The Whiteboard: 3 things that made the NBA fun this week

We might lose NBA Twitter any day now but there’s still plenty to celebrate and we’re focused on the things that made the NBA fun this week.

NBA Twitter is in last-day-of-high-school mode, signing yearbooks and sharing treasured memories as the future of the platform seems increasingly dire, minute by minute. For many of us, Twitter has become an indelible part of the NBA experience and if it is about to disappear at lot of things will change.

Many of you likely find your way to this newsletter through Twitter and, if you can forgive a moment of self-promotion, we’d like to let you know you can find us elsewhere, too — Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. And if you enjoy this newsletter at all, please tell a friend and encourage them to sign-up as well.

And in the meantime, enjoy these three things that made basketball fun this week.

3. The Sacramento Kings offense going en fuego

Since last Sunday, the Kings have picked up wins over the Warriors, Nets and Spurs, averaging an absolutely absurd 129.8 points per 100 possessions. The highlight was obviously their 153-121 drubbing of the Nets but the offense has been rolling for a while now.

Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox make for a dangerous offensive hub but Kevin Huerter has been the perfect addition, opening up the possibilities around their two-man actions with his shooting and smart playmaking. Sabonis has already assisted Huerter on 19 3-point makes so far this season, the second-most of any assist combination in the league and Huerter has been adept at using the gravity of both teammates to find open space.

Here, he takes a circuitous route to lose his man on a Sabonis screen and Royce O’Neale is late rotating down to the rim because he doesn’t want to leave Fox at the top of the key too early.

Having static floor spacers around the perimeter — Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Trey Lyles, Terence Davis — makes all of these actions run more smoothly. But the versatility of Huerter as a whirling on- and off-ball threat makes the Sabonis-Fox core so much more difficult to guard.

With their three wins this week, the Kings are now 8-6 and tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. I got plenty wrong in my preseason predictions but the Kings fighting for a play-in spot is looking pretty good right now.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making all the tough shots

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has continued his remarkable season, pushing his season-long averages to 32.3 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game on a 63.9 true shooting percentage. His defense has been dramatically improved and getting some well-deserved attention but the dominant SGA experience right now is still watching him work himself into incredibly tight places and then finish unbelievable shots with his length, touch, footwork and timing.

Like, if you’re a defender, what do you even do with this?

SGA leads the league in unassisted 2-point baskets by a wide margin (he’s ahead of Doncic by 28, about two per game) and shooting 52.0 percent on 2-point shots that are tightly or very tightly defended (defender closer than four feet). Watching him make impossible shots or conjuring shooting angles from the midst of a defensive crowd has been one of the most consistent joys of this early season.

1. Ja Morant, making NBA highlights

The magic of Ja Morant isn’t just the frequency with which he creates eye-popping highlights, it’s the frequency with which he makes players that we’ve never even imagined before. Earlier this week he got a lot of attention for this dunk, switching hands in mid-air to maneuver around CJ McCollum.

But I would argue that wasn’t even close to the most impressive highlight from that game. Just look at this effing steal.

How in the heck did he time that? Was he watching McCollum making the inbound pass on the jumbotron? Where did the idea to try something like this — baiting the passer with his back turned completely — even come from?

— Ian Levy

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Content from around the FanSided network

• Kenneth Wilson looks at Dewayne Dedmon proving his value to the Heat.
• The Celtics might be looking for a center, Cal Durrett writes.
• Sam LaFrance writes about the good problem Payton Pritchard has created for the Celtics.

Jae Crowder to Bucks looking likely

Jae Crowder’s trade destination is becoming clearer, and it seems as though the trade should go through in the coming days.

• Why is Jae Crowder being traded? Crowder requested the Suns trade him and has not reported this season. Reports are that he’s unhappy being deprioritized by the team for younger players getting more playing time.
• Three-team trade reports earlier this week: Earlier this week Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report suggested the team was closing in on a three-team trade to send Crowder out.
• Likely destination revealed: Later, Fischer reported that the Bucks are positioned to acquire Crowder. He also said the Bucks have scoured the league to find out what Grayson Allen could return them.

Nets players frustrated with Ben Simmons

The Brooklyn Nets have plenty of reasons to be frustrated, and Ben Simmons is one of them. According to reports, there are internal issues stemming from Simmons.

• The report: Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that some within the Nets organization are frustrated with Simmons’ poor play and also question his commitment and passion toward the game.
• Simmons performance: Simmons is averaging 6.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. All would be career lows for him. He has appeared in 11 games, starting in six.
• Starting role in question?: Simmons hasn’t started since returning from injury. It’s unclear if that’s working him back into the rotation or a permanent demotion.

— Josh Wilson