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Four-time All-Star Trae Young working with Hawks on a trade, report says originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

A new NBA star is about to be on the move.

The Atlanta Hawks are working with star guard Trae Young on a trade away from the franchise, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday.

Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein added that the Washington Wizards have emerged as a potential landing spot, with a deal possibly centered around CJ McCollum‘s expiring contract.

Young, 27 and the No. 5 overall pick in 2018, has seemed to plateau with Atlanta ever since leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018.

With the Hawks at 17-20 at the time of the report, Young has featured in just 10 games and has seen a drop in per-game averages.

He’s posting 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 28.0 minutes on a 41.5/30.5/86.3 shooting split. Just last season, he averaged 24.2 points, 11.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds on a 41.1/34/87.5 split in 36.0 minutes, but Atlanta hasn’t developed into a serious contender for multiple seasons.

Despite a small sample size, Atlanta has fared better without him thus far.

A four-time All-Star, Young can still provide a team with a focal point at the 1-spot thanks to his elite playmaking, but his dip in long-range shooting numbers and playoff defense will be notable concerns.

Jalen Johnson has led Atlanta with 24 points per game, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker, 27, is averaging a career-high 20.7 points on a healthy 45/38/85 split at the guard spot.

The 2026 trade deadline is set for Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.

Call it deja vu.

For the second time in three days, the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, took a close game into the fourth quarter and pulled away late behind the scoring punch of the same three players.

Again fueled by LeBron James (26 points, 10 assists), Luka Doncic (36 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Jake LaRavia (26 points), the Lakers overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to win 120-114 on Sunday against the Grizzlies.

After James and Doncic each scored 30 in Friday's win that also featured a 20-point performance from LaRavia, the Lakers (22-11) won consecutive games for just the second time in five weeks.

Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James lead Lakers comeback to beat the Grizzlies again

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Lakers lock in on Deandre Ayton 

It wasn’t an accident that the Lakers’ first play went to Deandre Ayton. Or that the star big man got the first shot of the third. Or that teammates fed him for back-to-back dunks to help spark a run of five consecutive scoring possessions early in the second half.

After Ayton finished last Friday’s win on the bench, the 7-foot center bounced back with 15 points and eight rebounds against the Grizzlies on Sunday as the Lakers made a point to involve the big man early.

Ayton scored just four points with six rebounds during Friday’s win and watched a tight fourth quarter from the bench because, as coach JJ Redick said, backup Jaxson Hayes “was playing better.” Redick said Saturday that Ayton was “frustrated” he wasn’t getting the ball more in recent games, and his disillusionment showed up on the court.

“It's a tale as old as time for a big guy,” Redick said after Sunday’s game. “That's the reality of being a big: someone has to pass you the ball. You're not initiating the offense.”

Redick said the team identified moments where teammates could have been better at finding the former No. 1 overall pick. There were also other times when Ayton could have been more active on his own. Redick said he mostly wanted to see Ayton being active, engaged and assertive in the game.

Ayton responded by converting six of his eight shots Sunday and helping the team lock down on defense in the fourth. The Lakers clawed back from an 11-point deficit late in the third and held the Grizzlies (15-19) to just 16 points in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Ayton had two blocks in the fourth quarter.

“We're winning the right way,” Ayton said. “Bigs can't feed themselves and I just try my best to do what I can to bring effort. And I trust my playmakers out there to find me."

The Lakers had 30 assists on 38 made shots, their highest percentage of assisted field goals of the season.

Lakers clean up ‘unacceptable' execution after timeouts

Redick said Saturday the Lakers flubbed eight of their 12 after timeout plays against Memphis on Friday. They repeated two of the plays to only mess them up again. They tried one a third time and it still didn’t take.

Baffled, Redick said at practice that he chalked up the mistakes to “the holidays.”

“It's unacceptable,” James said Sunday when asked of the execution errors. “... If you mess up a play out of a timeout, that'd be another one to get you running sprints. That's just how I was brought up. It's great that we can have that type of conversation. Guys hear it, take it and take full responsibility and then come in here and be able to make that change like that, that 180 change, right away.”

The Lakers had just one mistake after a timeout Sunday, Redick noted. He said he challenged players before Sunday’s game on their execution overall, but especially their after timeout execution. It was especially strong down the stretch as the Lakers held on to improve to 12-0 in clutch-time games.

“The intent overall,” Redick said of the team’s ability to handle the simple things, “was at the very least a B-minus.”

Luka Doncic shakes off shooting slump late

Doncic watched with desperation as the shot soared through the air. When his clutch three that put the Lakers up by nine with 2:08 remaining splashed through the net, Doncic slumped his shoulders and leaned his head back in relief.

This shooting slump had been weighing on him.

Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James help fuel late Lakers surge in win over Grizzlies

Before hitting four of 10 three-point shots Sunday, including two in the fourth quarter to fuel the Lakers’ comeback, Doncic was 20-for-89 (22.5%) from three-point range since he returned from a two-game absence for the birth of his second daughter. His shooting Sunday was his most efficient performance from beyond the arc since Nov. 28 against Dallas when he made four of nine from three and finished with 35 points.

“It's hard with him, because he kind of gets into attack mode, and he's so good that he believes that he can make every shot,” Redick said before the game. “And in the same vein, he believes he can make every pass. And some of those decisions lead to very difficult shots, and they lead to very difficult passes that oftentimes lead to turnovers. … Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] used to talk about Bobby Hurley all the time. His player trait was 'daring.' And when you have a daring player, you have to be willing to live with some stuff.”

Despite shooting almost a career-worst 31.7% from three this season, Doncic is still leading the league in scoring with 33.7 points per game. He is getting to the free throw line more than ever in his career, averaging 12.1 attempts per game. He was 12 for 13 on Sunday.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Knicks looked like they were marching towards the East’s first seed a week ago, but have since dropped three games in uncharacteristic fashion. It’s only their second losing streak of the young season, but it’s putting them in danger of slipping to the third seed or beyond with a tough opponent and travel sled ahead. 

There’s plenty of causes for the slide -- injuries and fatigue chief among them -- but perhaps none more glaring than Josh Hart’s absence due to a sprained right ankle. He turned it on Christmas Day, and despite pulling out the win, his team hasn’t looked the same without him since. 

It’s a testament to and necessary reminder of his value after fans were ready to call his number in the trade machine during a slow start to the year. He’s been a pivotal piece of this core’s success and this isn’t a championship team without him.

As a reminder, New York traded for Hart near the 2022-23 deadline, and he was an immediate impact addition on the court and to the locker room. The Knicks immediately rattled off nine straight wins after acquiring him, and his monster play in the first round was crucial in helping them advance over the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

In his first full season with the franchise, Hart had to step up as a starter after Julius Randle went down with a season-ending shoulder injury, and he responded with averages of 12 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He was once again key in the postseason, averaging 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, while hitting some of the biggest shots of his team’s run. 

Hart delivered more of the same last season, shouldering a ridiculous 37.6 minutes per game and adjusting to a new frontcourt mate without losing a step. He had another strong playoffs, including two 20-point games and a triple-double in the Knicks’ upset series over the Celtics.

Coming into this year, Hart re-aggravated a finger injury, forcing him to play with a splint and through some discomfort. It took four games of struggle and some angry tweets, but since then Hart’s put up 13.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 60 percent shooting from two and 41.7 percent from three, which would be a career high. 

Box score numbers don’t quite do his game justice of course. When Hart gets going he breathes a new life into the Knicks, and he can do it from any position, and whether starting or coming off the bench. 

His standout skill is rebounding, and he’s a large reason the Knicks are top 10 in offensive and defensive rebound rates. Hart’s ability to push off defensive boards opens up the Knicks to many transition opportunities not otherwise afforded, ones they’ve missed in recent contests. 

Even in the halfcourt, his connectivity and creativity can turn nothing possessions into something. This Knicks offense has looked much more jagged without Hart there as an added facilitator.

The hole is extending to the defense, where the Knicks have been borderline lifeless. It may be a coincidence this has happened as they lost their number one energy guy, but it’s doubtful.

Hart may not be their best defender, but he’s able to credibly guard up to four positions and is reliable when it comes to following scheme and bringing the right approach. Not having those momentum-turning hustle and backbreaking plays makes it tougher to fight through a deficit. 

His shooting has been the most impressive part of his game, a complete departure in accuracy and volume despite the injury on his shooting hand. Hart being willing and able to shoot catch-and-shoot threes has changed the way defenses treat him and supercharged this Knicks offense when he’s on the court. 

The good news for Knicks fans is Hart has begun light court work and will be re-evaluated in a week’s time, the team said late last week. This makes his return somewhat imminent, and this time around should make the New York faithful eternally grateful.

Does Jaylen Brown have a real case for best two-way player in the NBA? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Fresh off matching his career high in scoring with a 50-point outburst against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, Jaylen Brown boldly declared his belief that he is the best two-way player in the world.

Brown is now averaging 30.1 points per game for the Boston Celtics this season, ranking fourth in the NBA in scoring. Few would quibble with any suggestion that he’s among the very elite at scoring the basketball. 

And with all due respect to the 500 NBA players lingering down the list of the league’s leading scorers (and to all the recreational hoopers worldwide still waiting for their call-ups), it seems fair to suggest that Brown simply needs to be the best defender among the NBA’s other top bucket-getters to lay claim to the “best two-way player in the world” championship belt.

For the purposes of this exercise, we’re narrowing our field to Brown’s chief competition for another lofty NBA honor: Most Valuable Player. We’re crunching his defensive metrics compared to Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, New York’s Jalen Brunson, and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey. 

Squeezed out here are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama, who are all uncertain to reach the NBA’s 65-game threshold for award voting due to injuries. All three could make strong cases as the best two-way players in the world based on their overall impacts, but the top two-way player has to hit 65 games for this debate.

The case for Brown centers on the caliber of opponent he frequently defends. His declaration came Saturday night after he logged a game-high in matchup time against a previously white-hot Kawhi Leonard, and limited him to nine points on 3-of-7 shooting over seven minutes of matchup time. 

Over at the stat-crunching site BBall Index, they group players into six tiers based on usage to monitor how much time players spend defending various tiers of talent. A high usage rate doesn’t immediately confirm superstar talent, but if you look at this year’s usage leaders, there are very few outliers among the stars who dominate the top of the list. 

Brown not only logs the highest percentage of Tier 1 matchups compared to our field, but nearly 57 percent of his total defensive time is spent against players in Tiers 1-3. By comparison, that number sits just south of 36 percent for someone like Brunson (the worst among our candidates).

The closest player to Brown in terms of defending Tiers 1-3 is Cunningham, with 44.7 percent of his assignments there.

The folks at BBall Index also have a metric tracking the percentage of defensive possessions that players specifically match up against the opponent’s star player.

Yet again, Brown is decidedly ahead of the field: 

Simply logging a bunch of time against elite players doesn’t necessarily confirm defensive ability. But it does show some level of trust. In attempt to gauge how our MVP candidates are faring as defenders, we decided to examine how these players are faring with their defensive assignments compared to expected output.

Here’s a look at how the MVP candidates are impacting shot efficiency this season, with defensive field goal percentage (DFG%), expected output by the defended player (xFG%), and the resulting differential. Also listed is where the player ranks in differential among the 127 qualified players who have defended an average of 10+ shots per game with 25+ games played this season.

Defensive data is noisy, and how the NBA assigns “closest defender” can often be maddening. ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted in a social media post Sunday that, based on GeniusIQ tracking, Brown is holding opponents to 39.37 percent shooting as the closest defender, ranking second among the 111 players who have defended at least 300 field goal attempts this year. Brown ranked behind only Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace, but one spot ahead of Wembanyama.

Given his willingness to defend top opposing talent and the individual success he’s enjoyed this season, it doesn’t seem far-fetched for Brown to declare himself the best two-way player in the world. Given the difficulty in quantifying defensive impact, it’s a very subjective claim.

The bigger question to us is whether Brown’s impact on both ends of the court this season might vault him further into the MVP conversation. For most of the year, he’s lived on the periphery. But the injury woes for Jokic and Wembanyama have opened the door a bit for Brown’s contention.

The Celtics are outkicking most preseason expectations, and Brown is spearheading their play at both ends of the floor. Saturday’s outburst put him on the MVP radar for anyone who was sleeping on his impact this season.

The challenge for him is to keep it up for another 50 games and see if voters will consider him for the season’s loftiest award, because he is in fact one of the best two-way players in the game.