The season looks set to continue for 22 of the NBA’s 30 franchises, but competitive play is over for the eight that had zero chance of reaching the 2019-20 playoffs. Sure, not even receiving an invite to Orlando suggests that these teams’ end-of-season grades will be low, but for some, there is light at the…
Basketball’s imminent return has brought focus onto the 22 franchises entering the Disney bubble. But for the eight who do not travel to Orlando, the formal debriefing can already begin. As they both peek back and gaze forward, attention gets paid to wholistic changes, themes and foundational building blocks. Young players with the ability to…
In this ninth episode of TBW’s Basketball by Association podcast, Arky Shea and Joel C. Cordes are joined by bballwriters.com‘s Adam Spinella to examine how much bias plays a part in scouting players prior to the 2020 NBA Draft. Centered around Adam’s “2020 NBA Draft: On Bias, Tyrese Maxey & Evaluating Shooting”, we discuss how…
It felt as if the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship team fell apart as quickly as it formed, what with LeBron James’ return lasting just four seasons. As injuries piled on, off-court troubles came to fruition and tremendous cap sheets exhausted Dan Gilbert’s spending limits. Star point guard Kyrie Irving requested a trade, and it all went…
Another week of NBA action, another set of tidbits in the film room. As we think about what we’re thankful for this holiday season, I’m very thankful for Synergy, the video and statistical service that allows us to quickly and neatly dive into these tidbits. While this week has a heavy emphasis on offensive sets…
Now that the NBA regular season has finally begun, it’s time to continue ranking each and every team’s young prospects. Just to reiterate, these rankings might seem surprising on the surface with some rather unorthodox choices at various slots, but this list’s criteria are weighted heavily toward teams with a high volume of prospects that…
If you didn’t read Part 1, do it now. We hit big trades for the Denver Nuggets, the optimal usage for the Los Angeles Lakers and some thoughts on the race for eighth in the Eastern Conference. So let’s keep this thing rolling and get bolder than before. 18. The Brooklyn Nets do not trade…
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson enters the 2019-20 NBA season as the overwhelming favorite (-135) to win Rookie of the Year, which should come as no surprise. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft averaged 22.6 points on 68.0 percent shooting, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks in…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba), Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) and special guest Duncan Smith (@duncansmithnba) of Forbes preview the Central Division ahead of the 2019-20 season. How will the Chicago Bulls’ point guard rotation shake out? Are Cleveland Cavaliers guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland compatible? Will this be Andre Drummond’s…
The 2019-20 NBA season is just around the corner. After an offseason chock-full of player movement, the title race appears as wide-open as it has been in years. Over the coming weeks, we will examine one big question hanging over each team heading into the season. We’ll continue today with the Central Division, where the…
