Maybe it's okay that Ben Simmons isn't going to be a devastating all-around scorer, because he brings to the floor an abundance of other qualities that help you win basketball games. Read more »

The timing is odd but Gersson Rosas probably actually wanted Chris Finch instead of Ryan Saunders all along and now they half a weird season left to start figuring out what's next. Read more »

As things are currently set up, franchises have immense control over what players are allowed to do- where they can work, how they work, what they can say, even what they do in their limited spare time. For every James Harden in the league, there's many more Andre Drummonds. Read more »

Kevin Garnett is less burdened by his own agenda, lives less firmly in his own fermenting bitterness. And he simply likes the sport more than Shaq does, so he's more apt to hand the younger generation its due. Read more »

The most you can ask of a young player, if they're not immediately awesome as so few are, is for them to illumine new possibilities. Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball are certainly doing that during their young careers. Read more »

A younger John Wall could have done some serious damage in a league like this. As it stands, the increased spacing and rapid action are helping him do a decent impression of his old self. Read more »

The wildness of Collin Sexton's play is becoming more of a stylistic affectation than something you worry about. Read more »

When you have topline players like Kyrie, Durant, and Harden, you don't need much other than they not self-combust in a typhoon of neuroses, ego, bickering, and mental-emotional cataclysm. Read more »

The primary task is to bang out these games, and while they're making an effort to do it safely, the evidence is mounting that they can't, and they're hoping much more than ensuring that nobody gets seriously ill. Read more »

It's important, perhaps now more than ever, to be optimistic when you can afford to be. Read more »

Gregg Popovich has always treated basketball with the correct amount of seriousness, which is to say you let it drive you nuts, until you realize you're being stupid and ease up. Both of those things are important. Read more »

There are players who come along every decade or so, and they invent a new grammar, sometimes even a new language of basketball. With Zion Williamson, we merely want the time to understand it. Read more »

You see someone who can do a bit of everything at age 24 and figure he'll develop linearly and remarkably, until you've talked yourself into a player like Josh Richardson becoming Tony Allen crossed with Bradley Beal. It's fun to get carried away. Read more »

Being heedless, when you can still afford to be, is one of the great pleasures of being young. And seeing Ja Morant romp and rage- it's a kind of metaphor for being young, a heightened representation of it. Read more »

Rudy Gobert is a tough one. He demands praise, to the point of importunance. He's sensitive to the idea that he's only a defensive stopper. Read more »

Buddy Hield and the Kings are in Year 1 of a commitment both sides appear to regret, but there's little choice for both but to muddle on. Read more »

Everybody has to overcome themselves; almost no one has to deal with scoring on Rudy Gobert. Dennis Schroder has managed it, with greater efficiency than you'd expect, and the Lakers are his reward. Read more »

The Boylen Era Bulls had no clue what to do with Wendell Carter, and he should benefit noticeably from Billy Donovan steady hand. Read more »

The reason Miami's almost-championship run was inspiring is because it felt like it was entirely a product of their institutional competence. They drafted well and coached guys up. They worked every advantage they had. Read more »

R.J. Barrett has the kind of broad, amorphous ability that you can project your desires onto. He is the idea of home ownership, the haze-engulfed outline of a better self. Read more »