How and why the Bucks, Austin Reaves and the Lakers, the Grizzlies, Julius Randle, Trae Young, and the Cavs have disappointed us, and how those teams and players can bounce back as the season rolls on. Plus, some encouraging signs from Pascal Siakam and the Raptors, Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves, the Rockets, and the Pacers.

Don't call it an emergency pod, but we do offer our takes on the James Harden trade, breaking down what it might mean for the Clippers and Sixers. Then we go around the league and extol the players and teams that have impressed us most through the first week of the season, including the Suns' defense and depth pieces, the Nuggets' well-oiled machine, some young Pistons, a new dynamic duo in Philly, a new Russ, Cam Thomas, Luka, Chet and Wemby, LeBron, Jalen Johnson, and the enduring Warriors.

With opening week finally here, we go through 10 bold predictions - and our regular predictions, too - for the NBA's 2023-24 season.

With the new season on the horizon, we convene for one of our favourite annual traditions: picking the teams we expect to overachieve or underachieve relative to expectations in 2023-24. We explain why we're higher or lower than consensus on the Suns, Thunder, Grizzlies, Cavs, Wolves, Hawks, Knicks, Kings, and Nets.

The NBA says resting doesn't necessarily lead to healthier players, and we dive into some of the most interesting players of the coming season, including Chris Paul and Jordan Poole, Austin Reaves, Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, Evan Mobley, Jaden McDaniels, and Scottie Barnes.

With training camps set to get underway, we start to prepare for the season by breaking down the implications of the Jrue Holiday for the Celtics, the Blazers, and the rival Bucks. Then we turn our attention to some Eastern Conference teams with less to be excited about. In short, we're bracing for whatever chaos James Harden is about to unleash on the 76ers, and struggling to understand what exactly the Raptors are doing.

Where the Bucks, Blazers, Suns - and Heat - stand after Milwaukee swooped in to acquire Damian Lillard.

Reunited to kick off Season 7 of the show and the unofficial end of summer, we unpack some news from the dregs of the offseason, including our thoughts on the new Player Participation Policy, Kelly Oubre reportedly signing with the Sixers, the ongoing Damian Lillard impasse, why the Raptors still make the most sense as a Blazers trade partner, and why Giannis decided now was the best time to start hinting at leaving the Bucks.

Pacers writer/analyst extraordinaire Caitlin Cooper (Basketball, She Wrote) joins the show to discuss the fascinating season ahead in Indiana, including how starting lineup changes might impact the team, how or if Bennedict Mathurin can take the next step, the extent to which "feel" can be learned, Myles Turner's offensive growth, the big power forward question, and how roster context can change everything for a player. Then we zoom out to explore some leaguewide stylistic trends, and talk...

TrillBroDude of the You Know Ball podcast joins the show to discuss the state of the 76ers. Has this team's championship window already closed? How will the James Harden standoff end? Will the Clippers blink first? Would Philly have been better off just giving Harden the new contract he wanted? Is Tyrese Maxey ready to step into a lead-guard role right away? Are the Sixers doing the right thing by not extending him? What might they do with the cap space they're trying to carve out for next...

After a brief tangent on Jaylen Brown's record-breaking extension, the Rose Garden Report's Sean Highkin joins the show to discuss the ongoing Damian Lillard saga in Portland and Miami.

The NBA got it right when it comes to how to format an in-season tournament. Plus, we check in on Atlanta and Dallas. Are the Hawks ready to go all-in? Did Dallas improve enough to keep Luka Doncic happy?

We break down the trade requests issued by Damian Lillard and James Harden, why neither player may be able to get where he wants to go, how the Blazers are doing right by Dame no matter where they send him, why the Raptors make sense as a Lillard destination, and why returning to Philly might be the best outcome both Harden and the Sixers can hope for. Then, with the dust mostly settled on free agency, we discuss some of our favourite and least favourite deals, featuring the Lakers, Pacers,...

On this post-draft episode, we try to figure out what Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak is trying to say, before digging into how the seven teams that made draft-day trades involving active NBA players made out. Breaking down the Celtics, Grizzlies, Wizards, Warriors, Mavericks, Kings, and Thunder.

We dive into the implications of the Suns-Wizards blockbuster, including how Beal fits in Phoenix, whether this was the best move the Suns could've made, why trading Deandre Ayton might not make sense, the challenges the Suns face in filling out the roster and fortifying their defense, a depressing rebuild ahead in Washington, the Wizards as a cautionary tale, the problem with the supermax, and more.

In this post-Finals episode, we dig into how the Nuggets won the franchise's first NBA championship and why Denver looks poised to reign supreme again, where the Heat go from here after another Finals loss in the Jimmy Butler era, and a closing note - or parting shot - on Joel Embiid.

With Cash back from Denver, we break down the first two games of the Finals, which resulted in a split after Miami's rousing Game 2 win. We hit on how the Nuggets' defense fell apart, how the Heat's offense helped make that happen, the impact of the Kevin Love adjustment, adjustments both teams can make moving forward, and much more.

With Cash en route to Denver for the Finals, old friend William Lou rejoins the show to discuss Nick Nurse's fit with the 76ers, what Adrian Griffin might bring to the Bucks, and why running it back is a perfectly reasonable path for the Celtics. Then we look ahead to Nuggets-Heat, with a particular emphasis on how Miami might go about trying to defend Denver.

We dig into the seesawing East finals, breaking down how the Celtics clawed back from the brink to force a Game 6 and wondering what the rest of the series might look like. Then we laud the Nuggets for a spectacular run through the West playoff bracket, before assessing the Lakers' strange but successful season and examining the choices they have to make this offseason.

We break down draft lottery night, in which the Spurs landed the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select yet another generational big man. Then we break down a wild Game 1 of the West finals between the Lakers and Nuggets, before diving into the latest in the Ja Morant saga, fraught offseasons for the Sixers and Suns, and the Celtics-Heat rubber match

With all four conference semifinals still active after five games, we break down our favourite storylines and biggest takeaways from each series and from this round as a whole, including the ever-evolving pick-and-roll dance between Steph Curry and Anthony Davis, the mismatch-hunting going on in Celtics-Sixers and Lakers-Warriors, the state of LeBron as a scorer, how the Nuggets are defending the Suns, the incredible play of Jalen Brunson, and how the Heat are finding different ways to win.

The Grizzlies have had enough of Dillon Brooks, Joel Embiid finally wins MVP, and we dig into some of our early second-round observations.

We break down what could be the final two games of a chaotic and unpredictable first round, reflect on the ends of the Clippers' and Cavaliers' seasons while pondering what's next for both teams, and finally break down the Bucks' catastrophic collapse, wondering if their season should indeed be deemed a failure.

The Bucks, Grizzlies, and Cavs must all win three straight to stave off elimination, while De'Aaron Fox and Joel Embiid become the latest stars to be slowed by postseason injuries.

On our second episode this week, we dig into the implications of Nick Nurse's ouster in Toronto, wonder if officials in Brooklyn doled out a makeup flagrant-2 call to the Sixers, and break down how the Warriors got back in their series against the Kings while playing without Draymond Green in Game 3, before dissecting three more first-round series in progress: Cavs-Knicks, Suns-Clippers, and Nuggets-Wolves.