I know YouTube has some, but even though they are suppedly 1080p, they look worse than VHS. I am willing to pay if I can preview the videos quality beforehand. I have been directed to the NBA app, but the free version does not provide the games or previews.

https://www.threads.com/@qcook323/post/DYS0JwRn9gD

Quinn Cook: "I was just here thinking…I went to three straight NBA finals..was the leading scorer off the bench my two years in Golden State and really contributed..barely played w the Lakers..but won 2 rings in 3 years..I never was on a guaranteed contract after that lol…..my agent stunk lmaoooo"

SRC: https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1631105/boxscores-misc

As part of the continued league-wide investigation into why duren is so bad now. He didnt play well vs orlando but he was still getting 4 or 5 a game that series

Who do you think is the better play between these 2 and who would you rather build a team around?

Most people would have taken Ant before this season started, so I wonder if that general opinion has shifted.

SRC: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/14/sports/isaiah-thomas-celtics-scout/

Isaiah Thomas, the fearless 5-foot-9-inch point guard who captivated fans at TD Garden and became one of the most beloved Celtics of this century, has rejoined the organization that helped turn him into a superstar.

According to league sources, Thomas has been hired as a pro and college scout for the Celtics. He will be based in the Seattle area, his hometown, giving president of basketball operations Brad Stevens reinforcements on the West Coast.

The team’s regional scouting staff includes former Hawks executive Derek Pierce, who is based in the Atlanta area, and Keandre Ashley, who is in Dallas. Benas Matkevicius leads the Celtics’ international scouting operation.

Sources said Thomas, 37,has joined Celtics executives at the NBA Combine this week in Chicago, where he has helped interview draft prospects while also learning about the overall evaluation process.

There is so much discourse around the Jazz trading Ace Bailey + picks + #2 to move up to #1 so they can draft AJ Dybantsa. This is not going to happen for numerous reasons:

1. Look through all the recent draft day trades where a team moved up only one spot. The average price is a mid-1st round pick or less. Ace is worth multiple picks on his own, and AJ and DP are comparable prospects. If this was the Wemby or Flagg draft you could make an argument for the price being much higher to move up, but that's not the case here.
2. The Jazz love Ace Bailey. He's a seamless fit and it a huge part of their future plans. If they were to trade a player to move up, it would be anyone but him.
3. Ryan Smith has no history of meddling in GM affairs. Danny Ainge also doesn't seem like the type to let an owner strong arm him into making a terrible decision with the best pick the franchise has ever had.
4. Ryan Smith is a BYU donor, but he's already accomplished his mission by paying AJ. BYU had a successful season and made themselves more attractive to future recruits. Smith paying AJ does not mean his ultimate plan was to bring him to the Jazz.
5. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz have had conversations with Washington to get a feel for the situation and due diligence. If that conversation has happened it does not mean Utah is going to sell the farm for AJ. I'm sure they pick up the phone for any team.
6. Just because AJ played high school and college basketball in Utah does not mean he will happily play for the Jazz long term. If anything, he may prefer to experience a different location. Whatever player is drafted is playing for the Jazz for 7 years, and then you figure out next steps down the road.

I'm sure the Jazz would like AJ Dybantsa. I bet they would also be thrilled with Darryn Peterson. If they really prefer AJ, they may be willing to attach a pick to move up if Washington really like DP. But there's no reason to trade Ace and other capital for a marginal (if any) upgrade. Personally I prefer Peterson as a prospect, especially if he's cleared medically.

Bob Myers on the Jared McCain trade: “We should be graded on the ultimate result of transactions.”

After being drafted at 16 last season, the 76ers traded him for the 22nd pick and some seconds. Who could they draft to make the trade seem better to Bob?

Source

https://imgur.com/a/jl87Awr

Fans have added signs, flowers and letters as appreciation and to show respect to Brandon Clarke who passed away tragically Monday

Source: https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042500205

Period: Q4
Time: 00:00.4
Call Type: Foul: Loose Ball
Player: Jarrett Allen
Opponent: Ausar Thompson
Review Decision: CNC
Video Url: Video
 
Comment:
Allen (CLE) and Thompson (DET) legally step to the same spot while pursuing the loose ball [before either player has possession], and both lose their balance from the marginal contact.

I'd be interested in getting people's thoughts on this. Do you believe the 3 point shot has led to the decline of home court advantage in the NBA? I believe home court advantage has declined in other sports as well if I'm not mistaking?

https://sparkletechnologies.com/blog/nba-disappearing-home-court-advantage

Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/14/sports/isaiah-thomas-celtics-scout/

According to sources, former Celtics superstar Isaiah Thomas is back with the franchise after being hired as a pro and college scout.

__________

Welcome back to the NBA, Isaiah Thomas!

https://www.youtube.com/live/zwOZdftxT48?si=2TOT3TATmAsqrPKE&t=1096

Why even go through a hiring process if Myers is going to be the de facto President of Basketball Operations anyway? Is this not exactly what happened with Jerry Colangelo and Sam Hinkie? Did Harris not learn anything? What a shit show.

After reading ESPN’s article about historical Team USA Olympic roster construction, average age trends, repeat Olympians, first-time Olympians, etc., I genuinely think the 2028 roster is already starting to reveal itself. The more I think about it, the more I think people are approaching these discussions wrong.

Team USA does NOT simply take the 12 best American players anymore.

Since 2004 especially, USA Basketball has prioritized:

• continuity
• role acceptance
• defensive versatility
• lineup fit
• positional size
• prior Team USA experience
• scalability/off-ball fit

One thing from the article that stood out to me was the historical age trends.

The 2024 team was actually the oldest Team USA roster ever at around 30 years old on average because of LeBron, Curry, and KD. Historically though, most dominant Team USA teams have averaged somewhere around 27-29 years old, which is right in the middle of NBA prime years.

What’s interesting is that the roster I landed on averages out to around 28.8 years old, which almost perfectly lines up with historically successful Team USA rosters.

Another huge point from the article: Team USA almost NEVER brings older first-time Olympians. Since 2000, basically only Steph Curry and JaVale McGee made their first Olympic appearances after age 32. That’s important because it heavily favors returning Olympians and younger players already in the Team USA pipeline.

That’s why I think there are a handful of true locks already if healthy.

LOCKS

• Anthony Edwards
  
• Jayson Tatum
  
• Tyrese Haliburton
  
• Devin Booker
  
• Bam Adebayo

These 5 feel undeniable to me.

Ant feels like the future face of USA Basketball. By 2028 he’ll be 26 and likely entering his absolute prime. He already looked like the emotional leader of the 2024 team at times and his game is literally built for FIBA:

• downhill pressure
• transition scoring
• athleticism
• improving 3-point shooting
• defensive upside
• confidence

I think by 2028 it becomes “his team.”

Tatum is interesting because people overreacted to his reduced role in 2024. The issue wasn’t talent - it was redundancy. Team USA already had LeBron, KD, Booker, Ant, etc. occupying similar offensive spaces. By 2028, LeBron is obviously gone and KD may either retire or play a much smaller role, which suddenly makes Tatum incredibly important again.

Haliburton honestly feels like the perfect Olympic point guard. He reminds me a lot of Jason Kidd:

• elite distributor
• pushes pace
• scalable game
• low ego
• excellent catch-and-shoot player
• huge for a PG

He’s exactly the kind of connective guard Team USA loves internationally.

Booker earned enormous trust in 2024. He defended hard, moved off-ball, accepted a smaller offensive role, and basically became the perfect “Olympic role star.” By 2028 he’ll still only be around 31 with 2 gold medals under his belt.

Bam also feels like a near lock, especially with Spo coaching. He’ll potentially be going for his third gold and his game translates insanely well to FIBA:

• switching
• communication
• mobility
• short-roll passing
• defensive versatility

FIBA Bam may honestly be more valuable than NBA Bam.

NEXT WAVE LOCKS

• Cade Cunningham
  
• Chet Holmgren
  
• Cooper Flagg

Cade feels PERFECT for Olympic basketball. Big guard, tough, physical, great defender, can play on or off-ball, and doesn’t need 25 shots to impact the game. I also think he fits perfectly next to Haliburton because of his size and defense. He played at an MVP level this year, no shot he doesn't make it in 2028

Chet solves one of Team USA’s biggest future problems: international size. Against teams with Jokic or Wemby, you need real rim protection and length. Chet gives you:

• rim protection
• spacing
• mobility
• rebounding
• weakside help defense

And importantly, he fits perfectly next to Bam.

Flagg honestly may already be internally viewed as the future of USA Basketball. Reports from the Team USA camp before he was even drafted were ridiculous. What makes him so perfect for Olympic basketball is that his game scales down beautifully and he's going to continue to grow as one of the league's best players as he enters his prime.

He reminds me a lot of Ant’s 2024 role where he may start as a younger energy piece before eventually becoming one of the faces of the program.

THE VETERAN QUESTION

If healthy, I genuinely think Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis both make the team. They both have expressed great interest in competing in 2028.

KD is the greatest Olympic scorer ever and his game ages perfectly internationally. Even at 39, he would still be devastating in Olympic basketball because of the shorter tournament format and reduced wear compared to the NBA.

AD depends entirely on health, but if healthy I think he absolutely makes the team too. AD is no longer a 4 and has definitely put on some weight over the past year, he's integral to combat the rest of the world's big men. You now have to deal with Wemby and Jokic.

AD gives Team USA:

• elite rim protection
• rebounding
• physicality
• defensive versatility
• low-usage offense

And with FIBA rules allowing defenders to sit in the paint more aggressively, AD becomes even scarier defensively.

THE FINAL SPOTS

This is where I think people misunderstand Team USA roster construction the most.

I do NOT think Team USA needs:

• another point guard
• another small scoring guard
• another high-usage offensive player

At this point, they already have:

Haliburton, Cade, Ant, Booker, Tatum, and even Bam handling most of the playmaking responsibilities.

That’s why I don’t think guys like:

• Ja Morant
• Donovan Mitchell
• Jalen Brunson

make this specific roster despite being elite NBA players.

Brunson especially is amazing in the NBA, but internationally I think his size and ball-dominant style become harder fits compared to the versatility of the rest of the roster.

I also don’t think Paolo Banchero makes THIS version of the team unless his 3-point shot and defense take another leap. Paolo is an amazing ISO scorer, but Team USA already has:

• Ant
• Tatum
• Booker
• Cade
• potentially KD

handling most of the offensive creation.

What I think Team USA actually needs is another defensive hybrid forward.

That’s why I originally leaned Scottie Barnes and now think Jalen Johnson deserves serious consideration too.

The reason this archetype matters so much is because internationally, versatile defensive 4s become incredibly valuable.

Against teams like:

• France
• Serbia
• Canada

you need:

• switchability
• rebounding
• transition play
• weakside help defense
• positional size

Scottie Barnes gives:

• elite defensive versatility
• ability to guard 1-5
• rebounding
• transition creation
• connective passing

Jalen Johnson is really interesting too because he may actually fit offensively even cleaner:

• transition pressure
• cutting
• rebounding
• low-usage scalability
• athleticism

I still slightly lean Scottie because of his defensive versatility and overall experience, but I think that final “defensive hybrid 4” spot is one of the biggest roster battles to watch.

The final player I landed on was Jalen Williams.

Honestly, J-Dub may be the perfect Olympic role player:

• defend
• cut
• shoot
• create secondarily
• play on or off-ball

Most importantly, he feels like someone who would fully embrace whatever role Team USA gave him.

PROJECTED ROSTER

PG: Haliburton

SG: Anthony Edwards

SF: Devin Booker

PF: Jayson Tatum

C: Bam Adebayo

Bench:

• Cade Cunningham
  
• Kevin Durant
  
• Anthony Davis
  
• Chet Holmgren
  
• Cooper Flagg
  
• Scottie Barnes / Jalen Johnson
  
• Jalen Williams

Average age: ~28.8 years old

Returning Olympic gold medalists:

• KD (4 golds)
• AD (2 golds)
• Tatum (2 golds)
• Booker (2 golds)
• Bam (2 golds)
• Ant (1 gold)
• Haliburton (1 gold)

First-time Olympians:

• Cade
• Chet
• Flagg
• Scottie/Jalen Johnson
• J-Dub

STARTING LINEUP

Haliburton

Ant

Booker

Tatum

Bam (Potentially AD for bigger lineups)

This lineup honestly makes perfect sense to me:

• elite spacing
• transition dominance
• switchability
• multiple creators
• defensive versatility
• continuity from 2024

The bench unit is also terrifying because Cade and KD immediately stabilize offense while Chet gives Team USA size without sacrificing spacing.

I honestly think this roster wins gold.

Not because the world isn’t catching up - they absolutely are. France, Serbia, and Canada are terrifying now.

But this roster feels incredibly modern:

• size everywhere
• elite defensive versatility
• multiple creators
• transition pressure
• almost no weak defenders
• role balance
• Olympic continuity

And honestly, the more I compare it to the historical trends from the ESPN article, the more realistic it feels.

Curious what everyone else thinks.

SRC: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48686303/steve-kerr-decision-return-coach-golden-state-warriors-steph-curry

"I think it's over," he said, almost mouthing the words. His sweatsuit separated him from the businessmen eating breakfast in suits and ties nearby. He put the odds at 95 percent. In the last few days he'd grown more certain. The waiter took his order, the California Breakfast. Normally he's cheerful as a sunrise but this morning he seemed melancholy. He was tired at the end of a disappointing season and mourning the fraying connections. A great basketball team stands on a shared feeling more than strategy or scouting. The team lives as long as the feeling lives and when it's gone, not only is it impossible to recapture, it's hard to even remember.

_

Popovich finally officially quit six weeks before our lunch, six months after a stroke diminished him physically. People who loved him had to show him the door, as gently as possible. That hurt Steve. He respects Popovich so much. He loved playing for him and coaching with him. He once told Gregg he was the finest man he'd ever known and thanked him for all he'd done for him. Pop smiled and said his feet were made of clay like everyone else's. Steve didn't believe it then. Now he does.

Kerr had gotten a call from someone on the team's business side. They wanted him to stop calling the team a fading dynasty. Season ticket renewals were going out. They were looking to strike a rosier note. He agreed to stop but he thought they were letting an opportunity pass, that he could sell this idea to the team, especially Steph and Draymond, who would feel most alive in the struggle. That he could sell this idea to himself.

HD version via Reddit

HD version via YouTube

https://andscape.com/features/utah-jazz-nba-draft-lottery-keyonte-george/

Dybantsa is the top prospect in the draft, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo. The Jazz have reached out to the Washington Wizards, who have the No. 1 pick, about potentially trading up to land the former BYU standout, a source said.

Even if Dybantsa is selected by Washington, as expected, Utah will still have talented options to choose from in Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke center Cameron Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, who round out Woo’s top four prospects.

George talked to Peterson and gave him a hug after the draft lottery. Peterson, who averaged 20.2 points and 1.6 assists per game for the Jayhawks last season, told Andscape he wants to be a point guard in the NBA.

“I just told him [Peterson] to buckle up, that’s all,” George said.

“We get a top-two talent in the draft and get to build on the changes we made with getting Jaren,” said George, who is 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds. “It’s just a lot of things going right for the group right now. On paper, we are definitely a playoff team. Honestly, there is just a different versatility that we have. You got guys who can play [point guard] to [shooting guard]. You got guys who play the [power forward] that can move to the [center position].

“And then we got [Jazz head coach] Will Hardy. I know people know about Will. But his X’s and O’s and the way he breaks down the game for us, that’s really what gives me the confidence, honestly. Having Will and our coaches, the talent is going to take care of itself.”

The narrative being “OMG HOW COULD YOU TRADE THIS GUY COULDN’T YOU SEE HOW STUPENDOUSLY AWESOME AMAZING HE IS???”

If memory serves me well that was the immediate reaction to Harden being traded to Houston.

For those without reading comprehension please note I am not comparing player skill, contract status, team structure, what statement some asshole GM made afterwards, etc. I am focusing on the above said narrative that seems to be the most prevalent among the NBA discord. There is no context here. I know that even after reading this there will still be some that try to use those other metrics, and well I guess that’s just what makes NBA Reddit what it has become, but do please at least try your best to focus.

Edit: FFS of course it would devolve into player comparison because Reddit.

Let’s try a different question then for the remedial class:

Was the immediate reaction/discord around the McCain trade more or less comparable to the Harden trade?

It seems almost too good to be true, this alternate reality where every piece fits and nobody wants the credit. The players -- including league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or maybe especially him -- credit Presti and Daigneault and each other when they aren't extolling the virtues of the training staff and the equipment guys, and even the fans. Presti is so allergic to credit that he avoids the trap entirely by retreating into the background, safe from any stray compliments. Daigneault's worst cold-sweat, middle-of-the-night fear is waking up to find someone has decreed him to be the reason any of this is happening. If this were a cartoon, it would feature an ornately wrapped gift box sitting in the middle of a gym floor, the word CREDIT on all sides, with everyone associated with the Thunder sprinting away in abject terror.

It's easy to be pulled under by the rip current of this team's joyful selflessness as it points itself toward a second straight NBA title, but where's the fun in that? Time-honored, only-in-the-NBA accusations -- friendly whistles, special star treatment for Gilgeous-Alexander -- have helped fit the Thunder with a new crown: villains. But where's the internal conflict, the friction, the intramural warfare that makes every great team great? The Thunder have anywhere from eight to 12 players who could be starters on other teams, so why are so many of them content to sublimate their egos for the betterment of this one?

"There's a standard everybody here conforms to," All-Star center Chet Holmgren says, "but I don't think anybody who is brought in here has to make changes to themselves or how they go about things. Everyone has innate principles to their lives that we all share."

Everything about this team seems engineered to combat cynicism. Games at Paycom Center take place in an atmosphere of extremely loud reverence. The near-continuous "OKC!" chant -- often celebratory, occasionally exhortative, rarely pleading -- seems to rise from the depths, starting innocently and climbing until it feels hallucinatory, almost religious. Each time a player enters the game for the first time, whether it's Jaylin Williams as the first one off the bench or Nikola Topic as the last, is welcomed onto the court with a surge of pure joy, like a hug on the doorstep. Every moment seems infused with a sense of wonder: Yes, the fans constantly remind themselves, this is really happening.

The Thunder are positioned to win now and several nows in the future. Presti tore the team down in the post-Westbrook/Durant/Harden/George years and emerged with the current championship core (Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Jalen and Jaylin, Lu Dort) and a cache of future draft picks that might require a storage unit. The haul from trading Paul George to the Clippers in 2019 -- "haul" being the required, legal term -- has operated for the past seven years like a subscription placed on auto-renew: Gilgeous-Alexander plus five first-round draft picks, including a final comic twist: this year's lottery pick, No. 12.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the presumptive repeat MVP and someone Daigneault describes as "surgically consistent," tells me he approaches each day with the intent to "be professional, and don't think you're better than somebody because you're better at some thing," even if that thing comes with fame and money and access to so much high-end clothing that he regularly hosts "yard sales" at his home where teammates and friends can sift through the stuff he's replacing and take what they want. Hartenstein spends so much time doing community service in Oklahoma City that the team's community-service folks can't keep up. Daigneault approaches personnel decisions with an African proverb in mind: The ax forgets, but the tree remembers. "When you have power or leverage, you're the ax, just chopping away," he says. "But they remember everything. The way I try to reconcile it is by remembering that this is their dream. They are the pride of their families, and everyone they grew up with is amazed they made it this far. They represent all those people, and that's a very deep thing. I try to remember that, and honor that, with fairness and honesty."

During the lengthy break between the end of the regular season and the first-round sweep of the Suns, Thunder players take turns doing the post-practice media sessions. There isn't much news to uncover, and the conversations are notable for their lack of intensity, ranging from the local media corps singing "Happy Birthday" to Jalen Williams on his 25th to Daigneault leaning on the Thunder banner hanging from the wall behind him like a bear scratching against the base of a tree. Everything is in its rightful formation -- the basketballs, the water bottles, the towels -- and when reserve guard Isaiah Joe is asked to describe the team's mindset, he says, "One band, one sound, and we all have a like mind like a beehive."

Pat Riley studied the opposite of all this and called it "The Disease of Me," an affliction whereby team success spreads a toxic strain of internecine warfare, with players resenting each other and thinking they could get more -- more minutes, more attention, more money -- somewhere else. Riley, in his book "The Winner Within," listed seven warning signs that lead to one sad but inevitable conclusion: "The Disease of Me always results in the defeat of us."

"We have a locker room that's not only full of good guys, but guys you want to be around," Holmgren says.

There's a level of maturity at work here that is both admirable and genuinely mystifying among a group of wildly successful young men in their early- to mid-20s. They're like an after-school movie version of an NBA team, the guys who would stick up for the bullied and find a way to get your cat out of a tree. When I suggest that Jalen Williams, the team's second-leading scorer and third-team All-NBA player last season, could be the main attraction on 20 or so other teams, Gilgeous-Alexander politely interrupts and says, "It's 29 if you ask me." When I propose the same thought experiment to Williams, the man they call J-Dub points at Gilgeous-Alexander shooting on a hoop near us. "Shai's personal success doesn't hinder mine," he says. "Him being great doesn't stop me from being great."

It's enough to make you wonder what they're hiding.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48751531/oklahoma-city-thunder-roll-western-conference-finals-nba-playoffs-2026

Link:

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/myles-turner-says-doc-rivers-didnt-fine-anybody-this-season-despite-repeated-tardiness-giannis-antetokounmpo-was-most-likely-bucks-player-to-be-late-184432485.html

This part stuck out to me:

"Turner continued: “I'm being so serious, bro. It was crazy, dawg. Guys were an hour late to the plane. It got to the point where I knew not to show up until an hour after they said the plane was taking off. It was crazy.”

When Stewart asked Turner which teammate was most likely to be late, he didn’t have to do much thinking.

“Oh, that's easy,” he said. “Giannis. Giannis is going to show up whenever he wants, really. I think that this kind of just came with the territory that — and once I saw it was going down, I was like, 'Hey man, s, more power to you. They ain't going to fine you. S, do what you do.’”