This week's 10 things features rising young big men in both conferences, some fun in San Antonio, a great story in Orlando, and much more.
1. The breadth of Evan Mobley's game ... on offense!?!?
Mobley is one of the best defenders in the league already. If you don't watch the Cleveland Cavaliers, you might miss that Mobley's offense is expanding in every direction.
His counting stats being up even slightly is a win given the introduction of another high-usage guard in Donovan Mitchell. Mobley is shooting 55%, up from 50.8% last season. He leads the league in dunks and looks more decisive exploding through creases.
Mobley is using his left hand more in traffic, including on soft jump hooks:
He can take the ball coast to coast and make the right plays.
If his jumper comes along -- even just a reliable long 2 -- Mobley will be a 20-point scorer very soon, and maybe much more than that in his prime.
Mobley's growth as a passer leaps off the screen. He's averaging 2.7 dimes, up from 2.5 last season, and again -- that uptick is more than it appears given how Mitchell and Darius Garland dominate the offense.
When Mobley rolls into space, he's making snappy reads:
He knows where his shooters should be, and whether it might be smarter to take one dribble to make the defense think -- and open up the baseline for one of his cutters. Mobley is playing from one step ahead.
He makes that pass as the only big man on the floor -- a role he played exclusively when Jarrett Allen missed four recent games. But those same interior passes work with Allen lurking on the baseline.
When Mobley draws help on the block, the ball is flying out of his hands while defenders are still rotating toward him -- and before they start their next wave of rotations:
The Cavs are using Mobley more as a facilitator from the post, with shooters screening for each other off the ball. That could turn into a powerful weapon -- needed variety outside Mitchell and Garland pick-and-roll attacks.
Mobley was never really in a sophomore slump. He's coming. The numbers may not show it, but Mobley is on track to be a two-way superstar.
2. Markelle Fultz is one of the best stories in sports
In a lot of universes, Fultz's NBA story is over -- Fultz forever defined as the mysterious bust who derailed a potential Philadelphia 76ers dynasty. The No. 1 overall pick lost his jumper, was sent to the NBA's netherworld in Orlando, Florida, and missed almost two entire seasons because of injuries.
With no one watching, Fultz fought for his career. He is averaging 14 points and 6 assists on 51% shooting, and plays solid multipositional defense when he's dialed in -- including offering bouncy rim protection for his size. He is, improbably, a legitimate starting point guard, and still ascending.
Fultz is one of the league's craftiest players slithering through tight corridors. That is the bizarro blessing of his busted jumper: Fultz had to adapt and scrounge profits from strange places. He keeps adding spice atop spice:
Holy smokes. Fultz splits defenders with a lefty behind-the-back crossover, and then goes all lefty from there -- culminating in a gorgeous pogo-stick push shot. Fultz is shooting 49% from floater range -- an elite number.
His journey from here is murky. Fultz is indeed an NBA starting point guard, but there are 30 of those; how valuable is, say, the 20th-best one? That depends on surrounding talent. Fultz is still a reluctant, shaky 3-point shooter. Is that the point guard to put around two potential All-Star ballhandling forwards in Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero?
The Magic face that question now, with cap space that will expire once they pay their young guys. They will be under enormous pressure to win next season. Previous reports have linked them to Fred VanVleet. Fultz has been good enough to complicate their decision-making.
3. Devin Vassell's sweet, sweet jumper -- and what it opens up
Vassell's season has slipped under the radar for obvious reasons. The San Antonio Spurs are chasing Victor Wembanyama. Vassell has missed 35 games. He has improved in meaningful ways but hasn't quite broken out to the degree that would draw national fawning.
He's not super far from that. Vassell is averaging 19 points and approaching 40% on 3s, and testing the boundaries of his shot-making. The Spurs run this early pindown action for Vassell a lot:
Vassell has a smooth, liquid jumper. He rises high and has a buttery touch. He makes that shot look easy. It's not. That's a cramped phone booth, and he catches that pass moving to his left. Later in that game, the Spurs ran an unconventional set to get Vassell a handoff in the right corner; Vassell made an outrageous leaning 3 almost falling out of bounds. He's shooting a gargantuan 44% on catch-and-shoot 3s.
Vassell has hit only 21 of 75 pull-up 3s, but he's comfortable jacking 2s on the pick-and-roll. Vassell has tripled his pick-and-roll volume this season, per Second Spectrum. The Spurs have scored 1.05 points per possession when Vassell shoots after using a ball screen or whips it to a teammate who launches -- 46th among 207 players who have run at least 100 such plays, per Second Spectrum. Given San Antonio's ad hoc roster, that number is massively encouraging.
Vassell is shooting 48% on long 2s. He's starting to understand the threat his pull-up poses -- how it worms its way into the minds of opposing defenders.
Vassell knows the Atlanta Hawks will chase him over that pick. He knows he's quicker than his defender -- Bogdan Bogdanovic -- and that Bogdanovic will be primed to dart around that pick the moment Vassell glances there. Vassell fakes toward the screen with one hanging lefty dribble and then zooms the other way when Bogdanovic takes the bait.
Vassell saunters to the rim, and that's one of the next steps for him. He doesn't get to the basket or the line much. Vassell is a decent passer -- he's up to almost four dimes per game -- and driving more will help unlock that part of his game.
Vassell's defense hasn't been as airtight as hoped, but that's not surprising given the context. He'll be fine. On offense, he's showing signs of becoming a 20-plus-point scorer with strong secondary ballhandling chops.
4. When Rudy Gobert does too much
This may surprise given the discourse about the Minnesota Timberwolves' massive gamble on Gobert, but the Wolves are throwing the ball to Gobert more than the Utah Jazz ever did -- and getting nice results.
Gobert has blown past his career high with 87 post touches -- about 2.3 per 100 possessions, according to Second Spectrum. That is not a ton, to be clear. Those 87 post touches rank 43rd, right behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Mason Plumlee, Jakob Poeltl, and OG Anunoby.
But it's a real jump for Gobert after being mostly ignored in Utah, and the Wolves have scored 1.086 points per possession directly out of Gobert post-ups -- 52nd among 115 players with at least 20 post touches, per Second Spectrum. Gobert has drawn shooting fouls on 19% of those plays -- sixth highest in that 115-player sample.
Part of this is Minnesota being selective. The Wolves generally toss it to Gobert against mismatches and when the lane is clear enough that entry passers can lob over fronting defenders. All Gobert has to do is keep the ball high and go up. It seldom looks pretty, but if Gobert sticks to that, good things happen.
But there are times he gets carried away. The Wolves have indulged those ambitions, but there isn't much room for Gobert hooks, fadeaways and dribbling exhibitions in high-stakes games -- and when both Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are on the floor:
Gobert has coughed it up on 15.5% of post-ups -- the 11th-highest rate in the league, per Second Spectrum. Turnovers have been a chronic issue for him.
Gobert has settled in on both ends after a rough introduction to Minnesota. He's still one of the league's elite rim protectors; the Wolves have mauled opponents by almost 11 points per 100 possessions with Gobert, Edwards, Kyle Anderson and Jaden McDaniels on the floor.
5. The Fred VanVleet/Jakob Poeltl two-man game has reinvented the Toronto Raptors
To give you an idea how badly Toronto needed some go-to action to trigger drive-and-kick goodness: the VanVleet-Poeltl pick-and-roll in 14 games already ranks third in reps among all Toronto two-man combinations -- and will be No. 2 after Toronto's next game.
The Raptors' once-sludgy offense has a fulcrum and some juice. Toronto has scored 1.3 points per possession on trips featuring the VanVleet-Poeltl dance -- 24th among almost 366 pairings with at least 100 reps, per Second Spectrum. Toronto is plus-7 per 100 possessions with Poeltl on the floor, and a mammoth plus-13 with Poeltl and VanVleet.
After months of rotation roulette, everyone knows their role. The Raptors have a stable starting five. Gary Trent Jr. is in stone as sixth man. (Let us not speak of the Will Barton experience.)
Poeltl is a more confident scorer than he was when Toronto dealt him in the Kawhi Leonard trade.
Frisky!
What an incredible lob by VanVleet, who seems invigorated by Poeltl's presence. VanVleet has been on a scoring surge. Poeltl's high-post passing enlivened Toronto's cutting -- most notably with Pascal Siakam. Scottie Barnes has readapted into a jack of all trades after working as Toronto's primary screen-setter before Poeltl's arrival.
The Raptors are a better and more complete team now. They should make for an unpleasant first-round opponent. The Indiana Pacers win in Toronto on Wednesday kept them in the race for the No. 10 spot; a loss would have had the East's 10-team field pretty close to set with the Pacers slumping and the "win-now" Washington Wizards in an inexcusable free fall. There are still high-stakes races at the bottom of the East for No. 6, and Nos. 7-8 in the play-in.
Being a plucky first-round team isn't good enough for the Raptors' front office. Tough decisions loom this summer.
6. Isaiah Joe, off the bounce
The Oklahoma City Thunder signing Joe to a three-year, $6 million deal -- after the Philadelphia 76ers waived him -- probably stands as the most important free agency acquisition in franchise history. (Please read that again.)
Joe hasn't played enough -- 18 minutes per game -- to butt into the Sixth Man of the Year conversation, but his shooting changes the look and feel of Oklahoma City's offense. The Thunder have a lot of good perimeter players, but no one who shoots like Joe. He has drilled 42% from deep on 10.3 attempts per 36 minutes. Only six rotation players have a higher attempt rate: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, LaMelo Ball and (not really a rotation player right now) Bones Hyland.
The Thunder are plus-6.4 points per 100 possessions with Joe on the floor, and a minus-1.5 when he sits.
In about 1,000 total minutes before this season, Joe had hit 22 pull-up shots -- total. He was 8-of-30 on pull-up 3s.
In almost 1,200 minutes this season, Joe has 53 total pull-up hits -- including a nice 27-of-72 mark on triples.
The Thunder are running sets to get Joe the ball on the move, and his pull-up shooting is a handy failsafe in the (rare) minutes Oklahoma City goes with both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey on the bench. (Jalen Williams -- making a late Rookie of the Year push -- runs those units.)
The Thunder have scored 1.33 points on average when Joe shoots out of a pick-and-roll or dishes to a teammate who fires -- No. 1 among 207 players who have run at least 100 such plays. (Joe has logged 111, but humor me!) The Thunder are kings of the guard-guard pick-and-roll, and Joe is an ideal screen for Gilgeous-Alexander; defenders are paranoid about leaving Joe, opening alleyways for the league's most voracious driver.
Joe may never start for the Thunder, but he has established himself as a potential core rotation player.
7. The Obi Toppin situation
Sigh. I'm still a believer in Toppin, even though his 3-point shooting has dipped to 32%. There is just no path to real playing time for Toppin on the New York Knicks. He backs up Julius Randle, and Randle leads the league in minutes amid another potential All-NBA run. Tom Thibodeau won't use Toppin at center, or pair Toppin and Randle in smaller lineups, and it's pretty much impossible at this point to nit-pick that decision. The Knicks are winning, and their three-headed center brigade -- Mitchell Robinson (getting in that cardio!), Isaiah Hartenstein and Jericho Sims -- has executed Thibodeau's scheme.
Toppin's entire existence is running around for two short stints, jacking a few open 3s and retiring to the bench. If he makes a couple 3s, he helped. If he goes 0-of-4, you forget he played. He has no chance to establish rhythm.
Toppin's strengths are all still there. He runs the floor faster than almost any big man, and he's a quick passer with handoff skills. If he can make enough 3s -- and New York brass was extremely bullish before the season -- Toppin is a good backup and spot starter, despite below-average defense.
Toppin is eligible for an extension this summer, but it's hard to see any marriage here.
8. The smallness of two starry West teams -- for now?
In an important game this week against the Memphis Grizzlies, the reeling Dallas Mavericks played the following two lineups: Kyrie Irving/Jaden Hardy/Tim Hardaway Jr./Davis Bertans/Christian Wood, and the same group with Reggie Bullock in Hardy's place. Those lineups have no chance to defend. None.
The Mavericks are not built to defend after dealing away Dorian Finney-Smith in the Irving deal. They are built to outscore teams, and the Irving/Luka Doncic pairing makes that "score like hell, hang by a thread on defense" model viable.
But man, the Mavericks are tiny, and on some nights they have to play ultra small to lift their offense where it needs to be. Any group without all three of Bullock, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber (or Dwight Powell in Kleber's place) relies on gimmickry and random bad opponent shooting to sniff average defense.
Hardy might change this equation. He is overflowing with game and guile on offense. He's only 6-4, but he has a 6-9 wingspan and is pretty stout on defense for a rookie. (He's also a rookie.)
The Mavericks are 4-8 in their past 12 games, assuming their protest of Wednesday night's loss to the Warriors does not hold up. They are in a four-way tie for 8th, a half-game from 12th. They lost Jalen Brunson and traded their third- and fourth-best players from last year's conference finals team for Irving -- who can walk in free agency if he wishes.
The Mavericks' remaining schedule toughens after their baseball series this weekend against the Charlotte Hornets. We are not far from a DEFCON 1 situation here.
The Phoenix Suns will get rangier when Kevin Durant returns, but they're dealing with semi-urgent size issues in the meantime. They have even dabbled in lineups featuring four of these five guards: Devin Booker, Cameron Payne, Terrence Ross, Damion Lee and Landry Shamet.
Sliding in one of Torrey Craig and Josh Okogie helps, but you want those guys to be tweener forwards -- not the clear, standalone power forward. (The Chris Paul/Shamet/Booker trio is also pretty small.) Playing both Okogie and Craig compromises spacing. Ish Wainright is an intriguing fifth guy once Durant returns. T.J. Warren reclaiming a rotation spot -- he played 20 minutes Wednesday -- would add size on the wing.
Durant locks everything into place, but the Suns' recent slide without him -- losing five of six -- has left them little margin for error in play-in avoidance.
9. Jaren Jackson Jr. at full blast
Jackson's development as a scorer has been one of the under-discussed subplots of the season. Injuries to Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke -- the latter a season-ending Achilles tear -- haven't gotten enough attention either amid the Ja Morant situation. Their absence tears at the Grizzlies' fabric -- at their identity as a ferocious interior team.
All of that has thrust more responsibility onto Jackson, and he has proven up to it. Jackson has cracked 20 points in eight of the Grizzlies' past 10 games, including five straight 25-plus-point games. He has sacrificed nothing on defense. Jackson is perhaps the biggest reason Memphis went 6-1 in its past seven games without Morant, retaking the No. 2 seed from the Sacramento Kings.
Jackson is more forceful on offense -- against both mismatches and guys his size.
That inverted pick-and-roll with Luke Kennard doesn't appear to give Jackson an advantage; Dwight Powell ducks the pick and meets Jackson on the other side. But going underneath Kennard's screen opens up a few feet of space between Jackson and Powell, and that's all Jackson needs to rev up.
Without Adams and Clarke, the Grizzlies are using Jackson more as their main screen-setter. Jackson is bulldozing to points in that setup, especially in stretchier lineups with Santi Aldama at power forward -- decluttering the paint:
The Grizzlies won't be themselves without Adams and Clarke. They don't have an offensive rebounding element without Adams. But with Morant back and Jackson blending offense and defense like never before, they have a chance to show how far they can get with their big three of Morant, Jackson and Desmond Bane. Don't count them out. This is a resilient, tough team.
10. A "weak fly" appearance in Los Angeles!
It had been a long while since I had seen anyone but D'Angelo Russell execute this football-style timing pattern:
That is Manu Ginobili's pass. He might have originated it in basketball. If he didn't invent it, he was the first and only player to do it regularly. It requires a receiver -- someone who senses the right moment to cut. Tony Parker and Patty Mills were Ginobili's most popular targets. "It's just winks and blinks with Manu, mate," Mills once told me about this pass.
The Spurs nicknamed it "weak fly." In San Antonio and then elsewhere, Spurs coaches tried to teach other players to thread it. "Manu is the only one with the balls to throw it," Mike Budenholzer, then Atlanta's head coach, told me in 2016. "It might be my favorite action ever. We've worked on it, but I think we got one all season."
Parker taught it to players on the French national team but found "it didn't work without Manu," he told me.
Russell is the only player to have carried that pass forward. Nicolas Batum and Terance Mann nail it here. That is not an accident. They picked this up somewhere and let it rip.
The Clippers were on the verge of facing some dicey closing-time lineup choices upon Norman Powell's return -- with Batum and Mann central to those choices. Paul George's knee injury is their latest disruption. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.