The first edition of ESPN's 2025-26 NBA Rookie Rankings features not one, not two, but *three* Charlotte Hornets, plus a surprising player at no. 1

There's a ton of really exciting NBA action tonight, but watching Victor Wembanyama in person in this 4th quarter has been a religious experience

Nikola Vucevic posted career-best efficiency numbers last season, and he's been even better to start 2025-26. He just hit a corner 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to complete a Bulls comeback from a 24-point deficit against the 76ers. Pretty cool story for the 35-year-old center.

I teamed up with @kpelton.bsky.social to debate some early-season storylines, including: - Are the Spurs true contenders? - Magic or Hawks? - Is Austin Reaves the Lou Gehrig to LeBron's Wally Pipp?

Sports are amazing because our great-great-grandchildren are going to know Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s name because of what he did this week

Important analytical question: Do the Thunder keep playing overtimes because Oklahoma Thunder abbreviates as OT?

It's my last big 30-team preview as the season begins: the Now or Later rankings, which measure each team's urgency to win now

Overtime between two title contenders in the opener seems like a good omen for this NBA season

It’s cool that every key Thunder player is back this season, so they can all receive their rings together tonight

The defending champs might be on the verge of a dynasty, so I explored the possible futures for the Thunder as they attempt to become the NBA's first repeat champion since the Durant-era Warriors

I've seen a lot of people say the Warriors' window is closed—but I think they're still a dangerous contender in the West this season. Here's why:

The "face of the NBA" title has shifted neatly from Magic and Bird to Jordan to Kobe to LeBron and Curry. But who comes next? My new story on the possible paths for Wemby, Ant, Luka, Flagg, and more:

With the new Basketball Hall of Fame class being inducted this weekend, I surveyed the active players who are most likely to join them in the future www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

I have fun with this piece every year: Here's the key statistic for all 30 teams entering the 2025-26 season

This was a fun one to write: I ranked all 30 NBA teams' worst mistakes of the 2020s thus far, from confounding contracts to disastrous draft picks to franchise-altering terrible trades

I don't understand the sentiment I've seen online that Bradley Beal is an upgrade over Norm Powell at this stage of their careers

SGA will earn almost $1 million per game in the final year of his new supermax contract. The first NBA player to cross that threshold is coming soon. I dove into all the implications of this financial milestone in a new piece for ESPN.

I tiered the 15 Western Conference teams after the initial offseason flurry. The Thunder are in a group of their own, but who's closest to catching the champs?

Offseason winners and losers!

Lillard news is the first of the offseason that literally caused my jaw to drop

Wrote about Luke Kornet in today's piece (espn.com/nba/story/_/...). Advanced stats *love* his impact on both ends.

Before the free agent frenzy begins, here are 7 underrated targets this summer, from post-prime award-winners to unheralded analytics darlings and more:

My draft value chart has the difference between the 13th and 23rd picks as equivalent to no. 28. In other words, as long as the Pelicans and Bucks aren't 2 of the 3 best teams in the NBA next season, the Hawks won this trade based on pick value.

The Pelicans project as a bottom-3 team in the West and just gave up next year's unprotected pick (or the Bucks' pick if they trade Giannis)???

Wanted to share some next-day reading about the new NBA champions, including a piece with this remarkable chart

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the second-youngest player in NBA history with an MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring title. He has the highest-scoring championship season ever, beating Michael Jordan by 0.1 ppg. On SGA's budding legacy, after a season for the ages:

Players with 20 points and 10 assists in a Finals Game 7: Jerry West in 1969 (won MVP even in a loss) Walt Frazier in 1970 Big Game James Worthy in 1988 LeBron James in 2016 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tonight

- SGA stepback 3 - SGA kickout to Chet for 3 - SGA kickout to J-Dub for 3 The platonic ideal of an offensive sequence for the Thunder, turning a tie game into a 9-point lead

The first 7 minutes of this game were phenomenal. Can't believe it just screeched to a halt like that.

Tyrese Haliburton is only the 5th player ever to make at least three 3-pointers in Game 7 of the Finals. The first quarter is less than halfway over. The others: Battier (6 in 2013) Draymond (6 in 2016) LeBron (5 in 2013 Steph (4 in 2016)

For what it's worth, the only NBA Finals Game 7s over the last two decades have all been classics. We're due for another! Cavs 93-89 over Warriors in 2016 Heat 95-88 over Spurs in 2013 Lakers 83-79 over Celtics in 2010

Absolutely hilarious timing, the day before a potential Finals clincher

Jalen Williams and SGA join LeBron and Kyrie as the only teammates since 1980 to finish a Finals game with 40+ points for one and 30+ points for the other

Youngest 40-point scorers in a Finals game: 1. Magic Johnson, 1980 2. Rick Barry, 1967 (3x) 3. Russell Westbrook, 2012 4. Jerry West, 1962 5. Jalen Williams, tonight

If the 2025 Thunder are following the 2015 Warriors path (including now trying to come back from a 2-1 Finals deficit), then TJ McConnell is doing a remarkable Matthew Dellavedova impression

The Pacers' worst 2-point shooting in a playoff game so far is 45.5%. They're at 34% (10/29) at halftime.

Finals Game 5 tonight! Prepare with my deep dive into the plays defining this series. Featuring: - Matchup stats for Nembhard and Nesmith vs. SGA - How full-court pressure changes OKC's offense - Tyrese Haliburton, isolation master? And much more!

Bane seems like a great fit next to Banchero, Wagner, and Suggs. But I'm fascinated by pick inflation in trades, with non-All-Stars (Mikal Bridges, now Bane) going for giant packages. 4 picks and a swap would've landed a true top-tier superstar not that long ago.

OKC Game 4 in Denver, trailing 2-1, down 6 after third quarter but win by 5 OKC Game 4 in Indiana, trailing 2-1, down 7 after third quarter but win by 7

SGA currently has zero assists. He hasn't finished any game without an assist since the bubble, five years ago.

The Thunder's lowest-assist effort of the entire season was Game 1 of the Finals (13). Their second-lowest was Game 3 of the Finals (16). They only have 6 assists at halftime of Game 4.

The Pacers shot the lights out, the Thunder were sloppy and lacked offensive rhythm, and SGA was invisible ... yet OKC's only down by 1 after the first quarter

The Pacers would be the first champions in NBA history that weren't either a top-3 seed or the defending champs. Easily the most unlikely winners ever if they pull it off.

Daigneault used 11 players in the first half, but he's cut the rotation to 8 in the second half (and one of those 8 is Wiggins, who barely played). The stakes are rising!

Just rediscovered that Marvin Bagley III beat out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for first team All-Rookie in 2019

The Thunder going on a huge run to build a 23-point lead, only for the Pacers to immediately respond with a 10-0 run, is a pretty good summation of both teams' strengths in the playoffs

Not sure if anything in sports is more entertaining than tennis at its best

How can the Thunder bounce back tonight to avoid falling behind 0-2 in the Finals? Here's your primer for Game 2:

Mind-boggling Game 1 stat: The Thunder threw just 208 passes—the fewest for any team in any game all season. Adjusted for pace, it's the second-fewest in a playoff game in the tracking era (since 2013-14). Emphasizes how Indiana shut off OKC's offensive flow last night.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee