The moves so far: East

Strange, super-intriguing, summer so far. The NBA possibly created more tanking than ever for the three years of this lottery reform, the worst kind, teams diving out of playoff contention and into the greedy arms of the eighth-worst record in the NBA.

Then there was this second-round mess in the 2026 NBA draft, where I believe zero teams drafted that night because nobody watched.

Fascinating so far, none of it legal until 5 PM on Tuesday. We did the West, here come the North:

TORONTO

The gap between regular season and playoff basketball grows each winter, spring. Every recent Eastern champion wasn't the last team to stay hot (as regular season point-differential used to guide us to), but rather the first team to light the spark.

Darn right this sounds like a strong landing place for Kawhi Leonard. April, May, June. Kawhi can't take the whole regular season off, but, listen, we're willing to listen to any plan.

Only 13 players scored more points than Brandon Ingram last season. His ceiling has its limits but, hey, you said you wanted to go up.

The moves so far: West

When I was 19 I turned down the an evening with a pretty girl (with a car) in order to stay up overnight, on the internet and by myself, through the July 31-to-August 1 crossover in 1999, writing about all the NBA contract agreements piling up on Yahoo&

Minnesota swaps up to LaMelo Ball

Get in on trade season for half-off! First-round pick swaps, eh? Are swaps the way to go, after the NBA messed up its draft? Or are swaps what we have left, after every good NBA team traded away every one of its future first-round picks? Or, are

The 2026 NBA draft's top 30

The 2026 NBA draft was on Tuesday, and though they'll insist it is also on Wednesday, it was mostly on Tuesday. Here, on Wednesday, the draft: 1. Washington Wizards – AJ Dybantsa (BYU) A standup star for a silly, little franchise. The forward need not dominate this league in

Giannis finally traded

Giannis Antetokounmpo will be 32 midway through the 2026-27 NBA season, he will be owed a four-year and $275 million contract extension after 2026-27 and he's nearly worked as many career minutes (playoff and regular season, combined) as Chris Webber. But, like, look at the

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The moves so far: West

Minnesota swaps up to LaMelo Ball

The 2026 NBA draft's top 30

Giannis finally traded