The Thunder are weird. Their ostensible point guard and alpha dog, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, scored more than 30 points per game by dancing through and around…
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Michael Shearer
Michael Shearer is an NBA obsessive who writes to answer the questions he has about the league. You can follow him @bballispoetry. He also is a contributing writer for Fansided at Hoops Habit and writes a free NBA analytical newsletter at basketballpoetry.com that goes out every Tuesday and Friday.
How Will The Celtics Change?
The Celtics have been good enough to win the Finals for the last half-decade, but they’ve never won the prize. Brad Stevens decided that major…
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Something Positive About Every NBA Team, Part III
By now, you know the drill. I’m here to say something nice about the final 10 teams. Don’t forget to check out Part I and…
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Something Positive About Every NBA Team, Part II
Don’t forget to check out Part I here. Charlotte Hornets — Mark Williams, free at last It took nearly the entirety of his rookie year,…
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Reasons for every team to feel optimistic, Part I (Pacific and Southwest Divisions)
We’re entering the dog days of the NBA offseason, that too-long period between the end of Summer League and free agency and the start of…
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Revisiting 2022-23 NBA Preseason Predictions
Before the 2022-23 season began, I made 20 wild predictions. I didn’t expect most of them to pan out. Instead, I wanted those to be…
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NBA Summer League Diaries 2023
I decided to take in the second Victor Wembanyama game from the Thomas and Mack Center’s upper deck to give myself a little more room…
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Five Thoughts Before Free Agency and Summer League
As recently as *checks Far Side calendar* two days ago, it was widely assumed that most of the NBA’s star free agents were staying put.…
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The Winningest 2023 NBA Free Agents Available
When it comes to player acquisition, free agency has become, if not an afterthought, a clear third oboe to the circus of the NBA Draft…
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Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause doesn’t matter
Let’s be Swarovski-clear: Bradley Beal is an outstanding basketball player in a vacuum who will help teams win games, maybe important ones. That little nugget…
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The Nuggets prove that any teambuilding philosophy is valid
The 2023 Finals concluded with a fittingly hideous, appropriately frantic Game 5 Monday night. The Denver Nuggets clinched their first-ever NBA championship, fighting off a…
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3 stats proving that Denver isn’t playing anywhere near its peak… and why it doesn’t matter
Writing about the NBA Finals isn’t easy. Every schmuck with a laptop is watching the same games, hitting on the same stories, and covering the…
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Three Questions Before Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals
The Finals are here, and they will be glorious. In one corner, we have the eighth-seeded, scrappy try-hards in Miami trying to make history. In…
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4 Winners and a Loser of Boston-Miami Game 7
Winner: NBA teams hoping to upgrade The Jaylen Brown situation is very, very complicated. Brown nabbed a Second Team All-NBA spot this year (although he…
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The Heat can’t dribble
Imagine driving a car with no steering wheel. Imagine barbequing without sauce. Imagin typing on a kyboard without th lttr aftr “d.” That is what…
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People don’t know the name of the Heat’s third-best player
Caleb Martin has been the third-best player on the team that’s poised to win the Eastern Conference, and announcers still can’t get his name right.…
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This Year’s Biggest NBA Disappointments
I wrote earlier this year about the NBA’s happiest surprises: Gilgeous-Alexander, the Kings, and more. Today, it’s time to write about the flip side: the…
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Conference Finals Questions
West: Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers History: These teams met four times during the regular season, splitting the series, but all four were before…
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Which Team Most Needs Lottery Luck?
I don’t dive too deep into draft coverage — watching and following the players already in the NBA takes up all my time, and I…
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1 stat explaining every second-round series
146-145 Denver Nuggets are tied with Phoenix Suns, 2-2 Nikola Jokic has scored 146 points in the Nuggets’ 2-2 series with Phoenix. Devin Booker has…
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