<![CDATA[Basketball Intelligence Newsletter: The Unrestricted Area]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/s/networkhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VfLq!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1755138e-ce40-4d50-9252-36d1c10c95e9_512x512.pngBasketball Intelligence Newsletter: The Unrestricted Areahttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/s/networkSubstackThu, 14 May 2026 15:39:08 GMT<![CDATA[The State of the Grizzlies w/ Parker Fleming]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-state-of-the-grizzlies-w-parkerhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-state-of-the-grizzlies-w-parkerFri, 21 Nov 2025 18:53:43 GMTParker Fleming, author of the Subtsakalidis newsletter, joins Aaron Bollwinkel to talk about the Grizzlies’ new offensive system under Head Coach Tuomas Iisalo, what the return of Zach Edey means, the struggles of Jaren Jackson Jr. in the new scheme, the superb play of rookie Cedric Coward, and getting a gauge on where the Ja Morant situation stands.

Go follow Parker’s excellent work:

SubTsakalidis, a Memphis Grizzlies/NBA Draft Substack
SubTsakalidis -- also known as "SubTsak" -- is a Memphis Grizzlies Substack run by Parker Fleming. Breaking down any element of the Memphis Grizzlies, all for a good cause. Proceeds will go to St. Jude Children's Hospital.
By Parker Fleming
]]><![CDATA[Basketball is Jazz w/ David Thorpe]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/basketball-is-jazz-w-david-thorpehttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/basketball-is-jazz-w-david-thorpeSun, 14 Sep 2025 13:56:18 GMTRay and Aaron talk with Coach David Thorpe—longtime personal basketball coach, mentor, analyst, and author—about his recent TrueHoop story “Jazz Lessons,” which explores the success of incorporating improvisation into NBA offenses. The conversation touches on some of the all-time greats who set the standard, highlights a few teams thriving with free-flowing styles, and examines how Coach Thorpe teaches players to embrace improvisation through instruction and practice habits.

Links to Coach Thrope’s and Henry Abbott’s stories:

Jazz lessons

Turns out basketball is jazz

]]><![CDATA[WNBA First Round Playoff Preview w/ Bob Bellotti]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/wnba-first-round-playoff-previewhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/wnba-first-round-playoff-previewFri, 12 Sep 2025 20:22:57 GMTAaron is joined by basketball analyst, author, and Substack writer Bob Bellotti to discuss all the intrigue and storylines in the four first-round matchups for the WNBA playoffs beginning this Sunday.

Western Conference Preview with Bob Bellotti

Fledgling WNBA Players Thrive in Second Half of Season

]]><![CDATA[How the Clippers Are Navigating the Wake of the Pablo Torre Story w/ Law Murray]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/how-the-clippers-are-navigating-thehttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/how-the-clippers-are-navigating-theFri, 05 Sep 2025 16:50:24 GMTAaron interviews The Athletic’s Law Murray about the state of the Clippers as they contend with the damaging allegations of salary cap circumvention laid out by the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast on September 3.

]]><![CDATA[WNBA Parity and the Effects of Expansion w/ Bob Bellotti]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/wnba-parity-and-the-effects-of-expansionhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/wnba-parity-and-the-effects-of-expansionMon, 25 Aug 2025 14:45:48 GMTAaron Bollwinkel interviews Substack writer and longtime analyst Bob Bellotti about his recent findings regarding the ways in which the WNBA’s parity is affected based on expansion, and what that will likely mean for the league as it embarks on its most aggressive period of growth yet.

Follow Bob’s work here

]]><![CDATA[Contender Building in the Era of Parity w/ Howard Beck]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/contender-building-in-the-era-ofhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/contender-building-in-the-era-ofTue, 05 Aug 2025 02:17:43 GMTRay and Aaron interview The Ringer senior writer Howard Beck about the different ways in which teams are going about building contenders in Adam Silver's new era of parity.

Link to Howard's original story: There’s No Right Way to Build an NBA Contender Anymore

]]><![CDATA[Digging Deeper Into The Draft w/ Nick Agar-Johnson]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/digger-deep-into-the-draft-wnickhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/digger-deep-into-the-draft-wnickWed, 02 Jul 2025 12:09:19 GMTRay and Aaron are joined by Nick Agar-Johnson of No Ceilings and the Kings Weekly Podcast to review the 2025 NBA Draft. They start out by giving their first impressions in the wake of the draft, and discuss the impact that NIL had on this year's class. Then, they break down the biggest storylines from the draft, including some of their favorite and most confusing draft hauls. Finally, they wrap up by briefly highlighting some of the top players in the 2026 NBA Draft class and how their years might play out in the lead-up to next year's draft cycle.

]]><![CDATA[International Impact]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/international-impacthttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/international-impactWed, 25 Jun 2025 12:03:06 GMTNick Agar-Johnson and Ray LeBov discuss some of the top 2025 NBA Draft prospects who played internationally this past season. They dive deep into the games of the five international prospects who are projected to be selected in the first round of the draft tonight: Noa Essengue, Joan Beringer, Ben Saraf, Nolan Traore, and Hugo Gonzalez. They also discuss five other international prospects who have a decent chance of hearing their names called during the draft: Noah Penda, Bogoljub Markovic, Hansen Yang, Alex Toohey, and Lachlan Olbrich. Finally, they wrap up by discussing the recent trend of top international players leaving the professional ranks overseas to play for NCAA teams in the NIL and transfer portal era.

]]><![CDATA[The players from 2024's draft ready for a larger role]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-players-from-2024s-draft-readyhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-players-from-2024s-draft-readyWed, 11 Jun 2025 13:45:07 GMTRay is joined by Nick Agar-Johnson and Nathan Grubel of No Ceilings for this episode to discuss five players from the 2024 NBA Draft class who are likely to be in line for a larger role in Year Two than they played in their rookie year. They start out by discussing Nikola Topic and DaRon Holmes, two players who missed their rookie campaigns due to injury. Then, they discuss two Top 10 picks who played limited minutes in Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. Finally, they wrap up by discussing Sacramento Kings lottery pick Devin Carter, and potential roles that he might fill for the Kings next season.

]]><![CDATA[NBA Lottery, Combine, and Draft ]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/nba-lottery-combine-and-drafthttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/nba-lottery-combine-and-draftWed, 28 May 2025 12:55:26 GMTRay is joined by Nick Agar-Johnson and Stephen Gillaspie of No Ceilings for a Deep Dives/Unrestricted Area podcast crossover. They start out by talking about how the unexpected lottery results changed mock drafts, especially among the Top 3 picks. Then, they discuss potential lottery reforms, and the successes and failures of the current system. Finally, they talk about some of the standout players from the NBA Combine.

]]><![CDATA[March Badness w/Eric Koreen ]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/march-badness-weric-koreenhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/march-badness-weric-koreenThu, 03 Apr 2025 13:09:04 GMTNick and Ray talk with The Athletic's Eric Koreen about his recent article detailing the issues concerning the quality of basketball come March for the NBA. The discussion touches on how to de-incentivize tanking, as well as the merits of potentially shortening the NBA season.

Click here to read Eric's piece.

Click here to subscribe to Basketball Intelligence

]]><![CDATA[RefMasters w/Sony Tiwari]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/refmasters-wsony-tiwarihttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/refmasters-wsony-tiwariFri, 28 Mar 2025 14:56:32 GMTRay LeBov and Nick Agar-Johnson talk with Sony Tiwari, Co-Founder and CEO of RefMasters, a platform created to educate people on officiating. The three discuss the mechanics of the platform and the community fostered around it, as well as several different areas of discussion regarding refereeing habits and common misconceptions of officiating.

Check out RefMasters here

]]><![CDATA[The Best Young Defensive Wings w/Nick Agar-Johnson]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-best-young-defensive-wings-wnickhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-best-young-defensive-wings-wnickWed, 12 Mar 2025 14:25:07 GMTRay and Aaron speak with Nick Agar-Johnson, Editor-in-Chief and staff writer for No Ceilings and co-host of the Kings Weekly podcast, about the ten most exciting wing defenders in the NBA.

]]><![CDATA[Rookie Impact with Nick Agar-Johnson]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/rookie-impact-with-nick-agar-johnsonhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/rookie-impact-with-nick-agar-johnsonTue, 22 Oct 2024 14:32:16 GMTRay Lebov (@ticketrules) talks with BI’s own, Aaron Bollwinkel, from Live. Breathe. Ball., as well as draft expert, Nick Agar-Johnson, from No Ceilings, about their thoughts regarding who they believe will be this season’s most impactful rookies.

Click here to subscribe to Basketball Intelligence

]]><![CDATA[Dean Oliver on analytics, coaching, and more]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/dean-oliver-on-analytics-coachinghttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/dean-oliver-on-analytics-coachingMon, 21 Aug 2023 15:58:49 GMTRay LeBov and Mike Shearer speak with the godfather of NBA analytics, Dean Oliver. He discusses why we're talking about defense wrong, his new book, how coaching is different than a front office role, Kristaps Porzingis' love of numbers, and how the four factors have changed over time.

]]><![CDATA[The National Basketball Retired Players Association, with President and CEO Scott Rochelle]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-national-basketball-retired-playershttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-national-basketball-retired-playersFri, 09 Jun 2023 15:35:47 GMTBasketball Intelligence's Ray LeBov and Mike Shearer host Scott Rochelle, head of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, for a fascinating conversation about players' lives after basketball.

They talk about the evolution of the NBRPA, the health, educational, and community work it provides for members and communities, how it presents emerging business opportunities to members, the impressive impact of its WNBA cohort, and so much more. Enjoy!

Check out the daily newsletter at basketballintelligence.net for all the best NBA stories hand-curated from around the web!

]]><![CDATA[March Madness! The Most Interesting NBA Prospects in the Tourney, with No Ceilings' Nathan Grubel]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/march-madness-the-most-interestinghttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/march-madness-the-most-interestingWed, 15 Mar 2023 18:14:46 GMTRay LeBov of Basketball Intelligence is joined by No Ceilings’ Nathan Grubel to discuss some of the most interesting future NBA players in the NCAA Tournament today.

]]><![CDATA[Stephen Cagan from NBA University on the Orlando Magic]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/stephen-cagan-from-nba-universityhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/stephen-cagan-from-nba-universityThu, 19 Jan 2023 15:49:21 GMT Basketball Intelligence's Mike Shearer talks with Stephen Cagan from NBA University about all things Magic. Come for the discussion about Franz Wagner's upside, Paolo Banchero's defense, and Markelle Fultz's surprisingly positive fit on the team, but stay to hear about Wendell Carter's weirdly normal proportions!

Stephen also offers his insights into Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs, the Magic front office, and more!

Check out the daily newsletter at basketballintelligence.net for all the best NBA stories hand-curated from around the Web!

]]><![CDATA[8 Surprising Rookies, with Maxwell Baumbach of No Ceilings]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/8-surprising-rookies-with-maxwellhttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/8-surprising-rookies-with-maxwellWed, 21 Dec 2022 14:41:26 GMTHosts Mike Shearer and Ray LeBov speak with Maxwell Baumbach, from the No Ceilings NBA draft collective, about eight rookies who have exceeded expectations.

They discuss what expectations were coming out of college, how they've been successful in the NBA, and what circumstances have allowed them to succeed in the league.

In order:
Andrew Nembhard
Dyson Daniels
Walker Kessler
Tari Eason
AJ Griffin
David Roddy 
Christian Koloko
Christian Braun

]]><![CDATA[The Sacramento #BeamTeam, with The Athletic's Sam Amick]]>https://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-sacramento-beamteam-with-thehttps://www.basketballintelligence.net/p/the-sacramento-beamteam-with-theFri, 02 Dec 2022 15:18:15 GMTWe get into the the Kings' offseason additions, the impact of coach Mike Brown on the team's defense, De'Aaron Fox's resurgence, the repercussions of the Tyrese Haliburton trade for Domantas Sabonis, and, of course, the victory beam (and just how bright that thing is!).

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