Basketball Intelligence For 12/21/24
Today's Best Basketball News And Reporting
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LEAGUE NEWS
Stephon Castle’s minutes, Grizzlies rotation, Amen Thompson’s midrange shot and more
Kelly Iko, The Athletic
The Blueprint: Pick And Roll 101
Marc Campbell, Low Man Help
6 Basketball Writers And Their Most Underrated Player of All-Time
Jack Zucker, Jack’s Thoughts
Alex English is one of the most quietly brilliant players in NBA history, and yet he’s often overlooked when the conversation turns to all-time greats. Part of that is simply bad timing. English played in an era when the NBA was dominated by other mega-stars like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While those players earned their deserved attention, English was busy quietly dominating the league in his own way, yet never getting the spotlight he really deserved. From 1981 to 1989, English averaged over 25 points per game for nine straight seasons. He finished his career with 25,613 points (ranked 7th all-time at the time of his retirement) and still holds the Denver Nuggets’ franchise records for points and minutes.
Jimmy Butler trade hurdles and more NBA trends that have caught my eye
Fred Katz, The Athletic
The Top 11 Candidates to Become First-Time All-Stars in 2025
Zach Kram, The Ringer
NBA MVP straw poll: Where Jokic, Giannis, SGA and more stars rank
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
An NBA Christmas: Every team's biggest unexpected gift of the season
Michael Saenz, Sir Charles In Charge
2 Words to Describe Every Team 2 Months Into 2024-25 NBA Season
Eric Pincus, Bleacher Report
NBA DRAFT
Hybrid Bigs Are The Future Of Basketball
Jordan Ennis/Nic Thomas, The Draftstack
Ben Saraf Scouting Report
Jacob Lerea, The Draftstack
TEAM NEWS
CHA: What’s up with Mark Williams’ minutes restriction? Hornets’ center sits again in Philadelphia
Roderick Boone, The Charlotte Observer
CHI: Matas Buzelis set a high bar for his 1st Chicago Bulls season: Win as many games as possible. Then win Rookie of the Year.
Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune
And that irreverence extends to the court, where Buzelis refuses to show any hesitation. Kristaps Porziņģis? Joel Embiid? Giannis Antetokounmpo? Buzelis shrugs them all off. It doesn’t matter who’s under the basket. If Buzelis can see a path to the rim, he’s getting there.
CLE: Giannis Antetokounmpo believes Cavs are tougher defensive matchup than Thunder: ‘It’s definetely harder’
Jackson Flickinger, Fear The Sword
CLE: Cavs’ Dean Wade gives Kenny Atkinson plenty to consider with difficult roster decisions ahead
Chris Fedor, Clevealnd.com
Remaining Teams News available to paid subscribers