Basketball Intelligence For 2/24/26

The day's best basketball news and analysis.

Aaron Bollwinkel

Feb 24, 2026

∙ Paid

FEATURES OF THE DAY
The Hornets are winning with defense?
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry

The Celtics Are Thriving Without Jayson Tatum. That’s Why His Return Could Get Complicated.
Neil Paine, Neil’s Substack

USA Basketball’s road to 2028: New era, new coach, new decisions
Vincent Goodwill, ESPN

AROUND THE LEAGUE

What’s next for 10 lottery-bound teams ahead of the NBA draft?
NBA Insiders, ESPN

How to replace the NBA Draft
Tom Ziller, Good Morning It’s Basketball

Why Cade is BETTER MVP candidate than you think - Tom’s Title Tiers #19
Tom Haberstroh, The Spotlight with Tom Haberstroh

Why is NBA still dragging its feet on adopting ABA statistics, 50 years later?
Roy Brownell, The Athletic

The NBA’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge ABA records does not make sense. After all, the ABA boasted major-league talent. Indeed, the rival association won most of the 155 exhibition games played between the two entities.
Conceivably, the NBA could defend its intransigence by claiming it only includes statistics from NBA games. However, the NBA already recognizes statistics from the Basketball Association of America, a separate league that was founded after World War II. In 1949, the BAA merged with the older National Basketball League to establish a new organization called the NBA.

Did we just watch an NBA Finals preview?
Marc Stein, The Stein Line

The Spurs Got By Detroit in a Highly Physical Matchup
Hoops, Dustin Brewer

NBA stretch run report cards: Grading all 30 teams after the All-Star break
Zach Harper, The Athletic

NBA Power Rankings: Pistons, Spurs on top; post-All-Star-break outlooks
Law Murray, The Athletic

The Waive and Stretch: The Dead Cap Component Of Tanking, Upcoming Deadline Dates, Ducking The Tax Updates
Nick Thoreson, Ducking the Tax