Double build
The three most-excellent teams in the NBA right now – Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder – all built their rosters the same way:
Twice.
Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City each built good teams… then tore them down to get assets used to build their current iterations. The Celtics traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for picks that became Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving for a pick that became Collin Sexton, who was instrumental in trading for Donovan Mitchell. The Thunder traded Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a plethora of picks, including one that became Jalen Williams.
Those head starts combined with the high draft picks that naturally come with rebuilding have put the current top three in such strong positions. Stacking so much young – i.e., cheap – talent also meant they had cap flexibility to make other helpful moves along the way.
The teams didn't necessarily enter this path of their own volition. Kyrie Irving demanded a trade from Cleveland. Paul George asked out of Oklahoma City.
It's even questionable whether the teams were wise to go this route. Maybe the Cavs, if they'd traded the lucrative Brooklyn pick acquired for Irving while they still had LeBron James, would have already won the second championship they're chasing now. It's even conceivable LeBron would've stayed in Cleveland and extended their previous championship window.
But the Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder are undoubtedly in better shape now due to their head starts on rebuilding.
That's tough news for the teams that want to build one era at a time, letting each see its course before pulling the plug. If there's always a rotating cast of double-building teams around the corner, it's tough to compete with a mere single build. In a copycat league, Boston's, Cleveland's and Oklahoma City's success will mean even more teams trying the ambitious double build.
There are already shades of this strategy with two other fast-rising teams. The Rockets got major assets when trading James Harden and Russell Westbrook, though Houston was starting with a fairly bare cupboard from the Harden era. The Spurs traded Kawhi Leonard for a pick that became Keldon Johnson, who was still young while San Antonio got bad enough to get Victor Wembanyama.
So, who will next auction off a good team to jumpstart a rebuild?
The Warriors are the best candidate on paper, but they have (good) sentimental reasons not to trade Stephen Curry. There's often speculation about the Lakers trading Anthony Davis and LeBron James, though that doesn't appear to be how the franchise operates. If the 76ers correctly timed a Joel Embiid trade, they could get a killing, but hard to see them trading Embiid if he gets healthy enough to dominate again (even if another injury is likely around the corner). The Suns and Bucks would be starting from a place of depleted long-term assets, but they have players good enough to yield incredible returns.
A catch of the strategy: It has either been shocking or, initially, forced upon a team. Teams don't usually choose to rebuild while still good.
But given Boston's, Cleveland's and Oklahoma City's success now, the appeal is glaring.
As we've left the super-team era for parity and questions of what's happening and what's next, maybe we're entering the double-build era.
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic:
“Anyone who thinks I’m OK being on an average basketball team is insane.”
The Warriors are 20-20. Curry just publicly came out against the Warriors mortgaging their future after his retirement if it means pushing too hard for help now. That sounds a lot like accepting being on an average basketball team.
Curry is – clumsily – trying to figure it out. Like many successful athletes, his motivation starts within. If his team isn't succeeding, he primarily puts it on himself to do better. And for much of his career, that has worked. If Curry played like a superstar, the Warriors had a championship-level supporting cast around him.
That is no longer the case.
Curry doesn't seem like the type who wants to campaign hard to management. That's fine. But that also means accepting this average basketball team.
I also believe Curry is still hungry to win at a higher level. But that might mean doing the uncomfortable act of applying pressure on management to prioritize his remaining prime.
Unlike earlier in his career, Curry probably can't just do his part, sit back and win big. He must decide what he's willing to compromise.
Clippers-Nets
Sometimes, a team just doesn't have it, and it's clear quickly. That wasn't the case for the Nets last night. They didn't look great, but they were tied with the Clippers 21-21 after the first quarter.
Final score: L.A. 126, Brooklyn 67!
The Clippers' 59-point advantage in quarters 2-4 is the largest in NBA history.
The previous record was 58 – by the Grizzlies in a 73-point win over the Thunder in 2021 and Cavaliers in a 68-point win over the Heat in 1991. AKA the two most-lopsided games in NBA history.
The Clippers looked that dominant for a long stretch yesterday. From the early second quarter until the trashiest moments of garbage time, they went on a 100-34 extended run!
On the other hand, Brooklyn's 67 points are the fewest any team has scored in a game since 2016 (Dallas' 80-64 loss to Memphis).
Chris Paul
Fun example of Chris Paul's basketball intelligence last night: 7-foot-4 Grizzlies center Zach Edey had the ball on the ground, and the 6-foot Paul nearly tied him up. But with 7-foot-3 teammate Victor Wembanyama nearby, Paul pulled away from Edey before the whistle could blow and literally pulled Wembanyama's hand down to the ball until officials ruled play dead.
Wembanyama won the ensuing jump ball.
Though the Spurs lost, 129-115.
LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball has increased his lead in All-Star fan voting to 354,763 votes over other Eastern Conference guards.
Ball will probably steal an All-Star berth. It's not a lock he starts. Media and player voting – which each count 25% to fans' 50% – could knock him out. It's also not certain he'd get bypassed as a reserve if not a starter.
But he'll probably start, and he probably wouldn't have been an All-Star otherwise.
Which would mean another Eastern Conference player gets snubbed.
Luka Doncic
Ahead in the initial posted returns, Luka Doncic fell further behind Stephen Curry for second among Western Conference guards (behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) in All-Star fan voting. Doncic now trails Curry by 114,220 votes (up from 25,160 last week).
Out injured, Doncic probably won't reverse the trend. Hard to see media voting for someone out since Christmas, either. Which would likely end Doncic's streak of All-Star selections at five, each year since he was a rookie.
He might still make it as a reserve. He's clearly one of the 12 best players in the West. By the end of the season – even docking him for time missed – he might have even had one of the best 12 seasons in the West.
But his best path to being an All-Star is overtaking Curry in fan voting, which now looks increasingly unlikely.
All-Star voting
Full All-Star voting leaderboard:
LeBron passed Kevin Durant for second among Western Conference frontcourt players (behind Nikola Jokic).
Doesn't really matter. Both LeBron and Durant will be All-Stars. All-Star or not is the only distinction that counts 10 minutes after the teams are named.
But this makes it more likely LeBron starts, as he has for all 20 of his All-Star games. It's also a small ego boost for LeBron, who led the league in All-Star fan voting every year since Kobe Bryant retired in 2016 until last year, when LeBron finished second to Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Joel Embiid
The Ringer released its new list of the top 100 players in the NBA.
Joel Embiid feels way too low at No. 41, behind players like James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Derrick White. Embiid obviously provides no value when injured, and even when on the court this season, he hasn't been nearly as dominant as hoped. But what a drop!
Embiid was No. 22 last month. Even when Embiid was No. 9 in November, Michael Pina wrote, "The only direction Embiid can go from here is up."
Turns out, there was far more room than expected for Embiid to fall. Yet, this drop seems too steep. Embiid doesn't appear that far from playing like a superstar for at least stretches.
But arguing about these lists are the fun.
East-West
14 of the top 21 players in The Ringer 100 are in the West.
You can disagree with some of the rankings. But the fundamental issue that will become glaring in the coming weeks: The bar to make the All-Star team is significantly lower in the East. Some better players will get left out in the West as marginal East players get in.
All for an All-Star format that is no longer East vs. West!
Unlike with 1-16 playoff seeding, there is more room for variability in where the league's top players reside. The moment the divide approaches even, the NBA should push for a permanent rule no longer using conference designations for picking All-Stars in years when All-Star isn't East vs. West.
Heat Culture
In the midst of the Jimmy Butler fiasco… Miami will no longer wear its Heat Culture jerseys.
As Ira Winderman of the South Florida SunSentinel covers, this was planned years in advance. The Heat wisely want to wear their Miami Vice uniforms.
But the timing is funny.
I do believe Heat Culture is real. I also believe Miami has made a mess in bending its rules for Butler then trying to reign him back in lately, making this a poor time to show off Heat Culture.
But, mostly, I just believe those Heat Culture jerseys were ugly.
-Dan Feldman