Tag: Layup Lines

Victor Wembanyama’s shot at Rudy Gobert shows us just how serious he is about winning

Victor Wembanyama is going to be THAT GUY. But you already knew that.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments, and concerns in this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes

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

Let’s talk about Victor Wembanyama today because we don’t talk about Victor Wembanyama enough.

With the NBA’s pillars in LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant coming to the end of their careers soon, the whole “face of the league” thing has become one of the most popular subjects folks like to discuss.

Everyone wants to know who the next torch bearer for the NBA is going to be? Giannis Antetokounmpo thinks it might be multiple players. Others believe a charismatic player like Anthony Edwards can do it. There are certainly plenty of good answers out there.

But for me? It’s Big Vic, man. This dude just has the juice.

Part of being the face of the NBA is not just having a great game — plenty of players have that. The other part of it is just being a great quote. You’ve got to want that spotlight. You have to know the right things to say when. And the things you say have to be interesting.

We know Wemby has the game to do it — he’s not even averaging 30 minutes a night and is putting up impressive numbers. But that’s not what lets me know that he’s ready to be the guy in the NBA.

It’s the moments like this that get me.

What you’re hearing in that video is Vic responding in French to a question about competing with Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year this year.

Here’s a translation for you: “I know that Rudy [Gobert] has a very good chance of winning it this year and it would be deserved. But let him win it now, because afterward it’s no longer his turn.”

That’s some unreal confidence from this kid. He’s talking about a three-time (likely soon to be four) Defensive Player of the Year like this, who is also one of his NBA mentors, by the way.

Wembanyama doesn’t care. If you’re not with him, you’re against him. And he’s coming for you.

This is the sort of confidence people love. It’s what makes people root for you. The Spurs only have 14 wins, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Wembanyama talks about himself and his team. With that quote, he’s literally selling you, me, and everyone else on his future as one of the best defensive players this league has ever seen.

Might that come back to bite him? Sure. It’s possible. But Wembanyama not being afraid of that spotlight — not being afraid of failure — is exactly why Wemby will be the player we’re all glued to moving forward.

Well, that and his ability to make grown men look like 5-year-olds.

Joe Mazzulla is the best

I don’t know about y’all, man. But Joe Mazzulla has always given me that “I should be out there with those guys” vibes while coaching from the sideline.

I mean, think about it. He’s one of the youngest coaches in the NBA. He played basketball at a pretty high level himself, too. I guarantee you that Joe Mazzulla thinks he can get out there and contribute. He’s a rotation player in his mind.

That’s why I wasn’t shocked when he tried to block Royce O’Neale’s shot after a timeout. Charles Curtis spotted it for us here.

This man is a nut. Here he is attempting the block in real-time.

Man. Come on. I’d love to play for that guy.

READ MORE: Here’s more from Charles Curtis on this hilarious move from Mazzulla. 

The Curry Brand adds another star

(Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

Steph Curry’s namesake brand with Under Armour has been on a tear over the last few months.

De’Aaron Fox was the first athlete other than Curry himself to be added to the brand back in October. Now, the brand is extending into the college ranks with an NIL deal for South Carolina’s star freshman point guard Milaysia Fulwiley.

The deal was announced with this slick video here:

That’s a big move. Fulwiley is the second athlete to join the Curry Brand, which is a huge deal. The connection is there — South Carolina is an Under Armour school. She’ll be able to wear the best Curry and the brand have to offer on the court, unlike other athletes with NIL deals that conflict with their school’s sponsors.

I’m excited to see what the Curry Brand cooks up for Fulwiley over these next few years. She’s a special one. Good times are ahead.

Shootaround

— Bryan Kalbrosky put together a mist-read breakdown on why Bronny James declaring for the draft is so complicated

— This has got to be the funniest steal I’ve ever seen in my life. Has to be.

— Here’s Robert Zeglinski on Jamal Murray selflessly benching himself for Reggie Jackson in the 4th quarter.

— Chris Paul giving a ref a tech is every hooper’s dream. Here’s Bryan again with more.

That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today. We’ll chat again next week! Until then! Peace. Be easy.

-Sykes

The Washington Wizards have hit rock bottom and somehow things are only getting worse

The Wizards have somehow become worse than the Pistons

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 great week and have a better weekend ahead of you.

Mine? Oh, it going great until Thursday night. I watched my Wizards fumble away a win against LeBron James and the Lakers.

This has got to be the most painful season I’ve ever endured as a fan of this team. And y’all know me, man — I’ve been through some stuff with this team. That Clippers comeback. The John Wall thing. Spencer Dinwiddie. Just…ugh.

Somehow, though, this season sits on a pedestal of suckitude alone. The Wizards are a laughingstock. Only having nine wins so far this season already felt like rock bottom. It certainly is. But, as it turns out, things are only getting worse.

Washington didn’t win a single game in February — the team went 0-12. You have to call the team the Ashington Izards now. The Ws are gone. I would say throw some Ls in front of that but I also feel like actual Lizards might be insulted.

I don’t know when the next Wizards win might come. There’s no “get right” game on the schedule. The Wizards are the “get right” team everyone looks forward to. The team can’t play itself. If it did, it’d obviously lose. Yes, it’s that bad.

We’re still quite a bit away from the Wizards potentially breaking the Piston’s streak, but I’ll tell you what: It does feel possible.

It’s hard to pinpoint where the team’s next win will come from.

Washington’s next five games are: @ L.A. Clippers, @ Utah Jazz, vs. Orlando Magic, vs. Charlotte Hornets @ Miami Heat.

Of those five, maybe the Hornets’ game can be a win? The Jazz also aren’t playing the greatest, though that’s a road matchup. The Wizards might be able to steal a game or two from one of these teams during this stretch.

But nothing here is clear. None of these games are guaranteed. And, if Washington doesn’t get one here, we could be looking at another all-time losing streak like the one we saw from Detroit earlier this year.

The basketball gods, man. They’re so cruel.

The 40-20 rule

Jan 19, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) works the ball around Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) in the second quarter at TD Garden.
Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Zeglinski is using an old Phil Jackson rule to determine which team might win the championship this season.

The rule is this: Generally, the NBA champion is going to be a team that wins 40 games before it loses 20 games. He explains more here:

“The 11-time champion coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers once said that for a team to be a true “elite” championship contender, it must win 40 games before losing 20. Now, that might seem like a random barometer that Jackson thought up out of thin air. But when you look at NBA history, it’s actually a fantastic indicator of who has a realistic chance of winning the title.

That’s because 27 of the last 30 NBA champions won 40 games before losing 20. Dearest readers, that is 90 percent of all title winners in recent memory.”

If we’re going by 40-20 rule logic, we’ve got four legitimate contenders: The Celtics, the Timberwolves, the Nuggets and the Thunder.

We’ll revisit this once we get to the Finals.

Shootaround

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with the latest mock draft. Of course, the Wizards are picking at No. 1.

— Shaq trying to bait Charles Barkley into giving an OnlyFans shoutout on the air is incredible content. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.

— Prince Grimes has the best bets for division winners in the NBA. That Southwest division is going crazy right now.

— Here’s the latest Morning Win on Caitlin Clark and the false idea of a pay cut waiting for her in the WNBA.

That’s a wrap, folks! We’ll be back on Monday. Until next time! Peace. We out.

-Sykes ✌️

Rich Paul’s denial of LeBron James trade rumors shows us exactly how cooked the Lakers are

The Lakers just don’t seem to know what to do anymore

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 so far.

I’m almost certain it was probably less chaotic than the Lakers’ week was. Because, whew boy, what a mess it’s been.

LA starts the week off with two back-to-back 16-point losses to the Rockets and Hawks respectively. Then, LeBron James does his passive-aggressive emoji Tweet thing again and the internet explodes. At that point, it’s only Wednesday.

On Thursday, the team gets a good win over the Celtics without James and Anthony Davis playing, but it gets overshadowed by LEBRON JAMES TRADE RUMORS. You cannot make this up.

Rich Paul released a statement on Friday saying the Lakers wouldn’t be trading James (which is so ironic coming from a player agent, btw!) and that James is not actively seeking a trade. So there’s that on that, I guess.

But, wait. Isn’t this kind of weird? Have we ever seen this before?

Sure, people have talked about James being traded before. But that was more media speculation than anything. There was nothing credible that said James would be on the move. And, most importantly, it never felt real.

This current moment we’re in doesn’t feel like it’s real, but it also does feel possible. And, clearly, there’s enough here today for Rich Paul to come out and actively say “Hey, my guy isn’t getting moved.” That speaks volumes to how down the Lakers are right now.

Things are horrendous. The team has floated around at .500 essentially all season. James and Davis have largely been healthy, too — there’s no using that excuse this time. The Lakers just aren’t…very good. And there’s no move out there that might be able to improve this team except for, well, trading one of its two stars.

That’s exactly why Paul felt the need to come out and dispel things this time. Because, for the first time in a long time, LeBron James might not be enough to save his team.

That’s the reality that we’re seeing. It’s what the Lakers — and James, himself, for that matter —  have to live with.

A $1.3 million snub

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

All-Star snubs are almost always devastating. But when they’re tied to money? Whew, boy, that has to hurt a little worse.

We can ask Domantas Sabonis about that today. A clause in the King’s big man’s contract would’ve activated giving him a $1.3 million bonus had he made an All-Star team this year. He missed out, meaning he doesn’t get that cash.

Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.

“The three-time All-Star had tough competition to represent the Western Conference. Sabonis ranked top-10 among all frontcourt players in the West when it came to fan voting, player voting, and media voting.

That put him ahead of Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns in weighted rank, but reserves are chosen by the 30 coaches in the NBA. Towns made the team (perhaps surprisingly) while Sabonis was not selected.

But his omission was the most costly among the potential candidates. As noted by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, not making the All-Star Game will cost him a $1.3 million bonus from the Kings.

Sabonis currently ranks fifth-best among all NBA players in win shares, which is an advanced catch-all metric that measures overall value to a team. He trails only MVP frontrunners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.”

That’s tough. I’ll never wish injury on anyone, but if there’s an injury replacement Sabonis might still be able to get in. But you hate to see him have to rely on someone else’s downfall to get a spot here — especially considering the season he’s had.

The Decision

Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Nneka Ogwumike might shift the balance of power in the WNBA over the weekend.

After six seasons in Los Angeles, Ogwumike is leaving the Sparks and looking to play for a contender as LA kicks off its rebuild. Some potential powerhouses are in the mix between the Chicago Sky, New York Liberty and Seattle Storm, ESPN reports.

This decision could shift the balance of power in the WNBA drastically.

— New York is already a superteam with Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu. Adding Ogwumike to this mix along with the elite guard play around them would likely make New York a Finals favorite.

— The Storm would be scary here, too. Seattle has an elite backcourt between Jewell Loyd and the addition of Skylar Diggins-Smith. Adding Ogwumike to that mix is scary for the West.

— The Chicago Sky would have a combo of Kahleah Copper and Ogwumike if she chooses to sign there. Not a Big 3, sure, but still a scary team, certainly.

We don’t know when a decision is coming, but it’ll likely be soon considering how much movement there has already been.

Keep it locked on our WNBA free agency tracker for an update when the moment comes.

Shootaround

— Jalen Brunson holding back tears during MVP chants from the Knicks crowd is the stuff dreams are made of. Bryan has more here.

— Bill Walton hilariously thinks Chewbacca is based on him. No, seriously.

— Here’s Mary Clarke on Joel Embiid falling out of the MVP race because of his meniscus injury.

— Here are 10 potential injury replacements for the All-Star game from Bryan. The East might need a couple.

The Knicks should be considered legitimate contenders but New York still has plenty of work to do

It’s time we started taking the Knicks seriously.

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, winners! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you.

I think we need to talk about the Knicks today, man. This team is trending in the right direction.

New York just beat up the Nuggets in a 122-84 route. Denver is a team with championship expectations. It’s essentially the same team that just won an NBA championship last season, give or take a few tweaks to the roster.

So, that begs the question, how close are the Knicks to actual contention? Is this team already a contender? If we take a look at the team’s statistical profile right now, the answer is a yes. At the very least, it’s extremely close.

First, the Knicks’ 117.6 offensive rating (9th overall) and 112.0 defensive rating (8th overall) are both good for top-10 marks in the league, according to NBA.com’s stats tool. The Knicks are one of five teams in the NBA ranking in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive ratings. The others are the Celtics, Thunder, 76ers, and Pelicans. Most people would consider at least three of those four teams legitimate contenders.

The team’s 5.5 total net rating ranks 5th in the league, which is good and usually signals a pretty good playoff team. The only teams ahead of the Knicks are the Celtics (+10.2), Thunder (+8.3), 76ers (+7.9) and Clippers (+5.7). Again, all of those teams are contenders. The Knicks should be in that conversation, too.

Do the Knicks have lots of room to grow? Certainly. New York is only 2-11 against the Celtics, Bucks and 76ers so far this season. Most of those games were played earlier in the year and this is a different team. But still, that’s why most would consider the Knicks a step behind the competition ahead of them in the East.

The OG Anunoby trade has changed things though. If you zoom in a bit more, since then the team’s net rating is a whopping +12.9 which is good for second in the league behind the Cavaliers at +16.7. The Knicks are 11-3 in that 14-game span.

There’s a lot of basketball left to be played. But New York is good. OG is the defensive wing the team has needed for quite some time. There’s someone who can guard folks like Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo now.

The games still have to be played. And the Knicks are the Knicks, so it’s understandable why people still don’t believe in this team. New York has failed in the playoffs for decades now.

But, man. This team feels a bit different. Whether it is or not will only be proven by time. But right now? Things are looking good in New York.

Trade SZN is upon us, folks!

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

So, naturally, our Bryan Kalbrosky put together a primer for you with the 10 biggest names on the trade block and how much it’d cost to get them.

There are lots of familiar names on that list. You’ve seen rumors floating around about DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray and more. But one name that really caught me off guard here was Alex Caruso.

It’s not the fact that he’s on the list. Rather, it’s the fact that the Bulls are asking for so much for him. The Bulls want multiple first-rounders, Bryan writes. Here’s more:

“Alex Caruso has tremendous value due to his elite defensive ability and clutch performances. We wrote about why last season and earlier this season, we outlined which contenders should try to make a move.

But the Bulls consider Caruso as “almost” untouchable, according to Chicago Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Shams Charania has said that the team has “shut down” calls on the defensive ace.”

Sheesh, man. I get it. Alex Caruso is good. He’s almost shooting 50 percent from the floor and is shooting over 40 percent form deep. He’s putting up career-high scoring numbers this season.

But he’s still a 29-year-old 3-and-D guard without elite shot-creation ability. That’s a really good and useful player. Just probably not an untouchable one.

Shootaround

— Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith doing the Dramond-KD thing on accident made my day. Charles Curtis has more here.

— Here are all the All-Star starters and the team captains announced on Thursday. Giannis is the leader this time — what a twist!

— The Bucks owing three coaches $18 million is even hurting my wallet. Bryan Kalbrosky has more here.

— Speaking of Knicks fans, y’all leave Candace Parker alone. Here’s Meghan Hall with more.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines today! We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend. We’ll be back again on Monday! Til then, peace. We out.

-Sykes

The Nuggets weren’t being petty by letting Nikola Jokic wear No. 15 after Carmelo Anthony

No. 15 belongs to Nikola Jokic now. Sorry, Melo.

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 have an excellent weekend ahead of you. We’ve got lots of MLK Day hoops on Monday, too! Should be fun.

Let’s talk about Carmelo Anthony for a second. And, actually, Nikola Jokic, too.

These two Denver Nuggets legends are linked by a single number: Fifteen. Both of them wore No. 15 during their time in Denver. Anthony’s time is over. Jokic is still carving out his illustrious career while gracing the number they share.

For whatever reason, though, the fact that they share this number seems to bother Anthony just a tad bit.

Most recently, Anthony was asked about it on his “7 pm in Brooklyn” podcast by his co-host, The Kid Mero. He thinks the Nuggets were being “petty” and just gave Jokic No. 15 after he left.

“It was a petty maneuver. It wasn’t like ‘yo, we’ve got numbers to choose from.’ It was like ‘here, you’ve got 15’,” Anthony said. “He could’ve wore it just because he wanted to pay homage. I don’t know. But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did.” 

I’ve got to be honest. I just don’t buy that. It doesn’t logically make sense when you think about it.

Nikola Jokic has worn No. 15 with the Nuggets for his entire career. Don’t forget, folks: He was drafted as a mid-second-round pick by the Nuggets in 2014. I can’t fathom the Nuggets thinking that he’d be this good. I don’t know if they thought he could “erase” Anthony’s history in Denver, as he says here.

Now, did they show a lack of concern for Anthony’s time there by allowing someone else to wear it? Sure! I can buy that. I mean, even before Jokic wore it, the Nuggets allowed Anthony Randolph to wear it. The number just wasn’t a big deal to Denver.

And why would it be? Denver wasn’t thinking about extending a courtesy to the guy who forced his way out of the city. To be honest, that’s totally fair. Anthony wasn’t owed that. He still isn’t.

It’s clear, though, that he’d like the number retired in his name. He said as much back in 2019 in The Athletic. “This is where it should be retired, to be honest with you,” Anthony said. “Just my opinion, man. The history is here. This is where it all started. Maybe not because Joker’s got 15 now. We’ll see.”

The number certainly will be retired someday, but it certainly won’t be in Anthony’s name. Jokic is a two-time MVP and a champion. He’s been a better Denver Nugget with a better overall career. That’s his to own now.

Carmelo will always hold a special place in a lot of NBA fans’ hearts. But that’s something he’s going to have to accept.

Draft Day(s)

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

Well, folks. The NBA has done it. The NBA draft will reportedly be two days this summer. The league will do the first round on one day and the second round on the next, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Here’s more:

“Among a number of reasons for the expansion of the event, including the programming for television rights partners, the NBA and teams are hopeful that the hours between Wednesday night’s first round and Thursday’s second round will give teams more time to make trades and plan out strategies for the second night.”

As our Bryan Kalrbosky writes here, not many fans were thrilled about this news. That second day is probably not going to be very interesting.

There are some ways the league could potentially spice this up moving forward. For example, what if the NBA did the lottery on Thursday and then knocked out the rest of the draft early on Friday? That might give the second day a bit more juice while also keeping the first day spicy.

We’ll have to wait and see how this works. Hopefully, the NBA can find a way to keep things interesting.

Shootaround

— LeBron James and Jungkook are a combo that I never knew I needed to see. Thank you, Usher. Meghan Hall has more here.

— Paige Bueckers might not be so quick to make the jump to the WNBA folks. We’ll see.

— Here are the players to keep watch on this WNBA offseason. Here’s Meghan, again, with more.

That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with us today. Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the basketball! Let’s chat again next week.

-Sykes ✌️

The Warriors’ two-timeline experiment has come to its final crossroad and it’s time to make a choice

The Warriors may have fumbled this thing to the point of no return.

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

Howdy, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines! Thanks so much for reading the newsletter today. We appreciate you!

The Warriors are back in the news on the NBA side of things and, well, let’s just say it’s not for reasons that will make anyone in Golden State happy.

As my colleague Bryan Kalbrosky wrote, Jonathan Kuminga has reportedly lost his faith in Steve Kerr. He doesn’t believe the Warriors’ long-time head coach will allow him to actualize his full potential.

It’s hard not to see it that way after the Warriors went out in the most feckless way possible to the Denver Nuggets. Kuminga had an excellent first half and essentially rode the bench for the majority of the second half while Golden State squandered yet another win away.

That situation is the trees, though. Let’s talk about the forest.

Remember that whole two-timeline approach the Warriors told us all they were taking a few years ago? That’s dead. It’s done. It’s cooked. It’s over. Call it whatever you want to call it. It’s time for the Warriors to move on.

If you recall, the Warriors planned to continue to have the team’s future Hall of Fame core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green carry Golden State to continued success. Meanwhile, the team would draft and develop young talent that would slowly, but surely, ease the franchise into the future.

Here’s Bob Myers explaining the rationale behind the plan two seasons ago.

“So we thought, let’s just draft the best players who were on the board. A lot of people wanted us to trade them for a star. This is not said in the vein of ‘I told you so,’ but we did think Andrew Wiggins could fill that role. We did. Not a lot of people did. But we wanted to see him in that role of the fourth guy.”

For a while, that worked! In fact, it won the team a championship! Clearly, it worked at some point. The Warriors succeeded with a mixture of veterans and up-and-coming prospects that we don’t typically see success from in the NBA.

Two years later, it’s all fallen apart. Bob Myers is gone — he abandoned ship. Draymond Green can’t stop punching people. Jordan Poole is a Wizard because Draymond Green can’t stop punching people. Klay Thompson is admittedly not the player he once was. Jonathan Kuminga seems to want out because Steve Kerr won’t play him and Moses Moody reportedly feels the same way.

And now, folks, we see the secret of the two-timeline path. It sounds great. It even might work in practice for a while. If you’ve got someone as special as Steph Curry it can work in a big way. But, eventually, chickens come home to roost. You’ve got to choose a path.

The Warriors have to make a choice: Either commit to the team’s younger talent or go down with the ship steered by the core that got Golden State where it is in the first place.

It’s easy for us here to say it’s time to move on. But moving on in practice is tough considering everything everyone on that team has been through.

I don’t envy anyone in that building. But I’m certainly eager to see where this all ends up. The rest of the NBA is, too. Surely, Jonathan Kuminga and a few others on that roster would have more than a few suitors out there.

Pack your bags, Pascal

Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of trades, the Toronto Raptors are reportedly expected to move Pascal Siakam by the time the NBA trade deadline rolls around, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

In an all-encompassing NBA trade piece, Bontemps says that both the Knicks and Raptors will remain active in looking for ways to improve their teams after the OG Anunoby trade.

“While the Knicks continue to search the market, the Raptors will too. League sources expect Toronto to move on from two-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam before the trade deadline. “

Siakam is an interesting piece. He’s been the Raptors’ best player for the better part of the last four seasons but seems better suited in a role as a secondary scoring option while focusing in on being impactful defensively.

He’s one of those players that — quite literally — every single team in the NBA could use. But he’s also looking for a $50 million payday, which would be a hard pill to swallow for all of those teams, too.

Siakam will still certainly be the darling of the trade deadline if he hasn’t been moved before then. We’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.

Giannis is a Wemby truther

Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

And, folks, let me tell you right now. I stand with him. Because there’s no way that you’re telling me that Victor Wembanyama is just 7-foot-3.

Look, I know that 7-foot-3 is already extremely tall. But Kristaps Porzingis is 7-foot-3. I feel like Wemby is taller than that. Giannis Antetokounmpo does, too, apparently. Here’s more on what he had to say after facing off against him on Thursday from our Bryan Kalbrosky.

“Antetokounmpo, who is listed at 6-foot-11, believes Wembanyama is “way taller” than 7-foot-3 and that whoever reported that the big man was 7-foot-3 was lying to us all. (His height is complicated but he can make other famous people look comically small.)

According to Antetokounmpo, the Spurs rookie is probably 7-foot-4 or 7-foot-5. He also added that the “sky is the limit” (literally and metaphorically) for Wembanyama.”

Believe Giannis, folks. That man is 7-foot-5.

Shootaround

— Our Meghan Hall makes a case for the Women’s NCAA Tournament to be packaged on its own and I think it’s a pretty compelling one.

— The Inside the NBA crew trolled Charles Barkley’s New Year’s resolution. Bryan has more here.

— Three international players might go in the top three of the NBA draft this year. Charles Curtis has more.

— Is…Is Robin Lopez OK with mascots now?

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading! Have a fantastic weekend. Peace. Be safe out there. Let’s chat again next week.

-Sykes ✌️

The Detroit Pistons are so bad they’re evoking the Process-era 76ers

The Detroit Pistons are cooked, man.

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

What’s popping, folks? Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for reading this morning.

There’s something about the Detroit Pistons that just doesn’t feel right. It’s not just that they’re bad — and, yes, they’re unbelievably bad. But it doesn’t feel like this team should be this bad. Not at this point, anyway.

For context on how bad the Pistons are we have to go back to Oct. 28 when Detroit beat the Chicago Bulls. Since then, Detroit has lost 16 straight games including one to the 3-win Washington Wizards. We’re talking “worst duo in the NBA” Washington Wizards, folks. That’s bad.

The Pistons quite literally went winless through the entire month of November. They’re the 13th team in NBA history to do so, per CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn. The last team to do it was the Process-era 76ers in 2014-15, who actually managed to go winless in an entire month three times that season.

READ MORE: Here’s how much you would’ve made betting against the Pistons in No-Win November

The Pistons shouldn’t be this bad. Detroit started the season actually trying to win games. The team has a talented player in Cade Cunningham who we all thought would maybe take a leap this season and a proven coach in Monty Williams who has coached in an NBA Finals. This mix should work. 

But the talent just doesn’t mesh, man. Williams seems like a dude who doesn’t want to be there, which makes sense considering he rejected the Pistons’ initial offer before the team threw a bigger bag of money at him.

Cade is talented, to be sure, but he’s just not proving himself to be a great shotmaker. It doesn’t help that he’s being trotted out with starting lineups like this one.

There’s talent on the roster, but none of it meshes. It’s hard to place the blame on any one player here.

Things are bad. And they probably aren’t getting much better anytime soon. Sorry, Pistons fans. I thought it’d be better this year. But, hey. Look on the bright side. If this keeps up, maybe there’s a legitimate shot at Cooper Flagg to end your perpetual rebuild…in 2025.

Man. That’s rough.

Rookie Ladder 2.0

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Last time we checked in with you on our way-too-early Rookie of the Year rankings, Victor Wembanyama had a slight lead on Chet Holmgren for the top spot.

That lead is no more, per the latest from FTW’s Bryan Kalbrosky.

After some star-quality performances from Holmgren, he’s now squarely at the top of the ladder. For now, anyway.

Here’s more on Holmgren:

“He leads all rookies in catch-all metrics like DARKO’s Daily Plus-Minus (DPM), Estimated Plus-Minus (EPM), Box Plus-Minus (BPM), Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Win Shares (WS) and HoopsHype’s Global Rating.

Holmgren already ranks second-best among all NBA players in the all-in-one defensive metric (D-DRIP) this season, per Stats Perform. The big man ranks second-best in the catch-all metric Defensive Estimated Plus Minus (D-EPM) as well, per dunksandthrees.com.

On the offensive side of the floor, meanwhile, we are seeing Holmgren taking jumpers off the dribble and beating his defender on isolation possessions. He is gaining ground against Wembanyama in the eyes of oddsmakers, too, as he continues to exceed expectations on both sides of the ball.”

It’s still plenty close and there are other rookies like Jaime Jaquez and Ausar Thompson who’ve made plenty of noise. But the battle between Chet and Vic will be epic. Buckle in, folks. We’re in for a treat.

Everything we know about Mav Carter’s sports betting snafu

(Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)

Maverick Carter might be in some trouble. He admitted to federal officers in an interview back in 2021 that he bet thousands of dollars on sports through an illegal bookie, per The Washington Post. 

You’re probably asking “wait, why is this a big deal? Isn’t sports betting legal now?” That reaction totally makes sense considering the circumstances. But there are some things here that do make this report a bit troubling.

Don’t you worry. Prince Grimes has answers for you here on why this matters:

“However, where Carter’s admission is a bit troubling is that he didn’t go through one of the legal avenues to place his bets. He did it through an illegal bookie, which makes you wonder what exactly he was trying to hide.

NBA policy bans players, team and league officials from betting on NBA games, and the NBPA bars agents from betting, but there aren’t rules prohibiting managers from betting. So unless Carter was attempting to place bets from a state where betting isn’t legal yet, which is entirely possible, he didn’t have to do this through Nix, unless…”

That “unless” is a question: Was Carter betting on Lakers games? That’s where some major ethical questions come up. This story is fascinating.

READ MORE: Prince Grimes has everything we know about the situation so far. LeBron James has also responded here.

Shootaround:

— Angel Reese reminds the world (and Kim Mulkey) that she is human, too. Meghan L. Hall has more. This is brilliant stuff.

— This beef between Kevin Durant and Adidas is so perfect. Thank you, Anthony Edwards. This is a gem.

— Mitchell Robinson is rooming with his former high school coach and it’s the sweetest thing. Bryan Kalbrosky explains why.

— Let LeBron James go be a dad if he wants to. I wrote about this in The Morning Win today. Make sure you subscribe if you haven’t already.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. I hope you enjoyed it! Have a fantastic weekend. We’ll chat again on Monday. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Adam Silver doesn’t like the way the NBA is covered and it’s hard to disagree with him

Adam Silver wants better NBA coverage and that’s going to be a good thing moving forward

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

What’s happening, folks. Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.

I know a lot of you have probably watched the Adam Silver interview on JJ Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast. If you haven’t, I recommend that you do. It’s a fantastic episode that Silver opens up on a ton about.

The most fascinating thing the two talked about to me, though, was the NBA’s media coverage. Particularly with the league searching for a new media rights deal soon. The NBA’s media deal expires at the end of the 2024-25 NBA season and it’d love to have something set in stone before then. To do that, the NBA has to be looked at as a strong media asset. Silver talked about doing his best to make sure that happens.

The thing that struck a chord with me was the way he talked about how the game was covered. He doesn’t like it — specifically when it comes to color commentary.

Here’s what he had to say.

“Part of my job is to take people who are fans of the game … and by definition create interest in whoever the teams are that are most successful. I think where we can all do a better job, and again I’m not just pointing to the media here, is talking more about the game. My frustration a bit, I think sometimes the color commentary in our games gets reduced to, ‘this team wanted it more’ or ‘this team tried harder.’”

He’s tired of the simplistic “player X wanted it more than player Y” analysis. He wants more complex and sophisticated breakdowns for fans in games.

Honestly, initially hearing that I scoffed at it. Because I do think there’s value in the simplistic analysis. Sports are supposed to be fun, right? That’s the fun part. Who wants it more? It’s what some of the most incredible plays in NBA history come down to.

But Silver isn’t talking about that, though. I realized that after watching more of the video and getting more context.

For so long the NBA has had an issue marketing itself because it’s always been about one star or about one superteam. LeBron James. The Golden State Warriors. Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Shaq and Kobe.

Well, James is in the twilight of his career. So are his peers. There’s no one stepping into that void. Nikola Jokic doesn’t seem to want the spotlight. Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t seem to, either. There aren’t any superteams anymore. So what does the league attach itself to now?

Basketball. The answer is basketball. The quality of the games that are played on a nightly basis has been incredible. Teams are as competitive as they’ve ever been. Parity has truly taken over the league. The NBA can’t just market one star or one player anymore — it has to be many now. What Silver is describing here is his strategy for doing that.

I think it can work. I hope it does. The game is in a great place right now and I hope plenty of people get to enjoy it in the same way we all do here.

Plus, maybe we’ll have fewer casuals constantly trying to argue with us online about GOAT discussions in the future. That’s a plus, right?

NBA offenses are going wild

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

We have a new best offense ever — again. For what feels like the 100th season in a row, a team is set to break the NBA’s record for offensive efficiency.

The Indiana Pacers’ offensive rating of 121.5 is set to break the Sacramento Kings 119.4 record from *checks notes* last season. I would call this an outlier, but it just keeps happening. The Kings broke the record of the 2021 Nets who broke the record of the 2020 Mavericks who broke the record of the 2017 Golden State Warriors who broke…well, you get it by now.

The offense is just out of control in the NBA today. The sample size is small. But if you look at the top offensive ratings from around the league so far this season they’re shattering records left and right.

If this stands, six of the 10 best offensive teams in league history will come from this season. All of them won’t last, but some of them surely will.

Can we bring back hand checking or something? Sheesh, man. Give defenses a break, will you, NBA?

Jimmy Butler doesn’t care about your bets

Talking trash to Jimmy Butler probably isn’t the smartest thing in the world to do. Neither is talking to him about your bets, either. He’ll probably embarrass you, as the homie Blake Schuster points out here.

One better kindly asked Butler to please score 20 points for him so that he could pay his mortgage. Butler responded by telling him he paid his own mortgage. In cash.

“Fan: Come on. Twenty, man. Score for me. Jimmy. I’ve got to pay my mortgage.

Butler: What? I paid mine. I bought my house cash.

Fan: Cash? Haha. Right here. Make this three. For real. I need this money.”

First of all, that’s got to be a wild interaction to watch in real time. The best part is how Butler just continuously tells the dude he won’t score for him and very clearly means it.

Second, buying your house in all cash is such a flex, man. Seriously. That’s wild.

Third, don’t ever talk trash with Jimmy Butler. It’s not going to go well for you.

Shootaround:

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky on how Jalen Johnson is the big winner of the John Collins trade

— Malik Beasley’s controller turned off in the middle of a game. How wild is this? Bryan has more.

— Just like Jimmy Butler, the Sacramento Kings don’t care about your bets, either. Just ask Kevin Huerter and Davion Mitchell. Here’s Prince Grimes.

— This Atlanta Hawks OnlyFans parody was WILD. Meghan Hall has more.

Thanks so much for reading, folks! We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend.

-Sykes ✌️

Daryl Morey, James Harden and the 76ers are putting the NBA’s new rest policy to the test

This new player participation policy could cause some problems for the 76ers moving forward

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.

Howdy, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for rocking with us.

I know we’ve gotten a lot of James Harden controversy this week and we’ve already parsed through a bunch of it. But the layers just keep coming as we keep peeling back.

The NBA’s new player participation policy might be an issue for Daryl Morey and the 76ers when it comes to how to treat James Harden moving forward.

The league is investigating whether the Sixers had a valid reason to sit Harden in Thursday night’s game, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The policy is basically there to make sure star players actually play when they’re healthy.  If there’s no injury or no reason to sit.

The 76ers sat Harden for conditioning reasons in Thursday night’s opener. But, technically, there was no injury hampering him. He probably could’ve played, truth be told. But Philly kept him out anyway.

Under these new rules, something like that would’ve needed to be approved by the league before it happened. That’s why we are where we are.

However, I think we should be afraid that this could set a bad precedent here.

Of course, the league should want stars to play when they can play. But a harsh penalty here would put the 76ers in a strange situation. It’d force Philly to play Harden when he actively does not seem to want to play for that team anymore. He didn’t practice. He didn’t end the preseason with the 76ers. You can’t play a player after all of that.

Not only would it potentially put him at risk for injury because of his conditioning, but it’d also send the wrong message to the rest of the team. Look at what Harden gets to get away with while not putting in the same work that everyone else is. It just wouldn’t be a good look.

Should the league find that Philadelphia did something wrong here, the team will be forced to play Harden — even if the Sixers don’t feel he’s ready to play. And that might not be what’s best for their basketball team.

Every situation is different. The context here is important. The 76ers do seem to have a valid reason for sitting Harden in this instance because he hasn’t played or practiced with the team.

The NBA should consider that. I don’t think we see a harsh penalty here. At most, Philly probably gets a warning. And they’ll need to figure out how to handle Harden moving forward.

But doing anything more here feels like it’d be a problem. The NBA doesn’t need to go too hard on this one.

Smells like money

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Yesterday’s price is not today’s price for an NBA team. I’m old enough to remember when the Bensons bought the Pelicans for $338 million back in 2012. That was just 11 years ago.

Now? The Charlotte freaking Hornets just sold for $3 billion. That’s one of the worst teams in the NBA, folks.

Forbes just released its latest NBA franchise valuation numbers and these look so wild to me. So. Much. Money.

My takeaways: The Clippers being in the top five here without a championship is sort of wild to me. I guess that new building has a ton of value behind it. They’re gaining on the Lakers, folks.

Plus, that Warriors number is WILD. I knew it’d be high. But just seeing it feels pretty ridiculous. Clearly that enormous luxury tax bill is worth it.

If this is where the numbers are now, I wonder where they’ll be in 2030. It’s going to be interesting. One thing is for sure, though. Don’t ever let the NBA tell you that it’s broke again. There’s plenty of cash to go around.

Keep climbing, Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant is taking a jump shot during warmups.
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Kevin Duran just climbed up another wrung on the all-time great ladder. He moved into 12th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing up the great Hakeem Olajuwon. He scored his 26,947th point on Thursday night against the Lakers.

Bryan Kalbrosky put that in a bit of perspective for us this morning.

“Last night was a special night for Kevin Durant as he passed Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon to become the NBA’s No. 12 leading scorer of all time.

This was an especially impressive accomplishment from Durant as he has unfortunately missed quite a bit of time during his professional career due to injury. In fact, Durant is the only player on the NBA’s top 20 all-time leading scorers list to play less than 1,000 career regular season games.”

Bryan goes deeper with a hilarious anecdote from Durant that you should read further on here. It’ll draw a chuckle or two out of you.

But, on a serious note, getting back to Durant’s place on the league’s scoring list, there’s a solid chance he will move into the top 10 this season. There’s also a chance he’ll pass Shaquille O’Neal (28, 596) this year.

Durant scored 1,366 points in 47 games last season between the Nets and Suns. It’s hard to pencil Durant in for another 47 games considering his health complications over the years, but let’s say he plays 60 games this year and scores around 1,400 points. That easily gets him into the top 10 and also would edge him a bit closer to that 30,000-point margin.

Here’s to a healthy season for Durant. Please, basketball gods. Make this happen.

Shootaround

— It’s so wild that this photo of LeBron is real. This dude is impossible. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Kawhi Leonard is a basketball nut. He’s pulling from the WNBA for some of his signature moves on the court. Here’s more from Meghan Hall.

— The NBA’s flopping policy is off to an excellent start. Just don’t ask Knicks fans about it.

— The Victor Wembanyama and Tim Duncan comparisons live on because of this eerie stat line. Here’s Bryan with more.

That’s all, folks. Thanks so much for reading Layup Lines this week. We’ll be back with more for you next week!

Til then. ✌️

 

We need to appreciate the rivalry between LeBron James and Kevin Durant while we still have it

Kevin Durant and LeBron James go at it for the first time in five years. Wow.

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

We got to see Kevin Durant and LeBron James go head-to-head against one another in the preseason on Thursday.

That doesn’t sound special. After all, it was a game that doesn’t count. But, man, while watching those two line up against one another again, it hit me like a ton of bricks: We might not have many more of these matchups to look forward to.

Shoot. We haven’t gotten one in a while in the first place.

Thursday was the first time James and Durant played against one another in five years. The last time was on Christmas Day in 2018. Kevin Durant was still a Golden State Warrior. LeBron James hadn’t yet become teammates with Anthony Davis. The NBA looked completely different.

The two of them have missed matchups against each other over the years mostly because of injuries. Each time it’d be time to face off again in a potential game of consequence, one would miss the moment for one reason or another.

Each time it never felt like a big deal. We’ll see them go at it at some point down the road, right? After a while, though, it felt like the road kept getting further and further. Now, James is a 38-year-old cagy veteran in his 21st year. Durant is 35 in his 16th. Basketball is not the endgame for either of them — they both have business ventures that will eventually take over as their primary work. Time is running slim.

So yesterday’s game was just a preseason exhibition. It doesn’t count, sure. But it was so much more than that. We can’t say it doesn’t matter. It did. That was a moment. One that we can’t take for granted.

Those two recognize that. After the game, Durant put into words what it meant to play against James again.

“It’s an honor,” Durant told Duane Rankin of AZ Central. “I know we both getting up there. It might be towards the end of this little back and forth, but it’s always good to get some moments on the floor with him.”

If moments could speak, this dap and hug between these two icons would have a thousand words to say.

These two have lived so many different lives in the NBA. They’ve failed, sure. But they’ve succeeded a lot, too. They’ve become champions, leaders, friends, and so much more. We’ve watched them grow into the men they are today and many of us, including myself, have grown with them.

I’m so thankful we’ve had this time together. Hopefully, there’s still plenty more to come. I’ll be sure to cherish whatever we have left.

I’m only here so I don’t get fined

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Normally I’m not the type to make a big fuss after a few members of a team skip out on media obligations. Good journalists are still going to do their jobs.

But this New York Liberty thing felt…different. Several key members skipped out on media obligations after the loss to the Aces. Our Meghan Hall tackled it on Thursday when the league hit the team with a $25,000 fine.

“Losing sucks, but the New York Liberty have to be better.

After the Las Vegas Aces won another title, this time on New York’s home court, the air went out of the building. The Liberty lost at the highest possible levels — the WNBA Finals — and the last thing they likely wanted to do was answer questions about how and why they lost.

It’s painful. It’s ugly. Frankly, it’s gut-wrenching. But it’s the right thing to do. In victory or defeat, you must be accountable and responsible for the product you put on the court.“

This moment highlights the issues between the WNBA and the media that actually hold the league back. The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner covered that brilliantly in a column on Thursday.

The WNBA needs more coverage, yet media isn’t allowed in its locker rooms after games. The players need more spotlight, yet here you have some of the league’s biggest stars simply passing on standing in it.

The league has to do better. It’s players do, too. As my colleague wrote, it’s about accountability and responsibility for the product on the court. And it’s about growing the game.

I hope everyone takes that to heart moving forward.

Here’s the James Harden we’ve been waiting for

. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

I have no idea what James Harden’s PTO schedule looks like, but he hasn’t been to work in a week so I’m assuming it’s awesome.

This dude, man. Harden reportedly won’t play in the 76ers’ preseason finale game, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

He hasn’t practiced with the team in two days and has been seen out and about in Houston definitely not preparing to play regular-season basketball.

Look, man. We all knew what the vibe was. We’ve seen this from Harden before. He’s going to troll until he gets his trade. Even if he does play, he’s probably not going to try his best. It’s such a shame because he’s still a very, very good player.

Please, 76ers and Clippers. Get it together. Just make the deal. We’re begging.

Shootaround

—Bryan Kalbrosky has you covered with 5 players who improved their fantasy hoops stock this preseason.

— Prince Grimes listed the highest paid NBA players this season for all you salary gurus out there. You’re welcome.

— We’ve got power rankings, folks! The NBA season is almost here. The Nuggets are still on top, but it isn’t by much after the Bucks’ and Celtics’ offseasons.

— I, too, am about to place a bet on Jordan Poole winning the scoring title this season. What else do I have to look forward to, anyway?

That’s all, folks! Enjoy your weekend.