Basketball Intelligence for 1/24/24
Adrian Griffin's firing, Rozier trade, the small guard draft conundrum, and more
LEAGUEWIDE STORIES
LeBron, Curry, Embiid headline U.S. player pool for Olympics
Brian Windhorst, ESPN
What's the return policy on an NBA head coach?
Grading the Terry Rozier trade with far too much detail
Terry Rozier Makes the Miami Heat Even Scarier
Zach Kram, The Ringer
Terry Rozier trade shows Miami Heat have accepted their Eastern Conference reality
William Guillory, The Athletic
2024 NBA trade deadline: Complete Eastern Conference preview
Bobby Marks, ESPN+
2024 NBA trade deadline: Complete Western Conference preview
Bobby Marks, ESPN+
NBA Power Rankings: East-leading Celtics stay No. 1; midseason grades for each team
Zach Harper, The Athletic
NBA Game Notes (Jan. 23, 2024)
NBA DRAFT
Honey, We Shrunk The Draft Prospects: The 2024 Small Guard Conundrum
League-wide, there are but thirty players that are listed as sub-6’3”.2 Just eighteen of the players in that pool of thirty average over twenty minutes played per game.
This league-wide awakening has led to a shift in general draft philosophy from front offices in recent years, as teams have more frequently avoided spending draft capital on sub-6’3” guards. Over the last five drafts, there have been ~118 guards drafted, only twenty-six of which have been listed at sub-6'3". Fifteen of them are still on active NBA rosters.
These league-wide trends present us with a particularly troubling issue within the draft space for the 2024 cycle because, um, there are a f***-load of small guards.
2024 NBA DRAFT GUIDE
Kevin O’Connor, The Ringer
TEAM STORIES
BI EXCLUSIVE: Deandre Ayton: ‘I got nothing to prove in this league’
Mark Medina, Basketball Intelligence
BOS: Celtics’ Jaylen Brown continues to show unquestionable growth: ‘Improving until I die’
Steve Hewitt, Boston Herald
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