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In the words of Manute Bol, “My bad!” I misread the Hawks-Pelicans trade stipulations and incorrectly stated yesterday that the Bucks would lose their 2026 NBA Draft pick if it’s a higher selection than the Pelicans. And that’s not the case. The ’26 pick is actually a swap New Orleans can exercise, but Milwaukee would still have a pick. So the Hawks benefit no matter what, and the Pelicans suffer no matter what. It’s a win-win (unless you’re the Pels)! In related news, Dr. Giannis was correct in diagnosing his calf injury. I’m feeling a post-retirement reality show coming.
Tanking Tuesday
I’ve been asking a lot of people who they think the No. 1 pick will be in the loaded 2026 draft. I’ll ask analysts. I’ll ask scouts. I’ll ask executives. I’ll ask the homie who works at the coffee shop. I’ll ask various group chats. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson are the top three prospects, so there’s some healthy competition for who gets their name called first in June.
The answer I get? “Uh … you know … man … it’s tough.” There doesn’t seem to be a resounding answer. At the same time, there doesn’t seem to be a sense of, just get a top-three pick and we know you’ve got a future star.
Are people cooling on the top of this draft? No, I don’t get that sense. There’s just confusion behind which guy to push all your chips in for. And because Peterson has only played in 10 games this college season because of injuries, it feels like enough people have cooled on him to make me wonder if we’re down to just Dybantsa and Boozer as the top options. Let’s check in on all three of these guys, anyway, but with emphasis on Boozer and Dybantsa.
AJ Dybantsa | BYU | Wing/Forward | 6-9 | 19 years old
23.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.3 spg, 53.0/31.8/76.2 shooting splits, 32.2 mpg
After a tough loss to Texas Tech, Dybantsa showed out for his best scoring effort of the season against Utah. He had 43 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field. He carved up everything the Utes threw at him, and it was a reminder of just how special his scoring potential is. Then on Monday, in a loss against undefeated and top-ranked Arizona, Dybantsa scored 24 points but went 6 of 24 from the field and just 1 of 8 on 3s.
He hasn’t proven anything with his 3-point shot, but a lot of scouts still believe it’s fixable and workable at the next level. Dybantsa probably still dazzles front offices the most, because he’s a 6-9 wing who can score all over the floor. Unless his pre-draft interviews are a disaster, I’d expect most teams to grab his potential over anybody else’s.
Cameron Boozer | Duke | Forward | 6-9 | 19 years old
23.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 57.9/37.0/75.7 shooting splits, 32.2 mpg
Every time I talk to someone about Boozer, the immediate question is, “Do you think it translates to the NBA?” I’ve asked it. I’ve had it asked to me. Because the fundamentals, the footwork and the skill set are what you want them to be at the college level. He’s been the best college player, by far. We don’t have nearly enough of a substantial sample size to know if his 3-point shot will translate. He’s a really good passer, and he has every counter to score against whatever a defender troubleshoots against him.
We just don’t know if the athleticism, shot and scoring touch will find its way to the NBA level consistency. I think teams wish he was the most trustworthy option. But my guess is he’d end up second once it’s decision time.
Darryn Peterson | Kansas | Guard | 6-5 | 19 years old
21.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.0 spg, 49.3/42.0/82.0 shooting splits, 27.2 mpg
Everything I hear about Peterson boils down to two points. 1) We haven’t seen enough games with him. The scouts don’t feel like we’ve seen enough to know if he might be the best guy. 2) He might just be a scorer. He could be an awesome scorer, but we haven’t seen a lot else from him.
A scout put it to me that this would be like thinking Wizards rookie Tre Johnson is your savior. He could be! But we haven’t seen enough to feel good about it. A big tournament run or great pre-draft visits could change his outlook.
The last 24
🏀 A community suffering. Jon Krawczynski wrote beautifully about how it feels in Minneapolis. Forget basketball; life is under attack.
📈 Power Rankings! Law Murray gave out second-quarter grades for all 30 teams. C’s get degrees for Cavs and Lakers.
🧱 Brick by brick. The Wizards and John Wall had a bad breakup. But the team is planning an appreciation night for their former star on Thursday as both sides return to one another.
🤝 Trade tiers 2.0. I updated my list of which teams are buyers, which are sellers and everything in between. A few teams have moved categories.
🫡 Bench mob? Rui Hachimura is someone the Lakers really need. He might be best off the bench.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Rising stars
NBC/Peacock is handling All-Star Weekend, as the NBA trusts its marquee weekend with someone other than Turner Sports for the first time in decades. NBC will figure out if the current formats are something it can work with, but ultimately, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights will probably see more changes over the next couple of years.
Yesterday, the league and NBC announced the player pools for the Feb. 13 Rising Stars Game. We have sophomore players, rookies and G League guys. As I look at the player pool here, I like what I’m seeing. And I think we could see these sides take it somewhat seriously, in a game I don’t usually bother thinking much about.
Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony are going to draft three teams of seven from the sophomore and rookie pool. Austin Rivers will coach the G Leaguers. These are the player pools:
I think this is the right crop of players to inject this game with plenty of effort and competitiveness. Matas Buzelis, Stephon Castle, Kyshawn George, Reed Sheppard, Alex Sarr and Kel’el Ware are all second-year players who will want to prove themselves and turn up the intensity. V.J. Edgecombe, Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Collin Murray-Boyles and Dylan Harper should do the same for the rookies. And we’ll get some fun effort and plays from Yang Hansen with the G League guys.
I actually wish the teams weren’t split up this way. This year’s sophomore class was dismissed time and time again as unserious or incapable difference-makers over the previous season. They’ll look at the hype this rookie class received and continues to receive, and they might want to give a little reality check. Or, since we’ll be in the greater Los Angeles area, everybody will have so much fun the night before that we won’t get the game.
I just want it to harken back to the 1995 days when Eddie Jones outdueled Glenn Robinson in an overtime affair. No offense to the G League guys (featuring a couple of actual team rookies), but I’m not sure I need a mini-tournament for this night.
About last night
The Hornets are serious, apparently
Hornets 130, 76ers 93: I don’t care that Joel Embiid and Paul George didn’t play for Philly. Tyrese Maxey played. Edgecombe played. A lot of the good role players were still there. At one point, the Hornets led by 50 points. Maybe you want to blame the early start time for the Sixers — the game tipped off at 3 p.m. because of weather conditions — but I’m fairly certain Charlotte (19-28) also started the game at the same time. The Hornets are now 12-10 in their last 22 games, and this offense is arguably the best in the league during that stretch. They outscored the Sixers 81-37 in the second and third quarters combined.
Brandon Miller led with 30 points in 27 minutes. He was one of eight Hornets in double figures, and nobody else had more than 13 in the game. Here’s the kicker: Charlotte won by 37 in a game in which it turned the ball over 24 times and allowed 30 points off those turnovers. This was the Hornets’ second game this month in which they led by 50. Maybe we can’t make jokes about this organization anymore? Charles Lee has them hoopin’, as the kids say.
Cavs 114, Magic 98: It looked like we were going to get a historic Donovan Mitchell night. In the third quarter, he already had 34 points on 12-of-14 shooting. He cooled off and “only” finished with 45 pointson 15-of-25 shooting, as Cleveland (28-20) survived 37 from Paolo Banchero and 19 from Desmond Bane. Orlando (23-22) has been held under 100 points in three of its last five losses.
Wolves 108, Warriors 83: The Warriors sat Steph Curry and Draymond Green. The Wolves sat Anthony Edwards. But Minnesota (28-19) still got a much-needed victory to snap its five-game losing streak. Julius Randle led the way with 18 points, Bones Hyland had 17 off the bench and the Wolves had six players in double figures.
Hawks 132, Pacers 116: Atlanta flirted with disaster in this one but used a 37-24 fourth quarter to pull away. CJ McCollum led the Hawks with 23 points off the bench. Dyson Daniels got back on track with 22 points and nine assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit five 3-pointers on his way to 21 points. Atlanta (23-25) is now three full games ahead of Milwaukee for 10th in the East.
Rockets 108, Grizzlies 99: Houston held Memphis under 40 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep. Alperen Şengün and Kevin Durant each had 33 points and helped the Rockets (28-16) pull away in the fourth.
Celtics 102, Blazers 94: Jaylen Brown had 20 points to lead the Celtics (29-17), who did just enough to take down a Blazers team without Deni Avdija.
Lakers 129, Bulls 118: Luka Dončić had 46 points and 12 assists as L.A. (28-17) took care of the Bulls (23-23).
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