Labaron Philon: lottery pick. Got to the rim at will all game, showed off his disruptive defense, and hit two pull-ups (one mid-range, one ridiculous three) in the clutch to win the game. Alabama's checks must be huge because there's no reason this dude should still be in college.

I'll take a Best of 7 between Alabama and St. John's. What a game!

Only two of the 15 songs on my self-curated This Is Lorelei Best of the B-Sides playlist made his actual b-sides album, but the good news is all the ones he picked all kick ass, too. The best doing it right now.

Ranked potential Ja Morant trade suitors www.sbnation.com/nba/1089020/...

It brings me no joy to see Loyola lose as a 22-point favorite to Mercyhurst, but it is a little enjoyable to see they were whacked by a 5'11 guard named Bernie Blunt III, the game's leading scorer with 27 points

Includes this line for one tanking team: "Maybe the NBA needs to radically rethink the lottery and give equal chances to every team that doesn’t win a first round playoff series so teams aren’t incentivized to lose on purpose" Am I crazy for this one?

New NBA power rankings from me with reasons for hope + reasons for dread for every team: www.sbnation.com/nba/1088791/...

NEW #CashConsiderations with @rickyodonn.bsky.social and @stephnoh.bsky.social! - Recapping that wild Sixers game. How are Bulls so clutch?! - Giddey mea culpas all around - Give Billy and Vucevic their flowers - Mailbag on Coby, Matas, trades and more! open.spotify.com/episode/7d9j...

Wrote about some early season NBA surprises, including praise for Josh Giddey, VJ Edgecombe, and the Rockets' offensive rebounding, and more: www.sbnation.com/nba/1088433/...

Bulls entered that game with the best three-point defense and fifth-best opposing free throw percentage. Knicks shoot 47.6% from three and go 22-of-22 from the line. A lot of regression happening in one game.

The Chicago Bears killed me and brought me back to life in win over Bengals www.sbnation.com/nfl/1088327/...

I feel like I could bench press a car right now

Never draft a running back before the 7th round

Dave Toub I miss you brother

After spending most of my life wishing the Bears offense was anything other than between-the-tackles running, I am really appreciating Kyle Monangai's meat-and-potatoes style rushing. Nothing fancy about it, but he hits the holes hard, has pretty good vision, and keeps the pile moving

Ben Johnson is in his fucking bag today

Emergency 5-0 #CashConsiderations with @rickyodonn.bsky.social right here! The #SeeRed kool-aid was flowing! spotify.link/xQZvyYyoWXb

I regret to inform you I am earnestly thinking about the Bulls winning the East 4.5 games into the season

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Bulls' elite defensive rebounding vs. Knicks' elite offensive rebounding will be fun to watch. I'm thinking Brunson's foul-baiting can slow down their running game + KAT roasts Vuc in pick-and-pops he's too slow to cover. Need another bad opponent shooting night + win on the glass to have a chance.

Wrote about 5 young NBA role players leveling up this season: www.sbnation.com/nba/1087731/...

The Bulls are still undefeated, so you can still read my column on how it's happening:

I've decided the Bulls are winning the East as long as their opponents agree to keep missing 75% of their threes all season

NEW #CashConsiderations w/ @rickyodonn.bsky.social on the 3-0 Bulls! Are they actually #back? We break down all of the good (there's a lot!) and reasons for skepticism (the elite defense is being buoyed by quite a bit of luck) about this start. open.spotify.com/episode/0YEZ...

“Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not elicit an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer."

The Bulls are 3-0. But are they good? No. Here's why. They have been unreal good at "Jedi 3 point defense". Teams are shooting just 26% against them from 3. The next best opponent 3 point shooting percentage (SAC, MIA) is 31%. That's huge. And it's mostly luck.

NEW POST up at BlogABull: ...Bulls? www.blogabull.com/p/the-bulls-...

There are lots of encouraging stats about the Bulls' offense in here, yet they are only No. 22 on that end. Here's how I'm thinking about it:

Are the undefeated Chicago Bulls actually good? I dove into what's real and what's not during their hot start: www.sbnation.com/nba/1087446/...

The Spurs moved up in the lottery each of the last three years. I still can't believe they now have Dylan Harper www.sbnation.com/nba/24481105...

Federal agents tear gassing the Lake View neighborhood.

Pretty cool how Aaron Gordon went from "if he can just make one or two to keep defenses honest" to one of the most accurate deep shooters in the league over the course of like 15 months

NBA overreactions after 1 game www.sbnation.com/nba/1086708/...

NEW #CashConsiderations with @rickyodonn.bsky.social with IMMEDIATE postgame reaction to the Bulls' 115-111 win over the Pistons. The Bulls dominated most of this game before choking away what was a 23-point lead, only for Nikola Vucevic to save the day at the end. open.spotify.com/episode/4vNY...

The Bulls have a cool homegrown young guy who is actually good. It's Matas season.

I swear Josh Giddey gets blocked harder than any player in the league. Ausar Thompson getting to him to start the season.

Luka is going to try to revoke Jaxson Hayes' Slovenian citizenship before he gets it

This Luka supporting cast really looks like ass without LeBron floating it

*now* the NBA season is back

OKC got a tough whistle, shot 25% from three, didn't have Jalen Williams, and still beat a top-5 team. My 70+ wins prediction lives to see another day.

Sengun was an All-Star at 22 with sooo much low-hanging fruit to clean up just with threes and free throws. He can be a top-10 player this year if he keeps shooting it like this.

It's kinda crazy how quickly the double big lineup has gone back in vogue. Omer Asik and Taj Gibson front line vindicated.

Here's my NBA season preview with rankings, predictions, and more www.sbnation.com/nba/1086076/...

Holy shit, baseball

My NBA bold predictions for this season, including a spicy 2026 NBA Finals pick www.sbnation.com/nba/1085707/...

Rate my fantasy basketball team

Matas Buzelis preseason: 17.6 ppg, 57/39/79 shooting splits. What has me excited is the increased opportunity that he's being given. Three plays from last night: 1) Gets a play run for him for a movement 3 2) Grab-and-go finish over Gobert 3) Nasty bag work after the switch

Preseason observations on the most impressive NBA rookies: www.sbnation.com/nba/1085529/...

Every NBA team ranked by its 2026 championship chances to start the season:

Here's my Bulls blurb in the preseason rankings: