Welcome to the NBA’s bye week.
Well, no one’s calling it that exactly, but that’s what it is. Starting Monday, most of the league is looking at a stretch of two games in 10 days and multiple off days for rest, recovery and actual on-court practice time.
It’s a new phenomenon in the NBA calendar brought out by NBA Cup scheduling, and it’s unfortunate it might be the last, as the league’s new TV deal seems like it could result in the Cup’s timing being moved to later in the year. This is actually an ideal time for a mini-break, as the theoretical “midseason” All-Star break actually happens about two-thirds into the season. Through Sunday, most teams have played slightly more than 20 games (from a low of 22 to a high of 26).
Everyone could use a little down time, basically. It’s also a great time for front offices to take stock. With few games on the NBA schedule and a paucity of worthwhile college games to scout, teams can get the whole staff in the room to huddle up, review what’s working and what isn’t and decide on a potential direction as trade season draws nearer (most free agents who signed this summer are trade-eligible on Dec. 15, opening many new possibilities). It’s a fantastic opportunity to break in the new tech toys in ultra-mod conference rooms that were built in the league’s newest Taj Mahal practice facilities.
Most front offices do internal reviews (or “check-ins” or whatever their organizational vernacular is) either every 10 or every 20 games anyway. But with staffers and coaches traveling to-and-fro, and Game 20 often being played within mere hours of Game 21, they inevitably end up being a bit rushed.
Not this week. While those meetings inevitably involve discussing some roster minutiae (just 27 shopping days till 10-day season!), they’ll also pull back to the big picture — their own and that of the 29 potential trade partners.
That’s notable because so many of them are in such … interesting situations. To wit:
Do the Pelicans take a gap year?
The Western Conference playoff race is already running away and hiding for New Orleans. Sunday’s loss dropped the Pelicans to 5-20, and they just learned Brandon Ingram will be out for an extended period after suffering a high-grade ankle sprain Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Zion Williamson hasn’t played a game since Nov. 6, and the rest of the roster has been so battered that two-way Brandon Boston took over the team lead in minutes on Sunday.
In a conference where it will likely require 44 or so wins (and thus 38 or fewer losses) just to make the Play-In Tournament, the Pelicans have already used more than half their season quota. So what is there to do besides tell Williamson to take all the time he needs and make some lottery lemonade?
New Orleans isn’t going to burn all its ships because it’s still trying to win next year and several players are on long-term deals, but adding a high pick from a loaded draft sounds like a decent way to salvage a lost season. The Pels could aid their pursuit of that by listening to offers on CJ McCollum, whose weighty $33 million salary blocks other moves, and seeing if the oft-discussed Ingram has any fans at the trade deadline.
Do the Lakers blow it up?
L.A. is at 13-11 with a negative point differential despite having LeBron James and Anthony Davis available all year. Yeah, the rest of this roster isn’t good enough, and no, trading a second-round pick for Jonas Valančiūnas isn’t going to fix that.
The dilemma for the Lakers is that they have enough asset-wise to make a trade for a sort-of good player but not quite enough to push their chips in for a true third star. While depth pieces would certainly help (have you seen this bench?), the fact is the main group isn’t good enough either. Lineups with James and Davis are getting trucked by 7.7 points per 100 possessions.
The reason L.A. might consider the audacious idea of blowing it up is not to tank for this draft (the Atlanta Hawks have their unprotected pick). No, the idea is that James and Davis have massive trade value right now, the type of players who would let the Lakers build up a Thunder-esque hoard of draft capital and rebuild quickly toward something with grander aspirations than that of the current group. However, that trade value may drop off quickly in the coming months and years, especially in the case of James. Is it possible that now is the time to cash in?
Realistically, it seems more likely L.A. would pursue such a drastic move like this after the season than in February. But 90 percent of front office work is preparing for unlikely-but-possible situations in case they come to fruition. This certainly qualifies.
Joel Embiid and the Sixers are still alive in the East. (Kamil Krzaczynski / Imagn Images)
Can Sixers salvage their season?
We’d be having the same discussions about Philly that I did about New Orleans if it weren’t for two factors: First, the Sixers play in the soft, cushy, forgiving environment known as the Eastern Conference, and second, they owe a top-six protected pick to the Thunder this year. That pretty much crushes any tanking incentive, as they would have to fall into one of the three worst records to guarantee keeping their pick, and tanking all the way to the bottom three is a tough ask this year with the way the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz have thrown down the gauntlet.
Philly is also getting healthier, and its 7-15 mark is only two games out of eighth in the East. That said, the Sixers’ offseason moves weren’t made to get 39 wins and the No. 7 seed; they’re trying to build a championship contender before the sand runs through the hour glass that is Joel Embiid’s knees.
But there are other ways for the Sixers to pivot if they decide it isn’t happening this year. Could they ask around the league about Paul George and see if they can get a return on his contract before the 34-year-old’s max deal, which runs through 2028, turns sour? Could they try to turn an unprotected 2028 LA Clippers pick into a starting-caliber power forward? Would they move off money to get under the luxury tax (they’re $10 million over)?
For an “all-in” team, Philly has a surprising amount of optionality, and the early-season struggles make it even more fascinating to look at the potential choices.
Will a big fish become available?
This is the one big question every front office asks, but it’s especially pertinent in places like Oklahoma City, Memphis, Houston and Golden State — four of the top five teams in the West that each also happen to have enough assets left in their quiver to go big-game hunting if the right star becomes available.
Will Giannis Antetokounmpo decide he’s not happy with the Milwaukee Bucks’ descent into being just kind of OK? Will the Miami Heat decide to cash in their Jimmy Butler stock ahead of free agency if they can’t get off the .500 treadmill? Will Kevin Durant decide the Phoenix Suns aren’t good enough and look for greener pastures? For that matter, would Devin Booker become available if the Durant domino fell?
Historically, earthquake moves like this are reserved for the summer. But that won’t stop teams from doing their homework and getting ahead of the curve. I’m getting misty-eyed thinking of the conference rooms filled with whiteboard brainstorms, takeout lunch and coffee that will become the league’s epicenter this week, especially the coffee part.
This week is a near-perfect scheduling accident, and everyone will be a bit sad next year if it goes away.
Rookie of the Week: Yves Missi, C, New Orleans
(This section won’t necessarily profile the best rookie of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
While virtually everything that could go wrong has so far for the Pelicans, one thing that definitely went right for them this season was selecting Yves Missi with the 21st pick in the 2024 draft. The 20-year-old Cameroonian big man has ended up starting 17 games as a raft of injuries have wiped out other options, but he’s been good enough in the role that dislodging him won’t be easy.
The 6-foot-11 Missi doesn’t have an overpowering frame at 235 pounds, but he has a good handle for a player of his size and explosive leaping ability to take advantage of the moments when he gets a step. Missi has already put together an array of highlight blocks and dunks, the best of which was probably his posterization of Indiana’s Myles Turner on Nov. 1:
Missi has 34 dunks, accounting for nearly half his made field goals, and he’s shooting 77 percent inside the restricted area. Here, for instance, he shows a bit of finishing craft on a non-dunk by double-pumping past two defenders on his way to a lay-in.
Alas, he’s only at 23.5 percent from anything beyond there and is a 64.5 percent career foul shooter. Even with a plus handle that enables him to get to the rim on his own steam at times, Missi likely needs to show some kind of shooting range to be something beyond a rim-running specialist at the offensive end. Because of his failures to finish anything not directly at the rim, his overall 57.7 true shooting percentage isn’t good enough for a player of this ilk.
Defensively, there’s a similar story to be told of raw ability needing further refinement. The best news is his 17.3 percent rebound rate, a marked improvement from his 2023-24 college season at Baylor and a good sign that his frame can handle NBA physicality. Another sign is that he’s not piling up fouls, even as a young, skinny rookie big in an unforgiving league (just 3.6 personals per 100 possessions thus far).
Missi still has a way to go as a switch defender, but his mobility suggests he may eventually be up for the job. He’s also managed to post a respectable block rate (4.6 percent), and that should only increase as he develops his timing and gets more game reps.
The best stat for Missi, however, may be this one: $3.3 million, his salary for next season. Having a starting center on that number is a huge boon for a team that annually tries to fight the luxury-tax line to a draw. If Missie can hold down the job at that price for the last three years of his rookie contract, the Pelicans’ shipwreck of a season won’t have been for naught.
Prospect of the Week: Liam McNeeley, 6-7 freshman SF, Connecticut
(This section won’t necessarily profile the best prospect of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
I went to New England this past weekend for two games, the alleged main event of which was to see BYU’s Egor Demin against Providence. More than 40 scouts and execs from 24 different teams were credentialed for that one, only to see Demin put up an 0-for-10 stink bomb as BYU was blown out by the Friars. That game was such an outlier from Demin’s other games this year that I’m not comfortable writing him up off that; we’ll revisit his status when I get eyes on him again later this season.
The good news is that I got to see Liam McNeeley play an hour away the next night, in a game against Baylor that a lot of talent evaluators skipped once they learned Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe and UConn’s Alex Karaban weren’t playing.
McNeeley did play, though, and he was excellent, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in a tight, entertaining 78-74 UConn win. Watching him before the game, he has NBA size (he looks to be a legit 6-7 with a solid frame), and his shot mechanics look smooth and repeatable.
Liam McNeely works against the Baylor defense during Connecticut’s win over the weekend. (Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
He may have some minor balance issues shooting on the move, especially going to his left, and those appeared to crop up a couple times in the game as well, but that’s a minor quibble. McNeeley is only at 34.3 percent from 3 so far this season, but his volume (about 10 attempts per 100 possessions) and free-throw shooting (31-of-37) both back up the eye test on him as a plus shooter.
More importantly for a player of this ilk, McNeeley showed some legit defensive chops, repeatedly sliding his feet to wall off the drives of smaller players who challenged him. Draft nerds will likely be tracking his “stocks” (steals plus blocks), as he has only nine in 10 games, but he didn’t strike me as a huntable liability.
Additionally, there is some off-ball juice here to explore. McNeeley was comfortable putting it on the floor and attacking (and finishing) with either hand and showed it again Sunday in UConn’s win over Texas. While he doesn’t pack overt explosiveness or wiggle, his size and shooting proficiency will require defenders to crowd him and open lanes for him to get in the paint, and he’s effective driving in straight lines. McNeeley also draws a ton of fouls for a shooter — he has more freebies (37) than 2-point attempts (33).
As a prospect, I would compare him somewhat to Gradey Dick two years ago, where there are some defensive questions but also a shooter with size and enough juice to get things done inside the arc. He’s not quite in the top-five conversation like Demin, but McNeeley could easily be a lottery pick if he plays this way all season.
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(Top photo of LeBron James: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
