Ever since taking over as the head coach of Team USA, Mike Krzyzewski has made a philosophical commitment to playing small. But instead of Durant, LeBron, George, Love and Carmelo, he finds himself with Parsons, Faried and Gay. Read more »

After years of failed lottery picks, the Wolves finally seem to have a front office capable of finding talent in the draft, the most important asset for a rebuilding franchise in the modern NBA. Read more »

In the end, with LeBron James in his prime and the Eastern Conference wide open, the Cavaliers went with the sure thing rather than rolling the dice on building a team with LeBron and a bunch of under-22 players. Read more »

What separates the Rockets from a lot of other NBA franchises is they aren’t afraid to give younger players chances rather than recycling brand name players and established veterans on their last legs. Read more »

The Lakers are signing Boozer to put up empty numbers while blocking the development of Julius Randle. But Boozer could weirdly be the perfect veteran mentor for him. Read more »

With LeBron leaving the Heat, Chris Bosh could be back in the discussion with guys like Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love for best PF in the NBA. He's not the rebounder they are, but he's the most complete player of the bunch, with the ability to score, shoot, pass and defend. Read more »

The end game for LeBron James is not to bring one title to Cleveland, but to bring a franchise that could compete for titles well into the future. When LeBron watched the Spurs dismantle the Heat in the Finals, he saw what to strive for. Read more »

If Jason Kidd plays it right, he can be the Scott Brooks to their version of the Thunder. Kidd’s already proven he’s a more flexible strategist than Brooks, so hitching his wagon to that type of young talent could give him nearly unparalleled job security. Read more »

When Andrew Wiggins was playing AAU basketball, a transition setting where he could make direct-line runs at the rim, he surely looked like the best prospect since LeBron James. You can only see the holes in his game when he’s forced to play in the halfcourt. Read more »

While the Spurs' stars are well into their second decade in the league, they had the younger and more athletic roster. That became obvious over the course of the series, as the Spurs zipped the ball around the court and blew the Heat off the floor. Read more »

From a tools perspective, Zach LaVine is one of the most talented guards to come into the league in a long time. He’s not as big as Andrew Wiggins, but he’s every bit as athletic and he’s far more skilled. Read more »

The Heat don't have an answer for Tim Duncan and the Spurs don't have an answer for LeBron James. The difference between the two all-time greats at this point is age and stamina. Read more »

If the last two NBA Finals are any indication, there's no stopping the trend of the corner three-pointer. A generation from now, you may not be able to play in the NBA if you can't shoot 3's. Read more »

When you are scouting a player in college, you have to scout his teammates and his coaching staff too. Just look at what's happened to Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond in two NBA seasons. Read more »

The key to evaluating young basketball players and how their game will translate to the NBA is developing a universal framework that can be applied to every prospect. Read more »

Just like Lance Stephenson, James Harden excelled in the role he was forced to play on the team that drafted him, but he was ready for a much bigger role. Don’t mistake opportunity for talent, especially not with a 23-year-old. Read more »

The Thunder are the Oakland A's of the NBA, a franchise determined to build a perennial contender without breaking the bank in terms of payroll. The Heat sign ring-chasing vets; the Thunder run a finishing school for guys with supersized arms. Read more »

With the Cavaliers, Bucks, 76ers, Magic and Jazz owning the first five picks, we can begin to examine what will go into the decision-making process of the the first 14 selection. Read more »

The player who could have really helped the Clippers was Eric Bledsoe. He was moved to get a more traditional SG in the starting line-up, but they might have wanted to try the Bledsoe-Paul combination before just giving up on it. Read more »

With Damian Lillard entrenched at PG, Portland used a lottery pick on a guy who can't play more than 10-15 minutes a game in a playoff series. That's not a great use of resources for a small-market team without many other obvious ways of upgrading their roster in the offseason. Read more »