What’s up, Enjoyers? We’re officially less than a month away from the first NBA preseason game of the 2025-26 season. Here’s how that has us feeling:

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Damon Stoudamire, Luke Travers, and Chris Wilcox! 🎉

Around the Association

Jusuf Nurkić leads Bosnia-Herzegovina to an 81-78 Comeback Victory over Greece

Throughout this summer’s Eurobasket play, the talk of the town has been the usual suspects- Nikola Jokić, Luka Doncić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. On Tuesday, Jusuf Nurkić decided he wanted to join in on the conversation. 🔥

The Bosnian Beast lived up to his nickname in his matchup against Greece, making things happen on both ends of the floor (18 PTS, 10 REBS, 3 STL) to lead Bosnia-Herzegovina to the win, while simultaneously handing Greece their first loss of EuroBasket so far, who was playing without Giannis in this one.

Bosnia was fueled by an 18-0 run in the first half after being down by as many as 13 points, and carried the momentum from that run the rest of the way to secure the W! 🔒

Other EuroBasket standouts:

• Guerschon Yabusele goes OFF for 36 points in France’s win over Poland

• Luka Doncić remains first in Points, Assists, and Steals across all EuroBasket players

• Incoming rookie Sailou Niang drops a double-double in just 15 minutes of play for Italy.

With continued performances like these from players and with the knockout stage approaching in just three days, we’re feeling fortunate we get the chance to enjoy some basketball with a playoff-level intensity to it in September! 😁

Lauri Markkanen future in Utah up in the air between now and February’s trade deadline

It’s definitely no secret that Jazz PF Lauri Markkanen has been in trade rumors for the past few seasons, with Utah currently in rebuild mode. Nothing has come to fruition yet, but this could be the season Lauri’s on the move.

It’s widely expected that between now and this upcoming trade deadline, Utah’s phones are going to be ringing in regards to the All-Star forward, per ESPN’s Marc Stein. 📱

The current league-wide interest in Lauri is no surprise, especially when he’s been straight up HOOPING in EuroBasket: ⬇️

Although The Finnisher has been balling this summer across the ocean, he’s looking to have a bounce-back year on the NBA court after somewhat of an injury-riddled down year this past season after a stellar first two years as a member of the Jazz.

After being traded to Utah in 2022, he’s since blossomed into an All-Star and walked away with the 2023 Most Improved Player Award. With his ability to stretch the floor (37% career 3PT%) while also being able to crash the glass (7.1 REB) like a traditional big man, any contender would love his services on their squad for a potential title run. 😎

Wayback Wednesday

It’s no secret that in the past decade, the Center position in the NBA has been booming. With guys like Nikola Jokić, Joel Embiid, and Karl-Anthony Towns leading the charge in revolutionizing the position with their ability to stretch the floor and facilitate the offense, the five spot has become one of the most versatile positions in basketball.

However, before these All-NBA guys took the court for the first time and slowly changed the nature of the position, the eras prior were filled with more “traditional” five men. The league revolved around centers who would catch the ball in high-post, hit the defender with a barrage of post-moves, and simply bruise their way to a bucket.

In today’s feature of Wayback Wednesday, we’re highlighting a player who was the pure definition of a bruiser, and would consistently put his defenders in spin cycles down low- Al Jefferson! 🔥

Simply put, Big Al’s game was smoooooth. After being drafted 15th by the Celtics in the 2004 draft fresh out of high school, Jefferson had defenders straight-up questioning their own abilities by his third NBA season.

His 2006-07 campaign (16.0 PPG, 11.0 RPG) was his breakout season in Boston. That season led him to become the C’s centerpiece trade chip in the 2007 Kevin Garnett trade that ultimately brought him to Minnesota, where his numbers and reputation continued to skyrocket. 📈

Big Al became a walking double-double in his prime, and saw his breakout season come in the 2013-14 season with the Charlotte Hornets. He accomplished the rare feat of not making the All-Star team while landing a spot on the All-NBA Third Team, and also finished eighth in MVP voting.

Take a look at some of his ELITE post-moves from that career year: ⬇️

Al Jefferson was able to carve out a 14-year long career in the league- including a handful of years during the three point revolution era, without changing his style of play.

It’s not common to find Centers who mold their game the same way Big Al did in today’s NBA, which is why it’s all the more important to show some love to guys like him- a player who scrapped and bulldozed his way to a bucket, while making it look effortless. 😎

Three in the Key

Signing Off

That’s all for today, Enjoyers! Thanks for making us a part of your day. As we get closer to Autumn, the trees are about to show us that we must let things go in order to grow and start anew. Use the changing of the seasons as an opportunity to start fresh!

Bobby Kasmire