The NBA Cup semifinals saw the Spurs knock the Thunder off their lofty perch, and beating the Knicks for the trophy could make them the best team in the NBA right now. But with trade rumors swirling, contenders disintegrating and playoff races heating up, that's far from the only story to get fired up about. These are the hottest takes and overreactions from the past week that might have some actual validity:
1. The rivalry of the 2020's has officially arrived
It's not the Nuggets, it's not the Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers, or Pistons. The next LeBron versus Golden State, Magic versus Bird, Lakers versus Spurs — is Wemby versus Chet. Or, more correctly, Victor Wembanyama is LeBron James, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are the Steph-led Golden State Warriors. And you'd best believe that the Thunder are the new dynasty — their core is under contract through the decade, and there is still no end in sight to the draft picks they've stashed. The only things that can stop them, apparently, is an uncharacteristically cold night on 3-pointers and what could be the most talented big in league history.
Wemby is up to the challenge, absolutely hates Chet Holmgren, and is the apparently solid center of a similarly solid Spurs core. Meanwhile, the stars of the early and mid-2010's are starting to age out, and outside of Steph, LeBron, and KD, none have shown the potential to both greatness and rivalry-inducing vitriol to the degree that Chet and Wemby have. This is the era of the Spurs and Thunder.
2. The superteam era is dead
A bit of old news, but the nails have now been nailed into the coffin. Not only have the Clippers' -- this age's version of the Barkley/Drexler Rockets -- been absolutely putrid, but the best teams in the league are all now equally defined by their stars and depth. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić are the clear-cut leaders of their respective teams, but the Thunder and Nuggets respectively have the first and fifth-ranked benches by net rating this season. It's no surprise that both squads have kept themselves not just afloat, but atop the league, despite extended absences from massively important number two's.
And it's not them -- some of the league's biggest surprises -- Boston, Toronto, and Phoenix -- all boast top 10 benches by the same metric.
3. Trae Young isn't the Hawks' best trade chip
The Hawks' All-Star point guard has found himself embroiled in rumor after rumor ever since the two failed to find common ground on an extension to his current contract, set to expire after the 2026-2027 season. Jalen Johnson has ascended into true stardom (career-high 22.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.2 assists) on a Hawks team that has won way more than it would have without Young in the lineup before. (They're 12-9 with Young sidelined). The Hawks' young core finds itself on an ascending timeline that can't accommodate Young's massive cap hit.
The rumors have heated up as Young has gone from centerpiece to expendable asset, but his contribution to middling results in the win column and hefty price tag (over $45 million due in 2025-26 with a player option) narrows the list of Atlanta's prospective trade partners. Both Young and the oft-injured Kristaps Porziņģis are talented but expensive, with a high potential for large stretches of unavailability.
The easiest pot sweetener to point out for Atlanta is its 'super' first rounder, which is the rights to the better of New Orleans' and Milwaukee's 2026 first round pick. But in terms of active players, Atlanta's best trade chip is actually 2025 Most Improved Player and DPOY runner-up Dyson Daniels. He's in the middle of a weird shooting slump to start out the season (15.9 percent from 3), but is cheap enough to make the money work, and would demand a lot in return. 3-and-D is the name of the game for every contender, and Atlanta can easily pivot with that super first rounder and Daniels.
4. The Heat are misusing Bam Adebayo
Two words have defined the early part of Miami's 2025-26 campaign: Norman Powell. And while his late-career star turn has been an incredible story thus far -- seriously, career highs in points per game, PER, and usage rate simply don't happen to a vet like this-- the Heat are on a four-game losing streak that has seen them drop games to the Kings and Mavericks. Gross.
And such has been the fate of the Heat for the past few years: they overachieve and burn out by the time they've earned a middling seed in the playoffs. They're slowly turning into the NBA's version of the Steelers, and at this point must do anything to get out of the middle. With Jimmy Butler gone, that leaves them the option of fully turning the reins over to Bam Adebayo, who is their undisputed best player. Tyler Herro isn't going to suddenly reach another level at this point in his career, and Norman Powell is certainly at his ceiling as a player.
The only one on the roster that hasn't been fully tapped for talent yet has been Bam, whose scoring, usage, and efficiency are all slightly down from the mid-tier All-Star level he's been at his entire career. But Bam can do more -- he's shown glimpses of true two-way magnet potential, and Miami needs to turn him loose and find out what they have in him.