Setters

The second domino in Utah has finally fallen.
After trading All-World center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a league-shifting pick package, the Jazz followed suit by <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-instant-reaction-donovan-mitchell-cleveland-cavaliers-utah-jazz-collin-sexton-lauri-markkanen-ochai-agbaji-darius-garland-evan-mobley-jb-bickerstaff-koby-altman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trading star guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers</a>. Three unprotected first-round picks, two unprotected pick swaps and a multi-player package headlined by Collin Sexton was enough for the team to officially set off its rebuild.
The stars are gone, but there are vets still on the roster. Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Jazz aren't opposed to moving them if they're given more picks, young players or (ideally) both.
Chief among those vets is point guard Mike Conley.&nbsp;
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Conley is coming off one of his healthier campaigns, appearing in 70 games (72) for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Conley was steady, averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 assists (1.7 turnovers) while posting a 57.2% True Shooting percentage. He oscillated between diagnosing defenses as a pick-and-roll threat and spreading the floor for Mitchell to attack.
Coinciding with Mitchell's ascension, he's become more of a spacer than a focal point over the past two seasons. Conley's three-point rate &mdash; the percentage of shot attempts that come from deep &mdash; has hit career-high levels over the past two seasons (52.3). He's drained 41% of his threes on 6.1 attempts per game during that stretch; only three other players &mdash; Anfernee Simons, Zach LaVine and some Steph Curry guy &mdash; have hit 40% of their threes on 6 or more attempts on average (min. 100 games).
Don't let the off-ball focus fool you: Conley's blend of pull-up shooting, court vision and ambidexterity still makes him a valuable playmaker. Over the past two seasons, possessions featuring a Conley-led ball screen has generated 1.03 points per possession (PPP), a mark sandwiched between Damian Lillard (1.032 PPP) and James Harden (1.023 PPP).
Even at this stage, playing drop coverage against Conley is a mistake.
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Because Conley doesn't have the same burst anymore, he doesn't get two feet in the paint very often. His rim rate &mdash; the percentage of shot attempts coming inside of 3 feet &mdash; has dropped in each of the past five seasons. Only 7.5% of his attempts came at the rim last year, easily a career low.
He's been able to counter that by sprinkling in short pull-ups and floaters with either hand, but the threshold for bending defenses with those shots is pretty high.
Conley remains sound defensively. He's dutiful when navigating screens and still does a good job of reconnecting with ball-handlers. This might be my favorite stat find of the summer: Per Second Spectrum, among 165 players that defended at least 300 drives last season, only one player &mdash; Chicago Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu (13.97%) &mdash; was "blown by" at a lower rate than Conley (14.18%).
There's context to be added, like who Conley was directly matched up with, but that's a "he's typically in the right spot" stat if I've seen one.
Of course, Conley isn't perfect. There's only so much he can do as a shot-contester, even against his position, because of his size. While he's still a good screen navigator, his recovery speed isn't what it once was. If a screen nails him, you could be in some trouble.
Overall, Conley is still a good starting point guard with a game that can complement a high-usage star. If the Jazz are truly open to moving him, teams should come calling.
With a vet like Conley, finding a contending team for him is the likely priority. That makes trade talks tough since so many of the top teams either have (All-) star point guards already (Golden State, Phoenix, Milwaukee, etc.), younger players they're already invested in (Philadelphia, Denver), or vets they're okay with (Miami, Boston).
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The Dallas Mavericks may be the most realistic suitor within this lens. Conley could certainly slot into the Jalen Brunson-sized void that was opened this summer. Tim Hardaway Jr.'s contract ($19.6 million in 2022-23) is enough to start the conversation, but you'd have to wonder if a middleground could be found from there.
The Mavericks owe a first round pick to the Knicks (top-10 protected through 2025) that you'd assume would convey this year, but that's off the table. Would the Mavericks be willing to throw in a later first-round pick instead? If not, is there a young piece on the roster (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/josh-green-impact-basketball-dallas-mavericks-playoffs-joe-abunassar-offseason-training-diet-nutrition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hello, Josh Green</a>) that they'd be willing to sweeten the pot with in lieu of the pick? It's hard to gauge.
I'd be intrigued by a trade centered around a Conley-D'Angelo Russell swap if the Minnesota Timberwolves were game.
(I don't think I'd be game if I were them. It'd have to be Conley and another player or two &mdash; Rudy Gay and Nickeil Alexander-Walker would get you there &mdash; since the Jazz are hard-capped. Beyond that, I'm sure they would've worked to include a Russell-Conley swap into the Gobert trade if there was real interest in that regard.)
There's been smoke, then fire, then smoke, then fog, then&nbsp;more&nbsp;smoke around Conley being featured in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Russell Westbrook. Conley would certainly vibe alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis; I just don't know how likely it is that Westbrook is traded at this point, even if it might be best for everyone involved.
If it's not contender-or-bust for Conley, there are a couple of lottery teams I'd like to see throw their hats in the ring for him.&nbsp;
Depending on how you feel about the Kevin Porter Jr. point guard experiment, something I had my eye on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/something-to-prove-kevin-porter-jr-at-point-guard-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heading into last season</a>, there could be room for a half-season of Conley stability in the starting backcourt. Having a consistently-good decision-maker alongside Jalen Green could foster easier development for him.
There are things Green (or Porter, for that matter) could learn from Conley. My mind immediately goes to how patient Conley is against drop, and how good he is at snaking ball-screens and bending defenses. Green showed growth as his rookie campaign went on, but there's still room for improvement.
There's even a number for it. Per Second Spectrum, the Rockets generated a little over 0.67 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a ball-screen that Green snaked.
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Considering Eric Gordon's salary would likely be needed to make this work, a third team would make some sense here. An interesting framework would be sending Conley to Houston, Eric Gordon to New Orleans (I know, I know) and a combination of KJ Martin (if he <a href="https://theathletic.com/3373516/2022/06/20/houston-rockets-nba-draft-roster/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still wants a trade</a> from Houston), Kira Lewis and more salary filler to Utah.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>If Bradley Beal wants an even more dependable guard next to him than Monte Morris, Conley would make some sense in Washington. At minimum, the Wizards certainly have enough pieces to consolidate. I still don't know what to make of their forward room.</li>
<li>In light of the Lonzo Ball injury news, I can definitely see the use for a table-setter in Chicago. The Bulls may be content with Goran Dragic filling that void; beyond that, I'm not sure they could make the money work without getting ride of a core piece.</li>
<li>The Clippers would've been a fun team in here before <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-offseason-news-rumors-examining-john-wall-fit-with-los-angeles-clippers-houston-rockets-buyout-paul-george-kawhi-leonard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the John Wall signing</a>. I guess they could still be a dark horse if things don't work out, but I wouldn't bet on it.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan analyzes the trade market for Jazz guard Mike Conley and which teams the veteran point guard could fit with.

Examining potential destinations for Mike Conley

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

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

We have reached the final installment of this season's NBA Sour Rankings and it's been a wild ride.
Of the 30 NBA teams, 28 appeared on the list at some points in the season. I inversed each ranking and turned it into a point value to tally up the most prominent members. The Los Angeles Lakers (134 points), Sacramento Kings (117), New York Knicks (113) and Portland Trail Blazers (99) were the highest point-getters, and continuously peppered the rankings since they each disappointed at consistent levels throughout the year.
Who never touched the Sour Rankings? The San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic. I bet you didn't expect them. Those squads had the combination of extremely low expectations and frequent flashes from young talent. Despite those franchises never being on top of the NBA sphere, I never felt frustrated by by either team because there was always a silver lining after every game.
So we arrive at the final ranking with several playoff contenders sputtering to the finish.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher: Unlike the typical "power rankings" that are so common 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 are updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.
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 Dallas Mavericks have climbed up to fourth in the Western Conference standings and flipped to home-court advantage against the Utah Jazz, who they'll likely play in the postseason. The Chicago Bulls have somewhat righted the ship and maintain a hold on fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks may be out of the playoff picture, but they've suddenly been hit with a wave of developmental flashes from the young core. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-stats-notebook-immanuel-quickleys-unusual-shot-diet-can-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immanuel Quickley leads the way</a>.&nbsp;
10. Boston Celtics (47-28)
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ESPN Sources: Celtics C Robert Williams has suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee and will minimally miss several weeks. Further evaluation today will help provide a timetable. Boston moved into first-place Sunday, and Williams has been immense part of NBA&rsquo;s best defense.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1508469824195899398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Man... <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-celtics-center-robert-williams-feared-to-have-torn-meniscus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that is pain</a>. What else is there to say?
(Last week: Unranked)
9. Brooklyn Nets (39-36)
Brooklyn boasts the league's fourth-ranked offense over the past two weeks, and that was before the New York City vaccination policies changed, allowing Kyrie Irving to play in home games. The Nets can end their season with some positive momentum, as they face just three more teams at .500 or better.
One of those teams is the Atlanta Hawks, who Brooklyn is currently slotted to play in the Play-In bracket. The race for the eighth seed is dead even between the Nets and Charlotte Hornets, and that's a battle within a battle to get at least two extra shots at a playoff spot. Should the Nets lose, do they want to face a dominant Trae Young with their not-so-dominant defense?
(Last week: 8)
8. Golden State Warriors (48-27)
The Warriors have lost 5 of their last 6 games and just took a 123-115 defeat against the Wizards. They are 6-10 since the All-Star break, and while those losses have come with a mix of injured absences involving Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, it's concerning that the rest of the cast can't keep things together &mdash; even against bad teams. Golden State is currently two games up on the Mavericks for the third seed, but only four games separate the team from the sixth-place Denver Nuggets. This is a sneaky-close middle tier with the Warriors holding little momentum.
(Last week: 10)
7. Atlanta Hawks (37-37)
As mentioned, the Hawks face a potential playoff preview with the Nets. But they'll likely have to meet both Brooklyn and Charlotte in some order in the postseason. Atlanta went 2-2 against the Hornets in the regular season, and is 0-2 vs. the Nets prior to this coming Saturday's matchup. That doesn't inspire much confidence that the Hawks, as the No. 10 seed, can storm through both to the playoffs.
(Last week: 7)
6. Utah Jazz (45-30)
Utah received a quality playoff test this past week with games against the Nets, Celtics, Hornets and Mavericks. The Jazz lost all four games, though they missed Gobert. Their perennially stalwart defense is down to 20th over the past two weeks, and against the Celtics in particular, they couldn't seem to contain anyone. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 26.4 points per game since the All-Star break, but even that isn't mattering when the defense doesn't show up beyond Gobert.
(Last week: Unranked)
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5. Miami Heat (47-28)
Bryan Fonseca wrote a great piece this past week about <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-miami-heats-blow-up-was-necessary-but-now-the-rest-is-up-to-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that Heat meltdown on Wednesday</a> against the Warriors. His message was that these types of altercations don't have to define the rest of the season. But the dust-up certainly is right now, as the Heat have lost their grip on the East's top spot. They followed up the defeat with two more bad losses to the Knicks and Nets.
Miami still has conference powers in Boston, Chicago and Toronto left on the schedule. With the top four seeds separate by half a game, the Heat could easily plummet to the bottom of the tier.
(Last week: Unranked)
4. Washington Wizards (32-42)
Let's talk about Corey Kispert! The No. 15 pick flailed, as most rookies do, to open his NBA career. But Kispert has meaningfully caught fire in recent weeks. The 23-year-old sharpshooter is drilling 42.4% of his three-pointers in March. He just hit six triples on his way to a career-high 25 points in the team's aforementioned win over the Warriors. Washington hasn't had too much to get excited about in these last two weeks, so at least Kispert is helping send the young core into the summer on a high note.
(Last week: 2)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (27-47)
According to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-trade-rumors-portland-is-still-the-frontrunner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James L. Edwards III of&nbsp;The Athletic</a>, the Trail Blazers are still the front-runner to trade for Jerami Grant this offseason. "I think a lottery pick would be the kind of sweetener that would [get a deal done]," Edwards told HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.
I just don't understand how a team so badly in need of a reset can cash in what will likely be its highest draft pick in a decade to go make a last-ditch attempt at keeping the current group relevant. Portland does not have a playoff-caliber roster regardless of Damian Lillard's health. Trading away several key future pieces for Jerami Grant will not change this. I'm simply against this move for the franchise's future.
(Last week: 4)
2. Los Angeles Lakers (31-43)
Here we go!
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WHAT A COMEBACK 😱 The Pelicans rally from a 23-point deficit to take down the Lakers in NoLa! <a href="https://t.co/MmFRQr8n2l">pic.twitter.com/MmFRQr8n2l</a>
&mdash; NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1508254421804716033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Lakers are on a two-game skid and the Spurs are on a three-game win streak. Los Angeles has eight games to try and hold off San Antonio and at least survive to reach the postseason. Over the past two weeks, in which the Lakers have gone 2-5, they have the league's ninth-ranked offense and 27th-ranked defense. Their last eight games include the Mavericks, Jazz, Pelicans, Suns, Warriors, Thunder and Nuggets (twice).
Whew, this is not going to be easy!
(Last week: 1)
1. Sacramento Kings (27-48)
The Kings shut down Richaun Holmes for the season due to "personal reasons" and did not specify why. Robin Epley of the <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article259668860.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sacramento Bee found out</a>: Holmes is facing serious domestic violence allegations amid an ongoing custody battle.
Obviously this is an ongoing process with no conclusion yet. But Epley makes the point painfully clear in her article.
"I&rsquo;m not convicting Richaun Holmes ahead of his court date. It does, however, appear that the Kings were focused on covering up a serious situation involving allegations of domestic violence by one of their players. When I contacted the team this week, they refused to comment on the serious charges facing their player, or say anything beyond the cryptic announcement of Holmes&rsquo; departure," she writes.
Epley goes more into some important statistics surrounding domestic violence cases in the U.S. and in the NBA. I seriously implore you to read them if you haven't yet. But the point is: This is yet again another case being swept under the rug by the league and its franchises.
(Last week: 3)
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Ethan Fuller ranks the most frustrating NBA teams in the last Sour Rankings of the season.

NBA Sour Rankings: The final countdown

When&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kings-making-buddy-hield-richaun-holmes-harrison-barnes-available" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeing the report late last week</a>&nbsp;of the Sacramento Kings making Richaun Holmes available for trade, there should&rsquo;ve been several NBA teams channeling a 1980 Muhammad Ali saying, &ldquo;I want Holmes! I want Holmes!&rdquo;&nbsp;
(Couldn&rsquo;t find the clip, but I remember watching it long ago.)
Of course, Ali was talking about former World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes, whom he lost to later that year &mdash; 42 years later, we&rsquo;re talking about an underrated Kings center, but the point stands. Nothing, not even 50-year-old <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFK9zh2yHO4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Johnny Knoxville being in this week&rsquo;s Royal Rumble</a>, is less surprising than the Kings looking to revamp their roster in some form. That basketball team in Sacramento rebuilds more often than Griselda releases music.&nbsp;
But, again,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/sacramento-kings/richaun-holmes-17865/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less than five months after signing a four-year, $46 million extension</a>, including a $12.9 million player option for 2024-25, Holmes is possibly available. At just $10.3 million this season, he&rsquo;s very affordable by NBA standards. Having turned 28 years old in October and playing in year seven, he&rsquo;s in the prime of his career. Given where he currently is, he might indeed be better off elsewhere.&nbsp;
Holmes has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/kings/richaun-holmes-commits-goggles-recounts-scary-eye-injury" target="_blank" rel="noopener">battled an eye injury</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article256988807.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> this season, but has been productive despite a drop in playing time, logging 25.8 minutes through his 32 games (all starts) compared to last year, where he was at 29.2 minutes. He&rsquo;s posting 12.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game this season while shooting a career-best 70% from the floor. Per 36-minutes, he&rsquo;s at 17.1 points, 1.5 blocks and a career-best 11.3 boards. Holmes is a distant first in win shares per 48 minutes at .179 (second is .111). He&rsquo;s also second in team box plus-minus (1.3) behind Tyrese Haliburton&rsquo;s 2.5 and ahead of Harrison Barnes&rsquo; 0.5; everyone else is in the negative. (Yes, that means De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, for whatever that&rsquo;s worth.)&nbsp;
Ideally, if you&rsquo;re the team making this move, you&rsquo;d look to solidify your center position while prepping for your playoff push. The good news is that all of the following teams are in the playoff hunt &mdash; so don't worry, my fellow rec spec-wearing friend, let's get you outta there.&nbsp;
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets are (quietly?) 27-22 as of this writing, and are seventh in the Eastern Conference. At least they're quiet for a team run by a rising star in LaMelo Ball, his underappreciated backcourt mate Terry Rozier, Most Improved Player candidate Miles Bridges and steady swingman Gordon Hayward&nbsp; That&rsquo;s four-fifths of their starting five, with the center spot being occupied by Mason Plumlee. Kelly Oubre Jr. and PJ Washington play significant minutes off the bench, meaning the Hornets &mdash; who are 21st in rebounding and allow the third-most rebounds per game &mdash; are often playing small.&nbsp;
PJ Washington, in particular, is a&nbsp;<a href="https://hoopshype.com/storyline/pj-washington-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade piece that&rsquo;s been rumored to be available</a> and likely has to be included in the deal, since his minutes and production have declined since last season, where he was an everyday starter. It should be added that, entering the last of his rookie-scale contract next season, it&rsquo;s likely the Hornets won&rsquo;t extend him by 2023.&nbsp;
The trade logistically couldn&rsquo;t be PJ for Holmes straight up since Washington only makes $4.2 million this season. The Kings also are rumored to be shopping others on their team, so there&rsquo;s a potential for this to extend beyond Holmes arriving from Sacramento by himself in this hypothetical &mdash; your simplest route is to pair Washington with Plumlee&rsquo;s $8.1 million, which mathematically makes this work straight up. Plumlee has a partially guaranteed $8.5 million coming to him next season, and the Kings should also receive a couple of second-rounders or a first coming back to them, both of which the Hornets <a href="https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Hornets.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have enough to entice with</a>.&nbsp;
A Ball-Rozier-Hayward-Bridges-Holmes lineup sounds fun as hell.
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Richaun Holmes is dunking all over the Lakers 😤 <a href="https://t.co/y9fO2OprSI">pic.twitter.com/y9fO2OprSI</a>
&mdash; NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1465891771489996805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Dallas Mavericks
Between Dwight Powell, Moses Brown, Maxi Kleber, Willie Cauley-Stein, Marquese Chriss and Boban Marjanović, the Dallas Mavericks have had what&rsquo;s felt like a 💩 ton of bigs this season. Even so, as our Nekias Duncan wrote last week, without a true anchor, the Mavs have recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-do-the-mavericks-have-an-elite-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become one of the league&rsquo;s best defenses</a>.&nbsp;
Still, on the roster, there isn&rsquo;t a clear long-term answer there as you continue to build this around the already extended Luka Dončić and, for now, the seemingly bought-in Kristaps Porziņģis. Enter Holmes, who is signed through at least the 2023-24 season. Powell and Kleber, who generally eat the lion&rsquo;s share of minutes next to KP, are both signed through 2022-23 before they&rsquo;d each become unrestricted free agents. Though Kleber makes $8.9 million this season and Powell is at $11 million, both work for Holmes mathematically straight up. Obviously, Dallas would attach at least one or two second-round draft picks, if not a protected first, to either guy (Powell more likely) and make it nearly a straight-up trade.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s room to open this up further. Buddy Hield makes $22.5 million this season, and his contract descends to $20 and $18 million until it expires in the summer of 2024. Tim Hardaway Jr., who Dallas extended this past summer and <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33148625/dallas-mavericks-tim-hardaway-jr-ruled-game-left-foot-injury" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is now out with a fractured left foot</a>, makes $21 million this year but is also on a descending deal that drops to $19.6, $17.9, and $16.1 million through the 2024-25 season. Both struggling shooting guards probably aren&rsquo;t long for their organizations, even as they were both recently extended. Hardaway Jr. was also moved to the bench for Jalen Brunson, who&rsquo;s facing a contract situation of his own given his pending free agency (keep him, Dallas).&nbsp;
So there&rsquo;s a path to this becoming a Powell and Hardaway plus draft picks for Holmes and Hield exchange. Holmes is the type of hustling, dirty-work, efficient and quality center that the Mavericks could use. Unlike in 2K, you can trade injured players in real life &mdash; sorry Tim. Just imagine the push shots off Luka feeds.&nbsp;
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death, taxes, and richaun holmes hitting 62.5% of his push shots (20-of-32) <a href="https://t.co/iGH0xuA7Gn">pic.twitter.com/iGH0xuA7Gn</a>
&mdash; Dan Favale (@danfavale) <a href="https://twitter.com/danfavale/status/1465715242952900614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Toronto Raptors
I mean, could you think of a more Raptor-ass center than Holmes? Who better be run with Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr.?&nbsp;
Now, how do you make this happen? First, with that being the Raptors&rsquo; starting five, where does Holmes fit? Well, it&rsquo;s really their starting five out of necessity because Precious Achiuwa hasn&rsquo;t had the second NBA season they&rsquo;d been hoping for. Ideally, you&rsquo;d still want an actual center in that mix as one of your top six minutes getters so that you have a bit more reliable size. The Raptors don&rsquo;t currently have a true center you could trust for extended periods, and Holmes fills that void.&nbsp;
Now, regarding trade pieces, Chris Boucher is on a $7 million expiring contract, and Khem Birch is on the first of a three-year, $19 million contract, which lands him at $6.3 million this season. Combining those two does work, and it would obviously have to come with considerable draft capital, but even the Kings would probably ask wtf are they going to do with that and have a point.&nbsp;
Remove Birch and insert Achiuwa? That works &ndash; would the Raptors already want to move off the centerpiece of their Kyle Lowry trade, who is just due $2.8 million next year with a $4.3 million team option the season after? I mean, maybe? It would certainly help preserve some draft capital in a hypothetical Holmes trade and, you figure, if you&rsquo;re acquiring a center Achiuwa would have a tougher time seeing minutes anyway. But that&rsquo;s generally what you&rsquo;d be looking at moving if you&rsquo;re Toronto: Boucher and Birch, Boucher and Achuiwa; Boucher, Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, along with some combination of picks or a first-rounder, for Holmes.&nbsp;
And if I&rsquo;m Holmes, I&rsquo;m down for whatever, as long as I could leave Sacramento.&nbsp;
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Bonus: Golden State Warriors
Okay &hellip; here we go.
There&rsquo;s really only one way to do this, and it&rsquo;s using James Wiseman&rsquo;s $9.1 million salary this season straight up. Y&rsquo;all could determine what picks may or may not go where, but these are the two names because the Golden State Warriors don&rsquo;t have much middle-class salary to use, nor do they probably want to shake up their roster a ton, including even this. But if they determine that Wiseman, who hasn&rsquo;t played since Apr. 10 of last year due to a torn meniscus that <a href="https://theathletic.com/news/warriors-james-wiseman-needed-additional-knee-surgery-in-december-sources/DyEHJgzTblrO/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">required additional arthroscopic surgery in December</a>, isn&rsquo;t worth waiting for, then there you have it.&nbsp;
Wiseman showed flashes, but struggled defensively as a rookie while only logging 39 games (though he posted 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds on 52% percent shooting in 21.4 minutes per contest). He&rsquo;ll turn 21 in March, and because of NCAA nonsense, we were only able to see him three times in college. Wiseman&rsquo;s due $9.6 million next year and will likely bank another $12.1 million, assuming his option gets accepted.
I&rsquo;m still a Wiseman stockholder, but I&rsquo;m also pro going for a championship now in this seemingly wide-open NBA season &mdash; an immediate upgrade at center might be what Golden State sees as a necessary step. It makes something like a possible Holmes deal reasonable to think twice about. Just sayin&rsquo;.
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Bryan Fonseca ponders a handful of teams who could be a good fit for Kings big man Richaun Holmes.

Examining potential trade destinations for Richaun Holmes

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

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

2021 Offseason redos: Decisions teams wish they could take back

Arguably the best day on the calendar has officially arrived. Welcome to NBA free-agency, everybody. Today should be a huge news day, with a flurry of big-time moves occurring over the next 24 hours to open the moratorium period. There are already <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/heat-frontrunners-to-land-kyle-lowry-with-dragic-achiuwa-signandtrade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat is pretty much a done deal via sign-and-trade.
Outside of Lowry, one of the biggest names available on the open market who figures to be with a new team soon is DeMar DeRozan.
After being shipped from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard trade, DeRozan has reinvented his game to become one of the better tertiary wing playmakers. Averaging only 3.1 assists over nine seasons in Toronto, DeRozan doubled that to 6.2 assists during his three-year stint with the Spurs.
DeRozan is also one of the best mid-range artists in the Association, able to get buckets at will from his hot spots.
Add those two factors together and DeRozan is a player who is well-deserving of a huge payday. Recently, DeRozan was linked to his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, but now <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/demar-derozan-isnt-expected-to-join-lakers-on-a-discount-contract" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that appears unlikely</a> since he (understandably) wants more than the mid-level exception. Wherever he lands, he could be the missing piece for a team looking to take a leap forward in 2021-22. Let's go ahead and dive into the possible destinations for DeRozan as free agency kicks off.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
After pivoting away from the Lowry sweepstakes, how will Dallas spend their $30-plus million in cap space? Mark Cuban would be wise to splurge on DeRozan, who fits very well alongside the Mavs&rsquo; inside-out duo of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
In order to make this happen, the Mavericks would need to renounce Tim Hardaway Jr.'s cap hold. Although Hardaway Jr. had a resurgent 2020-21 campaign, DeRozan takes much-needed pressure off Doncic as a ball-handler. During the Mavericks' first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Doncic's usage rate was above 40. That can't happen long-term if Dallas wants to make deep playoff runs throughout Doncic's career.
Paying DeRozan $20-$30 million annually over the next three or four years is a gamble, but the disastrous Porzingis max contract has put the Mavericks in a tough spot to make significant splashes. DeRozan is probably their best shot in the near future.
NEW YORK KNICKS
The Knicks have been trying for years to woo superstars to the Big Apple, but every time, they've been left at the altar. With $50 million in cap space, will the Knicks go star hunting once again, or fill out the roster with a lot of win-now role players?
One underlying factor that should play into the Knicks' free-agency decisions is the future of Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard. So much smoke has billowed out of the Pacific Northwest already about Lillard being unhappy and the 2021-22 season potentially being GM Neil Olshey's last chance to build a title contender around the All-NBA point guard.
Right away, the Knicks were mentioned as a team that Lillard could be interested in joining in the near future. If things fall apart for Lillard and the Trail Blazers, New York is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-knicks-should-prepare-to-go-allin-for-damian-lillard-new-york-trade-rumors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set up to make a compelling offer</a> using some pieces from their young core (which includes R.J. Barrett, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson, Immanuel Quickley, Kevin Knox and Quentin Grimes among others).
With DeRozan on the roster, perhaps the Knicks become even more attractive to disgruntled stars since they would likely be closer to contention. Right away, DeRozan helps improve the Knicks' standing in the Eastern Conference, becoming a go-to scorer alongside Julius Randle. And we all know head coach Tom Thibodeau would love him as well.
Even if the Lillard sweepstakes never materializes in the near future, DeRozan gives New York a much-needed boost and helps them stay in the top half of the East over the next couple of seasons.
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NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
The pressure is already on the Pelicans to improve drastically. Time is ticking with their young superstar Zion Williamson. There are already <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/report-patience-of-zion-williamsons-family-with-pelicans-wearing-thin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rumors</a> that some of Williamson&rsquo;s family members want him to change teams, and it&rsquo;s possible that Zion could look to leave if New Orleans continues to stagnate.
New Orleans needs shooting, and lots of it. DeRozan doesn't help them improve in that facet, but he's a win-now fringe star who can help push the Pelicans to the playoffs. A trio of Williamson, Brandon Ingram and DeRozan could be appealing and help Zion make his postseason debut.
If GM David Griffin is able to fill out the roster around Williamson, Ingram and DeRozan with sharpshooters, this has the makings of a playoff team in 2021-22 and beyond. The question is, does DeRozan want to roll the dice on a younger team like New Orleans?
CHARLOTTE HORNETS
DeRozan in Charlotte would be really, really fun. Imagine DeRozan in an up-tempo offense led by LaMelo Ball and surrounded by appealing prospects (such as Miles Bridges, James Bouknight, PJ Washington and Kai Jones). Add in Gordon Hayward and this is a team that&rsquo;s locked into a playoff spot for the next few years.
In order for the Hornets to fit DeRozan into their cap space, they would need to dump Terry Rozier's $17.9 million expiring elsewhere. And with all the guard-needy teams out there, Charlotte could surely find a suitor for Rozier quickly.
The Hornets are still three years away from Ball's big second contract filling up their books. Why not make a run for DeRozan on a three-year deal reaching upwards of $25 million per season? Like the surprising Hayward move last offseason, this is only the way top-tier free agents will consider signing with Charlotte.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies are another team with an intriguing young core that would have to jump through some hoops to make the money work in order to pursue DeRozan. Memphis received their first taste of the playoffs in the Ja Morant era, and they might be hungry for more now with their young star ready to continue his ascent.
DeRozan would fit perfectly into the Grizzlies&rsquo; starting lineup. Memphis needs an aggressive, score-first wing who can also take pressure off Morant. Enter DeRozan, who checks all of those boxes.
However, after Memphis&rsquo; pre-draft trade with the Pelicans that brought in Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams and the No. 10 pick, they&rsquo;d need to pull off some salary-cap magic to make this work. The Grizzlies would likely need to trade Bledsoe and Kyle Anderson's $9.9 million expiring contract. If those moves happened, Memphis would be at $29 million in available cap space.
DeRozan has mentioned he wants to win championships, so will he be interested in Memphis or any of the other young teams listed here that are still a few years away? That's the big question, but, as we all know, money talks.
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MIAMI HEAT
This is where things get really interesting. Pat Riley can recruit with the best of them, and Miami's win-now core has a multi-year championship window. Lowry is on his way to join Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in South Beach. Why not have Lowry's best friend DeRozan join them as well?
This is a lineup that completely ignores the modern importance of spacing. However, as we saw in the playoffs, having copious amounts of bucket-getters on the court simultaneously matters.
Miami has limited flexibility to make this idea happen, but it's certainly possible. In a sign-and-trade with San Antonio, Miami would send Duncan Robinson (whom San Antonio has reportedly shown interest in) and KZ Okpala. If the Spurs signed Robinson to a restricted deal around $20 million per year, this fairytale idea could grow some legs. According to <a href="https://twitter.com/5ReasonsSports/status/1421918275500453890" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports</a>, Miami has tossed around the idea of Lowry and DeRozan as their big-fish acquisitions.&nbsp;
Never count out Pat Riley. We'll see if this type of situation bubbles to the surface here soon.
INDIANA PACERS
The Pacers are in an interesting spot. Do they run it back or blow it all up in the near future? Right now, Indiana seems <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">stuck in the middle</a>, and that's not a good place to be. Hiring Rick Carlisle as their new head coach after the disastrous Nate Bjorkgren tenure, the Pacers might feel they can stand pat and see how this season goes before making big changes.
However, the Pacers would be wise to explore all options with their core players, sans Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren and Domantas Sabonis. Pacers owner Herb Simon is about to be 87 years old, so he likely wants Indiana to be competitive again.
If DeRozan intrigues Indiana, perhaps the Pacers can send the salaries of Myles Turner and Jeremy Lamb to San Antonio in a sign-and-trade scenario. Turner, who has been in trade rumors for years now, is also a player whom the Spurs could covet as a long-term piece.
Indiana has avoided paying the luxury tax during Simon&rsquo;s tenure as owner, and acquiring DeRozan doesn't change that. The Pacers would be able to bring aboard DeRozan, while also re-signing backup point guard T.J. McConnell on a long-term deal.
A win-now core for Indiana featuring DeRozan, LeVert, Sabonis and Warren is very intriguing. However, would DeRozan sign off on playing in Indianapolis for the next few years?
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Now we're starting to get crazy, but, again, it's possible. The Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard most of next season due to a partially torn ACL. Why not package together Luke Kennard and Patrick Beverley and scour the sign-and-trade market? Those two together equal out to $27 million. What about Kennard, Beverley and some second-round picks for DeRozan? Would that interest San Antonio?
Los Angeles would still be able to bring back Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum on team-friendly deals in this scenario as well, if Leonard waits to re-sign a big contract.&nbsp;
Imagine a starting lineup of Jackson, DeRozan, Paul George, Leonard and Ivica Zubac. That's a true threat to win multiple championships in the near future.
DeRozan has already expressed his desire to return home. With the Lakers making the Russell Westbrook trade, their assets and cap flexibility are limited. Enter the Clippers, who could make another shocking splash in free-agency.
Free-agency is here, so stay locked into BasketballNews.com for all the latest news and rumors.

DeMar DeRozan is one of the biggest free agents available. Where will he land? Evan Sidery examines all of the possible destinations.

Examining possible free-agency destinations for DeMar DeRozan

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;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15715466-1_lg.jpg" alt="" />
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

Nekias Duncan previews the Southeast Division (the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic and Wizards) ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.

2020-21 NBA Season Preview: Southeast Division

The Los Angeles Lakers are your 2019-20 NBA champions.
They made a gamble, flipping virtually all of their young assets and picks for Anthony Davis, and it paid off with a mostly dominant playoff run. Davis was as good as advertised -- probably a little more than advertised considering his jump-shooting hot streak. LeBron James proved once again that he&rsquo;s the NBA&rsquo;s most dangerous playoff weapon. Role players continuously stepped up, even if it became a bit of a revolving door.
Now, the fun part begins.
The Lakers&rsquo; goal will shift to repeating, which means they&rsquo;ll need to improve around the margins to maintain their place at the top. They won&rsquo;t have cap space; they&rsquo;ll have to do a bit of a tax-avoidance dance, if anything. The always-informative Keith Smith has a more thorough breakdown of their cap situation, which you can find <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers-salary-cap-space-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
Let&rsquo;s take a look at some guys they&rsquo;ll look to bring back, as well as some targets that could help them come back stronger than ever.
Key In-House Decisions
Rajon Rondo (Player Option): Bring Him Back
Playoff Rondo may very well be a thing. Teams kept daring him to shoot, and he kept making them pay to the tune of a 40 percent clip on a playoff career-high three attempts. That, combined with his playmaking and suddenly-fine-again defense, made him one of the Lakers&rsquo; more valuable role players during the title run. It shouldn&rsquo;t cost too much to bring him back. BasketballNews.com's Chris Sheridan reported that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-rajon-rondo-opt-out-player-option-contract-los-angeles-lakers-free-agency-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rondo is expected to turn down his $2.7 million player option</a> to cash in during the offseason to look for a pay day. 
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15003781-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Player Option): Bring Him Back
After re-signing Davis, Caldwell-Pope should be the Lakers&rsquo; top priority. He provided solid on-ball defense across three positions and posted a career-high percentage in three-point shooting (38.5 percent). His three-point volume rose to nearly six attempts per contest in the playoffs, while maintaining his efficiency (37.8 percent). A strong argument could be made that he was the Lakers' third-best player throughout the postseason. Utilize those Bird Rights and bring him back. According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/2140002/2020/10/15/nba-free-agency-news-and-rumors-anthony-davis-and-lakers-decisions-heat-contracts-and-more-goran-dragic-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic</a>, Caldwell-Pope is expected to turn down his $8.5 million player option for a new deal. 
Markieff Morris: Bring Him Back
Morris got off to a rough start after joining the Lakers, shooting a little over 33 percent from deep during 14 regular season appearances. He would eventually settle in, drilling 42 percent of his triples during the postseason while seeing his role grow as the Lakers went smaller against the Rockets and Heat, respectively.
Morris in theory has always been a little better than Morris in practice; he isn&rsquo;t quite as versatile defensively as his tools would indicate, and offensive flow can sputter when Morris is on the court. With that said, there&rsquo;s a solid-enough fit next to Davis or as a bench spark in general to warrant his return.
Dwight Howard: Bring Him Back
Howard was a Comeback Player of the Year candidate if there ever was one. For the first time since, well, ever, Howard settled into a role that almost completely excised post-ups. He finally committed to being a clean-up artist: set hard screens or slip them hard, catch lobs and eat off the glass if a shot is missed.&nbsp;
He came off the bench and produced, averaging 7.5 points on a career-high 72.9 percent from the field, while also grabbing 7.3 boards per game in a shade under 19 minutes. It&rsquo;s easy to pinpoint where the boost in efficiency came from: only 11.4 percent of his offensive possessions came from post-ups, via Synergy; during his last full-season stint two years ago with the Charlotte Hornets, that figure was 36.4 percent -- his most frequent playtype by a wide margin. 
Howard has clear value as a vertical spacer and offensive rebounder, while also providing impact as an interior defender. He fouls way too much (6.1 fouls per 36 minutes last season), but still has the pop to alter shots at the rim and the brute strength to bang with post scorers. The Lakers would be smart to bring him back on the low.
JaVale McGee (Player Option): Circle Back Later
McGee remains one of the best lob threats in the NBA and can swat shots with little effort thanks to his length and leaping ability. Foul issues remain, and decision-making away from the rim makes him a postseason target for enemy offenses. It should come as no surprise that Howard eventually usurped him in the starting lineup last postseason. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine him getting much more than a minimum deal if he doesn't exercise his $4.2 million player option. Howard should be higher on the totem pole, and there are better centers in the free agent pool that could command similar money. 
Free Agent Guards
Mid-Tier: Jordan Clarkson&nbsp;
Clarkson is coming off of, by far, the most efficient season of his career. He gave the Utah Jazz a much-needed scoring punch once he arrived, averaging 15.6 points with a 56.9 True Shooting percentage during the regular season. Both of those marks increased (16.7, 57.7) during Utah&rsquo;s first-round showdown with the Denver Nuggets.&nbsp;
Clarkson trading out some of his pull-up long twos for threes went a long way to making him a more efficient option. The Lakers are still lacking in the guard creation department; Clarkson could definitely help.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14160104-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Bargains: Austin Rivers, D.J. Augustin
Rivers brings a particular brand of energy offensively. He&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s underrated drivers, utilizing a quick first step and channeled aggression to generate looks at the rim. He isn&rsquo;t much more than a rudimentary playmaker, but his north-south style would be a welcome addition to the Lakers' bench. He&rsquo;s also a reliable spot-up threat, drilling nearly 38 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes over the past three seasons, according to a source with access to Second Spectrum tracking data.
In the event that Rondo goes elsewhere, Augustin would be a nice consolation prize. He&rsquo;s a traditional table setter that provides more off-ball value than Rondo. Augustin is a career 37.9 percent three-point shooter, and he would likely see a boost in shot quality with a lighter load than the one he had to carry in Orlando.
Free Agent Wings
Mid-Tier: Wesley Matthews
There&rsquo;s a case to be made that Matthews could accept another minimum deal from a contender, either remaining with the Milwaukee Bucks or going elsewhere. There&rsquo;s an even stronger case to be made that he&rsquo;s earned himself a pay day.
Matthews routinely took on the most demanding perimeter defensive assignments throughout the regular season, while knocking down over 36 percent of his threes on decent volume. He then upped the ante in the postseason, most notably putting the clamps on Jimmy Butler during Milwaukee&rsquo;s second-round series against the Miami Heat. The Bucks would lose in five, but it wasn&rsquo;t because Matthews didn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Bargains: Kent Bazemore, Garrett Temple*
Bazemore has been a Laker before and has played off of stars before. It&rsquo;s easy to slot him in as a 3-and-D option with a smidge of secondary creation ability coming off the bench.
 The asterisk is present on Temple's name because the Nets hold a $5 million team option on him, though it&rsquo;d come as no surprise if they let Temple walk to free up tax room to bring back Joe Harris. Temple would give the Lakers a plus, multi-positional defender with a solid three-point stroke (35.3 percent over the past five seasons).
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Free Agent Forwards
Mid-Tier: Danilo Gallinari
Gallinari is one of the most underrated scorers in the league, a true three-level threat that can get busy in a multitude of areas. Normally, he&rsquo;d be one of the few players commanding a near-max pay day in a weak-at-the-top free agency class. However, Gallinari has hinted at <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/danilo-gallinari-says-competing-for-a-championship-is-more-important-than-his-contract-in-free-agency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prioritizing a winning situation</a> over a paycheck.&nbsp;
Now, players say that and fold when presented with offers, so it&rsquo;s fair to take that sentiment with a grain of salt. Remember, we aren&rsquo;t that far removed from Gallinari-to-Miami talks breaking down in (large) part to Gallinari wanting more financial security.&nbsp;
If his desires have shifted, though, this could be an opportunity for the Lakers to strike and add to their offense. Half-court creation was a non-strength at best, weakness at worst last season. Having a guy that can shoot off the bounce and get to the free-throw line almost at will could be devastating, especially when you consider he&rsquo;d likely be feasting on a team&rsquo;s second or third-best defender.
Bargains: Carmelo Anthony
I don&rsquo;t have to spend much time on Melo-to-LA. He loves LeBron, LeBron loves him. Melo doesn&rsquo;t have a ring. He isn&rsquo;t quite as washed as critics (hi, hello!) made him out to be, though it&rsquo;s important not to lose sight of the context that was necessary for him to perform the way that he did.
Anyway, with Melo hitting free agency, this possibility isn&rsquo;t going to die unless he re-signs with the Portland Trail Blazers or goes elsewhere.
Free Agent Bigs
Mid-Tier: Tristan Thompson, Aron Baynes, Hassan Whiteside
Thompson may prove to be out of the Lakers' price range, but he&rsquo;s worth mentioning as a former LeBron teammate and fellow "Klutchian." The early bet is that the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-team-workouts-jb-bickerstaff-collin-sexton-darius-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Cavaliers lock him up for one last deal</a>, but if Thompson wants to go title-hunting, taking the full mid-level exception may appeal to him. If so, it&rsquo;s hard to think of a better landing spot for him than in Los Angeles.
Factoring in money, it&rsquo;s hard to argue against Baynes being one of the most valuable centers in basketball last season. He did the usual grunt work: setting bone-crushing screens as a roller or handoff partner, protected the rim with superb positioning and boxed out well enough to help end possessions or grab the board himself. The new, somewhat surprising twist is that he became a legitimate three-point option (35.1 percent on 4 attempts per game). Stretch-ish fives are hard to find; the fit next to Davis is pretty darn seamless.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14739406-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Whiteside is the real wildcard. His base numbers and on-court impact have never really matched, which makes guesstimating his free agent value a chore. He certainly isn&rsquo;t worth the max deal he signed in 2016; there are far too many holes in his game -- passing, defending in space, processing speed as a whole -- to warrant that price tag.
Yet, despite how frustrating Whiteside can be to watch on both ends, someone with his intersection of rim protection, rebounding and decent-enough touch is worth more than a minimum deal. There&rsquo;s certainly &ldquo;prove it deal&rdquo; potential here. The Lakers have proven they&rsquo;re comfortable running a more traditional drop scheme; Whiteside can thrive around the rim with Davis and LeBron roaming as extra helpers.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Bargains: Nerlens Noel, Harry Giles
Noel is your classic toolsy big whose reputation precedes him a bit. He is talented, of course; he&rsquo;s able to sky for lobs, can knock down the occasional jumper (though you don&rsquo;t want him taking many of them), has wing-like mobility in space and can send shots into orbit. The issue with Noel, aside from help, has been his propensity to go for the home-run on defense, which often leaves him out of position when those gambles fail.&nbsp;
He was a bit more under control in Oklahoma City last season; shockingly, he had his most efficient year to date. There&rsquo;s room for him to command a portion of some team&rsquo;s mid-level exception, but it wouldn&rsquo;t shock me to see him take another prove-it type deal for a contender to set himself up for a pay day in 2021.
Giles also has a bit of an injury history, dating back to his high school days. Multiple lower body injuries have sapped some of his athleticism, and he&rsquo;s still a fluid, jumpy big that can feast in transition. The intrigue lies in his on-ball skill; he&rsquo;s quietly one of the better passing big men in the league already. There&rsquo;s some serious &ldquo;throw it to him in the high post and let him do stuff&rdquo; potential waiting to be untapped. Giles would be a smart buy-low candidate to look into.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Lakers' salary cap situation heading into the offseason and what moves the team should make.

2020 Free Agency Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

The NBA is back.&nbsp;
With the league&rsquo;s annual &lsquo;Day&rsquo; 1 getting underway, all 30 teams have resumed their daily basketball activities. Starting from the Media Day to each of their training camps, players are slowly ramping up as they work to get back in game shape.
For some of these familiar faces, however, a new season awaits them as they&rsquo;re looking for a fresh start in new environments and places. Let&rsquo;s take a look at these players and their potential fits next to their new teams and teammates.&nbsp;
Russell Westbrook rocks new threads with Denver&nbsp;
Russell Westbrook starts a new season with the 2023 champions after his stint with the Clippers. Westbrook aims to bring the energy to a Nuggets squad losing another championship piece in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He slots in immediately as Denver&rsquo;s backup PG with the loss of Reggie Jackson, and the team could also use him to play with the starters and let Jamal Murray slide into the 2 spot. Westbrook will also be teaming up with fellow triple-double savant Nikola Jokic and it will be interesting to see two high-IQ players together on the court.
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New beginnings for <a href="https://twitter.com/russwest44?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@russwest44</a> 😈<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nuggets</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wew6JRNNXm">pic.twitter.com/Wew6JRNNXm</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1839352986826387752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2024</a></blockquote>

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PG13 creates a big three with Embiid and Maxey
Perhaps the biggest signing in the offseason, George immediately slides in with the Sixers to form a big three with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. At 34 years old, PG probably has a good 3 years left in his prime, but he could be in a perfect situation with Embiid and Maxey at their absolute peaks. George is in a position where he&rsquo;s not asked to shoulder much of the offensive load like he did most of the time in his career, and he can play to his strengths &mdash; a two-play wing player with some playmaking chops and be a secondary creator and scorer to Maxey and Embiid. George is also a very good three-point shooter on spot-up and catch-and-shoot attempts and should bode well for both Sixers superstars by spacing the floor for them. Overall an A+ signing by Sixers GM Daryl Morey, and now it all hinges on health as Philly tries to pull it up all together to finally make a Conference Finals in the Embiid era.
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PG in Philly! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/jmSInGKf5L">pic.twitter.com/jmSInGKf5L</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840916610644582775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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A new Philadelphia trio... 🔥 Maxey. Embiid. George.<a href="https://twitter.com/sixers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sixers</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/wjlclZdnhx">pic.twitter.com/wjlclZdnhx</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840803293473230955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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CP3 in San Antonio as Wemby&rsquo;s PG; Harrison Barnes being a veteran piece in a young Spurs team
Victor Wembanyama finally gets his premier PG in Chris Paul. After playing most of last year not having a legitimate table setter, Wemby, and the Spurs add one of the greatest to ever do it at the position. Even approaching 40 years old, Paul should have a lot left in his tank to try and develop as much as possible the young yet hungry Spurs. On the other hand, Barnes adds another veteran piece as San Antonio looks to improve and at least make the play-in this season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WEMBY x CP3 🔥 BIG smiles in San Antonio at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> 😇 <a href="https://t.co/PbV71PCH0c">pic.twitter.com/PbV71PCH0c</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840815076485259469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Wemby &amp; CP3 enjoying <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> 🤩 <a href="https://t.co/rSdwmMIx1m">pic.twitter.com/rSdwmMIx1m</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840801831577895224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Caruso, Hartenstein add more defensive toughness to an already elite OKC squad
Imagine having to add two role players that star in their role to a team that just finished atop the conference a season ago, all without losing someone significant from that core. That&rsquo;s exactly what the Oklahoma City Thunder did by adding Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein into their fold. The move stamped their status even further atop the West with rising stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren getting better over the year and still having MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just starting his prime. Caruso adds yet another defensive bull on the perimeter that already features fellow All-Defensive player Lu Dort, while Hartenstein brings versatility in the frontcourt to possibly play together with Holmgren. The Thunder are poised yet again to make a deep playoff run and it all starts with their offseason acquisitions and their fit into the team.&nbsp;
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Alex Caruso very complimentary of his new backcourt mate, SGA! 🤞<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/Rdxt7r5dQu">pic.twitter.com/Rdxt7r5dQu</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840867849797022103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Klay splashing and spacing the floor for Luka, Mavs
The other Splash brother brings his act to Dallas after spending his first 13 years with the franchise. Thompson immediately fills a need in Dallas to help space the floor and be a decoy for Luka Doncic as he makes plays on the court. At his age, Thompson won&rsquo;t be asked too much like he did in Golden State and this could be a rejuvenation for his career as he finds a new environment with the Mavericks.&nbsp;
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No. 31 from the Dallas Mavericks... Klay Thompson 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/e4M8lNtvQL">pic.twitter.com/e4M8lNtvQL</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840858008794120481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Klay Thompson... NEW BEGINNINGS 🫵<a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/YX9CX1preR">pic.twitter.com/YX9CX1preR</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840806814956265762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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DeMar DeRozan as the final piece to Sacramento&rsquo;s playoff success
DeRozan comes into the Kings&rsquo; lair as one of the most clutch players in the league, and he will play alongside a player of the same caliber in DeAaron Fox. It will be interesting to see how DeRozan&rsquo;s playstyle fits into the Kings&rsquo; offense with their motion offense built on three-point shooting with Domantas Sabonis as the hub, and it will be a good problem how coach Mike Brown integrates him to play a certain kind of way. The Kings are one of the up-and-coming teams in the West and adding a player like DeRozan gives them a different dimension to their offense.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
DeMar DeRozan looking good in his new threads 😎<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/uPYTeKvUBE">pic.twitter.com/uPYTeKvUBE</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1841107569399480506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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New trio in Sacramento 👑<a href="https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SacramentoKings</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/HfnZMmz317">pic.twitter.com/HfnZMmz317</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1841108008769630523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Dejounte Murray, Tyus Jones to solve PG issues in NOLA, PHX
Two teams that have had PG issues last season have finally addressed it by signing two of the quality PGs in the league today: Murray to the Pelicans and Jones to the Suns. Murray slots in as the Pelicans&rsquo; main shot creator, playmaker, and closer. This has been a significant hole for the Pelicans last season, especially in the playoffs when no one other than CJ McCollum (who&rsquo;s getting old) and Brandon Ingram create shots and make plays. Murray immediately comes in and fills this gap and with a returning Zion Williamson, the Pelicans are coming into the season very optimistic about their playoff chances.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Fresh start heading into Year 8 🤲<a href="https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DejounteMurray</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/j3W5D0GFoM">pic.twitter.com/j3W5D0GFoM</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840852492168675766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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New threads for <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> new PG 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DejounteMurray</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/kgIxpGqxkG">pic.twitter.com/kgIxpGqxkG</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840807569150837091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Jones on the other hand also fills the immediate need of a PG, someone who can make plays for others without turning the ball over. Jones has been one of the best if not the best assist-to-turnover ratio guys in the league, and with how Phoenix&rsquo;s roster is constructed, this allows their super scoring big three Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant to do their thing and focus on what they do best. Jones comes in to settle these guys down and put them in the best positions to succeed.&nbsp;
Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson bring veteran savvy and immediate positional needs to Golden State
Some key veteran additions to the Warriors are Hield and Anderson as they continue to beef up their roster around superstar Stephen Curry. Hield will try to replace the production of Klay Thompson after his departure with his deadeye shooting and spacing the floor for Curry. Hield has also been a good off-ball mover and that should bode well for Golden State&rsquo;s offense. Anderson meanwhile, brings his big forward, almost a center playing style to the Warriors and should fit instantly like a Draymond Green clone. Anderson has the playmaking chops and the basketball IQ to seamlessly play in Kerr&rsquo;s system and is a player who seems to understand how to play with and off of the skillset of a player like Curry.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Welcome to The Bay, Buddy! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAMediaDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAMediaDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/ruEDkg7ayU">pic.twitter.com/ruEDkg7ayU</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1840924339090100682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Prince-Trent-Wright trio come to Milwaukee to win
Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr., and Delon Wright have all signed up for a little under than what they were supposed to make and signed with the Bucks for a chance to contribute to a championship contender. All three are exactly what the Bucks need in their scheme of things as they&rsquo;re expected to bring shooting, spacing, and tough perimeter defenders. It&rsquo;s expected that Milwaukee&rsquo;s offense will revolve around superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard so there will be little expectations on these guys to do more and they can just focus on what they do best as role players in the league.

A new season awaits familiar faces in new places. Let’s take a look at them and their potential fits next to their new teams and teammates.

Familiar faces in new places: NBA players’ new home to start the season

Today, the NBA announced the starters for the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis. The players were selected via three voting categories: 50% fan vote, 25% player vote and 25% media vote.
Leading the Eastern Conference All-Stars is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Drafted as the No. 15 pick in 2013 out of Greece,&nbsp;Antetokounmpo is averaging 31.3 PPG, 11.7 RPG and 6.2 APG this season, and he will make his eighth All-Star appearance this year.
Joining Antetokounmpo in the East frontcourt are Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Boston Celtics wing Jayson Tatum. Embiid, the league&rsquo;s reigning MVP, will make his seventh All-Star appearance while averaging 36.1 PPG, 11.6 RPG and 5.9 APG for the 76ers this season. Tatum, drafted as the No. 3 pick in 2017 out of Duke, is averaging 27.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 4.4 APG for the league-best Celtics in his fifth All-Star selection.
In the East backcourt, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton will start in front of his home crowd in just his second All-Star appearance (and first time starting). Drafted as the No. 12 pick in 2020 out of Iowa State, Haliburton is averaging 23.6 PPG, 12.6 APG and 4.1 RPG for the Pacers, who are in the thick of the East&rsquo;s playoff race.&nbsp;
Partnering up with Haliburton in the backcourt is Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, appearing in his eighth All-Star game and his first as a starter. The Bucks&rsquo; prized acquisition gets his chance to start in the East despite a relatively down year by his standards. Lillard is currently averaging 25.3 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.3 RPG, making the Bucks the only team in the NBA to have two All-Star starters.&nbsp;
Over in the Western Conference, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is once again at the helm. Set to make his record-breaking 20th All-Star appearance, James has been an starter for all of them &ndash; a streak that began in 2005 in just his sophomore season. He is currently averaging 24.8 PPG, 7.4 APG and 7.2 RPG for the struggling Lakers this season.
Joining James in the West frontcourt are Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns and Nikola Jokic of the defending-champion Denver Nuggets. Durant, who&rsquo;s making his 14th All-Star selection, will now be one of 11 players in league history to be an All-Star 14 or more times. He&rsquo;s currently averaging 29.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG and 5.7 APG for the resurgent Suns this season. Jokic, a two-time NBA MVP, will make his sixth All-Star appearance while averaging 26.2 PPG, 12.0 RPG and 9.1 APG for the Nuggets this season.
In the West backcourt are Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Doncic is set to appear in his fifth All-Star game, and he is averaging 33.6 PPG, 9.3 APG and 8.5 RPG for the Mavericks this season. Gilgeous-Alexander, in just his second All-Star selection and first as a starter, is averaging 31.1 PPG, 6.4 APG and 5.6 RPG. He has been the main cog for a young Thunder team that has exceeded expectations and sit atop the Western Conference standings.&nbsp;
The All-Star reserves are set to be announced on Feb. 1 and they will be chosen by the NBA coaches in their respective conferences. They will vote two guards, three frontcourt players and two wildcards (any position). If a selected player is unable to participate due to injury or another reason, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will do the honors of selecting his replacement (from the same conference).
This year&rsquo;s All-Star Game is also notably changing back to the traditional East-West format, moving away from the captain-draft system. The previous six iterations of the midseason festivities featured the leading vote-getters from each conference serving as captains who got to draft their teams, with a certain "target score" format that featured an untimed fourth quarter in the last four All-Star Games.

Today, the NBA announced the starters for the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

NBA announces 2024 All-Star starters: Giannis, LeBron named captains

For decades, the United States dominated on the hardwood. Now, that&rsquo;s changing.
Today, the U.S. still produces some of the best players in the world and certainly has the deepest talent pool, but other countries have closed the gap considerably. International superstars have taken the league by storm.
With the success of players like Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Luka Dončić (Slovenia) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), it's no surprise that people are high on international players. 
Antetokounmpo, Jokic and Embiid have combined for the last five Most Valuable Player awards, and four of the last six Defensive Player of the Year awards have gone to foreign players (Giannis and Rudy Gobert). Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship, and now Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are the reigning champs.&nbsp;
Whether it&rsquo;s the FIBA Basketball World Cup or in the NBA, international players are often beating their United States counterparts.&nbsp;
Americans have been outshined as of late, but the U.S. continues to produce some of the very best players in the world. Veteran superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Kyrie Irving continue to excel, while younger studs like Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, are still realizing their full potential and could challenge the influx of international competition. However, Victor Wembanyama (France) enters the 2023-24 season as the most highly anticipated rookie since LeBron James.
Now, let's take a look at the numbers. A year ago, Basketball News&rsquo; Alex Kennedy <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/an-inside-look-at-how-international-players-are-taking-over-the-nba">talked with Troy Justice,</a> the NBA&rsquo;s vice president, head of international basketball development about the international takeover on basketball&rsquo;s biggest stages.
&ldquo;Thirty years ago, there were only 23 international players. Now, we have 121. And to be real honest, I think we're only scratching the surface in terms of not only talent identification but just the development of the game globally,&rdquo; Justice said. &ldquo;So, it's amazing.&rdquo;
Of the 537 active NBA players, 128 are from outside the United States (just under 25%). International players received 88% of the votes in the 2022-23 MVP race, with Embiid, Jokic and Antetokounmpo garnering 84% combined. Of the top-eight vote-getters, only Tatum and Mitchell were American.
And that&rsquo;s not just a one-off. You have to go back to the 2020-21 NBA season to find an American player in the top-three of MVP voting, which was Curry at third (closely followed by Giannis). The last American player to win the MVP award was James Harden in 2017-18. Interestingly, there were no international players in the top-five of MVP voting that year, although Antetokounmpo barely missed out.
Also, following that season, the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy has been very much up for grabs. Previously, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were the perennial NBA Finals matchup and no other teams really came close. LeBron and Steph were the NBA&rsquo;s poster boys, competing for a ring every year. We hadn&rsquo;t seen an international superstar lead his team to a title since Dirk Nowitzki defeated LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2011.
There are many reasons for this championship diversity &ndash; with five different winners in the past five years &ndash; but a big factor is the emergence of these international juggernauts like Jokic and Antetokounmpo. However, it&rsquo;s worth noting that teams with American superstars won three-out-of-five of these championships, led by Kawhi, LeBron and Steph, respectively.
The NBA landscape is volatile and this season will be telling. Will an international player win the MVP award for a sixth-straight time? Which team will be standing after the smoke clears at the end? Can Jokic and the Nuggets repeat? Will Giannis and Dame bring another title to Milwaukee? Or will one of the other contenders win it all?
American players are no doubt still some of the best in the sport and are well ahead in terms of numbers. But, particularly at the top, international players have fully closed the gap and have begun building their own disparity.&nbsp;
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

While the U.S. still produces some of the best NBA players in the world, other countries have closed the gap considerably.

USA vs. international basketball: Is the gap closing or opening up?

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced today.&nbsp;
This is the second Kia WNBA Most Valuable Award for Stewart and the first for a member of the Liberty. Stewart previously earned the honor in 2018 with the Seattle Storm.
Stewart becomes the eighth player in WNBA history to win the award multiple times, joining three-time winners Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes and two-time winners Cynthia Cooper, Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker and A&rsquo;ja Wilson.
Stewart received 20 first-place votes, 23 second-place votes and 17 third-place votes from a national panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters, earning 446 total points. Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas finished in second place with 439 points (23 first-place votes, 12 second-place votes and 25 third-place votes). Las Vegas Aces center A&rsquo;ja Wilson, the 2020 and 2022 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, was third with 433 points (17 first-place votes, 25 second-place votes, 17 third-place votes and one fourth-place vote).
Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, five points for a third-place vote, three points for a fourth-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote.&nbsp;
With Stewart and Thomas separated by seven points, this marks the second-smallest margin between the first- and second-place finishers in the history of the award; the closest finish was a two-point difference between MVP Swoopes (327 points) and runner-up Jackson (325) in 2005. The 13 points separating Stewart and Wilson represent the smallest margin between first- and third-place vote-getters for MVP in WNBA history, surpassing the 45-point difference between MVP Parker (234) and third-place finisher Delle Donne (189) in 2013.
In addition, this is the second time in WNBA history that the MVP runner-up received more first-place votes than the award recipient. In 2005, Jackson received 20 first-place votes and Swoopes received 16.
In her seventh WNBA season and first with the Liberty, Stewart&nbsp;averaged 23.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.57 blocked shots and 1.45 steals in 34.1 minutes in 40 games. She ranked second in the WNBA in scoring, third in rebounding, 16th&nbsp;in assists, fourth in blocks and minutes and eighth in steals.&nbsp;The four-time All-WNBA First Team selection also finished second in efficiency (27.6) and third in double-doubles (20).
Behind Stewart, New York (32-8) recorded the second-most wins in a season in league history, posted its largest average margin of victory (13.16) in a season and earned the No. 2 seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Liberty will continue the pursuit of its first WNBA championship when it hosts the Sun in Game 2 of the Semifinals tonight (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Connecticut leads the series 1-0.&nbsp;
The 6-4 Stewart was named the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for three of the four possible months of the 2023 WNBA season, May, July and August, when New York posted a combined 21-4 record. In addition, she was honored as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week six times.
For the second consecutive year, Stewart was the No. 2 vote-getter in fan voting for the AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game, where she captained Team Stewart to a 143-127 victory over Team Wilson. She also helped New York win the third annual WNBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup presented by Coinbase, with the Liberty defeating the Aces 82-63 on the road in the championship game on Aug. 15.
Additional highlights of Stewart&rsquo;s 2023 season include:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Posted her first four regular-season games of 40 or more points, setting a WNBA single-season record and matching Diana Taurasi for the most in a career.</li>
<li>Scored a career-high and franchise-record 45 points in 30 minutes in a 90-73 win over the Indiana Fever on May 21, the most points ever by a WNBA player in 30 minutes or fewer.</li>
<li>Registered 43 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in a 99-95 victory against the Phoenix Mercury on July 5, marking the second game of at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in WNBA history.</li>
<li>Became the first player in WNBA history to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a half, doing so in the first half of a 95-84 win over the Atlanta Dream on July 27.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Set single-season franchise records for total points (919) and rebounds (371) and finished with the second-most points in a season by a WNBA player.</li>
<li>Became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 4,000 points (196 games).</li>
</ul>
Stewart, a native of North Syracuse, N.Y, and a four-time NCAA champion at the University of Connecticut, was selected by the Storm with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm. She signed with the Liberty as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2023 season. Stewart holds career averages of 20.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.50 blocks and 1.36 steals.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In honor of being named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, Stewart will receive $15,450 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany &amp; Co.
Below are the voting results for the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player Award:
&nbsp;

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced today.

New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart wins 2023 WNBA MVP award

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Tobias Harris had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame the absence of Joel Embiid to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs.
James Harden added 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the third-seeded 76ers, who will wait for the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics have a 2-1 lead.
The 76ers hope Embiid will be recover from his sprained right knee in time for the start of the next series; the MVP finalist and two-time NBA scoring champion was ruled out Friday night and the 76ers struggled to score without him.
So they turned to their defense, and ended up outscoring the Nets 21-4 during a stretch of more than eight minutes in the third quarter.
Tyrese Maxey finished a strong series with 16 points and Paul Reed added 10 points and 15 rebounds after replacing Embiid in the starting lineup.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 20 points and Nic Claxton had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who were swept for the second straight year and have lost 10 straight postseason games. They went 0-8 this season against the 76ers.
Embiid went to the locker room early in Game 3 and was limping a couple times later in the game, but had a blocked shot to preserve a two-point lead with 8.8 seconds left and said afterward he was OK. But coach Doc Rivers said Embiid was complaining of soreness behind his knee and already had swelling shortly after the game. An MRI exam revealed the sprain.
Dorian Finney-Smith&rsquo;s 3-pointer two minutes into the third quarter made it 53-42, matching the Nets&rsquo; largest lead of the game. But Harden and P.J. Tucker hit consecutive 3s to get the Sixers started on what became a 14-0 run that made it 56-53 on Reed&rsquo;s basket.
Maxey&rsquo;s 3-pointer extended it to 63-57 with 1:49 remaining in the period, capping the Nets&rsquo; lengthy drought that would have seemed unimaginable when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn.
They were both dealt at midseason, and this team went down just as quickly as the one they led last season, when Brooklyn was also the first team eliminated after getting swept by Boston.
Embiid averaged only 20 points in the series, 13 below his NBA-leading average of 33.1, as the Nets heavily double-teamed him.
But those double-teams were leaving open looks for their guards that weren&rsquo;t available Saturday, and the Sixers were just 2 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half as the Nets led 48-40.
But the 76ers limited them to 40 points in the second half and eventually pulled away to a 14-point lead as the cheers of the Sixers fans in the building grew louder.
TIP-INS
76ers: Philadelphia&rsquo;s eight-game winning streak against Brooklyn in the playoffs is its second-longest ever against an opponent. The 76ers beat the New York Knicks 10 straight times in the early 1980s.
Nets: The Nets fell to 0-7 all-time at home against the 76ers in the postseason. ... Patty Mills played for the first time in the series, going scoreless in five minutes. ... Brooklyn&rsquo;s last playoff win remains Game 5 against Milwaukee in the 2021 East semifinals.
DREADED LETTERS
Rivers said he doesn&rsquo;t worry when he sees Embiid appear to be hurting, as he was at times during Game 3. His concerns begin when he is told the medical staff wants to do an MRI exam.
&ldquo;As a coach I hate that word, I hate those three letters. I mean, because it never comes out well,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;It just feels like that whenever they tell a coach, &lsquo;Hey, we&rsquo;re going to get an MRI,&rsquo; it doesn&rsquo;t turn out well most of the time and this one did not.&rdquo;

The 76ers beat the Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs.

76ers finish sweep of Nets without Embiid in 96-88 win

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic is a finalist to win a third straight NBA MVP award, with Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo the players who can stop him.
The three leading vote-getters for the league&rsquo;s individual awards were announced Friday and the marquee category featured familiar names.
Jokic repeated as MVP last year, with Embiid the runner-up and Antetokounmpo third. The Denver Nuggets center could now become the first player to win three straight MVP awards since Hall of Famer Larry Bird from 1984-86.
Antetokounmpo has also won consecutive MVP awards, in 2019 and 2020, along with an NBA Finals MVP when the Milwaukee Bucks captured the 2021 title. Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers center who won his second straight scoring title, has never won.
The winners will be announced beginning next week.
The finalists for the other categories:
COACH OF THE YEAR
Mike Brown, Sacramento; Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City; Joe Mazzulla, Boston.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Paolo Banchero, Orlando; Walker Kessler, Utah; Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Jalen Brunson, New York; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City; Lauri Markkanen, Utah.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis; Brook Lopez, Milwaukee; Evan Mobley, Cleveland.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Malcolm Brogdon, Boston; Bobby Portis, Milwaukee; Immanuel Quickley, New York.
CLUTCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jimmy Butler, Miami; DeMar DeRozan, Chicago; De&rsquo;Aaron Fox, Sacramento.

Nikola Jokic is a finalist to win a third straight MVP award, with Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo the players who can stop him.

NBA award finalists: Jokic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo competing for MVP

Professional basketball players are in a constant state of data collection. Al Horford's been logging tricks of his trade for 16 years, and it's helped him reinvent his game to suit a team in the title hunt.
Horford, age 36, will be the fourth-oldest starter and fifth-oldest rotation player in the 2023 NBA playoffs, behind only LeBron James, Chris Paul, PJ Tucker and Kyle Lowry. He has dramatically transformed his game to suit the era and needs of today's league, and the Celtics have taken note.
After a March 1 win against the Cavaliers, coach Joe Mazzulla alluded to Horford's evolution, heightened by his experience and attention to detail.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s massive,&rdquo; Mazzulla said postgame. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a great job this year in recognizing coverage and screening. ...And he recognized the coverage [the Cavaliers] were in and popped and shot it. The second time they tried to switch him, he created an advantage. He&rsquo;s constantly trying to find small ways to reinvent his game.&rdquo;
Horford is averaging his highest minutes per game (30.6) of the last five seasons, but his on-ball role has diminished to career-lows according to practically every go-to metric (usage rate, touches, touch time, etc.). He's played five total seasons with the Celtics across two stints; comparing his usage across those years is fascinating. Here's some touch data from PBP Stats highlighting three such years: his All-Star season in 2017-18, his first season back in Boston in 2021-22, and this current one.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 110px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Year</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Touches/game</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Frontcourt touches/game</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Elbow touches/game</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Post touches/game</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 44px;">Seconds per touch</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">2017-18</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">63.5</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">40.0</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">3.1</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">5.2</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">2.20</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">2021-22</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">49.2</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">29.4</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">2.2</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">1.9</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">1.73</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">2022-23</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">45.7</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">25.4</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">1.1</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">0.9</td>
<td style="width: 14.84579%; height: 22px;">1.53</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
It makes sense that Horford would take a back seat in his return to the Celtics given that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had risen to stardom. But the elbow and post touch volume in particular is stunning &mdash; Horford is getting the ball in those spots not even half as much as last year, and fractionally compared to his last All-Star appearance. His days of facilitating and scoring out of the post are over.
We all know Horford has laid down a transcendant shooting year, but the scale of his shift to the arc cannot be overstated. Per Cleaning the Glass, a whopping 67% of Horford's total shot attempts have come from distance. That is a mind-boggling 23% increase from last year; to put that in context, Horford had never increased his three-point frequency by more than 12% year-over-year since he first started shooting them often in 2015-16.&nbsp;
To make this type of leap &mdash; and match it with a career-high 44.6% clip (an 11% jump from last year) &mdash; is one of the more astounding developments I've seen from a veteran in some time.&nbsp;
Boston needs Horford at this level for the playoffs. Last year, the Warriors gunked up the Celtics offense in the NBA Finals by shutting off driving lanes for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen. They were unafraid to let Horford and Grant Williams bomb away above the break, even as both shot the ball well, if it meant Tatum and Brown could not penetrate the defense.&nbsp;
But this year could be different. Horford can punish as a reliable outlet on his own or force opponents to stay home on him. He's also more than doubled his shot frequency in the corners and added an area defenses have to track.
Horford's evolving role means we see less of him as the facilitating big that has helped define his game in the past. But he's still a very good passer and the numbers (and tape) back this up.
The NBA Underground has a set of <a href="https://thenbaunderground.com/analytics/better-passing-stats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statistics that help us understand passing impact</a> beyond basic assists per game. One interesting number: passing turnover to potential assist ratio, which basically says that for every 100 potential assists (pass leading to a shot attempt), a player is logging X amount of passing turnovers.
Horford is averaging 3.9 passing turnovers per 100 potential assists, putting him seventh-best among 364 players. It's not a perfect assessment of passing, but it shows he's making quality decisions when he does have the ball. Just under 10% of his total passes this year turned into assists or free throws, a mark that ranks ninth among bigs this year, per Second Spectrum.&nbsp;
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Plays like this are meaningful because Boston should want to get Tatum cutting and running without the ball. It keeps him from being the sole defensive focus and allows him to get up to speed more easily. Horford and Robert Williams III are both capable high-low passers, and while this isn't a jaw-dropping dime, it shows how either big can be leveraged effectively.
Horford isn't put in this position as often anymore, but he still gets plenty of assists by swinging the ball around at the arc and dishing short passes to Celtics guards and wings who use screens off the ball. There's schematic creativity on display around Horford and he's tasked with making the advantage pay off.
We could say the same for his defense. Derrick White has been Boston's best defender this season. Robert Williams is the team's most dynamic shot-blocker and Marcus Smart is the intense tone-setter. But I truly don't think this is a top-5 unit without Horford holding down his role as an individual stopper.
The Celtics typically task Horford with handling the opponent's best scoring forwards or bigs. Among the 20 players he matched up against for 20 or more possessions per game this season (per NBA Stats): Bam Adebayo, Deandre Ayton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Paolo Banchero, Nikola Vucevic, Myles Turner.
Many of these players are also heavily involved in pick-and-rolls, where the Celtics usually ask Horford to play some form of shallow drop coverage while the guard goes over the screen. The shallow drop big man is one of the toughest responsibilities in today's NBA; they have to contain the drive from a guard while keeping the roll man in front to remove a lob threat.
And that's not all he's doing &mdash; Boston switches a lot away from the ball, so Horford then has to slide onto wings and occasionally guards. He actually spoke about this a couple weeks ago with JJ Redick on The Old Man and the Three (start at 31:30).&nbsp;
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Horford's impact shows up in several of the defensive stats I've come to trust. BBall Index has created estimates for defensive positional versatility and role versatility based on what positions and usage rates players are guarding. Horford ranks in the 92nd and 85th percentiles at his position, respectively.&nbsp;
Also from BBall Index: Horford is contesting 38.1% of opponents' shots at the rim while he is on the court (89th percentile) and holding opponents to an at-rim efficiency 6.2% lower than expected (91st percentile). Those are particularly impressive numbers considering Horford is 36 and not a volume shot-blocker.
It will certainly help to have Rob Williams by his side. The two bigs have only played 330 minutes together this season, but the Celtics are outscoring opponents by 15.1 points per 100 possessions when they share the floor.
Still, Horford is going to take the primary frontcourt assignments before Williams. And this postseason run could be a gauntlet. The Celtics start by facing the Hawks' trio of John Collins, Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu. Win that series, and there's a good chance they meet Embiid in the second round. An Eastern Conference Finals trip could see Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, or Mobley and Allen. Then, should Boston make a return Finals run, they might run into any of Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, Jaren Jackson Jr., Deandre Ayton, or others at the big positions.&nbsp;
That's a monster workload for a 36-year-old trying to play into June for the second consecutive year.&nbsp;And&nbsp;he carries pivotal pressure as a spacer and ball-mover.&nbsp;
Horford's evolution has been commendable and his value to the Celtics far outweighs his spotlight. If Boston wants to win a championship, he can't let up on either end.

Horford will hold down key two-way roles for however far the Celtics advance in the postseason.

NBA Stats Notebook: Why Al Horford is the Celtics' playoff X Factor

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; Zach LaVine scored 39 points, DeMar DeRozan had 23 against his former team and the Chicago Bulls overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 109-105 in a play-in tournament game Wednesday night.
Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who trailed 66-47 in the third quarter before LaVine carried them back. He scored 17 points in the third as Chicago cut the gap to nine, then added 13 more in the fourth to help the Bulls advance.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said LaVine was &ldquo;phenomenal&rdquo; against the Raptors.
&ldquo;His performance was extraordinary,&rdquo; Donovan said. &ldquo;It gave us life and it gave us hope.&rdquo;
The Bulls will visit the Miami Heat on Friday night for the chance to earn the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, and a first-round playoff matchup with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Chicago went 3-0 against the Heat this season. The Bulls won in Miami twice, including on opening night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The Bulls were down 19 POINTS and came back to eliminate the Raptors 😳 Zach LaVine: 39 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST DeMar DeRozan: 23 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST <a href="https://t.co/ys7wUVThcs">pic.twitter.com/ys7wUVThcs</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1646329837567582211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to make adjustments. We are, too,&rdquo; LaVine said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be whoever wants it more. I think it comes down to that.&rdquo;
The Bulls shot 3 for 19 from 3-point range through the first three quarters but LaVine connected twice as Chicago made four of seven from distance in the fourth.
Fred VanVleet had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Pascal Siakam scored 32 points, but Toronto&rsquo;s season ended in disappointment as the Raptors &mdash; with DeRozan&rsquo;s nine-year-old daughter, Diar,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shout-it-out-derozans-daughter-goes-viral-in-playin-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener">screaming when they shot</a>&nbsp;&mdash; went a dismal 18 for 36 at the free throw line. Toronto missed six attempts from the line in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;I thought we played well enough to win tonight but it just didn&rsquo;t go our way,&rdquo; Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
Scottie Barnes had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, and O.G. Anunoby scored 13 points. Toronto didn&rsquo;t win three straight until January and never won more than four in a row in a season that struggled to generate any momentum.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to be better,&rdquo; Siakam said. &ldquo;Not consistent enough and that&rsquo;s got to change.&rdquo;
Chicago&rsquo;s Alex Caruso connected from the corner to tie the score at 91-all with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter and Patrick Beverley&rsquo;s 3 with 5:07 remaining gave the Bulls a 96-93 lead. It was Beverley&rsquo;s first basket of the game.
VanVleet&rsquo;s 3 with 3:11 to go knotted it again at 100-all, but LaVine and DeRozan replied with baskets for the Bulls.
Barnes and Siakam each made one of two at the line inside the final two minutes, and VanVleet missed a 3 that would have tied the game.
Siakam&rsquo;s driving dunk with 19 seconds left cut it to 105-104. After a timeout, LaVine pushed the lead to three with a pair of free throws. Caruso fouled Siakam on a 3 but the Raptors star missed his second and third attempts.
The Raptors led 28-23 after one and 58-47 at the break after VanVleet connected on a halfcourt heave at the halftime buzzer.
VanVleet&rsquo;s 3 with 9:09 left in the third gave Toronto a 19-point edge, but LaVine and the Bulls trailed 81-72 heading to the fourth.
SHOWING HIS COLORS
Former NBA All-Star Charles Oakley, who played for both the Bulls and Raptors, sat in a courtside seat. Oakley wore a black hoodie with Toronto Raptors printed in gold letters on the back.
TIP-INS
Bulls: LaVine shot 13 for 15 at the free throw line. The Bulls went 18 for 22. &hellip; Patrick Williams scored 10 points.
Raptors: VanVleet had eight assists. &hellip; Siakam had nine rebounds.

Zach LaVine scored 39 points, and the Bulls overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Raptors 109-105 in a play-in game on Wednesday.

Zach LaVine scores 39, Bulls beat Raptors 109-105 in Play-In Game

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme&nbsp;of Gonzaga is one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the men&rsquo;s college basketball player of the year.
He&rsquo;s joined by Zach Edey of Purdue, Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana, Houston&rsquo;s Marcus Sasser <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-auburn-houston-71fdd7fe1b3336cec5b544bf12d30e83">Marcus Sasser</a>&nbsp;and Jalen Wilson of Kansas.
Timme took his team farthest in the upset-riddled NCAA Tournament with Gonzaga losing in the Elite Eight. Sasser helped Houston reach the Sweet 16. Purdue lost in the first round, while Indiana and Kansas were beaten in the second round.
The winner will be announced April 4 on ESPN. All five players have been invited to Los Angeles for the 47th annual presentation on April 7.
Also among the top 10 vote getters were: Jaime Jaquez Jr. of UCLA, Brandon Miller of Alabama, Penn State&rsquo;s Jalen Pickett, Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky and Arizona&rsquo;s Azuolas Tubelis.
Voting took place from March 13-20.
South Carolina&rsquo;s Dawn Staley will receive the Legends of Coaching Award during the ceremony at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Drew Timme of Gonzaga is one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the men’s college basketball player of the year.

Gonzaga’s Drew Timme among 5 finalists for men’s Wooden Award

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; The video banner above the entrance to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday read: &ldquo;Welcome Rick Pitino.&rdquo;
More like welcome back for the&nbsp;new St. John&rsquo;s coach.
Back to The Garden, where he once coached the Knicks.
Back to the Big East, the conference that launched his stardom and where he won his last NCAA championship.
Back to big-time college basketball after a series of scandals made it seem as if that part of his career was over.
&ldquo;So, when I went to Iona, I said that Iona was going to be my last job,&rdquo; Pitino said at his introductory news conference at MSG. &ldquo;And the reason I said that is who&rsquo;s going to hire a 70-year-old ? No matter how much I think I&rsquo;m Peter Pan, who&rsquo;s going hire a 70-year-old?&rdquo;
St. John&rsquo;s gave the Hall of Famer a six-year contract to turn back the clock on a program that once stole New York City tabloid headlines away from the Knicks in the 1980s under coach Lou Carnesecca but has been mired in mediocrity for more than two decades.
The Red Storm once played most of their biggest home games at The Garden. Pitino said the goal is to have all their Big East games played there going forward.
&ldquo;Lou built a legendary program. Legendary,&rdquo; Pitino said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m all in with everything that St. John stands for. I&rsquo;m excited about it. I can&rsquo;t wait to get started.
&ldquo;And it&rsquo;s going to start with a culture of work.&rdquo;
Pitino, who was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island, has won 832 games in 34 full seasons as a college head coach, including NCAA championships at Kentucky in 1996 and Louisville in 2013.
The title at Louisville was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-in-state-wire-basketball-college-sports-sports-c2c67d13ef72450894095dc3369ee185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vacated for NCAA violations,</a>&nbsp;and another NCAA case related to the FBI&rsquo;s investigation into corruption in college basketball recruiting led to Pitino being fired by Louisville in 2017.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-basketball-mens-college-louisville-c33326925a9e27a742e05f0abc668f80" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The final ruling</a>&nbsp;from the NCAA&rsquo;s outside enforcement arm on the FBI case came down in November and exonerated Pitino.
There was also a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="http://archive.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2010/08/06/pitino_accuser_is_found_guilty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">criminal extortion case</a>&nbsp;in which Pitino was the victim during his time at Louisville that revealed personal indiscretions.
&ldquo;Well, it doesn&rsquo;t matter what you believe, what you don&rsquo;t believe,&rdquo; Pitino said. &ldquo;The one thing all my players have said, because they all wrote letters for me: I&rsquo;ve never cheated the game. I never gave a player anything that he didn&rsquo;t deserve in life.&rdquo;
St. John&rsquo;s president, the Rev. Brian Shanley, said the decision to hire Pitino was his call.
&ldquo;Yeah, sure, there&rsquo;s some reputational risk because of things that have happened before, but I think Rick is at a point in his life where he&rsquo;s learned from things that have happened in the past,&rdquo; Shanley told The Associated Press. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;d be the first one to tell you he&rsquo;s done things that he regrets. Who doesn&rsquo;t when you get to be that age? I know I have. I&rsquo;m a believer in forgiveness and new beginnings as a priest, and I think Rick&rsquo;s going to do a great job for St. John&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
Carnesecca, 98 and getting around with the help of a walker these days, sat in the front row of Pitino&rsquo;s news conference.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a home run with the bases loaded,&rdquo; Carnesecca said.
Carnesecca was one of the Big East&rsquo;s brightest coaching stars, along with Georgetown&rsquo;s John Thompson and Villanova&rsquo;s Rollie Massimino, when Pitino became Providence head coach in 1985 at the age of 32.
Thirty-eight years later, Pitino&rsquo;s Providence ties helped him land at St. John&rsquo;s after three seasons at Iona, a small Catholic school in New Rochelle, just north of New York City.
Shanley previously was the president of Providence. He helped turn around a lagging men&rsquo;s basketball program by hiring coach Ed Cooley and investing in facilities upgrades.
&ldquo;If I wasn&rsquo;t a Providence Friar, he would have never even considered it,&rdquo; Pitino said.
Shanley attempted to lure Pitino away from Louisville and back to Providence years ago, but he didn&rsquo;t know much about the coach personally back then. He said he talked to a lot of people about Pitino this time around.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say my behind-the-scenes wisdom person was Mike Tranghese, the former commissioner of the Big East,&rdquo; Shanley said. &ldquo;He got me Ed Cooley last time, and I think we came out pretty well this time, too.&rdquo;
Cooley was&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/georgetown-basketball-ed-cooley-patrick-ewing-42e2d586ee18c9ec94b490aadc489b29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hired by Georgetown</a>&nbsp;on Monday.
Pitino said he&rsquo;s bringing his entire staff with him from Iona, which announced the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-iona-fdu-anderson-pitino-dae6ca2272dddfbbd8e39dce02d3ae96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hiring of Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson to replace Pitino</a>&nbsp;earlier in the day.
Pitino will try to become the first coach to take six different schools to the NCAA Tournament as he gets one more shot on the big stage.
&ldquo;I deserve it,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;because I&rsquo;ve earned it.&rdquo;

Rick Pitino addressed the media after becoming the new head coach at St. John's.

Rick Pitino returns to big stage at St. John’s: ‘I’ve earned it’

They are the five letters no No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed ever wants to see: Upset.
Thursday marks the five-year anniversary of University of Maryland-Baltimore County &mdash; the tiny school few fans had ever heard of, let alone picked in their bracket &mdash; pulling off the biggest upset in college basketball history by beating the tournament&rsquo;s top seed in Virginia.
UMBC&rsquo;s lasting legacy became this: If you don&rsquo;t watch out, No. 1 can mean one-and-done.
While there were some close calls before 2018, No. 1 seeds had gone 135-0 before UMBC routed Virginia 75-54 at Charlotte&rsquo;s Spectrum Center. Now they are 1-147. Like the men, the women&rsquo;s side of March Madness has seen only one 16 knock off a 1: Harvard over Stanford in 1998.
On Thursday, three more No. 1 seeds &mdash; Alabama, Kansas and Houston &mdash; take the court looking to avoid what the Cavaliers endured five years ago, while their respective opponents Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi, Howard and Northern Kentucky look to capture that &ldquo;One Shining Moment&rdquo; and etch their name in history alongside the Retrievers.
Ryan Odom, the Retrievers coach that season, said after the game &ldquo;these are the moments that you dream of.&rdquo; while his players celebrated in a cramped locker room after shocking the world. Diminutive 5-foot-8, 140-pound guard KJ, Maura and his teammates joked about there being &ldquo;no more perfect brackets&rdquo; and possibly becoming the focal point of a future ESPN &ldquo;30 for 30&rdquo; episode.
Some players struggled to process the enormity of the moment, hugging each other long and hard.
&ldquo;It felt like my soul left my body, man,&rdquo; UMBC guard Jourdan Grant said that day.
Odom, now the head coach at Utah State, a No. 10 seed in this year&rsquo;s tourney, said Wednesday it was &ldquo;a memory that will last a lifetime.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Will a 16 ever beat a 1 again? I have no idea,&rdquo; Odom said. &ldquo;It takes a special group. It takes a lot of luck in order to have a chance to win any game in the NCAA Tournament.&rdquo;
Former UMBC guard Joe Sherburne said it remains the single greatest day of his life.
&ldquo;You can measure my life by this: before that day, and after that day,&rdquo; Sherburne said Wednesday. When friends introduce him to people, the first thing they say is &ldquo;Joe played for UMBC.&rdquo;
Sherburne, who works as a financial adviser, remembers the day well.
As UMBC&rsquo;s lead over Virginia grew to double digits in the second half he sensed something special, something miraculous was happening. He struggled to concentrate on the next play call while sitting on the bench during TV timeouts: &ldquo;I felt like I was in shock.&rdquo;
Could this really be happening? Could a 20 1/2-point underdog really beat the No. 1 team in the nation in the NCAA Tournament?
But it happened &mdash; and everyone suddenly wanted to know their story.
Sherburne stayed at the arena until 1 a.m. doing interviews before returning to the team hotel where he was greeted by overwhelmed fans, friends and family members. He and his teammates watched &ldquo;Sports Center&rdquo; on repeat and ate pizza, basking in the moment.
&ldquo;We were all still running on adrenaline,&rdquo; Sherburne said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t eat or drink. I can usually eat a whole Domino&rsquo;s pizza by myself, but I couldn&rsquo;t that night. I might have had two or three slices.&rdquo;
Sherburne still wishes the celebration had gone on for days longer, but UMBC lost a close second round loss to Kansas State two days later.
Still, there will always be the satisfaction of accomplishing something that had never been done before. Sherburne is hoping it stays that way for awhile.
After the final 16 seed lost in last year&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament, he toasted UMBC&rsquo;s legacy with a shot of whiskey.
Two years ago, he attended Game 6 the 2016 NBA Finals where he watched former Virginia big man Mamadi Diakite win a championship ring. Diakite was one of six Virginia players from that team to play in the NBA; UMBC had none.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sitting in the arena that night, in the second row from the top, thinking to myself, &rsquo;You know, just a couple of years ago I was making this guy and his teammates cry,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sherburne said.
UMBC players haven&rsquo;t had an in-person reunion, but Sherburne said players remain in touch on group texts.
Last week, Odom opened one of those texts to find players and assistant coaches reminiscing about star guard Jairus Lyles&rsquo; buzzer-beater to beat Vermont in the 2018 America East Conference Tournament championship game &mdash; a dramatic win that earned the Retrievers an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Odom&rsquo;s eyes swelled up with tears as he scrolled through the comments and pictures.
&ldquo;Each team that we&rsquo;re fortunate enough to coach has one life to live,&rdquo; Odom said. &ldquo;That particular team lived a great life. The joy that that team experienced was unlike any other. Certainly the memories that we&rsquo;ll all take from that particular season will last a lifetime. This is what all coaches and players want: they want to be a part of March Madness and the upset.&rdquo;.

Thursday marks five years since the University of Maryland-Baltimore County had the biggest upset in college basketball history.

UMBC’s legacy: No. 1 can mean one-and-done in March Madness

Syracuse University will honor the 2003 championship team this weekend. It is the 20th anniversary of the title and many of the championship team&rsquo;s players will make their way to upstate New York to celebrate. The guest list includes Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara, Kueth Duany and more.&nbsp;
I caught up with Warrick, who will also be honored with his jersey officially being retired alongside his teammate McNamara. The jersey retirements will take place on Saturday, March 4, when Syracuse hosts Wake Forest at the Carrier Dome. Warrick&rsquo;s jersey will be hoisted into the rafters, joining Syracuse legends such as Dave Bing (22), Roosevelt Bouie (50), Louis Orr (55), Derrick Coleman (44), Sherman Douglas (20), Dennis DuVal (22), Billy Gabor (17), Vic Hanson (8), Lawrence Moten (21), Billy Owens (30), Rony Seikaly (4), Carmelo Anthony (15), Wilmer Sidat-Singh (19), Pearl Washington (31) and John Wallace (44).
Needless to say, he is in some very good company.&nbsp;
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Etan Thomas: Syracuse is going to honor you on Saturday night, a member of Syracuse's only championship team. They&rsquo;re going to retire your jersey and G-Mac&rsquo;s jersey. There will be a lot of guys from your team going back for this special occasion. How does it feel?&nbsp;
Hakim Warrick: "It feels great. It&rsquo;s definitely an honor. Like you said, this is going to really be a special night. To have my name up there with some of the Syracuse greats, it&rsquo;s definitely an honor."
Etan: Let's talk about how special that 2003 team was. Y&rsquo;all were such a deep team. Y&rsquo;all had so many different weapons coming off the bench.&nbsp;
Hakim: "It was a really special team. I think one of the things that made us so tough to beat was that everyone knew their roles and played them to the best of their ability. We also had a situation where everyone knew that at some point, it was going to be their night, and we were so selfless that we would just feed the hot man. It didn&rsquo;t matter who it was. We went like nine or 10 deep. And you know, that&rsquo;s not regular for Syracuse (laughing). Coach Boeheim has been notorious for cutting that rotation real short, but we had a lot of guys who could really play."
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Etan: Of course, Carmelo got a lot of the attention, but y&rsquo;all were definitely not a one-man show. Y&rsquo;all had a lot of different pieces.&nbsp;
Hakim: "Sure, we knew Melo was the focal point and we knew that a lot of teams were going to be keyed in on him. We had guys like Gerry, who kept everyone honest in spacing the floor. He could knock down the three from anywhere. Kueth was our senior leader who provided guidance and picked us up when we were down and motivated us and played with passion. We had bigs in Craig Forth and Jeremy McNeil, who both brought a different element to the center position. Craig was more of a passing big, screen-setter [whereas] Jeremy could block shots like you and was athletic and strong, so they complemented each other really well. We had guys like Josh Pace and Billy Edelin, who would run the team and keep the offense moving and put people in their spots. They really were both floor generals. We just always played as a team and some nights it would be Melo&rsquo;s night, some nights it would be my night, some nights it would be G-Mac&rsquo;s night, and we just piggy-backed off each other."
Etan: Can you talk about how competitive your practices were? I&rsquo;ve heard people talk about that quite often because you guys were so deep and every position had a lot of competition, so you guys really pushed each other and made each other better.
Hakim: "Yeah, we definitely went at each other, but it started in the offseason when everyone first got up to school that year and there was so much hype around this freshman from Baltimore (Carmelo). And I remember looking at him the first day like, 'Who is this little chubby dude that everyone is hyped about?' (laughing) But I knew from those first pick-up games that we were going to be a special team."
Etan: You know, I&rsquo;ve heard people talk about those early pick-up games, so what was it specifically about those runs that made you feel that this was going to be a special team?&nbsp;
Hakim: "I mean, I&rsquo;m not saying I knew we was gonna be a championship team, I&rsquo;m not saying all that. I mean, at that time, we weren&rsquo;t even ranked nationally. People from the outside looking in didn&rsquo;t have high expectations for us. But there was something about when we were working out, the chemistry and how competitive we were, I knew we were gonna surprise a lot of people, and that&rsquo;s exactly what we did."
Etan: Now, during the season, you all took a few bumps. There were a few spots where things weren&rsquo;t going well, like all teams have throughout the course of the season. But how did you all bounce back from those bumps? Because what happens with a lot of teams, especially young teams, is that they crumble. They don&rsquo;t get over those humps, but that didn&rsquo;t happen with you guys.
Hakim: "We just believed. I think the fact that we were all young and naive probably helped us as well. We didn&rsquo;t listen to any outside noise and we believed in each other no matter what happened. Like you said, we had some bumps, but our confidence and our swag never stumbled. Also, having someone like Kueth as our leader, he had been through the ringer. He was the wise old veteran, and he did a great job of making sure nobody ever got down &mdash; even when things weren&rsquo;t going well. We just learned from every experience, whether good or bad, and as the season went on, we just kept gaining even more and more confidence in each other and in ourselves. We had a lot of comeback victories that year, and we never thought that we was out of a game &mdash; no matter how much we got down. It&rsquo;s like we just knew we would be able to come back, and a lot of times we did just that."
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Etan: Okay, so I gotta ask you about &ldquo;The Block&rdquo; against Kansas in the championship game. Every Syracuse fan knows of this block, and many fans have the poster of this amazing play that you made. That really was a game-winning play because I think that three from the corner was gonna go in if you didn&rsquo;t block it. Walk me through that play.&nbsp;
Hakim: "So right before that, I missed the free throw, so I&rsquo;m already like, 'Man, I could&rsquo;ve ended the game right there with the free throw, but I missed it,' so I knew I had to do something to make up for that. We were not going to lose this championship because of me. I just remember them swinging the ball, and I remember Kueth closing out way past the three-point line, but he had to because they had shooters. And I knew that as far stretched out as he was, there was no way that he was going to be able to get all the way down to cover the corner three. I just sniffed out the play before it happened and pre-rotated out there, but I was all the way under the rim, so I didn&rsquo;t really think I would be able to get all the way out there to actually block it. I wanted to at least contest it and make it a tough shot for him.
"But as I jumped and was in the air, I thought, 'Man, I may be able to block this!' So I stretched out my arms as long as I could and turned my body so I didn&rsquo;t get the foul after I got the block, and I was able to get a piece of the ball and there was only a couple tenths of a second left, and we won the game. I really couldn&rsquo;t believe it. All of the hard work, all of the hours of practice and ups-and-downs of the season finally came into fruition. Absolutely amazing feeling."
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Etan: Well, it was a play that will always be etched in stone in Syracuse history. Not just for Syracuse, but also in March Madness and Final Four history. So last question: there are so many guys coming back to Syracuse from that '03 championship team this weekend. How much are you looking forward to seeing all of your teammates again, being in the Dome and feeling the love from the crowd?
Hakim: "I&rsquo;m really looking forward to it. There are a lot of guys that I haven&rsquo;t seen in years. This will, in fact, be my first game back at the Dome since my senior night, so I&rsquo;m really looking forward to that. I&rsquo;ve seen the team, I was there when they went to the Final Four; in fact, I saw you there. I caught them down in DC a couple of times. But I haven&rsquo;t had the chance to actually be back at the Dome, so I&rsquo;m super excited to feel the love and that magical atmosphere and be able to share all of that with my teammates. I&rsquo;m really looking forward to it. It&rsquo;s going to be a special weekend."
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Etan Thomas catches up with fellow Syracuse legend Hakim Warrick to discuss his jersey retirement, the 2003 championship team, more.

Hakim Warrick Q&A: 2003 Syracuse championship and jersey retirement

After months of wondering and waiting if the Los Angeles Lakers would make a deal, the team finally took initiative and struck before the NBA trade deadline &mdash; but they didn&rsquo;t just make one move.
The Lakers made four separate trades between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9, switching out nearly half of their roster after underperforming for the majority of the year. So far, the results have been quite promising.
Since acquiring D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed, the Lakers are 4-1; most recently, it includes a massive 27-point comeback win against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. LA now sits at No. 12 in the Western Conference, but is just one game back of the New Orleans Pelicans for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.&nbsp;
When you look at this retooled version of the Lakers roster, it looks like a competent, balanced mix that makes sense together. Despite having two of the best players in the NBA in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it&rsquo;s been a while since this team could say that.
You have to go back three seasons &mdash; all the way to the 2019-20 campaign &mdash; to find the last time that happened; ironically, LA won a championship that year. However, since then, vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office have tried to reshape the roster over and over to try to find the magic again. Those attempts led to disastrous results; the Russell Westbrook experiment was perhaps the poorest decision, as LA gave up its best shooters and significant depth to acquire him.
It appears that, this time around, the Lakers finally learned their lesson, as Pelinka and Co. executed a full reversal. The franchise dealt Westbrook for three pieces in Russell, Beasley and Vanderbilt as part of its revamped "2.0" roster, and it&rsquo;s just what the team needed as it makes a push toward the playoffs.
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Russell &mdash; who is nursing an ankle injury but should be back in the lineup soon &mdash; has shown to have good chemistry with LeBron and AD so far in what has been a small sample size. He won&rsquo;t wow anyone with his numbers, but he&rsquo;s playing a smart, controlled game by picking his spots. Russell has a solid feel for when to look for his own shot and is limiting his turnovers, which are down to just 1.5 per game so far in his second stint with the Lakers.&nbsp;
Beasley is the &ldquo;laser&rdquo; that LeBron has been openly hoping for to help solve the Lakers' shooting problems from three-point range. Even when he isn&rsquo;t hitting his shots, teams have to account for him and his 38% career clip from deep.&nbsp;
Vanderbilt is infectious with his energy and effort, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He was the tone-setter Sunday with 15 points, 17 rebounds and 4 steals to spearhead LA's rallying victory against the Mavericks. (Vando looks to be the steal of the trade deadline.)
Hachimura hasn&rsquo;t blown the doors off since putting on the purple and gold, but he has added size and another shooting presence that teams have to deal with, providing more balance and space for the Lakers' offense.&nbsp;
That quartet of players has breathed a new life into the Lakers as a whole &mdash; particularly with experience.
&ldquo;Adding those pieces, I think it brings more balance,&rdquo; Lakers head coach Darvin Ham recently said. &ldquo;We have guys in that second unit that have been in the starting lineup and played starters' minutes and closed games for us, and had big moments in big games. So we have confidence in the entire roster. But that&rsquo;s a great shot in the arm that we were able to pick up at the trade deadline.&rdquo;
(Bamba debuted with three blocks for LA and registered a double-double in his second game with the team as well.)
Maybe most importantly, this Lakers team looks like it&rsquo;s having fun. There are smiles and high-fives galore with players rooting for one another. You can feel the energy shifting following those roster moves.
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Never get discouraged &mdash; compete harder. <a href="https://t.co/ojRZCVcd9M">pic.twitter.com/ojRZCVcd9M</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1630002602443153410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s still plenty of work to be done. The Lakers have two more games on an all-so-important road trip. Tuesday night, they'll play the Memphis Grizzlies and then, they'll take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in a back-to-back. (Plus, LA won't have LeBron for an extended period of time due to a foot injury, which obviously is a huge blow.)
There is no margin for error at this point. The last thing that LeBron, AD and the new-look Lakers want to do is miss the playoffs yet again. With that said, all signs are pointing up.
These guys believe in one another. They believe they can win. And, so far, they&rsquo;re showing it on the court.
Maybe, just maybe, they finally have the right pieces.
"I've always been confident in any club that I've been on [that] once we got into the playoffs, that we can compete with anyone, and I feel no different now," LeBron said. "With the roster, the way we're shaped up right now, if we can finish off this regular season on the right foot, then we can compete versus anyone in the Western Conference, if not the whole league...
"If we can punch our ticket, we can compete versus anyone."

Brian Fritz checks in on the new-look Lakers and how their new additions have given the team a jolt.

Lakers may have found the right formula following trade deadline moves

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; LeBron James had 21 points in his first game since becoming the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader, and Anthony Davis had 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the new-look Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had 21 points and seven assists during his warm welcome home to the Lakers, who won for just the second time in six games. Los Angeles&rsquo; five new players all made their home debuts after last week&rsquo;s busy trade deadline, and the Lakers never trailed in one of this up-and-down team&rsquo;s most impressive performances of the season.
&ldquo;There was a huge emphasis on getting this win,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Guys came out and played with a lot of energy and urgency. ... It was only our first game together, but it looked good.&rdquo;
James only had to play a season-low 29 minutes after taking the previous three games off to rest his sore left ankle and foot immediately after he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s record Feb. 7.
&ldquo;I feel really good about what we&rsquo;ve got brewing, but we need to lock in,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time we&rsquo;ve all been on the floor together, so we wanted to see what it looks like, and the first 40 minutes looked pretty good.&rdquo;
Russell&rsquo;s debut was actually a homecoming, because he played his first two NBA seasons for Los Angeles before getting traded four times and eventually returning last week. Russell was clearly thrilled to be back in Hollywood, putting on an impressive playmaking performance while also repeatedly exhorting the crowd to standing ovations for the Lakers.
After he hit a 3-pointer in the second half, Russell celebrated by pointing at the letters on his chest and screaming to the fans: &ldquo;Like I never left!&rdquo;
&ldquo;I love those moments,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;We had Bron tonight, and we seemed a little more fluid. Everybody pitched in. Everybody played a major part in keeping the lead, maintaining it, getting stops. I like what we showcased tonight.&rdquo;
The Lakers hit the All-Star break in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference at 27-32 &mdash; but the season isn&rsquo;t over yet, and they&rsquo;ve got promising reinforcements.
Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley joined James and Davis in the Lakers&rsquo; 30th starting lineup of the season, while Mo Bamba fouled out in 16 minutes as the backup center in his Lakers debut.
&ldquo;It was just hot,&rdquo; said Beasley, who scored eight poitns. &ldquo;We wanted to make a statement and do what we do.&rdquo;
Brandon Ingram scored 25 points and C.J. McCollum had 22 points and nine assists in his return from a one-game absence with a sprained right ankle for the Pelicans, who lost for only the second time in six games.
&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t play with a sense of urgency, and those were my end-of-game comments to our team,&rdquo; coach Willie Green said. &ldquo;We have to play with more force and have a sense of urgency that we just didn&rsquo;t have tonight. Not a great effort on our part.&rdquo;
New Orleans&rsquo; Josh Richardson was ejected for arguing a no-call with 10:52 to play.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Zion Williamson attended the game and greeted James during a timeout. He has missed 22 straight games with a strained hamstring, and he is expected to be out for several weeks after the break. ... Former Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. sat out with left groin soreness.
Lakers: Davon Reed played the final 3 1/2 minutes and hit a 3-pointer. ... Bamba had four points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

LeBron James had 21 points, Anthony Davis had 28 in the new-look Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

LeBron, Anthony Davis get new-look Lakers past Pelicans

In an absolute stunner to kick off NBA trade deadline day, the Phoenix Suns have reportedly acquired Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027, 2029) and a 2028 pick swap. TJ Warren is also heading back to the Suns with Durant.
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The Suns are sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, a 2028 pick swap for Durant and TJ Warren, sources tell ESPN. Durant wanted move and new owner Mat Ishbia pushed to get deal done tonight. <a href="https://t.co/fqFUMIDllo">https://t.co/fqFUMIDllo</a>
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1623564676066934785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The news was initially reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1623564019037614082?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the framework</a> by The Athletic's Shams Charania.
It has been a whirlwind first 48 hours of Suns new owner Mat Ishbia taking charge, and he has absolutely made a splash in his debut with general manager James Jones helping pull this off. Phoenix had been deeply interested in Durant over the summer, but failed to meet the Nets' demands in return.
With Kyrie Irving traded to Dallas earlier this week, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai have pivoted to retooling their franchise, leading to the Suns pouncing on the 13-time All-Star forward's availability.
Durant is lighting up the scoreboard once again this season, averaging 29.7 points on a sizzling 55.9% from the field, including career-best clips from 3-to-10 feet (60.8%) and 10-to-16 feet (60.3%). He should fit in like a glove next to a prolific scorer in Devin Booker and a dynamite table-setter in Chris Paul.

In an absolute stunner to kick off NBA trade deadline day, the Suns have reportedly acquired Kevin Durant from the Nets.

Suns acquire Kevin Durant in shocking blockbuster with Nets

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

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

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

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

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

NBA Stats Notebook: Giving James Harden the flowers he deserves

Pat Riley remembers just about every detail surrounding the events of Dec. 29, 1961. It was a cold night in Schenectady, New York. A little snowy, the roads a little icy. And when the bus carrying the opposing team from New York City arrived, all of Riley&rsquo;s Linton High teammates peered out the window.
They saw a giant.
Long before Riley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were winning NBA championships together as coach and player with the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, they were opponents. Riley and Linton beat Power Memorial and Lew Alcindor &mdash; Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s name before converting to Islam &mdash; 74-68 that night.
Abdul-Jabbar, then a 6-foot-10 freshman, was held to eight points because he spent virtually the entire game in foul trouble. He has told Riley several times over the years that Linton won because Riley&rsquo;s father &mdash; a lifelong baseball man &mdash; had his umpiring friends refereeing the game.
&ldquo;Which we did,&rdquo; Riley acknowledges.
Riley knew it then and came to appreciate it even more years later &mdash; there were only a few ways to stop the player who would eventually spend nearly four decades as the most prolific scorer in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar is on the verge of being passed by the Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James, the 38-year-old who was nearly nine months from being born when the unforgettable center made one of his signature sky hooks on April 5, 1984 to overtake Wilt Chamberlain and become the league&rsquo;s scoring leader.
&ldquo;Kareem was a guy that never had any potential. He just had greatness,&rdquo; said Riley, now the president of the Miami Heat and one of the few who has worked with both Abdul-Jabbar and James. &ldquo;You could see that. When you can bypass potential and you move right to greatness as a high school player, and then college and then the pros ... there are very few like him. There&rsquo;s a handful. Two handfuls, at the most.&rdquo;
James is one of them, going from high school straight to the NBA, and now in his 20th season, he is now just 63 points away from passing Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s record. The Lakers play Saturday at New Orleans.
The most realistic target for the record-breaker is Tuesday in Los Angeles against Oklahoma City or &mdash; perhaps symbolically &mdash; next Thursday in L.A. when the Lakers play host to the Milwaukee Bucks, the team that Abdul-Jabbar started his NBA career with.
This past October, Abdul-Jabbar &mdash; on his Substack page where he discusses and offers opinion on a variety of topics, often nothing to do with sports &mdash; wrote that when James passed Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the all-time scoring list in 2020, he &ldquo;knew it was just a matter of time before he passed me too.&rdquo;
Abdul-Jabbar added that every time a record is broken, all people are elevated.
&ldquo;When I broke Wilt Chamberlain&rsquo;s scoring record in 1984 &mdash; the year LeBron was born &mdash; it bothered Wilt, who&rsquo;d had a bit of a one-sided rivalry with me since I&rsquo;d started doing so well in the NBA,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel that way toward LeBron. Not only will I celebrate his accomplishment, I will sing his praises unequivocally.&rdquo;
The relationship between Abdul-Jabbar and James seems complicated. Abdul-Jabbar was outside of the Cleveland locker room during the 2016 Eastern Conference finals as James was jogging by; the two embraced and shared a few kind words, prompting James to discuss the respect he has for Abdul-Jabbar and others who paved the way in his postgame remarks.
Abdul-Jabbar also has lauded James &ldquo;as a community leader and athlete.&rdquo; But he criticized James for not doing more with his platform to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. And earlier this season, James said he has &ldquo;no relationship&rdquo; with Abdul-Jabbar.
There are ties that bind them, though. Both are champions. Both have worked to promote social justice and spoken out against racial inequality. Abdul-Jabbar played 20 years in the NBA; James is in Year 20. Abdul-Jabbar set the record while playing for the Lakers; James will do the same.
And If nothing else, James&rsquo; pursuit of the record may have exposed a generation or two that never saw Abdul-Jabbar play to how great he was.
&ldquo;We have to always acknowledge those who come before us, those who&rsquo;ve paved the way,&rdquo; Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;You think of all those points Kareem scored and he had, what, one 3-pointer? You think about all of that, and these kids get to learn about a different era. It&rsquo;s high, high-level education in the game of basketball, particularly NBA basketball.&rdquo;
When Abdul-Jabbar broke the record, Riley said Magic Johnson &mdash; then the Lakers&rsquo; point guard &mdash; made sure he was the one who got the assist on the play. Johnson nearly put himself back into the game against Utah in Las Vegas that night when Abdul-Jabbar was two points away.
Years later, when the Lakers from those championship teams of that era gathered in Hawaii last summer for a reunion, Abdul-Jabbar was a day late because of personal matters. The Lakers in 2022 celebrated his arrival the same way they did the record-setter in 1984.
&ldquo;He felt special because he was special, because he is special,&rdquo; Riley said of the man who once stood shoulder-to-shoulder alongside an embattled Muhammad Ali during the boxing champ&rsquo;s legal troubles in the late 1960s, and counted Bill Russell &mdash; another basketball giant and social-change champion &mdash; as a mentor. &ldquo;He was treated as the patriarch by all the players. It was a great week for him. He was engaged, came to everything we did, gave some spontaneous talks. And he&rsquo;s a shy guy, but he felt very comfortable in his group.&rdquo;
Riley coached Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles and later lured James to Miami for a four-year run starting in 2010. He sees in James much of what he saw in Alcindor when that bus pulled into Schenectady in 1961.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about LeBron right now, and it should be, with his unique career and unique opportunity to do this,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;Training, travel, personal chefs, personal trainers, all that stuff has come into play since Kareem. I hope people realize Kareem&rsquo;s story as well and how different it was. He went to college for four years; LeBron came out of high school. But they both dominated from Day 1. They both turned potential into greatness from Day 1.&rdquo;

After LeBron passed Kobe in all-time scoring, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar "knew it was just a matter of time before [LeBron] passed me too.”

Pat Riley: Kareem never had potential, ‘only greatness’

It&rsquo;s reasonable to think Chet Holmgren will be an NBA All-Star one day. He was a highly recruited high school player whose one year at Gonzaga was stellar enough for Oklahoma City to make him the No. 2 pick in last year&rsquo;s draft. He&rsquo;s an obvious talent, an enormous talent.
And it&rsquo;s terrible that Holmgren got hurt last summer and will miss the entirety of this season.
But evidently, his rehab has been going extremely well &mdash; since four NBA players say he should start next month&rsquo;s All-Star Game.
That&rsquo;s right. When NBA players were asked in recent weeks who should start their All-Star Game in Salt Lake City on Feb. 19, four of them said that Holmgren should, even though he has yet to make his NBA debut.
So, congratulations to everyone involved. It&rsquo;s a new record: 330 different NBA players got a vote &mdash; either from themselves or their peers &mdash; saying they should be an All-Star starter. That&rsquo;s 20 more than the number of players who got votes in 2021.
Keep in mind only 10 people will start the All-Star Game. There might be, at the most, 20 legitimate candidates for those starting nods. OK, let&rsquo;s say it&rsquo;s 30 players, even. That&rsquo;s 300 less than the number of people who received votes.
That means a ton of votes were wasted, unserious, a joke.
This all started seven years ago, after almost 800,000 people stuffed the ballot boxes and nearly made Zaza Pachulia an All-Star starter. So the NBA changed the rules, going to a weighted formula &mdash; 50% is determined by fan votes, 25% by media votes, 25% by player votes.
The fans pretty much got who they wanted, as should always be the case. LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum were the top seven fan vote-getters; they all were announced as starters when the list was revealed Thursday night. So did No. 9 Kyrie Irving, No. 10 Donovan Mitchell and No. 12 Zion Williamson.
No. 7 Joel Embiid didn&rsquo;t make the cut, nor did No. 11 Anthony Davis.
Player votes were a big reason why Davis wasn&rsquo;t a starter. Only 30 players voted for Davis among Western Conference frontcourt players, while 80 voted for Williamson. That made the difference.
But many of the 375 ballots returned by players were puzzling.
Chicago&rsquo;s Lonzo Ball got four votes. Miami&rsquo;s Omer Yurtseven got three votes. Jae Crowder, who is still a member of the Phoenix Suns in name only, got two votes. Denver&rsquo;s Collin Gillespie and Portland&rsquo;s Ibou Badji each got one vote.
Here&rsquo;s what they all have in common: Like Holmgren, none has played this season.
There were other interesting &mdash; a polite way of saying odd, in this case &mdash; trends within the data. Only Jokic (58.7%), Antetokounmpo (58.7%) and James (51.5%) appeared on more than half of the All-Star ballots cast by NBA players this year.
The Phoenix Suns were hoping that guard Devin Booker would get consideration as a starter. He wasn&rsquo;t close, probably in large part because he&rsquo;s missed some time this season with injury.
&ldquo;We know and the league knows and the players know,&rdquo; Phoenix coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best (shooting) guard in the game and one of the best players in the game.&rdquo;
Perhaps the players don&rsquo;t know: Only 8.5% said Booker should be a starter.
Milwaukee&rsquo;s Grayson Allen got four votes, which is one more than reigning NBA defensive player of the year Marcus Smart of Boston received. Yes, Allen has been a contributor to what the Bucks have done so far this year. He&rsquo;s had his moments. He&rsquo;s hit big shots. But it&rsquo;s not a fine line between solid player and All-Star starter &mdash; it&rsquo;s more like a crater.
There certainly could be a year where the irresponsible voting really costs somebody a spot. It won&rsquo;t be this year. Certainly, arguments could be made for other players &mdash; Embiid, Domantas Sabonis, Ja Morant, Lauri Markkanen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander &mdash; as candidates to start.
They&rsquo;ll all probably be All-Stars anyway.
The coaches will now decide the reserves; the votes for the starters no longer count for anything. Only the coaches&rsquo; ballots count toward the last seven All-Stars selected from each conference. And if someone has to bow out of the game because of injury, Commissioner Adam Silver chooses a replacement.
But hopefully, there will soon come a time when the players take the voting more seriously. If not, maybe the NBA needs to consider taking their vote away.
___
Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org

Despite not playing one minute this year, four NBA players say Chet Holmgren should start next month’s All-Star Game.

Analysis: It may be time to re-think NBA All-Star voting

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Darius Garland scored 26 points and Evan Mobley added 21 as the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the short-handed Houston Rockets 113-95 Thursday night despite missing Donovan Mitchell.
Garland, the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft who turned 23 on Thursday, also had nine assists and four rebounds for the Cavs.
&ldquo;Darius has continued to grow,&rdquo; Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;This is a place where we&rsquo;ve seen him grow the most is understanding the moment, understanding each game and how it&rsquo;s different and what it takes from him to be a tone-setter.&rdquo;
The Cavaliers led by 26 at halftime after scoring 74 points in the first two periods. The Rockets cut it to 22 on a basket by rookie Jabari Smith Jr. with 9&frac12; minutes left in the third. But Cleveland scored the next 10 points, with 3s by Garland and Dean Wade, to extend the lead to 89-57 midway through the quarter.
&ldquo;Everything has been that hunt for consistency,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had leads before and we get a little lax and loose with the ball and things like that. But I thought they had the right approach for the majority of the game tonight.&rdquo;
The Rockets ended the quarter with an 11-3 run, with five points from rookie TyTy Washington, but they still trailed 97-74 entering the fourth.
Tari Eason opened the fourth with a tip-in shot for the Rockets before Garland and Cedi Osman made consecutive 3-pointers to push Cleveland&rsquo;s advantage to 103-76.
The Cavaliers scored five straight points, capped by a 3 from Wade, to make it 111-89 with about 3 1/2 minutes left, and Cleveland&rsquo;s starters sat down after that.
Mitchell sat out for the fourth time in five games with a groin strain. He returned Tuesday night after missing three games, but aggravated it near the end of that game to keep him out Thursday. Mitchell, who ranks ninth in the NBA by averaging 28.3 points a game, was named a starter for the Eastern Conference in next month&rsquo;s NBA All-Star Game.
Eason had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Houston. The Rockets were without Eric Gordon, Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate and Kevin Porter Jr. as they lost their second straight since snapping a 13-game skid Monday night.
The Rockets, who have the NBA&rsquo;s worst record at 11-38, committed 22 turnovers and made just five of 21 3-pointers. Jalen Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, was 2 of 9 for six points after scoring a career-high 42 points in Houston&rsquo;s win over Minnesota on Monday.
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&ldquo;They&rsquo;re one of the best defensive teams in the league, so the fact that they forced 22 turnovers wasn&rsquo;t super surprising since going in knowing we didn&rsquo;t have three of our main guys who handle the basketball,&rdquo; Silas said.
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Kevin Love sat out with back spasms. &hellip; Wade scored 15 off the bench. ... Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Rockets: Gordon missed the game with right knee soreness. &hellip; Tate was out as part of injury management after returning from an ankle sprain. &hellip; Porter missed his eighth straight game with a bruised left foot.
ALL-STAR MITCHELL
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In the wake of Mitchell&rsquo;s selection as an All-Star game starter, Bickerstaff raved about how he&rsquo;s approached his job in his first season in Cleveland after an off-season trade from Utah.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the respect piece and just a compliment to the job that he&rsquo;s done,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;To be able to come into a completely new environment and quite possibly have the best year so far in his career says a lot about him.&rdquo;
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Darius Garland scored 26 points and Evan Mobley added 21 as the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Houston Rockets 113-95.

Garland scores 26 as Cavaliers race past Rockets 113-95

The NBA All-Star Game is Feb. 19. And nobody will know the All-Star rosters until that night.
Not even the players themselves.
The team captains &mdash; probably LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and either Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant &mdash; will make their picks in a live, televised pregame segment shortly before the game begins in Salt Lake City.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced the format change on Tuesday night.
This will be the sixth time that the league has used the format where captains choose their teams, but in each of the first five instances the rosters were selected several days before the game.
The captains and starters will be announced on Thursday.
James has been a captain in each of the first five years and, based on the results of voting released by the league late last week, is virtually certain to be one again this year. The leading vote-getter from both the Eastern and Western Conference earns the right to be a captain.
Durant was the early leader among East players, then fell slightly behind Antetokounmpo in the most recent balloting. He&rsquo;s still expected to be selected as a starter, and it won&rsquo;t be known until Thursday if he reclaimed the East voting lead in the final days.
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Ballots to decide the starters were due Saturday.
&ldquo;I want to play,&rdquo; Durant told reporters in New York on Tuesday. &ldquo;I want to be a part of all these events.&rdquo;
James&rsquo; teams are 5-0 in All-Star games when he is a captain.
Durant has been a captain as the East&rsquo;s voting leader in each of the past two years. Antetokounmpo was in the previous two years, 2019 and 2020.
The top three frontcourt players and top two guards in each conference will be chosen as starters, with the leading overall vote-getters from each conference serving as captains and choosing their teams.
Fan voting counts for 50% of the starters balloting, a media ballot counts for 25% and the ballots turned in by NBA players count for the other 25%.
Reserves &mdash; chosen by NBA coaches, seven players from each conference &mdash; will be revealed Feb. 2.
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The NBA All-Star captains will make their picks in a live, televised pregame segment shortly before the game begins in Salt Lake City.

Pace Setters