And-Ones: MVP Race, No. 1 Pick, Peterson, P. Gasol
Reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the favorite to claim the award again in 2025/26, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, who recently conducted his second MVP straw poll. The Thunder guard was the only player to appear on all 100 ballots and accumulated 930 points.
Injuries to top players have significantly impacted the MVP race this season, Bontemps writes, as multiple contenders for the award may not qualify due to the 65-game rule. Despite being sidelined with an abdominal strain, Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t in imminent danger of not meeting that threshold — he’ll likely have 10 total missed games when he’s reevaluated later this week.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic remains in second place (700 points), but the gap between the two players has grown since Bontemps’ initial poll in December. That’s largely because the three-time MVP missed 15 games because of a knee injury and can’t have more than two additional absences without becoming ineligible for major postseason awards.
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (382 points) and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama (242 points) were the only other players to receive first-place votes. Lakers guard Luka Doncic (177 points) rounds out the top five of Bontemps’ poll.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- How much would the No. 1 overall pick in the loaded 2026 NBA draft be worth if it were available in an auction? Brian Windhorst of ESPN briefly discussed that topic on the Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I was talking to a league executive today and he said to me, this is after Darryn Peterson had 23 points in 18 minutes and after we’ve seen some other top guys have big time games over the last four or five days,” Windhorst said. “… I had an executive tell me that the No. 1 pick this year is worth $100 million. If you gave the opportunity to buy that pick, teams would pay $100 million for it. Keep that in mind when the Jazz were fined $500,000.”
- Although Peterson’s sporadic for Kansas this season has undoubtedly been frustrating for him, the school, and its fans, his health issues are unlikely to have much of an effect on the 19-year-old guard’s standing as a top prospect in the 2026 draft class, per Brendan Marks and Justin Williams of The Athletic. “He’s elite, elite, elite,” one NBA scout told The Athletic. “When he’s fully healthy, the shot-making is on another level. … When it comes down to it, man, if you’ve seen this guy play in high school, and you saw those matchups, like, Darryn is the guy. For sure.”
- Hall of Famer Pau Gasol has been selected by Olympic athletes to represent them on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) board through the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Langdon, Huerter, Ivey
Cade Cunningham‘s outstanding season is moving him into the MVP conversation, writes Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. The Pistons guard turned in his latest dominant performance with 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in Thursday’s win at New York, as Detroit solidified its hold on the top spot in the East and improved its league-best record to 41-13.
“It comes from doing the things I said, what I needed to do to be in that conversation,” Cunningham said. “Now that we’re getting closer, there’s more [talk] like ‘What is your case? You should speak on it.’ I don’t really care to speak on it. I want the people that vote on it to be smart enough to look at the game for themselves.”
However, he added, “I think I am [MVP]. And if you don’t agree with me, that’s your opinion.“
Cunningham ranks 12th in the league’s scoring race at 25.7 PPG and second in assists with 9.7 per game. He’s been the driving force on a team that has shattered all expectations coming into this season, and his competitive spirit has affected his teammates.
“He’s a winner, man. He really is. Attitude, leadership, every day, the guy is special,” Tobias Harris said. “I think more than anything, he wants championships, and that’s a difference. There’s guys who want to win MVP and guys who want to win championships.”
There’s more on the Pistons:
- In an interview with Chris Mannix of SI, owner Tom Gores gives credit to president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon for turning around a franchise that won just 14 games two years ago. “I probably saw 20 different people, a lot of known names. And Trajan was not necessarily one of the known names,” Gores said of the hiring process. “He had a good reputation. But I saw a real CEO and an executive in him. … His execution skills, like a CEO, are excellent, his strategy and analytic skills, excellent. He’s very execution oriented. And to me, I’ve never gotten anywhere in my life just with vision. We have to execute and he’s very execution oriented, and of course has a vision.”
- Kevin Huerter is only averaging 12 minutes per night in four appearances since being acquired from Chicago at the deadline. Speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game, coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he expects Huerter to eventually move into a larger role, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “You see him and he’s got the reputation as a shooter, but I watch him as a play-maker, a ball-handler … his understanding of the game as a whole,” Bickerstaff said.
- Bickerstaff also commented on the decision to part with Jaden Ivey, who was getting limited playing time while working his way back after fracturing his left leg last season, Sankofa adds (Twitter link). “We expected a full recovery but the timing we didn’t know, which is something you can’t ever know,” Bickerstaff said. “And then the part of it for him, believing it and trusting it. That happens with injury too, especially when you’re that explosive and your athleticism is so unique.”
Central Notes: Mitchell, Harden, Bickerstaff, Dillingham, Brown
Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have any concerns about how he and James Harden will mesh in the Cavaliers’ new starting backcourt, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I’ve never played with a guy like James Harden. I never had a guy like that on my team,” Mitchell said. “And we’re not here to figure out like who’s bigger, better or whatever. How are we going to win? And I think having that relationship helps. But it also speaks to the type of people that he and I are. We’re trying to figure what’s right. For him to go out there and say he’s trying to help me, that’s huge. That’s huge for everything. … Winning is the end-all, right? I’m not worried about how we’ll fit and how we’ll coexist because we have the same goal in mind, and it doesn’t matter how we get there. We just want to get there.”
Mitchell also touched on a number of other topics in a monthly diary, including his feelings on the sad way Chris Paul‘s career ended.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Following J.B. Bickerstaff‘s dismissal as head coach of the Cavaliers after the 2023/24 season, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get another opportunity, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” he said. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next.” New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon soon offered him a head coaching job within the division. He learned from his days in Cleveland how to improve in his next stop. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Rob Dillingham, a 2024 lottery selection, had trouble cracking the Timberwolves’ rotation and earning sustained minutes. After getting traded to the Bulls, Dillingham is getting a longer look from coach Billy Donovan, though he’ll still likely have to fight for playing time when the team’s backcourt gets healthy, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Dillingham has averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 turnovers in 24.7 minutes per game over three appearances. “His job and responsibility is to generate shots for guys when he gets (inside) and understand the shots where he has angles and can shoot a high percentage on and the shots he can’t,” Donovan said. “It’s not like I’m giving him free rein, we need him downhill, but he also can’t be jumping off two feet, getting caught in the air, trying to shoot over guys, trying to throw passes that aren’t there. He’s got to clean that up and we’ve got to help him do it. What I don’t want him to do is not be aggressive or be afraid to attack. He has to attack. He just has to make better decisions, and I think that will come in time.”
- Along with acquiring Ivica Zubac from the Clippers, the Pacers added guard Kobe Brown in the deal. Brown was only averaging 8.7 minutes in L.A. but could see his minutes jump the remainder of the season with Indiana. “I’m grateful, for sure. Grateful to be in this position,” he told Tony East of CircleCitySpin.com. “I feel like this team is a great team. Obviously, they were just in the Finals last year and were so close to winning it. And for them to want me here is big. So I’m happy and excited to be here and be a part of it.” Brown has played in two games with Indiana thus far, including a start against Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Pistons Notes: Bickerstaff, Suspensions, Reed, Cunningham, Duren
The Pistons have stunned the NBA world by going from worst to first in the Eastern Conference in two seasons. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is somewhat surprised by the team’s quick rise but felt good about joining the organization after owner Tom Gores hired Trajan Langdon as the president of basketball operations in 2024. Shortly after being fired by Detroit’s Central Division rivals in Cleveland, Bickerstaff was hired by Langdon.
“When you were with the group every day, you knew there was a ton of potential there. I couldn’t tell you that I would say that a year and a half later we’d be coaching the All-Star Game and be in first place, but I knew we were going to grow, I knew we were going to continue to get better and we had the pieces,” Bickerstaff told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “The biggest thing for me also I trust Trajan totally because Trajan is the type of person that understands team and how to construct a roster. I think the small, subtle moves that he made last [season] and then even this [season], that helped elevate this team and I trusted his vision and plan.”
Bickerstaff says he doesn’t talk to the team about winning a championship this season because he’s more focused on winning in the short term.
“We’re all about the process. We talk about today every single day,” he said. “That helps control the emotional ups and downs. If you’re looking at big picture views of 10 games and all that, there’s so many different things that can vary. But if you can stay in the moment and focused on that, it helps your team continue to get better because you’re just attacking the problem that’s in front of you.”
We have more on the Pistons:
- All-Star center Jalen Duren and key reserve Isaiah Stewart will continue to serve their suspensions when the team returns to action on Thursday. Duren has one more game left on his suspension for his part in a scuffle with the Hornets last week, while Stewart still has six games to go. Bickerstaff told Spears the Pistons’ depth will carry them through this stretch. “Whenever they have been called upon, they have lived up to the moment and the team has supported them and helped them be successful,” Bickerstaff said of his reserves. “That’s how we move forward. We hold the fort down until our guys get back. We will miss those guys while they are out but the strength of our team has been our depth and we will contribute to use that as a weapon.”
- Paul Reed stepped forward in the first game after the suspensions were issued, a 113-95 road victory over the Raptors. Reed finished with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists starting in place of Duren. “My minutes might not be consistent, but my teammates and coaches expect me to come in and be ready, and that is what I am going to do,” Reed said, per Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “I take pride in that. To come in and know that when things go left, I can step up and provide.” Reed re-signed with Detroit on a two-year, $11MM contract last summer but his $5.6MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.
- Cade Cunningham and Duren were prominent members of the USA Stars team that prevailed in the three-team All-Star contest on Sunday, Davis notes. In those three 12-minute games, Cunningham recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks, while Duren finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
- Duren, a restricted free agent after the season, said that the bad times he and the team endured during his first two seasons have provided extra motivation for everyone in the organization. “It’s kinda like being broke and then getting money,” Duren told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “You never want to be broke again. That’s really what it is, bro, is understanding what that bottom felt like and never wanting to go back because we all have basketball pride and we all want to be the best in what we do. Knowing what that bottom feels like again, it’s never wanting to be back.”
Anthony Edwards Named 2026 All-Star MVP
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was named All-Star MVP after his team – the USA Stars – defeated the rival U.S. squad – USA Stripes – 47-21 in the All-Star championship game. It’s Edwards’ first All-Star MVP award and his third All-Star appearance overall.
The first three games of the All-Star game rewarded the choice of format, with all three matchups decided by one possession.
In game one between USA Stars and Team World, Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) set the tone early, recording 14 points and three blocks while his teammate Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks) contributed 10 points. Edwards led the Stars attack with 13 points, but it was Scottie Barnes (Raptors) who knocked down the game-winning three-pointer, completing a comeback to defeat his head coach, Darko Rajakovic, who was coaching Team World.
After the game, Edwards credited Wembanyama for doing what he said he would and amping up the intensity on the floor for everyone.
Game two between the two American teams also came down to the final shot, as Jaylen Brown (Celtics) led USA Stripes in scoring while Edwards and Cade Cunningham (Pistons) paced USA Stars with 11 points apiece. De’Aaron Fox (Spurs) hit the game-winning three-pointer for the Stars.
In game three, Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) took over for his home crowd, scoring 31 points in 12 minutes on 11-of-13 shooting while Wembanyama kept Team World in it with 19 points of his own. Leonard iced the game with a three-pointer over Towns to take USA Stripes to the championship game in a rematch with USA Stars.
In the fourth and final game, USA Stripes’ older legs appeared worn down by the previous two contests and the younger stars ran out to a 12-1 lead, led by Edwards and Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), who finished with a game-high nine points. They pushed the lead up to 26-9 on an Edwards three-pointer and eventually went on a 15-0 run, as Jalen Brunson (Knicks) and LeBron James (Lakers) were the only players to hit a field goal over the first seven minutes for USA Stripes. Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) finished the game with a team-high six points for USA Stripes.
Central Notes: Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Siakam, Bulls
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will make his second straight All-Star appearance on Sunday. He tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape that being selected to the 2026 exhibition was one of his long-term goals, as the mini-tournament is being held at the Intuit Dome, where the men’s basketball competition will take place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The L.A. All-Star Game was part of that plan,” Cunningham said. “I wanted to make sure I’m in there. And then win a championship and be an Olympic point guard. It’s all part of the long-term plan, for sure.”
Cunningham is having an excellent all-around season for Detroit, averaging 25.3 points, 9.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals on .462/.330/.802 shooting through 46 games (34.9 minutes per game). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made sure to point out that Cunningham excels on both ends of the court for the top-seeded Pistons.
“He is a [6-foot-6] point guard who dominates all areas of the offensive end of the floor,” Bickerstaff told Andscape. “But what I don’t think people talk about enough is his defense, his willingness to guard the other team’s best players.
“The impact that he has on that end of the floor – to me, he’s one of the top five two-way players in our league. There may be some guys that they talk about offensively, but his impact is on both ends of the floor. There’s not many guys in this league that are that way.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- In an interview with Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, Bickerstaff said he didn’t expect to be hired by the Pistons in the 2024 offseason after being let go by the Cavaliers. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” Bickerstaff told Heavy Sports. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next. We were going to move to San Clemente, California. There’s a soccer academy there, and we were going to go there and let the kids go to the academy and train.” Bickerstaff has spearheaded a dramatic turnaround in Detroit, and he says he was able to grow from the experience of being fired by the Cavaliers. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Pacers star Pascal Siakam recently spoke to Mark Medina of EssentiallySports at the Basketball Without Borders All-Star camp at the Lakers’ practice facility. Siakam was introduced to the NBA world when he attended a BWB camp in Africa in 2012. “I saw Luol Deng. I saw Serge Ibaka. I saw NBA players at that time. I thought, ‘This is cool.’ I saw NBA coaches. I had never been exposed to the NBA beforehand. I think that was my first time,” Siakam said. “I think I will always remember those memories and see how excited we were to get the opportunity. After that, my love for the game grew. We’re here now.” The All-Star forward also discussed his growth as a vocal leader, Tyrese Haliburton‘s impact on the team as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, and his excitement about playing with new starting center Ivica Zubac, among other topics.
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times grades the Bulls‘ trade deadline moves, giving the front office a D-plus because the series of transactions “came at least a season too late.”
Central Notes: Thomas, Rivers, Harden, Cavs, T. Smith
Cam Thomas scored just four points on 1-of-5 shooting in his first game with the Bucks on Monday, but he showed on Wednesday and Thursday why Milwaukee were eager to bring him in after he was waived by Brooklyn last week. In those two road wins over Orlando and Oklahoma City, Thomas racked up 46 points in 45 total minutes of action, making 17-of-33 shots from the floor.
After Thomas scored 34 points against the Magic on Wednesday, head coach Doc Rivers likened the fifth-year guard to two former Sixth Man of the Year winners he coached earlier in his career with the Clippers.
“I’ve had Jamal Crawford. I had Lou Williams,” Rivers said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “And now, I have Cam Thomas.”
Thomas has faced criticism at times during his four-and-a-half NBA seasons due to the perception that he’s an “empty calories” scorer who doesn’t play good defense or contribute in any other ways on offense. As Nehm writes, Thomas insisted this week that he’s “more than just a scorer” and suggested his play-making is “underrated.” While the 24-year-old is at his best when he’s putting the ball in the basket, Rivers said the Bucks want to give him the chance to show off all facets of his game.
“Cam wants to do right. He wants to play well. You can see that,” Rivers said after Wednesday’s game. “And we’re going to give him every opportunity. I mean, the guy is a natural scorer, and you can see that. Probably forced one or two today where he overdribbled. You live with that, and you teach that to get that out of him. But overall, he was fantastic.”
We have more from around the Central:
- Rivers had to attend a funeral and wasn’t on the Bucks‘ bench for Thursday’s game in Oklahoma City (Twitter link). Darvin Ham coached the team in Rivers’ place and led Milwaukee to an upset victory over the defending champions in a game that both teams’ MVPs (Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) missed due to injuries.
- James Harden attempted just four shots in his Cavaliers home debut on Wednesday, but he had 11 assists and no complaints after the team improved its record to 3-0 since acquiring him. “Like I told them, I’ll figure it out. We’ll do some adjusting with each other, but for the most part, I’ll play with y’all and do what y’all been doing and I’ll find my way and they’ve been doing that,” Harden said, according to Joe Reedy of The Associated Press. “So even (Wednesday), I shoot four shots, but we win by 25 points. That’s the most important thing. … I’m just here to win.”
- After the Rocket Arena floor came under scrutiny again last month following a Luka Doncic injury scare, the Cavaliers have installed temporary extensions along the sidelines and baselines of their raised court in an effort to increase player safety, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. A team spokesperson said a permanent solution will be implemented prior to the start of the 2026/27 season, Vardon adds.
- Second-year Pistons big man Tolu Smith, who is on a two-way contract, got a chance to play on Wednesday for the first time since January 10 with Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren serving suspensions. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said before the game that it represented a real opportunity for Smith. “He’s an elite defensive rebounder, paint protector, pick and roll guy,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press). “… He’ll be just fine with the tools that he has.” Smith finished with three points, three rebounds, and two assists in 15 minutes off the bench in Detroit’s win win over Toronto.
And-Ones: Wilson, 2026 Draft, Cunningham, Summer League
North Carolina star Caleb Wilson has been diagnosed with a fracture in his left hand, the school announced in a press release. A timeline for the freshman big man’s return has not yet been established.
Wilson, who sustained the injury in the first half of Tuesday’s loss at Miami (FL), has been one of the most productive players in college basketball, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks in 31.3 minutes per game across 24 appearances.
A 19-year-old forward/center, Wilson is ranked No. 4 on the latest big board from Jeremy Woo of ESPN. According to Woo, while the consensus top three prospects for the 2026 draft continue to be Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, some talent evaluators believe Wilson has a chance to be selected in the top three, depending on how things shake out over the next handful of months.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The three biggest risers among Woo’s top 25 prospects are Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (No. 6; was No. 25), Arizona guard Brayden Burries (No. 17; was No. 41) and Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson (No. 19; was No. 38). As for players trending in the opposite direction, Woo points to Arizona forward/center Koa Peat (No. 16; was No. 8) and Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance (No. 18; was No. 9). As Woo explains, while Peat has several positive attributes, there are question marks about his shooting, rim protection and size. Quaintance, meanwhile, has been shut down indefinitely due to knee swelling after tearing his ACL last March.
- Pistons star Cade Cunningham has purchased a minority stake in the Texas Rangers, he tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The former No. 1 overall pick, who will make his second consecutive All-Star appearance this weekend, is a native of Arlington, Texas, where the MLB is based.
- The primary Summer League event will be held in Las Vegas again this year, the NBA announced on Wednesday (via Twitter). The games will be held from July 9-19.
Dillon Brooks To Serve One-Game Suspension
Suns forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul, according to the league office.
Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during a regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that regular season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.
Brooks received his most recent technical foul with 6:37 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns’ 136-109 loss to the Thunder on Wednesday. Brooks will serve his suspension Feb. 19 when the Suns play at San Antonio in their first game after the All-Star break.
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic (13), the Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart (12) and the Warriors’ Draymond Green (11) are the other players in double digits in technicals this season. Stewart is currently serving a seven-game suspension for his participation in the Pistons-Hornets brawl this week.
Players’ technical foul counts reset when the postseason begins.
Post-Deadline Rumors: Morant, JJJ, Bulls, Missi, Celtics
The fact that Ja Morant wasn’t traded at last week’s deadline came as a bit of a surprise to him, according to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, who says the Grizzlies weren’t willing to accept a package similar to what Atlanta got for Trae Young.
The Grizzlies talked to the Heat, Timberwolves, and Bucks about Morant, but didn’t come close to making a deal, Azarly writes. League sources tell ClutchPoints that Ryan Rollins was a player Memphis and Milwaukee talked about, but the Grizzlies were averse to taking back Kyle Kuzma and/or Bobby Portis, who are both on multiyear guaranteed contracts.
According to reporting last week, Memphis signaled a willingness to take on long-term salary if it came attached to first-round draft compensation, but there’s no indication the Bucks would’ve put their lone tradable first-rounder on the table for Morant.
The expectation is that the Grizzlies will try to trade Morant again in the summer, and Azarly suggests that the point guard should be able to return from his left elbow injury not long after the All-Star break. As Azarly explains, even though Memphis has pivoted to a full-on rebuild and would benefit from piling up losses down the stretch, both the team and Morant himself would appreciate the opportunity to have the 26-year-old rebuild his trade value with a strong finish to the season.
Here are a few more leftover rumors from last week’s trade deadline:
- In addition to Golden State and Toronto – whose talks with the Grizzlies were previously reported – the Pistons and Hawks also “checked in” on Jaren Jackson Jr. before he was dealt to the Jazz, while the Suns and Hornets also had interest, says Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. There’s no indication that any of those teams made any real progress toward acquiring Jackson from Memphis.
- The Bulls, who acquired a total of eight second-round picks in their various pre-deadline deals, made an effort to flip some of those second-rounders to the Pelicans last Thursday in a deal for second-year center Yves Missi, Siegel writes. However, New Orleans was holding out for a first-round pick and ended up retaining Missi through the deadline.
- Sources who spoke to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) viewed the Celtics‘ swap of Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic as a “clear indicator” that Boston thinks forward Jayson Tatum will be able to return before the end of the season. Simons’ was the team’s fourth-leading scorer prior to the trade, but would’ve likely seen his role reduced in a rotation that featured a healthy Tatum.