Caleb Love, Hunter Dickinson and Harrison Ingram are familiar names in fresh places.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments, and concerns in this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
Now that we’ve reached March Madness, it’s a great time to look at the impact of the transfer portal in NCAA men’s college basketball.
Although it’s undeniable that roster continuity matters when it comes to constructing a championship contender, it’s also imperative for a modern team to successfully manage the portal as well.
Before the season began, we knew that many big names were transferring to new programs. With postseason play right around the corner, though, we can finally see which players have settled in as the best fits in their new homes.
Here are some notable names who made the tournament last season, changed schools and have made the tournament again:
Shahada Wells (TCU → McNeese State)
Walter Clayton Jr. (Iona → Florida)
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts → Texas)
Keshad Johnson (San Diego State → Arizona)
Steven Ashworth (Utah State → Creighton)
A few other names that fit this category include Great Osobor (Utah State), Darrion Williams (Texas Tech), Kadin Shedrick (Texas) and DJ Horne (NC State).
Additionally, there are some fascinating players who did not make the tournament last season. These are some transfers who will have a chance to carve their place in history on their new teams in this tournament:
Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado → Tennessee)
Cam Spencer (Rutgers → UConn)
Caleb Love (North Carolina → Arizona)
Hunter Dickinson (Michigan → Kansas)
Harrison Ingram (Stanford → North Carolina)
Other players like this include Tyrese Samuel (Florida), Keshon Gilbert (Iowa State), Isaac Jones (Washington State) and Grant Nelson (Alabama).
It’s an exciting time for these players who can show the world who they’ve become at their new
March Madness gives college basketball players an opportunity to turn themselves into legends.
One way that many of these athletes are able to do that is with 3-point shooting and in the modern game, those around the NCAA are continuing to shoot the ball from farther and farther. Both men’s and women’s college basketball players shoot from the international 3-point line, which is 22 feet and 1.75 inches.
We were given access to the database at CBB Analytics, which tracks how many field goals players have made from at least 25 feet away from the basket. For comparison, it is also beyond the NBA distance, which is 23 feet and 9 inches at the top of the key.
The Orlando Magic social team, probably: “Now you see it. Now you don’t.”
Gradey Dick and Anthony Black drove social media into a frenzy after the pair came up with the idea to do a highly suggestive jersey swap on Sunday. Somehow, the Orlando Magic’s social media team got involved and was convinced to post a photo to X (formerly Twitter) capturing the moment. However, they quickly realized they had made a grave mistake and deleted the photo after fans figured out what was happening.
Jersey swaps are one of the coolest things sports have to offer. If a player respects another player, they may hit up another player for a little postgame jersey swap. (You know. Game recognizes game.) That’s what people thought was happening when they caught Toronto Raptors wing Gradey Dick and Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black swapping jerseys. However, something even more sinister was being cooked up.
Gradey and Anthony completely bulldozed the lines of what isn’t safe for work and got the Magic social team involved. The team tweeted and deleted a photo of the swap before realizing that things like this should not be on a professional team’s account.
The 2025 free agent class was hyped as potentially the strongest since 2019, thanks to a speculated salary cap surge from a new TV rights deal. However, the NBA and the players’ union capped salary increases at 10 percent annually to avoid a drastic …
The 2025 free agent class was hyped as potentially the strongest since 2019, thanks to a speculated salary cap surge from a new TV rights deal. However, the NBA and the players’ union capped salary increases at 10 percent annually to avoid a drastic spike like in 2016. Additionally, players can now earn more through extensions, narrowing the financial difference between extending and testing free agency. This change has seen players favor extensions to avoid market uncertainties.
Still, there may be a bunch of good free agents available next year. Below is a ranking of every player currently able to become a free agent by then.
It was a rough night for the shot clock on Saturday, with issues in Los Angeles leading to huge delays in the Lakers and Golden State Warriors contest.
With one shot clock refusing to budge, the PA announcer had to count down the time and a stopwatch was used. It was all kinds of weird and LeBron James had an NSFW thing (with a laugh) to say in response to the whole issue.
But fans noticed earlier in the game that there was a possession in which the shot clock reset in the middle of the play … and the Warriors took some 30 seconds to score. WILD!
"I've never seen anything like this in 30+ years in the NBA."
— Mike Breen
The shot clock in LA stopped working.
After a LONG delay, it was determined the clock would be kept via stopwatch, with PA man Lawrence Tanter counting down the time. pic.twitter.com/XNULtX2ciG
LeBron just had to laugh and drop an NSFW phrase about all those delays.
LeBron James had to laugh.
After all, the final two minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors actually took over 20 real-time minutes to finish, thanks to a busted shot clock that wouldn’t budge and play reviews that took forever.
So in the middle of all that, the ESPN crew caught LeBron James reaction in the middle of all that, and it was straight out of Lethal Weapon and Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover): “I’m too old for this [expletive].”
He said it while laughing, and we agree: this was so absurd. Here’s the video (WARNING: NSFW language ahead!):
Global Rating is the main metric HoopsHype uses to track the performance of basketball players all around the world. Created by our own Alberto De Roa, it combines players’ and teams’ statistics to rank players according to their productivity on the …
Global Rating is the main metric HoopsHype uses to track the performance of basketball players all around the world. Created by our own Alberto De Roa, it combines players’ and teams’ statistics to rank players according to their productivity on the court. The amount of games a player has missed in a certain season or competition is also factored in. A more extensive explanation can be found here.
Below, you can see rankings for the best performers this season, over the last year and more.
Victor Wembanyama is going to be THAT GUY. But you already knew that.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments, and concerns in this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a fantastic week.
Let’s talk about Victor Wembanyama today because we don’t talk about Victor Wembanyama enough.
With the NBA’s pillars in LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant coming to the end of their careers soon, the whole “face of the league” thing has become one of the most popular subjects folks like to discuss.
But for me? It’s Big Vic, man. This dude just has the juice.
Part of being the face of the NBA is not just having a great game — plenty of players have that. The other part of it is just being a great quote. You’ve got to want that spotlight. You have to know the right things to say when. And the things you say have to be interesting.
We know Wemby has the game to do it — he’s not even averaging 30 minutes a night and is putting up impressive numbers. But that’s not what lets me know that he’s ready to be the guy in the NBA.
🎙️Victor Wembanyama sur le titre du défenseur de l’année : « C’est sûr que ça m’intéresse, c’est une récompense que je veux gagner dans le futur ».
« Rudy (Gobert) a de très grosses chances de le gagner cette année. Ce serait mérité mais qu’il le gagne maintenant car après ce ne… pic.twitter.com/TdB99oPEf9
What you’re hearing in that video is Vic responding in French to a question about competing with Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year this year.
Here’s a translation for you: “I know that Rudy [Gobert] has a very good chance of winning it this year and it would be deserved. But let him win it now, because afterward it’s no longer his turn.”
That’s some unreal confidence from this kid. He’s talking about a three-time (likely soon to be four) Defensive Player of the Year like this, who is also one of his NBA mentors, by the way.
Wembanyama doesn’t care. If you’re not with him, you’re against him. And he’s coming for you.
This is the sort of confidence people love. It’s what makes people root for you. The Spurs only have 14 wins, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Wembanyama talks about himself and his team. With that quote, he’s literally selling you, me, and everyone else on his future as one of the best defensive players this league has ever seen.
Might that come back to bite him? Sure. It’s possible. But Wembanyama not being afraid of that spotlight — not being afraid of failure — is exactly why Wemby will be the player we’re all glued to moving forward.
I don’t know about y’all, man. But Joe Mazzulla has always given me that “I should be out there with those guys” vibes while coaching from the sideline.
I mean, think about it. He’s one of the youngest coaches in the NBA. He played basketball at a pretty high level himself, too. I guarantee you that Joe Mazzulla thinks he can get out there and contribute. He’s a rotation player in his mind.
Steph Curry’s namesake brand with Under Armour has been on a tear over the last few months.
De’Aaron Fox was the first athlete other than Curry himself to be added to the brand back in October. Now, the brand is extending into the college ranks with an NIL deal for South Carolina’s star freshman point guard Milaysia Fulwiley.
That’s a big move. Fulwiley is the second athlete to join the Curry Brand, which is a huge deal. The connection is there — South Carolina is an Under Armour school. She’ll be able to wear the best Curry and the brand have to offer on the court, unlike other athletes with NIL deals that conflict with their school’s sponsors.
I’m excited to see what the Curry Brand cooks up for Fulwiley over these next few years. She’s a special one. Good times are ahead.