Tag: Layup Lines

The Miami Heat are bad enough without Erik Spoelstra blowing games

The Heat should get Erik Spoelstra some help.

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 through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

What’s up, hoops fans. Welcome back to Layup Lines. The NBA Cup got started Tuesday night with a little group play action, and several of the games delivered in the way of drama.

You already know about the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, who put on show in Klay Thompson’s first game back in the Bay. But there was also the Atlanta Hawks going on the road to stun the Boston Celtics with a one-point win, and the Detroit Pistons’ overtime win over the Miami Heat.

That last game was particularly interesting because it involved one of the greatest coaches of this generation making an incredibly uncharacteristic mistake at the worst possible time. With the game tied at the end of the extra period, Erik Spoelstra called a timeout — even though the Heat didn’t have any.

The blunder led to a technical foul that allowed the Pistons to shoot the game-winning free throws with a second left (and made for a great Jalen Rose meme).

Now, look, I’m not here to necessarily defend Spoelstra. Yes, he’s human. Yes, he’s allowed to make mistakes. And there’s no guarantee the Heat would’ve won in the second OT. But he blew it. There’s no way around it. He even owned up to it after the game.

But isn’t blaming Spoelstra kind of just a convenient cover for how mid the Heat actually are and have been for what, more than two years now? They’re 4-6 on the season after losing a dog fight with the Detroit freaking Pistons. The same Pistons team that tied the record for the longest losing streak ever last season. Shouldn’t that be a bigger concern here?

I don’t know. It just seems like maybe that’s where the focus with this team should be. It’s not that Spo lost them a game. It’s that Heat management keeps forcing him to prove how great he is on a nightly basis by rolling out a team that isn’t actually very good. They’re worse than bad, because there isn’t some high lottery pick awaiting them for winning 40 games every year.

We forget because Miami made an improbable run to the finals two summers ago, but they’ve been an 8-seed each of the last two years. As mid as mid gets. And they’re only getting middier. Their star player, Jimmy Butler, is now 35 years old and hasn’t played at least 65 games — the league minimum for awards — since 2018-19. And by the way, he was out again Tuesday.

Sure, the Heat still have Olympian Bam Adebayo, but after him, it’s Tyler Herro, the potential of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and a bunch of dudes. And they’re supposed to compete with the likes of the Celtics, Cavaliers and Knicks? Please. That they aren’t as bad as the Pistons most nights is a credit to Spoelstra.

So you can go ahead and pin this one loss on the coach, but you’re probably missing the bigger picture. The Heat win more games because of Spoelstra than games they lose because of him. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a coach, but Pat Riley and the front office should do more to get the man some help.

Gregg Popovich health update

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

I used this newsletter last week to send well wishes to Gregg Popovich after learning the Spurs coach would be out indefinitely with an health issue. Today we learned exactly what that health issue was.

The Spurs announced Wednesday Popovich suffered a mild stroke at the team’s arena Nov. 2. They said he’s expected to make a full recovery after already starting a rehab program. A timeline for his return hasn’t been determined.

This news is both scary and relieving to hear all at once. Whether or not he coaches again — which it sounds like he will — it’s awesome to know he’s expected to recover. At the same time, it’s difficult anytime you hear about a stroke.

The important thing here is Pop seems to be OK. So, let’s just continue to keep him in our thoughts until he’s back with the team.

Through the years: 6 unforgettable Gregg Popovich moments

Shootaround

— The Trail Blazers perfectly shut down a gambler’s injury complaints

— Steph Curry hitting a three over Klay Thompson was surreal to see

— Dwight Howard’s impressive Dancing With The Stars run came to an end

— The 2024 NBA Cup is using customized basketballs for tournament play

That’s all for today, folks. Huge slate of hoops tonight, more tournament action Friday. Catch you next time.

Keep Gregg Popovich in your thoughts, because he always had us in his

Wishing Gregg Popovich a speedy recovery.

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 through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

What’s up, hoops fans. I hope everyone’s been able to unplug a little on this unordinary Wednesday where that might not be the easiest thing to do.

We actually do have a fantastic slate of hoops coming up this evening to help with that, including a fascinating rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals between the one-loss Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. Definitely looking forward to that one.

But before we get to the hoops, I have to admit, it’s hard to go through the day without thinking about Gregg Popovich. Coach Pop, 75, missed the San Antonio Spurs’ last two games after suffering a health issue Saturday, and he’ll remain out indefinitely, as the Spurs declined to provide a timeline for his return.

The latest on that front didn’t do much in the way of relief, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday on NBA Today there was a “great level of concern around the situation.” And San Antonio Express-News columnist Mike Finger pointed out how differently this absence is being treated than Popovich’s previous stints away from the team.

It’s obviously too soon to jump to any conclusions, and we can take comfort in interim coach Mitch Johnson saying Popovich will be OK. But today especially feels like a good time to send thoughts and well wishes to Popovich. For one, because it’s the human thing to do. But also because Popovich always seems to have us in his thoughts, with a big emphasis on “US.”

Pop has never been shy about using his platform to speak about the most pressing issues facing our country. Even when it hasn’t been the most beneficial for him to do so, he’s delivered strong messages on social issues in times we’ve seemed most divided — like we do today. Popovich frequently uses his voice to speak for people whose voices can’t reach the places his can. Even if that means sparring with the former and future president.

Popovich is about as accomplished as any coach can be on the hardwood. But he also just seems to be a man of great character away from the game. So, today, as the Spurs get set to play their third game without him, let’s keep Popovich in our thoughts. Because he always has us in his.

Related: LeBron James posted heartfelt message to daughter after election

Joel Embiid suspended 3 games

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA suspended Joel Embiid three games for Saturday’s locker room altercation with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes that turned physical, the league announced Tuesday.

Embiid shoved Hayes after confronting him over a column he took offense to for mentioning Embiid’s late brother and son.

Although I believe the confrontation was predictable considering the personal nature of the column, the suspension was as well. Players can’t go around putting their hands on members of the media.

With that said, I am curious about what the suspension accomplishes, if anything. Because, just to say the loud part out loud, Embiid wasn’t playing anyway. How do you go about suspending someone who isn’t exactly trying to play?

I guess it’s three fewer game checks for Embiid, which, OK. But I’m sure his pockets will be fine. In the way of time missed, I don’t think this actually hurts him at all. If anything, the Sixers will just implement the suspension into his recovery plans.

The Athletic‘s Sam Amick reported before the suspension there was hope Embiid could play as soon as today against the Clippers. But that wasn’t set in stone. The suspension just allows them to take a more patient approach and wait until next Tuesday’s game against the Knicks.

At 1-5, I’m not sure how much patience the Sixers can actually afford to have. But something tells me they aren’t complaining much about getting to sit the guy they were already sitting to begin with.

Shootaround

— Who let off a gnarly fart on the Spurs’ bench? FTW investigates

— James Harden morphed into Kawhi Leonard for one play against the Spurs

— Nikola Jokic scaring opponents with his play predictions is totally normal

— A look at which teams are trending up and down across the association

That’s all for today, folks. Enjoy the basketball tonight.

Sending Bronny to the G League is the right move for the Lakers and for him

Bronny needs to get the reps to become a better player

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 through 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 got a great weekend ahead of you.

Earlier this week, Bronny James and LeBron James made history by being the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game together. We’ve been waiting all these years for this to happen. From the moment LeBron mentioned it as a possibility to when it all went down.

Soon, it seems, however, they’ll be separated again. Kind of.

After the Lakers’ next road trip, Bronny will be assigned to the Lakers’ NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, according to the latest from ESPN’s Shams Charania. He’ll travel with the Lakers through Nov. 6 and then begin “shuffling” between the G League and the NBA team on Nov. 7 when the G League season officially begins.

This might be considered a controversial move in some circles simply because everything surrounding Bronny James has unfortunately become controversial. But don’t get it twisted: It’s not uncharacteristic for a second-round pick to be sent to the NBA G League to develop his game. That’s closer to the norm than anything.

And, in the case of Bronny, this is probably the best thing the Lakers could do for him.

In his regular season debut against the Timberwolves, he only played a little over three minutes. In those three minutes, it was easy to see that his timing simply wasn’t there. As a rookie, nobody expects it to be. But the learning curve there for Bronny is sharp — no matter who his father is.

The Lakers don’t have room for him in the rotation. He’s not a better player than, say, Max Christie or Jalen Hood-Schifino. And those are the names he’d need to supplant in the rotation to play.

But, even if he were to get there, remember, both Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood are both out with injuries. They’re two veterans who are far more likely to be contributing rotation players than Bronny at this point in their careers.

There’s just not much room for Bronny to learn and grow on the Lakers’ active roster. The best option, then, would be to send him to the G League where he can learn the NBA game and steadily improve.

This isn’t a demotion. It’s not a downgrade. And his stint in the G League doesn’t have to last forever — he’ll be transitioning back and forth between the active roster and the G League roster.

But what’s most important right now is that he gets the reps. The G League is the best place for him to do it.

The Wall works

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

I’m not going to lie — I was skeptical when I first read about The Wall.

I mean, come on. The idea of an uninterrupted massive section of Clippers’ fans in the Intuit Dome seemed trivial to me initially. Do Clippers fans even care that much?

It only took me one game to buy what Steve Ballmer and the Clippers were selling, mostly because Kevin Durant gave it his stamp of approval.

He missed two free throws while staring down thousands of screaming Clippers fans.

Durant called The Wall “insane.” Devin Booker said “that [expletive] might work” after missing a free throw in front of it.

It’s only been one game. And these are only two (of the best of the best!) players in the NBA. But, man. If they’re saying this is a thing already? I think this might actually be a thing.

MORE ON THE WALL: Every team in the NBA needs to consider doing something like this.

Shootaround

— Charles Barkley still doesn’t know who anyone plays for. Never change, Inside the NBA. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— We ranked the NBA Cup courts from worst to “Please delete this.” Yes, you’re reading that correctly.

— Speaking of the Intuit Dome, this T-shirt toss is remarkable. Wow.

— Robert Zeglinski wrote a bit about what a difference Russell Westbrook might make for the Nuggets. Things aren’t so great after one game, but we’ve got a long season ahead, folks.

That’s a wrap! Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend.

Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

NBA defenses are finally about to get a leg up on offenses thanks to a change in officiating

The freedom of movement era is coming to a close

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 through 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 got an awesome weekend ahead of you .

NBA basketball is officially back. The league’s very first preseason games are being played today with the Nuggets and Celtics kicking things off in Abu Dhabi. If you’re tuned into games this preseason, you might feel like you’re watching a more physical brand of basketball with fewer free throws and a bit less free movement around the court.

That’s what we should be preparing ourselves for. At least, according to Rick Carlisle, anyway.

The Pacers head coach recently hopped on The Wake Up Call podcast to talk about this upcoming season for his team. The physicality in the game from the second half of last season was brought up. Carlisle said we should expect more of that this coming season.

Shoutout to Basketball, She Wrote’s Caitlin Cooper, who pointed this out. Carlisle said the league told coaches that last year’s physicality was here to stay. “Games are going to look a lot more like FIBA than the old, freedom-of-movement NBA,” he said.

We saw a bit of that last season after the NBA All-Star break. It led to several games with weird results, like the Celtics and Bucks combining for two free throws in a single game. Both of those free throws came from the Bucks. Boston became the first team in NBA history not to shoot a free throw during a game.

This was all according to plan. The NBA sent out a memo on official points of emphasis at the end of last season. League officials were made to focus more on proper defensive positioning and less on contact. It led to a sharp dip in scoring around the NBA. The decline in free throws started in February and scoring dipped right along with it.

If the NBA continues to emphasize these previous points, we should expect a stark contrast between this season and the last few years. That’s probably a good thing.

Let’s put offense in perspective. According to Basketball Reference’s data, the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors had the greatest offense ever, with a 115.6 offensive rating. That’s the team with Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all in their primes.

That offensive rating would’ve been just above league average (115.3) last season — and that’s with the NBA tightening things up in the second half of the year. Offensive efficiency records have been breaking yearly in the league, with no concessions to the league’s defenses.

We’re about to see a bit of a correction if what Carlisle says holds true. I’m here for it.

Wemby might just win DPOY, but don’t bet on it

(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)

Victor Wembanyama is probably going to be a pretty popular bet for Defensive Player of the Year this upcoming NBA season. Nobody can blame you for putting your money on him — he was the runner-up for the award last season despite playing on a 22-win team.

But Bryan Kalbrosky says that, at -250, it’s a pretty bad value pick for any bettors out there.

“That means an individual would have to bet $250 to win $100 if the Spurs star wins Defensive Player of the Year. The return just simply isn’t great!

Over the past ten seasons, no other preseason favorite has even approached that sort of expectation. The closest was when Draymond Green entered the year with +160 odds in 2017.

However, each winner since 2015 has had an average betting return of about 11-1.”

Plus, Kalbrosky writes, the Spurs likely won’t be very good anyway. While he’s elite, the rest of San Antonio’s defense isn’t quite up to snuff. Their defensive rating probably won’t be in the top half of the NBA’s rankings. And, if it’s not, history says Wemby won’t win the award.

Save your money. Or maybe just put it on someone else.

READ MORE: Check out Bryan’s full analysis here

Shootaround

— Nikola Jokic says that losing to Team USA was the “biggest defeat” of his career so far. Robert Zeglinski has more.

— Will LeBron and Bronny finally play together on Friday night? Charles Curtis has more on that here.

—The Knicks are breaking the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and the league isn’t happy about it.

— In case you missed it from Wednesday, here’s Prince on LeBron trying to temper expectations for the Lakers.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a fantastic weekend. Until next time! Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

LeBron James should retire if he doesn’t want to put expectations on the Lakers

LeBron James doesn’t think it’s fair to put expectations on the Lakers.

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 through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

What’s up hoops fans. It’s your boy Prince here for Layup Lines. And today feels like a good day to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers, fresh off one of the most interesting media days around the NBA this week.

The biggest topic of conversation was probably LeBron and Bronny James, who had some fun and funny moments together. It was incredibly cool to see a father-son duo do media day together for the first time. We knew the James takeover was coming, but it feels more real now than ever before as stories about their battles in practice continue to trickle out.

LeBron is even building some decent hype for his son, saying Bronny looks better than he did as a rookie. That’s a lie, but what else do you expect from a dad. Regardless of how Bronny looks, it’ll be an amazing moment when they take the floor together in a real game for the first time.

One other thing that caught my attention, though, were the expectations James refused to put on the team as a whole. In fact, he said he didn’t have any for the Lakers.

“I don’t have any expectations,” James said, via ESPN. “And that’s unfair to put any expectations on us right now. The only thing that we can count on each other is how we come to practice and come to work every day.”

I want to be fair to LeBron and the Lakers. Because if you asked me today to rank the best teams in the Western Conference, I’d get through at least four before even considering the Lakers. BetMGM has six teams with better odds to win the West.

But a statement like that rings hollow coming from James. Championship expectations have followed him his entire career. Those expectations only grew stronger as he cemented himself as one of the two best players of all-time. And once he joined the Lakers — the team with the second most titles in NBA history — those expectations were cemented.

It’s championship or bust. The day James’ team is alleviated of that pressure will be the day he retires.

Related: Savannah James playing as Bronny on NBA 2K is heartwarming

Whether it’s fair for those expectations to continue following someone who turns 40 this season is a fair question. But the follow-up would be why else is James still playing.

Bronny is one reason. But I’d be surprised if LeBron wasn’t still fixated on winning. There’s a reason the Lakers dumped Darvin Ham after two winning seasons and a trip to the conference finals, and replaced him with James’ podcast partner, JJ Redick.

James expects to compete for championships. When he no longer feels like he can do that, he’ll stop playing. His attempt at calming expectations from the outside won’t work. We can see right through it.

Knicks pulled off KAT trade with help from FIBA, EuroLeague

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks’ trade for Karl-Anthony Towns is finally done, The Athletic reported Tuesday, and it is absolutely fascinating for more reasons than one.

There’s obviously the basketball component, which involves two contenders in the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves making big changes to rosters that had successful playoff runs last season. But there’s also the mechanics of the trade, which wasn’t simple to pull off by any means. It took three teams, including the Charlotte Hornets, and a whole other league and continent to get done.

No, really. The Knicks had to include Duane Washington Jr. in the deal to make the money work, but Washington doesn’t play in the NBA. He’s signed to a team in Serbia. So the Knicks needed some cooperation.

FTW’s Mike Sykes broke it all down here:

“As far as the NBA is concerned, the Knicks still held Washington’s rights because he played for the team on a two-way deal last season and the league doesn’t acknowledge non-NBA contracts when considering a player’s free agency status. So he was still eligible to be part of a sign-and-trade deal.

The problem is he’s under contract and has already played in a couple of games for Partizan this year.

So, basically, for the trade to work, Washington had to get out of his deal with Partizan and become a Knick for a day to eventually become a Hornet for a day and then get waived.”

Read Sykes’ breakdown of the whole situation. It’s wild, but it did get done. Hopefully someone gets a championship out of it.

Shootaround

— Domantas Sabonis is ‘scared’ but ready for fans to dive into his life in Netflix’s new series

— Damian Lillard is questioning his Raiders’ fandom after Davante Adams’ trade request

— Draymond Green refused to engage with with a condescending question about his availability

— A Grizzlies veteran pulled off a funny photo prank on his rookie teammate

The NBA media space will miss Zach Lowe more than he’ll miss the space itself

The NBA wants to change its coverage, but this isn’t a good start.

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 through 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 an excellent week and have an even better weekend planned ahead of you.

The biggest story in the NBA this week seemed to be one that had nothing to do with the actual league and everything to do with the folks that cover it.

ESPN’s do-it-all NBA analyst, Zach Lowe, was laid off by the company this week, according to reports. The reason why is reportedly less about anything that Lowe did or didn’t do and more about cost-cutting measures.

The move isn’t shocking given the current landscape of things at ESPN. Lowe isn’t the only one in recent weeks to have been let go by the company. ESPN has done quite a bit of purging in 2024, including names like Robert Griffin III and Sam Ponder.

I don’t mean to brush any of those names aside. Losing your job is no small deal for anyone no matter what your net worth is. But, moving forward, I’m not sure there’s a more impactful name on that list than Lowe’s right now considering his role at the company and, generally, what he means to coverage of the NBA in particular.

To explain this, we’ve got to take a step back. Around this time last season, Adam Silver bemoaned the current state of the league’s coverage overall. It’s hard to blame him for it, even as someone who works in this space. There’s lots of good work out there. However, it seems always to be overshadowed by podcasts paired with incendiary takes and the stan-iest of stan accounts on Twitter only looking to rage bait folks into engagement.

That’s another conversation for another day, though. For the purposes of this one, you should know that one of Silver’s long-term goals with the NBA and its (then) impending television deal was to create an ecosystem where — not just smart — but constructive conversations and content could flourish.

Well, nobody was better at smart, constructive NBA content than Lowe.

He quite literally changed the way people write about basketball. From his time at Sports Illustrated to Grantland and, eventually, his work over the last decade for ESPN’s flagship, he’s always pushed the medium forward and constructively covered the league he loved.

He did that in such a groundbreaking way. Before everyone had a podcast, Lowe had the NBA podcast. The Lowe Post was the definitive listen for any NBA fan out there.

His angles were unique. He explained difficult concepts that the layman would never understand otherwise. Many of us know so much about Tom Thibodeau’s defensive concepts and how demanding they are because Lowe led us to that conclusion.

It wasn’t just those concepts, though. He tackled player intricacies, like what made Blake Griffin more than just a dunker in 2014 or why Tobias Harris was actually good back in 2015 despite how bad the Magic were. He taught you how to evaluate players regardless of circumstance. He did it through good, old-fashioned journalism and film study. It made fans smarter and inspired others in the space to up their game.

Getting back to the conversation at hand and the conundrum Silver faces with the NBA’s coverage moving forward, that’s the sort of innovation the space needs today. You’d like to think that Lowe would be involved in that in some way — that ESPN, as an NBA broadcast partner, would want him doing more, not nothing.

If you — like me — thought that, I guess you’d be wrong.

Maybe there’s an argument to be made that Lowe’s time was up. He’s been working at ESPN for over a decade now, including his time at Grantland. There’s a chance that the formula he concocted is outdated now.

But, at the same time, I can’t think of anybody better to figure out a new way forward at a company with a bigger platform. Surely, there has to be some way for him to continue contributing to the space if he so chooses. I’m not sure of the answers here. I’m not even sure what Lowe, himself, thinks of all this.

In the end, I’m sure he’ll land somewhere doing something he loves around basketball, whether that’s continuing his work in the media space or maybe jumping over to the team side and finding a niche there.

However it all plays out, his presence at ESPN will greatly be missed.

Jaylen Brown’s sneaker takeover

Jaylen Brown has been a signature sneaker free agent for quite some time now. He’s reportedly had deals on the table with other brands but has passed up on them repeatedly.

Now, we know why.

Brown launched his own brand called 741 and is wearing his own signature shoe this NBA season. It’s called the Rover. It’s one of the best-looking sneakers you’ll see this season.

A look: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAUbjVEyIBv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The knit shroud on the upper is what sets this thing off. It’s almost like the shoe is bejeweled.

Brown talked about his decision to release his sneaker here.

“My whole ideology is being able to create other options. There’s a lot of guys who feel like they want to do other things, and they’re afraid, or don’t know how. As a Player’s Association rep, I listen to them. … The solution, for me, was just to start, use my platform to create those. And spark others and show them exactly you can do it.” 

That’s a word from Brown. This is a gamble, to be sure. It takes a lot to launch and distribute a sneaker. On top of that, his health is involved, too. So, even with his money and resources, this is not an easy move.

Salute, JB.

Shootaround

— Here’s Cory Woodroof on Aaron Gordon’s beef with Steve Kerr and Team USA. This is interesting.

— Bryan Kalbrosky has more on the Trail Blazers’ tribute to Bill Walton on their uniforms for this upcoming season.

— Derrick Rose buying newspaper ads to announce his retirement in all six cities he played in his a pretty classy move.

— Here’s Robert Zeglinski on how the Lakers are already thinking about lineup combinations between Bronny and LeBron.

That’s a wrap, folks! Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Wake up, babe. New Ben Simmons workout video shooting jumpers just dropped.

Is Ben Simmons back? We need to see more.

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 through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

What’s going on, y’all. Welcome back to Layup Lines. I apologize for using such an old meme reference in the headline to get you here, but it is kinda fitting considering we were probably using that meme the last time Ben Simmons was good.

OK. That was mean. But hear me out.

In the three years since his last All-Star season in 2020-21, Simmons has played a grand total of 57 games. Some of that is due to injuries, some of it is because he never fully recovered from what happened against the Atlanta Hawks. Whatever the reasons, it’s been a long time since we’ve had enough evidence to believe he can be a good NBA player again.

Unless, of course, you’re into those offseason workout videos athletes love to post of themselves working on things they never actually do in games. Then, believers of the Brooklyn Nets forward have the most promising evidence yet of his impending bounce-back after four years of trying.

Simmons has been in the gym with renowned trainer Chris Brickley, and the results look about as good as you could expect for someone with good editing and no defense in front of him.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAB65qOJD04/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

If I sound skeptical, it’s because I am.

We’ve been down this road before. FTW has teased the potential Simmons return to form time and again and again and again. There’s a reason people like Doris Burke and Shaquille O’Neal have criticized him in the past. So, forgive me if I need a little more than a workout video to believe he’s fixed.

I hope I’m wrong. I would love to see Simmons be good again. He’s only 28. And Brickley is really selling it, responding to another skeptic on X by saying Simmons “is better now than his All Star seasons.”

That’s saying a lot.

At the same time, the problems with Simmons have been just as much about his physical breaking down as his mental. Back issues limited him to just 15 games last season. It’s the third straight year he’s been sidelined by back problems. Brickley can’t fix that.

That’s before we get to his shaken confidence. Though he averaged a career-high 11.9 rebounds per 36 minutes in those 15 games last season, and his 8.6 assists per 36 minutes were the second-best of his career, he was clearly a more tentative offensive player. Yes, he shot a career-high 58% from the field, but it was on a career-low 7.4 attempts per game — a number that’s dipped each year he’s played.

Even if he somehow gets over that mental hurdle, how much have the injuries and time away from the floor impacted his mobility and defensive abilities?

I don’t know the answer to any of that, but I know this video doesn’t bring me any closer to knowing either. So, I’ll just wait to see Simmons in a real game before I believe he’s back. You probably should too.

Adrian Wojnarowski retires

The Vertical

You’ve surely heard by now, but ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski announced his retirement this morning.

Normally, this type of news would have led the newsletter, but we here at FTW have already done so much coverage that I didn’t have much more to add. From reaction around the sports world to the biggest Woj bombs to Wojnarowski’s potential replacement at ESPN, we hit it all.

Our guy Mike Sykes contextualized the news about as well as anyone could in today’s The Morning Win: It’s the end of an era.

“Of course, I’m happy for him. He’s worked hard and has earned the right to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

But at the same time, Woj was one of the defining characters of the NBA basketball era I loved the most. His reporting shaped the zeitgeist. He didn’t just break news stories – he changed how the league was covered. Nobody scooped things the way he scooped things.

For so long, in the early aughts going into the 2010s, following Woj on Twitter was like being an NBA insider yourself. The platform was still young — everyone in real life wasn’t on it. But Woj used the platform as a news-breaking forum, so you’d have the scoop before all your friends did. It was almost like you were breaking the news yourself.

It’s not hyperbole to say that the NBA doesn’t become the league it currently is without the work Woj did covering it. He’s an essential character in the league’s story over the last decade and change in the same way an NBA superstar would be.”

Well said. Simply put, the NBA won’t be the same without Woj.

Shootaround

— Isaac Okoro was thrilled that he was a part of the final Woj bomb

— LeBron James ripped the Panthers in a tweet in support of Bryce Young

— Netflix’s trailer for the Starting 5 is here and it looks amazing

— LeBron hilariously poked fun at the memes of himself reading the first page of a book

NBA rookie extensions for Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and other stars are about to come down to the wire

Next year’s unrestricted free agency class could be special

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 through 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.

The NBA season is almost upon us! Things officially start on October 22, but even before that, we’ll have media day coming soon at the end of September, and then, before you know it, training camp will be here.

That’s why it’s time to start talking about contract extensions.

Every year, before the season starts, teams must decide whether to sign their up-and-coming players on rookie deals to new contract extensions. The window for negotiations this season was from July 6 and extends to October 21, just a day before the season begins. Once the deadline passes, teams won’t be able to negotiate and their players will enter restricted free agency.

The 2021 draft class is on the clock this season. Three players have already received lucrative extensions: Cade Cunningham,  Franz Wagner, Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley. Everyone else is still looking for a new deal.

 

That includes big names like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green (the former No. 2 overall pick), Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Kuminga and Josh Giddey. Those are a lot of key players who could be entering into lame-duck years next season.

A few of them are probably locks at this point. It’d be shocking if the Magic didn’t get a deal done with Suggs, for example. And I’d be surprised if the Bulls didn’t lock Giddey down with a deal after trading for him this summer.

But for names like Green, Sengun and even Kuminga, it feels more likely that their teams will just revisit things next offseason. Those players will get a chance to prove themselves in new, bigger roles and their teams will make determinations from there.

It’s a risky bet. And there’s a chance they may enter a restricted free agency and find money out there that will have them on another team next season. But that seems to be a risk these teams are willing to take.

There’s still just over a month left until the deadline, so these deals could still happen. But with the way things are looking right now, we might be in for a wild finish to the NBA’s offseason.

What’s happening with AJ Griffin?

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

You rarely see top draft picks flame out of the league after just a couple of seasons, but it seems that might be happening with AJ Griffin.

According to the latest from Shams Charania, Griffin is contemplating stepping away from basketball.

Seeing that was flat-out shocking. Griffin was once considered one of the best high school players in the country and was a top recruit at Duke. Injuries have really derailed his career since.

Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more:

“Griffin, who was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and the top-rated player in the state of New York, was a McDonald’s All-American. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and was named ACC All-Freshman in 2022.

While he missed part of his one-and-done season due to injuries, he was then selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

After averaging 19.5 minutes across 72 games as a rookie, Griffin did not get as much playing time for the Hawks during his second professional season. It ended with 8.5 minutes per game across just 20 appearances.”

I don’t know if injuries are the problem for Griffin here or if there’s something else we don’t know about going on. All I know is that it stinks to hear that this might be the end of the road for him playing in the NBA. He’s such a talented player.

Shootaround

— A’ja Wilson got high praise from around the sports world for her new WNBA scoring record.

— DeMar DeRozan doesn’t think the Raptors needed Kawhi Leonard to win a title in 2019. Idk about that, DeMar.

— Bam Adebayo and A’ja are definitely a thing, btw.

— Sue Bird isn’t concerned about Angel Reese’s shooting woes.

That’s a wrap, folks! Let’s do this again next week. Until then, peace.

-Sykes ✌️

NBA 2k25 remains the best of the best when it comes to sports video games

This game is so fun. I just wish it didn’t cost so much.

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 through 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 and have a great weekend ahead of you.

I’ve been playing the NBA 2k video game series for almost as long as it has existed. I picked up NBA 2k3 on the PlayStation 2 back in 2002 and have, generally, been a fan of the franchise ever since.

So when the opportunity to review Visual Concepts’ latest entry into the series with NBA 2k25, I didn’t hesitate to jump on it.

READ MORE: Every NBA 2k cover star since 1999

Now, let me be clear here. As a longtime fan of this game and the series, I do love it. But that does not mean that I love everything about it. Like everyone, I’ve had plenty of complaints about NBA 2k through the years — especially recently.

Every year, it feels like the microtransaction economy the game is now known for keeps slowly eating away at the playing experience. After playing the game for two days, I can confirm (to no one’s surprise) that it remains the same. It’s impossibly hard to play the game’s MyCareer mode without spending a little extra cash to improve your player and have a pleasant experience with the game and its PvP features. That will forever be a blight on this game to me.

READ MORE: Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the best players in NBA 2k25

But let’s put MyCareer on hold for a second. First, I’d like to talk about my experience playing this game. It was truly delightful.

As a longtime fan of the NBA, you’ve always seen players doing the impossible in games with dribble moves, crazy finishes, dunks, wild 3-pointers and more. The goal of this game has always been to capture that essence and package it for the rest of us to experience that in our own way.

I think 2k made immense progress with that through 2k24’s ProPlay feature. Instead of using motion capture technology to try and recreate player’s moves, the game used actual footage from NBA games to make them as accurate as possible.

For 2k25, they’ve improved on that ProPlay feature. And let me tell y’all: It works. Really, really well.

For 2k25, they’ve added a “go-to shot” feature that lets you do James Harden’s stepback, for example, or Stephen Curry’s sidestep 3-pointer or Luka Doncic’s slow-mo step.

Seeing is believing, though. So here I am playing as Kevin Durant in the 2k Freestyle mode, just messing around. Look at how insane this stepback is.

They’ve even got his “too small” celebration in the game.

The attention to detail is insane. It’s what makes the game so fun to play. The presentation is nice, but it’s not just fluff. There’s an infrastructure that comes with it that makes it truly feel like you’re in control of an NBA superstar. You can feel the difference if you’re playing with, say, Steph Curry or Trae Young. No two players feel the same — especially not the ones at the top of the ladder.

As far as the game modes go, there’s not much new added. But the selection was already robust between MyCareer, MyTeam, MyGM and, last season’s new add, MyEras.

The 2k eras mode now features a Steph Curry era timeline starting from 2016, which is a bit odd considering its a year after the Warriors won their first title. But it runs right up against the LeBron era, so I get it.

MyGM mode isn’t really that interesting. It feels more like an RPG now. There are six different GM archetypes you can choose from. None of them were really that interesting to me and, honestly, I didn’t play the mode too much.

What I’ve spent most of my time in (predictably) was the MyCareer mode. The start of it completely hooks out in.

You begin your journey as a player playing in the 4th quarter of a decisive Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Of course, you win the game. And you’ll probably finish with a 50-point triple-double, which feels awesome. But then you realize after the game that it’s just your player envisioning the future they’ve dreamed of.

From there, you build out your player. You can either build your player and adjust your attributes as you see fit or choose from several player and pro archetypes the game makes available.

I’ve found that it’s best to use those archetypes as a baseline for what you want and then blow everything up completely to figure out how you want to build your person.

Building your player is a delicate balance — several stat attributes are tied together, meaning sacrificing in one key area could mean a loss for another. For example, the higher your mid-range jumper is, the higher your close shot will have to be. That can create quite a conundrum for you in the builder as you try and balance things out.

This is what I landed on.

I’ve had fun playing with my player so far. We’ve already run a muck in the Rec so far. I caught my first body of the season, too.

https://twitter.com/MikeDSykes/status/1832116906699989436

It’s been a blast to play. The only issue is, again, the extra money you’ve got to spend on virtual currency to get your player to a point where they can compete online. It’s easily the most frustrating part about NBA 2k. It takes nearly 200,000 in 2k’s “virtual currency” to upgrade your player from a 60 overall to an 85 overall.

Sure, you can play enough games to get there eventually. If you’re raking in, say, 1,000 virtual currency points per NBA regular season game, that’d nearly be 3 full NBA seasons before you reach an 85 overall from your player’s baseline. And we haven’t even begun to discuss how long it’d take for you to get to the highest overall possible at 99.

That entire concept is frustrating and should be done away with. The game is so good otherwise that you just have to wonder how much better it could be if it weren’t going to cost you an extra $100 actually to get the most out of it. For how long some play it? Maybe it’s worth it. But if you’re only looking for a casual playing experience in MyCareer, this might be a hang-up for you.

With that said, I’ve enjoyed playing this game both in and outside of the MyCareer setting. As far as sports games go, NBA 2k is still the creme of the crop.

This is a solid 8 out of 10 game that could easily be bumped up to a 9 without VC struggles. That won’t happen. But, hey. A guy can wish, right?

Shootaround

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky speaking with Joakim Noah on the rise of Frances Tiafoe. This one was fun.

— Shaq is still roasting Rudy Gobert. Yikes, gang.

— And so is Dereck Lively II? Man. Come on. Rudy ain’t bad, y’all. Plus, Lively, my guy. Look in the mirror.

— Here’s Meg Hall on fuel being added to the fire for dating rumors between A’ja Wilson and Bam Adebayo. This is fun.

That’s a wrap, gang! Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Have a good one. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Fan’s dreams of LeBron James and Steph Curry playing together are officially cooked

The dream was fun while it lasted.

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 through 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’re having a great day and are ready for the three day weekend ahead of you.

The Golden State Warriors got their work done a bit early this week, didn’t they?

Stephen Curry has reportedly signed a one-year, $62.6 million extension with the team for the 2026-27 season. He’ll join the NBA’s $500 million club and remain a Warrior through the remainder of his deal unless he asks out.

That’s great news for Warriors fans out there who thought Curry might dash for greener grass after a couple of underwhelming seasons in a row for the Warriors. While that’s still not completely outside the realm of possibility, it’s become a lot less likely now.

What is completely cooked with this extension, though, are hopes that he and LeBron James would ever play together.

Fans have almost always fantasized about the two defining players of this era of hoops playing together. Steph at point with LeBron on the wing? That’d be a nightmare, even in their twilight years. Curry is still the game’s best shooter and James knows how to manipulate defenses better than almost anyone in NBA history.

Their Olympic stint together this summer only added fuel to the fire for those thoughts. And when Steph removed “Warriors guard” from his Instagram bio? Whew, boy. Things were getting crazy.

But now, Curry is locked in. He could theoretically be traded for, sure. But it’d take half the Lakers’ roster to get a deal done without a third team while also keeping Anthony Davis and James on the roster. Plus, they don’t have the draft capital or young prospects the Warriors would be looking for in return. Much of the same could be said on the Warriors end of things if, say, James were to request a trade.

At this point, we know that’s not happening. Neither of these guys are going anywhere. The teams they’re with now are the teams they’re going to be finishing their careers with. You never say never — this is the NBA. You never know.

But if you were holding out any hope for a union between these two, you should probably let that hope dissipate now.

Do us justice, Netflix

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of LeBron, I cannot wait to watch Netflix’s Starting Five docuseries coming out this year.

The docuseries is set to release ahead of the NBA season, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It’s been in the making for the last year. The series follows James, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Domantas Sabonis through the 2023-24 season.

We’re going to see LeBron crack the 40,000 points record. We’re going to see Jayson Tatum win his first championship. We’re going to see Anthony Edwards be…Anthony Edwards. That should be fun stuff.

Netflix has been cooking with sports documentaries lately. Drive to Survive is an incredible production around Formula 1 racing. That sounds like it’s kind of the basis for what this series is, except for it’s not happening live during the season.

This doesn’t need to be as good as that. But if it gets close? I’ll be satisfied.

Shootaround

— Kiyan Anthony’s quote about Bronny James making it to the NBA is…kind of weird? Idk what to make of this. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Speaking of Bronny, he can’t call his dad “Dad” on the court. Here’s Andrew Joseph with more.

— The NBA 2k25 ratings are out and these are…kind of disrespectful to Joel Embiid.

— Could Caitlin Clark be the WNBA’s MVP? Nah. But Rebecca Lobo thinks she might be in the conversation.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today. Have a fantastic weekend. Let’s do this again next week.