The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Even with a sample size of exactly one game, there are meaningful takeaways. Here’s what we learned about the Bucks, Nets, Lakers and Warriors on Opening Night. The Bucks
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The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NBA preseason is officially underway and even a sample size of a single game we’re already seeing some rookies showing out against the increased level of competition and
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. In general, I tend to shy away from making preseason predictions about the NBA. I have no reason to think my insight or analysis is any more prescient than
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NBA preseason officially got underway Sunday with two championship favorites — the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers — facing off. It’s tough to draw too many meaningful
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The WNBA playoffs kicked off last night with a pair of single-elimination games. The Chicago Sky pounding the Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury barely survived without Diana Taurasi
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Ben Simmons (or someone in his camp) delivered another emphatic message to the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday through ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, saying he would never play another game for the
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. J.J. Redick, who announced his retirement Tuesday morning after 15 NBA seasons, will be remembered first and foremost as a shooter. His 41.5 career 3-point percentage is the sixth-best
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. I have to admit, I am fascinated by Basketball-Reference’s Hall-of-Fame probability model. If you’re not familiar with it, the model uses several key stats to measure the likelihood of
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The dwindling offseason was hit one with one more ripple when it was announced that John Wall and the Houston Rockets were working together to find a trade for
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Isaac Okoro is overshadowed by the depth of young talent on the Cavaliers roster, especially after an extremely active offseason for the team. But figuring out how to help
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Every NBA fan has their own formative players, not just the ones they loved or admired but the ones who opened their eyes to what basketball could be. Chris
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. This summer, Damian Lillard has repeatedly stated his commitment to winning with the Portland Trail Blazers but the obvious elephant in the room is the roster around him. The
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Tyrese Maxey burst out of the gate as a rookie, soaking up minutes as the Philadelphia 76ers tried to assemble a full roster around quarantines and COVID protocols early
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. On Wednesday, it was announced that the Memphis Grizzlies have planned jersey retirement ceremonies this season for both Tony Allen and Zach Randolph. These two jersey retirements, and the
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Damian Lillard is committed to the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s been repeating this fact for months, using different words and different degrees of intensity but the core message has
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Giannis is far from the first NBA player to add fluidity to the positional spectrum with a special composite of size and skill. Big men shooting 3-pointers had long
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The frantic rush of free-agent signings from the beginning of this month has given way to a steady progression of major contract extensions. Earlier this week Joel Embiid and
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. I happened to catch my first glimpse of statistical win projections for the 2021-22 season this morning, thanks to Kosta Medvedovsky and his DARKO system. There weren’t a ton
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. For 13 seasons, Russell Westbrook has been an object of endless fascination for NBA fans — his personality, his fire, his athleticism, his style of play, his stats, his
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Winning the NBA Summer League title isn’t the most prestigious honor but the Sacramento Kings, in the midst of a 15-year playoff drought, are probably thrilled to have won
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. This morning ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne broke the news that the Philadelphia 76ers were signing Joel Embiid to a four-year, $196 million supermax extension. Among the reported details — the
This Lakers roster is loaded with former All-Stars. When would this group have been at its hypothetical best and what does it mean for their championship hopes this year? In terms of historic accolades, the current Los Angeles Lakers roster is loaded. With the offseason additions of Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Russell Westbrook, they
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Los Angeles Clippers made the biggest move of their offseason on Sunday, sending Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Daniel Oturu to the Memphis Grizzlies for Eric Bledsoe (who
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The list of available NBA free agents has shrunk quickly. Kawhi Leonard is still out there but almost certainly going back to the Clippers. Dennis Schroder has solid numbers
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. NBA Summer League is our first real look at rookies against NBA-level(ish) competition, and there are a lot of ways they can impress. Some rookies generate buzz simply by
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. According to a Sunday story by Derek Bodner of The Athletic, for the 76ers “the goal is less to trade Ben Simmons and more to acquire Damian Lillard.” It’s a
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Los Angeles Lakers started the NBA Draft chaos early, agreeing in principle to a trade for Russell Westbrook before the draft even started. The deal would send Montrezl
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Over the next few weeks, NBA Draft picks will be made and dozens of players will be changing teams. But which potential moves will have the biggest effect on
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NBA Finals are rapidly approaching but much of the rest of the league is already focused on the offseason and building fantasy blockbuster trades. The Warriors are reportedly
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NBA Draft Lottery will be held tonight and if you’re anything like me you’ve probably spent a lot of time over the past week staring at the odds.
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Gerald Bourguet has more on the Suns’ Game 1 victory over the Nuggets from a Phoenix perspective but I think it’s worth highlighting again, just how much Denver is
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Mavericks have apparently settled on Jason Kidd as their next head coach. Setting aside the issue of an organization trying to repair a culture of unaccountability and sexual
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers saw their seasons come to discouraging ends on Thursday night. For the Lakers, an extended run of horrible injury luck
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. In yesterday’s edition of The Whiteboard, I mentioned how defensive matchups were fascinating variables to watch in Tuesday night’s games and it absolutely worked out. The 76ers made a
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Things seem to be going south in a hurry for the Indiana Pacers. On Tuesday, after an 11-7 start, they’ve gone 19-28 teetering on the edge of missing the
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Spurs have had some incredible offensive performances under Gregg Popovich but nothing tops last night’s 146-125 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. At an offensive rating of 142.3 points
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Western Conference play-in games kick off tonight with the Grizzlies and Spurs starting at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Warriors and Lakers at 10:00 p.m. ET. Whoever wins
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The NBA’s play-in tournament kicks off Tuesday and every team will need stars and role players to come up big. Here’s the secret weapon each team will count on.
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. If you think you’re tired of the LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan, GOAT argument, imagine being a retired NBA player. As your immediate relevancy fades, all you have is
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. DeMar DeRozan is 31 years old, what would typically be the end of a player’s athletic prime. He hasn’t made an All-Star team in the three years since he
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Oklahoma City Thunder have largely been overshadowed this season. Their brief offseason was highlighted by the departure of Chris Paul and additions to their absurd war chest of
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Defending Zion Williamson is, increasingly, becoming one of the most complex strategic challenges in the NBA. His size, agility and touch around the basket give him at least one
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Matchups are key in any playoff series but, as we saw Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets might present the most interesting array of possibilities in the Eastern
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Nikola Jokic is in the midst of a remarkable, MVP-worthy season. His numbers have been impeccable and he’s even helped keep the Denver Nuggets afloat since Jamal Murray went