Category: NBA

NBA The Run is the game I have been waiting a long time for.

Basketball video games were the way I cemented my appreciation for the sport. It’s all well and good to watch the on-court product, or pick up the ball yourself, but getting to step into the avatars of the world’s greatest athletes scratches an itch that the other two can’t quite reach.

Reminiscent of not only classic NBA video games, but the grit and attitude of the 2000s, The Run’s new update has added 5 new marquee players from that era, while giving the game a fresh overhaul. That new coat of paint and new additions to the roster made jumping into The Run a whole lot of fun.

To preface my review, all gameplay occurred on a PC, playing on an Xbox One controller.The kind people over at Play by Play Studios sent me a copy of the game, as well as an unlock code for the 5 new players added. With that all considered… let’s get into it.

First steps into the past

The Run first released on June 9th, 2026, but this autumn marks the release of their first major DLC, Wave One — 2000s Legends. The legends in question are Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, and Dirk Nowitzki.

Wave One – 2000s Legends arrives TOMORROW as a free update for all players.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Wave One update Preview Blog: https://t.co/2oGMxd4pk7pic.twitter.com/o0KQEY0NlW

— NBA THE RUN (@NBATHERUN) September 28, 2026

It’s great to not only see two Raptors legends (albeit, only one in the purple and red threads), but also, players that harken back to the turn of the millenium in a way that stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant transcended. Rooting this update in that era is great from a branding perspective, and goes further to draw back connections to older titles like NBA Street. You can unlock the new characters either using in-game currency, or through a purchase.

The new update also brought a soundtrack of vintage cuts, 11 songs from big names such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye West. Passin’ Me By from the Pharcyde is a personal favourite, and getting to hear it while running the court with Victor Wembanyama was a real pleasure. The Run is designed in large part around sound, with DJ Bobbito Garcia playing emcee, bringing great, over-the-top commentary for everything that happens on the court.

As well, the autumn update brought a number of other quality of life upgrades, such as adding more camera angles, dedicated practice modes, and new maps. All together, The Run is feels like an even bigger game now.

On the court gameplay

Before writing this review, I played the game for around 2 hours, both online and in the training mode. Despite a lack of tutorial, I picked up the controls pretty quickly, and hopped into a game to try out the different characters.

The Run has a really solid roster for such a new game. A solid number of teams are represented, with most of the big-name stars, some star rookies and younger players, and now, the 2000s legends help to round out the roster. I played with every current or former Raptors in the game: Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. Of the four, Vince Carter was my favourite, from both a design and gameplay standpoint. His dunks looked the coolest and felt the best on the court, and that purple dinosaur pops like nothing else.

The first thing to know about this game is that the dunks feel like dunks. With the magic of controller vibration, throwing down a jam feels like you’re about to tear the rim off. I could (and soon will) spend a lot of time just messing around alone, trying to master the different dunks, the alley-oops, and all the rest. The Run does a good job of making defence feel both exciting an engaging. Grabbing a huge block feels almost as good as hitting a deep three, and leaning into the streetball side of things, you’re able to shove and be physical in a way that wouldn’t work in a basketball simulation. One of my favourite things I discovered was that offensive players are actually able to bounce the ball off of their opponents heads.

The variety of courts upon which you can play are great as well. The Run gets international, including courts placed in China, the Philippines, and features a personal favourite, David Crombie Park in Toronto, Canada. Considering the number of Raptors in this game, I appreciated seeing some representation of their home-country, and I’m certainly that both Americans and non-Americans alike will appreciate the diversity of locales.

The game feels good to play, and at the end of the day, that’s really what matters when it comes to a title like this.

Quality of life

The Run is not afraid to be unapolagetically fun, balancing enough seriousness through its design and smooth handles, with the bombastic and exaggerated action that inflates the exsiting instanity that happens when NBA players step onto the hardwood. However, players should know what they’re getting into before they buy this game.

The Run’s developers have committed to providing an offline campaign mode (with local co-op) by Spring of 2027, but as for now, the game is something that you can only play while online. It’s good that the team understands this is a concern that needs to be addressed, and I hope that changes are implemented to bring a true couch co-op experience to the title. Evoking the 2000s is great, but being able to play this game like you would back in the day would give The Run a lot more replayability and do a lot for building community around the title.

I really want to dunk on my brother and sister in this game, and it’d be great if we could do so all on the same copy of the game, right next to each other, rather than on different machines and in different houses. However, the game’s offering of cross-platform multiplayer is a solid addition that is an addition worthy of note.

As well, while this is something that the developers don’t necessarily have control of, I noticed that I ran into a fair amount of bots while playing the game. Bots are certainly a lot easier to play with, and against, when compared to real players. But, I certainly got to play against the real deal, dunking on, and being dunked on real people in turn.

It should be noted that the game is not priced the same as a Triple-A title, retailing for $35.99 CAD ($29.99 USD). This game is raw at times, without the polish of some of the ongoing series of sports games. But that’s why I think it’s worth trying all the more.

The future of The Run

NBA Live and NBA 2K are storied franchises that took decades to develop into what their ultimate forms were. The Run is genuinely offering up a different product to audiences both mature and juvenile, and I believe that it should be supported as it continues to blossom into a bigger and badder version of itself.

The Run is a game that tries to be fun, and succeeds. It’s the perfect thing to get on with your friends and chatter in the background while you score on your opponents and take screenshots of your buddies doing Allen Iverson crossovers and T-Mac alley-oops. Take it for what it is, and if you like the sound of thunderous dunks and earth shattering blocks, while great music and an iconic announcer blare in the background, The Run might be the game for you.

All together, Play by Play Studios has revived a beloved concept, bringing it into the light of the modern day while keeping things rooted in the zaniness inherent to professional basketball. NBA The Run is a bright spot in a genre that is often thought of as stagnant, and it’s nice to be reminded that things don’t have to be that way for virtual basketball.

Myles Turner enters his second season with the Bucks and lands at number five in our Ranking the Roster series. Ever since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Turner has been on something of an Odyssey. After scoring just six points and grabbing four rebounds, he drew the ire of Pacers fans who felt he didn’t do enough to secure the championship after Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles in the first quarter. It is impossible to know what might have happened without that injury, but Turner had to focus on free agency. The Pacers offered the veteran big man a three-year, $66m deal, which, in his eyes, was far too low. Therefore, he accepted a four-year, $107m deal from the Bucks after Jon Horst’s historic waive-and-stretch of Damian Lillard’s contract. While those offers look massively different at first, the average annual value is $22m and $26.75m, which isn’t that much. For context, Brook Lopez’s final year with the Bucks saw him make $25 million, so the Bucks saw an opportunity to pair Giannis with “young Brook Lopez” and steal a player from a rival. The Pacers, meanwhile, believed Turner wasn’t worth going into the luxury tax for (or committing an extra year to). Were the Pacers right, or did the Bucks welcome in a wayward hero?

The answer, like many about this team, is a little murky. Last season, Turner was brought in for a very specific purpose: to play next to Giannis and space the floor. And despite last season’s injuries, Turner wasn’t asked to deviate from that game plan; he attempted three-pointers more frequently than ever in his career while also taking by far the fewest two-point attempts of his career. This is partly because Turner needed to rely on others for shot creation; last season, 87% of his made field goals were assisted, on par with the rest of his career. Despite Ryan Rollins emerging as an exciting player, the Bucks lacked a steady creator who could feed Turner adequately. As a result, his player efficiency rating (PER) fell to 14.2, the lowest in his career. So then: how is the answer to the original question murky when it appears that Turner’s tenure has been a disaster in Milwaukee?

That is because, quite frankly, it has not been nearly as disastrous as some want to make it seem. Offensively, yes, Turner had a down year, but he still shot 38.3% from deep on a high volume. Defensively, however, Turner is still solid; last season, he ranked sixth overall in blocks per game. His defensive on/off numbers were very good as well: with MT on the court, the Bucks were significantly better in opponent shooting, accuracy, transition, and half-court defence, with the veteran ranking in or near the 90th percentile in impact, according to Cleaning the Glass. Taken together, Turner is best viewed as a high-impact role player who needs a functioning offensive system around him to thrive. Going back to the idea of the down offensive year, the fix seems simple: feed him more in the paint. Last season, Turner averaged 11.9 PPG—technically the lowest since his rookie season—but not terribly different from the first half of his career. The biggest drop came around 2022-2023, when he averaged 7.8, 7.6, and 5.8 two-point attempts per game and 18.0, 17.1, and 15.6 PPG over the next three years. Last season with the Bucks, he averaged just 3.7 two-point attempts per game, the lowest of his career by a long shot. To say he was being misused would be an understatement.

Of course, the question for Turner now is, “Where do we go from here?” Ultimately, MT is a good player on a reasonable (if not good) contract. Contending teams around the league will likely still be interested in adding him. Should the Bucks be hoping to trade away their starting center, though? The common thinking is that Turner does not match the timeline, which is accurate; however, during a rebuilding season, Milwaukee will need veteran leadership, and MT has shown plenty of that. Turner is clearly a leader off the court and likely a strong locker-room presence. Regardless of where he ends his season, the Austin native comes in at number five on this list because he is a known quantity on both ends. How well he pairs with Kel’el Ware and others this season may determine the Bucks’ course of action, but regardless, Turner seems determined to make the most of his Milwaukee tenure, and for that, I am grateful.

---

Who’s next at four?

If one thing is for certain, it’s that Moussa Cissé is a trooper. The Guinean big man signed a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks in October of 2025, and in doing so, entered into one of the strangest and most chaotic seasons of Dallas basketball in a long time. The Nico Harrison firing, the Anthony Davis trade, Cooper Flagg’s emergence—that’s quite a lot of drama for a rookie season. But Cissé has taken it in stride. He played nearly 40 games for the Mavericks in 2025-2026; while he only averaged around 5 points and 6 rebounds in 14 minutes, his time on the floor was impactful, giving Dallas defensive energy and rim protection in a season where it was desperate for both.

Headed into 2026-2027, Cissé has a real chance to continue that momentum. Contract-wise, he’s on solid ground, having just signed a 2-year, nearly-$5-million-dollar contract with Dallas (matching the New York Knicks’ post-championship offer sheet). Now, the question is what Cissé can do with this opportunity—and what that opportunity will realistically look like.

---

The Big Question

With the 2026-2027 season on the horizon, there are real concerns regarding Dallas’ center rotation. From a raw skills perspective, Dereck Lively II has the highest ceiling—but ongoing right foot issues led to a major surgery in December 2025, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. As of the most recent news, there’s no timetable for his return, and there’s no telling how he’ll look once he is back. Next in line is Daniel Gafford. He fared a bit better last season, playing 55 games for the Mavericks in 2025-2026, with averages hovering around 10 points and 7 rebounds. But in the absence of high-level facilitators like Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić, Gafford’s role on the team is shakier than it used to be.

How does Moussa Cissé fit into this puzzle? Well, that’s the big question. If Lively can’t come back and play meaningful minutes this season, it’s very likely that Cissé will have to soak up some of that playing time. Likewise, if a trade market emerges for Gafford and Dallas decides to move on, Cissé should slot into the Mavericks’ rotation quite naturally. However, if both Lively and Gafford are present and healthy, the picture starts to get murkier, especially with a new head coach at the helm.

---

Best Case Scenario

The best case for Moussa Cissé’s growth is probably one of the two scenarios above. In a world where Lively or Gafford (or both) aren’t playing, it’s easy to imagine Cissé getting a more consistent 15 minutes per night. He’s unlikely to be starting many of these games—but he certainly could be subbing in for Santi Aldama or Morez Johnson Jr., who may both find themselves sliding over to play the five this season. Viewing the situation optimistically, Cissé might capitalize on this opportunity, bumping his season averages up to 8 points and 8 rebounds while maintaining excellent rim protection.

If all of this comes to pass, some of his impressive stretches last season may begin to feel more regular. His three-game January 15–19 run, for instance: against the Utah Jazz twice and the Knicks once, Cissé averaged 11 points, 11 rebounds, and nearly 3 blocks, all in about 20 minutes of playing time. The last three games of the 2025-2026 season also stand out. Cissé played meaningful time in all of them—and against the Chicago Bulls, he put up 17/20 with 2 steals and 2 blocks in around 41 minutes. There’s no reason to expect that type of single-game performance to become the norm; however, if all goes well, it’s possible we see Cissé post those numbers a few different times next season.

---

Worst Case Scenario

Of course, there’s also a less optimistic read here: that perhaps Cissé’s rookie season was a bit of a mirage. In this scenario, Cissé enters 2026-2027, and he hits the sophomore slump hard. His defense holds, but he hasn’t added much to his game in the offseason, and his offensive averages look more and more stagnant. Even when Lively and Gafford aren’t available, Dusty May starts to rely more on unconventional small-ball lineups with Aldama and Johnson Jr. We get toward the end of the season, and Cissé hasn’t scratched his way into the rotation. Mavericks fans are left disappointed, and Moussa Cissé’s future with the Mavericks (and in the NBA) becomes doubtful.

---

Season Goal

How does Cissé avoid this outcome? The answer feels pretty obvious: small improvements on the offensive side of the ball. This could take the form of finishing better through contact, which Cissé sometimes struggled with in 2025-2026. Or, more attention to the fundamentals: screening and rolling harder to the rim would go a long way toward creating better opportunities for his teammates. The real moonshot would be developing a decent short-range jumper—the most unlikely outcome, to be sure, but why not dream a little bit? If Cissé ever became a more reliable scoring threat somewhere down the line, Dallas would have no choice but to keep him on the floor.

---

Overall

Entering into next season, Moussa Cissé has what feels like a clean slate. His money is secure, he’s got a new coach, and there’s a real chance his number will be called to fill the inevitable gaps at center. This is his biggest opportunity yet to prove his value to the Dallas front office, and if he does, Mavericks fans may be seeing him on the floor next to Cooper Flagg for some time.

It wasn’t long ago that the NBA Finals felt like they were already a formality when teams reported for training camp to start the new season. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off in four straight championship series from 2015-2018, which was part of a longer run of LeBron James’ team making eight straight trips to the NBA Finals. Everything changed in 2019 when Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both suffered devastating injuries, allowing the Toronto Raptors to capture an unlikely championship and unofficially starting the parity era.

The NBA has now seen eight unique champions. No team has even made back-to-back Finals appearances over that time. Durant’s Warriors are the last team to win consecutive championships way back in 2017 and 2018. The league is harder to predict than ever before, and most teams think they’re one or two moves away from being a legitimate championship threat. That belief spurred a dramatic summer of offseason movement that sent multiple superstars to new homes and rearranged the league’s hierarchy behind three proven championship-caliber teams.

There are so many old faces in new places entering the 2026-27 season. Media day felt especially jarring this year as players like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jaylen Brown put on new uniforms. It also felt wild to see role players like Lu Dort, Naz Reid, and Mitchell Robinson put on their new jerseys after spending their entire careers with one franchise. Check out our Eastern Conference regular season rankings, Western Conference predictions, and full NBA championship rankings for the 2026-27 season. Here are the biggest names who changed teams over the summer in their new threads to start the season.

LeBron James, F, Philadelphia 76ers

This looks like Photoshop. I can’t get over it. LeBron really did sign with the Sixers, and he really could fix their biggest offensive problems.

LaMelo Ball, G, Minnesota Timberwolves

I hated that the Hornets decided to punt on the LaMelo Ball era after finishing with the best net-rating in the NBA after Jan. 1 last season. There’s certainly a lot of risk involved for the Wolves, but Ball’s playmaking and pull-up shooting raises their ceiling if he can fend off recurring ankle injuries.

Ja Morant, G, Portland Trail Blazers

Morant needed a fresh start, but this still feels like a weird fit. Are Morant and Damian Lillard really going to last as Portland’s starting backcourt with so many defensive questions?

Kawhi Leonard, F, Toronto Raptors

The Clippers got nuked and Kawhi got away scot-free. The Raptors hope they can party like 2019 again with Leonard back in Toronto.

Jaylen Brown, F, Philadelphia 76ers

I really thought Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum would spend their entire careers with the Celtics. Blame the second-apron, I guess. I actually think Boston is going to kill it without Brown this season, and I totally understand the case for trading him. It will be a very interesting year in Philly to say the least.

Tyler Herro, G, Milwaukee Bucks

Tyler Herro got punched in the face by Bam Adebayo, and got traded from Miami to the rebuilding Bucks over the offseason. I love the city of Milwaukee, but that feels like a tough summer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Miami Heat

At least the endless will-he-or-won’t-he speculation about Giannis’ future is over. It’s time for him to stay healthy long enough to prove that he’s still the best player in the East.

Walker Kessler, C, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers traded every available asset to land Kessler, who immediately upgrades their rim protection behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. I thought the Lakers gave up too much in the deal, but Kessler fixes LA’s biggest problem and gives them a chance to dream about making a Cinderella run to the NBA Finals.

Klay Thompson, G, Miami Heat

Klay Thompson’s Warriors jersey will hang forever one day, and he looks weird as hell in any other uniform. I am not bullish on his fit in Miami, but he’s such a cool player that I hope he proves me wrong.

Anthony Davis, C/F, Washington Wizards

This one is kind of cheating, because Davis got dealt to the Wizards at in February at last season’s trade deadline, but I’m counting it because he didn’t play a game with them. Davis is in the market for a contract extension, which is part of the reason I’m not confident he’ll be in D.C. long-term. Enjoy this photo of Davis in a Wizards jersey while you still can.

Norman Powell, G, Chicago Bulls

I would bet Powell is wearing a different uniform by the Feb. trade deadline. His two-year contract with a team option at the end was was essentially signed to be traded. There should be a solid market for his services coming off an All-Star season.

Peyton Watson, F, Cleveland Cavaliers

The Nuggets couldn’t afford to pay Watson without crossing the second-apron, so they traded him to Cleveland for a future first-round pick. Can Watson be the fifth-starter the Donovan Mitchell-era Cavs have always been missing? He has the talent to do it, but I find myself higher on the deal from Denver’s side.

Naz Reid, F, Charlotte Hornets

Naz Reid should have been a Timberwolf for life. This just looks bizarre.

Paul George, F, Boston Celtics

Paul George has played for the Thunder, Clippers, and now the Celtics since leaving the Indiana Pacers. Maybe I’m delusional, but I think he can be a really good fit in Boston this season.

Julius Randle, F, Brooklyn Nets

Randle had a rough 2026 playoffs, but he can still be a really good player in the right system. I thin Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is going to unlock him the same way he unlocked Michael Porter Jr. last year (and Cam Johnson the year before that).

Bobby Portis, F, Miami Heat

Bobby Portis will always be a Buck in my mind. It’s pretty cool that he’s following Giannis to Miami, but he still looks weird in these threads.

Mitchell Robinson, C, Boston Celtics

Robinson spent his whole career with the Knicks, but they let him go to their biggest Eastern Conference rival because they didn’t want to enter the second-apron to keep him. We’ll see how that one works out for everyone involved.

Isaiah Joe, G, Detroit Pistons

I’m super high on the Isaiah Joe acquisition for the Pistons. Remember when Malik Beasley led the league in three-pointers made in Detroit two years ago? Joe can have a similar impact if he gets enough minutes.

Lu Dort, G, Atlanta Hawks

Hot take, but Lu Dort is anything other than a Thunder jersey is weirder than LeBron in Philly or Giannis in Miami. This just isn’t right. I liked the Dort trade for both OKC and Atlanta.

Rui Hachimura, F, Los Angeles Clippers

Rui Hachimura was a major playoff riser with the Lakers. I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s not going to get the opportunity to keep proving himself as a 16-game player during his time with the Clippers.

Isaiah Stewart, F/C, Memphis Grizzlies

Beef Stew was the Detroit Pistons’ identity. He still feels like a natural in the Grit-n-Grind threads. Memphis will love him.

DeMar DeRozan, G, Denver Nuggets

DeRozan can still get buckets at age-37, but it’s fair to wonder if his deliberate style can mesh with Nikola Jokic. I’d expect him to help lift Denver’s weak bench units if nothing else this year.

Zaccharie Risacher, F, Dallas Mavericks

He’s not quite Anthony Bennett, but there’s no doubt Risacher is one of the most disappointing No. 1 overall picks ever. Maybe he can turn it around in Dallas. The rest of my 2024 NBA Draft board looks pretty bad, but I was right that Risacher wasn’t a top-10 caliber prospect.

Tobias Harris, F, San Antonio Spurs

Harris will be in a smaller role in San Antonio than he was in Detroit, but his halfcourt scoring can still help a Spurs team that expects to be playing deep into the playoffs.

Normally, middle names are saved for when a parent is calling a child (usually loudly and from a distance) to inform said child that he is, in fact, in trouble. If I heard “Jeffrey David Duarte” a tinge of fear shot through my entire body. (In fact, any time I’ve been referred to as “Jeffrey” I was either in trouble with a family member or a government entity. Family was the usual culprit throughout my childhood, traffic court from sixteen to present.)

So when members of the Spurs video team decided to address members of the team by their “government” names on Media day, the players did a double-take.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the members of your 2026-2027 San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Javonte Castle, Tobias John Harris, Julian Kymani Champagnie, Carter Dayne Bryant, Luke Francis Kornet, Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes, and Keldon Wilder Johnson.

Tobias corrected stating that his middle name is “John Lee, bet you didn’t know that.” We didn’t…and his Wikipedia page does not list the “Lee” either.

Not introduced: Devin Anthony Vassell, Dylan Robert Harper, De’Aaron Martez Fox, and Victor Nonga Wembanyama-de Fautereau-Vassel. Bet you can’t say Wemby’s full name five times really fast. I’ll wait.

It’s a good thing the players don’t have their full name on the back of their jerseys. Victor’s would need sleeves.

One week to preseason. It’s all happening.

---

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

With NBA Media Days taking place this week, let’s take a look at some of the notable stories involving former Kentucky Wildcats.

Milwaukee Bucks

We’ve seen in the past that professional organizations tease some of their players by sneaking in a hat or shirt from another team for them to sign, and the reactions are always priceless. 

This edition of that is the Bucks sneaking in the players’ college rivals’ sayings or slogans, and Kentucky was featured in two of them. 

Tyler Herro was prompted to say “Go Cards!” and he responded, “No, sir. I don’t say that.” 

Boy Wonder wasn’t going to be fooled by saying that, and was holding strong to his old Kentucky home and the school he had tattooed on his body. This is coming on the heels of Herro making some noise this offseason after he recreated the iconic TJ Ford pictures. Good offseason so far for the bucket.

Nate Ament, a former Tennessee Volunteer, was given the saying, “Go Big Blue!” and he said it, and it sounded incredible. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Nate!

Snuck in some rival slogans. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/WjoebFi0hW

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) September 30, 2026

Oklahoma City Thunder

Otega Oweh is prepared to start his professional basketball career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and at his first-ever NBA Media Day with the Thunder, he was asked a question that people could see coming from a mile away. 

“We know you spent time at OU and then Kentucky. They’re playing each other in a couple of weeks. Are we going to see you at the game in, like, the split-down-the-middle jersey, or are you going to pick a side?

Oweh’s response may shock some people, he said: “It’s crazy; I was just talking about that, like, I want to say yesterday. I probably don’t have enough time now to get a split jersey, but I’ll be supporting for sure. I’m not going to say who, but I just want to see a good game. 

Well, Big Blue Nation would prefer an answer somewhere in the Ballpark of “What’s a Sooner, I’m a Wildcat”, or “No question, I’m Big Blue all the way”. It’s a 26-minute drive from Paycom Center, where the Thunder play, to Gaylor Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where the Sooners play football, so I would say it’s easier said than done. 

Hopefully, Oweh is there in a T-shirt with one of his buzzer beaters against the Sooners on it, but that may be wishful thinking. Very thankful for his time in Lexington; now we need to see him rep the blue and white.

With Kentucky and Oklahoma facing off in a couple of weeks, I asked former Wildcat/Sooner Otega Oweh whether he might attend the game in a split jersey of the two schools.

“Crazy, I was talking that about that today. Probably don't have enough time to get a split jersey, but… pic.twitter.com/te6NmiISR9

— Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) September 29, 2026

Philadelphia 76ers

The offseason NBA news has been all about the move of LeBron James leaving the Lakers to join the 76ers, and rightfully so. With that, Kentucky fans get to celebrate, or not, the fact that James now has a couple of Wildcats as his teammates and could potentially cut down the nets with them. Tyrese Maxey and Justin Edwards are now partnered up with the King and have high hopes for the city of brotherly love. 

My favorite takeaway from 76ers Media Day, though, is the pair of shoes Justin Edwards decided to wear for the special day. He chose to don the Kobe 5 Grey Kentucky PE’s in his pictures. As a lifelong, die-hard Kentucky fan and a big-time sneakerhead, this made me smile. Such a beautiful shoe on a player that all of BBN and I are rooting for this year; love to see it.

Justin Edwards rockin’ the Kentucky Kobe 5s during Media Day with the Philadelphia 76ers! 🔥😸 pic.twitter.com/x6ybrImOcq

— Cameron Waddle (@CameronWaddle) September 30, 2026

Seasoned Knicks fans have doctorate degrees in roster construction, with a primary focus on asset management. For over a decade, we spent countless hours discussing expiring contracts, tracking picks, and praying the day would come when all the “futures thinking” translated into a legitimate championship window.

Well, we made it. Like the driver-side door on my red Nissan Rogue, the window is now open. But now that repeating as champions is the goal, New York’s roster-building approach is shifting again. That shift directly brings our focus to Miles “Deuce” McBride and his future with the Knicks.

Entering the final year of his contract, it is no secret that talks between Deuce and the Knicks have stalled. All signs point to him wanting to stay in New York. The fan base would love him to remain as a key piece of the rotation. However, ownership and the front office are fretting about wearing two aprons while making their prize-winning pizza, especially with Jim Dolan looking over their shoulders.

Because of that fearful culinary attire (too many second-apron jokes?), a growing segment of the fanbase is convinced the Knicks must flip him before the trade deadline. Whether it’s to recoup a draft pick or fill a worrisome hole at center, Deuce cannot simply walk away for nothing. OK, sure he can. And maybe he does. Regardless, trading him away because of that worry would be a majorly short-sighted mistake.

New York finds itself in a bit of a financial gridlock. After sacrificing about $113M to help the team, Brunson will be extension eligible next summer (ka-ching). Anunoby and Bridges are secure for now (on ascending contracts), Hart would like to extend now, and throw in a monster contract for Towns, and there’s not much wiggle room.

In the old NBA, James Dolan could scribble out a luxury-tax check to keep a fan favorite around. Then the 2023 CBA introduced a first apron (roughly $8–9M above the tax line) and a second apron (roughly $17–21M+ above the tax line, depending on the year; e.g., ~$221.7M for 2026-27). Crossing that damned second apron doesn’t just trigger a tax penalty; it hijacks a team’s roster-building. If you cross the line, you lose trade flexibility, the ability to aggregate salaries, and future first-round picks get frozen like Jack Dawson at the end of Titanic.

Unfortunately, Deuce is a potential casualty of math. He’ll undoubtedly earn a significant pay raise in his next contract. However, the Knicks can’t give him one without dismantling a starting five that just brought New York a championship… and appeared on Saturday Night Live. He isn’t a financial priority because the money could be spent more intelligently elsewhere. That’s just the reality of the business.

Irreplaceable Production

So, if the Knicks probably cannot pay the guy, why not trade him now? Well, that answer has two parts. First, what he does on the court can’t be easily replaced. Second, he gets paid very little (relatively speaking) to do it.

Deuce is making a “meager” $3.96 million this season. That kind of contract is a cheat code for a contending team. In the trade market, however, it is a major limitation. An outgoing $4 million salary doesn’t bring back a game-changing asset.

Consider how Deuce’s skill set impacts New York’s production on both ends of the court. Averaging 12 points per game last year and shooting roughly 40% from three, he spaces the floor well with Brunson and punishes defenses that try to double the captain. Defensively, he is relentless at the point of attack. He picks up opposing guards full court, navigates ball screens, and takes on the most tiresome defensive assignment to give the primary producers a break. You cannot find that level of two-way reliability for under $4 million.

The Center Trap

Yeah, Yeah, I hear you…

But John… We desperately need a center!

I mean, you’re not entirely wrong. Big Mitch is gone and glancing at the center depth chart is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure. Looking at Deuce as the best trade chip is tempting and convincing yourself we can flip him for a big man is quite easy to do.

But trading an elite rotational guard for a stopgap center that potentially might not play a whole lot is terrible roster management. Do the math for a minute. If we trade Deuce’s contract, we have to bring back a $4 million center. That gets the Knicks a deepl flawed, third-string big man destined to get hunted in the pick-and-roll and become nonexistent come playoff time. Anyone willing to trade a guy who plays closing minutes in crucial games for a big who will consistently rock the warmup gear should not be employed by an NBA front office.

New York can survive the early schedule by signing a low-cost option and patch the center rotation by committee, and even have OG play a little five (as Mike Brown even mentioned.) It gives them time to evaluate the landscape and see what shakes out throughout the league. Panicking in October and trading our best bench piece does nothing but hurts the organization’s title odds.

There is also precedent to consider. The Knicks brass were probably well-aware that they would not be able to afford to re-sign Mitchell Robinson this summer—and his departure is the reason why we’re in this pickle at center. Leon Rose must have heard some interest in Mitch before the in-season trade deadline, but he held on to the asset. Unless there’s a too–good-to-pass-up offer, we suspect he’ll do the same with Deuce.

So Long Forward Thinking

Forward-thinking got the Knicks where they are today. Focussing on the present is how they hang another championship banner up in Madison Square Garden for the second straight year.

Letting a talented, 26-year-old guard hit unrestricted free agency without getting anything in return goes against everything we have been conditioned to believe. It might sting a little but the ultimate goal of asset management isn’t to pretty up the perfect spreadsheet. It is to win a championship. Miles McBride helps this roster win games this season.

If we have to accept the 2026-27 campaign is essentially a one-year, rental of Deuce, so be it. Keep him on the roster! Let him lock down the opposition and hit clutch threes for us as we look for two in a row. If another franchise throws $20 million at him next summer, we simply song that catchy Fall Out Boy song and tell the man, “Thanks for the memories.”

The window for winning is right now. You don’t close it early just to save a few bucks and appease the armchair analysts.

Jordan Walsh is entering an in-between stage of his Celtics career.

He’s 22 years old, which still makes him young enough to be discussed alongside Boston’s latest batch of developmental players. He’s also entering Year 4, wasn’t part of Boston’s Summer League group this July, has already been around a championship team and can casually cite things he learned from Jrue Holiday as part of his basketball education.

He’s not exactly the new kid anymore, but he’s also not Derrick White or Neemias Queta, whose places in the rotation are considerably easier to picture before the games even start.

That leaves Walsh somewhere in between. Listening to him at Media Day, he seems pretty aware of it.

“I’m trying to switch my mentality to having what I call a high role player IQ,” Walsh said, “of just affecting the game in ways without the ball basically.”

That phrase gets at what Year 4 probably needs to be for Walsh.

For most young players, development is easy to imagine in terms of adding things. Improve the jumper. Tighten the handle. Bulk up. Learn another counter.

Walsh certainly still has plenty to improve, but there’s a different challenge waiting for him now. The Celtics aren’t going to hand him the ball for 15 possessions and ask him to show them everything he worked on over the summer. If he earns real minutes, most of them will come while Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard or Paul George are doing considerably more attention-grabbing things with the basketball.

Walsh has to figure out how to matter anyway.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve been working on is affecting the game without the ball, primarily on offense,” he said. “Trying to sprint the floor, trying to get in transition, trying to run and be an outlet guy, get on cuts.”

There’s nothing particularly glamorous in that list. There also might be a career hiding inside it.

The little things eventually become the job

During Media Day, Walsh brought up Holiday when he was asked where the idea of “role player IQ” came from.

“I felt like Jrue Holiday was a big piece of that, big representative of that,” Walsh said. “I’ve tried to take as much as I can from him, obviously on the defensive side.”

That makes immediate sense. Holiday is one of the best defenders of his generation, and Walsh entered the league with defense as the easiest way to imagine him sticking around.

But Walsh’s answer quickly moved beyond defense.

He talked about watching film and recognizing that the Celtics were better when players understood where the offense actually needed to go. In the previous version of this team, that often meant doing something that made life easier for Tatum or Jaylen Brown.

“Guys like Jayson Tatum and JB have to have the ball in their hands,” Walsh said. “So whether it’s going to find them on a pin-down screen or, like, passing up my shot to get them a shot, stuff like that is kind of just stuff I keep seeing.”

I asked Jordan Walsh how his work towards a new offensive identity is going. He said it’s going really well.

I also asked him about learning from Paul George.

“As soon as I saw him come here and get traded here, I really just wanted to reach out. Just trying to get a workout… pic.twitter.com/00Z1DX6gTt

— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) September 29, 2026

That’s the part of NBA role-playing that can be hard to appreciate from the outside. Plenty of players can tell you what their role is. “Defend, run the floor, hit open shots” has probably appeared in approximately 40,000 Media Day interviews in the past few years.

Actually becoming useful inside that role? That’s much more complicated.

Can you recognize when cutting clears the lane for someone else? Can you make a defense pay for ignoring you without hijacking a possession? Can you screen somebody open and immediately find the next useful place to be? If Tatum gets doubled, are you standing where the next pass needs to go before it gets there?

Walsh has spent three years close enough to winning basketball to see what those decisions look like. Now he needs to make enough of them himself in order for Joe Mazzulla to trust him.

The physical stuff has never been especially mysterious with Walsh. He’s long, athletic and switchable, and when his energy is pointed in the right direction, he can make possessions uncomfortable in ways that are difficult to teach.

His offensive fit has always required a little more imagination.

Walsh sounded pretty confident about one important part of that equation Monday.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way with my three-point shot,” he said. “I feel like if I’m open and I catch the ball, it’s going in. And I feel like my team feels that way and I feel like the coaches and staff feel that way too.”

If defenses eventually feel that way too, Walsh becomes a lot more useful.

And if defenses have to respect him on the perimeter, a hard closeout suddenly gives him somewhere to send all that athleticism. He talked about attacking downhill, kicking the ball out, cutting after the pass, screening and slipping. Basically, making himself part of the possession instead of waiting for the possession to find him.

That may fit this version of the Celtics better than the previous one.

Walsh described Boston’s old offense pretty plainly: “swing the ball, stand still, watch JT ISO, watch JB ISO, set a ball screen, ISO.”

It wasn’t really a criticism. When you have Tatum and Brown on your team, watching Tatum and Brown do things is often a pretty good offensive strategy.

But Walsh believes Mazzulla wants this team playing with more movement and more interchangeable bursts of energy.

“What Joe wants is it to be more of a five in, five out type of rotation where it’s like we’re all going super hard, four or five minutes, boom, switch out, come in, new five, and then fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

For a player trying to build a career out of activity, that sounds like a pretty decent invitation.

The prospect phase is over

Walsh has also lived through enough change in Boston to recognize how different the room feels now. He talked about Al Horford and Luke Kornet being gone and how much the environment around him has changed.

“It feels completely different,” Walsh said. “It feels new. It feels fresh.”

Then he landed on the word that probably matters most to him.

“Opportunity.”

“I feel like a lot of the guys here who haven’t made a name for themselves, like me, have an opportunity here to take a chance at carving out a role, carving out, you know, a career,” Walsh said. “You can feel that in the air.”

Walsh has been in Boston long enough that “potential” can’t carry the whole conversation anymore. He knows what championship teammates look like up close. He’s had enough NBA minutes to understand how much harder it is to stay on the floor than it is to flash something interesting for three possessions.

And yet, at 22, there’s still plenty of runway left if he can put the pieces together.

Maybe that’s what Walsh means by “high role player IQ.” He isn’t trying to reinvent his game so much as make the game he already has easier to fit alongside his teammates.

The Celtics already know he can defend. They know he can run. Walsh believes the jumper is better than it has ever been. Now comes the harder part: knowing what to do during all the basketball happening in between.

Walsh already knows the role. Year 4 is about proving he knows how to be the player who fills it.

A Michael Jordan jersey from his 'Last Dance' season has sold for $12.3m (£9.3m), a record for a piece of game-worn Jordan memorabilia.

He wore the jersey in game three of the 1998 NBA Finals, his last season with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan helped the Bulls win the series 4-2 for his sixth and final NBA Championship. He was named the Finals' Most Valuable Player in all six.

The previous record for a piece of Jordan memorabilia was $10.1m (£7.6m) for his jersey from game one of the 1998 Finals.

The game three jersey was put up for sale by entrepreneur Ryan Gough and sold at Joopiter, Pharrell Williams' digital auction house, which gave it an estimated price of $10-15m (£7.5-£11.3m).

Jordan's 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello was sold for $2.7m (£2m), four times the auction record for that model.

"Few objects in the history of sport embody greatness as completely as Michael Jordan's game three jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals," Joopiter said in the auction posting.

"Worn during the Last Dance... it marks the culmination of an era that transformed basketball into a global cultural phenomenon.

"Today it stands among the most important game-worn sports artifacts ever to come to market."

The record price for a piece of game-worn sports memorabilia is the jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth when he "called the shot" during the 1932 World Series, which was sold for $24.1m (£18.2m) in 2024.

• Why everyone’s talking about The Last Dance
• Maradona's 'Hand of God' shirt sells for £7.1m

After putting together the best season of his NBA career, big man Neemias Queta enters next year with a familiar mindset: there’s still room to grow.  

The Celtics big man took a significant step forward last season, establishing himself as a reliable part of Boston’s rotation, but he isn’t treating that progress as a finish line. Instead, Queta is focused on continuing to round out his game and finding new ways to contribute.  

During Media Day, Queta was asked about the areas of his game he has emphasized improving heading into the season. He pointed to his mobility as a particular focus, an area in which he believes he has already made significant progress. 

“I’m working on my mobility. Obviously, I feel like I’ve taken great strides in that aspect, and I want to be able to keep on improving in that. Being able to be more versatile,” Queta said. 

In a separate Media Day interview, Queta expanded on those comments.  

“My versatility has gotten better, my ability to shoot the ball [has], too. Being able to be more of a mismatch killer too is going to be something that I’m trying to rely on this season,” Queta explained.  

What particularly intrigues me about Queta’s developing versatility and mobility is the potential stress he can place on defenses with the ball in his hands, particularly as a handoff keeper and downhill driver. We saw flashes of this last year.  

But when Queta says his mobility has improved over the offseason, I believe him. That progress was evident during his time representing his home country of Portugal in FIBA competition. 

 When discussing how playing in this setting can shape his development, Queta emphasized the opportunity to expand his role and experiment with different aspects of his game. 

“When I go down there, I’m scoring the ball a little more… I see it as an opportunity to get better.” 

Queta also highlighted the value of stepping outside his familiar structure of the NBA.  

“You might be able to test different coverages and different methods that you’re not as used to doing over here [in the NBA] and check your comfort zone, too.” 

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has also noticed Queta’s development in this area, saying at practice that, “The area that he’s gotten more confident in is just making plays, whether he’s in the seam, catching in the paint versus a small, just when he has the ball in his hands, something happening and not getting rid of it because we want something else to go to.”  

Queta, having a bigger impact as a handoff keeper/driver this year, aligns with the Celtics early intention on developing different ways to attack on offense.  

During Media Day, President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens described the direction coming out of the coaches’ meetings, saying, “It seems like there’s a lot of leaning into different ways to attack and different ways of playing.”  

Additionally, Stevens noted, “At times in the past…in the biggest moments we’ve had a tendency to be stagnant. I think this group can be more versatile in those ways.” 

To me, this is ultimately about having as many viable counters as possible available at any moment. I don’t want Queta to start isoing and crossing over opposing fives every chance he gets, but I do think he is more than capable skill and athleticism wise, to make his own offense especially when these opportunities will be coming with premade advantages.  

Playing alongside Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Paul George, and Derrick White naturally creates opportunities for Queta, as defenses are forced to devote significant attention to those perimeter threats. If Queta can consistently capitalize on the openings that attention creates, it gives the Celtics another layer to their offensive attack. 

The Celtics have had only three official practices since Media Day on Monday, but most of them have been balling at The Auerbach Center since the summer and some roles might already be solidifying. From their media availability and post-practice comments, we’re getting some dribs and drabs of what’s already getting established.

We’ll know a little more when the team returns from South Carolina and certainly after their first preseason game in Cleveland on October 8th, but let’s read between the lines jump to a couple of way-too-early conclusions.

Baylor Scheierman will start at QB

Scheierman hinted that he’s looking forward to more playmaking opportunities this season. The former high school quarterback pointed to his basketball IQ and situational awareness as strengths in his game. And after some glowing early reviews, it’s not farfetched that the 26-year-old gets a promotion to the starting lineup.

“The other day, Baylor, I think he got like four offensive rebounds in one possession, and I just said, ‘I like him.’ That’s all I need to know. I like him. I like him a lot,” Mike Conley said on Wednesday. “And obviously, he did a bunch of other things other than that, but his willingness to crash and keep possessions alive and make the right reads was impressive — stuff like that sticks out to me.”

Boston will most certainly pick up his fourth-year option for next season; the bigger question is whether or not Brad Stevens will lock him up with a rookie extension. If Joe Mazzulla has any influence with the front office, Scheierman could be here to stay.

“Baylor’s a guy that is extremely professional with his work and his development. If a guy earns it more, he earns it more. I also think it’s a natural progression for our team. The more guys that we have being able to do more things, the better it makes them,” Mazzulla said. “Baylor works on his craft. Yes, he’s great at the hustle stuff and the offensive rebounds, but he takes the other stuff just as serious. I think he’s gotten better at it more this summer.”

Here’s former CelticsBlogger Jack Simone on the emerging Scheierman:

Baylor Scheierman is about to have a breakout season, and it feels like the Celtics already know that pic.twitter.com/GZzCxuwl1d

— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) September 30, 2026

Paul George is replacing Jayson Tatum, not Jaylen Brown

When Brown was still a Celtic, it was Tatum that would come out midway through the first and third quarters to be the bridge between the first and second units. Now, he’ll most likely be the early workhorse and obviously the closer in even quarters. However, the highlight here is less about Tatum and more about Paul George.

Pre-training camp stories are always drawn from the well of wishful thinking. And with that qualifier, by all accounts including himself, Paul George is feeling great and looking like his old self so far. The 36-year-old is entering his 17th season, but consider this: he only played 78 games for the 76ers over two seasons, not unlike the 95-game sabbatical Al Horford took in two years split between Philadelphia and Oklahoma City.

Even if it’s just for 62-67 games this season, if George can tap into a vintage version of his former self, he could be the Robin to Tatum’s Batman and the veteran scorer next to Pritchard and the rising tide lifting all boats off the bench.

I built a potential rotation using a roster-building tool created by CelticsBlog’s Nate Moskowitz. You’ll see that George’s minutes lines up a ton with more specialized wings like Sam Hauser and Jordan Walsh. Mazzulla can only do that if PG13 can carry a superstar-lite load.

Pencil in Neemias Queta as a starter, too

Queta coined the term “Big Fella University” for the center room that includes himself, newly signed Mitchell Robinson, his battery mate from last season, Luka Garza, and young bigs Chris Cenac Jr. and Amari Williams.

But if we’re being honest, Queta graduated from BFU a long time ago. Following in the shoes of Luke Kornet, Neemy shuttled between Maine and Boston on a two-way contract, earned a standard deal, and this summer, signed a four-year, $56 million contract to solidify his standing as a franchise cornerstone moving forward.

And if seeing is believing, along with Scheierman, is getting a lot of run with the black shirts that include Derrick White, Paul George, and Jayson Tatum:

Heart & Hustle 🫡 pic.twitter.com/61R3XlLcA2

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 30, 2026

Over the summer, Queta worked on his mobility and ability to score and drive away from the rim. He showed off some of that off during his FIBA play this summer and if that translates to the parquet, any debate about whether he or Robinson starts is moot. Queta will be the big man on campus.

And for what it’s worth, four players have bobblehead nights at TD Garden: Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and…Queta on January 27th.

With unpredictable Kristaps Porziņģis on roster, Al Horford is vital to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It didn’t take long to discover the answer to a curiosity that lingered throughout the Warriors’ summer of tedium: Why would the oldest team in the league last season decide it’s a good idea to re-sign 40-year-old Al Horford?

Answer: Because Kristaps Porziņģis is the other experienced center on the roster.

Porziņģis’ talent is undeniable, but his unpredictable availability requires his team to have a respectable Plan B. Horford, a skilled part-timer, meets the criteria. Relying on either one would be a sign of negligence, but having both diminishes the risk.

Porziņģis and Horford, teammates for two seasons in Boston, are a package deal for the Warriors. They knew in April that they wanted to retain Porziņģis as the starter. They also understood they’d need a trusted backup. Six days after Porziņģis re-signed, Horford’s signature was on a contract.

When Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy’s announced Monday that a sudden “health issue” would prevent Porziņģis from participating in training camp this week in Hawaii, Horford was immediately elevated from Uncle Mahatma to absolute necessity.

“He wants to compete, and he wants to be out on the court,” Horford said Monday of Porziņģis. “It’s just for him to be patient at this point. He’s usually been able to overcome things, but patience is kind of like the name of the game right now. I don’t know if we saw this coming entirely. So, I just hope that he’s able to recover and be in a good place so he can roll with us.”

Meanwhile, it’s conceivable that Horford will be Golden State’s opening-night starter at center – five months after he gathered his family to decide whether to keep playing or retire.

Coach Steve Kerr is committed to playing 5-out offense. He wants a roster with considerable floor-spacing capability. A big man with established shooting range, like Porziņģis or Horford, is prerequisite. There is a reason why the other big men on the roster, youngsters Charles Bassey and Graham Ike, are practicing 3-pointers in Hawaii.

“We have a lot of depth,” Horford said after hearing Porziņģis would miss training camp. “As big guys, you look at our room. We have a lot of guys that I feel like they’ll be able to step up and, you know, obviously Draymond (Green) has played some five as well. We’ll just have to figure it out and play in a different way until KP comes back.”

Horford, nagged by several ailments, played only 45 games last season. A career 37.6-percent shooter from beyond the arc, he finished the season at 36.1, his lowest percentage since 2021-22 with the Celtics. That, along with the mileage on his physique and other factors, are among the reasons retirement was whispering into his ear.

Ultimately, though, Horford decided to return for his 20th NBA season, signing $14 million deal with Golden State that includes a player option in Year 2.

“I felt like we didn’t really get a chance to show what we could do as a group, as a team, so I’m intrigued by that,” Horford said of his decision to come back. “Returning here and being able to see what we can accomplish – and, also, just that desire to continue to compete, to just continue to compete and try to compete at a high level.”

Horford said he wants to be a regular in the lineup, aside from restricted to one side of the team’s 15 back-to-back sets, as has been the case for three years. He split the summer between the Bay Area and his base in Atlanta and when in town was a regular for training and workouts at Chase Center. The Warriors liked what they saw.

“He’s been in the gym,” Dunleavy said on Monday. “He’s been working out. I think he feels great. We feel good about where he’s at. I know he’s a lot more comfortable. I think he’ll play a big role for us this year.”

Porziņģis also spent considerable time this summer working out in the gym at Chase. The expectation as recently as last weekend was that he would be on the Monday afternoon flight to Oahu for training camp. That all changed Sunday night, when Porziņģis informed Dunleavy that he was not feeling up to the trip.

On paper, the Warriors have two skilled veteran centers. On the court this week, they have one. Horford. They don’t care to wonder where they would be without him, no matter his age.

If Porziņģis projects as your starting center, you must have a solid insurance policy.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Let’s check out the Southeast Division Dub Nation, a spicy part of the NBA this year. Last season, the Warriors split two with Miami, and only one of them still stings. The Heat took the first one 110-96 in November, against a Golden State roster so short-handed it looked like a Santa Cruz scrimmage. Then on MLK Day at Chase Center, the Warriors won 135-112, and in the third quarter Jimmy Butler came down awkwardly on his right knee and didn’t get up. Torn ACL, against the one team on the schedule he’d most want to beat. Basketball has a mean sense of humor sometimes.

So here we are. Steph and Draymond are still chugging along, still making a way out of no way, with Jimmy in tow and working his way back. He told everybody at media day his testing numbers are off the charts and he’s ahead of schedule, which is exactly what Jimmy would say, and I believe him anyway.

And the man is happy here. You remember how he left Miami. January 2025, after a loss to Indiana, Butler stood at the podium and said the quiet part out loud: “I want to get my joy back.” Somebody asked if he could find it in Miami. He gave them two words, “probably not”, and a few weeks later he was a Warrior. Bad knee and all, he found joy.

Which makes this Heat summer kind of beautiful, because Miami turned around and became the place other stars go to find theirs. Giannis Antetokounmpo spent a year being dragged through every trade rumor on earth in Milwaukee and finally got out. Klay Thompson took a buyout from Dallas and signed with Miami in late August. Two guys who had soured on where they were, landing in the same building as Bam Adebayo, the one guy who never left. Riley went shopping in the clearance aisle of NBA discontent and came home with a two-time MVP and a four-time champion.

Giannis and Bam. Bam and Giannis.

We can’t wait to see Year 1 of this All-Star frontcourt duo in 2026-27 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/jJvMNXvzq4

— NBA (@NBA) September 28, 2026

It wasn’t cheap. Miami sent Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and three first-round picks to Milwaukee to make the Giannis deal happen. Then they spent the rest of the summer filling in around him with Klay, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bobby Portis and extensions for Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson.

Now here’s the question I actually can’t stop chewing on. Are Bam and Giannis the greatest modern NBA frontcourt? Let’s be honest about who’s ahead of them. Tim Duncan and David Robinson are clearly first: two MVPs on one front line, with two titles together. Ben and Rasheed Wallace have the 2004 ring and enough technical fouls to fund a small city. And dammit I’m gonna put Draymond Green and Kevin Durant here too, two titles with Draymond at center and KD doing whatever he wanted at the four.

Call that the Banner school of thought. You want to be the best frontcourt, show me the rings.

Then there’s the Freak school of thought, and it deserves real weight, because nobody on that list was built like this. Giannis is a 7-footer who runs like a wing and finishes like a truck. Bam can guard all five spots, and last March he dropped 83 on Washington, the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. The AP summed it up in four words, “It’s Wilt, then Bam,” and I still don’t fully believe it. One of these guys can give you buckets every night; the other one gave you 83 in a single night!!!

The problem is space, which is why Klay matters more than his age suggests. He spent years spacing the floor so Draymond could run the offense from the elbow without anybody guarding him honestly. He’s done this job before, he’s just 36 now doing it in Florida humidity.

Klay Thompson: “What’s the Miami Heat single-season three-point makes record?” 👀

Already has his eyes on the Heat record book. Love it. pic.twitter.com/4Gs2YOuLlt

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 2, 2026

From where we sit, Miami’s in the East, so this team matters to Golden State twice a year and then again only if June gets weird. But those two nights are going to be appointment viewing. Draymond versus Giannis is one of the best defensive staredowns of the last decade, Klay walks into Chase wearing Miami red for the first time, and Jimmy gets another crack at Miami after his last meeting ended with that knee injury.

If you really want an answer on the best modern frontcourt, there’s one guy in Miami who can tell you from the floor. Klay’s about to watch Bam set a screen and Giannis roll to the rim, and he’s going to recognize the feeling, because he won four rings standing next to Draymond and two of them standing next to KD too. If Klay says this one’s better, Dub Nation, I want to hear it from him in March, after they’ve played.

Wellp we did it Dub Nation, we took a look at the entire Atlantic divison to start the season. And we end it with the champions.

The Golden State Warriors went 1-1 against the New York Knicks last season, winning 126-113 at home in January and dropping a 110-107 game at the Garden in March. Those were two regular-season games in a long year, and you can set them aside, because the Knicks team Golden State saw back then hadn’t found the version of itself that ended up holding the trophy.

That version showed up late. In April, the third-seeded Knicks were down 2-1 to the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round, and CJ McCollum was carving them up like a holiday ham. Russell Richardson at Posting and Toasting walked through the moment everything flipped:

“With their backs against the proverbial wall, coach Mike Brown recognized the need for a change. His central adjustment placed Karl-Anthony Towns in a facilitating role farther out from the basket. This reduced the creation load on Jalen Brunson, highlighted Towns’ vision as a passer, drew opposing bigs away from the rim, and created opportunities for the wings to cut and screen effectively.

New York’s overall scoring efficiency rose sharply, posting an offensive rating near 124 points per 100 possessions and a record-shattering point differential. Operating in high gear, they went on a 15-1 run that delivered them to the promised land. And there was great rejoicing.”

"AFTER 53 YEARS, THE KNICKS ARE FINALLY NBA CHAMPIONS ONCE AGAIN!"

THE NEW YORK KNICKS WIN THEIR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 1973 🏆 pic.twitter.com/7JqXe4cU9e

— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2026

Fifteen and one, sheesh! Warriors fans remember the last playoff run that looked like that, because it was Golden State’s. The 2017 Warriors went 16-1, and Mike Brown was on that bench, running the team as acting head coach while Steve Kerr was out with his back issues. Brown went 11-0 in that stretch. So the man has now been in the building for a 16-1 run and a 15-1 run, and he was a Warriors assistant for the 2017 and 2018 titles too. When the Knicks talk about trying to repeat, they’ve got a guy in the front of the room who’s actually done it.

And that’s the part of this Knicks offseason that hits closest to home. ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill framed the whole season around that: “The last teams to repeat in 25 years were led by one-name supernovas: Steph and KD, LeBron, Kobe.”

Yes, Steph and KD are the last ones to do it. The Warriors’ back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 are eight seasons old now, and every champion since has gone home empty the following June. New York is coming for that, and I’ll be honest, I like being the Dubs last team to pull it off. I’m sure they would like to keep it that way for a while.

This season the Knicks brought the band back on a budget. Fifty-three years without a title, and the first thing Dolan does after winning one is check the receipt.

To be fair to New York, they kept almost everything. All five starters are back. Jordan Clarkson, Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet all took below-market deals to run it back. The one guy they couldn’t keep was Mitchell Robinson, who took more than $15 million a year from Boston. The replacement plan is Andre Drummond, who can rebound with anybody alive.

Karl-Anthony Towns talks about the Knicks losing Mitchell Robinson and signing Andre Drummond this offseason:

"I was very surprised that Mitch wasn't going to be back here with us. I think all of us were, so it was a surprise to everybody. Thought something would get done there,… pic.twitter.com/Mhd7SYc7pf

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) September 28, 2026

Mike Brown’s answer in camp is to lean harder into what won, per Posting and Toasting:

Early reports from training camp indicate that Towns’ hub role will remain a priority, as the coaching staff plans to increase elbow involvement for KAT and explore additional ways to involve the wings across the floor. Their options include testing new Knick Andre Drummond as a secondary facilitator and giving OG Anunoby more minutes at center. During the playoffs, OG in particular produced some of his strongest stretches by generating offense off the bounce. Moving him into a small-ball center role with more interior and mid-floor actions could help maximize his impact, especially with limited traditional center depth behind Towns.

The clock is ticking on this group too. Towns is up for a massive extension, and with the aprons where they are, this championship roster already has an expiration date. Oh, and remember LeBron? The guy we just spent a whole column on in Philly? He told Dave McMenamin this week that he would have signed with New York if they hadn’t won the title. He’d pictured finishing his career at the Garden, and once the Knicks beat San Antonio, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. But he brought himself to their division to immediately rain on their parade.

LeBron James told ESPN's @mcten that he envisioned joining the Knicks as a free agent to finish his career, but ultimately put a stop to those plans after the Knicks won the NBA championship.

"I had visions of playing in [Madison Square] Garden and finishing my career in the… pic.twitter.com/OuNa8c2hfE

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) September 28, 2026

So the Knicks won a championship and lost LeBron in the same night. Somewhere Dolan is doing that math on a napkin.

That closes out the Atlantic, Dub Nation. The only place Golden State sees this team when it matters is June, with Mike Brown on the other bench trying to take the last back-to-back away from the franchise where he learned how to win one.