Layup Lines – Syndication Server

How to stop the NBA trade deadline from being so incredibly awkward

Things got so weird during this deadline.

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. Go Birds.

Now that the NBA trade deadline is behind us, I feel like it’s a good spot to talk about the elephant in the room with all this. The timing of the deadline is always awkward, but this year things felt particularly chaotic.

Maybe it’s because of the Luka Doncic trade. Anytime there’s an earth-shattering move like that in the NBA it’ll always come with ripple effects.

WINNERS & LOSERS: Here are our winners and losers from the Luka trade

After the Luka deal, the De’Aaron Fox deal happens. Then, a few days later, the Jimmy Butler deal happened. And then a whole bunch of other deals happen in the wake of those deals. Everybody is wheeling and dealing and all the players are living on pins and needles while having to prepare and play in live NBA games.

So then you have moments like P. J. Tucker and Dennis Schroder being dealt to multiple teams in multiple days. And you’ve got players on the bench reading phones on live television because of breaking news. You also have fans telling the Heat’s players that Jimmy Butler is gone while looking at the panic in their eyes.

During the week leading up to the NBA’s trade deadline the league just dives as deeply as possible into transactional chaos. It can be a bit funny in the moment, sure. Seeing the Suns players react to the Luka trade, for example, doesn’t seem like a particularly meaningful or harmful moment.

But then when the implications and ripple effect begin to impact players outside of that trade, it all just gets to be a bit awkward and feel a little more extreme than normal.

That’s why I think the NBA should really consider moving the trade deadline.

Move it to a later date — maybe the end of the week after the All-Star game. The league can take a week off and get everyone off of our television screens. They can wheel and deal in peace without having the awkward moments of Steve Kerr having to stop everything to tell Andrew Wiggins that he’s going to Miami.

The transactional nature of the NBA will likely always exist, but that sort of thing sucks to read about. It dehumanizes players in a way that I don’t think is good for the fans or good for the NBA as a product.

Sticking to the script

The next big moment in the NBA is obviously the All-Star game. This one will be interesting because of the new format changes.

Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal drafted their individual All-Star teams to compete in a four-team tournament for the NBA’s big weekend.

We’re supposed to believe they drafted these teams based on the players they wanted to pick. But, when you take a look at the rosters, you can clearly see the pattern that this thing was scripted in.

See it yet? Let me help you out.

Shaq drafted the NBA’s veteran players.
Kenny drafted the NBA’s younger emerging stars.
Chuck drafted the NBA’s international stars (with the exception of Donovan Mitchell).

It’s an interesting way to format things. I guess the NBA tried to add a little drama to the picture through this farse of a draft. I won’t give them too much grief on it, but we could’ve honestly just skipped the theatrics.

Regardless, I’m hoping for a fun time. Can’t wait for All-Star weekend!

Shootaround

— Bryan Kalbrosky has some destinations for Ben Simmons now that he’s secured his buyout.

— Prince Grimes has the biggest odd movers from around the NBA after the trade deadline. Man, the Lakers. Smh.

— Here’s our full trade deadline tracker from Charles Curtis so you can see all the little deals here.

— And here’s all we know about Luka Doncic’s injury and when he may debut for the Lakers.

The 2024-25 Washington Wizards are high key the worst team in NBA history

There’s no way the Wizards should be this terrible, man.

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a great week so far.

The Wizards have not.

This team might not have the same historic 28-game losing streak the Pistons did last year — yet. But that doesn’t mean that this Wizards team is better than that team.

After digging into the numbers a bit after Washington’s latest loss, this team might actually somehow be a little worse.

Washington is in the midst of a 16-game win streak, which sounds pretty terrible on its own already. It gets even worse when you realize that the team’s point differential in the last 16 games is -19.3, which is the worst in the NBA in that span by about 7 points.

But folks. That’s not all. This gets even worse when you realize that the Wizards are in the middle of their second losing streak of 16 games or more this year — a franchise record in so many dreadful ways.

But, guys. It doesn’t end there.

This team has the worst overall point differential in NBA history at -15.23. That’s worse than last year’s Pistons. That’s worse than the Process Philadelphia 76ers. That’s worse than any of those dreadful Bobcats teams from back in the day. It’s bad, guys. Really, really bad.

The Wizards are on pace for a 10-72 season, which would be the worst season for any team since the 2016 76ers. The team’s current 12.8 percent winning percentage is among the five worst in league history.

I say all that to say that the Wizards stink. And things will probably get worse next week when names like Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole and more are on the trade block.

Of course, there’s a reason for all of this. The Wizards are tanking right now. This team’s rebuild phase is only just beginning — they’re calling it the “deconstruction” phase. Whew, boy. If this is what deconstruction looks like, I wonder what things might look like once everything is down to the studs.

This is bad. The Wizards are bad. All I know is that Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper better be waiting at the end of this road.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Speaking of how bad the Wizards are…

Bronny James got MVP chants in Capitol One Arena on Thursday night! He was actually getting buckets, too. Charles Curtis has more here.

I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or to just laugh at this happening to my team.

Bronny got MVP chants at the line (via @NBA)

pic.twitter.com/gLJQhZvmJn

— Overtime (@overtime) January 31, 2025

My team? What am I saying? I’ve always been a lifelong Cleveland Cavaliers fan. Good for Bronny. Love to see one of our native sons doing so well.

*cries tears of anguish*

Shootaround

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with 12 big names you should be watching at the NBA trade deadline next week.

— Cory Woodroof has the full list of starters for the East and West in the All-Star game.

— Here’s Bryan with the biggest snubs, including LaMelo Ball, who went from leading in fan votes to not making the game at all. People are mad about that one.

— Terry Rozier’s gambling scandal might completely break the sports world.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. Appreciate you. Let’s do this again next week. Peace.

-Sykes

Fans are too unserious to have more power in NBA All-Star voting

If anything, the fans probably need a little less power

There’s always going to be a bit of controversy and disagreement when it comes to NBA All-Star voting. Someone will always think, “Player X should’ve made it over Player Y, and why on earth is Player Z there?” That’s just the nature of the beast.

But what I will say is that I think, for how the voting process goes, the NBA probably has the right formula cooking.

The league’s All-Star starters are decided by three groups: Fans, media, and players. The fan vote represents 50 percent of the tally, and the media and players get another 25 percent, respectively.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS: Here’s Byran Kalbrosky with more on how this all comes together

That’s where the controversy comes in this year.

LaMelo Ball is probably the biggest All-Star snub missing from the starters. Not because Jalen Brunson is a bad choice — he’s a great one. I have no problem with him starting in the game. It’s just that Ball has been the East’s leader in the fan vote by a fairly wide margin for the entire season. The fans clearly want to see him starting in this game.

The problem is that Ball placed 7th in media voting for Eastern Conference guards. He only got three votes total from the media, which is why he dropped out of the starting slot. He needed two more to become the starter.

Because of this, fans are complaining that the NBA needs to change its formula back to strictly fan voting for the All-Star game.

I’m sorry, y’all. I love the fans. I am one. But that’s ridiculous.

I hate to break it to you, folks. But we do not deserve that sort of power. We have no idea what to do with it.

We’re talking about the same fans who nearly had Zaza Pachulia penciled in as an All-Star starter almost a decade ago during the Warriors’ prime years. A K-Pop band got Andrew Wiggins a starting nod a few years ago. Justin Bieber did the same thing for Kyle Lowry (who deserved to be an All-Star!) back in 2015.

You see what I’m getting at here, right?

As fans, we are unserious. We don’t care. More people would probably be interested in trolling the vote these days as opposed to making a serious effort to get the right players into the game.

The media vote serves as a check on any trolling. So does the player vote to a much lesser extent (because players can be trolls, too).

It might not feel perfect. If LaMelo is your favorite player, it might feel upsetting that he didn’t make it. That’s understandable.,

But trust me when I say you do NOT want to put All-Star voting solely in the hands of the fans. This is for the best.

Kevin Durant says it best

Sports documentaries are kind of boring now. There are too many for my taste, and some make me wonder, “Why does this exist again?”

Not for Court of Gold, though. Netflix created a documentary on Team USA’s Men’s Basketball team and their journey to the gold medal. Kevin Durant says in the documentary that they called themselves the Avengers.

That’s not the best quote in the trailer, though. It follows a quote from Evan Fournier about how the French national team has 10 years of chemistry and how the NBA guys get together for three weeks and just roll the ball out there.

And that’s a fair point. But Kevin Durant had the perfect rebuttal:

“Is that chemistry going to help you when you’ve got to guard Steph?”

Guys. GUYS. That’s so perfect. Words can’t even explain. Especially considering how things ended for France.

THE DEVIL NAMED CURRY: Steph absolutely put France away in the gold medal game

Don’t know about y’all. But this doc is now must-see TV for me.

Shootaround

— Bryan Kalbrosky has the Dunk Contest participants lined up for you here

— The NBA and NFL Reddit pages have banned links from X and Meta. Blake Schuster explains why here.

— Robert Zeglinski has more on what the world looked like the last time Joel Embiid played in Denver.

— Here are more All-Star voting takeaways from Bryan.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for tapping in with us today. Peace. Enjoy your weekend.

-Sykes

Everyone forgot about Tyrese Haliburton

Hali can’t get any love?

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a great week and have a fantastic weekend ahead of you.

There’s always a lot of talk around the All-Star voting. Sometimes, the results are a bit more interesting than the actual game.

We always talk about who deserves to be included and who the snubs are and how the rosters should expand and a bunch of other things we don’t mention ever again after February.

But one of the most fascinating stories from this year’s voting that I don’t see very many people talking about is the straight-up disappearance of Tyrese Haliburton.

THE BIGGEST SNUBS: Here are the biggest All-Star snubs so far

The NBA released the latest vote count for the game and the only Tyrese listed for Eastern Conference guards is Maxey. Haliburton is just…not there.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić continue to lead their respective conferences in the second fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.

Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. Players and a media panel account for 25% each.

Next fan update:… pic.twitter.com/oQvm99AmE5

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 9, 2025

Consider where we were last season when, not only did Haliburton have at least a million votes by this point, but he was an outright starter for the Eastern Conference with 3.4 million total votes. That was more than everyone not named Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid. Today, he’s straight up not included. It’s strange to see.

At least part of it can be explained by his down-season so far. He started the year extremely slow, shooting 37 percent from the field through the Pacers’ first 15 games. The Pacers started the season slow because of his slow start and expectations were high coming into this year. When that happens, you’re bound to see a dip in popularity.

This still has to be considered strange, though. Haliburton was an All-NBA player last season. He was an All-Star and an Olympian. He made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Pacers. But here we are with names like Jordan Poole (260,825 votes) and Tyler Herro (223,479 votes) being included before Haliburton.

This isn’t to disparage those players in any way. They’re fine! Well, in Poole’s case, the Wizards are not fine. But at least he’s solid. I’m just pointing out how Tyrese Haliburton seems to be a bit forgotten these days.

If he is forgotten, though, he won’t be for long. The Pacers are climbing in the standings and have won four straight games. Haliburton is also playing much better these days. Since December 1, he’s averaging 19.8 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 38 percent from deep on nearly eight attempts per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio is a marvelous 9.2-to-1.7. That’s All-Star-worthy stuff.

At this point, he probably won’t make the game. But if the Pacers can make another surprisingly deep playoff run? I’m sure he won’t mind if we never talk about him again.

Cleveland vs. OKC is a thing

Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

I told y’all the Cavaliers and the Thunder made the NBA’s regular season matter again.

People were into this game. According to data from ESPN, Wednesday’s showdown between the two best teams in the NBA averaged 1.87 million viewers and peaked at 2.5 million viewers. Those numbers are up 20 percent from last season in that same time slot.

That’s good. Really good. It’s something the NBA hasn’t seen a ton of over these last few seasons. Interest in the regular season has continuously waned year after year since the peak of the LeBron vs. the Warriors matchups. This bump is a trend in the right direction.

Is it a bit anomalous? Sure, I think that would be fair to say. It’s not every year that two teams who on pace to potentially win 70 games will play each other. But I don’t think it needed to be exactly that for people to be interested in this game.

We’ll see how things go next Thursday when they play again in Oklahoma City.

Shootaround

— Ji mmy Butler trolling Pat Riley here is incredible. Here’s Bryan Kalborsky with more.

— Kendrick Perkins says the Suns want Jimmy Butler. Prince Grimes says that’s not a great thing for Phoenix.

— I’m so tired of hearing Tweaker, but Damian Lillard doesn’t seem to be.

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more on rising NBA Draft prospect Kasparas Jakucionis and his climb into the top 5 of this class.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today. We’ll chat more next week. Until then, peace. Enjoy the hoops this weekend.

-Sykes

The NBA’s superstars have officially cooked the All-Star game

The All-Star game is ruined, folks.

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 a great weekend ahead of you.

Well, folks. We’ve done it. Or, actually, excuse me — they’ve done it.

The NBA All-Star game has officially jumped the shark. It’s not even the All-Star game anymore. It’ll actually be the All-Star games.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA has decided to turn the game into a quick flash pickup game format. There will be a four-team tournament between the All-Stars with two semifinal games between teams and then a final game to win the All-Star “tournament,” which seems to be what they’re calling it.

There are more details about the format, but if I’m being honest, I don’t care. I don’t like this. Everything about it feels forced. This doesn’t feel right, you know? This isn’t how the All-Star game is supposed to go. It’s not what it’s supposed to look like.

The NBA All-Star game means something. Or, at least, it was supposed to. It’s supposed to be a celebration of the game and its top talents. However, with the players barely trying, the game has become a shell of itself in recent years.

We’ve had moments of greatness. But, more often than not, we’re getting record-breaking scoring performances, half-hearted shot contests and half-court 3-point bombs. It’s not fun anymore. It doesn’t feel special. No matter how many solutions we all devise plans to try and fix it, it doesn’t mean anything if the players aren’t trying.

That’s how we ended up here. That’s why the NBA has turned the league’s biggest stage into a glorified pickup game.

As much as I hate it, I can’t blame the league for it. The players have pushed things this far. They know it’s bad. The league’s stars have acknowledged it. There’s no real workaround — the players just have to play harder. But they won’t. It’s just not going to happen. There’s too much money involved to risk injury and we’ve collectively devalued the regular season so much that it simply doesn’t mean what it used to mean. It’s a relic. A trophy. An accolade to simply throw on a resume.

Here’s my suggestion: Let’s just treat it like that. The All-Stars selected should be All-Stars in name only. Stop playing the game. End the weekend. Just give the players a week off and see how that goes.

The All-Star game is important. But if players can’t be interested enough in the game to celebrate and compete, so be it. Let’s not make them.

Is that a boring solution? Extremely. But it’s also far less embarrassing than trying to tweak a game repeatedly to continue getting the same result.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe once the game is gone for a few years, it’ll come back and a new generation of talent will be ready to make it mean something again.

Until then, can we please stop messing around?

Franz Wagner is the real deal

Bryan Kalbrosky hit me up earlier this week to ask if I thought Franz Wagner was an All-NBA player so far this season. I kind of scoffed at the idea.

Obviously, Franz is in incredible player. But is he one of the best 15 players in the league today? I found that kind of hard to believe.

Then, he did this.

Going toe-to-toe with LeBron James to put up a 37-point, 11-assist double-double and hitting a game-winner on the road against the Lakers? Yeah, man. I don’t know if he’s a top 15 guy. But I’d be silly to say he’s not at least in the conversation at this point.

He’s averaged 25.4 points per game since Paolo Banchero went down on Halloween.

According to HoopsHype’s global rating rankings, Wagner is the 10th best player in the world early on this season and the best under 26 years old.

Simply put, he’s got the juice. So, yeah, Bryan. I think you’re onto something here.

Shootaround

— Guys, Kendrick Lamar dropped an album! Bryan tracked the sports references included in it. There are lots of NBA joints in here.

— It’s hilarious how you still can’t read Russell Westbrook’s 200 triple-double sign. Robert Zeglinski has more.

— If you missed Prince Grimes’ last Layup Lines column, he made a great case for Dalton Knecht as rookie of the year.

— It’s insane how good Egor Demin has been early on in this NCAA season.

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

-Sykes

The Miami Heat are bad enough without Erik Spoelstra blowing games

The Heat should get Erik Spoelstra some help.

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).

A complete, uncharacteristic meltdown from Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra.

First: he gets burned by Detroit’s ATO.

Second: he calls a timeout in frustration, but he doesnt have any left. So he’s assessed a technical foul. Pistons take the lead at the line.

Third: tries to sub… pic.twitter.com/wCtAmMFPjZ

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 13, 2024

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

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.

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.

"There is a great level of concern around the situation."@ShamsCharania with the latest on Gregg Popovich being out indefinitely after suffering a health issue Saturday. pic.twitter.com/FXePQNlu1M

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 5, 2024

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

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?

The following has been released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/eOQoaZxdUT

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) November 5, 2024

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

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

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.

Kevin Durant: 0
The Wall: 2

KD misses both and Clippers fans get free chicken pic.twitter.com/2KcFiLdrHs

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 24, 2024

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

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

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.

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.

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.

"Pure joy."

LeBron James on Bronny's first media day with the #LakeShow. pic.twitter.com/dSzuFv6xLF

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) September 30, 2024

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

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