The 10-man rotation, starring Steve Nash, turning the big 4-0
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: SB Nation and Hang Time. As Steve Nash celebrates his 40th birthday on Friday, Doug Eberhardt asks the two-time MVP, surefire Hall of Famer and Canadian basketball legend for a favor, and Jeff Caplan celebrates the recently returned Los Angeles Lakers point guard for granting it.
PF: ShamSports. Mark Deeks explains how Taj Gibson being very good at defense is making the Chicago Bulls do a complicated dance involving roster restrictions, 10-day contracts and meticulously counting coppers.
SF: Salt City Hoops. Dan Clayton delves into the difference between "young" and "unready" as it pertains to a player's basketball IQ, using Utah Jazz rookies Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert as examples.
SG: The Triangle. Zach Lowe pores over the question of how risky and aggressive a defense needs to be for a team to compete for a championship, and how that can or should impact NBA roster-building.
PG: Hang Time. John Schuhmann comes in praise of New York Knicks color commentator Walt "Clyde" Frazier, who is the greatest.
6th: Fear the Sword, twice, and Waiting for Next Year. An in-depth review of how things went so wrong for the now-fired Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant, a look at whether the GM's ouster means the end of the line for head coach Mike Brown, and a consideration of how roster-building needs to be less about getting the most attractive and expensive furniture together than about how the room comes together.
7th: Eye on Basketball. Matt Moore chats with Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan about what's changed for him under Doc Rivers, his feelings on the verticality rule, whether he considers himself "big" and more.
8th: The Point Forward. Al Jefferson has been sensational over the past three weeks, averaging just under 27 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the field for the Charlotte Bobcats, who held onto the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race without injured starting point guard Kemba Walker, who came back on Tuesday night. What's made Big Al so great of late? Rob Mahoney goes under the hood of the left-block landlord's recent dominance.
9th: Dallas Basketball. A deep dive on how Monta Ellis, who has "been asked to be an offensive amalgam of Jason Kidd (setting up the offense), Jason Terry (be the team’s second most proficient scorer), and JJ Barea (attack, attack, attack)" for Rick Carlisle's Dallas Mavericks, has fared this year compared with other second bananas of years past.
10th: BSports. With Carmelo Anthony likely to opt out this summer and the Knicks reportedly still eager to bring him back for the long haul, Jared Dubin works through some potential scenarios for what his next contract could look like if the Knicks want to build the sort of roster around him that might optimize his talents and make the Knicks a potential competitor.
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is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YourManDevineStay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow BDL's Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
