OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MARCH 7: Kristaps Porzingis #7 of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball while being defended by Luguentz Dort #5 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center on March 7, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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The Golden State Warriors have a serious decision to make this offseason: should they re-sign Kristaps Porziņģis? The former All-Star has looked brilliant when on the court with the Dubs, following a deadline deal that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks.
But staying on the court has been an issue. He’s appeared in just three games in his month-plus with the team, and has now had an issue suiting up every year for the last decade. The talent is tantalizing, and there’s no doubt that he’s an excellent fit with the team. But is he worth committing to beyond this year, especially if his All-Star talent drives up his price? Let us know how you feel!
NBA fans have been paying very close attention to this draft because of three names in particular: Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer, and AJ Dybantsa, with the occasional Big Board having UNC’s Caleb Wilson thrown in the mix. Rightly so; all four of them have had incredible seasons, but juuuuuust outside of all of that hype there are a few guys who have had really great seasons in their own right.
Playing in the Big 12 (which is widely regarded as the third best basketball league in the world) is no small feat. Playing on a team in the Big 12 that has winning culture and finished 2nd in the Big 12 standings is also no small feat, but to do all of that AND lead that team in scoring as a true Freshman seems impossible… but here we are. Kingston Flemings has demonstrated that he does have the ability to be great at the next level, but will he? Let’s talk numbers.
Hardware: First-Team All-Big 12, Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Triumphs
What cannot possibly be denied is his ability to put the ball in the hoop. He scored 27 against TCU, he scored 22 against a juggernaut in Iowa State, and he had a career high 42 against Texas Tech. He’s also a great facilitator as he was fifth in the Big 12 for assists per game and the ONLY Freshman in the Big 12 to average more than 5 a game.
His shooting percentages should be mentioned as well; not everyone can come in at 18/19 years old and shoot 37% from deep, albeit on limited attempts per game. His defensive metrics can’t be overlooked either: in the Big 12 he ranks 5th in Defensive Win Shares (2.3), 3rd in defensive box plus/minus (5.8), and 14th in defensive rating (97.4).
His other highly coveted skill is his ability to be THE engine of a team. He finished the Big 12 regular season with a Usage Percentage of 26.3% so he had the ball in his hands all the time. While constantly having the ball could lead to a high turnover rate, that isn’t the case with Flemings as he has a 2.8 assist/turnover ratio. He finished 16th in Big 12 Offensive Rating (124.3), 11th in Points Produced Per Game (16.8), and 7th in Offensive Box Plus/Minus (6.8). There is quite literally nothing that he can’t do on the basketball court. However…
Shortcomings
Flemings does have one fatal flaw in my opinion, and that is his consistency. While he does have the ability to go off for 40, he also has multiple single digit scoring games this year including 7 against Cincinnati in 30 minutes, 4 against Utah in 29 minutes, and a grotesque 1 point against Notre Dame in 22 minutes earlier in the year. His field goal percentage also fluctuates: for every 60% game on high shot volume, he has a 15% on similar attempts. For every hyper efficient game on limited attempts he also has a 0-4 night.
Something that I’m also concerned about is his frame at the pro level. He’s 6’4” which is a decent height, but with the NBA is shifting to taller ball handlers (or allowing your Center to be the playmaker in the case of Nikola Jokic and Alperen Sengun), the “smaller” guard is becoming more of a novelty. There are exceptions, obviously: Payton Pritchard is 6’1” and Steph Curry is 6’3” but the a huge difference between those two and Flemings is my other concern which is his weight. He’s listed at 190 lbs but he is a skinny 190. I do want to give credit where credit is due; he put on 10 lbs of muscle prior to the start of the season, so this is something that he is aware he needs to work on, but I think that early in his career his frame will hinder him from being as physical as he needs to be in the NBA.
Is He Worth The Pick?
I think that I approach drafts and draft picks a little differently than most. In my view scouting is both very difficult and kind of a crapshoot. I made a video over a year ago detailing how rare it is to find a superstar in any one draft. In my view the draft kind of goes like this…
Picks 1-3: You are expecting a future superstar
Picks 4-14: You are expecting a high production role player
Picks 15-60: You are PRAYING for a role player
There are obvious outliers in that framing as Giannis and Jokic come to mind, but for the most part if you can secure a lottery pick and they turn into a solid role player you have to count it as a win. When you don’t have a chance to select a consensus “top guy” in the draft you’re best suited to select a positional need.
I think that Kingston Flemings has the ability to be really good in this league one day. He can put the ball in the hoop, he is a more than capable defender, and he has shown the ability to be the engine for a team. For the Utah Jazz specifically? I’m not sure that the juice is worth the squeeze.
I don’t think that he’s a great roster fit for us at this stage in our development. Keyonte George is on track to win the Most Improved Player Award and his playmaking ability has taken a huge leap. Isaiah Collier, while mostly playing a backup role, has also shown great strides in his playmaking. With two above-average playmaking guards on the team I’m not sure that having another one would be super beneficial. Now, I’m higher on Collier than most (I even bought a Collier jersey to celebrate me becoming a contributor to this great site and community) so I’m willing to entertain the idea of moving on from Collier to get a guy like Flemings but if we end up with the 5th pick in the NBA Draft, and we truly feel like we need to get another do-it-all guard, I think that there is at least one better option at our disposal (be on the lookout for that piece soon).
We’re also in the middle of a contentious Tankathon against the Pacers, Wizards, Kings, Nets, and Pelicans right now, and I think that Flemings could benefit the most from going to a team like the Nets; a team that isn’t going to compete in the immediate future and can allow someone like Kingston the time and grace needed to adjust to the NBA game. After the moves the Jazz made this Trade Deadline Season it’s clear that the front office is tired of being at the bottom of the standings and they’re ready to start competing for potential Playoff spots. I’m not sure that we’ll be in the business of drafting a guard that will have this much of a learning curve at the start of their career.
If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. If we wake up in 6 years and Flemings is an All-Star already I’ll eat my words, but now that it seems like we’re trying to take steps forward instead of laterally I think that we’d be better off selecting someone else with that potential pick, selecting a truly needed archetype like a volume 3 point shooting wing, or to trade the pick and get even more assets as Trader Danny is prone to do.
Where do you land on Flemings? How do you think Houston will do in March Madness? Sound off in the comments!
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 05: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks in action against Jusuf Nurkic #30 of the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden on December 05, 2025 in New York City. The Knicks defeated the Jazz 146-112. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The New York Knicks (41*-25) face the Utah Jazz (20-45) tonight at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Josh Hart is OUT for New York with left knee soreness, while Utah is missing Lauri Markkanen (hip), Walker Kessler (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic (nose), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee), and lists Keyonte George as questionable (illness).
Tip off is 9 p.m. EST on MSG. This is your game thread. This is SLC Dunk. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Have fun. And go Knicks!
* Should be one more, but NBA Cup finals are temporary tattoos.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Ana Beatriz Passos scored 12 points, Ana Pinheiro and Hope Hassmann each added 11, and top-seeded Idaho beat No. 2 seed Montana State 60-57 on Wednesday night to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade
Idaho (29-5) won its first regular season conference title since 2019 and its first Big Sky Conference Tournament since 2016. Second-year coach Arthur Moreira — the first Brazilian head coach in Division I history — led the Vandals to a program record for single-season wins. Idaho won 28 games in the 1984-85 season.
Debora dos Santos grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points for the Vandals.
Taylee Chirrick made a layup, and Ella Johnson hit a 3-pointer — her only points of the game — to cut Montana State’s deficit to a point with 54 seconds left, but the Bobcats didn’t score again.
Hassmann made 2 of 6 from the free-throw line from there, and Lorena Barbosa blocked a potential tying 3-point shot by Johnson with about a second left.
Chirrick had 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting for the Bobcats (25-7), the 2025 Big Sky Conference Tournament champion.
The Bobcats scored seven of the first nine second-half points to tie it 38-all, but dos Santos responded with a layup before Kyra Gardner and Ella Uriarte made 3s as the Vandals led the rest of the way.
Montana State beat the Vandals 99-66 at home Jan. 10 and lost 73-70 at Idaho on Feb. 5.
Up next
Montana State: Hopes for a potential postseason invitation.
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Javohn Garcia scored a career-high 31 points and made five 3-pointers, and No. 2 seed McNeese beat top-seeded Stephen F. Austin 76-59 on Wednesday to claim the Southland Tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
McNeese (28-5) became the first team in 10 years to reach and win three straight Southland Tournament title games since Stephen F. Austin did so from 2013–16.
Garcia finished 11 of 18 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds in 33 minutes — a day after playing 48 minutes in a triple-overtime win over UT Rio Grande Valley. Larry Johnson added 18 points and Tyshawn Archie had 17.
McNeese did not trail in the game, jumping out to a 29-20 lead behind five 3-pointers from Garcia. The Cowboys went into the break ahead 42-25.
Keon Thompson, the conference player of the year, led the Lumberjacks (28-5) with 18 points, while Kam Burton added 10. Stephen F. Austin shot 37% from the floor and 24% from behind the arc.
Up next
The Cowboys return to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - FEBRUARY 4: Brooks Barnhizer #23 of the Oklahoma City Thunder plays defense during the game against Harrison Barnes #40 of the San Antonio Spurs on February 4, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs have won 16 of their last 17 games, and are 2.5 games back from the Oklahoma City Thunder for first place in the Western Conference standings. With just 17 games remaining, the Spurs have the sixth-easiest schedule through the end of the season. The Thunder have the fourth-hardest remaining schedule.
What was once thought to be a season defined by ramping up for playoff contention could realistically end with the Spurs holding the league’s best record and number-one seed in the West. San Antonio has done it with shot-making all over the floor and elite defense on the other end. The Spurs have a +13.1 net rating, with a 122.1 offensive rating and 108.9 defensive rating in the last 17 games.
Over this stretch, they’ve gotten great performances from their role players. Keldon Johnson has had a major impact off the bench on both ends, Dylan Harper is coming into his own as a young guard, and Julian Champagnie has shone as a 3&D wing. Soon, the team will welcome Harrison Barnes back to the lineup and have even more shooting to surround their star big man, Victor Wembanyama.
But is the support cast’s stellar play enough to catch OKC? The Thunder are 9-1 in their last 10 games, winning six straight games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing MVP-level basketball while the team shows no signs of slowing down. Without any matchups with the Thunder on the schedule, San Antonio will rely on other teams to help them move up in the standings.
Will the Spurs get the number one seed? Which role player needs to stay hot as we head into April? Vote in the poll below and we’ll be back with responses next week.
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Spurs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 28: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 28, 2026 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Ten days ago, the Golden State Warriors announced they’d re-evaluate Steph Curry’s ailing knee. Wednesday, they announced there would be no good news about the Baby-Faced Assassin’s return for another 10 days.
Golden State's Stephen Curry will miss another 10 days with his ailing knee, stretching his absence to five more games and a total of 20 consecutive, sources tell me and @anthonyVslater. Curry has started on-court work and is aiming to intensify his workouts.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote that time and tide wait for no man, and the second part of that quote seems like it’s about noted boating enthusiast Klay Thompson. Curry turns 38 on Saturday and he won’t be playing before then, nor will he be available for most of the Warriors’ brutal upcoming road trip, featuring six games in nine nights and matchups with each of the Eastern Conference’s top three teams.
Just for the record, Shams Charania wrote a truly terrible sentence in the above tweet, even for him. “Stretching his absence to five more games and a total of 20 consecutive” is the kind of thing you type one-handed while fielding calls from Rich Paul with the other hand. And you also haven’t slept more than four hours a night in case someone else announces publicly-available NBA information seconds before you do, since that is apparently worth millions of dollars per year.
Curry is apparently doing on-court work, but it doesn’t sound like he’s playing basketball yet, which is an important prerequisite for playing basketball in an NBA game. This means the Warriors will continue to lean on valuable two-way guard LJ Cryer and valuable former two-way guard Pat Spencer, but will remain an offense in search of an engine. The ragtag group of Warriors is basically enthusiastically pushing a powerless car around a track, but the upcoming East Coast swing is like trying to get said car up a hill in Pacific Heights.
How does this affect the Warriors playoff play-in chances? They’ve been passed by the LA Clippers and lead the Portland Trail Blazers by 1.5 games, but the bottom of the Western Conference is an ugly morass of injuries, tanking, and the New Orleans Pelicans, who are actually trying to win but are terrible at it. Even a team that lost back-to-back games to the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls won’t drop 8.5 games in the standings in their final 17 games, which at most a dozen will feature Curry.
The expected-but-disappointing injury news does make it quite unlikely the Warriors finish 7th or 8th, which likely dooms them to a first-round series with the defensing champion Oklahoma City Thunder — and that’s if everything goes right.
That’s why the Warriors may as well be patient with Curry, since their play-in fate is pretty much sealed, next week would be brutal even with him in the lineup, and his brother needs playing time anyway. We’ll know more in 10 days, but don’t be surprised if we get another 10-day notice then.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 24: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball against Paolo Banchero #5 of the Orlando Magic during the third quarter at Kia Center on January 24, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to break the Orlando Magic’s four-game winning streak.
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ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 3: Sharife Cooper #13 of the Washington Wizards drives to the basket during the game against the Orlando Magic on March 3, 2026 at Kia Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Washington Wizards take on an undermanned Orlando Magic team on Tuesday at Kia Center to close out the Florida leg of their four-game road trip.
Game info
When: Thursday, Mar. 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Kia Center, Orlando, Florida
How to watch: Monumental Sports Network, League Pass
Injuries: For the Wizards, Kyshawn George (elbow), Jamir Watkins (ankle), Anthony Davis (hand, groin), Cam Whitmore (shoulder), and D’Angelo Russell (not with team) are out.
For the Magic, Jase Richardson (back) and Jonathan Isaac (knee) are questionable, while Franz Wagner (ankle) and Anthony Black (abdominal) are out.
What to watch for
The Wizards will try their best to wash away the stench of the 83-point game they gave up to Bam Adebayo in their Tuesday tilt against the Miami Heat. The Magic will be without key pieces such as Franz Wagner and Anthony Black, but the Wiz may need to be wary of Wendell Carter Jr. going off for a career night.
Kidding aside, the Magic enter the contest on a four-game winning streak and desperately need a victory after getting passed by the Heat for the sixth seed in the East. After getting a rest day on Tuesday, Trae Young is expected to be back in action for his third game in a Wizards uniform.
For the tank watchers out there, the 16-48 Wizards made up some ground in the race to the bottom as both the Sacramento Kings (16-50) and Brooklyn Nets (17-48) picked up victories over the last couple of days. Only the Indiana Pacers currently have fewer wins than Washington.
Mar 10, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) and guard Reed Sheppard (15) celebrate after a play during the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Houston Rockets vs Denver Nuggets
March 11, 2026
Location: Ball Arena – Denver, Colorado
TV: ESPN
Radio: KBME Sports Talk 790
Online: Rockets App, SCHN+
Time 9:00 CST
Probable Starting Lineups
Rockets: Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun
Nuggets: Jamal Murray (GTD), Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson (GTD), Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokić
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) during the second half at Madison Square Garden.
SALT LAKE CITY — The precipitous fall in Mikal Bridges’ stats is widespread.
Points. Minutes. Efficiency.
They’ve all plummeted since the end of January. It reached a low point during the Western Conference swing that ended Wednesday in Utah, where Bridges arrived with three straight games playing under 30 minutes and scoring in single digits.
The problem, according to Bridges, isn’t about his lack of aggressiveness.
“The aggression thing is not an issue at all. I don’t think that’s the issue at all,” said Bridges, who failed to score a point in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers and was benched in crunch time of Monday’s defeat to the Clippers. “Even if I miss a couple, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nah, I don’t think that’s the issue.”
So what is it?
“I don’t know,” Bridges answered. “I think it’s just the game of basketball. Sometimes you try to get open and sometimes it doesn’t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That’s it.”
In other words, Bridges believes this is more about a lack of opportunity than broken confidence. And whether that’s it or the reasons run deeper, Bridges’ second season with the Knicks — which started strong and efficient — had devolved into disappointment heading into the Jazz game.
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Since the All-Star break and before Wednesday, Bridges averaged just 11.4 points and under 30 minutes while shooting 43.2 percent overall and 34.1 percent on treys.
Prior to the All-Star break, Bridges was up to 15.9 points in 34.5 minutes while shooting 50.4 percent overall and 38.6 percent on threes.
When you combine pre- and post-All-Star, Bridges is averaging his fewest points and shot attempts since 2021-22 with the Phoenix Suns.
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) at Madison Square Garden. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
On top of his declines in efficiency, Bridges was losing playing time to his surging backup, Landry Shamet, including in fourth quarters.
Jalen Brunson, who was teammates with Bridges at Villanova, said he offers reassurance.
“Tell him to keep shooting. Tell him to keep playing,” Brunson said. “He’s out there. So he has to continue to be who he is.”
It wasn’t supposed to be such a slog for Bridges this season. The coaching change — from Tom Thibodeau to Mike Brown — was pitched as an avenue toward unlocking Bridges’ All-Star capabilities through a faster and freestyling offense.
Less structure and fewer isolations (Brown says he doesn’t call plays) theoretically meant a better version of Bridges, who is one of the top-conditioned players in the NBA and thrives with movement.
That began harmoniously as Bridges excelled through most of December. Lately, though, his attempts and conversions have dropped.
“It’s got its pros and cons,” Bridges said about Brown’s offense, specifically when asked about not having plays called. “You try to have the feel of the game sometimes.”
The good news that Knicks fans can fall back on is that Bridges also struggled through stretches of last season before awakening like a five-alarm fire in the playoffs. His heroic performances in Rounds 1 and 2 against the Pistons and Celtics, respectively, were viewed as justification for signing Bridges in the summer to a four-year, $150 million extension — which doesn’t start until next season.
There was also his big Christmas of 2024 against the Spurs, and the OT thriller a year ago in Portland. So Bridges is capable. He’s proven it. But that also makes his regression this season more confounding as he adjusts to a decreased role.
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) shoots the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) at Crypto.com Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“It’s all right,” Bridges said. “I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win, trying to find opportunities, try to do all the right things and be aggressive.
“Sometimes [the ball] doesn’t come my way. Just try to do other things.”
Oct 29, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks looks on during warmups prior to the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
It may not have seemed so in the early hours of February 9, 2023, but the Nets’ trade of Kevin Durant in February 2023 is increasingly seen by many as a big positive for the Brooklyn franchise. Sean Marks & co. ultimately wound up with 11 first round picks and swaps when all the by-products of the deal are accounted for. It is indeed the foundation stone of their current rebuild.
Of course, the trade dashed all hopes that the “Clean Sweep” and “Big Three” era would lead to a title. Now though, in some quarters particularly at the HSS Training Center, it’s seen as a sunk cost, not something to dwell on. But even outside those halls and behind the Great Window, there’s a new take. It may not be unanimous and Marks’ position with the fanbase remains tenuous, but it’s there.
Call it revisionist history or worthy counter-narrative, but in recent weeks, we’ve started to see a new appraisal of Marks tenure, nowhere more effusively than on a little noticed discussion last week between the two hosts of the “Third Apron” podcast co-hosted by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports and Yossi Gozlan on his “Third Apron” podcast. The two are known for their attention to detail and insight.
In that discussion, Quinn not only called the Durant trade a “historically great trade” in NBA annals and “the home run of home runs,” but he and Gozlan said it was the first of several deals in which Marks secured a much better deal that he had initially been offered, whether for Mikal Bridges or Cam Johnson, whose trades Quinn described as “awesome” and “killer”, respectively. Quinn even suggested that one of the fire sale trades that preceded Durant — those of Kyrie Irving and James Harden — also deserve some praise. For his part, Gozlan said he believed the Bridges trade alone warranted him consideration as Executive of the Year in 2024-25.
The two also offered critiques of Marks, particularly on the loss of the “Big Three” but in general that stand firmly on the side of NBA punditry that think Marks may be about to turn the corner again … with the support of the team’s owner, Joe Tsai.
“They’ve consistently done very well when trading away their own players,” said Quinn with Gozlan nodding in agreement. “Think about what the market was for Kyrie when hey traded him away to Dallas Getting what they got for Kyrie was a win.
“The Kevin Durant trade?!? The home run of home runs. Other than the Paul George trade, maybe the best selling away trade of a player in NBA history. I guess they didn’t get Shai Gilgeous Alexander (as OKC in the 2019 Paul George trade.) That’s why the Paul George trade has to be better. but you get the point. It was a historically great trade.”
The two officially were discussing Quinn’s February 17 analysis of all 30 NBA front offices on Gozlan’s “Third Apron” podcast (starting at about 42:00 in) but wound up going more in depth. That analysis was published coincidentally on the 10th anniversary of Marks hiring by the Nets. It ranked the Nets F.O. 15th. Quinn has admitted, including in talking with Gozlan, that he now thinks Marks deserves even a higher grade, that his analysis may have been colored by pushback he received after ranking Marks 17th last year! Gozlan said that he had voted for Marks as Executive of the Year in 2024 based mainly on the biggest off-shoot of the deal, the subsequent trade to Mikal Bridges to the Knicks!
“They have held on to their players throughout good offers in search of great ones and that has worked out very very well for them. Like how many offers did they get for Mikal Bridges that would have been fine. Like if they had traded him to Memphis for all those picks (in the aftermath of the KD trade) that would have been a decent trade. I think the Rockets came in with an offer at one point. I don’t know what it was. They waited and got the historic haul for Mikal Bridges, that now looks like an awesome trade for him.”
As Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the 2024 trade deadline, the Nets had offers of four or five firsts that they turned down. Brian Lewis subsequently wrote that the Rockets offer mentioned by Quinn would have retuned two firsts and other assets to Brooklyn and there was a rumor that the Trailblazers would’ve offered the rights to Scoot Henderson.
“They waited on Cam Johnson too. It might have cost them draft position in 2025. I think Egor Demin looks good. I’d be very excited to have him. Maybe they could have gotten higher up in that lottery, who’s to say. BUT they get an unprotected pick for Cam Johnson plus Michael Porter Jr. who’s better than Cam Johnson. That’s a killer trade”.
“I don’t think you can fault them for holding on to their guys. It’s worked out for them,” Quinn added. (One league source told ND that indeed that policy of waiting for a better deal has been a criticism of Marks. Quinn also said that the Nets have succeeded in some lesser deals areas have some big if less tangible assets.
“They’ve done pretty well on the margins. Day’Ron Sharpe is one of the better back-up values in the NBA,” the CBS Sports writer added, speaking of the two-year, $12.5 million contract Sharpe signed last summer. The second year of that contract is a team option making it even more favorable to Nets.
“Jordi Fernandez … awesome coaching hire,” Quinn added. “I think that’s going to manifest in the enxt couple of years. And by the way we don’t think about them because they’re not the Knicks, but they ARE in New York, they ARE a big market team. Guys want to live there. By the way, I don’t know if casual fans know this, when you play for the Knicks, you don’t live in New York City. Their practice facility is in in Westchester, They’re an hour away. When you play for Brooklyn, your practice facility in sin Brooklyn. You get to live in New York It’s a very desirable place to be.”
His bottom line: “They’re loaded with draft picks right now. They’re in an awesome position. They’re going to be good again in two or three years.”
Gozlan echoed Quinn in many ways.
“I had Sean Marks as my big vote for Executive of the Year mainly because of the Bridges trade,” he noted. “I thought that if those rumors were true that the Nets declined four picks for Mikal Bridges from the Grizzlies in 2023 as soon as soon as they got him. If that was true, I thought it was they declined these trades. and yet to worked out.
“You’re right. They are so good at valuing players on the market. and knowing how long that value could sustain I really can’t think of a situation where that lost value on a guy although maybe if you want to say Kyrie.That was Kyrie destroying his own value.”
Quinn countered by arguing that the Nets “lost a ton of value with Harden.” (Internally the company line on the deal centered on Harden-for-Ben Simmons is that neither the Nets nor the 76ers won that trade.)
“As an organization you have to bear some blame for what went wrong for Kyrie and Durant and Harden, like when a player quites on you like James Harden did, that’s a red flag,” Quinn argued, reiterating the single biggest criticism of the Nets front office, its inability, at least in the hires before Fernandez, to choose the right coach.
“I think the Steve Nash coaching hire. I think it showed some promise early. They just thought we’re not going to need an experienced coach. Oh now, you did need an experienced coach,” said Quinn. “I think they let the players have a little bit too much control over the roster and therefore there was nobody to put their hands on the wheel when things went south. Trading Jarrett Allen to appease Kyrie and Kevin Durant? Not looking great.”
“I think there are some organizational things they should be dinged for but mostly I’m thinking I should have ranked them a little bit higher. and maybe let backlash from previous rankings get to me.
Gozlan agreed.
“But when you think of all the things they do on the margins … they’re excellent at free agency, not just getting KD and Kyrie, but getting all these good players to come on the minimum. There’s so many good assets that they good in the buyout market,” he said, referring primarily to Blake Griffin and Lamarcus Aldridge, even getting Paul Milsap and Goran Dragic,“ admitting ”they really didn’t work out.“
“Theyre pretty good at the draft,” Gozlan, editor of capsheets.com, said ticking off the 20 and 30-something values they got: Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe, even contending that while Cam Thomas wound up wanting out, they got good value for him at No. 27.“
Gozlan’s one big criticism is big contracts. Not so much superstars but stars.
“Negotiating below maximum contracts leaves a lot to be desired,” he added. “The Claxton deal is okay. The Joe Harris deal was pretty bad. the D’Andre Jordan deal was pretty bad. The one deal that I thought was a pretty good value was the Dinwiddie one from like six seven years ago when they got him at the midlevel at the time.”
Gozlan said he also has questions about the 2025 Draft.
“The strategy going into last year’s draft is pretty hard to evaluate,” he said of the five first round picks. “It just seems so weird that they took all these picks. They don’t have one pick that has real value. You can’t point to anyone there so far that can really turn things around. It’s still early to see if anyone there that can at least become an All-Star. But that’s the kind of thing if they can get only one guy to really pop, that would set them back.”
He, like Quinn, pointed to the failure of the “Big Three” and still less-than-fulsome explanation of what happened.
“Why did all those stars just lose faith in the organization. and we still don’t know what it really is. it just imploded … There’s clearly more than went wrong with that team and until we see them turn the corner with a new group i think it’s reasonable to hold it against them.”
Quinn agreed. “There’s clearly more to the story about what went wrong for that team and until we see them turn the corner with that team, the new group, I think it’s reasonable to hold that against them BUT if in two or three years, they’re really good, it’s going to pretty easy to push them up because we can just look back at it and say, Kevin Durant has had a checkered few years since he left and Kyrie is Kyrie. It speaks for itself. Harden is now four trades and multiple trades since then. It may have been a weird cocktail of personalities.”
As for the immediate future, Quinn and Gozlan debated whether the Nets exchange of first round picks with the Rockets the same night of the Bridges trade was worth it. In that deal, Marks retrieved the 2025 and 2026 first round picks they lost in the trade that brought Harden to Brooklyn. In return, the Nets gave up picks and swaps between 2027 and 2029 they got from the KD and Kyrie deals.
Quinn was more the skeptic, asking if “the lottery balls they got in 2026 was worth the assets they gave up in the Rockets trade that they ultimately had to give up just to get a pick in the 2026 lottery. I think that’s something that’s going to have play out over time and if they jump up to No. 1 or No. 2, yeah of course The 2026 draft is maybe so good, maybe it’s still worth it but I’d be holding my breath on that.”
Gozlan sees that trade and the Bridges trade as “one big trade,” and believes the Nets “had to do it.”
“I think you still have to do it knowing what we knew at the time that the Nets were so bad in 2024 and with the Suns … no one thought they’d implode as bad as they did.” he said. “I just think it’s better to have control of your draft. That trade doesn’t work without the Mikal Bridges trade. You really have to factor that in as one big mega-trade because the other element is that they’ve got all these Knicks picks in the future. They have control over their destiny and that could come into play whether they get some good picks of value or maybe they could leverage some type of trade in the future with the Knicks.”
We are approaching what Jordi Fernandez confidently described as, “the summer of our lives” and what they do in the off-season is going to tell the tale of just where Marks will stand when Quinn and Gozlan speak again a year from now. Internally, the Nets seem confident in what they have built and where they’re headed.
Adebayo’s feat is drawing polarized reactions not just because of how he reached the second-highest point total in NBA history but because of whom he surpassed.
Lakers legend Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Raptors in January 2006. Getty Images
Adebayo leapfrogged Bryant’s 81-point performance against the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006. That was one of the most awe-inspiring performances of Bryant’s career. The Lakers needed those points for the come-from-behind win, and Bryant transformed into an unconscious scoring machine to make it happen.
It was thrilling. It was vintage Bryant. It was part of the magic of what made him a legend.
What Adebayo did Tuesday against a tanking Wizards team was very different than Kobe. He made 36 of 43 free throws to get to 83 points. With the Heat leading by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter, what he was doing was pure, unadulterated stat chasing, a far cry from Bryant’s organic artistry.
Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks on March 2, 1962, in their 169-147 victory. Chamberlain went 36 of 63 from the field and 28 of 32 from the free-throw line.
He scored 23 points in the first quarter, 41 by halftime, 28 in the third and 31 in the fourth.
The question is should Adebayo have allowed Bryant to keep the second-best mark?
Absolutely not.
Here’s the thing, admittedly, something feels icky about watching Adebayo pass Bryant, who tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2020 alongside his daughter, Gianna. But that instinct needs to be curbed. Why? Because Bryant wouldn’t have wanted another player to defer to him.
Bryant’s persona was being a stone-cold killer on the court. He was the Black Mamba, the human form of one of the most dangerous snakes on the planet.
He wouldn’t have wanted mercy. He wouldn’t have wanted conciliation.
Bryant would’ve wanted Adebayo to go for it. He would’ve been cheering for him louder than anyone. He would’ve scowled at anyone who criticized how he scored those points.
Just look at how Bryant handled things in the past.
Back in 2018, when the sports world devolved into a nightmarish echo chamber as pundits endlessly debated whether LeBron James was the greatest player of all time after he reached the NBA Finals eight straight seasons, Bryant cut through the white noise.
Tweeted Bryant: “We can enjoy one without tearing down one. I love what he’s doing. Don’t debate what can’t be definitively won by anyone #enjoymy5 #enjoymj6 #enjoylbjquest.”
Heat teammates celebrate center Bam Adebayo (13) on Tuesday after he scored 83 points, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history. AP
Here’s to guessing Bryant would’ve said something similar after Adebayo’s performance.
It doesn’t matter whose performance was more pure. Both feats can be celebrated. They were both superhuman.
After Bryant tragically died at age 41, his legend took on a completely different dimension, becoming sacrosanct.
It was painful watching Adebayo break Bryant’s mark. It felt wrong. If he had stopped at 81 points as an ode to Bryant, Adebayo would’ve gotten even more respect. All he had to do was sit with 1:37 left and the Heat up by 27 points. All he had to do was take the high road.
But Bryant wouldn’t have wanted that. And that’s what matters most.
Bryant fully believed in celebrating greatness. He believed in putting a high heel on his opponent’s throat and stomping. What happened Tuesday was a celebration of that type of spirit.
When James surpassed Bryant as third on the league’s all-time leading scoring list on Jan. 25, 2020, Bryant was at the front of the line to congratulate him.
In his final tweet, Bryant wrote, “Continuing to move the game forward @kingjames. Much respect my brother. #33644.” Bryant died the next morning.
Stephen Curry has missed 15 games due to patella-femoral pain syndrome/bone bruising — commonly called runner's knee — and in that stretch the Warriors have gone 5-10 and slid to ninth in the Western Conference. Golden State needs its best player back.
That's not happening for another 10 days, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater. That means Curry will miss at least another five games and return — at the earliest — with a dozen games left in the season. The next five games Curry will miss are mostly tough ones, including at New York on Sunday as part of NBC's Sunday Night Basketball broadcast.
It's not just Curry who is out, Jimmy Butler is done for the season after tearing his ACL, leaving the Warriors struggling for consistent shot creation during this stretch.
Curry, 37, still looks elite when he does get on the court, averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists a game, shooting 39.1% from 3-point range. His gravity to draw defenders is still what makes Golden State's offense work, and without him things get stuck in the mud.
Which is what Warriors fans are going to see for another five games, at least.
Luka Doncic has packed quite the life into just 27 years.
The Lakers point guard has grown from a basketball prodigy to a bonafide NBA superstar.
He’s set new scoring records, won a Western Conference championship and been a part of arguably the biggest trade in professional hoops history.
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates during the game against the New York Knicks on March 8, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images
Along the way, he found love and became a father of two.
But he recently split from his longtime partner, model Anamaria Goltes, which prompted us to take a look into the most significant moments of the NBA player’s time on earth.
FEBRUARY 28, 1999
A beauty salon owner, Mrijam Poterbin, and a basketball player, Sasa Doncic, welcomed Luka into the world in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2007
After Sasa joined Slovenian basketball team Olimpija, 8-year-old Luka, who had just picked up basketball a year prior, followed his dad and began honing his skills on the hardwood with the club’s youth team, according to ESPN.
Luka Doncic and Anamaria Goltes
Instagram/@lukaxtra
2011
At the age of 12, Luka met Goltes while the two were hanging out with mutual friends in Croatia, Goltes revealed in a 2020 Instagram post.
2012
After years of dazzling in youth basketball games, Luka inked a contract with Real Madrid and left his parents to focus on hoops in the organization.
2015
At 16 years old, Luka made his pro debut for Real Madrid, becoming the org.’s youngest-ever player.
2016
Luka and Goltes began dating.
Luka Doncic and Anamaria Goltes
Instagram/@lukaxtra
June 21, 2018
The Hawks selected Luka with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft, but quickly traded him to the Mavericks.
March 2020
Goltes shared in an Instagram post she and Luka were quarantining together during the pandemic in Dallas. She posted photos of the two with their dogs, and wrote, “Dallas is a lot like Europe.”
“I love Dallas,” she added. “It reminds me of home.”
“It’s been great and she helps me a lot,” Doncic said of Goltes. “It’s a lot of pressure outside. When I get home, it’s no basketball talk. She don’t like basketball, but she goes to every game.
“I mean, she likes it now, but she didn’t like it, which is good for me. I really like that.”
June 2024
Luka participated in his first-ever NBA Finals after he helped lift the Mavericks to a Western Conference finals victory over the Timberwolves.
February 2, 2025
The Mavericks stunningly traded Luka to the Lakers in a swap that included All-Star Anthony Davis.
February 11, 2025
Goltes showed in a photo on Instagram that she and Luka’s daughter followed him to Los Angeles, calling the move a “new chapter” for them in a caption.
Goltes sparked breakup rumors with her social media activity, which included her curiously leaving him out of a message about the “ups and downs” she had faced in the previous decade.
March 9, 2026
Goltes filed a petition in a Los Angeles County court seeking child support from Luka, adding further fuel to the rumors of their split.
Anamaria Goltes, Luka Doncic’s ex-fiancee, requested child support and attorney’s fees from the Lakers star this week, according to new court filings. Instagram/@ anamariagoltes
“I love my daughters more than anything and I’ve been doing everything I can for them to be with me in the U.S. during the season, but that hasn’t been possible, so I recently made the tough decision to end my engagement,” Dončić said. “Everything I do is for my daughters’ happiness and I will always fight to be with them and give them the best life I can.”
#33644.” Bryant died the next morning. 
