Category: Basketball

Patrick Beverley has never shied away from a beef. With anyone.

Enter Trae Young. Beverley and the Atlanta Hawks' All-Star guard have been going back and forth this week, and it all started over the All-Star Game. It all began on X, when Beverley responded to a question about why players go harder in random summer pick-up games than the All-Star Game — Beverley said the All-Stars take the game for granted — then Young jumped in and said All-Stars should speak on that.

Beverley came back hard at Young on the Pat Bev Podcast. It started with Beverley saying, "I don't think he's won enough to even speak to me like that or tweet me like that," and then added, "I've talked to people who played in Atlanta. They don't wanna play there. Why? They don't think he's a good leader. They don't think he's a good teammate."

Shots fired.

Young came back hard in an almost 12-minute video where he said Beverley was about seeking attention. "You don't know what it's like to be in my position, you don't know what it's like to put my shoes on. I promise you — there's not a selfish bone in my body."

Kevin Durant rallied to Young's defense, calling Beverley "delusional." The Hawks' social media team put together a video of Young scoring on Beverley.

Beverley then came back with shots of his own, saying Young gets coaches and general managers fired because of his play.

In this beef, the ultimate score is that Young is a four-time All-Star, while Beverley played in zero.

Young, however, enters this season feeling some pressure. The Atlanta front office went out and put the best team — on paper — around Young he has ever had with Kristaps Porzingis at the five, shooting and defense in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, more shooting in Luke Kennard, plus Jalen Johnson returns healthy from a breakout year sidelined by injuries, and Zaccharie Risacher should take a step forward in his sophomore year. The Hawks are projected as a top-four team in the East.

Young did not get the contract extension he wanted this summer, and now the pressure is on him to lead this group to a high seed and maybe the second round of the playoffs, or it will not just be Beverley asking questions.

While head-to-head leagues may grant fantasy managers some grace if their teams start slowly, that isn't necessarily the case in roto leagues. Availability, which is critical in any fantasy league regardless of format, is paramount; a star player sitting for an extended period can be crushing to a manager's chances of winning their league.

I recently participated in a 12-team, 9-cat roto mock snake draft, holding the second pick, and there was no third-round reversal. After kicking things off with reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I looked to craft a roster capable of offering value in all statistical categories. It should be noted that this draft was held before it was learned that Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro would undergo foot/ankle surgery that will sideline him indefinitely.

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Round 1

One can't be blamed for considering Victor Wembanyama for the second overall pick. However, Wembanyama returning from a blood clot issue influenced my decision, as did Gilgeous-Alexander playing at least 75 games each of the last two seasons. Giannis Antetokounmpo going third, ahead of Wemby, was a mild surprise. However, given the proven production Milwaukee lost this offseason, it's easy to envision a scenario in which Antetokounmpo's numbers receive a boost.

Round 2

With the Pacers already having ruled Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) out for the 2025-26 season, some of their starters will receive a boost to their fantasy values. Siakam, who has center eligibility in Yahoo! leagues, certainly qualifies. He's averaged 20.6 points per game as a Pacer, and I can see putting up a higher number than that this season.

Round 3

According to the ADP data compiled by Hashtag Basketball, Yahoo! and Fantrax league participants value Mobley far more than ESPN managers do. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, he increased his scoring by just over three points per game last season and shot 37 percent from three on an average of 3.2 attempts. With Darius Garland (toe) and Max Strus (foot) not expected to be available when the regular season begins, it would be unsurprising if Mobley's offensive output were to increase.

Round 4

Remember a few years ago when people assumed Derrick White's fantasy value would decline after the Celtics acquired Jrue Holiday? Boston won the NBA title that season (2023-24), and White was nearly a top-25 player in fantasy basketball according to Basketball Monster. With Holiday no longer in the picture (traded to Portland, with Anfernee Simons headed to Boston) and Jayson Tatum (Achilles) set to miss a significant chunk of the upcoming season, White feels like a player who can once again offer elite fantasy value.

Round 5

At the beginning of the fifth round, there were safer options on the board. However, I was confident enough in the selections made during the first four rounds that it felt like a good time to select Flagg. Plus, he probably would have been off the board by the time my next pick came up. Even with the Mavericks signing D'Angelo Russell, I'm intrigued to see how Kyrie Irving's (knee) being out will impact Flagg's opportunities to play with the ball in his hands.

Round 6

Like Siakam, Nembhard is a Pacer whose fantasy value may be boosted due to the Haliburton injury. He's primarily been a starter his first three seasons, so that part of Nembhard's role won't change. However, the usage (16.3 last season; 16.2 for his career) stands to increase. Points, assists and steals are three categories I'm tracking in relation to the impact Haliburton's absence will have on Nembhard this season.

Round 7

I was surprised that Turner was on the board at this point in the draft, especially since he is joining a team whose roster is not as deep as the Pacers' squad he left in free agency. Sure, the Bucks center's scoring has decreased each of the last two seasons. But the Bucks have a lot of question marks on their roster beyond Giannis and Bobby Portis. And if the scoring isn't there, Turner will be good for a few blocked shots on most nights.

Round 8

Getting a productive player who has yet to miss a game in seven NBA seasons at this point in the draft felt like a steal. Bridges' first season with the Knicks may have been underwhelming in the eyes of some, but he's capable of getting back to being the near-top 50 player he was during his time with the Suns. If anything, Bridges' first full season with the Nets (2022-23) may have raised the bar too high regarding his fantasy value.

Round 9

In selecting Clingan this round, I decided to target rebounds and blocked shots, not to mention upside. The scoring may not be there due to the number of options within Portland's expected rotation, but rebounds and blocks are two areas where that should not impact Clingan's fantasy potential. Also, rookie Yang Hansen's skill set is such that there could be times when they share the court instead of head coach Chauncey Billups deciding that only one can be on the court at any given time.

Round 10

Why not go with another UConn product in the 10th round? Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year, should have more room to "spread his wings" offensively due to the departure of Chris Paul. While San Antonio added Dylan Harper in the draft, adding another guard to the mix, he isn't guaranteed to be fully healthy to start the season after undergoing thumb surgery. Castle does need to be more efficient than he was as a rookie, but that should not have too negative an impact on this team.

Round 11

Portis is unlikely to be a starter, but he will still play plenty for the Bucks. Having only started 99 of the 339 games he's played in Milwaukee, Portis has averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25.0 minutes. As long as he continues to play 25 minutes, providing reliable fantasy value should not be an issue, regardless of league format.

Round 12

Jones only playing 20 games last season due to injury unquestionably impacts his draft position. However, he played at least 66 games in each of his first three seasons, so the concerns should not be at the level of, say, Zion Williamson. One of the NBA's premier wing defenders, Jones has averaged 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game as a pro. If he can offer a consistent perimeter shot as well, getting Jones in the 12th round could be a steal.

Round 13

Final team:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Pascal Siakam
Evan Mobley
Derrick White
Cooper Flagg
Andrew Nembhard
Myles Turner
Mikal Bridges
Donovan Clingan
Stephon Castle
Bobby Portis
Herbert Jones
Kyle Filipowski

I'm pleased with how this team turned out. Gilgeous-Alexander and Siakam are likely to lead the way scoring-wise, while Mobley and White should also offer excellent value at their respective draft positions. Flagg has gone earlier in the category league mocks I've participated in, and I wasn't going to pass on the opportunity in the fifth round.

The Bridges pick felt like a steal; while he did struggle at times in his first season with the Knicks, availability has not been an issue for him at any point in his NBA career (knock on wood). To get a player you can assume to be available for all 82 games in the eighth round, especially one who logs the minutes that Bridges does, is quite the find.

Jones did not play much last season due to injury, but he can produce excellent defensive stats when healthy. I'm betting on Clingan and Castle taking a step forward in their second seasons in the NBA, while Portis is worth grabbing despite coming off the bench on most nights.

The Miami Heat open the season with a tough stretch of the schedule: 11 of their first 15 games are against playoff teams from a season ago, and six of the team's first eight are on the road.

Miami will have to navigate that stretch without its All-Star guard, Tyler Herro, who will miss the start of the season as he recovers from foot surgery, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. While there is no timetable yet for his recovery, he will miss the start of the season, according to multiple reports.

This is not a new injury (the details of which are not public) but an ankle injury during offseason workouts added to it. Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald detailed what led to Herro's decision.

Herro, 25, first felt discomfort in his left ankle during a workout earlier this offseason, according to a league source. Herro received platelet-rich plasma and cortisone injections in recent weeks in hopes of avoiding surgery, but the discomfort never subsided and surgery was deemed necessary to avoid more issues down the road.

Herro is coming off his best NBA season and his first as an All-Star, averaging 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, with a 60.5 true shooting percentage fueled by him shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc. He was the heart of the Heat attack.

That role likely now falls to Norman Powell, who the Heat acquired this summer. Last season with the Clippers, Powell had a career year (but was not an All-Star in the deep West). Last season, Powell averaged 21.8 points a game while shooting 41.8% from 3-point range.

Miami spent the summer trying to find a trade away Terry Rozier, who is owed $26.6 million — $24.9 million of that is guaranteed — but could find no takers, and buyout talks went nowhere. Now, that may turn out to be fortunate, if more expensive than the Heat hoped, because the veteran moves into a key rotation role until Herro returns. Rozier averaged 10.6 points a game last season but struggled with his shot, hitting 29.5% from 3 and with a true shooting percentage of just 49.7 (for comparison, the league average was closer to 57).

It sounds like a great story: Former No. 9 pick of the Mavericks Dennis Smith Jr. returns home to Dallas on a one-year contract. He did sign one, a story first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. The Mavericks need point guard depth until Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL tear, so the franchise reached out to a trusted old friend.

The reality is less of a fairy tale: This is a non-guaranteed contract. Smith is going to have to earn a roster spot, which will not be easy because the Mavericks already have a full roster of 15 players under contract — Smith is going to have to beat someone out to get that job. The point guard depth chart starts with D'Angelo Russell, followed by Dante Exum, and for the third spot there is Brandon Williams, but he does not have a fully guaranteed contract (a $200,000 buyout). To make the roster, Smith likely has to beat out Williams for the third point guard spot (until Irving returns, then it becomes the fourth PG slot).

Another option for the Mavericks is to trade Jaden Hardy to create a roster spot. That's something the Mavericks considered before waiving and stretching Olivier-Maxence Prosper's contract to bring in Exum. If the Mavericks want to keep Smith and Williams, it's an option.

Smith is a seven-year NBA veteran, but one who was out of the NBA last season. He averaged double-digit points a game for the Mavericks and then the Knicks in the first seasons after he was drafted in 2017 out of NC State, but his production declined from there. Smith has been a high-level defensive guard and in the 2022-23 season in Charlotte averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 assists. He played the 2023-24 season in Brooklyn but was not brought back and sat out last season.

He's got a chance at a roster spot in Dallas, but it's going to be tough to earn it.

It has been clear for a year or more that the Los Angeles Clippers knew they were fast approaching the end of the Kawhi Leonard/James Harden era. The Clippers have been looking to pivot, and the report this week of the Clippers’ frustration with Leonard fit the existing pattern. It's not a coincidence that the team is set up to have massive cap space in 2,027 just when Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns (among many others) could become free agents.

That pivot was clearly coming long before accusations started to mount against owner Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers — including new ones that dropped Thursday from the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast (more details on that below) — that the team was trying to circumvent the salary cap. Those allegations allege that Ballmer and minority Clippers owner Dennis Wong invested in "green bank" company Aspiration (a Clippers team sponsor), which also signed Leonard to a $48 million endorsement deal. Except there is no evidence Leonard actually did anything to earn that money, making it a "no-show" deal — a way for the Clippers to circumvent the cap.

In the wake of all the evidence in recent weeks, the topic has shifted in part to potential punishments, because it feels like some punishment is coming (once the league's official investigation ends, which likely runs into the middle of the NBA season). The league can fine the Clippers and Ballmer, but only up to a maximum of $7.5 million — Ballmer earned more than that in interest during the time it took you to read this sentence. The league can suspend Ballmer and/or a Clippers executive for up to a year. The league can take away some of the Clippers' future draft picks (the most painful punishment to the franchise).

Also, the league can void Leonard's contract and make him a free agent. Don't expect that one, in part because the Clippers would be good with it.

Latest accusations against Clippers

In his defense of Ballmer and the Clippers, Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban had said that rather than investments and team sponsorships (both of which happened), the easiest way the Clippers could have helped "green bank" company Aspiration was to buy carbon credits from them (which is what the company was fraudulently selling).

Pablo Torre Finds Out released evidence Thursday that the Clippers did just that. Torre has a bank letter signed by the team's Chief Financial Officer — as well as sources inside Aspiration — that say the Clippers fast-tracked a $21 million deal for carbon credits, weeks before the first payment of Leonard's endorsement deal. This is while the Intuit Dome was under construction.

Together, Ballmer and the Clippers invested $118 million in Aspiration. Leonard had a $48 million endorsement deal with the Aspiration ($20 million of that was in now-worthless stock of the bankrupt company), for which there is no evidence he did any work.

Ballmer and the Clippers released a statement both to the podcast and in general about the purchase of these credits, emphasizing that making the new Intuit Dome a green building was very important to Ballmer, and he believed that dealing with Aspiration helped achieve this goal. It's the same idea as when he said he and other investors were "duped" by the company. Here's the statement the Clippers sent to Torre's podcast:

"Our development agreements for the arena included mandates to buy carbon credits, but after studying the issue of neutrality, we went far beyond those requirements, exploring ways to address emissions from our fans and contracting with Aspiration to directly purchase carbon offsets, as well as broker the acquisition of additional offsets. Some of those commitments were built into the sponsorship deal with Aspiration — totally separate of the investment in the company — and we made payments to Aspiration until the company was unable to fulfill their responsibilities."

Leonard’s contract

This latest accusation about carbon credits just adds to the tsunami of circumstantial evidence that has seemed overwhelming. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the burden was on the league to prove the Clippers violated the CBA and appears to want direct evidence that Ballmer intentionally tried to circumvent the salary cap, which is not going to exist (Ballmer would never have signed something so incriminating). Silver seems more willing to talk about league rule changes around investments and endorsements than punishments, but at this point it feels like the Clippers have to get more than a slap on the wrist.

Could that include voiding Leonard's contract? (Leonard is set to make $50 million this season and $50.3 million next season.) Under the terms of the CBA, yes it could. Silver has that power.

Just don't expect him to exercise it.

As noted in the first paragraph of this story, the Clippers recognize reality, and while they put together a good, veteran team on paper for this season — one better than their 50-win team from last season — it is not a contender. How big a playoff threat it can be depends on two unreliable things: Leonard's health and Harden's playoff performance.

Void Leonard's contract, and the Clippers will have max cap space next summer. They could then chase a star through free agency or a trade, pivoting by the fall of 2026. That would be just fine with the Clippers.

Second, as John Hollinger notes at The Athletic, the NBA's formal investigation is likely to conclude in the middle of the season. Void Leonard's contract at that point and there would be a mad scramble from playoff teams willing to take on the risk of adding him short-term, but none of them would have any more than a veteran minimum or something close to it to offer. As Hollinger notes, Leonard fought to get home to Los Angeles in the first place, would he consider signing with the Lakers for the minimum (which, right now, they can't even offer until mid-January due to being hard-capped at the first tax apron)?

One thing Hollinger suggests that is interesting: Silver putting the money from Leonard's endorsement contract on the Clippers' books, making them pay a luxury tax bill for it.

That is a long shot, but more likely than Silver voiding Leonard's contract. The most likely scenario is the Clippers get fined, lose a first-round draft pick or two, and maybe a Clipper executive gets suspended (but not Ballmer before his new Intuit Dome hosts the All-Star Game in February). Maybe it's more than that, but at this point it all comes down to the league's investigation, which is ongoing and will be for a while.