First things first; happy retirement Nic Batum! 18 years in the NBA, 2-time Olympic Silver Medalist with France, 11,553 PTS and 1,842 3PM- Batum set the standard for 3 and D wings. Smart, gritty, and absolutely cash from beyond the arc.

The game will miss him!

🎉 Happy birthday NAMES! 🎉

Another day in the offseason, another NOTB Top-10 position ranking. Personally speaking, the 4 spot is my favorite to dig into. It’s such an demanding, analogous role. You need size, shotmaking, defense, a thousand different macro and micro skills. The best at the position are either so singularly dominate in one aspect it trivializes their weaknesses or true Swiss-Army knives with complete mastery of the game. I love you Shawn Marion.

To celebrate how diverse the Power Forward position is, let’s take a look at 3 of them who enter the new season at a crossroads:

Lauri Markkanen

“Lauri Makkanen is one of my favorite players in the NBA”- Kenny

For the first time Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert ruled the mountains, Utah enters the season with real expectations. Lauri has been there through it all. With the Jazz he completed his evolution into the all-world jumbo shotmaker he was projected to be out of Arizona. He stayed put despite a million trade rumors that said otherwise. Now, with the stakes higher then ever, he’ll get the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

There wasn’t much press about it, but Markkanen is coming off a season averaging a career high 26.7 PPG. The 11th most PPG in the league btw. With the Keyonte George breakout and the fact Lauri only played 42 games, it was easy to miss. An encouraging sign for sure, but Utah has a lot of mouths to feed. Jaren Jackson Jr. is an All-Star, George will need his touches, as will the developing Ace Bailey and #2 overall pick Darryn Peterson. Coach Will Hardy will need to balance the offensive playbook efficiently in order to maximize this roster’s ability to compete out West.

Fortunately, Lauri is a dude who can operate without demanding too much. Being a catch-and-shoot sniper that’s about 7 feet tall will let you do that. That off ball mastery was the reason he was such a sought after trade piece. Having Markkanen on your team is like having the Queen in Chess; he opens up the board for all the pieces around him.

We’ve seen flashes in FIBA, the Olympics, Eurobasket- now we finally get to see The Finnisher unleashed at the highest level of competition. Gonna be a fun year in Salt Lake…

Paolo Banchero

If you asked 100 NBA fans their opinion on Paolo Banchero you’d probably get 100 different answers. The 2022 #1 overall pick has become a lightning rod. Is he an inefficient player who forces too many tough shots? Is he given too much playmaking and scoring responsibility on a team with limited shooting and passing? Wasn’t Desmond Bane supposed to fix all of this? Does your head hurt yet?

Let’s take a peek at some numbers.

Despite not yet making it past the first round, Banchero is a certified playoff riser. You may fairly critique the small sample size, but his 3PT% jumping an absurd 6.8% over three individual playoff runs doesn’t feel coincidental.

The NOTB crew slotted Paolo somewhere between the 8-9th best PF in the league. Pierre did bring up an interesting point; what if Darius Garland was Paolo’s PG?

Much has been made about the awkward pairing of Banchero and Franz Wagner. Both are extremely talented forwards who struggle to hit outside shots consistently. While Desmond Bane has helped and he’s a good, smart offensive player, a true playmaking point guard might unlock something new. Imagine all 6’ 10” 250 of Paolo setting a crunching screen to open up a Garland pull up. Or Paolo taking advantage of a high hedge to catch the ball in the middle of the paint and operate with force? Exciting stuff.

Orlando and Banchero enter the 2026-27 season with a lot on the line. This may very well be the year it all comes together. That or it remains inconclusive and we start this whole cycle over again. Fun!

Zion Williamson

Remember when Zion did this?

Or this?

2019 feels like a million years ago. Yet as the guys pointed out on the pod, Zion is only 26 years old. Injuries have robbed the NBA of one of the most exciting and unique prospects ever. In his only game of postseason basketball, Zion dropped 40/11/5 on the Lakers in the Play-In before a hamstring strain knocked him out. A familiar ending, but I know what I saw.

He may never be a 3 point shooter. Whatever. Williamson shot 60% from the field last season and remains a premier downhill scorer with his incredible blend of athleticism and finesse. When healthy, New Orleans has players that can give him the space he needs to run rampant; most notably Trey Murphy III.

It’s been a long, tortured road for the player who was supposed to be the face of the league. I don’t think he’s done writing his story just yet.

🐝 Charlotte adds another 3 Point Sniper

Sometimes it’s the little trades that happen in the dead of the offseason that can end up swinging entire seasons. We had one of these happen yesterday, between two teams that may end up battling for the same postseason positioning. Amazingly, this one didn’t involve any 2nd round picks!

Charlotte receives: Buddy Hield, Ryan Nembhard, cash considerations

Atlanta receives: Dorian Finney-Smith

Why Charlotte said yes: Does anyone ever take a moment for poor old cash considerations? Time after time, team after team, everyone just keeps using him as a throw in to get this trades complete. Why can’t he get a chance to shine! An Air Bud moment! You’re more than just a trade lubricant cash considerations!

Anyway- how about Buddy Hield? A huge part of Charlotte’s success last season was offensive rebound and 3pt rate maxxing. Per databallr, The Hornets finished 1st in the league with +3.3 ORB (net-rating added by winning the offensive rebound battle) and 2nd in 3PT Freq. A whopping 48.9% of their shots came from beyond the arc!

Buddy Hield has been one of the most prolific shooters in the league since the moment he arrived from Oklahoma. Aligning him with other offseason additions like rookie Chris Anderson Jr. and Grayson Allen signals a doubling down on this philosophy in the absence of LaMelo Ball. Billy Beane, Moneyball, replacing Melo in the aggregate. We might see that 3PT Frequency jump above 50%.

Why Atlanta said yes: Like Charlotte, Atlanta was in search of another plug and play veteran that fit their style. The goal is to surround breakout star Jalen Johnson with as many hard-nosed, lengthy defenders as possible. At his best, Finney-Smith fits that bill. To all the people who say the NBA is full of teams doing the same thing, this trade stands as proof of the exact opposite.

The 33 year old will likely be a depth piece coming off an underwhelming year in Houston. For a guy with his resume as a playoff performer however, a little health and a less clogged offensive ecosystem may do wonders.

What if I told you the #3 seed and #8 seed in the WNBA playoffs were separated by only 3 games? Despite the 8 playoff teams being locked up all the way before the FIBA World Cup, nobody outside of the Lynx have their seeding secured, and Minnesota only earned the #1 seed last night.

With the Valkyries (31-12) losing in overtime to the the 17-27 Portland Fire on Tuesday, Minnesota (32-11) can finally relax. While the two powerhouses end the regular season playing each other, the Lynx control the season 3-1 and own the tiebreaker. That game on Thursday still looms large for Golden State however.

It was a busy night in the W yesterday. The Aces (30-13) took care of business against the Sparks and won their 6th game in a row, keeping Vegas right in position to steal the #2 seed from the Valks. Vegas swept the season series against Golden State 3-0. Should the Valkyries lose AND Aces beat the 16 win Mercury in their season finale, the reigning champs will find themselves exactly here they were last season; right behind the Lynx at #2.

You’d assume that this would be a night for Minnesota to celebrate. Nah. They got smoked on their home floor by a hungry Indiana Fever (28-15) squad trying to break away from the congestion in the middle of the pack. If positions holds they would play the #4 seeded Atlanta Dream. Get your popcorn ready for a Caitlin Clark - Angel Reese playoff series.

For the Dream (29-14) to have home court advantage in that matchup, they need to take care of business tonight. Atlanta finds themselves staring down a desperate, dangerous New York Liberty (26-17) team. New York is currently tied with Dallas for the 7th/8th seeds, a loss would see the 2024 champs fall behind the 27 win Mystics (who took care of business against the Sun last night to give themselves some breathing room) for good. That would mean a date with Minnesota, Golden State, or Las Vegas in a 3-game, Round 1 series. Breanna Stewart and company are competing for their playoffs lives.

The WNBA playoffs begin Sunday September 27th. I can’t wait to see how the dust settles once we get there.

That’s all for today! As always, thanks for sharing your morning with us. If you get a chance, leave your phone at home and take a 5 minute walk. It’ll help.

Ben Gordnier