{"id":2052051,"date":"2026-07-20T09:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052051"},"modified":"2026-07-20T09:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:30:36","slug":"the-nba-teams-that-had-folks-at-las-vegas-summer-league-asking-what-are-they-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052051","title":{"rendered":"The NBA teams that had folks at Las Vegas Summer League asking: \u2018What are they doing?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p>LAS VEGAS \u2014 \u201cWhat are they <em>doing<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In talking with NBA execs and staffers during my eight-day stay in Vegas (a <em>delightful<\/em> place to visit in mid-July) for summer league, I was surprised how often this came up in relation to other teams, not to mention at least one prestigious white-shoe law firm.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, front offices basically understand what their rivals are doing or trying to do, even if they don\u2019t necessarily agree with the steps. This year, I felt there was more of a disconnect, with frequent expressions of bewilderment at what was taking place in other locales.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>By far, the most common variety of this question came regarding the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration case. With execs and agents waiting on the outcome just like everyone else, and at least some league business tied up contingent on the outcome, Vegas conversations inevitably included expressions of exasperation at the length of the investigation by the NBA\u2019s chosen law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen &amp; Katz. This bewilderment had been building in the second half of the season as word leaked that the firm still hadn\u2019t talked to some Clippers personnel. What could be taking them so long?<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"8ecZjMg9IgMnWo6\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI VideoHost_Portrait__XBaJC\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">Where will LeBron James end up?<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">The Athletic NBA Staff and Jeshua Kidd<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/8ecZjMg9IgMnWo6\/&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/8ecZjMg9IgMnWo6\/&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Where will LeBron James end up?&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;With his free agency decision still looming, we asked our reporters where they think LeBron James will play next.&#8221;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2026-07-17T15:20:39.563Z&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;PT52S&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/8ecZjMg9IgMnWo6\/MJrJogZd5Z6K.0000000.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/8ecZjMg9IgMnWo6\/MJrJogZd5Z6K\/MJrJogZd5Z6K.m3u8&#8243;,&#8221;transcript&#8221;:&#8221;We asked our reporters, where will LeBron James end up? pretty far wherever I land. I&#8217;m gonna go do what I do best. I think he&#8217;s going to Cleveland. Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland, because he misses me. Uh, he&#8217;s definitely not going to Dallas for the oil, Gulf, Macau in Africa. So I, I think he&#8217;s gonna end up Cleveland back home. I think the draw of playing at home makes the most sense. It&#8217;s gonna be either Cleveland or Golden State. Play with Stephen Curry. If happiness is what it is, then it&#8217;s gotta either be going back home or going upstate Miami because he is a man who loves golf and he already did the Cavs rerun. I feel like if Giannis is really trying to talk me into starting this thing again in Miami, how could you say no to that? I would love to see him go to Philly. Philly makes a ton of sense, but I think he ends up in Cleveland. And then like my favorite fit is Minnesota. Like I&#8217;d love to see him play with and, and LaMelo. Like let&#8217;s, let&#8217;s get crazy.&#8221;,&#8221;ineligibleRegion&#8221;:[&#8220;BI&#8221;,&#8221;BY&#8221;,&#8221;CD&#8221;,&#8221;CF&#8221;,&#8221;CU&#8221;,&#8221;IQ&#8221;,&#8221;IR&#8221;,&#8221;KP&#8221;,&#8221;LB&#8221;,&#8221;LY&#8221;,&#8221;ML&#8221;,&#8221;NI&#8221;,&#8221;RU&#8221;,&#8221;SD&#8221;,&#8221;SO&#8221;,&#8221;SS&#8221;,&#8221;SY&#8221;,&#8221;UA&#8221;,&#8221;VE&#8221;,&#8221;YE&#8221;,&#8221;ZW&#8221;],&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;NewsMediaOrganization&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/&#8221;,&#8221;foundingDate&#8221;:&#8221;2016-01-25&#8243;,&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;creditText&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;height&#8221;:&#8221;60&#8243;,&#8221;width&#8221;:&#8221;435&#8243;},&#8221;publishingPrinciples&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/&#8221;,&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic&#8221;},&#8221;author&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic NBA Staff and Jeshua Kidd&#8221;}]}<\/p>\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"metadata\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NBA commissioner Adam Silver partially addressed this in his news conference on Tuesday, saying: \u201cI am not conducting the investigation, nor is the (NBA) office. That\u2019s being conducted by the Wachtell law firm, independent of the league.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While that is true, the hands-off party line only goes so far. The NBA is the one paying the firm and presumably is able to communicate its interest in concluding the investigation sometime before Leonard retires. On the streets of Vegas last week, wisecracks about Wachtell\u2019s billable hours were as common as the smell of stale puke.<\/p>\n<p>However, Silver\u2019s most interesting news conference comment on this case largely escaped scrutiny when he said, \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that it will wrap up this summer.\u201d That seems notable not only because there is a trade on hold until it does, but because there is a second step to the process that seems at least somewhat out of Silver\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, the investigation isn\u2019t the end of the process as much as the beginning of the <em>next<\/em> process. The NBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement specifies that a cap-circumvention case must be tried before a system arbitrator and then potentially go through an appeals process before any penalty can be handed down by the commissioner. Are we sure this is all getting done in two and a half months?<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Seemingly, the only pathways to an expeditious resolution are if the investigation produces no evidence of wrongdoing \u2014 can you imagine if, after all this time, Wachtell comes back and says, \u201cWe got nothing?\u201d \u2014 or if Steve Ballmer and the Clippers basically \u201cplea bargain\u201d to certain penalties and don\u2019t go through the remaining steps of the process.<\/p>\n<p>So how does this get resolved? And can the Clippers and Raptors get their Leonard trade to the finish line before the season starts? It certainly seems at least possible that we have a limbo situation where Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick are still technically Raptors when training camp starts in October, and Leonard is still technically a Clipper.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, some of the potential penalties the league might impose on the Clippers are basically dying on the vine. Voiding Leonard\u2019s contract seems like less of a penalty when there\u2019s only one year left on it. It also would be hugely distorting to the rest of the league now that all the cap room is gone, in a way that wouldn\u2019t have been had the decision been made in, say, May. The best Clippers asset that could have been stripped was the fifth pick in the 2026 draft, which has now been used on Keaton Wagler. Forfeiture of future Clipper draft picks (Indiana\u2019s in 2029 and their own from 2030 to 2033) would remain on the table, obviously; Silver can still drop the hammer if he deems it appropriate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-pickem\">\n<h2 id=\"sect-0\">What are the Raptors doing?<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of which, the \u201cWhat are they doing?\u201d question applied to the Raptors as well. League execs knew that any penalty Leonard faced from this case wasn\u2019t going to magically vanish because he got traded. This shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise to the Raptors, especially since GM Bobby Webster was a lawyer in the league office before Masai Ujiri lured him up north.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it turns out fine, but what if Leonard comes out of this with a lengthy suspension, or his contract is voided, or some other wrinkle comes up? The Raptors agreed to this deal and took essentially any other offseason business off the table, and it sets up a potentially <em>awkward<\/em> reuniting with Ingram if the deal either falls through or can\u2019t be completed by the fall.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inline-graphic\">\n<p>        a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n  display: flex;<br \/>\n  gap: 20px;<br \/>\n  flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n  align-items: center;<br \/>\n  padding: 20px 0px;<br \/>\n  border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  text-decoration: none;<br \/>\n  color: #121212;<br \/>\n  cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-franklin;<br \/>\n    font-size: 14px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 700;<br \/>\n    line-height: 13.8px;<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 1.1px;<br \/>\n    text-transform: uppercase;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-image {<br \/>\n    border-radius: 8px;<br \/>\n    object-fit: cover;<br \/>\n    width: 200px;<br \/>\n    height: 150px;<br \/>\n    margin: 0px;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      width: 120px;<br \/>\n      height: 120px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-inner-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: row;<br \/>\n    gap: 16px;<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-text-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n    gap: 20px;<br \/>\n    justify-content: center;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      gap: 8px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-title {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-cheltenham;<br \/>\n    font-size: 24px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 500;<br \/>\n    line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 0.01px;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 3;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-imperial;<br \/>\n    font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 400;<br \/>\n    line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/<br \/>\n    color: #323232;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 4;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 12px;<br \/>\n      line-height: 121%;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>.showcase-link-inputs {<br \/>\n  .showcase-link-input {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n    font-size: 1rem;<br \/>\n    background-color: white;<br \/>\n    margin-bottom: 12px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-indent {<br \/>\n    margin-left: 25px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  option {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {<br \/>\n  .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n    background-color: #121212;<br \/>\n    color: #f0f0ee;<br \/>\n    .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n      color: #c4c4c0;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>            \/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click<br \/>\n            document.querySelectorAll(&#8216;.showcase-link-image&#8217;).forEach((img) =&gt; img.removeAttribute(&#8216;onclick&#8217;));<\/p>\n<p>        <a id=\"showcase-link-7435524\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7435524\/2026\/07\/10\/kawhi-leonard-trade-clippers-raptors-nba-investigation\/\" class=\"showcase-link-container in-content-module-link testbed-shortcode\" data-shortcode-id=\"101\" data-shortcode-string=\"showcase-link\" data-content-id=\"7435524\" data-content-post-type=\"article\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link\">What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-inner-content\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/07\/10011549\/GettyImages-1977523310-1024x683.jpg?width=400&amp;quality=70\" alt=\"The Kawhi Leonard trade holdup is a mess the NBA should have seen coming\" class=\"showcase-link-image\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-text-content\">\n<div class=\"showcase-link-title\">\n                  The Kawhi Leonard trade holdup is a mess the NBA should have seen coming\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-excerpt\">\n                  The Kawhi Leonard trade \u2014 well, now an on-hold trade \u2014 did not come out of nowhere.\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"sect-1\">What are the Bucks doing?<\/h2>\n<p>And while we\u2019re on the topic of cap circumvention, the \u201cWhat are the Bucks doing?\u201d question was probably met with more eye rolls than any other topic. In what is seemingly a redux of the Joe Smith saga, Milwaukee signed reserve guard Gary Trent Jr. to a deal worth barely more than the minimum in the summer of 2025 \u2014 when it was all the Bucks could offer \u2014 and then came back with an announced agreement on a four-year, $64 million deal for Trent this July.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid3\" data-position=\"mid3\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One problem: Trent had a horrible 2025-26 season and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7358353\/2026\/06\/17\/nba-free-agency-austin-reaves-norman-powell-bronny-james\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">likely looking at minimum deals<\/a> or slightly better this summer. To have him sign such an outlier deal seems to be a glaring example of circumvention, because the only other explanation is that it\u2019s the most hilarious contract in league annals. (Special shoutout to my colleague David Aldridge, who blurted out, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7439354\/2026\/07\/11\/milwaukee-bucks-gary-trent-contract-expert-reaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">That\u2019s Ian Mahinmi money<\/a>!\u201d when he heard about the deal.)<\/p>\n<p>The league announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7450112\/2026\/07\/16\/gary-trent-jr-bucks-contract-cap-nba\/\">it will be investigating<\/a>. As it only involves one team, one player and his agency, and no outside companies like Aspiration, this appears to be a much easier investigation for the league and (possibly) Wachtell than the Leonard case. They can probably wrap this up in a tidy 17 months or so.<\/p>\n<p>Jokes aside, one key section of the CBA is likely to hurt the Bucks\u2019 case: The league\u2019s \u201cif it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it\u2019s a duck\u201d section on circumvention in Article XIII, Section 2d:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cA violation of Section 2(a) or 2(b) above may be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, evidence that a Player Contract or any term or provision thereof cannot rationally be explained in the absence of conduct violative of Section 2(a) or 2(b).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Four years and $64 million for Gray Trent Jr. is the definition of \u201ccannot rationally be explained.\u201d My BORD$ valuation had him rated as a minimum.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the biggest penalty the league could impose is making the Bucks honor this contract. It would be doing Milwaukee a huge favor if it doesn\u2019t decide to void the deal, essentially letting the Bucks get away with signing Trent to a minimum a year ago. If you\u2019re wondering about other penalties, Milwaukee has traded most of its future draft picks but still possesses firsts in 2031, 2032 and 2033.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, this is another case where swiftness matters. Will Trent be on the Bucks\u2019 roster on opening night?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7454759\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7454759 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/07\/18144157\/260718-Jeremiah-Fears-Derik-Queen-scaled-e1784400340514.jpg\" alt=\"New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears and center Derik Queen\" width=\"1542\" height=\"774\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-credits\">\n<div class=\"inline-credits-container\">\n      <span class=\"credits-text\">The Pelicans didn\u2019t have Jeremiah Fears or Derik Queen take part in this year\u2019s summer league in Las Vegas. (Mark J. Rebilas \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"sect-2\">What are the Pelicans doing?<\/h2>\n<p>The league\u2019s most puzzling franchise continues to amaze onlookers. New Orleans held out second-year pros Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen from summer league despite less-than-dominant rookie seasons. While the case can be made that they could use the break after playing more than 2,000 regular-season minutes during the 2025-26 season, other high-minutes rookies from their draft class played this summer, notably Utah\u2019s Ace Bailey and Memphis\u2019 Cedric Coward, who were picked in the same range as Fears and Queen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid4\" data-position=\"mid4\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But what really amazed people was not the Pelicans\u2019 summer-league choices, but their roster moves \u2026 or lack thereof. New Orleans went 26-56 last season and only reached that lofty total because several of its rivals were blatantly tanking in the second half of the season. Despite that, the Pelicans have made no trades or free-agent signings this offseason and, as of today, would be running it back with 14 of the same 15 players who finished the season a year ago. Kevon Looney, who played 308 minutes, is the only departure, and the only new face is 59th pick Jaron Pierre Jr.<\/p>\n<p>New Orleans even went to the trouble of bringing back soon-to-be 38-year-old center DeAndre Jordan on a two-year minimum deal, one that would cost it nearly double per season what he\u2019d get on a one-year pact because of the discount on one-year vet minimum contracts. While Jordan commands respect in the locker room, he only played 12 games last season. It\u2019s not clear why they felt the need to go that far to retain him.<\/p>\n<p>More glaringly, the Pels still haven\u2019t addressed their lack of a starting-caliber center and appear set to begin the season with what is, on paper, the league\u2019s 30th-best collection of fives.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps a late-summer deal emerges. The Pels still have their exception money, an open roster spot and $8 million breathing room below the tax line. Chatter about a Trey Murphy trade, while lessened, hasn\u2019t vanished and is one of many potential pieces of league business that could resurface once LeBron James\u2019 next destination becomes clear.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, however, I would be hard-pressed to name a worse-performing team in recent history that brought back the exact same roster from a year earlier.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inline-graphic\">\n<p>        a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n  display: flex;<br \/>\n  gap: 20px;<br \/>\n  flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n  align-items: center;<br \/>\n  padding: 20px 0px;<br \/>\n  border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  text-decoration: none;<br \/>\n  color: #121212;<br \/>\n  cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-franklin;<br \/>\n    font-size: 14px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 700;<br \/>\n    line-height: 13.8px;<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 1.1px;<br \/>\n    text-transform: uppercase;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-image {<br \/>\n    border-radius: 8px;<br \/>\n    object-fit: cover;<br \/>\n    width: 200px;<br \/>\n    height: 150px;<br \/>\n    margin: 0px;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      width: 120px;<br \/>\n      height: 120px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-inner-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: row;<br \/>\n    gap: 16px;<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-text-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n    gap: 20px;<br \/>\n    justify-content: center;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      gap: 8px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-title {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-cheltenham;<br \/>\n    font-size: 24px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 500;<br \/>\n    line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 0.01px;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 3;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-imperial;<br \/>\n    font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 400;<br \/>\n    line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/<br \/>\n    color: #323232;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 4;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 12px;<br \/>\n      line-height: 121%;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>.showcase-link-inputs {<br \/>\n  .showcase-link-input {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n    font-size: 1rem;<br \/>\n    background-color: white;<br \/>\n    margin-bottom: 12px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-indent {<br \/>\n    margin-left: 25px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  option {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {<br \/>\n  .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n    background-color: #121212;<br \/>\n    color: #f0f0ee;<br \/>\n    .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n      color: #c4c4c0;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>            \/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click<br \/>\n            document.querySelectorAll(&#8216;.showcase-link-image&#8217;).forEach((img) =&gt; img.removeAttribute(&#8216;onclick&#8217;));<\/p>\n<p>        <a id=\"showcase-link-7102934\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7102934\/2026\/03\/16\/deandre-jordan-new-orleans-pelicans-nba-derik-queen\/\" class=\"showcase-link-container in-content-module-link testbed-shortcode\" data-shortcode-id=\"101\" data-shortcode-string=\"showcase-link\" data-content-id=\"7102934\" data-content-post-type=\"article\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link\">What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-inner-content\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/03\/10150413\/0310-Deandre-Jordan-scaled.jpg?width=400&amp;quality=70\" alt=\"Inside DeAndre Jordan\u2019s reinvention as an NBA mentor: \u2018Your ego kind of dies\u2019\" class=\"showcase-link-image\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-text-content\">\n<div class=\"showcase-link-title\">\n                  Inside DeAndre Jordan\u2019s reinvention as an NBA mentor: \u2018Your ego kind of dies\u2019\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-excerpt\">\n                  Being a good vet is about the ability to see outside yourself to help others. This season, Jordan capably fills that role in New Orleans.\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"sect-3\">What are the Lakers doing?<\/h2>\n<p>The Lakers\u2019 contractual choices have also been a hot topic \u2014 one that seemingly underscores the pressure the front office feels to deliver for a new owner and to impress superstar guard Luka Don\u010di\u0107 as he winds toward the end of his current contract. He can be a free agent in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>In a summer where most role players, and even some starters, had to either take short deals or accept longer ones without full guarantees, the Lakers raised eyebrows by giving out fully guaranteed four-year deals with player options to three different players in free agency: Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes. They also gave a player option on Collin Sexton\u2019s two-year deal for the room exception.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid5\" data-position=\"mid5\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The trade of Deandre Ayton also raised eyebrows, as it generated just $2.1 million in extra cap room. While that money (about $1.4 million of it, technically) was needed to complete their free-agent deals on the terms that were agreed to, the wiggle room could have been created in other ways, such as by trading or stretching Dalton Knecht. The Lakers also resisted using the stretch provision on Jarred Vanderbilt, which I think was probably wise. He can be a salary match next summer.<\/p>\n<p>L.A. also could have generated room by the \u201cunlikely incentives\u201d cap-room trick \u2014 essentially putting in terms for the contracts of Grimes and Kessler that contained about $700,000 worth of incentives deemed unlikely by the league for cap purposes but still were very attainable for the player. A 60-games-played incentive for Kessler would have worked, for instance (he played a combined 63 games the past two seasons), or a 35 percent 3-point shooting incentive for Grimes, whose 33.6 percent mark last year was an outlier on the low side.<\/p>\n<p>It seems quite possible the Lakers wanted Ayton gone anyway, so perhaps the cap shenanigans I mentioned above weren\u2019t needed. However, the loss of Ayton, in concert with a frothy backup-center market, also left the Lakers scraping the barrel in search of backup centers and ending up with Looney, who was all but unplayable for a 26-win Pelicans team last year. The Lakers are trying to assemble lob threats around Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s pick-and-roll wizardry, but Looney had one dunk in 308 minutes last season.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sect-4\">What are the Blazers doing?<\/h2>\n<p>Portland\u2019s new ownership under Tom Dundon has already raised eyebrows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7213935\/2026\/04\/21\/blazers-tom-dundon-nba-owner-expenses-money-cheap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with his scorched-earth cost-cutting<\/a>; you half-expected to see new coach Micah Nori loading basketballs and equipment into a minivan to drive players to their summer-league games. The Blazers, for what it\u2019s worth, stayed at the high-brow Wynn hotel, although their traveling contingent was notably smaller than virtually every other squad\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>However, it\u2019s the Blazers\u2019 face-off with the city of Portland over renovations to the 30-year-old Moda Center that recently became the much bigger story. It seemed to have even perplexed Silver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was hoping more progress would have been made by now on that agreement,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7446213\/2026\/07\/15\/adam-silver-board-of-governors-kawhi-leonard-apsiration-expansion-relocation-nba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Silver said Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cIt seems to have gone off track in various ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"inline-graphic\">\n<p>        a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n  display: flex;<br \/>\n  gap: 20px;<br \/>\n  flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n  align-items: center;<br \/>\n  padding: 20px 0px;<br \/>\n  border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  text-decoration: none;<br \/>\n  color: #121212;<br \/>\n  cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-franklin;<br \/>\n    font-size: 14px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 700;<br \/>\n    line-height: 13.8px;<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 1.1px;<br \/>\n    text-transform: uppercase;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-image {<br \/>\n    border-radius: 8px;<br \/>\n    object-fit: cover;<br \/>\n    width: 200px;<br \/>\n    height: 150px;<br \/>\n    margin: 0px;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      width: 120px;<br \/>\n      height: 120px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-inner-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: row;<br \/>\n    gap: 16px;<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-text-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n    gap: 20px;<br \/>\n    justify-content: center;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      gap: 8px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-title {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-cheltenham;<br \/>\n    font-size: 24px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 500;<br \/>\n    line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 0.01px;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 3;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-imperial;<br \/>\n    font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 400;<br \/>\n    line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/<br \/>\n    color: #323232;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 4;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 12px;<br \/>\n      line-height: 121%;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>.showcase-link-inputs {<br \/>\n  .showcase-link-input {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n    font-size: 1rem;<br \/>\n    background-color: white;<br \/>\n    margin-bottom: 12px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-indent {<br \/>\n    margin-left: 25px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  option {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {<br \/>\n  .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n    background-color: #121212;<br \/>\n    color: #f0f0ee;<br \/>\n    .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n      color: #c4c4c0;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>            \/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click<br \/>\n            document.querySelectorAll(&#8216;.showcase-link-image&#8217;).forEach((img) =&gt; img.removeAttribute(&#8216;onclick&#8217;));<\/p>\n<p>        <a id=\"showcase-link-7457423\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7457423\/2026\/07\/19\/tom-dundon-trail-blazers-portland-mota-center-nba\/\" class=\"showcase-link-container in-content-module-link testbed-shortcode\" data-shortcode-id=\"101\" data-shortcode-string=\"showcase-link\" data-content-id=\"7457423\" data-content-post-type=\"article\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link\">What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-inner-content\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/07\/19220942\/2026-04-03T032912Z_486724498_MT1USATODAY28647293_RTRMADP_3_NBA-NEW-ORLEANS-PELICANS-AT-PORTLAND-TRAIL-BLAZERS-1024x683.jpg?width=400&amp;quality=70\" alt=\"Trail Blazers, Portland \u2018very far apart\u2019 on lease agreement as arena saga continues\" class=\"showcase-link-image\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-text-content\">\n<div class=\"showcase-link-title\">\n                  Trail Blazers, Portland \u2018very far apart\u2019 on lease agreement as arena saga continues\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-excerpt\">\n                  While the Blazers and city politicians accuse each other of foul play, fans are left to worry about the future of the NBA in Portland.\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>While we\u2019ve seen this movie enough times to know that it likely ends with a resolution between team and city, there has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7168363\/2026\/04\/03\/tom-dundon-blazers-owner-nba-portland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an underlying question<\/a> of whether Dundon secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly, given his extremely lukewarm embrace of the city) would prefer to relocate from Portland to someplace else.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid6\" data-position=\"mid6\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But within NBA circles, the obvious question has been to ask where, exactly, he would go. Surely the league wouldn\u2019t let Dundon mess up a big expansion payday by grabbing turf in Seattle or Las Vegas. Some have suggested Austin or Nashville, but those two locales appear to be blocked off by the Spurs and Grizzlies, respectively, both of whom seem on track to play multiple \u201chome<em>-ish<\/em>\u201d games in those two cities in future seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Others note that Dundon might access Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., the home arena of the NHL\u2019s Dundon-owned Carolina Hurricanes. However, having been in that building as recently as March, it surely would be an immediate contender for the NBA\u2019s worst. It\u2019s also the old-style \u201cparking lot in the middle of nowhere\u201d model. A recently begun <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/sports\/nhl\/carolina-hurricanes\/article316177172.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">$300 million remodel<\/a> may improve things on the inside somewhat.<\/p>\n<p>After that, the domestic pickings get slim. Kansas City? St. Louis? Bring the NBA back to Rochester or Tri-Cities? None of the places I\u2019ve mentioned appear obviously better than Portland \u2014 and a few seem demonstrably worse.<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"8hfqCgnQIuf4vQy\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">The most confusing team of the NBA offseason<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">Esfandiar Baraheni<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/8hfqCgnQIuf4vQy\/&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/8hfqCgnQIuf4vQy\/&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The most confusing team of the NBA offseason&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Esfandiar Baraheni breaks down the offseason moves made by the Los Angeles Lakers.&#8221;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2026-07-17T16:09:20.467Z&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;PT5M51S&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/8hfqCgnQIuf4vQy\/tQOE70JQTi9K.0000000.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/8hfqCgnQIuf4vQy\/tQOE70JQTi9K\/tQOE70JQTi9K.m3u8&#8243;,&#8221;transcript&#8221;:&#8221;No one understands what the Lakers did this summer. They spent over $260 million in just 35 minutes in free agency, completely hamstringing their salary cap for the next few seasons. But did you notice what they&#8217;re trying to accomplish? All of these confusing and imprudent moves are an attempt to completely revamp their roster around Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves. They re-signed Reeves to a 4-year, $185 million contract, locking him in as Luca&#8217;s partner in crime. Long term. They couldn&#8217;t afford to lose him. And if he didn&#8217;t get injured midway through last season, he probably would have made an All-Star team, averaging 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. That&#8217;s how good he is. That said, Reeves isn&#8217;t very physical defensively and isn&#8217;t the best screen navigator either, constantly getting put in tough spots at the point of attack. And despite Lucas&#8217;s size, his struggles on the defensive end are well documented. So it&#8217;s fair to wonder whether the two of them can work long-term on defense. Last season, the Lakers found a way to win on that end when both guys were on the floor. They were actually better defensively when their duo played together than when they were off the court. Part of that was JJ Reddick morphing the Lakers into a zone-heavy defense, one that could shape-shift to cover the slow feet of Reeves and Luca on the perimeter while weaponizing their size in passing lanes to force turnovers. Still, building a successful defense around the duo will always be a hurdle, but building a dynamite. Offense is not. Similar to when Luka Dancic played alongside Kyrie Irving, Reeves can serve as a release valve scorer for the Slovenian superstar, working to attack the advantages that Dancic creates. And when Luka is off of the floor, Reeves&#8217; ability to get to the foul line, work as a pick and roll ball handler, and be a lethal pull-up shooter makes him capable of torching bench-heavy lineups. And while they paid a steep price to retain him, in the Lakers&#8217; minds, that&#8217;s the cost of doing business to satisfy. Luca. The same can be said for their big-time offseason edition, Walker Kessler. The Lakers have been searching the wilderness for their center of the future ever since they traded Anthony Davis in order to acquire Dancic. And in Kessler, they get a theoretical perfect fit, a 7&#8217;2, 24-year-old rebounding, shot-blocking, rim-running big man, exactly what this Lakers defense needs. In his last healthy season, Kessler was one of the 10 best rim. Sectors in the NBA limiting opponents to just 54.8% shooting at the rim. You can imagine a defense built around Kessler&#8217;s towering presence on the inside with him manning the paint, playing whack a mole for Reeves and Dancic, who could usher offensive players towards him. Even offensively, Kessler&#8217;s size, his screening ability, and his finishing at the basket is going to make for a perfect pairing next to Luca, who in the past has been able to get the most out of his big. Men. In theory, Kessler is perfect for the Lakers, but the cost may have been too high. The issue isn&#8217;t his newly signed 4-year, $130 million contract. The issue is that the Lakers also traded two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Jazz in order to sign Kessler. It&#8217;s the first time ever that a team has given up multiple first-round picks in a sign and trade situation. With this move and By re-signing Reeves, the Lakers are now committed to Kessler, Reeves, and Dancic for $475 million. They have exhausted their draft capital and realistically have no way to improve their roster without eventually trading one of their three cornerstone pieces, which means the Lakers must be confident that this group is complete enough to win a championship. And that&#8217;s hard to believe when you look at the rest of their signings. While Sandro Maukela. Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, and Zare Williams are all useful and talented players. It&#8217;s hard to call that a championship-ready roster. The Lakers succeeded defensively last season because of their defensive playmakers. LeBron James, Marcus Smart, and Rui Hachimura all provided versatility and size on the wings, making it harder for opposing offenses to penetrate. While Mamu, Sexton, and Grimes certainly provide ample offensive versatility and should help the Luca led Lakers into an offensive juggernaut. They lack the defensive versatility to really help this team win on that end. All of this puts a lot of pressure on Kessler to be the tide that raises all boats. And while he is good, no doubt, we just watch what happens when he&#8217;s asked to be the only good defender on a team with a bunch of defensive question marks. It&#8217;s called the Utah Jazz. The only difference is that the Lakers have a superstar in Luke Adan. Besides, Kessler isn&#8217;t without his questions. He hasn&#8217;t played more than 60 games in the last two seasons. How available he is will be massive, especially given that his backup is 30-year-old Kevon Looney. Essentially, Kessler has to be as good as, say, prime Rudy Gobert for this Lakers team to eventually reach its ceiling. And if he is, great. You&#8217;ve got yourself a championship contender. But if he&#8217;s anything less than that, even a hair less, You won&#8217;t be good enough. They are certainly poised to be a playoff team and have the offensive talent to win a bunch of regular season games. And to play devil&#8217;s advocate, all an NBA team needs is a chance, and armed with a superstar like Luca, the Lakers will always have a chance. And while they tried to boost their chances by revamping their roster this summer around him, there are now more questions than answers about the genuine ceiling of a team that is locked in long term. So it&#8217;s OK to not understand what the Lakers did this summer, because they took risks. We&#8217;ll see if they pay off.&#8221;,&#8221;ineligibleRegion&#8221;:[&#8220;BI&#8221;,&#8221;BY&#8221;,&#8221;CD&#8221;,&#8221;CF&#8221;,&#8221;CU&#8221;,&#8221;IQ&#8221;,&#8221;IR&#8221;,&#8221;KP&#8221;,&#8221;LB&#8221;,&#8221;LY&#8221;,&#8221;ML&#8221;,&#8221;NI&#8221;,&#8221;RU&#8221;,&#8221;SD&#8221;,&#8221;SO&#8221;,&#8221;SS&#8221;,&#8221;SY&#8221;,&#8221;UA&#8221;,&#8221;VE&#8221;,&#8221;YE&#8221;,&#8221;ZW&#8221;],&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;NewsMediaOrganization&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/&#8221;,&#8221;foundingDate&#8221;:&#8221;2016-01-25&#8243;,&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;creditText&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;height&#8221;:&#8221;60&#8243;,&#8221;width&#8221;:&#8221;435&#8243;},&#8221;publishingPrinciples&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/&#8221;,&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic&#8221;},&#8221;author&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Esfandiar Baraheni&#8221;}]}<\/p>\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16 \/ 9;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16 \/ 9\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"metadata\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAS VEGAS \u2014 \u201cWhat are they doing?\u201d In talking with NBA execs and staffers during my eight-day stay in Vegas (a delightful place to visit in mid-July) for summer league, I was surprised how often this came up in relation to other teams, not to mention at least one prestigious white-shoe law firm. Usually, front [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2052051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2052051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2052051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}