The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.
Here’s your monthly reminder that it’s dumb to have “take fouls” and flagrant fouls but also allow teams to intentionally foul when they’re leading by three points, just so the other team can’t attempt a 3-pointer to tie it. Nobody wants to watch basketball that resembles finding obscure deductions with a computer program. We want to see potential game-tying shots go into the air.
Tanking Tuesday
Who’ll round out the top five in the 2026 draft?
Here on Tanking Tuesday, we like to set the stage for what should be a very enticing, exciting and entertaining 2026 NBA Draft. We have a loaded draft class at the top, which will have plenty of mediocre teams wondering how bad they should become in the second half of the season to give themselves the best chance at securing a potential franchise guy.
Unfortunately, Darryn Peterson has missed all but two games for Kansas with a hamstring injury, so we won’t update him or his season here. But he’s still projected as a top-three pick, and his game has scouts and executives drooling over the scoring guard’s possibilities. We’ll focus on two of the other top guys we know and who else might round out the top-five picks. At least as of right now.
AJ Dybantsa | BYU | 6-foot-9 | Wing | Freshman
The numbers may not blow you away, but Dybantsa has really shown improvement early on. As Sam Vecenie wrote, BYU is helping him out by putting shooters next to him, and he’s finding some good driving lanes. A more aggressive Dybantsa has a lot of potential for different ways to score. He can exploit mismatches in the post. He’s blowing past defenders who think he’ll pull up for a jumper. He’s also getting to the free-throw line a lot more.
He had 13 total free throws in his first three games. He has 22 attempts in his last two. He’s not shooting the 3 much, and he’s not passing (11 assists, nine turnovers in five games) a lot. But he’s exploring what he can and should do as a scorer.
Cameron Boozer | Duke | 6-8 | Power forward | Freshman
The key to Boozer’s success at the next level will be his versatility. He’s been all over the place with his scoring in his seven games as a Duke Blue Devil. That’s not a bad thing. I’d like to see him utilize his strength more by forcing teams into fouls and getting to the free-throw line.
Where I’m impressed: He’s proving he can shoot some from the outside (10-of-27 from deep), and he’s moving the ball without turning it over. He has 28 assists and seven turnovers in seven games. That’s a tidy 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Playmaking and stretching the floor will be huge for his NBA value.
Nate Ament | Tennessee | 6-10 | Forward | Freshman
Ament has the potential to be a more reliable scoring version of Jaden McDaniels. His wingspan and reach are incredible, and he’s very active defensively. He could guard one through four at the NBA level, and while the jumper isn’t falling yet (6-of-24 from 3), his shot looks workable.
I like how much Ament is getting to the free-throw line. He’s already taken 43 free throws in five games, and he’s still trying to figure out how to utilize his size advantage.
Mikel Brown Jr. | Louisville | 6-4 | Guard | Freshman
Much like Will Ferrell with a cowbell, Brown is really exploring the space with his offensive game in the early stages of his college career. We’re seeing good playmaking out of him with 33 assists in five games. The turnovers (17) are higher than you’d want, but I don’t mind young guards figuring out what they can and can’t do in that respect. He’s a better shooter than his 32.4 percent on 3-pointers shows.
He has a great pace. He’s crafty around the rim. And he can drop a pocket pass to a rolling big. I don’t know if he’s definitely in the top five come June, but he’s building a case.
The last 24
Is there any answer for the NBA injury epidemic?
💉 Anatomy lessons? NBA stars continue to suffer injuries. Our David Aldridge wonders if the league cares enough to look deep for solutions.
🏀 Another injury. Wizards rookie Tre Johnson hurt his hip flexor. He could be out 2 to 4 weeks.
🧑⚖️ Rich people problems? A lawsuit has been filed against Suns owner Mat Ishbia. Minority owners say he treated the team like his “personal piggy bank.”
🏀 Gambling scandal update. Blazers coach Chauncey Billups appeared in federal court yesterday. He pleaded not guilty to two conspiracy charges. Speaking of which, here’s a detailed look at the main figures connected to the federal betting investigation.
📈 Thankfulness on the rise. Law Murray has the latest NBA Power Rankings. And it includes everything teams are thankful for.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Schedule validity
Which teams have inflated their records so far?
We are about one month into the 2025-26 season, and we’re still trying to figure out if some teams are serious or not. It feels like a lot of teams have been beating up on weak competition, and it’s causing people to question whether they’re legitimate. And “strength of schedule” usually gets thrown around quite a bit when we don’t believe in a team’s early success.
I figured with so many teams making us scratch our heads that it wouldn’t hurt to do an early-season record audit. We looked at all 30 teams with their records against below-.500 teams and also against teams that are .500 or better. There seems to be quite the imbalance for several teams already, but you can also only play whom the schedule-makers put in front of you in the first month. Take a look at this chart:
I wouldn’t say anything is definitive so far, other than the Thunder are really great (duh!). But they’ve only played four games (4-0) against non-losing teams. And they’re an impressive 13-1 against teams below .500 for the season. They were 37-4 in such games last season. The Pistons (7-2 against non-losing, 8-0 against below .500) have a great balance in their wins, as do the Raptors (6-3, 7-2).
Where we see some early concerns might be in teams like Cleveland (5-7, 7-0), Philadelphia (4-7, 5-0), Atlanta (4-7, 7-0) and Minnesota (0-6, 10-1). Phoenix (3-4, 8-3) is also taking advantage of bad teams, but it’s not nearly as extreme as what the Wolves are doing. In fact, nobody is nearly as extreme as what the Wolves are doing.
At least with Memphis, 13 of their games have come against non-losing opponents (1-12), and they’re 5-0 against below .500 squads. So they’ve played a very tough schedule thus far. Same with the Clippers (1-11, 4-1), Kings (3-12, 2-1) and Nets (1-13, 2-1).
Is any of this definitive? Probably not! But I looked it up and made a chart, so there you go.
About last night
Pistons hit lucky 13
I’ve become obsessed with the synergy of this Detroit Pistons winning streak as the inverse of their 2023 losing streak. As you may remember from The Bounce yesterday, the Pistons lost their 13th straight game in Indiana on Nov. 24 during their NBA record 28-game losing streak two years ago. On Monday, they flipped history by winning a franchise record-tying 13th straight game in Indiana, also on Nov. 24.
Detroit (15-2) nearly gave this one away in the second half by allowing the Pacers (2-15) to get within three points in the final 50 seconds. Cade Cunningham had 24-11-6 to lead the way and scored clutch buckets and free throws. The Pistons play in Boston on Wednesday with a chance to set a franchise record. The 1990 and 2004 teams both won 13 straight, and both won the title.
Raptors 110, Cavaliers 99: I guarantee most of your friends don’t know that the Raptors (13-5) are good. Drop it in the group chat today and have them take notice of you taking notice. Brandon Ingram went off for 37 points to bury the Cavs (12-7), and the Raptors held Donovan Mitchell to 17 points on 20 shots. Toronto has won eight in a row.
Heat 106, Mavs 102: Tyler Herro made his season debut with the new-paced Heat (12-6), and the winning continued. Herro had 24 points in 29 minutes, and Kel’el Ware had 20 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks against Dallas (5-14). Ware also hit three of the Heat’s five made 3s.
Rockets 114, Suns 92: The Rockets (11-4) used a 30-17 fourth quarter to cool off the Suns. Amen Thompson was dominant with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Aaron Holiday had 22 off the bench. The Suns (11-7) have had one of the easiest schedules to start the season. Now they have one of the toughest for the rest of it.
Nuggets 125, Grizzlies 115: Were you going to ask if Nikola Jokić had a locker combination triple-double and a ridiculous pass for Denver (13-4)? Big Honey finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists against Memphis (6-12). One of the dimes was this:
Pelicans 143, Bulls 130: The Bulls (9-8) hit 20 3-pointers and shot 32 free throws. Yet they lost because they gave up 143 points to the Pelicans (3-15). Zion Williamson had 29 points. I bet Nikola Vučević is fuming.
Knicks 113, Nets 100: Your classic Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Noah Clowney duel. Clowey had 31 for the Nets (3-14), but KAT had 37 and 12 to keep New York belonging to the Knicks (10-6).
Kings 117, Wolves 112 OT: With 8:22 left in the fourth quarter, the Kings (5-13) were out of timeouts for the night. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before. It didn’t hurt them because the Wolves (10-7) have turned into a horrific end-of-game team. They gave up a 12-2 run to allow overtime. DeMar DeRozan had 33 points, and the Kings’ bench outscored Minnesota’s bench 40-18.
Blazers 115, Bucks 103: Jerami Grant had 35 points for Portland (8-10). The Bucks (8-10) have lost five in a row, three without Giannis.
Warriors 134, Jazz 117: Tough to put my finger on it, but it was probably the 80-49 second and third quarters combined that gave the Warriors (10-9) control against Utah (5-12).
