NBA trade deadline winners & losers; Doc Rivers already starting to lose Bucks players; Jalen Brunson the best PG in the league?

So, now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to digest things and get all the Doc Rivers 3-1 lead jokes out of our systems, it’s time to get down to business. Now that Milwaukee has played a few games and had some time with their new head coach, it’s painfully clear that this catastrophe is the definition of “doomed to fail.” Rivers isn’t even a full two weeks into his tenure and players are already claiming exhaustion that lingers into games because of intense practice sessions. - Criss Partee Read More

After last year’s insane trade deadline, which featured Kevin Durant being dealt to the Phoenix Suns, this year brought a bunch of smaller, shrewd moves that moved teams into contention. We have tracked the trades and broken them down by time-tested winners and losers rubric to track how the day went on each side of the spectrum. - Lee Escobedo Read More

Somehow, the New York Knicks are MacGyvering their way to the top of the East in a super soldier league in a manner we haven’t seen since the ‘04 Pistons. OG Anunoby’s arrival has fortified Tom Thibodeau’s defense into the NBA’s Fort Knox, and once Mitchell Robinson returns, the paint in Madison Square Garden will be one of the most secure facilities in the world. But Anunoby’s presence is only half of the equation. Reserve point guard Ryan Arcidiacono is Patient Zero doing his part to curb scoring. His 2023-24 lowlight reel is an exhibition of struggle on the same seventh circle of hell as Happy Gilmore on the putting green. - DJ Dunson Read More

Joel Embiid’s departure from the MVP race while he undergoes minor surgery to repair a displaced flap in his meniscus has created a vacancy. His coronation has now become a vastly different two-man heat. With due respect to Luka Doncic’s gaudy numbers, he’ll be a long shot as long as the Dallas Mavericks winning percentage doesn’t match his offensive output. - DJ Dunson Read More

At his introductory press conference on Sept. 22, 2022, Jalen Brunson sat at a podium, decked out in a crisp number 11 New York Knick jersey, and said the following, “I’m not a savior in any way, shape, or form. I just want to be able to contribute to the team.” - Lee Escobedo Read More

No team in recent memory has failed to build around a generational superstar more than the Dallas Mavericks have with Luka Dončić. We are not talking about Anthony Davis in New Orleans. Dončić is a consistent top-five MVP candidate and First-Team All-NBA every season, one of a handful of players of this magnitude, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić. It’s a short list, so if you are lucky enough to have one of those guys, you do everything possible to keep them. Antetokounmpo and Jokić have their championship and look prepared to continue hunting for another. Dončić, meanwhile, appears nowhere close to winning his first, at least not with the Mavs, which is why it’s time to fire head coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison for incompetence. - Lee Escobedo Read More

Please for the love of God stop reading this. The 2024 deadline has absolutely no pulse. Do not confuse the volume of trades made with value. I repeat. Do not confuse the volume of trades made with value. This is the Al Capone’s vault of trade deadlines. Instead of Woj Bombs, Adrian Wojnarowski is dropping trade pellets into the Twitter-sphere. Shams Charania is feeding the masses grains instead of the usual pre-trade deadline beef. NBA GMs need to tip their waiters and information brokers better this trade deadline season - DJ Dunson Read More

Former NBA player Matt Barnes allegedly told a student announcer at his son’s high school basketball game that he would “slap the s—t” of the teen, according to reports. - Mackenzie Meaney Read More

A meniscus injury might be the most dangerous of all knee injuries for the simple fact that it’s not treated like a major knee injury. Reigning MVP Joel Embiid just underwent a procedure to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee, and will be reevaluated in four weeks, but for someone with his history of ailments, the timeline should fall in a gray area, with the Philadelphia 76ers treating their franchise cornerstone with the same kids’ gloves used in the early days of the Process. - Sean Beckwith Read More

Life as Tyrese Maxey has been an auspicious existence. He entered an ideal scenario as an ancillary piece in Philadelphia behind Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and James Harden. He’s been able to grow into his role as the section option, and this season has become Robin to Joel Embiid’s Batman. - DJ Dunson Read More