Basketball Intelligence For 2/15/26
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
TEAM-SPECIFIC
DAL: How did Cooper Flagg, Mavericks grade out in first half of 2025-26 NBA season?
Mike Curtis, Morning News
LAC: Kawhi Leonard reminding the NBA he’s not done being elite
Janis Carr, OC Register
MEM: Daydream 2026 NBA Draft Outcomes for Grizzlies
Ryan Kaminski, Sports Illustrated
NYK: This is the deepest Knicks team of the century
Kristian Winfield, Daily News
NYK: Mitchell Robinson Perfectly Complements KAT
Jayesh Pagar, Sports Illustrated
OKC: Jared McCain bids farewell to Philly and embraces the next chapter in OKC
Christopher Kline, Fansided
OKC: The Thunder turned picks into monopoly power
Rafal Fabianowicz
BI note: The (only?) solution - clone Sam Presti - is not feasible (yet)
POR: Scoot Henderson is showcasing his upside
Eamon Cassels, Fansided
POR: Damian Lillard Won All-Star Weekend
Sean Highkin, Rose Garden Report
SAS: The Spurs at the All-Star Break
Paul Garcia, The Spot Up Shot
SAS: Why the Spurs would ‘run through walls’ for Mitch Johnson
Tom Orsborn, Express News
SAS: Rebuilds in the NBA always come with unfortunate casualties: why Jeremy Sochan had to become one of them
Matthew Tynan, Corporate Knowledge
THE DRAFT
Sleeper Prospects of the Week
Stephen Gillaspie, No Ceilings
Scouting Report: Michigan Forward Yaxel Lendeborg
Derek Parker, Sports Illustrated
Bennett Stirtz Game has Transitioned Seamlessly to the Big 10 and Cemented his First Round Status
Bryce Simon, Game Theory
Daydream 2026 NBA Draft Outcomes for Grizzlies
Ryan Kaminski, Sports Illustrated
LEAGUEWIDE
Midterms: Checking in On Preseason Title Favorites
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
Tanks A Lot: An Analysis of NBA Season’s Race to The Bottom
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
To quantify which teams are looking the tankiest this season, I’ve put together what I call the Balanced Tank Index, or BTI for short. It takes into account how often and how strongly a team plays suspicious rotations, showcases game-flow patterns, and “rests” players, while also ensuring that teams aren’t penalized for simply being rife with injuries or bad luck.
Before we talk about any other team, we have to talk about the Kings. The Kings have a BTI of 2.657, which is not only the worst this season, but it out-tanks the 76ers’ year from last season.
…against the Clippers on February 6th, Sacramento led by 3 at the start of the fourth, only to go and lose the game. Crucially,(DeRozan, Lavine, Westbrook and Achiuwa had major) core minute drops.
And in DeRozan and Westbrook’s cases, they were just taken out of the game entirely for the fourth quarter, resulting in the 3-point lead going away instantly. Oh, and Dylan Cardwell (who I think has become a really good role player but is certainly not a full-time starter yet) played the entire 4th quarter with Nique Clifford. That, my friends, is a tank.
Other games have worked similarly. They usually don’t pull all players, but they’ll pull a crucial one at an inopportune time, such as Domantas Sabonis or the surprisingly winning rookie Maxime Raynaud.
Combine that with the already-bad record this team has, and you get a tanky team.
The NBA is trying something new for the All-Star Game ... again. Here’s how it all works
Ian Levy, Fansided
Adam Silver: ‘Every possible remedy’ on table to stop tanking
Joe Vardon, The Athletic
NBA’s marquee event now all about the league’s issues
Kelly Iko, Yahoo Sports
NBPA elects David Kelly as union’s next executive director
Mike Vorkunov, The Athletic
Adam Silver details NBA Europe launch plan with possible $1 billion expansion fees
Michael Duarte, NY Post
An empty NBA All-Star Saturday shows what happens when sporting events become too corporate
Jason Jones, The Athletic
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