Basketball Intelligence For 1/1/25
Cleveland continues to dominate, Cade continues to elevate, Zion continues to frustrate, and more...
*FEATURE OF THE DAY
Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and a basketball brotherhood forged by competition
James L. Edwards III, The Athletic
LEAGUE NEWS
The 2024 NBA Year In Review
Marc Stein, The Stein Line
NBA Power Rankings: Knicks, Timberwolves on the rise as the ball drops on 2024
Law Murray, The Ahtletic
NBA Intel: Lakers, Warriors, Nets, Thunder, Bulls, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Kings, Raptors, Clippers
Michael Scotto, Hoops Hype
NBA draft asset rankings: Seven-year outlooks for all 30 teams
Bobby Marks, ESPN
The ESPN Bontemps Straw Poll
Owen Phillips, The F5
The best thing I can say about the early season straw poll is that the eventual MVP winners usually came from the top of the straw poll ballot. Nikola Jokic finished second, third, and fourth in the early straw poll in each season he won the MVP. Giannis, as we mentioned earlier, was the lead vote-getter in his early season straw poll before winning his second MVP. Only Joel Embiid finished outside the top five in the early straw poll of his MVP season.
NBA Power Rankings: Where all 30 teams stack up in the new year
NBA Insiders, ESPN
NBA Game Notes: 2024 goes out with contenders making statements
Keith Smith, Basketball Bulletin
NBA DRAFT
2025 NBA Draft Big Board
Nic Thomas, The Draftstack
2025 NBA Draft BIG Board V.3
No Ceilings
2025 NBA Mock Draft: Pro Comparisons and Full 2-Round Predictions
Jonathan Wasserman, Bleacher Report
TEAM NEWS
ATL: How Jalen Johnson, Trae Young are co-piloting the Hawks’ new-look offense
John Hollinger, The Athletic
BOS: Tim Legler Spells Out the One Flaw That Could Easily Mow Down Boston Celtics’ Dreams of Consecutive NBA Titles
Terrence Jordan, The Sports Rush
Legler once led the league in three-point shooting percentage, so he knows what he’s talking about, and Boston’s recent skid proves it. Against the Pacers, the Celtics were 16-54 from three. In a loss to an undermanned Magic team last week, Boston gave up a 15-point lead thanks in part to an 8-33 showing from deep. In a home loss to an under-.500 Bulls team a few days earlier, Boston kept bombing away in vain, and they ended up shooting 14-56 from three and 24-41 from two by the time the game was over.
BOS: Celtics heat up in third quarter, get right with a brilliant second half in rout of Raptors
Gary Washburn, The Boston Globe
BOS: Celtics flex greatest trait in Raptors win ahead of road trip
Souichi Terada, Mass Live
BOS: Jordan Walsh emerges as a key player through Celtics’ struggles: “We’re going to need him”
Noah Dalzell, Celtics Blog
CLE: Game Night Observations: Signs of Special, Jarrett Allen's Big Night, Max Strus' Rhythm
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
CLE: How Cavaliers sixth man has completely redefined himself in just one season
Caleb Cowley, King James Gospel
Remaining team news is available for paid subscribers. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber, as it not only entitles you to full access to the day’s best reporting, but it also helps us continue to build and grow Basketball Intelligence in an effort to make it the best product possible.