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NBA Power Rankings: Heat back to winning ways entering the final week

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

The NBA has reached the final week of the 2021-22 regular season as teams continue to battle for playoff positioning with just four games left on the schedule for most.

The last week should prove to be highly entertaining with the postseason seeding still far from decided. The playoff races, as well as the lottery standings, will likely come down to the final day on Sunday with much to be determined.

To make further sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We come back each week and provide our latest assessment on the best teams and those that are rising.

There are no NBA games on Monday and fans are so sad

With the men’s basketball national championship game taking center stage, every NBA player is getting a night off.

After South Carolina won the women’s national championship on Sunday night, the men’s college basketball season will conclude on Monday in New Orleans as the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the national final.

For NBA fans, however, Monday is a rare empty night, with not a single game on the schedule. With the regular season nearly over, play will resume on Tuesday, April 5, with 12 games on the docket.

While the national championship game provides a compelling alternative, some fans aren’t taking the break in the schedule so well.

Where should Bradley Beal play next season?

Bradley Beal may spend next season or even his entire career as a Washington Wizard. But is that the smartest option out there?

The NBA gossips love a superstar in distress – it’s no surprise that Bradley Beal has been one of most coveted stars in the league for a while. A longtime member of the Washington Wizards, Beal has seen his club stumble in and out of the postseason for nearly a decade.

The Panda has a player option for the 22-23 season. He could opt in and sign an extension with the Wiz. He could opt in and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2023. He could decline the option entirely and hit free agency in July. Beal has options, although the former Florida Gator recently said on Draymond Green’s podcast that he “wants to do it” in DC.

Whether or not Beal and the Wizards can find everlasting peace is beside the point. Like Julius Randle and the Knicks, the real question is whether the two sides should move forward together.

NBA Power Rankings: Behind dominant run, Celtics up to first in East

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

With the 2021-22 season winding down, teams around the NBA are beginning to feel the pressure in each conference as the race for the playoffs heats up.

Some teams are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time while others are struggling. The margin of error for those teams trending down is razor-thin at the moment with just over a handful of games left to play.

There goes that Mann: Tre rising up in latest Rookie Power Rankings

Rookie Wire takes a look at the top first-year players over the last two weeks of the 2021-22 season.

With less than 10 games to go in the 2021-22 season for most teams, the NBA has seen several storylines break out recently. As a result, there have been some incredible individual performances.

The stars of the league have seemingly gone off on a nightly basis as of late, while the rookie class continues to show out. They may not be exploding for 50 points like their peers, but the group continues to throw its weight around as one of the best classes in recent memory.

To make sense of it all, we took a look at the best recent performances of these first-year players and ranked them in the latest edition of the Rookie Wire Power Rankings. The rankings are not for Rookie of the Year purposes but, rather, to illustrate the best players week to week.

Which NBA players had the most blocks in their career?

Who has swatted the most shots in NBA history? Here are the league’s all-time blocks leaders.

The modern NBA is predicated on offense, with players pulling up from way beyond the 3-point line on a nightly basis. The emphasis on taking the ball to the rim has changed radically, as has the need to protect the rim. As such, the players in NBA history with the most career blocks feel like titans from another era.

The modern game has a few defensive stalwarts such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert. They know how to protect the rim at all costs. Still, the modern top dogs on defense don’t hold a candle to the Association’s greatest.

From fingering wagging and intense tempers to safety goggles and mild manners, the men with the most career blocks in NBA history have one thing in common: They know how to lock it down on defense.

NBA Power Rankings: Behind Towns’ play, the Timberwolves have arrived

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

With roughly a dozen games left in the 2021-22 regular season, teams around the NBA are in the midst of heated playoff battles with the end of the schedule in sight.

Many teams around the league appear to be in good shape while others are struggling at the worst time of the season. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics have emerged as the hottest teams after posting the two best records since the All-Star break, respectively.

The past week of action also saw some extraordinary performances with Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyrie Irving each going for 60 points on consecutive nights. Plus, Saddiq Bey of the Detroit Pistons erupted and had his own 50-piece.

Who are the top former Kansas players in NBA history?

The Jayhawks men’s basketball program has produced some huge stars. Who are the top former Kansas players in NBA history?

The University of Kansas men’s basketball team played its inaugural season way back in 1898-99. As such, the Jayhawks have been synonymous with basketball greatness for a long, long time. Unsurprisingly, some of the top NBA players in history are former Kansas players.

UNC‘s Dean Smith played at Kansas. So did Kentucky‘s Adolph Rupp and former Presidential candidate Bob Dole. John Calipari and Gregg Popovic started their coaching careers as assistants in Lawrence. The Jayhawks mean business.

With five National Championships to their name, the Kansas men’s basketball program is one of the winningest in the country, and their alum have gone on to have equally remarkable careers as pros. Let’s check out the top former Kansas Jayhawks in NBA history.

NBA draft 2022: Key dates for draft, combine, lottery and deadlines

The events surrounding the NBA draft return to more of a traditional schedule after two years of interruptions and delays.

With the 2021-22 NBA season winding down, and the start of the NCAA Tournament looming, some fans, and even teams themselves, have started to look ahead to the offseason.

The NBA this week unveiled the dates and locations of three key events, including the combine, lottery and draft. With the announcement of these dates, several deadline dates related to the NBA draft have also been revealed.

The offseason this year will reflect more of a traditional schedule after the NBA experienced several interruptions and other delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the combine, lottery and draft will each take place in person this year.

Here are several key offseason dates to take note of related to the draft.

NBA Power Rankings: Grizzlies continue to flex all over the NBA

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

The NBA is inside the final month of the 2021-22 regular season as teams around the league continue to gear up for the playoffs or their offseason plans.

The playoff battles in both conferences look to be heating up with some teams vying for spots in the play-in tournament and others looking to secure homecourt seeding higher up in the standings. With more teams in contention, thanks to the play-in tournament, the final stretch of the season should be highly entertaining.