Category: Basketball

Why is there a picture of James Harden? Read on.

Welcome to Part Two of three covering what I believe is a high stakes season (in terms of sports for entertainment) for the Houston Rockets. One of the reasons to divide the team into the three parts, management, players and coaching, is to look at the relative strengths, weaknesses, and pressures on each. Another is ask the question: can a team be successful without all three elements being strong on their own, and also working at least fairly well? If by success you mean, finish with a decent record, make the playoffs, the yes, that’s very possible. We’ve seen it with these Rockets, and not that long ago we saw LeBron James drag not particularly impressive Cleveland teams to the NBA Finals (albeit in a pretty weak Eastern Conference).

If by success you mean make conference Finals, maybe an NBA Finals, then no, I don’t believe a team can do that, absent a truly generational player like James at his peak. If a team lacks that, and I’d argue, for example, the Knicks who almost swept three rounds of NBA playoffs do lack such a player, then the other elements of coaching and players must be good as well. I think higher level success in the playoffs is won at the margins. Those margins, those fine distinctions are where an inadequate coach, an incoherent roster, or players who are unsuited to their roles, will limit success.

Or sometimes the distinctions and margins are not really a razor’s edge at all. Sometimes they’re a dull axe blade.

The question is this: are the Rockets players suited to run the offense and defense they’re being asked to run? If the players job on the court is to run their coach’s scheme, and in essence it is, rather than it solely being a series of discrete actions that can then be quantified and ranked, are the Rockets players fit for this job?

Well, yes and no. That sounds weasely but it isn’t. Yes on defense, no on offense.

This isn’t the usual question of, (perceived as a bag of stats and measures), is an individual player any good? That’s a good question to ask, of course, but it’s also now the easier one to ask, as we now have a welter of public information, and of course even more is available to teams and other professionals. It can be a way of answering the same question, of course, as well.

What it can’t answer as well is: Is this player any good at what he’s being asked to do, and might he be better asked to do something else, or do things differently?

The Rockets defense is very good. We might perceive it as having slipped from when it was fun, but it’s still good for 6th in the NBA. That’s in a title winning range (title winning teams are almost always top 10 in both offense and defense, and usually around top five in one of those if not both). It’s not a particularly creative scheme of defense, and it doesn’t seem to have a number of go to moves, when it appears an opponent has solved it over the course of playoff games. The go to move is “try harder and maybe let’s try a zone”. This has worked, but in my opinion is exhausting, and costs the team in various ways. Reflexively adding more defense when points are what’s needed is an odd way of looking the world, but the Rockets defense isn’t in need of fixing, particularly.

The Rockets, though, are suited to playing good to great defense in the style they are being asked to play. If Kevin Durant weren’t the defensive equivalent of a coat rack on the court, except when he sniffs a badass block in the air, the rest of it would look better. I think a lot of “glaring mistakes” by other players are a result of him not really guarding anyone on certain possessions, or even attempting to fight through screens.

There’s more to say about other players and issues they have: Sengun isn’t really a rim protector, Sheppard is targeted on defense, Tari Eason makes bizarre choices. That said, those are the kind of things other teams are routinely able to live with. Especially with defenders like Amen Thompson, and let’s be fair, Jabari Smith, on the court. (I think Jabari and Amen were asked to play outfield for Durant a lot.)

So I’d say this group of players is fit to run the defensive scheme they are asked to run. We’ll leave the question of “Is what they’re being asked to do good enough?” for tomorrow.

Now for the “no”. Are the Rockets players suited to run the offense they run? No. Absolutely not. Why?

This one’s easy, because essentially the Rockets under Udoka run a less complex version of the offense the Rockets ran at the peak of James Harden’s and Mike D’Antoni’s tenure. That specific offense typically starts at the top of the three point arc, with an initiator who is capable of breaking down a defender off the dribble and either passing him by or getting him on his hip for a driving finish and maybe a foul. If that doesn’t work, the center (usually) sets a screen that gives him the space to get to the rim, and the screener also rolls to the rim sometimes for easy dunk finishes. Young Clint Capela was a star in this role. If the rim is closed off, and the center covered, the initiator can pass out to the perimeter where shooters are waiting in the left corner, and at other points on the arc. Or it the attack can be reset elsewhere on the court.

In the case of Harden and MDA, the Rockets took a player who wasn’t especially highly valued early in his career, and gave him a crucial role, in PJ Tucker. Tucker was a rugged defender who could defend above his size, and could make corner threes. The other players can also shoot 3pt shots, and hopefully one of them can also initiate (Chris Paul) or get his own shot (Eric Gordon).

That’s how that offensive approach worked (circa 2017) when it was going well. That is, without much exception, what the Rockets attempted to do in 2025-26.

Do any of the current Rockets resemble any of the key parts here much? Are the players fitted for the roles they need to play in this scheme?

No. They aren’t.

First, there’s no James Harden, an offensive player so dangerous in his prime that one team literally doubled him with a player always following behind him, so he couldn’t shoot his step back three point shot. (Hello, Ricky Rubio pic!) Is there anyone even resembling that player on the Rockets roster? Again. No. It certainly wasn’t Kevin Durant. There is no one player who can individually break down the defense and get a good shot from a contested position at the start of the possession. Not one in any quantity anyway, and the Rockets offense generates that problem, and question, nearly every single offensive play, for these Rockets. Without James Harden, or anyone close.

Well, what about other spots? Is there a center that operates off that player the Rockets don’t have? One that gets easy looks off the threat of the initiator and his movement? No. There’s a mobile center, without a lot of vertical ability, who is really better set in space closer to the basket, and allowed to pass to moving teammates, where he can be special, and create and operate fluidly.

Does such a center as the Rockets actually have clash with the Hardenesque Scheme? Yes. Violently. It doesn’t mesh. They’re in the same space by the basket, and surprise, since that almost always happens, you know who else is in that space? You know who else values that same real estate close to the basket? Kevin Durant. So given the scheme, the center, and KD, who else might want to occupy this same court space? That’s right, the defense. NBA defenses can get away with playing a college scheme to beat the Rockets when it really counts. All they really have to do is close the paint, and nothing really works, barring a hot shooting night.

Now, are there fairly reliable shooters in the corner, waiting for a pass? Sometimes there’s Jabari Smith (36%) or Reed Sheppard (39%), but oftentimes there’s Amen Thompson (21%). (PJ Tucker took 74% of his 3pt shots from the corner, where he shot 38% for his career, peaking at 45%.) In this Rockets offense Amen (23%) is in the corner more than Reed (49%). Amen shoots the easiest three pointer in the game at 23% from the corner, where he takes 58% of his threes. Worse, though, because Amen knows he’s such a bad shooter, he often passes up the open shot the offense laboriously generated, often leading to a grenade to someone else. Sheppard shot 49% from the corner, where he shot 14% of his threes, Smith went 37% from the corner and shot 35% of his threes from there. No, I can’t make it make sense.

Once again, players that aren’t suited for a role are put in that role anyway, to fit a certain scheme.

In fact almost the entire Rockets roster, including “fits anywhere” Kevin Durant don’t, haven’t, and won’t, fit this approach. Historically (yes, we can refer to Durant’s career ‘historically’ at this point) Kevin Durant has always been best off ball, and not dribbling unless he’s trying to get to his middie. Which is EXACTLY why you cast him the the James Harden Role. A role that requires, demands, insists upon, an immaculate handle, and coolness under pressure when passing, and an ability to get anywhere on the court to force the defense into problematic positions. If you thought you saw that from Durant last season, welcome KD Burner Account! If you think Fred VanVleet is some sort of James Harden analog at 32, well, it’s nice that you read the Dreamshake, Mrs VanVleet. At least he can dribble, if not get a shot at the rim.

I could go on, and have, but I think that’s enough for now.

So, by my reckoning the players are fine, and even very good at the defense they’re being asked to play, and they’re almost entirely unsuited to the offense they’re asked to play. And yet they still can score. That, to me, is actually a fantastic sign for the future of these players (wherever they end up). Imagine what they could do if they did what they were good at, instead of doing some weird cosplay of the the 2017 Rockets offense?

Next up, ahem, coaching.

“I’m Back.”

Some sports moments transcend a single franchise. They become defining moments for an entire generation of fans. Michael Jordan returning to the Chicago Bulls after his first retirement remains one of those moments. Jordan’s simple two-word statement—”I’m back.”—sent shockwaves throughout the sports world and immediately transformed championship expectations.

Now, Aaron Donald is creating his own version of that moment with the NFL and Los Angeles Rams.

Aaron Donald’s decision to unretire today and return to the Los Angeles Rams carries the same type of significance.

Aaron Donald is officially adding his name to one of the rarest lists in sports: legendary athletes who walked away from competition, only to eventually return. The Los Angeles Rams announced that the three-time Defensive Player of the Year is coming out of retirement to play during the 2026 season, more than two years after initially stepping away from the NFL.

Donald now joins a select group of iconic athletes who have reversed course on retirement, including Michael Jordan, who famously returned to the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in 1995, and Serena Williams, who returned to professional tennis competition in 2026 after nearly three years away. While every comeback story is unique, Donald’s return is particularly fascinating given his dominance before retirement. Now, at 35 years old, he will attempt to prove he still has plenty left in the tank.

Back at it Dub Nation, taking a virtual tour around the NBA’s offseason division by division to see what’s happening. The Golden State Warriors are trying to recapture their championship magic against a bunch of teams that are more than happy to put the dynasty to sleep for good. We’re still cruising through the Northwest division, so let’s talk some Utah Jazz basketball.

Last year the Dubs went 3-1 against Utah, beating them pretty much at will as the Jazz’s season spiraled into the dumpster. When I was a kid, the Jazz were a respectable franchise battling Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the NBA Finals. Even when Karl Malone and John Stockton left, they still had dudes like Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko making noise. Utah fell off though. Last year they finished 22-60, tied for the worst record in the West. They landed the No. 2 pick and used it on Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, an electric player sure to bring some excitement to Salt Lake City.

Peterson wasn’t even the first sign Utah was serious about this. Back in February they traded for two-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. while they were still tanking their way to that No. 2 pick. That’s not something rebuilding teams usually do in the middle of a lottery push, and it tells you the front office had already decided the losing was over on a timer.

Then the front office got weird with it, in a good way. Utah agreed to a sign-and-trade sending Walker Kessler to the Lakers for two unprotected first-round picks and two additional swaps. They also brought back Jusuf Nurkic on a two-year deal and added Jaxson Hayes, so the center spot goes from “Kessler starts” to “whoever’s healthier between two guys who used to be backups.” Check out what Jazz blog SLC Dunk has to feel about it:

There’s no doubt that Utah will miss some of the elements of Kessler’s game, mostly on the defensive end. Although, Utah has set themselves up to be one of the most lethal offenses in the league and Jusuf Nurkic will be a major part of it.

Nurkic has a surprisingly good steal rate for his position and is a legitimate weapon assisting the ball in the Jazz offense.When you consider that Jaren Jackson Jr. provides the blocks and weakside shot blocking that they’ll miss in Kesseler the trade makes a ton of sense. Utah will also have Nurkic as an offensive hub at times and Jackson can play off of him at multiple spots on the floor. 

Nurkic you say?

Shams Charania reported the Jazz sent Cody Williams and John Konchar to Minnesota for Josh Green. Lets check back in with Jazz Nation to see how they feel about that, shall we?

The Jazz get a 6th-year shooting guard who shoots accurately (career 39% 3PT) but not at high volume. He defends serviceably, posting a career Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 117. Much like last year’s Colin Sexton/Jusuf Nurkić trade, this may end up being a case of addition by subtraction. There was nothing wrong with Colin Sexton—he is a good basketball player—but he wasn’t a good fit. As a bonus, Nurk turned out to be a fantastic fit. Now the rotations will be even more open for Darryn Peterson, Ace Bailey, and Keyonte George.

The Jazz are not bringing Josh Green in to play 25 minutes per night. He is here a) to make the salaries work and b) to provide a modest boost off the bench as an 8th 0r 9th man. He’s a solid player who knows his role and plays it well:

See, that’s why you gotta do a little research. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Jazz are actually shaping up to be more competitive next year and beyond. Don’t forget they’ve got Keyonte George, who exploded to 24 points a night last season and is apparently going to keep the ball in his hands with Peterson still adjusting. Now it’s easy to imagine that the Nurkic-Hayes timeshare is just a worse version of what Kessler was doing. It’s also fair to have some concern about Ace Bailey’s back after his summer league got cut short by spasms. ESPN called Bailey the team’s X-Factor:

Bailey could get lost in the shuffle as Utah starts making a real effort to win games; he’s not yet a proven NBA contributor like Markkanen and George, but nor is he an exciting new addition like Jackson and No. 2 pick Peterson. But Bailey is only a year removed from going fifth in the draft and turning in a solid, if understated, rookie season: 13.8 PPG on below-average but not disastrous efficiency.

The Warriors shouldn’t lose sleep over Utah in November. But Steph turns 39 next season, and Utah just assembled Peterson, George, Laurie Markkanen, and Jackson Jr. with two extra Lakers first-rounders sitting in the drawer for whenever they want to speed this up. The clocks are running in opposite directions. And if Utah’s wise with what it’s building, maybe one day this group can finally do what Karl Malone couldn’t and bring a title home.

Wait weren’t the Warriors supposed to trade for Markkanen?

Nash and Amare. Stockton and Malone. Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. We’ve always had a fascination with dynamic duos.

In the context of the modern NBA, analysts often consider two-man lineups. These allow a good sample size of more minutes than three- or even full five-person lineups. Further, they provide an isolated look at chemistry combinations that work. I looked at the top 25 (minutes volume) Suns two-man combinations from last year and sorted by net rating. Here are the ten best combos:

Key implications

1. Oso Ighodaro appeared in five of these top ten combos. This underscores his impact. Phoenix needs to find more ways to get him on the floor. And he needs to keep working on his shooting. A bump of even a few percentage points in free throw shooting or short jumpers would increase efficiency, and more importantly, allow him to be on the floor at the end of quarters when over the team foul limit.
2. Jordan Goodwin was a beast last year. The numbers bear out what many of us saw watching the games. As team depth has improved, it’s important he gets minutes and stays engaged.
3. Ryan Dunn appears twice in top 10 combos. There is still good value with this player, and like Oso, just a small shooting consistency improvement will make a big difference.
4. Booker and Gillespie were each part of four of the top combos, and it’s interesting that the two of them together was Book’s top pairing at +7.0. This justifies playing them together heavily even in staggered lineups to allow optimal starting size and evaluating the Green/Booker dynamic. 
5. The five worst combinations all included Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale (-2.7 to -8.7 net ratings). This surprised me. For floor spacing purposes and to allow minutes for the top combos above, it will be important for Luke Kennard to get his long-range shots, Gillespie to continue at a high clip, and Booker to get back above 35% on three-point FG%, as he has done six of his eleven seasons.

What about the key new piece? Miles Bridges is bound to get a high volume of minutes as the primary addition. I looked at the same top volume lineups for the Hornets. His best pairing (+11.2 net rating) was with Moussa Diabate, a center who stands only 6’10” but is athletic and an effective rebounder. That sounds a lot like an Oso-Miles pairing! If Khaman Maluach can develop a shot, Oso can then play some at the four-position for a big frontline of Maluach/Ighodaro/Bridges. 

Each season has its own dynamics, chemistry, and player development. This look backward at last year’s duos gives clues on what to watch and hope for as the Suns start camp. I can’t wait to see it play out. Comment below if you see other implications from this data.

Welcome to the Bright Side writing team, Mark Bowser!

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to Philadelphia hoping to help the 76ers catch lightning in a bottle. His introduction to the city delivered the real thing first.

The former Los Angeles Lakers guard’s new penthouse was struck by lightning just minutes after his wife, McKenzie, signed the lease, according to her TikTok account of a chaotic moving day that ended with water pouring from the ceiling and the family scrambling down 14 flights of stairs.

“Minutes after I sign the lease, you guys, I hear the loudest bang I’ve ever heard in my life,” McKenzie recalled in a video.

She said water quickly began flooding the unit, while the lightning strike disabled the elevators. Movers who were still bringing the family’s belongings upstairs reportedly became trapped in one and needed assistance from firefighters.

The strangest part came later.

McKenzie said an electrician who inspected the damage told her there was a “1 in 400 million chance” of a unit being struck in that fashion. The precise odds have not been independently verified, but the bizarre incident still made for an unforgettable welcome to Philadelphia.

The 33-year-old landed there after agreeing to a buyout with Memphis and signing a one-year deal with the 76ers, reuniting him with former Lakers teammate LeBron James.

Caldwell-Pope and James already know what winning together looks like. KCP started throughout Los Angeles’ 2020 championship run, including a 17-point performance in the title-clinching Game 6 against Miami. He later won another championship with Denver in 2023.

Philadelphia is betting that kind of experience can help stabilize a loaded group featuring James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe.

Caldwell-Pope is chasing his third ring after averaging 8.4 points in 51 games for Memphis last season before right pinky surgery ended his year.

A lightning strike is usually a terrible way to start life in a new home. For a 76ers team taking a big swing at a championship, it can only hope it was a preview of the kind of lightning it is trying to catch.

Let’s it get it Dub Nation. I’m taking a look around the league this summer division by freakin’ division to see what all the big hubbub is about. Now that the Warriors are apparently playing out the flickering hopes of their dynasty, it’s more important than ever to see who is standing in the way from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green taking ring number five.

As we continue to cruise through the Northwest, let’s go ahead and talk some Minnesota Timberwolves basketball. Last year the Dubs went 1-3 against Minnesota, an abysmal record that contributed to why the Dubs sank to the play-in tournament. This season the Wolves added LaMelo Ball, missed on LeBron James, and are plugging the hole left behind Naz Reid’s departure with a two-year, $13 million flier on Jonathan Kuminga. Remember him???

Kuminga is the presumptive starter at the position that opened up the moment Minnesota traded away Julius Randle and Reid this summer. He has a player option that lets him walk after year one if it doesn’t work out. Kuminga is stepping into that job with career averages of 12/5/2 with four of those seasons coming in Golden State before a half-season stint in Atlanta:

Jonathan Kuminga will step right in to a ready-made power forward slot with a chip on his shoulder, needing to still prove himself in the NBA landscape. More in depth analysis will be needed before projecting his true role with the team, having a player with his athleticism and skill while getting them for so cheap is huge for the Timberwolves aspirations this season. He does come with question marks on the defensive end, as well as figuring out his best place amongst a winning culture, but the talent is undeniable.

With star guards Anthony Edwards and Ball running the show at a presumably high octane pace, Kuminga should be able to slot in as a freak athlete streaking towards the basket and causing havoc. The Wolves are dangerous on paper, and it’s impossible to forget they eliminated Golden State in the second round two seasons ago on their way to back-to-back conference finals appearances. Edwards is entering into “face of the league” conversations while Ball gives Minnesota a shot creator it has never had running next to Edwards and pairs two players capable of turning any given night into chaos:

Ball gives Minnesota something it has lacked for years: a dynamic offensive organizer who can create for others, manipulate defenses, and remove some of the burden from Edwards. The Wolves now possess the most exciting backcourts in the NBA, and perhaps the most unpredictable.

I’m telling you guys,

LaMelo Ball is actually HIM.

The Charlotte Hornets messed up bad, and it’s all going to become clear very soon.

Anthony Edwards & LaMelo Ball will be an all time backcourt duo.

Guaranteed.
pic.twitter.com/ybNAcqF5ixhttps://t.co/vqI9R9Qf4X

— Yaxel LendeBeast (@GMZeroOG) August 21, 2026

Minnesota in recent years has been athletic, rugged, and feisty. Their defense, anchored by the giant rim protector Rudy Gobert, can stifle anybody on a given night. They seemed to lack the top end scoring punch (and health) that champions need to have, but on a night-in and night-out basis they’re absolutely going to force any team to execute at a high level. With Ball and Kuminga in the fold, they’ve got a new look they can throw out there to spice things up. The Dubs will have to be on high alert when these fellas howl into town.

Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday Golden State was up 1-0 on Minnesota in the playoffs by stealing Game 1 on the road before Steph Curry’s body gave out? That was the series Kuminga got a heavy showcase in postseason basketball. And eeven though the Dubs faltered, it appears the Wolves saw something in JK that they liked.

Real Madrid FC announced the team’s basketball squad has signed free agent center Damian Jones to a one-year deal earlier this week. Jones spent eight seasons in the NBA from 2016-2024, but has been unable to return to the most prestigious basketball league. Over the past two years, Jones has primarily played in China with the Zhejian Golden Bulls, but also played with the Vaqueros de Bayamon in Puerto Rico.

The Golden State Warriors drafted Jones with the last pick in the first-round of the 2016 NBA Draft. Jones won two NBA titles during his three seasons with the Dubs, but struggled to ever find a place in the team’s rotation. He joined the starting lineup in his third year, but suffered a torn pectoral injury that kept him sidelined for most of the season. So, began his NBA journeyman career.

Jones would play for seven teams over the next five seasons, playing for three teams in 2020-21. Originally viewed as solely a rim runner, Jones developed some outside touch and was occasionally able to hit a three. Over his NBA career, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game (279 games).

Jordan Clarkson has been friend zoned.

When speaking with TMZ, singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha shut down the idea that there was a romantic spark with the Knicks guard after the two spent a day together last month.

While taking pictures with fans, Rexha shook her head, saying “friends” to the outlet.

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The two spent a day in New York City together at the end of July, starting with an art session with artist Leopoldo Gout.

The two posed in fun photos together, including one with Clarkson’s arm around Rexha.

Later in the night, they were seen at a Vogue event at Rockefeller Center.

Both wearing black outfits, Rexha and Clarkson posed for pictures at the event as well.

The happenings sparked romance rumors between the two.

Clarkson is on a high after winning an NBA championship with the Knicks in June, marking the franchise’s first title since 1973.

The 34-year-old joined the Knicks only last season and after an inconsistent regular season, he emerged as a reliable bench piece in the playoffs.

Clarkson re-signed with the defending champs on a one-year deal worth $3.9 million in July ahead of his 13th season in the NBA.

The Knicks were also able to bring back Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Mohamed Diawara. Mitchell Robinson went to Boston and free agent Andre Drummond replaced him for a total of $17.5 million against the cap between the four players.

Clarkson recently found himself in the headlines after he was removed from a New York club for stepping in during a bottle throwing fight involving Travis Scott.

He attempted to de-escalate the situation after the rapper’s entourage started throwing bottles. He wound up being escorted out from a star-studded party at Zero Bond, a members-only social club in the city.

Some Houston Rockets fans would call the trade that brought Russell Westbrook to the team the worst in the history of the franchise:

Apparently, not as many as one might have thought.

The results for our last SB Nation Reacts question are in. A resounding 72% of you said that the Westbrook trade wasn’t the worst in the team’s history.

How can this be?

Rockets have made a few questionable deals throughout history

I’ve been a fan of the team since 1997-ish, and this was unequivically the worst deal I’ve seen the team make.

Yet, the Rockets precede my fandom by a large margin. There are realistically three other deals in the team’s history that have a case for the team’s worst.

In 1972, the Rockets traded Elvin Hayes to the Washington Bullets for Jack Marin, who you’ve never heard of if you weren’t alive in 1972. From what I can gather, Hayes and the front office weren’t getting along.

In ’82, they moved Moses Malone for Caldwell Jones and a first-round pick, which they’d spend on Rodney McCray, who I think I’ve heard of, but possibly due to having written similar Rockets trade retrospective pieces. He’s certainly no Moses Malone.

Finally, there’s the 1996 Charles Barkley trade. The Rockets sent Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Chucky Brown, and Mark Bryant to the Suns for a Barkley that had one more All-Star season in the tank.

Are any of those deals as bad as the Westbrook trade?

Rockets’ Westbrook trade among franchise’s worst

Count me among the 29% – Tentatively.

It sure feels like they gave Hayes away. Perhaps it made more sense at the time, but that could be the worst one.

The Malone deal stinks, but it didn’t compromise the team’s future like the Westbrook trade. Giving up multiple first-round picks for a worse player was the real cardinal sin there.

Don’t crucify me: But I don’t hate the Barkley deal. I can’t. They weren’t going to win another championship anyway, Barkley was still Barkley, and it was worth a shot in my mind.

But to each their own.

Could the Rockets make another trade that joins this list in 2026-27? Let’s certainly hope not! If they do, and you feel lucky, head over to FanDuel. They sponsor these posts, and they’ve got any bet you’d like to make after the team trades Reed Sheppard and two future firsts for Kyrie Irving.

(Joking).

The Phoenix Suns took the NBA by storm last season, catching several teams off guard. They were supposed to be the “easy win” on the schedule for opponents. Instead, they made it a 48-minute battle every time they stepped out on that floor, win or lose.

Towards the end of the year, teams caught on and the Suns started to crash back to reality a bit. Yes, injuries were a factor. But that was part of it. This year, they will not have that same luxury from the jump.

This article is not meant to be doom and gloom, just offering an alternative angle to combat some of the optimism that is oozing out of portions of the fan base. I will argue against myself in the next piece to look more at the… wait for it… bright side. But for now, let’s nitpick.

1) Lack of clearly defined roles

The Suns are asking a lot of guys to do things they normally don’t do. Or maybe things they aren’t particularly known for. Jalen Green as a point guard? Miles Bridges to take on less usage, hit threes, and improve playmaking? Dillon Brooks will not have the same freedom (health permitted to the rest of the roster) as he did last year. How does this quartet adjust together, assuming they are all on the court at the same time.

That’s not to say that it can’t work. We just need to see it first.

The Gillespie/Kennard/Goodwin bench trio is awesome. Jordan Ott will need to find a way to keep every one of these guys happy both from a minutes and field goal attempts standpoint. Injuries can naturally solve some of those issues, but let’s hope that’s not the case, especially with how last year went.

The center rotation is talented, but could be tough to get consistency from depending on Mark Williams’ health. If you are a believer in Khaman Maluach like me, and find Oso as a useful depth piece (also me) then you aren’t as worried about this position overall. Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat figure to get spotty minutes depending on health.

But for me, it’s really about a team that is built awkwardly. They are talented and deep, but we just need to see how it all meshes together. And some of you may be thinking “they didn’t really change that much,” and you’d be right on the surface. But what I’m assuming is we get more Jalen Green, who we did not see a lot of last year, and with Miles Bridges in the mix plus Allen and O’Neale gone as rotation staples, it opens some discussion for what this team’s identity is at full strength.

The intangibles are on the bench, and the raw talent is starting. Jordan Ottt has to push the right buttons to blend this thing into a masterpiece.

2) Lack of playmaking + floor spacing

This is the one that isn’t just focused on the lack of playmaking, but rather, the mentality/reputation of Green, Brooks, and Bridges all being more “me-first” offensively. I’m not aiming to knock them, but throughout their careers, they have been guys who have looked to create for themselves or feed off others’ creation.

Jalen Green’s playmaking is not a strength. Miles Bridges’ playmaking is not a strength. Dillon Brooks’ playmaking is not a strength. Mark Williams is not a playmaking center, and he cannot space the floor.

That puts a ton of pressure on Devin Booker to playmake, which he is capable of. But then we get into the floor-spacing concerns.

3PT% in 2025-26

• Devin Booker – 33.0%
• Jalen Green – 31.3%
• Dillon Brooks – 34.4%
• Miles Bridges – 33.3%

That is 80% of their projected starting lineup shooting under 35 percent from deep, and their starting center doesn’t shoot threes. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s something that needs to be talked about more. How do they make it work?

3) No element of surprise

As noted, Phoenix caught a lot of teams by surprise a year ago, especially earlier in the season. This year, they will not have that same luxury. They earned the respect of their peers, and that does matter to an extent.

Teams will be better prepared for them both gameplan-wise and from a mentality standpoint. They will have more extensive scouting reports and film on guys like Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin, who snuck up on them last year. Instead of teams coming in on autopilot in a random Tuesday night game in Phoenix, they will be ready for a dogfight. I’m not saying that happens all of the time, but the element of surprise is something that I think we all saw benefit the Suns more than once a year ago.

Can they sustain that level of intensity and outwork their opponents throughout an 82-game season again? It’s a tall task, but if they can stay relatively healthy, their identity should continue to shine through.

The expectations are a bit higher this season, and we’ve seen that lead to disappointment in the past. Let’s hope this season is different, and the Suns build off their momentum from last season.

With the start of the 2026-27 NBA season less than two months away, Dallas Mavericks fans have many reasons to be excited. The continued development and ascension of 19-year-old Cooper Flagg is the biggest, but the return of star point guard Kyrie Irving has to be a close second.

It has been quite a while since we’ve seen Irving in action, as he tore his ACL in a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 3, 2025, and has been recovering ever since. Irving could’ve made his return to the court following the NBA Trade Deadline in February, but given how far back the Mavs were in the playoff race at that point, there was simply no reason to rush him back. Now, though, the nine-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer looks to be 100 percent again and ready to hit the ground running when the season gets underway in late October.

In a video that surfaced on social media earlier this week, Irving was seen putting on a show with his patented wizardry in an offseason open run. Obviously, we’ll have to see how Irving looks when real NBA games get here, but based on how he’s gliding around these open-run courts with ease, that has to give the fan base some added hope for what this upcoming season could potentially become. Right now, most critics aren’t expecting much out of Dallas this year, but with Flagg taking the next big step toward superstardom and Irving looking like this? You can’t tell me good things can’t happen if both of those guys can stay healthy.

On a recent episode of Curious Mike, Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. gave his thoughts on Irving after recently playing in some of those open runs with him.

“I was hooping with [Kyrie] yesterday, and this is off of his ACL. That dude was so cold, bro,” Porter said. “I couldn’t believe how he was moving out there… Bro, it was nutty. It was crazy.”

Irving is 34 years old and has an extensive and well-documented injury history throughout his career, but his last ACL injury was more of a freak deal than anything else, so the hope is that he can avoid that kind of misfortune here in the latter portion of his NBA career. In 128 games played over three years in Dallas, Irving has averaged 25.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 49 percent overall, including 40.4 percent from deep and 91.7 percent from the free-throw line. If the Mavs can even get 75-80 percent of that kind of production in 60-plus games from Irving in 2026-27, they should end up being in better shape in the standings than many are projecting.

The other day I stumbled upon an article on Blazer’s Edge, the Portland Trail Blazers version of Pounding The Rock. The post, Bidding Farewell to the Underappreciated Jerami Grant, is a heartfelt adieu to a solid player who stood with the Blazers during the time when they are struggling.

Jerami Grant, originally drafted 39th overall in 2014 by the Philadelphia 76ers, just completed his twelfth season in the NBA. He’s played with the 76ers, Thunder, Nuggets, and Pistons before landing in Portland. The four years he spent with the Trail Blazers was the longest tenure with one team of his career. After his first season in Rip City, Damian Lillard — the franchise’s centerpiece — requested a trade and left for Milwaukee.

Since then the Trail Blazers have struggled, and although there have been improvements (from 21 wins in 2024 to 36 wins in 2025 to 42 wins last season) they have simply been unable to get over the hump.

The author Adrian Bernecich stated,

“Grant was a Blazer. For a couple of years ensured the franchise wasn’t devastatingly bad. He may have held onto the ball but that was because the young guys hadn’t shown an ability to do it themselves. I think back to the night of the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline when the Blazers hosted the Pistons. Grant finished the overtime loss alongside rookie Toumani Camara, Ashtan Hagans, Matisse Thybulle and Jabari Walker. Anfernee Simons left the game early with injury. Grant was the only guy able to generate any semblance of offense.”

His take on having a player stay with the team took me back to the DeMar DeRozan’s stint with the Spurs from 2018-2021. The Spurs entered a downward spiral after the loss of Kawhi Leonard and the departure of the Big 3. This era brought the first losing records to San Antonio since 1997, and that was in large part due to injuries to David Robinson. Before that, the Spurs had a four year run of losing seasons between 1985 and 1989 when Alvin Robertson was the shining light on an otherwise dark time for the Silver & Black.

After being traded to San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan admitted he was shocked. He’d originally expected to play in Toronto for his entire career. During those three seasons, DeRozan averaged over 21 points per game and had career bests in assists and rebounds. While dishing out to a rebuilding core, he spread institutional knowledge to the young players. His veteran presence was essential to the growth of Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Lonnie Walker IV, and Tre Jones. Having DeRozan as a mentor made a great number of players better.

It takes a lot to play on, take on leadership, and give it your best when the chance for success seems slim. It’s a special breed of player. And hearing a Trail Blazer’s take on Jerami Grant really brought back the respect and admiration for DeMar DeRozan.

It got me thinking about other teams. From 2010-2014, the Cavaliers went from perennial contenders to nary a playoff berth. This was the period when LeBron James made his “decision” and spent four years in Miami. There had to be a player who attempted to carry the torch. It has to happen when any great team loses their top player.

Can you think of any other players who shone bright for a team during their darkest hour?

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