Deandre Ayton's ceiling is somewhat fixed, due to work ethic, disposition, or the fact that his skills are more alluring than applicable. Read more »
Colin McGowan - Basketball Analysis
The Inherent Professional Advantage Of Deandre Ayton
Ricky Rubio's New Start
Ricky Rubio seemed, as the passage of time compresses the finer details, like he was always peaking brilliantly or in the midst of a lull from which he might never emerge, but he was also a consistent presence. Read more »
The Only Substantial Hope For The Pistons
For now the Pistons have Cade Cunningham, ambling forth from the horizon, more sharply defined with each step. He is at a wonderful basketball age, where he's proven some but can still, maybe, do a lot more. Read more »
The NBA's Most Decorated Bully Has No Reason To Change
Draymond Green appears to believe that his whole act is a net positive. He's probably right about that, but it's been a point of debate not just in the press over the years but within the Warriors organization. Read more »
Chris Paul's Shameless And Brave Time With Golden State
It still feels strange that Chris Paul has allowed himself to choose the Warriors. It speaks to both to his desperation and his competitiveness. Read more »
The NBPA's Supine Pose In A Time Where The Labor Movement Is Coming Back
Executives and owners exert near-total control over younger players, and mature stars exert near-total control over teams. Read more »
Michael Jordan Could No Longer Channel His Prior Greatness
Michael Jordan seemed to regard the Hornets as a kind of investment or endorsement deal, lending your clout to a line a workout equipment you don't use. Read more »
The NBA's Most Talented Also-Ran
James Harden's options are trying to win a title with the Sixers or semi-retirement back in Houston. It's assumed the former path will be roughly as consequential as the former. Read more »
A Pastless And Futureless State
You wonder if, given the choice, LeBron James would transform into his younger self. It would improve his championship odds, but his total understanding of the sport would diminish. Read more »
The NBA MVP And The Eternal Rearranging Of Lists
With intelligence and perspective, we've dulled our pleasure centers and curbed our ability to produce meaning for ourselves. Read more »
The Lottery Pick Gleam Still On Kris Dunn
We are not making it all up in our heads, thinking well of Kris Dunn because we want to: he has real talents to bring, and a body that for the time being will allow him to use them. Read more »
You Partially Remember, Or Not At All
There's been a discussion, both lately and near-constantly over the past seven or eight years, about how carefully the minutes of most NBA stars are managed. Your experience watching these games, or not, exists beyond the plane of problems and solutions. Read more »
Cavs Remain More Cute Than Contender, For Now
Against the transformation of Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs are broadly unsettled. This is mostly a good thing. Read more »
The Distinct Experience Watching The Raptors
The Raptors play in a way that emphasizes their length. They appear in your imagination as a mass of adolescent sycamores with limbs like an interstate highway system. Read more »
Kyrie Irving Provides Nothing To Engage With Beyond The Initial Provocation
It is immensely sad and angering when rich and famous people poison the cultural water supply because they are bored, or unwell, or the morphine drip of public attention has slowed, and they are itching for engagement. Read more »
The Limits Of NBA Media Day
This is the time when everything is happily, vaguely defined. Read more »
Donovan Mitchell Playing At Superstardom Or Homecoming Hero
What Donovan Mitchell is seeking, beyond the experience of living and working in a massive media capital, is not personal growth so much as to be glimpsed from a fresh angle. Read more »
Kevin Durant Will Never Resolve All The Contradictions He's Accrued
Kevin Durant is fickle and shortsighted and a little bit tragic, the second-best player of his generation searching in vain for a single achievement that will certify him, in some cosmic sense. Maybe fleeing to Boston is the least imperfect solution. Read more »
Bradley Beal Has Become The Anomaly Of The Player Empowerment Era
Bradley Beal might be happier, or at least less dogged by criticism, in the league Kevin Garnett was drafted into, where it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for him to cash gigantic checks from a middling-to-awful franchise in perpetuity. Read more »
When Miami's Dream Flickered Into Delusion And Went Dark
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 »
Basketball Analysis RSS Feed