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In case you missed it, Kevin Durant and Ja Morant’s father, Tee, participated in some fun trash talk the other night. KD likely won (not just the game) by saying, “Your son don’t wanna be here. We know it’s your last weekend. Enjoy your time!”
Don’t sit down
Nuggets go stale when Big Honey sits
Managing minutes and knowing when to give your best player some rest has to be one of the toughest parts of coaching. Never getting too emotional or caught up in certain runs happening against you while they’re sitting on the bench. Finding a balance that you and your coaching staff believe in, and then sticking to it as best you can.
Ever since Nikola Jokić became the focal point for the Denver Nuggets, they’ve struggled with the minutes he’s off the floor. Surviving the non-Jokić minutes has been a focal point for fans, media and the Nuggets themselves. They have not had a real backup center, so removing the best player in the world from the floor for even a few minutes here and there could do real damage to the scoreboard.
Last year, for example, the Nuggets were outscored by 9.3 points per 100 possessions when Jokić was out of the game. They dominated their opponents by 10.5 points per 100 possessions when Big Honey was in the game. That’s a massive flip in the energy. That problem was supposed to be solved this season with the addition of Jonas Valanciunas as his backup center. But things are still looking rough when Jokić is on the bench.
These are the biggest swings for teams when their “best player” is sitting. (Two caveats: 1. Yes, the “best player” can be subjective, but I’ve made the call here. 2. On/off net rating is not a perfect measure by any means, but it’s a decent snapshot into the effect we’re seeing.)
Jokić is still the biggest absence, and the numbers are even more dramatic than what we saw last season. There is still plenty of season to be had and a lot of comfort the Nuggets can find with Valanciunas, but the dropoff of 29.1 points per 100 possessions is beyond dramatic with the Nuggets trying to get Jokić just 13 minutes of rest every game.
Maybe the biggest surprise of this list for me was the difference between the Cleveland Cavaliers with and without Donovan Mitchell on the floor. Some of this is likely due to Darius Garland just getting back for his first game of the season. Ty Jerome is gone too. The Cavs have been awful without Mitchell in the game.
Because the Houston Rockets still run everything through Alperen Şengün, I went with him over Kevin Durant. Also, there was a massive difference with and without him on the court. Same thing for James Harden and the LA Clippers, even though Kawhi Leonard is the best player. The Clippers run everything through Harden, and that difference is way bigger for The Beard. They can’t get anything going without Harden on the floor.
The two I felt the worst for are Pascal Siakam in Indiana and Lauri Markkanen in Utah. It’s bad with them on the court, and it’s unbelievably noncompetitive without them on the court. All of these teams need to find better ways to survive without their star on the floor, but the non-Jokić minutes are eternally dreadful, it appears.
The last 24
LeBron will be back soon
👑 LeReturn? LeBron James has been cleared for basketball activities. He could be back in 1-2 weeks.
🐂 Best getting better. The Bulls are leading the East at 6-1. They’re about to get Coby White back in the lineup.
👽 Please respond. The league is getting better at defending Victor Wembanyama. How is he going to ruin that?
🏀 Gambling scandal. Damon Jones is one of three NBA figures involved in the alleged scandals. He just pleaded not guilty.
🏀 What’s next? A lot of freshmen had incredible college basketball debuts this past week. How can they improve on those performances?
🏀 Rosters are here. The Unrivaled League has put out its 2026 rosters. Paige Bueckers is on the expansion squad.
🎧 Tuning in: The latest “NBA Daily” asks: Are the Mavericks mishandling Cooper Flagg?
NBA Cupdate
No, seriously, the Cup has already started
I want to believe that Game 6 of the World Series last Friday is the reason a good chunk of the basketball-watching world didn’t know the NBA Cup had started. I had friends who are pretty big basketball nerds earnestly ask me if the NBA Cup had already begun by Sunday or Monday. I had people asking me exactly how it works, for the third straight year. I saw people wondering, “What’s up with those courts?” on Friday when they did see NBA action.
We even joked internally that it might be worth reminding people that the NBA Cup is happening and giving a quick refresher course on how it works. I feel like a few of us are working with the NBA trying to make “fetch” happen right now. But, again, I’m hoping it’s just that one of the best World Series of all time distracted everybody. Quick refresher of the situation:
Group-play games: Every Friday through Nov. 28. Also Nov. 25 and 26.
It already started: This is our second week of group play. We’ll update you below.
NBA Cup courts: Yes, they’re serious with these designs.
Group size: The East has three groups of five. The West has three groups of five.
Games: You play each team in your group once.
Advancing: Best record in the group moves to single-elimination. Head-to-head is the tiebreaker for the winning group.
Wild card: One team in each conference will advance as the wild card.
Tiebreakers for wild card: Point differential, then points scored, then 2024-25 season record, then random draw.
Let’s check in on how each group currently fares:
East Group A: Hawks 1-0 (+20), Raptors 1-0 (+11), Wizards 0-0, Cavs 0-1 (-11), Pacers 0-1 (-20).
Takeaway: Cleveland might have screwed this up already.
East Group B: Celtics 1-0 (+1), Pistons 0-0, Magic 0-0, Nets 0-0, 76ers 0-1 (-1).
Takeaway: It’s anybody’s group still.
East Group C: Bulls 1-0 (+10), Bucks 0-0, Heat 0-0, Hornets 0-0, Knicks 0-1 (-10).
Takeaway: The Bulls put the Knicks on wild-card patrol.
West Group A: Suns 1-0 (+22), Thunder 0-0, Wolves 0-0, Kings 0-0, Jazz 0-1 (-22).
Takeaway: As we all expected, the Suns are in the driver’s seat.
West Group B: Lakers 1-0 (+5), Clippers 1-0 (+2), Mavs 0-0, Pelicans 0-1 (-2), Grizzlies 0-1 (-5).
Takeaway: The NBA Cup is the new Battle for Los Angeles.
West Group C: Blazers 1-0 (+2), Rockets 0-0, Warriors 0-0, Spurs 0-0, Nuggets 0-1 (-2).
Takeaway: A little shocked to see the Nuggets at the bottom already.
We’ve got 11 games tonight in the NBA Cup. Get prepared for the different courts and the potential for someone running up the score. It’s allowed in these games!
A tale of two teams
Suns and Clippers going for it very differently
We only had one game in the NBA last night, between the LA Clippers and the Phoenix Suns. Even a year ago, this would have been a pretty exciting matchup. As we are nearly done with 2025, that matchup no longer has the same zhuzh we would hope to expect from these two teams. The Suns (4-5) lit up the Clippers (3-5) 115-102 in Jalen Green’s Phoenix debut. He had 29 points. And the Suns took advantage of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden sitting out.
These two franchises are fascinating. Neither team has ever won a championship. Both franchises have new-ish owners, with Steve Ballmer buying the Clips in 2014 and Mat Ishbia buying the Suns in 2022. Both owners are highly enthusiastic to make their teams winners, but Ballmer is definitely far more measured in how he goes about that. Aggressive but measured.
Ballmer is willing to risk big swings, but he never completely sells out his front office with demanding moves. Even the trade for Paul George, which was considered a lot at the time, seemed worth the price if you believe it’s how they landed Kawhi Leonard in free agency. It didn’t work out, but the logic behind it existed. And since then, the Clippers have found ways to navigate the new CBA by making tough decisions and opting for depth over retaining PG at a high salary.
Ishbia? Well … he’s aggressive and unmeasured. Since his purchase, the team has had four coaches in four years, along with a massive trade for Kevin Durant and a trade giving away Kevin Durant. He laughed in the face of the new CBA, risking it all to bring in Bradley Beal to pair with KD and Devin Booker. It led to zero playoff wins and $19.3 million of dead cap money in each of the next five years just to waive Beal. The shooting guard promptly signed with the Clippers, funny enough.
Ishbia has his franchise doing trapeze routines with no safety net and a greased-up bar, proudly claiming a new culture set by him will guarantee flips that Suns fans will be proud to pay for. He’s loud online, which has been done before by owners for other teams. But he’s openly challenging anyone who can see his team just isn’t good enough and doesn’t show much promise.
Ballmer rarely speaks unless it’s a carefully curated news conference. He decided recently to address the allegations of cap circumvention on television, and it was a disaster. It’s a lesson learned rather than constantly trying to catch a spilling pot of chili in your hands.
The Clippers and Suns are still trying to figure out the right formula. LA has a much better approach to it, even though there’s no guarantee the Clippers can even get out of the first round of the playoffs. Phoenix is trying to make sure Booker is happy while also proclaiming that everybody is very happy with their five-year plan. Ultimately, ownership is the great equalizer in this league. It’s almost impossible to overcome bad ownership, and proper ownership will often find a way.
Both good and bad, it’ll be fascinating to see what the next step is for both franchises as they continue to build toward what they believe a championship team looks like. As of now, neither is any closer than when their new owners took over.
