How does one project the Pelicans season with any sense of certainty? They are either a team with one of the brightest futures in the league or a team bound to be mired in mediocrity, taunted by unfulfilled hope and the too-frequent absence of its best player and cornerstone. Read more »

We've ranked every team's wing corps from 1 to 30 based on the top three wings' production, upside and versatility. Read more »

Despite all the instant glory, there is a stressful cloud of beleaguerment around both Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. It has been a while since fresh superstars stumbled in this way. Read more »

The Celtics finished first in Net Rating ahead of the Cavaliers, who jumped up from 13th last season and 28th as recently as 2021. Read more »

The No. 9 seed Pelicans, largely microwaved at the end of the season through trades and rapid youth project improvements, wouldn't be here without the new format, but now they look like a team that should've belonged in it all along. Read more »

The Suns jumped from 30th in the NBA in Net Rating in 17-18 to 29th to 18th in 19-20 to third last season and first in 21-22. Read more »

Jose Alvarado's measurable impact on the floor may be only marginally positive for the Pelicans, but his presence signifies something more important, which is that good, unexpected basketball things can actually happen in New Orleans. Read more »

Zion Williamson came into the league a physical freak that college players couldn't handle and almost immediately it became apparent that 30-year-old pros didn't know what to do with him either. And now he's something between a myth and a punchline. Read more »

The Jazz jumped from ninth in Net Rating last season to first in 20-21. Read more »

The eight-team play-in zone is all of the following: extra competitive padding, extra competitive pressure, confusing, ephemeral, purgatorial, and a new benchmark for ascendancy. Read more »

It does not appear likely that Isaiah Thomas will be a vital cog on a winning team again, but knowing something and accepting it are two different things. The awareness that all athletic glory is inherently fleeting does make its passing any easier to bear. Read more »

While the Mavericks appear to be the only playoff lock in the division, the Rockets, Spurs, Grizzlies and Pelicans should all at least be in the Play-In mix. Read more »

There are players who come along every decade or so, and they invent a new grammar, sometimes even a new language of basketball. With Zion Williamson, we merely want the time to understand it. Read more »

You can't call what Luka and Zion make basketball fans feel "nostalgia" because a lot of them aren't old enough to have felt anything like it before. They have a complete mastery of not knowing what's going to happen next. Read more »

The reasons the Pelicans have given for restricting Zion Williamson's minutes are not the explanation your basketball-starved brain wants to hear. The sensible option is rarely the fun one. Read more »

Zion Williamson is the star the NBA is most relying upon as it returns to television with the pandemic still raging, peddling a stranger, more austere version of the product its audience is used to. Read more »

We look at the trajectory of every team in the NBA in terms of how they rank in the category. Read more »