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Muggsy Bogues turns 61 today! He’s 5-foot-3 and managed to have a really good, 14-year career in the NBA. He was a legend on maybe the greatest high school team ever. He was a great college player at Wake Forest. His career highlights are a fun time on YouTube. And he had a hilarious cameo on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (not suitable for work!). Happy birthday to one of my all-time favorites!
Not done dealing?
Could Hawks trade for AD?
In discussions with some media members and people around the league over the last week or so, they always questioned the Hawks’ involvement in Anthony Davis rumors. On the surface, it seemed like a no-brainer to pair a guard like Trae Young and a big man like AD from a basketball standpoint. Young can perfectly execute pick-and-roll plays with a scorer like Davis, and Davis could help cover up for Young’s defensive issues (mostly playing defense at all).
And yet, there was hesitancy in accepting the idea of pairing the two. Why? Because stacking two contracts on unreliable players (for very different reasons) just doesn’t make sense in this Second Apron Era. Unfortunately, that’s the state of roster construction in today’s NBA. You can have multiple max players, but you need to be certain those guys are the right investments.
Davis simply doesn’t stay on the court. He’s played in just 29 of the 71 Mavericks games since he was traded to Dallas. Young hasn’t been reliable on the court outside of putting up empty numbers. His teams have underperformed, regardless of the coach or players surrounding him. Some of that isn’t his fault, but the Hawks had clearly run their course with the four-time All-Star. Locking up $100 million per season in these two without feeling certain it would work just couldn’t be risked.
Now that Young has been moved to the Wizards, the Hawks don’t have any massive contracts on their books. Jalen Johnson is on one of the best non-rookie contracts in the NBA, making $120 million over the next four years with no options. The 24-year-old’s production over the last season and a half has made this a great deal. It also allows the Hawks to invest in one or two max-contract players to pair with Johnson.
Davis could be one of those players. AD makes $54 million this season and $58.4 million next season, and he has a player option for $62.7 million in 2027-28. I think you can argue it’s easier for the Hawks to pursue Davis in a trade now that Young is gone. The tricky part is figuring out the structure of the deal, and what the Mavericks would be looking for in return.
Obviously, Johnson is off the board, and the Hawks aren’t trading the 2026 Pelicans’ unprotected first-round pick. Maybe they would have for AD four years ago. Not for this version. Here are two potential structures for an AD deal to Atlanta, if there isn’t a third team involved.
Option 1: Davis to Atlanta | Kristaps Porziņģis, Luke Kennard and N’Faly Dante to Dallas
Option 2: Davis to Atlanta | Kristaps Porziņģis and Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas
The problem with the first option is roster spots for Dallas. They’re full with 15 guaranteed deals, and they’re going to have to convert Ryan Nembhard from a two-way to a regular contract soon-ish. So they probably would need to find a third team and then reroute by giving up second-round picks? I’m assuming they’re getting at least a first-round pick from Atlanta here. Maybe that’s Cleveland’s 2026 first-round pick that’s owed to the Hawks?
Other than the draft pick, I’m not sure why Dallas would do that deal. Unless it would be to help ensure its own first-rounder is as high as possible via some light tanking.
The second option is currently the sticking point with any Atlanta and Dallas discussions. The Hawks don’t want to give up the 2024 No. 1 pick. Risacher has shown flashes and has value. But all of this could change as we get closer to the Feb. 5 deadline. It still feels like this Davis-to-Atlanta thing could still very much happen. If Atlanta is going to get AD, it definitely doesn’t want to wait until a potential bidding war breaks out.
The last 24
🦵 Just for kicks. Remember when Victor Wembanyama kicked those balls out of the basket this week? There’s a wild story behind the viral moment.
🏀 Game postponed. The Bulls and Heat were not able to play last night. Humidity made the floor wet.
🔐 Work stoppage? The WNBA labor negotiations are not going smoothly. Could we have a lockout or strike?
🙏 One year later. It’s been one year since the L.A. wildfires took so many homes. JJ Redick reflects on the losses.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Hate of Facts?
Isiah won’t let his grudge with MJ go
The Michael Jordan-Isiah Thomas beef is never going away. It’s been so ingrained in NBA culture for decades that I’m not sure The Bounce Beef Court is even allowed to preside over it. They battled in the ’80s before Jordan eventually ended Thomas’ Pistons in the ’90s. In the process, so many people kind of forget that Detroit ruled basketball for a couple of years between the Lakers-Celtics stuff of the ’80s and the Chicago Bulls’ dominance of the ’90s.
Recently, Thomas decided to keep adding as many shots at Jordan as he can possibly offer. He went on “Run It Back” with Michelle Beadle, DeMarcus Cousins and Chandler Parsons. Thomas started going in on Parsons’ and Cousins’ generation of players for not pumping up their generation of ballers enough. The reason? Maybe Thomas wants more praise for LeBron James. Or maybe, he’s just trying to get at Jordan this way because he knows how it’ll affect him and the Jordan fans out there. Maybe both.
“You guys are playing with arguably the greatest player to ever play. And excuse me when I say this, but y’all treat him like he ain’t nothing. Instead of pumping y’all era up, y’all go back and say, ‘Our era was the greatest. Nobody can ever be better than Michael Jordan, right?’ OK. Then you turn around, but in your era, LeBron James is sitting there; he holding every single basketball record. I mean, every single one of them. And you’re looking at a Kevin Durant, and you’re looking at a Steph Curry. But then when y’all say who’s the greatest, y’all talk about the guy who gave you some shoes and gave you some warmups.”
Excuse me, Mr. Thomas. “The guy who gave you some shoes and gave you some warmups?”
That is pure, uncut hatred. Plain and simple. It’s so dismissive. It’s so petty. It’s so beautiful in terms of hating on someone. And I don’t mean that in the bastardized internet way where because you don’t 100 percent love and support something that it must mean you hate it. I mean, Thomas is flat-out hating on Jordan three-plus decades after their stuff went down with Bulls-Pistons, passing the torch (or lack thereof) and the 1992 Dream Team debacle. But Zeke continued when Beadle said she’s not changing her mind:
“Here’s what will make you change your mind or, at least, critically think about. I’m a historian of the game. I’m not a hater. When I speak facts, people think it’s hate. In no sports category — when we talk about track, when we talk about tennis, when we talk about football, baseball — arguably the best players or athletes in those sports, they hold the world records. I know we talk about Jordan, but he leads in no statistical basketball categories. But yet, we say there’s an argument about him being the best. Then when you look at Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and you look at LeBron, those guys lead in several statistical categories, but yet we say somebody else is better. I’m just giving you the evidence.”
I dug into this deeper in a colum for The Athletic, but let me offer a couple points of rebuttal:
That’s not how tennis, football or baseball work in the slightest.
That is how it works with track, though. Usain Bolt is the GOAT.
Jordan has the most NBA Finals MVP awards ever.
Jordan has the highest scoring average for a career.
Jordan has the highest playoff scoring average for a career.
Thomas is just here to needle the legacy of Jordan as much as he can. To chip away at the stranglehold he has on basketball history. It’s a good effort. It’s fine trolling. And LeBron and Kareem are absolutely in the conversation for best ever. Except you can’t say something is a fact, when the criteria you drop is merely opinion (and inaccurate opinion at that). Please don’t stop doing it, though. It’s tremendous theater.
About last night
Wolves have been feasting since Thanksgiving
Last night, the Timberwolves hosted the Cavaliers. In the first couple weeks of the season, this was a guaranteed loss for the Wolves. They lost their first seven games against teams with a .500-or-better record. They kept giving games away, especially when opponents put pressure on them late. But after taking out the Cavs 131-122, they’ve officially bucked that trend.
Minnesota had four different starters (Julius Randle with 28, Jaden McDaniels with 26, Anthony Edwards with 25 and Donte DiVincenzo with 22) score in the 20s. (Edwards also became the third-youngest player to reach 10,000 NBA points.) And even though they went just 9-of-17 from the free-throw line, the Wolves lit up the Cavs for 20 made 3-pointers.
They’ve now won eight of their last 10 against non-losing teams. And since Thanksgiving, Minnesota has the best record in the NBA at 15-5. It’s also top-five in offense, defense and net rating during this stretch. Nobody else can say that.
The Timberwolves (25-13) have won four straight and are a half-game behind Denver for the third spot in the West. San Antonio and the second spot are just one game away. The Wolves are officially back.
Pacers 114, Hornets 112: Rick Carlisle had to wait a month to go from 999 wins to 1,000 victories, but the Pacers (7-31) snapped their 13-game losing streak. Pascal Siakam had 30 points and 14 rebounds, TJ McConnell had 23 off the bench, and Jay Huff added to his league-leading block total with three more rejections. LaMelo Ball came off the bench for 33 points for Charlotte (13-25).
Jazz 116, Mavs 114: Lauri Markkanen had 33 points, and the Jazz (13-24) scored 25 points off 21 turnovers from Dallas (14-24). Cooper Flagg had 26 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in the loss
