Author: NBA Basketball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Every day, we’ll take a closer look at another member of the 2026-27 Phoenix Suns, examining what they bring to the roster and what their role could mean for the season ahead as we count down to training camp and the preseason.

Khaman Maluach

Center, 7’1”, 250 lbs., 20 years old, 2nd season

Khaman Maluach enters his second season in Phoenix after a year of “slow-burn” development under his belt. That was always the plan, especially since they traded for Mark Williams on the same night they drafted him 10th overall.

The 10th pick was a key return from Houston in the Kevin Durant trade, of course. “Man Man” is a core piece for this franchise, and will be a popular “breakout” pick among pundits, especially after his terrific Summer League showcase.

Now, with Mark Williams suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder, Maluach’s development becomes paramount. He and Oso Ighodaro will assume the majority of the minutes at center, and they just added Duop Reath for insurance purposes.

Just how confident will Ott be in Khaman from the jump? I am hoping they view Reath more as a depth piece than a necessary and immediate contributor, although I do like the signing.

What does it all mean for the second-year product out of Duke? Let’s talk about it.

Last Season

Phoenix took their sweet time with Khaman last season. They did not rush him into the rotation as you might see from your typical 10th overall pick. They entered this whole thing playing the long game, understanding he will be a project that takes time to develop. Jordan Ott consistently stuck with veterans or players he could trust throughout the year, which limited the minutes we all wanted to see from Rasheer Fleming or Khaman Maluach.

Khaman only saw 15+ minutes in nine games last season, and cracked the 20-plus minute mark just four times.

“Man Man” had a pair of promising games late in the season, including an 18-point, 14-rebound season finale against the Thunder in game 82, and a 12-point, 9-rebound effort in game 74 of the season against the Utah Jazz in just 19 minutes.

But now, with the injury to Mark Williams, the timeline speeds up quite a bit for Maluach. He will likely be seeing at least 20+ minutes per night, sharing center duties with Oso Ighodaro and newcomer Duop Reath.

Contract and Roster Context

Maluach is on a rookie scale contract, of course. In 2026-27, Maluach will earn a base salary of $6,316,680, while carrying a cap hit of $6,316,680 and a dead cap value of $6,316,680, per Spotrac.

Nothing groundbreaking here for the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

What He Brings

Khaman Maluach brings a rare blend of massive size, fluidity in his movement, plus the ability to finish with power or finesse. He can alter shots if he’s not blocking them, and serve as a true anchor defensively and a vertical rim threat. Now, we didn’t get to see a ton of it during his rookie year with the Suns, but all of those skills he showcased at Duke are still there.

He just needs to adjust to NBA pace, strength, and spacing. But he has shown those flashes. Most recently, he showcased what he can do during the Summer League, where he earned All-2nd Team honors after putting together a monster stretch of games.

Maluach averaged 19.5 points with a (Summer) league-leading 12.8 rebounds per game, plus 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per contest.

The Suns outscored their opponents by 48(!) points during the 109 minutes that Maluach was on the floor during that four-game stretch. He looked every bit the part of a second-year top-10 pick in Summer League. Which is exactly what you want to see in that environment.

Phoenix needs Maluach to be the defensive anchor who can disrupt the West’s elite bigs. He needs to be an elite lob threat for Devin Booker and Jalen Green. He needs to be able to knock down triples at a reliable rate. That’s who the Suns need him to be.

What Needs to Improve

Maluach has plenty of weaknesses, as you’d expect for someone as young, raw, and new to basketball as he is.

He can look lost on defensive rotations on the perimeter at times, or rotate just a bit too late on the weak side. These are habitual things. These are details that he can improve on over time as he improves his instincts and learns the ebbs and flows of an NBA game. It won’t happen overnight. Centers take longer to develop than just about any other position. He will get there if he is committed enough, and there’s no reason to think he is not based on everything this coaching staff and front office have said about him.

ESPN released a Three-year outlook for all 30 teams, and the Suns finished 26th overall. But what stood out was the note in the column, highlighting none other than Khaman Maluach, essentially tasking him as their saving grace. Quite a bold proclamation, though I do generally agree it’s vital he is a “hit,” considering their lack of an abundance of quality, controlled draft picks in future years.

Prediction

I have made it no secret that I believe Khaman Maluach will be the Suns’ starting center this season (even before the Williams injury) and play a huge part in this team’s success. Now, with Williams sidelined it only expedites the process.

Stat Prediction: 77 Games, 9.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 55/34/78 shooting

Final Word

We don’t need Maluach to play like an all-star center. He just needs to show up, build trust with the coaching staff and gain confidence in his game.

Consistency and confidence will be the two key traits that Maluach will need to showcase, along with flashes of dominance as a preview of what’s to come in his eventual prime. He has all of the tools to be a special center in this league for a long time. It’s your time to shine, Man Man.

In a new book out next Tuesday, David Rubenstein, owner of the Baltimore Orioles, interviews sports franchise owners across America about what the view is like from the executive suites at arenas and stadiums across America.

Per the promotion, “From the Owner’s Box” examines, “the financial strategies, leadership secrets, and billion-dollar deal-making behind championship franchises through conversations with America’s most powerful owners.” And in the case of Brooklyn Nets Joe Tsai, how being a fan and reacting to fans is a big part of the job.

In an excerpt of the book, New York Post writer Eric Spitznagel, Tsai described first few months as an owner … and the ramifications of making a big move early.

Tsai, 62, knows how quickly an expensive trade can turn an owner into a target. The Alibaba cofounder, worth an estimated $12.1 billion, still takes heat from fans for the January 2021 trade that brought James Harden to Brooklyn alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Durant and Irving had arrived in 2019, before Tsai became controlling owner. Harden was his gamble, acquired at the cost of players and valuable draft assets. The trio never delivered a championship.

“The Harden decision was definitely on my watch,” Tsai tells Rubenstein. “That’s why I’m hated by fans on social media.”

(The excerpt, however, doesn’t make mention of Tsai’s decisions re: Kyrie Irving’s antics during the first months of Tsai’s ownership, including the superstar’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID or his implicit endorsement of a book filled with antisemitic tropes. Both led to lost time, lost games and a lot of controversy for Tsai. We’ll have to wait for the book to see whether it is mentioned there.)

Rubenstein’s book does address a lesser-known part of Tsai’s legacy, a proposed trade that would test his personal fandom.

In July 2018, while still a 49% owner of the Nets, Tsai heard from Sean Marks about a trade the Nets GM was planning to make, a deal that would send Jeremy Lin to the Atlanta Hawks. Lin wasn’t just a Chinese-American whose LinSanity while a Knick years earlier had ignited pride among Asians and Asian-Americans worldwide. When he bought into the Nests Tsai had called Lin his “favorite player” and a “good friend,” praising his leadership and representation of the underdog.

“Sean, if you trade Jeremy Lin, I will be hated in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong,” According to the book, Tsai recalls telling Marks “The entire Chinese community will hate me forever.”

Marks replied, “That’s why I’m calling you.”

In the deal, a classic salary dump, Nets traded guard Jeremy Lin, a 2025 second round draft pick and the right to swap second round picks in 2023 to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to a French guard Isaia Cordinier and a protected 2020 second round draft pick. (For you draft sickos out there, that 2025 pick got moved three more times and wound up back with the Nets and was used last June on Tyler Bilodeau!)

Tsai accepted the rationale but his prediction came true. Asian fans were not pleased that an owner with Chinese heritage had traded a player with Chinese heritage. He was heavily criticized across Asia. Later, Tsai and Lin did business together and Lin joined the advisory council of The Asian-American Foundation, an organization co-founded by Tsai.

As Rubenstein wrote, that episode taught Tsai a lesson.

He realized he needs a way to explain himself to fans, so he opened a Twitter account despite objections from his communications team, according to the book. He promised to discuss sports rather than Alibaba or politics, a promise he has stuck with although he’s not that active on the renamed x.com.

“I need to have a direct channel to communicate with our fans,” he told Rubenstein. “I can’t have the New York Post interpret.”

The book also noted Tsai’s basketball memories include skipping constitutional law classes at Yale to play pickup games. One opponent was future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who he calls a “decent player.”

His current ambitions require better players, per the book. “We need to win a championship,” Tsai tells Rubenstein. “We need to prove ourselves.”

Still, Tsai admitted ownership supplies a pleasure that running Alibaba cannot.

“I can be chairman of a public company, but there are thousands of public companies. There are only thirty NBA owners,” Tsai says. “When you have something that other people don’t have, it feels pretty good.”

In addition to Joe Tsai, Rubenstein interviewed Clara Wu Tsai for his book and she told him in an interview, separately excerpted on Bloomberg News that Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is “selectively” interested in other sports investments and see sports as an “asset class” of its own, adding that sports is the anti-AI.

“As you know, sports has become legitimate asset class and they’ve become very good investment,” she told Rubenstein. “Who knew we’d have to develop an anti-AI? Who knew live experiences would become so valuable? Who knew something that was unscripted and unpredictable was something that bring people together in a shared experience would be something that was monetizable and also really valued. But it has happened and sports is some place where that can be manifested.”

Most fans seem to agree that second-year Lakers forward Adou Thiero isn’t quite ready to open the season in the starting lineup.

However, the 2025 second-round draft pick displayed three traits during his brief G League and Summer League stints that suggest he may be less “two years away from being two years away” and closer to being mere months away from permanently stealing LA’s fifth starting spot.

So, while he almost assuredly will not open the season in the starting lineup, it’s a long season, and Thiero is a young player who could develop fast. If he does, these are the most likely reasons he slides past the competition into that starting lineup.

Superhero athleticism and explosiveness

In Adou’s G League appearances, the bouncy youngster often spotted a driving angle and exploded past his defender with such force and speed that most hapless opponents just fouled him. If he didn’t, he ended up watching Adou swing from the rim.

This pattern repeated throughout the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League tournaments. Thiero’s combo of elite athleticism and strength also showed up on the backboards. In Vegas, the human pogo-stick often jumped so high to chase a board that it looked like he was using a trampoline, finishing the summer averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.

Sure, the G League and Summer League aren’t the league. However, athletes with Adou’s size and strength are rare, even in the NBA.

When he steps onto the court, he is almost always the most athletic player. So, if Adou can keep focusing his elite athleticism on defense and rebounding while finding ways to use his explosiveness on offense, he may improve enough to literally and figuratively leap over the competition.

Speaking of improvement…

Rapid improvement

Thanks to an expanded media package, virtually every 2025-26 G League game appeared somewhere last season. Even so, fans didn’t see much of Adou.

The promising rookie only appeared in 10 games, averaging 22.5 minutes per contest. He also missed his whole rookie-year Summer League. As a result, it was initially hard to get a read on his game.

Sure, the explosiveness was always there. In fact, it sometimes seemed like rookie Adou would hammer down a dunk in the first few plays of every game he entered. He also looked like a viable 3-point shooter last year, completing 10 of his 20 attempts in those 10 appearances.

Still, he looked raw and several years of development away from harnessing his superhero frame and abilities.

Then the 2026 Summer League took place, and things suddenly changed.

While he started slowly, it was clear as far back as the California Classic that Adou hadn’t stopped working since the season ended. Sure, his 3-pointer looked rough all summer, with just one make in 10 attempts in Vegas. But several parts of his overall game looked significantly better.

For example, Thiero’s on-ball defense and disruption looked like they were already at a plus NBA-wing level, a trait that came and went in his South Bay stints. This summer, as soon as he entered games, his relentless pressure regularly forced turnovers or had opposing ball handlers running away from switches.

Adou also looked light on his feet for his size, making it hard for all but the quickest players to get past him. He finished Vegas averaging a healthy 1.8 steals per game.

Perhaps most striking was Adou’s improvement as the summer progressed. Shots blocked at the rim in San Francisco and early Vegas games started turning into timely head fakes and easy lay-ins in later contests.

Adou’s improvement also showed up in ball handling and driving. Early in the summer, the fleet-footed forward repeatedly beat his man with an explosive first step only to dribble the ball off his feet or throw it out of bounds. Too often, those early drives produced a flash of explosiveness, followed too quickly by an unforced turnover.

Surprisingly, within just a few games, we saw this trend begin to change.

Lastly, Adou’s passing reads showed signs of improvement. Turnovers became quick hitters to open corner shooters. It wasn’t flawless. But like other parts of his game, you could see it improve in real time. Adou finished Vegas averaging three assists a game.

Of course, steady improvement doesn’t come without hard work. And achieving true greatness, like earning a starting spot as a second-year player, requires another, almost intangible quality that Thiero may also already possess.

The Eye of the Tiger

At the top of John Wooden’s infamous Pyramid of Success, the winningest college coach of all time placed a seemingly immeasurable quality. Above skill, poise, confidence, and a whole host of other critical traits, Wooden placed something he called “competitive greatness.”

Kobe Bryant sometimes described this ephemeral quality as hating to lose more than loving to win. As fans, we turned that belief, Kobe’s infamous work ethic, and his on-court success into the Mamba Mentality. Even today, that mantra has become as much a part of his legacy as any specific title or season.

But my personal favorite comes from the 1980s cinematic classic, Rocky III. In that iconic sports film, star Rocky Balboa’s former foe and current trainer, Apollo Creed, called the desire to win over anything else, “The eye of the tiger.”

Maybe I’m reading too much into his stern, potent brow or sharp, piercing eyes. But when I look at Adou, I see the eye of the tiger.

It wasn’t there in his G-League games last year, which could’ve been due to extended injury rehab or simply being a rookie. But even when Adou made more mistakes than he should have in his opening Summer League shifts, his face looked completely different from the start.

He looked more than serious. He looked mad. To be honest, he kind of looked like Kobe.

Sure, Adou’s prospects of becoming a high-level NBA player may ultimately lie with his ability to hit open threes at a respectable rate and little else.

But his combination of superhuman physical tools and proven ability to improve quickly with reps gives him a real shot at carving out a long career as a viable rotation player.

And, if I’m reading his steely-eyed gaze and relentless effort correctly, Adou may also employ a little bit of Mamba Mentality, Eye of the Tiger, or good old-fashioned John Wooden-style competitive greatness that accelerates his progress in a shorter time frame than most predict and helps the young man steal the Lakers’ fifth starting spot this season.

Given those three qualities, I’m betting on Adou.

Christopher Plain has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Reporter at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his novels at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org.

Editor’s Note: It is our pleasure to introduce a second Leo to the Canis-verse. This is Leo Li’s first piece for CH, and he will be adding more insight into all things player development going forward. Please welcome him in the way only Canis commenters can!

Anthony Edwards’ development trajectory since entering the league in 2020 has been a topic of attention for several seasons now, and at first glance, it’s easy to see why. He was a 247Sports consensus 5-star recruit coming out of Holy Spirit Prep in Georgia, receiving comparisons to players like Dominique Wilkins and Dwyane Wade, among other all-stars and all-time greats.

However, after a one-and-done season for the Georgia Bulldogs marked by tantalizing highs and scoring explosions, as well as inconsistencies that exposed flaws in his game, serious concerns emerged about Ant’s decision-making, shooting, defense, and even his mentality and love for the game.

Heading into the 2020 draft (which was viewed as relatively weak), he wasn’t seen as a surefire star bet, and several mock drafts had him going behind future teammate LaMelo Ball, as well as the likes of James Wiseman and Killian Hayes (Kevin O’Connor, what were you thinking?), which seems absurd looking back.

As we all know, Ant would go on to be picked first overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and soon bloomed into a bona fide superstar and one of the best players in the sport.

Many would claim that Ant has significantly exceeded expectations, even considering the high pre-draft praise and excitement about his ceiling. I wouldn’t argue too hard against that. Most would agree that he has left the “realistic” or “sweet spot” comparisons of Victor Oladipo, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine in the dust. Is there any way that the projections were misinformed or unjustified? The red flags were certainly there, but perhaps scouts and fans were too hasty in taking them at face value. Given all the information we had access to pre-draft, is there a way to explain his current success?

All this is to say that, although hindsight is 20/20, was Ant perhaps underrated by many as a prospect? That is what I will be making the case for. By taking a look at the scouting reports and draft profiles, we can see exactly where assessments fell short and use evidence and data to paint a different picture of Anthony Edwards, the prospect.

Ant’s physical profile was universally viewed as a remarkable combination of positional size, explosive power, and quick-twitch burst. Standing at 6’5 with a 6’9 wingspan and weighing a hefty 225 lb, while boasting a 41.5-inch vertical according to BleacherReports’ Jake Fischer, he was unequivocally an athletic specimen; an elite NBA guard’s frame with the power and mass of a running back is extraordinarily rare even among the best of the best, and it allowed him to rise for athletic finishes and dunks frequently (27 dunks in the 2020 season). However, even with respect to the athleticism, I feel some of the nuance regarding Ant was neglected in pre-draft discussions.

The prevailing sense was that he was vertically explosive, big, and fast, which helps him finish at the rim and in transition. However, scouts were still understandably concerned about his ability to score efficiently at the next level. After all, even given these extreme athletic traits, he posted a mere 51.7% true shooting percentage at Georgia, landing in the 13th percentile positionally. So how do you explain his massive improvements as a scorer? It’s easy to chalk it up to any number of factors, but the most important one is a part of his athleticism that tends to fly under the radar, even today.

Prior to the draft, the P3 Peak Performance Project measured Ant’s eccentric force production in the 98th percentile (FYI, eccentric force is the force produced by a muscle during the stretching/lengthening phase, used for deceleration movements). They note that, crucially, this is a trait shared by James Harden and Luka Dončić, players who excel at scoring using change-of-direction, stop-start moves – which is also something that Ant improved at by leaps and bounds, and was key to his ascension into one of the league’s premier scorers.

While Ant didn’t enter the league with Luka-level polish skill-wise or decision-making-wise, the athletic foundation for his current dynamic skillset was already there. Using repeated bursts and sharp brakes is a proven formula for efficient self-created volume scoring at the highest level, and Ant had brakes of the highest caliber on an extremely powerful engine.

While this was already observable during his explosive, fluid downhill forays and several of his off-the-dribble jumpers, most scouts and fans seemed more enamored with his north-south and vertical traits. Part of the reason for this is that the sheer level of shooter Ant has become is, by any stretch of the imagination, a surprise, and not many thought it likely that these qualities could become the basis of an elite, efficient pull-up 3-point shooting game, hence the comparisons to players like DeRozan and even optimistic ones like Wade, whose deceleration qualities are often overlooked.

Ant’s jump shot, which is arguably his most deadly weapon today and a focal point of his skill set, was a question mark going into the draft. His raw three-point percentage at Georgia was certainly uninspiring (29%, 10th percentile positionally), but scouts noted that the mechanics generally passed the eye test, and it was evident that he was able to shoot off the dribble with very little daylight off a bevy of moves.

A free throw percentage of 77% and 60% on non-dunk rim attempts also indicated some level of touch, which pointed towards eventual improvements in jump shot efficiency. Still, becoming a good 3-point shooter, let alone one of the very best in the world, was, nevertheless, a “maybe” even in an ideal situation.

However, it’s important to draw attention to the sheer volume of shot-creation load-bearing Ant pulled off, which is a quality that tends to get underrated. The 18-year-old managed to get up 13.5 3-point attempts per 100 possessions (92nd percentile, around 52% of which were unassisted), on a 45 offensive load (95th percentile).

His ability to shoulder a large offensive burden by generating self-created threes on demand was extremely high. In fact, it’s historically unique for a player of Ant’s level of slashing ability: Ant was the only freshman in Barttorvik’s entire database (which begins in 2008) to post more than 12 3-point attempts per 100 while also dunking 27 times over the course of the season. A special intersection of youth, 3-point creation, and athletic finishing – foreshadowing a similarly unique status in the NBA today.

At the time, his high volume of self-created, often contested jump shots was interpreted by scouts, such as Rafael Barlow for NBA Draft Junkies, as bad shot selection and poor decision-making. Prez of The Strickland believed that to translate to the next level he ought to “learn good shot from bad shot”.

Draft profiles suggested that he should shift more of his focus to attacking the rim and operating more off the ball, while toning down the volume of off-the-dribble jump shots, and that if he failed to do so, he would struggle to score efficiently. Such judgments were premature. Ant was a raw 18-year-old who was stuck on a suboptimal roster – it is only natural that these conditions would lead to several ugly looks.

In a vacuum, yes, Ant should have taken fewer contested jumpers at Georgia if you look at each decision on an individual level. However, self-created jump shot volume is an important indicator of superstar potential, as it speaks to scoring feel, stamina, confidence, and the ability to create offense when the structure of the play breaks down. It can’t be your only skill, but you certainly need it if you want to be among the best.

Far from being a detriment to his NBA career, his aggression in hunting jumpers has translated beautifully, becoming the crux of his impact on the court and a significant separator between him and several of his comps.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that all shots are good shots, and a superstar who can’t find the open man when the defense loads up on him will struggle in the NBA, where his scoring aggression can become a detriment to the team.

But despite popular takes, Ant showed promising flashes as a playmaker at Georgia, and most scouting reports acknowledge as much. He was particularly adept at interior passes, averaging three rim assists per 100 (88th percentile). It was quite conceivable that he could have refined his ability to capitalize on his scoring gravity. If anything, this is one area that he hasn’t quite outperformed expectations in thus far in the league.

Add up what’s been discussed, and what did the Wolves have on their hands in 2020? An extremely young super-athlete who could both dunk on the opposing team’s center and get up 10 threes in a single half, who was used to carrying large offensive loads, who had the stop-start foundation reminiscent of historically great NBA scorers, who showed high-level playmaking flashes, and who had solid touch indicators.

Seems a lot different than how the NBA’s media was making it seem.

This is not to say that scouts were wrong about all of Ant’s shortcomings (defense and some aspects of decision-making in particular), and certain analysts, credit to them, saw the bullish case for his shot creation. But the aversion to Ant’s “hero ball” style at Georgia was a blind spot for many, as it was that tendency to aggressively create jumpers at volume that laid the groundwork for who he is today.

The Wolves are better off today for believing in Ant’s traits, stats, and tape than in the beliefs of those outside the building.

Basketball fans rejoice. The Los Angeles Lakers play preseason basketball in just under three weeks. Although the roster transformation this offseason was exciting, fans are going into the post-LeBron James era cooking up a soup of intrigue, uncertainty and a sprinkle of skepticism.

My Septembers, like many of yours, are marked by an insatiable appetite for NBA basketball. Not to mention the Lakers embarking on the official start of the Luka Dončić era.

Inspired by our friends across the network — as much as we can use that word to describe Celtics fans — I want to try and predict some statistical benchmarks for each player on the Lakers’ roster. Some of these projections may seem impossible, others may be the key to a successful Lakers season. Let’s get right into it!

Luka Dončić wins MVP

I’m bending the rules a bit on this first one and am predicting an award rather than a stat.

Rookie of the Year, two scoring titles, six All-Star selections and a Finals appearance. There are only a few accolades left for Dončić as he enters the prime of his career. Boasting 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game averages last year, Dončić made a late-season push for the award as the Lakers finished as the No. 4 seed.

According to Stathead, only one other player in NBA history had a season with those averages — Luka Dončić in the 2023-24 season, where he led Dallas to the Finals and finished third in MVP voting.

As a matter of fact, only eight players have ever earned at least six All-Star and All-NBA selections, two scoring titles and won Rookie of the Year: Dončić, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Durant, Allen Iverson and Bob Pettit. Dončić is the only one without an MVP.

If Los Angeles (yet again) outperforms its perceived national preseason projections and Dončić has a similar (or even better) season as last year, he must be seriously considered for the award.

Austin Reaves averages 25+ points per game

Austin Reaves is the defining example of a basketball success journey. He’s improved his overall production every single year since he signed to Los Angeles as an undrafted free agent. What’s one more year of improvement?

Before a Grade 2 calf strain sidelined him for a month midseason, Reaves was having an All-Star-level season. He was averaging 27.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game in the 22 contests he played in before the injury took him out of the Lakers’ Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets.

The catalyst? Either LeBron James or Dončić was sidelined for much of those games. Now James is no longer on the team and Austin moves prohibitively into that second creator role. We’ve already seen what he’s capable of as Luka’s No. 2. Now it’s just a matter of staying healthy.

Walker Kessler averages 17 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks per game

Many would say the success of this season hinges on how good Walker Kessler is relative to the $30 million the Lakers are paying him annually. He, after all, is one of the highest-paid big men to never make an All-Star team.

I’m not predicting that Kessler is going to achieve the first All-Star nod of his career, but what I am saying is that he, perhaps most of any of Los Angeles’ complementary players, will benefit from the creation and gravity of his star backcourt.

The prediction isn’t inconceivable if you consider what Kessler showed in only five games last season. His points average jumped from 11.1 to 14.4 per game, most notably due to the increased volume of 3-point attempts (0.6 to 1.6 per game). In 58 games the season prior, he averaged 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

Couple those numbers with an improved shot diet playing alongside Reaves and Dončić and this prediction isn’t too far-fetched.

Quentin Grimes starts every game that he plays

Quentin Grimes comes in as a dynamic two-guard and the Lakers’ best point-of-attack defender. His importance as an off-ball movement shooter matters as much as his role on defense. His presence in the starting lineup is crucial alongside an at-times defense-latent backcourt.

Grimes has started 146 of the 318 regular season games he’s played in thus far in his career. The 66 games he started in his sophmore season with the New York Knicks were the most in his career.

Unless Los Angeles trades its few remaining assets for a starting-quality wing that matches Grimes’ skillset, I don’t see anyone taking his spot in the starting lineup. Not to mention, JJ Redick loves him.

Sandro Mamukelashvili puts up at least 50/40/70 shooting splits

Those shooting numbers are right around where Mamu is for his career (49.4/36.6/73.9), with the outlier in this prediction being a career year from beyond the arc. He shot 42.3% from three his rookie season in Milwaukee but on only 52 attempts compared to the 296 he put up last year. The deep-ball number is a best-case scenario in a Lakers offense I believe will be amongst the best in the league.

Collin Sexton continues his career-long streak averaging double-digit points

That’s right. Collin Sexton hasn’t averaged single-digit points in a single season of his eight-year career. Sexton is Los Angeles’s primary spark off the bench and will likely have the greenest light as a ball handler behind Reaves and Dončić.

Slot him around the 29 minutes per game he’s averaged throughout his career and there’s no reason he can’t extend his streak.

Jake LaRavia shoots 38% from three

The biggest gripe Lakers fans had with Jake LaRavia was his inability to deliver on the sharpshooting ability he was sold to have when he came in. How do you blame them, though? LaRavia shot 42.3% from deep the season before coming to LA, a number that fell 10 percentage points while donning the purple and gold. I think last season’s shooting slump was an outlier year.

Jarred Vanderbilt starts in at least 40 games

I, similar to my colleague Darius Soriano, still have hope that Jarred Vanderbilt can be an impactful player. Vanderbilt was one of the only players last season who, if you watched the games, made a tangible impact on defense, one that often won’t show on the stat sheet.

Vando is too good at too many things to not have a lasting role on the Lakers. According to BBall Index, he ranked No. 1 in the NBA in positional defensive versatility and seventh in overall defensive rebounding talent. Those two skills alone are the mark of an elite defender.

Maybe Redick will see something different in Vanderbilt this season with a gaping hole at power forward.

Ziaire Williams shoots 40% from three

For an extended version of my thoughts on Ziaire Williams having a breakout year from beyond the arc this year, look no further than my season preview. Surrounded by elite playmaking for the first time in his young career, Williams has the tools to be an above-average catch-and-shoot wing for the Lakers.

Matisse Thybulle has four games with at least 4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 stocks

In what I’m now dubbing a ‘Thybulle Four-for-Four’, this event has happened only nine times in Thybulle’s career, according to Stathead. Four of them in one season may be a stretch, but how else would I have come up with a better prompt?

Side note: after further research, James Harden leads active players with 48 of these games. Perhaps this ‘Four-for-Four’ was destined to be named after Harden.

Kevon Looney has a game with 15 rebounds

Although Kevon Looney is listed as the Lakers’ backup center, I don’t see many avenues for him to actually play many minutes as long as Kessler and Mamukelashvili are healthy. That being said, there could be a game where either of the two is out and Looney shows a flash of his prime self in that game.

Jaden Hardy has a game with at least 20 points

An underdiscussed aspect of Los Angeles’s offseason transformation is the bolstering of its depth. There’s a world where Jaden Hardy is either off the Lakers’ roster or is slotted in as the 15th man. Hardy is undeniably better than even some 12th men that have come through the team in recent years. He’s always been a threat to post the occasional high-scoring game.

Bronny James has multiple games with six assists and three steals

Bronny James is making a strong case to take another leap in Redick’s rotation next season. Last year, he showed his improved point-of-attack defensive acumen and made noticeable improvements as a primary ball handler. Coming in as the fourth guard behind Sexton, James may just pop off in a few games where he plays a good amount of minutes.

Adou Thiero finishes top-40 in the league in made dunks

Adou Thiero comes into this season looking to step into a much bigger role. While his best path to the rotations comes on the defensive end, he’s shown through an injury-riddled rookie season and the NBA Summer League that he’s an intense, acrobatic dunker. Zion Williamson was 40th in the league in made dunks last season with 77.

Cameron Carr has a game with five made 3-pointers

We still aren’t exactly sure how much of a fixture rookie Cameron Carr will be for the Lakers this season, but he has a good enough skillset to see some minutes. He made five 3-pointers five times with Baylor last season and showed impressive perimeter shooting over the summer.

Dalton Knecht scores 30 points in a game

I’ll be the first to admit how wild this one is. If I had written this ahead of last season, maybe it’d be a bit more believable. But wouldn’t it be so Dalton Knecht of Dalton Knecht to have a random 30-point game this year? (Who’s to say it’s even with the Lakers?)

You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.

Today, it hit me. Basketball is nearly back, and with that realization came that familiar tinge of excitement. A couple of hairs stood up on the back of my neck, which was a reminder to trim them.

Covering the Phoenix Suns is a process, and one I have grown to absolutely love. Little did I know when Dave King reached out to me in early 2020 about bringing the Suns JAM Session into the now-defunct Bright Side of the Sun podcast network, while also giving me the opportunity to write for the site, that he was handing me one of the greatest gifts you can give someone like me: the opportunity for perpetual creativity. Thank you, King.

That has always been in my blood. I started taking graphic design classes in high school in 1999, working with technology that feels prehistoric compared to what sits at our fingertips today. I was learning the basics of something that would eventually become one of my primary creative outlets. Writing, podcasting, and graphic design…all of it scratches that same itch because it’s all interconnected. Create something. Finish it. Look at it for 30 seconds. Immediately start thinking about the next thing.

So there I was yesterday, sitting at my computer and tweaking graphics. I was preparing the projected starting lineup graphic for our game previews, adjusting the 5-year salary graphic, building team previews for our division preview series, and preparing for the Suns JAM Session podcast. Then it hit me. We are 5 weeks away from basketball that actually counts.

The cadence of the season is nearly upon us. The previews, the podcasts, the game days, the recaps. The nights spent staring at a computer screen trying to figure out why the hell the Suns did whatever the hell they did 20 minutes earlier and finding a way to put that into words while trying to avoid allowing emotions to dictate verb usage (if you’ve been around here long enough, you know my emotions do win sometimes). The machine is beginning to rumble again, and soon enough, we will be strapped to the damn thing for 82 games. I cannot wait.

With that in mind, now feels like the right time to explore the 5 most interesting storylines surrounding the Phoenix Suns as we prepare for the upcoming season, because it will be here before you know it. Some of these storylines should get you excited. Some might make you nervous. A couple could have you staring into the basketball abyss, wondering what fresh form of Suns-related chaos awaits us this time. Either way, these are the stories that could define what we are about to experience.

5. The Maluach Opportunity

It might be fifth on my list, but it could end up being one of the most exciting aspects of this upcoming season. How does Khaman Maluach respond to the opportunity that’s about to be put in front of him?

Mark Williams recently suffered a torn labrum during a scrimmage and is expected to miss substantial time at center. Last season, Williams played 60 games and averaged 23.6 minutes per game, so the assumption is that a significant portion of those minutes will now fall to second-year big man Khaman Maluach. We’re already debating whether he should start, how many minutes he should receive, and what the best strategy is for Phoenix to remain effective at center while Williams is out.

At the center of all of that is a 20-year-old player who is about to receive his first extended opportunity. Maluach appeared in 46 games last season and averaged 8.9 minutes. Now he’ll be asked to navigate not only the mental challenge of an NBA season and the adjustments opposing teams will make as they identify weaknesses, but also the physical toll that playing center in this league demands. All of that has to be considered when evaluating him. There will be nights when he looks dominant, and there will be nights when he looks exhausted.

We saw how demanding an extended workload can be for a young big last postseason, when Victor Wembanyama appeared to run out of gas late in the NBA Finals. He averaged 29.2 minutes during the regular season before jumping to 39.8 minutes in the Finals.

My point? Especially with young big men, how you manage their workload throughout the season matters. A deep postseason run isn’t necessarily the expectation for this Suns team, but growth is. Maluach is taking the next step developmentally. And that is one of the reasons you’re going to tune in every night this season. We get to watch how a player who could potentially be the Suns’ last lottery prospect for the next half-decade responds when the opportunity is finally his.

A subset of this conversation is how long it will ultimately take Mark Williams to recover from his injury. It’s a disappointing blow for a player who simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Williams’ career has been marred by injuries to his foot, back, thumb, ankle, and knee, and now he has another recovery to navigate.

The hope is that he makes a full recovery and has enough time to become an impactful player who can help this team make a postseason push. And if that doesn’t happen? Well, that becomes an interesting conversation next offseason. Williams would have two years and $26.3 million remaining on his contract, which puts the Suns in an interesting position with a player whose talent has never really been the question.

4. A New Geometry from Deep

Last season, the Phoenix Suns attempted the fifth most three pointers in the NBA at 40.8 per game. They shot 36.1% from beyond the arc, 12th in the league, while their 45.3% three point attempt rate ranked seventh. This was a team that leaned heavily into the three-ball, with 39.3% of its total points coming from deep, the fifth-highest mark in the NBA. And in the end, that reliance hurt them. In clutch situations, 47.7% of the Suns’ shots came from beyond the arc, third most in the league. The problem was that they connected on only 31.3% of those attempts. Live by the three, die by the three.

This season, the assumption is that the method of attack will have to look different. Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale are both gone, two players who accounted for 29.1% of the Suns’ three-point attempts last season while combining to shoot 38.1% from deep.

Phoenix did add one of the league’s best three-point shooters in Luke Kennard, although he has never been a high-volume shooter. That still leaves a legitimate question about how this team will generate enough shooting. Combine the career numbers of the projected starting five, and that group has shot 34.7% from beyond the arc.

Thankfully, Collin Gillespie, a career 40.5% shooter from deep, and Kennard will be coming off the bench. Still, it will be hard to replicate the output vacated by Allen and O’Neale.

So one of the more interesting things to watch this season will be the geometry of the Suns’ offense. How do they generate quality looks from three, and when those opportunities come, can they knock them down? In Jordan Ott’s first season as head coach, the Suns set franchise marks for their frequency from beyond the arc. This year, the personnel is different. Ott is going to have to adjust.

And that gives us another reason to tune in every night, to see what those adjustments look like and how well the Suns execute them.

3. Year Two Ott

For the first time since the 2022–23 season, the Phoenix Suns will begin the year with a second-year head coach. That alone is something worth appreciating because the position hasn’t exactly been a beacon of stability. Monty Williams coached the team for four seasons, and before that, Phoenix had one season of Igor Kokoskov. The season before that, Earl Watson started 0–3 in his second year as head coach, but the losses were so catastrophic that Jay Triano was handed the reins. So having Jordan Ott back for Year 2 is significant in and of itself.

Now comes the challenge, because his role as a head coach changes. Ott’s job last season was to fortify the identity established by the front office while implementing his analytical approach on the court. This year, he’ll be asked to evolve without abandoning that foundation.

Thankfully for Ott, continuity was a priority for the organization, giving him the opportunity to build on what worked rather than start over. But the job gets tougher. Opponents now have a full season of film on what the Suns like to do. They know Phoenix’s favorite actions, how the team defends certain situations, and how Ott navigates his rotations. Can the Suns impose their will rather than constantly reacting to what opposing teams throw at them? Can Ott adjust?

Plenty of people will point to adjustments as one of the challenges Jordan Ott faced last season. Before the All-Star break, the Suns were 32–23 and averaging 113.6 points per game. After the break, they went 13–14. That scoring average dropped to 110.5. 

You can make the observation that teams learned who and what the Suns were, put more pressure on what Phoenix wanted to do, and Ott didn’t adjust appropriately. There’s merit to that. There’s also merit to the fact that Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and Mark Williams all missed time during that stretch. It’s difficult to make adjustments when your top four scoring options aren’t consistently available.

In the same breath, I acknowledge that Ott didn’t always make the adjustments that we, as a fan base, thought he should. When Williams was out for an extended period and the seventh seed was all but locked up, we didn’t see Khaman Maluach with enough regularity to give us much comfort. There was an opportunity to develop him, yet the Suns stuck with their small-ball approach. Ultimately, that hurt them both in the standings and in the paint.

Part of Ott’s growth is learning when to trust the numbers and when to trust the game. He comes from an analytical background, and his first season reflected that approach. That’s part of why we saw so much Oso Ighodaro down the stretch. From an advanced metrics standpoint, Oso elevates the players around him offensively. He also has deficiencies, especially when it comes to rebounding and his inability to stretch the floor.

The numbers can tell you that a particular lineup creates better spacing, generates turnovers, or produces more efficient possessions. You still have to remember that basketball isn’t played inside a spreadsheet. If you’re getting killed on the glass or Oso is getting worked over by Nikola Jokic, you need to make an adjustment. That tension between data and feel naturally develops with experience and will be one of the more interesting aspects of Ott’s growth in Year 2.

The other challenge he faces is managing increased expectations. There’s a significant shift that occurs between a coach’s first and second seasons. In Year 1, there are explanations for mistakes. When losses occur, you can lean into the new coach, new system narrative. 

Those explanations lose some of their power in Year 2. Once the system is established, the organization and its fan base expect progress. And that’s the biggest expectation the Suns are going to face this season. Vegas might have Phoenix at 38.5 wins, but that doesn’t mean that’s our expectation. The Suns won 45 games last season and were swept out of the first round. Progress means either winning more games and earning a higher seed or advancing further in the postseason, whether that means winning a round or putting together a competitive first-round series against a higher-seeded team.

That may ultimately be the defining challenge of Year 2. Ott no longer has to teach Phoenix who it wants to be. Now he has to prove that identity can evolve when opponents attack it. Better adjustments, more flexibility, and a stronger feel for when the numbers matter and when the game is screaming something different. The Suns are betting heavily on continuity and development this season. If they expect the roster to take another step forward, Jordan Ott has to take one with it.

2. The Integration of Miles Bridges

If you want to talk about one of the most polarizing aspects of this upcoming season, it would be hard to find anything more polarizing than the addition of Miles Bridges.

The Suns acquired Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, and a 2033 first-round pick. I can understand the Allen and O’Neale aspects of the transaction. They were two players with tradable contracts who are getting older and may have already played their best basketball. It’s the 2033 first-round pick that I still struggle with.

I know you can make the argument that whoever Phoenix eventually selects with that pick is probably sitting in an eighth-grade classroom right now. But by 2033, this organization could be navigating whatever comes after the Devin Booker era. Having another bullet in the chamber would have been valuable, and I still feel like there should have been a way to acquire Bridges without surrendering that asset. That being said, Bridges is someone who potentially has his best basketball ahead of him, and the organization is clearly extremely high on what he can bring.

Yes, there is the Michigan State connection, and in this case, I actually view that as a positive. Given the Suns’ relationship with Tom Izzo and the Michigan State program, there may not be another organization with more insight into who Bridges is as both a player and a person.

The acquisition remains polarizing for reasons that extend far beyond basketball. Bridges has a documented history involving domestic violence, and that alone gives people plenty of reason to question his character and how they feel about him representing the team. I’m not going to tell you how to be a fan or how to root for the Phoenix Suns. That’s entirely up to you. The fact remains that Miles Bridges is now a member of the Phoenix Suns.

So now we turn to the basketball side of the transaction, and I’m truly interested to see how Bridges affects the Suns’ offensive ecosystem.

Bridges has been asked to wear a variety of hats throughout his seven-season tenure with the Charlotte Hornets. He’s been a primary focal point of the offense, and he’s been asked to take a step back as younger players and prospects were integrated around him. He’s had to adjust his role in a variety of ways, and there should be some appreciation for the flexibility that he brings because of those experiences. He should be able to adapt to what Phoenix asks of him, unlike some players who have come through here in recent years. Yes, I’m looking at you, Bradley Beal.

From an offensive standpoint, using O-LEBRON as a catch-all for how much a player contributes on that end of the floor, BBall Index gave him an A-, putting him in the 91st percentile among his power forward peers. That’s a pretty strong indication that there’s a lot more to his offensive value than simply looking at his scoring numbers.

Miles Bridges is going to put more stress on opposing defenses because of his ability to create opportunities for himself. According to BBall Index, Bridges ranked in the 82nd percentile in self-created opportunities last season. Royce O’Neale ranked in the 12th percentile. That difference matters. Bridges can put pressure on a defense, whether he has the ball or not, because the threat of him creating his own shot changes how you have to defend him. You can’t simply leave him standing alone in the corner on the weak side.

Well, you can. But there’s still the threat of the three-ball. Bridges is a career 33.8% three point shooter, although he did shoot 40% back in 2020–21. And if you leave him open in the right corner, he can make you pay. He’s a career 37.7% three point shooter from that spot.

Defense is where the conversation creates an opportunity for Bridges. His overall defensive impact graded as a C minus last season, placing him in the 44th percentile. It’s an area of his game that appears to be improving as he enters his prime.

One of the more interesting things about Miles Bridges last season was that he spent much of his time in essentially the Dillon Brooks role, guarding the opposing team’s best offensive threat. Bridges ranked in the 88th percentile in matchup difficulty, which measures the quality of the offensive players a defender is asked to guard while factoring in their offensive impact and usage. He graded out as an A minus.

That gives Phoenix another highly switchable perimeter defender who can take on difficult assignments and fortify different aspects of the Suns’ defense. And within the starting five, that should be an absolute upgrade over Royce O’Neale, who was a liability in this area.

That’s where the real opportunity exists. Phoenix doesn’t need Bridges to become an elite defender. It needs him to use his size, strength, and athleticism to become a reliable one within a system that already has Dillon Brooks setting the tone (Brooks is in the 98%tile of isolation perimeter defenders) and Malauch (hopfully…please dear Lord, hopefully) on the back line. Offensively, the impact is much easier to envision. Bridges gives the Suns another player defenses have to react to rather than ignore. If the defense continues trending upward, Phoenix may have acquired something more valuable than another scorer. They may have found a genuinely impactful two-way player.

1. The Jalen Green evaluation

The most interesting thing about this upcoming season, from my perspective, is the Jalen Green situation. He is currently the second-highest-paid player on the team, making $36.2 million this season, with a $36 million player option for next year. I’m going to go out on a limb and be the first to report that he’ll probably pick that option up. That puts a lot of weight on his shoulders to live up to the contract, especially for a team already carrying $24.2 million in dead cap money. You can’t keep paying players north of $36 million if the production isn’t there or if the fit doesn’t make sense within the lineup you’re trying to build.

Green has talent. He has athleticism. He brings a dimension that nobody else on this roster really has, and it’s something we probably haven’t seen in Phoenix since Gerald Green. He can get downhill with incredible quickness and get to the rim almost at will. The problem is what happens once he gets there. He isn’t always consistent finishing around the basket. He is a career 53.9% shooter inside 8 feet. For context, all guards in the NBA combined last season for 57.7% inside 8 feet. Green shot 54.3%.

At times, it almost feels like he’s too athletic for his own good. He can blow by the first defender, but once he gets into the paint and meets the big trees waiting for him, he has to make a decision. And those decisions haven’t always produced positive results. That inconsistency has followed Green throughout his young career, whether it’s finishing around the rim or shooting from beyond the arc. He’s a career 33.9% shooter from three, so opposing defenses know he isn’t someone who is going to consistently punish them from deep.

Last season was supposed to provide Phoenix with a full year to evaluate all of this. Instead, Green missed 50 games with hamstring issues. So now the evaluation is being pushed into this season, with even more pressure attached. There is also concern because the injury affected the very things that make Green special: his speed and explosiveness.

The Suns don’t have much flexibility on the cap sheet, which means they need answers. They need to see what Green can be, how well he fits, and whether it makes sense to commit to him as part of the organization’s long-term direction. He becomes extension eligible on October 1, which adds another layer to the situation, although that shouldn’t force the Suns into making a decision before they have enough information. This should be a season of evaluation.

And a major part of that evaluation will be how Green handles more responsibility as a distributor and facilitator. The Suns are likely to ask him to initiate more offense because the goal should be to get Devin Booker off the ball as often as possible. That allows Booker to move through defenses, find his spots, and play more naturally as the shooting guard he is.

That puts even more responsibility on Green. He can’t simply bring the ball up, make one pass, and consider his job done for the possession. He has to read the floor. He has to organize the offense. He has to put teammates in positions to succeed and prove that he can do it efficiently and consistently. Whether he can execute that role has real long-term consequences for Phoenix.

That’s why, for me, evaluating Jalen Green takes precedence over almost everything else this season. It affects what the Suns can be right now and what they can become moving forward.

The Suns have plenty of questions entering this season, but these five sit at the center of what makes the year so interesting. Maluach’s development, the changing offensive geometry, Ott’s growth, Bridges’ integration, and Green’s evaluation all connect to the same larger question: what is this team becoming? We’re about to get some answers. And after a long offseason, I’m more than ready to start finding them.

Think about it. Two team-oriented, extremely versatile, selfless and very skilled players, both among the highest of the highest IQ players in the league. Put them together and healthy, and have them solve problems. There’s a real chance that they will be able to find new ways to play the game and develop – or expand – the boundaries of what’s possible in basketball. 

From two different generations, one on the way out, one on the way in, none of them with an ounce of selfishness. One already proved almost everything he needed to and is as highly regarded and respected by everyone. The other coming in with all the expectations, the weight of pressure and the potential of reaching the very top in this league. There’s even  talk of him changing the game.

Imagine the two of them together. Dynamic players, capable of adjusting in-game to whatever the defense throws at them. 

The fact that this duo will wreak havoc on defenses across the league is inevitable. But if you look at what they have been capable of doing separately, and how their connection and chemistry have been honed over a while now, the fun question here is whether they may actually be capable of pushing the boundaries and limits set by the very best of what basketball can do. Because as it turns out, the mentorship from the bench and recently pick-up games, have forged a real connection between them. 

But does this duo have it in them to change the game?

If we look at how basketball has been changing over the past seasons to become more about versatility, shooting, high IQ plays and decision-making, these two have it in them to take that and elevate it. Efficiency-wise, mentality-wise and in the area of mental strength and clutch time talent, they are both special. Then add that they are creating a culture around them where the team comes before the individual: a winning team. And this is just to start. 

It’s not so much about their individual skillsets, but more about how they both have an incredibly creative approach to solving whatever comes at them. 

Both are almost ambidextrous. Just think of how people almost started thinking that Flagg was a lefty last season? And remember Kyrie’s legendary left-hand game winner?

There’s a lot of similarities between the two, but also a lot of instances where they look to be great complements to the other. 

Cooper Flagg’s longtime trainer Matt MacKenzie agrees. He spoke to NBA reporter Matt Medina this week and noted that Irving wants to help Flagg become the best he can possibly be. 

“Obviously, they are two very high-IQ basketball players. I think they complement each other really well. I know that Kyrie has a ton of respect for the player that Cooper is. Just like Coach May, he wants to continue to help Cooper take that next step in his career.”

But there’s another point to add to the to the argument that these two can accomplish special things together. The fact that Flagg and Irving have been practicing together and playing pick-up through the offseason.

According to Mackenzie, the two of them were excited to get back to work and to develop that on-court chemistry:

“Obviously, we’ve all been excited to see what that chemistry will look like on the floor. They’ve had a chance to spend some time together on the court and in workouts when they’ve played pickup a little bit. I think they really enjoyed playing with each other. I think we’re going to be able to see that joy come October and November.”

MacKenzie also mentioned that the two already developed a good relationship last season, with Kyrie serving as a mentor from the bench. 

“Cooper was able to spend quite a bit of time last season with Kyrie. Although Kyrie wasn’t able to play, he was able to be somewhat of a mentor off the court, on the bench and around the practice facility.”

Staying in touch has been important. With a talent like Cooper Flagg, it’s essential to surround him with players and vets, who can guide and support him when needed. And Kyrie Irving can end up being an extremely important part in the journey to greatness for Flagg. 

“They have continued to stay in contact [through the offseason]. They have found little pockets of time during the course of the offseason to connect, stay in touch and check in on each other.”

Mentorship and smart veterans are crucial to developing players, especially the very best. Luka Doncic had Sergio Lull among others in Madrid, and Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. Kyrie Irving famously sought out Kobe Bryant to mentor and guide him. And the fact that Kyrie Irving looks to be a major part of Flagg’s development journey feels like a nice full circle moment.

“Any opportunity to spend time with somebody like that that has that type of experience, court sense and high IQ makes for an unbelievable opportunity. I think they both have the same mindset in terms of what they want out of this coming year,” Matt Mackenzie said. 

And what is that?

From what we’ve seen and heard over the last weeks, it’s to be able to help the Mavs grow as a team, hopefully climb and be able to produce more wins – and to create that winning culture. That sentiment is echoed by new head coach Dusty May, who recently emphasized that the newly acquired players all share that trait: they already know what winning requires. 

So what can we expect from the duo this season? According to Matt Mackenzie, a lot:

“I think that, at least at this point, it’s looking very promising. We’re all very optimistic. We’re really excited about what’s to come.”

Will the duo change basketball? Maybe. There’s certainly the potential to challenge how things are done, when two such creative players align. But more importantly, this duo will most certainly change the culture in Dallas and lead a team that’s about to bring joy back to the city and its fans. That is not even a question anymore. 

Find more Beyond Basketball pieces here.

Yesterday I posted on some found footage of the Spurs and Lakers 1982 Western Conference Finals. If that didn’t stir a desire for parachute pants, Hypercolor t-shirts, and big hair, someone created this amazing post:

As if pairing today’s biggest NBA starts with their 80s throwback jerseys was not enough, the creator added era appropriate hairstyles to match.

While giving Luka Doncic a taste of John Stamos’ famous hair kicks off the post in the most excellent way, Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets throwback mullet and mustache is just about the raddest photoshop ever. That said, Anthony Davis’ Washington Bullets triggered a “Got Milk” coming out my nose moment.

They were a few that didn’t change too dramatically, which may say more about today’s fashion that yesteryear. Stephen Curry and Victor Wembanyama are basically the same…just with shorter shorts.

Kevin Durant looks like he could play Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a biopic. Jason Tatum appears to have been given John Travolta’s Staying Alive haircut. But James Harden takes the cake. The jacked up, knee high, color-coordinated socks place him right in the middle of the Los Angeles Clippers (first) worst era.

I realize I’ve been off-roading some of these OTs, but the basketball news has been slow as the summer winds down and the Spurs prepare for the preseason. There is a lot on the horizon and much to be excited for, so keep checking back.

In the meantime, add your favorite 80s phrase in the comments and share which player you think looks the most like he just crawled out of a DeLorean with the Huey Lewis blaring through the speakers.

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John Calipari’s deep NBA connections are the open secret to his legendary recruiting success. Need proof? Look no further than the 44 of his college players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

However, the assistants who have grinded alongside him haven’t always replicated that success when taking the reins themselves. Historically, the 11 Calipari assistants who moved on to Division I head coaching jobs have scraped together a combined record of 1,491–1,522.

But one former Kentucky staffer is breaking the mold by bypassing the college coaching route entirely. According to an official release from NBA.com, Brandon Weems has been promoted to general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Weems cut his teeth in Lexington, landing his first coaching job with Kentucky. He quickly climbed the ladder to become the program’s assistant director of basketball operations, serving as a vital behind-the-scenes piece of the Wildcats’ 2012 national championship run.

His rise in Cleveland’s front office is backed by hard results. Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman praised the move, stating, “He has been instrumental in our player evaluation and roster-building processes, has a deep understanding of our culture, and has grown into a tremendous leader.”

Adding another cool layer to the promotion, Weems was actually a high school teammate of Akron’s own LeBron James. The King would leave Cleveland only to return and bring an NBA title home to Cleveland in 2016.

Now, Weems is tasked with helping construct another championship roster for that same franchise, this time building around Donovan Mitchell.

It wasn’t like Magic Johnson came out of nowhere. In his senior year in high school, Johnson, along with Albert King, who picked Maryland, and Gene Banks, who chose Duke, was one of the top three players, at least according to Street & Smith’s annual basketball magazine.

Johnson would choose Michigan State, and by his sophomore year, he emerged as a highly unusual player. At 6-9, Johnson played point guard, which was a revolutionary move. Not many guys who were 6-9 were capable of playing point guard, much less as well as Johnson did.

And while he did it, and did it with style as a freshman, Johnson was not yet the player he would become.

Johnson led Michigan State to the Elite Eight in 1978, only to fall to eventual national champion Kentucky, 52-49 (Kentucky would go on to beat Banks and Duke in the national championship game, 92-88).

In 1979, as a sophomore, he became iconic in the 1979 championship game against Larry Bird and Indiana State, as the Spartans won their first title, 87-75.

There were many great players before Johnson, and many after, but consider this: there have been players who are similar to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant being the best. There are players who have been compared to Larry Bird. Luka Doncic comes to mind.

Perhaps his greatest win came in his rookie season in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could not play, so Johnson, the point guard mind you, took over at center. He finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists.

You can’t really compare anyone to Johnson. He is utterly unique in basketball history. Perhaps the one player to rival his uniqueness is 5-3 Muggsy Bogues.

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Last season, Payton Pritchard began the year as the Celtics starting point guard. In February, he was moved to the bench after Anfernee Simons was traded to give Boston’s second unit more punch in the scoring department.

He should be put back in the starting 5 this year.

There are reasons to do both, but the reason I would start him is that I think he is set up to be the Celtics number 2 offensive option.

Paul George and Derrick White are great players who can score the ball with high volume, but I don’t think either have the offensive ceiling, at this point in their careers, that Pritchard does.

I also think that maximizing the minutes that Tatum and Pritchard play together should be a priority for Joe Mazzulla.

Over the past three seasons, the Celtics have an offensive rating of 121.2 with just Tatum on the court and 122.2 with just Pritchard on the court. When those two guys share the floor, Boston’s offensive rating jumps to 125.

With Jaylen Brown gone, the opportunity is there for Pritchard to breakout next to Tatum. I think their partnership on the court could open up Payton’s game even more than it already has. Tatum is a better screener, passer and catch-and-shooter than Brown is and those three things make it easier for Pritchard to put up the big numbers next to J.T. that he didn’t with J.B.

This isn’t a slight at Brown, but Pritchard has just meshed better with Tatum throughout his career.

His isolation game is another reason why I think Pritchard is set to be the Celtics 2nd leading scorer this year.

His handle is so tight, leaving little room for teams to swipe the ball away and he is so quick, making it hard for defenders to stay in front of him. His pull-up and step-back jumpers are also so elite giving him really every option at his disposal to score the ball in isolation which makes him so hard to defend.

His usage percentage has never been above 22.7% and has never been above the 35th percentile in the NBA. Derrick White ran out of gas last year as the number 2 option and couldn’t hit a shot in the playoffs. I’d like to see Joe Mazzulla hand off some of that workload to Pritchard this year.

He is also an elite catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, as he shot 42% on catch-and-shoot threes last year. His catch-and-shoot ability is a part of why he has been so effective in sharing the floor with Tatum.

I’d like to see Payton’s passing take a leap this season though. He averaged a career high 5.2 assists per game last year and assisted on 23.3% of teammates baskets, also a career high, but both those numbers should grow this year. He is a solid passer, but that is the next part of his game that needs to improve, especially if he is going to be the starting point guard. Pritchard has been working a lot with Mike Conley recently, so Conley could help his playmaking take a leap.

One way Boston can increase Payton’s assists is by having him run pick-and-roll with both Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson. That should lead to lob opportunities and more assists for Pritchard.

Defense really isn’t something that comes to mind when talking about Pritchard. His size, or lack thereof, puts a limit as to how good he can really be on that side of the floor but he isn’t a disaster either. He shouldn’t prevent the Celtics from having an elite defense this year.

The Jalen Brunson comparisons are insane. Pritchard is never going to be as good as the Finals MVP from this year is. However, that doesn’t take away from how good he has become over these past few years and how his role, game and production should continue to grow this upcoming season.

The opportunity to have a career year is out there for Payton Pritchard, he just needs to take it.

Former Gonzaga Bulldogs point guard David Stockton was signed by the Phoenix Suns to a training camp deal and was soon after waived on Friday, Sept. 18, RotoWire reports. This move pushes the son of Hall of Famer John Stockton to rejoin the Valley Suns, the Phoenix Suns’ G League affiliate, this fall. That organization’s general manager is former Gonzaga student manager Brendan Sabean.

The last time the now 35-year-old Stockton appeared in an NBA contest was with the Utah Jazz during Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets on May 4, 2018. In his short-lived NBA career, he has suited up for eight total games with Utah and the Sacramento Kings.

Stockton is a nine-year NBA G League veteran who has averages of 16.3 points, 6.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 29.5 minutes played across 244 career games (185 starts). He last competed in the G League with the Valley Suns during the 2024-25 season and has been a part of the Indiana Pacers’ Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Memphis Grizzlies’ Memphis Hustle, Los Angeles Lakers’ South Bay Lakers (now the Coachella Valley Lakers), and Sacramento’s Reno Bighorns (now the Stockton Kings) dating back to 2014.

Throughout his professional basketball career, Stockton had international stops in the countries of Croatia, Australia, Germany, and Puerto Rico.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho

Mark Walter may be selling the Lakers, but the new owners plan to take a money-making page out of the Dodgers’ playbook nonetheless: Dump the ticket brokers and leverage control over the resale market to drive up the cost of a ticket.

As a result, the average price for a Lakers ticket could rise from $217 to $361 within the next two years, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing documents prepared for potential investors.

Thrive Eternal, the sports properties company run by incoming Lakers owner Joshua Kushner, declined to comment because the NBA has not yet approved the sale.

However, the $361 figure was intended to illustrate to potential investors how much incremental ticket revenue the Lakers could gain by booting the brokers, not to signal another immediate and steep price hike, according to a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to comment publicly about it.

Read more:Lakers make two hires to front office, including assistant GM

In February, under Walter’s ownership, the Lakers announced significant increases in ticket prices for the 2026-27 season. No announcement has been made for seasons beyond then, but the investor presentation provides information on how prices have increased for NBA tickets across the league.

Sports teams often enjoyed long and beneficial relationships with brokers, who bought out blocks of season tickets. That guaranteed the teams with revenue, with brokers benefiting from a markup for popular games but taking the risk that tickets to less popular games would sell at a loss, or not at all.

Over the past decade, the Dodgers and other teams have kicked out the brokers and taken that risk themselves, with the aid of dynamic pricing: the constant raising or lowering of ticket prices based on real-time supply and demand. For the Dodgers, the worst tickets seldom fall to market rate, because the team would rather live with a few empty seats rather than condition fans to hold out for a lower price.

The Dodgers lead the major leagues in attendance, on pace to sell 4 million tickets for the second consecutive season. The Lakers played to 99.8% of capacity last season, according to ESPN. So the calculus is simple for both teams: Sell a $100 ticket to a broker, who would then sell it for $200; or cut out the broker, sell the ticket for $200, and pocket the $100 difference.

Kushner and former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger agreed last month to buy controlling interest in the Lakers, at a $12.5-billion valuation. The world’s most valuable sports team, according to Sportico: the Dallas Cowboys, at $15.5 billion.

Read more:Dodgers owner Mark Walter sued over alleged failure to disclose probe to policyholders

According to the Journal, the Thrive Eternal investor pitch projected that the Lakers could leverage increases in ticket prices, media rights, sponsorships and international growth to generate close to $600 million in annual profit by 2037, when the value of the franchise could reach $30 billion.

Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong holds a 4% stake in the Lakers. He is not selling his stake in the Lakers, his attorney told The Times last month, in part because “we believe they are still undervalued.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Lakers were unexpectedly sold by Mark Walter this summer.

New ownership, led by Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger, purchased the team for a record-setting $12.5 billion. Kushner and Iger plan to get the Lakers’ valuation to at least $30 billion within the next 10 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The investment firm led by Kushner, Thrive Capital, noted several aggressive financial projections featured in an investor presentation. The new Lakers ownership group laid out plans to expand the franchise via international growth and new local media rights opportunities.

Assuming that TV and streaming rights double in value, the moves above would reportedly increase the Lakers’ valuation, per Thrive Capital.

The Lakers are already a lucrative professional sports franchise with the team on pace to generate $681 million in revenue in 2026. Ticketing and media rights are set to account for the largest share of revenue this year.

Under ownership’s new plans, revenue is set to reach at least $1.6 billion by the end of 2037.

While Kushner and Iger purchased the majority stake in the Lakers from Walter, there is still some uncertainty surrounding the Buss family’s role in the franchise. Five of the Buss siblings have announced their intentions to sell their remaining 17.8% stake in the team.

However, Jeanie Buss has adamantly fought her siblings in completely cutting ties with the Lakers, which her father, the late Jerry Buss, entrusted her to run the organization.