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…
View More Josh Giddey can unlock the Thunder, but he has to be betterMichael Shearer
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…
View More How Will The Celtics Change?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…
View More Something Positive About Every NBA Team, Part IIISomething 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,…
View More Something Positive About Every NBA Team, Part IIReasons 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…
View More Reasons for every team to feel optimistic, Part I (Pacific and Southwest Divisions)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…
View More Revisiting 2022-23 NBA Preseason PredictionsNBA 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…
View More NBA Summer League Diaries 2023Five 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.…
View More Five Thoughts Before Free Agency and Summer LeagueThe 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…
View More The Winningest 2023 NBA Free Agents AvailableBradley 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…
View More Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause doesn’t matterThe 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…
View More The Nuggets prove that any teambuilding philosophy is valid3 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…
View More 3 stats proving that Denver isn’t playing anywhere near its peak… and why it doesn’t matterThree 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…
View More Three Questions Before Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals4 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…
View More 4 Winners and a Loser of Boston-Miami Game 7The 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…
View More The Heat can’t dribblePeople 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.…
View More People don’t know the name of the Heat’s third-best playerThis 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…
View More This Year’s Biggest NBA DisappointmentsConference 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…
View More Conference Finals QuestionsWhich 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…
View More Which Team Most Needs Lottery Luck?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…
View More 1 stat explaining every second-round series