Category: Sports News

Editor’s Note: We’re excited to see our very own Matt Harren, better known as harebear in the comments section, taking the brave dive onto the Canis front page. You’ll be seeing a lot more from Matt this season, so please give him a warm welcome!

During the 2020 NBA Draft, just after the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards 1st overall, the Wolves traded James Johnson and the 17th pick (Aleksej Pokuševski) to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 23rd pick (Leandro Bolmaro), the 28th pick (Jaden McDaniels), and Wolves legend Ricky Rubio.

Then-Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas returned the fan favorite PG less than a year after declaring, “Why didn’t we sign a point guard on July 1st? Because we wanted that point guard,” hinting at the team’s belief in D’Angelo Russell. During Edwards’ first season, he took his first NBA steps under the tutelage of two very different guards.

Since then, Minnesota’s point guard play has remained in flux. For Edwards, each mentor guard has imparted lessons on what to do and what not to do. As the Wolves embark on a new season with another new guard – this time a peer from Ant’s draft class – I wanted to look back at Ant’s growth and the point guards that helped him get there and question what is next if his partnership with LaMelo Ball is to flourish.

Ricky Rubio

It was Rubio who rekindled my love for Timberwolves basketball again, years after the Garnett trade. I was more excited about the return of flashy passes than the Dion Waiters-comped Edwards.

After helping Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns reach stardom, Ricky was brought in to work his magic with Edwards.

Since his first stint with the Wolves, Rubio was beloved for his ability to raise the level of the players around him. As a pass-first point guard with a limited shot, defenders dared him to let it fly. Despite this coverage, on-time passes still zipped from his fingers like notes from a Flamenco guitar player. Early Ricky cared about basketball and playing with joy.

After season-ending injuries, unexpected trades, and losing loved ones, Ricky became jaded with the business side of the profession. Nevertheless, on the court he played with all of himself. Ant gravitated to that. Per Chris Hine, then of the Star Tribune, Ant spoke about Ricky after Chris Finch’s first win as the Wolves head coach.

“He leads by example and communication. Some leaders, they’re going to lead by example. Some of them lead by talking, but Ricky, he does both,” Edwards said. “He’s the best leader I’ve been around all my life.”

Ricky knew his limitations: an inconsistent shot, subpar athleticism. He could also read the floor better than most and maximize the talents of his teammates. It is not a great leap to think he saw the potential in Ant and laid out the path for him.

Edwards has spent every year since improving. Offseason reporting notes that Ant reached out to Jonathan Kuminga, selling the free agent on his importance to the Wolves. At Jaylen Clark’s training camp, Edwards called Ball and had the campers wish him a happy birthday.

While Edwards is still rising into his prime, he has faced the gauntlet of the playoffs and been dismissed early. His talent is otherwordly, far eclipsing the skills of his first PG mentor, and like Rubio, he knows the summit is only reached when everyone is playing at their best.

Patrick Beverley

During the 2021-22 offseason, the Wolves traded Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez to the Memphis Grizzlies for Patrick Beverley.

After a career that first started in the EuroLeague before earning All-Defensive honors, along with some suspensions for reckless play — he missed the Wolves’ first game of the season for shoving Chris Paul in the back during the Western Conference Finals — many thought Beverley’s best years were in the distant rearview.

With the very young Wolves, Pat Bev found a group brimming with raw talent and little cohesion. Through unrelenting effort and arrogance disguised as brash confidence, Mr. 94 Feet made the Wolves believe in themselves enough to stop being polite after the whistle was blown.

Beverley played with a chip on his shoulder but held a special place for any team or player he felt slighted by. He loathed Chris Paul after he was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade for the All-Star Guard. He went through a euphoric episode after helping the Wolves defeat the Clippers, who had dumped him in Memphis, during the Play-In Tournament.

The Wolves were bounced by those same Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. A few months later, Pat Bev sent to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert trade.

What he left was a Wolves team no longer just happy to be there. For Ant, each playoff appearance since has put him against the Western Conference team that would eventually reach the Finals. In every one of those series, Ant has played with the full, near-arrogant belief that he was the best player in the series.

Confidence is key. But overconfidence has its downfalls as well, as we can see in the next guard’s tenure.

D’Angelo Russell

I thought it was going to work.

I fell for the upstart 2019 Brooklyn Nets and D’Angelo Russell.

I was heartbroken when D’Lo chose to sign with the Golden State Warriors over the Wolves.

I nearly let out a yelp of excitement in the middle of a work call when the Woj Bomb dropped.

I was wrong. The cerebral player I thought Russell was, was a facade. A master of after-the-fact analysis, the Ohio State product could accurately walkthrough any segment of the game and tell you what went right and wrong.

When the next game came around, though, it was a coin toss on whether his words would turn into action. He was benched during Ant’s first playoff series against the Grizzlies due to his shot selection, pace of play, and defensive limitations. Taking his place was the smaller undrafted guard Jordan McLaughlin, who outperformed the max-contract player and better executed Coach Finch’s vision.

The next season, the Wolves traded for Gobert. They envisioned Rudy covering D’Lo’s defensive weaknesses and Russell creating lobs from a Rudy pick-and-roll.

None of it came to fruition.

Early in the failed attempt, Russell had come to the conclusion that he couldn’t work with Gobert.The fruit of their partnership withered on the vine. By the trade deadline, the Wolves swapped point guards, bringing in the steady and familiar hand of Mike Conley.

Throughout it all, Ant had a front-row seat to Russell’s behavior. He saw the price of arrogance and what happens when teammates give up on each other.

Ant has clearly prioritized never being in that position. In one breath, he can call out Karl-Anthony Towns to stop fouling — as he did during the 2024 series against the Suns — and in the next, tell President Barack Obama to keep Towns’ name out of his mouth.

Hey, not all of these lessons came from good role models.

Mike Conley

Mike Conley is a pro’s pro. The one-time All-Star was a part of the Grit-n-Grind Grizzlies, the Mitchell/Gobert Utah Jazz, and landed on the Timberwolves in the midst of a failing Towns-and-Gobert double-big experiment. He spent a few games post-trade understanding his new team and their preferences, and then set to work doing what he has always done: involving everyone.

Conley has a preternatural ability to know who hasn’t touched the basketball in a while and the empathic selflessness to get that player the ball in a place where they feel effective. What’s more, this sixth sense for the right play doesn’t need to be flashy. Its often simple, effectively communicated, and leads to trust.

Entering his first full season with the Wolves, he organized the offense, making Rudy effective with lob dunks, finding KAT on the perimeter for threes, and empowering McDaniels and especially Ant to attack, all while putting his body on the line on defense.

His efforts helped the Wolves reach their second-ever Western Conference Finals in 2024, going back again the next year. When he was traded this past February, then traded again and waived, the Wolves were desperate to bring the PG back to help maintain the locker room. He came back to the Wolves searching for the championship that eluded him, the crown jewel in a laudable career.

Ant grew into superstardom, into the team’s leader, into an adult under the mentorship of Conley. He learned how to make the simple play and take what the game gave him. Sadly, the last and greatest lesson Conley, now signed with the Boston Celtics, imparted was simple.

Don’t take this for granted…

Himself

Just before tipoff of the 2025-26 season, the Timberwolves made a starting lineup change. Out was Mike Conley, and in was Donte DiVincenzo. As such, primary ball-handling duties went to Edwards.

This season-long experiment put the ball in Ant’s hands. There it stayed for possession after possession. Somehow, despite it all, he averaged nearly one fewer assist per game.

His opponents sent double teams as he crossed half-court. He’d fight for freedom and burn precious energy that left him sagging on defense. Edwards vacillated between spreading the ball around and chucking, finding success and failure in both approaches. His passes to less capable shooters left his shoulders sagging. His early shot-clock bricks brought the same response from his teammates.

In the second round playoff matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, a hobbled Edwards was hounded. His teammates struggled to offer him effective options and the Wolves were sent home looking for answers.

The Point Ant experiment was a failure. It’s not easy to feed yourself and the team all at once.

LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets two spots behind Anthony Edwards. Like the Wolves of that era, the Hornets were also mired in year over year ineptitude. LaMelo beat out Ant for Rookie of the Year, and made his first — and at this writing, only — All-Star appearance a year before Edwards. Since then injuries, erratic and unserious shot selection, a steady rotation of coaching changes, and off-court erratic driving has marred some of the shine on the promising 6’7” point guard. That he was traded for Naz Reid (winced as I typed that), a first round pick and some swaps shows just what the Hornets thought of Ball’s future in the league.

For Tim Connelly and Chris Finch, they believe Melo’s ability to see over defenses offers something Ant has never played with, an athletic pass-first point guard who teams have to guard close. Melo should elevate every teammate with his passing. He’ll make some of them feel like superheroes with alley oops. The cost of this for the Wolves, including Ant, is defensive effort to save Melo when he is attacked. When Melo’s passes are too audacious, he’ll need to hear it from his teammates as well as Finch.

While there is excitement about the pairing of two of the league’s best backcourt players, the immaturity label has been used on both of them. Ant has improved each year. He has learned hard lessons from his point guard mentors.

To peel off the immaturity tag, Ant’s next lesson is to become like the mentors who shaped him.

The playoffs, the draft, free agency. These are the pinnacles of NBA—and by extension Milwaukee Bucks—fandom. Well, Ranking the Roster isn’t too far behind, especially around here! 

An annual tradition, Ranking the Roster has been a staple of Brew Hoop since 2014. Back then, a little-known sophomore won the crown in a vote that showed the community’s collective prescience. In second place came a highly touted second-overall draft pick. You know who on both accounts. Other names of yesteryear include Larry Sanders (fifth), Kendall Marshall (ninth), Jared Dudley (11th), and O.J Mayo (18th). Memories… For a complete nostalgia trip down original rankings lane, click here. 

Of course, back then, the rules were slightly different, with fans asked to rank players—and even picks—as “assets” in this hypothetical scenario:

Imagine the NBA was having an expansion draft, and the Bucks were able to “protect” their entire team from being taken by a new expansion organization, except for one player. Whoever is left unprotected will be selected in this hypothetical and totally unfair expansion draft. After this player is chosen, his salary comes off the Bucks’ books instantly, as though he was never on the team at all. Then (and this is important) the Bucks’ future plays out for some number of years, however long you care to imagine, only they no longer have the chosen player on the roster or on the cap sheet.

Over time, like the game we love so dearly itself, Ranking the Roster has evolved too, with the focus strictly on which player is more important to Milwaukee’s success in comparison to his teammates. More specifically, as Van Fayaz reiterated last year, you should heed Managing Editor Emeritus Adam Paris’ advice when making your selections:

Postseason success should be paramount in your mind when considering your rankings. Regular season competency is a bonus, especially if they can help the team get to a higher seed that yields dividends in the Playoffs, but think about how you envision each individual player factoring in when postseason games arrive.

Considering the context of this year’s team, with the Bucks tying up the laces on a new pair of kicks as they embark on a rebuild, “playoffs” might be a bit of a stretch (it’s also partly because of this that the “Gut Check” poll portion of the series has been shelved). But they will come down the road. And when that happens, which of these Bucks do you trust? 

Before we get to that, let’s revisit the archives (current players only). As noted, Giannis was the first winner in the series and it will come as no surprise that he’s the only Buck to ever hold that title. With his glaring absence from the books, this year we’ll see a first—and there’s no dominant school of thought as to who might fill the relinquished throne, at least as far as I can see it. 

Tyler Herro and Myles Turner have both made the Finals as key players, so you know they at least fit the bill. Then again, Kyle Kuzma has won one. So, I’m not convinced any of those (save maybe Herro) will get my vote. Ryan Rollins made the biggest leap on the team last year—it still baffles me how he didn’t get more Most Improved Player (MIP) consideration—and seems primed to do so again. But Jaime Jaquez Jr. was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year (6MOY) and has open forward spots beckoning him to take on a bigger role, so that’s no guarantee either. Then there’s Kel’el Ware, who’s got perhaps the highest ceiling on the team and is itching to break out so long as he gets enough minutes (and stops being so curious). Oh, and there’s a tenth overall draft pick who you already know I think has a chance to be, uh, pretty okay. 

On the other end of the scale, I’m also eager to see who Bucks fans don’t trust. Kasparas Jakucionis was a sticking point in the Giannis trade, but do you value him as highly as Jon Horst seemingly did? What about been-there-before vets Caris LeVert and Gary Trent Jr., who were key rotational playoff pieces just last year and the year before that, respectively? Or have they soured that much? Only time—and you—will tell. That’s what makes this exercise so fun (and evergreen). Speaking of Green, how the hell is AJ the longest tenured Buck—by two years!? Things really done changed.  

One final point. As it stands, the Bucks still have 17 players under contract to go along with two out of a possible three two-way players. So, with teams able to carry a maximum of 15 players during the season, anticipate roster trimming at some point. Until then, treat everyone as if they’re on the team for the year ahead.  

Now get your GM hat on and get to work, starting with the first ranking:

Please note that technical changes across SB Nation mean polls must now be created in The Feed, so you will see them both there and in the articles themselves. They are also capped at six options, so we’ll present these as best we can. It’s not perfect, we know, but it’ll work. Thanks for your understanding.

Every day, we’ll take a closer look at another member of the 2026-27 Phoenix Suns, examining what they bring to the roster and what their role could mean for the season ahead as we count down to training camp and the preseason.

CJ Huntley

Power Forward/Center, 6’10”, 230 pounds, 24 years old, 2nd season

We start our annual player previews at the end of the bench, with second-year big man C. J. Huntley. At 6’10” and now 230 pounds, he provides an insurance depth piece up front. There is a real chance he sees more NBA-level time this year, given Mark Williams’ health history, or that a mid-season trade affects the current deep frontline rotation.

Last Season

Huntley logged 42 total games at 27 minutes per game with the Valley Suns G-League team, combining the tip-off tournament and regular season. Per 36 minutes, he put up 21 points, 11 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 3.3 three-point attempts (making them at a 34% clip). That willingness to hoist three’s supported what the Suns scouts saw at Appalachian State, where he put up 3.8 per game. He played in four games (10 minutes per game) with the NBA club, with garbage-time minutes and a small sample size.

Worth monitoring: CJ was held out in the 2026 Summer League with hamstring issues, and those can linger or recur.

Contract and Roster Context        

Under a two-way contract for this season, he becomes a restricted free agent in 2027-28.

What He Brings

There are things to like, explaining why the front office gave him another run at one of the two-way contract spots. Physically, he has good length (a 7.5” wingspan). As cited in draft profiles, he continued to demonstrate good hands, as shown by a better-than-average G-League big-man turnover rate of 8.8%.

Power hasn’t been a strong suit, but he’s now at 230 pounds after being listed at a lower weight range out of college. He moves well enough to provide some perimeter defense ability as a potential — albeit lesser — shadow of Oso Ighodaro’s role in this. CJ is better on the offensive glass (11% offesnive rebound rate, above norms for frontline players).

Last year’s player preview highlighted his need to develop offensive flow and spatial awareness. This has developed to some extent in Tempe and should remain a focus. Defensive rebounding is average at best. He is not a pure rim protector. The G-League coaching staff complimented him as a hard worker, as referenced in this short highlight video:    

One Key Factor              

When given an NBA opportunity this year, Huntley must fit seamlessly into the Suns’ offensive flow while maximizing the core strengths that earned him a chance. Can he move to the right spots at the right time while not disrupting the Suns’ offense?

Prediction         

There is a good chance, better than 50/50, that one of the following occurs with effects on the frontline: injuries, trades, suspensions, or depth limitations from rest days. When that happens, CJ will get his chance to play some non-garbage minutes in 5-10 games or perhaps more. His work ethic and attributes will allow him to play at an NBA baseline level and force an interesting decision when it is time to discuss a contract for the following season.

It has been a strange summer for the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

After waiting, and waiting, and then losing out on the LeBron James sweepstakes, the Cavs had to pivot. They already watched Keon Ellis and Dean Wade depart before James’ decision, and then had to offload Dennis Schroder and Max Strus to get a smidge of wiggle room to improve the top of the rotation. Acquiring Peyton Watson is a good gamble to make given his age, athleticism, and reasonable extension number, but the Cavs are undoubtedly more top-heavy than they already were. That is a problem. 

A short bench is nothing new for the Cavs, but there are even more legitimate concerns now. The wing rotation got an infusion of juice with Watson, yet there are plenty of questions after that. Jaylon Tyson has shown promise, but he fell out of the rotation in the playoffs and often got into head coach Kenny Atkinson’s doghouse. Mario Hezonja has not played in the NBA since before COVID, and there is a reason he is on a non-guaranteed contract. There really is no way of knowing what he will be able to provide, let alone in high-leverage playoff situations. 

Thomas Bryant makes his return to the frontcourt, but the Cavs should have sought out a more athletic, non-traditional backup center. Nae’Qwan Tomlin is listed as the team’s backup power forward, a scary proposition considering he was a two-way player last year. There is nothing necessarily wrong with Tomlin, but a team that wants to compete for a championship should have a better option in tow. Craig Porter is serviceable, but the Cavs are putting a lot of faith in him being the full-time backup point guard. 

Whether you want to believe it or not, Cleveland needed Wade out there. The Cavs were +5.9 with Wade on the floor last season, which is +3 better than they were without him. His true value does not show up in the box score. Wade’s ability to defend the arc, disrupt passing lanes, and stay in front of guards was all vital to the Cavs’ defense. When he hits a few shots and grabs a few rebounds, Wade was nearly invaluable. The Cavs will miss that two-way ability, even if he drew the ire of the fanbase.

Once seen as the prize of the De’Andre Hunter trade, Ellis was a near non-factor in the postseason. That being said, watching him walk is certainly not ideal, given that he’s provided a burst of energy off the bench more than a few times. That woke the Cavs up more than a few times this past season, especially in the doldrums of the winter. Sam Merrill was already a difference-maker, but he will shoulder more responsibility this upcoming season.

It is hard to say the loss of Schroder is detrimental, as his on-court play was already a net negative, but the replacement, Porter, has many pitfalls as well. Tyrese Proctor is intriguing, but not reliable yet. Porter has a lot of supporters in the organization, and plenty of fans outright, but there is a reason the Cavs felt they needed to get Schroder last year in the first place.

Trading another fan-favorite like Strus was tough to see, but the Cavs had only a few levers to pull to improve the roster. Strus is a good movement shooter who would come around pin-downs and get up quick shots, and that will be tough to replace. His ability to get hot from the floor saved the Cavs more than once this past season, and his size makes him a viable defender – if not a little overrated. Then there is the leadership and locker room impact, something not quantifiable. But there is a reason the Cavs were reluctant to trade Strus, and the off-court traits are part of that calculus. Hezonja will be tasked with filling in some of those cracks, and it is entirely possible he does so admirably. But there is also a real possibility that he is unable to reach NBA-level and ends up off the roster.

The Cavs are playing for the playoffs, and bench players who possess one or two specific skills are crucial. Strus’ movement shooting, Ellis’ energy, or Wade’s defense are traits that are hard to measure individually, but add up to something important in a seven-game series. The New York Knicks got key contributions from the likes of Landry Shamet, Mitchell Robinson, and Josh Hart — each with a unique ability off the bench that, at some point, swung a possession or two and changed a game. The Cavs’ bench does not have that, or at least not right now.

As they have been for the past few years, Cleveland is going into the season with a top-heavy roster. While Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen are talented enough to get the Cavs home court advantage in a playoff series, there should be concern for the quality of the bench. This is NBA Finals or bust for the Cavs, as they rapidly approach the edge of the cliff. The bench has been an issue for the last few years, and that may rear its ugly head again.

Multiple times this summer, I’ve heard it claimed by fans, pundits, and current/former coaches, players, and front office types that the Wizards are deep. My instinctual reaction is skepticism. I delved into statistical analysis in part because so much of what I heard from the “experts” on TV when I was a kid didn’t seem accurate.

I’d watch Player X (names redacted to protect the innocent) would grab a rebound, and I’d hear the “analyst” (almost always a former player) make a claim like, “Player X is a strong rebounder.” Then The Sporting News would arrive in a couple weeks, and I’d look it up and see that Player X almost never got rebounds.

I’d see highlight packages that included a volume scorer like Dominique Wilkins dishing out multiple assists — clearly assembled to create an impression that he was a generous playmaker. TSN would let me know he was averaging 2-3 assists per game. (This is in no way meant to smear Wilkins, who was a) one of my favorite players, and b) earned his Human Highlight Film moniker.)

As I’ve written before, I wasn’t alone in this observation. One time, when he maybe 12 year old, I was watching a game with my son. Well, I was tracking the Wizards’ defense, and he was working on a school project and listening to the announcers spew statistical nuggets and other factoids while I sighed and the Wizards got pummeled. Again.

Anyway, at one point then-broadcaster Steve Buckhantz intoned something like the Wizards being third in the league in total offensive rebounds over the past nine days (or something), and my son asked, “If the Wizards are so great at everything, why do they always lose?”

So, I approach this “Wizards are deep” claim with skepticism. Let’s unpack.

“Deep” in sports generally refers to the idea that a team has multiple good players at the same or multiple positions. When the San Francisco 49ers had Joe Montana and Steve Young at quarterback, they had depth. When the Washington Redskins had Joe Theisman and Tom Flick, they did not.

Here’s my current best guess at the team’s depth chart for this season:

• G: Trae Young | Tre Johnson | Bub Carrington | Tre Mann
• W: Bilal Coulibaly | Kyshawn George | Khris Middleton
• F: AJ Dybantsa | Will Riley | Justin Champagnie
• C: Alex Sarr | Anthony Davis | DeAndre Ayton | Tristan Vukcevic

Note: In my thinking, there are four NBA positions nowadays — guard, wings, forward and centers. Coaches can (and do) mix and match when making lineups. This year, I anticipate the Wizards will start games with one guard (Young), two centers (Sarr and Davis), a forward (Dybantsa) and a wing (either Coulibaly or George).

Also, if you think Johnson is more of a “traditional” shooting guard/small forward type than a shooting guard/point guard type, feel free to mentally shift him to the wing bucket.

So far, this is a bunch of names. Part of being deep is that the players have to be good. Entering the season and assuming health, the Wizards can be confident that Davis, Young, and Sarr will be good to very good. Barring a catastrophic case of Idon’tcareitis Ayton probably makes that list too.

That’s four guys we can be sure will be good. Three of them play the same position.

My next tier is the probably at least average to maybe good. In this group: Coulibaly, George, Champagnie, Middleton. The first problem here is the Wizards don’t want to play two of them major minutes (Champagnie and Middleton). Champagnie because he’d be snacking on minutes that could go to his younger and more ballyhooed teammates. Middleton because he’s old (by NBA standards) and has had multiple significant injuries the past few years.

Next up: the probably below average (or worse) group. That includes Dybantsa and Johnson. In Dybantsa’s case it’s primarily an age-based evaluation. Not many teens are even average in the NBA. Turns out, it’s a tough and competitive league, and it takes time for a kid to learn how to excel.

By the way, arguably the only elite teenage rookie will be Dybantsa’s teammate this season. Davis posted a 178 PPA in 1,846 minutes in his age 19 season with the New Orleans Hornets. The only teen to beat that score was Zion Williams for the same franchise, but Williamson managed just 668 total minutes.

Where were we? Oh yeah, the probably below average guys. My thoughts on Johnson are draped on two main hooks: he’s young, and I didn’t see the athletic tools or all-around performance it usually takes to be an above average NBA player. I could be wrong — this is best guess, and Johnson (like any young player) can do the work and become great.

That leaves the probably not too good guys: Carrington, Riley, Vukcevic, and Mann.

By my count, that makes the Wizards six deep with average(ish)-or-better (eight if you count the two guys they don’t want to play much) and two more who probably won’t be good this season but will play anyway in hopes they will become good in the relatively near future.

I could see some upwards push from guys I anticipate being below average, if they work hard and improve. Odds are, some of the team’s youngsters will get better and some won’t. One of the lessons of NBA history is that it’s not safe to assume young players will improve. Sometimes they just don’t.

So, I think the best way to talk about the Wizards and depth is to say they might be deep this season, if several players improve more than anticipated. I don’t think it’s safe to believe they have the kind of depth that will make them competitive in any consistent way. There’s too much uncertainty around the relative quality of half the roster, which is compounded by significant uncertainty about the health and reliability of others the team hopes will form a veteran foundation.