The Heat felt like they deserved Damian Lillard; the Bucks acted like they needed him. Is there really any harm in borrowing against your future when the alternative is having no future? 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 »

Damian Lillard positioned himself for years as a small-market loyalty warrior; the last true gun-slinging, ruggedly individualistic cowboy in a bloodless modern world of globalist business mergers otherwise known as "superteams." Read more »

The Nuggets, Heat and Kings were three of the most surprising teams of the 22-23 season with each of them built around playmaking centers that accentuated the strengths of their perimeter scorers and presented riddles that opposing defenses mostly failed to solve. Read more »

It was not foreseeable Miami would defeat the most talented teams in the sport, flaring an unusual ability to find and corner the frightened child within some of the NBA's biggest stars. Read more »

Jimmy Butler and Tom Thibodeau remain linked. Not only because of their overlapping histories, but because of their shared approaches. Now they will do battle in an unexpected series. Read more »

There is a more holistic power Jimmy Butler has access to, involving his fearlessness and his great strategic intelligence but not limited to these things. 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 »

Over what is nearly three decades with the Heat, Pat Riley has turned his overbearing vision for basketball into a company-wide edict, rich with cultish lore and numerous back-texts. Read more »

When Jimmy Butler heaved that doomed, cannoning jumper he saw six or seven games into the future, kissing the trophy and cussing out doubters imagined and real. He lives in that dream perpetually, but it never felt closer at hand. 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 »

Bam Adebayo's instinct not to emerge from the edit booth without a final cut, leaves you wondering what else he's pretty good at that he isn't willing to show us yet, until he's mastered it. Read more »

The advent of protracted trade demands and the play-in tournament and reshuffled lotto odds have conspired to incentivize goodness and punish intentional foulness. The NBA has pushed teams toward respectability. Read more »

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

In a lot of ways the buzzword of "culture" within Miami's ecosystem can also work against Victor Oladipo if he fails in their system. That future max contract might prove to be elusive and slip from his grasp. Read more »

The reason Miami's almost-championship run was inspiring is because it felt like it was entirely a product of their institutional competence. They drafted well and coached guys up. They worked every advantage they had. Read more »

While the Heat hope to return to The Finals, the Wizards, Hawks, Hornets and Magic are in the crowded morass of teams from 7-12 hoping for a spot in the play-in tournament. Read more »