Basketball Intelligence For 2/3/25
The Storm could use their number two to find a new jewel in the Emerald City, Jimmy may not be himmie for anyone, Golden State may be left with an empty trade plate, and more...
*FEATURE OF THE DAY*
The Lakers Keep Getting Away With This
Neil Paine, Neil’s Substack
WNBA
Storm Would Be Foolish to Trade #2
Jeff Brown, Storm Chasers WNBA Journal
Now that Seattle has the #2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft they have more options. The Storm will have multiple choices in the draft if they stay at the two-spot. That includes Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles and USC’s Kiki Iriafen as the headlining prospects, along with 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga.
With Jewell Loyd being traded to the Aces, the Storm are losing a 15-20 PPG player. Some believe to compete for a Championship in 2025, that Seattle needs to use the #2 pick in the upcoming draft as a trade piece for an established star. Seattle could use the pick as an immediate fix for losing Loyd. That could imply making a trade for Marina Mabrey (Sun) or Ariel Atkins (Mystics). Allisha Gray (Dream) might have been an option had Atlanta not been so aggressive in Free Agency already (adding Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones).
Five Out: How A'ja Wilson Turned Columbia Into A Basketball City and More
Chauny, No Cap Space WBB
NBA DRAFT
Brooks Barnhizer Scouting Report
Ersin Demir, Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter
The Luka Dončić Trade That Shook the NBA & the 2029 Draft Prospects Who Could Define Its Legacy
Rafael Barlowe, NBA Big Board
The JUCO Files Part 9
Ersin Demir, Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter
Jacksen Moni: Trust The Vision | The Prospect Overview
Maxwell Baumbach, No Ceilings
LEAGUE NEWS
As NBA trade deadline looms, sky-high NBA salaries have made teams deeply cautious
Gary Washburn, The Boston Globe
Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic, New Orleans’s Brandon Ingram, Washington’s Kyle Kuzma, Toronto’s Bruce Brown, Brooklyn’s Cameron Johnson, Washington’s Malcolm Brogdon, Atlanta’s Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic, Chicago’s Lonzo Ball, Memphis’s Marcus Smart, Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic, Toronto’s Chris Boucher, and Milwaukee’s Pat Connaughton (an Arlington native) could be on the move.
Of course, with the second apron a factor for Phoenix, Minnesota, Boston, Milwaukee, and New York, there are heavy limitations on what those teams can do at the deadline. For example, the Celtics can only trade one player in a deal, meaning they cannot aggregate salaries, nor can they add cash or use any trade exception.
Grading The Wildest Trade In NBA History, Somehow
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
Luka is a Laker, AD is a Mav, De'Aaron is a Spur, LaVine is a King, Quinn is Overwhelmed
Quinn Everts, The Broken Press
Warriors? Bucks? Sixers? Suns? Analyzing possible Jimmy Butler trade destinations
Fred Katz/Sam Amick/Eric Nehm, The Athletic
Nikos Galis
Forgotten Hoops
Spurs of the moment
Tom Ziller, Good Morning It’s Basketball
It Takes Three To Tango
Jared Dubin, Last Night, In Basketball
The Day After: Processing The Luka Dončić Trade
Iztok Franko, Diggin Basketball
Autonomy's limits, autonomy's illusion
Katie Heindl, Basketball Feelings
Brian Windhorst reported new information on the rift between the Heat and Jimmy Butler that outlined a less than subtle degree of manipulation by Miami. “Baiting”, is how Windhorst put it. That in shootaround Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told Butler he wasn’t going to start in the team’s next game, delivering the news in front of everyone on the team. He did this, Windhorst says, because the Heat wanted Butler to storm off — which he did — and they wanted Butler to storm off so they could suspend him again, this time without pay. Pat Riley, Windhorst notes, knew Butler’s “temperament”, knew his history, and because of both, that he’d take the bait.
TEAM NEWS
BOS: Flipping a switch
Adam Taylor, The Celtics Chronicle
BOS: Gary Washburn: Sky-high NBA salaries have made teams proactive
Tervor Hass, Celtics Blog
BOS: Celtics fall behind by 26 points in third quarter before rallying for road win over shorthanded 76ers
Adam Himmelsbach, The Boston Globe
CHA: What’s impressing Charles Lee most in first season? Answer lies in Hornets’ backcourt
Roderick Boone, The Herald Sun
CLE: The Cavs’ power forward’s first All-Star nod is just the beginning: His best version is still to come
Ehtan Sands, Cleveland.com
CLE: Future expectations for Evan Mobley after making his first All-Star Game
Mateo Mayorga, King James Gospel
DAL: The Mavs are built for this
Aaron Bollwinkel, Live. Breathe. Ball.