Through the first week of the season, it looked like the Pelicans were on the same trajectory as last year. They lost each of their first four games, including multiple by one possession.

However, with some key adjustments, Jamahl Mosley’s team has found a second wind and has not lost a game since Oct. 28 when they fell to the Denver Nuggets 104-91.

After digging themselves into a 0-4 hole, how have the Pelicans managed to reassert themselves in the Western Conference?

Pelicans Are Learning How to Close Games

One of the main reasons the Pelicans had to wait until almost November to earn their first win was their inability to close games.

This is something Pelicans fans are reluctantly accustomed to, as over the past three seasons the Pelicans have been in the top half of the NBA in blown double-digit leads.

Despite a complete coaching overhaul, that trend looked like it was going to rear its ugly head again to start the 2026-27 season. Through the first four games, the Pelicans found themselves up double digits in two of them and lost both.

This includes a 141-135 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets that saw the Pelicans leading by 19 entering the fourth quarter.

However, early into November, the Pelicans have flipped this script by picking up two overtime wins, including a one-point thriller over the Memphis Grizzlies, who at the time were 6-0, and a 120-113 victory over the Utah jazz.

For the Pelicans, when a game enters crunch time there is no one person they look to, but rather a committee.

In the win over Memphis, Zion Williamson scored nine of the team’s 11 overtime points. Then in the game versus the Jazz, it was Saddiq Bey who did the heavy lifting in overtime.

Going by committee plays perfectly into Jamahl Mosley’s plan while closing games as defenses have cannot key in on one player.

“It creates confusion,” Mosley said following the Pelicans’ 121-99 vin over the Atlanta Hawks. “If you have guys who can get downhill and attack the basket, it creates confusion on who guards what.”

More Herb Jones Minutes

Another facet that plagued the Pelicans during their early season skid was their defense, or rather lack thereof.

During their 0-4 start, the Pelicans’ defensive rating sat at 118.2 which was 23rd in the NBA. However, during the team’s four-game win streak, their defensive rating has jumped up to 13th at 111.1.

This improvement did not just happen by chance. It happened because Herb Jones has seen significantly more playing time during the team’s win streak.

With a defensive-minded head coach coming to town in Jamahl Mosley, the thought was that Jones, being an All-Defensive player, would play a massive role for the team as just a season ago he started 56 games.

This, however, was not the case at all as through the first four games; Jones had only logged a career low 17 minutes per game and started none of them.

With the Pelicans’ early season defensive struggles, Mosley knew that he would have to find a way to get Jones on the hardwood.

“Herb is the ultimate professional,” Mosley said in a post-practice press conference. “Finding more time for him is going to be a priority for me.”

Early into his tenure as the Pelicans’ head coach, carving out a role for Jones is the best decision Mosley has made.

The Alabama native has played lock down defense on opponent’s top scorers while still contributing offensively as he can space the floor particularly in the corner.

With providing an impact on both ends of the floor, Jones has racked up a +85 plus-minus which is good for tenth in the entire NBA.

Since placing Jones back in the starting five, the Pelicans are undefeated and have risen from last in the Western Conference to 10th, which would be good for a post-season appearance.

The Pelicans will look to continue their momentum, going for a fifth straight win, when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Cup on Friday night.

The post Herb Jones, Late-Game Execution Have Lifted Pelicans From Rock Bottom appeared first on The Lead.

The Washington Wizards walked into the 2026-27 season as one of the NBA’s most intriguing stories. Washington combined two midseason additions in Trae Young and Anthony Davis with the No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa. As far as role players, the Wizards wield ascending youngsters like Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, and Tre Johnson.

Fans could forecast what might come next with the new lineup and new expectations. The Wizards will unlock a reliable pick-and-roll game. They can put the paint on lockdown. Dybantsa will create a needed second offensive layer.

Eight games into the season, the Wizards are 4-4 and have fit their expected mold.

Trae Unlocks His Teammates

Washington is used to having the luxury of great distributors. Take a decade of John Wall, a season of Russell Westbrook, or even Rod Strickland in the 1990’s as evidence. The Wizards were starved of that in recent years. Trae Young has brought it back.

He showed glimpses of it through five games in the nation’s capital last year, but has cemented it in 2026-27. Young is averaging 9.5 assists per game, tied for first in the league, and brings control to the half-court.

Davis and Deandre Ayton have benefited the most from Young’s presence. As pick-and-roll partners, they flow effortlessly with Young, who can turn his dribbles into a floater if the defender drops or a lob if they meet him. Young also demands so much attention in the paint on these two-man actions that it leaves shooters with more space. He has assisted 40% of his teammates’ made shots this season.

Young is also adept at recognizing mismatches with throw-ahead passes in transition. He’s been quick to send 40+ foot passes to Davis and Ayton whenever they flash to the paint with a smaller defender on them.

Dybantsa Has Stepped Up

Wizards fans had to wait an extra week before watching their first No. 1 overall pick since 2010 make his debut.

Dybantsa injured his ankle during Washington’s last preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 16 after missing a jumper. Instead of lacing up in the season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 21, he was sidelined for seven days until the Wizards traveled to Cleveland.

Dybantsa’s first bucket was no surprise: a full-streamed drive that led to free throws. He totaled 19 points on hyper-efficient 66% shooting. Production has followed since. Dybantsa is averaging 16.5 points per game and is shooting 46.2 percent — the highest mark of this draft’s electric top six picks.

His shot diet has looked very similar to his college days at Brigham Young. He’s met defenders with jab steps and aggressive crossovers into wild layups at the rim. If he’s not attacking the basket, Dybantsa is stopping on a dime and pivoting into a turnaround.

Perhaps most importantly, he’s been a defensive hound and used his length to be disruptive. One of Dybantsa’s few criticisms entering the league was effort on the other end of the ball, but many projected growth come October. He’s fulfilled that so far.

Ice Cold From Distance

Besides the starting five’s sheer height, there was something else that stood out before the season opener: They can’t shoot. Sarr and Dybantsa shot 33% from 3-point range in their respective latest seasons. Davis shot it at just a 27% clip his final year in Dallas, and Young hadn’t shot above 34% since the 2023-24 season. The spacing would be unideal, and the paint packed.

Those worries have translated this season. Washington stands at second-to-last in the NBA in 3-point percentage, making just 29.4% of its attempts. The Wizards have refrained from the long ball as well; they only take 29.8 shots on average. The last time NBA teams shot around just 29 threes a night on average was the 2017-18 season.

Washington’s inability to stretch the floor has hurt it. Opponents have been loading up in the restricted area, making the Wizards’ only bread and butter that much harder. D.C.’s dedicated shooter, Tre Johnson, would ideally lessen the blow. But even he is shooting just 26.7% from three in seven games.

When Washington features mid-range-heavy players like Dybantsa and Davis, 3-point shooting teams can slowly outgain the Wizards because of their shot diet. This was evident in their 120-105 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 4. The Hawks took 49 threes and converted 39% of them. Nickeil Alexander-Walker made six threes. Washington as a whole made six.

The District is meeting expectations, for better and for worse.

The post The Washington Wizards Are Playing as Advertised appeared first on The Lead.

The NBA season is officially back, and with a new season comes new rules. One of the biggest changes involves the NBA draft lottery.

The new rules, called the 3-2-1 lottery system, will debut for the 2026-2027 season. And these reforms could forever change the landscape of the NBA.

Rebuilding teams like the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz no longer have the same incentives to tank for better lottery picks. Meanwhile, teams on the bubble between making the playoffs and missing out now have a better chance of landing a lottery pick.

Explaining the New Lottery Rules

The new NBA Draft lottery format changes a lot.

It expands the lottery from 14 teams to 16 teams. The three teams with the worst records each receive two lottery balls; under the penalty of “draft regulation“, but they can’t receive a pick worse than 12th. To incentivize winning and discourage tanking, teams that finish between the fourth-worst and 10th-worst records receive three lottery balls. In exchange for gaining a third lottery ball, those teams can pick either as high as first or as low as 16th. The 9th and 10th seeds receive two lottery balls. The losers of the 7/8-seed play-in games receive one lottery ball.

Besides that, the league is implementing more changes. No team can pick first in two straight drafts or top five in three straight drafts. Teams can also no longer trade top-12- or top-15-protected picks.

The league will also discipline teams for purposely tanking, including lowering teams’ lottery odds, fines, or modifying a team’s draft position.

The NBA’s new lottery system runs for the next three years. In 2030, the NBA Board of Governors will review the system for other potential modifications.

Why the New NBA Draft Lottery Matters

The new lottery system could have drastic effects over the course of the season. Teams that fans would normally see tank for a shot at better odds at a higher draft pick, like the Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, now have less incentive to tank since the three worst teams have worse odds compared to the 4th through 10th worst teams.

Under the old lottery rules, teams with the worst record had higher odds of getting the first overall pick. Under the old system, it rewarded teams who purposely tanked their performance. Thus, that system gave better odds to worse-performing teams, thus increasing the odds of a higher draft pick and a potential franchise-altering player.

The NBA put the new rules in place after an increasing number of teams were tanking their season on purpose. The hope is that by changing how the draft lottery is operated, this will fix the NBA’s tanking problem.

Will Lottery Reform Curb Tanking?

The main question about the rule change is whether it will solve the tanking problem the NBA is facing.  The reason the NBA thinks these new rules fix the problem is that the three worst teams now have only a 5.4% chance of getting the number one overall pick. Meanwhile, teams that finished with the 4th-10th-worst records have an 8.1% chance of winning the first overall pick.

It remains to be seen if these new rules will actually fix their problem. We’re only a few weeks into the season, and the NBA draft lottery is still so far away.

How We Got Here

Before the rule change this year, the NBA draft lottery operated under a system in which the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs all had a chance at the first overall pick. Not only that, but before the rule changes, the system ensured that the three worst teams that season each had a 14% chance of getting the number one pick. The rest of the teams’ odds of finishing number one overall worsened depending on where they finished the season.

Since its inception in 1985, the NBA lottery has undergone numerous changes over the 41 years it has existed. When it was first incorporated, the rules were that all non-playoff teams had a 1-in-7 chance of getting the first overall pick, regardless of record. The drawing process involved sealed envelopes containing the teams’ logos in a big drum. The first letter picked was the overall first pick, and this continued until the seventh team was picked. A year later, in 1986, the NBA changed the rules so that the lottery would only determine the first three selections.

The Weighted Lottery Era

Over the following decades, the lottery underwent several changes. In 1990, the weighted Lottery era began with the NBA expanding the lottery to 11 teams. This happened because the league continued to grow and add more teams. The league also weighted the odds based on standings. The league decided to do this to help struggling teams. At this point, all the teams who missed the playoffs had the same odds of getting the first pick. By doing this, it gave the worst teams greater odds of selecting great players and thus speeding up their rebuilds.

Despite these adjustments, they still had a massive flaw in their draft lottery. Before 1994, the team with the worst overall record had a 16.7% chance of getting the first overall pick. But because of what happened in 1993, the league decided to adjust the percentages and raise the odds of the team with the worst record. The chance of getting the number one overall pick rose from 16.7% to 25%.

The league made this change after the Orlando Magic finished the 1992-93  season 41-41 and won the first overall pick despite having only a 1.52% (1-in-66) chance of getting it. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks, who finished with the worst record, had to settle for the fourth overall pick despite finishing the year 11-71.

The rules stayed the same, except for the increasing number of teams to join the lottery. With more teams wanting to join the league, like the Charlotte Bobcats, now the Hornets, joining in 2004 to make it a 14-team lottery. The rules stood until 2019, when they shortened the odds of the worst team getting the number one pick. After that change, the three worst teams all had the same odds of getting the number one pick.

The NBA did this to discourage a trend of teams purposely losing games. This rule remained in effect for eight years before the NBA once again changed the rules to discourage tanking.

Future of the NBA

Only time will tell whether the NBA’s attempt to stop incentivizing tanking actually works. It’s going to take a few years to see if the rules actually have a positive effect on the league.

Teams like the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, and Utah Jazz will serve as the eye test for the new rules. Seeing how these teams perform as the season progresses will help both the league and fans determine whether the rules are working. Some of the signs will be whether these teams stop pulling their best players.

While fans may question if these rules will actually help, one thing is clear: the NBA knows it has a problem, and fans should give the league credit for trying to fix it.

The post What Does the New NBA Draft Lottery Mean for Your Favorite Team? appeared first on The Lead.

The Atlanta Hawks brought CJ McCollum back on a one-year/$21 million contract this offseason. They also drafted Kingston Flemings with the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The idea was for the 35-year-old veteran guard to take the rookie under his wing. At the start of the season, Flemings was in the rotation, but Hawks head coach Quin Snyder still wanted to lean on his veteran guards. However, as time passed, Flemings got more opportunities and more playing time.

In the game against the Miami Heat, Flemings played a career-high 28 minutes. Of course, it helped that he was playing with more confidence. Flemings scored 23 points on 86.3% true shooting.  Meanwhile, McCollum played only 20 minutes despite an efficient game. He accumulated 13 points on 72.2% true shooting, but only played four minutes in the second half. Instead, Snyder closed the game with Flemings, who played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter.

This season, McCollum is averaging a career-low 26.8 minutes per game despite being the starting point guard for most of the season. Flemings has recently seen an uptick in playing time, and he has now taken the starting role from McCollum.

Not Meant For The Lead Guard Role

The simple fact is, McCollum is playing out of position. For most of his career, McCollum played the two next to Damian Lillard in Portland. Since leaving the team, he has transitioned more into a point guard role. Since the 2022-23 season, McCollum has averaged 4.6 assists and two turnovers per game. While he can still score at a high level, McCollum does not have the skill set of a lead guard.

Without Trae Young, the Hawks have become less of a pick-and-roll-reliant team. Currently, Atlanta ranks 27th in the NBA in pick-and-roll possessions per game (13.6 possessions). Moreover, the Hawks are scoring just 0.90 points per possession on pick-and-roll actions. For McCollum, he’s second on the team in pick-and-roll possessions per game (4), but he’s only scoring 0.94 PPP as a ball-handler on those actions. On handoff actions, McCollum is only scoring 0.74 PPP.

Bench Role Is Best For The Team

Even as a starter, McCollum was averaging his fewest minutes since his second season in the NBA. Now that Flemings has taken the starting role, orchestrating the bench unit could better fit his skill set. It was McCollum himself who suggested the lineup change.

It’s not necessarily a new role for McCollum. He came off the bench in 16 games last season after the trade to Atlanta. However, he felt it was best for the team that Flemings take his place in the starting lineup. In his first career start against the Washington Wizards, Flemings actually played two fewer minutes than McCollum.

“In spite of his age, I thought [Kingston Flemings] was poised,” Snyder said after Flemings’ first career start.

The Hawks will lean on Flemings more, and McCollum can adapt to a new role off the bench. The thing is, Flemings’ first career start came without Jalen Johnson, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury. We’ll see what it looks like for McCollum moving forward, but it was only a matter of time before Flemings was moved into the starting lineup.

The post CJ McCollum Accepting A Bench Role Is Best For The Hawks appeared first on The Lead.

No rookie faces greater pressure than being expected to fill a superstar’s void. Shouldering the load as a franchise’s future while also amplifying the stars around him is a task few are cut out for.

When Jimmy Butler went down with an ACL tear last January, all hope for a final championship push in the Stephen Curry era was vanquished. Their second-best player was gone in the blink of an eye.

Butler famously called the tandem of him and Curry Batman and Robin. 

With Butler out for the first few months of this season, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has done his best to fill his void. 

Lendeborg’s One-On-One Scoring

The Warriors don’t expect Lendeborg to walk in and be a replica of Butler. No one can replace a six-time All-Star with 15 years of NBA experience.  

He and Lendeborg are not the same player. But their similarities have helped Lendeborg keep the ship afloat without him. 

Much of what made Butler’s migration to Golden State so seamless was his versatility. His ability to playmake, defend, and attack the basket all while minimizing turnovers was an answered prayer for the Warriors. Best of all, he held the fort down when Curry went to the bench for a breather. 

Watching Lendeborg take the court for real NBA games — not just Summer League or preseason — it is clear that he is capable of doing the same.

The Dominican forward is slowly learning how to pick his spots and know when to attack. Maintaining aggression is something the Warriors continue to implore him to do. Just as Butler was a threat that forced defenses to care about someone other than Curry, Lendeborg has the same effect.

Both Lendeborg and Butler give the Warriors a different dynamic they haven’t had much of in the past. The ability to isolate either player one-on-one, trusting that a possession will end in a basket or free throws, is something Steve Kerr was thrilled to have again in Lendeborg. 

Lendeborg ranks seventh in the league in points per possession in isolation, including fourth in isolation field goal percentage. The beauty of the two forwards is that just as well as they can get a bucket, they also have the IQ to make the right passes. One of the Warriors’ biggest issues is that much of their roster struggles one-on-one. Possessions often ended in sloppy turnovers or rejected shots after making the first step. 

Coach Kerr Is Implementing Plays From Butler

Neither Butler nor Lendeborg panic when tangled up, even when it seems like there is no way out of a tough possession.

The similarities in their capabilities were evident to Kerr. He has leaned on the connection between their two styles to put Lendeborg in positions for success.

“Jimmy’s been probably the No.1 iso guy for us over my time here,” Kerr said after their 116-113 victory over the Suns. “We’ve been putting in some of the things that we run for Jimmy in for Yaxel the last couple of games. Putting the ball in certain spots to attack with certain guys on him, that sort of thing.”

Lendeborg, three inches taller than his vet, powers to the basket just as easily, if not more than Butler. With his size and basketball IQ, Lendeborg gets past defenders with ease. He uses his skills to score himself or get shots for those around him.

“The similarity [between Lendeborg and Butler] is the brute strength and ability to create a shot for himself or his teammate… Yaxel is having a similar impact in that when Steph’s not on the floor or is tired. We can go to Yaxel in isolation, and he can create stuff for us. So he’s a really big weapon for us,” Kerr said on 95.7’s Willard and Dibs.

Lendeborg’s Impact Offensively

Arguably the most important aspect of adding Lendeborg is how he has alleviated Curry’s load.

For all the crossover between Lendeborg and Butler, the new Warrior is a much better three-point shooter. 

The spacing, especially from three-point territory, is a match made in heaven for the greatest shooter of all time and one of the most skilled rookies. Though the sample size is small, the Curry-Lendeborg duo ranks second in the league in scoring.

Curry also referenced the intersection between Lendeborg and Butler’s game. 

“He’s so calm with the ball in his hands as a playmaker,” he said of Lendeborg. “And he can get schemes where you highlight that and put him in a position to be successful with spacing around him. It’s very Jimmy-esque in a way, but in a different way where he can slow possessions down and create a threat — whether it’s picking on a mismatch or driving the lane with space where nobody can really stay in front of him.”

The parallels between the JUCO products have become so apparent that Brandin Podziemski revisited film on Butler to better fit alongside Yaxel.

“I mean, it’s really a lot like playing with Jimmy,” Podziemski said of playing off the ball next to Lendeborg. “They want the ball kind of in the same area, so for me, just going back and watching some stuff that I did with Jimmy to get him catches against matchups he likes.”

The Warriors can post him up, play him out of the elbow, or make him a three-point shooter.

Through the first eight games, Yaxel is averaging 21.5 points on 50% from the field and 40% from three. He leads the team with seven rebounds a game and plays the second most minutes per game. 

Improving Defense and Turnovers

Two key areas where Lendeborg (and the team) could adapt from Butler are turnovers and defense. On a team with turnover-prone guys like Curry and Draymond Green, ball security is crucial.

Butler has historically been a low-turnover player and led the Warriors in assist-to-turnover ratio last season.

Conversely, Yaxel is leading the Dubs in turnovers per game, including a seven-turnover outing against the Timberwolves.

On the defensive side of the ball, Kerr referred to Lendeborg’s weak-side awareness on defense as poor. The Warriors hope Lendeborg can become at least a steady help-side defender—an area Butler excelled in.

Knowing when/where to help defensively is especially significant playing alongside Green. Without a traditional center, Draymond is typically the back line of defense. His partnership with Butler not only fortified their defense, but also allowed them to gamble more on that side of the ball. 

Lendeborg now has to fill that role until Butler returns.

Learning From Butler

Although Lendeborg and Butler have yet to play together, Lendeborg is soaking up knowledge from the All-Star. Dating back to Butler’s team minicamp in San Diego, Yaxel pried him with questions. The 37-year-old has been more than happy to share his wisdom.

Butler, along with Green, gave him insight on how to avoid a three-second violation while guarding in the paint — a pitfall that can trip up young defenders. He also offered tips on how he can create more scoring opportunities.

“We’ve talked a lot. He always pulls me to the side after a film session or some kind of practice and just tells me little gems to know,” Lendeborg revealed on The Kevin O’Connor Show. “Things about the offensive end, what I need to do, how I can get myself more open.”

“He’s signature for the post Jimmy shimmy-jab, go, get fouled, stuff like that. So you know, he’s teaching me a lot of little things that I can implement into my game, and I’ve really been very appreciative of the whole thing.”

Lendeborg did his best Butler impression against the Denver Nuggets when he attempted 13 free throws. The Warriors are pushing him to stay aggressive because it could result in either a bucket for the team or foul shots. Butler was the best on the team at getting to the line and snagging extra points at the charity stripe.

Should Lendeborg be able to make that a consistent part of his game – and knock them down — he will be unstoppable.

Yaxel Is Their Second-Best Player

Curry once credited Butler for restoring hope to the team and revitalizing the group upon his arrival. He has also expressed the same sentiment about Lendeborg.

Kerr has already anointed Yaxel the team’s No. 2 option, cementing him as a starter for the foreseeable future.

Without Butler, Lendeborg is also the new leader of the second unit. The bench played an integral role in stabilizing the non-Curry minutes last season thanks to Butler. Kerr is staggering Curry and Lendeborg’s minutes to ensure one of them is on the court, as he did with Butler.

Growing pains are part of the process, as shown in his six-point night on Oct. 30 against the Lakers.

The Warriors recognize they are asking a lot out of the 24-year-old, but they believe he can handle it. He is already trusted late in games with the ball in his hands. He carried the team against the Clippers without Curry, erupting for 37 points.

They don’t need him to be a carbon copy of Jimmy Butler.

Lendeborg can have Butler’s basketball smarts and attack-mindedness while using his own size and shooting to his advantage.

If his style just so happens to mirror Butler in some ways, the Warriors won’t complain.

The post Yaxel Lendeborg Is Doing His Best “Robin” Impression appeared first on The Lead.

The Golden State Warriors’ biggest weakness has long been the center position. 

The benefits of having a lob threat or rim protector can not be overstated, especially as teams have now shifted their focus to guarding the three. 

Center Charles Bassey has shown that through just six games, he may help alleviate Golden State’s deficiencies in that area. 

Charles Bassey Is Making His Mark

So far this season, Bassey is averaging 6.8 points on 64% from the field along with five rebounds. But the stats don’t tell the full story of his impact.

The 25-year-old possesses the coveted qualities of hammering the glass, protecting the rim, and finishing in the paint. 

He has thrived in pick-and-roll situations, oftentimes involving Yaxel Lendeborg or Stephen Curry. With Lendeborg and Curry drawing significant attention, particularly beyond the three-point line, defenders face a pick-your-poison conundrum with the 6-foot-9 center planted in the paint. 

Against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 2, Bassey racked up 19 points and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes and finished with a +10 in the Dubs’ three-point win.

After Draymond Green was ejected in the third quarter, Bassey stepped up to the plate. On nights when Green or Al Horford don’t play, the Warriors will need Bassey to maintain a steady presence by doing the simple stuff: finishing at the rim and giving them extra opportunities on the glass.

At 36 and 40 years old, respectively, Green and Horford will inevitably miss games due to rest or injury during the season. 

The mysterious Kristaps Porzingis saga only adds to Bassey’s importance as one of the team’s most reliable bigs. Though they play two different styles of basketball, both offer size and rim protection that the Warriors have desperately needed.

Providing Opportunities for the Warriors

When Luka Doncic‘s Lakers came into town on Oct. 30, Bassey was a +14 in the team’s 25-point comeback. He had one key play at the 7:23 mark of the second quarter against Walker Kessler, who dominated the Warriors on opening night.

Lakers guard Collin Sexton threw a pass to Kessler under the rim that was blocked by Bassey. The rejection allowed for Golden State to get out in transition, leading to a Lendeborg alley-oop on the other end.

Curry’s brilliant shot-making ultimately helped pull off the comeback, but those small plays can quietly swing a possession.

Bassey has found a special synergy with Lendeborg, who praised his pick-and-roll partner after their win versus the Suns. 

“He has good touch around the rim. His floater’s elite,” lauded Lendeborg. “So, it’s like, it makes it easier for me. Because once his stuff is going on, the next thing you know, [defenses] are gonna worry about the lob more than my layup. So now, I have a layup or a shot.”

The Warriors Need Him

Bassey’s teammates have taken notice of his impact in just the first week of the season. His presence alone forces defenses to adjust by having a shot-blocker and rim runner on the court.

Bassey isn’t a permanent fix for their void at the five, but as a consistent backup, he offers the Warriors a jolt that has become too hard to ignore.

The post Charles Bassey Is Quietly Boosting the Warriors Season appeared first on The Lead.

This is a sponsored article for UniShape.

“Load management” has traveled from the training room to the post-game microphone over the last five years, and it got simplified along the way. For most people hearing the phrase, it conjures a star sitting out a game.

Resting a player is the most visible piece of that system. It doesn’t carry a team through a season. That’s something far more detailed than “a few days off.” This piece is about what load management actually manages, why body signal sits at its center, and what the logic means for someone who trains alone.

First, How Dense the Calendar Actually Is

Before discussing load, it’s worth looking at what it’s managing.

The NBA regular season is 82 games, running from October 20 to April 11 the following year, spread across roughly six months. That averages out to about a game every two days.

One change is worth noting: the league has been actively trimming load. For the 2026-27 season, the average number of back-to-backs (games on consecutive nights) fell to 14.2 per team, the lowest figure since the NBA Cup was introduced. The hardest density patterns, “four games in five nights” and “eight in twelve,” have been eliminated outright. Back-to-backs requiring travel of more than 750 miles dropped from 74 to 59.

But 14.2 is still fourteen. A dozen-plus nights in a season can end with a player finishing a game and playing the next evening again. And schedule optimization can reduce density; it can’t reduce volume. Eighty-two is eighty-two.

The NFL has a completely different shape: 17 regular season games across 18 weeks, with a bye week, averaging seven days between games. So the two leagues are solving different problems: the NBA’s problem is frequency; the NFL’s problem is the size of a single impact.

Why is frequent competition harder to recover from than intuition suggests? Because recovery isn’t linear. After one high-intensity game, the various markers in the body don’t return to baseline on the same schedule: some take hours, some take days. When the next game arrives before that curve has finished, the shortfall accumulates. Which is why so many problems that surface mid-season aren’t the result of any single event, but of accumulated ones.

The Three Things Load Management Actually Manages

So what do teams manage in practice? Three layers, coarse to fine.

The first is scheduling, the outermost and most visible layer: who plays, for how long, whether a player sits the second night of a back-to-back. This layer is about total volume: keeping total exposure inside what a body can absorb.

The second is training. Outside game days, training load is its own curve. Too little and a player can’t hold game condition; too much and you’re stacking another layer on top of the game load. The point is that training intensity has to move with the schedule, not stay fixed. Volume drops during dense stretches and rises during gaps.

The third, and finest, layer is body signal. The first two are planning layers. This one is feedback: the team needs to know a player’s actual state right now, rather than inferring what he “should” be from the schedule.

That third layer is where the real technical content of load management lives, and it’s the layer closest to how an ordinary person trains.

Why State Has To Be Measured Rather Than Inferred

There’s something counter-intuitive here: however well a plan is built, it’s built on expectation.

The training volume a staff schedules before the season is based on an estimate of what this player can typically absorb under this kind of calendar. Between that estimate and reality there’s always a gap: a bad night of sleep, a game that turned out more physical than expected, a travel delay. Any one variable is enough to put actual state out of step with the plan.

Which is why modern teams use wearable data heavily: distance covered in training, acceleration counts, heart rate zone distribution, sleep duration and quality, changes in resting heart rate. All of it serves one question: how far is this person’s actual state today from the state the plan assumed?

Note where the emphasis falls. It isn’t on “looking at data”; it’s on looking at the gap between actual and expected. A player’s absolute heart rate figure means little. What means something is “today, at the same training intensity, his heart rate is higher than usual.” The deviation is the signal.

Recovery Has Two Layers, and Conflating Them is a Mistake

With measurement covered, on to recovery, and a common confusion here is treating recovery as one thing.

The first layer is foundational, and it has no substitute: sleep, nutrition, hydration. This layer accounts for the overwhelming majority of the effect. No device or method compensates for chronic sleep debt. It’s the foundation, and nothing built above it holds if it isn’t solid.

The second layer is active recovery, the things done on top of the foundation: light aerobic work, stretching, contrast temperature, muscle activation, massage. This layer is about optimization, not rescue. It can make the process smoother. It can’t replace the first layer.

Muscle activation occupies an interesting position inside that second layer. The method uses low-intensity electrical stimulation or light contraction to move muscles without adding mechanical load. Its value is specific: it can get muscle working without adding pressure to joints and tendons. For a body that has just finished a game and wants no additional load, that’s a useful option.

The boundary has to be clear: muscle activation is one component of a recovery routine, not a treatment and not a substitute for medical care. If something genuinely hurts, the correct move is to see the team physician or a doctor, not turn the stimulation up.

An Emerging Problem: The Gap Between Measuring and Responding

Now to an observation about the industry.

Wearable measurement is close to ubiquitous: from professional teams to ordinary gym-goers, almost everyone has at least one sensor on them. But most of that data flows in only one direction: toward review. The session ends, data syncs to an app, and the next morning you look at yesterday’s curve.

That’s fine for retrospective analysis, but it has a structural hole: when the measurement happens, nothing changes. You’re mid-session. Your heart rate has already indicated you’re in a fatigued zone. And the device running on your body is still executing the program you selected at the start.

On a professional team, someone closes that gap: a trainer watches the data and adjusts on the spot. For someone training alone, nobody does.

What it Takes Structurally to Close That Gap

So what does “letting measurement affect what’s happening” require? Three layers, and none are optional.

The first is sensing. Something has to read body state continuously, not hand you a report at the end. In UniShape‘s system, the sensing side is a 4.2-gram ring running ECG and PPG together, measuring heart rate, ECG, blood oxygen, blood pressure trends, sleep and temperature. It’s the only sensing device in the system. Neither the generator nor the garment measures anything, and every physiological reading comes from that one ring. The ring form factor earns its place here for practical reasons: blood flow signal is stronger at the finger than at the wrist, so optical readings are cleaner, and it doesn’t interfere with wrist movement.

The second is judgment. Data has to become “where the session has gotten to.” The ring reads heart rate continuously during a session, and the app works out the current phase. Then it proposes a matching stimulation mode. And here’s the design decision that matters: having proposed it, the system waits for confirmation in the app. It doesn’t shift on its own. Optical heart rate is significantly noisier while you move than when you’re still. Letting an algorithm change output silently on a noisy signal is neither honest nor safe.

Alongside that, session modes step through three phases automatically (warm-up, working, cool-down), each with a different pattern. But the progression runs on a fixed timer and doesn’t read heart rate. Since the heart rate signal is unreliable during movement, a predictable timer beats a judgment that can misfire.

The third is execution. Something has to change the output. That’s the 30-gram UniShape Smart EMS generator driving two electrode channels in the garment. Without it, the first two layers are just another sensor reporting into another app.

Chain the three and you have this: the ring measures state → the app works out which phase you’re in → the generator delivers the matching output → the ring keeps measuring to see how you respond. That’s a closed loop.

Two boundaries belong here as well. The ring’s blood pressure is trend data, not a clinical reading, and its ECG is a single-lead reading that does not diagnose anything. Identifying a rhythm problem takes a validated medical device and a doctor. And the system as a whole is a fitness and training product, not a medical device. It doesn’t treat anything, and it has not obtained FDA clearance or approval.

Three Things an Ordinary Athlete Can Take From It

The professional system doesn’t transfer wholesale, but its logic does.

One: manage total volume before reaching for methods. If your problem is that total load is too high, any recovery method only softens it. Bring the volume down first.

Two: watch the deviation, not the absolute value. Establish your own baseline for “normal,” covering resting heart rate, sleep duration and heart rate response to a given session, then look at how far today sits from it. That difference is worth more than any absolute number.

Three: keep foundation and optimization separate. Sleep and nutrition are the foundation. Muscle activation, stretching, and contrast work are optimization. Don’t use optimization to patch a hole in the foundation.

In Closing

It’s a shame that load management got compressed into “resting players.” The logic underneath it, to measure actual state first and then let the plan follow the actual state rather than the calendar, holds for anyone who trains seriously.

The difference is that a team has an entire staff closing the gap between measurement and response, while an individual has to get that from equipment. Which is a serviceable test for whether a piece of training gear is worth anything: does it only write your state down for you to read, or does it take that state and do something with it?

The post Load Management Isn’t Just Rest: What NBA Teams Understand About Muscle Recovery appeared first on The Lead.

The Oklahoma City Thunder started the 2026-2027 season on fire. The Thunder beat fellow title contenders, the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets, starting 4-0.  However, serious injuries to Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Chet Holmgren have forced the back-to-back number-one seed to reconsider its plans this early in the season.

Williams suffered a fractured left fibula and a dislocated ankle on October 25 in a win against the Los Angeles Clippers. In the same game, Wallace suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Soon after, the Thunder announced Holmgren would miss at least eight weeks with a patellar tendon tear in his right knee.

With two key starters potentially sidelined for the remainder of the season and a third out for several months, Oklahoma City faces a difficult decision. The Thunder must decide whether or not their existing roster can withstand these losses or whether general manager Sam Presti needs to pursue outside help.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Must Lead Oklahoma City

Amid these major injuries, the biggest responsibility now falls on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the team’s leading scorer and reigning back-to-back MVP. Without Williams, who provided another scoring and ball-handling option for OKC, SGA will be expected to carry more of the offensive workload.

Williams’ versatility to guard all five positions is difficult to replace. His absence will force the Thunder to possibly give up quality assets to replace a player of his caliber.

The Thunder Should Still Trust Their Depth

Before making a major trade, the Oklahoma City Thunder should allow their existing rotation to adjust. There’s still help next to Gilgeous-Alexander.

One of the team’s greatest strengths remains its ability to identify and develop young talent and maintain roster depth.

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Ajay Mitchell is one player who could benefit from an expanded role. He scored a career-high 30 points in Oklahoma City’s win over the Phoenix Suns and demonstrated his ability to contribute offensively with more responsibility. Jared McCain could also receive additional opportunities in the backcourt.

Sam Presti Should Explore Trades

General Manager Sam Presti has built solid depth in Oklahoma City. Although this provides hope, replacing multiple starters and high-impact players is a significant challenge for any team. If the available players struggle to fill those roles, Presti should explore the trade market.

The Thunder have built a valuable collection of draft assets, giving them potential flexibility to pursue an upgrade.

Any potential replacement should fit Oklahoma City’s defensive identity, provide reliable shooting, and contribute without requiring the ball on every possession. A complementary player would be more valuable than a high-profile acquisition who disrupts the team’s established offensive system. Oklahoma City should prioritize fit and consistency over making a splash just to reassure its championship expectations.

If OKC doesn’t pursue a trade, another option can be on the table. The Thunder could apply for a Disabled Player Exception. The DPE is worth around $15 million.

The Oklahoma City Thunder Must Protect Their Future

The injuries to Jalen, Cason, and Chet create an uncomfortable situation for a team that entered the season expecting to compete for another championship. However, the Oklahoma City Thunder should avoid treating this setback as a reason to abandon its long-term strategy.

The Thunder still have SGA and a talented supporting cast. Their immediate priority should be finding a sustainable rotation, managing the increased responsibilities of their remaining players, and allowing those sidelined to recover without unnecessary pressure.

However, that does not mean they should panic and sacrifice future picks or young players to address a short-term, injury-caused problem.

If the team remains competitive, standing pat could be the smartest decision. If the Thunder’s weaknesses become clear over the coming weeks, a carefully selected trade could improve their postseason chances.

Ultimately, how OKC responds will reveal whether or not its depth can withstand adversity. The Thunder built a championship-winning roster through patient development and smart decisions. OKC should use those same principles as it navigates its most difficult challenge yet.

The post Can the Oklahoma City Thunder Overcome Their Biggest Injury Setback Yet? appeared first on The Lead.

A new NBA season is underway, but an old problem that’s plagued the league in recent seasons is back in the spotlight: injuries.

Heading into Monday’s action, the league had over 90 players on the shelf with injuries. One team, the Indiana Pacers, played just six guys due to their whopping 11 players sidelined. Over a dozen players will be out for potentially another month. Roughly 15% of all rostered players were on the injury report heading into last Wednesday’s games.

The star or superstar players already missing games include Kawhi Leonard, Jalen Johnson, Paul George, Jalen Duren, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. That’s a lot of talent not taking the court.

And the season has only just begun. Most teams are through seven or eight games after Monday, leaving another 70-something left to go.

The bottom line is the NBA must do something.

Will that change happen in the middle of 2026-27? Unlikely. But going forward, the league needs to address what is becoming less of an issue and more of a crisis.

Why the NBA Must Address Its Injury Woes

Two words: player and product. Those remain the most important reasons the NBA must act.

The NBA is only as good as the players available. Protect them as much as possible, and everything else trickles down. That includes game marketability, the fan experience (whether in person or at home), the business side of things and the league’s competitive health.

For these players, it’s more than just playing in the NBA. Injuries lead to financial implications for them, but also other short- and long-term consequences for their lives. On the flip side, injuries don’t just affect individual careers. Too many of them lead to negative implications for the league across the board.

Arguably, recent playoff results have been skewed by big-name or star players being injured entering or during the middle of the postseason.

For example, the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs last season. The Thunder reached Game 7 despite missing one of their top three players, Jalen Williams, and another key contributor, Ajay Mitchell. Anthony Edwards also went down mid-playoffs during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ most recent run when he hyperextended his knee against the Nuggets in the first round.

The 2026 playoffs aren’t an outlier. The same thing happened in 2025.

Negative Impact on Fans

The outbreak of NBA injuries is also a detriment to the league’s product and public image. And as the number of injuries rises, the cost to attend games also climbs.

Fans are shelling out hundreds of dollars to even be in the same vicinity as these teams. Fans watching on TV are also experiencing higher prices as the NBA pushes streaming instead of cable. More injuries create a worse on-court product, but that product is getting more expensive. That’s a tricky trend for the league to justify.

All of this has even impacted team building. Roster depth is becoming a bigger priority. Injuries are a big reason why.

For the record: injuries are a part of the game, or any sport for that matter. But there comes a point where it becomes too much, especially when moves can be made to at least reduce them.

What Can the NBA Do To Reduce Injuries?

Whether small or big, something needs to be done. So what options does the NBA have?

As the league has evolved, it’s become faster, more physically demanding and tougher for players to play 82 games, not including playoffs.

First, the NBA should cut down the number of regular-season games. Each regular season has featured 82 games since 1967-68. As it stands, the season is too long for players to play and for fans to track on a daily basis. For a team making a deep playoff run, 100 games now versus decades ago is like comparing apples and oranges.

The NBA should also consider eliminating back-to-backs. Just like with the length of the season, when players are playing a very physical style too often, they are more likely to get hurt. Playing back-to-back nights is the pinnacle of that.

When the league has taken action to get players to be on the court, it puts the onus on them, like a 65-game requirement to be eligible for awards. That doesn’t solve the NBA injury issue. It probably makes it worse. The league must make decisions where players aren’t shouldering the weight.

Pushing Depth

Second, as depth becomes more important, the NBA should incentivize teams to prioritize it even more.

Teams are navigating the dreaded second apron and stricter penalties for spending more. Teams should be rewarded for making correct team-building choices. For example, homegrown players should count less toward the salary cap. Or the NBA should expand rosters from 15 to a slightly higher number.

The aforementioned proposals are off the court. The NBA should discuss on-court changes too.

The pace of games is escalating. Is there a way the league can slow down the fast, twitchy movements that increase the likelihood of someone getting hurt? How about changing the rules for charges, or just eliminating them?

Regardless of the solution, inaction will only create a bigger problem. When players get injured, everyone gets affected.

The post NBA Must Take Action Amid Injury-Plagued Start to 2026-27 Season appeared first on The Lead.

The 2026-27 season has not gone the way Utah Jazz fans expected. To start the season 1-5 hurts fans enough. The team either struggles to score or defend, and to add even more salt to Jazz Nation’s wounds, a tragedy struck at the Delta Center.

In a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 26, Jaren Jackson Jr. tore his right MCL. One small sequence changed Utah’s season outlook. Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome did what many NBA players like to do: go for a shot and foul.

After feeling contact, Jerome fell and, unbeknownst to him, Jackson Jr. also occupied his falling space. He hit into the forward’s ankle, buckling his knee. An injury of this magnitude marks a major setback for Utah. To make matters worse, Lauri Markkanen also sprained his wrist in that same game.

Before the season started, fans and Utah media alike felt comfortable that the Jazz would make the playoffs. With so many injuries, those hopes are now dashed, with one of their best players out. However, there’s still hope for the Play-In, but a lot has to go Utah’s way.

Time to Grow Up 

If the Jazz want to make the Play-In, young players like Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson need to step up. Bailey and Peterson had the luxury of developing behind Markkanen and Jackson Jr. Now that both players are out (Jackson longer than Markkanen), the Jazz need both players’ skills to win games.

Both Bailey (17.6 ppg) and Peterson (20.2 ppg) averaged double digits in points scoring at the college level. With Utah’s bench struggling to score, the rookies must make up for the lack of point production. In a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 28, Bailey and Peterson combined for 37 points. Their offensive skill continues to translate to the league, but the rookies need to help the team defensively. 

Bailey showcased his defensive ability since the preseason. Once the regular season began, the forward now ranks fourth in team defensive rating. Peterson himself ranks seventh in team defensive rating. Teammates Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba man the paint and have given the Jazz ample amounts of chances to win. To at least get on a win streak, both players must lock down the perimeter. 

A Veteran’s Fury

If the Jazz are to survive this long list of injuries, Markkanen (when he returns) and Keyonte George must carry a huge offensive load. Last season, when the front office wasn’t trying to tank, these two alone won Utah games.

They proved this in the double-overtime win against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 16, 2025. The Finnisher scored 47 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and stole two; Key added 33 points, six assists, and hit the game-winning shot.

Another Player Acquisition

December is fast approaching, and that means one thing: make a trade. The Jazz must get aggressive in the trade market. Utah’s bench offensive rating ranks fifteenth in the league. Some fans could argue that if the Jazz had produced a bit more from their bench, they would’ve won their games against the Spurs (Oct. 28) and Grizzlies (Oct. 26).

The Jazz could look into bringing back Kris Dunn from the Los Angeles Clippers. He’s a defensive-minded guard who could help the rookies learn execution. Even Rui Hachimura could provide a huge spark off the bench and veteran leadership.

Utah needs a center, but many players at that position are hard to come by right now. So, they’ll need patience on that front. Trading for someone early has sparked the Jazz before. At the start of an epic win streak, Utah acquired Jae Crowder on Feb. 8, 2018. His impact was immediate, providing tough-nosed defense and lots of scoring.

Crowder’s impact on the Jazz not only helped them win a playoff series but become a fan favorite as well.

Can They Survive?

The short answer: yes, the Jazz can survive this setback. However, it will take a lot to get things back on track. First, Markkanen needs to come back, and the team needs to figure out how to win. They’ve been close for three straight games after beating the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 23. 

The players are getting better; they just need to string together a few wins to hover around .500 until reinforcements arrive. Jusuf Nurkic’s November return date inches closer, and fans can expect Jackson Jr. around the New Year.

The time for tanking ends now; the Jazz don’t own this year’s pick, and the young guns need to learn what competitive NBA basketball looks like. It’s time to see Coach Will Hardy and this roster produce winning results the fans can get behind.

The post Can the Utah Jazz Survive the Jaren Jackson Jr. Injury? appeared first on The Lead.