The Lakers have told themselves they can beat the mundane task of the regular season, get into the playoffs at whatever-and-whatever, with nothing more than professionalism but the drudgery has already set in. Read more »

Most of the roster has now seen coaching and front office turnover take place in their time in Sacramento, and everyone is aware of how long it's been since the team was relevant. In this context, it's hard to instill comfort, and easy to lose it. Read more »

There was supposed to be freedom in Kevin Durant's exit from the Warriors to Brooklyn, but instead he has found himself besieged by bad luck that has him trapped in a new way. Read more »

Ben Simmons has accidentally, tragically found a new way to play the game. It is more painful to witness than passing up a playoff dunk. There has to be basketball at the end of this. Read more »

Everyone in the league watched Atlanta's unlikely run last postseason, and everyone now has more of a working idea of how to deal with them. The problem-solving standard has shifted permanently upwards for Atlanta, because now everyone is much more motivated to be their problem. Read more »

Evan Mobley seems to be what Cleveland has been looking for, a player who with his abundant and adaptable skills, casts the play of everyone around him in a rosier light. Read more »

DeMar DeRozan wasn't LeBron and he wasn't Kawhi, and he also wasn't Tim Duncan when he reached the Spurs. He quietly improved nonetheless and turned into one of the most overlooked playmakers in the NBA. Read more »

Scottie Pippen didn't get exactly what he wanted a long time ago, and has let those minor slights govern the entire back half of his life. He wears his disappointments about as heavily as any retired athlete in recent memory. Read more »

The Blazers and Celtics brought in new coaches to address questions that we may see to be more existential and personnel-based than strategic or cultural. Sometimes you're just putting a new face on the same disappointment, and sometimes that disappointment ossifies, and then morphs into something worse. Read more »

Perception of the development within the industry not yet necessarily meeting the same level of enthusiasm Mikey Williams generates on social media, but there is more to the combo guard than fame. Read more »

Atop a tapestry of overlapping mythologies, the Bulls and Knicks treated the basketball world to a highly romantic slobberknocker. Both franchises are now finally on the right side of mediocrity, after a several-year stretch during which the two teams were the biggest losers in all of the NBA. Read more »

The Rockets are blending throwback ball-dominant scorers with modern big men. With few expectations, they are offering their young players the liberty to play instinctually, free to indulge every one of their gifts without restraint. Read more »

In the spirit of rationality, let's take a look at the first several days of the NBA season without overindulging any of the still very limited footage we have at our disposal. Read more »

Is Russ spitting nonsense when he says he's a Pau Gasol acolyte? Yeah, probably. But a tamed Russ, who is ferocious yet under his own control is an exhilarating concept. Read more »

While that natural athleticism obviously helps him on the court, it has perhaps also made us slow to appreciate the fulsome layers of polish Zach LaVine has applied to his game over the past few seasons. Read more »

Maintaining consistency is easier said than done but John Collins has sorted a couple of things: he's sure that Hawks brass has faith in him, and he's properly introduced himself to the rest of us. Read more »

To be fair to Domantas Sabonis, he's 25 and ascendant, coming off career highs in points and assists per game. Nobody should be telling him what is and isn't possible. He'll gun for an All-NBA spot, and at least get close. Read more »

Bam Adebayo's instinct not to emerge from the edit booth without a final cut, leaves you wondering what else he's pretty good at that he isn't willing to show us yet, until he's mastered it. Read more »

Devin Booker had been the guy he was in 20-21 for at least two seasons, and his trajectory toward that plateau was as steady as it gets. Read more »

If Draymond Green isn't going to approach the all-around brilliance he displayed in his mid-20s, he's still a really useful player, provided you give him something to care about. Read more »