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Stay on current site or go to US version playCooper Flagg rocks the rim on this crowd-pleasing alley-oop (0:19)Cooper Flagg gets serious air time to throw down a vicious alley-oop for Duke vs With the game on the line, the teams finished with a combined five rookies on the court and just one player (Utah forward Brice Sensabaugh) averaging double-figure scoring this season The Raptors won and pushed the Jazz's losing streak to eight Utah also took a step closer to securing one of the league's three worst records -- which provides the best odds at securing the No Over the final few weeks of nearly every season there are two races in the NBA standings: one to secure playoff positioning and another for the best draft lottery odds the race to the bottom is breaking new ground Despite recent rules to prevent star players from sitting out too many games And though NBA insiders mull new ways to curtail the practice the league's worst teams are finding new ways to rack up late-season losses "These next few weeks," one NBA executive said "could be the worst tanking stretch we've ever seen." Anyone involved in the league's annual race to the bottom will tell you it's a miserable process Trying to finish with as few wins as possible isn't something franchises normally aspire to do But those involved will also say securing a high draft pick is the surest path to winning at the highest level I'm not aware of anyone making a serious push to eliminate our current philosophy of the draft which is to award top picks to teams that are most in need of talent," Evan Wasch the NBA's executive vice president of strategy and analytics "That is a fundamental tenet of our current draft system." rewards teams with a sliding scale of odds to land one of the top four spots in the draft based on its annual lottery in May The three teams with the worst records each receive a 14% chance of landing the top pick in the draft and a 52.1% chance of getting one of the top four (Those odds slide down to the lottery team with the best record which has a 0.5% chance of winning the top pick in the draft and a 2.1% chance of landing a top-four selection.) Getting a high lottery pick is the more direct way to land a franchise-changing talent that is required Over the past 45 years, five title-winning teams weren't led by a player who would win, or had won, the NBA's MVP award: last year's Celtics, the 2019 Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons in 1989 Duncan and James -- were taken first overall Antetokounmpo and Jokic -- were picked outside the top seven spots the talisman of those 1989 and 1990 champion Pistons five NBA champions were led by a player taken outside the top seven spots in the draft The Jazz and Raptors are among the NBA teams who'll have among the highest odds to land the No. 1 pick for the lottery. Alex Goodlett/Getty ImagesWhen the NBA enacted the "player participation policy" before the 2023-24 season The league's goal was to ensure healthy stars weren't sitting out games the rules also require lottery-bound teams not to shut down their star players without a legitimate injury The Jazz ran afoul of the policy earlier this month and were fined $100,000 for not making Markkanen available for a game March 5 against the Wizards "and other games." but with escalating fines -- the next violation would cost the Jazz $250,000 -- the team took an alternative strategy in the March 14 loss to Toronto Markkanen's usage in that game was an extreme version of what the Raptors have done since the All-Star break: benching their key players in clutch time Toronto has played 37.5 "clutch" minutes by the definition of NBA Advanced Stats (the margin within five points in the last five minutes of regulation The Raptors have given more of those minutes to players signed midseason or on two-way contracts (a combined 46) than leading scorers Barnes and Barrett (43) the Jazz have limited Markkanen to four of their 25 clutch minutes since the All-Star break Utah has been careful about playing Markkanen against other lottery-bound teams The games Markkanen has missed this season have come against opponents with a combined .450 winning percentage compared with .545 for the teams he has faced Starting Jazz center Walker Kessler has continued to sit out games That game was listed as a "DNP-CD" -- did not play coach's decision -- after Kessler was previously listed as out due to rest in six games including the one missed by Markkanen that resulted in a fine "[Fans] know we're going through rebuilding seasons but I do think that our players are playing the games in a way that our fans still enjoy watching,"Jazz coach Will Hardy said earlier this month "Our young players play really hard and we're imperfect and some nights are sloppy and ugly and all those things the energy of the youth of these guys is something that our fans enjoy watching it's been a point of pride that I don't care who's on the court I want our fans to know that our team is going to play with a ton of passion and joy." Wasch said the NBA will continue to monitor player availability particularly qualifying stars like Markkanen but expressed no issue with teams leaving starters on the bench in key moments "We are not in the business of policing rotations in that way," Wasch said "For the league to step in and say that a team chose to play one player over another player and that was the wrong decision some of those [younger] guys actually go win the game." who had starred internationally with the Bahamas in FIBA Olympic qualifiers last summer With Flagg in contention for National Player of the Year despite being one of the youngest players in college basketball NBA scouts on teams racing to the bottom are instead pondering just how high Flagg ranks among recent No "What makes him unique is the combination of the fact that he's been productive in every phase of the game against elite competition." The consensus among analytics experts at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference earlier this month placed Flagg around the 85th percentile of No Since 2005, the first draft with the NBA's current age limit, Flagg's 5.2 projected wins above replacement player (WARP) rank third among top picks, behind only Anthony Davis (2012) and fellow star Duke prospect Zion Williamson (2019) both Davis and Williamson inspired intense races to the bottom of the standings Any stats-based projection will heavily emphasize a prospect's production relative to his age, and that's where Flagg stands out. His main competition for National Player of the Year, Auburn fifth-year senior forward Johni Broome As the scout noted, most players Flagg's age are still finishing their prep careers as seniors in high school. Because Flagg reclassified in summer 2023 going into his last year at Montverde Academy in Florida he would be the second-youngest player at the time they were drafted No than high school draftees Kwame Brown and Dwight Howard.) Although Flagg's age and production don't guarantee he'll join the list of No they explain why teams are chasing new ways to ensure they can draft him What could be the next anti-tanking measure We canvassed sources around the league for ideas as to what could be done to improve the closing months of the season: The NBA draft used to have a lottery where all nonplayoff teams had the same chance to move up. That ended after the Orlando Magic won the top spot in 1992 and 1993 the Magic had the best record of any lottery team at 41-41 One executive suggested a further flattening of the odds from where they're following the 2019 adjustment This comes with a clear downside: give too many teams the same odds at the top pick a few might weigh whether a chance at a franchise-altering prospect is preferrable to pushing for the postseason Count wins instead of losses after the All-Star break teams at the bottom are rewarded for losing as many games as possible during the final two months of the season What if that concept was turned on its head By making a portion of the second-half schedule (post-All-Star break or the final 20 games for example) work in the opposite fashion -- the most wins during that stretch would determine the lottery odds -- it would obviously create a system where bad teams would have every reason to play hard and play their stars The Spurs had an 11-44 record (.200) before the All-Star break By adding their pre-break wins and post-break losses (and vice versa) the Spurs' "lottery record" of 27-55 -- despite an actual mark of 22-60 -- would get rewarded with better lottery odds for remaining competitive during that final stretch "It would incentivize everyone to compete to the end," an executive said Here is how last season's lottery standings would have changed if this rule had been in place for games after the All-Star break: One solution would be using pre-All Star break losses and post ASG break wins when determining draft lottery odds Here is how last season's lottery standings would have changed: The big winners are two teams that pushed hard to make the postseason (Houston and Golden State) and the Spurs who were competitive through the end of the regular season each lost a ton of games in the closing weeks of the regular season in attempts to keep their protected first-round picks That leads us to another proposal from coaches who was a key contributor to the team that reached the 2024 Finals.) This season the 76ers hope to keep their top-6 protected selection for June after injuries derailed their campaign Multiple sources told ESPN a simple way to reduce tanking would be removing mid-lottery pick protections Either have the pick be top-4 protected -- meaning the team jumps in the lottery -- lottery protected That tweak would remove the most egregious examples of tanking "One of the goals of lottery reform was really to smooth out outcomes within the lottery so that no team would look at it and say there's a significant benefit to me being the third lottery team as opposed to the fourth or the eighth lottery team as opposed to the ninth," Wasch said "That's something we had focused heavily on the pick-protection issue kind of cut the other way on that it actually matters a lot whether they finish with the 10th-worst record or the 11th-worst record Have lottery odds determined by how those teams fare against each other An idea floated by an executive was to have the 14 lottery teams ordered by how they fare against one another during the regular season Teams have a reason to compete in every game and especially against these other lottery-bound teams comes with an obvious problem: The teams on the fringes of the play-in games could potentially be pushed to play for a top pick in the draft instead of competing for the playoffs Some people around the league believe the current system is fine and fighting for lottery positioning is just part of the sport But with the onset of teams trying to sink to the bottom of the standings some sources argued that cutting down on the influx of teams sitting healthy players would fix many of the current complaints rather than tweaking the system any further getting a top pick remains the surest path to landing a franchise-changing player But the NBA has already tried to curtail tanking from flattening the lottery odds to creating the play-in games to give more teams reason to play through the end of the regular season "I think there have been a lot of positive trends that we've seen," Wasch said could come up with the NBA's competition committee it would be reasonable to expect that we would reengage with our competition committee," Wasch said "And see if there's anything they might want to explore to tackle the issue." SMART-TD members in Colorado fought for and won the creation of the Colorado Office of Rail Safety a monumental step forward after a string of horrifying derailments.   This life-saving watchdog represents our Colorado brothers and sisters’ victory in getting state-level eyes on safety hazards that federal regulators often miss or ignore it will empower Colorado to gather real data and finally start shifting the balance toward safe a follow-up bill to secure permanent funding for the Office passed the House on a voice vote and awaits the Governor’s signature 2025 is a tight-budget year with fierce corporate railroad opposition With only seven days left in Colorado’s legislative session completing this legislative clean-up is still a battle.  Senator Byron Pelton (R-Sterling) and Representative Ken DeGraaf (R-Colorado Springs) stepped in with the most ridiculous amendment SMART-TD’s Legislative Office has ever witnessed.  (the bill funding the Office of Rail Safety) suggesting that the Office be funded 50% by the railroads and 50% by the employees via their union dues “…if you’re gonna have skin in the game you should have skin in the game on both sides not just the business,” Pelton argued in what appeared to be an attempt to sound reasonable.  Our members already have plenty of skin in the game We’re talking about working men and women who live every day on the razor’s edge of life-altering safety hazards We’re forced to operate trains with skeleton crews All because billion-dollar corporations decided profits matter more than people.  Pelton wants us to pay cash to buy the safety that’s being denied to us a similar situation played out in the House   During the discussion on the amendment in the lower chamber Representative Anthony Hartsook (R-Parker) took to the well to argue that requiring workers to help foot the bill wouldn’t be a heavy lift especially when unions have such supposedly deep pockets    “Unions are just like any other big business out there,” Hartsook claimed and we want to work with both the Railroad industry and the unions that are representing the workers,…then both of them should be at the table and paying,”  We know the truth and Representative Hartsook’s statement could not be further from it Senator Lisa Cutter (D-Jefferson County) didn’t hold back:  “Did the good Senator from Sterling just suggest that employees pay for their own safety Then came Senator Chris Kolker (D-Centennial) “This is the cost of doing business for multi-billion dollar corporations — they’re doing just fine.”  To recap: Pelton stood on the Senate floor and suggested that we should split the bill for regulating the corporations that made those jobs so dangerous in the first place.  That’s like asking firefighters to pitch in for the water bill before entering a burning building.  After almost entering into a shoving match with Representative Hartsook in the House bill sponsor Representative Javier Mabrey (D-Denver) pushed back on his colleague’s absurd claims.  “The purpose of unions is to give workers an opportunity to come together and fight back against an economy that is rigged against workers An attack on workers is an attack on unions.”  This isn’t the first time rail workers have been insulted by suits who’ve never set foot on ballast During the 2022 Presidential Emergency Board hearings the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) submitted a written statement declaring:  “Labor does not contribute to profits.”  The same workers who generate every dollar railroads earn Senator Pelton is singing the same tune: Railroads get the profits and Hartsook are ignoring: providing a safe workplace isn’t the worker’s responsibility The unsafe conditions we’re trying to fix were created by railroad executives chasing profits not by union members working themselves to the bone.  multiple other states already have similar safety offices Because that’s what “cost of doing business” actually means.  Let’s be very clear: SMART-TD’s Colorado members fought for this Office We know it’s our best shot at forcing accountability and we’ll do the work to see that it is funded properly.  What we won’t do is let politicians like Senator Pelton get away with sticking us with the railroads’ bar tabs.  Railroad workers already pay more than our fair share with our health Asking us also to pay the bill for regulating the companies that made railroading unsafe in the first place is as stupid as it is insulting.  who are the real stakeholders in rail safety will not forget who stood with us or who stood in our way.  Greg Pelton has joined Iridium Communications as its new chief technical officer (CTO) He has taken over from CTO Hermon Pon who has retired Mr Pelton started in the position on 17 June and reports to chief operations officer Suzi McBride an artificial intelligence developing company focused on augmented intelligence for enterprises he was vice president of collaboration and devices at Avaya where he managed a portfolio of voice and video endpoints Mr Pelton served as CTO and vice president for infrastructure engineering at Polycom and led Cisco’s corporate technology centre SEATTLE -- Coach Noelle Quinn said the Seattle Storm will help Katie Lou Samuelson's "journey" as the forward recovers from a torn ACL in what was expected to be a "great year" for the veteran Samuelson, who joined the Storm this offseason, suffered the injury to her right knee in practice Thursday and is expected to miss the WNBA season "First of all, heart goes out to her," Quinn said before Sunday's preseason game against the Connecticut Sun "The organization's going to be supporting her through this journey It hurts my heart a lot because she's just a player that I feel like this was going to be a great year for her "She was having such a great camp -- in great shape shooting the ball really well and just able to plug some holes that we have I knew that this was going to be a great year for her." Samuelson, the 2019 No. 4 draft pick out of UConn, signed with the Storm in February after agreeing to a buyout of her contract with the Indiana Fever Samuelson was returning to where she enjoyed her best WNBA season in 2021 shooting a career-high 46% from the field and averaging 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds as a starter on a Seattle team that went 21-11 After missing the 2023 season to give birth to daughter Aliya in August, Samuelson signed with the Fever last offseason. She began the 2024 campaign as a starter, but averaged just 4.3 points on 35% shooting, both Samuelson's lowest marks since her rookie year in 2019 with the Chicago Sky I really wanted somewhere that I felt comfortable and confident going into," Samuelson said at Monday's media day really gave me that comfort in knowing I could come back here and have a chance to play and contribute in a way that has opportunity and has the chance to win a lot of games." Although the one-year, $90,000 deal that Samuelson signed with the Storm is not protected, according to HerHoopStats.com the injury means Seattle is responsible for her salary until Samuelson is able to return who were already anticipating beginning the season with 11 players to stay under the WNBA's hard salary cap with 10 active players until they create enough cap room to fill the 12th open roster spot Seattle also has two other players out this season with ACL injuries, guard Nika Muhl and forward Jordan Horston Both were injured playing in other leagues: Muhl in October while competing in Turkey and Horston in February in Athletes Unlimited in Nashville That allowed the Storm to place them on the suspended list for this season removing their contracts from the team's salary cap Quinn said the ability for other players to handle multiple positions will be key to filling in for Samuelson "The great thing about what we did in the offseason was find versatile players," Quinn said. "We can slide AC [Alysha Clark] from 3 to 4 and plug some holes that I think Lou was going to fill as well but utilizing the rest of our roster to figure out some lineups." WNBA teams must finalize their regular-season rosters by May 16. Seattle opens the season the following day, visiting the Phoenix Mercury With the NBA trade deadline and All-Star break in the rearview mirror it's never too early for teams to begin thinking about 2025-26 -- especially those who have fallen well short of expectations the upcoming summer presents an opportunity for a fresh start and a chance to rectify their missteps That's small consolation for the New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns -- three teams that began the year with playoff (and championship) aspirations and will almost certainly end up in the lottery Two other underachieving teams -- the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves -- still have time to turn things around the only one of these five teams with a record above .500 are here because of the combination of a deep Western Conference in which they're no sure thing to make the playoffs and the expectations generated by last year's run to the conference finals Let's take a closer look at why things haven't gone according to plan for these five teams and what they could do to change their fortunes for 2025-26 and beyond -- including potentially solving each other's problems Miami ranks 20th in offensive rating in that span The Heat have cap flexibility and an attractive market but they may not be able to make a competitive trade offer for a star player in his prime when they have just three players under contract for more than $6 million: Adebayo If Wiggins declines the option or is traded to clear his salary Miami could add a max free agent to its core If Doncic or even Fox are potentially available Miami would be wise to avoid adding long-term salary the Heat should move away from hoarding 2026 cap space 2. Consider a Durant trade. In that case, the Heat might not expect to add anyone better in 2026 than Kevin Durant they should look to speed up the process -- and avoid Durant being traded from Phoenix to a situation where he too would extend his contract -- by acquiring him this summer would save Phoenix about $20 million in 2025-26 salary Meanwhile, the Heat would have enough flexibility to re-sign restricted free agent Davion Mitchell and utilize their taxpayer midlevel exception to build around a core of Adebayo, Durant, Herro and standout rookie Kel'el Ware refuses to give Windy final word on Kevin DurantAfter Brian Windhorst comes to Kevin Durant's defense while Conley has rediscovered his 3-point shot They could also start the season over the apron and get under by shedding salary prior to the deadline The less rosy viewpoint is Minnesota will almost certainly start the playoffs as a lower seed and that makes it hard to justify a large luxury tax bill in a midsize market the Timberwolves could let him walk and re-sign Alexander-Walker and Reid while staying out of the tax entirely Minnesota would be betting big on its young talent continuing to take a step forward Clark and Shannon have thrived during Randle's absence with Clark -- recently converted from a two-way contract -- emerging as a starter and Shannon averaging 9.7 PPG in the month of February but Edwards has made no secret of his fondness for Durant's game Making a Durant trade work financially would be complicated it would probably include signing-and-trading Reid to another team In concert with Randle picking up his player option that might allow Minnesota to send out more salary than Durant's $53.3 million salary for 2025-26 It would surely also cost the Timberwolves some of their young talent. But a core of Edwards and Durant flanked by strong defenders Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels would make Minnesota a contender Although New Orleans didn't reach this season's potential, center was an issue after the team let starter Jonas Valanciunas walk in free agency. Yves Missi has held his own defensively but been stretched on offense as a rookie starter And Murray never played at the high level the Pelicans expected before suffering an Achilles rupture that will surely sideline him for the start of 2025-26 1. Use that lottery pick wisely. Of the teams in this group, New Orleans has the best chance of converting winter misery into spring joy. Projections using ESPN's basketball power index (BPI) give the Pelicans a 13% chance of winning the lottery and a 62% chance of picking in the top five Adding a top prospect to a core of 25-and-under talent including Missi, Williamson (who's averaging 26 PPG over the last month) and breakout starter Trey Murphy III would give the Pelicans far more long-term upside having a new star to build around might allow them to move Williamson in pursuit of more stable production while Jones and Murphy are long-term starters on the wing New Orleans is a bit thin behind them, with 2023 first-round pick Jordan Hawkins slow to develop as a shooter (he's hitting just 33% beyond the arc in his second NBA campaign) and Bruce Brown Jr has been a nice find who can be part of the rotation and the Pelicans can address that spot in the draft If Murray returns at something close to full strength his addition can strengthen the Pelicans' depth midseason New Orleans wasn't good enough in the first place to follow the Memphis Grizzlies' path from an injury-plagued year in the lottery to a top-four spot in the West the Pelicans should be in the play-in mix during 2025-26 It would be easier to list what has gone right in Philadelphia this season, highlighted by rookie Jared McCain's strong start prior to a meniscus repair and Guerschon Yabusele's play on a minimum contract Philadelphia will keep its first-round pick only if it lands in the top six none of the 76ers' other issues matter unless Embiid is able to play at a top-10 level Embiid wasn't exactly bad individually when he was on the court sporting an above-average .580 true shooting percentage on 35% usage But he never looked right or fit into the team context Philly went just 8-11 in games Embiid played including five losses during the team's current nine-game skid Download the ESPN app and enable Shams Charania's news alerts to receive push notifications for the latest updates first. Opt in by tapping the alerts bell in the top right corner. For more information, click here In particular, Embiid was compromised defensively. Opponents shot 61% inside 5 feet with Embiid as the primary defender, per Second Spectrum data on NBA Advanced Stats and then I'll be back at that level," he told reporters last month "But it's hard to have trust when you're not yourself." who confirmed last month's report from ESPN's Shams Charania that he has been receiving pain-killing injections to play through pain in his left pinky finger With no hope of Embiid leading a late charge through the play-in tournament play1:09Perk on Embiid out for the season: 'It's about time'Kendrick Perkins joins "SportsCenter" and addresses how the 76ers and Joel Embiid are going to plan for the future Finishing the lottery in the top six and retaining this year's first-round pick would be the best possible outcome for the 76ers' season As I wrote Friday when Embiid was ruled out Philly could plausibly pass the Pelicans and Toronto Raptors in the lottery standings which would increase their odds of keeping the pick from 48% as the No 6 seed entering the lottery all the way to 81% if they were fourth going in Still, the 76ers will be searching for frontcourt solutions. It's tough to outline options because Philadelphia's budget remains uncertain. In addition to whether the Sixers keep their pick, that will also be influenced by decisions on player options for Drummond ($5 million) and Kelly Oubre Jr Expensive bets on Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic failed leaving the NBA's most expensive payroll on the outside of the play-in race looking in with no potential lottery pick to show for it The Suns don't control their first-round pick at any point in the next seven drafts and their 2032 first-rounder will be frozen from trade because they are over the second luxury tax apron Beyond that, Durant trade rumors before the deadline make a breakup with the organization all but inevitable. ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported on "NBA Today" that "they're going to trade him [this summer] The challenge for Phoenix is how to get better by trading its best player 1. Get below the second apron. Including the $5 million non-guaranteed salary of starting center Nick Richards whom Phoenix would be foolish to waive after acquiring him midseason the Suns are committed to enough salary ($208-plus million) to nine players to exceed the second apron So Phoenix must shed salary to get below the apron The Suns' 2032 first-round pick isn't at risk of moving to the end of the round unless they're a second-apron team in two of the next four seasons dodging the second apron would give Phoenix the flexibility to aggregate salaries in trades as well as keeping the team's 2033 first-rounder from being frozen 2. Move on from Durant. With the Warriors acquiring Butler after Durant said he was uninterested in a return to the Bay Area, finding a new home for Durant might be trickier than the Suns prefer. The Houston Rockets have been previously linked with a move for Durant given their combination of draft picks -- most notably Phoenix's own including this year's likely lottery selection -- and young talent If Houston would rather wait and see whether Devin Booker or another star shakes loose the Suns probably won't come close to recouping their investment in Durant Phoenix is looking at a lower-priced replacement such as Randle or Wiggins a couple of first-round picks or equivalent prospects and more cap flexibility 3. Address the center position in free agency or the draft. At the time of the Richards trade, I noted that only one position group in the league (Utah Jazz point guards) had more combined wins below replacement level by my WARP metric than the Suns' centers but he's better suited as a backup on a contending team than a starter Whether it's through a Durant trade or the draft (Phoenix will have the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-rounder it's imperative for the Suns to find a better rim protector in the center spot The NBA trade deadline has passed which means the focus will now turn toward the postseason and then free agency in the summer But some teams will aim to sign their players to extensions players keep them from becoming free agents we analyze what it means for the rest of the 2024-25 season and beyond MORE: Trade tracker | Trade grades | Trade deadline winners, losers Feb. 5: Bulls give Ball a new deal amid trade linksAgreed to a reported two-year $20 million extension with guard Lonzo BallGrade: Pass (extensions graded on pass/fail scale) Another NBA contract was no guarantee when Ball went more than 33 months between games while dealing with multiple surgeries on his left knee, as ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier explained earlier this year Remarkably, Ball hasn't just returned but contributed for the Bulls. He moved into Chicago's starting five on MLK Day and has averaged 9.1 PPG in that role. Ball hasn't quite regained his accuracy beyond the arc, shooting just 34% on 3s after 38% during two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans and 42% for the Bulls in 2021-22 prior to his season-ending injury Still, Ball's active defense (he's averaging a career-high 2.4 steals per 36 minutes) and play recognition on both ends have been positives for Chicago. The Bulls are outscoring opponents by 4.2 points per 100 possessions with Ball on the court according to NBA Advanced Stats best of any Chicago player who's seen more than 250 minutes of action Some of that is attributable to 3-point shooting in a small sample but the Bulls have been better in sustainable areas as well This extension reflects lingering uncertainty about Ball's long-term health He'll make less over two years than this season's $21.4 million salary as the conclusion of the four-year contract Ball signed with the Bulls via sign-and-trade in the summer of 2021 I think it was reasonable for Chicago to keep Ball around rather than making a trade before Thursday's deadline $81 million extension with forward Alex CarusoGrade: Pass (extensions graded on pass/fail scale) When the the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Caruso for Josh Giddey in June, an extension looked likely. Caruso is in the final season of the bargain contract he signed with the Chicago Bulls and this was the largest extension he could sign once six months had passed from the date of the trade as of Dec Based on the way Caruso played last season in Chicago where he averaged a career-high 28.7 minutes per game and was voted to the All-Defensive second team $20 million per season is more than reasonable as the salary cap goes up that won't be appreciably more than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception the Bulls used to sign Caruso to his current deal With Oklahoma City, Caruso has been utilized far more as a luxury than the necessity he was in Chicago. Presumably with an eye toward avoiding the minor injuries that limited Caruso last season, the Thunder have played him exclusively off the bench, for just 20.2 MPG. That would be Caruso's least playing time since 2019-20 with the Los Angeles Lakers Oklahoma City aspires to repeat the Lakers' 2020 title run with Caruso and his role could be bigger in the spring -- particularly if Caruso shoots the ball better he hasn't proved to be the shooting upgrade over the departed Giddey the Thunder surely hoped In fact, Caruso hasn't shot as well (27% on 3s) as Giddey, who's hitting them at a 33% clip in Chicago. It's worth remembering that even a third of the way through the season, those samples still aren't particularly large. The DARKO projection system suggests Caruso can be expected to shoot 37% from 3-point range going forward but Caruso provides more size and defensive versatility with those groups Extending Caruso clarifies Oklahoma City's cap situation going forward The Thunder now have all 14 players under guaranteed contract signed through 2025-26 and still are comfortably shy of the luxury-tax line next season it's possible Caruso's salary could become an issue for Oklahoma City by which point Caruso's declining athleticism might make it more difficult for him to defend bigger opponents The Thunder's stockpile of future first-round picks gives them the ability to get out of this contract if needed and the downside risk is more than acceptable if Caruso makes the difference in Oklahoma City advancing in the playoffs now let's look back on the year that was in pro basketball with my annual (and imaginary) Golden Basketball for the top player in 2024 In the decade since I first awarded the Golden Basketball for performance across all competitions in the calendar year -- similar to the previous format of soccer's Ballon d'Or which moved from an annual to a seasonal award in 2022 -- there has never been such a wide-open field none of whom saw his team win a playoff series Let's run through their cases and pick a winner Jaylen Brown Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors Résumé: Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers From when I first awarded the Golden Basketball in 2014 until 2020 Curry and James combined to win all but one of them The two future Hall of Famers provided some of this year's most memorable basketball playing together for the USA in the Olympics with James winning MVP of the tournament but Curry starring in the final both were not serious Golden Ball contenders after they didn't play at an MVP level during the NBA season and their teams combined for one playoff win Anthony Davis Davis' most important basketball in 2024 came in the Olympics when he averaged 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 62.5% from the field emerging as the Lakers' leading scorer in addition to an All-Defensive candidate Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns Believe it or not, Durant has never won a Golden Basketball award despite earning an MVP and two Finals MVPs. Durant finished ahead of Curry and James in All-NBA voting and was another key contributor to the USA gold medal, but Durant's team also had a quick playoff exit, getting swept in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant led Team USA to a fifth straight Olympic gold medal. DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)Anthony Edwards During a breakout postseason, Edwards finished second in playoff wins above replacement player (WARP) rating by my metric leading the Timberwolves to the conference finals for the first time since 2004 Jayson Tatum Tatum was one of three players to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal he wasn't as important as expected to either triumph Tatum's uneven final two rounds of the playoffs allowed Brown to win MVP of both series while his lack of playing time in the opening game of the Olympics and the gold medal game became a storyline That leaves Tatum as the toughest cut from the finalists Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks outdueling Gilgeous-Alexander in a dominant NBA Cup final victory by putting up 26 points 19 rebounds and 10 assists to win game MVP He was also the leading scorer in the Olympics averaging 25.8 PPG to lead a Greece team without any other NBA players to the knockout stages During the regular-season portion of 2024, Antetokounmpo was as good as almost anyone, finishing fourth in MVP voting during 2023-24 and a close third in the recent 2024-25 straw poll from ESPN's Tim Bontemps Antetokounmpo missed a chance to make a statement in the playoffs watching Milwaukee's first-round loss from the sidelines due to a calf injury Antetokounmpo was the highest finisher in MVP voting to miss the playoffs due to injury since David Robinson (third) in 1992 Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks Doncic was the clear favorite for this award Not only did he top all players in playoff WARP while making his first Finals appearance Doncic played his best regular-season basketball after the calendar turned to 2024 going from fifth in the first 2023-24 straw poll to finishing third and drawing four third-place votes The long playoff run meant a short turnaround for Doncic before playing in FIBA Olympics qualifiers and Slovenia was blown out by Greece in the semifinals Doncic then got off to a relatively slow start this season averaging 28.1 points -- his fewest since 2020-21 -- before suffering a calf strain on Christmas Day Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder Of all the candidates, Gilgeous-Alexander has perhaps the most complete calendar year. Along with Canadian teammates Luguentz Dort and Dwight Powell Gilgeous-Alexander was one of just three players to compete in the final eight of the NBA playoffs And he finished as runner-up in MVP voting as well as the 2024-25 straw poll Gilgeous-Alexander is missing only a signature moment from the year It looked like his 39-point performance against Doncic in the NBA Cup quarterfinals could qualify before that was usurped by a rough shooting night (8-of-24) in the championship loss to the Bucks The idea that he struggles on big stages is clearly untrue Gilgeous-Alexander was terrific as the Thunder lost to Dallas in the NBA playoffs and had a game-high 27 points as Canada was upset by France in the Olympic quarterfinals Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will keep the Mavericks and the Thunder in contention for years to come. Joshua Gateley/Getty ImagesNikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets After sitting out the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the wake of the Nuggets' championship run Jokic rejoined the Serbia national team for the Olympics and led it to a near-upset of the USA in the semifinals 11 assists) as Serbia beat the reigning world champions Germany for a bronze medal to go with the silver he won in 2016 Jokic led all players in Olympics WARP rating Nikola Jokic earned his third regular-season MVP and an Olympic bronze medal in 2024. Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe winner: Nikola Jokic Jokic remains the NBA's best player by acclamation and I don't think anyone did enough to unseat him as the Golden Basketball winner and perhaps an NBA Cup victory (and likely MVP) would have pushed him over the top while Doncic might have done it with a stronger start to the 2024-25 season this is the first time in Jokic's three MVP campaigns that he has won the Golden Basketball as those were followed by relatively short playoff runs After winning the Golden Basketball last year he finished runner-up for MVP in 2023 en route to Finals MVP Los Angeles Lakers; 2021: Giannis Antetokounmpo playShams details NBA ASG changes to McAfee (1:51)Shams Charania joins Pat McAfee and details the upcoming changes to the NBA All-Star Game format Much has changed since we last checked in on potential rosters for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco a little more than a month ago No reserve has made it in that span while missing more than 19 of his team's games through the end of January an All-Star every year since his rookie campaign Doncic is currently at 22 games and isn't expected to be reevaluated for a calf injury until the end of the month If Doncic isn't voted a starter -- he was third among Western Conference backcourt players in Thursday's most recent returns -- he's probably not going to be chosen as a reserve Lastly, fan voting returns from Thursday suggest that LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets has a strong chance to be voted as a starter He leads all East backcourt players in fan voting Given Ball's time missed to injury (11 games so far) and Charlotte's lowly 8-27 record his safest path to the All-Star Game is as a starter Though the rosters for the three teams participating in an All-Star mini tournament will be drafted by the hosts of TNT's "Inside the NBA," we break things down in accordance with how the player pool is chosen -- two backcourt starters and three in the frontcourt by conference with the same number of reserves and two wild-card selections regardless of position -- while noting which players might be missing out Let's get to my predictions for all 24 spots a few first-timers and plenty of competition for the final wild cards Backcourt: Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers Mitchell seems certain to start as the Cavaliers have raced to the NBA's best record (32-4) Mitchell is second in fan voting and will surely be among the top media picks Backcourt: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets Ball's case is more interesting. His chances will depend on whether he gets any media votes and how many total guards get votes. The NBA treats all players who don't get media votes as finishing tied for the next spot after the players who do get them. If, for example, the media votes go exclusively to Mitchell and Jalen Brunson Ball would need to finish five spots below Brunson in player voting to get pushed out of the starting lineup if a handful of different guards get votes from the media and Ball does not it becomes more reasonable for Brunson to leap him thanks to media voting it represents easily his best chance of being an All-Star for the second time Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks With the most fan votes of any player thus far Antetokounmpo is well on his way to being a team captain for the fourth time in his career Frontcourt: Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics the third consecutive year he'll be voted a starter Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks Whether Brunson or Towns is having the better season for New York is an interesting debate, but given the relative strength of the East's backcourt and frontcourt pools, Towns is the far more likely starter. Sitting third in fan voting, he has more than doubled the total of the next-highest player -- the Magic's Paolo Banchero who has played just five games before his scheduled return to the lineup Friday night and is not a legitimate All-Star contender this year Backcourt: Jalen Brunson Brunson will presumably be the first name Eastern Conference coaches write in for the reserve pool The decision at guard gets much more complicated from there Backcourt: Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks I left Young off my first version of All-Star teams because of his slow shooting start Young's efficiency has picked up in December and January and the Hawks' run to the NBA Cup semifinals will probably appeal to coaches Add in Young's league-leading 12.2 assists per game and I'd narrowly put him at the top of a deep group of guard candidates Frontcourt: Jaylen Brown The Finals MVP isn't in line to be voted a starter but he belongs at the top of the East reserve pool in the frontcourt Frontcourt: Evan Mobley The next near-automatic selection in the East frontcourt is Mobley the interior anchor for the NBA's best team Mobley has taken an important step forward averaging a career-high 18.9 PPG while providing enough floor spacing (a career-high 1.3 3s per game at a 40% clip) to make Cleveland's gigantic starting frontcourt work Frontcourt: Jarrett Allen but I suspect they'll reward the Cavaliers with a third All-Star Wild card: Damian Lillard An All-Star in six of the past seven seasons -- all but 2021-22 when core muscle surgery ended his season after 29 games -- Lillard will have to sweat it out this time around I think Lillard's track record and the Bucks' NBA Cup title run will see him through He's having a better offensive season than 2023-24 and Milwaukee is still ahead of most of the other contenders for this spot in the standings Wild card: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons I think Haliburton has the most underrated case he's still being compared to his red-hot first half of 2023-24 and coming up short Yet Haliburton has a couple of statistical factors in his favor Haliburton has played more minutes than anyone not on the Knicks explaining why he's at or near the top of this group in value metrics If Indiana can climb ahead of Milwaukee by the time the coaches vote the face of the Pistons' rise into the East's top nine after finishing with the NBA's worst record last season Cunningham leads this group in assists per game (9.3 third in the league) and has improved dramatically as a 3-point shooter Whether Cunningham makes it this season or not there are surely All-Star appearances in his future Backcourt: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder Gilgeous-Alexander is leading West backcourt players in fan voting and should cruise to the top spot among the media as well Backcourt: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors is a distant fifth in fan voting and probably has too much ground to make up to be a starter Frontcourt: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets Despite his general indifference to All-Star festivities Jokic can't be picked last if he's a team captain Jokic leads all West players in fan voting and is just ahead of Tatum for second overall Frontcourt: Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns Frontcourt: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers Ranking third in the West frontcourt in fan voting leaves James somewhat vulnerable to being left out of the starters for the first time since 2004 when he was not chosen an All-Star as a 19-year-old rookie Wembanyama seems likely to finish ahead of James in media voting which could leave the decision in the hands of players I'm projecting James to be the third and final starter Backcourt: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves Currently enjoying the best offensive season of his career after a breakout playoff run Edwards will probably be the first name West coaches write in for their backcourt picks Backcourt: Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks puts his first All-Star appearance with Dallas in some jeopardy and it's unclear whether he'll be back by the time coaches vote I think Irving's strong start -- including a career-high 44% on 3s -- will put him on the roster ahead of Doncic by virtue of better health thus far Frontcourt: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs Whether Wembanyama is voted a starter won't affect his chances of making the team he's headed for his first of many All-Star Games after leading San Antonio into the thick of the West play-in race by taking a step forward from an already terrific rookie campaign Frontcourt: Anthony Davis Given the crowd in the West frontcourt, Davis has been the odd man out in fan voting, ranking fifth. As an illustration of how top-heavy the group is, only one other player (Alperen Sengun) is within a million votes of Davis Frontcourt: Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies Coaches will surely want to reward a Memphis team that has the NBA's fourth-best point differential with an All-Star, and the time Ja Morant has missed due to injury means Jackson is now the clear choice from the Grizzlies Jackson has boosted his scoring from when he was chosen an All-Star reserve in 2023 though he's not on track to repeat his Defensive Player of the Year campaign Wild card: Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets the Rockets have played well enough that coaches might feel obligated to pick a Houston player as an All-Star reserve As the team's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer and distributor Sengun is the most logical candidate for what would be his All-Star debut Wild card: Jalen Williams is on a team tied for 10th and seems unlikely to get the benefit of the doubt from coaches after Mike Brown was fired That leaves Williams as the clear and deserving choice for the last spot. With Chet Holmgren sidelined ranking second on the Thunder in scoring and assists while defending multiple positions For best viewing experience of this website Please enter a place name in the search bar After provisionally the warmest May Day on record in the UK higher than average temperatures will subside over the weekend Environment Agency Updated: 07:28 (UTC+1) on Tue 6 May 2025 Some high level cloud turning the sunshine hazy at times Staying dry with some lengthy clear skies overnight Turning chilly with a touch of grass frost in places with variable amounts of cloud and sunny spells on Wednesday Fine and settled weather conditions are expected to continue with variable cloud and bright or sunny spells throughout Dry across the vast majority of the UK with clear or sunny spells but also some patchy cloud Cloud will likely thicken across the far north and northwest during the weekend with some outbreaks of rain for a time There is also a small risk of some heavy showers in the far south or southwest high pressure will be dominant across the UK This will bring predominantly fine and dry weather for the majority of places Temperatures are likely to be slightly above normal for the time of year although there is a chance of some cold nights Fairly typical weather for the time of year is most likely through this period fine and dry weather is more likely to dominate although this will be interspersed with occasional spells of rain and showers with a risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms in places temperatures will most likely be near to or slightly above average Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Gerald Pelton Service - Livestream WI to Walter and Elderene (Schrank) Pelton who preceded him in death He will be greatly missed by his wife of 57 years Georgia (Baer) Pelton; son Michael (Tracie); grandson Graham; sister Gloria (David) Eaton; brother-in-law David (Linda) Baer Nieces and nephews include Christi (Rick) Lawrence Great nieces and nephews include Darby (Zach) Montovon Leah and Dylan Garfinkle and several Schrank and Pelton cousins Jerry had various roles including owner/operator of a catering business and as Culinary Arts Instructor at Willmar Technical College and St Many excellent chefs learned and developed under Jerry’s excellent teaching and training The journey began at age 17 while working as a pizza maker for the Pizza Port in Lake Delton Jerry was a waiter at Jimmie’s Dell Bar in Wisconsin Dells he was in the kitchen learning all he could about the business After graduating from Reedsburg High School Jerry enrolled in the Chef Training Course at Madison Area Technical College (MATC) Jerry joined Holiday Inn Hotels as an Assistant Innkeeper trainee in Appleton Holiday Inn placed him at numerous properties including Janesville Jerry joined Howard Johnson’s Hotels to supervise the construction of a new facility in Kalamazoo MI while also overseeing the Howard Johnson’s facility in Battle Creek A district manager from Quality Inn Hotels recruited Jerry from Howard Johnson’s and placed him in Knoxville he was often sent to troubleshoot Quality Inn properties in Asheville and Greensboro Jerry rejoined Holiday Inn Hotels and was placed in Willmar MN to supervise the construction of the new facility and to be the Innkeeper upon its opening six months later The president of the Willmar Technical College heard of Jerry’s background and offered him a full-time teaching position Jerry taught Culinary Arts for 16 years until the school discontinued the culinary arts program Jerry quickly pivoted and created his own catering business leasing the Willmar Technical College’s kitchen and equipment He and Georgia partnered for ten years providing the college lunches and excellent catering events in Willmar and the surrounding communities Jerry returned to teaching Culinary Arts at St Paul College and retired after 12 years of service He enjoyed time with Georgia at the cabin on the North Shore and often brought home landscape rocks to accent his beautiful flower gardens A memorial service will take place at Bradshaw - Celebration of Life Center April 14th at 11am with a visitation an hour prior A private family burial will take place in Lutsen Memorial donations may be made in Jerry’s name to St Croix Hospice or the donor's choice of charity Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors An eye-watering 132,945 small businesses on UK high streets will be extinct within 15 years - with local pubs and bars set to vanish in little over a decade In a stark warning to shoppers this Black Friday, small business insurance provider Simply Business has calculated the extinction date of independent high street businesses should current rates of decline continue.  Electrical appliance shops top the list of most endangered businesses Unable to compete with the huge discounts on offer from online retailers they could be wiped out by as early as 2029 as shoppers hold off on purchasing until Black Friday deals are revealed shoe shops and homeware stores are currently experiencing the fastest decline and will cease to exist by 2034.  bars and newsagents will be in dire straits over the next decade as this sector has seen the largest overall drop in registrations and increase in closures.  Top 10 endangered businesses (extinction date): To call attention to the plight of UK pubs in a striking way Simply Business has partnered with The Pelton Arms in Greenwich to give it a poignant ‘Bleak Friday’ makeover Now masked in black and renamed ‘The Extinction Arms’ patrons and passers-by are confronted by what the street would look like if it lost this vibrant character Like so many independent pubs across the UK the Chancellor’s autumn budget announcement will impact The Pelton Arms directly With significant cuts to the amount of business rates relief available and the new costs of employment adding to their burden landlord of The Pelton Arms said: “It’s bittersweet to be taking part in Simply Business’ ‘Bleak Friday’ campaign as it brings to light the very real fears that keep all small and independent business owners up at night We understand firsthand how difficult times are not just for pubs but across all sectors to keep our livelihood afloat against the various issues we face on a daily basis.”  “This is such an important campaign and we’re hoping this puts places like ours front of mind this Black Friday and beyond because we are the fabric of communities all over the country and it’s time to show support now before it’s too late.”  Launching on Black Friday, the ‘Bleak Friday’ campaign urges shoppers to support small and independent businesses around this peak retail moment. In a bid to give voice to small businesses across the UK and aid future campaigns, Simply Business is inviting small business owners and shoppers to share their thoughts on what can be done to save independent businesses on the high street. High street businesses including greengrocer Reg the Veg (Bristol) Top of the Town (Stockport) and East End pub The George Tavern (Stepney Green) have taken to social media to share their own extinction dates if the current state of decline continues.  With business rates relief set to decrease to 40% from April 2025 following the Autumn Statement, Simply Business will also support one small business with a high street premises, with a £10k injection to soften the blow of a bigger business rates bill next year. Owners can enter for a chance to receive the financial support on the Simply Business website.  UK chief operating officer at Simply Business said: "Britain's independent high street is at breaking point Our research paints a bleak picture – if we don't act urgently our high streets will soon look vastly different newsagents and others will soon be extinct and the impact this will have on communities will be devastating A third (33%) say the Government should invest in infrastructure to make high streets more attractive to shoppers loans or tax incentives for independent retail businesses Almost all owners (94%) believe the Government has a key role to play in turning the tide we know that what's best for small businesses is best for our economy – they collectively contribute trillions of pounds and account for vast employment "We hope this campaign will raise awareness and we're committed to doing our best to materially help That's why we'll be financially supporting a high street business in light of the cut in business rates relief while at the same time gathering insight to outline a long-term plan to save our high street." Roger Verne Pelton Age 62 passed away on December 29 from liver failure at his home in St George Utah he struggled with Cerebral Palsy throughout his life he loved talking to people and making them happy he loved messaging siblings and going out to eat with them He was preceded in death by his parents Ralph and Margaret Pelton We would like to thank all of Roger’s friends at the Danville Group home in St George for their love and support while he was with them Roger is survived by his siblings Katherine (Alan) Rollins of Orem Orem immediately followed by a Graveside service at 1:30 p.m Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page.  SEATTLE -- The Seattle Storm announced Wednesday that an external investigation into reported accusations of harassment and bullying by the team's coaching staff had concluded without finding any violations "The Storm recently received internal allegations of potential workplace policy violations," read a statement provided to ESPN "The organization retained an outside investigator to conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations The investigation has been completed and there were no findings of policy violations or any discrimination we chose not to comment while the investigation was ongoing The Storm will continue to provide a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect." The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on the investigation The Sun-Times reported the investigation was sparked by the experience of multiple players and had been active for at least two weeks by that point Former WNBA player Noelle Quinn completed her fourth season as Seattle's head coach in 2024, which concluded with a 25-15 record and a 2-0 series loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the WNBA playoffs Quinn's coaching staff this past season included former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman former WNBA head coach Pokey Chatman and Perry Huang as assistant coaches who had been with the Storm for seven seasons while also coaching in the G League left after the playoffs to become an assistant to Zach Guthrie for the Los Angeles Lakers' G League team ESPN's Michael Voepel contributed to this report The 2025 WNBA offseason has been marked by star movement Four former All-WNBA picks from the past three seasons have already changed teams via trade this offseason Then on Sunday, the New York Liberty acquired guard Natasha Cloud from Sun Which teams got the better of the major WNBA deals this offseason How do the moves impact the rest of the WNBA ESPN breaks down all the implications in our trade grades The defending champs had been remarkably quiet so far this offseason, signing only training camp contracts after losing reserve forward Kayla Thornton to the Golden State Valkyries in the expansion draft A month and a half after free agency began packaging a pair of first-round picks to get Cloud the WNBA's best team in the regular season ended up with a pick in the middle of this year's first round Given New York's 2026 first-rounder will most likely land in the teens in an expanded 15-team draft having a more valuable pick to offer the Sun was surely key to completing this deal Now the Liberty add a three-time All-Defensive pick to their embarrassment of riches Whoever starts, Brondello can keep either Ionescu or Cloud on the court at all times, meaning the Liberty will always have a top playmaker at the controls of their offense. Since 2021, Cloud ranks third among all players in assists per game (6.7), per Stathead.com, just behind former New York guard Courtney Vandersloot It will be interesting to see how Cloud and Ionescu share the ball when they play together Ionescu enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in 2024 by moving into a primary on-ball role averaging a career-high 18.2 PPG and 6.2 APG Ionescu is more threatening without the ball in her hands having averaged almost three 3-pointers per game at a 36% clip in her career Cloud hasn't hit better than 32% beyond the arc since 2019 the Liberty dealt with the same challenge the past two seasons when Vandersloot's 3-point shooting dropped off A 35% 3-point shooter during 12 seasons in her first stint with the Sky Vandersloot shot just 28.5% from downtown in New York Cloud gives New York more size and stronger defense in addition to their shared skill as distributors Despite the loss of Thornton, New York should be deeper this season. The Liberty prepared for the expansion draft by acquiring the rights to wing Rebekah Gardner before last season despite Gardner being sidelined by an Achilles rupture Gardner could help replace Thornton now that she's back healthy while Cloud should be an upgrade on Vandersloot Down the road, the Liberty might have benefited from an infusion of young talent with the No. 7 pick. They haven't drafted higher than 11th since taking Nyara Sabally at No and New York's own pick doesn't project to be so good anytime soon But now is the time for the Liberty to pursue additional championships and Cloud should help New York's title defense Consider this Part 3 of the Thomas sign-and-trade The Sun got only a single first-round pick from Phoenix for Thomas 12 overall selection the Mercury got from the Liberty after their swap That return felt light in terms of draft compensation but part of the reason was Connecticut got useful veterans back from Phoenix Getting value for Cloud was more important which is why this deal took a month and a half to complete as the Sun waited out getting two first-round picks from New York Add this trade to the original deal and the Sun landed both the Nos 7 and 12 picks in this year's draft for Thomas Although none of those picks have superstar upside three total first-round picks is a reasonable package for Thomas By virtue of the sign-and-trade deal sending DiJonai Carrington to the Dallas Wings giving the Sun two first-rounders higher than any they've had since taking Morgan Tuck (now making the moves as Connecticut's GM) No The Sun will have two more first-round picks in 2026 In the short term, Connecticut is in for a bumpy rebuild despite apparently convincing Marina Mabrey to stick it out after her trade request. Mabrey and Tina Charles are the Sun's two proven quality starters and Mabrey has never been an All-Star while Charles last earned All-Star honors in 2021 Connecticut will be fighting it out for one of the last playoff spots at best Because the Sky get the better between the Sun's pick and the Mercury's pick via swap rights -- Chicago and Phoenix seem to be at the center of every WNBA trade -- there's probably no benefit to Connecticut finishing in the lottery this season the Sun have wisely concluded it's better to stockpile draft picks at the start of a rebuild than win as many games as possible this season (A poor record in 2025 would also help Connecticut in the WNBA's two-year lottery standings.) It will take a while before the Sun build a roster as strong as the Thomas-led teams that reached the semifinals or beyond each of the past six years Adding two first-round picks for a veteran who didn't fit Connecticut's timeline moves the team a step closer to that eventual hope Compared to Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum the other All-Star shooting guards who have been traded this offseason (for each other She has never been chosen for an All-WNBA team and last made the All-Star team in 2022 Atkins was arguably as valuable as Loyd and Plum last season and is the youngest of the three players at 28 The biggest difference is that Atkins isn't as prolific a scorer She has surpassed 15 PPG only once in her WNBA career Plum has surpassed Atkins' best scoring campaign each of the past three seasons having made 47.5% of her career 2-point attempts and 36% from 3 as compared to 43% and 35% for Loyd And Atkins is the best of this group defensively having made the All-Defensive team each of her first five seasons highlighted by a first-team appearance in 2022 I have all three players projected as worth between three and four wins above replacement player by my WARP metric in 2025 should give Reese and Cardoso more room to operate in the paint than they enjoyed last season The question here is what the Sky gave up. The No. 3 pick alone would have been reasonable. That's in the same ballpark as the value in the Loyd-Plum trade, where the primary return was the Seattle Storm trading up from No Atkins is young enough to be part of Chicago's core going forward and though she can be an unrestricted free agent after this season the Sky might have the core designation available if it remains part of the next WNBA collective bargaining agreement 3 pick probably has less value to Chicago because a post player -- either French center Dominique Malonga or USC forward Kiki Iriafen depending on whether guards Paige Buckers and Olivia Miles enter the draft -- will probably be the best prospect available at that spot the Sky already believe they've got their frontcourt of the future Including swap rights to Chicago's 2027 first-round pick, however, is a huge risk. The Sky already spent last fall's lottery sweating out swap rights with the Dallas Wings meaning the Sky kept the pick given up in this deal.) Play the #1 women's bracket game and join our group to compete against fellow WNBA fans! Free to Play: Women's Tournament Challenge I'm surprised Chicago would chance putting its 2027 first-round pick up for swap Washington probably won't be very good in 2026 which could feature as many as seven teams by then barring changes to the WNBA's playoff structure That leaves seven teams for four spots. Right now, I'd put Chicago fourth in that group, behind the Phoenix Mercury, Atlanta Dream and Storm but ahead of the Sparks It took a while for the Mystics to join the WNBA offseason party. With new GM Jamila Wideman splitting time completing duties at the NBA league office through late January, per Kareem Copeland Washington's only offseason moves before Sunday had been procedural The Mystics extended qualifying offers to eligible players and invited Taylor Soule to training camp Dealing Atkins, the last remaining player from Washington's 2019 title team, is a far bigger move that reflects the long-term outlook from Michael Winger, president of Monumental Basketball. In removing Eric and Mike Thibault from their roles as coach and GM, respectively, Winger cited building through the draft The Mystics will now have three of the top six picks this April: No 3 could be particularly important for Washington if both Bueckers and Miles declare and are taken with the top two picks who's starring in the second-tier EuroCup competition at age 19 is seen by many front office executives as a future star despite having a lower profile stateside than NCAA stars who play on television regularly they'll probably feel good about this trade The return from the remaining veterans won't likely be this strong which is why it was important for Washington to get the Atkins trade right The Mystics' patience netted them a strong return the Mercury will boast one of the WNBA's most star-studded rosters in 2025 Having already landed Alyssa Thomas -- the best player to change teams this offseason -- Phoenix on Friday agreed to another sign-and-trade that adds Satou Sabally. Add in Kahleah Copper and the Mercury boast three players who were All-WNBA over the past two years all of them acquired via trade since the franchise hired Nick U'Ren as general manager and Nate Tibbetts as head coach prior to the 2024 season To some extent, the Mercury probably benefited from their lack of tradeable draft picks. Because their 2026 first-round pick is headed to the Chicago Sky in the Copper deal the Mercury couldn't trade another first-rounder outright A swap of picks in 2027 would have had relatively minimal value to the Wings though it could have been useful for the Fever The Mercury nabbing center Kalani Brown in this deal was also impressive. She has one of the WNBA's best contracts. Guard Lexie Brown (no relation) is the only other veteran player signed through 2026 when the league's salary cap is expected to jump thanks to new national TV deals and a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) Brown's $132,500 contract could be less than the veteran's minimum the Mercury will be relying on a number of minimum salaries to fill out the bench without the benefit of remaining draft picks Reserved rights to Uzun could be important in that regard Uzun started 19 games as a WNBA rookie at age 26 last season but shot just 42% on 2s and 24% on 3s potentially as Phoenix's starting point guard depending on how Thomas is used she'll have to be more accurate from the field Before the Mercury fill out their roster, a lack of depth could make it difficult for them to maximize their star power in 2025. They likely won't be in the WNBA's top tier of contenders alongside the Aces, Minnesota Lynx and Liberty For that to be even a possibility after three consecutive below-.500 finishes is a testament to what Phoenix has done this offseason The Mercury are also setting up for 2026 and beyond. As we've seen with Nneka Ogwumike re-signing with the Seattle Storm after joining them on a one-year deal in free agency last offseason there's a benefit to incumbency even though Sabally and Thomas are likely to be free agents again next year alongside Copper Phoenix could also use the core designation on Sabally again next offseason If you can get Sabally and Thomas without giving up your star player We can think of this as two separate trades by the Wings, one of which I liked a lot more than the other. Getting Cunningham, Harris, the rights to Herbert Harrigan and the No. 19 pick for Brown, Sabally and the rights to Uzun is a weak return for a core trade. Cunningham is significantly more valuable than Natasha Cloud who went to the Sun with a higher pick (No 19 pick to Indiana for NaLyssa Smith and the No making the overall deal far more favorable For the Wings, the success of this trade will largely depend on Smith's development. The No. 2 pick in 2022, Smith finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and averaged 15.5 PPG and 9.2 RPG in Year 2. Smith's value suffered last season, when her playing time and production dropped alongside Caitlin Clark Smith averaged just 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds at an age (24 midseason) when she should be improving some of Smith's value faded when digging beyond her scoring and rebounding averages Smith isn't an efficient scorer because she shoots few 3s (14-of-48 last season) and is just a 62% career foul shooter Of the 107 WNBA players who attempted at least 100 shots in 2024 Smith ranked 28th by shooting 48% from the field but just 49th with a .520 true shooting percentage which factors in efficiency across all shots Besides banking on Smith improving, Dallas might get her some help on the defensive end. Per league sources, the Wings are pursuing Connecticut restricted free agent DiJonai Carrington Smith's girlfriend and former teammate at nearby Baylor would be an enormous help to a Dallas team that finished last in defensive rating who is likely to move via sign-and-trade because the CBA stipulates that all offer sheets to restricted free agents must be a minimum of two years Signing a two-year deal would take Carrington out of the running for a bigger raise as an unrestricted free agent in 2026 This trade also brings Harris back to Dallas where she was drafted in 2020 and played her first three seasons before being traded to Connecticut Harris blossomed into a starter last season making 40% of her 3s and averaging a career-high 10.5 points Harris could slot in as a backup point guard if the Wings draft either Paige Bueckers or Olivia Miles with the No 1 pick but is capable of starting if Dallas doesn't have a rookie at the position AP Photo/John LocherIndiana Fever: C+It's easy to see the Fever's logic. Adding Natasha Howard who reportedly agreed to sign with Indiana earlier Friday would have moved Smith to a smaller bench role this season And Cunningham's shooting and ability to play either forward spot make her an ideal fit for Indiana I dislike the Fever trading away what might be their highest first-round pick in a while. If Clark and Aliyah Boston develop as we expect Indiana will be picking in the bottom handful of spots of the first round which will expand to 15 picks starting in 2026 with two expansion franchises joining the WNBA 8 pick to get Cunningham suggests the rest of the WNBA didn't value Smith as a quality young player 7. Seven years. @iamArielAtkins, you've given so much of yourself to D.C. Thank you for all that you have done. Best of luck! pic.twitter.com/FlAs3dIRbd On the plus side, Cunningham should work well as a running mate for Clark. A 38% 3-point shooter over the past four seasons, Cunningham ranks 13th among all WNBA players in made 3s over that span. Cunningham could compete with Lexie Hull for a starting spot at small forward and also back up Howard as a power forward in smaller lineups with more floor spacing Cunningham is more dangerous offensively matching up against power forwards but gives up size and shot-blocking ability at that spot Thanks to the rookie contracts for Boston and Clark Indiana could sign Howard for the max and still have more than $185,000 in cap space to fill the team's final roster spot the Fever might take that cap room into the season to have the flexibility to add via trade before the deadline The 2025 Mercury are going to look much different from what we've seen in the Valley who got Phoenix back to the playoffs after a 9-31 finish in 2023 but not back to .500 If Griner (who is taking meetings as an unrestricted free agent for the first time) or Taurasi (whose return for a 21st WNBA season is uncertain) remain on the Mercury they'll be tasked to fit in around Thomas rather than the opposite Thomas is an unlikely star for Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts' offense the Mercury went from attempting 32% of their shots from 3-point range in 2023 to 39% Thomas hasn't made a 3-pointer since her rookie season and is 2-for-21 beyond the arc in her WNBA career But Thomas is near the top of the league when it comes to generating 3-pointers for her teammates Thomas ranked second in 3s from her passes in 2024 Lineups with Thomas at center and maximum shooting around her -- a la the Warriors' so-called "Death Lineup" that U'Ren famously suggested to head coach Steve Kerr during the 2015 NBA Finals en route to Golden State's first title -- figure to maximize her impact when Brionna Jones sustained an Achilles rupture with the Sun off to a 10-3 start Connecticut went 17-10 the rest of the way without an All-Star post and Thomas finished second in MVP voting after averaging 15.8 points 9.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists over the final 27 games The Mercury switched the second-most on-ball screens in the WNBA last season but were limited in that regard by Griner's need to stay anchored near the paint Phoenix switched just 7% of picks when Griner defended the screen setter Lineups with Thomas at center could allow the Mercury to switch as a base defense Who else fills out that lineup remains to be seen Getting Harris back was key to making this trade work financially for Phoenix which doesn't have any players remaining on rookie contracts who were in win-now mode throughout Taurasi's later career last made and kept a first-round pick in 2019.) At $100,000 in the final season of her contract Harris won't make appreciably more than the No The Mercury are still in pursuit of one of the top other remaining uncommitted free agents, Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings meaning Phoenix would have to strike a deal with Dallas if Sabally chooses the Mercury With the salaries of Allen and Cloud no longer on the books, Phoenix has enough cap room to give both Sabally and Thomas the supermax and still sign DeWanna Bonner (Thomas' fiancée who started her career with the Mercury) to a max offer as an unrestricted free agent it's tough to say how seriously we should take the Mercury as title contenders But adding Thomas puts Phoenix back in that conversation for the first time since reaching the 2021 WNBA Finals 12 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty ImagesConnecticut Sun: B-The 2025 Sun are going to look much different from what we've seen before with Thomas as the constant as the Sun won at least 60% of their games in all but one season since 2017 saw Thomas drag Connecticut to the semifinals.) The Sun have done a remarkable job of remaking the roster around Thomas, including shaking off the trade sending former MVP Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty But losing Thomas and coach Stephanie White with both Bonner and Brionna Jones unrestricted free agents heralds the start of a new era in Connecticut Thomas' departure suggests facilities issues might finally be catching up with the Sun It's probably no coincidence that Thomas wanted out not long after lamenting Connecticut sharing the team's practice court with a child's birthday party during the playoffs Phoenix has invested in a dedicated practice facility for the Mercury when virtually every veteran player of note can be a free agent The timing of Thomas' departure isn't ideal for the Sun, who gave up swap rights on their 2026 first-round pick in the deal to add Marina Mabrey from the Chicago Sky last summer Chicago can swap a first-round pick from Phoenix -- acquired in the Copper trade -- with Connecticut's pick meaning the Sun might not benefit if they fall into the lottery With that in mind, the Sun will surely try to compete in 2025. Allen, Cloud and Mabrey give them three capable starters, and Connecticut also has the rights to restricted free agent DiJonai Carrington Although Brionna Jones is fully unrestricted after playing two years on the core designation the Sun can offer her more than any team to re-sign via the supermax Getting a first-round pick from the Mercury helps Connecticut replace the team's own first-rounder which also went to the Sky in the Mabrey deal this is a solid package that should allow the Sun to remain competitive the odds are against Connecticut continuing its semifinal streak Who won Sunday's blockbuster WNBA trade involving All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum and she has played more playoff games against Las Vegas than any other opponent -- averaging 16.7 points in those games better than Loyd's overall playoff average of 15.7 points After the ugly breakup between Loyd and the Storm which culminated in a trade request last month those ties can help Las Vegas feel confident Loyd will stay with the Aces beyond the one season remaining on her contract From a basketball standpoint, Loyd comes to Las Vegas knowing she won't be the first option on offense. Loyd's spot in the pecking order in Seattle after the additions of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike was less clear Although Loyd remained the Storm's leader in usage rate (29%) earning All-WNBA second-team honors as Loyd was shut out Part of the issue was Loyd's adjustment in shot selection after having a bigger offensive role in 2023, when Seattle had just one other double-figure scorer (Ezi Magbegor) and she set a single-season record for points that Wilson broke last year Loyd's usage rate went down playing alongside Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike but she took too many off-balance jumpers early in the shot clock Loyd's 39.8% quantified shot quality -- the effective field goal percentage we'd expect from an average player on the same shots based on location type and distance to nearby defenders -- was the lowest among all players with at least 50 attempts We don't have Second Spectrum data for Loyd's time playing alongside Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart who teamed up to win WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020 Loyd shot 38% from 3-point range and had a .541 true shooting percentage from 2017 to 2022 as compared with 27% on 3s and a .497 true shooting percentage in 2024 Create or join a league today to get started • Sign up for free! Loyd is choosing a role similar to the bulk of her Storm career Loyd's usage rate was 26% of Seattle's plays in the same ballpark as Plum's 25% usage last season Adding Loyd's supermax salary ($249,032) will make it more challenging for the Aces to build their roster. Including Plum, Las Vegas' stars had repeatedly taken below-market extensions, meaning Wilson was previously the Aces' highest-paid player for 2025 at $200,000, according to salary data from HerHoopStats.com Flipping a 2026 first-round pick that has a decent chance of being lower in a 15-team league than the second-round pick they're getting back this year (No. 13 overall) helps the Aces financially because that player will be on a modest rookie contract. Effectively, Las Vegas replaced the team's 2025 first-round pick that the WNBA rescinded due to impermissible benefits we've also seen the Aces get discounts before by virtue of free agents' desire to play for a championship contender in a first-class facility If Las Vegas can find a way to add Loyd and a top free agent without sacrificing depth Kelsey Plum will likely be the best guard to change teams this offseason. Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesLos Angeles Sparks: B-Adding Plum is a fascinating move for the Sparks that signals their intent to snap a four-year playoff drought by accelerating their rebuild with an upgrade to their backcourt Los Angeles wouldn't benefit from another season in the lottery 2 pick in this deal is painful for the Sparks who have gone from dreaming of adding Bueckers to their young talent by winning the lottery to having only the No given the difficulty of attracting top talent without a dedicated practice facility I can understand why they wanted to take advantage of Plum's interest Does adding Natasha Howard make the Indiana Fever title contenders? 😯 @RebeccaLobo thinks Caitlin Clark and the Fever are now "one piece away" from entering title conversations 👀 pic.twitter.com/s2JoXBxGUZ Los Angeles hasn't had an All-Star guard since Gray left for the Aces as an unrestricted free agent before the 2021 season who will likely be the best guard to change teams this offseason An All-Star each of the past three seasons she peaked as an All-WNBA first-team pick in 2022 when Las Vegas won the first of its back-to-back titles Presuming the Sparks re-sign Plum after this season they'll have a window to win while she's still playing at an All-Star level and their 2024 first-round picks are approaching their prime years Los Angeles should continue upgrading the backcourt Plum didn't miss Gray alongside her in the backcourt despite Plum's shooting slump to start 2024 but her shot quality improved after Gray's return from a foot injury putting her in the 33rd percentile leaguewide It's possible Julie Allemand could be the playmaker the Sparks need. The Belgian point guard was set to join Los Angeles after a February trade but was sidelined because of an ankle injury that required surgery. Allemand averaged 5.8 assists in her only full WNBA campaign as a starter for the Indiana Fever in 2020 Allemand is averaging 7.3 points and a team-high 6.1 assists in EuroLeague play this season for Fenerbahce Alternatively, Los Angeles could still add another max player to Plum in free agency. Courtney Vandersloot would be a logical target Who gets what as a result of Sunday's blockbuster three-team WNBA trade involving the Las Vegas Aces Trading Loyd for a package built around draft picks probably wasn't Plan A for the Storm, who are expected to re-sign Ogwumike and cored player Gabby Williams to go with Diggins-Smith and Ezi Magbegor as a veteran group hoping to contend UConn's Paige Bueckers is the presumptive No but has another year of eligibility remaining and could return to school. Jared C 2 pick suddenly puts Seattle in position to make a run at the No 1 pick if Bueckers tells the Wings she'd rather return for a sixth year of college eligibility than come to Dallas strong fan support and history with UConn point guards the Storm would be an attractive landing spot for Bueckers 2 pick and additional first-rounders -- including the Sparks' 2026 first-rounder which has upside if Los Angeles misses the playoffs because the WNBA lottery standings reflect the record over the past two seasons combined The Storm now have a league-high five first-round picks over the next three years to offer for No. 1. (The Chicago Sky Replacing Loyd's supermax salary with the No Even if Williams also takes the supermax offer guaranteed by the core designation and Ogwumike signs for the max the Storm could make another near-max offer to a free agent Li is a reserved free agent who is likely to play next season for the league minimum of $66,079 That's important for a Storm team that will be trying to stretch every dollar filling out its bench Barring a trade for Bueckers or a veteran shooting guard Seattle probably won't have as strong a roster in 2025 as last season when the Storm looked like contenders entering the season But Seattle is in position to win now while also building through the draft for the first time since taking Loyd and Stewart with the No playStephen A.: Cooper Flagg 'is the total package' (1:08)Stephen A Smith and Carlos Boozer give their thoughts on Cooper Flagg declaring for the NBA draft The 2025 NBA draft is less than two months away (June 25-26) and now that we know who might be hearing their names called out it's time to look at how the top 30 prospects project statistically let's get to the top 30 projections among players currently ranked in ESPN's top 100 after the deadline for early entrants to declare Luka Doncic is the only other player to rate better in terms of my consensus model Flagg is the lone player in this year's draft who doesn't rate 15% worse than the average NBA-bound college prospect at his position in any of the categories I use to determine strengths and weaknesses Having Flagg's teammate just behind him is a more surprising outcome more in line with where he ranks in the top 100 (No Knueppel had the strongest projection of any prospect who participated in the Nike EYBL AAU competition in either 2022 or 2023 He posted a .642 true shooting percentage on 35% usage in 2023 suggesting more shot creation potential than we saw alongside other talented prospects at Duke Edgecombe is the second prospect in this year's class who ranks in the top five by both my stats-only model and the top 100 Although Edgecombe's offensive efficiency in his lone season at Baylor was middling (50% shooting on 2s and 34% on 3s) Edgecombe projects at least 15% better than the typical NBA-bound college shooting guard in terms of rebound That defensive potential should give Edgecombe a high floor while his development as a shooter will define his upside Harper is on the flip side of the comparison with Knueppel 4.6 RPG and 4.0 APG on fine efficiency given his large role in the Rutgers offense (29% usage rate) Yet Harper wasn't quite as effective in EYBL play and incorporating those stats flipped Knueppel ahead shooting 57% on 2-point attempts -- best of any perimeter one-and-done prospect play1:06Who does Dylan Harper remind scouts of?Rutgers' Dylan Harper reminds NBA draft analyst Jeremy Woo of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson Evans averaged 13.8 MPG off the bench for the Blue Devils yet my model is excited about his potential as a shooter That's got relatively little to do with Evans' 42% 3-point accuracy since the small sample (149 attempts) means his NBA projection is regressed heavily to the mean the 12 3-point attempts Evans launched per 40 minutes give him the highest shooting projection of any one-and-done player in my database Given how little Evans contributes beyond shooting he'll have to be elite to be an NBA rotation player he'll return for a larger role as a sophomore and we'll get more data to use His 31.5% usage was highest for any major-conference freshman Fears' ability to score with average efficiency was impressive in order to justify a similarly large role in the NBA Fears will have to improve on 28% 3-point shooting One encouraging sign: Fears shot 85% on free throws an important indicator for NBA 3-point accuracy In a year where the top prospects mostly rated well statistically, Bailey was an exception. In particular, Bailey's shotmaking ability did not translate to good efficiency because of his difficult shot diet. Per CBBAnalytics.com 36% of Bailey's shot attempts were non-paint 2-pointers And while Bailey hit those at a reasonable 43% clip that's far less valuable than the effective 52% he shot on 3s after accounting for the additional point Bailey could emerge as an offensive playmaker but the wrong team might be unable to maximize his skills Now that Essengue has moved into lottery territory but he's still not quite as high as his stats-only projection would suggest as the top international prospect in the draft Essengue has averaged 14.4 PPG and 5.3 RPG in just 23.7 MPG That's come against much older competition making him the second-youngest prospect in the top 100 after Flagg also has six strengths but more weaknesses.) There's a lot to like about Jakucionis offensively Jakucionis' 84.5% accuracy at the foul line suggests he could improve on his 32% 3-point shooting at Illinois to go with his playmaking Jakucionis has a below-average steal rate for a guard and blocked just nine shots all season Demin's combination of court vision and size (6-foot-9) to create passing lanes gives him the third-best assist projection among prospects in the top 100 Demin was also a strong finisher from the backcourt thanks to his size there's less reason for optimism about Demin as a shooter Not only did he make 27% of his 3-point attempts Demin was a hair under 70% at the foul line Johnson's volume scoring is the kind of skill set that tends not to fare well in my projections while Johnson was well below average in terms of rebounding The swing skill is just how efficient Johnson can be as a scorer He faired acceptably at the college level thanks to 40% 3-point shooting but was less effective in EYBL play Johnson shot just 34% on 3s in the 2023 EYBL campaign play2:05Texas' Tre Johnson declares for NBA draftTexas' Tre Johnson joins "NBA Today" to discuss his decision to declare for the draft My top-rated sleeper who's outside the first round of the top 100 Byrd rates well because of his rare combination of steal and block rates just four other draft picks have projected for at least two steals per 100 plays and to block 2% of opponent 2-point attempts: OG Anunoby Although Byrd has shot just 30% from the college 3-point line his 83% accuracy on free throws suggests he could provide enough spacing to stay on the court for his defense The oldest son of longtime NBA guard Jason Richardson came on over the course of his freshman season, rating well statistically. In fact, only Flagg was better among qualifying first-year players by Stathead.com's box plus-minus metric Richardson doesn't rate quite as well by my stats-only metric in part because his strong 41% 3-point shooting gets regressed to the mean and he was somewhat less effective in the 2023 EYBL averaging 15.4 PPG on 63% 2-point shooting and 6.9 RPG Where he sticks long-term in the NBA remains a question mark because Newell projects as a below-average shot blocker for a center but must develop the shooting necessary to play power forward He hit just 29% from the college 3-point line at low volume but was relatively more accurate on free throws (75%) shooting just 41% on 2-point attempts and not well enough on 3s (34%) to compensate His .498 true shooting percentage was the worst for any top-100 prospect this season Fland rated better in the 2023 EYBL and boasts a high steal rate but I'm inclined to agree with the scouts that his poor shooting makes him a more appropriate second-round pick where he shot 75% on 2-point attempts and an impressive 77% from the line with a relatively large usage rate (16%) for a rim-running big Relative to the typical NBA-bound college center Maluach's 7% block rate was on the low side and he had just eight steals all season the number can't capture Maluach's versatility as a switchable big Bryant hit a promising 37% of his 3-point attempts 59% of his rare 2-pointers and blocked shots at an impressive rate for a perimeter player Only one non-post (Nolan Traore) in the top 100 has a superior block projection Clayton's rise in the top 100 moved him closer to where he'd been all along in the stats-only model My model valued Clayton's strong sophomore season at Iona Clayton should have been more productive than the younger prospects ahead of him but he outpaced plenty even accounting for age play1:01Most Outstanding Player Clayton Jr praises Florida's toughnessWalter Clayton Jr highlights the Gators handling adversity so well all season and credits his teammates for stepping up in Florida's championship win over Houston McNeeley was an inefficient scorer at UConn but there's reason to believe that could improve over time McNeeley hit 37% of his 3s in the 2023 EYBL and was an 87% foul shooter at UConn The combination of solid rebounding and shot blocking already made Fleming a standout in statistical models before his breakout in 2024-25 as a scorer Fleming also made a career-high 39% of his 3s demonstrating the stretch ability that will be necessary for him to play power forward in the NBA shifted Jones to an on-ball role in 2024-25 after he'd thrived playing off the ball with Kolek Jones more than doubled his assist rate to 5.9 per game while increasing his scoring and was a consensus All-America pick as a senior Strong finishing (59% career on 2s) and high-volume 3-point shooting (9.0 career attempts per 40 minutes) are indicators Jones could excel as a creator off the bench Brea brings a clear value proposition with his 43% career accuracy beyond the arc and enough size (6-foot-6) to get off his shot against NBA defenders The right team could probably get more out of Brea's ability to shoot on the move He shot an effective 59% coming off screens last season but got just 31 of those shot attempts in Kentucky's offense Coming off the bench on a deep Auburn team that started five seniors, Pettiford was the third-leading scorer behind NBA prospects Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara as a freshman having shot just 49% on 2s as an undersized point guard prospect but an assist-to-turnover ratio near 2 was promising hitting both 2s (49%) and 3s (34%) at career-low rates but he was exceptionally efficient as a junior and a career 90% foul shooter The question with Sandfort is how much of his success was a product of Fran McCaffery's offensive system Iowa has produced four draft picks since 2021 and only No 4 pick Keegan Murray has developed into a consistent rotation player After starring in last year's Nike Hoop Summit Traore passed on college hoops to play professionally in his native France An instant standout in the French LNB playoffs Traore entered the year fifth in the top 100 but declined with his play Traore has the best assist projection for any top 100 player after averaging 5.2 per game in just 22.8 minutes his inefficient scoring (43% on 2s and 28% on 3s) dropped him out of the top 30 in the stats-only model Although Coward played just six games for Washington State after transferring from nearby Eastern Washington, and under a different coach, the success of NBA Rookie of the Year contender Jaylen Wells coming from the same program could help his stock shooting a remarkable 72% on 2s and 39% on 3s He also projects as an above-average rebounder and distributor for a small forward The Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year for his high-usage play (24%) coming off the bench as a freshman Riley will have to improve his 3-point shooting to stick in an NBA wing role He hit 33% at Illinois and just 31% in the 2023 EYBL though he's been relatively a bit better at the foul line (72% in college) who doesn't rate in my top 30 despite being 10th in the top 100 Sorber was a much more effective shot blocker After starting on UConn's back-to-back national champions Karaban stuck around while the rest of the team's starting five headed to the NBA Karaban wasn't able to take the step forward as a scorer he might have hoped seeing his accuracy on both 2s (54%) and 3s (35%) decline in a slightly larger role nearly doubling his assists to 2.8 per game and also blocked shots at a career-high rate without Donovan Clingan around to protect the rim The Blazers earn a good-not-great grade for their 36-46 record ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (subscription to ESPN+ required) has issued his grades for each NBA team now that the regular season has concluded, and the Portland Trail Blazers earned a respectable B: The Blazers managed to go from the bottom of the West standings to an unlikely play-in push by virtue of their internal development. Forwards Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara emerged as building blocks, while Scoot Henderson showed important progress One concern: the defensive improvement that helped earn coach Chauncey Billups and GM Joe Cronin contract extensions was built in part on poor opponent 3-point shooting Portland also forced more difficult shots and ranked third in forcing turnovers over the final 41 games Seeing the phrase “internal development” may give some Blazers fans post-traumatic stress flashbacks stemming from the Neil Olshey era but this past season was rightly about seeing young players grow There is plenty of room to debate whether the development was as substantial as it should have been but it’s undeniable that multiple players developed in a measurably positive direction Pelton also underlines one of the great question marks for the future: just how good is the defense I don’t think you can argue that the Blazers have NOT improved defensively Pelton rightly points out that some of the late-season defensive numbers have been put up against opponents who were either resting their better players or had mailed in the season already but Blazers fans should remember that we’ve seen so many seasons of really poor defense that the bar has been incredibly low Even in 2018-19 when the Blazers made the Western Conference finals the Blazers were 21st in the NBA in defensive rating With all of the horrible defenses we’ve been subject to over the last decade even mild competence seems like a revelation “B” seems like reasonable grade to this writer Looking at other teams, it’s hard to argue too much with the “F”s earned by the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers. The New Orleans Pelicans “D” is perhaps a bit harsh considering all of the injuries they dealt with, while the Dallas Mavericks “D+” might be the most generous grade Pelton gave Lots of these grades are likely to seem ridiculous once the post-season has ended Give us your thoughts on the Blazers season and how they stack up to other teams around the NBA Metrics details Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from beef production in the United States are unevenly distributed across the supply chain and production regions complicating where and how to reduce emissions most effectively Using spatially explicit life cycle assessment methods we quantify the baseline GHG emissions and mitigation opportunities of 42 practices spanning the supply chain from crop and livestock production to processing We find that the potential to reduce GHGs across the beef sector ranges up to 30% (20 million tonnes CO2e reduced and 58 million tonnes CO2 sequestered each year relative to the baseline) under ubiquitous adoption assumptions largely driven by opportunities in the grazing stage grazing and feedlot stages vary across regions yet large-scale adoption across the entire beef supply chain is important These findings reveal promising locations and practices to invest in to advance mitigation goals and an upper-end theoretical potential for mitigation in the beef industry system boundaries and spatial resolution of the US beef LCA LCA parameters: aspatially explicit parameters cyields and land use change are spatially explicit; all the other inputs and outputs are based on US average data Baseline emission intensity (kgCO2e kg−1 boneless beef) Production stages include: feed concentrate production confinement (feedlot and dairy) and processing which also indicate that a majority of baseline emissions can be attributed to enteric fermentation and manure generated while cattle are grazing Total emissions for a given county are thus a result of the number of cattle produced in each county and the associated emission intensity with counties specializing in grazing operations often having higher emissions than those specializing in confinement operations with the exception of a few large confinement operations in the central United States and parts of California that support substantial cattle populations Production of feed concentrates and consumption of feed in confinement generates 34% of total emissions Our model estimates that a large proportion of emissions generated from feed production occurs in Great Plains states such as Nebraska and Kansas which represent key sourcing regions for feedlots Scenario combinations are shown in Mt CO2e and are selected based on maximizing the reduction potential for the industry. 4Rs, a nutrient management strategy encompassing right placement, right timing, right type and right amount of fertilizers; AD, anaerobic digestion; AMP, adaptive multi-paddock grazing; LUC, land use change; NGP, Northern Great Plains. Total emission-reduction potential per year (tCO2e yr−1) Potential emission-reduction intensity of mitigation opportunities (kgCO2e t−1 beef) The production stages include feed concentrate production 4Rs plus leguminous cover crops in corn production and may also have co-benefits for reducing emissions in other sectors (for example reducing the emission intensity of feed concentrates fed to other livestock sectors) which can be refined as better data become available the ability to provide geospatial indicators of relative environmental impacts and mitigation opportunities across the beef supply chain is a crucial step towards managing and achieving climate commitments Because of the complexity of the multiple stages of production diversity of sources of inputs and extensive movement of feed and cattle throughout the beef life cycle GHG accounting methods that incorporate this detailed context are critical (manuscript in progress) for details on estimation) We connected the estimated emissions per unit of feed produced in each area with the downstream demand across feedlot and dairy production locations using the supply chain optimization model resulting in unique county-scale feed footprints The emissions estimated for the grazing stage in the cattle production system were then aggregated based on the county-to-county sourcing information estimated from the supply chain models that detail the portion of cattle sourced from each category of supply (stockers which was then used as the weights for estimating total grazing stage emissions from fed-cattle we estimated the emissions associated with the processing stage of the supply chain considering the fuel and electricity used the respective Emission and Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) operating region and the embedded emissions from upstream cattle production we similarly aggregated emissions for processors in which direct and embedded emissions from livestock production are combined with supply chain estimates detailing the portion of fed-cattle versus culled beef and dairy cows supplied to each processing facility to meet annual demand Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article Data analysis was conducted in both Python v3.11.2 and Microsoft Excel v16.65 For specific inquiries regarding the analyses please contact the corresponding author FAO Crops and livestock products 2023. FAOSTAT https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL (2023) USDA Livestock Slaughter Summary (USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Environmental footprints of beef cattle production in the United States Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2021 (US EPA McDonald’s McDonald’s helps drive impact on climate action. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/net-zero-climate.html (2021) USDA Partnerships for climate-smart commodities project summaries. https://www.usda.gov/climate-solutions/climate-smart-commodities/projects (2023) JBS Our net-zero commitment https://jbsfoodsgroup.com/our-purpose/net-zero (2023) 80 climate change and the beef industry: a rapid expansion Livestock and the environment: what have we learned in the past decade Navigating sustainability trade-offs in global beef production Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers Current situation and future trends for beef production in the United States of America—a review Economic cost of traceability in US beef production Food flows between counties in the United States Food flows between counties in the United States from 2007 to 2017 Land use leverage points to reduce GHG emissions in US agricultural supply chains A comprehensive environmental assessment of beef production and consumption in the United States A life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of a beef system in the USA Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems Greenhouse gas emissions from milk production and consumption in the United States: a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment circa 2008 Invited review: Current enteric methane mitigation options Synthesizing conservation motivations and barriers: what have we learned from qualitative studies of farmers’ behaviors in the United States Adoption of agricultural conservation practices in the United States: evidence from 35 years of quantitative liteature Natural climate solutions in the United States A scoping review on incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and their outcomes Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050 Restoring stream ecosystem function with beaver dam analogues: let's not make the same mistake twice Beaver: the North American freshwater climate action plan IPCC Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report (eds Core Writing Team IPCC Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker Improved calculation of warming-equivalent emissions for short-lived climate pollutants Subnational mobility and consumption-based environmental accounting of US corn in animal protein and ethanol supply chains Unique water scarcity footprints and water risks in US meat and ethanol supply chains identified via subnational commodity flows COMET-Planner Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation for NRCS Conservation Practice Planning (USDA and Colorado State Univ. NRCS Conservation practice standards information. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/getting-assistance/conservation-practices#overview (2022) Pelton, R. E. O. Supplementary data for greenhouse gas emissions in US beef production can be reduced by up to 30% with the adoption of selected mitigation measures in Nature Food. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26488249 (2024) Download references Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (DSnew-0000000007) Walton Family Foundation (2019-232; received by R.E.O.P. The Nature Conservancy (received by C.E.K. and K.J) and WRI Land & Carbon Lab (grant number G3275; received by D.R.) for providing grant funding that collectively enabled the initiation of this study We also want to acknowledge several current and former colleagues at The Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota who contributed to the development of this work performed supply chain modelling and analysis conducted mitigation opportunities analysis All authors contributed to the review and editing The authors declare the following competing interests: this work was initiated with funding from McDonald’s and supported further by the Walton Family Foundation Authors affiliated with The Nature Conservancy (C.E.K. and K.J.) and the Institute on the Environment (R.E.O.P. and J.S.) work with various companies in the beef industry an LCA consulting firm working with companies across food and agriculture These relationships could be perceived as potential competing interests reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Tables 1–35 and Methods for the supply chain Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01031-9 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research playHow JJ Redick helped rebuild the Palisades Rec Center after L.A fires (4:18)JJ Redick and his family are bringing hope to the Los Angeles community and families that lost so much in the fires With the 2024-25 NBA regular season in the books it's time for the final report card for all 30 teams While the 14 teams who have clinched playoff spots and four still fighting for the last two seeds play on the rest of the league has already turned its attention to the offseason and beyond let's look back on the regular season to grade all 30 teams including some high marks for teams that dramatically exceeded expectations there's a couple of teams that had high hopes (and high payrolls) that flunked this season and will now have a lot of work this summer to get back on track My grades are strongly influenced by a team's expectations entering the season The same record that produces an A for a team that looked like an also-ran in September could be a C for another with realistic championship hopes I also considered how well teams executed their goals including developing young talent and securing lottery positioning The Thunder must prove they can be as good against the West's best foes in the playoffs but there's nothing more they could have done during the regular season The Clippers shifted into a higher gear with Leonard playing at an All-Star level after the break going 18-3 over their last 21 games to surge into the fifth seed the defending champions looked like bored students coasting through an intro-level class during the regular season The Celtics had the league's fifth-best record against below-.500 teams at 38-10 but only the Thunder and Cavaliers were better against above-.500 ones Not having home court is unlikely to bother Boston and the Celtics remain essentially co-favorites with Oklahoma City to win the title The Pacers followed up last year's improbable Eastern Conference finals run with their first 50-win season since 2013-14. Just 35-28 with a little over a month left in the regular season, Indiana rode a strong finish from point guard Tyrese Haliburton to go 15-4 down the stretch and secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs Particularly given the disruption of a blockbuster midseason trade for Luka Doncic that depleted the team's depth 3 seed -- their highest since winning the 2020 title The Lakers massively outperformed their modest plus-1.2 point differential the only other team since the ABA-NBA merger to win 50 games with a differential worse than plus-1.4 was the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers team (also led by LeBron James) that beat two higher-seeded teams en route to the NBA Finals play4:18How JJ Redick helped rebuild the Palisades Rec Center after L.A firesJJ Redick and his family are bringing hope to the Los Angeles community and families that lost so much in the fires The Knicks' 51 wins were their most since 2012-13, and they built enough cushion to coast to the No. 3 seed despite losing Jalen Brunson for a month. So why does Madison Square Garden feel so angsty Blame New York's 15-23 record against above-.500 teams The Knicks' struggles against elite teams -- including a combined 0-10 record against the Cavaliers Celtics and Thunder -- are a worrisome sign But New York is in position to win a playoff series for a third consecutive year which last happened when Jeff Van Gundy was coach but the Nuggets must improve their 21st-ranked defense if they're going to make another deep playoff run The Nets might have overachieved too much under first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez After dealing to get its next two first-round picks back from Houston Brooklyn had the league's lowest over/under win total at 19.5 and a late fade (5-21 in their last 26 games) still left Brooklyn sixth entering the lottery That would be great if the Nets' young talent was ahead of schedule but Brooklyn didn't find any clear long-term contributors the Grizzlies were one of the season's best stories having moved past an injury-marred 2023-24 season to rank second in the West with an 8-11 start to the second half costing then-coach Taylor Jenkins his job Memphis has been no better under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo slipping into the play-in and missing an opportunity to beat the fatigued Warriors on Tuesday Now the Grizzlies must win Friday at home just to make the playoffs Perhaps the NBA's most confounding team this season the Timberwolves finished with the league's fourth-best differential at plus-5.0 points per game yet barely sneaked into the top six in the West finishing one game out of the play-in tournament Minnesota could never seem to find any consistency and inexplicable losses to Utah in February (just one of four Jazz wins after the All-Star break) and New Orleans at home in March prevented the Timberwolves from securing home-court advantage in the first round as expected Orlando's difficulty scoring without Suggs was worrisome nonetheless the Magic's 27th-ranked offense was their worst since 2021-22 -- the season that landed them the No Fox hasn't scored so little over a full season since 2018-19 With an over/under total of 30.5 wins -- more than the Bulls, Pistons and Trail Blazers -- the Hornets weren't supposed to be bad enough to have a 14% chance at picking No. 1. With LaMelo Ball a worse winning percentage than the 2011-12 Charlotte team that went 7-59 we need to see Ball play more than the 35 games he has averaged since being an All-Star in 2021-22 the Heat no longer had a higher gear to hit the Kings hoped to improve and avoid the play-in they fired coach Mike Brown by New Year's Day and traded De'Aaron Fox by the deadline After a brief bounce under interim coach Doug Christie Sacramento went 7-13 over the season's final 20 games Only the weakness of the West play-in race kept the Kings in the same spot as last season The Pelicans will have to hope for consolation through the lottery Between the introduction of the NBA Cup and the play-in tournament the NBA has given teams more opportunity to celebrate success during the grind of the regular season make no mistake: The NBA's best-of-seven playoffs is where the action means the most Because there are fewer series and matchups are so meaningful we don't typically pick the entire NBA playoff bracket beforehand But I'll be going series by series to identify how I think the postseason is most likely to play out there's a particular focus on what history can tell us about the first-round series that are already set with an emphasis on what we can learn from regular-season meetings between the two teams and key matchups to watch In both conferences, there's a clear favorite, with the defending champion Boston Celtics seen as most likely to come out of the East despite being the No. 2 seed and an Oklahoma City Thunder team that finished 16 games atop the West separating from the pack But there's still plenty of drama on the way to the Finals MORE: Play-in coverage | Playoff news, schedules | Offseason guides Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Miami Heat (8) The Heat made some NBA history by becoming the the first No 10 seed to advance to the playoffs through the play-in rounds Their reward for beating Chicago and Atlanta on the road Miami did beat the Cavs once this season, with Jimmy Butler III scoring 18 points in December The Heat were also competitive in Cleveland in March but a Miami team without Butler will be hard-pressed to score enough points to extend the series Boston Celtics (2) vs. Orlando Magic (7) New York Knicks (3) vs. Detroit Pistons (6) The Pistons are yet another lower seed that won the season series, in this case 3-1 with a win at Madison Square Garden last week in a game Knicks forward OG Anunoby did not play Teams are already preparing for a summer that could see a lot of trades and some big names coming available as free agents Detroit has to feel good about the matchup on offense. Cade Cunningham is the kind of playmaker who can pick apart the Knicks' favored drop defense His 64 picks per 100 possessions as a ball handler in the season series were Cunningham's most against any East opponent and his 1.19 points per chance topped that group according to GeniusIQ analysis Cunningham averaged 30.8 points and 8.3 assists against the Knicks though his 13-of-25 3-point shooting (52%) probably won't carry over to this series I'm curious to see whether New York can take away Pistons sixth man Malik Beasley whose 319 3-pointers this season ranked second in the NBA Beasley has struggled before in the playoffs shooting just 26.9% on 3s during the 2023 postseason with the Lakers If the Knicks can minimize his catch-and-shoot opportunities Detroit's below-average half-court offense could stall Add in New York's experience and Jalen Brunson's clutch efforts this season and I lean toward the Knicks but I think this series is closer than conventional wisdom would suggest Indiana Pacers (4) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5) Thursday's news that Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard has been cleared of deep vein thrombosis changes the tenor of the series Although Lillard remains out for Saturday's Game 1 there's a two-day break before Game 2 on Tuesday that could facilitate his return Milwaukee took three of four this season -- including a win en route to the 2024 NBA Cup title There's no good answer for the Pacers defensively against Antetokounmpo whose .678 true shooting percentage against Indiana was the best of any East playoff opponent But I think Milwaukee's ability to find supplementary scoring will be key to this series Kyle Kuzma wasn't the difference-maker the Bucks hoped, averaging 14.5 points on below-average efficiency after joining the team at the trade deadline. Kevin Porter Jr averaging 11.7 points and making 41% of his 3s This will be Porter's playoff debut and he looms especially large with Lillard working his way back to game conditioning There's enough uncertainty to make the Pacers the safer pick Because these teams met twice in the last four days of the regular season after locking up their seeds but Cleveland has more high-end talent and options for adjustments Despairing over this matchup after Boston won all four matchups this season with three of the wins by 13-plus points Knicks fans would quickly talk themselves into an upset after New York steals a game at TD Garden only to watch as the Celtics silence Knicks fans with a pair of road wins The anticipated East showdown would pit the NBA's top two teams in terms of 3-pointers with no game decided by more than seven points If Jaylen Brown is close to 100% and isn't still dealing with his troublesome right knee I think Boston's high-level experience wins out Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8) Even when things were going well for the Grizzlies, they were no match for the Thunder, who swept the season series by an average of 18.8 points -- albeit with Ja Morant sitting out two of the three games But keep an eye on the battle inside between these two teams Memphis scored the second-most paint PPG (56.0) during the regular season while the Thunder allowed the fewest paint PPG (42.5) Houston Rockets (2) vs. Golden State Warriors (7) Welcome to the heavyweight portion of the West first round. The Rockets' reward for locking up the No. 2 seed with three games left in the regular season is to face perhaps the NBA's hottest team, a Warriors squad that has gone 24-7 with Jimmy Butler III in the lineup including Tuesday's win over Memphis to secure the No Higher seeds like Houston with an experience disadvantage of 11,000 minutes or more (Golden State is plus-11,364) have won only 37% of best-of-seven series since 2003 Most starters have played only once since beating the Warriors on April 6 at the Chase Center to clinch their seed while Golden State played grueling games including an overtime loss to the Clippers in Sunday's regular-season finale and then a down-to-the wire win over the Grizzlies on Tuesday And Houston has multiple quality defenders to throw at the Warriors' stars. NBA Defensive Player of the Year contender Amen Thompson was key in holding Curry to 1-of-10 shooting in the teams' previous meeting The experience factor pushes me toward Golden State but expect a battle (3) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves this series features the second-largest West gap between the two teams in point differential after the 1-8 series -- only it favors the lower-seeded Timberwolves (plus-5.0) who were second to Oklahoma City in point differential among West teams but they have home-court advantage nonetheless From the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals ESPN has you covered throughout the playoffs including averaging 32.4 points and shooting 43% on 3s in last year's conference finals win while with the Mavericks Among the 14 defenders who have covered the screener on at least 150 screens for Doncic since 2020-21 the 1.13 points per direct play he has averaged against Gobert is fourth highest It's certainly possible Minnesota can use its size and a number of capable perimeter defenders to slow down the Lakers but I'm betting on star power and home court (4) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) LA Clippers Historically, this matchup has favored Denver, which won nine out of 10 meetings in which Nikola Jokic played between April 2021 and November 2023 But the Clippers have taken four of the past five games Jokic played and one of the Nuggets' head-to-head wins in this season's 2-2 split was a blowout with Jokic sidelined (Leonard did not play in any of the four games.) Murray might be the more interesting matchup issue. On paper, the Clippers have strong point-of-attack defense between Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr shooting 53% from the field and 11-of-21 from 3-point range in the four meetings The wild card is Russell Westbrook eight assists) with Jokic out of the lineup but shot a combined 5-of-28 in the other three matchups against his former team If Westbrook can't give Denver reliable minutes the team's depth will quickly become an issue I'm going with the coach I trust most (Tyronn Lue) over the star I trust most (Jokic) The teams that'll be forever intertwined by the Paul George-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade nearly six years ago would pit two of the league's top three defenses against each other in a skilled slugfest I think the Clippers could make things interesting but would run out of gas late in the series A rematch of the 2023 series between these teams in the same round plus four Finals matchups between Curry and James trading off limited size for maximum skill I think the Lakers would have a little more gas left in the tank after avoiding the play-in and a hard sprint to the finish line of the regular season Because the Thunder don't have any grizzled veterans populating their bench and the Lakers top the Warriors in playoff experience this would be an even bigger mismatch in that regard than the Golden State-Houston matchup is Much would be made of the Lakers' 27-point win in Oklahoma City in April which came on the strength of unsustainably hot 55% 3-point shooting The Lakers have the top-end talent to reach the Finals but to borrow a favorite phrase of ESPN's Brian Windhorst Here we go: the defending champs against the team that put together a historic regular season The chess match of matchups in Celtics-Thunder would be worth the price of admission with both teams capable of putting two bigs on the court or going small and switching across all five positions I started the season picking Oklahoma City over Boston (let's not discuss my conference finals picks) and certainly the Thunder's regular season hasn't made me less confident in them the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau stepped out of their living nightmare for the first time marking the camp’s liberation and a turning point in the Holocaust’s tragic history in collaboration with Calgary’s National Music Centre will release Violins of Hope on January 27 This powerful collection of three compositions captures the profound experiences of the Holocaust serving as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed and a call to ensure they are never forgotten PRE-SAVE / PRE-ADD VIOLINS OF HOPE HERE WATCH THE VIOLINS OF HOPE TRAILER (VIA THE NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE) BELOW: Created and conceived by award-winning saxophonist and composer Daniel Pelton Violins of Hope serves as a stark reminder of the experiences of the Jewish people and other victims of the Holocaust The Daniel Pelton Collective recorded the project using instruments from the “Violins of Hope” collection brought to the National Music Centre by Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein—historical violins that once belonged to Holocaust survivors or were left behind by those who could no longer carry them “Working with these instruments was incredibly humbling,” Daniel shares “Most of the instruments in the collection have incredibly detailed histories attached to them which were fascinating from a historical perspective It could be very hard to keep your head up when confronted with the horror these instruments had witnessed But it was also incredibly motivating to be a part of their stories and to hopefully contribute to the vision of the collection and maybe make their previous owners proud.” Opening the collection is “Klezmer Dances II,” a string quartet that takes its inspiration from Shostakovich’s String Quartet No a somber response to the firebombing of Dresden during World War II Pelton’s composition captures the intensity and drama of war then contrasts it with the joy and vitality of Jewish Klezmer folk music Traditionally played at celebratory events like weddings the use of Klezmer motifs serves as a tribute to the humanity of the instruments’ original owners honoring their lives and legacies beyond the suffering they endured Inspired by Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz Daniel Pelton felt a profound connection to his Jewish heritage and a calling to honor those who came before him Moved by the story of real-life victims Lale Sokolov and Gita Furman he transformed their concentration camp tattoo numbers into musical pitches using their 12-tone counterparts on an A-minor blues scale This process gave rise to the centerpiece of the project “34902-32407,” where the numbers became hauntingly evocative progressions: Eb–E–A–C–D and Eb–D–E–C–G By finding layers of meaning within the numbers Pelton uncovered a thread of beauty within the unimaginable horrors those tattoos represent “Given the profound relationship between the real-life characters in the novel the musical relationship of their tattoos seemed too profound to ignore,” Daniel explains “The purpose of this piece is to find expression in these numbers/musical motives—an attempt to reclaim the humanity of those who bore the tattoos The Nazis gave their prisoners these tattoos to dehumanize them reducing them to a series of easily discarded numbers I hope to show that even these numbers have a range of emotions and expressions—good and bad fun and frightening—nobody can be reduced to one thing.” “34902-32407” spans 11 minutes of genre-blending exploration delving deeply into the emotional spectrum and the complexities of the human condition Pelton built the piece around six notes derived from his tattoo-inspired translation pushing the boundaries of how far those notes could carry the narrative breaking free from the six-note pitch set to embody the sense of liberation that defined the jazz movement of the 20th century a powerful metaphor for freedom and resilience “I imagine Dizzy Gillespie performing in America while the Nazis punished people for listening to his records who was forced to play swing music for his Nazi captors in the Theresienstadt camp,” Daniel says Daniel reimagines Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn to Freedom” as a tribute to the hope and resilience within the Jewish story highlighting the light that endures amidst the shadow of its past it represents the literal freedom of the survivors once the camps were liberated as well as the more figurative freedoms with regard to jazz and improvisation,” Daniel explains The composition opens with strings performing the hopeful hymn gradually evolving into a New Orleans–style group solo that captures the wild energy and exuberance of newfound freedom It serves as a moment for the instruments to experience light “I want listeners to imagine the joy of getting your freedom back after it was taken from you and the duty we have to enjoy ours and do everything we can to maintain it,” Daniel says “I hope that the instruments enjoyed their time being played in this piece that only acknowledges the light and leaves the darkness behind.” and the stories of survivors become less heard It’s all too easy to forget or downplay what happened but the persistent rise of antisemitism proves that history’s lessons are often ignored The instruments in the “Violins of Hope” collection offer a tangible link to the past serving as a powerful reminder of the devastating consequences when hate prevails Daniel concludes: “Releasing this album on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is not only a tribute to the victims of the most horrific genocide in history We say ‘never forget’ not only to honor the dead We are not at all different from the people in Germany who became Nazis Not repeating their actions is a choice we have to make actively and repeatedly; otherwise we aren’t counting away from the last horrors blending boundary-pushing creativity with audience connection His innovative projects include serving as Composer in Residence at the Calgary Public Library participating in the Violins of Hope residency and leading the University of Calgary Jazz Orchestra Daniel’s work has earned international accolades including second prize in the Caneres International Music Competition and a Best Independent Canadian Music Video award Daniel Pelton continues to redefine modern music with meaningful Progressive jam giants Umphrey's McGee‘s return to Las Vegas for the seventh installment of the massively popular UMBowl production was marked once again by a stand-out tour closing dual evening extravaganza where all stops were pulled out and the power given directly to the fans, for better or for worse. Privacy Policy and the days leading up to it produced some major deals that will shake up the league for seasons to come We grade all sides of the NBA's major deals and break down the ramifications for all teams and players involved Atlanta Hawks get: Cleveland Cavaliers get: F De'Andre Hunter Most of this week's action has been focused on veteran teams hoping to get in contention Of the seven teams with the best records in the NBA this season this is the first significant in-season addition for any of them as Cleveland hopes to convert the East's best record thus far into a deep playoff run Although he has played just 16 total playoff games Hunter's 3-and-D-plus skill set is well-suited to the postseason crucible He's a strong individual defender who offers more shot creation than the Cavaliers' deep group of other wing options next to their four All-Stars Despite coming off the bench behind No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher averaging 19.0 PPG -- 3.4 more than his previous career high Hunter developed into a better and more aggressive 3-point shooter in 2023-24 and has now pushed to 6.7 attempts per game at a 39% clip Those high-value 3s have come in place of the long 2-pointers Hunter once used to shoot on a regular basis he shot nearly as many 2-pointers outside the paint (212) as 3s (286) as recently as 2022-23 Hunter has taken nearly 2.5 times as many 3s (247) as non-paint 2s (101) Hunter's true shooting percentage has improved from .563 to .616 The cost to the Cavaliers in terms of draft assets to make this trade and avoid the luxury tax this season was minor A 2026 first-round swap is unlikely to convey the Hawks will need to be better than both Cleveland and Utah which already holds swap rights on both first-rounders Cleveland traded The real risk the Cavaliers are taking is financial. With extensions for Mobley and Donovan Mitchell kicking in during 2025-26 Cleveland's roster is about to get expensive in a hurry Letting LeVert walk would have been an out for the Cavaliers who have instead committed to paying a sizable luxury tax bill barring a move involving a core player With Hunter's $23.3 million base salary on the books, Cleveland stands about $20 million north of the luxury tax line with 10 players under contract, a group that doesn't include key reserves Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill Jerome in particular is headed for a big raise based on his strong play off the bench and the Cavaliers might implicitly be choosing Hunter over him and LeVert Maintaining the depth that has helped Cleveland move atop the East was always going to be a challenge once the Cavaliers' stars got expensive The biggest pain point for Cleveland will probably be 2026-27 when Hunter and Strus are both under contract but Allen's extension will bump his salary up from $20 million to $28 million Short-term windows for contention are probably a reality in the second-apron era, and maximizing them is more important than pinching pennies for a future that might never come. With that in mind, I think the Cavaliers being aggressive was the right mindset before their most anticipated playoff run without LeBron James since the 1990s As well as Hunter had played this season, he's not part of the Hawks' future wing starters. Those are Risacher, who has been getting on-the-job training as a starter at age 19, plus guard Dyson Daniels Atlanta moved Hunter to better balance the team's books going forward LeVert can bring value to the Hawks' bench the rest of this season in the same type of role Hunter was playing Jerome's emergence has reduced LeVert's playing time this season but he's shooting a career-high 40% from 3-point range and improved as a perimeter defender during his time in Cleveland Perhaps more importantly, the Hawks acquired one of the NBA's most improbable winningest players in Niang. Starting with his previous time playing for Atlanta coach Quin Snyder in Utah, Niang has consistently been part of winning teams. Last year's 48-34 Cavaliers record tied the worst Niang has experienced since his rookie campaign with the 2016-17 Indiana Pacers Niang's teams have reached the second round each of the past four seasons Niang's defensive limitations can be exposed in the postseason but in a reserve role his 40% 3-point shooting is a plus Memphis Grizzlies get: Washington Wizards get: For a front office that has otherwise been one of the league's best, trading for Smart was a costly miss. Just 19 months ago, the Grizzlies gave up two first-round picks and backup guard Tyus Jones to get Smart from the Boston Celtics Surely, Memphis envisioned that Smart could help replace both Jones (as a backup to starting point guard Ja Morant) and unrestricted free agent Dillon Brooks (as a wing stopper) with the organization having already decided to move on from Brooks Smart played just 39 games with the Grizzlies before they had to give another first-round pick to move his $20.2 million salary for 2025-26 The urgency to trade Smart now surely stems from Memphis' desire to create cap space for the possibility of renegotiating and extending Jaren Jackson Jr.'s contract If Jackson doesn't make an All-NBA team and become eligible for the supermax the Grizzlies would be limited to offering him a starting salary of $32.8 million in the first season of a traditional extension Memphis did too well with Jackson's rookie extension which descends annually to a value of just $23.4 million in 2025-26 -- barely more than Smart will make The maximum possible 40% raise in the first season of an extension still doesn't get Jackson close to his market value Jackson qualifying for the supermax would solve the problem by allowing the Grizzlies to offer him up to 35% of the cap as a starting point on an extension. If that doesn't happen, Memphis now has the ability to bump up Jackson's 2025-26 salary to $28.1 million using cap space while retaining full Bird rights to restricted free agent Santi Aldama Jackson's extension could start at $39.3 million -- still substantially lower than his max (a projected $51 million) but now enough to make a credible offer I still might have preferred to wait for the offseason to try to shed Smart's salary if necessary Taking back two players for Smart required the Grizzlies to move on from LaRavia He might not have factored into Memphis' long-term plans after the team declined his 2025-26 rookie option but he'd provided good minutes off the bench amidst injuries will undoubtedly save coach Taylor Jenkins some headaches the rest of the season This is a waystation for Middleton and Smart en route to another veteran team this time next season by either trade or eventual buyout Smart will have prove he can stay healthy during his stop in the DMV The encouraging news for Washington is Smart's injuries have hardly been debilitating Most of the time he missed with Memphis was a product of fluky finger injuries For all the concern about Smart aging rapidly his box-score advanced stats with the Grizzlies are strikingly similar to his final season in Boston Smart simply didn't have the same kind of impact he made as the Celtics' heart and soul his salary should be tradeable as an expiring contract the Wizards will move forward with a second pick in this year's first round plus Jones Jones played well in limited opportunities early this season and has shot well in the G League Davis had played just 242 minutes this season and saw his 2025-26 team option declined -- an indication he did not figure in the Wizards' future plans 2 overall pick in 2018 who had played 166 minutes for Washington this year a 6-foot-6 guard wasn't really a need on a Kings roster that features 6-foot-5 Zach LaVine plus 6-foot-6 DeMar DeRozan and Keon Ellis The bigger LaRavia (6-foot-8) is a better fit for Sacramento After struggling to translate his 37% 3-point shooting from the NCAA 3-point line in his first two NBA seasons LaRavia has hit a career-high 44% in 2024-25 The Kings shouldn't count on LaRavia staying quite so hot but staying around 37% -- now also his NBA career mark -- would leave LaRavia as a viable backup Because Memphis declined LaRavia's rookie option Sacramento is limited to offering that amount ($5.2 million) as a starting salary this summer Barring a breakout from LaRavia down the stretch that should be enough to keep him with the Kings I like the way Sacramento has rebuilt its second-unit frontcourt this week by adding both LaRavia and Jonas Valanciunas -- with two open roster spots left to fill LA Clippers get: Bogdanovic was one of the NBA's top reserve scorers averaging 16.9 PPG on 37% 3-point shooting He got my vote for the Sixth Man award and finished fifth in the balloting The Clippers are undoubtedly betting on that version of Bogdanovic rather than the one who has shot a career-worst 30% on 3s in 2024-25 Bogdanovic's shot quality has been better than last season Per Second Spectrum's quantified shot making (qSM) metric Bogdanovic was underperforming his expected shot quality by the second-most of any player with at least 200 attempts this season after considering his ability It's possible that Bogdanovic is dealing with aging that seems more likely to manifest in shot quality than in accuracy Aside from health -- Bogdanovic missed 13 games early in the season due to hamstring tendinopathy -- a slump is the most likely explanation his shooting and playmaking will help a Clippers offense that's mired at 22nd in per-possession scoring -- worst of any team with a .500 record or better Bogdanovic's volume 3-point shooting figures to be useful given the Clippers are 27th in both 3s and made and attempted this season are their lone two regulars averaging more than 1.5 3s per game this trade is close to a wash for the Clippers They added about $1.3 million in salary this season Bogdanovic and Mann make virtually the same amount -- although a team option will allow the Clippers to get out of Bogdanovic's contract if he declines due to age when Mann was reportedly "untouchable" in the Clippers' negotiations to get Harden his value in the team's eyes had fallen considerably Mann was probably the weakest of the Clippers' rotation wings this season His 3-point shooting has stagnated at a below-average point and Mann is making just 51% of his 2-point attempts after shooting 63% inside the arc last season I suspect the Clippers might not mind getting out of Mann's three-year extension Picking up Bogdanovic and adding three second-round picks to the team's drained coffers is a nice win On the flip side, Bogdanovic was less of a fit for a Hawks team in transition than the 28-year-old Mann. -- he gives Atlanta a solid wing defender to back up both No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels. I'd also suspect that Mann's athleticism will benefit by moving from a deliberate team that ranked 23rd in time to shoot this season, per Inpredictable.com those benefits don't entirely justify giving up three second-round picks I'd have rather kept De'Andre Hunter and tried to trade Bogdanovic for expiring contracts instead of making the deals the Hawks actually completed Thursday Charlotte Hornets get: Phoenix Suns get: Given Nurkic hadn't played in nearly a month -- his last game for the Suns was at Charlotte on Jan 7 -- and is making $18.1 million this season and $19.4 million in 2025-26 giving up only a single first-round pick that's been swapped repeatedly Although the 2026 pick heading to the Hornets isn't technically from the Suns' three-for-one deal with the Utah Jazz last month giving up their only remaining unprotected pick Because Phoenix now has first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 the Suns were free to trade the one in between which will be the worst of -- deep breath -- Phoenix Making that choice does box in the Suns a bit They'll have only one first-round pick available to offer But Phoenix can also trade this year's pick Barring another move before Thursday's 3 p.m the Suns don't save that much in luxury tax this season although the savings are greater if Phoenix planned to fill out the roster with a 15th player after the deadline either way The real financial benefit for the Suns will come in 2025-26 when they can decline Micic's $8.1 million team option and move forward with only Martin making $8.7 million -- more than $10 million less than Nurkic is due Phoenix will save many multiples of that difference in taxes The challenge for Martin in Phoenix is he's just a 32% 3-point shooter. Given that limitation, Martin probably won't crack a Suns wing rotation that already includes rookie Ryan Dunn in a similar role it would be difficult for Martin to contribute any less than Nurkic was I'm dubious Nurkic can get to the point where a contender would be interested in trading for him next February His contract is too large and his finishing is too poor He's shooting 67% in the restricted area this season which sounds good until you realize the league average is 68% and goes up to 70% for players listed as centers It's certainly not a bad idea for Charlotte which likely won't have cap space this summer and has room to spend under the luxury tax F MarJon Beauchamp Milwaukee Bucks get: G Kevin Porter Jr As compared to playing Porter as a backup to Damian Lillard, Milwaukee would probably be better off promoting Ryan Rollins from his two-way contract Rollins has been effective as an on-ball defender and is shooting 36% from 3-point range this season the Bucks could reinvest that savings now that they're below the second apron and have access to the taxpayer midlevel exception Milwaukee can use about $3.2 million of the tax midlevel to sign a buyout candidate who was not previously making more than $12.8 million Given Porter has been part of the Clippers' rotation -- he played 25 minutes Sunday when Powell was unavailable -- this feels like some combination of moving on and getting out of Porter's player option for 2025-26 Beauchamp was unable to take advantage of Milwaukee's need for young talent on the wing He has played only 122 minutes this season and the Bucks declined their team option for 2025-26 on Beauchamp's rookie contract Philadelphia 76ers get: This is essentially two separate trades paired together. Dealing Jackson for Butler was a fairly standard salary-related move this time of year, albeit with one wrinkle: The 76ers had already avoided the luxury tax with their previous trade sending KJ Martin to the Detroit Pistons suggesting they might have yet another move in store that adds to their payroll The more interesting part of the transaction is Philadelphia repaying Washington for taking on Jackson by also converting a 2026 first-round pick -- the least favorable of ones coming from Houston 30 overall -- into four second-round picks Like a mini version of the Phoenix Suns-Utah Jazz trade last month that exclusively involved draft picks this splits up one stronger pick into multiple weaker ones the 76ers can use in several different trades We'll see whether any ends up rerouted by the end of the day Philadelphia has rebuilt its second-round stockpile after sending a pair of those picks to Detroit in the Martin deal It took Butler a while to find his NBA bearings after being drafted in the early second round in 2021 Philly will be his fourth team in as many seasons Butler has finally started making 3s (37%) after shooting just 33% coming into this year That inaccurate shooting never made sense given Butler shot 38% from the college 3-point line at Baylor where he was Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four as a junior As compared with the veteran Jackson, Butler is probably an upgrade. Keep an eye on whether Philadelphia converts his two-way contract to fill one of the three open roster spots the 76ers now have. Rookie Justin Edwards who has been starting at power forward for Philadelphia is a lock to get promoted off his own two-way Having added two second-rounders in the Feb. 5 trade sending Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings the Wizards were overflowing with them -- 18 over the seven available drafts Converting four of them into a first-round pick Houston Rockets get: Atlanta Hawks: B- Houston Rockets: B+ The only downside for the Rockets of reacquiring their 2028 second-round pick is that it forced them to waive Jaden Springer, acquired from the Boston Celtics on Wednesday I wonder if Houston might have kept Springer had the order of those moves been reversed the Rockets might prefer a buyout candidate to either Springer or Zeller Indiana Pacers get: Toronto Raptors get: The Raptors had an open roster spot after completing the Brandon Ingram trade and probably will waive Wiseman with no obligation beyond this season Note: This trade was rescinded on Feb Los Angeles Lakers get: C Mark Williams To stop you before getting started: No, the Lakers did not give up more for Williams than they did for Luka Doncic. Anthony Davis alone is undoubtedly far more valuable than Knecht the unprotected pick the Lakers gave up in this trade That said, the fact that the Lakers still had so much to trade is an indication of how the Dallas Mavericks failed the process of the Doncic deal by not getting anywhere near everything they could Williams checks a lot of the same boxes as Utah's Walker Kessler, a long-rumored Lakers target. (It was just last week that the focus was if the Lakers might trade for a center to play with Davis rather than replace him.) At 7-foot-2 Williams is a giant presence in the paint who finishes above the rim at the other end and is on an inexpensive rookie contract through 2025-26 The big difference is Williams' struggles to protect the rim. Opponents have made 68% of their attempts within five feet with Williams as the primary defender this season, per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats -- ninth highest among players who have defended at least four such shots per game while opponents shot 58% against Davis with the Lakers.) The Lakers can reasonably believe Williams will improve defensively Opponents shot just 60% on the same attempts against him as a rookie in 2022-23 and Williams was off the court for nearly a calendar year between a back injury that finished his 2023-24 season in December and a foot tendon strain to start this campaign He's missed 105 of a possible 211 games in his NBA career due to injury The Lakers need Williams to stay healthy down the stretch after compromising their wing depth to acquire him but there's a lot to like about Williams' offensive fit with the Lakers He's pushed his usage rate to 23% this season averaging 16.0 PPG while continuing to shoot 60% from the field While Williams will surely play a smaller role on a more talented roster it's nice to know he has the capability to do more Beyond that, Williams can create his own offense by mashing on the offensive glass. He's rebounded 13% of available missed shots by teammates, better than any Laker save Jarred Vanderbilt in limited minutes since his return Williams is a reliable free throw shooter (73% career) The Lakers can't (and won't) expect Williams to be Davis or to make up for the challenge they'll have defending on the perimeter with Doncic, James and Austin Reaves starting together If Williams continues to excel offensively while developing defensively That's necessary because the Lakers gave up a lot. Although Knecht's defensive shortcomings limited his playing time as a rookie, he's been as productive offensively as any 2024 draft pick. Knecht's 36% 3-point shooting on 7.6 attempts per 36 minutes was valuable on a Lakers team that's short on shooting and just gave up a 3-and-D role player, Max Christie probably feels less painful to the Lakers after Doncic has embraced being unexpectedly traded to L.A Now that the Lakers feel confident Doncic will be around long term there's less concern about the bottom falling out after James heads off into retirement the Lakers are out of tradeable first-round picks and will be limited to swapping the remaining picks they control in 2026 and 2028 I would be a little skittish of concentrating that much value in a player who has dealt with injuries but Williams does make the Lakers a more viable playoff threat in 2025 and perhaps beyond As disheartening as it may be to Hornets fans to see the team trade away a 23-year-old starter just coming into his own, particularly after giving up their other center (Nick Richards) last month it's worth highlighting the foresight the Charlotte front office showed the Hornets have consistently chased short-term highs that weren't all that high resulting in three first-round playoff exits across the 21 seasons since Charlotte was reborn as an expansion franchise The vision to value an unprotected first-round pick six years out and a swap five years away is an encouraging sign that the Hornets may someday enjoy sustainable success For now, Charlotte's depth chart is pretty thin at center. That's good news for two-way find Moussa Diabate who's in line to become the Hornets' starter at the position Charlotte will have to clear a roster spot for Diabate to get a full NBA contract by first waiving a player to complete this two-for-one trade It's amusing to note that though Knecht is a rookie he's actually the older of the two primary players in this trade Note: This list was updated after the Miami-Toronto and the Detroit-Utah trades on Feb Golden State Warriors get: F Jimmy Butler Miami Heat get: Detroit Pistons get: Utah Jazz get: If the Warriors can escape the West's pack and make the playoffs either by climbing in the top six or through the play-in tournament "Playoff Jimmy" gives them a reasonable chance at pulling an upset or two Butler has been one of the NBA's biggest playoff overachievers relative to his regular-season performance and that trio will give Golden State an enormous experience advantage over any of the West's top three seeds It's clear this Miami team has less upside than it would have with a motivated Butler Given the Heat's desire to protect their 2026 cap space and Butler's urgency to sign an extension Getting a quality starter in Wiggins on a good contract and a worthwhile first-round pick is a reasonable save - Read the trade's full breakdown, including other winners and losers play0:54Shams breaks down Jusuf Nurkic-Cody Martin tradeShams Charania reacts to the news that the Suns are trading Jusuf Nurkic and a 2026 first-round pick to the Hornets for Cody Martin Vasilije Micic and a 2026 second-round pick F Brandon Ingram New Orleans Pelicans get: In essence, Toronto traded Siakam (plus a second-round pick) for Ingram, Agbaji and the one first-rounder they kept from the trade, used to take Ja'Kobe Walter I would bet against him getting as lucrative a contract as Siakam signed last summer (four years It's possible to overrate the importance of a cohesive philosophy. Grabbing value when it's available can produce a stronger roster than meticulous planning. Drafting Barnes was an example of that. Jalen Suggs was a cleaner fit on a roster that already included Anunoby and Siakam but Toronto considered Barnes the better prospect and has yet to regret it The issue here is there might be a reason why a one-time All-Star in his prime was available at a relative bargain Ingram's advanced stats have never matched his strong scoring and assist averages (23.0 PPG and 5.2 APG) during five-plus seasons in New Orleans He is more of a volume scorer than an efficient one and generates relatively few rebounds while Barrett was at 17% and Quickley 38% after they were traded to Toronto 2023-24 stats seem more relevant because of this season's injuries.) Add it up and that's an impossible 102% before accounting for Poeltl as the likely fifth starter When everyone is healthy, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic may be wise to bring one of his top four perimeter players off the bench to better balance the lineup and get either Gradey Dick or Agbaji in the group for floor-spacing purposes That will be a hard sell to four established starters If Toronto can extend or re-sign Ingram on a reasonable contract perhaps he'll have more trade value and could be flipped for a player who fits better alongside the Raptors core we know the Pelicans are headed toward the lottery With Ingram an impending free agent and New Orleans bumping up against the luxury tax getting value was undoubtedly the right move for the Pelicans Perhaps the most interesting element of this trade from New Orleans' standpoint is bringing back Olynyk who is guaranteed $13.4 million in 2025-26 That cuts into the Pelicans' spending power New Orleans essentially chose Olynyk over the possibility of using the non-taxpayer midlevel exception this summer Unless that was a requirement of the trade I would rather have kept the spending power with whom Brown won the 2023 title as sixth man would require them to shed more than $6 million in salary before the deadline The first-round pick New Orleans got, via the Pacers in 2026, figures to have limited upside given Indiana's youth and depth. Nonetheless, it's useful for the Pelicans to have an extra pick after exhausting their supply in the Dejounte Murray trade New Orleans could only get an additional first-round selection if Milwaukee moves into the top four this year via the lottery I would consider this trade a financial one with a basketball guise Swapping out Middleton's $31.7 million cap hit for Kuzma who counted at $23.5 million before adding part of his 15% trade bonus cuts the Bucks' luxury tax bill by almost $30 million this season in addition to taking them below the second luxury tax apron It's the apron math that stands to potentially help Milwaukee on the court this season that required Kuzma to waive a portion of his bonus leaving the team just below the restrictive second apron The Bucks are free to aggregate salaries in trade so long as they don't bring more back than they send out and have a couple of days to replace Middleton's playmaking in another deal reaching 20 points three times in the past four games -- as many as the first 19 games he played coming back from offseason surgery on both ankles sprinkled in were scoreless efforts in two of Milwaukee's three losses on a 1-3 road trip Getting Middleton back didn't lift the Bucks out of the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture they're two games back of Indiana for the fourth seed in the East and home-court advantage in the first round There is little indication -- save a resounding NBA Cup final victory over the Thunder in December -- to suggest Milwaukee is a legitimate contender A year ago, the Bucks could at least point to dominating opponents with both stars on the court to the tune of a plus-10.2 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass Kuzma has been far from his best this season shooting career lows on 2s (50%) and 3s (28%) The Bucks are banking on that being some combination of a slump and the effect of playing on the NBA's worst team and there's reason to believe he could bounce back Kuzma's shot quality is the best of his Wizards career when factoring in location distance to nearby defenders and his skill Perhaps this is the first part of a multistep process to reshape Milwaukee's roster and those other deals will aggregate multiple Bucks players to return two-way contributors saving money and getting out of the second apron -- preventing Milwaukee's 2032 first-round pick from being frozen for trade purposes this summer -- while swapping Middleton's production for the more reliable Kuzma feels like a retreat The Bucks will save even more in 2025-26. Middleton has a player option with a base value of $33.3 million, Kuzma's cap hit decreases to $22.5 million and Baldwin will be off the team's books. That could make it easier for Milwaukee to re-sign starting center Brook Lopez or use the non-taxpayer midlevel exception to replace him Going into the second apron felt like an acceptable risk for the Bucks when they envisioned an Antetokounmpo-Lillard duo taking them deep into the playoffs and perhaps adding a championship to their 2021 title. For now, winning the NBA Cup stands as the high point of the Lillard era in Milwaukee. Perhaps the Bucks should have drunk the champagne Fantasy fallout: Is Kuzma a better option on the Bucks? Johnson fits far better on the rebuilding Wizards than he did the veteran Bucks 23 by Milwaukee after playing professionally in Australia Johnson gives Washington four players selected in the first round from 2024 -- all of them 20 or younger Johnson should have a long runway to develop with the Wizards and a path toward NBA minutes over the second half Most of Johnson's rookie campaign has been spent in the G League, where he's rated worse than replacement level according to my WARP metric having made just 47% of his 2-point attempts It will be interesting to see how Washington manages Middleton if he's not rerouted prior to Thursday's deadline but unless he's willing to forego his 2025-26 player option the Wizards will probably want to keep him on the books to be used as an expiring contract next summer Middleton could rebuild his value by staying healthy having played just 111 of a possible 212 games dating to 2022-23 He has shot the ball quite well this season and is just two missed free throws away from 50/40/90 splits That efficiency is partially explained by Middleton creating his own offense less frequently; his 22% usage rate is his lowest in the past decade Middleton will have more opportunity to stretch his legs offensively and remind contenders that he's still capable of averaging 19.6 points and 6.9 assists per 36 minutes on a good team Milwaukee having a worse record than Washington is plausible by 2027-28 -- the Wizards rookies will be wrapping up their first contracts and Antetokounmpo could already have become a free agent -- but it's hardly a likely scenario given their starting points Milwaukee Bucks get: C Jericho Sims New York Knicks get: Note: This transaction was part of the trade that involved Kyle Kuzma joining Milwaukee from Washington in exchange for Khris Middleton have struggled badly to rebound and keep opponents off the foul line Sims is probably best cast as a third center capable of giving a few fouls if necessary I'm curious whether Wright will get a chance to play for the Knicks after logging just 405 minutes in Milwaukee. Wright shot a dreadful 30% on 2s and 24.5% on 3s, but the sample size was tiny, and Wright was more effective for the Miami Heat after last season's trade deadline The guard position doesn't really seem like a need for New York with Miles McBride as the team's top reserve and Cameron Payne having a terrific year any reserve coach Tom Thibodeau will trust is a plus for the Knicks Sacramento Kings get: C Jonas Valanciunas Washington Wizards get: Sacramento has plenty of ballhandlers but not much size on its bench Valanciunas, listed at 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, certainly brings plenty of heft. Sacramento had primarily been using the 6-foot-9 Trey Lyles, more of a power forward, as its backup to starting center Domantas Sabonis Valanciunas is not only a better matchup for big opponents but also allows interim coach Doug Christie to give Lyles more minutes at his natural position with the second unit Although we think of Valanciunas primarily as a post scorer Sabonis is one of just six centers in the league who have set more on-ball picks over the past six seasons than Valanciunas I am curious whether Christie will consider playing Sabonis and Valanciunas together The two have teamed for the Lithuania national team as starters most recently at the 2022 EuroBasket tournament when they combined to average 28.7 PPG and 17.8 RPG in a run to the round of 16 The ability for both players to step out to the 3-point line makes the pairing viable offensively though it might require playing zone at the other end rather than asking Sabonis to chase power forwards around the perimeter The Kings' books are in good shape for 2025-26 when they will probably have a choice between re-signing Lyles as an unrestricted free agent or using their full non-taxpayer midlevel exception to have depth Sacramento will be able to get out of Valanciunas' contract if needed because his $10 million salary is non-guaranteed Neither second-round pick Washington acquired is particularly juicy but the Wizards also created a $9.9 million trade exception for the value of Valanciunas' salary Boston Celtics get: The Celtics gave up a second-round pick on both ends of Springer's time in Boston, having sent the pick that became Adem Bona to the Philadelphia 76ers for Springer at last year's deadline and now sending a 2030 second-rounder to shed his salary In between, Springer made limited impact, logging just 271 minutes for the Celtics. The vision for Springer as a tougher perimeter defender than Boston's other backup guards was briefly realized when he played 20 minutes in a second-half comeback against the LA Clippers last month But Boston's guard rotation is tough to crack and Springer's offense has yet to prove NBA-caliber this move is unlikely to affect Boston's chances at repeating the Celtics also generate a small $4 million trade exception that could help them add salary this summer -- if they have the appetite for a higher tax bill It's possible Springer could help the Rockets with starting point guard Fred VanVleet sidelined by an ankle strain suffered Saturday Houston coach Ime Udoka told reporters that VanVleet is "week-to-week" rather than day-to-day Ideally, VanVleet's injury will give more opportunities to No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard whose 28 minutes Tuesday against Brooklyn were a season high Sheppard responded with 16 points and seven rebounds and dominated during his brief G League stint who were able to add Springer's salary using their non-taxpayer midlevel exception and are safely below the luxury tax line Springer can be a restricted free agent this summer at which point Houston has no commitment to him Trading Martin didn't go quite as the 76ers envisioned when they re-signed him last summer to a two-year deal with only the 2024-25 salary guaranteed The idea then was that Philadelphia could utilize Martin's minimum cap hold to create an expiring contract and load up at the deadline With the Sixers instead battling for the play-in getting off Martin's $7.98 million salary to avoid the luxury tax cost them a pair of second-round picks Beyond the financial implications of saving $10-plus million in taxes and being eligible for the distribution to non-tax-paying teams there could be basketball benefits to this trade too Philadelphia moved below the lower luxury tax apron meaning the 76ers are now eligible to fill the roster spot they created with buyout players previously making more than $12.8 million (the value of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception) Martin's contract might still enable Philadelphia to add players The Sixers will create a $7.98 million trade exception for the value of Martin's salary which could be useful if they don't have access to the non-taxpayer midlevel exception this summer based on other spending Philly would have probably chosen to forgo re-signing Martin and retain the second-round picks But avoiding the tax and creating the trade exception was worth the cost I originally wrote that the Pistons were using their $14 million in cap space -- Detroit is the only NBA team with any room at all -- to take in Martin Because Martin's salary fits into the Pistons' room exception they can exhaust their cap space first if another deal comes together prior to the deadline It's possible the Pistons think Martin can help their playoff push if he's able to return from a stress reaction in his left foot Martin was an opening-night starter for Philadelphia and averaged 20 MPG prior to the trade He's 24 and two years removed from averaging 12.7 PPG as a key reserve with Houston Martin's limited shooting (he has attempted just 49 3s the past two seasons) has made it difficult to keep him on the court for extended minutes Oklahoma City Thunder get: C Daniel Theis 2031 second-round pick (least favorable of New Orleans and Orlando) With their combination of tradable contracts and a horde of future first-round picks the Thunder have the ability to load up around their core in preparation for a title run Making this deal now to fill the team's open roster spot suggests Oklahoma City's deadline will likely be more modest in scope Theis does fill a need for frontcourt depth. Because Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren have yet to play together the Thunder have cycled through big men on short-term contracts Carlson's second 10-day contract expired last week but we'll always have his 11 points in 17 minutes as Oklahoma City blew out the Cavaliers on national TV last month Now joining his seventh NBA team -- not counting two different stints with the Celtics -- Theis is an experienced center capable of playing power forward in a pinch He gave the Clippers good minutes as a backup last year but had been less effective during a brief stay with the Pelicans Having begun the season as New Orleans' starting center, Theis lost his job to rookie Yves Missi and shot just 24% beyond the arc Theis' 12% usage rate with the Pelicans would be a career low and is unlikely to rebound as he approaches his 33rd birthday in April Theis will sop up some backup minutes for the Thunder before Holmgren returns and be available in case of emergency come the playoffs The Pelicans remain one of two teams never to pay the luxury tax This is the second consecutive year New Orleans started the season in the tax and wriggled out via trade Given the Pelicans are 14th in the West and have multiple starters out for the season, paying the tax would have been nonsensical. New Orleans is better off giving minutes to rookie Karlo Matkovic to see whether he can be a long-term backup for Missi staying below the tax line will require the Pelicans to keep the roster spot created by this trade open for the maximum two weeks before getting back to 14 players New Orleans could promote Brandon Boston Jr Dallas Mavericks get: F Caleb Martin Philadelphia 76ers get: Consider this the 76ers taking a mulligan after signing Martin to a four-year contract worth up to $40 million in July At the time, it seemed like a coup for Philadelphia given the team's limited cap space after landing Paul George and the need to fill out a starting five. I ranked it second among my "A" grades in free agency because of the creativity including $5 million in unlikely incentives that didn't count against the cap Martin obviously hasn't been the problem during the 76ers' sub-.500 season Despite shooting 38% from 3-point range -- better than his career mark of 36% -- Martin has scored with below-average efficiency because he's making just 47% inside the arc Grimes is both younger (24) and has a lower salary than the 29-year-old Martin Swapping out Martin's $8.1 million cap hit for Grimes making $4.3 million in the final year of his rookie contract saves Philadelphia some $8 million in luxury tax payments and puts the team within striking distance of avoiding the tax altogether than Martin for the next two seasons (plus a player option in 2027-28) it's fairly remarkable the Sixers are the team netting out a draft asset in this deal If Philadelphia can't climb out of the lottery via the play-in the 76ers might not benefit from their first-round pick which goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder unless Philadelphia is drawn in the lottery's top four Philly will at least get a good second-round pick out of a lost season Christie offers a similar 3-and-D skill set but is even younger (22 next week) and signed through 2026-27 on what now looks like a value contract Dallas will get the playoff version of Martin who was a key factor in the Miami Heat's 2023 Finals run Martin is a career 40% 3-point shooter in the playoffs and at that level of shooting he'd become a better wing option for coach Jason Kidd than Grimes or Marshall and that might also require Irving missing his two incentives (playing at least 65 games or playing 58 games and the team winning 50 games the Mavericks are committing to Martin even more than the Sixers were Unless Martin follows Davis' lead in forgoing his trade bonus -- a decision that facilitated this deal which triggers a hard cap for Dallas at the lower luxury tax apron that Davis' kicker would have pushed them past -- Martin adds another $1 million-plus to his salary over the next three seasons Philadelphia has to pay out the trade bonus I would have viewed Martin's remaining contract as having negative trade value and wanted a draft pick to take him on rather than sending one out with a quality young player the Mavericks' valuation of players differs from consensus San Antonio Spurs get: Sacramento Kings get: Chicago Bulls get: It's unclear if a perfect trade target would have ever come available for the Spurs, considering Fox named the team as a desired destination. Victor Wembanyama's precocious ability puts inherent pressure on the Spurs to build a team capable of making a playoff run sooner rather than later I think San Antonio played this right by being aggressive in pursuit of Fox without being reckless Dare we consider the possibility the Kings will actually improve over the rest of this season thanks to this trade LaVine has managed to come back looking much like the high-flying star who was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 the Kings will need LaVine to keep that up over the remaining two seasons on his deal beyond 2024-25 The trade appeals more from the big-picture standpoint than in terms of the details Moving LaVine while he's healthy and playing well is the kind of realistic self-assessment we haven't seen from Chicago in recent years when the Bulls have resisted tearing down a roster with little upside - Read the trade's full breakdown, including what's next for all 3 teams Dallas Mavericks get: G Jalen Hood-Schifino Given that Doncic will turn 26 later this month and has a full season on his contract before a 2026-27 player option there's a reasonable argument that he is the most valuable player at the time of being traded in modern NBA history For the Lakers to land Doncic without even exhausting their supply of draft picks is an incredible coup that sets up the next generation of success for one of the league's most storied franchises It's probable Davis will still be a good player by then It's unrealistic to expect he'll be as good as Doncic - Read the trade's full breakdown, including other winners and losers The Clippers trading Tucker was one of the safest bets on the board leading up to Thursday's deadline. Tucker, making $11.5 million in the final year of a contract originally signed with the Philadelphia 76ers had not joined the team this season as both sides awaited a deal just how good this trade is for the Clippers depends how much they've upgraded at backup center in addition to benefiting financially from being eligible to receive distribution from taxpaying teams Bamba had been solid for the Clippers in that role on a minimum contract swatting an impressive 8% of opponent 2-point attempts while spacing the floor on offense with occasional 3-pointers With Kawhi Leonard adding to the Clippers' impressive wing depth, however, coach Tyronn Lue had taken to playing smaller lineups without a traditional center behind quality starter Ivica Zubac Bamba had played just five minutes total over the Clippers' past four games The veteran Eubanks gives the Clippers a backup more similar to Zubac. Although Eubanks experimented with taking 3s while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers he has attempted just eight over the past two seasons (making a remarkable six of those) is 5.5 feet -- barely more than a third of Bamba's 14.3 average Despite blocking shots less frequently than Bamba, Eubanks has been strong as a rim protector. Opponents are making just 50% of attempts within five feet when Eubanks is the primary defender, per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats fifth lowest among players who have defended at least three such shots per game when Eubanks' rim protection was merely average for a center The Clippers probably also like Eubanks' modest $4.75 million non-guaranteed salary for 2025-26 which will give them options as they build their roster this summer the savings plus a possible upgrade at backup center make this deal a solid one for the Clippers For the Jazz, this deal is essentially using their ability to add salary to buy a second-round pick. Between John Collins sliding to center, two-way contributor Micah Potter and perhaps Bamba Utah has multiple options to fill Eubanks' minutes on a team headed to the lottery Tucker presumably won't report to Salt Lake City, with a buyout the most likely outcome. Still just 15 months removed from beginning the 2023-24 season as the Sixers' starting power forward before being sent to the Clippers in the James Harden trade Tucker may have something left to offer a contender that doesn't have as many frontcourt options Phoenix Suns get: Utah Jazz get: Consider this rare midseason swap of picks the latest in a series of deals we've seen where teams with a stockpile of first-rounders trade low-value ones for higher-value bets in exchange for merely getting swap rights back with the Suns turning their only tradeable first-round pick into three they can offer albeit none likely to be particularly good Given that history, it's no surprise that Oklahoma City was also interested in making a deal with Phoenix for the Suns' 2031 pick, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon From a value standpoint, there's a good chance Phoenix "wins" this trade despite that fact. Even if we project the 2025 first-round pick at No. 30 overall -- possible if the Cavaliers can finish this season with a better record than the Thunder -- and the 2027 and 2029 picks conservatively both at No. 25, their combined worth, according to my pick value chart 6 overall pick before accounting for the fact that distant picks hold less value the logic behind this trade is fundamentally flawed When the Clippers and Mavericks made those deals with Oklahoma City they were hoping to complete contending teams with Gafford starting at center for a team that reached the NBA Finals The jury is still out on Harden's impact for the Clippers but there's a plausible path for them to the Western Conference finals this season After beating Detroit in the debut of center Nick Richards (acquired last week from Charlotte) on Saturday Phoenix got a reality check Monday in Cleveland getting blasted by the Cavaliers in a 118-92 loss A realistic front office would consider the possibility of trading Kevin Durant before the Feb 6 deadline to recoup some of the draft picks the Suns are out Phoenix has extended the stretch without control of its first-round picks through 2031 meaning the Suns won't benefit from their own losses when they are inevitably forced to rebuild turning excess first-rounders into one with more upside makes sense even if they're overpaying from a strict value standpoint and that's a lot of rookies to add to their roster in those offseasons presuming the Jazz don't send their own top-10 protected pick to (who else?) the Thunder Converting three weak first-rounders into a single one in 2031 -- when Utah doesn't have any additional picks -- fits the Jazz's timeline better And getting another unprotected pick increases the chances that Utah lucks into a game-changing selection to add to a core that should have turned the corner by that point there's potential for an extended bleak stretch we're probably going to see many more deals like this over the next five years It's too difficult for teams like Suns with limited access to first-round picks to make trades without them and too important for teams such as Utah and Oklahoma City to consolidate their stockpiles into higher-value bets Charlotte Hornets get: Of the many reasons that a Suns team with the NBA's highest payroll would not even make the Western Conference play-in tournament if the season ended today the center position is near the top of the list those players have rated nearly three wins below replacement level this season Nurkic has been a healthy scratch in Phoenix's last four games No longer the highflier he was in his younger days Plumlee is shooting his lowest percentage from the field (56%) since 2016-17 despite an 11% usage rate seventh-lowest among all players who have seen at least 500 minutes of action Ighodaro is also in the bottom 10 in that category and while he brings the most defensive versatility of this group Ighodaro is also shooting a modest percentage (58%) for his small role Richards isn't shooting any better this season (56%) but he has scored more efficiently than any Suns center in a much larger role in Charlotte (17% usage) his .717 true shooting percentage was fifth-best of any NBA player who saw at least 500 minutes who provide vertical spacing as lob threats Richards isn't at their level defensively, but opponents have made just 57% of their shot attempts within five feet when he is the primary defender according to Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats who have both seen opponents shoot 62% on such attempts this season Under contract for this season and next at $5 million each Richards fits financially on a team over the NBA's second luxury tax apron swapping out Okogie's $8.25 million salary for Richards will save the Suns more than $21 million in taxes The downside here is Phoenix having few routes to future moves. Okogie's contract was largely signed to be traded -- his $7.75 million salary for 2025-26 is non-guaranteed, and he was unlikely to get nearly as much salary elsewhere on the free agent market. The Suns are also now down to only the 2025 second-round pick they got back in this trade, originally from the Denver Nuggets If Phoenix is going to do anything else, whether involving Nurkic -- under contract for $19.375 million for 2025-26 -- or a bigger move with Beal (who has to waive a no-trade clause) that leaves the Suns' 2031 first-round pick as their only attractive draft pick Until Phoenix is ready to admit the current core can't work the Suns will likely be limited to making moves around the edges Adding a center in his prime is a worthy one After starting a career-high 51 games for the Hornets in 2023-24, Nick Richards saw his role diminish this season. Starter Mark Williams who was sidelined nearly a full year by injuries returned in early December to reclaim his job the 23-year-old Williams is Charlotte's center of the future Expect Charlotte to clear a roster spot to sign Diabate to a standard NBA contract by the deadline Okogie's defensive impact could have some value to the Hornets the team allowed 5.1 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the court Okogie was unable to carve out a bigger role with the Suns in large part due to his unreliable shooting Okogie is a career 30% 3-point shooter and this season's 38% accuracy has come on just 42 attempts Okogie won't be long for Charlotte and the Hornets will come away having turned one second-round pick that's likely to fall in the 50s into three including a pair of dart throws in 2031 that might eventually prove meaningful Brooklyn Nets get: There's a lot to like about this deal from the Lakers' perspective the Lakers landed a quality one without giving up a first-round pick while also cutting their luxury tax bill the Lakers defended well enough to come up with a two-point win against one of their competitors for playoff and play-in positioning That game was a reminder that for all the Lakers' bluster about trading for another center they were better off thinking smaller rather than bigger in terms of trade additions Davis is best as a center from both a spacing and defensive standpoint and the Lakers showed in certain matchups they can get away with the 6-foot-8 Hachimura playing the five spot Although Russell was still playing a key role off the bench since being demoted from the starting lineup in November he hadn't been nearly as important to the Lakers' shot creation as last season and the career 37% 3-point shooter had hit just 33% beyond the arc it's harder to justify the defensive issues Russell creates as compared to when he was hitting 3s at a 41.5% clip in 2023-24 By comparison to Christie and Vincent, who have seen an uptick in their minutes during December, Finney-Smith is far more capable as a shooter and more versatile as a defender. He's precisely the kind of player the Lakers have lacked since dealing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green the starting wings on their 2020 championship team The Lakers can't expect Finney-Smith to keep up this season's career-high 43.5% 3-point shooting but he is at 36% for his career beyond the arc on decent volume (6.7 attempts per 36 minutes) Opponents will have to respect him defensively in a way they didn't necessarily need to do with Christie (36% from 3 but on just 4.1 attempts per 36) or Vincent (33% Christie has been a much-improved perimeter defender this season stepping into the role of wing stopper and beginning to justify the Lakers' investment in a four-year Christie is better suited to defend ballhandlers and wing shooters than the kind of physical forwards the Lakers can expect to potentially play in the postseason Finney-Smith is only an inch taller than Christie but he has started at both forward spots throughout his career frequently defending bigger opponents in switch-heavy defenses Second Spectrum tracking shows that Finney-Smith is the only player in the NBA this season to defend players listed as guards forwards and centers each for at least 15 half-court matchups per game That versatility gives Redick plenty of options for how to deploy Finney-Smith from big starting lineups alongside the frontcourt of Davis Hachimura and James to smaller lineups with at least one of those players on the bench and more perimeter defenders on the court is fully non-guaranteed after this season -- making him something of a free roll off the bench Milton gives the Lakers another reliable depth piece while Lewis had totaled just 29 minutes in the NBA this season.) Finney-Smith's $15.4 million player option for 2025-26 will give the Lakers a couple of paths which will barely pay him more than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception and would be an expiring contract That would likely push the Lakers beyond the lower luxury tax apron again next season they could encourage him to decline the option in favor of a long-term contract that starts at a lower salary but guarantees Finney-Smith more money through his mid-30s Because Russell was the Lakers' biggest expiring deal and they can no longer aggregate Finney-Smith with other players to take back more salary in a trade the downside is the Lakers are unlikely to make a splashy addition before the deadline Focusing on big-name scorers instead of role players has long been a weakness for the Lakers this year's team -- sporting the West's 12th-best point differential at minus-2.1 PPG while sitting fifth in the standings -- hasn't shown enough upside to justify giving up their precious remaining first-round picks Holding on to those first-rounders while still managing to upgrade on the perimeter makes this trade a strong one for the Lakers there were two holdups to completing that deal Memphis wanted Brooklyn's 2025 second-round pick and offered top-17 protection on the first-rounder With the Grizzlies unwilling to budge -- and perhaps awaiting more information on the nature of Ja Morant's shoulder injury -- the Nets opted for the Lakers' offer instead As appealing as getting a first-round pick for Finney-Smith sounded if Brooklyn was required to send back its own 2025 second-rounder just 10 spots ahead of the Nets' own second-round pick (currently No the Nets would have had to take back long-term salary in Konchar who has two seasons beyond this remaining on the low-cost extension he signed in July 2022 but he has seen his role usurped this season (197 total minutes) by younger players so that could have been a buy-low opportunity for Brooklyn Konchar's flat $6.25 million salary will be equivalent to the taxpayer midlevel salary so he only needs to be part of the rotation to be a reasonable value it's understandable that the Nets preferred a deal that didn't bring back guaranteed salary beyond this season Whether Brooklyn can flip Russell again for value will help determine whether the Nets chose the right path or should have waited to see if Finney-Smith's value increased by the Feb Russell could heat up in January as he did last year with the Lakers averaging 22.7 PPG on 46% 3-point shooting That version of Russell could be worth at least another second-rounder in exchange for a non-rotation player on an expiring contract Rejoining a Brooklyn team that traded point guard Dennis Schroder earlier in December Russell will have plenty of opportunity to put up stats Russell's return is unlikely to be as meaningful as his first stint may also get a look from the Nets as part of their rebuild He has averaged 18.4 PPG and 6.9 RPG in eight G League appearances albeit without the kind of 3-point shooting (33%) that might translate in a smaller role in the NBA For all the deserved credit to the Warriors' depth it has done more to give Steve Kerr options to put around Stephen Curry than to succeed without him Golden State has been outscored by 1.9 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the bench despite playing elite defense in those situations Without Curry, the Warriors simply can't score. Their offensive rating when Curry rests ranks in the 4th percentile leaguewide, according to Cleaning the Glass, a big difference from last season when Golden State had future Hall of Famer Chris Paul as a backup the Warriors scored at a league-average rate without Curry and outscored opponents with him on the bench After losing Paul, Golden State has used second-year guard Brandin Podziemski as a de facto backup point guard Nearly 80% of Podziemski's minutes have come at the position per analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats compared with just 14% when he was an All-Rookie First Team pick Podziemski would shoot better going forward either way Still, the Warriors are betting that adding Schroder also nets them an improved version of Podziemski with this trade which replaces an empty roster spot -- Melton is out for the season after surgery to repair an ACL sprain -- with a veteran point guard off to a productive start a full-time starter in Brooklyn for the first time since 2020-21 is averaging a career-high 6.6 assists and his most points (18.4) since finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2019-20 It's unlikely Schroder will quite keep up that pace even on a per-minute basis in a smaller role Schroder might require Kerr to rethink his usual preference for off-ball movement Schroder has averaged 53 ball screens per 100 possessions according to Second Spectrum tracking -- the league's fifth-highest rate this season Only Curry (32 per 100 possessions) is averaging more than 17 per 100 for Golden State as Paul averaged 55 ball screens per 100 possessions when Curry was on the bench Having lost seven of nine games since a 12-3 start, the Warriors probably needed to upgrade to remain strong candidates for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Projections using ESPN's Basketball Power Index put Golden State sixth in average wins in the Western Conference, just barely ahead of the LA Clippers Adding Schroder likely won't put the Warriors back in the West's top tier as Golden State will surely remain in search of a second star to pair with Curry The good news is upgrading now with Schroder won't really affect that pursuit The Warriors didn't have to give up any first-round picks in this deal and have multiple expiring salaries to include Having triggered a hard cap at the lower luxury tax apron, Golden State skillfully walked a financial tightrope with this deal. The Warriors added a little more than $200,000 in salary by swapping Melton for Schroder, leaving them a little more than $300,000 in wiggle room below the apron, per ESPN's Bobby Marks Having a deal of this magnitude completed Dec the first day players like Melton signed as free agents this offseason can be traded That date usually opens NBA "trade season" much more in theory than reality a few factors might have encouraged Brooklyn to trade Schroder sooner rather than later First, there's the matter of lottery positioning. The Nets came into this season with the NBA's lowest over/under win total of 18.5 games at ESPN BET, having made a June trade to reacquire their 2025 first-round pick outright from the Houston Rockets with an eye toward a high selection As my stats-based preseason wins projections suggested Brooklyn has been far more competitive than expected the Nets are already more than halfway to their win total and they'd be in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament if the season ended today should make it easier for Brooklyn to accumulate losses and end up in strong lottery position Beyond that, Schroder's value is likely near its peak based on his play this season. Remember, the Nets acquired Schroder and Thaddeus Young at the 2024 trade deadline for Spencer Dinwiddie in a deal that did not include any draft picks Netting a pair of second-round picks in return for Schroder is a great bit of business for Brooklyn Vincent is under contract for $11.5 million in 2025-26 As ESPN's Bobby Marks noted in August the Nets project to have a league-high $70 million in cap space next summer That's more than enough to sign a max player though Brooklyn could accumulate enough room to sign multiple top free agents on a limited market by trading veterans who are under contract beyond this year Brooklyn could use that flexibility to take back long-term salary from other teams to maximize pick value in future trades The Pacers had perhaps the league's most glaring trade need after both of their backup centers, Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman suffered a season-ending Achilles rupture during the season's first two weeks Lineups with Toppin at center have been reasonably effective with the Pacers outscoring opponents by 0.9 points per 100 possessions according to analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats -- far better than they've done with Turner on the court (minus-5.3 net rating) The bigger issue for Indiana was what might have happened if Toppin or Turner missed time due to injury leaving the team without any good options at center The one game Turner has sat out since Jackson's injury saw the Pacers lose to the lowly Raptors and get outscored by 17 points in the 25 minutes Walker played filling in as a starting center Heading to his fifth team over the past four seasons, Bryant hardly solves the Pacers' need for rim protection. Opponents shot 68% with Bryant as the defender on attempts within 5 feet last season, per Second Spectrum tracking data from NBA Advanced Stats only marginally better than opponents have shot against Toppin so far in 2024-25 (72%) experienced center who's making the league minimum Financial terms were an important factor for Indiana which sits just $126,000 from the luxury tax line after adding Bryant The Pacers last paid the tax in 2005-06 and seem unlikely to do so for a slow-starting team that's currently four games under .500 That lack of wiggle room could make it challenging for Indiana to make any bigger moves before the deadline The Pacers' urgency to add a center was great news for the Heat. Bryant had seen action in just three games since veteran Kevin Love returned to the lineup after missing the season's first eight games Having drafted Kel'el Ware as their backup center of the future to go with Love Miami likely would have let Bryant walk if not for a 2024-25 player option in the contract he signed in 2023 reduced his cap and tax hit without costing him any salary and ended up facilitating this trade because his full minimum would have pushed the Pacers into the luxury tax.) the Heat would prefer to avoid exceeding the second luxury tax apron in the league's new collective bargaining agreement Shedding Bryant's salary leaves them $3.7 million shy of that mark and though they must sign a player to get to 14 on their roster a prorated minimum salary will be cheaper than paying Bryant It's possible the swap of second-round picks in 2031 could benefit Miami It's impossible to predict that far out where these teams will be in the standings making this less valuable than getting a second-round pick outright but far more valuable than just getting back a highly protected second-rounder Oh and trailblazer in Michigan Womens Wrestling Thank you to Luke Westerlund for the awesome pics! Check out his page at shotbyluke.pixieset.com Montague has been at the forefront of the women’s wrestling boom in Michigan and senior Ava Pelton has been leading the charge she helped take the program from a handful of girls wrestling in the boys’ division to a full-fledged women’s team she kept it simple: “Shocking… I didn’t think that this was possible.” she dominated her regional tournament at 145 pounds taking first at the Plainwell women’s wrestling tournament in December 2024 That win sent her to the state finals for the second straight year Just when I thought I had her story wrapped up she went to states last weekend and proved once again why she’s one of the best and capped off her high school career with a pin to secure her final win she’s also a National Honor Society member balancing her time between wrestling and excelling in the classroom She was a key player for Montague’s team last year helping them to a strong season that saw them battle deep into the playoffs and given the way her senior year has been going I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to add another milestone before I even finish typing this Interested in more content from us? Check out our website catchmarksports.com, our Facebook page, or our YouTube page Conner Raeth began his journey at CatchMark as an intern in October 2020 and Security Technologies at the Muskegon Career Tech Center His dedication and expertise led him to a full-time role as a Help Desk Technician in mid-2022 he excels as the Digital Content Lead for CatchMark’s SportsNet platform leveraging his technical knowledge to drive its success and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Our 2 Coverage area teams left...how will they fair tonight Phil Koops’ reign at the helm of the storied Montague Wildcats has officially begun.. Copyright © 2023 CatchMark SportsNet. Website Design & Development by CatchMark Technologies SEATTLE -- Dominique Malonga, the No. 2 pick of the WNBA draft, wasn't in attendance as the Seattle Storm opened training camp Sunday and Storm coach Noelle Quinn said the team doesn't yet have a timetable for her arrival "We're in communication with her," Quinn said Malonga has been playing in her native France for ASVEL whose season ended Wednesday when the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the LFB playoffs by Landes Although the WNBA's prioritization rule requires most players to join teams prior to the start of training camp it does not apply to players like Malonga with fewer than three years of experience in the league That allows Malonga to get a short break between the end of her French commitments and her arrival in Seattle In addition to Malonga, the Storm also practiced Sunday without forward Brianna Fraser who signed a training camp contract in February who has been playing in Spain with Casademont Zaragoza The Storm host Connecticut in their lone preseason game on May 4 and open the WNBA regular season on May 17 a leading global fundraising and management consulting firm has been appointed by Governor Phil Murphy (no relation) to serve as a Commissioner on the newly established New Jersey-Ireland Trade Commission The New Jersey-Ireland Trade Commission has been established to strengthen economic ties and facilitate cultural exchange between New Jersey and Ireland Murphy will work alongside business leaders and cultural representatives to develop and implement strategic initiatives that benefit both regions Bridget Murphy brings more than 35 years of experience in nonprofit sector leadership to this prestigious role as well as experience working with Ireland-based companies Murphy’s grandparents were Irish immigrants who came to the United States nearly 100 years ago to forge a future and she continues to have strong ties to her ancestral country a global firm with a strong presence throughout Europe including Ireland Murphy has advised numerous organizations on strategic growth initiatives and cross-border partnerships making her uniquely qualified for this position “I am honored to serve on this commission and help strengthen the valuable relationship between New Jersey and Ireland,” said Murphy “This role aligns perfectly with Graham-Pelton’s mission of driving growth and elevating philanthropy through meaningful partnerships and I look forward to contributing to the economic growth and cultural enrichment of both regions.” a broad system of best-in-class professional services firms exclusively serving nonprofits © Copyright 2012 - 2023 | citybiz | All Rights Reserved The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers stunned the NBA overnight Saturday with a swap of All-Stars that has massive implications for this season and beyond Because of the NBA's salary cap rules, the trade also required the Utah Jazz as a third team, which acquired guard Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and 2025 second-round picks from the Clippers and Mavs Let's try to wrap our heads around a trade that truly came out of nowhere to understand what it means for all three teams including the new directions for the Lakers and Mavs plus an early look at the LeBron-Luka dynamic in L.A it's plausible the Lakers' chances of winning a playoff series this season diminished with the trade That's unimportant by comparison to bringing Doncic to L.A Doncic will be eligible for a four-year extension worth nearly $229 million this summer Doncic could sign a shorter bridge extension of three years and $165 million with a player option for 2028-29 that would allow him to push his salary up to 35% of the cap once he has attained the 10 necessary seasons of experience A Doncic extension would surely take him beyond James' career at which point the Lakers will have to find a championship-caliber co-star for him That process will be much easier because of the deal the Lakers negotiated who all developed into quality starters or better) two unprotected first-round picks and a swap the Lakers gave up one young player (Christie whose outlook is not as bright as either Ball or Ingram at the time of the Davis trade) and one unprotected draft pick Remarkably, that leaves the Lakers with their 2031 first-round pick to offer in a future trade for a star, plus swaps in 2026, 2028 and 2030 as well as 2024 first-round pick Dalton Knecht they'll also be able to swap their 2032 first-round pick The Lakers will have to be judicious in how they manage those picks The Lakers deserve credit for not overreacting to their recent success. Part of what made the timing of the late Saturday night blockbuster so shocking was the Lakers just finished an impressive win on ABC over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden bringing them to 8-2 in their past 10 games the Lakers are only a game out of fourth in the Western Conference Despite their recent success, the Lakers have still been outscored on the season. Among the four teams ahead of them in the West standings, they've beaten only the Memphis Grizzlies (twice) this season with a minus-43 point differential in their six games against that group but adding Doncic gives them a far more realistic path to the next great Lakers team MORE: The betting and fantasy implications of the Luka-AD trade First, let's acknowledge I've made a habit of betting against Mavericks trades to my detriment. I disliked the risk of bringing in Kyrie Irving months before he would become an unrestricted free agent but Irving re-signed with Dallas rather than join the Lakers -- now an even more remarkable sliding-doors moment -- and has been terrific for the Mavericks Adding those two starters ultimately helped the Mavericks reach the NBA Finals Want to forecast where your favorite NBA stars could wind up? Create your own deals with ESPN's Trade Machine the whole reason those risks were worthwhile for Dallas was improving the chances of extending Doncic beyond his current contract Now that the Mavericks have traded him for a player nearly six years older they're willingly putting themselves on the high wire yet again Don't take my grade as a dismissal of Davis who earned one of my votes to start the All-Star Game in the Western Conference frontcourt this season Although Davis hasn't been quite as dominant defensively as when he finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2019-20 and the Lakers won the championship his 30% usage rate is his highest with the Lakers and has come with only modest decline in terms of efficiency The biggest issue here is simply the aging curve. As he approaches his mid-30s, Davis is likely to see his production decline just as Doncic is reaching his peak years. By 2027, when Dallas will send a top-2 protected pick to the Charlotte Hornets from the Washington deal when the last of the Mavericks' pick obligations (a swap with the San Antonio Spurs) conveys For all his comments about wanting to play with a center (including in a recent interview with ESPN's Shams Charania) Davis no longer spaces the floor well enough to be maximized alongside a non-shooting big man Since making 38% of his 3s en route to the Lakers' title in 2020 When healthy, the Mavericks already boasted a pair of strong centers in 2023 lottery pick Dereck Lively II and Gafford who has excelled as a starter in Lively's absence because of an ankle stress fracture Davis probably will go from almost exclusively playing center for the Lakers to almost never doing so in Dallas He's effective driving against slower defenders as a power forward but now will presumably slide to the wing to make room for Davis Washington will have an advantage against smaller opponents in the post but it's unclear if the Mavericks will have enough spacing in their starting lineup to benefit from it Dallas can reshape the roster around Davis to a degree but there's urgency to win now given the ages of Davis and Irving (33 in March) The Mavericks need things to click quickly Adding Davis should help as soon as he returns from an abdominal strain particularly with Lively and Kleber (now traded) sidelined Dallas had been trending in the opposite direction Fourth in the West at the time Doncic went down on Christmas Day the Mavericks have fallen to eighth by going 7-14 since including 5-8 in the 13 games Irving has played This trade can help Dallas stabilize and have a realistic shot at avoiding the play-in tournament such a move requires thinking beyond the next four months Let's stipulate the Mavericks were right to be concerned about Doncic's conditioning or even that his impressive stats overstated his impact (That case is getting harder to make with each loss particularly in the wake of last year's Finals run.) Dallas still should have gotten more in return for Doncic I suppose I can understand wanting to avoid the distraction of open bidding for Doncic -- and the Mavericks did manage to keep their negotiations historically quiet -- but the only way that works is to use the threat of hanging up the phone to get the best package possible It's inconceivable Dallas didn't end up with everything of value the Lakers had to offer in this trade the Mavericks should have operated with maximum leverage instead of making a deal short of perfect in an analogy befitting the team's ownership The Jazz were needed for this deal, their second of the day because the Lakers can't take back more salary in a trade than they send out without triggering a hard cap at the lower luxury tax apron The Lakers are currently $9.2 million over that apron and just $1.6 million away from the second apron which is now a hard cap because they had to aggregate salaries in this trade Hood-Schifino was expendable after the Lakers declined his third-year option Hood-Schifino struggled in limited action as a rookie and had played only two NBA games this season before sustaining a hamstring strain that has him sidelined Utah can look at Hood-Schifino the rest of the season with no obligation beyond that who will take Hood-Schifino into a trade exception acquired a couple of picks likely to land in the back half of the 2025 second round for their trouble Although my grades make it clear I consider the Lakers winners and Mavericks losers of their trade the ripple effects of this deal extend far beyond the three teams involved Let's look at some of the players and other teams who benefited from the deal -- and those who would have been better off without it When the Lakers dealt for Davis nearly six years ago the idea was he would take the torch from James as the next face of the franchise with Davis overtaking James as the Lakers' clear No The problem is how far we still might be from the post-James era With James still playing at a high level at age 40 we've now gotten to the point where Davis (who will turn 32 in March) is also in the back half of his NBA career Doncic can keep the Lakers competitive throughout the remainder of the decade and beyond But the era now feels one step closer. Aside from backup guard Gabe Vincent, the Lakers have just two players older than 27 in their rotation: James and forward Dorian Finney-Smith Christie started and scored 15 points as the Lakers won at Madison Square Garden had every reason to think he was a key part of the Lakers' future as an emerging 3-and-D role player Mavs coach Jason Kidd surely will find a spot for him in the rotation that Christie will see nearly as much playing time as he had with the Lakers Winner: Future picks owned by Charlotte -- and three West rivals Part of the reason teams were eager to acquire first-round picks or swaps from the Mavericks between the 2023 and 2024 trade deadlines was the possibility Doncic could play elsewhere by the time they convey When Dallas coalesced around deadline pickups Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington and reached the 2024 Finals Doncic appeared headed toward signing a supermax extension this summer which would have kept him with the Mavericks or given him considerable trade value if he did want out Now that Dallas has swapped Doncic for Davis, those teams might yet reap the benefit of better Mavericks picks -- perhaps not in time for 2027, when the Hornets own Dallas' first-round pick with top-two protection, but more likely by 2029, when the Houston Rockets likely will get the Mavericks' first-rounder The 2025 NBA trade deadline is in the books Here's what you need to know after a wild week plus last-minute buzz and intel across the NBA Sandwiched around that 2029 pick, Dallas owes swap rights to two of the NBA's most promising young teams: the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2028 and the San Antonio Spurs in 2030 That could keep the Mavericks picking late in the first round even if they've entered a rebuild by the end of the decade Not because of the Jazz's role in this trade but because they had made a bet in the opposite direction of the teams shorting Dallas' first-rounders The Jazz own the Lakers' 2027 first-round pick When the Lakers sent that pick to Utah while hovering around .500 at the 2023 trade deadline the Lakers are less likely to send a lottery pick to the Jazz the Lakers surely will be on the hunt for a center before Thursday's trade deadline Better yet, James also ranks in the top five in that category, with roll men shooting 65% off his passes. If the Lakers can find an above-the-rim finisher anywhere in the ballpark of Davis (or Mavs centers Gafford or Dereck Lively II)