Well, Matty Healy’s thoughts could live on for eternity in the form of a book. Today (October 22), Matty Healy seemingly teased that fans could expect an authored piece from him. While promoting his appearance on Doomscroll hosted by Joshua Citarella, he keep the rumor mill into motion.
“God I wish I could have an entire book about Matty and the internet,” commented one person on YouTube.
Healy’s response of the looking eye emoji served as enough confirmation for supporters.
Instagram
However, after his post gained traction on X (formerly Twitter), Taylor Swift fans quickly chimed in with a theory about the supposed literary work.
One user speculated that Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department song “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” was actually about Healy. The user uploaded a screenshot (viewable here) of the lyrics that read: “Were you writing a book? / Were you a sleeper cell spy? / In 50 years will all this be declassified?”
“[Oh my f*cking God] he actually was he’s pure evil,” wrote another.
Overwhelming others disparaged the musician from continuing with the book if he hasn’t already completed it.
“Matty Healy threatens to release a book,” joked one user.
“Now who on EARTH would comment that or even WANT THAT,” asked another.
For the final time, TNT’s Inside the NBA crew was on site for the NBA’s opening night, as Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley were in Boston for the Celtics’ ring night festivities.
In the second game of TNT’s opening night doubleheader, the Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and while seeing the new-look Wolves in action after the Karl-Anthony Towns trade is certainly interesting, the biggest thing that will happen in that game is some NBA history being made when LeBron James and Bronny James become the first father-son duo to play together in a game. On the pregame show, the crew discussed the moment, with Charles Barkley trying to make sure to temper expectations on Bronny, but unlike most situations when the show can lean on the expertise of the three former players, in this instance, it’s Ernie that could speak from experience on a father-son working relationship.
Johnson called games with his father, Ernie Johnson Sr., back in the 90s, and he wanted to offer one piece of advice to LeBron: “soak it all in.”
“Nothing will ever match the opportunity I had in the ’90s to work with my dad and to call ballgames with my father … LeBron, soak it in and enjoy every second, because it doesn’t get better than that.”
As he notes, there’s just nothing that can replicate this kind of moment. For all the discussion and arguments people on the outside will have about it and it being something historic for the league, it is at the same time something very personal, and Ernie’s advice for LeBron was simply not to ignore that part. I don’t think that’ll be an issue for James, as this is something he’s talked about wanting to happen for a long time.
If you thought Harlequin, Joker: Folie à Deux‘s companion album, was the extent of new music from Lady Gaga you’d wrong. Today (October 22), Lady Gaga took to her official social media platforms to further tease LG7. In a haunting clip, a dark haired distressed Lady Gaga is seen running with all of her might from a shady figure.
Although the assailant can’t be identified, the ominous strokes of the piano heard playing in the visual set the eerie energy just fine. As the vehicle-wielding demon gains on Lady Gaga’s trial, the songwriter’s head wipes back to reveal her frightened glance.
Not much is known about the upcoming song at this time. However, that hasn’t stopped supporters from searching for sonic clues. Back in May, Lady Gaga provided fans with a few breadcrumbs, saying: “I have written so many songs, I’ve been producing so many songs, and it’s nothing like anything that I’ve ever made before. I love to break genre, and I love to explore music. There’s something really beautiful about knowing that you will be loved no matter what you do.”
Watch the full teaser for Lady Gaga’s “Disease” above.
Tyler The Creator’s brilliant rollout for Chromakopia, his eighth album, continued today with a trailer teasing the album’s vinyl recording. In the ad, the masked Tyler, with his hair sculpted into twin peaks, dances alongside a record player as it plays clips of several of the project’s songs. The snippets display a Tyler very deep into his sample bag, polishing the groovy sounds that he’s been perfecting over the course of his last three albums.
Tyler kicked off the rollout to Chromakopia with the eerie, borderline militant video for “Chroma,” featuring the “chromakopia” chant and introducing his latest alter ego. Then, he announced the album’s surprising release date, revealing a truncated schedule that would allow the album to drop just two weeks after the initial tease.
He followed up earlier this week with the release of the Hitchcockian video for “Noid,” which featured an appearance from fellow Nigerian-American superstar Ayo Edebiri, and addressed recent rap-related tragedies in Tyler’s hometown, Los Angeles. He also announced the lineup for this year’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, which returns November 16 and 17 with Playboi Carti, Sexyy Red, and more.
You can check out the Chromakopia vinyl teaser below.
Chromakopia is out on 10/28 via Columbia Records. You can find more info here.
Every rookie gets welcomed to the NBA a little differently, but part of the process of becoming a pro is dealing with the many tasks that come with being the newest member of a team. That includes carrying bags for veterans, picking up food for the team plane, and often being on the butt end of jokes.
That’s even the case when your dad is arguably the greatest player of all time and also on your team, as Bronny James won’t be spared from rookie duties because of LeBron, and it’s possible he’ll have to deal with more because of his father’s presence on the team. From the outside, there will be players that give Bronny a little extra on the court and make sure to welcome him to the league in that way. Inside the Lakers building, LeBron might be the one most likely to give Bronny some grief, as Anthony Davis recently pointed out that Bronny is the one the team hypes up and backs in practice battles with his dad.
In a new ad spot with Nike, we get a little idea of what Bronny might have to deal with playing with LeBron, who loves to pull pranks, as the elder James fills his son’s car with Fruity Pebbles and gleefully snickers away, telling Bronny not to be late.
It’s a very funny video and while this is for an ad, I do fully believe that if anyone on the Lakers were to popcorn Bronny’s car — or fill it with Fruity Pebbles, which is way worse than popcorn — it would be his dad. The two will make NBA history on Tuesday night when they become the first father and son to share the court in a regular season game against the Timberwolves, with the expectation they play together in the second quarter.
Pre-sales start October 23, followed by a general on-sale starting October 25 at 10 a.m. local time. Find more information via the band’s website.
On top of the tour news, the band has also shared “Jean (Julie’s Version),” a new take on album highlight “Jean.” The band’s Will Taylor says of track in a statement, “We got together with Bennett Littlejohn to reimagine ‘Jean.’ This arrangement is stripped back and offers more insight to how the song was written, with an acoustic guitar and a single voice.”
Listen to “Jean (Julie’s Version)” above and find Hovvdy’s 2025 tour dates below.
Hovvdy’s 2025 Tour Dates
03/05/2025 — Nashville, TN @ The Basement East *
03/06/2025 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
03/07/2025 — Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 *
03/08/2025 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room *
03/09/2025 — Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall *
03/12/2025 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
03/13/2025 — Washington, DC @ The Atlantis *
03/14/2025 — Philadelphia, PA @ Ukie Club *
03/15/2025 — Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs *
03/17/2025 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB *
03/18/2025 — Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall *
03/19/2025 — Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig *
03/20/2025 — Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar *
03/21/2025 — Indianapolis, IN @ Turntable *
03/22/2025 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
03/24/2025 — Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club *
03/26/2025 — Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater +
03/29/2025 — Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile +
03/30/2025 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom +
04/01/2025 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent +
04/02/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre +
04/03/2025 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s (Indoor) +
04/04/2025 — San Diego, CA @ The Casbah +
04/05/2025 — Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress +
04/08/2025 — Dallas, TX @ Club Dada +
04/09/2025 — Austin, TX @ Mohawk (outside) +
04/11/2025 — New Orleans, LA @ Siberia *
05/13/2025 — St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room at Blueberry Hill ^
05/14/2025 — Kansas City, MO @ recordBar ^
05/17/2025 — Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad ^
05/20/2025 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head ^
05/21/2025 — Tulsa, OK @ Mercury Lounge ^
05/22/2025 — Memphis, TN @ 1884 Lounge ^
* with Video Age
+ with runo plum
^ with Free Range
You can, however, arrest him for it, apparently. The Pittsburgh rapper was picked up by police after performing at the Beach, Please! Festival in Costinești, Romania. While the arrest was just after the performance back on July 13th, he was just recently indicted, according to XXL, which conveyed a report from Romanian news outlet Romania-Insider.
Romanian authorities decided to indict Wiz for illicit drug use, as marijuana is illegal in Romania. If convicted, he could be sentenced to anywhere from a few months to two years in prison, and be ordered to pay a fine. This makes his promise to return to Romania shortly after his release a lot less likely. “I didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania by lighting up on stage,” he wrote on Twitter at the time. “They were very respectful and let me go. I’ll be back soon. But without a big ass joint next time.”
A statement released by Romanian police in July read: “Investigations revealed that during a performance at a music festival in the Costinești resort, Constanța County, he possessed more than 18 grams of cannabis (a risk drug) and consumed another quantity of cannabis on stage in the form of a hand-rolled cigarette.”
The Boston Celtics didn’t make many midseason moves during their 2023-24 run to a championship, but one of their few additions was trading for Xavier Tillman Sr. from the Grizzlies, adding some more depth and versatility to their frontcourt rotation.
Going from the Grizzlies to the Celtics represented a stark change of scenery for Tillman. He left a young and hungry Memphis team that previously ascended to the top of the West, but were mired in a disastrous season filled with injuries. He arrived in Boston to a veteran team that had already cemented its place as one of the best and had one singular goal: win a title. On the outside, one would think that would bring more tension and more pressure, compared to the freedom of playing on a young team still trying to shock the world.
However, what was noticeable to Tillman was how the approach and vibe in Boston wasn’t what he anticipated, and is representative of how the team finally attained the NBA’s ultimate prize. His introduction into how different the mindset was in Boston came on his first call with head coach Joe Mazzulla, as Tillman learned quickly why Mazzulla is as unique a figure as there is in NBA coaching.
“The first thing he said to me on the phone was, you know, ‘Don’t be weird.’ And I didn’t know what that meant, so I had to check myself, like, ‘Okay, how would I be weird?’” Tillman recalled. “And for me, a lot of times I take myself so serious — like, I take basketball so seriously — that was the first thing that my mind went to. Like, okay, let me kind of relax into the situation, versus coming here like, ‘Alright, y’all, I’m ready to win this championship. Let me do X, Y, and Z.’ And I think that he noticed it right away, and noticed, ‘Hey, man, it’s alright to have fun.’ And he’s really good about having a balance of both. He’s good about picking on guys in the right way to get them to feel more comfortable and know that, you know, it’s just work. It’s just a game. This has nothing to do with your real life. And he’s really good at separating work-life balance, for sure.”
Once in Boston, Tillman saw his role shrink a bit from when he was in Memphis, going from over 20 minutes per game to just shy of 14. But he felt more comfort and could play more freely thanks to how defined everyone’s roles were with the Celtics. The buy-in from the entire Celtics team to chasing that ultimate goal of a championship, from the top stars down through the tight-knit bench unit, meant that Boston didn’t have the same internal battles over minutes and roles that other teams have.
“To be honest with you, it was actually pretty refreshing,” Tillman said of Boston’s approach to the rotation. “I felt like early on in my career, my whole mantra was trying to do whatever I can to beat the next guy so I can start eventually and keep ascending in my career. And when I got here and realized that, like, the goal is not ascension, the goal is championships. The goal is to perfect the role that you have, so for me, it’s on-ball defense, it’s help-side defense, it’s rebounding, it’s screening, and then it’s spacing and hitting threes. I feel like they told me off the rip, like, just how you mentioned, this is a matchup-based team. It’s not, ‘Hey X, if you play fantastic, you’re gonna be stuck in this line up and da-da-da.’ They’re like, no, it’s a matchup-based thing.
“Now, do we want you to play well? Absolutely, because you want to play well, too. But it was pretty refreshing to hear that no matter how bad or how good you kind of play, this is your role. So don’t really worry too much about it. Just come in each and every day, put in your work in the weight room and on the court, and live with all the results.”
After seeing how that approach resulted in a dominant run to a championship, Tillman was happy to sign back on for two more years in Boston, to continue working on perfecting that role. This summer, that meant getting more comfortable getting up shots from deep, which has shown up this preseason as Tillman went 6-for-11 on threes in his four appearances. As he explained, he didn’t do much work on his form, but had to get his reps up to get comfortable shooting at the volume the Celtics demand. Unable to do anything on the move on the court following an offseason procedure to address swelling in his knee that impacted him last year, he spent a lot of time with assistant coach DJ MacLeay (aka D Mac) working on knocking down catch-and-shoot opportunities so that he’s comfortable putting them up in the game.
As Tillman admits, the mental side is still a work in progress when it comes to shooting as much as the Celtics like. He is a “big man at heart” who likes paint touches, layups, and wide open shots, while also thinking of himself as a facilitator, always looking to move the ball along. However, there are times where it’s his job on a play to shoot the ball, and the staff’s concern isn’t whether he makes each one, but that he takes the shots he’s supposed to in the offense. That’s an adjustment, but it’s one that he is really enjoying embracing.
“I think the thought process is on execution versus, like, perfection,” Tillman said. “And when I say execution, we’re running plays to get open shots. We run our sets, we run our pick-and-roll schemes to get open shots. And obviously the goal is to make it, everybody knows that, but the true goal for us that coach really harps on is just taking the right one, versus us passing up on it because we think there’s a better one or something like that. He’ll be like, listen, I’m putting people in positions for a reason. That’s a shot that I know you can make. I’ve seen you work out. I’ve seen you put in the time. Like, this is a shot we need you to take if we want to take the next step, and if you want to take the next step in your development as well. So you know, the confidence that coach gives me is pretty cool, because he’s not really results based at all. He’s more execution of, hey, we set this play up so you can get the shot, so you have to let it go. Like, I don’t really care what happens, but it just helps the overall landscape of the game and keeps the defense honest.”
There’s still the desire to make as many as possible, but he’s starting to understand that if he takes those open shots or designed shots regularly, it forces the defense to respect that he’ll shoot and can open things up for others. There are plenty of teams that preach process, but not every staff is willing to follow through on what that requires. For players to buy-in, they can’t be worried about whether minutes will get taken away during a cold spell. Few teams afford players that luxury, which is largely because the Celtics’ floor is so high they don’t have to be as reactionary.
At the same time, committing to that approach also helps to yield better results. As Tillman explains, players who feel more free on the court, without that lingering concern about what their performance means for their future, tend to perform better.
“When you can go into a game and think that my minutes are not dictated on if I make shots or miss shots, you play extremely free. And inevitably, you probably will end up making more shots than you miss, because you’re not overthinking things to try to be perfect,” Tillman said. “You’re just playing, and I think that has been the mantra that Joe’s set for the team this season, and even when I got here, just kind of like, I want you guys to hoop, I don’t want you to overthink. I want you to be adaptable to whatever the defense gives us, and we make the reads based off that. If there’s people put in positions that we all feel isn’t right, then we’ll make some adjustments, but for the majority, he’s like, I’m gonna put everybody in a position that I feel you know is best for the team.”
While the offense is where Tillman has to put the most work in to fully feel that comfort, he’s been right at home on the defensive end since arriving in Boston. His versatility on that end adds another weapon for Mazzulla to deploy off of the bench, and allows the Celtics to attack opponents with more pressure and switching with his ability to guard quicker wings as well as stronger bigs. Tillman notes that the defensive talent level across the board in Boston makes it so easy to go out there and execute, because playing defense is much simpler when there isn’t a guy (or even worse, multiple guys) to hide and cover for. When there’s no clear weak link to attack, you can be more aggressive and make quicker decisions on switching, blitzing, and helping, knowing that you won’t be giving the offense a clear advantage.
As the Celtics get set to start their title defense on Tuesday night against the Knicks, they’ll do so without Kristaps Porzingis for a still undetermined amount of time. Those are big shoes to fill, but even with the star out, what each of Boston’s bigs are being asked to do on the court doesn’t change. For Tillman, that still means focusing on defense, spacing the floor, screening, and rebounding, not trying to overextend himself to be like Porzingis, and instead trust the rest of his teammates to fill in the gaps.
“I feel like I’m fortunate enough to have bigs with me who all kind of fill different roles that KP fills. Because obviously, KP is a unicorn, right? He’s a guy who can catch lobs. He’s a guy who can block shots at the rim. He’s a guy who can iso and hit mid-ranges. He’s a guy who can space and hit pick-and-pop threes. He’s a unicorn to be able to do it all,” Tillman said. “And so for us, for myself, Luke [Kornet] and Nee [Neemias Queta], our focus is, okay, well we can each kind of make up a part of KP — other than his sick ability to draw fouls and stuff like that with his pump fakes and stuff, because he’s 7’2. The other parts of his game, like me spacing the floor, or for Nee blocking shots, or for Luke being able to catch it on all the pick and roll and then make a play, whether that’s an assist or that’s a layup for himself. I think that we can all play a part that KP plays to help the team. And it’s really cool to have those other guys with me, though. So like you said, there is no overextending.”
Finding comfort is hard to put a price on for a player. There’s always the temptation to want more, but as Tillman’s learned in Boston, there is also freedom in a defined role. That’s not to say you stop pushing yourself to grow, but you can focus your efforts on maximizing your strengths and minimizing weaknesses when you’re in a place that values what you bring to the table.
Tillman has found that in Boston, and he doesn’t have to look far to see what it looks like for a player to maximize their abilities in a similar (but larger) role to what he’s asked to do in Al Horford. Aside from Brook Lopez, few players have done a better job adapting to a changing NBA and continue to impact winning like Horford, who added the three-point shot in the middle of his career and reimagined himself on offense as a more perimeter oriented big man in the second half of it.
For Tillman, he’s keeping a close eye on Horford and taking cues on how he handles himself on and off the court. He admires the mentality and approach of Horford to shooting the ball, where he never dwells on the previous shot, make or miss. He sees the way Horford sets the tone with his effort, and also the way he allows himself to disconnect and strike a work-life balance when home with his family.
There are perhaps teams out there that could provide Tillman with more minutes or more of the ball, but very few could replace the feeling he gets in Boston of being embraced for what he does in the time he is on the floor. For that reason, he’s back with the Celtics and ready to play his role to the best of his ability when asked, understanding he’s on the kind of team players dream of playing on.
“If I can do my role to the best of my abilities, I will then be ‘special.’ But it takes the team in order to do it,” Tillman said. “My role is not the same as JT’s, my role is not the same as KP’s. And so for me, if I’m able to do the things that I said — the defense, the screening, the spacing the floor — that makes me special. I don’t have to be or play like JT in order to be special, I can be special in my role, and that’s something that Joe has told me from the rip. And it gave me a lot of confidence, because you want to feel valued, more importantly than anything, no matter if you’re working any type of job, you want to feel valued. You want to feel like you matter, and the effort that you’re putting in is actually significant.
“And you know, when you can get that from the coaches, from crashing and getting offensive rebounds, or getting Sam Hauser wide open for a catch-and-shoot three, or spacing and hitting my own catch-and-shoot three, it’s a really cool feeling. It’s a feeling that, as a player, you sort of chase.”
A couple years ago, Uproxx’s Steven Hyden called 2nd Grade “the best part of the 2022 power-pop renaissance.” Well,the renaissance isn’t over yet, as the band has a new album, Scheduled Explosions, coming soon, on October 25. As part of their final pre-album push, the group has shared the single “Triple Bypass In B-Flat.”
The band’s Peter Gill says of the song in a statement, “‘Triple Bypass In B-Flat’ is meant to be some kinda antidote to apathy, specifically my apathy. Like Nick Cave, I wrote it with the help of Wikipedia to make sure I have my facts straight regarding June bug behavior.”
That’s not the only new track that dropped today, as Gill also unveiled “Instant Nostalgia” and “Sophomores In The Wild.”
Listen to the new songs above and find the Scheduled Explosions cover art and tracklist below.
2nd Grade’s Scheduled Explosions Album Cover Artwork
Double Double Whammy
2nd Grade’s Scheduled Explosions Tracklist
1. “Live From Missile Command”
2. “Triple Bypass In B-Flat”
3. “Uncontrollably Cool”
4. “Out Of The Hive”
5. “Fashion Disease”
6. “Joan On Ice”
7. “Crybaby Semiconductor”
8. “Ice Cream Social Acid Test”
9. “Instant Nostalgia”
10. “Like Otis Redding”
11. “Airlift”
12. “King Of Marvin Gardens”
13. “Made Up My Own Mind”
14. “No Fly Zone”
15. “All About You”
16. “Evil Things”
17. “Bureau Of Autumn Sorrows”
18. “Like A Wild Thing”
19. “American Rhythm”
20. “Jingle Jangle Nuclear Meltdown”
21. “Sophomores In The Wild”
22. “68 Comeback”
23. “I Wanna Be On Your Mind”
Scheduled Explosions is out 10/25 via Double Double Whammy. Find more information here.
The NBA season begins on Tuesday night, and as a result, you’re going to see plenty of people do power rankings. They’re an easy way to get a glimpse of where teams stand as they enter the league, and they’re super easy to both understand and update, too, which makes them a tool to add a bit of context to things throughout the season.
We decided to do something a little different here at DIME and take advantage of one of our favorite websites, TierMaker. Here, we wanted to group teams together, as many of them enter the 2024-25 campaign with similar questions, concerns, or strengths.
TierMaker
S Tier: The favorites
This one is pretty simple. Boston are the defending champions and are, essentially, running it back. The Thunder were the best team in the West last year and bolstered their young and incredibly talented roster by addressing needs at center (Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent) and in the backcourt (turning Josh Giddey into Alex Caruso). Anything can happen, but there’s a reason these are the two teams everyone is picking to win their respective conferences.
A Tier: Biggest threats
New York and Philly might’ve been the second and third best teams in the East last year, but Joel Embiid’s injury during the regular season meant they faced off in the first round, while a number of injuries piled up for the Knicks in their conference semifinal loss to Indiana. They’ve both added reinforcements — Paul George and a few other rotation players in Philly, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in New York — designed to challenge Boston, and believe they have the pieces in place to do it.
Dallas is here on the heels of an NBA Finals run. Between further development for Dereck Lively, their two big midseason acquisitions last year (PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford) getting further embedded in the team, and an offseason where they emphasized getting better on the wing, we think they deserve to be considered a major threat in the West. And while Denver lost a crucial building block in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this summer, they still have Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon. Their depth is a huge question, but unless Murray’s injury woes are impossible to shake, betting on Jokic and co. to be a contender in the West is a safe bet.
B Tier: Potential threats
All of these teams could very easily make it to the conference finals, but heading into the year, it’s hard to trust them for one reason or another. Are the Bucks too old, and can they finally have the Giannis and Dame duo kick into high gear in Year 2 together? Can Cleveland take a leap just by running it back with a new coach in Kenny Atkinson? What does Minnesota look like now that Karl-Anthony Towns is no longer there? Can the Grizzlies bounce back from their absolutely wretched injury luck last year, and will Zach Edey hit the ground running? Can the Suns stay healthy and do they have enough depth? All of these teams should win a bunch of games and all of them have a championship ceiling, but they need at least one major thing to go right if they’re going to go on a run this postseason.
C Tier: Contenders if they can add more
The Pacers could use another center, the Magic could use someone who can get their own shot efficiently, the Heat could use backcourt reinforcements, the Pelicans could REALLY use a center, the Lakers could use someone other than LeBron or AD who can consistently impact winning on both ends of the floor, the Warriors could use another All-Star running made alongside Steph Curry, and the Kings could use someone who can bolster their perimeter defense without taking too much away on the other end. All of these teams are a piece away from moving up a tier. For some, perhaps they can find the answers on their rosters right now by way of internal development, but if they can’t, can they find a way to make that happen in a trade?
D Tier: Play-In Teams
Atlanta should be able to get there off of Trae Young and a step forward for Jalen Johnson (along with a few other promising young dudes), but it’s really hard to see them finishing any higher than seventh in the East — and if Young misses time, things can go off the rails quickly. The Rockets have started paying guys and have a few veterans who should raise their floor, and while they’re a year or two away from really competing in the West, they can challenge for the Play-In this time around. The Clippers need Kawhi Leonard to get healthy, plain and simple, but they’re a veteran roster with a good coach and are very motivated to win this year. Their ceiling, especially without Kawhi, is pretty low, but their floor should be high.
F Tier: Lottery Bound
None of these teams are going to be all that good, but unlike the bottom two teams on this list, they will probably at least try to compete for a bit and just struggle to win games — although, one of these teams in the East will make the Play-In, it’s just hard to figure out which one. There are plenty of talented players in this tier, whether they’re building blocks (Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Lauri Markkanen, Shaedon Sharpe, Victor Wembanyama, etc.) or guys who are potential trade candidates (Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen again, Anfernee Simons, etc.). At the very least, we expect all of these teams to be frisky for a bit before they start making decisions motivated by ping polls balls.
F- Tier: Super Duper Lottery Bound
The Nets basically have to stink, as they went out of their way to get their own pick back this year in the Mikal Bridges trade. The Wizards’ general manager flat out said the team is in the “deconstruction phase,” so our hunch is they will be wheeling and dealing with an eye on the future — and, honestly, they might not need to do all that much to still be really bad this year. Cooper Flagg, if you are reading this, maybe have someone in your life start looking at real estate in Brooklyn or D.C.
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he’s pure evil,” wrote another.
