The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.
The league always brings it with the NBA on Christmas Day promo. Enjoy it here!
Vegas Trip Clinched!
Who will the Thunder, Bucks play?
Last night yielded two of the four teams who will head to Las Vegas to compete for the NBA Cup. (And, as the finely coifed Jared Greenberg let us know on the TNT telecast, each player has racked up at least $100,000 for making it to the semifinals.) The Bucks outlasted the injured Magic 114-109 thanks to 37 points, seven rebounds and four blocks from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then, the Thunder blasted the Mavericks 118-104 as they relied on 39 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 20 made 3s overall and 36 points scored off 19 Dallas turnovers.
Let’s dive into the two matchups for tonight, which will decide whom the Bucks and Thunder will play Saturday:
Hawks at Knicks, 7 p.m. on ESPN: Here we go again! Trae Young and the Hawks will try to ruin the good time of the Knicks. We saw this matchup in the 2021 NBA playoffs, when there was a lot of drama in their first-round series. Since then, Young has been a villain at Madison Square Garden, but this is also the best Knicks team he’s faced. New York has the best offense in basketball, so the Hawks need to really bring it on both ends of the floor.
- Hawks injuries: Jalen Johnson (shoulder) missed last game.
- Knicks injuries: Mitchell Robinson (knee) is out.
- Atlanta projected high temperature on Saturday: 50 degrees 🧣
- NYC projected high temperature on Saturday: 42 degrees 🧣🧥
- Season series: The Hawks beat the Knicks 121-116 earlier this season in Atlanta as they got 33 points from No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher. The Knicks hit 22 3-pointers in that game.
- Hawks odds: +2000 to win NBA Cup
- Knicks odds: +350 to win NBA Cup
- Prediction: Knicks in a tight one.
Warriors at Rockets, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN: For years, the Warriors stood in the way of the Rockets competing for an NBA championship. Now, they’re trying to go into Houston and block the Rockets from competing for the NBA Cup. These teams have two of the best defenses in the league. Steph Curry against Dillon Brooks? Draymond Green against Alperen Şengün? Big play from Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green? Sign me up.
- Warriors injuries: De’Anthony Melton (ACL) is out. Andrew Wiggins (ankle) missed last game.
- Rockets injuries: Tari Eason (concussion) and Fred VanVleet (knee) both missed last game.
- San Francisco projected high temperature on Saturday: 57 degrees ☂️
- Houston projected high temperature on Saturday: 67 degrees ☂️
- Season series: The Warriors are 2-0 against Houston this season. They beat the Rockets 127-121 in overtime on Nov. 2 and then again this past Thursday, 99-93.
- Warriors odds: +750 to win NBA Cup
- Rockets odds: +600 to win NBA Cup
- Prediction: Warriors take it.
The Last 24
Top recruit’s landing spot might shock you
🏀 He’s going where?! Top 2025 recruit AJ Dybantsa committed to BYU. Yes, that BYU.
🗽 He got better? Is Jalen Brunson even better than what we saw last year? JE3 has the story.
🔒 Orlando defends. Jamahl Mosley’s key to great defense is simple: Don’t get fined.
👀 What’s wrong with the Lakers, you ask? Jovan Buha has the answers.
🤔 Could a Zion Williamson trade jumpstart a Pelicans rebuild? Will Guillory examines trade ideas for New Orleans.
✍️ Marcus Thompson did it once again. This time, he explains the science behind Anthony Edwards new “super pretty” jumper.
🎤 Jamal Crawford signed. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year inked a deal with NBC for their upcoming NBA coverage. Reggie Miller next?
Executive Rankings
The mercurial nature of front-office success
The trio of Sam Amick, John Hollinger and Mike Vorkunov put together this anonymous front-office ranking today after surveying 40 different high-level executives around the NBA. It worked a lot like an award voting system, with different point tiers for a first-, second-or third-place vote in the process. And the executives couldn’t vote for their own organization.
Thunder GM Sam Presti and his front office — hoarders of countless first-round picks — were deemed the top outfit. It’s no surprise that the top team in the West, with a bright present and blazing future, ran away with the No. 1 spot.
I’m not even sure there could be many questions about the top three when you factor in success over the years. For the Celtics and Thunder, success now and in the future is obvious. For the Heat, their ability to often surprise people with deeper playoff runs than expected — while cultivating gems from players few have heard of — brings esteem from their peers.
I actually find the next five names on that chart to be fascinating in how they end up with such high regard from other executives. That’s not to say they shouldn’t, either. But let’s break it down into three different categories.
The small-market cultivators
The Orlando and Memphis media markets are ranked 14th and 26th, respectively, according to Sports Media Watch. Existing in a middle or small market as a professional team is often looked at as a hindrance to acquiring talent. You have to be able to go grab players in the draft with little hiccuping in building out your roster. You also must go find those proverbial gems that haven’t been discovered or have been discarded.
Memphis and Orlando have excelled at both in recent years. The Grizzlies have become experts at drafting, picking Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant and Desmond Bane (draft-night trade) in consecutive years. Recently, they’ve found second-round success with Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson, among other rotation guys, by scouring summer leagues and G League games. It’s why they’ve been so good at withstanding injuries. Orlando has the occasional hiccup here and there, but grabbing Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero in consecutive years built their foundation. Smart trades have rounded out the roster. And recognizing value in discarded guys like Goga Bitadze has helped them surge up the East.
The abrupt leap forward
Interestingly, Minnesota and Cleveland finished fifth and eighth, respectively, here. Tim Connelly has long been recognized as a top executive for his work in Denver, but Minnesota’s president was under fire publicly — as were the Wolves — in the first year of their Rudy Gobert acquisition. It was deemed the worst trade in league history by some for what they gave up to get him after a so-so season. Then, they jumped to the Western Conference finals last year after knocking off the defending champion Nuggets. The headlines of the Wolves’ ownership battle didn’t help with public discourse, but that doesn’t mean Minnesota’s executives aren’t respected among peers, as illustrated by the front office receiving its most praise since 2004.
Now we move to Cleveland, which was chastised at the end of last season for being stagnant and not playoff-ready. Two disappointing (but also kind of understandable) oustings in the postseason left many wondering when they might significantly overhaul the core to build around Evan Mobley and one of their star guards. But they convinced Donovan Mitchell to stay under an extension and had a historic start to this season (15-0).
The Knicks
For years, my public stance on what the Knicks needed to do was very simple: Just not be a punchline anymore in NBA discourse. That was something James Dolan and company struggled to accomplish for a very long time, especially in the Phil Jackson era. Then, Leon Rose and company took over and intelligently built out one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. Turning the Knicks from punchline to puncher is truly something many believed wasn’t possible during the Dolan era.
Jimmy Butler Trades?
Analyzing 3 potential landing spots
Our old pal Shams Charania reported yesterday that the Miami Heat are open to having trade conversations regarding six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection Jimmy Butler. The 35-year-old star makes $48.7 million this year and has a $52.4 million player option for next season. He helped turn the Heat back into a team capable of contending for a title in 2020, which hadn’t happened since 2014.
Thanks to the current CBA squeezing teams’ finances and futures like the snake hugging Jon Voight at the end of “Anaconda,” this deal could be pretty complicated to pull off in-season. But let’s look at three reported possible destinations for Butler’s services.
Warriors (14-9, fifth in West)
Golden State probably makes the most sense for a Butler deal for a couple of reasons. Anthony Slater reported potential interest back in May, when he looked at the next phase of the Warriors’ construction. Golden State has a lot of assets to dangle with Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, plus full control of their future first-round picks, outside of 2030 (top-20 protected, owed to Washington). The fit and the timeline make sense with the Warriors looking for a true second option who fits their style. Butler is one year younger than Steph Curry. He also, historically, is willing to fit into what bigger stars do within a team hierarchy. Not to mention, the five-time All-Defensive selection fits Golden State’s philosophy of being great on both ends.
Mavericks (16-9, fourth in West)
We have to assume Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II are all off the board in a potential trade for Butler. So, we’re looking at Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, Jaden Hardy and Quentin Grimes as possible trade options. Dallas owes a 2027 first to Charlotte (top-two protected) and a 2029 to Brooklyn, and they don’t have control of their 2028 or 2030 firsts. This means a deal could be tricky. But the fit essentially would turn Butler into the perfect superhero version of Washington from last year’s finals run.
Rockets (16-8, third in West)
Houston got serious about its rebuild when it brought in key veterans and hired Ime Udoka to get the young talent up to speed on how to win. We’ve seen Butler do that very thing in multiple stops. The Rockets wouldn’t move Alperen Şengün in a deal, but maybe anybody else could potentially be had. And they have a ton of depth and intriguing young players. Houston also has some pick swaps (Brooklyn) and a lot of firsts in the future to throw at Miami.
📫 Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.
(Top photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images )
