With the 2022 trade deadline just six days away, here are 10 things I like and dislike from across the NBA this week, including the Suns' understated hyper-precision, a tantalizing rookie in Madison Square Garden, fake-claiming assists on airballs, and a plea to maybe, once in a while, pass to Karl-Anthony Towns.
1. The Suns are the NBA's new "pound the rock" team
The San Antonio Spurs long ago adopted as their credo the famous Jacob Riis observation about stonecutters pounding one rock over and over, but the current Phoenix Suns are the true heirs to that "pound the rock" philosophy.
The Suns don't change their approach if they are way behind or way ahead. They don't get desperate, amp up the tempo, or chase home run plays. No one commandeers the offense, or steps out of their role. They just make the right play again and again, possession after possession, trusting that good basketball wins out.
The only people who hold the ball are Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Cameron Payne. They don't hold it just to hold it. They survey with purpose -- orchestrating pick-and-rolls, or exploiting mismatches. Everyone else plays off of those guys. They do so unselfishly. They make quick-hitting plays for one another, with constant care for the broader ecosystem. Players hunt points only when the clock, situation, and matchups dictate they should. It is calculated, beautiful basketball:
Booker lords over Kyrie Irving, hoping the Brooklyn Nets send help. When they do, Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder change places. Bridges hits Crowder with an instant extra pass. Crowder catches on the move, a sneaky bit of footwork that helps him blow by his man. The millisecond Crowder spots help converging, he pings the ball back to Bridges. In four seconds, two role players make three or four subtle plays to keep the machine humming.
There is nothing remarkable about that possession for the Suns, and that's the point. They maximize every second. In that same game, Paul corralled a loose ball and noticed one Nets player had fallen down behind the play. Paul waved at Deandre Ayton to sprint, knowing the Suns had a temporary 5-on-4. Ayton revved up; Phoenix snatched an open triple with the Nets scrambling.
Smart players improvise ways to bail out stalled possessions. If the main action goes nowhere, you can count on one or two Suns to cut or screen in some unexpected way that injects new life. Bridges is especially good at setting random ball screens -- and then slipping hard out of them in ways that surprise defenses. (He's also dabbling in quick-seal post-ups when he has a size mismatch.)
They defend with the same collective hyper-precision:
Consecutive ball screens for James Harden require a half-dozen small decisions: one switch, then standard pick-and-roll defense, the right level of help behind it, and one last veer into the passing lane from Crowder -- a choice he can make only if he has faith in Ayton to cover him.
One hiccup can undo everything. The Suns nail all those decisions.
The Suns aren't the most exciting, high-flying team. They are relentless in their understated brilliance, pounding the rock until it busts open.
2. The Atlanta Hawks, finding a bench
The Hawks have typically struggled when Trae Young rests, with their offense falling into a sinkhole. You can debate the reasons -- injuries played a part -- but it was happening again this season as the Hawks slid to an unthinkable 17-25.
But they have cobbled what might be a sustainable bench during their current 8-1 run that has salvaged their season -- -- culminating in a huge win Thursday over the Suns. Atlanta in that stretch is plus-26 with Young resting.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari supply long-range firepower, but 3-point shooting is fickle. Credit Delon Wright and especially Onyeka Okongwu for stabilizing reserve units, and providing Nate McMillan with more late-game options. The Hawks are plus-34 in 57 minutes that foursome has played without Young.
Wright is shooting a career-best 40% from deep, and bounded into a semi-transition wing triple against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday -- a startling bit of decisiveness, given how shot-phobic Wright usually is.
Wright keeps the offense moving. He's one of the league's best rebounding guards, and he's big enough to defend wings -- allowing Lou Williams, perking up lately, to hide wherever is convenient.
Okongwu has exploded. He's shooting 72%, and damn near ripping the basket down as a pick-and-roll finisher. He has been airtight on defense; opponents are shooting just 52% at the rim with Okongwu nearby, one of the stingiest marks among rotation bigs, per NBA.com.
Okongwu has bitten into Clint Capela's minutes, and earned more time with Atlanta's core starters. He has a nice two-man chemistry with Young on offense (who doesn't?), and the Hawks have mauled opponents by eight points per 100 possessions with the intriguing Okongwu-Collins pairing.
It's probably too late for the Hawks to recapture last season's magic. A top-six spot is a long shot, and it's hard to make a deep run from the play-in tournament. But if the Hawks coalesce, they could easily come out of that derby. No one would be stoked to play them. They remain active in trade talks, but don't appear to feel the same urgency to do something as they did two weeks ago, sources say.
3. Quentin Grimes is ready
Grimes is a nimble, smart defender hitting 39.4% from deep on a mammoth attempt rate. That 3-and-D profile is about as advertised.
But "3-and-D" sometimes isn't enough at the highest levels. The best teams stock up on "3-and-D-and-D" guys, with the last "D" standing for "drive" -- the ability to dust defenders who run you off the arc, and then slice into the lane to make the next play. That is where Grimes has exceeded even the most optimistic Year 1 projections.
Unless you track hockey assists, Grimes gets no statistical credit on this play -- even though he spins the connective tissue that binds it. Decisiveness is a meta-skill that amplifies other skills. It makes you faster, grants you access to more passes and wider lanes. Grimes seizes the baseline before Minnesota's blitzing defense can reset itself.
What happens next is more exciting. Defenses anticipate the corner-to-corner pass there. They want the offense to ping it from station to station. Grimes wrong-foots Minnesota by skipping the middleman, and slinging to Obi Toppin up high.
This is another drive against the grain. Taurean Prince drifts from Grimes to clog the middle. That exposes a gap to Grimes' left. Prince expects Grimes to attack that gap. Grimes out-thinks him. He fakes left, lets Prince fly by, and knifes into the middle.
Grimes will slump. All rookies do. But he has shown enough that the Knicks should (and probably will) investigate what they might get in return for their veteran wings.
4. Kindly pass it to Karl-Anthony Towns
Occasional low-usage nights for Towns are baked into the Timberwolves' construction. D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards bring the ball up and dictate possessions; Towns depends on them to get him the ball.
It's not a major issue -- yet. Russell's jumper has come around, and the Wolves have been massively better with him on the floor all season. (That probably says as much about Russell's backups -- at least before Jaylen Nowell's reemergence in mid-December -- as it does about Russell, but he has been solid as a caretaker who can get hot.)
Edwards seems to improve (and grow stronger, as if he's powering up) every minute; he had a decent All-Star case, and should be an injury replacement candidate.
Opponents often double Towns down low -- hoping to bait him into one of his ridiculous over-the-shoulder, no-look kickout passes that miss their target by five feet. Those double-teams deflate Towns' usage rate.
Towns still leads Edwards and Russell in usage rate by a hair, and the Wolves have poured in about 117 points per 100 possessions with their star trio on the floor -- two points higher than Utah's league-best mark.
But there are a few too many possessions like this each night considering Towns is by far the team's best offensive player:
Edwards has hit 31% of pull-up 3s -- pretty good considering his age and the degree of difficulty. But Towns is posting up Damion Lee! Feed him! Edwards has hit 43% on catch-and-shoot 3s -- a number that should terrify the league, by the way -- and letting Towns work a mismatch might turn that pull-up into an open catch-and-shoot bomb.
Minnesota is coasting to a play-in spot, with a real chance of cracking the top six. (It has one of the West's easiest remaining schedules.) But against the best teams, you have to optimize every possession.
5. A tiny bright spot in the Kings' endless hellscape
Remember when firing Luke Walton would solve the Kings' problems -- just as firing Michael Malone and Dave Joerger did the trick before? That was cute. The Kings were 6-11 when they canned Walton. They are 13-24 since, having lost 13 of 16 -- including a 53-point humiliation against the Boston Celtics.
At their worst, they are dispirited -- borderline unwatchable unless Tyrese Haliburton is flitting around doing Tyrese Haliburton things. They are three games out of a play-in tournament that might as well be named for them, given Sacramento's desperation to earn a brown participation ribbon. They are in danger of falling below the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, who would not welcome the lottery competition.
Given De'Aaron Fox's scattershot play, is it possible Haliburton and maybe Davion Mitchell -- shooting 31.5% on 3s -- are the only guys left on the theoretical 2024-25 Kings? Fox is way better than he has shown this season; he and Haliburton should be a dynamic backcourt despite Fox's wonky 3-point shot and some tug-of-war for control. They could be the start of something, but it's unclear what -- or how much another disappointing season has fractured those plans.
One teensy bright spot: Damian Jones, on his fifth team in five seasons, has gotten more comfortable making plays on the move in the pick-and-roll:
Jones is dishing about 2.5 dimes per 36 minutes, nice for a rim-running backup. He's more confident executing one-dribble finishes; Jones is shooting 80% at the rim.
He's inconsistent on defense, but I'd take a low-cost flier on him as a reserve -- either via trade, or this summer in free agency.
6. Gary Trent Jr. has "it"
Hypothesis: Trent leads all non-Lance Stephenson players in bravado. Even as a deep bench guy with the Portland Trail Blazers, Trent carried himself as if he were the best player on the floor -- a sneering gunslinger, with a smooth, old-school midrange game.
Such self-belief in an untested role player can grate on teammates, but Trent backed it up. He could score one-on-one, even though he's not a blowaway athlete; Trent rarely gets to the basket. He is tough -- willing to body up bigger guys on defense, with a knack for deflections and anticipatory rotations.
He earned a starting role in Portland, and has emerged as an indispensable shot-maker for a weirdo Toronto Raptors team in need of his prolific jump-shooting.
Trent is on the run of his life as the Raps -- 1.5 games out of that coveted No. 6 slot -- crawl up the East standings. He has cracked 30 points in five of six games on 48% shooting. He is raining fire from deep, and staggering fools with all manner of midrange filth.
The Raps have scored about 1.2 points per possession when Trent shoots out of an isolation, or passes to a teammate who launches -- third among 137 players who have recorded at least 50 isolations, per Second Spectrum. (Ahead of him: Eric Gordon and the inexplicable Nikola Jokic.)
Trent has bent the math in his favor by turning lots of pull-up 2s into 3s. He has a calm pump fake/side step combination as defenders fly by, and he loves toying with big guys on switches until he has space for his step-back:
That jab step works because John Collins has to pressure Trent -- making him prime prey for a blow-by; Collins stumbles at one flinch. Trent can probably leverage that in-your-jersey pressure into more drive-and-kick actions; he has improved as a passer.
He is running more pick-and-rolls than ever, and those plays generate a lot of these mismatch switches.
Trent could hit free agency again after next season; the Raptors may regret not signing him to a longer deal -- if they had such an option.
7. Portland's lost lottery pick
Between Dallas and New York, Dennis Smith Jr. ran into some mental block about his jumper and became Markelle Fultz without the turbo change-of-gear or plus passing vision.
Smith is lost. He is 6-of-27 on 3s, and refuses to even look at the rim. He barely tries long 2s. Smith's defenders loiter in the paint, awaiting the oncoming wayward drive. When you careen into walls, you tend to turn it over; Smith has one of the dozen highest turnover rates in the league.
Defenders duck screens on the pick-and-roll, making it hard for Smith to puncture the defense. He rarely creates advantages for teammates.
Smith is even passing up layups late in the shot clock:
The Blazers have lost five of six after a brief stretch punching above their weight without Damian Lillard, Larry Nance Jr., and (for a bit) CJ McCollum. Nassir Little's shoulder injury short-circuited his breakout and robbed Portland of vital 3-and-D production. It is barely clinging to the No. 10 seed.
The Anfernee Simons/McCollum/Norman Powell trio is potent on offense, but porous on the other end. The offense feels precarious when one of those three sits, and you want to cover your eyes when two rest at the same time. Smith has worked as Simons' backup, and the Blazers' offense has cratered in those minutes; opponents have outscored Portland by 10 points per 100 possessions with Smith on the floor.
Smith remains an explosive athlete. Press him, and he'll roast you. Here's hoping he finds his full game.
8. Caleb Martin, in the muck
The Miami Heat are tied with the Chicago Bulls for No. 1 in the East, and they should be thrilled to be 33-20 considering Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Kyle Lowry have appeared together in only 15 games.
Amid injuries, Erik Spoelstra found more than he expected from several unsung heroes. Gabe Vincent is an effective spot starter for Lowry and can play alongside him. Omer Yurtseven rampaged to double-doubles when he got his chance; he is second in the league in rebounding rate, behind only Rudy Gobert.
Caleb Martin, on a two-way contract, might be the most Heat-y of all these very Heat-y finds. He revels in the nasty. He throws his body into uncomfortable places for the sake of the team.
You think it's fun for a 6-5 wing to wedge Jusuf Nurkic out of the way? It hurts! Martin is all sharp elbows and pointy hips in rebounding scrums.
He loves challenging shots at the basket with textbook verticality. Martin makes the extra pass, and rotates in synch with opposing offenses -- and sometimes from one step ahead:
That is the kind of forgotten play that shifts the odds of a critical possession, and maybe (to some slight degree) the game itself. Martin zones up between Scottie Barnes in the corner and Trent up top as Fred VanVleet probes. VanVleet kicks to Barnes. Martin stunts there, but he doesn't commit; he knows Trent is the more dangerous shooter. Martin wants to make Barnes hesitate long enough for his teammates to recover, while staying close to Trent. He nails it -- and ruins Toronto's possession.
Martin averages 2.9 deflections per 36 minutes -- trailing only Butler among Heat rotation guys. Martin is shooting 37% from deep, and will surprise you with the occasional cram job. The Heat -- maybe the East's sleeping giant -- will have a hard time yanking Martin from the rotation.
9. Joel Embiid, trailing
Embiid cut his 3-point rate last season, and has found the perfect mix in his offensive arsenal. He has become one of the league's most dangerous and unpredictable trailing bigs. Embiid's trail 3 is a valuable weapon, but he keeps backpedaling defenders off-balance with rumbling drives:
Good freaking luck with that. The Sixers have scored 1.16 points when Embiid shoots out of a drive, or dishes to a teammate who lets fly -- 10th among 206 players who have recorded at least 100 drives, per Second Spectrum.
Embiid is averaging almost 14 isolations per 100 possessions -- eighth most among all players, and more than LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, and Jimmy Butler, per Second Spectrum. He is (by a hair) over the one-point-per-possession barrier on those plays, above some names on that list. This is a gigantic center going one-on-one with the frequency and efficiency of All-Star wings. My god.
Driving from the trail position helps Embiid flow into handoffs and fake "quarterback keepers" -- both wickedly effective, according to tracking data. Embiid is almost neck and neck with Jokic as the league's most efficient high-volume post-up scorer, and he's up to 45% on long 2s after a chilly start. There is just nothing you can do with him.
He is right there for MVP alongside Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Other candidates might emerge (or reemerge).
Can Philly really swallow a zero from Ben Simmons's roster spot all season, with Embiid doing this? I've bet (slightly) against an in-season Simmons trade from the start, but the prospect of inertia gets more painful with each epic Embiid game.
10. Fake-claiming assists on airballs
I absolutely do this if an airball turns into a perfect lob pass:
The key is hamming it up -- going so over the top in claiming your airball was a pass, that everyone understands you are in on the bit. Judging by the theatricality from Facundo Campazzo and the Denver Nuggets' bench, Campazzo -- the nutmegging irritant -- was not serious in demanding a dime. (He did not get one.)
The same policy holds for accidental bank-shot hits: either smile, admitting your good fortune, or declare you went glass on purpose with such righteousness the world knows you are joking. The basketball gods frown upon those who trot back stone-faced, acting as if they meant to bank that 22-footer from straight on.