So the Hornets could have hoped they were selecting two players that would develop into Andre Iguodala and Pau Gasol. Falling short of those ceilings is not a disaster by any means, but failing to be reliably consistent players very well might be. Read more »

If the Warriors, Cavaliers or Clippers begin to worry that their level of talent won't be enough to defeat their fellow contenders and are ready for something drastic, they are each uniquely in a position to trade for DeMarcus Cousins. Read more »

The things that the Bucks are currently doing with the Greek Freak are to develop him into a perfect complement to Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton. If it works the three of them might just take over the NBA. Read more »

It's a testament to Lillard, McCollum and Stotts that four promising young centers are so willing to play so hard for them in whatever limited opportunities they get. But it's also worth wondering if the center by committee rotation is actually less effective than if they had a player that could settle into that role with heavy minutes. Read more »

The Lakers don't need to immediately find out what Brandon Ingram is best at. They need to be taking notes of all the things he's good at. That requires patience and maybe even experimenting with him at center. Read more »

Avery Bradley and Al Horford are a match made in basketball nerd heaven. They are two of the rare NBA players who take nothing away from their teammates while still having a level of production that's independent of the roster around them. Read more »

Rick Carlisle doesn't believe his guards need a defined position, and that might not be because he is some sort of advocate for position-less basketball. It's probably just because he has Dirk Nowitzki on his team, a man who has given careers to combo guards for over a decade. Read more »

The results of those losing seasons are a crop of promising young players drafted to replace Nerlens Noel, who has never been given a real platform or environment to be utilized. Read more »

Unlike the foundational pieces of the Wolves and Jazz, Devin Booker and Dragan Bender just have to knock down shots and develop in other areas at a reasonable pace. The talent surrounding them allows Phoenix to be relatively competitive if they manage to do that. Read more »

We often debate about how much the NBA's greatest coaches owe their success to the superstars they've tied themselves to. We'll never know how to precisely dole out credit. But Steve Clifford is quietly approaching a value that suggests he's simply waiting for his superstar. Read more »

Russell Westbrook's skillset is not totally void of system building. He might seem like the Tasmanian Devil, but he has definable talents that an entire offense can function around. Westbrook could become even more effective without Kevin Durant. Read more »

Zaza Pachulia and Anderson Varejao are incompetent offensive players who make it much easier to use double teams. They won't be respected on offense and will be deliberately singled out on defense. Read more »

Prioritizing Chandler Parsons over Zach Randolph makes sense if the Grizzlies consider themselves contenders. Parsons is a modern NBA combo forward who can spread the floor and doesn't play well with power forwards. Read more »

The Nuggets' roster is filled with trade chips. And considering the youth already on their hands, they'd likely be willing to part ways with an attractive combination of young players and picks for the right star to launch them into contention. Read more »

If the Cavs decide to move on from Kevin Love this offseason, trading him back to Minnesota for Zach LaVine could create an improbable win-win for all involved. Read more »

The difference between their roles, and their personalities, is basically that LeBron James is determined to do everything while Draymond Green is willing to do anything. Read more »

The reality is Steven Adams is a better player than Festus Ezeli, but another reality is that Ezeli is almost certainly going to be paid this summer to be the type of player that Adams is right now. The Warriors are in a position to gauge whether or not he's worth it. Read more »

What makes Luol Deng special, what is finally being noticed in these playoffs, is that he is the rare veteran player whose game has grown perfectly in sync with the evolution of the NBA. The smart teams know this and will target him in free agency. Read more »

The only Neil Olshey acquired players left on the Clippers are Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Meanwhile, Portland is full of the type of players the Clippers should have been targeting. Read more »

The partnership of Dwight Howard and James Harden is ending and was never really a partnership to begin with. In order to succeed alongside Harden, a big man needs to do the little things and Clint Capela could be that big man for the Rockets. Read more »