John Wilmes - Basketball Analysis

A Glossary For The New NBA Season

by John Wilmes

Understanding The Mystery Box teams, The Cereal City Assassin, Beamlessness, Vulture Mode and more. Read more »
The Bulls Are Making Disappointment Their Home

by John Wilmes

It seems fair to say that Zach LaVine probably needs to play next to a different kind of running mate: one who runs an offense instead of bails it out; someone whose primary management he can play off. Read more »
Minnesota's Twin Tower Problem

by John Wilmes

The Sixers recently tried and failed a Twin Towers experiment, but were able to quickly dig themselves out of the hole. With the Wolves trading away all of their future draft capital, fixing their Gobert/Towns mix will be even more challenging for them. Read more »
The Time For The Thunder Is Now

by John Wilmes

What happens when you're "collecting assets" but you already have a star where keeping him happy is likely more important than marginally increasing the odds on your NBA Powerball ticket. Read more »
NBA City Edition Uniforms: A 30-Team Review

by John Wilmes

Reviewing the hits and misses of the 22-23 City Edition uniforms. Read more »
The Nets Are A Blob Of Cultural Anxieties

by John Wilmes

Most organizations cannot handle even one man who is capable of destabilizing everything going on around them, but in Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, and potentially Ime Udoka as well, the Nets could have four. Read more »
The Utah Jazz Are Melodic, For Now

by John Wilmes

The Jazz have an extremely annoying team to deal with on a night-to-night basis. So far, they've undermined everyone's expectations for them, perhaps even their own, and have done it without superstar talent. Read more »
Draymond Green And The Gross Truth Of Sports

by John Wilmes

Access to the frenetic, physical, hyper-communicative disruption and coordination Draymond Green offers on the court has long required dealing with all the storm and fever he brings off it. Read more »
Deandre Ayton And The Center's Dilemma

by John Wilmes

Deandre Ayton has played the role of a thankless big man and given finite room to flourish. The bill has seemed to come due on the good will he's shown during his subjugation into such a blunt instrument role. Read more »
The Case For The Bulls Without Lonzo Ball

by John Wilmes

All is not lost without Lonzo Ball, but it will take a delicate, intricate balancing act from Billy Donovan to make this curious collection of parts hum in a differently successful way. Read more »
The Rockets Of Then Become The Sixers Of Now

by John Wilmes

In Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and De'Anthony Melton, the dashed dreams of the 2018 Rockets have found new foundation. Read more »
The Cavs, Donovan Mitchell, And The Risk Of Vibe Disruption

by John Wilmes

The Cavaliers have implied that they believe their young trio have cultivated a vibe so strong that a player who's demonstrated a tendency toward tantrum will be persuaded to become his best self with their team- not just for those first few glowing months, but for good. Read more »
Dejounte Murray Puts On The Black Hat

by John Wilmes

Overnight, Dejounte Murray has branded himself as one of the most savage showmen within recent memory, necessarily changing the forecast for the vibes, if nothing else, of the 22-23 Hawks campaign. Read more »
The Return Of The West's Sleeping Giants

by John Wilmes

Forever linked by their bubble series in 2020, the Nuggets and Clippers endured major injuries in 2021, and are now poised to return to contention status in 2023. Read more »
Kevin Durant's Last Chance

by John Wilmes

Kevin Durant's narrative is messy because he is so aware of the tales and incentives around him, often uncanny in calling them out, but at the same time clearly stressed by the prospect of not telling the same quality of story that his peers have told. Read more »
'Hustle' Is A Great Basketball Movie

by John Wilmes

As a collision between a movie production and the roving entertainment complex that is the contemporary NBA, Hustle is a decidedly post-modern product, existing somewhere between advertisement for the league and true cinema. Read more »
Draymond Green Is Brilliant, And A Disaster

by John Wilmes

The line between brilliance and disaster is one Draymond Green moves back and forth over more than maybe than anyone ever has, and whoever wins these Finals just might be determined by how many games he can spend on the right side of it. Read more »
Jimmy Butler, Pat Riley, And The Truest Heat Team Yet

by John Wilmes

Over what is nearly three decades with the Heat, Pat Riley has turned his overbearing vision for basketball into a company-wide edict, rich with cultish lore and numerous back-texts. Read more »
The Warriors' Dynastic Ethos Is Back In Place

by John Wilmes

The reason the Warriors collect into a boulder capable of knocking all else over is because they have what other teams do not, to house all these wonders: a concept. An idea, a philosophy, an ethos. Read more »
What Chris Paul Can't Do

by John Wilmes

Whether you're one of Chris Paul's eager critics, or someone with enough of a tolerance for sorrow to keep riding the roller coaster with him more hopefully, there's no questioning that, even if this sadly mythical loss isn't a proper send-off, it could act as a fitting, sourly poetic bookend to his career. Read more »