With Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks coupled with a Golden State win, the Rockets chances of making one of the play-in spots for the playoffs shrunk to a size that is almost impossible to see. With just seven games remaining, they trail the Warriors by two full games and the tiebreaker which means they would need to gain at least three in about two weeks. Not impossible, but not likely.
Regardless, this has been a remarkable season of growth for this still very young team. The first two-thirds of the season surrounded the emergence of Alperen Sengun as a bonafide young star and the surprising emergence of Cam Whitmore as a legitimate scorer off the bench despite being a rookie.
In the last half of the season, Jalen Green, who was the subject of trade rumors after a disappointing start for the former second round draft pick, absolutely blew up having one of the best March’s in all of basketball. In addition, rookie Amen Thompson, thrust into a starting role, demonstrated a versatility that could make him a budding star sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Jabari Smith, Jr. has been a steady and steadily improving presence in the low post.
All this has happened despite missing second-year forward Tari Eason for most of the season due to a leg injury and incorporating a new system with coach Ime Udoka, who was just named Western Conference Coach of the Month for March. Never mind the additions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, both of whom have brought exactly what you would expect from the two veterans.
Jalen Green turned on the jets in the second half of the season.
Photo by Sean Thomas
At 38-37, the Rockets are well ahead of last year’s 22 wins and on pace to perhaps even be better than .500 for the first time in four years. At the beginning of this season, we suggested that the Rockets might make a 12-game leap this season to 34 wins. We believed the likely win total ranged between 30 and 38. They have already met the top range of that projections with seven games remaining.
The improvements on the floor have been sometimes slow and often painful. Defensively, they have remained in the top 10 in defensive rating all season, but poor shooting has seen them drop to the bottom third of the league in offensive rating. Still, a team with only two rotation players shooting better than 37 percent has managed to be fairly resilient, relying on a stingy defense that is Udoka’s calling card.
Perhaps most incredibly, they have gotten better as the season has drawn on, even with the injury to Sengun. Thanks to a somewhat softer schedule and the emergence of Green as a legit star (again), they rattled off 11 straight wins to vault themselves back into playoff contention, something virtually everyone had thought impossible in February.
Credit Udoka with sticking to his philosophies and the players for responding to them. With some health and hopefully some adding shooting, this is a team that should be poised for the postseason next year.
Atlanta Hawks center Bruno Fernando (24, left) is averaging a career high in points, rebounds and minutes per game this season. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The Atlanta Hawks are now 31-39 on the season. They are firmly entrenched in the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings, four games behind the Chicago Bulls and five games in front of the Brooklyn Nets. There are many reasons to consider this season another dud heading into the postseason, but there’s also the emergence of reserve center Bruno Fernando to consider. With 12 more regular season games to play, Fernando is looking like a solid reason to be positive about the future of this team.
A former second round draft pick of the Hawks in 2019, after leaving Atlanta following the 2020-2021 season, Fernando has played for the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets, and both times he has been in limited roles off the bench with the occasional spot start. This season he continues to come off the bench for the Hawks but in a much bigger way. He is averaging career highs in points per game (4.8), rebounds per game (4.2), and minutes per game (12.8).
During Friday night’s 132-91 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at State Farm Arena, Fernando scored a career-high 25 points in 26 minutes and made 11 of his 14 shot attempts. “I just try to come in and do my job,” Fernando said during the postgame press conference. “I just try to find ways to make myself available.”
Fernando grabbed six rebounds during the Hornets game and after the game he credited playing behind Hawks starting center Clint Capela for learning how to offensive rebounds better. The 4.2 rebounds per game that he is averaging this season is also a career high.
“I’m going to continue to do as much as I can,” Fernando said after the game.
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Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Donnell began his career covering sports and news in Atlanta nearly two decades ago. Since then he has written for Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Southern Cross…
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The sight of Rockets rising star Alperen Sengun being wheeled off the Sacramento Kings floor in a wheelchair Sunday night was as depressing as the news late Monday afternoon was a relief. With under a minute left in a game the Rockets won, Sengun took an awkward spill while trying to block a shot during a fast break. He appeared to roll his ankle and hyperextend his knee and fell to the ground in obvious pain.
After a few moments, teammates helped him into the wheelchair that took him to the locker room with his head in his hands. Speculation, as per usual, was rampant on the internet with even doctors weighing in, suggesting it could be anything from a sprain to tears of multiple ligaments. Fans, naturally, feared the worst.
With fewer than 20 games remaining in the season, it would be a shock to see Sengun return. He has averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in his breakout third season, but all they need for him now is to make it back to training camp healthy given they are not going to make the postseason.
So, what on Sunday night appeared to be a tragedy turned out to be a small miracle for the Houston Rockets. We’ll take it.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – De’Aaron Fox talks about the way the Rockets defended his Kings in Sunday’s 112-104 loss to Houston, the lack of shot making in the second half, his rough shooting night, his team falling to yet another team with a losing record this season and reacts to the ugly injury sustained by Rockets big-man Alperen Sengun.
The Kings (36-27) will look to bounce-back on Tuesday night when they host the Milwaukee Bucks at 7:00 p.m.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – Following Saturday’s practice in Sacramento, Kings head coach Mike Brown looks back at the ugly win over the Spurs, his postgame moment with San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich, his commitment to continue to try to improve Sacramento’s shortcomings, getting his team to close out to the perimeter better and battling expectations after a first-round playoff exit last season.
Every August, after the NBA releases its schedule for the upcoming season, Michael McCullough, the Miami Heat’s chief marketing officer, thinks about the next 82 games. He not only considers ticket sales and promotions but also sets a meeting with the team’s equipment manager and focuses on an essential part of his job: uniforms.
Laying out the right jerseys used to be an easy exercise across the NBA. There were just two choices. When Rob Pimental, the Heat’s equipment manager and travel coordinator, began his career with the Sacramento Kings in the 1980s, it was just white and blue: white jerseys at home, dark ones on the road. What to wear didn’t demand a conversation.
Today, it needs lots of meetings. It has become one of the benchmark choices a franchise can make each season. Over the last six-plus years, jerseys have grown to become not just merchandise but also part of an entire marketing ensemble, a diadem of that year’s commercial enterprise.
Jerseys were once hidebound by convention — not always constant but at least consistent in color and place — but they are now ever-changing. Aesthetically, the NBA looks different from year to year as it introduces new uniforms with each season. It is exhilarating or exhausting, depending on whom you ask. The league is either running into grand ideas behind the creativity of its teams, or it is running away from convention and diluting its storied brands.
The story of the league’s changeover can be told by the erosion of one old mainstay: the home white jersey. For decades, this was an NBA staple. Now, it is increasingly a rarity.
The process to pick jerseys for each of the 1,230 NBA games each season seems simple: The home team picks its uniform first, and the road team chooses next. But it is exhaustingly complicated. What used to be mostly a binary decision tree is now complex.
In a way, it begins years ahead of time. Teams start designing their latest City Edition jerseys with Nike two seasons ahead of their debut.
“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle in many ways,” McCullough said.
The makeover began with the 2017-18 season, when Nike took over the NBA’s on-court uniform and apparel business. Teams occasionally had asked the league to step away from the usual uniform split to introduce or highlight new alternate jerseys. That trend began in the late 1990s and has increased incrementally since.
Still, teams needed permission from the league to do so. Nike brought on a four-uniform system: the Association, a white jersey; the Icon, a dark jersey; the Statement, an alternate jersey; and the City Edition, which changes annually and has no set color scheme. Some teams have a Classic jersey, too.
The Heat wore their white jerseys in Brooklyn against the Nets on Jan. 15. (Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
The NBA streamlined the process. Christopher Arena, head of on-court and brand partnerships for the NBA, used to keep an Excel spreadsheet of every team’s uniform decision for each game, occasionally hunting them down to get their picks in or calling another team to adjust its choice to avoid a color clash. Then the NBA modernized. It debuted NBA LockerVision, a digital database where teams log in their uniforms weeks after the schedule is released.
There are rules on how often a franchise must wear each jersey: Association and Icon must be worn at least 10 times during a season, Statement six times, City Edition and Classic three times. There are guardrails against colors matching too closely, though not all incidents have been avoided. After the Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks played each other in nearly matching red/orange hues in 2021, the league further barred teams from picking jerseys that are too similar.
That upended the regular order. Where white jerseys used to be regularly worn at home, they are now more often seen on the road. Those August marketing meetings are an opportunity to lay out the best times to show off the latest City Edition jersey.
Few teams have leaned in as much as the Miami Heat. In some ways, they are still taken by tradition. Miami’s red-and-black jersey has remained almost unchanged for decades. Every spring, Miami brings back its annual “White Hot” campaign, which has been in place since 2006. The organization wears its white uniforms at home in the playoffs and asks fans to wear white too.
“That’s part of the whole lore of sports, that tradition,” McCullough said. “There’s room, I think, in sports to create new traditions. I like to think that’s what we’re doing, creating other opportunities for people to have another relationship with their team around what the players are wearing. And of course, it’s broadened out for us entire merchandise lines to support these uniforms and to support this second identity. It just becomes kind of who you are.”
As much as those white jerseys mean to the organization, the last few years have allowed the Heat to experiment and debut new designs and color schemes. When McCullough gets the new schedule every summer, he begins to envision the rollout campaign for that year’s latest jersey.
The Heat have created some of the most vibrant City Edition jerseys of the last decade. Their “Vice City” jerseys were a smash hit. The originals were white; subsequent editions have come in blue gale, fuchsia and black. This season, they wear black jerseys with “HEAT Culture” across the chest.
Most often, they wear them at home. The Heat has programmed those City Edition jerseys to be worn 19 times in Miami and just once on the road. Their Association uniforms — or what used to be known as the home whites — will be worn on the road 24 times.
McCullough wants to make sure the City Edition uniforms get enough appearances in Miami to sink in with Heat fans. He wants the Heat to wear them around the holidays, when fans go shopping. He wants to create favorable environments to show them off and build affinity for them.
“You’ve got this whole narrative you’ve woven around this special uniform that you can only do at home,” he said. “That you can’t do on the road.”
The Heat can build a whole campaign around their latest jerseys by wearing them at home. They unveiled an alternate court in 2018-19 to match their Vice City jerseys and have had one each season since. The franchise can pick and choose when to wear the jerseys if the game is in Miami, so they can prioritize the right days.
The Vice City design became its own kind of brand for the franchise. The Heat’s license plate in Vice City colors is the second-highest selling plate in the state, McCullough said, and is tops among all of Florida’s professional sports teams.
“You look at any badass car in south Florida — and you know there’s a lot of badass cars — and they all have the Heat plate on them,” he said. “It is just a cool-looking plate. I’m sure a lot of those plates are not Heat fans. It’s just a badass-looking license plate to have on your car.”
It is a symbol of the Heat’s successful effort. The planning goes across the organization. McCullough surveys Pimental and considers him an unofficial member of the marketing staff. Any uniform decisions are run by him.
Pimental’s job is vast. Whenever the Heat choose their road jerseys, they must consider how it will affect travel. He had to learn how to re-pack for trips after Nike took over in 2017 because of the new possibilities.
For each road trip, the Heat bring a game set of each uniform and a backup set, as well as a few blanks; that’s 40-45 uniforms in each color. If they intend to wear two different uniforms on a trip, they could bring almost 90 different sets.
Then there is everything else: the warmups, the sneakers, the tights, the socks, the practice gear. In all, Pimental said his team and the training staff bring about 3,000 pounds of equipment on road trips.
He calls it “a traveling circus.” It’s a far cry from his early days in Sacramento, but he does not miss the simplicity.
“Sure, maybe (there are) times you get frustrated, but I think it’s cool to have a little more of an identity,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Fads change, things change. You never know if you’ll go back to white uniforms at home. It’s cool to see different things.
“Before, you only saw the white uniforms at home. Now you get an opportunity to see all the uniforms that we have.”
The NBA isn’t the only league that has abandoned the home white jerseys as its core tenet. NHL franchises have flip-flopped during the league’s history and started wearing their dark sweaters at home again during the 2003-04 season. The NFL lets the home team decide its uniforms, and those teams rarely choose white anymore. Even the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t wear white at home until the early 2000s.
NBA teams began pushing alternate jerseys at home more frequently in the decade or so before Nike took over. Arena believes teams wore their white jerseys at home about 75 percent of the time by 2017.
Now, it is far less. The old uniform rules and expectations no longer apply. Arena does not see this as a wholesale abdication from league norms.
“It was already eroding,” he said. “We just put a paradigm around it. And again, eroding assumes that what it was was somewhat perfect, like some statue, and it was eroding to something imperfect. I would argue it was on the way to being flawed, and we’ve now made it perfect.”
The Association jersey is worn at the same frequency this season as it was during the 2017-18 season, Nike’s first year as the apparel distributor, but the split between home and road is stark. Teams wore their Association jerseys roughly 29 times per season in that first season under Nike, and an average of 17 games at home. This season, the Association jersey averaged 29 appearances per team but just roughly nine times at home.
About 22 percent of all games this season will feature a matchup of two teams each in a color jersey. Teams are scheduled to wear their City Edition jerseys about 14 times this season, with 11 of those at home.
The rules the league has put in place makes some jerseys a skeleton key. The Lakers’ gold Icon jersey can pair with anything, Arena said. Other jerseys — like the Indiana Pacers’ yellow, the Thunder’s orange and the Memphis Grizzlies’ light blue — are also versatile and don’t need to only be worn against white as a counterpoint.
The NBA, Arena said, obsesses “over this more than you can imagine.” Uniforms are a part of his life’s work, and he has been with the league for 26 years.
In that time, the league has undergone drastic changes, switched uniform providers several times and watched a new suite of logos and color schemes pop up. For most of that period, some basics never changed, but wearing white jerseys at home is no longer part of that foundation.
“I don’t know that we ever want to be so steadfast in rules and regulations and tradition and biases that we can’t step outside and listen to our teams and our fans,” Arena said. “I think what our teams are telling us was that our fans wanted to see these different uniforms at home, and they were maybe sick of seeing their team in white every single game for 41 games.
“The benefit, I guess you could say, is they get to see the wonderful colors of the 29 other teams come in. They can see the purple of the Lakers and the green of the Celtics and so forth. But they never got to see their team wearing their colors at home on their home floor, which is an incredible dynamic to see.”
(Top photo of Jimmy Butler: Issac Baldizon / NBAE via Getty Images)
The dunk is basketball’s most lionized play. The most iconic ones are canonized, referenced fondly and often, debated for their merits and significance. The sport’s language has created so many names for it: jam, yam, slam, poster, stuff, hammer. It’s a unique club that only few on this world can join. It’s marvelous.
And it hurts like hell.
“Can you think of any other concept where your hand swings at something metal?” 11-year NBA veteran Austin Rivers asks. “It’ll probably hurt, yeah?”
When asked, players catalog the pain dunking has caused: broken nails; bent fingers; recent bruises; lasting scars; midair collisions; twisted necks; dangerous landings. Injuries that cost them games or even seasons.
Derrick Jones Jr., a former NBA All-Star Weekend dunk contest winner now with the Dallas Mavericks, points out two specific marks on his left wrist. Larry Nance Jr., another high flier in his ninth NBA season and third with the New Orleans Pelicans, recalls childhood memories of his father’s scarred arms from a 14-year NBA career that included winning the first-ever dunk contest in 1984. Dallas’ Josh Green remembers one pregame dunk that set his nerves afire.
“I remember thinking, ‘Why would I do this before a game,’” the 23-year-old Green says.
And yet still they dunk.
In the modern NBA, the dunk’s frequency has been increasing, going from 8,254 in the 2002-03 regular season to 11,664 last year. The rise is mostly due to the 3-point revolution and the increased spacing and cleaner driving lanes that come with it. But the league also has taller, more explosive athletes entering every year. With them come even more spectacular aerial feats, ones that enrapture fans and wow even the players who witness them.
What players think of the dunk, and the agony that can come with it, is ever changing. This isn’t some new trend. It’s just that the dunk, for all its allure and mystique, is the most visceral mark of a player’s maturation.
Basketball’s most exclusive club, one only entered 10 feet in the air, isn’t one that players can — or always want to — live in forever.
Dennis Smith Jr., now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, had a 48-inch vertical as a prospect, but says now his struggles with landing affected his shooting form. (Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
When young basketball players first start dunking, they never want to stop.
Smith’s first in-game dunk was an off-the-backboard slam in a state title game when he was 13. His team was up big and his teammates were showing off. “Now it’s my turn,” the 26-year-old Brooklyn Nets guard recalls thinking. “I got one.” An in-game dunk is a status symbol he has never forgotten.
Willie Green, now the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans after a 12-year NBA career, was told as a teenager that toe raises would help him reach above the rim. Every morning in the shower, he counted to 300 — rising onto the balls of his feet with each number until this club finally let him in.
“If you could dunk, people looked up to you, they glorified you,” Green says. “You felt like you got over a big hurdle in basketball. It was a huge step in basketball when I was able to dunk.”
Every player asked remembers how old they were when they first started. “You’re young, you’re bouncy,” Markieff Morris, 34, says. “You dunked so you could talk your s—.” It was the first thing youngsters like him did stepping into the gym, the last before they left.
“When you’re first dunking, your fingers are full of blood because of the (contact),” Philadelphia 76ers forward Nicolas Batum recalls. “But you get used to it. You have so much joy of dunking. You’re one of the few people in the world that can.”
Once players start dunking in games, it becomes even more addicting. “When you try to dunk on someone, you’re hyped up, you’re amped up,” the New York Knicks’Donte DiVincenzo says. “You don’t feel any of that s—.” It’s the same as any adrenaline high. “It feels like energy,” 21-year-old Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy says. As the crowds grow bigger and the reactions reverberate louder, it’s even better.
Marques Johnson, a five-time NBA All-Star who retired in 1990, remembers one slam he had at age 15 in a summer league over a player who had just been drafted to the NBA. To dunk on him, to knock him to the ground, proved something.
“As a young player, if you can hang with guys on the next level,” he says, “it becomes that validation that you belong.”
Johnson, currently the Milwaukee Bucks’ television analyst, played collegiately for UCLA, where he was named the Naismith College Player of the Year in 1977, the first season the dunk was re-legalized in college basketball. “I really believe it’s a big reason why I won,” he says. “People ain’t seen a dunk in college basketball in 10 years.” Johnson, a hyperathletic 6-foot-7 forward, took up residence above the rim.
Once, he missed two weeks with a knee sprain after dunking on a teammate in practice and landing hard. As he lay on the ground in pain, he still remembers what his first question was.
“Did the dunk go in?”
“Yeah,” he was told. “You dunked on him.”
Marques Johnson, shown here with the Bucks, believes dunking was a big reason he was the Naismith Player of the Year in 1977. (Heinz Kluetmeier / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Last season, Christian Wood rebounded his own miss and found an empty path to the rim. He dribbled once, planted both feet, hurled the ball through the rim — and then clutched his left hand as he ran back down the court.
Wood, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer after his one season with the Mavericks, finished the game but missed the next eight with a broken thumb. “I went for a tomahawk (dunk), trying to look flashy for some reason, and hit my thumb again,” he says. He had already injured it, he says, but that’s the moment when he knew he “had really hurt it.”
As teenagers age into veterans, their relationships toward dunking often change. “To really dunk consistently in the NBA, you gotta be a freak athlete.” Rivers says. For those who aren’t, dunking becomes more akin to a tool than a feat.
“S—, those things are really adding up,” the 26-year-old DiVincenzo says. “A lot of the younger guys want to dunk every single time. I am not like that anymore.”
DiVincenzo still dunks — he had nine last year with the Golden State Warriors — but prefers layups when possible. It isn’t always possible, though. “Sometimes, (a dunk) is the only way to draw fouls,” he says.
When Willie Green neared the end of his career, he recalls hating when defenders forced him into it.
“They’re chasing you down hard on a fast break, and you want to lay it up, but you know if you lay it up, they’re going to block it,” he says. “I’m like, ‘Man. You made me dunk that.’”
Green was a two-foot dunker, which meant accelerating into the air was hard on his knees, especially the left one, which was surgically repaired in 2005. “That force, that gravity, compounded with coming down,” he says. “It takes a toll on you.”
Smith, the ninth pick in the 2017 draft, entered the league with a record-tying 48-inch vertical — and with a dangerous habit of coming down on one leg. While recovering from knee surgery, he learned to land on both of them. “I don’t even think about it now,” he says. But he still does thoracic therapy to treat scar tissues in his wrist from his childhood dunks, which he believes has had an effect on his shooting form.
The league’s freak athletes, the ones Rivers referenced, do have different experiences. Nance Jr., who remembers his father’s forearm scars, has none of his own. His hands are large enough to engulf the ball rather than pinning it against his wrist. “I never really learned how to cup it like everybody else,” Nance says. “I genuinely don’t believe I could do it if I tried.” He drops the ball through the rim rather than relying on inertia.
“Not really,” he says when asked whether it hurts. “Unless I miss.”
Players like him still experience pain from the midair collisions and the misses: when the basketball hits the cylinder’s rear and sends shock waves through their arms; when an opponent’s desperate swipes hit flesh and nerve; when the crash of bodies sends theirs sprawling to the floor.
Anthony Edwards, another alien athlete, doesn’t even refer to what he does as dunking. “I don’t really dunk the ball,” he says. “I just put it in there the majority of the time.” Earlier this month, though, Edwards elevated over the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jaylin Williams, nicked him on the shoulder and came crashing back down.
Though Edwards only missed two games with a hip injury, the Timberwolves’ rising star admitted he was “scared” and “nervous” in his first game upon returning. And even if missed dunks don’t injure him, there’s still pride.
As Edwards said of them last season: “Those hurt my soul.”
Anthony Edwards, shown here after a dunk in last season’s Play-In Tournament, was recently injured on a dunk attempt against Oklahoma City. (Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
Kyrie Irving had stolen the ball and was alone at the basket in a December game when he rose up to dunk in front of his own bench. His Dallas teammates had already risen up to celebrate — until they couldn’t.
“I mistimed it,” he says. “My momentum wasn’t there.” The ball grazed the front of the rim and fell out.
The 31-year-old Irving is known for every sort of highlight except dunking, of which he has only 25 in his 11-year career. But a flubbed dunk is embarrassing even for a player like him.
“You just feel bad!” he says. “We’re the best athletes in the world. I should be able to get up there once in a while.”
Later that quarter, the 6-foot-2 Irving had another chance at a wide-open fast break, at redemption. This time, he made sure to prove he could still do it.
“I had to double pump,” he says, laughing now. “I had to get up there, bro. I couldn’t come in the locker room to my teammates, coaching staff, upper management. They would’ve been on my head.”
Still, as players grow closer to retirement, they often hang up their dunking careers first.
Rivers, who remains a free agent after spending his 11th season with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022-23, recently retired from dunking. “I just prefer laying the ball up,” he said last year. “A dunk takes a lot out of me.” It was the hard landings that ultimately got him to stop, but he believes he became a better finisher once he made the decision.
It’s easier for veterans who never needed to play above the rim. Like, say, Stephen Curry, who seems amused he was asked about something he hasn’t done in a game since 2018.
“I had no problem letting that part of myself go,” the 6-foot-3 Curry says. “I very easily moved on to the next chapter of my career.”
Batum, a 35-year-old with 367 career dunks, also swore off contested dunks before last season. “My body told me,” he said. “It said, ‘No more, bro.’” Now he only dunks, gently with two hands, when he knows he’s alone at the rim.
“When you hit 32, the game isn’t about dunking anymore,” says Morris, now in his 13th NBA season. “It’s about longevity and still being able to play at a high level.”
Caron Butler wishes he had realized that sooner. When he was younger, Butler, who had two All-Star appearances before retiring to become a Miami Heat assistant coach, practiced as hard as he played.
“I overemphasized the two points I was getting to prove a point or show off my God-given ability,” he says. “It would have given me more longevity.”
Butler doesn’t have any regrets. But he thinks about the dunk differently now.
“It’s just two points.”
Caron Butler, shown here leaping between two Cavaliers during the 2008 NBA playoffs, said his attitude toward dunking changed as he got older. “It’s just two points,” he says. (Ned Dishman / NBAE via Getty Images)
It’s just two points.
“I’m listening to an old man talk,” Butler says. “That’s what 13-year-old Caron Butler would say. He would say, ‘I’m listening to a very old man talk about dunking.’”
He’s not the only retired player who sees the irony. Green thinks his younger self, the one who counted his toe raises in the shower, would feel similarly
“Thirteen-year-old me would really be disgusted right now,” he says.
But Green did dunk again earlier in 2023, a windmill slam in a January practice that had his players hollering in amazement. “They always tell me I can’t dunk,” he says. “I wanted to show them I had a little juice.” Green, the league’s fifth-youngest head coach, says that one of his coaching qualities is his relatability.
“When you’re asking high level professional athletes to do something, it helps for them to know that you’ve done it,” he says. “And it helps to know when they look at you that it looks like you still can do it.”
For others, it’s something that hearkens back to the past: to the adrenaline rush they first felt, to the validation it gave when their NBA careers were still dreams. Klay Thompson, perhaps this sport’s second-best shooter ever behind Curry, his Warriors teammate, says one of the best moments of his career was a dunk. After missing two consecutive seasons with major surgeries, in his first game back, he drove to the rim and slammed one. Thompson knew in that moment, he says, that the Warriors could still win another championship — and later that season, they did.
The end result of Klay Thompson’s dunk through multiple Cavaliers in his first game back from ACL and Achilles injuries. (Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)
Thompson used to stroll onto the court and dunk as soon as his shoes were on. “Now, I need a good hour to get the gears greased and the motor working,” he says. As his body has changed, so too has his appreciation for what dunking means.
“It’s always an amazing feeling hanging on the rim that you can (forget) most people can’t do it,” he says. “I no longer take it for granted.”
It’s just two points for these club members, yes, but it’s more than that. For Johnson, the former Naismith College Player of the Year, dunking still means something special. Johnson turns 68 in February, and he plans to continue his personal tradition that began when he was 55: dunking on his birthday.
It’s motivation, Johnson explains, to stay in shape, which was inspired by his son, Josiah, who films it every year. It started becoming harder when Marques turned 60. “The first two attempts, I’m barely getting above the rim,” he says. It’s harder to palm the ball as his hands lose strength, and it usually takes until the fifth or sixth try before he succeeds.
Johnson, who had hip surgery this summer, doesn’t know if he will succeed next year. After all, he only attempts to dunk on his birthday, never in-between. “I know, eventually, I’m not going to be able to do it,” he says. But his recovery has gone well, and he feels good he’ll dunk once more next February.
He still remembers it, misses it.
“I remember them vividly: the excitement, the adrenaline rushing through your body,” he says. “So the dunk, as you can tell, has meant a whole lot to me.”
When asked what his younger self would think about hearing him talk about dunking now — this exclusive club he first joined as a 14-year-old wearing slacks and dress shoes, one that has represented pain and joy, aging and authenticity — Johnson instead chooses to turn the question around.
“I’d tell 16-year old me,” he says, “do it until the wheels come off.”
(Illustration by Rachel Orr / The Athletic. Photos of Derrick Jones Jr. (left) and Anthony Edwards (right): Amanda Loman and David Berding / Getty Images)
The 2023-24 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms were unveiled last Thursday. NBA fans will be treated to another season where alternate uniforms, according to Nike, continue to “represent the stories, history and heritage that make each franchise unique.”
The uniforms are now in their seventh season with the NBA, and they have been a big hit in the past. Home teams will wear the uniforms throughout the NBA In-Season Tournament, which tipped off last Friday and will run until Dec. 9.
The big question: How does this year’s collection of uniforms look?
The 30 Nike NBA City Edition jerseys for the 2023-24 season.
The unveiling gave The Athletic’s team of Jason Jones, James Edwards III and Kelly Iko an opportunity to discuss the jerseys in depth. The trio conferred about all 30 City Edition jerseys and came up with its own power rankings. The writers ranked each team using a scoring system where 30 points were given to their favorite jersey, all the way to one point given to their least favorite. This explains the numbers in parentheses next to each writer’s name below.
Which jersey was the collective favorite? Here are the rankings and the writers’ thoughts of each, starting from worst to first.
(All images are courtesy of Nike and the NBA)
The Wizards jersey pays homage to the 40 boundary stones of the original outline of the District of Columbia.
Edwards (5 points): This makes me want a Mountain Dew Baja Blast from Taco Bell.
Iko (2): Have you ever chewed, like, five Skittles at once and looked at it? This is that. Come on, y’all.
Jones (1): There’s a lot going on here. Doesn’t really work for me.
This jersey was made in collaboration with Brooklyn artist and designer Brian Donnelly, known professionally as KAWS.
Jones (7): The artwork for “Nets” is supposed to give a graffiti vibe. I wish it would have leaned more into that, especially with this season occurring as hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Edwards (6): I’m all for trying to be creative and different; you take a risk when you do that. But the Nets took a risk, and they failed. Miserably.
Iko (1): It’s actually fitting that this was inspired by KAWS’ “Tension,” because that’s exactly the type of headache I get from looking at this for too long. This is a bad jersey. It’s actually baffling because KAWS makes some really dope art.
The triangle-shaped word mark is a reminder of the throwback design after the team moved from Minneapolis in the 1960s.
Jones (10): A mash between the early and modern Lakers. Not a big fan of the triangular shape of “Los Angeles,” but I understand its ties to the early days of the Lakers in the city. What would have been wild would have been something lake-related. That would have stood out more than another black jersey.
Iko (5): What’s going on in Los Angeles? I get it, Laker Nation rides hard for its team, but when I go to the store, I’m not thinking about the triangle offense. It could be worse though … like Brooklyn’s.
Edwards (4): I don’t really care about the reasoning for the placement of “Los Angeles.” It looks bad. Horrific. It’s like someone went to JOANN Fabrics and tried to make a custom Lakers jersey but ended up not measuring the width of the jersey correctly. For such a historic franchise, I expected better.
Memphis’ jersey prominently features the “MEM” logo that has been seen on the waistbands and collars of past uniforms.
Iko (15): I once got lost on Beale Street trying to get to FedExForum in Memphis. These give me the same confused vibe. The font is a cool idea, but it wasn’t executed well enough. Back to the drawing board.
Jones (3): The Grizzlies had my favorite City Edition jersey last season. Not so much this year. It’s basic. Doesn’t have the same personality as last season when the jersey screamed Memphis swagger.
Edwards (2): Someone on social media said the Memphis jersey is a QR code to see the actual jersey, and I can’t stop laughing. Horrible.
GO DEEPER
NBA City Edition 2022-23: Every alternate jersey ranked from 29(?) to 1
Indiana’s jersey has a street-art look resembling the murals and signs throughout Indianapolis neighborhoods.
Edwards (13): I don’t mind this, because it’s different without being too extra. The color combination is obscure, and while it doesn’t make any sense to me in terms of a connection to Indianapolis, it’s not an ugly jersey. Middle of the pack for me.
Iko (6): There is way too much going on. These are a mess.
Jones (2): When I think of Indiana, I don’t think vibrant, which is what this jersey is. I’ve been to Indianapolis plenty of times, but this just doesn’t connect with the city for me.
Heat fans are all in on “Heat Culture,” which this jersey proudly acknowledges.
Iko (10): “Heat Culture” is one of those things that should be said and understood, not displayed on the front of a jersey. Miami has so many more things to offer as a city that could have been used with these jerseys. Missed opportunity.
Jones (9): Nothing “Miami Vice”-related? No vibrant colors? A red-and-black jersey seems pretty simple. Adding “Heat Culture” is a nice touch, but when it comes to Miami, I prefer the “Vice” theme.
Edwards (3): I don’t think saying “Heat Culture” is as corny as most people do, but a jersey that says “Heat Culture” … yeah, that’s corny.
Denver’s jersey shows “5280” across the chest. A mile is 5,280 feet. Denver’s the “Mile-High City.” This one is pretty easy.
Iko (14): This might have ranked higher if pickaxes were on the front and the mountains were on the back. They also could have done without the “5280” slapped across the middle. Three and four numbers on the front of a jersey is for AAU. Distracting.
Jones (8): I’m still not sure how I feel about “5280” across the chest. I understand the significance, but how many numbers do you need on the front of a jersey? It takes away from the Denver skyline in the background.
Edwards (1): Whoever came up with this jersey should be suspended (with pay, of course). I’m sorry. I like Denver as a city, and I love the Nuggets, but these are comically bad. Some players will have six numbers on the front of their jerseys when Denver wears them. Six.
A black jersey with purple and highlighter-green accents gives a vibrant look for a New Orleans team representing a vibrant city.
Edwards (12): Do these glow in the dark? If not, that’s disappointing.
Iko (12): Somehow, some way, I blame (Pelicans writer) Will Guillory for these.
Jones (4): The perfect jersey to wear around Halloween.
Oklahoma City’s jersey aims to celebrate the city’s community art and appreciate the landscape of the Sooner State.
Edwards (20): I like the color combinations, as well as the font of “OKC.” I’m a fan of these.
Jones (5): This scheme matches the “Love’s” patch. Maybe that was intentional. The orange jumps out, but it’s pretty simple overall.
Iko (4): This makes me think of McDonald’s. These are pretty blah, but they might look better framed.
This jersey was designed in collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Jonas Wood. “Clips” recreates the team’s word mark from the 1980s.
Edwards (17): I wanted to knock it down some points for being so basic, but the ugliness of some other jerseys made it hard to penalize the Clippers for not trying.
Iko (7): Did Marcus Morris make this as a parting gift? Morris averaged 12 points as a Clipper. This is that, but in jersey form: I came to work and I did the job that was asked of me.
Jones (6): Nothing too fancy with this. No cool backstory or details in the description. Just a plain “Clips” jersey.
“Chicago” printed vertically on the jersey, coupled with “Madhouse on Madison” on the jock tag is set to remind Bulls fans of the old Chicago Stadium days.
Edwards (15): I ended up with them in the middle of the pack because I don’t like the placement of “Chicago.” It should be a little bit lower. That messed it all up for me.
Jones (12): The intent is to be a nod to the old Chicago Stadium of the early 1990s. “Chicago” down the front of the jersey reminds me of the shooting shirts worn by a young Michael Jordan. It’s not the most imaginative, but it works.
Iko (3): I understand the reference to Chicago Stadium from the ’90s, and I’m sure the locals really draw to the style, but I’ve never been a fan of the vertical lettering. It just makes for an awkward space in the middle.
A collaboration with lifestyle brand Kith helps the Knicks celebrate the teams from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Jones (11): There’s a lot going on here. Pinstripes. Doubling up on “New York.” The black down the side. Just a lot.
Iko (11): I feel like the Knicks have had a version of this every year for the last 10,000 years. It’s like the printer lagged out.
Edwards (9): A drunk version of a Knicks jersey. That’s all I got.
The Hawks use lowercase font and a “Lift as we fly” mantra to set the tone for this year’s City Edition jersey.
Jones (15): Nothing will top the MLK jersey for me. I like the blue on this, but it’s pretty basic compared to some of the previous versions.
Edwards (14): They’re fine. They’re middle of the pack to me, which might not say a lot because there are some absolutely horrendous City Edition jerseys.
Iko (13): Maybe it’s the combination of the lowercase font on these and the peachy color that throws me off, but it just seems OK. There’s no story or anything that really speaks to me. It’s fine — nothing more, nothing less.
The Spurs jersey pays homage to Hemisfair, the 1968 World’s Fair. It’s a retro look that values the heart of downtown San Antonio.
Iko (19): I didn’t expect the Spurs to go with the white base, but this will look really dope under the arena lights. Also, Ricky’s Tacos in San Antonio is the best place many have never heard of.
Jones (14): Would I wear this one? Probably not … but I like it. It’s very San Antonio. It definitely fits the city.
Edwards (10): The lettering is cool. That’s about it. This is too basic.
The Warriors jersey embodies San Francisco and its history of cable cars. The “San Francisco” word mark goes uphill as cable cars would around the city.
Iko (18): San Francisco is a unique city, from its transportation system to landscape. That matches the lettering of these jerseys. I’ve ridden through the streets for years, and each time, the hills surprise me. The black on the jersey also is really emboldened, if that makes sense.
Jones (17): The more I look at it, the more I like it. The cable car design of the “San Francisco” lettering works. The simplicity of the design with hints of the cable car history makes this a nice alternate jersey.
Edwards (11): The idea was cool, but the execution is meh to me. It’s an OK jersey with awkward lettering. Not the best, but not the worst.
Toronto’s jersey features a gold background and bolts of electricity as pinstripes. “We the North” is above the jock tag.
Iko (20): Sweet threads. I love the cultural melting pot Toronto is, and that is reflected in the making of this jersey. These will be a hit in the city.
Jones (20): The gold and lightning accents make this one of the Raptors’ best jerseys. “We the North” also reminds everyone that Toronto truly is an international city.
Edwards (7): I don’t like gold uniforms at all. Just a personal preference. I love Toronto, though. It’s my favorite North American city. However, hard pass on the jersey.
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Leon Bridges inspired the Mavericks jersey. Bridges, a Fort Worth, Texas, native, has his signature on the jock tag.
Edwards (21): I want to first shout out Erykah Badu while we’re on the topic of Dallas and R&B. Legend. This jersey is one of the better ones simply because of the font, colors and simplicity. It’s clean, and it pops. Hard to not like this.
Jones (13): Tapping into the R&B history of the region makes for a cool backstory. The jersey itself is pretty simple, but the details via the input of Leon Bridges are a nice discussion point.
Iko (16): I was actually curious about how and where Dallas would draw inspiration prior to these coming out. Leon Bridges is awesome, especially tied with the city’s history of R&B (shout-out to Tevin Campbell). For some reason, I keep thinking about Michael Finley when I see these.
The state known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” features blue water tones through most of the jersey with “Minnesota” across the chest in white.
Iko (26): Loooove these. The way the white dissolves into the blue gives a chilling effect. My mind immediately jumps to rapper Lil Yachty: “Cold Like Minnesota.”
Jones (19): This gives off calm and soothing vibes, perfect for the Land of 10,000 Lakes. If the Timberwolves ran back the Prince alternate versions every year, I’d be happy, but this is a nice bounceback after last season’s version.
Edwards (8): I guess I’ll be Debbie Downer here. These are mid, at best. Everything is smooshed at the top — the change in color, the number, “Minnesota” and the sponsors. I don’t love how small “Minnesota” reads. These would be lower for me if it weren’t for some of the nastiness that we’ve already talked about.
In addition to having “Buzz City” across the chest, this Hornets jersey celebrates Spectrum Arena, as well as the Charlotte Mint, the first U.S. branch mint.
Iko (21): You can never go wrong with teal and blue, and I really like how they incorporated the hornet influence. I can almost see Baron Davis crossing someone over in these. Nice work.
Jones (18): Charlotte’s colors are some of the best in the league. I’m digging the gold touch, too. Much better than last season’s edition.
Edwards (16): I agree with Jason. The Hornets have some of the best colors in the league. Hard to mess that up. These are clean, not too much.
The Celtics mesh their traditional green with a wood grain pattern, paying respect to the city’s long history of furniture making.
Edwards (22): If you’re not going to be creative, then keep it clean. Boston did. For my Michigan people, this jersey looks like an ad for Vernors.
Iko (17): Maybe I’m in the minority, but I actually like the blending of the white on the front with the wood grain texture on the sides.
Jones (16): Who knew Boston had a history of furniture making? I sure didn’t. The wood coloring on the side is also a nod to peach baskets, the part of history I would expect.
The Kings jersey gives flashbacks of the 1968 Cincinnati Royals. The various crowns above the jock tag add a nice touch.
Edwards (26): I’m going to sound like a hypocrite here, because the lettering doesn’t bug me nearly as much as the “Chicago” on the Bulls uniform, even though it’s just as high up the jersey. I think it’s because of the different colors. It breaks it up a little bit. These colors go together well. It’s sleek and clean.
Jones (22): I’d be in favor of the Kings rocking this full-time. We need something that connects the Kings to their history with Oscar Robertson, and this jersey works.
Iko (8): This is another one that James and Jason probably like, but I just can’t bring myself to it. Maybe it’s the width of the “Kings” stripes, but there’s a lot going on for me. I do like the colors, though.
Celebrating Milwaukee’s Deer District is the theme with this year’s Bucks City Edition jersey. Milwaukee went with a blue and cream colorway.
Jones (25): Another winner for the Bucks in the City Editions. The blue pops, and the cream “wave” is a nice touch. I’m just glad they didn’t go for a black jersey.
Edwards (23): I like the colors, especially the cream design across the middle and down the side.
Iko (9): I’m definitely in the minority with these. I love the historical connection to water used here, but really … using the arch as an ode to Fiserv Forum? Didn’t the arena open, like, five years ago? Not a fan.
The Trail Blazers pay homage to the late Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the team to its only NBA title in 1977. Ramsay was known for wearing plaid in Portland.
Jones (24): The plaid in honor of Dr. Jack Ramsay makes this a winner. It’s subtle, but it’s a great look. The Blazers kept it simple, but the history is in the details.
Iko (23): Black is always a good default, and the Blazers did well with these. You don’t have to go for a home run all the time: A simple base hit will suffice.
Edwards (18): Hard to hate it, easy not to love it. The plaid inside the lettering is a nice touch, visually and in terms of the backstory.
With “City of Brotherly Love” across the chest, the Sixers jersey is inspired by the Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia’s famous farmer’s market.
Edwards (25): I’m a sucker for navy blue, red and white. Those three colors go together so well for me. I also really like the font on the front. Two thumbs up.
Iko (22): It’s always hilarious hearing Philly associated with love, having spent quite a bit of time at 76ers games. But, really smooth color transition here, and the lettering is neat.
Jones (21): Navy blue was a good play for the red and white. The Reading Terminal Market lettering also is a great addition. I’m always going to like seeing “City of Brotherly Love” on a jersey.
The Rockets chose to honor the University of Houston’s Phi Slama Jama and Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, two hometown heroes, with their jerseys.
Iko (24): If you’re not from the city, you probably won’t get the cross reference between the University of Houston and the old Rockets teams, but this is a classic blend. This will sell like hotcakes at the Galleria.
Jones (23): Phi Slama Jama gets some love with this design. Had to look up the shooting shirts worn by the University of Houston during Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon’s college days to truly appreciate the design. Going with “H-Town” across the chest is a nice touch.
Designed to resemble a suit of armor, the Magic jersey is Navy with silver outlining and incorporates the franchise’s star in place of the A in “Orlando” across the chest.
Iko (30): My favorite. T-Mac. Penny. Shaq. Türkoğlu. All Magic legends, just like this jersey. It’s nostalgic. It’s smooth. It’s fire. This is how you do it. Take notes, Brooklyn.
Jones (28): Going navy blue with the chain-link stripes feels like a modern version of the early Magic jerseys — which I like. The star for the “A” in Orlando is placed perfectly and will look good on the court.
Edwards (19): I agree with the fellas. A modern twist on a ’90s basketball kid’s favorite jersey. Good job, Orlando.
Cleveland’s jersey, from the font to word mark to patterns, shows love to its thriving performing arts center, considered the largest outside of New York.
Iko (27): These are really dope. There’s intricate detail around the edges, and using the gold to highlight Cleveland’s theater scene is exactly the type of historical tidbit we never hear about. Awesome stuff.
Jones (26): These jerseys work best when I learn something new. I had no idea of Cleveland’s connection to theater until learning about this jersey design. Cleveland has the largest performing arts center outside of New York? Wow. It’s simple, but the details make this one nice.
Edwards (24): I didn’t know that either, Jason. Shout-out to the Cavs. It’s basic, but it’s done well. Good story. Definitely a top City Edition jersey.
Utah’s jersey gives flashbacks of the jerseys from the late 1990s and early 2000s. It features the familiar mountain range across the chest.
Edwards (29): The Karl Malone/John Stockton-era jerseys are some of my favorites of all time, and this is a great tweak of those. Give me any purple on a jersey. These aren’t as good as the Jazz uniforms from the ’90s — those are some of the best ever — but they are nice.
Iko (28): Can the Jazz keep these forever? These are perfect. It’s not too much mountain for Utah fans, I don’t think, and the purple rocks.
Jones (27): I’d take these over what the Jazz normally wear. The purple is perfect. The skyline works in paying homage to the best teams that played in Utah. I move that the Jazz stick with these jerseys.
The jersey draws from the energy of the “Bad Boys” era. The jersey also honors Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly with a “CD2” logo above the jock tag, his signature below it.
Jones (30): One of the worst things from the late 1980s/early ’90s was that the Bad Boy Pistons didn’t play in black uniforms. Alternate jerseys weren’t the thing back then, but if they were, these would have been perfect. And how would anyone not like the crossbones here? The uniform captures the essence of the era perfectly.
Edwards (30): These are clean. The connection to the “Bad Boys” era makes sense. It’s different from what the Pistons have done in the past. Well done. Very well done.
Iko (25): I’d think Bill Laimbeer would rock these passionately. Everything about these screams Detroit Pistons basketball from back in the day — tough as nails, sleek and dark.
Phoenix’s jersey reflects the city’s Hispanic culture, and the “El Valle” logo across the chest celebrates lowrider culture.
Iko (29): It takes real talent to make purple and pink go together. These are the jerseys that make people smile. Well done.
Jones (29): I love foreign languages on jerseys; the Suns hit a home run with this design. I also love the acknowledgement of lowrider culture. The design puts me in a custom ’64 Impala on a sunny day that’s bouncing down the street on switches.
Edwards (28): Purple is my favorite color. I also like pink and teal. So, yeah, I’d be first in line to grab this if I were a Suns fan. Also, like Jason, I’m a fan of foreign languages on a jersey.
GO DEEPER
NBA lineup changes: Who’s the same? Who’s different? Are rotations here to stay?
(Illustration: Sam Richardson / The Athletic; photos courtesy of Nike and the NBA)
What time is it? That’s right … it’s time to make some outlandish statements that people will look back on next spring and cackle hysterically.
OK, that’s not actually the goal, but it is certainly an occupational hazard. Prognostication makes fools of us all; there are just too many things we can’t possibly have seen coming. Thank goodness for that, actually, as sports would be pretty boring otherwise.
That won’t stop me from trying, though. With the regular season starting next week, now is the time to gaze into my extremely hazy crystal ball and make some calls for what will happen in the coming months. In particular, the goal is to make some calls that might go against the tide and are actually, y’know … bold. For instance, “Nikola Jokić will make the All-Star team” is a defensible prediction that likely will come true but doesn’t really clear the bar for this particular exercise.
A bolder prediction, on the other hand, would be something unusual or unexpected. Like, say, predicting that something that hasn’t happened in two decades might happen this season. That would be a rookie — a true rookie — making the All-Star team. The last rookie to make it was Blake Griffin in 2011, but he was in his second season under contract with the LA Clippers after missing his entire first campaign. A fresh-from-the-draft rookie hasn’t made the squad since Yao Ming was voted in as a starter in 2003.
We can qualify that even further because Yao only averaged 13 points a game that season and was voted in despite production that clearly paled next to the other potential options. (To be clear, Yao deserved his next six selections. Just not that year.)
GO DEEPER
The 24 biggest questions for the NBA season: Nuggets repeat? Wembanyama not ROY?
To go back a bit further, to the last time a just-drafted rookie both made the All-Star team and had numbers that truly warranted his inclusion, one would need a full quarter-century. And, what a coincidence … that player happened to be Tim Duncan, in 1998, in his first season as a San Antonio Spur.
Well, 25 years later, I’m going to go out on a limb and say a top overall pick of the Spurs will once again make the All-Star team … and will make it on merit.
Don’t let one bad summer league game get you twisted: Victor Wembanyama is as unique a basketball player to ever enter the league, a rim-denying giant at one end with a guard’s mentality and skill set at the other. You thought Kristaps Porziņģis was a unicorn because he could shoot 3s at his size? Well, picture the same package except with genuine ball skills and the ability to play out of the pick-and-roll.
I watched Wembanyama twice in Vegas last year and announced several of his French games for the NBA app; in every single one, he did something absolutely mind-blowingly unique, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody do that before” type stuff. He was far and away the best player in a good overseas league at the age of 18.
Here’s the crazy part: His preseason has been way better than that. Wembanyama seems to have made significant improvement both in his capability as a ballhandler and in his end-to-end speed (it helps when you can Eurostep to the rim from the 3-point line without needing to dribble), producing cascades of easy baskets for himself and those around him.
While his French tape showed flashes of this, he’s been able to do it with greater consistency in the more open floor of the NBA and shown marked improvement in his reading of the court and playmaking. Through two preseason games entering Wednesday night (I know, but humor me), the top pick in the draft has averaged more than a point per minute on 71.4 percent true shooting, blocked four shots and dissuaded countless others from being attempted and compiled a 33.9 PER.
I had thought Wembanyama might need a year to get his NBA sea legs before we really saw his impact. To hell with that. He’s already quite clearly his team’s best player and is likely good enough to lead the Spurs to a win total that may make them slightly uncomfortable. It’s becoming more and more apparent that he’s going to end up with an All-Star-caliber stat line that could, at the very least, put him on the short list for selection.
Victor Wembanyama could very well flex his way right into the All-Star Game this season. (Sarah Phipps / Associated Press)
Here’s the other part: The Western Conference is laden with star talent, but as a frontcourt player, Wembanyama should have an advantage. Other than Jokić, all of his main rivals for those spots have the words “if healthy” permanently attached as suffixes to the end of their names. Between LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Zion Williamson and Kevin Durant, surely at least one and possibly several will miss the festivities in Indy this February.
Other players will be in the mix too, of course — Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Utah’s Lauri Markkanen made it last year, for instance, and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns is still here — but between the shock and awe value of Wembanyama’s play and the likelihood of injury replacements on the West roster, he has a great chance of making the team even if he isn’t voted in as a starter.
Wemby on the All-Star team is my first bold prediction, but it’s not the only one. Here are some more for the coming season:
No coaches will be fired before the All-Star break
Any prediction involving job security in the NBA coaching profession is a daring high-wire dance above a fiery lava pit, but this might be the season to pull it off. The league’s coaching roster looks as stable as it has in some time; while you can imagine seats getting hot in a few places with a slow start, there’s also the undeniable fact that recent turnover has been so high that there are relatively few long-tenured coaches remaining to get the ax.
Do you know how many coaches have been on the job since before the pandemic year? Four! That’s it! Those are the league’s four “made men,” championship-winning coaches Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, Steve Kerr and Michael Malone, who have a combined 59 seasons with their current teams. They’re not going anywhere.
Meanwhile, 13 teams have a coach in either his first or second season, which would make them unlikely to be dismissed so quickly. Five others are in Year 3, when the pressure normally increases, except four of those clubs are rebuilding and have limited expectations this season. Add it up and, for 21 of the league’s 30 teams, an early-season coaching change seems hugely unlikely.
Again, this profession isn’t exactly renowned for its stability — last season’s first coaching change (the Nets’ Steve Nash) happened on Nov. 1! — so this prediction may end up looking hilarious come February. For the moment, however, we seemingly enter the season with almost unprecedented stability in the league’s coaching ranks.
Minnesota will win a playoff series for the first time in 20 years
That’s right, I have a second thing that hasn’t happened in 20 years that I’m predicting will happen in 2023-24. Good things to happen to the Timberwolves? Have I lost my mind?
Thus far, the preseason focus has been on other West locales — the world champion Denver Nuggets, the reloaded Phoenix Suns and the recent champions in Golden State and L.A. — while the Wolves haven’t garnered nearly as much attention. However, they quietly played well over the second half of last season, going 26-19 after the turn of the new year, and I’m projecting them to land one of the top four seeds in the West.
If that happened, it would be the first time since their conference finals run with Kevin Garnett in 2004. In the only other three playoff appearances for the Wolves since then, they’ve been first-round roadkill as the West’s seventh or eighth seed.
While it’s a little early to pencil in who might be their first-round playoff opponent, the Wolves would have home-court advantage in the first round based on their projected finish, and, particularly if they get the No. 3 seed or higher, would be in a historically strong position to advance.
Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be any particularly compelling reason to bet against Minnesota once it reaches the postseason; the Wolves have the requisite inside-outside weapons in Anthony Edwards and Towns, their potential top-seven playoff rotation looks strong and, besides Towns, the team has strong individual defenders. Will this be the season we see Minnesota play in May?
Because he’ll be the only player eligible for the award! I kid, slightly, but the league’s new 65-game requirement for most of the major awards may knock some fringe MVP candidates out of the running. (Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third last season with 63 games played; Memphis’ Ja Morant finished seventh while playing 57 in 2021-22; and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid finished second while playing just 51 of the 72 games in the shortened 2020-21 season.)
More seriously, and in keeping with the theme of bold predictions and not regurgitating chalk, I expect the award to come down to Jokić and Tatum in April. There’s an obvious risk in my saying Tatum will win since Jokić enters the season as an overwhelming favorite, which is the blowback from a league-wide sentiment of mea culpa for not giving him the trophy a year ago.
However, Tatum’s durability may give him a leg up in MVP voting despite the fact that he’s not perceived as the best player in the league. He nearly led the league in minutes a year ago and is young enough at 25 to again take on a big playing time load. Additionally, Boston could easily end up with the best record in the league and may do so by several games. As the team’s best player, Tatum almost automatically becomes a leading candidate.
Finally, it’s entirely possible Jokić treats the regular season with a bit less urgency — much as he did in the final month last season — while he tunes up for the games in May and June that truly matter. (On the flip side, Denver’s bench may be so bad that he doesn’t have the luxury.) A Nuggets finish in the middle of a crowded West pack would also dampen his quest for MVP No. 3, and that’s definitely in the cards too.
Nikola Jokić and Jayson Tatum will have to play at least 65 games this season to remain in MVP consideration. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
The West will regain dominance over the East
The East had a better record than the West for the second straight season in 2022-23, ending up with 22 more wins. That’s been a rarity over the past three decades; the West has been vastly superior nearly every season since Michael Jordan retired, culminating in the 2013-14 season in which identical 48-win seasons got Toronto the No. 3 seed in the East and earned Phoenix a ticket to the lottery in the West.
The NBA’s three best records also belonged to the East last year, and that part may hold up … partly because the depth of the West is so strong that it will be difficult for any individual team to push its win total much into the 50s. Nonetheless, the unusually tame regular seasons from expected West powers last season are unlikely to be an enduring feature; the Lakers, Warriors, Wolves, Clippers and Suns all figure to add several wins compared to 2022-23, while at the bottom of the conference, the 60-loss Rockets and Spurs could both be vastly improved. Only Portland will take a step back in the West.
OK, this prediction needs a bit more time to breathe and might not really come to fruition until next summer. Still, watch the Clippers, especially if they start slowly. Yes, LA is still all-in on winning and will cut another massive luxury-tax check to the league (their estimated penalty right now is a cool $100 million), and the Clippers could easily add to that figure if they end up trading for Harden.
Nonetheless, this season is a clear pivot point for the team, thanks in part to a new CBA that makes life much harder for teams that spend past the second luxury-tax apron, where the Clippers currently reside. After this year, teams in that position can’t aggregate salaries in trades or take back more money than they sent out. They also can’t use cash in trades, use their midlevel exception, sign bought out players or wear sneakers. Staying over the second apron next year would also result in their 2032 first-round pick being frozen and, if the payroll didn’t come down in future years, ultimately pushed to the back end of the draft.
All this is happening right at the point when Steve Ballmer is surely questioning his ROI on the huge luxury-tax checks; over the past two seasons, his team is 86-78 and has won a single playoff game.
Two other timeline items stand out: First, the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome arena is set to open next year, and second, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard can become free agents this summer. You’ll note that you’re not hearing much about contract extensions for either player right now.
The Clippers still owe future draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder through 2026, so it’s not a blow-it-up scenario as much as a scaling back. They have scenarios in which they could bring back Leonard and George while still skirting the second apron … or perhaps, dare we say it, even staying below the first apron and using their entire midlevel exception to balance out the roster.
Still, this looks to be a tricky dance. Ballmer is willing and able to pay virtually anything for a winner, but the league has never punished expensive rosters like this. Waiving Eric Gordon this June seemed like the first salvo in an organizational rethink about the merits of blasting money out the firehose under the new CBA.
Consider this partly a bet on Tyrese Maxey’s talent and partly a bet against Harden playing a significant role in Philly this season. If Harden is going to either be traded or behave so badly that the Sixers wish they had traded him, then Maxey should be the obvious beneficiary in terms of touches and shots.
Maxey averaged 20.3 points per game last season, but the number ballooned to 24.8 in the 13 games he played and Harden didn’t; that latter average would have placed him 15th in the league.
His other arrows are pointing up too. Maxey won’t turn 23 until November and is still figuring out how to weaponize his proficient 3-point shot (41.4 percent career) with more off-the-dribble attempts and how to parlay his blazing first step into more free-throw attempts. He’s an 85.8 percent career foul shooter but only attempted 3.8 free throws per game last year. That number should only rise as he gets more on-ball reps and figures out the dark arts of foul grifting.
Note that Maxey should also be highly motivated to produce this season, as the Sixers have held off on signing him to a contract extension to preserve 2024 cap space. With a good year, he’ll be able to sign for the Maxey-mum (sorry) next summer.
Denver’s Jamal Murray might be the most obvious first-time All-Star pick in a while, coming off a fabulous postseason that signified his full recovery from a torn ACL in 2021. He posted a 21.6 PER in 20 playoff games, or about a quarter of an NBA season (or half of one if you’re a Clipper); those numbers alone would get him in range of selection, and keep in mind they were posted against playoff defenses. Presumably, life will get easier for him when we add some Blazers and Wizards back into the mix.
As for Brunson, he missed the team a year ago while fellow Knick Julius Randle made it, but the playoffs may have been the tipping point in a swap of leading men in New York. Yes, Randle’s injuries were a factor, but Brunson averaged 27.8 points in the playoffs while taking by far the most shots on the team (over 20 a game). Moreover, those playoff stats were a continuation from the second half of the season: After a slow start, Brunson averaged 27.8 points per game after Jan. 1. Entering his age-27 season, Brunson, it would seem, is primed for a career year.
The Knicks are likely to get one rep in the game if they’re again among the top seven teams in the East when the voting happens, and if so, it seems more likely the choice would be Brunson this time around.
While we’re here, apologies to the Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane and the Nets’ Mikal Bridges, two other players I think will post strong resumes that get them serious All-Star consideration. It’s hard for me to pull the trigger on predicting them to make it unless there is a rash of injuries to elite backcourt players in each conference, especially with Brunson and Murray claiming spots.
The Bulls will blow it up
Consider this a prediction in two parts: First, that the Bulls won’t be good enough to justify keeping the DeMar DeRozan–Nikola Vučević–Zach LaVine band together any longer, and second, that they’ll break out the dynamite at the trade deadline. The key here is timing: DeRozan is a free agent after the season, so the Bulls need to either cash in their stock on the high-scoring 34-year-old forward or sign him to an extension.
Moving off him would be the necessary first step in a process that would likely see the Bulls deal LaVine and Vučević as well, although LaVine has four years left on his deal and thus might be shopped more profitably at the draft in June.
Historically, the Bulls haven’t been fans of tanking, and their first choice will (and should!) be to see how many games this nucleus can win. However, this particular decision might already have been made for them, as the endgame has seemed apparent ever since the seriousness of Lonzo Ball’s knee injury became clear. Chicago can either forge ahead with an expensive, not very good team with limited flexibility, or the Bulls can start over and hope they get lucky in the loaded 2025 and 2026 drafts.
Taylor Jenkins will win NBA Coach of the Year
This has nothing to do with who I think the best coach is (Spoelstra, duh) but rather my reading of the trend lines of the history of this award, which skews heavily toward the biggest surprise in the top third of the standings.
Based on my projections for the coming season and the comparative amount of buzz about the teams I have slated for winning records, the three most likely candidates would seemingly be Jenkins in Memphis, Darko Rajaković in Toronto and J.B. Bickerstaff in Cleveland. (Grizzlies alumni represent!) Boston’s Joe Mazzulla would be a strong candidate too, especially if the Celtics end up with the league’s best record by several games, as I suspect they might.
Nonetheless, Jenkins has the best ingredients in his favor for winning: Nobody is expecting all that much from his team, the Grizzlies are actually pretty good, and there’s a built-in narrative (“Didn’t have Ja Morant for the first 25 games and still …”) ready and waiting. Additionally, the margins in the West are tight enough that the Grizzlies don’t really need to overachieve much to get people’s attention, as I’m projecting a 50-ish win total might be enough to top the conference.
Kevin Durant and the Suns will look to advance in a stacked Western Conference. (Craig Mitchelldye / Associated Press)
Phoenix won’t have the West’s best record but will make the NBA Finals
I would take the field over any individual team in the West, and there’s a risk in making any prediction at all given that several contenders will likely make in-season moves to reshape their rosters. Seven teams have at least a somewhat realistic shot of advancing out of this pool, and that number could expand if a team in the middle class decides to get frisky with an all-in trade.
Nonetheless, right now, I like the playoff version of the Suns better than anyone else in a warty contender field. By the spring, Phoenix will hopefully have figured out some of the balance in its three-headed Bradley Beal-Devin Booker-Kevin Durant monster, and it’s quite possible the Suns will have used another trade chip or two to get more size and depth.
Ultimately, it will come down to Phoenix and Denver, most likely, regardless of which round they end up meeting — much like last year when their conference semifinal series was effectively for a place in the NBA Finals. This time around, I like the Suns’ answers off the bench much more than the ones they came up with a year ago, and I like the Nuggets’ quite a bit less. At the margins, I think that tilts the advantage slightly Phoenix’s way … even with Denver undoubtedly having the best player.
Boston will outlast Milwaukee in the East
The thing about Milwaukee getting Lillard is that it also allowed the Celtics to turn Malcolm Brogdon into Jrue Holiday. Holiday, of course, is about the best antidote to Lillard that mankind has come up with so far, dating to the 2018 series with the New Orleans Pelicans when Holiday harassed Lillard into 35 percent shooting in a four-game sweep.
That said, the Bucks present some real problems for Boston. The Lillard-Antetokounmpo two-man game threatens to be the best in the entire league, and the Bucks certainly can surround it with enough shooting. Dealing with Antetokounmpo might require heavy doses of an aging Al Horford, especially with Robert Williams gone to Portland, and Milwaukee’s dynamic duo also is one that could expose Porziņģis defensively.
There’s also some risk in choosing Boston here based on how the past few postseasons have gone, where the offense too easily degenerates into isolation-heavy slogs with Tatum and Jaylen Brown playing your-turn my-turn. (The Celtics also seem to lose all their mojo at the mere sight of Miami Heat jerseys, but that might not be a factor this season.)
However, that’s where Porziņģis can really help. His ability to punish switches by posting up shorter players is an option that Boston simply didn’t have last year, and it could be a real factor against the postseason switching defenses that have tended to gum up Boston the last few years.
I’m excited just thinking about this series … but I think the Celtics will prevail slightly in the end, much as they did in the second round two years ago.
Boston will beat Phoenix in the NBA Finals
Boston vs. Phoenix would be an incredible Finals because it would involve the Suns’ eternal quest for a first crown against the Celtics’ hope of raising an 18th banner, which would once again give them a leg up on the Lakers on the all-time list. Of course, it would be a first of sorts for Boston as well, as the Celtics haven’t won since 2008 and the current Tatum-Brown-Horford core has yet to get over the final hump.
It seems risky to pick Boston to win four straight playoff series despite the Celtics’ imposing defense and impressive top-seven rotation for the postseason. Historically, the postseason has been about having That Dude, and only a few teams have managed to get to the mountaintop with more of an ensemble cast. Tatum is one of the best players in the league, but he hasn’t yet shown himself to be a playoff cheat code on the Jokić/Curry/Kawhi level.
On the other hand … Boston just has so many ways to hurt you that Tatum doesn’t have to play at an exalted level for the Celtics to win the title. Two years ago, they were up 2-1 on Golden State in the Finals, for instance, before succumbing in six games. Curry was the best player in that series and Tatum only shot 35 percent, yet the Celtics were still in it.
Again, the Porziņģis acquisition potentially looms large, especially if he can hold up on defense, because it allows the Celtics to punish some of the switching schemes that so badly stagnated them in previous postseasons. At the other end, Boston is also one of the few teams with enough elite perimeter defenders to not sweat matching up against Beal, Booker and Durant at the same time. In the end, the Celtics’ defense is good enough that I worry less about the offense.
So, book your hotels for Boston in June, print this out and file it away and prepare to laugh uproariously when 50 things we couldn’t possibly have imagined reshape the season in totally unexpected ways. That’s the beauty of sports, but I’ll keep trying to get this hazy crystal ball to give me a few tips.
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; photos: Maddie Meyer, Paras Griffin, David Dow / Getty Images)
The NBA’s 180 on load management is giving me whiplash.
Five seconds ago, every available piece of science the NBA told us it had in its possession from its teams said – screamed – the same thing: players not only needed more time off but that the league would be derelict in its partnership with its players if it didn’t align with teams, whose data said: rest.
The league cut way back on back-to-back games. Many teams eliminated morning shootarounds, as they were viewed as disruptive to players’ sleep patterns. Every team had a “Director of Very Important Sports Science and Cutting Edge MahnaMahna” and scores of eager data collectors. Wearables tracked every waking moment of every player, what they ate, and when. Cameras high above each arena tracked every movement of every player on the court.
“Before, it was a given conclusion that the data showed that you had to rest players a certain amount, and that justified them sitting out,” NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told national media in a conference call Wednesday.
“We’ve gotten more data, and it just doesn’t show that resting, sitting guys out correlates with lack of injuries, or fatigue, or anything like that. What it does show is maybe guys aren’t as efficient on the second night of a back-to-back.”
Dumars’ words echo those of Commissioner Adam Silver, as he introduced the league’s new “Player Participation Program” that was approved by the league’s Board of Governors last month.
“Honestly, that’s what I’d been told as well, that it was the science,” Silver said. “I think it may be why the league didn’t become involved maybe as deeply as we should have earlier on. Part of the discussion today was about the science, and frankly, the science is inconclusive.
“I think in the case here, that part of the commitment here from the league office is we are putting together a group of team doctors and scientists and others and trying to better understand it. One thing I want to make clear: The message to our teams and players is not that rest is never appropriate. And realize, there’s a bit of an art to this, not just a science.”
GO DEEPER
Load management has frustrated NBA, fans and TV partners. But will new rules help?
Now, the NBA has a lot of smart, smart people in its sports medicine department. The department, led by Dr. John DiFiori, helped create the Orlando Bubble in 2020 out of thin air – and, more or less, pulled it off. It then created a comprehensive return-to-play program for the following season that was lauded by other medical people for its thoroughness and honesty about how to deal with COVID cases when and if they occurred. The league had extensive and continuing dialogue with the Players’ Association, before, during and after the two sides hammered out the newest Collective Bargaining Agreement about these kinds of issues. It’s a partnership.
And during all of this, the NBA’s position was consistent: the science, the science, the science tells us so.
Just eight months ago(!) this is what Silver said during All-Star Weekend in February, in Salt Lake City: “I hesitate to weigh in on an issue as to whether players are playing enough because there is real medical data and scientific data about what’s appropriate. Sometimes, to me, the premise of a question as to whether players are playing enough suggests that they should be playing more – that, in essence, there should be some notion of just get out there and play. Having been in the league for a long time, having spent time with a lot of some of our great legends, I don’t necessarily think that’s the case.
“The world that we used to have where it was just, ‘Get out there and play through injuries,’ for example, I don’t think that’s appropriate. Clearly, I mean, at the end of the day, these are human beings – many of you talk to and know well – who are often playing through enormous pain, who play through all kinds of aches and pains on a regular basis. The suggestion, I think, that these men, in the case in the NBA, somehow should just be out there more for its own sake, I don’t buy into.”
And now … forget all of that?
To be fair, Silver has said, multiple times over the last few years, that he was concerned about the effect of load management on the league’s fans, who were increasingly paying to attend games in which no one they hoped to see play had on a uniform. And it became especially hard for the NBA to push teams to push their players to play after COVID reached our shores, though the league’s $100,000 fines instituted in 2020 for teams that group rested players was limited to nationally televised games.
The league also clearly leaned into, let’s say, encouraging its players that more participation was warranted by tying a minimum games played requirement for many of its individual awards going forward.
But at every turn, the league dropped back to its default position: We’re following the data.
So, are we to believe the science turned on a dime? Since February?
Did NBA players skip the line in the evolutionary process this spring, and suddenly grow a third lung, that now gives them greater breathing capacity? Have they been enhanced, like Grace in Terminator: Dark Fate, now better able to withstand the grind of an 82-game season, after not being able to go on past game 65 or so without congealing?
And, coincidentally, I’m sure: the data changed that quickly just as the league is reaching a key moment in its discussions with its current and potentially new media partners on a new rights deal, to replace the expiring one in 2025? Or, did the networks and/or tech companies vying to air or stream NBA games in the near future say, with justification: “For our eleventy billion dollars we’re spending to buy these rights, you damn sure are gonna make sure that Giannis and Steph and the Joker suit up on the regular”?
I’m not saying it’s the only consideration for TV/tech companies — who don’t know that they’re scheduling the Lakers back-to-back when they make their schedule requests; they don’t see the full 82 until you or I do. But it’s hard to believe they don’t push hard on that particular action item with the league’s media committee.
GO DEEPER
Let’s talk load management: Is it a problem? How do we know it works?
For the last decade-plus in the NBA, it’s been all about the numbers, all about the data, all about the science, even as the league (he noted, quietly) implemented both a Play-In tournament after the 82-game regular season, and before the two-month-long playoffs, and will now have an in-season tournament during the 82-game season, which will add an 83rd game to the two teams that make the in-season tournament final.
Rest, but play a little more, too, so that the regular season actually means something – and so we have another package to parlay into another sweet revenue stream.
The numbers ruled. And so, midrange jumpers were now stupid; rebounds no longer mattered. Big men who got in the way of all the driving and kicking were anathema; we only want rim runners now. And teams’ medical staffs all erred on the side of caution, to try to head off stress injuries and similar maladies before they got worse, by sitting players as much as possible. The days when players, proudly, would play all 82 games because that was what was expected of them were dismissed as Codger Thinking, ridiculous clinging on to the old days by old people who didn’t understand that they were shortening their careers by playing in meaningless games. (It wasn’t as if players back in the day didn’t deal with mental health issues as well.)
The NBA seems to want everyone to forget.
What’s more likely: All the teams’ data for the last half-dozen years has suddenly been discovered to be irreparably, incontrovertibly wrong? Or, the league went along with that data, ignoring those who said “Wait; Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas and John Stockton and Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing all suited up as much as possible, year after year, and didn’t fall apart,” because it didn’t want to push back against alleged “modern thinking”? That it couldn’t take a position of “Well, we trust our players,” because someone would present a paper at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference calling such thinking outdated? That it had to justify what every team, from its hedge fund CEO ownership on down, was now saying was “best practices?”
Dumars, one of those codgers, said Wednesday: “Obviously everybody’s not going to play 82 games, but everyone should want to play 82 games. And that’s the culture that we are trying to reestablish right now.”
Whatever the process the NBA used to go back to the future, I’m glad it did. It’s all right to keep some old-school thinking along with the new jack intel.
Fans can’t be guaranteed they’ll see the league’s top stars when they buy tickets; legit injuries happen. But if the league leaves it up to teams to make close calls on player health, the teams will protect their investments, every time. And I know enough about most players to know that, given the choice, they’ll opt to play. Whether out of ego or incentives or genuine care about the fans who pay top dollar to see them, they want to suit up.
That’s how you make the regular season more meaningful.
(Photo of Adam Silver: AAron Ontiveroz / The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Amick: The most painful of waiting games is almost over, gentlemen.
Maybe not for James Harden and Damian Lillard (yes, they still want to be traded), or for the Bucks fans who will spend the next nine months (and likely longer) worrying about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s state of mind in Milwaukee. But for those of us who are soooo ready to see NBA basketball again after this long and mostly quiet offseason, you can see the bouncing ball at the end of the tunnel.
GO DEEPER
From Harden to Dame to Giannis: Storylines to watch heading into a new season
It’s been a little more than 100 days since the Nuggets’Nikola Jokić finished off the Heat in Game 5 of the Finals, then took that celebratory pool plunge with worthy co-star, Jamal Murray, as Denver celebrated the franchise’s first Finals win. And while training camp is still a little ways away — late September for teams that are playing preseason games overseas, and Oct. 3 for everyone else — the proverbial wheels of this 2023-24 season are unofficially in motion.
With all that said, I haven’t talked hoops with either one of you in months and want to know how you see the early stories that will shape this coming campaign. Dame Time standing still? The (bitter) Beard? The NBA’s new crusade against healthy star players sitting? We have an ugly off-court topic too, with the incredibly disturbing allegations levied against Houston guard Kevin Porter Jr. after his recent arrest in New York and that the Rockets have been looking to trade him in the aftermath.
Consider this the tipoff. Pick a topic and start us off, DA…
Aldridge: Oh, it’s Dame Time, still. Has to be. Whatever you think of his skill set at this point of his career, he’s still a top 15-20 player in this league. Whoever gets him gets a significant boost to their talent, which extends through everyone on their roster. He tilts the floor. So, if you are, say, a team that plays in the Eastern Conference, and has another floor-tilter whose name sounds like “Timmy Cutler,” getting Lillard vaults you to the top of the heap in said conference. So, until that situation is resolved — and, it has to be resolved by the trade deadline; whether or not it gets done by the time camp starts or not, the Blazers can’t let this hang over them for an entire season – determining what team has the best chance to come out of the East will remain up in the air.
(Having said that: are you out of your minds, Heat Nation? No, Tyler Herro and three first-round picks is not a good deal for Portland for, arguably, the best player in that franchise’s history. Not. I love how fans — and, not a few general managers — argue with a straight face that my team’s third- or fourth-best player with some filler should, somehow, be enough for you to give up your team’s best player. Like, I’ll trade you my ’09 Camaro with shot brakes and three bald spares to you for your ’22 Benz with 253 miles on it. What? Sounds fair!)
Hollinger: I think the Harden situation will quickly move to the forefront as we get into training camp and the early part of the season, because that’s the one with the highest potential for provocative, escalatory behavior.
I think it’s very unlikely that Lillard will no-show training camp or openly mail in games … sure, he might keep the throttle at 75 percent and sit out games when he’s dinged up and otherwise might have played, but I don’t think he’s wired to just go into full eff-you mode against the Blazers. He still has four years left on his deal, remember. Him playing in games up until the trade deadline would be a non-shocking outcome for me.
Harden, on the other hand, has had much sharper words for his organization already, is on the last year of his contract and has shown already the capacity to take things further back when he was trying to get out of Houston. The opening weeks of the season in Philly could be absolutely fascinating, in a Ben Simmons-y kind of way.
GO DEEPER
James Harden-76ers trade saga timeline
(While we’re here: I disagree with DA a bit on Miami’s side of the Dame puzzle. Fair ain’t got nothing to do with it; Three firsts and Herro is more than anybody else is going to offer for Lillard. My evidence: It doesn’t appear that anybody else has come even remotely close to doing so, random Toronto vapor whispers aside. (Aside to my aside: Sorry, OKC isn’t walking through that door.) Miami is smart not to bid against itself; Portland is smart to wait to see if a better offer materializes before the trade deadline. So, we wait.)
Amick: Agreed on both fronts there, guys. With Dame, I think the Harden-esque escalation wouldn’t happen unless he were dealt to a team like, say, Toronto, where he clearly doesn’t want to be. And for everyone who cites the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade as an example of a team winning the risky bet on a player who wanted to be elsewhere, let’s not forget that Kawhi was only one season away from free agency at the time.
Lillard, by very significant contrast, has four very expensive seasons left on his contract (including a player option worth $63.2 million in 2026-27). It’s one thing to roll the dice for a season and hope it works out, and quite another to take on a deal worth $216 million and brace for the potentially disastrous fireworks that might unfold from there.
OK, I’m shifting to the load management discussion. As you’re well aware, the league’s new policy on star players resting was approved by the Board of Governors last week. The Commish, Adam Silver, declared afterward that “we’re an 82-game league” and detailed how, health permitting, multiple star players aren’t allowed to sit in the same game and are expected to be available for national television and in-season tournament games.
You can read all the details here, but the unspoken point is this: With the NBA’s nine-year, $24-billion TV deal with ESPN and TNT set to expire after the 2024-25 season, and with companies such as Apple and Amazon looming as serious suitors for the next deal, it’s a great time for all of the league’s blockbuster ballers to put their best game forward. But beyond the economic component, how did that change hit you in terms of the competitive aspect of the decision, DA?
GO DEEPER
Load management has frustrated NBA, fans and TV partners. But will new rules help?
Aldridge: It’s instructive to see how quickly the league/Silver have amended their previous “we go where the science tells us to go” narrative. I’ve felt for some time, while shaking my fists at clouds, that the NBA has gotten out of balance. That the maniacal desire by the new owners and ownership groups in the game to find a competitive edge through data has taken the game off its axis.
Before you tell this old man to shut up and finish my gruel, hear me out. Load management, like leaning in on 3s, is a logical process for teams that seek even a minor advantage over opponents. If “x” represents the exact right number of minutes or games in a season to play, say, Joel Embiid, based on his physiology and body mass and potential injury stress points in and on his body, “x + anything more” is suboptimal for the 76ers. It makes Embiid more susceptible to injury, and injuries to superstars are what wreck NBA franchises. You can’t recover from them. Period. Thus, load management is a fact-based, self-protecting decision. I understand that.
But sports do not operate at their best in this kind of environment. People watch sports, and become fans of teams or individuals, because sports aren’t logical. We didn’t watch Muhammad Ali because he was a pretty good fighter; we watched him because no other human we could name in 1964 could stand up to Sonny Liston, much less make him quit on his stool. And, a decade later, do the exact same thing to another force of nature, George Foreman. Or, put another way: how many movies about Jimmy Ellis did they make, again?
We don’t still hold Jim Brown in high regard because he was a pretty good running back; we do so because he ran over and past everyone who played defense in the NFL for nine seasons. You are enthralled by Shohei Ohtani because he’s an elite pitcher and hitter, and nobody else does that — or, at least, they haven’t done it for the last eight or nine decades! We love watching athletes who go beyond norms, and shatter expected limits. And load management, while well-intentioned, puts everyone, no matter their level of excellence, in a box.
Kawhi is a two-time NBA Finals MVP? He still can’t play tonight because the numbers tell us not to play him. It’s not just that this cheats paying customers who wanted to see him in Charlotte or Indiana or New York (though that matters, greatly). It limits Leonard’s choices. (And, yes, I believe most players, given the choice, will opt to play almost every time.)
So, I hope that this new position will be the start of a correction by the NBA, understanding that while looking for every edge is a reasonable position, it sometimes goes against what made people fall in love with the game in the first place.
(Coming next: Why the midrange jumper rules!)
Hollinger: Here’s the deal: The entire load management debate is a collision of the fact that what is in the interests of an individual team is not necessarily in the interests of the league as a whole.
News flash: The most important games of the year are played in May and June. Thus, for the eight or so teams that harbor realistic hopes of playing meaningful games at the end of the season, the biggest part of the battle is ensuring their best players are in peak condition for those games.
With a too-long schedule of 82 games packed into 177 days, and 16 teams qualifying for the postseason no matter what, the math should almost instantly tell you that once a team reaches a certain level of quality, the regular season just isn’t that important.
Take, say the Boston Celtics, who can basically name any win total they want to end up with between 53 and 63 this season, as long as they stay healthy.
So, tell me: Why would they push the pedal to the metal on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown just to get 63 rather than 53? What’s the payoff?
To be clear, the players are almost always in the “Hell yes! Let’s get 63!” camp. Front offices, however, are hugely cognizant of the big-picture issue here, and, in virtually every case, are the ones driving the load management decision. (Kawhi appears to be a rare exception: his situation is a whole other deal.) I know from my own experience: Marc Gasol and Mike Conley weren’t taking a day off unless we dragged them off the floor.
Sometimes, the protocols of an injury rehab pretty much demand some load management days happen (as with Leonard, I should note). Other times, it’s just a case of common sense winning the day. If your endgame is to have peak Steph Curry in June, you might logically decide that the second game of a Portland-to-Denver back-to-back in January is a good place to hedge your bets and maximize your likelihood of the desired June outcome. It’s also more logical to take those powders in road games that your team was less likely to win anyway, and is likely more strain on your players’ body because of the travel.
Somehow the “it’s teams not players” part still doesn’t seem to be as big a part of the wider narrative as it should be; I shudder in particular at recent comments by Silver that seemed to focus more on the players, like they were just choosing to chill on back-to-backs. Nah, that ain’t it. This is teams acting in their own best interest … but not in the league’s.
The Warriors have a Minnesota, Denver back-to-back coming up.
Steph Curry: “I campaign to play every game. That’s the misconception about load management. It’s never the player saying, ‘Hey, I want to sit.’”
Thus, the recent steps by the league is its attempt to swing the pendulum back toward the greater good of the league as a whole. In particular, I think the league is doing everything it can to protect the most important games on its schedule — national TV dates — and the timing is obvious, given that it’s in the middle of negotiating a huge new TV contract. Also, the league can still get smarter about scheduling national TV games so they aren’t in back-to-backs.
Ultimately, however, the original tension point is still there: You can’t force teams to pretend regular-season games are important if they’re not actually important.
Amick: All right, so apparently we saved the worst topic for last here.
For the readers who somehow missed the news, Porter Jr. was arrested and charged with assault and strangulation of his girlfriend on Sept. 11. The details of the situation are disturbing, and it’s worth noting that this is merely the latest incident in what has been a years-long string of trouble for the 23-year-old. But how do you both see the business aspect of this mess?
The Rockets, as our Shams Charania reported, have been looking to get off of the four-year, $82.5 million deal that Porter Jr. signed in October. For their purposes, it was wise to have the final three seasons of the deal be non-guaranteed, with only the $15.9 million in the first year guaranteed. But the idea of doing a deal while the legal process starts to unfold, all with the hopes of landing an additional asset or two along the way, is pretty unsavory.
Aldridge: Look, this isn’t debatable. There’s doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or the wrong thing for the right reasons. What the Rockets are doing has no “right” attached to it. As Tevye said about something else entirely different in “Fiddler on the Roof,” in this case, there is no “on the other hand…”
Houston trying to salvage something from Porter, Jr.’s contract — or anyone helping them do it, no matter the benefit to them — is odious. I accept, of course, that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and that Porter should have his day in court to answer the charges against him if he so chooses. But that’s wholly different from Houston trying to get someone to take his contract off its hands. It’s abhorrent business. And the Rockets need to get out of that business as soon as humanly possible, release Porter Jr. immediately, and move on. This young man needs help dealing with life. But he shouldn’t be on an NBA team while he finds that help.
Hollinger: The part of this that feels so unseemly is the idea that, “Hey, now that he’s gonna be suspended and/or have his contract voided, let’s see if there’s some value here!”
Just to dip our foot into the nitty gritty for a second: Nobody will save money by trading for Porter’s contract and then seeing him suspended, because the money goes to NBA charities. A few teams could save a lot of money on the luxury tax, however. The financial logic is that a team that has Porter’s $15.86 million on its books, if and when he is suspended for most or all the season, could have that money discounted by half that amount ($7.93 million) on their tax calculation, times whatever their tax multiplier is. Thus, trading an equivalent dead-money contract for Porter could be worth tens of millions to the right team.
I don’t really see that team, though. The current tax teams aren’t sitting on piles of dead money. Even what you might call slightly-dead money for these teams (greetings, Clippers forwards!) is there as an expiring contract for future trades, not to slough off for savings just so they can take a giant L in a press conference.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that, given how unlikely this endeavor seemed from the start, Houston was probably better off just quietly taking its medicine and moving on. Surely, this wasn’t a thing you’d want out in the media. (If you’re waiting for the Rockets to waive him, by the way, there may be some very good procedural reasons why that hasn’t happened yet. But I can’t imagine him wearing their uniform again.)
(Photo of Jimmy Butler and Damian Lillard: Soobum Im / USA Today)
The NBA draft lottery has offered teams a quick path from bad to good for nearly four decades. The stakes this year are unusually high with French phenom Victor Wembanyama the top prospect.
The lottery format has undergone a few changes since the New York Knicks won the first one in 1985, when there were seven teams.
There are twice as many lottery teams now, all hoping, like the Knicks did when they drafted Patrick Ewing, to have luck strike at the right time and land the player who can turn around a franchise.
The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Spurs all have a 14% chance of getting him, but there will be 14 teams at the McCormick Place Convention Center that have hopes.
WHEN IS THE NBA DRAFT LOTTERY?
The league will hold this year’s lottery Tuesday night in Chicago, with the winner getting the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama. He is considered the best prospect in years — perhaps since LeBron James went No. 1 20 years ago. The lottery telecast begins at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN and during the televised portion, Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum opens envelopes that reveal the draft order. Neither he nor any of the representatives on stage will know the results until then.
All the teams that missed the postseason are in the Wembanyama Sweepstakes. In addition to Houston, Detroit, and San Antonio, the list includes Charlotte, Portland, Orlando, Indiana, Washington, Utah, Dallas, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Toronto and New Orleans.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE PING-PONG BALLS?
Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 to 14 are placed in a machine and the teams are assigned various four-number combinations. The balls are mixed for 20 seconds before the first one is drawn. The remaining balls are mixed again before another is drawn, and that happens twice more until four have been removed.
The team with that combination of numbers gets the No. 1 pick. The balls are then returned to the machine and the process is repeated for the Nos. 2-4 picks.
Teams have representatives in the lottery room where the actual drawing takes place and another on the podium for the televised announcement. Representatives in the lottery room can observe the process but can’t the results. Everyone in the room has to turn over their cell phones and any other forms of communication when they enter.
WHY DOESN’T THE WORST TEAM HAVE THE BEST ODDS TO WIN?
The short answer is to avoid any incentive for a team to finish last.
The worst team did have the best odds until a few years ago with a 25% chance of winning the No. 1 pick from 1994-2018. Now the teams with the three worst records all have a 14% chance.
In the first years of the lottery from 1985-89, every team had the same odds. But the team with the worst record got the top pick only once and that led the league to implementing a weighted system. The current system also does not guarantee the worst teams get one of the top four picks.
The Pistons, with the worst record, can have no worse than the No. 5 pick. Houston could end up sixth and San Antonio could fall as far as No. 7. Picks No. 5-14 go in the inverse order of the teams’ finish in the standings.
WHY DO THE ROCKETS GET A BETTER SCENARIO THAN THE SPURS?
The NBA held tiebreakers on April 17 to determine draft order for teams who finished with the same records. Houston won that tiebreaker against San Antonio for the No. 2 spot after both finished 22-60. Maybe it was a sign this is Houston’s year. The Rockets seem due for lottery luck. Houston finished with the NBA’s worst record the previous two seasons but fell to the No. 2 pick in 2021 and No. 3 in 2022.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The celebration surrounding Damian Lillard’s record-breaking performance was short-lived.
Lillard set franchise and career marks with 71 points — tied for the most in the NBA this season — and 13 3-pointers in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 131 -114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
“I enjoy those moments in the game when I’m just going after people,” Lillard said, “when I’m in attack mode.”
But soon after the streamers fell to the court and the crowd headed for the exits, Lillard was summoned for a drug test. Turns out, the seven-time All-Star who’s unafraid of taking a 3-pointer from half court is afraid of needles.
“I know I’ve got a lot of tattoos, but when you’re doing a blood draw, it’s different from tattoos. It brought me down from here to the floor,” Lillard said gesturing with his hand raised then dropping it.
And Lillard got tested on the night he tied Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell for the most points in a game this season after Mitchell also scored 71 in a win over Chicago on Jan. 2. His 13 3-pointers were also one shy of the NBA record set by Golden State’s Klay Thompson in 2018. Thompson’s Warriors teammate Stephen Curry (2016) and Chicago’s Zach LaVine (2019) also made 13 3s.
Lillard broke his own franchise mark of 61 points, which he’d done twice, on a 3-pointer with 4:42 left that also topped his previous career record for 3s, which was 11.
Known for his humility, Lillard was unsure how to mark the occasion.
“I think any hooper enjoys those moments when you’re hot, you’re in attack mode, you’re feeling good,” Lillard said. “But it’s the stuff afterward that I struggle with, like when I walked off the court, was I supposed to be overly excited, or what?”
In the final minutes of the game, the crowd at the Moda Center was on its feet, phones recording the moment, while chanting “MVP! MVP!”
“It really, really was a masterful performance,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “It was a piece of art. That was incredible.”
Lillard left the game with 44 seconds left, tied with Mitchell, Elgin Baylor (1960) and David Robinson (1994) for the eighth-most points scored in a game in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain owns the league record with 100 for Philadelphia against New York on March 2, 1962, at Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Lillard had 41 points and eight 3-pointers by halftime. It was a career high in a half for Lillard and the most points in a half for any player in the league this season. He had 50 by the start of the fourth quarter.
In the end, he made 22 of 38 shots from the floor and he hit on 13 of his 22 3-point attempts. He was also 14 of 14 from the foul line.
Jerami Grant added 13 points for the Blazers, who led by as many as 23. Portland is part of a cluster of eight Western Conference just four wins apart that are vying for playoff spots.
Alperen Sengun had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, sitting in last place in the Western Conference with just 13 overall wins and nine straight losses.
“It’s not like we didn’t give effort, he made some really tough shots,” said Rockets coach Stephen Silas, who sat Sengun midway through the third quarter for the rest of the game. “But we need everyone to give effort on the defensive end.”
Houston trailed 102-88 heading into the final quarter, but scored the first six points of the period to close the gap to 102-94. Grant’s 3-pointer for Portland extended the margin to 108-98.
Lillard’s 3, his 11th of the night to tie his career high, made it 113-103 with 6:43 left. He added a driving layup and a free throw. Houston could not catch up.
Lillard started after resting for Thursday night’s 133-116 loss to Sacramento. He participated in the NBA All-Star Game and won the 3-point contest the previous weekend.
The Blazers led 73-58 at the break with Lillard the 10th player since the 1996-97 season with 40-plus points in a half. He has 15 games with 50 or more points, sixth-most in NBA history.
SIDELINED
Guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. did not play, although Silas said both should be available for the team’s short upcoming homestand. Green missed his second game with a strained left groin. Porter has been out 19 games because of a left foot contusion.
TIP-INS
Rockets: It was the third and final meeting between the teams this season. The Blazers won the previous two. Last season, the series ended 2-2. … Jae’Sean Tate had four fouls in the first half, but finished with 17 points.
Trail Blazers: Portland remained without center Jusuf Nurkic (left calf) and guard Anfernee Simons (right ankle).
UP NEXT
Rockets: Return home to face the Denver Nugget on Tuesday.
Trail Blazers: Visit the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
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Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James‘ first coach in the league, has died, his family announced Sunday. He was 79.
The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. The Boston Globe first reported Silas’ death, and no official cause was immediately announced.
“We mourn the passing of former NBA All-Star and head coach Paul Silas,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “Paul’s lasting contributions to the game are seen through the many players and coaches he inspired, including his son, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s family.”
Silas began his career as a head coach with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats.
He took four of those teams to the playoffs, winning exactly 400 games — 387 in the regular season, 13 more in the postseason.
“Paul made a huge contribution to the game of basketball and will be sorely missed!” Hall of Fame guard and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter.
The Rockets were playing host to Milwaukee on Sunday night. It was not immediately clear how long Stephen Silas would be away from the team; the Rockets were planning to have John Lucas lead the team on an interim basis while the Silas family grieves.
Stephen Silas got into the NBA world when his father was coaching in Charlotte, starting as an advance scout and eventually serving as an assistant on his father’s staff with the Hornets in 2000. It took Stephen Silas two decades to get a chance to be a head coach, that coming when Houston hired him in 2020.
“My dad, obviously, he was my No. 1 mentor, someone who I could lean on, ask questions and he asked questions of me,” Stephen Silas said in a 2021 documentary produced by the Rockets about his coaching journey. “He really valued my opinion, which was kind of weird to me, me being so young and not having much experience.”
Stephen Silas persevered for a long time before getting his big chance. He saw his father wait a long time for the job he wanted as well. Paul Silas was fired by the San Diego Clippers in 1983 and wouldn’t have a head coaching opportunity again until 1999 — coming when Dave Cowens, for whom Paul Silas was an assistant, stepped down in Charlotte after a 4-11 start to the shortened 1998-99 season.
“I was known as not a hard, hard, hard worker and it really hurt me when I was an assistant coach, for about 10 years, when I couldn’t get a head job,” Paul Silas told the Rotary Club of Charlotte while giving a speech there in 2013. “I really talked to teams about being a head coach, but I didn’t get one. What happened is I stayed positive. I had a positive attitude. Even though I couldn’t get the job, I said, ‘No, I’m not going to be negative. I’m going to be positive.’”
Eventually, Silas would take over in Cleveland. He got there in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted James.
“I coached LeBron for two years, his first two years, and LeBron was unbelievable,” Paul Silas said. “At 18 years old, he knew about Bill Russell, he knew about a lot of players who came through that most players his age don’t even know. And he understood the game. I made LeBron a point forward because I didn’t have one when he first started. He didn’t say a word to me. He just took over the game and we did well.”
In time, James would become a champion. It took Paul Silas a few years to get to that level as a player as well.
He was a five-time All-Defensive team selection who averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 16 seasons with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix, Boston, Denver and Seattle. Silas won two titles with the Celtics — the first coming in his 10th season as a player — and claimed a third with the SuperSonics. He averaged 12.8 points and 13.8 rebounds in the 1976 Finals for Boston against the Suns.
“Respected by all those who encountered him throughout the NBA, we are grateful for his contributions to the game across a lifetime in basketball,” the Suns said Sunday.
Paul Silas played his college basketball at Creighton, averaging 20.5 points and 21.6 rebounds in three seasons. He was voted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Creighton legend Paul Silas,” Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said. “His illustrious career as a player and coach will be matched by few.”
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Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. has agreed to a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports told ESPN on Monday.
The extension has a unique structure that allows for significant upside for Porter and protections for the Rockets. The deal’s first season is guaranteed, and future seasons have several mechanisms to fully guarantee, sources said.
Porter, 22, landed the extension ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline for players out of the NBA draft class of 2019.
Houston GM Rafael Stone and coach Stephen Silas have invested significant time and energy into Porter on and off the court, and his growth has given them reason to keep developing him as one of the franchise’s young cornerstones.
While there have been unquestioned challenges in Porter’s development — including the Cleveland Cavaliers trading him to Rockets in 2021 for a late second-round pick unlikely to ever convey — his extension offers him a chance to earn-out financially if he continues his growth into a fully reliable player.
One thing that’s never been in question with Porter is his talent. He finished the 2021-2022 season strong for Houston, averaging 28.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the final seven games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. In that stretch, he had consecutive 35-point games, the youngest player in Rockets history to do so.
Porter showed significant improvement in his 3-point shooting a season ago, improving 6.5% to 37.5% — the fifth-largest increase among 163 players to attempt 150 3s in each of the last two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info. His 48% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers ranked him in the top five among players with at least 100 attempts, per Second Spectrum tracking.
It’s time for our silliest preseason tradition: The 11th (how???) annual League Pass Rankings, a watchability scale to help you avoid wasting time on things like, “Wait, has this team actually ordered its players to tie their shoes together as part of its Lose-A-Rama for Victor Wembanyama campaign?”
These are not power rankings! They are derived from a formula Bill Simmons found scrawled on parchment paper inside a glass bottle that washed up on the shores of Malibu.
Teams are scored 1-10 in five categories:
ZEITGEIST: When you talk about this team at parties, do people slink away?
HIGHLIGHT POTENTIAL: Do you linger on games in case a superstar does something amazing?
STYLE: Where are they on the continuum from “Golden State Warriors beautiful game” to “Julius Randle just took four jab steps and launched an 18-footer”?
LEAGUE PASS MINUTIA: All the little things that mean too much to damaged die-hards: announcers, court designs, uniforms.
The Jazz aren’t really a basketball team after detonating the Donovan Mitchell–Rudy Gobert-Quin Snyder-Making-Amazing-Faces era. They are an airport waiting area for players, only those players have to play together a bit because the NBA mandates the Jazz field a team instead of working together “Ocean’s Eleven”-style to rig the lottery.
They are the NBA Spider-Man Pointing meme of shoot-first combo guards: Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, Talen Horton-Tucker, Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Lauri Markkanen and Malik Beasley aren’t exactly prime John Stockton, either. Poor Mike Conley can bring the ball up, pass it once and head into the stands for a drink. (I am excited to watch Sexton again. He averaged 24 points on 47.5% shooting two seasons ago, and purists dismissed it because the Cleveland Cavaliers stunk and Sexton’s a blah passer. Putting up those numbers is not easy. Sexton plays with classic little guy bravado, flinging himself inside for rebounds and going at larger superstars as if they should be scared of him.)
We are only one year removed from the Utah broadcast team shrieking at Rudy Gay’s debut as if the Jazz were getting prime Karl Malone. I can’t wait to hear how the Jazz are not really tanking, how dare anyone suggest it, the honorable caretakers of this community treasure would never allow that toxin to infect your beloved Jazz Men.
The new uniforms are a crime against NBA art:
The black and yellow ones are high school gym class-level. Why is a team with such a rich color palette going all-in on black? The white ones are passable only because the Jazz note — a perfect piece of sports art — is front and center, but they’ve even sullied that by removing the blue, yellow and green in the note head in favor of (yup) black.
The new court at least has the smoky white-gray shadow of that note along the sidelines.
The Pacers are one trade from challenging the San Antonio Spurs as frontrunners for the league’s worst record. They fall behind the Spurs here only because of the “zeitgeist” category; winning five titles buys San Antonio gravitas, especially when their last tank job kick-started that dominance.
Tyrese Haliburton is more entertaining than the entire Spurs team. He operates two steps ahead of defenses, and takes joy in passing. He gets off the ball early instead of hunting assists. When Haliburton is on the floor, the ball flies. He celebrates assists more loudly than baskets. You will sometimes catch Haliburton shouting with glee as his big man is about to cram one of his feathery lobs. (Haliburton and Isaiah Jackson are a fun alley-oop connection.) He might lead the league in assists.
Indiana’s young (and raw) bigs seemed to catch Haliburton’s spirit; the Pacers had the ball shifting side-to-side. Terry Taylor is the most ferocious offensive rebounder you don’t know. He will Kool-Aid Man through four guys to snag a second chance.
T.J. McConnell must be furious Jose Alvarado seized his throne as the king of the back-court sneak steal. I expect McConnell to respond by wearing a Hamburglar mask and hiding in the stands.
Chris Duarte bobs and weaves behind screens with liquid veteran guile. Bennedict Mathurin is a blast of athleticism for a team that ranked 27th in dunks. There’s plenty of room on Aaron Nesmith Island!
28. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (21.5)
The Spurs were for so long the League Pass nerd team: Manu Ginobili driving Gregg Popovich mad with thread-the-needle passes; Boris Diaw’s roly-poly, spinning, shoulder-checking drives; Kawhi Leonard snatching the ball from people. They birthed the Spursgasm, and raised the sport to perhaps its stylistic zenith in 2013-14.
Welp.
Can I interest you in the Low-Risk Point Guard Sibling Olympics between Tre and Tyus Jones? What about Point Josh Primo? Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell should develop into really good support starters, but it’s hard to hone your secondary playmaking on a team this light on first-option types to bend defenses — even if Popovich will have everyone sharing and moving. (Vassell is the biggest draw — a potential 3-and-D monster who has flashed ball-handling chops.)
At least Jakob Poeltl free throws have drama; he has hit below 50% over three seasons, and that will be a big deal if Poeltl — a fine player — ends up on a playoff team again.
Jeremy Sochan is fun, and leads three 2022 first-round picks who should see minutes.
Is this the best non-fiesta jersey in Spurs history — maybe the best, period?
I love that spur jutting out of the “X” in that new “SATX” wordmark. That gorgeous pattern down the sides is rendered in the style of Mexican serapes. The Texas state logo is a nod to the team’s origins as the Dallas Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association.
This 50th anniversary court, though …
The gold doesn’t go, and the center-court logo looks as if someone draped a carpet over the big spur.
27. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (21.5)
They’d be at least three spots higher with Chet Holmgren healthy. Without him, the roster is a morass after the strange-but-cool Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Josh Giddey/Luguentz Dort trio. I mean this in a good way: It is really hard to find a perimeter trio with almost zero overlapping skill among them.
Giddey is the tall genius passer who dares long-range, no-look lasers with zero margin for error. Dort is the brick wall who lofts ceiling-scraping 3s and bulldozes inside. Gilgeous-Alexander is the ungraspable phantom, everywhere and nowhere at once as he slithers into the lane — different limbs seemingly operating at different speeds, and moving in different directions.
Good luck distributing minutes beyond that. If you’re chasing wins, you’d play Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala. Then there are at least seven young guys who merit time — including three of the first 34 picks in the last draft.
Aleksej Pokusevski has shown hints that he’s a basketball player, not just a gangly novelty. He has vision, and a knack for blocking shots. (Does he think you get more points if jumpers go in at higher velocities?) Tre Mann is crafty. If a Darius Bazley corner 3 hits the side of the backboard, does it make a noise? (Don’t sleep on the Thunder hiring Chip Engelland — longtime assistant coach and shooting guru for the Spurs.)
A juicy subplot: midtier playoff teams cannot afford losses to the Wembanyama Brigade. Those can be the difference between No. 6 and the play-in. The Thunder signaled doom for the Los Angeles Lakers last season with two massive early comeback wins.
The broadcast is less propaganda-y than it once was. Progress!
26. Washington Wizards (24)
The cherry blossom uniform is the best thing to happen to this franchise since the Charlotte Bobcats took Michael Kidd-Gilchrist No. 2 in 2012. They should give these uniforms a no-trade clause.
The team with perhaps the most blah art collection of the last 15 years — this is the first season they’ve used multiple courts! — nailed every detail: the soft-pink; the gradual shift to gray on the shorts; the stenciled flowers dripping down the sides.
Gandalf is back!
After years of ignoring their kooky wizarding heritage, the team is tiptoeing into some semi-ironic hipster embrace of it. It took me years before I realized the contrast between the wizard’s white beard and black cloak formed a “W.” (I might have problems.)
Oh, the team! The Wiz could push for a high-end play-in spot, or skid early and Avada Kedavra themselves into the Wembanyama sweepstakes.
For a team that has been under-.500 since 2018, they have few (if any) young prospects you are dying to watch. Deni Avdija is a heady ball-mover who enjoys defense — remember when he started forming an “X” with his forearms after stops? — but needs to do more on offense. Rui Hachimura was empty calories last season; he has a lot to prove in the final year of his rookie contract.
Kyle Kuzma was awesome across the board, and elevates NBA fashion. Bradley Beal is one of the league’s most artful three-level scorers — a sleek blend of old school and new school. You often hear how Beal can’t be the No. 1 guy on a title team, but who cares (other than Wiz fans who can recite his salary cap hit in 2027)? How many such players exist? Beal is a star, and would look incredible as the second-best player — and maybe No. 1 scorer — on a great team stacked with defenders. (In other news, the Wiz had a three-year window in which they could have traded Beal for a gazillion draft picks.)
The funniest random NBA streak is Orlando’s 10-season run ranking 20th or worse in points per possession. That is Dimaggio-level consistency in offensive incompetence. I really hope they are 20th on the last day of the season and go all-out for 19th.
I think we are on rebuild No. 3 post-Dwightmare? This one might take. Paolo Banchero is the offense-first fulcrum the Magic have searched for this entire decade — an all-court hub with the passing and shooting chops to lift his teammates. Franz Wagner is an ideal secondary wing — all heady cuts and snappy passes, with the touch and ball-handling guile to take the reins mid-possession. Wendell Carter Jr. is only 23, and he’s already a decent starting center. They should land another high pick in this draft.
Cole Anthony plays as if he thinks he’s the best player on the floor, and I love it. He’s a solid backup and spot starter.
Everything else is a mystery. Unless Wagner becomes an every-possession point-forward — that seems a stretch — the Magic still need a perimeter orchestrator. What, exactly, is Jalen Suggs?
Jonathan Isaac’s return sometime between now and 2030 would introduce some ultra-modern lineup combinations. Can you go giant, with Wagner and all three of Isaac, Banchero and Carter? What about the center-less front-court of Wagner/Isaac/Banchero? I will never give up on Chuma Okeke!
The broadcast trio of David Steele, Jeff Turner, and Dante Marchitelli is tremendous. They have fun without degenerating into shrill homerism.
24. CHARLOTTE HORNETS (24.5)
This is the floor for a team featuring one of the league’s most inventive passers in LaMelo Ball; Eric Collins’ rapturous play-by-play; Kelly Oubre Jr. talking trash to everyone in earshot; and some of the league’s best and most immediately identifiable art. (Here’s hoping they bring back the mint shade they unveiled two seasons ago; the Hornets can own that.)
This alternate court is another hit:
That all-purple silhouette of a scary-looking Hornet leaps off the screen. The stinger theme echoes along the sideline, and on the outside of the “H” and “S” of the accompanying jersey:
The half-basketball with turquoise lining is the rare instance where dividing the circle by color works.
The Hornets played fast and ranked No. 2 in dunks last season, but almost half those dunks belonged to Miles Bridges and Montrezl Harrell. Steve Clifford teams typically don’t play fast, or experiment with the funky “nothing else is working, let’s try this?” zone defenses James Borrego cooked up.
(Clifford is a really good coach. Even so, we have not spent nearly enough time discussing how hilarious and perfectly Hornets it is that Charlotte hired one coach — Kenny Atkinson — only for him to bail once he got a look inside, and then turned to the coach they fired four years ago.)
Pairing Clifford with a chaos agent like Ball will either result in an untenable tug-of-war or a healthy meeting in the middle. (Clifford has little choice but to play a pile of unproven young guys.) I’m curious how Ball finds his footing in slowed-down, half-court sequences — what moves and passes he leans on, how he incorporates teammates.
Terry Rozier has canned an inexplicable number of clutch jumpers over the last two seasons. There is something mesmerizing about watching Mason Plumlee decide, “Screw it, I’m going to unleash this reeeeeeaaaally slooooooowwwww spin move from the foul line. It’s my time to live, baby!” Did you know Plumlee switched to shooting free throws lefty last season? That happened!
23. NEW YORK KNICKS (26.5)
The Knicks played at the league’s second-slowest pace, and their games featured tons of free throws. Their starting five was unwatchable, unless you enjoy Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson bumping into each other. The rollicking bench shocked them to life, and if the basketball gods are kind, we will see more Barrett alongside Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley. (You never know when Toppin might stage his own in-game dunk contest.)
Toppin is a quick-twitch ball-mover, and Quickley went up two levels as a playmaker last season. Isaiah Hartenstein will have the ball popping, and stitch the bench together. If Robinson isn’t on point, we might see Hartenstein finish games.
Jalen Brunson should restore order and spacing to the starting five. The Knicks boast Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier, Madison Square Garden’s theater lighting and a pristine royal blue court. (I will drop them one spot if they introduce more black-and-orange art. You are the Knicks of New York freaking City. Do not be Team Halloween!)
I would like an in-game feed of Leon Rose and slouching, hangdog James Dolan sitting next to each other in silence, only the Knicks would never risk accidentally broadcasting Dolan shouting back at fans urging him to sell the team. (The camera might also catch them frowning at Tom Thibodeau’s refusal to play Cam Reddish.)
The potential for cranky Randle turning against the fans again adds to the comedy score.
22. HOUSTON ROCKETS (27)
On the one hand: Houston ranked first in dunks and second in pace, and features a bunch of telegenic young players. Jalen Green goes from zero to 100 in a nanosecond, and hunts bodies at the rim. He can also slow down for smooth midrange pull-ups — a nice break from Houston’s dunks-and-3s credo.
How do you even describe Alperen Sengun? He attempts such unusual feats of pivotry that you sometimes wonder if he traveled even though you just watched him shift both feet three times without dribbling. Was that so weird, it was somehow legal? Sengun could carry the ball 20 steps and still be astonished the referees whistled him for traveling.
He sometimes pass fakes to no one — literally to empty space — just to get defenders leaning into that void. Is it genius or madness?
On the other hand: Houston fouled the bejesus out of everyone and gagged up one of the highest turnover rates in recent history; its style of play — young guys running and gunning — lends itself to raggedness.
Tari Eason will clean up the defense. He is here to lock victims up. Jabari Smith Jr. brings some preternatural polish.
Do Derrick Favors and Maurice “I’m coming for Ish Smith’s record” Harkless ever wonder, “Wait, what city am I in?” It hurts the comedy score that Eric Gordon is too professional to write “Trade me!” on his shoes a la Chris Morris.
Boban Marjanovic cameos are always welcome. Every move Garrison Mathews makes — kicking his legs out on jumpers, running smack into picks — carries a hint of danger. Every team needs a Jae’Sean Tate.
21. SACRAMENTO KINGS (27.5)
This is too low for Sacramento.
You never know when the #KANGZZ might appear in-game. Example: Remember when NBA Twitter kicked into Conspiracy Theory mode because Vivek Ranadive sat courtside between the general manager he had recently fired (Vlade Divac) and Divac’s replacement (Monte McNair)? Because it was the Kings — with their “Game of Thrones”-style power structure and habit of hiring coaches before GMs — anything was possible.
In describing that bizarre scene, Jason Jones of The Athletic recalled Ranadive tweeting happy birthday to Jimmer Fredette (whose selection at No. 10 in 2011 after a nonsensical trade down is another #KANGZZ moment) “while negotiating a buyout [with Fredette] at the same time.” Even the tweet in question has a hidden #KANGZ treasure:
Ranadive is making the “hang loose” gesture in front of another photo of him flashing the “hang loose” gesture.
Anyway, Team Play-In-Or-Bust should be a fast-paced scoring machine built around the already sophisticated De’Aaron Fox-Domantas Sabonis two-man game. They are a natural match: opposites in build, but tethered in craft and wink-wink IQ. Sabonis might flip the angle of his screen two, three, four times, and Fox shifts in sync with each move. Sabonis can brutalize switches, push in transition and even run the occasional inverted pick-and-roll.
Malik Monk is a show, Kevin “Red Velvet” Huerter adds shooting and underrated playmaking, and Keegan Murray intrigues. I will miss the Haliburton-Richaun Holmes lob connection, but Holmes’ push shot — the best of its kind — carries on.
The algorithm is angry Miami discontinued its instantly iconic “Miami Vice”-style jerseys.
The Heat are a sneakily hard sell for casual fans. They were 28th in pace and 26th in dunks, and they foul a lot. Watching Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, and Bam Adebayo make magic in tight spaces is an acquired taste. You have to really pay attention to notice all the smart cuts, shoulder fakes, give-and-gos, and slick interior passes that make Miami’s half-court offense hum — when it hums.
Lowry gets them moving with overzealous full-court hit-aheads. I’m excited to see what Tyler Herro does as a permanent starter. He became over-infatuated — with the team’s encouragement to some degree — with becoming a high-volume pick-and-roll ball handler at the expense of some catch-and-shoot 3s. He should recalibrate 15% or so in the direction of Klay Thompson.
There is something beautiful and almost contradictory about Jimmy Butler’s bruising game. He doesn’t just plow into people. He’s violent and physical, but never reckless. In a blink, he can transition from a burrowing drive into a stop-on-a-dime jumper that drips with surprising softness. He brings the same balletic ferocity to his off-ball cuts. (Butler might be the league’s most underrated cutter.)
The flip side of self-serious #HeatCulture is that there is almost nothing funny — unintentionally or otherwise — about the Heat.
19. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (29)
There is nothing in basketball like an avalanche of Damian Lillard 3s. In Portland, the buzz builds as fans realize: We might see one of those nights. It reaches a euphoric crescendo when one final 30-footer forces a timeout, and Lillard, scowling, stares and nods at the crowd in his house.
On the road, you hear fear — really hear it. It starts with low murmuring: Uh oh. As the streak unfolds, the noise morphs into a sort of collective shriek that begins when Lillard pauses mid-dribble as if he might launch.
For the first time in ages, the Blazers have surrounded their star with some oomph: Josh Hart rampaging end-to-end; Nassir Little testing the limits of his game; Anfernee Simons flicking 3s and hunting tin; Gary Payton II rim-running and committing felonies on defense; the unknown of Shaedon Sharpe.
Simons might have the league’s prettiest floater; he pogo-sticks into the clouds, above reaching defenders, and flips that baby from all angles.
Chauncey Billups might have to start from scratch on defense after last year’s blitzing scheme failed.
The Blazers have the best team name, and maybe the best top-to-bottom art. This floor is close to seizing my No. 1 court design spot from the Lakers:
A few teams have experimented with differently colored painted areas. That contrast works better on the boundaries — as the Blazers have done here. The pinwheel might be the best logo in U.S. sports; whoever decided to extend the striping from the center-court pinwheel onto each sideline deserves a big raise.
Lillard planted the pinwheel smack in the center of the new jersey he helped design — and echoed its striping down the sides:
More teams are trying jerseys showing only their primary logo — no wordmark at all — and the pinwheel is well-suited to that. The Blazers were smart to render the numbers in white instead of black.
18. CHICAGO BULLS (30)
This an eight-spot drop from last year, reflecting Lonzo Ball’s importance as Chicago’s fast-break engine and the connective tissue between the disparate styles baked into the roster.
I was gobsmacked watching from courtside last November as the Bulls ran circles around the Lakers at Staples Center. LeBron James didn’t play, but Chicago’s blowout win was so emphatic, his absence seemed almost immaterial. The younger, bouncier, cockier Bulls looked as if they were playing a different sport. They passed and cut and jacked 3s ahead of the Lakers. Ball and Alex Caruso terrorized L.A. on defense. The Lakers quit. The Bulls danced.
That team vanished six weeks later, and has never returned. It got slower, more predictable, over-dependent on DeMar DeRozan’s graceful but somewhat repetitive midrange game. Zach LaVine is the best dunker since Vince Carter, but wings don’t dunk often enough to warp viewing habits; Lavine dunked 62 times in 67 games. (Derrick Jones. Jr. might literally jump over someone at any moment.)
If LaVine cans one or two fading step-back 3s — he’ll do that from the corners too! — definitely stick around. A high-degree-of-difficulty swish-fest may be coming.
Nikola Vucevic is a footwork artist on the block, but playing alongside LaVine and DeRozan marginalized that part of his game and turned him into a run-of-the-mill pick-and-pop shooter; Vucevic averaged eight post touches per 100 possessions, second-lowest of his career, per Second Spectrum.
Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams offer the appeal of the unknown, and how they develop — and how fast — is of immense importance to a team that could be trapped in upper-class mediocrity. Williams’ career could spin in an unusual number of directions; the Bulls might even spot him minutes at center.
Adam Amin and Stacey King keep the broadcast light-hearted, and lose nothing when Jason Benetti fills in. The logo, court, and jerseys (other than anodyne black alternates) are top-notch.
17. TORONTO RAPTORS (30)
Some fans are concerned about strategic homogeneity — every team playing spread pick-and-roll, chasing the same shots. That concern is overblown, but there is an easy antidote: Watch the positionless, avante-garde basketball experiment unfolding in Toronto!
The Raptors’ rotation amounts to Fred VanVleet and several tall people who can do lots of things on offense and guard everyone on defense. They leverage their length in ways you’d expect, and some you might not: switching, playing wacky zones, bombarding the offensive glass, and posting up size mismatches. They do the unthinkable on defense: allow lots of 3s (basically) on purpose, confident their speed and preposterous arms make for frightening closeouts. (Only Matisse Thybulle has blocked more 3s than Chris Boucher over the past three seasons.)
Playing mismatch ball can be laborious; Toronto possessions after made baskets lasted 18.3 seconds — highest in the league, per Inpredictable. But even the grueling nature of its half-court offense runs counter to trends in a way that makes it appealing.
Scottie Barnes — 6-9 point-whatever — is the perfect foundational player for this ethos, and might soon grasp the superstar tools to lift Toronto’s offense from the muck. He seemed to play last season in second gear, digesting the speed and dimensions of the NBA before pushing the throttle. By the playoffs, he appeared to have a better understanding of how good he could be.
Pascal Siakam is a fine all-around No. 1 option, and VanVleet is that greater-than-his-statistics guy you appreciate more the longer you watch him. Every seemingly innocuous move — every cut, dribble, wink, shoulder fake — opens a few inches of space, and those inches eventually add up to an open shot.
You never know where that first Precious Achiuwa dribble might lead — everything from a dunk to a pass into the fifth row is in play — but his transformation into a stretch center changed Toronto’s offense.
The announcers, court, and red-and-white jerseys are all great. The pitch on Jack Armstrong’s “Get that gah-bage outta here!” call somehow gets higher every season. Thumbs down to the alternate black-and-gold look.
16. DETROIT PISTONS (31)
Cade Cunningham has that rare Luka Doncic-style ability to find life in places where possessions often die — in the extended paint with a live dribble that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, against a set defense.
Cunningham is strong enough to keep pushing, tall enough to see everything. Most of all, he’s smart enough to know how every pivot and twist might manipulate the defense. One lunge inside from a help defender, and zip — the ball finds a shooter. Once Cunningham refines his touch around the rim, every possibility will open up.
Jaden Ivey’s lightning-bolt drives might form the perfect duality alongside Cunningham’s patient game. Corralling the Pistons could someday be like facing consecutive pitches from Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson.
Bojan Bogdanovic widens the floor. Saddiq Bey should find the right water level in his game. Don’t mess with Isaiah Stewart. Beef Stew should shoot more 3s, and he’s the keystone to Detroit’s switch-everything defense. Jalen Duren is a high-flying, rim-munching backup center who might even share the floor with Stewart in short stints.
The rest of the bench is a bit of a mystery.
There’s also this:
Was anyone yearning for the return of the 1990s teal and flaming horse? Do fans like these now? Is the affection ironic or genuine? Do teal and red mesh? The flaming exhaust pipes and “DP” corner logos are kinda cool.
The new black jerseys — with fat striping as a Bad Boys call-out — are a bust. Black has been every team’s “whatever” alternate for a decade, and the blocky, outlined black lettering looks generic.
I do like Detroit’s two main courts, with the edges of a basketball along each sideline echoing the central logo:
15. LA CLIPPERS (31.5)
The Clips are about as entertaining as it gets for a slowish team that lives on jumpers and rarely flies above the rim. Paul George glides in a way that makes everything (except dribbling through traffic) look effortless.
There is majesty — power, strength, rigid up-and-down precision — to Kawhi Leonard’s pull-up game. Leonard showed two seasons ago that he can still dial up peak Spurs-era sharktopus mode on defense, and there is no wing player alive who instills the same level of panic as Sharktopus Kawhi. He is the rare weakside help defender who dictates terms — vibrating on his toes, arms spread fingertip to fingertip — in that netherworld between a corner shooter and the big man rumbling down the lane. Even the best ball handlers freeze at the sight of that menace: Is Kawhi’s guy open? Oh, wait, Kawhi is gonna apparate into that passing lane. What about the lob inside? Could he snatch that too? Overthink, and Leonard has already won.
If that Leonard is back when it counts, the Clip are in the inner circle of contenders.
John Wall, Norman Powell and Terance Mann are the jolt of head-down, north-south speed this team needs. (The Clips are so deep, a lot of preseason analysis has skirted past Powell. He is a critical variable, and should finish lots of games.) The Clips will play five-out, centerless lineups, and every game will teach us something about which perimeter trios work best around Leonard and George.
You know your art is dull when no one notices the difference between your primary court and the “special” alternate:
This is shockingly low for a 64-win team with a layered pick-and-roll attack, potential for drama with Deandre Ayton, and the return of the classic purple sunburst jerseys.
Phoenix even amped up the pace last season, unusual for a Chris Paul team. Devin Booker is a vintage scorer, with his velvety leaning midranger and a sneaky-nasty post game. He and Paul rain old-school fire. Paul’s maximize-every-edge perfectionism can be irritating — the rip-through is coming the second Phoenix enters the bonus — but it’s what makes him who he is.
(It also results in on-court disagreements, one of which gave us the iconic fake-laughing meme. That thing transcends basketball. Try it out in your life. It’s a great way to end those exchanges of small talk with long-lost high school classmates you don’t really like.)
It is so satisfying when Paul kicks that fastidiousness and decides to preen — showing off fancy yo-yo dribbles, or nutmegging someone just because he feels like embarrassing them.
The young guys will stretch themselves; Cameron Johnson piled up 20-plus-point games last season, and Mikal Bridges has dabbled with quick-hitting duck-ins. (Bridges’ defense is a show. He envelopes people — the rare wing defender so long, he can block his own guy’s shot before the ball really escapes the shooter’s hand.)
But we’ve seen and enjoyed this movie enough for now: Paul and Booker snaking their way to midrangers from the right elbow, the Suns’ steadfast defense forcing those same shots on the other end. They are Team Bizarro Shot Selection.
The algorithm underestimates how interesting it will be watching Trae Young and Dejounte Murray figure out how to amplify each other. There could be hiccups over the first 20-plus games. Will Murray make enough catch-and-shoot 3s? Will Young play off the ball, like, at all?
The variety is welcome. Young can do almost whatever he wants against any pick-and-roll scheme. We know about the 3s ands floaters (and foul-baiting flails), but Young still doesn’t get enough credit for his next-level anticipatory passing. He sees everything early, and can make almost any pass — including long lefty slingshots and other across-the-floor reads off-limits to most 6-1 guards.
Still: Too much of anything gets redundant, and Murray offers a reprieve — plus the ability to float across huge chunks of space on defense.
Young’s lob passing makes Atlanta a perennial top-10 dunk team. John Collins gets way above the rim and finishes with panache and power. Onyeka Okongwu is a two-handed thunder dunker. Okongwu will be a starter sooner than later; he and De’Andre Hunter are the biggest X factors for the Hawks now.
Young leaning into WWE-level villainy is great television. Bogdan Bogdanovic punctuates hot streaks with sumptuous snarling trash talk. Aaron Holiday is a little cinder block who attacks the rim with the aggression of someone a foot taller.
12. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (32.5)
We’re in the range where every team feels too low, and this will indeed end up low for the Cavaliers. Between their four stars, Cleveland has something for every fan. Donovan Mitchell supplies the highlights; he is a hunched blur, attacking along sharp diagonals and seeking to inflict pain at the rim. Jarrett Allen fears no dunker at the summit. Darius Garland is all staccato craft and demoralizing ultra-long 3s. Evan Mobley is getting ready to show the breadth of his game. They all complement each other.
I have never liked the Cavs wine-and-gold scheme, but their creative team has produced a clean new jersey set:
Both shades are muted in a pleasing way. The Cavs found a spot — on the left side of the shorts — where their gigantic “C” stands out without dominating. Turning the “V” in “Cavs” into a basket is a nice homage to the Mark Price/Brad Daugherty era.
They’ve cleaned up the court too, refilling the painted areas and erasing the shaded city skyline:
We need another Ricky Rubio–Kevin Love reunion tour. Remember how unhappy Love seemed as the lone championship holdover on a rebuilding team? That story almost never ends with said veteran sticking around to enjoy the fruits of that rebuild, and it’s remarkable Love is here and happy.
J.B. Bickerstaff proved last season that he is willing to buck convention: ultra-big lineups, Mobley lording over the top of zone defenses, copious amounts of Dean Wade.
For reasons I can’t explain, I enjoy how Robin Lopez sits on the floor in the corner instead of on the bench.
John Michael and Austin Carr are a nice mix — the serious one and the silly cackler. Keep an eye on Michael at the broadcast table, standing and leaning and crouching to keep eyes on the action. He does not want to watch through a monitor.
11. PHILADELPHIA 76ers (33.5)
Joel Embiid guarantees a top-12 finish here. Few athletes have ever combined so much grace, power and high-IQ feel. On three straight possessions, Embiid might: rain in a soft midranger; then obliterate someone on the block and dunk them through the floor; and finally pump-and-go from the arc, Eurostep around one sucker, and kiss in a falling layup.
The James Harden-Embiid two-man game was so potent, Embiid so effective scoring off Harden’s pocket passes, defenses resorted to desperate and dangerous counters: Should we, umm, not even leave Embiid and just let Harden drive almost to the rim — and then swarm from one of Philly’s shooters? We get to see a whole season of that cat-and-mouse-and-beard game. (They lose points for how many free throws they generate. It’s a slog.)
Tyrese Maxey takes over when Harden rests, but he’s almost more fun playing off Philly’s two stars. He waits along the arc, like a sprinter in the starting block, primed to catch a kickout and fly through the diagonal crease Harden has unlocked.
Matisse Thybulle teleports on defense. He is way over there, and then suddenly and implausibly, he is blocking your shot. There is a feast-or-famine element to almost every Philly reserve. You can’t look away.
Philly a top-four art team. Kate Scott and Alaa Abdelnaby are talented enough that they don’t have to resort to homerish propaganda. It hurts the credibility of the overall product.
I appreciate referees for allowing Montrezl Harrell to do pull-ups on the rim after dunks. I’d watch a broadcast that just zooms in on P.J. Tucker making life miserable for opponents.
