Simmons stepped away from the NBA last season and purchased a controlling share in the South Florida Sails Angling Club, which is a part of the Sport Fishing Championship.
Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, flamed out with the 76ers and Nets while dealing with a number of injuries and mental hurdles.
Ben Simmons signs with the Kings. Noah K. Murray-NY Post
The 30-year-old played played 18 games with the Clippers at the end of the 2024-’25 season, averaging three points, four rebounds and three assists per game in a limited bench role.
Simmons now adds a veteran presence to a rebuilding Kings team that went 22-60 last season and drafted Darius Acuff Jr. out of Arkansas with the No. 7 pick in the draft.
It will be interesting to see if a year away from the sport will help Simmons the shooting issues that plagued him in his career — often seeming unwilling to shoot anything beyond a layup.
He certainly seemed to enjoy his time fishihing.
“It’s a very niche sport,” he told Andscape. “And if you don’t know, you don’t know. But once you experience it and get out there and see what it’s about, you’re kind of in awe of what the sport is. And that’s just something I’ve always been interested in in terms of the sport of fishing.
“The technique. And there’s so much to it that people just don’t understand. These guys are fishing on million-dollar vessels, and they’re out for days at a time. So, it’s tedious and gritty, but a lot of fun. It’s one of those worlds where you just got to kind of experience it, get into it and see what it’s about.”
Sacramento was looking for a veteran point guard to back up and mentor rookie Darius Acuff. They have their guy, and it's an eyebrow-raising choice:
Ben Simmons.
Simmons agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Kings, which is the veteran minimum, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. It's not yet clear whether this contract is fully guaranteed.
Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and a three-time All-Star, did not play in the NBA last season — he was focused more on deep sea fishing, even buying a controlling stake in the South Florida Sails of the Sport Fishing Championship. He went through a mini-camp with the Austrailian national team this summer, and while he looked good in social media workouts that is almost an annual tradition with him that has had little bearing on the regular season.
Simmons last played in the NBA in the 2024-25 season, splitting time between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers. In 18 games with the Clippers, he played solid defense and showed he could run the offense for a stretch, even if he didn't put up counting stats of note (2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 16.4 minutes per game) or score much from outside the paint. He was not part of Tyronn Lue's playoff rotation, but he looked like he might be a decent veteran backup point guard.
Which is what the Kings were looking for. Sacramento also is betting on Simmons staying healthy. Simmons has dealt with back issues since the 2021-22 season, missed considerable time because of it, and has undergone a couple of surgeries to help relieve the issue. He was largely healthy with the Nets and Clippers a couple of seasons ago.
Sacramento had talked to Russell Westbrook about returning in a backup role, but he chose to retire instead. The Kings also had conversations with Victor Oladipo, and there are veteran point guards available, such as Gabe Vincent and Cameron Payne.
The Kings have decided to go with Simmons. It's an interesting choice, and not necessarily a bad one.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 18: Miles McBride speaks onstage during "Knicks Film School" podcast the Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images for Fanatics) | Getty Images for Fanatics
Miles “Deuce” McBride arrived in New York as the 36th pick in the 2021 draft, a short-ish, square-jawed defender with a shaky jump shot. The inconsistent three-ball never worried Tom Thibodeau. The grizzled skipper loved watching a 6’2” guard stalk ballhandlers the length of the court, the basketball equivalent of a German shepherd harassing a cockapoo.
Eventually, the offense came around. Deuce put in plenty of reps with Westchester, waited behind veteran guards on the MSG depth chart and spent marathon hours in the gym rebuilding his jumper. His three-point shooting went from his greatest liability to one of his greatest strengths, rising from 25% on 1.7 attempts per game as a rookie to 41% on 6.6 attempts during the championship season. His playing time increased accordingly. Although still primarily a reserve, he went from nine minutes per game to 26.
When RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were traded to the Raptors, Leon Rose’s next order of business was locking down the promising McBride, who had so far been buried on the bench. On the day of the trade, December 30, 2023, the former West Virginia Mountaineer, then 23, agreed to a three-year, $13 million fully guaranteed contract extension. The front-loaded deal began the following season and runs through 2026–27, with his salary decreasing each year.
Deuce significantly outperformed it. He stepped into a larger rotation role, improved his efficiency, contributed as a two-way guard and posted career highs in points, minutes and assists. He became a reliable sparkplug off the bench and an occasional starter (43 so far). Better still, his contract provided the Knicks with roster flexibility under the league’s salary-cap and apron restrictions. Recent estimates have placed his market value at $10 million to $12 million per year, if not higher, while his actual cap hits remained remarkably low: approximately $4.7 million in 2024–25, $4.3 million in 2025–26 and less than $4 million in 2026–27.
McBride further proved his value during the championship run, playing through lingering pain after February hernia surgery sidelined him for roughly two months. He described the sensation as “like someone stabbing your groin, hip and ab at the same time,” yet still played anyway.
Now all that wonderful success may carry Deuce out of New York. Stefan Bondy reports in the New York Post that McBride, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are eligible for extensions and remain unsigned. McBride’s situation is the most eyebrow-raising of the three. He did not sign before the August 11 soft deadline, after which an extension would prevent the Knicks from trading him during the season. Bondy considers a new deal unlikely and highlights McBride as perhaps the Knicks’ best expendable trade asset.
McBride has a favorable expiring contract, and the Knicks have more guards than available minutes. They also have needs that may become more urgent as the season unfolds. New York acquired Andre Drummond to back up Towns, but Drummond is on the other side of 30, with considerable mileage after a career spent wrestling NBA bigs. If Rose & Co. decide they need another center or a different kind of rotation player, they have limited ways to make a meaningful midseason move. Trading Deuce may provide the cleanest path.
With Mitchell Robinson gone, McBride is the longest-tenured Knick. He is also among the few remaining players whom the organization drafted and developed. When done well, player development creates value, and the best proof of that value is when another team craves what you produced. Which teams might be interested? Off the top of the dome: the Hornets, Grizzlies, Clippers, Nets, and Suns. If none of them has a big man the Knicks want, we already know Leon is capable of roping in a third team that does.
Nobody in the P&T bullpen wants to see Deuce go. He fits the exact profile of a player we love: gritty, team-first, defensively minded, willing to play through pain, and committed to improving year after year. Ideally, that kind of player remains a Knick for life, followed by a chair at MSG Network or a front-office position. But who knows what the Knicks’ situation at center will be around the midseason trade deadline? If this is Deuce’s last ride, let’s appreciate it.
Draymond Green has strong opinions on how the NBA handled its biggest offseason scandal — and he’s genuinely relieved about how it turned out for Kawhi Leonard.
The NBA announced severe penalties against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday following a nearly yearlong investigation into salary cap circumvention involving Leonard. The league found the organization had improperly facilitated off-court endorsement deals between Leonard and four companies doing business with the team — Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics and Lockton Insurance — most notably a $28 million “no-show job” deal with Aspiration, a sustainability startup that has since collapsed into bankruptcy amid federal fraud charges against its co-founder.
The Clippers were fined $30 million, the largest penalty in NBA history, and will forfeit five first-round draft picks from 2029 through 2033. Owner Steve Ballmer was suspended one year from all league and team activities for “knowingly” helping Leonard pursue those opportunities. In contrast, team president Gillian Zucker was suspended a year without pay, and basketball operations president Lawrence Frank was suspended six months. Leonard himself was ordered to pay $700,000 for violations tied to the conduct of his business manager — his uncle, Dennis Robertson — but was not suspended.
“Kawhi Leonard has to pay $700,000, essentially in restitution for what happened in the deal,” Green said. “And Kawhi came out and said, ‘I didn’t know anything about this,’ and I’m taking his word for it.”
Green’s reasoning centered specifically on Daktronics — one of the four companies actually named in the investigation, and a business whose scoreboards appear in arenas across the league.
“Daktronics is a real company,” Green said. “If you got a deal coming in from Daktronics, you’re not running to your representation like, ‘How do I get this?’ I know that’s a very reputable company. Looking in any arena, they’re probably doing the scoreboard. I’m taking Kawhi’s word for what it is, and I’m happy the team got the bulk of the penalty and not Kawhi.”
Green then widened his critique to the league’s broader compensation structure.
“Why is there a salary cap? Why are guys being prevented from making money from team sponsors or league sponsors?” Green said. “We talk about being in a league that’s player-centric, player-focused, player-driven – and here’s a situation where a guy can make 20 to 30 extra million dollars, and we’re like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re in trouble.’ I’m happy Kawhi didn’t get the bulk of this punishment. I think that is absolutely beautiful.”
Green’s broader point about the salary cap is a conversation the league will keep having. But it’s worth separating that debate from what actually triggered this investigation. This was not a story about restrictive policy preventing players from earning outside income — it was a franchise found to have orchestrated a scheme through a company that turned out to be fraudulent, run by a co-founder now serving 14 years in federal prison for defrauding investors of more than $248 million.
Whether Leonard genuinely did not know of any of it, as Green believes, might be true. But the system that got exploited here wasn’t an unfair cap on player earnings — it was a rule meant to keep 30 different ownership groups playing by the same terms, and one team found a way around it.
26 August 2026, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: A bumblebee flies into the flower of a dahlia at Flora. Photo: Oliver Berg/dpa (Photo by Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images)
I thought I had a ton of content to include in the notes, then realized there were just a handful of bullet points to it, so I needed to wait a few days to pad it further. Maybe we’re not so close to the new season as I initially thought.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has his own answer to the “King of New York” debate.
Jalen Brunson, however, wants absolutely no part of that.
“Imagine I get on this call with you, right? I’m like, ‘Yo, no king of New York’s here,’ whatever, whatever. You guys are going to look like, ‘What the f**k, this dude is so self-centered.’”
NYP’s Stefan Bondy believes Josh Hart and the Knicks remain on track to stay together long term, even if an extension does not happen immediately. He thinks, however, Karl-Anthony Towns’ next contract could become one of the Knicks’ biggest financial decisions. Meanwhile, Bondy sees Deuce McBride as an increasingly likely trade asset.
Jalen Brunson already has an eye on life after basketball.
“I would coach high school or the pros. I would not want to coach college.”
Julius Randle says he has no bitterness about watching the Knicks win a championship after his departure. Never stop liking Jules, fellas.
Josh Hart surely knows who won the Mikal Bridges trade.
Miles McBride brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to his old high school community. Deuuuuuuuuce!!!
Jose Alvarado is aiming significantly higher than simply remaining a useful Knicks reserve, hunting for that 6MOY award next season.
“I still haven’t done what I wanted to do with my career. I got a lot of goals that I want to push for and this is probably going to be the most hard-working summer I probably put in. I want to be in the conversation of Sixth Man of the Year one day. Obviously I got to work, obviously situations where the minutes, consistency and stuff like that is always going to be a problem because I know I’m never going to pass the eye test. If you look at me, I’m not the most tallest, most athletic to the NBA world. So I just know going into a room, I got to be the most out-working person, hardest-working person and the rest will take care of itself.”
The Knicks are still looking for a third center, and SI’s Joseph Randazzo floated Chris Boucher as a possible veteran option.
Believe it or not, OG Anunoby is headed to network television.
Jordan Clarkson has apparently been officially friend-zoned by Bebe Rexha. In a busy week for JC, he also crossed paths with rising tennis star Alex Eala at the U.S. Open, with the two bonding over their Filipino heritage.
Philadelphia keeps signing superstars, the latest being 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall.
Kevin Durant has a clear post-playing-career ambition already in mind: running Team USA.
The Los Angeles Clippers got handed arguably the worst punishment in NBA history for salary cap circumvention, fined millions of dollars as well as losing consecutive first round draft picks. Beginning in 2029, the Clippers will forfeit their top draft picks until 2033, leaving the NBA draft with less draft selections than normal. And Warriors star Draymond Green does not agree with how the draft pick forfeiture is being handled.
Green offered a proposal for what the league should do with the lost draft picks on his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show.” And he is all for making sure that the picks go to different teams so that the number of draft selections stays the same, giving incoming prospects the same opportunity to hear their names called.
“Here’s one thing I will say,” Green said. “Usually in these situations where draft picks get snatched, you look up and it’s just 29 first round picks. I think the NBA needs to do something about that. And I think the NBA needs to do something about that for a few reasons. Number one, it’s not fair to guys who have the opportunity to be one of 60 and then all of a sudden teams lose three picks somewhere in the 30 team system and you get three picks snatched and then there’s 57 draft picks this year.
“That’s not fair to three guys who can possibly get their name called, who’ve worked their whole lives for an opportunity at being one of 60. I think that sucks for guys who have worked their ass off. I think it sucks for the NBA as a whole. I think at some point the NBA has to figure out a system where when a pick gets snatched, maybe it goes into a lottery to certain teams. Maybe you can do something to where those picks didn’t go somewhere else. But just getting rid of the picks as a whole, I don’t think that’s fair, I don’t think that’s great for the NBA. You want 60 draft picks… I think those picks should go elsewhere… .”
The investigation into the Clippers began in September 2025 after a journalist reported that Kawhi Leonard and a company called Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC. — a company that went bankrupt the same year– were involved in an endorsement deal that could have broken NBA rules.
The Clippers maintained they did nothing wrong, but after the league investigation wrapped up, they found the team guilty and handed down a harsh punishment that included a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer from all league and team activities, a $30 million fine and the stripped draft picks. As for Leonard, a trade back to the Toronto Raptors was halted during the investigation.
Green’s proposal hasn’t been discussed in any capacity but is interesting because it would allow the league to continue normally while still punishing the Clippers for their wrongdoings. And while there is no indication yet that Green’s thought will be taken seriously, it is an interesting one that could benefit the NBA.
Green is entering his 14th season, both in the NBA and with Golden State, and while his podcasting career is going strong, he is eager to continue playing at a high level and lead the Warriors back to the postseason. A four-time NBA champion, Green hopes he can win at least one more ring before riding off into the sunset.
Barring a catastrophe, the Houston Rockets will make the playoffs in 2026-27.
Making the playoffs is no longer enough.
If they don’t win a series this year, they’ll need major systemic changes. It isn’t even up for debate. It might start with firing Ime Udoka, but that’s actually my next article.
(In the industry, that’s called a plug).
For now, let’s drink a half-full glass of optimism juice. The Rockets certainly have the talent to advance to (at least) the second round. After the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, they should be able to beat anybody in a playoff series (although the newly formed Timberwolves would like a word, and Jokic is still a Nugget…anyway, optimism).
Here are three keys to a successful 2026-27 season
1. Improved Shooting
As was the parlance in the 1990s, no duh.
It’s less about accuracy and more about volume. The Rockets were 10th in three-point percentage in 2025-26 (36.4%), but 28th in threes attempted per game (31.5). If they’d taken one three all year and hit it, they’d have shot a historic 100.0% from three-point range.
Fred VanVleet, who shot 7.7 threes per game in 2024-25, will help. More would be nice. Expanding Reed Sheppard’s role could suffice, but that’s at odds with VanVleet getting his shots up, and with Marcus Smart in the fold…well, we’ll see what happens.
Could Alperen Sengun get one more up per game, and ideally start hitting more? Amen Thompson is too far from a “credible shooter” to even wishcast.
It would be optimal if Kevin Durant would slightly adjust his shooting profile, but that’s unlikely. He’s been the perfect shot creator, in a vacuum, for his entire, illustrious career. He now finds himself on a team that needs fewer mid-range shots and more threes, but he’s a pretty old dog to expect a new trick from.
Wherever the Rockets find more threes, they need more threes.
2. Veteran Health
This one is also obvious.
They’re all obvious, OK? There’s no hidden blade. The Rockets are arguably the best rebounding team ever. They’re a top-end defensive team. They need better shooting; they need luck, and they need one more equally obvious thing that’s going to be the third key.
(In the literary world, that’s what we call poor foreshadowing because everyone knew it was coming anyway).
Last year, Durant was available for a remarkable 78 games. Then, he was largely unavailable in the playoffs when it mattered. That sure was annoying.
VanVleet infamously suited up for 0 contests. Can he play back-to-backs? Can Steven Adams?
Does any of it matter if the young guys can’t step up?
3. A Breakout Season
Sengun still has not put together a season where he maximized his impact on both ends of the floor. As I recently covered, neither has Amen Thompson.
With Thompson’s fresh extension, those two now account for roughly 40% of the team’s cap space. So, they’re the obvious breakout candidates:
But they’re not the only ones.
Some of us have long suspected that Jabari Smith Jr. could be a late bloomer. This would be a good year to bloom. A Reed Sheppard who isn’t wearing a “right this way, gentleman” T-shirt on defense could change the team.
Even Tari Eason has demonstrated more of an ability to get to his midrange jumper than some fans have given him credit for (although, if he could just return to his previous defensive impact, that would be good enough).
Generally speaking, the obvious route would be for one of Thompson or Sengun to step up from “fringe All-Star” to “fringe All-NBA”. If Smith Jr. could make a leap from “fringe starter” to “fringe All-Star”, that would also be impactful, and so forth. The Rockets need their veterans to stay healthy, but they’ll only go as far as the young guys can carry them:
As soon as we saw that Ben Simmons was returning to the NBA, one thought came to mind:
FREAKING STATS!!!
Simmons, who just turned 30 in July, has had one of the strangest careers in NBA history, with an unprecedented first four seasons followed by injuries, mediocrity and inconsistency. He’s always been either really, really good or really, really bad. The good part of his career was so good that despite the last few years, his overall numbers are still remarkable.
Which is why we’re here!
So here we go with 10 Ben Simmons stats you won’t find anywhere else!
1. Ben Simmons had 32 triple doubles in his first 300 career games, and only three players have had more in their first 300 games, and all three are legends: Oscar Robertson (109), Luka Dončić (54) and Magic Johnson (52). Charles Barkley had the next-most among 76ers in their first 300 games with six. Overall, Simmons’ 33 career triple doubles are 14th-most in NBA history.
2. With career averages of 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, Simmons is one of only six players in NBA history to average 13 points, 7.0 points and 7.0 assists per game. The others: Dončić, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Robertson and Nikola Jokić.
3. Only Simmons, Jokić and James also averaged 13, 7 and 7 and more than half a block per game. Only Johnson, James and Simmons averaged 13, 7, 7 and at least 1.5 steals. So in NBA history only Simmons and James have averaged 13 points, 7.0 assists, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks per game
4. Simmons is the 2nd-youngest player in NBA history to score 4,000 points with 2,000 rebounds and 2,000 assists. He reached the last of those milestones – assists – on March 25, 2001, in a win over the Lakers at Staples Center at the age of 24 years, 240 days. Dončić reached all three milestones before turning 23.
5. Simmons is one of only four players in NBA history to shoot over 55 percent in his career but below 14 percent from 3-point range (minimum 30 3-point attempts). Simmons is a career 55.8 percent shooter but 13.9 percent from 3. The others are former 76er Montrezl Harrell, Mason Plumlee and Bo Outlaw.
6. In 2018, Simmons became only the second rookie in NBA history to average at least 8.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds and the first since Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson with the Cincinnati Royals in 1961. Simmons averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists and 8.0 rebounds, and 57 years earlier Robertson averaged 30.5 points, 9.7 assists and 10.1 rebounds per game. But Simmons shot 55 percent from the field and Robertson just 47 percent, so Simmons to this day is the only rookie ever to average 15 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game and shoot over 50 percent from the field. The only other 76er to do that at any point in his career is Wilt Chamberlain in 1968, with 24.3 points, 23.8 rebounds (!) and 8.6 assists per game and 60 percent from the field.
7. In Simmons’ first four seasons with the 76ers, he averaged at least 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and shot at least 54 percent from the field. Every other 76er in franchise history combined has had two such seasons – Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 and in 1968. The only other NBA player with four consecutive seasons reaching those plateaus is Jokić, who has done it six straight years since 2021.
8. With career posteason averages of 12.2 points, 6.6 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game and 57 percent from the field, Simmons is the only player in history over 12, 6 and 6 and 55 percent in the playoffs. The only other player to average 12 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and shoot over 50 percent in the postseason is Jokić (27.4, 7.7, 12.4, 52 percent).
9. Since leaving the 76ers after the 2022 season, Simmons has averaged just 5.9 points in 108 games with the Celtics and Clippers but 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He’s the only player in NBA history to average over 5 ½ rebounds and assists in any 108-game span while still averaging below 6.0 points per game.
10. When Simmons plays his first game with Sacramento after playing for the 76ers, Nets and Clippers, he’ll be the first overall No. 1 pick to play for four teams since former teammate Markelle Fultz, who the 76ers selected No. 1 in 2017, a year after Simmons. Fultz has played for the 76ers, Magic, Kings and Raptors.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 4: Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Balmer before a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Intuit Dome on February 4, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Wally Skalij/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. | Getty Images
In case you missed it (or were sitting under a rock for the last couple of days) the Clippers got hammered by the league with penalties stemming from their circumvention dance with Kawhi Leonard and his uncle.
I’m sure that most of you also realized that the Celtics have a Clippers pick in 2028. But there are complicated provisions related to where the pick lands, swaps with other teams, and it just makes my head hurt to think through the different variations.
With all that said, the clearest explanation I saw on this comes from BRobb at MassLive.
Celtics get a 2028 first-round lottery pick via swap from PHI/LAC if:
The Clippers’ pick lands between 1 and 16 and/or Sixers’ pick lands between 1 and 8. Celtics would get the higher of these picks in this scenario via a swap with their own pick.
Celtics get a 2028 first-round pick outright from Clippers if:
The Clippers pick falls between 17 and 30 and Sixers pick falls between 9 and 30. In that scenario, Celtics get the Clippers pick outright without having to swap their own.
There are flow charts and percentage tables out there if you are interested. But I’ll find it hard to follow all the math until we at least get into next offseason and see what the Clippers end up doing.
So the bottom line is that we should be doing something that we would do normally: Rooting against the Sixers and Clippers. I guess I don’t have any specific dislike of the Clippers, more of a sad pity for their fans. But in this case the team dug the hole with their own aspirational shovels.
It will be interesting to see how the Clippers navigate the next couple of years. I’ve seen some suggest that they should lean into taking on bad contracts (for the cost of other people’s draft picks). Balmer is banned from the team for a year, but his money is still limitless, so they could just pay their way through this. But it will still be very hard without all those draft picks.
Anyway, the Celtics have an asset in that 2028 pick and it seems to have gotten a bit better because of all this. Now we wait and see what Brad Stevens intends to do with that asset.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 30: Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics speaks to the media after Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics 106-93. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dallas Mavericks now have five Europeans on their roster, and the NBA is getting increasingly more international and influenced by the European style of play.
After primarily focusing on the European perspective in part I and part II, it’s time to take a look at this topic from the other side in part III: the American perspective, and one European NBA coach.
Toni Canyameras, a reporter for the Spanish sports media Mundo Deportivo, covers the NBA from Toronto and has the unique perspective of a European reporter on the ground.
In collaboration with Toni Canyameras, who has been asking multiple current and former NBA coaches about their view on this exact topic through the last few seasons, we dive into how the coaches on the floor view this.
It seems fitting to start with the first European head coach in the NBA who led a team an entire season and who is the first European coach to lead an NBA team to the playoffs. That’s of course Toronto Raptors head coach – and Serbian – Darko Rajakovic, who took over in Toronto in 2023.
Last season, Toni Canyameras asked him why Serbia produces so many great players – like Nikola Jokic. His answer can be used to help explain European success on a bigger scale, as well. This is what he said:
“Serbia has a huge basketball tradition. It’s a country that has had a lot of success over the last decades and the last half century. Basketball is the number one sport in the country, there is a lot of pride, a lot of pressure when you play for the Serbian national team.”
“Serbia is a small country with only 6 million people. So many great players come from there, because basketball is so special, means so much to people – and all the kids grow up watching the stars back in the day: Djordjevic, Divac, Bodiroga… and now watching Nikola Jokic, Bogdanovic and all the young players in the league,” Rajakovic said.
In Serbia, they can’t afford to waste talent, he points out, making the development of every single player a focus.
“Player development there is very important because it is a small country. We don’t have talent to waste, so every kid shows up to play basketball being short or tall, being skinny or not skinny. We are trying to maximize every single kid that wants to play basketball and I think that helps coaches to maximize potential.”
🏀 🇷🇸 The #NBA season is approaching and the nice pregame quotes of Rajakovic, too
👉🏽 Like this reflection on why Serbia produces players like Jokic
“Basketball means so much. Player development is important because is a small country and there’s no talent to waste” pic.twitter.com/HtZuKFlzjz
This insight gives a great perspective into what seems to be the more effective developmental system of Europe. The smaller talent pool in general may not be a downside all the time at all, but could serve as a way to help find the unique strengths of every talented player rather than try to make everyone fit into a box.
If nothing else, the European boom, the European NBA revolution – or if you will, the increasing dominance of European players in the National Basketball Association (of America), does not stem from having the most athletic or explosive players – and focusing on developing that type and skillset.
Because in order to compete, Europeans had to stand out in other ways. Ahmet Melik Subaşı, Turkish basketball executive and author of part II of this series, touched on that in his piece.
“In tactical terms, they either had to develop superior systems that would allow them to play the game more efficiently with less effort and despite having lower physical standards, or they had to develop players whose fundamental skills were so exceptional that they could compensate for the physical gap – players capable of creating magic with the ball,” he pointed out in part II.
Former Blazers coach Chauncey Billups agrees. Back in 2024, he said that the gap between Europe and the US had closed – exactly because Europe has a better player development system, teaching players how to play modern basketball:
“I do think that the gap has closed. I can tell you the difference. In the United States, when we grow up learning the game, we grow up learning skills, dribbling moves, we love highlight reels, shooting.”
“I think that in international basketball, they learn how to play modern basketball from a very young age, when to drop back, how to get off screens, how to handle the pick and roll, how to read the game properly. We aren’t taught that, so international players have an advantage over us because they are taught the game the right way.”
The advantage the other way around, mostly focused on individual skills and athleticism, is not enough by itself anymore, according to Billups:
“We have an advantage because individually, we are very gifted. You see players like the Joker (Nikola Jokic) or Luka (Doncic). These guys can’t beat me in a one-legged race or jump higher than me, but nobody in the NBA can defend them because they play mentally, with their heads, and their skill level evens things out. It’s a dynamic combination.”
This dynamic combination of European skill and IQ has led to the international players winning the NBA MVP since 2019, and Europeans receiving all but the last two (which went to another international: Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). On top of that, the top three finalists for MVP have consistently been Europeans, as well, with players like Slovenian Luka Doncic, Serbian Nikola Jokic, and Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo being repeat offenders, with Frenchman Victor Wembanyama entering the race last year.
But how are these players, along with a long list of European NBA players able to continue this dominance in the best league in the world without some of the athletic and individual gifts – which Billups mentions?
Basketball IQ is one thing that keeps recurring in the NBA coaches’ answers. Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla tends to agree:
“You study some trends, things they do there, and it shows they have really smart players and coaches. I like the development system they have from kids to adults. They play with the same shot clock, they understand how to read the game, they do things faster at a younger age, which develops decision-making and basketball IQ,” Mazzulla said in 2024.
But things have also changed in the way Americans develop young players, longtime NBA coach Steve Clifford told Toni Canyameras. Clifford says he doesn’t think the American players’ basketball IQ is being developed in the same way as it used to be:
“My conclusion about basketball in my country is this: kids come into the league right after college games. Their shot creation, dribbling skills, and shooting accuracy are better than ever; they’re better with the ball, but their basketball IQ isn’t even close to what it used to be. Their understanding of how to work as a team offensively and defensively isn’t even close to what it used to be, because they don’t use the best coaches,” he said.
He makes the point that American players generally aren’t spending enough time playing college basketball, which is where you find some of the best US coaches.
“There aren’t high school coaches like there used to be. We have phenomenal college coaches, but the players aren’t even there for a year, just seven months. They don’t get the benefit of playing four years for Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski, longtime Duke head coach). We’re getting kids who don’t know about basketball, how to play. Their shot creation and accuracy are phenomenal, but their basketball IQ is nonexistent.”
Their basketball IQ is nonexistent. A powerful – albeit painful – sentence that may encapsulate a lot of the reasons why Europeans have taken the lead on how to develop players and dominate the game.
But Clifford isn’t done:
“Europeans, in most countries, learn when they are 13 or 14 years old. They go to these academies and are taught to play 3×3, 4×4, they are taught how to help each other, so there is a clear difference.”
He doesn’t have a lot of faith in American development catching up any time soon, however:
“Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to change. The United States is a money-making machine and there’s no way the teaching will go back.”
Doc Rivers, in 2025 when he was still the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, talked about the shortage of American centers and why European centers are playing bigger roles on NBA teams, generally:
“I just think they don’t have an AAU. And I hate to say that, I think AAU can serve a better purpose for us. But the European kids practice a lot, they practice on fundamentals. They spend hours in the gym practicing, where the US kids play games and they don’t practice on fundamentals and skills,” he told Toni Canyameras, which echoes the point multiple Europeans made in Part I of this series.
“I think right now we’re in the middle of having to change that and if we don’t change that, we’re going to continue to be outplayed,” Doc Rivers said.
It is worth noting that the narrative of Europeans being “soft” and not as physical as the Americans, which was prevalent a decade or two ago, seems to have disappeared.
It turns out that in the most physical position – the five center position – Europeans are outplaying the Americans, as Doc Rivers touches on. Almost all of the big men, who play significant roles on NBA teams at this point in time, are Europeans.
Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively could be an exception, if he can manage to stay healthy. We saw him play up against Wembanyama in his rookie season, and he has a lot of what it takes to make a real impact. In 2024, I wrote a piece touching on exactly that, where I called Lively’s skillset a great sign for the future of the American big man.
But not all NBA coaches buy into the viewpoint that the Europeans are ahead of the Americans.
Toni Canyameras asked Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder back in 2024, what he saw as the differences between the American player development system and the European system:
“I don’t think there’s a huge difference between what we have here and in Europe, but there are certainly some differences. I think here, when we think about development, we always think about 1-on-1 and 2-on-2. The fact that in Europe they’re trained in a 5-on-5 system means you could say they’re taught how to play with other people through passing. There are some things that carry over to the United States and things we can learn from,” Snyder said.
And when you ask Europeans what the difference is between the two styles, that’s exactly what they respond. Playing through passing, sharing the ball, team basketball versus individualism.
Could that mean that Europe has closed the gap by playing their own style, as other coaches have implied?
Former NBA coach Monty Williams was not so sure. Toni Canyameras asked him this question based on the results in the last World Cup tournaments.
“That question has come up a lot, and I truly believe the world has improved, but I’m not going to say the gap is closed because we’ve never seen our best talent in these particular World Cup tournaments. It’s a difficult question, and I don’t want to sound disrespectful. I’ve seen the spirit of those teams. I’ve been in the corridor with our guys, listening to their music, and other teams singing their anthems, preparing for the matches. I understand how important it is for every country we face there.”
National team success is one way to gauge dominance. Here, Germany and Spain won the last two World Cup tournaments. Another is the nationality of the players topping the MVP ladder and other awards.
Basketball is a competition where the best team wins. Not the best player, or the one with the best highlight reel. There’s no way around the fact that individualism doesn’t serve anyone in a team sport – and it doesn’t create a winning mentality or team success.
And it looks like we’re seeing the brunt of that mindset right now. If and when the American developmental system and players change the focus to become more team-oriented again, Europeans will lose some of their edge. If they manage to get back to teaching players how to develop their basketball IQ early on, Europeans will have to level up again.
And for all of us, who love the competition of team sports, this is a great race to witness. The race to greatness will sharpen both sides and result in the very best basketball possible. And that should be the aim above all else – to get to witness the very best by the very best.
Thank you to Toni Canyameras for quotes, links and collaboration.
We started this series by looking back on one of Joel Embiid’s early postseasons with the Sixers, as the big man had a dominant Game 3 in 2019 against Toronto. At that time, fans were viewing the Sixers in a very positive light. Fast forward seven years to 2026, and fans had all but tapped out on the team’s chances of making any noise in the postseason. Then, Embiid and company found a way back into a series they appeared to have no chance in.
Before the game started, it felt like a funeral. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence Boston was donning its black uniforms. The Celtics blew out the Sixers in Game 4 after smoking them in Game 1 and winning a hard-fought Game 3. Boston was returning to its home floor up 3-1 in the best-of-seven and poised to make quick work of the Sixers, like most No. 2 seeds tend to do against No. 7 seeds in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Once the game started, nothing happened in the first half that indicated otherwise. The Celtics led 57-50 at the break and conventional wisdom told everyone Boston would pull away even more in the second half and win by double digits to close out the series and eliminate the Sixers from the postseason for the fourth time since 2018. There was really no reason to believe anything would change, until it did.
I’m not sure what happened at halftime and into the second half, but the Sixers dominated the final 24 minutes of Game 5, holding Boston to just 11 points in the fourth quarter, behind a recharged Embiid. After missing the first three games of the series, Embiid returned in Game 4 at home and did not look like himself. A narrative quickly emerged that the former MVP had returned too quickly after the Sixers won Game 2 on the road and competed for the full 48 minutes in Game 3. But Embiid found a way to integrate himself come Game 5.
The eight assists are by far the most impressive piece of Embiid’s stat line as they are emblematic of how the Sixers got back into a series they didn’t appear to have a chance in. Of course, Embiid led the way and was doing practically whatever he wanted to do inside the arc and scoring with ease. But, in addition to Embiid, Philly had four other scorers in double figures in Game 5. No Sixer besides Embiid attempted more than 18 field goals in the game. Everyone was getting involved and suddenly the Sixers looked like a confident group after six straight quarters of getting thoroughly outplayed between Game 4 and the first half of Game 5.
Maybe this was the perfect storm for Embiid and the Sixers to relight a flame that had been extinguished for years. After losing a competitive seven-game series against the Celtics in the 2023 second round, Philly had produced a mediocre 2023-24 season, a disastrous 2024-25 campaign and another mediocre year in 2025-26. No one really thought Philly was anything more than a play-in tournament team for most of 2025-26 and certainly when the Sixers drew Boston in the first round, many people quickly advanced the Celtics into the second round.
Down 3-1 in the series and down seven at half on the road in Game 5, there wasn’t a lick of pressure on the Sixers but they seemed to embrace that in the second half. We all know the Sixers brought this lack of expectation on themselves with nearly a decade of playoff disappointment having piled up. But, to their credit, they could have laid down. Embiid didn’t have to play in Game 5 after an abysmal Game 4. Not only did he suit up, but Embiid got the Sixers back up off the mat with a stellar performance away from home.
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: Keaton Wagler #1 of the LA Clippers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 17, 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Candice Ward/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Los Angeles Clippers cheated, lied about it, and got banished to the NBA shadow realm for their misdeeds. Adam Silver had no choice but to give the Clippers perhaps the most significant punishment in the history of American professional sports for their cap circumvention scandal with Kawhi Leonard. Top-rated law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, & Katz simply found too much evidence that the Clippers dangled business partnerships in exchange for endorsement deals for Leonard, and now they’re out five future first-round picks, among other things.
This is essentially an NBA death sentence. First-round picks aren’t just an opportunity to add top young talent on a cost-controlled contract, they’re also the currency that drives trades. Even if the Clippers create max cap space in free agency, what star is signing up to go to a team that has limited avenues for improvement?
The Clippers are screwed, to put it plainly. It’s not a stretch to say this team has no hope of winning a championship within the next 10 years after this penalty. Still, the basketball will continue, and the Clippers must trudge on. They have a potential rookie star on the roster in No. 5 overall pick Keaton Wagler, and they’ll have some salary cap flexibility over the next couple of years. Even if a title is off the table, it’s still possible for the Clippers to build a scrappy team that can make a few playoff appearances and entertain the fanbase. Here are a few free suggestions for how the Clippers can continue to build out the team even after these devastating sanctions.
Get aggressive for restricted free agents
Teams are finally starting to realize their power in restricted free agency lately, and they’re using it to drive down salaries for some of their best young players. The Detroit Pistons’ ongoing clash with Jalen Duren is a premium example: Detroit is offering him about $35 million per year, Duren wants $40 or $41 million, but there’s not much he can do other than take a massive risk (and one-year paycut) by playing on the lowly qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent a year from now. It’s rare that a team will go after another team’s restricted free agents, in part because they don’t want their cap space on hold for a few days while they wait to hear if their offer was matched. The Clippers don’t really have a choice. Next year’s free agent class could feature the following restricted free agents if they don’t reach an early extension: Brandon Miller, Ausar Thompson, Scoot Henderson, Cason Wallace, Anthony Black, Brandin Podziemski, and more. The following year’s restricted free agent class could feature Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Matas Buzelis, Ron Holland, Kyshawn George, Zach Edey, and more. It would behoove the Clippers to throw a super rich deal at one of these guys in hopes of stealing a top young talent.
Churn the bottom of the roster until you find real contributors
One benefit of being a bad team is the ability to churn spots at the bottom of the roster to keep giving new players a chance in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. The Process era Sixers were known for their shameless tanking, but they also uncovered some really nice future contributors like Robert Covington, TJ McConnell, Jerami Grant, Richaun Holmes, and Christian Wood who may not have ever gotten an opportunity on a more competitive team. The key for the Sixers will be finding some good young role players like these guys, then locking them up on cheap extensions before they hit free agency.
Buy early second round picks
The conventional wisdom right now is that the NIL killed the second round of the draft. The Rockets traded up to the first pick of the second round (No. 31 overall) this year to take Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton by giving up only picks No. 39, No. 53, and a 2029 second-rounder. Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas also fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round and then had an awesome summer league. The Chicago Bulls straight up sold the No. 38 overall pick this year (the second-round swaps they got in return still result in a net loss of a draft pick). I reject the notion that the second-round of the draft is completely worthless. There’s always good players available, and you could build a pretty solid team just with the best second-round picks of the 2020s so far. The Clippers should get in the mix and be aggressive in second-round trade ups to try to land some of the best players who fall out of the first-round. Even if you hit on one or two guys, it could make a big difference in building out the overall talent of the roster around Wagler.
Take on any bad contract in return for picks
We haven’t seen teams give up first-round picks just to shed salary this offseason, but that doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen again. There are more than a few examples of teams trading conditional first round picks just to dump some bad money in trades, and the Clippers need to be all over those types of deals.
Take a chance on distressed stars
The Clippers are going to need pure upside swings going forward, and going after stars who are suddenly on the outs with their teams is a great way to do this. If the Pelicans eventually want to get rid of Zion Williamson, the Clippers are in a unique position to go after him and give him a starring role. If the Spurs eventually want to dump De’AAron Fox because he makes too much money, but the Clippers could pick him up for cheap. If Ja Morant is looking for a new home shortly after joining the Blazers, the Clippers might as well have interest. Hell, even Karl-Anthony Towns was kind of in this situation a few years ago with Minnesota, and I think the Knicks like how that one turned out. The Clippers might as well throw caution to the wind to try to find a veteran co-star next to Wagler over the next few years.
Get creative with front office hires to try to find the next team-building edge
Professional sports have become one big game of looking for the next market inefficiency. Just over 10 years ago, teams were still catching up to the idea that it’s good to take a lot of threes. These days, everyone is obsessed with the possession game, valuing low-turnover players who rebound well for their position and get to the foul line. The war on analytics is over within front offices, and analytics won, but the hunt for the next edge will still continue. There’s no salary cap for staff, so the Clippers should invest heavily in their front office by hiring people from different backgrounds. Maybe that means people who are doing cutting edge data science or mathematics. Maybe that means taking a chance on a few young scouts from Draft Twitter. Maybe it’s trying out a strategy from someone coming from another sport. The Clippers have nothing but time on their hands as they wait to get some first-round picks back, and in the meantime they can afford to make some nontraditional hires in search of their next edge.
Make the tickets, concessions, and merchandise much more affordable
Clippers fans have to feel completely defeated right now. Like, more so than their typical level of defeat. The organization needs to get the fans back on its side, and the best way to do it is to slash the prices of everything it takes to support the team. Want to pay through the nose for tickets and a t-shirt? Go to a Lakers game. The Clippers should be the team of the people with cheap seats, drinks, and merch. This is a non-negotiable.
They won’t do it, mainly because it’s how nothing in life works, but the Clippers should absolutely lower the price of tickets, concessions, merchandise, etc. for the foreseeable future. The fans, at least, deserve that from them for all of this.
MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 25: The Milwaukee Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins talks to the media with the 2026 draft picks Nate Ament and Brayden Burries of the Milwaukee Bucks during the Bucks Draft Press Conference on June 25, 2026 at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Back for the first time this season: our Questions & Antlers series! For those who might’ve forgotten, this is our version of a mailbag—you ask the questions and we do our best to answer them. This year, the series will run on a quarterly basis to give you even more opportunity to have your voice heard.
It’s been an offseason, hasn’t it? The Bucks have transformed; the lights turned off on an era none of us will ever forget. And as the dust continues to settle, the ramp-up to the season proper begins.
While the roster losses have been huge—it’s impossible to replace the franchise’s mayor and GOAT at any point, let alone at the same time—“new” is refreshing. And I know I’m not the only one around here who feels at least somewhat revitalised by the makeover. Almost overnight, the Bucks have metamorphosed from an ageing roster desperately trying to hang on to one full of youth and promise. Yes, there will be growing pains, but let’s not pretend the last few years have been all that fun either—there’s a reason I compared last season to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. So, like with the boy in The Road, the Bucks’ immediate and long-term future is unknown (unless you believe in prophecies).
Speaking of “here,” Brew Hoop too has undergone change, and we appreciate your perspective and continued support. Sincerely. We’ve analysed the Bucks’ new arrivals and we’ve gotten goosebumps thinking about the starters—and soon we’ll rank the roster too (with your help, of course). We’ll also introduce you to some terrific new writers who are joining our community (you’ve already “met” one)! Truthfully, there’s even more than that to come, but that’s fodder for another time.
In the meantime, what have we missed? What questions remain unanswered? Let your voice roam free in the comments and we’ll spin you a yarn in return.
Feb 15, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard (2) of the LA Clippers and Team USA Stripes guard De'Aaron Fox of the San Antonio Spurs (4) celebrate after game two during the 75th NBA All Star Game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
In the wake of the NBA doling out punishment for the Aspiration salary circumvention scandal involving the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and his uncle Dennis Robertson, the internet has blown up with suggestions for the Clippers future. Everything from relocating the team to Las Vegas, San Diego, or another worthy city (despite the recent construction of a state of the art arena in Inglewood) to trading their current assets immediately to acquire future draft picks.
It’s the latter that has potential to involve the Spurs.
Some of the worst contracts in the league that the LA Clippers could consider taking on at the deadline for draft capital:
• Joel Embiid • Jakob Poeltl • Ja Morant • Anthony Davis • Christian Braun • Paul George • Immanuel Quickley • De’Aaron Fox • Patrick Williams pic.twitter.com/yzcRQTtK2Z
In this scenario, the Clippers could take on some of the leagues worst contracts paired with draft picks to supplement the five that were taken from them as a result of the investigation. One post even stated that the Spurs could trade Darius Garland who has roughly $87M remaining over two years for De’Aaron Fox 4-year/$222M deal.
Strangely enough, Garland and Fox were initially considered by the Spurs for the point guard position. Both are represented by Rich Paul and he was pushing Garland toward the Spurs until Fox made it clear he did not mind giving up the spotlight in Sacramento for Victor Wembanyama’s shadow in San Antonio.
What has happened since the trade has seen the emergence of both Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper into two of the best young guards in the league. Paired with the injury Fox sustained before the NBA Finals, fans were writing off the inaugural NBA Clutch Player of the Year as the Spurs headed into the offseason shaking off disappointment.
Why trading Fox for Garland makes sense for the Spurs now
As mentioned, there is a potential logjam at the guard position. With Fox, Castle, and Harper in the mix, there may not be enough minutes to go around. Fox initially brought a much needed veteran presence to the young Spurs core. Now the team is growing up right in front of everyone’s eyes.
There’s a second consideration. Fox demands a significant chunk of the Spurs available funds. With each passing year, the young core will require larger paydays. The Spurs committed a 5-year/$252M to Victor Wembanyama, a huge increase from his 4-year/$55M rookie contract. As it stands, Wemby left $50M on the table allowing for some flexibility, but Castle is eligible for a rookie extension next summer and with Harper eligible for an extension in the summer of 2028. Trading Fox’s contract for Garland’s offers flexibility in the years the Spurs need to capitalize on their Big 3.
Why the trade is not ideal
For starters, who wants to be the first team to lend a helping hand to the Los Angeles Clippers? And do we really want to do Swipa that way? Business is business, but sending a player to the non-Lakers version of Tinseltown right now could be construed as a sign of disrespect. The Los Angeles Clippers is exactly where 2018 Kawhi Leonard deserved to go. Ironically, the Spurs refused to send him there. He eventually found his way now has now left it burning in his wake as he beelines it out of the country.
No matter what happens, it will be interesting to see how the continued saga of the Clippers plays out.
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What does the Statistical Doppelganger Machine say about Tre Johnson’s rookie season? | NBAE via Getty Images
One the Tre Johnson comps produced by The Statistical Doppelganger Machine has me…hmm…the words “kinda stoked” flowed from brain to fingers to keyboard to screen. But “kinda” and “stoked” don’t really go together, so…let’s just go with “stoked.”
Editor’s Note: Kevin, you just used the words together while talking about how they don’t go together.
Kevin’s Note: I’m employing Literary License. Also, keep reading. Maybe I was initially stoked and then did more research and needed to add “kinda.”
Where were we? Oh yeah, stoked.
Which direction will Tre Johnson’s career go? | NBAE via Getty Images
Before diving into the comps, I remind readers of what I wrote earlier in the series this year: these comps are not necessarily predictive. The exercise is to see what players have similar production at a similar age. With very young players (Johnson was 19 last season), similar starts can result in wildly divergent career paths.
Johnson had some injury issues but managed 60 games and 1,443 minutes last season, which included 42 starts. What I saw from his rookie season largely reinforced my pre-draft evaluation of Johnson — both strengths and weaknesses.
The strength: shooting. His three-point percentage wasn’t great, but he plays with the confidence of a great shooter. His form was good, the release quick, and he was perfectly to let rip even when closely defended. The underlying shooting skill was evident in his 87.4% free throw shooting, which was elite. Compare with the 87.3% rookie free throw percentage of Kevin Durant, for example.
The anticipated weaknesses were also present however. Which…well…was kinda everything else. Lack of athletic explosiveness (just 7% of his field goal attempts were in the at-rim are, and nearly 18% were in the floater range), and lack of all-around dimension to his game. “Dimension” in this case meaning defense, rebounding, play making.
That shooting though — 45.8% from 10-16 feet and 51.1% on long twos. Those midrange percentages are enough to attract defensive attention, as is the three-point threat. He’ll shoot better from deep as he gains strength and experience.
That said, it’s tough to excel on a diet of midrange jumpers. Even very good shooters of long twos often are leaking efficiency. They’re sometimes necessary, and they’re a good tool to have in the bag for when you can’t get to the rim or get a three. But they shouldn’t be a first option.
The solution to getting so many shots from floater range isn’t for Johnson to work on a better floater. Rather, I’d prefer to see him work on his body and craft to get to the rim or get fouled. He averaged just 2.8 free throw attempts per 100 team possessions (about half the league average) — an indication that he wasn’t stressing defenses.
Hopefully the defense and perhaps playmaking will come around. I think he could become a “good enough” playmaker with experience despite the 1.3 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio (league average was 1.9).
Let’s talk doppelgangers. For those just coming in, this is an annual “dog days” of the NBA tradition in which I run players through my Statistical Doppelganger Machine. The Machine then tells me which NBA player seasons since 1977-78 most closely resemble the reference player.
The Machine’s algorithm uses 14 categories, including age. It does not use position or size but tends to produce comparison players from a similar position group. In other words, it’s rare for a point guard to get a center comp and vice versa.
To the doppelgangers:
Tre Mann | 2021-22 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Age: 20 — Mann showed some promise as a rookie but hasn’t managed to find his career footing. At least not yet. He’s hovered around replacement level for five seasons and has gotten hurt a lot too. He might have a shot in Washington this year after the team acquired him for financial reasons. If he makes the final roster.
Jamal Murray | 2016-17 | Denver Nuggets | Age: 19 — This is the comp that has me stoked. My initial reaction was to mentally reject it because Murray has become a very good playmaker. But that happened later. As a rookie, these two produced in very similar ways (per possession) as rookies — right down to two-point, three-point, and free throw shooting. One big and probably meaningful difference — 22.6% of Murray’s field goal attempts were at-rim.
Coby White | 2019-20 | Chicago Bulls | Age: 19 — Smaller and “more point guard” than Johnson, but the production patterns are similar and White’s playmaking uptick happened later.
Tim Hardaway Jr. | 2014-15 | New York Knicks | Age: 22 — This feels like something of a “worst case” for Johnson, which wouldn’t be bad at all. Hardaway is a good shooter and good-enough defender to have real value to good teams.
Malik Monk | 2019-20 | Charlotte Hornets | Age: 21 — I hesitate to include Monk here, though I can see the similarities despite Monk having better athletic tools. Monk’s career got sidetracked as he dealt with some personal issues and he emerged as a useful off-the-bench contributor when he moved on from Charlotte.
Some recognizable names in the honorable mention category:
Keon Johnson
Tyler Herro
Nick Smith Jr.
Klay Thompson
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
While Murray’s name landing second had me kinda stoked, I think there are enough stylistic and athletic differences to suggest that’s not a realistic trajectory for Johnson. Klay Thompson seems more the archetype (especially if Johnson can get stronger and improve his defense) or perhaps Reggie Miller (who did even less rebounding and playmaking as a youngster than Johnson did last season).
