdon this offseason. As Indiana turns the page to Haliburton, it&rsquo;s time to extract some value from a potential Brogdon deal.
Phoenix Suns
Pacers receive: Landry Shamet, Dario Saric, 2024 1st-round draft pick (lottery protected)
Suns receive: Malcolm Brogdon, 2022 No. 31 pick
Phoenix&rsquo;s lack of guard depth was exposed throughout the playoffs. They simply can&rsquo;t rely on Cameron Payne anymore, who was a DNP-CD when it mattered most in the Western Conference Semifinals. Phoenix flirted with the idea of chasing Brogdon before signing Ricky Rubio back in 2019. Three years later, bringing Brogdon to the Valley as the Suns&rsquo; short-term backup and long-term fit alongside Devin Booker is a home run transaction.
Also, there has been some buzz that the Suns are trying to get into the 2022 NBA Draft. They have met with multiple players projected to be selected in the mid-to-late first round, including LSU&rsquo;s Tari Eason, Ohio State&rsquo;s E.J. Liddell and Duke&rsquo;s Wendell Moore. Adding any of those prospects will be impossible without adding a pick. The Suns could always buy an early second-round pick for $3 million, but that&rsquo;s never been their way of thinking.
Is this where Suns GM James Jones could get creative to snag a championship piece at discounted value? Brogdon and Chris Paul sharing minutes is a dream scenario for Phoenix since all 48 minutes at point guard would provide well above-average production. Also, we could see three-guard lineups galore thanks to Brogdon&rsquo;s versatility.
In this scenario, Indiana would add a shooter in Shamet who only has two guaranteed years left on his extension. Maybe Shamet could be their Buddy Hield replacement if they also decide to trade him soon. Adding a future first for Brogdon is the right risk for Indiana to take as well.
Utah Jazz
Pacers receive: Mike Conley, Jared Butler, 2025 2nd-round pick
Jazz receive: Malcolm Brogdon
The Jazz desperately need to shake things up. Stagnation is on the horizon in Salt Lake City, if it hasn&rsquo;t reached that point already. Utah may blow it up this offseason, but even if they don't, they need to do something in order to keep Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert happy long-term.
As we saw during the Jazz&rsquo;s quick postseason exit, Conley seems like a shell of himself. Looking back on that trade now, Utah has to be kicking themselves for surrendering so much for the veteran point guard.
Utah needs to get creative to avoid moving one of Mitchell or Gobert soon, so Conley going back home to Indianapolis makes a lot of sense here. Brogdon is a huge upgrade over Conley, and he helps address a dire need of perimeter defense.
Indiana would add a veteran mentor for Haliburton to lean on for a year since Conley&rsquo;s contract isn&rsquo;t fully guaranteed in 2023-24. Adding a young scoring guard in Butler alongside a future second-round pick might not be enough for the Pacers, but it's at least enough to start negotiations.
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Los Angeles Lakers
Pacers receive: Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, 2023 2nd, 2025 2nd, 2027 1st (lottery protected)
Lakers receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Buddy Hield, Goga Bitadze
This only makes sense if the Pacers are willing to take on the final year of Westbrook&rsquo;s contract, which would have any team second-guessing themselves beforehand. Surprisingly enough, Indiana is actually the betting favorite to land Westbrook if the Lakers offload him this offseason.
The Pacers would need a hefty return in order take on Westbrook while also relinquishing Brogdon and Hield. Adding Horton-Tucker, two future second-round picks and the Lakers&rsquo; next available first-round selection gets the job done. Los Angeles would hate to part with THT and even more draft capital, but Brogdon and Hield are perfect pieces to place alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Who knows, maybe Bitadze slides into the Lakers&rsquo; rotation as the backup center?
Indiana is embracing a full-scale rebuild, and pulling off a move like this would be consistent with that approach.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacers receive: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, No. 19 pick, No. 40 pick
Timberwolves receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Goga Bitadze, No. 31 pick, 2023 2nd (via San Antonio Spurs)
As <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-dangelo-russell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our Nekias Duncan recently wrote</a>, a D&rsquo;Angelo Russell departure from Minnesota feels imminent this summer. It&rsquo;s another unfortunate turn in the career for Russell, who continues to bounce around the Association, unable to find a long-term home. The fit in Minnesota alongside good friend Karl-Anthony Towns had its moments, but Russell&rsquo;s negatives popped up in the postseason when it mattered most. After being benched in crunch-time situations by head coach Chris Finch and not having his name mentioned in The Athletic&rsquo;s recent story on new executive Tim Connelly, it wouldn't be shocking to see Russell playing elsewhere in 2022-23.
Even with the Pacers already having Haliburton and Chris Duarte, this feels like a spot where they could take a year-long look at Russell as a potential long-term backcourt piece. As a former top-three pick, Russell would bring more fanfare to the Pacers&rsquo; rebuild. And if he meshes well alongside Haliburton, Russell could become a long-term piece in Indiana and finally find a home.
From the Timberwolves&rsquo; point of view, this makes a whole lot of sense. Brogdon is a much better fit alongside Towns and Anthony Edwards, as he's easily able to slide into the No. 3 scoring role while providing an ideal complementary low-usage skill set. Taking a flier on Bitadze, a former top-20 pick, is also interesting, and as he could back up Towns.
Miami Heat
Pacers receive: Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, 2023 1st (lottery protected)
Heat receive: Malcolm Brogdon
As we&rsquo;ve seen unfold late in the postseason, Miami needs to find another offensive creator. Simply put, the Heat need more weapons to compete with the NBA&rsquo;s current juggernauts. Luckily for Miami, some much-needed flexibility could be on the way.
The Duncan Robinson contract looks like a disaster, but what if they could use his bloated salary and some future draft capital to bring in an immediate impact piece? Brogdon feels like the perfect remedy for Miami since he can take playmaking pressure off of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry. Brogdon and Lowry could split minutes, which is a huge benefit for both players and would help keep them fresh and out of the training room.
For Indiana, they could be comfortable taking on Robinson&rsquo;s contract with all of their salary-cap space currently available. Adding Strus and a draft pick could make this deal worth it for the Pacers.
All of a sudden, Miami is now in a strong position to make another deep postseason push with Brogdon onboard for 2022-23 and beyond.
***
Every team in the NBA needs shooting, defensive versatility and playmaking. Even with his injury history, Brogdon would be well worth the risk for any team looking to take the next step forward.
If Brogdon is able to stay healthy, adding him at this price could be a coup for whichever team is next after Milwaukee and Indiana.
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With the Tyrese Haliburton era blossoming for the Pacers, Malcolm Brogdon is one of the most logical NBA trade candidates.

Examining potential trade destinations for Malcolm Brogdon

Jayson Tatum wants experience to be the Celtics&rsquo; guide as they return home with a chance to wrap up their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010.
Tatum was a rookie during Boston&rsquo;s run to Eastern Conference finals in 2018, when it grabbed a 3-2 series lead over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He also remembers what it felt like as the Celtics watched James unravel their dreams with a 46-point performance in the Cavaliers&rsquo; Game 6 win, followed by a 35-point effort in Cleveland&rsquo;s decisive Game 7 victory at TD Garden.
Boston again has a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-miami-heat-nba-sports-gabe-vincent-301bb4ce3cbdc51c2105c1e6f8d8c7df?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP_Sports&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">3-2 conference finals lead,</a> this time over the top-seeded Miami Heat with Game 6 set for Friday.
Tatum said this feels different.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a lot better. (Jaylen Brown) is. We&rsquo;re just older. And we&rsquo;ve been through those tough times," Tatum said. "But the mindset and the talk that we had after the game was we were down 3-2 last time (in semifinals vs. Bucks) and had to go on the road to win Game 6 and we did. So we can&rsquo;t think that it&rsquo;s over with.&rdquo;
Tatum wants to see Boston maintain the mentality of the underdog.
&ldquo;We need to go back home like we&rsquo;re down 3-2. With that sense of urgency that it&rsquo;s a must-win game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Not relaxing because we&rsquo;re up. ... The job&rsquo;s just not finished yet.&rdquo;
The Celtics do seem to be facing a Heat team that over the past two games hasn&rsquo;t come close to resembling the one that won Games 1 and 3.
All-Star Jimmy Butler insists he&rsquo;s fine but appears to be at least slowed by the right knee inflammation that sidelined him during the second half of Miami&rsquo;s Game 3 win. Over the past two games, he&rsquo;s scored just 19 points while shooting 7 of 32 from the field.
Kyle Lowry has all but disappeared offensively since returning from a hamstring injury and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro has missed the past two games with a groin injury.
It&rsquo;s all contributed to the Heat going from shooting an NBA-best 38% from the 3-point line during the regular season to just 29% in the conference finals.
&ldquo;Honestly, it doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m out there, I gotta do better. I gotta find a way to help us win and I haven&rsquo;t been doing that. I&rsquo;m fine, my knee is OK. I just gotta do better. It&rsquo;s no excuse.&rdquo;
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his faith in his team remains strong.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still alive,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all we&rsquo;re thinking about right now. We have the kind of warriors that are gonna tape up, brace up, do whatever we gotta do to get ready for the next one and just embrace and enjoy that competition.&rdquo;
HISTORY LESSON
There have been 333 times a best-of-seven NBA playoff series has been 3-2.
Of those, the team taking the 3-2 lead has gone on to win 83.8% of the time. But a team trailing has come back to win a series on at least two occasions in each of the past three years, including the Celtics and Mavericks in this year's conference semifinals.
CLOSING IT OUT
The Celtics are 86-68 in closeout games. That includes a 48-19 record at home.
Jaylen Brown said they want to feed off the energy they know awaits them at the Garden. He said the message after Game 5 was simple.
&ldquo;This is a great opportunity. Leave everything on the floor. You don&rsquo;t want any feelings of regret,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s come out Friday on our home floor and play the best version of basketball that we&rsquo;ve played all season.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

Boston has a 3-2 conference finals lead, this time over the top-seeded Heat with Game 6 set for Friday.

Celtics head home looking to close out top-seeded Heat

The Golden State Warriors find themselves in familiar territory after failing to close out a series on the road and hope for familiar results when they return home.
For the third straight series, the Warriors lost their first chance to advance while playing on the road. But they can make it to their sixth NBA Finals in the past eight years by finishing off the Dallas Mavericks at home in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
The Warriors managed to rebound after those slipups in the first two rounds against Denver and Memphis and are hoping for a repeat after losing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-dallas-mavericks-nba-sports-luka-doncic-4a70ca4c9a8f0b1f9a786f97cba535a1">119-109 at Dallas</a> on Tuesday night when the Mavericks got off to a fast start and didn't slow down until the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good lesson learned,&rdquo; guard Stephen Curry said. &ldquo;You tip your hat to them because they made a lot of shots. We had a couple breakdowns in our zone that gave them easy looks, and they made us pay. We knew to close them out, it&rsquo;s going to be tough. So you&rsquo;ve got to strap up on defense. When we go home, Game 5 and figure out how to slow them down, especially in the first quarter.&rdquo;
STAYING ALIVE
The Mavericks have staved off elimination three times this postseason, winning Games 6 and 7 against Phoenix in the second round and then again against the Warriors in Game 4. None of the games have been particularly close, with Dallas outscoring the opponents by 70 points in the three wins. Luka Doncic has led the way with 98 points and 35 rebounds in the three wins but says the key has been aggressiveness on offense and more commitment to defense.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to believe,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;I think our defense was way better today, and I think we attacked the paint. Those two things are key, and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve got to bring to San Francisco.&rdquo;
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Warriors got back into the game in the fourth quarter thanks to a young lineup featuring 22-year-old Jordan Poole and 19-year-old rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. That trio, along with Nemanja Bjelica and Damion Lee, cut a 29-point deficit to eight points in the first 8:38 of the fourth quarter before Curry and the starters began to return.
The Mavericks closed it out from there but the flashes from the young group could earn them more time. Kuminga hadn't played at all the previous two games before scoring 17 points in just under 22 minutes in Game 4.
&ldquo;It was great because they had an opportunity to go out there and make their presence felt, impact the game, build some confidence and some experience in this series and what it feels like to be out there,&rdquo; Curry said.
ROLLER COASTER
It's been a up-and-down series for Dallas' Reggie Bullock and getting the best version of him will be key if the Mavericks want to stay alive. Bullock made six 3-pointers and scored 21 points in a Game 2 loss before becoming the fifth player since at least 1968 to take at least 10 shots and score no points in a playoff game.
Bullock responded in Game 4 by making 6 of 10 3-pointers and scoring 18 points. That took pressure off Doncic, along with bounce-back performances from Dorian Finney-Smith, who had 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and Maxi Kleber, who went 5 for 6 for 13 points after missing 12 of 14 shots the first three games.
&ldquo;We just made shots and we also was getting stops, so we got the chance to play a little faster, and we got them open shots early in the shot clock and not like end of the shot clock trying to shoot a bomb,&rdquo; Finney-Smith said.
TALL TASK
No team has ever rallied from 3-0 down to win a best-of-seven playoff series in NBA history and even getting it back to Dallas for Game 6 would be rare. Of the 146 previous teams to take a 3-0 lead, 90 finished off the series with a sweep with 42 more winning it in five. With a win Thursday, the Mavs would be the 12th team to force a Game 6 and only three teams have gotten to a Game 7 before losing.

The Warriors find themselves in familiar territory after failing to close out a series on the road and hope for familiar results when they return home.

Warriors look to close out Mavs and get back to NBA Finals

With a win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena, the Dallas Wings recorded their first victory over the Sun in 1,064 days and snapped a seven-game losing streak against them in the process.
The Wings have put together solid games already this season, splitting a pair of games with the Washington Mystics and getting out to their best start of the season (4-2 prior to Tuesday) since 2015.
I had this matchup circled for the past week. Every Wings game this season has provided bright flashes and glimpses of what they can be. Yet, outside of the two games with the Mystics, the Wings hadn&rsquo;t quite faced one of the elite tests in the league, and Connecticut provided that and then some.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve seen intrigue and enticement from this young roster for a few seasons now, and often the flashes have been ousted. Dallas was the youngest team in the league last season, and it often played out that way with exuberant highs and dreary lows.
Down 39-27 at the half with the offense stuck in the mud, I contemplated whether or not this Wings team would be much the same as last year. Dallas went on to outscore the Sun 58-38 in the second half, including a remarkable run late in the third quarter with Arike Ogunbowale on the bench.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
WNBA average roster age (Multiple games played, still on roster, 10 mpg or more) SEA - 30.2 PHX - 29.78 CHI - 28.77 CON - 28.3 MIN - 27.6 LV - 27.6 WAS - 27.45 NYL - 26.1 ATL - 25.9 LAS - 25.64 IND - 24.8 DAL - 24.4
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1529467131066298368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

They&rsquo;re the youngest team yet again this season, but things feel different.&nbsp;
That second half was indicative of a team that finally was able to turn the page and cast aside some of the demons that plagued it last year. They didn&rsquo;t fold when they presented with perhaps their most difficult moment this year; down double-digits, on the road, against one of the best teams in the league.
Wings head coach Vickie Johnson echoed similar sentiments during her postgame availability.
&ldquo;The last five minutes, we are valuing the basketball more," Johnson said. "We have the patience to run our sets, to get good looks, we are not one pass, shot, like before. We have the patience to move the basketball and give up a good shot for a better shot. And now, we are knocking down open shots.&rdquo;
The Wings currently have the third-lowest turnover rate in the WNBA, per HerHoopStats. Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey were dynamic Tuesday night by getting into their pull-up games out of pick-and-roll, but also blending their ability to get into the paint and collapse the defense.
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This play was huge last night and speaks greatly to what Coach Johnson discussed after the game. Not that this pass wasn&rsquo;t made last season, but it feels like trust is there more. This could have been a contested layup, and heck, Arike may have hit it because she&rsquo;s that nice. But to fully collapse the defense and then make them pay with the wide-open three was an awesome process.
On that aforementioned third-quarter run (with Arike on the bench), Johnson went to a lineup of Mabrey-Allisha Gray-Kayla Thornton-Satou Sabally-Isabelle Harrison, and it outscored the Sun by 8 points in a five-and-a-half-minute stretch, per InStat.
The Harrison-Sabally frontcourt has really impressed since the latter returned from overseas play. Per PBP Stats, in the 18 minutes the duo has shared the court, the Wings have a 35.3 Net Rating, absolutely blitzing opponents on offense and stifling them on defense. They both have intriguing skills and coordination off the bounce. They can run dribble handoffs and make quick passes.
Harrison&rsquo;s confidence and aggression has her top-20 in the league in free-throw attempts per game, and 12th in makes at the line on the season.
&ldquo;Playing for AU (Athletes Unlimited) in Vegas helped her to become more of a leader, to think through the game a little more&hellip; I expect a lot from her. I put a lot of pressure on her and she is doing an amazing job," Johnson said of Harrison.
"She&rsquo;s getting to her spots and finishing in the paint and... In the first half she took three jump shots, and I ripped her kind of hard because they don&rsquo;t fear her outside the lane, they fear you when you get to the lane and make your move. She is one of the players who has multiple moves inside, so now she just has to use it and not settle for jump shots.&rdquo;
Harrison and Sabally got to the line seven times in that third-quarter stretch, and their mobility and quickness really gave Brionna Jones and the Sun's frontcourt problems. Catching on the perimeter or out to the high post gave them enough space to slice to the interior and draw fouls or finish at the rim.
The defense of this unit was the icing on the cake, however.
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Just bask in and admire that activity. This Dallas team relies heavily on timely and proper peel switches, along with activity and mobility from the bigs playing the screen. They shrink the court to minimize interior penetration.
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The Sun go to empty pick-and-roll, and Jones pops after the screen for Williams. Harrison stunts and shows to stop a drive, Mabrey gets back in front and the ball is contained.
Note how Sabally also steps in on the back end to contain a potential drive from Jonquel Jones. Harrison then recovers out, and Jones takes the shot. It's not perfectly contested, but that's also part of the point; don't give up the middle.
Speaking of that peel switching, watch this.
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Alyssa Thomas sets a back screen on Harrison as Jones wheels to the opposite corner. Harrison calls for the peel switch, Mabrey takes Jones and Harrison takes Mabrey's assignment in Courtney Williams. The play with multiple back screens flattens out, but the Sun get the switch they're looking for with Jones on the much smaller Mabrey. Gray rotates over to help, forcing the rotation as the ball gets kicked to Natisha Hiedeman.
Harrison is already peeling to Hiedeman, and Williams relocates to the slot while DeWanna Bonner sinks to the corner and gets the ball on a skip. Sabally avoids the Thomas pin-in, closes to Bonner and stays in front, and Gray has already recovered back across the court to take Williams. Jonquel still has Mabrey isolated, and as soon as she gets the post-entry pass, the Wings sink in to help (probably a slight overhelp off of Thomas, part of why the rebound gets into her hands) and Gray zones up on the back end as the Wings end up forcing a turnover.
That is a stellar defensive possession. The amount of things going on in unison and as the play develops highlights how in sync this Wings team has been on that end. They certainly can still make mistakes, but they're becoming less frequent, and when it mattered most last night, they put together a dominant defensive stand.
Gray is coming for an All-Defensive Team, both in her own mission expressed this season and with her play. She's been forceful pressuring on the ball, developing into Dallas' go-to stopper. Her recovery skills have been arguably as, if not more, impressive. She took the primary assignment of an All-Star forward in Bonner, and, in spite of a sizable height disparity, routinely forced her into awkward shots and contested her well.
Gray is 4th in The W in blocks per game (1.9), a ridiculous number considering every player in the top 10 besides her plays the 4 or 5.
Johnson called Gray "probably the best two-way player in The W right now," and while I can't quite get there, she's making a case for certain as she puts together her best all-around season.
Everything is clicking, everyone is finding some sort of footing in the rotation, and the Wings are out to a great start.
It's early in the season to be sure, but this Dallas team has a different verve and readiness in Year 2 under Vickie Johnson, and Tuesday night was fully emblematic of it.
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The Dallas WIngs are now 5-2 after a signature win over the Connecticut Sun. Mark Schindler analyzes their hot start.

Great start by young Dallas Wings signals improved readiness

Changes are coming in Minnesota.
Fresh off a 46-36 campaign and competitive first-round exit, the Timberwolves have already gone swinging. There's a new sheriff in town, with former <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nuggets-tim-connelly-to-become-wolves-president-of-basketball-ops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly joining the team</a> in a similar role. The price was huge: a five-year deal worth north of $40 million and&nbsp; &mdash; and! &mdash; equity in the organization, per The Athletic. It's a monstrous deal with the potential for more &mdash; a deal, as my Dunker Spot co-host <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a> described on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest episode</a>, that the Nuggets weren't likely to match.
There's obvious intrigue in Connelly's move to Minnesota, namely him leaving a successful division rival that currently rosters a back-to-back MVP in Nikola Jokic to do so. But the interest for me has come with the reporting around the move. Take this passage from The Athletic's <a href="https://theathletic.com/3320881/2022/05/18/timberwolves-tim-connelly-president-basketball-ops/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania</a> as negotiations were heating up between the two sides.
<blockquote>
Leaving the two-time MVP for upstart Minnesota would be a bold move. But the Timberwolves do have a pair of building blocks in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, promising young talent in Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt, a coach who is revered throughout the organization and an ownership group that appears to be motivated to invest in the organization.
</blockquote>
Hmm... notice anyone missing? Also, the "ownership group that appears to be motivated to invest" portion could be seen as subtle shade toward the organization that was on track to lose Masai Ujiri (killing it in Toronto since 2014) and Connelly due to being outbid.&nbsp;
And how about this one, from Krawczynski and Charania again, after the <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal was done</a>?&nbsp;
<blockquote>
There are reasons beyond financial for him to be optimistic about the situation in Minnesota. Connelly will be taking over a team with two stars in Towns and Edwards, promising young players in Jaden McDaniels and Vanderbilt and a top-notch coach in Chris Finch, who spent one season working with Connelly in Denver as an assistant on Malone&rsquo;s staff. D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had a strong season before struggling in the playoffs and Patrick Beverley asserted himself as a tough, veteran leader for a young group.
</blockquote>
Ah,&nbsp;there's&nbsp;the name. But you see why my brow is raised, right? Towns and Edwards represent the core. McDaniels and Vanderbilt are the young pieces dubbed to grow alongside them. The 26 year-old Russell &mdash; one of Towns' best friends making north of $30 million this season &mdash; went from not being mentioned at all in the lead-up piece, to essentially getting a throw-in line with Beverley in the update five days later.
Oh, it doesn't help that Jordan McLaughlin was closing out playoff games while a healthy Russell watched in Round 1. Add in the fact that Russell's future has <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/05/03/report-timberwolves-will-attempt-to-trade-dangelo-russell-this-offseason/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already been questioned</a>, and I think it's fair to assume what the big&nbsp;roster&nbsp;swing for the Wolves will be.&nbsp;
Any team acquiring him will be on the hook for over $31 million next season, though that's the only&nbsp;year left on Russell's deal.&nbsp;
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WHAT RUSSELL BRINGS
Russell remains a smooth operator. He's a proactive passer, one who's able to see and&nbsp;fire into a gap before most players know what's happening. You'll see it with his transition hit-aheads, as well as some of the reads he'll make in pick-and-roll.
And about pick-and-roll: Not many players blend pull-up shooting and high-level passing like Russell does. You can't afford to duck under against him, or drop your big back too far. He will absolutely waltz into jumpers. Once he gets hot, you're forced to press up &mdash; and that opens up even more passing windows for him.
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Russell was one of 31 players to receive at least 1,500 on-ball picks this season, per Second Spectrum. Russell-led ball screens were good for nearly 1.03 points per possession (PPP), a top-10ish mark in NBA among high volume ball-handlers.
You can thank the jumper for that &mdash; Russell converted 37% of the pull-up threes he attempted out of pick-and-roll, per InStat tracking. For comparison, that put him in line with high volume pull-up artists like Stephen Curry (38.9%) and Trae Young (37.0%).
(Also: Shout out to Darius Garland for bombing away at a 42.5% clip. That guy's getting paid.)&nbsp;
LIMITATIONS
Russell is what I'd describe as a two-level scorer. He's comfortable firing from deep, and he's able to snake and hunt shots around the elbow area with the best of them. Rim pressure is... simply not his thing. Only 16% of Russell's shots came at the rim last season, a mark that ranks in the 16th percentile per Cleaning The Glass. (Not great!)
And as someone who rarely got to the rim, Russell didn't draw many shooting fouls either. The lack of "easy points" lends to a boom-or-bust nature in Russell's game. His pull-up jumper is a legit weapon, but things kinda crater for him if it isn't falling in a way that isn't helpful for your&nbsp;lead&nbsp;ball-handler.&nbsp;
I think a truth has become (more) clear &mdash; Russell needs to be paired with a ball-dominant rim threat to get the best out of him.
That was the intrigue around Edwards taking more of a lead role in the second half of the season. In theory, Edwards ability to touch the paint on any given possession would lead to easier catch-and-shoot &mdash; or catch-and-drive &mdash; opportunities for Russell. A team trading for Russell should have a similar infrastructure in place.
Defensively, Russell found his home as a middle linebacker. Most teams rely on their primary rim-protector to call out coverages and actions. For Minnesota, that responsibility was Russell's. It was an odd dynamic, but one that worked. He was often seen and&nbsp;heard barking out instructions while he zoned up behind the action.
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I remained worried about him in more conservative defensive schemes. Russell isn't the quickest laterally. And while he's improved a bit from his rookie season (I'd hope so!), screen navigation remains an issue for him overall.
With the Wolves, Russell was blessed with the opportunity to roam off-ball (his ideal role) while having the screen navigation issues limited due to his big hedging ball-screens with him. If Russell's dumped into a drop scheme, the onus flips back on him to stay attached to ball-handlers. That could be a tricky bet.
LANDING SPOTS
Due to Russell's contract and the context needed to unlock him on both ends, it's hard to imagine 20+ teams blowing up the phones in Minnesota. There are a few teams that:
1) Make theoretical sense for Russell's game
2) Have the contracts to at least get conversations started
The New York Knicks have been searching for a calming presence at point guard for ages; at the very least, a guy that can grease the wheels of an offense with pick-and-roll play. While an in-house option is staring them in the face &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/explain-one-play-young-knicks-playing-chess" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I'm with you, Knick fans</a> &mdash; it wouldn't shock me to see the Knicks take a flier on a talent like Russell, especially if it doesn't cost a core piece.&nbsp;
The contracts of Alec Burks, Derrick Rose, and Nerlens Noel get you in the ballpark of Russell's number. The Knicks have the Mavericks' first rounder in 2023 &mdash; a likely low 20s pick &mdash; to toss in if the Wolves don't think that's enough.
In theory, you'd have Russell playing off the rim-battering of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Maybe you get a more unlocked Randle with someone that can thread the needle on tight-window passes more consistently.&nbsp;
The Wolves would be able to bolster their depth, adding some rim pressure (Rose), movement shooting (Burks) and a big that can do work in an aggressive scheme (Noel). The Knicks losing the latter would be buffered by the retention of Mitchell Robinson and the likely growth from Jericho Sims.
Quick question: Who's the best passer for the Los Angeles Clippers? Follow-up question: How many names did you list before naming an actual guard? The combined deals of Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard get you in the door. I can hear arguments about that already being too much for L.A. I'd argue that Russell gives you more on the playmaking front, gives you more size in the backcourt and helps your defense without tapping into your wing depth. Again, there's at least a conversation to be had.
If you're looking to pair Russell with a ball-dominant rim threat, how about Luka Doncic and Dallas? At worst, Russell could serve as a buffer to Jalen Brunson signing elsewhere. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dwight Powell would give the Wolves the movement shooting, plus big-man depth combination to bolster their supporting cast. I'd argue the Mavericks may have to throw in a pick, though they're a little light on that front.
Lastly, would you rather have Russell or Cole Anthony? Actually, don't answer that.
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Nekias Duncan looks at potential landing spots for Wolves guard D'Angelo Russell this offseason.

Examining potential trade destinations for D'Angelo Russell

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have won nine consecutive games in the Western Conference finals.
They can make it an even 10, eliminate Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and return to the NBA Finals after three years away with a victory in Game 4 in Dallas on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to fast forward,&rdquo; Curry said after a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-klay-thompson-2f6a0c58ab25f6512ffe1f090224f272">109-100 victory in Game 3</a> for a 3-0 series lead. &ldquo;We can play better, but we&rsquo;re finding ways to win games. There&rsquo;s no expectation other than what&rsquo;s the challenge ahead of us, and the challenge now is to close out a series against a really good team to get back to an opportunity to win the Finals.&rdquo;
The Warriors haven't lost in the West finals since erasing a 3-2 deficit to Houston in 2018, when they won the last of their three titles in four years by beating Cleveland in the NBA Finals. Golden State swept Portland for a fifth consecutive trip to the Finals in 2019 before losing in six games to Toronto.
The Mavericks are playing beyond the first round for the first time since <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-golden-state-warriors-milwaukee-bucks-brooklyn-nets-nba-7e323815c5abcc72eefbad4c6a6b2f36">first-year coach Jason Kidd</a> was the point guard on the Dirk Nowitzki-led team that won the 2011 title.
Dallas was down 2-0 to top-seeded Phoenix in the West semifinals before winning twice as the home team took the first six games. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-suns-dallas-mavericks-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-1e6827985892edd105afa343820edddb">The Mavs stunned the Suns</a> with a 33-point victory in Game 7 in Phoenix, putting Doncic a year ahead Nowitzki's schedule in reaching his first conference finals.
Golden State rallied from 19 points down to win Game 2 at home before erasing a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes of the first half in Game 3 &mdash; and ending any hope of Dallas repeating its Phoenix feat.
Instead of winning four out of five, the Mavericks have to win the last four games of the series. No NBA team has done that.
Doncic scored 21 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, but a desperate Dallas rally never gained traction. The young superstar masked a mediocre first half by hitting a 32-footer at the first-quarter buzzer.
&ldquo;I think the first two quarters I played very bad. That&rsquo;s on me,&rdquo; Doncic said after the Mavs fell to 2-6 in three playoff years when their All-Star scored at least 40. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m still learning. I think after this season is done, whatever we are, I think we&rsquo;re going to look back and learn a lot of things. I&rsquo;m 23, man. I&rsquo;m still learning a lot.&rdquo;
Doncic also learned what it's like to be on the wrong end of a moment that will live forever on highlight reels.
The three-time All-Star who is used to sending defenders stumbling with crossover and step-back moves was posterized on a dunk by Andrew Wiggins.
Yes, the same Wiggins was who criticized by some after being chosen as an All-Star starter in his first appearance this year. He got the nod over Doncic, who started the season poorly by his standards because of issues with weight and conditioning.
That wasn't Wiggins' only dunk on his way to a playoff career-high 27 points, and he had another off one of his six offensive rebounds, just one fewer than Dallas had as a team.
The 2014 No. 1 overall pick also has been one of the primary defenders on Doncic in a multifaceted scheme that has limited Dallas' career triple-double leader to five assists per game &mdash; three below his career playoff average.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fantastic two-way player,&rdquo; coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t win in the playoffs without guys like Wiggs. We&rsquo;re basically mirroring Doncic&rsquo;s minutes so that Wiggs can stay on him and he&rsquo;s another guy like Steph who just never seems to get tired. He&rsquo;s in amazing shape.&rdquo;
The Mavericks are in bad shape in this series because they've been outscored on average 62-47 in the second half. Part of the reason is the inconsistency of Doncic's supporting cast.
In Game 3, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 26 of Dallas' 28 bench points after the Mavs' reserves were outscored 36-13 in Game 2. But key 3-point specialists Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and Reggie Bullock combined for just nine points &mdash; all of them from Finney-Smith after Kleber and Bullock missed all 12 of their 3s and all 15 of their shots overall.
Pardon the Mavs if they sounded a bit defeated, knowing the history of 3-0 deficits.
&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in a battle, you&rsquo;re not thinking about the big picture,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;But as we reflect this summer, whenever that starts, we&rsquo;ll understand what we did and how we can get better. And that&rsquo;s the blessing of this whole thing is, we truly believe we belong here.&rdquo;
For now, the Mavs have to believe they can prolong things.
&nbsp;

The Warriors look to eliminate the Mavericks and return to the NBA Finals after three years away with a win in Game 4.

Curry, Warriors go for sweep of Doncic, Mavs in West finals

Keegan Murray enters the 2022 NBA Draft as one of the most proven pro-ready prospects available. During a breakout sophomore campaign for the Iowa Hawkeyes, Murray averaged 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game on an excellent 63.8% True Shooting percentage.
There are not many holes in Murray&rsquo;s game, but there are plenty of questions revolving around his age. After attending prep school following high school graduation, Murray will be a 22-year-old rookie when he enters the league. Is Murray&rsquo;s ceiling truly star-level or just a sturdy, reliable starting piece you can rely upon for years to come?
When Murray spoke to the media during the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, he noted why those doubts are off base.
&ldquo;I would say I&rsquo;m a 21-year-old in an 18-year-old&rsquo;s body,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;In high school I was a 5-foot-10 sophomore and ended up growing to 6-foot-8 my senior year. I was a late bloomer in that sense.&rdquo;
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Murray was a true late bloomer because of his physical stature and lack of attention from Division I colleges. Murray received one offer on that level alongside multiple D-II scholarships. Deciding to go the prep school route to boost his collegiate stock more, Murray shined and eventually landed a roster spot with Iowa.
The first year for Murray in the Hawkeyes&rsquo; program was spent learning from Luka Garza, one of the most impactful college players in 2020-21. Being able to soak up knowledge from an upperclassmen like Garza helped make Murray&rsquo;s transition into the No. 1 offensive role go much smoother.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been one of the guys I talk to the most just because I played with him for a year,&rdquo; Murray said of Garza. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s on a two-way contract (with the Detroit Pistons). He&rsquo;s gotten the best of both worlds. Yeah, he&rsquo;s been a key influence on me being back in Iowa City a little bit, just texting, communicating with him see what he&rsquo;s going through.&rdquo;
Last season was the first time Murray was depended upon in a high-usage role. He&rsquo;s just scratching the surface of what his potential could be as a scoring wing who can hold his own on the other end of the court as well.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re comparing me on age, not what I do on the court, then maybe that&rsquo;s another conversation,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s whatever I do on the court. Age is something I can&rsquo;t control.&rdquo;
Whatever franchise Murray is drafted to next month will be receiving a reliable long-term cornerstone. Murray&rsquo;s two-way versatility makes him a coveted asset, which is why there&rsquo;s no doubt he will be an early lottery pick.
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In BasketballNews.com's latest <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft</a>, Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock projects Murray as the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/keegan-murray" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 6 overall pick</a> going to the Indiana Pacers.
<blockquote>
At 6-foot-8 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, Keegan Murray has a high motor and does a lot of the &ldquo;little things'' that contribute to winning, and he is a terrific defender. Despite shooting an inefficient 29.6% from deep last season, Murray scored 23.5 points per game this season. In addition, his ability to attack close-outs and score from multiple levels have allowed him to carry a greater offensive load. Murray was a candidate for National Player of the Year and has played himself into top-10 consideration in the 2022 NBA Draft.
</blockquote>
(It sure is fun to envision Murray playing in Rick Carlisle&rsquo;s system alongside a young core consisting of Tyrese Haliburton, Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson.)
The lighthearted, calm-natured presence of Murray exudes from him. He&rsquo;s never pressing in crunch-time situations. Seemingly always making the right reads on the basketball court, Murray&rsquo;s floor will be one where he feels destined to be around in the NBA for the next decade-plus. Only a few years prior, the NBA was an unimaginable thought for Murray.
&ldquo;If you told me three years from now I&rsquo;d be in this position, I would kinda smirk at you and laugh, but I&rsquo;m just honored and grateful,&rdquo; Murray said.
There aren't many prospects who check every box from an and off-court perspective. Murray does exactly that, which is why he&rsquo;ll be so highly coveted. Look at the impact he&rsquo;s presented across a large sample size, and just imagine him within NBA pace-and-space systems.
If there&rsquo;s one player to bet on as a hit as a reliable professional basketball player, it&rsquo;s most definitely Keegan Murray. Don&rsquo;t try to poke imaginary holes just because of his age.
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Keegan Murray will be a 22-year-old rookie next season, but he's only beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.

2022 NBA Draft: Don't let age deny Keegan Murray's tantalizing ceiling

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; The Heat were embarrassed in Game 2, surrendering home-court advantage in their blowout loss to the Celtics in their Eastern Conference finals matchup.
Miami returned the favor in Game 3, building a 26-point first-half lead en route to hanging on for a 109-103 victory despite star Jimmy Butler sitting out the second half with swelling in his right knee. Tyler Herro also didn&rsquo;t play the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter because of a groin injury.
With Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum (stinger) and Marcus Smart (sprained ankle) also suffering injuries late, the Celtics went from a chance to take control of the series to now trying to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time in two months.
In addition to Tatum and Smart, center Robert Williams III sat out Game 3 with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.
As expected, Celtics coach Ime Udoka said the trainer&rsquo;s table was busy on Saturday.
&ldquo;Marcus has some swelling in his ankle. Took a pretty bad sprain. Finished the game, but he&rsquo;s gonna feel it a little more today,&rdquo; Udoka said.
&ldquo;Getting worked on and getting treatment. See how he feels tomorrow. Jayson is fine. It&rsquo;s a stinger that went away pretty quickly. And the Rob has improved. Feels better than he did yesterday. &hellip; It&rsquo;s day to day. We&rsquo;ll test it out tomorrow and see how he feels.&rdquo;
Tatum (nerve impingement) is probable for Game 4, with Smart and Williams both listed as questionable. (Editor's Note: Smart has been ruled out for Game 4.)
Miami beating back a late-game charge by Boston to preserve a victory and take a 2-1 series lead is an encouraging sign for a Heat team that was 15-10 without Butler during the regular season. The Heat also wrapped up their first-round series against Atlanta without both Butler and Kyle Lowry.
Lowry played for the first time in this series Saturday, finishing with 11 points, six assists and four steals in 29 minutes. He had missed eight of the previous 10 games with a right hamstring injury.
He said it felt good to be back, but acknowledged it was tough to see both Butler and Herro added to their injury list &mdash; potentially again leaving Miami at less than full strength.
&ldquo;Just having an opportunity to be out there with my guys is always fun,&rdquo; Lowry said. &ldquo;Injuries are a part of the game. That&rsquo;s the part that sucks about the game, the injuries, and this is tough. Jimmy is a warrior. Tyler is a warrior. But we have to continue to stay focused on what we did as a group ... and hopefully those guys will be back and ready to go next game.&rdquo;
The Heat listed Buter (knee), Lowry (hamstring), Herro (groin) Max Strus (hamstring), Gabe Vincent (hamstring) and P.J. Tucker (knee) as questionable for Game 4. (Editor's Note: Herro was ruled out late Monday morning by the Heat for Game 4.)
Whoever Miami ultimately has available on Monday, Udoka said the onus will be on the Celtics to limit their unforced errors.
Boston turned the ball over a 2022 playoff-high 24 times in Game 3, leading to 33 Miami points. The Heat also had 22 more shots that the Celtics.
&ldquo;Obviously those things stand out and a lot were us playing to the crowd, trying to do too much and not making the simple pass,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;When you look at those areas, we&rsquo;ve had some good carryover at times, but at times taken a step back.
Tatum said avoiding what seems to be Miami&rsquo;s magic number of 39 will also be paramount. Miami had a 39-point third quarter to take control in Game 1 and outscored the Celtics 39-18 in the first quarter of Game 3.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no excuse. We can&rsquo;t spot them 39 points in the first quarter. Obviously we were just trying to overcome that the rest of the game,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;So we&rsquo;ve obviously got to be better starting the game for sure.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Both the Celtics and Heat will try to overcome injuries in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals with Miami holding a 2-1 lead.

Trainer's room busy as Heat, Celtics prepare for Game 4

Through two weeks of the WNBA season, where does each team stack up and what are some prime takeaways?

WNBA Power Rankings 5/22

There are many avenues to crafting a successful defensive scheme, Personnel is the main decider, of course. For example, you're not running a switching scheme with bigs that can't slide their feet or with guards who have weak centers of gravity. But depending on who you have, you can do pretty much anything if you nail the details.
For years, I've loved watching the Storm defend. Their style borders on frenetic: constant ball pressure, aggressive help and plenty of strain placed on their bigs when asked to scoot above screens. When they're locked in, it feels like there's nowhere to go with the ball. Basic pick-and-roll reads aren't there, and even if you get off the ball early against their pressure, the backline is rotating on time and on target.
It should come as no surprise that the Storm have ranked 3rd, 4th, 1st and 5th (but less than a point per possession shy of 3rd) in defensive rating over the past four seasons. In that same span, they've also been near the top of the leaderboard in opponent turnover rate, the percentage of possessions on which their opponents commit a turnover.
Range is the name of the game for the Storm. In the early portion of this season, no player embodies that quite like third-year big and first-year starter Ezi Magbegor.
Magbegor is a bit slight for the center position, as she is <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/m/magbeez01w.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed at 6-foot-4 and 176 pounds</a>, nearly identical to Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker. But she's able to counter that with her length (6-foot-7 wingspan) and her impressive mobility. That combination of traits allows her to toggle between schemes.
When directly involved in action, guards see their windows close in a flash. It's especially true when Magbegor is tasked with playing to the level of the screen or higher. She's too long to comfortably flip passes over her, and she moves well enough to cut off driving angles. Pocket passes are your best live-dribble option, but even then you're asking a lot of your guards.
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It's worth noting that Magbegor is still trying to learn the nuances of drop coverage. There are possessions where she commits to a guard too early or sinks too far back to cut off a rolling big. But because of her length, she's able to chew up space when she's wrong. There aren't many bigs in the W with a larger margin for error than her.
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Trying to attack Magbegor one-on-one is a challenge. Bigger centers are able to establish position against her in the post, but she counters that by making entry passes a pain in the butt. And if you're trying to trying to run your offense higher up, be careful.
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Even if teams make an entry pass, trying to shoot over the top isn't easy. Magbegor is long, active and a quick leaper. She blocked post behemoth Liz Cambage three times&nbsp;on Friday night. Honestly, the back-and-forth between them was a fun watch.
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We've also gotten fun flashes from her defending in space by her lonesome. She's able to toggle between both frontcourt slots, and she hasn't looked out of place when matched up with guards. Ask Courtney Vandersloot and Skylar Diggins-Smith.&nbsp;
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The scary part is Magbegor is also a menace when operating off the ball. Trying to run 1-4 pick-and-rolls against the Storm is another issue altogether,particularly when Breanna Stewart is the 4 being "attacked." The double whammy, however, is activating Magbegor as a helper. She can fly around, man.
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That's Jantel Lavendar involved instead of Stewart, but you see the intrigue. Diana Taurasi drawing two to the ball should create an advantage situation, yet Magbegor is able to play between two, taking away the roll from Tina Charles before sliding up to swat Bri Turner at the rim.
Trying to make passes in her area is also a futile endeavor. Lazy passes&nbsp;will&nbsp;be plucked from the air. Desperation feeds are as good as hers.&nbsp;
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Now for the numbers: Magbegor ranks second in the W in blocks (2.8) and is 14th in steals (1.5). Her 4.3 stocks (steals plus blocks) lead the W, with Sparks guard Brittney Sykes (3.0 steals, 1.0 blocks) being the only other player averaging at least four.
The Storm allow 94.4 points per 100 possessions with <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661328&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1629496" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magbegor on the floor</a>--a mark, when extrapolated, that would rank third in the league. Oh, and the defense is nearly 16 points per 100 possessions worse when she's on the bench. Opponents see their two-point percentage drop by nearly eight points when Magbegor is on the floor.
I think you get my point.
Magbegor moves like a 3, has the size of a 4 and is able to cause havoc in the paint at the 5. Her size and mobility unlocks a ton of scheme versatility for the Storm, which in turn makes them an elite unit when she's on the floor.
She's racking up ridiculous counting stats without fouling. Tallying 26 stocks to 14 fouls is wild considering what she's asked to do and who she's been asked to do it against. She's seen Cambage, A'ja Wilson, Charles, and Sylvia Fowles in a two-week stretch.
She still needs some refinement, but we're in the midst of something special with Magbegor.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the early defensive excellence of Seattle Storm center Ezi Magbegor.

Seattle Storm's Ezi Magbegor cares not for your space

The energy in The Bay was palpable, a crowd starved for its team's first Western Conference Finals berth since 2019. The dominant rule of this Golden State dynasty had been rudely interrupted by a once-in-a-generation global pandemic, a slew of untimely injuries and a superstar migrating across the country to skyscraping lands. Even the Chase Center flooring glimmered in anticipation.
The only thing that gleamed more was the twinkle in the eye of the Warriors' team defense.
The Warriors faced a new challenge in the West Finals, going from containing the quick-twitch athleticism strewn across the Memphis Grizzlies' roster to now containing the pick-and-roll craftsmanship of Luka Doncic, arguably the best player of the 2022 postseason. Luka's a nightmare to deal with, to say the least. He can attack your bigs or smalls on switches in isolation. He makes passes that only a select few across the globe can make should he even gain the slightest bit of an advantage. Most of all, he's a true-blue three-level scorer, geared up with step-back threes, post-ups with Dirk Nowitzki-legged fadeaways, sikly floaters and elongated layups at his disposal.&nbsp;
Containing a player of that ilk is not as simple as just throwing one perimeter player his way and hoping for the best. And while Luka's primary defender, Andrew Wiggins, did an admirable job on Wednesday of holding Doncic to 4-of-10 shooting, it was Golden State's medley of defensive coverages that kept Dallas at bay during the 25-point evisceration.&nbsp;
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Steve Kerr's crew threw out six different coverages in the first half &mdash; blitzes, hedge-and-recovers, a shallow drop coverage, pick-and-roll switches, a 3-2 zone and even a Box-and-1 &mdash; to stifle Dallas' second-ranked playoff half-court offense to a crawl. Golden State's coordinated chaos worked effectively, as Dallas put up just 78.8 points per 100 possessions in the half-court during Game 1 (10th percentile, yikes!), well below the 101.3 Offensive Rating that Dallas normally averages in this setting.&nbsp;
We'll touch on a few of those coverages momentarily, but it was Golden State's zone looks that were particularly interesting. The Mavericks haven't seen a ton of zones this postseason, especially coming off a series against the Phoenix Suns that featured mostly drop coverage or the occasional switch with Deandre Ayton manning the middle.
Interestingly, Golden State aligned its 3-2 zone so that Stephen Curry was atop the formation, meaning that he was typically Luka Doncic's primary defender. This goes against conventional thinking; normally, you'd expect the Warriors to hide Curry in the corners on one of Dallas' non-threatening options (think: how Miami deployed Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro in the 2020 postseason) instead of guarding the best mismatch-hunter on the floor. The Warriors, however, felt confident about shuttling defensive possessions to Curry at the point-of-attack, trusting their superstar to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/stephen-currys-defense-continues-to-shine-for-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">utilize his best defensive attribute</a> &mdash; his quick hands&mdash; to frustrate Maverick ball-handlers.
Of course, it helps with Wiggins and Draymond Green situated at the nearby wings, able to sink down and contain should Doncic bullrush his way past the slighter Curry. That's exactly what happened during this first-quarter possession below; Curry bothered Doncic's dribble by sticking in an arm, and when Doncic gathered himself and prepared his attack, Wiggins provided assistance at the nail to erase the driving lane and coerce the kick out. Jalen Brunson, of course, misses the spot-up three (a trend on Wednesday night), and Golden State gets its desired result from the 3-2 zone.
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There's some irony in the Warriors &mdash; the same team that once complained about Toronto's "junk defenses" in the 2019 NBA Finals &mdash; throwing out Box-and-1s to fluster Dallas' heliocentric offense. And yet, a minute later, Golden State busted out that janky look, with Curry, Jordan Poole, Green, and Otto Porter Jr. spread across the lane lines to form the "box," and Wiggins smothering Luka from basically the mid-court line.
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When Maxi Kleber comes to set a screen for Doncic, Poole and Wiggins trap Luka and use the sideline as a third defender to force the pass. Dallas hot-potatoes the ball across the perimeter, frantically searching for a vialble option, and eventually the Mavs are left with a 27-foot three from Kleber. A result the Warriors will live with.
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The Mavericks mustered up just 18 total points in the first quarter, which effectively set the tone for the rest of Game 1. Looking ahead after the brutal loss, it begs the question: Where can the Mavericks go next?
Well, there's the obvious answer, for one: Make more friggin' threes. Duh. The Mavericks whiffed on 37 of their 48 total outside looks, with some of those misses being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT-vnjKYwf0&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty dang brutal</a>. But there's more to the game than just blindly hoping for better results.
Thinning Out the Hedges
As mentioned, one of the coverages that Golden State threw at Luka was hedging and recovering on pick-and-rolls. Typically, this was done when Doncic and the Mavericks looked to target Curry in screening actions. Dallas would have Curry's defender &mdash; Reggie Bullock in the first clip; Spencer Dinwiddie in the second&mdash;set a screen on Luka's defender, Wiggins.
Rather than having Curry switch outright onto Doncic, Steph would instead jump out toward the 6-foot-8 ball-handler to buy Wiggins time as he recovered back to his assignment. Though it goes in, a tightly contested step-back three &mdash; which Luka is shooting just 32.1% on in the postseason &mdash; is a result the Warriors can stomach, especially with one of its smallest defenders (Curry) involved in the play.
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Thus, going at Curry with a slew of straight pick-and-rolls wasn't particularly profitable in Game 1. Golden State is too experienced, too disciplined and too even-tempered to be caught off-guard by opponents repeatedly targetting its superstar. After all, that's been the game plan since, what, 2015? Steph is well-versed in evading such narrow offensive game planning.
But Dallas has some unexplored avenues.
One such way could be to mix in more slips to the rim. Below, after Golden State pre-switches to initially neutralize the Doncic-Bullock pick-and-roll, Luka calls for a second screen from Brunson to bring Curry into the fold. When Steph hedges, Brunson then cuts to the rim instead of flaring out to the perimeter. And although the possession is smothered by Draymond Green audibling a switch with Curry and playing some free safety (goodness was he ever incredible in Game 1!), Dallas was able to get two feet into the middle of the paint to make decisions.&nbsp;
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Flipping the angle of the screen at the very last second, which is something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grizzlies-flattening-out-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies did against the Warriors</a> in the second round, is a counter yet to be tested by the Mavericks' offense. When Dallas did elect to re-screen in Game 1, it was only because the initial screen failed to connect.&nbsp;
Dallas could also add some intricacy to its pick-and-rolls by forcing Golden State to navigate secondary screens. Screen-the-screener (STS) plays were, once again, something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/memphisminnesota-game-5-was-a-masterclass-in-playcalling-wizardry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies tinkered with</a> in the earlier rounds of the postseason, and forcing Curry to navigate an off-ball screen before being dragged into a ball-screen for Luka could put him behind the play, thus throwing off the timing of his hedge.
All Doncic needs is a moment of hesitation to create for himself or others, so mixing in each of the following&mdash; re-screens, slips to the rim, ram screens and/or STS plays and straight pick-and-roll&mdash;to keep the Warriors on pins and needles could prove to make the difference going forward.
Sniffing Out the Proper Switches
So yes, scoping out Curry on pick-and-roll-induced switches didn't go as planned for Dallas in Game 1 given his comfort level with hedging those plays into oblivion; but that's not to say that Dallas failed to get any sort of traction when Golden State swapped assignments after ball screens.
Here's something that should keep Mavericks fans up at night: Dallas was hunting the wrong Warrior guard. Poole was tested by both of Dallas' secondary and tertiary options (Brunson and Dinwiddie), and he looked like a fish out of water on switches. Collectively, Dinwiddie and Brunson went 2-for-3 from the field when defended by Poole in Game 1.
Dinwiddie is both too tall and too quick to be even slightly bothered by Golden State's prolific 22-year-old, and Brunson's veteran craft left Poole stumbling. Jalen's portfolio of pump-fakes, B-Boy dancer pivots and up-and-unders was one hell of a handful for the third-year player.
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Even when Golden State attempted to hide Poole with hedges, he just wasn't disciplined enough to masterfully pull off this coverage with regularity. Here, he "shows" (or hedges) way, way too high up the floor against Brunson, who has yet to burn Golden State with pull-up threes, and Poole ends up getting flamb&eacute;d in isolation.
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Dallas' one-two punch of Doncic and Brunson also got off some pretty clean looks when served up Kevon Looney on a platter. Look, Looney had himself one hell of a Wednesday evening and was maybe the Game 1 MVP, but his lateral mobility was tested by Dallas' lead options. Take a look for yourself:
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Dallas should continue to hammer this home in the series. Though it's admirable that Looney feels empowered to pick up individual creators of Doncic and Brunson's ilk so high up the floor, his hip flexibility doesn't afford him the requisite oomph when changing directions on either player's array of dribbling moves. Doncic found relative consistency in forcing Golden State rotations and passing to open shooters after beating Looney off the dribble; Brunson, meanwhile, danced and jitterbugged his way to his spots to go 3-of-4 when defended by the Warriors' starting center.
It's integral that Dallas continues to exhaust Curry by involving him in a never-ending loop of pick-and-rolls. The more mileage put on his body defensively, the better. But there's also some value in getting some easy ones against guys like Looney and Poole.
Other notes:
<ul>
<li>Testing Klay Thompson, still fresh off two major injuries, is inherently not a terrible idea. Doing so by posting him up and allowing him to use his strong base and 6-6 frame, however, is not so brilliant. Doncic wasn't able to gain any ground against Golden State's sturdy wing, and the Mavericks would be better suited having the bursty Dinwiddie or even the guileful Brunson go at Thompson in space.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>Speaking of Brunson, how often he can make Golden State pay via pull-up threes should be a major theme in the West Finals. Golden State regularly went under ball-screens against Brunson, daring him to shoot, and he responded with a whole bundle of record-scratch moments. Brunson has shot a combined 30.4% on pull-up three-pointers in the regular season and the postseason on just 105 total attempts, and if he continues to feign at chucking them up when the defense drifts underneath screens, Dallas' offense will sludge itself to death.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>The Mavericks are one of those teams where you just wish they'd incorporate a little more movement into their offense. Dallas leaves food on the table with screening actions on the weak side of the floor, and it allows the low man to stay engaged when helping over should Doncic (or Brunson or Dinwiddie) discover a crack in the defense. That's particularly problematic against a team like the Warriors and Green, a hellish secondary defender to tangle with. Notice how Golden State preoccupies Luka, the low man in the clip below, with screening action between Wiggins and Thompson. When Looney slips to the rim, Doncic is late on his rotation because of the ensuing traffic on the weak side.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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It'd be great if Dallas could incorporate some of&nbsp;that&nbsp;stuff into their pick-and-roll heavy offense.
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Matt Brooks goes in-depth to break down what the Mavericks can improve on offensively against a stout Warriors defense.

How the Warriors' defense flummoxed Dallas, and where the Mavs go next

The 2021-22 season wasn&rsquo;t supposed to end this way for the Phoenix Suns... not even close. After a shocking exit in the Western Conference semifinals, where do the Suns turn now? With how well-built Phoenix&rsquo;s roster is, there actually aren&rsquo;t many holes. However, the potential domino effects are franchise-altering and there are a number of different directions the team may go.
The future of Deandre Ayton is now <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/uncertain-future-of-deandre-ayton-becomes-top-topic-for-suns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murkier than expected</a> following Phoenix's shocking Game 7 blowout defeat on its home court against the Dallas Mavericks. Ayton only played 17 minutes, which included a verbal skirmish with Suns head coach Monty Williams.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s internal,&rdquo; Williams said of why Ayton was benched in Game 7.
Ayton will be a restricted free agent after the Suns decided not to extend a five-year, rookie-scale max offer his way before the regular season began. He was the NBA's first No. 1 pick since Anthony Bennett to not sign a contract extension before entering the final year of his rookie deal.
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There&rsquo;s a potentially awkward dynamic on the horizon between Ayton and the Suns. Ayton wants the highest possible dollar amount, but Phoenix&rsquo;s stance at this point is unknown. ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in October that the Suns didn&rsquo;t view Ayton as a max-level player who deserved a five-year contract. Is it possible that the Suns&rsquo; stance has changed after Ayton&rsquo;s 2021-22 campaign?
Suns general manager James Jones said Wednesday during his season-ending press conference that the team's main theme will be continuity, foreshadowing the likelihood of Phoenix running it all back with a core that set a new franchise record for wins.
&ldquo;We want to continue to keep our consistency, our continuity,&rdquo; Jones said.
Robert Sarver, the Suns' owner since 2004, also spoke on-record recently to BasketballNews.com about Ayton&rsquo;s future in Phoenix. It sure feels like Phoenix values the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, but at what cost?
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s so divisive here,&rdquo; Sarver told BasketballNews.com last month. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s improved each year, helps us on both the defense and the offense. I think offensively, you see this year he&rsquo;s taken another good step in terms of his touch and his ability to score around the basket. So, he&rsquo;s been a key part of what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
Whichever direction the Suns decide to go with Ayton will have a significant impact on this offseason. It could be relatively boring summer in the Valley, or Ayton&rsquo;s value could be parlayed into going all-out for a superstar.
Expect to see the Suns let Ayton test the open market in July. If he receives a max offer sheet, that&rsquo;s when the clock officially begins to tick on how explosive Phoenix&rsquo;s plans could become.
Another housekeeping note for Phoenix related to contracts is a massive one set to be signed this summer. Once Devin Booker officially is announced on an All-NBA team, he will become eligible for a four-year, $211 million supermax contract. It&rsquo;s an easy decision for Booker and the Suns, so a hefty new contract for Booker will keep him in Phoenix through at least 2027-28.
2022-23: $33.8 million
2023-24: $36.0 million
2024-25: $47.1 million
2025-26: $50.9 million
2026-27: $54.7 million
2027-28: $58.5 million
Add in the Ayton situation on top of a looming Booker supermax, and Phoenix is ready to fully commit to paying deep into the luxury tax. Don&rsquo;t forget that Cameron Johnson is another significant piece to the puzzle for Phoenix and he could be signing his own extension this summer that keeps him in Phoenix long-term through his prime years.
Running it back with this core feels like the route that will be traveled, and you can't blame the Suns for that line of thinking considering their immense success over the last two seasons after toiling in obscurity.
&ldquo;As your team improves, typically your payroll increases,&rdquo; Jones said Wednesday when asked about potential luxury-tax issues.
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As mentioned, this builds upon what Sarver already confirmed to BasketballNews.com last month. For the first time since 2009-10, Phoenix will be paying the luxury tax and continue to do so for the next few years, too.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;re a market that can be in it for 10 years in a row, but when you get to a certain level where you have a chance to compete and you&rsquo;re a top-four, top-six, top-eight team, [you pay it],&rdquo; Sarver said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re at that level where you have a legitimate chance to compete &mdash; get to your Conference Finals and maybe win a championship &mdash; then I think you go in the tax; you pay and you do what you gotta do.&rdquo;
Committing to being a full-time tax team is a huge change of pace from years past for the Suns, but the time is now to compete for their first NBA title.
Outside of the contractual angles that cloud the current in Phoenix, what moves need to be made in order to improve their roster?
After witnessing the failures behind Chris Paul and Booker in the backcourt &mdash; mainly from backup point guard Cameron Payne, who finished the postseason with a ghastly 35.2% True Shooting percentage &mdash; finding more creators is of the utmost importance.
The Suns had a golden opportunity at the trade deadline to acquire Eric Gordon, but haggling over a future first-round draft pick ended those discussions. It&rsquo;s hard to deny how much a player like Gordon would&rsquo;ve helped Phoenix&rsquo;s offense when it began to sink against Dallas. If the Suns had a competent starting-level third guard, there&rsquo;s a good chance they'd be playing the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals instead of the Mavericks.
Whether it be signing a free agent or utilizing the trade market, some potentially available backup guard options who could help Phoenix immediately include: Jordan Clarkson (trade), Eric Gordon (trade), Derrick Rose (trade), Terrence Ross (trade), Ricky Rubio, Dennis Schroder, Tyus Jones, Delon Wright and Goran Dragic.
The Suns&rsquo; roster is already filled with quality depth pieces, but how can this team take the next step? Will Ayton be part of their long-term vision alongside Booker and Mikal Bridges? Can the Suns take advantage of their flexibility with $30-plus million in expiring contracts? Is star-hunting actually in the cards?
Following one of the most disappointing playoff performances in recent memory, how the Suns respond moving forward will show how resilient this group truly is.
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After a shocking postseason exit for the Suns, what's next ahead? Evan Sidery previews an interesting offseason ahead.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Phoenix Suns?

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler doesn&rsquo;t like being a called a scorer.
Never mind that the moniker seems appropriate. He&rsquo;s averaging nearly 30 points per game in this postseason, has reached the 40-point mark three times in his last 10 games after having zero such regular season games since 2017, and carried the Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
But say &ldquo;scorer&rdquo; to him, and he will scoff in disdain.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a quote-unquote scorer at other points in my career, and it didn&rsquo;t work out too well for me,&rdquo; Butler said.
Things have been working out just fine so far in this postseason for Butler and the top-seeded Heat, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-boston-celtics-nba-sports-jimmy-butler-5b5681ec485608add59e6eb15f24ee9f">who&rsquo;ll look to take a 2-0 lead in the East title series</a> when they play host to the second-seeded Celtics again on Thursday night. It won&rsquo;t be easy: The Celtics are 3-0 after losses in these playoffs, winning those bounceback games by an average of 14.7 points and getting two of those victories on the road.
The Celtics are hoping to have defensive player of the year Marcus Smart (mid-foot sprain) back for Game 2, listing him as probable for Thursday night. Boston was also without forward Al Horford (health and safety protocols) for Game 1 &mdash; he is doubtful for Game 2. And coach Ime Udoka was sick Wednesday with a non-COVID illness.
&ldquo;We have a lot of confidence,&rdquo; Celtics center Daniel Theis said Wednesday as his team gathered for a film session.
The Heat have some injury issues as well: Point guard Kyle Lowry will miss his eighth game of the playoffs with a hamstring issue. His replacement, Gabe Vincent &mdash; the Heat are 7-0 in these playoffs when he starts &mdash; is questionable with a hamstring issue of his own, as is fellow starting guard Max Strus.
Game 1 was a 118-107 loss for the Celtics on Tuesday night, though Boston pointed out after the game that the combined scores of the first, second and fourth quarters added up to Celtics 93, Heat 79.
That pesky third quarter, however, counted.
A 39-14 romp by Miami in those 12 minutes &mdash; Butler had 17 points in that quarter alone, outscoring the Celtics by himself &mdash; turned the whole game around, and the Heat never saw their lead trimmed to less than nine in the final quarter.
&ldquo;Expect us to play better,&rdquo; said Boston forward Jayson Tatum, who had six turnovers in that pivotal quarter. &ldquo;Expect myself to play a lot better.&rdquo;
In other words, he&rsquo;s expecting to get to a higher level.
Butler is already there.
He&rsquo;s averaging 29.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals in these playoffs on 53.5% shooting. Since the NBA began charting each of those statistics, nobody has finished a postseason averaging so much in each category while shooting that well. And Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has a simple reason why Butler is in this space.
&ldquo;Heightened attention to detail,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;But again, I don&rsquo;t want to get in a long dissertation about it. If you&rsquo;re driven by competition, and the stakes get raised, you&rsquo;re going to raise your level of play. It&rsquo;s not about trying to get bigger numbers. It&rsquo;s about doing what&rsquo;s required. And this level is high level, this competition, and he senses it, and he knows it. He feels it.&rdquo;
Butler went 17 for 18 from the foul line in Game 1. The only player to make, or take, more free throws in a game against Boston this season was Kevin Durant &mdash; who was 18 for 20 for Brooklyn in Game 2 of the first-round series between the Celtics and Nets.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s comfortable,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said of Butler. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very comfortable right now, and we&rsquo;ve got to do a better job of breaking that rhythm that he&rsquo;s in. That&rsquo;s it. We&rsquo;ve got to take the challenge.&rdquo;
Butler&rsquo;s last 40-point game in the regular season came on Jan. 25, 2017, for Chicago &mdash; three franchises and more than five years ago. But he&rsquo;s had five such games in the playoffs since coming to Miami, the first two coming in the bubble two years ago when he carried the Heat to the NBA Finals. The other three have been in the last month, when he&rsquo;s carrying the Heat again, despite his insistence that he&rsquo;s not carrying anyone.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if it&rsquo;s a big stage or a little stage or who is watching,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;I do what I do for my family, for my people, for my organization and for my teammates. That&rsquo;s it. Doesn&rsquo;t matter if it&rsquo;s a big stage, home or away. I know why I do what I do.&rdquo;

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat look to take a 2-0 lead over Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jimmy Butler, Heat seeking to take a 2-0 lead over Celtics

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

Jayson Tatum is passing with flying colors as his playmaking escalates

We've reached the Conference Finals, which means that only four teams remain in the NBA Playoffs.
The Eastern Conference's top two teams, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, will clash in what's sure to be a physical series, while the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks are set to square off in a highly-anticipated battle that will feature two incredible offensive talents.
With only those aforementioned franchises remaining, we asked our BasketballNews.com staff:
How would you rank the five best players remaining in the NBA Playoffs?
Alex Kennedy
This is tough, but I think I'll go:&nbsp;
1. Luka Doncic
2. Stephen Curry
3. Jayson Tatum
4. Jimmy Butler&nbsp;
5. Bam Adebayo&nbsp;
After what Luka has done through two rounds, I feel very confident putting him at No. 1. Curry and Tatum are a toss-up for me; if someone had Tatum at No. 2 and Curry at No. 3, I wouldn't be mad at it. Butler is a two-way force who <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jimmy-butler-is-a-16game-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elevates his game a ton in the postseason</a>, so he's No. 4.
This is where it gets interesting. Adebayo, Jaylen Brown and Draymond Green each have a case, but give me Adebayo because of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bam-adebayo-stands-at-the-core-of-the-heats-secondround-dominance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how well he's played on both ends of the floor</a> so far during the playoffs. I think he's poised for a big series against the Celtics.
Spencer Davies
1. Jayson Tatum: In five seasons and as many consecutive playoff appearances, this man has played the elite of the elite at 19 years ol... okay, that joke will never get old, but in all honesty, we&rsquo;ve got to admit that the total package is consistently there for Tatum. He is in a place where he&rsquo;s just making his teammates better night-in and night-out. He&rsquo;s gone up against greats like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and has not flinched, matching them shot for shot. Because of those experiences and the steady manner in which he&rsquo;s played this postseason on both sides of the ball, I give Tatum the slight edge over the next guy...
2. Luka Doncic: The first time Luka doesn&rsquo;t draw the Los Angeles Clippers in the postseason, he gets to the Western Conference Finals, eh? Without the prisoner-of-the-moment thing, it speaks volumes about how Luka&rsquo;s just had that big-game mentality since he was overseas. He&rsquo;s just a little bigger and stronger now. Same confidence and everything; he has not changed his energy one iota. His offensive impact is so substantial that the defensive woes are cast aside. If he can figure out how to defend a lick, it won&rsquo;t be long before he tops this particular list.
3. Steph Curry: Don&rsquo;t let one off-series and a &ldquo;down&rdquo; shooting season blind you from the fact that Steph is Steph. He&rsquo;s constantly in motion, always making defenders stay attached to him, which in turn makes life easier for his teammates. Then, there&rsquo;s the way he always closes games and goes into that mode where he could shoot from the front row on the opposite side of the floor and it wouldn&rsquo;t touch iron. Until there&rsquo;s any sign of regression, I don&rsquo;t bet against Steph.
4. Jimmy Butler: I hate rankings because four seems so cruel. Butler&rsquo;s been a stone-cold killer in the playoffs except for last postseason. I&rsquo;ll refer you to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jimmy-butler-is-a-16game-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bryan Fonseca&rsquo;s article about that specific stretch</a>. Otherwise, Jimmy&rsquo;s one of those guys who will rip your heart out in attack mode. He&rsquo;s damn gritty, plays the right way and leads by example &mdash; late-season war of words be damned.
5. Bam Adebayo: Five is probably the spot most up for debate. It&rsquo;s all love for Draymond Green, Jaylen Brown and Klay Thompson. But with Adebayo, he is a load to handle athletically on either end, presents all kinds of matchup problems and can impact the game in a multitude of ways, as ambigouous as that sounds. (Green&rsquo;s probably my runner-up here because of the way Golden State ticks when he&rsquo;s on the floor).
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Ethan Fuller
This is definitely a challenge.&nbsp;
1. Steph Curry: Even after a second-round slump, I still would take a red-hot Curry game over any other player remaining.
2. Jayson Tatum: Tatum gets the edge over Luka Doncic by gapping him on the defensive end.
3. Luka Doncic
4. Jimmy Butler
5. Draymond Green: I almost went with Bam Adebayo over Draymond Green, and I think you could make the case either way.
Bryan Fonseca
1. Luka Doncic: He's the best player left standing despite the fact that his team is the weakest. Maybe the Dallas Mavericks are a better version of the 2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers and he's *that* LeBron James. Let's remember that Doncic was All-Tournament at EuroBasket at age-18, which Slovenia won for the first time ever. He also is responsible for leading Slovenia into the Olympics for the first time ever this past summer, where they nearly medaled. They jumped from barely top-20 to firmly top-five in the world. That man can lift a team like few others.
2. Steph Curry: He's still the best shooter in the world and still one of the best players in the league. He hasn't been as good as a couple others we're about to get to, but is still *that dude* more often than not. The Warriors are the title favorites now, and it starts with The Chef.
3. Jimmy Butler: He is the most underrated star in the NBA, and historically &mdash; outside of last season &mdash; is better in the playoffs going back to his days as a Chicago Bull. He was primarily responsible for the only non-Kevin Garnett-led Minnesota Timberwolves playoff berth until this season. Every team he left got worse, and every team he joined got better.
4. Jayson Tatum: After Luka, he's the man most knocking on the door of "next" left in the playoffs. The best four talents of these playoffs have been, up to now, Luka, Giannis, Butler and Tatum.
5. Bam Adebayo: This is with massive respect to Jaylen Brown. Bam is not only the best defender left in the playoffs but the most consistent. For all the talk about lack of aggression, he averages nearly 20 and 10 offensively as a third option. Yes, he's capable of more offensively than he's shown in the playoffs, but he typically does well against the Celtics. Expect more in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Matt John
1. Luka Doncic: He just eviscerated a 64-win team coming off a NBA Finals appearance in the most pivotal game of the season against multiple stingy wing defenders, including the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up. He played like he knew it too. He is the best player left in these playoffs until proven otherwise.
2. Steph Curry: He's the deadliest man from three in a league that values threes now more than ever. Now that his foot injury is firmly behind him, the Warriors will go as far as his deadly three-point accuracy will take them. Fun fact: This is Steph's first Western Conference Finals berth sans Kevin Durant in six years.
3. Jayson Tatum: He just went toe-to-toe with the most unstoppable player in the league and reigning champion, and came up victorious. Not only that, but he put the Celtics on his back when they were down for the count. The talent was always there. The growth in mental fortitude is what's eye-opening.
4. Jimmy Butler: What he doesn't have in talent compared to the other three he makes up for in grit. If there's one player in the league who's willing to get his hands dirty to get the win, it's Butler. All things considered, he provided a substantial return on investment for Miami, as this is their second Eastern Conference Finals berth in three years with him.
5. Bam Adebayo: The DPOY candidate has kept it going in these playoffs, having stopped the talented (albeit badly injured) Joel Embiid. Adebayo is the quintessential modern big in this league. He may not fill up the stat sheet like most stars do, but he makes up for it by winning games.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16967711_lg.jpg" alt="" />
Evan Sidery
1. Luka Doncic: After what I just witnessed Luka do in-person against the Phoenix Suns, it felt like a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/luka-doncic-enters-into-next-tier-of-nba-superstars-following-western-conference-semifinals-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transformative career moment</a>. Doncic is a bona fide superstar now, and the way he's carried Dallas to this point is nothing short of incredible. The Mavericks&rsquo; hopes and dreams hinge upon Doncic continuing to be the best postseason player.
2. Steph Curry: After waffling back-and-forth on No. 2, I settle on Curry because doubting him feels unwise. Curry still provides vintage scoring performances as he continues to be the lifeblood of the Warriors&rsquo; offense. Curry versus Doncic is a matchup I can't wait to watch. Hopefully, it's a long a long series.
3. Jayson Tatum: After going toe-to-toe with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum more than held his own. Delivering a legendary Game 6 performance in Milwaukee, Tatum has propelled himself to superstar status like Doncic. If anything, the NBA conference finals showcase that the next generation of stars are taking the batons and running away for good.
4. Jimmy Butler: Don&rsquo;t doubt Jimmy Buckets, especially on this stage. Butler delivered against the Sixers, and I expect him to put on a show versus Boston. Butler&rsquo;s all-around game continues to shine on the postseason stage.
5. Klay Thompson: Playoff Klay is very, very real. The West Finals feel like the ideal breakout stage for Thompson post-injury. Klay is beginning to heat up each round, too. Vintage Klay showing up on that platform would be so fun to watch.
Justin Lewis&nbsp;
1. Luka Doncic: He's carried one of the lesser total rosters in the playoffs to the Conference Finals. He's generational.
2. Jayson Tatum: He could be considered "1A" because of his two-way play, but Tatum has been a problem for two months now.
3. Jimmy Butler: JB is that dude. He can carry the Heat to the Finals, but Tatum and Luka get the nod as guys who can carry their respective teams through the Finals.
4. Steph Curry: He's not been the same Steph, but the Warriors are still in the West Finals &mdash; and that's terrifying. If he returns to form, the Warriors may win another championship.
5. Jaylen Brown: He's the best No. 2 of any team left in the playoffs. His two-way prowess and ability to pick it up when Tatum is off is crucial for the Celtics.
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Sharon Brown
1. Steph Curry
2. Luka Doncic
3. Jimmy Butler
4. Jayson Tatum
5. Klay Thompson
Steph is the greatest shooter ever, and Luka is that dude. JB is a dawg, and I will always ride with him. Tatum's star power is rising, and Klay is still deadly even after his two-year absence.
Mark Schindler
This is a tough question!
1. Steph Curry
2. Luka Doncic
3. Jayson Tatum
4. Jimmy Butler
5. Bam Adebayo
The four best players left are for sure Steph, Luka, Tatum and Jimmy. I would have to go with Bam at No. 5, so there's a decent little drop-off from the top four. (Not a slight! There's just levels to this, like Meek said).
Nekias Duncan
1. Luka Doncic
2. Steph Curry
3. Jayson Tatum
4. Jimmy Butler
5. Bam Adebayo
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How would you rank the five best players remaining in the NBA Playoffs? BasketballNews.com's writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: Ranking the 5 best players remaining in the NBA Playoffs

Ime Udoka said Marcus Smart is questionable for Game 1 with a midfoot sprain he suffered during Game 7, and that Robert Williams won't have any restrictions in Game 1, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/TimBontemps/status/1526259915618238465" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Bontemps of ESPN</a>.
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During his availability, Ime Udoka said Marcus Smart is questionable for Game 1 with a midfoot sprain he suffered during Game 7, &amp; that Robert Williams won't have any restrictions in Game 1. Udoka said before Game 7 Williams was available but he didn't want to shift his rotation.
&mdash; Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimBontemps/status/1526259915618238465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Smart underwent an MRI today on that right foot and the imaging returned clean, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1526260671767355392" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN</a>. There&rsquo;s hope he&rsquo;ll be ready for Game 1 and Celtics will see how it feels on Tuesday in Miami.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Smart underwent an MRI today on that right foot and the imaging returned clean, sources tell ESPN. There&rsquo;s hope he&rsquo;ll be ready for Game 1 and Celtics will see how it feels on Tuesday in Miami. <a href="https://t.co/pAruJK3cbN">https://t.co/pAruJK3cbN</a>
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1526260671767355392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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ANALYSIS:&nbsp;It appears Boston can't shake the injury bug in these playoffs. The upshot is, it sounds like Smart's foot injury isn't too bad so at worst, he'll be out for one game of these conference finals. Since Boston's defense has remained elite in spite of injuries taking both of them out at various points, all indications are they'll survive without one of them. The real question is if they can survive without both.

Ime Udoka says that Robert Williams III will be available in Game 1 with no restrictions while Marcus Smart is questionable.

Robert Williams III available, Marcus Smart questionable for Game 1

The Milwaukee Bucks are in a sneaky-strange position after relinquishing their place as defending NBA champions.
They still have a core in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday that figures to keep Milwaukee in contention for several years. There's no major drama surrounding the team and no marquee free agent hitting the scene this summer. The Bucks have more stability than most of the recent ousted champions. In fact, I'd argue that you'd have to go back to the Kobe Bryant-era Los Angeles Lakers, Big Three Boston Celtics or early-dynasty San Antonio Spurs to find teams who gave up the title but still had promising outlooks.&nbsp;
Yet, the Bucks also seemed like they were playing from behind in most of the second round despite leading the series against the Boston Celtics multiple times. Their half-court offense was horrendous; Milwaukee averaged a putrid 81.9 points per 100 possessions on half-court plays, per Cleaning the Glass. Their defense was solid but solvable, as shown by the Grant Williams Game 7 extravaganza and Al Horford's explosion in Game 4.
How much failure can be atrributed to the loss of Middleton? How much can the Bucks stand pat as other Eastern Conference powers continue to make moves? How much will they weigh postseason failure against regular-season success and injuries?
These are the questions leadership will ask itself as Milwaukee approaches a murky offseason.
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The Bucks have their star trio locked down for the next two years (though Middleton holds a player option in 2023-24). However, they will have several smaller free agents to manage. Bobby Portis holds a $4.5 million player option, per Spotrac, and should command over twice that amount if he decides to hit the open market. Pat Connaughton ($5.3 million) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo ($1.8 million) also hold player options.&nbsp;
Wes Matthews, despite his low scoring numbers, was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wes-matthews-twoway-play-deserves-your-attention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the most impactful Bucks in their playoff run</a>. His defense on Jayson Tatum in particular made the second round a slog for the Celtics' star, helping keep Milwaukee in contention. Matthews will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. At 35 years old, and with a limited offensive ceiling, he'll be an interesting player to watch this summer. I'm all for Milwaukee doing what they must to return Matthews, but will his age and injury history make them hesitant? If so, does another team pounce?
Serge Ibaka will also hit unrestricted free agency, and was not much of a factor in Milwaukee this season after being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline. Jevon Carter joins him and Matthews as an unrestricted free agent; his case might be more intriguing after he emerged as a rotation-caliber guard and shot the ball better than he ever has in his short career. Jordan Nwora and Lindell Wigginton will both be restricted free agents.
This free agency period ultimately forces Milwaukee to evaluate its supporting cast around the three stars. Giannis is the rudder for every decision the franchise makes for at least the next four years. Milwaukee has to reflect on which players best fit his strengths and needs, particularly on offense.
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Unfortunately, they won't have much free agent flexibility. The Bucks only have the $6.3 million taxpayer mid-level exception to go out and sign a complementary piece. They also hold a $1.5 million trade exception that has almost no functional value. So if they want to chase a player with more stature, they'll have to get creative with trades.
However, unlike many past champions, Milwaukee does still hold its first-round pick outright at No. 24 overall. The NBA Draft could be an easy way for them to add a rotation piece either by selection or with a trade. The franchise forfeited its second-round pick, however, in the fallout from the Bogdan Bogdanovic fiasco of the 2020 offseason.&nbsp;
Our Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babock currently projects the Bucks to select Blake Wesley in his most recent <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft.</a>&nbsp;A 6-foot-5 freshman guard from Notre Dame, Wesley brings an enticing mix of length, slashing, scoring potential and defensive upside.
Does a seven-game sample dictate how the Bucks approach this offseason? It feels unfair to the larger roster and the shooters who ultimately went cold in a pivotal Game 7. But Milwaukee's expectations are now to win in these seven-game series, and when the offense looked as bad as it did in Round 2, running it back seems illogical.
It's not a call for Mike Budenholzer's ousting or saying that any particular player is holding the team back. The Bucks instead have to take a long, hard look at what team they want to be and what current players fit into that mold. They're still very much title contenders, but this season was a reminder that contention doesn't get you very far in the NBA.
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The Bucks have a stable foundation, but does a second-round exit force a change with the franchise?

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Milwaukee Bucks?

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

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

The NBA announced the 76 players who are expected to attend the 2022 NBA Draft Combine, which is scheduled for May 18-20 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
The 2022 NBA Draft Combine is an important step in the draft process for NBA prospects, leading up to 2022 NBA Draft on June 23.&nbsp;
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games, shooting drills and strength-and-agility drills from May 18-20. Coverage of the 2022 NBA Draft Combine begins Thursday, May 19 on ESPNews from 3-5 p.m. ET and transitions to ESPN2 from 5-7 p.m. ET. The coverage continues on Friday, May 20 from 1-2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 2-5 p.m. ET on ESPNews.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-announces-field-of-44-draft-prospects-for-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 16-17 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the 2022 NBA Draft Combine.
Here is the complete list of expected attendees for this year's NBA Draft Combine (and check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com's 2022 NBA Mock Draft</a> to see where each player is projected to go):&nbsp;
<table style="font-weight: 400;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" width="832">
Player (College/Club)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ochai Agbaji (Kansas)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jake LaRavia (Wake Forest)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Milwaukee)
</td>
<td width="442">
Justin Lewis (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Paolo Banchero (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
E.J. Liddell (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Dominick Barlow (Overtime Elite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Marjon Beauchamp (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Matthew Mayer (Baylor)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Hugo Besson (New Zealand Breakers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Bryce McGowens (Nebraska)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Malaki Branham (Ohio State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Leonard Miller (Fort Erie Intl. Academy [Canada] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Christian Braun (Kansas)
</td>
<td width="442">
Josh Minott (Memphis)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kendall Brown (Baylor)
</td>
<td width="442">
Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
John Butler Jr. (Florida State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jean Montero (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee)
</td>
<td width="442">
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Max Christie (Michigan State)
</td>
<td width="442">
Keegan Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Kofi Cockburn (Illinois)
</td>
<td width="442">
Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Dyson Daniels (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Johnny Davis (Wisconsin)
</td>
<td width="442">
Gabriele Procida (Fortitudo Bologna [Italy] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
JD Davison (Alabama)
</td>
<td width="442">
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Moussa Diabate (Michigan)
</td>
<td width="442">
David Roddy (Colorado State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ousmane Dieng (New Zealand Breakers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Ryan Rollins (Toledo)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Khalifa Diop (Gran Canaria [Spain] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Dereon Seabron (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jalen Duren (Memphis)
</td>
<td width="442">
Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Tari Eason (LSU)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jabari Smith (Auburn)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Keon Ellis (Alabama)
</td>
<td width="442">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Michael Foster Jr. (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jeremy Sochan (Baylor)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Collin Gillespie (Villanova)
</td>
<td width="442">
Matteo Spagnolo (Cremona [Italy] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
AJ Griffin (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jaden Hardy (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td width="442">
Dalen Terry (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers)
</td>
<td width="442">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jabari Walker (Colorado)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Harrison Ingram (Stanford)
</td>
<td width="442">
TyTy Washington Jr. (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Jaden Ivey (Purdue)
</td>
<td width="442">
Peyton Watson (UCLA)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td width="442">
Blake Wesley (Notre Dame)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Nikola Jovic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Alondes Williams (Wake Forest)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Johnny Juzang (UCLA)
</td>
<td width="442">
Jalen Williams (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Ismael Kamagate (Paris [France] )
</td>
<td width="442">
Jaylin Williams (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Trevor Keels (Duke)
</td>
<td width="442">
Mark Williams (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Walker Kessler (Auburn)
</td>
<td width="442">
Trevion Williams (Purdue)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="390">
Christian Koloko (Arizona)
</td>
<td width="442">
Fanbo Zeng (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The NBA announced the 76 players who are expected to attend the 2022 NBA Draft Combine, which takes place May 18-20 in Chicago.

North Carolina Tar Heels