San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama missed the team’s most recent game with a left calf injury, and he will reportedly miss additional time. On Monday, the team announced that the 7-foot-4 center has been diagnosed with a left calf strain and is expected to be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.
To say that this is a critical blow to the Spurs and to fantasy basketball teams would be an understatement. From a value standpoint, only Denver’s Nikola Jokić has been better thus far, with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next in line. Where will the Spurs turn to fill the resulting void? And where else can fantasy managers look for reliable value? Let’s look at the impact of Wembanyama’s absence on fantasy basketball.
Who will replace Wembanyama in the starting lineup?
The answer to this question is straightforward: Luke Kornet (nine percent rostered, Yahoo!). Signed as a free agent this past summer, the 7-foot-2 center started Sunday’s win over the Kings and finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots. Kornet won’t provide the three-point or assist value that Wemby brings to the table, but he’s worth a look for managers needing a high field-goal percentage, rebounds and blocked shots.
Kelly Olynyk (one percent) played 18 minutes off the bench on Sunday but is only worth a look in the off chance the Spurs were to lose Kornet. Bismack Biyombo (less than one percent) is a non-starter in fantasy; he played the final two minutes of Sunday’s game due to the result no longer in question.
Who else will Wembanyama’s absence impact?
The entire Spurs rotation will be impacted, albeit to varying degrees. De’Aaron Fox, who made his season debut on November 8 after missing the start of the season with a hamstring injury, is the player who may see his fantasy value increase the most. Over his last two games, Fox has totaled 52 points and 21 assists, shooting 21-of-42 from the field. In his first three appearances, the point guard attempted 14 shots in each.
The key for fantasy managers who have Fox rostered is that his efficiency remains the same as it has been in the last two games. After totaling 10 assists and 12 turnovers in the two games prior, he only committed six turnovers in the next two.
The efficiency is also key for Stephon Castle, who began the season as the starting point guard and continued to serve as a primary playmaker once Fox was cleared to play. However, the reigning Rookie of the Year exited Sunday’s game before halftime with a hip injury and did not return. As long as he isn’t out for an extended period, Castle (70 percent) stands to receive a bump to his fantasy value with Wembanyama out.
Suppose Castle were to join Wembanyama on the sideline for an extended period. In that case, Julian Champagnie (three percent) is the most likely replacement, as he filled the resulting void to begin the second half on Sunday. Also, he started the season as a starter due to Fox’s absence, averaging 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 three-pointers in that role.
Devin Vassell, who has started all 14 games for the Spurs, is another player who could have the ball in his hands a bit more while the team looks to compensate for Wembanyama’s absence. He dished out seven assists in Sunday’s victory, but the wing’s start to the season has been underwhelming from a fantasy standpoint. Injuries are never good, but Vassell’s role becoming more critical could serve as a catalyst for him.
The San Antonio Spurs will be without Victor Wembanyama for a while.
An MRI on Monday confirmed that Wembanyama is dealing with a left calf strain, the team announced. While they did not provide a timeline for his absence, he will reportedly miss “a few weeks” dealing with the injury, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Further specifics on the injury or how long he will be out are not yet known. Based on Charania’s timeline, Wembanyama will now be out until early December at best.
Wembanyama first suffered the injury in Friday night’s NBA Cup loss to the Golden State Warriors. Wembanyama remained in that contest the entire time, and blocked a Jimmy Butler layup attempt in the final minute after he got into it with Draymond Green earlier in the period. But Stephen Curry, who had 49 points, hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the one-point win for Golden State. Wembanyama had 26 points and 12 rebounds in that game.
Wembanyama has averaged 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game this season while shooting better than 50% from the field. The 21-year-old has looked back to his old self after he was limited to just 46 games last season while dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The Spurs opened this season on a five-game win streak, which was the best start in franchise history. Though they’ve lost two of their last three, they hold a 9-4 record entering Tuesday’s contest with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The San Antonio Spurs will be without Victor Wembanyama for a while.
An MRI on Monday confirmed that Wembanyama is dealing with a left calf strain, the team announced. While they did not provide a timeline for his absence, he will reportedly miss “a few weeks” dealing with the injury, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Further specifics on the injury or how long he will be out are not yet known. Based on Charania’s timeline, Wembanyama will now be out until early December at best.
Wembanyama first suffered the injury in Friday night’s NBA Cup loss to the Golden State Warriors. Wembanyama remained in that contest the entire time, and blocked a Jimmy Butler layup attempt in the final minute after he got into it with Draymond Green earlier in the period. But Stephen Curry, who had 49 points, hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the one-point win for Golden State. Wembanyama had 26 points and 12 rebounds in that game.
Wembanyama has averaged 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game this season while shooting better than 50% from the field. The 21-year-old has looked back to his old self after he was limited to just 46 games last season while dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The Spurs opened this season on a five-game win streak, which was the best start in franchise history. Though they’ve lost two of their last three, they hold a 9-4 record entering Tuesday’s contest with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Memphis Grizzlies announced Monday that All-Star point guard Ja Morant will be sidelined for the next two weeks with a Grade 1 calf strain.
Morant suffered the injury in the first quarter of Saturday night’s road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had scored seven points in six minutes before being subbed out of the game at the 6:01 mark with Memphis up 18-14 and not re-entering. The team will re-evaluate him in two weeks to determine how quickly he can return to the court.
Grizzlies say star guard Ja Morant will be re-evaluated in two weeks due to a Grade 1 right calf strain.
The injury is another roadblock in what has been a tough start to the season for Morant and the Grizzlies.
Memphis is sitting at 4-10 on the season and has been without forward Brandon Clarke, guard Ty Jerome, guard Scotty Pippen Jr., and center Zach Edey for the entirety of the season up until this weekend. Edey returned for the first time this season in that same Cavaliers game in which Morant got hurt. Morant himself also missed one game with an ankle injury and was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the teamafter a loss to the Lakers on Halloween.
On one hand, this injury is another misstep in a season that is seeing the two-time All-Star post career lows in field goal percentage (35.9%), three-point shooting percentage (16.7%), effective field goal rate (38.5%), three-pointers made per game (0.8), and rebounds (3.0). He’s also posting the lowest scoring mark since his rookie season at just 17.9 points per game.
However, on the other hand, this continues a concerning injury track record for the 26-year-old. He has never played 70 games or more in any of his six NBA seasons coming into this year. Last year, he was limited to 50 games, and the year before that, he played in just nine, in part due to a suspension for gun-related gestures and off-field behavior.
Despite Memphis insisting that they have no interest in trading Morant, the suspension and mounting injuries may force it to behave otherwise. Of course, a mounting injury toll for a player in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract also could dampen any value on the trade market.
For now, the Grizzlies will move forward without Morant for the next two weeks. That should mean additional playing time for Vince Williams Jr., who started for Morant when he was forced to sit last week against the Celtics with an ankle injury. Williams had 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists in that game, and the 25-year-old is averaging 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 39.7% from the field in 19.3 minutes per game this season. We should also see a minutes increase for Cam Spencer off the bench and perhaps more of a scoring burden placed on starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and starting small forward Cedric Coward, who has been a lone bright spot for the Grizzlies in his rookie season.
We’ll get out first look at how the Grizzlies approach these next two weeks without Morant when they face off against the Spurs on Tuesday at 8 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.
Shohei Ohtani, left, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have won a World Series together with the Dodgers. But will they attempt to win another World Baseball Classic next March while representing Japan, which won the 2023 tournament? (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Just weeks into the offseason, the Dodgers are already thinking 11 months ahead.
Having just finished yet another grueling October campaign, they are bracing for the long road required to get back.
The team’s central focus right now, of course, is on bolstering its roster and supplementing its star-studded core coming out of last week’s annual MLB general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas.
But as they go for a World Series three-peat in 2026, one of their primary challenges will be managing the returning talent — and ensuring the burdensome toll from their previous two title treks doesn’t become a roadblock in their pursuit of another ring.
That thinking was present last week, when general manager Brandon Gomes announced that utilityman Tommy Edman will undergo surgery to address an ankle injury that nagged him for the second half of this past season.
When asked about Edman’s recovery timeline, Gomes said the “goal” is to have him ready for spring training — but that the team was also “gonna be smart” about making sure he isn’t rushed back.
“Obviously, he hasn’t had [the surgery] yet. So we’ll look into that as we get into the rehab process,” Gomes said. “And like we do with everything, let’s keep the big picture in mind, with the goal of playing through October.”
Taking such a long view has become an annual practice for the Dodgers. Their collection of star talent and organizational depth means they are almost always in position to make the playoffs. It has afforded them leeway to manage players’ regular-season workloads and recovery from injuries with an eye toward having them at full strength come the fall.
It was a balance the team struck well this past season, navigating a wave of regular-season pitching injuries to have their rotation fully healthy to spearhead their postseason run.
Next season, however, the difficulty of that task could be significantly amplified.
Their already aging roster will be another year older. The after-effects of playing 33 extra games the past two Octobers will be acutely felt. And while it’s a price the Dodgers have been happy to pay, it will make next year an ultimate test of endurance that the club is already accounting for now.
“That’s an extra month to a month and a half that you don’t get to rest and recover, and that you’re pushing beyond what you normally do,” third baseman Max Muncy said during this year’s playoffs about the challenges that come with deep October runs. “One postseason game is the equivalent of playing three extra-inning games, all at one time. The stress — both mental, physical, emotional — it’s just on a whole ‘nother level.”
The big question in 2026 will be how the Dodgers’ pitching bounces back from this October’s heavy workload. All four of their top starters (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani) threw more than 20 postseason innings and worked either out of the bullpen and/or on short rest. Yamamoto logged a whopping 37 ⅓ innings between his two complete games and heroic back-to-back performances in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
Typically, that kind of mileage can have adverse effects the following season.
The good news is that the Dodgers have depth. They could run a six-man rotation of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Roki Sasaki (who will return to starting pitching duties after his stint as a reliever at the end of last year) and Emmet Sheehan. They have other young arms capable of providing innings as well, from Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski to the return of Gavin Stone and River Ryan from injury.
“Playing this deep, guys did things that most people don’t do in the World Series, so it’s just making sure we’re being prudent on the front end and saying, ‘If we need extra rest here, we can do it,’” Gomes said. “We have ways to navigate it.”
Still, complications loom — starting with the triennial World Baseball Classic scheduled for next March.
Nine current Dodgers participated in the event’s 2023 edition, and several more could be candidates for next spring’s tournament. The most intriguing names on that list are the club’s Japanese trio of Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sasaki, who will be expected to star for their home country as it tries to defend its 2023 title in the international event.
Some pitchers in their situations might sit out the WBC, or pitch with strict workload limitations coming off the kind of strenuous stretch they experienced in the playoffs — not to mention the shoulder injury that sidelined Sasaki for much of the year. But the tournament’s significance in Japan (where it is held in even higher standing than the World Series) would make any sort of limitations on their availability a culturally controversial development — and leave the Dodgers in a potentially tricky position if they were to try to push for any of them to prioritize extra rest.
“We haven’t gotten into WBC stuff yet,” Gomes said. “I’m sure we’ll be getting those asks in soon.”
Ohtani himself presents another question for next regular season, as he embarks on what will be his first full-time season as a two-way player since 2023.
Though Gomes said Ohtani’s pitching plan will “probably look more like a normal schedule than last year” — when he slowly built up in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery, and didn’t make full-length starts until the end of the season — he also said Ohtani’s usage could be somewhat “fluid,” leaving the door open to some flexibility with his schedule as he also balances his designated hitting duties.
“Everything we’ll do is with a big-picture mindset,” Gomes reiterated. “So those are conversations we’ll have as we get closer [to next season].”
There could be similar conversations with some of the club’s older stars. By the end of next October, Freddie Freeman will be 37, Muncy will be 36, Teoscar Hernández and Mookie Betts both 34, Ohtani 32, and Will Smith and Edman 31. Most of them have nursed injuries over the past couple of seasons. Keeping them healthy and fresh for the long haul next year could require some more strategic load management — and insurance from a wide range of other options in the organization (plus whoever they add this offseason) to provide steady depth.
“I feel like our guys take really good care of themselves, so they might not be quite the same aging curve as everyone just with their level of hunger and their commitment in the offseason,” Gomes said. “But I think there’s the give and take of … making sure we maintain a good group of young guys that are ready to come up and fill holes when necessary. [It’s] also balancing, as we get into the season, are we making sure we’re having conversations with our guys of, ‘Maybe a day [off] here and there isn’t the worst thing,’ and trying to work those in more.”
It all underscores the difficult road ahead for the Dodgers in their push for three straight titles: inevitable speed bumps that will only further complicate their quest.
“It’s a balancing act,” Gomes said.
One that the team is already factoring in as the winter progresses.
After missing all of training camp and the first dozen games of the season following offseason knee surgery, Paul George is expected to make his return to the court Monday night when the 76ers host the Clippers.
George is officially listed as questionable, however, he is expected to take the court, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. George has been working out on the court for a month and looked good in post-practice work, according to reports, but the 76ers were cautious with the return of the 35-year-old.
George played 41 games in his first season with Philadelphia, largely due to a knee issue, which is why he underwent arthroscopic surgery this past summer. Last season, the six-time All-NBA player averaged 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game when he did play. However, the season before, in Los Angeles, he was an All-Star, averaging 22.6 points per game and shooting 41.3% from 3-point range.
While George is set to return, the 76ers are listing Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Adem Bona as out. The Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal (out for the season), and Derrick Jones Jr. against the 76ers.
Losing, in and of itself, isn’t that big a deal for the Washington Wizards.
For one thing, it’s something they’ve done quite a lot of over the past few years. The Wiz haven’t even approached .500 since 2017-18, a span in which they’ve lost a higher percentage of their games than any franchise except the Pistons. While Detroit is now firmly on the upswing, though, Washington remains mired in the mud — which, for another thing, is kind of the plan for an organization that is still climbing out of the smoking crater left in the wake of the John Wall/Bradley Beal era and boasts the NBA’s youngest roster.
Well, that’s a sizable enough deal that, just a baker’s dozen games into the 2025-26 NBA season, the nigh-upon-winless 1-12 Wizards sounded a worrying alarm:
The Wizards had a player-only meeting after tonight’s game, Kyshawn George said
“We buckled to the adversity,” coach Brian Keefe said. “We fouled when we shouldn’t. We didn’t dig in when they made certain runs. This group has never done that. That was disappointing on all of our end. We have to own that. But that was the thing that was bothering me the most, is that after the initial start of the game, which I thought we came out with a necessary mindset and attitude, once we got hit, we didn’t respond well.”
It was a bad enough performance that, after Keefe spoke to the team following the final buzzer, the Wizards held a players-only meeting in their locker room.
“We needed that talk, I think,” [Wizards forward Bilal] Coulibaly said afterward. “The guys just stepped up, the vets, the guys that have been used to winning. That’s what we’re trying to do here in the next year. So they had to talk to us, and they did a great job about this and everybody was listening.”
That, in part, was the argument for the Wizards trading for the likes of Khris Middleton and C.J. McCollum. Bringing in a pair of respected 10-plus-year veterans who have been on teams of consequence — in Middleton, a three-time All-Star who played a key role on the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team; in McCollum, someone who’d averaged 20 points per game for 10 straight seasons and went to the 2019 Western Conference finals with Portland — would help Keefe and his coaching staff show the ropes to Washington’s 10 players aged 22 and under. Under their guidance, hoped-for cornerstones like Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson would come to understand what it takes to travel the road to NBA relevance: to transform from the team every opponent can’t wait to face to one worthy of respect.
In the third season after dealing Beal, though … it’s proving to be an awfully long road.
After the embarrassing loss to Brooklyn, the Wizards enter Monday’s action ranked 28th in offensive efficiency, 29th in defensive efficiency and 30th — dead last — in net rating, according to Cleaning the Glass. They are woeful in the half-court, whether scoring or defending. They are even worse in transition, ranking 28th in points per 100 possessions added on offensive fast breaks and 30th — again, dead last — in points-per-100 added by opponents on their transition chances. They’ve been able to limit 3-point attempts, ranking sixth in the share of opponents’ shots that come from long distance … but have been unable to prevent the most efficient shots in the game, with opponents taking nearly 34% of their attempts directly at the rim, fifth highest in the NBA.
In an era when it seems like every head coach in the league is harping on the importance of winning the possession battle, the Wizards are losing it, night in and night out, to an almost unfathomable degree. They give up more offensive rebounds than they snag themselves; they allow more free throws than they generate for themselves; they turn the ball over way more often than they take it from the other team. Add it all up, as Jared Dubin does at Last Night in Basketball, and Washington is averaging 11.4 fewer possessions per game than its opponents — a deficit nearly twice as large as that of the team with the second-largest disparity (Milwaukee, -6.1).
Moments to celebrate have been few and far between for Corey Kispert (center), Bilal Coulibaly, Khris Middleton and the Washington Wizards. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Scott Taetsch via Getty Images
As it turns out, giving opposing teams way more scoring chances than you get, struggling to convert on yours and not being very good at preventing them from scoring on theirs is a one-way ticket to Yikesville. According to Dubin’s adjusted efficiency metrics, the Wizards’ offense has scored about six fewer points per 100 possessions than a league-average unit this season, and their defense has allowed about seven more points-per-100 than a league-average outfit. That adds up to an adjusted net rating of -13.4 points-per-100 — which would be the third-worst season of any team since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, ahead of only the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks, who finished 11-71, and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, who finished 7-59 in a lockout-shortened campaign.
Those teams finished with two of the five worst winning percentages in NBA history. That’s the deep water in which the Wizards have plunged — and, just a month into the season, it sure looks like they’re on the verge of staying sunk.
For now, at least. There have been silver linings: George’s growth as a playmaker and shooter; Sarr’s improving finishing on the interior and rising rebounding, block and assist rates; lottery pick Johnson’s instant-impact bucket-getting and high-volume 3-point shooting. Those players continuing their development into better, more well-rounded players is of incalculably greater importance to the Wizards’ future than an extra win or two here or there this season — especially considering Washington owes its 2026 first-round draft pick to the Knicks, but only if it falls outside the top eight after the draft lottery.
(That pick, originally dealt to Houston in the 2020 trade that shipped out Wall and imported Russell Westbrook, wound up going to Oklahoma City in the 2021 swap that made Alperen Şengün a Rocket. It then landed in New York via the 2022 draft-night deal that allowed the Thunder to draft Ousmane Dieng … and helped the Knicks clear the salary-cap space to sign Jalen Brunson away from Dallas in free agency. Trades involving future draft picks: They really turn you into Charlie trying to track down Pepe Silvia.)
The way to ensure there’s no chance of handing Leon Rose a late lottery pick is to finish with one of the four worst records in the NBA. (If it doesn’t land in the top eight, the Wiz only owe New York two future second-rounders. Much better.) If the Wizards do that and wind up drafting a prospect like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or AJ Dybantsa to join Sarr, George, Johnson and Co. — and if Wizards brass is able to turn the expiring contracts of Middleton and McCollum into future talent, either before February’s trade deadline or this summer, when Washington could be looking at more than $100 million in salary-cap space — then someday all the sturm und drang of this dismal “early phase of the rebuild” will dissipate and feel like little more than a bad dream.
Living through it in the moment, though, must feel like a nightmare — for Keefe, who waited the better part of two decades for his shot at a head coaching gig, only to lose 80% of his first 134 games; for the vets, stuck doing a bid on a going-nowhere team and waiting for some interested suitor to swoop them up and return them to meaningful basketball; and especially for the young guys, watching the L’s pile up and wondering if they’re ever going to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s tough,” George told reporters. “You’ve got to switch your mindset and focus on the process. I think it eventually is going to affect you, but you’ve got to make sure that you keep your mindset focused on the right thing. We’ve just got to be able to go on to the next game and be able to just make sure the process is right, even though the results are not there.”
Losing, in and of itself, isn’t that big a deal for the Washington Wizards.
For one thing, it’s something they’ve done quite a lot of over the past few years. The Wiz haven’t even approached .500 since 2017-18, a span in which they’ve lost a higher percentage of their games than any franchise except the Pistons. While Detroit is now firmly on the upswing, though, Washington remains mired in the mud — which, for another thing, is kind of the plan for an organization that is still climbing out of the smoking crater left in the wake of the John Wall/Bradley Beal era and boasts the NBA’s youngest roster.
Well, that’s a sizable enough deal that, just a baker’s dozen games into the 2025-26 NBA season, the nigh-upon-winless 1-12 Wizards sounded a worrying alarm:
The Wizards had a player-only meeting after tonight’s game, Kyshawn George said
“We buckled to the adversity,” coach Brian Keefe said. “We fouled when we shouldn’t. We didn’t dig in when they made certain runs. This group has never done that. That was disappointing on all of our end. We have to own that. But that was the thing that was bothering me the most, is that after the initial start of the game, which I thought we came out with a necessary mindset and attitude, once we got hit, we didn’t respond well.”
It was a bad enough performance that, after Keefe spoke to the team following the final buzzer, the Wizards held a players-only meeting in their locker room.
“We needed that talk, I think,” [Wizards forward Bilal] Coulibaly said afterward. “The guys just stepped up, the vets, the guys that have been used to winning. That’s what we’re trying to do here in the next year. So they had to talk to us, and they did a great job about this and everybody was listening.”
That, in part, was the argument for the Wizards trading for the likes of Khris Middleton and C.J. McCollum. Bringing in a pair of respected 10-plus-year veterans who have been on teams of consequence — in Middleton, a three-time All-Star who played a key role on the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team; in McCollum, someone who’d averaged 20 points per game for 10 straight seasons and went to the 2019 Western Conference finals with Portland — would help Keefe and his coaching staff show the ropes to Washington’s 10 players aged 22 and under. Under their guidance, hoped-for cornerstones like Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson would come to understand what it takes to travel the road to NBA relevance: to transform from the team every opponent can’t wait to face to one worthy of respect.
In the third season after dealing Beal, though … it’s proving to be an awfully long road.
After the embarrassing loss to Brooklyn, the Wizards enter Monday’s action ranked 28th in offensive efficiency, 29th in defensive efficiency and 30th — dead last — in net rating, according to Cleaning the Glass. They are woeful in the half-court, whether scoring or defending. They are even worse in transition, ranking 28th in points per 100 possessions added on offensive fast breaks and 30th — again, dead last — in points-per-100 added by opponents on their transition chances. They’ve been able to limit 3-point attempts, ranking sixth in the share of opponents’ shots that come from long distance … but have been unable to prevent the most efficient shots in the game, with opponents taking nearly 34% of their attempts directly at the rim, fifth highest in the NBA.
In an era when it seems like every head coach in the league is harping on the importance of winning the possession battle, the Wizards are losing it, night in and night out, to an almost unfathomable degree. They give up more offensive rebounds than they snag themselves; they allow more free throws than they generate for themselves; they turn the ball over way more often than they take it from the other team. Add it all up, as Jared Dubin does at Last Night in Basketball, and Washington is averaging 11.4 fewer possessions per game than its opponents — a deficit nearly twice as large as that of the team with the second-largest disparity (Milwaukee, -6.1).
Moments to celebrate have been few and far between for Corey Kispert (center), Bilal Coulibaly, Khris Middleton and the Washington Wizards. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Scott Taetsch via Getty Images
As it turns out, giving opposing teams way more scoring chances than you get, struggling to convert on yours and not being very good at preventing them from scoring on theirs is a one-way ticket to Yikesville. According to Dubin’s adjusted efficiency metrics, the Wizards’ offense has scored about six fewer points per 100 possessions than a league-average unit this season, and their defense has allowed about seven more points-per-100 than a league-average outfit. That adds up to an adjusted net rating of -13.4 points-per-100 — which would be the third-worst season of any team since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, ahead of only the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks, who finished 11-71, and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, who finished 7-59 in a lockout-shortened campaign.
Those teams finished with two of the five worst winning percentages in NBA history. That’s the deep water in which the Wizards have plunged — and, just a month into the season, it sure looks like they’re on the verge of staying sunk.
For now, at least. There have been silver linings: George’s growth as a playmaker and shooter; Sarr’s improving finishing on the interior and rising rebounding, block and assist rates; lottery pick Johnson’s instant-impact bucket-getting and high-volume 3-point shooting. Those players continuing their development into better, more well-rounded players is of incalculably greater importance to the Wizards’ future than an extra win or two here or there this season — especially considering Washington owes its 2026 first-round draft pick to the Knicks, but only if it falls outside the top eight after the draft lottery.
(That pick, originally dealt to Houston in the 2020 trade that shipped out Wall and imported Russell Westbrook, wound up going to Oklahoma City in the 2021 swap that made Alperen Şengün a Rocket. It then landed in New York via the 2022 draft-night deal that allowed the Thunder to draft Ousmane Dieng … and helped the Knicks clear the salary-cap space to sign Jalen Brunson away from Dallas in free agency. Trades involving future draft picks: They really turn you into Charlie trying to track down Pepe Silvia.)
The way to ensure there’s no chance of handing Leon Rose a late lottery pick is to finish with one of the four worst records in the NBA. (If it doesn’t land in the top eight, the Wiz only owe New York two future second-rounders. Much better.) If the Wizards do that and wind up drafting a prospect like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or AJ Dybantsa to join Sarr, George, Johnson and Co. — and if Wizards brass is able to turn the expiring contracts of Middleton and McCollum into future talent, either before February’s trade deadline or this summer, when Washington could be looking at more than $100 million in salary-cap space — then someday all the sturm und drang of this dismal “early phase of the rebuild” will dissipate and feel like little more than a bad dream.
Living through it in the moment, though, must feel like a nightmare — for Keefe, who waited the better part of two decades for his shot at a head coaching gig, only to lose 80% of his first 134 games; for the vets, stuck doing a bid on a going-nowhere team and waiting for some interested suitor to swoop them up and return them to meaningful basketball; and especially for the young guys, watching the L’s pile up and wondering if they’re ever going to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s tough,” George told reporters. “You’ve got to switch your mindset and focus on the process. I think it eventually is going to affect you, but you’ve got to make sure that you keep your mindset focused on the right thing. We’ve just got to be able to go on to the next game and be able to just make sure the process is right, even though the results are not there.”
We’re roughly a month into a wild, wacky and ultimately entertaining NBA season. We’ve had the usual blend of fun: dominance at the top (hi, Oklahoma City), a star-studded MVP race, an intriguing rookie class and plenty of overtime thrillers, breakout stars and where-did-you-come-from team performances — the Hawks, Raptors, and Suns seem to be prime candidates right now.
We recently got word of this year’s new All-Star format, yet another round of tweaks as the NBA at large tries to find a way to recapture some of the magic — and overall interest — of the past. This year will see the introduction of a Team USA vs. Team World format, but with a bit of a twist.
There will be three teams of eight players (24 total, no positional limit) involved in a round-robin mini-tournament. Among the player pool, 12 must come from each conference.
The teams will play each other once — Team A vs. Team B, the winner facing Team C in the second game, then the loser of Team A vs Team B facing Team C in the third game — with each game consisting of a 12-minute period.
The top two teams will play each other in the championship game. If the initial three games end with each team having a 1-1 record, the tiebreaker will be the overall point differential.
I ultimately don’t mind the attempt, though I have some history-keeping and back-of-the-roster questions in the event Adam Silver has to fudge things to make sure there are eight international players on Team World.
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
For the actual games, is a 12-minute stretch enough of a sweet spot for players to catch a rhythm and give an acceptable level of effort — the real issue with All-Star festivities the last few years — without risking injury? I guess we’ll find out.
With a decent sample of games in the books, I thought it’d be fun to take an early look at what the player pool could look like. A couple of notes before we get rollin’ and scrollin’:
While there isn’t an official games-played minimum for All-Star festivities, I personally use it as a consistent guardrail since I’m keeping tabs for award selections anyway. A 65-of-82 limit comes out to roughly 79% of games played; the league average for games played right now is about 13, meaning players would need to have appeared in at least 10 contests for me through Nov. 16. That’s the primary reason you won’t see Anthony Edwards (9 games), Bam Adebayo (8), LaMelo Ball (7) and others.
After getting the 24, I tried my best to split them into Team East, Team West and Team World. There were ultimately more Team World representatives from the West than the East, so I did my best to do a little balancing. I can’t wait to see how the NBA splits or drafts things once we get to February.
Because it’s me, there will be honorable mentions. And be aware that this is ultimately my abbreviated list. I don’t hate your favorite team or your favorite player (non-legal-issue division), I promise.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
EASTERN CONFERENCE REPS (* denotes Team World member)
There’s been more on the plate of Giannis this season, which has led to career highs in points and assists — and, quietly, more per-possession inconsistency on defense than you’d like. Still, this is the best player in the East — and the most doubled player (26.2% of touches) in the league to this point — that can take over games on both ends when fully locked in.
The Raptors are currently one of four teams with a top-10 ranking in offensive and defensive rating per Cleaning The Glass, with Barnes — sometimes literally — at the center of both. He’s oscillated between playmaking hub, screener (please make more contact), post threat and transition menace on offense. He’s been tasked with a little bit of everything defensively, with his off-ball exploits popping at an All-Defense level right now.
Brown has answered “How will he look without Jayson Tatum?” questions with, narrowly, the most efficient season of his career (58.7 true shooting) to this point of the season. He’s gotten buckets from just about everywhere, but it’s worth noting he’s been bonkers in the midrange — 49% per Cleaning The Glass.
Brunson has enjoyed the tweaks to the offense, more often getting to attack on the second side of actions and making quicker, still-fruitful decisions because of it. For a quick example: He’s having the best catch-and-shoot season of his career, draining 50% of his career-high 3.1 attempts from deep within that context.
Cunningham is at the forefront of the East-leading Pistons, providing his usual blend of at-my-rhythm drives and playmaking chops. The efficiency is down, though he’s dealt with some spacing-deprived defensive lineups and more defensive attention. He’s seen a second defender on nearly 19% of his touches, the fifth-highest mark in the league among 138 players to log at least 500 touches.
Jalen Duren (DET): 19.4 points (64.7% on 2s, 80.8% on FTs), 12 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.2 blocks
Tag-teaming with Cunningham to produce the most voluminous ball-screen pairing in the league (209 picks, only duo over 200), Duren has been a legitimate two-way game changer. He’s setting bone-crushing picks, cleaning the glass, providing real juice as a scheme-versatile defender and (literally) flashing mid-possession playmaking chops to keep the half-court offense moving. That brother’s getting paid this summer, and rightfully so.
The feel-good shine for the Bulls has all but run out; after a 5-0 start, they’ve lost six of their last seven games. If there’s good news to be had, it’s that Giddey’s second-half surge from last season has carried over into this one. His intuitive and daring passing continues to juice Chicago’s transition attack and overall productivity in the paint. His drives have become more physical, a welcome growth area for him. He is still hitting 3s and has gotten friskier with his off-the-dribble attempts.
Since Trae Young went down with a knee injury, Johnson has stepped up: 22.4 points (63/46/78), 10.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.9 steals and a 6-2 record in the games he’s appeared in. In addition to remaining an elite transition scorer, Johnson has taken more ownership of the half-court offense as a ball-screen initiator and occasional hub. He was playing at an All-Star level last season before getting injured; hopefully he gets to cash in this season.
It may just be time to call this Maxey’s team. Career highs across the board speak for themselves, but the command Maxey has displayed has popped off the screen all season long. His driving prowess and 3-point shooting remain in abundance; the growth in playmaking and floor-manipulation, and some of the shot-hunting he’s done in the midrange has made him incredibly difficult to deal with.
It’s been an uneven season for the (checks notes) third-seed Cavaliers, but Mitchell has been phenomenal. Despite teams working hard to take away his paint touches — he’s seeing help on nearly 83% of his drives, a top-10 mark among high-volume drivers this season and a major step up from last year’s 75.2% clip — he’s been windmill-gathering his way into a bevy of touch shots and tough finishes at the rim. He remains an unconscious pull-up threat from beyond the arc, making him one of the most dynamic guards we have in the league.
A pleasant surprise, Powell has built on his fringe All-Star campaign from last season. He’s been an absolute rocket for the Heat this year; his blistering start from beyond the arc — he’s been the best 3-point shooter in the league among 32 players to take at least seven per game — and quick-twitch drives have been necessary within Miami’s open-season offensive attack.
It took Towns a little bit to adjust to New York’s offensive tweaks; it also took head coach Mike Brown some time to figure out the right blend and rhythm of Towns’ touches. It’s looked much better as of late; the Knicks are 6-1 over their last seven, with Towns averaging 24-12-4 on 61.1 true shooting.
The Orlando contingent will be important to watch moving forward, especially since they should both (technically) have eligibility for Team World if it comes down to it. I’ve enjoyed some of the shot profile refinement (read: soooo many more drives and free throws) from Banchero; the early transition seals and general downhill juice from Wagner continue to excite me.
Mobley’s averaging career highs in points, assists and steals, but it hasn’t felt that way. Similar to Mitchell, he’s seen an uptick in attention on his drives (51.9% help rate to 60.7% this year) and has leaned more on his jump shooting to counter. While he hasn’t been quite DPOY-level for me to start the year, he remains incredibly good on that end. It wouldn’t surprise me, nor should it shock anyone, if the Cavs find their footing and Mobley feels like more of a sure thing a few weeks from now.
It’s not his fault the Pacers have essentially been an infirmary. I just want to note that, even within this context, Siakam has been a tough cover on all three levels. Please stay healthy, and please start making your free throws, brother.
We’ll just say it hasn’t been a great year for the Wizards, but Sarr has undoubtedly been their best story — with respect to Kyshawn George’s start to the season. Sarr feels more refined as a screener, roller and finisher. His playmaking continues to pop when they allow him to make above-the-break decisions. The rim protection remains a fun feature of his game; I wish he had more consistency in front of him so his talents would really pop on that end.
WESTERN CONFERENCE REPS (* denotes Team World member)
Sunday night’s loss to the Hawks bumped the Suns to 12th in defensive rating, so they’re no longer one of the top-10-on-both-ends teams, but they’ve been a real joy to watch. At the head of the snake is Booker, having the best scoring season of his career while handling an ungodly amount of traps in the process.
Ask the Spurs: Curry’s still got it when he needs it. It feels odd to say Curry is slumping from deep when he’s converting at a 38% clip on over 11 attempts, but that’s the standard he’s set. Beyond that, he remains an electric scorer at all three levels, a dangerous screener and an underrated playmaker (despite the assist numbers) because of the attention he commands.
There already isn’t much you can do with Dončić; that blend of size, playmaking and scoring audacity is historically rare. When he’s making darn-near everything inside of, like, 12 feet, there really isn’t anything you can do with him.
Kevin Durant (HOU): 25.9 points (55/40/89), 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1 steal, 0.7 blocks
Durant remains metronomic as a scorer; did you know he’s on pace for his 14th straight season with a true shooting clip over 60? It’s absurd. The Rockets have moved him around as an off-ball threat, initiator, screener and, if all else fails, a late-clock security blanket. It isn’t always the cleanest process (I won’t apologize), but he’s largely delivered.
How on earth did this dude get better despite not playing a second with Jalen Williams yet? SGA has established a different level of command in the half-court. He’s averaging a career high in assists and a career low in turnovers (1.6 per game, 6.2 turnover rate). He has the highest rate of unassisted baskets in the league and is still logging the most efficient season of his career (65.2 true shooting).
Harden logging the first 40-point triple-double in franchise history, and still coming away with a loss, feels like a microcosm of the season so far. Harden’s been a monster: an elite driver (1.12 PPP), playmaker and shot-maker for a Clippers group still looking for some semblance of consistency.
An absolute no-brainer. He’s been the league’s best player and, due to his play and usage, virtually impossible to guard. He doesn’t miss inside the arc, he’s hitting 3s at a high clip, and he’s arguably the best passer in basketball. More quietly, he’s more than held his own as part of Denver’s scheme-versatile, third-ranked defense. Here’s a fun one: Opponents are generating 0.88 points per possession on trips featuring a ball screen defended by Jokić, sixth, a hair ahead of Victor Wembanyama, among 28 players to defend at least 200 so far.
Talk about a bounce back season! Markkanen has been monstrous to start the year, an always-moving cog within Will Hardy’s screen-heavy offense. The shooting prowess should be well-known at this point, but Markkanen’s become a nastier driver this year. I don’t know how sustainable 30 a night is, but he looks like a different dude. I’ve enjoyed it.
Somewhat similar to the Cavs out East, the Wolves have had to find themselves in the midst of injury woes, guard inconsistency, and teams looking to attack them in different ways. The constant this year, in a pleasant surprise, has been Randle. The blend of bully drives — among 64 players to log 100 drives, Randle leads the NBA in points per possession generated (1.3) — pull-up shooting, off-the-bounce playmaking and occasional hub work has led to his most prolific and efficient season to date. In light of this, the Wolves have predictably died whenever he’s gone to the bench.
Also in the “he’s gonna get paid” division, Reaves has leveled up as a scorer and playmaker. He took off with the runway provided in the absence of Dončić and the yet-to-play LeBron James, and it feels like the only thing that can stop him from maintaining this level of play is lingering effects of the groin injury that took him out of four games. Keep an eye on his work between, say, 7-to-14 feet. His mix of shot-making and foul-drawing has had defenses in the blender all year long.
I have really enjoyed the Şengün Experience. The awkward cadence of his drives, the fancy footwork, the audacious passes, the freedom with which he’s pulling from deep. The pick-and-roll reps as the ball-handler, his growing nuance and comfort defensively; it’s all popping for me. He’s firmly been Houston’s best and most impactful player this year — a huge sign of respect considering the Hall of Famer he’s playing with.
We’ve never seen anything like this. Every night, there’s a what-the-heck block, a coast-to-coast possession, a dunk, a step-back three, something that defies conventional wisdom. He’s the league’s most terrifying defender, and this is with him still actively working on the nuances of coverages. While teams have had some success throwing junk defenses and double teams at him, Wembanyama has still been an effective scorer and playmaker who can bend a game to his will. It’s going to get better from here, somehow.
Only SGA (256) has logged more drives than Avdjia (223), and Avdija is quietly generating more efficient offense on those possessions (1.12 PPP to 1.11 PPP). In addition to his downhill attacks, he’s continued to put fun (and sometimes wild) passes on film while becoming more shot-hunty beyond the arc (career-high 6.8 attempts). It’s about to be a three-year sample of Avdija knocking down 3s at a high clip; this may just be him now.
Butler has fit in smoothly since joining the Warriors last season. Strong driver, smart passer, intuitive cutter, willing screener, and heady off-ball defender when fully locked in — that all plays within the Golden State ecosystem. As is generally the case with the Regular Season Butler Experience, you’d like more consistent aggression from him as a scorer, but it’s been a good season overall.
Sans 3-point and free-throw shooting, both below what you’d like from a guard or wing (in their context, anyway), there really hasn’t been much to poke at in regards to Castle. His interior craft continues to pop — his cadence, footwork and late passing are joys to watch. He’s once again taken on some tough defensive matchups on the perimeter and largely held his own. Incredibly fun player.
Gordon’s been an important part of Denver’s post-heavy attack, his transition seals and random corner duck-ins causing early clock problems for defenses. Beyond that, this dude is shooting the leather off the ball. Shooting this well, making your own dinner within the flow of the offense, and also benefiting from the passing of Jokić with cuts and dunker spot roaming, and solid multipositional defense makes for an interesting All-Star case.
To be transparent, this was my toughest omission. It ultimately came down to two things. He’s missed time — four missed games and dealing with the Blowout Tax put him slightly behind in terms of total and per-game production — and his defense, while still excellent at the high-end, has been a little below his usual level. His pick-and-roll and rim protection numbers are notably sub-elite, though I expect that to round into form as the season goes on. Still, Holmgren has been phenomenal when available. His 3-point shooting is an obvious positive, but I’ve really enjoyed his midrange scoring this year. Having something he can consistently rely on in the half-court was really the only thing somewhat missing in his game.
Whew, buddy, the leap may be happening. I don’t think he sustains 50% shooting from deep, but reliable spot-up shooting and this amount of drives and midrange buckets should be enough to raise some eyebrows. He has had the ball in his hands more and hasn’t looked completely out of place. And of course, his defense remains nasty — even if it’s been more uneven against guards than we’re used to.
It normally takes Murray a bit to find his rhythm during the regular season. Him coming out of the gates on fire has been a pleasant and welcome surprise. As my esteemed cohost Steve Jones always says, you can tell if Murray’s feeling it by the look (and volume) of his drives; among that 64-player group with at least 100 drives, Murray ranks eighth in points per possession generated (1.17 PPP) to start the year.
Here’s an early look at what the rosters (and positional groupings, if you care) could look like as of today.
TEAM WORLD
Guards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Wings: Luka Dončić, Josh Giddey
Forwards: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lauri Markkanen
Bigs: Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama, Alperen Şengün
TEAM USA 1
Guards: Stephen Curry, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker
Wings: Austin Reaves, Jaylen Brown
Forwards: Scottie Barnes, Julius Randle
Bigs: Karl-Anthony Towns
TEAM USA 2
Guards: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, James Harden
We’re roughly a month into a wild, wacky and ultimately entertaining NBA season. We’ve had the usual blend of fun: dominance at the top (hi, Oklahoma City), a star-studded MVP race, an intriguing rookie class and plenty of overtime thrillers, breakout stars and where-did-you-come-from team performances — the Hawks, Raptors, and Suns seem to be prime candidates right now.
We recently got word of this year’s new All-Star format, yet another round of tweaks as the NBA at large tries to find a way to recapture some of the magic — and overall interest — of the past. This year will see the introduction of a Team USA vs. Team World format, but with a bit of a twist.
There will be three teams of eight players (24 total, no positional limit) involved in a round-robin mini-tournament. Among the player pool, 12 must come from each conference.
The teams will play each other once — Team A vs. Team B, the winner facing Team C in the second game, then the loser of Team A vs Team B facing Team C in the third game — with each game consisting of a 12-minute period.
The top two teams will play each other in the championship game. If the initial three games end with each team having a 1-1 record, the tiebreaker will be the overall point differential.
I ultimately don’t mind the attempt, though I have some history-keeping and back-of-the-roster questions in the event Adam Silver has to fudge things to make sure there are eight international players on Team World.
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
For the actual games, is a 12-minute stretch enough of a sweet spot for players to catch a rhythm and give an acceptable level of effort — the real issue with All-Star festivities the last few years — without risking injury? I guess we’ll find out.
With a decent sample of games in the books, I thought it’d be fun to take an early look at what the player pool could look like. A couple of notes before we get rollin’ and scrollin’:
While there isn’t an official games-played minimum for All-Star festivities, I personally use it as a consistent guardrail since I’m keeping tabs for award selections anyway. A 65-of-82 limit comes out to roughly 79% of games played; the league average for games played right now is about 13, meaning players would need to have appeared in at least 10 contests for me through Nov. 16. That’s the primary reason you won’t see Anthony Edwards (9 games), Bam Adebayo (8), LaMelo Ball (7) and others.
After getting the 24, I tried my best to split them into Team East, Team West and Team World. There were ultimately more Team World representatives from the West than the East, so I did my best to do a little balancing. I can’t wait to see how the NBA splits or drafts things once we get to February.
Because it’s me, there will be honorable mentions. And be aware that this is ultimately my abbreviated list. I don’t hate your favorite team or your favorite player (non-legal-issue division), I promise.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
EASTERN CONFERENCE REPS (* denotes Team World member)
There’s been more on the plate of Giannis this season, which has led to career highs in points and assists — and, quietly, more per-possession inconsistency on defense than you’d like. Still, this is the best player in the East — and the most doubled player (26.2% of touches) in the league to this point — that can take over games on both ends when fully locked in.
The Raptors are currently one of four teams with a top-10 ranking in offensive and defensive rating per Cleaning The Glass, with Barnes — sometimes literally — at the center of both. He’s oscillated between playmaking hub, screener (please make more contact), post threat and transition menace on offense. He’s been tasked with a little bit of everything defensively, with his off-ball exploits popping at an All-Defense level right now.
Brown has answered “How will he look without Jayson Tatum?” questions with, narrowly, the most efficient season of his career (58.7 true shooting) to this point of the season. He’s gotten buckets from just about everywhere, but it’s worth noting he’s been bonkers in the midrange — 49% per Cleaning The Glass.
Brunson has enjoyed the tweaks to the offense, more often getting to attack on the second side of actions and making quicker, still-fruitful decisions because of it. For a quick example: He’s having the best catch-and-shoot season of his career, draining 50% of his career-high 3.1 attempts from deep within that context.
Cunningham is at the forefront of the East-leading Pistons, providing his usual blend of at-my-rhythm drives and playmaking chops. The efficiency is down, though he’s dealt with some spacing-deprived defensive lineups and more defensive attention. He’s seen a second defender on nearly 19% of his touches, the fifth-highest mark in the league among 138 players to log at least 500 touches.
Jalen Duren (DET): 19.4 points (64.7% on 2s, 80.8% on FTs), 12 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.2 blocks
Tag-teaming with Cunningham to produce the most voluminous ball-screen pairing in the league (209 picks, only duo over 200), Duren has been a legitimate two-way game changer. He’s setting bone-crushing picks, cleaning the glass, providing real juice as a scheme-versatile defender and (literally) flashing mid-possession playmaking chops to keep the half-court offense moving. That brother’s getting paid this summer, and rightfully so.
The feel-good shine for the Bulls has all but run out; after a 5-0 start, they’ve lost six of their last seven games. If there’s good news to be had, it’s that Giddey’s second-half surge from last season has carried over into this one. His intuitive and daring passing continues to juice Chicago’s transition attack and overall productivity in the paint. His drives have become more physical, a welcome growth area for him. He is still hitting 3s and has gotten friskier with his off-the-dribble attempts.
Since Trae Young went down with a knee injury, Johnson has stepped up: 22.4 points (63/46/78), 10.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.9 steals and a 6-2 record in the games he’s appeared in. In addition to remaining an elite transition scorer, Johnson has taken more ownership of the half-court offense as a ball-screen initiator and occasional hub. He was playing at an All-Star level last season before getting injured; hopefully he gets to cash in this season.
It may just be time to call this Maxey’s team. Career highs across the board speak for themselves, but the command Maxey has displayed has popped off the screen all season long. His driving prowess and 3-point shooting remain in abundance; the growth in playmaking and floor-manipulation, and some of the shot-hunting he’s done in the midrange has made him incredibly difficult to deal with.
It’s been an uneven season for the (checks notes) third-seed Cavaliers, but Mitchell has been phenomenal. Despite teams working hard to take away his paint touches — he’s seeing help on nearly 83% of his drives, a top-10 mark among high-volume drivers this season and a major step up from last year’s 75.2% clip — he’s been windmill-gathering his way into a bevy of touch shots and tough finishes at the rim. He remains an unconscious pull-up threat from beyond the arc, making him one of the most dynamic guards we have in the league.
A pleasant surprise, Powell has built on his fringe All-Star campaign from last season. He’s been an absolute rocket for the Heat this year; his blistering start from beyond the arc — he’s been the best 3-point shooter in the league among 32 players to take at least seven per game — and quick-twitch drives have been necessary within Miami’s open-season offensive attack.
It took Towns a little bit to adjust to New York’s offensive tweaks; it also took head coach Mike Brown some time to figure out the right blend and rhythm of Towns’ touches. It’s looked much better as of late; the Knicks are 6-1 over their last seven, with Towns averaging 24-12-4 on 61.1 true shooting.
The Orlando contingent will be important to watch moving forward, especially since they should both (technically) have eligibility for Team World if it comes down to it. I’ve enjoyed some of the shot profile refinement (read: soooo many more drives and free throws) from Banchero; the early transition seals and general downhill juice from Wagner continue to excite me.
Mobley’s averaging career highs in points, assists and steals, but it hasn’t felt that way. Similar to Mitchell, he’s seen an uptick in attention on his drives (51.9% help rate to 60.7% this year) and has leaned more on his jump shooting to counter. While he hasn’t been quite DPOY-level for me to start the year, he remains incredibly good on that end. It wouldn’t surprise me, nor should it shock anyone, if the Cavs find their footing and Mobley feels like more of a sure thing a few weeks from now.
It’s not his fault the Pacers have essentially been an infirmary. I just want to note that, even within this context, Siakam has been a tough cover on all three levels. Please stay healthy, and please start making your free throws, brother.
We’ll just say it hasn’t been a great year for the Wizards, but Sarr has undoubtedly been their best story — with respect to Kyshawn George’s start to the season. Sarr feels more refined as a screener, roller and finisher. His playmaking continues to pop when they allow him to make above-the-break decisions. The rim protection remains a fun feature of his game; I wish he had more consistency in front of him so his talents would really pop on that end.
WESTERN CONFERENCE REPS (* denotes Team World member)
Sunday night’s loss to the Hawks bumped the Suns to 12th in defensive rating, so they’re no longer one of the top-10-on-both-ends teams, but they’ve been a real joy to watch. At the head of the snake is Booker, having the best scoring season of his career while handling an ungodly amount of traps in the process.
Ask the Spurs: Curry’s still got it when he needs it. It feels odd to say Curry is slumping from deep when he’s converting at a 38% clip on over 11 attempts, but that’s the standard he’s set. Beyond that, he remains an electric scorer at all three levels, a dangerous screener and an underrated playmaker (despite the assist numbers) because of the attention he commands.
There already isn’t much you can do with Dončić; that blend of size, playmaking and scoring audacity is historically rare. When he’s making darn-near everything inside of, like, 12 feet, there really isn’t anything you can do with him.
Kevin Durant (HOU): 25.9 points (55/40/89), 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1 steal, 0.7 blocks
Durant remains metronomic as a scorer; did you know he’s on pace for his 14th straight season with a true shooting clip over 60? It’s absurd. The Rockets have moved him around as an off-ball threat, initiator, screener and, if all else fails, a late-clock security blanket. It isn’t always the cleanest process (I won’t apologize), but he’s largely delivered.
How on earth did this dude get better despite not playing a second with Jalen Williams yet? SGA has established a different level of command in the half-court. He’s averaging a career high in assists and a career low in turnovers (1.6 per game, 6.2 turnover rate). He has the highest rate of unassisted baskets in the league and is still logging the most efficient season of his career (65.2 true shooting).
Harden logging the first 40-point triple-double in franchise history, and still coming away with a loss, feels like a microcosm of the season so far. Harden’s been a monster: an elite driver (1.12 PPP), playmaker and shot-maker for a Clippers group still looking for some semblance of consistency.
An absolute no-brainer. He’s been the league’s best player and, due to his play and usage, virtually impossible to guard. He doesn’t miss inside the arc, he’s hitting 3s at a high clip, and he’s arguably the best passer in basketball. More quietly, he’s more than held his own as part of Denver’s scheme-versatile, third-ranked defense. Here’s a fun one: Opponents are generating 0.88 points per possession on trips featuring a ball screen defended by Jokić, sixth, a hair ahead of Victor Wembanyama, among 28 players to defend at least 200 so far.
Talk about a bounce back season! Markkanen has been monstrous to start the year, an always-moving cog within Will Hardy’s screen-heavy offense. The shooting prowess should be well-known at this point, but Markkanen’s become a nastier driver this year. I don’t know how sustainable 30 a night is, but he looks like a different dude. I’ve enjoyed it.
Somewhat similar to the Cavs out East, the Wolves have had to find themselves in the midst of injury woes, guard inconsistency, and teams looking to attack them in different ways. The constant this year, in a pleasant surprise, has been Randle. The blend of bully drives — among 64 players to log 100 drives, Randle leads the NBA in points per possession generated (1.3) — pull-up shooting, off-the-bounce playmaking and occasional hub work has led to his most prolific and efficient season to date. In light of this, the Wolves have predictably died whenever he’s gone to the bench.
Also in the “he’s gonna get paid” division, Reaves has leveled up as a scorer and playmaker. He took off with the runway provided in the absence of Dončić and the yet-to-play LeBron James, and it feels like the only thing that can stop him from maintaining this level of play is lingering effects of the groin injury that took him out of four games. Keep an eye on his work between, say, 7-to-14 feet. His mix of shot-making and foul-drawing has had defenses in the blender all year long.
I have really enjoyed the Şengün Experience. The awkward cadence of his drives, the fancy footwork, the audacious passes, the freedom with which he’s pulling from deep. The pick-and-roll reps as the ball-handler, his growing nuance and comfort defensively; it’s all popping for me. He’s firmly been Houston’s best and most impactful player this year — a huge sign of respect considering the Hall of Famer he’s playing with.
We’ve never seen anything like this. Every night, there’s a what-the-heck block, a coast-to-coast possession, a dunk, a step-back three, something that defies conventional wisdom. He’s the league’s most terrifying defender, and this is with him still actively working on the nuances of coverages. While teams have had some success throwing junk defenses and double teams at him, Wembanyama has still been an effective scorer and playmaker who can bend a game to his will. It’s going to get better from here, somehow.
Only SGA (256) has logged more drives than Avdjia (223), and Avdija is quietly generating more efficient offense on those possessions (1.12 PPP to 1.11 PPP). In addition to his downhill attacks, he’s continued to put fun (and sometimes wild) passes on film while becoming more shot-hunty beyond the arc (career-high 6.8 attempts). It’s about to be a three-year sample of Avdija knocking down 3s at a high clip; this may just be him now.
Butler has fit in smoothly since joining the Warriors last season. Strong driver, smart passer, intuitive cutter, willing screener, and heady off-ball defender when fully locked in — that all plays within the Golden State ecosystem. As is generally the case with the Regular Season Butler Experience, you’d like more consistent aggression from him as a scorer, but it’s been a good season overall.
Sans 3-point and free-throw shooting, both below what you’d like from a guard or wing (in their context, anyway), there really hasn’t been much to poke at in regards to Castle. His interior craft continues to pop — his cadence, footwork and late passing are joys to watch. He’s once again taken on some tough defensive matchups on the perimeter and largely held his own. Incredibly fun player.
Gordon’s been an important part of Denver’s post-heavy attack, his transition seals and random corner duck-ins causing early clock problems for defenses. Beyond that, this dude is shooting the leather off the ball. Shooting this well, making your own dinner within the flow of the offense, and also benefiting from the passing of Jokić with cuts and dunker spot roaming, and solid multipositional defense makes for an interesting All-Star case.
To be transparent, this was my toughest omission. It ultimately came down to two things. He’s missed time — four missed games and dealing with the Blowout Tax put him slightly behind in terms of total and per-game production — and his defense, while still excellent at the high-end, has been a little below his usual level. His pick-and-roll and rim protection numbers are notably sub-elite, though I expect that to round into form as the season goes on. Still, Holmgren has been phenomenal when available. His 3-point shooting is an obvious positive, but I’ve really enjoyed his midrange scoring this year. Having something he can consistently rely on in the half-court was really the only thing somewhat missing in his game.
Whew, buddy, the leap may be happening. I don’t think he sustains 50% shooting from deep, but reliable spot-up shooting and this amount of drives and midrange buckets should be enough to raise some eyebrows. He has had the ball in his hands more and hasn’t looked completely out of place. And of course, his defense remains nasty — even if it’s been more uneven against guards than we’re used to.
It normally takes Murray a bit to find his rhythm during the regular season. Him coming out of the gates on fire has been a pleasant and welcome surprise. As my esteemed cohost Steve Jones always says, you can tell if Murray’s feeling it by the look (and volume) of his drives; among that 64-player group with at least 100 drives, Murray ranks eighth in points per possession generated (1.17 PPP) to start the year.
Here’s an early look at what the rosters (and positional groupings, if you care) could look like as of today.
TEAM WORLD
Guards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Wings: Luka Dončić, Josh Giddey
Forwards: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lauri Markkanen
Bigs: Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama, Alperen Şengün
TEAM USA 1
Guards: Stephen Curry, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker
Wings: Austin Reaves, Jaylen Brown
Forwards: Scottie Barnes, Julius Randle
Bigs: Karl-Anthony Towns
TEAM USA 2
Guards: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, James Harden
