Category: Basketball

Austin Reaves hasn’t played in 2026 due to this Grade 2 calf strain, but that will soon change.

Reaves’ four-week absence due to this injury will be up soon, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick gave a positive update on his guard before the Lakers played the Nuggets on Tuesday.

Redick indicated that Reaves’ recovery has been going well and that he would return to play during LA’s current road trip.

The Lakers’ eight-game road trip is set to end on Feb. 1, so barring a setback, Reaves will be back by that date at the latest.

This calf situation has been an issue for Reaves all year long. Earlier in the season, Reaves missed a week of play due to a mild calf strain. The Lakers claimed they were being “cautious” with the injury, but he returned for just two games before suffering his most recent setback.

Once Reaves does return, the Lakers will get back one of their best players.

This season, Reaves is averaging 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. Those are all career-highs for the five-year player.

When he’s back in the lineup, the Lakers can finally see what they can be with their big three featuring LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Reaves.

So far, this trio has played together in just eight games, totaling 140 minutes.

While Reaves being back is great news, he did lose the opportunity for any individual glory due to his time off. Revaes has already missed 19 games, making him officially ineligible for any end-of-season awards.

It seems unfair that Reaves will be unable to qualify for All-NBA accolades due to missing games, since his play certainly warrants such prestige.

But those are the rules, at least for now.

Considering how much of a team player Reaves is, he likely doesn’t care about those awards and is just thrilled to be returning to play for the purple and gold.

With nearly half of the season left, there is still time for Reaves to have a successful year and give the Lakers the best chance at being playoff contenders.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Ex-Alabama player Charles Bediako, who has spent the past 2 1/2 years competing in the NBA Summer League and G League, had his college eligibility temporarily reinstated Wednesday by a judge who blocked the NCAA from retaliating for his return to the 17th-ranked Tide.

Bediako had signed several NBA developmental contracts since going undrafted in 2023. He played two seasons (2021-23) at Alabama, averaging 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game, and helped the Crimson Tide make the NCAA Tournament twice.

James H. Roberts Jr. of the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court granted Bediako a temporary restraining order and said he is “immediately eligible” to participate in all team activities. Roberts also ruled the NCAA is “restrained from threatening, imposing, attempting to impose, suggesting or implying any penalties or sanctions” against Bediako, the Crimson Tide or its coaches and players.

“These attempts to sidestep NCAA rules and recruit individuals who have finished their time in college or signed NBA contracts are taking away opportunities from high school students,” the NCAA said in response. “A judge ordering the NCAA let a former NBA player take the court Saturday against actual college student-athletes is exactly why Congress must step in and empower college sports to enforce our eligibility rules.”

The temporary order is valid for 10 days. A full hearing on Bediako’s request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Tuesday.

Alabama hosts Tennessee on Saturday. It’s unlikely that Bediako would play, but his case is one to watch as the NCAA navigates eligibility rules that are being constantly challenged amid the ever-changing landscape of college sports.

“The University of Alabama supports Charles and his ongoing efforts to be reinstated for competition while he works to complete his degree,” the school said in a statement.

Bediako signed a two-way NBA contract with San Antonio in 2023. Although he has never played in an NBA game, he has taken part in developmental leagues with the Spurs, Orlando, Denver and Detroit.

Bediako sued the NCAA earlier this week after the sanctioning body denied Alabama's appeal to allow him to return to college basketball.

His case comes after the NCAA cleared international players with professional experience and other players who were in the NBA’s developmental G League.

In his initial complaint against the NCAA, Bediako cited the eligibility of Baylor center James Nnaji, who was the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA draft and was cleared to return to college basketball in December. Nnaji played in the NBA’s Summer League and spent multiple years with FC Barcelona of the Euroleague.

Bediako’s initial complaint stated that the NCAA has been biased toward international players with professional experience who have been cleared to play college hoops in recent years.

___

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The Golden State Warriors lost on Tuesday night, ending their extended home stand with a 145-127 loss to the Toronto Raptors. It was a bizarre game … the Raptors are the worst-shooting team in the league, but had one of the best-shooting games in the NBA this year, paced by a career game from Immanuel Quickley. The Warriors, meanwhile, played decently but couldn’t score much beyond tremendous contributions from Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga.

Here’s a look at how Dub Nation viewed the action in real time, as seen through comments from the Golden State of Mind game thread.

First quarter: ‘Kuminga should be starting’

It was a brutal opening act, as the Warriors fell behind 10-0 and later 28-10. The Raptors couldn’t miss, and led 41-28 after one.

Second quarter: ‘JK sighting’

Kuminga entered to start the second quarter, playing for the first time in over a month. The deficit would balloon to 28, with the Warriors trailing 70-50 at halftime.

Third quarter: ‘JK coming back to life’

It was very ugly for much of the third quarter, with the Raptors’ lead expanding to 30 points. But they ended with a bunch of energy and highlights, primarily from Hield and Kuminga, who were fantastic. They got back into the game, trailing 108-94 entering the fourth.

Fourth quarter: ‘Making it a game!

The Warriors made things interesting, but couldn’t maintain it. Toronto was just too hot, and coasted to a blowout win.

Everyone loves a linear narrative.

OK, fine – not everyone. If you’re some kind of wacky postmodernist, you prefer a strange metanarrative. You love yourself some Twin Peaks.

Good for you.

The rest of us love a linear narrative. We also love a linear NBA career. When a player becomes the player they were projected to be, it’s satisfying. Their predraft profile is a clearly defined premise, and their NBA career is a tidy, logical conclusion.

It might not go that way for Amen Thompson.

When he was drafted, he was either the mythological 6’7″ point guard or a bust. Thompson was going to be prime Russell Westbrook – oh, but also the best wing defender in the NBA. Alternatively, he was Michael Kidd-Gilchist only someone a worse shooter. His supporters countered that it wouldn’t matter that he couldn’t shoot – why would that matter in 2026?

I was guilty. I evoked the specter of Ben Simmons. Perhaps that trajectory is still on the table, but it isn’t necessary. Fortunately, he’s also had too much success to entertain a future “bust” label. Most of that career success has come as an off-ball cutter who conserves most of his energy for the defensive end.

Lately, it seems like he’s transitioning back into that role.

Rockets’ Amen Thompson is moving off the ball

On the season, Thompson has a 20.3% Usage Rate. Over the Rockets’ last five games, he’s at 18.8%.

Some will cry sample size. To be sure, it’s not a huge sample. It may be noise.

Yet, it has felt like a concerted effort. When Thompson shares the floor with Reed Sheppard, it’s Sheppard initiating the offense. Alperen Sengun typically feels like the primary hub. They’re both more natural half-court playmakers than Thompson.

“Half-court” is (are?) the operative word(s) there. The qualities that screamed “point guard” pre-draft are still present in Thompson. He has the floor vision, and it’s evident in transition. Thompson’s processing speed seems causally tied to the speed of the game itself. When it’s fast, he’s fast.

But when it’s slow…

Thompson seems uncertain about what type of half-court initiator he wants to be. There’s selflessness in his DNA, but he’s also aggressive. Wires get crossed. Thompson is capable of making utterly absurd drive-and-kick passes, but he sometimes drives when he should have kicked, or kicks when he’s too far into his drive.

None of which means Thompson should never have the ball. He’s in the 56.1st percentile league-wide in Points Per Possession (PPP) as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. He’s in the 61.6th percentile in isolation PPP. Neither of those marks is necessarily good, but neither is bad.

Thompson can attack closeouts. He can drive later in the clock if the Rockets have exhausted their other options. He’s not a point guard yet, and he may never be one:

But he is a point forward.

Rockets still searching for Thompson’s role

Last year, Thompson had a 4.1 Box Plus/Minus (BPM). For context’s sake, that put him in the same ballpark as James Harden, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, and others. This year’s 1.9 BPM has Thompson sharing company with Alex Sarr, Payton Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley…

You get the picture.

There’s a counterargument to be made. You could say that regression was always to be expected as Thompson learned a new position.

Perhaps. A 2.2 drop in BPM feels like a bit more than “regression”. It seems sensible to conclude that if Thompson looked elite as an off-ball guy, and mediocre with more on-ball reps, he’s likely got a brighter future as an off-ball weapon. Call me crazy.

It’s not that the Rockets should have already concluded. It’s not to knock them for experimenting with him at the 1 this year. If his career does take the route I’m outlining here, he’ll still benefit from having handled the ball in his third season.

All I’m saying is this: the safe money suggests that Thompson is more Andrei Kirilenko than Penny Hardaway*. If the Rockets concur, they might as well set his course accordingly. His usage rate over the last 5 games is likely more indicative of what his future holds than his season-long number:

Unless his development takes an unexpected turn.

*Please forgive the imperfect analogy. Thompson is a singular athlete even in NBA history. It’s hard to find a comparison.

P.S. Does the asterisk at the end of the article subvert the expected linearity of the article ironically? If not, how about the postscript? Is this meta?  

LeBron James taunted one of his former teammates Tuesday night with a gesture that almost turned PG-13 in a hurry.

Just prior to tip-off of the Lakers’ road matchup with the Nuggets, James made his way toward Denver’s bench to have some fun with assistant coach Jared Dudley.

Bron with the pregame antics pic.twitter.com/SbXltfH3BT

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 21, 2026

The two guys were on the 2020 Lakers team that won an NBA title, and in a unique way of acknowledging his old buddy’s presence, James made a motion with his right hand that nearly turned vulgar.

The 41-year-old pretended to wind up his middle finger like a jack in the box, but thankfully for all the young eyes in attendance, James stopped just short of flipping Dudley the bird.

The two then shared a big laugh, before James hit the floor to try to lead his Lakers to a win.

The 21-time All-Star ended up having a great night against Dudley’s Nuggets, scoring 19 points while recording nine rebounds and eight assists. L.A. went on to pull out the victory, 115-107.

James didn’t address the pregame giggle with Dudley following the tilt, though he did tell reporters why he felt it was necessary to share a mid-game moment with Nikola Jokic, who sat out the contest while still battling a knee injury.

“Jokic is one of the greatest players to ever play this game,” James said. “And for me to see him, just go over and pay my respect, that’s easy. That’s easy.”

James and the Lakers play next in a matchup with the Clippers on Thursday night at Intuit Dome.

When reporters asked Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy, Jr. about Jonathan Kuminga’s trade demand, he didn’t just have an answer. He delivered a bar.

“In terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be demand,” Dunleavy said Monday. He went to explain that Cranbrook is a private school, Kuminga’s parents had a real good marriage, and that while Kuminga stands tough, he noticed that on defense this man doesn’t have his hands up.

It’s not clear if Dunleavy intended to be so savage about Kuminga’s lack of trade value, one not helped by his inconsistent playing time with the Warriors. At the same time, Kuminga and his agent, Aaron Turner, haven’t been able to find much in the way of interest from other teams, or at least not ones willing to give up anything of value for the 23-year-old forward.

During the summer, the Sacramento Kings were the main team who expressed interest in Kuminga, but their trade offers were centered around second-year point guard Devin Carter and local favorite Dario Šarić, or taking on Malik Monk’s long-term contract, plus a Schrödinger’s cat of a future first-round pick that might be protected, might not, and might not even exist —it depends on what trade rumors you observe. They’re still interested in Kuminga, but the rosters don’t match up well for a trade, considering the Warriors don’t really need an eighth shooting guard in Monk.

During the summer, the Phoenix Suns were reportedly willing to give Kuminga a four-year deal for $90M or so, and their offer also included a salary dump of Royce O’Neale (owed $32.6M through 2027-28) and a garbage plate of second-round picks. It’s very difficult to make a deal work with the Suns in terms of matching contracts, and the 27-17 Suns may not be interested in shaking up their roster, especially with the return of another rim-attacking score-first player in Jalen Green.

Dunleavy’s harshness may be a result of the seemingly endless Kuminga saga, which dates back more than a year. It’s possible that Kuminga’s ankle injury last season scuttled the team’s plans to include him in a blockbuster deal, either for original trade target Kevin Durant or the eventual move for Jimmy Butler. It seems like Kuminga’s agent spends more time posting highlights of his client (some of which were allegedly altered) and taking to social media to criticize the team’s treatment of Kuminga than finding him a new home. Turner posted this after Kuminga sat in the 4th quarter of a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Sitting Kuminga for a month hurts his trade value but so does his agent trying to go viral on social media and making the podcast rounds. Is Kuminga’s new organization going to be excited to deal with Turner?

In his return from exile Tuesday, Kuminga scored 20 points, which might help rekindle interest from teams who may have forgotten he was in the NBA at all. If nothing else, he showed that he’s stayed mentally strong and prepared even through a parade of DNP-CDs and that the Kuminga-Hield combination can light up the scoreboard, at least against the Toronto Raptors reserves.

It seems like Kuminga really, really wants a trade and the Warriors are willing to trade him. Finding a trade partner will be a “demanding” job.

Publicly, LeBron James and Jeanie Buss seemed to have a strong relationship throughout their tenure together. Jeanie has spoken of the value of having LeBron on the roster both on-court and off and the two sides seemed to be in a good place more often than not.

Behind the scenes, though, things haven’t been quite as rosy.

Thanks to a story by Baxter Holmes of ESPN on Wednesday, we learned quite a bit about their relationship. While there were plenty of anecdotes detailing how things changed, the most notable revelation was that Jeanie considered not giving LeBron another extension in 2022 and even thought about trading him to the Clippers.

In 2022, in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade, multiple people said Jeanie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and, later that year, even about trading James, with the LA Clippers floated as a possibility.

Look, there are plenty of people to blame for the Russell Westbrook trade. The fact that no one really got fired was perplexing. But Jeanie placing the blame at the feet of LeBron and not the President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka is surprising.

If the Lakers decided to trade for Russ because LeBron wanted it, then sure, he takes some of the blame. However, ultimately, he is a player and doesn’t have the final say, sothat falls more on ownership and the front office than on James.

And the Lakers still gave him a no-trade clause after these events, so their actions don’t match the disgruntled comments that might’ve been felt internally.

But from Jeanie’s perspective, it seems she believed LeBron was focused on spinning the blame away from himself on this topic, which led to their relationship souring.

The distance between Jeanie and James widened after the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in July 2021, people close to the team said. The team had made the trade in an effort to appease James, but the acquisition backfired in catastrophic fashion. L.A. went 33-49 and missed the playoffs, and James seemed to wash his hands of his role in the acquisition.

Jeanie privately bristled about what she felt was his lack of accountability and the way James would shift blame onto others after the Westbrook trade, the people said.

Despite the icy relationship and Jeanie’s thoughts of moving on from LeBron, she never has. And has still made decisions she thought would make him happy, like drafting Bronny James. But, again, Jeanie wasn’t pleased with his response.

And when the Lakers drafted James’ son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn’t, people close to the team told ESPN.

Bronny worked out with other teams, so clearly, he had interest from different organizations, and he was going to find a spot in the league.

While LeBron never publicly said the words “I appreciate what the Lakers did drafting Bronny,” he has certainly shown how much it means to him. When training camp started, he called it “the greatest thing” to have Bronny working with him. And LeBron, for years, mentioned that playing with Bronny was “the ultimate dream.”

While Jeanie might feel LeBron hasn’t shown gratitude for what the Lakers have done for him, LeBron also likely feels like they haven’t been thankful for what he’s done for them.

The fact is, LeBron came to the Lakers when it didn’t make sense for him to do so. Back in 2018, he could’ve gone wherever he wanted, but he chose LA.

And while Jeanie might think they had a great pitch, LeBron had non-basketball reasons for being in Los Angeles due to his business ventures. So, it likely didn’t matter what their PowerPoint presentation looked like or what Magic Johnson had to say when selling Bron on the idea.

LeBron’s arrival, followed by a title within two years, makes him a Laker legend. That credit LeBron gets breeds envy, and Jeanie appears to have some, given how his move and its success are perceived by the general public.

She didn’t like that James was considered a savior for a foundering franchise when he arrived in 2018 and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team’s leadership receiving praise for landing him. Team sources have been adamant for years that James’ camp informed the Lakers as early as 2017 that he was coming to join them when he became a free agent the following year.

In the end, it’s all messy, petty corporate politics mixed with sports.

Clearly, the Westbrook trade was a failure, and no one wants to take accountability for it. Jeanie is the boss of the Lakers and, like all bosses, she wants all of the credit and none of the blame.

Rather than looking within or at Pelinka and the rest of the front office on what went wrong, it’s easier to just blame LeBron. While he likely did push for it, that’s not his job. Someone in charge could’ve said no and they didn’t.

Despite any ideas about walking away from LeBron, Jeanie and the Lakers never did.

This relationship between Jenaie and LeBron seems to be pretty fractured at this point. And considering that LeBron is in the final year of his contract, perhaps this ends, as many things do, in a bit of a cold divorce.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

Trash talk’s a foundational part of basketball, something of a love language in the sport between ruthless competitors trying to gain whatever edge they can on the court.

This week, Michigan State men’s basketball guard Kur Teng received it from an unlikely source: his own coach.

During a timeout in his team’s 68-52 win at Oregon on Tuesday, Jan. 20, Spartans coach Tom Izzo used the opportunity to critique Teng’s defense, telling the 6-foot-4 sophomore that he couldn’t guard Izzo’s 99-year-old mother, Dorothy.

"Kur you can't guard my mother. My mother!"

Inside the @MSU_Basketball huddle with Tom Izzo. pic.twitter.com/HETzQFA8UX

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 21, 2026

It wasn’t a joke, either, with Izzo saying in his post-game news conference that he was “serious as a jaybird.”

“I’m hoping that it ticks him off and maybe he’ll play better angry because some of it was unstomachable and I haven’t said that much this whole year,” Izzo said.

"We're all flying back to East Lansing and [Kur Teng] is flying to Appleton. Check USA Today tomorrow him and my mom will be going at it in a nursing home gym..."

Tom Izzo on telling Kur Teng he couldn't guard his mother during MSU's game at Oregon. pic.twitter.com/WAoMTjJxY8

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 21, 2026

Teng is fifth on the team in scoring this season, averaging 7.3 points per game, but he struggled against the Ducks, picking up no stats beyond two fouls and a turnover in eight minutes. It was his second-shortest appearance in a game this season and marked the first time this season he didn’t attempt a shot.

Thankfully for Teng, the rest of his team was more sound defensively, holding Oregon to 39% shooting from the field. The victory improved Michigan State to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in Big Ten play. The Spartans are No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

While the rest of his team heads back from the Pacific Northwest to prepare for a matchup on Saturday, Jan. 24 against Maryland, Teng will be taking a detour to pay a visit to a certain nonagenarian.

“We’re all flying back to East Lansing. He’s flying to Appleton,” Izzo said. “Check USA TODAY tomorrow. Him and my mom will be going at it in a nursing home in a gym and we’ll see how he does.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tom Izzo tells Michigan State's Kur Teng 'you can't guard my mother'

The Toronto Raptors offense exploded against the Golden State Warriors last night. The question is, can they keep it up on back-to-back nights when they visit the Sacramento Kings?

My Raptors vs. Kings predictions break down why the Raps will keep roaring in the third game of their West Coast road trip. 

Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley fuel my NBA picks for this matchup set to go at 10 pm ET at Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento.

Raptors vs Kings prediction

Raptors vs Kings best bet: Raptors team total Over 115.5 (-115)

The Toronto Raptors took advantage of the Warriors playing without Jimmy Butler and went off for a season-high 145 points in last night's victory. 

Immanuel Quickley led the way with 40 while Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes both had 20+ points apiece. Tonight, they take on a Sacramento Kings team that gives up a ton of buckets.

Sacramento ranks 27th in defensive rating and has surrendered 118.2 points per game over the last 15 games.

Toronto has a team total of 115.5, a number the Raps have topped in six of their last 10 games.

Raptors vs Kings same-game parlay

Quickely’s 40 burger is the culmination of some improved play from the Raptors guard. He’s averaging 19.2 points over his last 14 games and has eclipsed tonight's point total in 10 of those 14.

Meanwhile, Barnes is on a hot streak. He’s scored 22 or more points in five of his last six, averaging 24 over that stretch. Mix in the Kings' poor rebounding, and there should be plenty of second-chance opportunities for the Raps to go Over these point totals.

Raptors vs Kings SGP

• Raptors team total Over 115.5
• Immanuel Quickley Over 16.5 points
• Scottie Barnes Over 20.5 points 

Our "from downtown" SGP: Timmy's Special

Let's back IQ and Scottie to take their games to the next level. Scottie should dominate the glass, and IQ will look to get his teammates involved. 

Raptors vs Kings SGP

• Raptors team total Over 115.5
• Scottie Barnes double-double
• Immanuel Quickley double-double

Raptors vs Kings odds

• Spread: Raptors -220 | Kings +180
• Moneyline: Raptors -5.5 | Kings +5.5
• Over/Under: Over 226 | Under 226

Raptors vs Kings betting trend to know

The Raptors have covered the 1Q Spread in 28 of their last 40 away games for +14.30 Units and a 31% ROI. Find more NBA betting trends for Raptors vs. Kings.

How to watch Raptors vs Kings

Raptors vs Kings latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman grabbed a hat trick as Afghanistan warmed up for next month’s T20 World Cup with a series-clinching 39-run win over the West Indies on Wednesday.

West Indies, which lost the first game by 38 runs, got bowled out for 150 in 18.5 overs. Mujeeb claimed 4-21 and became only the third Afghan bowler after Rashid Khan and Karim Janat to accomplish a hat trick in T20s.

Earlier, Darwish Rasooli followed his half-century in the first game with 68 off 39 balls and Sediqullah Atal made 53 in Afghanistan’s total of 189-4 after the West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

Mujeeb had Evin Lewis trapped leg before wicket of a quicker ball before he clean bowled Johnson Charles with a perfect delivery that drifted into the right-handed batter and the West Indies slumped to 38-3 in eight overs.

Mujeeb waited for his hat trick until he returned for his final over in the death overs when top-scorer captain Brandon King (50) holed out at long-on and then finished with a four-wicket haul by clean bowling Quentin Sampson.

“The plan was to keep it simple and hit the stumps,” Mujeeb said. “Didn’t know I was on a hat trick and I was just looking to hit the right areas. Good preparation for us before the World Cup. This win will give us more energy.”

The three-match series concludes on Thursday.

Shimron Hetmyer briefly challenged the tall target with his 46 off 17 balls that featured six sixes before he holed out to sweeper cover while attempting a big shot against Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-28).

Fast bowler Azmatullah Omarzai claimed 2-20 before Farooqi dismissed No. 11 batter Ramon Simmonds to seal the series for Afghanistan with seven balls to spare.

Afghanistan opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1) and Ibrahim Zadran (22) exited inside the power play, but Rasooli and Atal combined in a 115-run stand as they dominated both pace and spin.

Atal smacked three sixes and two fours before he holed out to deep square leg in Matthew Forde’s (2-25) return spell and Rasooli fell in the 18th over when he couldn’t clear Alick Athanaze at mid-off.

Omarzai smashed an unbeaten 26 off 13 balls with spinner Gudakesh Motie returning with expensive figures of 0-54 that included 19 runs of the final over.

“Hetty (Hetmyer) played a fantastic innings, but after he got out, I had to be the person finishing it,” King said. “The fielding has been a disappointment but that’s something we keep working on.”

___

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Send in your questions now for this week’s episode of The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast to discuss everything Pistons. Submit your question to the comments section here or on X/Twitter to @TheRealWesD3 and/or @blakesilverman.

Join us live on Saturday morning for the show where we’ll discuss the Pistons’ week of games. Just how impressive was the win over the Celtics? Is Jalen Duren a lock to become an All-Star and join Cade Cunningham? With relatively little chatter surrounding the upcoming trade deadline, will the Pistons make any move?

Plus, The Pindown has a phone line where you can leave a message and hear your voice on the show. Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message around 45 seconds or less so we can fit everyone into the show.

The podcast will be uploaded to all audio platforms the following morning.

The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast Vitals:

When: Saturday January 24 at 10:30 a.m. ET

Where: Detroit Bad Boys YouTube Channel

How to submit questions:

• Detroit Bad Boys Website: Comment section of the weekly Pindown episode articles.
• Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message to 45 seconds or less.
• Twitter: @detroitbadboys, @blakesilverman or @therealwesd3
• YouTube: Chat section of The Pindown live recording — Subscribe here

As always, leave any questions or topics you want to be discussed in the comment section below.

Oh boy, welcome back to our annual Socratic seminar about “should the Celtics make a trade this year?” A tradition unlike any other, it’s one of the most important questions for each Celtics season — answering it can reflect the state of the team, the direction and goals for the coming playoff run or tanking extravaganza. In some ways, it’s the defining concept of each season. To trade or not to trade, that is the question.

Yeah… except it’s actually a stupid question. 

Presenting this discussion as a binary between “the Celtics should stand pat with their roster” or “the Celtics should go out and try to improve their roster” is the easiest answer since you asked your 4-year-old niece if she wanted ice cream or not. Of course the Celtics should try to improve their roster! What is the point of paying front office executives and scouts millions of cumulative dollars if you’re not always trying to improve your roster? That would be like asking that same 4-year-old niece about ice cream and you literally own an ice cream shop. 

The Celtics are always going to try to get better. The real question is “is it possible to improve this team without needlessly hamstringing its future flexibility?” which is, of course, not a stupid question and one we can actually try to answer. Trading Anfernee Simons to get under the first apron of the luxury tax seemed like a mortal lock until he went sicko mode in the last month and is now very reasonably a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.*

*side note: what the heck is up with the Celtics printing 6MOYs? Brogdon, Pritchard, and now maybe Simons? It seems like there’s a real infrastructure here that we need to dissect. Maybe I’ll get to that in the offseason.

I’m still in favor of trading Simons due to the simple fact that he is capital G Gone at the end of this season. He’s on the final year of a reasonably sized expiring contract, and unless Jayson Tatum can come back, be actually, literally, unequivocally, 100% and the Celtics can compete for a title this year, it seems silly to lose him for nothing. They definitely won’t be able to pay him after this year, so forget about that.

The issue is that the above Tatum situation is still an open question. Tatum launched the mother of all press balloons by staging a full workout in front of reporters, quite intentionally getting the conversation going about whether he’ll be back sooner rather than later. And while it makes me uncomfortable, I’ve long resigned to not judging Tatum and the team’s decision on when he returns. Oh, what, do I have better medical info than Tatum and the team doctors? No, I don’t, so I’ll stay out of it.

We don’t, unfortunately, have any indication of when/if Tatum will return, which also, unfortunately, means we have a classic Schrödinger’s Simons situation. If Tatum returns, I don’t want to trade Simons. If he doesn’t, I do. 

For Simons, this is kind of a great situation. He’s playing great and making the case that he should get a decent-sized contract this offseason, and he’s probably okay if that doesn’t come from the Celtics. If Boston trades him somewhere, he might be able to work on an extension with them or start planning his future (which he’s probably already doing). 

For the Celtics, this is awkward, because I am unable to responsibly answer the Simons question without more Tatum info. Maybe we’ll get some soon, but for now I’ll punt on that one. Dealing Simons would remove an offensive creator, yes, but that should be made up for by Derrick White figuring out whatever slump he’s in. Couple that with how much future flexibility it will give Boston financially, and it’s probably worth it. But the larger question of “is it possible to improve this team without needlessly hamstringing its future flexibility?” remains unanswered. I’ll speculate anyway.

Save for a Simons deal, I think it probably is not possible to do better than this without doing something irresponsible. 

Because of the misfortune that befell Tatum and the rest of last year’s roster, we can imagine this Celtics season as life giving us limes and making limeade (which clears lemonade btw). Now, the limeade we made is insanely good, and each individual lime has managed to produce more lime juice than the top Lime-ologists previously thought possible. As I’ve discussed at length, this team is playing way over its head on so many levels. 

Transactions, then, are pretty likely to reduce the quality of the limeade. Say the Celtics packaged Garza and Hauser and a pick for some “better” player. What are the chances that player will immediately assimilate and produce what those two have managed for the Celtics this year on aggregate? Pretty low. Sure, in theory the Celtics are a porous team with lots of growth areas, but that simply hasn’t borne out in reality.

I’m ready to start taking this team seriously as a collection of serious basketball players that work well together, rather than treating it like a fantasy football team that will regress to the mean and thus we need to “sell high.” The sample size is too big for that kind of argument; this works, so I say let it work.

One year after a winter storm forced postponements across U.S. sports, another major weather system is prompting a reshuffling of games this week and threatened to wreak havoc on the weekend schedule.

A storm that meteorologists say could rival the damage of a major hurricane is expected to bring snow, ice and frigid temperatures from New Mexico to New England starting Friday.

Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers canceled their annual Fan Fest event scheduled for Saturday due to the weather forecast for frozen precipitation in North Texas and “in the interest of safety for players, fans, and employees.”

The Sun Belt Conference preemptively shook up its women’s basketball schedule, moving around the start times on several games from Thursday through Saturday. The American Athletic Conference also adjusted its weekend men’s and women’s basketball schedules, moving some games up to Friday.

Tennessee’s swim meet at Georgia and the USC Upstate women’s basketball game at Longwood were moved up to Friday from Saturday due to the forecast.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports