Category: NBA

Brian Scalabrine has an interesting history with Duke Basketball. When he was at USC, the Trojans lost to Duke in the 2001 Elite Eight, 79-69. That Duke team went on to win the national championship.

He was never a great NBA player, but Scalabrine played 11 years and was respected. He spent five seasons with the Boston Celtics, then rejoined the Celtics organization as a broadcaster after his retirement.

He was the first notable person to recognize Cooper Flagg’s talent, telling him that the only question about his potential was how hard he was willing to work to be great.

Now, he’s got some interesting comments on Memphis Grizzlies rookie Cameron Boozer, saying this on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s July 6 episode:

“He’s going to help the team win. He’s not just a glue guy; he’s actually going to be a player you can go to in certain situations. He’s an excellent passer; he’s not Jokić, but he has the ball in his hands, and you cut, it’s a good chance you’re going to get the ball.”

That’s certainly true. He’s not going to be Tim Duncan revisited, but he has a lot in common, most notably superb fundamentals. He’s the kid in camp who listened to every detail, then went home and perfected it all.

Anyway, it’s interesting to hear Scalabrine weigh in on another Duke talent, who, by the way, was named ACC Male Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

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Before the 2025-2026 NBA season came to a close, the San Antonio Spurs knew they were losing Sean Sweeney. The associate head coach spent one season with the Silver & Black after leaving the Dallas Mavericks to support Mitch Johnson in his first official season at the helm.

Throughout the tectonic shifts that transpire in the interim of NBA seasons which include the draft, free agency, and Summer League some staff changes get lost in the mix. Sweeney is gone and he took some pieces of the Spurs coaching staff.

Assistant video coordinator Jon Harris is on the move to Orlando, he recently shared his excitement online.

Nicholas Russo has also exited San Antonio for Orlando. He will serve as Manager of Basketball Strategy for the Orlando Magic.

In the wake of the Sweeney hired, the Spurs brought in Billy Donovan, fresh off this sixth season with the Chicago Bulls. Donovan’s son previously coached alongside Johnson in 2017 with the Austin Spurs.

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.

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After an excruciatingly long two months, Philadelphia 76ers basketball is (kind of) back in our lives. The Summer Sixers open play in Las Vegas against the Detroit Pistons. As a refresher, here’s the roster T.J. Dileo will be running out there for the Sixers.

It’s an extremely young group, with everyone a rookie in terms of NBA experience aside from 2025 35th overall pick Johni Broome. Broome had a disappointing rookie year cut short due to a torn meniscus in his right knee suffered in February. Summer League will be the start of his chance to show he’s worthy of spending time with the big club this season more often than Delaware.

Of course, the headliner and the main source of excitement for this roster from Sixers fans is 22nd overall pick Labaron Philon. The 20-year-old guard out of Alabama will enter a crowded Sixers backcourt featuring Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and free agent acquisition Anfernee Simons. We’ll begin to see how far along Philon is in his development against NBA-level competition and whether he’ll project for a solidified spot in Nick Nurse’s rotation.

On the opposing sideline, here’s the Pistons’ Summer League roster.

Pistons fans will be keeping a close eye on 17th overall pick Ebuka Okorie out of Stanford. Big man Ugonna Onyenso was selected with the 53rd overall pick and was signed to a two-way contract. Chaz Lanier was a second-round pick for the Pistons last season; he appeared in 34 games for Detroit in his rookie campaign.

Can the Summer Sixers string together some wins and be one of the top four teams to advance to the Vegas Summer League semifinals? We’ll begin to find out in the late afternoon/early evening.

Game Details

When: July 9, 5:30 p.m. ET
Where: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, NV
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, Prime Video
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Houston Rockets star forward Kevin Durant is no stranger to a trade request.

Durant has made a few throughout his career, specifically in his last couple of years with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns. While he said he hoped to finish his career with the Rockets after being traded last summer, Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley wonders if he has another deal left in him before the end of his career.

“After failing to make it off the launch pad—despite Durant looking every bit the part of his net-shredding best—does Houston just cross its fingers now and hope problems solve themselves? Because it’s been a fairly sleepy summer in Space City, save for Tari Eason’s new contract and the signing of veteran role players Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanović,” Buckley wrote.

“Maybe Durant is confident in what this club has, but his first season as a part of it did not seem remotely fun. And it would hardly be out of his norm to tire of his hoops home and seek out a fresh start elsewhere.”

The Rockets may not have accomplished as much as they had hoped in Durant’s first season, but that doesn’t mean they should move on from him quite yet.

With Fred VanVleet supposed to be healthy and ready to go, and with more familiarity with Ime Udoka’s system, the Rockets have a chance to be better than they were this past season. They will need Durant to fully buy in so that they can make steps forward. As long as he is committed to the Rockets, they are going to ride the wave until he wants to get off.

TDS Community, what do you think about the Rockets’ direction with Durant as their top scorer? Let us know in the comment section below.

When the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship, they did so with three centers who thrived on the perimeter. Sure, Kristaps Porzingis was a nightmare on the high post, and Luke Kornet had a knack for coming up with clutch, timely passes out of the short roll, and Al Horford was the connective tissue at both ends.

Yet for the majority of the time, they operated as part of a five-out offense.

Both Horford and Porzingis were capable of (and sometimes did) spending some time at the four, too. That trio of big men was ideal for what Joe Mazzulla’s system needed at the time. They spaced the floor, hit their threes, and even Kornet, who is a non-shooting big, found ways to excel in a five-out offense.

We saw that system continue into the 2024-25 season. Again, everything worked as intended, apart from Porzingis’ struggles with POTS, which unfortunately appears to be an ongoing issue for him.

Yet, last summer, as Brad Stevens began to restructure the roster, the role of the big man position began to shift. With the elevation of Neemias Queta, Boston began asking different things of its bigs. Sure, Queta still spent a reasonable amount of time as a screener and dribble hand-off creator on the perimeter, but he also featured prominently as a roll-man (accounting for 24.3% of his offense, to be precise), while also being tasked with battling on the offensive glass.

Luka Garza, on the other hand, spent most of his time either spotting up around the perimeter or snagging offensive boards.

The roles of both bigs were well defined. They were put in positions to succeed based on their skill sets, while also being pushed to expand their game as the season went on. Yet, one core aspect of their role stood out above all others: their primary task was to get offensive boards and help the team maximize its possession game.

Now, it’s not like the Celtics didn’t ask their veteran trio of 2023-24 and 2024-25 to do this; they most certainly did, just not near the same level or frequency. In 23-24, the Celtics ranked 14th in offensive rebounding as a team. In 24-25, they jumped to 10th.

Last season, their climb continued as they finished the regular season ranked 7th in the NBA for offensive rebounding.

This summer, Boston doubled down on its quest to become one of the most possession-maximizing teams in the NBA by adding Mitchell Robinson.

Robinson, 28, is one of the best offensive board-getters in the NBA. For the past five seasons, his rebounding totals have been a near 50/50 split between offensive and defensive boards. Last season, he secured second-chance opportunities on 21.2% of his team’s missed shots while on the floor, placing him in the 100th percentile among bigs.

Suddenly, Boston’s new trio of big men all excel at one very specific thing, and that’s going to be their primary remit throughout the upcoming season, and likely the years to come. Sure, they’re going to go about their jobs in different ways. Garza, when on the court, will still lean into his perimeter shooting; he’s too good not to. Queta is the most mobile screener out of the trio. Robinson is a high-level roller who can space the floor vertically or provide physicality on the low block.

Optionality.

That appears to be the buzzword within the halls of the TD Garden these days, and that’s exactly what this trio will give you — options due to differing skill sets, but with one clear throughline.

However, there appears to be one big caveat to Boston’s plan. Robinson, for all of his floor-raising talents, joins the Celtics with legitimate injury concerns. He’s missed sizeable chunks of play in recent years. So much so that he spent last season on a sort of minutes management program.

“There was never a specific minutes limit, so to speak,” Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film School told me during a recent episode of the ’Celtics Chronicle’ podcast. “I think there were some games this year where he played in the high 20s, over 25. (But) You can probably count them on one hand…They basically treated him like a sub-20-minute-a-game player in the league…So your starting line is not 82 games, assuming the Celtics also continue with the plan, and they may not.

“If they don’t, that would actually worry me more as a Celtics fan if the Celtics were like, ‘You know what? We’re gonna run Mitchell Robinson out there on the second night back-to-backs. We’re gonna be fine with it.‘ If they continue treating him with kid gloves, your ceiling is probably 20 to 25 minutes per night over 65 games, and that’s not even factoring in other injuries.”

The Celtics are no strangers to dealing with players who require minutes management. They did so with Robert Williams and had great success while managing Malcolm Brogdon’s playing time during his Sixth Man of the Year tenure with the franchise.

Therefore, there’s no reason to believe Robinson won’t be a success or won’t be put in a position to succeed. However, what we should probably expect is a return to the ‘big man by committee’ approach that became commonplace during Brad Stevens’ tenure as head coach.

To me, the whole point of acquiring three high-level offensive rebounders is to ensure that when someone is out due to injury, rest, or management, the crux of the bigs’ offensive role remains intact. No Robinson? Cool, Queta and Garza can get the job done. No Queta? Well, you get the idea…

Regardless of whether Robinson starts games or comes off the bench, it’s likely he’s going to sit in the 18-minute to 22-minute per night range. That leaves 26 minutes to 30 minutes of playing time for Queta and/or Garza to fill.

The most likely outcome is that Mazzulla and his coaching staff will spend the opening weeks, or months, of the season figuring out how to best utilize the trio of bigs at their disposal. Could Garza slide to the four and provide spacing in a similar role to what we previously envisioned for Danilo Gallinari? Or will the coaching staff go for straight minutes splits between the three, something like 20/20/8 with Garza getting the smaller piece of the pie?

We won’t know until the season is underway.

Still, if there’s one thing Robinson’s addition has got me thinking, it’s that Boston is about to lean heavily into possession-maximization, with a premium placed on offensive rebounds, which is likely where a fair share of Boston’s two-point attempts will come from next season (Robinson ranked 12th in the NBA for putback attempts per game last season, shooting 54.9% on those possessions).

With a heavy three-point system, guards and wings will be tasked with “boarding up,” meaning they will cut from the corners, wing or baseline, toward the elbows/nail to snag long rebounds off of misses, while the bigs will eat in and around the paint.

Boston is heading back to its ‘big man by committee’ era, only this time, there’s a clear plan, and it’s one that perfectly fits the system Mazzulla loves.

We don’t know the entire circumstances of this video, but this guy is talking to Austin Rivers and disses his NBA career, and Rivers is just not having it.

We’ll have to go with Rivers here, and not just because he’s a Duke guy. It’s because he actually played in the NBA and has some idea of what happens in the league.

The podcast is hosted by former UNC players Theo Pinson and Raymond Felton, who has really let himself go since retiring. He’s about as round as Charles Barkley at his roundest post-retirement. In all seriousness, Felton has gained weight to the point where it might be a serious health risk.

The guy Rivers is beefing with is simply called Hong, and while it’s a podcast and people are entitled to their own opinions, obviously, arguing with someone who has professional experience that you lack is probably not a great idea.

You wouldn’t do it with a surgeon or an attorney, so why does it make sense to do it with a professional athlete?

Anyway, it gets pretty heated and there is some NSFW language coming mostly from Rivers, who clearly thinks Hong is a major idiot. You can make your own mind up about that.

Rivers, of course, put his name in the Duke pantheon with his immortal buzzer beater at UNC. It is very nearly on par with Christian Laettner’s devastating shot to knock Kentucky out of the 1992 Elite Eight.

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If you tuned in to the press conference, you heard two buzzwords from President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens and majority owner Bill Chisolm: “optionality” and “basketball reasons.” For forty-five minutes, Celtics leadership defended their trade of Jaylen Brown by talking about the future flexibility that it created. There was talk about the analytical fit and the outside noise generated by the social media echo chamber, but really, this was about situational adaptability.

No, it wasn’t about switchability on defense or being able to play different kinds of Mazzulla Ball. We’re talking about optionality when it comes to team-building, specifically on the cap sheet. In addition to the picks and the potential they come with, another potentially bigger reason for flipping Brown for Paul George was one less year on their max contracts.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and take a snapshot of Boston’s books as it stands right now. Consider this one tidbit first:

That nearly $4 million seems insignificant, but when you’re hard-capped at the $209 million first apron — but in reality, they’re really motivated to get under the luxury tax line of $200 million in order to reset the repeater tax — every penny matters. According to former CelticsBlogger and Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the Celtics are just $1.1 million over the tax line; that includes a slight salary bump for Ron Harper Jr. using his non-Bird rights in Year 1 and Dalano Banton’s non-guaranteed deal for next season. The roster is maxed out in all fifteen slots, but should easily be able to limbo under the tax threshold again just like they did at last season’s trade deadline.

“I don’t anticipate anything in the very near term,” Stevens said of the roster as it stands on July 6th. “I think that we do like the team we have, we might be able to add to it, but at the end of the day, we like the group we have.”

As JB put it in his farewell post, let’s” throw the ball up” and see what happens.

Now, Brad obviously won’t rule out moves at this season’s trade deadline or in the summer of 2027. A year from now, he could make changes around the margins, but really, this is all about 2028 when presumably George’s contract expires. So much can happen between now and then, but that offseason is a target-rich environment for seismic change.

Not unlike our rival’s summer this year, the Celtics could act as a cap space team just like the Lakers did this offseason. Los Angeles underwhelmingly filled it with a grab bag of overpaid players from a week free agency class, but Stevens could have a number of options in the 2028 Summer of the Center. Think of it: Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Nikola Jokic could all be available.

Boston will also have that 2028 first round draft pick. Adding a young stud to complement a veteran squad could be like adding, well, Jaylen Brown to a team with then Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.

To his credit, Chisolm dispelled any notion that the ownership doesn’t want to spend money. “Brad’s got the green light. I know people feel like oh there must be a smoking gun somewhere, that’s just not what this is about. I can say it but I’ll also prove it to you. When we have the opportunity we’re gonna do that.”

That offseason also coincides with the end of Payton Pritchard’s team-friendly rookie extension and he’ll get paid handsomely in his next deal. The front office will also have to make a decision on Baylor Scheierman and it’s possible that by then, they would have already signed him to a similar deal that Pritchard got after his rookie contract.

If you’re a student of history, this feels eerily like when the Celtics split up the Antoine Walker-Paul Pierce duo. Despite an unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals, newly hired Danny Ainge recognized it as fool’s gold and split the pair up. Four disappointing seasons later — after Raef LaFrentz and Ricky Davis and Wally Szczerbiak and Al Jefferson and Antoine Walker coming back! — he put together the Big Three with Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen in the middle of their primes. They won a championship in their first season after winning just 24 games the year prior.

Hopefully, with the parity and speed that the league operates with now, it won’t take that long. Instead of four years, maybe it’s two. Hopefully, it’s two. And for all we know, the defending Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year hang Banner 19 sooner and we’re gunning for Banner 20 in 2028.

Anything is possible, right?

Not a lot going on, but I still found a few interesting links and clips, and a few notes from everything else going on around the L. Paul Pierce would have to do in the absence of Stephen A. Smith. shrughemoji

• OG Anunoby is gracing the SLAM cover and getting a feature story. Bow down.
• I didn’t expect Jalen Brunson to appear in a Chicago Sports Network show dedicated exclusively to interviewing him, but here we are. JB talked about staying grounded through his career, discussed the value of individual vs. team awards, touched on the relationship with Rick, talked about D-Rose, and much more. Quotable:

“I think no matter what, I was able to stay grounded because of my family and the close circle I have. I was never really satisfied throughout my time in high school, obviously because we were losing, and I wanted to win a state championship. Most importantly, obviously there are a lot of individual accolades out there, but I think when you win, that’s what’s most memorable.“

• New Knickerbocker Andre Drummond didn’t lose a minute getting back to his true New Yorker ways, as a good Mount Vernon native. Yerrr!
• Sportico’s Jacob Feldman put together a nice column explaining the reality of the non-existent NBA free agency these days amid yet another LeBron James sweepstakes (which he cleverly labeled “LeBronomy”). LBJ might be grabbing all eyes, but the truth is, there is no FA anymore, with everybody agreeing to bulky contract extensions as early as possible and figuring out their future later. A tease:

“Since LeBron’s 2020 Lakers title, the last six NBA champions have won without luring accomplished free agents. Instead, the teams have largely drafted stars (Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics) or assembled lineups by picking up players other teams were willing to part with (Knicks). The Thunder have built a perennial powerhouse by doing a bit of both, while the Spurs are tied with OKC as 2027/28 favorites thanks to a run of draft success.”

• Possible Knicks’ FA target Jonas Valanciunas was waived by the Nuggets before his $10 million salary became fully guaranteed, with Denver now owing him just $2 million for 2026-27. For what matters here, JV can now sign wherever he wants to… including a two-year deal to play for EuroLeague club Zalgiris, as reported by Adam Zagoria . Not overly confident in signing a backup center to get 15-20 minutes a pop who could equally be plying his trade in Lithuania, if you ask me.
• Nuggets, you’ve been eliminated.
• Miami has officially declared war on Cleveland, being reportedly willing to offer Bronny James a two-way contract if LeBron signs with the Heat. What level of disrespect (on all fronts) are we talking about here?)
• Steph Curry is interested in doing something with LeBron.
• Imagine having to hear and deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo for another 20 or 30 years. I might be alone here, but I’m personally not very interested in it, if at all.
• Paul Pierce believes he “can get you 20” in Summer League. Right now!

According to multiple sources, the Utah Jazz have signed Mo Bamba to a two-year deal.

According to Tony Jones, the deal includes a partial guarantee for the first season and a team option for the second.

That’s basically it as far as centers go for the Jazz. They obviously aren’t interested, as of this moment, in making a splash for another center, and they shouldn’t. Utah needs to see how this team fits together before they make any more big moves. If things are looking great for this team and there’s a center on the market that fits their style of play, then they should absolutely make some sort of trade. Otherwise, they need to ride with this roster and see how far this goes.

The NBA rescinded its allowance for Keyonte George to coach in the game tomorrow between the Jazz and the Wizards.

It appears the leage has an ASPIRATION to keep a precedent with the rules. They wouldn’t want to ROOT themselves into anything that might appear negative.

This is actually a really lame thing, and I’m not sure what rules they’re trying to uphold. While actual rule circumvention with things like the salary cap was happening in LA, the Jazz wanted to try something fun that might have created a cool tradition, but now it’s gone. I hope Keyonte George still acts like a coach on the sideline and enjoyed the process of preparing for this. In reality, that perspective might have given him some insight and, hopefully, can help in some way when they’re playing at full strength.

The Walker Kessler trade was made official today and Walker Kessler said goodbye to Utah.

We’ll never know exactly how much of the drama in the Kessler contract negotiations contributed to the eventual breakup that culminated in a sign-and-trade. The reality is it did appear that Utah planned to re-sign Kessler, and then the Lakers decided to give an offer the Jazz couldn’t refuse. In reality, both things can be true. There might have been some frustrations with Kessler regarding the tanking, the contract, and the signing of players like Jaren Jackson Jr., while there was also a good overall relationship with the team. The most likely thing is Kessler was a player the Jazz liked, but not enough to refuse a huge pick package from the Lakers. Jazz fans wish him well, but will be watching the Lakers closely once those picks start coming up.

It has been a long time since the Jazz last played a meaningful game I desperately wanted them to win, and it is unhealthy how excited I am for this matchup. After a solid three games in the SLC Summer League, the Jazz head south to Las Vegas, and as hot as the desert sun is sure to be outside, on the court, the Thursday night primetime game featuring the top two picks in the draft will be much hotter.

How to Watch the Las Vegas Summer League?

Who: Utah Jazz vs Washington Wizards

When: Thursday, July 9, 2026 | 7:00 MT

Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV

How to watch: ESPN, Jazz+

Players to Watch

Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa

Summer league games do not matter in the record books, but this game is a statement-making opportunity for both AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. Given the historical nature of this draft class, especially at the top, there is some real juice to this game that is atypical of most Summer League games. AJ has the chance to silence the noise that has swelled after Darryn’s remarkable performances in the SLC Summer League. Meanwhile, Darryn has the chance to ratchet up the noise and take the NBA world by storm with another solid performance against the Wizards. Can you imagine the narratives if Darryn were to come out and dominate AJ as he has through high school and college? In the words of the great Charles Barkley, I have two words for you… Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, must-see TV.

Ace Bailey

Ace Bailey looked really impressive in his 2.5 quarters of play in Salt Lake before missing games with back spasms. It is unknown whether or not he will be ready to go for the Vegas opener, but if he is available, he will probably be the one checking AJ Dybantsa on defense. His combination of length and athleticism could not only make things difficult for AJ on the defensive end but also expose his lackadaisical defense on the offensive end. If Ace is able to go, he will be looking to show the Jazz and the NBA that he is ready to take a leap in year two.

Which Jazz Big Man Will Stand Out?

Which big man will step up this game? In Game 1, we saw a lot of Kylor Kelley, who was a little less than impressive. Against Memphis, Jaxon Kohler, the Utah native, showed up and showed out against Cam Boozer. In game three, although the number of NBA-level players was few and far between, Jonas Aidoo stole the show with his rebounding and ability to play his role. Will we see one of those same three guys seize their opportunity, or will another guy like Micah Handlogten or Eric Dixon steal the show? We saw how vital a big that can roll and catch passes is for Darryn Peterson as a lead guard, playmaking-wise. It will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate to relieve pressure when he is blitzed and double-teamed.

SIDE NOTE: Adam Silver is LAME

No one should ASPIRE to be as boring as Adam Silver. After much excitement was made about Keyonte George making his unofficial coaching debut on Thursday night, according to Sarah Todd, the league has nixed that excitement and won’t allow Keyonte to be coaching on the sideline because who knows why…? I guess they were worried about the Jazz circumventing the salary cap to pay Keyonte or something. Anyways, I guess Will Hardy’s coaching TREE will have to wait for more branches to grow. Adam Silver remains evil in my book.

The Washington Wizards 2026 NBA Summer League tips off tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern with the epic grudge match with the Utah Jazz the world has been anticipating for almost two weeks.

That’s when Washington picked BYU forward AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 overall selection, spurning Kansas guard Darryn Peterson. We all know what can happen in summer league when things get this personal.

Seriously, this one could be a fun watch with the top two picks in the 2026 draft on the court.

What does summer league mean? The real answer, at least according to one group of academic researchers found a relationship between performance in summer league and effectiveness in the regular season. The summer to regular season relationship is strong enough to stimulate some rooting interest and weak enough that fans can dismiss bad performances, if they want.

So, if Dybantsa plays great, it’s a sign of future greatness. If he stinks, we can all say summer league probably doesn’t matter and hope he’ll be better when the real games begin.

My guess is that summer league performance is becoming less and less meaningful as teams do things like play top picks for only a game or two before parking them on the sidelines to avoid injury.

Keys to the Wizards Summer League

1. Don’t take it too seriously. Summer league is similar to NBA basketball, but it’s not NBA basketball.
2. With Dybantsa and Will Riley, look for activity and aggression. Are they trying to make things happen, or waiting for the game to come to them? Root for them to attempt to make plays.
3. For older guys expected to be role players, watch for signs they understand their role and can execute it. The differences in level of competition are meaningful, but for a three-and-D type, is he willing to pull the trigger when he has an opening or is he turning down shots? Is he giving a strong defensive effort even though the scheme isn’t as sophisticated as it will be when the real games start?
4. Avoid injuries.

Who to Watch

1. Dybantsa — No. 1 overall pick who the Wizards hope will develop into a dominating scorer and leader of a championship-level offense.
2. Tre Johnson — Last year’s No. 6 overall pick, Johnson is a sweet-shooting guard who probably will be coming off the bench next season. Look for him to score in bunches. Will he have added muscle since the end of the regular season?
3. Will Riley — Washington’s other first round pick last season. He’s long, has skills, and generated some buzz around the league with some gaudy performances later in the season. Has he gotten stronger? Will his decision-making be better?
4. Felix Okpara — Second round big man with potential as a rim protector, rebounder and rim-runner.
5. Seth Trimble — Undrafted free agent guard out of North Carolina who has the size, athleticism, and collegiate performance to indicate the potential to become a high-quality NBA defender. The challenge: can he shoot well enough at the NBA level?
6. Jamir Watkins — Older prospect the Wizards got in the second round in 2025. Last season, he flashed defensive skills. Offense is a work in progress.
7. Juju Reese — Had some nice rebounding games when the Wizards were tanking their hardest. Can he translate the production in extended garbage time to real competitive games?

From Utah, I’m interested in seeing:

1. Peterson — The other guy most seriously considered to be in play for Washington at No. 1. He’s a talented guard with good size who played like the No. 1 pick in most drafts and still had a “bad” year at Kansas.
2. Ace Bailey — Long and skilled wing who was reasonably productive as a rookie. How much progress has he made since the regular season ended?

Need to Know

• Start time: 9 p.m. Eastern
• Where to watch: ESPN or Monumental Sports Network

Few positions in the history of the NBA have more prestige and history than the center position for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Reading off the names of players who have anchored the paint in purple and gold is like listing off inner-circle Hall of Famers.

Mikan. Kareem. Wilt. Shaq. AD. All have title-winning legacies with the franchise and all were included among the top 75 players all-time in 2021. And that’s not even an extensive list.

Lining up at center for the Lakers carries pressure and expectation under any circumstance. But Walker Kessler, who the team officially announced on Wednesday, is going to have a lot of weight on his shoulders.

Coming into the summer, the top priority for the front office was finding a center. It has long been a hole in the starting lineup, with patchwork attempts failing to do the job. Once Luka made it clear he wanted a big man to pair with in the offseason, the onus was on Rob Pelinka to find the long-term solution.

To do so, the Lakers had to make a big gamble.

The top names on the market were restricted free agents and while the Lakers had the cap space to make teams sweat, they did not have the luxury of time. So, the Lakers calculated the risk and pushed their chips they’ve held so tightly to the middle of the table to acquire Kessler.

Two first round picks and two pick swaps later and Kessler was inked to a four-year deal that will pay him north of $30 million annually. It’s an enormous contract for a player but whose biggest accolade in the NBA so far is a spot on First Team All-Rookie in 2023.

No All-Star games. No All-NBA teams. No All-Defense teams. But, at still just 24 years old, it’s a gamble the Lakers felt was worth making, and it’s not hard to see why.

While he hasn’t received official honors for his defense, he’s widely regarded as one of the league’s best rim protectors. His 2.4 blocks per game career average is as good an indicator as any of his ability to defend the paint.

Considering how much the Lakers struggled at defending the rim last season, that alone makes Kessler a welcome addition. He’s the type of big man who not only can deter shots in the paint, but will make defenses second-guess even attempting them.

It’s just as easy to see him meshing offensively as well. He has established himself as a great pick-and-roll big, able to finish at the rim or make plays out of the short roll. It’ll be the staple of the Lakers’ offense, no matter if it’s Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves running the show.

The questions come with whether Kessler’s game can translate on a bigger stage and in a bigger volume.

There’s a difference between doing it for 30 minutes per night with the Jazz and doing it for 30 minutes per night with the Lakers. Every team is now going to be scouting the Luka-Kessler pick and roll. Can he still produce at the same level of efficiency?

No longer can he hide in obscurity. The lights are a lot brighter in Los Angeles than they are in Salt Lake City. Some players are built to step up and some aren’t.

Pelinka and the front office made a gamble that he’s the former and not the latter and used all their remaining tradeable draft picks to do so. The core of this era of the Lakers will be Luka, Kessler and Reaves.

Whether that’s the core of a contending team will largely lie in the hands of Kessler being the center of the future. As much as the Lakers believe that to be the case, they need it to be true, or the Luka era could be doomed from the start.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The California Classic is officially over and that California love is being spread the Brooklyn way. The lottery picks showed out. Mikel Brown Jr. looked like the real deal in his one game, while Egor Dëmin continues to evolve. Hard to argue anyone at that tournament was better than him — as discussed. Furthermore, Pooch returns.

Topics

• Intro
• Summer League: Mikel Brown Jr. & Egor analysis
• Standouts, Drake Powell
• The “Flatbush Five” discussion
• Free Agency: Moe Wagner, Keon Ellis, and the frontcourt depth
• Julius Randle: Culture building & the “Fringe All-Star” debate
• Mailbag: Making a “big move” and the Eastern Conference landscape
  • MPJ extension status
  • Noah Clowney’s role & team pressure
  • Peyton Watson & potential starting lineups
• Five Out (Rapid Fire)
• Outro & Final thanks

Check out the Pod

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