Category: Basketball

Ariel Hukporti's injury in the Philadelphia 76ers' preseason opener appears to have been as bad as initially feared.

The team announced on Tuesday, Oct. 6, that an MRI confirmed Hukporti suffered a torn right Achilles tendon less than five minutes into the 76ers' exhibition game against the New York Knicks a day earlier. The 7-footer is scheduled to undergo surgery, and ESPN reported the injury is expected to be season-ending for Hukporti.

The non-contact injury occurred with 7:06 remaining in the first quarter when Hukporti fell to the floor while on defense. The 24-year-old from Germany immediately grabbed his lower right leg and did not return to the game.

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The loss of Hukporti is a blow to the Sixers' depth at center, a position that is likely to draw scrutiny given Joel Embiid's injury history and the urgency to win a championship with LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and this star-studded Philadelphia roster.

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The Sixers’ preseason opener was the textbook definition of a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty night.

The glass-half-full: Jaylen Brown scored 22 points in 15 minutes. VJ Edgecombe couldn’t buy a bucket from deep, but he chipped in a well-rounded 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds in only 20 minutes of action. Even Jabari Walker shined with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

The glass-half-empty: The Sixers’ depth at backup center behind Joel Embiid, which already looked flimsy with Adem Bona nursing a foot injury, took another major hit when Ariel Hukporti went down with a torn Achilles only five minutes into the game.

The Sixers spent part of their bi-annual exception to sign Hukporti to a one-year, $3.4 million contract this offseason. Losing him is a blow on multiple fronts, particularly since they don’t have an easy way to replace him.

The Sixers do still have one open standard roster spot, but they’re hard-capped at the $209.0 million first apron. They’re only $1.8 million below that line at the moment, which means they don’t have enough room under the first apron for a veteran-minimum contract for anyone with even a single year of NBA experience. If they wanted to sign someone now, it would have to be an undrafted rookie free agent. That’s not exactly what the doctor ordered for the win-now Sixers.

Minimum contracts begin to prorate downward once the regular season begins, so the Sixers will be able to fill that last roster spot with a free-agent signing starting on Dec. 3. However, they might prefer to keep that spot open until the trade deadline to give themselves some additional flexibility for an in-season addition.

If so, they’ll need to explore alternate ways to replace Hukporti for now.

The easiest would be a two-way contract. The Sixers still have one open two-way spot, and they have 7’6″ center Tacko Fall in training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal. However, Fall is currently nursing a hip strain and is not expected to be reevaluated until mid-October, so he might not be ready for opening night, either.

As other teams begin to trim down their rosters to the 15-man regular-season limit, the Sixers could look to poach someone who gets waived. Their pro scouting department should be working overtime for the next few weeks as they figure out how best to fill that open two-way spot heading into the season.

The Sixers could also explore a trade for a backup big, although their options are fairly limited in that regard for now. Anyone whom they signed this summer is not eligible to be traded until at least Dec. 15 (including Hukporti), so their best options would be moving Dominick Barlow ($3.4 million), Walker ($2.6 million) or Justin Edwards ($2.4 million). They can take more salary than they send out in a trade since they’re under the first apron, but they can’t exceed the first apron under any circumstance. (What are the odds they could pry Jay Huff’s $2.7 million contract away from the Indiana Pacers…?)

If Hukporti is confirmed to be out for the season, the Sixers could apply for a Disabled Player Exception, although it wouldn’t do them much good. It would be worth 50% of Hukporti’s contract, or $1.7 million, which means they could only use it to sign an undrafted rookie free agent or a prorated veteran-minimum deal. If they wanted to use it as a trade exception instead, they couldn’t take back more than $1.8 million (the value of the Disabled Player Exception plus $100,000).

Lastly, they could waive Walker, who has only $250,000 of his $2.6 million contract guaranteed until Jan. 10. If they waive him and sign someone else to a one-year, veteran-minimum deal in his place, they’d add about $100,000 to their books in total, but they’d still be $1.7 million below the first apron. That would leave them enough flexibility to still add someone else mid-season on a prorated minimum contract, although they’d have to wait until roughly mid-December to do so.

To put it lightly, the Sixers don’t have a ton of great options to replace Hukporti right now. If Bona hasn’t recovered from his foot injury by opening night, the Sixers will not have a single healthy backup center behind Embiid. Perhaps they plug the gap with a two-way signee, but they’ll otherwise have to experiment with small-ball 5 looks until Bona returns.

In the games that Embiid sits out, the Sixers’ center rotation is even more of a question mark moving forward. Bona and Hukporti figured to split a majority of the minutes on those nights, but that’s no longer on the table. Head coach Nick Nurse will need to break out his mad-scientist cap and figure out a way to patch a center rotation together. Barlow, Walker and Dean Wade all might wind up playing some minutes at the 5.

Hukporti’s injury is by no means a death knell to the Sixers’ title chances this year, but it shouldn’t be downplayed, either. Until the Sixers figure out a way to patch that hole in their rotation, they’ll be vulnerable in the frontcourt, particularly given Embiid’s lengthy injury history.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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If Naji Marshall doesn’t watch himself, the Dallas Mavericks are going to have an international incident on their hands.

“I’m too strong, and I got too much bounce,” Marshall said with a flex to the camera in a video the team posted to social media on Tuesday. “I’m sorry, Macao. I’ll buy you another one.”

It came after a practice session in Southern China as the team prepares for two preseason games against the Houston Rockets. The two teams will play on both Friday and Sunday.

Marshall apparently brought down a rim during the Mavs’ first practice session in China. He was proud of his work, taking time to snap some photos with his trophy before teammate Dereck Lively II slung it over his shoulder and carted it back toward the locker room like a felled piece of game in the wild.

But Marshall’s violent streak didn’t stop there. I mean, you can’t take this guy anywhere, apparently.

He broke a folding chair in the arena after the fact.

“No disrespect — I think I’m took big for China,” Marshall said in the video.

Mavs fans are hoping he brings the same destructive mindset to the court this year as he did last season, when he averaged a career-high mark of 15.2 points on 51% shooting from the field in 29.5 minutes per game, which is also a new career-high.

This season, Marshall will reunite with Willie Green, who was named the lead assistant on Mavericks head coach Dusty May’s staff in July.

“Now that Willie, we linked up again, I feel like I’m comfortable. Going into the season, it makes it much more easier,” Marshall told Dallas Sports Journal during training camp. “I feel like easier communication, understanding that we really know each other and he knows how to get to me, I know how to talk to him. So I think it’s beautiful. … He just helped me be more of a dog. Worry less about things I couldn’t control, control what I can. Just worrying about what helps the team and stop worrying so much about myself. For real, a lot of different things, life outside of basketball, he taught me some stuff.”

The Mavericks’ preseason schedule begins on Friday, with a pair of preseason games this weekend at Macao’s Venetian Arena. Tipoff on Friday is scheduled for 7 a.m., and tipoff on Sunday is at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., which will be an early measuring stick for your status as a Mavs sicko.

Both games will be televised on NBA TV, and for those who don’t get that channel, the Mavericks have you covered, with a stream of both games available here.

In his first career NBA preseason game, Cameron Carr tallied 19 points (7-of-13 shooting, 3-of-7 from deep), three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He flashed impressive range and a smooth stroke beyond the arc and an ability to take tight routes around screens for space, and looked incredibly fluid covering ground with his 6-foot-5 frame and 7-foot-1 wingspan.

Despite the encouraging preseason opener, Carr conceded postgame there were some jitters flowing through his body.

“I was definitely nervous. It’s real. It’s human so I was definitely nervous,” he told reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-103 victory. “But it’s basketball. I enjoy it and have fun, so got to go out there with another opportunity to play basketball and now at the highest level. It’s fun to get to compete with my guys.”

At Baylor a season ago, Carr shot 60.2% on 2-pointers and 37.4% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts per game. Monday night, he appeared confident as a long-range shooter with seven attempts in 23 minutes and really did seem to read space well inside the arc (4-of-6 shooting on 2s), whether it was efficiently curling around screens to shoot or running in the open floor.

The Lakers’ wing room is crowded — even if not among the roster’s standout areas — with guys like Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Jake LaRavia (not to mention, Austin Reaves), so it’ll be interesting to see how much serious burn Carr could garner this season. Presumably, he’ll spend a good bit of time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, receiving plenty of playing time to refine his game, improve his physicality and add strength.

Regardless of how seriously he factors into the Lakers’ rotation this year, his outing Monday night was a positive showing during his first taste of real NBA basketball. Based on his own assessment, it sounds as though he’s ready to keep building on that performance and help the Lakers whenever his number is called.

“Every chance I get to step on the court,” he said, “[I’m] just growing in areas and just getting more comfortable with just playing in the offense and being more efficient.”

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

When Ariel Hukporti went down in the opening minutes of the Sixers’ preseason opener, it didn’t look good.

Now we know Hukporti suffered a torn Achilles in his right leg, which will sideline the center for the entire 2026-27 season. The team announced he will have surgery “later today.”

Early in the first quarter, Hukporti was looking good against his former team, the New York Knicks, getting the start for the resting Joel Embiid. Then, while guarding former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, Hukporti went down — there was no contact and Hukporti seemed to know the severity immediately, staying on the ground while grabbing his right leg.

The 24-year-old center, who was born in Germany, began his professional career overseas. During the 2022 preseason, he ruptured his left Achilles while playing for Melborne United of the NBL in Australia. He was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Knicks in 2024 and spent the first two seasons of his career in New York.

It’s an injury you hate to see for any player, but especially one in Hukporti’s situation. He served as the Knicks’ third-string center last season and came to the Sixers in free agency this offseason. He was set to compete with the incumbent Adem Bona to be the team’s primary backup five. With Bona sidelined with a foot sprain, Hukporti seemed to be taking advantage of the opportunity. Now, he’ll spend this upcoming season rehabbing.

It puts the Sixers in a tough spot. Backup center is an evergreen position of need here given Embiid’s injury history. With Hukporti going down, Bona is the only true center on the roster, with guys like Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow capable of providing the team a small-ball five look. Even Exhibit 10 signee Tacko Fall is on the shelf with a hip strain and might not return to action in time to earn the Sixers’ final two-way spot.

Part of the issue for the Sixers is that final two-way spot is all that’s available to them to make an addition at the moment. Remember, the Sixers are hard-capped at the first apron since they accessed the full non-taxpayer MLE. They have an open roster spot, but not enough space below the first apron to make a minimum signing until December.

It’s a real test for Mike Gansey’s front office after a sensational offseason.

After a solid preseason opener, the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets shift to Salt Lake City for part 2. One talking point which will undoubtedly be repeated hundreds of times over the course of the season will be this: The tank has been parked, hopefully forever. The Jazz are trying to win and it’s apparent even during preseason.

All eyes are on Jazz rookie Darryn Petersen, who had a rather pedestrian 3/6/2 in 19 forgettable minutes. This is not a cause for panic. Rookies do rookie things. This man has all the tools he needs to be a special player and is in the perfect system to succeed now and continue development. The thing to watch as Will Hardy and the Jazz iron out their wrinkles is whether or how Petersen and Keyonte George share the floor. How does Coach Hardy balance his attack so both guards get their shots? Keyonte had a solid game last night. It appears that he is going to earn every bit of his new contract and then some:

Both guards started game 1, but don’t be surprised to see Ace Bailey or even Svi Mykhailiuk slide into the 2 spot tonight for evaluation. A Keyonte/Ace/Lauri/JJJ/Nurkić lineup would boast a whopping average height of 6’9″ and presents interesting problems for opposing defenses.

Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets—How to Watch:

Who: Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets

Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

When: 7pm Mountain Daylight Time

How to Watch: KJZZ, Jazz+ (in market) or NBA League Pass (out of market)

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards revealed the latest edition of his signature shoe, the AE3s, on Oct. 6.

The purple colorway of the Adidas produced shoe dropped with a video – made by PrizePicks – of Anthony's brother, Bubba Edwards, and his childhood best friend, Nick Maddox, "delivering" the new purple colorway to a crowd of people in Minnesota. 

Edwards said in an email to USA TODAY that the purple 3s were "the hardest shoes we’ve put out yet."

"I know people have been clamoring for the purple, so here they are," Edwards said.

The video is in part a response to a Nike ad that sees Drake, who infamously lost a feud with Kendrick Lamar in 2024, play "yes man" to Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant.

"'Hey Ant Man, can you drop your purple shoes,' said four kids in Minnesota," Drake says in the ad.

The Edwards video closes with a graphic that says "no one likes a yes man."

Edwards said that the Nike ad was a sign he is "doing something right."

"He’s not the first to take a shot and he won't be the last. I love it. I love talkin' trash and I love the game," Edwards said.

The Timberwolves and the Rockets are slated to play on Nov. 4. When asked if the ads will come up during the game, Edwards said that he would "probably be locked in on the game."

"Now when we beat them, I'll definitely have something to say," he added.

Edwards, PrizePicks announce partnership

After not playing in an organized basketball game since April 2, Luka Dončić returned to the floor Monday night for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 127-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings. He recorded 21 points (5-of-12 shooting), three assists (five turnovers), two rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes of action. Following the game, Dončic, who spent the final month of 2025-26 and much of the offseason rehabbing from a Grade 2 hamstring strain, offered a reassuring report on his status.

“I felt great, honestly,” he told reporters Monday night. “The whole team was just moving faster. But me, personally, I think I felt great.”

Typically a mainstay on the Slovenian national team during tournaments and qualifying play, Dončić sat out this summer’s World Cup qualifying games while he recovered from last season’s injury. As such, he went more than half a year between basketball games and is happy to be back on the court.

“I missed it a lot. Basketball is one of the best things in my life and I missed it a lot,” he said. “It’s been, what, five, six months I think? Being back for the games, being competitive, it’s just a lot of fun for me and I’m really happy to be back.”

Although Dončić has rarely missed extended time in his career, he has been a bit banged up over the years, especially the past couple seasons. Only twice has he missed 10 or fewer regular-season games, which happened in 2018-19 (his rookie year) and 2020-21, though he’s also only missed more than 20 games once (2024-25). The Lakers will need as much from him as possible this season to vie for home-court advantage against teams like the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, so they’ll hope his lengthy layoff and unfortunate end to 2025-26 ultimately proves beneficial in 2026-27.

Individually, a healthy campaign would also aid his chances of an MVP honor. He’s finished among the top five in MVP voting four times and been named All-NBA First Team six times but just once has he earned a top-three finish. If he can play, say, 74 games this year, he’ll have a much better chance at finally adding an MVP trophy to all those impressive All-NBA First Team bids.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

On Bright Side, it’s always about the players. Whether it’s analyzing Devin Booker’s playmaking, Dillon Brooks’ defensive impact, or Collin Gillespie’s floor spacing, we’re always giving you the latest on the team and their main contributors. But something we don’t do often is give a glimpse of the people who put the players in spots to succeed and operate on the court.

This is why we’ve made a coach’s guide. Almost a mini-Wikipedia page. Take a look at Jordan Ott’s staff and their basketball and personal backgrounds. Of note: there is full continuity from last season, both in the names and roles for these assistants.

Chaisson Allen

Allen coached the 2026 Summer League Squad, leading them to a 3-2 record, and saw Khaman Maluach receive All-Summer League second-team honors. The second-longest-tenured assistant behind Brian Randle, Allen’s background is in prospect development, as he’s spent time coaching at both the college and G League levels. Some of the main players he’s been around are AJ Green, Lonnie Walker IV, and Christian Wood.

After going undrafted in 2011 out of Northeastern, Allen spent his basketball career overseas until he retired and went to the University of Miami to work on their player development staff. He’s been coaching or playing at the collegiate or professional level for 20 straight seasons.

DeMarre Carroll

Playing ten years in the NBA, Carroll joined the coaching staff when Jordan Ott took over last year. Carroll played for the Nets when Jordan Ott was an assistant in Brooklyn and was an assistant alongside him in Cleveland and with the Lakers. Coaching the 2025 Suns Summer League team, Carroll played a large part in the development of Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro, Khaman Maluach, and Rasheer Fleming.

When Carroll played in the NBA, he was known for his ability to space the floor and guard players on the perimeter was a veteran alongside some of the NBA’s most dynamic passers in the 2010s, including Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley. A member of the 60-22 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks team that is one of the only teams in NBA history to have four all-stars, Carroll can reference what it’s like to contribute to elite teams that share the basketball.

Sean Dwyer

Dwyer coordinates game planning, video coordination, and tactical analytics. Much like Jordan Ott, there is a Michigan State connection – as a student manager during his four years in East Lansing. He did college basketball video coordination at Florida and Alabama (2009-15) before taking various assistant coaching roles through 2024-2025. In today’s NBA, video coordination is underrated. Several prominent NBA coaches, including Eric Spoelstra, Mike Brown, and Ott, took on video and planning as early career responsibilities.

Recently he made these comments about working his way up the coaching ladder on the Rising Coaches podcast.

John Little

Little acts as a conduit with the League Valley Suns and the NBA club. After playing at Northern Iowa (Kurt Warner, anyone?!), he had a pro career for a decade in Germany before returning to his alma mater as a video coordinator. Counting experience as the Valley Suns head coach in their first season, he’s had a total of six years of G-League coaching experience. That’s essentially a whole career playing and coaching one level below the “big leagues”. He knows all about hard work and the mindset of players on the cusp of really making it.

This season, two-way players such as CJ Huntley, Koby Brea, and Pat Spencer will be his focus, as well as managing any changes there, such as Kennedy Chandler, who shows enough to replace one of those players.

Jesse Mermuys

Mermuys is the lead assistant coach and also has primary responsibility for the defensive specialists. In his last stop before joining the Suns last season, he was recognized for developing the Orlando Magic’s defense into a top-three-ranked unit in back-to-back years. Overall, he has 18 years of NBA coaching experience spanning six teams prior to the Suns, plus an assignment with USA Basketball. Those roles were under mostly defensive-minded head coaches (George Karl, Kevin McHale, Dwyane Casey, Luke Walton, Dave Joerger, and Jamahl Mosley) as noted in last year’s article by Brandon Duenas.

Last year, we saw significant improvement in the Suns’ defense. With added defensive skills from Miles Bridges and more minutes in year two with Khaman Maluach, Mermuys has the ingredients to cook up a special defense this season.

On the Coaches Site podcast this offseason, Jesse discussed coaching at a high level while not having been a college or pro player.

Mike Muscala

The most recent NBA player on the coaching staff, Muscala can be seen actively working with players before games in warmups. Playing under Ott as a video coordinator with the Hawks, Khaman Malauch has a strong blueprint for how he can complement Devin Booker by spacing the floor and playing alongside ball-dominant scorers.

In his NBA tenure, Muscala played alongside LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jaylen Brown, mostly serving as a backup center and reserve. Playing for the Thunder from 2019 to 2023 and then returning in 2024, he helped mentor many of the main players who led the 2025 champions and was there when the team was struggling all the way to them becoming the first seed in the Western Conference.

Brian Randle

Randle’s focus is on front-court development, a role that is, in some ways, complementary to Muscala’s. He had been an assistant on the NBA Finals team under Monty Williams and was brought back as part of Ott’s staff last year.

As noted in last year’s team press release about the coaching staff, Randle is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he played four seasons on the men’s basketball team before playing professionally overseas, winning the Israeli Basketball Premier League’s Defensive Player of the Year award a league-record three times.

In limited TV interviews, he’s seemed intelligent, backed by a pedigree that includes a bachelor’s degree in agri-finance and a master’s in sports management. That, combined with the on-court experience above, positions him well for this role.

Players like Rasheer Fleming, Ryan Dunn, and Koa Peat are within Randle’s scope. Those are three of the team’s most important developmental pieces, making his coaching a key determinant of near and long-range team success.

Are there other areas of the organization you’d like a deep dive on? Let us know!

During JJ Redick’s first two seasons as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, they’ve finished 18th (2024-25) and 15th (2025-26) in opposing turnover rate and never eclipsed 14.6%, per Cleaning the Glass. While it was only a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, which project as one of the league’s worst teams this year, their performance Monday night in that regard had Redick quite content.

“The defense carried over [from practice]. I think we had 16 turnovers forced in the first half…and [26] overall,” Redick said of his team’s play in the 127-103 win. “I know it’s a preseason game, [but] first time since 2000 the Lakers have done that. Clearly, that disruption we talked about carried over,”

Redick was also happy with the Lakers’ showing offensively. Despite Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler not playing, they scored 127 points, including 73 in the first half, and made quick, smart decisions. Projected rotation players in Quentin Grimes (16 points), Ziaire Williams (13) and Jake LaRavia (12) combined for 41 points on 19 shots while Luka Dončić led the way with 21 points (5-of-12 shooting).

“That first half, our organization was at 93%. Our advantage creation was at 65%. We were able to score the basketball,” Redick said. “I thought we did a good job throughout the game of making the right play and passing the ball and not having it stick. Didn’t run a ton of early drags even when Luka was out there but were able to generate good things. Obviously, the defense being able to force turnovers helped our offense. Getting stops helped our offense. I thought our good jobs did a good job, overall, with our running patterns…We just consistently did the right play and the right play helped our teammates.”

If the Lakers can make forcing turnovers a prominent part of their defensive identity — their opposing turnover rate was 25.2% on Monday — it could certainly help boost their chances of being a good or great defense. Among the teams to finish top 10 in defensive rating last season, five of them were sixth or better in opponent turnover rate. A year prior, five of the top nine were seventh or better in opponent turnover rate.

It’s not a prerequisite for being a good defensive unit but it’s certainly a pathway to being one and Redick seems to want that disruption from his team. In the opening preseason game of the year, he got it.

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Dončić’s looks have received a lot of attention this offseason.

More important than the 27-year-old sporting a headband during practice or wearing longer hair than usual is that he looks to be in the best shape of his life.

Lakers coach JJ Redick pointed this out with a hilarious comment when speaking to the media on Monday.

“He’s great physically. The guy worked his butt off all summer, on staying in shape. And actually ran this summer. Like, he actually did like sprints and stuff. Came into camp in fantastic shape,” Redick said of Dončić, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater.

Dončić weight and conditioning has been scrutinized throughout his career, but the Lakers star is currently as lean than he has been since his rookie season.

“For someone who normally plays a ton of live basketball, he didn’t do as much of that this summer, by design,” Redick said.

“And we’ve seen him, literally every day in camp, incrementally getting more and more in rhythm. For him, throughout this preseason, that’s sort of the goal… continuing to build that game shape, and continuing to build his offensive rhythm.”

This emphasis on rest, rhythm, and conditioning paid dividends for Dončić during the Lakers’ 127-103 preseason win against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, as he scored 21 points in 16 minutes of action.

Sports are cyclical. It’s very rare for a team to stay on top for a prolonged period of time, just the same as it’s rare for a team to stay in the doldrums for a long time. Smart organizations can keep championship windows open, and dumb organizations can keep shooting themselves in the foot, but in every sport, the bill eventually comes due.

The second apron, an invention of the latest CBA, has been the NBA’s attempt to speed up the cycle. They don’t want teams like the Warriors spending five years at the top of the sport with their all-time collection of talent. They want championship windows to be shorter, but also more volatile. It’s like a conveyor belt; they want these teams to all get a taste of glory before going back to the hunt.

As the current NBA champions, the Knicks are the latest team to fight a battle with the second apron. James Dolan says he does not want to exceed it, something that very few teams have done since it was introduced. They find themselves with a core that wants to be compensated as champions, but have a finite amount of money to get there.

It’s easy to curse the second apron for what they’re doing to muddy up the Knicks’ title defense and beyond, but in doing that, we have to remember that the construction and reason behind this team even reaching the mountaintop was the second apron.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals, but faced a massive crisis entering the 2024-25 season with their financial table. Some players needed extensions, some players had massive raises kicking in, and they were doomed to spend the season above the second apron. You can spend one year there and survive, but doing two or more years there is a death sentence. Hence, they needed to shed long-term salary.

That’s how Karl-Anthony Towns became a Knick.

The Boston Celtics were the type of unstoppable superteam that the league looked to avoid in 2023-24, boasting a starting five full of players who could create their own shot and hold their own defensively, an extremely rare blend. All of that was bolstered by an elite coach who maximized offensive efficiency with the three-pointer.

It was expensive to keep that team together the following season, and they did it in the second apron, but they knew they had to make changes after 2024-25 to avoid dooming themselves long term with a still-young superstar in Jayson Tatum. When the Knicks took out a bruised, battered Celtics team that May, they offloaded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday and lost Al Horford and Luke Kornet to free agency, destroying that unstoppable ceiling and paving the way for the Knicks to take their place at the top of the totem pole.

The second apron unraveled the Celtics and Timberwolves, feeding a Knicks team that was excellently built and simply waited until their time to strike. Now, the Robin Hood nature of the second apron has come around to collect from the champs.

Karl-Anthony Towns wants an extension. Deuce McBride wants an extension. Josh Hart (who’s less of a priority due to a team option in 2027-28) wants an extension. Jalen Brunson is due at least $290 million down the road in a future extension (and could be up to $411 million). There’s not enough room under the second apron to keep them all happy.

The second apron already threw a right hook at the Knicks’ underbelly by forcing them to let go of Mitchell Robinson, but now they could come back and take McBride from them next season (or force them to trade him). The desire to keep the band together has caused a lowballing of Towns, something that is openly frustrating him in the media.

And now, we’re getting reports that both he and Hart could be trade chips in February if we can’t get a deal done? What happened to all the good vibes???

No matter how much “power of friendship” you have, money is the universal divider. I’m not calling Towns greedy for wanting to make more than residential losing players, Trae Young and De’Aaron Fox, but I’m also not going to call the Knicks prudish.

The second apron is extremely restrictive and, at most, you can exceed it one time before its vice grips start to sink in. I’m not sure if Dolan knows that fact, but if he does, you have to be very careful with how you use it.

It unfortunately seems like this will be a distraction for the Knicks in their title defense with how rigid the two sides seem to be. As much as it sucks, that’s the second apron.

It steals from the rich and gives to the poor.