Basketball Insiders Week in Review 9/13

Is Bradley Beal Worth The Max?

By Moke Hamilton

In the new world of NBA economics—one where Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll will earn a combined $35 million next season—a new question will inevitably emerge as it relates to every promising plus-contributor in the NBA.

To pay, or not to pay?

Apparently, it’s Bradley Beal’s turn to deal with that question.

Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard lead the way for the 2012 draft class as far as talent goes, and with each of those two signing mega contracts this past summer, Beal, Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond among others are now looking to get paid.

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5 Potential Landing Spots for Markieff Morris

By Cody Taylor

As we settle in on the last few weeks of the 2015 offseason, there still seems to be at least one unresolved matter around the league. That matter being Markieff Morris wanted to be traded from the Phoenix Suns.

Morris has been unhappy with the Suns since July when they traded his twin brother, Marcus, to the Detroit Pistons. As a result of that trade, Markieff told the Philadelphia Inquirer last month that he will be out of Phoenix by the time training camp starts at the end of this month. He reiterated those same demands in a tweet on Thursday.

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Rebuilding Takes Time And Losses

By Steve Kyler

Rebuilding in the NBA is not easy, especially with the ability to outspend other teams going away by virtue of a ballooning salary cap. There was a time when rebuilding meant simply to throwing money at free agents to add a proven go-to guy or trading for a player seeking more money (and often a bigger role) than his current team was willing to offer. While the latter is still a possibility, it’s hardly the easy answer it once was. There is too much fluid cap money and teams are willing to meet huge price tags because, in two years, those deals will seem cheap in contrast.

Being a losing team and buying your way out of a bad season is not at all what it used to be and that was evident this summer when marquee free agents turned away major markets offering equal money, but were at the bottom of the league talent wise.
 

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The Case for Why the Warriors Can Repeat

By Alex Kennedy

When the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship in June, doubters were hesitant to give them the credit and respect they deserve.

Some felt that the Cleveland Cavaliers would’ve defeated them if their stars, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, had been healthy. Others believed that the Memphis Grizzlies would’ve beaten the Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals had they been at full strength (especially since they had a 2-1 lead over Golden State at one point). Then, there were some critics who pointed out that the Warriors were lucky they didn’t have to face either the San Antonio Spurs or the Los Angeles Clippers – two of the most talented teams in the West – at any point in the playoffs.

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Jay Williams Still Lives with Regret

By Lang Greene

Life is filled with choices. Most of them mundane, some monumental. No one makes the right decisions all of the time. Some are lucky to have made the wrong decisions at some point in their lives but miraculously emerge from a situation unscathed. Others make the wrong choice and it alters the course of their life forever.

If you’re seeking a cautionary tale, look no further than former NBA player Jay Williams.

Williams was selected with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2002 draft by the Chicago Bulls after a decorated collegiate career at Duke University, which included an NCAA title, a national college player of the year award and two consensus first team All-American selections.

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Jabari Parker’s Health Is Key To Bucks’ Season

By Jesse Blancarte

On December 15, Jabari Parker’s knee buckled while driving to the basket against the Phoenix Suns. A subsequent MRI revealed that Parker had torn his ACL, which prematurely ended his rookie season and left the Milwaukee Bucks without one of their best young players and the second overall pick in the 2014 Draft.

Parker only managed to play in 25 games in his rookie season. But before tearing his ACL, he established himself as the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award. Parker averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game, and helped the Bucks get off to a 13-12 start to the 2014-15 season, which was a nice turnaround after Milwaukee finished with a 15-67 record the previous season. After losing Parker, the Bucks went 28-29, and finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bucks would go on to face the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Despite eventually falling to Chicago in six games, the Bucks played with an edge and intensity that showed that this young team is very confident and will keep improving moving forward.

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Best-Ever D-League Players

By Joel Brigham

Before the Indiana Pacers officially called “dibs” on the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League earlier this week, they were the only one of the NBDL’s 19 teams not to have had a one-to-one relationship with an NBA franchise. As more and more teams hitch themselves to what clearly is eventually going to be a full-on minor league for professional American basketball, it’s evident that the league really does see this as an opportunity to develop young talent.

And why shouldn’t they? Over the course of the last dozen years, the NBDL has sent plenty of talented players to the bigs, and while none of them have necessarily transformed into All-Star-level talents, there definitely have been D-League standouts who have played their way into big roles, sometimes with championship teams.

All that said, here’s a look at the best players ever to have spent time developing in the D-League:

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