D'Angelo Russell has assumed the long thankless role of being the second-best teammate for LeBron James as the all-time great either carries you or is failed by you. Read more »

As the sun sets on the Warriors' empire, the end of Stephen Curry's career will be determined by how quickly Jonathan Kuminga can launch into the prime of his own. Read more »

Devin Booker has achieved a level of all-around mastery almost by happenstance, the byproduct of toggling between different roles throughout his career. He has become the NBA's most amenable superstar. Read more »

Stars open championship windows, but adding the right mix of role players brings home the rings. OG Anunoby, Christian Braun, P.J. Washington and even Bradley Beal are among the players who will have an outsized impact on who wins in June. Read more »

Doc Rivers may be best suited to coach a version of the Bucks that ultimately no longer exists. They once bludgeoned their way to a title behind Giannis and a mathematically-optimized scheme, but this team is older and slower than the 2021 vintage and the rest of the East is better. Read more »

Rob Dillingham represents Minnesota's best and last chance to acquire high-level talent that will complement their current roster. Trading for him wasn't merely a savvy basketball move, it was a clever piece of front office statecraft. Read more »

The shape of Dallas' season will be determined by the shape of their franchise player. Getting the most out of Luka Doncic raises their ceiling, but lowers their likelihood of reaching it. Is that tradeoff worth the weight?  Read more »

The hope for this season is that, without so much chaos, the Bucks' quick flashes of brilliance will instead be multi-week, fear-inducing exhibits of organizational excellence. Read more »

While Jalen Brunson's sphere of influence has turned the Knicks into contenders, Julius Randle is why they could become champions. Read more »

In a league that's increasingly a poker game featuring a deck with more poisoned cards than useful ones, the Pelicans boast one of the more potent long-term hands. Read more »

Michael Porter Jr. is a load-bearing pillar of the Nuggets' offense; even if he can't create his own shot in a traditional sense, he needs to leverage his presence and his movement to create shots for the whole team.  Read more »

Tom Thibodeau has always loved to play his best players a lot of minutes, but he rarely plays small. This season, in order to fulfill the former, he will likely have to compromise on the latter. Read more »

The ends of Embiid and George's primes will be determined by the beginning of Maxey's. Together, the three of them are a fascinating fit: they're seemingly aligned in what they do on the court, but dramatically different in how. Read more »

The ultimate promise of Jalen Williams is that he can be both a co-star and an actual star. Williams' broad yet specific skills enable the Thunder's unique, amoebic scheme. Read more »

Jayson Tatum's ability to level up hinges on his ability to transcend his greatest influence. Boston won last year's title because they were finally deep and talented enough to ride out the roughest aspects of Tatum's Mamba Mentality cosplay. For them to win again this year, they'll need him to shed his skin.  Read more »

In a newly restrictive NBA that more or less punishes teams for being good, there is no way forward into consistent contention without perennial youth development. Read more »

Victor Wembanyama flew to Paris this year to test the boundaries of his greatness, showing us why we call him an alien while reminding us of all the ways he's human. Read more »

This round of Olympics basketball felt different (weightier, more grand) than usual. It might be the last time that America is the clear favorite. Read more »

Kevin Durant has spent his NBA career touring the country, ingratiating himself to different fanbases before making a complicated exit. The through-line for it all has been his place on Team USA. Read more »

The Nuggets very well will be like the 2024 Serbian national team: a hardly extraordinary collection, expanded to their strategic limits by the genius of their leader. Read more »