Victor Wembanyama is an exceptional rim protector and projects as the sort of defender who can elevate the level of the defense around him, while also looking like he'll be able to score at all three levels. Read more »
Basketball Analysis
2023 NBA Draft Prospect Report: Victor Wembanyama Of ASVEL
High Time For DeMar DeRozan To Impress Again
The Bulls are all in trying to win 50 games this year, and DeMar DeRozan will help considerably. There is a rung right below greatness, where some swell players hang out, but you can lose track of them. Read more »
The Bulls Are, In Fact, Back?
This is not a team built for development, but to win. Not to win a title, per se, but certainly to win more games than it loses, and for a good number of those victories to leave an attractive stamp on the broader basketball imagination. Read more »
The Opening Hours Of NBA Free Agency As Thirty Mission Statements
The advent of protracted trade demands and the play-in tournament and reshuffled lotto odds have conspired to incentivize goodness and punish intentional foulness. The NBA has pushed teams toward respectability. Read more »
Top-5 Restricted Free Agents In 2021 NBA Draft Class
John Collins, Lonzo Ball, Duncan Robinson, Devonte' Graham and Jarrett Allen are at the top of the restricted free agency board. Read more »
2022 NBA Draft Report: Chet Holmgren Of Gonzaga
Chet Holmgren is a perimeter-oriented big man who can nail three-pointers on spot-ups and as the trailer in transition. He has good ball skills and coordination for someone his height to operate off the bounce on the regular. Read more »
It's Dream-Selling Season
We are going to realize, in time, that this gaggle of young guys provide new paths toward winning, that they have or will develop skills that we are not now properly considering the value of. That's what the draft is about, on the broadest possible level. Read more »
Prospect Report: James Bouknight Of UConn
The appeal with James Bouknight is as a shotmaker off dribble moves and sleek footwork who can get promising looks in isolation. Even as teams have emphasized team-oriented offenses, the value of an individual scorer remains high. Read more »
Team USA's Stakes Are Moderate And Staying Motivated Is A Struggle
The United States have become complacent again with a roster of abundant ability but not much synergy. Read more »
Giannis And The Virtue Of Being Oneself
Giannis Antetokounmpo blends retro ideas of post dominance with conceptions of space and movement that could be revolutionary if only there was anyone else able to follow in his footsteps. Read more »
Prospect Report: Keon Johnson Of Tennessee
The appeal with Keon Johnson is as a tenacious on-ball defender who can envelope smaller point guards at the point of attack and elevate the level of the offense in transition, while holding some potential to become more physical by his late-20s. Read more »
In The End There Is Only The End
One team wins it all and they are the happiest group of guys who ever lived, they are invincible and immortal and beautiful and exhausted. They vacation, extravagantly. And then we reset and go again. Read more »
The Lagging Understanding Of Giannis Antetokounmpo's Dominance
When it comes to yeoman vernacular, though, the culture is simply lost when they try to put words to Giannis. Too often, they are loudly and proudly wrong. Read more »
Prospect Report: Franz Wagner Of Michigan
The appeal with Franz Wagner as a potential 3&D wing who can check scoring threats that look to create separation via craft or quickness and elevate the level of the defense around him in help. Read more »
Ben Simmons, Collin Sexton Hit The Trade Market As Victims Of Unmet Expectations
Ben Simmons elicits backlash because he's a star who refuses to conform to stardom while Collin Sexton is a non-star who refuses to acknowledge his non-stardom. Read more »
Prospect Report: Davion Mitchell Of Baylor
Davion Mitchell was arguably the best player on what ended up being the best team in college basketball, shot well from all over the floor (except the foul line), and improved his assist-to-turnover ratio substantially. Read more »
The Scourge Of 'Ratings' In NBA Discussion
The next time you encounter anyone mentioning the ratings of the NBA Finals as a means of pouring fake concrete beneath their flimsy cultural-critical structures, you should understand what is happening before you to be less coherent. Read more »
The Narrative-Proof Finals
In the NBA, there is no story beyond the narrative. But these Finals are different. The teams and players have oscillated wildly between extremes from game to game, at once confirming and refuting any prior notions. Read more »
Prospect Report: Scottie Barnes Of Florida State
The appeal with Scottie Barnes is the idea of someone his size with his length being capable of guarding every single position across the perimeter and maybe even spending some time at center on occasion, while running point on the other end. Read more »
Giannis Antetokounmpo's Visceral, Dominating Game 3
Three-point shooting seems muscular now. Except, you know what is actually muscular? Taking it to the goddamn rack. Giannis is awesome at this. Read more »
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