Sports betting Indiana: Here's everything you need to know

Positions: $RSI 30 03/19 30C
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/swCCMjz

*This post is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as investment, financial, or other advice.*

TLDR: Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) is the #1 nationwide online casino company and the #3 or #4 sports book depending on the state. Short selling, unwarranted institutional wariness of share dilution and the general market focus on sports book instead of online casino has left $RSI grossly undervalued. A massive blow out at Q4 earnings will result in analyst upgrades and a rapid repricing by market makers and institutions seeking exposure to the emerging sector.

**Overview**
"Sports book is really just kind of a warm up in a lot of ways for an online casino where the real money is made" - Niccolo De Masi, CEO dMY technologies

Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) operates the BetRivers.com online casino and sports book. They are now fully licensed and operating in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia. They own and operate a casino in New York and already have a New York license making them well positioned for liberalization there. They merged with a dMY Technology Group SPAC on Dec. 31st 2020 with 240 million on the balance sheet to spend on growth.
The online casino business is fundamentally more profitable than sports betting because the average value of a casino player is estimated at $600 while a sports book player could be as little as $20. Estimates put the online casino market at DOUBLE the size of the online sports book market and the online casino industry is really just getting started as more states liberalize.
$RSI is expert at new market entry; they have been first to market in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado and even when they aren't first they are capable of capturing market share in competitive markets such as New Jersey. They also have products which women play which accounts for at least half of the market in online casino. The female market is one that the pure sports book plays miss out on.
Also for some fucking reason they operate a casino and sports book in Colombia (rushbet.co) and may make large expansions into other parts of south America as legalization continues. This means they have the expertise necessary for global expansion in the future although the states remains their primary focus and growth driver.

**The Financials and Strategy**
Unlike other companies in the space Rush Street is already profitable in 2020 and has a strong focus on Return On Invested Capital (ROIC). Q3 gross revenue was $71.9 Million. Q4 revenue is going to be a blow out. Combing through state gambling revenue data and breaking that down by market share my estimate is that Q4 revenue could be as high as $120 Million.
Paired with this blow out will be a **guidance raise to $500 Million for 2021**, which is 2/3 of DraftKings 2021 guidance of $750M.
https://imgur.com/a/xkfcayC

What is striking when compared to $DKNG is that their advertising spend was only a quarter of revenue in Q3 while $DKNG spent 155% of their revenue. This will change as they begin to focus on growth, but it shows they are very good at getting return on ad spend. This company should actually be valued close to $DKNG based on growth potential once guidance is raised.
https://imgur.com/a/RQQXtGg

Their focus on attracting **female gamers** is also important to their long term growth potential. The sports book plays with cross sells to casino such as $DKNG will not be able to grow through the female demographic in the same way. **This cannot be understated** as one of the major strategic advantages of $RSI.
https://imgur.com/a/xzJj26n

As I said before I expect their trend of rapid growth to continue for Q4 earnings, certainly going to be a blow out based on looking at state gambling revenue numbers. My estimate is that their revenue will be around 110M for Q4. I also expect guidance to be raised to 500M for 2021 due to strong performance in existing markets and the recently opened Michigan market as well as their sports book launch in Virginia.
https://imgur.com/a/ckTqHhh

**Short sellers have entered the chat**
The short interest on $RSI sits at 5.08 M shares as of 01/14/21 representing a 30% increase. Now why would a company already valued at 2.8 Billion and with a comparative valuation of 8-10 Billion compared with $DKNG and $PENN be so heavily shorted at such a low market cap? My conclusion is that an institution with 10s of millions to throw at shorting this stock wants to take advantage of fear of share dilution from warrant calling or to establish a better entry prior to earnings.

**Commander in GILF Cathie Wood is Bullish on the sector**
On Feb. 2nd ARK disclosed that they had purchased 620,300 shares of $DKNG. This is extremely bullish for the sector. I am highly confident that after Q4 earnings ARK will be purchasing shares in $RSI as well due its strategic advantages relative to $DKNG and exposure to the female demographic. For such a small market cap company this will be a major catalyst.

**Institutions are bullish**
Fidelity has increased their holdings to 14% as of today: https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001793659/8f10b0d8-a3d2-447c-bc75-87587d0a4670.pdf
Alliance Bernstein holds a 6% position reported today: http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001793659/e883778d-e759-4a85-91c1-3242ed110720.pdf

**Final notes**
Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, Steelers legend and hall of fame running back, is their brand ambassador... This company knows their target audience and how to appeal to them, likely more 'classic' ambassadors to come to attract even more boomer and Gen X degenerates. Keep in mind these are the gamblers with big money to spend, the average age of an online casino gambler is 42.
This stock has been grossly underpriced due to short selling. The terms of the SPAC deal were not unfavorable and all the insiders held their shares through the merger banking on growth in the market - **management owns 77% of the company**. This is a true value play on a well managed company in an emerging industry with a market size in the hundreds of billions. I plan to hold shares long term.

I will post a part 2 breaking down their latest S-1 filing and Q4 revenue by state when they release their Q4 earnings date.

Do your own research.
References:
https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/
https://fintel.io/doc/sec-rush-street-interactive-inc-ex991-2021-january-05-18632-947
https://s26.q4cdn.com/794539746/files/doc_presentations/2020/RSI-Investor-Presentation-15-Oct-2020.pdf
https://ir.rushstreetinteractive.com/news/news-details/2020/RUSH-STREET-INTERACTIVE-ANNOUNCES-THIRD-QUARTER-2020-RESULTS-AND-RAISES-FULL-YEAR-GUIDANCE/default.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWEhWuPmzU
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/draftkings-surges-as-stake-bought-by-ark-next-generation

Positions: $RSI 30 03/19 30C
I will be adding 04/16 25cs each week until earnings.
Exit strategy: "What's an exit strategy?" - u/deepfuckingvalue
Update 021321: IMPORTANT after a commenter pointed out that technically they could report as late as April 2nd I AM RECOMMENDING THAT EVERYONE ROLL OUT TO APRIL 16TH 35Cs

DD for SCR/TSCRF

I'm not seeing a huge amount of knowledge on this subreddit, so I'm going to list some of the reasons why I'm hoping for some decent price increases..
If you find anything juicy that I've missed feel free to leave a top level comment or even message me and I'll add it. Perhaps we should keep updating this post and sticky it as a goto DD for SCTSCRF?

Score have the most popular sports app in Canada and second most popular in the US behind ESPN, this puts them in a somewhat unique position to integrate sports betting in to a popular sports app (though note FUBO just announced purchasing Vigotry with their intention to integrate sports betting in to their sports streaming service, they closed up 34.32% today on the news and likely caused the dips in the share prices for SCR and DKNG, even PENN's share price seemed to waiver around midday);
Score already have sports betting live in Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey;
Score recently did a share offering and raised $25,649,390 which can be used for growth and expansion of sports betting in the US - check out their careers page and click on available opportunities;
Score have a multiyear partnership with the NBA and the MLB to be an authorized sports betting operator, including access to official betting data and league marks/logos for the betting app;
Score have a strategic multi-state market access partnership with PENN, PENN have access to 11 states, further PENN have a 4.7% stake in Score with the potential for this stake to increase as additional market access fees become payable (the second link, which is from PENN, says the term of the agreement with PENN is 20 years, even DKNG only has a deal for 10 years subject to a 10 year extension);
Score have a 10 year partnership with Twin River to operate an online casino in New Jersey, extendable by 5 years at TheScore's option and a further 5 years upon mutual agreement;
In Dec 2020 Score was named the most impressive emerging company in sports betting. They are also in Canada's fastest 500 growing companies, Canada's top growing companies 2019 and a 2020 TSX venture 50 company;
Let's look at some user numbers. As expected they were down a bit during 2020 due to covid, but that is about to change across the industry with sports opening up properly and sports betting being legalised in many US states and hopefully Canada to help raise tax funds for covid expenses (never will sports betting have been more socially acceptable, almost encouraged!). They achieved 3 million active monthly users (4.3 million in q1 2019, should see this or higher again once sports start up properly - 62% of those users were in the US, 27% in Canada and the remaining 11% in other international markets). Users had an average of 70 sessions per month (75 the year prior), so 3*70 = 210 million users per month. 292 million video views for esports in just Q4 alone, year-over-year growth of 243%! Their esports tiktok account has over 1 million followers while their sports tiktok account has almost 2.5 million (up over 500k in the last quarter). Over 1.5 million youtube subscribers for their esports channel. Their twitter account has ~600k followers, almost double what DKNG have! Their social sports content across Twitter, FB, Instagram and TikTok achieved an average monthly reach of about 103 million;
Score appointed sports business leader and four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero to its board of directors - she's a hockey player, got a medal at each of the Olympics she went to including a gold;
Score already cover women's sports, doing this without having to follow the competitors or have it requested by women shows a genuine interest in supporting women's sports. Hopefully this will extend to allowing sports betting on women's sports;
Score esports has been named exclusive English language broadcast partner for League of Legends' Demacia Championship, a marquee annual event featuring 24 of China’s top esports teams. Live event coverage will run from December 20-27 and be streamed across theScore esports’ YouTube and Twitch channels. The Demacia Championship will be theScore esports’ first-ever live event broadcast, with production originating from their esports headquarters in Toronto.
In 2019 Score partnered with Ubisoft for unique video content series;
In 2014 Score was named one of the world's greatest apps (and in 2013 was named one of the 100 best Android apps of 2013);
Score has joined the National Council on Problem Gambling as a Platinum member - this bodes well for support of Score from politicians and people normally critical of sports betting who are mostly onside at the moment through the need of raising tax money for covid related costs.

Future catalysts I'm hoping for:

There's a live webcast to report q1 f2021 financial results Jan 13 at 5:30pm EST (details here). Hopefully good news so we 🚀 rather than ☄️ short-term, but I'm still bullish long-term regardless because sports have not really started up properly yet, nor has sports betting opened up in many places yet. With a bit of luck the income from the share offering will be included in the revenue for this quarter which might help;
If we ever get uplisted to NASDAQ/NYSE and get out of the penny stocks then I would be surprised if it doesn't get pumped in numerous places including WSB;
Legalisation of sports betting across more US states and Canada. The governor of NY has now expressed interest after previously being opposed to the idea, so too has Texas for example. Score do not yet have a partnership with a NY casino, but hopefully they will get on to that, they do have access to Texas through PENN;
Partnerships with NFL and NHL would be awesome to go along with the NBA and MLB partnerships;
Successfully competing with the big players like DKNG (and now FUBO too), hopefully with juicy earnings reports in to the future (if we do, look at the performance and current prices of DKNG and PENN, I'd be extremely happy if we ever made it to CAD$20/share, if we got to DKNG's current USD price we'll be in tendie heaven);
Huge uptake in sports betting with a rally of public support to help cover the public costs associated with Covid;
Maybe esports betting could become a huge thing? TheScore seem like they're in a good position to earn a decent market share there, possibly even be the ones to introduce it and bring it to market?

tl;dr: 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 (hopefully at least 10x)
If you would prefer an ETF to have exposure to the betting market check out BETZ.
position: 42.8k shares

Offseason Blueprint: The Detroit Pistons are an NBA basketball team. Hopefully, they can remind fans of that in the next few years.

The playoffs continue to rage on, but there are 26 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch the Conference Finals, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Detroit Pistons.
step one: weave a new narrative
Some teams are good, some teams are bad -- but almost all of them have a general direction. Are you a young team on the rise? Or a veteran team trying to squeeze out as many wins as possible?
Right now, the Detroit Pistons are in a wonky grey area. They're missing an identity. When they tried to make the playoffs, they were fairly mediocre (records of 37-45, 39-43, 41-41). When injuries hit this past season, they plummeted down to 20-46. While that generally suggests a young and rebuilding team, the roster doesn't reflect that yet. Their marquee players are Blake Griffin (age 31) and Derrick Rose (age 31.) They also have a veteran coach in Dwane Casey who's more accustomed to competing than rebuilding. All in all, they feel like a confused, forgotten franchise.
Fortunately, there's a new sheriff in town. The team hired a new GM in Troy Weaver, who had been Sam Presti's right-hand man in Oklahoma City. Weaver's been on the verge of a GM job for several years now, and his hire represents something of a coup for this embattled organization.
Going forward, the franchise needs to hold the keys over to Weaver and allow him free reign to do whatever he wants. Back in OKC, he had experience with a variety of makeups: with a rebuilding team, with a contending team, with a rebuilding-wait-whoops-we're-accidentally-pretty-darn-good team. It's up to him to look at this roster and this payroll and determine the best path forward from here.
step two: hold a garage sale for your old homeowner's property
Presumably, Troy Weaver will treat this project as more of a teardown than a remodel. Mainstay center Andre Drummond is already out of the door, and the other veterans may join him on the bus out of Detroit.
Unfortunately, that may be easier said than done. It makes a lot of sense to trade star PF Blake Griffin to a veteran team, but his injuries and his contract ($37M + $39M player option) would make that difficult from a logistical perspective.
There's a chance that a desperate team may be willing to roll the dice on Griffin. Throughout his career, he's been one of the more misunderstood players in the league. People want to treat him as an athlete-dunker only, but he's actually a skilled ballhandler and passer. In his last healthy season in 2018-19, he averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, and even showcased an improved three-point shot (36.2% on 7.0 attempts per game.) If healthy, he'd be a major difference maker to a team like Portland.
Still, teams aren't going to give up major assets for Blake Griffin until he proves that he is healthy. From Detroit's perspective, it makes more sense to wait to trade him. They need him to come back, put up some good stats, and then float him in offers. Right now, you'd be trading Griffin for 20 cents on the dollar.
In contrast, Derrick Rose's stock may be at a high. He put up good raw numbers this year (18.1 points, 5.6 assists), and he's on a reasonable $7.5M expiring contract. He'd be a positive addition to a playoff team, best served as a Sixth Man scorer. The Pistons and their fans like Rose (and he likes playing here), but it'd be irresponsible for them to not consider trade options. If they get any decent offers, they have to pull the trigger. If the offers are weak -- R2 picks or so -- then the team can keep him around as a veteran leader and placeholder starter.
step three: don't let your breakout break out
As bad as the Pistons were, they had a few bright spots. Derrick Rose played better than expected. Luke Kennard looks on track to be a rising starter. And, most surprising of all, rando Christian Wood broke out as a legitimate NBA player. As a starter, Wood averaged 21.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Wood is a springy, energetic player who also has an improving range (40% from three as a starter.)
You can read a longer deep dive about Christian Wood here, but to sum it up. A) His production looks legitimate, as he's been putting up numbers in virtually every stop as a pro. But B) His breakout may be poorly timed for the Pistons, because he's slated for free agency and about to get more expensive. He's a 24 year old whose best days should be ahead of him.
Based purely on his stats and scouting profile, you could talk yourself into a contract closing in on $15M a year for Wood. However, players with his "pedigree" (undrafted, limited sample size) rarely get that type of contract right away. To me, paying him somewhere in the range of 3 years, $36M would be a fair deal on both sides. There's too much uncertainty to justify much more of a commitment.
Of course, the Pistons should know better than any of us whether to trust Wood. Prior to this year, he had a mixed reputation in terms of his basketball IQ and work habits. If Coach Casey can sign off on Wood's character, then the team can feel more comfortable with him as a building block. If there are still red flags, perhaps it's better not to get too attached. The Pistons have more cap room than most teams this offseason, so the money shouldn't be a major deterrent to this decision. It should be entirely about Wood as a person and a player. If you believe that he's the real deal, then you keep him around.
step four: find your next field general
Christian Wood is a solid young player -- Luke Kennard is a solid young player -- but these aren't franchise players. They're secondary scorers and members of a supporting cast. To truly advance to the promised land, the Detroit Pistons are going to need to find transcendent talent, somehow and some way.
Unfortunately, the NBA Draft Lottery didn't help. The Pistons slipped down from the # 5 slot to the # 7 pick, making it unlikely that they'll land a future star.
On the bright side, the "supply and demand" may be on their side. This draft class happens to be heavy with point guards. There's LaMelo Ball (the # 1 prospect on ESPN), Killian Hayes (the # 1 prospect on The Ringer), and Tyrese Haliburton (one of the safer picks in the class.) If any of them slip down to # 7, the Pistons should strongly consider them. It usually takes a point guard a year or two to find their footing, but they can sit behind Derrick Rose for a year and then get unleashed in 2021. From a personality standpoint, Rose isn't going to mentor and educate like Aristotle, but he's capable of soaking up 25 minutes and allowing the next PG some time to develop.
If those top guards are not available (and they are unlikely to be), the Pistons may have to take some chances. One name I'm intrigued by is R.J. Hampton.
On face value, that'd be a "reach." Like LaMelo Ball, Hampton was a top high school prospect who went off to play in the Australian league. Unlike Ball, his NBA stock suffered as a result. While Ball put up numbers (17-8-7), Hampton put up weak stats -- 8.8 points, 2.4 assists on 41-30-68 shooting splits. As a result, Ball is now locked into top 3 pick status, and Hampton is seeing his name ranked around the 10-20 range in mock drafts.
However, I'd defend Hampton to some degree. We have to consider the context here. LaMelo Ball joined a struggling team called Illawarra. With Ball, the team went 3-9 (and finished 5-23.) When you're playing on a bad team like that, you can be the "star" and jack up as many shots as you want. In contrast, Hampton joined the New Zealand Breakers, a better team that relegated him to 20.6 minutes a night and a more limited role. His raw stats may not do him justice.
No doubt, Hampton has a long way to go, especially as a shooter. At the same time, he's a big lead guard (6'4" with a 6'7" wingspan) who flashes a lot of explosive scoring ability when he's getting downhill to the hoop. He's also a smart kid and allegedly a good worker. There's some legitimate "star" potential here, even if it's a narrow bull's eye. Hampton doesn't have the same athleticism as Russell Westbrook (hardly anyone does) but maybe there's a parallel here. After all, Weaver and OKC selected Westbrook after he'd been a little under the radar after playing off the ball at UCLA.
To be clear, I'm not urging Detroit to take R.J. Hampton at # 7. I'm not endorsing him as a future star like Westbrook. I don't know enough to do that; I don't sit around and splice up tape of New Zealand basketball. Still, the point is, the Pistons should be looking at upside players in that vein, knowing that they're going to need to hit a home run in the future.
step five: keep one hand on the detonator
The Detroit Pistons only have $68M committed on the books for next season, which means they could be players in free agency even if they re-sign Christian Wood.
If the team decided to go "all in" in a desperate attempt to compete, then you could maybe talk yourself into retaining Blake Griffin, handing out a big contract for Fred VanVleet, and shooting for the playoffs. That may work. But to what end...? The 7th seed? The 8th seed? Is that the end goal here?
More realistically, the team should (as discussed) try to get Blake Griffin back and fully healthy in order to showcase him for a trade. After that, they'd then dive into a full rebuild.
Presuming that's going to be the ultimate destination, then the Pistons may as well get a jump on that with free agency. With their remaining cap space, they can take on a toxic asset that comes attached with future picks, or take some fliers on young and promising players. Among my favorite gamblers of this offseason may include PG Kris Dunn (CHI), SG Denzel Valentine (CHI), SF Josh Jackson (MEM), and C Harry Giles (SAC.) None of them should draw huge money offers, making them reasonable purchases and lottery tickets.
If the Pistons end up blowing it up, then they should play their younger players over the course of the season. That should mean a lot of Sekou Doumbouya (entering Year 2) and even some Thon Maker (entering Year 42). If that means you only win 25-30 games, that's all right. It'll only help your odds for next year's lottery.
I've mentioned this before with some potential tankers (CLE, CHA, etc), but next year's draft could be quite strong. The group is headlined by point forward Cade Cunningham (heading to Oklahoma State) and scoring swingman Jalen Green (heading to the G-League), but there are about 4-5 other players who have the potential to join the # 1 pick conversation in time. The Detroit Pistons aren't likely to be bad enough to get a top 3 pick on their own, but the flattened lottery odds make it possible for the 7th or 8th worst team to leapfrog into that territory.
Of course, before Weaver and the Pistons officially press the detonator and go into full-blown rebuild/tank mode, they need to have a heart to heart with Coach Casey. He's 63 years old already, and entering the third year of a five-year deal. Is he going to embrace the rebuild? Is he going to be the scapegoat if they rack up losses? They need to get on the same page, out of fairness to Casey and out of fairness to this franchise. A reasonable solution would be to promise Casey that, if he does tank like a good soldier, he'll still be retained for next season. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will chrome.
previous offseason blueprints
ATL, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, IND, GS, LAC, MIL, MIN, NYK, POR, SA, SAC, UTA

TEKK - Tekkorp Digital Acquisition Corp: Who's Who of Gaming Mgmt Teams!

Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts
Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap!
If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led.
Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included:
• OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform.
• Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings.
• OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets.
These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018.
Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University).
Robin Chhabra — President
Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following:
• TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia.
• TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs.
• William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet.
Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million.
Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million.
Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation.
Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
Our Board of Directors
Morris Bailey — Chairman
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States.
In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless.
Tony Rodio — Director Nominee
Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University.
Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee
Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include:
• TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date.
• TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group.
• TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion.
• TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction.
• TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion.
Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet.
Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities.
Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law.
Sean Ryan — Director Nominee
Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division.
Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division.
We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Roche — Director Nominee
Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including:
• Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002.
• Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion.
• Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets.
• MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering.
Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association.
We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Offseason Blueprint: if the Boston Celtics turn their Big Hero 6 into the Magnificent Seven, they may be in the Finals themselves next year

The NBA Finals are underway, but there are now 28 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch LeBron, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Boston Celtics.
step one: don't flush money down the toilet
This is a difficult entry to write, because the Boston Celtics are a good team without any major problems hanging over their head. They were top 5 in W-L record, top 5 in point differential. They finished 4th in offense, 4th in defense. They advanced to the Conference Finals, knocking off a tough Toronto team along the way. If they rolled it back next season, they should be considered a top 5 team once again.
If you can nitpick, you can find reasons to quibble with some of their big splash free agency signings. Gordon Hayward got a huge contract and didn't sustain his All-Star level (for reasons out of his control.) Last offseason, the team gave out another huge contract to Kemba Walker ($32M + $34M + $36M + $38M player option), and they may be regretting that now. Walker never looked at 100% health and he got picked on some defensively in the playoffs. The idea of paying him that kind of money for three more seasons may be a little scary.
Of course, there's no use crying over spilled milk. Gordon Hayward will likely "opt in" to his $34M player option. Is that an overpay? Sure. Still, Hayward is still a solid starter with a balanced skill set. With another year removed from that injury, he may take another step up.
As for Walker, the hope is that he'll do the same with an offseason to recover and another year in the system. It can't be easy to go from the star of a franchise to the 2nd or 3rd option. In fact, most of Walker's offensive decline can be chalked up to a reduced role. His PPG dropped from 25.6 to 20.4, but that comes after his minutes dropped by 3.8 and his field goal attempts dropped by 4.4 per game. In terms of his efficiency, there wasn't a big difference. He actually scored a higher true shooting percentage (up from 56% to 58%). His offensive box plus/minus stayed near the same at + 4.9, which ranked as the highest on Boston's team.
Walker didn't look great in the bubble, but I'm going to chalk that up to some lingering injuries. He's still only 30 years old, so he hasn't gotten materially worse in a year. Will he get much worse by age 32? At 33? That's possible. But again, the Celtics have already committed to that. They can try to float trade packages for Walker to get off that contract, but I don't see teams beating down their door for it. If a team like the Knicks wants Walker, they may not offer anything back in return (aside from their willingness to take the contract.) Given Boston's situation as a team on the verge of the Finals, it doesn't make a lot of sense to take a step back like that just for cap relief.
step two: promote a temp to a full time desk
The Boston Celtics have a very strong "top six." You have the two rising stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. You have the two veterans in Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward. You have the super role players in Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis. After that, it's more of a grab bag. No other player on the team averaged more than 20 minutes a night in the regular season, and no other player averaged more than 18 minutes a night in the postseason.
A team can make a deep run in the playoffs by going six strong, but it makes the margin of error narrower. When one of those players gets hurt -- like Gordon Hayward did this postseason -- it strains your depth. Beyond that, having an extra member of the full-time cast allows your players to take nights off and manage their minutes in anticipation of that deep playoff run. Hayward and Walker are both 30 now, so it's going to be important to keep them fresh.
Effectively, we want to take this "top six" and make it a "top seven." (Hence the post title.)
The top candidate for a promotion would be rookie PF Grant Williams. To me, Williams has more offensive potential than fellow forward Semi Ojeleye. After three good years at Tennessee, Williams dropped to # 22 in the draft based on the perception that he was more of a "college player" who couldn't keep up with NBA athletes. That didn't look to be the case so far for Williams (or for Cam Johnson in Phoenix, by the by.) Williams is a high-IQ player who can potentially play several different positions. He needs to keep increasing his range (25% from three), but he's been working toward that over his career. If he can take a leap next year, that'd be a major boon for the Celtics.
Fellow rookies Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards may be slightly behind on the development curve, but it'd be great if they could get on the track toward the rotation eventually. Langford projects as a quality scorer who could potentially replace Gordon Hayward in the lineup in 1-2 years. Meanwhile, Edwards was a major shot maker in college who still has a lot of work to do. It may be too optimistic to think he could be a starter one day, but perhaps he could take the reserve role from Brad Wanamaker (a free agent.) If not, Tremont Waters (another rookie) may try to vie for that spot himself. It's not exactly Game of Thrones, but it's Game of Bench Seats. If nothing are ready for 15 or so minutes, then the team may need to re-sign Wanamaker or another filler vet.
In an ideal world, the Celtics would have faith that Robert Williams would be ready for an elevated role himself. They may lean more toward smallball bigs, but it's nice to have the option of a more traditional big at center as well. Enes Kanter has a player option for $5M that he may take -- he may not. He may try to finagle a longer-term deal somewhere. But if the team trusts the Time Lord, they can negotiate from a position of strength on that front.
No matter what happens, the Celtics will likely need their "7th man" to come from within. They have $120M committed on the cap for next season, so they're going to need to rely on internal improvements.
step three: bundle like the Big Short
If you thought the Boston Celtics had a lot of prospects in their "farm system" already, just wait. In this upcoming draft, they'll have pick # 14. And pick # 26. And pick # 30. And pick # 47.
Danny Ainge has always valued the draft and having a lot of picks, but we don't need this many. After all, we're trying to win the NBA title, not the G-League title.
The most obvious tactic would be bundling up these assets and trying to upgrade somehow. Like in The Big Short, perhaps a bunch of low-end assets can equal something of value. Still, the Celtics and their fans need to be reasonable here. They've tried bundling up lower draft picks in order to move for a while now, and always seem surprised when teams reject it (thinking of the potential Justise Winslow trade-up, primarily.) The truth is, these mid-to-late R1 picks aren't as valuable as many people seem to think. If the team packages all four of those picks together (14, 26, 30, 47) in order to move up, they may only land around pick # 9 or so. This isn't the NFL; NBA teams tend to value quality over quantity in the draft.
For a team that's already pretty strong and balanced, there may be a tendency to keep all their picks and just swing for a home run or two. The trouble is: there's only so much room on the roster. Consolidating (or pushing some of those picks back to future drafts) may be necessary.
If the Celtics can't move up and stay at # 14, they should have the option of getting another solid prospect. Some that may be intriguing to me personally would be Arizona SG/SF Josh Green ("Green"? karmic!), Villanova SF Saddiq Bey, or Maryland PF Jalen Smith. All three are quality prospects that project as rotational players in a year or two. A bigger home run swing may be Aleksej Pokusevski, the skilled 7'0" stretch big from Serbia. Pokusevski's narrow frame would make me nervous to bet on him if I was a GM on the ropes who needed to hit on my pick, but the Celtics have more freedom than that. They can take some chances if they want. Other upside plays would include PG/SG R.J. Hampton (U.S./New Zealand) and SF Jaden McDaniels (Washington).
With the # 26 pick, the Celtics could also get a decent prospect as well. You can never go wrong with a traditional 3+D prospect like SF Robert Woodard (Mississippi State). I also wouldn't rule out taking a traditional big like Vernon Carey (Duke). No one wants traditional scoring bigs anymore, but that's the reason that a player like that (who averaged 18-9 as a freshman) would slip down to # 24. In another era, the kid may be a top 10 pick. At the very least, he could replace the Enes Kanter role as a scoring sub.
step four: keep on truckin'
Hmm. Usually these offseason blueprints have 4 or 5 steps, but I'm running out of ideas here. As mentioned, things are running pretty smoothly for this franchise. I don't think Danny Ainge needs much help from reddit right now.
Still, I'll throw in some minor little notes that don't even merit a full section.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? The Celtics have a lot of shot makers, but sometimes their offense can stall and fall into iso or hero ball. They need to keep pushing forward with ball movement and set plays if need be. One stat I noticed: Jaylen Brown is an exceptional shooter from the corner. He's at 43% from his career, and that swelled to 48% this season. Running action to get him more of those shots would be helpful.
REUNITE GERMANY. The team has a $5M option on center Daniel Theis that they'll definitely pick up. After that, Theis will be an unrestricted free agent. If I ran the team, I'd start talking to Theis about an extension. There may be a perception that the team can play any smallball center and save some money at the position, but I'd disagree. Theis is an underrated player that fits the modern NBA well. There may be a matchup here and there where he struggles, but overall he's a good starter and may need to be paid like one. He's still a little "under the radar," so perhaps they can get a team-friendly deal if they extend him now.
KEEP YOUR COACHING DEPTH STRONG. Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga is one of the better lieutenants in the game. He had been floated for some head coaching jobs in the past, but seems to have been lost in the shadows with all the major movement on the sidelines this year. Hopefully, for Boston's sake, Larranaga doesn't feel discouraged by that and doesn't start looking for head coaching opportunities elsewhere. His father is a good college coach, and he may decide to go that NCAA route eventually himself. The team should keep him well compensated so he doesn't feel the need to do that.
Overall, we're talking minor tweaks for this next season. The Celtics' chances of winning a title will hinge on how much they can improve -- both from their young stars and from their young bench.
other offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NO, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS

Offseason Blueprint: The Denver Nuggets nearly reached the mountain top, but still have a few more steps to go

The NBA Finals are about to start, but there are now 28 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch LeBron, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Denver Nuggets.
step one: peaking at the right time
It doesn't take a basketball expert or even an enthusiastic amateur on reddit to know: this Nikola Jokic fella is pretty darn good. He's made two All-NBA teams already, and he's still only 25 years old. By the time the dust settles on his career, he may end up being one of the top 10 international players of all time.
Of course, even great players need some help to reach the promised land. Based on what we've seen this postseason, you have to feel more confident about that aspect as well. PG Jamal Murray had been one of the best players in the playoffs, averaging 26.5 points and hitting 45.3% from three.
Going forward, it'll be interesting to see if Murray can carry that breakout through the regular season. While pundits like Kenny Smith called him a "perennial All-Star," he's never actually made the All-Star team. To be honest, he's never been all that close either. Despite being in the league for 4 seasons now, he's never averaged more than 18.5 points and never averaged more than 4.8 assists. Perhaps this postseason has fueled his confidence and his greenlight to become one of the top scorers in the game.
Again: let's emphasize the perhaps there. I wouldn't necessarily bet on Murray to put up monster raw numbers a la Damian Lillard. For one, he defers a lot to Jokic as a playmaker, so it'd be harder for him to rack up huge assist numbers. Secondly, Murray doesn't get to the line very often -- only 3.1 FTA per game -- which lends itself to more inconsistency night in and night out. Unless he changes that aspect, it'll be hard for him to push past 24 PPG on a regular basis.
In some ways, Jamal Murray is starting to remind me of Kyrie Irving. They're both scoring guards who are among the best "tough shot" makers in the game. Neither one draws a ton of contact or free throw attempts -- which limits their raw totals in the regular season. Still, their games translate well to a playoff setting where you need to be able to break down and score against tougher halfcourt defenses. If Murray can continue that quality, then it won't matter if he's an All-Star or not. Denver has graduated past regular season worries; their focus now is entirely on the playoffs and a championship pursuit.
step two: if need be, overpay for a PF again
When the Denver Nuggets were a young and rising team, they pulled the trigger on a massive contract for PF Paul Millsap (around $30M a year.) It may have been an "overpay," but the timing made sense. The Nuggets had cap space to spend before they had to officially dole out extensions for Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. "Use it or lose it." Overall, Millsap may not have been worth $30M on his own, but his defense and professionalism turned out to be a major key to helping the team take the next step. In that sense, it was money well spent.
The Nuggets find themselves in a similar circumstance this offseason -- albeit for different reasons. The extensions for Jokic ($29M) and Murray ($29M) have both kicked in, meaning the Nuggets won't have much cap space for the foreseeable future. Since they're capped out, they can't go out on a spending spree and they can't go looking for big free agents. Instead, they're going to have to look within and toward their own internal free agents.
And as far as their own free agents go, there are more than a few. The biggest name will be Paul Millsap, but the hottest name will be fellow PF Jerami Grant (expected to turn down his $9M player option.) Grant had a great playoff run, hitting open threes and running around like a Tasmanian devil on defense. While he couldn't stop LeBron James, he's the only one on the team who even stood a chance. Losing Grant would be a difficult pill to swallow, especially in an NBA that features superstar forwards like LeBron, Kawhi Leonard, etc. Given their cap situation, there's really no reason to let Grant leave either. Sure, he'll be expensive. Sure, you'll go into the luxury tax. But this is the time to do that -- when your team is on the verge.
The other free agents will be tougher decisions. Millsap would be nice to retain, but only at a reasonable and severely reduced price. Backup center Mason Plumlee got roasted for his bad defense on that one Anthony Davis game winner, but he's still a good rotational player. It'd hurt the depth of the team to lose him. Swingman Torrey Craig is a solid defender and mediocre offensive player, but he's someone that coach Mike Malone trusted for 27 starts this year.
I'd probably rank their importance in that order -- Grant, Millsap, Plumlee, Craig. Retaining all four may be difficult, so the team should treat Jerami Grant as a priority and treat the others as luxury items. In an ideal world, you'd retain Grant and one of the two veterans (Millsap or Plumlee). Personally I don't think rookie Bol Bol is as close to being ready for 20 minutes a night as most of reddit does, so that frontcourt depth shouldn't be ignored. If the team thinks Noah Vonleh (also a FA) can give them 10-15 minutes a night that may be a cheap solution, but he got buried by the Nuggets this year so it's hard to imagine they're big fans.
step three: come to Michael Porter Jr.'s defense
One of the reasons that re-signing Jerami Grant may be a necessity is the concern about Michael Porter Jr.'s defense.
Although MPJ is still only a rookie, it's been a roller coaster career for him already. In high school, he had been seen as a potential top 3 pick -- the next Kevin Durant / Carmelo Anthony scoring machine. Back injuries derailed him in college and in his first season as a pro. Then suddenly, he looked back to normal in the bubble, lighting it up and looking the part of a future All-Star. Back down we go. Before long, teams started to realize and exploit his limitations on defense, relegating him to a bench role again.
Where do we go from here? Up or down? Down or up? It's hard to tell. The offensive talent is undeniable, but the defensive issues are a legitimate issue. I've heard some people dismiss his problems as inexperience, but it may go deeper than that.
Growing up, we tend to hear the old cliche that defense is all about "effort!" As adults, we've learned that's not entirely true. So much of your defensive ability is related to your athletic ability. Your wingspan, your change of direction ability. If you can't pivot your hips, you're going to struggle to read and react. (There's a reason why white dudes tend to be bad defenders, bad dancers, and bad NFL cornerbacks.)
Michael Porter Jr. has the size (6'10" with 7'0" wingspan) to be a good defender, but the hips are the issue for him right now. It may be directly related to the back injuries in the past, but he looks very stiff when he tries to change direction. To be fair, Porter is still working his way back to 100% health. If he can get there, maybe this won't be an issue at all. But if it's something that's going to plague him, then the Nuggets will need to adjust accordingly. They're going to need to pair him with good defenders like Jerami Grant, and they may need to stagger him and Nikola Jokic more than they'd like.
It'd be a shame if Porter can't get back to form on defense, and it'd be a shame if injuries limit him in the future. Clearly, we can see the massive potential he has on the other end. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes this year -- as a rookie. If this is just the beginning for him, then the league's in a lot of trouble. If it's just a mirage and a fleeting moment of health, then the Nuggets will have to work harder to get to the next level.
step four: find the right wings to take flight
As great as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray may be, they're not LeBron James. They're not Kevin Durant. And unless you have one of those transcendent players, it's difficult to win an NBA title. You basically have to nail every other aspect of the roster. No weak links allowed.
The Denver Nuggets don't have weak links necessarily (their depth is strong overall), but the fence isn't the sturdiest on the block either. Primarily, I'm thinking about the wing position (SGs, SFs, etc.)
This postseason, the Nuggets played without an injured Will Barton, and had Gary Harris returning from injury himself. All in all, it's impressive that they got as far as they did despite not being at full strength. Still, you wonder if the Harris - Barton combo is good enough to get them over the top even when they're healthy.
Gary Harris is the biggest concern right now. A few years ago, he looked like a future stud who justified his high-priced extension. Now...? That contract's looking like an overpay (at $19M + $20M remaining.) Harris has struggled with injuries and inconsistency. Over the last two seasons, he's shot 34% and 33% from three respectively. He hardly ever gets to the line either. That's a bad combination that explains the below-average TS% of 53% and 52% over the last two years. Defensively, Harris has solid fundamentals and effort but he's limited in terms of overall size at 6'4". That's a problem in a league dominated by giant wings.
Perhaps Gary Harris gets fully healthy and gets back to form, but I'm skeptical. "Pretty good" is not good enough. Gary Harris, Will Barton, Torrey Craig -- we need something more. We need something better. If I ran the Nuggets, I'd float Harris and others in trade packages. Harris still has a solid reputation, so there's a chance that you can sell him off on a team that feels like he'll bounce back. I wouldn't treat him as a toxic asset, but I'd look for an upgrade if possible. Harris + the # 22 pick may lend itself to that. If Indiana and Victor Oladipo are heading for divorce, perhaps the Nuggets could swoop in as a landing spot.
Ultimately, Denver may be faced with a choice. Right now, they're good. They're good enough to win a round or two in the playoffs in any given year. But to make the Finals? To win the title? They need another LEAP. And that LEAP may come down to two potential lanes. Do you trust that Michael Porter Jr. will stay healthy, fulfill his destiny, and become your third All-Star caliber player? Or do you cash in some of these chips and try to find one on the trade market instead? Gary Harris alone may not get it done, but Gary Harris PLUS Michael Porter is an awfully appealing trade chip. It may be enough to bring in an All-Star like Bradley Beal. At the same time, maybe Porter can be that guy himself. It's hard to tell from the outside, and it may even be hard to tell from the inside. Alas, these are the kinds of million dollar questions that come with the territory of being in contention.
previous offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, ORL, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA

Offseason Blueprint: The L.A. Clippers championship parade broke down early, so now they may to take another route

The playoffs continue to rage on, but there are 26 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch the Conference Finals, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the L.A. Clippers.
step one: ask What's up, Doc?
Doc Rivers is a decorated, Hall of Fame worthy coach. He's won an NBA title; he's won a Coach of the Year trophy. He's won 943 regular season games over the course of his career, with a 58.1% winning percentage all told. With the Clippers, he's won 63.1% of his games, which is the equivalent of a team going 52-30 every season. Aside from the resume, the man clearly has his virtues. Players like him and want to play for him. Hell, he gets along with everyone, from ownership to front offices to the media. (And yes, that's part of the job at times.)
Still, NBA coaching is a "What have you done for me lately?" kind of league, and by that standard, Rivers has some 'splaining to do. Ever since that title, his teams have started to underperform in the playoffs. He last made the Conference Finals in 2012. Since then, Rivers has gone 3-7 in playoff series.
This last loss may be the most stinging of them all. The Clippers gave him virtually every ingredient a coach could ask for: two superstars (who had both finished top 3 in MVP before) and a strong supporting cast of veterans. This is a collection of players that could go big, small, medium, whatever the heck you wanted. It was probably the best overall roster in the entire league. And yet again, they disappointed. Yet again, Rivers lost a 3-1 lead (for the third time.) In the process, Rivers got outcoached by Mike Malone, and ended up leaving with bitter disappointment.
Should Rivers be the scapegoat here? Eh. That seems harsh. If he wants to keep coaching, he's earned that right. He's only 58, which means he could have another decade in him. Still, it's fair to ask if he wants to keep up the grind of not. He's been a head coach for 20 seasons now, including the last 7 in a roller coaster ride with the Clippers. He's been through ups and downs -- through Donald Sterling scandals and Steve Ballmer stares, through Lob City drama and through this last disappointment now. Perhaps he's looking forward to retirement one day soon.
It stands to reason that Rivers feels like he has unfinished business here and untapped upside with this team for next year. Still, there's a chance that he may want this next season to be his last with the team. It'll be the last season that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are on a guaranteed deal, so it could be a major crossroads season. If Rivers wants to make it his own "Last Dance," then perhaps the team should prepare for a succession plan. Assistant Ty Lue is one of the top head coaching candidates in the game, and a true protege of Rivers. If Rivers wants to step aside (again, his choice), then Lue would be a good heir to the throne. Lue can step up and provide some continuity to the franchise.
step two: realize you built the wrong kind of monster
Creating a "Super Team" is one thing, but getting that Super Team to mesh together is quite another. You're taking disparate egos and disparate talents, and hoping that the stew all blends together. In an ideal world, those superstars would all make each other better and even more powerful, a la the Golden State Warriors or Voltron.
These Clippers never quite gelled and molded together in the same way. Rather than Voltron, we got the “The Man with Two Heads”.
On one shoulder, we had the 2018-19 L.A. Clippers. The plucky overachievers (48-34 record) who defied expectations and snuck into the playoffs. That group was led by Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. While they may have been "bench" players, they were the leading players in terms of total minutes and total points. Their two-man action fueled and defined that team.
However, the Clippers added an entirely new identity as soon as they signed up superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. We can nitpick and criticize those two all we want, but they're incredibly easy to fit together in terms of skill sets. Tall wings who can defend and shoot can play on virtually any team, in any lineup.
The trouble is: Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell cannot. Their chief virtues are their scoring. They're not meant to be 4th and 5th options on the court. If they're just floating out there as fillers, then their flaws start to get exposed. Harrell is not a great defender at either the 4 or the 5. Williams is an atrocious defender, limited by his age (33) and his lack of size and length. If he's not running an offense and not attacking, then he's a potential liability. The Clips got away with the two-headed monsters in the regular season, but these problems become highlighted in a playoff series where smart opponents can figure out their weaknesses. The Nuggets tried to isolate and exploit Williams, and other teams like the Lakers would have as well.
We also heard some grumbling behind the scenes about potential locker room issues with this team, and it'd be easy to speculate why. After all, it can't be easy to be the "star" of a team, and then be relegated to 4th or 5th bananas. Lou Williams and Montrezl Williams went from the king of the castle to living in the spare bedroom. It's almost like a new step-dad moved in and took over the remote control. In some ways, you wonder if Williams and Harrell subconsciously acted out, with Williams' infamous strip club incident and Harrell's lackluster play (injury and fitness related, to be fair.)
At the end of the day, the Clippers would be fine if they "ran it back." They'd win 50+ games, grab a top 3 seed, and have a chance to compete for the Finals once again. Still, it's fair to wonder if this Achilles heel would bite them eventually. And if so, it's fair to wonder if there's anything they can -- or should -- do about it.
step three: cut off one of the hydra's heads
If you believe that this collection of talent does not work, then there are some adjustments needed. Going forward, the team may debate whether or not they need to marginalize Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell even more. It'd be great to have them in the regular season to soak up minutes and buy your new stars some rest, but it may not be practical to play them all together in crunch time in the playoffs.
It may not be practical financially either. Lou Williams is still locked up for another season, but Montrezl Harrell will be a free agent. As the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, he may get a contract that swells into the $15M range. If I ran the Clippers, I would be reluctant to pay that money given the limitations that we've seen so far. In fact, I would prioritize re-signing Marcus Morris over Montrezl Harrell.
Re-signing Marcus Morris may get tricky because the Clips don't own his Bird Rights, but it may be necessary. Morris is a better fit for this team than Harrell. He can spread the floor (40% from three this past season), and he can defend several different positions. Sure, he may be an asshole, but he's a strong and gritty defender who can match up with most frontcourt players. When your ultimate rival is going to have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, that's critical.
Going a step further, I'd like to see the Clippers play Marcus Morris more often as a smallball 5, especially in matchups where the opponents don't have a center who can exploit him. If you play Morris at center, then you can flood the court with shooting 1-5. It's a different look that the Clippers need to try more often. Between the underrated Ivica Zubac and the unconventional smallball lineup, I don't see a major need for Montrezl Harrell. If he wants to come back on a moderate deal and Steve Ballmer wants to pony up for the most expensive roster in the league, that's fine, but the Clippers should negotiate from a position of strength here.
step four: take a chemistry class
We've talked about it already, but the L.A. Clippers had loads of depth this year. In some ways, it may have backfired, because Doc Rivers didn't seem to know which combination to play. They never developed much chemistry with a cohesive "closing lineup," and that bit them in the end.
Perhaps, less is more. The Clippers can trot out 10-12 rotational players in the regular season if they want (as a way to manage minutes), but they should establish a clear pecking order and a clear top 7-8 for the playoffs. To do that, they may need to clean out the cupboard.
As mentioned, Montrezl Harrell may not be back. I'd recommend the same for over-the-hill vets like Patrick Patterson and Joakim Noah, but also backup PG Reggie Jackson as well. Jackson's actual value has never matched his reputation, and he tends to get out of control at times. Presumably, we'll start Patrick Beverly, and utilize Lou Williams as a backup scoring guard. The hope is that Landry Shamet can shake off his own inconsistency and become a reliable backup at that combo guard spot. If that's the case, there's no need and no room for Jackson.
In terms of the frontcourt, we're going to start Marcus Morris (if he's back) at PF, and Ivica Zubac at C. Backup JaMychal Green flashes enough talent to be a backup PF, and can even play some smallball center if need be as well. Green has a $5M player option that may need to be negotiated, but it'd be nice to have him back. The Clippers need to be more confident going with more smallball lineups, knowing that they have some big-ass wings like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to cover ground and block passing lanes.
Overall, that would give us 5 starters -- Pat Beverly, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Marcus Morris, and Ivica Zubac -- that represent a big and balanced lineup. Lou Williams probably has one more year left as a super Sixth Man scorer. Green and Shamet should be good enough to be 7th and 8th men. Ideally, either Rodney McGruder or Terance Mann would step up and provide a decent depth piece on the wing.
Is that enough...? It's close. You'd love to add a little more wing talent -- perhaps a "ring chaser" vet like Courtney Lee or Kent Bazemore signs up for a reduced paycheck, a reduced role, and a chance at a title. Darren Collison would be an ideal PG for the team as a plus shooter and capable playmaker (presuming he’s fulfilled his subpoena with Jehovah.) The team may be one or two missing ingredients away from a complete meal.
Still, that thin cupboard isn't necessarily a bad thing for now. Playing a smaller rotation may force the Clippers to develop more familiarity and chemistry with each other.
Better still, it would give Doc Rivers and the Clippers a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses as the season unfolds. This past year, they played so little together that there was a presumption it would all work out come playoff time. It did not. If they start getting into playoff mode earlier, they'd be better able to understand what they're lacking. Do they need a pure PG? Another wing? A bigger stretch center? TBD. The team doesn't need to go into 2020-21 with a locked roster, after all. If they figure out that they need a secondary piece, the trade deadline would represent the chance to put the finishing touches on this next monster.
previous offseason blueprints
ATL, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, IND, GS, MIL, MIN, NYK, POR, SA, SAC, UTA

Clinical Depression and Sports

Offseason Blueprint: the Charlotte Hornets don't need to blow it up, because the foundation is mostly rubble already

All across the NBA landscape, there's only one thing on people's mind: What are the Charlotte Hornets going to do this offseason??
Kidding, of course. However, the boycott/strike left us with no games today, and perhaps the chance to sneak in the second edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series.
Here's a rundown and list of recommendations for the team this offseason.
step one: don't let your (semi) success get to your head
Coming into this season, expectations for the Charlotte Hornets were lower than a limbo bar. Kemba Walker had exited for greener pastures, and the team became a punchline when they ponied up $19M a year for Terry Rozier to replace him. Vegas set their oveunder at 23.5 wins, the lowest in the entire league.
Based on those expectations, coach James Borrego and the team massively overachieved early on in the year. They jumped out of the gates at 13-17, fueled by hot shooting from breakout Devonte' Graham. Eventually, Graham cooled off and the team did as well. Still, they'd end the year at a semi-respectable 23-42, nearly beating that preseason "over" despite a 65-game schedule.
If you're an optimist, you could say that this team isn't too far away from the playoffs. After all, Orlando grabbed the # 8 seed with a 33-40 record. Perhaps if the Hornets made a few tweaks here and there, they could get up to that 35-win range next year and contend for the 8th seed themselves.
Alas, I am no optimist. At least, not when it comes to these Charlotte Hornets. The team got off to a solid start, but all other metrics indicate a team that is B-A-D. Their point differential of -6.7 indicates a team that's even worse than their 23-42 record. In fact, that -6.7 is the 4th worst in the league. Their offense came in at 29th overall (out of 30). Even feel-good stories like Devonte' Graham didn't last forever. His shooting slowed down to the point where he finished the year with a below-average 53.7% true shooting percentage.
By any reasonable assessment, this team is a loooonggg way away from making the playoffs, and even further away from contending in a R1 series. Going into this offseason, the front office and ownership needs to realize that, and adjust their strategy accordingly.
step two: ignore your stars, and shoot for the moon instead
Let's ignore the astronomical problems with that statement and consider the subtext instead.
Perhaps more than any team in the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets need a marquee player. That goes for this roster, but also this franchise's player in history. Charlotte first got an expansion team in 1988 (as the "Hornets") and then again in 2004 (as the "Bobcats" to start.) If we include ALL of that history, dating back 30 seasons, the players with the most total win shares for the franchise are 1) Kemba Walker, 2) Gerald Wallace, and 3) Muggsy Bogues. Those are all good players, but not the type of superstar that'd inspire you to build a statue outside the stadium.
Fortunately, the basketball gods finally smiled upon them and landed them the # 3 pick this year. It's going to be a weak draft, but this will still be the team's best chance to land a superstar since they selected Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (over Bradley Beal) at # 2 back in 2012. Given this opportunity, and given their needs, the Hornets need to aim high here. Shoot for the moon. And in the process, they have to ignore their current roster completely. Top scorers Devonte' Graham and Terry Rozier are OK, but they're not the caliber of player that should force you to adjust your big board at all. The mandate should be simple: best. available. player. Guard, forward, center, it shouldn't matter. We need Michael Jordan to hit a home run here, although we know it's not his specialty.
I don't anticipate that Georgia SG Anthony Edwards will be available, but if he is, then the team should be excited to nab him. Edwards didn't shoot well as a freshman (40% from the field, 29% from three), but he's got the tools to be a potential All-Star. He's long (6'9" wingspan), strong, and hard to guard when he's attacking. I also like the idea of MJ mentoring Edwards and pushing him to get the most out of his talent. If he taps into his potential, we're talking about a Donovan Mitchell-esque player here.
A more polarizing selection that I'd still endorse would be Memphis C James Wiseman. I can understand the criticism against him. He can be passive at times. Perhaps he'll never be an elite scorer or even an All-Star. Still, I like Wiseman for a few reasons. He's 7'1" with a 7'5" wingspan, which should help make him an anchor on defense. He's also a smart kid (based on media interviews). Coach James Borrego came from the Spurs organization, which built around bigs like David Robinson and Tim Duncan originally. Perhaps he'd be more inclined to invest in a big man than other young coaches would. And while I cautioned against factoring in "fit," Wiseman and P.J. Washington would make for great complementary building blocks at the 4 and 5.
Personally, I'm mixed on the 3rd spot (which is where they land, unfortunately.) Draft Express lists PG LaMelo Ball as their # 1 prospect, while The Ringer has French PG Killian Hayes at the top of their board. Both have good size for the position, good passing instincts, and good experience overseas. I don't love the shooting of either one myself and worry about some possible inefficiency, but the Hornets would judge for themselves and select one if they're totally on board. Having two scoring guards like Graham and Rozier shouldn't factor into the equation.
Other names they should consider include PF/C Onyeka Okongwu (USC) and SF/PF Deni Avdija (Israel). I like a few other prospects in the class, but none of them would merit top 3 status. If I ran Charlotte, I wouldn't try to get cute about trade-ups or trade-downs either. The lottery was generous to you, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.
step three: don't be a waste of space
The Charlotte Hornets already have $79M committed in salary for next season, which sounds like "a lot" until you consider it's the third least in the NBA (behind Atlanta and Detroit.) Most teams are already booked up, with twenty different teams already having $100M on the docket.
With a little wiggle room (say $20M or so), the Hornets could potentially be players in free agency. This is not a strong free agency class, and the top names (like Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram) probably won't come calling.
Still, there are a few young veterans that may be worth pursuing. Sacramento SF Bogdan Bogdanovic is coming off a season where he averaged 18-4-4 per 36 minutes, and may have even more in the tank if he became more of a featured option. At 28 years old, he's probably in his prime already, but his skill set should age fairly well and he should maintain his value over the next 2-3 years. I also like Spurs' C Jakob Poeltl, a 24-year-old big man who's shown well in his limited playing time. He could potentially become a long-term starter on the right team. Sacramento C Harry Giles could also be a good flier.
Outside of a few select picks, the Hornets shouldn't force the issue and throw their money around willy-nilly (like they may have with Terry Rozier.) Someone needs to block DeMar DeRozan's number on Michael Jordan's phone.
That said, they can still use that cap space effectively. If we presume the Hornets aren't making the playoffs anyway, they may as well take a "toxic asset" off another team's hands, a la Sean Marks' Brooklyn Nets. Options could include Gorgui Dieng ($17M), James Johnson ($16M), Thaddeus Young ($13M + $14M), or Al-Farouq Aminu ($9M + $10M). If a team is willing to throw you a bone in terms of draft picks to take them off your hands, you may as well put the cap space to good use.
step four: hold your breath, and prepare to drown
Clearly, we haven't painted a rosy picture here. The team is unlikely to add top talent through free agency or trade, and even that top 3 lottery pick won't be a great player out of the gate. All in all, this is a bottom 10 team that will likely stay in the bottom 10 next year no matter how hard they try and fight it.
So if you're already sinking... why not drown completely? Yes, friends, we're talking about a full blown tank.
If the Hornets see the writing on the wall early next year, they need to commit fully and aggressively to a tank in 2020-21. I wouldn't normally recommend that tactic in today's day and age given the new flattened lottery odds, but this may be a "perfect storm" of events. The top 3 is ripe for the picking. Golden State won't be 15-50 next year. Minnesota (19-45) and Atlanta (20-47) should be better as well. The biggest threats would be Detroit (20-46) and the N.Y. Knicks (21-45), but both have older coaches that may not be keen on throwing a year of their coaching lives out the window.
Tanking makes logical sense for Charlotte, but they need some buy-in from the organization first. We'd have to convince Michael Jordan and the ownership group that it's in the team's long-term interest. They seem committed to "compete," but squeaking out a bunch of 30-win seasons over the next few years may be a great way to lose the entire franchise to relocation. Taking a short-term fall could land a star, and lead to a brighter future down the road.
We'd also need the ownership to give the greenlight to the front office and coaching staff as well. James Borrego will be entering Year 3 with the team, and will be nervous about his job security. Mitch Kupchak will be as well in the front office. For them to embrace a tank, they'd need some assurance that they're in this for the long haul. Personally, I like Borrego as a coach, so I'd try my best to commit to him and this long-term plan.
If the team can get on the same page and follow through, then there may be gold at the end of the rainbow. Next year's class appears (at the moment, anyway) to be a strong group, highlighted by playmaking wing Cade Cunningham (heading to Oklahoma State) and scoring guard Jalen Green (heading to the G-League.) PF Evan Mobley (USC), SF Jalen Johnson (Duke), and SF Ziaire Williaims (Stanford) also have the potential to join the # 1 pick conversation in time. And while those flattened odds make it difficult to ensure the # 1 pick, grabbing the # 1 spot means that you can only drop as low as # 5. That 5th pick next year may be even better than the # 3 this season.
other offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NO, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS

Offseason Blueprint: the Phoenix Suns looked great in Orlando. will they carry that over? or will the bubble burst?

The NBA Finals are about to start, but there are now 28 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch LeBron, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Phoenix Suns.
step one: don't underestimate the bubble boy
The idea that the NBA finished their season in a "bubble" made the whole exercise feel a little strange and surreal. There may be a tendency to write it off entirely. What happens in the bubble stays in the bubble. I mean, seriously, would Milwaukee get stomped in the playoffs in normal circumstances? Would some random ass team like the Phoenix Suns have gone 8-0 in the real world? Asterisks, all around!
Obviously, Phoenix isn't going to go 82-0 next year, but it'd be a mistake to dismiss their breakout as an abberation. They had shown stark improvement even prior to the bubble, rising up to mid pack in most advanced stats. That may not sound like anything to crow about, but that's a HUGE step up from last season (when they finished bottom 3 in SRS, bottom 3 in offense, and bottom 3 in defense.) No doubt, coach Monty Williams and PG Ricky Rubio helped provide some stability and professionalism that helped rise the tides all around them.
Moreover, Devin Booker proved that he's more the real deal than not. His raw stats were awesome as always -- 26.6 points per game and 6.5 assists -- but the hardcore stats are starting to back him up as well. He's putting up those scoring numbers with some real efficiency, logging a 62% true shooting percentage. He dominated at the free throw line, hitting 92% on 7.3 attempts per game. And while his 35% from three doesn't sound elite, we have to remember he's taking a lot of shots off the dribble and above the break (only 9% of his attempts came from the corner.) The defense is still bad, no doubt, but ESPN RPM's metric still considered him a top 15 player in terms of total wins added this year.
It's time to take Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns seriously. It's time to take the kid gloves off. Booker will be entering Year 6 next season, so he should be in his prime. The Suns need to transition from a rebuilding mindset to a "win now!" mindset to take advantage of that.
step two: try not to spend "big" money in free agency
Sophomore center Deandre Ayton is primarily known for being "NOT Luka Doncic," but he's clearly an enormous talent in his own right. He just averaged 18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game -- at age 21. He looks a lot older than that, both in terms of his physical appearance and his skill set. Even by the standards of All-Star centers, he's further along than most were at this age. Even his defense has improved, as his fluidity and finesse has started to work to his advantage on that end. So when we talk about "big" decisions, we're not talking about Ayton. Ignoring an injury or PED suspension, we can lock him in for 30-35 minutes a night.
The question is: what's the best use of their remaining frontcourt minutes? The Suns will need to answer that riddle in a hurry, because a lot of their PF-Cs are free agents this offseason. Dario Saric. Aron Baynes. Frank Kaminsky. It doesn't make sense to re-sign them all, because there won't be all that many minutes to go around.
In a vacuum, Dario Saric may be the most valuable. He's a quality shooter and underrated passer. At age 26, he could be in line for a contract that pays him nearly $12-15M a season. That said, I don't know if he's the best fit for Phoenix specifically. Among the three free agents, Saric is the most traditional PF-only. Meanwhile, the Suns are going to play young forwards like Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson more minutes at PF, meaning they may not need 30+ for a PF like Saric. It would make sense to retain Saric at a reasonable price, but the team shouldn't get into a bidding war here. Fortunately, Saric is a restricted free agent, which should help Phoenix in this situation. They can match all reasonable offers for him but back away if another team overpays him.
As far as Baynes and Kaminsky go, it's probably an "eitheor" proposition. You'd like to re-sign Baynes on a short-term deal, but his improved shooting may boost his free agent stock past the point where you're comfortable. He's 33 right now, so I'd be careful not to go past a 1+1 deal for him. If Baynes demands too much, the Suns can default back to Frank Kaminsky (and his $5M team option.) Kaminsky may be a poor man's version of Baynes, but he's only 27 and presumably will be a decent reserve for the next 2-3 years at least. He also seems like a nice, goofy kid to keep in the locker room.
All in all, I'd try to pinch pennies when it comes to these three players. In the long term, the Suns will probably be best served playing Deandre Ayton and 3 big wings, so over-investing at PF/C isn't the way to go.
step three: flirt, but don't fall in love
One of the reasons that the Phoenix Suns need to save some money for a rainy day is because they'll be ponying up for big extensions for their young core down the road.
The question is: should we consider Kelly Oubre part of that core? It's a critical and urgent question, as Oubre's contract will expire at the end of next season.
At first glance, you'd say that the team should lock up Oubre. Oubre has the look of a star (as the bi boys on the sub will tell you), and the stats back that up to some degree. At age 24, he averaged 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Suns' starting five lineup also played well as a unit according to net ratings.
Personally, I'm skeptical, for some reasons detailed and stolen from my older post. Oubre scores, sure, but he doesn't do it with particular efficiency. His three-point percentage (35.2%) and true shooting (56%) are all solid numbers for a volume scorer, but they're about league average as a whole. Aside from the scoring, Oubre doesn't contribute a ton. He's not a great ball mover (1.4 assists / 1.5 TO ratio in his career), and he's not a great defender. His defense looks OK based on the eye test, but analytics suggest he's a net negative on that end. In fact, EPSN's real plus/minus lists his defensive impact as a -2.5 per 100 possessions. That ranks 95th out of 100 qualifiers at SF.
We also saw Phoenix thrive in the bubble -- notably without Oubre. With Oubre injured, the Suns started a forward combination of Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, a pair that may be better matched for their stars. Bridges is the prototypical 3+D player. Johnson's more "3" than "D," but boy can this kid "3." Last year at UNC, Johnson hit 46% of his distance. He hit the ground running in the NBA, hitting 39% as a rookie. It's not an exaggeration to say he could be one of the best shooters in the entire NBA in a year or two's time. Better still, Bridges and Cam Johnson are more of "low-usage" players, which complements their stars Booker and Ayton well.
Oubre still has value as well, but it's just a question of how much? And how much is that worth on the open market? If I ran the Suns, I wouldn't panic or make a firm decision one way or another. I'd want to see how Bridges and Johnson looked next year; I'd want to see what I'm getting from my draft pick. If Oubre is still thriving, then you can lock him up. But if you're getting cold feet, then it may be the right decision to trade him or let him fly the coop and hit the open market. Presumably, plenty of teams out there would swipe right and take him as their own.
step four: make a final "point"
The Phoenix Suns can take some stabs in free agency and in the trade market, but overall I'd expect them to retain the vast majority of the rotation.
Their biggest "add" will likely come via the draft. The Suns are fortunate that the NBA decided that the bubble games wouldn't count in draft standings, which kept the team with the # 10 pick despite ending up with a better record than several teams behind them. While this isn't a great draft, you never know how these things shake out. A top 10 prospect could turn out to be a good rotational player or a potential starter down the road.
The point guard position could be a point of emphasis in the future. Veteran Ricky Rubio played well this year, but he's turning 30 in a month. He'll be under contract for two more years ($17M + $18M), after which he may lose a step and transition into more of a backup role. It'd be great if the team could develop and groom his replacement in the meantime.
To that end, the team brought in Ty Jerome, the 24th pick in this past draft. No doubt, Jerome benefited from timing. His selection came on the heels of Virginia's title and on the heels of former Virginia PG Malcolm Brogdon's breakout. In theory, Jerome projected as a Brogdon-type point guard with good size (6'5") and steady shooting ability. In reality, he struggled mightily to keep up with NBA athleticism. It's too early to judge a rookie like Jerome one way or another, but this next season should be telling. The Suns need someone to step up, because it hasn't come from Jerome or fellow youngsters Elie Okobo or Jalen Lecque yet.
In fact, all three got usurped in the bubble by an unexpected source: Cameron Payne. Payne's been on the fringes of the NBA lately, but he came in to Orlando like gangbusters and hit 52% of his threes. He looked electric off the bench. Is that legit? Eh. It's hard for me to imagine Payne became a fundamentally different player at age 26, but who knows. Sometimes point guards have longer learning curves.
If the Suns don't feel like the heir apparent to Ricky Rubio is on the roster, this 10th pick may be a nice place to find it. This is a PG rich class. The top names -- LaMelo Ball (U.S./Australia), Killian Hayes (France), and Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State) -- likely won't be there. Still, the Suns could have the option of a few steady eddie types like Nico Mannion (Arizona) or Tyrell Terry (Stanford), or they could roll the dice on upside scorers like R.J. Hampton (U.S./New Zealand), Cole Anthony (UNC), Kira Lewis (Alabama), or Tyrese Maxey (Kentucky). Frenchman Theo Maledon could be a name to file away as well. He's projected later than 10, but he has good size and defensive potential. You presume Devin Booker will have the ball in his hands a ton, so a 3+D guard would make a lot of sense. Haliburton is such a perfect fit, you'd even consider trading up a few spots to snag him.
Another reason I may be forcing the issue here at PG is because of the roster construction. With Devin Booker, you don't necessarily need to pour in huge money at guard. With Deandre Ayton, you don't need to pour in huge investments at center. Your hope is that your wings develop into studs, but if not, then a free agent wing could potentially push you over the top. The Suns will have a lot of cap space in 2021 and beyond, at which point they're going to be serious players in free agency. Booker has a lot of respect from his peers -- Monty Williams has a lot of respect from the players. Phoenix may not have a great owner or great nachos, but they have the type of roster that's bound to generate interest regardless.
previous offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, ORL, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA

Offseason Blueprint: the New Orleans Pelicans have thrown a lot of ingredients into their jambalaya but they haven't found the right recipe yet

The NBA Finals are here, but there are now 28 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the New Orleans Pelicans.
step one: fund the Most Improved Bank Account
The first order of business for the New Orleans' Pelicans roster will be re-signing new star Brandon Ingram to an extension. I wouldn't call it a "no brainer," but it's a 1/2 or 1/3 brainer at most.
Ingram not only won Most Improved Player, but he also made his first All-Star team this year. He averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per night. He's a big time scorer with the length to play SF or PF. He's an underrated playmaker and passer. Better still, he's still extremely young. He recently turned 23 years old this past September.
If there's any concern with Ingram, it would be a matter of expectations -- in terms of his play and his contract. His efficiency shot up like a rocket this year. He went from 33% from three the prior year (on 1.8 attempts per game) to 39% this year (on 6.2 attempts.) His FT% ballooned from 68% to 85%. There's a natural presumption that this growth would continue, but I'd be cautious in that regard. Statistically speaking, it's more likely for some regression after a huge leap like that. Still, as long as Ingram can consistently hit over 35% of his threes and over 80% of his free throws, then he's going to be an excellent scorer.
Going forward, David Griffin and Trajan Langdon and the front office should use Ingram's free agency to build a relationship and goodwill with him. They've only been together for a year now, so it'd be great if Ingram can feel comfortable with the power brokers here and want to build the franchise together with them. Technically, he's a restricted free agent, which means the team could wait and match any offer for him. Still, there's no reason to play hardball here. Forcing Ingram to go out and sign another offer sheet may ruffle his skinny feathers in the same way it did for Gordon Hayward back in Utah.
step two: tap that Big Ol' Asset
Amazingly, the former # 2 pick who just scored 24 points a game isn't the marquee star of the franchise. As we know, the headlines and cameras will always train to Zion Williamson instead. Coming into the NBA Draft, there hadn't been a more hyped up player than Williamson (since LeBron James.) Now, there may not be a more polarizing player in the league.
I'd also assert that there aren't many more misunderstood players either. His haters want to write him off as an athlete-dunker only. In reality, he's a fairly skilled player with a feel for the game. For a PF, he's a pretty good ballhandler and a very good passer. I grew up in Los Angeles watching Blake Griffin since his start, and there are some natural comparisons in that regard. Griffin was even further along as a playmaker than Williamson as a rookie, but he was also 2 years older at the time.
To me, Williamson has two great qualities beyond the obvious athleticism and power. He can do some power dunks, sure, but he's also very skilled at converting and finishing off-balance below the rim as well (no doubt, having a tree trunk base helps in that regard.) Consider this: as a junior at LSU, Shaquille O'Neal converted 62% of his two-point field goal attempts. As a freshman at Duke, Williamson converted 75%. Again, these aren't all dunks. Williamson can take a bump and still finish layups a la young LeBron James. The fact that he's such a good offensive rebounder makes that skill doubly deadly. Once he gets inside the paint, it's barbecue chicken. And we all know how much Williamson loves to eat.
The other quality that I love about Williamson is his affable personality and selflessness. We can see that on display in media interviews, but we can see that on the court as well. He's a willing passer, as mentioned, and he allows his teammates to shine elsewhere. If you watch Williamson for extended minutes, you can always see him defer uncontested rebounds to his teammates (even on missed free throws.) You can see the evidence on this on his offensive/defensive rebounding splits. On league average, 78% of rebounds come on the defensive end. For Williamson, that's only 56%. Ultimately that is going to hurt his own raw stats, but it illustrates that he doesn't care about his own raw stats much. All in all, this is the type of player and the type of person that you'd love to build a team around.
Of course, we've all started to notice the problems with Williamson as well. The primary concern is his fitness and health. Him being a step slow and a few beignets big also exacerbates the concerns about his defense. Coming out of Duke, there was a presumption that he'd be an elite defender given his athleticism and disruptive play (2.1 steals, 1.8 blocks per game in college.) We never saw that manifest in the NBA. Instead, he looked a step slow to react, and looked limited by his lack of length (6'10" wingspan.) Again, here's where some Blake Griffin comparisons come in. Griffin also has a stocky build and limited wingspan (6'11") which made him a poor shot blocker despite his natural leaping ability.
If we want to learn from the history (rather than repeat it), we need to examine the highs and lows of young Blake Griffin's career. For one, the Clippers overplayed him. Like Zion, Blake Griffin is a high-energy player who goes balls to the wall. That, coupled with his frame, made him an injury risk. Despite Griffin missing his entire first season, the Clippers threw him out for 38.0 minutes a night the following year. The Pelicans can't do the same. Perhaps Williamson is the type of player who will always have his minutes managed for maximum effectiveness. If they can pencil him in for 32 minutes a night for 70 games, I believe they'd take that.
The Clippers also were reluctant to use Griffin at center, citing the lack of length. In the modern NBA, I think that's less of a concern. Williamson needs to play a good portion of his minutes as a smallball center. If opponents want to try and test that by posting up the Enes Kanters of the world against him -- they can feel free. If that happens, the Pelicans just need to take advantage on the other end by letting Williamson run and gun.
step three: realize true love may have been standing next to you this whole time
So how do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you build a team around a player like Zion Williamson? That question should be at the top of the list for potential coaching candidates.
There are a lot of big name coaches on the market -- or at least, there were -- but the Pelicans don't necessarily need a "big name" here. Veteran coaches tend to come in with egos and stubbornness about what worked for them in the past. We don't want to look to the past here, because the Pelicans have a new and unusual animal on their hands. For someone like Zion Williamson, we may need to reinvent the wheel. We need creative, outside-the-box thinking. We need someone who can push the envelope.
Fortunately, they may not have to look very far. If I ran the Pelicans, I'd lean to promoting assistant Chris Finch to head coach.
Who is that again? Only my personal favorite coaching candidate on the market. While he's only been an assistant in the NBA, he has a great resume as a head coach prior. Finch started coaching in Great Britain, where he was quickly named their league's Coach of the Year. Later on, he migrated to Belgium, where he guided his team to the league title. He eventually came back to the U.S. and coached in the G-League for Rio Grande. Surprise surprise -- Finch's team won the title and he won Coach of the Year.
Since then, Finch has been a top assistant with Houston, Denver, and now New Orleans. Throughout, he's developed a reputation for running fast-paced offenses, oftentimes facilitated through bigs like Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis. That's exactly what the Pelicans want to establish here. Better still, Finch's familiarity with the roster should give him a headstart on any potential tweaks or revisions.
If the front office isn't a big fan of Finch (and they'd know better than me, to be fair), I'd still advocate for a modern pace and space coach who would embrace analytics and sports science. Kenny Atkinson and Nate Bjorkgren (assistant in Toronto) would fit the bill there. Ty Lue is presumably a top candidate as well, although I'm expecting him to officially get promoted with the Clippers soon.
step four: what's the "big" deal?
As mentioned, I'd like to see the New Orleans Pelicans play Zion Williamson at the "5" more often. Still, there will be plenty of lineups where you put him at PF, and there will be plenty times when he's resting on the bench as well. All in all, you probably need to cobble together 30+ minutes of serviceable play at center.
With that in mind, re-signing free agent Derrick Favors would seem like a priority. He's slipped under the radar over the second half of his career, but he's quietly become one of the studier and better defenders inside. And while it feels like he's been around for a million years, he's still only 29 years old. It stands to reason he can continue to produce well for the next 2-3 years.
The Pelicans cap situation isn't dire, but they need to figure out the best use of their minutes. Sure, you can pay Favors $15M a season, but if you're only going to give him 20-25 minutes a night, is that worth the price? Williamson will presumably play a little more center, and Nicolo Melli can give you minutes as a stretch big. More than anything, the future of the position will hinge on current-rookie Jaxson Hayes. Hayes is 6'11" and bouncier than a pogo stick. Better still, he appears to have a good chemistry with Zion Williamson. He entered the league as a raw player, so it'll be interesting to see how long it takes him to develop into a reliable rotational player.
Essentially, I'd tie those two questions together. How long before Hayes is ready for 25 minutes a night? How long should Derrick Favors contract be? Those answers are one and the same. If the team thinks Hayes is ready now, then they can let Favors walk. More realistically, they'd look to a 1-2 year deal to give themselves a buffer. Remember, the "bar" for Hayes needs to be fairly high. No doubt, he could play 20-25 minutes for a bad team, but the Pelicans aren't intending to be a bad team. We need him at a level where he's playing playoff-caliber basketball.
step five: find the right combo combination
One of the issues that plagued the New Orleans Pelicans' slow start was a struggle to establish a consistent rotation. They had tons of depth -- even with Zion Williamson injured -- but it may have been too much. Too many mouths to feed. There were times when Alvin Gentry would play 12 guys a night, making it hard for the team to develop chemistry together. If the team trims out a few players, perhaps they'll start finding their groove.
Right now, the backcourt looks the most like an overcrowded bus. You have veteran star Jrue Holiday and draft star Lonzo Ball. In addition, you have veteran shooter J.J. Redick. You have young guard/wings like Josh Hart and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. It got so crowded that some solid players like E'Twaun Moore struggled to find consistent minutes.
The other issue with having an abundance of guards is that it forced them to play too many, and effectively go too small. For example, the 6'5" combo guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker played 45% of his minutes at SF (according to basketball-reference.) Josh Hart, rugged but only 6'5" himself, played 78% of his minutes at SF. Being undersized is part of the reason that the team's defense sagged down to # 19 overall.
Going forward, the Pelicans may need to shrink the rotation some. Free agency is going to be a natural path to that. FA Frank Jackson may be retained as a backup PG, but I'd expect fellow FA E'Twaun Moore to find a larger role somewhere else. Even still, there may be too many leftovers at the table.
The Pelicans need to ask themselves if a trade would be helpful to clear the deck. A lot of that depends on their perceived timeline. Jrue Holiday is 30 years old, J.J. Redick is 36. If the team doesn't view the playoffs as realistic for next season, then those veterans are possible trade pieces. Of the two, Holiday obviously has the most value. He's gone from perceived overpay to solid value on his $26M + $27M deal. He can play PG and SG (and SF), and he's a good addition to a locker room. For all those reasons, I'd be inclined to keep him on the roster as a bridge between the "win now" and long-term approach.
Redick, on the other hand...? It's more of a 50/50 tossup. No doubt his shooting should help space the court for Zion Williamson and their other young stars, but he's probably a better fit on an older and slower (in terms of pace) team. Redick has a $13M expiring contract, so he wouldn't be too hard to move.
I'd expect the team to float offers for Redick, and take more of a "wait and see" approach to figuring out the future at PG-SG. Former Lakers Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart will both be free agents after next season. The team could try to lock up Hart now while he's under the radar, but Lonzo Ball's never going to be under the radar. He's never going to be cheap either, given his national reputation and name value. I'd expect him to demand $15M or so.
Determining whether to extend Lonzo Ball to a big contract may be the trickiest roster question on the entire team. I was very impressed by his improved shooting form and results to back it up (up to 37.5% from three this year), but he still looks allergic to the paint and the FT line. He actually shot under 25% from 3-10 feet from the basket. I'd probably wait this year to see how he progresses and how he fits with a healthy Zion Williamson, but I'd be cautious about giving him huge money right now. Waiting a year also allows you to see whether Alexander-Walker can take a big step up and show "starter" potential.
In the interest of due diligence, the Pelicans should gauge the trade market for their veterans to see if any deals out there would make them materially better. They also have a boatload of picks -- # 13 and three second rounders -- to toss into trades if need be. If they stand pat, then I'd like to see them target a bigger SF either in the draft or free agency. Saddiq Bey (Villanova) and Aaron Nesmith (Vanderbilt) have length and shooting ability. In free agency, Jrue's brother Justin would be a nice fit as a bigger 3+D wing. If Darius Miller can get healthy, then he'd add some of those same qualities. Ultimately, adding a big SF will be the end goal. Whether he's at PF or C, Zion Williamson will always be stubbier than the average bear. Still, if they can surround him with length and shooting, he still could be a devastating player for the league to handle.
previous offseason blueprints
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, ORL, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS

Offseason Blueprint: it’s time for the young/Young Atlanta Hawks to leave the nest and take flight

The playoffs continue to rage on, but there are 26 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, have nightmares about getting blocked by Bam, and wait for next season to start.
For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Atlanta Hawks.
step one: grow up and play D, because you can’t be forever young
Two summers ago, the Atlanta Hawks hired coach Lloyd Pierce on the basis of his defensive reputation. So far, that hasn't translated to the court. Last season, the Hawks ranked 27th in defensive rating. After a year in the system to improve their habits and chemistry, that ranking jumped all the way up to... 27th.
What's wrong here? A few factors, of course.
The one that gets the most attention and the most blame would be the deficiencies of Trae Young. His lack of length and athleticism will always be a problem, but it shouldn't be this bad. ESPN RPM ranks his defensive impact as a -6.2 per 100 possessions, which ranks 520th out of all 520 qualifiers in the NBA. According to that metric, his defense is even worse than Isaiah Thomas (at age 31.)
Isaiah Thomas may be a helpful comparison though, because he does illustrate that one bad defender shouldn't be able to sink a team on his own. In IT's great season in Boston, his individual defense was poor, but the Celtics ranked in the top 5 in defense overall. Clearly, some teams are able to overcome liabilities like that. The Hawks may have to consider hiding Trae Young on defense like he's in the witness protection program. Other lead guards like Allen Iverson defended off the ball often, which is an approach that worked for his team defenses in Philadelphia and Denver.
So what else is wrong here? The second major factor would be a matter of youth. Yes, we have a "Young" and a "young" problem here. Inexperienced players tend to be bad defensively, and the Hawks were one of the youngest teams in the league. Their top 5 players in minutes played (Young, De'Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, John Collins) were all in their age-22 season or younger. There are some college rosters older than that starting five. That aspect should improve in time, especially because some of those young players like Hunter and Reddish project as good defenders.
Although it may sound counterintuitive, another issue with the defense is the offense. The Hawks play fast (top 5 in the NBA in pace), and shoot a bunch of threes (top 10 in three point attempts.) The problem is: they don't make a lot of those threes. As a team, the Hawks shot 33.3% from three, dead last in the NBA. These issues naturally affect their defense. The Hawks are playing fast and missing threes, which tends to lead to transition baskets for their opponents before the Hawks can get back and get set. If the Hawks improve their offense, then their defense should improve by proxy. To do that, they may have to slow down their pace to some degree. Modern teams love to run and gun, but if you're not very good, you're only giving your opponents extra possessions to allow their talent to win out.
The fourth potential issue is a matter of coaching. As mentioned, Lloyd Pierce had a good reputation as an assistant coming over to Atlanta, but we haven't seen that manifest so far. It's a tough job assignment coaching up a young team, but it's a talented group of players. If we don't see tangible improvement in Year 3, then I would presume it's time to fire Pierce and look for another answer. There are a lot of good coaches on the market right now, so Pierce needs to step up his game to avoid getting replaced. Rebuilding teams can afford to be patient, but they can't afford to give their coaches tenure.
step two: use it before you lose it
The 2020 free agent market is going to be quieter than an indoor mall during COVID quarantine. Hardly any teams have cap space... except for Atlanta. In fact, the Hawks have the most cap space in the entire NBA, committed to only $58M on the books for next year.
This is going to be a bad free agent class, but that's okay. In a sense, the Hawks are like the best looking guy in a dive bar. There may be slim pickings, but at least he gets his pick of the litter.
You don't want to throw your money away foolishly, but you don't want it to burn a hole in your pocket either. Eventually that cap space is going to dry up when you extend your young players, so this may be a great opportunity to "use it before you lose it."
The first option should be to throw a big offer at restricted free agent Brandon Ingram. Ingram has great length for a wing player, and his scoring prowess would make for a -- wait, what was that? The Pelicans just matched my offer in mid sentence? Okay then, let's move on to our next options.
I'd also consider making sizable offers to free agents Bogdan Bogdanovic and/or Jerami Grant. Bogdanovic is a skilled scorer who averaged 18-4-4 per 36 this past season, and has the potential to thrive as a secondary scorer or 6th man. At 27, he also fits the general timeline here. While Bogdanovic may not be the defensive stopper we're looking for, you can never have too many quality wings in today's NBA.
Jerami Grant doesn't have the same shooting ability or skill set, but he's an energetic player and an impact defender. He's 26 now, and should retain his value for the next 3 years. Having Grant as a complementary starter or rotation player would help the team on and off the court; from what I understand, he's a hard worker and a team-first player.
On the lower end, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to punch some lottery tickets and hope they pay off. Josh Jackson (former Suns bust) still has potential at age 23. Chicago SG/SF Denzel Valentine has an intriguing skill set. And fellow Bull Kris Dunn is one of the premier defenders at his position. Dunn would make for a great yin/yang backup to Trae Young.
step three: have some faith in John the Baptist
One of the reasons that the Atlanta Hawks' cap size will dwindle in the future is the potential extension for PF John Collins.
A year or two ago, the team may have thought long and hard about whether or not to commit huge money to Collins. There were some indications that he was a "good stats / bad team" kind of player. He was a tweener who struggled on defense, and didn't stretch the floor reliably on offense.
These days, it's harder to hate on Collins. The raw stats are as good as always (20-10 this year), but he's also playing a more desirable brand of basketball as well. He's worked to improve his range and shotmaking. His three-point shooting went up to 35% in year two, and swelled to 40% in year three. His FT% has also gone up each year, from 72% to 76% to 80%. You appreciate when a young player improves his game, as it indicates a lot more potential still in the tank (as he turns 23 next week.)
Defense is becoming less of a concern for Collins as well. The trend towards smallball allows him to play about 50% of his minutes at center. In turn, that allows Coach Pierce some flexibility. Depending on the matchup, he can go with the traditional bigs like Clint Capela or Dewayne Dedmon, or he can play a smaller, more dynamic 5 in Collins. Collins will never be Kevin Garnett, but if he's at least average on defense, then he's a net positive player.
Going forward, there's no immediate rush or urgency to extend Collins this offseason. The team will have matching rights next summer, so they can wait and see Collins "prove it" over a full regular season before committing to him. Still, if he's willing to sign a reasonable extension this offseason, the Hawks may be able to avoid the headache. Atlanta's a good situation for a young scorer like Collins, so the hope is that he'd be amenable to a reasonable deal that locks him up as part of this core.
step four: remember you're playing the long game, not Tetris
The Atlanta Hawks will have the # 6 pick in the draft, giving them the chance to add another young prospect to the team. We had been concerned about too much youth on this roster, but it's not worth giving up that pick for a veteran because we're not in "win now" mode yet. The team may as well keep collecting youngsters like they're pokemon.
With that top pick, they should keep that mindset, and not fall victim to the desire to find the right "fit" (hence the Tetris analogy.) Best available player. That's a good philosophy when you're drafting in the top 10 regardless, but it applies to this team more than most. The team needs to get a lot better, but there are no glaring issues in terms of positions or rotations. Trae Young will have PG on lockdown. Kevin Huerter will have a role as a wing. Better still, Cam Reddish and De'Andre Hunter are the types of BIG wings that can fit across several positions. The frontcourt should be fine as well between John Collins and Clint Capela. Given that, almost any position would be fine for the Hawks to select.
At PG, the top prospects (according to ESPN) are LaMelo Ball (N.Z.) and Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State). Both players would be fine picks for the team, because both have the size and length to guard 1s or 2s and can play alongside Trae Young in that regard. Offensively, LaMelo and Trae may fight for the ball, but both have dynamic scoring potential that would make a tag-team dangerous. Haliburton would be an even easier fit, as he's had experience playing off the ball.
At SG/SF, the top prospect is Anthony Edwards (Georgia), who is likely to be off the board. I'm also a fan of Devin Vassell (Florida State), who projects as a good 3+D player that could soak up minutes at SG and SF for this team. He's one of the safer prospects in the class to me. I also like Deni Avdija (Israel), a ball moving forward with the size to play either SF or PF.
The hardest debate may be whether to select a big man that falls to them, be it James Wiseman (Memphis) or Onyeka Okongwu (USC). After acquiring Clint Capela (and potentially ponying up for a John Collins extension), the team may not want to invest much more into the position. Still, I'd hold firm to my "best player available" idea. Wiseman and Okongwu have major potential as defenders, which has been a problem area as discussed. It could be worth bringing them in and seeing how they develop. If they turn out to be the real deal, then it's perfectly fine to trade Capela or even Collins after the fact.
I'd have a harder time justifying the selection of two other top prospects: Killian Hayes (France) feels like too much of a pure point guard to me, and Obi Toppin feels like too much of a duplication to John Collins. Still, we've discussed 7 prospects that I've already given the "greenlight" to draft, which means at least 2 of those should be available when the Hawks are on the clock.
step five: give the kids some big brothers
We've harped a lot on the youth of this team already. Usually, that's seen as a positive. Rebuilding teams are supposed to be young, right? Sure. But there's some danger there of going overboard. If you're too young, and too inexperienced, then it's hard for the young pups to learn from those around them. It's hard to hold them accountable if there's no one else around to play their minutes. We can't have the blind leading the blind here.
Oftentimes, teams try to solve this issue by adding older veteran mentors to the locker room. The Hawks found the MOST veteran of them all by adding Vince Carter (age 43.) In theory, that's exactly what we're talking about. Wise old sages like Carter can help the kids grow up and learn to be professionals.
Still, I'm not sure that's enough. As respected as an old vet like Vince Carter may be, there's only so much influence he can have on a team if he's not playing. There's only so much influence he can have on a kid's habits if they're not in the same peer group. It's unlikely that 20-21 year olds are hanging out with guys in their mid to late 30s. They're in different stages in life, and probably have different interests and lifestyles.
Given that, I believe there should be more of a priority placed on "big brother" teammates in addition to older mentors. What do I mean by big brothers? I mean veterans who have good work ethic and character, but aren't over the hill. Young vets (ages 25-27 or so) who can still contribute on the court, and can still act as friends and peers to the kids. True role models. Consider this: who influenced your behavior more in high school: Your teachers? Or your friends? We need friends / big brothers that will spend more time with our kids, and teach them through osmosis if not outright lectures.
Consciously or not, the Memphis Grizzlies showed the value of this principle with their current season. They surrounded their rookies and sophomores with "big brother" vets like Tyus Jones (age 24) and Kyle Anderson (age 26.) Those guys happen to be high-IQ players and high-character teammates, but they're still young and good enough to play 20+ minutes a night. When you're checking all those boxes, you can influence the young players on your roster more effectively than the salty old dog who's basically an assistant coach.
It's hard for me to give recommendations for "big brothers" because I don't know these players behind the scenes outside of public reputation, but the idea would be to add smart, hard-working veterans in that 25-27 age range. We want vets who play unselfishly on offense, and play hard and disciplined on defense. Even if they're not great, they can help instill good habits with the team, on and off the court.
other offseason blueprints
BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NO, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS

money gambling indiana today video

Google has reverse its prohibition of gambling apps. The company now allows gambling apps to be listed in its Play Store in 15 new countries. Legal online gambling is now one step closer in Indiana after Representative Alan Morrison published a bill proposing the legalization and regulation of the activity. The newly introduced House Bill 1406 proposes a tax rate of 18% on adjusted gross revenues and an initial $500,000 fee for interactive gaming operators. Indiana sports betting is heading into its third year. Indiana bettors have a huge variety of legal online sportsbooks at their fingertips and the action should only get better throughout 2021 History of Indiana Lottery. Indiana has strict gambling laws and have prosecuted players who participated in illegal games. But many forms of gambling in the state are legal, and the Hoosier lottery has been around since 1989 after a statewide voter referendum.Online lotto still has a ways to go, with no legislation in the works at the time of writing. The second issue getting in the way of legal online sports betting apps in Indiana is, of course, money. The licensing fees started out in the $100,000 dollar range. That meant a $100,000 initial licensing fee was required to offer Indiana online sports betting. The recent legislation on the table reduced the licensing fee to $10,000 in Indiana. features of an online sportsbooks in Indiana today. Later on, we’re going to look over the current laws and regulations surrounding online sports betting in Indiana. Below are our favorite sports betting sites in Indiana. Check them out today! Rank: Gambling Site: Deposit Bonus: Get Started #1: BetUS. 100% Up To $2,500: Visit Site #2: MyBookie. 50% Up To $1,000: Visit Site #3: BetNow. 100% BGO Sports Gambling Indiana Today offers 100% deposit bonus up to Sports Gambling Indiana Today £200 for UK players. Bonus is active for 7 days Sports Gambling Indiana Today from activation and it can only be played on selected games. Wagering requirement on 40x before you can make a withdrawal and wagering is with real money first. Game Indiana Casinos and Gambling. Short Summary: Indiana is fairly liberal when it comes to gambling laws. The charitable gambling regulations are mostly reasonable, the state has a lottery and the casinos can offer whatever they like provided they are located in the water and close for at least two of every 24 hours. There has been an exception made for one land casino, thus far, as well as one The State of Indiana Passes Online Gambling Laws. Today, online sports betting and daily fantasy sports are legal in Indiana. In 2016, Indiana became the second state in the US to regulate daily fantasy sports (DFS). This happened when then-Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill into law. As of now, sports fans in Indiana can play many types of DFS on renowned gambling sites. In April 2019, the Indiana While the Indiana Gaming Commission hoped mobile sports betting would begin Sept. 1, it never ruled out a two-tiered approach to launching sports gambling in the state focusing first on retail

money gambling indiana today top

How to win lots of money betting horse racing - YouTube

A Today Show piece that ran the morning of the Indiana University Mad Money episode! A lot of people have been asking where to get the bank. Here is the website: https://showforinc.com/?ref=6Save 10% off your purchase of the WinnersBank. Use... These are the best 2 online casino in Indiana with real money + fastest payouts under review for 2021.Bovada - https://thebetresource.com/go/bovadaBetOnline ... My #1 Recommendation For Making Passive Income Online:http://www.funnelfromhome.com/makemoney2Make $15 Every 10 Minutes Make Money Online Now!💸Top 3 Entrepr... Welcome to the Flushing Benjamins Channel. We appreciate you watching and hope you enjoy the content. This video is from Indiana Grand Racing and Casino in... Sky Wheel Major Big Win Jackpot - Blue Chips Casino slots Max Bets....always bet Max people! Notice how the lady next to me only won $4 on the bonus just bet... *unlimited money glitch* unlimited $2,500,000 slot machine wins! (gta 5 casino unlimited money)*unlimited money glitch* unlimited $2,500,000 slot machine win... ♠♦♣♥ Play Live Blackjack https://croupier.com/live-dealer-blackjack-terminator-mr-green-online-casino/ 18+ Please... Want to make money online and make $400 a day with no money to start? Watch this... My Favourite Ways To Earn Online...Full Affiliate Training + Mentorship ?... #horseracing #bettingonhorses #handicapping #horseracingtips #horseracingbetting #horseracingterms #weekendhandicapperIf you want to win a significant amount...