Basketball Intelligence For 11/16/25, Part One
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
Note: We are republishing this edition because we have reports that a number of you did not receive it. Stay tuned for Part Two later today
LEAGUEWIDE
13 Young Players Told Us Their ‘Welcome to the NBA’ Moment
Adrian Spinelli, Bleacher Report
NBA Power Rankings
Andy Bailey, Bleacher Report
Buy Or Sell NBA’s Most Surprising Starts This Season
Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report
Ranking the 12 best NBA head coaching candidates
Stephen Noh, Sporting News
The NBA’s Leastern Conference might be headed for a new low
Marc Stein, The Stein Line
The bottom third of the West ain’t looking too clever, either
On the other side of the conference divide, mind you, it’s also Crisis Time already. The 3-10 Mavericks fired GM Nico Harrison on Tuesday. The 2-10 Pelicans fired coach Willie Green on Saturday. The 4-10 Grizzlies have only one win (over spiraling Dallas) in their last nine games and seem thoroughly unable to get the once-electric Ja Morant re-engaged. The 4-9 Clippers outlasted the Mavericks on Friday night in a double-overtime Crisis Bowl, but Kawhi Leonard (ankle) is sidelined once again while rampaging Oklahoma City (12-1) holds LA’s first-round draft pick in June. Last but not least: The 3-10 Kings are said to be contemplating a roster teardown yet can’t be sure that a promising trade market awaits any of the former All-Stars (Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan) they could elect to make available.
(The) Western Conference teams mentioned, unlike the aforementioned trislumvirate in the East, did not start the season with a plan to, uh, prioritize draft position
NBA seeks cell phones from multiple teams, including Lakers, in gambling investigation
Joe Vardon/Mike Vorkunov/Sam Amick, The Athletic
NBA intel: Execs, scouts on sinking Mavs, soaring Lakers and Spurs
Tim Bontemps/Brian Windhorst, ESPN
TEAM-SPECIFIC
BOS: Assessing key Celtics role players through 13 games
Chris Forsberg, NBC Sports
CLE: 7 Takeaways from Cavs narrow victory over Grizzlies
Jackson Flickinger, Fear The Sword
CLE: Donovan Mitchell rescues Cavs in win over Grizzlies
Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
DAL: Flagg opens up on struggles at PG position
Mike Curtis, Morning News
While Flagg may not be a traditional point guard, the Mavericks rookie has gotten firsthand training on what it takes to control an offense
The rest of today’s team-specific stories follow for paid subscribers