The Thunder finished the 24-25 season with the best Net Rating in the NBA, ahead of the Cavaliers who jumped from 13th a season ago. Read more »

Five years after their bubble series, the Nuggets are no longer rising talents, but beleaguered champions, potentially on the verge of more change; the Clippers are no longer a microwaved super-contender, but a quirky brew of born-again role players filling in around one star. Read more »

Michael Malone and Calvin Booth battled for control and both lost, but were also in an inevitable race against the NBA's CBA rules that force good teams to renew their rosters every few years. Read more »

Derik Queen should be a productive offensive big in the NBA, but will be in a limited role due to his defensive shortcomings or can he extend it out? Read more »

As the Pistons rise and the Bucks fall, notions of NBA hope and doom clarify. The Pistons, built through the draft and shrewd free agency bargains, will experience the same complex and limiting salary rules that have shrunk the Bucks' prospects, inevitably. Read more »

Players with Jeremiah Fears' offensive flair, scoring chops, and feel for the game don't come around often, which offset concerns about his shooting and lack of size. Read more »

The NFL, MLB and NHL all have essentially the same system that rewards the very worst teams with the very best picks. Yet none of those leagues are dealing with anything that comes close to the NBA's annual existential crisis. Read more »

Until the Zach LaVine trade, the Bulls looked very much like a team between identities. Now, they're playing a faster style built around Josh Giddey and Coby White. Read more »

Bennett Stirtz, Nique Clifford, Max Shulga, Tyon Grant-Foster and JaKobe Coles are names to watch from an NBA draft perspective in the early rounds of the tournament. Read more »

Big, glitzy talents are often given a longer leash by fans, expected to contend for titles even after non-dominant regular seasons. Even in this parity era, the odds of those teams actually winning a title remain slim. Read more »

Both the Thunder and Rockets are frenetic, physical, and new in a way that quickly washes the rubbish from your mind when you're watching them, if you care at all about the real physical pleasures of the sport. Read more »

Khaman Maluach might not be a franchise player himself, but he can be a franchise cornerstone. And a rim-running big that's easy to play with and has the potential to anchor a defense unlocks all kinds of team-building opportunities. Read more »

Kasparas Jakucionis has the total package as an on-ball player, and he should be excellent as an offensive engine in the NBA. Read more »

Players with Liam McNeeley's length, shooting ability and instincts rarely flame out in the NBA. In fact, getting caught up in overthinking a player's physical profile feels like something that has killed front offices in recent years. Read more »

The NBA and TNT could have a had an entertaining night of basketball with its new format, but instead did a bait-and-switch with the likes of Kevin Hart and Mr. Beast where the main event became a footnote. Read more »

Luka Doncic has meant something more than what wins and losses do. He is famous, himself, and alive in a way that is wholly original and that will likely prove timeless. Read more »

Whereas the Lakers' inevitable jackpot is proof of how the league works, the Mavs are foolishly clinging to a fantasy about how it should be. Read more »

Unwilling to see Luka Doncic through whatever plagues him, the Mavericks just sent him to a task much harder than the one they'd given him. If he can do it, basketball mythology will have to revise its definition of "forever." Read more »

The Lakers are caught between pragmatism and hope, torn between optimizing their new, Luka Doncic-led future and maximizing their current, LeBron James-led present. Read more »

In Luka Doncic, the Lakers have their bridge to the future, but LeBron James also has his bridge to another career-defining chapter.  Read more »