Basketball Intelligence for 6/14/23

The Day's Best NBA Reporting and Analysis

NBA DRAFT

Are We Misinterpreting the Mid-First Round Landscape?
Adam Spinella, The Box and One

Are we under-valuing the multitude of wings as draft prospects and overvaluing the smaller combo guards?

While I see the talent and the upside on offense so much more clearly in the combo guard category, the upside is felt more clearly when you’re actually on the floor. Length and defensive acumen is a difference-maker, and while we can’t always see the ways that length shows up, its presence was felt during the NBA Finals with Denver’s immense reach advantage.

Taylor Hendricks: Ahead of Schedule
Maxwell Baumbach, No Ceilings

2023 NBA Draft: Sleepers and Steals to Keep an Eye On
Zach Buckley, Bleacher Report

Eight college star sleepers for the 2023 NBA Draft: Sanogo, Strawther, Bailey and more
Seth Davis, The Athletic

French League Finals show the duality of Victor Wembanyama
Noah Magaro-George, Air Alamo

Top 100 NBA Draft prospects for 2023: Final rankings, tiers and Big Board
Sam Vecenie, The Athletic

NBA FINALS/DENVER NUGGETS

The Denver Nuggets Were Built to Last
Rob Mahoney, The Ringer

The Denver Nuggets prove that there's no right way to build a team
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry

Too many fans and executives conflate things that haven’t happened with things that can’t happen, and it restricts their creativity. However, the best players don’t have a ceiling; they may just need to take a different launch angle to enter orbit.

Welcome to the Nikola Jokić era and the new evolution of the NBA
Marcus Thompson II, The Athletic